AFYE chapter 19
Something was wrong with Vi. When Caitlyn returned from her shoot (one that she totally didn't rush through as quickly as possible in order to get back sooner) she found her girlfriend in the garden, gazing lazily at the scenery. She had thought it would be fun to sneak up on her and hug her from behind, but when she made contact, Vi practically jumped out of her skin and put up her fists, ready to defend herself.
She had relaxed immediately upon realizing it was Caitlyn, but the sharpshooter couldn't help but notice some of the tension remained in her posture. Upon asking Vi how everything went while she was away, she pulled back to see the horrible sight of Vi's face, puffy and swollen from crying, the tear tracks still drying on her face. Caitlyn's first instinct was to press the issue, figure out exactly what upset Vi and fix it, but the undercity girl just insisted she was fine, and Caitlyn knew Vi was nothing if not stubborn. The more she pressed, the more Vi would likely shut down. Caitlyn resolved herself to wait. Vi would share what was wrong when she was ready. She wasn't exactly the best at keeping secrets (at least from her).
As troubling as coming back to see Vi in shambles had been, Caitlyn enjoyed the rest of her visit. Her parents mostly left them alone, undoubtedly trying to avoid Vi after whatever happened, and they were able to spend all their time together. They were even permitted to skip family meals, instead being brought simpler food to eat at their leisure as long as it wasn't in her bedroom. Caitlyn could tell Vi preferred that. The intricate meals seemed to overwhelm her and made her frustrated every time she made a mistake, not that Caitlyn blamed her. She grew up eating meals like that and she still got thoughtless and messed up on occasion.
They had also managed to keep her parents from finding out Vi was sleeping in her room. They just undid the bedsheets in the guest room to pretend like Vi slept there, even if her mother made a passive-aggressive comment about making the beds when they saw her in the kitchen.
It was the final day Vi was staying there, she was set to leave just after lunch, but the two decided to relax in Caitlyn's room, Vi lying across the bed and Caitlyn sitting at her desk. They had been talking for most of the morning but eventually fell into a comfortable silence as Vi fidgeted with a puzzle cube she found, and Caitlyn wrote d some things she wanted to remember to do later. She had grown so comfortable in the quiet that she was almost startled when Vi spoke.
"My parents got killed by enforcers." The words took a moment to process in Caitlyn's head, but once they did, she immediately moved to the bed, knowing it would be better to be next to Vi for what was likely to be a heavy conversation. "It was the bridge riot. Some rookie enforcer thought that the mining gauntlets the men were wearing were weapons and started firing. All they wanted to do was show how bad their working conditions and equipment were. Instead of improving life in the mines, they got killed." Vi spoke in a monotone voice, as though the tragedy were nothing more than the story from a book she'd read once. It just made Caitlyn want to wrap her in a hug and never let go.
"I'm so sorry, Violet." Caitlyn wasn't sure just how much contact Vi wanted, so she decided to test the waters by placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her heart soared when Vi reached up and placed her own hand over Caitlyn's.
"It's not your fault, Cupcake." Vi took a couple of deep breaths, clearly trying to choose her next words carefully. "Vander took us in after that. Didn't even hesitate. Scooped us up off that bridge right then and there, took us back to his home, and he's been caring for us ever since." Caitlyn noticed with no small amount of horror how Vi brushed over the fact that she was on the bridge where the massacre occurred, but she resolved to leave that be for the moment.
"He's a good man." She said instead. This finally prompted Vi to look at her, the undercity girl's expression unreadable.
"You really think so?" Caitlyn had never heard Vi so quiet and unsure before. She didn't think she liked it very much.
"I know so," Caitlyn spoke firmly, smiling when Vi's tense posture relaxed, and she leaned on Caitlyn prompting her to wrap Vi in a hug. "Is that why you didn't like Sheriff Grayson?"
Vi chuckled nervously. "You caught that, huh?"
Caitlyn brushed some hair out of Vi's face. "I've noticed a lot of things about you, dear." She laughed, causing Vi to laugh too.
"Like what?" Vi asked.
"Like how you always let me and Powder start eating before you touch your food. The way you smile when you watch me shoot. How you pretend to lose a wrestling match with Mylo every now and again to make him happy." Vi's blush grew as Caitlyn continued talking and she shoved her girlfriend off.
"Okay, okay, we get it, you see things. That's enough." But Caitlyn wasn't done. Vi was too cute when she was embarrassed to stop just yet.
"How about the way you stand between me and everyone else in the lanes." Powder had pointed that out to her. Apparently, it was another way Vi tried to protect her. "Or the way you step up to help Vander even when he doesn't ask because you can see he is overwhelmed. Or maybe the way you rush to help your family, even if you aren't sure it's needed, but you do it anyway, just on the off chance it is."
"Come on, Cait, really, that's enough, cut it out." But Vi was smiling and laughing too hard for Caitlyn to take her all that seriously. Soon enough a playful shove broke out into a small wrestling match. Caitlyn could tell Vi wasn't really trying to win as Caitlyn successfully pinned her after only a couple of minutes.
Looking down at her girlfriend who was pinned to the bed under her, Caitlyn was overcome with affection for the brawler. The blush from earlier still painted her cheeks and she was smiling, looking at Caitlyn like she was the only thing that mattered. Leaning down, Caitlyn planted a kiss on Vi's lips, planning for a small peck but the kiss quickly deepened as Caitlyn enjoyed the feeling of her girlfriend against her, kissing her. After releasing Vi from the kiss, Caitlyn let her forehead rest against Vi's, the brawler's smile even wider than before, and her arms wrapped around Caitlyn's waist, clinging to her.
