Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She needed to get away, to move, to stop thinking.

She was moving on autopilot, her mind too hazy to think about where she was going and how she was getting there. Her breathing had become ragged, from both running and from the way her mind was spiralling. Her vision was blurry, from tears that were now overflowing, but also from the lack of glasses that normally always sat on her freckled nose.

She should have just ignored them, but that had never exactly been her strong suit. They always just knew exactly what to say, always knew exactly what to do, Knew exactly how to get on her last nerve to get her to break down like a small emotional child.

She was tired. Emotionally, physically, and mentally.

She needed to keep moving, she needed to get away.

So she did, even as everything that had just transpired kept replaying itself in her mind.

She was sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria, trying to focus on the biology homework that she had spread out in front of her. It was only due next week, but she’d much rather spend her night gaming than pulling another all-nighter to study for a test or to get ahead on her assignments.

She had bought a new game earlier that week, but hadn’t had the time to play it yet. She had been too busy with her schoolwork to even start the game up. The game she had bought was a fantasy, open-world, roll-playing game. It was about a planet, where a war had been going on for several decades. That was until a princess called She-Ra formed an alliance with a rebellion, and together they started fighting against the Horde, also known as ‘the evil Horde’.

She couldn’t wait until would finally get home from this long day of school, and would finally have the time to play her new game. She pushed her glasses further up her nose, since they had been slipping of slightly from her head, as a result of being turned downwards towards her books. She just needed to finish writing her answer on the question about ribosomes and she’d be done for-

“Still sitting alone I see.”

There were a few amused chuckles and giggles that followed the comment, making Adora snap out of her hyperfocus. She looked up and turned her head around, her eyebrows already furrowed in a confused frown.

There were a few cheerleaders and jocks standing behind her. She recognized some of them, though she didn’t exactly know their names. Most of them she knew from years of them pestering her, and from the few football games she had gone to. Their names were a mystery though, one that she wasn’t exactly keen on solving. Not that it really mattered though, they all looked alike anyways.

Two guys from the group sat down at the table on either side of her while glancing at her textbooks. Before she had the chance to close them and put them away, both of jocks grabbed her textbooks as they grinned at her. The dude on her left took a quick glance at the material, but almost instantly gave up and closed it, before focussing his attention back on Adora. “You know if you would spend as much time talking with other human beings, as you do reading this stupid stuff, you might actually make some friends instead of being completely alone. Though I guess socialising with other people may be a foreign concept to you.”

She made an attempt at taking one of her textbooks back from the jock on her left, but it was to no avail as he kept it just out of her reach.

“It’s a shame really. If she just got rid of those ugly glasses, she might actually have a chance at getting a boyfriend.” It was one of the cheerleaders this time, Jessica? Julica? Something along those lines.

The other girls laughed at Jennie’s comment, resulting in one of the guys thinking it was a funny to take Adora’s glasses right of her face. It wasn’t like Adora was completely blind without them, but features that she could distinguish with them were now just a blurred mess of colours and shapes.

The dumbass put on her glasses and did an impression of something that didn’t even begin to resemble Adora, but more like a poor depiction of how nerds are always be portrayed in high school movies. Though she didn’t even doubt for a single second that the dumbass thought it was and accurate representation.

Not that Adora was a nerd, she just wanted to get out of this stupid hellhole as soon as possible, so she could go to a nice, far away college and get away from everything. Her school, her town, her bullies, these people, even her family. It would just be a few more months of hard work and probably a few more all-nighters, but she would get there… eventually.

If she was being honest with herself, it was really the only thing that kept her going. The thought of being so close to getting out of this hellhole, was more than enough motivation to push through.

So that thought was she kept repeating to herself, as she could feel a few tears start to prickle at the corners of her eyes. She knew the dumbasses had noticed, since she could hear them laughing at her just a little louder and was pretty sure that most of them had smug grins plastered on their faces. She knew that even without her glasses, because that was the same grin they always carried when they were chewing her out.

“At least she fits the stereotype. Massive nerd, no friends, horrible looking glasses, head always buried in a book, and ugly as fuck.”

Her heart was starting to pick up its pace and so was her breathing, when finally a few tears were starting to escape and trail down her face.

“Pathetic.”

Her books were dropped back in front of her as the two jocks that were sitting next to her got up and walked over to, what Adora could only assume, were their girlfriends. The dumbass that had taken her glasses and put them on, took them in his hand and promptly dropped them on the ground with the lenses facing down. Everyone was still laughing as they started to walk away, leaving Adora sitting alone with her textbooks and a pair of broken glasses.

She quickly packed her bag and grabbed the remains of her now broken glasses from the ground, before sprinting out of the cafeteria. She needed to get away from them, she needed to be alone. No one else could see her like this.

Pathetic.

Weak.

Emotional.

She arrived at what she assumed was the bathroom, and her suspicions were quickly confirmed by the faint smell of piss that always seemed to linger there. Regardless of the smell, she didn’t have time to be picky. It was empty, she was alone, and there was enough room there for her to not feel claustrophobic. She dropped her backpack next to the sink, glad to finally get rid of the extra weight on her back, that had been bothering her.

Her legs were starting to feel weak, like they could be giving out from underneath her any second now. She needed to sit down, on something, anything. So she headed over to one of the stalls and closed the lit of the seat, before shutting the door behind her. She sat down just in time, her legs starting to feel like pudding as she bounced up and down on the tiled floor.

Adora could feel the way her lungs were starting to beg for more oxygen, but her body refused to comply. The edges of her vision were starting to go from a blurred mess, to a muddle of black spots slowly starting to take over her sight.

Pathetic.

Ugly.

Emotional.

Alone…

Her mind kept repeating those words as she kept spiralling. Maybe they had been right about her? If she could just be better…

“Just get it together Adora…” she whispered to herself as she made an attempt at drying her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her red sweatshirt. She stopped in her tracks as she heard the door to the bathroom open, followed by a few light footsteps. Then the person stopped in the middle of the bathroom right in front of the sink.

“Hello?...” the mystery person waited for a moment, before speaking again. “Is anyone there?”

Adora didn’t respond, the last thing she needed was for anyone else to see her like this.

Silence…

Whoever was standing outside of the stall apparently wasn’t planning on walking away. “I know you’re there. I can smell you… well that, plus your backpack just sitting here right in front of the sink is a dead giveaway.”

Somehow this stranger managed to drag a dry laugh out of Adora, with their sarcastic remark and raspy voice. “Then why did you ask?” she eventually decided to reply, as she finally managed to wipe her face dry since there were no longer tears pouring out of her eyes.

“Well, just bursting into your stall while you might have been taking a dump seemed kinda rude.”

This answer somehow got another laugh out of her, resulting in a small smile crossing her sad face. “Care to come out, or would you prefer that I keep talking to a literal wall?” She shook her head slightly in amusement as she got up from the seat and attempted to make her hair look at least a little presentable, since her hair probably looked more like a rats nest than actual hair, because of the breakdown she had had just a few moments ago.

She stepped out of the stall, and closed the door behind her. But as soon as she turned around to walk over to the sink, she bumped into the sarcastic stranger making them both fall over onto the cold bathroom floor. “Oh my stars… I am so sor-”

“It’s alright, don’t apologize. Just watch out better next time.”

Adora quickly scrambled of off the other girl and stood up, offering a hand to the girl, whom she now noticed was probably a brunette. “I would if I could… my glasses were uhm-… well, I just can’t see that well right now.” She said in her usual awkward fashion, while she helped the brunette up and back on her feet.

“Ow wow… shit, I hadn’t even noticed that you weren’t wearing them, guess I was too distracted.” She let out a small laugh, as she scratched the back of her neck and Adora saw something nervously swaying behind the girl. “Do you have a spare?”

She gave a small nod. “Yeah… but those are the ones I use for PE classes.” She gestured to her bag, as she walked over to the sink to splash her face with water in an attempt to regain her composure after what had just happened.

She heard the girl walk behind her back, over to where she had thrown her backpack earlier. Then there was the sound of the zipper opening and the girl rummaging through the bag, before finding what she was searching for and letting out an excited ‘Ahah!’. Adora turned around, when she heard to brunette walking back over to her.

She noticed that the girl had her glasses in her hand and holding them out for her to take. She took them from the girl and put them on. She could see more clearly now, finally able to differentiate different colours and shapes from each other. More importantly, she could finally make out the features of the girl standing in front of her. And stars, was she gorgeous.

Her hair was wavy, if not curly, and had a beautiful brown colour that reminded her of the forests that she would always go through on her evening runs. Peaking out of the beautiful hair were two velvety, black, cat ears, that were twitching nervously on top of her head. Now she noticed what exactly the thing was that she had seen nervously swaying behind the girl. Behind the brunette, there was a long elegant tail still swaying from side to side, covered in the same velvety fur as the cute cat ears.

She was wearing a black oversized shirt, from a band called ‘The Rebellion’. Adora knew that, because sometimes when she was studying she would secretly listen to their music without her mother noticing. She was wearing a dark green pair of cargo jeans, covered in paint and rips all over. It didn’t look like the rips and paint were from an accident, but more like she had put them there on purpose as a design choice.

Lastly she turned her gaze to the girls face. It was like her face was carved by the first ones themselves, like she had been blessed with all the beauty in the world. Her skin was a beautiful golden tint, and covered in freckles from her nose all the way to the edge of her cheeks. At the side of her face there were small tufts of fur growing, almost the same colour as the skin itself, resulting in it barely even being noticeable. Most beautiful of all were here eyes, one was a deep sapphire blue, while the other was a light golden brown.

She could feel her own cheeks starting to heat up, the smooth light skin being covered in a soft pink. “Thanks.. for uhm-… you know, handing me my glasses.” She quickly turned away from the gorgeous brunette, and stared at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“No problem, though I do have to admit you look better without them.” There was something cocky about the way she spoke, and Adora couldn’t help but feel slightly flustered by it.

She noticed the way her own eyes were still red from crying, a stark contrast to the deep ocean blue of her irises. The glasses that were now sitting on her nose, were very different from the ones she usually wore. Instead of thin rims and temples, these ones were wide and strong, made to withstand something like a ball hitting her in the face. She could probably get lenses, but those were: A, more expensive in the long run. And B, she found them uncomfortable to wear and put in. So glasses it was, even if they were as ugly as the ones she used for PE.

“I know, I know. Glasses look bad on me, you don’t need to rub it in.” she wasn’t looking at the brunette as she was fixing herself up, but she could hear her let out a confused sound as she walked over to Adora’s side and leaned against the sink with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I didn’t say you look bad with them, I just mean that these ones are ugly as shit. The ones you usually wear though, are a completely different story.”

She turned her head to the side to look at the brunette, so she could make out from her facial expressions if she was being serious or not. To her surprise she couldn’t find any hint on the girls face, that would suggest that she was lying. Quite the opposite actually, since the brunette was smiling at her with kindness that she hadn’t seen on one of her peers in a long time, well, at least not directed at her. It caught her slightly off guard, because why in the name of the first ones would someone as cool, and gorgeous, be so nice to her?

Her cheeks were getting darker quickly, the pink tint was spreading all the way to her ears and neck.

