||"It's hard trying to hold on to a place that doesn't want you."||
Wanda rocked back and forth in her rocking chair, her hands flipping through a magazine, her mind on Steve.
In the two weeks, since they'd taken her away, she hadn't thought much about Steve or the others. Sometimes before bed she allowed herself to reminisce on the good days when her and Steve were cuddled up together in bed, sometimes she'd even think about that day at the lake house. But that was the only satisfaction she allowed herself to feel.
Because if she thought too long about him, she found herself thinking about other things.
Things that her mind was begging her not to think about.
"You've been reading the same page for ten minutes," Nik said, his voice making the hair on her arms stand. She looked over at the corner where he always stood, and she saw him sitting down this time, his back against the wall. The shadows of her room always concealed that corner, so only half of his face was visible. She wanted to ask him why he was always hiding, but she decided against it.
He was here with her; everything else didn't matter.
"I didn't think I'd be seeing you today," she said.
"I'm here now."
Wanda smiled. "Thank you."
Nik didn't move from his corner, so Wanda got up from her rocking chair and walked over to him, placing a pillow on the floor before sitting down.
"How long are you going to stay this time?" she asked him.
"How long do you need me?" he asked in response, and she looked at him and felt her throat close up. "It's up to you, Wanda."
She wanted him to stay forever.
"Just for a little while," she told him, her voice unnaturally high. Nik caught this immediately.
"Something's bothering you," he said, reaching out for her hand but pulling away last minute. "What is it?"
Wanda looked down at her hands, remembering the way Elijah stared at her rings. She knew he was trying to figure her out; understanding her was part of his job.
"It's nothing," she said to him. "I just miss Pietro and the others."
"That's only the half truth."
"Maybe," she said, twisting her rings for comfort.
"Wanda," Nik dragged out her name, and she sighed, resting her head in her hands.
"They're making me see a psychologist," she finally admitted.
"Oh, I see."
"Yes, it's ridiculous," Wanda placed her hand on her stomach, wondering what was going on in there. In just a few months she wouldn't even be able to see her toes. It was a funny, yet odd thought.
"Did you at least talk with him?" Nik asked her.
"Not really," she said, realizing how rude she must have been. "I don't need to see him, though."
"Are you sure? It might be nice to talk with someone."
"But I have you," she said.
Nik's smile was faint, and she wished right then for him to step out of the shadows so she could see his curls and his gentle eyes. It'd been a while since she'd heard him laugh or even felt his warmth. She felt his sudden withdrawal from his usual self was her doing.
