Summary:
They were friends, and they were more.
But how far could their love truly go?
---
After that day, Cathy and I were inseparable.
In fact, we were so joint at the hip that it was rare seeing one of us without the other close by. We sat next to each other in classes, ate together during recess– we'd even begun spending time together outside of school after the second week of our first meeting.
Cathy and I became a team. A group. A group of just the two of us where we didn't need nobody else but each other. Though we'd also formed friendships with other people, at the end of the day, it was always just going to be me and her.
Strange thing was, I still couldn't explain why I'd felt the urge to help her that day.
At the time, it just felt like the right thing to do.
But something deep within me knew that that wasn't it.
That there was something more.
The whole scenario just felt so... familiar.
Almost as if I'd seen it all play out before, albeit a bit differently. The second I heard those taunting voices and saw the upset look on Cathy's face, my instincts suddenly kicked in and, well, you know what happened next. I'm just glad that in doing so, I got to meet one of the kindest and sweetest people I knew. Cathy radiated such a warm maternal aura about her– especially when she played around with that baby doll of hers. It was clear to me from day one that she obviously wanted to have a child someday, and whoever she chose to marry in the future was going to be one lucky motherfucker, 'cause she wouldn't just make a fantastic mother, but also a perfect wife.
If only I'd known how wrong I would be, when she ended up falling for the last person I'd expected her to choose...
Me.
_______________________________________
-Flashback-
"Alright, alright. How do you say 'I want money' in Spanish?"
"Quiero dinero."
"Qui-e-ro din-ero... Quiero dinero. Did I say that right?"
Cathy nodded, smiling fondly at her best friend as the other confidently repeated the phrase to himself. After a moment, she decided to muster up the courage and place a hand over Luxy's, proceeding to then utter another sentence in Spanish– one that she knew Luxy didn't know, but deep down hoped would understand.
"Te quiero, Luxy."
Unfazed by the hand contact, Luxy turned to Cathy with a huge grin.
"Ohh, what does that mean?"
The only answer Luxy received was a light squeeze on his hand and a longing look in Cathy's eyes.
Then it clicked, and a blush crept upon Luxy's face.
"You–...?"
Cathy ducked her head shyly and nodded.
A silence fell upon the two 10 year olds, but it wasn't a bad kind of silence – far from it, actually.
Not even when Luxy pulled his hand away from under Cathy's own.
Or when he slowly reached for it again to intertwine their fingers together.
In fact, the silence continued on for a few more minutes until Luxy decided to break it with a few simple words.
"Te quiero, too Cathy."
–
The following three months after their confession went by like a blur. Things remained pretty much the same between them since they've always acted like they were together. Only difference is, this time, it was official. But not even their fellow classmates knew. The lot of them just assumed that they've been dating since they started hanging out, which was honestly a good thing because at least they didn't have to be the talk of the class.
Yup, all was going swell for the young lovebirds.
That was until Luxy's aunt Delilah finally met the man of her dreams and decided to run off with him to Italy to start their own family, leaving Luxy alone with his money-obsessed grandpapi who could probably not care less about what his grandson got up to.
"Well, my mom left my dad for a white guy, so at least your aunt had a good reason," Cathy tried cheering up her best friend. "And don't worry about running out of things you can resell, we can always just steal more stuff from other people! In fact, I'll even help you out! I make a pretty good diversion, after all."
Luxy raised a brow in interest, never having considered that idea before. "You'd really do that? For me?"
Cathy fondly rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah duh. We're a team, remember? Besides, I've already done it loads of times with my dad."
"Your dad is okay with stealing?"
"Uh, I'll have you know my dad is a proud package thief," Cathy stated confidently, "We even shoplifted at a grocery store once."
"How the hell did you get away with that?"
Cathy smirked and shot him a wink. "Stick with me and find out."
–
Without even realizing it, Luxy had learned to do the Double Diva Diversion with his best friend/partner. Except they didn't steal money. They only stole objects they deemed were valuable so that Luxy could resell it for more or half its original price. Yes, it wasn't the most ethical way of getting money, but at least they earned it instead of flat-out taking it from people. So for the next six years of their lives, the two went around their school conning their own classmates and teachers. And when that wasn't enough, they even started doing it in public places like the park or the supermarket.
It wasn't until their second year of college that things suddenly began going downhill for them.
