(Part III A/C)
16
It's below 20 degree Celsius on the edge of Mount Etheria and the little flurries of snow, falling from clear the sky, only aids in the constant drop in temperature—Catra's coat barely stops the chill from leaking in—but she doesn't feel anything of this world. Kissing Adora is new and familiar all at once. It's new in the way Adora grabs at the lapels of her coat, pressing herself deeper into Catra's for more. She's never known Adora to want anything and it startles her because it's such a raw, unkempt, thing that pours out of Adora like it's been locked up for years—imagine it...Adora wanting her for years.
Catra moans into the kiss as Adora runs her tongue across the bottom of her lip right before slipping through the cracks that form when Catra shudders out a sigh. Kissing Adora like this is new and so very familiar —and not in the sense of the drunken kiss they shared because, no, it doesn't compare to this. It's familiar in the way Catra loses track of time, the way her body doesn't shake when a rather large gust of cold wind overtakes them—but in the way she shivers when Adora traces and then sucks her in. It's familiar in the way she gets wrapped up in Adora's presence just like she's always done.
"Fuck," Catra curses as she pulls away.
"What's wrong?" Adora sounds worried, her eyebrows are doing that cute thing where they pinch together, but she doesn't let go of the lapels of Catra's coat. Instead, she holds on tight and pulls her in like she's worried Catra might run off and that would be a valid option if Catra could feel her tail.
"It's fucking cold." Saying it aloud seemingly brings them back to reality because suddenly Catra is shaking all over.
"Come on." Adora wraps her under her arm and guides Catra back through the footprints they left in the snow. It's not an easy task—the new flakes have filled most of their prints—and it's getting harder to watch where they're going with the prevailing blizzard, but Adora keeps moving.
Catra doesn't know how long they trudge through the storm, everything's a blur of white flakes of ice and snow mixed with the harsh whistling of the wind, chastising them for being out this late, but soon voices are cutting over the vivid sounds of nature.
"There they are!"
Catra looks up (she had kept her head down to stop the pelts of ice), she finds comfort at the burning light radiating from Regina's cabin when she once only found fear and confusion. The warmth she feels has more to do with her friends, all gathered by the door in their snow coats—running as fast as they can towards them—than it does with what the cabin once represented.
"Come on." Of course Glimmer reaches them first, ushering them to the cabin and commanding the room with the grace of a queen—a ridiculous thought (but, maybe in a past life?). "Get them some blankets and something warm to drink. Perfuma, take Adora's coat while I help Catra out of hers. Bow and Scorpia, can you get them some warm clothes?"
"On it!"
Catra feels a weight lift when Glimmer pries the stiff coat off her body. "T-thanks," she stutters, the words almost getting lost to the chatter of her teeth.
"Try not to talk so much. Where's the tea?"
"No tea but we do have spiced hot chocolate." Entrapta says. "It's actually much more healthier than—"
"Great." Glimmer interrupts her and snatches the drink and shoves it towards Adora. "Drink this."
Adora looks stricken as she struggles to hold the mug, Catra can imagine the pain she must be in—her frostbitten hands forced to hold something so hot. Catra's about to reach out to help when Adora switches tactics and uses the handle of the mug instead to carry it to her mouth.
Regina notices Adora's struggle and kneels beside Catra to guide the mug to her lips. "Here."
Catra makes a face (it's scary how easy she slips back into Horde manners). "You don't have to—"
"Shut up and drink it."
Catra does as she's told but she drags her feet all the way and mutters profanity beneath her lips. The spice from the hot chocolate burns at her sinuses while the liquid warms her from the inside out. It's intense and fast but she powers through it until none remains.
"See? That wasn't so hard." Regina says as she brushes a strand of hair out from Catra's face.
Catra's too tired to push her away and is worried of how suspicious it'll seem if she does. And she will talk to Regina, but she doesn't want to have this conversation when there is literally nowhere to run. Catra knows the power of a broken heart and doesn't want to be around when Regina reaches her low.
Catra can see Adora's gaze lingering on the sight—the same way Regina's fingers stay a moment too long on the contours of Catra's jaw. Adora looks away just as Regina's fingers slip off, slow and fluid, just as Catra glances her way.
Adora grabs her mug—probably embracing the burn at her palm and the sting in her throat. She chugs the hot chocolate until nothing remains but a trail of fire—a welcome distraction Catra assumes.
