Hola chicas! Pardon my butchering of any language that isn't English, I come bearing a new chapter, it's not nearly as sad as the previous two I promise. Hopefully you like it, congratulations to my fabulous fans for having this story pass 5000 views, now my head is so large it cannot pass through ordinary doorways and for that I thank you. Whether you love it, hate it, or find my arrogance arousing, please let me know in the reviews, I love the bromance between Katarina and Vi, they've taken on a life of their own in this story aha. Hold on to your pitchforks, I promise that the thrilling conclusion will be the next chapter, I've been waiting to write it for weeks ever since this idea popped into my head. Anyways enjoy, that's if any of you read these obnoxious authors notes, if you do then you're awesome x
"What a bitch" stated Katarina with a subdued scoff, shaking her head incredulously at the selfish actions of her best friend's thoroughly undeserving object of affection before taking a sip from her bottle of beer. Her eyes narrowed dangerously of their own accord as she thought about her next interaction with Caitlyn, it was most certainly not going to be pretty, a low grumble interrupted her daydream and she was brought back to reality with a glance at Vi. The pink haired woman had her cheek pressed against the table and was slumped with one hand grasping her bottle and the other dangling beneath her, it would have been comical if she hadn't been so upset. The assassin's frown deepened as she recalled how pleased Vi had been only an hour ago after Caitlyn had 'apologised' and then she bloody blew her off for a date with the defender of virginity, grimacing at the idea of the two of them having sex she acknowledged that they were a perfect match in being boring and looking miserable.
Rubbing one of her hands soothingly on Vi's back, the redhead stated "there there" in what she hoped was a comforting and not creepy tone, pausing in her ministrations only to down the rest of her bottle. She had a fairly good idea that she wanted to be pretty damn tipsy in order to hear about Caitlyn crushing her friend's heart once again without storming to Piltover and shaking the sheriff until she woke the fuck up and realised what she was doing. Nudging the enforcer with her elbow and trying to make her laugh, Katarina stood from the table with an announcement of "BRB" and was not surprised to hear nothing but a low whine from the table. Rolling her eyes she headed towards the bar in order to get them both an assortment of alcoholic beverages, maybe she could try a drinking game later when Vi was more responsive, well less like a depressed corpse would be nice. "Hmm, Pilties don't play nice do they?" spoke Ekko in a low murmur, who Katarina noted with surprise was sat at the bar and glancing over at Vi with something like regret upon his face.
"Are you even old enough to drink?" she questioned with a smirk, though she happened to agree with him, people in Piltover like to pretend to be so proper, perhaps for appearances sake. Ekko snorted at her comment and grinned back at her, inclining his glass of soft drink at her with a shrug, Katarina happened to like the lad, he had a smart mouth and he hated Caitlyn and Jayce too, which made her enjoy his company all the more, though she despised laning against him. "Is she alright?" he queried softly with his eyes still trained on the pink haired lump leaning against the table, the redhead shrugged in response and sighed jumping up onto a bar stool stating "yeah, she will be. If that sheriff ever stops leading her on..." Ekko grunted in agreement before whispering "earlier on the rift, I don't know whether you saw but...she was all over Vi, like straddling her, like almost having sex in the jungle all over."
Katarina's drink froze on its way to her mouth and her fingers clenched unconsciously tighter around the bottle as she digested this new information, she had known the two of them must have talked after being flung across the map by Poppy's ultimate because she hadn't seen them for absolutely ages afterwards. Narrowing her eyes at the raised eyebrows of the boy next to her she almost choked on the sip she had already taken before exclaiming "no wonder she's so upset" and slamming one of her fists angrily against the bar counter. Katarina couldn't even articulate or put into words just how furious she was, words would only pale in comparison to the sheer rage that was coursing through her, she needed to hurt Caitlyn, make her feel a fraction of what the brunette was doing to Vi. Scowling she took another large swig of her drink before grabbing the remaining bottles and heading over to her still incapacitated friend, offering Ekko a small smile and a nod of her head, which he reciprocated before grabbing his belongings and waving at the assassin on his way out.
