Work Text:
@wandamaximoff tweeted:
if a billionaire asked me to fake date him i would do so, no questions asked
Direct Message from @tonystark:
2.35 pm
My friend isn’t a billionaire; he’s a millionaire, does that count?
@wandamaximoff:
3:22 pm
I get three questions
How old?
How long for?
Why?
@tonystark:
3:50 pm
He’s 41. Three weeks. Long story. Are you in?
@wandamaximoff:
5:05 pm
Give me a date and time and I’ll be there.
@tonystark
9:58 pm
Just one more thing
He can’t know this is fake
"You've done a lot of stupid shit in the past, and I mean a lot, but this is a new level of stupid." Her brother says, standing in her bedroom doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
"What's so stupid about it?" Wanda laughs, putting on one of her (read: Natasha's) best bracelets. "I've spoken to this Tony guy about it. It's like three weeks work for half a million dollars. It's security."
"It sounds like prostitution."
Poking her head through the door, Natasha, Wanda's roommate, comments. "He's right to be fair, it does sound like prostitution."
"Except I'm being paid to date a guy, not sleep with him." Wanda points out as she grabs her perfume and sprays it on her wrists. "Plus, I want to emphasise half a million dollars."
Pietro groans. "I just don't like this! What kind of guy needs his best friend to get him a date? I know you said this…Victor or whatever doesn't know about it, but it still doesn't sit right with me! Tony Stark randomly messaging you like that, and offering all this…it's weird."
It's true. Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries and one of the richest and most influential people in America, messaged her on Twitter of all places, replying to a random, half asleep, tweet she had made.
He told her he has a friend who hasn't dated in years, suffering from the worst case of workaholic anyone has ever seen. Victor, his friend's name, has no family or friends outside of Tony and a couple of others, all made through work.
Tony says he has some kind of social anxiety, and that he worries himself into panic attacks and that he hasn't had the chance to meet someone in over seven years. He had a girlfriend that Tony says 'was the worst and most vile person he's ever had the displeasure of knowing' that apparently knocked his confidence down to nothing, but Wanda does not know much past that.
She knows that he's forty-one, lives alone besides a dog that he dotes on like a baby, and that he owns a company that designs Artificially Intelligence systems built to benefit the world in some way. He's an AI Engineer who says he just got lucky. Wanda knows nothing about AI, but she knows he must be intelligent.
Since Victor has such difficulty in meeting someone, Tony wanted to give his best friend a gentle shove, knowing how much he wants a family of his own and a life outside of work.
That shove comes in the form of one Wanda Maximoff - a twenty-nine-year-old psychologist with heavy student debt and no qualms about fake dating a millionaire.
"Look, Pietro," She stands up tall, preparing to defend her actions once again. "We've been over this. I'm going to be fine, and in three weeks, I can pay off all of my student loans and buy myself a decent apartment. It's security and stability, which is what I need."
"I still don't get what you have to do." He mutters.
"Pietro, wake up," Natasha laughs. "She's going to be at the same bar Tony has randomly and completely innocently brought Victor to. Tony is going to try flirting with Wanda, who will reject him and flirt with Victor instead, ergo giving him the confidence to ask her out."
"And then?"
Wanda rolls her eyes, "And then I go to nice dinners for three weeks before breaking it off gently pretending that, although he's amazing, I need to focus on my career. It'll be a nice, clean, and friendly break-up. He gets confidence in the relationship and I get half a million dollars. Easy."
Pietro clicks his tongue, obviously not convinced by the plan. "And what if he goes into some kind of downward spiral and thinks he's useless at relationships and never tries again?"
She sighs, "Not my problem."
"Harsh but fair," Natasha comments before walking away from them to go into the living room.
Her brother grumbles, "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."
"You've said." She smirks. "Multiple times."
As agreed, she turns up at the bar at exactly nine o'clock in her best dark red dress – the one that shows far more of her cleavage than she would usually wear, but it has to serve a purpose this evening.
She orders some low alcohol cocktail that comes with a gaudy umbrella and straw and she sits on a barstool underneath a clock just as Tony said to. She knows he's here already, as she has her eyes on him and a tall blonde man who has his back to her.
That must be Victor Shade, she thinks, wishing the blonde would turn around so she could get a good look at his face.
Tony spots her the moment she sits down, and she pretends to busy herself with her phone as she knows he'll be pointing her out to Victor. She can see their reflections in the mirror by the bar, meaning she can see the moment his friend turns around-
Fuck, she thinks, trying not to react visibly. Fuck. Fuck. Victor Shade is...hot.
There is no other way to describe him. She wishes there were other words she could use, but none are coming to mind. Hot is...an understatement, she thinks. She had been expecting some older guy that she would have to fake being attracted to, but now that she's seen him, she knows she's not going to have any issues for when she flirts.
Victor is tall, something she knew when she walked in, but he had been slightly hunched before. Now that he's stood up properly, she's estimating he's at least six-foot-three if not four, and she feels tiny in her five-foot-two frame. His hair is blonde and thick on his head and she immediately wants to run her hands through it. His eyes, she can barely see, but she can tell from the reflection in the light that they must be nice.
She thinks they could be blue, but that would be a guess.
They talk for a few minutes as Tony pretends to debate asking her out, and then they come to the bar just as she looks up from her phone, pretending to be scouring the bar in search of someone to flirt with. It is fake, of course, as she only intends on being around Tony and Victor.
Even if she wasn't on this job, she thinks she would still look at Victor first.
Victor does not stare. If anything, he tries to look at anyone except her, but she catches his eyes purposefully, and she lets hers linger for just a moment too long before she looks away.
"I'm going to go talk to her," Tony says, and she can see Victor's shoulder's deflating slightly, though he does not argue. "Watch and learn, Vision. This is how you pick up a woman at a bar."
She steels herself as Tony walks up to her, pretending to be interested in her drink until the moment he sits on the stool beside her. She turns her head to face him, narrowing her eyes and immediately slipping into her act. "Can I help you?" She asks.
