The Girl Next Door (A Wanda Maximoff Fanfic)

10

Of course, she wouldn't remember you.

What did you expect?

The moment the doctor announced that visits were finally allowed the day after she woke up, you all went by pairs so Wanda wouldn't get overwhelmed. And when you went inside with Pietro, bringing oranges in your hands for her, she only looked at you like you were a complete stranger.

"Are you Pietro's girlfriend?" Wanda slowly teased, a smirk on her face as she darted her eyes between you and her brother.

Her brother's face turned red as he immediately shook his head and denied. You, however, got hurt. You knew this would happen. There was no way her spirit's memory would automatically synched into her actual body.

It was okay, right?

At least, Wanda was now alive and well. And you'd never trade it for anything else. Even for her to remember you.

When Pietro was about to share his first encounter with you, and about how you interacted with the brunette's ghost, you hurriedly chided in, forcing a pained smile on your face.

"Actually, I'm your new neighbor," you introduced yourself with a small awkward wave. "My name's Y/n... I live right next door to you... I actually befriended your brother when he went to your apartment and cleaned..."

Pietro only looked at you and he immediately understood, nodding as he went along with your lie.

When you brought out the topic about her apartment, Wanda flinched as if remembering what happened. Then she glanced at her brother as she timidly asked, her eyes suddenly scared, "Is Nat... Is N-Nat-"

Her brother moved closer towards her as he squeezed her weak hand reassuringly. "It's okay, sis... She's never gonna hurt you anymore... I promise you that."

You understood then that Nat was her ex-girlfriend. The one who had caused all of these. Pietro and Wanda hugged each other as he stopped the latter from crying. It was a private moment, meant to be shared only by family or friends. You weren't either, so you decided to just slowly leave the room, hoping no one would notice.

But Wanda did.

Before you could exit the door, she called out to you. "You're leaving?"

You turned to look at her as you smiled, wondering if the look on her face was disappointment or simply just recovering from her drugs. Maybe, you'd be okay to just love her from a distance. "Yeah, I have to go do some... s-stuff."

She smiled your way, and it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "Thank you for the oranges... They're my favorite."

You nodded as you waved goodbye to them both, controlling yourself not to break down and cry.

You cried when you finally reached your apartment. And cried. And cried more. It was like a breakup 2.0 once again. This time, it actually hurt you the most.

Some nights, you'd find yourself waiting for the knocks that never came whenever the clock chimed 10pm.

You couldn't even function properly at work, making Steve wonder if you were already losing your mind. You wondered about that too. Because it felt like the love you shared between you and Wanda's spirit could only just be a make believe idea in your head. That nothing actually happened, just something to relieve the pain from your breakup with Yelena.

Speaking of Yelena, you bumped into her as you went to buy oranges for Wanda in the grocery department a week after. She even made a formal apology, realizing that she had been wrong and insensitive for hurting you and acting like she didn't do a terrible thing. It took her long to realize that, maybe when she remembered the look on your face upon entering the building of your office when she used to stalk you, happy and looking forward to the day, and upon seeing her, your smile turning into a frown. She even bid you luck to whoever was making you smile like that.