"You're sure you got everything?" I asked Pietro as I closed the trunk of his car and walked around to the front passenger seat. His light blonde hair glistened in the early afternoon sun as he waved me off, opening his door.

"Oh hell yeah, I got everything. And if I missed something, I can always just run to the store and get it." He got into the truck and started engine. I continued to stand beside the truck, staring back at our apartment, the building that had been my home for the past few years.

Touching the gold locket around my neck, I wiped away the small tear that ran down my cheek. Momma and Papa would be proud of you. This is what they always wanted for you. I was pulled out of my thoughts with the blaring noise of Pietro's hand slamming down on the horn. I groaned and cursed in Sokovian under my breath and opened the door, getting into the truck.

The drive was long, partly because of traffic and largely because of Pietro's black-hole of a stomach. By the time we got to campus, it was packed. Cars were parked all along the streets (some even going out of their way to create their own spots so they could be close to the dorms) and students walked the different paths lugging large boxes and bins while shouting directions at their family members. Loud music blared from the speakers of some guy's boombox that sat outside of a dorm and people huddled around it, jamming out to the music and presumably making friends.

I leaned against the window of Pietro's truck, feeling overwhelmed by the chaotic atmosphere of the campus that did nothing for my anxiety, and had to tell myself (many times) that it would only be like this for the first few days, two weeks max. Once classes started and the workload started to pile up, things would settle down. I hoped.

Pietro parked in front of the administration building and helped me out, leading me down to where we had to register and where we would be given our housing information. I knew it was unlikely, but I prayed that Pietro and I were given the same room, or at the very least the same building. We've been joined at the hip since our birth and very rarely did I do anything without him. Pietro was always the adventurous and social one that made a ton of friends and went out and did fun things. I, on the other hand, stayed cooped up in the apartment reading or writing or watching TV. That's not to say that I didn't go out and have fun, because I did. It was just with Pietro and his friends; I didn't have friends of my own.

Nervously, I grasped at my dark auburn hair and tied it in a high ponytail and played with the many rings on my fingers. Pietro looked over at me as we stood in line and moved his hand to hold onto mine, stopping my nervous habit. Looking into my green eyes, he gave me a small smile. He always knew how to calm me down. The line moved fast, and before I knew it we were next. Pietro and I filled out all the paperwork that was given to us as we moved down the table, until we got to the end.

"Alright and who do we have here?" the Resident Life administrator said, more to herself than as a genuine question. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins?"

"That's right," Pietro said, a smirk on his stubbled face. The woman smiled at us and filled out her part of the paperwork before digging through another pile of papers.

"Okay, here we go. Pietro you're gonna be in Simmons Hall room 234. Here's your combination." She gave Pietro his room combination as well as a map of the campus, a list of upcoming campus events, a calendar, a list of all available clubs, and his student ID. He smiled and thanked her and stepped out of the way. The woman once more started to shuffle through the pile again before stopping at my name. "And Wanda—that's a very pretty name, Wanda—you'll be in Ivy House room 304 and here is your room combination."

The woman proceeded to give me my combination and the same packet of information that Pietro got and gave us a smile as we started to walk out of the room.

"Welcome to Browne University!" Pietro turned and waved at her and we walked back outside to his truck.

I frowned and stared ahead, panicking on the inside. I heard Pietro's voice speaking to me, but I didn't pay attention to the words. All I could focus on was the pounding of my own heart as I was faced with the inevitable fact that I was being separated from Pietro. I mean, I guess I always knew this would happen, especially when we both agreed to come here, but...I guess I still had some hope that we'd be together. We weren't even in the same dorm. What if I needed him to help calm my anxiety or when I had a nightmare? Could I truly rely on my roommate to deal with my bullshit?

Pietro stopped in front of me and snapped his fingers in my face, pulling me from me internal meltdown and said, "Are you listening to me?"

"I'm sorry, I was...distracted. What were you saying?" Pietro's face softened as his blue eyes stared into my green eyes, looking for something—some semblance of an answer.

"Are you okay, sestra (sister)?" he asked, his deep voice gentle. He placed his hands on my shoulders and crouched a bit to become level with me and continued to stare into my eyes. I forced a smile and nodded my head. He scowled but didn't say anything more. After a moment, he pulled away and got in his truck. "Come on, let's find your dorm and get you set up."

○○○

To make matters worse, I found out that not only were me and Pietro not living in the same building, but that my dorm and his were on the opposite sides of campus! I didn't want to live here by myself, but for Pietro's sake, I put on a brave face and helped him carry my stuff up to the third floor. It was safe to say that he was doing a lot better than me.

We finally got to the third floor and was met with a very peppy jock-type guy wearing a red and blue letterman jacket and jeans with golden blonde hair and striking blue eyes. His large and broad shoulders were clearly visible despite the jacket and he had a friendly smile plastered on his unblemished face.

"Hey guys. My name's Steve and I'm the RA of this floor. Do you need any help finding your room or bringing stuff up?" Steve asked in a friendly voice. Pietro narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of me before he continued to walk past Steve. He made sure to push his shoulders back and stand a little taller as he passed.

"No thanks. We got it."

"Alright, well if you need any help, just let me know. I'm in room 315." Steve turned and walked down the other end of the hall, asking people if they needed help with their stuff. Once he was out of earshot, Pietro huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"You didn't have to be rude," I told him, chuckling at his childish and immature nature.

"You don't get it Wanda because you're a girl and you're well...you, but that gut, that Steve," he spat his name out with venom dripping from his words, "he was hitting on you."

