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The text comes while Adora is in the middle of a long study session with Bow; she really does mean to ignore it, but he kicks her under the table with an apologetic little smile and points to her phone. With a heavy sigh, Adora pauses her music, takes an earbud out and picks up her phone just as it lights up with another message. It’s the group chat, because of course it is, and only then does Adora realize that it’s almost Valentine’s Day again.
And, yeah: the text in question is from Mermista (“sooo seahawk is throwing this year’s party. It’s on my yacht tho so technically it’s mine ig…..and its only us so NO telling ppl about it. See u at 9 on saturday ig”) and there are tens of messages after, mostly from Glimmer, who loves any excuse to party, and Bow, who just loves love itself.
“Aren’t you excited? ” Bow whispers then. He’s practically vibrating in place, and his smile doesn’t even falter when Adora just shrugs.
“I mean...after New Year’s…” they both wince; the memory of Sea Hawk nearly burning his mustache while off trying to set fireworks off coming to mind immediately. “But yeah, I guess! It’ll be fun, Mermista definitely knows how to throw a good party. And I’m guessing this means that we’re going shopping soon, huh.”
“Well, duh. ” There’s a sort of unspoken rule among the group that you don’t wear the same party outfit twice, which Adora still can’t quite wrap her head around. To her, an outfit is an outfit, and an expensive outfit should be worn more than once—but telling Glimmer and Bow that during her freshman year that had only earned her twin appalled looks and jumbled explanations of why she should never say that again.
“And can you make it to the mall tomorrow? It’ll be just us, I want your help picking something out to give to Glim. She has classes from 2-5, so we’ll be good. We can just say that we’ll be at the library, and that we’ll meet her back at Perfuma’s after we’re done.”
Adora nods, checking her phone again when it lights up with another message. This time it’s from Catra, and she must fail at hiding the smile that comes to her lips when she sees her name on the screen, because when she looks back up at Bow after responding to Catra’s message, he’s giving her a knowing look that makes Adora’s heart stop. “No. No no no, Bow, do not— ”
But the gears have already turned and turned in his head, and he’s come to a conclusion, the wrong one: “You have a crush! ”
“I do not have a crush. It’s just Catra, seriously. And put your phone down , you are not telling anyone about this.”
“But you’re blushing,” Bow points out, which is. True.
“Shut up.”
Bow grins, but it slowly slips from his face as he squints at her. “You said it’s Catra? Like the same Catra that—”
“ Yes— see, this is why I didn’t want to tell anyone.”
“I’m just asking!”
“It’s...we saw each other a few months ago. You remember when I got to Ella’s party late? I saw Catra at the mall while I was looking for a present and…” Adora shrugs, trying to think of what to say that will toe the line between satisfying Bow and keeping it a secret that she might just have a tiny crush. “We got lunch and caught up a bit. And by the time I realized it, I was running late. So we exchanged numbers, and I guess we’re...we’re friends again?”
(What she doesn’t say is that Catra had paid for their lunch, and that they’d grabbed pretzels after while they walked around the mall and talked everything over. Their friendship, their relationship, their falling out, everything. And even when Adora’s phone buzzed three times in a row as Glimmer demanded to know where she was and why she was late, they’d both ignored it in favor of finding a massage chair to squish in together and talk some more, about anything and everything. Anything, just to stay together just a little bit longer. And then, when Adora decided that she really had to go, Catra reached out, unlocked her phone—still 1028, her birthday—and put in her number, along with a promise to meet up some other time. And now...)
“You should invite her!” Bow suggests, like Adora wasn’t already planning on it.
“Do you think it’d be okay with everyone? I mean, Mermista said it was just us…”
Bow gives her a knowing look. “It’s just us, so you don’t have to be nervous about inviting your…friend.”
Instead of answering, Adra just rolls her eyes at him and unlocks her phone, first to text Mermista, then Catra. Her heart is in her throat the whole time: what if Mermista says no? (She doesn’t) and what if Catra is busy? (She isn’t. In her words, “i can rearrange my schedule around just for u, princess. It’s a date”—which. Adora is not going to think about that.)
“Do you know what color you're going to wear?”
Bow shrugs, checks the time, and begins to gather up his books; it’s just past five—dinnertime. “It’s my turn to pick, so I think gold? But we’ll see what the stores have and go from there. Are you and Catra gonna match?”
