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It was late in the afternoon at the avengers compound, though it looked like it was much later. The sky was dark as it poured outside. The rain hit the ground as bullets, heavy and hard. Thunder boomed with the power of the gods and lightning flashed, a warning sign to stay inside. The grounds outside were washed out with puddles, the dirt and grass being drowned or ripped away.
It was a dreary day. And for y/n, it was perfect. Thunderstorms were so nice. They could lay inside all day, the only lighting coming from the dim yellow glow of the lamp. In y/n’s philosophy, thunderstorms were truly the best weather.
Unbeknownst to them however, the Maximoff twins had a jarringly different idea of what thunderstorms were. To the twins, thunderstorms were a throwback to that terrible day when instead of water, it rained bombs. That day where they cowered under the bed frame, practically waiting to die.
For the Maximoff twins, thunderstorms were the worst kind of weather.
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You padded out of your room with cold, sockless feet, going in search of a snack. You had been laying around a larger portion of the day. You were surprised that Steve didn’t insist that you train today.
Walking through the dark into the kitchen area, your mind insisted to you that something was off. Not paying any mind to it though, you flicked on the small light that rested below the overhanging cupboards. It was too small to properly light the whole kitchen, but thats what you wanted. Thunderstorms and low lighting were like two peas in a pod.
Thunderstorms and low lighting reminded you of your home. Before you had become a hero. Before you had discovered your powers.
They brought you back to a time when you sat on the couch on a hazy summer afternoon very much like this one, eating watermelon and watching Star Wars. It was a very fond memory of yours.
You opened the cupboard, trying to find something to eat. However, all there was was a box of cereal on the top shelf. Oh yeah, it had been your day to go on a grocery run. Well you weren’t going out now. It would have to wait until tomorrow.
You tried to reach up for the cereal box, but the top shelf was higher then even Steve could reach (thats an over exaggeration, he could reach it with only a little bit of stretching). Who would put the only food in the house so damn high?
And the missing piece in your mind slipped into place. Your team mate, Pietro Maximoff, was nowhere to be found. Whenever you came out for a snack he was always around somewhere. Sometimes waiting to deliver a smug pick up line. Or the other times he was just munching on a sugary snack (usually a bowl of cereal). Either way though, he could always be found around here.
His absence bothered you. You tried to remind yourself that hes just an egotistical team mate. But still, as you decided to get out everything BUT the cereal, you got out two bowls.
You opened a drawer and pulled out two spoons, and opened the fridge to grab the pathetically empty jug of milk. It should be noted that you DID NOT POUR THE MILK YET because people who pour milk before their cereal need to get a mental evaluation.
Its simple. You don’t pour your milk before the cereal because then the act of pouring the cereal splooshes the milk around and makes a mess.
Internally screaming to yourself as you dragged a stool to the cupboards, the last thing you needed was the cereal.
Climbing it recklessly, you grabbed the box and was shocked and disappointed for how empty it was.
When you got down and opened it, you felt even worse seeing as there was only enough for one bowl.
Now the obvious choice is to make a bowl for yourself and never telling that stuck up speedster that you ever considered making him cereal at all. Its not like you guys were friends, you only ever really trained together. Plus his snarky comments whenever you came to get something from the kitchen. Plus sometimes he went with on your shopping runs just to bother you.
He was a big headed stupid brain.
Or so you told yourself as you poured the bowl of cereal (the right way), grabbed it, and made your way to Pietros room.
Oh yes you despised him. (Totally 100%)
The feeling of wrongness only intensified as you drew closer to his room. It was silent besides the pitter patter of the rain outside. And the occasional ring of booming thunder.
Coming up to his door you suddenly found yourself hesitant. Something felt insanely wrong.
Giving the door three brisk knocks, you barely managed to find your voice, and even then it was softer than the tone you usually used with him. “Hey there Sonic, you weren’t at your post in the kitchen so I brought you the last of the cereal.”
You. Were. Pathetic.
All he ever did was fluster you with his stupid pick up lines, and his stupid super speed, and his stupid pretty face.
‘His stupid face’ you corrected yourself.
Besides you didnt really know that anything was wrong, you just had a feeling. Your instincts seriously sucked.
As you stood there with no reply you decided that he probably just fell asleep. Whatever, this was a stupid idea anyways.
But then you heard him, a lot less enthusiastic than usual, and a lot less energetic,”Come in”
Oh boy something was definitely wrong.
Pushing open the door, you found him sitting at the edge of his bed, his foot tapping silently on the floor. Was that all that he was doing?The only light was coming from the lamp next to his bed.
Trying not to break the silence you walked over to his bed and handed him the bowl without saying anything.
