Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

As Jen directed Rio across the venue of the party, the singer smiled and greeted everybody that she saw on the way to wherever Jen was leading her. Now that she knows Agatha was present, Rio felt the event become more lively. It took Rio all her will to start her car to attend her own release party but all that she could think of now was staying here, specifically by Agatha’s side. 

As much as Rio found the time to notice how many people were here, she realized that she did not know most of them. This party felt different from the previous release events she had for her old albums. This big gathering not only had more people than before, but they also had more well-known people. 

Rio understood why there would be other singers here but what she didn’t understand was the people not in the music industry. Rio swear she had just exchanged smiles with a person she saw in a movie before but she couldn’t put her finger on which one. 

“Jen,” Rio called out to her manager as she trailed behind her. “Where are we going?”

At this point, the two of them were far away from Agatha. Rio did not like this feeling one bit. Anything that kept her away from Agatha– physically and emotionally– she wanted to run from. 

“The record label wants me to introduce you to the actress starring in the movie,” Jen said loudly as she moved forward through the crowd. 

Rio furrowed her eyebrows, “what movie?”

“The demo you made for the movie soundtrack. The filming company heard it and chose it as their theme song,” Jen explained.

“What, are you serious?” Rio beamed. “I have a song that’s going to be in a movie?”

Jen nodded. “It was supposed to be a surprise but the record label just told me they invited the actress here and wants the two of you to meet each other.”

Once Jen and Rio arrived by the entrance of the stage, they stood and waited for the actress to reveal herself. “Do you know what she looks like?” Rio asked Jen who was looking at her phone for updates on where the actress is. 

“No. I don’t even know her name. The filming company was very secretive about her,” Jen shrugged.

“But she is here, right?” Rio questioned.

“The filming company confirmed it, so yeah. I got a message that said she would be waiting by this area,” Jen said as she read off of her phone.

“I can’t believe I have a song that’s going to be played in a movie,” Rio said delightedly. 

Jen scoffs playfully, giving her a side eye. “You’ve had sold-out stadium tours before. Why is a song in a movie a big deal to you?” 

Jen knew that this was a big goal off of Rio’s bucket list if she ever had one. The singer had way bigger accomplishments than having a theme song for a movie, so it took the manager by surprise at how much Rio cared about this. 

Rio knew that she accomplished great things, even if she was only 8 albums in her career. A way for her to remain grounded was to celebrate everything, even if they’ve happened before. If Rio ignores it because it happened before, she finds herself dissociating from the importance of her achievements. 

“It’s the first time this has ever happened before,” Rio justified. 

Jen smiled, “well, I’m glad that you’re happy about it. I guess that’s one more news to celebrate with your girlfriend, huh?”

“Guess it is.” 

As Rio thinks about how she can surprise Agatha with this news, Jen locks eyes with someone behind the singer. Rio turns around and sees a man in a suit next to a red-headed woman. Green eyes and a wide smile. Rio thought she was pretty. 

“Hi,” the gentleman beside the woman spoke. “Jen?” he said towards Rio’s manager. Jen nodded as he turned his attention to Rio. “You must be Rio Vidal, then? The one who sang in the demo?” 

“That’s me,” Rio replied.

“I’d like both of you to officially meet Wanda Maximoff,” he placed a hand on the actress’s shoulder, directing her to step in front of him. “She’s the lead actress in the movie that the song will be used for.”

Wanda steps forward, holding out her hand in front of Jen before Rio. Jen shakes her hand, “nice to meet you. This is Rio Vidal. She’s the one who sang ‘gold rush,’” Jen said, positioning Rio in front of the actress. 

As Rio tried to place where the actress looked familiar from, Jen’s sentence broke her thoughts. “Wait,” Rio looked at Jen. “The demo you sent was ‘gold rush?’” 

Jen looked at Rio’s expression and tried to read it. The singer didn’t look mad, but for the second time today, she was surprised. This expression however, was different from the first time she looked surprised. 

