Chapter Text
Adora and I end up hanging out more after that night. Nothing crazy but we sit together in the couple classes we share now. And on days Glimmer has something after school and Adora doesn’t we head to the house together and play video games until Glimmer gets there.
Adora is…funny. And a total dumbass, but like, it can be kind of charming. She’s still a total people pleaser, especially with authority figures. But she’s got a wild streak a mile wide. My phone goes off in first period. Feigning reading, I open it to find a text from Adora.
‘I’m bored.’
‘Lashor just keeps saying the phrase real numbers.’
‘Like wtf is a fake number?’
‘lol u might kno if u paid attention.’
‘Sounds boring’
‘wuu2’
‘Uh, I’m in class genius.’
‘y’
‘?’
‘Sounds boring’
‘Duh’
‘let’s ditch’
I raise my eyebrows and check that I’m not about to get caught. Adora really doesn’t strike me as the type.
‘4 real?’
‘Meet me @ my car after class’
‘Stall 37’
‘I want snacks.’
I snicker and tuck away my phone. Angella will be pissed if she finds out but…yolo, am I right?
I sneak past a few teachers and out into the lot where Adora is already waiting in her car. I tap on the window to get her to unlock the door and she’s grinning before I even have the door open. “Hey, hey! Look who made it.”
I’m smiling too now, she’s such a dope. “The bell hasn’t even rung yet!”
“Whatever, where do you wanna get food?”
“Surprise me.” She considers me for a moment and nods.
“I can do that.” She hands me her phone to cue up some music and I pick a playlist titled, ‘I might be…’. I actually recognize a lot of the songs and we jam until we get to a little drive in fifteen minutes later. I get fries and a shake, and she gets the same plus a veggie burger.
“So, anything in particular inspire this little adventure?”
She scowls, staring at her food. “Nah, just a crappy day.”
I hum and nod, wondering if she’s gonna say more. When she doesn’t, I decide to prod a little. “You wanna talk about it?”
“I dunno.” She shoves some fries in her mouth and looks out the window. “I just…I can’t wait to turn eighteen and get the fuck out of this dump, you know?”
She turns to look at me and I nod cause I do get it. “Yeah. Is it ah…like school getting worse or…you know?”
“Weaver?”
“Well, yeah dude.”
She sighs and looks out the window again. “She wants me to go Frighton Tech in the fall. She has, like, connections or whatever. Then I can live at her- at home. That big fight we had in the fall was because she found out some Brightmoon scouts were coming to my game.”
“Shit dude, that’s awesome! I mean not that she’s being a royal bitch but, the scouts. Did they come?”
She fights a grin. “Yeah, they’re not officially allowed to make offers yet but…yeah. It went well.”
“Brightmoon you said?”
She turns to me again. “Yeah, why?”
“I just got my early admission letter a couple weeks ago. So…maybe I’ll see you there.”
“No shit?” She’s got that wide, mischievous smile on her face again. I just shrug and smirk back at her.
“Would I lie to you Greyskull?”
She laughs, it’s carefree and warm and just…nice. Why is Adora so nice all the damned time? “Probably.”
“Wow, okay, rude.” I try to throw a fry at her and she catches it in her mouth midair with a laugh. What a fucking idiot.
Adora Greyskull is an idiot. I have never met another person so oblivious in my entire eighteen years. It’s painful to witness truth be told.
“Catra, I’m telling you it’s not a date!”
“Yeah, I heard you the first time, Princess. I’m just saying you should probably let him know that. Cause he definitely thinks it’s a date.” I nudge her elbow with my foot from my spot in the chair. She shifts in the beanbag to make an affronted face but I’m not buying it.
“We’re just getting food after practice. Totally casual, I really don’t think he thinks that.”
“You’re an idiot Adora Greyskull.”
“Okay, well that’s mean.” All she gets from me is an eyeroll before I un-pause our game. If she thinks she’s doing a good job of hiding her pouting when she turns around, she’s a bigger idiot than I realized.
It’s like, eleven on Wednesday night when I get her first text. Almost immediately my phone is blowing up with messages.
‘U were right.’
‘I’m an idiot’
‘Plz don’t say I told u so’
‘It was a date I mean’
‘It was rly weird’
‘Catra?’
‘Omg I’m freaking out, where r u’
‘Dude he tried to kiss me’
I’m on message five when the last one comes in. My heart stops for a second, I was…not expecting that. I don’t hesitate to just call her. I’m not about to type out whatever this conversation is about to turn into, fuck that.
She answers immediately. Makes sense, I guess she was just on her phone. “Catra?” Shit, she sounds all…meek and fucking weepy. I don’t know what the fuck to do with Weepy Adora. I don’t fucking do weepy. I’m not Micah for shit’s sake.
“Hey, so…big night.” I hope that’ll lighten the mood a little, tiny bit. It gets a chuckle, but I can’t tell if it’s broken up because of her connection, or because she’s crying.
“I guess, yeah.”
“Heard you went on a date, how was it?”
It takes her a long time to answer, I only know she’s still there because I can hear her faint breaths. “Weird.”
“So, you weren’t into it? Did you even want it to be a date?”
