Ships Posts Area

It did wonderful things for her because, for once, she didn’t walk into a military base camp like she thought she was going to when Steve and Clint convinced her to tag along after Sokovia, but also because the grief after losing Pietro was very consuming and it was good to have people around her who made her laugh or roll her eyes. It was good to feel things other than sorrow. She got closer to Steve more than anyone else since he was the calmest of them - centered and sweet - but, after a rough start when Wanda could barely get out of bed, she managed to form a bond with the entire team.

The point is that Wanda was aware that those people sometimes acted like the teenagers she often saw on the sitcoms she used to watch with her family. That, of course, did not prepare her to find out that, above all of that, their team also seemed to be keen on keeping updates to their comrades' private lives. In other words, they were gossipmongers.

“So…” The first one to bring it up had been Thor, surprisingly so because the God of Thunder was spending less and less time around nowadays. “I noticed you have a thing for the widow.”

Wanda was not at all surprised that the team picked up on the little signs that she might have taken a different liking to Natasha - of all people, really, and her heart had decided to beat a bit faster to the woman who could kill on two hundred and God knows how many different ways. There were spies on the team and most of them could, somehow, hear better than everyone else too. Also, they would never have gotten that far in battling the bad guys if they had been oblivious to things around them.

What did surprise her, however, was that someone decided to point it out. To her face. While they were trying to choose the movie for that night - Tony’s idea because he was insisting they should pretend to be some type of dysfunctional family who had movie nights or something like that.

With her eyes wide and heart beating fast inside her chest, Wanda glanced over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone in the communal area where the largest TV known by man was. She could hear Tony and Clint bickering in the kitchen because they both had different ideas of what the night snack should be, and she knew Steve, Natasha and Sam must still be in the training room, so obviously Bruce was in his lab yet probably talking with Vision. Even so, Wanda didn’t look even a bit relaxed when she looked back at Thor.

“What?” She breathed out and then, because the nerves were eating her inside, she let out an awkward chuckle while shaking her head.

Wanda really thought the tall muscular man would let it go. He didn’t, of course. “No need to lie to me, shorty,” he said with a large smile that would’ve been charming if he wasn’t so damn daunting. Wanda also wanted to point out that everyone next to Thor would be short and that she was taller than most, but he didn’t give her a chance. “I can see the way you stare at her.”

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Wanda opened her mouth to try and come up with something to say but there was nothing her brain could use to get out of that situation. She wasn’t surprised people noticed but she was surprised Thor noticed. Because, if he did, so did everyone else. And, God, it was terrifying to have people knowing the things she felt.

She had a very complicated life until that point - and it still was, honestly - and Wanda learned when she was still a kid inside an orphanage that anything people knew about you could be used to hurt you. When Hydra started to make experiments on her, it became even more evident. Wanda proved it herself when she invaded the minds of the same people she now shared a roof with and used their worst memories and fears against them. And, after going through training with Natasha, Clint and Steve, Wanda could immediately panic thinking someone knew her deepest secrets.

Thor must have seen the panic on her face because his teasing smile turned more soft and he actually lowered his voice a bit - not that it would make such a difference since his timbre was so deep. “Hey, I’m not going to judge. Humans have so many rules and what they think is moral or not is based on things I can’t understand.”

It took Wanda a few seconds to understand what he was talking about. Thor thought she was afraid he would have a problem with Wanda having feelings for a woman when, in reality, she was scared that he knew she had feelings at all. If she wasn’t so tense, Wanda would’ve laughed.

“That’s not what I wanted to talk about, though,” Thor kept talking and Wanda was amazed he had a plan on what he wanted to talk with her about. Thor was not the type of guy who planned those things. Still holding the remote in her hand, Wanda waited for him to continue. “Look, Natasha is… very brave.” He made it sound like that was the most important quality someone could have. “And scary.” Wanda raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I mean, she’s a good woman. Very beautiful too.”

Okay, he didn’t have a plan.

Wanda slowly nodded. “Sure,” she mumbled, unsure what else she could say.

“She’s also not the woman who do dating,” Thor finally declared, suddenly looking proud of himself. “If you want, I’m pretty sure she would be down to sex, but take care, okay?” Wanda felt her face heating up in a way it had never done before and her eyes glued to the TV in front of her with renewed interest. There was no way that conversation was real. “If you do the sex, don’t get attached,” he warned her gently. “You might end up getting hurt. So, maybe, the best idea is to not have sex. Unless you want to.”

Wanda thought she wanted to disappear, maybe be swallowed whole by a portal or something that would take her away. She had magic and she certainly could make it happen if she tried hard enough but Wanda felt so shell-shocked that she couldn’t move. “Thor…”

The God interrupted her, though, which was good because Wanda wasn’t sure what she could even say. “I just mean that having feelings for someone like Natasha can be very tricky. But, if you ever get your heart broken and need someone to talk to, just come to find me. Unless I’m in Asgard, of course.”

Thor then used one of his ridiculously big hands to pat her on the back, a friendly gesture, but Wanda almost got thrown out of the couch because of how strong the man was. Wanda grimaced and moved away a few inches so he couldn’t reach her again if he tried, and she was about to finally snap and tell him to mind his own business when Tony and Clint entered the space with several popcorn bowls.

“Where is everyone else?” Tony asked and, just like that, the conversation was over.

Wanda couldn’t say she had forgotten all about it after it happened because it was hard to forget that Thor, the God of Thunder, decided to give her love advice, but she was sure it would never happen again. Sadly, Wanda didn’t have superspeed like Pietro to run away if it ever did but she could think about a few other things to escape if she had to.

That said, she didn’t expect that conversation to happen with someone else instead on the very next day. And with Tony of all people.

He had called her inside his lab to help him make some tests on his suit - he was trying to make it strong enough to support Wanda’s magic - and then allowed Wanda to use one of the robotic arms to blow one of the training dummies. Wanda had laughed after that, feeling like a kid playing with things she wasn’t supposed to, before telling him she still preferred the red flow that came from her own hand and giving him the suit piece back.

“Yes, not all of us can shoot explosive balls from our palms,” Tony replied with a scoff while pulling away his things.

“No need to be so jealous,” Wanda taunted him. They walked a long way until Wanda felt comfortable enough around the man and it took a little more time to be able to joke around him, but Tony had a place inside her heart as well.

“Jealous, honey?” Tony teased her back, taking a look at her from over his glasses. “I invented a thing that is pretty much the same you can do.”

“Well, yes,” she conceded before turning one of her palms up and letting a small red ball form just above it. “But you have to carry that suit everywhere.”

Tony sighed and didn’t argue back, which made Wanda smile and put her hands back inside her back pockets. She was about to ask him if he needed help with anything else since she had planned on going out with Vision to show him the ducks by the lake when Tony started talking before her.

“So, you wanna do funny business at workspace, huh?” Wanda had no idea what he just said and just kept staring at him with a blank expression on her face. Upon hearing nothing from her, Tony looked up from where he was typing on the computer and rolled his eyes impatiently. “You know, knock boots.” Tony kept looking, Wanda kept staring, and it became clear she was still lost. He sighed and started waving a hand while he came up with other things to say. “Have some horizontal refreshment, get down and dirty, shake the sheets, practice the act of darkness, have some adult naptime, make an assault with a friendly weapon, do the Devil’s dance, feed the kitty, hit a home run, join amorous congress - Steve would like that one - go cave diving.” Wanda felt like the man had just thrown a bunch of words that had no meaning at her and expected the girl to form a sentence. Tony groaned and his head dropped for a moment before he looked up at her again and declared: “Sex, Maximoff. I’m talking about sex.”

