Chapter Text
"Mom-"
"Oh! And one more thing” you've been listening to your mom go on and on and on about how you can call her anytime if you need anything, even the tiniest bit, for the past hour.
It's your first day of college today. And of course, your parents won't let this special day of you finally turning into a butterfly and spreading your wings out as a new chapter begins go by without going with you and helping you move into your dorm.
Especially your mom.
Your mom, who has basically been your best friend ever since you can remember, your mom, who supported you with every fiber of her being, especially when you were fifteen and she was the first person you came out to. She's been greatly supportive. Immediately began gossiping about you about which girl has caught her daughter's attention.
You are brought back to the present by your thoughts about breakfast earlier and how you found your Dad reading the newspaper, amusedly watching your Mom prepare for breakfast after she reprimanded him for distracting her, as she produced a metal whisk from her tote bag and forced the kitchen tool into your hands.
"What am I going to do with this?" you ask, almost rolling your eyes at how your mom is stalling herself, your dad, and your older sibling from leaving.
And you totally get where she's coming from. You totally do. You're even grateful that she decided to do that because, after finding out that you've been given a single as your dorm room and not the room where you expected to have a roommate, you felt your anxiety rising at the thought that what you thought your college life would be crumbling to pieces.
The common extrovert meets an introvert and decides to have them as their best friend story But hey, there are plenty of other opportunities for that, right?
"Well, if you found yourself baking a cake with your roommates for a movie night, you don't have to buy a whisk to mix the batter," your mom says in a no-nonsense voice, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
You took the whisk and put it on top of your now neatly cleaned desk. Making a mental note to find a place for it later as you continue unpacking your shirts and placing them on a hanger to be put on the cabinet late.
The comfortable silence continued for ten more minutes until you couldn't take the stolen glances that your mom has been sending your way every two minutes. Heaving a sigh to calm yourself before facing her.
"Mom, I think... you should head home now, or else you'll arrive late at the house later. I can manage from here," you throw a reassuring smile her way after. If you can even call it a smile since you're almost a hundred percent sure that it looks more like a wince.
Your mom is already opening her mouth, her question already on the tip of her tongue, but your older brother places a gentle hand on her shoulder and interrupts the conversation just in time.
"I think you should let her, Mom. And besides, I'm only a couple of minutes away from here, she can come at my apartment anytime if she needs anything" your older sibling, David, throws an I-got-this smile at you, which you gratefully return.
After convincing your mom for another ten minutes and promising to call her later tonight after you settled down, she finally agrees.
And as your Mom takes one last look before leaving the room, your brother following suit, he gives you a warm hug, whispering in your ear, "Open doors, make happy floors."
Facing your new home and letting the silence envelope the room, you finally release the breath you've been holding as a few tears escape your eyes. You can feel your chest constricting at the all too familiar feeling of loneliness. at the prospect that you're finally alone.
You tell yourself that it's going to be fine. A new chapter in your life, a new year No longer is it the quiet y/n that your old classmates used to know.
Just focus on the task. Unpack. Organize.
You go back to unpacking your things—the one thing that has helped you with the overwhelming feeling that you're experiencing right now. Finding your pens and binder neatly stacked at your desk is calming.
Yeah, you can do this.
Wanda has been justifying in her mind that it's all innocent interaction for the past thirty minutes.
After leaving her hometown with a heavy heart that she does not have the energy to deal with, her girlfriend or ex-girlfriend breaking up with her the night before she's due to leave for college, and her mom being too drunk to even spare a glance at her daughter except for when she's asking for money to buy alcohol, she finally felt free.
Somehow.
Working at the local bar in her hometown for the past two years, starting as the dishwasher at the back when she basically begged the owner for it, and as the bartender since last year, the brunette has been saving up money for college. For emergencies. For her Mom.
And six months ago, as she was handing the bottle of beer to a customer, her gaze found the vocalist of the band playing on the stage. Green eyes stared right at her soul finding her own even from a distance.
By the end of the night, clothes are strewn out all across the vocalist's room at her apartment that she shares with her bandmates. Touches and kisses have been shared with each other all night long.
"So, you want to come with us... or?" Wanda shakes her head from her thoughts as the woman in front of her places a hand on her upper arm, no doubt having a feel from it.
So she finds herself pulling away from the touch as discreetly as she can, if the woman notices it, she doesn't say anything. Instead, waiting patiently for Wanda's answer. "So?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll go with you" Wanda winks at the woman and carries Mike's hard, six-pack, that she flirtingly bought from the cashier, probably the same age as her even though she's three years short from 21.
"Thanks" the woman blushes lightly at Wanda's action and follows her friend as they wait for the uber to take them to the party.
Okay, Wanda knows that the woman, Maria, has other intentions why she's being all touchy like that. And her ex-girlfriend's words from yesterday suddenly enter her mind.
