Wanda rested her head in her hand as she leaned on the checkout counter. Like most days, it was a slow workday in the Bath and Body Works where she worked. People walking down the hallways filtered in and out, buying little hand sanitizers or little lotions. Maybe a candle or two, but never anything big. To say that she hated her job was an understatement. She loathed it. The pay was shitty, the hours were shittier, and her boss practically stepped out of the 1940s.

The employee door beside her to her left swung open, creaking loudly as her friend and co-worker Carol stepped out, securing her apron behind her waist. Groaning loudly and following Wanda's current stance, Carol leaned down on the counter, resting her head against the fake wood.

"You almost done your shift?" she asked the brunette, her voice muffled by the counter. Wanda chuckled and rolled her eyes, sitting up straighter and taking her head off her hands.

"Got one more hour to go," she muttered, feigning cheer. Carol picked her head up and gave her a small smile and nod before she walked around the counter and deeper into the store, examining different products and moving them around to rearrange the shelves. "So, you and Maria doing anything for your anniversary?"

"I was thinking dinner? To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. You think you can offer some advice?"

"Ha! You're asking the wrong person, my friend," Wanda laughed, coming around the counter to help Carol restock and rearrange the shelves. Carol laughed and playfully shoved Wanda.

"Such a big help."

"I'm sorry. You know my track record with dating. God, when even was the last time I had a good relationship?"

"Something good will come. Someone good will come. Just be patient," Carol said, giving Wanda a sincere smile and a friendly pat on the lower arm. Wanda scoffed but didn't pull away from the touch. She lowered head and frowned a bit. Her track record with dating was...sub-par to say the least. She always ended up being the more committed one in the relationship and was often let down and discarded...like old trash. At this point in her very young life, Wanda Maximoff had given up on love.

"Do we have any more of those...cheesy Halloween pumpkin hand sanitizer holders? I think we ran out in the front."

"Um...there may be some in the back, but I don't remember seeing any. Do you want me to check?"

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Carol smiled. "I'd love to do mindless work as a break from this mindless work."

Wanda laughed and continued to restock the empty shelves. Her mind drifted as she lined up new bottles of lotion and body wash. She didn't hear or notice the beautiful redhead enter the store, looking around lost and confused, eyeing different bottles of lotion and candles, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion. She looked up and over and saw Wanda, and walking over to her, she tapped her on the shoulder, startling the darker haired woman.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Can I help you with something?" Wanda asked in her somewhat fake polite costumer service voice.

"Actually, yeah. I was looking for a gift for a coworker and I don't know what to get. Do you think you can help?"

"Okay, well do you know what they like? Are they allergic to any particular scents?"

"Um...not that I know of?"

"Wow. Could you sound any more unsure," Wanda said sarcastically, her growing frustration becoming apparent in her voice without her meaning to. As soon as she realized what she said, Wanda's eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth, and the little bit of her cheeks that were visible turned a bright and very noticeable red. "Oh my God, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to say that! At least not out loud!" Wanda braced herself for the unknown woman's harsh reaction, waiting for her to scream at her for her rude comment and demand to talk to a manager, but the woman just...laughed? Wanda's face of shock and surprise turned to one of confusion as she watched the woman shook with laughter.

"Jesus you're a pistol aren't you?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes, trying to calm down from her laughing fit. "So...Wanda, can you help me? I know it's not a lot to go on, but..."

"Yeah. I can help." Wanda tried to recover from her embarrassment as she led the woman through the store, pointing out different fragrances of items. "So what's her name?"

"Claire."

"Her name's Claire? That's pretty."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I misheard you. I thought you asked for my name," the woman—Claire—said, awkwardly chuckling and rubbing the back of her neck. Wanda giggled and shook her head. "I'm Claire. My friend's name is Bucky. It was his birthday the other day and for some reason we both got into the habit of getting each other 'sarcastic gifts'."

"What are 'sarcastic gifts'?" Wanda asked, smirking and leaning against a solid display.

"It's when we get each other something that we know the other can't really use or would never ask for. Like when someone gets you a pair of socks for Christmas; you use socks, but you would never ask someone for them."

"Ah. Sounds very fun." Wanda winked and pushed off the display, showing Claire more items that they had in stock.

"Yeah it can be. But sometimes it's really hard." Claire stuck her hand into a bowl of hand sanitizers and fished out different scents, smelling each of them before placing them back in the bowl. "So how long have you been working in Bath and Body Works? I don't remember seeing you in here."

"I've been here a few months now. Why? You come to the mall to check people out?" Wanda bit her bottom lip as she gazed up at Claire through her lashes, gauging her reaction. Claire's face reddened and she coughed subtly, thrown off guard by Wanda's question.

