"Nico?" As you neared your sister's room, you called out to her. After seeing her door was slightly ajar, you entered her room and found her adjusting and styling her hair. Nico ceased her actions and looked in the mirror at you. "You're dressed early. Did Alex need you that bad?"

You shrugged. "He said the decrypting the file should finish in a day if we start early." You fidgeted with your fingers in nervousness. "I was wondering if you want to accompany me? I-I'm not that close to Alex, and you two are a thing-"

Nico slightly scoffed. "We are not a thing."

"But you two like each other."

Nico stared at you for a moment through her mirror and pushed her lips out as she thought. "I guess so. We didn't really made it official? I don't know. It's complicated." She murmured before shaking her head. "Anyway, I think you should go. I'll see you later at school."

You were going to leave Nico's room when you came to a halt near the door and raced over to her, embracing her from behind. Nico was taken aback and placed her arms on top of yours, a little startled. "What is this all about?" She chuckled.

"Nothing." You replied. "I just wanted to hug you. I've been wanting to do that after learning you were going to be my sister."

Nico's heart melted, and she turned around, hugging you tight. "What did I do to deserve you?"

You let out a small giggle as you buried your face on her shoulder. Nico patted your head and pulled away. "Okay, go on. Alex is probably waiting for you. I'll see you later."

"See you later, sis!" You beamed before leaving the room. As you called for a Lyft, Nico sighed heavily as she stared at her door, reminiscing her times with her older sister Amy. "I wish you could've met her..." Nico whispered. "I'm sure you two would have a great time together."

You got in the car, and the driver drove off while you scrolled through your phone's gallery. You zoomed in on the image of your adoption papers and studied the names of the twins who had adopted you as a sibling. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff..." You whispered before exiting the app and pressing the music app.

You came to a halt and pondered for a moment. You left the app and quickly went to WizSearch. WizSearch was able to discover some information about Pietro Maximoff after you typed his name.

When you saw an obituary for him, your heart sank, and you rushed to the website. It was right there. You discovered that 177 people were killed after Sokovia's capital city, Novi Grad, was destroyed, including your first adoptive brother, Pietro. Your eyes welled up with tears, and you quickly covered your mouth with your hand to contain a sob. "Oh, God..." You whispered.

Too much for you to bear, you turned your phone off and leaned your head back to your seat as tears streamed down your face. You let out a sad smile when a few memories with you and Pietro were resurfacing.

"Ah, you and Wanda kept on watching these sitcoms, huh? How about let's have some fun together, just me and you?"

"No sitcoms?"

"No sitcoms."

When you eventually arrived at the Wilders' mansion, you suppressed a laugh and wiped your tears away. You thanked the driver as soon as you got out of the car. You spotted Geoffrey seeing you from the living room, and when he saw you approaching, he immediately opened the door. "(Y/n)!" He smiled. "What a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was invited by Alex." You told him. "I-Is he here?"

"Oh, yeah." Geoffrey cleared his throat. "Please, come in."

You kindly smiled and stepped your foot inside the house. Geoffrey led the way to Alex's room and knocked his knuckles on the wooden door. Alex opened the door with an irritated expression until it vaporized when he saw you. "Oh, (Y/n)." He smiled.

"Good morning to you too, son." Geoffrey cocked an eyebrow. He and Alex were not on good terms after Alex's kidnapping incident since Darius Davis, who's Alex's kidnapper, was an old friend to Geoffrey. Alex had told you and the others about it the other day.

"Thanks for letting her in," Alex told his father without blinking an eye at him. "I'll take it from here now."

"Alex—" Geoffrey attempted to speak to his son, but Alex dragged you into his room and shut the door. You let out a little squeak when you collided with Alex's chest. Alex huffed after hearing his father's footsteps descending. "I don't get why he's still trying."

"He wants to make amends, Alex." You replied as you moved away from him. "Maybe he wants to become a better father to you. No secrets this time?"

"Yeah, well, he should've done that sooner." Alex scoffed.

You stared at him for a moment before clicking your tongue between your teeth and sitting down on his bed. "For a nerd like you, you have so much hostility inside." You stated. "The nerds I've met are usually shy and soft-spoken."

Alex broke into a low chuckle as he approached his laptop. "I think you're just describing yourself. Not all nerds are like that."

You frowned. "I'm not a nerd."

