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There was no hiding how utterly enamoured with Vi Caitlyn was. It was honestly becoming a bit embarrassing.
"I still don't understand why you won't tell her that you like her," Viktor said, leaning heavily on his cane. Caitlyn fiddled with the keys to her flat, trying to ignore the swathes of people in the corridors coming out of her neighbour's flat.
"Because it's mortifying," Caitlyn said in a low voice, pressing herself closer to the door to avoid being trampled.
"How can it be more mortifying than whatever it is you're doing with her now?" Jayce asked, providing a reasonable point.
For the last few months (in other words, since they met), Caitlyn had been frequently making a fool of herself in front of Vi. When Jinx — Caitlyn's roommate — moved in, Caitlyn honestly hadn't expected anything to come of it. Jinx was annoying, sure, but she kept to herself enough and was studying at weird hours so she was usually asleep when Caitlyn got home from class. What Caitlyn hadn't expected was for Jinx to come with a sister. In fact, not only did she come with a sister but she came with a hot sister.
It was completely unexpected and frankly ruined everything.
Caitlyn had met Vi when Jinx moved in. Vi had come to help her move her boxes into her room and Caitlyn had been so stunned upon seeing her that she'd not even introduced herself. She'd just slipped into her room, pressed her back against the door and silently screamed.
Vi came around semi-frequently and the second time she came Caitlyn had to introduce herself. Unfortunately, she hadn't realised Vi had been there and she'd come out in her pyjamas and nearly tripped over her own feet upon seeing Vi in the living room.
The third time they'd met Caitlyn did actually trip over and Vi had caught her with a chuckle and helped her up. Caitlyn hadn't stuck around for long after that.
The fourth time Caitlyn had answered the door and gaped at Vi for a good few seconds before she'd remembered to step aside and let Vi in through the door and even then she'd only remembered because Vi had asked if she wasn't allowed in.
So, altogether, it was incredibly embarrassing and it wasn't as simple as just talking to Vi as Caitlyn had tried talking to her and was clearly incapable of it.
Finally, Caitlyn found her flat's key and unlocked the door. Upon walking in, she was met with the sight of Jinx and Vi on the sofa watching a film.
She could feel her face heat up instantly and she froze in the doorway.
"Sprout?" Jayce asked, poking her. "Keep walking?"
Caitlyn's face was practically glowing at this point. "Oh. Yes."
She stiltedly walked across to the kitchen area.
"Hey, Caitlyn," Vi said, beaming and waving. "Who's this?"
Caitlyn cleared her throat, looking at anything but Vi's charming smile. "This is Jayce and Viktor. They're friends of mine. Jinx, Viktor's an engineer too."
"You're an engineer?" Viktor asked with genuine curiosity.
"I'm studying to be one," Jinx corrected, leaping up from the sofa to go and shake his hand. "It's really cool. I love it."
It was at this moment that Caitlyn realised she'd made a mistake in introducing them as they quickly became utterly enraptured in their own discussion, which left Jayce, Vi and Caitlyn to make conversation amongst themselves.
"You must be Vi," Jayce said genially.
"You've heard of me?" Vi asked, sounding surprised. Caitlyn tried to elbow Jayce behind the table but missed.
"Uh," Jayce said, glancing at Caitlyn, who tried subtly to shake her head. "No. I mean, not really. In passing. Once or twice."
Vi raised an eyebrow, lips twitching. "I'm flattered. How did you meet Caitlyn?"
"We grew up together," Caitlyn interjected somewhat smoothly to save Jayce. "Our families are somewhat close."
That only seemed to spur Vi on further. "So you knew Baby Cait! What secrets do you have to tell me?"
"Well, one time, there was an explosion in our lab—" Jayce started. Caitlyn interrupted him with a pointed cough. He faltered. "Uh, that Caitlyn had nothing to do with. She was always the good student."
"I was more of a troublemaker myself," Vi said, winking at Caitlyn, who could have sworn she was about to plummet down a chasm that would open up in the floor any second. "I shouldn't stick around. I'll be a bad influence."
"No!" Caitlyn said, far too loudly and far too quickly. "Um, I mean… I'm sure you won't be. I'm perfectly capable of maintaining my own innocence."
Oh good, she just had to phrase it like that.
"I'm sure you are," Vi said, her eyes flicking up and down. She pressed a thumb to her mouth, wiping away something Caitlyn couldn't see.