“God, I don't know...I didn’t even tell her that we have to dress up. Stop looking at me like that. And don’t tell anyone, I don’t want to get interrogated or anything. It's not a date.”
“Didn’t she say it was a date?”
“She’s just teasing me. Catra does that.”
Bow looks utterly unconvinced, but backs off when Adra shoots him a glare that is thoroughly rendered useless by the smile that bubbles up when her phone buzzes again.
From Catra: dress code?
To Catra: yeah, we’re supposed to dress fancy. Do you want to match?
From Catra: hmm
From Catra: red good? You look cute in red
“Oh, you've got it bad ,” Bow sighs as Adra giggles ( giggles ); he hooks their arms together so he can steer her while they walk.
To Catra: red sounds great :)
From Catra: great :)
To Catra: ur great :)
From Catra: no u :)
“And what are you smiling at?” Glimmer’s sudden appearance really shouldn't surprise Adora, not at this point, but she still startles and stuffs her phone in her pocket on instinct.
“ Nothing, Jesus.”
For once, Bow doesn't immediately tell Glimmer what’s really going on; he just holds out his hand for her to take and begins to ramble on about his day while Adora takes her phone out to text Catra again. And sure, she means to put her phone down once they all sit down to eat together, and she definitely mean to put her phone down when she gets back to her room to study a bit more, and she absolutely means to put her phone down when it’s time to get ready for bed—and she totally doesn't fall asleep with her phone inches away from her face, still texting Catra.
It all boils over at breakfast the next day. It’s rare for their whole friend group to make it to breakfast at the same time (Adora, Perfuma and Bow are the only ones that tend to wake up that early) so when everyone—even Glimmer—sits down at their usual table, she knows that something is up. And, yeah: as soon as everyone is seated, Glimmer turns to Adora and positively demands, “ Who are you bringing?”
And just like that, seven sets of eyes land on Adora, who fumbles for a moment before spluttering out, “ What? ”
“To the party? Mermista said you asked about bringing a plus one, and Bow said it was a date, so who is it?”
“Guys, seriously? ”
Mermista just shrugs, but at least Bow has the decency to look sheepish. “You know I can’t keep secrets from Glimmer...sorry Adora.”
Adora heaves a sigh and shakes her head. “Do not freak out, okay? It’s just Catra.”
As soon as she says her name, Glimmer leaps out of her chair, clearly dismayed. “ Catra? You mean the girl that broke your heart? That Catra?”
“I wouldn’t say that she broke my heart…”
“You were crying over her for months! She hurt you, Adora, and you’re going to what, invite her to our party?”
“Glim, it’s really not that serious. We were young and dumb and hurt each other— yes, I hurt her too. I saw her again recently and we talked and we’re good , we’re friends now. So yes, I want to invite my friend to our party. Is that okay? ”
Silence, until Mermista shrugs and says, “Well, it’s ultimately Adora’s decision. If she wants to bring this Catra girl, she can. And if she hurts her, well...that’s another story entirely.”
“And on that note,” Bow interjects, “does everyone have their outfits? I’m going to the mall tomorrow if anyone wants to come with.”
The discussion easily slips into one of clothes and who’s wearing what; Adora shoots Bow a grateful look and he returns it with an easy smile. Not for the first time, Adora feels a surge of fondness for her friends; despite how nosy they are, she knows that they’ll have her back no matter what.
Unfortunately for Catra, it’ll mean that she’ll have a tough crowd to win over—and more so, now that they all know a little bit of what happened.
To Catra: so they kinda know about us
From Catra: oh?
To Catra: yeah...i wanted to keep it a secret, but glimmer kind of spilled the beans
To Catra: like. just as a warning
To Catra: they might be kind of..
From Catra: hostile? don't worry about me, princess
To Catra: just making sure :((
From Catra: how sweet of u
To Catra: we’re going shopping tmm if u wanna come?
From Catra: nah, i already have something to wear. besides, i already have plans that night
To Catra: then i’ll see u saturday night?
From Catra: saturday night, princess
There’s more than a few malls in Bright Moon; they’re all too posh for Adora’s taste, but even the fancy little boutiques lining the central streets of the city are barely good enough when it comes to a party. They’ve gone to two malls already, and five boutiques, and all Glimmer and Bow have to say is, “It’s just not good enough. ”
Adora’s genuinely considering just ditching them after this one; it’s new, and therefore won’t have anything good for at least a year (Glimmer’s words exactly), but upon stopping inside, she finds herself charmed by the siblings that work there—and then Bow finds a gorgeous powder pink suit, and Glimmer finds a perfect dress to match it, so Adora grabs the first red dress she sees (Glimmer takes half a look and exchanges it for another one) and they walk out of the store in under an hour ( under an hour! ) with the perfect outfits for the party.