How can I trust you in Midgard, when you're getting calls like these when we're in the same city?
The goddamn voicemail that led to her and Natasha's breakup. The voicemail from a past hookup that of course, just has to be sent in the middle of a fight obviously, fueled the fire even more.
"I love you, Wanda. But you can't say it back. How can I trust you that you won't flirt with other girls while I'm not around when even though we're in the same town, you're doing it like it's second nature?"
Hence, she's back to the present staring at the girl in front of her as people have started to notice that they're playing a game, as one does at a party, and invited themselves as they situated and sat in the growing circle.
She shakes her head from the memory as Maria, who's beside her announces that they're going to play never have I ever, and the people in the circle erupt into cheer. Except for the girl in front of Wanda, who seems tense ever since they saw each other. She might have seen the girl glaring at her a couple of times especially when Maria’s been touchy with her.
This is your first college party. a big deal.
You remember the last time you attended a party was back in middle school when children were forced to invite their classmates to their birthday party, and as someone who did not have any friends (except from your mom, of course) and was too anxious to attend one, finding the children too suffocating, the noise overwhelming, and the mothers' chit chatting annoying, you were thankful that your mom never forced you to attend one if you didn't want to.
However...
This is college. It hasn't even been a day, and your plan has already gone awry. One, you didn't get a roommate, which to others may seem like a luxury, and to an extent, you agree. Two, you broke down in tears yesterday as you found yourself eating ramen for dinner in your room, after the reality set in that, frankly, you are alone.
But when the opportunity presented itself to you earlier as you found the courage to go to the cafeteria for breakfast hours ago and an old classmate from high school who happened to go to the same university as you invited you to a party where you are right now, you felt the hope bubbling once again in your chest.
Maybe college isn't a complete disaster after all.
But the moment you stepped inside the house, with the loud music blaring at you and people yelling at each other from the other room as they were playing beer pong, you felt your anxiety creep in, and you ended up running to the bathroom upstairs.
You probably wouldn’t have come out and spent the rest of the night hiding in the bathroom after an embarrassing interaction with a drunk freshman like you who managed to hit you square in the forehead with the ping pong ball and dropped straight to your red cup that he ended up drinking from, scoffing when he found out it was sprite instead of punch. If it didn’t happen, but unfortunately to your luck, it did.
And you have spent the past half hour hiding in the bathroom. Until someone knocked on the door, which forced you to come out, and now you're sitting where you found yourself in the middle of a game.
You should be happy, right?
But you can’t find it in yourself to enjoy yourself when you see the person in front of you arrive at the party with the love of your life clinging to her arm.
Maria Hill, your classmate since ninth grade, is the person who you have probably held a conversation with that can be counted with ten fingers, and all of those conversations have you mostly nodding and smiling with flushed cheeks, or else you would be helplessly stuttering a reply. Your first crush.
And you don’t like how the person she’s clinging to looks like she couldn’t be less interested but loves the attention she’s getting from your crush beside her.
You felt the person beside you give you a nudge, her eyes going back and forth from you to the middle of the room, signaling that it's your turn to play the game.
"Never have I ever… smoked a cigarette," you mentally give yourself a pat on the back, proud at how you crafted such a not lame statement.
As the night goes on, more and more people have started to join in, and obviously, each round gets nastier and dirtier after each player.
You're the only one who still has her cup full; the others are only half full or have already had refills, and as competitive as you can be, you think that this is not the game you want to win.
"Y/N, how old are you?"
You felt sweat rolling down your temple as the people in the circle turned to look at you. Their curious stares at the person who still has her cup full and hasn’t drank anything since the game started make you squirm from your position.
Still, you stood your ground and stared right back at her jade green orbs, mischief glinting in her eyes as you answered. "Eighteen"
The brunette in front of you only hummed at your answer and took a sip from her refilled red cup, as if deciding what to do with the information. "Never have I ever been a virgin at eighteen”
That was the trap.
Nervously, purposely avoiding everyone's stare, especially Maria's, you took a sip from your red cup, the liquid hydrating your dry throat.
Surprisingly, you don't hear anyone laughing at you. Well, except for the brunette in front of you who snickers.
Don’t cry, Y/N. Don't cry.
And just then, you hear a faint slap on the arm from the people in front of you, making you look up from your cup.
"That wasn't funny, Wanda."
Your breath gets caught in your throat when you see who it is. It's Maria, reprimanding the woman in front of you, Wanda, for what she's done.
See, it's a no-brainer why you fell for her in the first place.
Maria sends you a reassuring smile, to which you nod in thanks when your gazes meet.
"I thought it was pretty funny." Wanda shrugs as she takes a sip from her cup, disregarding the rules of the game. "You’re up, boss."
It's now Maria's turn. You straighten your back as the girl beside you, who you now know as Maria's roommate, Carol, exchanges look with the brunette. No doubt they are having a conversation with their eyes.