Once she had jumped into her seat with a loud thump, Katarina replaced the still half full bottle in Vi's hand with a fresh one, choosing to down the remaining beverage with a slight grimace, shivering she recognised that warm beer was truly hideous. The enforcer still remained stubbornly facing the wall with her face pressed against the table, the redhead sighed before stating "...So...Ekko tells me you are a slut" and grinning at the way Vi had scowled at the comment. Lifting her head hurriedly from the table the pink haired woman narrowed her eyes at Katarina questioningly and the woman obliged with a smile "nice to see you are awake, he tells me you had fun in the bushes with your straight sheriff." At the mention of Caitlyn, the enforcer had groaned and flung her head against the table once again with a dry sob.
Kicking herself mentally for behaving so callously towards Vi, the assassin groaned and leant her own cheek against the table in order to face the still sullen woman, her mossy eyes locked on azure ones that were framed by furrowed brows. "Sorry" Katarina murmured, attempting to convey her apology with a sincere expression, it seemed to do the trick and the enforcer offered her a thin smile, though the two of them remained with their faces pressed against the wood veneer. "Not like I don't think that this is a good way to spend the evening, but why don't we play some drinking games and then we might actually cheer up instead of getting stuck to the table?" the redhead stated with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin. Vi rolled her eyes at the statement but grinned back and finally relented with "sure, but get me something stronger if you want cheery, right now I can just about tolerate being in public."
The redhead smirked before attempting to peel her face from the sticky surface, which proved to be a more difficult task than she anticipated. Jumping from her seat she excitedly exclaimed "rum? Your majesty?" with a deep and patronising bow before ruffling the already unruly pink hair or her companion. Vi swatted at her with a flailing arm and answered with "why yes lady Du Couteau, I would certainly enjoy such a refreshing beverage" in a cloying parody of the uptown accent and erupting into a loud bout of laughter. Katarina shook her head smiling before heading towards the bar and grabbing an entire bottle of rum as well as spirit shots, thanking the barkeep she moved to return to Vi before an insidious idea flashed through her head and a devilish smirk spread across her face. "So..." she began in her most flirtatious manner, batting her eyelids for good measure at the rather handsome gentleman at the bar "if you were going to take me out for dinner in Piltover...where would we go?" The ashen haired man seemed a bit taken aback by the very direct question and just about managed to stammer a response "I-I think we'd go to Blossom."
"Is that so...?" she replied effortlessly maintaining eye contact and letting her sentence trail off in hopes of gleaning his name, after a moment he picked up on her question and leaned in closer to murmur "Eric, it's Eric, yeah it's a nice little Ionian place, right by the shore, very romantic." Katarina's mossy eyes widened slightly at the forward nature of his response before they darkened and she chewed upon her lower lip before smirking at him, he was precisely her type and she found it very difficult to remember why she wasn't leaving the bar with him right now. Her best friend instincts won over her libido in the end however and she grinned at him before stating "maybe we'll meet there tomorrow night? I don't know around nine?" and the huge grin he sent her in response confirmed that her plans for tomorrow evening had never looked better.
"Took you long enough" mumbled Vi as the redhead plonked herself back down next to her with a grin, Katarina shook her head petulantly stating "well I needed a tray." The enforcer raised an eyebrow at her before glancing between her friend and the blonde guy at the bar who was still watching her with a massive grin and replying "yeah and his phone number obviously." The pink haired woman smirked initially before slumping over the table again with a thump wailing "I haven't been able to think about anyone but Caitlyn for months, what's wrong with me?" Katarina scowled at the mention of the brunette, choosing to take three of the plentiful shots she had brought to the table and a hearty swig of the rum before even attempting an answer to the long list of things that were wrong with Vi's attraction to the sheriff. "Nothing wrong with you" she finally shrugged in response, choosing another large gulp of the rum before passing the bottle over to the other woman "it's her that's the problem."
