Chapter Text
"For all you know, a witch may be living next door to you right now"-Ronald Dhal
Adora had first met Catra when she was about 6 or 7 years old. Her foster mother had decided that Adora’s behavior was passable enough to allow a little indulgence (her words not Adora’s), so she was given a pass to sleepover at her best friend, Glimmer’s, house. Glimmer was a small sparkly ball of righteous anger that was usually screaming about something, not that Adora minded all that much at the time; she was a loud kid too, it was a perfect match.
Whenever the two girls would have a sleepover they would use the spare guest room towards the right of the pink-haired girl’s bedroom. (That was another thing Adora liked about Glimmer: her sparkly pink hair that shimmered whenever she moved her head.) They would build a giant pillow fort, decorated with fairy lights, covered in blankets. They would stay up--well Glimmer would stay up, Adora would have trouble keeping her eyes open to watch the magic light show Glimmer made through her hands, she would fall asleep with Glimmer right beside her, not looking at all tired.
So one Saturday, Adora skipped all the way towards Glimmer’s only to be met with a new face at the door. Instead of being met with Angella’s elegant, small smile or Glimmer’s chubby face and pink sparkly bob, Adora was met with tan skin, shiny chocolate hair, and blue and gold eyes narrowing at her in a suspicious pout.
“Who are you?” the girl asked, Adora, deducted that she was about the same age as her.
Adora gave the girl her biggest smile, her foster mom always told her that first impressions were everything, and stuck her hand out to shake the other girl’s, “I’m Adora Janvier!” she pointed down the street towards her house, “And I live over there, but Glimmer’s my friend, so I came for a sleepover!”
The brunette’s eyes narrowed even more, if possible. “Why are you telling me this?”
Adora shrugged. “I don’t know, but I trust you.”
The girl crossed her arms, “That sounds stupid,'' then she let her into the house and disappeared down one of the hallways. Adora could smell the sweet scent of Micah’s cooking and Glimmer, bless her heart, attempted to help with some of the snacks. Adora greeted Glimmer with a smile and then grabbed her hand, allowing their sleepover activities to begin. She couldn’t help glancing over towards the guest room closest to Glimmer’s bedroom every so often.
***
The next time Adora encountered Catra was about 2 years later at the age of 9, right on the cusp of double-digit hood. She and Glimmer had partnered up for a project in school, Glimmer had invited her over since Adora wasn't allowed visitors at her house; not that she minded much anyways. Her "mother" was kind of scary to some of the kids she had invited over before. Adora thought that her mother did it on purpose, always lurking in the shadows whenever she had friends over.
She didn't have them anymore, but that was okay, she had Glimmer and this other boy they met, Bow, to fill in the gaps.
Adora walked into the living room expecting to find Glimmer sitting against one of the cushions, watching whatever anime she chose to binge this week, but instead found-
"-You!"
Familiar blue and gold eyes turned towards her, a bored expression played out across her face. The black cat that had been resting on the girl's chest was startled off and hissed at Adora. That’s okay, she wasn’t focused on the cat anyways, she was focused on the other girl's disinterested stare, but very interested smirk.
“Can I help you?” She said.
Adora couldn't help but stare, the way the other's girl glowed, cascading down her back in dark, wild curls. Was she getting distracted? Probably, but it's not every day a nine-year-old sees glowing hair. She shook her head to snap out of it and bring herself back to reality, but when she focused back on the girl on the couch, the hair seemed normal now, silky, but normal. How strange.
"Who are you? Where's Glimmer? Why are you here?" Adora couldn't help it, her foster mom had taught her that if you wanted to know something, you had to "skip all the hurdles and run to the finish line," But Adora was too young to understand the true meaning, so she just asked whatever came to mind. Did get her a lot of strange looks? Yes, but it got the job done...most of the time.
The girl blinked, seemingly stunned with the straightforward questions, then narrowed her eyes, not unlike the first time Adora encountered her. "One: none of your business. Two: playing video games or doing homework. Three: also none of your business."
"Whatever," Adora huffed then added underneath her breath, "I'll just ask Glimmer."
She turned around and walked towards Glimmer's room, ignoring the unsettling stare of the girl on the couch. Once she reached the sparkly girl's room she knocked three times before letting herself in, only knocking as to not startle her friend.
"Who's that?"
Glimmer looked up from the book she was reading on her bed, raising an eyebrow. "Who's who?"
"The grumpy cat girl in your living room."
Glimmer rolled her eyes, her face twisting with some unreadable expression, "Oh her?" That's just Catra, don't worry about her," she directed her voice towards the hallway, " She won't turn you into a frog or something! "
Adora was confused until she heard a loud groan and resigned, " Fine Sparkles! You're no fun! "
Glimmer rolled her eyes again, got up, and pulled Adora away from the door so she could close it, then turned towards Adora's lost expression. "She's just grumpy that she couldn't go to New Orleans with Aunt Casta this year, so she's taking it out on me and our living room TV." As if that answered all of Adora's questions. Spoiler alert: It didn't. Also-
" Sparkles? " She questioned.
