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Trini sets the last box down and gazes upon the bare walls of her new bedroom. White walls, a clean slate for her to make into her own image. Too many ideas run through her head at once and they all say a trip to the hardware store for paint is necessary.
“Yo! Was that your last box?”
She turns her gaze over to her older sister, by six months Z, and nods slowly without speaking then turns back to the wall. Z walks into the room, it's bigger than hers because she lost a bet, and looks at the walls trying to see what Trini sees.
“Are you going all A Beautiful Mind on the wall?”
“It's beautiful Z.”
“It's blank T.”
“But it won't be for long and what's going to be there is going to be beautiful.”
Z looks back and forth between her little sister and the wall again and just shakes her head.
“You're weird, let's go we gotta help unpack the kitchen with Dad.”
Z mushes Trini’s beanie down over her face and walks out to go downstairs to unpack the kitchen. Trini takes one last look at the giant canvas she's been given and leaves as well.
She doesn't get to paint her room right away. In fact it takes two weeks until she gets to come back to the ideas she's been drawing in her sketchbook because they have to unpack the house first. When they do, Trini is almost giddy to go to the hardware store. This is also the first time they're really exploring Angel Grove without their father with them so Z is excited too.
Walking into the store Z grabs a cart while Trini makes a beeline for the paint section to go crazy. As Z walks through the store to get what she needs she runs into three guys around her age. One of them is black with red pupils and while that's interesting the Asian guy with forest green eyes is more interesting. She pulls the cart to a stop before she hits them and they all look towards her.
“Sorry about that I almost ran you over. Your eyes are really interesting I got distracted.”
“Oh that's fine it's happened a lot since they changed. I'm Billy and that's Zack and one of his mates Bridge.”
“One of his mates? How does that work?”
“Oh we share him, it's awesome. It also worked out that both of our favorite color is green.”
Z looks at Bridge and his irises are so pitch black to where you can't see the difference between that and his pupils.
“So are you new in town? We would remember you if you went to AG.”
“Yeah my little sister and I just moved here with our Dad, she's around here somewhere. Probably going nuts in the paint section as we speak.”
“You left a little kid alone in a hardware store?”
“Oh no Trini is the same age as me she's just six months younger.”
Bridge nods knowingly and smiles at Z.
“Hey no worries about the confusion I'm adopted too. My brother Sky is a dick if I have to be honest but he's alright when he tries. How long has she been with you and your dad?”
“About six years, we were next door neighbors growing up and we took her in when her parents died. She's always been my sister that just made it official.”
“There you are!”
Trini walks up to the four of them and dumps an array of spray paint cans, a paint mask, tape, and gloves into the cart Z already has. She looks at her haul, satisfied with her color choices then acknowledges the boys Z was talking to.
“Woah your eyes are like pitch black, can I take a picture of you?”
“Uhhhh why?”
“So I can draw you later, I'm an artist.”
“Dude introduce yourself, he doesn't know you!”
Trini rolls her eyes, but smiles at the three boys and does what her sister asks.
“I'm sure she's said my name already but I'm Trini her little sister.”
“I'm Bridge, that's Billy and my mate Zack. And you can definitely take a picture of me to draw, if I can get a copy of the final product later.”
“Maybe we can take the picture by the car? Jason is waiting at the restaurant for us.”
The other boys instantly pull out their phones check something then frown before putting them back in their pockets.
“We'll walk out together. That way T can get her picture and we can exchange numbers.”
Everyone nods at Z’s decision because everyone one gets what they want and to where they're going with a promise to hang out later. Trini instantly goes to her room to start planning out her design and start painting the day away. Some time later there's a knock on her door stopping her progress.
“Lil T are you painting?”
“Yes Dad.”
“Is the window open?”
Trini looks over and goes over to open the windows to air out the future paint fumes.
“Yes, now it is.”
“Okay. Dinner will be ready whenever you come down.”
