Archive of Our Own ^beta

Caitlyn sighed as her fist raised at the door of the familiar class B.1, ready to knock. She heard the professor inside stopping her lecture to say, “Come in”, Caitlyn did as she was told.

“Student Caitlyn.” Professor Vayne stated, with a slightly annoyed tone for her interruption. Caitlyn wanted to sigh again.

“Sorry for the interruption, professor” From the side of her eyes she could spot the oh-so familiar pink hair already standing before she continued talking. “The principal requests Student Violet to his office.”

As she finished her sentence, said student was already standing before her with a smug expression on her face. In the back, she could hear the professor sighing loudly.

“Sure, get on with it.”

Caitlyn looked at Vi, keeping her expression sharp, mentally throwing daggers at the girl before her. She could be doing something more useful right now, and yet here she was again, babysitting the troubled child of Labrys Academy. She moved aside, letting the pink haired girl brush beside her. 

“My excuses again for the interruption, professor.” She closed the door behind her, letting the lesson begin again.

“Y’know,” Vi began as Caitlyn strode before her, she followed her suit through the empty corridors of the Academy, “I know my way to the principal’s office by now, there’s no need for this.”

“Believe me,” Caitlyn didn’t even bother to turn around and look at her, looking before her as she followed the path to the office, “if it was my choice, I would do the utmost to avoid this situation.”

She heard Vi behind her muttering a low ouch , “You hurt me, cupcake. Here I thought you just couldn’t help being with me.” 

Caitlyn scoffed, ignoring her usual teasing. When Caitlyn applied to be the student’s council president, she knew she would have to handle a few unpleasant students to keep order at the Academy, and it really wasn’t a big deal for her, keeping the Academy a safe learning place was what she wanted most. However, no one mentioned to her that the trouble in question was always caused by Class B.1’s student Vi. She and her little group of friends just loved pulling the stupidest pranks and useless fights, just for the sake of “getting some action done”, at least that’s how Vi put it. And it really wouldn’t have mattered for Caitlyn, if it wasn’t that the pink haired girl was insufferable, with her teasing (flirting? Sometimes she really couldn’t tell) and the fact that she seemed to find entertainment in annoying Caitlyn. And so, (almost) everyday principal Graves would ask her to bring student Vi to his office, Caitlyn would just do as she was told and would end in a situation like this. By now, she could probably walk to the principal’s office with her eyes closed.

“What have you done this time?”

Vi shrugged. “Dunno, stole the principal’s pocket watch? Punched some stupid bullies on the courtyard? Caught making out in a classroom? I do lots of stuff.”

Caitlyn smirked. “Now, I’m sure the last one definitely didn’t happen.” She turned, taking the staircase that would bring them to the floor where most offices were situated, including the principal’s and the student’s council room.

“Why? Don’t think I could score myself a girl to make out with?” Vi moved beside her. Caitlyn did not respond. She felt the girl beside her leaning in closer, “Or are you just jealous?”

Caitlyn wanted to laugh at the question and how ridiculous it sounded, “As if.” She could still feel Vi’s eyes on her, with her usual smug smirk. “I don’t believe anyone would want to make out with such a loser.”

Vi shrugged, dropping the subject as they arrived on the 3 rd floor, the door to principal Graves’ office already visible. She surpassed Caitlyn, making her way.

“Catch you next time, cupcake.” Vi raised her hand in a small wave as she opened the door, not even bothering to know.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Hopefully not.”

“She’s so annoying”

Caitlyn sat down beside Ezreal at their usual table, putting down her tray violently, startling the boy eating at her side. 

As per usual, for lunch break, Caitlyn would sit with Ezreal, Lux and Aphelios; she knew Ezreal from way before Labrys Academy because they went to the same school back in Piltover, and with their parents knowing each other they spent a lot of time together as kids. Ezreal was much more reckless than Caitlyn who was calm and collected, but they had found one thing in common: wanting to see the world, and that resulted in both of them enrolling at Labrys Academy to become Heroes. Lux was one of the members of the student’s council, that’s how Caitlyn got to meet her, and with Ezreal nagging her to let them meet, she quickly became a third addition to their duo. Aphelios was the last one to join, he was one of Ezreal’s many crushes that lasted for max a month. During Ezreal’s courting he eventually joined them for lunch, and after he rejected Ezreal he seemed to enjoy their company enough that he kept hanging around with them. He was mute and the only one who could fully understand sign language was Ezreal, but Caitlyn was following a sign language class in order to be able to understand him even without Ezreal around. 

“Who?” Ezreal beside her raised an eyebrow. Caitlyn remained silent, with her legs and arms crossed like a child, her intense gaze focused somewhere. As he followed her eyes, the familiar pink haired girl from the opposite table winked right at Caitlyn. “Ah, I see.” 

Caitlyn huffed, taking the fork in her hand. “Why do I even have to” she started cutting the piece of meat on her plate, “bother with always bringing the problem children of Labrys to the principal? Don’t I have more important stuff to do?”

Lux sitting in front of her interrupted her ranting as she slowly raised a finger. “You’re the student’s council president.”

Caitlyn looked at her, “Exactly my point!” 

“Ok but”, Ezreal took a bite off his meal, continuing with his mouth full, “why are you all bothered when it’s about her?” He swallowed, a knowing (at least he thinks he knows) smile on his lips.

Caitlyn side eyed him. “What are you trying to imply, Ezreal?”

He shrugged. “It’s just that… you talk an awful lot about Vi.”

“Not positively.”

Ezreal went back in on his meal, talking again with his mouth full. “Positive or not, you still talk about her.”

Caitlyn turned to him and jabbed at his side with her fork, causing him to flinch and almost choke on his food. Unfortunately (for Caitlyn), he quickly swallowed and avoided being a coughing mess. Before Ezreal could get back to her, Aphelios caught his attention. 

He signed something pretty fast but Caitlyn was able to make out what he wanted to say. “What’s wrong with Vi?”

Ezreal shook his head, starting to sign his answer to him. Caitlyn looked attentively at his hands, he always did that when he didn’t want someone else to know what they were talking about, but now he could not leave her out of this. She could clearly see the sign for “She”, followed by “likes” and then what seemed to be a spelling of “Vi”, quickly followed by “she” and some other signs she couldn’t recognize immediately. She quickly tried to get Aphelios' attention.

“Not. True.” She signed much more slowly than Ezreal could, and said it out loud, just to show off that she could understand them now, no more secrets. 

Aphelios smiled, making a sound similar to a chuckle. “Vi’s cool, she knows sign language.” He made sure to sign slowly so that Caitlyn could understand.

“What?” Caitlyn furrowed her eyebrows. Why would she bother to know sign language? As if answering her question, Aphelios shrugged.

“Since we are on the topic,” Lux joined in on the conversation, her plate now empty, “have you guys heard what happened between Vi and Kata?”

“Oh man,” Ezreal groaned, “have I missed some amazing fight?”

Vi and Katarina’s rivalry was known to everyone at Labrys Academy, their fights always got all of the students talking for days. Katarina was your typical mean girl, she and her group loved to go bother other students and simply cause chaos around school. Vi, on the other hand, could not stand how she treated others and responded with violence. Usually, Caitlyn would be the one to make sure the fights did not occur as often as everyone hoped, and of course, bring the both of them over at the principal’s office. Caitlyn was never present in the office as they got scolded, but voices in the corridors have been saying that principal Graves had some sort of favouritism when it came to Katarina and her record was much cleaner in comparison to Vi’s. Caitlyn had a hard time believing that, they both caused just as much trouble.