"I noticed you looking over at me and my friend so I came over here to ask you if you are an eco-friendly kind of girl?" He immediately jumps into a pick-up line, and she frowns. "The condom in my pocket goes expires tomorrow, so why don't you help me use it?"
Behind him, Victor makes a horrified expression.
Wanda matches this expression.
"Excuse me?" She scoffs. "I think you've badly misread this situation. I wasn't looking at you." She glances behind him to Victor, pointing at him. "I was looking at your friend, the blonde guy."
Victor's head snaps up from where it had been bowed down and his eyes widen, but he makes no move to come over, and she grumbles internally. It would have been easier if he became an asshole around about now and slid into their conversation, but she can tell he won't by the way he stares ahead of him.
No wall is that interesting.
"Vision?" Tony asks incredulously, gesturing behind him to his friend. "Sorry, I don't think you know who I am. I'm Tony Stark-"
"And I'm not interested." She smirks, enjoying their act a bit more than she probably should. "Vision is your friend's name?" She asks curiously, and Tony nods. "Thanks." She pats his shoulder before grabbing her drink and getting out of her seat.
"I-You-What?" Tony sputters out, managing to play his part effortlessly as she walks away from him to go to Vision.
Victor, or Vision, as Tony calls him (a nickname, she does not doubt), looks as shocked as she expected him to be when she walks over, his eyes widening and his hands fumbling with his drink to give him something to do. He tries to look away from her, but she's sitting in the seat available next to him before he can dart his eyes away quick enough.
When she is herself, she would never normally go up to a guy in a bar, and she would never be as forward as she knows she needs to be now, but she has to admit that she enjoys being intimidating for once. It is nice to hold all the power whilst someone else follows, even if just for a little while.
Still, she is being paid for this, and so she supposes it is Tony Stark that really has the power here.
"Another one of these, please." She requests the bartender, holding up her now empty glass. Once it arrives, in record time, no less, she catches Victor's eyes once again. "This is the part where you give me a cheesy pick-up line."
"Oh!" He scrambles to sit up straight, obviously trying to think of one, but he comes up shy. "I don't know any?"
Of course, he's fucking British, she thinks after hearing his voice properly. Blonde hair and tall and fucking gorgeous blue eyes and a thick but smooth British accent to match.
She smiles, "None?"
"Well, I'm not about to repeat Tony's one," He reasons, and she laughs, giving him a point there for making her smile at all. "Erm, my knowledge of dodgy pick-up lines and bar conversation is severely lacking."
"And what knowledge do you have that isn't lacking?" She asks curiously, though his eyes widen in panic as he tries to think of every piece of information his brain has ever received. "Maybe start with your name and we can go from there."
"W-It's Victor or Vision if you prefer." He says. "Vision is an old nickname, it's silly if you don't want to use it-"
"Wanda." She cuts him off gently, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Wanda Maximoff, it's nice to meet you, Vision."
To her surprise, he does not shake her hand like any other man would. He lifts it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles like some kind of old gentleman in the 50s would for his date, and she blushes, surprised at his gentleness when he does it.
"It's a pleasure...though unexpected."
"Well, I like to surprise people." She smirks, taking a sip from the straw of her drink. "So, Vision, since I've been staring at you since you walked in, I think it's only fair I get to ask about your nickname because I'm very interested in the story behind it. And don't lie, I know there is one."
"It's a long story." He blushes, though he laughs so she knows it is not a sore point.
Wanda shrugs, getting comfortable in her chair, "I have time."
They talk for two hours. He tells her about his childhood nickname given to him thanks to the fact he used to wear big glasses. She tells him that people used to call her a witch as a kid as she has strange thumbs that can bend all the way back – the demonstration makes him gag.
He tells her about growing up in London and his move to New York when he was twenty, and how he met Tony – a drunken New Year's Eve party, apparently. He tells her about his job, and she pretends that she understands half of the things he tells her.
In turn, she tells him about growing up in Sokovia and about her now-deceased parents that were killed during a bombing when she was ten. He makes the right sympathetic noises and faces. She tells him about her brother and her friends and her job.
She tells him far more about herself than she is meant to; lulled into a sense of safety and security by the way he looks at her and his gentle demeanour.
He's nice. He's kind.
She likes him.
Vision is nothing like her usual type, though she has always been told she goes for brooding and depressing and no good for her. He's funny, but not in an obvious way like most men are with awful jokes and too-loud laughter. He has a dry humour that makes her giggle and hold her sides and has tears in her eyes.
He has a quiet but deep laugh, and he always, always, hides his mouth with his drink or his hand when he laughs as if he hates his expression when he does it. The more they talk, and the more they drink – though it is admittedly only two drinks in two hours – the less he covers his face.
Pietro always says that she does the same, and she makes a conscious effort not to when Vision makes her chortle in a manner so unladylike she thinks it would make her Aunt Agatha ashamed.
"There is no way." She says incredulously when he tells her a brand new fact about himself. "You cannot tell who in this bar is cheating!"
"Alright," Vision looks around the bar. "Do you see that man on the other side of the bar?" He asks, nodding his head to a man at the bar near them who keeps staring at a woman on the other side of the bar
"Uh, yeah." She nods, following his gaze. "I saw him take off his ring before you say it, you're not clever!" She teases.
"Mh, but did you see his ring?" He asks, and she furrows her eyebrows, shaking her head. "It's dirty on the outside and yet when he took it off a moment ago, it was clean on the inside, meaning it's regularly worked off his finger. Serial adulterer probably frequents bars like this often."
"So, you're a regular day Sherlock Holmes." She smirks, playing with the straw in her drink. "I guess that makes me your way hotter and female John Watson for this evening so I ask..." She gestures to herself. "Please deduce me."
"I don't deduce, I just observe-"
"So observe." She requests.
