PANDORA'S BOX ▷ s.rogers [2]

(8) SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW

ERIS THOUGHT SHE'D GET FARTHER than she did.

A hand caught her at the crook of the arm and she spun around, already on the street. Steve gazed down, grip tight, eyes pleading.

"Winky—"

"I told you not to call me that."

"And have I ever listened?"

Eris dropped her gaze at his tone. Humorous, but pleading at the same time. "Why, Spangles?"

"Why, what?"

"Why trust me? After everything that's happened?"

He let go of her arm, regarding her with a new look. Eris raised her eyes again and tried not to flinch at his face. "How much do you remember?"

"Some— enough. Enough to realize I was a compromise one hundred times over."

"Sometimes, you gotta make the sacrifice play."

"But why?"

Steve's brows furrowed. "Because I cared for you, Eris."

The words struck like a blow to the chest. Eris reatrated a step back and dropped her gaze again. But Steve's gentle fingers underneath her chin made her look up.

"I wasn't good at it. But I did."

She recognized the words. A flash of cold snow, flaring pain.

Eris flinched away. He drew back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's... it's not you."

"I asked you back in the club, Eris... Winky. Do you remember? Remember us?"

She clenched her jaw. "Am I a weakness, Spangles?"

Steve didn't seem to have an answer to that. Eris's eyes stung and the pain was an unfamiliar one. She blinked hard.

"I remember us."

His eyes flickered. She swallowed hard.

"I remember so much, Steve. And it's not a life I'd like to remember."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't want to remember it all," she repeated. Eris pulled away and paced back and forth. Her mind spun. "Everything, everything I always wished was gone was gone. It was forgotten. Finally forgotten. But you—" She looked at him. "You brought it back. What is it about you, Spangles, huh? Why do you get to bring it all back?"

Steve looked at a loss for words. "I'm... sorry?"

"You should be!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yes!" Eris glared at him. "Why do all the bad things have to accompany the good? Why can't I just remember you? The team? The— the— the way I cared—" She cut off as he began to grin. "Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"