Have we met before?

It's okay

Adora was awoken by the squirming girl beside her, her restless turning becoming more and more desperate thrashes. Looking down at the other girl she could see tears falling from sleeping eyes, nails digging into her shoulders drawing blood as she thrashed about, small whines and cries leaving her lips.
"Catra.." She tried to speak gently, attempting to shake her awake but she recoiled at her touch chest heaving with the effort of breathing. Worry and panic ran up Adora's spin, becoming more forceful as she shook Catra again. "Catra." It was more demanding but still she did not wake up, a small desperate cry escaping her lips.
"Adora.." The blonde's heart broke as she heard the small whimper of her friend, she sounded so scared. 'I have to wake her up.' Adora was becoming desperate, shaking Catra's shoulders this time with as much intensity as she could muster without hurting her already injured shoulders.
"Catra!" The shout was finally what did it, the wild haired girl shooting up as she heaved as much air as she could into her lungs. Adora stared at her, wide eyed and worried as Catra's gaze wildly shot around as if she was trying to make sense of her surroundings. "Catra.." Her voice was no more than a whisper, slowly stretching out a hand to comfort the bewildered girl with a touch on the cheek.
Catra's wide feral eyes caught sight of the hand instantly, a flash of fear glinting through them. "Don't touch me!" She snarled and before Adora could fully grasp what was happening, she was yanking her bleeding hand back in pain. Gritting her teeth in an effort to keep quiet she couldn't help but let out a whimper of hurt. 'She hurt me.' The slow realization seemed to creep over the both of them, Catra now a bit more aware of where she was lunging forward as if to grab her hand again. Fear and hurt made Adora reel back, clutching the injured hand to her chest as she stared up at the other girl with pain in her eyes. 'You hurt me..' The thought echoed in her head and as if Catra heard it she started crying apologizes. Blood roared in Adora's ears so loud she could hardly make out the other girl's words.
"I didn't mean to, I had.. I had a dream about Weaver and I got scared and she hurt you and I didn't understand and I'm sorry." Catra's voice sounded so shaky and broken, her words coming out between sobs. Adora's eyes softened sympathetically, slowly inching forward, not enough for Catra to take notice. 'Stay slow, keep your hands down.' She sucked in a breath to calm her nerves as she moved slowly across the bed to the terrified girl.
"I have those too.." She whispered comfortingly, Catra's eyes opening to stare at her as she spoke now. They were red and puffy with tears, dark circles forming under them as if she hadn't slept in a while. 'She was really just scared.' She realized, glancing at her hand that's bleeding had slowed. "But I'm here, I'll protect you, I promise." Adora's promise was so gentle, the smaller girl looking up into her kind eyes with a mix of fear and trust mingling together. 'I won't let anything hurt you ever again.' She silently vowed, a fresh wave of motivation sending life through her limbs.
"I'm sorry." She croaked out again, Adora realizing where exactly the other girl was looking.
"It's ok, I'm right here." Adora cooed, inching forward again, slowly dragging her hand out of sight from the other girl as she did. She looked up now, eyes wild and fearful making Adora freeze wondering if she should slide back again. But before she could push herself away Catra was uncurling on herself, creeping towards Adora unsure, eyes almost staring at her for permission. She opened her arms, gentle and slow, as if extending an invitation for Catra to come towards her. Without another moment of hesitation she was crawling into her lap, wrapping legs around her waist and arms around her neck, clinging desperately as if her life depended on it. 'There's my girl.' Adora kept the cooing thought to herself, gently wrapping her own arms around Catra's back and giving a gentle squeeze.
Catra sucked in a breath as quieter sobs wracked her body, burying her face deep in Adora's chest as if she was hiding from the world there. Adora sighed, allowing her own rigid body to relax against Catra's breathing in her scent, eyes slowly examining her for any sign of injury. 'Just her shoulders..' She noted mentally, icy blue eyes slowly looking over the scrapes that she had left on herself. They stayed like that for so long, Catra sobbing and shaking against Adora while the other girl just held her, content to be there as long as her friend needed her.
When Catra's sobs had finally subsided to nothing but sniffles she pulled away, looking up at Adora with puffy eyes who smiled back at her gently. 'She's so beautiful.' Adora longed to kiss her again but thought better of it, Catra didn't need that right now. Or at least Adora thought she didn't, until the lithe girl leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Adora's lips, the blonde instantly melting as she did.
"Sorry.." She whispered as she pulled away, eyes looking down guiltily as Adora suppressed the urge to whine at the loss of her lips.
"It's ok, you can have a kiss whenever you want." Adora promised softly, Catra looking up at her uncertainty and need mingling in her mismatched gaze. "Do you want to talk about it?" She questioned after a moment, another beat of silence passed before Catra shook her head in response. "That's ok, do you know you can talk to me if you need to?" She got a nod that time, making her smile gently. Her eyes traveled to her injured shoulders again, slashes no longer bleeding but dried blood clung to her skin. 'She needs to be cleaned up.' Adora decided after a moment, slowly tightening her grip on Catra's to get the other girl's attention.