Vision blushes, ducking his head down. "I fear you would tell me to bugger off if I did that...it's what Tony usually tells me." He admits, shrugging his shoulders, but he takes one final look at her before his brows furrow together in much the same way hers did a minute ago. "Huh."
"What?" She sits up, nerves filling her at the thought of him having figured out her secret.
He blinks. "Nothing."
"No, no, Mr Holmes," She fakes a smile. "C'mon, I know you saw something there. Please tell me before I combust!"
"Erm," He coughs once into his hand. "I just...You didn't come to this bar tonight to pick up a random man and go home with him. Maybe the bar is random, though they rarely are chosen at random, but you did not come here with the intention to...sleep with someone."
She frowns her panic setting in. "What do you mean?"
"Well," He glances down at the bar, playing with a beermat close to him. "For starters, although your dress does reveal a certain amount of cleavage, it is still not what most would consider 'revealing'. It is still modest. It goes down past your knees and you're wearing tights-"
"It's three weeks before Christmas." She reasons. "I'm cold."
"Most people would not wear tights if they intended on sleeping with a person at random. It would just be an obstacle-"
"Maybe it's hot to watch someone rip your tights." She smirks when he chokes on air, feeling a small sense of pride at making him imagine it. She knows she's imagining him in that scenario. "Keep going. I'm enjoying this."
Once his breath is back, he continues. "If you intended on a quick shag in a bar, you would have gone with Tony-"
"Not even with a thousand condoms." She teases, sipping at her drink through her straw. "But okay, I'll give you that one."
"And you would not have spent two hours talking to me about my childhood and science." He says, rubbing his hands on his thighs over his trousers nervously. "You have on expensive bracelets, most people would not risk losing expensive jewellery after a night out in a bar to pick up someone else for the night. There are too many signs against you being here for that...Am I correct?"
A beat.
She hums.
He grimaces, burying his face in his hands. "Shit. Sorry. I should never open my bloody mouth. I always do this. I'm so sorry." He moves to stand, digging out his wallet and pulling some money out of it. "I'll leave you be, I'm so sorry-"
"For leaving me or for making me so impressed that I'm considering rethinking my no sex on a first date rule?" She asks curiously, gently nudging him to sit down again when he freezes in place. "That was pretty impressive, Shade."
"Is this a first date?"
She laughs. "That's your first question?" She asks, and he shrugs, figuring it was better than any other question he could have asked. "Yes, Vision, I am considering this a first date...Mainly because you just pulled out enough money to cover both our drinks and I'm pretty sure that's first date behaviour."
"Plus," She chews on her bottom lip, suddenly feeling nervous, though she isn't sure why. "I don't know, maybe I just like you."
The smile he gives her is enough to make her heart jump a little, something she's embarrassed to admit to herself but does so as she refuses to be in denial. She likes him. She won't refuse to admit that.
Vision is kind and he's funny and he's nice and she finds him attractive and he seems to like her and she wants to fuck him almost as much as she wants to cuddle him. She doesn't know what that means on the whole, but she knows what it feels like to like someone romantically. What she's feeling for a first (fake) date is more than that.
"I like you too." He admits, scratching the back of his neck. "Out of curiosity, is there anything that I missed?"
"About your Holmes deduction?" She asks, and he nods. "Oh yeah, lots. The main one being the fact I have pepper spray hidden in my bra, which also happens to be my comfy Sunday bra instead of my super sexy lace one...But you haven't seen those so I suppose you're let off."
It's true.
He didn't need to know it, but she enjoys watching him try not to think about her bra and fail.
She glances at her drink, noticing that she's finished it, and she moves her foot to graze against his calf gently, though it still makes him jump at the move he must consider forward. "This might sound...weird, but I think I've had enough of the bar scene for tonight."
His face falls, but he recovers quickly enough. "Oh. I understand. Of course-"
Knowing she has to interrupt before he talks himself out of being invited with her, she cuts him off, resting her hand over his on the bar. "Do you maybe want to go for a walk or something?"
The smile he gives her tells her he does, and they're up and leaving within a few minutes.
She can't walk too fast or far thanks to her too-high heels, and his long legs mean he has to pace himself to keep in time with her, but she links her arm through his to keep them even and it seems to work well enough.
They pass all of the closed shops as they walk, their arms linked still as they chatter about everything that comes to their minds, but when she sees a department store still lit up, she's grabbing his hand and dragging him to join her as she rushes inside.
"Where are you going?" He asks through a chuckle as they practically run in.
"Here," She says in a tone as if he should know her intention. "Since we were passing and it's open, it would be a crime not to enter a department store near Christmas." She reasons, pulling him to the children's toys part. "Plus, I may or may not have wanted to recreate that scene in Big."
She points to the large piano on the floor, making his eyes widen, and he laughs. "Fine, I'll do chopsticks with you on the big piano." He agrees, stepping up to the piano. "Though maybe not in your heels." He says worriedly.
"Oh," She scoffs, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "I can do chopsticks in my heels."
Vision smiles, clearly impressed by her answer. "On three?" She nods. "One."
"Two."
"Three."
They begin to both play two notes at a time, alternating between them and getting a couple of steps wrong, but it just makes them both laugh until they reach the final note, their legs spread out across the piano to reach the notes they need. She can see a worker for the store staring at them, but she hardly cares when she's laughing as much as she is.
"That was amazing!" She exclaims, jumping away from the piano in an expert move she didn't think she could pull off in her heels. "I was being a bit cocky when I said I could do it in my heels so I'm glad I didn't break my neck."
"As am I." He moves away from the piano with slightly less finesse than her, hitting a couple of keys on the way back to her.
When she opens her mouth to speak again, she is stopped by the sound of his phone ringing, and he apologises before digging into his pocket to get it. She can see the disappointment written on his face the moment he sees the screen, and she frowns. "Do you need to get that?"
He hesitates.
It's obvious that he needs to take it. Tony said that Vision is a workaholic, so she did not expect him to completely drop everything just because she is keeping him distracted.
