till forever falls apart

featuring fanny the akita

lol almost forgot

"It's a reminder."

Anya sucks in through gritted teeth and continues walking.

She didn't mean to eavesdrop - she's sure that most of the time people never do - but she couldn't help it. She was going to get a snack and just heard Natasha and Wanda talking.

The overthinking part of her brain is horrified. She's so scared that Wanda and Natasha are only helping her because it's the right thing to do and she's even more scared that when she's eighteen, she'll be tossed out and have nothing to come back home to.

She knows it's irrational. She understands that she's anxious and she has to reel it in, but something about the progression would be so easy. And she hates it.

"Is there any way you could get them back?"

Anya shakes off that next thought - the one telling her that if they can get the boys back, they're not going to need her anymore. It's not true. She knows that they aren't cruel.

But she can't help but fear it in the back of her head, and she decides when the voice is a little too loud later that afternoon to ask if she can go visit Kate and Yelena.

She knows that Yelena's been in a rough mood recently, but she can't sit around the house anymore, she's sure it's killing her.

Wanda and Natasha let her go (they all know that she's more than capable of protecting herself) and she makes sure to keep her phone on her as she heads on to the hospital.

It's not too far away, and it placates her for the time being. Something about walking has always been a good way to clear her head. It allows her the time to not spin out mentally and for her to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other and in front of the other and in front of the other.

She normally walks with her earbuds in, even if there's nothing coming out of them. Something she's learned since moving to the city is that no one's going to bother you if you look busy. It's gotten her out of a lot of awkward situations.

Once she gets to the hospital, she sees Kate sitting on one of the chairs, tapping her foot.

"Hey," Kate grins when she sees her, and Anya can see the exhaustion clearly over her face. She quickly hugs Anya (and Anya loves the way that Kate hugs her, it's always all big-sister protective and nice). She wonders where Kate learned that being that she's an only child.

"Hi," Anya takes her earbuds out and stuffs them in their case that's in her coat pocket, "How's Yelena?"

"She's tired," Kate says, "but she's happy you're coming to visit. And happier that she's getting out tomorrow barring any craziness."

Anya nods, "I miss her."

"I know," Kate hums, "don't worry, though, once she's settled at home you're not going to have to go through security every time you come here."

Anya nods again and they go to the visitors desk, getting Anya a nametag and sending them on up to the oncology floor.

The floor smells odd - as most hospitals do - but it's not a gross smell. One of the nurses greets Kate and she greets them back, keeping Anya within a foot of her at all times.

They make it to Yelena's room and Anya can immediately hear the TV on. It's playing an episode of Modern Family, a show that Anya found recently and found herself watching when she couldn't sleep.

"Hey!" Yelena looks tired as well, but she's still lively, blonde hair falling over her shoulders with a couple tiny braids in it and in a big hoodie that probably belongs to Kate, "How was the walk?"