All of the sudden she realised that she had no idea who this girl was, and that she probably also had no clue who Adora was. So she stretched out her hand in an awkward manner for the girl to shake. “I’m Ado-”

“Adora, yeah I know. It would surprise you how many people know, actually.” She took Adora’s hand with an amused smirk on her face, as she shook it. “I’m Catra.”

Adora’s brain short circuited for a moment, before she could get her words together to speak again. “Wait… as in, Catra D’riluth?”

“The one and only. Why? Heard something about me?” something about the way she asked, told Adora that she already knew the answer.

Almost everyone in the school knew who Catra was, if not by face, then they did by name. After all, high school gossip was a massive bitch. And being one of the few out and proud gay kids at the school, most definitely didn’t help.

“Uhm- yeah… well, kinda- sorta… I heard that you were, well…” she didn’t want to say anything that would maybe offend the gorgeous girl in front of her, but that only resulted in her nervously rambling only to trail of as she was getting to her point.

“Gay. Yeah I’m gay.” She still had that amused shit eating grin on her face, while there wasn’t even a single hint in her expression that was saying that she was even slightly offended by the other. “How about you?”

Adora’s cheeks got even darker at the question, if that was even possible. “What?... I’m not- I couldn’t… why would you-?” she hadn’t really been asked that question before, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t know the answer to it. Of course she had noticed the way her eyes lingered on girls sometimes when she came across them in the hallways, and of course she had noticed the way she couldn’t really tell apart the guys when it came to what she found attractive about them, and of course she had tried to imagine herself marrying man. But every time she had tried, all she could see was herself wearing a beautifully tailored suit and a woman in the most gorgeous wedding dress imaginable.

She knew it from the way that woman would always be the most beautiful and perfect creatures on the planet, while she could hardly wrap her head around a gorgeous woman being together with a horrible looking man.

But the last thing she needed was to give the people of her school yet another thing to torment her with, while she was so close to getting out. Her feelings would just have to wait until college, surely everything would be different then.

Catra was smirking at her, the biggest most shit eating grin ever plastered on her face. “It was nothing, just a hunch.”

Normally she would find those stupid grins disgusting every time one of those stupid jocks or cheerleaders threw them at her, but there was something different about Catra. Something about the girl drew her in and made everything she did, look attractive as fuck. The way her tail swayed behind her, the way her ears twitched atop of her head, that when her hair caught the light at just the right angle, some of her brown streaks would seem almost golden, or maybe it was the sarcastic remarks or the way that she had made Adora laugh even when her thoughts had been spiralling.

Was this what it was like to have a crush?!

Really wanting to change the subject in favour of not outing herself, she decided to ask the question that had been on the back of her mind ever since the brunette started talking to her a few moments ago. “Why did you help me?”

Catra hadn’t seemed tense or stressed since the start of the interaction, though Adora doubted the girl ever felt tense or stressed judging by the way she carried herself. To her surprise, quite the opposite happened and she watched Catra’s muscles tense up, and her expression becoming a bit uneasy and guarded.

“So basically… I just-” she took a deep breath trying to regain her composure, before answering. “I saw what those losers did to you in the cafeteria, and you seemed upset… so I came to find you, to check up on you and see if you were alright.”

Adora felt a soft smile creep up on her face, both because she managed to make Catra flustered, if you could call it that, and because apparently there was someone who noticed and cared enough to do something. “So you were watching me?” this time it was Adora’s turn to be cocky, as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back on the sink, mirroring the position Catra had been in earlier.

As Adora’s cheeks started to return to their normal colour, the golden ones of Catra were now starting to turn a beautiful shade of pink. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, before she could finally get her words out. “I wasn’t watching you… those losers were just being loud.”

“But you said that I look better with the glasses I usually wear, so you have been watching me.”

The smirk on Adora’s face only grew wider, the more embarrassed Catra became. She couldn’t help herself from thinking about what it would be like for her to see that beautiful shade of pink on her more often.

“I just… you always sit alone, and I don’t get why. And well… you don’t have any friends-”

“Ouch.” Adora said sarcastically, even if it was the cold hard truth.

Catra gave her a glare, before continuing. “I was gonna say that I don’t have any friends either.” That was something that caught Adora off guard. Sure, it wasn’t hard to figure out the why. But still, someone as kind, funny and beautiful as Catra deserved to have good friends. She deserved to have people who trusted her and were just as kind to her as she was to them, Adora however was a completely different story.

“You don’t?”

“I don’t.”

They were silent for a moment, Adora’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she was lost in her own thoughts. She could feel Catra’s eyes on her, though the cocky smirk had played on her lips earlier was long gone, and so was the one Adora had had on her own just a few seconds ago.

After a few seconds of silence, that was neither comfortable or uncomfortable, Adora looked back up at the brunettes and looked her in the eyes. A smile started to form on Adora’s face, as she pushed herself of the sink so she was standing right in front of Catra. She stretched her hand out in front of her, and watched as the brows of the brunette furrowed in confusion. “Hi, I’m Adora Grey and I would like to be your friend.”

She watched as Catra’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and then relaxed back down, before she let out a loud laugh that shouldn’t have been as attractive to Adora as it was. After hunching over slightly and leaning with her hands on her legs, she wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye, a fond smile still present on her face. “I’m sorry, but respectfully. What the fuck?”

Adora retracted her outstretched hand, and started to scratch the back of her neck. “I just…” she looked away from the other girl, a little embarrassed at the thought of what she had just said, and that she may have already screwed up the friendship before it had even started. “I just thought… high school sucks, for the both of us apparently… and I’m lonely, and I think you may be lonely too?” the brunette gave her a small nod now that she could keep a straight face again. “So I thought… maybe we could be lonely together?”

Maybe Adora was expecting Catra to laugh in her face again, to say how stupid it sounded, how stupid she sounded, to turn around and walk out while telling Adora how much of a waste of time this had been. What she most definitely hadn’t expected was for Catra to look at her with a soft kind smile, the soft pink blush still on her face and say “I’d like that very much…”

Maybe on a day in the future she would tease Catra about the pink blush tainting her cheeks, but right now in the present, she knew that her cheeks were also tainted pink in the same way Catra’s were. She didn’t feel embarrassed about it, cause at least she wasn’t alone. Neither in the moment with blushing cheeks, or in the future because she finally had a friend.

The embarrassment inside of her had fully evaporated, and she felt more comfortable with herself than she had in a long time. So she stretched out her hand once more. “So, friends?”

“Has anyone ever told you, you are a massive dork?” Catra said, her tail swaying behind her once more, though this time it was more in a comfortable lazy way than in a nervous one.

“Plenty, my brother reminds me all the time.” she made no move to take her hand back, waiting for her new friend to shake it. At least it made Catra laugh, and she could only think about how she wanted to hear that laugh every single day for the rest of her life. She was going to make it her personal mission to make her laugh as often as she could, even if she didn’t know it yet.

“Alright then.” She took the outstretched hand, and Adora couldn’t help but notice how soft it was even with the claws that were attached to the end of her finger tips. “I, Catra D’riluth, accept Adora Grey’s friendship and vow to protect it with every fibre of my being.” She did a mock accent, but the way she was looking at Adora, even with the mischievous grin on her lips, gave her away. It probably had something to do with the way her eyes were looking at Adora, the way they were already looking at her with nothing but kindness and fondness.

After the both of them let go of each other’s hand, the bell rang signalling the end of lunchbreak. Catra turned around and walked over to the messenger bag that was placed next to Adora’s, before she started to head over to the door. But before opening the door she turned around and looked at Adora. “Tomorrow at lunch?” She asked even if she already knew the answer.

“Yeah… I’ll see you then.”

“Cool. See ya, dork.”

Now Adora was a blushing mess, because before Catra had turned around to open the door, she had winked at Adora while carrying the same cocky expression on her face.

This was flirting, right?

No… just because Catra was gay, she shouldn’t assume she liked Adora. Though she had blushed a lot when Adora had teased her. But she wouldn’t like Adora, at least… not in that way. No one liked Adora Grey in that way.

That’s when she realised, she had a friend.

Adora had made a friend!

Someone who didn’t make fun of her, someone who was kind to her, who treated her like a person and not like she was lesser than.

She wasn’t alone anymore, and hopefully wouldn’t be for a long time. She wasn’t-

BZZZZ BZZZZZZZZ

She was late!

She could think about everything later, but right now she really needed to get to class.

Chapter Text

The last few classes of her day had felt like an eternity, so by the time school was finally over her eyes were tired and her body felt ready to just collapse in on itself. Even with how exhausted she was, she still had a small smile on her face. In fact, she had had that smile on her face the entire afternoon ever since lunch, which was a rare occurrence for her. Even the whispers about her, the ones she had picked up on with her sensitive hearing, weren’t enough to bring her good mood down.

It may or may not have had to do with a certain dorky blonde, and the fact that they were officially friends now. Stars, had she been cute when she had asked Catra to be her friend.

“I’m lonely… and I think you’re lonely too. So maybe we could be lonely… together?”

She could feel her cheeks heating up again, but how couldn’t she? Catra had been watching the blonde for a few months now. Not in a creepy way of course! But more like… admiring? And who could blame her, when Adora was as beautiful, sweet and dorky as she was.

Catra had always liked the night. The darkness that always consumed it gave her comfort, like a soft blanket wrapped around her. But Adora was like the complete opposite of it. She resembled everything that contradicted the cosiness of the night. Her hair was like the sun itself, shining like it would never die out. Light blue grey eyes that reminded her of clear oceans on sunny summer days. Her skin light and soft, like white clouds that would pass over head and give some shade on hot days and would keep the warmth trapped on Etheria on cold ones.

She resembled the light of day, where as Catra was the perfect image of the darkness of the night.

She hadn’t judged her when she had learned who Catra was. Sure, she had seemed a bit caught of guard, but not rude or like she was judging her. From what Catra had seen of her, the blonde seemed to be anything but judgy or rude.

Something she could never wrap her head around was why people would bully someone as kind and adorable as her. She had picked up on some of the stuff they had said to her, the names they had called her, but mostly the lies they had told her. Adora wasn’t pathetic, nor was she emotional. The fact that they would always say that she just didn’t know how to take a joke disgusted her, cause who wouldn’t get hurt from being constantly reminded of how little friends they have, and who wouldn’t cry because of the way they treated her.

But the thing that infuriated her most, was the fact that they called Adora ugly. The horrible looking, unoriginal, copy and paste, dumbfaces called a goddess like Adora ugly. What gave them the right to treat her like that?!

She noticed herself getting angry again, once she felt her claws digging into her palms and creating halfmoon creases in them. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down a little, she unclenched her claws and adjusted the strap of her messenger bag on her shoulder. She put in her wired headphones, since on and over ear ones never fit onto her cat ears. She put on her own playlist, ironically named “Gaypression”, before exiting the school building.

She didn’t live that far away from school, so she always preferred to walk home. Plus, it was a great way to clear her head while getting to listen to some good old bangers from her favourite band. Winter had officially started a few weeks ago, but the leaves had fallen from the trees much earlier. She had never really minded the cold though, it always held something comfortable, and the thought of coming home to a mug of warm chocolate milk topped with marshmallows and whipped cream on top, was enough to motivate her for the cold walk home. But even with her fur covering most of her body, she still needed to wear a coat and scarf to keep herself warm.

