Let Me In {sequel} ━ ✰ Natasha Romanoff ✰

Chapter Three

The absolute dread Y/n felt when she was woken up by a crying five year old by her bedside was incomparable. She had never heard Kennedy cry like that before and a sense of dread set in. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but once they did her eyes frantically scanned over Kennedy to make sure she wasn't visibly injured. She felt a sense of relief when she didn't see any marks or blood on her, but the little girl was still crying like she was in pain. Her tears would not stop flowing, eyes red and puffy from her crying.

"I can't find him!" She wails.

"Him? Who is him?"

Y/n's main concern was getting Kennedy to quiet down before they got a noise complaint. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed to pull herself up. Kennedy reached up for her and Y/n bent over to grab her, groaning in the process. She is still not fully awake so she cannot comprehend exactly what was going on. All she knows is that she wants to get Kennedy to calm down before she makes herself sick from crying this hard. She presses her against her chest and strokes her back to comfort her. This was once so odd for her to do, something that was so motherly, but she got over herself years ago and allowed herself to be some sort of parent when Kennedy really needed her.

"Can you tell me what's wrong? Who can't you find?"

Y/n begins to rock back and forth. Her efforts slowly begin to work as Kennedy's crying comes to a halt and she only sniffles.

"Raffie," Kennedy responded weekly.

"What? What about him?"

"He's not here. He didn't come back with us last night."

Y/n was always concerned about Kennedy developing attachment issues after one day mommy was here and the next day she was gone. She had a set of favorite stuffed animals, but the dingy giraffe she got from a trip to the zoo was her number one. She had it with her at all times. Y/n figured it was normal for kids to grow strongly attached to toys and other inanimate things, but her biggest fear was that Kennedy would feel alone and abandoned. Y/n didn't really have anyone to talk about these kinds of things, but google told her it was normal for Kennedy to be obsessed with the giraffe.

By the time last night's dinner ended, the stuffed giraffe was the last thing on Y/n's mind. She wanted to leave Natasha's apartment and be in the comfort of the hotel bed. Kennedy had only been up for a few seconds between the car ride and walking to the hotel room, so that's probably why she didn't make a fuss last night, otherwise she definitely would have let it be known that her best friend in toy form was not with her. Y/n tried to think of when and where there would've been an opportunity to somehow leave Raffie behind. Kennedy always keeps it next to her so Y/n finds it hard to believe that she would willingly let it go. The only time she can think of is when she picked Kennedy up to lay her on Natasha's couch -- it must've got left on the dining room chair Kennedy was sitting in.

Y/n sighs in frustration at the entire situation. She's upset with herself for not remembering to grab it before they left, and she's still on edge because she thought something truly awful happened to Kennedy. There isn't any way around avoiding going back to Natasha's house at this point. Kennedy won't accept a replacement and she will start crying again if Y/n even hints about her having to just forget about her beloved giraffe.

After what was a pretty contentious dinner, Y/n didn't want to see Natasha again or go back to her place. Her feelings were still unresolved, but she figured they were just going to have to stay that way. She came to the conclusion that it would be easier for her feelings to dissolve rather than her receiving answers. She needs to get over it. But, how can she do that when the universe has just pulled her exactly to the person she wants to avoid forever now? If she was being honest with herself, she would've like all these weird coincidences and happenstances a year or two after their break-up (and even a few weeks before this trip she was entertaining the idea of it "coincidences"), but the dinner had turned things sour despite there being some okay moments from the night.