Chapter 1: Breaking Free
Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Breaking Free
„CAITLYN!!“
Cassandra Kiramman’s voice echoed through the entrance hall of the Kiramman villa, which was located in Knightsbridge, London.
“NO!! I will NOT let you control me ANY longer, mother!! I am bloody 28 years old, I chose my profession, and I won’t let you talk me out of this, nor will I let you forbid it!”
Caitlyn Kiramman’s voice echoed back, accompanied by her loud and hearable, angry footsteps.
She had packed a bag with everything necessary, and she carried it along with her camera-backpack to the main entrance of the villa.
“You’re making a HUGE mistake, Caitlyn!! Photography is barely a hobby, you can’t seriously think that you can make a living from taking photos, that’s ridiculous! You’re throwing away your status and privileges you have as a Kiramman, Caitlyn!! You can’t be serious!”, Cassandra called after her only daughter, but Caitlyn had made her choice.
All the years of manner-training, all those semesters of legal studies, doing exactly like her parents told her, of being prepared for what they had chosen for her before she was even born – She would leave all of it behind.
Everything.
“OH, I am BLOODY serious, mother!!”, Caitlyn yelled back, and turned around one more time, the doorknob of the massive front door already in her hand.
“You controlled me my whole life, EVERYTHING was already decided for me, but did you ever ask me what I want? What I want for MYSELF?? No!! No, you didn’t! And Papa was just too afraid to say something against your plans, that’s not better at all!”, she shouted, and felt tears of anger and disappointment building up in her eyes.
That was enough.
There was nothing more to say, she had tried to tell her all of this several times over the last few years, but she never had listened.
“… I will show you. I will show you what I am capable of.”, she said, she wasn’t shouting anymore, but she was loud enough to hear for her mother, who couldn’t even start to form an answer before Caitlyn disappeared through the door and slammed it close.
-
“You really did it. I’m impressed.”
Mel Medarda sat on her couch next to Caitlyn, she was holding a glass of fine red wine in her right hand, and she had listened to her friend’s story of what had happened earlier.
“I-… I’m starting to doubt that this was a good idea…”, Caitlyn sighed, while she fiddled restless with her fingers, “… what if she is right? What if I’m just delusional? I can’t go back and look her in the eyes anymore now, not after what I said. I can’t go back home, because I didn’t manage to make a living on my own…”
“Hey. You’re being too hard on yourself, Cait.”
Jayce, Caitlyn’s best friend, joined the two and gave her the cup of hot tea she had asked for.
“Your works are great, Cait, I’m serious. You have a perfect eye for the right shots, I never saw anyone making photos like you do. You’re talented, and I’m pretty sure you know that yourself, too. You are so confident when you have your camera in your hands. Don’t doubt your skills.”, he smiled, as he sat down next to his girlfriend again, who smiled at Caitlyn: “Jayce is right. You just need a first job that opens all the doors for you. I could try to get you one at a high-quality brand or an independent designer for example.”, she said with a thoughtful face, and Caitlyn shook her head: “No, that’s… I need to make this on my own. I don’t want to use your status and influence to get a job.”, Caitlyn said, and Mel chuckled softly: “Caitlyn, I’m sorry to say this, but… this business is all about contacts. Without some kind of connection, you will barely get a chance. That’s just how it is.”
Caitlyn held her cup of tea with both her hands and sighed weak.
“… I want to get a job because of my skills. Not because of influence and names, like I got everything my whole life, just because my name is Kiramman.”, she said, and took a sip of the black tea.
“I get that, Cait. But I’m afraid, Mel is right. I know what you’re trying to say, but unfortunately, that’s not how it works. The fashion industry is all about contacts and connections. It’s like winning the lottery if someone gives you a chance, just because you showed them your work. The jobs get awarded within the scene. And you’re not inside the scene, yet. Mel could get you inside without using your surname, you should take her offer. I also just got to the private university back then, because your parents are my patrons.”, Jayce said with a calm and caring voice.
He knew Caitlyn was too proud to accept Mel’s offer.
But he also knew, she wouldn’t get a chance if she didn’t let her help her.
Mel took a sip from her wine and put the glass on the table in front of them.
“Caitlyn, look. I will fly over to Milan in about a week, I will attend the fashion week there, as my agency is a sponsor and some of the models that are under my contract will work there. There will be also a shooting for Calvin Klein, they commissioned my agency for that job. Join me. Come with me to Milan, and I will introduce you to a few people there, what do you say?”, Mel made her a big offer, and Caitlyn looked up to her.
She blinked a few times, not quite believing what Mel had just said.
“Mel, I don’t know…”, Caitlyn sighed, it was obvious that the adrenaline from the argument with her mother was gone by now, and only fear and doubt was left inside the tall woman.
“Cait. That’s a once in a lifetime chance. You should go with her.”, Jayce said, and gave her an encouraging smile.
“Jayce is right. And even if you decide to not make connections over my contacts, see it as a free vacation to get your head free and away from your parents for some time.”, Mel said, and laid a hand on Caitlyn’s knee.
“I really don’t know… I will think about it.”
~
After spending two nights in the guest room of Mel and Jayce big apartment, Caitlyn went to a hotel and got herself some more clothes from home when she was sure her parents weren’t there.
She thought about Mel’s offer every day and night, of course this was a huge chance – But could she really overcome her pride? Was it even pride?
She didn’t know anymore.
Mel had sent her the date and time when her agency’s private jet would take off, just after Caitlyn had left to go into the hotel.
She sat on the edge of the hotel bed on the morning of the day the jet would take off and stared at the note where she had written all the information down.
Her head was dizzy, this all was too much to take – But slowly, she began to understand.
This was a now or never situation, and she finally realized that she needed to act – She couldn’t just run away from home, yell at her mother and do nothing.
“Fiddlesticks.”
-
“MEL, WAIT! Please!”
Mel turned around, she was about to get through the gate at the airport where her private jet would take off, when she heard Caitlyn’s voice behind her.
“Oh, I see someone decided to take their life in their own hand.”, the older woman smiled, and gave the staff a sign that Caitlyn was fine, and they let her through.
“… I still don’t know how to feel about this, but I have to admit, you’re definitely right with one thing: I need to get away from my parents, at least for a while.”, Caitlyn panted, while she started walking beside Mel after her sprint, dragging her suitcase with her.
“You won’t regret it, I promise.”, Mel smiled confident, and soon, the two sat in the private jet and flew over to Italy.
~
The weather was sunny and pleasurable warm when Caitlyn and Mel arrived in Milan.
After checking in their hotel, the two women took a little time to get fresh and wanted to meet up later at the lobby to go and get something to eat at a restaurant.
“Is this your first time in Italy?”, Mel asked, when a taxi brought them over to a restaurant she had chosen for the two of them, and Caitlyn shook her head: “No, actually. I was in Rome and Venice with my parents some years ago.” – “I see.”
Soon, they arrived and got a table that Mel had reserved beforehand, and Caitlyn took the menu the waiter gave both of them.
“So… what exactly is the plan for the next days?”, the navy haired woman asked, and Mel took a sip from her sparkling water, before she answered: “Well, I will have a few appointments tomorrow, so you can either join me and get to know some people, or you take the day for yourself and try to get your head a bit clearer. The day after tomorrow there’s more business, we have the CK photo shooting in the morning, and in the late afternoon we will go to show my presence at the fashion weeks location.”, she explained, and Caitlyn frowned a bit: “We?”, she asked, and Mel huffed amused: “Of course, darling. I mean, it is still your choice. But I can sense the fire that’s growing inside you. You already decided to come with me, and you left home to show your mother what you’re capable of. So, I think you already decided to join me, deep inside you.”
Caitlyn’ frown grew, but her expression relaxed again with a sigh after a moment of letting that sink in: “Fine. I guess you saw through me before even I did myself.”
Mel smiled bright and lifted her glass to toast with Caitlyn: “Great! I am very sure that you will return as a woman who has grown in her confidence and personality after this trip!”
Caitlyn spared an unsure smile, clinked glasses with Mel and took a sip from her drink: “I hope you’re right.” – “I’m always right!”
~
The day of the shooting came, after Caitlyn had used the first day in Milan to enjoy the city and the local food to relax a bit from the happenings the last days.
Mel had left the hotel earlier than her, she had just left her a message that she should be at the studio location at 11am and that she had some business beforehand, she would meet her there.
Caitlyn looked at the address in Mel’s message on her phone, and double checked it with the one she stood in front of.
“That’s the right address…”, she mumbled to herself, took a deep breath and entered the big, shiny building and tried to find the right room number, which she did after studying the building plan for a moment, when she heard a voice from inside.
“Are you fucking kidding me?? I thought we’re working with professionals here, and now you tell me the photographer fell sick and you don’t have a fucking backup plan??”
Caitlyn startled at the voice she heard from the room she was supposed to meet Mel at.
Someone seemed to be seriously angry.
“Why the hell am I even here then?!”
Caitlyn gulped, that sounded like someone she didn’t want to meet right now, but she had to enter the room – Mel was waiting there, right?
And so, she took a deep breath, knocked politely at the door and entered the room from where the voice came from.
There were four people in the room, and all of them turned to the woman that just entered.
The first one Caitlyn laid her eyes on was Mel, who gave her a slight smile.
The second one was a skinny, elderly man with a beard, who seemed annoyed.
The third one was a woman, only around 20 years old, who looked like she was about to cry every moment.
And the fourth… the fourth was a woman, quite Caitlyn’s age. She had dark pink hair, bold tattoos adored her muscular arms, back and neck, she was just in trunks and a bralette, it seemed to be the new Pride Collection for next year’s summer. She was standing in front of the camera setup, and she was obviously pissed.
“And who the hell are you?”, the woman barked, and Caitlyn twitched at the sudden verbal attack, before she found her voice and stood her ground: “My name is Caitlyn. And I’m here with Mel.”, she simply said, walked over to said woman, and tried to act like the woman, who she guessed that she was today’s model, didn’t intimidate her.
“Great.”, the woman spit, rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.
“What’s going on?”, Caitlyn whispered to Mel, while the elderly man tried to calm the model down and started to do some calls.
“Well. This is Violet-… or more like, Vi. She wants to be called that. She’s new at my agency, her portfolio was so impressive that I did everything to get her to change from her old agency to mine. She’s today’s model for the CK shooting, but my photographer cancelled this morning. And now we’re looking for a quick replacement or any other solution.”, Mel answered, and Caitlyn crossed her arms: “Mel, are you serious…?”, she hissed, and the other woman just chuckled relaxed: “Dear, I don’t know what you’re implying, but…”, she started, but the man interrupted them suddenly.
“I can’t find a replacement. They are all busy, Mel, what should we do…? The customer will be here any second…”, he asked, and Mel laid a hand on his shoulder: “I think I have the perfect solution. My friend Caitlyn here, she is, in fact, a photographer. And I am pretty sure she will help us out, won’t you, Cait?”, Mel said with a sweet smile, and turned to the perplex woman beside her.
“… I really don’t know if I-…”, she started, but got interrupted by Vi, who joined them with crossed arms and a pissed look on her face.
“I only work with established photographers. And I have never heard from you, nor have I seen you at any events or else.”, she spit, and turned from Caitlyn to Mel: “You can’t be serious!”
But Mel kept calm, while Caitlyn got slowly but steady pissed at Vi’s attitude.
“Vi, dear… you trusted me with my agency, so, trust me with this here, too. Caitlyn has a great eye, she takes photos like a sharpshooter – She always hits the right angle. And the way I see it, we don’t have any other options at the moment and time is running.”, Mel said, and Vi just huffed: “Well, I don’t think that bad photos are better than no photos.”
Mel turned to Caitlyn and smiled at her: “I know this is more than spontaneous right now, but would you help us out, please?”, she asked, and Caitlyn’s brain was absolutely overwhelmed with the situation.
“Uhm…! I-… I mean, I could. But she obviously doesn’t want to work with me. And honestly? I don’t know if I want to work with her.”, Caitlyn said, and while she talked, she gained her courage back.
Why should she back down from someone who barked at her like an angry dog?
“Pff! Are you serious?!”, Vi huffed, before anyone else was able to say something.
“Who do you think you are?!”, she asked, and Caitlyn didn’t back off: “I could ask you the same.”
“Okay, okay. That’s enough.”, Mel said, her voice was louder and both women huffed, crossed their arms and turned to the other woman.
“I see, we all had a bad start today. How about we all get us a quick drink, calm down and then we start again. Caitlyn. Would you help us out, please?”, Mel suggested and asked, and Caitlyn sighed.
Of course, Mel had this planned. How could she be so naive and really think that Mel just took her with her for a vacation away from her parents?
But she was right.
Caitlyn needed to be thrown into this scene by someone who was already inside it.
And she finally admitted it to herself – She needed the help.
“Yes. I can help you out, I just don’t have my camera on me.”, Caitlyn decided, and Mel smiled brighter: “Great! Thank you, dear. And don’t worry, we have everything you need here.”
Caitlyn gave her a pained smile, and let Mel show her the camera equipment she could use.
“… great.”
Chapter 2: Shots
Chapter Text
Chapter 2 - Shots
“Ready if you are.”
Caitlyn put the strap of the camera Mel gave her around her neck, after everything was set up and ready to go.
“I was just waiting for you.”, Vi said, and walked back in front of the camera.
She took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and checked again if the underwear she wore sat right, before she looked up to Caitlyn behind the camera and flexed her trained body.
She didn’t look tense or stiff, she managed to flex her muscles and still look as if she was completely relaxed.
Caitlyn felt a jolt go through her body when the model’s greyish, ice-blue eyes met her ocean-blue ones – She had to admit, Vi definitely had charisma and her body was equally exceptionally well build.
She was hot, and she obviously knew it.
But if Caitlyn learnt one thing from growing up in London’s high society, then it was that those who knew what effect they had on others were the most dangerous ones.
After Caitlyn was able to rip her eyes from Vi’s, she cleared her throat and spoke to her: “Alright, Mel gave me a quick briefing about what the customers want. How about we just start right away, you do what you do best, and I do what I do best.”, Caitlyn suggested, and ignored the eyeroll Vi gave her: “Yeah, obviously.”, the dark pink haired woman sighed annoyed, and got in position, before Caitlyn started to take the first shots.
Vi changed quick and professional from one pose into another, it all looked so smooth the way she did it, and Caitlyn took one shot after another, keeping up with Vi’s pace with ease.
She felt free when she was able to take photos, to do what she loved, and Vi really was a great photo motif – Caitlyn felt herself sink deeper and deeper into the lens of the camera, there was just Vi in her eyesight, nothing else was around anymore.
And Vi? She played with the camera, as she always did.
She had a weird feeling about the woman behind it, how could she be so natural with it?
How could she keep up with her without the slightest sign of a struggle?
There was no way she had a name in the scene and Vi not knowing about it.
The model and the photographer worked well together, there was not a single second of talking between them.
Vi changed a position, and Caitlyn went with her as if she could predict every move she made – It was almost like a partner dance.
-
“This is her first commercial shooting?! … where did you find her, that’s-… she can’t be a newbie, Mel, you’re messing with us.”, the elderly man whispered, while he looked at the shots Caitlyn took on the monitor Mel and he sat in front of.
“I told you she’s good.”, Mel simply replied, and got up when it knocked at the door.
“Welcome! It’s an honor to be able to work for you. We’re in the middle of the shooting, please, join us.”, she welcomed the two representors of Calvin Klein, who wanted to check on the job they gave to Mel’s agency.
“Thank you.”. the woman smiled, while the man nodded politely, before they joined around the monitor behind Caitlyn.
The man crossed his arms and looked Vi up and down shortly, while she was posing for the photos. “You didn’t exaggerate, she really is the perfect model for this collection. I have to admit, I was critical about her, but I’m glad you were so empathic about hiring her for this job.”, he said to his colleague, who chuckled quietly: “Told you. She will reach the target group of this collection more than well.”, she answered, and Mel grinned inside, while she kept her professional, calm and confident face in front of her customers: “She’s the best for this job, I never promise too much.”
Caitlyn didn’t even notice that the customers had entered the room, she was completely lost in her work – And somehow also in Vi.
Her aura was captivating, and every new detail of Vi she noticed through the camera made it worse.
“Alright.”, the British photographer smiled, and got up again as she had kneeled for the last shots she took. She gave Vi a smile, then she turned around to find the two new people that had joined with a surprised look on her face: “Oh! My apologies, I didn’t notice you entering… my name is Caitlyn, hi.”, she quickly introduced herself, cut out her surname on purpose and shook their hands.
“No worries, an artist shouldn’t be bothered while working.”, the woman smiled, and turned to Vi when she joined them to check the photos together with the whole team.
“Hi, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Vi!”, she grinned, and Vi shook her hand: “Hey.”, she simply greeted back, and the man turned to her, too: “We absolutely made the right choice with you. The shots are absolutely stunning!”, he said, and Vi got a confused frown on her face.
Did he just say the shots were good? Stunning?
“Let me see.”, Vi said, and squeezed herself past the others so she could take a look at the monitor.
“What the-…”, she mumbled, and even shoved the chair with Mel on it aside to click through the photos by herself.
Caitlyn felt a kind of self-satisfied wave flowing through her body when she observed Vi looking through the pictures she had taken.
Vi couldn’t believe it. Those were some of the best shots she had ever seen from herself, and Caitlyn crossed her arms behind her with an arched eyebrow and a complacent little grin on her lips.
The tall British woman didn’t need to say anything, she could see in the tensing of Vi’s body that she slowly realized, that she gave her shit for nothing, and that Caitlyn indeed knew what she was doing.
That was satisfaction enough.
“You know I never promise too much, Vi.”, Mel said, when she sensed that Vi realized that Caitlyn indeed had talent, too: “So, what do you say?”, she asked with a smug smile on her lips, and Vi straightened her back again when she had seen all the photos Caitlyn had taken of her.
There was not a single shot that wasn’t useable – All of them were perfect shots.
“… you’re an alright shot.”, Vi said, and turned to Caitlyn, who had an incredible boost of confidence after all the positive reactions of everyone involved: “I’m an excellent shot.”
Vi huffed, she tried to overplay herself being uncomfortable, took a deep breath and crossed her arms with a shrug.
And then, Caitlyn saw Vi’s smile for the first time.
It was beautiful, warm and charming – It made Caitlyn’s heart skip a beat.
“Whatever suits you, Cupcake.”, Vi snorted, and shrugged it off, before she continued: “We have a few more outfits to work off, don’t we, Mel?”, she asked, and said woman nodded: “Yes, we should keep working, time is money. Caitlyn, you’re doing a great job, as expected. Let’s get this job done, shall we?”
Caitlyn blinked a few quick times, everyone started to get busy and continue their work so fast suddenly, that she didn’t even got time to complain about the weird nickname Vi had given her.
“Y-… yes! Of course, sure!”
-
Vi changed from the new Pride bralette and trunks into the other clothes of the upcoming collection.
Caitlyn hit all the right angles to present the collection the best way possible, and she also managed to display Vi from her best side.
“Amazing!”, both representatives rejoiced, when Mel let them look through the raw outcome of the photos. They were more than pleased and turned to Vi and Caitlyn shortly after.
“You both did a great job, I bet that wasn’t the last time we will work together. We have your contact, Vi, through Mel’s agency. But how can we contact you-… Caitlyn was it, right?”, the woman asked, and Caitlyn looked at her with big eyes: “Oh! I can… I mean, you can-…”, she started, and thought of a way to give them her contact information without revealing her surname, but Mel got her back.
“You can contact me if you want to book Caitlyn as a photographer.”, she offered, and Caitlyn nodded with a short thankful look at Mel, before she faced the others again: “Yes, that would be the best way at the moment.”, she played along, and the customers nodded with a happy smile: “Great, we’ll see each other again, that’s a promise! When will we get the raw files to select the ones we want to use?” – “We will give them to you right away. Let us know which ones you want, and Caitlyn will put the final edit on them so you can use them for your campaign. And about the pricing… I think we talked this out beforehand, right?”, Mel answered, pulled a SD-card out of the monitor and gave them to the two representatives, who took it and nodded: “Perfect. We’ll let you know which shots we need asap. And yes, it’s the fix price package plus the price for every additional shot.” – “Good!”
Mel brought them to the door, everyone said their goodbye’s and then, Mel closed the door behind them.
“Guys! That was extraordinary great work, I’m proud of you, all of you!”, Mel smiled, and walked over to Caitlyn and Vi.
“You did an awesome job, Vi, that’s exactly why I wanted to under my contract. And Caitlyn… consider this the very start of your successful career. Let’s talk about that in detail after we left the studio. Dave, Mary, thank you for your assistance and make-up service, you both can take the rest of the day off. Vi, same for you. But don’t forget to call your sister. She has to deliver, I know she’s… special. But that doesn’t mean that she can ignore deadlines, I want the new designs by the end of next week, please remind her. I gave her this chance, because it was your condition to change to my agency. Not because-…”, Mel gave her orders, but Vi interrupted her with a slightly angry expression: “Yeah. I’m not stupid, okay?! I’ll tell her. No need to talk about her like that, got it??”, she hissed, but Mel kept unimpressed by her attitude: “Just make sure she’ll deliver.”
Vi rolled her eyes, turned around and grabbed her stuff, before she walked off to the door: “Bye.”
Caitlyn stared for a moment at the door, before Mel ripped her out of her thoughts: “Don’t mind her. She’s… special. Like her sister.”, she shrugged, and sat down in front of the monitor again to save the shots from today on another SD-card for themselves.
“She doesn’t act like the classic model. What do you mean with ‘special’? And who’s her sister?”, Caitlyn asked curious, and started to help to tidy up the equipment they had used today.
Mel smiled and huffed quietly: “Well… she had a different ‘career’ before she started the model job. She was an amateur MMA fighter a few years ago. She started with illegal fights as a teenager as far as I know, someone found her and helped her to get off the streets, together with her little sister. But I don’t know much more, she’s not very… talk-active, as you may noticed. I don’t know what happened that she was able to start her career as a model.”, Mel tried to explain what she knew, and Caitlyn listened carefully.
“And her sister… well. Let’s say it this way… in my opinion, they both need therapy. But her little sister needs it definitely more than Vi. But I never met someone with more creativity than Jinx, that’s her chosen name, and when Vi said she’d change to my agency when I also got a job for her sister, I knew I had to say yes. I made her a designer for our own projects, and she’s great… but not very responsible, reliable or… let’s say, organized.”, Mel tried to explain, and added quickly: “And Vi is very protective about her. I heard she always was, she seemed to even get in fights back then to protect her.”, she said, and sighed: “But enough of those chaotic sisters.”, she smiled.
“Oh… that explains her physique. And… also the scars.”, Caitlyn mumbled, and sighed.
“You don’t have to worry about her, Caitlyn. I’m sorry that I had to make you work with someone like her for your first job. I promise the next ones will be more professional and nicer.”, Mel smiled, and got up when the download was ready.
“Come on, let’s get out of here. I want to offer you something.” – “Huh?”
-
Soon, Caitlyn found herself in a café, listening to Mel who sat in front of her and sipped on the coffee she had ordered, while Caitlyn held her cup of tea in both her hands while she stared at a paper her friend had slit over to her.
“… and this is why I want you to sign up and work for my agency.”, Mel said, after she had explained to Caitlyn that she should consider working as an employed photographer instead of being self-employed, completely on her own.
“… Mel, I-… I don’t know, this is all going so fast right now.”, Caitlyn hesitated, even if she definitely knew that Mel was right, and all her years of law studies allowed her to understand the contract probably better than Mel herself did – It was a huge chance she offered her.
“Cait… come on. Why wait? Or more like… what are you waiting for? You just made the first step into the business you wanted to get into. And I offer you a safe job to get really started. So, why do you hesitate? What are you afraid of?”, Mel asked, and Caitlyn took a moment to think and listen to her inner voice. She tried to remind herself why she was here, why she made the step out of her parents’ house after all these years.
“…”
Caitlyn straightened her back suddenly and took the pen that Mel had slid over together with the contract.
She knew she had to act.
She knew she had to do something if she wanted to take her life in her own hands, once and for all.
“I’ll do it.”, she pushed herself to make the next step of her journey, and signed the contract, with Mel watching satisfied: “You won’t regret it. I will make you one of the highest-ranking photographers of the fashion-scene, you will see!”
~
“No fucking way, sis’, hahaha!!”
Vi threw herself onto the slightly worn-out sofa in the motel her little sister lived in for the time of the fashion week and opened a can of beer that she had taken from the small fridge by herself, took a huge sip and wipe with her forearm over her mouth.
Vi had got her the motel room, as Jinx got excited when she heard about her big sister flying over to Italy, but Mel wouldn’t pay for her to come with them – So, Vi took it in her own hands and made it possible for her to come with her for the trip.
“I’m not kidding!! This girl-… she came out of nowhere, she’s nobody in this scene, and then she fucking took the fucking hottest fucking shots of me that I’ve ever seen?! What the hell!! Mel is messing with me!!”, she said, and gesticulated wildly, while her expression was an unsure mix of anger, confusion and amazement.
“Well, I don’t know if you knew~… but there actually are people who are simply freaking talented! Oh hey, you DO know someone, that’s meeee! And come on, it’s probably impossible to know two people who are that talented, and you already know me, so she can’t be that good!”, Jinx grinned bright, and laughed hearty at the face her big sister made.
“Pow-… I’m serious!!”, Vi complained, but Jinx just kept laughing: “Yeah, me, too!”
Vi sighed loud and long, sank deeper into the sofa and took another few sips of her beer.
She watched her sister continuing her newest artwork, she couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be, but she knew that it would be stunning in the end.
“Hey. Mel asked for the designs, again. You’re late, again. Pow, I’m doing this for us. And especially for you, I don’t think I can get you a better job than this one, I-…”, Vi started, after a while of watching her sister work with all the bright colors on the quite big tablet she had put on a tripod.
“Yeeeah, yeah! I know-… soooorry, but I’m not really late, you knooow? I still have a whooole ass week!”, Jinx grinned, while she spun around a few times in her rolling chair, “… I juuust~… I needed inspiration, that’s what aaaaall artists need! You should know that, sis’!”, the younger woman smirked, and Vi let out another sigh: “Powder… I’m serious! And facetiming with your girlfriend all the time instead of getting your work done doesn’t help with creativity.”, she sighed defeated, and Jinx danced over to her sister to swing herself onto her lap.
She threw an arm around her sister’s neck and grinned even brighter: “What do you know about creativity and women, huh? I can’t remember seeing you with a woman the last years, so, I’d say I have the better experience on how a girlfriend can boost your creativity!”, she out called her big sister shamelessly, and jumped off from her again to continue with her artwork.
“You should go out, Vi. I know you don’t want to attend the fashion weeks events and parties, but you know… it would be good for you. And who knows, maybe you will see this photographer chick again?”, she smirked, and wiggled her eyebrows.
“What the-… what does she have to do with this now?!”, Vi complained on an instant, which made Jinx just laugh even more: “You’re intimidated by her. I can sense this, sis’. And that’s your weakness: Strong, independent women. If she wasn’t your type, you wouldn’t have been so triggered today, you know I’m right!”, Jinx kept going, and Vi emptied the beer can, crushed it in her hand and threw it over into the trash bin.
“… She’s not my type. She’s just a snooty, British newcomer Mel brought with her, nothing more.”, Vi mumbled, and got up from the sofa.
“Sure.”, Jinx just shrugged, and turned to her screen again.
She knew Vi wouldn’t admit that it wasn’t so wrong what her little sister said, she was too stubborn to do so.
“Just… just try to deliver in time, okay? I don’t know how often I can box you out of these things. This is different from the cage fights, Pow-Pow. Please, keep that in mind, okay? I can’t use my fists here to keep you safe.”, Vi said, and Jinx sighed hearable: “Yeeeaah, stop that. No need to get so whiney, okay? I’ll be in time.”, she rolled her eyes, and Vi knew she understood.
“Alright. Tell Lux I said hi when you see her again, yeah?”, Vi said, she smiled when Jinx just waved with her arm up in the air, and left the apartment to drive back to the hotel Mel had got her a room in.
-
Vi let herself fall into the fluffy bed of her hotel room, after she had taken a long and hot shower.
Her sister’s words just wouldn’t leave her head since she had left her earlier, why would she say that? Caitlyn definitely wasn’t her type.
Was she?
Vi sighed loud and wiped with her flat hand over her face.
There was something Jinx wasn’t wrong with.
She really hadn’t met up with or dated a woman for a longer time now, but she also knew why she hadn’t.
Jinx-… no, Powder. She was more important than that.
But what Vi didn’t noticed was, that her little sister wasn’t so little anymore.
She had grown up, and she was also dating Lux for longer now.
Vi was 27, so Jinx was already 20, almost 21 by now – She was an adult, but Vi could only see her helpless little baby sister when she looked at the blue haired troublemaker.
There was space in her heart for someone again, but Vi just had never thought of it, nor even realized it until now, she was too busy with taking care of her sister and also herself.
But Caitlyn? No. Vi was sure, she was just impressed by how good she was able to keep up with her when they worked together today. She just hadn’t expected her to be that professional, that’s all.
Right?
Chapter 3: Business
Chapter Text
Chapter 3 – Business
“Mel! It’s so good to see you, how low has it been?”
“Mel Medarda. What a pleasure to see you finally in person!”
“Can it be? Mel, how are you doing?”
“Mel! Congrats to your job with Hugo Boss, the outcome was magnificent!”
Caitlyn walked beside Mel when they entered the location where the newest fashion trends and designs would be presented by a lot of models on the catwalk this evening, and half of the guests immediately turned around to Mel, everyone wanted to talk to the CEO of one of the most successful model agencies of their time.
It was the first official event of Milan’s fashion week today, and Mel wanted to use it for business contacts, so she had as much conversations as possible – And the people almost begged for her attention.
She had also planned on introducing Caitlyn to some important people in the scene, which went more than well, too – And Caitlyn played along.
She was used to such kind of events.
She had to attend a lot of fancy parties and get-togethers all her life, as her parents, especially her mother, where in the public eye as Cassandra was active in politics.
And so, Caitlyn knew how to behave - How to smile just the right amount and to show interest, even if she wasn’t interested at all in some things the people talked about.
The British photographer left a good impression at everyone she talked to today, some even promised to contact Mel’s agency for some jobs they had to offer, after Mel had showed them the raw outcome of yesterday’s shooting on her phone.
It went more than well for her, and both were so professional that every conversation went smoothly and just as planned – Caitlyn and her work were suddenly a topic in several conversations now.
-
“You did good.”, Mel whispered, when they sat down on their seats in the first row beside the catwalk, after they had spent solid three hours to socialize with important people.
“Thank you. I have to admit, I feel confident about all this meanwhile. And even if I hate to say this… my mother prepared me well for such happenings.”, Caitlyn answered, and chuckled slightly when she said the last part.
“Well, that’s definitely something the Kiramman’s are good at.”, Mel chuckled back, but Caitlyn hushed her: “Please, don’t say this name here. I don’t want them to know, I’m serious, Mel…”, she hissed, and Mel rolled her eyes with a smugly smirk: “Cait. Do you really think they don’t know who you are? Come on.”, she shrugged, and Caitlyn frowned frustrated.
Mel could be right.
She surely was right.
But Caitlyn still tried to deny the fact that at least some people here at minimum heard of the name Kiramman, and that those who were from the UK definitely knew who she was, as her mother had dragged her to several press appointments to show off her offspring and make clear, that her family was perfectly fine in the eyes of spectators and the media.
Caitlyn wasn’t someone who could hide from the public eye, people knew who she was – Her family was too powerful to fly under the radar, but it seemed that at least outside of the UK there were also enough people who didn’t recognize her.
“Relax. You made a big step today with all the contacts you made in those few hours here, we did everything to pave the way for you into a career based on your skills, not your name. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”, Mel asked, and Caitlyn took a deep breath before she answered: “… yes. Yes, indeed. Thank you, Mel, I think I just need to actually realize that all this is really happening right now. I need to loosen up a bit, you’re right.” – “Great, then let’s enjoy the evening, shall we?”
-
The show began and the models started to walk down the catwalk, presenting the newest trends and designs to the audience.
It wasn’t the first time for Caitlyn at such an event, she had attended the London fashion week four times already with her mother and also a few other fashion shows and events in the UK.
But there was a big difference to the events she went to with her mother:
She was here for her own good, for what she loved, for the actual fashion – And not only for presence and prestige of her family’s business empire.
Her mother was never interested in the actual topic of these events, although she had sometimes bought one or two of the presented outfits directly from the designer, to “show class and status” in public.
“Will Vi present something, too?”, Caitlyn suddenly asked, after she had leaned over to Mel, who looked at her with a surprised expression: “Oh? Yes, she will present three outfits from our own collection that I want to drop next spring. One of them is designed by her sister, I think that one will be the last of her walks today.”, Mel answered, and Caitlyn nodded: “I see.”, she simply said, and turned to the catwalk again.
“Why do you ask about her?”, Mel asked, after a few seconds of thinking about if she should just let it go or ask her.
“Huh? Oh… uhm, I don’t know, I was just curious. I think maybe because she was the first one who I officially worked with? I can’t really tell. Just a thought.”, Caitlyn smiled innocent, and Mel let it be.
The two women continued to watch the show and then, Caitlyn’s eyes fell on Vi when she entered the catwalk for the first time on this evening.
She wore a black suit with a bright pink button-up shirt, both were neatly cut at a cropped length, showing off her defined abs and trained back, while her dress pants where at three-quarter length and held up by a matching, pink belt.
She did her walk professionally, stopped at the end of the catwalk, did her pose, turned around and walked back, without looking for a single second into any face that was watching her.
But the audience? All eyes were on her, and so were Caitlyn’s.
The British photographer couldn’t take her eyes off her, her aura took her in, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but stare at this more than attractive woman who walked past her, absolutely unimpressed by everything around her.
“She hates this part of the job.”, Mel whispered, so that just Caitlyn could hear it.
She got ripped out of her hyperfocus of the moment on the unusual model when Mel spoke to her, but she quickly got back to her senses.
“Really? She’s so good, I couldn’t tell she doesn’t actually want to do this.”, Caitlyn whispered back, and Mel huffed quietly: “Well… this here brings a lot of quick money for her. I pay her 800€ per walk, but that’s absolutely good invested money. Do you see how they all look at her? They are all captured by her aura, and that’s why I will make money multiple times of the stake I put into her, because these people will buy those designs.”, Mel explained, and Caitlyn nodded understanding: “Yes, I can see that. Her charisma is stunning, I have to admit.”, she whispered, and Mel leaned back again: “Absolutely. But her character isn’t very stunning.”
Caitlyn didn’t comment on that.
She knew what Mel was implying, but there was something she had seen in Vi’s eyes through the camera that told her, there was more behind that rough and cold façade Vi showed on the outside.
And somehow, it caught her attention and interest to find out what that was.
~
“I’ll be right back, Cait, okay? There’s someone I need to talk to. They just entered!”
Mel shouted to Caitlyn over the loud music of the afterparty of today’s fashion show.
She got up from the round table they sat on, downed the rest of her champagne, winked at her friend and walked off to someone through the crowd of dancing and partying people.
Caitlyn just nodded at her with a smile, toasted her own glass into her direction and leaned back into the soft plush of the bench she sat on.
She took a look around, it was still so surreal to her that she really was here.
That she was actually a part of all this now.
The photographer took a deep breath, grinned shortly to herself with closed eyes and opened them again while she breathed out again.
“I need to thank Mel and also Jayce properly when we’re back.”, she whispered to herself, and took another sip of her drink when she felt someone leaning over the bench from behind beside her.
“Hey, Cupcake! Wasn’t sure first, but yep, it’s you.”
Caitlyn turned her head to the person who turned out to be Vi, and a smile found its way on her lips the second she looked into those greyish, ice-blue eyes – Goddammit. She was so handsome.
“Oh! Vi, hello. I actually didn’t expect you here.”, Caitlyn answered loud enough, so Vi could understand her over the loud music.
“Oh? And why is that?”, Vi asked, even if she didn’t actually expect herself to be here as well.
She was here, because she admitted that her sister was right. She needed to get out for a change, and don’t always avoid the social events of the scene she was working in at the moment.
Vi hopped over the bench with ease and landed beside Caitlyn with a grin.
