Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Trini hated the cafeteria. That was an understatement. No, she despised the cafeteria with her entire existence. It was loud, it reeked of feet and the food was greasier than Zack’s hair. It was also full of the assholes that had done their best to make her life a living hell ever since they had figured out that she was gay.

Words could not describe how pissed she was after she and Zack had jumped over the back gate and walked into town only to find that both the pizza place and the Chinese place - the only good places to eat in the whole of Angel Grove – were shut for renovation. She was even more pissed when she realised that the cafeteria was their only option if they wanted to eat.

That is why, as soon as they sat down, Trini shoved her headphones over her ears and opened the Netflix app, occasionally looking up from an episode of Archer to glare at her greasy cheese wrap. Why the fuck was her cheese wrap even greasy?

“T?” Zack asked.

He was met with silence.

“T? Trini? Trinity Mar- ow!”

Zack winced as Trini elbowed him in the side. Rolling her eyes, she paused the episode.
“What Zack?”

“I said that Adam Park is having a party on Friday.”

“That’s nice.”

Zack looked her expectantly.

“Can we?”

“Can we leave the cafeteria and not go to Adam’s lame party that will probably suck ass? Why that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day,” Trini replied, picking at the wrap in front of her, which had become fully saturated with grease.

“Come on.”

“No.”

“But a certain Kimberly Hart will be there,” Zack said, moving slightly to the side so that Trini wouldn’t be able to elbow him.

But she didn’t. Surprised, Zack looked in her direction only to see that, yet again, she was making heart eyes at Kimberly Hart, who was sitting on the other reject table with Billy Cranston, Jason Scott and whoever else was currently out of favour. To be honest, Zack didn’t see why Trini didn’t ask Kimberly out – obviously they both liked each other and Kimberly wasn’t bound by the rules of the varsity cheerleading team anymore. Yes, there would be talk, but they didn’t necessarily have to go public and even then, Angel Grove High was pretty chill.
Just as Zack was about to nudge Trini, Jason said something to Kimberly that caused to turn away from Trini, her face reddening.

“Right, we’re leaving,” Trini said, putting her headphones away and standing up.

“Are you sure you’re done eye-fucking - ha missed!” Zack smirked as Trini’s elbow missed its mark and her face reddened. “I haven’t even finished my burger.”

Trini glared at him.

“Fine, but you’re paying for donuts after school.”

“Who says we’re having donuts?”

“Ugh. You’re such a bully.”
***
According to the clock in the lab, Trini was nearly ten minutes early for biology but she preferred it that way. She’d rather cut her lunch break short than have to be pushed and shoved through swarms of assholes. It was better to arrive early anyway because she got time to take her seat, right at the back of the lab, set out all her stuff and watch more Archer under the table whilst the rest of the class turned up.

“Can I sit here?”
Trini looked up to see Kimberly Hart looking at her expectantly, looking especially hot in a signature leather jacket that she’d recently adopted as part of her role as an outcast. It was taking everything not to become a gay mess.

“Mr Vaus told us that we’re doing partner work and -”

“Sure,” Trini cut in, taking her bag off the seat next to her.

Kimberly sat down, smiling at her as she took out her books. The rest of the class began to file in, everyone taking their usual places and setting out their equipment, their voices replacing the near silence. As the class settled down, the textbook page numbers were put up on the white book and the majority of the class began to take the notes they were supposed to.

But not Trini. When Trini had turned to her right to ask Kimberly a question, she saw Kimberly sucking the bottom of a pen. Normally, Trini thought it was a disgusting habit but the with way Kimberly’s tongue circled the pen it would be a miracle if Trini made it through the lesson.

Chapter Text

“So, I have a confession to make,” Kimberly said as she held the door open for Trini, after the rest of the class had pushed past.

Trini narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

“Go on.”

“I may or may not have lied about Mr Vaus mentioning partner work so that I had an excuse to sit next to you.”

Trini blushed, pulling her beanie down, over the reddening tips of ears. Now that she had thought about it, Mr Vaus hated partner work more than Monday mornings and he made sure that the class did as little of it as possible - not that she minded.

“And why would Kimberly Hart, head cheerleader and golden child, need an excuse to talk to me, the lowly Trini?”

Kimberly raised her eyebrows, smiling at Trini’s joke - after months of pining and endless teasing from Jason, she was finally getting somewhere.

“It’s Kim, ex-head cheerleader and professional badass,” she replied.

“You sound like Zack.”

“Ew.”

“Exactly.”

“Besides,” Kim continued, “who wouldn’t need an excuse to talk to a cute girl like you?”

