19

The months went by, more or less, smoothly. I had nightmares every once in a while. Kept a large stream of vodka flowing through my veins. Everything was great. No one I had to worry about. Nothing to stop me from living a peaceful life.

Or so I thought.

About a year and a half later, I received a visitor. Something I never thought would happen to me. And from someone I never thought I would see again.

Pietro.

To say I was shocked is an understatement. I was completely and utterly baffled. Plus, extremely worried. It must've taken him a long time to find me, which meant he was looking. However, that means he must need me for something.

"It's been a long time."

He didn't smile. He just stood outside of my house, in the cold. I didn't know what to do. For some reason, I didn't want to let him inside because I thought something was wrong.

"What happened?"

There was a broken look in his eyes. I felt bad for asking, but I honestly wanted to know. I don't look at the news because whenever I did, it stressed me out to the point of breaking down into tears.

"You don't know, do you?"

The pain in his voice made my heart break into a million little pieces. I gently grabbed his arm and brought him inside. I directed him to the couch before going into the kitchen to make him some tea. He didn't say anything the entire time I was making him his drink.

Something horrible must've happened for him to be like this. If I paid attention to the news, then maybe I wouldn't be so clueless.

I came out of the kitchen with his tea and tried to keep myself looking happy. It didn't help the situation. I sat down next to him and gave him his drink, which he then put to the side.

"Pietro, what happened? I keep myself ignorant of the world's problems on purpose. Please tell me. I want to know what I can do to help."

He grabbed my hand and held it close. Panic was going through me. Pietro never really hesitated to talk. Not usually, at least.

"Wanda's dead. Half of the universe is. I wasn't fast enough to save her. It's all my fault."

I pulled him closer and held him tightly. I felt a couple of tears fall onto my shoulder, but it didn't bother me. He needed comfort now more than anything.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help. You can stay with me for now. I'll take care of you."

So, Pietro lived with me. He rarely spoke, and I never tried to push him into talking. I looked into his mind to see what happened but kept it to myself. The only things he needed were comfort and calm. We got into a steady routine that helped both of us.

Pietro would have nightmares and often didn't want to sleep at night. He couldn't bear to think about how he failed his sister even though I repeatedly told him it wasn't his fault. I knew something needed to be done about this, but there was only one option I could think of.

If all he could think about was Wanda, then that would be the thing to get rid of.