Lux shook her head. “Apparently someone saw them kissing at Sett’s party.” 

Multiple expressions passed Caitlyn’s face as she looked at Lux. Confusion, disgust, but mostly confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Ah yes”, Ezreal nodded, “the typical enemies to lovers.” 

“Katarina has a boyfriend!” Caitlyn exclaimed, making some heads turn in her direction. She shifted a bit in her seat, she hadn’t meant to be so loud. She turned back to Lux, this time keeping her voice at a normal volume. “What does Garen think of this… gossip?”

Lux rolled her eyes at the mere mention of her brother. “Apparently he thinks it’s pretty hot.” 

Caitlyn scoffed. Of course he does. Typical straight man thinking that women like to kiss each other for his own pleasure. Whatever Garen thought, it still didn’t make any sense. Katarina and Vi hated each other, especially Vi had only shown anger whenever anyone mentioned Katarina, and Caitlyn had seen the both of them standing outside the principal’s office, Vi ignoring Katarina’s existence every time.

She felt the boy beside her shifting closer to her, her thoughts interrupted by his voice which was almost a whisper, but enough for Lux and Aphelios to hear them. 

“Are you jealous?”

Caitlyn looked at him, his eyebrows going up and down provocatively. She lightly shoved him, letting out a small chuckle. “Jealous of what, a loser kissing one of the most horrible people at the Academy?”

“Not kissing you, though.” Ezreal sat straight with a satisfied expression on his face as he took another bite.

Caitlyn squinted her eyes, the grip on her fork tightening as she poked him lightly again. She ignored Ezreal’s whine. What absolute nonsense. 

The corridors of the Academy were apparently empty as Caitlyn made her way back to the dorms. Her classes for the day were done, however other classes were still in progress making the Academy quieter than usual. It seemed like a perfect time to study at the library before it became too cramped to not get distracted, Caitlyn thought. She looked at the agenda in her hands: a students’ council meeting was planned for later, so she could write down possible topics to bring up during the meeting.

As she walked, some voices in the corridor made her stop in her steps. She raised her head, having recognized the voices already. Katarina was laying casually against the wall of lockers with Vi right before her, her expression not relaxed in the slightest. She could hear Vi saying “I want nothing to do with you and your stupid boyfriend.” Katarina scoffed before her, mouth open and ready to talk, however she stopped as she caught Caitlyn looking at them.

Caitlyn raised her eyebrows, alerted. She did not care what the two had going on, they were simply standing in her way. Well, she did care about the two not causing trouble and now that she was caught, might as well stop whatever was about to happen. She relaxed her face, walking towards them.

Katarina had her head turned to the girl now, a smug look on her face. “Hey, hottie.”

She heard Vi practically growling beside her, her eyes still focused on Katarina before her. Caitlyn decided to ignore Katarina’s greeting.

“So, I suppose both of you don’t have any classes at the moment?” Katarina rolled her eyes, already getting her back off from the lockers. “Or should I mention to the principal you have been skipping mandatory classes?” Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. 

“No need for that, princess.” Katarina said without even sparing Caitlyn a glance. She moved closer to Vi, laying a hand on her shoulder as she leaned closer to Vi’s ear, whispering words Caitlyn could not make out. Not like she cared, at all. Vi took her hand and pushed it off her, looking at her without saying anything. Katarina left with a chuckle. 

Caitlyn looked at Vi as Katarina disappeared around the corner. She seemed angry, her fingers curling tighter in her fist. She thought back at the conversation they had started during lunch break. Someone saw them kissing at Sett’s party. As she looked at Vi with so much anger, refusing Katarina’s touch, she thought it couldn’t be possible. Right? She sighed, why was she thinking about that all of a sudden? She did not care. 

Caitlyn opened her mouth to speak. Is everything alright? “Do you know your way to class or do I have to bring you to the principal’s office?” Vi’s form seemed to visibly relax as she turned to Caitlyn, no smug face, no smirk.

Vi simply nodded, moving past her. No teasing, no cupcake, she just silently walked away. Her hand hitched. Is everything alright?  

She shook her hand, opening her agenda before her. She didn’t bother to look if Vi was going back to class, resuming her walk to her dorm. As long as there was no mess for her to clean up, she did not care what the two were up to. But a little voice inside her head was telling her something definitely happened that she was not aware of.

Later, she met Lux at the students’ council meeting. They greeted each other, Lux beginning to talk about how magic classes were killing her. She laughed as Lux was telling her one of the stupidest mistakes she made during class. However, questions in the back of her mind kept popping up as she listened to Lux rant. Was that really everything that happened at Sett’s party? Was there more to Katarina and Vi?

She cleared her throat as the last member of the council took a seat, announcing that the meeting could now start. She did not ask any of those questions. 

Caitlyn bit on her pen as she stared down at her history book. She sat at the Academy library, where many other students sat in silence as they studied for their tests in the following days. The library had always been Caitlyn’s favourite place: it was quiet and orderly, you could study in peace and it was sure that no one would bother you there, because it just wasn’t allowed. 

At least, that’s what she thought.

Caitlyn looked outside of the window, bringing her hand to her cheek. There was a view on the academy’s courtyard, students passing by the window in their uniforms as they walked to their classes, others sitting on the neatly cut grass under the shadow of a tree. Others, rather a certain group, were being loud and playing like children on break. A mop of pink hair getting Caitlyn’s attention. 

It had been a few days since Caitlyn had run into Vi and Katarina in the corridor, after that she didn’t get to encounter Vi, except stealing glances across the room. It seemed like Vi was keeping herself out of trouble, or at least that Caitlyn was aware of. Right now, she was smiling to her friends as she caught the ball in her hands and said something that Caitlyn could not hear at all. She laughed together with the others, turning around like she was about to make her way to the entrance of the Academy. Caitlyn was so entranced that she didn’t notice how she was obviously staring through the window, noticing however how the pink hair on her side fell slightly on her face, and she quickly moved it away with her bandaged fingers. She looked much more relaxed than the last time she had seen her, angry eyes focused on Katarina, her hands ready to fight. Now, those grey eyes were looking right at her. Wait . 

Caitlyn blinked one time, a second time. Vi was looking at her from the window, a grin forming on her lips. Caitlyn quickly looked before her, feeling warmth spreading on her cheeks. What was she doing? Her heartbeat seemed to speed up the more she tried to not look at the girl outside. Was she even still there? She just got caught staring, which was, first of all, incredibly rude, but she got caught staring at Vi, of all people. Caitlyn wanted to hit something, or maybe bury herself under the ground. That seemed like a good idea. She did not dare look at the window again. Was she still looking? Did she go away? Caitlyn looked down on her book, twirling the pen around her fingers.

As she did her best to distract herself, the door of the library opened loudly amid the silence. She could hear boots clinking on the floor, and those loud steps getting louder and louder until it came to a stop. Caitlyn had a fear of who exactly that could be. She gripped her pen, should she look up or just not acknowledge the shadow over her desk. A pair of bandaged hands were now in her line of vision, resting on the wooden table. She gripped her pen harder, her cheeks burning of embarrassment as she raised her head. 

