Chapter 16

Yns pov:
An hour later we leave. They picked out 5 meals and 4 snacks for me. I protested against each one, but natasha is stubborn. Nat goes to take the trolley back and yelena gets in the front. I collapse into the back seat and sigh, sick faintly sat at the back of my throat. I groan and rub my hands down my face. “That was the longest shopping trip of my life.”

Yelena smirks at me. “We couldve had fun doing something else, but you insisted on coming with.” I roll my eyes and look out the window.

“Thats exactly why i asked to come. Youre one of my only friends. I cant keep making out with you.” She scoffs and turns back around.

“You should feel honoured to have made out with me.” I chuckle, my ribs flare with pain. “You have a point though, and i dont need people in my business if they find out that we’ve made out.” I scrunch my nose and look at the bruises on her neck.

“I think the 2 hickeys on your neck might be a dead give away.” Her eyes widen and her head turns in my direction.

“I thought it was just one?!” I press my lips together as a snort slips out my mouth. “Its not funny!”

“It was one before our bathroom antics.”

She sinks into her seat and holds up a finger. “Which we will never tell anyone about. Because we’re just friends who got caught up in an emotional moment.”

“Exactly, i was celebrating.” She raises an eyebrow and a light hearted chuckle leaves her throat. Its like nothing happened. We never did…that.

“Turns out both the parkers got to ‘celebrate'”

I throw my hands over my ears and make a disgusted groan. “Lena! I almost forgot about that.” Nat gets in the car and her eyes flicker between me and yelena as she just quietly starts the car.

“I reminded her about peter and pietro.” Natasha smirks but just shakes her head.

“Hey yn, why dont you come back to the compound for a little bit? We’re ordering food and then heading to peters maths competition.” My head perks up, my eyes widening slightly as my heart drops in my chest. I forgot about it. God im a terrible sister.

“Yeah that sounds great thanks. Honestly i forgot about it.” I run my fingers over my lips, shame rising in my stomach.

“Its understandable with everything thats happened.” I just shake my head. Its no excuse. I couldnt save him from our dad and now i cant even show up to his events. I just stay quiet and look out the window. Nat and yelena share a concerned look but stay quiet. Yelena goes to turn the music up but nat smacks her hand away.

“Hey! Thats mean. I just wanted to listen to music.” She folds her arms and pouts.

Nat sighs and taps on the wheel to the dull tune. “Im not listening to your awful singing. And yns had a stressful day as is.”

“I happen to love music and awful singing. Give me a microphone when i drink and youll wake up with your ears still ringing.”

Nat groans and her eyebrows pinch together. “Oh god. Not you too.” I chuckle and clutch my ribs gently.

Yelena clears her throat and places her hand on her chest. “Excuse you! I am not a bad singer.”

Nat scoffs and side glances at her. “Last time people on the pavement stopped and looked around to find out what the dreadful sound was.”

“No! They just wanted to find the owner of the majestic voice.” She turns up the music and starts singing anyway. I tap my fingers to the tune and start to hum lightly. A warm feeling spreads in my chest. This is it. This is the family that i saw pete with a week ago. This is what i so desperately needed. A home away from the nightmare.

Nat eventually pulls up outside the compound and we head in. Im immediately swarmed by the team, asking questions about where we’ve been. Nat steps between us and folds her arms, exuding confidence. Challenge laces her tone, “Thats my fault, i forgot to mention it and check in.” Nobody questions it after that. Peter flags me down and drags me away from the group.

“Everything okay pete?” His eyes search mine, i dont know what hes looking for.

“Is everything okay with you? You disappeared for 12 hours. No text. No phone call. What happened?” I sigh and look away. I dont like lying to him but its a skill im forced to practice.

“Everythings fine. I saw him get arrested, we went for some coffee and we watched a film. I fell asleep, im sorry.” He presses his lips into a tight line before hesitantly nodding. “How are you feeling about your maths competition?” He swallows nervously and shuffles on his feet.

“I dont know. I mean i know the material, i just dont want to choke when i get up there.”

“You wont. Maths is your thing. Besides if you get nervous just imagine pietro in his underwear. Im sure that will ground you.” My tone is light and teasing but he gives me a resentful shove in return.

“At least im not alone unlike somebody.” I smile at that. Considering what happened in that bathroom, i would argue i am not alone. Luckily hes too oblivious to notice the hickeys on lenas neck. Unfortunately, the others arent. Tonys already looking at them.