"Not all the time—I mean, I work over in the Hot Topic across the way. I can't help looking into your store whenever I'm bored." Claire blushed slightly at her confession, thinking back to previous conversations with Bucky where he would scold and embarrass her for "stalking people." Wanda took notice of Claire's change in form, seeing her embarrassment form on her face like a blaring neon sign, and usually she was really awkward with comforting people, but this time it came naturally to her. She hesitantly reached out to touch her hand, and when Claire's gorgeous cavernous eyes looked up at her, slightly startled, Wanda smiled, deciding that it was best if she just ignored the slowly rising heat in her face.

"Hey, don't feel so bad about it. I do it too. On my lunch breaks, I'll go sit in the food court and just watch people. Sometimes I create little backstories for them in my head based on what they're doing or what they look like. I find it relaxing and I know a lot of people do it. You have nothing to be ashamed of," she said quietly. Claire smiled and held her eye contact for a moment before looking down at their touching hands, and Wanda, misinterpreting the look, quickly pulled away and quietly apologized.

"You...you didn't have to pull away," Claire mumbled, her face turning into a frown.

"I thought you didn't like it..."

"No, I was...I don't know what I was doing," she said with a chuckle, her blush becoming a darker shade. "But I liked it."

Wanda looked down and smiled before clearing her throat and saying, "We should probably find Bucky that gift."

"Yeah probably."

Wanda continued to parade Claire around the store, showing her more items that she could get, not caring that they probably made about three or four laps around the small store. They continued to talk, getting to know each other better, finding out that they had loads of stuff in common, and Claire being a secret astrology nerd, couldn't help but notice that their star signs were completely and 100% compatible.

After about another hour, Claire finally settled on a candle that smelled like pumpkin spice (it would definitely bother Bucky for he loathed that scent), and after learning that Wanda earned a commission—technically; she got a little bit of a raise whenever she made a sale and her name was mentioned for helping the customer with the sale. Her boss was nice and good like that—she bought a bottle of stress-relief lotion and hand sanitizer.

Wanda watched as Claire took her carefully wrapped bag, hiding it under her shirt so the man who stood by the entrance of the store looking at her—she assumed it was Bucky—wouldn't see it, wondering if she would be so lucky as to see the redhead again.

○○○

The rest of the week went by slowly as Halloween came and went. Wanda waited around the store, hoping and praying that Claire would come back in, and though she had no real reason to feel this way and couldn't quite explain where it came from, but she felt sad and disappointed when each work day passed without her seeing her.

She could understand why the purple-eyed redhead never entered Bath and Body Works again the rest of that week. As Halloween approached, Wanda took notice of the large promotional sale that the store was sponsoring. The large posters hung in every inch of the store's windows and customers poured in and out of the store all day. Wanda didn't envy having all those customers, working so hard throughout the long duration of her shift, though she did feel sorry for her new friend who was probably wishing for one of those horror movie serial killer masks to come alive and end her misery, at least, that's what Wanda would wish for if in Claire's position.

The day after Halloween was the day that ended the sale, and as Wanda started to clean the store and fix the shelves before she closed up, the ding of the front door opening snapped her from whatever inner monologue stole her attention.

"Sorry, we're closed. Come back tomorrow," Wanda said, still looking at the broom moving from left to right as she swept.

"I would, but if I did, I wouldn't see you," said Claire, sounding exhausted. "And believe me, I wanted to see you today." Wanda squealed, dropped the broom, and spun around on her heels to face Claire. She gave her a small smile and walked forward, bending down to pick up the broom and hand it back to Wanda.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left hours ago."

"Bucky had to leave early so I covered for him. Plus, I wanted to see you. I knew you worked late, and I hoped I would catch you before you left. I didn't want you to walk out of here alone," she said, growing serious and stiffening a little in her stance. Wanda felt warmth spread over her at Claire's words. She smiled and bit her lip.

"You don't have to protect me," Wanda mumbled.

"I know," Claire relinquished, "but you're my friend—at least I think you're my friend—and I can't in good conscience allow you to walk through the dark and lonely parking garage at night. God forbid something happens to you..."

"Claire, relax." Wanda raised her hand and stopped just short of placing her hand against her chest. "I don't mind if you want to walk with me. But I have to finish cleaning and locking up. I'll probably be another thirty minutes."

"That's fine," Claire joyfully stated, practically bouncing on her heels in excitement. Wanda giggled and shook her head, taking the broom in her hands and sweeping again. "Do you need any help?"

"If you want. There's a rag on the counter. Can you just wipe down the counters?"

"Sure." Claire walked over to the register counter, picked up the rag, and began wiping the different surfaces in the store. "Honest to God, I didn't know you had to clean all the surfaces before you left. You would think you'd only have to do that in a food place."

"Technically, you should do it everywhere, but I just do it because I don't like germs. Plus you wouldn't believe how much of a mess people make with lotions and hand sanitizers."