She already had one or two drinks, Caitlyn could tell – But she was on her third champagne as well.
“Well, uhm…”, Caitlyn started, trying to get the words out while taking Vi’s outfit in.
She wore a dark pink button up, which was opened down to right above her navel, while she had rolled up the sleeves almost to her elbows. Under it she wore a sports-bra, it was black, and the band had the colors of the lesbian flag.
Her jeans were pitch black with leather details around the front and back pockets and held up by a dark grey, suede belt with the CK logo as a buckle. Rings and bracelets made the fit complete.
Her whole outfit was sponsored by Calvin Klein, as a small benefit beside the usual payment from yesterday’s shooting. They had even custom-made her the sports-bra, as the specific flags weren’t planned in their current collection.
“I-… well, I had the impression that you wouldn’t like it here, between all those people. It was just a feeling, I’m sorry if I misinterpreted you in that point.”, Caitlyn answered, and felt her excitement to see her again even more when Vi laid her arm on the backrest of the round bench, so that her hand was behind Caitlyn now.
Vi made herself comfortable, she laid her left ankle on her right thigh, after she had laid her arm on the backrest, and leaned back while running a hand through her hair.
She took Caitlyn’s outfit in as well, she looked gorgeous tonight.
The tight, silver skirt that went right above her knees fitted the cropped and sleeveless, black top more than well. She wore some decent, silver and dark blue jewelry with it.
“Oh, well. You’re not so wrong with that, Cupcake.”, Vi huffed, and looked around for a waiter and waved them over to order herself another drink: “Yeah, uh, Old Fashioned? Perfect! Do you want something, too?”, Vi ordered, and turned to Caitlyn who denied by holding up her still half full crystal flute with champagne: “I’m good, thank you. But please, stop calling me that.” – “Whatever suits you. And hey, I think it’s very fitting. You’re sweet.”
The waiter walked away, and Vi watched Caitlyn take a sip from her glass.
“You’re drunk.”, Caitlyn chuckled, and Vi smirked at her: “Well, as far as I can tell, you’re drunk, too.”, she said, which made Caitlyn laugh: “So, Vi. Why are you here then, if you would rather be somewhere else? I doubt you came to see me.”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi shrugged: “Well, I thought it would be good to go out again, to get under people… okay, fine, that wasn’t exactly my idea. It was my baby sister’s idea, and I can’t say she’s wrong with that. So, I took the opportunity and just stayed after my job here.”, Vi explained, and Caitlyn listened attentive.
Vi’s drink was brought, and she took it with a thanking nod and sipped on it, before she put it on the table in front of her.
“I just… didn’t thought that I would feel so-… how to say it? Misplaced? Out of place?”, Vi sighed, and shrugged again before she continued: “I don’t know, I just can’t pretend to be the same as those people here. And they kinda smell that I’m not really one of them, even if I have made myself a name here. They respect me, but… don’t know, forget it. So, what I wanted to say is, when I saw you… I thought, maybe I don’t feel so misplaced with the newcomer. Don’t think more of it, got it?”, Vi explained, and regretted immediately that she was so open with the almost stranger right away.
Caitlyn kept on listening and gifted her a warm smile: “I understand. And I appreciate it, that you came to me in that case. I feel similar, Mel brought me into here just yesterday, no one really knows who I am, but people welcomed me. And still, it’s an odd feeling as I don’t really know anyone beside of Mel.”, Caitlyn, explained, and huffed amused suddenly: “And you now, apparently.”
Vi couldn’t hide a chuckle herself, and there it was again: This precious smile that Caitlyn had seen once when they had the photo shooting together.
It made her feel things, and Caitlyn didn’t want to feel like that about a woman she just met.
“Oh! Well in that case, you’re welcome.”, Vi snickered, and Caitlyn gave her a confused look: “Huh? For what exactly?”, she asked, and Vi grinned bright: “Well, for keeping you company in this new world you were just thrown into.”, Vi said with a shit-eating grin, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a withhold laugh: “You’re a tease, really. I was already perfectly fine before you came to me. So, maybe I should say you are welcome, that I grant you my company, as you seem to be the one who was lost before.”, she said in her posh accent, and Vi took a sip from her drink, before she answered: “Well, I-…”, she started, but somehow, she couldn’t come up with a proper counterattack to this.
Probably, because Caitlyn was simply right.
The British woman emptied her champagne, leaned back and gave Vi a victorious smirk: “You know I’m right.”, she said, and added after a moment of silence: “… I’m just mocking you, no need to make that face.”, she giggled amused, and couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Vi blinked a few times, that woman was the tease, not her.
How could she be so confident? She was completely new, wasn’t she?
How? Vi didn’t have an answer to this, and suddenly she felt her mood change.
“You know what, maybe it was a bad idea to come here, and also over to you.”, Vi mumbled, took her glass and started to get up, when Caitlyn grabbed her wrist out of reflex: “Hey! Wait-… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to upset you.”, she apologized immediately, and Vi ripped her wrist out of Caitlyn’s grip with way too much force.
“Ouch…!”, Caitlyn hissed in pain, and the angry look on Vi’s face immediately changed to a worried one: “Fuck!! I-… sorry, I didn’t mean to, I-… did I hurt you?”, she asked, and put her glass away again, to lean down and take a look at Caitlyn’s hand.
“No, it’s… it’s nothing, I’m fine. That’s my fault, I shouldn’t have touched you just like that, my apologies.”, Caitlyn sighed, and withdraw her hand gently out of Vi’s to rub over her wrist.
“… I’m-… fuck. Old habits, that-… that shouldn’t have happened, I was too rough. I should just go, maybe this here really isn’t for me.”, Vi mumbled more to herself than to Caitlyn, and straightened up again.
It wasn’t the first afterparty she attended.
She was a model for a few years now already, there were a lot of events in that time she went to, but she had always kept herself on a certain distance to the people, no matter how nice they were to her.
“No, wait-… we could-“, Caitlyn started, but Vi seemed different suddenly.
Her attitude was gone, there was something in her eyes that reminded Caitlyn of a predator that was cornered and tried to escape the situation.
“Sorry for bothering you. Have fun, k’?”, Vi said with a forced smile, turned around and left Caitlyn behind. She disappeared into the crowd, and Caitlyn lost sight of her quite fast.
“Vi, wait…!”, she called after her, but it was too late.
“What the bloody hell was that? Shit…”, Caitlyn sighed, and sat back down on the bench.
And then, she remembered Mel’s words from the day before:
“If you ask me, they both need therapy.”
-
Vi left with fast steps, she ignored the calls for her when several people asked where she was going, if she was okay or what was going on.
She left the building, took the next taxi and drove back to her hotel, where she walked to her room with fast steps.
Why did she even go out?
She didn’t belong there. She told herself this every single day, so long and so often since the day she began to work as a model, that she believed herself.
But what she didn’t notice was, that she was very well welcome and totally established in the scene meanwhile. Her start was maybe rough, but people appreciated the path she had paved on her own.
She was just so dogged, that she wasn’t able to see it.
“Fuck…!!!”, she screamed into her pillow, and punched the mattress several times until she rolled up and clung to the blanket where she started to cry into.
“This is bullshit…!! This is fucking bullshit…!!”, she sobbed, and tried to calm herself down again.
It took a while, but she finally got rid of the tension inside her when her body got weaker from all the crying and clenching into the pillows and blanket.
“Go out, she said, have fun, she said…”, Vi sobbed, and wiped roughly over her eyes with her forearm.
“I don’t belong here… I’m just doing my job, get paid without getting my head beaten in, and that’s it…!”, she shouted to herself, and felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier.
It was exhausting.
This new life.
So, so exhausting.
But new? It wasn’t new.
Vi felt like it was still the beginning. Her head was stuck in the past, so much, that she didn’t realize she had arrived in this new world. For longer now.
She needed to let go, but she wasn’t even able to relax her body – So, how should she relax her mind?
Chapter 4: Issues
Chapter Text
Chapter 4 – Issues
“Sheeesh, sis’… you look like you got ran over by a truck. And then he decided to put the gear in reverse and did it again. What the fuck happened yesterday??”
Jinx stirred her straw inside her super sweetened iced coffee, while she observed her big sister in front of her, who could barely keep her eyes open.
She had dark rings under her eyes, she was quite pale, and it was obvious that she had a more than bad night with almost no sleep.
“… ’s nothin’…”, Vi mumbled, and took a sip of her black coffee with a sour face.
She didn’t really like coffee, but she felt like this was the only thing that would maybe help her at least a bit to get kind of ready for the day.
“That doesn’t look like nothing.”, Jinx said with an arched eyebrow, and Vi leaned back with a loud sigh: “Pow, it is nothing! It was just late yesterday, ‘k?”, she lied, and leaned forward again: “Besides, I’m the big sister here, so if someone worries about the other, it’s me. Got it?”, she said, and laid her forehead onto her arms that she had crossed on the table in front of her.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”, Jinx sighed, rolled her eyes and poked her sister’s head with her right index finger: “You do know that I’m not a child anymore, do you?”, she asked, and Vi just made a confirming, tired sound, “… well, it surely doesn’t look like you do! Vi, I’m not the helpless little girl I used to be. I have a job, I have a girlfriend, I live on my own, and-… and I have you. And all that is because of you.”, Jinx sighed, and tilted her head a bit: “It’s enough for you to be there if I need you. Violet, you should focus on yourself for a change. You did so, so much for me, and I love you for this, and I will always do, but it’s time for you to shift your focus and energy. To you.”
Vi listened, and something was odd.
Why did she sounded so… grown? Was this new, or did she just never notice it?
Sure, she wasn’t really mentally stable or completely independent – But she seemed to have grown.
This was weird. So. Weird.
“Pow-Pow, I…”, Vi started, but she stopped again and let out a long sigh, before she continued: “… okay. Okay, that’s too much for my brain right now, I can’t think straight at the moment…”, she mumbled, and Jinx snorted: “Well, that’s not new.” – “Oh, fuck off…”
-
Vi found herself at today’s location of the event she was booked for a few hours later.
The makeup artist was challenged today, but somehow, she made Vi look at least not that tired anymore.
“Thanks.”, Vi sighed, and got up to check herself in the mirror when she was ready.
She had to be out on the catwalk in 10 minutes, and she didn’t feel ready at all.
What happened?
When she got out of the cage fights and had her first photo shooting back then, it felt good.
She liked the new job, she liked how she was displayed, and the people being satisfied with her performance made her feel useful.
Vi finally had the feeling of: ‘My life’s getting better for a change’.
But on the afterparty of the first event her old boss took her with him, it immediately changed again.
The eyes that laid on her felt weird, she wasn’t used to people paying so much attention to her, especially not those with status and money.
So, her survival mode was turned on again.
And that meant: Trust no one – No matter how nice they seem.
“…”, Vi took a deep breath with closed eyes, and faced herself in the mirror after it.
“You can do this. You’re stronger than you think. Got it?”, she whispered to herself, took another deep breath and turned around again to walk over to the point where she should wait for her turn.
-
“Ah! Caitlyn, there you are, come here, sit with me.”
Mel smiled at her friend, who was obviously searching the room with her eyes and smiled back at her when their eyes met: “Hey, I hope I’m not too late?”, Caitlyn asked, and Mel shook her head: “No dear, don’t worry. The event will start in a few minutes, you didn’t miss anything.”, Mel answered, and frowned a bit confused suddenly.
“Are you looking for someone?”, she asked, and Caitlyn felt caught: “Huh? Oh! No, I-… well, to be honest… I thought, maybe I could talk to Vi. We had an unlucky conversation yesterday at the afterparty, and I wanted to apologize to her.”, Caitlyn sighed, and Mel chuckled suddenly.
“What’s so funny?”, Caitlyn asked confused, and Mel gave her a slight smirk: “You like her.”, she whispered, and Caitlyn gasped: “Wha-... no, I don’t!?”, she exclaimed in a very posh accent, and Mel just kept giggling: “I’m mocking you. She will be out on the catwalk quite at the beginning, so she’s working now. But I bet you are able to talk to her after the show.” – “…okay.”
-
It was Vi’s turn soon, and she started her walk through the eyes of all the spectators in the huge room.
She looked as unimpressed as she was the day before, but Caitlyn could see that there were dark rings under her eyes under the make-up she wore.
Mel watched Caitlyn when Vi was on her walk back, and she crossed her arms.
Her friend’s eyes were way too lost in the hothead, and she felt the urge to prevent her from any pain the model could cause her.
“Caitlyn, I can just warn you about her. She’s not capable of love, believe me. But if you want a wild and unbound night, I won’t stop you.”, she whispered to her friend, when she saw the look in her eyes and Caitlyn turned from Vi to Mel: “Excuse me?! I will not…?!”, she complained, but Mel kept being serious about it.
“I don’t know what you see in her, but you know what I think? You’re in your late rebellious era, and women like Vi are the perfect match to piss your wealthy parents off. Don’t let yourself or her fool you, Cait.”, Mel warned her again, and turned back to the catwalk as the next models started to walk.
Her parents. Right.
Caitlyn sighed and looked back to the show, too, but her mind was somewhere else.
Mel wasn’t completely wrong. And the fact that she didn’t hear a thing from her parents since she left home made her want to give them a reason to try to contact her.
But with Vi?
Caitlyn was never the one to use other people’s feeling for her purpose, and she didn’t plan on starting with that now.
But was it really that?
No, Vi caught her honest interest to get to know her better – Right?
Caitlyn sighed to herself, this phase of her life started to get complicated already, and she hadn’t even really started yet – This was just the beginning.
But wait, why was it complicated? She just met an attractive and interesting woman, that was something she could keep completely separate from her career as a photographer, wasn’t it?
She leaned back in her chair, sighed again and crossed her arms while she tried to watch the show that moved on non-stop.
-
Vi saw her.
Of course she saw that ridiculously beautiful photographer with her unreal perfect posture, and those stunning sapphire eyes laying on her gave her a feeling in her stomach that she couldn’t understand.
She did her last Catwalk of the show and changed back into her own clothes backstage, where some of the other models smiled bright at her.
“You did so good Vi, I wish I was so professional as you!”
“You slayed, bitch! Really, you can be proud of yourself!”
“Girl, you looked so GOOD in these fits!”
Vi gave them a weak smile, she tried to be polite, even if she didn’t believe them.
Something inside her told her they weren’t honest, that they were just trying to take advantage of her popularity and fame – But they actually were honest with her.
“Hey, Vi-… uhm~”, another woman approached her suddenly, it was one of the make-up artists.
Vi turned to her, and she felt different with her.
She wasn’t a model, manager or photographer, and that seemed to make a difference to her mind.
“Hey-… uhm…?”, Vi started, but she just couldn’t remember her name, but the woman helped her out: “Kira.”, she chuckled, and Vi rubbed the back of her neck with a dumb grin on her lips: “Yeah, right! What’s up?”, she asked, and Kira took another step closer to the model.
“Well, I wanted to ask if you’re free later? Do you want to have some drinks together at the afterparty? We can also go somewhere else, if you want?”, she asked, and Vi blinked a few times.
It wasn’t uncommon that she got approached, even sometimes by men, but it was mainly women who had the hots for her.
But when was the last time she agreed to meet up with a girl? She didn’t know.
“/Fuck, Powder is right… I need to change something./”, she thought to herself, and gave the other woman a cocky smirk: “Sure, why not. But I’ll have to get something done beforehand, I’ll see you later then, okay?”, she answered with a shrug, and Kira’s eyes started to sparkle: “Really?!?! I mean-…! Great, awesome, yeah-… uh, see you later then…!”, she said, and couldn’t hide her joy over Vi’s answer.
Vi winked at her, making her heart skip a beat and then she went out of the backstage area and walked to the exit behind the rows of spectators, not seen by anyone but one single person.
“I’ll be right back!”, Caitlyn whispered, and sneaked quickly through the rows to catch up with Vi, which she managed in time.
“Vi! Wait… can we talk?”, Caitlyn called after her, and Vi stopped all her movements at the sound of that familiar voice.
She turned around to Caitlyn and tried to look as unbothered as she wished she was.
“About what, Cupcake?”, she asked, and slapped herself mentally for that nickname again.
“About last night!”, Caitlyn answered, and walked up to the other woman, “I want to apologize. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt your feelings in any way, I was rude. So, please… could we maybe start again? Tonight?”, she smiled warm, and Vi opened her mouth for a few seconds, before she managed to answer to that – Why were there two pretty women asking her to meet up tonight now?!
As if she wasn’t already tense enough about the whole situation.
“I already meet up with someone tonight. But it’s okay, no need to apologize. I was just having a bad day yesterday, I overreacted. You did nothing wrong”, she partly lied, and Caitlyn’s disappointed “Oh.” caused a crack in Vi’s heart.
“I see. I’m happy to hear that you’re not angry with me. And… it’s good to hear that you have… plans.”, Caitlyn smiled a little bitter, and intertwined her own fingers in front of her body.
“Yeah. You should use the afterparty for more contacts, that’s why you here after all, aren’t ya?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, I am. I just hoped to get to know you better.”, Caitlyn answered, and felt instant regret that she spoke those words without thinking about them a bit longer beforehand.
Vi frowned confused and crossed her arms: “Me? Why?”, she asked, and Caitlyn blushed a little when she shrugged: “Well, I-… I don’t know, I just feel like you-... no, forget it, I’m sorry. We don’t even really know each other and I’m bothering you like that, I just wanted to apologize as I felt bad for last night.”, Caitlyn said, and Vi didn’t know how she should feel about this.
“Listen. We’ll probably won’t ever see us again after this fashion week. Don’t waste your time on me, ‘k?”, Vi sighed, and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her black jeans.
“But-…”, Caitlyn started, but Vi turned away from her and started to walk away: “Do yourself a favor, Cupcake. Use your time better and get your career going, you’re talented with the camera. You don’t need me for that.”, she said, headed for the door and left without looking back.
Caitlyn looked after her with a sad and confused look on her face, that hurt more than she wanted to admit.
“Need her for this…? Why would I need-… oh.”
~
“Uuuuhh~! That hot make-up artists asked you to hang out at the afterparty??”
Vi rolled her eyes at her sister, who grinned bright at her: “Pow, it’s not a date. Chill. I just listened to your advice for once, can you just appreciate this and shut the fuck up about the rest?!”, Vi grumbled with crossed arms, and huffed annoyed.
But Jinx’ grin just grew: “Weeeell well well~!”, she snickered amused, and took one of her long braids to swing it around in the air: “My sis’ is going to get laid tonight, eh?~”, she continued the teasing, and Vi got up, gesticulating with her hands and looked pissed at her little sister: “NO, I’m not! I don’t even know why I said yes, I-…”, she started, but got interrupted again: “Vi, come on! You’re always acting up out there, playing the cool and unapproachable bad girl, but you back down from a simple meet up?! You’re better than that, hahaha!”, Jinx mocked her, and Vi leaned back into the backrest of the couch of Jinx’ motel room she sat on.
“Caitlyn apologized.”, Vi suddenly dropped, and sighed with closed eyes.
Jinx stopped the swinging and threw herself beside her big sister: “Caitlyn, huh?~”, she smirked, and Vi opened her eyes slowly to stare at the ceiling above her: “Yeah. Caitlyn. That newcomer photographer. And she asked if we could start over, meet up tonight at the afterparty. But I already said yes to Kira, who is pretty, sure, but she’s not my type. And honestly, I don’t know why Caitlyn is so interested in me, like… she has talent enough, she doesn’t need me to get her career going, I’m a model, not a manager,.”, Vi sighed, and closed her eyes again.
There was a short pause until Jinx spoke again: “You know, Violet, call me crazy, and I surely am, lol, but… there are people out there who are honestly interested in you as a person, and not your fame or else. Not everyone wants to take advantage from you. That’s in the past, you know?”
Vi opened her eyes again, she frowned, those words didn’t make sense for her brain, but her heart seemed to understand – But her fears and trauma inside her head were louder for now.
“Yeah, maybe. But how am I supposed to know who’s serious and who’s playing me?”, she huffed angry about the topic, and Jinx just giggled a little insane: “Well, wanna know how I’m dealing with that trauma? No, don’t say anything, I’m telling you anyway!”, she laughed, sat down cross-legged and leaned forward to get closer to Vi’s face, who turned her head to her little sister.
“I just try with people. And when they turn out to be bad, I’ll just make sure they won’t eeeever do that again. BOOM!!”, she giggled uncontrollably, and Vi couldn’t hide a chuckle: “I hope you’re messing with me, I don’t know if I still have enough contacts to hide a murder for you, Pow.”, she joked, well knowing her sister wasn’t completely joking.
“You know, Lux is helping a lot.”, Jinx suddenly shrugged, and rested her head against Vi’s shoulder, “… she’s there for me. And she proves me every day that she’s honest with me. That she cares.”, Jinx suddenly said with a way calmer voice, “… I know how you feel, Vi. We’ve been through the same shit, and I owe you everything. But it seems I learned to go on. Also not in all the healthiest ways, but at least I move. You’re stuck. And I’m worried about you.”, she whispered, and Vi leaned her head against her little sisters’.
Another silent moment passed, until Jinx spoke again: “Lux told me something a while ago which could help you, maybe, too.”, she said, and took Vi’s left hand in both of hers before she continued: “She said you won’t ever know someone’s real intentions until they are revealed by themselves. So, all you can do it try. And trust. That’s all you can do. It’s a painful truth, and I hate it, believe me. But we have no power over others, we just have control over our own actions.”
Vi listened carefully, and it made sense.
It made sense, but understanding it and act like it were two different things.
“Your girlfriend really is a smart woman. You’re lucky, Powder. I’m glad you have a girlfriend like this.”, Vi whispered, and laid her right hand on the small one’s of Jinx’ that held her left one.
“I’ll try to remember that. Thanks.”, she smiled weak, and the two stayed like this for a while, it was a way of calming for them since they were little kids, until it suddenly knocked at the door.
“Huh? Are you waiting for someone?”, Vi asked, but Jinx looked as confused as her: “Nope! Maybe we have to cover up a murder now, let’s see who it is!”, she grinned excited, and jumped off the couch to check the door: “Yeees, hellooo?”, she asked, and opened it just a crack wide.
“Hey, baby! Surprise!”, Lux smiled bright as the sun, as always, and Jinx ripped the door open in an instant: “WHAT?!?!?!?!”, she shouted with big eyes, and pulled her into a tight hug: “What the fuck-knuckles are you doing here?! HOW??”, she laughed excited, and Lux let her squeeze her while she giggled amused: “I took a few days off and thought I’ll surprise my girlfriend abroad!”, she said, and Jinx let her in, closed the door behind them and grinned over to Vi: “See?? THAT’S what I’m talking about!!”
Lux smiled at Vi and hugged her for greeting, with Vi hugging her back with a smile: “Hey, where are you coming from all of a sudden?”, she asked with a laugh, and Lux smiled bright: “I wanted to surprise her, that’s all. And I missed her.”, she chuckled, and turned around to Jinx again: “But what do you mean by ‘that’s what I’m talking about’?”, she asked, and Vi cut Jinx off, before she could even get started: “Nothing. She’s just happy to have you.”, Vi smiled, and Lux pulled her girlfriend into a kiss: “Aw, you’re the sweetest!”
Vi grabbed her bag and walked over to the door: “I’ll leave you two alone then, I don’t want to bother you lovebirds.”, she said, and Jinx grinned over to her: “Have fun at the party, promise!”, she grinned, and Vi nodded with a weak smile: “Sure. See you, enjoy your stay, Lux!”, Vi said, and the blonde girl smiled bright at her: “Thank you, have fun!”
And so, Vi left to her own hotel to get ready for the evening.
~
Caitlyn entered the afterparty and a lot of eyes laid on her for a moment, but her own eyes were only searching for one person.
At first, she found Mel who was having a drink with a few business partners, so she just said a quick hello and left her to her work again, when she spotted wild, dark pink hair at one of the tables across the room.
She smiled and walked over to say hi, when she saw Vi sitting with that ‘someone’ she was talking about earlier, and Caitlyn felt a hint of jealousy, which she tried to shake off quickly again.
“Hey!”, she smiled, and Vi and Kira looked up to her.
“Oh, Cupcake. Hey, having fun?”, Vi greeted with a neutral face, and Caitlyn instantly felt Kira throwing daggers at her with her eyes after hearing that nickname.
“I arrived five minutes ago actually, I’ll get me a drink now. I just saw you and thought I’ll quickly come over and say hi.”, Caitlyn answered with a pretty smile, and Kira slid closer next to Vi: “Well then, have fun!”, she said with a fake smile, and Caitlyn understood that this woman didn’t want anyone else near Vi.
“Well, thank you.”, Caitlyn said polite as always, “I’m sure we’ll see each other again over the evening. Enjoy your night.”, Caitlyn wished, and walked over to the bar to order herself a cocktail.
“What a bitch.”, she cursed to herself, and took a sip from her drink that was served right away.
She had a bad feeling about that woman, but she was still to decide if it was because she really was a threat, or if she was just pissed about the fact that it wasn’t her sitting there with Vi.
But the evening was still young, wasn’t it?
Chapter 5: Flirts
Chapter Text
Chapter 5 – Flirts
“Caitlyn, good news!”, Mel smiled, when she took the bar stool beside her friend, “I have a new job for you, tomorrow already! Hugo Boss needs a photographer to accompany a video-shooting, are you in?”, Mel asked, and Caitlyn blinked a few times with big eyes: “Excuse me, did you just say Hugo Boss wants me to work for their new campaign?!”, Caitlyn asked flabbergasted, and Mel’s smile grew into a slight grin: “Absolutely right, dear!”
-
Vi was on her third drink meanwhile, and she felt herself loosen up more and more.
She started to enjoy the alcohol in her blood, but what she enjoyed less and less was Kira’s company.
That woman was overdoing it, and Vi felt the need for distance.
“… and one time I went with my bestie to Greece, you won’t believe what we…”
Vi stopped listening halfway through the tenth story that girl bombarded her with, why did she say yes again?
Ah, right. Socializing.
“… oh! And you know what the funny part was? It-…”, Kira babbled further, until Vi chugged her drink down and got up: “I’ll get me another one.”, she simply said, and Kira just followed by her feet: “Oh! Good idea, I could use one more, too, how about we dance a bit, Vi?”, she suggested, and Vi sighed quietly: “… sure.”
-
“Let’s toast to this deal! This is so awesome, I can’t thank you enough, Mel!”, Caitlyn giggled excited, raised her glass and clinked it with Mel’s, who smiled bright at her friend: “This is such a great chance, I mean, the CK deal was also a big boost for you, but this campaign Hugo Boss is doing is a bigger fish. You will be known by all the big brands in no time, Cait!”, Mel answered, and took a sip of her drink after they had clinked glasses.
“Isn’t this Vi?”, Mel suddenly said with a raised eyebrow, and nodded into the dancing crowd, where the pink-haired model walked through to get to the bar, followed by Kira who was still babbling non-stop about all the things Vi wasn’t really interested in.
“Yes, she has a-… well, I don’t know if this is a date, but she’s here with this girl.”, Caitlyn said, and took another sip from her drink.
Mel turned around and leaned with her back on the bar, and so did Caitlyn – Both started to observe the other women.
“That’s Kira, I believe? She’s a make-up artist, she worked for me several times already and I noticed that she always asked to work with Vi when we had a job for her. She’s obviously into our little grumpy model.”, Mel chuckled, and Caitlyn frowned a bit at the scene.
She could see that Vi wasn’t comfortable, and she started to wonder why exactly that was.
Was it the crowd? The loud music? Was it something that happened a few minutes ago? Or was it Kira herself?
-
“Have I told you about the time my bestie and I-…”, Kira started, and Vi couldn’t hold back an eyeroll, which the other woman noticed: “Uhm, excuse me?! What was that??”, she asked offended, and Vi sighed loudly: “Listen, I-…”, Vi started, but Kira interrupted her with crossed arms: “Am I that boring to you??”, she asked further and Vi leaned with her back against the bar where she arrived at the next moment: “No. But that’s the, what, 15th story about your bestie? Kira, for real. I’m not interested in your friend, okay? I thought we will just have a nice evening and all you talk about is your friend.”, Vi tried to explain, but the girl got even more offended: “Pah!! She’s important to me, okay?! You know what, I-…”, Kira got louder, and Vi raised her hands in defense, but her expression was visibly annoyed: “Listen, I said yes to meet up, because I thought you’re nice. But honestly? You should maybe go out with your bestie inste-…”, she started, but got painfully interrupted suddenly.
“How dare you!!”, Kira shouted, after she had slapped Vi hard on her left cheek and turned around on her heels to stamp angry away into the crowd.
Vi blinked a few times with a more than confused expression on her face and held her aching cheek: “What the FUCK?!”, she huffed out loud, shook her head in disbelieve, turned around to the barkeeper and ordered herself another drink: “… not a single word, dude.”, she mumbled pissed, when the guy had to grin – He had witnessed the scene before in full length.
-
“Ouch.”, Mel chuckled, and shook her head with an amused grin, “… that must have hurt.”, she added, and Caitlyn got up from her stool: “I don’t think that Vi was the problem here.”, she said, and Mel laughed: “Caitlyn, come on.”, she said, but the blue-haired woman just raised an eyebrow at her friend: “Come on yourself, Mel. I will talk to her.” – “Oh my-… you know what, do as you like.” – “I will, thank you.”
And so, Caitlyn walked over to Vi, who sat with her legs apart and her forearms leaned on the countertop of the bar, sipping her new drink, making more alcohol flood her blood.
“Hey.”, Caitlyn smiled, and sat down next to the, in her opinion, misunderstood hothead.
Vi groaned, and without looking at her she said: “Kira, come on. Just leave me alone, I don’t want to hear another story of your bes-…”, she complained, but Caitlyn interrupted her with a chuckle: “Don’t worry. I won’t slap you.”, she said, and then Vi realized the posh accent in the voice that was talking to her.
“Cupcake?”, she asked, and turned her head to the British photographer next to her, “… oh shit, can’t you women just leave me alone tonight, what the hell did I do wrong…”, she mumbled to herself, ran a hand through her hair and emptied her drink with one sip.
Caitlyn huffed amused and ordered two drinks for them, before she turned to Vi again: “Let me see.”, she said, and Vi turned to her again: “See what?”, she asked confused, and Caitlyn reached slowly out to Vi’s cheek that was still reddened from Kira’s slap a few minutes ago.
Vi twitched when she saw the hand approaching her, but when she felt Caitlyn’s careful and soft touch, she somehow calmed down on an instant.
“She hit you quite hard… but I don’t think that this will turn into a bruise, so don’t worry. I bet it’s gone until your next photoshoot.”, Caitlyn smiled, and pulled her hand away again, “… does it hurt?”, she asked, and Vi stared for a moment into those beautiful sapphire eyes, what the hell was happening here?
“… nah, it’s fine.”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn turned to the barkeeper when he brought them their drinks: “Thank you! This is for you.”, she smiled, and slid one of the drinks over to Vi.
“… thank you?”, Vi said, suspicion was in her eyes, and she took a sip from her new drink.
She was pretty drunk by now, she clearly felt it the moment she swallowed the next sip.
“No need to be so reserved, Vi. I’m just trying to be nice. I like you.”, Caitlyn smiled, and took a sip from her own drink – She felt the alcohol as well meanwhile.
“Yeah, everyone’s always trying to be nice. Until they got what they want. And then they don’t like me anymore.”, Vi spit, and turned away again to stare into her drink.
“Hm.”, Caitlyn let out a thoughtful noise, and played with her own glass in her hand, “… I think I got a glimpse behind that mask of yours, Vi.”, she said, and Vi snorted loudly: “Pff! Sure. You know nothing, princess.”, she said with spite, and Caitlyn noticed that Vi started to tap her foot restless onto the footrest of the stool she was sitting on.
“Can I have a guess?”, Caitlyn asked calm, and Vi shrugged nervous: “Shoot your shot.”, she dared, and Caitlyn took a deeper breath before she answered: “You have so many bad social experiences that you stopped trusting anyone but yourself. Maybe you don’t even trust yourself. And this is why you think everyone who approaches you just wants to use you. That’s why you told me that I don’t need you for my career. But Vi, I already knew that. I don’t need you for my career, I’m just genuinely interested in getting to know you.”, Caitlyn said with a calm and soothing voice, and Vi’s grip on her glass got harder when she heard Caitlyn’s guess.
Why was she so fucking right and accurate with this?!
“What are you, a detective?”, Vi grunted, and Caitlyn laid a hand on Vi’s that started to tap fast and nervous with the tip of her index finger on the wooden surface of the countertop.
“Hey. Do you want to go somewhere… quieter?”, Caitlyn offered, and Vi felt herself getting more and more restless inside, she had to get away for a moment from all those people and the loud music.
“…”, Vi just nodded, got up and made her way over to the restrooms to which Caitlyn followed her close, watched by Mel who just shook her head on the scene in front of her.
-
Caitlyn waited at the sinks for Vi, who had excused herself into one of the stalls when they entered the restrooms together.
She wondered if Vi would open up to her a little, but it wasn’t easy for the photographer to keep her thinking straight – She really was drunk meanwhile, and so was Vi, according to the way she stumbled out of the stall to get to the sinks to wash her hands.
“Are you feeling a bit better?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi sighed while she dried her hands off: “… I guess. But I still don’t get why you care.”, Vi answered, and checked her still reddened cheek in the mirror.
Caitlyn looked at her through her reflection with a smile: “As I said, I’m just genuinely interested in you. I never met someone with such a strong aura. You have charisma, and that caught my interest.”, Caitlyn answered honest, and Vi turned to the other woman: “… interested, how?”, she asked, and Caitlyn shrugged: “I don’t know. That’s something I want to find out.”, she answered, and that’s when Vi couldn’t hold back an honest laugh: “You know what? You’re the one here who’s interesting.”, Vi said, crossed her arms and turned to the other woman to make a step nearer to her.
“Oh, so you think I’m interesting?~”, Caitlyn flirted, and Vi smirked up to her: “Yes.”, she simply answered, and Caitlyn repeated Vi’s question from before: “Interesting, how?~”, Caitlyn purred more than she intended, and she felt her heartbeat go faster when Vi was just inches away from her: “Interesting as in hot, Cupcake.”, Vi whispered, and Caitlyn swallowed hard.
But before she could lean down, Vi turned away from her and leaned with her back against the sink: “I don’t know what to think about you, honestly…”, Vi suddenly chuckled, “… and I’m way too drunk to think about this now. I should go, before I do something I’ll regret.”, she said, and forced herself to not look into Caitlyn’s eyes again.
“Why? What do you want to do?”, Caitlyn simply asked, and kept the distance that Vi had chosen between them – For the moment.
“What I-… Cupcake, you really don’t want to know what I’m thinking right now.”, Vi huffed, it was also hearable that she was drunk, and Caitlyn could also tell by the way she held herself at the edge of the sink.
But she herself didn’t feel any different.
Caitlyn took a few steps until she stood right in front of Vi.
She lifted Vi’s chin with her right index finger, but Vi looked aside instead of up to her: “What are you so afraid of?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi had the feeling her heart would jump out of her chest any second.
“… I don’t want to wake up tomorrow, alone and used. Like the last times.”, Vi whispered, and Caitlyn’s smile changed into a worried frown: “I would never use you, Vi.”, she said, and Vi finally turned her eyes to Caitlyn’s: “How can I know?”, she huffed with a bitter smile, and changed her gaze between the other woman’s eyes and lips a few times.
“Because I respect you.”
Something inside Vi changed when she heard those words.
Combined with Caitlyn’s scent, her near and the warmth she was able to feel – Vi felt like her body was betraying her mind in that moment, she lost the battle of heart and brain and suddenly tiptoed into a heated kiss which Caitlyn met halfway the moment Vi leaned up to her.
Their from the alcohol cloudy minds shut down to only react to their simple needs and desires by now. Lips, tongues, teeth, hands – The focus changed to only feel the other in this moment.
Caitlyn didn’t know how they ended up like this, her original intention was to check on Vi, to tell and show her that she wasn’t trying to use Vi to boost her career.
She immediately understood what was going on in Vi’s mind when she had told her that she wouldn’t need her for her career earlier, that she was talented enough – So, Caitlyn felt the urge to make it clear that this wasn’t her intention with the model.
