Chapter Text
Agatha Harkness had been hesitant to take the babysitting job when Mrs Vidal had called her last night to ask her to watch over her youngest daughter, but that hesitation had only lasted a second, because who was she to miss the chance to mess with her girlfriend Rio Vidal. It didn’t matter that Rio had been ignoring her texts, it didn’t matter that the other girl claimed she had broken up with her earlier in the month. It didn’t matter that Rio was a complete and utter idiot. Agatha Harkness and Rio Vidal were forever, Rio herself had said so, had carved it in wood and completed it with a heart, and this was a perfect opportunity for Agatha to remind Rio she was going nowhere.
Standing on the sidewalk at the pathway that would take her to her destination Agatha gazed up at the large double fronted white timber and brick house that sat at the centre of their neighbourhood. It was a house that was familiar to Agatha as her own. Yet at the same time it was completely different. Over the past eight years she knew she had spent more time here, with the Vidals than she had at home with her mother, Evanora.
Looking over her shoulder towards the dark house she had come from Agatha couldn't but marvel at the contrast. The Harkness Residence, which had been in their family since the 17th century was dark, the timber exterior, along with the doors and the shutters were all painted dark grey. The only thing that made it standout was the rows of strategically placed white Christmas lights that her mother had placed to outline every window, door, and wall. It was straight out of an Architectural Digest magazine and looked every bit as cold on the outside as it was on the inside.
The Vidal residence was completely different. While the lights had also been put up professionally, they were an array of different colours. Constantly changing every moment Agatha stood there, lighting up her silhouette as she moved up the path. The lawn was covered in golden reindeer pulling a sleigh and each tree in the yard had been covered in lights and huge bows. It was bright and her mother had called it garish, but Agatha secretly loved it.
Mrs Vidal liked to do most of the decoration for the holidays herself. Well, if Agatha were being completely accurate Mr Vidal would do the actual work while she directed from a safe distance. Agatha had joined in last year and had helped the occupants of the house string lights around the yard.
Completing her walk up the path Agatha smiled when she saw the Christmas themed welcome mat. It was the grinch one that her and Rio had picked out the Christmas they had both been ten. Mrs Vidal had caved into their pleas to buy it and had been used every year since.
After ringing the bell Agatha didn't wait long before the door was opened, and she was treated to the sight of Gloria Vidal standing tall in a long tight fitting red dress fixing a pair of diamond teardrop earrings in place. Agatha always marvelled at how elegant, but homely the other woman was. She was just one of those women who was born to be a mom and made everyone feel like they were one of her own. She had practically adopted Agatha from the first moment they had met.
"Agatha, welcome. It's so lovely to see you honey." Gloria said, stepping aside to allow Agatha to enter the house.
"Hi Mrs Vidal. Wow you look great. Is that dress new?" Agatha asked as she took in the older woman in the warm lights of the hallway. She always marvelled at how much the other woman looked like her daughter. While Rio had inherited elements of her dad mixed, she looked more like Gloria than anyone. They shared the same smile and Agatha watched as that smile beamed at her in thanks for the compliment.
"You can call me Gloria now Agatha. And thank you, yes it is. Come in, come in, Rosario has been bouncing off the walls all day waiting for you."
Agatha smiled at that statement and her heart warmed a little. Rosario was always fun to be around. She had known the little girl her whole life and she was looking forward to spending the evening with the youngest Vidal and if it happened to piss the other Vidal sibling off all the better. "I've been excited too; she is my favourite Vidal after all."
Mrs Vidal had always been able to see through her bullshit and today was no exception. Agatha watched as Gloria gave her a disbelieving look before her waist was seized by large, tanned hands.
"I wouldn't let my other daughter hear you say that." Antonio Vidal said, his teeth gleaming white as he appeared behind his wife, his head resting on her shoulder as he pulled her into his body and placed a series of quick kisses up her neck.
Gloria just laughed at the affection and Agatha found herself smiling along with her. It was good to see what a healthy relationship looked like. Her own mother and father had hated each other. Agatha’s early years were a mishmash of memories full of loneliness and vitriolic filled arguments, her birth being the main topic of those. Her mother had never remarried after her father had left them, she didn’t date, or even seem interested. Not that Agatha had been eager for a stepfather, but it might have been nice to have someone else around. They lived alone and Evanora worked every hour that God sent. The Vidal’s relationship and home had given her a glimpse into what a happy family could be, how parents who loved their children acted. Gloria and Antonio worked hard just like her mother, but unlike her one of them was always around, and made use of that family time to show all their children that they were showered with affection.
"Agatha, how are you? Still maintaining that 4.0 gpa?" Antonio asked as he stepped away from his wife and pulled Agatha into a brief hug before a large hand engulfed one of her shoulders squeezing in a gentle, reassuring, and fatherly way.