There were still small patches of snow all around her, even if they had already started to melt and were slowly turning a light brown from having laid there for a while now. It had snowed the week before and not even a little. It had been falling from the skies like the first ones themselves were having a snowball fight, resulting in her mom bringing her from and to school. Her mom didn’t do that that often, only when there was a chance her child might die from either frostbite or slipping on the icy roads. By now the snow had already started to melt, resulting in her mom telling her to ‘woman up’ and face the cold.

After half an hour of freezing her ears, tail, and legs off, she finally arrived in front of the apartment complex her and her mom lived in. The building wasn’t exactly small, but the apartments themselves were a completely different story. Sure, they had two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and a bathroom, but all of it wasn’t exactly roomy. Some days she would feel a little cramped in the apartment, resulting in her sometimes just going out to other public spaces to avoid lashing out at her mother for the smallest things.

After walking up the stairs to the third floor and making her way down the hall to their apartment, she finally opened the door and stepped inside. The first thing she noticed as she was getting out of her coat and scarf was the smell of hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies. It seemed like her mom had had a morning shift and had spend her afternoon baking some good old’ tastiness.

She headed over to the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs at the small kitchen table. Sure enough her mom walked over to her, presumably coming from the living room, and greeted her daughter with a warm hug before letting go of her and walking over to the kitchen counter.

“So mija, how was school?” she asked as she returned with a warm cup of hot cocoa, and a small plate that was filled with chocolate chip cookies.

Her mother must have noticed the smile that was still playing on her lips, because now she was looking at her with those annoying knowing eyes. “It was fine.” She decided to respond dryly, to avoid any further questioning about why she was smiling like a lovestruck dork.

God, Adora was already influencing her so much.

her mother hummed slightly, before taking a sip from her own mug. “Are those stupid ninõs still bothering you?”

“Not today… well, not to my face at least.”

But they did bother Adora…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Her mother must have noticed something in her facial expressions, because she put her hand on her daughter’s and looked her dead in the eye. “You aren’t lying right? Because I really don’t want you to pretend-”

“I’m not mama. Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you about this.” She squeezed her mother’s hand slightly in reassurance as she put a smile back on her face.

“Alright… if you say so, sweetie.”

They sat there together in a comfortable silence for a while, before her mom started talking about her day at work and all kinds of funny stories about stuff her students had pulled of that day. Eventually the silence stretched back over them, so she picked up her phone and opened her insta. She wasn’t on there a lot, but she had gotten a notification from it that she wanted to check out.

Someone called Adork was now following her. She could feel the dumb smile stretching further over her lips again as she had to hold back a laugh at the cute username Adora had picked out for herself. She quickly returned the follow, and decided to send her a message.

Hordescum: Hey Adora

Okay, maybe it was a little basic and boring, but she couldn’t come up with a better opening line. Sure enough, the blonde dork responded with an equally basic and boring message.

Adork: Hey Catra!!

Hordescum: Already stalking my social media? Didn’t know you were that desperate

The bubbles appeared, disappeared, and then reappeared a few times, making Catra wonder if she had maybe said the wrong thing.

Adork: Ow, I’m sorry haha. Didn’t mean to cross any boundaries or anything.

This was Adora she was talking about, the socially awkward dork, of course she was going to overthink Catra’s joke. She let out a soft chuckle at the thought of Adora worrying about something so small, and the way her face was probably already turning a cute shade of pink.

Hordescum: Don’t sweat it dork

Hordescum: It was just a joke, I’m glad you added me

Adork: I wasn’t “sweating it”

Adork: You were just being unclear…

She let out another laugh, before responding with a quick “Whatever you say blondie”. She probably should have kept her laugh in, because now her mom was looking at her again with that dumb all-knowing grin. Her ears were flattening against her head, as her tail puffed up slightly in embarrassment. “What?” She asked her mom, slightly irritated by the way she was looking at her right now.

“Huh what, what?” her mother had that mock-innocent expression on her face, like she didn’t know exactly what her daughter was referring to.

She scoffed slightly, before dropping her phone on the table with the screen facing down and crossing her arms over her chest. “You have that stupid smirk on your face that says ‘I’m your mom, and I know exactly what’s going on’.”

Her mom let out a soft chuckle. “Alright, if you insist.” She paused dramatically, before propping her elbows on the table and leaning her chin on top of her hands. “Who’s the cute girl that’s got you all smiley and blushy?”

“What?! I- no, I don’t-… just shut up!”

“Telling your mother to shut up? How bold of you…” she tutted as she shook her head and acted disappointed, only for the smirk to stretch back over her face as she stared back at her daughter. “Now tell me, who is it?”

“There is no-”

“Is it that girl from your maths class?”

“No it isn-”

“Or that girl from the Starbucks that you always smile at?”

“Mom-”

“Or is it that one blonde girl you were staring at during that one football game?”

“I…” she didn’t know how to defend herself anymore, especially since her mom would probably immediately smell the lie from a mile away.

“So it is the girl from the game?” she really needed to get away from her mother and that shit eating grin she had on her face. She could deal with her mother nagging her about her social life another time.

“I’m going to my room.” She stood up from her chair  and grabbed a handful of cookies from the plate, before heading out of the kitchen and to the hallway. Just as she was stepping out of the room she could hear her mother say “I do want to meet her as soon as possible if she’s going to be around my sweet snarky daughter!”

She quickly made her way to her room and made an effort to close her bedroom door as hard as possible without angering her mother and possibly ending up being lectured. She let herself dramatically fall down on the bed, before screaming into her pillow to let out some of her pent up frustration. Not that it helped very much, but sometimes being a little dramatic was okay. She propped herself up on her elbows and opened her chat with Adora again.

Adork: here you have my number haha, I always think that texting is a lot easier

            that way [upside down smiling emoji] [add Adork’s number]

Of course she was a boomer, Catra thought to herself before adding Adora’s number to her contacts anyway.

[You]: so, what’s up dork

The message was read pretty quickly, but it took a bit before Adora actually started typing her message. (Probably so she could add Catra to her contacts first)

Dummy<3: nothing much

Dummy<3: I’ve been trying to finish up my homework, so I can start up my new game             tonight

[You]: what game?

Dummy<3: you’ll probably just make fun of me…

[You]: I’ll make fun of you regardless

Dummy<3: fine…

Dummy<3: She-ra V.S. The Evil Horde

She couldn’t keep her laugh contained this time, as she read what game the blonde nerd would be playing. She had heard of it before and had heard that it was alright, but the thought of a princess game was enough for a the chuckle to slip past her lips.

[You]: can’t believe I’ve become friends with such a nerd

[You]: I should have known it from the glasses and the way you hyperfocus on your schoolwork

Okay, maybe it was a little mean but it was just a little teasing, nothing Adora wouldn’t be able to handle. Though, Catra started to doubt that thought as soon as the bubbles appeared and disappeared a few times for a good minute, before they stayed away.

Chill Catra, she’ll probably respond soon.

Except for the fact that she didn’t. She didn’t know how long she laid there on her bed waiting for a response from her, but eventually her mom had called her over for dinner and she still had no response. Her ears had started to press against her head and her tail was now lashing anxiously behind her.

What if she had already ruined whatever friendship the two of them had going on?

She sat down at the table her eyes still trained on her phone screen, just praying that those bubbles would pop up again and Adora would just respond. The only reason that her eyes were finally pulled of off the phone screen, was when her mom put a full plate of food in front of her and sat down on the opposite side of the table. She must have noticed from Catra’s body language that something was up, because suddenly there was a hand gently squeezing hers.

“What’s wrong mija?”  

She averted her mother’s eyes as she picked up her fork with her unoccupied hand and started on her dinner. “It’s nothing…” she could almost hear her mother frown and could feel the hold on her hand tightening slightly.

“Does it have something to do with that girl that made you all smiley and blushy earlier?” well… her mother had always been good at reading her.

She unlocked her phone and handed it to her mother. “I feel like I’ve ruined it before it has even really started… just like usual…” she mumbled that last bit more to herself than to her mom, but her mom’s sensitive hearing picked up on it regardless.

“Hey! No self-deprecating talk in my house! Now hand me the phone so I can tell you how stupid you are being about this, I’m sure it’s nothing.” She had given her a pointed glare for talking negatively about herself, before taking the phone from her daughter to inspect the so called damage.

Her mom scrolled through the messages for a bit, before she handed the phone back to her daughter with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t really see anything wrong with it, so what exactly is the problem?”

“That I called her a nerd I guess…”

“And why would that be a problem? I’m assuming it’s just friendly banter, right?”

Flashes of what happened earlier at lunch started to replay in Catra’s mind. The way the dumbfaces had talked to Adora, the things they had said to her, the lies they had told her. She felt her fists ball up again in an automatic response. No one deserved to be bullied, and especially not someone as sweet and dorky as Adora. She started to think about whether or not she should tell her mom about it, how they bullied Adora, and how her and Catra had finally started talking.

After a moment of silence, she decided it would probably be for the best. Her mom was an honest person, and it always helped to have an outside perspective in these sort of situations to keep her thoughts from spiralling and worrying about nothing. So she did. She started to tell her mom about everything, and she meant everything. How she had been watching Adora for a few months, how she had never had enough courage to start a conversation with her, how she had seen what had happened at lunch, and about how she followed Adora to the bathroom and helped cheer her up, and finally about how they had become friends in the dorkiest way possible (and even if a little childish considering they were teenagers).

“-so now I’ve messed everything up by calling her a nerd, the same thing those idiots were calling her!”

She made an attempt at catching her breath, since she had told most of the story without breathing in between sentences. Once her breathing had finally returned to normal, she looked up to meet her mom’s eyes. She had expected something judgy, disappointment, maybe anger? She didn’t really know why though. But all she was met with was a kind smile that held exactly none of those things.

“You… you aren’t mad?”

Great, now her mom was laughing at her.

“Sweetie, why would I be mad at you for helping someone who was clearly in desperate need of it?”

“…I don’t know?”

Her mother stood up from her chair and walked over to her daughter. She enveloped Catra in a big strong hug, while going through her hair with her fingers. It took a second for Cara to register the action and hug her mom back. “Mija, I am so proud of you for helping her. I could never be mad at you for helping someone, especially someone who’s being bullied.”

She could feel the tears start to sting at the corners of her eyes, some already spilling over the edges. She held herself tighter to her mom as she spoke with a shaky voice from the pent up emotions. “But- but the message, I messed it up!”

“Have you even considered that she might have been busy?”

She thought for a moment, before finally thinking back to what Adora had said about her being busy with finishing up her homework. “I mean… maybe that’s it, but she could have just told me that she was busy…”

Her mom seemed to also think for a moment as she pulled away from the hug slightly so she could look her daughter in the eye. “You see her at lunch tomorrow, right?” she gave a small nod, while her mom dried the spilled tears with the fabric of her sleeve. “Then how about you ask her tomorrow and save the worrying for when it’s necessary? We still have food to eat after all.” That last bit dragged a small chuckle past Catra’s lips before giving her mom another nod.