Trini smiles at her father under her mask and paints the day away. They were lucky to move before the school year started because it gave the siblings time to make friends and learn the town without the schedule of school being in the way. Z got to set up the garage the way she wanted and Trini got to do all the art she wanted, including drawing all their friends. One day they were all in the garage while Z and Bridge worked on her motorcycle when Zack noticed a soccer ball in the corner of the space.
“Do either of you play soccer?”
“That's racist Zack.”
“We did at our old school but the team was terrible aside from the two of us. Why?”
“Tommie told me that the team is having tryouts soon. If you're that good you'd definitely make the team. Plus all three of my favorite girls in one place what could be better?”
“We're gay Zack.”
“That's funny Tommie said the same thing when we met.”
They end up at the tryouts and two girls come up to them instantly.
“Hey you must be Trini and Z, I'm Tommie and that's Syd the boys told us to look out for you.”
“I'm Bridge’s brother Sky’s mate. He's been talking about your drawing of him for weeks.”
“Nice you meet you and the drawing was nothing I was just inspired by his eyes. Black being someone's favorite color is rare. Tommie I would love to draw you too.”
“Make the team then we'll talk about that.”
They end up making the team and filling out paperwork that ask for their numbers, sizes and three choices for their number. Tommie and Syd come back over to them in the parking lot and smile at the siblings.
“We're about to get some food want to come with?”
“Sure we'll follow you.”
They become friends quickly and the entire team wants Trini to draw them at some point, and once the other girls find out that Z can fix cars she makes a business out of giving them oil changes without creep mechanics staring at them. When school starts so does the season and their winning streak, Z is a monster of a goalie and with Trini at center midfielder and second striker position the lady tigers are a force to be reckoned with on the field.
One day during practice Z gets faked out by a kick and runs head first into the goal post sending her down to the ground hard. Trini runs over instantly and one of the student volunteer nurses, Aisha, does too. Aisha moves Trini out of the way gently and Trini understands that she's just making sure she doesn't have a concussion so she stands behind her and waits. Aisha flashes a light in Z’s eyes and she starts to come to. Her eyes meet Aisha’s and it's like she's looking at an angel. A yellow glow surrounds the other girl and Z is entranced.
Trini watches as her sister's brown eyes change to a lighter and lighter color until they are bright yellow. She looks up at Aisha and her eyes have changed to more of a gold shade from the brown that they were about twenty minutes ago. Neither one of them is saying anything and the other members of the team are watching them so she decides to break the silence.
“Coach I think Z needs to sit for a minute that fall was pretty bad!”
“Okay, help her up and to the bench. Tori you're in!”
Trini picks Z up and she walks her to the bench with Aisha following with an ice pack in hand.
“You have amazing timing sis, like truly perfect timing.”
Z doesn't respond to her and Trini just shakes her head and puts her on the bench. She turns to Aisha and just walks back onto the field to finish practice. They can talk about this later.
“Welcome to the family. Yellow suits you.”
Aside from Z meeting her mate practice is pretty uneventful and it ends with the two of them in front of Aisha’s car. Trini is sitting close by on the back of Z's bike drawing in her sketchbook as she waits. It's going to be a cartoon of Z on the ground with stars and Aisha’s face floating over her head and it's pretty good so far. When her sister is finally done she puts her book away and tosses Z her helmet.
“Finally. I'm getting in the shower first because you took so long.”
“Okay.”
“Not even a fight for it? Wow. What were you two even talking about for the rest of practice?”
“Getting to know each other, just because we're soulmates doesn't mean we're perfect for each other automatically.”
“....That's literally what it means to be soulmates with someone. Let's just go home I'm hungry, sweaty, and you aren't making sense.”
Over the next two weeks Aisha comes around more becoming a fixture at the Delgado household. She cooks with their mother, who came later because of work, and talks sports with their father when she isn't in the garage with Z. Today is a rare day because she's spending time with Trini as she paints something for a friend of hers in the backyard.
“What are you painting?”
