Fortuositywritings

“I don’t know,” you say hesitantly. “I haven’t asked anyone that wasn’t Wanda out in the longest time.”

“Damn it,” Nikki mutters, taking her purse out and fishing for some money while Jen laughs triumphantly. 

You watch confused as Nikki hands Jen a ten dollar bill and Jen says, “And I still had fifteen minutes left.”

“Fifteen minutes left for what?” you ask.

“For you to bring up Wanda,” Nikki explains, making you gasp in return. “I do not talk about her that much do I?”

“Enough for me to make ten bucks out of it,” Jen answers, waving her prize in front of your face. You smack her hand away. “Oh, don’t pout. I think it’s adorable how in love with her you are.”

“I am not in love with her,” you lie.

“Okay, prove it. Go over there and ask that blonde out,” Jen challenges. 

“Like I said, I’m rusty,” you claim. 

“What better way to get back out there than walking over and chatting her up? This could be your trial run,” encourages Nikki. 

“I don’t know. I think I should start safer. What about you, Nikki?”

“What about me?”

“You like women, right? So how about you be my first date?”

“We’ve got a nice thing going here. Let’s not ruin that, Y/N,” Nikki says, patting your shoulder.

“Boom! First rejection right there. The rest comes easier,” Jen interjects. 

“Fine,” you groan and reluctantly stand up. You down one of the shots on the table before making your way over to the blonde. Your friends cheering you on can be heard faintly. 

“How bad do you think that’s gonna go?” Nikki asks Jen as they watch you introduce yourself to the blonde. 

“Oh so bad,” Jen responds. “But this will be good for her. If we get her asking a few girls every time we go out, someone is bound to say yes.”

“Oh, we’re thinking like men now, are we? Where is the confidence for our new friend? She’s cute! She’ll get plenty of yeses.” 

“Then why didn’t you say yes?” Jen counters with a knowing smirk.

“Cause you and I both know she is still way into Wanda and the last thing I am gonna be is one of those insecure women who compare themselves to another girl throughout the whole dating period. Nuh-uh. That’s not for me, honey,” Nikki explains and then takes a sip of her drink. 

“Exactly. Girls can spot a lovesick puppy from a mile away, which is why Y/N is coming back right now with that face like she’s been rejected as I predicted.” Jen looks in your direction and sure enough Nikki sees you walking back with a small frown on your face.

“It’s okay. It takes some practice, buddy,” Jen coos. 

Nikki is about to sympathize until she sees the napkin in your pocket and pulls it out. She praises, “But not for Y/N! Holy shit, you got her number and on a napkin? Talk about moves.” Jen doesn’t quite believe her until Nikki hands the napkin over. 

“Who even carries a pen around?”

“Don’t you have one in your bag?” you remind her. 

“Yeah, but I’m a lawyer. It would be weird if I didn’t,” Jen jokes. She reads the name on the napkin. “So, are you gonna call Trish?”

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “She seems nice enough, but I don’t know if I am ready to date yet.” 

“That’s all right. This was a good step to moving on,” Jennifer declares.

Nikki readily agrees, “A great step!”

Jennifer lifts her drink up to you two and cheers, “To moving on!”

You reluctantly join, clinking your drink to theirs. 

You wake the next day to a rap on your door, initiating an equally heavy pounding in your head. Not even Wanda’s sweet voice on the other side calling your name can soothe the ache. “Y/N, are you there? We have to head out in ten minutes.”

Shit. You have a mission today. 

Wanda hears shuffling on the other side of the door, then a thud and a groan. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. I’ll be right out,” you reply in embarrassment, internally thanking the lord Wanda didn’t see you trip putting on pants. Despite the slight mishap, you think you set a personal best getting ready whilst hungover. 

“Morning, Wanda,” you greet her when you open your door and see her leaning against the wall seemingly waiting for you. Your raspy morning voice interrupts her reviewing key notes for the mission on her phone. She’s about to greet you back but the sunglasses on your face distract her. She narrows her eyes at you.

“Are you hungover right now?” she accuses. 

“No,” you lie, before closing your door comically softly giving you away. She scoffs, “Unbelievable. Let’s go. Bucky is waiting for us.”

She walks ahead of you annoyed. She walks rather quickly too as you follow behind her. She has to be doing it on purpose. Anytime you are close to falling into step with her, she picks up her speed. If the car was any farther, you think you and Wanda would have ended up jogging. Luckily, Bucky has pulled the car up front. 

Wanda and you wordlessly get into the vehicle, she taking the passenger seat and you making your way into the back seats. You close your door gently. Wanda in turn practically slams hers shut, causing you to grab your head and groan. Wanda wouldn’t say she takes pleasure in causing people pain, but in this rare instance it does satisfy her a bit. 

“Someone had a good time last night. I don’t think I have to ask who you were with yesterday,” he teases you as you stretch out in the back seat throwing an arm over your face in order to block out the sun after tossing your sunglasses. He gets a grunt in response. 

“Here, this should make you feel better,” he says. You look over to see him handing you a water bottle and some painkillers he apparently stashed in the car. You sit back up, taking the items gratefully. 

“You’re a godsend,” you dramatically thank him and lean over the console to give him a hard kiss on the cheek. Wanda watches beside you two, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. She determines the feeling must be disappointment in herself for not being a good friend like Bucky. Had she helped you soothe your ache instead of making it worse, maybe she would be the one whose cheek you’re kissing.

Nope. Not the point, Wanda, she tells herself. The point is to be a good friend. Bucky shrugs it off and turns on the car. “Yeah, yeah. Put your seatbelt on.”

“Yes, sir,” you reply jokingly, but do as he says. “That’s the last time I'll try keeping up with Jen’s drinking,” you declare, and suddenly Wanda’s thoughts about being a better friend fly out the car window and she holds herself back from turning on the radio at full volume. 

