Between Lies and Love

Chapter 12

The next evening, Y/N sat at the kitchen table, hands clasped tightly together. The room felt too quiet, too still—yet there was an unmistakable tension simmering beneath the surface. Wanda—Lizzy—sat across from them, her hands resting on her lap, her expression one of fear and resignation.

Y/N took a deep breath. "I need to know the truth. All of it. No more lies."

Wanda swallowed hard, knowing there was no turning back. She had been running from this moment for years—afraid of what it would mean to finally be honest. But after everything that had happened, she owed Y/N the truth. No more half-truths, no more hiding.

"My real name is Wanda Maximoff," she began quietly, her voice steady but pained. "I grew up in Sokovia, and... my childhood was marked by tragedy. War. Loss. But that's not the part that changed everything."

She paused, her eyes flickering with memories she had long since tried to bury. "After the war, I was experimented on. My brother, Pietro, and I were part of these... tests. They unlocked something inside me—powers that I didn't understand at first, but I could feel it growing. My abilities are... much more than just small tricks."

Y/N listened in silence, their emotions a mix of confusion, hurt, and a strange curiosity that they couldn't suppress.

Wanda continued, her voice tightening. "I can control reality, Y/N. I can manipulate the world around me, bend it to my will. I've done things... terrible things with this power, even when I didn't mean to."

Y/N's heart was pounding, but they forced themselves to stay calm, to listen.

"And because of that, S.W.O.R.D.—this organization that monitors people like me—saw me as a threat," Wanda said, her eyes filling with regret. "They wanted to control me, to use me. They didn't care about who I was, just what I could do."

"What do you mean, 'use you'?" Y/N asked, their voice hoarse from the weight of the revelation.

"They wanted to turn me into a weapon," Wanda said, her voice barely a whisper now. "They didn't care about the person I am, just what I could do for them. I was never going to be free as long as they were watching me. So I ran. I left everything behind—my old life, my identity—and I became Lizzy. I thought... if I could disappear, if I could live a normal life, I could keep them from finding me."

She hesitated, her eyes full of pain as she looked at Y/N. "That's when I met you."

Y/N leaned back in their chair, the weight of Wanda's words pressing down on them. "So... this entire time, you were hiding from them? You've been running for years?"

"Yes," Wanda admitted. "But it wasn't just about running. When I met you, things changed. I didn't want to hide from you, Y/N. I wanted to tell you, but every time I got close, I thought about what it would mean. About how you might look at me differently, about how dangerous my life could be for you."

Y/N's voice was tight with emotion. "And instead, you let me fall in love with a lie."

Wanda's heart broke at those words. She reached across the table, but Y/N pulled back, their eyes filled with hurt. "It wasn't a lie, Y/N. I may have hidden my name, my past... but everything else, everything between us—it's real. My love for you is real."

Y/N shook their head, their eyes stinging with unshed tears. "But how can I believe that now? How can I trust anything you say?"

"I understand if you feel betrayed," Wanda said, her voice thick with emotion. "I've been living in fear for so long that I forgot how to trust anyone. But you—being with you—was the only real thing I had left. And I couldn't lose it. I couldn't lose you."

Y/N's hands clenched into fists as they tried to process the flood of information. "So, all of this was because you were afraid of S.W.O.R.D.? You thought they'd find you? What does that have to do with us?"

Wanda's gaze softened. "It's not just S.W.O.R.D. It's my powers. What I'm capable of... it's dangerous. And I didn't want to drag you into that."

The room felt heavy with the weight of unspoken fears, unshared truths. Y/N leaned forward, their voice shaking with frustration. "So you're telling me that this—" they gestured between them, "—this whole relationship, every moment we've had, has been built on a secret? You've been hiding from me, from the world, this whole time?"

Wanda blinked back tears, nodding slowly. "Yes. But please believe me, Y/N. It wasn't all a lie. Everything else... the way I feel about you, the life we've built together—that's real. I just didn't know how to tell you the rest."

Y/N stood up, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. Their heart was in pieces, every word Wanda said feeling like another crack in their world. "Do you know how it feels? To know that the person I've spent years loving wasn't even real?"

Wanda's tears spilled over. "I *am* real, Y/N. I'm still the person you fell in love with."

Y/N looked away, their voice hollow. "But you're not. You're Wanda Maximoff, someone I don't even know. And you let me think I knew you."

Wanda wiped her face, standing up but keeping her distance. "I never wanted to hurt you. I kept my past from you because I didn't want it to define us. But now, I see that keeping this from you has caused more pain than I ever imagined."

Y/N's voice was raw with emotion. "I don't even know if I can forgive this. You've lied to me every day. How am I supposed to just move past that?"

"I don't expect you to," Wanda whispered, her voice barely holding together. "But I'm not going to run anymore. You deserve the truth, even if it costs me everything."

Y/N looked at her, really looked at her, the woman they loved and the stranger they didn't recognize. They didn't know what to say, didn't know how to reconcile the feelings tearing them apart.

"I need space," Y/N finally said, their voice barely above a whisper. "I can't do this right now."

Wanda nodded, the tears still flowing. "I understand. I'll give you whatever you need. Just... please, don't walk away for good."

Y/N didn't answer, their emotions too tangled, too raw. Without another word, they turned and walked out, leaving Wanda alone in the cold silence of their once-shared home.