“Jason wanted something done for his anniversary with Billy so I'm combining their colors and their favorite things to do together.”
“That's cute. You should get around to making a little shed back here so you have an actual space to paint instead of in the middle of the grass.”
“I was talking to Zack and Bridge about something like that and they said they would get back to me on it. It's fine I lost a bet and wasn't able to get the garage but I got the bigger bedroom so it all worked out in my opinion.”
Aisha watches her go back to painting, ending the conversation there. Trini doesn't dislike Aisha, that's kind of impossible to do, she just doesn't believe in the magic of soulmate bonds. There's no way that someone she's never met is going to be her perfect match for the rest of her life. Life doesn't work like that, especially not her life. She's proven wrong exactly one week later when Billy runs up to the lunch table before class starts brimming with excitement.
“Guys Kim comes back today!!!!!!”
“Wait that's today?! Holy shit!”
“I know I was checking the calendar on my phone because I was dating a paper so it looked like I didn't finish it way too early.-”
“That's only a problem you would have Billy, we mere mortals have to do that the opposite way.”
“Anyway I was checking the date and it's exactly six months since Kim left her the student exchange program. She comes back today!”
She watches the boys for a moment before taking a sip of her Gatorade and speaking.
“Uhhhh, who's Kim?”
Zack wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her close before telling her anything. Which is unnecessary but Zack’s middle name is unnecessary so she just deals with it.
“Kim was our only female friend before you moved here. The only reason you didn't meet her during the summer is because she was already in London since their school year starts before ours. She's on the swim team, which she came back right as the season is about to start that's great and she's just really cool.”
“”Really cool?” I'll take your word for it until I can see for myself homeboy.”
“I wonder if she met her soulmate while she was away.”
“If I met my soulmate I wouldn't have come back to see your sorry faces.”
All four of them look up at the sound of a foreign voice and the boys run over to who she assumes is Kim. The boys all get hugs before they bring her over and sit down at the table.
“Who's this?”
“I'm Trini I moved here while you were gone and these dorks were so lost without you that they glued themselves to the next girl they saw. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, I like the jacket.”
The two girls shake hands and suddenly Trini feels weird. She dismisses it as a stomach thing and goes about the rest of her day. Kim shares a few classes with her so they sit together, and Kim misses lunch to get a locker and talk to a few teachers. When she's getting ready for bed, Trini takes out her contacts and washes her face like she normally does. When she pulls the towel away and puts on her glasses she looks in the mirror and her eyes are pink.
Fucking bright hot pink.
She takes the glasses back off and gets as close to the mirror as she can without being inside of it and looks at her eyes. Sure enough it's not a trick of the light she met her soulmate and her eyes changed. It had to be Kim, everyone else she's seen and made eye contact with them before, Kim was different. She sighs and leans back from the mirror. She doesn't know if Kim's eyes changed after they met or at all during the day but that would explain why she sat next to her in most of their shared classes.
“Are you done yet? No amount of face wash will help what you got so let me in I have to pee!”
Trini jumps at the sound of her sister banging on the door and quickly gets out of the bathroom, avoiding eye contact as she goes to her room try and sleep. It takes a while to get her mind to stop long enough to relax and sleep but she does sleep eventually. When she wakes up her eyes are still hot pink but she puts in her contacts to cover it. She's been wearing color contacts since she was twelve because she doesn't want a soulmate, so if someone were to look they would not try to be with her. A trick she learned from her late mother. She heads down for breakfast and no one seems to notice that she's having an internal panic attack.
“Aisha is driving us to school you okay with that?”
“Yeah yeah that's fine with me. Plus it's raining don't want to show up to school soaking wet.”
“Yeah...you okay?”
“Didn't get any sleep last night. I'm fine.”
“Okay.”
Kim seems to pay closer attention to her today, always looking at her and trying to catch her gaze. She keeps her head down in her sketchbook most of the day, not really drawing but she doesn't want to look at Kim and see if her eyes are yellow or not. The boys pay her no mind because she still chimes in during conversation.