“Uhm, I…I wanted to try. I thought maybe,” I feel myself wince at the way her voice breaks. My heart beat feels…shallow? I don’t know, it’s being fucking stupid. “I could like it. Like, if I tried.” I’m not sure what to say in the awkward pause that follows. After a few seconds she prompts me, “Catra?”
“Yeah, I- damn dude. So, it was bad then?”
“It-no, no it’s not that. I mean, sort of? Catra I-I- “
And then she’s just sobbing into the phone. What the fuck did this guy do? “Fuck, Greyskull are you okay? Was he a dick to you? Cause I’ll- “
“Catra!” She cuts me off. “I…I think I like girls.” Oh. Oh. I mean honestly, I’d kinda wondered once or twice. But like, I’m not trying to think about Adora like that. Whatever.
“Oh.” Alright, kind of a shit response but at least I said something, right?
“Y-yeah. Is..is that okay?”
That makes me laugh. “Okay? Fuck, I dunno, you tell me dude. I’m not tryna pass judgement on your sexuality. You do you.”
“Oh.” Damn she’s an idiot. I laugh again.
“Adora, you know I’m gay too, right?”
“Um...”
“You really didn’t know? I don’t exactly make a secret of it.”
“I mean, I thought maybe…I didn’t want to assume.”
“Gotcha.” And idea occurs to me and I decide to go for it. “Hey what are the chances Weaver would let you out tonight?”
“Eh, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. She polished off a whole bottle of merlot, so she’ll be out till morning.”
“Wanna, I don’t know, go get pancakes or something?”
She laughs, more genuinely than she has so far. “Pancakes?”
“Fuck, I don’t know. There’s that twenty-four hour diner by your place. You just came out, we should celebrate, right?”
Another laugh comes through the phone. “Yeah, okay. Pick me up on the corner in twenty?”
“See you there.” We hang up and I get sweats on and head out. At the last minute I dig through the junk drawer in the kitchen. Finding what I’m looking for, I shoot off a text to Angella and Micah in case they wake up and scoot out the door. She’s already on the corner when I get there, and we keep our greeting short. Her smile is wide and happy, it makes me smile back. I feel happy.
It’s super slow so we order and get our food in no time. Adora smiles warmly at the waitress. “Thank you so much, they look amazing.”
“Oh, sure thing doll, you just holler if you ladies need anything.”
Adora picks up her fork to dig in. “Wait! Hold on, close your eyes.”
She looks at me doubtfully. “Excuse me?”
“Please?” I bat my eyelashes dramatically, surprised when it works and Adora flushes lightly in return.
“Whatever.” I wave my hand in front of her face a couple times to make sure they’re really closed. Satisfied I pull the rainbow sprinkles I’d slipped into the pocket and dust her food with them. Her face scrunches up at the noise. Then I tuck the bottle away and pull out a candle, lighting it quickly.
“Okay, you can open ‘em.” She blinks her eyes open and looks at me, then looks down. Her eyes start watering when she registers my additions.
“Catra, what did you do?”
“No big, congrats on being gay, or whatever. Happy coming out? I feel like there should be an expression for this.”
She laughs at me and shakes her head. The look she gives me almost feels…fond? I shake my own head to clear it. She leans down and blows out the candle and then looks up at me. “Oh, was I supposed to make a wish? It’s not my birthday.”
“Eh, the gays get unlimited wishes. Don’t sweat it.”
She raises an eyebrow at me and smirks. “Noted.” And then she shoves damn near half a pancake in her mouth at once.
“You disgust me.”
“Just what are your intentions with Adora?”
“Uh, knock much?” Glimmer stands in my doorway and props a hand on her hip.
“Catra!”
“Glimmer!”
“You’re insufferable.”
“Why thank you.” She groans dramatically and runs her free hand down her face. She drops into the bean bag near the end of my bed.
“Answer the question.”
“Right, sorry. You asked about my intentions?” She nods back, expression expectant. “Yeah, that’s a stupid question. I’m not answering that.” I pick the NatGeo I was reading back up and restart the article I’m supposed to finish for class tomorrow. She reaches over and rips it out of my hand. “Hey!”
“You can’t dick my best friends around Catra!” What the actual fuck? Is this like, a weird possessiveness thing?
“Dick your…what are you talking about? Am I not allowed to be friends with your friends now?”
“That’s not what this is about, and you know it!”
“Then please, enlighten me.”
“It’s not about being friends! It’s about how you are flirting with her all the damn time when you know she li- you look surprised.” She says the last part plainly, about as emotionless as I’ve ever seen my sister.
Truth be told I am surprised. Like, sure sometimes it’s like, really, stupidly easy to fluster Adora. And like, she’s a confirmed gay now, so it’s not as if the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I just didn’t imagine it was anything significant enough that she would feel the need to share with my sister.
“Uhh…yeah. What exactly are you saying right now?”
“Wow…I’m not sure if I’ve not given you enough credit here, or if I’ve given you way too much.” I don’t like the look she gives me, like I’m totally useless. Or like…Adora levels of oblivious.
“Quit being vague or get the fuck out of my room.”
“Fine, fine, I’m going.” She stands and throws her hands in the air. At the door she pauses and turns back to me. “Just don’t fucking hurt my best friend’s feelings. And…the spring formal is in two weeks. Just saying.”
I scoff as she closes the door and uselessly yell after her, “Adora is my friend too now, Sparky!”