Wanda’s eyes widened, her cheeks became as red as the magic that winded around her fingers, and she took a step back out of shock. Yes, that wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with Tony Stark of all people. In fact, Wanda would rather stay still as he blasted her with his Iron Man suit instead of having that particular conversation.

Though, as usual, it could get much worse.

“Let me tell you this, you could have chosen someone better to want to do the fun thing,” Tony huffed and shook his head, although he looked quite impressed. “That’s some dangerous place you want to hide your hot dog at.” Wanda wondered if anyone had ever passed out for blushing too hard because she felt a second away from doing it. “Well, guess that’s not the best euphemism for you. Let me think for a second.”

“You don’t need to,” Wanda murmured mostly to herself since, obviously, Tony didn’t pay her any mind.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Tony called out and Wanda watched with her eyes still wide as the artificial intelligence came to life to wait for what its creator wanted. “Can you tell me some euphemisms for lesbian sex?”

“Of course, Mister Stark,” the robot replied and Wanda reacted before it could get completely out of hand.

“Okay, I’m out of here.” Wanda turned around to walk to the door, eager to escape and be anywhere other than there.

She still heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. declaring: “Play rock, paper, scissors with only the scissors.”

“Come down, kiddo,” Tony called out after her. “I’m just trying to help!” Wanda opened the door and took a step out, ready to flee - run if she had to. “Romanoff is a very dangerous place to try to get funny, especially if you are totally smitten by her.”

Wanda glared at him in surprise. She wondered if Thor said something or if Tony also couldn’t keep his own business - and she knew the answer to that. “Tony, please, don’t ever talk to me again,” she pleaded because, honestly, she would never recover from the conversation they just had.

Tony laughed, though, and gave her a playful wink. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that you’re head over heels for our most dangerous, and hot, spy.”

“Bye, Tony.”

“Just saying that, if you want to love her with all your heart and soul, you should know Natasha is all about afternoon delights and nothing else.”

Wanda could only pray no one heard the man’s raised voice while she walked away. Thankfully, Tony didn’t follow her but Wanda didn’t go find Vision right away. She needed a few minutes to get over the fact that another person from their team decided to step out of their way to give Wanda a warning about Natasha Romanoff. Gosh, that was a bit humiliating.

However, Tony hadn’t been the first and wouldn’t be the last either, something that made Wanda want to go back to the rubbles of Sokovia. It felt like a better alternative than having her feelings rubbed into her face like they were public domain.

It was definitely better than having that conversation with Bruce Banner for sure.

“I guess I should give you my condolences,” Bruce said out of nowhere about a week after her weird conversation with Tony.

Half of the team was away on some type of mission, to which Wanda and Bruce hadn’t been needed, and both of them had ended up inside the man’s lab while he worked on something while Wanda read a book. She could’ve gone to the back of the Avengers’ compound where she could sit under a tree and enjoy the breeze, but Bruce was interested in some of the Hydra’s experiments and she decided to tag along with him in case he had any questions she could answer. Bruce and her weren’t that close, though they didn’t have problems with each other.

Wanda looked up from her book with a frown. “For what?” She asked. Pietro had died a while ago and Bruce had said he was sorry about it as soon as they landed after it happened, even going as far as giving her a gentle hug and a sad smile.

Bruce’s dark eyes glanced at her in sympathy, though he didn’t stop mixing whatever he was mixing inside a vial. “For falling in love with Natasha Romanoff,” he explained and, above all, he actually sounded sorry for her. “We should start a club for unrequited love or something.”

Wanda’s eyebrows rose comically as her jaw dropped in surprise. She had seen inside both Natasha’s and Bruce’s heads and she knew that it had happened, however, they never spoke about it and, as far as Wanda knew, they both preferred to pretend it never happened. So, to have the man address the fact that he had feelings for Natasha at some point in time was a bit disturbing. Especially because, yes, Wanda knew about it too and, all people considered, she was the one who tried the hardest to pretend she didn’t.

It was none of her business, to start with, but to think about it made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

And now Bruce Banner wanted to talk with Wanda as if they had both been cursed by some terrible catastrophe.

Which, Wanda supposed, was understandable yet extremely unfair.

“Surprised I know?” Bruce asked with a hint of humor.

“I’m starting to think the entire world has been watching me,” Wanda groaned as she closed her book but her voice was too low for Bruce to hear it.

“I too once looked at Natasha as if we could have a future together, just like you do now,” Bruce kept talking and, despite the harsh words, he didn’t sound like a jerk while saying it. It was probably his gentle nature saving him. “And that’s the problem, you know? Natasha doesn’t think she deserves to have a future, so she won’t even try to build one,” Bruce sighed and looked back at the vial. “We have that in common. Neither of us thinks we can have what Tony found with Pepper, or build something like Clint has.”

Bruce was fine talking about Natasha but he wasn’t comfortable looking at Wanda while he spoke about himself. The girl felt some rush of anger inside her and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying all the things that ran inside her mind at that moment. She knew Bruce meant well in the end.

“Maybe you’re both too harsh on yourselves,” Wanda pointed out softly.

When Bruce looked at her, it was pretty clear he couldn’t disagree more with what she just said but, maybe to take the spotlight away from him, he nodded. “Perhaps,” he said with a shrug. “I just wanted to warn you. You’re still young and I’m sure one-sided love won’t take you down. Just take care of yourself, okay? Don’t dream too much, keep your feet on the ground.”

It was the most direct way of saying “don’t be in love with Natasha Romanoff” without actually saying it.

Wanda didn’t reply - mostly because that’s not how feelings work, after all - and Bruce dropped the subject right after that. Wanda waited a few more minutes out of respect before excusing herself from his lab, taking her book with her, and that had been it. She would do a lot of things to prevent herself from having that conversation with Bruce again because the last thing she wanted was to hear the man talk about a time when he and Natasha talked about running away together - even if it never happened or if neither of them actually meant it.

The rest of the team returned by the end of the night and Wanda found a seat as far away from Bruce as she could manage when Tony declared they should watch a movie together. Turns out that Wanda realized she would rather hear Tony Stark come up with a thousand different ways to address sex than talk about feelings with Bruce Banner. Who would’ve guessed?

After that, Wanda got a break from the entire “let’s talk about your feelings” thing. Wanda left to join a mission with Steve and Vision, then it was time for Steve to leave with Clint and Natasha for something else. It was some nice good two weeks of not having to talk about how bad she was at hiding her crushes but it didn’t last forever, obviously.

“Hey, Red,” Clint said as soon as he was done eating after returning from his mission. It all went well enough that no one had a bruise or a more serious wound but Clint still had enough adrenaline rushing through his veins that he assured everyone he didn’t want to take a rest like Natasha and Steve wanted to. “You and me, training room. You game?”

