hello to whoever is reading this
how ya been doing? it's been a while so let's just get right into it
i don't really know what else to say here except for happy may 15th aka the anniversary of she-ra season 5 and catradora becoming fucking canon. i quite literally spent all of yesterday writing this chapter for today so here you go!!! :)
i feel like the chapter could be so much better than it is, mostly the ending of the middle part of this and stuff. anyways.
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Catra's mind is a little jumbled right now.
First of all, the shivering cold is finally getting to them even though they're still covered in Adora's warm and fuzzy winter jacket.
And second of all, Adora herself.
Oh jeez. Adora. Adora, Adora, Adora. Images of Adora almost kissing them frantically pop into their brain as they venture back to their apartment.
Oh right, that happened.
Fuck. Catra almost kissed Adora. She almost kissed Catra. They almost kissed. There was barely an inch - no, a fucking centimeter would be the better term to describe it - between them before they would've been making out.
Well-
The two of them would've been kissing but Catra doesn't know about them fully making out. They certainly would've liked to but they don't know if they would have gotten to that stage because of Bow...- Oh. Right. He's probably worried about where they are.
They've got to call him back. There's a whole fucking lot they have to talk about.
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princess 👑
Hi
Their phone dings and the screen lights up the dimly lit room and Catra's eyes have to adjust to the brightness. Catra stares intently at the text Adora sent for a couple of silent moments, curled up on the sectional couch of the apartment's living room with a blanket as Netflix plays a random movie Bow picked out for the two of them to watch. (He fell asleep thirty minutes after it started.)
hey
They haven't talked to Adora since the 'Park Incident' happened as Catra likes to call it now except for the occasional short and bland greetings like now. They bring the phone closer to their face, tapping the buttons and debating on what else to add.
how are you doi
Catra stops themself from finishing that sentence and groans, flopping their head backward, and deleting the text. Why is this so hard? Why can't I talk to her? They bit their lip, watching as dots appear and disappear, Adora ultimately saying nothing else in return.
Catra keeps on going back to that day, replaying what happened and wondering if they hadn't been interrupted and if Adora would've kissed them then. And if Adora likes them back or it's a one-sided thing and Catra's been taking everything wrong this whole damn time.
Catra turns off their phone and tosses it onto the ottoman in front of them, grasping the blanket closer to their face, listening to the background noise of the movie and the sound of Melog's paws against the apartment's wooden floors before Catra falls asleep.
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The sixth time that Catra enters Bright Moon Coffee is a time when they're being forced against their will to go. Like, Bow is literally trying his hardest to push them through the doorway right now but he obviously and severely underestimated the strength they gained over the years.
He's struggling and they're most likely drawing attention from random people on the streets and inside the cafe but Catra does not care. They don't want to go in so they aren't going to.
"Catra, come on!"
"No." Many people have told Catra that they're stubborn. And those people were right. Like, insanely so.
"You haven't been outside in three full days, Catra. I think it's safe to say you need to get out of your bedroom and somewhere you can breathe fresh air." He stops pushing and Catra turns around to meet his concerned face. They stare at each other, Catra turning their head up to the overcast and dark sky after a moment, wondering absently if it's gonna rain down today.
"But why do we have to go here?"
"...Because I want to see Glimmer and get some coffee," Bow says after a bit of hesitation on his part.
Catra sighs and puts their hands on their hips. "Are you sure it's not also because you want me to see Adora and try to enact whatever plan that the two of you made?"
Now, out of the two of them, Catra is the better liar. By a mile. Bow's voice cracks as he denies the accusation in his best friend's question. "What?! No, of course not."
"Bow, I could you hear talking about it and scheming up a plan a few days ago with her when you guys thought I was asleep. Also, you need to work on your whispering. I could hear from across the apartment."
Catra eventually gets him to crack underneath the pressure of their stare as he bows his head. Catra just shakes their head.
"Okay, we do have a plan that involves you and Adora. But! I'll tell Glimmer that we shouldn't do it." He admits. "I'm sorry about that. I just really want to you to be happy."
"I know. Let's go before I change my mind."
"Great!" And Catra can just hear the smile on his face as they turn away to hold the handle and pull open the door.
They enter the shop and Catra starts looking around, spotting Adora taking a customer's order at the front counter and hurriedly turns their gaze onto the wooden floors of the store in hopes of not locking eyes with Adora. They don't need that intense eye contact.
Bow chooses for them to sit in the left corner of the shop on a pastel green and dark brown wood booth with gold paper stars hanging from the ceiling on a string of twine above the seats with golden covered lights. "I'm gonna go order, okay?"
"Yeah, fine." He then leaves Catra all alone with nothing.
Catra stands up from the incredibly comfy chair they were relaxing on and makes their way over to the bathrooms after bouncing their leg and staring all around the shop for a few seconds before they got bored, where they definitely don't anticipate getting bumped into someone and have scalding hot coffee splashed all over them and their clothes.