Glimmer huffed then rolled her eyes, yet again. This seemed to be a recurring concept involving Glimmer and the gi- Catra.
" Ignore that also. Catra likes to call me anything but my actual name because she knows it annoys me, but she's been calling me that for four years, so I'm over it...mostly."
"Okay, but-?" Adora started but was cut off by the sound of Glimmer getting the supplies for her project out.
"Now come on, my mom will kill me if she finds out that we've wasted our time together doing nothing."
Sigh. Who was she to question who Glimmer's family lets into their house? It wasn't her business no matter how much she wanted to know.
But she swears up and down that every 15 minutes, there's an especially bright shine of light from Glimmer's backyard.
***
Adora is 12 years old now. Right on the cusp of puberty, but already suffering from the effects of a pre-growth spurt. She now towers over most of the boys at her school by a few inches, a fact she would be proud of if it didn't cause her to trip over her own two feet all the time. Add on the stresses of middle school and the budding pressure from her mother to be the best in everything she did-Yeah, let's just say Adora was more than ready to be done with middle school and hormones.
Bow, (who had grown closer to the two girls over the years, making their best duo a best friend trio, or the Best Friends Squad as he liked to call it.), had suggested they all meet up at Glimmer's house for Best Friends Squad night to play Smash Bros, Overwatch, eat their weight in snacks and junk food, just for the fun of it a few days ago. Glimmer had agreed on the premise that there was space to invite someone else if they needed to, and somehow Adora had an inkling as to who Glimmer wanted to invite.
She claimed up the steps towards the front door and rang the bell, only to be greeted by Micah's smiling face and a "How are you dewing today?" which he had chuckled at until a pitting Angella reminded him to let Adora inside the house. She was led towards Glimmer's room, where Glimmer could be seen trying to set up the gaming system and all her suspicions were confirmed.
Because there was Catra, in all her glowing hair glory, sitting atop of Glimmer's bed with a giant bowl of cherries, that she was munching on and every once in a while she would aim one pit at Glimmer or the area surrounding the sparkly girl, explaining the growing circle of cherry pits around Glimmer's knees.
"I don't understand why you can't help me with this Catra." Glimmer muttered.
Catra polished off another cherry, flicking at Glimmer and grinning in amusement when she had to drop what she was doing to duck and dodge it.
"I told you Sparkles, my ankle is still healing from 'dance camp' so mom said I had to take it easy," Catra's grin grew wider when she saw Glimmer groan in rage at the set of wires she was trying to hook up, with no success. "Besides, why bother when I have my darling cousin to help me?" She threw another pit at Glimmer, this time aiming for the area above Glimmer's head instead of Glimmer herself.
This seemed to be the last straw for Glimmer, who brushed off all the previous pits on her body before storming over towards Catra and dragging her down by her foot, ignoring Catra's surprise and slightly in pain yelp.
"Get down here and help! Or else I'll tell Casta how you really sprained your ankle last summer."
Catra looked like Glimmer had insulted her firstborn. "You wouldn't dare."
Glimmer met Catra's glare with one of her own, "What's wrong Catra? Worried you'll be banned from practicing this summer?" She taunted.
They had a silent stare down before Catra groaned angrily, scowling at Glimmer's triumphant smile. "Whatever. I'll pick up the cherry pits and play nice for the rest of the night if you promise not to tell her."
Glimmer grinned and let go of Catra's leg so she could start cleaning up her mess. "Promise."
"I'm serious, Sparkles," the brunette stuck out her pinky, "Pinky Swear."
Glimmer linked her pinky with Catra's, the pastel pink painted on, a stark contrast to the other's pitch black nail."
"Pinky Swear."
Adora chose then to clear her throat, she was already feeling awkward, feeling like she was intruding on such a private moment between two family members, but remembered that Glimmer had invited her over.
She waved awkwardly. “Hey Glimmer, I’m here now, heh...Has Bow texted you yet?”
Glimmer went back to figuring out the wiring of the gaming system as Catra set to work on picking up the cherry pits as best as she could, muttering a reluctant “thank you” anytime Glimmer helped her reach one in a tighter spot. Despite their bickering not too long ago, Glimmer would smile gently every time. It was sweet and sort of a slap in the face. Adora didn't have any siblings or cousins to compare their behavior to, so she just shuffled stiffly into the room, plopping herself on the bed, choosing to fiddle with her fingers.
Glimmer handed her a controller to hold while she finished setting up the system, Catra was finally done picking up the pits on the floor, now eating the remaining cherries left in her gigantic bowl. Her stomach growled. A harsh reminder that she hadn't eaten since lunch and had forgotten to grab a snack before leaving.
Suddenly, a bright, red juicy cherry was so close to her face she had to cross her eyes to focus properly.
"Want one?" The blonde turned towards Catra, who was staring at her with a mostly blank face. Catra waved the cherry up and down. "Come on. Answer yes or no, my arm is getting tired."