Vi frowned at the comment but hesitated to immediately defend the sheriff, instead downing a good portion of their shared rum and chewing her lip contemplatively. Caitlyn was certainly the most confusing human being she had ever encountered and that was saying something considering Jinx was certifiably insane, at least the blue haired criminal was consistently insane, she never knew what side of the sheriff she would encounter lately. Voicing her thoughts she began to gesticulate her arms wildly while spouting "I just don't know what's been going on lately, there's this funny, charming, caring and stunning woman that I've fallen for and she keeps going walkabout and being replaced by a cold emotionless robot. I just yeah, sometimes I think she feels the same way but I don't know..." Trailing off the pink haired woman looked incredibly forlorn and Katarina felt like the plan she had hatched earlier at the bar made even more sense, though this was of course spurred on by the copious amount of alcohol she had consumed.
Feeling an evil smirk spread across her face Katarina tried her best to quell it before the enforcer noticed, they were going to find out how the sheriff felt about Vi this evening, it was the perfect plan with no flaws whatsoever, none at all. "Do you wanna get something to eat?" queried the redhead in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner, Vi grunted her assent and picked up a nearby menu. Smirking once more Katarina stated "nah, let's go out, I've been sat here way too long, we'll go some place nice in Piltover" the pink haired woman looked up at her and asked "anywhere in particular?" Trying to contain her excitement the assassin simply grinned before downing a large portion of the rum and stating "I know just the place."
"Let me get the chair for you" offered Jayce with a charming grin, Caitlyn had to admit that he had dressed himself rather nicely for the occasion, as she had known he would. After helping her settle at their table, he removed his suit jacket before sitting across from her with a wide grin and stating "you look very lovely this evening." The sheriff tried her best to feel flattered by the comment but it was a very difficult act to pull off convincingly, instead she tried desperately to flag one of the waiting staff in order to get herself a rather large glass of wine, maybe even the whole bottle. A soft ringing interrupted her polite conversation with their waitress, both of whom glanced at Jayce who smiled apologetically before gesturing with his phone and mouthing "sorry" before he fled from the room. "So...?" began the girl next to her, whose name badge identified her as Veronica, continuing whilst placing her hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at the bewildered sheriff "are you Piltover's newest power couple?"
Caitlyn almost choked on the hearty sip of wine she had taken, feeling it burn the back of her throat, she sputtered an indignant "what?" and stared at the waitress as if she had grown another head. For her part Veronica just raised her eyebrow even further and shook her head good naturedly stating "you're out for dinner on Valentines day..." trailing off her sentence as if that proved her point. Laughing at the aghast expression of the sheriff, she spoke softer "don't be nervous, he's a total catch, you guys are like my OTP, well..." A curious smile grew across Veronica's face and she sighed before topping up Caitlyn's glass, "that is, you know, all things considered." The brunette at the table turned towards her and queried "what do you mean by that?" and found herself surprised when the waitress offered her a subtle shrug of her shoulder and giggled "aha I don't think so, I'd quite like to get a tip this evening." With an almost knowing smirk the redhead flounced off towards another table after placing the bottle down and leaving the sheriff to ponder what on earth she had been talking about.
"Hey, sorry about that" interrupted a chipper voice into her thoughts, she glanced up startled to find striking blue eyes locked upon her own, for a moment her breath hitched and she felt convinced that Vi was in front of her. Shaking herself out of the strange thought she recognised that the enforcer was thankfully nowhere near herself or Jayce, it was far too confusing to think about the pink haired woman right now. A pang of sadness struck through her very core as she thought about their last meeting and how upset Vi had been following her outright lies. "You okay?" queried Jayce hesitantly, he had caught the pained expression on Caitlyn's face, she made a conscientious effort to relax her furrowed brows and then flashed an all too perfect grin at him. "Never better" she lied, taking in the easy grin on Jayce's face and his perfectly coiffed hair, he was definitely handsome, maybe a bit much so, it was hard to work out why precisely she wanted to be anywhere but here.
