She steps aside and the girl move a bag inside. Max takes another one of hers to help along. Her stomach knots have grown as they actually haven’t spoken a word to each other yet. She moves the last box inside, taking small peeks at the girl who will be her roommate as she opens up boxes to find out what’s inside and put in the right spots.

She’s smaller than Max is that’s for sure, both in height and girth. She reminds Max of a porcelain doll, but when the girl pulls out a small box of what she knows is throwing knives, and technically illegal to have on campus grounds, she knows this girl is nothing fragile. Her hair with it’s slight lavender tint is tied up in a black bow.

“Salute,” Max finally says as places the box by the other. The girl blinks up at her, narrowing her eyes just a little.

“прывітанне,” She says back. There’s a tense silence as Max thinks.

“Tu ne parles pas français,” It’s more of a statement than a question but the girl shakes her head to show she doesn’t understand anyway. Max rubs the back of her head awkwardly.

“Max,” She tells her roommate. 

“Natalia,” They say back understanding the simple introduction.

Max lays on her bed with the dark black plaid pattern blankets to read over her requirements while her roommate unpacks quietly by herself. She’s not sure if it’s awkward or not but she doesn’t feel the need to talk which is nice. Considering she doesn’t know what to say and her roommate wouldn’t be able to understand her anyway.

--

Classes get underway and Max spends a lot of her time outside with the rest of the rangers in training. There’s a lot of physical stress involved, working rescue mechanisms as well as getting bulked up in case of an animal emergency. Not to mention possible forest fires or floods or just lost persons in general.

She gets back late as she usually does on the days the instructors takes them outside. It’s just a few minutes away from black outside when she opens the door to her room. A hiss escapes her as she snaps her eyes down to her hand. It’s scrapped and blistering from climbing the tree.

“ты ў парадку?” The words catch her off guard. Natalia is sitting at her desk, her computer open in front of her and a textbook to her side. Max stares at her for a second longer, having no idea what she said before just shrugging in response. Natalia narrows her eyes at her but says nothing more.

Her hands are in better condition after her shower, no longer a layer of dirt threatening to get into her cuts. She winces again when she enters her room. She puts her dirty clothing in the hamper she has in the corner and turns to come face to face with Natalia’s scrutinizing gaze. She doesn’t react as Natalia take her wrist to show her hand then her roommate goes off in her language.

Max doesn’t question it as Natalia pushes her to sit on the floor where Max had put her large fluffy rug. Natalia gracefully sits across from her with a small first aid kit open at her side. Max watches her work, concentration on her face as she applies disinfectant and wraps a bandage skillfully around her hand to keep the cuts form getting worse.

“Merci,” Max whispers when she’s done, simply falling over to lay on the floor having no energy to move much more. She debates the pros and cons of sleeping right there when a hand is placed to her head, She cracks open an eye to Natalia easily running her fingers through Max’s slightly damp hair. Then she huffs and stands, grabbing her books and laptop to bring to the floor too. There she leans against Max to complete her essay. Max takes a nap.

--

The day her father shows up for a visit is an awkward and uncomfortable one. Max sits on a random bench outside with her arms resting on her knees as he smokes beside her. She’d rather be inside. The cold doesn’t bother her, even in her favorite cut off sleeve flannel she’s perfectly fine as the snow falls. Natalia is in their room though, and she knows her roommate has made tea she is willing to share.

Max fiddles with her fingers as her thoughts turn to Natalia. She’s cool and kind enough. Max is starting to like her more than she thought she would. They don’t fight though sometimes Natalia will angrily point to something Max left out and talk lowly in her language which they both know the other doesn’t understand. It’s really easy being in the same room together and Natalia isn’t put off by her lack of emotional depth. It’s not Max’s fault her face doesn’t like to change. She supposes she gets that from her father.

“Why are you here?” She asks in their shared language. Francois takes a drag of his cigarette.

“Your mother and I are not staying together,” He says plainly, void of emotion as if it has all been lost on him. Max doesn’t say anything. They sit there in silence until he finishes his cigarette, grinding it on the ground and standing.

“I kind of figured,” She eventually mumbles out. His shoulders slump even more, she didn’t think that possible. She gets to her feet as well, taller than her father by a few inches now. She doesn’t spare him a second glance as she heads back into her dorm building.

The door clicks behind her when she presses her back to it to shut it. Natalia pauses in her reading to look up at her. Slowly Max brings her eyes up to meet her roommate’s. She knew her parents had a rough time being together. They fought often enough for Max to figure it out. Even now though she didn’t expect it to put a chink in her emotions like this.

She rubs at her face surprised herself to find a tear there. The surprise lasts as Natalia comes over to her, wrapping her arms around Max’s waist to bring her closer into the warmth she has accumulated since being inside. Max buries her head in her roommate’s hair. She doesn’t cry much more, but having some thing hold onto, to ground her, helps much more than she thought.

Carefully she releases Natalia but she stays close. She wipes away the tear trails on Max’s face, speaking softly in her language that may sound coarse but Max has grown used to it. It’s comforting now. She let’s Natalia braid her hair and climb right into bed with her. Max hides her face under her chin, drifting off with Natalia’s hand petting her.