"That's because you're the laziest member of this family." Glimmer taunted. Catra threw a full cherry at Glimmer's head which the latter caught and ate with a smug grin.
"Whatever. I still get higher grades in Spanish than you."
"That's because you lived in Spain for like, three years."
"Aw, are you still salty about the fact that I didn't help you cheat on your Spanish quiz?"
"It wasn't cheating!"
"Sparkles. You asked me to give you the answers so you could 'study right before the test '. Even Melog could see right through your crap."
Glimmer huffed and rounded on Adora, her eyes looking for backup. "Adora! You sat next to me during the test, did you see me cheat?"
Adora looked back and forth between the two girls, feeling sweat drip into her shirt. In all honesty, she was too busy trying not to fail the test to notice what Glimmer was doing, but she didn't want Glimmer to be mad at her, on the other hand, she didn't know enough information to contribute to the conversation. Adora shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I wasn't paying attention."
Catra opened her mouth, probably to shout a "Ha!" in Glimmer's face, but Glimmer beat her to it. "It's innocent until proven guilty."
" Wha- ? That doesn't even make sense -" Catra started.
"Girls! Bow's here!" Angella shouted from the front door. Glimmer and Catra held a silent staring contest for a few moments, both daring the other to make a snide remark or insult when nothing happened Glimmer got up to go greet Bow, making an "I've got my eyes on you" motion towards Catra, who returned the gesture with a raspberry.
Adora was so confused. How do they just-just go back and forth like that? Is it just a sibling thing, even though Gimmer and Catra are not technically siblings? She thinks it's just a sibling thing then.
---
It's not so bad, as Adora thought it would be, having Catra crash their hangout time. Underneath all her grumpiness is a pretty, sweet, fun girl with a sharp sense of humor who absolutely destroys them in Overwatch and Smash Bros. Adora thinks the way Catra's eyebrow furrow together when she gets too invested in beating Glimmer is kind of cute, not that she would ever admit that out loud. She would also rather die than admit that the reason she sat on her hands anytime she wasn't playing or eating was to keep her fingers from running through Catra's glowing waterfall of curls.
She didn't need Bow to start assuming she had a crush on Catra, she had just met her! So she would continue to ignore the strange looks he sent her and focus on Catra's game face. Or her face in general. Either one worked.
***
She's 13 now. Officially a teenager. Now she's starting to notice the fact that she's never had a crush or interest in any of the boys in her school, preferring to stare at Huntara, a buff ninth-grader who complimented her once on her throwing skills during a game of football.
Adora thinks she might be in love.
The Best Friends Squad (guess it's stuck now) hangs out plenty of times, Adora only sees Catra for two weeks out of that year. Glimmer says it's because Catra lives in a different state or country for most of the year with her aunt Casta. It's okay though, those two weeks were enough for Adora to hear about Catra's exciting adventures in Germany. The brunette called Glimmer an idiot once in German, “it's the only word I cared enough to remember” , Catra defended when Glimmer tackled her into the grass.
Adora wonders if anyone in Germany noticed the way Catra's hair glowed a little bit in the sun. She still has to sit on her hands to prevent her hands from doing something rash, like running her fingers through the curls or breathing the girl's strawberry cinnamon shampoo scent.
It's okay though, it's only for two weeks.
***
Adora's 14 when she asks Glimmer one night during September why Catra never came over during the summer. Glimmer exchanges a glance with Bow before answering.
"Casta called and said she broke her leg, so no traveling for her, not if Casta has anything to say about it. She'll probably come over for the holidays though. Why? Do you miss her?"
Yes. No. Maybe so. I don't know! "No. Just curious." Adora hums, choosing to scroll through her photo album for any secret pictures of blue and gold she took.
Glimmer and Bow exchange another look, but Bow shrugs his shoulders and they move on.
Adora's foster mother becomes harsher also, adding to the ever-growing mountain of pressure to be the best in school, in clubs. Adora can only be silent and go along with it. After all, her foster mother took her in when her parents didn't want her, so who is she to argue about it?
(Catra doesn't come over for the holidays. Glimmer isn't the only one disappointed about it, Adora's just better at hiding it).
***
It's fifteen years old that she sees Catra again.
It's a week before Halloween, Adora had to practically get on her knees and beg Shadow Weaver to be allowed to come, she's grateful though, so she's guessing it makes up for the long lecture she's going to get about "maturity" and "responsibility" when she gets back. Whatever it's fine.
Glimmer's rampaging her walk-in closet for her pair of pink, sparkly pumpkin stockings with Bow giving her unhelpful suggestions as to where its location may be when the doorbell rings. Adora speeds over to answer, desperate to do anything else but lay on Glimmer's bed, bored.
She's met with the amused expression of Catra. Gone is all the baby fat, replaced by sharper features. Her hair now reaches her lower back, pulled up into a high ponytail. Adora guesses she got tired of her short hair, (Catra had sent Glimmer a selfie of her new, impromptu haircut with the caption: "Mom's having a mini heart attack behind me" ). She's got a dancer's body now, Adora observes, covered by a strappy maroon crop top with a leather jacket and dark ripped jeans with combat boots to complete the look. She looks good, Adora notes.
