"I REALLY LIKE YOU."

Rhett looked up from where he was reading magazines, catching up on the culture, to find Nicky staring at him, worrying on his bottom lip and twisting his hands. He looked terrified, eyes darting about, but there was something about him that seemed to be holding back, almost guilty.

"No, you don't," Rhett said, sitting up to mimic the position of the younger man—boy really. His words had effect, causing Nicky to freeze, stare at him with confusion, not hurt.

"Yeah, I do," he pressed, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs, avoiding all eye contact, resting his cheek on his knee and looking at the wall, "I really, really do."

"The way you like Terran?" he asked, unable to help himself. It had been almost three months and he had started to get comfortable, but as the days kept inching towards another monthly anniversary, so did his mood inch towards being more bitter.

Nicky froze at the mention of the somewhat leader of whatever group he was a part of. The person everyone turned to, the man, while young, who had seem quite a bit. Young and all smiles, it was no wonder that the young, idealistic raincloud took such a liking to him.

"Shut up," he grumbled, burying his face in his knees, "I just—"

"Want someone to like you the way you like everyone else," Rhett finished, sighing as he stood up and made his way over to Nicky, pulling him into a halfway hug.

"Shut up," the boy said again, ripping himself away, "Don't know why I bother, all of you just end up leaving."

Rhett couldn't help but laugh at the irony. He looked around at the small room, shaking his head as he pushed the boy away, letting him fall onto his side. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm stuck here for a while. Get used to it."

Nicky smiled at that, a small, hidden smile. "Yeah? Then can you go back over there, I have work to do."

Rhett, less bitter but still unwilling to be cooperative, instead threw himself against the boy's side, peering at his blueprints. "Since when does a psychology major design stuff?"

"You'd be surprised, old man," Nicky sighed, showing him his work, "I'm making wings, Terran's got pull with military, they asked him for help, he called on me. I think these are gonna be pretty great."

"What are they?" Rhett asked, tilting his head.

"You'll see..."

º º º

Steve took a sip of his coffee as he looked around for Rhett. The man had agreed to meet him at the coffee shop, too excited with his newfound revelation to be as afraid of Christian Hyde as he would normally be.

As he looked around, he caught sight of a baby crying. He cringed, wishing Bucky was with him, he was always better with babies than he was. Even after all the kisses and pictures during his show pony days, babies were never his strong suit.

"Hey, darling, here you go."

Steve broke out of his reverie and turned back around at the sound of Rhett's voice, unable to keep from inwardly rolling his eyes at the way his heart leapt by even the slightest of notices of his arrival.

He couldn't help the smile that formed when he saw the man give the baby back his toy, smiling and trying to have him laugh before he deemed his work complete. When the baby finally did, he grinned and stood up, walking away, not catching the grateful look from the mother who had been too busy trying to help her toddler.

"Congratulations," Steve greeted, immediately stepping forward to pull him into a hug, "You did it."

"Yeah, but I only can go for a few minutes back. I haven't tried forward again, and I don't think I have the juice to go more than an hour," Rhett sighed, taking his hand, the two walking down the street, Steve handing over his coffee to let the man drink some.

"You just need some more practice," Steve reasoned, "This is all just precaution."

"Yeah," Rhett agreed, not sounding all too convinced as he handed back the drink, "But who knows what this guy'll do, I did get pretty roughed up. He can stop time, that's how he got so close to Diana."

"Are you affected by it?" Steve asked, looking down the street before starting to walk, tugging Rhett along with him.

"No, that wouldn't make sense, we're all given the exact same serum that affected us the exact same way," he explained, raising an eyebrow at a boy who pointed towards them, tugging on his mother's arm. "If he stopped time right now, you'd be frozen, I wouldn't. Though, I think there's a way to take someone with us, if we hold on or have intention, I'm not so sure."

"You should learn how," Steve hummed, pulling him away from the prying eyes of the son and his mother, "There's a lot we could do with that time."

Rhett laughed, nudging him. "What happened to the blushing virgin, you're still afraid to talk to women, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah," Steve agreed, "But I'm not a virgin anymore. Attractive people still make me wildly uncomfortable, but you're not all that shocking, so it's okay."

The coffee on his shirt was worth Rhett's reaction.

º º º

"Mr. Reiser, is he your boyfriend?"

"He's pretty! Can he be my boyfriend too?"

"You can't share boyfriends, Stacy, you already have one of your own!"

"But Alex is Michael's boyfriend today, I have no one!"

Steve looked up from where he was being swarmed by children, looking pleadingly at Rhett who, still upset about the jab at his looks, blissfully ignored, taking his sweet time to get all the equipment set up, leaving the super soldier to protect himself.

"Yeah, kids, he is my boyfriend. Ask him whatever you want," Rhett called back, smirking to himself as they all cheered, drowning out Steve's groans.

It was nice to call him his boyfriend. All his students believed it, asking what Steve had planned for their class the next day when he was planned to show, Mollie referring to him as his boyfriend and him replying to it before he could catch himself.

When he was finished setting up, he walked back over, grinning as he heard Steve try to answer all their questions, a terrified expression permanently scratched onto his face.

"—what is a meme?"

"Okay, that's enough, kids, let's play!" Rhett drawled, moving into the group, the kids all letting him pass and scattering, a few taking the bat and ball from his hands.

"Hi," he whispered, standing in front of Steve, smiling slightly.

"Hi," Steve whispered back, lips tugging upwards. "You still mad?"

"Definitely," Rhett nodded, "I'm this close to dumping your sorry ass."

