Chapter Text
Dani didn’t really know what she was waiting for. It had been a long day—Boston’s show had left her feeling strange, but in a way that felt familiarly hungry, and at the same time filled with this poorly concealed excitement for what was coming next. New York, she thought, was without a doubt going to be one of their best shows.
Daniela could already imagine the audience, pouring out energy like it was the last concert of their lives; she could already feel her body vibrating along with the speakers that would fill the arena when they stepped on stage. And she knew she was about to have one of the best nights of her life. Her family was going to be there, her mom, who she hadn’t seen in weeks, whose familiar and sweet voice she missed, whose smile and unmistakable pride she longed to see in person again. But also, she was finally going to meet again with the families of the girls. Lara’s parents, always quick to make them laugh. Yoonchae’s parents, full of a silent pride in the way they looked at every one of them. Manon’s parents, with that sober but immeasurable strength they carried. And Megan’s mom, smiling wide every time she saw the girls like they were a prophecy meant to happen.
Meanwhile, Sophia’s parents, always present for the girls’ big events, had to apologize this time for not being able to attend the family gathering. Especially to Sophia, who, with a smile that looked unshakeable, still went just a little stiff around the edges when they gave her the news the night before, after their Toronto show. Dani had been sitting beside her on the bus, hearing the conversation more out of proximity than any intention of invading the Filipina’s privacy. She had reached out and grabbed her hand while Sophia’s parents once again apologized for not being there for her on such a special night.
“Dani, are you still there, mija?”
Daniela had to pull herself out of her thoughts and try to focus on Ana—her mom—once again, even though her stomach kept screaming over and over “shake shack, shake shack!”
“Yes, Ma, I’m here, sorry. The show was tiring and they still haven’t given us our order.”
Looking around, she saw Megan and Lara still talking about their nails, a topic they hadn't dropped since the live ended. Manon and Yoonchae were giggling over something on a phone, while Sophia stood close to Missy near the bus door, talking quietly, Missy with a small frown and Sophia just nodding. But her gaze was somewhere else entirely, and Daniela couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about.
“We’re waiting for our Shake Shacks, we couldn’t wait until we got to the hotel.”
Her mom sighed on the other end, one of those sighs that said just how worried she was about her daughter. At midnight, exhausted, probably more sore than she would ever admit. But also proud, because she was doing what she loved, and what mother wouldn’t want that for her child? So instead of voicing her concerns about her daughter’s tour diet, she simply said:
“Did you tell the girls about spending Thanksgiving at our house?”
“Yes, Ma. You know they won’t turn down the chance to eat food made by you and la abuela. Especially Sophia.”
There it was again—her ability to bring Sophia into any conversation as if her name lived permanently on the tip of her tongue, waiting to slip out at any moment.
“Okay, mi Dani, I just wanted to know how you were and ask you that. Eat well and get some rest. Besitos, mi niña.”
Daniela smiled. The fact that her mom called her every night after a show, especially today, knowing they’d see each other in less than 24 hours, warmed her heart.
“Okay, Ma. Rest too. Say hi to Dad and la abuela. Besitos.”
Her mom said goodbye again before finally hanging up.
Dani moved closer to Megan and Lara, who were now somehow discussing whether they should do soundcheck in pajamas, while apparently Yoonchae had climbed into the bus to grab her jacket and Manon was slowly drifting toward them. Dani watched their team still organizing the orders at the counter and finally shouted in the middle of the conversation, “Are we getting those Shake Shacks or not?!”
The girls laughed, remembering what had happened in the live earlier. But the only laugh Dani could really hear was Sophia’s, slightly quieter and more sudden than the others’, trying not to be disrespectful while listening to Missy. Distance, volume, or the foggy night air couldn’t hide the quick flush spreading across Daniela’s face.
Hunger, yes, Daniela was definitely hungry.
Or so she tried telling herself as she pretended to listen to the girls’ conversation while sneaking glances at Sophia, once again lost in her thoughts.
…
Daniela considered herself a great dancer, truly. Even a good idol, one with responsibilities, who attended practice, maybe 10 minutes late sometimes, but no one could argue about how fast she learned choreography or how she infused her own character into every move from the very first second. Daniela knew exactly what she wanted to show, how she wanted to be perceived when she danced, which expressions she wanted to use, what tiny but noticeable change she wanted to try in each new show. Daniela knew who she was and what she could offer.