It was hard to understand Clint at first when she first met him. Wanda’s first language wasn’t English and it could be hard to keep up when he wasn’t saying all the words. She always thought he would get along with Pietro just fine because of that. As time went by, and the more Wanda had English and accent classes with Natasha, it became easier to follow along, though.

So, she simply nodded and followed him to the training room after changing into something more comfortable. Natasha and Steve had been the ones to give her hand-to-hand combat training when she first joined the team but Wanda now sparred with everyone else since she proved she wouldn’t get herself killed accidentally. Clint was already inside waiting for her and they soon got on the training mattress. Clint wasn’t as good as Natasha but he was still better than Wanda, even more so since she wasn’t allowed to use her powers inside the room, and she quickly started to get her ass kicked.

“You’re still not that good at the whole kicking butt thing,” Clint teased her as he reached out with a hand for her to take it.

She grabbed it and got up with a groan when her muscles protested. “I could throw you across the street with a flick of my finger,” Wanda argued.

Clint simply laughed. “Yeah, right. Come on, try again.”

By the seventh time Wanda landed on the matt, Clint was starting to get tired finally and didn’t try to get her to get up. Wanda lay there, sweaty and out of breath, arms open and staring at the ceiling while cursing herself for never being able to keep up with him. Clint was drinking some water, staring down at her with a smug grin, and Wanda was waiting for him to tease her about it too.

He went to another approach, though. “You know, I thought you would’ve learned more things about it since Natasha was the one teaching you. Thought you would want to impress her or something.”

Wanda groaned because, by now, she knew what was about to happen and she wasn’t thrilled by it. “Not you too,” she complained.

Clint’s smirk told her he had heard her but he didn’t ask any questions about it. “Lemme tell ya,” he paused and pointed at the girl laying on her back, “Natasha would not be impressed.”

Wanda rolled her eyes and grunted as she set down so she wouldn’t feel so damn vulnerable. “You shouldn’t gloat. It’s bad luck.”

The man laughed even harder at that. “Right. Keep that in mind if you ever manage to fulfill your wildest dream to get Natasha to pin you down in a more fun way.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Wanda replied and used one hand to prop herself up. She got to her feet and glared at him. “Do you still want to fight or can I go take a shower?”

“You wish you could share a shower with-”

“Bye, Clint,” Wanda interrupted him so abruptly that he just laughed while she walked away.

Wanda was out of the door before he could say anything else but she had just stepped into the hallway when she walked right against a wall. Well, not a wall, she noticed when she looked up after letting out a small squeak. Steve Rogers.

“Oh, hi, Steve,” she greeted him. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“No problem,” Steve assured her with his sweet smile. “I also wasn’t looking. Are you done training?”

“Yes. Clint is trying to be funny.” Wanda rolled her eyes and heard his deep chuckle. “I thought you were resting.”

“I was but I’m kind of hungry now. Do you want to join me in the kitchen?”

“Yes. You and cap should have a tea party,” Clint said as he walked out of the room as well, not even trying to not hit her with his shoulder.

Wanda frowned and glared at him but the man simply laughed and walked away. Seriously, it was like sharing a house with a bunch of kids.

“I do make some pretty good tea,” Steve commented while giving her a little smile.

And Wanda was hooked.

She went down to the kitchen area with him, happily listening to him tell her about the mission and how it went. Wanda sat on one of the high stools, putting both of her elbows on the kitchen island and her hands clasped together while she watched Steve move around at ease to put some water on the kettle. He then walked to the fridge to find some leftovers he could warm up and Wanda couldn’t help but smile at the scene. A super soldier making some tea and eating old spaghetti.

“How were things while we were gone?” Steve asked after leaning back against the counter so he could eat and look at her at the same time.

“Normal,” Wanda replied, even though nothing had been very normal since the entire team decided to watch her every move because they thought it was so fun to see her little crush on Natasha. “Tony tried to make another movie night and was mad when Bruce fell asleep in the middle of what he called the best movie ever made.”

“Yes, sounds normal.” Steve rolled his eyes although the smile on his lips was fond. “Did you train with someone?”

Wanda shook her head. Ever since her training got less rigid - it happened after Natasha declared she was better in her combat skills enough to hold her own against their usual share of villains and after Steve was confident she could run without having a heart attack - Wanda didn’t go to the training room every day anymore. She liked to run in the mornings because it felt nice to clear her mind for the usual two miles she took and she enjoyed sparring sometimes just to learn some new move she might have missed before, but that was it. She relied a lot on her magic and Wanda was truly fine with it even if she knew Natasha would rather otherwise.

Steve too, though luckily he didn’t give her another long speech about the importance of training. “Well, I’m back now. We could train tomorrow morning.”

Wanda grimaced despite her best tries not to. “Sure,” she replied however because, well, she was a part of the team and people had to trust her. The man seemed amused by that, at least. “Maybe we could do that pair thing again,” Wanda suggested mainly because it was more fun to be paired up with someone while both of you tried to take down the other duo.

“I doubt Clint will be up before noon,” Steve said and finally put the now empty container down on the counter. The water was warm enough by now and he moved to grab two cups from the top cabinet - where Wanda could reach but where Natasha couldn’t, much to her disdain. “You want some too, yes?”

Wanda nodded in agreement. “We could ask Nat and Tony to join us, maybe.” Tony hated those sparring things but Wanda still wanted to make him suffer after making her painfully listen to him talk about sex.

Steve put one of the mugs in front of her, placed his palm on the marble and took a sip of his drink while looking at Wanda with amusement in his eyes. He waited until she drank some of it, watched her small grimace, and then chuckled when he pushed the sugar toward her. Wanda grabbed a cube and dropped it on the hot liquid before taking a spoon to swirl it.

“I once knew someone who put four sugar cubes in her tea,” Steve told her, grabbing her attention again.

Wanda’s eyes moved up when she noticed how much his voice had changed when he said that. Steve’s tone was something between longing and heartache, and his face showed something similar by the way his smile lost all strength. Wanda knew who he was thinking about. She had been inside his head once, she saw the woman’s face, and she felt his sorrow for the life that could have been.

It still took her breath away sometimes because Steve had loved that woman so dearly and then someone decided to transform him into a deadly weapon for the military and he lost it.

Since she didn’t know what to say - and because there was nothing she could come up with that would be truly helpful - Wanda reached out and placed her hand on top of his on the counter, squeezing his fingers tightly. Steve seemed surprised by it but he quickly offered her a small smile and squeezed her hand back.

“Love is a funny thing,” he whispered after a few seconds where he was probably debating with himself if he should keep talking or not. “It can give you the drive to be better, to do better, to fight more, to keep going. But it can also take away all of that,” Steve sighed, looked into her eyes, and tilted his head a little. “It can be a blessing and it can be a curse.”

“I know that,” Wanda replied carefully. “I thought I would never be able to smile again when I lost Pietro.” And there were still days where it was hard, where it was impossible to smile or eat or get out of bed or be reminded that she was still alive and her twin brother wasn’t. But there were days when she would be hit by the sudden wish to live for both of them, to try every milkshake and go to every beach and watch every movie. “I know they’re different situations, but I understand.”

“I know you do,” Steve smiled sadly. “You went through a lot already. More than most people would even be able to take.”

