AU: O'wanda grows up as childhood friends in a non-apocalyptic setting. I tried to fit the invasion in here, but decided against it.

He first sees her on a Friday evening, when all the neighborhoods driveways are crowded with kids trying to get out as much energy as they can before the sun dips down and it's lights out.

He's playing basketball with Kyle, which really isn't fair - he's older and taller and stronger and Ian's only five and his hands still slip and he doesn't understand what travelling means.

Kyle's scored ten points on him and he hasn't even gotten close to the basket.

Down the street, there's been moving trucks coming in and out all week - new neighbors weren't rare here, but this one seemed.. different.

His Mom would usually make cookies and make him and Kyle go down and greet them, Kyle mumbling his hellos while Ian's voice boomed and he talked a mile a minute.

This time, however, there… was nothing. In fact, nobody seemed to dare step food into the yard, people crossed the street to avoid walking in front of it. Their kitchen was empty, no cookies to take over and steal some on the walk over.

The excitement at the new house had died down, and the only person in the yard was a small girl, hiding behind a curtain of pale blond hair, a stick of pink chalk in her hand as she doodled lazily on the pavement.

Ian was caught off guard by the sight of her, and Kyle shoved into his shoulder as he scored another point.

The girl glanced over at the sound of Kyle's yell of victory, her tongue still sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, pale hands stained pink. Noticing Ian looking back, her eyes widened and she quickly turned away.

So, naturally, Ian did what he did with most situations: turned it into a game. He yelled and let out any noises that came to mind, trying to get her to notice him - the adults had him spooked into not going over there, but if she got up first…

He spent an entire hour desperately trying to get her to look over, but she stayed rooted in place, back to them. When Kyle finally lets the ball drop the ground and give up, he looks over his shoulder to see the girl slipping inside her house. Disappointment clouding his face, he ignores Kyle's comment on how much he sucks at basketball, starting to trudge after him towards their front door when he notices her drawings - all pink - across her driveway.

Letting Kyle slam the screen door shut, he carefully steps over to the edge of their yard, peering over at their driveway, expecting it to be something girly and dumb like a bunny or a kitten.

Instead, in careful curves of hot pink, is an entire layout of the solar system, with a few other shapes of planets he doesn't recognize.

"What a weird kid." He mumbles.

First grade starts in the fall, and she's in his class. She sits exactly five seats away from him and keeps to herself, her long hair hanging loosely around her face, keeping her hands clasped in her lap.

She doesn't speak often, and even when the the teachers talking, her head's bent over her notebook, doodling slowly and carefully-just like the first time he met her.

Only this time, the crayon's blue.

(He gets a peek at it one time when he passes by, and she's drawing nothing but endless stars on paper and when she notices him behind her she lets out a sound of surprise and slides her notebook under her desk.)

At recess, she sits on a bench, feet swinging. He ditches his friends to go sit with her.

Brandt and Jared start singing about them kissing in trees, and although his face flushes, he ignores it for the most part.

"Hey." He says, offering a grin, and she stiffens slightly, gripping at the pink fabric of her dress.

"Hello." She finally says back, voice soft and so quiet he's surprised the wind didn't carry it away.

"Your name's Wand… Wanderer, right?" He says, stumbling on the name, and she tucks some of her hair back, finally allowing him a clear look at her face, even if it's only a profile.

"Yes." She says, almost warily, looking over at him and cocking her head, like she's shocked someones speaking to her directly.

"Kind of a mouthful, don't ya think?" He says with a small grin, scooting a little closer. "Is it okay if I call you Wanda?"

She pauses, and he's caught off guard by the ring of silver in her eyes.

"I.. I think I like that." She says, and for the first time, she smiles.

He's frozen in shock for a moment and oh god, what's happening to him? He curls and uncurls his fingers, palms sweaty, and he fidgets in his seat even though his mom didn't leave a single sugary snack in his lunch that day.

