Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Catra frowned.

She stared at the blank sheet of paper in her sketchbook and back at her.

Oh god. Her.

The “her” Catra was referring to was Adora. This stereotypical jock. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the most beautiful smile that shone like a lovely summers’ day.

Today she wore a red bomber jacket, some dorky band t-shirt, a pleated black skirt over fishnets, and she still had the same blue eyes that shone like the ocean at dawn.

Or maybe sapphires? Catra thought. She groaned, resting her head on her sketchbook before looking up at her again.

Adora sat at a crowded lunch table with a bunch of girls Catra recognized from the softball team, laughing and talking. Scorpia rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey wildcat…” She started. Catra glared at Scorpia who was fully aware of her hatred for that nickname. Scorpia apparently didn’t notice.

“Can I have the rest of your fries?” She said, gesturing to Catra’s untouched tray. Catra nodded, looking back at the sketchbook.

She smoothed her mess of curly hair and sighed, picking up her pencil and glancing back at Adora. Catra started to sketch, lightly feathering a head, admiring each pencil stroke that was a part of her. Loving every crosshatch, every eraser mark and mistake.

The bell signalling the end of lunch interrupted Catra’s train of thought. In a blurry haze, she dumped her tray, gathered her things and walked down the crowded hallway on her way to bio.

————————————

Bio went by uneventfully with Kyle messing up as usual, Glimmer and Lonnie bickering, and the teacher giving all three of them detention.

Catra walked out of the biology classroom, sketchbook, notebook and binder in hand. Scorpia linked her arms with Catra’s, startling her. Scorpia smiled.

Catra met Scorpia at the start of sixth grade, Scorpia was bright and sunny back then and still is now, with Catra maturing to be more nihilistic and carefree. They were best friends despite their difference in personality, mainly because of Catra’s love for poetry and Scorpia’s love for theater.

“So, what club are you gonna join?” Scorpia asked, tucking a lock of her bleached hair behind her ear.

Catra smirked. “You already know the answer, Scor.”

“Yeah,” She sighed, drawing out the word way longer than it needed to be. “But you might’ve changed your mind,”

“I never do, though.” Catra said in a sing-song tone. Catra spotted her creative writing classroom up ahead so she unlinked her arm from Scorpia’s and waved, perking up at the sight of a blonde ponytail entering the classroom.

————————————

Mrs. Mara sat on the edge of her desk at the front of the classroom, whiteboard marker in hand. Catra took her seat, her leg already bobbing up and down from excitement.

When the bell rung, Mrs. Mara hopped down from her place on the desk to close the door and returned, uncapping her marker.

“Today, your assignment is to write about your favorite person. Include every detail you feel comfortable sharing, their hair color, eye color, what it feels like when they laugh, really let your emotions out. You have thirty minutes.”

Catra furrowed her brow. Adora sat two seats to the right of Catra, probably writing about her boyfriend, while Catra stood still. Stagnant. Pencil unmoving. She closed her eyes and sighed softly.

Her hair was a blonde that swished as she walked, a sapphire blue that somehow shone bright in the dull fluorescent lights of the school, her laugh gave Catra nostalgia for something she’d never even experienced before.

Catra hesitated for a second before writing paragraph after paragraph about Adora, her pencil flitting above the page, articulating analogy after analogy of a girl who she didn’t even know.

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Chapter Text

Adora blinked twice before scanning over her paper again.

It was a mediocre paragraph of awkwardly-linked together metaphors about Glimmer’s dyed hair over and over along with a few lines expressing her general appreciation of her sticking by her side since elementary school.

Yikes.

“Time’s up,” Mrs. Mara called from the front of the classroom. She collected the papers and placed them in a neat pile on her desk, before gesturing to the class with her uncapped dry erase marker.

“Today’s exercise was about raw emotion. Articulating feelings into words and putting them onto the page. To some, it comes naturally, and to others it’s more difficult. Both are perfectly fine. This class is about pushing out words and feelings from your heart and writing them down, usually forming a story from that amalgamation of phrases and emotions, and I’m here to help you with that, so don’t fret.”