They finished their food while they both talked about their day. Well, her mother talked about her day at work, while Catra mostly talked about Adora. After dinner she opened up Instagram and showed her mom some of the pictures that Adora had posted there, not that there were many. “I can see where you’re coming from” was all her mother had said while laughing at Catra being a blushing mess.

Everything would be fine, she’d just ask Adora about it tomorrow.

Not that she would ever admit it out loud, but Catra was excited to see the blonde again even if it had only been a few hours.

Stars… was this what it was like to have a crush?

She pushed that thought down as she started getting ready for bed. Letting herself fall down on her bed once more, she opened Spotify and listened to some music while attempting to get some sleep. First ones know, she needed it after the day she had had.

Chapter Text

Adora liked to get up early in the mornings. Something about the early morning sun, and birds starting their morning while chirping happily, just made her feel at ease. Even if she liked the calm the morning carried with it, she still hated to leave the warmth of her covers. Alas, she really did need to get up out of bed if she wanted to take a morning shower.

She got up out of bed and picked out some clothes from her closet, before heading over to the bathroom down the hall. She already missed the warmth and softness of her bed, but the thought of a warm shower did enough to motivate her. Once in the bathroom she turned on the shower and covered the mirror with a towel from the stack next to the sink. She started to shed out of her sleep shirt, one with the picture of a black horse and a text saying ‘Beware of night-mare’, and then stepping into the shower to start her routine.

As she stood under the hot water, her brain slowly started to wake up and remember events from the day before. What happened in the cafeteria, the panic attack she had had after, who had helped her-

Catra! Ugh, she was probably so mad at her!

She had completely forgotten that she hadn’t responded to Catra’s message. It wasn’t even her fault! Okay… maybe slightly. But only because her mother had caught her listening to music and texting Catra, instead of finishing her English homework. She had been almost done anyway, but her mother still took her phone regardless of that fact saying ‘That useless device is going to get you nowhere in life. You know what is? Hard work and focus!’ She let out a groan at the realisation that she would have to ask for it back later that morning, or she wouldn’t have it back until she would get home from school.

Washing her body at least managed to relax her to some degree, even if not fully since Adora could not relax to save her life, though some of the bruises on her arms still hurt so she had to handle them with a bit more gentleness than the rest of her body. Once she was finished showering, she stepped out and grabbed another towel from the stack. She’d just fold the one she had hung over the mirror and put it back, that way her mother wouldn’t notice.

After she was done drying her hair and body off, she started to get dressed in her maroon sweater and grey wide legged jeans. Sure, it wasn’t exactly original or anything, but it was one of the few things that was ‘feminine’ while still being comfortable. That’s what you get when your mother doesn’t like the way you actually want to dress.

After doing her hair in a ponytail with a hair poof in the front, one that she didn’t actually like but her mother did, she headed downstairs once she had grabbed her backpack and spare glasses from her room. She had found the glasses the night before, they had been the pair she had previous to the ones that were now laying broken on the kitchen counter.

Her mother had told her they would order new ones soon, but it would still take a few weeks before she would finally have them. It was slightly inconvenient since the older ones’ prescription was slightly off, so if she’d wear them for too long she would probably get a headache. It would be fine, she had survived worse than some lousy headache.

Once she stepped food into the kitchen, she saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee mug in hand. At least it was better than wine. On the table next to the newspaper, there was a small black device with a dark blue case. Her phone.

“Morning mother.” She said as she stood in front of Weaver with her hands clasped behind her back to keep her from fidgeting, her mother never liked it when she fidgeted.

She just hummed in response as she took another sip from her coffee. “I assume you’ve come to retrieve that useless piece of technology?” she nodded with her chin towards Adora’s old iPhone 10, that she had paid for herself with some money she had earned from doing chores around the neighbourhood.

“Yes Ma’am.” She tried not to let any uncertainty slip into her tone, since that was something else her mother didn’t like.

Weaver let out a sigh as she picked up the phone with her free hand, and turned it around in her clawlike hand while inspecting it. “I hope that means you’ve learned your lesson then?” She shifted slightly awkward on her feet. That was a mistake, she realised as soon as she felt her mothers disapproving gaze flicker over to her and then back to the phone.

She held out the phone for Adora, who gladly took it and immediately pocketed it in case her mother changed her mind about giving it back. “I really do hope you’ve learned your lesson. We wouldn’t want to repeat last nights’ events, now would we?”

She could feel herself freezing in place, the joy of having her phone back long forgotten. Unable to come out of her words she just hesitantly shook her head. That seemed enough to satisfy her mother, since she stood up and placed a hand on Adora’s cheek cupping it with her wrinkly thumb. “That’s my good girl.”

Adora never really knew how to feel about those words, but before she could even fully process them the hand was already gone from her face and her mother was standing tall before her with her hands held in front of her. “Now, you better head of to school. We wouldn’t want you being late.”

She gave a small nod, before picking up her backpack from the ground that she had honestly already forgotten was even there. She headed out without another word, and headed of to school just like her mother had told her to. The phone in her back pocket, and the messages on it, already long forgotten.

She needed to focus on school, for herself and for her mother.

<->

English literature had been excruciating. Seriously, who wans to read Romeo and Juliette for the 100^th time, like, really?! The year before they had read pride and prejudice, that had been a nice change. But it seemed her English literature teacher this year was just as boring and unoriginal as the ones she had the years before.

Chemistry had been fine, she never really needed to follow along during the lessons since she was more of a visual learner and would just read the theory at home and understand it anyways. Other classes she had before lunch were just as boring and agonizing as English though, so that was too bad.

What also hadn’t helped, was the fact that Adora still hadn’t responded to her message. At this point she really did start to think that she just hated her, and that she really had messed up with calling her a nerd. Stars, she had gone out of her way the day before to prove that she wanted to help Adora, only for her to ruin it all the very same day!

Okay… she should just calm down. She would meet Adora in the cafeteria and if she really was angry with Catra, then she would probably notice. After all, she didn’t seem like she would be very good at hiding her emotions.

When she stepped foot into the cafeteria, she was immediately reminded of why she always hated it so much. The noise was always too much, there were always too many people, not to mention the kind of people that were always there. Those popular dumbfaces really irritated her sometimes. Luckily they had mostly stopped bothering her after a certain incident that may have ended with her scratching a girls eye, Olivia or something, the keyword in that sentence was mostly though. Sometimes she’d still hear someone call her a dyke, or would find the word written on her locker. It didn’t bother her as much as it once did though, maybe she had finally become numb to it.

After a good minute of scanning the room for a glimpse of blond hair and blue eyes, she finally spotted her at the far end of the room near the trashcans alone at a table. She sneaked up on her and leaned in to whisper into her ear “Hey Adora”. Apparently that was enough to snap her out of her focus, as she let out a small yelp and jumped up slightly from her chair.

Once she noticed it was Catra her eyes softened from shock to a sheepish awkward expression as she blushed slightly. She mumbled a small ‘hello’ as Catra sat down next to the blushing blonde mess.

Cute…

“So, what were you so focused on that you didn’t even notice me coming over here?”

She was fidgeting slightly with the case of her phone while trying to hold eye contact with Catra. “I just… I wanted to text you back.” Her voice was small, almost as if she was scared that Catra was mad at her, while she was the one that had done something wrong. Not Adora.

So she wasn’t mad at Catra for calling her a nerd?

“Is that so?” she glanced over at Adora’s phone screen, and saw indeed their chat from the night before. She also noticed that Adora had changed her contact name to Cat-ra with an emoji of a cat behind it. That alone was enough for a small smirk to creep up her face.

She turned off her phone and fidgeted slightly with the sleeve of her maroon sweater. It really was a good colour on her, it brought out the blue of her eyes and made her hair look even more like gold than it already did. “I’m sorry I didn’t respond, I mean, I really did want to. I was making my homework and listening to music, and then I was texting you. And when I forgot to turn of the music when my mother came home- well she came up to my room and wasn’t happy that I wasn’t working on school. So she took my phone, and then I couldn’t respond. And then I forgot to respond this morning-”

Catra brought a hand up to stop her from rambling on. This girl really did worry about everything, but Catra had also been stressing about the message she had send to her so technically she wasn’t any better. Not that she was ever going to admit that out loud. “Adora, breath. I feel like you forgot how that works.”

Somehow that comment alone seemed to calm her down instantly, especially considering the small laugh it got out of her. “Yeah… sorry, I wouldn’t want to talk of your ears.” Catra raised an eyebrow at that, but apparently Adora misunderstood that action cause she immediately went back to rambling mode. “Not that there is anything wrong with your ears! Or your tail! They are perfect, you are perfect. Stars, I really need to stop talking…” she mumbled that last part once she noticed the amused look Catra was sending her.

“You really are a dork.”

“Yes, very much so.”

That made them both laugh, and a comfortable atmosphere fell over them. Honestly, Catra can’t even remember why she had been so scared that Adora would be mad at her. Like, come on, this was Adora they were talking about. One of the kindest people to have ever exist, her being mad at her would probably be close to impossible.

They had started to eat, well… Catra had started to eat. Adora on the other hadn’t done much except for push her food around, and take an occasional bite when she felt Catra watching her. Weird. Maybe she just wasn’t hungry, or had eaten too much for breakfast. They had an easy conversation going, when Catra started to pick up on a conversation happening a table behind them.

“The nerd and dyke, really?” Maybe that was Jake…

“Maybe they’re dating, it wouldn’t surprise me if that loser is one of them too…” definitely that bitch Olivia, or whatever her name was.

“And I thought she couldn’t get any worse.”

After that last comment there was laughter bursting out from that table. She could handle it, it wasn’t the first time she was being called that after all. Though… there was a sudden silence that had taken over their table. Everything that had been comfortable before had just evaporated, and was replaced with tension so thick you could cut through it with a sword.

When she looked over to the person beside her, the first thing she noticed was the tension in her shoulders and frown that had found itself between her eyebrows. She had definitely heard what they had said. Catra had hoped that maybe it had just been her sensitive hearing, but apparently Adora’s human hearing had picked up on it too. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, or a panic attack, or both. They needed to get out of there, before the jerks made another comment, or Adora would break down in front of everyone.

She gently put a hand on Adora’s shoulder, to which she flinched slightly before snapping out of her own thoughts and looking up at Catra. “Do you want to get out of here? I know a good spot.” She looked a little hesitant, like she didn’t know if she could trust Catra, but eventually nodded anyway.

“Okay, come on.”

<->

Under normal circumstances it would have been quite easy for her to get to the roof, but now she had to drag along a blonde dork that was on the verge of a panic attack. Obviously, that complicated things.

Adora probably thought she was crazy for bringing her to an abandoned corridor of the building, only to crawl out the window and climb a ladder on the side of the building. Maybe she was a little crazy, but she really couldn’t help but like the spot. Maybe liking heights came with being a Magicat, she didn’t really care as long as she could keep enjoying this spot.

And now… hopefully enjoy it together with Adora.

Surprisingly when she finally looked over to Adora, once they had fully hauled themselves up on the roof, she didn’t look at her like she was crazy but there was a furrow between her brows that indicated she was at least slightly confused.

