𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 || ( endgame )

↳ chapter five

↳ saying goodbye

evi put down her backpack when she walked through the door the next morning. tony had spent the whole night working and thinking things through, while she fell asleep on the couch not only ten minutes after morgan was back to bed.

she put her shoes into the rack and walked into the kitchen.

due to it being so early in the morning, she hadn't thought that steve was home. but he was sitting at the table. head in between his hands

he looked up by the sound her keys made when they hit the table.

evi went straight to the refrigerator to grab an apple. she could use some vitamins after such a long night and a rough awakening by tony who claimed that he had to continue working

it wasn't rare that evi would spend the night at the starks, she was close with tony, he was like an uncle to her. after all they had been through they had realised how similar they were.

tony could appreciate some sarcastic partner. evi was great with morgan too. she would often come around and spend time with the little girl, who used to think that they were cousins. sometimes she would spend the weekends so that pepper and tony could go out.

even though she was only 5 morgan was great company. or maybe it was that evi enjoyed doing kids things, in the end she hadn't much time to enjoy her own childhood, so it was like she was experiencing it over again.

"you didn't text me" steve said when evi sat down beside him

"sorry i forgot" she exclaimed

"you forgot? how could you forget that one thing i asked you to do?"

"i was watching tony and he-"

"enough!" evi shrieked at steve's sudden yell. "evina.." he mumbled tiredly. she knew that something must've been up, he never called her that.

"what's going on with you?" he finally asked, raising his head, and if she hadn't known it better she had thought, that a tear slipped down his cheek

"what- what do you mean?"

"you act weird. things happened since- since ultron and you seem to remember them. you're suddenly good with tony and back then you hated him. i tried to ignore it, but i just can't. it feels like you're excluding me from your life"

"you know that that's not true" evi cried, tears slipping down her own cheeks now

"i don't know what's true anymore" steve sighed "i don't think you're the same person i knew all these years ago"

"steve, please" she cried looking at her father, who just stood up and walked to the door

"i can't do this right now, i'm sorry" and with that he left

evi was a mess. she was laying in her bed. crying and thinking about how she could fix things. make them right again. she had tried that all these years ago for wanda and herself and still ended up dying.

something told her that it might be better if it ended like that this time too. or maybe she could convince tony to let her go back in time.

save her parents or atleast stop herself and wanda from the experiments. she wouldn't know about all of this, she wouldn't come back.

but she wouldn't know steve. and that thought stung her heart so much she thought it would break in half.

but she had to do what was right for him. she knew steve. he didn't belong here and maybe if there was a way, he'd like to go back too.

she stood up and walked to stand in front of her desk. on the wall was a big picture frame, with several pictures.

the avengers and her. steve and her. nat and bruce and her. the picture with lila that clint had gifted her and then steve and her, with the adoption papers in hand.

she was wearing a white dress, contrast to what she was normally dressed in and steve had bought a suit for that occasion especially.

could she really let him go? had she spent enough time with him to let him go? she probably never could've, but this wasn't about her. she loved steve, but she didn't want to occupy him from someone better

she looked through the pictures some more. wanda and her when they were children. her parents, wanda, her and a boy that had probably lived in the neighborhood at some point. she had a picture of him and her alone too. they seemed close.

it didn't matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't remember who he was. but she also couldn't throw the picture out. she looked at it every night, hoping she would remember him one day. he seemed to have been important to her.

she pulled up her backpack and went in to grab something. it had rested in a little case in her backpack for a long time. she pulled it out and looked at it. it was a picture of peter. tony had given it to her some time ago, something she could look at, while she waited for her boy

tony had always understood, that peter and evi hadn't known each other for a long time, but that their relationship had been deep and emotional.

evi wasn't sure how it felt to be in love, but she thought that this was pretty close to it.

you can fall in love even if you've only known a person for about a week. she was sure of it. something so intense could happen fast. especially with someone special.. and peter parker had been special. still, he wasn't here right now

she was worried about steve. he was her home, her person, not in a romantic way, but in a way where he had given her the truest love she had ever received since her parents death. parental love

evi had went back to bed and slept a few hours. then she had sat at the table waiting for steve, but he didn't show

where are you?

steve.. please i'm sorry

please come home, i'm worried

it's after 12

steve?
read 12:36 am

he didn't answer her messages and when she decided to go to bed, he finally answered and his words made her tummy churn

we need to talk. i'll be home in five

no kisses, no i love you. he had never written a message like this. and maybe, evi wondered it wasn't about her giving him free anymore. maybe that decision didn't belong to her anymore.

she put the bag onto her bed and started packing. only the most important things. clothes, phone, charger. four photos.
wanda and her, the avengers, the boy and the adoption picture.

it didn't matter what happened now. she couldn't let go of that picture just now, couldn't leave the happiness it held, even if she would loose everything now.

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