The autumn months quickly passed by, and the time only strengthened our relationship. Wanda and I went on a few dates so far, though most of them were supervised by Pietro. I could tell that it bothered Wanda a lot, but to be honest, I was a little fine with it. Wanda and I would always have the privacy of our room, and outside of that...we always had the library.

Soon winter had come. Snow blanketed the ground around campus, bright multicolored lights hung around different buildings, Santas stood on street corners, and the classic catchy Christmas tunes played on the local radio station. Wanda loved Christmas, and as soon as the weather started getting cooler, she went out to the closest store and bought a few boxes of lights, a small tree, and some ornaments. She constantly hummed Christmas music and when she wasn't humming, she had the radio on, tuned to the station that played the music 24/7. I didn't mind though. I loved seeing her happy. I loved seeing her passionate about something. The smile on her face grew bigger and brighter each day as all her free time went into decorating, wrapping gifts that she bought, and studying for finals. Believe it or not, she was a very good multi-tasker.

Wanda sat on her bed, a textbook open on her bed in front of her, and a half-wrapped box in her lap. Her eyes moved from the box to the book in a steady pace, spending a few minutes studying, and a few minutes wrapping.

"Aha! Finally!" she exclaimed, causing me to look up at her.

"What is it?"

"I've finally finished wrapping the last present," she said holding up the small box and getting off her bed to place it on the floor by her desk "under the tree" with the others. "And I'm also done studying. For now at least." She closed her textbook and put it in her bag before coming over and jumping on my bed, resting her head in my lap. I giggled at her and moved my book to the side.

"What exams do you have tomorrow?" I asked her as I grasped her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. She smiled and kissed my knuckles.

"Just history. There are some things that I still don't know, but I think I'll be alright." I kissed her forehead and brushed some hair out of her face. "Ionako ne bi trebalo biti tako teško (It shouldn't be that hard anyway)."

"Pa, verujem u tebe (Well, I believe in you)," I told her slowly, still not quite getting the language. Wanda's smile turned into a bright grin. I had decided to take a page out of Natasha and Steve's book and learn her language. She once told me that her parents were immigrants from a small country in Eastern Europe, and while she didn't speak it often, the language always reminded her of happy memories of her family.

"Ah! Vrlo dobro, ljubavi moja (Ah! Very good, my love)," she replied, a light blush highlighting her pale cheeks. "What else can you say?"

"Umm...oh. Volim te moja draga...kada (I love you my lovely...bathtub)," I said hesitantly, tripping on some of the words. Wanda burst into a loud fit of laughter and rolled off of me, her face turning a brighter shade of red. I smiled and rolled my eyes at her, picking my textbook back up and flipping the page.

"I'm sorry, love," she said still laughing, "I'm not really laughing at you."

"What did I say?" I asked rolling my eyes again.

"You called me a 'lovely bathtub'."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be!" she exclaimed, sitting up and lightly slapping my arm. "You're still learning, and let me tell you, I'm very proud of you."

She leaned over a pecked me on the lips and settled back into my lap, pulling the book away.

"Wanda, I need to study."

"Really? Well, I can help you," she said as she wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed along my face, moving down my jaw and to my neck. I chuckled and brought my book around behind her and continued to read.

"Baby, I love you and under any other circumstance, I would be totally interested in this, but I really need to study," I muttered, trying really hard to not give in to her...charm. Wanda pulled away and pouted just a little but respected my wishes and climbed off me. She got off the bed and walked over to the mini fridge and smirked at me and mouthed "later." She grabbed a bottle of water and sat back down on my bed, resting against the wall, and crossed her legs.

"So, what are we doing about Christmas break?" I looked over at her saw her biting her lower lip and playing with her rings. Nervousness radiated off of her and it worried me. I closed the book and place it next to me and scooted closer to her, taking her hand in mine.

"What do you want to do about Christmas?"

"Umm...I was kind of wondering if you um...wanted to spend Christmas with...me?"

I chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into me. Her arms circled around my back and hugged me. She snuggled into my side and I felt her smile, becoming more at ease.

"Wanda, I would love to spend Christmas with you, but I usually spend it with Bucky," I said softly and hesitantly.

"I'm sure no one would mind if you and Bucky came by..."

"Wanda are you sure?"

"Yeah. We'll be staying with our great aunt in her apartment and she's...really old and we don't really celebrate much because of it, so it'll be nice to have people over..."

"Oh Wanda, I don't want to impose on you and your family like that, I would feel really weird—"
"Claire, I promise it's okay. She loves meeting new people and plus, it would give me the chance to introduce her to my girlfriend," Wanda said, poking my side when she said girlfriend. "And, if you come, we can also tell Bucky, so two birds one stone."