You open the water bottle, taking the pills. You go through the water rather fast. Bucky notices and warns you to slow down. “We’re cutting it close as it is, so no bathroom breaks.” 

You’ve practically chugged the whole bottle already. “I can hold it.”

“You wouldn’t have to had you woken up on time,” Wanda points out.

“I thought I had set my alarms last night, but I guess I forgot,” you replied.

“Forgets to set her alarms, but not to get drunk the night before a mission,” she mutters not so under her breath. She doesn’t even know why she is so upset with you.

“Why are you mad at me?” you ask. Obviously you could feel it, but you sincerely don’t know what you did to upset her. You and Wanda both laughed when Clint showed up to work once hungover. You figured it would be Bucky who would give you an earful about it, not Wanda. Bucky doesn’t say anything, instead focuses on getting you to your destination.

“I’m not mad,” Wanda lies.

“You look mad,” you reply. 

“I’m not mad,” she repeats, getting annoyed.

“You sound mad.”

“I’m not mad!” she yells.

You wince at the loudness. Bucky gives Wanda the side eye, clearly not believing her. You back off, “Okay, you’re not mad.”

The rest of the car ride is quiet, but it gives you time to get your head in the game. You have a job to do. Whatever is going on with Wanda can wait. Bucky parks the car across the building where your person of interest plans on meeting someone your team had apprehended four days ago.

“There. The black Maserati,” Bucky announces when he spots who you’ve been waiting for. The three of you wait for the sedan to make its way inside the parking structure before getting out of the car to follow. 

“You two up front. I’ll go around back in case he tries to run,” Bucky orders. You and Wanda nod before heading into the structure to find the Maserati. You catch your target right as he is walking away from his vehicle. 

“Wow, is that your car, Mr.?” you ask over-enthusiastically to the guy dressed in a suit and tie. 

The man looks up at you two realizing you are speaking to him. He gives you and Wanda a once over before smiling to himself and replying rather smugly, “Yes, it is. You girls like cars?”

You bite your lip to hold back your laughter when Wanda grimaces after he calls you two “girls”. You reply to him, “I sure like yours.”

“If you’re a fan of this one, you should see the one I have at home,” he boasts and throws a wink at you in good measure. Wanda rolls her eyes, quickly getting annoyed with the guy and with you. Could you hurry the chit chat so she can do what she came here to do and not have to watch the guy you’re supposed to take down flirt with you?

“Wow, you have two of these?” You ask and your target is eating this up thinking you’re really impressed. You turn your head to tell Wanda, “Maybe we should get into dealing alien weaponry illegally. Seems to pay better.”

His smirk turns into a frown and he takes a step away from the two of you. “Who are you?”

“I’m Y/N and this is Wanda. We’re going to ask you kindly to come with us for questioning,” you answer. He panics, you see it in his eyes, the way they drift between you and the nearest exit. Wanda notices this too. She warns him, “Don’t run.”

He doesn’t run straight away, you’ll give him that. No, he decides to pull a gun out first and shoot Wanda’s way first before making a break for it. Luckily you saw this coming the moment he reached under his jacket, so you pull Wanda safely behind a car in time for the bullet to miss. 

You make sure your body cushions Wanda’s from hitting the hard ground and yet what hurts more is her elbow hitting your rib when she lands on top of you. More shots ring so you and Wanda stay where you are. He was running towards Bucky’s way anyhow. 

You hear the clattering of a gun hitting the floor and a few groans, all signs that Bucky is kicking his ass right now. 

“That was close. Thank you,” Wanda says. 

“Will you forgive me now for whatever I did to make you upset?” you ask sincerely.

“I wasn’t mad,” she insists with a roll of her eyes and then more quietly adds, “But yes, you’re forgiven.”

You laugh at her response and she smiles back. Your hands grasp her waist, giving her tummy a warm feeling. You couldn’t pull her any closer if you tried. Gravity is already doing its thing keeping her body flush against yours. “Wanda?”

“Yeah?” she replies. Her eyes drop to your lips and she nervously gulps. Right when she thinks of finally breaking the tension and leaning in, you tell her, “I think it’s safe for us to get up now.”

Realization that you were trying to push her up and not keep her against you dawns on her and embarrassment ensues. “Oh, sorry,” she squeaks, cheeks tinged red. She gets up off of you at the speed of a bottle rocket. 

“You’re fine,” you assure her. You wish you could say the same for yourself. 

“Yeah, don’t worry, ladies. Take your time. I got this,” Bucky interrupts sarcastically as he passes by you two carrying the unconscious culprit over his shoulder.

“Do you think he’ll let us stop by McDonald’s?” you ask Wanda as you both follow Bucky back to the car. 

“No,” Bucky answers, having heard you. Wanda giggles while you argue, “We don’t have to stop. They have drive-throughs, you know?” You smile when she gives a full loud laugh after you say, “It doesn’t have to be McDonald’s.”

*****

“Have you texted her yet?” Nikki asks while stabbing her salad. She and Jen invited you to lunch a few days later. 

“Texted who?” you ask.

“Who do you think? The woman from the bar!” Nikki reminds you. The way you scrunch your face gives her your answer.

“That’s a no,” Jen jokes. 

“I totally forgot. I’ve been busy.” It’s a lame excuse. You haven’t been doing anything of importance at all after that small mission with Bucky and Wanda. Jennifer and Nikki know this too.

“Yeah, busy getting sucked right back into Wanda,” Jen comments with a laugh, but you know she means it and it annoys you that Nikki agrees.

“I am not,” you deny.

“Remind me, Jennifer. Where did Y/N say she went on Sunday?” Nikki begins with faux forgetfulness. Jen plays along. 

“The farmer’s market with Wanda.”

“She asked me if I had any plans and I didn’t so she invited me to go with her and I couldn’t say no right after I just told her I wasn’t doing anything,” you defend yourself.

“What about the trip to Target on Monday?” Jen adds.