"No." He lies, ending the call and putting his phone away.
Doing her best not to let her shock show, she moves to link her arm through his again, intending on dragging him around once more now she knows he declined an important call just to spend more time with her. She's flattered, and slightly touched, but mainly surprised.
"So," He starts. "Where to next?"
"I really thought I would make it," Wanda complains as Vision carries her up the steps of the porch of her apartment. "I just didn't think my heel would break in half."
"You are lucky you did not break your ankle." He says as he stops by her front door. "You went down so quickly, I almost didn't catch you!"
Looking at her broken heel mournfully, she pouts. "I liked these too." She mumbles, playing with the heel and wondering if she could super glue to stay on, though she fears it breaking again.
Vision might not be there to catch her mid-air when she falls next time. She was lucky enough that he has good reflexes, as he had caught her like some kind of action hero when she fell. Ever since he's been carrying her bridal style to her apartment, and she's impressed that he hasn't even broken a sweat yet.
"Alas, I am sure there will be other heels?" He guesses as she fumbles to open the front door to the hallway, and he sets her down on the inside once he knows she'll be okay. "See? Home safe without a single scratch on your feet."
She smiles, "No guy has ever carried me home before. That was new." She says, and she knows she doesn't have to lie for that one. "Though I still think that you're insane for doing it."
"I could hardly have you walking home barefoot, now could I?"
"I could have called a cab." She reminds him, reciting their conversation from when he had first picked her up. She had insisted on a cab and he had insisted that ten minutes walking did not warrant it. He won. She's half glad that he did. "But still, thank you. It was very sweet."
There is a slight lull between them, and she knows this is the part where she's meant to invite him inside. She can't do that. She made a point in her agreement with Stark that she wouldn't have sex for money, and he had been more than happy to accept that. If she had sex with Vision now, it would give him the wrong idea.
She isn't the sort of person who can just sleep with someone else, not unless there are feelings involved. She can feel an urge to, of course, she can, but she has no real desire unless she's in a relationship.
Vision is not her boyfriend. She's been hired to fake date him until after Christmas, that's all.
So instead of inviting him in, she invites him out again, "I'm free tomorrow...if you wanted to see me again?" She suggests, hoping she doesn't sound as nervous as she feels at the thought of him not wanting to see her ever again.
The smile he gives her is enough to let her know he wants to.
Their second date goes well.
They eat in a cosy restaurant and he picks up the bill before she can suggest splitting it, and she is partially grateful, as she knows she could never afford it normally.
(Tony said he would pay any and all costs that comes with dating Vision, but she's already getting half a million dollars, she can hardly ask for more.
Besides, Vision always seems to be picking up the bill anyway.)
After they eat, she invites him up to her apartment for coffee, and she's surprised when he actually asks for tea, truly understanding that she meant coffee and nothing more.
He compliments the hundreds of trinkets she seems to collect, and she laughs when, in his praise, he knocks his hand against a bowl of rings and knocks them to the floor. He apologies and rushes to pick them up, but she's still smiling like an idiot when he stands up again with the bowl back to normal.
They drink tea and talk about their lives, and she feels her heart breaking into two when he tells her about growing up in London and how he bounced from foster home to foster home to than sleeping on friends couches in his teenage years to avoid abusive homes.
She smiles when he tells her about his dream to cut back on work one day and raise a family of his own, ignoring the part of her that feels guilty for possibly ruining his chances with someone else that could give that to him. She could never, not that she would want to...no matter how much she's coming to like him.
When Natasha comes home from work unexpectedly, Wanda's eyes widen in panic, and she begs her best friend with her eyes not to say anything.
Of course, Natasha never listens, and she smacks her lips together at the sight of Vision on their couch with a cup of tea in his hands and Wanda next to him with her hand on his arm. "Ah." She grins. "This is Vision."
"I am Vision." He confirms, placing his tea down so that he can offer her his hand. "You must be the Natasha that Wanda has mentioned. It's lovely to meet you."
Natasha eyes his hand for a moment before she takes it, "Uh-huh. Nice to meet you too...I think." She lets go of his hand, and it drops back into his lap. "Whatever I was expecting when she told me about you, it wasn't this, I have to admit." She looks at him approvingly. "You look younger than I imagined."
"Nat!" She scolds.
"What?" She frowns. "It's a compliment! Everyone likes hearing that they look younger than they are except adolescent children, and no one cares about their feelings anyway." Her best friend justifies. "Anyway, sorry I came home early and disturbed you two lovebirds. I'll just be in my room...making no noise."
"Good plan." Wanda glares at her from behind Vision's back.
"I-W-It's quite alright." He assures her, glancing at his watch. "I probably best be off anyway, please don't let me make you tiptoe around your own home!"
"Oh, she's not." Wanda waves off his concern, sitting up straighter. "She always goes to her room, it's fine."
"Still, I said I would only be away from work for an hour and I'm still here six hours later." He jokes, standing up, and she follows him, ignoring her disappointment. "I have enjoyed today, very much."
"Me too." She smiles and she hates that she isn't lying. She sees Natasha walk away to go into her room, and she makes a mental note to murder her later on. "When will I see you again?"
Vision quickly pulls out a tiny book from his inside jacket pocket, and she realises it's a diary of the dates left of the year. "Erm, well...I'm in meetings all of this week, annoyingly, and then other work conferences before Christmas and-"
"Why don't I bring you lunch at work?" She suggests, surprising them both. That was never part of the arrangement. She was never meant to invite him back to her place either, but here they are. "I have free time and now I know you like Italian."
"W-Are you sure?" He asks. "My office is frightfully boring."
"Not if you're there." She shrugs, offering him a hopeful smile, and she takes a step closer to him so she can rest her palms on his chest over his shirt. "What do you say, Shade, to Italian food on a random Wednesday?"
He glances at her hands, and she can feel his nerves radiating from him, but she tries her best to be slow and comforting if she can. Tony had mentioned that he has severe anxiety, and she doesn't want to push him into something he doesn't want just in the name of a few dates.