Jayce grinned confidently at her before ushering their waitress back to the table, with a jolt Caitlyn realised that she had not even contemplated what she wanted to eat even though she was gripping the menu with quite some intensity. Quickly scanning through she started at the slight scoff that came from the man across from her, "don't worry, I'll order for you" he stated with what he obviously planned as casual indifference but came across as arrogance. The sheriff narrowed her eyes at him over the menu indignantly, he was oblivious to her scowl however as Veronica had just appeared and smiled at the two of them. "Hey I'm V-" she began before a short "two steaks, well done" was issued from Jayce who had not even looked up to greet her, or seemed at all bothered that he had just interrupted the shocked redhead. Holding up the menu he had just taken from Caitlyn and his own, Veronica took them quickly, her demeanour changed rapidly though and the easygoing smile that she had worn previously was gone.
The sheriff watched the young girl leave with an aghast expression of her own before casting her eyes upon Jayce who was still grinning at her, seemingly not bothered by how utterly rude he had just been. An incredulous sigh escaped her and he raised an eyebrow in response, unable to even place into words how disgusting she found his behaviour the brunette just shook her head. "I'm going to the bathroom" she managed to snarl, Jayce having the good grace to look affronted and surprised by her reaction but she was up and storming from the table before he stutter anything in reply. Watching her disappear from sight he shook his head and muttered "women" before taking a tentative sniff of Caitlyn's wine and pouring himself a rather generous glass.
Propelled by sheer rage, Caitlyn found herself outside the women's bathroom door and pushed it open with more force than necessary, despite stumbling slightly she was thankful that this time she did not fall on her face. The memory of the last time she had done so flashed painfully before her eyes as she remembered Vi both beside her gently stroking her face and being pulled unceremoniously on top of her. A prominent blush spread across her cheeks as she exhaled shakily, the memory caused a painful longing within that terrified her. Staring at her rather well presented reflection, she scowled, unsure whether the anger burning inside of her was to do with Jayce's rude behaviour, the fact she was on the date at all or her father's controlling behaviour. It could also be due to the fact she had hurt Vi, twice quite badly within the last two months, well she supposed three technically after she had fled from the balcony following Katarina's ill-timed appearance. A small voice in the back of her mind offered another explanation, one she had not considered previously, she was angry because she was lying to herself.
Sighing whilst placing her hands on the back of her head the brunette kept her eyes on the ground, contemplating what it was that she might be lying to herself about, finding it easier to ignore the elephant in the room. "Oh sorry" stated an apologetic Veronica, who had just barged into the bathroom and was stood at the entrance worriedly taking in the sight of the frustrated sheriff. Caitlyn composed herself quickly before turning to the redhead and offering her a polite smile and an honest "no worries...hey, I'm sorry about earlier, I had no idea he could be so rude." Victoria gave an absent minded shrug at her comment but grinned at the last word, which had been stated with such acidity that it was obvious the sheriff did not share her dates manners or lack thereof. "It's okay" she began, still fiddling with the collar of her pristine white shirt nervously "you get used to it unfortunately, especially rich guys, you know what they say, you shouldn't meet your heroes..."
Chewing her lip contemplatively the sheriff watched Veronica rub her hand on the back of her neck as an obvious nervous tick and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she thought about not only how familiar the gesture was but also about the adorable way Vi did the very same thing. The redhead glanced up from the floor to find Caitlyn stood with a wide grin on her face and glazed eyes before querying hesitantly "you okay?" The brunette seemed to shake herself from the previous thought and smiled genuinely in response, reaching out to touch the other woman's shoulder and stated "don't worry about him, he's an idiot." Veronica laughed at the statement before narrowing her eyes unsure at the sheriff and replied softly "what are you doing on a date with him then?" seeming to remember herself she gasped and placed a hand over her mouth with eyes wide. Caitlyn raised both eyebrows at the obviously apologetic woman and sighed loudly "it's complicated, I kind of had to, it's not important anyway, there definitely won't be a second one."