"You hurt your shoulders, is it ok if I pick you up and take you to the bathroom to take care of it?" Catra hesitated for a moment longer before nodding her permission, circling her arms over Adora's shoulder as she braced to be picked up. Adora lifted her with no effort, keeping an arm curled around her with the other slipped under her in support. It took a minute for Adora to open her bedroom door but once she was in the hallway she easily slipped into the bathroom and shut the door with a click. No one had been out in the hall to see them thankfully and as she locked the door she placed Catra delicately onto the counter next to the sink. Catra reluctantly unraveled herself from Adora, curling in on herself again the instant she lost contact with Adora as if she were cold. 'She looks so small..' The thought plagued Adora's mind as she stared at her disheveled friend for a moment before slowly opening the drawer for the first aid kit.
Turning back with the wound cleaner in hand, her eyes went wide as she looked over Catra's blood stained shoulder. "I uh.. Your shirt is in the way." She murmured her cheeks warming, Catra chuckled in a croaky pitiful way.
"Then take it off dummy." She teased gently, her voice still weak but an edge of effort in her voice. Adora's cheeks turned even redder but she silently nodded, placing the wound cleaner to the side to slowly and carefully pull her shirt over her head. Adora did her best to keep her eyes only on Catra's shoulders, slowly starting to clean the slashes. Catra winced a little, gritting her teeth in an effort to keep from groaning in pain.
"Sorry." Adora mumbled sympathetically, quietly cleaning the rest of the wound and skin around of the dried blood. She went to place the cleaner back in the drawer but Catra's gentle hand gripped her wrist to stop her, eyes shining with grief as she looked up at Adora.
"W-Wait." She stammered making Adora freeze, staring at Catra with soft eyes. She sucked in a deep breath, gently grabbing the wound cleaner from Adora's hand before gently gripping her other injured hand. Adora's eyes went wide as she realized what Catra was doing, quietly watching frozen in place as she started to clean the slashes on her hand. "Do you have bandages?" She asked, eyes glancing up at her unsure. The taller girl nodded, grabbing the roll of bandages from the drawer to place it in Catra's waiting hand.
Catra took the roll into her hands and slowly unraveled it and replaced it around Adora's palm, careful not to tighten it too tight as she finished the wrap. After a moment of hesitation she brought Adora's hands to her lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the injured appendage, Adora smiled gratefully. "Thank you." She murmured softly, planting a soft kiss to Catra's forehead.
"I'm sorry I hurt you the dream felt so.. real." Catra said softly, voice cracking a little as a few tears fell down her cheeks. Adora nodded sympathetically, hesitantly reaching her bandaged hand out to rest on Catra's thigh. "I had a dream Weaver found us and took you away from me." Adora's eyes went wide as Catra choked out the words, her voice no louder than a whisper.
"Nothing will ever take me away from you." Adora replied, a protective growl to her voice that made Catra look up into her icy blue eyes again. Her own mismatched gaze was filled with tears. 'I will kill that evil old woman. I will kill her with my own hands.' She decided through gritted teeth, doing her best to keep her anger from showing.
"Promise?" She whimpered, voice cracking again.
"I promise." She replied softly, slowly leaning forward as if asking if it was ok to come closer. Catra seemed to give her permission by leaning towards Adora as well and after a moment of hesitation Adora placed a soft kiss on Catra's lips. The shorter girl sucked in a breath as her lips came to life against Adora's, her arms curling around Adora's shoulders. The taller girl followed her lead, wrapping her own arms around Catra's back suddenly acutely aware that Catra was still topless and now pressed against her.
When they broke apart they were both slightly out of breath, leaning their foreheads against one another as they gazed into each other's eyes. Adora's face heated up, very acutely aware of Catra being half naked against her, looking anywhere but at Catra now. The wild haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion before realizing what was making Adora blush, smirking crookedly as she did.
"Something wrong, Adora?" She teased with a purr, earning an even deeper red from Adora.
"I uh- um- yeah. No uh- do you uh want to shower? I'll get you some clothes!" Adora was reeling back, leaving a chuckling Catra on the counter her raspy laughter filling the bathroom.
"Bring some clothes for yourself." She called with a wink, Adora ignoring her as her face turned a shade of red that she didn't even know was possible. Opening and closing the door with a quick snap before she collapsed against the bathroom door, chest heaving as her face slowly returned to a normal color. 'This girl is going to kill me.' A soft cough made Adora's head whip around to see Bow and Glimmer sitting on the ground, cereal bowls in hand as they looked up at her.
Her face instantly went red again, eyes wide as she realized why they were there. "How long have you two been here?!" She yelled, the pair glancing between them as Bow slowly took a bite from his breakfast.
"Long enough." Bow replied through the mouthful, they went silent for a minute all staring at one another.
"So is she your girlfriend yet?" Glimmer finally asked, Bow nodding as if in agreement to the question. Adora's jaw dropped open, unable to find the words to begin to answer she just groaned and stomped off to find clothes for Catra.
Bow and Glimmer exchanged knowing looks again, shit eating grins on their faces. "They're so getting together."

A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter this round just a heads up I am moving out from my parents home in 3.5 weeks so the next few uploads may get weird but I promise we'll be back to normal shortly! Also just to make sure we are on the same page, the last part of chapter 17 was Catra's PTSD induced nightmare Weaver did NOT find them. Adora and Catra's shared trauma is going to be shown in different ways, Catra's in paranoid outlandish crazy outbursts while Adora's is more bottled up until everything blows up kind of thing. Sorry for the confusion! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and keep up the good work everyone is doing, if you're protesting stay safe hide your face and have each other's backs, we're gonna win in the end. <3