Vi’s lopsided grin grew as they finally had proper eye contact, she leaned over, towering over her. “Good morning, cupcake.” The greeting sounded louder than it was in the silence of the library. Oh my fucking god . Caitlyn wanted to jump off the window. Unfortunately for her, the library was on the ground floor.

That earned Vi a chorus of Shhh from the students all around them. Caitlyn sighed, her hands were twitching to cover her face, but she just couldn’t, that would give Vi another reason to tease her. 

“What are you doing here?” Caitlyn tried to whisper as quietly as she could, however it still got her side eyes from other students.

Vi looked up as if she had to think about her answer then leaned closer to Caitlyn, pinning her down on her chair. Caitlyn gripped the pen in her hand tighter. “It just seemed like you were enjoying what you saw, thought I’d give you a closer look.” Her voice was lower than usual as she whispered the words. 

Caitlyn ignored the speed of her heartbeat rising, not breaking eye contact with the girl before her. “Ha ha, very funny.” Caitlyn did not intend to say that loudly, which this time got the students saying all together shhhh . Caitlyn pressed her lips together.

“I was just wondering,” Vi continued whispering, “if you were done with whatever you’re doing-“

Caitlyn was looking around her, noticing the librarian over at the reception desk killing her with her stare. Whatever Vi wanted to say, here was not the place. She interrupted Vi’s talking as she closed her book, quickly taking her stuff and putting it in her bag. She stood up and without saying anything, she gripped Vi’s wrist, dragging her outside of the library. 

“Jeez,” Vi lightly whined as they came to an alt in the corridor outside the library, “you’re pretty strong…”

Caitlyn left the grip on her wrist, standing right before the other. Now that they were at the same height and at a much comfortable distance, Caitlyn felt her heart relax a bit, her shoulders feeling less tense.

She ignored what Vi said. Of course, she was strong, she was carrying a rifle all the time. “So, what is it?”

Vi cleared her throat, her confidence from just a moment ago seemed to disappear. “There’s this new coffee shop that opened outside of campus.” Caitlyn raised her eyebrows, not interrupting her this time. “It seems really nice, and the coffee looks really good. My sister’s been talking about it, she spends most of her afternoons there-”

“What are you asking here, Vi?” Caitlyn interrupted her rambling, even though that sounded more threatening than she wanted it to be. She just couldn’t help that the more Vi was talking the more nervous she grew. Again? She asked herself, as she thought of similiar ramblings in the past few months.

Vi scratched the back of her neck, looking at Caitlyn in her eyes this time. “I’m asking you to get coffee together.”

Again . This wasn’t the first time Vi had asked her out, in some way. Caitlyn had convinced herself that Vi just loved to see Caitlyn embarrassed, which really happened rarely as Caitlyn thought she was pretty good at keeping a poker face most of the time. Vi seemed to see through her all the time and she seemed to extremely enjoy it.

Caitlyn scoffed. “Ran out of options to ask out?”

Vi’s grin was back on her face. “I’ll let you know,” Vi took a step closer, getting in Caitlyn’s personal space once again. “I have a line waiting for me and I’m just ignoring it for you, cupcake.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, pressing her lips tighter to control the smile itching at the side of her lips. There was a silence as Vi patiently waited for her answer. She technically didn’t have anything to do till 6 p.m. and she could use some coffee before the students’ council meeting. She visibly shook her head as if to shrug the thought out of her.

“I can’t.” Sure, let’s go . “I have a council’s meeting soon.” I have the next 2 hours free.

“Oh,” Vi’s grin seemed to turn down for a fraction of a second until it was back on her face. Caitlyn gripped her bag tighter. That was the best option, at least for her. Vi spoke again, “that means you owe me a coffee next time I catch you staring at me.” She winked at her, but all Caitlyn could see was her confident façade coming up again.

Vi turned her back, raising her fingers in a small wave as she walked away from Caitlyn. Only when she was sure Vi was out of her sight did she lean against the wall beside her, taking a deep breath. She convinced herself how this was for the best, she did not have time to think about Vi’s grey eyes, Vi’s hands constantly moving, Vi’s smile as she joked with her friends or the possibility she might not have been joking when she asked to get some coffee together. She must have, it was Vi they were talking about, Vi who loved messing with her however she could.

She sighed, making her way to her dorm room to get some rest before the meeting, or getting back to what she was studying before Vi’s abrupt presence.

“What.” Caitlyn heard the door of her dorm room opening suddenly, making her jump a little in her seat. “Happened?” And closing just as loudly.

Ezreal was standing right at the entrance of room, taking off his shoes and he moved towards her bed, sitting with his legs crossed.

“Hi to you too, Ezreal.”

Ezreal seemed to completely ignore her. “Vi asked you on a date? Again?”

Caitlyn groaned. It had only been a day since Vi’s scene at the library, but it seemed gossip was running around the corridors of the academy, and of course Ezreal was the first one to know.

“Why didn’t you tell me immediately?” 

She looked at him, excitement in his eyes as he waited patiently for her answer. Caitlyn hadn’t told anyone because there was nothing to talk about. Ezreal knew about Vi’s multiple attempts at asking her out , some of them even happened right before his eyes, and Caitlyn thought that would show him that it was pure teasing, Vi didn’t mean any of that and was not actually looking to spend time with her other than annoying her. Ezreal did not seem to believe that.

“Because there was nothing to tell.” Caitlyn crossed her arms, turning fully to her friend, the books on her desk now forgotten. “She just made a scene at the library, I was about to risk getting kicked out of it.”

Ezreal narrowed his eyes, looking at Caitlyn expression in silence. Caitlyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Then, she could see realization striking him. “You said no.”

“Of course I said no!”

“Caitlyn Kiramman,” Ezreal pointed at her with his gauntlet still on, “you’re the most useless lesbian I know.”

Caitlyn scoffed. “And how many lesbians do you know?”

“Only you, but if they were all like you, I would go insane.”

Caitlyn stood up. “You’re one to talk, you- “

“Ah!” Ezreal stood up, pointing his finger at her again, “As much as I love talking about me, don’t shift the subject. Vi is the one flirting with you, not me.”

“She’s- “Caitlyn quickly stopped after realizing she was raising her voice. She cleared her throat. “She’s not flirting with me.”

“Seriously?!” Ezreal exclaimed, not caring of the volume of his voice rising. “I’ve lost count of how many times she has tried to ask you out, at this point she could be kissing you and you would still think it was all platonic.”

Caitlyn felt warmth tickling her cheeks, a hand instinctively touching it as if she could hide her blush. “Ezreal, you- “Caitlyn was not sure what she wanted to say. “You don’t get it.”

The thing was, Caitlyn didn’t get it herself either. It had been three months since she became students’ council president, since she actually got to meet Vi for the first time, when she brought her to the principal’s office for the first time. They didn’t talk much then, Vi had tried to start some conversation; she had already heard of her, just like Caitlyn had heard of her reputation but Caitlyn did not say anything that first time, she stood there taking in Vi’s compliments on her appearance through the form of terrible pick-up lines. It was more obvious then, that it was purely a joke. Until they had started meeting more often, and Vi’s one-sided conversations, turned into bantering and teasing between the two, until Caitlyn had stopped her more times in the corridors from having a fight, until she started getting worried of Vi’s new bruises every time she picked her up from class, until she always met Vi’s eyes through the crowd and the other always had a smile for her. Caitlyn didn’t get it, at all. 

“Look,” Ezreal sighed, putting his finger away, “this denial phase is getting boring. No, I don’t get it, you’ve never been afraid of getting what you want, Caitlyn, so what is holding you back?”

