Chapter Text
“Skye?”
You wish you could say she looks the same as you saw her last, that it feels like it’s been days and not two years, because that would mean you didn’t care enough to notice the slight differences from then and now. The most obvious change, her hair is shorter. Styling choice in clothing is different but still nice. She looks fitter, like she’s been exercising.
But those are still the same eyes you looked into when she climbed up a tree to rescue you. Those are the same hands you held on your first date, the same lips you kissed after you faced your fear of riding the Ferris wheel on that date. That is still the same voice that broke your heart two years ago.
You feel like puking.
“Actually, I go by Daisy now,” Skye says. Or Daisy says. It’s suddenly getting too warm outside. You feel hot in your shirt and your headache decides to turn up several notches. Skye-Daisy is talking but you’re not really hearing anything. Wanda notices your composure and tries to help but when she places a hand on your lower back, you pull away like you’ve been burned.
You see hurt flash across Wanda’s face at you rejecting her touch, but your need to get away trumps apologizing. Daisy is still talking when you cut her off. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”
You move past her without so much as glancing at her. You make your way through the house. You hear voices talking over one another in the kitchen and it doesn’t take a genius to know they were talking about you when it gets silent as you pass by.
You turn to them, they being Laura, Clint, Nat, and the other agent. “Don’t let me interrupt. I’ll be in the shower.”
They watch silently as you make your way up the stairs. Wanda shows up in the kitchen seconds behind, going to chase after you to make sure you are okay but Nat quickly steps in her way. “I think we should let her have a moment alone.”
Wanda is ready to protest, looking over to your cousin for backup, but your cousin agrees with Natasha. Taking into account that your cousin knows you better than anyone, Wanda’s demeanor changes. So instead of chasing after you, she sighs in defeat and heads out the back door, needing a moment herself.
Laura goes to talk to you right after your shower. She finds you in the guest bedroom dressed for the day, putting on your shoes. The sound of the door opening makes you tense up but finding a pregnant belly as your gaze goes from your shoes to the person at the door, you sigh in relief.
“I know it’s your house and all, but knocking is still important. I could have been naked,” you try to joke with a smile, but your cousin sees it doesn’t quite reach your eyes. You know this too when she closes the door and makes her way to sit next to you on the foot of the bed.
You are barely able to get out the tired “Laura” said to tell her you don’t want to talk about it before she interrupts, “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, but I am not a mind reader like Wanda or a super spy like Nat, so it’s going to be really hard to give you advice when I don’t have much to go on. I also think it might help to vent.”
When you don’t say anything, she continues, “Or we could sit in complete silence, dragging it on until it’s painfully awkward.” That gets a snort out of you and a smile out of her. You relent and do as she pleases. Needless to say, Laura is right of course and venting helps you sort through your emotions. She sits through it all without interrupting, although you can see it kills her not getting something in there.
Finally, after wrapping it all up, you relinquish the metaphorical speaking stick to her. “Okay, the floor is yours. Counsel away.”
“Okay, first…” And so it goes back and forth. She asks for clarification on certain things, you do just that, and she gives you her two cents. As draining as the conversation feels, by the end you’re left with a newfound vigor to finally get your shit together. Laura basically just told you what to do next. You have to talk to Skye/Daisy to get closure and move on. Maybe also ask what is up with the name change.
Laura hugs you tightly. Feeling all the love and also a bit squished, you laugh, “Is this the part where you tell me you’re proud of me?”
“Not until you actually do what we just said you would,” she answers, letting you go. She leaves the room with the intention of calling Daisy up to talk to you. She does so, finding her with Bobby, the other agent, in the kitchen along with her husband and his best friend, whilst you run through all the things you want to get off your chest.
“Daisy, Y/N wants to talk to you upstairs,” Laura says, surprising Daisy. From the way things went down outside, Daisy thought her being here would mean you avoiding her completely. You asking to see her was the last thing she expected. She gives Laura a nod in acknowledgement and heads upstairs, trying to shake off the nerves on the way up.
It takes her a minute to find you. Not ever having been upstairs, she practically gives herself the grand tour because of course you’re behind the last door she opens. You give her an awkward smile when she walks into the room, lingering by the door. It takes Daisy a minute to realize neither of you have spoken and have been having some kind of staring contest.
She snaps out of it and focuses on something else. She takes in your entire appearance, damp hair down to the shoes. She breaks the tension with a joke, something you two always had in common. “Still rockin those green tops, I see.”
You look down at your outfit and laugh. Sure enough you are sporting a green shirt like the first time you both met when she was just a stranger helping you down from a tree. You acknowledge her reference to that day with, “I can still rock the tights, too.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Daisy replies, voice sounding almost far away as she recalls that day in her mind. She found you stuck in a tree, fear of heights keeping you from coming down. You wore a green shirt and tights, which is where her nickname “Robin Hood” for you sprung to life. She is brought back to the present at the sound of you clearing your throat.
“I didn’t call you up here to talk about my ageless styling choice though,” you steer the conversation to where you wanted. Daisy follows you to sit on the bed with a “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
“I understand that you couldn’t tell me exactly what you were trying to do, especially now that I see where it lead to, but the way you left, the things you said, whether you meant to or not, made me feel like shit,” you begin.
“I-” Daisy starts, but you stop her, placing a hand on her arm.
“Wait. Let me just finish ‘cause I’ve been holding this in for a while.” At Daisy’s nod you continue, “You left out of the blue. I thought things were going really well. The way you ended things had me believing it was something that I did.”
You take your arm off of Daisy as you feel yourself getting angry. “You didn’t explain anything. You blamed me for deterring you off whatever mission you were on. I never meant to do that if that is true for you. I never asked to be your priority. I was in love with you and you knew that and still you put the blame on me and then left.”
You realize you are raising your voice, so you will yourself to calm down, looking down at Daisy. You don’t know at what point you stood up but you stay standing. “I didn’t deserve that shitty goodbye. I still carry all that with me but I’m tired of the weight. It’s deterring me from taking the path I want to take.”
Daisy’s eyes water. She wears a guilty look on her face and she looks away from you to keep the tears at bay. When you see her try to blink them away you clarify, “I’m not putting it all on you. I know I could have chased after you and demanded an explanation. I could have fought harder. All I am asking for now is closure. You may have left me behind but I could never do that with you. But I really would like to now.”
“Fuck,” Daisy chokes out, failing to keep the tears from falling. You stand there watching her wipe at her face. It takes her a minute to gather the courage to look at you again. She clears the knot in her throat before she speaks. “I never meant to hurt you the way I did. I know it sounds like cliché bullshit, but it’s true. You’re right. What I did was shitty. I am an asshole for leaving the way I did and I regret saying that to you. The thing is, I was falling for you. Time went by so quickly with you and I panicked ‘cause I was starting to forget that the reason I was in the city wasn’t you.”
Daisy stands up and takes your hands in hers. She thinks you’ll pull away but is relieved when you don’t. Her hand feels more calloused. It still feels nice but you note that it doesn’t bring you the feelings it did before. No stomach flipping. No nervous heartbeat. Instead it brings you solace. This was exactly what you needed.
“You were nothing but good to me and I should have given you a better goodbye or like you said, a chance to demand an explanation. I ran away so fast, I didn’t give you that chance. I might be years too late to say this but I really really am sorry. It was a dick move and I should have done better.”
She looks at you in desperation, trying to make you see that she does mean it. When you smile at her and say, “It was the dickiest move, but I’m ready to move on. Thank you for this.”
She breaks out into a smile. “This feels like a hugging moment. Can I hug you?”
You laugh and nod. She pulls you into her and hugs you tight. Being in her arms again feels good. Just like holding her hand, it doesn’t turn you to mush, but you did miss it. You say so as well and without either of you knowing, Wanda catches you right that moment.
Wanda thought she had left you alone long enough and wanted to go check on you, but it seems you are perfectly okay back in the arms of your ex saying how much you missed her holding you. Well you said you missed her hugs but that was the same thing. Wanda can’t believe how quickly she lost her chance the moment Skye or Daisy or whatever appeared at your door.
