Friday, October 11th, 2013 - Highway OR-6 / US-26
"Chuh-Vurr-Ches?" Kate asks, her forehead wrinkling in confusion as she tests the name on her tongue. Her squint is due to a mixture of wind and afternoon sun in her face, and the questioning glance she's shooting Victoria as they discuss the artist that's currently playing through the Audi's speakers. The girl's hair is pulled back into a loose pony-tail, now, thanks to one of Taylor's old scrunchies found abandoned in the glovebox… while letting her hair loose to flail about wildly was hilarious and freeing and so worth it, they soon found that it made things like eating or holding a straightforward conversation more of a challenge than was strictly necessary.
"Well... It's 'Churches'," Victoria admits with a shrug, before flashing her passenger a cheeky grin. "But they spell it with a 'V', so I figure if they're going to be precious about spelling then I'll do the same for the pronunciation."
They've been making decent time, cruising along Route 6 with the drop-top's top dropped for the past half hour or so… though it has been another hour on top of that since they left Arcadia Bay. They had a couple of stops to make once that place they call home was firmly in the rearview – the first order of business was a visit to Tillamook County Urgent Care, to get Victoria's foot looked over and to put in a surreptitious request to have her blood tested. No stitches needed for the former, at least, and she will have to wait to hear back on the latter… she's still not sure what a positive result for whatever she may been drugged with would mean for her and Nate, exactly, but at least it would be good to know. Kate assented to having her injuries examined as well at Victoria's insistence, and while she walked out with a tube of antibiotic ointment at what was probably purchased at 10x mark-up, she at least wasn't exhibiting any signs of a concussion.
The second detour had been to get some fucking foooooood, especially since her stomach had been loudly complaining the entire time about the fact that she'd spent the past forty-eight hours surviving on nothing but alcohol, Kate's cookies, and pure, high-octane angst… and most of what remained of even that had been vomited up a few hours prior. They hit the first greasy-burger place with a drive-thru they came across, and when a starving Victoria was faced with a dilemma of choice while looking at the menu, she simply said "screw it" and ordered one of everything that looked even remotely edible figuring they could split it between them. Kate must have been in the same boat, for after the initial hesitance over being treated to the meal, she ended up packing it away just as hard as Victoria was. It was garbage-food, empty calories all of it, but from the sounds of their frenzied chewing and satiated moans one might have thought the girls were eating ambrosia straight from the banquet halls of Mount Olympus.
Most of the rest of that time they've spent chatting, and laughing, and listening to music like a couple of people who don't have a care in the world. Definitely not like a couple of people that just barely survived being kidnapped by her best friend or a supernatural-vision induced attempted suicide.
Kate closes her eyes for a moment, moving her head in time with the bold synth riffs and electronic drum claps that emanate from the speakers. Victoria watches with fascination as she moves one hand along with the music as though she's working the bow on her violin.
"Well, however it's pronounced, I really like them…" she says finally, giving Victoria an enthusiastic smile. "Their music is catchy, but there's a sense of urgency to it. It's melodic with this almost obsessive edge underlying the tracks throughout the album. Almost… hopefully melancholic, if that makes any sense?"
"I know, right?! Not bad for a band that debuted last month, huh?" Victoria gushes, the casual disregard she outwardly portrays over what others think about her tastes instantly overwhelmed by the far more honest elation of Someone-I-Like-Likes-This-Thing-I-Like. "Their sound is just… immaculate, like there's not a single note wasted. And Lauren Mayberry's vocals, aggghhh… she breaks my heart every time! Doesn't hurt that she's drop-dead gorgeous, either."
She finishes that last statement off with a wink, which elicits a suspicious squint from Kate… though the slight upturn of her lips gives away the lack of seriousness behind it. "Why, Victoria Chase, are you trying to make me jealous?"
"Mais non!" she fires back with a smirk and a half-shrug. "Just saying, between the fact that she's tiny, musically gifted, with delicate, almost elven features, and those expressive brown eyes of hers… it's enough to make a girl wonder if she has a type after all." Though Kate rolls her eyes at the shameless flattery, it gets her smiling and her ears burning red all over again, so Victoria will take it as a win.
She flicks her eyes back to the road as she takes a celebratory puff of the cigarette she's holding between the first two fingers of her right hand. While she is normally loathe to smoke in her car, the top being down should be enough to keep the smell from settling into the interior. Plus, her nerves are still pretty damn shot, as evidenced by how angry she got after being cut-off by another vehicle a few minutes prior. To be fair, the driver of the Prius (c'mon, a fucking Prius!) had the audacity to flip Victoria off after she laid on the horn, which is what really set her green eyes bulging and her teeth grinding with fury. It took Kate squeezing her thigh and soothingly reminding her that "it's ok, it's just traffic…" to keep her from attempting a pit maneuver right there on the highway. She settled for having a smoke and grumbling about how all Prius drivers should be rounded up and sent to forced driver-reeducation camps instead.
However, now Victoria can't help but notice how intently Kate's hazel eyes have locked onto her as she presses the cigarette between her lips. "What?" she laughs, pausing to turn her head and exhale a plume of smoke in the opposite direction. "You want one or something? You've been eye-balling me this whole time."
The girl shakes her head quickly, her nose crinkling as though disgusted by the very idea of it. "Um, no thank you… I don't really care much for smoking."