I laughed and kissed her temple. "You make a compelling argument. You're sure no one will mind if me and Bucky show up?"

"The only person who would object would be Pietro and he loves you, so yes, I'm sure that it's fine. Please come. I would love to meet Bucky."

I thought about it and sighed. It would take a whole lot of convincing to get Bucky to come, but I think it's doable. "Alright, we'll come."

○○○

The car ride was quiet as Bucky kept his eyes on the road, the low hum of Christmas music played in the background. He sighed, rolled up the sleeves of his coat, and looked over at me.

"Are you sure this is okay? I mean, we barely know these people," he said after a moment. I sighed and leaned my head back against the seat.

"Yes, Bicky. Wanda assured me that this was okay. She really wants to meet you."

"I didn't think meeting your sister's roommate constituted spending Christmas together. But hey, saves me a drive to mom and dad's."

The rest of the drive was pretty chill and before I knew it, we arrived at the small apartment complex and got out of his blue beetle.

"I mean it Bicky, you really need to consider getting a new car," I joked, smacking him playfully on the arm. He smiled nudged me in the side.

"Yeah, well, when you get a well paying job, you can buy your own bigger car."

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. He chuckled and we both entered the building "She's in room 215." Bucky nodded and led us to the elevator and pressed the second floor button and waited for the doors to close.

"You got the potatoes?" he asked, looking over at me. I nodded and he continued. "And the gifts?"

"Yes, Bicky. Calm down, everything will be fine." I wished I could follow my own advice. My heart was beating erratically, pounding away at the inside of my chest in a loud and painful rhythm. My palms started to sweat and I was worried that I would lose my grip on the boxes in my hands. I don't know why I was so nervous. I was familiar with Wanda and with Pietro so this dinner shouldn't be weird, right? Right. The elevator dinged and the metal doors opened, revealing a simply decorated hallway. We stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall in the direction of Wanda's apartment. The nervous feeling sunk in my chest and my breathing quickened as we stood outside the door. Bucky looked over at me and placed a hand on my shoulder, startling me.

"Claire Bear, you okay? You're looking a little pale."

"I'm fine," I gulped and squeaked out. He raised a brow but nodded anyway and knocked on the door. The sound of quickened footsteps on the other side of the door were heard right before it swung open, revealing Wanda wearing an ugly red Christmas sweater that looked beautiful on her, light make-up with red lipstick, a black velvet skirt, and her long auburn hair curled nicely and falling loosely over her shoulders. She smiled brightly when she saw me and bounced a little out of the apartment, hugging me tightly. It took everything in me to shove her up against the wall and kiss her right here and now.

"Hi! I'm so glad you came!" she exclaimed pulling away, blushing a little. She looked over at Bucky and held out her hand. "You must be Bucky. Hi, I'm Wanda, Claire's...roommate."

Bucky smiled at her and took her hand, shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, Wanda. Thank you for inviting us."

"Oh of course! Come on it, you guys must be starving." She led us into the apartment that was decorated with bright white lights, tinsel, garland, stockings, and a beautifully decorated tree with presents under it. Light Christmas music played throughout the apartment. "You guys make yourselves at home. Dinner will be ready in a little bit. I'll tell Pietro and my aunt that you're here. Can I get you anything? Something to drink? A snack?"

"We're fine, Wanda. Here, we brought this," I held out the bowl of mashed potatoes and she took it, smiling again.

"You didn't have to..."

"Oh please, we wanted to. We felt a little bad about intruding on your family Christmas, so we just wanted to contribute."

"Claire, you and Bucky are not intruding! I invited you but thank you. I appreciate it." I thought her smile couldn't get any brighter. I felt my face heat up as her beautiful green eye twinkled in the white Christmas lights. Her face got redder and she cleared her throat. "Alright, well, I'll just put this in the kitchen and get my aunt. Bathrooms are down the hall and to the left, and...yeah." She breathed out a chuckle and disappeared down the hall.

"She seems nice," Bucky whispered nudging my arm. If only he knew. Wanda came back into the room a little while later, holding the arm of a small older woman and gently leading her into the room.

"Aunt Grace, this is my roommate Claire and her brother Bucky," she said to the older woman. Grace took a shaky step forward and took my hand.

"It is nice to meet you, dear. Wanda has told me so much about you." I smiled at her and patted her hand.

"Thank you for having us, Ms—"

"Please, call me Grace."

"Thank you for having us, Grace. You have such a lovely home," I told her. She smiled and pulled me down to her level and gently kissed my cheek.

"Have you seen your brother?" she asked as she turned back to Wanda.