Wanda rushes downstairs, upset at Daisy, upset at you, but mostly upset at herself for taking so damn long to say something. She wants to scream. Why can’t life give her a goddamn break. Just when she thought it was going well and she had a shot at this, life shoots her down by sending Daisy out of all people to come and quite literally move Wanda away from you.
Whoever arranged the transportation is in for it when she gets back to the compound because there is no way a coincidence like this just happens. Life hates her and if Wanda couldn’t fight life, she sure as hell will make life miserable for whoever made that call.
Upstairs, you pull away from Daisy and then excitedly pull her down to take a seat next to you on the bed. “Okay, so what the hell is up with the name change?”
She fills you in on the main things that happened since you two have seen each other and it leaves you speechless. She basically became a superhero. Then you fill her in on things like how it is that you know the Avengers.
“The name Robin Hood is even more fitting,” she points out after you tell her how you are related to Hawkeye, but you quickly shut that down telling her about how you nearly put an arrow through Spiderman’s head by accident. “Yeah, archery doesn’t seem to be for me. I think we’re all caught up now.”
Daisy gives you a look you read too well. You ask, “What?”
“You know what. Catching up means current things too. Just because we are exes doesn’t mean we can’t talk about relationships. I just told you all about Ward. Now tell me about the brunette who gave me the death stare outside,” Daisy insists.
“It’s not like that,” you try but she laughs. “Please. Don’t think I didn’t catch that you both were coming in from outside and in last night’s clothes.”
“How do you know they were last night’s clothes?” you challenge.
“Robin, I don’t remember any time I caught you outside so early in jeans. We went hiking once and you didn’t even bother to put on leggings. You went in your pjs. Also, the patted down hair, big give away. So spill,” she demands.
You huff. All these SHIELD agents and superheroes were too clever. You tell her about Wanda, but to explain why you didn’t simply just ask Wanda out before, you had to go back to the start. You recount what happened to your romantic life after she had left. She apologizes again in the middle of your retelling. After you finish recounting yesterday’s events, she acknowledges, “Damn, I really messed you up.”
You shove her playfully as she laughs. “No, but we can fix this!”
“What do you mean ‘we’?” you ask, narrowing your eyes in suspicion.
“Look, we both recognize that because of me your love life has been stunted, so I want to help. I am going to help you get the girl,” she replies so confidently, you know you won’t be able to stop her from “helping”.
“She’s leaving today. You are literally here to take her back home. How is that helping?” you sarcastically point out.
“We’re not leaving until tomorrow morning,” she corrects. You dryly laugh, “Gee, so much better.”
“It is. Don’t take time for granted. A lot can happen in a few hours. Trust me.”
You sigh. “Okay, where do we start?”
“First, we need a different outfit. The Robin Hood look is cute, don’t get me wrong, but we need something that will win a girl over,” she begins.
You scoff at her having somewhat offended your style. You mumble, “It won you over didn’t it.”
“Touché. Still though. Where are the rest of your clothes?”
You ask her what the plan is as she digs through your clothes making different outfits in her head. She then turns to you with what others would call a curious expression but you know this is her scheming face. “Do you still suck at bowling?”
You and Daisy ask the others if they’d like to go bowling. Laura, Clint, and Nat decide to stay with the kids. Wanda takes some convincing, which you find unusual. Normally she would be down to go with you anywhere especially if it’s into town. However, some puppy dog eyes and annoying “please, please, please” do the trick.
Before you leave, you do as you were told yesterday and grab some disinfectant wipes. Daisy follows you curiously and when she sees where you are heading, she snorts. You glare at the smirk on her face for guessing accurately about your late night activities with a certain brunette. You two talk about your plan while you clean.
You and Daisy would take your car separately to head to the store to buy Wanda some flowers. Fortunately for once, Wanda decides to ride with Sam, Bobby, Pietro, and Peter in the family car.
You don’t take too long getting the flowers. You know exactly which to get, Wanda having told you her favorite not too long ago. When you park outside the bowling alley, you see the others have already made it. You try to shake off the nerves.
“Should I ask her right away or at the end?” you ask Daisy as you head to the entrance with the flowers in your hand. You’ve never asked anyone out like this before and it is a bit nerve wracking. The only real relationship you could say you’ve been in was with Daisy and she kind of took over the whole asking part.
“Just whenever you have a moment alone with her and it feels right,” she advises, thanking you when you open the door for her.
You stop her before she heads in. “How do I know if it’s the right time?”
“When you start freaking out like ‘shit shit shit. This might be the last chance I get to ask her.’ That’s probably it,” Daisy answers. You head inside and straight over to get bowling shoes.
“Oh, hey! They’re here,” Peter points you and Daisy out to the group from their lane. The group barely glances over at you two. They are too distracted in picking nicknames to put on the screen that keeps tally.
Wanda though doesn’t take her eyes off you, as much as it hurts to see you giving Daisy some flowers and then her putting them aside after you put on your shoes to fix your hair. You have your back turned to Wanda so she can’t try to guess what you were saying that had Daisy grinning like that. Then you and Daisy are leaning in and she has to turn away then, no longer being able to watch.
“Okay, breath is fresh,” Daisy says after having asked you to do a breath check. “Hair looks good. Outfit is better. You look great! How are you feeling? The only answer I’ll take is confident.”
“Well if it’s the only answer you’ll take,” you quip, trying to hide the nerves but she sees right through it.
“You are gonna be just fine.” She grabs the flowers and hands them back to you. “Chin up. Back straight. Confidence is key. Let’s go bowl.”
The first twenty minutes, you try to find a moment with Wanda but it does not happen. You haven’t even gotten a word other than “hi” in and that didn’t count because that was in greeting to the whole group. You planned to sit with her but she was already between her brother and Bobby.
It’s also hard to try to get her attention when she hasn’t spared a glance your way. You almost feel like she is actively avoiding your gaze. You definitely have a right to think she might be avoiding you entirely when you ask Wanda if she could help you go get everyone’s drinks after having offered to get them and she says her turn is up next. Instead Peter goes with you.
Pietro frowns at Wanda, wondering why she was in a mood. His first thought is maybe she was jealous but that wasn’t it. She would have been all over you if that was the case like yesterday. She’s acting more broody than anything, reminding him of when Vision broke up with her.
Wanda is getting a bowling ball and Pietro decides to confront her then, standing with his back turned to the group so they can’t hear him as he speaks in a hushed tone, “Why are you acting like this with Y/N? Did you two break up already or what?”
“We’d have to have dated to break up,” she grumbles, grabbing her bowling ball and leaving Pietro standing to take her turn. He wasn’t done talking to her though so after she gets a strike, he walks up to her. Before he’s able to ask any further questions, someone in the other lane calls their attention.
“Wanda? I thought that was you.” A handsome guy Pietro knows he has seen before walks up to them. When Wanda doesn’t say anything, Pietro knowing it’s because she is having trouble placing him as well, the handsome guy continues, “It’s me. Adam. From the fair. We danced together.”
“Yes! Adam. I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you without the hat,” Wanda lies. Truth is she wasn’t paying enough attention to him that night to be able to recognize him if he had been wearing the same outfit.
He laughs in a charming manner. “Sadly, the hat stayed home tonight. I’m beginning to think I should have brought it tonight. I’m getting absolutely creamed at bowling and if the hat was lucky enough to get me a dance with you, I might have been beating everybody in my group.”
Wanda just smiles politely while her brother stands there awkwardly. Adam suddenly remembers his manners seeing Pietro there. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Adam.”
The rest of the group is just watching it happen. Daisy more so with interest wondering if this handsome stranger is going to be a problem. With the way he was staring at Wanda, she assumes he will be after hearing Wanda laugh at something he says. She hopes you hurry up with the drinks.
As the worker puts the last of the drinks on two trays for you and Peter to carry back to your group, you ask Peter, “Is Wanda mad at me or something?”
“I don’t think so? Why?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like she’s avoiding me. I’m probably just letting the nerves get to my head. Thanks,” you say the last part to the worker. You and Peter head back.
“Why would you be nervous?” He asks curiously.
You have no reason to keep it to yourself so you tell him, “I’m planning on asking Wanda out and I’m just jittery.”
He turns around swiftly, looking excited, “Oh my gosh! I was low key rooting for this to happen.”
