I sat in my bed reading my worn copy of Wuthering Heights with soft instrumental music playing in the background. All was quiet in the little city apartment that I shared with my brother Bucky in downtown San Diego, at least all was quiet in my room. I heard Bucky yelling from his room along with the loud video game music and sound effects. I rolled my eyes and left my room, pounding on his door. The noise on the other side of the door stopped and I heard the heavy footsteps of Bucky coming for the door. He opened it and peeked his head out.

"What's up?" he asked, swiping his long dark hair out of his face. I place my hands on my hips and looked at his with a raised brow.

"You're too loud."

"Oh, sorry. I'll be quiet."

"Good." I turned to go back to my room, but Bucky's hand on my arm stopped me.

"Hey Claire, wait a second. Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Depends on the favor..." I did not like where this was going.

"So, I lost a bet with my boyfriend—"

"Yeah Buck, I'm familiar with you and Steve," I chuckled, folding my arms and rolling my eyes. Bucky shook his head and ignored me.

"Anyway...so I lost a bet and now I have to go with him to Comic Con."

"So? What's your point?"

"Can you come with me? Like, in a costume?" He folded his hands and stared at me with his signature puppy-dog pout. I tried to look away and not give in to the look, but it was too powerful. I sighed heavily and groaned.

"Fine," I groaned. Bucky whooped and jumped up and down before hugging me.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Claire! I promise I'll make it up to you. I gotta text Steve and find out what the theme is so we can coordinate—"

"Woah! You didn't say there was a theme."

"Of course there's a theme. We can't just show up in random costumes. It'll look weird." He scoffed and gave me a look of disbelief.

"Whatever," I said as I rolled my eyes and walked back to my room.

○○○

A knock on my door pulled me from my book and I put it down when Bucky poked his head in.

"Hey, you busy?" he asked.

"Not really. What's up?" Bucky walked in holding hooded hanger. "Whatcha got there?"

"It's your costume for Comic Con," he said laying the hanger on my bed. I reached for it and opened it, revealing an ugly gray/green/red leotard with a long gold and red cape. I looked up at Bucky, my face contorted in disgust and I shrugged.

"What the hell is this?"

"That's your costume."

"Okay, but who am I supposed to be?"

"So, Steve and I agreed to go as Marvel characters, so he's the Winter Soldier, I'm Captain America, and you're Vision."

I groaned and threw my head back.

"Aw what? Vision? But he's not even that cool! Why can't I be Iron Man or something?"

"Because Tony called it months ago," Bucky said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What about Thor?"

"A friend of Bruce is going as him. And Bruce is going as the Hulk," Bucky said as he shrugged. "I'm sorry, Claire, but the only other option is Vision."

"I can think of a few other characters I can be," I said standing up and placing my hands on my hips.

"Vision was all the story had. I'm sorry. But come on, it's not that bad. Vision is actually really cool."

"Yeah right," I said folding my arms.

"Just try it on?" Bucky patted my shoulder and left my room, closing the door.

I took the costume out of the zipped hood and laid it out on my bed, getting a better look at it. After a minute, I tried it on and looked in the mirror. Dear God, please tell me I looked better than I think I do. This convention is gonna suck.

○○○

"Come on, Claire!" Bucky yelled from the parking lot.

"I look like a dumbass," I replied.

"You look great! Come in, and you'll see." I sighed and got out of the car, hesitantly walking towards Bucky and Steve, and walked behind them as we entered the convention. We all got curious stares and comments of fawning over our costumes.

Bucky and Steve went off on their own, leaving me to wander the convention looking like a freak. I didn't know what to do by myself. Everything seemed so...lame. I took out my phone and just stood, playing a game when someone walked into me, sending my phone clattering to the ground.

"Why don't you watch where you're go—" I turned around and was met with a beautiful woman with long brown hair, green eyes, and dressed in a long red leather jacket, a red corset that helped to show off her cleavage, and black leather pants and boots.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said as she bent down and picked up my phone, holding it out to me. I hesitantly took it from her and thanked you.

"I'm sorry for being rude—"

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention," her velvet voice said.

"Anyway, I really like your costume. It looks like you put a lot of work into it."

"Thanks, I pretty much blew every paycheck I had on it, but I think it was worth it," she said laughing and running her hands down her leather pants.

