Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adora yawned as she entered her bedroom. Her hand lingered on the round, brass-colored door knob. She pulled it closed behind her. She lived alone. She didn’t really need to shut it, it wasn’t like anyone would just wander into her room while she slept. She did it more so out of habit than for actual privacy.

And maybe, just maybe because she had heard that it was safer to have your door closed in case of a fire during the night. But she wouldn’t admit that. Glimmer had made fun of her once for bringing it up when they had lunch one day. She never dared to broach that subject with Catra. And it wasn’t like Catra had ever asked. If she did, she might explain her reasoning to Catra but even then… it could potentially ruin the image of herself that she had been so desperately trying to build up for Catra.

Instinctively, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and checked the time.

2:47am

It was Friday night. Or well… was... She supposed that it was technically Saturday morning now.

She had only been home for maybe an hour. She already showered, brushed her teeth, and switched to a fresh pair of pajamas. Soft, grey fleece pants and an equally soft grey fleece tank top. The weather was pretty warm. A nice contrast to the winter they had experienced earlier in the year. Although she still believed that the summer was
entirely too hot sometimes. Especially when she had to try and change that stupid flat tire for Glimmer a few weeks ago.

She had been away all day. So the AC in her apartment had been off all day, leaving the apartment feeling hot and muggy. As soon as she closed her front door, she dropped her backpack and made a beeline for the control panel for her AC and immediately turned it back on. It only took a few minutes, but those minutes felt as though they took forever.

She yawned again and pulled the comforter and sheets back as she crawled into bed.
She pulled them back over, and fought the temptation to just burrow underneath. Once she was settled, she immediately reached over and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. A small lamp illuminated her small room in a dim glow. It was enough for her to see by and not feel as though she was being blinded.

She didn’t have much in her bedroom, or in her apartment. She only kept the bare necessities; things she absolutely couldn’t live without… Or things that others said she couldn’t live without… Despite her insistence that all she needed was a simple hair tie and maybe a pocket knife (she got anything else she might need from her job), her friends and family seemed to always be gifting her some new accessory that she knew she didn’t actually need. There was a seldom used hair dryer tucked away in one of the bathroom cabinets. But according to Glimmer it was important and technically a tool, so it stayed. Plus she always felt guilty whenever she tried to discreetly donate or chunk anything she had been gifted.

She didn’t need much. She never had. And in her line of work, she never knew when or if she might have to move. Her job could ask…

...No…

Demand that she move anywhere. She was lucky. She was currently stationed in Bright Moon right now. Or rather in a small town just outside of Bright Moon.

Thaymor.

It was a small town. But it was home to one of the Etheria’s many Air Force bases. She had been in the service long enough now and ranked just high enough that she wasn’t forced to stay in the dorms with the other unmarried soldiers. She lived in Bright Moon and made the drive almost daily to the base out in Thaymor.

A small, red trunk in her closet was filled with the few keepsakes from her childhood. Or prized reminders of events she had gone to. Somewhere in that trunk was a ticket stub from a concert she had gone to with Catra a couple of months ago.

Other than the red trunk in her closet, all Adora had furniture-wise in her bedroom was her bed, a wide dresser with a vanity on it, and a nightstand. Across from her bed was a single window that overlooked the parking lot of her apartment complex. She had a short, long dresser pushed against one of the walls.

She turned her phone on and tried to stifle another yawn. She opened up the messages between her and Catra, not even bothering to see if Catra had sent her anything. It was late. The last message that she sent Catra was just a quick:

Home

She typed it as soon as she reached her front door and sent it just after she stepped inside her apartment. It was a simple message, one that Catra made her promise to send as soon as she was back.

She opened her photos and searched for ones to send Catra. They took a few over the course of the day but she didn’t want to flood Catra’s messages with photos. And so, despite her exhaustion, she decided to look for ones she thought the magicat might want.

She scrolled through the photos taken of their hike. There were some of the woods they trekked through. There were a few shots of a creek they crossed over. In a few of the shots, she was actually able to capture the little minnows that swim around. She felt a slight swell of pride at those pictures. They were standing on a bridge and she was using her phone to take them. Catra might like those. She selected a few of those to send and continued scrolling.