--

“які твой любімы колер?” Natalia says one weekend day. Max raises an eyebrow to her. They both know better by now.

“Qu'est-ce que tu avec toujours en train d'étudier?” She asks in response. Natalia turns from the window where the campus is covered in a blanket of white. She finds her puffy blue jacket and pulls on her boots then stares at Max until she gets the hint. Max pulls on a thicker long sleeve and her boots.

Campus is barren for the winter break. There are very few students still about, most just rushing back to their dorms to get warm with the food they ventured for. Max and Natalia instead are walking along one of the paths set up around campus. Max rather likes the cold. It’s peaceful.

Her heart leaps into her throat when Natalia links their arms together, snuggling in close to her. Max keeps her breathing in check, shifting just to make it more comfortable for them both. Their walk is slow but nice. Snow lands in their hair and by the time they get back their cheeks are red from the wind.

Natalia takes her book and cuddles in right next to Max on her bed. Max messes around on her computer, reading up on some material for her new classes for the next semester as well as going over some of the things she’s learned. Though her cheeks are no longer red due to cold, they flare back up again when Natalia kisses one softly.

Max stares dumbfounded back. There’s the smallest of smirks on Natalia’s face. She swallows down her nerves and Natalia shifts just enough to kiss her where it counts. She swears her heart will pound right out of her chest but it stays where it should. Natalia stays where she is too, cuddled into her side, where no words are needed.

--

“ты мне падабаешся.”

“Je suis folle de toi.”

--

Max is packed. All of her clothes and belongings are in the boxes she brought them in. Natalia is packed as well, both of them doing so at the same time, and trading things back from where they left it on the other’s side of the room. Max takes her hands tightly, running her thumbs over them. There are small callousness all over Natalia’s hands from her knives which she has graciously shown off for Max. They lock eyes, the sadness of the moment starting to sink in.

“MAX MAX MAX OPEN THE DOOOOR!” The moment is thoroughly ruined. Max groans and opens the door to their room just to get tackled by her brother.

“MAAAAAAXXX!“ He screams in her ear. She throws him off easily.

“You’re too loud,” She tells him from where he landed on the ground. He clambers up with a cackle.

“You missed me~” He teases. She pushes at his face.

“You only wish I did,” She turns back to Natalia who is staring at her with her eyes wide. Max sighs and goes to start taking her stuff to the car.

“Wait,” She pauses. She knows that voice, has heard it speak a language she doesn’t know for a full year. Max faces Natalia with confusion clearly shown on her face.

“You speak English?” Natalia asks. Max’s jaw drops. Her brother starts to laugh at them and Max shoves him out of their room, locking it on him to keep him out. She stares at Natalia, then smacks her hand to her head.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She asks aloud, mostly to herself, but if Natalia has an answer she wouldn’t object to hearing it. She groans in annoyance at her own lack of logic. Natalia snorts at her. With a roll of her eyes Max strides to her, taking Natalia’s face between her hands to kiss her softly.

They don’t say anything as she pulls back. They just listen to the sound of Max’s brother pounding on the door and being a nuisance. Eventually Max lets him in, forcing him to take a box out to where their car is to go home. As much as she would like to help Natalia move out, her family is ready to go long before Natalia’s relatives show up.

“At least now I know I’ll be able to keep in contact with you,” Natalia quips when one side of the room is empty. Max shrugs her shoulders in response but does hug her back when the contact is made. She holds on far longer than necessary but Natalia doesn’t seem to mind. It’s a little awkward exchanging contact info, but Max holds tight to the little paper in her hand, turning in her spot in the car to watch as Natalia slowly disappears in the back window.

“So how was your roommate?” Her mother asks once they are on the highway. Max shrugs her shoulders 

“She was cool,” Max mumbles into her hand. Her mother goes off talking about an old roommate she had once but Max is barely listening. She shifts awkwardly in her seat when her mom starts to talk about the changes at home now their father is gone. That’s not something she wants to deal with but she reaches over and squeezes her mother’s arm comfortingly when she starts to tear up.

Being back home is weird. Her clothing is all in boxes around her room and the feel of being unlived in is apparent. She flops to her bed, bare of her favorite blankets, and stares at the ceiling. She’s a few steps closer to her dream job, learned how to make tea properly, and met someone sweet.

It takes a few days to get back into her home schedule again. Her brother is annoying, going off about his last year of high school. Trying her best on her own, her mom still manages to smile. Max does very little indoors. She spends a lot of time outside, climbing trees or going over things she learned from school to make sure her skills stay sharp.

She cracks a smile when she boots up her computer, a small little number telling she has an email in her inbox. She shakes her head slowly when the letter starts in a language she does not know, a simple ‘just kidding’ typed out before continuing in English. She misses Natalia a lot. The small lingering hope they can be roommates for another year helps summer pass by sooner.

--

Translations:

French-

Salute - Hello

Tu ne parles pas français - You don’t speak french

Merci -Thanks

qu'est-ce que tu avec toujours en train d'étudier - What are you always studying

Je suis folle de toi - I am crazy about you

Belorussian-

прывітанне - Hello

ты ў парадку - Are you okay

які твой любімы колер -  What’s your favorite color