Of Life And Hope

·.¸¸.·♩♪♫ 🄲🄷🄰🄿🅃🄴🅁 9 - 🅂🄷🄾🄿🄿🄸🄽🄶 🅃🅁🄸🄿 ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·

What are the memories that have been blocked? What could be so strong and special about them that I can't bring them back?

-~:~-

"Oh, by the way," Tony spoke up after stuffing his mouth with toast. "Did anyone else hear that scream last night or was that just me?"

You tensed, which didn't go unnoticed by your couchmate.

"I heard it, too," Wanda frowned. "Is everyone okay?"

"I stubbed my toe," you said quickly, drawing the attention to yourself. "At the corner of the table," you added, "it hurt."

Steve raised a brow at you and the others exchanged glances. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course," you smiled. "I just overreacted, it's fine."

You could tell the others didn't believe you - it would've been a miracle if they did, you didn't exactly have a good reason - but they didn't pry so it was fine. You felt a bit bad for lying to them, honestly, but you really didn't want to make a big deal out of the situation.

You can't lie to the God of Lies, you heard a voice in your head.

Come on, please, you answered, looking at him blankly. You saw Loki roll his eyes but he said nothing more and went back to yet another book. It was, what, the third you saw him read?

"Anyway," Tony said, breaking the silence. "There's going to be a big party tomorrow so be ready for that."

Everyone groaned or rolled their eyes at that. You furrowed your brows as you looked around. "Parties are nice, no?" Pietro nodded along with your statement, just as confused as you.

"We have a party almost every other week," Wanda explained.

"Oh," you nodded.

The doors opened and Thor walked in, giving everyone a cheery "good morning". It wasn't hard to figure out that he was the heaviest sleeper of everyone in the compound. "Why the long faces?" he inquired.

"We have a party tomorrow," Tony said simply, pouring himself more coffee.

"Oh, nice," Thor smiled. "Will there be beer?"

Loki rolled his eyes at the question and stood up, leaving. Now that you thought about it, it was really a wonder how he even was in the same room with the Avengers all the time. Maybe he was listening if they talked about anything that could give him a chance to escape?

You shrugged it off, standing up and putting away your dishes.

"Alright, Y/n," Natasha spoke up. "We're going on a shopping trip."

"What?" you asked, taken aback.

"Yeah, you need to upgrade your wardrobe," Wanda shrugged, also standing up. "And something for tomorrow. Tony's parties are fancy."

"Oh," you said again, scrunching up your nose at the thought of wearing an uncomfortable dress.

"Oh, don't worry," Wanda laughed, walking with you out of the dining place. "We'll find you something."

"Thirty minutes and we're going," Natasha said certainly, calling the elevator so all three of you could get to your rooms to get ready.

-<>-

You settled for a simple outfit - not that you had anything fancy yet - but you liked it. It was comfy.

And soon enough, you sat in the car. Natasha was driving and you were sitting behind her, wondering why Wanda was gripping the door by her side with such force.

That wandering came to an end soon, as you, too, held on for dear life. Nat was probably going way over the speed limit on very busy streets.

You closed your eyes, concentrating on your breathing so your hearing didn't spike out of control.

"We're here," you heard Nat's voice, a bit louder than usual but still fine.

"Oh, uh, great, nice, yeah, good," you stammered, getting out of the car and shaking your head to clear it.

"You all right?" Wanda asked.

"That's a big mall," you commented, completely avoiding the topic.

"It's like malls usually are," Wanda shrugged as she and Nat started walking, you catching up quickly. "Come on."

-<>-

"Are you sure it's okay?" you asked for the thousandth time in the past three hours you had been at the mall, buying and buying and buying and, as for you, worrying about the amount of money you were spending.

"As I said before, Tony won't even notice," Natasha shrugged.

"You could buy yourself an apartment and he wouldn't notice," Wanda added. "It's okay, don't worry."

"If you say so," you said, still frowning a bit as you trailed them to what seemed to be yet another shop for clothes.

You looked down at the bags in your and the others' hands. "Guys, not to be rude or anything, but I think I have enough clothes."

"Yeah, that's why we're getting one final dress for tomorrow," Wanda said, smiling at you over her shoulder while Natasha in front of her simply nodded along.

And they stood true to their words, picking out at least 7 dresses and making you try them on like it was a fashion show.

"I think I like this one the most," you said, pointing to a specific dress after you had tried them all on. "It's comfortable, too," you added, looking at them hopefully.

[I imagine this (found on Pinterest): 

]

"Don't worry, it's totally your choice," Nat said, sensing your nervousness. "If it's comfortable and you like it then that's what goes."

"Yeah I don't usually wear dresses but I think that one's good," you smiled.

"Then we'll take that one," Wanda grinned. "Let's go put the others back."

-<>-

"Thank you for taking me shopping," you said, riding up the elevator in the Facility.

"It's no problem," Natasha said, still looking straight ahead.

"Yeah, we had fun, too," Wanda added.

"I'm tired, though," you yawned. "And hungry. When do you think we'll have dinner?"

Nat checked the electronical clock in the elevator. "Half an hour, maybe. You can rest until then."

You nodded, grateful. For what, exactly? Everything. It seemed as if the puzzle that was your life had finally found all its pieces and those were, one by one, starting to click into place.