Adora smiled. Mrs. Mara’s voice was soothing, comforting her worries and insecurities about her writing.

The bell rang, and Adora gathered her things, a red notebook, a small pencil pouch with a bunch of keychains and pins attached to it and her binder. She walked out of the classroom, passing by a short girl with a mess of curls talking to the teacher. Adora noticed she was wearing a shirt for one of her favorite bands and mustered up the courage to say:

“I, uh, like your shirt.” Before blushing and walking out at a faster pace.

————————————

“Adora!!” Glimmer called out from behind her. Her wavy lavender hair was swept to the side, a hint of the original dark brown peeking out from her roots, several piercings being shown off, most of which her mother was unaware of.

Adora grinned, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Glimmer caught up to her, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” she chuckled.

“Bow asked me out!”

Adora blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Don’t act so shocked, you know I’m irresistible.”

Adora struggled to hold in her laughs.

“Anyways, his dads are letting him have a party this Friday and I got invited, along with the ability to bring a plus one. And as my oldest, closest, bestest friend-”

“I’ll go.”

Glimmer squealed in glee. “Ah! Perfect, thanks babe!”

“No problem,”

Adora arrived at her physics classroom, still thinking about that girl in the band shirt.

————————————

“A party? Scor, you know I don’t do that sort of thing,” Catra groaned.

“But-”

“I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of hanging out with a bunch of drunk, horny teenagers, Scorpia.”

Scorpia sighed in defeat, deflating.

“I’ll do one thing of your choice with you if you do this one thing for me. Pleaseee?

Catra massaged her temples and sighed. “Will you give me a ride?”

Scorpia punched her fists in the air, silently expressing her victory as to not anger the librarian.

“I’ll pick you up at 9 on Friday” she said before returning to her studying.

Catra opened her sketchbook, gazing at the sketch of Adora for the umpteenth time that day, tracing her finger along the smooth curve of her lips.

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Chapter Text

The rest of the week passed by, uneventful to Catra. She helped Scorpia practice lines after school, and baked some cupcakes with her that turned out to be a disaster.

But then Friday night came.

Catra sat on her bed, staring fixedly into her closet. After a few minutes of groaning and indecision, she picked out a black cropped hoodie with the logo of the band Adora complimented her on the other day, paint-stained jean shorts over sheer tights, and red Converse that reminded her of Adora.

Her phone rang with a call from Scorpia, and Catra came outside to find her sitting on the hood of her car.

“M’lady,” Scorpia said as she offered Catra a hand in her overly dramatic fashion. They both burst into laughter as Catra took her hand and sat in the shotgun of Scorpia’s beat up car.

Scorpia turned on the radio to a station filled to the brim with cheesy pop songs about summer love. Scorpia beamed at her, sending a flurry of joy through Catra as Scorpia’s smile simply lit up the night sky.

“So, Wildcat…” Scorpia said, looking at Catra out of the corner of her eyes.

“Yeah?”

Scorpia blushed and focused on the road again. “N-nothing, just trying to make conversation,” she stuttered, approaching a stop light that bathed them in crimson light.

They arrived at the party a few minutes later, Scorpia parked in a pseudo-legal way and they both walked into the house.

It was...a little underwhelming.

Catra had been to parties before, though those were mainly small watch parties with few of her close friends sitting on the floor in front of a TV while they smoked weed and played truth or dare.

She was expecting something more along the lines of teen rom-com party where the heroine and her love interest meet, music blaring while they kiss, though Catra knew that was extremely hopeful.

There were a few people there already, a small table with booze and those stereotypical red Solo cups, and Spotify queued up on someone’s phone. Not too overwhelming, it was just the perfect amount of controlled chaos for Catra.

She awkwardly shuffled in between people, making her way to the drink table. She cut some rum with Coke, took a sip and coughed. After a few more sips, she got used to the sweet flavor, bopping slightly to the music.

She noticed a simple blonde ponytail out of the small crowd, talking to a shorter girl with amethyst-like hair that shimmered.

All thoughts left her mind in that moment other than a single word:

Adora.

Echoing over.

And over.