"Wanna play?" He asks suddenly, pointing to where he left his friends - a group of boys and one girl with torn up jeans and brown hair braided back.

She nods and grins and they race each other to the swings.

Although Jared and the others snicker and call her names behind her back, Ian finds her attached to his side every day from there on out in elementary school, and he's perfectly okay with that.

In second grade, someone dares her to climb to the very top of the jungle gym and she's hesitant, acting like he's scared. He goes underneath the mess of metal and looks up at her, giving her a reassuring grin.

"You'll catch me if I fall?" She yells down to him, her knuckles turning white from her grip on the bars.

"Of course."

In third grade they don't have the same teacher and the absence of her at his side almost drives him crazy, the hours spent in class dragging on and on.

As soon as they get off the bus she comes to his house, and they sit on the living room floor with cartoons blaring in the background as they sort through their school work, Kyle making sure to purposely step on their things each time he passes through the room.

"Have fun with your girlfriend!" He sneers as he heads upstairs, and Wanda's jaw goes slack.

One day for recess they're allowed out by the soccer fields, Melanie and Jared yelling words his mom would wring his neck for saying at each other from across the field.

Wanda sits out on the side and, like always, he's only a few steps away, gripping at wild flowers and pulling them out of the ground.

He hands them to her without a word, looking away as he does it as if he's suddenly embarrassed by the action.

She smiles and takes them, having to use both her hands because there's so many. "Thank you, Ian." She says, voice soft as ever, and when he sees her smiling he grins and lays back in the grass.

"Anything for you." He mumbles as he squints against the sun.

(Later, when she's not looking he plucks one from the group and puts it in her hair)

During the middle of fourth grade is when Wanda and Mel start getting close. Ian finds himself tagging along behind them, trying not to cringe when they giggle with each other braid sections of each other's hair.

(But while they're spending all class talking in hushed voices to each other, her fingers are tangled with his under their desks)

It's in the middle of December and they stand alone at the bus stop, heavy snow crunching under their boots and snowflakes hooking onto her long eyelashes.

She doesn't have any mittens or a hat, and she has her arms wrapped around herself, body racked with shivers.

He takes one look at her and feels like he's freezing to death too, quickly taking his hat off and putting it on her head.

"You're going to get sick." He says with a small frown, his hat much too big on her head, it sliding down to cover her eyes. She laughs when he pushes it back up and smiles up at him, clumps of snow woven into her hair.

"Well, good thing you're here then."

The bus rumbles around the corner and before he walks up the steps, he leans down and kisses her cheek quickly.

In middle school, it happens.

There are couples walking hand in hand down the hall, whispered secrets of makeouts behind bleachers passed around the school.

Ian and Wanda stand back while their friends pair themselves off, Jared and Melanie, Paige and Andy and even Lily and Wes.

One day they're all together, hanging out in the mall food court and everyone around them is interlocked in some way - hand holding, an arm around someones shoulders.

He looks over at Wanda, her blond hair curled by Melanie earlier that morning, dipping french fries in her milkshake.

He could reach over, just a few inches, and put his hand on his knee, break that fragile barrier they've kept up all these years. She notices him looking at her and looks up, smiling slightly and holding out a fry for him.

He takes it and leans back in his chair, keeping his hands carefully at his sides.

Because she's his perfect thing, the only thing that really makes sense in his life and he can't risk breaking that.

There's a carnival at their school the summer before their freshman year, and while Jared and Melanie sneak off behind tents to steal kisses, Ian buys ride tickets for both him and Wanda (shrugging off the eye brow raise from her when he paid for her things)

While everyone in their group heads off to do their own thing, he finds himself partnerless for one of the few good roller coasters there.

"Please?" He pleads with her, tucking back some of her long hair - a natural movement he doesn't think twice about, although his breath hitches when she leans her cheek into his hand.

"Okay, okay fine." She mumbles, pretending to be mad but her face lights up when she sees him grin.

