STEVE DIDN'T REALIZE HOW BIG OF A DEAL HALLOWEEN WAS FOR PEOPLE. When he envisioned Halloween, he expected a few haunted houses, a few groups of people going out to drink—an image created solely because of his job—and all the city's children going out and asking for candy dressed in costumes with varying degrees of horror.

He had never thought to factor in parties.

It all started when he was standing at the edge of the room, surveying everyone, making sure that everything was going smoothly. He paused when one of the bartenders waved him over, leaning over the counter.

"I don't think you should work Halloween," she said, her words so final that he almost thought she was telling him that he wasn't allowed to.

"Why not?" he asked, frowning as he looked around the room, "That's a few days away, right, I'm not sure I can ask for that day off."

"Trust me, they'll give it to you," she said, completely serious, "Grant, it's come to all of our attention that you were probably born in middle of nowhere Ohio or whatever other place in the midwest, because you don't really get the concept of Halloween..."

He raised an eyebrow, not trusting himself to have a good response to whatever she had just said.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, you poor little farmer boy. Halloween is a time for people to get drunk and wear offensive costumes and blame all their actions on the alcohol when it's all over."

He frowned, unable to keep all the negative images popping into his mind; for all that he believed in the people, he had seen a darkness that he had to acknowledge at some point. "Then shouldn't I be here? To keep the peace?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Hate to break it to you, Grant, but you're pretty biased when it comes to keeping the peace."

He took a deep breath and sighed, knowing what she was referring to. "When you start shouting negative generalizations about people of an organized religion, people will get upset, and I—"

"Can't be biased and have to keep the peace no matter what you think is right," she finished, interrupting him, "Grant, it's not that I don't agree with your stances, but you have a job."

He opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say. She did have a point, the job he had now was not the job he had before. He had to adapt and change. But that didn't mean he wanted to completely ignore everything, he had his morals.

"...fine," he said, a copper taste in his mouth as he said it.

"Thank you," she sighed, giving him a relieved smile that he didn't share.

He went back to his corner and tried not to pout and brood as he pulled out his phone and texted Rhett, telling him about his free opening on Halloween, trying not to sound as bitter as he felt.

He found that, more often than not, he was always talking to Rhett and, if he wasn't, he was thinking about him. He wasn't sure when he had realized it, but he found that he began to notice it the more the two spent time together.

When they were sitting in the coffee shop, Steve didn't always have to look at him, he could sketch, he could look around, drink his coffee, there were other things to do. Granted, he did look at the man, but there were other things taking up his attention.

But now that they had seemed to abandon their old meeting place, for whatever reason, Steve found that, while their walks took them to places that he would often gawk at, marveling at how much had changed, his attention and gaze would always shift back to the other blond man, listening as he spoke or just looking at him as they walked in silence.

Rhett seemed to be something of an anchor, a reminder that he wasn't with the Avengers anymore, but he still had people. He also had Nicky, Rhett's roommate, who seemed to know more than expected, as well the two teenagers who seemed to be taking on more than they ever should.

It was an odd bunch, and his the one he used to have, but he was alright where he was.

º º º

Halloween was the best and worst time for Rhett, as were all holidays. Because they were a public school, Christmas was a no-go for obvious reasons, but Halloween and other holidays were still up and ready to go.

That was how he found himself trying to smuggle in decorations while the kids were on break, wondering how he was going to get everything set up during lunch. He sighed as he dropped everything behind his desk, popping his back; he wasn't even thirty yet, this was unacceptable.

He sighed as he stared at the large paper bags, then at the large classroom, feeling his back and arms aching. Biting his lip, he pulled out his phone, deciding to call for backup.

"I'm busy, Rhett, I've got a patient soon, are you dying?" Nicky asked, the sound of him fiddling with something metal clearly evident in the background.

"...no," the man said, finally, contemplating whether to extrapolate his situation or not, "What're you doing?"

Nicky grunted, sighing into the receiver, "Making something to help with letting my patients know when to come in, since I don't have an assistant. I'll talk to you later, 'kay? Stay safe."

"You too," Rhett said, Nicky hanging up before he could say anything else. He looked at the phone, frowning, whispering under his breath, "Damn."

He thought over his immediate contacts, instantly omitting Diana and Peter, as they were in school. Which left only one other person.