Again and again until the only thing Catra could hear was the melody of heartbeat.

————————————

Adora laughed at a stupid dad joke Glimmer told her, her standards for humor significantly lowered by a few drinks. Adora wasn’t that enthralled by alcohol, disliking the bitter aftertaste that usually came.

Tonight she didn’t care.

She sipped slowly at her fifth cup of beer (Maybe sixth? She lost count after the third.), passively listening to Glimmer’s anecdote, she looked around at the few people in the room. After a second, she noticed the same girl from Mrs. Mara’s class. The girl turned around, not noticing Adora’s gaze.

She was wearing a hoodie from the same band as the t-shirt Adora complimented.

Did she wear that for me?

The chances were slim, but Adora liked the thought of that so she turned away from the beautiful girl, smiling at the notion as she took another sip.

————————————

Chapter Text

Someone had brought a bluetooth speaker, the music loud enough for Catra to snap out of her daydream. She winced, a headache setting in but after a few minutes she came to ignore it.

Catra closed her eyes, and started dancing. She moved her body in several slick and graceful movements to the rhythm of the song, simply feeling like a bird finally let free of a claustrophobic cage.

Despite this, her thoughts were still pinned on Adora.

Feeling particularly ballsy at the moment, Catra blinked a few times and decided to approach her. She craned her neck, searching for that golden ponytail. When she found it, Catra squeezed her way through a sea of people before finally facing her back.

Her hair was pulled up into its usual style, but from the back Catra could see a few bobby pins pinning some parts up. Adora wore a patterned button-up shirt the same color as her eyes that was too big for her, skinny jeans that must be dreadful to wear considering the weather, and she still had that same glow around her that instantly puts you at ease.

“I- uh, hi.” Catra stuttered, feeling her face heat up a thousand degrees. Adora turned around, her eyes widened significantly.

Adora was now staring at her, obviously processing something or waiting for a response.

“So I was just dancing and I saw you and thought ‘Oh damn that’s a cute girl, i should talk to her’ and so I did, and now we’re here.”

Great pickup line Catra, you’re the absolute best at flirting.

Adora laughed. “Wow. That’s uh- Wow. I’m flattered you think that I’m cute.” she smiled, leaving Catra a blushing mess.

After a second, she realized that this type of thing was usually followed up by a “But, I have a boyfriend” or a “But, I’m not into girls, it’s not a personal thing, sorry” and so she prepared for the worst.

But that didn’t happen.

“Do you wanna hang out with me and my friend?” Adora asked, gesturing to the shorter girl with purple hair with a tilt of her head. She was a few inches shorter than Catra, her dyed hair swept over her left shoulder. She wore one of those pretty bomber jackets with koi fish on the back, a light pink shirt, cut-off shorts and a particularly disdainful look towards Catra. Catra looked away from the girl, and back at a beaming Adora.

She nodded.

————————————

While she, Glimmer and the beautiful girl talked, Adora’s mind raced.

Her heartbeat sounded like a large church bell, worryingly close to bursting out of her chest.

Adora bit her lip and blurted out, “So you like Waterparks?”, gesturing to her hoodie. The girl blushed.

Oh god.

“Yeah,” she laughed.

Did she know that Adora was the one who complimented her shirt last week? It was inconsequential so probably not, and this is just a coincidence.

Right?

Adora decided that if she was going to make a fool of herself, she better go all in.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Catra,” she answered, deliberately not looking at Adora.

Shit.

“That’s such a pretty name! Uh, I’m Adora and this is-”

“Glimmer.” Glimmer said, scowling directly at Very-Beautiful-Catra.

“So, Catra, do you have any particularly interesting interests? I just want to get to know you because you seem like a fantastic person,” she said, smiling with anticipation.

“Well, I like poetry, writing, art, retro video games, watching softball but not playing it. That seems like it,”

She laughed. “Well I like playing softball and I’m on the team so, come to a game sometime?” Adora tried her best to phrase it like a question rather than an imposition, but she still sounded pretty douchey.

“If I come to a game then you have to come over to my house so we can bake, deal?” Catra giggled, seeming like she had a few drinks in her. She offered her hand nonetheless.