Rio didn’t know how to feel. For one, she didn’t want to seem angry in front of the actress. However, Rio also knew that the song was written for Agatha. It was never supposed to be in a movie. It was never supposed to be heard by anyone before Agatha did. It was never supposed to be submitted for anything, let alone a highly-anticipated movie. It was only supposed to be for Agatha. 

“Is there something wrong?” Wanda spoke.

Rio looked away from Jen and tried to give Wanda a real smile. “Hi, I’m Rio. Nice to meet you.” Rio tried to seem genuine but couldn’t shake off the thought that her new song for Agatha would be heard by everyone. 

“I heard the song,” Wanda said in a cheery tone. “I loved it.”

Rio sighed and gave Wanda a light smile, “thank you.”

As Wanda opened her mouth to say something, cameras went up to the both of them and started flashing. Both of them knew what to do and posed beside each other. Rio looked at Wanda as the latter nodded. They faced the cameras as Rio placed an arm behind Wanda while she tilted her head towards Rio.

They were both used to it. In the music and acting industry, it was a mutual agreement between two people to stand and pose with one another or else a rumor would circulate the next day about them hating each other. These pictures are merely an act. They both looked at the cameras and put their best smile on even if they did not know each other that well. 

In Rio’s case, she didn’t know who Wanda was at all. In Wanda’s case? She knew who Rio was to Agatha. Wanda felt that was all she needed to know about Rio. 

“So,” Wanda started, still keeping her eyes and smiling at the flashing lights. “I saw your interview with Agatha Harkness.” 

Rio suddenly blushed, forgetting what bothered her before people started taking pictures of them. It was the first time that someone other than Jen talked to Rio about that interview with Agatha. People in the industry knew Rio barely said anything about her personal life, let alone her romantic life. She figured that she didn’t need to, considering the amount of personal songs she puts out every year. It felt good to be asked about Agatha. 

“Yeah,” Rio said through her teeth as she grinned for the cameras. “That was fun. Agatha felt warm to be around,” Rio tried not to say too much even though she was too happy for the interview to just have been ‘fun.’ Rio didn’t want to say too much, she just wanted to be honest of what the interview was like. 

Wanda sighs, “I know.”

Rio swallows a knot in her throat, stopping herself from bombarding Wanda with questions. She didn’t want to interrogate her but Rio also wanted to know what she meant without showing Wanda that she needed the answer. 

She tilted her head, intrigued. “What do you mean? Have you been on her show before?” She looked at Wanda who was still keeping up with the flashing cameras. Rio rejoined her as she looked back at them. 

Rio normally would have shrugged it off but she couldn’t help but think that Wanda sighed in a way like she was yearning. She couldn’t shake that impression off. The moment the sigh left the actress’ lips, Rio felt a heavy feeling on her chest. 

“Let’s just say,” Wanda paused as she looked at Rio beside her. “I know her better than you probably do.” 

-

Although Agatha found the party entertaining, she could understand why Rio didn’t care for it. The head of the music label was always on stage and used the opportunity to promote his new artists rather than celebrate Rio. She couldn’t blame him. A lot of big names were at the party and it would be a big chance for upcoming artists to take the stage. However, she can’t help but be disappointed that Rio has not performed at all. 

They’ve only been together for a short amount of time but Agatha couldn’t wait until she sees Rio on the stage for the first time. A part of her wondered when that first time was going to be if not in this party. 

Agatha recognized some people that she had interviewed on her web show before who recognized her back. She got into some casual conversations, periodically looking around the room to try and find Rio. 

Slowly, Agatha has noticed how distracted she has been when Rio isn’t around. Any random person can assume that she would be distracted when she’s with Rio but that isn’t the case. When Rio is in front of her, Agatha is the most concentrated she has ever been. When Rio is absent physically, so is Agatha mentally. She tries hard to comprehend what the person talking to her is saying but her efforts evaporate once she sees a glimpse of her girlfriend from across the room. 

Agatha keeps her eyes on Rio, testing out a theory. She wonders if Rio can feel her looking at her. She wonders if Rio really does feel magnets behind Agatha’s eyes. The singer tells her all the time that once they lock eyes, it aches her whole body to look away. This time however, once their eyes met, Agatha was met with uncertainty as Rio glanced away within a millisecond. 