"Oh, shit… sorry, I didn't even think to ask if you minded before lighting up..."
"N-no!" Kate holds up her hands to forestall any further apology. "I d-don't mind, really. I'm sorry for staring, it's… it's just…" Her cheeks grow a shade pinker as she trails off, her gaze downcast.
"It's just…?" Victoria prompts with a nudge of her elbow.
Kate cuts bashful eyes back in her direction. "It's just... you make it look very... s-sexy..."
...
Now that gets Victoria flustered, and from the heat in her face and neck it feels like she's beating Kate's blush by a country mile. Of course, she has absolutely smoked on occasion in a calculated effort to appear cool or mature. Seductive. She even left a pack on her desk for Mr. Jefferson to find after class one day in what she now sees as an absolutely cringey, douche-chill inducing ploy to get his attention. 'Look at me, Mark! Aren't I classy and grown-up and totally fuckable? ^_~'
But to hear something like that from an absolute teetotalling good girl like Kate? Blackwell's one-woman 'Just Say No' campaign? Yeah, that's got her feeling some kind of way. As Victoria keeps her green eyes locked on the road ahead, her lips pursed pensively and her thumb absently toying with the butt of the cigarette, she's not sure if she'd rather take the sultriest-looking drag she can manage just for Kate's benefit, or snuff the thing out from sheer embarrassment.
"Buuuut…" Kate continues after a while, flashing Victoria one of those little smiles that usually telegraphs that she's about to say something tooth-achingly sweet. "I do wish you'd quit… because I'd like for you to stick around for as long as possible."
Outside of her parents, Victoria has met very few people in her life who are brave enough to tell her not to do something. Especially after having just stoked her ego by telling her she looks hot doing that very thing immediately beforehand.
But then again… she's never met anyone like Kate Marsh.
"You know what?" Victoria asks with a smirk, raising an eyebrow at Kate as she takes one last, languid pull before stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray.
"You're just lucky you're cute."
In the dozen or so minutes following merging onto highway 26, the conversation has mostly shifted to family. While Kate, perhaps unsurprisingly, doesn't have much to say on the subjects of Dear Old Mom or Auntie Marsh, Victoria does learn that her father is a pastor in their hometown just south of Salem. For the most part, though, the girl gushes about her little sisters. Lynne, apparently, is the brains of the three of them… though to hear Kate tell it, you'd hardly know it these days as the girl has reached the age where she is almost constantly glued to her phone. The middle child, Gracie, seems to be following in her big sister's artistic footsteps as an avid painter and piano-player.
Though most of her stories revolve around her sisters being giant pains in her butt, especially when they were younger, it's clear that Kate absolutely adores them. It makes Victoria envious, as she can't even begin to count how many times she wished for a sister, or a brother, or hell even a gerbil to keep her entertained over the long, lonesome years of her childhood. Since her parents were often away on European vacations or gallery-related business trips, her only companionship during much of that time was the various nannies or other servants who came and went.
"I wish… I wish that I could have known you back then," Kate says, her eyes shimmering with kindness and empathy as she gives Victoria's right arm a reassuring squeeze just above the elbow. "I would have loved to keep you company."
"That… would have been really nice." Victoria admits. "I never really had many friends until…" Nate. "…until middle school. I was kind of a brat back then."
"Was? Back then?" Kate grins, obviously trying to tease her out of her sudden melancholy.
"Rude!" Victoria scoffs in return, fighting a losing battle against a grin of her own. Sauciness really does suit this girl, after all. She hovers her finger over a button in the center of the steering wheel. "You know this model comes pre-installed with an ejector-seat, right?"
"Uh-huh." Kate giggles, raising her hands in surrender. "I don't know how much you'd have liked me back then, though… not sure the little country girl with the second-hand clothes and chicken-legs would have done well at dressage or polo or whatever young Victoria was into."
"More like anime and cosplay," she chuckles. "I'd have dressed you and your chicken-legs up like Sailor Neptune and dragged you around town so we could fight evil with the powers of friendship and thinly-veiled yuri."
"I only understood some of those words", Kate giggles, "But still… that sounds wonderful…"
Kate then breathes out a wistful sigh, turning her gaze to her lap while idly picking at her jeans. "I think that would have really helped me, too… having a big family didn't mean I wasn't also lonely a lot of the time."
Victoria gets that. She knows from hard experience climbing to the top of the Blackwell social ladder how easy it is to feel alone in a crowd. To be surrounded by sycophants, hangers-on, and, yes, even friends, and still feel like none of them knows you… because you refuse to let any of them see all the way behind the curtain. To jump from lover to lover in search of something to fill that void, with each encounter leaving you feeling more empty than the last.
She rests her arm on the center console, with her palm up and fingers waggling invitingly. She's not at all surprised to feel a dainty hand wriggle it's way into hers mere moments later.
"Do… do you think there is such a thing?" Victoria asks. "Other worlds where we lived different lives. One where we grew up together and were best friends, another where we never even met at all… all that string-theory type shit?"
"'There are more things in Heaven and Earth…" Kate says with a little shrug of her shoulders. "I don't really know, but… whatever world we're in, I'd like to think that I'd always find my way to you."