“Good luck pete. Im gonna head back over to the others.” He nods and i walk over to wandas side when tony smirks at me, finally putting the pieces together.

“So yn, now that youve uh kissed the face of freedom.” I rub the back of my neck. Nobody else catches on but i can see yelena blushing out the corner of my eye. “What do you plan to do now?” I glare at him before reluctantly answering, my words sharp.

“I dont know. I might ask steve what he did when he had to rebuild his life.” Tonys face burns, quickly turning red and i give him a sly smile when wanda cuts in.

“Its nats turn to cook so we’re ordering pizza. Is that okay?” I nod and she leans in, whispering. “Trust me its safer to have take out.” I laugh, clutching my ribs and nat nudges her with her elbow. “Are you staying here with us? Or are you staying at your apartment?” Everyone stops talking and turns to me. Clearly its a question on everyones mind. Everyones except mine. I wasnt even aware that was an option. Truthfully i hadnt actually thought about what i would do with my life if my dad went to prison. My only out was MIT and that got thrown out the window.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here. Peter is and theres a spare room or two.” Tonys smile is genuine this time. Hes being nice. Its weird. I shuffle uncomfortably, everyones gaze still on me.

“I’m considering my options, thank you though.” I see yelenas little frown appear. Clearly she was hoping for a different answer. Truthfully i would love to move in, but i love my own space. I like the idea of an escape, no matter how trauma ridden it is. The question is if i can afford it. And nats just bought all that food. Everyone begins to disperse as we wait for food to come. Yelena takes my hand and leads me to her room. She doesnt say anything, just drags me along. I sit on her bed and watch her, guilt washing over me. “I want to move in.” Her head perks up and her gaze snaps to mine, filled with hope. Hope ill probably crush. “I do. But, i have my own space now. And what if things dont work out here? Or what if my dad doesnt go to prison? Or-”

“Or what if it the sun falls out of the sky?”

“What?”

“If you think negatively, only negative things will happen. What if everything works out? And you’re happy.” I swallow hard. I guess i hadnt thought about that. Im an idiot. “Just take a risk for once.” I wish i could take a risk. That way i would be dating yelena. I suppose if this does fail, i can always find another apartment.

“Okay. Ill move in.” She jumps up and down excitedly and pulls me to my feet, spinning me around as i chuckle. “Lena, why are you dancing with no music?” She suddenly stops and pulls out a box.

“Because we havent decided where to put the record player until your room is done.” I open the box and carefully place it on her desk, plugging it in. She picks out one of the records and places the needle down so it plays. Maybe tomorrow by stereophonics. The song seems fitting for the moment. My old life is coming to an end and now i get a new one. One with yelena. She spins me and pulls me into her arms. Our laughter fills the room and our eyes find each others. A calm settles in my stomach and i feel myself melt into the moment. This is the life ive always envied and now i have it. Thanks to her. We dance together until the song slowly comes to an end. She just holds me close to her for a moment. Then theres a knock. I could deck whoevers behind that door right now. Yelena pulls away from me and she already feels too far. When she answers petes voice cuts through the warm air.

“Hey, is yn here? I wanted to talk to her.” I swiftly walk to the door. Peter seems stressed, his hair is messy from his hands running through it and his eyes have dark circles underneath them.

“Pete? Whats up? You look awful.” He folds his arms, an annoyed look enshrouding his face.

“Wow thanks for that. The sisterly love really shines through. I just wanted to talk to you about the apartment.” I give him a scornful grin and shake my head.

“Dont worry about it. Im moving in, if you want to keep the apartment, then you can.” He doesnt say anything, one minute hes staring at me shocked, the next his arms are around me, more grateful than ive ever seen him.

“Thank you. I really didnt want to have to talk you into moving out of that piece of crap apartment.” I awkwardly stand there and eventually pull away. I never was very affectionate and it feels weird from pete. We’ve sort of grown apart since he joined the avengers, i havent seen much of him. He goes to leave but turns back and pipes up again. “Oh by the way, pizzas here. We ordered 3 cheese and 2 pepperoni.” He could have led with that! I am starving, i couldnt tell you the last time that i ate.

“Thanks pete.” We follow him out and when we get to the kitchen, everyone is sat around a dinner table, the pizza between them. Theres only 3 seats left and none of them are together. Pete snags a seat by pietro, smiling his head off when he does. Yelena sits down between nat and steve. That leaves me to sit between metal arm and tony. “Didnt think you would join us tobi. Arent you usually in your lab? Blowing things up?” He glares at me with a scornful face.

