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"𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘!"
Grace and Steve glanced up from their different activities on the couch and looked at Adelaide who came into the apartment in a huff.
"Who is?" Steve asked.
"Pietro Maximoff," Adelaide replied, with a hint of disgust. Ever since Sokovia had been destroyed, Adelaide had been tasked with helping Pietro adjust to the life of being a hero — the same way that Steve was trying to help Wanda. Unfortunately, things seemed to be going better for Steve than it was for Adelaide.
Grace sighed and closed her book. "What's going on now?" she asked as Adelaide lay down on the ground in frustration.
"He won't leave me alone!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air making Steve and Grace chuckle at her. "Stop laughing at me!"
Grace pressed her lips together. "Well, I'm sorry but it's kinda funny seeing you so annoyed by him."
"Just because Steve made me help him learn how to be a good person doesn't mean that he has to keep following me around like a lost puppy," Adelaide griped, glaring slightly at Steve. "This is all your fault."
He shrugged and turned back to the newspaper he had been reading. Grace let out a breath and leaned forward on her elbows. "You know, there might be a reason why he keeps following you," she said.
"And what's that?" Adelaide replied with a frown. "Because he likes to annoy me? Because he likes to see me get wound up by the very presence of him? Because he likes—"
"You," Grace interrupted and Adelaide looked at her. "He likes you, Addy. He teases you because he knows he can. And he knows that, deep down, you haven't done anything to stop him."
"Because he runs faster than a normal person!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in denial. "No, you're wrong, Gracie, he does not like me."
Grace sighed and leaned back on the couch. "Let me ask you something, Addy," she said. "You're a girl who is very capable of hurting someone else. Especially when that person annoys you. And yet... Pietro still stands. Why?"
"Well, because—he—I—" Adelaide groaned. "Now you have me thinking about it!" she exclaimed, looking at Grace. "Why? Why would you do this to me?"
"Because seventy-two years ago, I had a friend who kept bothering me until I admitted my feelings for the man sitting next to me," Grace said, smiling softly at Steve. "Because the longer you deny it, the more it hurts. It's not a bad thing, Addy."
"But... it's Pietro Maximoff," Adelaide replied, crossing her arms with a pout. "Of everyone, it had to be him." She stood up and let out a breath. "Thanks a lot, Gracie. Now it's all I'm gonna be thinking about!"
Grace chuckled at the blonde as she left the apartment. Steve glanced at her. "You just like to tease her, don't you?"
"It's my job," she replied with a shrug. "So this is your official warning that our kids are going to be incredibly annoyed by me."
