𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇 | 𝐀. 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑 [𝟐]

➛⠀𝟮𝟭 | 𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦

You looked back at where Molly had gone before firmly nodding. "I-I'll go up to my room..." You whispered before weakly walking up the stairs and missing Alex, who was about to follow you. He came to a halt and sighed.

You walked into your room and slumped against the door, tears streaming down your cheeks. You shakily brought your hands in front of you as your breathing became more rapid. "She's right."

You felt your chest cave in, so you burst into tears and clutched your hair while kneeling in pain. Molly's words rang in your head.

"You didn't save him!"

"You stood there and watched him get crushed!"

Even though you knew she was referring to Topher, his condition was strikingly similar to Pietro's. Wanda's screaming could be heard as if she were right next to you, and an illusion of the collapsed building where Pietro died could be seen. When your older adoptive brother passed away, you were roughly the same age as Molly. At the time, you were only 14 years old.

"I just stood there and watched him get crushed..." You repeated Molly's words as you stared at the floor, wide-eyed, tears cascading down your cheeks. 'Oh, God... what if Wanda ever see sees me again? Will she blame me? It's my fault. My fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'

"Pietro!" You heard Wanda screaming for her twin brother's name when she saw how the building crushed him.

You screamed and tossed a chair across the room, attempting to silence the noises in your head. You leaped to your feet and dashed to the window, which you opened wide enough to allow yourself to breathe. You felt suffocated and hopeless, and you had no idea what to do. You screamed loudly, hoping that your companions would not hear you.

You covered your ears and lightly punched your head to try to silence Wanda's screams when they became too loud in your head. As you turned to look around, you saw a vision of Pietro, who was bloody, pale, and lifeless. "I wish you never became my sister..." You heard his haunting voice. You turned your head to the side, and a hallucination of Wanda appeared, her eyes blazing with rage. "Why didn't you help my brother? How could you!"

As you continued to cry, you wrapped your arms around yourself. Suddenly, you heard rushed footsteps nearby and your eyes blazed red as you used your powers to block the door. You soon heard the rattling of your doorknob. "(Y/n)?" Outside, you could hear Alex's worried voice. "Hey, it's Alex. I heard noises. Are you okay?"

Alex knew you weren't. Alex noticed your pained expression when Molly delivered her words to you. All he needed was to hear your voice. You, on the other hand, did not respond to his disappointment and continued to cry. You cursed silently when you realized that the walls of this mansion weren't soundproof.

"(Y/n), come on..." Alex leaned his head to your door, silently pleading for you to open it. "I'm worried. Open the door, please? It's just me."

You felt Alex shouldn't see you as a mess right now, so you used your powers to construct an illusion of yourself that appeared to be in good shape. You've also created an illusion of your bedroom to make it appear neat because it was a mess, implying that you were also hiding. You used your other powers to open the door and you saw Alex seeing your convincible illusion of yourself. "(Y/n)..." He breathed.

"Hey." Your illusion greeted him back with a warm smile. "If you heard screamings, I'm sorry." You heard your sweet voice in your illusion. "I just tripped something in my room."

Alex wasn't convinced because everyone had heard your agonized scream. It was too painful to hear. You prayed, however, that Alex would buy your illusion of being real. "Oh, okay..." You heard Alex replied. "Just tell me if you need something okay? You know we're here for you. Molly was just upset earlier, I'm sure she doesn't mean the words she said to you."

Your illusion nodded. "I know." You shut the door and sat there waiting for Alex to leave. You cast the illusion off and saw yourself in the mirror. You glared at your reflection before sighing heavily. You sat down on the ground and leaned your back against your bed, rolling up your sleeves to examine the marks on your arms. They were old and scarcely visible, yet it was all too tempting to do it again at times.

You pulled your sleeves down and instead, cast an illusion of a sitcom, just like you used to do before. You cast a soundproofing spell and snatched a pillow from your bed, gripping it closely as you watched the characters interact in front of you.

Alex walked with Chase around the halls as they headed near the stairs. "Did you hear someone screaming a while ago?" Chase asked. "It startled me and Gert."

Alex slowly nodded. "Yeah. She's okay... I hope." He replied as he glanced at your door. Chase understood what he meant and he changed the subject when he saw Alex holding a phone. "Is that a new phone?"

Alex shook his head. "No, it's Merlin." He answered. "It's like an early version of a visual sequencer." When they spotted Nico and Karolina's chamber shining from Karolina's powers, the two young men came to a halt. Alex and Chase overheard them both giggling.

Chase coughed awkwardly while Alex scrunched his face. "Looks like they're having a good time." He commented.

Alex hesitated. "Yeah... that's, uh... that's good for them." Alex cleared his throat and headed down the stairs with his friend as he and Chase exchanged glances. "Love seems to be in the air tonight, which is... weird, considering everything. Guess it's just one of those days."

"To be fair, haven't they all been those kinds of days since we ran?" Chase asked.

Alex sighed. "I don't know. I think there was one Thursday in there that was pretty normal."

"I've forgotten what 'normal' is."

As he came to a complete halt, Alex cast a glance at Chase. "Hey, is everything all right with you and Gert?" He asked curiously.

Chase let out a sigh as he came to a complete stop. "Yeah, she doesn't seem any more annoyed with me than usual, so that's good." He thought for a moment. "Or else it's bad, 'cause it means she's stopped caring. Maybe she's just so used to my level of annoyance that it doesn't register anymore and she kind of just tunes me out." He ranted.

Alex chuckled as he stopped Chase. "Or... or... maybe you're in a relationship." He smirked.

Chase sighed again, but this time with a smile on his face. "Yeah, probably that." The two young men continued to walk toward Alex's room and Chase thought about asking his friend. "Do you ever wish you were in one? With Nico, or the girl you met in Compton?"

Chase leaned against the wall as Alex approached his computer as they both arrived at Alex's spot. "Or maybe... there's another girl? And her name's (Y/n)?"

Alex smothered a laugh, his cheeks warming up slightly, and he was thankful that his room was dark enough that Chase wouldn't see him. "Mm, nah." He answered as he patted his computer. "This is my girlfriend now. Let me tell ya, I am a lucky man. I mean she is beautiful and smart."

Chase chuckled while Alex nodded. "Yes, I know I'm talking about a computer."

Chase shook his head as he crossed his arms. "Nah, I'm pretty sure you're talking about (Y/n) too." He said. "But, yeah, I get it. Kind of how I felt about my first lacrosse stick. I spent hours just taping the shaft. I even strung the pocket myself."

Alex flashed him a glance, which Chase caught. "Stringing the pocket is very personal." He explained.

Alex cleared his throat. "Well, not to take anything away from your..." He hesitated to say the word. "...taped shaft, but my lady here is gonna help me take down that construction site once and for all."

"By your lady you mean (Y/n) or the computer?"

"The computer, Chase." Alex groaned. "I meant the computer."

Chase snickered. "Sure, sure." He tapped Alex's desk before walking away. "I'm gonna go check on the car. You do what you have to do."

Alex glanced at his computer as Chase walked away to the garage, biting his inner cheek as he remembered Chase's words. "Do what I have to do..." He looked up in your room and shakily exhaled.

-•-°-•-°-☆

Give (Y/n) a break.