"Are you sure you have to leave?"

A sigh slips past my lips. I look up from where I've been stooped, packing my things, to see my very best friend lingering in the doorway. She tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she glances around the bedroom.

"Laurie, dearie, we've been through this..."

"I know, I know," Laurie laughs lightly. She's struggling with the idea of being apart, and I understand. "This wasn't a permanent thing for you, I get it."

"Of course it wasn't," I chuckle. "I can't stay here forever, you know. I think you and Nathan might want your own space eventually."

"Yeah, sure... but it doesn't have to be so soon," Laurie attempts to plead.

I plop down onto the daybed that I've been housed on for nearly two years now. With student loans and no income, I've had a hard time paying for everything with the little bit of money I have stuck back in savings. Laurie's parents are loaded. They live on the other coast, but they granted her enough money to buy this apartment with her fiancé when we were all in college. She makes good dough, too, in her newly attained position at Apple. Nathan's an NYPD officer now. They're paying her parents back now, and I feel utterly guilty about hardly being able to contribute. They all assure me that it's fine, but I still feel rotten.

Laurie breathes deeply out of her nose. She comes up behind me, her hands taking ahold of the snagged zipper of my luggage. She shoots me a wary smile. "I am really proud of you, Sade."

Oh god, don't cry. I feel wetness plucking at the corners of my eyes. "Thanks, girl. It's taken me a bit longer than you, but maybe I'll actually do something with my life now," I chuckle lightly.

"Don't say that," Laurie grunts. "You've accomplished a lot."

"Hardly," I sigh.

"Money isn't equivalent to success," Laurie notes sternly. She stands at her full height of five feet eight inches and frowns down to me.

Easy enough for someone with money to say, I think to myself selfishly.

Deciding to give her this one, I resort to smiling. "Okay, fine, you've got a valid point."

Proud of herself, Laurie turns to look over all my packed things. I don't have a lot of them, just a single suitcase and two smaller totes.

"Are you sure you don't want to take any of the kitchen crap with you?"

I shake my head. "When I called Mr. Stark he told me that he'll provide all of that. So you and Nathan can keep it. Besides, you'll need it once I'm gone and not here to cook for you all the time." I give her a cheeky wink while finishing stuffing my pillow into the roomier of the totes.

"I have a feeling it'll mainly be takeout food and McDonalds from here on out." She flops down onto the naked mattress where I used to sleep.

"You have always loved McDonalds." I snicker.

"Yeah, that was before you showed me what good food actually tastes like."

"I'll come back to cook for you guys whenever you want. I at least owe you that," I say.

Nathan, the Puerto Rican fiancé to my darling best friend, appears in the open doorway. He leans two muscular arms on either side. He's dressed in all that dorky, stupid professional biking gear that he wears to the marathons. He must've been on a ride.

"You've gotta give us a tour of the tower, too," he interjects with a wickedly excited grin.

I roll my eyes. "You just want to meet Captain America."

"I've got a bit of a crush, but it's nothing I'm ashamed of!"

I stand from my kneeling spot on the ground. "I don't even know if I'll get to see any of the Avengers. I'll probably just be stuck in a kitchen all day taking text-message orders from Stark."

"I wonder what your room's gonna look like," Laurie dreamily notes. She's just as excited about all of this as I am. Her blue eyes are shiny with glee.

"I'll Facetime you the moment I get there, I promise," I laugh. I come to stand before where she sits on the bed. My arms open wide, expecting a hug. She eagerly delves into my embrace with her arms wrapping all the way around my waist. Her face stuffs into my stomach from where I stand in front of her.

"I'm gonna miss you," I can hardly hear her mumbling.

I pet the back of her blonde hair lovingly. We've been through a lot together. We met in high school. Strangely enough we became friends after only a day of sitting next to each other in a finance class. She was the tall, beautiful, charismatic blonde cheerleader. I was the bookish, quiet girl at the back of the class with the dorky glasses. But there was a lot more to us then the labels. She's a spunky, 70's flower child, badass music-buff. I'm the giggly, cult movie fanatic with enough patience to handle her endless rants about music eras and her idol Michael Jackson. I don't think I could've survived all these years without her. Moving to New York from Oregon was hard for both of us, but it was something we did together (with Nathan of course). Now that I'm leaving her, I feel like this'll be the very first time in my life that I'll be alone.

Glancing to my watch I see that it's almost five. A sigh cards through my lips. I'm slightly nervous, but I don't want to acknowledge the uneasy feeling. "I should get downstairs. Stark said the car would be coming at five."

All the way through the apartment and downstairs Nathan badgers me about meeting his idol. He carries the heaviest of my things while Laurie and I take the lighter two.

"Please, Sadie, I'd just love it if you could text me after you meet him. Tell me what he's like, how tall he is in person, if he's really as nice as everyone says..."

"Don't be a fanboy," Laurie grunts. "You're really annoying me."

"Hey!" he pouts. "I listen to you go on and on about MJ all day."

"Yeah, but Michael Jackson is an icon."

Nathan huffs. He sets my luggage down on the curb, still in that ugly biking outfit. "And Steve Rogers isn't?"

Laurie opens her wide lipped mouth before promptly shutting it, not finding a valid argument.

Nathan smirks proudly. "Ha."

Honestly, this sort of interaction between the two of them isn't anything out of the ordinary. They've been together longer than I've been friends with Laurie, and they act more like annoying children sometimes than engaged lovers.

