The weekend came quickly. At Cat's insistence Jade went over to Cat's house that morning to get ready.
"Okay, come here." Cat said, patting the bed beside her and holding up her makeup brushes. Jade turned from the mirror, smoothing down her shirt.
"You won't make me look crazy, right?" She said, sitting down next to Cat. In response, Cat held out her pinky with a smile and Jade shook it with her own, closing her eyes as Cat began working.
"You look cute. I like the shoes." Jade said her eyes fluttering open after a few minutes. Cat placed a finger on Jade's lips, grinning.
"Thank you, now stay still and stop talking."
Jade leaned towards Cat, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Or what?" Jade asked, kissing Cat lightly. Cat pushed Jade back, giggling and trying to look stern.
"Or I'll add glitter." She said, crossing her arms.
Jade put her hands up in surrender and sat up again, allowing Cat to continue. Cat worked quickly and precisely, and the finished product didn't take much longer.
"There. What do you think?" Jade got up and strode to the mirror, looking carefully at the look Cat had created.
Somehow it was perfect. It was subtle, and matched the colour scheme Jade preferred, but the rainbow theme was clear and present, and not at all at odds with Jade's dark aesthetic.
Jade turned to Cat, who was watching her nervously, awaiting a response. Jade gave her a reassuring smile.
"Its perfect." Cat let out an audible sigh of relief, a grin spreading across her face.
Jade walked towards Cat, an arm outstretched, taking her hand and pulling her towards the mirror. She pulled out her phone and tugged Cat closer to take pictures. Cat kissed Jade on the cheek for one photo and they pulled silly faces for another. They smiled in one photo and looked serious in the next.
The girls spent a little while longer putting the finishing touches on their outfits and making sure they had everything they needed. Then they headed out.
"The others are on their way too, Beck just texted." Cat said from the passenger seat of Jade's car.
"Oh, he sent a photo." Cat continued excitedly, showing Jade the photo at the next stoplight.
Jade leaned over to look. It was a selfie taken by Tori of her, Beck, Andre and Robbie all making silly faces, each of them covered in various colours of glitter and face paint.
Jade couldn't help but smile.
"They really went all out didn't they?"
A short drive later, Jade and Cat arrived at the meeting point and Jade parked up nearby. They stepped out of the car and looked for the others, hand in hand.
"Jade! Over here!" A voice up ahead called out. Jade tugged Cat through the crowds and found the gang gathered near an information stand. They greeted eachother warmly, chatting enthusiastically about their outfits.
"Your makeup looks nice." Beck smiled, looking Jade over and nodding in approval.
"So does yours." Jade teased Beck, nudging Cat gently and smiling.
"Ha, the glitter suits me, I know. It was Tori's idea."
"A nice lady gave me rainbow shoelaces!" Robbie announced excitedly, lifting up his foot to show Cat.
"We have some time before we need to find a place in the parade, theres a stand nearby with signs, flags, pins and other cool stuff. We should hit that up before we go." Tori cut in, gesturing in the direction of a busy stall across the way.
Cat hooked her arm through Jade's and pulled her towards it, the others following closely behind. As they approached they saw the woman behind the counter speaking to two boys holding hands and a girl with short hair. They bought a few items and then turned to leave, the girl blatantly checking Cat out as she went.
Jade glared at her, but Cat didn't seem to notice as she was busy inspecting the vast array of items on display. Putting it out of mind, she turned back to Cat who was eyeing a yellow, pink and blue flag.
"So you figured out what you wanna call yourself then?" Jade asked.
Cat looked between the flag and Jade.
"Maybe? When I think about it, pan sounds right, I guess?"
Jade smiled, kissing Cat's cheek.
"I'm glad to hear it. You wanna buy that?" She nodded at the flag. Cat nodded. She paid for the flag and a badge with a pan pun written on it then stepped back and waited for Jade and the others.
Still uncertain, Jade settled for a multicoloured bracelet and a rainbow themed flower crown, one of which she also bought for Cat, holding it out to her with a smile. Cat's eyes lit up and she took the crown, placing it proudly on her head.
They stood to the side and waited for their friends. Jade couldn't help but roll her eyes at Tori's "straight but not narrow" pin, but when she saw Robbie sheepishly fastening a grey and purple pin to his shirt she gave him a reassuring smile.
