He acts like a guy half his size, shoulders hunched down, staring into massive hands whose fingers have laced together. He makes for such a lovely profile now, masculine but with long lashes and clear, smooth skin. Greco-Roman sculptors would have vied for the chance to commit him to history in marble if they could have.

It takes a moment but eventually, a half smile comes over Steve’s lips and he turns his head just enough to look at Bucky when he speaks.

“I’ve been attracted to you since before I knew what that meant. I know you’re straight,” he follows with quickly, rolling back his shoulders as the confession gives him confidence. “So I let it go. But whatever is in me now is just making it hard for me to keep doing that. It’s nothing you did or are doing. It’s my messed up brain giving me signals I’m trying to stop.”