The two of them shared a laugh and engaged in a casual conversation, asking each other about their day, what their upcoming weekend plans were, if they did anything for Halloween. Wanda inquired about the sale in Hot Topic, asking how busy the store actually got, though she was almost sure of an answer.

Claire huffed and rolled her eyes, but provided the curious brunette with an answer. She quickly and angrily described the stressful encounter of working long shifts all week as people bombarded the store in anticipation of Halloween, and how because of this, Bucky had gotten a really bad cold and couldn't stay for his entire shift, thus leaving Claire to cover hers and his. Wanda tried not to laugh at her misfortune, but a little giggle did slip out, causing the redhead to look over at her with a glare that quickly melted into a reluctant smile.

When the two of them were finished cleaning and locking up, Wanda grabbed her stuff and walked with Claire through the closing mall and out into the ominous dimly lit parking garage. Subconsciously, Wanda stepped closer to Claire and slipped her hand into hers as they walked to her car. They stopped next to a cherry red Honda and Wanda took her hand from Claire's and awkwardly intertwined her own fingers to try to emulate the warmth that she felt with her.

"Hey, thanks for walking me down here. I...didn't realize that it was this dark out, so I'm glad you're here."

"No problem, Wanda. Honestly, if you ever need me, or want me, to come down here with you, I'll do it. I'd rather insure that you're safe and comfortable than...literally anything else."

The two stood in a sort of awkward silence behind Wanda's car. Her green eyes looked around the almost empty parking garage with confusion in her eyes.

"Where's your car?" she asked, looking back at Claire, her voice wavering with uneasiness.

Claire smiled and took a step closer to her and said, "It's over there," nodding her head to the left, drawing Wanda's attention to an old beat up blue Volkswagen Beatle. "Sweet ride, right? Gonna get all the ladies in that baby."

"Oh Jesus, you're a dork, aren't you?" Wanda playfully asked, trying to bite back her laughter. Claire looked down and blushed profusely.

"Not necessarily, but it's what I've been told."

"Well, a dork isn't the worst type of person I've met," Wanda said, sincerity pouring from her words, creating a smile on both of their faces.

"I guess that's good for me then. I wouldn't want my friend to be stuck with a dork."

"I think I would make an exception for you."

"Hey, not to sound weird or anything, but can I get your number?"

"Of course. Give me your phone."

Claire obliged, giving Wanda her phone, and watched as the brunette typed in her name and number, even taking a contact photo, and gave the phone back. Claire took her phone back, looked quickly at the contact, and then opened up a new message, sending her a quick text.

"That's me," Claire said as Wanda's phone went off. Wanda rolled her eyes and took her phone out of her pocket. She swiped right on her message, opening their new chat.

Hey Wanda ;)

Wanda rolled her eyes again and added Claire's number into her contacts.

"Smile," she said cheerfully as she held up her phone. Claire's face erupted into the biggest and goofiest grin; her lips spread wide and thin revealing her white teeth, her eyes crinkled and looked like they were closed and her cheeks puffed out a bit making her look like a gopher. Wanda mentally awed at the visual and quickly snapped the picture. She looked at it, giggled and cooed, and turned the screen over to Claire. "You look good."

"Oh God, Wanda! Delete that, please!"

"Come on, you look good!"

"Please retake it! I look so weird!"

"Claire, it's fine, honestly," Wanda assured her, setting the picture as Claire's contact image. Wanda, after creating Claire's contact, sent back a reply.

Hey Claire. Thanks for walking me to my car.

"It's no problem, Wanda, seriously."

Wanda smiled, and without fully comprehending her actions, she stepped forward and embraced her, resting her head on her shoulder. Claire froze immediately at Wanda's sudden touch, but quickly accepted it and leaned into it, wrapping her arms around her in return. Claire smiled into the short-lived hug and had to bite back a groan of disappointment when Wanda pulled away a moment after.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Claire said as Wanda opened up the driver side door.

"Actually, you won't. I have off for the weekend. But I'll be back on Monday."

"Oh. Okay." Wanda frowned slightly at the disappointment in Claire's voice. "What am I gonna do without you here? Who am I gonna talk to on my break?"

"I mean, you have my number, so you can just call me or text me, but if you're so desperate for human contact, my coworker Carol is really nice and easy to talk to."

But I don't want to talk to Carol; I want to talk to you, is what Claire so desperately wanted to say, but somehow she held back and simply nodded. Wanda quickly hugged her again and got into her car. Claire waved, walked to her car, and got in. Seeing Claire safe in her own car, Wanda pulled out of her parking space, and drove home. Claire hesitated briefly at the entrance of the parking garage, watching Wanda's red car drive down street. Sighing, Claire exited and began her drive home in the opposite direction.