Now all that’s left is to coordinate rides and spend the better part of Saturday at Perfuma’s, getting ready for the party—and hopefully not getting interrogated again. Bow’s gift for Glimmer (a set of opalescent earrings, one for him and one for her) is safely tucked away in a little velvet box that Bow’s decided he won’t take out until the eve of the party, when he’ll ask her out officially. The two of them have been flirting with something like a relationship ever since Adora transferred to Bright Moon. and when Mermista told her that they’d been like that for years, she’d believed it immediately.
But Bow wants to make it official tomorrow night—has wanted to for a while, really—and he wants to make it special. Hence the earrings, which came with a price tag that Adora absolutely refuses to even think about.
While Glimmer and Mermista pick up the takeout, Bow runs through his plan to ask her out again and again, first in the car with Adora in the passenger seat, then at the marina in front of Perfuma, then again on the yacht with Spinerella, Netossa, Perfuma and Adora all watching. By the time he manages to run through the lines without even a single voice crack, the others are back, and it’s just past nine. Sea Hawk is with them too; he very loudly announces Mermista’s presence as they all get out of the car, and that’s everyone—everyone but Catra.
Panic wells up at the thought that Catra might not be coming, and Adora swallows it down as she resists the urge to text Catra and ask where she is. It’s only just past nine, she tells herself, maybe Catra’s just stuck in traffic? As she smooths her hands down the front of her dress, Adora tries to imagine Catra’s reaction when she pulls up and sees Adora all dressed up. After the whole fiasco at breakfast, Glimmer and Perfuma had decided that they’d make sure Adora looked extra good tonight; her hair is in a complex braid laced through with flowers, and they’d cut her bangs to frame her face before she could even protest. And Adora doesn’t know what they’ve done, makeup wise, but her face is soft and glittery and her eyes look bluer somehow and she was told in the strictest tone she’s ever heard Glimmer use to not touch your face under any circumstances , so yeah, she looks good .
And now she’s thinking about Catra again, and it’s been ages, so Adora checks her phone and sends one message, then another. They’re still left unseen even after ten minutes, and everyone else is on the yacht now, laughing at something (most likely that Sea Hawk has done) and Adora wants to be with them, but she wants to be with Catra more, and where is she?
“Still nothing?” Bow’s broad grin slips from his face as Adora shakes her head, and he comes down to stand next to her on the dock, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a quiet attempt at cheering her up. “She’ll show, don’t worry.”
“I know, I just...what if she doesn’t?”
“Then...if you want to, you can invite her to movie night. I’m sure Glimmer won’t mind too much.”
Adora nods and leans her head against Bow’s shoulder. “Thanks, Bow...it means a lot. Especially since it’s movie night.” Movie night had been Glimmer and Bow’s thing for forever, and it took months for Adora to be invited too despite how quickly their friendship had bloomed. And now he’s just...offering another space to Catra, just because he knows how happy it’d make her.
In an echo to her thoughts, Bow just squeezes her closer and says, “It’s something I know you’d love, and you know that all me and Glim want is for you to be happy.”
Adora nods and checks her phone again, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth as she sees the time. It’s already almost 9:30, and Catra still hasn’t shown. She’s not answering Adora’s texts either, and she used to be flaky, but never like this…
Just then, Glimmer’s hand comes down warm and gentle on her shoulder; she looks up at Adora, her mouth twisted into something like a grimace as she says, “Everyone’s just about ready to start.”
“Can we just...five more minutes? Please, Glim.”
She looks a bit doubtful, but nods anyway—not that she needs to, because a motorcycle comes roaring into the marina, and that must be her. Adora’s heart jumps into her throat at just the thought.
And sure enough: the motorcycle stops in front of them, and, “ Hey, Adora,” Catra calls out. Her voice is muffled through her helmet, but Adora can practically hear the smirk laced through her voice. And then she gets off of her motorcycle, and takes off the helmet, and—
Her hair. She’s always looked good, but now… “Catra, you look so good!”
