There was so much to think about and unfortunately Steve had had a lot of time alone in which to do it. So he'd imagined it all, he'd thought about all the ways that they could have been happy together. So much had happened to come between them and there had to be worlds where they'd put it right, timelines where they'd overcome it. His heart lurched just thinking about it, about living a normal life in the time that they were from, but together. There was so many ways that they could have gone right and they'd missed them all. But despite all odds they were together, they were here to salvage some form of family.
"I know so," Steve promised him as he ran his fingers through the mess of hair at the back of his neck. It was quiet around them, no one around but even if there had been Steve wouldn't have noticed. They held onto one another and Steve closed his eyes for a long moment, to make a memory of it. They'd been honest, they'd admitted something that had weighed on them for so long and even if it hurt more than he'd ever imagined that it could, Bucky felt it too and that was something he'd always dreamed of.
It started with Steve shifting his weight from one foot to the other, but before he knew it his arm was around Bucky's waist to hold him close. He hummed softly, his eyes opening as he pulled back enough to see him. A first dance and their last.
"I can't give you that," Steve said honestly. "I know you want to just hide until it goes away and I do too. But it's never going to go away and we need to just learn to deal with it. I'm not letting you go," he said as he squeezed the back of his neck. "I'll give us some space, but I'm not going away completely, not ever," he said although he didn't stop moving, the song playing in his head even if the humming had stopped.