"Jesus, Antonio. Leave the girl alone, it's Christmas." Gloria said as she turned away from her husband and made her way to the staircase shouting up to her younger daughter that Agatha had arrived.
"What? Education is important Gloria and if she is going to marry my Rio one day I need to know she can take care of her."
"Hi Mr Vidal, of course I am. You know me the ultimate overachiever. " Agatha blushed slightly as Antonio teased her with what she had told him when they had first met.
She had first met Rio and the other Vidal’s on Halloween night when she had just turned eight years old. She had been Trick or Treating around the neighbourhood solo. Jen had been sick, and Alice had been dragged to a family party and no one else had wanted to go round with weird little Agatha Harkness. She had been tempted to ask her mother but one look in her study had told her the woman wouldn’t be moving from her laptop all evening, so she had gone on her own.
After about three houses Agatha had bumped into Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. She had just been about to ask the pair if they wanted to walk the neighbourhood with her, when the latter of the twins had decided it would be a good idea to push her over and steal her hard-earned candy. He had gotten about three feet away from her before a dark booted foot had been slipped into his path and he had been sent sprawling. Agatha could still recall the feeling of awe as she had looked up through her tears to see a skinny little skeleton, with a green hood and cape kick Pietro in the ribs a couple of times. It had then stolen back her candy, helped itself to Pietro's, before helping her to her feet and pulling her into a run, away from the crying boy and his shell-shocked sister.
The rest as they say, had been history. Agatha had been smitten ever since and after they had sat in Rio’s tree house and made themselves sick from the stolen candy. Rio with her face painted with a skull, had used a knife ‘an eight year old should not have had access to’ to carve a heart into the trunk of her treehouse tree, declaring her and Agatha would be friends forever, before she had introduced her to her parents and Agatha had told Antonio that she wanted to marry Rio and kick boys with her forever.
What she didn't add in this time was that she and Rio were on a break. Well, a break to Agatha. Rio had clearly told her to go fuck herself and that they were over, but Agatha wasn't going to let a little something like ‘Rio thinking they had broken up’ get in her way of what she wanted. She still hadn’t changed her mind, she was going to marry Rio Vidal one day, she just had to get her back on board.
Mr Vidal nodded, "That's what I like to hear, but like Gloria said you can call me Antonio."
"You look good Mr Vidal, I mean Antonio." Agatha grimaced slightly as Rio’s dad laughed. It was weird to call them by their first names after eight years of calling them Mr and Mrs Vidal, but they had started to insist and if they were to be her in-laws one day she supposed she better get used to calling them that.
"Why thank you Miss Harkness, I do look good in a suit. Even if I do say so myself. It's nice to be in something other than scrubs for a while." Agatha had to agree with him. He did clean up well. Where Gloria was tall, slim, and elegant, Antonio was big and beefy, he towered over her at 6ft 4. But he was gentle and caring, and Agatha couldn't recall how many times he had wiped away her tears before he patched up some scrape or cut she had gotten playing with Rio when she was younger.
Agatha was pulled out of her memory, by Gloria’s voice. “Antonio goes and get our coats; we need to start making a move or we will be late.”
“Yes dear.” Agatha heard Antonio mutter before he released her shoulder and followed his wife’s orders.
The sound of rapid , but soft footsteps filled the air and Agatha looked up just in time to see the small blur that was Rosario Vidal jump from the last three stairs and come running towards her while calling out her name. "Agatha!"
She laughed slightly as a small compact body collided with her legs in a hug. The dark headed little terror released her and smiled up at her as she rocked back and forwards on the balls of her feet.
Her skinny little legs were covered in light blue denim jeans and pink shirt complete with green turtles covering her torso and fluffy pink slippers finished off the outfit. Her hair was wild and untamed, and Agatha guessed from the sleepiness in her eyes as she blinked up at her, that she had recently been napping. She looked so much like Rio when she had been around that age, it was insane. Same stance, same pout. Her hair was a little lighter and curlier, but she was a mini copy of her sister.
"Hey Charo. How's my favourite Vidal been?" Agatha watched as the little girl blushed. The only way she could describe Rosario ‘Charo’ Vidal was adorable, she had been smitten the first time Gloria had brought her home from the hospital and she still was.
"I'm awesome. Look." Charo said, opening her mouth wide to show off a large gap where one of her front teeth was missing.
Agatha leaned down to inspect the missing tooth and give Charo her full attention. "Cool. Did the tooth fairy come?"
Charro nodded, her curls bouncing with the motion. "Yep I got 5 dollars."
"5 dollars!" Agatha cried, slightly shocked, and impressed with how much the kid had wrangled out of her parents. Her mother had never given her anything for her teeth, she was lucky that she had made friends with Rio. Antonio had been the Vidal assigned tooth fairy duty and had given her a dollar with a wink every time she had told him she lost a tooth.
"Yes, that fairy got a little carried away." Gloria said while shaking her head and shooting her husband a reproachful look.