Wanda said nothing because she learned very soon that life wasn’t a competition of who had a more traumatic past, especially when she was part of a team where no one had an easy path to where they currently were. No one there had an easy life.

“Like I said,” Steve kept talking after he realized Wanda wasn’t going to say anything, “love can heal and it can hurt.”

“Steve,” Wanda smiled at him, “if you have something to say, just say it.”

He had the decency to look embarrassed and he averted his eyes for a moment, cheeks flushed and lips curled at the corners. “That was it,” Steve said eventually with a shrug. “That was all I had to say. Love can heal and it can hurt,” he repeated while taking the mug to his mouth again. “We need to be careful about it.”

After saying that, he took a sip of his tea and Wanda copied his movement just to keep herself busy for a while longer. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“It’s not my business, I know,” Steve admitted. “I just worry.”

“That I will break down and screw the team over if Natasha wants nothing to do with me and tells me to shove my feelings somewhere else?” Wanda asked without beating around the bush like Steve was. It was better when people were more direct about it, she decided.

The old man, though, grimaced and pursed his lips. “You’re spending too much time with Tony.”

“You should hear some of the things he said,” Wanda huffed but didn’t explain what she meant.

“I just worry, that’s all,” Steve said. “You went through a lot and… and some people might not be able to know how to deal with it.”

Wanda put her cup down. “That’s what every girl wants to hear, I suppose.”

His eyes went wide open after that. “No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean like-”

“That’s okay, Steve,” she stopped him and slid out of her seat to go wash the mug on the sink.

“Let me.” Steve approached her to stop Wanda from reaching for the soap. He offered her a smile when she glanced up at him.

She could’ve argued if he hadn’t decided to join the large list of people trying to get their noses on her business. Instead, she let him take the sponge and the mug, thanked him for the tea, and left the kitchen. As she walked to the elevator, Wanda couldn’t help but wonder just how easily people could read her. It appeared like everyone living under the same roof as her could read her like an open book. It was very unsettling, to say the least. She wasn’t a spy like Clint or Natasha but Wanda was sure she should be better at keeping things inside if she wanted to join their hero thing club.

Wanda asked the artificial intelligence to take her to her floor and, seconds before, she was walking down the hallway on the floor she shared with Natasha. It was an entire floor just for them since they were the only women on the team but they barely ever used the small kitchen or the living room area. Wanda remembered being new to the team and seeing Natasha walking that corridor all sweaty after a training session, how her mouth felt dry and how her heart beat fast. She wondered if any of the people who had spoken with her before knew about that.

Tony and Clint would never let her live it down, Bruce might try to form some type of connection with her, Thor would probably give her a high five or something, and Steve would blush for days. How any of those men managed to be superheroes was beyond her.

Wanda sighed as she pushed the door open and then closed it behind her after she walked inside the room. She kicked off her shoes out of habit while debating with herself if she should jump into the shower already or rest for a couple of minutes, though that became an easy decision when her eyes landed on the bed. Wanda fluffed her pillow before her hand found a shoulder to gently push against.

She heard an unhappy groan that made her smile before the body on the bed turned around so Wanda was staring at the muscular back. There was a bruise and a small cut there, probably a memoir from the last mission, and she made a mental note to rub some healing ointment later. With another sigh, Wanda slipped under the covers, wrapping her arms around a slim waist and pressing her body against another one in a big spoon position she knew so well. Her nose immediately found the back of a neck between red locks and she took a deep breath in even if she knew there wouldn’t be any perfume to smell - people remember smells, she had been told once, and the goal is to go unnoticed.

“Where were you?”

Wanda smiled at the husky tone caused by drowsiness. “Your friends were either trying to kick my ass or to give me a shovel talk in reverse.” Tony had taught her what ‘shovel talk’ meant when he was telling a story once and Wanda was proud to finally be able to use it in a conversation. There were many American slang she was still learning about.

“Do I want to know?”

“Maybe later, after you had enough rest. You just came back,” Wanda said and then pressed her lips between shoulder blades.

That made Natasha sigh and grab Wanda’s hand that was resting on her stomach. The redhead pulled her closer, impossibly closer. “I’m awake now. Tell me about it.”

Wanda hesitated for a moment because she really wanted the other woman to be able to rest after returning from a mission but she also knew Natasha wouldn’t drop the subject. “Well, it appears that the entire team seems to think I have a crush on you.”

Natasha’s body shook with a chuckle against her. “Where on Earth did they take that idea from?” She joked while pushing herself back against Wanda’s body.

“I guess I’m an open book or something. Everyone has accused me of being in love with you or wanting to sleep with you.”

“They must be insane,” Natasha replied with a smile clear in her voice.

“They think I’m the insane one,” Wanda huffed a laugh and was about to tell the woman to go to sleep again when Natasha started to move. She removed her arm from around the redhead and patiently waited until Natasha turned around to face her, putting a space between them to be able to talk.

“How come?” Natasha wondered. “Please, don’t tell me these people think I’m literally a black widow or something.” She rolled her eyes at that because she could see it happening way too easily.

Wanda laughed. “No, but they do think you’re going to let me down gently. Or not so gently, I suppose. Bruce is pretty sure you’re going to break my heart in a million pieces, Steve thinks I’m too fragile to handle you, and Tony thinks it’s very likely that you would use me for sex and throw me in the gutter.”

Green eyes closed, which made Wanda pout a little because she loved staring at them. “Are any of them wrong?”

There it was. The self-doubting thing returning full force. They had talked about it many times before and Wanda never liked hearing Natasha put herself short. Bruce had made her a bit nauseous but he hadn’t lied about what Natasha thought of herself and her future. Wanda had only a few months to try to make Natasha see that she was allowed to be happy, that she deserved to be happy, that she shouldn’t punish herself for her past, but it was months against a lifetime of beliefs. Wanda knew she still had a long way before her words started making sense to the other woman.

“All of them, actually,” Wanda pointed out. “They didn’t even think you would ever spare me a look.”

“They’re stupid then. You’re a very nice thing to look at,” Natasha teased with a smile and cracked one eye open, which made Wanda chuckle and lean closer to kiss her nose, before she closed it again.

“We agree your friends lack some sense.”

“They’re your friends. For me, they’re coworkers.”

Wanda scoffed loudly at that. “No one believes that. You have a soft spot for them.”

Natasha sighed. “Just because they can’t figure out how to keep themselves alive without me having to save their asses all the fucking time.”

“Well, whatever is the reason,” Wanda said even if she knew Nat wasn’t serious, “they certainly aren’t my friends. They keep telling me to stop looking at you like you hung the stars or something like that. It didn’t make sense when Tony said it.”

“Maybe they tell you that because they’re your friends and because they care,” the redhead commented and opened her eyes again. “They don’t want to see you hurt. They care about you.”

Wanda didn’t have anything to say about that. She was a part of the team for a while now but it felt different to know those people cared for her, that they liked her, that they wanted her around. It was a strange feeling the whole ‘being wanted’ thing. Pietro used to be the only one to make her feel like that and it was hard to feel anything remotely like that ever since he was gone.

“They act like a gossip magazine,” Wanda said instead.