Victoria doesn't meet her gaze as thoughts of rooftops and videos and bathroom mirrors play in her mind. Her voice cracks a little when she finally speaks again. "What if… what if in one of those worlds, I hurt you… Hurt you so bad that you didn't want to be alive anymore…"
Kate squeezes her hand as she mulls over the question, and Victoria can hear the raw emotion in her quavering voice when she finally answers.
"If that were true, then… I would pray for that Kate. I'd pray that she would be able to see you the way I do. Because, if she did… I know that all she would want more than anything would be to hold you, and forgive you, and tell you everything was going to be ok."
Victoria temporarily retrieves her hand, using it to remove her sunglasses and wipe the tears from her eyes before returning it to Kate's. Of course, she shouldn't be surprised that when presented with such a scenario, Kate's first thoughts would be of Victoria's feelings. That has seemingly been this baffling girl's M.O. since she's known her, after all.
But at the same time, it frightens her. Because there is always that familiar worry gnawing at the back of her mind that she will hurt Kate. That being with her will do more harm than good in the end, but Kate won't see it until it's too late because she's too wrapped up in what Victoria needs. Or even worse… that Kate will see it, but choose to stay with her anyway.
Thinking back on it now, Victoria wonders if that's why she jumped in headfirst with Max almost as soon as the option presented itself. Because her feelings for Kate even back then were so confusing… and because loving Max was the easy thing to do. Max always seemed so aloof, so impenetrable, that Victoria never believed she could truly hurt her. And that gave her the perfect excuse to keep her own walls up, as well.
Kate, on the other hand, has this air of fragility about her, despite the quiet, unassuming strength she's proven herself to possess in recent days. She's almost ephemeral… like she can be here one second, and just gone the next. Like a beautiful, headstrong little moth always, always drawn to Victoria's flame, never caring about how badly she might get burned.
And, she worries… is that what she's doing right now? Has the flame grown so enamored with the moth's delicate, mesmerizing little dance that she's willing to invite her in, consequences be damned? After all, Kate was ready to jump off the top of the Girls' Dormitory mere hours ago, and visions or no visions, that's not something that a person in a healthy state of mind just does. Victoria would be lying if she said that the thought that the first and only place she should be taking Kate after getting her down off that roof was straight to Arcadia Bay General Hospital to get admitted for treatment hadn't been plaguing her mind the entire trip.
Yes, she's afraid of what Nathan might want to do to Kate. But wouldn't she be just as safe in a hospital as she would be in a hotel? Safer, even? Was she doing the right thing with this little weekend getaway? Or was she using the threat of Nathan as an excuse to be exactly as selfish and impulsive as she promised herself she was going to try not to be when it came to Kate?
"… Victoria?"
It's not until the quiet concern in Kate's voice draws her out of her thoughts that Victoria realizes she's gripping the poor girl's hand like a vice, her pale fingers turning red from the pressure.
"Oh, s-sorry…" Victoria murmurs, using an entirely unnecessary lane change as an excuse to return her hand to the steering wheel with minimal protest from her passenger. "I guess I went a thousand miles away for a minute."
"That's ok…" Kate says with another of those sweet little smiles. "As long as you'll have me, I'll follow you anywhere you go."
And it's seeing that warm, unreserved affection in Kate's eyes, combined with the exuberant gleam they've been shining with ever since they pulled out of the Blackwell Academy parking lot, that makes Victoria wonder if she's perhaps over-thinking it like always. Maybe it's not about doing what's right or wrong, but about doing what they both need the most in this very moment. And, after the hellacious week they've both experienced, maybe giving themselves time to just live in the moment is exactly what they need. A chance to allow each other a little peek behind the curtains.
They'll have plenty of time to figure out what to do about visions and hospitals and mental health issues after she figures out the whole Nate situation and they get back to Arcadia Bay. That's what Victoria tells herself, anyway. As they pass beneath the sign that indicates they've got ten miles to the exit that will take them straight into the heart of downtown Portland, she thinks of the words that Kate spoke to her during their rooftop dance earlier today… if for no other reason than because she desperately wants them to be true.
We have all the time in the world.
Downtown Portland - The Riverfront Lodge
Kate goggles at the hotel building before her, craning her neck upwards to take in the full height of it as Victoria hands off her keys to the valet. The girl seems startled by the porter who hurries up with an offer to take the bag slung over her shoulder, and embarrassedly tries to protest that she's fine to carry it herself… until Victoria finally has to cajole her into allowing the man to do his job. Kate hurries after her while she hands off her own roller-suitcase and heads toward the front desk.
"Victoria…" the girl frets, leaning in close to whisper in her ear, "th… this place looks... expensive."
She's not wrong, obviously. The Riverfront Lodge, aptly named for being practically within spitting distance of the Willamette river in downtown Portland certainly qualifies as a "luxury hotel", though it's far from the most lavish place Victoria's stayed on previous weekend getaways.
"Well, duh." Victoria responds flippantly. "What'd you expect, that I was going to take you to a motel 6?"
"No, I figured it would be nicer than that, but… I guess I was thinking of something more along the lines of a Holiday Inn?"
Victoria stops in her tracks, causing the trailing girl to bump into her from behind. Slowly turning to give Kate her best shocked expression, she chides "I… honestly don't think I've ever been more offended in my entire life."
Kate begins to stammer out an apology, but frowns in exasperation when Victoria finds herself unable to keep a straight face. "It's just… Victoria, this is too much."