“You think she’ll say yes?”
“I’ve heard her say yes in like all contexts to you. I actually don’t think I’ve ever heard her say no to you,” he jokes. It kind of leaves you speechless in an impressed kind of way. This is the first time you’ve heard him make a somewhat dirty joke. He reads your expression wrong thinking he might have gone too far and he immediately apologizes. “Sorry, that was inappropriate. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
You ease his mind when you start laughing. “No, that was a good one. You’re lucky I’m carrying this tray cause that was an arm punch or flick to the forehead kind of joke,” you proclaim. Then it dawns on you. “Oh, god. She’s rubbing off on me.”
Peter laughs as you make your way back. It’s Peter’s turn so he leaves you to give everyone their drinks. You notice Wanda wasn’t there. “Did Wanda go to the restroom or something?”
“Or something.” Pietro nods his head over to the other lane where you see Wanda sitting next to a handsome guy. It’s the Brad-looking guy you compared to Steve Rogers at the fair. You had to be sure though. “Is that?”
“The guy from the fair,” he affirms. “He needed a partner and asked her. So now she’s playing over there but I get her turns she said.”
You sigh in defeat as you sit next to Daisy. Knowing you are frustrated at your luck, she shakes your arm, “Chin up, Robin Hood. You’ll just give them to her afterwards.”
Sam overhears, of course. “Is that who those are for?” He points at the flowers. “Ooh, that’s cute. You gonna ask her to be your giiiirrrlfrieeeend?”
You try not to but you blush at his teasing. “Shut up.”
“Aww,” Sam continues to bug you, but Bobby helps you out, nudging him to be quiet before she stands. It’s her turn after Peter. She picks out her bowling ball and says to you, “The flowers are a nice touch.”
That makes you feel better. When it’s your turn, you look to the other lane and see that it’s also Captain Westview’s turn as well. You courteously let him roll first. He gets a spare. You’re up and you pray to the lord that you don’t embarrass yourself.
Much to your surprise and everyone who was watching including Wanda you get a strike. You can’t help the cocky smirk you send over to the county fair guy. He just nods at you, impressed by your roll. It shouldn’t make you upset that he doesn’t have a fragile masculinity because obviously the world needs less of it but damn you really hoped he did so you could wipe the smile off his face.
It’s Daisy’s turn up and she gives you a high five. “Damn, Robin. Where were those moves whenever we’d gone bowling? I vividly remember you still missing all the pins even while using bumpers that are specifically for that not to happen.”
You laugh and roll your eyes. She rolls her ball and it hits three pins. You joke, “I remember you being way better or was that the effects of the so called rose-colored-lenses?”
Wanda hears you giggling with Daisy and she knows it’s petty and childish what she does next. She knows but she doesn’t care at the moment. Daisy goes for a spare and it seems like she’s going to get it. Two final pins wobble enough that you know they’re going to fall.
Daisy turns to you knowing this as well, “You were saying?”
But the pins oddly never fall down. You are both confused but you just laugh it off as Daisy just pushes you away. “Shut up. You’re just bad luck. I totally had that.”
“Sure you did.”
Pietro goes up and you see that it’s also Wanda’s turn in the other lane. You pay attention to her and mentally cheer for her when she gets a spare. Country boy over there cheers loudly on the other hand. He gives Wanda a hug when she goes to sit down next to him. You huff out in annoyance. Wanda sees this from her peripheral vision and feels kind of satisfied by your reaction. Let’s see how you like it, she thinks.
For the next few turns you try your best not to look over to the other lane cause it seems like every time you do, you just see Fair guy flirting with Wanda and her happily letting him shower her with attention.
Instead, you talk to Daisy, her telling you some incredible things about missions she’s been on. There are details she can’t disclose but even so she words things in ways you can easily guess what she may not say. Her stories are working in distracting you so well that you don’t notice how Wanda keeps looking over to see if you are looking her way in return.
Wanda is annoyed to see you’re not paying her attention anymore. Her childish behavior goes up two notches when Daisy goes to take a drink and Wanda uses her powers to have the soda “accidentally” soak her shirt. It doesn’t go in Wanda’s favor though when you accompany Daisy back to the car where you had a spare shirt of yours for her to wear.
When it’s your turn, you let the cowboy go first again. This time you notice that his ball curves at the last second to make a strike. He cheers loudly. “Wanda, did you see that? Maybe you’re my lucky charm?”
Oh, he thinks he’s so smooth. You try to ignore it all and focus on your roll. You step forward, swing your arm, and release the ball at the perfect angle to make another strike, which is why it confounds you when it defies all logic and the ball rolls at a 90 degree angle in the middle of the lane, sending it right into the gutter.
You have a feeling of deja vu. With a vague clue as to what may be happening, you go for your second roll and pay close attention to the ball when it’s rolling. You see the tiniest wisp of a red hue push the ball, sending it to the gutter once more.
Now you know for sure it’s Wanda messing with your game, but you don’t know why. You turn to look at her while Mister County Fair is talking her ear off. Wanda knows you caught what she did and she tries to play it like you didn’t just catch her stare.
Daisy goes up to roll but you keep staring at Wanda until you hear, “Finally! Took long enough. Did you see that?”
Apparently, Daisy made a strike. Is it a coincidence she finally makes one while all your attention is on Wanda ensuring that she doesn’t use her magic? Could be but not likely.
Now you are kind of ticked. Jealous Wanda yesterday you could handle. A Wanda that’s all over you, demanding your attention is fine. You can do that. You’ll give her that. But this, playing games once she already has your attention is something else. You didn’t like it.
Sensing your grumpiness, Daisy asks, “Are you okay?”
You both take your previous seats. You start second guessing asking her out and you let Daisy know this. “I’ve tried and it didn’t work. I don’t see why it would work now.”
“Did the words ‘Will you go out with me?’ ever come out of your mouth?” she asks and when you shake your head she reprimands you. “See! You never actually asked her out. What was that saying from the movies you love? ‘Do or do not…’”
She has you finish the phrase, “there is no try.” You huff, knowing she was right. Those words never actually came out of your mouth as much as you wanted them to. You gave up way too easily that night.
Not tonight though. You’ll make sure Wanda hears what you have to say. You just have to wait until she’s done playing whatever she’s playing at flirting with Fair guy while not so subtly looking your way.
Ten minutes later, Fair guy’s group is gathering their things ready to leave. You are sitting in your seat with arms crossed watching him bid Wanda adieu. You roll your eyes when he flashes her a smile before taking her hand and kissing the top of her knuckles with a “I hope to see you again.”
Wanda heads back to your group. She’s annoyed you’re not looking her way after Pietro acknowledges her return. Instead you decide staring at your empty cup is more worthwhile than meeting her gaze. She dramatically sighs as she sits next to her brother.
“Wasn’t he dreamy?” she asks the group but you feel her eyes linger on you longer than the rest.
You shouldn’t but you can’t help your sarcastic reply, “Yeah, nearly put us all to sleep with that kiss on the hand.”
You hear Pietro and Sam snicker which puts a little smile on your face. Daisy next to you nudges your leg with her knee that you’ve always known to mean to cut it out. When you look at her, she confirms it when she mouths, “Don’t,” as a warning not to start anything, but it’s too late for that because Wanda has things to say as well. “It may be a little old fashioned but not everyone can work as fast as you, Y/N. Some people like to take their time.”
That gets you to finally look at Wanda. Daisy beside you sighs in defeat, knowing how you always have something to say back. Most times it’s witty and makes her laugh but sometimes it can be defensive. Either way, she knows you take it as a challenge, needing to get the last word.
“I haven’t gotten any complaints yet. In fact I recall going just at the right speed. Half the people in this group could probably attest to that,” you shoot back at her.
Peter’s face flushes pink, Sam nods his head, Pietro scrunches his face, and Daisy and Bobby are confused but intrigued by that comment. Wanda just gets upset. “Maybe you don’t give people enough time to form a complaint because by the time they have something to complain about you are already on to the next.”
She then turns to Daisy who looks a little spooked to be in the line of fire. “Good luck trying to get a word in with Y/N, Daisy. Communication isn’t her strong suit.”