Agatha looked towards Antonio who was looking a little sheepish while donning one of the heavy wool coats he carried.
"What are you gonna spend it on?" Agatha asked the little girl who smiled brightly as the question.
"I already spent it; I got a cat."
“A cat?” Agatha echoed as she looked around the room for an animal. She knew Mr Vidal was allergic to all kinds of animals so she didn’t think it would be a real one. Seconds later Gloria confirmed this as she smiled indulgently towards her youngest child.
“It's a Lego cat.”
"Cool, you know more teeth will fall out soon and you'll get even more money." Agatha told Charo who seemed to think about this for a second before she looked back at Agatha with another question.
“How many teeth will fall out?”
Agatha pondered this question and thought back to health class and how many baby teeth kids had, "I think you have like 20 baby teeth so that's 95 dollars still coming your way."
"Wow. I can buy even more cats with that."
"Nice going Antonio." Gloria gave her husband a small glare before she turned to Charo, “why don't you run and fetch the Lego kit baby, Agatha might help you build her.”
Charo nodded and disappeared in a flash.
"Agatha honey,” Gloria said focusing Agatha’s attention back on her. She watched as the older woman held her arms out and was helped into her coat by her husband. “I’ve left some money on the counter for you both to get some pizza, the refrigerator is fully stocked and so are the snack drawers so help yourself. As she has been so excited for this night all week, you can let her eat as many sweets as she likes as a treat. She can stay up till nine at the latest. Antonio and I should be home between 1AM and 3AM. If we are going to be later I'll let you know. The guest rooms are made up, so you are more than welcome to stay over. Oh, and Rio will be back from practice at around 9PM, do me a favour and make sure she eats some proper food.”
“Is pizza proper food?” Agatha asked even though they both knew the answer. Still, it was better than what Rio usually eat.
“It's better than a protein shakes and a coke zero chaser." Agatha shared Gloria’s grimace at her daughters regular after practice snack.
“No problem, I’ll order two pizzas.” She promised as Gloria gave her a thankful look.
“You're a star honey.”
“I’m back.” Charo came skidding to a halt next to the counter, her arms filled with a black box with a black and white cat on the front.
“Put that on the counter baby and come and give me and Papi a hug.”
Agatha watched from the other side of the kitchen counter as Charo was lifted into the air by her father and her face covered in kisses by both her parents, who told her how much they would miss her while they were gone.
With that and a quick check that Agatha had the right contact details and a promise that she would call them at the first sign of an emergency, the two older Vidal’s were gone, and it was just her, Charo and the Lego cat.
It didn’t take much to convince Charo to move their little babysitting gig into the family room. Agatha had grabbed snacks and drinks for them both while Charo had opened the box for the Lego cat.
Over the next three hours Agatha and Charo had made it through Frozen and stuffed their faces and sang along with the songs on both the movie and Disney’s Holiday singalong while they built Charo’s new friend.
Agatha was quite impressed that the kid had managed to wrangle this out of her parents for the price of a front tooth. The finished black and white tuxedo cat sat before them, and Agatha watched as Charo posed the ears and promptly named it Oreo. She informed her that it was the obvious choice, as she was black, white, and sweet just like the cookie. Agatha couldn't argue with that logic and had agreed the name was perfect. The young girl had also insisted that they customise the cat and give Oreo blue eyes to match Agatha’s, because they were so pretty, and Agatha had found herself fighting back a pleased grin at how cute it was.
With the cat built Agatha looked at the clock on the mantelpiece to check the time. It had just turned 6PM and they had another three hours before her little friend had to be in bed. She knew she had better order their food, if she wanted to get Charo fed and ready for bed by 7PM, “Let's go order our pizza.”
“Yay. Can Oreo come with us?”
“Of course, we can’t leave that cute senorita behind, now can we?”
Charo shook her head no, as Agatha pushed herself up to her feet and pretended not to listen as the little girl whispered to Oreo about how cute she was and how she was going to have pizza for the first time. As Charo muttered to herself about how she wasn't sure if cats liked pizza the front door flew open, and an angry Rio Vidal marched into the foyer.
Agatha stopped in her tracks as her gaze locked with that of the older of the Vidal sisters. A heavy kit bag was dropped on the floor and Rio’s features morphed from shocked at seeing Agatha in her home, to filled with incandescent rage.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Rio asked as she glared at her former girlfriend.
“I was invited. What the hell happened to your eye?” Agatha countered as she leaned forward to get a better look at the bloodshot orb.
At the mention of her eye and the blackening bruise that was spreading over the soft delicate skin of her eye socket, Rio's hand shot up to cover it. “Nothing happened to it.
"It looks cool!" Charo exclaimed as she peered up at her sister in awe of her new look. Rio’s lips briefly twitched, taking a little pride in her sister’s praise.
"Did someone finally decide they can't stand looking at that miserable face of yours without punching it." Agatha laughed at her own joke as Rio’s face darkened.