Yeah, I did not like that conversation, at all.
I’m trying and failing to do my silent reading but can’t quite seem to focus on the words. I look up. Huntara, our lit teacher who demands to be called by her first name, is still staring blankly at her computer. I’m pretty sure we’re having silent reading time because she’s hung over. Suddenly a piece of paper is flicked onto my desk. I look over at Adora and she raises her eyebrows at me.
‘Othello is dum.’ Next to it is a stupid little sketch of a…well honestly, I can’t tell what the fuck it’s supposed to be.
I look up at her with a scowl, but it quickly becomes apparent that silent communication isn’t gonna work. I write, ‘wtf is that?’ and draw a little arrow to her sketch.
She pouts at me when she reads it and hunches over to scribble out a response. Her handwriting is truly atrocious. ‘Obvi that’s Iago.’ I just give her a look and she snatches the paper back with a glance at Huntara. ‘The parrot from Aladdin! You know, bc it’s based on Othello?’
I snort when I read that, and she smirks. But it catches Huntara’s attention so we both go back to pretending to read. I sneak a glance at her out of the corner of my eye a few minutes later. She’s still smirking.
She waits for me after class, and I ignore the weird things that does to my gut. “I hate being silent for an hour!” She exclaims the second the bell releases us.
“Who? You? But you’re so quiet, demure even.”
That earns me a shove to the shoulder. Worth it, I’m fucking hilarious. “Shut up.”
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and follow her out into the hall. We migrate toward the cafeteria for lunch and both sort of hesitate when we reach the doors.
“So…”
“Yeah?”
“You usually sit with like, Scorpia and Lonnie and them, yeah?”
“Uh, typically, yes.”
She does this weird sort of head bobbing thing. “Tight, tight.” Then with a sense of chill that is clearly forced she asks, “Mind if I crash?”
“What? You want to…sit with us?”
Red starts to creep up her neck and into her cheeks. “Uh, I mean if that’s cool.”
Deciding to cut her some slack I don’t tease…too much. “Duh Greyskull. Lucky for you there’s no VIP list.”
The tension releases from her shoulders and she laughs. “Whatever. I’m the V-est IP you know.”
I follow her to the lunch line, picking up what doesn’t look terrible. She seems to just be following me and doesn’t pick anything up. “Hm, I seem to remember you winning MVP, not VIP.”
I thank the lunch lady and we walk out into the fray. She turns and walks backward, a cocky grin on her face. “Heard about that, did ya?”
I absolutely do not blush at the insinuation. Like I gave a crap what Adora was doing at the end of football season. “Shut up Greyskull. And turn the fuck around, you’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“Nah.” She insists. Then with a waggling of her eyebrows she adds, “I’m very…coordinated.” It shouldn’t be hot…but it kinda is.
Scorpia catches my eye and when I nod Adora finally turns around. She eyes her and then looks at me. “Scorpia seems cool.”
I shrug. I mean, obviously I think so. “Yeah, she’s my best friend so…”
Adora’s eyes narrow. “Right…” What the fuck is that?
“Wildcat! Hey! And Adora, are you hanging out with us today?”
“Uh, I was planning on it. Is that cool?”
“The very coolest!” Goddess that bish has a lot of energy.
“Great! Hey Lonnie.”
“Hey Greyskull, how’s it hanging?”
“Eh, same old. How about you? I heard the softball scouts from CWU were at the last game.”
Lonnie smirks. Everyone else at the table has heard about this game. Multiple times. She’s gotta be relishing the excuse to relive it again. I tune them out and start eating. I listen as Scorpia regales Entrapta and I with a story about some sophomore in yearbook accidentally deleting hella files.
Then suddenly she turns to me. “Hey Wildcat, you think any more about the formal?” I can feel Adora stiffen next to me. Instinctively I think about what Glimmer had said the night before. I shove the memory down so I can reply.
“Not really Scorp.” It comes out like a grunt. Fucking annoying.
“Aw, okay well Entrapta agreed to come.”
“I did indeed!” She looks up from her phone to confirm.
“So, it’s gonna be super fun!”
Adora turns to face us a little more. Just a little too nonchalant she asks, “Are you guys planning on going as a group?”
Scorpia’s enthusiastic, “Yes!” overlaps with an acutely unenthused, “No.” from me.
“Well, I’m trying to convince everyone. Trapta and I are going, Lonnie said definitely maybe, and Rogelio said he’ll go if Kyle is going and Kyle said the same. So…I think they’re coming? You’re welcome to join us if you want!”
Oh, hell no, I’m not about to have Adora join a group date or whatever, that I haven’t even agreed to go on. “Scorp I’m sure she has plans with Glitter and Crop Top.”
Adora turns to me with an amused look. “Glitter and Crop Top? Is Bow Crop Top?”
I snort. “Have you ever seen him in anything else?”
She laughs loudly. “I suppose not. He found a cropped button down for the dance.”
“And case dismissed.”
“Oh my gosh. Well anyway, no, we don’t have plans. Honestly, I’m pretty sure they’re going on a date only neither of them will admit it’s a date.”
“Damn, are they still doing that dance?” Lonnie asks. “I’m having major junior high flash backs.”
Adora smirks. “Right?”
“Well think about it Adora!” Scorpia presses. “You too Wildcat.”
