The Girl Next Door (Chris Evans Fanfiction)

Chapter 13

Almost two weeks had passed since Chris had told Erica how he felt about her. Things were very uncomfortable at first and obvious that things weren't the same. Erica wouldn't open her window in the morning and sing Beauty and the Beast to him in the mornings. Chris didn't hop her fence and lay in the grass with her. They didn't go out to dinner together or have movie nights anymore and both of them felt a huge void in their life without the other one.

Because of this, they both tried to reach out so that things at least wouldn't be so awkward but it was a slow process. Things still weren't the same and it was hurting both of them. This particular Friday night, Erica was having Ethan, Myles and Stella over for a sleepover at her house. She had vaguely told him about it and he thought that maybe this would be a good time to spend some time with her and patch things up a bit.

Chris slipped on his sneakers and shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt before whistling for Dodger. The dog ran up and rubbed against his jeans before he led him out the door and the two went next door in the evening that was slowly growing dim.

He hadn't been in her house since the whole incident had happened and Chris was unsure how this would go over but he decided to go ahead and knock. He felt a small bit of relief when Ethan opened the door.

"Uncle Chris!" He shouted, jumping into his arms.

"Hey bud!" Chris ruffled up his hair.

"Ethan, who's at the door?" Chris froze when he heard her silky smooth voice.

Her question was answered when Dodger came wandering into the living room so she stood up and walked to the door. Chris put Ethan down and he ran back inside to chase Dodger, leaving the two adults at the door. Erica leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms in front of her small chest while giving him a playful smirk. When he saw the sparkle in her eyes, he knew it was okay that he was here and he relaxed to be met with her jovial demeanor.

"Um, I don't remember inviting you," She said through a smile before tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear.

"I don't remember you not inviting me either," Chris put his hand on the doorframe and leaned in.

"Touche," Erica's eyebrow rose before she turned her head and shouted, "Hey kids! Should we let Uncle Chris in?"

He heard them all shout a resounding 'Yeah!' so she told Chris, "Alright, well the verdict is in, you can join. But I guess you're Captain America so you could just break down my door anyway."

Chris playfully shrugged and smirked, "That's true, I mean I did rip a log in half... nobody has to know if it was just a prop or not. But I also ordered some pizza."

"Oh you ordered pizza?! By all means then, come in," She kept snickered while moving out of the doorway and ushering him in.

"Man, if I would have known pizza got me in that easily, I would have started with that," He told her while slipping his shoes off and leaving them by the door before following her into the living room.

Immediately he let out a laugh when he saw what was in her living room. All the cushions and pillows had been pulled off of the couch and chairs to help construct the walls of a pillow fort. They had draped blankets over the top and he laughed even harder when a pillow popped out, that he figured out was the doorway, and Stella's little face appeared.

"Uncle Chris!" She squealed while wiggling out and running over to him.

"Hey sweet pea," He scooped her up effortlessly and held her against his chest while giving her little kisses all over her face.

She giggled and squealed while telling him, "Uncle Chris! Your beard is scratchy!"

"Oh is it?" Chris chuckled while gently rubbing it on her cheek, making her wiggle and squeal in his arms.