There was a battle inside Vi’s whole body and mind.
Caitlyn felt so, so good on her – She hadn’t felt a woman in a way too long time, but that also made her question if it was really for Caitlyn, or if she was just the next best woman in her drunk state.
“Vi~”, Caitlyn gasped into the heavy making-out, and opened her eyes halfway when she leaned her forehead against Vi’s, who also needed a quick break for oxygen.
“Fuck…”, Vi mumbled, while she held herself firmly on Caitlyn’s waist.
Her heartrate was high and she felt her heart pound hard inside her chest, this all was overwhelming for her suddenly, and Caitlyn noticed it, even if her mind wasn’t clear at all, too: “Hey… are you alright?”, she asked caring, and caressed softly over Vi’s right cheek.
“I-…”, she started, but got interrupted by the creaking door and voices that were followed by footsteps.
She quickly turned around and pretended to check her hair, and Caitlyn played along by rearranging a few strands on the back of Vi’s head: “Like this?”, she asked, and Vi nodded: “Yeah. Mhm, thanks.”, she said, and observed the three models that had entered the restrooms through the mirror in front of her.
They looked a bit confused at the two other women, but they didn’t seem to have noticed anything that had happened between the photographer and the model and disappeared into the stalls.
“Shit…”, Vi breathed out the air she was holding the whole time, and turned around to Caitlyn again, who smiled at her: “Don’t worry. I don’t think they noticed.”, she whispered, and Vi chuckled softly: “Yeah, me neither.”, she said, and sighed before she continued: “… listen, Cupcake… we’re drunk, and-… and…”, Vi tried to explain how she felt, but she quickly realized that she simply didn’t know how she felt right now.
Caitlyn understood and lifted Vi’s chin to kiss her softly: “It’s okay. You didn’t run away, that’s a good thing, innit? Take your time. I enjoyed this here.”, she said, and Vi looked confused at her.
That was a reaction she didn’t expected, nor had she ever experienced it before.
“I don’t know what this is either, Vi, I just know I like you and I also liked what we-…”, she tried to explain, when Vi laid a finger on Caitlyn’s lips to shut her up.
The stalls opened and the other women walked up to them, washed their hands and started to talk to them: “Vi! I saw the shots from the CK shooting, they are SO good!! Aren’t you the photographer?!”, they started, and turned to Caitlyn, who blushed a little: “Oh, uhm! Yes… actually, that was me.”, she chuckled, and the models bombarded them with compliments and question about it.
There wasn’t time to talk out what happened between them, and the location surely wasn’t the best for this either.
Caitlyn and Vi got taken back into the party by the others, and Vi started to feel easier to socialize with her ‘colleagues’ and the scene itself suddenly.
It felt weird to her, and she first wasn’t sure what it was that made her feel more secure between all those people she denied to trust into.
But there was just one thing that was different, and therefore, this had to be the cause for her to feel safer.
Caitlyn.
Chapter 6: Bonding
Chapter Text
Chapter 6 – Bonding
Caitlyn woke up with a smile on the next morning.
She stretched, curled up in the warm hotel bed once again and hugged the second pillow that laid beside her with a happy huff, while she brought the happenings from last evening back to her mind.
“You’re shitting me! This was your first job? Really?!”, one of the models asked the British photographer, who smiled with a blush: “Yes, but I have a lot of private experience, it was always a hobby of mine. Since my dad gifted me my first camera when I was about 11 years old, actually.”, Caitlyn answered, and the models complimented her work again with honest excitement.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes on the memory of what had happened between her an Vi in the restrooms, before the others interrupted them and took them with them to a table to spend time together at the party.
“Fuck-… Cupcake~”, Vi gasped, when Caitlyn drove her body against hers.
Their tongues fought for dominance and the photographer could feel how the model melted more and more into her touch by the way her grip on her got firmer and firmer.
Caitlyn nestled her face into the pillow she hugged with a childish giggle and wide grin on the memory of their little making-out session – She felt so free in that moment.
And Vi had felt so good on her.
The conversation between the models and Caitlyn was free-and-easy, they had a good time and a few more drinks together on the afterparty.
“I think I’ll go now.”, Vi said eventually, even more drunk than before, and Caitlyn chuckled when the pink-haired woman got up and almost tripped over her own feet.
“I’ll come with you, we’re in the same hotel after all. It’s gotten late.”, Caitlyn smiled, and so, the two of them staggered out of the party location after saying goodbye to the others and got themselves a taxi which drove them over to their hotel.
The tall woman rolled on her back in the bed and took a deep breath, still with a bright smile.
Vi really had left an impression on Caitlyn, and she felt her heart flutter on the recall of how her kisses felt on her lips and neck.
“Which room are you in?”, Caitlyn asked, while she helped Vi to hold herself on her feet.
“Uuuuh… 516, I think.”, Vi answered, and searched for her key card, which she found in her back pocket to confirm the room number.
“Then we’re on the same floor.”, Caitlyn smiled, and the two got into the elevator to get up to their rooms level.
Vi suddenly grinned dirty at her when the door closed, and Caitlyn leaned with her back against the mirror-wall behind her with the same grin, pulling Vi close on her tie with a smirk on her lips: “You’re right… we’re really bloody drunk.”, she giggled, and Vi grinned back at her, before she closed the last centimeters between them and kissed her sloppy, while pressing the photographer against the mirror behind them.
Caitlyn rolled to her side and bit her lower lip on the memory, rolled on her back again and closed her eyes, while she let her hand run slowly over her own body, down between her legs where she started to softly caress herself.
“Fuck~”, Vi groaned, when she felt Caitlyn kiss over her jaw and down her neck to playfully bite her there, before she kissed her way up again to bite softly down on Vi’s full lower lip.
“Ha~…”, Caitlyn gasped, when she gained some arousal from her entrance and moved it up to her clit which she started to rub a little faster.
“Vi~!”, Caitlyn moaned, when Vi gave the favor back by biting down on Caitlyn’s neck now, while one of her hands ran up under her shirt to squeeze her right boob under her bra.
“Mhn… ah~”, Caitlyn’s moans got louder, when she went a little more intense on herself.
She spread her legs wider and felt the pleasant pressure slowly built up in her lower stomach.
The elevator doors opened, and the two women stumbled out of it, so unfortunate, that Vi tripped and fell face first on the carpeted floor.
Caitlyn luckily managed to hold herself on the wall, before she fell, too.
Both started to snicker and laugh silly at the stupid situation, and Caitlyn tried to help Vi up, which wasn’t as easy as it would have been if they were sober – But they both definitely weren’t sober.
When Vi finally managed to get on her feet again, the two women staggered still giggling to Vi’s room first, and even if Caitlyn was very drunk, too, she was still the one with the clearer mind of those two.
“Ngh~… yes~…”, Caitlyn bit her lower lip again, while she increased the pace of the pad of her finger which she rubbed over her sweet spot.
Her other hand grabbed the pillow above her when the pressure inside her grew so much, that she knew that she was close to kick herself over the edge.
“Do you~… hehe… do you, uuhh~… wanna come inside with me?~”, Vi giggled drunk, when she tried to open the door to her hotel room and Caitlyn grinned dirty on that question.
Even if this definitely wasn’t her intention for tonight, all that happened between them and the alcohol in her body worked her up and made her worry less than she’d normally do.
Instead of answering, Caitlyn pulled her at her tie into a kiss again, and Vi’s cloudy mind got even worse on the feelings that Caitlyn released inside her.
“Oh~… oh my~… sh-…shit, mhhn~…Vi~!!”, Caitlyn kicked herself over the edge and rode through her orgasm with Vi’s name on her lips, and relaxed slowly into the mattress when she came down from her high.
She had to quietly laugh about herself masturbating to the thought of Vi, but also about what happened last night before she went to her own room.
Vi opened the door and Caitlyn noticed that her staggering got worse.
The model somehow made her way over to the bed, but before she could turn around to the other woman again, she just fell halfway on the bed and passed out.
She definitely drank too much tonight.
Caitlyn couldn’t help but laugh at the view in front of her.
She helped the model to get properly into the bed, tugged her under the blanket and kissed her forehead gently: “I think that’s enough for tonight. Good night, Vi. It was fun.”, she whispered, wiped a strand of dark pink hair out of her face, made sure Vi would have all she need the next morning, and left the room.
She was a little wobbly on her own legs, and made her way over to her own room down the aisle.
“/I wonder if she will remember anything from last night./”, Caitlyn thought to herself, and got up to take a shower.
She felt a bit hangover, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a hot shower and a painkiller with enough cold water – And a good breakfast, to which she agreed to meet up to with Mel the day before.
~
Vi’s morning wasn’t as relaxed as Caitlyn’s.
When she opened her eyes, a bad headache struck her, and she groaned on the unwell feeling inside her body.
“Fuck…”, she mumbled into the pillows, and frowned confused when she saw a glass of water, a painkiller and a note on the nightstand beside the bed.
She sat slowly up, which drew another painful groan from her, and she grabbed the pill and water first to take it immediately, before she took the note to read it.
>
Good morning, Vi <3
You were rather tight last night, so I left you a painkiller for when you wake up.
I hope you don’t feel too bad, and the sleep already helped.
But let me know if you need something, my room number is 532!
Thank you for last night, I really enjoyed it :)
Caitlyn
P.S.: I think I never gave you my number -> +44 157XXXXXXXX <3
<
“… what.”
Vi’s brain worked hard on digging up the memories from last night.
“… thank you for-… WAIT a sec, did we…?!”, Vi startled, but when she realized she was still dressed in her clothes from last night and not a single button was opened, she breathed relieved out.
“Because I respect you.”
Caitlyn’s words came to her mind, and Vi let herself sink back into the bed.
She held her forehead and closed her eyes, while she waited for the painkiller to work, so she could think about what happened last night without her head exploding from pain.
When she felt a little better, she got slowly up and peeled herself out of the clothes and went under the shower, where she tried to relax under.
“…”
She sighed to herself and let the hot water run down her sweaty body, when the memories of last night slowly came back to her brain.
“… fuck…”, she mumbled, but couldn’t stop a silly grin when she thought of the way Caitlyn felt on her, she didn’t want to allow those feelings, but she somehow knew she would lose this battle sooner or later.
But what she also felt, was a kind of embarrassment.
Caitlyn knew her barely and now she had lost control so fast with her, she really regretted drinking so much last night.
What if Caitlyn was just polite and thought bad of her now?
Vi frowned and tried to shake this thought off, she recalled what Jinx had told her about her being too harsh and critical with new people, about people actually being interested in her, and she also tried to get in her head that Caitlyn cared enough to leave her the painkiller, the water and the note.
And her number.
Vi somehow had to admit, that she was just scared to let Caitlyn near and also keep her near.
Even if her heart got louder and louder when she thought about that tall photographer, so loud, that her wondering if it was really for Caitlyn or if it was just her being so touch-starved made her slowly feel stupid.
Of course, it was for Caitlyn – She cared, and that was something Vi craved.
“This woman will be the death of me…”
~
Caitlyn met Mel at the hotel’s breakfast buffet.
“Good morning!”, she smiled bright, and Mel gave her a knowing grin: “Good morning, someone’s in a good mood, aren’t they?”, Mel said, and took a sip of her coffee while she watched Caitlyn sit down across from her with her breakfast plate.
“Of course, today’s the Hugo Boss job, I’m really excited!”, Caitlyn chuckled, and took a sip from her tea, before she took a bite from her bun.
“Of course, it’s just that.”, Mel smirked, and pointed at her own neck, before she raised an eyebrow at her good friend, who immediately blushed heavily when she understood what Mel meant.
Vi had left a mark.
Caitlyn covered the spot with her flat hand, and she didn’t know what to say to this, but Mel continued to tease her before she even could say anything: “Yes, you absolutely don’t like her, I can see it very clearly, dear.”, she chuckled amused on the reaction Caitlyn showed, and continued to eat her croissant.
“… it’s not what you think, I-…”, Caitlyn started to defend herself, and Mel laughed: “Cait, you have a hickey, what else should I think?”, she asked, and Caitlyn blushed even more: “… I-… we-… we were just drunk, made out, nothing more. We slept in our own rooms, so don’t come to false conclusions!”, Caitlyn tried to talk herself out of this without even lying, but Mel didn’t believe her: “Cait. No need to be ashamed, you’re old enough and I’m not your mother.”, she chuckled, and freed Caitlyn from the situation: “Speaking of that, did your parents try to contact you by now?”
Caitlyn sighed loud and leaned back in her chair, before she crossed her arms: “No, not yet. But I expect them to call every minute meanwhile, if I’m honest.”, she said, and Mel nodded understanding: “It must be an uneasy feeling. On the one hand you don’t get bothered, but on the other hand it is weird that they don’t seem to care that you’re gone.”, she guessed, and Caitlyn nodded confirming: “Yes, exactly.”
Mel smiled at her and squeezed Caitlyn’s hand that the other woman laid back on the table: “I’m sure they noticed since you didn’t come back the day you ran away. Your mother is stubborn, just like you. And your father is way too soft, so I bet your mother said something that keeps him from contacting you.”, Mel speculated, and Caitlyn huffed with a bitter smile: “Yes, that sounds quite plausible.”
-
Caitlyn and Mel arrived at the set of the campaign where Caitlyn was booked for as a photographer.
“Alright, we have a tight schedule. You there! Yes, you, you’re Caitlyn, right? Good. I’m Aaron and I need you over here at this set.”, a man called for her, he seemed to be the director of the video campaign they wanted to shoot today, “… we need you to take commercial shots of the outfits of those who aren’t standing in front of the video camera. Mel told me you’re new, but you know what you do. So, I expect you to make a good job, this campaign costs us a lot of money. Everything has to be on point.”, he said clearly, and Caitlyn nodded confident: “I won’t disappoint you!”
Mel stayed, as three of the five models were from her agency, and that way she was able to have an eye on Caitlyn – And also gave her a feeling of not being alone in this new and stressful situation.
Caitlyn smiled at the first model, a quite tall and dark-skinned man, who smiled back at her: “Hi, I’m Ricky. Ready to go?”, he asked, and Caitlyn nodded motivated with her camera in her hands: “Nice to meet you, I’m Caitlyn. And yes! We can start right away.”, she answered, and the man got in front of the camera to present a part of the new collection – And Caitlyn did what she could do best.
-
Caitlyn felt more stressed than she was at the Calvin Klein shooting, this here was a bigger fish, like Mel had already told her.
She quickly learned the difference between a shooting for a smaller collection and a shooting for a big brand campaign – More people, more pressure, more stress.
“Let me see what we got.”, the director said, when he joined Caitlyn after she had taken the pictures of three of the models.
She smiled at him and showed him what she did on the big screen beside her, and the man crossed his arms while Caitlyn clicked through her work: “I hope this is what you had in mind?”, Caitlyn asked, and he made a thoughtful and critical face before he answered: “Actually… no.”, Aaron said, and Caitlyn’s heart sank to her boots, as he kept a straight face while saying this.
After a short moment of silence, which felt like eternity for Caitlyn, he laughed at her face: “It’s even better! Holy shit, Mel didn’t lie when she told me your talented. Keep going like this and you will be one of the top photographers in the whole fashion scene. Good job, take the shots of the last two and by then we should be ready with the video, too.”, he said, patted her shoulder approving, and walked back to the video set.
Caitlyn blinked a few times in disbelieve.
Did he really just say that?
She did better than he expected the outcome to be in general?
Caitlyn’s confused face turned to a more than proud and happy expression, and with this in mind, she finished today’s job with flying colors.
~
Back in her hotel room after the more than successful job, Caitlyn let herself fall into the soft bed and turned the TV on, she wanted to relax, as the last days were more than exhausting.
Of course, there would be another fashion event and several afterparties tonight, but she decided to stay in her room instead.
She was about to order room service, when it suddenly knocked at the door.
“Hm?”, she turned her head to the knocking’s origin, got up and opened the door, just to find Vi.
She was dressed in a loose, wine-red tanktop where her black CK bralette peaked out on the sides, and grey sweatpants – And with a shy smile on her face.
“Vi? Hey.”, Caitlyn smiled brighter than she intended, and Vi had trouble to look her in the eyes: “Hey, Cupcake.”, she greeted, and laid a hand in her own nape: “I uh-… I wondered if you also skip the party today and maybe, uhm, want to order food and hang out?”, she asked, and her eyes went down to her own feet, which made her feel stupid – When did she became such a loser?
Caitlyn’s heart jumped out of her chest, and she nodded a bit too fast: “Yes!! I mean- Y-… yes, of course. Come in.”, she smiled bright, and made way for Vi to come in, which the shorter woman did.
“Thanks.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn tilted her head: “Huh? For what?”, she asked, and Vi managed to gain a bit more confidence. She turned around to her with a smile: “For the painkiller and all that. I really needed that after yesterday.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn couldn’t hold a soft laugh back: “Oh, of course. I couldn’t just leave you without at least a little prepared aftercare.”, she chuckled, and sat down on the big bed.
She patted next to her, and Vi followed her invitation, after she had kicked her shoes off.
“So, Pizza?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn made a thoughtful face: “Hm, I was about to order room service, but your idea sounds better. Let’s check if there’s a delivery service near.”, she said, and soon, they found one to order at.
“So, about yesterday…”, Vi started, and fiddled with her hands, “… I’m sorry. I’m not usually like that, I-…”, she started, but Caitlyn interrupted her: “Like what?”, she asked softly, and Vi’s voice lagged for a moment, before she brought some words out: “Uhm, like-… I mean, I don’t usually make out with women in restrooms. And invite them into my hotel room, I’m sorry for that.”, she explained, and Caitlyn took one of Vi’s nervous hands in hers to caress it softly.
“Vi… you did nothing wrong. And to be honest, I already did that a few times. Without the second part, this stayed in those bar restrooms. So, if someone should apologize, then it’s me. I’m sorry if I pressured you to something you didn’t want?”, she asked worried, and started to feel bad for what they did last night, but Vi shook her head and looked at her with big eyes: “No! No, I-… I enjoyed this, and I mean, you… you wrote on that note that you enjoyed it, too, right?”, she said, and both chuckled shy.
“Oh my lord, I thought I went too far.”, Caitlyn said visibly relieved, and Vi shook her head with an amused grin: “No, don’t worry! It’s all good. I just didn’t know if all this was really fine for you, I mean we were pretty drunk.”, she laughed, and Caitlyn agreed with a small giggle: “Yes, absolutely. Especially you, tho.”, she teased, and Vi looked at her with a fake offended look on her face: “Whaaat, me?! Rude!” – “Oh, come on, I’m not the one who passed out!” – “Okay, okay… you got me there.”
-
The food they ordered arrived soon, and they made themselves comfortable on the big bed, with blankets, food and cold soft drinks.
The atmosphere loosened up more and more between the model and the photographer, and they decided to watch a movie on the from the hotel included Netflix account.
After a while, Caitlyn moved a bit closer and leaned her head slowly on Vi’s shoulder, who tensed on the sudden touch, but quickly reacted with laying her arm around Caitlyn’s shoulders.
She smiled at the warm feeling Caitlyn gave her when she laid her arm around Vi’s waist and rested her hand on her chest – Both started to feel pleasantly warm and cozy.
Vi laid her free hand onto Caitlyn’s wrist and started to softly caress the soft skin there with her thumb, which led to the other woman cuddling up a bit more to her.
“I was wondering, if we-…”, Caitlyn started, but she suddenly got interrupted by her phone.
She reached for it and she immediately froze when she saw who was calling her.
Caitlyn let go of Vi, sat up and took a deep breath, before she answered the call with a cold and serious voice.
“Yes, mother?”
Chapter 7: Standing your ground
Notes:
I'm SO sorry for the wait!
I had a lot to do at work (and still do), and the work on my Heartache Vi Cosplay took almost all my freetime... so there was barely time to write the next chapter. I hope to be able to update sooner next time <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 7 – Standing your ground
“Darling, do you really think this is necessary? I’m sure she will be back in no time. We should give her some time and space.”
Tobias walked after his wife, who was furiously on her way to their living room where her phone laid.
Cassandra kept her fast steps and grabbed her phone, on which she searched for her daughter’s number.
“Of course this is necessary, Tobias!!”, she answered, hearable angry, and turned to her husband: “Caitlyn ran away, we don’t know where she went and we didn’t hear a single word from her since DAYS, enough is enough!”
The Korean man sighed in defeat and sat down on the couch, while Cassandra walked restlessly up and down in front of him, while she waited for her daughter to pick up the call.
~
Vi felt uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
She sat a bit lost on the bed of Caitlyn’s hotel room, while the tall woman walked up and down in front of the bed – They somehow unknowingly mirrored Caitlyn’s parents right know.
>“Caitlyn, where the bloody hell are you?!”<, Cassandra asked angry through the phone, and Caitlyn kept her cold and calm expression: “That’s none of your business.”, she said, and she could imagine the face her mother made after hearing that so bluntly from her daughter.
>“Caitlyn!! I’m bloody serious, WHERE are you?!”<, she repeated her question, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a sigh. She wouldn’t back down, she was certain about this – No matter what her mother would demand her to do. She would stick to what she really wanted.
“If you want to know so bad, I’m in Italy.”, she sighed annoyed, and Cassandra kept her loud and angry voice: >“In ITALY?! What the bloody hell are you doing in Italy, Caitlyn?!”<
Caitlyn took a deep breath and sighed again, it got harder and harder to keep her cool.
“I’m working, mother.”, she simply answered, and Cassandra was quiet for a moment, before she continued: >“What could you be working on there, don’t be ridiculous, Caitlyn. You will take the next plane and come home!”<, she tried to put her down, and that’s when Caitlyn snapped.
“I am working as a PHOTOGRAPHER here, mother!! I have serious and big jobs with important customers, every – bloody – DAY, do you hear me?! I’m doing what I WANT to do, and I will NOT come home!! NOT until you will accept the path that I chose for myself!!”, she hissed loudly into her phone, and that’s when Vi gulped and climbed from the bed.
“I-… I will just go, ‘k? This sounds serious, so uhm… thanks for the evening.”, Vi whispered, and pointed with both her index fingers to the door, before she started to put her shoes back on.
Caitlyn turned to Vi, still with her phone to her ear, and she covered it with her free hand when she spoke to Vi with a way softer expression: “No, please… stay, this won’t take long, I-…”, Caitlyn whispered, but Vi had made her choice.
She didn’t want to get involved into whatever was going on there.
“No, no, it’s fine-… really, I don’t wanna bother you.”, she said, her hands were up in a defensive pose and she walked over to the door: “See you, ‘k?”, she smiled crooked, and Caitlyn gave her a pleading look, which suddenly changed into the pissed one again and she turned her eyes away from Vi when she heard her mother speak.
>“Who is with you, Caitlyn?! At THIS time??”<, Cassandra asked demanding and angry, when she heard someone else in the background and how Caitlyn talked muffled into the phone.
“This is REALLY none of your business, mother!!”, Caitlyn screamed furious into her phone, and Cassandra got louder, too: >”This is NOT how I raised you, Caitlyn Kiramman!!”<, she admonished her, but Caitlyn didn’t have it: “Oh, yes, you did!! You taught me to stand my ground, and now you can’t cope with me actually STANDING my ground!! Ironical, innit?!”, Caitlyn countered, and she heard her mother gasp more than offended.
>”…!! Caitlyn, you can’t be serious!! Running away to another country, and doing-… and-… and-…”<, Cassandra started, but stumbled over her own words, before she somehow managed to say what she wanted to say, >”… amusing yourself with a stranger, Caitlyn, I am SO disappointed of you, I don’t even recognize you anymore!! What happened to my well behaved daughter?!”<, she asked offended, and her voice was filled with honest worry and disbelieve beside the anger.
Now it was Caitlyn who gasped: “What happened to your-… mother, are you serious right now?!”, Caitlyn shouted angry, not believing what she heard from her mother on the other end of the line, “… you don’t know ANYTHING about my situation right now, all you do is assuming what’s worst in your eyes!! I am not ‘amusing myself’ with a stranger, as I already TOLD you, I am working!! And she kept me company for this evening, we met when-…”, Caitlyn started an attempt to explain herself, when she suddenly stopped and was silent for a moment.
She didn’t owe her an explanation.
“… you know what, mother?”, Caitlyn asked, her voice was dangerously low and suspiciously calm, “… maybe I am ‘amusing’ myself here. And you know what? It feels great. So, have a nice evening, tell dad I said hi. I won’t come home, bye.”
And with that, she simply ended the call, cutting her mother’s attempt to protest off without hesitation.
Caitlyn’s heart was racing.
She stared at the black screen of her phone and let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding after a while, before a grin started to build up on her face.
“I. I did it. I-…”, she started, and suddenly, tears started to roll down her face, which she wiped irritated away, when a confused chuckle left her throat.
She had stand up to her mother, she told her no.
She told her she wouldn’t listen and do what she wanted.
And she cut her off, because she set her own boundaries and acted like that.
“I did it… I DID IT!!??”
Caitlyn cried out of relieve, let her phone fall onto the bed on which she let herself fall and rolled up with the blanket in her arms – She suddenly realized it smelled like Vi.
She had such a nice scent.
The tall photographer cried and laughed at the same time into the blanket, so many emotions were released in that moment. All the emotions that she swallowed her whole life, which had stacked up inside her until there was no space for them anymore.
All this burst out of her the moment she finally stood her ground in front of her mother and did what felt right to her – She felt free.
-
“Can you believe it?! She hung up on me! Just like that!! What am impudence!!”, Cassandra raged, when Caitlyn ended the call so abruptly, “I will call her again, right now, she can’t treat me like that!”, she said, but before she was able to start another call, her husband took her phone and pulled it gently out of her hand.
“Cassy, darling…”, he said with a soothing voice, and put the phone away, “… don’t you see that you are pushing our only daughter away?”, he asked soft, and Cassandra seemed to calm down a bit.
Tobias sighed, when Cassandra couldn’t come up with an answer to that.
He took her with him to sit down on the couch together: “You know I always have your back, and I know that you want what’s best for our daughter. But the last time you got so… how to say it. Invasive? Darling, if Caitlyn chose her profession, we should support her.”, he tried to get his wife to her right mind, but Cassandra wasn’t ready to give up so easily.
“Tobias, are you serious? Caitlyn is a Kiramman, she’s supposed to step in our footsteps, she has all the possibilities, and she has the brain for all this! Should all the time of legal studies be for nothing?! She could be a lawyer in no time meanwhile! She could open her own law office! I don’t understand how she can throw this away so easily!”, she said, and Tobias squeezed her hand softly: “Honey… you’re always thinking too complicated with these things. It’s much simpler. Caitlyn does this, because that’s what she wants to do.”, Tobias tried again, but Cassandra just sighed frustrated.
“I can’t believe that’s really what she wants.”
~
The Milan Fashion Week went on faster than everyone realized.
Caitlyn had more jobs, organized by Mel, and Vi was also modelling for a lot of events in the context of the Fashion Week.
That led to the fact that the two didn’t see each other much, not even the afterparties gave them a little time to meet up again, as both were busy with business contacts and especially arranged meetings by Mel with important people, so Caitlyn would get a firmer hold into the scene and Vi would keep being one of the most booked models.
Only one job got them together again, when Vi was modeling for Calvin Klein again and they booked Caitlyn to take the photos – But the appointment was so closely timed, that both needed to hurry up and immediately leave to their next jobs that day.
It felt weird for them when they just caught glimpses of each other from time to time, with no possibility to speak about their sudden separation the night Caitlyn’s mother called.
They just didn’t know what the other was thinking now, so neither of them dared to text the other either – For Caitlyn it was because of her hyperfocus onto her new dream job, and for Vi it was out of insecurities that built up inside her at the thought of what the other woman really wanted from her.
And so, there was just the weekend left soon.
-
“Alright, here we are!”
Mel had a grin on her face, she had taken Caitlyn to a plaza in the city on Saturday in the late morning, and the photographer was a bit confused about what this was about.
“Look up.”, she smiled, and Caitlyn did so – And what she saw made her absolutely speechless.
On one of the facades of the big buildings was a more than huge advertising poster, showing Vi in a jeans, bralette and open button up from CK’s newest exclusive styles – And Caitlyn immediately realized that she was the one who had taken this classic CK-style black-and-white shot – Which had her own touch in it.
“Wha-… what the-…?! Is this real? Am I dreaming?? Mel, what the bloody hell is happening here?!”, Caitlyn gasped, her eyes and mouth wide open in positive shock.
She stared up to the big advertisement and needed to blink a few times to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
“Jayce and I told you that you’re more than talented. And I promised to make you big in this industry, and I keep my promises. Although I have to admit, I didn’t believe to be successful with that within these few days.”, Mel chuckled, and Caitlyn turned to her with the happiest grin on her face: “Thank you!! Oh my god, THANK YOU!!”, she giggled, and hugged her friend tight, who hugger her back: “You did so good, you can be proud of yourself.”, Mel whispered, and the two loosened the hug again.
“I am, I really am proud, oh my…! But-… did Vi know about this already?? We have to tell her!”, Caitlyn giggled excited, when she heard a familiar voice behind them.
“Hey, throwing the party without the main character? Rude.”
Both women turned to the well-known voice that addressed them suddenly and saw Vi walking up to them.
She had her hands in the pockets of her dark red, ripped jeans and the black mesh button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves revealed the also dark red, tight crop-top underneath – And her tattoos, of course. She wore a black snapback with the peak to the back and her wild pink hair peaked out all around the cap.
Caitlyn’s smile grew, if this was even possible.
She immediately walked up to the model to hug her without warning, which made Vi startle shortly, before she laid her arms around the other woman, too.
Vi squeezed her back, and they both let out a soft huff on the feeling.
When they loosened the hug a bit, they shared a warm smile which made clear, they silently realized that they somehow missed each other.
“This is unbelievable, I mean, look at this!!”, Caitlyn smiled excited, and let go of Vi again to turn around to the big poster above them, “…! Like, how cool is that?!”, she asked, and Vi couldn’t help but laugh: “Shit, Cupcake, you’re really excited, aren’t ya?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn blinked confused at her: “Shouldn’t I?!”
Mel chuckled and joined the two others, laid a hand on a shoulder of each and faced Caitlyn: “What Vi wants to say is: She remembers the feeling when she saw her work in public for the first time, so she knows how you’re feeling right now. Didn’t you?”, she said, and turned to Vi when she asked her question.
Vi had a smirk on her face, stuffed her hands back in her pockets and shrugged: “Sure, what she said.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn boxed the model’s shoulder: “You’re such an arse.”, she laughed, and Vi rubbed her shoulder, pretending to be really hurt: “Damn, no need to attack me like that!”, she joked, and both felt relieved suddenly – the tension of the worry about if the other even wanted contact anymore was almost gone.
“You deserved it.”, Mel said with a wink, and faced the big poster again with her two protegees.
“There’s a cause I wanted to meet you both here. This. This is the start of Caitlyn’s career, and this wouldn’t have been possible without you, Vi. I don’t think that the attention would have been so big, if she had shooted someone else. You two are a great team, and I’m happy to have you both under my roof.”, Mel explained herself, and Vi looked at Mel, while Caitlyn stared at the advertisement while they listened.
“The Fashion Week will be over tomorrow night. And I want to talk to both of you about a project I am planning, and I want you both to be a part of it. Let’s find us a nice café and talk about the details, shall we?”, Mel said, and Vi and Caitlyn agreed, so they walked into one of the cafés around the plaza.
-
With late breakfast, coffee, tea and a relatively private table, the three women sat together, Caitlyn beside Vi, and Mel in front of them.
“Alright ladies. This needs to be treated confidential for now.”, Mel started, always with her eyes scanning the surroundings every few minutes, “… I want to make you two the faces of my new campaign. As you know, I am working on an own fashion collection. The one your sister is designing for, beside a few other ones.”, Mel explained, and pointed to Vi when she mentioned Jinx, “And I-…”, she continued, but Caitlyn interrupted her with a question.
“But-… me? Mel, I’m behind the camera. Not in front of it.”, Caitlyn wondered, and Mel lifted her flat hands: “Let me finish, you will understand! So, this campaign includes a lot of different projects. An image film, for example, or advertisements for our first collection, beside other things. And this is where I need you, Caitlyn, to be photographed and filmed while you are taking shots.”, Mel explained further, and Caitlyn nodded understanding.
“And you want me to be the only model for this?”, Vi asked with a raised eyebrow, and Mel turned to her: “I want you to be the official face of this. Of course, you will work with others, too, but I want you to be in focus. You’re polarizing, and that’s exactly what we need to be everyone’s topic. You know what they say, bad publicity is still publicity.”, Mel chuckled, and added quick: “What I mean is… no matter if people talk about you in a good way, because they think you’re hot - or in a bad way, let it be because conservative people get triggered by your sexuality or androgynous looks, or whatever - They will talk. And so, everyone will talk about us.”, Mel explained, and folded her hands in front of her on the table.
There was a short moment of silence, in which the model and the photographer let all the information sink in that Mel had given them so suddenly.
“What would that mean exactly? Will we travel, will we have a specific studio for this?”, Caitlyn asked, and Mel smiled at her: “Both. We will have a main studio in London, and we will travel to different locations for some other subprojects.”, she answered, and Vi leaned back in her chair with crossed arms: “Can we take my sister with us this time? I mean, you’re including her by letting her design the stuff you want for this. It would be just fair to let her work with us.”, Vi asked, and Mel chuckled low: “I knew you would say this, so yes – She can join. Under the condition that she will work with responsibility, she needs to stick to the rules, she has to be professional and I need her to adjust her designs if needed right at the set. I will talk to her about it as well, I wanted to inform you two first. So, what do you say? Are you in?”, Mel asked, and Vi and Caitlyn looked at each other for a second, before they turned to Mel again.
For Caitlyn, it was a huge chance to keep the pace of her rapid way up the career ladder – So there was just one answer for her to this: “I’m happy to join, thank you for this opportunity, Mel.”
For Vi, it meant more jobs, and more jobs meant she would stay up on her throne in the scene.
And it would mean a stable and bigger project with a lot of chances for her little sister, so there was also just one answer for her to this: “I’m in.”
Mel’s smile grew into a grin, when both accepted to join her planned, huge project: “Great! We will start in a week.”
Chapter 8: Preparations
Chapter Text
Chapter 8 – Preparations
The Milan Fashion Week was over as fast as it came.
Caitlyn travelled back to London with Mel and stayed overnight in their guestroom again, as it was too late and too stressful to get a hotel again.
Vi and Jinx stayed a few days longer to spend sister-time in Italy, before they would travel to England for the first meeting about the big project.
As they were American-Italian, it was nice to spend some more time in their grandparents country of birth – The two of them were all what’s left from their family, so getting back to their roots together was precious to them.
And it was also better than flying all the way back to California when they had to be in England a week later again.
~
Caitlyn woke up to the smell of freshly brewed Earl Grey tea and warm croissants and buns.
She blinked a few times, yawned and stretched, before she sat up and rubbed over her eyes.
A smile found the way on her lips, when she remembered that she was in Jayce’ and Mel’s guestroom, and that she had just finished a more than successful week in her new career.
After getting ready for the day, she met with the other two for breakfast and sat down on the already laid table with them.
“Good morning!”, she greeted happily, and the couple smiled back at her with warm greetings.
“Hey, there’s our new top photographer! I’m so proud of you, Cait, really! Mel told me a lot about the week already, how do you feel?”, Jayce asked his best friend, and Caitlyn couldn’t hold back a bright grin: “Thank you, Jayce.”, she smiled, and took a sip from her tea before she continued, “… oh, where should I start?!”, she giggled, “It was-… it was so overwhelming, but in a good way! I can’t find words for how grateful I am for your support, I can’t thank you enough for convincing me to join Mel at the fashion week. It was the best decision I ever made!”, Caitlyn answered excited, and took a croissant to spread some raspberry jam on it.
“You’re really a shooting star, Cait. I never saw someone starting their career with that fast of a success, I’m serious.”, Mel smiled, before she took a bite from her bun, “… I’m sure, after all the content I planned for the upcoming project, you won’t be able to save yourself from all the inquiries that will bury you under them.”