“What are you drawing Trini?”
“I'm doing a series of portraits of my friends and their soulmate colored eyes. This is Tori from the soccer team.”
Kim inches closer to her and looks over her shoulder at her book to see. She leans back but doesn't move away from her side.
“What to you do with them when they're done?”
“I post a picture on instagram and give the person a copy, the original one stays in my book.”
“Who was the first one in your series?”
“Bridge, then the rest of the boys. Once the soccer team found out I just kept drawing people.”
“Can I be next? My eyes were a really cool gold color when I got home.”
“Do you know who it was that you mated with?”
Trini looks up at Kim, and her eyes are the shade of the sun, blazing bright and staring right into her soul. Kim can probably see through her and read her like a book right now but she doesn't call her on it.
“I think I do, I'm going to talk to them later. What about you?”
“Nope not yet.”
“She's going to be very lucky when you do.”
She chances one more look at Kim and God her eyes remind her of her favorite shade of yellow. When the sun is starting to come down at golden hour right before the sky turns purple and the sun sets. She turns away from her and goes back to her book for the rest of lunch and all but avoids Kim for the rest of the day until she can't. Z sends her a text at the end of the day telling her that Aisha is taking her on a surprise date somewhere so she has to find another ride home. She's staring at her phone when Kim and Zack come up to her at her locker.
“What's up crazy girl you look upset?”
“Z and Aisha are having a surprise date and left me to find my own ride home.”
“Well if you're willing to wait Zack and I have swim practice but I can drive you afterwards.”
Great just what she needs, more alone time with Kim. She doesn't really have another option though so she sits on the side of the pool and does her English reading while they practice. Emma and Syd are also on the swim team so it's not all bad for her. She also thought Zack was going to ride in the car with them but Bridge drives him home, since he just got out of wrestling, so it's just the two of them in Kim’s jeep.
“You want to get some food before I take you home? Swim practice always makes me really hungry.”
“I don’t mind you're the one driving.”
Kim nods and takes them to Ernie's to grab a quick bite. She turns off the car and looks at Trini and waits for her to acknowledge that the car has stopped.
“I'll just wait in the car while you get something.”
“No you aren't I'm not letting you stay in the car. This will take another twenty minutes tops.”
Trini gives Kim a look and she gives her one right back until she speaks again.
“Come on, you're already two hours later than normal, just tell them you're with a friend and you'll be home soon. What's the harm in getting a burger before dinner?”
Trini tries to glare at Kim but it just makes her smile widen so she rolls her eyes and gets out of the car. Kim does a dorky victory dance, making her begrudgingly smile. They go in and eat burgers and fries, and Kim does that thing where she dips her fries in her milkshake.
“I can never understand why people do that, it just makes the fries cold and soggy.”
“Come on Trini, it's all about the combination of salty and sweet like salted caramel, or chocolate covered pretzels.”
“Those two things are great but you're just ruining perfectly good fries by making them soggy and wet.”
“I happen to like soggy fries thank you very much. You have to try it I swear it's great.”
“I'll try it but I'm not ruining my fries to do it. Give me one of your fries.”
Kim dips the fry lightly in her chocolate shake then hands it over to her.
“You have to eat the whole fry, not just the dipped bit, otherwise you don't get the full experience.”
She eats the who fry, and Trini is a fry purest, a little salt and the fries are perfect. She doesn't even do traditional sauces on her fries. There's something different about the chocolate shake covering the fry. She doesn't hate it. She doesn't love it, but it's not the worst thing she's put in her mouth.
“I don't hate it. It's not the best thing ever but I've had worse.”
“I'll take that as a win!”
Trini laughs at Kim's antics then the bill is placed on the table. Kim instantly grabs for it and starts counting out money to pay. Trini starts to go through her pockets for cash but Kim stops her.
“You aren't paying, I had to convince you to even come in.”
“Let me at least pay the tip.”