"I should get going," Jayce announced suddenly. "Viktor, come on."
Viktor, who had been in a passionate discussion with Jinx, frowned as Jayce grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the door.
"See us out, sprout?" Jayce asked.
"The door's right there," Caitlyn said, squinting at him.
"See us out?" Jayce repeated a little desperately. Caitlyn shrugged and complied, following him to the door. Jayce launched forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Stunned, Caitlyn hugged back.
"What's this for?"
"She likes you," Jayce hissed in her ear.
"What?" Caitlyn squawked.
"Sh!" Jayce warned. "She's totally flirting with you. It's so obvious! You should ask her out."
"Are you crazy?" Caitlyn whispered. "There's no way."
"Are you guys okay?" Jinx asked. "You've been hugging for a while."
Jayce abruptly pulled back. "Yep. We're fine. Everything's normal. See you soon."
He glared at Caitlyn, mouthed something completely incomprehensible and turned and left with a cheery wave.
Caitlyn shut the door.
"That was weird," Jinx remarked.
"No it wasn't," Caitlyn said hastily. "I'm going to make some coffee. Vi, do you want coffee?"
"Sure," Vi said.
"I'm here too by the way," Jinx muttered. "Would you like coffee, Jinx? No, thank you, Jinx, but nice of you to ask."
"Shut up," Vi said. "Don't you have a test to study for?"
Jinx threw up her hands. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted."
She stormed off to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Caitlyn winced. "Should you go after her?"
Vi shook her head. "Better to let her calm down a bit first. She's not really mad."
Caitlyn thought she seemed pretty mad but didn't argue. She turned her attention to the coffee machine. Behind her, she heard the scraping of Vi pulling out a chair at the table to sit down. Having to wait a few minutes for the coffee, Caitlyn reluctantly turned around, leaning against the counter and folding her arms.
"Your friends seem nice," Vi said.
"They are," Caitlyn said. She thought that perhaps this was the longest conversation she'd ever had with Vi and counted that mentally as a win.
"I've never actually asked what you're studying," Vi said.
"Law," Caitlyn answered. "Criminal law specifically. I want to be a criminal barrister. Are you studying anything?"
Vi shook her head. "No, school isn't really for me. I work at a boxing club. I'm hoping to own one at some point."
That would make sense. It would explain why Vi was so physically fit. Caitlyn had caught a glimpse of her abs once when she reached up to get something out of the cupboard and all she could think about was pushing up Vi's t-shirt and—
"That's great," Caitlyn said, cutting off her own train of thought. "I've never boxed. I used to do archery though."
"That's so cool," Vi said, grinning. "I've never done archery. I'll show you how to box if you show me how to shoot."
Caitlyn's heart skipped a beat at the thought of spending time with Vi as a social activity. "Yeah, absolutely."
Vi's eyes locked with Caitlyn's for a beat. Caitlyn looked away first.
"Boxing must be interesting," she said, tapping her fingers against her arm. "You must meet a lot of awesome people."
Vi nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Everyone who boxes has a story, you know? They all have a reason why they're into boxing."
"What's your reason?" Caitlyn asked. "Sorry, is that too personal?"
Vi leaned back in her seat. "Uh, no, no it's not. It's just a bit sad, I guess. Mine and Jinx's parents died when we were kids and then our adoptive family died and so I got into boxing as an outlet. It's a way for me to express my anger."
Caitlyn hoped the smile she gave was comforting. "My mum died a couple of years ago. I can't imagine losing so many people. Losing her was bad enough."
"That sucks about your mom," Vi said. "Did you get along?"
Caitlyn chuckled. "No, not really. She didn't like me going into criminal law. She thought it was too dangerous."
"I can understand that," Vi said, "but it's your dream, right? You should follow your dreams."
Caitlyn smiled. "Thanks. You should too. My dad says that pain shapes us but it doesn't define us. It doesn't set anything in stone, even if it's got a bit of a mould."
Vi bit her lip. "Yeah. I like that."
Caitlyn let herself look at Vi for a moment and found Vi looking back.
A beep of a phone broke the stillness.
"Shit, sorry," Vi said, scrambling for her phone in her pocket. "That's my boss. I have to go."
Caitlyn tried to mask her disappointment. "Oh."
