Possession

False Engagement

Leaving everything how it was at the compound, you returned home to Wanda who patiently waited upon your arrival. Every minute, you were checking your pocket for the note, an absolute fear of losing it consuming your actions. Fortunately, Wanda didn't catch on and was behaving more affectionately towards you than usual.

"Oh, your mother dropped this off."
She handed you a black paper bag, placing it into your left hand as your right stayed glued within the walls of your trouser pocket - messing with Natasha's note. You nodded, inspecting the contents and becoming aware of what it was immediately. You forced a smile upon your face before excusing yourself from the room, pondering what should be done with it.

Upstairs, you set down the bag and remove the box. As you set it against the table, you check your phone and notice a timely message from Pepper. You read it aloud, huffing sarcastically at the dichotomy of your day.

"Keep it until you're ready."
This didn't belong to Wanda. It belonged to someone who couldn't have it.
You quietly pull Natasha's note from your trousers and lay both the ring box and the paper next to one another. As you re-inspected Natasha's command that you be with Wanda, you reluctantly push the box into your back pocket - a few tears shedding as you wipe them before they can stain the skin of your cheeks.
You take Natasha's note and hold it close to your chest, as if the writing would lift from the page and somehow hush you away with her. It finally found its place in the top drawer, placed strategically upright against the wood, so that if Wanda were to snoop - she'd never find it.

As you step out from your room, Wanda is roaming the decking downstairs, locking the front door for the night. You lean over the banister, calling down to her, trying your best to flatline the shake in your voice.
"Hey ! It's a nice night. Why don't we sit outside for a bit."
She grins up at you, leaving the key in it's lock and waiting for you at the door.

You take her hand, leading her outside and swallowing hard in an attempt to subside the sickly feeling forming in your stomach. Out in the lawn, you sit back in one of the garden chairs, guiding Wanda onto your lap. She sits cross legged atop you, her arms folded behind your neck.

You chat back and forth about little, unimportant things as you look on at the cobbled drive - unable to make eye contact with her. Time passes and the cool hours of darkness set in. You can tell Wanda is chilly, as are you, and it's drawing near the time you should probably head inside. Your mind is empty. You have little thoughts that stray from your one defining focus. Anything other than Natasha bores you to illness.
You shuffle a little as she stands. She goes to drop your hand but you pull her back, your other fiddling in your back pocket.
"Wanda, darling..."
She stands before you, her face lit up in the dim luminescence of the moon. Perhaps you did love her - but in a child's, superficial sense. This felt inapt, but you were too far gone to wipe out this lie.

You fell to one knee as Wanda's hands covered her mouth. You pulled the box, opening it to show the family's heirloom ring and displayed it to her. You said nothing. Only forcing a smile and raising a brow to ask the question. You simply couldn't utter the words. She lifted you from the floor, whispering "Yes" into your ear before pressing her lips to yours and tightening her arms round your ribs. You held her in a familiar embrace, the salt of your tears drying your lips as you wept silently in the bitter air.

A bittersweet melancholy consumed you as your fingers danced through Wanda's hair, knowing you'll forever wish she were someone else. As you lifted your hand to clear your eye of tears, you became momentarily startled - jolting a little, noticing a dark figure in the driveway. Your concern spiked, before recalling its outline. She stepped into some faint radiance, the red of her hair becoming a pale scarlet colour as opposed to its usual flushed tone.

You removed yourself from Wanda for just a moment, wanting to run away, leave it all and take Natasha's hand. However, she shook her head at you, remaining in her exact spot. You re-embraced Wanda in time for there to be little suspicion, playing it off as an adjustment of position. You kept your eyes fixed on Natasha, daring not even to blink as you absorbed every one of her features, burning her beauty into every crevice of your brain.

You wished you could call out to her, leave and kiss her now. Take the ring and place it on it's rightful finger. Wanda shuffled beneath you, pulling back. You moved to look at her, a faint smile appearing upon your lips. Here, you realised. You couldn't.

An abrupt rustle left the thicket aside your drive, alerting Wanda to it's origin. You look up, noticing Natasha's departure in your moments attention straying from her. Wanda turned back to you, a perplexed look upon her face.
"Was someone there ?'
Your lips remained pressed tightly against one another. You choked back the defeated sound of your own sobs, pushing them down as they bubbled up in the heat of your throat. Your silence was held as you took Wanda in your arms for a final time this night.

Perhaps in another life we are together.

Your eyes were tired, weary with your own fabrications. The realisation of your decisions setting in as a dull ringing in your ear, always to bother you. And, although you continue to exist in this moment with another, your arms placed thoughtfully, swathing her in your counterfeit affection, you'd never felt so deserted.

Without her, you're alone - again.