"Oh, calm down," Victoria rolls her eyes as she turns back toward the check-in area. "The rooms on the lower floors are offered at very reasonable rates."
"Wh… what floor are we on?" Kate asks, some measure of relief beginning to creep into her voice.
"… the top?" Victoria admits, grinning guiltily over her shoulder.
Kate closes her eyes tightly and rubs at her temples, muttering "Lord, please give me strength…"
She's mostly silent during the check-in process and the elevator ride up to the top floor, looking something akin to a caged animal while Victoria makes small-talk with the porter. But when Victoria slides the keycard into the door and motions Kate to go on in ahead of her, the girl barely makes it three steps inside before loudly proclaiming "Oh my GOD, it's bigger than both our rooms at Blackwell combined!"
Victoria smirks and shakes her head as she palms a tip to the porter before following Kate in. Making her way through the foyer and into the master bedroom, she laughs at the sight of the girl laid out on the king-size bed with her arms splayed out to either side and her legs dangling off the edge.
"Well, what do you think? I know it's no Best Western or anything but I do hope it's up to your exacting standards."
Kate lifts her head just long enough to stick her tongue out before letting it flump back down onto the bedspread. "This… might just be the most comfortable bed I've ever laid on…" she begrudgingly admits.
"Très bien!" Victoria exclaims while tossing the girl's bag at her feet. "This one's yours, then. I'll take the guest room."
"I still can't believe a hotel room has a guest room!" Kate's excitement to see the rest of the living space seems to be overwhelming her hesitance over the cost as she clambers back up to her feet. She starts to follow along behind Victoria, but is soon drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a spectacular view of the river below them, the afternoon sun glistening off the water. "It's… it's beautiful…"
Victoria isn't looking out the window at all, but rather the girl with her hands and forehead pressed up against it when she smiles in response.
Sure is…
Victoria sits next to Kate on the edge of the bed as credits roll on the screen in front of them. She decided to "pop Kate's anime cherry" with the heart-breaking and gorgeously drawn 5 Centimeters per Second, a coming of age tale about two children in the throes of young, innocent love who are separated by circumstance and forced to grow up apart, each always longing for the other as they try to move forward with their lives. Having seen the film dozens of times already, Victoria mostly watches Kate's face with fascination as the girl gushes over the sheer spectacle of the animation, becomes entranced by the haunting beauty of the film's score, and alternately smiles and cries as she is swept away by the exquisitely crafted story of the two young protagonists.
"Oh my Gosh…" Kate swoons, "I really, really need to watch more anime…"
"I can definitely help with that…" Victoria smiles. "What was your favorite part?"
Kate chews at her lower lip as she thinks that question over. "I mean… I loved all of it. But… just the way the film managed to capture that sense of distance between a person and the one they love, especially when they think they may never meet again… it really spoke to me, I guess."
Though Kate is sniffling again as she speaks, Victoria's eyes haven't been able to leave her lips as she experiences her own intense feelings of longing.
"Hey, Katie…"
"Yeah…?" the girl asks as she wipes at her cheeks with another tissue, before throwing it in a nearby wastebasket along with its many brethren that failed to survive Kate's encounter with the film.
"… Can I ask about the kiss?"
Kate's face reddens as she looks down at the blanket below her, obviously caught off guard by the question. After a short silence, she says with a trembling voice "… I'm sorry."
"You're… huh?"
Kate presses the fingers of each hand together, forming a bridge like shape that she idly presses inwards and releases as she speaks, her voice quiet and hesitant. "Last night… I didn't know Nathan had given you anything, but I knew you were drunk. You couldn't even stand up on your own, and you were saying things that didn't make sense. When you kissed me, I knew I should have stopped it, but… I couldn't. And I'm really sorry for that."
Victoria really doesn't know how to respond to that, so she does the mature thing by poking Kate in the side, eliciting a jump and a yelp from the girl as she clutches the spot protectively.
"Wh… what was that for?" Kate asks incredulously.
Victoria takes a moment to file the fact that Kate is ticklish away for future use before pouting out her bottom lip a tad. "Little piece of advice, for dating insecure girls? Don't ever tell them 'I'm sorry you kissed me.'"
Kate's eyes widen at that, before her brow furrows in consternation. "W-wait, I didn't mean it like that!"
"Relax," Victoria chuckles, "I know what you meant, and… I really appreciate it. Not many people I've hooked up with care enough to even wonder if they were taking advantage in that situation. But it's all good, I'm the one who kissed you, right? And it's not like you copped a feel or anything, so…"
Her eyes narrow as she trails off. "… you didn't, right? Cop a feel?"
Kate's entire head goes bright red, from her brow all the way down to her neck. "Oh, n-no! I would never…!"
She takes a moment to gather her thoughts, before adding. "After we kissed, I could see how tired you were, so I got you to lie back down. I fell asleep pretty soon after…"
Victoria doesn't know whether to feel respected or mildly disappointed, but in the end decides on relief at there being one less thing to worry about having forgotten in last night's drug and alcohol-induced haze.
"… See? No worries then. Besides…" she smirks "you were basically my hero last night, so if you ask me a little kiss was the least I could have done."
Kate beams at her, an embarrassed kind of pride shining in her eyes. "… was that what you wanted to ask me? About… the kiss?"
