The photos released by the paparazzi ended up being kind of amazing. There were a few where I was looking a little lost or dazed, but most of them seemed to want to focus on the time around when we met the little cap fans. They had taken a lot of photos of him with his hand on my stomach and everyone was speculating that I was pregnant. There were a few of us kissing and one where he'd pressed his forehead to mine. I honestly really loved a lot of the photos. The candid capture of some of those really pure moments between us was lovely. I think because we'd invited them it hadn't really felt like a violation at all.
It looked like the general consensus was we looked cute and in love by the public. There were a lot of people who had just jumped on me for being an attention whore and not good enough for him, but there wasn't a hell of a lot I could do about that. Not everyone was going to love me. I couldn't expect them to.
I reopened up my twitter account to the public and started using it as a general what's happening in my life thing. I would block people who were really nasty or disgusting, but most people weren't too bad. Any time I posted something about Chris, particularly if it included a photo my twitter feed would go crazy. I posted the photo taken of Chris and I together on the set of First Avenger with Chris in his Cap Uniform. That was a particularly popular tweet.
With equal parts money and luck we found an Australian wedding planner to help us organise the wedding and we were able to find a weekend in September where both Taronga Zoo and a cruise ship that were both available. Other than that we once again put wedding stuff on the back burner. There was still plenty of time. We would probably need to fly to Australia to meet with wedding celebrants. I had also flicked through some bridal magazines and hated every single dress in them. I had called Amelia in Australia totally freaking out about it. She assured me we'd be able to find something and even suggested that she and Shan come spend some time with us in November. I was so excited by the idea, Chris and I booked them both first class flights over as a gift. Shan sent me a message thanking me, he said it was the first time Amelia had actually seemed excited by something since they lost their baby.
My paper was accepted to Science magazine. I couldn't believe it. It was still going to be some time before it was published but an article in Science meant I was now a sought after academic. It was a big deal.
Chris was still having a bit of trouble dealing with my friendship with Tom though. He was trying, but every time I received a text he'd look over at me and ask who it was. When it was Tom, and it usually was, most of my other friends communicated through facebook, he looked like I'd hit him in the guts. I honestly didn't know what to do. I hated hurting Chris like this, but even more I hated that the thing that was hurting him was that he still didn't trust me to have a friend. He was trying though.
It wasn't until New York Comic Con in October that the three of us were able to actually find time to be in the same room together. We met up in the lobby of the hotel. I had this mixed feeling of excitement and dread. I was so happy to see Tom again, but if this didn't work. If Chris couldn't move past this, I wasn't sure what that would mean for us.
I decided it was important that Chris see me with Tom exactly as I would be if he wasn't there. I wasn't going to hold back my affection for him or it would just be me lying. So when I saw Tom standing at the lobby bar, I ran up to him throwing my arms around his neck. He hesitated initially, glancing nervously at Chris, but he quickly returned the hug.
"Hello, Emmy!" He grinned letting me go. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
He turned to Chris and went to hug him too, but Chris had gone for a handshake and it ended up being this awkward half hug thing.
"Alright you two, we're getting fucking rat shit drunk. This is ridiculous."
So we did. We stayed at the bar drinking. Gradually Tom and Chris relaxed around each other. I started seeing them as they were before Chris had this weird bout of jealousy. They were never going to be close friends, but they relaxed and they started having fun. As the night went on some of the other cast members from the Avengers found us and it became a little bit of a party. It drew a little bit of a crowd of fans wanting photos and autographs but generally everyone was just relaxed and having a good time.
Chris and I staggered up to our room after one. I collapsed on the bed my legs hanging over the side. Chris started to undress me, starting with my shoes.
"How you feeling? You know, about stuff." I asked waving my hands around in the air.
He laughed throwing my shoe across the room. "I'll be fine. It helped. Beer helps."
I started giggling. "You fucking idiot."
"You're so mean to me, Emily." He said crawling over me, placing kisses up my stomach.
"Not mean. Honest."
Chris unbuttoned my fly and dragged my jeans down.
"Hey Em?"
"Mm?"
He paused a moment and made a pained expression. "I kept thinking about how I liked watching him fuck you. Is that weird?"
I reached for him and he lay down on top of me and we wrapped our arms around each other. "It's not weird. It was fun having sex with both of you. It's normal to think about things you enjoyed doing."
"But it made me go crazy later."