Bow and Scorpia return next with a bundle of clothes and blankets that they toss their way with eager expectation. And once Adora and Catra are in their fresh clothes and swaddled beneath an array of blankets the sharp energy in the room seems to die down just a bit. Their friends sit on the floor around them with worried looks, for a long moment it's silent and once again Glimmer steps up and commands the room.
"What happened?"
"What…" Adora clears her throat and tries again. "What do you mean?"
Glimmer scoffs. "We've been looking everywhere for you guys!"
"We just went to the clearing for a bit, Sparkles, no big deal. As you can see, we're fine."
Glimmer flicks Catra's ear and shoots back, " we're fine ...you were gone for an hour! Didn't you guys get the blizzard alert warnings?"
"My phone was on silent."
"I didn't notice any alerts." Adora says, looking more apologetic than Catra does (which is not at all).
"Excuses." Glimmer mutters as she glares at Catra who responds by sticking her tongue out.
Perfuma stands up and claps her hands. "The important thing is you two are safe and out of the blizzard. They should get some rest."
"The blizzard won't stop anytime soon," Regina says. "You should all stay here for the night. The storm should let up in the morning."
Perfuma smiles. "Thank you."
"It's no problem but...I don't mean to be rude—"
"Shocker." Catra says.
"You, hush, drink your spicy hot chocolate and talk to me when your voice stops trembling." Regina looks at the rowdy group in her living room and wonders "...what exactly are you all doing here? And who are you? I know Anna—"
"Adora," several voices correct her in unison.
"—but the rest of you...I'm drawing a blank."
"A blank?" Glimmer huffs, "we were the ones who helped you at the party!"
"Ah yes, you helped me after your friend punched me in the face. I remember now."
"They didn't have to help you," Mermista says.
"And she didn't have to punch me—"
"Okay." Bow laughs awkwardly. "Regina is being nice enough to let us stay here so the least we can do is give her some answers, right?"
Glimmer relents. "We aren't stalking you guys or anything like that. I have a cabin a couple miles out and after midterms we all thought it was time for a break. We found out you guys were here a couple hours ago when we ran into Scorpia." She gives Adora a look that says sell it bitch .
"Yeah!" Adora says, "I ran into Catra on the way back and we just lost track of time."
Regina raises an eyebrow and turns to Catra asking, "really? How'd you run into each other if you were in the wine cellar the last time I saw you?"
"Scorpia left a note behind," Catra says with ease. "Something about testing out the boosters of this new design we're working on for our race. She said she was out at some clearing with Entrapta and that obviously sounded like a disaster waiting to happen so I left to go check on them. I found this idiot wandering around on my way there."
Adora pouts. "Hey! I wasn't wandering around."
"Oh yes my mistake. She was tripping on her own feet, city kids like us aren't equipped for this weather." Catra stands up. "Is everyone good now? All the loose ends tied? Good."
"Catra's right, we should get some sleep." Bow says.
Regina nods. "I should have enough rooms for you all but if not someone can take the couch."
"Bow and I can share a room." Glimmer says.
Catra whistles.
"Not a word, scummy."
They scatter off to their designated rooms for the night with bundles of blankets and pillows under their arms. Regina walks Catra to her room despite her protests—she tries to ignore the knot in her stomach at the crestfallen look on Adora's face as she watches them at the door to her room just before she locks herself up inside. Catra wants to tell Adora everything and anything but she can't deny the fatigue any longer; her body has only now adjusted it's temperature.
Regina helps her to bed before she backs away with a shaky step, her arms are crossed and pressed tight against her chest as she looks down at her with a twisted face. "Are you gonna be okay alone? You won't die in your sleep from some injury you're keeping hidden for our benefit?"
"You watch too much tv…I'm fine, okay? Just really tired."
Regina nods. "Okay. I'll get you in the morning, we can get Scorpia to make us breakfast."
Catra laughs. "Sounds great."
"Goodnight."
"Night Regina."
Adora doesn't wait until the passing of night when there is less risk of running into her friends as they roam the halls—she's done waiting—instead, she listens for the last door to shut, makes sure every light is dimmed, before she leaves her room like a thief in the night. She crosses the long hallway and lets the light of the moon, peeking out from between the crack of the blinds, guide her on her quest. Adora curses when she steps on a creaky floor board because really, why did Catra have to choose the room farthest from hers?
Another creak echoes in the hallway but this time it's not from Adora, she stands still and looks up to see a silhouette at the other end of the hall. They are exactly halfway apart, separated by the wood staircase. Adora holds her breath and begs it not to be Regina—anyone but her. But then they're moving, slowly closing the distance, while Adora remains planted in her spot as she tries to come up with some lie about getting lost on her way to the bathroom. She's about to try out the lie on her lips when then the curtains flutter as heat comes out from the vent; the ripple allows more light to shine through.