"He was not hitting on me," I corrected him. Pietro tended to overreact when it came to boys. Not that I've ever been interested, which he knew that. I've been on a few dates with guys, even going as far as...doing other things in my recent past with them—my face started to heat up at that though—but it never felt right? It wasn't until Kathy Harding kissed me in sophomore year when I discovered why none of my relationships with guys never worked, though I pretty much ignored it. I'm not quite sure why I decided to stop fighting it now, but when I finally told Pietro he was very understand and maybe even a little relieved at the prospect of me not liking guys, claiming "it would make my life easier."

"Oh sestra, you can be so naive. Just because you're not gaga for guys doesn't mean that they're not gaga for you. I see the way that they look at you and I just want you to be safe." I put the box that I was holding down on the floor in the hallway outside my room and embraced him as best as I could considering that he hadn't put his box down.

"Volim te brate (I love you, brother)," I said. Pietro chuckled and tried his best to crane his neck down to place a small peck of a kiss against my hairline.

"I love you too. Now come on, let's get your stuff in first before we unpack."

I opened the door to my room and was greeted with what was probably a standard college dorm: white walls with closets on either walls, two bare beds, two desks, two dressers, and one window that sat parallel to the door. Pietro carried in his box and placed it on the floor next to one of the empty beds, claiming mine before he left and headed in the direction of the steps, probably going back out to the truck to get the rest of my stuff. I followed his lead, carrying in my box and placed it next to the one on the floor before following Pietro to the truck.

Surprisingly, it didn't take too long for me and Pietro to fully unpack my stuff and decorate my room. My roommate hadn't arrived yet, and because I didn't feel like sitting in an empty room by myself, I convinced Pietro to let me help him set up his room. Unlike me, Pietro's roommate was already in the room was in the process of setting up his side of the room.

His back was turned towards the door as he stared at the wall holding a poster of what looked like a blueprint? He was a little short with dark hair and was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. He was muttering to himself but paused and turned when he heard us enter further into the room. Getting a look at his face, I noticed the thin pencil goatee that was growing around his mouth. A big smile made its way onto his face.

"Hey so you must be my roommate," he said to Pietro, placing the poster down on his bed and held out his hand for a shake. "My name's Tony. Tony Stark."

"Pietro. And this is my sister, Wanda." I gave him a small smile and waved and shook his hand when he held it out to me.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry it's a little bit of a mess. JARVIS, remind me to get some wall putty tomorrow."

"JARVIS?"

"I'll add wall putty to your list," the male automated voice of an Alexa said from the corner.

"Oh yeah. I found a way to reconfigure an Alexia device and renamed it JARVIS. Now he can do...pretty much whatever I tell him to. And I got him synced up to my phone. He's practically better than Siri," Tony said as he shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way.

"That's...really cool man. So you're into building things?" Pietro asked. Tony smiled and shrugged again.

"I guess so. Engineering and science are two of my main interests nowadays. What about you, what are you into?"

"Track and sports in general I guess. But in terms of school, physical therapy."

"Nice. What about you, Wanda was it?"

I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest and said, "I don't really have any interests. I mean I like to write, but as for school, I'm undecided." Tony nodded his head in understanding and went back to setting up his stuff, occasionally yelling at JARVIS to remind him to do something or to add some forgotten supply to his growing shopping list.

It took a little longer for us to set up Pietro's stuff, mostly because Tony kept talking to us—or rather Pietro—and kept distracting him, but once we were finished, me and Pietro collapsed on his freshly made bed, fully exhausted after the day's events. We did a lot of work and I was starving. I had forgotten that I didn't really eat lunch today.

We spent a little more time hanging out in his room and talking to Tony before Pietro couldn't stand the sound of his own growling stomach anymore and led me out of his room and down to his truck where we drove off in search of a good place to grab food. After fifteen minutes of driving, we came across a pizza place and he pulled into a parking spot outside and jumped out, exclaiming how hungry he was.

The pizza was delicious, but it didn't last long. Before I knew it and before I was ready, we were back in the truck with Pietro driving back to campus, heading in the direction of my dorm. He pulled up outside and looked over at me, watching me stare at the front doors, a small tear rolling down my face. I turned my head sharply when I felt his thumb graze my cheek, wiping the tear away.

"I know, sestra," he whispered. "I know it's different, but you'll be okay. I know you will. And if you need me, I'm right here." He placed a kiss against my forehead and unlocked my door. Taking a shaky breath, I opened it and stepped out, taking small and delicate steps up to the door. As my hand reached the knob, I turned back and looked directly into Pietro's face, giving me an encouraging smile. I opened the door and stepped inside and walked the three floors up to my room. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was lie in my bed, cry, and go to sleep. Opening my door I was surprised when I saw that someone was already in the room

A girl sat on her bed with headphones in, though the music was so loud that it blared through—which defeated the purpose—and was painting her nails. The scent of nail polish made me gag and I walked over to the window in the middle of the room and opened it, letting in some fresh air before turning to my supposed roommate.

She had pale skin and flaming red hair that fell close to her elbows in thick curly waves. Her eyes were a dark color, but from the angel I couldn't tell what color they were, but I assumed they were brown. A long scar resembling claw marks ran from her left temple and down the left side of her face, past her eye and to her chin. Ouch! That must've been painful.

"Can I help you withsomething?" she asked, not looking up from her nails, her tone bitter andsarcastic. I blinked at her and turned away to sit on my bed. Ignoring her, Ikicked off my shoes and laid down against the clean sheets and closed my eyes.I prayed that tonight was a night in which I wasn't plagued by nightmares andallowed myself to drift off into sleep. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.