"It sure did. You thought I'd go have fun without you. You forgot something though, didn't you?"
"What's that?"
"You're stuck with me, pal."
* * * * *
The next day we headed over to the convention centre as a group with security surrounding us. I had intended to sit backstage and watch the Avengers panel and then head out to check out the exhibition hall while Chris did autographs and meet up with him later on, we had tickets to see Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark that night with Tom. I was stupidly excited for a Marvel musical, I didn't even give one single shit that the reviews were bad.
We were standing around backstage, I was holding Chris' hand. He was a little seedy today, but I could also tell he was a bit nervous.
"I have pot candy. Want some?" I whispered into Chris' ear.
He cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked. "You what? Where did you even get it?"
"Look at who you're talking to. Want some?"
He shook his head. "No, better not. Later maybe."
"Well it's right here." I said patting my TARDIS backpack. "So just let me ..." I trailed off as I noticed Chris Hardwick enter the room.
Chris started laughing as I pointed at him.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked sounding a little perplexed.
"Celebrity crush just entered the room." Chris said patting Tom on the back.
"You should say hello then, Emmy." Tom said. Oh he meant well. "Chris!" He called waving Hardwick over.
I squeaked and hid my head behind Chris.
Hardwick greeted both Chris and Tom, introducing himself to them in his casual nerdy way.
"Chris, I wanted to introduce you to one of my best friends, Emily. She's a bit shy to say hello herself."
Hardwick turned to me. "Shy of me? But you're clinging to Captain America's arm and Loki just called you his best friend."
I could feel my face was bright red. "Well to be fair, he wasn't Captain America when I met him. He was just Johnny Storm, and who's that supposed to impress?"
"Hey!" Chris chided. Tom and Hardwick laughed.
"I listen to your podcast all the time. My friend Gaby and I went to a couple of your Doctor Who things back in LA."
"Wow! Well I'm flattered. That is really cool. I'll keep my eye out for you next time. Are you sticking around for the panel now?"
I nodded.
"Why don't I get you a seat upfront so you don't have to stand around back here?"
"That sounds awesome." I gave Chris a kiss and squeezed his hand before pulling his baseball cap down over his eyes and following Hardwick to the hall.
"So did Tom introduce you to Chris?" Hardwick asked as we walked around to the front of the stage.
"Other way around. I met Chris in a normal person way. I met Tom at San Diego Comic Con."
Hardwick laughed. "Normal person way. That's good." He guided me to a seat up the front.
"Hey, before you go, can I get a selfie?" I asked him. I felt so stupid. So, very stupid. But he grinned at me.
"Of course. I love how you haven't lost the fangirl. Don't change will you?" He said.
"Well I hadn't planned to. But sure."
We posed for the photo and he disappeared back stage as the hall was refilled for the panel. While people were filing into the hall I texted the photo to Gaby and immediately received a string of random letters in reply.
* * * * *
I was buzzing by the time I got back to the hotel that night. I'd had such a good day at the con and then with Chris and Tom afterwards. Chris started getting undressed. I think the stress of the day had worn him out. He sat down on the end of the bed and started pulling his boots off. I climbed up behind him, pulled his shirt off over his head and started rubbing his shoulders. His muscles made that click click sound as I hit the knots with my thumbs.
Chris groaned and his head dropped forward.
"Long day, my love?" I asked, pushing his shirt up and running my hands along his ribs. I could feel him relax under my touch.
"You could say that. Why did I agree to go to Spider-Man again?"
"Because you love me. You liked it though."
He turned his head towards me and I kissed him. "I didn't hate it." He said pulling away from me and getting up.
I followed him into the bathroom and we started brushing our teeth.
"I was thinking ..." I said spitting toothpaste into the sink.
"Uh oh." Chris laughed.
"So I need to spend, I guess one week a month in Joshua Tree. Finish up my research. You know?"
"Uh huh."
"And you have press for a few films, right? But otherwise nothing going on?"
He rinsed his mouth and washed his face and turned to face me.
"Spit it out, Em."
"I just thought, if you wanted to, we could stay in Boston. I mean, I need to be back for the desert stuff, but otherwise I'm just writing papers. I can do that anywhere. At least until the start of next year."
His mouth crashed against mine and I stumbled backwards banging into the bathroom door. I pushed him away from me, taking a deep breath. "Jesus Christ! Warn a girl!"
He laughed and ruffled his hair. "I just got really excited. That would be wicked good, Em. When can we go?"