Soon she came across the selfies of the two of them together. They were almost squished together, trying to fit within the frame. Even with her long arms, Adora had barely been able to get them both in the photo. She snapped a few of them (maybe around ten or so). They were both smiling brightly. In a few of them, they were throwing up peace signs for fun.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best photo taker, so only a couple of these seemed worthy enough to send to Catra. Some of them were so out-of-focused or they only got half of one of their faces… She selected the best of this selection and scrolled some more, immediately coming to a much better selection that some stranger on the trail was nice enough to take. Those at were a lot better than the ones she took.

She swiped through them, trying to decide which ones to send. Her and Catra each with an arm around the other, throwing up more ‘peace’ signs with their free hands. Her and Catra with their arms around the other’s waist. Catra on her shoulders, with both of them once again throwing up ‘peace’ signs (seriously, why did they do that, she thought with a silent chuckle)... Her placing a kiss on Catra’s cheek… She stayed on that one for a bit, her gaze lingering on it. Catra’s eyes were closed, her face in a rare smile.

It was hard to catch Catra smiling. But sometimes Adora noticed it. Sometimes she would catch those moments. Moments she was certain Catra didn’t know she caught. Her face broken out in a thin, amused smile whenever Adora did something kind of dumb. Adora promised herself that she would continue to do whatever dumb thing it was. She would take the gentle chide Catra would give her with dignity and treasure each “Dummy” or “Idiot” that was thrown her way. As long as it made Catra smile.

A small smile tugged at Adora’s lips now. As her gaze continued to linger on the photo. She didn’t want to leave the picture, but her exhaustion was catching up. She could barely keep her eyes open now and she wanted to make sure she didn’t forget to send Catra these photos.

Yeah…

She definitely needed to send that one to her. She added it and a few others, to her messages with Catra. She didn’t text any words. She didn’t need to. Catra had asked for copies of the pictures of their day together, after all… She hit send, closed the app, and immediately turned her phone off for the night. It was already plugged in, she had done that after she got home, and placed it back on the nightstand, turning the lamp off as well. She crawled under the covers.

It had been a month since Glimmer and Bow’s wedding. Her and Catra still hadn’t had the conversation they needed to have. The one about what they actually were. What their relationship (if they were even in one) was. Adora was pretty sure they were but…

…well…

Sometimes doubt came in. It filled her mind. It lingered..

She wasn’t sure if this would be a long-term thing, or if it was just until she was eventually deployed and sent off to some far off place. She didn’t want to leave Catra. She was perfectly fine with doing a long distance relationship if it came down to it. But she wasn’t the only one who had to make that call. Catra might decide that she doesn’t want to do long distance thing…

Especially with someone in Adora’s line of work…

She frowned at that thought. Adora shifted in her bed, turning so that she lay on her back, and stared up at the ceiling. It was quiet in her apartment. Dark. Even the parking lot outside was still and silent. The bright lights of headlights didn’t flood into her room as they often did at night. Everyone it seemed was either already home or gone for the rest of the night.

She turned her head, throwing a glance at her phone. It was late. Was Catra still awake? Would she text at this hour? Catra usually worked nights, she even said that on her days off, she usually kept the same sleep schedule…

…Maybe…

Adora debated on reaching out for her phone. Internally, she debated on texting Catra. She started to sit up in her bed. Her gaze was set firmly on her phone. She was about to reach out and grab it. She stopped herself before she had completely sat up though. What would she even say to Catra if she texted her now?

Hey. Can’t sleep. You up?

Nah… That was… lame?

You get the pictures?

No…

That was stupid...

Of course Catra got them. And if she opened up her messages with Catra, she would only confirm it, so why would she ask? This was stupid, she decided. She slid back under her covers and turned so that her back was to her phone. Maybe if she didn’t look at her phone, her mind would drift elsewhere.

