Wow, you guys... 200 followers. That's a huge deal. Thank you all a bajillion for following this story! And like, 125 favorites too! HOLY CRAP. That's like, surpassing my wildest dreams for this story, so you all deserve a giant chocolate chip cookie or something awesome like that. Hmm hmm hmm hmm... maybe we can shoot for 100 reviews next! ;)
Per regulations, a big thanks to Catsandorchids, WriterandDaydreamer4218, D, and MarvelousMissFanfic for their reviews! Thanks so much for your comments, guys, they mean a lot to me!
I think that's all for today, folks! As usual, have a MARVELous day! Hope you enjoy! :)
Pietro didn't know where he was going, but he sure as hell wasn't staying in Stark Tower.
He had grabbed a jacket and sprinted away from Esca Rarity as fast as possible. Her words still stung him—how could she lead him on like that? How was she deluded into thinking she was unlovable? How could she possibly think he would hate her for who she was?
She said that he didn't know her—obviously, she didn't know him, either.
He didn't care who she had been. He wouldn't ever care. He just cared about who she was.
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket before walking down the street. Everything was busy in this city, but it still wasn't enough to distract him. Curse his short attention span.
Well, if Pietro couldn't forget about Esca Rarity's words, he could at least find an activity to let him vent his frustration.
With that, he raced off to the nearest lake that wasn't the one he had taken her to the other night. Within a minute, he was there, walking along the shore in search of some good spelunking rocks. It only took him ten minutes to find two dozen—he gathered a few more in a giant pile before beginning to toss them over the surface of the lake. With each throw, he tried to relinquish his anger and frustration.
Before long, he had to get more rocks. But once he gathered some more and started the activity again, a voice said, "If you are hoping to damage the lake, you will be disappointed."
Pietro dropped the rock in his hand and sighed. "I was hoping to get some peace and quiet," he declared, not turning around.
"Too bad," retorted Wanda, coming up next to him and picking up one of the rocks with her mind. "I sensed you were upset, so I came to you. What happened?"
"Like you don't know," smirked Pietro with angry humor. "You've probably already gone through the conversation three times."
Wanda crossed her arms, though the look on her face said she wanted to smack him upside the head. "I have not. I respect your privacy. Although, based on the look on your face, I assume it has something to do with Esca."
He glared down at another rock and threw it. This one had five skips—not his best attempt. "And what makes you say that?"
"You like her. Very much. You would not be so bothered if it didn't relate to her."
"Yeah, well, according to her, I can't like her," he grumbled. "Apparently I will never be able to love someone like her, who's supposedly such a horrid monster."
Wanda looked perplexed, but then her face morphed into sympathy. "You have to understand, she has been through a lot. I have seen it… She worries that she will lose you."
"So she pushes me away."
"So she will avoid the pain if she did lose you," corrected Wanda. "She has never had anyone to trust, Pietro. She doesn't know what it's like. She doesn't know if she is able to trust anyone with being her friend, much less with someone holding her heart. She was afraid that she would lose you, the person whom she is closest to trusting, if she were to tell you everything about herself."
"How do you know all this?" grunted Pietro as he spelunked another rock.
"Because I can read her," answered Wanda, rolling her eyes. "She is a human, too, Pietro. And she has been very happy these past few weeks. Now stop your ridiculous sport and let us go somewhere decent to discuss. I haven't seen much of New York City yet, nor have I seen much of you lately. You've been with Esca a lot."
Pietro scoffed, but jumped on her teasing tone. "As if I am the only one who has found friendship in another. What's going on with you and the Vision?"
Wanda stepped back and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I've seen you," taunted Pietro. "You and he have been talking quite a lot recently. There have been some moments where I almost followed you two to make sure nothing interesting happened."
His sister just rolled her eyes again. "I will be able to sense you following us, Pietro. Why do you always forget that? At any rate, at least I don't use my powers in front of Vision all the time to show off."
Pietro just smirked and shrugged. "It takes time to get from one place to another. Why would I not use my speed to my advantage?"
Wanda looked thoroughly exasperated, and Pietro seized the opportunity to say, "By the way, I'm still twelve minutes older than you."