She failed miserably.
Vi got up and headed for the door.
"What about your coffee?" Caitlyn asked.
"Can I take it to go? I'll bring the mug back," Vi promised. Caitlyn poured a cup of coffee into a mug and handed it to Vi.
"You better bring that back," Caitlyn said. "It's my favourite mug."
It was a total lie but it made Vi smile. "I'll bring it back. It was really nice talking to you."
"You too."
Vi opened the door but stopped and turned around. "Hey, um, this might be crazy and way off the mark and let me know if it is but I feel like I should repay you for the coffee."
Caitlyn frowned. "No, take it. It's fine."
"No, I really think I should repay you." Vi's face was turning slightly pink. "Maybe I can buy you a coffee sometime?"
It took Caitlyn a solid five seconds to realise what Vi meant. When she finally did realise, her face felt like it was on fire. "Oh. Oh. Yes! Yes, of course. You should repay me."
Vi let out a breath and grinned. "Okay. I'll do that. Maybe tonight? I can pick you up at five?"
Caitlyn nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's fine."
Vi nodded back. "See you then."
She waved with her free hand and bolted off.
Caitlyn shut the door and let out a high-pitched noise that she would deny making to her dying day.
—
Five o'clock could not come fast enough.
Caitlyn had changed her outfit several times, brushed her hair repetitively if only to soothe herself and had re-done her make up twice because her eyeliner wasn't sharp enough.
She needed this to go well. She hadn't felt this nervous since she had her university interview.
"She's just a girl," Viktor said. Caitlyn could just make him out on the FaceTime in the background as he tinkered with an old watch that had been Jayce's grandfather's or something along that vein.
"Exactly," Jayce said, moving the camera to fit his face in. He FaceTimed like a grandma with his face fully in the picture and nothing visible in the background.
Caitlyn squinted at herself in the mirror, adjusting her phone so that it rested against a stack of books on her bed from which the boys could accurately judge her outfit.
"She's not just a girl," Caitlyn protested, flattening the crinkles on her dress. "She's Vi. She's… She's kind and funny and hot and not to mention she's my roommate's sister so if I screw this up I'm out of a girlfriend and a flat."
"I'm sure that won't happen," Jayce said placatingly.
"What? Me screwing up or Jinx kicking me out?"
"Either. It'll go great. Be yourself."
"That's the worst idea you've ever had," Caitlyn told him. "She's going to hate me."
The doorbell ringing interrupted whatever retort Jayce had to that.
"Shit!" Caitlyn jumped away from the mirror, grabbing her phone and ending the call. Tossing her phone into her handbag, she slung said handbag over her shoulder and headed for the door.
When she caught sight of the doorway, Jinx was already opening it.
Vi stood there, midway to knocking, in dark trousers and a loose fitting shirt, her nose piercing switched out from its usual hoop to a shiny stud. She looked like she'd dressed up a bit but she also looked like she always did: beautiful.
"What are you doing here?" Jinx asked, wrinkling her nose.
"I, uh…" Vi glanced behind her sister and laid eyes on Caitlyn, making a small choked sounding noise.
Caitlyn looked at her feet, smiling a little to herself.
Jinx looked between them, rolled her eyes and groaned. "Fine. Go have fun."
Vi grinned. "Thanks. We will."
Caitlyn hurried past Jinx in case she changed her mind. The door slammed shut behind her.
Vi and Caitlyn stood in front of the door for a second, neither quite looking the other in the eyes.
"You look pretty," Vi said, breaking the silence.
Caitlyn's face felt like a furnace. "You too. You're pretty. You look pretty."
Vi smiled. "You know, I don't think anyone's ever called me pretty before."
Caitlyn frowned, looking up to meet Vi's eyes. "Why not?"
Vi shrugged, appearing a little bashful. "I don't know. Guess I'm not the kind of person who people associate with looking pretty."
Caitlyn's frown deepened. "Well, you do. You look pretty."
It was an outright injustice that no one had ever told Vi that before. Caitlyn was determined that, if allowed, she would tell Vi that she was pretty as often as possible.
"Thank you. Shall we go?" Vi asked.
They walked down the stairs, shoulders bumping, and out along the street to the nearest cafe.
It was a quaint thing and Caitlyn had been there several times at ungodly hours of the morning to get coffee before lectures.
