That One Time We Kissed // Bishova College AU

The Universal Agony of Group Projects

"Hey..." Yelena whispered, taking one of Kate's hands, feeling the tension in her flexed digits. "I'm sorry, I came in a little hot."

"You should, though," Kate said. "You're right. This is fucking stupid."

"Yeah." Yelena kissed her forehead, feeling Kate exhale. "But there's still time. I want you to at least try. Imagine how much worse it will feel if you just give up and you're wondering what could've been."

"I guess that's true..."

"And even a half finished project is better than nothing, right?"

"Yeah, anything is better than a straight up zero."

"You fucking got this, Kate Bishop."

"Okay," Kate nodded, game face on. She kissed Yelena briefly and with intention, cracking her knuckles. "You're right, I got this."

Smiling proudly, Yelena nodded, sighing with relief as Kate finally started working. The blonde sat back and occupied herself with texting Pepper, checking her final grades, Christmas shopping online. Yelena may have spent hours, days, on Etsy as time blurred to Kate's rhythmic typing and the dull hum of fluorescent lights. She was debating whether or not a custom pocket knife would be a good idea for Kate when a librarian gently tapped her on the shoulder, startling her.

"We're closing, dear," the old woman said, and Yelena looked up the see that every student had cleared out save her herself and Kate. The two quickly gathered their things, apologizing for losing track of time, and headed for the doors.

Once outside on the marble steps, Yelena frowned, new boots rubbing a blister on the back of her heel. The Tri Delta house was not far, but every step screamed with discomfort.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," Kate said from the bottom of the steps, holding out a hand. "What's wrong?"

"New boots," Yelena grumbled, grimacing as she descended, taking Kate's hand for stability. "They're so cute but damn."

"Hm." Kate just turned to face away from Yelena, slinging her bag to her front and holding her arms out. "Hop on."

"Are you serious? The house is like, a half mile away."

"What, you think I can't handle you?"

Yelena acquiesced, jumping onto Kate's back and hiding her girlish blush in Kate's hair. "I know you can handle me, Kate Bishop."

"I owed you one, anyway."

"For what?"

"Not letting me be my own worst enemy."

"Yeah... I hope I didn't push you too hard." Yelena mumbled, pressing a kiss under Kate's ear. "I just want you to be as great as I know you are."

"Yeah, yeah, my potential and all that."

"Did you get anything done, at least? I lost track of how long we were in there."

"I think so. Thanks to you."

"I'm the best, I know."

A cold December wind blew, forcing Yelena to hunker down on Kate's back. Kate carried her like it was nothing, and feeling so weightless had Yelena swooning. The quiet of campus at night only added to the atmosphere of romance- yellow streetlights warming the sidewalks, buildings still lit up inside with late night studying. Not a soul in sight except for Kate. It felt as though they ruled the place, like it belonged to them.

"How'd you get so strong?" Yelena asked as Kate labored up the hill leading to the Tri Delta house. "You're, like, a skinny gamer. You shouldn't be carrying me like this."

"Maybe it's just in my genes. Or my weight to muscle mass ratio is just really good."

"Whatever that means."

Kate laughed, setting Yelena gently down at the door. She stooped down to kiss her goodnight and turned to walk back to her dorm, but was stopped by Yelena tugging at her sleeve.

"Wait," she said, already sounding sleepy. "It's late. Wanna stay the night?"

Kate smirked, scooping Yelena up bridal style to carry her up the stairs to her room. "I was hoping you'd say that."

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Hi I love you. I'm sorry it took me like a month and a half to get back to them just know they're in my heart always and Yes I am eventually going to complete this fic. Whatever that means

This chapter is dedicated to my current group project partner who literally went missing in colorado for like 2 days in September. Srry that happened but you should text me back xx