“You,” Trini said without hesitation, groaning inwardly as soon as she said it and turning even more red.

“I’ll keep that in mind, “Kim replied as they turned the corner, heading into the languages block.

The rest of the walk to Trini’s Spanish classroom was in a relatively comfortable silence. Along the way, Kim had insisted on carrying Trini’s pile of textbooks because, according to Kim, the pile was almost as big as Trini. Kim asked Trini the occasional question about her family and Trini would reply, being more open than she usually was.

When they finally arrived outside the classroom, Kim gave Trini her books back, along with a folded-up piece of paper; said bye and left, walking the way that they had just come from. Trini smiled to herself, realising that Kim had walked her to class.

***

Taking a seat next to Zack just as the bell rang, Trini looked up to see Zack looking at her with a shit-eating grin plastered across his stupid face.

“What?” Trini asked.

“A little birdie by the name of Billy Cranston said that a certain tiny someone sat next to the Kimberly Hart in bio.”

Trini sighed. If Billy wasn’t so sweet, she would have throttled him.

“One, she sat next to me. Two, fuck off.”

“That’s cold.”

Trini stuck out her tongue before unfolding the piece of paper that Kim had given her. She smiled as she realised what it was - Kim's number with a heart underneath. Before Zack noticed, she pocketed the paper and opened her bag to find her earphones. It wasn’t like she needed to pay attention in Spanish. After all, that was exactly why she had taken it - it would be one of the easiest ‘A’s that she would ever get. Opening the Netflix app, once again, she began to scroll through her recommended, settling on some gay Australian movie.

Just as the film had got to the good bit, Trini felt something hit her in the head. Looking around, she saw a ball of paper on the floor. Pausing the film, she looked at Zack who was gesturing at the teacher. Oh great - the teacher was going to make the class pair up for a speaking exercise that she could probably do in her sleep. Not that Zack would be interested in the exercise - he would just interrogate her about biology.

***

“How was it?” Zack asked, dragging his desk next to Trini’s.

“How was what,” Trini replied, playing dumb.

“How was biology? How was sitting next to the girl of your dreams?”

Trini threw her eraser and smirked as it hit Zack square in the forehead.

“Gay. It was really gay,” said whoever was sitting behind her.

“Where did you come from,” Trini retorted, turning around to see the one and only Jason Scott.

He was the only one in the class without a partner as no one wanted to be with the boy that had ruined the school’s football season.

“I sit here every lesson in the same seat, watching whatever you’re watching over your shoulder. Oh, and for the record, John dies.”

“You just spoiled the rest of the movie, you complete asshole.,” Trini said, more pissed than she had been at lunch.

She turned back around, glaring at the whiteboard like it had offended her. In the space of a minute, Jason Scott had spoilt the movie for her and encouraged Zack’s stupid teasing. She was definitely moving seats next lesson, even if she had to sit at the front.
But she was curious. How did Jason know about biology? She turned to look at Jason again.

“How do you know what happened in biology? You’re not even in my class?”

“I know Billy.”

“Of course you do.”

Chapter Text

The house was empty when Trini returned. Her dad was still at work, and her mother was picking up her brothers. Taking advantage of the silence and absence of intrusive questions, she grabbed a packet of chips from the cupboard and made her way upstairs to her room. After shutting the door behind her, she threw her schoolbag into the pile of crap next to her drawers before crashing down onto her unmade bed.

Why did she have to be such a gay mess?

She was distracted from her pointless pity party by the notification sound of her phone and pulled the phone out of her back pocket, rolling her eyes when she saw it was just her mother telling her about one of her friend’s eligible Mexican sons.
She was going to throw her phone onto the bedside table when she remembered she had Kim’s number. Hesitating slightly, she began to type out a message:

T: hi kim
Kim: Trini?
T: yh
T: just checking that you didn’t give me your number by accident
Kim: lol no

If it had been anyone else, Trini would have ended the conversation after ‘lol’ but it was Kimberly Hart.

K: I have to go now but talk to you later?

For the first time in a while, Trini smiled properly and not because Zack had got rejected for the sixtieth time or a crude joke in a movie.

T: sure

***

The bell rang signifying the beginning of the lunch hour. Trini practically leapt out her seat and pushed her way through the door. Unfortunately, everything was still being renovated so she and Zack had no choice but to go to the cafeteria and she was determined not to end up with another nasty cheese wrap. Cutting past a group of queueing freshmen, she managed to get her lunch within 7 minutes of leaving the classroom - a new personal best.

“Fuck,” Trini thought as she scanned the cafeteria for tables.