○○○

A few weeks went by, and Claire and Wanda's relationship grew stronger every day. As they got closer, they started hanging out more outside of work, and when they were at work, Claire would always pop over to Bath and Body Works during her break (or whenever business was slow and Bucky would cover her for a few minutes), or Wanda would go over there. Claire kept her promise to always be available to walk Wanda down to the parking garage, though sometimes they weren't fortunate enough to have the same work schedule, so on those days, either of them would have to wait a bit for the other, or Claire instructed Bucky to accompany her (after Wanda and Bucky got to know each other, of course). Wanda didn't mind his company, but she preferred Claire.

During one of her visits to Hot Topic after she locked up and was waiting for Claire, Bucky thanked her for his gift and told her that he loved it despite the scent, which was starting to grow on him, making Claire somewhat annoyed and causing Wanda to laugh at the redhead's soft glare that she sent their way as she paused counting the money in the register and locking it in the back office.

Today, both of them had off from work, and normally they would hang out either at each other's apartments or at a restaurant or something, but not today. Wanda was sick with the flu, and while Claire didn't mind being around her, she knew her boundaries and wished her a "get well soon." Claire sat in her apartment curled up on the couch, phone in hand, blankly staring at the screen of her message to Wanda. Her eyes were fixed on the blinking cursor in the text box and her fingers tapped a subconscious melody on the back of the couch as she thought of something to say to Wanda. She knew she wanted to talk to her, but she didn't know what she wanted to talk about. She also didn't want to bother her with nonsense.

Her roommate Natasha, who sat beside her on the couch with her laptop resting on her lap, grew annoyed quickly at Claire's habit. After one more minute of the noise, Natasha groaned and threw her head back.

"Jesus Claire, can you stop doing that?"

"Stop what?" she asked, coming out of her trance, not realizing what she was doing.

"The drumming. It's getting annoying; I can hear it and feel it."

"Oh. Sorry," Claire said dejectedly and turned back to her phone. Natasha's face softened and she closed her computer, rested it on the coffee table, and scooted closer to Claire, taking her propped up legs in her hands and stretched them out across her lap.

"Everything okay? You seem really out of it tonight. Was work really bad?"

Claire looked up at her, briefly looked back at her phone, locked it and tossed it lightly on one of the cushions and groaned.

"Work was alright, I guess." Natasha frowned. Claire was never this quiet and reserved. Most days she would talk Natasha's ear off, prattling on and on about...God knows what. What's going on with her?

"Claire, are you okay? What's going on, you're never this quiet."

"It's nothing, Nat. I'm fine," Claire lied, but it didn't make any difference for Natasha saw right through her.

"Bullshit. Now you know I'm not one to pry unless it is absolutely necessary, and damnit Claire, it's necessary. Now tell me what the fuck is going on with you. Are you sick? In pain? Tired? What?" Natasha demanded. Claire looked at her briefly, her eyes slightly wide with shock, but she soon collected herself and sighed, bowing her head a little.

"It's Wanda," she mumbled. Natasha groaned loudly and lightly slapped Claire's legs.

"Oh come on, Claire! Just ask the girl out and stop moping already!"

"What?! I-I-I don't like Wanda like that! We're just friends."

"Oh please! If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that before, I'd be able to cover both of our rents in a much nicer apartment," Natasha said, rolling her eyes and laughing a bit. "I'm serious. I hear it a lot. Mostly from you."

"I mean it, Nat, me and Wanda are just friends," Claire pressed, staring Natasha hard in the eyes to make sure she understood. But the slightly older redhead had planted her feet and refused to give up. Natasha grasped her Claire's hand and stared her sympathetically in the eyes.

"Claire, we've been friends for a long time now, so I'd like to think I know you pretty well. Throughout your dating life, you've had a lot of potential partners; some that worked out and some that didn't. You've had girlfriends and boyfriends where you could—briefly—see a future with them, and there were those that you could barely see yourself getting to the end of the week. I've seen how you look when you're completely into a person, when you fall head-over-heels for them. I've seen it, Claire. And I've seen how you look at Wanda and how you look when you talk about her. You know why I brought those two up? Because it's the same look. You might not realize it now, Claire, but some part of you fell for her. You don't have to admit it right now, but you do have to listen to me because I've been where you are, so I'd know."

"So...what do I do?"

"You don't have to do anything. You may not feel what I'm seeing right now, which is fine, and you could prove me wrong, but just take things in stride, I guess. I can't tell you what to do with your love life. If you feel like you two are better off as friends, then stay friends; don't ruin what's good by rushing into something that you don't understand," Natasha said, her voice low and sincere. She rubbed her thumb over Claire's hand and gave her a small smile. Claire looked down at their hands, frowned and sighed. She looked deep in thought, and Natasha could see that she had somewhat crossed a line. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line earlier. You know I only pressed because I care, right?"

"Yeah. I know," Claire mumbled, looking at her through her eyelashes and smiling. Natasha's smile grew and she tightened her grip on her hand and pulled her up and closer and into her for a hug. Claire giggled and hugged her back.

