Back to You [An Endgame Continuation]

Don't Cry

"𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎?' 𝙷𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚖... 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚝."

§Ｄｏｎ'ｔ Ｃｒｙ§
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p.o.v: Peggy

Daniel dragged me into the middle of the crowded dance floor where couples of various heights and sizes were swaying, some at an arms length apart and others so close you could barely see the space between them.

"Why on Earth would you do such a thing?" I said at the volume of a whisper but the intensity of a scream as I held Daniel as far from me as possible.

Daniel looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, I forgot it was illegal to kiss my fiancé. Are you hearing yourself Peggy?" If it wasn't for his pathetic attempts to move to the song, I would've being standing stiff as a rod.

"Do you think you can just treat me like some trophy to kiss and show off?"

He had the audacity to smile as he shook his head. "Oh come on, I was doin you a favor."

"What favor was that?" He pulled me closer and I tried to fight against it, but he proved to be slightly stronger than I was. Slightly.

"Now he'll never bother you again!" He exclaimed. "Now that I've put him in his place."

"What?" I asked in agitation, my voice raised, and I looked around to make sure we weren't drawing attention.

Daniel talked like he was educating me. "That's what you gotta do with guys like that. The ones with the fame, the glory. Makes em' arrogant. They think they can get whatever—whoever they want." His expression was astonishingly genuine.

My face contorted. "Have you ever listened to word I've said about Steve? He was never any of those things."

"Well that was before we got engaged and he came barging back into everyone's life."

I looked away as I realized his subtext. "You mean my life," I suggested in a low octave.

He looked at me for a moment but didn't attempt to correct me because he knew that I had found his point. Folding his hands together on my back, he moved his head over my shoulder to where we no longer shared eye contact. "Look, just try to enjoy the music, okay? Act like you're my fiancée.. even if you have to fake it."

I knew he added those last words as a joke, but I didn't respond like they were one. Instead, my brows furrowed, and after listening to a few measures of the song, I found words coming out of my mouth in a soft vulnerable tone. "Well I don't know how long I'll be able to pretend."

His raspy laugh echoed in my ears as he took my response as a joke as well, swaying me back in forth like I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I tried focusing on the other couples; their gelled and curled hairstyles; their clothes that ranged from bright pops of color to dull hues of pigment. But every time we swayed in a circle, there would come a time where I could see Steve in my view, drifting to mingle with varying Commandos, shaking the hands of Howard's scaly scientist friends, and with increasing frequency: trips to the bar.