“I'll think about it….no I got it. You can get the next one.”
Kim pays for their food and finally drives her home. They took so long that Z is in the garage with Aisha back from their date. Kim pulls up next to Aisha’s car and parks there. Z looks over at them and stands to meet her little sister's new friend.
“You better get out of the car.”
“What why?”
“Because Z is looking at you while holding a wrench, she wants to meet you.”
“Is the wrench supposed to scare me?”
“Is it scaring you?”
“Little bit.”
“Then yeah it's supposed to scare you. Consider yourself special she didn't do this with any of my other friends.”
Trini gets out of the car and heads towards Z, Kim takes a deep breath then does the same. Aisha smiles at Trini and they do their special handshake then she sits next to her. Z takes a good look at Kim, and can tell three things instantly.
One: She's her little sister's soulmate.
Two: That jeep is fucking cool and she's a bit jealous.
Three: She's afraid of her because she knows she's her sister's mate.
“What's your name?”
“Kimberly but everyone just goes with Kim.”
“Z. Zack talks about you a lot nice to meet you.”
They shake hands and Aisha rolls her eyes at the display.
"Hey Kim how was swim?”
“Nice rhyme.”
“Thank you Lil T.”
“You're on the swim team?”
“And softball, swim was how I met Zack actually. Before we both joined Triple A club anyway.”
“Triple A club?”
“Awesome Asian Americans club. Mia’s idea but Cameron’s name. We just call it that for short.”
Trini lays her head on Aisha’s shoulder and sighs. This could take a while.
“You ramble.”
“Only when I'm nervous and actually only when I speak English.”
“That's a humble brag that you don't just bring up in casual conversation. What other languages do you speak?”
“ASL, Hindu, and Gujarati.”
“Hey Aisha do you want to go see my paint shed, it's finally done?”
“If we can make a stop inside first, this pissing contest has me needing to go myself.”
Trini chuckles and the two of them leave Z and Kim alone and only vaguely aware of them leaving. Z grabs Kim's shoulder and leads her to the bench their mates were just sitting and she sits her down. She finally puts the wrench down and gets two bottles of water out of the fridge she has out here.
“So...you're my little sister's soulmate.”
Kim takes the water, holds it in her hands and just nods. She herself wasn't sure if it was Trini until they were talking at lunch earlier and Z just says it, like it's not even a question.
“You've known her for what a day?”
“As soon as I met her I knew. Her eyes didn't change tho, they're still the same as when I met her. Fate may be wrong about this one.”
Z knows her little sister, this girl is her mate, but she doesn't believe in them. At least not in the way everyone else does. Still she doesn't want to take this girl's hope and throw in the trash so she doesn't.
“Look, T is a tough one to get close to, if she doesn't want you to get close you won't. A hard shell with a soft center, you're going to have to work at it.”
“Like a coconut?”
Z stops for a moment, raises an eyebrow, and smirks at the image of Trini’s regular body but she has a coconut for a head.
“Yeah exactly like a coconut. Be persistent. Thank you for driving her home by the way my lady likes to be romantic and plan surprises for me.”
“I hope I get to do that for her one day. I was going to tell her today but her eyes were still that dark brown, so I dropped it.”
“Maybe they'll change later, not everyone has an instant bond with their one.”
“That's what I'm hoping for. I better get home, thanks for...this.”
“When you two get your shit together I want to drive that jeep.”
“Only if I can drive the bike.”
Kim gives Z her number then hops in her car and leaves. She took her advice and just kept being her charming self all through the winter months, even being invited to the family only birthday dinner Trini had. They're best friends, and while Kim wants more, she likes what they have. Everyday she checks for even a speck of pink, and everyday her heart hurts a little more when there isn't one. Is it possible that this girl, that she is sure she's in love with at this point, is not her soulmate? And if she isn't does she even care if she's not? As December, and a light jacket winter, rolls through Kim has a decision to make. No matter her choice, the odds are not in her favor.
