Always Mine (An Avengers/Loki Fanfiction)

18. Ignorance

For the past few days, I stayed away from Craig like poison oak. I couldn't bear to be in the same room as him and not look at him. So, whenever we all had meals, I'd take mine into my room, where I spent most of my days binge-watching shows on Netflix and listening to various death metal bands on high volume so I wouldn't have to hear my reprimanding ex. Like me, everyone else was mad at him.

Plus, I get myself up early before everyone wakes up and go out jogging. Afterward, I shower and fall asleep for most of the morning.

I had gotten back from jogging one morning, showered afterward, and got dressed in my usual comfy outfit: sweatpants and a tank top. I was already back in bed when the door knocked.

"Casey, are you awake?" Craig called out.

"No. Now get lost!" I shouted and telekinetically locked the door.

"Open the door right now! You can't keep going on like this."

"YEAH, I CAN!"

"Hey, man! Leave her alone," Vince demanded as he approached out there.

"She'll come out when she's ready. Right now, she's still pissed at you," Peyton stated.

"You bet I am," I nodded.

"But she can't coop herself up in her room all the time," Craig stressed, "She needs to get outta there and face the world."

"I can get outta here, but not to face the likes of you!"

"Told ya!" Peyton remarked.

"So, you're gonna support this?" Craig asked, which sounded like he was whining.

Not wanting to hear him anymore, I yanked on my noise-canceling headphones and plugged in my phone.

Peyton's POV

Hearing Craig approach the door to Casey's room and demand that she get out of there, Vince and I managed to pull him away telling him to give Casey some space and she would come out when she was ready.

Craig doesn't have any clue about what was going on in her head. Phil had helped her through everything. He was the one who took notice of her anxiety disorder and recommended that she see a psychiatrist every week. Casey speaks with one on Skype as the doctor was several states away.

When I first learned about her mental issue, I was nervous about upsetting her, but soon came to understand it after doing a ton of research on mental health. Sean once told me that Casey changed dramatically after her parents died. She had an excellent relationship with her folks. They wanted her to live a normal life and not get tangled up with SHIELD, but Fury saw her as the perfect asset.

"Look, Craig. Casey's been through so much, more than any of us can comprehend," I stated.

"But so have we!" Craig shouted, "Casey just needs to snap out of it and realize that she's not the only one who has faced various tremors along the way."

"Hers' is a lot different from what you've experienced. She had loving parents and then lost them tragically and soon suffered a major mental meltdown which made it impossible for her to do her daily routines."

"I'm aware of what happened to her. I worry she's gonna screw up someday."

"Well, that's a way to be concerned about the girl who dumped ya two years ago," Vince snapped sarcastically at Craig who gave him a shocked expression as my brother was usually laidback. But when it came to people he cared about and when there's a huge threat, Vince would react differently.

Sean, Melanie, and Nicole entered the living room at that second.

"What's going on here?" Sean asked.

"Casey refuses to come outta her room," Craig replied.

"She'll come out when she's ready. One thing, you upset her by lying to her and the rest of us."

"The best thing you can do right now is leave her alone," Melanie suggested.

"She's right. The more you continue to annoy her, she'll never come out," Nicole crossed her arms.

Craig reluctantly nodded.

I thought about tying him to one of the chairs if he kept trying to nag Casey, but he'd break out of the bonds by breaking a wrist. The best thing to do was keep an eye on Craig so he doesn't do anything stupid.