Saving Her | one

t w e n t y - t w o

Pietro

     I wake up, turning to the alarm clock on my bedside table. 4:30 am. I sigh, and decide it's best if I don't go back to sleep. I walk across the room and grab a huge sheet of paper, trying hard to keep silent. I grab a pen and start jotting down prank ideas. Some were epic, others minor.I finish around 5 and laugh when I see the girls. They're tangled, hair messy and light snores coming out of their open mouths. I grab my phone that Fury gave me and take a couple of pictures. They are gonna kill me for sure. I lock the phone, setting it down as I make my way to the kitchen for some coffee.

     As I enter the kitchen, I start up the Keurig, grabbing a coffee cup and a K-Cup. I place the coffee in the little chamber and select a size. As I wait for it to start, I hear mumbling. I turn around and find the famous Winter Soldier, or Bucky.

     "I've been here longer than you and I still don't know how to work the damn coffee machine." He says, staring down at his cup of tea.

     "Rose showed me how to use it yesterday. Want me to show you?" I offer. He tenses a bit when I mention Rose, but shrugs and replies," Don't need to, I already watched you do it."

     I give a small smile as my coffee finishes. I grab the cup and sit on a stool by the counter. Bucky and I talk a little while and get to know each other.We share each other's past at HYDRA, a few laughs here and there.

     I'm sorry for the poor guy. The most down to earth guy, one day having everything, then loses it all the next. His family and friends, people that he helped, Steve. Must've struck a nerve when he woke up in enemy lines, defenseless and armless. Pain, shock, and sadness, all washed in him. I immediately start to ease up on the guy, feeling sorry for what he had to deal with. Him, the same for me.

     I put our cups in the sink, and he looks at me and says,"You gonna wash the cups? Or do I have to do it?" I could tell he was joking by the facial expression he displays, a smirk appearing not too long after.

     "Nah, I leave my dishes in the sink for someone else to do it." I smirk, and I knew then and there that we were going to be best friends. He nods in agreement as we figure out a handshake. It's complicated, a series of hand movements that tend to flow. We both come up with a good one, too hard for someone else to comprehend. But it was nothing compared to the one Rose and I made. Our hips don't lie.

     "Well, I should tell you something, but I would be putting my friendship with Rose on the line. Who am I kidding? We're like siblings, we mess around with each other all the time!" I exclaim, his face growing in interest at my words.

     "What? What do you have to tell me? Is it a...secret?" He asks. I nod, smiling as he catches on. I look around, making sure no one but him and I were around to listen.

     Little did I know, Jarvis hears everything.

************Rose

     I wake up around 5:30, groggy as I sit up. I could see myself looking like a beast from 'Were the Wild Things Are'. I look over to Pietro's bed to find it empty, assuming he woke up early. I don't bother, as I'm too tired to actually walk out the room.

     As I stand up, a shiny black figure on his bedside table caught my eye. His phone. I smirk as I unlock it, the password being Wanda, and see the most ugliest thing ever. Wanda and I tangled, messy bed hair, and open mouths like we were snoring. I could feel the rage boiling in me, but I calm down, not wanting anyone to know I'm awake. I look over to see his drawer open, a white corner of a piece of paper sticking out. I take it out and find a list of pranks, some great, others stupid.

     I walk into the bathroom and sit on the black stool in front of the mirror. As I fix myself in the Vanity, I can't help but notice how ugly I look. My hair, eyes, face, smile, lips, chest. I'm too big, my chest huge, my lips small, face too fat, ugly smile, hair, and eyes. No one likes me. I'm too fat and ugly, like that's something anyone would love. A fat and ugly girl who isn't human. I am a monster. I don't deserve to be here, or have friends, or Bucky. I'm worthless, a nothing. A nobody.

     Sure, others say I'm the complete opposite, but my mother used to point these things out to me. She would say,"Rose, if you don't look pretty, you won't be pretty. Now, drink this, take these pills, and I have a personal trainer for you. You will be pretty in no time."

     I was young at the time, yet she didn't care. As long as I was skinny, I would be pretty she said. But I got too skinny for her liking, me bone thin. That's why I cope with pranks. It makes the other actually care about me for once, so I love to do it all the time.    I hear Pietro come in from outside, so I wipe the tears and hide any evidence that I was crying. I take a few deep breathes, then exit and smirk at Pietro like nothing happened, only, it did.