Her and Catra were meeting up again in the morning anyway. She could go a few hours without messaging her. Talking to her. They were meeting for breakfast. She would see her then…

She closed her eyes and tried to quiet the storm in her mind. She had so much she needed to talk about with Catra and it felt like so little time. Bow and Glimmer were coming back from their honeymoon tomorrow. After this weekend, she would need to divide her time between Catra and her family again… Unless they actually decided to allow their friends and family to know about the other… Maybe she should have that conversation with Catra tomorrow…

She stifled a yawn. Her body was tired from the hike; sore even. Even though she was in excellent shape, she had been determined to let Catra rest for a bit and carried her on her back for a fair bit of the walk. Catra wasn’t heavy but still, they walked a lot today.

Catra told her that she had gone hiking before. She even said that she had gone on long hikes before… but about midway through the hike, Adora realized that they had two very different definitions of what a long hike was.

Catra got tired after about three miles… So Adora figured the least she could do was give Catra a lift for some of the journey, especially since the spot she wanted to take Catra to watch the sunset was still about a mile away.

A smile tugged at her lips as the memory played out in her head. Catra’s gentle teasing as they made it up to the cliff to watch the sunset, she had carried Catra on her back for about a mile at that point. As soon as they made it up there, Catra slid off of her and the look of awe on her face as they watched the sunset… It made the whole walk worth it. Adora slowly drifted off to sleep…

Unaware of what awaited her in the morning…

Chapter Text

Catra grumbled as she turned over, draping an arm over her eyes to try and shield herself from the way too bright sun. Her curtains were drawn close but it did little to shroud in the room in the darkness she coveted right now.

The curtains were old and sun-bleached. They were purple, or at least were until years of sun-exposure had caused them to lose some of their coloring. It wasn’t a color Catra particularly liked. But stealing those curtains had been her last act of defiance against her old caretaker just minutes before she left home the day before she turned eighteen.

She took anything that she could that day. Anything in her room that was. She didn’t dare to take any of Ms. Weaver’s possessions. It wasn’t out of fear that she didn’t touch the old croon’s stuff, but rather out of a necessity to never see the woman again. The furniture stayed in her old, miserable childhood home. The sheets and comforter didn’t.

The curtains, she was able to snag as well. They were small enough that she could just throw them into a bag with her clothes or sheets. They were also inexpensive enough that she didn’t worry that Ms. Weaver would report them as stolen. After all, who would report curtains as stolen property in a police report?

She had the money now that she could have replaced them a couple of years ago. She should have replaced them years ago. Her roommate Scorpia had tried to talk her into buying black-out curtains to help her sleep during the day so she could work nights at the bar without nearly falling asleep.

Heck! Scorpia had even bought her a two pairs of black-out curtains for her birthday last year. They were still in the package in her closet, just waiting for her to put them up. She just didn’t have the energy to do so. Scorpia offered to do it herself but every time Catra would tell her that she would do it herself on her next day off.

Unfortunately by the end of her day off, she would go to bed, and just before she would fall into the sweet, sweet embrace of sleep, she would suddenly remember the chore. But by then she would shrug it off and promise herself that she would get around to it on her next day off. It was a cycle now. A vicious cycle, one that didn't seem to have an end in sight.

Not that Catra truly minded. Although the constant, nearly blinding light of the sun annoyed her greatly, and probably cost her a few more hours of decent, much-needed sleep, she also couldn’t ignore just how much she loved the sunbeam that hit her bed. It was so warm. It was nice.
Her ear twitched as the heat from the prized sunbeam gradually grew. Her arm did a good job of blocking out the light anyway. She didn’t need to switch out those curtains yet.

Hopefully Scorpia didn’t ask her today if she would finally hang those curtains up. She wasn’t planning on doing it, even though the chore was currently at the forefront of her mind. She had other plans today. Plans that would take her away from the apartment she and Scorpia shared. They were just later in the day. Just after a few more hours of much needed sleep…

Her ear twitched again. She realized then that it was unusually silent in the apartment. Was Scorpia even home? Usually she was up and cooking something around this time. What time was it anyway? The sun was up. It was peaking through the gap of the curtains, and bleaching the fabric even more. Surely it must be mid-morning by now.