(And half a million dollars, but she's trying not to think about that.)
Just as she thinks he's about to say no and step away from her, his hands move to rest on her hips gently, and she brings herself closer to him until their mouths are nearly touching.
"I say it sounds delightful."
She grins and waits, but he does not move. "This is the part where you kiss me." She whispers, gently nudging him in the right direction.
He does as he's told, bringing her in for a (albeit short) kiss. It's not intense and there is nothing more to it than a closed mouth kiss that lasts less than five seconds, but it's special enough to make her blush and go back for more.
Their second kiss lasts longer, and she's embarrassed about the way her foot 'pops' up from the ground like some kind of cheesy cliché rom-com main leading lady. He doesn't comment on it, but she feels his arms go around her and she smiles into their kiss at his not so subtle move to bring her in closer.
When they have to part for air, she presses her forehead against his, hating herself in that moment for her no sex rule when he kisses as well as he does. "Are you sure you can't stay?" She asks.
He groans, "Believe me, after that, I wish I could."
She laughs, pressing her chest against his. "I wish you could too." She says, pressing a final kiss to his lips as now she's had him once; she has every intention of taking what she can get.
She is selfish, wanting to have him and still get paid. She wishes that she could refuse the money and tell Vision the truth now; as she knows telling him as soon as now could lead to a happy result. She can't. Her debts are too high and the money could give her and her brother a future, and nothing - no man – will ever come above her and her family.
At the end of their three weeks together, they will part as friendly as they can, and he will hopefully have the confidence to move on and be happy with someone else. She'll have her money, and he'll...move on.
She can't figure out why the thought of that no longer makes her happy.
A week into dating him, she realises that she may be in over her head.
They go on coffee dates and she brings him lunch and dinner at work that ends up being make-out sessions on his office couch or desk. He has flowers sent to her door when she tells him she's never had them before. He invites her to his place and makes them dinner before driving her home, stubbornly being a perfect gentleman.
Things are going incredibly well. Things are going so well that most of the time, she forgets the money and Tony and her (crushing) debt and the stress of her job as a psychologist. On the times when she thinks about it, she kisses him, and the thoughts fall out of her head.
But, a week in, she realises that she may have integrated herself into his life too far.
His dog, Jarvis, is sick. Vision has a big meeting, and she offers to sit with the Labrador until he's back. His friend, Mantis, is a vet, and apparently, she's coming over, so someone needed to be home. She was just being a good person.
Vision doesn't think twice about kissing her goodbye at the door and leaving her with Jarvis, and she watches him go like some kind of housewife leaning on the doorframe. But this is not what makes her think she is in too deep.
No, it is later on that she realises she's in far, far deeper than she should be.
Jarvis gets progressively worse as the hour's tick by. At one point, he falls over and he can't get back up even with her assistance. When Mantis checks him over, she confirms her worst fear, telling her that it is only prolonging the inevitable to keep him alive now, and he is suffering. It is cruel to keep him going now.
She calls Vision at work, hating herself for doing it over a phone call, but she can't leave the dog for anything. He hides his upset over the phone, telling her he'll be home as quickly as he can.
Six hours later, she's sat by his side on his couch holding his hand, both of them staring at the empty dog bed by the TV. She barely knew his dog, only from her visits to his place, but he was always a good companion, and he was sweet. Vision adored him, treating him like the child he hasn't got.
And now he's gone. Just like that.
Vision cries, but she expected that with a personality and soul as gentle as his is. He tries to hide it from her, but she brings him into her embrace and promises it's okay to feel it in front of her. He lets go of his reservations when her fingers rake through his hair, and he cries whilst she whispers words of comfort to him.
Whilst he is in her arms, she knows she is in too deep. Not because of the fact she is comforting him, or because she spent all day in his home and ended up having to help him make a decision to put his dog down.
It's because she doesn't want to leave. She wants to sit with him and hold him, and she wants to press little kisses to every inch of his face to comfort him and wipe his tears away.
People who only want money do not feel the way she does. And she hates herself for it.
@wandamaximoff
10:23 pm
I want out
10:25 pm
I can’t do this. Vision just needs to know the truth. He’s a good guy, maybe he’ll understand?
@tonystark
11:11 am
You still have like a week left? That wasn’t the deal.
You think he’ll understand that woman he’s dating is getting paid for it? I doubt it. We agreed to three weeks of dating and then a clean break. Vision is a good guy; you said it. He deserves someone who didn’t need the offer of money.
11:15 am
If you back out now, you don’t get paid and Vision gets broken-hearted. Neither of us wants that.
11:20 am
Reconsider?
11:42 am
Wanda?
"Wanda?" Vision's voice breaks into her thoughts, and she quickly turns off her phone so he won't see their messages. "You seemed rather lost just now. Are you alright?"
She fakes a smile, reaching over to take his hand. "I'm fine. I'm just...thinking about Christmas." She lies.
"Oh." He nods, turning his head back to his TV where they are watching some holiday movie, except they keep talking over it. "Any plans thus far?"
"No." She shrugs, glancing down at their joined hands as she brings them into her lap, her thumb brushing over the skin of his knuckles. "Pietro will probably be doing something with his girlfriend and her family. Nat will be with her sister. I'll probably sit here and drink wine. Pretty dope Christmas. You?"
"Tony has invited me over." He says, his eyes following hers to their hands. "His wife, Pepper, she does a big dinner and presents and everything. I always go to his."
"Mh, nice."
She turns back to the TV, intending on finishing their movie, but then he speaks again. "W-I...Would you like to come?" He asks nervously.
Wanda freezes.
"I know we have only been dating for two weeks," He blushes, his fingers playing with hers. "It is stupid, I'm sorry...You would probably rather not. I know it's too soon...I just suppose I wanted to-"
She should say no.
It would be better to say no.