"Morning," Steve greeted, sounding cheery for someone who sounded to have just woken up, "Aren't you teaching?"

"It's break and I need you to come over during lunch and help me with something for the class," he said, speaking faster than he intended, staring at the clock as it neared the end of the break, "Please?"

"Sure, I'll be there," Steve said, sounding both curious and worried, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just don't think I'll be able to finish by myself and figured I'd call you," Rhett said, leaning against the desk, "Uh, so can you? My kids are gonna come in soon, so I gotta go."

"Yeah, of course, I'll be there," Steve said, and his tone was so sincere that Rhett had to take a few deep breaths, reminding himself that he was his friend and he should really stop getting so nervous when talking to him.

"Thank you so much. I gotta go, I'll see you then," he breathed, hanging up once the man gave his farewell, mentally berating himself for his awkward goodbye.

He sighed and pocketed his phone, opening the door for his students which had lined up outside of the door, still chatting as they walked inside, some greeting the man, other ignoring him completely.

A day in the life, really.

º º º

Rhett jumped when Steve knocked on the door. He set aside his lunch as he scrambled out of his chair, unlocking the door and peering out, sighing and opening the door fully, letting the man in.

"Sorry I was a little late, I checked in with the office," Steve said, in lieu of a greeting, giving Rhett a bashful smile as he removed his glasses, his features changing back to the ones that most would recognize.

"It's fine," Rhett said, surprised that he had, "How did that go?"

"It went well," he said, unable to keep the sly smile from creeping onto his features, "The office ladies seem to like me well enough. I've gotten clearance to be your step-in art teacher."

Rhett's heart most certainly did not leap, no matter what Nicky would claim later on when he was feeling particularly cheerful and malicious.

"Great!" he said, sounding much more excited than he intended. He tried to save himself by adding, "Now I won't have to do all the work."

Steve laughed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad to help. So what did you need?" He looked around the dark room, raising an eyebrow at the drawn blinds on the windows.

Rhett jerked his head to the side, walking towards the desk, Steve following close behind. He could feel the man's gaze on his back and struggled to stay calm, his heart racing more than it should have been.

He bent over the side of the desk, reaching forward and grabbing the two paper bags, hoisting them up with a forceful grunt. Turning around, he jumped, not expecting to find Steve standing almost right behind him, the man's arm out, as if reaching for something himself.

"Uh..." the two said, eyes wide, staring at each other.

"Please help me decorate, I can only move so fast," Rhett asked, shoving the bags into his chest, his face red, speaking faster than intended.

Steve blinked. Once. Twice. "Oh," his eyes widened in understanding, "Oh. Yeah, of course. Yeah, sure, what's the plan?"

With a nod, Rhett swiftly pulled out the various decorations, getting to work unwrapping everything as he explained the set up to Steve who immediately went to grab the streamers and the step ladder, leaving the other man to work on decorating the desks.

"I have to say, when you called, this wasn't what I had in mind," Steve mumbled to himself, but it was just loud enough to catch Rhett's attention, causing him to look up from where he was placing various fake spiderwebs and witches on the various desks.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, his lips curling into a lopsided smile, a habit he had formed after having to ask so many questions to students.

Steve glanced over his shoulder briefly before turning back to his streamers, hiding his red face, shrugging and feigning nonchalance. "Oh...I dunno. Not this, though I probably should have considering you called me to your classroom..."

Rhett raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, not wanting to think over his words at the moment, too focused on his work. So, with one more glance back to Steve, he went back to work.

The two finished just as the bell rang and Rhett was unable to stop the kids before they burst into the classroom, as was customary if the door was unlocked.

They all paused, however, when catching sight of Steve, who had just managed to wrangle on his glasses, features adjusting accordingly.

"This is your new art teacher," Rhett announced, adjusting his own glasses as he gestured towards Steve with a flourish, "He helped me decorate the classroom, can we for him a hand?"

Steve smiled as the kids all began to clap, some cheering and commenting on the streamers and the spiderwebs.

A little girl raised her hand, scrutinizing Steve. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Rhett sighed minutely, shaking his head. "No, Mollie, he is not."

"Why?" she asked, and Rhett wanted to melt into a puddle and lay on the floor for the rest of his life.