“They do, don’t they?” Natasha chuckled and silence fell around them for a few moments. Wanda was starting to feel sleep wanting to creep in and she knew she had to get up to take a shower before allowing herself to sleep but she felt so comfortable that it was impossible to move. She was about to ask Natasha to roll over again so they could sleep when the woman started talking. “And they think I don’t deserve you. That’s why they keep warning you to stay away.”

“No one warned me to stay away,” Wanda corrected her gently.

“They did and you should.” Natasha bit her bottom lip, looking too much like she was trying not to get emotional at that moment. “I’m broken. All sharp ends and hard edges. You’re soft, you can bruise and bleed.”

“Natasha, with all due respect, I spent the last few weeks hearing our friends try to say how I should or should not feel, sticking their noses in my business and basically saying I was too naive to make my own decisions.” Wanda paused to look deep into Natasha’s eyes. “I won’t hear it from you too. Not after I set there in silence and listened to them talk because they have no idea that you would be laying here in bed waiting for me to join you after you returned from a trip. We agreed not to tell them a thing, I get it, but you can’t agree with them in something like this. Not when you’re living this with me.”

Natasha’s green eyes filled with tears that never fell before she tilted her chin up to kiss Wanda’s forehead. Her lips lingered against her skin for a few seconds until they formed words. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Wanda whispered back.

“And I’m sorry we hadn’t told them yet,” the redhead added.

They talked about it before - about safety, about how it was better if no one else knew, about how keeping them under wraps was better so no bad guy could use it against them - and Wanda now had more arguments to validate that decision. It would be great to see their reactions to find out how wrong they had been but it was also good to know they could keep living their lives without having them trying to get a say about everything. They all meant well, she knew that, though it was hard to remember that sometimes.

“It’s for the best,” Wanda declared with a shrug.

“Suppose it is. I mean, they all think I’m one step away from breaking your heart.”

“They only think that because I’m too soft,” Wanda told her when she noticed the slight pain in the woman’s voice again. “It’s me, not you.”

“You need to stop talking with Tony,” Natasha scoffed before she started to turn around again, apparently tired of the conversation.

“You just wait until I tell them that you bring me flowers sometimes,” Wanda teased her as she wrapped her arm around Natasha’s waist one more time.

“Don’t you dare,” the spy argued fervently. “I have a reputation to keep.”

“And you’re doing a great job at that because everyone thinks you would use a flower to poke my eye or something.” Wanda chuckled at the thought. “Oh, they will never believe it when I tell them about you taking care of me after a nightmare.”

“I’m warning you, Maximoff.”

“And that you rub my feet every time you kick my ass at training.”

“I’m starting to feel like kicking your ass right now,” Natasha groaned.

Wanda just smiled. “How violent. Maybe they’re right and I should take care.”

“Yes, I’m dangerous.”

Hailee paid you no mind, used by now to have you get up and collect your clothes before either of you could get too comfortable on the large bed, as she propped herself up with one arm to reach out for her phone on the nightstand with the other. Before jumping on the bed with your lips attached to one of her lips, you had asked to use her charger so you wouldn’t have a dead phone while driving back home, so your cell phone was also on the nightstand beside hers.

With one last look at the woman - still feeling so goddamn proud of yourself - you went inside the bathroom to make yourself more presentable to walk out of her apartment. You would have to take the elevator down and walk to your car parked across the street. If anyone happened to stumble over you, the last thing you needed was to look freshly fucked. You were very open about your sexuality to the press but there was no need for anyone to find out about your little arrangement with Hailee.

You were just using her mouthwash to rinse your mouth - sadly losing the last traces of her taste on your tongue - when you planned your next steps. Go to the kitchen, drink some water, go back to the bedroom, grab your phone, put your belt back on - you would have to take that one from the headboard of Hailee’s bed - and leave. Maybe you would make a quick stop by the wine store on your way home since it was on your way.

Mouthwash back in place at the sink, you left the bathroom with a big intake of breath. “Do you want some water?” You asked her, leaning down to grab Hailee’s bra from the floor. She threw it on the armchair with a smirk.

Hailee nodded distractedly before she turned to grab the empty glass from her nightstand so you could fill it. That’s when your phone screen lighted up with a new text message and, even though you knew that wasn’t Hailee’s intention, she ended up reading what it said before the screen went black again. You weren’t worried about it, of course, but you quirked one eyebrow when Hailee grabbed your phone and threw you a glare that was obviously filled with anger.

“Did you just receive a text from someone else wanting to have sex with you while you’re still in my room?” She asked and, for a moment, you weren’t sure if she was actually mad or just playing with you.

The agreement between you two has been clear since the start. You were both single, you both needed to take some of the edge off sometimes, and you both enjoyed sex. It was a friends-with-benefits kind of situation, something that has been working for you two for about six months now. You were friends for longer, ever since you met her on the set of Hawkeye, but the sexual part of your friendship hadn’t started immediately.

And even now, six months later, nothing has changed between you two. You hung out with other people from the cast, you chatted and had a nice friendship that didn’t get complicated when one of you wanted to have sex.

The thing is Hailee wasn’t the only one you had that agreement with.

Your job didn’t allow you to be in the same city all the time and you, well, you enjoyed sex.

Having sex without any type of attachment was kind of your thing, actually, and Hailee was aware of that. You two spoke of going out and meeting other people all the time. There was no way you would’ve imagined she would be surprised, and apparently mad, to see you had some type of established friends-with-benefits thing with someone else.

When you didn’t say a thing, Hailee tapped on the screen of your phone to read the text out loud for you. “Are you free tonight? I’m in town and my hotel room has some good wine.” Hailee finished reading it and looked back at you. “With a wink face in the end.”

You were still standing in the middle of her room, not sure how to react to the drastic turn of events, but you just decided to go straight to the point. “We’re not dating,” you reminded her. “And you know I sleep with other people.”

Hailee kept looking at you for a while, probably trying to read what was going on inside your head, until she let out a breath and threw your phone on the mattress. “Don’t blame me for thinking this is a bit wicked.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. You decided to do the button on your pants, suddenly not as comfortable anymore, before you stepped closer to the bed to grab your phone. You unlocked the screen to open the messages and, sure enough, there was the text that got Hailee so worked up. Florence’s name was flashing with the notification and you didn’t manage to hold back a little smile because you had no idea Florence would be in the US, let alone in the same town. You liked spending time with her way before you two started with the booty call thing.

“Are you going to see her tonight?” Hailee asked, trying to sound like she didn’t care, but you still saw how she kept throwing glances at you while looking through her phone again.

“Please, don’t tell me you caught some feelings for me,” you teased in order to try to avoid a fight. You didn’t want to fight tonight, especially about that. You liked being very clear with every girl you made an arrangement with. No attachments, no feelings, no wanting to boss you around. “That would be a terrible, terrible, destiny.” You walked to the side of the bed where she was and leaned in closer to her face.

Hailee locked eyes with you, almost challenging, but the girl broke eye contact first, as expected, glancing at your lips with a hungry look on her face. “No, I didn’t.”

“Really? So why are you so mad?”

Dark eyes snapped back to yours, now flaring with anger, and you chuckled happily before pulling away to add some space between you two. There was no way you were going to stay around now. “I’m not mad.” It only took one of your glares for Hailee to sigh and refute what she had just said. “I guess I just felt… disposable,” she admitted almost shyly, going back to being the girl who would give you doe eyes while you tied her wrists to the headboard with your belt.