When I concede we devolve back into side conversations and I realize Adora never pulled food out. I lean in to ask quietly, “You gonna eat Greyskull?”
“Oh, uh…I’m not really hungry.” Like I’m gonna believe that. Adora has eaten dinner at my house like, eighty percent of the time for years. I know just how much she can pack away. I roll my eyes and shove the rest of a slice of pizza toward her. I only took like…two bites. She flushes slightly and insists, “Catra, I’m fine, really.”
“Shut up and eat it Greyskull. I’m not fucking gonna.” I eye her again and shove a cup of apple sauce toward her. “That too.”
She eyes it for a minute then looks at me with a shy smile. “You’re sure?” Oh, for the love of…I roll my eyes at her. “Thanks Cat.”
And that’s when it happens. It lasts all of half a second but I’m not sure I’ll ever recover. Because that’s when Adora Greyskull leans over and kisses my fucking cheek. When I snap my head to look at her a moment later, she’s blushing a little and looks altogether too pleased with herself.
Adora Greyskull is an idiot…and I just might be an even bigger one.
‘The dance is in one week.’ Glimmer’s text has no context, sent randomly in the middle of fifth period. She’s so fucking annoying and about as subtle as an avalanche. Every time Adora’s over now Glimmer takes it upon herself to shoot weird, significant looks between us. Mom had to ask if she was feeling alright at dinner on Wednesday night.
I think about deleting it out of spite but don’t bother. I kind of wish I had as I walk to meet Adora at her car. It makes my phone feel extra heavy in my pocket. It doesn’t help that Adora’s being kind of squirrelly on the ride to the house. We file in and I grab chips and salsa from the kitchen, leading Adora up to my room. She’s not very chatty but we make some small talk about school as I set up our game.
We’re struggling through a level when she finally lets it out. “I don’t want to go to the dance.”
I freeze. Um…did she just know I was thinking about…was I even thinking about asking her? Not actively but… “Okay…” I pause the game before we get destroyed and pull one leg under me so I can turn to face her.
She winces and rubs at her eyes. “Sorry, I know you didn’t ask. That was weird.”
“I mean, a little.” A lot.
“Ugh, I know! Glimmer just keeps pressing and telling me I should ask you. But I don’t wanna go. It’s just not my vibe and I really just don’t- whatever, not the point.”
“Is there a point?
“There is! There is and the point is that I don’t wanna go to the dance. But I was thinking it could maybe be cool if we did something.”
“If we…did something?” Man, I am so fucking lost.
“Like next Friday. Like a um, like a date something.”
“Oh.” Not where I thought that was going. I’d been turning over the idea of maybe asking Adora out, I hadn’t even considered this alternative. “You’re asking me out.”
“Uh, yeah, pretty much. Is that…how do you feel about that?”
How do I feel? Uh… “I’m…cool with that.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t look satisfied. Which like, fair. “Sorry, like you’re cool with the fact that I asked? Or like, that sounds cool and you want to do it?”
Dating Adora…so, what? We’d like, hang out like we do now? Maybe kiss in there somewhere? I can feel myself blush at the thought. Yeah, I’m definitely cool with that. “Hm, depends.”
She raises an eyebrow, clearly confused as to where I’m going with this. “Depends on what?”
“Where are you planning to take me?” I smirk at her, enjoying the blush the teasing earns me.
“Uh…I honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. Sorry. What um, what would you wanna do?”
“Hm, I’ll have to think about that.”
She continues to press. “Like about going, or like, specifically where?” This girl has no chill and honestly? I’m kind of into it.
I eye her for a second, watching her squirm just the littlest bit. “Yeah, I’ll go out with you Princess.”
She brightens and beams. “Yeah?”
I have never giggled in my life. Never. But the sound that comes out of me is about the closest I’ve ever gotten. “Yeah.”
Adora looks dopey and happy and honestly really hot. “Fucking cool.”
I end up borrowing Micah’s car to pick Adora up Friday night. She looks cute, just a little bit fancier than when we’re at school. It looks like she even put a little eyeliner on. “Hey! Thanks for picking me up.”
“Sure thing, where are we headed?”
“Right! Have you been to that little Italian place over in Thaymor? They have live music going tonight, I thought that could be cool. And I figured everywhere close to the school is gonna be packed with people going to the dance.”
“Works for me. I’m pretty sure I know the way.” We drive in comfortable silence and it doesn’t take too long before we’re pulling up at the restaurant. The music is pretty cool, it’s mostly Frank Sinatra covers, a lot of them just instrumental.
Dinner is…well the food is great. And Adora…Adora is something else. She’s funny and sharp and way too fucking charming for my own good. It feels like the time passes in an instant. I’m ready for a fight over the check so I have my card prepped and tucked under my thigh. I don’t even give Adora the chance to argue, handing it to the server the second they walk over.
“Catra! You didn’t have to do that. I wanted to take you out!” She pouts at me, staring after the server.
“Don’t sweat it, you can get it next time.”
“Next time?” She asks with a frown. Then her eyes cut to me and I raise an eyebrow at her. Come on Adora, you can get this… I can see the moment she understands the implication of my words. She brightens in the blink of an eye. “Yeah?”
“I mean, I’m into it.”