Adora's words get lost in her throat because it's Catra on the other end of the hall; she's the one being hit by the light of the moon. When Catra bridges the gap Adora meets her halfway and tugs at her hand, silently dragging her away.
They sneak back to Adora's room like the thieves they are; and maybe it's an accurate way to describe them—as thieves, because isn't that what they are?
Silence follows as they slip into bed at opposite ends before meeting each other in the middle with brushing foreheads and lingering fingertips that graze smooth skin, feather light touches, leaving behind deep impressions long after the night is done.
17
Catra wakes up to chatter downstairs in the kitchen that makes its way into the room she shares with Adora. She groans into the pillow and flips on her stomach to drown them out but the pillow doesn't suffice and soon the muffled voices get louder with whatever chaos her friends are causing downstairs. Any other time she would go back to sleep or yell at them to cut it out but Regina's being generous letting them stay here so she feels obligated to do something about the noise (and she knows how much Regina values her beauty sleep).
"Where're you going?" Adora asks, eyes heavy as they peek out from under her bangs. She latches onto Catra's hand with in desperate vice and for a moment Catra is transported back to last night—when Adora held onto the lapels of her coat, fearful of the inevitable. Maybe she would've run back when she was in high school, when she was filled with nothing but anger and resentment, but she's older now and she's done lashing out.
"I'm gonna calm those idiots down before Regina kicks us all to the curb, she hates being woken up by petulant noises because they alter her dreams and—long story short, she's afraid of frowning in her sleep so she likes it to be silent." Catra tries to explain Regina's reasoning but she doesn't get what the woman does half the time anyway so she falls short.
Adora looks wary when she asks, "and you know this from experience?"
"No," Catra is quick to say "of course not. I just received some very vivid text messages when I reached out to her at 3am with some last minute Biochem questions for this assignment I was working on."
"Good. I'll be down in a few." Adora hesitates before she presses a lasting kiss at the corner of Catra's mouth. When she pulls away, red stains on Adora's face leak down from the tip of her ears all the way down to the top of her collarbone.
Catra squeezes her hand twice before she lets go and leaves to see what their idiot friends are up to. She jogs down the steps and carefully peeks into the kitchen; everyone is up for the most part (thankfully Regina is still sleeping), and they're eating some cereal they must've scavenged from the cabinets.
"Catra, hey, you're up." Bow greets with a smile. He scoots over and gestures to the open seat between him and Entrapta. "You wanna sit with us?"
Catra plops down and snatches a bowl from the center and pours some dry cereal into it. The milk is probably in the fridge so she just pops the Frosted Flakes in her mouth because she's too lazy to walk to the fridge. Everyone is staring at her with rapt attention like she's doing some kind of magic trick.
"Why're you all staring at me?" Catra knows the answer but she asks anyway to see if any of them have the guts to spit it out.
Glimmer looks like she's about to spill but she deflects at the last moment. "You're up early. It's just weird seeing you in the light of the early sun."
Catra snorts. "Not by choice. Regina hates getting up early and you guys were making a lot of noise so I came to tell you to keep it down. She's being cool about whatever this is and I don't want to push it."
"So," Scopia looks crestfallen. "Regina huh?"
"Yep." Catra says. "Just looking out for her, you know?"
Bow asks, "what about Adora? She seemed pretty shaken up after getting stuck in that blizzard so maybe you should look out for her too."
"Nah, she's good." And yeah, Catra may be trolling the shit out of them but from what Adora's told her they pretty much deserve it. She respects and loves Glimmer for defending her honor (or whatever) but she doesn't need them dictating her life. They shouldn't have gotten involved, when Adora asked for their help all they should've asked was what do you need with no further questions or objections. But by all the frowns and pinched eyebrows, she can tell her friends have come to their senses and are sorry for what they've done and are willing to offer nothing but support going forth.
"Hey," Catra says suddenly when she notices the car keys in Glimmer's hand. "You guys are heading out already?"
Bow nods. "Aren't you?"
"I hadn't thought about it."
"There's supposed to be another blizzard later tonight—"
"In 12 hours and 19 minutes," Entrapta says, and Catra doesn't want to know how she knows the specifics but whatever.
Glimmer continues, "we're not trying to get stuck here another night. If we leave within the hour we can get back by the afternoon and then we'll have Sunday to relax before classes start back up again. If we stay any longer we risk getting stuck here tomorrow and the weather is so up in the air around here, it's not worth it."
