Chapter Text
“That is completely cheating! Seriously, did nobody fucking see–”
A whirring sound, followed by the tinkling of shattering glass and a round of laughter erupted.
Caitlyn sighed, rolling her eyes and bumping the fridge shut with her hip. Ever since she had graduated last fall, her group of friends—or more accurately, the misfits loosely associated with her—had taken to using her apartment as their default Friday night hangout spot. It wasn’t that she minded, per say. If anything, it dragged her right out of her Type A comfort zone, and, as Jayce argued, she needed to learn how to live a little. It felt nice, at least, to know that she had managed to keep a group of friends for this long after graduation, though realistically it was her spacious apartment that kept the group coming back week after week, and no one complained when she brought out one of her meticulously handcrafted charcuterie boards.
“Caitlyn, this looks amazing,” Mel stood from the table to help as Powder rolled on the ground. “You know you don’t have to do all of this just to host, don’t you?”
And yeah, she knew she didn’t have to. But it felt nice to throw herself into something. Caitlyn had always had workaholic tendencies, and her dating life had fizzled out from a string of meaningless hookups, to months of scrolling on apps but never meeting up, and now to this. And that was fine, she reminded herself. She was better off on her own anyway.
“It’s my pleasure,” Caitlyn smiled, setting the platter down and nudging the cubes of cheese back into a grid pattern, “Really, if I wasn’t doing this, I’d just be eating takeout for the tenth time this week.”
“Grim statistics, even on a Friday.” Viktor mused, studying the board in front of them. Why on earth anyone had insisted on playing Scrabble was beyond Caitlyn, but Viktor seemed to be the only one taking it seriously. The coffee table was littered already with half-empty bottles of red wine, beer, and cold cups of tea, the board covered in a jumble of both real words and what appeared to be glorified keysmashes.
“Almost finished, aren’t we? Whose turn is it, anyway?” Caitlyn asked, settling in on the couch next to Mel. Her presence was always comforting, always took her mind off of—
“It’s Vi, if we’re counting ‘guh’ as a real word.” Jayce said thoughtfully. Ekko snorted beside him, throwing his hands up in mock defeat.
“Of course it’s a word!” Powder insisted, grabbing an unbroken glass and gesturing at him threateningly. “Everyone except that evil twink and my shit for brains sister agrees that it counts.”
And ah, yeah. There was the problem, sitting directly across the coffee table from her.
Vi was not, by any means, a bad guest. She was neat, far neater than Caitlyn would have expected. She always toed her shoes off at the door, always offered to wash every single thing she touched. She offered to bring food every week, without fail, despite Caitlyn assuring her over and over again that it wasn’t necessary. She offered to bring beer, or wine, or satchels of Earl Grey, and every single week, she offered to stay and help clean up. She wasn’t a bad friend either—in fact, she was the exact opposite. Vi was so gentle, so caring, so constantly and almost annoyingly considerate. She never left anyone behind, never let anyone suffer under her watch.
There was no reason, no real reason, at least, for Caitlyn to dislike Vi. But she did anyway. Or at least, that’s what she told everyone when they asked. She annoys me, she’d say. She’s argumentative. Cocky.
But she wasn’t, really. What she was, was really fucking hot. And that made it so much worse that she was so unrelentingly kind, and dedicated, and so… perfect. But Vi had never shown an ounce of interest in her, despite her obvious attempts at flirting. It was worse than rejection—it was humiliating. At least, Caitlyn rationalized, if she was hot and an asshole, it would be easier to hate her. So she picked fights. Or, like tonight, she just didn’t engage at all.
Caitlyn kept her eyes down, her manicured nails worrying at a discarded grape stem.
“Vi, darling, what’s your word?” Mel stepped in quickly, leaning forward on her elbows and smiling diplomatically.
“Fuck, I don’t know,” Vi sighed, leaning back and stretching her arms behind her head. “I guess if ‘guh’ is a word then I can just put whatever I want, can’t I?”
“Do two wrongs make a right, suddenly?” Caitlyn bit out before she could help herself.
Vi raised an eyebrow, grinning over the table. It was the first time they had interacted directly that evening, and of course, Caitlyn scolded herself, it was my fault.