She hadn’t seen that face before. It almost looked like Rio was dumbfounded and Agatha didn’t know why. The host had guessed it had something to do with the party and all she wanted to do was make mouth slightly agape and when the singer realized, she swallowed, trying make it seem ltake Rio in her arms and make her feel better. Jen didn’t tell Agatha where they were going to go but by Rio’s reaction to seeing Agatha, she was starting to wonder if she made the right choice in coming here. Agatha planned to go towards her until she moved her head and got a clear view of who Rio was beside. 

Agatha’s eyes landed on her ex-wife and her heart dropped towards the floor, Rio being too far out of her reach to catch it. 

-

Once Rio and Wanda separated, Rio officially felt like she had outgrown her own party. She didn’t make an effort to talk to anyone as she made her way to Agatha who had just got here not even an hour ago. 

Whatever Wanda said to Rio didn’t bother her. Rio wasn’t upset that Agatha had an ex but for the first time since meeting her, Rio felt like she didn’t know Agatha as well as she thought she did. Rio felt like she didn’t read Agatha as well as she thought she did. A part of Rio can’t help to blame herself because she should’ve known. She should’ve known it wasn’t just a saleswoman at a jewelry store or a random corporate lady that has the regular 9-5 job. 

Once Wanda told her that she was Agatha’s ex-wife, it all explained why Agatha was scared of starting a relationship with a famous person. The singer had felt an energy from the actress that felt threatening but quickly realized that she had no reason to be. If there was one thing Rio got from her conversation with the redhead, it was that she was not going to trust a word from Wanda more than she hears from Agatha. 

Rio could only hope that Agatha was ready for the conversation. As Rio reached the table where she left her girlfriend, they smiled at each other with heavy eyes. Rio stood behind Agatha’s chair and placed both of her hands on Agatha’s tense shoulders. The singer placed a kiss on the top of her head and lowered herself further to the level of her ears. “I’m feeling tired. Do you want to go?”

Both of them had hoped to spend more time together at the party but plans changed quickly as they both knew a conversation needed to happen. Agatha bit her lip and nodded, taking Rio’s hand that she offered her. They both went out the door with cameras pointed at them being the least of their worries.

-

The car ride was completely silent as both of them had the same things in their mind. Most of their conversations had been easy but this one would be the most challenging. What happened at the party doesn’t change how they feel about each other. The only thing uncertain right now is how they plan to move past it. 

Rio kept thinking of the first question to ask Agatha if she chooses to bring it up at all. She hadn’t realized that Agatha saw Wanda next to her. Rio could pretend that nothing happened but that wouldn’t do either of them any good. Rio pulled up into Agatha's driveway, putting her car in park as she looked at her girlfriend beside her.

“Do you want to come in for a bit?” Agatha broke the silence ever since they left the party. 

Rio smiled, “that’d be great.”

The couple got out of the car and joined hands as they walked through the door. Agatha and Rio thanked Lilia for staying home to keep an eye as Nicky slept. Once Agatha shut the front door, she turned around, only to get swept up into a kiss by Rio. 

This kiss was slow and gentle, almost as if Rio had been yearning for it all night. The singer didn’t care if Agatha had ever kissed Wanda like this. Rio just wanted to kiss Agatha like this. 

“What was that for?” Agatha breathed out. 

“I have something to tell you,” Rio started, leading Agatha to her couch like the place was hers too.

“I do too,” Agatha sighed. 

“Do you want to go first or me?” Rio asked in courtesy. 

Agatha pursed her lips to the side in thought. Since they met, it had always been Rio to initiate everything. This time, it was her turn. 

“I saw you talking to Wanda Maximoff at the party,” Agatha said as she observed Rio hold her breath. “Do you know what happened to us?”

“Briefly. Jen introduced us because I’m singing the theme song to her new project. We started talking and she mentioned you before I even did. She told me that you guys were ex-wives,” Rio said as she played with Agatha’s ring on her middle finger.

“I’m sorry.”

Rio held her girlfriend’s face, “baby, why are you sorry?”

“You should’ve heard it from me.”

