Work Text:
“Hey Adora,” Catra began to say for the voice memo she was making, “Glimmer and Bow told me you were working late tonight again.” She took a second to put on her seat belt, her hands gently putting the key in ignition, “So, text me when you get home! I’ll be up.” She ended the message with an ‘I love you’, before hitting send on her phone.
She pulled out the driveway, watching in her rear view her home get smaller as she drove off. Scorpia and Entrapta shared the place with her, and she couldn’t have it any other way, but she won’t tell them that. Not yet anyway. Since they all graduated college and have been roommates since, seemed the most likely choice to just share a place together once more. Catra looked at her dash’s digital display then, which read back to her half past nine, she looked down at her phone and the Maps app she had pulled up. ‘I’ll be at her apartment by one in the morning, maybe I could get there thirty minutes prior?’ She leaned back into her seat, one hand on the wheel, the other sat on the stick. Catra is surprising Adora this weekend, they didn’t want to live apart but, they both got job opportunities that they both agreed they shouldn’t turn down.
Besides, not like Adora is all by herself anyway. When Catra and her both graduated high school, they got accepted to different colleges, but they weren’t apart despite that. Adora lives with her former college roommate, Glimmer, and Glimmer’s boyfriend, Bow. They all became good friends, and Catra thought Adora just left her behind, that twelve years of growing up in the same small countryside town was thrown away the second she went off to the big city, Bright Moon, while Catra went and stayed near their hometown, taking on trade school instead. But she didn’t hate her when that happened, she couldn’t find it in herself to do so. So, when two years later Adora came back for the summer, they reconnected and fell from former friends, to reconnected friends, then to… lovers . It still surprises Catra when she thinks back to the confession, she didn’t expect herself to do it first but, she never was one for having patience.
Catra watched Adora talk, she heard the words, something about a game she was playing, but all she could think about was kissing her. Just one kiss could shut the dork up, her dork. She thought briefly and smiled, her tail whisking happily behind her. She was never able to control that damn thing, but Adora didn’t pay it any mind at all but-
“Catra?” Adora asked, head tilted, and brow raised. Fuck, she noticed she wasn’t listening. Catra sat there, unsure of what to respond with before just letting out a huge laugh, mostly out of embarrassment. She wasn’t going to get out of this so easily, “Yes Adora?” She said smugly back, watching as the blonde smiled, shuffling forward on the couch. Catra swore she saw Adora look down for a second, before her eyes snapping back up, staring into Catra’s own mismatched ones. She took this chance, is she reading the situation right? If not, this will be very awkward to apologize for. Adora made a small gasp of surprise when she pulled her into a kiss, Catra’s hands landing in her hair, the ponytail she had was undone as she took out the hair band, “Adora I-“ She couldn’t figure out how to say it, how to tell her that she’s loved her since first grade. When she came by to see the weird cat girl that the outcast all those years ago, “Adora I. I like- “
“I like you too, a lot.” Adora said and let out a breath she was holding before chuckling, her left hand snaking up to gently cup the back of Catra’s neck, pulling her back into a gentle kiss. They broke apart and both smiled, “I promised you we would always be together.”
…
Catra heard her music shuffle, her ears perking at it before she sighed. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she looked in the rear view, she hasn’t seen another pair of headlights in the last fifty or so miles, and it’s kind of how she preferred it. Late night drives are what she enjoyed the most and preferred to drive this way to go see Adora. More so tonight because, as she was told by Bow, him and Glimmer were gone for next week. Just so happened Adora and Catra both had that week off. So, Catra saw this as the perfect time to go see her, for the entire week. ‘I can’t wait to see the look on her face.’ She looked over at her phone briefly, her voice memo was read about thirty minutes ago and she looked at her dashboard’s clock, it read eleven, which means Adora is on break right now. She slowed down, taking mind to look every so often behind her to make sure no ghost car was suddenly going to pop up. Leaning into the seat more, she heard her phone go off. She let out a squeak of surprise, she forgot to put it back onto vibrate. Though, she saw that Adora replied.
Princess <3: Hey baby! Yeah, work here just isn’t letting up D:
Princess <3: Can’t wait to see you tomorrow morning, I have one more hour before I clock out. Then we can have so much fun just cuddling in bed and catching up. Love you!
Catra smiled at the text messages that came up. Her heart clenched a little at the casual use of the pet name, she hit the voice memo option again for her phone before speaking her response back, “Alright you dork,” she said with a chuckle, speeding back up as she kept her eyes on the road, “I can’t wait to see you to.” Would she be able to hear the car sounds? Catra thought about it for a second before saying, “I’m doing my usual ‘drive late at night so I can think’ bullshit again.” It was true, she liked driving because it helped her to clear her head, Perfuma said if she wasn’t flaring up in anger or snapping at people, whatever helped. Helped, so long as it was healthy, and Perfuma could not stress that enough to her.
“I love you too, text me when you get home, ok? See you soon, Princess.” With that she was careful to slow once more, hitting send before going back to her GPS, getting back into focus as she saw the first lights of the town she usually pulls into, to fill up on gas before heading further to see Adora. The exit was always quiet, and she loved it a little too much, but Catra has always liked being alone, even if she wanted to spend every waking moment with Adora. Moments like this, where the destination is in mind, but she was in no rush to get there, is where she feels the calmest. The gas station she always parked at finally fixed the flickering light it had on the service pumps. She turned off her car and got out, pocketing her phone into her pocket before adjusting her jacket. She closed the door, made sure to lock it, then stretched. Catra did this for a few moments before walking into the main store. She said a small hello to the cashier, before heading towards the back to grab a snack, and an energy drink.