Adora shook it.

“Deal.”

“Then it’s a date!” she smirked.

Date.

Date.

Date.

The word felt foreign in Adora’s thoughts but this instance of it was...comforting.

Adora nodded and the two of them talked a bit more. At some point, Glimmer mumbled something about finding Bow, but Adora didn’t notice.

She couldn’t when a disco ball like Catra shone so bright.

————————————

Chapter Text

Catra smiled, her skin a perpetual warmness. Adora’s tiny laughs and giggles tickled Catra’s sense of reality, overflowing her with joy.

Apparently, Bow had taken out a karaoke machine, so now a bunch of drunk girls were singing along horribly to nostalgic pop music from the 2010’s.

Catra and Adora turned around to stare at the shitshow of a drunk Scorpia singing ‘Teenage Dream’.

“Shit,” Catra whispered. Adora tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s my ride, I need to check on her.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back, I promise.” Catra smirked at Adora and waited for Scorpia to finish her song. As soon as she finished, she stumbled into the kitchen and Catra followed.

“Scorpia?”

The girl turned around, her cropped bleached hair a mess, eyeliner smeared a bit and face thoroughly flushed.

“Wildcat!” she boomed, scooping Catra’s petite frame up and hugging her. Catra smiled but shook her head and put on a straight face. Scorpia let Catra go, full of giggles, and light as air.

“Scor, how many drinks did you have?”

Scorpia furrowed her brow, trying to count on her hands. After a second, she held up seven fingers on her friendship bracelet covered arms excitedly.

“Sweet Jesus, Scorpia. How’re you gonna get home?”

“Entrapta offered me a ride,” she said smiling like a fool. Catra sighed but Entrapta was competent enough to handle drunk Scorpia.

“Fine. Call me when you get home,”

“Yep!” Scorpia got up on the counter, and patted Catra’s head. She smiled and waved, and Catra felt unsure, but she turned and found Adora in the chaos of the party nonetheless.

Adora’s face lit up when Catra found her, reaching out her hand. Catra’s eyes widened and she took her hand, the places where Catra’s palm touched Adora’s lighting up like fireworks.

“Do you wanna...just hang out upstairs?”

Catra blinked rapidly, processing what Adora asked and the ramifications of it.

Is she-

No.

Adora isn’t the type of person to…

Catra mentally hit herself for wandering off on a daydream, trying to think of reality again.

The reality where she and Adora had just met that night. The reality where Catra was an artist with a few friends and couldn’t mean anything important to Adora. The reality of now.

“Sure!”

————————————

Chapter Text

Adora grinned and led Catra upstairs, stopping at a door. She knocked lightly and when no one responded, opened it.

It was a small bedroom with green wallpaper and sparse decoration, a few pictures of Bow, his siblings and his dads, a queen bed and a mesmerizing window seat.

“It’s a guest room,” Adora explained, laying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. Catra hesitated. Adora sat up and patted the space next to her on the bed, inviting Catra to sit.

Catra joined her, and the two girls laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, the muffled sounds of music from the party barely audible.

Adora didn’t dare speak, not wanting to ruin the moment. She simply reached out for Catra’s left hand, yearning to hold it, craving its warmth. Catra blushed but offered her hand and the two lay in silence, hands intertwined and a thousand questions still hanging in the air.

Adora turned her head, gazing at Catra whose eyes were closed.

She could notice tiny details about the girl that you couldn’t from afar.

For one, she had tiny freckles sprinkled across her nose, cheeks, stomach and legs. One of her eyes was a beautiful hazel, becoming more of a chocolate brown towards the iris. Her other eye was a beautiful blue-ish green that was starkly contrasted by her tan skin and dark brown hair. Adora let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, enraptured by Catra’s beauty.

“You said you liked swimming, right?” Catra said abruptly, interrupting Adora’s unusually meticulous observations.

Adora nodded, taken aback. Catra blinked and sat up, starting to run down the stairs, the two of them racing out of the party. She seemed to know where she was going and she didn’t know if it was the drinks or genuine feelings but, Adora trusted Catra so much in that one moment, that she simply closed her eyes and let Catra guide her.