“Shouldnt you be off having a secret rendezvous?” My eyes narrow at him and i turn to look at the metal arm on the table. Its very technologically advanced, although there are a few tweaks that could make the use smoother. Not to mention the fact that it has no real strength enhancers. It works just like a real arm though, as far as prosthetics goes, this is top of the line.

“Can i help you?” He stares at me, confusion hanging in the air.

“Sorry i was wondering about the technology in your arm. I think i have a few improvement ideas to help you gain a little more strength, and to help it run smoother.” His eyebrows knit together and his lips part slightly.

“What do you mean run smoother? It works great.”

“Theres a tremor of sorts. Its slight, barely noticeable, but when you twist your hand at a certain height, it shakes.” His arm is old, it needs updating. Not to mention that vibranium would be better.

“Huh. You’re a little odd, arent you?”

I give him a contemptuous grin, “And youre a little old, arent you?” My face falls into an annoyed grimace and i stand up, moving towards steve, tapping him on the shoulder. “Blondie, shift. Go sit next to your boyfriend.” His face reddens and he sinks in his seat.

“Hes not my boyfriend.” Ha yeah right. Ive already had it confirmed.

“I dont really care, just switch seats with me.” He raises his eyebrows, clearly waiting for something. Im not in the mood for this. I let out an angry sigh. “Please.” He smiles and then swiftly moves next to tony. I slump in the seat and yelena observes me. “Penny for your thoughts? The starings a little creepy.” She lets out a soft chuckle and it sends a flutter through my stomach.

“Whats got you so annoyed?” Her russian accent is like anger management pills. It makes all the anger float away. I give her a soft, tired smile.

“I spent 5 minutes next to tobi and metal arm.” Her eyes are warm and her hand finds my arm. It makes all the thoughts in my head stop.

“Thats bucky. The guy with the metal arm. And yeah hes a wind up. Hes also very broody. Tony…well you know about that. Why do you think i sat next to nat?”

“Wow so im just a sacrifice now? Thats good to know.” She smiles, the corner of her eyes creasing slightly. We continue to eat the pizza as the team engage in quiet chatter. “So where will my room be?” Yelena thinks for a moment before a small frown appears on her face.

“Well theres a spare room between peter and pietros room, but i feel like thats just wrong. The walls are paper thin. You can hear EVERYTHING.” I scrunch my face in disgust and she smiles at me.

“And the other room, which already sounds a million times better?”

“Thats between wandas room and mine.” Well obviously im gonna take that one. I get to be closer to her.

“Damn, guess im really stuck with you now.” She gives me a playful shove and i give one back, except she loses her balance, clearly not expecting it. She falls straight off the other side of her chair, landing awkwardly between nats chair and her own. Everyone looks at her, confusion filling the air. “Why did you fall so easy? I thought you were meant to be a spy?” She huffs and gets back on her chair, sulking.

“Yeah well i wasnt expecting it.” She folds her arms and turns away from me. Pigeon boy laughs at her hysterically. I glare at him and when he sees me he starts to cough, trying to play it off.

“I barely touched you.”

She rolls her eyes and returns to her pizza. “I have some clumsy moments occaisionally.”

40 minutes later, everyone has finished their food and we are sitting in the front row of a very empty theater. Petes on stage with 4 other random kids from his school and at the other side of the stage are 5 opponents. The first question is called and pete answers it with a speed unparalleled by the other team. This is dorky. Even for me. I look down our row and see various avengers with their eyes fluttering shut. I turn to face yelena, a mischievous glint in my eyes. “Uh oh, what are you thinking?”

“Nothing bad, lets play that game, the one from jail.” She smirks and holds out her hands. I do the same and she goes to hit me, but i dodge it. Her smile fades and she looks at me with an accusatory tone.

“Youve been playing with someone else! Thats unfaithful.” I smirk at her and tilt my head. I guess this is just our game.

“When would i have time to play? Besides you as a friend is enough of a handful.” Yelena scoffs and holds out her hands again.

Wanda leans closer, a smile tugging at her lips. “You realise that you sound like a young couple, right?”

“Do you want to play? Yelena is apparently a sore loser.”

“Sure ill play.” Yelena drops her hands and a small frown forms on her lips.

“Lena, whoever wins, stays on against you. Since you are the existing winner and all.” That seems to make her smile again.

Wanda holds out her hands and i manage to slap them before she can retract her hands. She lets out an excited giggle and we play a few more rounds. I win and let out a loud “Yes!” Everyone turns to look at me and my hand flies up to my mouth. Idiot. Why do people even invite me to these things. I just embarass us all. I turn to yelena and whisper, “She sucks. Guess its me against you.” Wanda turns her head, her lips parting slightly.