"I love you, kid."

"I love you too, Nat."

"So how is Wanda?" Natasha asked as they pulled away and settled back into their previous positions, Claire's legs falling back on Natasha's lap.

"She's okay, I guess. She has the flu."

"Oh. I hope she feels better." She paused for a moment before continuing. Claire returned to look at her phone screen like before, staring at her past conversations with Wanda. "Is that why you're here instead of with her?"

"Yeah," Claire said collapsing further back on the couch. "I want to send her a text, but I don't know what to say. I don't want to sound weird or like a creep or something." She sighed and pressed her index finger and thumb against the bridge of her nose and handed her phone over to Natasha. "What should I say?"

"Well...you could ask her how she is?" Natasha said, taking her phone and looking at the latest messages. "You want me to type it?"

"Yes please." Claire leaned forward, readjusted herself, and leaned her head on Natasha's shoulder, watching her type out a message to Wanda.

"That good?" Claire nodded and Natasha hit send. "There. Finally. You can stop moping now."

"I wasn't moping."

"Yes, you were."

A moment later, Claire's phone pings with a new text, and Claire sprung forward and took it from Natasha's hand, surprising her.

I'm doing better, I think. Still feel shitty, but it's not as bad as earlier. How are you?

Fine I guess. A little tired. Low-key missing you.

I miss you too. Really wish someone was with me right now. My roommate's out of town for a few weeks with her family for some big event that I definitely blanked on at the moment, and I guess I just miss having someone around.

Oh shit, dude, I'm sorry. Do you want me to come over?

Claire bit her lip as she sent the semi-risky text. She saw the three little bubbles of Wanda's response and her heart skipped a few beats as they stayed for a few seconds longer than Claire would've liked.

Honestly, I would really like that.

Do you want me to bring you anything?

Do you have soup?

I do. Do you have a preference?

Chicken noodle? If you don't have that, tomato is fine.

I think I have chicken noodle. I'll check and be right over. I'll text you when I'm close.

I'll just leave the door unlocked. You can come right in.

WANDA MAXIMOFF DO NOT LEAVE YOUR APARTMENT DOOR FUCKING UNLOCKED!

What if I fall asleep?

Then I'll wake you up. Do not leave your door unlocked.

Fine. Not to rush you, but be quick okay? I'm getting tired.

I'll try my best, Wanda. I'll be there in a few minutes.

Claire grabbed her phone and hopped off the couch, running towards her room. She quickly got changed and grabbed a mini suitcase, stuffing inside a few blankets, a fuzzy pillow, a couple cans of chicken noodle soup, her phone charger, computer and charger, her wallet and her keys, and rushed back out into the living room.

"Hey, so I'm going to go over to Wanda's. Don't know when I'll be back, so don't wait up," Claire said, grabbing a light jacket and dragging her bag to the front door.

"Alright. Have fun getting laid."

"Shut the fuck up, Nat."

○○○

Claire drove down the road faster than she would've like or what was probably safe for herself or others, but she did get to Wanda's apartment in one piece and without causing an accident in half the time than it usually took!

She exited her car, grabbed her bag from the backseat, and walked into Wanda's apartment building, taking the elevator all the way up to her floor. Luckily, the elevator was working today; it hadn't been working the first time she visited Wanda's apartment, and she and the brunette had to walk up the steep five flights. Yeah, five flights wasn't a lot, but it was much more than she wanted to do. The elevator ride took about two minutes, but Claire stood inside, tapping her foot impatiently and drumming her fingers against her thigh as the ride moved "too slow." She took out her phone and sent a quick text to Wanda telling her that she was on her way up and that she would be there in a minute or two, and by the time she hit send, the elevator stopped, and the metal chrome doors opened slowly.

Claire raced out of the elevator and practically sprinted down the hall to Wanda's door. Upon arriving, she instantly reached for the doorknob, turning it and finding the door unlocked. I hope she didn't leave this door open the whole time. Walking in, Claire's inner lecture that was about to become not so inner settled once she saw Wanda slowly move back to the couch, a large blanket wrapped tightly around her body.

"Hey," she said softly, walking further into the apartment, closing the door and taking her jacket off. Wanda turned around, and despite the obvious discomfort and probable pain, gave Claire a very happy smile.

"Hi," she replied. She spoke hyper nasally, and immediately Claire imagined how stuffed up she was, and her heart ached a bit for her. Wanda's normal green eyes were red and bloodshot and the skin around them was puffy and slightly swollen, going all the way down to around her nose, probably from excessive blowing. Her long brown hair was tied in a messy bun with strands and ends sticking out from having been laid on and moved every which way as she tried to get comfortable. Her pajamas were wrinkled, and her shirt hung to one side and bunched up at the bottom, revealing her shoulder and stomach, but neither of them cared.