“Okay, cool. I mean, yeah, me too. Uh, same here.” I chuckle at her and thank the server as they hand back my card. We gather our things and walk out of the restaurant. It’s mid spring and the air smells sweet and warm.
“You wanna take a walk or something? There’s a park kinda close.”
“Sound nice.” She smiles over at me and I feel my belly do a backflip. We walk the couple blocks to the little park and amble down the path. “Hey Catra?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I uhm…can I hold your hand?”
I fight a losing battle with the grin that stretches across my face. “Yeah.” Wordlessly she slides her hand into mine, intertwining our fingers. Her hand is warm, a few calluses but soft overall. I squeeze the hand once and she smiles wider, squeezing back.
“So...this whole gay thing.”
I laugh, where is she going with this? “What about it?”
She shrugs and smirks at me. “It’s just pretty fucking rad is all.” She raises our joined hands to illustrate her point. I’ll admit; it’s a good one.
“Yeah, pretty fucking rad.” We walk for a little while longer but eventually head back to the car. I stop in front of her house and get out, walking around the car to meet her by the passenger’s door. “I had a good time.”
“Yeah? Me too!”
“Cool, I’m uh, glad.”
“Yeah…” I can feel the moment unfolding between us, time to seize it slipping through my fingers.
“Hey Adora?”
“Yeah?”
“Uh…can I…how would it be if I kissed you?”
“I-yeah, I’d like that. Yes please.”
Alright, well that had some kind of effect of the moment. I wouldn’t say ruined, but I pull back, unaware I’d leaned in to begin with. “Yes please? ”
“I was trying to be polite!” Red creeps its way into her cheeks.
“Oh, well very good job then.”
“Thank you. Now were you gonna…?”
“Right! Yeah, I was. C’mere.” I cradle her face in my hand and press our lips together. I feel the kiss all the way down to my toes, a pleasant, buzzing warmth overtaking me.
“Wow.”
“You got that right Greyskull.”
I’m still on cloud nine the next morning. I wake up late and am slouched over a bowl of cereal, watching cartoons when a banging comes from the door. The whole family exchanges confused looks and Glimmer gets up to check it out. Whoever it is sounds keyed up as hell, their voice pitched high. Wait a second is that…Glimmer comes back around the corner, Adora hot on her heals.
She greets our parents politely and then looks right at me. “Can I talk to you for a second?” My stomach sinks through the floor but I nod.
“Uh, yeah. Wanna go to my room?”
I’m surprised when she shakes her head. “Do you mind if we sit outside?”
“Oh, sure…” I lead her to the backyard, ignoring my family’s curious stares. I slide the door closed behind us and turn to find Adora pacing. I give her a few seconds but when it becomes obvious, she’s only getting more worked up I cut in. “Adora, what the hell is going on?”
She laughs humorlessly and stops her pacing, turning to look at me. “I’m not allowed to be gay.”
“What? ”
Her jaw clenches tight and her eyes swim with emotion. What the fuck happened between last night and this morning? “Weaver saw us when you dropped me off.” Oh.
“Adora…I- what happened?” She bites her lip instead of answering and I feel like the rug is being snatched from under me. I see the patio swing and nod my head toward it, dragging her to it by the hand when she doesn’t react. We sit there for a minute and I leverage my foot to get the swing moving. I want to prompt her, but I don’t really know what else to say.
“We fought.” She finally admits, the words sounding like they’ve been wrenched from deep inside of her. “It was really bad. She uh…she locked me in my room.”
“What?” I’m aghast, what is this? Cinder-fucking-ella? “For how long?”
There’s a hint of a smirk in her answering expression and I feel my gut unclench just slightly. “Indefinitely.”
“Indefinitely? Adora, what the fuck? How are you here then? Are you okay?”
She shrugs and I watch her jaw flex. “I’m fine. It’s…not the first time. The lock isn’t hard to jimmy, I just waited for her to leave for work.”
I take a second to process the hundred levels of fucked up all of this is. “Are you gonna go back?” I ask quietly.
She turns her head, presumably to hide the tears that spring to her eyes. I still see them and make an attempt to comfort her. My hand rests on her knee and I give it a gentle squeeze. “I-I don’t know.” She wipes at her face before turning to look at me. New tears have already taken the place of those she wiped away. Her voice wavers and breaks when she speaks. “I…maybe it’ll blow over.”
“Adora…do you honestly believe that?”
Her bottom lip disappears under her teeth again. “I-I don’t know. Usually it does, but…last night it felt different. I just…I don’t want to trade something bad for worse. And the group house I was in before, it’s in a different school zone. I’m already right on the line now, they’ll make me transfer for sure if I go back. I don’t want…I just don’t want- “
She dissolves into tears and I instinctively reach out to pull her close. “Hey, we’ll figure it out, okay?” I assure her, even though I have no idea how to deliver on that promise. I mean sort of, but I don’t exactly have a lot of power in this situation. Being a ward of the state fucking sucks. And Adora’s still technically a minor for a few more months. “It’s gonna be okay.”
I rub a hand up and down her back until her tears slow and she pulls back to wipe at her face with her sleeve. “Shit, sorry. Um…just, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be.” She bites her lip and nods, looking thoroughly unconvinced. “Adora…you have to know, Micah and Angella would let you stay in an instant.”
“I don’t…I don’t want to take advantage. They already do so much for me.”