However, no one tells you what to do when you have to look your bandmate in the eyes for almost ten seconds with just a few inches between your faces. So Daniela did what anyone would do in her position, having Sophia Laforteza staring into your eyes for nearly ten seconds, playing with you and your barely-existent heart rate at that point in the show, she stared at the wall behind her. Or, well, she tried her best to during the first three times they performed “Gabriela” on different stages.
Even when “Gabriela” was still in the works and they were figuring out how every part fit together, Daniela couldn’t bring herself to meet Sophia’s eyes. No matter how much the Filipina smiled, raised an eyebrow, or simply looked at her so intensely that sweat began collecting on her forehead, not only from the exhaustion but from having Sophia’s full attention for ten whole seconds, Daniela could not return the stare.
Until little by little, with Sophia’s insistence and her own lack of resistance, Daniela stopped staring straight ahead whenever Sophia looked at her during that part of the song and choreography. Now Daniela was biting her lip trying not to smile. Now she was looking down, hoping the camera wouldn’t catch how wide her grin got every time Sophia locked eyes with her. Now she was the one leaning in, the one aiming for attention.
If you asked Daniela, she didn’t have an explanation. It was simply the fact of performing such an important song with these girls who had become such a fundamental part of her life. It was the simple act of letting go, of stopping the constant calculation of every movement and expression the way Dream Academy had once taught them, and finally surrendering to the moment, to join Sophia in that tiny fragment of the song that belonged to them.
So when, in New York, “Gabriela” started playing and they all took their positions, when the crowd’s screams grew louder with every key moment, when she felt her chest ready to explode with happiness for what she was living, her family watching, performing her favorite song, even Sophia seeming to shake off a bit of the melancholy she’d been carrying since the night her parents said they wouldn’t be there, Daniela wasn’t surprised. Sophia looked more like herself again, or at least was hiding whatever she felt under the adrenaline of it all. It was, without question, the fulfillment of their biggest dreams.
So Daniela wasn’t surprised when that night, under the red lights and Lara’s steady voice singing her verse, Sophia didn’t smile, didn’t raise an eyebrow, didn’t wait for a reaction. Instead, Sophia dove in—fully—with her lips extended and her eyes fixed on Daniela’s lips, stopping only a few millimeters away before pulling back again. And Daniela wasn’t surprised when she herself leaned in too, her lips extended, not caring about the videos that would later circle Twitter and TikTok, just encapsulated in that moment, fulfilling her dream with the person who had, irrevocably, become her favorite.
After the concerts, backstage was usually a mess. A real, inevitable disaster that could overwhelm even the loudest person on the planet. The tech team would be running around collecting cables, shouting instructions about some light that needed maintenance. Stylists would be yelling at each other, asking if anyone had seen a brush, a pin, even wigs if it came to that. Missy was shouting orders to get everything to the truck as fast as possible, while the dancers were off in some corner recording TikToks, telling stories about the night’s show on their Instagrams, or simply trying to find a spot in the chaos to sleep.
Manon would be yelling if anyone had seen her cap, the one she hadn’t let go of since they came back from London. Megan was stretching right in the middle of the hallway, making sure she wouldn’t be sore later after such a physically demanding night. Lara would be tucked in some corner checking her vocal cords with little breathing exercises, and Yoonchae, always calm, sitting quietly as she thought about her next thank-you message for the Eyekons.
And Sophia was everywhere at once, flying from one side to the other, seeing what she could help with before they had to leave the venue, her leader role always present.
However, New York wasn’t like any other night. The girls’ families were there, talking over each other, laughing, taking photos, crying. It was a tangle of emotions that could only happen when six girls—six daughters—were going through the same thing together, and their parents simply couldn’t contain the pride of watching them succeed. Megan was with her mom, jumping around and hugging her every chance she got, with tears threatening to spill more and more.
Yoonchae and her parents were with the Raj family, Sri talking about how he wanted them to try the best Korean barbecue restaurant in New York, while Lara and Yoonchae giggled among themselves at the Raj family’s excitement and the confusion on the Koreans’ faces.
Manon was with her mom, talking peacefully, probably already thinking about going back to the hotel to order room service, wanting to enjoy as much time as possible with the woman she missed every day. Tears seconds away from falling as her mom listened with that same soft smile.
Dani, on her end, was with Ana. Ana couldn’t stop hugging her and lifting her up, spinning her around. When she finally set her down, Dani was able to say what she wanted.