After what seemed like miles, Catra stopped and Adora opened her eyes.

“A pool?” Adora cocked her head. “It’s closed, Catra.”

“Nothing’s closed when you can scale a fence, dummy.”

With that, Catra started to climb. Adora stared in awe at the girl, sitting on top of the fence of a public pool, drowned in moonlight, without a care in the world.

Fuck it.

Adora mimicked Catra’s movements, slipping a few times, but after a few minutes she was straddling the fence. Catra was already on the ground looking up at her, but Adora was stuck.

“I know what you’re gonna say, don’t worry, just jump down gently and you’ll be fine.” Catra called out. She was now sitting with her legs crossed, your traditional kindergarten “criss-cross applesauce” style.

Adora trembled.

“Are you scared of heights?”

“Heights? No. Falling? Yes.”

Catra stood up, rubbing the back of her neck. “Just trust me, you'll be fine.”

A leap of faith.

Adora dismounted the fence, greeted by a beaming Catra, her eyes glinting softly.

Catra walked a bit further from the fence, starting to take off her hoodie. Adora’s face burned red-hot, and she fiddled with her hands.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Well, we’re going to swim, aren’t we? And I assume you don’t have a swimsuit on?”

“Well-” Adora fidgeted, shifting her weight a bit. “You’re right but-”

“But?”

Catra continued to strip and Adora still averted her gaze, hands crossed over her chest to stop from fidgeting. She heard the sound of a slap against the water, and the slight hum of the pool filter.

Is this a bad idea?

Considering everything up until this point, it was all a bad idea, verging on a mistake.

Adora took a deep breath and looked at the pool with Catra treading water, her mess of beautiful, her chocolate colored curls surrounding her, the pale moonlight dousing her skin in an ethereal glow.

She started to unbutton her shirt, resulting in whoops of glee from Catra. When the shirt fully came off it was silent for a moment before Catra let out an over-exaggerated wolf whistle. Adora kicked off her sneakers, and unbuttoned her shorts, leaving her clothes in a pile next to Catra’s.

With a running start and no lifeguard to yell at her, she dove into the water, splashing Catra and enveloping her.

In the few stagnant seconds she was underwater, everything was calm.

No uncertainty.

No accidentally falling in love with a girl you just met tonight.

Only this moment.

Only her.

Only Catra.
————————————

Chapter Text

Catra and Adora chatted about every possible topic in between splashing each other and laughing like idiots.

Adora’s eyelashes looked translucent with a combination of the moonlight and the water droplets that lingered. Her eyes sparkled in a way that made Catra weak in her knees.

She snuck a few glances of Adora's bra, never forgiving herself for doing so.

“Wait, wait wait.” Adora said, using exaggerated hand gestures to splash Catra with water on “accident”.

“Yeah?”

“So you actually had a crush on William Shakespeare in seventh grade?” Adora giggled.

“Yes, shut up!” Catra said, hitting the pool with a loud slap, sending water in all directions.

“God, you’re a nerd,” she said, still laughing, preparing to block any water that came her way.

“Well so are you,” Catra countered, pouncing on her.

Catra came hurtling at Adora and out of instinct caught her, the two now hugging awkwardly.

Adora hurriedly let Catra go, both girls incredibly flustered.

“I’m sorry,” Catra said, biting her bottom lip.

Adora blushed, her red face painfully visible. She quickly mumbled an excuse and climbed out of the pool, heading towards her pile of clothes.

“Adora!” Catra shouted desperately, just wanting one, blissful, wonderful moment without ruining it.

————-

Adora turned around slightly, taking in one final image of Catra, trying to ignore the pained look on her face.

“Goodnight, Catra. I had a good time.”

————-

Chapter Text

That night, Catra cried. She wept and yelled, not doing much of anything else. She thought a thousand “what ifs”, all about Adora.

“I miss you.” she whispered, wanting to scream it, wanting to punch the wall.
Catra spent the entire weekend like this, ignoring a plethora of texts from Scorpia, and blasting music at full volume on her roof, definitely worrying her neighbors.