Jayce laughed at that picture Mel’s words created inside his head and took a sip from his coffee: “I didn’t expect anything else from you, Cait.”, he smiled, and made a questioning face: “So, what are your plans? Will you get yourself an apartment? Or do you plan on moving back into your parents’ villa?”, he asked, and Caitlyn sighed.
She took a moment to think about her answer, but one thing was clear to her – She wasn’t ready to face her parents again.
Not yet.
“I think getting me an apartment would be the best solution for now. I mean, I’m earning money from my job at your agency, Mel, and it’s definitely enough to get me something nice here in London. I also have a lot of savings, so maybe I should buy myself some property. Would you help me find something fitting?”, she asked, and her friends offered their help, of course.
-
Vi and Jinx walked together through Milan’s downtown, both with an ice-cream cone in their hands.
The city was busy with cleaning up after the big event over the last week, and they decided to sit down on a fountain together to watch the busy workers dismantle everything that was built up for the event.
“Sooo~… Mel told me about the big project. We got to travel a lot together, great, huh?!”, Jinx grinned bright, while she continued to lick on her ice-cream.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Seems to be the real big deal, hm?”, Vi smiled at her little sister, and looked up to the big advertisement that showed herself.
They seemed to leave it be for longer, as no one was busy at it.
“Yeah, sure sounded like that!”, Jinx said, and swung her legs around it the air, “… do you think I can do what she wants from me?”, she asked, and Vi couldn’t quite read her emotion when she asked her this.
“Of course. You can do everything if you just want it enough. And remember, I’m there, too. I have your back, always. Don’t worry, I made sure that Mel won’t kick you out for anything. She needs me, and I made clear I’ll leave if she fires you.”, Vi said, and laid a hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder.
Jinx sighed overly dramatic and leaned her head against Vi’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”, Jinx whispered, and Vi frowned worried: “For what?”, she asked, and laid an arm around her little sister, who needed a moment before she answered her: “… for being such a burden to you.”
Vi turned to Jinx and cupped her face with both her hands, squished it softly and gave her the warmest smile: “You’re not a burden to me. You weren’t, you aren’t, and you’ll never be. Got it?”, she said, her voice was gentle but also determined, “You’re my sister. And nothing is ever going to change that. Okay?” – “…okay.”
-
“Hey, Cait? Can I come in?”, Jayce knocked at the door to the guestroom Caitlyn was in on the evening.
Caitlyn looked up from her book when she heard the knocks and the voice of her best friend, and put the book aside before she called him in: “Sure!”, she said, and sat a bit more up to lean against the headboard of the bed she laid in.
Jayce entered the room and smiled at her, before he took the few steps over to Caitlyn and sat down on the edge of the bed. He smiled at her, and Caitlyn tilted her head with a questioning look on her face: “What is it?”, she asked with a slight chuckle, and Jayce let out a short laugh: “Oh, well… I-… I just wanted to check in as your big brother by heart.”, he said with a nervous grin, and Caitlyn frowned: “… what is this about, Jayce?”, she asked suspicious, and crossed her arms with squinted eyes, “… what did Mel tell you?”
Jayce scratched the back of his neck, of course she would sense something.
“Well… she just said you were quite close in a quick time with one of her models?”, he asked, and a mischievous smirk found the way on his lips, which made Caitlyn roll her eyes with a grin she couldn’t hide the way she wanted: “She’s interpreting too much into it, of course, Vi is a very handsome woman and her charisma is extremely absorbing. We spend a lot of time together during the fashion week, on and off work, actually.”, Caitlyn started, and Jayce relaxed a bit again while he just let her talk, he loved it when she was passionate about something – And he would get all the information he wanted, without even needing to try to get Caitlyn to tell him.
“… and then we-… well, yes, I maybe made out with her, no details tho, and she spend an evening with me in my hotel room. But there was nothing more, we just watched a movie! And we also…”, Caitlyn continued, and fiddled and gesticulated with her hands meanwhile, while Jayce smile slowly grew into a grin, the more Caitlyn stepped up about the woman she met in Italy.
“You have a crush on her!”, Jayce grinned suddenly, and Caitlyn stopped her torrent of words instantly.
She stared with big eyes at her chosen brother, who just grinned knowingly at her, and she had big trouble finding her words again.
“Wha-… I don’t?!”, Caitlyn squeaked caught, and her face and ears turned dark red.
She felt hot suddenly, and Jayce couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “Cait, you’re head over heels for that woman!”, he snickered, and Caitlyn boxed his shoulder: “I’m not having a bloody crush on her…!”, she complained, but Jayce just couldn't stop laughing: “Oh my god, Cait, you don’t only have a simple crush, you have a big lesbian crush on that girl!”, he laughed, and that was when Caitlyn pulled the blanket over her face that was really red like a tomato by now.
Jayce eventually managed to calm down again, until his laugher was only a small chuckle.
He looked at his best friend, who still hid under the blanket, and he laid a hand on her knee on top of the blanket that covered it: “Cait, I’m happy for you if this is going to be more, maybe. But Mel also told me that this girl means no good. I’m not sure what exactly she means or if she’s exaggerating, the only thing that matters to me is that you’ll be fine. So, I just wanted to tell you: Be careful. Okay?”, he smiled, and Caitlyn pulled the blanket off her face again with a sigh: “Yes, she tried to tell me this already, too. But I think Mel just doesn’t look through that shell Vi had built up around her. I’ll be fine, I promise.” – “Good, because otherwise I need to have a talk with this Vi.” – “Jayce!!”
~
A few days went by, and Caitlyn stood in front of an apartment inside a complex of a few, luxury condominiums, right inside the heart of London.
She took a deep breath and opened the front door with her key – This was a whole new chapter in her life, and she somehow felt anxious, even if she was looking forward to all that would come soon.
So much had happened the last time, so much, that Caitlyn didn’t really have the time to process all this. And now, she suddenly stood inside her first own apartment, she had her dream job, and she was finally independent of her parents.
She closed the door behind her and walked through the living room, and over to the big glass wall that gave a nice view over the city. The door inside it led to a quite big balcony, and she stepped outside to take a breath of the fresh air.
Caitlyn sighed and leaned on the railing with a thoughtful look on her face.
She could even see the Thames from here, and she watched the city being alive for a while, until another sigh left her throat, and she straightened her back again.
Somehow, she felt a weight on her shoulders, and she wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was.
Was it her determination to proof her parents, especially her mother, that she was absolutely capable of making a good living on her own? Was it the fear or failure? Or was it the pride inside her, and the expectations on herself, that made her anxious about if all the decisions she made were right?
“… there’s no way back now, I already passed the point of no return. So, also no need to look back, come on, Kiramman, you can do it.”, she whispered to herself, and made her way back inside to unpack the last few boxes that she had brought into the fully furnished and equipped apartment.
-
Vi and Jinx flew over to England, after their short holiday stay in Italy was over.
Lux had to fly back to America, as she couldn’t stay away longer from her job, even if she wanted to.
Jinx wasn’t happy at all about this, the goodbye at the airport was hard for her, but they had to part again for a while.
And so, the sisters’ found themselves in the United Kingdom soon.
-
Mel awaited them in her office, and the sisters were in time to their appointment – Almost.
“Ah, there you are. Please, take a seat.”, Mel said, and offered them both something to drink, which both accepted with a quick ‘thanks’ and a nod, “… so, I thought about getting you two an Airbnb for the time of the project, directly here in London. I already have one reserved, so, you would be near and don’t have to fly back and forth between the US and the UK. The projects will take place around Europe, so London will be our, let’s call it headquarter. That’d be better for all of us, what do you say?”, she explained the plan, and the sisters looked at each other shortly, before they faced their boss again.
“Sounds good, right, Pow?”, Vi said, and Jinx nodded, after her big sister approved the idea.
Even if she was older now, Jinx still often relied on Vi’s opinions, suggestions or decisions.
She gave her safety, and that always calmed her anxiety and emotional overstimulation.
“Yeah, can we move in today? We don’t have anywhere else to go, right, Vi?”, Jinx asked, and Mel smiled with a nod: “Of course, it’s all prepared. I will give you the address, excuse me for a moment, I’ll print all the information out for you.”, Meld said, and got up to leave the room to get to the office’s printer.
“Hey, even if we couldn’t move in right away, we simply would have gotten us a hotel room.”, Vi said with a confused look, and Jinx sighed with crossed arms: “… sooorry. I’m not used to travel around, and it’s-… oh, I don’t even know, geez. That was stupid.”, she pouted, and Vi laid a hand on her upper arm: “Pow-Pow… it’s all good. We’ll have a safe place to stay, this is nothing like the times when we had to-…”, Vi started, but when she heard Mel enter the room again, she stopped.
“Here you go!”, Mel smiled, and handed the sisters the documents and information they needed for the apartment they would occupy for the time of the project.
“Thanks.”, Vi said, and looked at the papers Mel had handed her, with Jinx lurking over to catch a few information, too.
“Do you have any other questions? Otherwise, I’ll leave for my next appointment. We’ll see each other the day after tomorrow then for the first project day, you should’ve gotten the information by email by now.”, Mel asked, and Vi shook her head: “No, we’re fine. Thank you, see you then.”, she said, Jinx saluted with a grin, and then the sisters left to check into their temporary home.
-
“Here it is.”
Vi looked up at a building, right in the busy streets of London.
Jinx crossed her arms with a huff: “Well, at least we will have a shitload of takeaway to choose from.”, she giggled, snatched the paper from Vi’s hand which had the door code on it, and opened the door for them: “Come on! I’m hungry, let’s find the right apartment and order food!”, she called for her sister, and Vi just shook her head with a small chuckle, before she called after her: “You could at least take your own suitcase!”
After Jinx had found the right door, she immediately entered the apartment and danced around to check everything out, while Vi carried both their luggage inside, kicked the door shut and let herself fall onto the big sofa in the living room.
“You have to give Mel one thing: This is quite luxury.”, Vi said, while she let her eyes run over the place that would be their home for the next time.
It had two bedrooms, a big living room, a modern bathroom and a small kitchen.
“Let’s get comfortable and order food, ‘k?”, Vi said, and Jinx nodded with the biggest grin: “YAS!!”
-
Soon, the two sisters sat on the couch in front of the big TV, both had boxes with take-away food in their laps and a can of beer stood in front of each of them on the low table.
“Hey, Violet?”
Vi knew, when Jinx uses her full name, she was serious about what she would say next.
“Yeah?”, Vi turned to her, and the movie was completely blocked out from her brain.
There was just her little sister, and whatever was on her mind.
“… do you. Do you really think I am safe? With the job, I mean. Because… even if you are important for Mel’s agency, when I fuck up, when I really fuck up… do you still think she would let me get away with this, because of you?”, Jinx asked, and all Vi could see and hear was little Powder, suddenly.
“Hey…”, Vi said, and put the food away on the table, so she was able to turn to the smaller woman, “… you know. I can’t really promise things that aren’t in my power in the end. So, if Mel decides it’s too much, I won’t be able to stop her from taking actions and maybe fire you. But what is in my power is the fact, that no matter what you maybe do or not, I will always have your back, and I will always fight for you. I’m sorry if I made you insecure with saying that nothing like this will happen. But if, if, okay? Something happens that escalates too much, I will quit my job and we find something else. Somewhere else where I can take care of you, I won’t leave you alone, never. If you go, I go, too.”, Vi tried to explain, and laid a hand gentle on Jinx’ left cheek, in which she leaned into immediately.
“But. But this is the best job you ever had, isn’t it? I don’t want to fuck this up, to take this from you. Not again.”, Jinx sobbed, and Vi took her sister’s food off her lap as well, so she was able to pull her into a warm and secure hug: “I’m fine as long as we are together. Okay? But we both must give our best, okay? If you want me to keep this job, then you can focus on not fucking this up. And you won’t, you know why that is?”, Vi asked with a soft smile, and Jinx sniffed while she shook her head, “… it’s because I saw what you created. You are good at what you’re doing, and Mel knows this as well as I do.”, Vi explained, and loosened the hug again to be able to look into her little sisters’ face again, “So let’s just not fuck this up, none of us, ‘k?”, she said, and gave her a grin.
Jinx couldn’t help but chuckle at that, and she tightened the hug again, which Vi gave back, of course.
“We can do anything, as long as we’re together. That’s what you always say.”, Jinx whispered, and Vi nodded against her shoulder: “That’s right. And I will make sure that we will stay together, no matter what.”
Chapter 9: Let's get going!
Chapter Text
Chapter 9 - Let’s get going!
„Okay, now that everyone is here, we can start right away!”
It was early morning, and Mel stood in front of a big and long table in a conference room, where she started the presentation that she had prepared on a large screen on the wall.
Caitlyn was there, too, as well as Vi and Jinx, along with some men and women none of them really knew.
Vi recognized one or two from earlier jobs, but she couldn’t quite tell who they actually were.
Jinx started to have trouble to keep still and quiet after just half an hour into the meeting, while Caitlyn was concentrated for the whole time and even took notes for herself, and Vi tried to keep her sister calm and pay attention to the meeting at the same time – Which wasn’t really easy.
“… and that brings me to the next point of our meeting today: Our sponsors! I want to thank you again in the name of my whole company and everyone involved, this project wouldn’t be possible without you! And to finish the theoretical part, I want to introduce the face of this campaign to you: This is Vi, she’s the most successful model under my label and she will be the, let’s say, main character of this whole thing.”, Mel explained, and introduced Vi with that to all the others.
Everyone smiled and greeted her politely, before Mel continued: “Next to her is her sister, Jinx. She’s working for our design department, and she will take part in this as well. She’ll be providing us with some outfits and with the backdrops for the parts that will take place in a studio.”, Mel continued, and Jinx grinned bright at everyone, while she rocked on the chair she sat on, at the edge of falling over: “Hey everyone!!”, she giggled, and she was greeted, too, only with a few confused looks on the faces this time.
“And here we have Caitlyn: She’s new to my team and she will be taking photos and also be part of the, let’s say, documentary-part of this whole project.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn smiled polite at the others with a shy wave of her right hand: “It’s a pleasure to work with you all.”, she said, and Mel turned to the sponsors again: “And to introduce the other side: Here we got representatives of our current clients: Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and DIESEL. And I want to say thank you again, for making all this possible!”
The representatives introduced themselves by name to the three women, and after everyone was now properly introduced, Mel got the attention back when she cleared her throat.
“Very well. So, this is the plan…”, she started, and on the screen was a schedule to see now:
Part 1: London, England – Company/Image Videoshooting (In-house Documentary)
Part 2: London, England – Photoshooting & Fashion Videoshooting
Part 3: Düsseldorf, Germany – Photoshooting & Sponsor/Image Videoshooting
Part 4: Lanzarote, Canaries – Photoshooting & Nature/Fashion Videoshooting
“… please check your inboxes everyone, you should have received your individual time schedule and travel plans in this very moment. We will start with the photos and videos tomorrow morning. I will have another meeting after this one with our three main characters here on what they need to prepare for then. Are there any questions left at the moment? No? Very well. Then I propose everyone is dismissed, except Caitlyn, Vi and Jinx. Our videographer David should be here with his team by now, too.”
Everyone started to move, said their goodbyes or waited for the next point of today’s schedule.
“Alright then.”, Mel smiled, and greeted the videography team when they entered the conference room a minute later.
“Let’s get started, ladies and gentlemen!”
-
The day got long, and after the last meeting of the day was finally over, everyone let out a relieved sigh.
“Hey, sis’ I’m HUNGRY, can we get us some food on the way back?”, Jinx asked, and turned to her sister, who was facing Caitlyn while she listened attentive to the photographer.
“… so, I think that we will be a perfect match for this project, we already worked so well together at the other jobs, I-…”, Caitlyn said smiling, when Jinx interrupted them suddenly: “Hey. I’m talking! Vi, can we please go? I’m starving!”, the younger woman nagged, and Vi and Caitlyn turned around to her.
“Huh? Yeah, sure. Let’s grab some take-away. Do you want to join, Cait?”, Vi agreed, and turned to Caitlyn to ask her to come with them.
The taller woman blinked a few times, she hadn’t expected her to ask her to spend more time together, but she wouldn’t complain the slightest: “Of course, I’d love to!”, she agreed, what dragged an annoyed groan from Jinx: “Seriously…?”, she asked with an eyebrow arched up, but the other two got already up.
Sure, Jinx had told Vi to go out and meet up with women again, but now that there was Caitlyn – She felt left out suddenly, her sister seemed to have some kind of interest in the photographer, and that gave the younger sister a weird feeling suddenly.
“Come on, let’s go then.”, Vi smiled, and everyone grabbed their bags and went outside with the others.
-
Shortly after, the three had decided to sit in a small, cozy, Vietnamese restaurant in Camden Town.
The food was brought quickly, and Jinx and Vi immediately started to dig in, while Caitlyn folded her napkin neatly first, before taking her chopsticks to start eating as well: “Enjoy.”, she smiled a little crooked, and Jinx just gave her a thumbs-up while she slurped up some noodles.
Vi gave her puppy eyes with her mouth full of rice, looking up from her bowl she leaned over, and if Caitlyn didn’t know better, she’d say she saw a hint of embarrassment for the blink of an eye.
“You, too!”, Vi mumbled, and continued to eat as messy as her sister did.
Caitlyn couldn’t help it, she chuckled amused, shook her head and continued to eat her own meal.
Only way more decent.
“Shit, that was necessary!”, Jinx grinned loudly, held her belly and leaned back in her chair when she had emptied her bowl, and so did Vi.
“You really can’t deny being sisters, did anyone tell you this before?”, Caitlyn smirked slightly, and the two looked at her with the exact same expression: “Huh?!”
Caitlyn chuckled amused: “Yes, exactly that.”, she laughed, and emptied her drink before she continued: “Your behavior is very similar, if not the same. I can tell you spend a lot of time together.”
“You know nothing.”, Jinx huffed, and crossed her arms defensively, which made Caitlyn frown confused.
“What she wants to say is: Yes, we did. We were and are always together.”, Vi added, and Caitlyn understood that this wasn’t a topic to discuss in a restaurant with someone the sisters barely knew.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to start a sensitive topic.”, she said with a worried face, and grabbed the menu again to change the topic: “Does any of you want a dessert? I’ll buy us all something, if you want?”, she offered, and Jinx’ mood shifted again: “Hell yeah! Dessert!”, she grinned, and picked something sweet from the menu, and so did Vi and Caitlyn.
The pink haired woman gave Caitlyn an apologetic look, but she just shook her head slightly: “It’s okay. This was my fault.”, she whispered, and called the waiter over to order the desserts for everyone.
-
“Thanks for the dessert, tall lady!”, Jinx grinned, when they stood outside of the restaurant after eating together, and Caitlyn gave her a warm smile: “It was my pleasure. Thank you for having me tonight.”, she answered, and turned to Vi with the same expression, “… I will take the Underground then to drive home, it’s gotten really late.”, she said, and took a look at her watch when Vi spoke up suddenly: “Let me bring you home!”, she said a little too loud, and Caitlyn and Jinx looked at her with a similar confused look: “What?”
“I mean-… as you said, it’s gotten late, London is a busy city, it’s not safe for a woman to walk home alone here at night.”, Vi tried to explain herself, and Jinx rolled her eyes annoyed while Caitlyn felt her heart make a big jump: “I-… that’s really lovely of you, but I don’t want to occupy you any longer. I bet you’re tired and want to fall to bed yourself, there’s a lot to do tomorrow.”, Caitlyn tried to be polite, and Jinx grabbed her sister’s arm: “Yeah, come on, and what about me, huh?! You want me, your little sister, to walk home alone at night??”, she asked, and Vi rolled her eyes: “Pow, our apartment is literally right over there.”
Vi pointed across the street, and Jinx bit her lower lip with angry eyebrows: “That’s-… it’s about the principle!”, Jinx continued to complain, and Vi couldn’t help but chuckle: “Alright, then I’ll bring you over to the front door, and then I’ll accompany Caitlyn home. Deal?”, she asked, and while Caitlyn agreed with a soft nod, Jinx let out another groan: “And what about you?! You’ll have to get back alone!”, Jinx tried again, but Vi just raised an eyebrow: “Pow, do you really think someone would stand a chance against me? Let’s be real.” – “Uuuuugh!! Fine.”
And so, Vi and Caitlyn brought Jinx over to the house their apartment was in, and the younger girl went inside to get ready for bed – Not without protest, before she finally disappeared through the door.
“I’m sorry for her. She’s… special.”, Vi sighted, and Caitlyn just shook her head: “Hey, it’s okay. We barely know each other. I was just being too curious. I’m the one who should be sorry, and I really am.” – “It’s okay, how should you know? Come on, let’s get you home safely.”
Caitlyn didn’t say it, but she was indeed glad about Vi bringing her home.
It had gotten late, and many people were still out for drinks and fun. She loved London, but she also knew big cities weren’t exactly the safest for women, especially at night.
They entered the underground, and Vi felt her body tense slightly when she saw and felt the eyes on them. This was exactly why the suggestion to bring Caitlyn home burst out of her so suddenly earlier, she knew it was uncomfortable enough to be there with someone else.
“Which line do we need?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn smiled at her: “First the black one, then we can take either green or yellow to St. James Park. From there it’s just a few minutes’ walk, but it’s fine if you drive back when we arrived at the station.”, Caitlyn answered, and Vi just shook her head: “No way, I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t bring you to your door and know you’re home safe and sound. Unless you don’t want me to, of course. I’m not a creep that’s trying to find out your address, I swear, I’m just worried, because, you know, men, and-...”, Vi tried to explain, getting more and more nervous, but Caitlyn reacted with amused laughter, which calmed Vi’s nerves again: “You’re too sweet, really. Fine, then I’ll let you bring me to my door.”
The ride went by without any bigger disturbances.
Vi just needed to give some guys a very clear gaze of ‘talk-to-us-and-you-die’, and so, they wouldn’t even try – Which was the cause for Caitlyn to have a relaxed ride home.
“Alright, here we are. Thank you so much, again.”, Caitlyn smiled, when the two of them arrived at the building in which her apartment was, “Please text me when you got home, okay? Stay safe. We’ll see each other tomorrow then."
Vi smiled shy with her hands in her pockets, and nodded: “Yeah, I can take care of myself. These people won’t have a chance against these!”, she grinned, and flexed her right arm to show off her biceps.
“I’m pretty sure you can. You have to tell me your workout routine someday, your form is quite impressive. Not that I want my arms to look like that, tho, I’m just… interested.”, Caitlyn winked with a chuckle, leaned forward to kiss Vi’s cheek softly, and opened the door: “See you tomorrow, Vi. Good night.” – “…oh! Y-… yeah, sure. Good night, Cait.”
And so, Caitlyn disappeared behind the door, and Vi wasn’t able to wipe that silly grin and the slight blush out of her face for the whole ride back to her Airbnb.
~
On the next morning, everyone was ready early for the project and met in the inhouse studio of Mel’s company building.
Vi wore a navy-blue suit with a black shirt and a golden tie, a part of the new collection for Hugo Boss that she had already promoted in Italy, and posed in front of a photo background, designed by her sister.
It was dark and bright at the same time, as Jinx had managed to combine two moods in one, and Vi’s look worked very well in front of it.
Caitlyn kneeled in front of the setup and changed her position constantly, to get all the best angles of the woman in front of her, while the camera team was filming the others doing their job.
“This goes more than well.”, Mel smiled to herself, while she observed everyone working for the big project, and went over to the filming team to check on the outcome they produced by now.
“Vi, Cait, come over. I want you to see this as well.”, she called them over, and said women joined her around the screen to check on the material they already had.
“You look good in front of a camera, Cupcake.”, Vi grinned, and Caitlyn just blushed and punched her shoulder softly: “Stop with that, I won’t change my position. I feel more comfortable behind it.”, she said, and Mel chuckled: “But Vi is right, you’re indeed photogenic. But I also agree with you, your talent behind the camera is bigger than in front of it.” – “Thank you.”
“Alright guys, we must keep going! Jinx, I need you to change the background to the neutral white one, Vi, change into the sponsored CK stuff, Hugo Boss is done with these shots. And the rest of you, make sure to get the setup adjusted!”, Mel gave the orders to everyone, and the room got busy again.
-
Caitlyn needed a moment to take Vi in, when she came back in front of the camera.
She wore a cropped, black top and a grey blazer over it.
The dress pants fitted the jacket and were held up by a black leather belt, which material fitted the dress shoes that went along with it.
It was simple, but somehow, Caitlyn felt like she was casted under a spell suddenly.
“… Cait? Caitlyn. Are you alright? Hello?”
Caitlyn blinked a few times, when Vi’s voice ripped her out of her frozen state, and she nodded hectically: “Y-… yes! Sure! We can start right away.”, she said, and started the next shooting with Vi, when the filming team gave her a sign that she could start.
Vi started to pose, and Caitlyn started to take the first shots.
The model felt herself get lost into the lens of Caitlyn’s camera, the way she moved, the way how concentrated she was studying her – She was gorgeous in her eyes.
There was this connection they felt since the first time they worked together, and this connection seemed to grow stronger with every picture Caitlyn took of her.
-
The results of the shootings turned out more than well. Everyone worked perfectly inside the team, and Mel was satisfied with the material that was produced today.
Jinx observed every move the British photographer made, every look she gave Vi, the changes in her body language when Vi was near or with her, and she suddenly felt a kind of jealously start to grow inside her. And the fact, that her big sister didn’t react any different to Caitlyn didn’t make it any better to her.
For now, she didn’t say anything.
She decided to observe a while longer, before she would talk to Vi about her thoughts.
And she wanted to learn more about Caitlyn and her background.
-
“Okay guys, that’s it for today! Thank you all, we organized a catering for you all tonight, so please join us for a shared dinner. We will meet in the big conference room on level 2.”, Mel announced after a long day of intense work, and everyone started to put together the equipment before they made their way to said room.
“Shit, that looks good!”, Vi grinned, after she had got Jinx and herself a plate.
They waited in line and took a bit of everything that was offered, before they went over to a table with their overfilled plates and cans of soft drinks.
“Can I sit with you?”
The sister’s looked up when Caitlyn’s voice was to hear, and the model nodded with a bright smile, while Jinx just rolled her eyes with an annoyed “Whatever.”
“Thank you.”, Caitlyn smiled, and got next to Vi before she took the first bite of her food: “I think we really made big progress today. The shots and videos turned out so good! And Jinx, I wanted to tell you: Your designs for the different backdrops were magnificent. You’re really talented!”, she complimented the younger woman, who just waved her off: “Yeah, yeah, thank you, tall lady.”
Vi nudged her with her elbow: “Hey, don’t be rude.”, she admonished her little sister, but said woman didn’t care: “Whateverrrr, let’s just eat, I’m starving!”, she complained, and Vi let it be, and so did Caitlyn: “It’s okay, don’t worry.”, she said to Vi, who gave her an apologizing look: “Nonetheless… I don’t want her to be rude to you.”
“I can heeeaaar you!”, Jinx sing-sang with her mouth full of food, and Caitlyn chuckled on that, while Vi rolled her eyes: “Yeah, maybe you should hear that!” – “Your food gets cold, sis’.”
Vi sighed annoyed and defeated, and finally dug into her food as well.
This wouldn’t go anywhere at that point.
-
“So, we’ll be working at the Tower Bridge tomorrow, right?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded.
She took a sip from her water, before she answered: “Yes, right. We’ll have it closed for a few hours. I really don’t want to know what that costs, to be honest.”, Caitlyn answered with a chuckle, and Vi huffed: “Yeah, me neither. Probably as much as I earn in a whole year, haha.”
“I’ll be over there, it’s getting icky here.”, Jinx suddenly said, and walked over to some of the film crew she got along well with.
“Is she okay?”, Caitlyn asked confused, and Vi sighed long: “… yeah, I will talk to her when time allows it. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately, I’ll take care of it.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn took her hand on the table: “I hope she will be fine. And I hope I didn’t do anything that triggers her in any way?”, Caitlyn said, but it came out more like a question.
“No, I don’t know what that would be. You two were barely in contact.”, Vi shrugged, and looked at their hands on the table.
Caitlyn’s hand felt so soft, she didn’t know if she had ever felt hands as soft as hers.
Before Vi could speak what was on her mind suddenly, Caitlyn pulled her hand back and asked with a smile: “Have you ever been to Germany before? I’m excited for the trip there.", she asked, and Vi blinked a few times when she lost the contact: “Huh? Oh, no-… never really been there, only travelled through it once I think. But I heard they have the best beer, so, I bet it will be a nice trip.”, she laughed, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but laugh as well: “Maybe we can… go out there together for food and drinks after work? What do you think?”
Vi stared at her with big eyes.
Did she really ask that right now? But what if she was only talking about going out as friends, as she didn’t use the word ‘date’.
So, Vi decided to go the safe way.
“Sure, I bet the team will be out there together after work as well. Could be fun!”, she smiled, and Caitlyn’s smile went a bit disappointed: “Oh. Oh, sure. Yes, they probably will. It’s just… it’s always noisy and a bit stressful for me in such a big group. But you can go with them of course then, no problem.”, Caitlyn explained, and Vi tried to turn the situation around again when she heard that.
“Oh! I thought you-… no, I mean, sure! We can go, just the two of us, if you want?”, Vi offered, and Caitlyn’s smile grew back: “Yes! Yes, that would be lovely.” – “Okay, then it’s a date.”
Caitlyn blushed when Vi said that so blatantly with that grin on her face.
“A-… a date?”, Caitlyn asked, and now Vi’s confidence fled again: “Huh? Oh! Sorry, no, I just mean… we can go out as friends, of course. Sorry!”, she rowed back, and now both felt a wave of disappointment.
“Yes. We can do that.”, Caitlyn agreed nevertheless, and Vi nodded: “Okay, cool. Then it’s a plan, I guess.”
Chapter 10: Rainbows
Summary:
I feel like the last chapter was a kind of "filler episode"... but I hope this one will make up for it, enjoy <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 10: Rainbows
“Aaaand: Action!!”
Vi started her walk on the middle of the empty road on the Tower Bridge, while Jinx took care of pyrotechnics on both sides of her, which exploded into different colors with ever step Vi made.
The camera man was dragged back on a kind of wheeled wagon together with his big filming camera, perfectly in synch with Vi’s pace, and Caitlyn sat on the small wagon as well.
She had placed herself below the big camera and took shots of the model, who mastered the walk flawlessly – She also had no other choice than to nail it, as there wouldn’t be another chance after blowing up all the effects they had prepared for this shot.
Vi walked with confident and big steps, her posture was on point, her face was determined, and she didn’t flinch the slightest when the colorful explosives left and right from her went off one after another.
The weather seemed to be a paid actor as well, as the sky was flawlessly blue and the sun was shining in just the right angle to capture everything in an epic lightning.
Jinx’ special effects worked as they should, too, so the different colors flew through the air in perfect shape, height and density.
“CUT!”
Vi stopped, and her posture loosened up a little when the director ended the take.
She smiled amused to Caitlyn, when she saw that the tall woman struggled a bit to get off the wagon, as her height wasn’t exactly fitting for the small spot where she squeezed herself into, to be able to take the photos.
“Not a word!”, Caitlyn chuckled, when she saw Vi’s smirk while she tried to climb off the wagon, and the model’s smirk just grew kind of evil: “I’m not saying anything, Cupcake.”, she snickered, and finally, she showed mercy by helping her on her feet again.
“Thank you.”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi winked at her: “No problem, can’t leave you stuck in there, can I?”, she grinned, and the other woman just rolled her eyes: “You’re such a tease.” – “You’re one to talk, remember the night out where we-…”, Vi started with a grin, but was interrupted by the director suddenly: “Okay everyone, recording is done for this scene! Great work, guys!”, he announced, and everyone cheered to their success.
“We’ll have a quick break, get yourself something to drink, we continue with the next scene in 20 minutes!”, he announced, and the crew started to gather at the small catering tent they had built up together with the whole setup in the early morning.
“You looked very handsome doing this walk, if you don’t mind me saying this.”, Caitlyn whispered, when she walked with Vi over to the others, and Vi blinked a few times: “Oh? You think so?”, she grinned, and eyed the photographer shortly up and down: “Well, maybe I wanted to look as hot as possible with you behind the camera.”, Vi teased, and now Caitlyn was blushing: “Oh, shut up.”, she giggled, and shoved Vi’s shoulder softy.
“Uuurrrgh, disgusting, can you cut it off?! Or get a room, at least.”
Jinx groaned overdone and rolled her eyes dramatically, when she appeared behind her sister and Caitlyn. The other two turned around, and Caitlyn looked a bit embarrassed, while Vi rolled her eyes to her sister as well: “Powder, is this really necessary?”, she asked annoyed, and Jinx rolled her eyes again: “Uugghh, I could ask you the same, let’s be real!”, she replied, and now Vi groaned: “We’re not doing anything! For real, you should cut it off!”, to which Jinx reacted by sticking her tongue out to her sister.
Vi rolled her eyes to this, while Caitlyn just smiled amused to the sisters being cocky to each other.
It was adorable to see them act like this.
They were next in line, and the three of them got themselves bottles of water and a small snack, before they sat down together at the side of the road on the bridge.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Okay, Pow, WHAT?”, Vi asked, when Jinx stared at her and Caitlyn for the whole time that she ate her cucumber sandwich.
“Are you two a thing now?”, the youngest asked, her eyebrows were drawn together very critically, and Vi and Caitlyn blushed equally heavy, only their expressions were different.
Caitlyn was shy and ashamed, and Vi got nervous and defensive.
“What?! What the hell, Powder, why are you even asking this?!”, Vi asked her, and Caitlyn just continued to nibble on her own sandwich, with her eyes glued to the asphalt below her.
“Well, maybe because I have fucking eyes, and I can see how you two are looking at each other!”, Jinx answered, and finished her sandwich, before she took a big sip of her water, “And I know that look in your eyes when you like someone, sis’, I don’t know if you noticed, but I know you my whole freaking life.”, the blue-haired troublemaker stated, and Vi groaned while she held the bridge of her nose between two of her fingers: “You’re such a pain in the ass sometimes…”
“Break is over, everyone back to their positions!”
The three looked up to the director, and Caitlyn and Vi were equally relieved that the situation was being ended with this.
For now, at least.
They got up and ready for the next take, which would be another colorful one.
Caitlyn checked her camera equipment while Jinx helped with the setting, and Vi started to do a few exercises with her own bodyweight to get a pump into her muscles, so they were more defined and bigger for the next take.
-
Vi stood in the middle of the road again, while a few crewmembers stood around her, not visible for the camera angle.
They all had Holi powder in their hands, in all the colors of the rainbow, and waited for their sign.
Vi was just in skinny ripped jeans and a bralette, her muscular body was pumped up from the exercises she quickly did before they would start, and the camera crew got ready as well.
“Everyone on position and ready? Good, then: ACTION!”
The director started the take, and everyone began to throw the different colors of their Holi powder at Vi, while the camera wagon drove a circle around her, with the assistants walking with it, so they wouldn’t be seen on camera.
Caitlyn sat in the small spot under the filming camera again, to take photos of the scene as well.
Vi did the movements, expressions and poses she was supposed to, and when they heard the “CUT!” call from the director, she had to laugh about the mess they made.
Caitlyn continued to take a few photos after everyone had stopped working, and she caught the most beautiful smile from Vi.
The way she was covered in a literal rainbow, her physique that was so toned from the perfect lightning and her still lasting pump, and the most genuine smile on her face after she was allowed to let the professionality down after the take was done – She looked perfect to Caitlyn.
Caitlyn couldn’t take her eyes away, Vi’s appearance and aura took over her, and when Vi noticed Caitlyn’s eyes on her, her smile got even warmer.
The photographer blushed, and like out of a reflex, she took another shot of the model.
“Hey, we’re done, Cupcake.”, Vi snickered, and walked over to Caitlyn to help her off the wagon again, “But… I think you’re not colorful enough.”, she grinned mischievous, and before Caitlyn could say something, Vi pulled her into a hug and locked her strong arms around the other women, who squeaked in surprise.
“VI! Stop, hey!”, Caitlyn laughed, but Vi had no mercy, she rubbed the colors on Caitlyn as well, and when she let her go again, she patted both her cheeks with her flat hands: “Hehe! Rainbows suits us, don’t you think?”, she grinned, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hold back an amused laugh: “… I will take revenge for that, some day. That’s a promise. But you’re indeed right, Rainbows do suit us.”, she smiled, and both eyed the lips of the other with careful looks suddenly.