“She was buying a bookcase and wanted a second opinion,” you answer with a shrug. 

“Opinion on what? There are like three choices.” Nikki has a point there.

“I don’t know. I guess she’s indecisive,” you reply and Nikki mumbles, “Sure seems like it.”

“Can we change the subject, please?” you ask, no longer feeling like being attacked by your friends.

Jen appeases you. “Fine, fine. What were you doing earlier that you were running late?” 

You mumble something they don’t catch, but they already have a feeling what it might be. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear that with your head hung down shamefully. What did you say?” Nikki teases you.

“I said I was putting a bookcase together,” you repeat, rolling your eyes when they both laugh. “Well it wasn’t going to build itself!”

“Doesn’t Wanda have telekinesis or something? She doesn’t even have to lift a finger to build it,” Jen tells you.

Nikki jokes, “Bet she doesn’t have to lift a finger when Y/N’s around.”

“Y/N, how are you supposed to get over Wanda if you are always around offering her your time and services?”

“I can’t just start ignoring her. I tried it before and it was just mean. She’s my friend,” you remind them.

“A friend you have feelings for,” Jennifer returns with a serious disposition. “Look, we’re just trying to look out for you as your friends. And if Wanda is your friend like you say, she’ll understand if you need some space to get over your feelings for her.”

Yeah, that’s a conversation you don’t want to have. “That’s definitely an idea.”

“Or,” Nikki gives you a second option, “you can move on like originally planned and actually stay busy seeing someone else. Text the woman from the bar right now. Ask her out!”

You prefer Nikki’s idea. You’ll go with that one. Before lunch is over, you text Trish and by the end of the night you have a date to plan.

You freak out about what to do for a first date so you search online and the one that speaks to you is a picnic. You know that Trish is easily recognizable after she’s told you she is a radio host and you saw her face on the side of a bus so a picnic in the park would not be the best idea. Maybe you could set up on the roof. You wonder if that’s a good idea or if she’ll hate it. Self conscious about it, you ask your teammates what they think while you are in the gym with Steve and Sam. 

“Is a picnic on the rooftop for a first date too much? Or what do you guys think?” You drop your weights to look at the men. Only Steve bothers to look your way.

“I think it’s a waste of time and energy if she’s just gonna say no,” Sam replies, continuing to punch the bag Steve is holding still for him. 

“But she already said yes,” you say. That gets Sam to stop his punches. He and Steve look at you surprised. You wonder why they look so shocked.

“Wanda said yes?” Steve asks. Oh. 

“No, not Wanda. Someone else,” you sigh. 

“Tsk, man, you got me excited for nothing.” Sam goes back to working the punching bag. Steve though carries on the conversation. “Who is it? Do we know them?”

“Maybe,” you answer with a shrug. “She’s a radio host. Her name is Trish Walker.”

“No way.” Sam stops again. “You’re going on a date with Trish Walker. The Trish Walker.”

“Who’s Trish Walker?” Steve speaks up.

“She’s Patsy from ‘It’s Patsy’!” 

“Patsy?” Steve looks at you in confusion but you can’t explain this to him because truth be told you don’t know what Sam is talking about either. 

“How do you not know- oh yeah,” Sam interrupts himself. “I forget you’re both a different generation. It was a tv show and she starred in it. I had a huge crush on her when I was younger. And you’re going out with her?” 

You nod in response, making Sam shake his head. “That’s foul. You would do that to me, your friend?”

You roll your eyes at his dramatics. “You haven’t answered my question, friend. Is a picnic a good first date?”

“I think it’s romantic. I think she will appreciate the effort and thought you put into it,” Steve pipes up. His comment makes you feel better about it. That is until Sam speaks. 

“It’s corny is what it is. You have to do something fun and interesting. No restaurant, no picnic. It has to be something she’ll definitely remember. Take her scuba diving,” Sam suggests.

You look to Steve for his thoughts on this. He is shaking his head and immediately saying, “Don’t take her scuba diving.”

You leave the gym still thinking over the picnic idea but definitely not considering scuba diving as a substitute for a good first date. You don’t notice Wanda or the way her eyes linger over your body as you walk down the hallway heading toward your room for a shower until she’s two feet away. 

“Oh, hey, Wanda,” you greet her with a smile. Her head snaps up and she smiles back with pink cheeks, praying you didn’t catch her checking you out. You didn’t. Instead you’re thinking Wanda is a girl. Her opinion over the first date matter would be valuable, so you ask her next, “What do you think about a picnic on the rooftop as a first date?”

Wanda was not at all expecting those to be the next words out of your mouth. It’s been so long since you’ve asked her out and she can freely admit to herself anyway that she missed it. 

“You’re asking me?” Wanda double checks that this is actually happening. You look around the hallway confused. Of course you’re asking her. There’s no one else here. You nod and she asks furthermore, “For a first date?”

“Yeah, or is that too much?” You look so unsure. This is different than all the other times you’ve asked her out. You would be so confident in your delivery. This is something new. Wanda thinks it’s kind of cute. 

You take Wanda’s quietness as an answer. “It’s too much isn’t it? I knew it. Damn it.”

You sigh. Back to the drawing board you guess. Scuba diving isn’t sounding so bad anymore. Wanda pulls you back from getting too far into your brain. “Wait, Y/N. No,” she starts. Is she really about to do this? Is she about to agree to go on a date with you after having said no a hundred times? 

“I-” she hesitates. What if the date goes wrong? What if it ruins what you have now? This past week she realized just how much she enjoys your company, how comfortable she is when it’s just the two of you. What if it becomes awkward?

“You?” Your sweet eyes look at her, asking her to finish her thought.

What if the date goes really well? Then there is a second and a third and then you’re dating and you’re wrapping your arm around her and watching tv together and calling her beautiful. Okay, so not so different from what you’ve done before but with dating you would kiss her whenever you wanted and you’d smile when she kisses you back and... that actually doesn’t sound so bad. 