She didn’t care.

Catra dreaded creative writing class but anticipated it at the same time. She both wanted to beat the shit out of Adora and also to talk to her, to get her number at least.

Dammit.

Sunday evening, Catra thought of Adora. She wanted to be with her. To feel Adora’s breath on her neck as she did unspeakable things to her.

Catra closed her eyes and thought of this until she drifted off to sleep, wishing and hoping.

————————————

Adora stared unblinking at her ceiling, trying to recreate that night.

That wonderful, crazy, fucked up night.

She wanted to travel back to that one moment. To stop time and gaze at Catra, study every facet of her irises, love every curl,

Kiss her again,

And again,

And again.

————————————

Mrs. Mara smiled.

“I hope you all had a nice weekend, because today we’ll be doing another exercise. I want you to write a fictional story based on an event that happened to you this weekend.”

Oh fuck me.

Catra glared at the paper. She didn’t dare glance to the right as she normally did, struggling to keep her frustration centered on her blank paper.

Only one thing of note happened during her weekend.

Adora.

Adora hit her like an eighteen-wheeler, surprising her at every fucking second. She made her dizzy and much more audacious.

Catra scowled and used that audacity.

She wrote line after line about Adora, redacting the part where they were both tipsy. She wrote about those stagnant minutes in the guest room. About what could’ve happened at the pool. About the dizzy, flustering, bemusing nature of being near Adora.

Catra didn’t usually know what she wanted.

But now she did.

————————————

Chapter Text

Adora stared straight forward, not once glancing at her paper.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of anything that happened that weekend, it’s that there was too much that happened.

To put it simply,

Catra happened.

But it was so much more than that.

In those few hours that she and Catra had spent together, Adora’s life had turned upside-fucking-down. Catra ripped apart any expectations Adora had of her and it was fantastic.

It was bliss.

Adora’s head was muddled with questions such as:

Why did I leave?

Why did I scale that fence?

Why did I trust her?

Why did I go to that guest room?

Why?

Adora hardly knew who she was anymore, as Catra had torn that apart too.

Before Catra, she wouldn’t willingly go to an unknown location with a random girl.

But Catra’s not a random girl.

Before Catra, she wouldn’t agree to a date with a random girl.

But Catra’s not a random girl.

Before Catra, she wouldn’t feel weak in the knees because a random girl jumped on her.

But Catra’s not a random girl. Adora yelled internally.

There was a before and an after for Adora.

Before Catra, and After Catra.

Before Catra, Adora was a softball player with a love of baking and polaroid cameras. After Catra, Adora did things like trespassing on a public pool at midnight with a girl from a party.

Jesus Christ.

————————————

Mrs. Mara collected the papers, Catra’s filled to the brim with her gushing about Adora. The bell rang and she got up, intending to interrogate Adora on her way out. But Adora was already headed towards her.

Fuck.

“Uh, hey” She said, staring at her shoes intently.

“Hey Adora.” Catra replied, her words soaked with vitriol. She internally smiled at Adora’s speechlessness, making Adora suffer the same inability to read her emotions that she had that night.

“So...I just wanted to give you my number.”

The acidity in Catra’s expression disappeared, replaced with surprise.

“I- uh- Thanks,”

Adora handed her a slip of paper with her phone number written in small, neat penmanship, and hurried off, a smile fully visible.

“Huh.” Catra said, muddled with what just happened. She smiled and walked out of the classroom, intending to scream with Scorpia about this.

————————————

Chapter Text

That night, Catra sat on her bed, the bright screen of her phone dousing her in blue light.

She hesitated.

This is a bad idea. Such a fucking horrible idea.

She dialed the phone.

It rang a few times, and on the fifth, Adora’s groggy voice came out of Catra’s speaker.

“Catra?”

Hearing her voice sent sparks through Catra, loving the slight roughness of her voice and the tone that made everything sound lovely, like a warm winter’s day in front of the fireplace.

She snapped back into reality.

“Hey Adora,”

“What do you need this late?”

