That was the thing; everything felt wrong. Not because they weren't together, that things between them would never be more than friendly, or because they were both nursing broken hearts. It felt wrong because despite everything they'd always been best friends, they'd shared what they were doing and supported each other selflessly. They were both doing their own thing, cultivating connections with other people but what felt wrong was that Steve was only catching glimpses of Bucky from the outside and not hearing it from him.
He nodded, he'd assumed while they'd been apart and doing their own things that a lot of what they were going through in regards to each other was the same. The same feelings and regrets, the only two people who knew what it was like to move on from what they'd harbored for lifetimes. The distance had done them both good, made room to feel new things for new people and for fresh hurts to heal.
"I was too," Steve said and boy was he glad for the Pokemon giving him something to look at because it made it a little easier. "But I want you to be happy, you know I do and I don't want to hurt you, not ever."