“Well,” you raised your eyebrows, “we don’t have anything serious going on.”

“No, we don’t,” Hailee agreed with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” You offered her a smile, feeling a bit more relaxed now that the crisis has been averted. Considering that Hailee was very adamant about keeping her bisexuality hidden from the public eye and how eager she had talked about the date she had next week with someone else, you were pretty sure she hadn’t suddenly developed feelings for you, but you guess it would throw most people off to read a text like that. “But, to answer your question, I’m going home. I know it looks like I have infinite stamina but I can’t exactly go around having sex all night,” you joked.

Thankfully, Hailee laughed. “I didn’t know you and Florence have a thing. You never told me.”

“A girl don’t kiss and tell, Hailee,” you winked at her.

“You totally do!” She laughed again, even louder now, before throwing a pillow at you. “But fine, keep your secrets.”

“Hey, I’m just so damn lucky that Marvel gave me two jobs at the same time, and it just happened to be to share a screen with two hot women,” you teased her, addressing the fact that you had shot Hawkeye and the Black Widow movie at the same time a few months ago. Those had been crazy times because you had to be at both locations across the ocean from each other, remember your lines, shoot the scenes without screwing up too much, and find some time to sleep. “And I just spoke exactly like Hemsworth would,” you completed with a grimace.

“Who else you hooked up with?”

Laughing, you shook your head. “Good night, Hailee,” you said while leaning in to grab your belt before turning to leave her room.

[...]

You didn’t meet with Florence that night, though you two made plans to see each other the next day since the girl would be in town for another week. Just like it had happened with Hailee, you and Florence became friends with benefits over time. Things with Florence were very hassle-free. You went out as friends, hung out, grabbed drinks together, watched movies, went to new restaurants, talked about people you two went out with, and, sometimes, you had sex.

It was great and so simple that you could easily say that was probably the one thing in your life that wasn’t even a bit complicated. Which was something that only crossed your mind the night before while you were driving home with music blasting through the radio. Your little chat with Hailee had provoked your thoughts enough to have some of them jump on the back of your head and grab your attention.

You had said to Hailee that having feelings for you would’ve been stupid and you didn’t think you were lying about it but it also made you think about what you were doing with your life exactly. You never had a very serious relationship that lasted more than a few months and now, when most people your age were married with kids, you were still holding onto ‘friends with benefits’ things instead of building up the courage to actually try to build a life with someone. That wasn’t something you were ever worried about but your life crisis lasted the entire night and, by the time you managed to fall asleep, you were pretty sure you would end up being one of the people who died alone in a nursing home without having anyone else to talk with but the nurse who had to change your diaper because she was paid to do so.

A bit dramatic, sure, but your job was literally doing that in front of a screen.

So, by the time you met up with Florence that night, you had an entire day to mull over your life and had made up your mind about what you wanted for the future.

Of course that it was quite hard to remember what your decision had been when Florence had you pinned down on the bed, face pressed against the pillow and ass up, while she pounded behind you with a strap that you had no idea how she managed to travel with it inside her bag. Florence was one of the very few people you ever allowed to fuck you like that. Most of the time, you preferred to be on top, to be in charge, to see the person’s face while you two fucked each other's brain out, but Florence managed to get you so comfortable over time that you would allow her to do whatever she wanted with you.

You could still remember one of the first times you two had sex - a night when you had been a bit rougher than the times before that - and how Florence immediately demanded that you two talk about boundaries so you wouldn’t accidentally trigger each other in bed. You were lying on your back, hands behind your head and a smug grin on your face after making her scream out for the entire hotel to hear, and Florence was straddling your hips slowly grinding against you even after her own orgasm.

“What about color code?” She had asked with her husky voice and sexy accent.

“What about it?” You replied without having a clue what she was talking about because the way she was grinding against you was making your head spin.

Florence chuckled lowly, sending a shiver down your spine. “Red, yellow and green. So we can communicate more easily.”

“Why?” You frowned. “Can’t we just say stop and harder?”

“Because it’s sexy,” she had replied while leaning down, one hand brushing against your skin, up your abs, between your breasts, until her fingers closed around your throat and applied some pressure to make it a bit harder for you to breathe. “Color?” Florence asked in a whisper against your ear before her tongue darted out to lick a hot trail on your neck.

You gulped and your hips jerked trying to get more friction from her. Even so, you decided to be honest about it. “Yellow.”

“Why?” Florence wondered as her fingers lost strength around your throat and she leaned back to look at you.

You shrugged. “Not my thing, I suppose.”

She nodded then before lying on top of you again. This time, the other hand that had been serving as a support on the bed sneaked between your back and the mattress, going up until it reached the back of your head. There, she grabbed a handful of your hair and gave it a very gentle pull. So gentle you could only feel the pressure of her fingers holding your curls. “Color?” Florence asked again and you had to agree that it was a sexier way to discuss those types of things.

“That’s a very green situation,” you replied playfully. “Like, lime green situation.”

And then Florence chuckled against your ear and your hips picked up pace and the conversation ended up with both of you cumming all over each other. It had been one of the sexiest experiences in your life but it also proved to you that you could trust Florence and could trust being intimate with her. She respected you and you respected her, and, above all, you were friends.

That’s why you weren’t even a little ashamed of the almost pornographic moan that escaped your lips when, after you came for what felt like at least ten minutes, Florence rolled off you with a groan after putting her body to such extremes to bring you over the edge. She collapsed beside you in bed, even though you were lying right in the middle and hadn’t moved at all, and got rid of the toy and the sheets that were tangled on your legs. You were grateful for that because your body felt like it was on fire and even the thin sheet was making it worse.

“God, no one can make me cum as hard as you can,” you declared out of nowhere, making Florence snap her eyes back to you in surprise for a second before she chuckled. “I swear to God,” you insisted, even nodding a little before closing your eyes to try to get a hold of your breath.

“I'm flattered,” Florence replied in amusement as she leaned closer to give you a light bite on the shoulder.

You sighed and finally found enough strength to turn to your side so you could face her. There was a small gap between your bodies because you were still feeling too warm. “You should.” You smiled and wiggled your eyebrows. “I can't even feel my legs right now.”

It made Florence laugh again and, as she threw her head back, your eyes hungrily took on the column of her neck. “That's why you keep coming back for more,” she teased you and then reached out behind her to grab the water bottle she left there earlier that night.

You watched her for a moment - the gulp of water, her eyes dancing with mirth as she looked at you, her lips curling around the bottle - and accepted a sip of water when she offered you some. You handed her the bottle back already deciding to start talking. “You know… I was with someone else when you texted me yesterday.”

Florence didn’t look surprised or affected by the information, although her voice became a bit sarcastic when she spoke again. “Oh, no. Did I get you in trouble?”

You rolled your eyes at her fake concern. “No, not really. Well, I mean, a little bit,” you admitted with a grimace. “She got mad that I received a text from another girl but she promised it wasn’t because she was in love with me or anything. Something about feeling disposable.” You didn’t think you needed to tell Florence who you were with and you were sure she didn’t even care or wanted to know either, so you didn’t say it. Hailee’s secret would be safe.