Steve just smiled. "Anyway I can make it up to you?"

Rhett had a few ideas, some he couldn't ask in front of the children, some he didn't want the children to see. He did have one, however, that had been on his mind since he first met the man. He thought back to the papers he had neatly arranged on his desk.

"The drawings you have of me. I want to see them. At least one." He raised his chin, not backing down as Steve stared at him with wide eyes, clearly shocked.

He set his jaw, weighing his options. He knew that Rhett was joking, he knew that he didn't have to show him anything, the man wouldn't leave him, that wasn't why he made his decision. It might have been because, deep down, he wanted Rhett to see.

"Alright," he agreed, "But you can't hate me for them, I'm a soldier, not an artist."

"You went to school for art," Rhett pointed out, "Nerd."

Steve looked away, smiling. "Are we gonna play ball or not?"

The man grinned. "You finally gonna join us?"

Steve shrugged, making his way towards the line. "You've waited long enough."

º º º

Rhett took a deep breath as he stepped inside and flopped onto the bed, grinning up at the ceiling. "God, I've missed your place."

Steve laughed as he closed and locked the door, setting Rhett's equipment on the floor. "You've only been here once."

Rhett turned and buried his face in his pillow, groaning. "Mm...but it smells like you and your sheets are so soft."

"Go shower, I don't want your dirty clothes on my sheets," Steve scoffed, lightly smacking Rhett's back, "I'll get some of my sketches ready, go on."

Rhett rolled his eyes and climbed out of the bed, kissing Steve's cheek just to spite him, making his way into the small bathroom, calling that he needed a spare change of clothes. He tried not to notice how small the bathroom was, taking a quick shower as he tried not to listen to the people next door; they probably heard them on Thanksgiving, and that wasn't something he wanted to think of for long.

He got out fairly quickly, grabbing the clothes from just outside the door and changing, stepping out with his hair still dripping, shivering from the cold water; no wonder Steve liked their apartment more.

He smiled when he saw the man sitting at the table and passed him, squeezing his shoulder as he went to lie back down on his bed. He laughed when Steve rolled his eyes, standing and bringing his sketchbook over to him, leaning on his side and facing him.

"Your bed is small," Rhett commented, not unkindly.

Steve barely looked up from his work. "I didn't think I'd land myself a boyfriend anytime soon. Why do you think I still used a flip phone?"

Rhett laughed, taking the sketchbook from him while he was idle. "Can I look?"

The other man pulled back his hands from where they were instinctively about to pull the sketchbook back. He looked at Rhett for a long moment before nodding. "Take the glasses off and you can."

Rhett all but ripped the frames from his face, tossing them somewhere down by the foot of the bed, carefully flipping through the pages. He smiled at the sight of the still lives Steve had drawn, the various coffee mugs and buildings and tables. He even noticed his watch which was in his pocket.

"Wait," Steve stopped, stopping him before he turned the page. He looked him in the eyes, sincere and almost worried. "You know I was joking, right. About earlier?"

Rhett shrugged. "I know you were joking, but...I mean, you didn't have trouble talking to me."

Steve scoffed, shaking his head. "Rhett, it took me two weeks to try and work up the nerve to look you in the eye, then when I finally did, we argued. And don't even get me started on your eyes, I find you extremely attractive."

The teacher beamed, cheeks warming at the comment. He turned his attention the drawings, clearing his throat. "You really know how to win a guy over, though, I loved the sketches."

"I know," Steve smiled, "I found them in your room."

Mumbling a comment about him snooping, Rhett turned the page, looking at the sketches. He smiled as he saw sketches of him from different angles, some just his head, others his full body. He found he couldn't look at them for long, quickly growing overwhelmed and handing back the book, his face red.

Steve smiled, settling onto his bed, just looking at Rhett. He didn't say anything, just smiled and looked at him. The other man fidgeted under his gaze, looking around before looking back at him, unable to keep from laughing.

Steve laughed as well. "What?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Rhett laughed, hiding his face in the pillow.

Steve grinned, moving even closer towards him. "Like what?" When Rhett lifted his head, he smiled, laughing when he hid his face again.

He reached out and ran a hand through Rhett's hair, smiling at the feathery locks and the way the man whined, hiding his face even deeper into the pillow, shoulders up to his ears. As he pulled away, Rhett turned on his side to look at him, calmed down only slightly.

"They're really great," Rhett coughed, motioning to the forgotten sketchbook.

"Thanks," Steve hummed, "You like them?"

Rhett moved to hide his face in the crook of his neck, smiling against his skin, eyes closed. "Yeah. Yeah, I really do."

Steve wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him close. "I'm glad."

"I really like you, you know," Rhett whispered, like it was a secret only Steve could know.

Steve smiled and closed his eyes. "I really like you, too."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 01.10.18 )

Okay, this was literally just a filler chapter so Rhett and Steve can be cute, I have no regrets except that it wasn't as well written as I want it to be, but whatever.

Let's just acknowledge the pieces of information I placed in the flashback. One: meet Natasha's love interest. All I have is that his name is Terran, but I love him and he's really fun. Two: Nicky was asked to design something for the military? Hmm...okay no one say anything, I lowkey want this to be something like "oh wow" at least for some, you know?

Also! We have about a week until Christmas in story time so we're nearing the end, but there will still be a few more chapters because I wanna show more of Rhett understanding his powers, but omigosh, you guys, we might be finished with this before January ends! I'm so excited! And a little sad because I really loved writing Rhett and Steve and it won't be the same to write them in Nicky's story, but...you know.

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