Endearment ▶️ Pietro Maximoff

Thirty-Seven

"We are so glad to see you alive, Pietro." Thea beamed, looking at him with relief evident in her stance. "But you stink!" She scrunched her nose playfully. Pietro scoffed. "Well, I might as well be dead.." He murmured, and she almost missed it. Thea frowned, confused at his statement but more stunned at Charlie's reaction to seeing him. She was insisting on leaving and Thea still believed it was because of what she'd told her a few weeks ago.
Her breath hitched at the painful memory, her parents were Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, she was disappointed that they never told her. Maybe they had their own reasons, but she couldn't deny that she was..proud of them. They were practically superheroes! She could live with that, tell Maira that when she was old enough to know about our parents. But Charlie—maybe she just wanted to leave everything behind, even him. Thea was disappointed at her sister's decision to blank him like that. She liked Pietro, as did Maira. From the very beginning, she liked his attitude and his ability to bring Charlie out of that thousand year old shell she'd encapsulated herself in. She knew her sister, always the type of person to keep her emotions locked away and never let anyone get close to her. Hell, she'd already chosen him as her brother in law if her sister ever got close enough to entertaining the idea of marriage. He was leaps and bounds better than anyone out there, she knew that for a fact.

"You don't mean that." Thea spoke, "I don't know what it is that's making you say that but I hope you can get through it." Suddenly, she felt angry. Angry at her sister for letting fear consume her. "I'm gonna sort her out." She hissed turning on her heels but Pietro quickly grabbed her by the shoulders, leaning down to face her at eye level. "It's not her fault. Seriously. I'm sure..things will work out." But Pietro wasn't sure himself.

"Well, it's not fair she's taking out her frustration on you. So what if our parents were S.H.I.E.L.D? Does that mean we stop living and throw away everything good that comes our way?"

Pietro stilled, she knew about her parents, but not the rest. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or worried that Charlie didn't speak of it. "That's it, I'm sorting her out!" Thea fumed but Pietro held her in a firm grip. "I don't want you saying anything to her." Pietro begged, "Please, Thea? Can you do that for me?" Thea looked verbally frustrated but nodded. "You need to shower, though!" she scrunched her nose again before heading back to the lounge area to play games with Luis and Dave. Pietro sighed. She chose not to tell Thea everything else because she didn't want her to think differently of him, she gave him that—and he was grateful for it.

The cabin was large enough to accommodate 2 dozen individuals and you still wouldn't notice any of them. That's what it was like when Steve made his way out of Charlie's room. Everyone had taken off to their respective rooms except for the silver haired boy. "Listen to me, lover boy." Steve's voice was stern, like a father talking to his disobedient son, when he walked out to the lounge area to see an impatient looking Pietro pacing back and forth. Even the floor wasn't safe from him. "Give her some time to clear her mind and heal herself, she's been through enough."

"But she's hurting! I want to make this right!" He all but whined, arms up in air to express his frustration. Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly before he looked at the disoriented boy. He was a mess. Eyes wild, clothes tattered. He needed rest, and a shower.
"You'll only push her away, Pietro. Give her some space and let her decide what she wants to do with the truth."
Steve was right, no matter how he looked at it, the old man was right. He sighed in defeat, he didn't have much choice. "Now go get some rest, maybe take a shower and change your clothes. You look awful, no offence."

Well, that was the second time in a day he'd been told he stank so he was left with no choice but to head for his room, conveniently the first room and probably the one furthest away from hers. His shoulders slumped in defeat as warm water poured over his tense muscles, puddle of water near his feet that was a murky brown. He blinked, he was indeed in dire need of a shower. Content that he was clean enough, Pietro jumped out of the shower and changed into a fresh pair of clothes. It had been a while since he'd used his super speed, he needed to stretch first, distract himself a little. But it sure took every ounce of self control in Pietro's body to not run inside and hug her when he found himself walking up the staircase and in front of her room. Call it an instinct, but he kind of knew where she was. In his defence, he was trying to keep his distance for as long as she wanted, but being cooped up in one place wasn't going to be easy either. And they could bump into each other even if Pietro was trying to give her the space she needed.