Catra sat down on the railing of the roof, Adora seemed a bit hesitant probably due to the hight but eventually leaned her elbows on the railing that Catra was perched on. The view from up there was something that always amazed Catra, no matter how many times she would come up here during free periods or on breaks. There was still a little left over snow on the roof, as well as on the ground and grass they were looking down upon.

There was a small pond nearby that was completely frozen over, and there were a few ducks and ducklings walking over the ice, probably in search for something to eat. There was a woman walking with a golden retriever along the paths near the pond, and another man jogging over the sidewalk. Sadly the trees didn’t hold any leaves anymore, but people had put lights in them as a decoration for the holidays that were coming up. It was quite nice, especially since the days themselves had gotten darker and darker, the night lasting longer and the light day being driven away even earlier.

She had always enjoyed observing, and this was one of the best spots to do so in her opinion. She liked it because it gave her a sense of control, and like nothing could attack her or catch her off guard. Probably also a Magicat thing. She glanced over at Adora, who still held that confused furrow in between her brows.

“What are you thinking about, princess?”

Adora looked over at her while raising one brow, as the sun reflected on her glasses for a moment. “Princess?”

“You know, from that stupid game you play. What’s it called again? Sea-ra and the devil Horde?” she knew exactly what it was called, but there were still traces of a panic attack present in her demeanour. She had discovered in the short time they had known each other, that the best way to distract Adora was by teasing her.

“She-ra V.S. the evil Horde…” She mumbled as she blushed and turned her gaze away again, probably embarrassed for liking something that was so nerdy, even if everything about her was at least a little nerdy. Catra didn’t mind though, she liked everything about her. “I was just thinking… how did you find this spot?”

Catra let out a small laugh. “Well, one time when I was walking outside I noticed the ladder on the side of the building, you know, the one we just used. So one time when- well it hadn’t been a very fun day, and I remembered that ladder. So I went to the part of the school building I thought the ladder would be, and I discovered the abandoned hallway. I crawled through the window and then discovered this spot.”

Maybe one day she’d tell Adora what had happened that day, but today was not that day. Maybe once they knew each other a little longer, and trusted each other a little more. Besides, she wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.

“Do you come here often?”

She thought for a moment before answering. “Only when those jerks are being really annoying, or when I need a quiet moment to myself.”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment to ask the next question, eventually deciding she probably wouldn’t loose her head if she did. “Do those… jerks, often bother you? Like they did just a moment ago…”

Adora was probably overthinking everything they had said about them, mostly the stuff about herself though. She was just easy to read. Even if she would be gay, that would be none of their business. She didn’t want anyone else to get forced out of the closet like she had been. “Sometimes, they have been bothering me less though ever since-“

“You scratched Octavia’s eye?”

“My reputation has preceded me, I see.” She said as she threw a cocky smirk Adora’s way, resulting in her looking away while rubbing the back of her neck.

They were silent for a moment, until Adora broke it again. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Act like nothing bothers you. I can’t do that for the life of me, like you’ve probably already noticed.” She clarifies as she looks anywhere but Catra’s eyes.

Now Catra is the one avoiding eye contact as she stares down at the road beneath them. “Obviously it did at one point… I guess I just got used to it.”

“You don’t deserve what they put you through.”

Adora was staring up at her with those big blue eyes that reminded her of the ocean. Even if she didn’t like the ocean itself, something about those eyes seemed to draw her in to a degree where she would almost say she did. That statement though caught her slightly off guard once she had processed what she had just said. “I don’t-… Adora, they put you through the same shit! And they’ve been doing it to you for much longer!”

She flinched again at the anger that was present in Catra’s tone, resulting in her mentally slapping herself for talking to her friend like that. She took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. “You know you don’t deserve it either, right?”

She was now nervously fidgeting with her sleeves again. “I know… it’s just that, sometimes they are right. And it just gets in my head, they get in my head, and she-…” She cut herself of midsentence, only making Catra more suspicious. But she wasn’t about to press an issue Adora wasn’t comfortable sharing. She would tell her, probably, eventually…

“Hey, it’s fine princess. As long as you don’t think you deserve that treatment, cause no one does…” she put her hand on the one Adora had put on the railing she was sitting on. “Especially not someone as good as you.” Her voice was so quiet that for a moment she doubted if Adora even heard it, that was until she saw the cute rose coloured cheeks that she had already grown to adore.

To say Adora was speechless would probably be an understatement, she looked like Catra had created land and oceans herself, like she would give her the world. Catra wasn’t exactly so sure about the oceans and land thing, but what she did know for sure was this.

She adored Adora and would give her everything she had, even if it was not much.

She would be Catra’s world.

Chapter Text

“Katie McGrath?”

“Yeah Katie McGrath!”

Adora raised an eyebrow at her friend while carrying a fair amount of confusion. Catra let out a sigh when she shook her head in mock-disappointment. “Here, I’ll show you a pic of her, you uncultured dork” she got out her phone from her back pocket and climbed of the railing of the roof to stand next to Adora.

She handed her phone over to Adora, who took it from her a bit hesitantly. “She’s not even a hear me out, she’s a hold me back.” She said as she gestured dramatically with her hands, as if it would help Adora understand.

“I don’t really see it…” she immediately cut her sentence short when she noticed the way Catra was glaring at her. “Of course she’s attractive! I mean… anyone can see that. She’s just not my type!”

“You’re such nerd.” She said while soft chuckle escaped her lips as she looked over at the blushing and flustered blonde.

Two weeks ago she had almost had a mental breakdown when she had called Adora a nerd, scared that she would think that she was as bad as those stupid jerkfaces. But after they had talked about it, Adora had told her that it was alright for her to call her things like nerd and dork, as long as it was teasing of course.

Sometimes when she thinks about the past two weeks, the time she’s spend with Adora, she finds herself smiling with some stupid smile that matches Adora’s perfectly. She had been so alone before, but when her new friend came around everything changed. Suddenly she didn’t feel alone, nor lonely all that often. And every time she did, she thought back to that day in the bathroom.

Lonely together…

It had become her mantra, and she was pretty sure it had also become the blonde’s. It didn’t really matter if they didn’t fit in, when they could just not fit in together.

The girl in question though, had some weird if not concerning habits that made Catra question some things. The first thing she had noticed was how little she actually ate at lunch every day, and how she’d just poke around her food until Catra was done with hers. Sure, she’d take a bite every time she would catch Catra staring at her, but she had a feeling that that was just to distract her.

Another thing she had noticed was the way she would sometimes flinch if Catra surprised her, or approached her from behind. Sure, it wasn’t always, but it was often enough that Catra had started to notice.

Of course, she had already known she was a massive nerd, but she didn’t know exactly how much of a nerd until Adora had had a panic attack because she had gotten a B+ instead of an A on a test. Meanwhile there was Catra who was pretty much content with any passing grade.

She of course had her suspicions about all of this, but she didn’t want to confront Adora directly. Cause, just like the other things she had noticed, she had noticed that her friend tended to shut down easily when things started to get a little too emotional or personal. She would probably tell her when she was ready. And if she wouldn’t, Catra would find a way to deal with it.

Right now though, they were sitting on their favourite spot again. They had met up on the roof pretty much every day in the past few weeks, and sometimes even multiple times on one day. Free periods, breaks, sometimes even before or after school, all those free moments were spend siting and talking together on the roof. Time had started to move faster for what felt like the first time in Catra’s life, and she didn’t mind it one bit if it meant spending most of it with Adora.

Before she had even noticed it, they were already halfway through November. If she thought that the snow at the end of October had been bad, she hadn’t been prepared for November at all. The lakes were now all frozen over, most of them were also covered in a nice layer of snow. (Even if most of the time people would shove the snow of off the ice with a snow shovel)

Adora had been insisting on going ice skating after school some time, even if Adora didn’t have skates herself, Catra did. But Adora had been a bit hesitant when Catra had brought up asking her mom if her friend could borrow hers so they could go together. Why didn’t Adora want to meet her mom?

It was something that she had been thinking about for a few days now. Maybe if she just…

“Hey Adora?”

The blonde turned her gaze from the streets that stretched out before them, back over to her friend that had taken place on the railing once more. She hummed in response, waiting for Catra to continue.

“Would you like to come with me to my house after school? We could, you know, just hang out. And you could even stay over for dinner, I’m sure my mom won’t mind. Actually she has been asking me when you’re finally coming over.”

She could see the way Adora tensed up slightly at the idea of meeting Catra’s mom. But there wasn’t really anything to be scared of, Catra’s mom was one of the best people on the planet as far as she was concerned

“Ow uhm- I don’t know. I guess, maybe? I wouldn’t want to be a bother…”

“I’m inviting you over dummy, of course you wouldn’t be.”

Adora’s muscles seemed to relax again. She turned her head around and looked over at Catra with a small smile on her face, the corners of her mouth forming visible dimples. “Okay… I’ll have to ask my mother though.”

She could live with that. There probably wouldn’t be any reason for her mother to object to her daughter coming over to her, right?

After that conversation they sat in silence for a few seconds. Apparently Adora had been thinking about their conversation, judging from the smirk that appeared on her face as she looked over at Catra with newfound confidence.

“So you’ve been talking to your mom about me?”

Her cheeks were starting to heat up, she could feel the redness slowly making its way to her neck while her ears flattened against the side of her head. “WHAT?! No- I haven’t! I just…” Her voice trailed of as she tried to come up with a believable excuse. When she came up with nothing, she looked back over at her friend who’s cocky grin only grew wider at her silence.

“So you do like me?” her face got closer to Catra’s. “That must be so embarrassing for you.”

When did Adora get so confident, and why was Catra weirdly into it…

She shoved her by the shoulders, before burying her face in her hands at an attempt to hide her flustered state. “Just shut up…”

“You’re lucky you’re still sitting on the railing and I don’t want you to fall off. Otherwise I would have most definitely pushed you back.”

They sat on the rooftop for a while longer, but eventually lunch break ended and they needed to go back to class. What a shame…

<->

It was getting colder outside, much colder than it had been two weeks ago. If she had thought the snow back then was bad, she most definitely wasn’t prepared for this. Her whole body was freezing, and that included the parts of her body that were covered in a soft coat of fur. Well, almost everything. Her left hand was still kept warm, by a soft light one that was much bigger than hers and almost covered it completely. When Adora and Catra had started their journey to her apartment building, Catra had reached out for Adora’s hand without thinking about it.

She had seemed confused about it at first, but then threw Catra a reassuring smile that melted her heart and made her body warm up from the freezing cold they had been facing. It felt nice. At least, that was what Catra had thought multiple times on the walk home. She tried to hide how it made her feel though by burying her flustered face into her soft scarf.

The closer they were getting to the complex, the more jittery Adora got while the comfortable flow of the conversation started to slowly die down. She was now fidgeting with one of the cords on the sleeve of her jacket, pulling and twisting it between her fingers.

When they were finally in front of the building she stopped Adora outside, and reached out to hold her other hand as well. “It’s going to be alright, okay? You don’t need to be nervous.”

“What? I’m not-“

“Please Adora, you’ve been playing with your sleeve almost the whole walk here and been zoning out mid conversation.” Her tone wasn’t harsh or confrontational, she just wanted to assure Adora that it would be fine. It wasn’t like she was meeting her future family in law or something.

