Escaping Maximoff

Love On the Brain

I've faced witches, bloodthirsty spiders, crazy S.W.O.R.D operatives, and their even more insane boss, yet nothing could prepare me for the fear of going to a school dance with the girl I'm dating.

"You look beautiful, y/n," Julie said, watching me walk down the stairs with pride in her eyes. I smiled at her, doing my best not to trip and ruin the hair and makeup she had so carefully done for me.

"You look alright," Tristan shrugged, smirking when his brother shoved him in the ribs.

"He meant to say incredible," Ryan corrected, squeezing my shoulders when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

This was one of the few times in my life where I truly believed what they said. I'm not a confident person. Most of the time, I can't even look in the mirror, afraid that I'd only to see my flaws if I did. But today, I liked the girl I saw. She had a light in her that I hadn't ever seen before, an excitement at the beginning of her new life.

I nodded at both of the twins suits. "You two don't look bad yourselves."

"I think you're selling them short, y/n," Victoria announced, wrapping her arms around my waist from behind. "Ryan's right; you look incredible," she whispered in my ear, her lips brushing against my skin.

"Thank you."

"Where's Sam?" Tristan asked, opening the door to let us out first.

I frowned. "I'm surprised he hasn't told you; he hasn't stopped talking about how he's going with Grace Archer."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Ryan laughed, patting his brother on the back. "Don't be mad the kids got more game than you. But on a serious note, are we sure he's not just lying?"

I rolled my eyes, sending a look to Victoria which screamed, "Thor help me."

"He's definitely not lying," Victoria assured them, coming to my rescue. "Grace has been waiting for him to ask her out ever since he accidentally set off a fire alarm in her algebra test."

"I find that hard to belie–"

"Okay, if you boys stop complaining and get in the car, I'll ignore the fact that you'll be coming home tonight smelling like alcohol,"
Julie cut off Tristan, hurrying us all into the vehicle for fear we would be late.

Luckily, we made it just in time. With Victoria's hand in mine, we made our way into the sports hall. The warmth of a hundred different teenagers was nothing compared to the burning of our tangled fingers.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful yet?" She asked, her grey eyes sparkling in the iridescent disco lights.

I shrugged, letting her pull me closer by my hips. "Maybe." My hands made their way to the back of her neck, where my fingers played with her silky baby hairs. "Tell me again."

The tip of her nose brushed against mine, a smile playing on both our lips. "You're so beautiful."

She tilted her head to kiss me but a voice interrupted us, forcing me to pull away.

"Get a room."

"Where's your date? Tired of you already?" I joked, giving Sam a quick hug. "You look amazing."

"Ugh, says you! And no, luckily she's just getting us drinks," the blond explained, straightening his jet-black suit.

"Aren't you supposed to do that?" Victoria asked, giving Sam a quizzical look.

I shook my head and tutted. "Poor girl."

"Oh god, should I go find her?" Sam snorted, his adorable dimples making an appearance. I patted him on the back and pushed him in the direction of the bar, not even bothering to reply. He definitely needed to work on the whole chivalry thing.

Victoria took my hand and pulled me towards the dance floor, carefully guiding me through the sea of bodies until we found a place to stop. My eyes didn't leave her once. Her midnight hair, her stormy grey eyes, the red dress that accentuated the smoothness of her skin – I couldn't imagine a more perfect person to be there with.

She guided my arms around her neck, while she placed her hands on my waist, swaying us both to the music.

I lost myself in her eyes. A glassy mirror into the true Victoria, beyond her stunning appearance and charm – the funny, kind girl with a heart full of song. She tilted her head at me, a sly upward tug of her lips sending me into a state of cardiac arrest. Of course, her only fatal flaw was her ability to be utterly disarming.

I wish I could stay in this moment forever. I wish I could turn back time and do things differently, try and find a way to stop what happened next. But I can't. The moment was fast and fleeting, and now I can only dream of finding that same tranquility. Good things don't last forever.

A strong hand grabbed my shoulder; another took my other arm pulling me away from Victoria with a flurry of apologies.

The twins.

They rushed me out of the sports hall, leaving behind a concerned Victoria, quickly swallowed by the crowd of dancing teens.

"Guys, what the fuck is going on?" I asked, trying to break free of their grips, but they offered me nothing other than solemn expressions and apologetic glances.

The drive back to the house was dead silent. Looking back, it feels appropriate. This was the funeral of my happiness, the hearse carrying me to my grave. The earth churned as the front door opened, an echoing creak in the hinges I hadn't noticed before.

Aunt Julia squeezed my hand before pushing me through the hall; none of them dared to follow me. All stuck by the entrance, a silent farewell.

None of it made sense. My family's odd ambiguity, the stifling feeling of fear that shook my body. But then I saw them. Standing in the kitchen, the same goofy smiles on their face as when we used to build cardboard rocket ships.

My parents.

I didn't have time to process my emotions before they enveloped me in a huge hug, one I'd dreamed of for years after they left.

They had left me. I was hugging them, and they had left me. I ripped myself from their embrace, a fury igniting in my stomach. How dare they come back here and expect everything to be the same.

I should have shouted at them, told them I hated their guts, ran away, anything but forgive them. Yet the pain in my mum's eyes reminded me so much of my own. I couldn't hurt them the way they had hurt me. They saved the world, now I had to save theirs.

"Y/n, honey, we're so sorry," she said, her voice quivering as she reached out to take my hand. I let her. "Could you ever forgive us?"

I nodded instantly, not needing to think. This was all I'd ever wanted. Everything I had ever wished for. But was it what I needed?

"The mission was only supposed to last a few months, but it ended up being more complicated than anyone thought," my dad started, taking his jacket off the counter and wrapping it around his wife's shoulders.

They just had to show me the damn logo. My body went stiff, eyes unblinking, staring intently at the little symbol.

"You work for S.W.O.R.D."

"Worked. We found out the truth when we got back, how awful the people in charge are. We could never keep working for a company like that," my mother explained, gently stroking the back of my hand like she did to calm me down when I was a kid.

I wanted to doubt what they said, but they were my parents. They were the people I was supposed to be able to trust unconditionally.

"We're moving back to New York. We've bought a cute apartment in Queens, right next to a high school. We're planning on getting that Labrador you've always wanted."

I looked at my mother and suddenly I could see it. The life I wanted, laid out in perfect colour. All I had to do was say I'd go with them.