Spectrum 》Chris Evans

sixty-five

REAL LIFE

"You okay, babe?" Chris asked River, rubbing his hand up and down her calf. River sighed, tossing her phone down onto the couch.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine. It's just... Danny makes me so mad. He's such an asshole." River shook her head, puffing out a short breath.

"Yeah, he is. I knew he was bad, but that exceeded what I was expecting," Chris sighed, shaking his head. Just thinking about how disrespectful he was to Ruby and River made his blood boil.

"Ugh, I don't even want to talk about it or him anymore. I just wanna focus on being here and happy with you," River smiled, throwing her legs off of Chris' lap. She stood from where she was seated and held out her hand for him to take. "Come on. Let's go do something."

Chris chuckled and took River's hand, pulling her down onto his lap, her legs on either side of his. He placed his hands on her hips, rubbing his thumbs up and down. River shivered slightly, and Chris smirked.

"I have an idea of something we can do," he murmured, leaning up and placing light kisses on River's neck. River let out a small sigh and bit her lip, smiling.

"Yeah? What's that?"

Chris trailed kisses up the side of her face, down her cheek, until he reached her lips. His lips hovered in front hers, not quite touching, but close enough that she could feel his breath.

"How about I show you?" Chris asked, his lips brushing over hers lightly as he spoke. River nodded her head. Softly, Chris kissed her. River kissed back, and soon the kiss turned from sweet and slow to hot and passionate.

Chris gripped River's hips tightly and stood from the couch, not breaking the kiss. River moved her hands from his shoulders to grip at his hair, and Chris moved from the living room to his bedroom.

He laid River down on the bed, hovering over her, breaking the kiss so that they could both catch their breaths. Chris moved one of his hands up to River's face so he could push a strand of hair behind her ear, and she smiled.

"Riv?" He asked quietly, still slightly out of breath.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

River felt her breath catch in her throat and her eyes grew wide. Chris took this as a sign of panic, and worried that he had said it too soon, and was about to apologize, but River crained her head forward to capture his lips in another kiss. They laid like this for a few moments, just kissing, before River pulled away with a smile.

"I love you, too."

Chris smiled wider than he ever had before, and he felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He buried his face in River's neck, kissing all over and repeating "I love you, I love you, I love you," over and over. River giggled, saying it right back. Her heart felt fuller than it ever had, and she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have someone like Chris in her life.

River thought she had been in love before, with Danny, but here now with Chris, she knew now that that wasn't love. That this, right here, what she had with Chris: that was love.

"God, River Kane, I am so in love with you," Chris chuckled, kissing River once again. The kiss was soft and sweet, but once again, quickly turned heated. River felt excited butterflies begin to form in her stomach. It wasn't like it was their first time together, but it would be their first time in love, and that made it even better.

***

River awoke the next morning to an empty bed and a warm blanket covering her body. She clutched the blanket to her chest as she sat up and yawned. She scanned the floor, and once she found it, she got up and grabbed Chris' discarded shirt, pulling it over her head and covering her body.

She exited his room and strolled down the halls to the stairs, and walked into the kitchen, where Chris stood in just a pair of pajama pants, drinking coffee. He smirked when he noticed her entire.

"Morning, Sunshine," he said, leaning down to kiss her. River smiled as she pulled away, moving to the cupboard to grab a cup to pour herself some coffee.

"You know," Chris said as he moved behind River, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin atop of her head. "You look good in my shirt."

River laughed and took a sip of her hot coffee. She set it down on the counter and turned in Chris' grasp, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I do, don't I?" She asked playfully. Chris chuckled, shaking his head. He leaned down and kissed her once more before pulling away and heading to the fridge.

"Breakfast?" He asked as he began to pull out eggs and bacon. Before she could respond, River's stomach growled loudly. She laughed and raised an eyebrow at Chris.

"Does that answer your question?" She asked, still giggling.

"It most certainly does." Chris began to prepare their breakfast, and River hopped up onto one of the stools of the breakfast bar. She was content to watch Chris, and a smile made its way onto her face at how natural this all felt.

"What are you smiling at?" Chris asked as he finished beating the eggs. He turned to the stove and quickly flipped the bacon that was in one pan before pouring the eggs into the other.

"How domestic we are. How natural this all feels," River said, the smile still on her face. Chris turned back to her with a smile of his own.

"Yeah. It does, doesn't it?" He asked, sounding just as love drunk as River did.

River's smile grew wider as thoughts of them growing their lives together flashed through her mind. She never had this with Danny, and she's glad, because Chris is the only person she could ever imagine spending the rest of her life with.

***

After Chris and River finished breakfast, they began to get ready to go over to his parents house.

"You excited?" Chris asked as he watched River put on her makeup. She halted her mascara to look up at Chris in the mirror.

"Yes. But also nervous. Like, really nervous," River admitted. Chris chuckled and shook his head.

"You have nothing to worry about, babe. They're gonna love you," Chris said reassuringly. River gave him a grateful smile and turned back to quickly finish her mascara. After she was done with that, she turned to Chris with a determined smile.

"Okay. I'm ready. Let's do this."

Chris smirked at River and leaned down to peck her cheek. He pulled away and took her hand in his, leading her out of his room and down to the entryway. They put on their coats, and headed out into the cold Winter of Boston

***

The drive to Chris' parents house wasn't very long, fifteen minutes at most. When he pulled up onto the curb, River gulped at the sight of all the cars in the driveway. She turned to Chris with a slightly panicked look.

"Oh. Did I not mention my siblings would be here, too?" Chris said with a smirk. River glared at him, causing him to laugh.

"Babe. Look at me," Chris said, placing his hand under River's chin and turning her to face him. "Everything's fine. You'll be fine, okay? They're gonna love you because you're smart, and funny, and sweet, and kind... I could go on and on, but you get the point. You're great, and they're gonna love you."

River smiled and Chris and nodded, leaning over the center console to place a loving kiss to his lips.

"I love you," she said as she pulled away. Chris smiled and kissed her again, softly.

"I love you too."

_____

Apologies for taking so long to update, life kinda got in the way ;-; but I'm back now B)