Every single table was taken apart, including the one with dodgy chairs. She cursed Zack under her breath, remembering that he was supposed to be saving seats.

“Sup T,” Zack said, standing next to her; she resisted the urge to shove his stupid grin off his face.

“Zack, you were supposed to be saving seats,” she whined.

“I did.”

“Where are they then?”

“Well I did but then your girl invited us to sit with her.”

“Who?”

“Kimberly Hart,” Zack replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Your girl - ow!”

“Lead the way, douchebag,” Trini said, smirking at the doubled over Zack.

“This is abuse.”

“I know.”

Zack huffed as he led Trini toward the table where Kim and her friends were sitting, trying to conceal his amusement at Trini turning three shades redder when Kim pulled her into the seat next to her.

"Well, Archer will just have to wait,” Trini thought as Kim began talking.

“Trini, Zack tells me you’re not going to Adam’s party on Friday.”

“Parties aren’t my scene,” Trini answered, trying not to focus on how hot Kim looked today and failing miserably.

“Are you sure?” Kim asked, edging towards Trini.

“One hundred percent.”

“Will you-”

“Nope.”

Kim began to pout, widening eyes but Trini was not going to change her mind. No matter how gay she was, she was not going to Adam’s lame party. No, definitely not - even if Kim was going to pout like that all lunchtime. She looked at Zack, hoping he would interrupt, but he just shrugged and smiled like butter wouldn’t melt in his stupid mouth. No, she wasn’t going. Well maybe she could go for a couple of hours - no, what was she thinking? She wasn’t going. Dammit, she was going.

Sensing that Trini was going to give in, Kim asked again.

“Fine,” Trini sighed, slumping into her chair.

“Yay!” Kim said, the pout disappearing only to be replaced by the most adorable smile - when did Trini get so gross and mushy?

Noticing the smug look on Zack’s face, she kicked him under the table, sniggering as he yelped. Realising that he was going to kick back, she moved over slightly in Kim’s direction, feigning innocence as Kim raised her eyebrows.

“Son of a bitch!”

Trini looked to her right, where the shout had come from, only to see Jason Scott, clutching at his leg, glaring at Zack.

“Where did you come from?”

“Why do you do this every time? I have been sitting here for half an hour, watching everything and I mean everything.”

Jason wailed again as Trini kicked him in the same spot where Zack had.

“Oops.”

“Kim,” he said, “she’s been sitting here for two seconds and she’s already bullying me.”

“I don’t know Jason, you kind of deserved it,” Kim replied, trying not to laugh. Smiling, she looked at Trini, “I think it’s time we ditch these losers for biology.”

Zack grumbled in disagreement.

“I agree,” Trini said, returning the smile before standing up.

“Shall we?” Kim held out her arm for Trini to take.

“We shall.” Trini looped her arm with Kim and they left the cafeteria and for once, Trini didn’t care what everyone else thought.

Chapter Text

“Trinity Marie Gomez, get your ass back in that room and find something else to wear now!” Zack shouted from the armchair in Trini’s living room.

Trini scowled at the use of her full name. “We’re going to a lame-ass high school party, not London Fashion Week. Besides there’s nothing wrong with my outfit - I’m wearing the shirt that Kim said she liked.”

“If you want some action you’re going to have to ho it up.”

“Leave.”

“At least wear tighter jeans,” Zack suggested, “and maybe tank top or something under your flannel. If I had boobs like yours-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Trini yelled, running upstairs before Zack could say anything else.

***

From the moment Adam opened the door and handed her a bottle of cheap beer that smelt like piss, Trini wanted to go home. Every room was stunk of smoke and sweaty bodies and she knew she would throw up if she had to see another couple groping at each other’s asses, with their tongues down the other’s throat. And to make matters even worse, Zack - that jackass - had ditched her the moment he had seen a cute girl.

She couldn’t remember why she had even agreed to go. Oh right, stupid Kimberly Hart with her stupid pretty face just had to ask her to go and Trini just couldn’t say no. She couldn’t even she Kim so she was sulking against a kitchen surface, sipping at a slightly more tolerable brand of beer that she had found in the fridge and scowling at anyone that tried to approach her.

“Hey.”

Trini turned around to see Kimberly who, judging from her tipsy smile, was presumably drunk.

“Hi Kim,” she replied, setting her beer down on the counter.

“You don’t look happy - why? Kim said, swaying from side to side, trying to keep her balance.

“How much have you had to drink?” Trini said, ignoring what Kim had said.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t answer mine.”

“I asked first,” Kim said, leaning on Trini for support.