Trini hates the month of December, it's the month she became an orphan. She's in a bad mood the entire month and keeps her head in her sketchbook when she's not in class. No one knows why her parents were on the road that night, she never told anyone and therapists just assumed that she repressed the memories from that night. She remembers everything about her birth parents and keeps the memories only to herself and her art. Lately she's been painting them more. The slopes of their smiles, and the ways that they danced in the kitchen when they should have been cooking make her smile sadly but she continues to paint through the pain.
The sound of someone knocking on the shed door is ignored, almost mute to her ears as she keeps painting. She's crying silently, but the music in her headphones would have drowned out any sound anyway. The door creaks open and Kim pops her head in through the cracked door. She sees Trini crying with a still wet paintbrush in her hand so she slowly steps into the room and towards Trini.
“Trini, it's Kim. Are you okay?”
The crying only gets worse, plagued by memories of her parents, Trini starts sobbing and Kim drops all pretenses to not scare her and just walks up to her and holds her from behind. She doesn't speak, she just holds Trini through her tears. Trini starts mumbling broken words in Spanish, she can make out a few words and just holds her as close as she can.
“ Papi please don't go, mami please don't leave me. What will I do without you?”
She continues in this fashion until the tears start to slow down until they eventually stop. Kim takes the paint brush from her hand and leads her to the small couch on the other side of the shed by the window. She opens the window and grabs a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and puts it in her hands. Kim doesn't go that far from Trini if she can help it. The farthest she goes is when she gets the waters but it isn't for long. She sits close enough to have their sides touch but not crowd the other girl.
“You don't have to tell me what that was about I just want to know if you're okay.”
“It's the anniversary.”
Kim takes a moment to think and when she realizes that Trini means the anniversary of her parents death she pulls her back into her arms. She doesn't know much about Trini’s birth parents except for what she's heard from Z. She knows that her parents died in a crash and Z’s family took her in because the two were so close when they were growing up.
“Tell me about them. It might help to talk about them sometimes.”
“They loved each other, every night was filled with laughter and joy and my distant family hated it. My parents weren't mates with each other when they had me, they knew that but they still got married and raised me as best they could. My mom she wore contacts that were my Dad's favorite color and so did he. They knew they would be judged for not being with their ones so they lied. It was when they did that they died. They were on the way to meet their mates when they crashed and I lost them.”
Kim’s heart breaks at Trini’s story. Her parents just wanted to do right by their daughter and she lost them both.
“Anyway none of my relatives wanted to take me in because I was a baby made by two people who weren't mates so Z and her family took me in. That's kinda why I don't believe in soulmates.”
“You don't?”
“Not in the way everyone else does, I believe in falling in love with someone before knowing that they're my mate. Even when my eyes change I wouldn't want to be with them just because of that, I want it to be real.”
“Is that why wear you contacts?”
"How did you know I wear contacts?"
"I saw the case in the bathroom one day while I washing my hands for dinner."
"I actually do need them to see but yeah that's why I wear contacts. I want to love my soulmate before I know they're my soulmate, not because I'm supposed to.”
Kim’s hope grows stronger after that day. The closer they get, the more Trini opens up to her. She's sure that she's in love now and she's been complaining to Z a lot about Trini, much to Z’s annoyance. She's just trying to fix Lil T’s bike so she can go riding with the T squad, not hear the love troubles of her little sister's one and their lack of communication.
“Does Trini think we're dating?”
“I don’t know we don't talk about that stuff. Can you hand me that wrench?”
Kim hands her the wrench and then sighs before starting up again.
“I should ask her to hang out on my birthday, it just so happens to fall on Valentine's Day that's not suspicious at all. Is it?”
“I don't really care.”
“I mean I can't help that my birthday is on Valentine's Day that's my dad's fault. Or is it my mom's...”
Trini walks in at that moment and Z cheers inside her head.
“Is my bike done the guys are waiting on me. Hey Kim I didn't know you were here.”