"What the hell?!"
"Oh my god! Shit, Cat- I am so sorry!" Oh, wait. Catra knows that voice. When they look up, they come face to face with a distressed-looking Adora, her stare switching between the spilled cups of coffee on the floor and them with their now stained red shirt. "I was so not looking where I was going!"
"It's...it's fine, Adora." Their statement goes unheard as Adora rushes to the back of the coffee shop, spitting out apologies all the way there.
Catra waits on one of the counters as Adora scours through her blue and gold-colored backpack very fast. The situation feels similar to the one that only happened a few days ago. It doesn't seem like it did though. Adora's been searching for an extra shirt for about 10 minutes in the back here. It clearly hasn't been going so well with the obviously frustrated furrow of the blonde's brows and her restlessness in trying to find one.
"Aha, found one! Knew I had a spare. Just didn't know where." Adora pulls out a cream-colored sweater from her bag, walks back over to where Catra is sitting and hands it to them. "But, uh, thankfully, it was here so...Yeah." She trails off with a bit of forced nervous laughter at the end of it. Catra reaches for the sweater, jolting slightly when their fingers brush each other, and quickly takes it from her, bunching it up into a ball close to their chest.
They unfurl the sweater, flattening it out before replacing their shirt with the extra. Adora, as they do this, coughs loudly and turns away from them, facing the wall while scratching the back of her neck, a bright mix of red and pink on her cheeks that Catra catches when they look at her.
Somehow, the two of them always end up being next to each other in silence, whether it is awkward or not. Catra doesn't know how the two of them have been there if they're being sincere.
They just stare at the girl in front of them, watching as the crappy light above them still manages to make Adora look like a fucking angel when she's underneath.
(Not that it would be that hard to do so considering who Catra's talking about.)
Catra's gaze, after who knows how long, wanders down and down and soon they're reminded of a few nights ago when they were incredibly close to Adora.
We gotta talk about that.
I mean, do we really have to?-
Would you rather leave it like it is now and have the two of you feel awkward every time you're around each other?...
It seems Adora has the same idea as them because as they start to speak, Adora does too.
"So-"
"I'm-"
They both quietly giggle until it dies down. "I'm sorry."
"What?" Catra's genuinely confused about why and what Adora is apologizing for.
"For what happened at the park. Well, almost happened technically," Adora says, arms wrapped around herself in a way that makes the taller girl look sad and small.
Oh. "Oh." Ok. That's. That's nice to hear.
"Yeah. I probably should've asked and things are really awkward right now so if we could just forget about it-"
Catra doesn't hear the rest of the blonde's sentence. If we could just forget about it...
Honestly, Catra didn't expect Adora to like them back. Nobody really does and they'd be incredibly fucking shocked if it was true. But to kind of hear Adora confirm it right to their face...
Adora doesn't want me. Not like I want her. Why should she? She'd be stupid to do so.
"Catra? Catra? Catra, are you okay?" Uh-huh. Yup. Totally, they try to say but they can't. Their breathing gets heavier and they feel like they can't do anything but cry.
Stop being so dramatic all the time. It's getting annoying, the voice of their late mother rings inside their head for the first time in a while.
"Catra. Catra, look at me. Just breathe with me, okay?" Adora breathes in deeply, taking hold of their hand and squeezing as she breathes. Catra follows the best they can, breaths shaky as they slowly and gradually calm down.
The brunette sniffles, feeling tear streaks on their cheeks as they wipe them away. "Sorry about that. I'll-...I'll just get out of your hair now." They begin to scooch their way off the metal counters, but a hand wraps around their wrist, temporarily preventing them from escaping the back room and running back to Bow's car where they can resume their crying.
"Wait. Please." Adora stops them from going anywhere. Well, not really, she just grabbed their wrist but Catra feels like they can't go anywhere or do anything when Adora's really close in their vicinity.
Catra swallows, finding it hard to do so as Adora doesn't look at them, instead the bracelets worn around their wrist. I mean, she already sort of rejected you so why not just tell her that you have a massive fucking sappy crush on her? What's the worst that could possibly happen to you?
"I feel really bad. I feel like it's my fault I made you - no, I know it's my fault I made you cry and I don't know why but I feel really shitty that I did that since I really didn't mean to but-"
"Shut up."
Adora's nervous rambling is abruptly cut off by Catra's groan that ends with them planting their face into their hands. "Huh?"
"Please shut up. You need to stop being so...you and stop talking before I..."
Adora looks concerned. "Before you..."
Say something I semi-regret. "Um, I need to tell you...something. Uh..."
Are we seriously doing this? Right now?...Okay...let's do this then, I guess.
"I-I like you, Adora," Catra manages to spit out, head still in their hands since they really don't wanna move from that position. At all. "It's...fine if you don't like me that way or you reject me since you sorta did that already but, uh, that's it."
Curiosity gets the best of them eventually when Adora doesn't say anything for a while and they find them looking up at a dazed and flustered Adora staring at the wall behind them.