Oh what the hell. It’s one date. 

“A picnic on the rooftop sounds perfect.”

You smile in relief. No scuba diving for you. “Really?”

“Yes. When were you thinking?” Wanda asks.

“Oh um. We’re both free tomorrow, so I was thinking like five-ish cause the sun is supposed to set around six and the view looks awesome from the roof.”

She looks at you surprised. “You really thought it through.”

“Yeah.” You don’t give her much more than that because it would be embarrassing to admit that originally you had planned a date like that for you and Wanda. You would have had Wanda’s favorite food from her favorite places in the city and have had a cute set up you pictured in your head. But it’s fine. Hopefully Trish enjoys it. You clear your throat. “Okay, well. I should really shower.”

“Yeah, I was wondering what that smell was,” Wanda jokes. 

“Hey! Three hours at the gym with Sam and Steve, this is as sweet as anyone could smell,” you defend yourself. 

“Three hours?” she gasps. “Why do you do that to yourself?”

“An ass like this takes work,” you jest, turning around to walk back to your room but not without a shimmy of your butt to make her laugh. You feel proud when it works and you hear her giggle. 

“You better not smell like that tomorrow,” she warns you. You laugh the rest of the way to your door. Before entering your room you call Wanda one last time. “Hey, Wanda. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome?” she says, confused. It’s the first time anyone has thanked her for agreeing to go on a date. She giggles to herself after you close your door. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. 

All morning Wanda radiates nervous energy. She supposed she shouldn’t overthink it. It’s just a date. She’s had her fair share of first dates before. First date jitters is a thing, but as much as she wishes it’s simply that, she thinks there is more to it this time. 

She’s never dated a coworker before. Coworker? That doesn’t sound right. Teammate? Better, but still not fitting. Friend? Are you friends? You had always shown romantic interest so Wanda was always skeptical considering you a friend, but that’s what you ended up being, wasn’t it? 

Any way you put it, coworker, teammate, or friend, Wanda has never dated anyone of the category. It always seemed messy. If things go wrong, you would have to see that person at work all of the time or your friendship wouldn’t be the same and you’d fall out. Was it worth it?

By 11am, Wanda has convinced herself dating you would be too complicated. So she goes to find you and tell you the date is off. Would you be upset? Would you think she’s playing with your feelings? That she’s leading you on like Natasha said? 

But it’s not leading you on if she wants it too. She can confirm she does want it. Screw the outcome. Dating is meant to be fun and there is never a dull moment when you’re around. 

By 11:30am, Wanda finds you with your arms full seemingly on your way to the rooftop. It looks like you are about to set up and you tell her so when you catch her staring. 

“Oh, hey, Wanda. Don’t mind me. I’m just going to start setting up now so I have time to get ready. I promised I’d smell good, you know,” you joke with her. Seeing the blankets in your arms, the nerves come back to Wanda but this time they don’t feel so bad. There is excitement mixed in there too. “While I have you, do you think this is enough blankets? Is it enough cushion for the ground? I don’t want our butts numb twenty minutes into the date, you know?”

She laughs but she goes to feel the stack of blankets and decides you need more. “I think maybe two more. You can grab some of mine,” she offers.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just steal some more from Sam’s room. No need to get yours dirty,” you reply, waving her off.

“Okay, hey, Y/N,” she calls you back before you can get too far. You look up in her direction. She smiles at you and says, “I’m actually kind of happy this is happening. I’ll see you later.”

She quickly dismisses herself with a blush on her cheeks. She doesn’t know what possessed her to say that but she leaves before she does anything else more embarrassing.

You stand in the hallway with the weight of the blankets in your arms and a new weight on your heart left by Wanda’s words. She basically told you she’s glad you are moving on. Although that is probably how she feels, you think she could have taken pity on you and not say it out loud. 

You can’t have this weigh on you. There’s a date you need to set up and there is still much to do. You quickly organize everything on the rooftop before moving on to getting yourself ready and by five o’clock you are greeting Trish at the door before leading her inside and up to the rooftop.

While you are hoping you don’t run into Sam on the way up, Wanda is dolled up and waiting for you to knock on her door. She grows impatient after waiting half an hour. You did say five, didn’t you? Tired of waiting, she knocks on your door. Sam catches her waiting at your door frowning down at her phone. You are not answering her texts.

“She’s not in there,” Sam tells her. 

“Where is she?”

“She’s on a date,” he discloses with a pout. Then he takes notice of Wanda dressed like she is also going out. “You look nice. You have a date too?”

“Too?” She storms up to the roof, not bothering with a reply. She bursts through the exit door that leads to the rooftop. She doesn’t have time to admire your work or realize that there is someone else here with you. All she knows is she has been waiting a long ass time for you to knock on her door and you’ve been here the whole time. 

“Y/N! I’ve been waiting for an hour. What have you been doing?” she snaps, startling you and your date. Wanda looks upset.

“Wanda? Did we have plans?” You ask, totally confused. 

“Our date?” Wanda reminds you. She doesn’t understand why you are acting like this is the first time you are hearing about it. 

“Date? I thought you weren’t seeing anybody,” the blonde woman next to you scoffs. Wanda finally turns to see a whole other human being present. Who the fuck is this?

“I’m not! This is just a misunderstanding. Give me one moment. Wanda, can I talk to you for a second?” You pull Wanda off to the side. “What are you doing?!” You ask her. 

“What am I doing?? What are you doing?! Who is she?” she fumes. 

“That’s Trish. I met her at a bar when I went out for drinks with Jen and Nikki.” It’s more information than she needed but it doesn’t really answer what she actually wants to know.

“Okay, what is she doing here?” 

“What do you think she’s doing here? We’re on a date!” you whisper yell. 

“No, you’re not.” Wanda denies. 

“What? Wanda, look around. We literally talked about this yesterday,” you remind her, waving your arm in the direction of the picnic setup. 