"You never answered me, what are you doing here?" Rio steered the question back to why Agatha was in the Vidal home.
"Is it not obvious?” Agatha pointed at Charo who was making her way into the kitchen area, Oreo tucked under her arm. “I'm babysitting my favourite Vidal."
"Since when?" Rio crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. From the shock on her face Agatha was guessing her parents hadn’t told her that she was coming. Which was interesting and a little puzzling, Agatha knew that despite her not saying anything earlier, the fact that she hadn’t stepped foot in the house in over a month told everyone how her relationship with Rio was going.
"The babysitting? Or the Vidal thing because I’m pretty sure Charo has had that title since forever. Right kid?" Agatha asked as she followed the small girl into the kitchen and picked out a menu for the local pizzeria.
"Yep" Charo agreed as she placed Oreo on the counter before her, before taking the menu from Agatha to look at the pictures and choose what she wanted.
"The babysitter. Mom never said anything about it being you." Rio admitted as she followed the two into the kitchen, dragging her bag behind her on the floor.
"Must have slipped her mind." Agatha flipped a hand in the air as she pulled up the ordering page for the pizzeria on her phone.
"Whatever, well I'm back so you can go." Rio said as she let go of her bag and crossed her arms again. Agatha had to admit to herself she loved when Rio stood like that. All hard and uncompromising. Not that she was ever swayed, but she liked it when Rio acted all butch and tough.
"No!" Charo exclaimed as she banged a small fist on the counter, glaring at her big sister.
"Charo!" Rio sighed and shook her head. “I'll order pizza with you. Agatha needs to go home.”
"You heard her, she said no." Agatha quickly stepped in; they had things to sort out and that wasn’t going to happen if she let Rio push her out of the house.
"Shut up Agatha,” Rio growled as she whipped around and pointed a finger over the counter at Agatha. “She’s six she doesn't get a vote, if I said you can go, you can go."
"No." Agatha grinned smugly back at Rio and inclined her head towards Charo who disagreed with her sister once more.
"For God's sake Charo, I'm back now you don't need two babysitters."
"I don't want you to sit with me. I want Agatha. She's nicer than you." Agatha gasped delighted with the announcement. It wasn’t true in general, but she could see it made Rio angry so she would take it.
"Why thank you Charo, I'm touched. Never have such truer words been spoken about me."
"Why don’t you take your ‘touched’ and get the hell out of my house." Rio huffed and glared at Agatha.
“No deal Rio, I'm all paid up till 3am.” Agatha held up her hands and pulled a fake sad face. “Besides, Charo and I have dinner and a movie planned. I’m not the kind of girl who backs out on her favourite person.”
“Well, unplan it.” Rio told her uncaring of how angry the little Vidal next to Agatha was growing. Agatha could practically see steam coming out of Charo’s ears at the prospect of not getting her own way.
“You're a meany Rio.” Charo cried as she jumped down from her chair and ran at her older sister.
"Owww, what the fuck Rosario." Rio shouted as she quickly bent over, grabbing her shin in the same place her little sister had just kicked her.
Agatha smirked, impressed, it was a move worthy of younger Rio’s play book. Agatha had quite enjoyed it when Rio had kicked people for her. It was their love language from the start. It seemed her sister was following the same path. The angry little pout and the twin glares shooting from both sets of brown eyes made the whole interaction more entertaining.
"Rio Vidal, don't you swear at your sweet and innocent little sister." Agatha shook her head and wagged her finger admonishingly as she pulled the smaller Vidal sibling behind her. Protecting her from Rio’s wrath.
"Are you for real right now?” Rio asked switching her attention from her sister and possible murder to Agatha and how this was all the other girl’s fault.
“I’m not the one cursing at a six-year-old. Super mature.” Agatha shrugged pointing out Rio’s behaviour, “What would Gloria say?”
Rio growled under her breath and Agatha felt a shiver run up her spine as the other girl grabbed her bag off the floor and stomped away. “You know what. Stay. I don't care."
“Oh, I will.” Agatha shouted at Rio’s retreating figure and laughed as she was flipped off before the taller girl bounded up the staircase, taking two steps at a time.
Turning back to her little copy Agatha rubbed her chin before she ruffled the dark curls on Charo’s head. "You know, as cool as that was, and your sister totally deserved it, I can handle Rio, no need for you to get her on her bad side too."
"But she wanted you to leave, and she's been extra mean lately." Charo confessed as Agatha helped her sit at the kitchen counter.
"Oh?" Agatha asked enquiringly as she leaned forward eager to hear more about how much not talking to her was affecting the older Vidal sibling.
"Uh huh, she stays in her room all day, and listens to sad music all the time. Mommy and Papi say I’m not to bother her, but it's boring being on my own all the time. Rio used to play the best games and now she won't even let me come in to look at her toys.”