You wanted to say something. You really did. But soon you found yourself turning back to leave. Why couldn’t you say anything?
You heard him give you a small “Thank you” as you arrived back to the door. All you had to do was close it and you would be out of this very awkward, very weird situation.
Turning before you closed the door to just give him a small wave and an uncertain smile, thunder boomed so loud that the ground shook.
You saw Pietro flinch a bit at the sudden noise.
Something was wrong and you couldn’t bring yourself to leave him alone. Not because of pity, no you knew how good Pietro was at seemingly everything. He beat you at training more times than you can count, and he was far more fit (I guess that comes when your body is always going so fast). No, you didn’t do it out of pity. You did it because its easier to face the monsters under the bed with a friend.
“Hey,” He looked at you, his eyes appearing illuminated in the dull lighting. You uncomfortably stood there for a second, grasping for what else to say. “Rainy weather is the best movie weather.”
Ok? and where were you going with this?
“And its pretty boring to watch movies alone. And so- I was wondering if you’d like to watch Harry Potter with me? We could do it here, you wouldn’t have to move.” Oh god this was so awkward. The tension was spread across the room so thin that a pinprick could shatter it.
Pietro smiled at you, it had no energy, like the rest of him at the moment, but it was better than the blank stare. “You want to get in bed with me?”
You felt your face go red, “Wait no-“
He let out a soft laugh. “You’re cute when you’re flustered. I must warn you though, I’ve never seen or read Harry Potter.”
He scooted back on the bed, crossing his legs and setting the bowl of cereal in his lap. It was probably soggy by now. And the milk is probably warm. Pietro is practically a human heater.
He patted the spot next to him and looked up to you with a warm smile.
Lightning flashed and following it came another boom of thunder. His warm mood faded. He tried not to show it by looking out the window, but you noticed the way he tensed up.
“Do you think Wanda would want to join us?” You tried to remain casual as you quietly closed the door and made your way over to the bed. You wondered if Wanda was the same way with storms.
Pietro looked back at you, “She’s probably somewhere with that toaster.”
You climbed onto the bed, trying not to bounce it because if you did it would spill cereal all over the bed. And as funny as that would be, now was not the time. “You mean Vision?”
Pietro didn’t respond to that as you settled in next to him.
Instead he watched as you pulled up the first Harry Potter movie on your phone.
“Now I need to warn you, the movies are good, but not as good as the books.” You forced yourself to not get caught up on the way you guys were shoulder to shoulder. You may joke about how he’s a human heater but you weren’t wrong.
Thunder again. Pietro tensed up again. But he kept trying to play it casual, “Well I guess sometime you’ll need to read me the books then.” His voice was soft. Whether it was because of how close you were or the thunder, nobody will ever know.
“Don’t push it Sonic.”
“Isn’t there a movie for that?”
“We are not watching the Sonic movie.”
He smiled again. It was a genuine smile and you felt your insides melt a little. God he was so pretty.
Stupidhead.
You turned on the movie in attempt to take your focus off of the speedster next to you.
Oh boy did that plan fail. Every 5 second or so he would ask a new question. a few examples consist of, “How did that cat just turn into a lady?” and “Why is there marker on his forehead.” You genuinely could not tell if he was doing it on purpose.
When he wasn’t (and was) asking questions, you could hear him scooping the cereal out of the bowl. Even if it was warm and soggy. At least soggy cereal doesn’t crunch in your ear when someones chewing. That would have driven you insane.
Thunder occasionally boomed and each time you felt Pietro tense up. The movie might have helped a little, but not all the way.
About 1/4 of the way in, when the speedster had set his empty bowl aside, you felt him tense again. You had an idea but you weren’t sure if it was obvious or not.
“Jeez, your room is freezing.” You whispered to him.
Quirrel ran into the great hall screaming “trOoOoOLL in the DUNgeON.”
Pietro looked over at you, “Its not that cold.” he whispered back.
“Well not everyone is a human heater. Here, feel how cold my hands are dingus.” Without waiting for him to react you shoved your hand into his. Oh god if he made a comment about how you were practically holding hands, you might burst into flames from embarrassment.
Before he could say anything, thunder rang throughout the room. Pietro squeezed your hand. Good. You gave his hand a little squeeze in return.
Pietro looked up from the movie on your phone to you, “well maybe i should warm your hands for a bit.” And he didn’t let go.
You two continued the rest of the movie like that, him bombarding you with questions and you being a huge nerd and going into detail about the answers. The storm raged on and you two kept holding hands.
Okay maybe he was your friend.
‘Maybe hes more’ the little voice in your head whispered. You told the voice to shut up.