She looks more than good . Adora's true thoughts are revealed to the rest of her consciousness. She gulps. She doesn't remember her crush on Huntara being this troublesome. Curse my gay heart.
Catra raises an eyebrow. "Are you gonna let me inside Princess? Or am I gonna have to barge my way in?"
"Oh! Sorry! It's just-it's been a while since I've seen you. You look great by the way." Adora hates the way she stumbles over her words and moves out the way to allow Catra inside.
"...Thanks." Catra gives Adora a soft smile that causes Adora's heart to do an entire Olympics routine, before smiling to herself and shutting the door. She passes the kitchen, where Angella and Micah are not so subtly interrogating Catra about her activities for the past few months, strange phrases like, "Familiar", "Spells" and "potions" come up. The blonde chalks it up towards Halloween concerns and heads back towards Glimmer's room where Bow has set up horror movies on Netflix to binge.
Glimmer made a blanket canopy above her bed for them all to cuddle in during the movie. Bow claims it's because Glimmer gets scared during the movies but Glimmer's determined to prove him wrong. Adora chooses the spot towards the edge for easy access to the snacks Bow brought.
Halfway through their marathon Catra barges in, phone to her ear, talking to someone.
"--I'll let you know later," she pauses before rolling her eyes, no malice behind the action, "I get it mom. I'll tell you later , I promise," she pauses one more before mouthing something towards Glimmer, who understands perfectly what Catra's saying. "No, mom, please , you don't need to make another sweater for me. I have enough."
Glimmer smirks. There must be an inside joke there Adora's not getting. She looks towards Bow for help, but he's too immersed in the movie to notice.
"--Bye mom. 'love you too." The call ends and Catra kicks off her boot, ignoring the disgusted look Glimmer sends her and squeezes herself in between Adora and Glimmer, comment on how she "has nothing better to do, to she'll hang out with us losers for now," And Adora doesn't know how, but there's enough space for everybody in the fort. Huh.
But she's forced to sit on her hand again because even though Catra's hair glow has dimmed a bit over the years she's known her curls still look every bit as tempting and silky as before.
Adora's very happy to report that Catra clung to her a total of 8 times throughout the marathon, buried her face into Adora's shoulder a total of 6 times, and rested her head on Adora's shoulder a total of 2 times. Only one of those times does Adora get a whiff of Catra's shampoo, it's cinnamon apple, and it becomes one of Adora's favorite scents.
--
For Halloween this year Glimmer dressed up as Heather Duke, Bow's Heather Nakumara, and surprise, surprise: Catra shows up dressed as Heather Chandler, her face matching the red of the school uniform. Catra's replaced the heeled Mary Janes with heeled converses instead, due to comfort and height. Bow dresses Adora up as Veronica, even though she's never heard of the movie Heathers before. (She ignores Catra's comment of her being "uncultured"), Bow says it's so she doesn't feel left out.
They're not going trick or treating, they're too old for that according to Glimmer, she leads them to a Halloween party hosted by a senior at their school, Mermista. It's crazy, it's fun, it's wild and Adora feels completely out of place and a little freaked out after some Sea Hawk guy sets a table in the expansive backyard on fire. Catra almost shattered his knees with the croquet mallet she bought to complete the costume because that was their table that he set on fire, along with all the food on it, but Adora restrains her by the waist.
After five minutes she realizes she's not required to hold Catra's waist anymore, but she doesn't want to let go. It's up to Catra to decide though.
"Do you want me to let go?" Adora asks, afraid of the answer.
The brunette is still for a while, staring off at the big bonfire in the middle of the yard. She snuggles closer to Adora's chest. "Nah, I'm tired though, so you might have to carry me back home."
For some reason, Adora can't find it in herself to mind that much.
(Catra punched Glimmer though when the latter mentioned that they reminded her of a Heather/Veronica fanfiction she read last week. Bow groans as he checks over a chuckling Glimmer. "Is it too much to ask for one peaceful evening without any violence?" ).
***
16 years into her life, Adora comes out as a lesbian. Glimmer and Bow smoosh her into a tearful hug, declaring that this calls for an ice cream sundae. Catra punches her arm playfully, muttering a " Welcome to the club ," with a blush across her cheeks. But Adora feels so free after keeping the secret that she's into girls exclusively that she picks up Catra and spins her in a circle, both laughing girls oblivious towards the knowing looks Glimmer and Bow exchange.
The ice cream celebration turns bittersweet for Adora when Catra mentions her having to go back to New York. New York feels so far from North Carolina, the blonde wonders if her heart can take it. The Best Friends Squad is great with three people, but with Catra the set feels so much more... complete .
Catra seems to notice Adora's mood at some point throughout one of her travel stories because she grabs Adora's hand and doesn't let go, giving her reassuring squeezes throughout the entire outing. Even when they all get up and leave to go hang out at the park, Catra's fingers stay intertwined with Adora's. Adora thinks the way the brunette's hand fits perfectly in hers is the best feeling in the world.
