Falling in love during a strange quarantine

7. Set in the past

Chapter 7: Set in the past

Chris pushed the coffee table towards the TV before pushing the couch forward. In moving those two pieces of furniture around, he created a space in the living room area big enough for them to rehearse. He grabbed his phone and looked for a song. Scarlett was in the bathroom, getting her second hot shower of the day. November weather has kicked in sooner than usual and the temperature of the apartment has dropped a couple of degrees in a matter of hours.

Scarlett drank every bit of hot chocolate Chris had made in the morning, which had been a whole bottle length. The blonde man grabbed his phone and searched for the song the directors gave them for the dance sequence.

Chris heard her come out of the bathroom and stop dead in her tracks. "What are you planning on doing exactly?" She wondered out loud with a skeptical voice. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to reply but closed it as he took in her attire. A confused frown took place in his eyebrows.

"Is— is that my hoodie?" He asked and gestured to the large hoodie she was engulfed in.

"Um, yeah. I think it is." She nonchalantly told him and gave a quick look down her top. "But that doesn't answer my question." She looked at the pushed couch which now stood closer to the TV.

Chris' frown dispersed a little as he set his phone on the bookshelf before turning back to her. "I was thinking about rehearsing the dancing sequence." He explained and scratched the top of his head. Something was bothering him deeply. "I'm sorry but why — why do you have my hoodie?" His eyes couldn't move away from it. He used to wear this dark blue hoodie on the set of The Winter Soldier and one day it just disappeared. He absolutely had no idea she took it.

Scarlett shrugged as it was nothing to her. Well, it was nothing. Just a piece of fabric. "Because you gave it to me, remember?" She frowned as she looked at him. "You don't remember." She acknowledged, seeing the confused face he made.

"I can't say I do." Chris blinked a couple of times but no memories of him giving her his hoodie came to mind. The only thing he remembered was owning this hoodie and then one day it was gone. He thought he had lost it on set or maybe left it somewhere.

"We were hanging out the evening before we shot the mall scenes and we were outside your trailer. I got cold and you gave me your hoodie. When I wanted to give it back, you said to keep it. So I did and I love wearing it." Scarlett explained, trying to spark up his memory but he only shook his head and tried to remember the day she was talking about.

F L A S H B A C K

The year was 2013. Chris and Scarlett were on the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In this movie, Natasha and Steve’s friendship flourished and we saw their relationship in a new way.

One evening, filming was running late and Chris and Scarlett were waiting to shoot one of their scenes together. They were hanging out together while waiting for the Russo's brothers' word to start shooting. The two actors didn't know what was delaying things but it didn't trouble them that much. Delay in filming was usual when making a movie, things could sometimes not go as planned.

They were sitting on the stairs of Chris' trailer, rehearsing some of their lines. Scarlett looked up at Chris, averting her eyes from her script. "If it was down to me to save your life— and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"

Chris returned her look, seeing a serious expression in her eyes. It made him want to laugh so badly. Her eyes were locked in his, radiating seriousness. He bit his lips to hold back the laughter but it badly wanted to come out. "I would now." He said, bursting in laughter.

Scarlett rolled her eyes and slapped his thigh. "Chris!" She complained and joined in his laughter. She closed her script and threw a pouty face his way. "Don't you get how much of an important moment it is for them?"

"I do, I do." He said after gaining back his breath. "I really do but it's your face."

"My face?" She repeated questioningly and had a dumbfounded expression on her face. "I never had someone complain about how my face looks before, it's new."

Chris closed his script and set it on the ground before leveraging his eyes with hers. "No, not the way your face looks. I meant the expression you made with your serious eyes. I wasn't expecting it, I looked up and you had this look. I— I just had to laugh."

Scarlett nodded her head and hummed. She looked at the time on her phone and sighed. "I think we'll shoot tomorrow, it's taking too long to do it now. The sun's getting real low." She commented and looked around to see if anyone from the staff was here but no one was.

"Nah," Chris shook his head. "They're going to call in five minutes, you'll see."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You're confident about that, aren't you?" She wondered out loud and he nodded at her with a big toothy grin. "I'm sure of what I'm saying, the scene is supposed to be during daytime. Who goes to the mall at night?" She said.

"Okay, fine. Let's bet and see who's right." He confidently told her.

"Alright." She agreed and Chris held out his hand for her to shake. She took his hand and added. "If I win, I want your hoodie." She gestured to the dark blue hoodie he was currently wearing. It fitted him perfectly and brought out his eyes but on her it would look like she's drowning in it.

Chris raised an eyebrow and as he looked down at his hoodie. There wasn't anything special about it, other than he liked to wear it. "My hoodie?" He asked her with a soft voice, as if he was a child who has just been asked to share his favorite plush toy.

"Yeah," She nodded with a smile. "It seems to be comfy, I'm cold and I don't have any like this one." She shrugged innocently and saw him nod at her. "What do you want if you win? My bra?" She jokingly asked and laughed at her own joke.

Chris pursed his lips and chuckled to himself. He paused for a minute, trying to find something that would equally annoy her. He rummaged through his thoughts when something unexpected came up.

"A kiss." He blurted out before he could actually think it through. Scarlett's smile dropped and was replaced by a shocked face. He nodded a couple of times and a teasing smirk appeared on his face. "If I win, I want to kiss you."

"Chris—" She started, shaking her head as she laughed lightly. He must be joking, she thought.

He held up his hand to interrupt her. "You want my favorite hoodie, I'm willing to put it on the line. Besides, I'm not asking for a tongue kiss. Even just a peck will do." He told her and saw the hesitation on her face. "I can find something else if it's —"

"Okay." She nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "If you win, you get to kiss me. If I win, I will get your hoodie."

Chris' mouth opened in surprise, he didn't think she would agree to it. Especially considering the fact that she was married. Roman and her seemed to be going strong and looked like they would last. They were even talking about having children. They were serious and probably meant to be.

"That's the deal." Chris said, nodding in his head in agreement.

The two of them went silent after that, waiting for either one of their phones to ring. Scarlett fidgeted with the script in her lap while Chris was looking around in the sky at the settling in nightfall.

Chris' mind was racing wild. Would he truly get to kiss the woman he loves? If he were to win, would she get through with it? He glanced at her, trying to find out what she was feeling but she let no emotion appear on her face.

Both of their phones rang at the same time. They shared a look and slowly took their phones from their pockets. They counted to three and looked at the text message they each received by the Russo brothers.

Scarlett and Chris looked up from their phones and once again, shared a look.