Daisy and you look at Wanda in confusion. Daisy asks, “What are you talking about?”, at the same time you ask, “Why are you acting like this?”
“Acting like what?” Wanda leans back with jaw clenched and arms crossed, staring at you with an arched eyebrow. She’s daring you to say something, but it’s Sam who coughs out, “Like a jealous girlfriend,” under his breath before going to take a sip of his drink.
Wanda replies, “Well, that’s not possible. We all know Y/N doesn’t do relationships. A pity really. It seems like she would make a great one, but all she knows is how to entertain someone for a few days and move on to the next.”
“Wanda,” you warn her, feeling your body tense up. Her brother puts a hand on her shoulder as if to stop her from speaking as if that would stop her. She simply shrugs his hand off of her.
“She’s really good at making you feel special, saying how you’re not like anyone else and how she doesn’t want to break your heart, but let me warn you, once she has it, she’ll discard it like all the others. Who knows, maybe you are special.” She looks at Daisy once more, continuing, “I mean, flowers! Wow.”
“Wan-” Daisy tries to clarify that the flowers were not for her but Wanda is on a roll not wasting a breath and not bothering to glance back at you. Maybe if she did she would see the tears forming in your eyes like everyone else seems to be noticing and maybe she would stop. She didn’t.
“She told me they were too cliche for her liking. I mean it makes sense. You were her first, so you get flowers. Meanwhile, I get a fucking key ring. But hey no complaints, cause if Y/N is anything, she’s a person of her word. You ask for a distraction and she provides all too well with a good fuck. Just don’t expect anything more.”
“Fuck this,” you spit out. You have Wanda’s attention again but you are avoiding looking at her. You stand up and grab your stuff to leave. Wanda gets up from her seat as well as you ask Daisy through unsteady breaths, “Can you drive me back?”
Daisy looks at you sympathetically and nods, understanding you might not be fit to drive yourself home and she wouldn’t want to leave you alone after this either. She follows close behind you. You shove the flowers to Wanda’s chest when you two pass by her.
Wanda looks at them confused and then at your retreating form. “What? Were the flowers not up to standard for her? They look perfect to me.”
You turn around and Wanda can finally see the tears in your eyes. She feels a pang of guilt in her stomach for upsetting you so much you were ready to cry.
Daisy was right earlier. You always do fight for the last word. Your voice cracks when you say, “I’m glad you like them. They were for you.”
A tear slips from your eye and you have to turn around quickly in order to not let the others see the waterworks, but Wanda saw it fall. She’s still confused and trying to wrap her head around what you just said. When you and Daisy are out the door, she turns around to find her brother shaking his head in disappointment and everyone else looking very uncomfortable.
Peter decides to speak up and explains, “Daisy and Y/N aren’t together.”
“What?” Wanda asks for further clarification because none of this was making sense to what she had set in her mind.
“Y/N was planning to ask you out tonight. She was waiting for you to finish your game with the other group,” he answers. Instant regret.
“Shit,” Wanda closes her eyes and internally yells in frustration. Why hadn’t she let you talk? If she had just let you-
“Fuck!” she takes off running, trying to reach you before you leave but when she storms out the doors and searches the street, she doesn’t see your car. She screams out loud this time. “Ahh!”
“Sorry, miss.”
She jumps, startled by an employee who followed her out. “You can’t take the shoes with you.”
She stares at him confused and then looks at her feet. Sure enough she’s got the silly bowling shoes on. She follows the employee back inside and trades the shoes for the ones she actually owns. She doesn’t go back to the group though. She texts her brother that she needed to go for a walk.
She wanders around a few blocks. Random people stare at her and she wonders why but then realizes they’re probably curious as to why she is just walking around carrying flowers. She forgot she still had them. She comes across a familiar street. Her feet guide her to one of the first places you had taken her.
She opens the door to the ice cream parlor and sees Tanya is working today. Tanya takes a break from wiping the counter at the sound of someone walking in and greets them.
She’s pleasantly surprised to find Wanda in her store once more. “Hello, Wanda. Are those for me?” she teases, seeing the flowers in Wanda’s hand but upon noticing Wanda’s distraught face, she stops. “What’s wrong?”
She motions for Wanda to sit and leaves the counter to sit across from her. She continues her questioning trying to guess what happened. “Were those for Y/N? Don’t take it too hard. She’s just not one for flowers, hun.”
“No, um, she got them for me,” Wanda answers quietly.
“That’s sweet and not like her at all. She must really like you. You know, last year she made me this twizzler bouquet with ring pops on the ends. It fell apart the moment she handed it to me,” Tanya laughs, remembering the funniest present she got for her birthday last summer. “All because regular flowers were too overdone for her.”
Wanda smiles at the story but hearing someone else verify that her giving you flowers was something special just reminds her of how she messed up. Tanya sees Wanda revert back to her previous demeanor and asks, “So what happened?”
Wanda gives Tanya the basic rundown of the situation she found herself in. She got out of a relationship, followed her brother/friends here to distract herself, found you, found she really likes you, got involved, misread everything when your ex returned, made a scene hurting your feelings, and is now here regretting wasting the last few hours trying to make you jealous when she could have just spent them having fun with you before she had to leave in the morning. Oh, yeah. Also, she has to leave in the morning.
“Wow.” Tanya is left speechless.
“Yep,” Wanda responds curtly. She feels miserable. She could only imagine how you feel after she just took everything you were insecure about and shoved it in your face in front of everyone. You’re probably crying on Daisy’s shoulder or telling Nat and Laura what happened. Oh god, they probably hate her. You probably hate her now. She wouldn’t blame you if you did but she hopes that’s not the case.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. You really messed up, Wanda,” Tanya puts it bluntly. Wanda’s bottom lip begins to quiver. She knew this already. Her brother’s face said so, but hearing it from someone who’s known you longer and is basing their response on just what Wanda told, it’s hard to hear.
Tanya is a bit upset at Wanda. For the time that Tanya has known you, you have been nothing but a jovial spirit. The only time she’s ever seen you cry was from laughing too hard. You were far from a saint. It’s hard not to hear the rumors that run about you and she knows various of those rumors were true. She’s not blind to the fact that you have made mistakes, but you were a good person. Tanya’s sure about that.
Therefore having someone she’s met twice tell her she hurt you and made you cry is a weird position to be in. She wants to tell Wanda off for doing such a thing but seeing the state Wanda is in, she can tell Wanda hurting you was the last thing she wanted to do. Tanya has seen you around with plenty of others who looked at you just like Wanda had the first time she stepped foot in the parlor, but she’s never seen you look back at them the way you do at Wanda.
And the flowers! That was definitely a first and she would hate it to be the last. So, here she has two heartbroken girls who are in this situation because of lack of communication. Tanya takes pity on Wanda, seeing her wipe a tear that spilled and rolled down her cheek.
“So you have to fix it,” Tanya added.
Wanda looks at her, helpless. “How do I do that? She probably hates me.”
“You tell her why you felt the need to say what you did. You explain yourself. You tell her everything. You talk and then you let her talk. No saying things you don’t mean. Say everything you do,” Tanya suggests. Wanda nods but Tanya still asks, “You got it?”
Wanda sniffles and nods once more but confirms it out loud, “I got it.”
“Good. Now wipe those tears. No one wants to see someone crying at an ice cream shop. It’s depressing,” Tanya teases, going back to work. Wanda lets out a little chuckle as she does as she’s told. She takes a deep breath, trying to pick herself up before heading out the door with the plan to head back and do just like Tanya suggested and say everything she actually meant to say.
Her phone rings as she’s walking back to the bowling alley. She picks up the call without looking at the caller ID knowing it was her brother by the custom ringtone. She answers without a greeting. “I’m heading back already, Piet. Don’t worry.”
“Where are you? We’ll pick you up.” Pietro’s voice sounds rushed.
“I’m like a block away. I can walk,” Wanda says, wondering why Pietro is in a hurry to go back to Clint’s.
“Daisy called Bobby. We have to go to the hospital,” Pietro replies.
Wanda’s heart drops. She imagines the worst and begins to panic. “What happened?”
Pietro doesn’t answer and it just freaks her out further. She raises her voice, “Pietro! What happened? Piet?”