What is holding you back?

Caitlyn blinked, looking down at her feet. What was holding her back? Ezreal was right, she was never scared of doing the utmost to get what she wanted, didn’t care about what her parents thought, that was one of the reasons she chose to go to Labrys Academy, no matter if her parents approved or not. However, she felt the weight of people’s expectations of her, she was a model student at Labrys, everyone knew her name because it was always the first on the list for any class she attended, she had the responsibility of being students’ council president, of representing the students and keeping them safe in the school environment. She didn’t go to dorm parties, get drunk and dance all night like Ezreal did, or come every month with a new crush, with dates to go to and neither experience love and heartbreak like her other peers. Everything she did was planned in order to succeed. Success at Labrys, coming out of it as a hero, was what she came here for; parties and romance could wait. 

Ezreal’s question was left unanswered. 

“Listen, I didn’t deserve that B+,” Lux was ranting at Caitlyn’s side while they were on their way to their lockers. “I did everything perfectly; I really don’t get Professor Sylas sometimes.”

Caitlyn chuckled. “He can really be annoying with grades; he really looks at the details.”

Lux was about to respond when something in her line of sight interrupted her. “Huh?”

Caitlyn blinked, following her eyes. Before them, a crowd of students in uniform was standing before a wall of lockers. Caitlyn furrowed her brows, that only meant something was happening that probably wasn’t supposed to. She spotted Aphelios at the sides and approached him.

She tapped his shoulder and he immediately turned around. “What’s happening?”

Aphelios shook his head, signing slowly what Caitlyn recognized as two names: Vi and Katarina.

She sighed. It had been a while since the two were causing a fuss around school, it seemed they were keeping a distance since Caitlyn interrupted them when they were talking alone. Caitlyn tried to make her way through the crowd, the students moving away once they recognized who she was. She had to intervene and stop it before it would get worse. 

Once she was at the front, the scene was not as different as the one she interrupted around a week ago: Katarina was leaning on a locker, Vi standing before her with the same angry eyes.

“What is going on here?” Caitlyn introduced herself in whatever conversation they were having.

Katarina glanced at her for a moment, groaning in annoyance. “How come you always seem to arrive when the best part is about to come?” 

Vi narrowed her eyes. “Actually, we were about to be done.”

“Oh, were we?” Katarina brought up one of her daggers, looking down at the blade.

Caitlyn looked at the weapon, her eyes avertedly shifting to Vi. There was one essential rule to Labrys Academy: you can carry your weapons around, but you can’t use it against your peers and teachers. Caitlyn thought Katarina was just showing them off threateningly, in a way to scare Caitlyn? Vi? Caitlyn wasn’t sure.

“Well, I’m sure you can definitely stop this now…” Caitlyn tried in a way to let the crowd know that there was nothing to see anymore, however most of the students didn’t seem to move.

Katarina looked at Vi with a smirk on her face. “Getting your ass covered by your girlfriend again, Vi?”

Caitlyn flinched a bit at being called that. Girlfriend. Vi’s girlfriend. But she physically didn’t budge, now was not the time to think about that, nor to correct Katarina.

“Let’s just stop this, Kata…” Vi trailed off. “For now.”

Katarina giggled. “So obedient.” Vi turned around, but before she could take one step, Katarina talked again. “I guess I’ll have to pay your sister a visit for some fun.”

Vi raised her head. “What did you just say?”

Caitlyn saw Katarina’s smirk growing wider. She did not like where this was going. “I said, your sister is so much more fun to play with, so creative.” 

And in a blink of an eye, Katarina was slammed against the locker. The movement of Vi turning around had happened so fast, and she now had Katarina pinned down, her forearm right under her chin. What happened just as fast was Katarina raising one of her daggers to Vi’s cheek, leaving a cut along her cheekbones.

Alerted, Caitlyn immediately got closer to the two, putting her hands on Vi’s shoulder trying to push her away. Vi pressed her forearm only harder against Katarina, not seeming to be bothered by the blade on her cheek which only seemed to cut deeper. “Don’t touch my sister!” Vi said through gritted teeth.

Caitlyn was not able to push her away it seemed, she had to act some other way. She stepped on Vi’s foot, which seemed to catch her off guard and so she loosened the grip on Katarina. Caitlyn was able to push away Vi from Katarina’s, now putting her body between the two. Katarina took a deep breath, putting her knife down as she tried to control her breathing again. Caitlyn caught her grip on her knife loosening and took the chance to get the dagger right out of her hand. Katarina gasped, bolting towards Caitlyn in a try to get her weapon back.

Caitlyn did not budge the slightest as Katarina got closer. “Katarina, you are not allowed to use your weapons against your peers.” She raised the palm of her hands upwards. “I’ll be temporarily revoking your weapons and give a notice to the principal.”

Katarina looked at her, raising an eyebrow in question. Her eyes went back and forth between Caitlyn and Vi behind her, hesitant to give up her weapon. Caitlyn was still waiting with the palm of her hand up, her eyes never leaving Katarina. She heard steps behind her getting away, meaning the crowd was probably going back to their classes or anywhere else they had to be, forgetting about the fight they were waiting to watch.

Katarina groaned, putting the other dagger on Caitlyn’s hand. She then looked at Vi behind her shoulder. “You’re just as crazy as her!” And after she said that, probably directed at Vi, she stormed off.

Caitlyn took a deep breath, turning around. Vi was still standing there, breathing heavily as the fists on her sides kept flexing, blood dripping from her cheek. Caitlyn needed to stop her before she punched something. 

She caught Lux standing still right where she had left her, gripping at the books on her chest tightly. Caitlyn walked towards her. “Can you bring these to the secretary,” Caitlyn gave her Katarina’s daggers, one of them had a small blood stain, “and inform the principal, please?”

Lux nodded without saying anything, taking the knives in her hands.

Caitlyn turned to Vi, who was looking at the ground as if she could just make it crumble under her feet. “You.” Caitlyn started, which seemed to get the other girl’s attention on her as she raised her eyes, looking at Caitlyn. She looked at Vi’s face, one side still covered in blood. “You come with me.”

Caitlyn opened the door to the school’s infirmary. The place was as quiet and clean as always. It was almost unsettling, everything was as pristine as ever. She saw Vi beside her turn up her nose as the scent of bleach welcomed them.

“Is this really necessary?”

“Seriously?” Caitlyn passed beside her, trying to look for the first aid kit. “Just sit down.” 

Vi looked at her for a moment but she still walked towards one of the clinic beds without saying anything else. Caitlyn looked behind her for a moment; Vi had been silent the whole walk to the infirmary, she hadn’t said anything nor spared a glance at her, she seemed to be thinking deeply and Caitlyn had done nothing to start any sort of conversation, thinking maybe Vi needed a moment to herself, to sort her thoughts out, even if Caitlyn would’ve gladly listened.

Once the first aid kit was finally in her hands, she walked to the bed where Vi was sitting. She opened the kit, picking a puff of cotton and disinfectant. Once she wetted it, she brought it to Vi’s face. She hadn’t even touched her but the other flinched away.

Caitlyn sighed. “Listen, this needs to be done.” Vi was looking down at her feet, not seeming to be listening. “You don’t want it to get infected, you could get sick.”

Vi just shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“It does!”

“Why do you care?” Vi sounded like she spat those words, still not looking at her.