“Parties aren’t my thing and Adam has terrible music taste.”

“One.”

Trini was confused.

“You asked how many drinks I’ve had and I said one.”

“Just one?” Kim nodded, still clinging to Trini’s arm.

Trini smirked. Who knew the ex-head cheerleader and queen of the high school party was such a lightweight?

She was just about to reach for her beer when Kim’s hand moved to her wrist and began tugging her though the crowd of dancing, horny teenagers. Despite her protests that she didn’t dance, Kim kept walking.

“I think you know that I want to do a bit more than dancing, Trini,” she said, causing Trini to go bright red.

Was she really going to go through with this? She had promised herself no more straight girls but it was Kimberly Hart - and there were those five stupid words again.

“Go get it crazy girl!” she heard Zack yell from the hallway as Kim dragged her up the staircase.

She flipped him off before continuing to follow Kim.

***

The second they found an empty bedroom and locked the door, Kim had Trini pushed up against the door and her lips were on Trini’s before she could say anything. Trini heard herself groan embarrassingly loud when Kim pushed their bodies together and tangled one hand in Trini's hair.

Kim mumbled things between sloppy kisses. Sometimes they were cute, but most of them were telling Trini how much she wanted her, followed by large hickies.

Deciding that Kim was taking too long, Trini flipped them round and shrugged off her flannel, leaving her in the sports bra, that she had compromised on with Zack. Waiting for Kimberly’s approval, she began to pull Kimberly’s shirt off, over her head.

Whining, Kim began to tug at Trini’s jeans and watched as Trini yanked them down before kicking them off. Looking at Trini looking at her, she followed suit. Then tugging on Kim's wrist, Trini lead her over to the bed.

***

The sunlight streamed in through the curtains, waking Trini up. Lying still, she suddenly became aware of the weight on her chest, and looked down to see Kim still sleeping, looking so content. Remembering the events of last night, she groaned. Not wanting to wake her, she snuck out of the bed as quietly as she could, pulling on her clothes as quickly as possible before leaving and trying her best to close the door quietly.

Because even though she wanted to stay, she knew what had happened the night before was a one off and that Kim was just drunk. And that even though it meant everything to Trini, it probably meant nothing to Kim.

Chapter Text

Trini arrived at school on Monday after not sleeping properly since Friday. Her entire weekend had been spent up in her room; avoiding her mother’s questions, ignoring texts from Kimberly and staring up at the ceiling, her brain running too quickly to sleep, only providing her with painful memories of the party.

She knew she probably should have stayed and that it was a dick move to leave Kim at Adam’s house but Zack said that he had made sure that Kimberly got home safely and that was all that mattered. Besides, what would have come from staying apart from awkward apologies and an even more awkward walk of shame? So, Trini decided to stick to doing what she always did best: running from her problems and avoiding them.

Her plan was working just fine until lunch. Swearing when Zack reminded her that they had to eat in the cafeteria, she cut in front the same group of freshmen as usual and got her lunch. Since she was running from her problems, there was no way she was going to be sitting with Kimberly so, ignoring Zack’s disapproving looks, she decided to sit at the table she and Zack had frequented before she had started to talking to Kim.

“You should talk to her.”

Trini looked up from her phone. “That’s not how one-night stands work, Zack.”

“Did you just say one-night stand? Whatever the fuck happened at Adam’s party was anything but a one-night stand.”

Trini shrugged.

Not satisfied with her response, Zack punched her in the arm.

“Ow - what was that for?”

“I know you like running away from your problems but come on, you’ve been pining for Kim ever since you got here and then you get your chance but you decide you’re going to fuck it up.”

Trini shrugged again.

“Don’t make me punch you again,” he threatened.

“What I am supposed to do? She was drunk and she’s straight.”

“Ow!”

“Look at her and tell me that she only did that because she was drunk.”

Trini looked over at Kim and then wished she hadn’t. The rings around her eyes were worse than Trini’s and she looked like she was going to cry. Billy was obviously trying to comfort her and Trini realised that Jason had been glaring her since she sat down. She had really fucked up.

“Well what am I supposed to do?”

“Grow some fucking balls and apologise.”

“How do I -”

Zack sighed. “You’ll think of something, T.”

He then grabbed his tray and left. Oh great, now her best and only friend was pissed at her.

***

Skipping biology, to figure out how she was going to apologise, was not going well. She couldn’t think of how she was going to apologise without sounding like an asshole. Then again, she was an asshole. Sitting on the bleachers, trying to avoid being seen by anyone, she scuffed her shoes and stared at the sky.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Trini looked in the direction that the voice had come from to see Jason.

