Team Catradora

6-Aftermath

Glimmer and Bow quit after the first round. Since Catra and Adora now knew their strategy, Adora had a feeling they wanted to stop while they were ahead, which was frustrating, but in all honesty, Adora couldn't blame them. She would have done the same. 

Bow won the most points. Apparently, he shooting from above while he watched Catra and Adora fight each other. Go figures. He was always good at aiming, so Adora should have realized who'd been shooting her from a distance.

She and Catra stopped at Starbucks. The room was fairly empty-it wasn't quite dinner yet, so they avoided rush hour. There was one other person in the cramped room, drinking coffee while they wrote on their laptop. Adora and Catra sat on the opposite side of the room, for some privacy. 

The smell of coffee grounds permeated the air, and in the small room, there wasn't much room for the smell to disperse. It was stronger than before, and Adora hoped it didn't bother Catra. She seemed fine; her legs were crossed, and she didn't comment on it. That had to be good, right?

Their situation was like a movie, or a wattpad fan fiction. Adora found a pen from her bag and grabbed a napkin. She scribbled her number. "I missed you."

Catra smirked. "Well, I-" Adora pushed a napkin towards her face, and she wrinkled her nose-"What? Keep your own garbage."

Adora moved her finger, showing her the inky writing. After a second, Catra took it, frowning. "My number. If you...if you wanna..."

"Oh." Catra blushed. "Oh. Yeah, I wanna. I thought it was obvious."

"Believe it or not, play fighting isn't obvious to me."

"Well, I thought it was." her eyes darkened, and after a moment of silence she cleared her throat. "It was good to see you."

"Me, too." Adora shook her head. "What happened since I saw you last?"

"Stop," said Catra. She played with the napkin now, turning it over and over again. Her voice had an edge to it, and Adora startled at the suddenness of it. "I don't want to talk about it. I got the fuck out there, and that's all that matters."

"I'm sorry-"

"I'm okay, really. I found you again, so obviously there's something going on in my favour."

"What's that? I can't believe you actually like me. How embarrassing." Adora laughed, and, without thinking, patted her head. Or, well, she tried to. They'd done it as kids, but after a second Adora realized what she was about to do and quit midair. 

"I do not-Nevermind." Catra pulled out her phone. The case was red and thin, and her screen showed a few cracks, probably from the lack of protection. "I'm just gonna put your number in my contacts now and go."

"Don't be that way." Adora wrapped her arms around Catra's shoulder. "Let's do this again. And next time, we'll beat Bow for good."

Catra chuckled. "As long as we get to chase each other, first."

"Promise?"

"Promise." 

😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻

Catra didn't want a ride home ("I don't need an escort, Adora," she'd said, and Adora knew not to push the issue). As much as Adora wanted to, she hitched a ride with Bow and Glimmer instead. It was probably better that they didn't need to fit another person into the back. It was now flooded with outfits glimmer had bought, and Adora squeezed to fit inside.

She kept checking her phone, in case Catra wanted to talk. Eventually, she sent the first text. Hey, Catra, she'd sent. She kept checking to see if Catra answered, just in case she missed the ding.

"What are you so happy about," Glimmer asked, while checking her mirrors.

"Can't  you guess?" Bow turned his head to grin at Adora. He pointed to her phone. "Who are you texting?"

"N-no one." She pulled away, but he could already see Catra's name on her phone. He pressed a finger to his lips, and Adora frowned. "What?"

"I know who you're talking to," said glimmer. "I can see everything through this mirror-move asshole!"

"It's so great, cause now we can go on double dates all the time!" Bow grinned, ignoring his girlfriend's obvious road rage. "See? It all worked out in the end."

"Yeah." Adora checked her phone again. "Do you think she's busy, or-"

"You just had your first date." Glimmer laughed. It came out harsher, which was probably a side effect of her road rage. "Be cool."

"I'm always cool." Adora played with the shopping bags, inspecting their packaging. Mostly, they were clothes. But one or two bags had shampoos and fancy hair dyes. Adora fiddled with the shampoo like a stress ball. "How do you know her, anyway?"

"She works for my dads."

"She's a librarian?"

"No." Bow laughed. "She worked there as a summer job. And sometimes while I was working there, Glimmer and I would meet up, and we'd hang with her-"

"Wait, wait. You worked there?"

"My dads like showing me the ropes." Bow sighed. "They think it's better than laser tag, so I worked there to appease them. It was boring, but I got to pick my own hours."

"And you kept your job a secret from me to make out with Glimmer in secret at the library." It wasn't a question, but Adora had to stifle the urge to laugh at their guilty faces reflected in the mirror. "I'm sorry you had to hide this. Am I a bad friend for not noticing?"

"No," Glimmer said, voice short. "We're keeping it from everyone, especially family. If mom found out, do you think she'd let me close the door when he's around?"

"She just cares about you-"

"Well, it's Glimmer's choice." Bow shrugged. "Try changing her mind. Trust me, it's impossible."

"Shit." Adora had squeezed the shampoo a little harder while they were talking. She could feel some of the liquid pour out even though the lid was closed. Immediately, she released tension, and wiped it off the container lid. Her hands were still sticky.

"What happened?"

"Nothing!" Bow gestured for Adora to wipe the shampoo on her pants, and she did so. Through the mirror, Glimmer could see everything. She chuckled.

"That was a good pair of jeans. Aren't they mine?"

"You're not mad?"

"Only at this asshole." She honked. "Look where you're going!"