They exchange phone numbers that year also, about five minutes before Catra has to catch her flight back. Catra gives her a goodbye kiss on the cheek right before hopping into Micah's car, waving her goodbye and laughing at the blonde's gobsmacked expression as they pull away. Adora stands in Glimmer's driveway, stunned, for 10 minutes, before Bow snaps her out of it. Glimmer teases Adora about her crush on her cousin for the rest of the year.
(And if Adora hides the fact that she texts Catra way more often than, "a few times a month," then that's for only herself and her phone plan to know).
***
One of Adora's biggest setbacks happens when she turns 17.
Catra and Casta move closer to Brightmoon, to a town called Mystacor, it's 30 minutes away from Adora's house. When Catra surprised her at their school with Glimmer announcing and celebrating the fact "that the Choaic Cousins were reunited permanently this time" Adora doesn't think she's ever hugged anyone harder in her life than in that moment. Bow was practically in tears.
With the Best Friends Squad complete at last, Adora's riding a high she doesn't want to ever come down from. But all good things must come to an end.
They're at one of Adora's football games, Glimmer and Bow always eager to support their friend, Catra tagging along because she "wants to see what all the fuss is about," kicking her cousin in the leg every time she mentions Adora's muscles, insisting "that's not the only reason!"
Adora's decided she'll confess this year also, while she's all pumped up with left-over adrenaline from the game. Her plan involves a lot of courage that she's spent weeks gay panicking over. But it'll all be worth it if she gets to introduce Catra as her girlfriend then maybe when their older, fiancée.
But one step at a time.
One of her teammates, Netossa, passes her the balls, and she takes off sprinting towards the goal line, the wind from her run cooling her down and she expertly dodges the rival team, the Horde.
She's so, close. She can taste the sweet victory on her lips. She doesn't see one of the Horde players, (Octavia, she learns from a fuming Glimmer), slams into her, knocking her off her feet with a sticking crack! when she lands.
Everything's black after that. Adora thanks the gods that she passed out.
--
She wakes up in a hospital bed, blue and gold eyes staring back her hers with unrestrained worry and...love? Yeah, Adora knows that look. It's the look her new adoptive mom, Mara, gives her girlfriend, Light Hope when she's not looking. Catra's not smiling, she notes, she hates it when Catra frowns.
"W-where's Bow and Glimmer?" She tries to sit up, now noticing the cast her leg is in, her eyes widen. " What happened? "
Catra pushes her back down gently, insisting she needs to lay down and relax for what she's about to say next.
"Adora..." Catra bites her lip and furrows her brows, Adora can't help but reach up and smooth the lines in her forehead, Catra grabs her hand and squeezes before she can pull it back. "Adora, the doctor said you messed up your leg pretty badly and-and--"
"--And what?" Adora pleads.
"And it'll take a long time to heal. But the doctor doesn't think you may be able to play football again."
And just like that Adora's whole world comes falling. She feels her breath start to quicken until it's impossible for her to take a breath altogether. Her future depended heavily on her ability to play football. She can feel the scholarship she was so close to getting slip from her fingers, now just some pipe dream from years ago. Her fingers are shaking. She can feel that at least, but the world is slowly slipping from her. She may be on a hospital bed, but right now she feels like she's sitting on a bed of nails. She starts struggling.
"Hey! Hey! Adora! Calm down- Someone help me! " Catra tries to keep Adora from falling out of bed, but she's not in touch with the rational part of her brain right now. The bed of nails feels sharper. Adora can't stay here. She needs to move.
Several bodies come rushing at Catra's cry for help. They're all blurs though. She's only able to distinguish the colors of purple, pink, blue, gold, and red before passing out again.
--
She wakes up in a daze. Her head's pounding, whatever medicine they gave her, it fucking sucks. She looks around the room, there's no one here, the faded scent of cinnamon apple is left behind. There's a note on the table next to her; it's kinda hard for her to miss the note, it's practically glowing. She strains her arm a bit to grab it, once it's in her hands she turns it over to see who left it, but she's got an inkling as to the sender.
She opens the card and is instantly hit by the soft, warm light that seems to come from it. Stars float up from the paper decorating her room with the constellations from the sky. The stars light up the room she's in, (when they turned off the lights she doesn't know), she reclines her bed, so she doesn't have to crane her neck to gaze at the soft lights, deciding to trace out constellations with her finger to fall asleep.
The card is still in her hand, unfolded, she was waiting till the light from the card dimmed down till reading it. Her previous suspicions are confirmed, she can't help the grin that escapes onto her face at the message. Anybody who walked by and took a look at her room would think she was absolutely insane, they wouldn't be wrong though. Adora was absolutely insane for Catra.