"I love you." At first, Caitlyn thought she made a mistake with the way Vi stiffened beneath her. She opened her mouth to apologize or maybe backtrack, but only a yelp came out as Vi flipped them over, positioning herself on top of Caitlyn as she lay on her back. The pink-haired girl wasted no time reclaiming Caitlyn's lips in another passionate kiss.
Caitlyn held Vi's face in her hands as her girlfriend kissed her, scratching slightly at the short hair at the nape of Vi's neck. She was almost ready to burst with affection for her girlfriend by the time Vi pulled back, staring down at her with adoration and affection painting her features. "I love you too."
Those four words left Caitlyn breathless all over again. She knew what they could mean to Vi. The pink-haired brawler just told her she trusted her with her whole heart, and Caitlyn was going to do everything in her power to ensure Vi would never regret it.
Unable to put such feelings into words, Caitlyn grabbed a hold of Vi's collar and pulled her back down. She was quite sure she would never tire of kissing Vi.
Vi had been acting weird ever since she came back from Caitlyn's house. The moment she got back she dragged Vander into his office and shut the door, then the two of them didn't come out for almost an hour. When they did, Vander snapped that he needed to go 'blow off some steam' and stormed out the front door.
Powder and her brothers had tried to ask Vi about it, but she just mumbled something about a misunderstanding and moved behind the bar to clean glasses. At first, Powder thought that maybe Vi had done something to make Vander upset, but when their guardian came back (looking like he had run a marathon) he just pulled Vi into a side hug and told her it would be alright and that he would make sure everything got sorted out. Powder watched the whole thing from her place at the bar, only managing to get more and more confused with every interaction.
"How was your weekend Pow-pow?" Vi asked, shortly after Vander had gone back to his office and shut the door again. Immediately, Powder perked up.
"It was great! I went to…" Powder trailed off. Vi didn't know she went topside to talk to Jayce, and she had been upset the last time Powder had gone there. But Vi also went there to hang out with the guy herself…
Powder could tell she was taking too long to formulate a story because her sister was not looking at her with a rather unimpressed expression. "Powder," Powder gulped. "What trouble did you get into this weekend?"
"Technically, none." Powder had broken into Jayce's house, but he didn't call the enforcers about it, so Powder figured it didn't count as trouble.
"Okay, so where did you go?" Powder clenched her teeth. She wasn't sure what to tell Vi. Mylo and Claggor had already taken her to the market for art supplies and the scrapyard.
"…The scrapyard." Vi hummed, clearly unconvinced. She opened her mouth to ask something else when footsteps from the family room distracted her. The sly smile that appeared on Vi's face only made Powder more nervous. It wasn't until Mylo appeared that Vi attacked.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" she yelled at him, slamming her hand on the bar top. "I trust you for one weekend! One! How the hell did you manage to screw up so bad?!" Powder was taken aback by Vi yelling. She hadn't told her what happened, so why was Vi so upset?
"She slipped out! We looked all over the undercity, but we didn't think she would go topside!" Mylo defended himself.
Vi's head whipped around to Powder. "You went topside?!"
Ordinarily, the strangled choking sound Mylo let out would have had Powder rolling on the floor laughing, but under her sister's intense glare, the whole thing seemed a lot less funny. "So did you?" Powder tried.
"I was invited." Vi crossed her arms over her chest, her glare not easing up. "Don't you dare try to slink away!" Mylo froze at Vi's words, already halfway to the door.
"I just went so I could figure out those calculations!" Powder cried, redirecting her sister's attention back to her. "You said Jayce was using them, so I went up to his place to ask about them!" Vi took a deep breath at the explanation, her facial features softening slightly.
"You went to talk to Jayce?" Vi's words still sounded angry, but at least it was more controlled.
"Yeah. He walked me through his notes, so I was able to make sense of them. I even helped him design a new device to test some of his calculations." Well, Powder had designed the device herself, and Jayce just kinda watched her do it while adding a couple of helpful suggestions, but Powder considered that working together. Sort of.
"So he didn't call the enforcers on you?" Powder shook her head and Vi seemed to consider her explanation. "I really should have known better." Vi suddenly sounded exhausted, dropping her head into her hand. Powder knew she shouldn't find it so funny, but she couldn't help but laugh at her sister, who then proceeded to shoot her the weakest glare Powder had ever seen.
"Well if that's resolved I think I'll just go and-" Mylo said, walking toward the door again, only to freeze when Vi's gaze whipped to him, her eyes sharpening.
"Oh no. You're still getting your ass kicked." Mylo yelped and ran for the basement door, Vi leaping over the bar top to chase him. "'How hard can it be?' Apparently too hard for you! You couldn't keep track of your little sister for two days?!"
"It wasn't just me! Claggor was there too."
"And I'll kick his ass next time I see him. Now get over here!"
Powder laughed as Vi chased Mylo around the bar, each dodging tables and chairs in their pursuit. She wasn't really worried about Mylo, he was so slippery that by the time Vi caught him, they would both likely be exhausted. But until then, Powder got to sit back, drink her juice, and enjoy the show.