But the thought of spending Christmas with him is tempting. The idea of waking up and getting to kiss him in the morning and give him a present and eat with him and his friends, enjoying a Christmas where she isn't alone for the first time. Vision cares about her.
It would be so good to be with someone who cares about her for Christmas.
"I want to." She says, and she hates herself the moment the words leave her lips. "If you would have me, I would love it. I would love that." She says it twice for good measure, her hands moving to cup his jaw so she can bring him in for a kiss that he eagerly returns.
"Yes," He mumbles against her lips, breaking their kiss only so that he can speak properly. "I would have you there. I would love that too."
He says it twice too...just to be sure.
Wanda grins, bringing her mouth to his again. He returns her kiss in the same way, a mess of shorter kisses and open-mouthed ones, and it isn't long before his lips move down her neck, making her hum in pleasure at the feeling.
She said no sex when they started this. She promised herself that she wouldn't sleep with him.
But when he cups her breast over her shirt, her reservations fall out of her head, and she eagerly encourages him. She knows she won't regret him, and she isn't doing it for Tony or the money or even for Vision. She wants to have sex with him, and she likes him.
Surely that can't be wrong.
So she does.
It is hardly the most perfect of first times.
There is a lot of stopping and starting, mainly so that they can keep checking that the other still wants to continue – something Vision is very insistent on. There is fumbling to get clothes off and he bashes into her hallways walls when he carries her to her bedroom with her hazy instructions.
They go slower than she expected, and she doesn't know why until he's naked above her, and she's not too proud to admit that she blushed like a virgin when she saw his size.
It's been a long time for her, and he's the biggest she's ever had, so she isn't surprised at the slight sting she feels when he first enters her. What surprises her is the way he stops, pressing soft kisses to every inch of her face and waiting for her to nod before he moves again.
(He's so sweet, sometimes she feels fit to burst.)
Neither of them last long. It's been a while for them both and she likes to think it's a mix of that and how good they are together. In a rare event, she comes first, and Vision follows soon after, spilling inside her with a groan, and she thanks the modern world of birth control for the IUD she got a couple of years ago.
Clean up is always awkward, but Vision is the one who is blushing when he moves to help her. She says it is not necessary, but he insists, wanting to take care of her not just during sex but after too, and she nearly swoons at how shy he is to say something so fucking considerate.
After, she curls up in his arms as he pulls the covers around them, and the last thing she remembers is asking him to stay.
He stays.
They have breakfast together in the morning and she has him pressed against her kitchen counter as she takes him in her mouth and thanks him for the night before.
When Natasha comes out of her bedroom, she looks between them suspiciously, but she steals a pancake that Vision made and disappears into her room again. Wanda vows to get her to swear to secrecy later.
Vision kisses her breathless at the door and she drags him back inside.
He's late for work.
She doesn't care, and she knows he doesn't either.
@wandamaximoff
7:32 pm
Fine.
Set an extra place at dinner.
@tonystark
7:34 pm
What?
@wandamaximoff
7:34 pm
Long story.
"Okay, now dust the surface with flour." Vision passes her a tin full of flour that has large holes at the top of it. "Don't worry about the mess, I'll be sure to clear it up later on. Go crazy."
Wanda smirks, "You'll regret saying that, Shade."
"That wicked grin makes me think I already do." He comments, but he still gestures. "Go."
She does as she's told, sprinkling flour all over the kitchen counter and making sure there is a large amount before he stops her, and she giggles when he gets flour all the way up his arms from where he took the tin.
"Whoopsie daisies."
Barking out a laugh, she shakes her head at him. She can't believe she's dating a man that still says Whoopsie daisies. She can't believe she likes him as much as she does. "Sorry." She giggles, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her manic smile. "Whoopsie daisies?"
"What's wrong with that?" He asks through a laugh.
"Nothing, nothing," She smirks, looking away from him and back to the flour-covered counter. "I just can't believe I let the guy who says Whoopsie daises rail me-"
"Wanda!" He gasps, blushing deep red in a way she has never seen before. "I-W-I...don't know how to respond to that."
She scrunches her nose at him, "I think it's sexy that you say it."
He opens and closes his mouth a few times, obviously trying to decide on the best response. When he does not find one, he simply points at the flour on the counter. "Gingerbread." He says. "I...We were making...yes."
"Vizh," She takes a step closer, taking his flour-covered hands in hers. "How long does the dough need to be in the fridge for before we have to roll it?" She asks innocently enough, but they both know she has an ulterior motive.
"Half an hour."
Glancing at the clock, she smirks, "We still have fifteen minutes." She threads their fingers together, bringing him closer by his hands, dragging them to rest on her hips. "Say it again for me?" She requests, clearly playing with him, as they both know her intentions.
He lifts an eyebrow, his voice tinged with confusion as he speaks again, "Whoopsie daisies?"
Moving her hands to the back of his neck, she tugs him down to press her lips to his, mumbling against him as she uses her body to press him against the flour-covered counter. "So hot." She teases.
He chuckles, "You're so strange."
"You love it."
When they're done, there is flour all over them and she doubts their gingerbread can ever be eaten by anyone besides them. Her skirt has his handprints in white on her ass, but she hardly cares.
They eat gingerbread in bed, grinning from ear-to-ear like idiots in love.
After he falls asleep beside her, she brushes his hair back from his forehead with her fingers daintily, wondering if he feels the same way as her. When she leans down to press her lips to the space between his brows, his arms snake around her, and she allows herself to be pulled into his warm embrace.
And when she is sure he is asleep, she presses her forehead to his and reveals those feelings in three short words.
"I love you."
But he is asleep, and so her words go unanswered, un-responded to and her feelings unknown to him and yet so prominent to her.
She doesn't know why it hurts so much.
@wandamaximoff
8:00 pm
I don’t want the money.
8:01 pm
Tony?
8:02 pm
I can’t do this. I can’t break up with him in a few days. I can’t. Please.
8:03 pm
He can never know about it.
@tonystark
8:03 pm
I can’t lie to him like that. You can’t stick around and lie to him forever.