"Get better soon or I'll drop kick you to health myself." - C
Adora reads the card again, now giggling quietly uncontrollably. She would never get sleep if she kept laughing like this. She checks her phone one last time to see 20 new messages from Glimmer and Bow, combined, 10 from Mara, 6 Angella and Micah, and only five from Catra. The bags under her eyes are fighting her to sleep, she'll text them all later when she was able to keep her own two eyes open. Or tell them physically, they'll all be here by her side first thing in the morning, she knows it.
Her confession would have to wait until she was better. Adora wanted to be able to stand on her own two feet without support if she was going to spill to Catra the way she makes her heart feel.
--
Surprisingly Catra is the first one to arrive. The brunette is dressed in black skinny jeans, ankle boots, and...
"Is that one of Casta's sweaters?" Adora tries to stifle a laugh. She remembers watching Glimmer struggle to hide the over-sized articles of clothes whenever they came in the mail or were sent with Catra, only to watch her struggle not to tear off the itchy sweater in the middle of the Thanksgiving feast.
Catra flushes. It's a cute look on her. "I was in a rush, or whatever- shut up! " She punches Adora in the shoulder, spewing half-hearted insults towards the blonde. All while holding Adora's hand.
Adora's finally able to stop laughing at the threat of Catra messing up her other leg, they both know she never would though.
"Where's Casta?" Adora asks.
"She's on a phone call with one of her clients. Glimmer and Bow are coming in about 25 minutes if they don't get stuck in traffic."
"How did you get here so fast then?"
"Mom's got a need for speed. I'm surprised we didn't get into a car accident on the way here. You should've seen her-"
"-Oh, I heard plenty from Glimmer. No thank you, I'll stick to driving myself around for now."
"No wonder you're the world's slowest person."
Adora lets out an indigent squawk at that, her pout becoming more and more defined the longer Catra kept laughing. Catra's laugh was another sound Adora wished she could hear on repeat. It was high-pitched, squeaky, and absolutely adorable (pun intended).
She grabs Catra's other arm and pulls her onto the bed beside her, smiling when she hears the surprised yelp the brunette lets out.
"W-what are you doing? Is this even allowed?" Catra protests, but she's snuggling into Adora even more.
Adora wraps her arms around Catra's waist to keep her steady. The nurses would have to pry Catra from her cold dead body if they wanted her off.
"I wanted to cuddle with you." Adora states.
"Like I'm some life-sized teddy bear? Is that all I'm good for?" Catra feigns offense.
"Yes. You're my personal teddy bear. Accept your fate, there's no resisting," she squeezes tighter for emphasis. Catra complies by burying her head into the crook of Adora's neck. Adora hopes she can't feel the blush rising up her cheeks and down her neck. They stay like that for a few moments, Catra's body is so, warm. Is it normal for a human body to be warm? What was she doing wearing that sweater? Then Catra taps on her arm.
"Did you get my note?" She asks, shyness underlying her tone.
"Yeah, I did. How did you get the stars to float up like that? Did you use magic or something?" Adora was joking, but Catra wasn't scoffing or laughing at her lame attempt at a joke with a shove. Catra was just- staring . Staring at Adora with a dumbfounded expression.
"...Sparkles didn't tell you?"'
"Tell me what-"
As if on cue, Glimmer and Bow came barreling in, Angella and Micah not too far behind, although the former pair was out of much more breath than the latter. Casta also chose this moment to come join everybody else.
For a minute nobody said anything. Adora was about to question why the loudest people she knows were suddenly stunned to silence. Glimmer was holding a silent staring contest with Catra, Angella and Micah were giving each other knowing looks while Bow had stars in his eyes and Casta, who was looking at the two girls with a fond expression. Adora cleared her throat awkwardly, which was, admittedly, a little hard due to the other body beside her, but she managed.
"So, uh, what are we all staring at?"
Glimmer coughs. "When did you guys hook up?" Bow elbows her. "What?!" She asks.
Glimmer doesn't the least bit ashamed with her question, in fact, she's now snickering at Adora and Catra's faces, who have both gone redder than Catra's favorite pair of Converse.
Adora scrambles to sit up, forcing Catra, who's giving her sparkly cousin her best death glare, to also sit up completely, legs hanging off the bed. They're all frozen, the tension in the room thick with love, relief, and something else...
'Till a growling sound breaks the silence with the grace of a wrecking ball. Everybody's heads are swiveling around, trying to locate the source until Adora locks eyes with a, surprisingly, sheepish looking Catra who's looking anywhere but at her.
"Sorry. I was...in a rush. Forgot to eat." Catra says, a light blush dusted over her freckles.
" Aw, Catra ," Adora places her head over her collarbone, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye, "I didn't know you cared about me that much."
Catra shoves Adora, grumbling under her breath, "Shut up, you're not that special."
Adora laughs, catching Catra's hand before it can punch her shoulder, and laces their fingers together. "I'm special enough that you missed breakfast just to see me."
"What ever," Catra says, using her other hand to hide her face at the sound of everyone else's laughter, soon joining in herself.
(It's at this moment Adora realizes that everything would be okay).
***
The year Adora turns 18 might be one of the best years of her life.