"Oh… umm, no, but… you know what? Never mind…"
Tilting her head to the side, Kate asks "what is it?"
Victoria studies the wall on the other side of the room. "It seems pretty stupid after all that, so…"
"You've got to tell me now," Kate laughs, her curiosity obviously piqued.
Victoria sighs, her embarrassment slowly losing out to the fact that Kate clearly won't let it go anytime soon. She cuts her green eyes back to Kate as she asks "Th… the kiss… it was pretty good, right?"
It's Kate's turn to bashfully look away, a slow smile spreading across her face. Finally, she bites her lip and nods affirmatively.
Her ego boosted, Victoria grins coyly and greedily digs for more validation. "Well…? Quantify it for me! Are we talking top ten? Top five?"
Kate giggles as she covers her face with her hands. She peeks one hazel eye back at Victoria, before mumbling "It… it was my first…"
Victoria can feel some of the color draining from her face. "Your first… kiss? Y-you mean… with a girl?"
Kate's hands remain in place as she shakes her head. "M-my first kiss ever…"
"Oh God…" Victoria moans, closing her eyes as she rubs her forehead with her right hand. The relief she felt at having not drunkenly taken Kate's virginity driven away by the shame of having drunkenly taken her first kiss.
"I guess maybe it was a little… sloppier than I imagined it would be? But…" Kate continues, driving the stake even deeper.
"OH GOD…"
"… but it was still really, really nice…" the dirty blonde finishes with another enamored giggle.
"No!" Victoria declares, shaking her head vigorously. "Nope, nuh-uh, that... that doesn't count! I object, your Honor, I'd like to have that stricken from the record!"
"But..." Kate allows her hands to drop back to the bed, her eyes worried and self-conscious as she pleads "... but, why?"
Noticing that the girl's hand landed dangerously close to her own, Victoria reaches out with one pinky to gently rub at Kate's.
"Because... a girl like you deserves to have your first kiss be magical and perfect... Not from someone who's too drunk to stand up, or... or to remember it properly..."
Kate's eyes soften as a tiny, understanding smile begins to take shape on her lips.
"I… um…" Victoria clears her throat, suddenly feeling more nervous than she can ever remember being around a girl she was crushing on. "I don't mind, being your first kiss… the idea is kinda growing on me, to be honest. But… if I am, I want it to be me, you know? All me, not influenced by drugs, or booze, or near-death experiences. And I also want to be sure that I'm not just… using you for a rebound, or whatever. Because you deserve so much better than that…"
Her eyes are drawn to her hand by the feeling of Kate hooking Victoria's pinky with her own.
"I understand…" Kate says softly. "And I told you, I can be as patient as you need me to be... so, objection sustained!"
Victoria grins ruefully, pulling at the girl's pinky in an impromptu game of tug-of-war. "Thank God that's settled… I can't have you going around saying Victoria Chase is a sloppy kisser or anything."
Kate returns the grin with one of her own, a mischievous glint in her eyes when she tugs back. "So… does that mean we're dating?"
The short haired blonde can feel her ears burning as she stutters "Wh… what brought that on?"
"Wellllllll…" she drawls, with a coquettish fluttering of her eyelashes. "You did say you were giving me a tip for dating an insecure girl, so…"
Victoria purses her lips as she can feel the burning spread from her ears all the way down into her chest.
Damn… I guess you got me there. Well played, little bunny…
"We're… we're not not dating…." she finally answers, coyly looking away while at the same time using her ring finger to snag an extra one of Kate's.
She can feel those delicate fingers gently caress her own as Kate sighs happily beside her.
"Hmmmm… I can work with that."
A sizable dent in a couple of delivered pizzas later (Kate insisted on paying, to which Victoria begrudgingly accepted as long as she ordered one with "literally all of the carbs"), and the girls' conversation has moved onto less… romantically fraught fare. Victoria knows that she should be getting to work on digging through Nathan's computer, but she keeps putting it off. Mainly because it's been so nice just chilling and getting to know the girl she's been alternately obsessing over and running away from for the past six weeks.
Leaning back on a pile of pillows with her hands covering her recently conceived food-baby, she can feel the contented sleepiness of over-eating coming on, but does her best to power through it.
"Have you thought about what you want to do now that you've basically got your whole life ahead of you again?" Victoria asks, peering through heavy lids at the girl sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed.
"I guess a little…" Kate says, twisting her mouth into a pensive expression. "First of all, I suppose I need to catch up on my homework. I let myself get a couple of weeks behind since… well, you know." She gives Victoria an embarrassed shrug, before adding. "I think I have a couple essays due, too…"
"So, is that your way of telling me I should've let you jump after all?"
"Hey…!"
"Oh no, missy!" Victoria points a stern finger in Kate's direction. "You do NOT get to play the 'too soon' card on me after your little 'changed my mind' joke!"
Kate looks up and to her left as though thinking that over, before giving an acquiescing nod. "I'd really like to get back into helping with Meals on Wheels, I… feel really bad about letting that slide. And catching up with Stella, Warren and Alyssa too, since I haven't been the best friend to them lately. Oh, maybe drama club? I heard they're doing Wuthering Heights this year…"
"Dang, I'm gonna have to start calling you 'Extra-curricular Katie' or something," Victoria teases with one eyebrow raised. "But, uh… I can't help but notice you didn't include 'Abstinence Awareness' in there…"
In response, Kate gives her that look again… the one that carries such a heat to it that she can almost feel it on her skin. The look that gives her a sudden urge to nervously change the subject.