“Vi, about the-…”, Caitlyn started, but got interrupted by a loud and overly excited squeak behind them, before Jinx appeared and jumped between them and with another big hop right into her sisters’ arms.
“Woah! Pow, what the-…!”, Vi laughed loudly, and caught and held her up in the air with ease.
“I want some, too!”, the younger sister grinned bright, and rubbed her cheek against Vi’s to get some of the colorful powder there on herself.
“Haha, hey, stop, you’re too-… Powder, please!!”, Vi laughed louder, and Jinx laughter wasn’t any quieter than Vi’s.
Caitlyn smiled a bit disappointed, and watched the sisters’ do their thing.
She couldn’t deny, it was cute how they interacted and how it was visible that they were really close and meant a lot to each other.
But she also slowly got the feeling that Jinx always interrupted them on purpose.
~
Caitlyn entered her apartment after the long day of work.
They had taken a few more short clips they could use especially for social media, and Caitlyn took a few behind-the-scenes photos for the documentary that was planned and for the website of Mel’s agency.
She took a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes, before she threw herself onto her big and luxury couch.
“Hm…”
She sat up again and reached into her bag to grab her camera, which she turned on and checked the last photo she took.
It showed Vi, covered in all the different colors, her upper body was dressed only in the bralette, so her arms, shoulders and abs were completely uncovered.
Caitlyn adored Vi’s form, she couldn’t deny being completely turned on by how fit Vi was.
But what made her heart skip a beat, was the way Vi smiled into her camera on that last photo she had taken from her.
She zoomed into the models’ face, and a warm smile formed on her own lips on that view.
Vi’s smile was so genuine, so pure and so, so warm, but she couldn’t imagine that she was the cause for her to look like that.
But what else could it be?
That smile formed itself on Vi’s lips after she had noticed Caitlyn’s eyes on her.
So, was it conceited to think that this was really Vi’s reaction to looking at her?
Was it delusional to think, that Vi could be as interested in her as she was?
But even Jinx said, Vi looked at her in a certain way, didn’t she?
Caitlyn studied Vi’s face on the photo a while longer, before she zoomed out again and clicked through the shots before.
“…”
No.
There was no doubt.
Caitlyn had captured the exact moment when Vi realized that Caitlyn was looking at her.
This smile. This gorgeous smile.
There was only one answer to this:
It was because of her.
-
“Okay, Powder, real talk.”
Vi and Jinx had entered their Airbnb after work with a bag full of take-away, and after Vi had taken a quick and hot shower to get rid of all the colorful powder on her body, she really wanted to get a certain topic off her chest before they would start to travel again.
“Huh? I’m always real, you know that!”, Jinx snickered, and Vi kept her serious face, while she took out the food from the bags, while Jinx got them plates and cutlery from the kitchen.
“What’s your problem with Caitlyn lately? I thought you were the one telling me I should meet up with her!”, Vi asked, and walked to the fridge where they kept a few beverages that they had bought the day before.
“Yeeeaaah, but that was BEFORE I got to know her. She’s just a rich kid, she doesn’t fit.”, Jinx shrugged as if it was nothing, and sat down to start eating her food, while Vi gave her a disbelieving stare: “… fit? What do you mean, fit, how doesn’t she fit?!”, she asked, and sat down as well to start her meal.
“Weeeeell~… you know. I don’t think a chick from upper class could ever understand what we went through. That’s doomed to failure, come on.”, Jinx said with a disapproving gesture of her hand, and stuffed the next bite from her food into her mouth.
“Why shouldn’t she understand? And why would it even matter to her what we went through?”, Vi asked back, she couldn’t really understand why this bothered Jinx.
In her opinion, Caitlyn seemed to be an openminded person who would never judge them for their origin.
“Vi! Come on.”, Jinx sighed, but the older sister didn’t drop it: “No! Powder, I really like her. Okay? And I can’t see what’s the problem with her, you’re making things up!”, Vi complained, and Jinx frowned: “Making things up?”, she asked, and Vi nodded: “Yes, you do! Caitlyn is no threat, nor has she any red flag or else! You. You’re-… you’re jealous, is it that?”, Vi asked, and Jinx looked at her, first angry, but when she saw that Vi’s angry expression had changed into a worried one, her own face softened to a sad one.
“… I don’t know. I mean-… I told you that you should meet up with a girl again, and that I have Lux, and… and that I am not the little kid anymore that you need to take care of all the time. But-… somehow. Somehow, I feel threatened by this photographer chick!”, Jinx finally told her, and Vi sighed quietly: “Pow… but she doesn’t do anything to you. Did she do anything to you?”, she asked, and Jinx pouted while she crossed her arms on the table in front of her and leaned her chin on them: “No.”
Vi gave her a moment to gather her thoughts and to understand that she was wrong here.
“She-… She gets in our way!”, Jinx pouted, and Vi frowned again: “How?”, she asked confused, and Jinx started to gesticulate wildly with her hands: “How can you not-… she’s-… when I-… and then-….”
Vi sighed, got up and pulled her little sister from the chair up into a tight hug, to which Jinx reacted by wrapping her arms around her and dug her fingers into her shirt.
“Pow-Pow… you won’t ever be replaced. By no one. Okay? I thought you want to see me happy. That’s what you told me once, at least. And I think, Caitlyn could be the one for me. I don’t think this is about her, I think this is about me. Am I right?”, Vi carefully asked, and Jinx hesitated before she nodded against Vi’s chest, “… I thought so. Maybe we should look out for a new therapy for you after this project, what do you think? Would that help?”, Vi asked further, and Jinx tightened the grip on her sisters back: “… no, I-… I made so much progress, I don’t need that anymore…”, she mumbled against her, and Vi waited a moment for her to find more words, “… if you really like this tall lady, then I promise I’ll try.”, she whispered, and Vi turned her eyes down to the bright blue hair: “Try what exactly?” – “To not blow her up.” – “POWDER!”
Vi loosened the hug again and wiped the tears from under Jinx’ eyes away: “Okay, but for real now.”, she sighed, and Jinx sniffed with a shrug: “I am real.” – “Powder.” - “…”
Another sigh left Vi’s throat, and she cupped her sisters’ face with both her hands: “Okay. Please promise me that you won’t do Caitlyn any dirty or play any of your heavy pranks on her. Okay? She’s not planning on taking me from you. And I don’t want anything to happen that will fuck this up, whatever this is.”, she asked her to, and Jinx avoided the eye contact, “… Powder. I’m serious. You were right when you told me to go out again, to try and start dating again. And now that I have interest in a girl, you’re changing your mind. That’s not fair, Pow.”, Vi insisted, and Jinx groaned annoyed: “Okay! Okay… fine. But if there’s just the SLIGHTEST red flag showing, she’s done!!”
-
When Vi laid awake in bed that night, she tried to get her head clear about the whole situation.
She just admitted being into Caitlyn to her little sister, without thinking twice.
But it was true, wasn’t it?
She felt dragged to that woman, her smile made her heart feel warm and the way she acted around her made her feel like she wasn’t taken for granted, and that she was genuinely interested in her company, not like some others in the scene where she always felt like she was just used for her fame.
But did Caitlyn feel the same?
“…fuck…”, Vi mumbled to herself, and she rolled from her side onto her back to stare at the ceiling, “… what am I even doing?”, she sighed, and wiped her hand over her face before she continued to try to figure out where she was standing with Caitlyn.
She reacted weird to Vi’s mention of a ‘date’ when they would be in Germany, right?
No.
No, Vi panicked, right? It wasn’t Caitlyn who refused to make it a date.
It was Vi who cut her off and told her she meant to go out as friends, nothing more.
Vi closed her eyes and tried to recall the situation in her head, what had her face looked like in that moment?
“…”
Caitlyn had looked disappointed.
“Fuck… I’m such an idiot, fuck…”, Vi groaned, when she realized that Caitlyn had indeed looked disappointed and a little sad to her suggesting going out as just friends, “… but what if I’m making things up? Like. What if she’s just genuinely nice to me?”, she asked herself, sat up and covered her face with both her hands.
“… what the fuck, since when am I such an insecure loser?!”, she got slowly angry at herself, “We fucking made out, we almost landed in bed together, what the fuck is wrong with you?! Of course, she doesn’t only want a platonic thing!”, she told herself pissed, and groaned loudly.
She tried to get rid of the unsettling and insecure thoughts about herself, and gathered the courage she would need to do what she knew would be the only thing that would get her a clear answer from Caitlyn.
“I’ll ask her out. It’s the only way to get things clear.”
Chapter 11: Courage
Chapter Text
Chapter 11: Courage
“Can I sit at the window?? Pwwweeaaase!”
Jinx hopped around her big sister when they walked over to the gate for the boarding of their flight at Heathrow Airport.
“Yes sure, I checked us in with a window seat. You can have it.”, Vi answered, and took a sip from the bottle of water she had bought at one of the vending machines.
She sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting area, and Jinx threw herself right next to her: “NICE!”
The sisters were quite early, which wasn’t that uncommon.
At least for Vi, she sticked to appointments and schedules, and Jinx sticked to her – So, they were mostly in time if there wasn’t anything getting in their way, or Jinx fucking their timetable up.
Vi looked around. She had spotted a few crewmembers and greeted them with a quick wave of her hand, but she hadn’t seen Mel or Caitlyn yet.
Since Caitlyn was working with her, she felt more included in her work surrounding.
She couldn’t really tell what it was, but the wall she had built around her was slowly removed, brick for brick, and she started to slowly and carefully trust again.
Mel had excused herself for the shooting the day before on the Tower Bridge, as she was too busy with preparing the last things for the trip to Germany.
But she had assured everyone that she would fly over with them to Germany.
And Caitlyn?
Vi didn’t know that much about her yet, but it seemed like she wasn’t the type to be late.
But maybe, she and Jinx were just really early.
-
“Papa, I really need to get going. Otherwise, I’m going to miss my flight!”
Caitlyn walked up and down in her apartment to collect the last things for the trip to Germany, while she had her father on speaker on the phone.
“Sweetheart, I can understand that you are very mad at your mother, and maybe also at me. But don’t you think we could… talk it out? Soon?”, Tobias asked again, but Caitlyn stayed hard: “No. Not the next time, at least. I don’t think mother understood by now that what I do has a future, and that it makes me happy. I appreciate that you want to clear things out. I really do. But my job is my priority right now, and I won’t cancel this trip, because mother maybe wants to talk. I am not ready for this, and I doubt that she is. Does she even know that you called me?”, Caitlyn answered, and her father sighed at the other end of the line.
“No, she-… Caithy… I. Okay, it’s fine. If this is your decision, I won’t try to talk you over. I just want you to know, our door is open for you. Your mother overreacted, and I’m trying to convince her to accept your decisions, every single day since you left. I just don’t want to lose you, Caitlyn…”, Tobias sighed shaky, and Caitlyn could hear that his voice was filled with grief.
It caused a crack in her heart to hear her father like this, but she also knew that she needed to walk her way, to pave the path further that she had chosen for herself.
If she would give in now, she knew: She would regret it.
“I thought so. And… you’re not losing me, Papa. But I must do this, I need to go my own way. Even if that means that I will be away from home.”, Caitlyn said, her voice trembled slightly, but she pulled herself together, “… I must go and catch my flight now. Goodbye.” – “… goodbye, Caitlyn. Stay safe.”
She ended the call and took a deep breath, blinked the tears away and stayed strong.
“… I can do this.”
-
“Oh, bloody hell-…”
Caitlyn managed to check-in last minute.
She was out of breath when she entered the waiting hall at the gate, and she scanned the room for familiar people.
She spotted Mel and some others, which she greeted quickly before she looked around further.
She finally saw bright pink and blue hair, and walked over to the sisters who were sitting in some of the chairs by the big window, to watch the employees of the airport do their thing on the runway.
They were snickering amused about a guy who ran after a suitcase that was on a run on its wheels, after it had fallen from the wagon that transported the luggage to an airplane.
“Hey, good morning!”, she greeted with a smile, and Vi felt her heart drop nervously at the sound of Caitlyn’s voice, while Jinx tried to keep her promise to her sister and just waved at the other woman, instead of giving her some kind of shit.
Vi felt that the decision she made last night, to ask Caitlyn out, had definitely an emotional effect on herself.
“Oh, there you are! Hey.”, Vi smiled, and got up to hug her for greeting, “I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”, she said, and Caitlyn huffed, still a bit out of breath: “Oh, well, I got stopped by a phone call, but I’m here now, aren’t I?”, she answered, and before she could sit down, the flight was announced to be boarded.
“Come oooon! I need my window seat!”, Jinx nagged, and Vi just huffed amused: “Pow-Pow, the seats are reserved. You’ll get your window seat, don’t worry.”, she said, and the three of them made their way to the waiting line.
-
“YAY!”
Jinx threw herself onto her beloved window seat and looked outside it right away, while Vi shook her head with an amused smile when she sat down next to her in the 3-seats-row.
“Looks like I’m sitting with you.”, Caitlyn smiled, after she had checked the number on her ticket and sat down at the aisle seat on Vi’s row, who grinned at her: “You can’t stand being without me for a single minute, can ya? Be honest, Cupcake!”, Vi smirked, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes at that with a similar smirk, while she fastened her seatbelt: “Don’t be ridiculous, Vi. You’re sweet, but I’m not obsessed with you or something like that, if that’s what you’re indicating here.”, she stated with a wink, and Vi snickered amused at that: “You’re not?! Oh, what a shame. I-…”, Vi started, but Jinx interrupted them: “Can you at least not flirt when I’m sitting right next to you without the possibility to flee? Thanks.”
Caitlyn and Vi blinked a few times, before they broke out in muffled laughter.
“Sorry, Pow.”, Vi said, and Jinx just waved her off: “Yeah, whatever!”
The airplane started shortly after, and Jinx looked out of the window to watch everything get smaller and smaller, after she had put on her headphones to listen to her music while watching the sky outside.
“How long is the flight?”, Vi asked suddenly, and Caitlyn took her ticket out to check the times on it: “It’s only one hour and twenty minutes.”, she answered, and put the ticket away again, “Are you okay? Don’t you like taking airplanes?”, Caitlyn asked carefully, but Vi shook her head: “Nah. Well, not exactly, at least. I don’t have a problem with flying itself, I just don’t like being trapped inside a metal can for hours.”, she specified, and Caitlyn nodded understanding: “Yes, I’m with you there. It’s annoying, but today’s flight will be quick, fortunately.” – “Yeah, you’re right.”
Silence fell between them for a while, and Vi thought about when she should ask Caitlyn for the date.
Jinx had her headphones on, and she could see at a little LED-light that she had activated the noise cancelling function. So, she wouldn’t hear them, right?
Vi turned her head to Caitlyn, who had closed her eyes for a moment.
Her side profile was so beautiful to Vi, like everything else on her as well, if she was honest.
She started to stare, until Caitlyn felt the eyes on her and she opened her own again to look back at Vi: “Is everything okay?”, she asked, and Vi startled with a slight blush: “Huh?! Yeah! Of course. It’s nothin’.”, she lied, and Caitlyn frowned a bit: “… I don’t believe you.”
Vi opened and closed her mouth a few times, before Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her which made it even worse.
“… it’s just-…”, Vi started, but Caitlyn just chuckled suddenly: “Hey, it’s okay. I’m just messing with you.”, she said, and Vi was about to cancel her attempt to ask her out again, but a tiny voice in the back of her head told her to keep going and to not be a shy loser again: “No, you were right. I was-… uhm-…”, she took a deep breath, “… it’s about that going-out-together thing.”, she said, and now, there was no way back, “I said we can go out as friends. But I don’t-…”, she continued, and this time it was Caitlyn who panicked too fast and interrupted her: “Oh! I mean-… I’m sorry, we can just go out with the others, or we just don’t go at all, I didn’t want to force you into anything, I-…”
“Cait.”
“No, really, I didn’t want to-…”
“Caitlyn…”
“It’s totally fine, when-…”
“Cait!”
Vi chuckled and suddenly put a finger on Caitlyn’s lips, to stop her torrent of words, and Caitlyn stopped instantly with big, irritated eyes.
“Cait… what I want to say is: I want this to be a date. I don’t want to go out as just friends. If you want this, too, of course.”, Vi finally said, took her finger away again, and Caitlyn blinked at her: “You. You do?”, she asked flabbergasted, and Vi nodded with all the confidence she was able to gather: “Yeah. I want a date with you.”, she repeated, and a wide and happy smile formed on Caitlyn’s lips, combined with a very relieved expression: “Oh my-… yes. Yes! I would love that!”, she agreed with a few excited nods, and Vi’s lips formed a big grin: “Yeah?!” – “Yes!”
Their eyes started to change between the other’s eyes and lips, when Vi felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder: “Can you let me through? I think that iced coffee wants to leave my body. Urgently.”, the youngest said with a grimace, and Vi and Caitlyn made space for her: “Sure.”
They watched her make her way to the toilet, and then they looked at each other again.
Both couldn’t hold back a chuckle, and they relaxed visibly.
“I was so scared. I was an idiot, and I didn’t know if you even wanted to go out like this.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn leaned back with her face turned to Vi: “Same for me. I thought I was pushing something on you if I would ask for more. But I’m even more happy that you asked me now.”
The taller woman leaned her head slowly on Vi’s shoulder, and Vi leaned hers against Caitlyn’s: “Yeah, me, too. But I somehow knew I had to ask now or never, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it, I think. We’re clumsy with these things, I guess.”, she chuckled, and Caitlyn huffed amused: “Yes, we definitely are.”
“Didn’t we have a talk about flirting when I’m in the line of fire? Let me through, I want to look out again!”, Jinx complained, when she came back to her sister and Caitlyn being closer than before.
“…” – “…” – “…”
They let her through and leaned back into their seats normally again with cute little smiles on their lips.
“She likes to interrupt us, doesn’t she?”, Caitlyn whispered, and Vi huffed with a shrug: “Yeah, I guess so. Even better then, if we go out alone.” – “Absolutely.”
~
After the airplane had landed in Düsseldorf, Germany, the whole crew made their way into the main hall of the big airport.
Mel gathered everyone around her and announced the next steps: “Alright! First of all, I’m happy that you all are here with us to continue with our big project! You all have received your hotel reservations per mail, we will stay at the Steigenberger Parkhotel, right at the famous Königsallee. This will also be where we will have our next shooting, and we will also have a few in-store shootings for our sponsors, as they have brand-stores on this street. It’s only 11:00 o’clock right now, so you have time to enjoy your stay before we will start with the work tomorrow at 08:00! As you know, we will stay three days, including today. The in-store shootings will be on day three, and we will fly back in the evening after work. Are there any questions left?”, she asked, but nobody had any, so she clapped her hands once and smiled at everyone: “Very well, then let’s get us taxis and check into the hotel!”
-
Vi had just unpacked the necessary stuff from her suitcase in her hotel room, when she heard someone knocking excited at her door.
“Hm?”
She opened the door and found her sister with a bright grin on her face: “Vi! Can we go and check out the city??”, she asked, and hopped a bit up and down while she looked at Vi with big, expectant eyes.
“Oh. Uhm…”, Vi hesitated, she had this date with Caitlyn, but it was still early, right?
She could have fun exploring the city with her sister and go out with Caitlyn later.
Right?
“Sure. I’ll meet you at the foyer in ‘15, ‘k?”, she agreed, and Jinx nodded excited: “Cool!”, she snickered happy, and made her way back to her room to get her bag, before she took the elevator downstairs to wait there for her sister.
“Phew…”, Vi sighed, she felt bad for keeping her plan to go out with Caitlyn a secret for now in front of the younger woman, but she also knew that the chances of Jinx following them to play some pranks or simply crash their date was kind of high.
And she definitely didn’t want her first date with Caitlyn to be crashed by her sister.
Even if she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide it from her for long.
“Okay, so first…”, she mumbled to herself, and took her phone to text Caitlyn:
>Hey Cupcake! I’m gonna check out the city with my sister now, should I pick you up at your room later? Let’s say around 5pm?<
She looked at her screen where three dots showed that Caitlyn was typing, just half a minute after she had sent her message to the photographer.
>Hey :) Sure, sounds lovely. I’ll await you then, have fun you two! I’ll grab a coffee with Mel until then. I’m looking forward going out with you <3 My room number is 378!<
Vi smiled silly at the message, and instantly started to type an answer:
>Nice, see you later then :D Have fun! Mine is 421, just so you know ;D<
Vi put her phone away and checked herself quickly in the bathroom mirror, before she grabbed her small backpack and made her way down to meet up with Jinx.
-
“WOAH!”
Jinx grinned bright at the designs of the buildings around them, after they had found the old town part of the city.
It wasn’t a really busy day as it wasn’t the weekend, but there were still a lot of people sitting in the bars and restaurants inside the many narrow lanes.
The weather was sunny, not cloudless, but still a beautiful and warm summer day.
They had gotten themselves ice-cold Bubble Tea’s and strolled relaxed through the city while sipping on the straws.
“I heard there are biiig stairs right at the river! What’s the name of it again?”, Jinx asked, and Vi answered after a moment of thinking: “I think it’s the Rhine?” – “Can we check it?!” – “Sure!”
And so, the two of them followed the lane they were in further, until they reached a big market square on which other side they could already spot the big and broad river.
They walked over the square, and Jinx spotted the stairs she heard about on the right side.
But she suddenly stopped, when she saw the old tower that stood before the stairs.
“What’s that?!”, she asked and eyed it curious, when Vi took her phone out to ask the internet for the answer: “… it’s an old castle tower. Now there’s a Maritime Museum in it. Wanna check it out?”, Vi asked, but Jinx waved her off: “Booooring! Let’s check the stairs, come on!”, she grinned, grabbed her sister by the arm and dragged her over to the spot she wanted to see.
“Hmmm. I thought they’d be bigger. But still cool!”, Jinx giggled, and the two sat down on it together.
They slurped their drinks and watched a few boats and ships drive by, while they enjoyed the sun.
“Can we go out to eat together tonight? There were quite cool looking restaurants where we walked by!”, the younger one asked, and looked at her big sister with expectant eyes, while Vi’s heart dropped at that question – Of course there was no way that Jinx didn’t find out about Vi and Caitlyn’s date before it even happened.
“Oh-… I mean. Mh.”, Vi sighed, before she continued, “… okay, listen. Normally I’d say yes. But I already meet up with Cait.”, she said, and Jinx tilted her head with a frown: “Huh?! Why am I not invited to the party?”, she pouted, and took another sip from her Bubble Tea and chewed on the tapioca balls she sucked in with it.
“… well, because it’s. It’s a date.”, Vi admitted, and played with the cup in her hand, “… we’ll go out together and see where this is going.”, she was honest with her, and Jinx groaned: “Urgh. Okay, you’re really serious about this-… this. Uh. Whatever this is, this thingy with that chick?”, Jinx asked, and rested her elbow on her thigh, so she could rest her chin on her hand while she glared at Vi.
“I already told you, Pow-Pow. I like her. And I feel like this could become something serious.”, Vi answered, and turned her head to her little sister, “… can you be happy for me? If this works out?”, she asked, and Vi could see that the attitude inside Jinx shrunk in an instant.
The smaller woman leaned with a loud huff against Vi’s shoulder, sighed extraordinary dramatically, and started to mumble an answer: “… I want you to be happy, yes.”, she started, and a small smile started to form on Vi’s lips, “… I just. I have the feeling that she will bring some kind of trouble. I can’t really explain it, it’s-… it’s just a feeling.”, she said with a shrug, and Vi made a thoughtful noise, before she answered to that: “Pow, I… isn’t that normal? I mean. It’s not that your relationship with Lux is always rainbows and sparkles. And no offense, but you are the one causing the trouble, mostly at least.”
Jinx frowned with a pout on her lips and sat upright again: “Hey! Don’t change the topic to me. And. Well, even if you’re right with that, I repeat, IF – Then I don’t want you to have these troubles as well. It’s enough when one of us has a troublemaker in her relationship.”, she mumbled, and Vi chuckled low: “Powder… I’m happy that you’re somehow worried about me. But that’s exactly what you told me about Lux and her words about a relationship. I won’t find out if I don’t try. And fight for it. To make this work. Of course, there will be trouble some time, or a small argument, or even a fight or something. But I can be the cause, too. We’re sisters. I’m more likely to be the one causing trouble than Caitlyn is, for sure.”, Vi chuckled the last part. And Jinx couldn’t hold back a chuckle herself.
“I don’t want you to get hurt. And people of her status are very likely to hurt someone.”
Vi sighed when she heard her sister say this.
“Pow… what did you find out about her, that you’re so worried about her status and the effect on me?”, Vi asked, she somehow got the feeling that Jinx knew more about Caitlyn than she did.
There was a short pause in which Jinx started to play a little nervous with her own fingers, a habit when she felt caught.
“She’s… she’s a Kiramman. And these guys have a powerful name in the UK. Her mother owns a law firm and is an active politician, and her father is the CEO of a company that develops and builds rifles for sports and hunting. That’s a fucked-up combo, Vi. I don’t know why she’s working as a photographer. Normally the kids of such parents are supposed to take over their parents’ business. But I didn’t find out much about that, only that Caitlyn had studied a lot of semesters of law studies, she was best in her year, but she stopped after her master’s degree. There was even a newspaper article about her being said to become one of the best lawyers if she continues to make her doctorate degree in this field.”, Jinx explained, and googled Caitlyn’s name on her phone to show it to Vi.
The older sister took the phone and scrolled through the entries with a confused look on her face.
What the hell was this about?
“… she doesn’t seem to be such kind of person, Pow… like. What if she turned her back to this? And started to do what she really wants? That sounds way more realistic than her pretending to be someone she’s not, just to play with me. Come on.”, Vi sighed, and gave the phone back to her sister.
“Maybe not, but something is weird with that story.”, Jinx insisted, and Vi sighed again: “Yeah, definitely, I give you that. I will ask her about it, you’ll see that there will be a logical explanation. Okay?”, Vi suggested, and Jinx leaned against her again: “Okay, okay… just don’t get yourself hurt. I’m just worried about you.”, she sighed defeated, and Vi laid an arm around her: “It will be okay. Thank you for telling me all this, Pow. I appreciate it.”
The sisters enjoyed their time for a while longer, they bought themselves a snack and strolled a bit more through the interesting city, before it was time for Vi to get ready for her date with Caitlyn.
-
“Okay Pow, wish me luck.”, Vi grinned, when they stood in front of the hotel again after their trip.
“Yeah, I wish you luck for not dating a liar.”, Jinx huffed, and Vi boxed her shoulder softly: “Pow, please…”, she sighed with a smile, and Jinx shoved her away with her own shoulder: “Just promise me to be careful.”, she asked her to, and Vi gave her a warm smile: “I promise. Have fun tonight, okay? Do you have any plans?”, Vi asked, and Jinx nodded: “Yeah, I’ll join a few people of the filming crew for food and drinks.”, she answered, and Vi looked proud at her: “Nice, it’s good to see you socialize in this environment. Okay, I must get ready… see you tomorrow, alright?” – “Yeah, don’t get yourself killed.” – “Pow, she’s not a convicted criminal.” – “Yet. With that family tree, nothing is impossible here.”
Vi laughed, shook her head and nuzzled Jinx hair with her flat hand, to which Jinx reacted with giggling laughter and an attempt to flee from her big sister’s attack.
“I’ll be careful. I promise.”
Chapter 12: Closer
Summary:
Fluff? Fluff! :3
Chapter Text
Chapter 12 – Closer
Vi stood in front of Caitlyn’s hotel room door.
She had taken a quick shower after she came back from her little sightseeing trip with Jinx, styled herself with a little more effort than she usually privately did, and chose straight but quite tight jeans with a short-sleeved button-up, as it was still warm outside.
“Okay… phew.”, she took a deep breath, and finally knocked at the door of room No. 378.
The seconds until Caitlyn opened the door felt way longer to her than they actually were.
-
Caitlyn had told Mel about her date with Vi, when they went out for a coffee.
Her friend was critical about the whole thing, as she didn’t consider Vi to be someone for something serious, for something with a real commitment – But Caitlyn kept her opinion about Vi, she was more than sure that the model was just misunderstood.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Don’t get your heart broken.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a smile: “I do, don’t worry.”
And so, she got ready for her date with Vi when she was back in the hotel room – Way too early.
She tried to distract herself by scrolling through her social medias, but she wasn’t very successful with that.
So, she sat impatiently on her bed, dressed in a cute summer dress and her hair open and combed tidy as always, when it finally knocked at her door.
The British photographer got up immediately and opened the door with a beaming and warm smile, which grew bigger at the sight of her date.
“Hey!”, she greeted her excited, and Vi grinned at her: “Hey, Cupcake! Ready to go?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, let’s go, shall we?”
Both their hearts were beating nervous but excited against their chests, eager to open up and find each other.
-
“So, what’s the plan?”
Caitlyn happily wrapped her hand around Vi’s left biceps when the two left the hotel, and Vi smiled bright up to her: “I googled a bit to check what we could do here, and I found a fancy looking restaurant, it’s called ‘The Grill Upper Kö', I reserved a table for us. I mean, here are several fancy restaurants, it’s an expensive part of the town. But that one looked very good. Would you like that?”, she explained and asked back, and Caitlyn smiled warm at her: “Vi, I don’t necessarily need something fancy or expensive. I’m up for it, if you want this, of course. I just don’t want you to think I’m expecting something like this from you.”
Vi blinked shortly at her, before she grinned: “I didn’t think of you like some kind of… what’s it called? Gold digger, or something? What I learned about you in the short time we know each other is, that you’re independent. And that’s one of the things that makes you so interesting for me. So no, I’m not trying to impress you. Well, of course I somehow do, haha, but not with the prices on the menu. I really just want our first date to be kind of fancy. And I’m craving a steak.”, Vi explained with a shrug and a chuckle at the end, and Caitlyn looked a bit relieved: “Okay, that’s something I can work with.”, she chuckled back, and the two made their way to the restaurant Vi had picked out for them.
-
“Willkommen! Haben Sie reserviert?”
“Oh! Uh-…”, Vi wasn’t sure if she understood correctly, but before she could ask him to speak English, Caitlyn handled it for them: “Ja, haben wir.”, she answered in her very English accent, and the waiter smiled politely: “Auf welchen Namen?”, he asked further, and Caitlyn turned to Vi: “On which name did you made the reservation?”, she asked, and now Vi was sure that she interpreted the man’s question correctly: “Oh! Just on ‘Vi’.”, she said, and the man switched to English for them when he realized that the two women were foreigners: “Ah, yes. I got your reservation here, please follow me.”, he smiled, and the two followed him to the table for two they had prepared for them.
“Thank you!”, Caitlyn smiled to him, and Vi nodded at him when they sat down together.
“You’re very welcome. Here’s our menu, and also our weekly special menu. Can I bring you something to drink already, while you’re choosing? Maybe also some appetizers already?”, he asked politely, and handed them everything out.
“Just a water for me for now, thank you.”, Caitlyn answered, and Vi added: “For me, too. Thanks. Should we get a mixed starter plate?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn agreed with a nod, and so, the waiter took the order and walked off to get them their drinks and snacks.
“Okay… why the hell do you speak German?”, Vi asked with a slight grin, and Caitlyn waved her off with a chuckle: “Oh, I don’t, really. I just had a year of it in school, that’s all. I can greet people, say ‘thank you’ and some other useful phrases, that’s all. I’m definitely not fluent or able to have an actual conversation.”, she answered, and Vi leaned back in her chair: “Sounded pretty good to me tho, impressive! Do you speak any other languages?”, Vi asked further, while both of them studied the menu in their hands.
“Well… it’s quite common here in Europe that we learn at last one second language in school. I had Spanish and French as well, German was just additional. I dumped it after a while, it was too complicated. And too much beside the others, honestly.”, Caitlyn answered, and Vi huffed: “Wow, that’s really impressive. I was never good with languages, to be honest. I was more the sports and science type.”, she snickered, and before Caitlyn could answer to this, the waiter brought them their water and appetizers.
“Here you go, ladies. Do you know what you like to order, or do you need another moment?”, he asked with a smile, and Caitlyn and Vi looked at each other: “Do you know what you want?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, you?” – “Yep! So, I’d like the 400g Rib-Eye and grilled vegetable as side dish.”, Vi ordered, and Caitlyn added her order after her: “I’ll take the Catch Of The Day with a baked potato, thank you.”
“Very well, I’ll be right back with this. Do you want a fitting wine or else to your dishes?”, he asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, I’ll take wine, please. Whatever the cook suggests to my dish.”, she smiled, and Vi looked up to him as well: “I’d like to try the local beer.”, she said, and the waiter nodded: “Very well, I’ll bring you something fitting.”, he said, and walked off again.
“So, speaking of school and stuff… how did you grow up?”, Vi asked, and took a sip from her water and a bite of the appetizers they shared.
Caitlyn took a bite as well and raised an eyebrow to Vi’s question: “Oh, you know…”, she started, and thought about how she should put it, “… let’s say, I was quite gifted. My parents are wealthy, and that opened a lot of doors for me. But it also kept me from opening doors by myself.”, she answered, and Vi frowned a bit: “Oh, uhm… just tell me if this is too personal.”, she said, but Caitlyn shook her head: “No, I mean, we’re here to get to know each other, right?”, she said, but her voice and expression showed that she was uncomfortable with that topic.
“Yeah, that’s true. Just tell me if I should avoid a certain topic.”, Vi asked her to, and the photographer nodded: “I will. So, yes… I went to private school, I also had private tutoring for some extra lessons. I was a straight A student.”, she chuckled a bit embarrassed, and Vi snickered to that: “To be honest? I somehow already knew that.”, she laughed low, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a smirk: “Oh, really? What about you, how was your school life?”, she dared, and Vi shrugged: “Wasn’t really paying much attention to school and learning and stuff. I somehow got my graduation, left school and that’s it.”, she answered, and Caitlyn took a sip of her water: “Yes, you seem to be that kind of person. Intelligent, but struggles with the school system.”
There was a short pause, in which Vi tilted her head a bit and let Caitlyn’s words sink in.
“… yes. Actually. I’m good in stuff I’m interested in, but forced learning about stuff I don’t give a shit about? Nah.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn gave her a soft smile: “I can understand that. I think that’s a big problem in this whole system. But I mean, we’re out of this, fortunately.”
Vi nodded to Caitlyn’s statement, when the waiter brought them their food: “Here you go, please enjoy and let me know if you need anything.”
The two women thanked him politely and faced each other again with the cutlery in their hands.
“This looks great. Thank you for taking me here, Vi. Enjoy!”, Caitlyn smiled happy, and Vi grinned at her steak, then at Caitlyn: “Thank you for saying yes to this date. Enjoy!”, she answered, and the two started to eat together.
“So… what are your parents doing for a living, you said they were wealthy?”, Vi dropped the question she promised her sister to ask, and Caitlyn felt her heart drop.
Why was she asking this?
“I-… them-…”, Caitlyn stuttered, and Vi felt her heart drop as well.
So, the topic about them really was difficult.
Vi waited for Caitlyn to find her words, and she tried to not look as nervous as she was.
“Well, uhm. My mother has a law firm, but she’s a politician primarily. My father is a CEO in… another company.”, Caitlyn wanted to keep it trivial, and immediately tried to change the topic: “But uhm, this here is about us, right?”, she said, and continued before Vi could say something to this: “What did you do before you started your model career?”
Vi frowned a bit, Caitlyn acted weird suddenly.
She seemed to be stiff, the easiness she radiated was gone on an instant.
But her question turned the tables suddenly.
Now, Vi was as uncomfortable about her past as Caitlyn was about her parents, and that showed.
Both stiffened, and sipped nervous on their drinks.
“I… you know, I just worked here and there, tried to get food to the table and a roof over Powder’s and my head. Nothing special.”, Vi answered as cryptic as Caitlyn did before.
Caitlyn could feel that Vi was uncomfortable with this topic, and she wondered if Mel’s information about Vi being a former MMA fighter was a rumor, or if Vi just didn’t tell her on purpose.
