red side of the moon- trixya

sixteen.

When the red side of the moon is what we've got

The car ride was silent aside from Trixie's muffled sobs. She was so sick of Katya watching her cry; she felt terrible for making the girl listen to her sobs and failure to breathe properly. Katya just sat still and held Trixie's hand, begging the world to make it so she'd never have to let go.

As they pulled into Katya's driveway, Trixie spoke up. "Thank you," she whispered. It was barely audible, but Katya had all of her attention fully on the girl beside her.

"I promised you I'd be here if you needed me." Katya parked the car and turned to face Trixie. "I always keep my promises."

Trixie smiled, yet she also began to cry. Her mother always promised her to be there for her no matter what. Her mother promised to stay by Trixie's side until she was no longer on this earth. Her mother promised to love her unconditionally. She cried, but not sobbed. She cried as Katya lifted her hand to the girl's cheek and slowly moved her thumb across the soft skin. Trixie cried until the car began to get too cold to sit in. So she took a deep breath and reset.

"Is anyone home?" Trixie asked.

"Kaija, my sister. But my parents aren't coming home until tomorrow, so you can stay with me tonight. I'll work something out for as long as you need." Katya's voice was kind and soft as she and Trixie entered the house.

They left most of the bags in the car, but Trixie brought her duffel bag and a backpack inside. As soon as she got inside, she saw a young girl sitting at the kitchen counter. She was gorgeous, like Katya was, but in a much softer way. She had big blue eyes and blonde hair set neatly into braids. She shared Katya's cheekbones and jaw, but her nose and lips were softer.

"Она прекрасна*," Kaija said to Katya.

Katya smiled. "я знаю*."

"она плакала?*" Kaija whispered, seemingly forgetting that Trixie couldn't understand what they were saying.

Katya didn't answer her sister's question. "Kaija, this is my friend Trixie. She's having a hard time at home and is going to stay here," Katya paused. "At least for tonight."

Kaija smiled. "You look like a Barbie in that dress," she said. The comment made Trixie smile. God, Katya loved to see her smile.

"Thank you," Trixie said. It's my mother's favorite, she thought. She looked at Katya, and with her eyes asked if they could go somewhere else. Katya got the message and began walking toward her bedroom.

Once the door was closed behind them, Trixie sat on Katya's bed and cried softly. She was so exhausted- both mentally and physically- that there was nothing else she could bring her body to do. Katya held her, just like she did in the AP English room just a few days ago. She slowly pet Trixie's hair and tried to soothe her.

Trixie ended up laying with her head on Katya's chest. Katya had her arms wrapped around Trixie. She was so content just laying there in silence. She monitored Trixie's breathing and heartbeat and tried to get her own to match up. They just laid there until the sun sank from the sky and Katya's bedroom became dark aside from a strand of lights dimly lighting the room.

"Please talk," Trixie whispered. "I love your voice."

Katya thought for a moment. What do I say? She decided to just say whatever she was thinking. "My dad cried when I told him I was gay. He left the house and didn't come home until late at night. When he came home, he told me he would hurt anyone who hurt me. He didn't say he loved me, he didn't say he accepted me, but I knew he did." She paused. "He needed an afternoon to realize what a mistake it would be to put that against me. He needed an afternoon. Your mom just needs a little longer."

Trixie began to cry again, balling herself into Katya's chest. She felt a panic attack coming on until Katya began speaking again.

"When I was six, I went to the beach with my family. Me, my mom, my dad, Kaija, and Peyta. My siblings and I brought my dad out into a little peer surrounded by rocks. He told us to be careful because the surf had made it slippery," Katya smiled. "I was a daring kid. I didn't listen to him. I stepped forward, slipped, and fell into the rocks." A moment of silence hung in the air. "I fell into the rocks. It was dark under the peer, I remember. I remember crying and being afraid. And then I remember him holding me and walking me back to the beach house and cleaning my wounds."

All of Trixie's attention was on Katya. She was feeling nothing but Katya's skin on hers. She was seeing nothing but Katya's bedroom. She was hearing nothing but Katya's voice. She was smelling nothing but Katya's perfume. She was in a trance of Katya.

"When I was fourteen, I got a skateboard for my birthday," Katya said. "It was red and blue and super cool. Petya got one, too, and he automatically knew how to ride it. It was like he was built to skateboard. We went to a skate park and he could do all of the cool tricks with the cool older boys. I tried but I kept falling. I went home covered in scrapes and bruises. My favorite way to skate was by sitting on the board, going down hills, and crashing," she said. Trixie giggled when she tried to picture a young Katya in that situation. "We skateboarded until he went to college. He left the board in his closet and when he came home last he tried to ride it. He couldn't even stand on it." Katya paused. "I guess growing up changes us."

"My dad was a drug addict," Trixie said, out of the blue. "I'm sorry," she said, "it's just, you asked the other day, and.."

"It's okay," Katya said. "Tell me anything."

"My dad was a drug addict," Trixie began again. "Apparently he used to hit my mom all the time. When I was three, she had enough, and left. She went to court to divorce him and he lost all custody. He didn't pay child support or anything like that, so it was hard for my mom. She still did anything she could, though: dance lessons, singing lessons, guitar teacher, tutors.. everything. She wanted me to be happy," Trixie said.

"I love you," Katya whispered.

"I love you, too."

~~~

Russian translation(s):
"She's beautiful,"
"I know."
(Roughly) "Has she been crying?"

•••

a/n: 1k reads!!! thank you all so much :) i hope you're enjoying the story thus far. also, would you want smut in it? it'd just be a chapter or two divorced from the rest, so you could skip it if you wanted. but is that something you would like to see in this story?