“yo te vi y empecé a llorar” she said, her voice exhausted but overflowing with emotion. She got distracted for a second, and when she looked across the room, Sophia was on her phone, video calling her parents. Even with all the noise around her, Dani could hear the excitement in Sophia’s voice as she spoke in her native language, her body trembling from emotion, or maybe from trying to hold back tears.
“Can we go get dinner and you tell me everything that’s happened on tour, mija?”
Dani finally stopped looking over at Sophia to focus on her mom. She smiled and nodded. Spending time with her after so long was exactly what she needed.
Still, something else was bothering her.
Sophia.
It was always Sophia.
“Can we invite Sophia?” she blurted out.
Her mom paused and then looked over at Sophia, understanding instantly, Sophia’s parents weren’t there. Ana smiled. Her daughter had always been sensitive when it came to her friends; she herself felt soft toward each of the five girls Dani spent every day with, especially Sophia, the one who worked so hard to keep everything together and always seemed to have everything under control at such a young age, with so much responsibility. Ana felt just as proud of her as she did of her own daughter.
Seeing the realization in her mom’s eyes, Dani didn’t wait a second. She called out to Sophia the moment she heard her say goodbye to Clara and Basilio.
“Sophia!” she said, raising her hands so she’d recognize her voice.
Sophia smiled in her direction and walked over to Dani and Ana, quickly hugging Ana. Dani watched how Sophia held on a little longer, how she leaned into that motherly comfort, and how her mom hugged her back with the same warmth she had given Dani only minutes ago. When they pulled away, Sophia returned to Dani’s side, wrapping her arms around her waist, looking at them expectantly, with a smile that could’ve lit up the entire arena they had just performed in. Or at least, that’s how Dani saw her.
Adrenaline, yes, that had to be the reason Dani felt so hyper-aware of Sophia’s presence, of her smile, of her arms around her waist.
It had to be that.
“So, what plans do the Avanzinis have tonight?” Sophia asked.
“Well, mija, Daniela wanted to ask you something, cierto Dani?”
Daniela, who had been wondering what perfume Sophia was wearing, because she desperately needed to know what scent could last after almost two hours of performing and the inhuman sweat of New York’s humid air, finally snapped out of her trance and frowned. She was supposed to ask Sophia something?
“Yes, Dani?” Sophia asked, waiting, as if the question had been simple two seconds ago.
“Well, umm, my mom and I are gonna grab something to eat and, tu sabe´, talk about the tour… do you wanna come with us? Yoonchae and Lara’s parents are going out for Korean food, Manon was already trying to head back to the hotel with her mom, and I think Megan’s leaving too.” she was rambling.
Dani kept looking around at what everyone else was doing, everyone except the one person holding onto her waist like her life depended on it. Because if she looked into Sophia’s eyes, she knew exactly what Sophia would find there: the longing to spend as much time with her two favorite people as possible…the desire not to let Sophia return to the hotel and spend the night alone when Dani was right here.
She snapped out of her thoughts only when she stopped feeling Sophia’s arms around her waist. When she finally turned toward her, she saw Sophia’s slightly tight smile, the way she tried not to look down as she searched for the right words, because she had to act like she already had them. Her arms were now behind her back, as if holding herself in place, restraining herself from holding onto Dani like she always did.
“I don’t think I can go with you, Dani,” she finally said, looking her in the eyes, then turning to Ana with a softer smile.
Dani didn’t understand.
Sophia had other plans?
Was there someone in New York she wanted to see?
“Actually, I already have plans,” she said, quieter, as if she needed to believe the words herself before she said them out loud.
Dani was ready to ask with who, where, even offer to go with her, after all, she would see her mom again in a couple of nights, right? What harm would one extra night with Sophia do? She saw her every day. They worked together every day but Dani didn’t want to leave her alone.
Not tonight.
Daniela was about to speak.
to offer something she didn’t even understand herself, but then.
“Ana!”
Someone called her mom’s name. Dani had forgotten she was even standing there the moment Sophia’s arms had slipped away.
Ana placed her hand on Sophia’s arm. “Talk it out, let me know what you decide.”
Dani didn’t watch her leave. She just nodded, hearing the distant commotion of the parents gathering for a group photo. She looked at Sophia again, finally sighing before speaking.
“Plans? I thought you were going back to the hotel to rest and have a ‘night for yourself,’ isn’t that what you said?” she asked, trying to make sense of it.
Sophia smiled, soft, fond, because Dani’s frustration was painfully obvious, and honestly, adorable.
“Well… actually, the plans were made by my parents. They bought me a ticket to see Hadestown.”
