a simple encounter

i love you, darling

"I feel like I left something that could have been..." Steve replies, in a saddened tone

"It's okay. In another lifetime." I reply, placing my hand on his shoulder to comfort him

He smiles at me and we continue to fly in silence. We reach Scotland soon after. Taking the quin-jet was significantly faster than a regular airline. Steve landed in a close-by field and we began walking into the city of Edinburgh. Memories began to fill my mind as we approached the city. I began to stumble as we walked through the city, this city was where Vision and I fell in love. Edinburgh is a big city, yet when Vision wasn't by my side, it felt almost as if it was empty. Steve looked over at me to check on me every now and then, it was good to have someone by my side to support me. We approached the building where Vision and I lived and my eyes began to water. Tears softly flowing down my cheeks. I wiped them away and entered the building with my head held high. I stopped in my tracks when my eyes met with the sweet older lady behind the desk. She looked at me in relief.

"Dear, I've been so worried. Where did you go?" she asks, coming out from behind the desk

I look at the ground in sadness as a response. She immediately notices my pain and brings me in for a tight hug. When we separate, she searches my eyes for an answer to all the questions she had.

"Vision has passed away," I whisper

She covers her mouth followed by a gasp. Her eyes fade from curiosity to sympathy.

"What happened?" she asks

"It's quite a lot to explain. I'm just here to gather our things. I've decided to stay with some friends for a while," I reply

She places a hand on my shoulder and shoots me a smile of comfort.

"Of course dear. You always have my number if you ever need me," she states

I smile at her and she soon steps out of the way, allowing Steve and I to go upstairs. Steve follows close behind as I guide him to Vision and I's front door. I hesitantly unlock it and allow the door to open wide. My eyes quickly scan the room and tears fill my eyes again. The room was cold, dark, sorrowful. Almost as if the atmosphere had changed immediately when Vision died. He was the happiness and light that filled this room entirely. Steve places a hand on my shoulder as he passes and opens the curtains, revealing the light that shined brightly through the window. That same window that Vision and I stood at, in our last moments here together. I slowly shuffle over to Visions bedside table. I open the drawer, revealing the beautiful hard cover book that he had gifted me before we arrived here. It was a dark green colour with gold detailing around the edges, it truly was a beautiful book. I picked it up and held it close to my chest as I sat on the bed. Steve soon spoke up, pulling me from my melancholy trance.

"Shall we get started?" he asks

I place the book down on the bed beside me and stand up to help Steve. He grabs two suitcases and a duffle bag from the closet. We began to go through things and pack them into the luggage. I opened Vision's dresser to reveal an array of sweaters and shirts that belonged to him. I ran my hand across the fabrics, taking in each one of them. I began to empty the drawer, packing all of the clothes into a bag. Steve and I finished soon after, we just had a few more picture frames to pack and we were good to go. Steve delicately wrapped the picture frames in a few t-shirts and packed them in the suitcase. We headed towards the door and Steve opened it, allowing me to go first. Before I left, I turned around to take one last look at the room. All these moments rushed over me, moments filled with Vision and I's love. Moments that I never would want to forget. Before leaving I placed the duffle bag back on the ground and walked towards the bed. I picked up the book that I left there when we arrived and headed bag towards the door, picking the duffle bag back up on my way.

"You dropped something," Steve states

I turn around and look at the ground where a single piece of paper laid. It was folded into a square. I bent down to pick it up and we headed out the door. Ingrid and I said our goodbyes before I left. She hugged me tight and said nothing but words of encouragement, letting me know how strong I was. Steve and I headed back to the quin-jet and placed all the bags down. I curled back up into the chair that I sat in before, while Steve took his original seat, flying us home. As we flew, I reached into my pocket grabbing the piece of paper that was on the floor of Vision and I's home. I unfolded it only to have my heart break as I realized what I was looking at. It was a property deed. There was a piece of land here in Edinburgh that was shown on the paper. On the bottom of the sheet, it stated that the land was under Vision and I's name. He bought us a home. The picture of the property had a heart written in red marker and in the heart was a note from Vision.

To grow old in. -V

Tears streamed down my cheek as I silently sat, my heartbreaking the more and more I thought about it. I flipped the page over and in beautiful neat handwriting was a note.

My dearest,

I spent many days with my nose in books, trying to find that emotion that everyone was so crazy about. Love. Now it wasn't those words on the pages I read that helped me understand love, it was you. I began to understand love when I would see you smile. Your smile made me feel something that I had never felt before. You are the love I was searching for. As days went on I found myself entangled within you. I found myself needing you so I could feel complete. You are my always and forever. There aren't enough words in the English language that could explain how completely and utterly in love I am with you and everything you do. It is your very intelligence that fascinates me every day, but it is your kindness that I adore. You, my love, make me feel human. You and I will have our always and forever, we will one day wed and I will have the privilege to call you my wife. As of now, let's start our own little forever with our first home to call our very own. With you, I will leave you with my favourite sonnet, as it reminds me of you.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou lowest; Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

I love you, darling. I can't wait to have this life with you. -V

Tears shred down my cheeks and I begin to sob uncontrollably. Steve sets the quin-jet to autopilot and gets up from his seat in q rush. He knees before me as I sob with my head in my hands. He takes the letter from my hands and places it delicately on the seat beside me. He puts his hands on either side of my face and I look up at him, eyes red with tears covering my cheeks

"What's wrong? What happened?" Steve asks in worry

"He didn't want to die! We were supposed to grow old together. Now he's gone, He's gone and I can't get him back. What am I supposed to do Steve?"I cry

"Come here, let it out," he says, pulling me into his shoulder.

I sob to a point where my head begins to hurt and my vision begins to go blurry. Steve holds me close, making sure I was comfortable. After a while of Steve comforting me as I cried, we landed.