The Stranger / Chris Evans x OC

Chapter 74: Complicated

AMELIA

I blush a little at Chris' blunt confession, smiling softly at him before turning back to my brother. 

"So," I say as I look at him, "Now that that's been cleared up... You got any more questions?" 

Will looks back at me, his expression still a little dumbfounded as he says, "I.. I mean, yeah, obviously. A ton of questions, like, how? When?" 

I take a sip of my coffee before answering, "The how is kind of complicated. The when is about a month before I went to Atlanta." 

He furrows his brows, looking between Chris and I, "So, before you actually went there? How the fuck did that happen?" 

Chris glances at me, an apologetic look on his face before he says, "Well, I uhm.. I messaged her on instagram. But she didn't really know it was me, so technically we've known each other for a few months but she didn't actually know that we knew each other until last month."

Will frowns, ".. What?" He looks at me, "I don't understand." 

"It's complicated," I say, smiling at Chris before looking back at him, "The point is that we're dating now." 

Will nods, "Right, yeah, I guess that's the most important point... And who else knows about this?"

"Barely anyone," I quickly reply, "Taylor, Pierre and now.. You." 

"Were you planning on telling me?" 

"I mean, yes, of course," I say, glancing quickly at Chris before looking back at him, "But like I said, it's a little complicated. I didn't really know how to go about it. And we've been keeping it under wraps so far." 

"Why?" Will says with a frown before looking at Chris, "Do you want to keep her secret?" 

"No!" Chris quickly says, his eyes widening slightly, "No, not at all. It's not like that, it's just-"

"It's his fans," i interrupt, making Will look back at me, "His fans are intense. Very intense. So we wanted to wait, because once it's out there, it could change a lot for us. Not just for him, but for me, too." 

"Oh.." Will says, slumping back into the couch a little, "That doesn't sound good.." 

"It's a challenge," I reply, "We're trying to navigate this whole situation the best we can. And we were also just trying to figure out what was really happening between us, while I was in Atlanta." 

There's silence for a moment and I glance over at Chris, reciprocating the small smile he sends me. He takes sip of his coffee, waiting for Will to properly process the information. 

Then Will frowns, "Wait, so if I wasn't supposed to know yet, why are you here right now?" 

Chris puts his cup back on the table as he mumbles, "I, uhm.. I came to surprise her. I missed her.." 

He trails off as he looks back at me and I smile softly before I get up and walk over to him. I put my hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him as I stand next to him, and he reaches his hand up to take mine. Then I turn to my brother. 

"Listen, Will, I'm going to need you to not tell anyone, okay? Especially mom and dad. I want to do it myself, and I want them to meet Chris, but I need it to be under the right circumstances. And if it gets out the media will pick it up and it'll be a whole mess. I want to do this right." 

"Okay," Will says, nodding slowly, "Yeah, of course. I'll keep your secret."

"Thank you," I say, smiling at him before I look at Chris, "And thank you for coming to visit. I've missed you." 

✦✧✦✧

Will stays for dinner, because that was always the plan, and I didn't feel like I could throw him out of my apartment just because Chris showed up unexpectedly. 

Cooking and eating was fine, Will got more relaxed the longer he was around Chris. 

But unfortunately my brother's presence meant that despite Chris having been here for the past almost 3 hours, I still hadn't kissed him. 

It's not like I didn't want to - my entire body was screaming for me to get closer - but my brother kept hovering around us and I just felt sort of.. weird. 

We're finishing up dinner when Will turns to me and says, "I guess this means you won't be coming tomorrow, then?" 

I glance quickly at Chris, who furrows his brows at me, before looking back at my brother, "No, I guess not. I'm sorry Will, tell her I'll make it up to her soon." 

"What's tomorrow?" Chris asks, making both Will and I look at him. 

"It's my niece's birthday," I say as I take a sip of my water, "She's turning four." 

"Yeah," Will says with a small smile, "Her actual birthday was two weeks ago but we moved the party to this weekend because she didn't want to have it without her Auntie Ames." 

I sigh inwardly as soon as he says it. 

God damn you Will. 

I don't even have to look at Chris to know how he's going to react. 

"What?" Chris responds, frowning at Will before turning to me, "You're not going to go?" 

I shrug slightly as I look at him, "I mean, no. Not now that you're here. I can't let you stay home alone all day when you came all this way to see me. And besides, I want to spend time with you." 

I take another sip of water as I try to play it off, not wanting him to feel guilty that I now need to miss the party.  

"Why can't I come?" 

I practically choke on my water as my eyes widen, looking at him in shock. 

I quickly swallow it down before hesitantly asking, "You... You want to come?" 

He shrugs as he casually says, "Sure, I'd love to. I've told you before that I want to meet your family, a birthday would be the perfect time." 

I quickly look over at Will, whose expression is equally as surprised as my own when he looks between Chris and I. 

"I mean.. You could, if you want to. We have space," Will says, rather hesitantly, glancing at me. 

Chris turns to me as well, and they're both just looking at me while they wait for my response. I give a short nod as I look at Chris, "Okay, yeah. We can go, as long as you're really sure about meeting my family.." 

"Great!" Chris quickly says, grinning at me, "And don't worry, I can't wait to meet everyone." 

I groan as I put my head in my hands, "Oh god, mom is going to be a total fucking nightmare!" 

I hear Will chuckle as I keep my face hidden and it makes me want to smack him over the head. 

But when he says his next words, I actually almost do it. 

"I don't think mom is the one you should be worried about. Dad is going to rip this guy a new one." 

✦✧✦✧

Liked this chapter? Please remember to vote and comment! ♡