Adora snaps out of it so suddenly that Catra gets spooked from just looking at it happening."First of all, you like me? Like, actually like me? Wow," She breathlessly giggles before continuing. "Second of all, why would I reject you? You're literally the most amazing person I've met in years. Third of all...I rejected you?"
Okay. So either she has memory problems or she's a dumbass. Probably both if we're being completely honest here. "Yeah. Like five minutes ago, Adora."
"Wha...Oh."
"Yeah, oh."
"Oh, crud. Fuck me." The blonde looks like she's about to tear out her ponytail.
"I-I seriously did not mean to say that to you. Sometimes when I get nervous, I say things I don't think about or mean and you make me incredibly nervous- In a good way! Um, the point that I am trying to make is." Adora pauses for a second. "I like you too. Like a crazy amount that I'm currently wondering how you didn't figure it out the moment you met me."
...
Huh.
That's all the magicat really has to say considering the fact that they feel as though their brain is melting and exploding like a bunch of little fireworks at the same time somehow.
"You...like me? Me? Why?" Catra asks incredulously, pointing to their chest as if there's literally anybody else in the back that Adora could've said that to here.
"Of course I do. You're extremely talented. I mean, look at your art. You're incredibly fun to talk to, really, really handsome, you've got a great sense of humor, you make me really happy when I'm talking to you-"
Catra successfully manages to stop the girl's talking before Catra feels like they're going to melt from the way their face feels flaming hot, grabbing her face and pressing their lips together. Catra can't really feel anything anymore, only the rush of butterflies rising in their body and the places where Adora faintly touches the brunette's tanned skin as what was meant to be a chaste kiss turns into something a bit more with quickly frantic movements and Catra doesn't want to stop.
They would honestly be fine dying and suffocating like this, body and heart wrapped with warmth and kissing until they're fucking breathless-
"Ado- OH FUCKING SHIT!! Seriously?!" They pull apart, much to each other's despair and hesitation to do so, and find themselves facing a red-faced Glimmer with a scowl plastered on her face and her hands covering her eyes. "Ughhh!" A high-pitched groan that sounds like it's mixed with a scream escapes Glimmer's mouth.
"You guys have been back here for 20 fucking minutes and I was wondering really just how long it takes to find an extra fucking shirt. Thought you guys might have gotten murdered back here." Glimmer's hands slowly retract from covering her eyes while she speaks, hands now firmly resting on her hips. "Turns out you guys were just feeling each other up and shit."
Twinkle Tits grumbles before reminding Adora that she's needed in 5 minutes and muttering as she walks out of the backroom, leaving them alone to burst out in a fit of laughter, Catra's head resting on Adora's red-jacketed shoulder.
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Catra closes the cafe door behind them and steps out into the fast-falling shower of rain, Bow walks ahead to where his car is parked across the street, and they breathe and take in what occurred back in the shop. Wow. They feel like giggling like a literal maniac.
Catra shimmies through the sliver of space between two cars and then they hear the sound of someone calling after them. No, not someone. Adora particularly. They turn and Adora is stepping down the tiny bit of stairs leading up to the cafe's doors and starts walking towards them, her clothes getting soaked once she moves out from under the overhang.
Adora walks towards Catra and gently tilts their head upwards, her baby, pale blue eyes slowly flick between their lips and their mismatched eyes, asking a silent question. Catra doesn't even let her speak it out loud, gripping the back of her neck and pulling Adora close towards them once again.
They break apart a few moments later, smiling heavily as the rain falls upon them.
"Just wanted to do that again...I should probably go back inside..." Adora whispers, hands cradling their jaw.
"Yeah."
Neither of them moves.
"Really should."
"Mhm."
Again, no one moves and Catra's hands move down to Adora's shoulders.
"Glimmer's probably gonna be mad at me for being out here inside of in there," Adora states, moving her head to look back inside where Glimmer is currently glaring at her through one of the cafe's windows. If looks could kill, Adora would be dead right now, buried 6 feet under the ground. "And I was right."
Adora moves her hands from their face hesitantly.
"...Can I take you out? This Saturday?" Adora blurts out. Catra kinda feels like their brain is shutting down after that question. "Like on a date?"
"Um. Um...yeah. Yeah! Definitely. I-I'm free." Catra flushes a bit at the idea of going on a date with Adora.
"Great!" Adora smiles and fidgets with her hands for a second before reaching in for another kiss that seems way too short and running back inside before Catra can even process it. Catra's left grinning there like an idiot as Adora waves goodbye to them, closing the glass door being her.
Only then, after they turn around and watch as Bow matches their wide grin through the water droplet-covered windows, does Catra scream out loud in fucking joy.
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haven't updated since february... so that's fun. but here i am with a new and final chapter after almost three months of not writing.
hope you all enjoyed it! this is the first fic that i've ever finished and it holds a very special place in my heart so thank you for reading and have a good day/afternoon/night <3