Without really thinking about it, Claire dropped her stuff on the floor of the apartment and crossed the room, walking closer to Wanda. She stretched her arms out for a hug, thinking that her friend needed it—and she did—but Wanda reached a hesitant hand out and stopped her, pushing her back a little.

"I don't want to get you sick," she mumbled and wiped at her nose. Claire smiled and lightly pushed her hand down.

"Wanda, if I was so worried about getting sick, I wouldn't have come."

"I know, but still..."

"Wanda, I haven't seen you all day, you're suffering, just let me give you a hug. I promise if I get sick, I will not be mad at you," Claire said, rolling her eyes and stretching out her arms again, beckoning her with her hands. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and stepped forward into Claire's arms, wrapping hers around her in return, snuggling into her chest and her warmth.

"I'm glad you're here, Claire," Wanda mumbled, her voice muffled by the scrunched up blanket and the fabric of Claire's shirt. Claire smiled and held her tighter, resting her chin on the top of Wanda's head.

"I'm glad I came." They continued to hold each other for another minute before Claire broke the hug, bent down, and lifted Wanda into her arms, carrying her into her bedroom. Wanda squealed in surprise and broke out in a fit of giggles before coughing a bit. "Are you okay?" Claire set Wanda gently onto her bed and took her hair out of its messy bun.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, pressing a hand against her aching chest and putting on a brave smile. Claire crossed the room to her dresser and grabbed her brush, and walking back over to her, she began to run it through her tangled hair. Wanda closed her eyes, leaned her head back and sighed contently. "That feels good."

"My mom used to do this for me when I was sick. She would make me take a hot bath and wash my hair, get me changed into clean pajamas, change my bedsheets, and then she would wrap me up in a blanket and brush my hair while she sang to me," Claire said, a far-off look in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"You're mom sounds nice."

"She is, she really is."

"Is she...is she still...here?"

"Oh yeah, she's fine. She and my dad live out in the suburbs with my younger brother and sister. What about you?"

"My twin brother, Pietro is overseas. He was a big athlete in high school and college. When he graduated, he wanted to work with fitness; turns out he got hired at some European research center that works with physical fitness and therapy," Wanda said, her voice full of pride.

"That's great! What about your parents?"

"They died when we were ten. Car accident."

"Oh damn, Wanda, I'm so fucking sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up—"

"No don't worry about it. Honestly, Claire it's fine. You had no way of knowing. Besides, I'm over it...now."

Claire stopped brushing Wanda's hair and walked to the face her on the bed, sitting in front of her. She tucked a piece of her freshly brushed hair behind her ear. They stared deep in each other's eyes and Wanda blushed at Claire's lingering touch.

"What are you doing?" Wanda whispered.

"You uh...your hair was umm...sticking up."

"Oh." Wanda shifted in her seat and scooted closer to Claire, her knee brushing against Claire's. The redhead stiffened and her breath hitched, though she soon relaxed and somewhat leaned into the touch.

"So...what did you want to do?" Claire asked, not breaking eye contact with Wanda.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Wanda's hand moved from her lap and onto Claire's knee.

"Relax and watch a movie? I can heat up some soup for you and we can snuggle into the bed and watch a cheesy rom-com if you want? Or you can try to get some rest—"

"Can we watch a movie? I kinda want to spend some time with you before I try to sleep," Wanda said quietly, blushing more and biting her lip. Claire smiled and took Wanda's hand that was on her knee and held it, grazing the pad of her thumb across the smooth surface of Wanda's hand.

"Of course. Let me make you some soup first and some tea. Did you take any medicine?"

Wanda cough a few times and said once she recovered her breath, "I took come cough medicine a few hour ago."

"Okay, well I'm gonna give you some Tylenol; it'll help any alleviate any pain or discomfort." Before Claire left the room, she placed the back of her hand against Wanda's forehead, frowning slightly. "You have a little bit of a fever. Hopefully the Tylenol will help bring it down. Do you feel hot?"

"A little bit, but if I take the blanket off, I'll get cold," Wanda said, bringing the blanket around her tighter.

"I'll get you a cold wet rag to keep on your forehead." Claire got off the bed and walked to the door, but Wanda's voice halted her.

"Hey Claire, thank you again. For being here. I honestly think I would've died without you." Wanda played with her fingers, her teeth biting her lower lip, and her eyes cast down to her lap. "You're my hero."

"It's no trouble, Wanda. Now, lay down and relax. I'll be right back."

Claire walked back into the front room and opened her bag, taking out a can of soup, and walked into kitchen. She opened the can and poured it into a bowl and heated it up. Then she heated up some water and made Wanda and herself some tea. When she carried the bowl of soup and two mugs of tea back into Wanda's room and saw the brunette laying back on her bed, a smile grew on the redhead's face. Wanda was scrolling through her phone, not paying attention to the return of her friend, and Claire just took a moment to admire her. She couldn't deny that Wanda was beautiful, she wasn't blind, and she couldn't deny the growing feelings that she had for the green eyed brunette.