All because Cathy just wanted to prove something to one of the mean popular girls in her class.
"I've actually had sex with five of the varsity players in our school," Karen boasted proudly to her little posse as they waited for their teacher to arrive. Cathy kept her head low so as to not gain the bitch's attention, but the universe had other plans and all of a sudden the short-haired brunette was now sitting right across from her with a smirk.
"What about you, Hernandez? Don't tell me you've never had your boyfriend's dick up your pussy yet."
Cathy gulped and avoided Karen's scrutinizing gaze. "What me and Luxy get up to in private is none of your business."
Karen resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Well I'm just saying, you two have been together for a while now. If that boyfriend of yours has avoided having sex with you for this long, chances are, honey he probably doesn't love you."
That seemed to elicit the reaction Karen wanted, as Cathy lifted her head up to look up at her with a confused frown.
"What do you mean? Of course Luxy loves me..."
One of Karen's posse snorted. "Girl, have you two even kissed?"
"I–" Cathy's cheeks turned red in embarrassment.
"Ohmygod, they haven't!" Karen's other posse member laughed.
"D'awww, you poor innocent soul," Karen tutted in disappointment, "Can't you see, Cathy dear? Your boyfriend's only using you for his own gains."
"Tha– that's not true!" Cathy shouted in defense, but deep down, was beginning to doubt Luxy's feelings for her.
"I've seen him look at a 10 dollar bill with more love than he does looking at you. Just face it, Catherine," Karen leaned over closer and dragged a perfectly manicured finger down Cathy's left cheek, "Your love is worthless to a man who only cares about making a quick buck or two."
It was then their teacher finally arrived and began droning on about a new lesson, but poor Cathy couldn't focus at all. Karen's words just kept echoing in her mind as she looked back on her and Luxy's relationship. It was true that they had never shared a kiss yet – much less have engaged in any sexual activities. But the lack of physical intimacy didn't mean that they didn't love each other, right? They've held hands before, shouldn't that be enough? Or maybe they were simply taking things slow and aren't ready for that next step in their relationship yet.
Either way, there was only one way to be sure.
Cathy needed to talk to Luxy.
–
"Nice work distracting that old lady, Kitty Cat," Luxy praised, smiling proudly at his partner as they walked out of an old antique shop with a couple of neat knick knacks expertly smuggled into a bag.
The cute pet name managed to put a smile to Cathy's face, but it sadly didn't meet her eyes. She was evidently nervous judging by her constant anxious fiddling and standoff-ish behavior. She didn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing, terrified of ruining her and Luxy's friendship.
But the thing is, they weren't just friends anymore. They were a couple. And it wouldn't be fair if only one of them saw it that way and feigned genuine attraction while the other only used it for their own benefit.
"Luxy, do you love me?"
The teen in question stopped in his tracks to look at his girlfriend strangely.
"Yeah...? Why do you–"
"Then why haven't we had sex yet?" Cathy cut him off before he could finish his sentence, "Or shared a single kiss? Do you not want me? Is that it? Am I not good enough–"
"Whoa whoa, hey! Don't say that!" Luxy carelessly dropped the bag of knick knacks to the ground as he went to console his now crying girlfriend, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. "What's brought all this on, hmm?"
"Karen from my Maths class said you were only using me and that you don't actually love me..." Cathy sniffed and burrowed her face into the crook of her boyfriend's neck.
"What? Don't tell me you actually believe her..."
Cathy stayed quiet, and Luxy frowned.
"Oh, darlin'... No, no, of course I love you! It's just that I–... well..." What could he even say? It wasn't as though he was actively trying to avoid being more intimate with Cathy. The thought of sex just never came up! Like if sex were on his list of priorities, it would be listed on the very bottom!
"It's okay if you don't love me anymore, Luxy."
"But I do!" Luxy insisted, "Cathy, please, you have to believe me! I can prove it to you, I swear! I'll do anything!"
"Then have sex with me," Cathy practically begged, her eyes sad, pleading and desperate.
Luxy really should have said no. Should have tried talking her out of it before it was too late.
But Cathy needed him, and he needed Cathy.
He was scared of losing his only friend, alright?!
But mostly...
He was terrified of being abandoned yet again by another person he cared about.
So he agreed.
Despite the overwhelming dread that loomed over him knowing full well that he would later regret this decision for the rest of his life.
"Okay."