Why do you care? Caitlyn cared about Vi just like she cared about any other casual friends, or students she had gotten out of trouble. She furrowed her eyebrows. Right ?

“Why shouldn’t I care?” She mumbled. At that, Vi remained silent.

She put a finger under her chin, raising her head. Caitlyn was met with grey eyes looking at her, giving her a curious look. She could see tiredness in her eyes, like she was giving herself up to Caitlyn’s hands. Caitlyn felt her heart leap in her throat as she kept eye contact with Vi. It was like she could see her walls crashing down before her, these weren’t the usual smiley eyes she found across the cafeteria, or the smug eyes that teased her every day. Yet they weren’t sad, it was new. Caitlyn swallowed the lump in her throat.

Caitlyn focused on tending Vi’s wound. She moved her eyes to the wound on her cheek, bringing the cotton puff to it. She heard Vi hissing at the sensation of the alcohol against the open wound. Caitlyn tilted her head, trying to pat the cotton as lightly as possible. After the first clean, she could tell from Vi’s body language that she had grown used to the burning feeling on her cheek. 

While Caitlyn was cleaning her up, she felt Vi’s eyes constantly on her. It made her nervous, she was looking at her like you would look at a painting at an art gallery, her eyes running all over her. What she also noticed were also Vi’s freckles on her cheeks and on her nose which were much more noticeable at such a close a distance; she noticed the scar on her left eyebrow, she remembers the first time she saw it on her but never had an idea how she got it; she noticed the dark circles under her eyes, covered by light concealer; she noticed the small scar on her upper lip, she thought of touching it with her thumb but she didn’t do it. Caitlyn realized she was staring just as much as the other was staring at her.

“Why did you do that?” Vi asked almost in a whisper, her eyes never leaving her. 

Caitlyn blinked, cleaning the remaining blood on her cheek. “Do what?”

“Stop me,” Vi trailed off, and before she could answer, she continued. “Step on my foot?” She asked that one jockingly, with a small grin on her lips.

“Well, you didn’t expect it, so your body just reacted to the sudden pain, making you lose your grip on Katarina.” She smiled a bit as she looked for a band aid roll. “It worked.”

Vi pressed her lips together, the corners of her lips turning upwards for a small moment. She shrugged, getting back to the first question. “I just had to, Katarina was breaking the rules, and I would’ve done that even if she didn’t use her weapon.” She spared a glance to Vi, who looked at her back. She quickly turned to the band aid in her hands, carefully cutting it. “The last thing I want is you and Katarina destroying the Academy or something.” 

This time, a small giggle escaped Vi’s lips. She put the band aid on her cheek. You and Katarina . A question suddenly popped up in her mind. This wasn’t the time, but the tension between the two had grown since she heard about the rumour. Her curiosity got the best of her.

She cleared her throat after she applied a second band aid on her cheek. “Is it true?” She suddenly blurted out. Maybe it was a bad idea .

Vi blinked. “What is it?”

She looked at the other, biting the inside of her cheek. “About you and Katarina?” Vi didn’t say anything, she wasn’t sure if Vi was looking for an answer or if she even understood the question. “Did you two kiss?”

Vi’s eyes widened for a moment. There was silence, Vi’s eyes looking at her hands. “She kissed me and I pushed her away.” She looked at Caitlyn again, fidgeting with her fingers. “People are really making it sound as if I wanted it and we are now together, but it’s not, it’s really not.”

Caitlyn scoffed. She felt relieved, maybe she shouldn’t, but it was so obvious that on Vi’s side there was nothing but dislike towards Katarina, that she couldn’t help feeling like her chest was a bit lighter. “I thought it was weird.”

“Oh yeah,” Vi shook her head. “And since then, they’ve been really weird. Katarina was trying to pull me into her group and stuff.”

“So that was what that was about?” Caitlyn mumbled as she remembered that time in the corridor where she had interrupted their conversation. Vi nodded without adding anything else.

There was silence again. Technically, Caitlyn was done, her wound was clean and patched. They could go back to their classes but none of them moved an inch. Caitlyn busied herself with putting everything back into place. She felt Vi’s eyes on her again.

“Were you at the party?” Vi’s tone was surprised.

Caitlyn scoffed. “No,” she looked at Vi, a grin now back on her face. “Lux told me during lunch, I…” She cleared her throat, “I don’t really go to parties.”

Vi chuckled. “Of course, you don’t.”

Caitlyn put away the first aid kit, giving her back to Vi still sitting at the edge of the bed. “Ekko is having a party this Saturday…” Vi blurted out, slowly, like she was choosing her words. “And Ekko’s parties are nice, you know, they are not crazy like Sett’s, and the music is good. Lots of cool people hang around Ekko too, and the drinks are fine.”

Caitlyn smiled a bit, not turning around, as Vi was rambling about how cool Ekko was and how his parties were chill . She bit her lip, this was definitely not the first time Vi rambled like this to her and by now, she could expect where this was going.

“And that might be a nice…first experience, and if you’re not busy this Saturday.” Caitlyn was not busy at all . “We could go together and-”

“Sure.” What? Caitlyn had blurted it out without even thinking. She bit her lip. The more she thought about it, the more her mind was blank. She didn’t have any excuse, her notes were done, her homework was done and had plenty of time to train during the day. Any other excuse, like I don’t like parties and I don’t want to go with you , felt flat, useless. What’s holding you back? Caitlyn couldn’t find any reasonable answer to it.

She turned around, finding Vi still in her place. Her mouth was hanging a bit open, her eyes blinking a few times as if she was still processing what she had just heard. “Did you just say yes?”

Caitlyn felt her cheeks warming up a little. “Yeah, I did.” She really did. Caitlyn wanted to cover her face or hide somewhere; she really did say yes. She didn’t even say yes when Ezreal tried to drag her out of her dorm to go anywhere fun, but she just did. To Vi.

And there was no way she could take it back, not after Vi’s eyes lit up like that.

Vi stood up, walking towards her. “So,” She stopped at a safe distance (thankfully, because if she was closer Caitlyn would be hyper-aware of her burning cheeks, if they looked as red as she felt). “I’ll text you when I’ll pick you up and everything.”

Caitlyn just nodded. Excitement was building up in her chest, her fingers tingled, and her heartbeat just kept beating faster as she looked at Vi’s smile growing. 

As she looked at Vi, the band aid on her face reminded her that there was no reason for them to still be at the infirmary, that the school doctor’s break would probably be done soon and maybe they should leave now.

“We should go back to class.” Caitlyn simply said, yet did not move from where she was standing.

“Of course.” Vi simply affirmed. “Sure we don’t have a trip scheduled to the principal’s office?” Vi was back with her teasing tone, and her raised eyebrow as she moved beside Caitlyn.

Caitlyn shook her head, starting to make her way outside of the infirmary with Vi following. “I’ll make sure to pass when you do.”

Vi smiled. “Can’t wait to see you then, cupcake.”

That evening, when Caitlyn was laying on her bed staring at the ceiling, she thought of pink hair, of freckled cheeks and soft skin; she thought of grey eyes, angry, scrutinizing, curious, grey eyes that under another lightning almost seemed blue, and they grew bigger with excitement, with happiness, they had a tenderness when they were looking at her; she thought of scars, a fresh one which was now properly cleaned, and old ones that were fading, a scar right on pink lips. Pink lips that looked so soft, so kissable.