“Friends with benefits does work a lot like that, yes,” Florence retorted with a knowing look, as if she knew all about what you were telling her. You wouldn’t be shocked to know that she went through something similar herself because, as far as you knew, you also weren’t Florence's first fuckbuddy.

She said nothing else after that, and neither did you for a while. Eventually, Florence closed her eyes as if she was about to go to sleep and you knew you had to say what you wanted before she started to snore beside you - you didn’t feel the same need to rush out of her bed like you did with everyone else.

“Flo?”

“Yeah?” She didn’t open her eyes or move from the comfortable position she was in - with one hand under her cheek and the other one resting on the mattress between you two.

You hesitated only for a second simply because you didn’t want to disturb the peace she seemed to have found. Even so, you needed to say it and Florence’s sleep would sadly have to wait a few more minutes. “Is there any chance this thing between us could ever be more?”

As expected, Florence’s eyes snapped open so fast that it was almost comical to watch it. “What?”

“Don’t freak out yet,” you told her, biting your lip to hold back a laugh that wanted to escape. “I'm not about to confess my undying love or something like that,” you promised her. “I was just wondering if there is even a small chance of us being more than just fuck buddies.”

Florence still looked too surprised to say anything more than some questions. “What brought this on?” She used one elbow to hold her body up to look at you.

“The girl from yesterday, actually. It got me thinking.” You shrugged and then mumbled: “Probably more than I should.” You sighed and rolled to your back to stare at the ceiling. “As cliche as it is, I’m not getting any younger. I'm older than you.” Even saying that made you cringe because you hated being reminded that you were older than those girls, that you most definitely were trying to be forever in your mid-twenties even though you had passed that already. “You’re still young and don't have to worry about those things yet, but I'm starting to think about having a serious relationship.” You turned your head to look at her and added: “Settle down,” as if she might not understand what you were trying to say.

Florence quirked one eyebrow. “And you think I'm the right person to do it with?”

Her reaction didn’t surprise you, of course. You two were friends who enjoyed sex with each other. Florence had never shown any extra interest in you other than that but, as you had realized the night before, she was the one person in your life who you could see maybe building up something more than casual sex with. That’s why you were having that conversation and you knew she would have her reservations about it since you just dropped the subject on her out of nowhere.

So, you tried to lighten up the mood with a smile and a little joke. “Well, it wouldn’t be fair with you, if I'm being honest.”

“What do you mean?”

“To tie you up with someone older when you’re still young enough to enjoy being single?” You gave her a playful stare. “What an asshole move.” To add some effect to your words, you rolled your eyes and scoffed to yourself before shrugging again. “But I'm a bit selfish, I guess.”

Florence watched you for a moment, still confused but starting to see what you were trying to say. “So why are we having this conversation?”

“Because I would like to know if this more serious thing I’m looking for could be found with you,” you confessed, never one to beat around the bush. “If so, we could give it a try.” You saw her opening her mouth to say something so you quickly kept talking. “I'm not saying we would immediately start dating and get married by the end of the year, but we would give it a try. It could work or it couldn’t.” That’s the only thing you wanted. To know if there was a chance for you two to at least try. Like you said, it might not work, but you knew that, if it didn’t, it wouldn’t affect your friendship. Florence might be younger than you but she was very mature and you would be able to handle it if things went south. “That’s how dating goes, you know?”

“And if not? We don’t have sex anymore?” Florence wondered and then dropped into bed again with a sad sigh. “That would be sad. Sex with you is pretty great.”

That made you laugh. “We don’t have to stop this. We can still fuck,” you told her. “I'm just telling you that I would start looking for someone else to build a relationship with. We can still fuck until I find that person.” That wasn’t exactly new. That’s exactly how every relationship works. You were allowed to have sex with whoever you wanted until you started something serious with someone. Most people wouldn’t let their friend with benefits know they were trying to find someone else to date but things were never traditional with Florence anyway.

“The girl from yesterday…?” The blonde wondered without finishing her phrase.

You quickly shook your head when you understood what she meant, though. “It wouldn’t work out like that between us. She knows it too.”

“And you think it would work with me?” Florence insisted and, this time, she sounded incredulous that you would think that.

“It could.” Again, you laughed. The look on her face was pretty priceless. You decided to turn on your side again so you two would be facing each other and playfully dragged your fingers on the mattress to poke her ribs. “You fuck me like nobody else, I trust you. Not everyone is allowed to fuck me on all fours, you know?” You joked, your nail scratching her skin. “Or pull my hair,” you added with a wink and then removed your hand from her body so you wouldn’t get too distracted. “We never tried to get further than that because we both agreed on the fuck buddies thing, but I think I could find many things about you to like. You're funny and extremely caring about everyone else. That’s enough for me to want to give it a try, if you want to.”

Florence hesitated long enough for you to know what her answer would be. It made you a little sad, of course, but you weren’t heartbroken by it. “And if I don’t, we’re not going to stop…”

“No.” You shook your head to put more emphasis on it.

And, to no one’s surprise, Florence sighed and said: “I'm sorry.”

You chuckled and reached out to squeeze her hand. “Don't be, Florence.”

“But I am,” she whined, intertwining her fingers with yours and bringing your joined hands to her chest. “I'm really sorry because you're a great person and I can see what you're saying about it possibly working out.” You tried not to think about the back of your fingers touching her boobs, though it was easier than expected because you just couldn’t look away from the sad look on her face. “But I'm not ready to have anything serious.”

“And that’s okay,” you said and meant every word. You wouldn’t hold it against her at all. You asked her a question and she answered it. Now you could move on. “You don’t have to do something you don’t feel ready to do. Especially something like this.”

“I'm sorry,” Florence repeated softly.

“Stop apologizing,” you chuckled again to let her know it was fine and she shouldn’t be feeling so guilty about it. “Thank you for being honest and saving both of us some time, okay?” To show her how grateful you were for that, you leaned in and brushed your lips against her collarbone before letting your teeth grasp against the soft skin there. “Now, I remember you saying something about more sex. My legs are still shaking but my mouth is working just fine.”

And that was it.

No hard feelings.

You saw Florence two more times after that before she left town to go shoot her new movie somewhere in Europe. You had sex at one of those times but you both had brunch with a few friends in common the other day and it was good to realize nothing had changed. You both promised to keep in touch after Florence went to the airport and talked about maybe seeing each other again in a few months when she was done shooting and you were done with your own job, and that was the end of it.

Sadly, it was the end quite literally.

Florence’s shooting delayed several weeks due to bad weather and, by the time she was back in the US, you had left to shoot a series in Australia. When you returned home, she was in the UK. When you went to Europe, she was doing a press tour in Japan. And so on. Your agendas were always clashing and you never stumbled over each other. You saw her briefly once when you attended the same award show almost a year after the last time you had sex but you had to catch a plane right after the award was over.

Even though you didn’t meet in person, you never stopped talking over texts and eventual calls when you had the time. Florence was still your friend and you enjoyed talking with her.

Life kept going on like that.

You called off most of your casual hookups with time but you tried to focus on your job more than your romantic life despite what you have decided about having a serious relationship. You wanted it, but you didn’t want to rush into anything out of desperation just to regret it later. Things would fall in place with time, you were certain of it.