When she heard that, Dani understood.
It wasn’t that Sophia didn’t want to go with her and Ana.
Sophia simply didn’t have another choice. Her parents had probably spent thousands of dollars just to make her happy.
And Hadestown? Dani couldn’t compete with that. So she nodded, though not without pouting—simply because she loved what came after.
“Dani…” Sophia said, frowning softly, stepping closer. But when Dani didn’t stop pouting—lower lip out, looking at her as if she had personally hung every star in the sky, Sophia sighed.
“Baby, we’re all going out tomorrow, remember? Tonight you’re supposed to spend time with your parents.” She tried again, stepping close enough that their toes touched—a distance they never questioned, one that simply existed between them.
“I know how much you’ve missed Ana. You have to go and have a good night with her, yeah?”
Dani stopped pouting. She simply looked at Sophia, watched the way her eyes flicked between hers, waiting for an answer, watched her hand lift, fix one of Dani’s stray curls, and rest on her cheek. Watched how they seemed to fall into each other’s orbit again without even noticing.
Knowing they had already spent too long looking at each other, Dani finally nodded.
Because really, who was she to say no to Sophia Laforteza when she was looking at her like that?
“Yes, baby.”
And Sophia smiled, like Dani had just told her she’d bought out all of Disneyland just for her, like she’d handed her all the happiness in the universe.
The thought of Dani having a good night with her mom was the best gift she could’ve asked for.
Daniela wasn’t someone used to saying nicknames. Whenever she tried, the words felt wrong on her tongue, her brain simply stopped working. “Too soft… too harsh… not in that tone… why am I even saying it like that?” Those were her thoughts every single time.
When she started calling Manon manzanita, it had honestly been an accident. Her friend’s name sounded like a shortened version of manzana, apple in Spanish, and it just happened.
And she didn’t even use it that much. Maybe in her annual birthday cards, when she wanted Manon to buy her something, or simply because she’d invented it and felt like she had to use it every now and then.
With Jonah, however, it had taken her a while to find something affectionate enough that didn’t feel like a box of rocks in her mouth whenever she tried to say it. Honey, love, darling, all those nicknames felt like too much, like something got stuck in her throat and closed it every time she attempted to say them.
She believed it was because Jonah was her first boyfriend. And even though Daniela was popular at school, she had never been interested in finding a relationship. She was focused on her future, and Jonah simply… happened.
So when "Babe" popped into her head, Daniela didn’t let it go.
It became the only nickname her mouth could produce whenever she was with her boyfriend.
But one afternoon in the studio, the girls had left to do a fitting, and Daniela and Sophia had stayed behind, rehearsing a part of the choreography Sophia felt she still wasn’t getting perfectly right. So Dani decided to stay, to watch her practice, to point out when an arm was too low, when Sophia was just a bit late on a move, and all the tiny details that made the choreography what it was.
an actual piece of art.
Sophia never got annoyed. She always smiled when Daniela corrected something, or she’d throw playful looks at her just to make her roll her eyes and toss a shoe in her direction.
But two hours had passed already. It was six in the evening, and the girls had been practicing since ten that morning. When the music stopped playing one last time, Sophia finally let herself fall to the floor, taking big breaths as she tried to recover. Seeing how tired her friend looked, Daniela went to grab her water bottle.
Sophia’s had run out ages ago.
and sat down beside Sophia’s stretched-out body.
Sophia had her forearm covering her eyes, her breathing slowly returning to normal, and small drops of sweat were sliding down her chest, revealing a top completely wrinkled from the long day.
Daniela set the water bottle on Sophia’s stomach, not wanting to disturb her, letting her do things at her own pace. The thing about them was that they knew when to be loud together and when to simply share silences full of each other’s presence.
Eventually, Sophia lowered her arm from her eyes. She saw the water bottle and let out a small smile, maybe at Daniela’s gesture, or at the way she had placed it on her stomach as if it were a cup holder, or simply because Daniela, in something so small, always found a way to show care.
“Thanks, baby.”
It was the first time Sophia said it.
There wasn’t anything grand about the moment. No one was listening. There were no cameras waiting to catch an interaction between them. No fans screaming their names. Sophia wasn’t teasing her to get a reaction. It was just the two of them in a studio growing darker with the fall of the evening and the exhaustion eating away at their bodies.
Daniela didn’t say anything. She just nodded and stared up at the ceiling, maybe trying to pretend her cheeks weren’t heating up, maybe trying to stop her hands from playing with the ripped holes in her pants, maybe holding onto the smallest bit of hope of hearing that nickname again.