"We're heading out too, Wildcat, don't you have class Monday?"
"Yeah and I'm dreading it." Catra rubs her eyes and she's suddenly feeling exhausted all over again. "I'll let Regina know, but she should have all the mock photos she needs for the Thanksgiving portrait they're taking."
Glimmer makes a face. "The what?"
"I'm not repeating myself."
When Adora comes down she gets bombarded with all these depressing looks (does Perfuma have a tear in her eye?) and she automatically looks to Catra and wonders exactly what she did or didn't tell them about their walk out to the clearing. But she doesn't have time to dwell on it because Regina comes downstairs not too long after her in this ridiculous cream nightgown that has these stupid ridges at the end of it.
"Regina, did you know there was another blizzard coming?" Catra asks when she sees the blonde waltzing into the kitchen.
Regina nods. "Scorpia, Entrapta, and I packed our bags last night before going to bed. We were able to get everything in the truck so all we need to do is grab our coats then we're ready to go."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I went to your room but you weren't there."
It's frightening how quick it takes for Glimmer to stare her down. Adora shakes her head, a bad move on her part because now Glimmer's eyes have gone wide and she's nudging Bow with her elbow and now they're both looking at her and then at Catra and back at her. Glimmer's face is apparently very telling because soon the once sullen looks on her friends faces are brightening; Mermista and Sea Hawk are smirking at her, Perfuma and Scorpia are trying to give discrete thumbs up under the table and Entrapta...she's actually not paying attention.
"She was in my room." Glimmer saves the day by saying, "I wanted to know why she'd been ignoring my text messages this weekend so I kind of held her at gunpoint. Not sorry by the way."
Regina smirks. "I like her."
"No, nope, not happening. I refuse to allow these two worlds to clash." Catra stands up suddenly and snaps her fingers. "Let's get out of here before the blizzard comes, it'll probably be crowded on the ride down the mountain. I doubt we're the only ones who know so a lot of people are going to be trying to get out."
Mermista nods. "Yeah, how about we try not getting stuck here."
"Just let me pack my bags."
"No need. Scopia and I took care of it last night, it's in the car." Regina says.
"Great, then let's just head out then. This has been the longest weekend of my life."
Regina slaps Catra on the shoulder playfully. "You had fun at the slopes."
Glimmer gives Catra a sly look and says, "yeah Catra...at least one good thing came from this weekend."
"Yep," Regina remarks with a grin "I really like her."
Adora doubts Regina would be saying that if she knew what Glimmer was really referring to but the moment doesn't last and soon they're getting their winter gear together and tumbling out into the snow (Regina has to go back upstairs to change out of that ridiculous nightgown). She goes to pack into Sea Hawk's car, Mermista and Perfuma are already there chatting away, but Glimmer grabs her by the elbow and shoots her a dangerous look.
"Adora, you should ride with Bow and I. We're going to the same place so it makes more sense." Glimmer says carefully, and it is a reasonable option but Adora can read between the bullshit on Glimmer's face.
"Yeah," Adora gets distracted by Catra walking past them "I'll be there just give me a second."
Glimmer sees her line of sight and jabs her in the shoulder with her finger. "We're talking about this in the car," she mutters before following Bow.
Catra's talking to Scorpia when Adora sneaks over, and soon their whispering is reduced to silence when they notice her in the mix.
Scorpia clears her throat. "I'm gonna make sure Entrapta has all her gadgets, we don't need to drive back up here anytime soon."
Adora waits until Scorpia is out of earshot before saying "hey, everything okay?"
"Yeah. Scorpia's just worried about me per usual."
"Right," Adora nods. "Uhm, I'm riding with Bow and Glimmer, there's an extra seat in the back if you want to…"
"I can't." Catra sighs. "It'll look weird, and Regina doesn't know Scorpia and Entrapta that well; they kind of forced their way on this trip as is and I don't want to make her uncomfortable."
"Right yeah, no one wants that."
"Wildcat! We're leaving!"
Catra squeezes Adora's shoulder in passing. The walk back to Bow's car feels longer than it should, weighing on her shoulders heavier than any lost basketball game ever has. She slumps into the backseat and counts to herself because it's only a matter of time before—
"So?"
Bow and Glimmer are turned around in their seats looking at her with anticipation.
"So what?" Adora asks, fidgeting under their stares.
"You and Catra, what happened at the clearing?"
