Chapter 1

Bucky hurried the man and the dog into the clinic, unlocking the room he was primarily based in during his shifts, and took the animal out of his hands, being intensely delicate as he laid him onto the examination table, in order not to inflict any further damage. There surprisingly didn't seem to be much damage. The little guy would probably just have to wear a cone, to avoid undoing the stitches he was currently sewing in and out of the wounds. He grabbed a vial of local anaesthetic and injected the dog, so he would not feel any pain as he assessed him fully, as he was a bit limited as to what he could check right now. While waiting for the anaesthetic to kick in, he eventually heard the man, who was sat upon a chair in the corner of the room, too scared to even look at the dog, and could only just speak.

"Is- is Falcon going to be okay? I swear, it was an accident. I didn't know he was going to run onto the road, he's normally fine, but there was a bird and he-" he spoke, a nervous stammer taking over him. He was shaking, and clearly struggling to breathe from shock.

Bucky walked over to where he was sat, sitting in the chair beside him, though shifting a little so he could properly face him.

"Falcon's going to be alright, si-"

"Just call me Sam, please."

"...Sam. My apologies. I'm Bucky, by the way. Bucky Barnes. Your dog was rather lucky. There are a fair few wounds, nothing fatal though. I'm gonna sew them up and.. well, he'll have to stay indoors for a few weeks or so while they heal. Please don't worry about the costs, either. I'll just lie and say that your dog was never even hit by a car and therefore you didn't have to come here."

"You can do that?" Sam chuckled lightly, possibly from uncertainty. Possibly from nervousness.

Bucky nodded, also gently laughing, though quickly remembered something he meant to ask and quickly put an end to his laughter, "is it okay if I take your number? N-not because I want to take you on a date in Starbucks or anything like that," Bucky waved his hands back and forth to show that this was a definite no, "but because I wanna check in on you and Falcon. I presume that you understand, right?" Sam nodded and got his phone out, as did Bucky, and they exchanged numbers. "Also," he spoke, "I'll give Falcon some painkillers. There's instructions on the box on what dosage to give him, so please don't worry about that, either. He'll be in a lot of pain once the anaesthetic wears off, so just give him the painkillers about twice a day for 3 weeks."

He then returned to the examination table and began sewing the larger, wounds (that he would need to be more careful with) now that Falcon was now under the anaesthetic. He stroked the snow-coloured pitbull every so often just to calm his nerves, and, once done, placed a cast onto his left front leg, then lifted the dog off the table, walking him over to his owner, "I should have some painkillers in here somewhere which would be fine for a pitbull to take. Just give me a moment."

Bucky wandered over to the cabinets in the room and browsed through them, then grabbed the painkillers he spoke of, and handed them to Sam, who instantly looked at the instructions, though with a slightly puzzled face, "crap, I forgot to say. The anaesthetic should wear off in the morning, so, give the painkillers to Falcon then. Also, it doesn't have to be taken on an empty stomach, either." Sam gave a gentle nod, then gave a polite smile as he spoke in his approachable tone, "you know, I really don't mind going to Starbucks with you. Just as friends, of course. I mean, you wanna check in every so often on Falcon, right? I'm more of an 'in-person' sorta guy. I mean, only if you're al-"

"Yes," Bucky choked out, seeming rather urgent and as if he had a crush on this man (though, he would admit, he was rather handsome, and seemed to be a gentleman), "I-I mean, of course. I'm up for it. Friday at 5:30 PM? I get out of work at 5 on Friday, so it'd be quite convenient." Sam laughed from the suddenness of Bucky's reply, then replied, "well then. It's a date." He arose, and opened the door, "see you on Friday then, Bucky."

Bucky couldn't help but let out a little squeak of embarrassment and allow his cheeks to become flushed once he heard the door close behind him.

Was he even supposed to blush over a new friendship?