Childhood Stranger
I feel my phone start to vibrate in my pocket. I answer it quickly. "Oh thank god." "Y/N? What's wrong?" "I think it would be better to tell you in person."
Adrian and I had been friends for a while, she was one of the only people who knew about my powers. After the fire, I had to move in with my Aunt. This was semi-helpful because, It meant I wouldn't have to face her. At the time I was so convinced she would figure out that it was my fault. I now realize that definitely wouldn't have happened but, It's fine. Considering all of this I was surprised when she actually showed up.
I sit in the front seat. "So, what's up?" "It's a long story." As we drive, I tell her about everything. I've only just finished as we pull up to the house. She turns off the car, but doesn't get out. "Wow. That's... a lot." I sigh. "I know." She leads me inside and I'm kind of surprised by how... the same it looks. "You can set your bad down." I do, and follow her into the kitchen. "So, are your parents here?" "No, they're not. But, I'm sure they'll be excited to see you again, they always loved you." I smile, because it's true.
Her smile fades though and she asks, "So, what are you going to do?" Hesitantly I confess, "I don't know. I'm probably not being let back on the team." She goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. "Want anything?" I shake my head and she comes back, setting. the bottle down on the counter. "What if you do? Will you go back?" "I don't know I haven't thought about it."
My phone rings. It's an unknown number, but I still answer it. "Hello?" "Y/N? It's Wanda." I lower the phone for a second. "Hey, Adrian I have to take this." "Go ahead." I go out onto the porch. "Hey Wanda." "Y/N, I am so sorry you got suspended." I shrug even though she can't see. "It's not your fault." "I'm sure Fury will let you come back. I can-" I cut her off, tired of hearing that he might let me back. "Everyone keeps saying that. Why would he? You all know why I shouldn't be part of the Avengers." She sighs, but continues. “We all know it wasn’t your fault. No one thinks you’d do something like that on purpose.” “But Fury said-“ “So what? I don’t care what Fury said. He hasn’t been around, he hasn’t seen how well you’ve been doing. So he can say whatever he wants, doesn’t mean it’s true.” I look down, wanting to believe she’s right but, it’s just too difficult. I’ve told myself exactly what Fury has told me, and hearing someone else say what I’ve also been saying just made it seem more true. “Y/N, promise me you’ll think about coming back if he lets you.” Just then, a car pulls into the driveway. "Hey Wanda, I have to go." “Promise.” “Fine. If he lets me come back, I will think about it.” I can practically hear her smile. “Good. I miss you Y/N. I hope I’ll see you soon.” I’m smiling now too. “ I miss you too.” I put my phone back into my pocket and head towards the car.
Adrian's Mom gets out of the car, waving to whoever was driving the car, and they back out and drive off again. She sees me and waves, kind of surprised. "Y/N? What are you doing here?" She walks over to me and hugs me. "Hi, Mrs. Adams. Adrian invited me to stay for a couple weeks. If that's ok." "Of course it's ok. It's good to see you, It's been too long."
"Adrian, look who I found." Adrian looks up from her phone. "Hey Mom, I didn't know you were coming home so early." She nods. "Yes, well. Your Dad's picking up something from the store and, I can have him get something for dinner." She looks at Adrian then back to me. "Does that sound good?" "Sure, Mom. Y/N and I are going up to my room. She nods towards the stairs and I go with her. She opens the door, and her room looks exactly the same, and I tell her as much. "Yeah, it's only been like a year and a half. Not much has changed... anywhere around here."
This prompts a question I've had for a while to resurface. I wasn't able to ask anyone but now that I'm home... "Hey. What happened to the house?" "Yours?" I nod. "Well, last I saw... they rebuilt it. Just last year a family moved in." She looks at me sympathetically. "Oh." I mutter barely audible. I could've guessed, but I didn't want to admit it. "Well, we could watch a movie? Just like old times. I hate it when people say that but, it could be fun." "Sure. Sounds good."
Adrian and I choose a movie to watch when her mom calls us down for dinner. It's clear everyone's avoiding talking about my family and the house. I figured people would be over it at this point. I appreciate them trying but, they could be less obvious. At a point I figure it might be up to me to save the conversation. "I saw Izzie the other day." This seemed to change the mood which was a relief. "Oh, that's great, when did you see her?" "I was at.. work when she just showed up.It was good to see her." Everyone eats in silence for a minute, then Adrian's Dad asks, "Where do you work?" I cough buying myself time to come up with an answer.
Thankfully, Adrian helps me out. "She works at that one store that opened like a year ago." Her mom nods then asks, "Why haven't we seen you then? You've been around here." "I wasn't for a while, I was living with Aunt Reese." Mrs. Adams nods, smiling sadly. The table gets awkwardly quiet once again.
Finally Adrian says, "Ok, I think we're going to head upstairs and watch something." "Oh, alright. Y/N, do you have work tomorrow?" I almost laugh. "No I was uh, fired." No one else finds it funny but I think I hear Adrian sigh behind me. Once upstairs, we sit on her bed and start the movie. It's nice to feel "Normal" again. "Hey Adrian, thanks for letting me stay here." "No problem."