“What are you doing up here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“Trying to think of how I should apologise to Kim. You?”

“Same thing I do every gym lesson - skipping.”

Jason sat next to Trini.

“You really upset Kim.”

“I know.”

“You’re really stupid.”

Trini groaned. “I know.”

“Let me give you some advice,” Jason said, standing up, “Kim understands actions more than words.”

That wasn’t helpful

“Oh, and one more thing,” Jason added, beginning to walk away. “Who the fuck do you know that gets really drunk after just one drink?”

Trini could have slapped herself in the face. How could she have been so stupid?

***

After spending the rest of the period sitting on the bleachers, Trini decided on what she was going to do;

T: can we talk
K: Oh so now you want to talk
T: ok i deserved that
T: so can we talk or

Hoping that Kimberly would reply, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the notification.

K: Fine, where are you?
T: the bleachers
K: There in 5

Wiping her sweating hands on her jeans, she began to wait. She kept tugging at the sleeves of her flannel, wishing she had paid attention to her mother and brought a jacket to school.

When Kim turned up, Trini forgot everything that she was going to say - Kim had a habit of making her do that.

“Hey.”

The temporary smile on Trini’s face disappeared when she saw the look on Kim’s face. It was a combination of hurt, anger and something else that Trini couldn’t identify.

Kim replied curtly, “Trini.”

It hurt Trini more than it should have. She could only continue to tug at her flannel as Kim sat down.

“Kim,” Trini said. Shit, where was she supposed to begin? “I-I’m sorry.”

“Is that it?”

'Shit' was Trini’s only coherent thought.

“Yes?”

Kim moved closer, closing the gap between the two and practically sitting on Trini’s lap. Her heart was racing. This was much easier than she thought it would be.

“Are you sure?” Kim asked in a tone which was intimidating but turning Trini on at the same time.

“Um,” Trini’s voice cracked and she sounded like a prepubescent boy.

Kim leant over, placing her fingers on Trini’s chin and angling it so that Trini was facing Kim. Using whatever self-control she had left, she waited to see what Kim would do next.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that actions speak louder than words?”

Oh shit.

Kim planted a kiss on the corner of Trini’s mouth before standing up, leaving a confused and sexually-frustrated Trini sitting on the bench.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kim called out, making her way down the steps.

Chapter Text

After Kim left, Trini was becoming increasingly confused and didn’t know what to do with herself. Her mother was at home so she couldn’t leave school early and have a pity party in her room but she didn’t want to spend the rest of the school day alone with her thoughts, freezing her ass of on the bleachers. Even though it meant she would be stuck with Jason and Zack, she decided that her best option would be to attend the last 25 minutes of Spanish class.

Using some shitty excuse that made no sense, she apologised to the teacher and sat down in her usual seat. She planned to ignore Zack’s notes and questioning looks for the remainder of the lesson but the teacher just had to announce that they were doing more speaking exercises.

“Have you apologised?” Zack asked as he pulled his chair up to Trini’s desk, followed closely by Jason.

“Sort of?” Trini replied, unsure of how to explain what had happened on the bleachers.

“You can’t ‘sort of’ apologise. Did you apologise or not?” Jason cut in.

“After you left-”

“Wait, why was Jason invited?” Zack interrupted only to be silenced by a glare from Trini.

“After you left, I texted Kim and asked if we could talk and she said yes. I said sorry-”

“In person?”

“Yes, in person,” Trini answered. “Then she kissed me before leaving,” she added, running her fingers over her lips.

“Did she say anything else?”

“Something about actions speaking louder than words?”

“I told you,” Jason said, only loud enough for Trini to hear.

“Obviously she was expecting a big gesture - she cut off half her hair to be dramatic,” Zack interjected.

“Like what? Flowers?”

“Ew no!”

“What am I supposed to do?

The bell rang and the majority of the class sprinted out the door which left Jason, Zack and Trini to pack up their books.

“You guys doing anything this evening?” Zack asked.

Both Jason and Trini shook their heads.

“Come over to my place then we’ll go out to the mines, have a few beers, toast some marshmallows and figure out how Trini’s going to get her shit together.”

The idea of spending more time outside of the house appealed to Trini so she sent a text to her mother saying that she was going out with her male friends and wouldn’t be back until late.

“You in?”

“Why not.”

***

Zack and Trini reached their spot on a secluded cliff on the edge of the mines as the sun was setting, Jason several paces behind, sweating heavily. Their set their bags down and then split up to collect firewood. Trini, being Trini, had taken a wrong turn and had found herself in a shaded closing.

