Throught a Camera Lens - Chpter Four (Avengers FF)

Fourth Chapter – Expo?

Studying for final exams was horrible.

Studying for final exams of my final year was stressful.

Studying for final exams of my final year at the end of the hottest May in Malibù was both and the summer holiday weren’t coming fast enough for my taste. I was also still waiting for my acceptance letter from the “Photography and Art School” of New York and I was nervous like I have never been before.

Chloe, Rachel and I were seated on the big white sofa at my house with air conditioning at full speed and the coffee table covered by books trying to study… Well, Rachel and I were trying while my blue headed best friend was fooling around with her smartphone.

“Chloe, could you stop please? We are trying to not fail our final exams so we can go to university next year!” I said exasperated giving my friend a hard look while her girlfriend hitted her with a thick book: “And you could study too so you would have a chance to pass.”

“I don’t need to study, I am a genius.” was her arrogant reply after having successfully dodged the book and sticking her tongue out of her mouth like a child, but I knew that she didn’t really mean it.

“Yeah, that’s why you failed the last two.” Rachel commented rolling her eyes: “I don’t even know how you have arrived at the end loosing just one year.”

“Just as I said, I am a genius and I don’t need to study. Those two exams I failed where my way of giving a message to our professors.”

“What? That you are lazy?”

“No, but we have to fight for our rights to live free of homework and...”

“Just shut up and study!” Rachel and I shouted together while I grabbed her phone hidding it under the pillows, but inside I was laughting at her antics and I really needed it. In nearly six month, I didn’t had a chance to travel back in time again and I was starting to feel depressed, but she was always there to bright my day at the right moment.

I often thought of my soulmate asking myself if he was loosing hope for some kind of future together because I was. I mean, he lived and died in the ‘40s and my life was in the 21st century, how would it be possible?

“You little...” Chloe started with a playful glint in her eyes, but she wasn’t able to end her sentence because my father entered the living room in that moment flying with his new and shiny suit and I knew that our homework would be forgotten.

“Hello girls!” he said opening his mask and smiling brightly at us.

“Good afternoon mister Stark.” greeted Rachel.

“Hi!” exlaimed Chloe more relaxed than her girlfriend getting up to shake his hand. Chloe has always been fascinated by my father, but since he had become Iron Man she became a true fan girl and sometime it was a little bit embarassing being in the same room with the two of them. Memories from our previous New Year party came back to my mind full force and I knew that my father enjoyed every single moment egocentric as he was.

“No need for fomralities girls, I thought I already said that. I know youu since you were toddlers. Oh God, I feel old… I need a drink!” he exlaimed walking towards the bar to pick his favourite drink: “But what are you doiung still cooped up in the house with a beautiful day like this?” he added gesturing towards the giant window that covered a whole wall from which you could see the ocean.

“We are trying to study, dad. You know? Read books, do math exercices, repeat lessons?” I said rolling my eyes, but closing the book I had in front of me.

“And why you would do that? You are all so smart that you don’t need to study!” my father said drinking from his glass full of wiskey.

“That’s exactly what I said!” Chloe exlaimed looking at me with a hard glare.

“You hope...” murmured Rachel, but her voice was so low that only I could hear her and I tried to stiffle my laughter.

“You will pass your exams with flying colors!”

“Dad, not everybody has an IQ as high as yours and need just a night to study a new subject.” I said getting up from the sofa to grab a coke from the fridge and offering one bottle to Rachel.

“And what I am? An ornament?” Asked Chloe crossing her arms in front of her chest when I ignored her on my way to the bar.

I didn’t reply and looked at my father: “What are you doing back at home so early? Pepper kicked you out of your own company?”

“Nah! We have a formal dinner and I was out with your uncle Rhodey to update his War Machine suit.”

“And you forgot about it as always.”

“Yeah...” affirmed my father embarassed rubbing the back of his head still covered by the metal suit with his right hand.

“You are lucky that Pepper is so patient with you.” I sighed shaking my head exasperated.

“She loves me.”

“Yeah and I still ask myself what she sees in you.” I said playfully while my father gave me a glare before walking towards the stairs without answering my digs.

“I will be in the lab for the next hour if you need me.” he said withtout looking at us before desappearing from our sight descending the stairs.

“You two will never change.” Rachel commented with a smile on her red lips.

“You two are really strange.” Chloe said picking a bottle of coke too and sitting on the sofa again with us.

“And I hope we never will.” I said sincerely with a fond smile before adding: “Alright, I think that for today we have studied enought and we can take a break.”

“Well, at least you and I can, Chloe on the other hand...” tried to say Rachel, but Chloe silenced her with a passionate kiss that made me blush. I had no problem with their relationship, they were soulmates and were deeply in love. I was happy for them, but everytime I saw some kind of affection between the two girls I was forced to remember that I was alone while the love of my life was dead in the artic sea.

“Ok, ok, today you win.” said the brown haired girl with a small smile: “But from tomorrow we will study full time and you can’t complain.”

“Alright.” Chloe said compliant while getting up again to grab my photocamera from the bookcase where I had put it that morning after having spent the first hours of light taking photos on the cliff: “And before we loose our minds with homeworks, I propose to immortalize our last hours of freedom with a great picture.”

