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They had been running for an hour. Or maybe it was three hours. Or maybe it only fifteen minutes. But it definitely felt more like a lot of hours. The sun was getting lower in the sky as the group kept dodging in and out of the alleys of downtown LA. At this point, even Chase’s chest was heaving in and out at a rate you don’t see in star high school lacrosse athletes.
Alex, being Alex was the first to spot the overpass and lead the group down the steep embankment. Trying to sneak down a ditch gracefully and discreetly without getting spotted by cars is probably a lot easier without a six and a half foot tall extinct reptile from the Cretaceous period. It was clear Old Lace was down for the count as she slumped down at the bottom of the incline, right against a concrete pillar- followed closely by Gert falling against her with matched breath for breath hyper-ventilation. Molly sat down at the other side of the pillar, eyes quickly dropping. Chase sat down just at arm's length across from Gert with a gentle smile. Alex, who’s brain never really seems to stop going doesn't bother to sit, instead, walking further down the embankment mumbling something about “other people”, “food” and “phones” or “rats”.
Karolina slides down pillar opposite to where the others were. She watches Gert and Chase banter playfully and painfully, and Molly shifts around against the cold cement in an attempt to get more comfortable for a much-needed nap. Karolina was tired. She can’t remember ever being this tired in her life. The past two days were by far the weirdest and most exhausting of her life. There was a lot she wishes she never learned about and she did more running than she did in all eleven years of PE. And oh, of course, she kissed the girl she’s liked since forever. Twice if you really want to get into details.
“Hey.”
“Hey Nico”
God, Karolina loved saying her name. The way it felt against her mouth and sank into her heart. She took a moment to really look at her. Her outfit blendes her into the shadows of the underpass. It was a more intense look than she normally went for. (Average day Nico usually went one hundred percent- undercover Nico was going a hundred and twenty.) The hint of orange that was left in the sky glowed off her cheek which was high from an awkward smile she was wearing.
“This seat taken?” Nico points at the ground next to Karolina.
“I don’t know- I was kinda waiting for someone,” Karolina replies with a soft, teasing smile.
Nico takes this has her cue and sits next to Karolina. She takes a few moments to get comfortable, shifting around before she settled, her arm and leg pressing against Karolina’s. She lets out a quiet sigh, causing Karolina to turn to at her from where she was staring at her own feet.
“Everything okay?”
Nico shoots Karolina a quizzical look for what was probably a dumb question.
“I mean- besides you know, everything that’s happened the past few days?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
A moment.
“Actually, no. I’m not fine... Why didn’t you tell me?” Nico lets out in a shy whisper.
“Tell you what? About my powers? Nico I-”
“No not that.”
“Then what?”
Nico became silent. Putting her hands down to shift how she was sitting to look more directly at Karolina. She spends a few moments looking down, gathering her thoughts before she looks up at Karolina through her eyelashes where her makeup was now starting to cake and run from the heat of the southern California sun and pure exhaustion. She takes a deep breath in before responding.
“How you felt. You know... about me.”
“Nico,” Karolina’s cheeks pink. Nico can practically see her brain racing. “-You were with Alex and I was still figuring stuff out and then everything going on with our parents and...”
“And?”
“I was- I am scared.”
“Why?” Nico’s voice is soft and careful.
“I didn’t know how you’d react. I’m already I freak in one way, I didn’t want you to think I was a bigger freak than I already am”
“Karolina, please don’t ever use that word to describe yourself. Please. We all have our own weird shit going on, and you are so beautiful inside and out.”
Karolina takes a moment to absorb Nico’s words, heat rising in her neck before her mind gets back on her original train of thought. “I mean I still don’t know exactly what’s going on here. We haven’t really had a lot of chances to talk about it. This.” She motions between them with a nod.
Nico was quiet for a moment mulling over Karolina’s words. She reaches out and takes Karolina’s hand in hers. She’s cut off before she has a chance to say anything.
“God, Nico your hands are freezing.”
“Oh. Yeah, it’s been a long day. I have bad circulation or something.”
Without saying anything Karolina lets go of her hand. She takes off her bracelet in a quick motion and places it on her lap. Nico watches as Karolina makes her hand turn wave pinks and blues and orange. It is a little duller than usual as if she was trying to be discreet. Still, it is brightest in her fingertips.
“Here,” Karolina says taking both of Nico’s hands in her own. “Better?”
“Yeah. A lot actually.”
They exchange soft smiles.
“Oh my god- you were about to say something.”
“That’s okay. This is probably nicer.”
“Nico...”
She lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding before speaking.