"He's in the kitchen still, I think. I'll get him. Why don't you have a seat, auntie," Wanda said as she led her aunt to sit on the couch and disappeared down the hall again. After a minute, Pietro appeared, wiping his hands on the apron he was wearing, and walked over to us and gave me a hug.

"Claire, it's good to see you. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Pietro." He looked over at Bucky. "Pietro, this is my brother, Bucky. Bucky this is Wanda's twin brother, Pietro."

The two guys shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before Pietro walked over to Grace and kneeled beside her.

"Can I get you anything, auntie?" he asked her softly. She shook her head and waved him off.

"No, no. Go help your sister." He nodded and left the room, walking back to the kitchen.

"So, Claire. How was school?" Grace asked me, placing a hand on my knee.

"School was fine. A little stressful, but I got through it. Wanda was a big help though. She helped me study and to relax afterwards. She's such a good...friend," I said, careful not to give out too much information. I wasn't sure how much Grace knew about the nature of my relationship with Wanda. Grace smiled and lightly squeezed my knee. Wanda came skipping back into the room, her long hair bouncing along, and her smile bright.

"Dinner's ready, you guys." She walked over and held out her arm for Grace and slowly led her into the dining room, Bucky and I following in tow. The large wooden table was covered in a beautiful red tablecloth with green place mates, two candle sticks, novelty Christmas salt and pepper shakers, and beautiful Christmas plates and glasses. A large ham and multiple bowls of sides sat in the center of the table. Wanda led Grace over to a chair and helped her into it while taking her glass and filling it with a little bit of wine.

Wanda and Pietro helped dish out the food and filled the glasses with soda and wine (for Bucky) before sitting down and saying a quick prayer. Wanda sat next to me and Pietro sat next to Bucky on the other side of the table. I saw Wanda glance at me all throughout the meal, her knee brushing against mine. She was driving me crazy! God!

The dinner went by smoothly. Much to mine and Wanda's pleasure, Bucky and Pietro were getting along and had a lot of things in common such as sports. Ugh! Cliché I know, but surprisingly they both had a love for soccer and spent the rest of dinner talking about it. When dinner was over, Wanda stood up and started to gather our plates.

"I'll help you, Wanda," I said, stopping Pietro as he stood up, and gathered the rest of the dirty dishes. I took the dishes and followed Wanda into the kitchen, placing them on the counter, and ran the faucet and dumped the plates in the sink. I grabbed the bottle of soap and squeezed some onto the sponge that sat next to the sink and began scrubbing the dirty dishes. Once they were clean, I passed them to Wanda who dried them and put them away.

"Please tell me this is as torturous for you as it is for me," she said in a whisper so low that I almost didn't hear her over the sound of the running faucet. I paused mid-washing and turned toward her. She was looking at me with a small frown and a small blush. For the first time tonight she looked...sad. I knew she was hurting, having to hide herself from her family; I knew how it felt, and tonight was more painful than I thought it would be. I dropped the plate in the sink and rushed to her, firmly pressing my lip against hers and wrapping my arms around her. She responded by snaking her arms around me and moving her lips against mine.

I pulled away from her and left kisses all over her face, causing her to blush and giggle.

"God, yes. I've been dying."

"I want to tell her, but...I'm scared, Claire. What if she doesn't accept me for me? What if she's disappointed in me? What if...she doesn't love me anymore?" I held her tightly, trying to ease her worries and fears while also pushing back my own. I knew what she was going through. Coming out to Bucky was hard in the moment, but I felt much better once I did. I knew Wanda was really worried and really scared about telling her aunt about us, mostly because she hadn't come out to her yet.

"Wanda, your aunt loves you. This isn't going to ruin that, I promise."

"That's not something you can promise, Claire. I've read stories where people thought the same about their families, and next thing they know, there's screaming and hurtful words and disowning! I-I can't go through that, I just can't—"

"Wanda, calm down. It'll be okay, baby," I whispered to her, rubbing her back.

"Bucky...knows about you right?"

"Yeah he does. He just doesn't know that we're together."

"What was it like? When you came out to him?" Wanda's green eyes became big with worry as she looked up at me.

"It...was a little nerve-wracking at first, and he was quiet for a little while so I thought I would die, but then he hugged me and we both kinda cried a bit. It actually brought us closer," I said, hoping to instill some confidence in her and inspire her to not give in to her fears. "I'll be with you whenever you decide to tell her."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Why don't we tell her when we're finished with the dishes? That way we can get it over with." She nodded her head and we both went back to cleaning the dishes. When we finished, we entered into the living room where Pietro, Bucky and Grace sat on the couch talking to each other. The light Christmas music still played in the background and Grace's face lit up upon seeing Wanda. She patted the seat next to her on the couch, and Wanda sat beside her, taking her wrinkled hand in hers, patting it gently.

