Bucky's grateful, for the approach that is slow but doesn't give him time to doubt his choice. There's still a tensing of his shoulders when Sam gets close, an involuntary reflex after so much time where any touch was either indifferent or meant to cause pain. It's all for naught in this case because the embrace is simply that, an embrace.

It takes Bucky a few seconds to find his balance, his hands slowly coming to rest on Sam's back as he bows his head but doesn't close his eyes, staring at his friends shoulder instead. Yeah, he can do this, turns out, if only for a little while. It's not bad, it's the opposite of bad and he needs it too.

Anything to get rid of the memory of the ice.