She could only hear her heart in her ears, beating furiously. She thought she should be mad, maybe even sad, but a small smile instead found its way to her lips.

She thought, she really liked Vi.

Accepting her feelings for Vi was a process, but it sure made meeting up with Vi all the more stressful. It was Saturday, they had agreed over text that they would meet at the shared space in their dorm building at about 9:00 p.m. Caitlyn looked at the clock on her phone: it was 8:50 p.m. If she left now, she would be on the ground floor at 9:00 p.m. sharp, or maybe one or two minutes late.

She looked at the reflection in her mirror. Caitlyn had struggled for a while to find proper clothes for a party, after all she did not have any actual party clothes and she didn’t have the time to go shopping. She thought of sparkly black mini dresses, or crop tops paired with mini skirts when she thought of parties, but Vi had said that Ekko was cool, that his parties seemed pretty casual. With Ezreal’s advice (who was present at basically every single Ekko’s party), she picked a white pleated skirt and paired it with a lilac sleeveless turtleneck, with a white cardigan on top, and a pair of white boots on her feet. She gripped at the handle of the crossbody bag on her and nodded at her reflection. There was no time to think of another outfit, not like she had any other choice that seemed to fit the occasion.

Caitlyn made her outside of her dorm and walked to the stairs. She tried to keep her mind busy as she passed all the floors, she checked in her bag if she had her keys and wallet with her, thought if she had left everything in place in her room, did she lock the door? She thought of everything besides Vi waiting for her. Maybe Vi wasn’t even there yet, maybe she was going to be too early, even if she was one minute late.

Caitlyn arrived at the ground floor. The clock at the entrance signed 9:02 p.m. Caitlyn grew more nervous as she approached the shared room. She thought Vi couldn’t be here already, of course she would be a few minutes late and Caitlyn would have made some snarky comment about it and Vi would tease her about anything she could find and then they would get to the party 10 minutes later than they had planned. Caitlyn stopped and the little scene that she had made up in her head vanished.

Vi was already standing by the door, even though the space was empty, and she could sit down. She was mindlessly scrolling through her phone, distracted enough to not realize Caitlyn was there already. Caitlyn’s eyes looked the other up and down, she was wearing a black cropped hoodie with some graphic design on it which was kind of washed off with a pair of baggy black jeans. She looks good . Caitlyn thought. You should tell her .

Caitlyn cleared her throat, before she stared at the pink haired girl for an inappropriate long time. Vi raised her head, immediately putting her phone in the back of her pocket. Her mouth opened to say something but stopped once she paid more attention to Caitlyn before her. Caitlyn felt her eyes all over her.

“And here I thought you would show up in your uniform.” Vi simply said as she approached the other, a small grin on her face.

“Would that have been wrong to do? I think my uniform looks good.” Caitlyn retorted back with clear sarcasm in her voice.

Vi stopped in front of her, her eyes meeting Caitlyn’s. Caitlyn saw them soften as they kept eye contact. “You look beautiful, cupcake.”

Caitlyn felt herself blushing, her cheeks heating up, and by Vi’s little pleased smirk the other could see it as well. She tried to keep her face expression neutral, you should tell her, she thought again. “You do too.” Be cool, Caitlyn. “Look beautiful, I mean.” Oh God, that was so not cool .

However, by how Vi’s eyes widened for a moment and how her cheeks got slightly rosier, it seemed to have worked. The other shifted in her place, looking away as if to hide her reaction. Caitlyn couldn’t help grinning, there was something entertaining and so adorable about seeing Vi not being her usual smug self.

Vi cleared her voice. “We should get going.”

Caitlyn nodded, and side by side they walked outside of the building. Vi made a comment on how it was getting chillier lately, which only seemed natural as winter was approaching. Caitlyn simply agreed, trying not to make a comment on how she would be less cold if her abs were covered, not like she was complaining. They talked about their day, about school, about boring math classes and Vi told her some stories from detention.

They ended up arriving 20 minutes later than they had planned. 

When the door had opened before them, they were greeted by Ekko smiling at them with a cup in his hand. Caitlyn had only casually talked with Ekko around the Academy when he was hanging around Ezreal, he knew everyone at the Academy, and everyone knew who Ekko was. He also shared a house outside campus with a bunch of other students who could not afford dorms on campus, which meant he was free to organize these parties and get away with it.

Once they were inside, Caitlyn was welcomed by warmth and the smell of alcohol mixed with sweat and smoke. Everything was incredibly loud, the people talking, the music coming from the speakers, and Caitlyn suddenly felt so out of place.

Vi on the other hand seemed to be completely at ease, yet Caitlyn felt like she was seeing another side of Vi. She was friendly to anyone that crossed her way, starting small talk with people she knew who were just passing by. Caitlyn was mindlessly following her, like a lost kitten that did not know where to go – and in her defence, she really did not know where to go as she had never been to this place.

Most of the evening went by incredibly slowly, Caitlyn thought. She just stuck to Vi’s hip, who would bring her drinks sometimes, and Caitlyn made sure to drink incredibly slow because she definitely wasn’t looking forward to getting drunk. Trust her, she had gotten drunk like, 2 times but it was usually with Ezreal, in the safety of her dorm room. So, what she did was casually talking with Vi, and most of the time they would be interrupted by someone who knew Vi, they would talk, Vi would introduce Caitlyn but Caitlyn didn’t really participate in the conversations, barely even paying attention. Caitlyn would catch Ezreal on the dance floor or passing by and they would communicate through expressions across the room, like they always did. He would send her thumbs up, or a wink, or both, as encouragement, Caitlyn would just shake her head. 

Caitlyn wasn’t sure how much time was passing by, had it even been 2 hours? She had no idea, what she knew was that she wanted to get out of here. Vi just kept talking and drinking, sometimes singing along to the lyrics of the songs playing (and Caitlyn would’ve joined her if only she knew any of the songs that were currently playing). Caitlyn was just tired, tired of hearing people talk, tired of whatever she was drinking, tired of the music and the warmth. She thought about how she could be under the covers of her bed right now, with some tea and biscuits, watching the new episodes of Star Guardian . She also thought how that would’ve been fun to do with Vi, but since Vi was into parties, she probably wouldn’t give up a Saturday night to watch an animated series about pretty girls saving the world. She felt bad, she was out with Vi yet she was thinking about being somewhere else. She felt absolutely horrible.

“Is everything alright?”

Vi’s voice interrupted her train of thoughts. She raised her eyes, meeting Vi’s worried ones. She tried to smile a little. “Yeah, absolutely.” Vi didn’t seem convinced. “I need to go to the bathroom, actually.” 

Vi raised her eyebrows. “Are you sick?”

“No,” Caitlyn tried giving her a small smile, in a way to reassure her, “I’m fine, I promise, just need to go to the bathroom.”

Vi still didn’t seem convinced that Caitlyn was fine, but simply nodded and told her where the bathroom was.

Once she was alone in the bathroom, she let out a sigh, feeling like she could breathe again. The music was much lower inside these walls, and she couldn’t make out any conversations that were happening around. She just needed a moment alone, she thought, that’s all. She felt bad for leaving Vi alone, but she promised to herself that she was going to stay inside the bathroom for not more than 10 minutes and then she would get back to Vi, maybe more relaxed. Caitlyn thought parties weren’t really her thing, maybe she shouldn’t be judging by her first experience, but she was never a fan of being constantly surrounded by people, especially a lot of people that were strangers to her and tried to make useless small talk with her. She also wasn’t that comfortable with dancing, and that was what most people did at parties, right? The only thing she seemed to enjoy was being there together with Vi. 