She noticed a while ago that her heart skipped a few beats whenever Wanda laughed, and her hands would get sweaty. Butterflies would appear in her stomach when Wanda touched her or even looked at her with her bright green eyes, and when she called her name, slightly rolling the "r" in that delicious accent of hers, a shiver ran down her spine.

She tried not to stare at Wanda, knowing and anticipating the intense level of embarrassment she would feel should she get caught. In fact, Wanda's eyes moved from her phone and over to Claire, who snapped out of her thoughts and walked over to the bed with the tray of soup and mugs of tea. Placing the tray down on her nightstand, she picked up the bowl of soup carefully and handed it to Wanda. Making sure that she had it, she took her own mug of tea and walked back to the other side of the bed, laying next to her.

"Be careful. It's hot," Claire told her, looking over at her as she was about to take a sip. Wanda dropped the spoon and shot a smirk over at Claire.

"The soup or the tea?" she asked, trying to make a joke, and despite the badness of it, Claire laughed regardless.

"Both." Claire grabbed the remote and turned on the TV on the opposite wall and scrolled through her list of movies. "Did you have a preference?" Wanda's eyes glanced up at the TV, looking at the movies that Claire flipped through.

"I'm always in the mood for something funny," she muttered, breaking into a coughing fit, wheezing slightly as she tried to catch her breath. Claire leaned forward, turning towards her, took the bowl from her, and patted her back. She rubbed her back and helped her settle back down and Wanda leaned into the touch, grateful for her help. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem. Are you okay?"

"Believe it or not, I'm doing much better than earlier. The soup is helping," she said, wincing slightly at the pain in her chest. Claire's lips pulled into a small pained smile and she continued to rub the brunette's back, hoping to ease the pain and discomfort that Wanda's flu was bringing her.

"Jesus Wanda."

"Really, I'm okay."

Claire turned from her friend and searched for movies under comedies, scrolling past each one of them slowly, looking at Wanda for a reaction, something to spark her interest. Eventually they settled on 10 Things I Hate About You, and the two of them watched in silence. About half-way through the movie, Wanda finished her soup and they both finished their tea, and in an effort to feel some more warmth as a sudden chill hit her, she curled up under the blankets and scooted closer to Claire, grabbing her hand and wrapping it around hers. She snuggled against Claire's shoulder, harnessing more of her warmth, and catching the hint, Claire pulled her hand from Wanda's and draped it around her, pulling her closer and into her.

"God, Claire, you're so warm," Wanda mumbled as she buried her face into Claire's shirt, inhaling her scent and letting out a shaky exhale. Despite her many layers, she was freezing, and the fact that she was shivering sent waves of worry through Claire who looked down at her.

"Jesus Wanda, are you shivering?" Claire asked, pulling Wanda closer to her as well as the blanket around her, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, trying to regenerate some warmth.

"I'm fine," she murmured, closing her eyes and concentrating hard on Claire's efforts to warm her.

"No you're not. You're freezing." Claire jumped out of the bed and walked over to the thermostat and turned the heat up. She then walked over to the heater against the wall under her window on her side of the bed, and leaned her hand against the cool metal. While it wasn't hot, she could feel it turning on, but would it be enough? Frantically, Claire searched through Wanda's apartment for anything that could help get rid of her chill. Then, as if it was her lucky day, she found a small portable space heater in her closet. Rolling it out, she plugged it in and wheeled it over to Wanda's side of the bed and turned it on.

After a few minutes, both the heat and space heater fully came on, and Wanda moaned quietly as the heat permeated her chill. Claire got back on the bed and pulled Wanda into her, once more rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"If you get too hot, let me know and I'll turn it off," she whispered. Wanda nodded and snuggled into her warmth, finding it more preferable than the blankets and heat from the heaters.

Deep down, Wanda—for lack of a better term—felt shitty. While she tried not to stare at Claire, she noticed the large beads of sweat forming on her forehead and neck. Every couple seconds, Claire would shift in her seat, subtly fanning herself with her shirt in a vain attempt to cool herself. Wanda wasn't stupid; she knew that Claire was hot, more so than she was, but she also knew that no amount of insisting would get the stubborn redhead to turn the heat off.

"I know you're hot," Wanda said, reaching her hand up to lightly brush against Claire's face, wiping some of her sweat away.

"Don't worry about me."

"It's hard to not to."

Claire looked over at her, silently questioning her meaning, but Wanda's eyes were turned back to the TV.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, her curiosity getting the best of her. Wanda breathed deeply, sighing, and turned towards her. She grabbed the remote and paused the movie before sitting up from Claire's embrace, the redhead's arm falling limp onto the bed, and bit her lip nervously.