Catra lazily slid her arm off of her eyes. She opened them and immediately shut them again and rolled back over onto her back and opened them again. Slowly this time. She blinked a couple of times, trying to focus her vision as sleep was still on her mind. The white, smooth ceiling greeted her now. It was a much better view of the too-bright sun. It was less blinding.

She took in a deep breath, inhaling through her nose. She held it for a moment, just as Scorpia had taught her a while back (since when did Scorpia know so much about breathing exercises?). She then exhaled through her mouth. She did that for a few moments, as her body slowly woke up.

She turned her head; away from the window this time, her eyes came to rest on her phone. It was plugged in, the cord stretched from the outlet just above her bed-frame. The phone was beside her pillow. Her ears twitched again, as if in anticipation of sound. None came. It was still quiet in the apartment.

Catra’s mind reached back to the events of last night. She came home late. She came home exhausted. She had showered. She changed into her pajamas. She stayed up for a bit after that though. She remembered that. She had her phone in her hands. She was waiting for–

She bolted up, sitting now. Her gaze never left her phone. It also never moved. Although the mattress had groaned and dipped a little in her sudden haste (the mattress was old and bought second (or maybe third or fourth?) hand from a thrift store). The phone hadn’t moved though. It hadn’t even shifted slightly.

She had stayed up last night. She had stayed up longer than she meant too after she got home, waiting for a simple message. She fell asleep waiting it seemed. Which shouldn’t be a big deal, she tried to convince herself. Still though, she reached and snagged the phone from its spot on her bed.

The screen flashed as she clicked it on. Before she could check her notifications, the phone buzzed. It vibrated in her hand. Without checking the name, she clicked on it, expecting it to be a message from–

Her eyes read the message. A message that made no sense to her and immediately sent her mind reeling, as she tried to think of what it meant.

I’ll be out all weekend. Should be home Monday night

She started to type out a reply. Questions on the why she would be out all weekend all of a sudden. Questions about what was going on and if everything was alright. After all it wasn’t like her to have to cancel last minute unless something had happened.

Before she finished her reply and sent it though, she quickly glanced at the contact name:

Scorpia.

Catra stopped her reply. She blinked at her roommate’s name on her phone. And she hurriedly hit the back button and deleted the message she had spent the last few seconds typing out. In its place, she sent a thumbs up emoji and left it at that. She exited out of Scorpia’s messages.

She then glanced at the message and contact that should have been under Scorpia’s name. But it wasn’t. Just under Scorpia’s message to her, was one from Entrapta, asking her if she had given any more thought to taking the open position at her company.

Catra looked at the contact right under Entrapta’s name and finally saw the name she had been looking for. She clicked on it. To her surprise (and perhaps dread), the last message sent was hers. It was sent at around midmorning yesterday.
Home. The message was accompanied by a yawn emoji.

The recipient of that message was saved simply as Greyskull. The image accompanying the name was of a blonde woman, grinning ear-to-ear and eyes closed, which somehow made the smile look even bigger.

The message didn’t have a reply. That was… strange. Because usually Adora would send her own message letting Catra know she had gotten home as well. Especially when the two of them had been out late. Catra glanced at the time.

10:41AM

It had been almost twelve hours since they had seen each other. Almost. She had thought about inviting Adora over to stay at her apartment last night. Both of them were pretty tired from the hike yesterday (Adora denied that several times, but Catra could tell). Adora lived on the other side of town. She wasn’t too far but still, the blonde looked as though she was able to fall asleep standing when they were saying goodbye.

Maybe Catra should have invited her to stay over. The only thing, or well… things that had stopped her were:

Not knowing if Scorpia was home or not.

And

She still wasn’t sure just what her and Adora were.

And that bothered her. It bothered her a lot. She should know if she was in a relationship or not. She felt like that’s what this was… She didn’t want to be with anyone else. She knew that much.

Scorpia had no idea who Adora was. Scorpia didn’t even know that Adora existed. Catra was sure that Scorpia assumed she was in a relationship now. More than once, usually when she was in the kitchen and trying to cook, Scorpia caught her texting Adora. Apparently it was obvious when she was messaging the blonde idiot too. Scorpia had gleefully commented that Catra’s face lit up.