"Who are you supposed to be, anyway?" I asked as I gestured to her costume. She laughed and stood in a cheesy pose with her hands up and fingers bent in weird positions.

"I'm the Scarlet Witch," she said. "I decided to go with her movie costume because her comic book costume is too...sexy."

"I think you made a good call." She smiled and blushed. Her eyes scanned my costume and realization suddenly beamed on her face.

"Oh my God. You're Vision right?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, I guess. I would've rather been literally anyone else, but...he was all that was available."

My mysterious Scarlet Witch laughed and touched my arm and said, "Well, if you ask me, I think this is the best Vision costume I've seen all day. Believe me, some people just do him do wrong."

"Jesus Christ! Scarlet Witch and Vision! Can I get a picture please? Your costumes look so good!" a girl in a Sailor Moon costume said as she bounced up and down holding her phone. The woman I was with smiled.

"Of course, that is if you're okay with it?" she asked as she turned to me. I nodded my head and shrugged and posed with her, the girl squealing and taking pictures.

"Thanks so much!" she said as she skipped happily away.

"Well that was something," I said, running a hand over the bald cap I was wearing. The woman next to me patted my arm and laughed. It was a beautiful sound.

"You did great. Is this your first convention?"

"Yeah. I only came as a favor for my brother and his boyfriend. I would much rather stay home, but what're ya gonna do?"

"Well, I'm glad you're here," she said with a sincerity that I didn't understand. She nervously bit her lip and shifted on her feet, holding her hands behind her back. "Are you doing anything right now?"

"Not really. Why?"

"I was just wondering if maybe...you wanted to grab something to eat? We can hang out and chat since you seem to not be enjoying this so much..."

My eyes widened at her confidence and my brain struggled with coming up with a response, even a simple one like yes. She looked over me in a bit of a shock and blushed as she waved her hands frantically.

"I mean, you don't have to. I realize how that sounded, and I swear that's not what I meant...if you have plans don't worry about it—"

"No, no. I um...I'm not doing anything. I'd love to go out with you," I said, my face heating up as her blush darkened and spread to her ears and down her neck to her collarbone. She smiled and led the way to a tiny food court area in the back of the convention center.

"So, Vision, what's your real name? Don't get me wrong, Vision is a pretty cool name, but I don't think it suits someone as beautiful as you," she said taking a bite of her chicken sandwich. I laughed and poured some dressing on my salad.

"Claire. Claire Stowell. What's yours?" She laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"If you can believe it, it's Wanda. I actually share my name with her. It's part of the reason why Scarlet Witch is my favorite character. Plus it doesn't hurt that she's cute," Wanda said, blushing and shrugging. She took another bite of her sandwich and looked down.

"So you're—Sorry. I shouldn't ask you that, it's too personal and we just met," I mentally slapped myself, but Wanda giggled at me and cocked her head to the side.

"You were going to ask me if I was gay, weren't you?" I hesitated, wondering if she was genuinely asking me or if it was a rhetorical question. Wanda shook her head and giggled more. "Well since you asked, yes I am. What about you?"

I nodded and stabbed my plastic fork into my lettuce and popped it into my mouth. "Yeah, I'm a full-blooded bisexual, who by the way, is kinda looking for someone." Wanda cracked a smile and laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I guess it's a good thing I'm single then, huh?"

"Cheeky, I like that," I hummed, smirking at her. We both giggled and went back to our food. Comfortable silence flowed over us as we ate. It was interesting how comfortable we seemed to fit; we had only just met but we acted as if we were old friends. We continued to talk and laugh throughout our meal, and her beautiful laughter rang through my ears, echoing through my mind. It was a sound that I wanted to hear more of.

○○○

We finished our lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the convention, stopping every once in a while to pose for pictures with other people who liked our costumes. We even found a few other couples who went as Scarlet Witch and Vision, which made Wanda blush since they were actual couples and kept asking us how long we've been together.

It amazed me how much we had in common, and as I spent the rest of the day with her, I felt...weird. The sound of her laugh and the way smile brightened her face when she laughed made my heart flutter. The feeling of her delicate arm intertwined with mine so we didn't lose each other in the crowds caused a flash of heat to wash over me. I felt the tingling that erupted on my skin wherever she touched me and I shivered. Inside I was screaming and freaking out at her touch, and I was thanking God that she couldn't read my thoughts like the real Scarlet Witch.