“Toys?” Agatha's mind echoed the last word Charo spoke. While she was thrilled Rio was as miserable as she had been for the past month, she felt a little bit sad for the little girl whose sister was being a dick.
“You know the ones in boxes.” Charo explained as she made a square shape out of her little hands.
“Oh, you mean her collectibles. She would kill you if she knew you were trying to play with those,” Agatha paused as a picture of Rio’s outraged and angry face popped into her mind if she saw her little sister ripping into the pristine boxed figures she kept from every show or game she was interested in. “Maybe I can help you sneak in and open one sometime.”
“Really... but you just said she would be mad.”
“I like making her mad.” Agatha shrugged unaffected by the prospect of Rio’s rage.
Charo seemed to consider that fact for a moment before she shook her little head in confusion. “You’re weird Agatha.”
“Love makes you weird Charo.” Agatha admitted with a small grin.
“I’m never falling in love. It's gross and sad, and it makes you a meany like Rio.” Charo exclaimed and stuck a tongue out at Agatha. Her distaste for how weird it made her sister and her girlfriend clear.
“It is,” Agatha agreed, “but you don’t get a choice kid, but before you fully swear off future romances I have a super important question. What type of pizza do you want?”
“Can I get an extra-large one with millions of pepperonis?" Charo asked her arm stretching above her to emphasize how big the pizza had to be.
"You want a whole extra-large pizza all to yourself?" Agatha was sceptical and is sure most of it will go to waste, but Gloria said Charo can get anything she wants, and Agatha isn’t gonna deny her.
"Can I?"
"Sure." Agatha shrugged and added with a wink, "but if you puke your guts up later don't blame me."
“I won’t, but I suppose I can share with Rio, pepperoni is her favourite too."
Agatha smiled at how quickly Charo had moved on from being mad at Rio and smart choice of a peace offering to her sister in the form of her favourite pizza.
She quickly puts an order online for an ultimate pepperoni pizza, a deluxe, and a bunch of different dipping cups, as she is not sure which one Charo will like.
While they waited for the pizza to arrive Agatha guided Charo back to the family room. While the kid parked herself in front of the TV, Agatha spread herself on the Vidal’s sofa in the family room. She unlocked her phone the second her body contacted plush soft cushions and a second after that she found herself scrolling through her socials trying to find out what happened to Rio and how she got the black eye.
As she searched she occasionally checked on her little charge who was sitting close to the tv watching reruns of Primos, explaining the concept of the show to Oreo, who was unsurprisingly offering nothing back in return.
Opening her WhatsApp Agatha quickly found Jen’s contact and sent her a message.
Agatha - ‘Kale, how the hell did Rio get a black eye?’
Jen - ‘RIO HAS A BLACK EYE?’
Agatha - ‘Yes Jennifer. Ask Alice. Now!’
Jen - ‘Why do I have to ask Alice? Ask her yourself!’
Agatha - ‘She's not gonna tell me shit about Rio. She's her best friend. But she's totally into you and will sing like a bird if you ask. Just like I will about what I saw you doing last week if you don’t ask. So, ask!’
Jen - ‘Ugh fine.’
Agatha smirked smugly; a little extortion always worked wonders on Jen. Her phone pinged and Agatha’s attention slipped back to the screen and her open chat.
Jen - ‘She had a fight.’
Agatha - ‘Well that’s fucking obvious. With whom? Over what? Get details Jen, or I send Alice a little message of my own.’
Jen - ‘Fuck you Harkness.’
Agatha - ‘Love you too Jen.’
Locking her phone Agatha threw it on the sofa next to her just as the doorbell rang.
"Pizza!’ Charo cried in excitement. Agatha quickly got to her feet and jogged a little to follow Charo as she ran past her to the door Oreo under her arm. Within seconds Agatha was leading the way back from the door armed with two boxes and a pile of dips stacked on top.
“Do you wanna eat in the kitchen or the dining room?” Agatha asked as she placed the boxes on the kitchen counter slash, breakfast bar.
“Wanna stay in here.” Charo said as she started to climb onto one of the chairs.
No sooner had Agatha opened the boxes and helped Charo take her first slice than Rio appeared. She had had a shower and was dressed in an oversized football shirt and clean basketball shorts. She was barefoot and glanced at Agatha once before looking away and headed towards the refrigerator.
"Rio look, Agatha got us pizza!" Charo smiled brightly as she pointed to the two open boxes and the small mountain of different dips on the counter.
"Yeah I can see. Very cool of her." Agatha could tell from Rio’s glare she was humouring her sister.
"It's your favourite pepperoni, we can share." Charo told Rio and Agatha watched as the other girls' glare softened as she turned to her sister.
"Thanks. Do you want a soda?"
“Can I have orange juice?” Charo asked politely as she took a bite of her pizza.
Rio nodded, “Sure.”
“Do I not get offered anything?” Agatha huffed as Rio placed a glass of fresh orange juice Infront of her sister.