Just when she was about to leave, she saw a figure in the distance removing their shirt. Stepping slightly closer, she realised that it was Kim. Trini knew that she probably should have turned around but she noticed Kim’s hot pink underwear which really showed off everything.

Looking around, checking that there was no one else there, Trini waited to see what Kim would do next and was surprised to see Kim do a perfect dive into the pool below.

Before she could stop herself a loud ‘no way’, escaped from her mouth- this girl could do everything, including Trini.

But when Kim didn’t resurface, she began to panic. Running toward where Kim had been she began shouting.

“Kim? Kim? Kimberly?”

Oh crap. She had watched her crush die before telling her how she truly felt.

“What?” Trini turns around to see Kim, her body unfortunately covered with a towel.

“I thought you had died.” No, that sounded really stupid.

“So you do care about me.”

Trini blushed. “Maybe.”

“Well that’s nice to know,” Kim said pulling on a t-shirt.

Trini was too busy trying not to look anywhere below Kim’s face so she didn’t hear what Kim said next.

“Trini?” Kim asked.

“Yeah?”

“I asked what you’re doing up here.”

“I was collecting firewood with Jason and Zack but then I took a wrong turn.”

“That’s cool,” Kim said. “Not that you got lost but that you’re collecting firewood.”

That wasn’t lame at all, Kim thought.

“Do you erm - do you want to join us? Zack’s making a fire,” Trini said without thinking.

“Sounds fun.”

***

By the time they had found the other two, it was almost fully dark and Zack and Jason already had the fire going.

“Crazy girl,” Zack yelled. “We were wondering where you got to. And is that Kimberly Hart?”

“I got lost,” Trini replied, throwing her firewood onto the floor.

“Just lost?” Jason said, sniggering.

Trini flipped him off as she sat down, slouching against a rock since Zack had broken her deck chair. She was surprised when Kim chose to sit next to her instead of on the deck chair that Jason had offered to give up for her. Trini was even more surprised when Kim put her arm around her shoulders.

“What brings you to the mines?” Zack asked, pulling a few beers out his bag and distributing them.

“I fancied a swim.”

“I am also a big fan of getting wet,” Zack announced, overly pleased with his crappy innuendo.

Kim laughed as Trini threw a stone at him, snuggling into Trini’s side, which caused Trini to flush red.

“Zack pass me the marshmallows,” Trini said.

For the next half an hour, Kim tried to toast marshmallows but failed horribly, dropping half of them into the fire and burning the rest so much that they look more like coal then marshmallows. After Kim burnt her marshmallows, Trini took pity on her and offered Kim her stick with a perfectly golden marshmallow on it. Smiling deviously, Kim guided Trini’s hand, with the stick in it, up to her mouth before biting the marshmallow and taking her time to lick the remnants of the stick - all whilst keeping eye contact with Trini.

“Anyone up for another beer?” Jason asked sensing the tension between the two.

“Yes,” Trini replied quickly, way too turned on by what Kim had just done.

The rest of the evening passed fairly quickly. Soon after Jason had left the temperature had dropped and Trini had begun to shiver as she had decided to go straight from school to Zack’s place, avoiding her mother. Kim draped her jacket around Trini and moved even closer to her, Trini nestling her head nestled into Kim’s neck.

When Zack had returned from collecting more firewood, he smiled at the scene in front of him. Normally he would have said something but Trini looked happy so he decided to stay quiet for once. He couldn’t remember the last time had seen Trini smile like that in forever. If those two didn’t get together soon, he would smash their heads together.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks of school weren’t completely terrible for once - something that hadn’t happened since first grade. It seemed that most of the assholes had got bored of picking on Trini and she was pretty much free to walk to class without being shoved and harassed. The workload had decreased in the build up to Christmas meaning that she had more free time to spend with Kim and the rest of her small group of friends.

They had recently begun going to Krispy Kreme every Wednesday, without fail, and having study dates at each other’s houses - mostly Kim’s as her parents were rarely home. Kim had become flirtier than usually, saying things that caused Trini to go bright red, much to Zack’s amusement. Trini guessed that the more you got to know Kim, the more flirty she was.

As Jason had finally got around to fixing his truck, he had offered to drive his friends to and from school - an offer which Trini had gladly accepted to avoid the awkward morning drive with her mother and the long walk home in the afternoon. It also meant that she got to spend an extra twenty minutes with Kim in the morning and afternoon, even if Billy and Jason were present. Billy was the sweetest boy she had ever met but he had a knack for asking awkward questions.