Unable to help herself, Veronica giggled in response and then turned to head from the bathroom with a grin after glancing at the clock affixed onto the wall, sighing "I'd better get back to work." Before she could push the door open however Caitlyn surged forward and exclaimed "earlier, what were you talking about when you said 'all things considered' about Jayce and I?" Confusion settled over the sheriff's face when a startled gasp escaped the now furiously blushing redhead, who for all intents and purposes looked to be aflame. "Erm" she squeaked appearing as if she wanted the ground to swallow her right now, this only caused Caitlyn's curiosity to peak and she raised an eyebrow at the waitress, crossing her arms over her chest to drive the point home that she wanted an answer. Releasing a shaky breath Veronica murmured "you know, because you're, you're..." pausing to gulp, piercing green eyes met the sheriff's darkened orbs and finally she finished "straight."
Out of all the conversations that Caitlyn had expected this evening, discussing her sexuality with a waitress in the bathroom was certainly not one of them, her jaw had dropped following the word and she stared incredulously at the still blushing Veronica. "I'm sorry, it's just you know, obviously you're straight I mean you're here with a guy on valentines day. It's just like my girlfriend is convinced you'd be perfect with someone else but obviously you're not gay, you're straight, definitely wishful thinking-" The redhead was startled into silence when she felt a firm grip upon her shoulder and an almost whispered "breathe" issued by Caitlyn, it served to silence the nervous and rambling monologue she had been rapidly giving. "I'm well aware of the almost celebrity like status that we as champions have to endure, as well as the seemingly endless questions surrounding our love lives" the sheriff spoke softly, her eyes narrowed only slightly at Veronica who was still hyperventilating, pausing for a moment before questioning "who is it I'd be perfect with?"
If it were at all possible Veronica's blush became even more prominent, it was now near impossible to differentiate between her cascading auburn locks and the entirety of her face. Staring wide eyed at the waiting sheriff, she sighed before muttering "you know, there's a fair few people, that think based on your eh friendship, they think you might be, ya'know, with..." trailing off hesitantly, the young girl's piercing eyes found Caitlyn's once more and this time the brunette took pity on her. Pushing both hands up to cover her face she moaned loudly and sagged against the tile walls, feeling the cold pressing into her more bare than usual back. "It's Vi isn't it?" she stated matter of factly, glancing towards Veronica to find a surprised and altogether embarrassed expression upon her face, the redhead offered a simple nod that confirmed the sheriff's suspicions and caused her to groan even louder.
"Of course it's Vi, why wouldn't it be?" Caitlyn whined loudly, staring at the ceiling as she leant against the still freezing linoleum. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you or make you uncomfortable or anything, it's just a silly rumour" the redhead blurted out in a near frenzy, desperately worried that she had upset the sheriff who had thus far been very friendly towards her. "It's fine, don't worry" the brunette replied flatly, eyes remaining on the tiles above her head, Veronica fidgeted whilst watching the stationary woman before exclaiming "okay, if you say so...I do need to get back to work." Caitlyn remained in place and did so until she heard the door swing shut once again, signalling that she was now alone. Her thoughts descended into a cacophony of screams, all of them competing for attention, the loudest of all was that if people already thought that Vi and her were in a relationship then did that mean that her father thought they were. With a jolt the brunette realised that she needed to speak to Vi and she struggled to find her phone in the deep maze that was a handbag, whilst cursing fashion designers for their hatred of pockets in women's clothing.