"Hey you okay? Where did you go?" Wanda asked as she stepped in front of me and let go of my arm. Her cheeks were a little red and there was evidence of a soft smile on her lips.

"I'm fine," I lied, hoping that she couldn't tell that there was some kind of trouble brewing inside me. She raised a brow and cocked her head.

"Are you sure? You kind of spaced out."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just thinking." She shrugged and came back around to my side, taking my arm again.

Today was better than I expected it to be and I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to spend more time with Wanda, hearing her laugh, but my phone rang, interrupting our nice walk. I pulled my phone out of my pocket (yes, the costume had pockets!) and groaned. Bucky's contact picture lit up my screen as my phone continued to play his ring tone.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," I said to her as I took a few steps away from her. She nodded her head and let me go. Answering the call and pressing the phone against my ear, the loud background noise of convention chatter battled against Bucky's loud voice.

"Claire! Where you at?" he asked me, practically screaming in my ear. Steve's voice poked through from the background, telling him to lower his voice. "Sorry. Where are you? We haven't seen you all day? Are you okay?"

"Buck, I'm fine. I'm just hanging out with a girl that I met who's really cool. We're over by a...Game of Thrones display."

"Alright, well it's getting late and we're gonna go, so start making your way to the exit. We'll meet you there, okay?" I frowned and mentally groaned. I wasn't ready to leave, not now, not when I just started getting to know Wanda. But, Bucky and Steve were my ride. I sighed and told Bucky I was on my way and hung up, shoving my phone back in my pocket and walking back over to Wanda. Upon seeing my face, she too frowned and grabbed my hand.

"Is everything okay?"

"I have to leave. My brother and his boyfriend are getting tired, so...yeah." Wanda looked down at the floor.

"Oh. Okay." Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, and filled with disappointment. "Well, I'll walk with you to the exit; give us a little more time together." Her cheeks reddened and her hand slipped into mine and together we walked towards the front of the convention, where we entered, laughing and talking as if there wasn't a big mood shift.

I spotted Bucky and Steve long before I wanted to, and part of me wanted to grab Wanda's hand tighter and pull her to a completely different part of the convention so that I didn't have to leave her yet. Steve turned and seeing me, waved and called my name, which caught Bucky's attention. He rushed over to me and embraced me, running his hands up and down my arms, pulling hand from Wanda's, and sighing deeply.

"Oh thank God! I was so worried!"

"Bucky, I told you I was on my way," I sighed, rolling my eyes. Steve copied my movement and touched him gently on the shoulder.

"Come on, Bucky, leave her alone. She's fine. And she was with a friend." Steve's voice grew lower as he trailed off at the end, elbowing Bucky in his side. Bucky turned his blue eyes over to Wanda who stood away at a distance, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her cheeks engulfed in harmless red flames and her hands circled around her back.

Bucky nodded his head towards her and said, "Hey. How's it going? I'm Bucky, Claire's brother. This is Steve," Bucky gestured over to Steve who waved and smiled politely at her, "my boyfriend."

Wanda waved shyly and said, "I'm Wanda. I like your costumes."

"It's nice to meet you, Wanda, and thank you. Your costume is very nice too," Steve said shaking her hand. Wanda nodded and shook Bucky's hand before digging into her purse and pulling out a pen and a sliver of paper. She scribbled down her name and her number and handed it to me.

"I had a really great time with you, Claire. You definitely made today so much better. Here's my number; maybe...call me sometime? If you ever want to hang out or talk?" she said in question, her face a bright red, matching the scarlet of her name and costume. I looked over the piece of paper she gave me and smiled.

Taking her hand, I looked back at her and said, "I'd like that."

Wanda smiled and kissed my cheek before saying goodbye and turning to leave.

"You better believe I'm going to call you!" I shouted to her leaving form. She paused and turned towards me, shook her head and laughed, and continued on her way.

○○○

It's been a week since the convention, which means it's been a week since I've seen or spoke to Wanda. I sat on my bed, my phone laying in front of me unlocked on Wanda's contact. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Why was this so hard? We both seemed interested in each other, so why couldn't I just call her or even text her?