When the movie got over, it was late and you were ready to call it a night. You loosened your grip on Pietros hand and tried to let go, but he held on tighter.
“Just stay here tonight.” He looked just as tired as you felt. Though, you had never seen him looking this worn out. You supposed the mental strain of the thunderstorm must be exhausting, even for him.
You tried to resist, that stubborn part in the back of your brain giving out one final stand, “Ah there you go again, trying to get me into bed with you.”
Pietro looked at you, “I swear its not like that.” He lied down, so that he was laying on his back. He tugged lightly at you arm, “Besides you are already here.”
You sighed and gave him a soft smile. “If you insist you overcharged battery.”
You lied down next to him, and when he hesitantly tried to put his arms around you, you let him. In fact, you pulled him close too. And you two just held each other.
“I don’t like these storms” Pietro whispered to you.
It hurt to hear him admit it, “I know. And I wish i could understand how it must feel.”
He went on as if you hadn’t said anything, “When I hear the thunder, I am back under that bed in the rubble.”
You didn’t say anything, and he kept whispering.
“And when I sleep, I dream of losing Wanda too.”
He didn’t go on after that. You two lay in silence. You pondered what he had said.
And after a long while, when you didn’t even know if he was awake, you whispered to him “I wish I could make it stop for you.” so softly that only he could hear.
He didn’t say anything, he just pulled you closer and you both fell asleep.
————————
The next afternoon, the day was clear, and the setting sun shone through the window and turned your room golden.
That morning you had gotten up earlier than Pietro, and had gone shopping. You felt a little guilty leaving him, but there was literally no food. The bowl of cereal Pietro had eaten last night took the last of the milk and the cereal.
When you saw there was nothing, it was not an exaggeration.
By the time you got back, Steve and Nat had put you guys back on your training schedule, and you were training with Nat. So you hadn’t seen Pietro all day.
Will he go back to being a smug faced bastard? Will it be awkward?
You had to go talk to him. Your nagging brain would never let you live it down if you didn’t.
With aching muscles you rolled out of bed. Like literally rolled. Like fell off the bed and flopped on the floor like a dead fish type rolled. Like you were now tangled in the blankets on the cold floor type rolled.
You should request that Stark gives you a nice rug, or full blown out gets your room carpet. Your bedroom floor was freezing.
With a groan you sat up, still tangled in your bedding. But not talking to him is so much easier.
Yet your stupid brain insisted and you found yourself getting to your feet and ‘cha cha real smooth’ing your way out of your sheets.
The sheets dramatically flopped back onto the cold, unforgiving floor. This is going to go terribly.
Begrudgingly dragging yourself out of your room, you saw Wanda and Vision in the kitchen. Wanda was cooking, and Vision was just watching and chatting with her.
“Y/n, I hear you watched a movie last night and didn’t think to invite me” Wanda turned to you, with an amused look on her face.
You smiled at her, “Well I asked speedy if I should go and get you and he said,” You quickly tried to do your best impression of him, “She’s probably somewhere with that toaster.” You said in a terrible accent. Going back to your normal voice you continued,”So I just assumed it was whatever.”
She smiled at you. Vision looked between the two of you with a baffled expression.
“A toaster?”
You and Wanda burst out laughing.
“He knows what a toaster looks like-“ Vision started insisting he was not a toaster, and you waved to Wanda as you continued on your quest.
Wanda went back to cooking as Vision started listing all the differences between him and a toaster.
As you came upon Pietro’s door, your light mood abandoned you. Why was communication with him so difficult? You were fine with everyone else. He’s the only one who you feel awkward around.
Raising your hand to knock, you found the door opening before you.
Pietro was sitting criss cross on the bed, staring at you with that stupid smug expression.
At least he’s back to normal.
“Ah, you couldn’t resist my charm I see.” God he was almost too normal. Last night seemingly didn’t exist to him.
You let out a deep sigh and wandered over to the bed, “Well its rude to start a movie marathon with someone and finish it without them.”
His eyes sparkled, “So you couldn’t resist my charm?”
You looked over at him and you couldnt help but smile, and laugh a little. “Fine, if thats what you want to believe.”
“Now c’mon, do you want to watch the second movie or not?”
“Is it the best?”
“The best one is after the second”
“What makes it the best?”
“Piet we haven’t even started the movie yet.”
“I know, I just like hearing your voice.”
You froze, looked up from where you were navigating to your movie, and looked at Pietro. He gave you his stupid smug grin again.
Two thoughts crossed your mind. The first was that this boy would be the death of you.The second was that you could fall in love with that smile.
(Plot twist, you did)