finding wanda: a tale of discovery and trust

"confessions and discovery"

As the rope began to slip away, a wave of panic washed over my body. I cursed myself for my negligence in not double-checking the rope's security.

With a heavy heart, I muttered a curse under my breath, "Fuck." Without warning, I lost my grip and fell to the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of me.

The mountain's slippery surface was unforgiving, causing me to lose balance and fall from a considerable height. Pain shot through my body as I hit the ground, the cold, hard mountain side only adding to my discomfort.

Peter chuckled at my grumpy demeanor as he observed me kicking a tiny stone away like a frustrated toddler.

Suddenly, a pang of surprise shot through me as I felt his arm wrap around me. "Peter," I exclaimed. He scared the shit out of me with his sudden appearance.

However, his familiar touch brought a smile to my face, and I couldn't help but feel secretly pleased that he was here with me.
"What are you doing here?" a playful remark escaping my lips. "Did Natasha send you to babysit me?," I teased, my tone still jokingly serious. Peter shook his head, his expression turning serious as he
caught sight of the cut on my hand.

His concern was evident as he gently took my hand in his, examining the wound. I winced slightly as he touched it, the stinging pain a reminder of my earlier clumsiness.
"What happened to your hand?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle.

I shrugged nonchalantly, trying to downplay the injury.
"It's just a small cut," I replied, attempting to brush it off. But Peter wasn't fooled. He knew me too well.

As I slid my hand into the pocket of my vest, I turned to the teenage boy and pleaded, "Please, not a word to Natasha," I said urgently.

He hesitated for a brief moment, eyeing me with curiosity, before finally nodding in agreement. I breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he had agreed to keep my secret.

We continued walking around the mountain, stopping occasionally to take in the breathtaking views.

Peter continued to stand next to me, a playful smirk on his face. He suddenly let out a chuckle, his eyes gleaming mischievously.
"You know what's funny?" he said, breaking the silence.

I raised an eyebrow, curious as to what he had to say.
"We are so stupid," he said with a shake of his head. "Why didn't we look for a normal path first?"

I couldn't help but laugh, thinking he was being sarcastic. But to my surprise, he was actually being serious. "Wait what?,"
There, in the distance just around the corner, was a path all the way to the top.

I couldn't help but feel stupid for not thinking things through. In frustration, I slammed my forehead with the palm of my hand, causing Peter to chuckle at my display. Despite his amusement, I managed a weak chuckle in return.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, we quickly rejoined the rest of the group and sheepishly told them about our discovery. Steve shot a glance at Natasha as Peter and I began to eagerly explain the path that ran through the mountain.

"It's true, and it's like all the way around and-"

"Yeah, it is! Plus, it looks less slippery than climbing, so we can be up in like no time," Peter said while interrupting me. Steve stopped us and started to laugh at our enthusiasm.
Yelena looked at us.

"Alright. Calm down," she said. "One at a time, please,"

We giggled but soon hurried to where we left a minute ago and showed them the path we discovers.

Natasha guided me to her side, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes as she held out a familiar object.

She placed it gently in my hand, her touch lingering for a moment.
"I thought you might want this back," she said with a smirk, her gaze flickering over to Peter, who was waiting impatiently by the path.

My eyes widened as I gazed down at the statue, running my fingers over its smooth surface. A wave of gratitude washed over me. Natasha had kept this small piece of Wanda, and it meant more to me than she might have realized.

As we began our journey along the path, it became clear that it would be a longer trek than we had initially thought. Despite the long walk, I was relieved that we would not get to climb the mountain after all.

My back still ached and burned, a constant reminder of the hard fall I had taken. I didn't want Natasha to find out about my clumsy mistake. I knew she would have given me that familiar "parental" speech.

Yelena seemed to be chill, but even  worse than Natasha so I decided to keep myself tough for now.

Peter strolled confidently by my side, a warm smile playing on his lips. "You know, even when you pull off those reckless stunts that you do, it's one of the things I like the most about you," he confessed, his eyes lingering on mine.

I felt my own lips curling into a soft smile, a sense of comfort and contentment growing whenever he was near. "You do?," I replied, genuinely surprised at his unexpected praise.

He nodded, his expression becoming more vulnerable as he struggled to find the right words. "Yeah, I like your stubbornness, I like that …
… I like yo- um,"

After a short moment of awkward silence, the surrounding air became heavy with a tense unease. As we continued on our path, I racked my brain, trying to come up with a conversation topic or hoping for Peter to pick up where he left off.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, the boy blurted out without warning.
"I like you!" His words hit me like a ton of bricks. It caught me off guard, but deep down, I had secretly known this was coming.

"Chuckling in myself, I smiled while looking back at him. "I like you too, Peter."

It was true. If I could go back in time, to when I first met him, I probably would've smacked myself for liking him back, but I did. I did, and I liked this feeling. I liked being around him, and that was all that mattered to me