Chasing the tesseract

Chapter 20

My heart pounds in my chest as I push branches out the way and weave in between trees, heading for Stephen. Butterflies swarm my stomach as I near him, his voice growing louder with each second and my breathing getting faster. Is this really the right decision? Can I really risk it all for him? A sudden shooting pain up my spine and into my skull causes me to stop, my hands flying to my head as I grimace.

"You're going to ruin everything." hisses a voice in my head as I drop to my knees, closing my eyes against the pain. Taking the base of my palm, I hit the lower part of my skull over and over again in an attempt to push the voice back out. Once the pain has subsided, I look up and see a figure hidden in the trees.

Pulling myself up off the ground, I step closer to it, noticing that it's the same figure I saw on the training grounds back at the sanctum. The figure has their arms crossed as they stare back at me, their eyes glowing a yellow shade in the dimness of the forest. This person looks familiar to me, yet I don't know where I've seen them before. As quickly as they appeared, the figure fades away leaving me alone in the forest with my thoughts.

"Wait, wait." My attention is drawn back to the present as Tony's voice comes echoing from behing the bushes beside me. Pushing my way through them, I step into the shadows of a small opening, unnoticable to Tony and Stephen. "You actually told her you love her?" asks Tony, sitting down on a large rock as he watches Stephen pace back and forth in front of him.

"Yeah, I did." confesses Stephen, his eyes fixed on the ground as he stops pacing, biting his nail whilst he gets lost in his own thoughts. Tony leans forwards, a frown line forming between his brows as he rests his elbows on his knees.

"And she just walked away?" he asks, his voice laced with confusion and amusement. Stephen, clearly sensing that Tony finds this hilarious, looks down at Tony from where he's stood, his eyes narrowing as his jaw locks.

"No need to sound so amused Stark." he hisses, crossing his arms against his chest as he sighs audibly, taking a seat on the log behind him. As quietly as possible, I shuffle closer to them, remaining in the shadows as I listen in to their conversation. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop, my father taught me that but I need to know what they're saying.

"Seriously, what do you see in her?" blurts out Tony, shaking his head as he chuckles quietly. This results in another glare from Stephen causing him to quickly shut up as Stephens eyes drop back to the ground.

"I see everything in her." mumbles Stephen, closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing. My heart pounds in my chest, echoing in my ears so loud that I'm convinced the two of them can hear it.

"You know what would help you feel better?" asks Tony, leaning further forward so that he's looking at Stephen, who's eyes are still fixed on the ground. Opening his eyes again, Stephen looks up at Tony, his eyes glazed over, glistening in the light.

"Abi?" he replies, his voice barely a whisper as his hands tremble. It takes every ounce of strength to stop myself running over to him and telling him the truth but...I need to know what he has to say first.

"Oh, this is worse than I thought." mumbles Tony as he stands up, walking to the far side of the clearing, his back to me as he taps his finger against his chin. Turning to ace Tony, Stephen frowns, his eyes filled with confusion as he watches him pace back and forth. What is it with mortals and pacing? "We need something stronger than love to make you feel better."

"What do you mean Stark?" questions Stephen, standing up and walking over to where Tony is pacing. Shuffling further round the outside of the clearning, I remain in the shadows, trying my hardest to hear what they're saying.

"I've got it." shouts Tony, turning to face Stephen with a smile on his face. "Tell me what you hate most about Abi." Oh this should be good.

"Nothing." states Stephen, his voice calm and collected as he stands still, staring at Tony.

"Oh come on." chuckles Tony, shaking his head as he looks away from Stephen, gesturing in my direction. Stepping backwards, I dive deeper into the shadows, hoping that he can't see me. "there's got to be something."

"Well there isn't." hisses Stephen, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as Tony stares at him in disbelief.

"So you've gotten past the fact that she's heartless, manipulative and crazy?" asks Tony, stepping closer to Stephen, his chest puffing out as he looks up at him. Is that really how people see me?

"Yes." grunts Stephen, his voice a hiss as he glares down at Tony, his own chest puffing up.

"Odd because I seem to remember that's exactly how you describe her less than a week ago." blurts out Tony, his face inches from Stephen as he glares at him. My heart drops in my stomach as I swallow hard, tears threatening to leak down my face.

"Seriously?" I shout, stepping out of the shadows and into the clearing as their heads turn to face me. "That's how you see me?" I ask, my eyes focused on Stephen as he takes a deep breath, looking down at the ground.

"Oh Abi." Tony looks down at the ground, shuffling around as he talks. "I didn't know you were listening." he confesses as Stephen turns his whole body to face me, my arms crossed over my chest as I glare at him.

"I came here hoping to have a mature conversation with you about us only to find that you're sat here bad mouthing me to Tony." I scream, my voice four octaves higher than it was previously as I gesture to Tony.

"Abi please. I haven't done anything wrong Abi." he denies, stepping closer to me as I raise my hand to stop him. His chest hits my hand and he stops as I look down at the ground, fighting back the tears that are pooling in my eyes.

"Haven't you?" I whisper, my hand still on his chest as I look into his eyes. "All those things you think about me are all the things I hate about myself." I admit, my hand dropping from his chest as I step away from him, my eyes still fixed on his as the wall I've built around me comes crashing down. "Imagine how you would feel if the one person you trust most in this world not only thinks them too but actually uses them as reasons not to be with you." His eyes break away from mine as he looks down at the ground. "That's exactly how you've made me feel." I mutter before turning my back to him and walking away.

"I didn't mean it Abi." he shouts, grabbing my wrist to stop me from running away again. Our eyes meet, both of them glazed over as we stare at each other. "I didn't know you then, the real you."

"I may be heartless but you're naive if you think I'm going to believe that Stephen." I say before removing my wrist from his grip, turning on my heels and marching off into the darkness of the forest, ignoring Stephen's pleas for me to stay.

I guess it's true what they say; everything starts with a little crush and ends with a lot of tears.