my favorite part • chris evans (bwwm)

• thirty seven •

"Chris?"

At the sound of his name, Chris spun around in his barstool to find none other than Jenny Slate, his ex girlfriend, standing behind him. Because her voice was so distinguishable, he knew it was her instantly but he still couldn't hide his surprised expression.

He hopped off the stool he previously sat on to engulf her in a bear hug. It had been over 5 months since the exes saw one another but they had exchanged a few texts a couple months prior. Although both times they broke up didn't exactly end positively, Chris still had nothing but great things to say about her.  "Jenny! It's nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see you too!" She gushed. "How are you? How's everything going?"

"Ehh..." Chris shrugged before raising his empty shot glass. He then sat back on his barstool, gesturing for Jenny to take the empty place next to him. "Not great. I'm having a hard time."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. What's going on?"

"I'd rather talk about what's going on with you."

"Nothing new. Just working and trying to focus more on myself." Jenny answered plainly. "I'm in Boston for a few days visiting some friends and then it's back to New York."

"Can I have another beer please?" Chris asked the bartender kindly as she scooped up his 3 empty shot glasses. "Thank you."

"Why are you drinking at-" She cut herself to check the time on her phone. "At 2 in the afternoon?"

"Why are you at a bar at 2 in the afternoon?"

"Sports bar." She corrected. "You know they actually sell FOOD here, right? Anywho, I'm meeting someone."

"Oh like a date?"

"No... He's just a friend."

"Thank you." Chris smiled at the bartender who slid another mug of beer his way. "Are you seeing anybody, Jenny?"

"I'm not. Are you?"

"Not anymore."

"But you were seeing someone recently?" She assumed based on the tone of his answer.

"Yeah. She erm- broke up with me not even a week ago so it's still a little raw." He admitted. "I was blindsided."

"I'm so sorry. I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better but what I do know is that getting drunk in the middle of the day isn't going to help." 

"I'm not drunk."

"I watched you take 3 shots of vodka before I even came over here." Jenny rolled her eyes. "You're drunk."

"Go to dinner with me tomorrow night."

"I don't think that's a very good idea." She spoke while placing her hand on top of his. "You're clearly torn up about your girlfriend and the alcohol is speaking for you right now. I'd hate for you to make a drunk mistake and sabotage a possible reconciliation."

"God, why does everyone I love break up with me?" He sighed. "You... Phoenix..."

"You broke up with me." Jenny reminded. "Well you did the first time."

"Exactly. The second time was all you." Chris stated. "Do you ever think about how much easier life would've been if we'd be able to work it out? You're open to the idea of getting married again, even after your divorce, you want children, you're from Massachusetts, AND you're in my age bracket."

"You don't know how hard it is to be Captain America's girlfriend." She responded. "Do you even realize how damn famous you are?! You going to a restaurant is way different than me going to a restaurant. I don't know, you're at a way different speed than me and in order to feel normal again, I had to not be dating Chris Evans."

"Even after a year, that doesn't get easier to hear."

"I know you're hurting and seeing you like this is breaking my heart." Jenny frowned. "You know I will forever have a place for you in my heart and sure, I would be open to possibly working things out and giving it another try eventually but not under these circumstances. You're in love with someone else."

"I know." Chris mumbled before pushing his beer away from him. He decided in that moment to stop moping and let Phoenix come to him when she as ready. He had left Phoenix a couple of voice messages within the past couple of days just to see how she was doing and got no response whatsoever.

Deep inside, Chris always figured the whole marriage and kids thing would work itself out with time; and the last thing he expected was for Phoenix to just completely give up, which is why he felt so blindsided. Even though they didn't date for very long, Chris had spent a lot of time around her and believed he knew her pretty well; so much so that he didn't argue with his gut feeling telling him that she was the one for him, his soulmate, his life partner.

"What are you going to do?" Jenny questioned. "Get drunk everyday instead of trying to get her back?"

"I don't know."

On one hand, he wanted to respect her wishes and give her all the space she needed but on the other hand, he wanted to fight for her. She used his wanting to get married eventually as a reason to end the relationship when it was really her own fear clouding her judgement. He was in such a bind that he didn't know which path to take. All he knew was that Phoenix was someone he needed in his life, no matter what the cost.

"When's the next time you're going to see her?"

"Next week. At work." Chris answered. He knew Phoenix was dreading even the thought of bumping into him on set but he wanted at the very least to give her a hug and find out how she's been doing. She couldn't avoid him forever.

"You work together? That's tricky." Jenny said. "Wait what'd you say her name was again?"

"Phoenix."

"That name sounds familiar but I just can't put my finger on why." She revealed. "Do you have any pictures or did you delete them all?"

"I haven't deleted anything." Chris spoke as he removed his iPhone from his back pocket. "I'd never delete anything of hers."

"Aren't you glad I turned you down for a date now?" She teased.

"I didn't technically ask you on a date. I just asked you to come to dinner with me." He mumbled under his breath before opening his camera roll. The very first picture that came up was that of Phoenix and Dodger, causing Chris to smile. He then turned the phone to Jenny so she could see.

"She's gorgeous! A lot more your speed than I was." Jenny commented. "I recognize her from Tom Holland's social media pages! I assumed they were together."

"I hear that a lot." Chris shrugged. "They're very close friends. He's actually the reason Phoenix and I got together in the first place."

"Hm that's interesting, considering."

"Considering what?"

"It's not really my place to say." Jenny coughed. "I thought you already knew. Sorry I said anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know Chris Pratt and I go back all the way to the Parks and Rec days..." She began. "A little while ago he called me for relationship advice but not for him, for someone else. For Tom."

"Okay? And?"

"Long story short, Tom was conflicted because he wasn't sure if he was in love with Phoenix or not." She summarized. "I don't want to give too many details because it sounded like a very intimate conversation but from what Pratt told me, Tom is definitely in love with her."

"I know." Chris nodded. "But I'm in love with her too and I'm not sharing."

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