She hears a faint, “There she is,” before a car pulls up next to her on the sidewalk. Pietro pops his head out of the passenger seat window and says, “Get in.”
Wanda practically jumps into the back seat with Peter and Sam.
“What happened? Is Y/N okay? Tell me she’s okay. What happened?” she demanded answers.
“Woah, calm down. Y/N’s fine,” Sam assures her. Wanda looks at him confused. “Then why are we rushing to the hospital? Why did Daisy call Bobby?”
“Daisy only has Bobby’s number,” Pietro half explains.
“Will someone just tell me what is going on?” Wanda yells, frustrated at not getting a straight answer.
“Laura is having her baby right now!” Peter shouts excitedly. Wanda lets out a sigh of relief at the news. Then she angrily shoves the back of her brother’s head. “Asshole!”
“Hey! What did I do?” Pietro turns around to hear Wanda’s response.
“You made me think something bad happened! I thought Y/N was hurt,” Wanda exclaims.
“Why did you think that?” Pietro asks. Wanda rolls her eyes at her brother, thinking it was obvious, but tells him anyway. “We are rushing to the hospital and you mentioned Daisy calling out of everyone. You realize we don’t have to rush to the hospital, right? Unless we had Laura in the car with us. It could take hours until the baby is actually here.”
“What? No,” Pietro rejects the idea but looking around the car he sees his sister might be right. Now he is unsure. “Really?”
He doesn’t take Sam or Peter’s word for it because they could be messing with him but Bobby nods so he’s convinced and a bit disappointed the baby won’t already be born by the time they arrive at the hospital. “Oh.”
The day feels so long and it just got longer for you. You currently rest your head on your ex’s shoulder as you sit in the waiting room of the hospital since life decided to make this day more memorable by making your cousin have her baby right after your crush figuratively punched you in the heart because they thought you were back together with your ex that showed up out of the blue.
Needless to say, you are exhausted. Anyone who takes one good look at you could see that with your red puffy eyes and your slumped body. You would think if anyone saw you this way they would turn the other way and leave you alone but Wanda isn’t just anyone it seems because when she sees you she heads right your way with very little hesitation.
Fortunately for you Nat steps in front of her. You hear her turn Wanda away from you with a “Not now, Wanda”, disappointment evident in her tone. Wanda turns around defeatedly and sits in the empty seat next to her brother.
The hours go by slowly. Cooper and Lila fall asleep on Nat, their heads on her lap. You do your best to ignore Wanda. She practically stares at you the whole time and you can’t bear to see the hopeful glint in her eyes when you catch her eyes only to see her frown from your peripheral vision when you turn away.
You also can’t stand the guilty face she sports the whole time. You can see she feels bad about making you cry or maybe saying what she did but if she thinks she can just pull a pouty face and all is forgiven, then she is sorely mistaken.
And what you absolutely can’t take is that all you want to do is go over there and hold her. You want to wipe the sadness away as if it’s your fault it’s there. It’s not. It’s hers. You hate to know you could go over there and say all the right things to make her smile again, but that wouldn’t really fix anything. It wouldn’t take away that she said what she did.
Is this how Wanda felt when Vision said what he did? It sucked. Before you can think too deeply about it, Clint comes to tell you that baby Nathaniel is here giving you some joy for what’s been a rather crappy evening.
You all go pay the baby and your cousin a quick visit before leaving to let your cousin rest. Wanda wants to talk to you but thinks maybe she should wait until you are all home as it could turn into a public dispute in the parking lot of the hospital.
Bobby gets Wanda and the boys back sooner than Nat, much to Wanda’s favor. She waits outside the house for you to arrive. Everyone else heads in ready to pack their things and sleep. You hesitate to walk up to the house seeing Wanda waiting there for you but you know there was no way out of this. Wanda is determined to talk to you.
Nat doesn’t say anything to Wanda this time. She does however give her a pointed look as to say ‘don’t mess this up any further’. Wanda gives her a nod in understanding. Daisy asks if you’ll be okay or if you need her to tell Wanda to back off. You give her a grateful smile but tell her you need to talk.
They leave you alone taking Cooper and Lila with them. You stay standing by the car, watching them head into the house. Right when she hears the sound of the door closing, she walks to you, apology immediately falling from her lips.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean it. Any of it,” she pleads, looking at you with sorry green eyes.
“Then why did you say it?” You curse yourself for your voice immediately breaking, the sound of you getting choked up all over again. Wanda hates the sound. She doesn’t want to hear it again, especially when she knows it’s her fault.
“I let my insecurities get in the way and I used yours against you because I wanted you to feel the way I was feeling and it was wrong and I am so sorry,” she apologizes again, stepping closer to you.
“I thought you weren’t an insecure person,” you comment, remembering the conversation about said insecurities last night. It seems so long ago, but like you mentioned, it’s been a long day.
“We both know why I said that.”
“Do we?” you push.
“Look, okay. I was jealous yesterday and today…,” Wanda sighs, finding it hard to continue. But you press, “Today, what, Wanda?”
“Last night, you told me things might have gone differently with Daisy had you been someone she could lean on, someone she could talk to not just for you to make her laugh but also be her shoulder to cry on. I realized that you do all this with me. You are all those things for me. You aren’t just a distraction to me.”
“Then why did-” you start but knowing how that sentence finishes, she cuts in, “Because I was hurt, Y/N. Today I was going to finally come clean about how I really feel about you and about this whole thing we’ve been doing but then Daisy showed up and then when I went to talk to you, to check on you, I saw you with her in her arms and I misread it. I thought you let her back in and tossed me aside without a second thought. There was just so much I wanted to say to you and I said all the wrong things, things I didn’t mean and I regret it. I only said it ‘cause I was hurt. Please believe me.”
And you do. Maybe because Wanda looks two seconds from literally begging on her knees and five away from breaking down in tears.
“Okay,” you say.
Wanda doesn’t think she heard correctly, but she hopes she does. “Okay?”
“Yeah, I believe you,” you clarify. Wanda still looks like she’s about to cry for a different reason now. She is beyond relieved to hear you say that, but she still has to make sure you two are okay.
“So you don’t hate me? We’re okay?” She builds up the nerve to ask.
“Yes,” you answer. Wanda’s heart drops and she guesses her face shows it because then you are correcting yourself in a rush, “No, I meant ‘Yes, we’re okay.’ I don’t hate you. Sorry, I should have stuck to the order you asked.”
“Jerk. You scared me,” she replies, smacking your arm, going back to her usual behavior. You roll your eyes and remind her, “I knew it was too good to be true. Do I have to remind you of the rules?”
“I never agreed to that rule. I remember saying no to that,” she recalls and giggles when you say, “Damn it. You did.”
“Even if I had, those rules were for when we decided to be friends,” she reminds you, steering the conversation to where she meant to this morning. “I don’t believe they apply to us anymore.”
“They don’t? Are you saying we’re not friends anymore? I thought I was the one that was wronged here and it’s you who doesn’t want to be friends?” you tease her, feigning ignorance to the significance of what she said. However, she doesn’t want to play around now.
“Y/N, I’m being serious,” she stresses, stopping you from turning this into another night gone with things left unsaid. “I really like you and I don’t want to be your friend. I want more, officially, not just what we’ve been doing. I don’t want to correct people when they assume we are together. I want to tell them they’re right, that you are mine.”
“Wanda, I-” Your brain freezes. This is what you’ve wanted. She basically gave you the speech you were meaning to give her earlier and here you are frozen, words caught in your throat. You are panicking because suddenly it becomes too real. You are getting exactly what you want. It’s literally happening for you, but of course this is when all the doubts flood in.
“Wanda, I can’t.”
Self-sabotage is a bitch.
She looks at you confused and frustrated. Peter and the others confirmed that you, not a few hours ago, were going to ask her out. What happened?
“Are you serious?” Wanda is mad, rightfully so. All this push and pull and when it’s all finally in place, you want to ruin it and start this tug of war again and she’s tired.
“Wanda, you are leaving in a few hours. Everyone is literally packing to go right now,” you begin.
“And you’ll leave by the end of summer to go back to school. So what?” Wanda argues.
“We would be thousands of miles away from one another,” you reply but she counters sarcastically with, “There’s this thing called a phone, Y/N. It’s really neat.”