Bucky knocked on my door and walked in, freezing when he saw me staring at my phone. He sighed and sat on the bed next to me and patted my knee. Still looking at my phone, I climbed into the open space between his legs and wrapped his muscular arms around my waist, enjoying the comforting feeling of his warmth engulfing me.

"Whatcha doing, Claire?" he asked me, resting his chin on my hair, though I knew he already had an idea of what I was doing.

"Nothing," I said, which...was technically true. I was doing nothing, but I wanted to do something.

"Just call her, Claire. You'll feel better once you do."

I knew he was right. Hell, I even agreed with him, but I couldn't shake this...fear that I had. What if I misread her signals? What if we were both just caught up in the fictional romance of our characters? What if she forgot about me? What if she was lying to me and she was already with someone? I knew a lot of my fears didn't make any sense, but I couldn't escape them. Bucky brought his hands up to my shoulders and massaged them in an attempt to get me to relax.

"I know this is new for you and that you're scared, but Claire, speaking from experience, as long as you do nothing, you'll feel even worse. Doing nothing creates free-range for you fears and lets them loose. If you talk to her, you'll have a definite answer. And, if God forbid, your fears are correct, then you still have an answer and you'll still feel better; because you'll know." He reached in front of me and grabbed my phone and dropped it in my lap. "Call Wanda."

I picked up my phone and looked back at him. He smiled and kissed my cheek before getting up and leaving my room. I looked down at my phone once more and took a deep breath. Hesitantly, I pressed the call button and held it to my ear. My breathing quickened with each passing ring. I was about to change my mind and hang up, but her soft velvet voice cut me off, freezing me on the spot.

"Hello? Who is this?"

I gulped loudly and ran a hand through my hair saying, "H-Hey Wanda, it's me, Claire...from Comic Con?" I silently prayed that she still remembered me.

"Claire! It's so good to hear from you! I've been waiting for your call—not like I've-been-waiting-desperately-by-the-phone waiting—but...Jesus I'm rambling. How are you?" I chuckled at her nonsensical rambling and scratched the back of my neck.

"I've been okay, I guess. How about you?"

"I'm fine. I missed you at the rest of Comic Con." I could hear her pout that was no doubt there.

"Yeah, we only had tickets for the one day."

"Oh." She cleared her throat. "Not that I didn't want you to call me, but what can I do for you? I mean, it's been like a week."

"Yeah I know, and I'm sorry. I've just been...panicking," I said, breathing out a shaky sigh.

"Why were you panicking? Is everything okay?" Wanda's voice turned hard with worry and concern.

"Yeah no, everything is fine, I just had something to ask you, and I was trying to work up the courage to ask it." I heard Wanda breathe a sigh of relief before she questioned what it was that I wanted to ask her. I took a deep shaky breath, trying to ignore my loud and pounding heart, and cleared my throat. "Wanda, I think we really hit it off last week and I would love to spend some more time with you and get to know you better. Will you go out with me?"

The other line was silent for a few seconds. I heard the various incoherent sounds in the background, but I couldn't heard Wanda. After a few more seconds, turning into a minute, Wanda finally spoke.

"I'm...free on Thursday. Does that work for you?" I smiled and pumped my fist in the air.

"Yeah, it does. Just text me your address and I'll pick you up at 6:00," I said, hoping that she couldn't hear my full excitement. I heard her chuckle and my smile widened.

"Will do. See you Thursday," she said, her voice light and happy.

"See you Thursday. At 6:00." We hung up and I clutched my phone close to my chest, squealing loudly and jumping up and down. Bucky popped back in, laughing and raising an eyebrow at me.

"Hey, listen. I know you're gonna get laid soon, but can you try to keep the noise down?" he asked, laughing and placing his hands on his hips as I bounced over to him.

"I am not getting laid," I said to him, playfully slapped his chest. "I just have a date." He chuckled and opened his arms to me, and I fell into them, hugging him back. He leaned down and kissed my head.

"What did I tell you?"

"Yeah, yeah. You were right. Go on, rub it in." I rolled my eyes and relaxed into his arms as his deep chuckle reverberated through me.

"Now when have I ever done that?"

"I can name a few times..."

"Whatever." He ran ahand through my long red hair and kissed my head again. "I'm proud of you,Claire Bear."