“You weren’t ready before,” Rio assured Agatha. “And if you’re still not ready right now, I completely understand. I know that we’re only talking about it because I know now. But if you’re still not completely ready to tell me, I will wait.” 

Agatha softened, “I want to be transparent with you. I don’t want to keep you in the dark now that you two are going to be working together.” 

“But I want your heart to be in this conversation. I don’t want you to force yourself to do something for me,” Rio explained. 

“Is this about me attending the party tonight?”

“Kind of,” Rio paused. “I’m not saying that I didn’t want you there because I did. My night lit up when I saw you there. I was just surprised because when I had asked you to come with me, you weren’t interested.”

“I wasn’t,” Agatha revealed. “But your best friend convinced me before he slept,” Agatha teased Rio.

“Nicky told you to come?” Rio said heartwarmingly. 

“I was already thinking about how tonight was going to be big for you. Even if there were already a lot of people there, I wanted you to have one more person to celebrate with,” Agatha shrugged.

“Well whether it was you or Nicky,” Rio paused to give Agatha a quick peck on the lips. “I’m glad you came.”

“I feel like I ruined your night.”

“Agatha,” Rio started. “When I was getting ready for the party, the number one place I wanted to be was here. Hell, even when we were both apart but at the same party, all I wanted was to come back to the table and just sit there with you. You made my night. You always do.” 

“I love you, Rio,” Agatha sighed in relief. “And before you ask, yes. I mean that. I’m not just saying it because you met my ex-wife. I really do love you.”

“So, we’re not breaking up?” Rio said quietly. 

“Breaking up? Why would you think we would?” Agatha said surprised. 

“I don’t know. I was very distracted during the car ride. I thought that meeting Wanda would overwhelm you. Not to mention the cameras pointed at us when we left the party. And just me acting romantic with you in a public place where people would see us,” Rio went on. 

“Rio, Wanda broke up with me because I didn’t want to lose my privacy. If she told you that, then that part is true. And for the longest time, I’ve blamed myself for being so selfish to the point that she left. But a part of the reason that made me think I could never make a relationship work with someone famous is because I never got the chance to try,” Agatha revealed.

At this point in the night, Agatha was crying. The only thing Rio could do was reach for tissues in the middle of Agatha’s coffee table and wipe her girlfriend’s tears.

“But being with you,” Agatha looked at Rio lovingly. “Being with you has slowly lessened my fear of losing everything else. I’ve become less scared of losing the piece of privacy I was protecting and have been more scared of losing you.” 

Rio kissed her, letting physical touch prove what her words can’t. 

“You’re not losing me,” Rio promised without needing to say it. “I understand why it didn’t work between the two of you. I hope I’ve given you enough reason to believe that it’ll work between us.”

“You have. You’ve proved it many times which no one else ever has,” Agatha said. “I mean that.”

“Good.”

The couple talked more about her past relationship. Rio listened to Agatha and understood to the very best of her abilities about all the decisions she made for her and Nicky. Even if Wanda’s decision had led to years of Agatha’s self-destruction, Rio was glad that she was the one to end the cycle. 

Rio would hurt herself before she let herself hurt Agatha or Nicky. Not that something in their relationship could ever come close to that type of conclusion, anyways. But that thought was there. Rio wouldn’t compromise on it. They had become the easiest thing to prioritize about everything in her life. 

“Do you want to sleep here?” Agatha asks Rio as their conversation about her ex-wife is wrapped up. 

“On the couch?” Rio asked carefully.

“On my bed.”

Rio looked at Agatha, no words were coming out.

“Nothing will happen. I just,” Agatha tried to find the right words. “I just want to hold you until I sleep.”

“I’d love to,” Rio said with an unwavering smile on her face. 

They both fall asleep to the rhythm of each other’s breathing and heart rate. They enjoyed that feeling for the rest of the night, unaware of the texts coming through Agatha’s phone. 

Deleted number: Hey

Deleted number: My manager just told me that she booked me for the interview on your show

Deleted number: Wanted to break the news to you before anyone else does

Deleted number: Let me know if you’re free beforehand. I want to talk