8:04 pm
You either take the money and run, or you tell the truth and accept the consequences.
@wandamaximoff
8:05 pm
I just can’t do this.
Please, Tony, you know how badly I need that money; you know I’m not kidding when I say I don’t want it.
Vision can’t know. It’ll break his heart.
@tonystark
8:07 pm
Then take the money, and you let him find someone else who can actually love him. That’s what this was all about, right?
@wandamaximoff
8:08 pm
Not anymore.
Please
Tony.
@tonystark
8:09 pm
Look, Wanda, I’m going to make it real simple for you here. Either you tell him the truth and you stick around, or you take the money and you go. If you stick around, Vision needs to know.
And if you don’t tell him, I will.
Make your decision.
"I was thinking that I should maybe cut down on my hours a little after Christmas." Vision announces as she sits down next to him on his couch with a bowl of popcorn in her hands.
"Oh?"
"Well...I mean," He shrugs, taking some popcorn from the bowl. "Before, I had nothing else to do except for work, but now that you and I are together, maybe I should take more time for us? Is that not what people do when they are in relationships they care about?"
She purses her lips. "Mh-hm. Yeah, it is."
She's been quiet all night. All she can manage are one-word replies or strung out sentences. Her mind is otherwise occupied by thoughts of Christmas day in a couple of days and the ultimatum Tony had given her, the thoughts whirling around in her mind.
She has to tell him.
It will break his heart. She doesn't want to hurt him, but she also knows she can't just take the money and leave him now that she knows how she feels about him. She knows it's fast, and she feels like such a cliché for being someone who falls in love in under three weeks.
Hallmark could write movies about her, she is certain.
"Wanda?" Vision frowns, concern in his eyes as he turns to give her his full attention. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." She lies. "I'm fine, I just...I have something on my mind is all."
Her phone chimes.
She thinks it is probably just their take-out telling them they'll be here soon, so she ignores it.
"Anything that I can help you with?" She shakes her head quickly. "Are you sure? My teachers used to say that a problem shared is a problem halved. I do not know how true the expression is, as all my worries only multiply when people know, but I assume the phrase must be useful for so many of them to use it."
She fakes a smile, truly loving his ramblings and anecdotes, but she cannot bring herself to give him the responses he deserves for them.
Tony was right.
He deserves someone who doesn't lie to him. He deserves someone who didn't only agree to date him for money. He deserves someone so much better than her.
But she loves him.
Surely he deserves love, and she knows that she can provide that because she already loves him this much and it's not even been three weeks of knowing him. She's never felt this way about anyone in her life and she knows she would regret it if she just took the money and ran.
"I need the bathroom." She lies, rushing off to his toilet before he can stop her.
Her phone chimes again.
"Wanda, darling?" He calls out to her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She lies, pressing her hands against the wall of his bathroom as she tries to calm her racing heart. "My phone is probably just the take-out, can you check it for me? The passcode is 1992."
"...Alright."
He goes silent after that, and she hears her phone chiming again, but she ignores it, knowing Vision will deal with it.
"Tell him, Maximoff." She says to herself, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Tell him the truth. Just tell him the truth. He'll understand." She convinces herself, though she knows she is probably wrong.
When she comes out of the bathroom, she sees Vision on the couch with her phone in hand, staring down at it with an expression she can only describe as crestfallen, and she frowns.
"Vizh?"
He looks up, and her eyes widen at the tears forming in his.
"Vizh?" She steps closer to him, moving to kneel in front of him. "Vizh, sweetheart, what's happened?" She asks, and he offers her back her phone, which she takes. "I don't..." She freezes when she sees what he was looking at.
@tonystark
8:20 pm
I don’t want to be the bad guy. I get that you’re in bad debt, and I know that you don’t want to hurt Vision, but he deserves the truth. So, if you tell him the truth, no matter the result, I’ll pay off your debts but that’s it, okay?
Clean slate
8:21 pm
I just hope he can forgive us both.
"No." She whispers, scrolling up to see that Vision could have seen every single one of her and Tony's messages. "No, no, Vizh...This is not what it looks like."
He frowns. "It looks like you were being paid to date me."
"Okay," She gulps, accepting that he has the right end of the stick even if she hates it. "Yes, okay, yes I was being paid to date you...Tony offered me half a million for three weeks b-but as you can see, I said I didn't want to do it anymore!"
"Right." He nods, staring down at the floor beside her. "I'm sorry you've had to spend so much time with someone as awful as me, it makes sense you would want out-"
"No, Vizh!" She exclaims, shaking her head. "That isn't why, okay? God, I know you have no right to believe me right now and, truth be told, I wouldn't trust me either, but I swear to you that things changed, okay? I promise."
"I, uhm," He swallows thickly, obviously trying to hide his tears. "I...I really think I would like it if you left."
Her heart cracks into two.
"No," She whispers, her bottom lip quivering as she tries to control her emotions, and she reaches for his hands, but he moves them out of her reach. "Please, Vizh, let me try and explain?"
"I think I understand perfectly well." He moves to stand, side-stepping her to go to the front door. "I just think that it would be best if you left." He says again, opening the door for her. "Please."
"But, Vizh-"
"I'm asking." He interrupts, finally looking up at her, and she stands slowly. "Please, Wanda, I think you should go now...I do not want to keep you. I'm sure Tony will pay you what you are owed."
She blinks back her tears, knowing she can't stay if she's being told to leave, and she does not want to upset him any more than she already has, so she gathers her things as quickly as she can, trying to explain as she goes. "Vizh, please at least let me talk-"
"No," He shakes his head. "No, thank you."
When she's out the door, she turns before he can shut it, and she can't hold back the tears that fall when she asks, "Can I at least see you again?" She sniffles. "Can I see you and explain? Please, Vision. Don't you want an explanation? Don't you want to see me?"