And it’s only been a few weeks, barely even a month since they’d seen each other last, but all Catra has to do is smile and Adora’s knees go weak, and she launches herself into Catra for the tightest hug that she’e ever had in her life. Catra catches her easily, naturally, like Adora belongs in her arms, and all Adora can do is bury her face in her neck as she reaches up to twine her fingers in her hair, now shorn short and curling around the back of her neck. She could spend forever in this moment, being held tight and just breathing Catra in and in and in. She smells the same, of the perfume Adora got her when they were sophomores, and of the salt water sea.
“I missed you,” she murmurs. Catra laughs, low and just for her ears alone; and Adora knows that her cheeks are burning, but she doesn’t really care, not when she has Catra here, like this. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, princess. Even if it was just a few weeks. And hey, you look...” Catra’s looking her up and down and slowly back up again. “You look really good too, you know.”
(And really, she’s one to talk; Adora’s never seen her in anything other than huge chunky sweaters or crop tops with leggings, so to see her like this, in a velvet suit just a shade darker than Adora’s dress…)
Adora clears her throat and ignores the knowing look Catra’s giving her, but before she can even open her mouth to defend herself from the teasing she’s about to endure, she’s interrupted by Sea Hawk’s very loud announcement that adventure is calling, and they must be casting off to answer it.
Catra looks somewhat incredulous, and...yeah, this would be a lot, for someone who’s never met him. “Is he always…?”
“Always. Trust me.” And she’s going to say more, but when she looks at her, Adora can practically see the gears turning in Catra’s head, like she’s already planning on how to fuck with him, and...honeslty, she wouldn’t mind seeing that, not one bit.
“C'mon, let’s head up so I can introduce you to everyone.”
Catra nods, and hand in hand, they walk up the dock to where everyone is waiting, lounging around in scatterings of twos and threes. Still keeping Catra’s hand held tight, Adora brings her around to introduce her to everyone before finally sitting down together in the space made for them by Bow and Glimmer. Spinerella’s in the middle of telling a story, but she cuts herself off to give Catra a polite little smile and asks, “So how did you two meet?” and oh god.
“We had a pretty similar schedule in our freshman year of high school, became pretty close pretty quickly, dated and broke up and were assholes to each other while we were trying to figure some personal shit out. Now we’re…” Catra shrugs, gives Adora a long, searching look, and finally says, “friends.”
The answer (or maybe how close together they’re sitting, or maybe their joined hands) must be enough, because there are a few approving nods and just like that, Catra is folded into the group like she’d been there all along.
Mermista takes over the story-telling as Perfuma comes over to introduce herself again to Catra with a sunny smile and an offer to try yoga by the river sometime. Catra politely (dubiously) declines, and now it’s Bow’s turn, telling Catra that it’s so nice to finally meet her, and that he’s heard a lot about her from Adora.
Soon enough, some of the tension disappears in the line of Catra’s shoulders, and by the time they all file downstairs to share the bottle of wine and the bags of takeout, it’s like she’d been a part in the group the whole time.
Downstairs is admittedly more cramped than the main deck, but it’s cozy with so many people, and much warmer too; everyone’s curled up and sprawled out on the couches (in their fanciest clothes while using paper plates and styrofoam cups, at that), and Netossa is busy setting up the bluetooth speaker while her phone gets passed around for everyone to help with the collective playlist. Adora shifts a bit more into Catra’s side, letting her head rest on her shoulder when Catra wraps an arm around her. There are butterflies bubbling up in her chest, butterflies that feel close to bursting out of her as she listens to Catra talk to Perfuma and Bow. She’d been worried for nothing: Catra fits into their group so easily, and even Glimmer’s warming up to her now, especially now that they’re all warm and eating.
“You awake?” Catra murmurs just then. Adora makes a quiet noise and Catra chuckles under her breath, the pad of her thumb brushing against her side. “How are you going to invite me to your party and then fall asleep on me, babe?”
“I’m not asleep,” Adora sits up just to prove her point ( ignores the pet name and ignores the grin on Catra’s lips), “I’m relaxed. ”
“Pretty sure you were asleep,” Glimmer agrees. She’s still not looking at Catra, but that doesn’t stop her from adding on, “at least you weren’t drooling yet.”
“You’re kidding, she still drools?”
“You know, I hate to say it, but I’d almost prefer that you two didn’t like each other.”
“No, you love us,” Catra teases, and—she’s stupidly, painfully right. All of her friends liking and accepting Catra is something that she’d never have imagined, but now that she’s here, Adora knows that she’ll never be able to go back.