Because out of nowhere, “baby” felt like something she could say over and over,
but only if the person receiving it was Sophia.
Only Sophia.
––––
Daniela wasn’t naïve. Lately, there were too many videos of her and Sophia online. All of them pointing out the way Daniela looked at Sophia, the way it seemed like they couldn’t be apart for too long or they’d explode. Fans saying other duos had fewer interactions because Sophia “couldn’t detach herself from her,” because there wasn’t someone to “keep Sophia distracted.”
Daniela knew what they said. The girls knew too.
Every time someone sent a video or a tweet to the group chat, they all laughed. They all came up with plans to drive their fans even crazier. Lara and Manon took the “no other duo interacts as much” thing personally and started being more explicit during performances, in their lives, even going as far as joking about people thinking they were dating.
Megan and Yoonchae stayed mostly out of it. mainly because Megan had been practicing not checking social media so much, and because Yoonchae… well, Yoonchae was just Yoonchae.
While all the girls had their own ideas about how to react to the fans’ theories, and those little actions they knew would drive everyone even crazier, Daniela, on her end, had no idea how she was supposed to respond. Because honestly, in what other way besides panicking was she supposed to process all this new information about herself? Every time the girls sent a new fan-edited video to the group chat, every time she read a tweet describing the way they acted… Daniela couldn’t help feeling exposed. Because whether she liked it or not, there was a bit of truth in every single one of those looks.
It wasn’t something she did on purpose; her body was always searching for a way to be near Sophia, to feel her familiarity, and if she couldn’t be just a few inches away from her, then she couldn’t help looking at her. Just looking at her, listening to her speak, was one of the things that calmed the Latina the most, even when she didn’t know she needed it.
So if you asked Daniela what the best solution was to stop looking at your bandmate as if she were the one who created the sky and existence itself, she’d tell you she didn’t know. Because her only solution was to ignore the elephant in the room and try not to die in the process. Or maybe… maybe recognize what was really happening inside her, and inside whatever it was that she and Sophia had.
But of course, it’s easier said than done when your own dad is the one sharing those videos on his social media. He was the one sending them to the family group chat saying what a “great pair his Dani and Sophia made together” a work pair, sure, or at least that’s what Daniela tried to tell herself whenever her dad called and asked about all the girls. But when the last name, Sophia’s name, entered the conversation, he seemed peculiarly interested. Something Daniela didn’t dare think any deeper about than assuming he was just a grateful father appreciating the leader who always looked after his daughter when he himself was miles away.
And yet… if Daniela could’ve stopped thinking for just one minute about all the changes her friendship with Sophia had gone through this past year, maybe she would have seen this coming. This small, but huge, detail that was about to change her life and possibly destroy her mental stability.
“Excuse me?”
She had to be going insane. That was the only explanation for what she’d just heard. Her mom sighed once, realizing her daughter’s mind had drifted off again, like always.
“I said I invited Jonah to spend Thanksgiving here in Atlanta with us, Dani. I think it’s a good opportunity for you to finally introduce him to the family. You’ve been together almost two years and you haven’t brought him once, mija.” Ana explained again, calm as ever.
But Daniela wasn’t there. The phone was still pressed to her ear, her mother’s soft voice flowing through, but her mind had already transported her back to Canada. The show in Canada where she had supposedly been so happy to be in that city, Toronto.
Eating all the food she always missed, places, weather. And the fans weren’t stupid; they knew why, or rather for whom she had been so happy. Jonah was going to see her at the concert, she was going to get some time with him. The problem was that her life was documented down to the millisecond: they wanted to go live to celebrate with the fans their two-year anniversary, she had to show how excited she was to meet her Canadian fans, post stories, upload photos… and she knew Jonah would be in all of it. In every Instagram story, every Weverse message, every fan interaction, waiting to be noticed, waiting to be heard in every hint of happiness Daniela showed whenever she spoke. Expecting her to be excited not only about Canada, but about him.
So Daniela did everything she could to show it. Even going as far as avoiding Sophia during soundcheck because she knew the Filipina was the only one capable of distracting her from her mission, to prove to Jonah that she cared, even if just for one night. But even she knew that wasn’t enough, that he deserved more than what she had been putting into their relationship lately. And with that… well, with that she didn’t know what to do. Yet.