Adora smiles at the memory, so visceral that she shivers as if she were back in the eye of the blizzard. "I told her how I felt, well...I didn't tell her I loved her because I didn't want to freak her out—"
"I told you she loves you back," Glimmer groans.
"It was a lot, and she had her doubts and I didn't think she was going to believe me but then…"
Bow and Glimmer nod.
"We kissed. Like, a lot." Adora backs as far as she can into the leather seat of the car because Glimmer looks like she's about to cry. "You okay?"
"I'm just so happy." Glimmer smiles. "My best friends, finally together."
Adora winces.
"You guys are dating, right?" Bow asks.
Adora looks away. "We didn't get that far."
"But she did spend the night in your room."
"Nothing happened!"
Glimmer raises an eyebrow. "Adora."
"...okay, some things did happen, but not all the things, because some things are worth waiting for and—"
"You need to talk to Catra." Bow tells her. "You've seen what happens when you hold off on this. It'll only hurt you guys and I think I speak for everyone when I say we're sick of seeing you two hurt each other."
"Bow's right. You have to talk to her."
Adora swallows the lump in her throat and down goes the fear. "I will."
She knows what she wants.
When Adora gets back to her apartment she slithers into her room while Bow and Glimmer slump out on the couch to watch some mindless tv to lull them to sleep after the long drive back. Adora's changing into some comfortable clothes when she gets a text.
Catra [cat emoji] [heart emoji]: hey, Regina just dropped me off at my apartment. It was a long day so I probably won't get a chance to talk to her until tomorrow but I'll keep you updated
Catra [cat emoji] [heart emoji]: and Regina didn't come inside btw she had to go back to her place to deal with her plastics. Her words not mine
Adora feels an invisible weight lift—she didn't even know it was weighing her down.
Adora [brain emoji] [question mark emoji]: okay, I'm exhausted so I'm gonna knock out soon but I'm glad you got back safe
Catra [cat emoji] [heart emoji]: you too. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight
Adora types out I love you before she comes to her senses and erases it.
Adora [brain emoji] [question mark emoji]: goodnight [sleep emoji]
18
It's Monday night when Catra gets out of her class and heads over to Regina's apartment on the other side of campus near the frat and sorority houses. She takes the elevator to the top floor and knocks on room 216. There's the pitter patter of feet before Regina opens the door dressed in an oversized hoodie with her hair tied into a messy bun that spills out atop her head.
"Hey, I've been waiting for you." Regina says and opens the door further to let Catra in. "You can sit on the couch or whatever. Ignore the mess, I'm having this stupid game night with these new girls on the floor."
Catra frowns but does as she's told. "You knew I was coming?"
"I mean, you haven't texted me since Saturday night and you've been avoiding me so I knew something had to give eventually. So either you were going to stop ghosting me or I was going to put you in the burn book...kidding, totally kidding, I don't do that anymore."
Catra doesn't even know what Regina's on about and she doesn't try to understand.
"I'm not avoiding you. I had to do my pre lab yesterday and then I had class tonight."
Regina sits next to her. "You've been avoiding me. And I bet it has something to do with Anna."
"Adora."
"Why did the rest of your Scooby gang really show up at the cabin, and why were you with her at the clearing? No bull shit this time, we're both too smart for it."
Catra didn't think this would be so hard. "...Adora snuck off to see me, she had to tell me something, but Glimmer and a few of my other friends didn't agree with her decision so they took a separate car and drove up there to stop her. And I really was going to check on Scorpia but then I found Adora instead and we went to the clearing to talk."
"What did she tell you?"
Catra tries to smile but it falls short. "Do you really want to know?"
"I guess it doesn't matter." Regina takes a moment before asking, "so, that night when I went to check on you...were you with her?"
"Yeah."
Regina shakes her head and lets out a rough laugh. "I thought you were over her."
"So did I but, I was fooling myself if I thought I could ever let her go." Catra says, "Adora and I have always been it, you know? She kept me out of trouble when we were at Weaver's foster home, she made sure I didn't act up in school so we could go to college together—and I didn't repay her the way I should have. I did a lot of things I regret but I'm trying to make up for them. Adora and I look out for each other and I never want that to change again.
"I'm sorry about getting you caught up in all of this...with Adora punching you, with my friends camping out at your families cabin, and for the damage to the jacuzzi—"
"The what ?"
"The point is, I'm sorry you got caught in the crossfire."
"Well...I can't say I'm surprised," Regina confesses. "I knew you weren't totally over her but it was just nice to be around you. You're so different from my usual group of friends. You're actually honest and you call me out on my shit without judging me."