Bonfire nights had also become a regular occurrence. At least once a fortnight Trini would find herself sat next to Kim or in her lap, feeding her marshmallows because Kim had burnt her own and wrapped up in whatever jacket Kim had bought because she had ‘forgotten’ her own. Zack would tease her about it whenever Kim went to collect firewood.

But even though Trini’s life wasn’t horrible, there was still a problem: ‘Trimberly’, as Zack liked to call it, still weren’t official, regardless of how affectionate they were with one another and how close they had grown in such a short amount of time.

“Trini?” Billy asked when the English teacher’s back was turned.

“Yes Billy?” Trini replied, without looking up from her book.

“Is Kim your girlfriend?”

Trini dropped her pen and looked up at Billy, completely red in the face.

“Why would you say that?”

“It’s just that you’re always hugging and touching each other and you always look really happy whenever you see her. I know it’s normal for friends to do that but you and Kim do it all the time and Zack always says you’re more than friends.”

Trini was going to punch Zack.

“It’s complicated.”

Billy looked at her, waiting for her to explain.

“Well, I like her but she - it’s difficult to explain.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I know. Can we drop it now?”

“I’m sorry that I upset you,” Billy said.

Oh crap. She had made Billy think that she was upset with him. Jason was going to murder her.

“You didn’t upset me, I’m just confused."

Billy nodded, relieved that he hadn’t upset Trini and began to work again.

“Trini?”

Trini looked up.

“You won’t know unless you ask.”

***

The group had taken their usual seats in the cafeteria - Zack and Trini had permanently given up their other table weeks ago. Kim had pushed her chair as close as she could next to Trini’s and was stealing Trini’s fries as she couldn’t be bothered to get her own. Watching Archer under the table and not paying attention to whatever stupidity Zack was talking about, Trini made lazy attempts at swatting away Kim’s hand from her plate. Billy and Jason were talking about one of Billy’s projects.

“Trin?”

Trini gazed at Kim.

“Yeah?”

“Zack was talking about having a Christmas party.”

“I am not going to another party.”

“She means a bonfire but with more beer and presents,” Zack cut in. “Lots of presents, and mistletoe and presents and mistletoe and presents and, did I mention mistletoe?”

Trini kicked Zack under the table but he began singing some crappy song he had made about Christmas last year.

“Does he have an off button?” Jason asked.

“Well it’s not possible for humans to have off buttons because -”

Jason put his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “It was a joke, Billy.”

“So, are you in or not, crazy girl?” Zack asked, grinning like the idiot he was.

“If I see a single piece of mistletoe I’m going to shove it up your ass.”

“Party time!” Zack yelled, running out of the cafeteria. “I’ll see you Thursday after this one!”

“But I have history with him next? I’m confused.”

“Aren’t we all?” Kim said, standing up.

***

The Thursday after next arrived much quicker than Trini thought it would. She had spent most of her weekend Christmas shopping and she was pretty happy with all the gifts she had bought, especially Kim’s. Though she probably should have bought lighter things because it had taken her half an hour to carry them all up to the top.

The others had already started the bonfire and put up the small Christmas tree Zack had somehow stolen from the Krispy Kreme. As soon as everyone saw Trini, her beanie was replaced with a crappy yellow paper crown and she was shoved into the garish orange deck chair that Zack had bought her, Kim immediately setting herself on Trini’s lap.

“And where is your ugly Christmas sweater?” Zack asked, distributing the gifts that he had bought for everyone else.

“I forgot it?” Trini replied.

“‘Forgot it’ my ass,” Zack said. “Luckily enough,” he added, throwing a package at Trini, “I got you a second present.”

Trini groaned as she unwrapped the world’s ugliest Christmas sweater. It was a sickly pale pink with white snowflakes and it was way too big.

“Asshole,” she retorted as Kim helped her pull the oversized jumper over her head.

Zack snorted, beer coming out of his nose as he realised how long the arms were.

“I think it’s cute,” Kim whispered as she rolled up the sleeves, causing Trini to blush.

“Oh look! Your face matches Jason’s sweater!” Zack exclaimed, trying not to laugh ever more as Trini tried to throw the wrapping paper at him.

“Marshmallow time!” Trini said, in an attempt to shut Zack up.

There was a sudden silence.

“About that, Jason ate all the marshmallows.”

Trini tried to look mad but she ended up pouting which made everyone, even Billy start to laugh.

“But we do have games and more beer.”

“I’m in.”

The next hour consisted of playing a messed-up version of trivial pursuit which them morphed into a weird snakes and ladders drinking game which no one seemed to understand apart from Billy, who won every single round. This resulted in everyone else being highly intoxicated by the time the rest of the present were to be opened.