At first, she would ask who Catra was messaging. Every now and then she would comment that would like to meet the mystery person who made Catra smile brighter than fireworks... Seriously, who said things like that?

It annoyed her a lot. But at least Scorpia never pressed her on the matter at least. She always dropped the subject whenever Catra’s face would flush at her questions. And she would always immediately apologize whenever Catra would get defensive and angry about her probing into her (probably) non-existent love life.

Probably…

Maybe…

Catra sighed… Or well… hissed rather. It was at herself really; instead of at the thought of Scorpia. Or Adora. As much as those two were annoying her. And were the source of her irritation at this moment…

…And the past...

She knew she shared some of the blame with them. She should have had the conversation with Adora ages ago on their… relationship. She just hadn’t. And she wasn’t completely sure why.

Catra began to text another message. A simple one. It was just to quell the anxiety that was started to bubble up in her as she stared at her unanswered message from last night:

Did you make it home??

She waited. For a minute. Or maybe five… She wasn’t exactly sure how long. Eventually she put her phone back down on her bed. She knew Adora was okay. Probably. It wasn’t unlikely that anything had happened.

But she looked so tired last night…

...Like she might fall asleep on her feet…

There was no way driving was safe–

Buzz…
Buzz…

Her ear flickered in the direction of her phone. It had vibrated when it buzzed, alerting her even more to a new notification. Hopefully it was a message. Whatever it was, it had saved her thoughts from spiraling even more at least.

Catra snatched her phone back up. The screen was still lit up from the new notification. The name Greyskull caught her attention and she hastily clicked on the new message. It read:

Yes… Why??

Catra sighed in relief. So Adora had made it home okay then… She then huffed in annoyance and quickly typed out a reply.

Because you never let me know

A second passed after she sent that. Bubble appeared at the bottom of her screen and then:

Yes

I did

Catra scrolled up, double checking that she was indeed correct and that Adora hadn’t sent her a message letting her know she got home last night. She hadn’t. Catra quickly took a screenshot, proof that she was right and Adora was wrong. And then she sent it in their chat.

She waited.

She waited a little longer.

Just when she was about to toss her phone back down, text bubble appeared again and then:

Weird…

I could’ve sworn I texted you last night…???

Catra started to type a reply. But before she could another message popped up:

Hold on. Getting a call

Of course she was… Catra tossed her phone back onto her mattress. She inched herself off of the bed. She might as well get ready for the day. Her and Adora were supposed to meet up later.

After changing into dark blue, ripped jeans and a plain black t-shirt, she went to the shared bathroom. Catra returned to her room, whilst in the midst of brushing her teeth. She strode over to her bed and plucked her phone back up to see if Adora had sent any more messages.

There were two missed calls. A missed video-chat request. And several, panicked messages:

Okay

I messed up

The f– Catra saw red for a moment. Rage quickly filled her as the worst ideas imaginable flashed in her head. But the anger disappeared as quickly as came as she continued to read on:

I know what happened

Why was she writing her messages so short? Short and choppy. She was used to Adora’s weird texting but the blonde was clearly panicked here.

Please

PLEASE

PLEASE don’t be mad

I texted the wrong person

The wrong person? Why did that matter? What could possibly–? She kept scrolling through Adora’s messages.

I sent the pics of the hike too

The hike? Why did that matter?

My family knows…

Catra’s eyes widened as she realized just what that meant. Not only where there scenery pictures. There were pictures of them as well. Ones of them together. Neither of them had told anyone in lives about the other. Catra assumed that was because they hadn't had the talk about what they were to each other yet...
...Well…

There was no delaying that talk now…

Chapter Text

Steam filled the bathroom. It was hot. Muggy. Sweltering for Bow. He wasn’t sure how Glimmer usually took showers this hot. For some reason, the cold water wasn’t working. He wasn’t even sure how that could even happen. Or when that happened. The water and shower was working when they left for their honeymoon. And he knew no one had been staying over or using their bathroom while they were gone. They came back and suddenly their cold water wasn’t working.