"Oh no, I still judge you."
Regina laughs. "See? I'm gonna miss you, asshole."
"Well, I still kind of need your help in Biochem so it's not like you'll never see me again."
"Seriously? You just dump me and now you're asking me to help you get an A in Sharks class?"
Catra shakes her head. "Technically, we were never dating and you agreed to help me before all of this happened so the contract is very much binding."
"Fine." Regina bumps shoulders with her and says, "but can we please not become those people who only wave at each other once in the hallway and then just make this awkward eye contact when we keep seeing each other on campus?"
"Yeah no, I hate those people."
"Right? It's like the universe keeps making me run into them and it's always on the same day. Like a freaking onslaught."
The front door slams open and suddenly Catra is bombarded by a view of shopping bags and takeout. Two women barrel into the living room and dump their bags on the floor with exaggerated heaves.
"Regina!" The brunette yells as she takes off her sunglasses so she can properly glare at her roommate. "You were supposed to have the games setup. I knew we should have gotten Cady to supervise you."
Regina rolls her eyes. "Cady probably doesn't even know what board games are, and I was taking care of it before my friend stopped by if you haven't noticed. Catra, these are my roommates Gretchen and Karen."
"Oh, hi." Gretchen smiles and does a cute wave before turning to Regina to whisper "we don't have enough snacks for her if she plans on staying for game night."
Catra gets up, laughing. "Wow, the two of you actually do exist. I thought Regina was making that shit up."
"I wish," Regina mutters.
"Well, I'm gonna go but it was nice meeting you two."
Karen stares at Catra's ears for a long time before asking, "were you a sexy cat for Halloween?"
"Nope." Catra slowly backs away, "okay, leaving for real now. Later Regina."
"Please don't leave me alone with them."
Catra slams the door close and doesn't look back.
19
It's Thursday afternoon when Catra finishes a brutal Advanced Organic Chemistry quiz; she needs time to rest her brain, so she lounges out on the couch with popcorn and Netflix. Scorpia is out with Perfuma doing whatever those two do together so Catra is left with Entrapta who is tinkering with one of her research projects and not even paying attention to the show. Catra's glad when she gets a text from Glimmer (anything to put her out of her misery).
Sparkles: open the door
Horde Scum: a please would be nice
Sparkles: now
Catra mutters, "this bitch did not just.." she lets her words trail off as she opens the door. "What the hell—"
"You, shut up and sit down." Glimmer says as she barges in. She nods at Entrapta, "can you give us a minute?"
It's a miracle when Entrapta actually feels the room and gets up with her gadget and locks herself up in her room with no questions asked. Catra nervously slumps back into the couch and cradles her bowl of popcorn for protection (the last time she saw Glimmer this angry was when she found out the bar on 22nd didn't serve bottomless mimosas—their faces are still on the do not serve board).
"You good?"
Glimmer stands in front of her, takes a deep breath, and says "talk to Adora. Please. She is driving me crazy."
"How so?" Catra asks because sure she's changed a lot but at the end of the day she's still very much an asshole when she wants to be and enjoys riling people up.
"She keeps asking if she should reach out to you, she sends us these mock texts that she says she's going to send but then she backs out at the last minute—and she's eating all my ice cream! That is where I draw the line. You know how much I love my butter pecan."
Catra nods. "I do."
"Exactly, so you know how hard it is for me to not strangle her." Glimmer calms down a bit but stays standing, almost restless. "I thought everything was good between you guys. You kissed, sober this time...so what's the problem?"
Catra sighs out a shaky breath. "Me I guess?"
Glimmer sits down beside her asking, "what's wrong?"
"It's just weird. Like," Catra frowns, trying to find the right words. "It's like when you apply for this job that you know you want more than anything but you're only one out of five hundred applicants. So you kind of downplay how much you want the job, you do everything you can to sabotage yourself, so you don't feel the pain when you get rejected but—by some freak accident—you actually get what you want. And now it's just within reach but…"
"You're scared." Glimmer says.
"Petrified." Catra corrects. "I never thought this could happen, I never thought I deserved her—I still don't—but here we are and now I'm just scared of making the same mistakes. What if I self sabotage again?"
Glimmer flicks her ear. "Then I'll smack the shit out of you. Both of you...you're not the only one sabotaging this thing, Catra. But isn't it worth finding out how amazing the experience will be?"
"She's my best friend, Glimmer. I don't want to lose her again."
"You'd rather go back to a couple weeks ago where the two of you were awkwardly coexisting? Because that won't cut it for long, eventually one of you is going to move on, which will be painful to watch, or one of you is going to distance yourself which is going to hurt even worse. So just take a chance.
