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It’s been two years, six months and five days since he came home to find her standing in the living room, their living room, her face pale, her blue eyes were red and watery. His gaze dropped from her face to her feet – two suitcases and a duffel bag. Her suitcases. Her duffel bag. His eyes searched her face, for some sort of confirmation, for an explanation. Even though he knew it was a long time coming. Even though he knew, he was the reason why.
It’s been two years, six months and two days since she handed in her resignation letter and immediately took a flight to Washington. Her desk normally cluttered with colourful magnets, key chains and decorative items now stood empty and bare. He only knew of her resignation when Pepper asked him to explain, but he couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t answer her because he knew, he was the reason why.
It’s been two years and six months since he read the letter she gave him the day she left their home with her suitcases and her duffle bag. He hated that the letter was handwritten, when he knew she hated writing and preferred typing because “it’s faster and has auto-correct functionalities so there’s minimal probability of typos”. He hated that she still left a part of her in that letter. That he can see the dried droplets of tears marking the letter. Her tears. And he was the reason why she cried.
“It’s been two years.” That’s what Tony and Clint keep on telling him when he spends his Saturday nights at home instead of going out on dates, dates they try to set him up with. He doesn’t know how to explain that every girl he talks to, every girl he meets, they’re not her. They cannot compare to her. They cannot replace her. There is just no way to replace her heart.
It’s been two years, six months and four days since Jane told him she had changed her phone number when she left him.
It’s been two hours of him staring at her contact photo on his phone. He needed to try. He needed … something. His thumb slowly reached for the call icon next to her number and he closed his eyes as he brought the phone to his ear. His heart sped up, his eyes popped open
“Steve?”
“Darcy!”