A C T O R S || OS 02

111. Chris Evans | A Year Apart *

By : shellbilee | Tumblr

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Summary: A breakup and a year apart, you go to Jeremy Renner's birthday party and see Chris after all this time.

Words: 10.1K

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Smut

-----

YOUR POV:

You smiled down at Rose as she munched happily on a cookie, your black and white retriever-cross dog Meeko laying patiently next to her with his eyes trained intently on the biscuit. "It really is great to see you again Y/N, you sound like you're doing really well. I've missed seeing you around". You flashed a grateful smile at Scarlett and took a sip from your bottle of cider, relieved that she seemed genuinely glad to see you. She'd practically screamed your name when she'd seen you arrive at the party earlier, catching you by surprise when she pulled you in for an enormous hug as if you were family that hadn't seen each other in years. You half-smiled nostalgically. Family. Once upon a time, you would have pretty much called her that. "Thanks Scar, that really means a lot to me. I've missed you too, all of you". You smiled and took another sip of your cider, glancing back down at Rose as she finished her cookie and turned back to her colouring book.

Scarlett opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by someone calling her name. You turned in the direction of the voice to find someone you didn't know, glancing back at Scarlett and gesturing with your head for her to go. She looked at you guiltily and you smiled and shook your head, reaching up to adjust your sunglasses and shield your eyes from the late afternoon sun. "Go Scar, it's fine. I can baby sit Rose for a little bit" you offered, glancing back down at Rose where she was focused intently on her drawing of Elsa, her tiny tongue poked out in concentration as she coloured carefully with her aqua blue texta pen. "Are you sure?". You smiled and shook your head dismissively, "Absolutely. Go, talk, mingle". Scarlett smiled gratefully and stood up from the lounge chair opposite you, "I'll catch up with you later?". You nodded up at her happily - thankful that she'd even come to speak to you at all, smiling when she leaned down to wrap you in another sweet-smelling hug. "Thank you Y/N, you're the best". You smiled as Scarlett knelt down beside her daughter and reached over to ruffle Meeko's fur, his tail wagging as she turned to face Rose. "You stay here with Y/N okay sweetheart? Momma's gonna go and say hi to some friends". Rose looked up at her mother and nodded, her big eyes - that were exactly the same shade of green as her mothers, widening as she smiled, "Otay mommy!".

Scarlett grinned and planted a kiss on the top of her daughter's head, standing up and flashing you another grateful smile before turning and walking over to her friend. You let out a silent breath and took another sip of your cider, shifting on your lounge chair and scanning the crowd around you. When Jeremy had rang to invite you to his party a month ago, you were sure he'd gone insane and had dialled the wrong number. Even after the call had ended - after Jeremy had persistently reassured you that he had, in fact, called the correct number and had insisted that you be there for the birthday party he was throwing at his house, you'd been adamant that you weren't going to go. You couldn't be around those people. That wasn't your life anymore - it had been once, but that was then. Before it all happened, before him. You'd all but forced yourself to cut ties with everyone after it. Not because you'd wanted to - you'd grown to love that group of people like family, but because you'd had to. You'd had to do it to save yourself.

When the day finally came for the party though, you'd still managed to find yourself pulling up to Jeremy's house in an Uber even though you knew he was going to be there. You weren't really sure what it was that had changed your mind about going - perhaps it was the strong willed, confident part of you that reminded you just how far you'd come in the year since. It had happened, it was in the past, and you were a stronger, better person for having gone through it. Or perhaps it was the sad, curious part of you, the part that wanted to see if you could handle it, the part that wanted to see if you'd go spiralling back down at just the sight of him. You didn't know. You'd hoped it was the former, but you couldn't really be sure. Still, despite now sitting alone - with the exception of Rose and Meeko, the awkwardness that you couldn't help but feel as you'd walked into the party earlier was slowly starting to fade. You let out a soft breath and let your body relax for what felt like the first time since you'd arrived. It was okay. Everything was going to be okay.