Close to the two-year anniversary of the conversation you had with Florence, you received the news that a new Marvel movie was going to start being shot in a couple of months and most of the cast was going to be called back to do it. That meant you would work with her again but not only her. Many of your old friends would be there and you were very excited to live all of that with them again.

When the announcement was made, Scarlett reached out to ask all the women to a dinner party in her house and you obviously accepted it. Scarlett was a dear friend of yours and you would’ve agreed to meet her for dinner despite of the reason, although she added more reasons for you to say eyes when she said she was trying to get the girls back together before shooting. You saw some known faces in there and it was an amazing night. You all ate, talked, laughed and joked all night, and you had such a great time there that you had a permanent smile on your face when you walked out of the door by the end of it.

Brie was talking loudly while walking towards the cab that she had called to herself and Florence was standing beside you while you two watched her go in amusement. That was the first time in a long time that you two spent time together and you couldn’t deny that you had missed it. Florence made it easy to enjoy her presence.

After Brie was safely inside the car, you turned to walk to where you had parked since you all had already said your goodbyes, but Florence’s voice stopped you in your tracks. “Hey, would you like to grab a drink? We could go to my hotel, they have an excellent bar by the lobby.”

You smiled because, yes, you had hoped you two could catch up, but you had thought about asking Florence to go to a new restaurant with you the next day or something. You turned back to her and nodded. “I would love that, yes.”

That’s how you two ended up sitting at the bar stools laughing loudly without a care in the world. You had talked a lot during the dinner but you two found more things to talk about. It was easy to talk with Florence, it was easy to tell her silly stories and make fun of yourself because you knew she wouldn’t judge you for any of it. And you loved to hear her talk about her own life and her own adventures and everything that happened at the time you hadn’t seen each other.

You lost track of time and you were surprised when you glanced at your phone and saw it was almost two in the morning already. There was just one other table being occupied and two other clients on the stools by the counters but you could tell the people on the bar were praying everyone would leave soon so they could clean up and go home. You were just thinking about calling it a night and asking Florence to meet up again tomorrow when you felt her fingers brushing on the back of your hand timidly.

“So… Did you meet that person?”

You didn’t have to ask what she was talking about. “I did, yes,” you admitted and then shrugged. “It didn’t work out but that's fine.” You had met someone who you thought might be the person for you but it all went downhill pretty quickly after five months together. “We’re still friends.”

She nodded slowly in understanding. “Anyone else now?”

You could see where this was going, even more so because the fingers on your hand were drawing little circles against your skin and because her eyes were glued to yours. You had been on the end of Florence’s flirting many times before to know she was trying to subtly say what she wanted that night. You didn’t mind. In fact, you were suddenly very excited about it. As said before, you had hoped, but didn’t expect it to happen.

“No,” you replied with a smirk as your other hand found a way to her thigh, barely covered by the dress she was wearing. She smiled back at you, eyes sparkling, and you felt your heart melt inside your chest a little. “I'm happy to see you again, Flo,” you confessed in an unusual emotional moment. “It's been a long time.”

Florence nodded eagerly and licked her lips all while slipping from the stool and tugging at your hand to do the same. “Way too long, yes.”

Hours later, you were both naked on the bed again, sheets kicked to the floor, bodies sweaty, short breaths, scratched backs. Even after so long, you two still had the same chemistry as before. It was still easy. Still amazing.

You were lying on your stomach, both arms beneath the pillow where your head was resting, eyes closed as you felt her fingertips brush against your back. The last time you checked, Florence was lying on your side looking at you but you were feeling too tired to open your eyes again to see if she moved. Besides, the air around you two felt like she was trying to gather up enough courage to start a conversation and you didn’t want to ruin the moment.

Whatever she wanted to say, it looked important.

You were starting to feel sleep creep in when you finally heard Florence sighing.

“The conversation we had a year ago.” Florence didn’t say more. She didn’t finish her sentence or start something else, and you just knew she had lost courage in the middle of her phrase.

You almost smiled. Instead, you decided to ask her: “What about it?”

You couldn’t see her but Florence bit her bottom lip and her eyes looked at you with something between concern and longing on them. “I wasn't ready then but… If you still think we could give it a try…”

You had hoped.

But you didn’t expect it.

You smiled, eyes still closed. “Aren't you going to ask me out on a date, Ms Pugh?”

“Would you say yes?”

“I don't know.” It was becoming harder to hold back the laugh that wanted to escape. “You didn’t ask yet.”

Florence chuckled and you finally cracked one eye open to see her nose scrunch in that adorable way it always did. Florence’s fingers never stopped drawing random patterns on your back. “Would you go on a date with me? Almost two years later because it took me some time to catch up with you.”

Something you would never blame her for, of course. Florence was still young then. She still is now but those two years had matured her a lot from what you could tell. Not to mention that things between us wouldn’t have worked back then. Not with the crazy schedule you both have. If she had said yes back then and you two tried to date, you wouldn’t have the time to actually be together. No relationship would ever work like that.

But now… Now she was older, she knew what she wanted and so did you, and you were about to slow down on your agendas for a while. It was the perfect time to try it.

“I would love to,” you finally answered and saw her muscles visibly relaxed. You closed your eye again, smiling and trying not to look so damn smug about it. “You pick the restaurant and I will wear something nice for you to take it off by the end of the night.”

Her husky laugh filled the room. “I like the sound of that.”

After saying that, Florence curled against your side and you both fell asleep soon after that.

[...]

“Hey, Y/N?” The mattress beside you moved when Florence turned around in your arms to look at your face and you almost screamed in frustration because you were just a second away from falling asleep.

“What?” You groaned.

“Are you awake?” Florence asked with a low tone.

“Who do you think answered you?” You retorted with a huff but were unable to not find it amusing.

“I wanted to thank you for giving me another chance,” Florence said after a brief pause. “I didn’t even deserve the first one you gave me. I was immature enough to be scared. I didn’t even give it a try.”

This time, you groaned louder because, no, you didn’t want to have that conversation at - you glanced at the clock on the nightstand - four in the morning. “Go to sleep, Florence,” you begged after resting your head back on the pillow and closing your eyes.

“I just wanted to say that,” she kept going. “And that I love you. Very much.”

Well, you couldn’t not reply to that. You sighed but smiled, and then pulled her ever closer to you so you could kiss her forehead. “I love you too, Florence,” you whispered against her skin. “But I will be asking for a divorce if you don’t let me sleep now.”

Florence chuckled. “That would be the fastest a marriage has ever ended,” she joked and her words made the weight of the ring on your finger intensify.

You still couldn’t believe you two got married a couple of hours ago after dating for over three years. It felt like a dream yet and you wondered how long it would take for you to get used to the cold metal around your finger. You would have to get used to it because you would wear it for the rest of your life, after all.

“Sorry, I think Britney would still beat us,” you responded jokingly. “No record for you.”

“Guess we need to remain married then.” She forced a sigh to pretend she was annoyed by it and you pinched her side.

“What a burden,” you agreed after she laughed. “To be married to the love of your life forever? Ugh.” You faked a gag and were rewarded with another chuckle. You could spend the rest of your life listening to it and, thankfully, you would.

Once she was done laughing, Florence snuggled even closer - if that was even possible - and sighed contently against your neck. “I love you.” She kissed your jaw. “Good night.”