Beside Vi being really talkative, she learned she liked classic rock music based on the songs she sang along; she learned that Vi actually had a sweet tooth and as a kid she always kept candies in her backpack, which now made her bring sweet snack wherever she went; she learned that Vi’s sister was called Powder, but everyone called her Jinx, and she went to a regular school because she didn’t really care about becoming a hero; she also learned stuff that Vi didn’t tell her, like how Vi was actually very touchy but only to a few people which was her group of friends they had met downstairs, Vi had immediately hugged Sett, patted his shoulder, shoving him lightly, literally look for any small touch as if to say hey, this is my best friend ; Caitlyn also noticed how her fingers would casually brush against her own, more than once for it to be incidental. Or maybe she was reading too much between the lines.

A knock suddenly interrupted her thoughts. She blinked. How long had she been in the bathroom?  

“Caitlyn, you still in there?” Caitlyn recognized Vi’s voice.

Caitlyn stood up; she didn’t remember ever sitting down but apparently, she was sitting at the edge of the bathtub. “Yeah…” 

“Can I come in?” Vi asked tentatively, pausing before talking again. “Or are you coming out?”

Caitlyn did not think about what she said next. “Come in.” 

Vi came in, closing the door before them. She turned around standing before her. With the loud music now muffled in the background and no people being able to come between them, Caitlyn was kind of happy that they could finally be alone. Even if it was inside a bathroom. 

“How long have I been here?” Caitlyn asked, because without a clock she really didn’t know if she went over the 10 minutes she had set for herself.

Vi looked up, thinking about an answer. “About half an hour.” Caitlyn pressed her lips, that was way over it. “Everything alright?” Vi asked again.

Caitlyn nodded. “Yeah,” she trailed off, thinking of maybe just telling her she wanted to go, she could say that she was tired and Vi could remain at the party, she could go back to the dorms alone. “It’s just that-”

“You’re bored.” Vi completed for her.

Caitlyn stuttered. “W-what? No.”

“But you are.”

“Vi, I swear, I’m not bored.” She looked over at Vi, who seemed a bit defeated, her eyes not even looking at Caitlyn. Caitlyn wasn’t sure if it was right to say it, but it seemed best to just let it out of her chest. “It’s just that, I don’t think parties are for me, that’s all.”

Vi raised her eyes to look at her, her eyebrows raising a little. Caitlyn continued. “There’s just so many people, and I’m not familiar with the music nor I’m sure if I want to dance or would rather not, and I don’t want to get drunk so I’m always wary while I’m drinking and, I don’t know.”

Vi nodded. “That’s fair.” Caitlyn bit her lip a bit, embarrassed by everything she just said, she didn’t think it was fair. “You could’ve just told me.”

She could’ve, Caitlyn thought. “But it looked like you were having fun, and I was enjoying talking with you, so I didn’t want to be annoying and tell you I was going away earlier.”

“Hey, you don’t have to stay till, like, 3 a.m. You can go whenever you want, it’s alright.”

Caitlyn looked at her. Vi was giving her a reassuring smile, but Caitlyn couldn’t help but feel bad. This was a party, God damn it , why wasn’t she drunk on the dancefloor like in the films instead of closing herself in the bathroom?

She heard Vi letting out a small groan. “This shouldn’t have been our first date.”

Caitlyn's eyes widened as she heard the word date. So, this was it, a date . Caitlyn wasn’t stupid, she had thought that it was a date with how Vi had asked, but since none of the two had mentioned it she did have her doubts on it, thinking maybe Vi just wanted her to have her first party experience and maybe get an embarrassing moment out of it. But Vi wasn’t that kind of person, she thought she was in the beginning, but now she had gotten to see a little more of Vi other than walking her to the principal. 

“A date?” 

Vi scoffed. “Seriously?” Caitlyn simply stared at Vi, whose expression suddenly became more serious. “I’ve been trying to ask you out on a date for the past 3 months.”

Caitlyn blushed a little, remembering all the times Vi had tried to ask her and all the times she declined. She felt a bit stupid if she thought about it now. “Why?” She blurted out under her breath.

But Vi heard it. “Because…” She trailed off, her eyes scanning Caitlyn’s face like she could find the words on it. Caitlyn looked at her, patiently. “Because you are pretty, and sweet, and hardworking, and determined, and actually funny sometimes, and…” She paused again, looking straight into Caitlyn’s eyes.

“And I really like you, Caitlyn.” 

Caitlyn held her breath, her chest felt so heavy and everything inside her seemed to make a mess, making her feel so strange. Her brain seemed to be only Vi’s words echoing over and over. I really like you, Caitlyn . She was completely paralyzed, thinking only about her response. I really like you . But her eyes were on Vi’s pink lips. I like you too. She licked her bottom lip.

Vi looked more nervous than before. “Maybe this w-. “Caitlyn reached for her cheek, making her stop from talking. It all happened so fast, and her lips were now on Vi’s. Her chest felt suddenly lighter, like this was right. It wasn’t much, it was just a peck, just lips pressing against each other, but it was so much at the same time. She was kissing Vi, whose lips had a taste of the punch she had been drinking, and the scar on her upper lip was strangely soft and Caitlyn thought, this is right .

She pulled away but kept their distance close. Vi seemed dazed, her eyes fixated on Caitlyn as she seemed to relax against Caitlyn’s touch on her cheek. 

“I really like you too.” Caitlyn said against Vi’s lips. Caitlyn’s rational side was making fun of her, because weren’t you complaining about her literally last week? But she had realized, Ezreal was right (not like, she’ll ever tell him), she was always talking about Vi, thinking about her, looking for her every time they were outside of class. It was embarrassing, really, how she had made up so many stupid reasons for not accepting that she had a crush on Vi.

Vi seemed at loss for words, her mouth opening and closing as she looked for something to say. She scoffed. “This was not the confession I had imagined.”

Caitlyn let out a chuckle. “What? Didn’t think about Ekko’s bathroom as a romantic place?”

Vi breathed out a small laugh, shaking her head. “You honestly got me so confused,” Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, curious to hear what Vi had to say. “I first thought you were completely out of my league and that you would never be interested in me, but then you started flirting back and was like ‘maybe, I have a chance’, but then you would say no every time I asked you out and I was like ‘ok, she definitely isn’t interested’, but then I would always catch you staring, looking at me like… like-“

“Like what?”

Vi furrowed her brows. “Like… like I was the only person in the room.” She paused for a second, grinning a little as her brows relaxed again. “God, that was cheesy.”

Caitlyn chuckled. “Well, if I’m being honest, I thought you were just acting like that to make fun of me and didn’t actually mean it, also I didn’t realize I actually liked you until 3 days ago.” That got Vi to actually laugh and Caitlyn thought she wanted to hear it again, and again. 

Vi leaned in, leaving a light peck to the corner of her lips. “For being the smartest Labrys student, you sure can be stupid sometimes.”