“I’ll be busy here with my cousin and her baby and then with school and you’ll be busy saving the world. There wouldn’t be any time,” you try pathetically.
“I know I’ve never gone to college, but I’m pretty sure they give you breaks from school. And does it look like I’m saving the world right now? I have moments too. I know you don’t like heights so I fly to you. I could visit you here or in California.”
“Wanda,” is all you say as you’ve run out of excuses.
“Why are you suddenly against this? You were going to ask me earlier. Peter told me.” She waits for you to answer but you have none for her. She resigns, “Look, if you’re afraid of commitment, just say so. There is no need to make all these excuses. That’s what it is, isn’t it? You’re afraid someone will walk out on you again.”
She hit the mark and you can’t help but bite back, “Why don’t you admit you’re only fighting this hard because you are afraid of ending up alone?”
Wanda sucks in a breath. “That’s not fair.”
You’re stubborn. You keep pushing, “Isn’t it? You said it yourself. You came here for a distraction and there I was, distracting you from feeling so damn lonely after the one person who paid you any mind decided it was better to be alone. Maybe he has the right idea. Have a safe flight back.”
A long moment passes in which she stares hard at you wondering if you were seriously doing this. Seeing there is no change and you are not going to say anything else, she scoffs, shaking her head at you, “Fine. Have it your way.”
With that, she does a 180 and leaves you outside. You’re shaky and don’t know how to calm down. You kick a rock in frustration to release some of the pent up frustration before heading inside. It hits Nat’s car, but not hearing the alarm go off, you don’t give it a second glance. You’re too in your head to care.
You head inside to go to sleep but you can’t. You spend hours tiring your mind trying to process everything until finally around 4 in the morning, the exhaustion takes over. Cooper is the one to wake you up by poking you.
“Stop that,” you command but clearly you have no authority in this house, feeling him keep prodding at your side. You peek to see who is poking you. “Cooper.”
“Auntie Nat says to get up,” Cooper explains.
“Well, Auntie Nat can go-”
“I can go, what?” Nat’s voice comes from the other side of the couch. You immediately shut up. Nat has authority it seems.
“Nothing,” you rush, sitting up. She smirks and you glare at her. You notice the sun is bright out. “What time is it?”
“It’s ten,” she responds, coming around to sit on the other couch with a coffee mug in her hand. She sends Cooper to tell his sister to get ready to go to the hospital to see their parents and new sibling. You look at her, surprised.
“What? No exercise today?”
She shrugs, “You had a long day yesterday. Figured you needed a break.”
“Got that right. Where is everyone else?” you ask, not hearing the additional voices that grace your ears around this time of the day.
“It seems you really did need that sleep. You didn’t hear them leave this morning?”
“They left?” You’re sad to hear this. You knew they’d leave early but you figured they’d wake you to say goodbye. You had hoped that despite last night, Wanda would say goodbye before they left.
She notices your disheartened state and teases, “What? Wanda didn’t say goodbye? Trouble in paradise already?”
“Haha. Very funny,” you mumble, in fact not finding it funny.
“What? Don’t tell me you won’t let me tease just because she’s your girlfriend now,” she taunts. You're confused and she catches your expression quickly. Hers changes just as fast from teasing to irritated. She rephrases, “Don’t tell me you won’t let me tease because she’s not your girlfriend.”
You sigh, affirming with a nod and then she goes off on you. “Are you fucking serious, Y/N? What happened?”
She looks almost as angry as when she caught you and her sister. You gulp nervously and answer all her questions like you are being interrogated by an officer. When you finish, she shakes her head at you disappointedly. “You’re an idiot, Y/N. You literally did what Wanda did to you at the bowling alley. You let your insecurities get the best of you.”
You realize she’s right. “I know.”
“So?” She asks you.
You stare at her confused at what else she wants you to say. You already said she was right. What else is there to say? “So what?”
“So, are you going to sit here and mope about it all summer or are you going to take accountability like I thought you were beginning to do? Or was that just a one week free trial type of thing?” Nat quips, waiting for your answer.
“I’m gonna call her,” you decide. Nat seems satisfied with that response. She leaves you to do that and goes to check on the kids.
You try calling Wanda but she won’t answer your calls. You then go to call Pietro but then realize you don’t have his number nor Sam’s. You begin to panic but fortunately you find that Daisy left a note beside you that read “don’t be a stranger” followed by her phone number.
Not to be a bad person, but you really hope Daisy still feels guilty for leaving you because you needed a big favor. Fortunately for you, she does.
You hear the familiar screech that awoke you yesterday and you know she’s arrived. Grabbing your phone and wallet, you run outside to see Daisy waiting for you outside of the jet.
You look at her impressed. “How did you convince them to let you come and get me?”
“Great things happen when you believe you can do it,” she says unconvincingly.
“You totally snuck this out, didn’t you?” You don’t bother waiting for a response although you do get a “duh”. You climb aboard, sitting copilot. Daisy laughs nervously, “If we’re quick, they won’t even notice it was gone.”
You both put on your seat belts and Daisy revs up the engine. As it begins to lift up, you begin to get nervous. Your palms begin to sweat and try your best to avoid looking out the window but it’s inevitable. When you do, you feel like throwing up.
“Here,” Daisy hands you a pill to help. You thank her. She jokes, “Hey, if anything, you are already making great progress today. Look at you facing your fears.”
You joke whilst shutting your eyes. “Yeah and this time you are actually here for it.”
She laughs knowing you were referring to the time she made you face your fear of heights on a smaller level by riding a Ferris wheel by yourself. “Hey! That was only one time. I rode the roller coasters with you, remember? So think of this like that.”
You know she’s trying to make you feel better but that comment does not settle well. You remember this is only like her third time flying the jet. “Oh god. We’re gonna die.”
You knock out five minutes later. You are in deep sleep but no sleep is deep enough for the rough landing that springs you awake. Daisy turns to you with a sheepish smile, “Sorry. Still working on it.”
“Where are we? Are we at the compound?” You ask.
“We are where I borrowed the jet. So not the compound. But that isn’t too far from here. We’ll just need a ride. Do you know anyone in New York? Maybe they have a car we could borr-oh no.” Daisy doesn’t finish her sentence, getting distracted by something outside of the jet. You look out the window and see an unamused Bobby glaring at both of you.
“I think they noticed,” you comment.
“Just smile and wave,” Daisy instructs and you do awkwardly. You’re still afraid to get in trouble.
“She’s kind of scary,” you add.
“You’re lucky it was Bobby and not Melinda May,” Daisy replies with a snort. That gives you an idea.
“I do know someone! Peter and his aunt,” you exclaim, but then you remember you don’t actually have a way of contacting them. Why hadn’t you asked for anyone’s number? Oh, yeah, you were too busy with Wanda. “But I don’t have his number.”
“But I do! Here, call him and see if he’s got a car we can use.” She hands you her phone already opened to his contact info. She unbuckles and gets up. “I’ll be back,” she says, looking outside at Bobby who looks irked. She looks back at you and continues, “Maybe.”
She leaves to go deal with Bobby and the consequences of borrowing an aircraft without anyone’s knowledge while you ask Peter for a ride. He tells you he doesn’t but he can get one. You give him the address and wait outside by the gates. Daisy joins you 15 minutes later.
“How much trouble are you in?” You ask worriedly.
She shrugs. “Not too much. I explained that I was helping you and that I was making up for my mistakes like a decent person does and she was pretty cool about it.”
You narrow your eyes in suspicion, not believing her entirely. You conclude, “You gave her the eyes, didn’t you?”
“Totally gave her the eyes.”
“Works every time,” you laugh.
Another 15 minutes pass when a town car stops in front of the both of you. The back window rolls down and an excited Peter appears. He has someone else in the car too. “Hey, guys! I hope you don’t mind. I brought my friend Ned. He wanted to see the compound.”
“It’s cool,” you say as you and Daisy get in. You take the front seat and introduce yourself to the driver. “Hi, I’m Y/N. Thank you for driving us.”
“Happy,” he says.
Not knowing that’s what he goes by, you ask, “So what’s your name?”
Peter answers for him. “That’s his name. Happy.”