“I do. I really do.”
Catra squints at her, then casts a look around to make sure that everyone is mostly otherwise occupied. Once she’s sure that it’ll be fine, she grabs Adora’s hand again and leads her out of the room and outside again. It’s colder now, especially since they’re all alone, but before Adora can even shiver, Catra takes off her suit jacket to drape it around her shoulders.
“Thanks, Cat.”
Catra shrugs and ambles over to the railing to lean against it while Adora stands next to her. “You looked like you needed some air. Just a bit overwhelmed, the way you always get when you’re thinking too hard.”
Adora’s breath catches in her throat at Catra’s words and how easily she says them. After years apart, she can still pick up on the tiniest tells, still cares enough to steal her away just so she could breathe.
“You’re doing it again, dork.”
“I just—you still care about me?” It’s not really meant to be a question, but it comes out that way, and Catra’s just staring at her like she has two heads.
“Well, duh. I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t care about you. You’re always going to be important to me, dork.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh .”
Something in her heart stops and stutters to a start again, and before she can lose her nerve, Adora says all in one breath, “I think I like you again.”
In a span of just a few seconds, Catra’s eyes widen, and she frowns, and she stares at Adora hard, like she can’t quite believe her, and she must come to the conclusion that Adora is, in fact, telling the truth, because her face screws up a bit and she leans in and in and cups Adora’s cheeks with her hands and, “Are you sure? You’re not fucking with me, are you, princess?”
“ No, why would I—” And she’ll never find out why Catra thought she’d be playing a joke, because Catra tips fully into her and kisses her hard, and it is like everything, everything has lead up to this one, singular moment, in the biting cold in the middle of the night on a yacht on Valentine’s Day, and Catra. Everything’s lead back to Catra.
Adora says as much, when she can finally breathe again, and she’s not sure that her friend(?) has even heard with how she’s still staring at her lips, but then Catra grins and loops her arms around Adora’s waist to keep her held close. “I told you that you wouldn’t be getting rid of me so easily. Did you think I was kidding about that?”
“I didn’t think it’d be like this ,” Adora says instead. Catra just laughs and kisses her forehead—and from somewhere behind them, Bow squeaks.
“I knew you liked her!” he calls out, and Adora would deny it if she weren’t so busy laughing at how hard Catra had flinched in shock. But then Catra processes what he’d said, and twists back around to face Adora with a wicked grin flirting with her lips, and god, god.
“So you liked me? You had a crush on me?”
Adora groans and tries in vain to duck out of the noogie Catra’s forced her into. “I do not like you!”
“You totally like me! I’m just that charming, aren’t I?”
“No!”
“I mean, you did just let her kiss you,” Bow very unhelpfully points out.
“Don’t you have a girlfriend to get back to?”
“He’s not the only one,” Catra says, and—
“I’m...gonna let you two talk this one out. Totally not gonna go tell everyone that you’re dating.”
“ Bye, Bow.”
Once the door slams shut behind him, Adora pushes out of Catra’s grip and faces her, hunching into her jacket to stall for just a moment, because she knows that when she looks up and into Catra’s eyes, that’ll be it. And she’s right: when their gazes meet, all Adora wants to do is throw herself into her arms and say yes, yes they’ll be girlfriends again, yes to anything Catra asks. But—
“I have to know that it won’t be like last time. I know that we were...young and dumb, but you hurt me, and I know I hurt you. I...I do like you, but I need to know. ”
Catra considers this for a long few moments, then slowly says, “I know that I can’t change what I did in the past, but...I’m working on it. You told me that you never stopped caring about me, but it was the opposite for me. I wanted to push you away first, so you wouldn’t hurt me, because I knew that you leaving would hurt me. I know that that might not make sense, and that it was stupid, but it was all I knew how to do then. I’m working on it, really. I just don’t want to lose you, Adora.”
“Well, you won’t. Not if you’re trying to be better, y’know? I wasn’t perfect then, and I’m still not, but I’m trying too. And I want to try with you, if that’s…”
Catra nods, hope blooming on her face, and, “So...we’re girlfriends?”
Adora can feel her cheeks begin to burn as she nods; as Catra’s hand tentatively winds with hers, Adora feels a surge of endearment bloom in her heart, and she can’t resist leaning in to steal one last slow kiss from Catra’s lips. When she pulls back, Catra’s staring at her with something like love in her eyes, and already Adora can tell that this time, it’s going to be different.