“Okay, I know I’m going to regret this but I think I love you. You’re just so wonderful, and I feel complete with you and the world absolutely sparkles when you’re there, and it’s fine if you don’t respond now but I just wanted to get this off of my chest.”

Catra’s face flushed and she panicked, hitting the glaring red end button.

God fucking damnit.

She set her phone on her chest, scowling. Not at anything but also everything at the same time.

At herself for doing that.

At Adora for spending that night with her.

At Bow for hosting the party.

At everything.

And nothing.

Catra felt her cheeks wet and cursed, throwing her phone across the room and turning over in her bed, trying to fall asleep to escape it all.

————————————

Adora blinked in shock.

“She…”

Adora rubbed the sleep from her eyes, trying to decipher what just happened.

She said she loved me.

Butterflies flitted around uneasily in Adora’s stomach.

She hit redial as the butterflies filled Adora to the brim.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And then Catra picked up.

“A-adora?” she stuttered, her voice cracking a bit.

“Get dressed, I’m picking you up. Text me your address and I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Adora mentally reminded herself to yell at the wall later for simply blurting out what she was thinking.

“I’ll get ready then,” Catra said, hesitating a bit. Adora smiled because she didn’t just pull the stupidest move of the century and sat up on her bed.

“Alright.”

And with that she hung up.

————————————

Chapter Text

Adora paced around her room for the next three minutes.

Shitshitshitshitshithshitshitshit

Shit.

She pulled on a light yellow cardigan to cover up her old, loose graphic tee that she used as a sleep shirt. She assumed the athletic leggings she already had on would be fine so she checked her phone, the screen lit up with a text message from Catra with her address. Adora entered it into her phone’s map and sighed, trying to come up with a gameplan.

Her eyes drifted to her wall of polaroids, eyes lighting up.

That’s it.

She grabbed her car keys and dashed out the door.

————————————

Adora sat in the drivers’ seat of her car. Hesitating.

It had been about eight minutes since Adora had hung up and she hadn’t moved an inch in the last four. She sat stagnant in the darkness, the golden glow of the streetlamps being the only light for her eyes.
“Oh fuck it,” she said, hitting her head against the steering wheel, putting the key in the ignition, hearing the dull roar of the engine.

She lifted her head, staring into the abyss, the light hum of the car combined with the chirping of cicadas fueling her yearning. She shifted into drive, slowly going down the empty road, prepared for Catra.

————————————

Catra sat on her porch, wearing a worn-out hoodie and capris, her mind running a mile a minute. She lay in wait, staring out at the empty street. A silver car pulled up, the metallic finish shining in the dim smolder of the street light. Adora climbed out, slamming the door quietly, looking both careless and completely engrossed in every detail of Catra.

She strode up to the porch, holding out a hand towards her. Catra took it, both not saying a word.

Adora opened the door for her and she got into the car, quietly assessing the situation. Adora got in after her, putting the key into the ignition, the dead silence broken by the quiet hum of the car.

She drove on a road Ctara didn’t recognize, stopping at a gas station.

“Do we need gas?” Catra asked, confused and slightly nervous. Adora shook her head and gestured for Catra to come with her. They stopped at the door of the convenience store that lived up to its name by being conveniently near the gas pumps. There was a light smell of propane from the tanks by the door, stinging Catra’s nose.

“Could you sit here for a sec?” Adora said, her voice hoarse. Catra blinked before sitting on the curb, biting her lip.

Adora disappeared into the store, and Catra waited for her yet again, the cool summer night breeze comforting her and tickling her skin.

A few minutes passed and Catra heard a jingle and then she was swathed in warm fluorescent light. The door closed, light disappearing and Adora sat on the curb beside her. She offered a package of candy and Catra took it. There was a light crinkle of cellophane as she opened the bag, but Adora didn’t look, staying transfixed on her shoes.

“Want one?” Cara asked, tilting the open bag of gummy worm towards Adora

Adora nodded and took a small handful, biting a worm in half in frustration.

She looked up at the sky, the stars dim from light pollution. “I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes and sighed.

Catra chuckled. “What do you need to be sorry for?” she asked as she sucked on a worm. As she talked, she could see Adora’s face turn pink.