“Do you want a soda, Agatha?” Rio asked between gritted teeth. Her black eye had gotten worse in the shower, the heat bringing the bruise out more. It made her look feral and hot, and Agatha was strangely hear for it. She always knew she had a bad girl kink, but she hadn’t known it extended to evidence-based presentations.
“I’ll take some water.”
Agatha jumped slightly as a bottle of water slammed down in front of her as she took the first bite of her deluxe. She glared at Rio for a moment and then resumed eating.
The rest of the time passed quickly as she watched the Vidal siblings eat and talk about Oreo.
Agatha found herself sighing and rolling her eyes as Charo and Rio started to compete for who could have the longest cheese pull. As the scene played out in front of her pepperonis fell on Charo’s pink t-shirt and into the little girl’s lap. Agatha smiled as Rio laughed at her sister's look of outrage at the stain now marking the face of one of the green turtles that covered the front and back of her t-shirt.
"Here." Rio handed her sister a paper towel and helped her wipe off most of the grease. “It will wash off. Promise.” Rio was always soft with her sister when she wasn't clashing with her. It always made Agatha feel funny and hopeful for the future for some reason, but she knew she was too young to be examining those feelings.
Before long dinner was over and Agatha found herself helping a full and sleepy Charo wash up and into her PJ’s.
“Can we watch Moana now?”
“Sure, I promised we would. Let's go put it on.”
Hand in hand Agatha and Charo made their way downstairs and into the family room. As they stepped over the threshold to the room they found Rio sitting at the other end of Agatha’s sofa flicking through channels at random, not settling on anything for more than 5 seconds. Agatha let go of Charo’s hand and watched as the small girl climbed over the back of the sofa and landed next to her sister. She craned her neck around and pointed to the empty space next to her, where Agatha’s phone sat waiting for her return.
"I wanna watch Moana." Charo told Rio, eliciting a groan from the older girl.
"Again. No way. You have watched it like five times this week."
"I wanna watch it again. Agatha promised." Charo crossed her arms and Agatha could see from where she stood the siblings were glaring at each other again. There would be one winner in this battle and that would be her.
Before Rio could react Agatha reached out as she passed by and grabbed the remote out of her hand. "I did.”
“Hey!”
“You’re the one who came home early and interrupted our plans. You don’t get a say in what we watch." Agatha pointed out to Rio when she noticed the other girl was going to demand they watch something else again. With a few clicks of the remote the movie was brought up on the screen and as she hit play Agatha let Charo cuddle into her side. She sang along with Charo while Rio pretended not to watch them as she played games on her phone.
The movie flew by and in hardly any time Moana was restoring the heart of Te Fiti and Charo had succumbed to slumber. Agatha looked up and away from the little girl at her side to catch Rio smiling softly at her and Charo as the little girl’s soft snores filled the air.
Before she could look away Rio made eye contact with her and pointed to her sister. "I should probably put her to bed."
"I can do it. I mean she would want me to do it. Because you are so mean." Agatha told Rio brushing off her attempt to help, she added on the last little bit to piss her off.
"Whatever. Just don’t drop her on your way up."
Agatha rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth as she lifted the dead weight of a 7-year-old into her arms. Agatha was sure that Charo hadn’t been this heavy when she last picked her up, of course she hadn’t been asleep that time. For a second she almost regretted not letting Rio take her sister upstairs, but when she looked down and saw Rio smirking at her grimace and lack of strength, Agatha was glad she had told her no.
The trek up the staircase to Charo’s room was a slow and careful one. Agatha took care not to wake the little girl when she tucked her into bed and gave her a small kiss good night on the forehead. As she was pulling away she heard a sleepy little voice tell her she loves her. Unable to stop herself, Agatha dropped another kiss onto Charo's head, breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo as she stroked back her hair and told her she loved her too.
Babysitting duties complete, Agatha turned her attention back to her other problem. Rio and their relationship. Joining the other girl on the sofa Agatha took a deep breath as she contemplated how to tackle their ‘break up.’ Rio was being stupid, and Agatha had had enough. She had let the other girl get away with not talking to her for too long.
Just as she opened her mouth to give Rio a piece of her mind, her phone pinged and drew her attention. Picking it up Agatha’s eyebrows crawled up her forehead as her lips curled. Her heart pounded and filled with warmth as she read Jen’s message.
Turning to Rio Agatha noticed that the other girl was trying desperately not to look at her. "Sooooooo, your eye. It’s a lovely shade of purple, my favourite colour, which you already know..."
"What it is, is none of your business, Agatha." Rio spat through gritted teeth.
Agatha tutted as she waved a finger at Rio, "Oh I don't know. Seems like it might be my business when you get into a fight, over me."
"I got hit by a stray arm during a play."
"So, you didn't have a fight at practice? With Vision, Tony Stark’s adopted brother! In the gym defending my honour? Who, might I remind you, is a foot taller than you, not to mention on the boy’s team." Agatha asked, her eyes were dancing with mirth and delight.