I stepped out of the bathroom "If I had thought about it earlier we could go right now, but I guess we better go get East first." I called back to him pulling my dress off over my head.
He came jogging out after me, picking me up from behind. "Where do you think you're going?" He laughed and nuzzled at my neck.
He set me back on my feet and turned me around, kissing along my collar bone, and walking me backwards in the direction of the bed. "Maybe we could start house hunting." He said between kisses.
My stomach lurched. "Oh god." I said, swallowing to stop the rising bile coming up. I crawled back onto the bed and Chris followed me, running his face up the inside of my leg.
"What? You don't want to?"
"Commitment." I squeaked.
He laughed. "We're getting married in less than a year, ya meatball."
"Oh yeah. Shit. I have to wear a big puffy dress in front of people."
He hooked his fingers into my underwear and pulled them down. "I know. I can't wait to see. I'm gonna laugh so hard at you."
He softly bit the inside of my thigh and I let out a soft moan. "So romantic. You're supposed to get all teary when you see your bride."
"Tears of laughter maybe." He dipped his tongue between my folds, and it brushed over my clit. I jerked under him.
"Don't lie. I know you, Christopher. You'll be crying and you'll think I look so beautiful. You'll forget all your vows because you'll be too overwhelmed by how much you love me."
"You trying to make me get rough with you?" Chris laughed running his cheek up the inside of my thigh. His stubble scratched along my skin.
"Maybe."
"But I was going to be so nice to you. And look ..." He rolled his thumb over my clit, it sent a sudden jolt through me. My hips bucked and my legs kicked out. "You're pretty fucking on edge here, Em. Wouldn't you like me to be nice for a change?"
I groaned. "Fine! Be nice. See if I care."
He chuckled against me, and circled his thumb over my clit again. I whimpered and squirmed underneath him. "Seems like you care, Em."
I kicked him in the shoulder. "Stop being a fucking tease or I'll take over."
"Oh will you now?" He teased, sliding his index finger between my folds, circling around my opening.
I pushed myself away from him and jumped onto his back tickling him in the sensitive spots I knew would make him squirm.
"Stop!" He squealed. My hand snaked down under him and I rubbed along the length of his cock through his jeans.
"You gonna be good for me, Evans?" I purred in his ear.
He flipped me over his head, so I landed on my back, my face next to his. He sat up and dragged me around, rolling me onto my stomach. "You wanna play rough, huh? We can play rough." He growled.
He held me down pushing down on the middle of my back and unzipped his fly. I struggled away from him towards the head of the bed. He grabbed me by thighs, his fingers digging into my flesh and dragged me back towards him. I felt his cock pressed up against my cunt for just a moment and he slammed into me.
I fell forward, bracing myself on the head board. "Oh fuck, yes. Fuck me harder." I groaned.
He took it as a challenge. He slammed into me hard and fast. Each thrust caused me to bang against the headboard. I was completely coming apart. The bed was crashing against the wall with a loud thump with every movement. I couldn't work out what to do with my hands, they kept being knocked free from the end of the bed. I couldn't keep my grip on anything. Chris grabbed hold of my wrists and yanked my arms behind my back. I fell forward, my face pressed into the mattress.
"You like that, don't you? Fucking, dirty bitch." Chris growled.
"Yes. Oh god! Fuck me. You fucking arsehole." I cried out.
There was a banging sound. "Shut the fuck up in there." I muffled voice sounded through the wall.
Chris collapsed down on top of me and we both broke down laughing.
"We're in a hotel, Emily." Chris scolded, like it was all my fault. He rolled me over, and slowly entered me again, I hummed and clenched against his cock.
"Hey, if you'd just give over a little control, maybe I could have been riding you reverse cowgirl style and none of that would have happened."
He chuckled, hooking his arm around the back of my neck and kissing me. I closed my eyes and relaxed back. My cunt ached from the pounding it had just taken. Now that he'd switched tactics, it felt like heaven. He brought his fingers to my clit, circling it slowly. He palmed my breast. His mouth never left mine. When my orgasm came it encompassed me like a warm blanket. I held Chris against me, clenching my whole body against his. He jerked and came too then relaxed against me.
He rolled off me and switched off the light. "Hey, Em?" He whispered, spooning himself against me.
"What?"
"I probably will cry when I see you in your wedding dress."
"I know." I giggled and snuggled into his embrace.