“This was supposed to be for me, not her.” 

This trips you. You never thought anyone would catch you. How could Wanda possibly know that you had this planned for her originally. “Wh-who told you that?”

“You did yesterday!” she hisses, both her hands shaking in front of her in clear frustration. It’s making her angrier that you still wear the dumbfounded look as if none of this is ringing a bell.

“Wanda, what are you talking about?” You couldn’t be more confused. What is going on? 

“Hey, so this looks like more than a misunderstanding. I’m gonna head out. Call me whenever you get this sorted,” Trish speaks up, grabbing her stuff, before she leaves. 

“Trish, wait-” you call after your date but all you get is the sound of the rooftop door closing. You turn to your teammate to demand an explanation. “Wanda, what the hell?” 

“Why did you stop?” Wanda asks instead, tone full of hurt. 

You sigh, “Stop what?” 

“Why did you stop asking me to dinner?” 

You frown. Why is she bringing this up now? “You said no.” 

“I’ve said no plenty of times and you still came back. You still texted me corny lines. You still chatted me up when I was trying read or exercise. You still sought me out and spent time with me no matter how many times I turned you down.”

You looked away from Wanda with your cheeks flushed. Yes, you tried a little too hard and it did you no good. Why is she bringing this up? Is she trying to embarrass you? 

If you bothered to look back at her, you’d see the tears forming in her eyes. “You never left me alone. You still tried. Now the only time you are around is when I find an excuse for you to be. Why’d you stop trying? Why did you leave me alone?” 

You work up the courage to look her in the eye and give her an honest answer, using the same words she used before. “I guess it finally clicked in my head that we are never going to happen.” 

Never did she think those words would come back to bite her. Wanda swallows hard, realizing you heard her and Nat outside her room weeks ago. The hurt expression on her face morphs into a guilty one. She didn’t know you were listening, but of course you were. You were probably waiting to see her find the gift you left at her door. But she didn’t actually mean any of what she said. Maybe she thought she did, but none of it was true, at least none of what Wanda said was true. Natasha on the other hand laid out some hard truths Wanda didn’t want to own up to. 

“Y/N-” she tries, but you don’t let her get very far. 

“It’s okay. You’re right. I should have taken the hint. I don’t hang around you as often because I get that I can be annoying.” A lump forms in your throat from recalling that night and what was said, but you push on through. 

“Y/N, you’re not-” 

“And the less time I spend with you, the easier it will be for me to get over you.” 

“You’re over me?” She asks sadly. 

“Not yet,” you reply candidly, “but I’m trying to move on. I’m sorry if you feel like I don’t care about you anymore because I’m not there all the time, but I just need some space. I hope you can understand.”

You didn’t think it would come to this, at least you hoped it wouldn’t, but it seems Jennifer was right in the end. You need a break from Wanda. It’s the only way to move on. 

Wanda doesn’t say anything and you don’t wait for her to. “Feel free to grab whatever you want.” You point to the food leftover on the picnic blanket, not wanting it to go to waste. “I’ll clean it all up later.”

You leave Wanda on the rooftop alone with her thoughts and the scraps of a date that should have been hers. 

_______________________________________________________

“What?” you ask with a smirk. You can’t believe this is really happening. 

Your smirk throws Peter off. It took him all morning to pump himself up to do this, not being a confrontational person. However, he knows what you are like, or rather has heard from Harry what you are like, and from what he’s been told you are not someone who gets into serious relationships or any relationships in fact. So, of course he has to ask you what you are doing with Wanda. He has to look out for his friends and teammates. 

“I asked what your intentions are with Wanda,” he repeats with less conviction, sounding almost nervous. He tries to shrug it off and puffs out his chest to look more menacing. In all honesty, it takes a lot in you not to laugh. It’s hard to take him seriously when he is wearing a backpack with a Lego keychain on it. 

You bite back a smile, understanding this is just him looking out for Wanda, which you can respect. It’s admirable actually. You think over what you have to say to not necessarily lie but to leave him satisfied with your answer. Not straying far from the truth, you answer, “I plan on being here when she needs me and when she wants me to be here and maybe even when she doesn’t.” 

Peter tries not to chuckle at that last part, but he schools his features to ask seriously, “So, you’re serious about her? She isn’t just another fling of yours?”

“Look, you’ve probably heard a lot of things about me and most of them I’ll admit are true, but what I’ve got going on with Wanda is different. I promise you, I’m not playing her or anything.” And the truth slips from your lips, “I like Wanda. I like hanging out with her and I like annoying her and making her smile and I like how I feel when I am around her, so I plan to be around until I stop making her smile and she gets too annoyed with me. You don’t have to worry about me, Peter.”

He accepts your response, “Good answer.” He sighs like having this talk took a toll on him and apologizes, “Sorry, but I just had to check that you are serious about her. I don’t want to see her get hurt again. It was bad enough having to see her heartbroken once.”

You frown at hearing about this. You have to ask, “Were Joaquin and Wanda that serious?”

Peter shrugs, “She seemed to think so, so when he broke up with her, she was a mess, especially because of when he did it. That guy does not have great timing.”

“What do you m-”

“There you are.”

“Wanda, hey!” Peter greets your fake girlfriend. 

“Oh, hi, Peter.” Wanda gives him a smile, which makes him blush a little, before turning her attention to you. You don’t reserve your comments about it. “I was wondering where you were. You’re usually drooling on my pillow by now.”

You scoff and deny, “I don’t drool.” And you repeat it to Peter because you cannot have people thinking it. “I do not drool.” 

Wanda makes a face of someone sleeping with their mouth wide open. You suppose she’s implying that’s what you look like napping. It makes Peter chuckle and you frown. You huff, “Anyway, I was on my way but Peter caught me in the hallway and we were just chatting.”

“About what?”