“We were drunk, and I did some stupid shit and I’m so fucking sorry for leaving you that night,” Adora said, rifling through the plastic bag and taking out a lollipop.

Catra blinked and smiled. “Hey Adora,”

“Hm?” Adora unwrapped the lollipop, sticking it in her mouth, the dye already staining her tongue purple.

“When’s your next game?”

“H-huh?” she stuttered.

“We agreed that I could come to one of your softball games and afterwards we would bake at my house. Are you still up for that?”

Adora fidgeted with the plastic bag, crinkling the plastic between her fingers. “Thursday,”

Catra stared at Adora, studying her downcast eyes, shining dimly like a roaring ocean. Catra noticed the hidden facets of gold in Adora’s eyes, matching her hair that was down for once. Adora looked up and Catra’s gaze didn’t move, still mulling over the girl. She smirked and inched closer to Adora.

“Can I...uh,” Catra trailed off. Adora’s eyes widened and she nodded, seeming to get the message.

Catra leaned in, burying her hands in Adora’s hair, her lips gently grazing Adora’s. She was like a drug and as Catra inhaled her sweet scent she rose to the clouds, finally understanding what the word bliss meant. Adora’s eyes closed along with Cara’s, both quiet in the moment once again.

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Chapter Text

Adora’s heart pounded, deafening her ears. She couldn’t tell where Catra ended and she began, the two of them moving in harmony, in sync. Catra was a punch to the darkness, an improvement to mediocrity.

And she loved it.

Adora shuffled away from Catra, taking a second to realize what she had done. She looked back at the girl who practically shined and held Catra’s head in her hands. Her eyes floated around the familiar face, searching for the right words.

“I-”

Catra smiled. She moved her own hand up to Adora’s and gently brushed her thumb over her knuckles. Adora laughed and Catra blushed. The two girls sat like that for a second before Catra stood up. She clasped Adora’s hand in hers, guiding her to Adora’s car.
She opened the door and tossed Adora her own keys which she somehow got in the heat of the moment.

She uttered only a few words that made Adora weak in the knees.

“Drive. I don’t care where, just do it.”

And so Adora drove.

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Adora simply pressed the gas pedal, Catra in the passengers’ seat, enjoying every moment. Adora neared an achingly familiar sidewalk and sighed.

“The pool?” Catra smirked.

She nodded and climbed out of the car, Catra following soon after.

The blonde settled her foot into a link near the bottom and started climbing, faster than last time. She got to the top and straddled the fence, stopping for a moment before jumping down softly.

Catra stared in amusement, her head tilted to the side. She shrugged and started climbing and ended up on the other side of the fence in a few graceful movements.

She sat on the rough concrete, waiting for Adora for the third time that night.

I’m always waiting for her aren’t I?

Catra looked up at Adora, and caught her eye. She held Adora’s depthless cyan gaze for a full minute and got up to her feet, edging closer to her. Adora didn’t look away as Catra grabbed her cardigan’s collar and kissed her, the heat in Catra’s cheeks rising as she kissed the girl like she longed for during that night in the pool.

Adora felt like the funny feeling of rain on a summer's day, bewildering, lovely and perfect all at once. Adora wrapped her hands around Catra, pulling her in. Catra surreptitiously loved this girl with every inch of her body and every inch to come. She could taste Adora’s citrusy lipstick that had already slightly stained her lips. Adora’s embrace felt warm

Catra’s heart soared dizzily as she stopped and stared at Adora, disoriented by the soft smile that honeyed her face.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Adora teased. Catra tilted her head in bemusement as Adora checkled sofly and kissed her softly, her lips grazing Catra’s. The stars dimmed simply for the two girls that night, letting them shine on their own.

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Chapter Text

Two weeks later, Catra wrote a poem for the second meeting of her school’s poetry club.

It read as follows.

Your hair glistened with every movement in the shitty strobe lights.
Your eyes sparkled endlessly in the dull shine of the moon.
Your hand fit into mine perfectly.
You were my epiphany.
My eureka.
You saw the ichor that resides in me.

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