I roll my eyes at that. “Don’t be an idiot. They want to help, the two of them care about you and honestly I think they have a hero complex a mile wide.”
The comment earns me a giggle. “Okay, fine, maybe that’s true. But still, I just…feel bad.”
“What? Asking to stay here? Adora, you realize you already basically live here, right?”
“I do not!” Her indignation hardly reads as genuine.
“Please, I would know. It used to bug the crap out of me.”
She turns beat red, which makes me snicker, and her mouth drops open. “Fuck, it did?”
“Well, I mean yeah. But I’m also a judgmental asshole, so.” I shrug back at her.
“O-oh. S-sorry if I, I don’t know, like invaded- “
“Don’t be an idiot Greyskull.”
Her jaw snaps shut with an audible click. “Right.” Then something seems to register a second later and she points a finger in my face. “Hey! Rude, I’m not an idiot.”
“Uh, I think you are.”
She looks like she’s fucking constipated while trying to work up a response. Finally, a triumphant grin clears her expression. “Yeah, well you like me, so what does that make you?”
I laugh, it feels good to break a little bit of tension from the moment. “An even bigger idiot.”
She considers that for a moment with a smile. “Okay, I can live with that.”
Hating to ruin the moment but knowing our little discussion is hardly resolved I ask, “Adora…what are you gonna do?”
Her face instantly deflates. “I don’t know. I feel like maybe I should go home, at least see if it all blows over. Maybe it will be fine.”
It makes me scoff; she’s so fucking deeply in denial it hurts. “What? You think she’s gonna magically stop being homophobic over night?”
“Well no…but if all she’s gonna do is make snide comments under her breath I can live with that. I already do.”
I look at her, barely able to believe what I’m hearing. You know what? “No, this is fucking stupid.”
“Catra!” I point a finger at her to cut her off.
“Wait here.” I stomp into the house; Glimmer and our parents are all pretending to watch TV but the tension in the room is palpable. They all turn to look at me, a million and five questions on their faces. “Glimmer, will you get your ass out here and talk some sense into this idiot?”
She starts, blinking her way back to reality before nodding emphatically. She moves to walk past me, out to the yard; I grab her arm before she can get past. “Don’t fucking yell at her, okay? Keep your cool because she probably won’t.” Glimmer scowls but nods and I let her go. I start to follow after before turning back to Micah and Angella. They look...bewildered and if I’m honest, a little bit afraid. “It’s still cool if she stays here for a while, right?”
Angella breaks through her surprise first. “Yes, of course darling. Is she okay?”
I scoff a little bit. How do I even answer that? “Fine, I guess. Weaver is a homophobic piece of shit though. She locked Adora in her room and she had to break out to get here.”
Micah’s expression is all at once stony and thunderous. “She what? ”
“Yeah, she’s a bitch. Adora’s still trying to talk herself into going home.”
I swear I watch Micah’s heart break. “I see.”
“I’m gonna go back out.”
Micah looks too upset to respond, Angella rests an arm on his shoulder but nods to me. “We’ll be here when you’re finished.”
I walk back out and the scene before me isn’t promising. Glimmer is hunched over, crying. Adora is sitting ramrod straight, her expression flat. They both look up at me when I walk out, there’s no change in Glimmer’s posture or expression but Adora seems to loosen up slightly. I walk over and drop down on Adora’s other side. “What are we talking about out here?”
Glimmer just scoffs, it’s Adora who responds. “I’m gonna go home in a little bit here.”
“Well that’s fucking stupid.” I lean over her to look at Glimmer. “You were supposed to be chill, what the fuck Glim?”
She lets out a little scream and literally pulls at her own hair. “I tried but she’s being infuriating!” She turns to Adora. “Why won’t you let us help you?”
“Hey!” I bark out, pulling her attention back to me. “Remember what I told you? Not that fucking simple.” Seeing that she looks properly admonished I wonder briefly why I though her presence would help and turn back to Adora. “You’re being fucking stubborn.”
“Hey!” I hold up a hand to silence her.
“You’re being fucking stubborn but if you think either of us,” I gesture between Glimmer and me. “is any less stubborn you’re dead wrong. Let’s take a break.”
“A break?” Glimmer screeches. “We need to figure-“
“Yeah, we’re clearly not getting anywhere right now. Why don’t you call Crop Top? I want pancakes.”
Glimmer’s eyes narrow. “You want what? ”
“Pancakes sound good.” Adora offers.
“Great! Glimmer go get ready and call your boy. I need to get dressed, Adora you wanna come up with me?”
“Uh…while you get changed?” She’s gone bright red and I can’t help the smug feeling blooming in my chest or the snicker that accompanies it.
“Chill dude, you can close your eyes for that part.”
“Right-right, of course. Let’s um, go.”
I lead the charge back inside, pausing to fill Micah and Angella in on our plan. Once we’re ready Glim and Adora meet me outside while I hunt down Micah to grab his keys.
“What are you doing here Cat? What’s going on?”
I roll my eyes, obviously I have a plan. “Yeah, she was digging her heals in and Glimmer came in with all the tact of a wrecking ball. I figured a change of scenery might be good. Also Bow is coming, he’s the only one in their little best friend squad or whatever with a clue. Seemed like he might be able to actually help.”
