Mar-Vell College (Valkarol)

Confrontation

The time building up to Carol's visit to her parents house had gone by painfully slowly. She had been dreading it, only expecting bad things to happen. Despite Valkyrie's attempts to distract her, Carol's mind was focused on the visit and nothing else, though her girlfriend's efforts were appreciated.

After several phone calls with her mum, Valkyrie had arranged for Carol to have a temporary home at her house, outside of college and Carol couldn't wait to thank her. She just had to take her things from the house and go. She could only hope she didn't see her parents.

Carol and Valkyrie sat the car in silence as Valkyrie drove further and further away from their comfortable college dorm.

Valkyrie had played some music to begin with in hopes of cheering Carol up but once she realised the blonde wasn't singing along to girl in red as usual she decided to turn it off.

Anxiety started eating away at Carol as they entered her home town. As they drove by familiar scenery Carol could almost count down the seconds until her house was in view. She almost didn't want to look. Didn't want to see the house she'd grown up in and called a home for so long.

When they finally parked outside the drive way Carol only stared at the building. Valkyrie waited patiently next to her before taking her hand and giving it a reasuring squeeze. Carol gave her a weak smile before taking a deep breath in and getting out of the car.

The house was exactly the same, identical to every other house on the street. Plain brick work, plain design, plain garden. It was nothing special, not anymore.

Carol peered under several plant pots for a key, as she no longer had her own, until she found the small item and gripped it firmly in her hand as she walked up the steps. She turned the key slowly and pulled down on the handle, knowing they weren't home but still being careful not to make a noise.

She left the door open for Valkyrie to follow as she wondered through the house. She felt a sharp pain in her heart when she noticed all photos of her were gone. She had to get out of there as soon as she could. Thinking that, she ran up the stairs two at a time as she was always told not to do.

Once she stepped into her room she was relieved to see it was completely unchanged. The lack of dust showed her parents had been in there to clean and still decided not to change a thing. It provided some comfort.

"Alright." Carol muttered to herself as she picked up as many books as she could handle and was soon joined by Valkyrie who picked some up to, giving her a smile.

It didnt take long for the pair to get into the rhythm of taking what they could away. Carol had managed to hold back tears and planned to do so until they were well away from the house. Part of her felt good taking her things away so she could have them to herself again, she kept reminding herself she wouldn't ever have to come back once they were done.

Just as she smiled at the thought Carol's heart stopped when she heard footsteps downstairs. She turned to Valkyrie who too wasn't sure what to do but clearly had the same thought: her parents were home.

Carol went over her options: she could stay in the room in hopes her parents were going to leave quickly, she could jump out of the window or, worst of all, she could go and comfront her parents. She put her final load of shirts down carefully and walked cautiously over to her door where she peered out.

She heard the murmur of her dad's voice and saw a glimpse of his shadow. She wondered if he would call out to her but after a couple of minutes there was no invitation.

Carol stepped out from the safety of her room, motioned for Valkyrie to follow, and strolled down the stairs with more confidence than she felt. It was quickly knocked out of her when she saw her parent's expressions. They clearly hadn't expected to see her.

"We thought you'd be done by now." Was the first thing her dad said. Carol swallowed her bitter response and instead shrugged. Her mum didn't meet her eyes which pained Carol to see.

"This is Valkyrie." Carol announced bravely as she held onto her girlfriend's hand. Her dad nodded once and didn't say anything.

"Hey." Valkyrie said, not with-holding the edge in her tone.

"How you guys been?" Carol said, refusing to be as rude as her parents.

"Good...thanks." Her dad said and Carol stared at her mum, wanting to hear just one word from her.

"Mum?" She said, hope in her voice.

"Fine." She said barely audible. Carol gave a heavy sigh at the hopeless scene unfolding before them.

"Ok, we're going." Carol said as she lead Valkyrie to the door.

"Carol." Her dad said as he took a step forward only to her his wife shoot daggers his way. He paused for a moment before speaking.

"Look after yourself." He said bluntly and Carol gave a slight smile.

"You too dad...and you mum, once you figure out how to get your head out your ass." Her mum finally met her eyes at those words.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" She spat.

"Why not?! If you treat me so badly why can't I do the same to you?!" She shouted. "You can't just disown your fucking child!"

"Carol I don't even know who you are anymore!" Her mum yelled and Carol hated the familiar feeling of tears forming in her eyes. She wasn't upset her mum didn't understand her. She was upset because she felt the same way.

Once she figured out her sexuality everyone made it out to be a big deal and she had believed them.

Everything changed and she felt like she didn't know herself. She had been feeling that for years...untill Valkyrie spoke.

"I do," All eyes in the room turned to her but Valkyrie only looked at Carol. "I know who she is. She's Carol fucking Danvers. The bravest, most loyal, most badass person I've ever known.

"She's the girl who lights up any room she enters. She's the girl with the most contagious smile, the best laugh and an amazing sense of humour.

"She's the one who makes bad days good. She's the one who keeps going even if the world's against her and inspires the people around her to do the same.

"She's the girl who deserves the world, and one day she'll get it, no matter who tries to stand in her way." Silent tears continued to fall down Carol's face as she stared at her girlfriend.

"Let's go." Valkyrie said and Carol nodded. The pair walked out of the house, knowing they would never see it again, with a weight off of their shoulders.

Valkyrie set a root for her house along with a new beginning. With their fingers intertwined, the pair set off. Maybe it was time for something new.

This concludes the story of Mar-Vell College (Valkarol)