“You know i can hear you?” She has an exasperated tone and she narrows her eyes at me. I just slowly turn around and face lena.

We both hold out our hands and begin to play. It slowly starts to get more competitive and both our hands are extremely red. She manages to slap my hands really hard and i let out a short pained cry. Everyone turns to look at me again and the guy whos asking the questions speaks up. “If you’re not going to be quiet and pay attention, i must ask you and your friend to leave.” Everyone lets out a little chuckle when me and lena awkwardly walk towards the door in silence. When the doors close a short laugh slips through her lips and i playfully slap her arm.

“Its not funny! Thats my old maths teacher.” She starts laughing so hard she snorts. Before i know it, a big smile is plastered on my face as i start laughing too. “That was definitely your fault!”

“Hey! No way! You’re the one who kept getting distracted by the game. And youre the one who suggested we play!” I scoff and fold my arms.

“Yeah well you introduced me to the game in the first place, so its automatically your fault.” She dramatically waves her hounds about, shock unhinging her jaw. “Well what do you wanna do now?” She smirks at me and i feel my face warm. I know what shes thinking but we agreed not to. “How about i give you a tour?”

“I feel like thats a bit of a safeguarding issue.” I shrug and start to walk away, eventually she follows.

I point towards the gym, disdain clear in my tone, “on your right you will see a gym. I spent minimal time in there and hated every second that i did spend in there.”

“Wait are you saying you hate sports?” Her mouth hangs open and i roll my eyes.

“I know, classic nerd or whatever, but i dont hate sports i just hated this class. I have actually always wanted to get into boxing.”

“I could train you to fight.” My head swings to her, my face lighting up.

“Really? I would love that! My dad would never let me, for obvious reasons.” She just shrugs in response and we continue to walk. “This is my old locker, i would always come back to notes pushed through it by random guys. I ended up dating a fair few guys because of the whole, not knowing i was gay thing. It was horrible.”

She scrunches her face, “I could think of nothing worse.” I chuckle and move on.

“This is the science class. I skipped so many lessons to show guys some cool chemical explosion. Drove the principal mad. It usually got the guy to end up kissing me though.” I look back at her, indifference is portrayed on her face but poorly restrained jealously runs wild in her eyes. “Come on.” I hit the side of a locker and the door falls open. “Yes! This locker hasnt been used in years, i keep a set of keys that i swiped from the principles office. He never could figure out how i got in.” Her chest sticks out as she beams with pride at my criminal nature. I find the correct key and open the door. We slide into the room and i head over to a cupboard, using a key to open it. My eyes flicker from one bottle to another as i pull out a few chemicals. I start to mix them together and yelena hovers, her breath tickles my neck as she looks over my shoulder.

“That looks really cool. What are you making?” Her hand lays on the desk beside my arm, her lips are nearly brushing my ear. My stomach practically melts. Like water thrown over the wicked witch melts. The lavender scent of her shampoo is all i can smell and its driving me feral. I try to remember what im making and make my mouth function so normal words come out.

“Uh i uh it is- im making an acidic compound. Im going to apply it to the principals chair so that when he sits on it, the chair bends and he falls. We wont get to see it, but ill leave an anonymous tip so someone films it. And i know exactly who to tell.”

“So you were always a menace then?” I add the final chemical and swirl it in the flask until it turns pink. I put a cork in it and turn around pushing it into her chest.

“Oh like you always followed the rules.” I walk out with her following closely behind. I use the keys to open up the office and i slowly drip it down the base of the chair onto the wheels. The sizzle can be heard in the adrenaline filled quiet and i bin the flask before locking back up. “I should probably keep these keys, wouldnt want it getting into the wrong hands.”

She raises her hand and then points at me, “I would argue that it already has.” I roll my eyes and write a note on a piece of paper. I then walk around looking from locker to locker. “What are you looking for?”

“The school photographers locker. They have to follow up on every tip and they record for the school news.” Her head tilts and she holds my arm to stop me from walking. The lavender scent of her hair making me listen to every word she says. She could ask me to commit treason right now and i would say yes.

“How are you planning to find the locker?” I look around and point, a cocky grin on my face.

“Because they always have the sticker on their locker for tips.” She shakes her head and i plave the note through the slits on the locker. I grab her hand and lead her back to the auditorium. The others are already there waiting.