Six months later
"Aurora! Come on, hurry, I need a latte with a slice of cheesecake!" The waitress and colleague of the auburn-haired girl, Erin, urges as beads of perspiration coat her forehead. The café is unusually crowded and of course today Matt, the other waiter, had to ditch his shift. The two women are on their own. "What are you doing?!"
"Totally not eating the cake that you just ordered." Aurora hides with little success the yellow, delicious cheesecake. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never tried anything so delicious in my entire life!"
"You can talk, you just remember a part of your childhood, so who knows what you've ever eaten." Erin mutters under her heavy breath and her colleague sighs. She is right, Aurora for some reason just remembers her childhood until the age of six, the rest of her life has disappeared.
Six months ago, Aurora woke up in a hospital in London where doctors told her how she was found unconscious in front of the emergency department. After a proper examination and treatment— she found out she had a lot of scars and one or two fresh wounds— they asked her where she was from and how she landed there. And honestly, Aurora had no idea. Aurora Reyes couldn't explain what she'd done the last twenty years because she didn't know.
The doctors alarmed the police and they tried to solve it but it didn't result in a logical conclusion, they could only assume that the lost woman got into a car accident and then a huge part of her memory was shedded. It took months to do all the paper work but eventually, Aurora returned to her home state Alabama to visit her mother's grave. Somehow, Dorothy's death didn't feel unfamiliar to her, she didn't know why.
The girl sometimes still struggles to fit back in, this life is oddly strange for her. So... incredibly boring. Getting a job was the hardest part, especially because she has no schooling and unfortunately, no money to go to any college. So she had to adapt to her situation and take a job that is definitely below her skills and competence— a waitress.
"Aurora!" Erin snaps and the auburn-haired girl flinches. "Cake. Now."
"Okay, okay." She places a piece of the cheesecake on a plate before handing it to her colleague. "There you go."
"Gosh, sometimes I wonder what happened to your brain." The brunette groans at the slow work of her friend and Aurora shrugs, faking a smile.
"Probably the same thing that happened to yours, just not in a natural way." Sometimes, Erin is a bearable friend for her but other times, she really craves a slap in Erin's damn face. The brunette only rolls her eyes and takes the order to the customers. Aurora sighs, hating this working place but nobody else wanted to hire her without a certificate.
The auburn-haired leans against the counter and just hopes that the day will end soon. Looking around, she spots her favorite customer at a table next to the window, hiding awfully his face behind the newspaper. With a huge grin, Aurora walks to the man in a suit to greet him.
"Hey, Happy! You do know that I can still recognize you because a) the window reflects you and b) you're the only man in this town who wears a suit, right?" A small laugh echoes through the café and Tony Stark's bodyguard lowers the newspaper.
"Just security measures." He mutters with little conviction. Happy Hogun was assigned to watch over the half Celestial by Tony and has been doing so ever since. Stark had clarified how important it is that Aurora does not remember Thor or Loki because that would apparently bring back her old self and put her life at risk.
When they first met, Aurora honestly thought he was some creep pervert because he seemed to follow her in a really suspicious way. Eventually though, she figured that he was just a weirdo who doesn't have to be feared.
"Yeah, sure. It's called paranoia." She chuckles and sits down, not caring about the café's business right now. "You still don't want to tell me why you spend eight hours every day in this café, doing nothing but watching me?"
"I'm not watching you." He denies and grabs the menu card. "I want to order a coffee."
"I'm not working at the moment as you can see." Aurora leans comfortably against the chair, eyeing him curiously. "I would really like to know why your name is Happy and how it is that Tony Stark's personal bodyguard is watching me every day."
"What?? No, I'm not Tony's bodyguard." Shaking his head, Happy tries to avoid her glance to cover up his lie.
"You just called him by his first name and if that's not proof enough, then all the footages of the different events of you with Tony Stark are. Yep, damn right, I did research." She smirks and is amused at how Happy's heart seems to drop to his toes, being completely exposed. "So, tell me, is Tony Stark in some way interested in me? Does he see me as a rival?"