Caitlyn smiled, she wanted to say something back, maybe something ridiculous that would get Vi to laugh again, but her eyes fell on her lips again. Her lips found her way again against Vi’s, her arms moving around her neck as she pulled the other closer to her. This time Vi was prepared, wrapping her arms around Caitlyn’s waist as she kissed back. Their lips moved tentatively against each other, not sure on how far they could go, getting used to this new sensation, but all Caitlyn cared about was that she was with Vi and her lips were on hers. If one week earlier you had told her she would be kissing Violet in a bathroom at some party, Caitlyn would have not believed a single word. She smiled in their kiss, yet she could not ask to be anywhere else right now.

The door suddenly opened, making the two part their mouths to look at the intruder. It was some student Caitlyn did not recognize, but he looked sick and did not seem to notice Caitlyn and Vi wrapped in each other’s arms as he made a run for the toilet and got everything out of this system. Caitlyn and Vi immediately left the bathroom before they could spectate the disgusting scene, closing the door behind them.

They looked at each other, the music now too loud for them to be able to even hear their own thoughts. Vi leaned closer to her ear, and Caitlyn ignored the shiver running down her spine as Vi whispered. “Want to get out of here?”

Caitlyn smiled, nodding without hesitation. They left Ekko’s party at around 11:00 p.m., and Caitlyn thought that was way too early to leave a party. But she didn’t care, because she was with Vi, holding her hand as they walked in the quieter and chillier night. 

Caitlyn stopped before the door of her dorm, her hand still in Vi’s who was standing right beside her. She knew Vi’s dorm was one floor above her, so when Vi followed her to her dorm, she didn’t question it.

She unlocked her dorm room and realized there was no reason to keep Vi here. Their little date , if Caitlyn could even call it one, had come to an end.

She moved at the entrance of her room, holding the door open as she said her goodbye to Vi. She looked at her only to find Vi’s eyes already on hers. “I had a good time.” Caitlyn simply said, as if she hadn’t rambled to Vi about how she didn’t really like parties in the middle of one.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did! I enjoyed spending time with you, Vi.” 

“Well,” Vi moved closer, leaning against the door frame with a grin on her lips, “I enjoyed our time in the bathroom.”

Caitlyn tsked, feeling her cheeks heat up thinking about what had happened just a few minutes ago. Vi seemed pleased by her reaction, her grin growing on her face.

They looked at each other in silence, both of them not sure on how to part. And like she always did when she was around Vi, she did not think about the words she was about to say.

“I was thinking,” she wasn’t , “since this first date wasn’t the one you had thought of, maybe tomorrow we could go to that coffee shop you talked to me about?” She didn’t understand why her heart was beating so fast in her chest, making her nervous, as if they hadn’t already confessed to each other and kissed.

Vi simply smiled, her eyes softening the more she looked at her. “I would love that.” Caitlyn smiled at her. “But this remains our first date.”

Caitlyn scoffed. “What?”

“Hey, I didn’t try to ask you out for 3 months and when you finally say yes, it goes bad, and then you get to ask me out and say around that you asked me out first.” Vi shook her head, her tone clearly playful. “Not a chance.”

Caitlyn laughed. Was she sure she liked such an idiot? Yes . “Alright, it’s our second date then.”

Vi seemed satisfied with that. “Want to meet up before class?”

Caitlyn smiled, thinking of seeing Vi first thing in the morning. “Sounds good.”

Vi smiled back at her. There was silence again, just the two of them making eye contact for what felt like a painful long time, not sure on how to properly part. Caitlyn’s eyes flew back for a second to Vi’s lips, and Vi seemed to think the same because they both leaned in at the same time. It was a small peck, a small kiss to wish each other goodnight.

“Goodnight.” Caitlyn said first.

Vi smiled. “Goodnight, cupcake.”

She looked at Vi making her way to the stairs and once she was out of her sight, she closed the door, locking it for the night. 

Once she was in her bed, she thought of pink hair and pink lips before falling asleep.

Caitlyn knocked on the familiar door of Class B.1. She could hear professor Vayne doing her lesson inside of the classroom. She heard a sigh and a “Come in.” Caitlyn nervously opened the door.

This was a bad idea.

“Student Caitlyn,” Professor Vayne seemed to be more annoyed than usual, “here for the usual I imagine?”

Caitlyn bit the inside of her cheek. “My apologies for interrupting your lesson, professor. The principal requests student Violet in his office.” Professor Vayne simply nodded.

Caitlyn looked at Vi, who stood up but had a confused expression on her face. Caitlyn looked back at the professor, keeping her face as serious as possible. Vi stopped before her, furrowing her eyebrows in question.

“My apologies again, professor.” 

They were out of the classroom, their steps echoing in the empty corridors of the school. Caitlyn gave her back to Vi, who immediately walked by her side instead of following her behind.

“I swear, I didn’t do anything lately.” Caitlyn didn’t respond. “I don’t understand, I didn’t start any fights.” Vi kept rambling. “Seriously, does this man just love to give me notes or something? Why call me like that when I-. “ Vi stopped once she realized they took another turn instead of going to the stairs, her brows furrowing deeper. 

Caitlyn silently made her way to the only door in the hallway. It had been a few weeks since their confessions at Ekko’s party, Caitlyn and Vi had basically started dating since then. They always tried to find time to see each other, to the point that Vi was present in Caitlyn’s every single day, and Caitlyn did not mind one single bit. Now, this was Caitlyn’s free hour, she didn’t have class till 3:00 p.m., which was when Vi was actually free, and after she was done with her class, she had a council meeting meaning, she wasn’t going to see Vi anytime soon, maybe not even for the rest of the day since Vi had training with the boxing team in the evening. Caitlyn thought, being students’ council president had its privileges, so why not put them to use?

“What’s going on here, Cait?” Vi asked, her tone seeming to relax a bit after realizing she wasn’t actually going to the principal’s office.

Caitlyn pulled out one single key from her pocket. “Please, talk quietly, Vi.” The door before her opened with a single click. She walked inside the empty laboratory, Caitlyn knew this was only used for club activities, which meant it was going to be empty till classes weren’t done. Vi followed, closing the door behind her.

When she turned around, Vi was grinning, eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. “So, care to explain?”

Caitlyn sighed. “Listen,” Vi walked towards her, her grey eyes not leaving for a moment, “our free time never matches and I have a council meeting later and you have training, so that usually meant we are not going to see each other today and I wanted to see you, so I thought-“

Vi chuckled. “So, you thought of stealing a key to an empty lab and pretending the principal wanted to see me to get me from class?” Vi was standing right in front of her, seemingly entertained by that thought. “Just to see me?”

Caitlyn looked everywhere beside Vi’s face, hearing how stupid her plan was starting to sound. “Yes?”

Vi laughed, that sound made her think this was not such a bad idea. Vi cupped her face with her hands, shifting her look right on her. “You just broke the rules, cupcake.” There was a small pause, her tone becoming softer. “For me.”

Caitlyn chuckled, so much for being a model student. “Yeah.”

“You could get in trouble.”

Caitlyn shook her head. “No one is going to find us here.”

“You didn’t have to!” Vi continued, but Caitlyn could tell that she definitely wasn’t complaining.

“Yeah, well, I wanted to.”

That seemed to shut Vi up as she pressed her lips together. Caitlyn was stubborn and she always got what she wanted, one way or another.

Vi’s hands on her face had started caressing her softly, even if her bandaged hands were rough on her skin. Caitlyn leaned into the touch.

“Now, are you going to shut up and finally kiss me?”

Caitlyn didn’t have to ask twice as Vi immediately went to kiss her lips. She smiled in their kiss, melting to Vi’s touch. This was a good idea .