"Y-you know I was in drama once, in Freshman year? We were doing The Tempest."
"Oh, really? What did you play?" Kate asks with interest, though Victoria can still see that flame smoldering behind her eyes. Almost as though they're saying 'I'll let you off easy, this time…'
"Eh…" she shrugs. "I was an alternate for the lead role, and was even thinking I'd get a shot at it for a hot minute, but… it didn't work out."
"I'm sorry to hear that, I'm sure it was disappointing."
"Nah," Victoria murmurs absently. "In the end it was a relief more than anything. I realized that I kind of hated it, so I dropped out of Drama right after."
A sudden snickering from Kate's direction causes Victoria to look up at the girl sharply. Suspiciously. "… what's so funny?"
The muscles in Kate's face tighten with the effort to hold back her laughter. "N-nothing!" she manages to squeak, covering her mouth with her hands as her hazel eyes dance with mirth.
Sitting up straight, Victoria grabs a pillow from behind her head and gives the girl a warning glare. "I swear to God, if you make me come over there…"
The dam finally bursts, and soon enough Kate is doubled over as peals of melodic laughter escape her body. Victoria hefting the pillow threateningly only makes the girl laugh even harder, holding one hand up defensively while wiping her eyes with the other.
"It's just… heeee…!" Kate wheezes out between breathless chortles. "the thought of… what people would say if I told them 'Victoria Chase hates drama'… heeeeeeeeeeee…!" If she has anything more to add, she clearly can't force it out between the noises that are steadily rising in both pitch and volume.
Victoria's jaw drops open, her eyes going wide at the sheer impertinence of the girl who is practically howling in front of her right now. "Bitch, you have gotten downright surly with me lately and I don't think I like it!"
Actually she's loving it, not that she would ever admit that… but it's really fucking hard not to crack up herself at the sound of Kate's infectious laughter.
"I'm sorry… haa… I'm sorry…" Kate gasps, pressing her hands to her stomach as she slowly brings herself under control by taking deep, shuddering breaths. Victoria lowers the pillow in her hands as Kate seems to calm herself at last.
"You better be!" she grumbles, giving Kate the dirtiest look she can muster. "If you think I'm gonna just let you dunk on me over and over all weekend…"
But when Kate raises her mirthful eyes to meet Victoria's faux-serious glare, her mouth stretches wide as the snickers break free all over again.
"Oh, that is IT!" Victoria cries, grinning wolfishly as she lashes out with the feathery pillow in her hand. Kate squeals between cackles as the pillow connects with her head, her arms raised just a hair too late to block it. The short-haired blonde rises up on her knees and two-hands her next strike, the downy weapon hitting hard enough to bowl the teetering girl over onto her side.
"You're dead, Marsh! Dead!"
Victoria raises the pillow high overhead, only to bring it back down once, then twice… earning a glee-filled screech from her victim with each blow. Kate rolls onto her front in an effort to crawl away, whether to escape or retrieve a pillow of her own her assailant isn't sure. Either way, there's no way in hell Victoria is letting her off that easy.
Grabbing her by one of the belt loops on her jeans, Victoria uses her leverage to flip Kate over onto her back. Quickly she presses the advantage, straddling the girl's thighs to pin her in place as she brings the pillow down on her once more. Kate raises her hands to block the next strike, only serving to stoke the fires of Victoria's vengeance even further.
With a predatory gleam in her eyes, Victoria grabs the pillow by either end and presses it down onto the struggling girl, leaning all her weight into it as though trying to smother her.
"You know…" she coos menacingly, a wicked grin plastered on her face. Kate is kicking out with her legs in a way that is… well, it's definitely not unpleasant, that's for sure. "The hotel offers free body-removal service for top-floor guests…"
Kate, who had been pressing upward in a losing battle against Victoria, suddenly lets her hands fall to the bed on either side of her head. Her hazel eyes twinkle up at Victoria over the top of the pillow that is now covering her nose and mouth as all her struggling comes to an inexplicable halt.
"… Not the worst way to go…" she says, her voice muffled by the couple inches of fabric and feathers that are being pressed onto her.
"You think I'm bluffing…?" Victoria growls, punctuating the threat with a bite of her lower lip.
Kate's eyes narrow with something that could be challenge. "… A Chase never bluffs…" replies that cushion-dulled voice once more.
The thrill of the hunt courses through Victoria's body as she re-situates the pillow to cover Kate's entire head. Her quarry doesn't raise her hand an inch, doesn't move a muscle as she presses the pillow down as hard as she can over the girl's face.
This… this is…
Maybe it's the blood pumping through her veins, or the pleasant tingles radiating up into her body from Kate's earlier writhing. Or maybe it's the way Victoria can make out the muted contours of Kate's nose and mouth through the pressure-thinned pillow…
… dangerous.
But whatever it is, FUCK if Victoria just can't even help herself right now. Shuddering with desire, Victoria lays down over top of Kate and presses her mouth down hard into the top of the pillow… right over the spot that is covering Kate's own lips.
