Goodbye, love.
When they were much younger, Bucky used to be a regular fixture down at the local dancing hall. He was always taking girls out to dance. Actually, he usually just showed up and there were plenty of ladies already there hoping he'd ask them to be his girl that night. It was typically a good time, but it was never great. It was never want he really wanted, or who he wanted to be dancing with. Even when he slipped into those more discreet, secret clubs for men he never found actual satisfaction. That had always been because the one person he wanted to share all of his dances with, all of his kisses and most intimate moments, had been living with him in their shoebox apartment in Brooklyn. Like Steve, he'd waited a century for this. Now he had it, but he couldn't have it forever.
There was a meshing of conflicting emotions coursing through him and fighting each other in his heart. Hold on tight, never let go, you need this too much. Push him away, run back into the house and never come out because this is too much. Bucky swayed slowly with Steve, and as they moved he kept the one hand at the back of his head while the other loosened its grip on his shirt to splay across his back. He'd wanted this so much, but it was devastating knowing they were having to talk about how they were going to move on while they were doing it.
"I don't want you to go away completely," he assured him. But he did need time. He did need space. Bucky was going to have to let go of a lot. He was also going to have to get used to the idea of being around Steve and not let himself wonder about things anymore. Even though they'd never acted on their feelings until sort of right now, he'd always had hope about it, and now that had to be put to rest. His heart was broken, but he didn't think it was beyond repair. It just hurt like hell, and coming back from it wasn't going to be easy. And for the first time in all his life, it was something he couldn't do with Steve. That in of itself was hard enough.
"We'll figure it out, Stevie," he whispered, having brought his cheek to rest against Steve's. "It's going to take time, but we'll figure it out." Because they couldn't lose each other. They just had to learn to adjust to change; changes they both were making, how to walk beside each other even if they took different sides of the fork in their otherwise joined paths in life.