And so, she tried another one: “Speaking of your sister, why are you calling her Powder? She refers to herself as ‘Jinx’, am I wrong?”, she asked, and Vi huffed: “Oh, well, yeah. Powder is her birthname, we-… she had a hard past, and some traumatic events formed us-… her, I mean. She chose ‘Jinx’ for herself in that process. But I somehow can’t internalize it, she’s my little sister, she’s Pow-Pow to me. And that is something I’m not able to change.”, Vi explained, and the mood got heavier between them.
Both let out a quiet sigh and took a sip from their wine and beer.
“I didn’t want to kill the mood, sorry.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn shook her head: “You didn’t, it’s fine. I guess we hit some heavy topics of each other by accident.”, she smiled weak, and Vi gave that smile back: “Yeah, seems so.”, she said, and took another bite of her steak, before she continued: “Is it fine to ask why you started your photography career? It’s obvious that it makes you happy. You do what you love, it shows every time we work together.”, Vi tried again, and Caitlyn’s face lightened up at that topic – Even if a part of the cause was still hurtful to her.
“Yes! I really love what I do currently. I always loved photography, since my father gifted me my first camera as a young teenager. I… walked a different way. I have a master’s degree in law studies, so, I could easily start a career as a lawyer or defense attorney. Especially as my mother has this law firm. I even could have made it to a prosecutor if I would have continued my studies and made a doctorate degree. But I… I knew I had to quit if I really wanted to do what I love. So, I turned my back to this path and now I’m here.”, Caitlyn explained, and gave Vi a warm smile: “With you.”
Vi felt her heart getting warm when she heard the last words.
Caitlyn really seemed to have taken her life in her own hands, and that was enough for her to know for now.
“That sounds like the right decision for you. You can be proud of yourself that you managed to make this step.”, Vi smiled, and Caitlyn seemed to be calmer again: “Thank you. It was frightening, but I’m glad I found the courage to do it.”
The two finished their food, and Vi took Caitlyn’s hand in hers on the table: “If you want, we could get some drinks and dessert on top of this tower that’s right at the river and talk a bit more? There’s a bar on top, we could enjoy the nice view and let the evening end there?”, Vi suggested, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, that sounds lovely.”
Both had a similar feeling.
They were glad that the other wanted to continue the date and get to know the other more, but they also could tell that the other was uncomfortable with certain topics.
And they both realized that they weren’t ready to open that much to someone yet, even if it was a serious love interest.
-
The two women decided to walk the way to said tower instead of taking public transport.
They enjoyed the walk along the Rhine and how the city was alive around them.
But the farther the city got, the calmer their surroundings became.
They walked side by side and talked about light topics, while their hands slightly touched over and over again, until Caitlyn found the courage to carefully take Vi’s in hers.
Shy smiles collided, and Vi intertwined their fingers to show Caitlyn that she didn’t went too far – She enjoyed the feeling, and she definitely wanted this as well.
“Are you afraid of heights?”, Vi suddenly asked, while they walked hand in hand to their destination.
“Huh? No, not really. I mean, I’m quite used to height.”, Caitlyn joked, and Vi couldn’t hold back a hearty laugh: “Okay, well played, I give you that!”, she said, and both were happy that the tension from earlier had finally completely faded.
“What about you?”, Caitlyn asked back, and Vi shook her head: “Nah, I don’t have a problem with heights. I did a lot of parkour in my teens, that would have been a problem.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn smiled at her: “Parkour? Sounds interesting. That’s something you need a good balance and body control for, right?”, she asked, and Vi nodded: “Yeah, and you shouldn’t be afraid to hurt yourself.” – “Oh, I can imagine.”
They arrived at the tower and went inside, where just a few people were waiting for the elevator that would take them to the top.
“Oh, seems like we need tickets to get up…”, Vi said, and Caitlyn let go of her hand to touch her shoulder gently: “I got it covered, it’s okay. You paid for our dinner, let me pay for the tickets and drinks.”, Caitlyn offered, and Vi agreed with a nod: “Okay, thank you, Cupcake.”, she smiled, and so, Caitlyn got them the tickets and they soon arrived at the top of the tower.
“Wow…”
Both walked up to the glass wall to take a look outside.
It was already dark, and the city lights looked pretty from above.
“The view is beautiful.”, Caitlyn whispered, and Vi turned her eyes from the window to Caitlyn, where she got stuck suddenly.
The artificial lights from the bar and outside laid themselves on Caitlyn’s face, and her features got highlighted, while her eyes sparkled from the moonlight.
“… you’re beautiful.”, Vi whispered stunned, without thinking before she spoke.
Caitlyn turned to Vi when she heard her compliment, and they took each other’s hands.
Vi looked up to her, and both couldn’t contain a small giggle, before Vi tiptoed and Caitlyn leaned a bit down, to melt into a warm and loving kiss.
“…~” – “Hm~…”
When they broke the kiss, they leaned their foreheads against each other’s and smiled happily with still closed eyes for a moment.
“I missed your lips.”, Vi whispered with a smirk, and Caitlyn chuckled sweet: “I missed yours, too, believe me.”, she said, and both opened their eyes again to look at each other, before Vi spoke again: “Well, how about more of this, then?”, she purred, and Caitlyn bit her lower lip while she nodded: “Mhm, I would like that~…”, she purred back, and Vi laid a hand in Caitlyn’s nape to pull her gently into another kiss, which Caitlyn melted into.
It lasted longer than the first one, it was slow and sensual and both of them felt butterflies in their stomachs, together with excitement about the fact that they got closer to each other again.
“Hm~”, Vi smiled into the kiss before they broke it again, and let the hand in Caitlyn’s nape run slowly over the side of her neck, before she pulled it away: “Should we get us a table at the window and order some drinks and something sweet?”, she asked, and Caitlyn nodded happily: “Yes, that would be lovely.”
So, they got themselves a small table for two in the bar, right at the glass wall, and checked the menu.
A waitress came over after a while and smiled at them: “Hi! Was kann ich für euch tun?”, she asked, and Caitlyn looked up to her: “Oh! Uh, is English okay?”, she asked, and the waitress nodded understanding: “Sure! So, what can I get you?”, she repeated her question, and Caitlyn started with her order: “Thank you! I would like the Negroni Terra Oscura. Thank you.”, she said, and the waitress nodded with a smile, before she turned to Vi: “And for you?”, she asked, and Vi smiled back to her: “Smokey Old Fashioned, thanks.”, she ordered, and the woman nodded again: “Very well. Would you like some snacks?”, the waitress asked further, and Vi looked over to the bar, where a display with different cakes stood.
“The cheesecake looks good. Do you want some, too, Cait?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn looked over as well: “Oh! Uhm… I’ll go for the apple pie, I think.”, she said, and the waitress nodded again: “Okay, I’ll be right back with your order.”
After the waitress left, Vi and Caitlyn turned to each other again with warm smiles.
“So…”, Caitlyn started, and took one of Vi’s hands on the table into both of hers to play softly with it, “… you asked me out. Can I assume that you’re looking for something serious with me then?”, she asked, and Vi huffed with a little smirk, while she let her play with her hand.
It felt way too good to be touched by her, even if it was such a simple touch.
“That’s what I want to find out. I’m definitely interested in more, I mean you-… you’re stunning.”, Vi started, and her eyes went from Caitlyn’s down to their hands, while a slight blush formed on her cheeks, “But I also know that I need some more time, before I can tell if I want a relationship with you or not. It feels right to be here with you, don’t get me wrong. I’m just-…”, Vi tried to explain, and Caitlyn squeezed her hand in hers: “You’re careful, I know. And that’s totally fine and legit.”, the taller woman smiled, and Vi looked up at her eyes again: “… yeah. Yes, I’m careful. I don’t want to rush things, no matter how good this feels to be here with you, how good you feel. Shit, I never kissed someone with such a perfect feeling!”, Vi chuckled, and Caitlyn chuckled as well: “Oh my, I’m happy you feel like this. It’s the same for me, you trigger butterflies inside me.”, she said, and both took a breath with a slight smile.
The waitress brought their drinks and cake and left them quickly alone again, after she asked if they would need anything else and they denied.
“How do you picture your future, Vi?”, Caitlyn asked, and they loosened their hands again to be able to eat their cake and sip their cocktails.
Vi stopped in her tracks to shove a bite of her cake into her mouth, when she heard that question.
“I… I don’t really know. I always only rushed from one day to the next, if I’m honest. But I think it would be nice to slow this pace down. To build something steady. How about you?”, Vi asked back, and Caitlyn made a thoughtful face before she answered: “Well, I always pictured myself with a wife at my side in a nice house or big apartment, doing what I love and building a life together. I achieved the ‘doing what I love’ goal now, and I got an apartment. Even if this won’t be my forever home, but I’m missing the central part of this future.”, Caitlyn explained, and Vi raised an eyebrow: “A wife?”, she asked, and took another bite of her cake.
Caitlyn huffed with a smile and nodded: “Yes. Someone who knows what she wants, someone independent. Maybe even someone I can work together with, like we do it currently. You know, someone I can conquer the world with, someone… who’ll have my back, and I have hers. No matter what.”, Caitlyn chuckled, and took a sip of her cocktail: “I’m sorry, that must sound corny.”
Vi snickered shortly and shook her head: “No. Well, okay, maybe a little bit corny. But I get what you’re saying. And I agree, I want someone who can keep up with me. And not someone who tries to keep me down, to lock me up. I need trust and loyalty, I don’t need a furious girlfriend who shows up to a job to control me, just because there’s another model working with me.”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn tilted her head with a curious expression: “Sounds too specific to not be an actual experience.”, she said, and Vi shrugged: “Yeah, well… that’s maybe a story for later.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn accepted it with a nod: “I understand.”
They made another short pause, sipped their cocktails and ate their cake, before Vi spoke again: “I told Powder that I think this between you and me could become something serious. And I mean it. So, I want you to know that I’m not playing or anything. I just need time.”
Caitlyn looked up from her drink with big eyes, and a happy smile found the way on her lips: “I’m glad to hear this. And I feel the same, I want this to become something serious. But I also get that you need time, and I’ll give you the time you need, of course. And I’d be happy to have some more dates with you, to get to know you better and forge something stable. It’s not that I want to rush things, I just… well.”, Caitlyn said, and giggled suddenly: “I just really have a big crush on you.”, she admitted, and Vi couldn’t contain a warm laugh: “Shit, Cupcake. You’re really forward, aren’t ya?”, she said, and both laughed amused.
“I like that.”, Vi shrugged, and a smirk found the way on her lips: “… and I’d be lying if I’d say I wouldn’t feel the same.”, she shrugged again, took Caitlyn’s left hand to place a soft kiss on it, before she laid it down again and caressed softly over it with her thumb, “I just want to be sure about this whole thing.”
Caitlyn felt her heart skip a beat when she felt Vi’s soft kiss on her hand, and she enjoyed her soft caresses more than she wanted to admit: “As I said, it’s okay. There’s no need to be afraid that I will dump you for not being fast enough with a decision towards us. We take it slow.”, she smiled, and Vi nodded happy: “Yeah, let’s take it slow. Thank you.”
-
When they arrived back at the hotel, Vi brought Caitlyn to her room.
“Thank you for the date, it was perfect.”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi grinned up to her: “Thank you for saying yes to this date, Cupcake. I really enjoyed it.”
They both smiled at each other for a few seconds, before they slowly leaned closer, until they realized that the other was initiating it, too – And melted into another, soft and slow kiss.
Vi laid her hands on her hips, while Caitlyn wrapped her arms around Vi’s neck.
“Mh~… do you want to come in?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi kissed her again, before she answered: “Slow, Cupcake… remember?”, she whispered, and Caitlyn leaned her forehead against Vi’s: “I’m sorry… it’s just…”, she mumbled, but Vi shook her head and interrupted her: “Don’t be. I’d love to stay the night, believe me. But I think it’s better if I don’t. No rushing, okay?”, Vi whispered between more soft kisses, and she felt like her brain was betraying her heart and body in the worst way.
“Okay… no~... mh~… no rushing…”, Caitlyn agreed, even if she felt like she’d explode if Vi wouldn’t touch her where she needed it most right now.
And Vi didn’t feel better, but her fears took over the moment Caitlyn asked her for another step.
So, they involuntarily broke their kisses, smiled with blushed cheeks at each other, and Vi took a step back, took Caitlyn’s hands in hers and looked up into her eyes: “Thank you for the evening. Good night, I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘k?”, Vi said, and Caitlyn agreed with a nod: “Yes, good night, Vi. I really enjoyed it, sleep well. See you tomorrow.”, she said, and the two let go of each other’s hands again.
Caitlyn gave her a last smile, and then she disappeared into her hotel room, while Vi took a deep breath, before she made her way to her own room.
It was different from when they hooked up at one of the afterparties at the fashion week, this wasn’t just ‘having drunk fun’, this here had a meaning, and Vi wanted to do it as they agreed to:
Slow.
Chapter 13: Jealousy
Chapter Text
Chapter 13 – Jealousy
“Vi? Could you lift your chin a bit more, just a millimeter… yes, perfect, stay like this!”
The whole team had started today’s work a while ago, and Caitlyn was the first to take a few non-moving poses from Vi, before they would continue with the additional video shooting.
Caitlyn took said photos of Vi, who stood in the middle of the road they had blocked for their photo- and video shootings.
Right from her was the Breidenbacher Hof Hotel, and Caitlyn included its fancy entrance as a photo detail.
Vi wore a suit, which fitted the scenery on the Königsallee perfectly.
It was an extra slim-fit and dark red tartan patterned one with a black button-up and black leather shoes, and a few accessories adored her wrists, neck and fingers, all by Hugo Boss.
The brand store was right beside the Hotel, which front she included in some of the shots as well, as this whole project included advertising deals with their sponsors.
“Yes, I think this is perfect. Let’s do the walking shots next, are you ready?”, she asked, when the filming team joined the photographer after the non-moving shots were done, and Vi nodded with a thumbs up.
She started her walk, did her poses in the process, and Caitlyn and the other’s produced the material Mel wanted for the big campaign.
A lot of people stood at the barriers to watch the ‘show’ that took place in the middle of the city, and some seemed to recognize Vi, at least was it Caitlyn’s impression when she saw that a lot of girls and women seemed to fancy the model that worked in front of her lens.
Vi did her walk five more times, so they could choose scenes from more than just one perspective, and the director called them all over to have a look at the outcome, to see if they needed to do it differently or if it was fine.
Vi came over and stood next to Caitlyn, who smiled shortly at her before they checked the outcome of their work together: “You did good, the suit fits you perfectly.”, she whispered, and Vi grinned up to her: “Heh, thanks. It feels nice, too, check the fabric!”, she said, and Caitlyn touched the sleeve after Vi’s invitation to do so.
“It really is softer than it looks.”, Caitlyn noticed, and before they could continue their little conversation, the director turned the mobile screen they had with them on to show them the outcome.
What no one recognized was, that a spark got ignited on the internet in the very same moment.
-
The shooting day was busy, and Vi was in her 4th outfit meanwhile when it became afternoon.
She climbed on the railing in front of the famous triton fountain, and Caitlyn and the team watched her with worried expressions.
“Don’t fall…”, Caitlyn sighed, and Vi snickered with a grin: “Don’t worry, Cupcake. Parkour, remember?”, Vi winked, and Caitlyn blushed a bit: “… nevertheless, please be careful.” – “I am.”
Mel observed the interactions between her friend and the model.
She noticed that the two seemed closer than before, and Caitlyn acted different around Vi than she did with the others of the team.
She knew that they went on that date yesterday, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to talk with Caitlyn about how it went yet.
“Hm…”
When Vi gave the sign that she was ready, Caitlyn stopped everyone again: “Wait, let me just…”, she started, and walked over to the model to pull a bit on the loose tank-top she wore to let it fall a bit differently, “… okay, that’s better. We can start!”, Caitlyn smiled, and walked back to her spot and turned her camera on.
Vi posed in the limited position as good as she could while Caitlyn took some shots, and the videographer team made some short sequences of the scenery and of Caitlyn again with Vi in the background, for the BTS content.
When they had everything done, Vi hopped down from the railing again and turned her head to a group of women who suddenly called loud and excited for her.
“Huh?”, she made a questioning face, and the group called for her to come over, so she walked to the barrier with a charming smile on her lips: “Hey ladies, what can I do for you?”, she asked, and the women blushed: “Oh my god, you’re SO hot, I loved those CK photos of you! Can we get an autograph? And a selfie? Please!”, they asked her excited and a little nervous, and Vi chuckled amused: “Of course, how could I say no?”, she answered with a smirk, and signed the stuff the girls wanted, before she took one phone of them after another to take the selfies with her fans and admirers.
Caitlyn helped the crew to pack the equipment, so they could head off to their evening location, and she couldn’t help but observe Vi and the women that wooed the model very obviously.
If she didn’t know better, she’d say that there was a feeling of jealousy boiling up inside her.
But why, right?
Haha.
Vi had made clear that she was interested in getting to know her and that they would go on some more dates, so they could figure out if they were made for a relationship or not.
So, why would she flirt with other women?
Right?
“Okay, we’re done! Can somebody get Vi? The police want to remove the barriers to open the road again.”, Mel announced, and Caitlyn immediately volunteered, before anyone else could: “I’ll go get her!”
Caitlyn walked with a straight back, her head held high, and confident, big steps of her endless legs over to Vi, who was still chatting with her fans and, at least according to the British photographer, flirted with them, with the women flirting definitely back.
“Vi?”, she asked with a slight purr in her voice, and laid her filigree fingers on Vi’s exposed, round and muscular left shoulder, “We’re done and need to head to the next location. They want to open the street again for public traffic.”, she said, and caught herself giving the women a superior glare, before she smiled at Vi again, who felt a pleasant shiver when she felt Caitlyn’s hand on her skin: “Yeah, we can start right away.”, the model grinned, and turned from Caitlyn’s sapphire eyes back to her fans: “It was nice to meet you guys, but we still have work to do. Bye!”, she told them, but before she could turn around, one of them grabbed her hand and put a note inside it with a wink: “Call me.”, she giggled, and Vi just blinked a few times: “Uhm… have a nice stay guys, enjoy the city.”, she just said to the group, and felt Caitlyn’s hand slip slowly down her upper arm and grab her biceps: “Come on, we have a tight schedule.” – “Yeah, we can go!”
And so, Vi turned around and walked back to the crew together with Caitlyn, who squinted downwards to Vi’s hand, which still held the note of that girl.
“/She’s not your girlfriend. Relax./”, the tall women admonished herself, but the way Vi didn’t even mention it and just carried it with her didn’t make it better for her.
-
“They were really nice.”, Vi smiled, when she sat in the back of one of the cars, together with Caitlyn.
“Oh, were they?”, Caitlyn asked, not really able to hide all of the spite in her voice.
Vi noticed it and frowned a bit, but she didn’t give it too much of a meaning for now: “Yeah, they said they are here for a city trip, they were from Denmark.”, she said, and Caitlyn raised an eyebrow: “Is that so?”, she asked, and Vi nodded: “Yeah, but I mean, it’s a cool city and the weather is great. I bet they’ll have a lot of fun.”, she answered, and Caitlyn slowly crossed her arms: “Oh, I’m sure they will.”
Vi frowned again and gave Caitlyn a critical look: “Is there a problem?”, she asked, and Caitlyn sighed: “No, why?”, she asked back, and Vi tilted her head a bit: “You’re acting weird.”, she said, and Caitlyn huffed with a roll of her eyes: “I’m not!”, she stated, and Vi groaned: “Seriously? Are you-… are you jealous? Because of this?!”, Vi asked, her voice got pissed and she held the note she got from this girl in front of Caitlyn’s face, who just huffed again: “No, I’m not?!”, she tried, but her voice and sass exposed her.
Vi turned away from her again and shook her head: “I can’t believe this. You’re kidding me, right?”, she said, and shook her head again: “You really think I-… oh my god, Caitlyn, seriously??”, Vi got angry, and crossed her arms, “Do you really think I want to keep it?! To call and fuck her tonight, is it that what you think of me??”, she asked a bit louder than necessary, and Caitlyn opened and closed her mouth a few times, before she found her words: “Vi, no-… I’m. I mean, what-… argh!”, she knew she was wrong, and she suddenly sunk deeper into her seat and wiped her hand over her forehead and hair, before she let out a defeated sigh: “… I’m sorry. I don’t want to assume you’d do that. I’m sorry I felt jealous, that wasn’t fair. We’re not a couple, after all.”, she tried to apologize, and looked down to her hands, which played nervous with each other.
There was a short moment of silence, before Vi finally lost most of the tension, too, and sank back into her seat as well: “I was going to throw it away when we’re at the next location. I didn’t want to be rude and throw it away while that girl was still able to see me. I can’t believe you think of me that way. I’m getting to know you currently, why would I accept such an offer?!”, she sighed with a still angry voice, and now Caitlyn felt bad.
Very bad.
“… I’m sorry. I overreacted.”, Caitlyn whispered, and bit her lower lip.
She thought of a way to explain herself, and Vi seemed to be willing to give her the time she needed to find her words to do so.
But she really struggled to find them.
“… have you ever been cheated on?”, Vi suddenly asked carefully, and Caitlyn looked up to her again with big eyes: “What? I-… I mean, y-… yes. Yes, my ex-girlfriend cheated on me after 3 years into our relationship.”, she sighed, and then, the dots connected themselves inside her head: “You’re right, I think it’s that. I’m sorry, I don’t think of you being a cheater. I really don’t, I guess it’s a fear inside me that I didn’t discover until now. I was single for a while now, you’re the first woman I’m interested into since her. I’m sorry, I can only apologize, I was being an arse right now.”, Caitlyn apologized again, and Vi sighed after she had listened to her words: “I understand. I have a similar background, so I can partly understand your reaction. But I get angry when people assume that I would act like a piece of shit, I think cheating is the most disrespectful thing.”
There was another short pause, in which both took a deep breath, before Caitlyn spoke again: “I’m so sorry, I really am. It won’t happen again, I promise. Can you forgive me? Do you still… do you still want to take this further? This between us?”, she asked, and her voice got smaller with every word.
Vi chewed the inside of her cheek with her eyebrows drawn together, before she answered: “Look. I told you before that I can’t use a girlfriend who’s jealous over totally normal or professional situations. And I’ll be honest with you, we’re not even together and you already act up like this.”, she said with a mostly neutral but dark voice, and Caitlyn swallowed hard, before she bit her lower lip.
“… so, I… fucked up?”, she asked with a tiny voice, and suddenly, she felt her cold hand being grabbed by Vi’s bigger and warm one on her thigh.
“A little, yes.”, Vi sighed, but squeezed her hand in hers shortly, “… but I think this may count to the stuff we need to learn about each other. So just… don’t do this again. Okay? I don’t want this here, us, to fail. But I also don’t want to be accused of shit I’d never do.”, she said, lifted their hands and pressed a soft kiss on Caitlyn’s, “I’m interested in more with you. And not into something with some random fans I meet on the streets. Okay? I’m not a fucking cheater or player.”, she made it clear again, and Caitlyn swallowed a little sob, before she nodded: “Yes, I understood. I’m sorry, thank you for giving me this chance.”
-
They soon arrived at the second location, Düsseldorf Medienhafen, where they wanted to use the golden hour for their last shots and clips.
They put up the setup at the high stairs between the tall and shiny buildings, and Vi got into her last outfit of the day: An open, brown button-up made from cotton-flannel and a black, skinny cargo-pants, combined with a watch and a necklace, all by Calvin Klein again.
She didn’t wore a sports bra or else, they had taped the flannel to her chest, so it wouldn’t reveal too much.
“Alright guys!”, Mel’s voice was to hear, “You all did a great job so far, let’s get this done and we can all call it a day and relax with food and drinks at the ‘Riva’ Restaurant right around the corner over the bridge. I reserved us a big table. So, give your all for a few more hours!”, she smiled, and everyone gained their leftover strength to get today’s jobs done.
Vi walked the stairs up and down, while Caitlyn and the filming crew pranced around her to capture the best angles, and Vi did her best to keep the expressions confident and not look as tired as she was meanwhile.
The team had trouble to move on the steep and high stairs, and Vi also needed much concentration to keep her posture without tripping.
And so, it came as it had to.
“Okay, can you-… woah!”, Caitlyn started, but missed a step when she walked backwards to get a bit more distance. She tripped, but before there could happen a fatal accident, Vi was able to grab the wrist of the hand Caitlyn stretched out, she pulled her back with force and they landed on the steep stairs.
“Fuck! Damn, Cupcake, are you okay?!”, Vi asked shocked, her face showed that it wasn’t exactly comfortable to land on the hard stairs, but she didn’t seem to care about that right now.
Caitlyn blinked confused when she found herself suddenly in Vi’s strong arms, instead of the hard stone floor at the bottom of the stairs.
She blushed when she realized, that her hands were on Vi’s exposed front, and the button-up she wore was dangerously close to reveal her chest more than intended.
She shook the thoughts that came up in her mind off and dragged herself back to reality with force: “… what do you mean, am I okay?! Oh lord, are you okay?!”, Caitlyn asked back, and got up again, so Vi was able to get off the hard stairs, “Did I hurt you? I am so sorry, oh my… let me check…”, Caitlyn mumbled, and checked Vi for any injuries or else, when some of the team joined them with worried expressions.
“Are you guys alright? Do we need first aid or something?!”, one of them asked, but Vi shook her head: “It’s fine, I’m okay, really, don’t worry!”, she chuckled, and straightened her clothes again with her flat hands, before she turned her head back to Caitlyn: “Did you hurt yourself?”, she asked, but Caitlyn shook her head: “No. No, thanks to you. The camera is fine, too, it seems…”, she smiled shy, and everyone let out a relieved sigh.
“Is everyone alright?”, Mel joined them with worried eyes, which checked everyone up and down when she reached the group on the stairs.
She visibly lost tension when it was clear that nothing bad happened, and she took a deep breath: “Okay. Please be more careful, I can’t use an accident so close to the end of the day or at all, okay? Keep your concentration up guys, let’s get this done!”
Everyone took a deep breath and got back to work, that really could have ended worse right now.
-
The team entered the restaurant where Mel had reserved a whole area for themselves in and took seats after they had successfully finished todays work.
“Okay everyone, please listen up!”, Mel called over the table, she stood at the head of the table and clinked her fork against her glass of champagne, “I want to thank you for your extraordinary good work today, we really managed to get everything and more done in time. This is why I want to invite you today, please don’t hesitate to enjoy the evening! But remember, we still have work to do tomorrow, the In-Store shootings are strictly timed, as we also will fly back to the UK tomorrow evening and prepare for the flight to Lanzarote in three days. But now, it’s time to celebrate!”
Everyone clapped their hands and cheered their glasses, before the waiters took the orders from everyone.
“I’m still so sorry for earlier…”, Caitlyn whispered, while she leaned over to Vi’s ear, who sat next to her.
Vi felt the hair on her neck rise, when Caitlyn’s voice was so close to her ear, and she smirked slightly: “Hey.”, she started, and laid a hand on Caitlyn’s thigh to squeeze it short and softly, “Nothing happened. I’m glad you’re okay, that could have ended badly.”, Vi said, and took her hand back on top of the table.
“No, I mean… yes, this also, I still feel the shock in my bones. But I’m talking about my behavior after we left the Königsallee.”, Caitlyn whispered, and took a sip from her champagne, “… I really hope this didn’t cause a crack in the trust we’re building up right now.”
Vi frowned a bit and sighed low: “Cait. It’s fine, we talked about it. I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, I’m sorry as well. We just hit sensitive spots, that’s all. Don’t worry so much, okay?”, Vi whispered back, and Caitlyn felt a little lighter after she heard those words from the model.
“I’m glad. Thank you.”
Mel was observing them again from her spot at the head of the table.
She got more and more sure that there was something going on between the model and the photographer, and she decided to speak to her about it after they all had eaten their dinner.
-
“Cait? Can I borrow you for a second?”, Mel smiled, after they all had ordered drinks after they had finished the food, and stood on the terrace of the restaurant, chatted, listened to the music a DJ was playing, and just had a good time after the exhausting day.
Caitlyn turned away from Vi, who looked with a questioning expression at Mel, and smiled with a nod: “Sure!”, she answered, and gave Vi a last quick look before she walked into a corner with her boss and friend.
“Is everything okay?”, the photographer asked, and Mel chuckled: “Yes! Yes, don’t worry. I asked you as my friend, not as your boss.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn couldn’t contain a chuckle as well: “I don’t know what is more frightening.”, she teased with a smirk, and Mel rolled her eyes: “Oh come on!”, she waved her off, and took a sip from the Cocktail she had in her hand.
“What’s going on between you and Vi? How was the date? I need the tea.”, Mel smirked with a wink, and Caitlyn immediately blushed heavily with a caught expression on her face: “Wha-… Mel, what the-… I mean, I-… we-… it’s.”, she stumbled over her own words, until she sighed: “The date was great, it really was, her effort was cute, and I absolutely enjoyed it. But it’s… complicated.”
“Complicated?”, Mel asked with a raised eyebrow, and Caitlyn gesticulated with her hands, so that her Cocktail was at the edge of spilling over for a few times: “She-… she just needs time. I want more, I… I think I want a relationship, but she’s not ready for this, yet. What’s totally fine, I mean, we don’t know each other for that long, so, we’re still in the dating phase to figure out what we need and what we can give, and…”, Caitlyn tried to explain, and Mel gave her an unimpressed look: “Seriously? Aren’t you usually so good at connecting the dots?”, she asked, and Caitlyn frowned: “What do you mean?”, she asked back, and Mel rolled her eyes dramatically: “Oh come on, Cait, don’t you see it? I told you from the beginning, this woman isn’t capable of love. She’s a heartbreaker, and you’re my friend. I don’t want you to get your heart broken by her.”, she said, and Caitlyn made a short pause, before she answered to that: “I don’t think that she’s just playing me. The way I got to know her is… she’s nothing like the Vi you warned me about, Mel. Of course, she can be an asshole and she is quite rough, socially. But I saw her soft insides behind this shell, I appreciate that you’re worried about me. But I have the feeling that there is so much more in Vi than you or me can see by now.”
Mel took a deep breath and sighed: “Look. I know her for a few years by now, and you won’t believe what number of young women left notes, send letters to the agency or made a scene at shooting locations because of her. If my opinion does anything mean to: Please, be careful. You’re an adult, and I can’t tell you what to do, but as your friend, I’m just asking you to try to not be blinded by her charisma. She’s not worth the pain she could cause you.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn just couldn’t bring the Vi she got to know together with the one Mel was describing.
“Mel, I… I appreciate your worry, I really do, as I already told you. But honestly, it’s like we’re talking about two completely different persons. I don’t know much of her past yet, but I promise you to be careful. But I also ask you to try to see what I see, okay? Vi has a good heart.”, Caitlyn said, and Mel crossed her arms, but nodded: “Maybe. I’ll keep an eye on her, just don’t rush anything, okay?”, Mel said, and Caitlyn nodded: “As I said, she needs time. We’re taking it slow.” – “Good.”
~
Back at the hotel, Caitlyn absolutely didn’t feel like ‘taking it slow’.
It frustrated her, but she knew Mel was right about the ‘taking it slow’, and as Vi openly communicated that she needed this whole thing to be slow, she had to give her the time she needed.
But ‘slow’ didn’t mean to not have sleepovers, right?
“Vi?~”, she purred, and said woman turned to her: “Hm?”
Caitlyn held herself on Vi’s upper arm, and she smiled mischievous: “Will you stay at my room for the night? Please.”, she asked, and Vi felt a familiar feeling in her lower stomach when she heard that question: “Cait…”, she sighed, and she felt that she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from going further with her much longer, but before she could continue, the taller woman interrupted her: “I know, I know: Slow. I’m not asking you to, you know… I’m just. I want to be near you. Like when we skipped the after-show party, remember? Just without the interruption by my mother. Just a cozy sleepover.”
Vi chuckled, this woman would really be the death of her someday.
“You know what? Why the fuck not. I’m just getting my stuff, okay? I’ll be at your room in a few minutes.”, Vi agreed, and Caitlyn’s smile grew brighter than the sun itself: “Wonderful!”
-
A while later, Vi made her way over to Caitlyn with a few things in her hands, and it happened as it had to: She ran into her little sister, before she even reached the elevator.
“Hey hey hey! Where are you going??”, the blue haired troublemaker asked, and Vi stiffened visibly: “I-… I could ask you the same, where are you going?!”, she asked back, and Jinx just grinned bright: “I’m getting me a chocolate bar at the snack machine! Your turn, now!”, she demanded, and Vi sighed loudly: “We just came from the restaurant, why do you need a-… oh you know what, forget it. I’m sleeping in Cait’s room, if you want to know so bad.”, she gave up, and Jinx made a disgusted face: “Ewwww!”
Vi rolled her eyes and sighed again: “I’m not going over to fuck her, okay?” – “Boring.”
Vi blinked disbelieving, and opened and closed her mouth a few times, before she spoke again: “It doesn’t matter what I’m saying about her, you will bug me anyways, right?” – “Absolutely right!”
The younger sister giggled amused, and Vi groaned: “Powder, it’s late. Can I just go now, please?”, Vi sighed, and Jinx nodded: “Sure, but please use a condom! Good night, sis’!”, Jinx sing-sang, and hopped over to the snack machine, while Vi finally continued to make her way over to Caitlyn’s room.
She knocked at the door, and Caitlyn opened a moment later: “Hey! Come in.”, she smiled, and Vi did so, before she put the stuff she took with her onto one of the chairs inside the room.
“Should we get ready for bed already?", Vi asked, and Caitlyn took a look at the clock: “Yes, I mean, we need to get up early tomorrow and we also need to pack our stuff as well, as we need to check out.”, she answered, and their eyes caught each other suddenly.
There was a moment that felt like time stood still.
They both felt that there was some invisible force dragging them to each other, a red string that connected them. Their hearts and bodies wanted to hurry up, but Vi’s brain told her to keep it slow, while Caitlyn’s told her to respect Vi’s decision.
The spark of desire from the beginning was burning in a big flame meanwhile, the need to not only get physical with each other, but to let the other closer emotionally, even if that meant to make yourself vulnerable to someone again – It grew, in both of them.
Vi was the first to break the gaze, and she grabbed her small bag to go into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get changed for the night – And Caitlyn let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
-
“Ready?”, Caitlyn asked, when she came out of the bathroom, and climbed into the bed next to Vi, who held the blanket up for her: “Yeah, come here.”, Vi smiled, and felt her body relax into the warmth that Caitlyn’s body brought into the bed.
The photographer cuddled up to Vi, who laid her arms around her when she was comfortably laying with her head on her chest and started to softly caress her with her fingertips.
“Hm.”, the model let out a tiny sound, and Caitlyn made a questioning noise, so Vi just huffed a little amused at the way she immediately noticed it: “It’s nothin’. I just thought about the fact that I don’t remember the last time I spend a night with a woman like this.”, she whispered, and Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss on Vi’s throat: “I hope it’s fine for you like this? You can still go back to your own room, if you don’t-…”, she started, but Vi stopped her with a kiss on top of her head: “No, what I want to say is: It feels good. You’re warm.”, she whispered, and Caitlyn felt her heart bloom at the sound of these words.
But before she could give her a sweet answer, Vi added: “Except your feet, how the hell are you living with these ice-blocks?!”, she snickered, and Caitlyn giggled after she boxed her chest softly: “Hey! It’s not my fault, and besides, you could warm them for me, you’re a walking heater!”, she countered, and pressed her ice-cold, naked feet under her boxers’ short leg and against the side of Vi’s naked thighs, who squeaked immediately at the horrible cold: “HEY!! No! NO! Please, put them away, ah!! No-…!!”
They started to squabble, by Caitlyn trying to press her ice-blocks of feet against Vi’s exposed skin, and Vi trying to prevent that from happening.
“STOP!”, Vi begged out of breath, and pinned Caitlyn’s wrists down over her head, while she had straddled her.
“… your height really is an advantage, I must admit, you’re stronger than you look.”, the model chuckled, still out of breath, and Caitlyn looked up to her with a sly smirk: “I told you before: Do not underestimate me.”, she winked, and bit her lower lip, when she unwillingly focused Vi’s lips.
The fact that she was sitting on her didn’t make the need inside her any better.