Zack ended up wearing his presents, including the book Billy had got him and singing his Christmas song, Jason attempting to beatbox and Billy dancing in the reindeer slippers his mother had given him as an early Christmas present.

As the boys were distracted, Kim stood up and grabbed Trini’s hand, pulling her out of the deck chair and leading her off to the closing that Zack used to store spare firewood and their deck chairs.

“Kim?”

“Yes?”

“What are we doing here?”

“We haven’t exchanged gifts yet.”

“We could have opened them sat down?”

“Well, I wanted to give you my gift in private.”

Trini was confused. Again.

Handing her a pale-yellow box with a pink ribbon, Kim waited for her to open it.

Trini was now even more confused. It was a piece of paper. Taking it out of the box, Trini noticed that Kim had written something.

Look up.

Could Trini be any more confused?

But deciding that there was no harm in doing so, Trini looked up to see a silver pendant, in the shape of a mistletoe leaf dangling above her head.

“I’m con-”

Kim sighed.

“Can’t you take a hint?” she asked placing her fingers on Trini’s chin and tilting it upwards.

As Kim leant down, Trini finally realised what Kim was going to do. Was she confused as to why Kim would want to kiss her? Yes. Was she going to stop Kim from kissing her after like a year of pining? No.

Kim placed her hands around Trini’s waist, pulling her closer. She placed her lips carefully but firmly on Trini’s, brushing against them in a careful motion. As Kim pulled back, cheeks flushed, she watching Trini’s reaction. Trini’s head was still spinning as she remembered that she needed to breathe and sheregistered what had just happened.

Kim’s hand still lingered on her cheek, caressing it with the soft pad of her thumb.

“Are you still confused?”

Chapter Text

Kim’s hand still lingered on her cheek, caressing it with the soft pad of her thumb.

“Are you still confused?”

“If I say yes do I get another kiss?”

Trini stood on the tips of her toes as Kim leant down, bringing their lips together. Warm lips encompassed Trini’s, keeping her in a blissful state. Her fingers tightened around Kim’s short, brown hair. Her eyes locked onto Kim’s as Trini pulled her closer and closer, until the only thing separating them was their clothes. Kim pinned Trini against a rock and -

“Scott, you owe me forty bucks.”

Kim and Trini sprung broke apart, a smug looking Zack grinning at them.

“No, you said after Christmas. I said on Christmas. You owe me forty bucks,” Jason said.

“Actually, I win with an hour to spare,” Billy interrupted. “You both owe me forty bucks.”

The other two groaned, reaching into their pockets for their wallets.

“You bet on us?” Trini asked. "Even Billy?"

“Um.”

Trini walked past Zack, closely followed by Kim, and elbowed him in the gut.

***

The two had left, about half an hour later when Trini began falling asleep and Zack tried to draw on a face with an art marker that he had borrowed from Billy. Fortunately, Kimberly managed to keep him at bay.

Trini’s mother had said that Trini could spend the night at a friend’s house and Kim had jumped at the chance causing Jason to burst into a fit of laughter with Zack.

They were walking slowly, enjoying the time alone, stealing kisses and talking about random things as if nothing had changed. Then again, now that Trini thought about it, not much had changed from before they had made out against a rock.

Somewhere along the way, Trini had remembered that still had to give Kim her gift and Kim had opened in the middle of the street, nearly dropping it. When she saw what it was, she nearly started crying. Trini, being Trini, thought that Kim hadn’t liked the present and had begun to apologise when Kim flung her arms around her.

Who knew that someone could be so moved by a selfie that Kim had made her participate in, in the middle of biology lesson, in a frame that read ‘the day you stole my heart’? Not Trini.

“So, what are we?” Kim asked, playing with Trini’s hand as they stopped outside Kim’s house.

“Well,” Trini said, rubbing her neck with the hand that wasn’t intertwined with Kim’s. “It would be cool if you would be my girlfriend so um - yeah.”

Kim started laughing. Trini blushed, the streetlight making her look even more red.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Kim replied, stopping in the middle of the street.

“So, is that a yes?”

Kim leant down and pressed a gentle kiss to Trini’s cheek.

“That’s a yes.”

Trini smiled.

***

“Hello?” Kim yelled as she opened the door.

And Trini was confused again.

“You said that your parents weren’t back until tomorrow?”

“I know.”

“Why did-”

Kim silenced Trini by slamming their lips together and kicking the door shut.

Oh that was why.

“Promise not to leave again?"

“Promise."