“Feeling feisty, huh? Well go on, why don’t you take a look at my letters and tell me what word the brilliant Caitlyn Kiramman would play.”
Powder and Ekko ooohed behind their hands, trying and failing to suppress their laughter. As if Vi needed anyone egging her on.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that night.
“I will not.”
“Oh, no? Not up for the challenge, baby? ‘Cause you know I’m beating you, is that it?” Vi smirked from across the table, bringing a cherry to her plush mouth and biting the fruit from the stem. It took less than a second for Caitlyn’s horribly overactive imagination to picture the juice dripping into the divot of the scar on her upper lip, the one she had always wanted to dip her tongue into.
Christ. Caitlyn stood up quickly, mouth drawn into a firm line as she stalked to the other side of the room. It was like Vi was tailor-made to get under her skin, provoke her, fluster her.
Vi leaned over in the plush armchair, giving Caitlyn room to peer over her broad shoulder at the rack of tiles. It wasn't until she was this close, leaning into Vi’s space, that Caitlyn realized what a terrible mistake their physical proximity was. The soft smell of shampoo lingering in her red hair, the faint stain of cherries coating her full lips-
“Jeez, are her letters really that bad?” Powder laughed. “And here I thought she just couldn’t read.”
Caitlyn snapped out of it, realizing in a panic that she had been essentially stooped over panting like a dog without even looking at the board. Humiliating, as seemed to be second nature when she was around Vi.
“ Obviously I can fucking read–”
“Oh yeah, yeah,” Powder mocked, “And Earth totally isn’t controlled by lizard people.”
“Wait, by lizard–” Viktor leaned forward.
“Retina,” Caitlyn said, just above a whisper. “You can play ‘retina’ off the R in ‘rise.’”
“Shit, you’re right,” Vi murmured, clicking the tiles in place one by one.
“Wait, what the hell–” Powder interjected as Viktor tallied the score on the back of a leftover napkin.
“Hey Cait, if I win, will you give me a kiss?” Vi leaned back, the whites of her teeth practically glowing as she winked.
And, yeah. That was the other issue. Because not only was she insanely hot, and the perfect friend, and the most flawless guest—but she was so good at flustering Caitlyn. So quick to charm her, but so quick to brush off her advances. It was all just a game to her, clearly.
Humiliating.
Caitlyn had never forgotten the time, in their senior year of college, when the whole group had gone out to a bar together. It was just after midterms, and the residual stress of exams was weighing Caitlyn’s body down so heavily she knew she would need weeks of yoga classes to untie all the knots.
Unless….
Vi had looked downright edible that night, a worn leather jacket slung over a crisp white button down that Caitlyn had never seen before tucked into her jeans, unbuttoned low enough to see the edges of her black sports bra. She wore the faintest traces of black liner smudged around her eyes, her sleeves rolled up far enough to see the swirling ink of her tattoos.
She danced around her at first, not trusting herself to say something anywhere near appropriate. It had taken two gin and tonics and three shots of tequila before Caitlyn was brave enough to corner her and stupid enough to ask for what she had always wanted.
“You look so handsome tonight,” She’d slurred into Vi’s ear as those stupid, sexy piercings glowed orange and pink in the dim light.
“Me?” Vi had asked, almost incredulous, smoothing one of her hands over the back of her head. “Shit, I’m glad you think so, princess.” Her fingers wrapped around the bottle she had barely touched all night, just the right thickness to–
“D’you ever think about me?” Caitlyn blurted, face flushed.
“Think about you?”
“Yeah,” She moved closer, trying not to stumble in her stilettos. She was only a few inches taller than Vi normally, but like this, she practically towered over her. “Like, you ever… think about us… together?”
Vi’s head jerked up, eyes glimmering with something that Caitlyn was too drunk to notice and too oblivious to remember afterwards.
“Together? You mean, like as a c–”
Vi was saying something, sure, but Caitlyn was wobbling and losing confidence, fast. She gripped Vi’s shoulder and let it all come out, grace be damned.
“Need you to fuck me. Need it so bad. Been– been thinking about it all night.”
“Oh,” Vi’s expression fell. “Oh, right. Like, just for– right.”
“What’s wrong?” Caitlyn asks. Had she said something wrong? She could barely remember her last sentence. Vi’s pupils were so dilated, though, her mouth still slightly hanging open and her chest flushed.