He starts to tug her towards the line, holding onto her hand tightly. "You are my favorite person in the known universe."

(She holds onto his hand tightly the whole time, and instead of screaming like everyone else she laughs, clear and bright)

She falls asleep on his bed when they were supposed to be studying for finals, a book left open beside her and still holding onto a pencil.

He should wake her up, review more questions before her mom picks her up to take her home.

(Instead he lets himself have on selfish moment, lets his head lay down and he dozes off next to her, and the inches of space between them feel like miles)

Wanda rarely gets invited to parties, but she always tags along with Ian, because you can never have one without the other.

Usually she clings to his side and doesn't talk to anyone new, but as soon as they arrived her and Mel ran inside and left him out in the front hall. With him as the only one with a car, he waits around for them to reappear so they can finally leave.

Wanda stumbles into the room a quarter to midnight, giggling as Melanie follows after.

"I didn't do anything!" She shouts out, cringing like she's already waiting to be scolded.

"Oh god, what did you let her do?" He says, wrapping an arm around Wanda and letting her curl into his side. She was naive and over trusting, one of the reasons she never drank or went to these types of parties in the first place.

"She may or may not have eaten a pot brownie, I refuse to comment on the situation without an attorney present."

Wanda pulls her head back and tugs at his shirt. "This.. this is my favorite color ever."

"I know it is, Wanda."

"It's so pretty I wanna cry."

"Please don't."

(Nobody was really surprised when they saw Ian carrying her over his shoulder to the car)

He dates a few girls, but it only lasts a week before they leave.

(He never tells her, but they always get jealous of Wanda and break up with him)

She seems to glide under all the other guys' radar, and selfishly, he's glad.

That is, until their junior year and the deathly word prom spreads like disease.

Jared and Mel have broken up yet again, their on again off again antics finally catching up to them, causing a schism in their group. It seemed like they were always picking sides.

(Although Wanda always chose Mel which meant whether Ian liked it or not, he was tagging along with her and the bitch)

Kyle has a fifty dollar bet on him asking Wanda to prom, and he gets threatened on a daily basis not to make his brother more broke than he already his.

There's one day they're home alone in his house, her laying on the couch with her legs stretched out across his lap, the tv playing some movie neither seem interested in. He could do it now, easily steal her attention and ask her.

Hell, he'd even settle for going as friends.

Just as he's about to open his mouth, his hand resting on her leg, her quiet voice pipes up.

"Jared asked me to prom." She says, playing with a thread on her sleeve.

That fucking asshole.

"oh?" He says, hoping she can't hear his heart drop, can't hear the crack in his voice.

"Yeah." She says quietly, letting out a wistful sigh. "I mean… Mel's a good friend, I don't want to do that to her but…" She bites her lip, hesitating before she finishes. "I really like him, Ian."

Her saying his name still spreads shivers through him. Get a grip, O'shea.

He swallows hard, clenches his jaw and looks at her.

"Then you should say yes." He says, forcing a smile.

He wasn't even going to go to the stupid dance, but his mom convinces him otherwise, shows up stag with Brandt and a cheap suit.

He stands around near the walls, keeping to himself, although he always keeps an eye out for Wanda and Jared, just to torture himself.

He eventually spots Jared and braces himself to see his arms around Wanda, but… but somethings not right. Because Jared's wrapped around a brunette and someone definitely not Wanda.

Oh god.

Oh no.

"You're an asshole." He says as he shoves past Jared, to get to the exit, standing outside the school and grabbing his phone out of his pocket, calling Wanda three times before he gives up on her answering.

On the third try, he hears the sound of a ringtone playing from somewhere nearby.

He walks to the other side of the school, and there she is, sitting on a bench just like the first time they met. Except this time her pale hair is in delicate curls and she's wearing a dress in what he just knows is her favorite kind of blue, makeup smearing around the corners of her eyes.

