Author's Note: Canon complaints - I've changed the Call Me By Your Name setting to modern day as it made more sense than trying to set Hereditary in the 80's. I've put Oliver in as a character as he is mentioned a lot but doesn't actually appear. Sorry to disappoint! :O I'm also going with a different ending to Hereditary - changing everything that happens after Peter jumps out the window - and being more ambiguous about what happened before that. Annie and Steve are still alive in this version.

After Oliver there had been Peter. But this was someone Elio never talked about; only once to Marzia and that had only been because of her knack of coaxing information out of him. It wasn't that he had loved him more than Oliver; he probably hadn't loved him at all; it was more the way that it ended had left Elio forever changed. Elio had always managed to find the beauty in the world; to get joy in tiny moments; to maintain a generally positive outlook. He was an optimistic person; though when he returned back to Italy after his first college year in New York; he was sure he'd shed that optimism forever; knowing now it had been nothing but naivete.

They hadn't liked each other much at first. Elio balked at having to share such intimate space with someone; and when he first laid eyes on Peter Graham - a boy from Utah with scruffy dark hair and an uninspired dress sense; whatever hopes he'd harboured of meeting someone who'd make him forget about Oliver were immediately dashed. Elio tried in the beginning, but Peter was often withdrawn and difficult. He spent a lot of time alone on his laptop; though sometimes Elio got the feeling he wasn't actually doing anything, just staring into the space ahead of him. While Elio dove into college life in order to get over his apprehension; Peter stood back, only ever skulking around the edges at parties and never really getting involved. Elio went through many different theories about the boy. At first he gave him the benefit of the doubt; thinking he was merely shy. But his general behaviour was odd. Elio had asked about a bizarre and slightly unsettling figurine on his shelf; it was made from wood and twine, and sort of resembled a bird.

'Where did you get that?'

'Charlie made it for my birthday once,' he answered easily, then appeared as though he'd said too much.

'Who's Charlie?'

'My sister.'

Elio frowned. 'I didn't know you had a sister.'

'I don't anymore,' Peter replied, almost to himself, then went to the bathroom, closing the en-suite door behind him.

Another time they waited at the subway together amongst a group of other students. Peter stood close to the edge of the platform, not moving when a train passed; as if part of him wanted to it to hit him.

Elio's later thoughts were far less forgiving; his roommate didn't say a whole lot; and when he did it was usually so cynical and nihilistic it brought his mood down. He surmised then that maybe Peter was just a dick. The discomfort between them came to a head towards the end of the first month, when a disagreement about a care package from Peter's mother devolved into something worse.

'What's your deal?' Peter had asked.

'What?' Elio replied, caught off guard.

'Why are you defending my mom?'

'I'm not,' he replied, dumbfounded that as to where Peter had gotten such an idea from when all Elio had said was that it was nice of his mother to send him something, store bought cookies or not.

'You don't even know her and you automatically take her side.'

'Her side in what? What are you talking about?'

'Nothing, just forget it,' Peter said, and he switched off again, taking his phone out of his pocket and exploring it's many apps.

After that there was simple avoidance; no words exchanged between them at all if possible. Then the nightmare happened; Elio being woken by a panicked, visceral scream and the loud thump that accompanied his roommate hitting the floor.
He sat up and turned his bedside lamp on, startled. 'You ok?'

'What happened?'

'You were screaming,' Elio said, the stench of urine hitting him, both him and Peter realising at the same time what had happened.

'Shit,' Peter said, attempting to get up, getting caught in his sheets and stumbling, trying again. Elio looked away, cringing with secondhand embarrassment; still startled by the whole affair. Peter began pulling his sheets off the bed.

'What are you doing?'

'Going to the laundry.'

'It's after two in the morning.'

'Do you want to sleep in a room that smells like piss?'

Elio said nothing more, left him to it. Peter went to change in the bathroom, though he could hear through those thin walls the suppressed sobs of someone who did not want to be heard.