"I promise I'll text you Captain America updates," I tell Nathan with a hand to his elbow. He beams with pride. Then I turn to Isabella, smiling at her softly. "And I promise to update you about absolutely everything else in my life to the point of absolute annoyance."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Laurie replies. In her big blue eyes I see all the years fluttering by between one blink and the next. We hug again. I don't think I've ever been so eager yet reluctant at the same time before as I am when I let her go and get into the awaiting Range Rover. Waving goodbye to the dorky duo, it finally settles in how real all of this is becoming. I turn to face the driver with a stiff shiver.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what I'm doing. But hey; what's new?

The drive to the Avengers' tower takes almost an hour even though it's technically only a few minutes away. New York traffic is a fate worth than death, inarguably. But when we finally arrive it feels like I've been waiting an eternity. I step out into the parking garage with a big ole dorky grin slapped on my face. I think back to the phone conversation I'd had with my mom and sister the night before. Optimism and dedication, my mom reminded me, have those things in your mind when you walk into that building and you'll do just fine.

My sister, Bekah, just has hopes for me to sleep with one of them.

"Deep breaths," I coach myself.

The driver comes around to my side of the Rover. He blinks, seeing that I've already let myself out. He goes to fetch my things, but I tell him it's alright—I've got it from here. Unconvinced, he hesitates but eventually allows me to load my arms. I then waddle my way to the elevator at his helpful command. There the doors open before I can even push a button. I assume they're motion activated before hearing an electronic voice humming sweetly in the air around my head.

"Good evening, Ms. Schatz."

My neck cranes back to the stare at the metal ceiling. All I see is my reflection looking back down at me.

"Oh. Why, hello there," I chuckle. "How'd you know my name?"

"Mr. Stark has prepared me for your arrival."

"And who exactly are you?" I question, swaying from one foot to the next. Whoever she is, she's sending me to a floor that I haven't any idea what is housed there.

"You may call me Friday. I'm Mr. Stark's artificial intelligence operating system. I have access to the entire compound and any electronics you'll be provided with."

"That's very impressive," I note, not really sure how I'm supposed to respond to a robot. But she's been very nice, so I decide to be nice in response. "It's lovely to meet you, Friday. My name is Sadie."

"Would you prefer me to call you Sadie as opposed to Ms. Schatz?"

I nod, not entirely sure if she can see or register that action. "Sure. That'd be lovely, Friday." My eyes land on the whirring numbered screen atop the closed doors. We're moving very fast. "Where are we going, Friday?"

"I'm taking you to your room. It's on the 52nd floor." The doors open just precisely then. My head peeks out before I decide to fully exit the elevator. I'm slightly surprised as the lights all around me turn on. It's a rather short hallway I'm presented with. There are three doors—two on my right and one centered on my left.

"Your room is to the left."

"What are the other doors to?"

"One is for you to do your laundry. The other is a spare—unused, at the moment. Perhaps to be used in the future for a butler or maid."

"Good to know," I comment. I paddle towards my door, the lonely one, before noticing there's a keypad.

"A code?"

"Yes. You may set it now, if you'd like."

I purse my lips, deep in thought. "Four digits?"

"As many or as few as you'd like."

"Can I make it 1865?"

"Of course."

A few clicks sound from the door ahead of me. Then the screen lights up blue like it hadn't been before. Anxiously I press the numbers in the proper order before seeing the pad glow green. Then I get the chance to push inside the room.

I'm nearly shocked to death.

This place... This place cannot possibly be my home. I've only daydreamed about living somewhere as fantastic as this. From just the doorway I can see the most amazing city view of downtown Manhattan. A huge—and I mean freaking huge—four posted bed is positioned to look out over the city. White curtains billow around white walls. There's a small living space with luxurious fluffy armchairs of the same pearly color. A TV hangs mounted above a coffee table of crystal stone.

I quickly disregard my things to the side to do some exploring. My bathroom nearly makes me whimper aloud. There's a claw footed tub and double vanity with sparkly movie star lights all around. The white drawers are all empty, waiting to be filled with expensive makeup I have yet to purchase.

I bounce around on my toes like a caffeinated Chihuahua. Dashing from the bathroom to my closet I start to squeal. I don't even have enough clothes to fill A QUARTER of this space! I have my own little kitchenette, which I assume I'll be able to take advantage of for my own use and on days off. I spin around in circles on the plush grey carpeting of the loft bedroom. Giggles spill from my lips while I dizzily stagger to the window. I press the tip of my nose to the glass and peer out at the slowly darkening sky outside. The snow from two nights ago has since turned to greyish brown mush, but to me; New York has never looked prettier.

"Holy shit," I breathe. I bite down on my knuckle. My wide eyes survey the big open loft. It's perfect for me. It's perfect—period.

"Do you like your living quarters, Miss Sadie?"

"Like? Friday, I'm in love," I laugh. I skip to the kitchen to smear my hands down the quartz countertop. I giggle at the squeaking sound of my slick hands to the clean, shimmering grey stone. "I don't know if I'll ever want to leave."

"The Avengers will surely appreciate having you as addition to the team."

"As long as I don't have to fight any aliens, I'll be happy too." I smirk crookedly at the ceiling before noticing the marbled fireplace. "Oh! A fireplace!" I skitter towards it. "Does it work? What am I saying? Of course it works."

It flickers to life right before my eyes, eliciting a quiet gasp from my lips.

"You did that, Friday?" The pure mystified intrigue in my voice is palpable.

If robots can laugh, that's what Friday is doing. Her reply is bubblier than ever before. "Yes, Miss Sadie, I did."

Giggling, I rush to the couch. I throw myself into the fluffy cushions. My curls fall out from where I've pinned them up and the scrunchie gets lost somewhere in the decorative throw pillows.

"Friday," I say out loud.

"Yes, Miss Sadie?"

"I think I'm the luckiest person alive."