“I guess I’ll get going too, then,” Sam says.
“What?” says Scott. “You’re going to go back to yours?” He looks faintly horrified.
“Yes, should I not?” Sam asks slowly.
Scott wrinkles his nose. “Well, it’s your sister, man.”
Sam’s stomach drops. “What?” It’s his turn to say it, harsh and shocked. Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. He’s had the thought before but pushed it away. He has seen Bucky flirt with Sarah, and Sarah not exactly spurn his advances — quite the opposite, in fact. It’s not like he thought Bucky had taken Sam warning him off seriously, but Sam hadn’t taken the flirting seriously, either. Hadn’t wanted to.
“Awkward,” Scott says, and then laughs, a mix of grossed-out and amused. Scott just thinks that for Sam this is the horror of realizing your best friend might be going to sleep with your sister. Not the pain of your best friend, who you are secretly in love with, taking your sister back to the apartment you share with him to sleep with her.
On a night out, Bucky and Sarah leave together. Sam fears the worst.
“Can’t sleep properly alone in the house?” Albert asks, sympathetic, and Bucky knew he was tired, but he wonders if it’s even worse than he thought before Albert can see it. He always figured the serum did a pretty good job of hiding the usual evidence — bloodshot eyes and dark bags a rarity for Bucky.
“A bit,” Bucky admits, doesn’t say that he hasn’t slept a full night through without Sam in the next room. That when he has slept, his dreams have been nightmares. That he’s counting the nights until Sam is back. Only two to go. Maybe Bucky will come back here and pick up some beignets before driving to the airport to fetch him. Sam will complain about getting the sugar all over his truck, but he’ll gladly eat them anyway.
Albert nods like this makes sense. “I can never sleep right when my missus is away, either.”
It seems like everyone around town has gotten the wrong idea about Sam and Bucky's relationship. Sam thinks maybe their use of the term partner is the cause. Bucky might not be so sure about that.
“I’m not so desperate that I’m sinking to that level yet.”
“What? Resorting to exploiting your position or to downloading a dating app?” Sharon laughs at the exasperated look on his face.
“Either.”
“Well, they do say dating is hard as a celebrity, and that’s certainly what you are now, Cap.”
“Yeah? You got any suggestions for this celebrity?”
She thinks on it for a moment, drinks some of her wine. She’s probably got a few people who could be an option for Sam, actually. “I think you’ve come to the right person,” she tells him, sly smile on her face. “It was previously my job to get people the things they wanted, and I was the best in the business.”
Five times others try to set Sam up on a date (and realize something about his relationship status that he hasn't) plus one time Sam takes matters into his own hands (well, with a little help from Bucky).