She has no way of knowing what the blinded, smothering girl thinks is happening, and she sure as shit won't admit to it later… but from the way Kate's body stiffens underneath her, from the way her hands snake out from underneath the pillow to grab hold of Victoria's wrists, it seems like she might have some idea.
Danger! Danger! High Voltage!
Victoria insistently attacks, nuzzling into the pillow as she feels the barest hint of those full, supple lips through the give of the fabric between them. She lifts her face only to bring it forcefully back down again, as though she's trying to kiss a hole right through the pillow itself. Is Kate's head moving underneath the pillow now because she's gasping for breath? Or is she mirroring Victoria's movements just as hard from her own side?
Umm… Vic? This is getting a little… VIC?!
Kate raises one of her thighs upward between Victoria's legs, sending a shiver through her body. If she's worried about breathing, she's showing no sign of it as those dainty hands remain locked in place around her wrists. Victoria's mind is so goddamn thick right now that she is barely registering the fact that the bottom of the pillow is being inexorably forced upward from their combined movements, already having uncovered the captive girl's chin in the process. She presses further, now barely an inch remaining until Kate's lips are revealed… a centimeter… a fucking millimeter…
SHIT! Abort, you thirsty fucking HO! ABORT!
Pushing with all her strength, Victoria manages to heave herself upward and to the side, finally breaking Kate's grasp as she rolls off of her. By the time Kate sits up, the pillow falling from her face to plop into her lap, Victoria is already off the bed and a couple of feet toward the bathroom door.
"Well…" she pants, taking a moment to run fingers through her mussed hair, "… now that you've sufficiently been taught the price of your impudence, I'm gonna go take a quick shower. Afterwards I was thinking we could go for a walk along the waterfront, if that's something you're interested in?"
Kate's eyes are wide and glassy, her jaw slack and her lower lip quivering as she gasps for breath, both of her hands pressed tightly to her chest. For a moment Victoria isn't sure if Kate even heard her, much less comprehended her words… but just before she's about to repeat herself, Kate gives her a quick, affirmative nod.
"Great! Then… I guess I'll be right back." She flashes Kate a grin before casually strolling into the bathroom like absolutely nothing at all untoward just happened between the two of them.
However, as soon as the door closes, she sags back into it as her knees threaten to give out beneath her. Her arms pressed to either side of the wall as though she's trying to barricade the door with her body, Victoria desperately attempts to take control of her own breathing.
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit…
Victoria has taken many lovers, even multiple at once on occasion. Her love life up until now has been… adventurous, to say the least.
So with that in mind, how was kissing a pillow just about the hottest fucking thing she's ever experienced?
She had come close, so close to kissing her. Just ripping that pillow out of the way and searing Kate with a kiss so passionate it would be sure to burn the memory of their last kiss right out of her mind. She wanted it so bad… and Kate obviously wants it too. So why did she stop?
Because Victoria knows that if she had claimed Kate's lips just then, she wouldn't have stopped there. And there's no way in hell Kate would have stopped it either. She's seen the lust in Kate's eyes enough to know that she just barely managed to escape an all-or-nothing type of moment.
And she wants it all, of course she does… but she's afraid. Afraid of what it means. Because Kate is one of those adorable little penguins that mates for life, and Victoria isn't sure that she's ready for something so deep and terrifying and all-consuming as the feelings that are building up inside of her with each passing moment.
And because the last thing she wants to do is end up hurting Kate. It's the one thing she's desperately trying to make goddamn sure she never does again.
It's been around eight hours since she held Kate in her arms on that rooftop and told her that she wants to take things slow, make sure they do this right. And she meant that, every word. But at the same time… she wants nothing more than to rush back in that room and pounce right back on top of the girl before proceeding to blow her fucking mind.
Oh my God, I am SO screwed…
When she eventually manages to hop in the shower, she makes sure that motherfucker is ice cold.
The vibe has noticeably changed between them as they walk along the streets and sidewalks that line the Willamette river, the fading sunlight bathing the water and surrounding areas in that gorgeous, golden hue Victoria loves so much. Well, not so much changed but… perhaps escalated is a better term. The normally shy and quiet girl to her left shows no hesitation in grabbing her hand, or taking her arm as they walk side-by-side, seeming not at all flustered by showing such public displays of affection in the middle of a crowded walkway. Kate even nuzzles in close to her shoulder when they stop briefly to watch a pair of ships pass them by, clutching tightly to Victoria's arm as though her life depended on it.
And Victoria can't help but notice the way Kate sits so close to her when they stop to eat shaved ice, sharing a spoon while they sit on a stone bench to watch the waters of the Salmon Street fountain dance and glimmer in the fading light. Not that Victoria minds the way her heart flutters every time their legs brush against each other, or the way the twinkle of Kate's eyes makes it harder to breathe as the girl presses the very spoon that just touched Victoria's lips between her own.
Flashes of all the anime girls she's seen fawning over an "indirect kiss~~!" play through her mind, and though Kate's education on the common tropes of Japanese animation hasn't reached that point yet, the knowing grin she gives her as Victoria takes the spoon back perhaps a little too quickly implies that the girl already understands the concept well enough.