“Okay, I trust you Kiddo. Don’t…if she decides afterward that she’d like to go home, your mother and I would like the opportunity to speak with her first.”
“Sure, yeah we’ll come home first. Her car’s here anyway so it won’t be hard to get her back.”
“Great.” He claps a hand on my shoulder and drops the car keys in my waiting hand.
We meet Crop Top at the diner by Weaver’s place and settle in. The boy has the patience of a saint and does a much better job of tempering Glimmer than I’m capable of doing. I cut a glare to anyone who tries to bring up Adora’s living arrangements, including Adora herself, until we’ve all slowed down on eating.
“So.” I begin. “What’s the plan after this?”
“Uh…” Bow looks to me, seemingly asking for permission, and I give him a small nod. “So Adora, buddy I heard you and Ms. Weaver got into it?”
She rolls her eyes. “It was just a fight.” Glimmer opens her mouth to argue but I cut her off with a look.
“A fight?” Bow asks, no accusation in his voice.
Adora shuffles awkwardly beside me under his scrutinizing gaze. “I mean, yeah. It’s whatever.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Uh, not really? It’s really not a big deal, I was just upset this morning. She saw Catra and I kiss and- “
There’s no holding Glimmer back this time. “What? You two kissed?”
I smirk over at her and Adora's blush is about as dark as I’ve ever seen it. “What of it Sparky?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The question is directed to Adora.
“Well I…I don’t exactly have a phone right now Glimmer. I mean, the second I walked in the door she was just…” She shivers. “howling about what an abomination it was.” She turns to look at me. “We’re going to hell by the way. Pretty sure she said the seventh circle.” I snicker, letting her have the joke. Glimmer just glares at us and Adora clears her throat. “But yeah, she uh…she threw me in my room and took my phone and like, yelled through the door until she wore herself out.”
Glimmer looks horrified and I do my best to school my own expression. “Adora…” Bow asks, ultra soft. “When you say she threw you…”
Adora, having mostly recovered from Glimmer’s outburst about our kiss, goes bright red again. “I mean, it’s not like she picked me up and punted me. She’s pretty fucking weak. She just uh…she usually just grabs me by the hair. It stings but like, no blood no foul, right?”
“No.” I do my best to leave no room for argument in my tone. I twist in my seat to look her in the eye. “Not right, Adora. What the fuck?”
“It’s not a problem, I can handle it! I’m a big girl.”
“You shouldn’t have to Adora.”
“Adora…” Glimmers voice is smaller than I’ve ever heard it and broken up by the big alligator tears streaming down her face. “Please. You have options, don’t go back there. Stay with us, at least for a little while.” She reaches across the table and takes Adora’s hands in her own. “I’m scared for you Adora.”
“Glimmer…” Adora’s voice is choked up with emotion too. “I…for the weekend, okay?”
“Fine…for now. This conversation isn’t over.” Adora sighs, but nods, clearly exhausted.
We pay the bill and get out of there. While we linger between our car and Bow’s I ask, “Do you need anything from the house?”
“Uh…I should probably get my school stuff at least If I’m gonna stay the weekend. I have a couple assignments.”
“Okay, Bow are you coming over after this?”
He looks to Glimmer who nods and turns back to me. “Yeah, sounds good.”
“Cool, wanna take Glimmer and meet us there?”
“Sure, that works.” We part ways, not before Glimmer manages to squeeze Adora’s breath out of her. The two of us head the few blocks to Weavers in silence. Luckily there’s no car in front.
“Okay…I’ll just be a minute.”
“No way, I’m coming with you.” She sighs wearily.
“Catra, it’s fine. I’m just grabbing a couple things and she’s not even home.”
“Uh huh, yeah. And what happens if she comes home while you get your shit together and tries to lock you in the house when she sees I’m out here? I’m coming.” She rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue further so I follow her in.
The house is…it’s fucking weird. It’s pretty typical suburban bullshit but it’s nearly sterile, it could be a show home for all the signs of life. The only indication that anyone lives here is a large red wine stain on the side of the couch. A closer look and I see it’s on the carpet too, covered mostly by the couch, but not quite.
The energy of the place is just…I feel like I should be walking on tip toe. Like I’m going to disturb some sort of restless and vindictive spirit hiding out somewhere. Even Adora’s room is the same; lifeless with that strange energy. I follow her in and watch as she grabs her bookbag and throws a few clothes into another bag.
“Adora…” I won’t even try to deny the way my voice breaks. “are you really gonna come back here?”
She’s crouched in front of her dresser with her back to me. I can tell she’s heard me by the way her shoulders hunch. It takes her a minute to respond and when she does it scarcely more than a whisper. “I don’t know.”
I nod absently, taking in the blank walls, the empty desk. “What if you didn’t?”
She sighs and drops to her butt, turning to face me and crossing her legs. “What if I did?”
“Yeah, I think we know the answer to that one. You’ve tried that; waiting, seeing if it gets better, surviving through it. I-look I get it, okay? Probably no one else is gonna get it better than I do. But don’t you think it’s time to cut your losses?”
She bites her lip and considers me for a moment. “Maybe…I don’t know, maybe it is.”
“Babe! Babe, wake up you’re gonna be fucking late.”
“Wha…” Her eyes, crusted with sleep, blink open blearily.
“Dude, it’s ten thirty, isn’t your shift at eleven?”