Peter’s eyes widen and he looks at you, discreetly shaking his head. You don’t know whether he means don’t bring up Wanda’s rough break up or the reason he wanted to talk to you in the first place. Going the safe route, you choose not to speak about either. “Oh, you know. Intern stuff.”

Wanda narrows her eyes suspiciously. Maybe “intern stuff” wasn’t the right thing to say, so you continue, “But then it somehow got into talking about Lego.”

You guess that sounds more like Peter, because Wanda chuckles and nods her head like she knows that conversation well. “Did you tell her about your Star Wars collection?” she asks Peter, whose face burns in embarrassment. 

“I- uh- no. I haven’t gotten around to that yet,” he says, scratching behind his ear awkwardly while avoiding eye contact. “But I’ll tell you all about it later. Bye, ladies.” He makes a quick exit, grabbing the straps of his backpack and speed walking away. He’s fortunate that awkward exits in front of Wanda are common enough for her not to question it. 

“Come on, then, gorgeous. Lead the way!” you command Wanda to move. 

“Right. It’s baby’s nap time,” she teases, walking the familiar path to her room. You reply with a smirk, “‘Baby’? I kind of like the sound of that.”

“You know that’s not how I meant it,” she huffs, making you chuckle. You follow her into the room after she opens the door for you. You kick off your shoes, placing them next to her desk, and leave your blazer on her chair before jumping onto her bed. You pat Wanda’s designated spot next to you, wiggling your eyebrows, and say suggestively, “Come here, baby.”

“Oh my god,” she groans in annoyance, rolling her eyes at you, but she lies down next to you anyway, turning on her television via remote while you make yourself comfortable snuggling up to her. She’s surprised you make it through two episodes without falling asleep, feeling you giggle at another joke from the show. She finds herself smiling when you laugh at the next joke.

You’re pretty. Wanda has always known this. Your looks paired with your charm, it’s no surprise to her that people talk about you. But having you this close to her, you are something else - another kind of pretty that Wanda can’t describe. It’s just different. 

“What?” you ask Wanda when you feel her staring. 

“Huh?” she plays innocent, pretending she wasn’t gazing at you. Her heart beats faster when you look up at her, raising an eyebrow in question. 

“I could feel you looking at me,” you state. She blushes at having been caught and it kind of feeds your ego. Of course, you can’t help it, loving making Wanda squirm. “Do I have something on my face or did you just want to kiss it?”

Your cocky smile annoys Wanda enough to deny such a thing even though it’s not far from the truth. She tells you, “Actually, I was surprised you’re still awake. Usually when I look down you look like this-”

She proceeds to show you what you supposedly look like when you are asleep and it is horrendous.    

“I do not look like that when I’m asleep!” you gasp moving away from her, fully offended. 

“How would you know? You’re asleep,” she laughs. 

“Whatever.” Wanda wins this one. 

You don’t pay much attention to the following episode. It’s more of background noise while Wanda takes you through her day and you recount yours. Wanda laughs when you tell her about the newly installed cameras by the blender in the break room where you made Tony’s smoothie the last few times. 

“I swear they weren’t there before,” you claim. Wanda doesn’t think you are crazy. It sounds much like him to take the surveillance route.

“I believe you,” Wanda says. “Why don’t you just tell him how to make it so he stops bothering you?”

“I want to see how far he’ll take it for a little juice,” you smile mischievously. 

“Okay, how about you tell him so he stops bothering me.” Wanda explains, “I’ve seen more of him this week than I do in a month.”

“Oh, no. Interacting more with your teammate. How awful,” you laugh sarcastically. She frowns at you mocking her. “Don’t get grumpy.” You poke her forehead. “Any other time I would, but imagining what Tony will do next is what motivates me to come here every morning. Aside from seeing your pretty face, of course.”

“Mhmm,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “I’m sure it’s that and nothing to do with keeping a job to keep your trust fund.”

“Oh that? Who needs that when I’m getting paid two dollars above minimum wage. Two whole dollars, Wanda!” You emphasize in a joking manner. 

She chuckles, “Welcome to the workforce.”

You roll your eyes at her joke, but it reminds you that you have somewhere to be. You begrudgingly get up from her very comfortable bed, which Wanda finds odd because she usually has to kick you off of it. She raises an eyebrow, “Where are you going? I was just joking, you know.”

“I know,” you say, as she watches you put your shoes back on. “My father came back from his trip to Chicago earlier today and wants me home for dinner.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Wanda comments. She fondly recalls memories of having dinner with her family when she was younger, so it’s a little bizarre to hear you snort like your dinner would be far from nice. 

“You haven’t had dinner at my house,” you reply.

“Do your parents know?” Wanda asks.

“Know what?”

“About us?” You raise an eyebrow in question. “I mean, if they have heard rumors about us, maybe they find it weird that I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“Are you asking to meet the parents, Wanda?” You ask jokingly. 

“Forget I said anything,” she mutters.

“I will ask if they are free this week so I can introduce you as my girlfriend, okay?” You assure her as you put your jacket back on. “They’ve been wanting to meet you anyway.”

“They have?” she asks, surprised. 

“Yes,” you answer without further explanation. “I’ll let you know about dinner.”

“Lunch? Tomorrow?”

“Only if you let me order from that sushi place I was telling you about,” you negotiate. Wanda looks like she wants to argue but relents. “Fine.”

“Bye, pretty girl. See you tomorrow,” you rush out before closing her bedroom door, missing the way Wanda sighs as she falls back onto her bed. 

Your father is surprised to see you at the dinner table before him. He anticipated having to call you several times to remind you to be home for dinner or yell at you for being late. He guesses threatening to cut you off is working wonders and asks himself why he hadn’t done it sooner. 

You greet your father when he sits down and Lana when she brings the both of you a plateful of food that was most definitely prepared by the personal chef. The only thing you and Lana have in common is not knowing your way around a kitchen. 

You dig into your food as your father and Lana talk about his recent business trip. Finding that conversation boring, thoughts about work or more so ways to further frustrate Tony entertain you as you eat. 