"Pick up pick up pick up" she muttered darkly into her phone as the line continued to ring, there was no answer for what seemed like ages and when she heard Vi's voice she almost cried with delirium. "Call me beep me if you wanna reach me" sang out obnoxiously from the device in her hand and she grimaced at once recognising the tone that signified a voicemail. Shaking her head angrily Caitlyn sighed once again, running her hand through her long brown hair in an attempt to calm herself, if random people thought that herself and Vi were an item did that mean...oh goodness she did not want to finish that thought. What if she did feel something more than friendship, what if it was painfully obvious, her eyes flashed wide as an image burst through her mind, a memory from the morning after her rum infused evening at the Blue Flame. That of a dishevelled looking Vi grinning easily at her cross legged on her own bed, the one she had given up so Caitlyn could sleep off her hangover, after carrying the sheriff home and sleeping on the couch.
It was almost as if a brick had hit her, the forcefulness of emotions that accompanied not only the memory but the realisation of something buried deep, it was not an exaggeration to say that Caitlyn felt winded. The air escaped her lungs painfully as she slumped to the ground and eyes wide contemplated the rush of warmth that accompanied the idea of Vi, and she couldn't help the series of images that flashed before her eyes. Vi grinning widely at her after a successful match, Vi bringing her a tea after their night out, Vi placing her arm around her watching the fireworks, Vi bringing her cupcakes in an attempt to get out of paperwork, Vi kissing her on the balcony. "Oh fuck" she almost moaned, dragging a hand through her hair once again and staring shocked ahead, how the hell had she missed it, somewhere throughout the course of the last few months she had fallen for the thick-headed woman.
A lyrical chiming almost caused her to have a nervous breakdown and she hurriedly pulled her phone up to her face both hoping and terrified that it might be Vi, her face fell however at a short text from Jayce asking whether she had fallen in. Groaning tiredly she resigned herself to just making some sort of excuse about a headache, maybe even it being her time of the month, Jayce didn't seem as if he was mature enough to even question it. All she wanted was to go home and sit in the dark, it was just too much to cope with, suddenly she was in some way not entirely straight, in love with her best friend and dealing with two different pig headed men who seemed to know what was best for her. Pressing her back against the wall she stood up and brushed herself down subconsciously, before striding across to the door and leaving. Roving her eyes across the room she caught sight of a commotion as she wandered over to the table Jayce was waiting at for her with a cautious smile.
A young couple were almost running from a table near to their own, furrowing her brows she managed to make out a rather tipsy voice screech after them "thanks for fitting us in at short notice." A disconcerting sort of panic descended upon Caitlyn as she thought the voice to be familiar, narrowing her eyes at the new occupants she stopped dead at the sight of unruly pink hair. The heart seemed to seize in her chest as she recognised the familiar outline of Vi sat with her back to the sheriff, it was difficult for her to even form a coherent thought, especially considering her emotional breakthrough in the bathroom. "Hey, where have you been?" questioned Jayce, his voice laden with ill hidden irritation, Caitlyn turned to face him only to realise she was stood alongside their table. Mustering all the charm she could suffice she turned to him with a soft smile and lied "sorry, my father called, he wanted to know how the evening was going."
He arched an eyebrow in response before shrugging and gesturing for her to dig in to the steaks that had obviously arrived in her absence, it was clear from the mess on his plate and the stains around his mouth that he had already begun. Crinkling her nose in distaste the sheriff eyed Vi nervously, she didn't know whether the pink haired woman knew that the two of them were in the same restaurant, it could certainly not be a coincidence. The enforcer moved to the side in order to grab condiments from another table and just then Caitlyn knew that it had not been a coincidence, she didn't know how, but as she caught sight of narrowed mossy eyes and an arrogant smirk, she knew. Katarina had found out where herself and Jayce were dining this evening and had brought Vi with her, the redhead offered her a small nod before disappearing behind the pink hair once again. Caitlyn's stomach twisted as she tried to work out why precisely the assassin had done just that, she had a fairly good idea that it wasn't to double date.