“I came to see you but Z told me that you were going out so I didn't go inside.”
“She's been talking my ear off about her birthday plight. Your bike is done I'm going inside.”
They both watch Z go inside before turning back to each other.
“What birthday plight are you going through I thought you were excited about it coming up?”
“I am but everyone has plans for romance and I'll just be by myself.”
“Never say plans for romance again in your life and last I checked I'm not doing anything. Why can't the two of us do something?”
Kim’s mind instantly screams out, “Because I'll make it a date in my head”, but she refrains from saying that out loud and settles for a joke.
“Why Trini Gomez-Delgado are you asking me out on Valentine's Day? Because if so I accept.”
Trini shakes her head and hops on her bike, helmet in hand.
“See how easy that was to talk about that. I'll see you later, text me when you get home.”
“Okay, have fun.”
Kim watches her strap her helmet on and ride off to meet up with Tommie and Tori, or the T squad as Z calls them. She doesn't plan to stay for much longer after Trini leaves but when she's saying goodbye to Z she notices Trini’s door is open. She's been in Trini’s room before but this art piece on her ceiling is new. It's a pair of eyes that are golden yellow like sunset just like her eyes. She hears footsteps behind her but she doesn't move.
“She painted that a few weeks ago, I was wondering if she was ever going to tell you, since it's you, but I guess this works too.”
“Why on the ceiling?”
“Some people like to wake up to sunlight. She said it's so she knows what her future soulmate’s eyes will look like. Like we all don't already know that that's you.”
She feels a tear falling down her cheek and just lets it go. There is a painting of her eyes on Trini’s ceiling she deserves to cry about this. This completely changes her plans for her birthday celebration, she's going to go for this because if she doesn't she's an idiot at this point. Everything has to be perfect because if it doesn’t she could lose her. They're just going to the Valentine's Day carnival nothing too serious or anything to call for date suspicion. She was actually doing well until they got on the ferris wheel at the end of the night. It was the last ride of their night, the perfect time to talk and just relax before going home.
"I'm glad you convinced me to still do something today, I had the best time.
“Of course and I had fun too. Thank you for winning me my bear by the way.”
“What are you going to name him, you never told me.”
“AJ, for Alejandro jr. after my father.”
“That's beautiful.”
“Just like the view from up here, the stars look close enough to touch.”
Kim doesn't even look away from Trini but she agrees, the view is beautiful.
“Yeah it is.”
She leans in right as Trini turns to her and the way their lips touched….and it's not Kim’s fault okay, the way Trini’s eyes looked in the moonlight should be illegal you would have done it too. She's been wanting to do this since the moment she met her, and God this feeling could very well kill her where she sat. Time slows down between when she started kissing her and Trini not pulling away yet and if she didn't know any everything stopped when their lips touched. Fireworks are nowhere near how good she feels, more like ships made by NASA shooting into space. Trini eventually pulls away because she's running out of air, and she just looks at Kim.
“What was that for?”
“I've wanted to do that since I met you, it just seemed like the perfect moment.”
She gives her a look but doesn't say anything about it, as they get off the ride and leave. She gets a good night kiss when she drives her home so she doesn't think anything is wrong, but she also didn't respond to her goodnight text or talk to her until Monday. She decides to pick her up for school so they can talk because she's getting mixed signals. The siblings both look at her car then each other before Trini starts in her direction.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Wanted to drive you to school, want to get coffee before?”
Trini gives her a look and gets in the car without a word. Z gives her a little wave before leaving as well. After getting some coffee, like she said she would, Kim finds the courage to start this conversation.
“So what did you do this weekend?”
“Painted, I was really inspired, Emma and I went to this art installation downtown. It was really fun.”
“Oh did Emma invite you or?”
“I get what you're getting at, she invited me since Gia doesn't get Art. I would've invited you but it was just a girls day not a double date.”
Kim smiles a bit at the idea of going on another date, or even just a date with Trini.