Bow carefully stepped out of the shower, a grey towel wrapped snugly across his waist. He turned the faucet to the sink on, plucked his tooth brush up from the white countertop. He put toothpaste on it and quickly began to brush his teeth.

Except for the sound of running water, it was quiet. It wasn’t early. It was late in the morning. Way later than he usually got up. But they got back to Bright Moon late and he had overslept.

He was taking the morning slow. Glimmer. His wife was still sound asleep. And she would be for awhile. As much as he didn’t want to, he knew he would have to wake her, if she hadn’t done so while he was showering and getting ready for the day. They were supposed to meet with Angella. Possibly with Adora. He wasn’t sure yet. Plans had been made and changed.

He would need to text Adora. One hand was still gripping the toothbrush while he cleaned his teeth. He scanned the countertop, searching for his phone. Unfortunately, he didn’t spot it. He must have left it on the bedside table.

He could text Adora after he finished his morning routine and got to the getting dressed portion of preparing for the day. Or if Glimmer was up when left the bathroom, he could ask her if she knew what the plan was.

He rinsed the toothbrush and spat into the sink. He enjoyed the quiet. The calm. It was nice. It was– “What the fuck?!”

“Glimmer!”

He flung the bathroom door open and leapt out. He scanned their bedroom for the threat, seeing nothing. His eyes finally landed on his wife, who was sitting up in bed, gripping her phone. Her eyes were wide. But a smug, almost devious smile was on her lips.

“I KNEW IT!!!” She shouted, still staring at her phone, completely unaware of Bow’s presence.

“Knew what?” Bow asked, walking over to the bed. He climbed up from the foot of the bed and sat down next to Glimmer, trying to get a glimpse at what Glimmer was staring at. He caught himself and stopped, giving Glimmer a sheepish smile and then asked, “Can I see?”

Glimmer glanced at him. She must not have realized he was trying to look at her phone before asking.

“Huh? Oh yeah! Sure!”

She angled her phone so that they both could see it. She also nestled up to his side. He threw an arm around her, pulling her in even closer.

“Alright so, what are we looking at– Wait! I think I’ve seen her before?”

There was a photo on Glimmer’s phone. Adora. His best friend for years. Practically his younger sister (he knew Glimmer thought of Adora as her sister but for years he told everyone he knew, his parents, friends, even Adora herself, that Adora was the “little sister he always wanted”)...

Adora was kissing someone. Someone that he was pretty sure he had seen before. But he couldn’t remember Adora ever mentioning that she was in a relationship. Or even bringing this woman around.

Why hadn’t she? His brow knitted in concern. A small frown touched his lips. He wished Adora had told him. He wanted to meet this woman. He wanted to make sure she was good enough for Adora. That she was okay.

“I’m calling her.” Glimmer stated. She exited from the picture and went to her contacts, quickly pulling up Adora’s name.

“Wait, Glimmer–” Bow tried to stop her. Maybe there was a reason Adora hadn’t told them. Maybe they should wait for Adora to call them and explain? But then why did she send the pictures–?

“Shush! I’m on the phone,” Glimmer shifted out of Bow’s embrace and turned away.

Bow sighed and crawled out of the bed. He might as well finish getting dressed. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his phone. He picked it up and checked his notifications. There were several in the family group chat. The last two were Glimmer and Angella:

Angella: Adora… please explain??

Glimmer: WTF?!?!?!

He scrolled up, trying to see what had happened in the group chat. There were pictures. Several of them. All from Adora. A park. A walking trail. Adora and that woman. The two of them kissing. The picture Glimmer had shown him.

His frown deepened. That was a weird way to announce a new relationship… And extremely unlike Adora. She wouldn’t have kept it a secret just to announce like this. He knew that. Then why–? ...Shit…

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It must have been a mistake. There was no way Adora would have purposely announced a new relationship like this. He glanced at Glimmer. She was holding her phone in a death-grip. There was a strange intensity in her eyes.

He considered trying to call Adora himself. Warn her that everyone knew. Everyone in the family group chat would want to meet this mystery woman. She would need to warn her girlfriend of that. He glanced at the picture again.

Seriously? Why did she look so familiar?