His expression softens, and he nods. "Of course, I want to see you." He says, and for a moment, she sees hope, but then he speaks again. "You'll just have to let me know what you charge."
The door closes in her face, and she breaks out into a sob, her tears falling down her face, and she tries to wipe them away, but they still come. To her surprise, the door opens again, and she sniffles when she sees his heartbroken expression, and she's impressed at how well he is holding back his tears.
"I'm sorry." He says quickly. "That was uncalled for."
"It's fine." She whispers.
"No, it wasn't. I wish I hadn't said it. I'm sorry, that...I'm upset, I'm hurt but I am not cruel and what I said was cruel, so I'm sincerely sorry for that." He apologises, to her shock, and she shakes her head. "I...I just can't have you here right now."
"That's fair." She concedes, wrapping her arms around herself, wishing he could tell her if he hates her now or not, though she knows he would never say that. "Please, Vizh, I just want to explain to you. Everything changed for me, I swear."
"I know..." He nods, and she's glad that he believes her in that if nothing else. She would be stupid to lie now. "I just think I need to be alone for a while now, please."
His politeness is more than she deserves, but grabs at it with both hands and rolls with it, hoping that it is enough to make him want to see her again.
So she sniffles, nodding once. "I am sorry."
"I know...But right now that does not change much."
When the door closes on her this time, it is gentler, but the pain she feels is just as strong.
@wandamaximoff
1:51 am
Vision knows.
It’s over.
@tonystark
1:52 am
I know.
Money will be with you tomorrow.
@wandamaximoff
1:52 am
Keep it. I don’t want it anymore.
@tonystark
1:53 am
But you need it.
Vision told me to give it to you. He said that you deserve it. He’s angry and he’s hurt, but he still...well, I think he loves you. That’s why he’s so hurt.
1:55 am
Do you love him?
@wandamaximoff
2:00 am
Does it matter anymore? It’s over. He wants nothing to do with me
@tonystark
2:01 am
For what it’s worth, I don’t think he would give up that easily.
Plus it’s Christmas, and he loves you. If you were in a Hallmark movie, he’d already be at your door. Christmas does weird shit to people like forgive them for shitty decisions – why do you think he’s forgiven me?
2:02 am
He loves those movies. I think he’ll listen to them.
@wandamaximoff
2:03 am
Doubtful.
2:30 am
The answer to your question is yes I do.
On Christmas Day, she curls up on her couch with a tub of ice cream and a blanket over her feet. She watches Die Hard, and she knows if Vision were with her, he would say it's not a Christmas movie even when she knows it is.
He would make her watch The Holiday or It's a Wonderful Life or Elf. She would pretend to hate it, but they'd curl up on the couch and watch them anyway because she loves him and that's what you do when you're in love.
Her doorbell chimes, and she groans, wondering who the hell would disturb her on Christmas day, but when she brings the phone to her ear, she fakes a cheery tone. "Who is it?"
"Its Vision."
Vision, she thinks, already feeling her tears and her hope bubbling up. "Come up." She whispers, pressing the buzzer to let him in, and she puts the phone down the open the door for him.
The moment she sees him, it takes everything she has not to run into his arms, especially when he looks as wrecked as she feels, and she knows she must be a sight in one of the shirts she stole from him and a pair of jogging pants with her hair in an awful bun on her head.
"What are you doing here?" She asks softly, allowing him inside.
"Tony told me everything." He starts as she closes the door, and she can tell he's as emotional as she is already. "He told me about your debt and how he offered the money and how you agreed on all these different terms and how you said there was no sex and that you tried to break off the arrangement multiple times-"
"Vizh-"
"And he told me that you never meant to hurt anyone and I believe that I do, and I...I know that I acted so awfully to kick you out that day and all I kept thinking about today was how much I wanted to see you and talk to you and I don't care about the money or the terms or anything-"
"Vizh." She whispers, reaching out for his hands to stop him from rambling.
But he continues, "I realised that all I bloody cared about was you. And I should have let you explain because when Tony explained, I understood completely. I don't care how we started, but I care about you, and I lo...Wanda, I-"
"I love you." She says it before he can, needing him to hear it in case he thinks she's only going to say it after him to get forgiveness. He would never think that, but she worries. "That's why I tried to stop it before...Because I've fallen in love with you and I know that sounds insane but-"
"I love you too."
Her eyes widen even though she had been half expecting it, and she blinks back her tears.
"Oh." She whispers, unable to help her smile even though tears are streaming down her cheeks. "Vizh, I'm so sorry." She sobs, gasping when he brings her into his arms immediately, and she clutches onto him tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you..."
"It's okay." He presses a kiss to her hair, cradling her close against his body. "I understand."
"No, you don't because you..." She sobs against him, shaking her head. "You're too good for me and I'm so stupid because I never thought about how much it would hurt you, I just wanted to be with you because I love you and now I've hurt you and I never wanted that."
"It's not your fault."
"It is." She sniffles, her hands curling into fists on his chest.
He makes a noise of uncertainty, "Okay, maybe it's a little bit your fault." He jokes, and she laughs despite how awful she feels. "But...It's Christmas, and I love you, and I don't care how we started. I just care about where we go from here, and I want to figure that bit out with you."
Wanda lifts her head, nodding quickly. "I want to do it with you too."
Leaning down, he presses his lips to hers, and she melts against him, her hands moving to the back of his neck to drag him down further. He does not deepen their kiss, but they both linger after, and she smiles when he nudges his nose against hers.
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" She whispers, her hand moving to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing over his skin gently.
"Yeah." He nods, his nose nudging hers again sweetly. "It would be really nice if you could just love me...that would be more than enough."
She grins, nodding quickly, and she nearly gets his nose in her eye as a result, but she doesn't care. She's too blissed out and relieved and in love to care. "That's very easy to do." She kisses him again gently.
"Oh." He breaks apart, pressing his forehead against hers. "And get Die Hard off that TV, it is not a Christmas movie."
"Not a chance."
He chuckles, his lips finding hers once more.