She looked down, as if ashamed of getting caught for being nervous. “It’s just… what if she doesn’t like me? I just want to be good enough…”

For who?

“Trust me. She’ll like you.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then that sucks for her, cause I do. Very much so.” She gave her hands a squeeze show her that she meant her words. After a bit, she gave her a small nod and they headed up the stairs to their apartment.

When they were standing in front of their doorway, with Catra’s hand already hovering near the doorbell, she could hear Adora let out a nervous breath. When she pressed the button, the door was opened within seconds. She should have expected that, since she had told her mom she would finally bring Adora over. Sophia had been very eager to finally meet the mystery blonde her daughter had had a crush on for a while.

Her mom’s eyes flickered over to their hands that were still intertwined. As soon as Adora saw that she quickly let go, while her cheeks started to turn a little rosy again. She squared her shoulders with both her hands held next to her body, before holding one out for Sophia.

“Hello ma’am. I’m Adora-”

Her friend’s formal introduction was interrupted by two arms enveloping her in a tight hug, that she had to do her best for not to flinch. Catra just shook her head as she watched her mom hug her best friend. After a bit she let go of Adora and put a hand on both their shoulders leading them inside while mumbling something about it being freezing outside.

Once they were inside and had put their jackets on the coatrack, they were sat down at the kitchen table while Sophia prepared hot chocolate for them. Adora seemed to be baffled to say the least, if what Catra could tell from her expression was anything to go by. She stole glances at Catra for help more than once, but was met with a toothy grin instead as she sat there with her arms crossed over her chest and leaned back in her chair.

When the hot chocolate was finished and her mom put the mugs in front of them, Sophia turned her eyes back over to Adora. “Would you like cookies or cake with your hot chocolate?”

“No, thank you ma’am. I wouldn’t want to-”

“She wants a brownie, trust me.”

Sophia was now carrying the same grin on her lips as her daughter, but for a completely different reason. The reason behind it was enough for Catra’s expression to fall for just a moment, before returning to her usual confident demeanour.

Her mom finally sat down after handing both girls their brownies. “So Adora, I’ve heard from Catra you’re pretty smart?”

Small talk wasn’t one of Adora’s best qualities, and Catra knew that. But she also knew that she would try her best to make a good impression on her mom, even if she thought it was stupid how hard she tried.

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“Ugh please, you’ve got straight A’s.”

Her mom looked from Catra back to Adora. “Is that so?”

She swallowed before answering while keeping her head down. “Yes ma’am.”

Catra wanted to let out a laugh at the formal way she addressed her mom, but Sophia beat her to it. “Ow sweetie, please.” She was now just straight up cackling as she dried some tears from the corners of her eyes. “Just Sophia is alright, no reason for all that ma’am bull shit.”

“Sorry ma’a- Sophia.”

While the dork was acting all flustered, Sophia and Catra started to talk about their day. Sophia told her about how a kid threw up, and another kid fainted at the sight of it. A hectic fay to say the least. Once Adora had recovered from being an awkward mess, she also slowly started to participate in the conversation.

At some point Sophia had asked Adora if she had any crushes. To Catra’s surprise Adora was now the one laughing with tears in the corner of her eye. “Please, boys are either dumbasses or major jerks. It’s not like they can act like actual human beings or at least pretend to be civil.”

“Agreed.” Catra mumbled before taking a sip from her hot chocolate and eating the whipped cream from the top.

“What about girls then?”

Catra spat the hot chocolate out pure out of shock at the sudden question from her mother. Sure, it was pretty normal for the two of them to talk about queer stuff, but her talking with Adora about it when she wasn’t even out to her yet? (Even if she was like 80% sure Adora was also on the queer spectrum.)

Adora looked visibly uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat. “Ow- I uhm… don’t know.”

“It’s alright sweetie, it was just a joke. You don’t need to tell me anything.” She gave Adora a reassuring smile, one that Catra knew by heart after all those years. She just nodded before turning her focus to her drink as Catra and Sophia continued talking about anything and everything.

After a while the two of them went to Catra’s room, mostly because she had noticed how exhausted Adora was from school and meeting her mom. Once they were in Catra’s room, she dramatically flopped down on her bed face-first and groaned into her pillow.

She looked back up at Adora when she heard soft snickering coming from the other side of the bed as the mattress dipped there. “I am so sorry about my mom, she can be quite… embarrassing.”

Her friend just shook her head in disagreement as she laid down next to her. “She’s nice. So what if she sometimes asks questions that make me awkward, like I’m not always socially incapable.” That last part was a joke, even if there was still some truth to it.

“Yeah… she’s nice. But she can be pretty nosy sometimes.”

“In what way?”

Like  assuming we are dating…

“Just the normal stuff. Like school, friends, bullies all that stuff.” There was a frown settling between Adora’s eyebrows as she stared at her. “Doesn’t your mom…” the rest of the question was left unfinished, but they both know what Catra meant.

“She cares about me… she just wants me to live up to my full potential.” She eventually says after a good minute of silence, probably having thought about how she could best answer her.

Now Catra was the one frowning. She sat up in bed and crossed her legs over each other while holding her hands folded on her lap. “You know you’re worth more than what you can give to other people, right? You don’t always need to be perfect, you’re an amazing person either way…” she didn’t know where in her speech she’d done it, but by the end of it she was holding Adora’s hand again as she stroked it with her thumb over it in small circles.

After a good few minutes of silence she had started to assume that Adora didn’t know how to respond, so she let go of her hand and laid down again on the bed. She put her arms open as an invitation “Come on dummy, you look like you need a hug.”

She hesitated for a moment, but that was probably more because of how random it was to her than if she didn’t want it, Catra decided. She leaned her head on Catra’s shoulder as she put both her hands around Catra’s torso.

Once they had gotten comfortable, she started to move her fingers through her blonde hair in a calming motion. Adora wasn’t good at relaxing, that had also been a thing Catra had noticed over the past few weeks. Somehow though, in this quite peaceful moment between the two of them, she had started to relax completely. The tension in her muscles had disappeared, and her breathing had started to calm down.

The motion of combing her fingers through Adora’s hair, was apparently enough to relax the both of them as there was a small but steady purr building in her chest. She didn’t know if Adora had noticed or just decided not to comment on it, but she was glad either way.

She didn’t even know when they had fallen asleep. What she did know was this, it was one of the best naps she had ever done. Unbeknownst to the both of them Sophia had entered their room an hour before dinner to ask if Adora would be staying over for it. After seeing how they were tangled together, both their breaths completely in sync, expressions completely relaxed lacking from any stress, she smiled softly to herself before closing the door quietly behind her.

She would stay over for dinner, at least that was what she had assumed. At the time she was just as unaware as the two girls, in regards of how many dinners like that would follow. None of them minded it though. They could all use some company. Whether it was because of being alone, being lonely, or just wanting being glad someone else was there to enjoy dinner alongside the usual duo. It didn’t matter in the end. The thing that did matter was that Catra felt safe, and Adora felt at home. Something neither of them had felt in a very long time.

Chapter Text

Adora enjoyed going home with Catra after school. Ever since she had a few days ago, they had hung out at Catra’s place almost every day. One of he few exceptions were the days when her mother would decide that she needed to be home to study, or finish up her homework. (Even if she could recite the textbooks from memory by now.) She was never good enough, at least not for her mother.

She would be though. Eventually.

Just like she had done the previous couple of days, she had went home with Catra after school. Well, that was after they had spent some extra time together on their spot on the roof. Now though? They were both cuddled up together on Catra’s bed. They had also done that almost every time she had come over. As it turned out Adora wasn’t the only one who could use some cuddles from time to time. Catra also seemed to enjoy them very much, she knew that from the purr that would always pour out of her once they had decided on the best and most comfortable position.

The first time they had laid together like this earlier that week she had fallen asleep. She wouldn’t be exaggerating if she’d say that it had probably been the best sleep she had ever gotten. She had even relaxed! And Adora never relaxed.

Of course, she was staying over for dinner again. It turned out Sophia was not only an amazing person, but also an incredible mom. She had noticed that from the way that her and Catra would interact. The way the two of them would always tell each other about their days in not only incredible detail, but also with occasional jabs and teasing each other.

She also knew it from the way Sophia treated Adora. She was always so kind and patient, but of course she also reminded her a lot of Catra. They both seemed to have a love language that included teasing, but also lots of hugs and affectionate nicknames.  

“I swear if you fall asleep and start snoring again I’ll push you off the bed.”

Adora knew that it was just an empty threat, probably, so she just looked up at Catra lifting her head from her chest. “You wouldn’t, you’re waaaaayyyy too comfortable to push me off.”

Catra scoffed as she looked away from Adora. “What?! No I’m not!”

“The way you’re purring strongly disagrees with that statement.”

She knew she had a point and apparently Catra did too. She just looked back down at her with a small smile and mumbled something like ‘Whatever dork’. So she just laid her head back down and pulled her arms just a little tighter around Catra.

“Well someone is more cuddly than usual. Something happen?”

Okay, maybe she was pushing it a bit too much. But she couldn’t help that Catra was practically a human sized pillow and that she just always calmed her in a way she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to put into words. She also smelled like freshly fallen rain mixed with something more floral, she was pretty sure that it had become one of her new favourite scents.

She just shrugged eventually. “Just a bad day I guess.”

Maybe she wasn’t pushing their boundaries after all, she thought as soon as she felt Catra’s hand start to comb through her hair. Catra had pulled it out of her tight ponytail as soon as they had arrived at the apartment, claiming that if she would keep it in for much longer her forehead would get even bigger and she would start to suffer from chronic headaches due to its tightness.

She had also discovered that Catra’s claws were perfect for combing her hair. Not that she ever needed to ask for her to do it though, sine Catra apparently also enjoyed doing it and would do it even if Adora hadn’t asked her to. “Really? Want to tell me about it?”

“Well, those jerks were just… them.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what it means… the cheerleaders kind of took my clothes after PE and ran out while I was changing. One of them also took my glasses.” She paused for a bit as she closed her eyes and kept her gaze cast down. “I later found everything in the bathroom… or rather, the bowl…”

She could feel Catra’s fur bristle as her tail lashed against the side of Adora’s leg. She could also hear her stifling a hiss, but apparently Catra did her very best to control it in hopes not to ruin the moment. “When I see those little shits, I’m going to-”

“Scratch their eye?” Adora mumbled sleepily at an attempt at a joke, in hopes of clearing up some of the seriousness. I did make Catra let out a short laugh, so at least her mission succeeded a little.

“Anything else happen today that has you so clingy?”

“I’m not clingy…” she mumbled, even if she knew that it was a complete lie on her part.

“I strongly disagree with that statement.” She mocked what Adora had said earlier.

She rolled her eyes at that remark, before she released her arms from Catra and turned away from her. She started to stare at the band posters on the wall, that had suddenly turned a lot more interesting. “My brother called me this morning…” she mumbled eventually, her voice coming out way smaller than she would have preferred.

She heard Catra sit up beside her, as the mattress dipped and shifted in a slightly different way. “Adam, right? You don’t talk about him much.”

It was true. Adora hadn’t told Catra much about her brother, but that was mostly because she hadn’t felt like talking about, nor to him lately.