"I mean...I really care about you, Claire. Like, really, really care." She took Claire's hand in hers, running her thumb over her knuckles. "Besides my brother, I've never had anyone that I could honestly call a friend...until you. You are my best friend, Claire, and I care a lot about you, I...I...even...like you." Claire stiffened and her eyes widened a little. Wanda avoided her gaze and fixed her eyes onto Claire's hand, watching her thumb run over Claire's knuckles. Her face was red and it wasn't from her fever. "I'm not sure exactly when I started feeling this way, but I do...I like you, Claire. You have easily become the one thing that I look forward to seeing when I walk into work and you're the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. You do things to me that I can't explain, things I've never felt before, things that...I want—no, need to feel again."

"Why are you telling me this? Why now?" Claire asked, feeling her heart beat faster as she became nervous. It was now that Wanda lifted her eyes to the purple eyed redhead, and tears—a physical manifestation of her fears—glistened in her eyes.

"I don't know," Wanda laughed, running a free hand through her hair. "Probably because I can't take it anymore."

"Take what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Claire. I know you feel it too." Wanda shifted on the bed and pulled herself into Claire's lap and wrapped her legs tightly around her waist. Unlike how Claire ever would've expected this move, Wanda's face was serious and devoid of any emotion or manner that hinted an ulterior motive. Claire gulped and let her eyes fall from Wanda's eyes to her lips very briefly, but Wanda caught it.

Wanda brought her hand up and lightly grazed Claire's lips, earning a small whimper from the redhead. Claire's lips twitched and she gulped again, wondering what Wanda was doing.

"I can't read your mind, Claire, but it's not hard to guess what you're thinking. I think about it too, but I want to hear you say it. Say it."

Claire's mind was running a mile a minute and her heart was beating erratically. Was this a dream? Surely this couldn't be real. Here she was, the subject of her crush and slight obsession sitting in her lap, her face inches from hers. All she had to do was lean in, lean in and connect her lips with Wanda's. She bet they were soft and warm and that they would throb slightly when Claire aggressively pressed her lips against hers. She would know in an instant if she would just...lean...in.

"Say it."

Say what? Claire didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say anything. She wanted to show. Claire understood that Wanda was trying to get to the root of both of their feelings, and she knew that Wanda—to some extent—felt the same way, but before she acted on it, she needed to be sure, she needed to hear Claire say what she wanted to hear, but Claire didn't want to say it. She wanted to grab Wanda by her shoulders and flip them so that Claire was hovering above her, pressing hungry aggressive kisses against every inch of visible skin, sickness be damned. She wanted to feel Wanda's soft skin brush against her arms, legs, stomach, anywhere and everywhere.

"Say it!"

She could hear Wanda getting impatient now. Her voice was hard and each syllable was pronounced in an equally hard manner. Claire couldn't speak. Couldn't make the connection from the thoughts in her brain to her mouth. Her hands gently gripped Wanda's upper arms, her fingers pressing into her soft skin. She was careful not to grip her too hard, afraid of hurting her, but the firm touch caused the brunette to gasp quietly. Claire leaned forward off the headboard, pushing Wanda back a little in her lap and moved her hands from her arms to around her back and hips. Slowly she leaned in, all the while keeping her eyes on Wanda's, gauging her reaction. Wanda didn't move, but her lips parted slightly, her tongue darted out and licked her lips in anticipation. She was almost close, now, not much farther now, she could practically taste her.

About an inch from her lips, and Wanda smirked. "You know, I'm still sick." Claire groaned and pulled away, sending Wanda a playful glare, though it was genuine. To say she was frustrated was an understatement. Wanda, sensing her frustration, leaned in and kissed her cheek and rested her head against her forehead. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you, but I don't want you getting sick."

"How many times have I told you, I don't care about getting sick. I just care about you."

"Is that your way of saying you like me?" Wanda asked smugly. Claire rolled her eyes and smirked.

"If you let me kiss you, you would've known that for sure."

"Literally under any other circumstance I would've let you."

Wanda rolled off her lap and curled back up against her side. Claire once again draped her arm over her and turned her head towards her, planting her lips against her forehead, leaving a long kiss. She pulled away slowly and looked down into Wanda's eyes.

"Did you do that to do that or were you checking my temperature?"

"Why can't it be both?" Claire answered, chuckled and kissing her again. "Your fever is going down, by the way. Maybe you should try to get some sleep."

"I don't want to." Wanda's voice was suddenly low and wavering, as if she was suddenly afraid. Claire tightened her grip on Wanda and pulled her to her more, resting her cheek against her hair. Wanda curled more into her chest, placing her hand on her chest, right above her heart and right under her breast.

Kissing her forehead again Claire said, "Go to sleep, Wanda. I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Do you promise?"

"Of course. I'd never break a promise to you. Sleep tight, Wanda."