“You are so drammatic.” I said shaking my head, but liking her idea and we posed with the window behind us.

Chloe, being the tallest, was the one that needed to take the picture with her right hand so that everybody would be in the picture: “Ok, are you ready?”

“Yes!” Rachel and I said together, but in that moment I noticed something: the camera lens was shining again.

“Chloe, wait...” I tried, but it was to late and a bright light enveloped us. I started to fall and then I was with my back on a hard and cold floor… again…

“Uh...” I heard someone moaning near me so I turned my head confused and my eyes grew with surprise when I noticed that my best friends had travelled back in time with me.

“What… What happened?” asked Rachel sitting up slowly and looking around without recognizing our surrounding.

“Where are we?” was Chloe’s question while she sat up like her girlfriend grabbing her hand traying to give her courage knowing that the brown haired girl was easy to scare.

“I think… That we are in the ‘40s together, gilrs.” I replied getting up and looking at the place we were in: “But I am not sure where exactly we are.”

“So this is what you experience everytime?” asked Chloe walking toward me hand in hand with Rachel.

“Yeah, it’s not very confortable.” I ammitted.

“No kidding.”

“But what is this place?” asked Rachel looking at all the lights and strange building: “It seems a fair of some kind.”

“It reminds me of Stark Expo.” I commented studying a strange sculpture in the center of a large square: “What is it supposed to be?” I murmured trying to immerge myself in the mentality of that time.

“Yeah, I thought the same thing. It’s the kind of… grandeur your father would use.”

“Stark Expo started during the war, right?” Rachel said looking at me and I nodded. It had to be one of the first years of the expo because I couldn’t believe that it had been so many years since my last visit… right? He would be dead otherwise. No, he couldn’t be…

“Look at the date!” Chloe exlaimed pointing towars a bright signboard: it was a earth shaped globe with the name of the fair on a ring around it.

“The World Exposition of Tomorrow, 1943.” I read and took a sigh of relief because it was just the first year of the exposition, but I suddenly rememberd something: “I think Steve is here.”

“Really?” asked Rachel exited at the idea of meeting my soulmate.

“Of course he is. Why would your camera bring us here if he was somewhere else?” Chloe added rolling her eyes like it was obvious.

“I remember to have read that he got accepted in the army at his fifth attempt to enroll during this fair.” I exlpained happy to have read so much about Steve after our first meeting.

“Ok, so we have to find him.” Chloe said walking ahead with Rachel right behind her because of their linked hands.

“We?” I asked allarmed following them. I wasn’t sure if Steve meeting Chloe was a good idea.

“Of course, we want to meet him!”

“Maybe we should let them be alone, Chloe.” Rachel said pulling her girlfriend’s hand and stopping her.

“But...” the blue headed girl tried to protest, but a glare from her soulmate silenced her.

“We can meet him, but then we will explore the expo and let them be. It’s their only chance to be together so we won’t stay with them.”

“Alright.” Chloe agreed with a sigh before grinning: “After all, when we will have the chance to have a date in such a magic place?”

Rachel smiled brightly and kissed her before the three of us started to walk around looking at the strange things that were exposed while I tried to find my soulmate.

We were walking near the entrance of the fair when I heard a strong voice that I remembered from my last visit: “Alright ladies, ready to live the night of your life?” and that question was followed by two girlish laughters.

I turned my head and I saw four people walking towards us: the tallest man was Bucky in his army uniform and two young girls were walking at his side while my Steve was following them without convintion. Probably he was there just to make his friend happy for his last night in the country, but I had every intention to change his night.

“Girls, he’s there.” I murmured to my best friends pointing with my head at the little group.

“The blond one, right?” asked Chloe with a smile and I nodded happy that she didn’t said anything about his height or something else.

“He’s cute!” exlaimed Rachel with a low tone before grabbing my hand and walking towards them: “Come on! You have to stop him before we lose them.”

“I...”

“Are you nervous?” asked Chloe surprised: “It’s not your first meeting.”

“But it has been more than one year… again...” I said looking at my feet with sadness. I felt so guilty that he had to experience a large amount of time alone between our meetings while for me it had been just a few months.

“And he will be extatic to see you.” said Rachel giving me a encouraging smile: “And if history teaches us something, he will be in the army soon enought so you being here would make him very happy before his adventure.”

“Ok.” I said while Chloe pushed me forwards and after a long breath I shouted: “Steve!”

The girls didn’t react at my voice, they probably didn’t remembered the name of the second man with them, but Bucky and Steve froze before turning towards me. I smiled brightly when my eyes met my soulmate’s ones and I ran into his arms that were immediately ready to welcome me.

I was Home again.

***

Hi! I am so sorry to be so late in my updates, but it has been a crazy week and the next one will be the same so I don’t have a lot of time to write.

I promise that starting with October, ny updates will be regular once a week again, but until then I am not sure. The 30th will be my birthday and I will have a big party at my house so I have to organize everything… alone.

#fanfiction #avengers #avengersfanfiction #steverogers #steverogersfanfiction