He got the reaction he was hoping for—she smacked him on the head and laughed. He soon joined in, as he had not spent much time with his sister lately, and he felt guilty about that. "Come on," he said, determined to make it up to her. "Let's go explore New York City. Then we can grab some lunch."
Three hours passed before the twins returned to Stark Tower. Although Pietro was less than eager to return, Wanda eventually managed to convince him.
Once they entered the elevator that would lead them to the common area, Wanda smiled at him and said, "I had fun today, Pietro. Thank you for spending the day with me."
"Of course, little sis," he said in a mocking voice—but then he became serious. "I enjoyed it too. Is it all right that every Thursday, we go out like this, you and me?"
Wanda smiled and grasped his hand. "Of course. It's nice that we have friends now, but I'd be very happy to spend more time with just my brother."
Pietro returned the smile; the elevator doors dinged open, and the twins were greeted with the smell of pizza. They stepped into the common area to see Stark, Barton, Pepper, Thor, Natasha, and Banner all lounging carelessly across the sofas and on the floor, a piece of pizza in each of their hands.
"Ah, there you are!" exclaimed Stark, leaping over Barton—who was lying on the floor—to reach the twins. He held his arms out in grand welcome and said, "We bought pizza tonight, kids. There's cheese, pepperoni, and meat lovers."
Wanda smiled and looked at Pietro before asking, "Where are the others?"
"Capsicle is still missing, Vision is somewhere around here, and blondie is in her room. She said she felt sick, so we've left her alone. Wanna go check on her, Maximoff?"
Pietro looked at Stark to see that he was looking at him strangely… it was as if Stark had a general idea of what happened. "I will soon," he replied at last. "But first, I'm starving."
He ran over to the pizza boxes, grabbed two slices, and ate them within five minutes. Barton, Stark, and Thor all looked impressed as he grabbed another two slices.
"We got to have an eating contest with this guy," announced Barton, grinning as Pietro finished off the third slice. "He's good, but I bet I can take him down."
"In your dreams," muttered Pietro through a mouthful of cheese pizza.
Wanda rolled her eyes again. "That's really charming, Pietro. Top notch manners."
He shrugged carelessly and returned his attention to his food.
"Blondie isn't here—there's no one to impress," said Stark with a smirk.
"Shut up, old man."
"In reality, if anyone here is going to beat him at an eating contest, it's going to be me," announced the voice that everyone expected least to hear—Bruce Banner's.
They all stared at him. "The other guy loves his pizza," he explained.
Natasha seemed to have the slightest smirk on her face as she heard this. Pietro noticed that they were sitting close together, barely close enough to hold hands.
After another few minutes of exchanging banter and trash-talk about who could eat the most, and the next time Esca Rarity made a breakfast of pancakes, it was on, Pietro excused himself to head back to his room. The others invited him back down for a round or two of videogames if he wanted, and he said he'd think about it.
When Pietro entered his room, however, he found something on the edge of his bed.
He picked it up and saw that it was a letter. In neat writing, he saw his name: Pietro.
With a sigh, he opened the letter and began to read it:
I am very sorry about what I said earlier today. I was so caught up in my fear of my past that I let it control how I think and feel about you. I once told you that I never trusted anyone as much as I trust you… And while that is true, I am beginning to fear I do not know how to trust people properly, how to truly believe in them.
Another thing I told you was that I wanted to tell you who I was, little by little. I am going to amend my statement: I want to tell you everything as soon as possible. It was only when you left today that I realized how much you mean to me; if you wish it, I would like to try and apologize for everything that has happened.
If you wish to disregard this letter entirely and relinquish whatever we have become, I will not blame you. But if you are willing to forgive me and give me a chance to explain, I am on the roof of Stark Tower. I will probably be here for a while… I hope you've read this. If so, thank you.
Much Love, Esca Rarity (as if you didn't already know)
Pietro sighed, yet smiled as he read the letter. He rolled his eyes upon reading the last paragraph—as if he would ever willingly let Esca Rarity go. After all, he loved her. He didn't say it aloud, nor would he for perhaps a while, but it was true.
Knowing that there was only one thing for it, he walked to the elevator so he could get to the roof.