Adora always got onto her case about drinking them so often but, she’s managed to keep down to about two drinks a week instead of, well, almost every day. College was rough, she doesn’t regret the restless nights though. The nights where she didn’t sleep, Adora on the other end of her phone as they both studied for their respective exams, were memories she looked back on with fondness. When she went up to pay for her stuff, she told the cashier to not worry about putting money on the pump. Catra watched as the person nodded, handing her stuff back before giving her a polite good night.
She headed back to her car, setting the bag of goods down in the other seat before grabbing her wallet. She paid for gas with her card, waiting for her gas tank to once again fill up. It didn’t take long, and didn’t cost much also, she has Scorpia and Entrapta to thank for that. Both tend to tinker with all their cars that they own, and sometimes its fun to watch them. Mostly Entrapta is the one that goes underneath them and does the dirty work, but Scorpia helps with the heavy lifting. She smiled, thinking about her friends, before putting the gas pump back into its slot and got back into her car. She’s at the halfway point of seeing Adora, and her excitement was barely containable at this point.
Before driving off, getting back onto the road, she saw that she had three new messages. Curiously, she opened them, and a huge grin was plastered onto her face as she read the messages left by Adora.
Princess <3: I’m glad you’re doing it though, I’m glad you are trying to work on your anger
Princess <3: Was wondering what the sounds in the background were! I have to clock in soon but I will text you, you know I always do 😊
Princess <3: I love you so much!!!!!
With her heart full, and opening her drink she bought, she turned on her car once more and got back onto the road. Catra made sure to also put on her seatbelt, Adora said something about it once, and now she does it because she doesn’t want to worry her. That and she threatened to stop cuddling with her, so how could she refuse? She drove back onto the main road and, as her songs shuffled once more in her driving playlist, got back into the driving focus she usually has.
The drive was long, Catra knew this, but she’s done it so many times that it doesn’t feel long to her like it use to be. Adora drives to hers sometimes, but she prefers going to her place because well, Bow and Glimmer at least don’t barge into your room. Catra loves her friends, but sometimes Scorpia and Entrapta don’t know the concept of knocking, she’s use to it though. The last thing she wants is both to ruin the bubble her and Adora create whenever it is just the two of them, she loves the feeling of it.
Adora held Catra tight in her arms, her hand mindlessly drawing patterns into the fur on her arms. She curled up closer, her tail wrapping around Adora’s ankle as she let out a purr, “You need to live closer.” Adora playfully said, pouting a little as she did. Catra chuckled, her hand coming up and tracing her girlfriend’s mouth, “I can say the same thing Princess.”
“One day?” Adora asked, shuffling so she can peer into Catra’s eyes. ‘Oh god,’ Catra thought to herself, her hand going up and running through Adora’s hair, watching the strands fall gently over her face, ‘She’s so. Beautiful.’
“Of course,” she began, placing a gentle kiss on her shoulder, “together always, like you promised.”
…
She could barely sit in the driver seat without getting a little excited, the clock on her dash read midnight and she was the city lights just minutes ahead. She made it an hour earlier then the GPS told her and just as she arrived at the welcoming sign to Bright Moon, her phone notifications went off. Without looking she knows who it is, Adora telling her she is home, the smile she didn’t know she had only just grew bigger as she drove to the apartment complex, knowing the route from driving it too many times. It took another five minutes before she parked, finding Adora’s car and parking right next to it. It was a beat-up red truck, and on the bumper was a sticker of the college she graduated from. She smiled softly at the familiarity of the thing before turning off her car and taking out her phone. She unlocked her phone and went through her contacts as she grabbed her trash and the duffel bag she had in the trunk.
The phone rang twice before she heard Adora’s sweet voice, “Catra? Its late.” She said, giggling. Catra laughed along, making sure to gently slam the trunk close before walking up to the entrance of the place, “Well, thought I should call you.”
“Hmm, I’m glad you did. Work was long.”
“Well, tell me about it, I’m right here.” Catra said softly, as she pushed in the entry code of the place. Glimmer gave it to her four months ago and was grateful for it ever since. Adora went on, telling her about her day at work. About how her coworkers were stressing her out, the work she was doing was too hard but also too easy. She listened to it all, making comments of ‘Oh, really?’ and ‘They said what?’ as she walked up to the apartment door. She could have taken the elevator but, she didn’t want to lose the reception as she wanted this surprise to be well, a surprise.
“Catra,” Adora said, sighing a little, “I wish you were here right now.”
“Oh? Miss little ol’ me that much?”
“I…” Adora began to protest but sighed, “I do. I want to live with you, maybe when you’re here we can, you know…”
“Talk about, moving in, together?” She finished her question as she got to the apartment door, her face was composed, making sure her wild mane of hair was tamed to a certain degree before saying, “Of course we can talk about that. Hey, I have to go but I’ll text you in a bit ok?” Adora sounded disappointed on the other end and sighed, telling her ‘I love you’ before saying goodbye and hanging up. Catra felt a little bad about that but she wanted to see Adora’s cute face with shock. So, she shifted her bag before knocking loudly.
“Coming!” Adora shouted, and Catra heard shuffling of feet before-
“Catra!” She was engulfed in a hug, blond hair covering her face as she put her face into the crook of Adora’s shoulder. She was home and was happy to be here.
“Hey Adora,” she said, in her usual sultry tone before smiling happily, “I wanted to surprise you. I left home at nine.”
“Catra that’s, you didn’t.” Adora began to say but just shook her head, laughing softly before locking eyes with her and pressing a kiss on her forehead, her hand cupping her cheek as her thumb smoothed out some of her fur, “I’m glad you did, let’s head inside, yeah? We can talk tomorrow.” Catra nodded at that, it was fine by her. Adora took her bag and held her hand, Catra didn’t mind. She was happy for the future, for the possibility of waking up everyday to Adora now. She didn’t care where they were, Adora was already her home.