Two best friends and a confidant.
The school year had begun in full.
Both students and staff had plenty to do, and the days passed quickly. Steve enjoyed his job as a teacher. The students were mostly decent and bright, and he got along well with the other teachers and with young Wanda Maximoff. The principal's closest assistant.
She was a sweet, pleasant, and helpful young lady with whom Steve enjoyed chatting. Still...he had to admit that sometimes when he talked to her, the real reason was that he wanted to catch a glimpse of Tony, the principal himself.
They would sometimes meet during a school day. Tony would always greet Steve politely, and he would often ask how things were going.
If he was having a good time and if the job was going well.
Steve had two thoughts about these (all too rare) chance meetings with his superior. First, it was the best thing that could happen during a workday.
At the same time, it was the most nerve-wracking moment he could imagine.
Standing in front of an entire school class and be teaching them complicated topics was nothing compared to appearing unaffected by standing close and chatting with this handsome, beautiful man.
The fact that Tony was always nice, friendly, and genuinely interested in how Steve was doing at work didn't exactly make things any better for Steve.
Sometimes he wished they hadn't worked together. At least, that Tony hadn't been his boss.
That might have made things easier. Possibly. But, Steve thought, it might not have been any easier anyway.
Because, what interest could a grown, 40-year-old man, with a good job, well-liked by everyone, and with that look, have in a 25-year-old fresh graduate who was nothing special at all? At least, that's what Steve thought of himself.
Luckily, even though Steve would rather live the rest of his life without eating a single pancake than admit his feelings to his boss, there was actually one person he could talk to. Whom he trusted completely. It was his best friend since childhood, James Buchanan Barnes. In everyday life knowned as "Bucky".
Bucky served in the military and could therefor be away for months.
But one afternoon, about a month after school started, Bucky came home again after a half year away.
As usual, Steve picked him up at the airport. "Oh Bucky, finally," he shouted and waved when he saw his best friend.
And as always, the joy of reunion was great. "Hey, kid", Bucky laughed and hugged the one year younger and somewhat taller Steve tightly to him.
Although the age difference was rather negligible, Bucky had always been like a big brother to Steve, while Steve had always been the little brother.
They talked together about this and that while they drove home.
As usual, the two had a lot to tell each other after six months apart and with only occasional phone calls. Since Bucky was away for long periods of time, he stayed at Steve's house, downstairs. An arrangement both of them were very happy with.
After cooking and eating dinner together, it was time to just relax and be together.
Steve pulled out a new movie he had found that he wanted to watch with Bucky. Finally, he could relax and rest his head properly. Imagine, during the whole dinner he hadn't thought about Tony once.
Tony! The name struck his head like lightning and his cheeks turned red while he got a sheepish expression on his face. So much so that he could actually feel it! He tried to look away and think about something else. But if he had thought that it was possible to fool Bucky, he just had to think again.
Bucky looked at him and grinned. "Well, Mr. Non-poker face. What is it really going on with you?
Have you finally found yourself a great guy that you've fallen head over heels in love with? That you dream of day and night?", he asked. "Well, well. Now tell it all to your dear Uncle Bucky," he continued, laughing.
Bucky had meant the whole thing as a joke. But when he saw the expression on Steve's face, which was somewhere between despondent and dreamy, he realized that he had hit the mark!
To his great relief, Steve finally got his heart relieved that night. Not to Tony, admittedly (there were limits to stupidity, even for him), but to his very best friend.
To his possibly even greater relief, Bucky neither laughed at him nor said that he had to stop the nonsense.
Well, he hadn't thought Bucky would laugh either. But, he would have understood if Bucky had told him to pull himself together.
But he didn't do that either. He told Steve to think carefully. He asked him to use his time wisely. Maybe the right thing would be to get to know Tony? Find out more about who the man actually was. In addition to being super handsome and incredibly nice, of course!
"Stevie, I love you more than anything in the world," Bucky said. "You deserve nothing else than the very best, kid. Believe me! And if this Tony actually is the very best for you, then he's going to show you that too. He has to," he said, hugging him in the way that always made Steve think the world has become a better place.