She's aware that many people peak at eighteen, in the semi-small town of Brightmoon, all you have to do is look around one of the busy sidewalks on a sunny day and you're instantly able to tell who's still riding their non-existent high school high, (Quote from Glimmer and Catra, those two are more alike than they think they are). The point is she feels like she's riding a sugar high, despite being the one that consumes the least amount of sugar in their friend group (That crown's already been given to Glimmer).
Her leg is almost fully healed now, physical therapy was a painful journey, filled with bribes of sweets from Glimmer, loving encouragements from Bow, quick kisses on the cheek, and fond teasing from Catra, reassurances from Angella and Casta, painfully cringy puns, and dad jokes from Micah. Mara and Light Hope were some of her biggest supporters, cheering her on when she reached a new milestone in physical therapy, showering her in filling foods, reminders to care for herself, and spitting out random stats of her healing rate, (thanks Light Hope).
Her sports scholarship was burnt toast, luckily her grades were good enough to qualify for an academic scholarship. It wasn't a full ride like the previous one, but it covered enough that she wouldn't be stuck paying back student debt for the rest of her life. It was a wonder actually--what she wanted to be, all the prepping and planning for years to be the best in everything she did left her options varied, too varied. It was a sea full of choices, so hard to fish and catch one.
"I can hear you thinking from here."
Oh, right. Adora pushed out from her desk and turned to face Catra, who wasn't even looking at her, the brunette kept sneaking glances at the bedroom door before shifting focus back to the screen, her fingers tapping away.
"What are you doing now?" Adora asked.
Catra grinned. "Don't worry about it, Princess."
Now she really wanted to know. "No, tell me! I promise I won't tell Glimmer."
"No offense Adora, but you fucking suck at keeping secrets."
"That's not fair! It's not my fault I crack under pressure!"
"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that it's a hundred percent your fault that you crack under pressure." Catra snickered at Adora's growing pout. "You can't lie for shit."
"Fine, what if I guess instead? Since you insist on being so stubborn."
Catra tapped her chin with an acrylic nail, the multiple rings across her fingers clicking against each other. She clicked her tongue a few times before rolling her eyes.
"Fine," she said sighing with her entire body, "you have until Sparkles gets back to guess."
"Yes!" Adora pumped her fist in the air.
Catra groaned in slight irritation, with each guess Adora gave she sank deeper and deeper into Adora's sheets, stopping only when the blanket hit her neck.
"Adora. I'm begging you. Please stop trying," she groaned.
"No, Catra, I can tell I'm close though!”
"Adora, I love you with all my heart, but if you spit out one more guess, I will choke you with my bare hands."
They both froze. One was surprised at what had come out of her mouth, the other was stunned at the accidental confession.
Catra unfroze first, burrowing herself fully underneath Adora's sheets. Adora sat there in her deal chair, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Glimmer came barreling into the room, lips swollen and clothes slightly frazzled.
"Okay! I'm here, what did I--What's going on here?"
"Sh-she loves me. Me. " Adora said, in full disbelief.
"Who loves you?" Glimmer asked, confused. "Also where's Catra? Adora, you didn't lose my cousin right?" Glimmer moved over towards Adora, grabbing her shoulders and shaking them, "Adora! Snap out of it! Where's Catra?"
"I'm over here, Sparkles, calm down." Catra moved the blanket so that only her blue and gold eyes were visible, now glaring at Glimmer. "Like, oh my God, did you hear how shrill your voice got?"
"I was worried that you ditched us while I was saying goodbye to Bow!"
"You mean making out with him in his front seat," Catra smirked.
Glimmer huffed and turned back to Adora. "Whatever. See if I ever worry about you again."
Adora blinked owlishly a few times before leaning to see past Glimmer's body. "You love me? Since when? For how long?"
Catra had uncovered herself fully when she revealed herself to Gimmer, meaning that her face which was now as red as a tomato. was fully visible.
She covered her face with her hands. "Since we were fifteen or sixteen, I don't know exactly..." she moaned.
Gimmer looked back and forth between them. "Should I come back in ten or...?"
Adora gave her an apologetic smile, squeezing Glimmer's hand as a thank you. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks."
"No problem. I can see that you two useless lesbians have some talking to do, and maybe some kissing -- Hey!" The pink-haired girl ducked, doing a pillow thrown by Catra. "Rude! I'm just trying to be a supportive cousin!"
"Yeah, well, all you're being is annoying, go away," Catra said, launching another pillow. Glimmer continued to resist until she waved her hand, causing all the pillows previously thrown to be launched right back at Catra. Catra squawked and made an X with her hands causing all the pillows to fling everywhere but toward her. This meant Adora got a pillow right to her face.
Adora quickly removed the pillow from her face, gaping at Catra with her eyes blown wide. "H-h-how?"
Glimmer quickly noped herself out from the room, promising/threatening to return in ten minutes. Catra sat up slowly as if it was hurting every bone in her body to move and glanced around the room before making brief eye contact with Adora, patting the space next to her. Adora felt her legs move robotically towards Catra, forever doomed to be pulled in by her orbit.