A buzz from your phone indicating a text received pulls your attention. Your first thought is maybe it’s Wanda. You discreetly take your phone out and hide it under the table. Your father hates phones at the table unless it’s his of course,  his excuse being it may be work and important. 

Harry O : what time is your lunch break tomorrow?

“How was work today, sweetie?” Lana asks. You look up realizing that she’s talking to you. 

“Same as usual,” you reply, not going into further detail. 

Your father speaks up. “Lana tells me you’ve been coming home late from work often.” Lana should mind her own business, you think. You look over at her, unimpressed. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”

“We’re worried, sweetie. Are they overworking you? This is your first job. Working overtime every week is going to take a toll,” your step-mother warns. 

First they want you to work and now they’re worried you are working too hard? You huff, “No one is overworking me. I’m not working overtime.” Lana looks at you confused so you continue, “Actually, I’ve been seeing someone.”

You wait for a reaction but she looks confused and now your father is included. “What do you mean? Like a therapist? Did you get a therapist?”

You roll your eyes as your father goes on to ask the name of the therapist in order to have him vetted because you can’t trust everyone. They may sell what you say to the tabloids and then what’s the point of working so hard to keep you out of a bad light.

“No, I mean I am dating someone,” you clarify. To your offense they look more confused, like it’s more believable that you see a therapist everyday after work for hours than you take an actual interest in someone and spend time with them. “Don’t look so shocked.”

“That’s wonderful, Y/N. Isn’t that wonderful, honey?” Lana recovers quicker than your father. He narrows his eyes suspiciously and asks, “And that’s where you’ve been spending your time everyday?”

“Yes. We work in the same building so it’s easy to hang out afterwards,” you affirm. You guess it’s the right thing to say because the look on your father’s face relaxes. You wonder what he was fearing you would say.

“When do we get to meet him?” Lana questions next. 

“Her,” you correct. 

“Oh,” Lana utters while your father’s response is, “At least I don’t have to worry about you getting pregnant.”

You want to bring up the fact that transgender women exist but you bite your tongue. He’ll see it as you trying to start an argument and then it will turn into an argument. The fact he hasn’t chastised you for anything yet is a miracle in itself. You take what you can get. 

“When do we get to meet her?” Lana asks again. 

“I was thinking maybe I can bring her over for dinner soon,” you propose. Your father brings out his phone and looks through his calendar. He finds a date that works for him and schedules dinner for next Tuesday. He doesn’t bother to ask if you, Lana, or your girlfriend are free that night. Hopefully the world doesn’t need saving that day.

The next day, Harry invites Peter to eat lunch with him after you turn him down saying you already had lunch plans. Harry groans at his phone after he invites you to some Oscorp event for Tuesday evening and you tell him that you have plans with your parents already, not mentioning that Wanda is going. He tries to invite himself but you tell him that you are having someone over for dinner, but that you will hang out soon. 

“What’s wrong?” Peter asks, noticing Harry’s grumpiness.

“Nothing. Just Y/N blowing me off again,” Harry complains. Peter chuckles, knowing how that can be. “Yeah, that will happen when they start seeing someone. It’s okay. It happened when my friend Ned started dating this girl sophomore year. He would forget our plans or he would bring her everywhere, but Aunt May gave me some good advice. She told me to let him know I was happy for him but to bring up how I was feeling, that I felt cast aside for his girlfriend. Maybe you should do the same with Y/N?” 

“That is good advice, Petey, but this is different. Y/N isn’t with anyone. She doesn’t do relationships,” Harry says. “Many have tried, none have conquered, the title that is.”

“One did,” Peter informs him.

“What? No. Y/N doesn’t have a boyfriend. Whoever told you is obviously lying. I’ve known Y/N a long time and there is no way,” Harry denies. 

“You’re right. She doesn’t have a boyfriend. She has a girlfriend. She said so herself,” Peter responds.

“Who?” 

“Wanda.”

Harry smirks, not believing Peter for a second. Peter obviously must have misheard. “Y/N L/N dating Wanda Maximoff? Yeah right.”

Meanwhile not too far away at a sushi restaurant, Wanda is scoffing at something you bring up - Peter’s crush on the brunette. 

“He does not,” Wanda denies, making you laugh.

“It’s so obvious. He’s always blushing around you. How do you not see it?” You tease her. “You could have asked him to be your pretend boyfriend and he would have jumped at the chance.”

“He’s a baby, Y/N,” she retorts, rolling her eyes, as if that is enough explanation as to why it wouldn’t be possible. 

“He’s not that much younger than me,” you point out. Wanda’s face blanches. “Wait, how old are you?” 

You chuckle, “Wow, you really haven’t looked me up.” 

“That’s not answering the question, Y/N!”

“I think that’s our food,” you say, ignoring her question. The server comes with a tray to your table and begins setting your food in front of you and Wanda. Your mouth waters simply looking at it. The food doesn’t distract Wanda though. As soon as the server leaves you to your meal, she resumes her interrogation. “Y/N, tell me.” 

“Guess. I’ll give you a clue. I am old enough to drink,” you joke. She glared at you for not giving her a straightforward answer but relents to playing your game. After guessing wrong twice, she’s suddenly quiet, looking at you intensely. You think you either upset her or she’s thinking really hard but then you notice a dim red hue to her eyes and you know what she is trying to do. 

“Nu-uh, no cheating.” Her eyes are back to their usual green. 

“Fine,” she huffs. When she finally gets it right, you touch your nose like when playing charades to indicate she’s correct. You are three years younger than she is, which you guess she doesn’t deem too young for her based on the look of relief on her face. Satisfied, she finally begins eating. 

Wanda asks how dinner went last night. You tell her about how it felt more like an interrogation than anything and you complain about Lana always butting in. Wanda defends Lana saying she thinks she is trying to get along with you and maybe you are being harsh on your step mom. 