“He’s a few years older and in college, we don’t really talk much anymore though…” Catra let out a small ‘ow’ before letting her continue. “We were inseparable when we were younger, but-” she cut the sentence short when she realized what she was about to say. She knew she could trust Catra, but not with that… besides, she was just overreacting. Their mother wasn’t that bad.

“It doesn’t matter… we just don’t talk much anymore. He’s busy living college life, making friends, and getting his degree. And I’m busy with school and trying to just graduate.”

“So, why did he call?”

“To tell me he wouldn’t be home for the holidays.”

She had known the call was coming for a while now. Of course, she had still let a small part of her hope that she would get to see her brother again. Face to face. The videocalls were fine, but she just wanted to hug her brother again and look at his stupid face in real life, not through a dumb screen.

She understood why he wouldn’t be coming home though. Most of the time their Christmases would just consist of them going to church and having something nice for dinner, only to avoid the ground floor and their mother for the rest of the evening. Maybe she had been naïve for letting herself hope. She should have just expected her brother to leave her alone. Alone to deal with her problems, to deal with school, with bullies, and alone to deal with Weaver. Everyone left her eventually after all.

“-dora”

Her gaze snapped up from the spot on the wall she had been staring at to meet those gorgeous gold and cyan eyes. Her eyebrows were starting to form a small frown, with a crease in between them “Hey ‘Dor… You kinda zoned out there for a sec.”

She muttered a small apology while staring back down at her hands, that were clutching the soft sheets.

“It’s fine… do you want to talk about it some more?”

She shook her head slightly, hoping that it was alright if she didn’t want to. Luckily Catra didn’t seem to mind, since she just laid back down on her back and opened her arms back up for her friend. She didn’t waste as much as a second, before they were cuddled up again on Catra’s beds.

Just like she had done before, Catra started to stroke her hair again. Stars, Adora loved it when she touched her hair. There was just something so calming about it. But then again, somehow almost everything she did made Adora feel better, even if not always intentionally.

She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but when she woke up from the nap she was met with a pair of hazel eyes and a pair of gold and cyan staring at her, both Sophia and Catra also caried a small smile that was tugging at the corners of their lips. One that perfectly matched the fond looks on their faces.

Sophia was leaning against the open doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. “Dinner’s ready. I assume you’re eating with us again today?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble…” She didn’t want to be a bother to them. She already knew that their money was probably tight and she didn’t want to add on to their troubles. The thing was, they never made her feel like a burden or something that came even close to unwelcome.

She let out a small chuckle as she shook her head in amusement. “It isn’t mija. Trust me.”

She had learned in the past week just how much she enjoyed having dinner with the D’riluths. The conversations were always pleasant and entertaining, filled with jokes, jabs, and funny stories about their day. Sometimes Sophia would tell her a story about something Catra had done when she was younger, resulting in an embarrassed Catra and an amused, laughing Adora.

There was always enough food even if money was tight, and they never gave her a weird look if she went for seconds. Not to mention how good the food actually tasted. At one point she had asked Sophia if she had been a master chef in a past life, of course it had resulted in her being a little awkward from the compliment. As it turned out, Catra had inherited that rosy blush from her mom. Catra would always look better with it though.

Just like always, the food had been amazing and Adora had not only went for seconds, but also thirds this time. She was about to apologize for eating so much, but Sophia had already assured her that it was fine and that if she had wanted a fourth serving it would have also been fine.

After dinner, clearing the table and doing the dishes, they moved over to the couch and had put on a movie. She had never really been one for movies, or maybe that was just because she had never found the right company to watch one with, but she most definitely enjoyed watching them with Catra. Of course, she enjoyed the cuddles and popcorn that came with them just a bit more.

Halfway through the movie though, her phone had started to buzz from incoming notifications. The first few she had just ignored, but after a few minutes her phone went of again, but now there was a caller idea appearing on her screen. It was her mother of course. There was really no one else besides her brother who would randomly call her like that.

She had quickly detangled herself from Catra, who gave her a weird confused look as she awkwardly excused herself, as she shuffled over to the hallway to pick up the phone.

“Mother?”

“Adora, why aren’t you home yet?”

“I went to Catra’s after school, I sent you a message.”

It was true, she had sent Weaver a message saying she would be going home with Catra and would have dinner with them. But she should have known better than to think that her mother would be fine with it, she had probably expected her to be home by now and continue her studying.

“You did, but you still have schoolwork to finish. I expect you to be home within the next 30 minutes, or there will be consequences.”

“But mother-”

“I gave you an order, Adora. Now. Do. You. Understand?”

She kept her eyes downcast and felt that she was curling in on herself again, even if her mother couldn’t see her in the moment. “Yes, ma’am…”

“Good.” After that she was met with a beep indicating that her mother had hung up. She could feel her muscles growing more tense at the thought of going back home, going back to her.

She really didn’t want to, but she also knew she didn’t have much of a choice.

So she took jacket from the rack and put it on, before grabbing her backpack. When she entered the living room again, already ready to head out, Catra seemed confused to say the least.

“My mother called me, I still have some schoolwork to finish up.”

Now there was a frown placed on her face as well as Sophia’s. “Didn’t you finish it during your free period?”

“I did, but…” she held the strap of her backpack just a little tighter, while trying to come up with something that would sound at least a little reasonable. “I have a chemistry test next week that I really need to study for.” At least, that’s what Weaver thinks.

Catra threw her head back while groaning, resulting in her mom chuckling slightly under her breath. “Like you aren’t going to get a perfect mark anyways.”

She noticed the time on her phone and saw that 5 minutes had already passed. It was a 25 minute walk from Catra’s to her home, she really needed to leave now if she wanted to be home on time. “Catra, I’ll see you at school tomorrow, but I really need to go now.”

“Ugh, fiiiinnneeee. See you at school tomorrow, dork.”

“See you tomorrow, Cat.” She gave Sophia a grateful smile before she turned around to head out. “Thanks for dinner, Sophia.” She closed the door behind her and started her journey home. Maybe if she walked fast enough she would still be back on time?

<->

She wasn’t.

Honestly, that one was on her for having hope, that something would for once work in her favour. Sure, some things had been in her favour and some things had changed for the better. Though, most of those things involved Catra. Maybe she had become too dependent on her new friend. Was she really that clingy? Catra had told her she was, right?

As soon as she opened the front door and stepped foot into the hall, she immediately felt herself tense up again. She subconsciously fixed her posture and headed over to the living room where she assumed her mother would be. There, sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in one hand and a mostly empty bottle on the coffee table, was her mother.

“I’m home…”

“So I’ve noticed.” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “I’ve also noticed that you’re late.”

She shifted her weight slightly, feeling smaller under her mother’s gaze. She knew she wasn’t a small child anymore, she knew she wasn’t powerless, she knew she was smart, and most of all she knew she was technically a good person. But her mother knew exactly how to make all of those things just disappear into thin air.

“It was just two minutes, I didn’t think that-”

She knew she had messed up. As soon as she had noticed that the 30 minutes were up, she knew that her mother would be like this.

“Well, you thought wrong.” Weaver got up from the couch after setting her, now empty, glass on the table. She walked over to her daughter, and immediately Adora noticed the smell of strong liquor staining her. That’s when she realised that the empty bottle of wine wasn’t the only thing hat her mother had had.

She needed to be careful.

She was now standing in front of her. Back straight, stone faced, hands held behind her back. She looked down at Adora with disdain, like she had many times before. She wasn’t always that bad though, sometimes she’d earn some praise or a smile for good measure. Those were the moments she hoped for, that she longed for. The moments that she felt like she was making her mother proud.

Not moments like these. Where her mother would be looking at her like just looking at her daughter repulsed her. Like she was one of the worst mistakes she ever made. Like her existence was just one big disappointment. Maybe sometimes she believed it too…

She felt a hand rest on her cheek. Not the comforting kind though, but more like the condescending kind. When she was younger, her and Adam would always describe their mother’s hands like claws. But not the ugly ones you usually see on all kinds of beasts in movies, but more like the elegant ones that also held a slight edge of danger.

She turned her daughter’s chin upwards so she’d meet her gaze. “I really thought I had raised you better than to disobey me. But I suppose you have always been the more disappointing one of the two.” The hand was dropped from her face, only then did she notice a prickling pain on the spot where her mother’s fingers had been.

She knew it was true, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“You’ve been distracted the past few weeks, haven’t you?”

“No ma’am.” It was the wrong answer and she knew it as soon as she sad it. She could tell from a lot of things, but the most prominent was the way her mother’s nostrils flared slightly as she huffed in indignance.

“That wasn’t a question. You have been distracted.” She walked over to the coffee table and picked up the mostly empty bottle, before downing whatever was left in it. “What was her name again?”

“Catra… Catra D’riluth.”

Weaver clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as she circled around her daughter, who was standing rigidly with her arms still at the side of her body. “Catra D’riluth… Why does that name sound so familiar?”

She knew exactly why, but she couldn’t tell her. Not if she wanted to keep being friends with Catra. She wasn’t the best liar, but she could pull this off. For both her and Catra’s sake. “I don’t know ma’am.” Her voice cracked, like it always did when she would be nervous.

Her mother noticed this too and immediately halted beside her. “You aren’t lying to me, are you? You know I hate liars, child.” She knew, she knew that very well.

“No ma’am…” She managed to keep her voice steady this time, even if the nerves hadn’t decreased at all.

 Her mother just let out a small hum before she took a few more steps, so she was towering over Adora once more. “I won’t allow you to be distracted. So you either get everything together, or I will take care of it myself.”

She thought back to what Catra had said to her, about school and how she was already getting perfect grades. Was there still more to get? Would it ever be good enough… for her, for her mother?

Catra… she thought back to Catra. Catra wasn’t a distraction, she was an amazing person that made Adora feel like she could be half as amazing as her! Maybe… she could make her mother-

“But mother, I’m already getting straight A’s and I’m-”

She didn’t even register the pain at first. The first thing she noticed was the ringing in her ears, then the fact that she was no longer looking up at Weaver. She was on her hands and knees on the ground, while a salty liquid dripped down her face. Only after she had registered all that did she start to feel the pain that was now present on the side of her face and the headache that was also starting to form.

The side of her face felt like it was on fire, hot, burning, a sensation that was taking over. Her vision was blurry, her glasses fallen to the floor just a few feet away. Of course the tears weren’t helping. Wait. Tears? She was crying. She really shouldn’t, it could only make things worse.

When her ears started to function again she could hear the small sobs that were coming from her, she tried to hold them in as soon as she noticed them. “Pathetic…” she didn’t know if it were here own thoughts saying that, or if it was her mother. It didn’t matter, she knew it was true.

“I will not have a failure for a daughter, am I clear?”

She couldn’t answer. She wanted to, she really did, but she just physically couldn’t.

She felt a hand grab the collar of her shirt and lift her up from the ground. “I asked you a question. Was. I. Clear?”

Barely louder than a whisper she muttered out a weak “Yes ma’am…” resulting in her collar being let go of and dropping back on her hands and knees. She moved one of her hands to the side of her face to assess the damage.