"You know," Steve interjected, "Your teacher didn't really introduce me, I'm Mr. Grant."

"Hey, my name's Grant!" one of the boys called out, raising his hand.

"Hey," Steve cheered, pointing at the boy, suddenly feeling out of place with all of the youths.

Thankfully, Rhett recovered quickly enough, stepping in and returning the favor. "Uh, Mr. Grant doesn't really have a lesson plan yet, so how about we make some more decorations for the room, you can paint your own pumpkins. If you have any questions, you can ask him."

"When is Halloween again?" a boy called out.

"Thursday, so in three days," Steve replied, trailing off when Rhett made a slicing motion with his hands.

"Wesley, remember, we raise our hand when we ask questions. We also wait for people to call on us," he added, giving a pointed look towards Mollie who grinned sheepishly.

While the kids chatted quietly amongst themselves, having been given permission to, the two men went to grab the supplies.

"Now, this? This I did not expect," Steve said, motioning behind him.

"You said you'd be the new art teacher," Rhett whispered, pulling out the paints and the pumpkins he had prepared.

"I didn't really think that through," Steve hissed back, and Rhett couldn't help but laugh, drawing attention to himself and Steve.

One of the other boys raised his hand, wiggling his fingers as he waited to be called on. Rhett, despite his better judgement, nodded, and the boy dropped his hand, loudly asking, "What's so funny?"

Rhett groaned, unable to keep himself from dropping his head onto Steve's shoulder, laughing softly. Steve laughed as well, patting his shoulder, answering his question, "Your, uh, teacher is just really excited for Halloween. Here, we'll pass out the supplies, just keep the chatter to a dull roar."

"Mr. Reiser," Rhett whispered into his sleeve.

"What?" Steve asked, glancing down at him as they turned back to grab the paint and pumpkin cut outs.

"Call me that," he explained, "I'm in charge, after all." With a nod, he carried half of the supplies to the kids, passing out the paints and the pumpkins, shushing whatever complaints given with a "if you want other colors, ask your classmates to share."

Steve watched him go, his mouth suddenly dry. "Whatever you say, sir."

While the kids went on to work on their pumpkins, their chatter filling the room, the two sat down at the front, carefully monitoring, one of the men standing if they saw a raised hand or a furrowed brow or a particularly raised voice, rushing to aid in any way possible.

"Any plans for Halloween?" Rhett asked, both just relaxing as they watched the kids continue to work.

"Nah," the other man sighed, shaking his head, "I'm not allowed to go to work, since it'd cause too much of a controversy."

Rhett grimaced, remembering the text messages he had been sent. "I'm sorry, Steve. But, hey, you could always come over to mine and Nicky's. We watch scary movies in the dark and eat a bunch of candy." He glanced over at the kids, careful not to swear.

"Thanks," Steve said, a small smile grazing his lips, "I appreciate that. I might take you up on that."

"I hope you do," Rhett said, sighing as he stood up to help one of the girls who was trying to clean up some of the paint she had gotten on the wood, calming her down as she began to cry from worry.

Steve watched him go with a fond smile, catching himself as he watched the man work. It was one of the few times where his attention was solely placed on the man, and he began to notice the familiar feeling he invoked in him.

He couldn't explain it, but there was something familiar about Rhett. Something that made him try to cling to whatever memories he had left, however fleeting they were. Something that reminded him of the way his heart used to jump when his name was called during a time he could barely remember.

There was something so new and so different, but so old and so familiar. Whatever it was, Steve couldn't deny that he enjoyed the man's company, enjoyed his jokes and his smile, the way he said his name.

"What?" Rhett asked, walking towards him with a confused smile, "Do I have paint on my face?"

Steve shook his head, sitting up straight. "No, I was just thinking."

"What about?" the man asked, sitting back down.

"Nothing," he replied, "Nothing important, at least."

Whatever the feeling, he would keep it to himself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 12.13.17 )

I actually really liked how this chapter came out, which is odd since not much happened, but I do feel as though I have to expand their relationship, which I feel as though I'm getting better at. So there might not be as many sub-plots as Lonely Hearts, but the character development stuff? I like to think I'm doing alright.

I'm not sure if the message got across, and it's supposed to be subtle, but I really wanna point it out, Steve thought he was gonna get some when he went to go visit Rhett, you feel me?

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!