Satisfied with their purchases, the gang walked along the edge of the crowds for a bit, eventually finding a nice spot to jump in. After that it was just a matter of waiting for the parade to start moving. A selection of classic pride anthems played loudly from somewhere up ahead and there were hundreds of flags and streamers flying overhead. A person with blonde hair, glasses and a they/them badge approached with a smile, holding various placards.
"Hey, wanna hold one of these?" They asked, holding out various signs, and their colleague joining them to hold out even more.
"Sure, I'm down." Andre agreed cheerfully, taking a "Trans Lives Matter" sign and holding it aloft proudly.
Jade took a smaller sign that she could hold with one hand, taking Cat's hand with the other.
Raucous applause erupted from the crowd ahead of them and the parade began to move forward. Cat cheered, pulling Jade along.
The group marched along under the sun, singing and dancing and waving their flags and signs. They chatted and laughed with the people around them, taking photos with drag queens, and of course petting every dog that was marching with them.
A photographer on the sidelines called out for people to smile and pose, and when she called out to Jade, she pulled Cat close, dipped her and kissed her passionately, earning a cheer from spectators. Cat was giggling when Jade let her go and the photographer gave them a thumbs up.
When the march finally came to its end, the group wandered around for a long time, buying snacks and trinkets, petting more dogs and stopping for photos with each other and anything else that was interesting enough.
Later on, the group was sitting in a shaded area near to where live music was playing. Cat and Jade sat a little ways apart from the others. Cat was looking through her photos from the day, and Jade was watching the crowds pass, idly stroking Cat's hair with one hand.
Jade noticed a few girls staring at Cat, and she sighed, shaking her head.
"What?" Cat looked up from her phone, putting an arm around Jade's shoulder.
Jade frowned.
"Every girl in this place is looking at you right now." She mumbled, crossing her arms and sulking a little.
Cat rolled her eyes, sitting up slightly.
"So? I see just as many people looking at you." She countered. Jade looked skeptical.
"You don't believe me? Girl with the white shorts and the afro over there. And the girl in the hat with the pink hair."
Jade glanced around, looking for the people being described and sure enough, she found them staring, not at Cat but at her. They both quickly looked away when Jade noticed them.
"And that's not even everyone I've seen." Cat said teasingly. Jade nervously tugged at her sleeve, prompting Cat to take her hands.
"I don't care how anyone else looks at me. It only matters how you look at me." Cat whispered softly. Jade looked up, meeting Cat's gaze.
"Yeah, like that." Cat said, smiling. She leaned their foreheads together and Jade's eyes drifted closed. They stayed like this for a long moment before Cat let out a breath.
"Jade?" Jade opened her eyes and found Cat looking at her nervously.
"I love you."
Jade felt her heart flutter, her eyes going wide. She blinked back at Cat for a moment, her brain going fuzzy, her words dying on her tongue.
"What?" Was all Jade could manage to say. Cat leaned a little closer, smiling, tearing up a little.
"I love you." Cat repeated firmly.
An errant tear slid down Jade's face as the words washed over her. She felt her hands shaking, and her whole body was warm. She let out a tearful laugh.
"One more time?" She asked, prompting Cat to roll her eyes through her own tears. She cupped Jade's face with her hands.
"I lo..." Jade cut her off with a searing kiss, laughing against her mouth. She kissed Cat once, twice, three times.
"I love you too, Cat." Jade whispered against Cat's lips.
Cat wrapped her arms around Jade, nuzzling into the crook of her neck. Jade cradled her, placing kisses on top of her head.
They stayed like this for a while. Jade focused on the feeling of Cat's heartbeat. The rhythm of her breathing. Cat was beginning to doze off beside her. Jade took the opportunity, grabbing her phone and snapping a photo of Cat curled up against her.
She sent the photo to Tori with the caption "thanks" and then looked over to where Tori was sitting.
Jade watched as Tori looked at her phone, then looked back at her. Tori smiled warmly at Jade, who allowed herself to smile back.
#Don't thank me, you did all the work. I'm proud of both of you.
Tori replied. Jade shook her head, putting her phone away. She looked down at Cat's sleepy form beside her.
"Yeah, I'm proud of us too."