I’m very much so extremely and absolutely embarrassed by this fact, but I never quite understood what Bucky and Steve were talking about in that flashback scene in TWS, the couch cushions and polishing the shoes and all. Could you possibly explain and clarify it for me? Pretty please?
In that scene, Steve is standing on the bridge, remembering the day of his mother’s funeral. He had been avoiding Bucky throughout the day because he wanted to be alone. After the funeral service, Bucky and his parents planned to give Steve a ride to the cemetery, but Steve went by himself. It’s implied that Bucky wanted to go with him, but instead gave Steve that space and waited for him outside Steve’s apartment.
He isn’t angry that Steve avoided him, and gently asks how the burial went. You can see he’s concerned about Steve, as searches his face for any hint of emotion. He also makes this expression when Steve says “I kinda wanted to be alone”, which looks like pure frustration:
Bucky does not want Steve to be alone. He wants Steve to move in with him.
He broaches the subject with a light tone, but Steve immediately hunches his shoulders and shuts down – he doesn’t want Bucky’s charity, or to be a burden. It seems like an argument they’ve had many times before, but Bucky keeps trying: he first reinforces that they’re best friends who’ve had sleepovers before (”It’ll be fun! We’ll put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids!”), and this is no different. It’s not charity if you’re childhood friends! Then Bucky jokes that Steve can shine his shoes, and take out the trash – basically, that Steve can pay Bucky with housework.
The joke falls flat, though. Bucky stutters and looks down while saying “shine my shoes”. Because it’s not a joke. He really wants Steve to move in with him, and was trying to say that Steve wouldn’t be a burden. They’ll share the housework and live together.
Meanwhile, Steve is searching for his apartment keys and can’t find them. Without missing a beat, Bucky reaches down and pulls out the spare key. He doesn’t make a big deal of out it – never says anything like ‘See, you have to live with me! You’re hopeless on your own!’. He just casually hands Steve the key, like it’s nothing. It shows that Bucky helps Steve without using it against him. He’s this silent, steady support.
Steve’s starting to crack, but he tries to hold his ground: he tells Bucky that he can get by on his own. His mother just died, he’s an orphan, and he feels like he has to be alone. He keeps trying to push Bucky away, but Bucky replies “The thing is, you don’t have to [be alone]” with complete sincerity. Then he utters his famous words, about being with Steve until the end of the line. Those words finally break through Steve’s walls. He smiles, and it’s implied that he moves in with Bucky.
This memory exemplifies what Steve told Natasha and Sam – that even when he had nothing, he had Bucky. Even when he tried to push Bucky away, Bucky stayed with him. Bucky understood Steve, and was tactful and kind. He just wanted to help Steve in any way that he could, and expected nothing in return. Steve was never alone, because Bucky was always there for him.
The flashback speaks of how good a person Bucky was, and how he promised to stay by Steve’s side, no matter what. ‘til the end of the line.
The Archery Range 