"Whatever you say, Sitcom." Alex looked at you as he opened his laptop and saw you looking away from him, staring at his toy collection. Alex saw your somewhat puffy eyes as you looked at his superhero and Star Wars collection. "Are you okay?"

You looked at him and slowly nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You sure?"

"Mhm..."

"Then why were you crying?"

You slid your tongue across your inner cheeks as you tried to make an excuse to say inside of your mind. When you got nothing, you shrugged. "There was dust in my eyes. No big deal." Alex crossed his arms and gave you a look, causing you to groan and snatch his laptop from him. "It's nothing. I'm serious."

Although he wasn't convinced, Alex sighed and sat down beside you as you worked on decrypting the file on his laptop. He watched your fingers press firmly on his laptop keyboard. "Hey, (Y/n)?"

"Hm?"

"Did Nico ever mention about..." Alex bit his lip, unable to finish his sentence. You stopped typing, and you looked at him. "About what? About your relationship with her?"

"I was just wondering, y'know?" Alex admitted. "I-I don't know. Does she like—"

"I don't know, Alex." You sighed, moving the laptop to him, allowing him to continue decrypting the file. You laid your back on his bed and stared at his ceiling. "It's your relationship, not mine. If you're having some problems..." You swallowed thickly, ignoring the lump forming on your throat. "...just say it to her."

Alex looked down at you after a brief minute of staring at his laptop screen. He observed your necklace's chain and knew you were wearing the broken necklace once more. "I don't know, (Y/n)." He confessed. "There's no problem... I think? Things became confusing now. I do like her, but..."

You waited for him to finish his sentence while he typed a few codes to decrypt the file. "But it came to the point that... I wouldn't really be hurt if she doesn't like me..."

A soft scoff escaped from your lips as you quickly wiped a tear away. "Bullshit."

"It's true."

"I've seen how you look at her, Alex." You sat up and looked at him, regretting the action immediately when you realized your eyes were watering. "And if she likes someone else, I know you'll lose your shit."

"Hm... maybe." Alex glanced at you and was about to speak again until his laptop began decrypting the file. "Oh, great." He sighed. "This is going to take all day. I thought it would finish by afternoon."

"Can I use the bathroom?" You asked in a soft voice. Alex nodded. "Yeah, sure."

You hurriedly made your way to Alex's bathroom, leaving your phone beside him. Alex inhaled deeply through his nose and adjusted in his position, your phone brushing against his thigh. Alex took your phone and discovered that it had been open the entire time. He viewed the list of people who had died as a result of the destruction of Novi Grad. "Pietro Maximoff..."

Alex looked at his bathroom door worriedly. 'Maybe that's why she's upset.' Alex got out of the app and noticed your wallpaper. It was you and Nico in her mirror, taking a selfie. He assumed the photograph had been taken prior to the gala.

"It's wrong to snoop around people's things."

"Shit." Alex flinched and almost dropped your phone, but he caught it in time. He adjusted his glasses and looked at you. "Sorry. Your phone was open and... I still shouldn't have looked at it without your permission."

You shrugged as you closed the bathroom door. "I have nothing to hide in there anyway. All you can see there are pictures and old shows I watch." You sat beside him and took your phone, browsing for the shows you have been watching. "See? Brady Bunch."

"I'm sure Gert and you will get along better if she ever finds out you're into those kinds of stuff." Alex chuckled.

"She's a fan of old shows?"

"I think she's a fan of old movies."

The door burst open, revealing Catherine Wilder, who was in a haste. When she saw you and Alex inside his room, she immediately came to a halt. "Oh, hello, (Y/n)." She greeted warmly before looking at her son. "Alex, I thought you were taking a shower."

"That was like an hour ago," Alex replied.

Catherine nodded wordlessly in bewilderment. "Shouldn't you two be at school?" Alex quickly nodded and stood up. "You're right, mom. We are actually going now."

You got to your feet and gathered your belongings. Catherine was going to steal Alex's laptop when she noticed it suspiciously. However, Alex was faster and quickly seized his laptop. "I got it, thanks. (Y/n), come on."

"Right." You followed Alex out of his room, leaving Catherine, who was skeptical about what was in Alex's laptop. "That was close." You breathed with a short laugh as you entered Alex's car. "What was your mom going to do in your bedroom?"

Alex shrugged as he started his car. "I don't know. Clean my room?" He handed you his laptop. "But she's suspicious about the laptop, meaning she's suspicious about all of us. We need that file to be decrypted quickly."

-•-°-•-°-☆

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