When the soundcheck clips came out and she saw that their fandom “Sodani Nation” was losing their minds because there wasn’t a single video of them interacting, Daniela moving to every corner of the stage except where Sophia was, and Sophia, always perceptive, always patient—giving her space, playing with Manon and Yoonchae, trying not to get too close to her. But Daniela hated distance. At least, when it came to them.
a contradiction in human form.
So the second the show started, she tried to be more present, closer, even if Sophia didn’t seem to understand it until their moment in “Gabriela.” When she finally looked into Daniela’s eyes, maybe trying to understand if she was ready to go back to normal, to go back to what they’d been just 24 hours ago. But Daniela didn’t know what Sophia found in her gaze, because her eyes, those orbs full of light that always looked at her with so much affection, softened for just a second before she scrunched her nose and leaned in toward her, the same way she always did. And Daniela, unable to contain the joy bubbling in her chest, scrunched her nose too and shut her eyes, leaning in with a smile so huge it was impossible to hide when she turned around to continue the performance.
Yes. Somehow, Sophia always knew exactly what Daniela needed.
Daniela knew Jonah deserved more than a girlfriend who flirted so blatantly on stage with her bandmate in front of thousands of people. But with their schedule being so packed, it felt almost impossible to find a moment to talk to him. She knew they couldn’t continue like this, not when he wanted so much and she, well… she was realizing that the person she wanted was right across the room, trying to figure out how to connect her gaming console to the hotel TV.
Daniela should’ve seen this coming.
Back in reality, her mom was talking about how she and her grandmother were finishing the Thanksgiving shopping, how Uncle Andrés had arrived from Venezuela, and how one of her dad’s brothers, Frank, had been teaching them some Italian recipe that supposedly tasted like the heavens opening to sing. Daniela was trying—really trying—to keep up, but all she heard in her head was:
“Jonah is coming to dinner. Jonah and Sophia are going to be in the same space for hours.”
“Ma… does dad know he’s going to be there?” Not saying his name was deliberate, she didn’t want the black-haired girl to find out what was happening. Not yet. But Sophia lifted her gaze from the cables in her hands the second she heard that, raising an eyebrow at Daniela. Daniela just shook her head, and Sophia shrugged before going back to figuring out the ports.
Ana, who had been talking about food for the past five minutes, took a small moment to understand what her daughter meant before finally sighing.
“Yes, mija, you know how he is. I told him he’d have to meet the boy before judging him, but he wasn’t too happy about it. He said we were going to be with family and that until you properly introduced Jonah, he wasn’t family.” Ana said it monotonously, as if they’d had that conversation a thousand times. “Dani, you’ve been together for two years, mija. Why haven’t you brought him home?”
Daniela once again got stuck on that one word: family. Her dad considered Sophia (and the rest of the girls) family. Coming from him, an Italian, Daniela knew what that meant. The questions he always asked on calls, how he always seemed up-to-date on what Sophia was doing, especially how he always sent her greetings when they talked… all of it across the year, at the same time Daniela felt like she was losing control of her life every time she looked Sophia in the eyes. The videos had caught it. Her dad had noticed it before she did. Hell, even the fans had probably noticed it before she did. And she didn’t know if that terrified her or calmed her, because she knew she had someone on her side in this mess she was finally acknowledging for what it was.
Daniela was falling in love with Sophia.
Daniela had been wondering about it for a while. She herself knew the exceptions she made for Sophia. The way she used a nickname she never thought she’d ever use. The way she didn’t seem to want, or even be able, to explore any new city unless it was with her. The dates, the meals, London, Paris… the way she reached for her hand every chance she got, how they sat together, walked side by side, spent nights alone in each other’s rooms without the other girls, stayed behind after practice just to be in each other’s company for a few minutes longer before the noise swallowed them again. Daniela wasn’t naive, she, with that fear but also that hope knocking softly in her chest, knew she had been falling in love with Sophia Laforteza since the very second she told her those words in the studio for the first time. Because how do you explain your heart wanting to burst out of your chest, your hands sweating, your senses sharpening only when she was around, only because of her?
Daniela wasn’t stupid. She knew that sooner or later she would have to confront what was happening between them. Just… maybe not tonight.
“Ma, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she tried again, subtly attempting to tell her mom that maybe inviting Jonah to Thanksgiving wasn’t a night she wanted to participate in.
“Mija, but he already bought his ticket. Actually, I think he lands in a few hours. He said he wanted it to be a surprise but… well, I think it’s only fair to warn you.”
Ana kept talking, and talking, and talking.
And Daniela… all she could think about was how the hell she was going to get out of this