"You're a lot of things Catra, but you're not a coward."
Catra leans into Glimmer's shoulder mumbling, "you're a good friend."
"Your best friend, actually." Glimmer waits a moment before she asks, "so what do you wanna do?"
"I want to see her."
Glimmer smiles. "Then let's go."
20
Adora sleeps through her alarm and opts out of going to class because at this point even if she does make it she'll have no idea what the professor is talking about. So instead of doing the long walk of shame down the isle of her lecture in room 209, Adora heads to the gym. She goes to the main gym where the treadmills and ellipticals dominate; her usual go to is the gym on the lower level of the school—it's equipped with free weights but she doesn't feel like being weighed down today.
Adora dumps her bag off in one of the empty lockers before she makes her way to the gym. She signs in at the front desk with her school ID and it's her lucky day because there's only one treadmill left. But fate must be playing games with her because Regina puts her foot on the treadmill the same time Adora does. They stare at each other for a long moment, and all that goes through Adora's head is don't punch her, don't punch her, don't punch her, don't... She has no concept of what goes on through Regina's head, probably something having to do with dresses and fancy restaurants, but Adora can tell, at this moment, it's neither a pleasantry or ditsy fantasy.
"Adora," she struggles to get the word out—even makes a strange face as she tastes the foreign name on her tongue. "Crazy running into you here."
"Super crazy." Adora mutters.
Regina steps away, the fluid motion makes her ponytail flutter and wave (she almost slaps some dude in the face who's walking by). "You can take it, I'll just grab a mat and work on some core exercises."
"Wait," Adora steadies herself before saying "I know I should have said this a long time ago but, I'm sorry for punching you. I shouldn't have done that, and you were really cool about letting me and my friends stay at your cabin during the blizzard even though I didn't address the issue and I really appreciate that."
Regina looks her up and down. "Did Catra put you up to this?"
"What? No, I—"
"I'm just messing with you. Don't be so serious all the time, and stop furrowing your brow like that or you'll have wrinkles before you even hit thirty."
Adora's eyebrows pinch in tighter but it's worth seeing the pained look on Regina's face.
"But thank you for apologizing. Catra told me it wouldn't take long, I didn't believe her, but I guess she knows you better than I do. Obviously."
Adora back tracks. "Catra said that?"
"Not exactly," Regina looks bored with this conversation but she does confess, "when we were at Mount Etheria she just mentioned how she thought you would apologize to me and how she didn't recognize you anymore. Something that."
"She told you that?" Adora whispers.
Regina's face pulls a strange expression. She puts a hand on Adora's shoulder and says, "I'm not good at this comforting stuff but, none of what Catra told me at the diner matters."
"Why not?" Adora has to try very hard not to brush Regina's hand off her shoulder.
"Because you two are together now."
Adora does remove the hand from her shoulder (she thinks it's been there long enough). "Catra and I aren't—we're just friends."
Regina stares at her for a second and then barks out a harsh laugh. "Are you joking?"
"Why would I lie?"
"So wait, let me get this straight—excuse the pun—you punched me in the face and snuck Catra into the room you were staying in at my cabin for nothing." Regina shakes her head. "What the hell are you waiting for?"
Adora bristles because Regina doesn't know anything about her and she's had enough lectures from her friends, she doesn't need it from Regina too (off all people). She snaps, "why am I the one who has to make the first move? Scratch that. I already made the first move. I told Catra I...look, she knows how I feel, okay? She doesn't…"
"What? Tell me exactly what you think Catra doesn't want because it seems like this option has been working out so well for you."
Adora clenches her fist and shoots back, "I don't have to think about it. Her actions are enough."
"You're so off the mark it's laughable."
Suddenly Adora doesn't feel guilty for punching her all those nights ago.
"Look, I don't like you but I do care about Catra so I'm telling you this for her benefit. When we were at Mount Etheria I told Catra how I felt but she was hesitant about accepting my advances until I asked her what's wrong with knowing what I want and taking it? " Regina steps onto the treadmill, she looks down at Adora but this time she doesn't feel like a stain at the bottom of Regina's shoe. "Take what you want before someone else does."