“Nothing wrong, cupcake.”
“So?” Caitlyn giggled, trying hard not to celebrate too early or slur her speech too badly. “Y’want to?”
“Um, yeah, okay.” Vi doesn’t meet her eyes. Probably because of the shoes, Caitlyn rationalized. She probably just doesn’t want to crane her head back.
Oh, well. They’d be at the same eye level when they were horizontal.
“Really?!” Kirammans did not squeal, but whatever came out of her mouth then was dangerously close. Caitlyn had wanted this for so long, she couldn't believe that all she'd had to do was just ask. She grabbed Vi’s arm, dragging her through the throng of people before she could say a word.
The quiet of the outside world was staggering, like a bubble popping, the stars swimming in Caitlyn’s vision as she tried to drag them both to the familiar pickup truck at the back of the lot. Vi deflated slightly in the cold night air, stripping off her jacket and wordlessly draping it around Caitlyn’s shoulders. The taller girl could barely comprehend the sudden warmth around her bare back, or Vi’s protective grasp around her waist as they walked slowly together.
The first time they had ever been properly alone together, though Caitlyn wouldn’t realize it until later.
The sound of the car door opening jolted her, blue eyes blinking in shock as Vi’s strong arms came up to lift her.
“Vi-”
“Hush.”
“Why’m I in the back?”
“Just want you to lay down for a little bit, okay, cupcake?” Vi’s smile was strained.
“Still gonna– are we still–”
“Yeah, course we are honey.” Her voice sounded hollow. The door shut behind her, and the world went black.
Caitlyn had woken up alone in her bed, painkillers and a full glass of water beside her. She blinked at the ceiling, looking around for Vi, for a note, for anything. There was nothing, no messages from her or from anyone else. It couldn’t have been any clearer that Vi had dumped her the second she fell asleep, and she probably drove right back to the bar and told everyone about Caitlyn’s clumsy attempts at picking her up.
Blinking through the tears, she typed out a message.
To: Vi
From: Caitlyn
Drank so much last night, can’t remember a thing. Hope you got home safe.
A lie, sure, but a white one. It didn’t change anything. As she stripped off her miniskirt and scrubbed off last night’s makeup, two things became very clear. One, Vi had never intended to sleep with her, and two, after last night, she never would.
So she could hardly be blamed for her reaction when, months later, Vi still thought it was funny to mock her.
“Hey Cait, if I win, will you give me a kiss?”
Caitlyn saw red, drawing back and standing at her full height.
“Oh, I’m sure you’d like that very much, wouldn’t you?” She spat out.
“Ladies, ladies–” Ekko threw both of his hands up, trying in vain to keep the peace.
“What?” Vi’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief, “Is it such a terrible thing to ask that as the Scrabble champion–”
“You have not been crowned the Scrabble champion.” Powder hissed.
“Yet! Is it such a terrible thing to request a kiss as my prize?” Vi leaned back in her chair, dodging a tile that Powder tossed with a huff.
“Ask for a kiss from Viktor, then.” Caitlyn rolled her eyes, twirling on her heel and grasping at the opportunity to vanish into the kitchen and cool off as both Viktor and Vi grimaced.
“Now, let’s not throw Viktor under the bus,” Jayce offered diplomatically, “I think he’s the only one here capable of being a bipartisan score keeper.”
“Do you even know what bipartisan means?”
The sound of Powder’s voice faded as Caitlyn rounded the corner and gripped the edge of the marble countertop, head slumping forward. What had that looked like to everyone else? Casual, right? Just friendly banter? After all, the only person who knew how much that hurt was Vi, and by all accounts she was having a fucking field day.
“You alright?” Caitlyn jumped, her heart thumping in her chest as she whipped around. Not that she had to—she would recognize that voice anywhere.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Vi chuckled awkwardly, taking a step back. “I just wondered if–”
“I’m fine.” Caitlyn snipped. “Just getting water.”
“Sure.” Vi murmured. But she didn’t make any move to leave, just stood there, watching her. The expression on her face, though, was almost familiar—almost like that night.
Shit, she knows. Caitlyn hurried to grab a glass, filling it up and gulping it down as fast as she could with her back turned.