It takes a second for the information to register. When it does her eyes widen comically and she snaps up, nearly knocking her forehead into mine. She looks over at the alarm clock on her side table. “Crap! I’m late. Oh shit.” She scrambles out of bed and starts digging out her uniform. “Ugh, I’m gonna be in so much trouble. Crap, Catra, will you look up the bus times?” She lets out another little scream, stripping off her pajamas.
I’ve seen it all before but that’s still new, so I blush at the sight of my girlfriend’s naked body. I clear my throat and try to reclaim some sense of chill. “Uh, dude calm down. I’ll drive you.” That makes her freeze, the red one piece the pool makes her wear pulled up to just under her tits. It’s a good look, I try not to focus too hard on it.
“Is there even a car here?”
“Uh yeah, Micah has to stay super late for some conference call with Hong Kong so he’s not going in till noon.”
She pulls her suit on the rest of the way, pity, and leans over to kiss me. “You’re a lifesaver! Okay, just give me like, ten minutes.”
“Sure, what do you want for lunch?”
“What?”
“I’ll make you something while I wait, what do you want?”
She looks baffled by the question. “You’re gonna make me…”
I roll my eyes. What an idiot. “Yeah, I’ll just surprise you.” I get up and walk to the door, pausing next to her to drop a kiss on her lips.
“I love you.” I freeze. She…what?
“Uh, come again?”
She rolls her eyes and smirks at me, recovering quickly from her own evident surprise. “I love you dummy.”
“Oh…cool. I um, I love you too.” It feels good to say. It’s not like I haven’t thought it before. I just…never said it out loud. Like, I wasn’t scared, it’s just…terrifying. But now…now I feel like I’ve jumped off a cliff only to be caught in safely in someone’s arms. Adora’s arms. Adora’s really strong…hella buff arms. Crap! Focusing now.
“Yeah?” She’s got that dopey grin on her face. She looks like an idiot. My idiot.
“Yeah dummy. Now hurry up and get ready. I’ll grab you like an apple or something for the way.” She leans in to kiss me quickly again and I feel no shame in pulling her closer to deepen it for a second.
“You’re too good to me.”
“Hm, noted. I’ll try and be more of a bitch from now on.”
She rolls her eyes, grin unwavering. “Yeah, like that’s possible. Get the fuck out of my room.”
I smile and put my hands up, backing out of the door. That’s the first time she’s called it her room, and not the guest room. I’m not about to call her on it. “See you in the car babe.”
“I can’t believe my babies are all grown up and leaving the nest. All three of my babies.” Micah damn near sobs, yanking Adora into the endless group hug Glimmer and I have been subjected to for a couple minutes now. “Call and tell us how you’re settling in okay? I’ll send care packages next week, so just text me if you have any requests. And we’re not far so if you get home sick you can always- “
“Alright, Micah dear. Let’s allow the girls to settle in, shall we?” Angella says with an insistent hand on his arms.
“Right.” He says, finally releasing us. “We should go.”
It takes them another fifteen minutes before they finally leave us alone Adora and Glimmer’s dorm room. “Wow. ” Adora huffs out. “He really is…”
“An emotional wreck?” Glimmer provides with a laugh, flopping onto her shitty twin bed.
“I mean I wouldn’t phrase it like that…”
“Whatever, should we go get food?”
“Eh, can we wait like, an hour or so? I’m not really hungry yet and I kind wanted to at least get my clothes unpacked.” I request, thinking of my room all crammed with boxes.
Glimmer shrugs. “Sure, Bow wanted me to come see his room and meet his roommate anyway. Just text me when you’re ready. Adora, you wanna come with?”
“Nah, I’ll walk Catra to her room.” Then she waggles her eyebrows and smirks. “See if I can’t talk her into letting me help christen it.”
I laugh but Glimmer groans dramatically. “Ew! You two are disgusting. Thank god you scored a single Cat. You two can absolutely not fuck in my room.”
I suck a breath through my teeth. “Ooh, pretty sure it’s Adora’s room too. So, we can do what we want.”
She screams and throws a pillow at me. “Gross! Get out!”
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes at her theatrics and turn to my girlfriend. “You gonna walk me up babe?”
“Mm hmm, see you in a bit Glim.” She grabs her lanyard and follows me out. It’s not far to trek, I’m just a few floors up. I seriously don’t know how it happened, but I won the dorm lottery; top floor single, truly the dream.
We get to the room and Adora hops on the bed, propping her head up on her hand, elbow bent up. She watches me fuss with boxes, pulling out hangers and shuffling things around the tiny space. “I wasn’t kidding you know.”
I furrow my brow and look up at her. “What are you talking about?”
She smirks at me. “About christening the new digs.”
Now I’m smirking too and hopping over boxes to climb on the bed and straddle her. “Oh yeah?”
She bites her lip and nods. “Yeah.”
“Well that can definitely be arranged.” I lean down to finally, finally kiss her. When I make my way down her neck, she lets out a loud keening whine and I pull back with a smirk. “Fuck Greyskull, you’re gonna get me a noise complaint before I’m even unpacked.” She doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed, shrugging nonchalantly and pulling me back down.
Adora Greyskull is an idiot. A hot, sexy, funny, smart…
“I fucking love you, you idiot.”