Waiting for Maria to utter the words for her turn, just like everybody else, you watch in anticipation as Carol sighs softly before getting up from her seat and Maria doing the same as they switch places.
Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!
Your high school self would probably be so proud of you right now.
The brunette winks beside you as she settles herself and turns her head to smirk at Wanda.
Your stomach churns bitterly as you watch her interact with the other brunette.
"Never have I ever illegally bought alcohol for a stranger," Maria says, narrowing her eyes at Wanda, who laughs and clinks her bottle at her even though she does not extend it. There's no doubt how they met earlier, playing on both their minds and effectively making you feel left out.
a few hours ago
"What do you want?" Wanda asks, making herself noticed by the two women hovering on the candy aisle in the convenience store, having heard how they were planning to buy alcohol for five minutes now.
They both turn to look at the brunette, surprised. The taller of the two smiles suggestively at Wanda and eyes her up and down. "You’re twenty-one?"
"Depends on who’s asking."
How can I trust you that you won't flirt with other girls while I'm not around when, even though we're in the same town, you're doing it like it's second nature?
Natasha’s words from yesterday suddenly make themselves known just as Wanda utters her retort, making her feel uneasy as guilt starts to creep in.
"So you’re not," the other one butts in, though not unkindly, just impatient.
Wanda just chuckled, leaning her back against a wall and crossing her arms on her chest. "Well, what about you? If you were behind the counter, would you give it to me?"
The taller one just shakes her head no, but they both know that she believed it.
"Come on, if I’m going to buy you girls alcohol, at least then I have to know your name, pretty girl." Uh, uh. No.
Visions of Natasha shaking her head in disappointment sprang up in her mind, but she pushed them away for the time being.
"I’m Maria, and this is my roommate, Carol."
"Nice to meet you, beautiful ladies. I’m Wanda."
Wanda laughs as she downs the rest of her drink to end the game. She got up from her seated position and threw you a wink as you happened to look each other in the eye at the same time, and you rolled your eyes in return.
"I’ve got to get a refill, stat," the brunette announces, and Carol agrees, getting up with her. Your heart leaps at the prospect that you and Maria are finally going to be alone and that you can talk to her. But as Maria loops her finger around the laces of the brunette’s shoe, that thought quickly dies down.
You look away, disheartened. Gulping down the rest of your drink.
Little did you know, Wanda saw how you looked when Maria did that, and she also noticed how you looked at Maria as if she had hung the moon for you, like she was the light of your world.
She’s already had a gut feeling as to why you’re reacting this way, but she’s not drawing any conclusions until she hears you say it.
"Can I have a refill, pleaaaase?" Maria even bats her eyelashes at the woman. Wanda laughs and gets the cup in her free hand, saluting with two fingers as she follows Carol to the punch table.
"Oh, Y/N, anything for you?" She returns and looks at you imploringly. However, you are having none of it. Plus, you have to be sober because you’re driving yourself home after this.
Wow, so generous of you to ask.
"No, I’m good," you say, and you look away, deciding that your sneakers are interesting instead.
Even after you don’t hear her footsteps anymore, you’re still looking down at your shoes. too anxious to start a conversation with Maria.
What am I even going to say to her? Good game, huh?
Luckily for you, Maria decides to start the conversation instead. She turns to you and gently pries your hands away from the laces of your shoes and rubs the backs of your hands with her thumbs soothingly.
“You know that she’s just joking right? You have nothing to be embarrassed about” You look up from your joined hands and into Maria’s icy blue orbs, boring to your E/C ones.
“I’m not embarrassed” you managed to say, albeit quietly amidst the loud beating of your heart against your chest.
You're finally doing it! You're talking to her!
"That was funny as hell" you nervously chuckle for good measure. And seeing her smile at you like that, her eyes sparkling, it's definitely a core memory for you.
Ignoring the part where Wanda got too personal with you in front of more or less twenty people. But hey! They didn't care like you thought they would.
Good job for not sprinting all the way to your car and rushing home, Y/N. That's progress, you thought to yourself.
Seeing as it's been a long time plus it's weird staring too long at someone (you think she's just being nice, not saying anything about it), you scramble for your phone in and look at the time.
"I should probably head back to my dorm room though. It's getting late" you reluctantly pull away from Maria's hold and scratch the back of your neck.
"No! You should stay, seriously" But instead of her insisting, it only makes you want to cry more. And for an entirely different reason. "Maybe they already brought the cards this time and we can play Kings"
She wants you to stay. And your heart beats louder at the thought.
"Okay. That would probably be more fun than watching Wanda lose all night" you retort, which makes Maria laugh. Her hand latching onto your arm as she brings her other hand to tuck the stray hair behind her ear.
If only she knew that you'd stay all night if she wanted you to.