#vevie

Evie paused, regret flashed across her face. “That was a long time ago,” she looked away. “Things are just… different now.”

“You stayed home after Anne kicked you out of her apartment. You stopped going places for fun. You—”

Evie could feel him digging through her memories, pulling up those moments she shared with just her. Moments that were too special to tarnish with the way she was after everything changed. Evie felt a spike of anxiety. Throwing both hands to her cover her head, as if that action alone could halt the symbiote’s actions, she snapped at him “Stop it, you can’t just look though my head like that!”

Her distress flowed through their bond. Venom felt her trying to block those memories. Not the ones with Anne, but the ones that came after. Memories of days where she wouldn’t even get out of bed, where she sometimes forgot to eat, where she just waited around hoping Anne would come back into her life. But, until very recently, Anne was gone and Evie blamed herself. Even now there was still a distance between the two friends. And thinking about how deeply losing Anne made her feel triggered a spiral of negative thinking that Evie was all too familiar with.

Venom spread up her arm to blanket her back. Protecting his host from the world even if he couldn’t protect her from her own thoughts. The symbiote took up his earlier position of hanging over her shoulder, and nuzzled her neck.“Sorry, Evie. Only wanted to help.” Rubbing soothing circles down her arms, Venom hoped to quiet her anxiety.

The warmth he gave off helped her calm down some. She took a deep breath, resetting her thoughts. “I know bud, but …next time ask first before you go looking though my more anxious memories. Ok?”

“Ok,” he gently squeezed her shoulders for emphasis.

“So um, why do you want to get out of the apartment so badly anyway?”

He thought about it. “Sounds like fun for us. I want to see your world. Like we did on the tower that night we first met.”

“I remember that, I alsoremember falling.” Evie still wasn’t a fan of heights, but she was getting better. Venom would sometimes block her senses when they were up high, but lately they were trying exposure therapy to get her used to it. But Venom still tried to stay close to the ground for her comfort.

The symbiote made a motion that Evie knew was his way of rolling his eyes. “We won’t go anywhere high, promise. Let’s go out this weekend, you don’t have any work to do.”

“Mhm, well where did where did you have in mind?”

Venom grinned, “Not telling. You will have to wait and see.”

She shook her head, “Oh come on, and hold on but I haven’t actually agreed to this.” But she knew he had her. Evie was a sucker for mysteries, blame it on her journalistic instincts.

“It’s not like you have anything better to do. We’ll make a weekend out of it,” he gave her his best puppy-eyed look, “you’ll enjoy it, trust me.”

Evie tried to hide a smile by faking a cough. Venom was well aware his small form was adorable to her, and he knew just how to ask for things while looking like that. Her stubbornness had wanted to hold out a bit longer, but was already won over.

“Ok fine, but only this weekend,” she relented, bopping his forehead. “And no heights.”

~~~To be continued in Changes: Chapter 4~~~