"Who the hell told you that?" Rio hissed. “It was a closed practice.” Agatha could see her mentally going through everyone who was there trying to figure out who would squeal.
"I can't reveal my sources, but it's kind of hot if it's true." Agatha admitted and she wasn’t lying. Rio was the first person who ever stood up and defended her, and she was still doing it even when she claimed they weren’t together.
Rio seemed to think about the last part of Agatha's sentence, before she took a deep breath, and shrugged nonchalantly, as if fighting over Agatha was something she did every day.
"He's a dick."
"Who?" Agatha asked, even though she already knew who Rio was going to say and she agreed.
"Vision Stark. Plays at being Mr Nice Guy but he's a total douchebag." Rio grunted as she tapped the skin under her sore eye.
"Not to mention his stupid accent." Agatha agreed, she had never liked him. He tried too hard, and it came off as fake.
"I bet he's not even British."
"You think he's faking it?" Agatha asked with a laugh. Now wouldn't that be something, she thought.
"I wouldn't put it past the asshole." Rio grunted in agreement.
"What did he say, about me?" Agatha knew some of the stuff people said about her. She didn't give a fuck what Vision called her. A toaster had more personality, and she wasn't gonna shy away from her sexuality because some high-school jock called her names. Agatha Dykeness was a popular one when she had just started high-school and people had found out she was dating Rio. The other girl had been saved from it due to her making the basketball team and hanging around with the jocks. That status has insulated Agatha a little, but the names still did the rounds from time to time. Along with the more recent nickname of Fagatha.
"He was just being a dick, you don't wanna know."
"No, I do. tell me what he was saying." Laying her hand on her girlfriend’s arm Agatha gave her a look that told Rio not to fuck around and tell her what she wanted to know. It was a look Rio knew well, one that told her Agatha wasn’t kidding and she would get to know what he said, regardless of if she told her or not.
"He called you a freak, ok, said it was unnatural how you looked at the cheerleaders. How you were always hovering around all the girls at school, and how you needed…" Rio stopped herself from saying the last part, her eyes hard as flint as she recalled what Vision said. “No one talks shit about you to my face. No one calls you that and says that stuff and gets to walk away unharmed.”
"Oh cheerleaders? Or just one in particular?"
Rios' jaw clenched and Agatha sighed. That was how this had all started in the first place. Wanda ‘fucking’ Maximoff.
Agatha liked to look at other girls, it was harmless, a little bit of window shopping. It made Rio jealous, which Agatha found hot. So, she would look more and sometimes flirt a little harder. Which in turn drove Rio crazy, and made any subsequent make out sessions they had, along with any touches extra steamy.
The last time she had tried it she made the mistake of picking Wanda Maximoff as her target. She was the head cheerleader, and sister of all round douchebag, Pietro Maximoff. What she hadn’t known at the time was that Wanda had family stuff going on that would make her extra emotional, as in her parents divorcing.
So, when Agatha had deployed her usual tactics to work her girlfriend up and flirt a little with the head cheerleader. She had suddenly found her arms filled with a sobbing redhead. Something Rio had seen and had not liked, not one bit. It was a step too far and when Agatha had seen the hurt look on her girlfriend's face, she had instantly regretted coming over to Wanda, and wished she could have taken it back.
It had led to a huge argument and when Rio had accused her of cheating Agatha had seen red. She had refused to explain or apologise, instantly making the situation worse and she had gone on the defensive and said a bunch of stupid mean shit. Which had ended up with Rio dumping her on the spot and telling her she could flirt with Wanda all she wanted now she was single.
"You know I don't like Wanda like that right?” Agatha said, squeezing Rio’s arm as she tried to mend what had been broken a month ago. “I mean she is hot. That accent of hers is hmmm..."
"Agatha!" Rio’s eyes were narrowed in disbelief and Agatha laughed nervously before launching back into her explanation.
"I'm just saying I have eyes and ears, but she is boring. She jumped me that day, she was upset and just hugged me. Her parents are getting divorced.” Agatha had got it; she didn’t blame Wanda for being upset. Divorce sucked no matter how old you were.
Rio turned to her, eyes filled with disbelief and the start of what Agatha hoped was forgiveness, even if she hadn’t done anything wrong, not really. “Why didn’t you just say that at the time?”
“You didn’t let me say anything, you just accused me of cheating. Which I never would.” Agatha found her blue eyes captured by brown understanding ones. Agatha’s parents had gotten divorced when she was seven, Rio had seen what the aftermath of that had done to Agatha. What it had done to her mother and their relationship.
“Rio, you, and Wanda, it's not a contest. She has nothing on you, your way cooler and hotter, and you like me. You know I only do the flirting thing to get a reaction right? I’ll admit it makes me feel good and watching you get jealous makes me feel desired.” Rio gave her a small glare at that, and Agatha smiled brightly.
