Team Catradora

56 -Love

"Oh, fuck." Catra had been saying that for a while, so much that that swear had lost its resonance. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. What did you guys say to her?"

"Nothing," Bow responded far too quickly to be convincing, and even he winced at his delivery. "Well, not nothing. Obviously when she spoke to us, we said something back-but don't worry, we were smooth. Really. Don't worry. I'm not worried."

"Smooth," she repeated, her voice cracking. "You definition of smooth is way different than mine, Bow. So tell me again, what did you say?"

"Calm down." Glimmer sped the car up a little as she spoke, then tsked at the ongoing traffic. "We're trying to-"

"Does she know about me?"

There was a pause, was only the ignition was brave enough to make noise. At least for awhile. After a moment, Adora was the one to break the silence. She cleared her throat. "Well..."

Catra swore.

"Let me finish!" Adora rubbed her head. That sickening feeling she had in her stomach returned. She could only imagine how Catra was feeling. "We left, okay? And she couldn't be sure of the name. We were very convincing when we said I was Adria."

Glimmer said, "well..."

"What?"

"She knew who I was." Glimmer grimaced, her eyes glued to the road. "So she seemed pretty sure you were Adora..."

"Right." Catra sighed. "That's right. What if she called you by your name in on of your videos? Adora, not Adria. All it takes is one google to realize you're lying. I'm screwed."

I think that's a  tad dramatic," Glimmer said. "She's never going to see us after today, and besides, there are plenty of teenagers named Adora. So she'll forget about it."

"Glimmer," Catra said, "There is no other teenager named Adora. I haven't met another one, ever. And neither has she, probably. And she works in a school. So she's not going to drop it." On Catra's line, they would hear a door open, and Catra moving around. There was a lot of rustling. "I have to go-" her voice was muffled. 

"Catra-Cat-what are you doing?"

"I have to leave," she said. "She's coming for me." She almost seemed to convince herself. "She didn't need to ask about me, but she did. It was a shot in the dark. She still asked, even if it was unlikely that you'd be you. And you know me. Do you think she's going to try to find me?"

There was something in her voice that left all three in silence. Everyone seemed to be collecting their thoughts. After a minute, Bow cleared his throat. 

"Of...course?" Bow shrugged, and glanced to both Glimmer and Adora. "Right?"

"Uh..." Glimmer made a sharp turn. She didn't blink as she said, "No? Yes? I don't know, Catra. But you can't just run-there's so much for you here. Wait and see what happens-"

"I can't." There was so much background noise. "There has to be something I can do. I have no spare cash-what can I do? There has to be something."

"Catra," Adora said. "Take my money-"

"Hold on." Bow held his arms out, like he could physically stop this conversation from happening. "Wait for a-"

"No." Catra sighed. "I don't want your money."

"But you need it."

"I know." Catra groaned. "I know. But this isn't...right, not when you're someone I care about."

Someone she cares about. Adora scrunched up her face. "I...c-care about you, too."

"And we do, too." Bow grasped Adora's hand, searching her face. He seemed to  want to ask if she was okay, but thought better of it. "We'll find a solution, I promise. Maybe she'll forget about us, and you. It's not like you're on the internet-er, not like you, Catra Meowmeow, is on the internet."

She exhaled. "But what if she...I don't know. What if she comes?"

"Then we'll help you run away again."

"And if she doesn't?" There was a tremor to her voice. 

"Then she's an idiot," Glimmer said, and honked her horn at a pedestrian-they weren't paying attention to the street. instead looking intensely at their phone. "She doesn't know what she's missing."

"Okay..." Catra's background noise stopped. "Okay. Here's what I'll do. For one day, I might as well stay. I should have more time to pack, after all. And Scorpia will want to say goodbye, I'm sure. And you. If you want."

"Yes, of course I want to," Adora said, and she took her off speaker. "I'm here for you. If you need anything..."

"I'm good," she said. "As long as you're back in time so I can...you know. Looks like I'll be the one to leave, this time."

Something panged in her heart. "I'll miss you."

"And I'll...hey, we don't know if this is forever. We found each other once before."

"I'll make myself easy to find, okay?" Adora tried not to think about the tightness in her throat. "I'll be an influencer or something. Just...don't forget about me, please."

"I haven't yet, have I?" She swallowed. "I won't. I promise."

God, Adora loved her. "Okay. Okay, I can love-I mean live with that."

Glimmer gave her a weird look. Adora shrugged. "What? Oh, god! Forget I said that! Okay, bye!"

Bow and Glimmer laughed, and Adora's cheeks caught on fire. "Don't make fun of me, please."

Adora didn't dare look at her phone. 

Oh, god. 

Even in emergencies, she was such a dork.