Vi noticed the hungry look on the other woman’s face, and their position also had an effect on her: “… can I…?”, she mumbled, and Caitlyn pulled her down into a kiss as an answer, which started heated but slowed down to a soft and sensual making-out.
Vi carefully rolled off Caitlyn, so they laid on their sides, without breaking the kiss for just a second.
She gently caressed with her knuckles over Caitlyn’s cheek, while the photographer let her hand run slow and soft over Vi’s back.
It lasted a while, before they both broke the kiss to catch their breaths.
“… you feel so right...”, Vi whispered, but her voice had a hint of sadness in it, which Caitlyn noticed.
She wiped a few pink strands out of Vi’s face and kissed the tip of her nose lovingly: “You, too. But you don’t have to rush things, if you don’t feel ready. Okay? As long as you are honest with me, I’m willing to wait.”, she whispered back, while she got lost into Vi’s greyish blue eyes, which still seemed so bright in the dark hotel room.
“… okay.”
Chapter 14: Doubts
Summary:
Welcome back!
Our useless lesbians made some steps to each other over the last chapters.
But this story is tagged as a 'Slow Burn', right? :D
So... they will take a few steps back now.I hope you like the new chapter, the next one is already in the making.
Thank you for reading and all your kudos and comments by now, I'm always happy to read what you think!
Chapter Text
Chapter 14 – Doubts
Vi laid wide awake.
The clock on the nightstand was showing 02:30am, and the only light came from the TV’s little, red LED on the bottom side of it.
Her eyes had adjusted to the dark room, and she could hear some single cars driving by the hotel outside and sometimes even a few voices of people that were still out in the city.
And Caitlyn, of course.
Her breathing was calm and quiet, she looked completely relaxed – She seemed to feel safe beside Vi in the cozy bed.
She laid on her side with one hand tucked under her head and with the other, she softly held the hem of the short sleeve of Vi’s shirt that she wore for sleeping.
It was just a tiny, physical touch.
She didn’t really occupy Vi’s personal space, but she was still close and kept a connection to her.
Vi turned her head slowly to the other woman, and her brain started doubtful thoughts.
Was it right? To be here with her? Like this? With Caitlyn being so obvious with wanting her?
To keep the distance right at the border of a commitment?
Vi didn’t knew if it was right. But she knew, it wasn’t fair.
Vi wasn’t fair to Caitlyn.
Maybe she should take more risks and take some faster steps into her direction.
Maybe she was too careful, too frightened of what could go wrong.
But what if Jinx was right?
That the British woman wasn’t better than the rest of the toxic high society they met before in their life?
People who went over dead bodies for money and power.
People, who used persons like Vi and Jinx for their goals under the cover of real interest and dropped them when they were done? When they got what they wanted?
Vi frowned and observed the peacefully sleeping photographer next to her a bit more.
She wasn’t like this. Was she?
But what did she really know about her?
All what happened between them felt good, there was no doubt.
But it was also always clumsy, kind of rushed and always covered in a layer of insecurity and hesitation.
There was always something that felt like it separated them, even if it was a marginal as a thin piece of paper that kept a millimeter of distance – Or like a border that was too dangerous, too risky to cross.
Vi realized that the closer she got to Caitlyn the last weeks, the more she distanced herself at the same time. It didn’t make sense to her, but those confusing feelings inside her were real.
And then, Vi slowly realized: She knew close to nothing about Caitlyn.
~
Caitlyn opened her eyes when her alarm went off in the morning.
“Mh~”, she stretched with closed eyes and reached over to the nightstand on her side to turn the alarm on her phone off.
She rolled back and reached for Vi, to wrap her arms around her and cuddle up to her for some more warm and cozy minutes – But she found the bed empty.
“Vi…?”
Caitlyn opened her eyes, and she turned the bedside lamp on, but her senses hadn’t betrayed her.
Vi wasn’t there.
She sat up and looked around with a sad frown, had she really left her in the middle of the night?
Thousands of thoughts rumbled through her head, and she felt her heart getting heavier.
She touched the side of the bed with her flat hand where Vi laid when she had fallen asleep, and she noticed that the spot was still warm, so she couldn’t be gone for long by now, she concluded.
But why would she leave her, just like that?
She checked both nightstands, but there wasn’t a note or any other sign or message from the model.
She grabbed her phone to check her notifications, but there wasn’t any message from Vi as well.
Caitlyn bit her lower lip, it hurt her more than she wanted to admit, but before a single tear was able to build up in the corners of her eyes, she heard something from the bathroom’s direction.
The bathroom door opened, and a waft of warm fog came out of it, followed by Vi, dressed in fresh boxers and a sports bra, rubbing her wet hair with a towel.
“Oh, hey. Good morning, Cupcake. Did I wake you?”, she greeted her, and a huge load fell off Caitlyn’s chest.
“Good morning…”, she sighed relieved, “… no, you didn’t. The alarm went off already.”, she answered, and Vi frowned confused: “Is everything okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn shook her head and waved her off: “Oh, no. No, it’s nothing. I guess I’m just tired, it was a long day yesterday.”, she said, and got off the bed: “Can I use the bathroom? Or do you need some more minutes?”, she asked, and tried to overplay the bad feelings she had a few moments ago, which didn’t want to completely fade away again yet.
“No, I’m done. I’ll get dressed and wait for you then, okay? We can go grab breakfast when you’re ready.”, Vi suggested, and Caitlyn agreed with a nod: “Yes, okay.”
-
Caitlyn stood under the hot water.
Her head was spinning, why was she so afraid that Vi could have left in the night?
She had told her she was free to go, if she felt the need to.
She hadn’t the right to even be mad or judge her if she had really left, and not only went to take a shower before the alarm went off.
The tall woman sighed frustrated, if she was honest, she knew exactly why she felt that way.
She wanted more.
So desperately more.
She wanted to be closer to Vi, she wanted to be with her.
Officially.
She had never fallen so hard and fast for someone like she had for Vi.
But those intense feelings also scared her a little.
Normally, she was way more rational and well thought out.
It wasn’t her way to be led that much by her emotions, to be willing to ignore facts, evaluate risks and without looking from outside, from a neutral perspective at the whole situation.
“Bloody hell…”, she sighed frustrated, and took a deep breath.
She shook off her train of thoughts and started to wash her body and hair.
They had work to do.
And she didn’t want to be late to today’s appointments, as Mel said: The schedule was tight.
There was no time now for a hourlong shower to make up her mind, and Vi was also waiting for her.
-
When Caitlyn left the bathroom, she found Vi scrolling through her phone with an expression that seemed troubled and somehow even kind of angry.
“Are you alright?”, Caitlyn asked, and sat down next to Vi, who groaned: “These fuckers…”, she mumbled, and gave her phone to Caitlyn, “They really can’t live without rumors and stories for their tabloids. People really love gossip way too much.”, she sighed annoyed, and let herself fall onto her back on the mattress with another groan.
Caitlyn took the phone and scrolled slowly through the posts that were open on the screen, and her face changed from curious, to confused, to troubled: “What-… when?! How? Why??”
The internet was flooded with photos and short videoclips that showed her and Vi at the Königsallee shooting, how they stood close to each other, how they looked at each other and how they interacted with each other.
And every single one of them had a comment or headline on it that assumed that there was something going on between them, along with some other assumptions that were partly harmless but also partly very exaggerated.
There were even shipping-edits of them going round on TikTok, with sounds that were used for romantic videos and also thirst-traps.
“Shit.”, Caitlyn hissed, and scrolled through some more of the posts, before she gave it back to Vi: “Can’t we do something against this?”, she asked, and Vi wiped her hand over her face, before she answered: “No. Not really, tho. We only have a few options. We can just ignore it, make an official statement, whatever this would be, or we… well. Use it for promotion. The latter would be Mel’s choice, you can expect her to somehow use this for promo.”, Vi sighed pissed, closed her eyes and laid her arms left and right from her out.
Caitlyn huffed and thought a moment about it, before she talked again: “What would you want?”, she asked, and Vi opened her eyes again and propped herself up on her elbows: “Uh. What?”, she asked back, and Caitlyn turned more to the other woman: “I mean, what would you want to do about this? This is about me and you, Vi, you should decide what to do, too.”
Vi looked into Caitlyn’s eyes for a moment, before she chewed on her lower lip and looked down into her own lap.
What does she want?
A lot of thoughts ran through Vi’s head again, and all those from the night came back up suddenly, too.
Caitlyn had asked her what she wanted, she cared. And if she cared, she couldn’t be that bad, right?
But pretending to care was something familiar to Vi, so she forced herself to keep being careful.
But would it be so bad if people thought she had something going on with Caitlyn?
She couldn’t find a quick answer to this, so she decided to pass the question back to her: “I mean, what do you want?”, she asked, and Caitlyn blinked a few times, before she shrugged a bit and answered with a neutral expression: “Well, I mean… it already happened, right? When I saw it correctly, these posts are already several hours old, and they have a quite high reach. So, I don’t know. If we can get something out of this, it wouldn’t be that bad, would it?”
Something cracked inside Vi when she heard this answer.
Alarm bells rang in her head, and she felt herself taking even more distance to the photographer.
“… yes, maybe.”, Vi answered, even if she felt completely different about all this, so she changed the topic on an instant: “However, let’s go grab some breakfast, I’m starving.” – “Oh! Sure, we can go right away.”
They walked downstairs, and Vi developed an uneasy feeling about Caitlyn.
She hadn’t expected an answer that was so similar to the one she heard before some years ago.
~
Vi tried to do her best when she was posing inside the first three brand stores this late morning.
Her head wasn’t what one could call clear, the lack of sleep from last night and all the thoughts that rotated in her head made it hard for her to focus, but she somehow managed to keep her professional façade up.
“Good! Alright, I think we got it.”, Mel nodded, when she checked the outcome on a tablet that she carried with her, “We need to head over to the next and last sponsor. Pack your stuff, guys, we don’t have time to lose! We have a flight to catch afterwards.”
Said and done, the crew made their way over to the next brand store, and Caitlyn walked up to Vi, who walked a bit faster at the front of the group: “Hey, are you okay?”, she asked whispering, but Vi didn’t turn her head to her: “Yeah, why?”, she simply asked back, and Caitlyn frowned: “If you want me to be honest, I have the feeling you’re avoiding me since this morning.”
“I don’t.”
She did.
“I’m just tired, it had been hard days. It’s not about you.”
It was.
“Okay, please tell me if I can do something for you, alright? After this job we can relax a bit, as soon as we’re back in England.”, Caitlyn smiled caring, and Vi just nodded.
There it was again.
This caring behavior of Caitlyn, it was so genuine, so respectful and wholesome.
How could this be faked? Was it possible to be cold and calculating behind these caring eyes?
“We’re almost done, you’re doing so good.”, Caitlyn smiled genuine, after Vi had just nodded.
And this smile confused Vi even more with all her mixed emotions and thoughts.
-
The last shooting went fine, Vi was a professional after all.
She knew how to act, even if she felt like punching everyone that just looked at her for a single second, the anger inside her grew with every thought that got more intrusive or that she simply overthought.
She needed time for herself, and that was something she wouldn’t get for a longer while now, as she shared the Airbnb in England with her sister, and they would fly over to Lanzarote in 2 days, where she wouldn’t have much time for herself either.
It stressed her, more than she wanted to admit.
“Vi?”
Vi blinked herself out of her unfocused state and found her sister in front of her: “Hey. Are you okay? We need to go. You look…”, Jinx started, and made a thoughtful face: “You look like you’re floating in another dimension. Yeah, that’s it. So, mind telling me what’s wrong?”, she asked, and Vi forced herself to take a few deep breaths, to somehow calm herself a bit: “It’s nothing, I just need a time-out after all this.”, she said.
It was a lie, but she didn’t want to bother her little sister with this, especially as she was the one who warned her about Caitlyn being a Kiramman, and therefore, being on top of England’s high society.
Jinx frowned, crossed her arms and gave her a piercing gaze: “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me – Your problem. Just remember, you can come to me the same way I can come to you: Always, and no matter what. ‘k?”, she said, and Vi sighed tired: “Yes, I know. Thanks, Pow-Pow.”
-
After every shot and video was taken and everything was packed again, the whole crew left for the airport.
The part of the project in Germany was done, and now there was just one location left.
Mel was more than satisfied by now with the outcome of everyone’s work, she was convinced that the team she put together was the best possible, and she was willing to get the most out of it.
~
Back in England, Caitlyn asked Mel to have a talk – And so, she came with her into the apartment she lived in with Jayce, instead of going home first.
Vi had avoided Caitlyn for the rest of the day, and as she didn’t sit next to her in the plane like on the flight to Germany, she wasn’t able to say more to her than a quick ‘Bye, see you!’, after they all had separated at the airport after landing.
“Okay, what do you want to talk about so urgently?”, the dark-skinned woman asked, and Caitlyn put down the cup of tea again of which she had taken a sip from the moment before: “It’s about something that broke loose on the internet.”, she sighed, and Mel chuckled amused: “Oh dear, I already saw it. Don’t worry, you won’t have any disadvantages because of this rumor. I think the only thing that may be a little… let’s say, unpleasant, is that your parents have most likely already seen it, too.”, she said amused, and Caitlyn groaned: “Oh my, yes… they most likely have. But that’s not what I mean, I talked about what we should do about it with Vi, and she told me that you will most likely want to use this for promotion? How exactly would you do that?”, Caitlyn asked, and took another sip of her tea.
“Oh.”, Mel got more serious again, and a light smirk tugged at one corner of her mouth, “Well, I already explained to you that bad publicity is still publicity, right? It’s similar with this. When you two fuel these rumors, there will be more news, postings, talking – Attention.”, Mel explained, and leaned back in her chair, “And attention means, people will talk about you two. And that means, they will also share content that’s directly related to our agency and our works. Do you understand?”
Caitlyn listened, and she hesitantly nodded: “I think I do, yes. She also said you did that before? What happened back then?”, Caitlyn asked, and Mel rolled her eyes: “Oh, that story. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. There were similar photos of Vi with some girl I didn’t know when she started to work for me. We used them to push her career, to get people talk about her. And as I said, VI isn’t very talk active. So, the whole thing went well for her career boost, but this girl made a big drama out of it. I don’t know what they exactly were, maybe she was a hookup that wanted more or something, I can’t tell you more.”, Mel shrugged, “… but what I can tell you is, using the photos for promotion worked. We should do that with these of you two now, too.”
Caitlyn got an uneasy feeling about the story Mel just told her.
“Wait a second.”, she said, and gave Mel a serious look: “Vi told me she hasn’t dated anyone in a longer time now.”, she said, and Mel immediately interrupted her: “Cait, as I said: I don’t know who that girl was, and it didn’t matter, it worked. Don’t you want another boost? It would be a boost for you both.”
Caitlyn’s frown deepened: “Mel, what I want is a consensual solution for this situation. And to be honest, this is something Vi and me have to decide, I’m only asking you because Vi mentioned that you used such a situation before. And to be honest, this sounds like one of these stories of you that I don’t like or approve. You know more about who that girl was, don’t you? Don’t lie to me. I thought we’re friends.”, Caitlyn demanded, and Mel sighed while her face got more serious again: “Okay, listen. I don’t know what this is about and why you’re accusing me of keeping information from you. I really don’t know who that girl was. But what I know is that you gaze through your rose-tinted glasses when you look at Vi, and all you see is an illusion.”, Mel said, and crossed her arms.
Caitlyn didn’t interrupt her, she wanted to hear what Mel had to say – Even if she felt anger boiling up inside her.
“Yes, Vi also made a drama out of it. Afterwards. Okay? But Cait, I told you before and I tell you again: Vi isn’t the hurt puppy you see in her, and don’t come at me, I can see how you look at her. Your helper’s syndrome is showing with that girl, and I just want to protect you, because you are my friend and your wellbeing is important to me.”, Mel said, and huffed offended, before she continued: “Listen. I can only tell you what I saw and experienced with her since she works for me. And I’m seeing a woman that, yes, I admit it, had a very troubling and hard past. But what I also see is a player and heartbreaker in the present. And you met her in this present now.”
There was a short pause in which both women took a deep breath to calm their nerves, as they both were raised to have diplomatic and objective conversations and discussions, regardless of the topic.
Political parents seemed to have the same way of raising their children.
“You always tell me that Vi is a heartbreaker, but you never even once gave me a single example, a single story, a single proof of this accusations. Mel, I told you before: I appreciate that you want to protect me after what happened with my last girlfriend, but how can I believe you without any evidence or proof?”, Caitlyn asked, and her angry frown became a sad one.
Mel sighed.
She leaned forward and took Caitlyn’s hand on the table they sat at, before she gave her a caring look: “Okay, I understand. And I’m sorry if I was too harsh with you about this topic. I can show you something, let me just get my laptop.”, she said, let go of Caitlyn’s hand again and got up to get said laptop.
Caitlyn waited and emptied her cup of tea in the time Mel went to the other room and sighed.
She felt uneasy, and somehow also scared about what her friend was about to show her, but the way Vi had treated her since the morning also made her want to know more about what really happened in the past and what Mel was so cautious about when it came to her meeting up with the model.
Mel came back and clicked a few times on her laptop, before she turned the screen to Caitlyn.
“Look. These are the photos we used a few years ago for promotion, to get people talk about Vi.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn clicked through the few pictures.
It showed a feminine looking woman with long, red hair, a skinny shape and obvious curves, who stood in front of a café with Vi. They held both their hands in each other’s, but Caitlyn couldn’t really make out the emotions of them.
Mel turned the screen to herself again and opened another file, before she turned it to Caitlyn again.
“And these are all the mails and scanned letters that a lot of women send to us, because of Vi. Read a few of them.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn pulled the laptop to herself to be able to read some of the documents.
“Vi <3
I can’t forget last night, please, you forgot to give me your contact, so I’m trying this way now, call me!
0174xxxxxxx”
“Violet, why do you ignore me?? You can’t treat me like that, this will have consequences!!”
“Vi, I need you! Please meet up again, okay? I’m waiting for you, you know where you can find me <3”
“Vi,
You know we belong together, be honest to yourself and admit it!
Call me, and I promise to make you happy ;)
0156xxxxxx”
“Vi, please let me sit on your face, I can’t stop thinking about you <3”
“Vi <3
I can’t stop thinking about your arms, I need you to shove them inside me!
Meet me at the Wynn Hotel tonight, room 1573, I know you stay some more days in Vegas ;)
Love you <3”
“To: Vi
Vi, I saw the way you looked at me at the Ruby Fruit. I’ll be in L.A. for the rest of the week, meet me and my pussy is all yours <3
0178xxxxxx”
Caitlyn turned the laptop back to Mel, she didn’t want to read any more of these, as the messages got more and more dirty.
“…”
Mel took the laptop back, and sighed at her friend: “See? This is why I want to protect you. She can’t be trusted.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn groaned frustrated: “Mel… do you have any proof that she actually responded or met up with these girls?”, Caitlyn asked, and Mel tilted her head: “No, but. Isn’t it obvious? A lot here referred to previous meetings and talk about meeting her again.”, she said, and Caitlyn got more and more confused about the whole situation.
“Even if she did hook up with all these women. If. That doesn’t mean she’s a cheater, does it?”, Caitlyn asked, and her voice came out more insecure than she intended.
“Oh my god, Caitlyn. You really want to see the good girl in her, don’t you?”, Mel sighed, and took Caitlyn’s hands in hers again while she listened to the photographer: “I just… even if I try my best to look at her with neutral eyes, I can’t see her as someone who would act and behave like this.”, Caitlyn said with a sorrowful voice, “But she also got very distant since this morning. She said she’s just tired, exhausted, but I can’t get rid of the feeling that it’s actually because of me.”, she shared her worries, and Mel softly squeezed her hands: “Okay, Cait, listen. You’re a wonderful, beautiful and successful woman. You don’t need her. You need someone who’s willing to try, to take a risk, and not keep you on a distance, on a long leash. Don’t get yourself played, remember how devastated you was because of Corina? You swore that you will never let a woman make you feel like this again. And I get that you thought that Vi could be different. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I just ask you as a friend to rethink this whole thing again and remember what I just showed you. Okay?”, Mel asked her to, and Caitlyn nodded hesitantly.
“Yes, okay.”
Chapter 15: Anger Issues
Summary:
Hello and welcome back to our useless lesbians <3
We will go through a lot of emotional hurt now, caused by many factors.
But don't worry, we will get to the comfort again, that's a promise :)So, let's go with chapter 15! I hope you like it :D
Chapter Text
Chapter 15 – Anger Issues
“Okay, enough!!”
Jinx crossed her arms and looked down to her sister, who had snug herself under a blanket on the couch of their Airbnb in front of the TV, armed with a bag of Protein Chips and a can of Guinness beer.
“What? You’re blocking the screen.”, Vi just scoffed, and Jinx took the remote control to simply turn the TV off again: “You’re going to tell me what you’re sulking about, right here, right now!! GO!!”, Jinx demanded, and Vi just pulled the hood of her hoodie deeper into her face with an angry pout on her lips: “No.”
A dangerous sparkle ran through Jinx’ blue eyes, and her face got a menacing expression: “That’s your last chance, Violet, don’t make me use my secret weapon.”, she threatened, and Vi drew her thick eyebrows together to an even angrier expression: “I said: No.”
That was her death sentence, as Jinx had absolutely no mercy.
The younger sister ripped the blanket away and jumped with force onto the other woman, started to tickle her in every weak spot she learned about her whole life and used the weakness that this caused in Vi’s body to pin her down.
“I’ll ask you again: What are you sulking about? You were head over heels yesterday, and now you almost look like the time Sarah Fortune fucked that ugly dude in your apartment.”, she demanded, and at the mention of her cheating ex, a switch was thrown inside the model’s head.
“Do NOT mention this stupid bitch EVER again, do you hear me??”
For a few seconds, time stood still.
Vi didn’t know what happened in the moment between Jinx pinning her down and herself leaning over her sister now, grabbing her wrists with more force than needed and a furious expression on her face, while Jinx looked up to her with frightened, big eyes.
“…no. No- … I’m-… I’m sorry, I-…”, Vi loosened the grip immediately, and got off her sister while she stared at her own hands, “Powder, I-… I didn’t want to-… that-…”
Jinx got up and pulled Vi wordless into a tight hug.
“… will you tell me what’s wrong now?”, she whispered carefully, and held her older sister, regardless of the fact that she had hurt her the moment before.
Jinx could feel Vi’s body starting to tremble and hot tears falling on her shoulder, and she waited for her to find her words.
Vi was still shocked at the way her anger exploded, it hadn’t happened in a longer time now, and she worried more about the fact that she put Jinx at danger than about herself having a mental breakdown.
A hint of her anger issues had shown when she met Caitlyn at the photographers first afterparty, when she had grabbed her wrist and ripped it away, but this now – This was different. She had snapped, and this was something she had sworn to herself that it would never happen again.
But it did.
Jinx led them both down to sit on the couch together, she still held her and let Vi cry out what she had kept inside for too long.
Vi slowly loosened the hug and leaned back into the backrest of the couch, while she pulled her hood back over her head: “… I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you, that’s-…”, she started, but Jinx interrupted her: “Vi. I know. It’s not about this right now, I know you good enough to know that you would never hurt me on purpose. Just tell me why you’re so upset that it triggered this kind of anger inside you. You didn’t snap this hard since years!”, the younger one demanded, and Vi took a few deep breaths.
“I think I love her.”
Jinx frowned: “I thought that was the goal of this whole thing?”, she asked confused, but she forced herself to keep quiet and wait for Vi to find more words to explain herself and her emotions.
“Yeah, but I can’t unsee what you told me about her being a Kiramman. And… do you remember the time Mel used these photos of Sarah and me for promotion? She exploited them to get attention, and just nothing they wrote about us was true. And now there are these photos and videos of Cait and me, and… and when I asked her what she wants to do about it, she-… she sounded so much like Mel back then.”, Vi tried her best to explain, and after a sob, she continued: “She said, as it already happened, as it has already went quite viral, why shouldn’t we use it. No hesitation. No emotion. Just this.”
Jinx worried face became a little angrier when she heard this.
“I knew it. I fucking knew it!! She’s no different to these other assholes who were born with a golden spoon in their fucking mouths.”, Jinx hissed, and crossed her arms.
“But you know, her first reaction was to ask me what I want. How I would want to go about this.”, Vi suddenly sobbed, and pulled her knees up to her chest, “I’m so fucking confused, she’s so caring, but then there are these situations where I don’t know if she’s really different or if this all is a show just to use me, to get something from me.”, Vi tried to explain why her nerves were on the edge.
“Hm.”, Jinx made a thoughtful noise, “You know. I told you a while ago that you won’t find out anything if you just never even try. But as your sister and with all this information, I really don’t want you to keep going on dates with this privileged chick. We find you someone who’s real. For a moment I thought she really isn’t that bad, that you were right that she’s different. But something was odd the whole time, and this all sounds like that she’s about to show her ugly face soon. And you should get off the sinking ship as early as possible, even if it may hurt a bit now.”, Jinx said, and Vi felt more hot tears coming up.
“… you may be right, but I. I don’t want this. What if I exaggerate things? Because I’m still too broken to really trust again? What if I’m doing her wrong right now?”, Vi asked, more herself than Jinx, but her sister kept being hard: “Vi. You just told me that she said the exact same thing as Mel did back then, and you know what this was about: Getting attention, promotion or whatever at the cost of your feelings! That’s freaking fucked up!!”
Vi closed her eyes tight and held her forehead with both her hands.
This whole situation gave her a headache, and she wasn’t able to think straight.
She didn’t know what to think anymore, it was simply too much.
“… I should get some sleep.”, she sighed defeated, and Jinx sank with a loud sigh into the couch: “Yeah, maybe. Get your head clear, sis’, and tell me if I can do something for you.”, she said, and Vi nodded as she stood up: “Yeah. I will, thanks, Pow-Pow.”, she sighed tired, pressed a platonic kiss on her sister’s head and made her way over to the bathroom and after that to the bedroom that she used for the time they lived there.
It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, even if her head was full of thoughts, the exhaustion was stronger.
~
Caitlyn was back in her apartment meanwhile.
A lot of thoughts ran through her head on the way back after her visit at Mel and Jayce’ apartment.
She asked herself what she really wanted from Vi and if the Vi she wanted was real, or if Mel was right and her gaze was fogged by an illusion.
An illusion of a woman she wanted so bad at her side, that she didn’t want to see what Mel showed her just a few minutes ago.
But Vi felt so right, didn’t she? Of course, she wasn’t perfect.
No one was perfect, Caitlyn herself also wasn’t perfect, she knew that.
But Vi’s behavior changed so suddenly this morning, Caitlyn racked her brain about if she did or said something that caused this change in Vi’s behavior in front of her, but she just couldn’t come up with an answer to that.
Vi herself had suggested to use these postings online of them for promotion, didn’t she?
She had phrased it as an option, right?
But Mel’s information about this whole topic made her question if she had understood Vi’s opinion about it all wrong.
Or was this about her being unnecessarily jealous when those fans came up to Vi?
The model had openly communicated to her that she wasn’t okay with Caitlyn acting up like this, but she also said she hadn’t really fucked up, that this were the kind of things they still needed to learn about each other – But what if she in fact had fucked up? And Vi just realized it a little later, that this was a bigger deal for her than she thought before?
It gave Caitlyn a headache, she really needed rest.
She had taken a hot shower after she entered her apartment, had ordered food and sipped on a glass of cold water now, sitting on her couch.
When she heard the doorbell ring, she turned her head with a confused look on her face – Hadn’t she ordered only 5 minutes ago?
She went over to the door, pressed the button to open the front door of the building and opened the one of her apartment to wait for whoever rang the doorbell.
When she saw who was coming up the staircase, she felt the urge to immediately shut the door again.
“What are you two doing here?! How did you even find out my address??”, she asked with a frown, and looked into her parents’ eyes.
“Caitlyn, I think it is really time for us to have a talk.”, Cassandra said, and just walked past her to enter the apartment, followed by Tobias, who gave his daughter an apologetic look.
And so, the Kiramman’s walked into the living room together.
Tobias looked around with a soft smile, and Cassandra walked up to the big glass front and looked outside, while Caitlyn just stood in the middle of the room with crossed arms and mixed feelings.
“You chose a quite nice spot, sweetheart.”, Tobias said, obviously trying to loosen the tension in the room, but it didn’t really work.
Caitlyn just huffed, shook her head and turned her head to her mother: “You haven’t answered my questions.”, she demanded, and Cassandra turned around to her daughter: “Caitlyn, dear. We are your parents, isn’t it obvious that we are here to check on you? And about the address, you do realize what power our family holds, don’t you? Getting the address of my own daughter? That was a child’s play, come on.”
Caitlyn huffed again, anger, confusion and disbelief were visible and hearable, and she let herself fall defeated onto her big couch.
“And now? What do you want? What do you expect me to do? Quit my job, sell the apartment and come back to my room at yours?”, she asked defiant, like she was 15 and in full puberty-mode again.
“No.”, was the short and clear answer that came from her mother, who walked over and sat down across from Caitlyn, while Tobias sat down next to his daughter, “I want an explanation for these paparazzi photos and videos that are all over the internet.”, Cassandra said, “With this. This woman.”
Tobias gave Caitlyn a warm and genuine smile when he added: “Is she your girlfriend? We’d like to meet her, if so.”, he said, and Cassandra nodded agreeing.
Caitlyn leaned back a little more than before and rolled her eyes.
Of course, it was that.
What else should it be?
“Apparently, there’s nothing to explain. And no. She’s not my girlfriend.”, she said, frustration, a hint of hurt and disappointment was in her voice, and the frown on her face deepened, “These people just took pictures and videos of us working. That isn’t that big of a deal.”, she added, and couldn’t hold back a little pout on her lips.
“Okay.”, was the simple answer of the elder woman, and she observed Caitlyn’s body language for a moment, before she sighed and loosened her stern face visibly: “Caitlyn. Your father and I have talked a lot about you and your decisions lately. And I also talked to Mel about your work, and what she told me… well. Surprised me. Not that you are successful, you are successful in everything you do, you are a Kiramman after all. But I would have never thought what chances and what big of a name in what short time you could make with this kind of career. And I must admit, I did you wrong.”
Caitlyn blinked confused when she heard those words.
She had expected a lot, but not this.
Not that her mother would basically storm out of nowhere into her apartment to apologize.
“Of course, I would have loved to see you stepping into my footprints, but your father made me realize that you need to choose your own path, if this is what you wish. I think I am too much of my mother’s daughter, I always did everything to pave your way for you, and I never asked you if you even want to walk it. I want to apologize for treating you like this, Caitlyn.”, Cassandra said, and if Caitlyn didn’t know better, she could swear she saw a gleam of tears in her mother’s eyes.
Caitlyn stared at her with an open mouth, and she tried to get her thinking straight, before she shook her head a little and answered: “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? And now you expect me to forgive you and everything’s fine again?!”, she asked, an offended huff left her throat, and she wiped her right hand over her forehead and back over her head: “This is-… I really can’t-… I-…”
And then, Caitlyn’s emotional strength was ultimately depleted – It was just too much lately.
Tears started running down her face, she sobbed and leaned forward, while she covered her face with both her hands.
Tobias immediately pulled his daughter into his arms and started to softly caress her back to sooth her: “Caithy… it’s alright. We’re here. We’re always there for you, you know that…”, he whispered, and Caitlyn slung her arms around him, too, when she heard that and held herself on her father.
Cassandra sighed with a worried look, got up and sat down on Caitlyn’s other side to join the hug carefully: “Do you mind telling us what is on your mind, darling?”, she asked, and Caitlyn needed a moment to calm enough to be able to talk.
They did her wrong, that was a fact.
But what Caitlyn also realized in this moment was, even if she didn’t agree with everything her parents stood for, or what they did in the past – She always had loving parents, no matter what happened between them, they’d always be there if she needed them.
Every single second of her life.
And that was a privilege that couldn’t be compared to all the money and status she had, just by being born as a Kiramman.
Maybe she wasn’t always fair to them as well, Caitlyn thought.
Maybe she had failed to see that some of the decisions her parents made against her will were really for the better.
“I… I don’t even know why this bothers me so much, honestly.”, Caitlyn chuckled with despair in her voice, “I walked a way that I always wanted. And my life is good. I have my dream job, build up a name in the scene, I bought my own apartment here in London, I-… I got what I wanted.”, Caitlyn started to try to explain, and her parents listened carefully to their daughter.
“The irony is so bitter, really, it’s ridiculous.”, she shook her head, took a deep breath and continued: “She was the job that opened me all these doors. Because of her, I immediately had the big players’ interest in my work. And now she’s the cause I feel like a heartbroken teenager.”, she huffed bitter, “… maybe Mel was right. Maybe she is a heartbreaker.”, she mumbled, and silence filled the room for a moment.
Tobias frowned worried at the words his daughter said right now, and Cassandra connected the dots in an instant: “Caitlyn, what happened between you and this model?”, she asked, and the younger Kiramman felt new tears build up: “Well I… I thought this could become something serious, I really did. It went so well, I mean, we had starting difficulties, yes. But the more we got to know each other, the closer we became. I thought so, at least. But since this morning, something is odd. She avoids me, and I don’t know why. She told me it’s not about me, but I’m not stupid.”, Caitlyn tried to explain, and a sob left her throat again: “I thought… maybe she could be the one. But I was naive to think that someone like this exists.”
Cassandra was the first to talk, after Caitlyn had tried to explain what was upsetting her so much: “Caitlyn, I understand that this must be hurtful. But maybe you should look at it that way: You can stop this connection now before more damage can be made. I also have to admit, when I saw her, I hoped that the rumors aren’t true. She’s not like us, Caitlyn, and Mel told me a bit about her as well.”, she said, and Caitlyn turned her head to her mother with a frown: “Why did you talk with Mel about Vi??”, she asked, the anger came back up inside her on that information.
Tobias immediately tried to calm the situation and spoke up, before his wife could: “Because we were worried about you, Caithy. We tried to get information about where you are and with whom you are. You’ll always be our little girl, no matter how old you get.”, he said, and Caitlyn pulled herself out from her parents loving hug to stand up and turn around to face them.
“I can’t believe you did this! And I also can’t believe Mel didn’t tell me that you contacted her!! I can’t trust nobody anymore, what the bloody hell is going on here?!”, she got loud, and Tobias got carefully up with his hands up in a defensive position: “Caitlyn, sweetheart… we just want you to understand that we care about you and that we want to be sure that you are safe. You ran away from home, we had to do something!”, he tried to explain why they did what they did, and Caitlyn felt her headache getting worse.
“Get out.”, she spit, the hurt in her voice was obvious.
“Pardon?”, Cassandra asked disbelieving, and Caitlyn looked her dead in the eye: “I said: Get out. Both of you.”, she repeated, and Tobias approached his daughter carefully: “Caitlyn, please, we-…”, he started, but said woman interrupted him with an angry, tearstained face: “You heard me! Get. Out!”
Tobias sighed with a sad face and turned to his wife: “Come on, darling. Let’s give her the space and time she needs.”, he said, and Cassandra got up as well: “Caitlyn, please remember that we just want the best for you. Our door is always open.”, the elder woman said, and Caitlyn couldn’t hold back a loud sob when she heard those words.
Why was everyone giving her so many mixed signals?
The confusion inside her grew, and now it wasn’t only Vi, now it was also Mel, one of her best friends, and even her parents.
Who could she even trust anymore?
-
Vi woke up, not even 2 hours after she had fallen asleep.
She noticed that her face was covered in tears, and she wiped them aggressively away.
She was angry at herself for feeling all the anger and sadness inside her.
“… fuck.”, she cursed, and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand to gulp it down in one big sip.
Why did all this upset her so much?
It wasn’t that she and Caitlyn had already much of a history, or an established relationship, or feelings that had grown so much that they could actually call it love.
But still, it stung.
It stung so painfully, she wanted to just rip out her hurting heart and throw it away, so she hadn’t had to feel this awful pain any second longer.
“Tch…”, she made a disappointed sound to herself, and fell back into the soft mattress below her.
She felt stupid to think that Caitlyn was honest with her when she told her that she wasn’t interested in her connections and the possibilities that Vi held inside the scene, and that she was honestly interested in her, in Vi as a person.
But there was still this tiny voice in the back of her mind, that tried to keep a connection to her heart.