“It has nothing to do with the other person, it's all about me, and you. You know I flirt with everyone, it's just my thing, it's not gonna change. I mean I asked Jen if she was gonna use her panties when she threatened to gag me this afternoon. I do it with everyone."
"What did you say to her to get that reaction?" Rio asked with narrowed eyes and a smile playing upon her lips.
"I might have threatened to let slip to Alice that she likes her back, and I may have walked in on her masturbating to pictures of Alice in her uniform last week."
Rio laughed loudly in delighted shock at what Agatha had just told me.
“Imagine my surprise when Mrs Kale tells me to go up to Jen’s room and I find her moaning Alice’s name while she writhed on her bed.”
“Stop, I don't wanna hear any more. Tell me she was covered up?”
Jen had been, but Rio didn’t need to know that. “No, you told me not to tell you anymore.” Agatha pursed her lips together and mimicked locking a key. Her face became serious again as she took Rio’s hand in her own and cupped her face with her other. "I don't want Wanda Maximoff and I don't care what her stupid robotic boyfriend says about me. I am a freak. I’m weird, and unnatural, I’m not normal and I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks about me, but you. You are the only one I care about, the only girl I want."
“I shouldn't have accused you of cheating.” Rio admitted as she looked down shamefaced.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Agatha agreed before she lifted Rio’s chin. “But I should have explained it straight away instead of getting angry.”
"I've missed you." Rio admitted as she shifted position and cupped Agatha’s face.
"That's understandable, I'm very missable."
"You are." Rio smiled in agreement.
Agatha ran her fingertips gently over the bruised skin of Rio’s eye. She would be forced to exact revenge herself if Vision hadn’t been taught a lesson on not to mess with Rio Vidal. "Rio, you better tell me Vision looks worse than you do. I can’t believe you let him get a hit in on you."
"He sucker punched me, caught me off guard for the first one, but I got him back. Split lip, broken nose, pretty sure he sprained his wrist when he landed on his ass when I kneed him in the nuts”.
"That's my girl." Agatha said softly as she leaned forward and pecked Rio’s lips.
Rio sighed slightly in displeasure after the kiss, "The coach caught us. Benched us both for the next two games."
Agatha was ecstatic. She couldn't have planned this better if she had tried. "Perfect, that means you're free next Friday then."
Rio frowned in confusion at the other girl's reaction. Agatha knew that Rio knew that she had no interest in sports. She only attended the games when Rio played, but she never showed open pleasure at the other girls' failure before, not where her beloved sport was concerned. "That's what you take from what I just said. I got benched, Agatha, I've never been benched."
"Who cares." Agatha said flippantly, it was clearly the wrong thing today after the other comment because Rio’s face darkened.
"I care. It's an important game against Eastview."
"You won't care next Friday when I'm thanking you for defending my honour." Agatha cooed; she had been planning to get Rio on her own for months now. This little breakup had thrown a spanner in the works, but now that was all sorted it was time to get things back on track. They had both recently turned seventeen and Agatha knew she was ready to take the next step in her relationship with Rio. She just hoped that the other girl was too, and that she wasn’t pressing ahead too fast, but she had already hinted at what was going to happen on Friday so she might as well clue Rio in some more.
"What?” Rio asked puzzled at the turn in the conversation.
"Next Friday, I have the house to myself. My mom is at a conference. She leaves on Friday morning and won't be home till Saturday evening. Meaning I have the house to myself and would like you to come over and keep me company."
Agatha watched as Rio’s face cleared of confusion and brightened as comprehension over what she was saying and implying registered in her mind.
"So, what do you say? Wanna sink some baskets with me instead."
Rio grimaced at the bad pun, "Not your best sports related innuendo, but sure why not."
"Don’t sound so enthusiastic Rio, I’ll let you make the last month up to me by letting me slide into third base." Agatha cackled as she shimmied her shoulders.
"Please stop." Rio pleaded half-heartedly; Agatha could see from how she was supressing a smile that she was secretly enjoying it.
"Don't you wanna feel my tight end? Or turn me into a wide receiver?" Agatha heard Rio chuckle as she straddled her lap and let her hands land on her backside and squeeze. "Foul holding, illegal use of hands on the backside."
"Oh my god, Agatha, shut up." Agatha laughed loudly as Rio flipped their position and pushed her down on the sofa and climbed on top of her.
As a dark curtain of damp hair covered them and soft lips captured her own, Agatha knew it was mission accomplished. Rio was hers again, not that she hadn’t ever not been, not really, but it was just nice to have physical proof. Agatha had missed kissing Rio, a month was too long to go without, and as the kiss deepened Agatha knew she could never go that long again. They had declared after knowing each other for an hour eight years ago, that Agatha Harkness and Rio Vidal were forever, eight years later it was still true, and Agatha vowed that would never change. Not now, not ever.