Adora takes a staggering step back, then one, and another, before she's pivoting at a 90 degree angle and running out of the gym. As she runs through the corridors of BU, the night of the Halloween party flicks through her mind like an old drive in movie—the images are choppy, flicking in and out of focus, in black and white. She thinks to the exact moment when her cup hit the floor—amber liquid spilling—announcing the first round. Back then she'd been so full of anger and resentment, acting on pure emotion, blind to the consequences but the adrenaline protected her. And now, as each step gets her closer to her destination, Adora pulls forth the same adrenaline to protect her in this next and hopefully last battle.
She uses up her last boost of energy walking back to her dorm after a failed attempt at locating Catra and of course she doesn't have her phone on her and isn't answering any of the messages Adora's left her. It was a punch in the gut, having Scorpia tell her that Catra wasn't around and with Perfuma lingering in the living room (probably for some lame date night, gross) Adora didn't feel like being a third wheel so she cut her loses. The walk back to her apartment is long and brutal but when she finally reaches Complex E things start looking up. And sure she might not get the chance to tell Catra how she feels tonight but at least she can look forward to eating some of Glimmer's ice cream (she's super discrete about it, there's no way Glimmer knows it's her).
"Hey guys," she mutters upon entry.
Bow looks up from the couch, grinning. "Adora, hey how was your—"
"There's a package for you." Glimmer cuts him off.
Adora opens the front door again and peeks outside. "I don't see anything."
"It's on the roof," Glimmer continues with her weird cryptic messages that Adora is too tired to divulge.
"I'm really tired guys, I think I'll just go to bed."
Bow says, "just check it out and take the fire escape, it's quicker."
Adora closes the front door with caution, looks between her friends who are (for once) not giving anything away. She takes the first step, the rest are easy after that and soon she's sliding her window open and going out on the fire escape. She takes the stairs two at a time now because she knows this MO. It's a classic Adora protocol, one of the many Catra wrote up when they were kids. Whenever Adora had a bad day they would grab some snacks and drinks and head up to the roof so they could get away from the noise.
Her stomach turns and tosses, it fights to dissolve all the things she's kept locked away for so long. It all comes forward, the hot bubbles try to make its way out of her throat but this time she doesn't try to swallow it, she opens her mouth and lets it go. The chill that had crept its way up her back—the one that startled her as it bit into her knees because when did it get so high —it slithers out past her lips, slipping through the cracks of her teeth with enough force to give rise to a shiver. And it takes its time tumbling out, not at all in the same manner of which it corrupted her but with one more breath it's gone from her body and free to wreak havoc on its next unsuspecting victim.
Adora takes a breath and it comes out clean. She's ready. With nothing else holding her back Adora takes the last step and climbs up onto the roof where Catra's leaning against the railing.
Catra turns to her and smiles, and that alone is usually enough to leave Adora breathless but this time it's the spark in those eyes that do it for her. A few years ago, maybe even weeks, she never thought she'd see it again.
"Hey, Adora."
She gets a hold of herself and manages to meet Catra at the railing without making a fool of herself.
"I don't," Adora shakes her head and tries again "I didn't bring anything."
"You didn't need to. I've got some hot chocolate, but not that spicy shit Entrapta made us drink, and I've got some sandwiches Bow helped me make while we waited for you to come back. Glimmer just sat on her ass while we did all the work but I had to give her one since you've been eating her ice cream, she's pissed by the way." Catra shakes her head and groans, "and I'm sorry about not answering your messages. I knew you were headed to my apartment and I let you waste your time going over there anyway, and you were probably really worried, but I wanted to surprise you and—"
"I love you." Adora says because she can't hold it in anymore. And for a moment—a moment where she's weak and scared—she starts to feel the chill creep back in but then Catra's eyebrows are pinching in and she's looking at her like she adores her and she feels warm all over again.
The chill makes a hasty retreat.
"I love you too."
Adora laughs, shaky. "Really? You're not mad I waited five years to do something about it?"
Catra shakes her head. "No, I mean it hurt and I was so angry at you for a long time but you were going through it too, and honestly? I'm so sick of talking about it. I don't think we should forget it, because it's part of our story, but I think we should just choose to acknowledge it happened because right now we're here...and I don't know about you but, being here with you feels pretty great."
"Our story?"
"Yeah," Catra smiles. "...I think we're one of those couples with a long story when people ask us how we got together.
"Did you just quote The Office at me and try to pass it off as a line?"
Catra huffs. "Shut up, it's been a long day and my brain literally can't function. I barely had enough brain cells to set this up."
"Welcome to my world."
Adora pulls Catra in for a kiss, and she basks in the knowledge that it isn't the first and it sure as hell won't be the last.
And so, they embrace their future—a present for their struggle wrapped from the past and tied together with a red fated string—like they've never done before.