“She’s just so - ugh. You have to meet her to know what I’m saying.” Which reminds you, “Speaking of, I told them about me dating someone and they want to meet you.” You give Wanda the details, not that there are many. You and Wanda talk and talk until you realize your lunch time is up and you need to rush back to work because oh yeah, you are a working woman now. It’s such an odd feeling. 

You text Harry later, making plans to hang out on Saturday. You recognize that you’ve blown him off the past few days and can’t help feeling a little bad about it so you propose to do something that weekend. What? You don’t know yet, but because it’s Harry it will probably involve a party or the sort. 

Little do you know, there is a fundraiser the same Saturday you intend to go out with Harry. A fundraiser, not held by Stark Industries this time, but one which the Avengers are expected to attend nonetheless. Something for the children you hear from Wanda on Friday. 

“I know I should have mentioned it sooner but Steve just told us this morning. Apparently Tony signed us up a while ago, but forgot to put it on the official calendar,” Wanda explains. 

You are sitting in the living room today after work instead of lying around in Wanda’s bed this time. A change of scenery, Wanda said. Also, no one was hogging the huge flatscreen tv as usual and Wanda wanted to take advantage. 

“We get a plus one,” Wanda continues and looks at you hopefully. You frown in return. You regret informing her, “I would go but I kind of already promised Harry we would hang out tomorrow.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” she replies dejectedly. Hating not being able to appease her, you wrap your arm around her waist and pull her flush towards your side. You rest your chin on her shoulder and say, “I’m sorry.”

Just your luck for nosy Joaquin to appear with Sam when he does, overhearing the last part of your conversation with Wanda. Of course he jumps at this chance. 

“Wait, are you talking about the fundraiser tomorrow?” he interrupts you two. You try not to roll your eyes but you smile when Wanda sighs in annoyance. “Well that’s too bad you can’t go,” he says when you confirm you were in fact talking about the fundraiser. He turns to his ex-girlfriend. “What about you, Wanda?” 

Wanda replies, “I don’t know.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re not going to go because Y/N can’t be there? What, Y/N doesn’t like you going out without her?” he teases with the intention to get a rise out of you. Everyone sees it, including his friend. Sam side eyes him with a frown.

You hold back from scoffing at such an accusation. “Y/N here,” you speak up, raising the hand not on Wanda’s waist to remind him that you are in fact in the room. “Wanda is her own person. She doesn’t need my permission to go anywhere.”

You and Joaquin have a stare down while Sam convinces Wanda to go. Only when Sam succeeds and Wanda gives in does your stare down end. 

“See you there, beautiful,” Joaquin says and he winks at her. He winks at her! You tilt your head, eyes furrowed. Did he really just hit on her while you are sitting literally next to her? Sam frowns thinking the same thing, but refrains from saying anything. Wanda tenses up beside you and you are about to remind Joaquin of his place when he apologizes. “Sorry, old habit.” 

He chuckles, trying to sound embarrassed to play it off as an innocent act, but the little smirk on his face gives too much away as he leaves. Sam trails after his friend. 

“Okay, what the actual fuck,” you scoff, once the men are out of earshot. You stand up from the couch because for some reason what he did has you worked up, like you could hit something kind of worked up. You’re not going to hit anything, but you can’t stay seated when you feel this way. “Did he really just do that? The audacity. You were practically sitting on my lap! Is he kidding me?”

Wanda hasn’t said a thing. “Wanda?” You try to get her attention. She’s still tense, looking elsewhere. You can tell she is daydreaming or maybe she is remembering something. Either way, she is lost inside her head. You attempt to pull her out of it, calling her name a little louder. “Wanda.”

She snaps out of it and looks at you. She apologizes, “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Are you okay?” you ask, carefully approaching her, taking a seat again. 

“Yeah, yes. I’m fine. Why?” she replies, pretending she wasn’t just reminiscing about her relationship.

“You looked a little out of it. What were you thinking?” You place your hand on her shoulder, moving your thumb back and forth, trying to relieve some tension. She sighs and relaxes back into the couch. She answers, “Nothing. Just, um, what I’m going to wear for the fundraiser.”

You know that isn’t the truth but you aren’t going to push. “I’m sure whatever you pick, you’ll look amazing and I can’t wait to see it.”

“You want me to send you a photo or something?” she chuckles, not letting her mind linger too long on the compliment lest she start blushing.

“Definitely!” You nod. “I want a before and after picture.”

She makes a confused face. “You see me without makeup and dressed down all the time. Why do you need a photo of that?”

“I meant before you put on the dress,” you smirk. 

“Ugh, of course,” she scoffs, removing your hand from her shoulder and rolling her eyes at you. It’s just like you to turn a sweet simple compliment into something more. 

You chuckle, “Oh, so you’ll do it? You just said ‘of course’. Can’t take it back now.” You lean back on the couch and throw your arm over her shoulder.

“You know what I meant,” she groans. She doesn’t bother pushing you away though. She’s gotten used to your touchy nature and at this point, though she will never admit it to you, welcomes it and when you leave, she longs for it. However, that's something she has trouble admitting to herself. 

“Mhmm, sure.” You smile when you feel her sink into you, fully relaxed. She’s comfortable enough that you know she won’t leave your side when you joke, “Whatever angles you like is fine, but I do request good lighting.”

She pinches your stomach for the comment, making you squirm but laugh all the same. “You’re annoying. Just press play.”

You resume where you left off on the show playing on the screen. Wanda, easily distracted by the television, doesn’t notice you pull out your phone and send a text to Harry.

Y/N: Change of plans. How do you feel about going to a fundraiser?

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A/N: Let me know what you think and what you would like to see in the story. Thank you kindly for your patience. I think I have everyone who has asked thus far in the taglist on here but let me know if I missed you or if you would like to be added for this story. Replies in the comments from fabraykingmyheart are mine, fyi.