notes: set during senior year.
When Karma lets herself into the Raudenfeld-Cooper household and walks into the kitchen, it's to find Amy intently focused on pouring herself a bowl of cereal, the uncharacteristic tension in her posture giving away her awareness of Karma's presence. Wordlessly, hoping this one gesture will be a step toward making things right, Karma wraps her arms around Amy's waist from behind; sighing, Amy puts her hand on one of Karma's and leans into her.
"I'm sorry I ruined all your big plans for us." Amy's voice is small.
Karma shakes her head, resting her chin on Amy's shoulder. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you."
She can feel Amy sag slightly in relief. "You have a right to be upset," she says anyway, as though determined to take some responsibility for the way Karma acted, the things she said in the heat of the argument as she was being swallowed up by surprise and confusion and something that felt like betrayal.
"Well, I still shouldn't have blown up like I did. I mean… it's not fair of me to ask you to apply to a college you don't even wanna go to – it's a waste of money, for one thing. But I would never want you to give up your dreams and be miserable for four years just because I'm a selfish jerk."
Amy turns in her hold. "You're not a jerk," she says, and her expression becomes a little less guarded and a little more anxious. "So you don't hate me?"
"Amy," Karma says, instead of outright telling her don't be stupid, but it gets the same message across. She takes Amy's hands. "I don't care if you decide you wanna go to college on the other side of the world – I mean, I care, but I'm saying I'd find a way to deal with it. I love you. I'm still gonna love you when you can only eat soft foods and it takes you longer than a giant tortoise to go five feet" – Amy cracks a smile at that, and Karma can't suppress one of her own – "and I'll love you even if you teach yourself a foreign language and go to school in Athens, or… Istanbul, or Tokyo, or wherever."
Amy presses her lips together the way she does when she's trying not to give Karma the satisfaction of smiling too wide, pretending to consider her words. "What if I go to college in The Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska?"
"I don't know…" Karma says. "That might be a deal-breaker." Amy laughs softly, and Karma squeezes her fingers. "We'll figure it out. Okay?"
In lieu of a reply, Amy just kisses her, and Karma figures that's good enough for her.
