Always you (A Catching Feelings sequel)

Chapter 10

Tiana knew Steve was keeping something from her. She didn't know what it was or how important it was but she knew he was hiding something from her. That irked her, she kept emphasising how important it was for both of them to communicate effectively with each other. Yet, they keep coming back to the same problem. Steve has been acting suspiciously over the past few weeks. Whenever she walked into the room, he became silent, even though she knew he had been on the phone a few seconds ago. Whenever she tried to confront him about it, he changed the subject.

The whole situation was affecting her in class. She couldn't focus on her teaching because her mind kept drifting off to Steve's suspicious behaviour. Two children had started fighting with each other. All the other kids were screaming, it was only then done she snap out of her thoughts. The one kid pushed the other kid down and he started crying. Tiana went over to the little kid who was crying. "Everything is going to be okay, Michael. You're such a brave and strong little boy." She said gently, helping him to get up. She then wiped away his tears and gave him a hug.

Tiana then turned to the kid who pushed Michael. "Luke, that wasn't a nice thing to do." She said, bending down to meet his eyes. His head hung low, refusing to meet her eyes. "Why did you push Michael?" She asked gently. He didn't answer, he kept looking at the ground. "It's okay. I'm not going to shout at you. I just want to know why you pushed him." She said softly, ruffling his hair. Tiana then saw the tears pouring down his face. "Michael said he didn't want to play with me." He choked up, trying to wipe away his tears. "It's okay if Michael doesn't want to play with you today. Maybe he just wanted to play with someone else. If you want to play with someone else, that's okay too." She said, wiping away his tears. "Just remember, it's not nice to push someone. They could get hurt. Okay?" She explained. Luke nodded. "Okay. Now you need to say sorry to Michael." Tiana instructed.

Luke went up to Michael, who was checking if he had any bruises. "Michael, I'm sorry for pushing you," Luke said, awkwardly, playing with his hands. "It's okay," Michael said with a smile. Tiana then whispered to Luke for him to hug Michael. Luke opened his arms and hugged Michael. Michael hugged him back. Tiana smiled happily. She loved how adorable it was when kids hugged. "Are we friends again?" Luke asked Michael. "Yes," Michael said with a huge grin on his face. "Okay. Now that you two are friends again, you can go play outside. No more fighting, okay?" She said, ushering them outside. "Yes, Miss Tiana." They said in unison.

On her way home, Tiana became frustrated with herself because she allowed herself to get sidetracked by her personal issues. She had a rule to not allow personal problems to affect her at work. She almost didn't notice the fight that happened between the two boys. She thought about what would have happened if she didn't get to them in time? What would've happened? That scared her the most. There was a part of her that was scared to be teaching young kids. There were times when she thought if she was doing a good job at teaching them or was she hindering their potential. That was the last thing she wanted. The one thing she did know was that she poured her heart and soul into teaching. It was her whole life. She might not be perfect but she was willing to do whatever it took to make her kids happy. That was the most important thing for her. She hoped she could create a big impact on them at such an early age. She wanted to be the best teacher out there.

Arriving home, she came to find the apartment empty, which was unusual for this part of the evening. Steve would usually be eagerly waiting to greet Tiana with a hug and kiss. He wasn't home now which was odd. She tried calling him, but he didn't pick up. Another thought crossed her mind, a much darker thought. What if someone took him? She shrugged off that thought. If something did happen, the Avengers would have called her. She didn't need to panic. Maybe he just went to the store. Her mind was running wild with anxiety. She just hoped he was okay.