“How long have you known… I mean since you realized you like…”
“Girls? That’s a little more recent. You? Probably since the moment I met you.”
“Karolina…” Karolina knows she’s the one with the ability to glow but the way she sees the color rise to Nico’s cheeks she thinks for a moment it might be the other way around. “...I like you. A lot.”
“You do?” Karolina could feel her control slip a little as she hears Nico let out a quiet laugh. She noticed her hands getting brighter and the light slipping up past her wrists. Nico could feel the temperature in her hands rise.
“Do you ever get to a place and your not sure how you got there? Like you thought you knew which way you were going. But along the way, your gut- or heart, starts to change your path without noticing, but you look back from where you are now and it makes sense how you got there? It might have not been always obvious to me, but I think it was always you.”
Nico pauses to watch Karolina’s smile grow.
“Also we had homeroom together, and you tend to stare sometimes.”
“Yeah, well, can you blame me?” A beat echoes between them. “... Honestly, I didn’t think you noticed”
“I noticed every time. Every moment. I just think it took a while for my head to catch up to my heart. I wasn’t expecting it, but when you kissed me at the dance? That was the best wake up call I’ve ever had. I’m sorry I just didn’t wake up sooner.” Her voice is steady and so very… Nico. But her hands, the ones Karolina held in her own, trembled ever so slightly. Just enough to signal to Karolina that she is nervous. She was putting her self out there emotionally, more than she’s seen Nico do in a long time. She could feel how brave she was being in this moment. She knew how hard this was for her after, well, everything. Karolina gives her hands a gentle reassuring squeeze and decides Nico’s bravery at this moment was enough for her to be brave.
She reached out to touch her. Her makeup was smudged and bags were forming under her eyes. She looked a little worse for wear but if she was being honest she probably did too. But so beautiful Karolina thought. Pieces of hair were falling out of her top knot at weird angles and Karolina took a piece that had fallen in front of the corner of her eye and moved it back behind her ear.
“So are we like…” Karolina trailed off.
“Something good… something new. Something real.”
“Something real?”
“Yeah. Whatever two girls, running from their murderous parents and the law, who have a lot of uh, feelings for each other- real. In this together real. Being together real.” She felt Nico put the weight of her head into her hand which was still on the side of her face.
“Okay” Karolina breathed out, barely above a whisper, moving her face in closer to Nico’s.
Their third kiss wasn’t tentative or exponential like the first, nor shy and coy like the second. Their third kiss felt comfortable and safe that grew into a dizzying passion. Nico felt warm all over and there were lights dancing behind her eyes.
They both paused in place when someone audibly clears their throat.
Okay, so there might have been actual lights.
“Um, guys-”
The whole group was standing just a few feet away from them now. They all had a shit eating grin on their face, Gert’s probably wider than anyone else. All except for Alex who didn’t look mad, but he did look less than thrilled at this change in dynamic. He’s the first to break the silence.
“There are other people camped out just a little further down the overpass and we really don’t need to draw any more attention to ourselves then we all get with the overgrown lizard.”
This draws a discontented noise from Old Lace and Gert.
“And Ms. Rainbow Dash over here isn’t exactly subtle.”
Nico glances over at Karolina to see her glowing as bright as she’s ever seen her and fumbling for her bracelet to extinguish the attention on her at the moment. She snaps on the metal cuff and they all fall into the shadows as Karolina’s light dims, but it doesn’t take away a pink glow from her neck and cheeks.
“She glows so wouldn’t she be more like a Carebear?”
“Are you a furry or something now, Chase?”
“You mean a Brony.” Nico added.
“Guys, can we please focus!” Alex is clearly irritated at this point.
“Alright, I have a feeling it’s going to be another long day tomorrow. I’ll take first watch- then Gert, Nico, Karolina, then Chase and we can go from there. We’ll trade off in two hours or so. Sound like a plan?”
There’s muffled sounds of agreement as they all disperse back to their original spots. Nico and Karolina find themselves alone again.
“Nico, I’m so sorry I didn’t think I would-”
“No, it’s okay. Alex was just overreacting. And I’m glad everyone knows.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. I meant what I said before. You are beautiful. And while I don’t think we’re done running we can at least be done hiding.”
“You’re so beautiful, too, Nico.”
This quiets Nico for a few seconds.
“Come on” Nico pecks Karolina on the lips “We should try and nap or something before we get called for guard duty or whatever.”
Karolina tucks her arm around Nico’s waist in an attempt to make them both more comfortable. Their heads fit together and their eyes drift shut. A few moments pass before one of them speaks again.
“Nico?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad we’re in this together.”