“Adora! Hey!” Glimmer’s too cheery voice interrupted his thoughts.

He hoped Glimmer would be subtle. And not too excited. Yeah… That wasn’t like Glimmer. He wasn’t sure why but he did a belly dive onto the bed and snatched the phone out of Glimmer’s hand.

“Bow! Hey!” Glimmer tried to reach for his phone, but he moved just out of her reach.

“Hey, Adora! You accidentally sent those pictures of your girlfriend and you in the family group chat!” He rushed through the sentence.

“Bow!” Glimmer grabbed her phone and wrestled it away from Bow.
Bow released the device and Glimmer glared at him as she placed it back to her ear.

“Adora, as I was about–” she glared angrily at Bow. He smiled sheepishly in response. He would make it up to her. Later.

“Anyway, I was about to say. I KNEW you and that girl had something going on! I knew it, Adora! Now, when do I get to meet her?” Glimmer waited a moment and then, “Adora? You there?” She pulled the phone away and checked it.

“Thank you, Bow,” Glimmer huffed, “she hung up.” She scowled at him.

Bow offered her a cheeky smile.

Chapter Text

Fuck.

Her heart was pounding.

Fuck.

She had a hand buried hair, fingers intertwined in the long blonde locks.

Fuck.

Her other hand was gripping her phone, her fist clenching the device in a deathgrip.

Fuck!

Adora was pacing around her bedroom, her eyes still glued to the phone screen.

Hey, Adora, you accidentally sent those pictures of your girlfriend and you in the family group chat!

Bow’s rushed and jumbled words echoed. She was surprised she even understood what he had said. How had she texted the wrong chat? She cringed, squeezing her phone so tight she feared for a moment that she might break it. She loosened her grip and stopped pacing. She turned the phone around and glanced down at it.

She had been waiting for Catra’s reply for hours now… Well, maybe not hours, but it sure as hell felt like hours. Catra was mad. Adora knew it! Of course Catra would be angry about this mess up! They hadn’t discussed their relationship (if it even was one) and she had just sent pictures of them together to her whole family. Not only pictures of them together but pictures of them kissing...

Adora’s face reddened at that particular memory. The image of Catra’s face flashed in her head. Her beautiful mismatched eyes. It felt as though she was gazing at both the sun and the moon whenever she looked into them. Any time those eyes were on her, whenever they were watching her, she felt as if she had won the freaking lottery. She felt like that wherever she opened her phone and saw a message from Catra. Whenever she heard Catra say her name…

Her phone vibrated in her hand. Adora almost dropped it in her scramble to check the notification; it was from Catra. It was one single word:

Okay…

There was nothing else.

Okay…

What did that mean?

Okay…?

Was Catra mad at her?

...Okay…

Or was Catra saying it was ‘okay’?

Okay!
Maybe that’s what Catra meant! She at least hoped that’s what Catra meant! That it was ‘okay’. That she wasn’t mad. Adora clicked on the message, her thumbs hoovering over the screen as she racked her brain, trying to think of a reply. Before she could, three bubbles appeared on the screen. Catra was typing another message. Okay (was she thinking of that word too much now? Whatever, it didn’t matter), maybe this new message would shed more light on her girlfrien– Catra’s actual feelings, and whether or not she was actually mad.

A new message appeared and Adora released a breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding. She had gone through basic training. Days and Nights spent studying, training, so she could serve in Etheria’s Air Force, and yet the thought of losing Catra was worse than the fear of what she could face should Etheria ever go to war.

So they know

Three bubbles appeared again. They disappeared much quicker than before.

What do you want to do?

Adora’s eyes widened. She had even thought of what was next. And Catra was putting the ball in her court now.

What do you want to do?

Well, what could she do? What could they do? Adora wasn’t sure. She hurriedly typed out a reply:

I don’t know

She really didn’t. She sighed and exited out of her messages with Catra. She glanced at the messages in her family’s group chat.