You smile sheepishly at your mistake and apologize. You decide to stay quiet before you say something wrong and embarrass yourself further. You hear Daisy ask, “Why are you carrying a guitar?”
You crane your neck to see that Ned has a guitar in his lap. He explains, “I’m in a band.”
You can tell he’s trying to impress Daisy and you try not to laugh at Daisy’s awkward smile. Peter does laugh but because of what he said. He corrects him, “You’re in band.”
You snort when Ned whispers trying to be discreet, “Shut up, Peter.”
Everyone hears it.
When you guys make it to the compound, they ask what your plan is. You tell them you are just going to talk to her and apologize, maybe even pull out the puppy dog eyes.
“You are going to need a lot more than the eyes, Robin.”
“Okay, what am I supposed to do then? Grand romantic gesture. Write ‘I’m sorry’ in the sky?” You ask sarcastically.
Daisy thinks for a moment. She looks around the car to find something that will inspire an idea and then her eyes settle on the guitar. She gets an idea and looks back at you. You know what she’s thinking and you know Wanda would love it but you can’t help cringe at the thought.
“No,” you shake your head.
“Yes,” she nods her head.
And so you find yourself under a window you hope is Wanda’s. Peter guesses it’s her window but he isn’t too sure. He hasn’t been to the compound that many times, so really it’s anyone’s guess but for sure it is the right building.
You and the others including Happy who said he couldn’t miss out begin to plan it out. You ask Ned what songs he can play and he doesn’t give you a big list. Really the only ones you knew from the list were Hey There, Delilah and Wonderwall, but you refuse to sing those.
“Those are my only choices?”
“Um, I also know ‘What Makes You Beautiful’,” he mentions, almost embarrassed.
“Fuck it. Let’s do it before I chicken out,” you concede.
He begins playing but you hesitate to begin singing until Daisy nudges you. You get to the chorus, but Wanda still hasn’t peeked out her window.
“Maybe you have to sing louder?” Daisy suggests. You sing the next verse as loud as you can but it’s to no avail. You look at Daisy for help and she gets everyone to sing. Maybe it’s because you are too nervous to actually be aware of how you sound, but you start to think that all together you don’t sing too badly. Daisy is definitely carrying the weight of the melody. You try your best to follow.
Your hopes diminish by the end of the song. Wanda hasn’t bothered to look outside. Was she that upset at you that even the shock of hearing you outside her window isn’t enough for her to check if you really are out there?
You finish singing. No Wanda at the window. You sigh. Peter tries to cheer you up. He’s about to say that maybe she wasn’t at the compound right now when a slow clap startles the group.
You all turn and you flush red in embarrassment when you see a hefty number of the Avengers standing there with amused faces, Wanda smack dab in the middle. The slow clapping stops. It came from the one and only Tony Stark.
“That was adorable. You must be this Y/N I’m hearing all about,” he muses, a smirk on his face.
“How long were you guys standing there?” Peter asks, also seemingly embarrassed. None of you took into account that other people also live here and could in fact hear you.
“The whole show, baby. Got it all on video too,” Sam brags, pointing up to the sky. You all look and see Red Wing, a supplemental part of his suit, hovering over you all silently recording.
Your group groans, but Wanda cuts yours short by asking you, “What are you doing here?”
You try to break the tension forming by way of humor like always, “I never got that pancake recipe.”
“You could have texted me for that, not traveled all the way here. How fast were you driving?”
“You weren’t answering your phone, so I flew here,” you explain. Pietro clears his throat in order to call attention to him and then motions for the others to follow him and leave you two alone. Steve gives you a “Nice to see you again” while heading inside while Pietro and Sam give you a sneaky “good luck”.
Wanda checks her phone and then realizes why she didn’t get your call, fixing the problem. “Sorry, it was on airplane mode. Wait, you flew here?” she asks, confused knowing you are not the biggest fan of heights. She couldn’t imagine you in a plane.
“Technically Daisy flew here, but I was indeed on that jet. Well, my body was on that jet, my mind, not so much. I was dead asleep soon after lift off, so to speak. I still think it counts though,” you ramble nervously.
“Y/N, what are you doing here?” she asks again.
You answer honestly though you still try to keep it light, “Purposely subjecting myself to possible public humiliation by serenading you outside your window hoping you might give me a second chance. I thought that was obvious.”
Your reference to an earlier conversation makes her smile. Especially when in that same conversation, you claimed you would never do this. Seeing the upturn of her lips, you feel lighter and the moment doesn’t feel so heavy and the tension doesn’t feel so thick anymore.
“You were right. I was making excuses. I put it in my own head that this wouldn’t work but of course it won’t work if all I do is try to push you away. I’m here because I wanted to tell you that although I’m not an avid reader, we are in fact on the same page here. I want to be able to tell people that you’re more than a friend. I want to take you to the movies and hold your hand. I want to spend hours walking in circles at bookstores waiting for you to pick one and I want all your books to be filled with photobooth pictures of us you use as bookmarks. I want to win all kinds of key rings for you at the fair without you cheating. I want you to keep telling me that using your powers is not cheating.”
“It’s not,” Wanda mumbles.
“I want to take you out for ice cream and call it a date. I want more kisses in the kitchen as you teach me to cook or bake. I would really like that pancake recipe. I want to call you mine,” you finish your grand speech. Your heart is beating out of your chest waiting for Wanda’s reply. It’s been sometime since your last heartbreak, but you remember it not being that fun so you pray that she doesn’t reject you.
She looks deeply into your eyes and you are ready for the worst, until she says, “Okay, let me grab my purse.”
“What?”
“You said you wanted to go for ice cream on an actual date,” she paraphrases what you said.
“Oh, you want to go now?” you ask, finally catching on. Your heart is soaring. It feels like when you rode a rollercoaster for the first time but in a good way and not like how it actually happened. That was bad. You fainted mid ride.
“Sorry, do you have something better to do in your pajamas in New York on a Sunday evening?” she replies sarcastically.
You look down and realize you are in fact still in your pajamas. You hadn’t bothered to change before racing over to the compound after Wanda. It is at that moment you remember you in fact do have somewhere you have to be today.
“Shit, it’s Sunday! Do you mind if we make a quick pitstop? I have to go to church. Also, do you have pants I could borrow?” You recall having made a deal; if you survived the car ride with Pietro, you would go to the Lord’s house. It’s time to make good on your promises.
“Taking me to church already? Usually that’s left for further into the relationship,” Wanda jokes and you reply ominously, “It’s part of my end of a deal.”
You head inside, following Wanda’s lead. Seeing the smile on both your faces, everyone can assume you made up. Tony asks where you both were off to. Wanda says ice cream but first her room because you needed to borrow pants.
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
You both blush at his insinuation, Wanda grabbing your hand and booking it out of there. The first thing you notice when you enter her room is the guitar in the corner and you almost choke. She hears your breath hitch and as she’s about to ask you what’s wrong, she sees you are staring at her guitar and she laughs.
She tosses some pants at you, grabs her purse, and tells you she’ll wait for you outside. You change while thinking very sinful thoughts. Maybe this visit to church was overdue. You pass by everyone letting them know you’ll be back later. As you make your exit, you hear Sam stressing on the phone. “On my life, I didn’t scratch your car, Natasha!”
Your eyes widen, remembering that rock you kicked last night. You keep silent and make haste. You’ll just have to add that on the list for things to say during confession, because there is no way in hell you are ever letting another soul other than the priest know you scratched Nat’s car.
(4 Years Later)
“I’m back!” you yell into the apartment after tossing the keys into the bowl by the entrance. They land amongst various keys including the ones to Wanda’s car that hangs onto the key ring you’d won her all those years ago.
You close the door with your butt, your hands busy with the grocery bags that are quickly slipping from your hands due to the weight. You feel one actually slip from your grasp and you just hope it isn’t the one with the eggs.
“You know it would be easier to make two trips right?” You hear Wanda say, coming to greet you. You’re relieved to find she caught the bag with her magic.
“Mama didn’t raise no quitter,” you reply, thanking Wanda when she takes some of the bags off your hands. She laughs, shaking her head at you.
“You’re ridiculous. Why am I marrying you?”
