Adora's POV
Adora looked at her new parents. "We'll make a hard worker out of you." The man with ram horns said, he led Adora out into the backyard. The blonde saw almost a whole ranch!. It had horses, cows, chickens, and turkeys! She breathed into the cold air and giggled happily, "I love animals!" She said and went to go pet a horse but was held back by her new mother. Her mother had a slim goat face and floppy ears, like her new father. (The father was a ram and the mother was a barren goat). "Not so fast Adora, they aren't pets." She said sternly, Adora looked longingly at the animals before sighing and giving a reluctant nod. "You will feed each and every animal and do many chores around the house. If you don't complete these chores every day of the week, except Saturdays and Sundays then you will be punished harshly." Her new farther said and flared his nostrils in a warning.
Adora woke up with a gasp from the dream. She placed a hand on her chest to regulate her breathing some. The blonde ran a hand through her hair and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, reaching to grab one of her books but she only felt one. She also noticed the lamp was on, she didn't leave lights on when she went to sleep unless she was very scared. She looked across her room to see Catra sitting in a chair by her bed, reading her book. The catgirl flicked an ear and looked up, "You woke everyone up- well almost everyone. Scorpia is a heavy sleeper. Anyway, Sparkles told me to keep an eye on you because her, Flower girl, and arrow boy were going to do stuff in town tomorrow." She said softly, helping Adora back into her bed, "Also really? Monster by Walter Dean Myers?" Catra teased before closing the book and setting it on the nightstand. "What..were you dreaming about?" Catra gently asked, sitting on the foot of her bed, concerned about Adora. Her gray blue eyes shifted to her lap and she shook her head abruptly, "No, no it doesn't matter." She said with a firmness to her voice that surprised even her. She felt a hand on her knee, her gaze flickered up to lock eyes with Catra's. "Adora. Please tell me, I'm here to listen." She begged quietly, Adora's hard stone gaze softened and she let her stiff shoulders slump. "It was about my adoptive parents and when I first met them. I was never good enough for them. No matter how hard I worked they just wanted me to do better time and time again I-" she paused, staring at her palms. "I ran away after I got my own car, moved in with Bow and Glim under one condition, I get a job. So I did. I became the bartender you came to know. I've been considering on running part time jobs too, maybe help people at the gym, hell even babysitting." She mused at the end, happy to make Catra giggle a bit "You would be a terrible babysitter." She teased but frowned slightly when she saw Adora's doubting face. Catra grabbed her hand gently, "Hey," she said trying to get her friend's attention, "Hey!" She said again, more harsher this time, when Adora's eyes snapped back up to meet her gaze Adora watched as the feline human began to comfort her, something she actually really didn't do often, "You're good enough. Maybe not to your shit parents but to your friends, coworkers." She assured and scooted closer, "To me.." she quietly said, Catra thought she didn't hear it but she did, Adora smiled slightly at those two words.
Last thing Adora remembers is Catra comforting her, when she opened her eyes the catgirl was gone. Adora felt a pang of yearning, but ignored it. Ruling it as she missed her childhood friend.
Catra's POV
Catra hissed in frustration as she tugged at her hair angrily. Why did she comfort Adora?! Now things could get even more worse than they already were! I will never settle. Never. Especially not for that goody two shoes who I had to live in her shadow for years! Her mind grew aggressive and Catra paced. She needed to distance herself, not only for Adora but for herself too. She knew deep down she didn't want to hurt Adora, all she ever did was hurt the people she cared about. And today she was putting a stop to that. Catra made up her mind and ignored Melog's pleas of giving it a chance. She knocked on Adora's door, the pretty blonde opened it and gave a sweet smile that made Catra's heart turn into putty. "I need to go home, stat. I forgot that I had things to take care of." She simply said before walking away without a word. I'm doing it to protect myself from getting hurt. Her mind decided on that and stuck with it. She didn't need to settle for anyone but herself, she was happy the way she was.
The ride home was very quiet, Adora had tried to make small talk but Catra shut it down more than once, so Adora just stuck with being quiet. Though Catra could tell the gray blue eyed girl was itching to ask her why she was being so distant. Must protect myself. She looked at Scorpia, who was driving them to the parking garage. "Thanks Scorpia, I uh-..I owe you one." Catra awkwardly said as she got out, "Thanks again. This vacation sure was fun." She concluded before hastily getting into Adora's car. Adora got in and began to drive the feline girl home.
Once at home Catra decided to drink these feelings away, to just damn it to hell. She got ready to head out to the club, once again ignoring Melog's protests. "Melog please, I have to do this. I have to protect myself! It's for the best." She sighed and looked towards her car keys.
I have to do this. I need to protect myself from getting hurt. She thought and grabbed the car keys.