"Go away." She mumbles, because she can just tell it's him, doesn't even have to look up.

He sighs and sits down next to her, running a hand over his face. "He's an ass."

She shakes her head furiously, leaning into his side, biting her lip to keep it from trembling as he wraps an arm around her. "No, I'm just dumb for thinking anyone would even want me here."

He tenses, and if she weren't curled up to his side he knows he'd be rushing back into the gym, connecting his fist to Jared's smug face.

"You're not dumb, Wanda, he's the idiot." He murmurs into her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Fuck Jared, you deserve better."

He can't see her face, but he knows she's grinning.

"You know what? Come on." He says, getting up and taking her hand, helping her stand up, starting to lead her back towards the entrance of the school.

"I'm not going back in there." She says, shaking her head and stopping in her tracks.

He looks back at her, pulling her closer. "Yes you are, we gotta show them that them being assholes didn't ruin your night."

"But it kinda did." She said, making a face up at him, he grins and shakes his head.

"Hey, two more hours left of prom, that can all change."

He gets the night he always dreamed of, she gets the night she deserves.

They dance and he makes a total dork out of himself just to get her to laugh, and although her dress is the simplest out of all of them there, she outshines everyone else.

When it comes time to announce king and queen, she bites her lip, Jared of course being up as one of the candidates.

"Wanna go home?" He asks, keeping his arms around her waist.

She looks up at him and shakes her head with a grin, pulling out of his grip and taking his hand, pulling them out of the gym and into the hall.

She takes off her shoes and drops his hand and then they're running, down the hall and out the doors and they don't stop until they're right in the middle of the football field, the stars she used to doodle so often patterned across the dark sky.

She tilts her head back to look at them, and he wants to too - to know what she finds so amazing up there in the expanse of the universe, to know what she sees that makes her get that far off expression. But he can't, because his eyes won't leave her.

She looks at him and grins, tilting her face up towards his.

(It happens under the stars and he swears they could be blanketed by a page in her notebook from when they were seven, it happens and his hand cups her face and she leans into his chest and they kiss and there's not one single soul to witness any of it.)

After seventeen years of a crawling slow pace between them, everything after that goes fast. Like a song that's been sped up, they're attached at the hip still, although now they're allowed to touch and put down those barriers, and the effect of being with the other is dizzying.

They get into their first argument on the couch in his house, and when he can't take seeing her half-hearted scowl anymore he reaches over and starts tickling her sides until they're both laughing so hard they fall off the side.

"Stop, stop! Ian O'shea, you are the wor-" She lets out a shriek as he picks her up, clinging to him as he walks up the stairs.

"I'm the what? Say it!" He says as he sets her on the bed and she shakes her head, trying to squirm away from him.

"Never!" She says, grinning when his arms wrap around her and hold her tight to his chest.

(Their lips brush against each other and just as quick as their argument ended her lips are pressing softly to his, his hands trailing up her back to tangle in her hair, her fingers gripping at his shirt)

Kyle passes by on his way to his room, the door still open a crack and makes a gaggng sound.

They jump apart quickly and share guilty little smirks, and he reaches over and fixes her hair. She turns her head to press a kiss to the palm of his hand and they both sit quietly, wondering why the hell they didn't do this all sooner.

Graduation day is hectic and his mom keeps crying but he somehow manages to find time to check his phone, three texts from her about how "TODAYS THE DAY! :)"

The ceremony is packed full and not one chair is empty, and he can spot her through the sea of blue and white gowns.

(He cheers the loudest when her name is called)

After they throw their hats into the hair he sees her, all gold hair and pale eyes and he picks her up and spins her around, until she starts to get dizzy.

"So, we got three months." He says, putting his hands on her waist.

"Three months." She says with a small sigh.

Three months until they're adults, three months until they're miles away from each other.

But they'll make it work, what's a couple of miles when they've waited years for each other?