She sat down in the middle of her bed, allowing about 10 inches of space between them. She focused on pulling the loose threads in her sheets.
"So, um, should we start with the pillow thing or the 'you loving me' thing?" Adora asked.
Catra, on her part, looked torn with her choice. She made a few faces that had Adora biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling and giggle from the cuteness of the expressions. God, she was useless.
"God, you make them sound like they're scandals or something," Catra said.
"Well, I mean, they might as well be! How long have you liked me again?"
"I've already told you-since we were fifteen or sixteen." That's about four years, Adora noted. "What about you?"
Adora turned to face Catra, hoping the colors of the other girl's eyes would give some boost of courage for what she was about to say next.
"Catra, I-I've had a crush on you since we were thirteen."
Catra makes a small 'oh' shape with her mouth, still refusing to look Adora directly in the eye. It's honestly discouraging for Adora. The irrational part of her says Catra's just fucking with her, playing another of her pranks. Or maybe this is all some cruel pipe dream she's having-it wouldn't be the first time Catra's entered her dreams.
But then...all those years of shy looks and touches, those have had to be real, right? All the times Catra's curled up to her side during BFS movie night, or any other event that involves less than six people; but she's a naturally cuddly person, for all her talk about ' not being cute' or the 'I don't give a fuck' attitude--, Catra's just a five-foot-four teddy bear at the end of the day. It's really adorable. (pun intended)
And it’s devastating. The way Catra’s searching her eyes, looking for something Adora wasn’t even aware was there, but for Catra she’ll happily pretend she’s got the mystery item and offer everything to her. It’s intimate—the way they’ve both moved closer together, pulled in by the gravity of the other’s orbit.
It’s captivating, the way they’ve moved so close Adora’s able to count the lines that go up and Catra’s lips. It’s curiosity that leads her to wonder Catra’s lips are as soft as they look, if the faint smell of pumpkin is from Catra or it’s all in her head. It’s her sanity on the line, cause she feels like going crazy--just from the feeling of Catra’s breath on her face.
It’s her cockiness that allows her to finally close the gap between them, savoring the way Catra’s body feels against hers, relishing in the fact that the other girl's lips feel perfect on hers. As the kiss goes on, Adora can feel her surroundings slipping away, until the only thing she’s aware of is the other body flush against hers.
Catra’s the first to pull away, panting slightly from the lack of air, her face is flushed with red, and Adora’s about to move in again because damn she misses those lips--
“I’m a witch.”
That pauses her, leaving Adora with blinking eyes. She pulls back to be able to look at Catra properly. “I’m sorry, what?”
Catra averts her gaze, choosing to wring her fingers together and focus on that instead, “I’m a witch like you know, the ones in the stories who make potions, have familiars, place curses, and--”
“No, I got that part. I mean, like--what brought this up?”
“It’s just a disclaimer and shit, because, you know, just in case—“
“Wait. Do you think I won’t want to date you because of the fact you're a witch?”
Catra only picks at the blanket even more, now having found a long enough string to pull. Adora pulls her hands away from her blanket, using both of her hands to squeeze them gently.
“I mean,” Adora starts off hesitantly, carefully picking out words and arranging them in a delicate order. “I wish you had trusted me enough to tell me sooner, but I understand. It also explains a lot of things that’ve happened since I’ve met you.
“I--”
“Wait,” Adora squeezed her hand again. “Let me finish”
Catra swallowed, her eyes never leaving Adora’s for a second. Adora wants to melt under the intensity of her gaze, but she braves through because she feels like she’ll die if she doesn’t get these words out.
“I’ve had a crush on you since we were, thirteen I think? I’ve been noticing these little quirks of yours since we met though.” Adora flicks her eyes to a corner of the room, a nervous habit. “In all honesty, I could really care less about what you are, I probably would have still loved you the same.”
Catra’s giving her a fond smile now and Adora--
Adora feels like she’s on cloud nine when she feels soft lips on hers. The kiss is gentle, hesitant but sweet. She can feel her cheeks heating up, but she leans forward, pressing her lips further into Catra’s cherry flavored ones, slightly self-conscious about her own probably chapped, dry lips.
They pull away, together, in sync. As if they both know the other’s movements. Adora can feel something on her lips, knows i she puts a finger to her mouth it would come back glossy.
Adora wants to lean in again, wants to savour the taste of cherry more, wants to feel the rush that goes through her body whenever Catra comes within 5 feet of her, but Glimmer and Bow come back, both carrying snacks and sporting matching swollen lips.
Throughout the entire night Catra only looks at Adora once, Adora wants to feel disappointed and she does try to, but--
(Catra makes eye contact with her for the second time since Bow put on some trashy romance comedy; forcing them all to watch with the power of sunshine threats, and gives Adora a small smile. Adora can feel the butterflies rushing into her stomach all over again)--
It’s hard when one little smile filled with shy hope and love promises so much in only a few seconds.