“Because I’m awesome and can bring all the bags in one trip,” you answer cheekily, making her laugh again. “Also, because you asked and it’s too late to take it back.”
Wanda had asked you nearly a year ago in a way you really should have expected knowing her to be a total romantic, but she still managed to surprise you. You were at your cousin’s house; you still try to keep the tradition of spending summers there as best you can.
It was early in the morning. Both of you were awake, accustomed to Wanda waking early to leave for the compound to train or get ready for a mission. However, you were having a lie-in this day because Nat would be there the next day and she still has the custom of waking you at the ass-crack of dawn to go for her notorious hikes.
They’ve only gotten worse since you’ve been with Wanda because Nat believes you’ve got to be in your best physical condition if you’re dating a superhero. She has a point and your body has been looking really fit which you can appreciate but the last thing you were going to do is thank Nat for it. You are stubborn that way.
Things with Wanda had been going great. The last year of school/ the first year of dating Wanda was tricky with finding ways to spend real time together. Like you had worried, you were busy trying to finish school and she was busy saving the world. This was one of the times you really wanted to be proven wrong, that the distance wasn’t too much, but you were fearing it might have been, especially since you hadn’t talked to Wanda in two weeks.
But she dismissed those thoughts for you when she made a surprise visit. She told you she was put on a mission last minute and it took a little longer than she would have liked, but that she missed you so much, she had to come pay you a visit. Suddenly she had gotten shy and thought she might have gone about it wrong, dropping by without forewarning, but you kissed her hard and she knew then she made the right move.
She was only there for the weekend but soon after she visited more frequently when she had free days. You paid her a visit as well, surprising her in her room at the compound during your winter break. She thought you and planes were a one and done deal. Needless to say she was happy you braved the flight to come see her.
The next year you moved to New York. The first few months you were living with Nat as she had a spare bedroom in her apartment. Those months were hell. It was a fun and miserable time. You found yourself spending a lot of your time at the compound to see Wanda. It started to become a problem going back and forth between the compound and you and Nat’s place because you both would leave things at the other’s room. As a result, many, many sleepovers later, Wanda asked to get an apartment together.
Evidently, you were happy to be lying around with Wanda and she figured that would be the perfect time to ask you. She got out of bed, much to your discontentment, to bring over a box. She told you to open it and you did, but you were confused as to why she gave you a box full of aquarium gravel.
She then asked you if you remembered the first conversation you had. You replied it was impossible to forget. It was the most interesting conversation you’d ever had with a stranger. You were coming up with all these scenarios on how you would figure out her name and she looked so cute trying to convince you there was a difference between crimson and scarlet and jade and emerald.
It was then that it clicked for you as she looked at you expectantly. Your stomach swooped in the best way and your heart felt like it stopped. You weren’t sure if you were still breathing. Misreading your reaction, Wanda worried it might have been too soon. She was going to take the box back and that snapped you out of your shock. You held a tight grip on the box, refusing to let her take it away and when she looked at you confused, you said, “Well aren’t you going to ask? I can’t say yes if you don’t ask the question.”
Happy tears sprung out of your girlfriend as she knelt on the bed and popped the question. Obviously, you said yes. Then she told you to dig in the gravel and you found the actual box with the ring inside. You rolled your eyes at her when you saw it was an emerald ring and she joked, “How disappointed would you have been if it was jade?”
You give your fiancée a quick kiss before moving the conversation over to the kitchen in order to relieve yourself of the grocery bags. You begin putting the groceries away. “Weddings are expensive, so no cold feet,” you point at her, “because I’m not sure we can get the deposit back.”
She scoffs, “And here I thought it’s because you would be heartbroken.”
She watches as you stop what you are doing to walk over to her, taking her face in your hands and looking at her fondly. She feels her knees go weak when you hover your lips over hers.
“Priorities, babe,” you say, before you kiss her nice and slow. She’s putty in your hands. You pull away to finish putting everything away but your words finally process in Wanda’s mind and she smacks your arm with an offended, “Hey!”
You’re putting the ice cream in the freezer when Wanda remembers. “Speaking of the wedding, I got you an early wedding gift waiting for you in the bedroom.”
Your ears perk up. You close the freezer lightning fast, a mischievous smile adorning your face. “Lead the way.”
She tells you to wait in the living room, so you go sit on the couch waiting in anticipation. Wanda returns empty handed and wearing the same thing, so you’re a little confused. Maybe you have to find it? You get excited again but the confusion returns when someone appears behind Wanda.
“Um, hi?” You greet the stranger in your home.
“You must be Y/N. Pleasure to finally put a face to the name,” the woman says with a Russian accent. She gives you a polite smile which you return, minding your manners.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
“I’m Melina Vostokoff,” she offers, looking at you like it would ring a bell but it doesn’t. You don’t know any Melina or anyone with that last name. You’d think you would remember. You look to Wanda hoping she would provide you with a clue but she also looks at you almost like she is expecting a certain reaction from you.
“Nice to meet you. May you excuse me for a second while I speak to my fiancée?” You grab Wanda’s hand and lead her down the hallway for some privacy. “Wanda, I’m confused. Look, if you wanted to try like different things in the bedroom, I’m sure there are smaller steps before bringing a whole other person into it. I mean, I’ll try for you if it’s what you want. She’s very beautiful, but I just wasn’t prepared for this. You look upset.”
You notice the minuscule changes in her expression and you note her face is contorting to that one she makes when she gets irritated with you. “Why are you getting angry? You kind of sprung this on me.”
You start apologizing because that’s always the safest bet. “I’m sorry. Please don’t furrow your eyebrow. I know I’ve said you’re attractive when you are angry but it’s unsettling when you’re mad at me.”
“Y/N, stop talking. Melina isn’t here for that!” She hisses.
“Then what is she here for?” you ask, still not getting any answers as to why that woman is here and why it feels like you should know who she is. Wanda drags you back to the living room and explains, “Melina is here to help you ‘complete the set’, you know, the Romanov set.”
Suddenly, it clicks. Throughout the years, when you wanted to tease Wanda or Nat you would joke about how the real dream is to “complete the set”. Basically you would make “Your Mom” jokes to rile Nat and your girlfriend up because it seems you’re a masochist. Never in your life did you think this would actually happen, that you would have Mrs Romanov, or Vostokoff as you’ve just learned, standing in front of you.
Your jaw drops as Wanda explains that Melina was in the compound to visit her daughter who unfortunately was called to a mission the day before, but Wanda met her and just had to introduce her to you. Once Wanda explained to Melina why it would make your day to meet her, including awkwardly retelling the Yelena Incident, Melina went along, finding it funny. She too loves teasing her daughters.
“No way! Melina? As in Mrs Romanov, Melina? Holy shit. See Wanda, I told you she’d laugh. Didn’t I tell you? Mrs R, or V, it’s been a dream of mine to meet you since I was however old I was when I met Nat. I have sooooo many questions,” you ramble excitedly.
“As do I. But let’s get the first part of this out of the way, yes?” She laughs at your change in attitude. You know what is about to go down and remember the pain it caused when Nat did it but this is one of those once in a lifetime type of moments and pain be damned.
“I know this is going to hurt but I’m too excited thinking about Nat’s face when I tell her this happened that I don’t really care. Babe, can you record it? I’m gonna show it to Nat on our wedding day,” you request, handing your phone out to Wanda.
“Y/N, what did I say about antagonizing Natasha?” Wanda reminds you as she takes your phone anyway, opening the camera.
“You said no,” you sigh like a child. You pout at Wanda and she gives in like usual, “Okay, I’ll record it, but don’t show it to her until after the honeymoon. I don’t want you to have a black eye in all of our photos.”
With that she presses record as you stand in position. Melina runs to you and hops, swinging her body around yours and uses her thighs to flip you over by wrapping them around your neck and swinging you down onto your back. Wanda stops recording and rushes to you.
“Ow, that hurt like a bitch,” you wheeze, “but I’m so happy. I love you so much. Best wedding gift ever.”
Wanda and Melina laugh, both helping you back up. You kiss Wanda and then snatch the phone. “I can’t wait to see what emojis she sends.”
Wanda’s smile falls as she watches you send the video to Nat. “Y/N, I said no.”