“Well I don't really get art either, maybe we should go to a museum sometime so you can teach me.”
“I don’t know, most art exhibits and museums have a thing about touching the art.”
“Cute. So....are we dating officially? Because if you just want a hookup buddy I get it I just -”
Trini cuts her off by leaning over the armrest and kissing her. Kim melts into the kiss right as she starts to pull away. She tries to pull her back in for more but Trini stops her because she still has something to say.
“Stop worrying, you think too much beautiful girl. Let's just go with the flow okay?”
“I'm sorry I wasn't listening, I was too busy looking at your lips.”
“Cute.”
“Not cuter than you.”
“We're not doing this.”
“Why not? I think we're naturals at it.”
Trini rolls her eyes with a smile and kisses her again like she wanted. Things don't really change in the eyes of their friends, because they were practically dating already, but it feels different. One day in March Z and Trini are playing catch in the backyard to get her arm ready for softball tryouts when Z accidentally throws the ball too quickly and hits Trini in the eye. Z immediately drops everything and takes her inside to get some ice.
“I thought you were looking I'm so sorry Lil T.”
“It's fine I just need to wash my face and take my contacts out. Be right back.”
She walks out of the kitchen and Z sends Kim a text saying that she gave her girlfriend a black eye. When she's realized that Trini’s taking longer than she should be she decides to go check on her. She walks into the bathroom to see Trini pulling a towel away from her face and bright vibrant pink eyes.
“When did your eyes change T?”
Trini freezes at the sound of Z behind her. She doesn't answer her so she steps closer to corner her younger sister.
“I don't think you heard me, I asked when did your eyes change Trini?”
When she doesn't answer again Z nods before frowning.
“You've known for longer than her haven't you? God T that girl is totally in love with you by now and I bet she doesn't even know does she?”
“I'm gonna tell her when the time is right.”
“When on your wedding day?! You proved your point she fell in love without the truth that you are her soulmate. You should have told her by now, especially since you're already dating! You've been lying to her this entire time for what?”
“I needed to know if she loved me for me, not because of some chemical in her brain making her eyes yellow!”
“That chemical is love Trini! The reason her eyes are fucking sunrise or whatever artsy bullshit shade of yellow you like so much is because she loves you! She was born to love you and whether you like it or not she's going to love you because her eyes changed for you. God you're so stupid!”
“Would you have dated Aisha if she wasn't your mate?”
“Don't make this about me.”
“Would you have done it?! Because before that day you were all about Tori! You wouldn't give Aisha the time of day!”
“Yes I would have because my life is so much better with her in it and yours is better with Kim in it. Tell her, or I will.”
Trini sulks for days after that confrontation, trying to come up with the perfect way to tell her girlfriend that they've been mates all along. Z keeps staring at her whenever Kim comes over daring her to say it or she will. When she finally has the perfect plan it's their three month anniversary. Kim planned a night picnic for them out at the quarry behind her house and it's the perfect time.
“Let me give you my gift first.”
“Baby we said we weren't going to get each other anything.”
“Good thing I made this then huh? Happy anniversary beautiful.”
Kim opens the box she handed her and inside is a small comic book that she made herself about their relationship. As Kim flips through the pages she takes her contacts out and puts her glasses on so when she looks up she'll see her real eyes for the first time. Kim has tears in her eyes by the time she turns to look at her and just reaches up and touches her face. Her bright pink eyes are watering, and her golden yellow ones are brimming with tears as their eyes lock.
“I - I don't know what to say.”
“I should have told you a long time ago. I'm sorry.”
“Don't you dare apologize I get why you were hesitant before. Would I have liked to know before now? Yeah, but I always knew how you felt. This just solidifies it to other people.”
“I love you Kimberly Hart.”
“I've always loved you Trini Gomez-Delgado. No more contacts okay?”
“Okay.”
As the moon shines over the two girls two stars shine especially bright. Trini knows her parents didn't get their happy ending but she is damn sure gonna have hers with the girl she loves.