The barista, whom Caitlyn recognised as Skye from one of Viktor's classes, smiled at them as they both came in. Caitlyn ordered a coffee and, to Caitlyn's surprise, Vi ordered a herbal tea.
"I didn't have you down as a tea kind of woman," Caitlyn remarked as they sat down at a table with their drinks. "You had tea at mine and Jinx's."
Vi took a sip of her tea and exhaled loudly. "I'm full of surprises."
Caitlyn suppressed a smile that would have been so wide it might have come off as creepy. "What other things might I find surprising about you?"
Vi chewed the inside of her cheek, contemplating the question for a second. "I can't drive. Never learned because I'm terrified of crashing the car. I take the bus to work every day."
Caitlyn's eyes widened. "You don't. You can't! The buses are—"
"Horrible, I know," Vi said, chuckling, "but cars are deathtraps."
"Not if you have a good driver," Caitlyn argued. "Speeding, distractions and not obeying legal driving restrictions are the leading causes of car accidents. Most people are probably going to get in at least one minor car accident throughout their life but the big ones aren't ridiculously common. It's rarely the car's fault or the road's."
Vi grinned. "So you're saying I should pay a good driver to chauffeur me around instead? I don't have that kind of cash."
Caitlyn thought privately of a flat several months or over a year down the line where she'd wake up in the morning in loving arms, make her coffee and a cup of tea and drive Vi to work on the days when she could. She decided not to mention that fantasy. She was doing her best not to ruin things as they were.
"I guess not," Caitlyn landed on saying. "You should still learn. You never know when it might be useful."
"Maybe I should," Vi said. "I've thought of another surprising fact about me."
Caitlyn leaned forward, pushing her cup of coffee to one side. "Go on."
They ended up staying until closing time two and a half hours later with cold drinks and stiff backs from being sat down for so long. They talked about everything either of them had to talk about. Caitlyn found herself relaxing by the third embarrassing family story Vi told and even shared some embarrassing stories of her own childhood. They talked about their dreams and their fears and their losses and their loved ones.
Eventually, Skye came up to their table to tell them the cafe was closing for the evening.
Upon hearing this, Caitlyn was disappointed that the evening was about to end but Vi simply beamed at her and said, "Fancy a walk?"
They walked to the local park and sat on the swings beside each other, gently moving back and forth.
"I've had a great time talking to you," Vi said half-casually as she glanced at Caitlyn.
Caitlyn smiled. "I've had a great time too. I can't believe I was so scared."
Vi's face fell. "Scared?"
"Not like that!" Caitlyn rushed to assure her. "Not scared of you. I was scared that I was going to mess things up. I don't know if you've noticed but I act like kind of an idiot around you."
Vi shook her head. "I don't think you do at all."
Caitlyn met Vi's eyes. "Really?"
"If you do then I'm worse," Vi said, laughing. "I've been making such a weirdo of myself for months now trying to flirt with you."
Caitlyn let her hand slip off the swing's chains and reached across to place it on Vi's knee. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you flirting. I'm really bad at social cues."
Vi grinned and placed her hand over Caitlyn's. "It's okay."
She stood up abruptly and Caitlyn followed after her.
"Are you okay?" Caitlyn asked, terrified that she'd said the wrong thing.
Vi took a step closer, one hand coming up to gently take the side of Caitlyn's neck. Her hand was warm against Caitlyn's skin, her thumb resting just behind Caitlyn's ear with steady, grounding pressure.
"This is a cue that I'd like to kiss you," Vi said in a quiet voice.
Caitlyn laughed, gently shoving Vi's shoulder. "Shut up. I'm not that thick."
"So can I?"
Caitlyn pretended to think about it. "Yeah. Go on then."
Vi's grin widened and she leaned in.
Caitlyn had never been kissed like this before. When she'd kissed people, it had always been a tentative, stilted thing or a messy, drunken haze. This was different. It was somewhere in between.
Vi's lips were so soft with a small dip where she had a scar through her top lip and yet her hand on Caitlyn's neck was firm and kept Caitlyn in the moment. She was pressing herself closer to Caitlyn and she was so warm and gentle and just the right amount of rough and so alive and herself and everything Caitlyn had ever wanted.
Vi pulled away with Caitlyn subconsciously chasing after her.
"Cait," Vi breathed. "Was that okay?"
Caitlyn just kissed her again.