Dusk is falling over Portland as they stop to listen to a street busker's absolutely sweet and lovely rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love". And when Kate nestles in close once more while the pony-tailed, beanie-clad twenty-something sings about how "only fools rush in…", Victoria takes the opportunity to pull the smaller girl in even tighter by wrapping that arm around her shoulders. Kate responds by encircling Victoria's waist with her arm, and her pulse thuds wildly in her throat at the feeling of Kate's fingers idly tracing the waistline of her jeans. In fact, her own trembling nerves are the only thing keeping Victoria from "helpfully" moving Kate's hand lower to caress her hip, or claim her back pocket.
As they make their way back to the hotel, she's getting the growing impression that the door she opened with her little pillow stunt earlier can't be closed even if she wanted to… and she's pretty sure she doesn't, not if the way Victoria's skin tingles at the memory of Kate's slender body underneath hers is anything to go by. Kate's foot is in the door now, and it feels like just the slightest push will have the girl flinging it open the rest of the way.
And is that what she's been trying to do, with all her flirting, and innuendos, and coming so close to kissing her only to pull away at the last moment? Is she subconsciously trying to push Kate into making the choice, so that she won't have to? So that she can bypass her own fear and guilt and impulsive nature by being swept away by Kate's desires?
The Victoria of a couple months ago would say 'Hell no, I flirt because I'm a flirt. It's not my fault Katie's so fun to mess with.' But the current Victoria, the one that is trying to do the hard work of actually being honest with herself for a change? She has to admit that's exactly the kind of thing her cowardly ass would do.
The air in the elevator is thick as they ride up to the top floor on the way to their room. The silence between them cut only by longing glances, shy smiles, Victoria's nervous chuckling as Kate softly hums the Elvis Presley tune they just heard. It doesn't help that Victoria finds herself counting the seconds of the ride, contemplating exactly how much she could accomplish in that space of time. It also doesn't help that the way Kate's hungry hazel eyes keep flicking back and forth between Victoria's and the slowly-increasing floor number makes her wonder if she's thinking the exact same thing.
Victoria tries to think of what she might say to extricate herself from this situation as she turns to close the door and lock the deadbolt behind them after following Kate into the room. She does need to stop avoiding going through Nate things, after all, because she knows the only reason she hasn't done so for this long is because she's honestly afraid of what she might find. Somehow, though, even Nathan seems less terrifying than Kate right now.
So, with the perfect excuse to beg off back to the guest room ready on her lips, she turns… only to have those words smothered in their infancy at the sight of Kate standing right in front of her, those all-knowing, all-wanting eyes seeming to nearly bore into her skull.
"JESUS, Katie you nearly made me jump out of my skin!" she gripes.
"I'm sorry…" she says, not sounding sorry at all as she smooths a stray lock of dirty-blonde hair behind her ear with her right hand. Those penetrating eyes never leave Victoria's for an instant. "I just wanted to ask you something, is all."
Oh hell oh damn oh shit
"Wh… what is it?" Victoria asks, painfully aware that there is absolutely nowhere she could run right now even if she could bring herself to try.
Kate's red lips form into a sensuous smile. "You… enjoy teasing me, don't you?"
Yes yes yes God yes...
"M-maybe…" Victoria acknowledges, her breath catching in her throat. "You got a problem with that?"
"No… I don't mind it at all, really. It's… kinda growing on me, to be honest." That sensuous smile becomes a cheeky grin as Kate takes a step forward.
Victoria takes a half-step back, her heart racing as she finds herself pressed against a door for the second time today.
"It's just…" Kate says, that heat returning to her gaze as she places her hands on Victoria's shoulders.
Victoria's mouth has gone dry, and she can barely hear Kate's words over the sound of her own pulse in her ears.
"… be careful…" the girl murmurs as she raises up on her tiptoes, her mouth inching ever-so-slowly toward Victoria, who can't help but wet her own lips with her tongue in anticipation.
Do it Katie do it put me out of my misery pleaaaasssee…
But those lips Victoria wants to taste so badly divert at the last instant... and she can soon feel Kate's breath tickle the hairs on her ear as she finishes with a whisper.
"… not to start something you can't finish, Chase."
Then, before Victoria can begin to register her words, Kate is rocking back on her heels and stepping away… several paces out of reach before Victoria can even think to try and stop her.
"Since you took the first shower, I think I'm going to call dibs on the tub…" Kate smirks over her shoulder. "If that's alright with you, of course."
Victoria finds herself unable to respond, between trying to catch her breath, work spit into her dry mouth, and remembering how to use her brain to form words. She does manage to give Kate a little nod, at the very least.
"Great! I'll see you later then…" Kate giggles as she practically skips her way to the bathroom.
Victoria just stands there, her mind spinning as she stares blankly at the closed bathroom door and listens to the sounds of the tub filling beyond it. She came close, so close to letting Kate making the choice for her, to being swept away by her kiss and whatever else would be sure to follow. But, as usual, the maddening girl somehow managed to see right through her… almost as though she were saying 'Really bitch, you think I'm gonna make it that easy on you?' before throwing the ball right back in Victoria's court.
It's been approximately ten hours since she told Kate that she wants to take things slow, make sure they do this right. And she did mean it, honestly. But right now she wants nothing more than for Kate to come back in here and take her right against this door that she still hasn't managed to take a step away from… and not let up until Victoria can't even remember her own name.
…
Yep… Victoria eventually thinks to the sound of the water sloshing from the other room as Kate steps into the tub. I had it right the first time…
I am TOTALLY fucking screwed…