50 Unread

She sighed, her thumb hoovering over the group chat. She had learned from Bow about her family finding out… She hadn’t checked the messages. Immediately after Bow had called and warned her, she had gone straight to trying to contact Catra. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. No matter what, they knew now. And no matter what her and Catra would need to have a conversation about what they were… or weren’t…. Fuck! She hoped against hope that they weren’t a ‘weren’t’. She hoped that they were… something.

She opened her eyes. There was a pit in her stomach. A heavy, anxious filled sigh escaped. She took in a deep breath and clicked on the group chat.

Questions filled the screen. Unbelief. Excitement? Glimmer could be excited! Maybe she was! The dread that clutched her didn’t lessen. She felt just a tad sick now.

Angella: Adora… please explain??

Glimmer: WTF?!?!?!

Text bubbles suddenly filled the bottom of the screen. The bubbles disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared. A new message lit up her screen.

Glimmer: Are you bringing her to family dinner tomorrow??

Without thought Adora hastily typed out a reply.

Adora: What family dinner? She works tomorrow anyway

Glimmer responded within seconds.

Glimmer: Have her schedule memorized already? Already whipped XD

Adora groaned and left the group chat. Her thumb hoovered over her messages with Catra. She hadn’t responded. Maybe she should text again? Call her? Did she make home last night?! Her thoughts raced and spiraled. What if Catra hadn’t made it home? What if she was lost or hurt or– No!

No! She did you idiot, you dropped her off after all…

A new message flashed across her screen. It still wasn’t from Catra, but it at least wasn’t from the group chat. It was from Bow, but it was just between the both of them.

Bow: You good?

Another message quickly popped up.

Bow: Do you wanna talk about it?

She felt a wave of gratitude for her brother-in-law. Yes. She did want to talk about it. She wanted to ask someone else if she was overthinking things. If she was just imagining that Catra’s silence was her fuming over the texting mishap. Bow had a wife. Bow understood relationships! Instead of asking for help like she wanted to (and like Bow had even offered), instead, Adora replied with:

Adora: No

Adora: Thank you tho

Bow sent a thumbs up emoji and:

Bow: Ok! If you ever need to talk, I’m here <3

She began to type out a quick reply:

Adora: Thanks B–

Two words flashed across her screen then. She stopped typing, clutching the phone even tighter.

Incoming Call

She stared at the screen. She didn’t blink, but she also couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the message to see just who was calling. Anxiety filled her. Her stomach suddenly felt heavy. She hadn’t been this nervous before. The closest thing she could compare this to was the night before she left her friends and family behind to do Basic, but even then, she would rather face that night a hundred times over than deal with this.

She took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself. It didn’t work. She glanced down at the name on the screen:

Catra

She stumbled over her own thumbs trying to answer the call. She felt the phone cease vibrating, the ringer stopped, and the screen changed to the usual call format. In her haste though, she dropped the phone. She grabbed it before it could fall and clumsily raised it to her ear.

“H-hello?” She cringed and immediately wanted to slap herself. Why had she answered like that?!

“Hey, Adora.” Catra’s voice filled her ears like sweet musical notes. It reminded her of the summer concerts she used to attend with Glimmer as they grew up. For not the first time, she wished she had met Catra years ago. They could have grown up around each other. Go to concerts. Watch movies. High school probably would’ve been more bearable if she had had Catra by her side back then.

“You okay?” Catra’s voice was filled with concern. That helped to ease some of Adora’s worry and put her at some peace. Only some though… Catra was mad. She had to be mad.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Adora finally replied with a sigh.

She heard Catra hum as if she was unconvinced. There was silence on the line then. Seconds felt like minutes, like hours, like days. Adora couldn’t stand it. She felt the tiny bit of peace she had gained slip away. Maybe Catra didn’t want to see her again. Maybe–

“You want to come over to my place and talk?”

Catra’s voice tore through her thoughts. She didn’t process what was said though. She heard Catra’s voice! That sweet, beautiful voice! But she couldn’t seem to understand the words…

“Wh-what?” Adora asked numbly. She hoped that Catra didn’t hate her.

“Do you want to come over to my place and talk?” Catra repeated. She didn’t sound frustrated. So maybe that was a good sign?

“Sure,” Adora breathed out, “When?”

“As soon as you can.”