“Thirsty?” Vi asked. She always did this. Always… lingered. Before that night in senior year, Caitlyn had always thought it meant more. Now, however—it was just infuriating.
“You want a glass too?” Caitlyn hissed. “Or are you here to come claim your victory kiss?”
“Oh, well actually I think Mel might have won on a technicality,” Vi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I never would’ve gotten second without ‘retina,’ so, you know....” She trailed off, a sheepish grin gracing her unfairly pretty face.
“You know, asking for a kiss when you didn’t even win is low, even for you.” Caitlyn turned her back again, ripping a dry paper towel and scrubbing at an invisible smudge on the marble.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying, if you find me to be such a winning prize,” Caitlyn quipped, her voice dripping in sarcasm, “I would think you would find me harder to resist.”
Vi was silent for a moment, long enough that it was tempting to turn around and bask in whatever dumbfounded expression was probably lingering on her face.
“Cait– do you think that I–”
“Besides, you probably wouldn’t be able to kiss me for five minutes without begging for more. It would be humiliating for you, I’d imagine.”
“Oh, is that so?” Vi’s tone was cocky in an instant, just how she’d expected it to be all night, just like it always was. “You think I’d be begging for you after five minutes?”
“I know you would.” Caitlyn snorted, all pretense of cleaning the counter abandoned. A pair of strong hands gripped her shoulders, spinning her around and then disappearing, as though she couldn’t stand to touch the taller woman for longer than she had to.
God, this is senior year all over again.
“I think that’s cute, Cait, that you think that,” Vi sneered, leaning in. “Because I think it would be the opposite.”
Caitlyn scoffed, ready to shoulder past Vi when her hand shot back out, gripping her shoulder and lingering this time. She could feel the heat emanating from her palm, the strength in her fingers as they gently flexed—
“I don’t think you would last five minutes before you started begging me to fuck you.”
And ah, there it was. Caitlyn clenched both of her fists, trying to breathe normally instead of gasping because she really should not be thinking about fucking Vi. She had promised herself, after waking up alone and hungover, that she wouldn’t think about it anymore—she wouldn’t touch herself thinking about Vi’s mouth trailing kisses down her stomach as those strong hands spread her thighs open, and she definitely would not daydream about what it would be like to hold hands in the grocery store, or walk through IKEA, or watch Love Island together after work.
So, she says the only thing she can think of that isn’t related to digging her teeth in Vi’s neck and knotting her fingers in her hair.
“You’re on.”
“I- sorry?”
This is her chance, she thinks vaguely, to pretend that the whole thing is just a dumb joke and awkwardly laugh it off. But the competitive spark is turning the lust and the anger and the pure hurt inside of her into an inferno, and she wouldn’t dream of backing down now.
“I said you’re on.” Caitlyn clips out cooly, long pale arms crossing against her chest.
“You mean—”
“You, me, and a timer set for five minutes. I’m not sure what isn’t clicking.”
There’s a long moment of silence, long enough that Caitlyn finally brings herself to look Vi in the eyes.
“When?” The shorter girl asks, her face schooled into a neutral mask.
“Tomorrow night. Here. I doubt it’ll take the full five minutes.”
Before Vi can try any harder to win the upper hand, Caitlyn breezes past her, head held high, back into the living room.
“Cait, thank you again for hosting!” Jayce hugs her firmly, tugging her along to the door.
“Yes, thank you,” Viktor nods, mumbling something under his breath about the rules of Scrabble.
“Wait, is everyone—”
“Yeah, look at the time!” Jayce is already halfway through the door. “See you sprout, thanks again!”
Normally, the whole group stays for a few hours after the game of the week is over, finishing another bottle of wine or two and complaining for the rest of the night about the winner and their (undoubtedly dubious) strategy. Caitlyn whips her head back to the living room, where Mel is smirking slightly, pulling on her jacket.
Christ, how long were we in there?
Vi lingers in the kitchen doorway, car keys in hand, her expression indecipherable. As Ekko says his goodbyes, Caitlyn notices, briefly, the strangest look on Powder’s face, but it’s gone in an instant, her head nuzzling into the crook of Ekko’s shoulder.
“Well,” Vi rasps, “I’ll be in touch.”
And then, nothing but silence.