"No, he doesn't— argh, why am I even telling you this??"
"Really? Ugh, boring. I would've loved to work on his Iron Man suit though, telling him he needs to improve some stuff if he plans to do more with the suit than flying and shooting around."
"Oh, he wouldn't like to hear that." Happy knows his friend long enough to be used to his arrogance.
"Did my mom know Tony Stark? Or better, did you know my mom? Is this why you're watching me?" She tilts her head, her heart beating in excitement but unfortunately, Happy shakes his head. Before Aurora can process any of it, she's getting yelled at by Erin and goes back to work.
***
Aurora Reyes grabs her bag as she stretches her arms tiredly, a yawn overcoming her. Today's been a busy day and if it weren't for Happy, she would've died of boredom. Leaving the now closed café, the auburn-haired girl steps out of the small building where the brunette bodyguard is waiting for her. "What? You want to walk me home again?"
"My motel is in the same direction, so I don't have another choice." Lie. There's just one motel in this town and it is in the complete other direction.
"Alright, bulldog." Aurora shrugs and starts walking home, Happy going next to her. The winter this year is exceptionally cold and the fresh wind grazes Aurora's pale skin, she buries her hands deeper into the pockets of her dark green coat.
"Why don't we use a car?" He groans and she chuckles at his laziness.
"I don't have a car, let alone a driving license, yet which I want to emphasize, and getting some fresh air is good. Besides, look at the night sky, it's beautiful!" She points at the stars that are hiding behind clouds and stands still, not believing what's happening. "It's snowing!"
"Yeah, it is snowing. Can we continue now before I freeze off my ass?" The bodyguard is shaking, the suit not exactly keeping him warm as he is used to Miami's warmth where Tony's main mansion is.
"It's not frequent to see snow in Alabama, Happy! Let's appreciate it! And if not, nobody forces you to stay with me, you can walk to your motel if you want." Her eyes are attached to the thick snowflakes raining slowly down from the sky, amazed by the weather miracle. "I don't know when the last time I saw snow was..."
Happy's arms are crossed over his chest to warm himself up, winter is definitely not his favorite season. Yet, he cannot just leave her alone on the street where one or two pubs are still crowded with men.
"It's so pretty..." Aurora's voice trails off and suddenly, an utter sadness overwhelms her. She doesn't know why, but the snow reminds her of someone, someone who cared deeply about her and the reminder just carries pain and loss. Tears dwell in her eyes as she's still staring at the winter sky, burning into her skin as they run down her face.
"Aurora...? Is everything okay?" Happy notices her wet face and a laughter escapes her lips.
"Strange, isn't it? I don't even know why I'm crying." She laughs as tears continue to coat her cheeks. Her chest tightens, a invisible but strong burden appearing on her shoulders. "I just have the feeling that I left someone behind... that I forgot something important..."
Now his face softens and he pats her shoulder gently while Aurora tries to suppress a sob. Sometimes he would really do anything to make her remember but he knows he can't. It's not his right to do and he's only here to keep her safe.
Happy doesn't know about her sleepless nights, but he can suspect it from her tired face. Aurora's dreams confuse her every time and only increase the pain. Strange planets and odd life forms visit her nights but that's not what messes her up.
No, what messes her up are the emerald eyes that show up every night. Emerald eyes she doesn't know but they are always there with different emotions. Sometimes they are angry, filled with a raging fire, other times they reveal a deep, lonely pain with a hint of frustration. And then–but this happens very rarely–the green eyes are soft, affectionate and caring, as if they were only meant for her.
And this is the time when Aurora craves for nothing more than the truth behind these eyes of the apparent stranger but she never sees his face and this is what drives her mad. It awakes her with tears that cover her pillow and she doesn't know what to do, even drawing them wouldn't help. Who are you?
"Come on, let's get you home." Happy motions her to continue. "Otherwise you'll get a cold."
Nodding in agreement, the auburn-haired starts to walk home, the old house where her mother and she used to live. Home. A strange word in Aurora's eyes. Although she made some great memories there, it doesn't feel like home.
She has the feeling that her home is somewhere else entirely.