Her mother gave a small approving nod as she turned around and started to walk away.  Just before she left the room she looked back over her shoulder at her daughter. “And Adora?” she met the gaze of her mother, strong and filled with mock-confidence that was fuelled by the liquor. “Don’t ever disobey me like that again.”

She didn’t even wait for a response that time, already knowing her daughter would listen. Especially after what had just transpired. Adora was left alone. Side of her face stinging, not only physically but also emotionally hurt, her glasses somewhere on the floor hopefully not broken. Alone… she was alone. Even if she was around someone else, she would always be alone. Even when she was around people, even when she was with people she loved, she was alone. Alone and lonely. Even someone as gorgeous, snarky, caring and kind as Catra could ever fix that. Could fix her.

Chapter Text

She was trying her best to sleep, but the fact that her pillow kept moving made that task pretty much impossible. She wouldn’t change her pillow for the world though.

“Catra, mija, please leave the poor girl alone. She’s trying to cut the vegetables and you’re really in the way.”

Great. Now she was awake.

She opened her eyes and glared daggers at her mom, who was sitting on the other side of Adora. “She’ll deal with it.” Now the pillow was moving, but because of a completely different reason. Adora was doing her best not to chuckle. A well known fact between the three of them was that both Adora and Catra enjoyed their cuddles and being close together, the problem was that it made tasks like preparing dinner a lot harder.

Adora put down the knife and started to brush through Catra’s brown curls with her fingers, before getting to a spot behind her left ear and scratching the base of it lightly. She looked down at Catra, silently asking for permission to continue. Instead she was met with the comforting sound of a purr that rumbled out of Catra’s throat.

“It’s alright ma’am-” she cut of her sentence as soon as she saw Sophia raising an eyebrow at her for the formal way she was addressing her. She quickly corrected herself though. “Sophia… I said Sophia… Anyways! I’ll be fine, I just want Catra to be comfortable and if that means I need to find a different way to make chopping vegetables work, I’ll gladly do it.”

“I know sweetie, but Catra can find another pillow.” She glared at her daughter. “One that doesn’t have their hands full already.” Catra groaned slightly into the pillow that Adora had put down on her lap so she would be extra comfortable. Catra was just making up for their missed cuddle time from last weekend. For some reason Adora was never allowed to come over on the weekends, so they just made up for it today.

Catra, with her face still pressed in the pillow, muttered “Don’t listen to her. She just likes to see me miserable.”

Adora got down to Catra’s ear and whispered “Well, we wouldn’t want that…”.

Her cheeks changed colours so fast she couldn’t even try to avoid it. Apparently Adora was also surprised by the sudden intimacy and by what she just did, she quickly backed away again and cleared her throat. Meanwhile Sophia was sending the both of them a knowing smirk.

There was a moment of awkward silence, one that Sophia seemed to enjoy a little too much. Eventually she decided to have mercy on the other two by breaking it first. “So Adora, any plans for the holidays?”

She maybe could have imagined it, but she swore that Adora got tenser for a moment before relaxing again as soon as Catra started to purr again. She didn’t know if Adora knew it, but she noticed that it would calm her down most of the time so sometimes when she noticed Adora stressing or tensing up she would try to calm her that way.

It wasn’t like she had to force it anyways.

“No, not really. Well that is besides going to church with my mother and probably having dinner together.”

“And Christmas morning?”

Adora picked up the knife again and continued cutting he vegetables, while trying to move as little as possible to not disturb Catra. “Not much probably.”

Now Catra was looking up at her with those big cute eyes that were now full of confusion. “You don’t do presents with your family?” she saw Adora’s eyes flicker over to their tree that they had put up way too early, already seeing that there were multiple presents placed under it.

“My mother says Christmas isn’t about presents, but the thought behind the holiday or whatever…” she kept her gaze trained on the vegetables, not once looking up at either Sophia or Catra.

She of course already knew Adora wasn’t exactly looking forward to the holidays, but she didn’t know that it was that bad. She also knew that it would probably only be her mother and her, so it wasn’t even like she was going to be spending it with her family.

Catra had already told Adora about how they celebrated most times. They didn’t invite other family members either most of the time, but those reasons were probably way different from Adora’s.

Her and her mom would always wear matching Pj’s, would have all kinds of desserts for dinner, only to watch sappy Christmas movies with a big bowl of popcorn and some mandatory hugs. In the morning they would always bake pancakes together and after they had cleared the table, they’d finally open the presents they had gotten for each other.

It was great. But it made Catra a little sad knowing that Adora didn’t have that.

While Sophia and Adora continued silently working on dinner, Catra filled that silence with soft purrs every time she would get some form of attention. She really needed to control herself better in the future.

<->

They were clearing the table together, while having a comfortable conversation flowing between the two of them. Adora had left pretty quickly after dinner, saying that she needed to get home to finish up her school work. An excuse she used pretty frequently, she suddenly realised.

There were a lot of things about her that didn’t really make sense and things that concerned her. Sure, she had already thought about them before, but the longer she knew her the more prominent some of those things became.

“Something wrong, mija?”

She must have been frowning or something, not that she could help it. she was pretty easy to read whenever she was thinking about Adora. “Mama?”

“Yeah, sweetie?” she had a small smile on her face as she dropped her towel on the kitchen counter and turned around so she could properly talk with her daughter.

“Do you think Adora acts… weird sometimes?” she didn’t really know how to put it any other way, so that would have to do.

“The same girl that always insists on calling me ma’am? The same girl that zones out all the time? The same girl that has been attached to your hip for the past few weeks, like she’s never had friends before?”

“No- I mean yes, but not that kind of weird…” Maybe she shouldn’t have brought this up with her mom after all, maybe she was just being paranoid.

Her mother walked over to her and gave her a hug from behind. “Then what kind of weird do you mean mija?” she asked her in a much softer tone as her tail brushed itself against Catra’s.

“I’m just… worried about her sometimes.” She mumbled eventually, maybe a little embarrassed to admit that she was worried about someone she had only known for a few weeks now. But then again, she felt like she had known her for much longer, like Adora had been a missing piece from her life without her even knowing it.

Her mother hummed as she gave her daughter a small squeeze before letting go of her and the hug. “Maybe some tea while we talk about this?” she asked her, hoping that the idea might help calm her down and get her thoughts back in place so she could explain it properly to her mom.

Catra gave a small nod, signalling that she would like that very much. She would never admit it out loud, but she always loved how her mother would help her with stuff like this and would never judge her for it. “Alright then, how about you sit down on the couch and I come join you in a moment with some fresh tea?” she gave another small nod before moving over to the couch and making an attempt at getting comfortable.

Like promised, her mother joined her after a few minutes carrying two big mugs that smelled like herbal tea, the best kind in Catra’s opinion. She sat down next to her after she put the mugs down on the table. Wordlessly Catra scooted closer to Sophia, like she had already done many times before,  followed by her being enveloped in a comforting embrace by her mother.

“So kitten, tell me what has you so worried.” She spoke softly as if she was trying not to spook a small scared animal.

She took a deep breath, trying to put together the last few of her messy thoughts. She just hoped she could explain everything decently to her mom. “It’s just… she always seems so focussed on school. And when I say always, I mean literally always. The thing is, she already knows everything that’s written in those damn textbooks and she still seems to always be studying.”

Her mother wasn’t interrupting her and she could appreciate that. At least that would procrastinate the judgement she would most likely face from her for a few more minutes. She was just being paranoid after all.

“And it’s not just the way she is so focussed on school, it’s also her mother. I just know something’s up. I don’t know what, but it probably isn’t good. When we first started meeting for lunch I would sometimes surprise her, but she’d flinch most of the time and when she wouldn’t, it seemed like she was trying to suppress it.”

She took a moment to catch her breath since she was pretty much just rambling on without taking a break to breathe, just putting every little thing that had bothered her up until now out there. “And there’s this weird thing where she always wears long sleeved clothing. Like, I get it, it’s literally freezing outside. But the school building’s like a fucking bonfire! Not to mention the way she literally calls every adult sir or ma’am. Even you! And when she was talking about her holiday plans, it seemed like she wasn’t looking forward to any of it. That’s also weird right? I get that everyone celebrates it differently, but it just seems like she’s dreading it at this point. And get this, her brother isn’t even coming home for the holidays. Her brother!!”

Sophia waited for a bit, until she thought her daughter had calmed down enough for her to say something about everything her daughter had just told her. “I’m assuming this has been bothering you for a while now?” she gave her mom a small affirmative nod, before she took a small careful sip of her still hot tea.

“And have you tried talking to Adora about any of this?”

“I have! But every time I try, she just changes the subject or gives me some stupid non-answer.”

Sophia hummed as she took a  sip of her own tea, her and Catra shifted their positions a little bit so they were still sitting close together but in a way that they both had some room for movement. “Maybe she just isn’t ready to talk about that kind of stuff. You also have to realise that you two haven’t been friends for that long. That, plus the fact that the both of you have gotten close pretty quickly, probably adds onto her not being quite comfortable sharing everything with you yet.”

Catra glanced down at the tea mug in her hands. “I’m just worried about her, mama…” Her voice was soft, so soft, she was scared that it would maybe break mid-sentence.

She squeezed her daughter’s shoulder softly as she gave her a kind smile. “I know mija, but you know how hard it can be to open up to people. That’s something you can’t control and honestly shouldn’t even try to. You can however make her feel comfortable around you, so eventually when she is ready she’ll talk to you about it.”

She buried her face in her mom’s shoulder while groaning slightly in pent up frustration but also resignation. “I hate it when you’re right…” she mumbled into the soft fabric of her clothing, her voice sounding a little muffled.

She let out a small chuckle, before starting to stroke her daughter’s hair. “I know, but that’s what moms are for. Now tell me. What is something you can control about this situation?”

Catra thought about it for a moment, while she let herself relax for a bit under her mom’s soft and calming touch. “Christmas? We could maybe invite her over. Maybe then she’ll be looking forward to it, instead of dreading it…” she muttered sleepily while stifling a yawn.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” She said while smiling at her adorable daughter. She could never say it out loud, but her daughter could be really cute from time to time. But she was already pushing her boundaries every time she would call her something like ‘kitten’.

She was now closing her eyes as she snuggled closer to her mom, both their tails tangling together. “I could buy her some stupid game as a present…” her words were starting to slur slightly now.

“Ow?”

“Yeah… Adora’s a massive nerd, she has this stupid princess game she plays… it’s cute though.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing anyway. “She’s cute… dork”

It took a few more seconds but after a bit there were soft snores coming from Catra that were also being combined with a soft purr that rumbled out of her. There was also a soft content smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Sophia could feel herself smiling at to sight. Those two were so in love, and they didn’t even realise it.

Adora was lucky. Not necessarily when it came to life itself, but more on the aspect of her and her daughter. She for one knew just how much her daughter could love, and how much she would love. And Adora? She would be loved more than anyone else on the whole planet, cause she would be loved by her daughter.

And she didn’t even doubt for a single second that her daughter would be loved just as deeply in return.

https://www.tumblr.com/communities/she-ra-and-the-princesses/post/800963836558655488/a-sketch-ive-made-of-catra-and-adora-on-a-roof?source=share

(A sketch I've made of Adora and Catra on the roof together)