"Auntie Grace, there's something that I have to tell you," she said to her. Grace patted her hand and rested it on top of Wanda's, smiling at her.

"What is it, dear? Are you alright? You look pale." I kneeled down on the floor next to Wanda and grabbed onto her free hand, stroking the top of it with my thumb.

"Auntie, there's something I need you to know." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Umm...I'm...I'm...I'm gay."

Grace was silent, and her body seemed to freeze. Her eyes widened a little and her mouth opened a bit in surprise.

"I'm gay and am in a relationship with Claire."

Bucky looked over at me and got off the couch, walking over to me. I stood up from where I was kneeling and ran my now sweaty hand down the length of my pants, wiping them off.

"So...you and Wanda are dating? She's not just your roommate?"

"Yeah, we've been dating for a few months now," I say, my proud smile peeking through. Bucky smiled and pulled me into a big bear hug. The weight had been lifted from my shoulders and a small tear fell from my eyes and onto Bucky's jacket.

"I love you, Claire Bear," he whispered in my ear. More tears rolled down my cheeks. I knew he loved and accepted me, but it was nice to know that he also approved of my relationship.

"I love you too, Bicky," I muttered, trying hard not to cry. Grace still sat still on the couch, not saying a word. I pulled away from Bucky and walked over to her, placing my hands on her shoulders. Grace looked up at me and back down at Wanda. I could tell that Wanda was falling apart on the inside, though I was a little surprised at how well she was holding it together on the outside. Grace patted her hands and looked down at the floor, taking a deep breath and placing a hand on her cheek.

"Wanda, my dear. My child. My...the closest thing I have to a daughter. No matter what anyone says or what you are or who you are attracted to, nothing will change the fact that I love you. You—and your brother—are my greatest loves, and I am so proud of you."

Grace pulled Wanda into her arms and hugged her as tightly as her old bones would let her, and Wanda reciprocated, finally letting the dam burst. The built up tears streamed down her cheek, leaving streak mark trails of mascara down her face. Wanda and Grace pulled away and Grace took out a handkerchief and wiped Wanda's face, drying her tears but also smudging her make-up. She pulled Wanda's face close to hers and kissed her forehead and caressed her cheeks, staring deep into her eyes with a gentle and loving smile. Wanda excused herself and left the room. She was only gone for a minute, but when she came back, her face was clean and free of make-up, except for her red lipstick. I walked over to her and embraced her, planting a big and passionate kiss on her lips, almost forgetting that our families were there in the room with us.

A wolf-whistle coming from behind us caused us to break apart, blushing furiously. Wanda pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and covered her face with her hands, giggling. Pietro got off the couch and embraced her, rubbing her back and kissing her head.

Wanda skipped over to me and grabbed my hand and pulled me to the tree and sat me down next to her. Smiling brightly, she placed a large beautifully wrapped box in my lap. I sent her a look and began to tear the paper off the box. I ripped open the box, revealing a small white envelope. I raised a brow at her and took the envelope out of the box.

"Just open it," Wanda said and rolled her eyes, playfully slapping my knee. I laughed at her and opened the envelope, gasping when I saw the contents.

"What is it, Claire?" Bucky asked sitting back down on the couch. I pulled out the two tickets and held them up to show Bucky.

"These are...John Mulaney tickets?" I asked, my face freezing in surprise. Wanda giggled and clapped her hands together and nodding her head as she bounced on her knees. I dropped the tickets on the floor next to me and threw my arms around her in a tight, bone crushing hug. "I love you so much!"

"I'm glad you like it!" I pulled away from her and kissed her cheek. "Just so you know, the seats are probably not that great."

"That's fine! It doesn't matter, I've just always wanted to see him!" I hugged her again before reaching under the tree and pulling out a box that I brought that was labeled for Wanda and handed it to her.

She took off the paper and opened the box, revealing a framed portrait of the two of us. She looked up at me, her big green eyes twinkling in the Christmas lights, and her plump red lips spreading into a gorgeous smile. Her eyes started to water and she rested her head against my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my arm.

"Thank you. I love it."

"I'm glad baby." I turned and kissed her temple. Grace smiled at us and placed a hand on her heart.

The rest of the gifts were exchanged between us and then we all gathered on the couch and watched "Elf." Wanda snuggled up against me on the couch, her head leaning against my shoulder, and my arm draped around her shoulders. I kissed her head and intertwined our fingers, massaging her hand with my thumb. She hummed out in content and nuzzled into me. I sighed and relaxed into the couch, enjoying the feeling of her in my arms. I loved this, and I was glad that we didn't have to hide anymore.

"I think this might be the greatest Christmas I've ever celebrated," I whispered to her. She looked up at me and kissed my chin.

"Mine too."