Caitlyn meant something to Vi, that was a fact, regardless of what happened.
And there was still a hint of a spark that fought for its life, desperate to keep up the smallest drop of hope, even if the entirety of the rest of Vi tried to extinguish that little spark with force.
And this overthinking led her into a spiral of dark thoughts.
She mentally accused Caitlyn of things of which she didn’t even know if they were true or not.
And this fueled her anger issues even more.
Vi rolled out of the bed and onto the floor, where she started to do pushups, wearing just the boxers that she wore for sleeping.
She had to channel the anger into action, so she tried to blow off some steam by tiring her body with some exercises.
Vi changed to one-armed pushups after a while and changed from one arm to the other when the first’s strength gave up.
She changed her arms so long until she couldn’t push her body a single millimeter up from the floor anymore, so she just laid flat on the ground with aching arms, an aching back and empty eyes.
But finally, the anger had vanished into exhaustion.
-
“I came as fast as I could!”
Jayce entered Caitlyn’s apartment completely out of breath, and he closed the door behind him.
Caitlyn seemed to just have opened it after he rang the doorbell and left again, as he found her wrapped up in a blanket on her big couch in the living room.
A bag of takeaway stood on the kitchen counter, and it seemed like it wasn’t even touched.
“Cait…”, he sighed worried, and sat down beside her, laid one of his big hands on the sobbing mess under the blanket and waited for her to find some words.
“Why… why is everyone treating me like that….?”, Caitlyn cried, and Jayce frowned slightly, he didn’t understand yet what his little sister-by-choice was talking about, so he gave her a bit more time.
“I-… I thought Vi was really interested in me, she even directly said it! And now she avoids me, and I don’t even know why or what I did or… argh! And-… and then my parents, who do they think they are?! They say they care, and that they want to protect me, but all they-… all they do is, hng, all they do is control me!”, Caitlyn sobbed, and then her voice got a little angrier along the clear sadness: “And now, I can’t even trust Mel anymore! Did you know that my parents contacted her?! And that she told them where I am and with whom I am, and they even talked, whatever, about Vi??”, she asked him, and then, she faced him for the first time on this late evening: “And don’t lie to me. I can’t use another liar!”
Jayce opened his mouth, his brain was still processing the flood of information that Caitlyn had released on him, so he closed it again for a second.
“Cait, I… I had no idea. I really don’t, I swear.”, he eventually said, and Caitlyn knew this expression on his face.
He really had no clue about all this.
“Okay, Cait, listen. Let’s unravel this neutrally, objectively, okay? Like we always do when we’re upset, remember?”, he said with a soft voice, and the anger in Caitlyn’s face slowly vanished.
She sat up again and let her big brother-by-choice pull her into a warm and secure hug for a while, it always helped her to calm her nerves.
“Okay. You wait here, I get us water and then we talk this out.”, he said, and went to the kitchen to get said water for them.
He gave one of the glasses to Caitlyn and both took a sip, before Jayce started the first topic: “Alright. Let’s start with Vi, okay? So, what happened? Last time you talked about her to me was you texting me that the date went more than well and that she just needs time but is definitely interested in more with you.”
Caitlyn leaned back with the glass of water in her hand and took a deep breath: “Well…”
Chapter 16: Clearing The Fog
Summary:
Welcome back guys!
We're still on a rollercoaster ride of feelings, and our useless lesbians make decisions they may regret later.
How long will it take them to get back on a shared path? Let's find out in the next chapters :DEnjoy! And I'd be very happy to read what you think in the comments <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 16 – Clearing The Fog
“… and then, when I woke up, she wasn’t next to me anymore.”, Caitlyn explained what happened to Jayce, who followed her story with all his attention.
When Caitlyn ended the story, Jayce made a thoughtful face: “Well. The way I see it, she seems to have a lot of trust issues and has problems to communicate her feelings.”, Jayce concluded, and Caitlyn huffed: “Yes, I noticed that.”, she said with an eyeroll, but he stopped her: “No, listen. It makes sense. I remember this story Mel told you about, with these photos with that redhead girl back then. Vi was furious, she even almost left Mel’s agency about this whole thing. She didn’t tell us about who that girl was, not even after Mel explicitly asked. You know, I think when you told her that you two should use the rumors for publicity, it may have taken Vi mentally back into this old situation.”, Jayce concluded, and suddenly, the gears in Caitlyn’s head finally clicked and started running.
“…! Oh my-… shit.”, Caitlyn cursed, and now she felt bad for assuming the worst about Vi.
“But I asked her what she wants, and she agreed with me when I said we could use it, as it went viral already anyway.”, she groaned, and held her forehead for a moment.
This goddamn headache.
“And how had she looked when she ‘agreed’? How did she react?”, Jayce asked calm, and Caitlyn did her best to recall the situation from this morning, even if her brain felt burned out meanwhile.
This day was way too long already.
“She… she changed the topic. And since then, she started to avoid-… oh bloody hell, you’re right. It’s that… I fucked up, I really did, Jayce, I already pissed her off with my jealousy, and now this. No wonder she’s taking distance from me…”, she sighed, and new tears welled up from her eyes, which were burning from all the crying meanwhile.
“Okay, take a deep breath. You didn’t fuck up, she could have told you as well that she’s not fine with it, instead of pretending she is. Okay? That’s also on her, it’s not completely your fault, Cait.”, Jayce said, and Caitlyn did as he told her and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
“Good, one of three is quite clear now. So, about your parents: What happened? You told me on the phone that they appeared here out of nowhere?”, he asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes.”
She recalled what happened with them as well and what they said, and Jayce tried to catch every detail Caitlyn mentioned when she told him everything.
“Okay, you know what? That slowly starts to sound like when you were 15 and sneaked a girl into your room.”, Jayce chuckled, and earned himself a painful fist on his shoulder: “Jayce!!!”
“Ouch! What? Be honest.”, he chuckled, and rubbed the spot where Caitlyn had hit him.
“But seriously, they need to realize that you’re not a kid or a teenager anymore. If you want, I can talk to them.”, he offered, but Caitlyn immediately declined: “No, I appreciate it, but as you said: I’m not a child anymore. For a long time meanwhile. Sending you wouldn’t be very mature. I need to talk this out with them when I got my head clear again.”, she said, and Jayce nodded: “Fair. Sounds like a plan.”, he smiled, and Caitlyn could sense that the next topic wasn’t as easy for him as the others were.
“So, about Mel…”, he started with a sigh, and Caitlyn took a sip from her water, before she put the glass back onto the coffee table: “Yes, about Mel.”, she repeated his words, and both fell silent for a moment.
“She didn’t tell me anything, I promise, Cait.”, Jayce sighed, and Caitlyn nodded: “I believe you. You can’t lie for shit, let’s be honest.” – “Hey…!”
Another moment of silence.
“Well, I can’t think of a bad cause why she didn’t tell you. You know, maybe she wanted to keep it from you, so you were able to get going with you new job? Your fresh career? Without distraction?”, Jayce speculated, and Caitlyn leaned back into the backrest of the couch: “I don’t know. Maybe. I told her that I don’t want any contact to my parents, not yet. This part: Fine, I give you that. But why did she share information about me and Vi with them? I mean, I thought she is my friend!”, Caitlyn asked with a frown, and Jayce made a thoughtful face: “Well, the only thing I can think of is, that she’s a little bit falling between two stools in this situation. Of course, she’s your friend. And I can assure you, this friendship is real, she cares for you, Cait. But I mean, she also has a connection to your mother. And she saw you grow up like I did, maybe she can understand both sides and wants to keep you both calm.”
Jayce fiddled with his fingers, and Caitlyn’s frown deepened: “So she also just sees me as a child that need supervision. Great.”, she hissed, and Jayce looked up to her: “No! That’s not what I said. I’m only saying that she may understand your parents worry about you.”
Both let out loud sighs and they closed their eyes for a moment.
“My brain can’t think anymore, Jayce, I’m so tired…”, Caitlyn sighed exhausted, and he turned his head to her: “No wonder, you’re working way too many hours the last days, and it’s 1 am in the morning already. And when I interpret the take-away on the counter correctly, you haven’t even eaten your dinner. You should get some rest, turn off your alarm and catch up on some sleep. Okay? Do you want me to stay?”, Jayce asked caring, and Caitlyn considered it for a moment, but denied: “No, thank you. That’s sweet of you, but I’ll be okay. Thank you for coming over, Jayce.”, she said, and leaned to him for a tight hug.
“Of course. I’m there for you. No matter when, where or what’s up, alright?”, Jayce smiled soft, and Caitlyn gave him a thankful look back: “I know, thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you, Jayce.”, she said, and the man chuckled: “Probably sitting here with a family pack of ice-cream.” – “I hate you.”
~
The next day started grey and cloudy in the capitol of the UK.
It matched Caitlyn’s mood and how she felt, even if she was able to sleep in and therefore catch up on sleep, she still felt exhausted and weak.
After laying awake in bed for about an hour, her growling stomach made her finally get up.
She walked to her bathroom, did what was necessary and went over to the kitchen afterwards, where she decided to heat up the delivered food that she hadn’t touched the day before for late ‘breakfast’.
After eating and drinking she slowly felt better, and her energy came back more and more – Slow, but steady.
“Gods…”, she groaned, when she recalled the previous day.
So much had happened in such a short time, she went from being head over heels and sleeping cuddled up with Vi in one bed to feeling heartbroken and not knowing anything anymore overnight.
And all this while she had her stressful but fulfilling dream job to do, for which she had travelled to Germany and back, all this in just a few days.
Caitlyn took a deep breath with closed eyes, opened them again when she breathed out and got up to walk outside onto the balcony for fresh air.
She wouldn’t let all this break her.
No.
She was a Kiramman, she was strong, she always was – And she was on a path that she chose herself, and she didn’t plan on walking back or change the direction, because Vi changed her mind.
Or whatever was going on inside the model’s head.
And she especially wouldn’t let her parents or Mel bring her down with anything.
Everything felt so confusing, and she realized that she was missing on a lot of answers to all the questions in her head.
And if she learned one thing in her life, then it was that communication was key, no matter how uncomfortable, hurtful or else it was.
So, she walked back inside and grabbed her phone to make a call.
-
“Vi? Hey, come on. It’s 1pm already, let’s go out together, the weather got a bit better! And I’m hungry.”
Jinx entered Vi’s room without knocking or asking if she could come in, and she found Vi doing some exercises on the floor.
“What the hell are you doing on the fucking floor? At least put a fucking shirt on!”, Jinx asked, when she saw Vi on the floor in the narrow spot between the bed and the wall, “Come on, we’re going out. Fresh air will be good for you, let’s go.”, she said, and Vi ended her set, before she got up and faced her sister: “Where do you want to go?”, she simply asked, her face showed that she was tired and that she had cried a lot.
“Don’t know, checking out Camden a bit I thought.”, Jinx shrugged, and Vi nodded with a sigh: “Yeah, give me a few minutes, I’m gonna take a quick shower and get ready.” – “Hurry up!” – “Yeah, yeah…”
-
Half an hour later, Vi and Jinx strolled through the lanes of Camden Town.
Jinx giggled amused when they walked through a lane with lots of street food stands where everyone was yelling around and almost forcing people to try their food and buy something.
“This granny over there looks like she’s gonna kill you if you don’t eat at her’s.”, she snickered, and Vi chuckled weak when she saw the grumpy old lady behind one of the stands: “Yeah, maybe we should buy a snack there.”, she said, and Jinx immediately dragged her big sister over to said stand.
They got themselves something to eat and snacked on it while they continued their walk together.
“So!”, Jinx started, and Vi looked questioning at her, “How do we feel about Caitlyn today?”, she asked, and Vi felt a sting in her heart when she heard that name.
“… Pow, I don’t know. Honestly. This shit is so confusing, I don’t know how I feel. Or what I should feel.”, she sighed, and threw the empty wrapper where her food was in before into a trash bin, “Maybe I should just cancel this whole thing. Maybe it was a mistake from the fucking beginning.”, she sighed, and put her hands into her pockets.
“Yeah, I think you should do that, too! But you know we’re all gonna fly over to the Canaries tomorrow, right? You should make a decision before you’ll see her at latest at the airport.”, Jinx said, and stuffed the last bite of her food into her mouth before she threw the wrapper into the next trash bin they passed.
Vi’s heart dropped when she remembered that they would have to work together again from tomorrow on.
“Fuck.”, she groaned, and Jinx hopped from one store to the next, while Vi just followed her.
“You know, I don’t know what this photographer chick is thinking at the moment. But I think, and hear me out, you should call it officially off with her. You need to ditch that bitch! HAHA, that rhymes!”, she giggled silly, while Vi frowned sad at her sister’s suggestion.
“Pow, I really don’t know if-…”, the older sister started, but she got interrupted: “Hey, I wasn’t done! SO: The cause I think you need to send her on her way is, that I’m pretty sure she won’t understand it if you only give her the silent treatment, like you do right now. You must make is unmistakably clear that you don’t want to go any further with her!”, Jinx said, and Vi’s heart started to ache, while her brain went into the direction of her little sister’s suggestion.
Cancelling everything with Caitlyn would mean no more additional hurt or damage for now, she thought.
And Vi felt like running away, so she tried to ignore her heart – Again.
“… you’re right. I’ll tell her.”
-
“Caitlyn, hey, calm down!”
Mel was in her office when she picked up Caitlyn’s call.
She was working on the last details for the next shootings when they’d be at the last location, when her phone went off.
“Listen. I don’t think that this is something we should discuss on the phone. It’s time for lunch nevertheless, I’ll invite you to some food and we will talk this out calmly and without any escalation. Alright? You’re better than that, Cait.”, she suggested, after Caitlyn had gotten loud at the other end of the line.
And so, the two women met at a small vegetarian restaurant twenty minutes later.
“Okay, sweetheart. Why are you so upset? I have never seen you like this before, you’re normally rational and calm.”, Mel asked, and took a sip from her drink which was served the moment before.
Caitlyn took a deep breath, Mel was right – She was better than getting loud and making a scene.
“Alright. I apologize for shouting at you over the phone. But Mel, I really am more than pissed. I know that you talked with my parents about what I’m doing, where I am and about Vi. What is this about? I feel absolutely betrayed by you, how could you do this to me?”, Caitlyn asked, it was hearable that she struggled to keep her voice low.
Mel sighed deeply and leaned her cheek on her palm: “Cait. You yourself told me that you don’t want to see or hear anything from your parents. So, I kept it from you.”, Mel answered, and Caitlyn frowned, her expression became angrier: “You know as well as I do that this is NOT what I meant!”, Caitlyn hissed, and now Mel’s expression became harder: “What are you talking about?”, she asked, and Caitlyn huffed: “Really? Are you playing this game now with me, too?”, she asked, and shook her head before she continued: “This is absolutely not just you trying to keep my way free. You informed my mother about what I do behind my back. And I want to know why.”
Mel sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, when their food was brought: “Caitlyn, I-… oh, thank you. No, we don’t need anything else for now.”, she smiled at the waiter, before she faced the younger woman again: “Okay, I see where this is going. You think I’m on your mother’s side.”, Mel assumed, and Caitlyn huffed offended again: “Yes, obviously!”, she said, and poked around in her food with her fork, “I thought this situation through repeatedly, but I can’t think of any plausible explanation for this! Is it money? Is it power? Connection? Tell me, Mel, because I really don’t have an answer to this!”, she demanded with an intense look on her face.
The older woman took a bite of her food, before she answered with a very calm voice: “You do realize that our mothers have a delicate relationship, don’t you? They act in the same political construct, and…”, Mel started, but groaned suddenly.
Caitlyn gave her a confused and questioning look, and Mel shook her head to herself: “Okay, you know what? You have the exact same stare as your mother. Frightening.”, she said, and continued, before Caitlyn could say something: “Your mother wants to buy shares of my agency. And honestly? We could make good use of that money.”, Mel finally said, “And yes, I told her about where you are and what you are doing, because I feared that she would let the deal fall through if I would have denied her the information about you.”, she explained, and Caitlyn crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair with a perplexed expression on her face.
“… you put money over our friendship, Mel? Seriously?”, Caitlyn asked rhetorically, “I can’t believe this. But I understand now, Mel. You also used Vi for money with these photos of her and this girl. And now you abuse our friendship, our trust to get money from my mother. Isn’t it so?”, she asked further, and Mel’s gaze lowered itself with another sigh: “Caitlyn, I…”, she started, but took a moment to think about her next words: “Okay. Yes. You got it all right. You really should have become a lawyer. There’s nothing you can’t figure out and solve, is there?”, she huffed, crossed her arms and leaned back as well, “But I also did it for you. This money would also have good use for your career, Caitlyn, I was honest with you when I recruited you as a photographer in my agency. And you know this business runs on connections. It’s unfortunate that it’s your mother now who’s our next financial boost. And you know what? She came up to me with this, not the other way round. She wants to support you with this as well, after she learned that you’re working for me now.”
Caitlyn made an offended noise and her expression got even sharper: “Yes, because she can’t live with the fact that I’m not dependent on her anymore, so now she wants to get into your agency to get back just the tiniest bit of control over me again. And you’re helping her.”, Caitlyn said, and Mel’s eyes widened at that answer: “Caitlyn, I-…”, she started, but the younger woman interrupted her: “No. Don’t even try to deny it. You knew that this would be her intention. You just saw the money. Nothing more. You’re not a friend Mel, you’re only a businesswoman. And I really hope that you don’t use Jayce for anything and that you’re honest with him. Because if I find out that you treat him like this as well, we’ll really get a problem. Do you understand?”, Caitlyn said with a very clear and threatening voice, so that even Mel had to swallow hard.
“I assure you, I don’t use Jayce in any way, Caitlyn. I love him.” – “I hope so.”
An awkward pause settled in, in which both continued to eat their lunch.
Even if Caitlyn absolutely didn’t feel like eating, she knew she had to if she didn’t want to end up exhausted and with a bad headache again tonight.
“So… how do we go about this now, Cait?”, Mel asked her, and Caitlyn looked up from her food: “Well. I will fulfill the job I signed up for, and then I will see what my options are. Maybe I will quit my job at your agency and make myself self-employed.”, she dropped as if it was nothing, and Mel almost choked on her spaghetti: “You can’t be serious!”, she said shocked, and Caitlyn looked unimpressed at her: “Why? I don’t see any benefits for me to continue to work for someone who pretends to be my friend and exploits their employees for attention and money, at cost of their feelings and mental health.”
Mel was speechless after Caitlyn had fired her shots.
She realized that she had seriously fucked up, and that Caitlyn was more than certain with what she said.
Regret filled her, and she thought of a way to make amends for what she had done.
“Okay, Caitlyn, slow down. Please. I made a mistake, I admit it. And I am sorry if I hurt your feelings with that, it was never my intention to betray you.”, Mel said, but Caitlyn just raised an eyebrow: “But you did.”
Mel wiped a hand over her hair and tried again: “I’m just asking you to not to make a rash decision. And-… and if you want me to reject the deal with your mother, I will do so.”, she said, and took a breath before she continued: “Just please keep in mind that this is a big deal. A deal where we all will get a lot out from. Okay? I’m just asking you to overthink the whole situation.”, she asked her to, and Caitlyn’s thoughts went on a rollercoaster-ride for a solid minute.
“… okay. I will.”, she agreed after she hesitated for a moment, but she knew: If she would make a decision right now, she would be led by too many emotions. She had to clear things with Vi and her parents as well, so she agreed to Mel’s request – For now.
“Thank you.”
-
After the lunch with Mel, Caitlyn went on a walk to clear her head as good as she could.
The conversation was mentally exhausting, but she knew she had to talk to Vi still today, as they would fly over to the next location early in the morning on the next day, and she definitely wanted to get this out of her system before they had to work together again.
So, she decided to send her a message and meet up with her to clear things between them.
>Hey, I know you probably don’t want to see me or hear anything from me. But I really want to talk to you, can we meet up?<
It took some minutes, until her phone got a message back.
Vi: >Hey. Yeah, tbh, I want to talk to you as well.<
Caitlyn: >I’m glad to hear that 😊 How about we meet at Hyde Park Corner and find us a bench in the park to talk?<
Vi: >Sounds like a plan. 30 minutes?<
Caitlyn: >Sounds lovely, see you there!<
The photographer felt her chest getting tight on the thought of meeting Vi in half an hour, but she knew she had to do this, there was no other way and after all the things she learned since yesterday evening, she really wanted to clear things between her and Vi and she was determined to get everything right with her again.
-
“I’m meeting Cait in half an hour. We’ll be at Hyde Park, don’t wait for me, ‘k?”, Vi said, while she put on her shoes, and Jinx turned to her big sister from the couch with a disgusted expression: “What?! Why??”, she asked shocked, and Vi sighed: “Don’t worry. She wants to talk, and I do, too. I’ll tell her we’re done. Like we talked about it earlier. I promise.”, Vi said, and Jinx sighed relieved: “Good, I almost thought you’d get back with her.”, she said, and Vi grabbed her wallet to stuff it into her back pocket: “… no. No, I’ll stick to what we talked about. See you later.” – “Yeah, call me if you need me.” – “I will.”
-
Caitlyn waited at the station they wanted to meet at, and she nervously picked at her fingers while she did so.
She had a bad feeling, even if she was certain that Vi would understand when she would tell her about all the misunderstandings, and if she would apologize and explain to her that she understood why her behavior was unbearable for the model.
And still, something inside her was afraid.
When she finally spotted wild, pink hair inside the crowd that got out of the underground, she felt like her heart would just jump out of her chest.
“Over here!”, she called, and raised her hand in Vi’s direction, who noticed her and walked up to the nervous photographer: “Hey.”, she greeted restrained, and kept her hands in her pockets.
“Hey.”, Caitlyn smiled crooked, and looked around: “So, uhm… let’s find us a quiet spot, shall we?”, she suggested, and Vi just nodded and followed by her side.
They both didn’t spoke a word on their way into the park and to one of the benches which was not occupied or crowded in the direct area around it.
They sat down together, and both took a deep and hearable breath, before they started to speak at the same time.
“I’m sorry, I want to make up for-…” – “I can’t take this any further.”
Caitlyn and Vi stopped in their tracks and turned to each other with hurt filled eyes.
“What?”, Caitlyn asked, her voice already started to tremble, and Vi drew her eyebrows together while she bit her lower lip: “Cup-… Caitlyn, I-… okay, listen.”, Vi started, and she broke the eye contact, she couldn’t bear to see the tears that started to build up in the other woman’s eyes, “This whole thing. Us. It was a mistake, we shouldn’t have gone this far. I don’t feel like I can trust you anymore! You’re jealous about nothing, and now you want to exploit these photos and videos of us, just like-… just like Mel did a few years ago. I can’t do this, Caitlyn, I really can’t. We’re done, okay? I don’t want to take this any further.”, Vi said, and had visible struggle to keep her voice straight and hold her tears back.
But Caitlyn’s tears had already started running down her pretty face.
“Vi-… n-… no, please! Please, let me explain! There must be a misunderstanding, would you please let me try to explain?”, she sobbed, and Vi started to chew at the inside of her cheek without looking at the woman beside her, she knew she wouldn’t be able to put an end to this if she’d look in her eyes right now.
So, Caitlyn continued without an answer from Vi: “I understand now what Mel did back then. I confronted her, and please believe me, I had absolutely no idea that she has exploited your feelings for attention and money, I swear I didn’t know anything about this. When you told me about the option to use these postings about us for promotion, I picked it up as a suggestion from you. I didn’t know you wouldn’t want it, we talked past each other.”, Caitlyn desperately tried to explain to Vi that she didn’t mean to use or hurt her on purpose, that she always has been honest to her.
Vi started to tap the heel of her left foot nervously over and over on the ground again, while her hands where fiddling with each other and she was still chewing on the inside of her cheek.
Her head hurt again, and the urge to flee the situation grew bigger and bigger inside of her.
“Caitlyn. I stick to my decision, we’re done. It was a mistake, I was so stupid to think that things could change. People who were born rich, and people who were born poor, we’ll never be the same, no matter how hard we work. Oil and water, that’s all there is!”, Vi said with an angry and sad voice, and got up from the bench, with Caitlyn following her.
“You’re just saying that…”, Caitlyn whispered, the tears on her face got more and she looked heartbroken at the other woman, who didn’t turn around to her.
“Do yourself and me a favor, Cupcake. We need to get back to our professional business relationship, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”, Vi said, she couldn’t hide a crack in her voice, she walked away, back to the underground station, and left Caitlyn behind.
The photographer was frozen on the spot, she could only look after the women who had just broken her heart into tiny pieces.
“Vi… please…”
Chapter 17: Back To Business
Summary:
Welcome back! <3
Here comes chapter 17, and I apologize in advance for any emotional pain :D
Let me know what you think in the comments!And now, let's continue with "Pictures" ->
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 17 – Back To Business
The airplane landed in time and in sunny and warm weather on Lanzarote, and Caitlyn looked out of the window with a quite neutral expression.
After Vi had left her at Hyde Park, the photographer had needed a while until she was able to collect herself and actually be able to make her way back home.
She had walked straight into the bathroom, undressed immediately and went into the shower, where she stood under the hot water for a longer while and tried to make up her mind, to get an objective look on the situation – She refused to let Vi’s rejection hurt her so brutal.
She had picked up the pieces of her heart all alone and forced herself to hold her head high, to not allow the pain to dig itself deeper into her mind – Even if it felt like picking up shards that cut painfully into your hands.
And for now, it had somehow worked.
She sighed with closed eyes, and looked up again when she heard the pilot talk through the speakers that they would land in a short while, so she put on her seatbelts again.
Vi sat beside Jinx in the airplane, and the younger sister was as excited as she was on the flight to Germany. She looked outside the window and pointed out everything she spotted to Vi, by pulling on her arm and begging her to look outside as well.
Vi felt like she was the one who got rejected, even if she knew more than well that she had made the decision to cancel this whole thing with Caitlyn.
And this decision started to feel more and more wrong.
-
“Alright, crew!”, Mel said loudly, when everyone had picked up their luggage and met with their boss in the main hall of the airport, just as they did a few days before in Germany.
“This is the last station of our big project. And I want you all to give your best one last time for this! I know we are all tired by now, and there’s still a lot to do. But I’m sure, as the good team we are, we will get this thing done with flying colors! So, let’s get to the hotel and check-in, get some rest and we will start tomorrow at 8am!”, she announced, and the whole crew clapped their hands and cheered.
Caitlyn felt a pair of eyes on her suddenly, so she looked around, just to find Jinx glaring at her.
Vi stood beside her, and she looked tired, exhausted – If she didn’t know better, she would say she looked sad.
Caitlyn met Jinx eyes, and the younger woman hooked her left arm around Vi’s, gave Caitlyn an evil grin, paired with sticking out her tongue to her, while she pulled the skin under her right eye down to grimace at the photographer.
“…”, Caitlyn frowned at the gesture, and she wondered if the younger girl had something to do with Vi’s rejection the day before…
And instantly, Mel’s words from the conversation yesterday recalled themselves inside her head.
“You really should have become a lawyer. There’s nothing you can’t figure out and solve, is there?”
But no.
No!
There was no point in figuring out if there was more behind Vi’s rejection.
She had made her decision, and Caitlyn wouldn’t allow the model to hurt her again.
There was no use in trying to get back with her in some way.
Any way!
… right?
~
The first night was unspectacular, most of the team just had checked into their rooms, went down to get dinner and right to bed afterwards – Mel was right, everyone was indeed tired by now.
And so, on the next morning, everyone gathered in the lobby of the hotel after breakfast, ready to go.
“So, we’ll have only today for this, as you know we will fly back tomorrow afternoon already. We’ll produce a perfume commercial at the beach. As you know, DIESEL wants Vi as their model for their new unisex fragrance. I hope you all read the schedule and script. We will do the video clip for the commercial and we will need photos for their website and for billboard advertising. And I want you to take enough BTS content for us to use for our own project. We will also use the golden hour and the moonlight for this, so make sure to stay hydrated and fed up, this will be a long day and we don’t have much time for breaks. Has anyone any questions?”, Mel explained and asked, and answered a few small questions from the team.
Caitlyn had a little existential crisis in the meantime.
Now that Mel had told them in detail about what she had already read in the documents that she had provided beforehand, she realized that she had to watch Vi and taking photos of her being all oiled up and sweaty, with her beautiful grey eyes sparkling in the sunlight and walking knee-deep through the water at the beach, wiping her wet hair back over her head with that hot expression of hers, and NOT go all feral about her – Because she wasn’t allowed to have these thoughts about the model anymore. They weren’t more than colleagues again, Vi was clear about that.
And still, she was sure: This was going to be the day she’d die.
-
“Aaaaand: Action!”
Caitlyn wasn’t that wrong with her apprehension at the morning briefing.
Vi emerged from the water, dressed in a black combo of a sports bikini top and skin-tight, short swim shorts, showing off her muscular physique more than well.
She walked up to the beach, while the filming team was around her with two cameras and Caitlyn being between them for photos, and she threw her hair back, ran her hand through the wet strands with bedroom eyes and a slightly opened mouth.
Jinx hopped around between them and took care of gusts of wind and flying waterdrops, to get the wanted effects.
When Vi’s eyes met Caitlyn’s, both felt like their hearts contracted, as if a strong hand squeezed them painfully tight, they got so heavy suddenly that the photographer fucked up the focus of her camera and the model tripped in the shallow water and fell face first into it.
Jinx laughed her ass off when she saw her sister fall like a sack of potatoes into the low waves and kept on giggling silly after the burst of laugh, while she always had an eye on Caitlyn to analyze her reactions to everything Vi did. She wanted to make sure that the photographer wouldn’t try anything to get closer to her sister again.
She definitely wanted to prevent her from hurting her anymore.
“Shit…!”, Vi cursed when she got up again, and walked back to the spot where she was supposed to emerge and start her walk, “Sorry, I’ll take better care now!”, she called over to the team, who got back into their starting positions as well.
“Everyone on position? Good! 3… 2… 1… Action!”, the director shouted, and the next take started.
This time, Vi avoided to look directly at Caitlyn and started her walk again, after she had emerged from the water once more.
She threw her hair back again, went through it with her hand and put on the expression that made Caitlyn’s knees so weak again.
Vi managed to do the walk without any incidents three more times, and Caitlyn managed to take the photos without losing her focus – And the camera team caught every frame as intended.
“Very good work!”, Mel smiled, who sat in a folding chair and checked the outcome on the portable screen in front of her, “Okay, Vi? Go over to Claire, she’ll fix your hair and makeup and then we need to take the other photos for the non-video campaign the client wants. Caitlyn? Come over to me please, I’ll show you the briefing again while Vi is getting ready.”, she called the tall woman over, and Caitlyn did so.
Vi peeked over to Caitlyn, who walked graceful as always through the sand and over to Mel.
She looked forbidden hot in the short hotpants and the airy and slightly see-through top, but she reminded herself forcefully that she had ended personal things with her.
They were nothing more than colleagues now, she had made her decision.
And so, she turned away from her and made her way over to the small make-up station to sit down and let the artist do her work, while Caitlyn went over to Mel.
“I read the script several times, Mel. Is there anything you want me to focus on specifically?”, the photographer asked, and Mel took her aside, so no one else was able to hear them, “… Mel, what is this about?”, Caitlyn asked with a frown, and Mel sighed: “You both may be professionals, but I can see that there’s tension between you and Vi. And it’s not the good one.”, she said, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes while she crossed her arms: “Oh, please. We’re doing our job and were doing it good. Don’t we? Why do you care?”
Mel put her hands on her hips and after a short pause, she answered: “Cait, I care because you are my friend. As I said, I’m sorry for hurting you, it wasn’t entirely okay what I did, and I understand that now. So, has anything happened between you and Vi? Did you two have a talk as well yesterday?”, she asked further, and Caitlyn groaned: “Mel, we-… oh you know what? No. All you need to know is, Vi and I are back to a business-only relationship. And if you don’t mind, I would like to put up the setup for the shooting now. Or is there anything else?”, Caitlyn said clearly, and after Mel shook her head with a sigh, the British woman went back to her equipment to set up everything needed.
“… I told you she is a heartbreaker.”, Mel mumbled to herself, and went back to her place, too.
-
Caitlyn and Vi gave their best to stay professional, to not let their hurt emotions take over – Even if it was hard for both of them.
Very hard.
Caitlyn struggled with not getting too turned on about what she had in front of her lens, and Vi struggled with playing as easy as she usual did with the camera, as the woman behind it made her heart feel heavy.
They both couldn’t deny that the feelings that had started to bloom for each other haven’t faded the slightest. They only got covered by the broken trust, the confusion and the fear that grew with every misunderstanding and story of each other, told by others.
But the feelings themselves?
No.
They were as present and real as ever, and absolutely not willing to fade just one bit.
“Vi, could you move a bit more to the right-… yes, and your left arm more like-… no, wait, let me just…”, Caitlyn started, and got up to walk to the model and touched her slightly to help her into the position she needed for the clients’ requirements.
When her fingertips touched the bare skin on Vi’s elbow, both felt an electric feeling run through their bodies.
They stopped in their tracks and their eyes met, after they had avoided it the whole time.
“…” – “…”
Vi tried to stay unbothered, but her hard features lost tension and a sad expression formed itself on her face, while Caitlyn bit her lower lip and blinked upcoming tears away, before she spoke with a broken voice: “That’s better. We can contin-…”, she started, when Jinx voice was to hear suddenly: “HEY!! Come on tall lady, get going! We still have a shitload of work to do!”, she called over, while she waited with her frond and spray bottle beside them, only about 3 meters away.
Both turned their heads to the loud voice and cleared their throats nervously, Vi stared to the ground and Caitlyn wiped a stray tear away from under her left eye, before she went back to her position and continued with the shooting.
Noone talked for the rest of the shoot, and when they were done, they gathered around Mel to check the outcome and listened to her briefing about the next steps.
“Good job guys! So, we’ll have a super short break for getting a snack, using the restroom and stuff, and then we’ll meet in the lobby again to drive to the national park here for the sunset shootings. I’ll see you in 15 minutes!”, Mel explained, and everyone started to move.
-
“WOW!”
Jinx grinned bright when they arrived up on a place the locals called Montañas del Fuego, which means so much as ‘Fire Mountains’.
It really looked like the rocks were on fire, especially when the lowering sunlight hit the red colored mountains.
“We don’t have much time guys, the sun is already setting, let’s get going!!”, Mel called everyone to work, and the crew hurried up to get the best out of the tiny time window they had, until the golden sunlight would disappear completely.
They stopped on a street that went through a narrow canyon and set up the equipment.
The sun would set perfectly between the rock walls left and right, and Vi was supposed to pose in the middle of the lane.
“Let’s start! Everyone: Concentrate! We only have this one chance!”, the director called loudly over the set, and the crew gathered their strength and did their best to get these shots by the first try.
Vi had changed into her outfit on the way to the national park.
She wore a black tank top that had a graffiti-style print in bright neon colors on it, it was one of Jinx’ creations, combined with tight, dark red cargo pants and thick plateau-boots.
Everyone got in position, and Vi started a catwalk in the middle of the narrow road, while the sun set behind her and bathed everything in warm light.
The camera crew dragged the camera wagon in Vi’s speed backwards, and took the needed video material, while Caitlyn sat in front under the big camera again like she did in London.
After four more takes, they changed directions to get both possible light-effect from the golden hour, and after the videographer team was done, it was Caitlyn’s turn for more photos.
She set up everything, while Vi changed into another outfit: Ripped, white jeans and an Bordeaux red hoodie, which hood and sleeves were black. It had a print of a white toy-monkey-head on the front, which also looked like it was sprayed on it – Another one of Jinx’s creations.
Caitlyn took the shots, and Vi posed – They worked well together, even with such heavy hearts.
Jinx observed them the whole time since the morning, and she slowly got suspicious.
The vibe between her sister and Caitlyn changed throughout the day, the distance they tried to maintain faded palpable, and she absolutely hated it.
The designer made a decision: She’d ask her big sister about it, as soon as she was able to talk to her in private.
-
The team used the golden hour well and was soon on the way back to the hotel.
“Okay, we are good in time, but we also don’t have time to lose. You have 20 minutes to get fresh, and then we’ll meet in the lobby again for the moonlight shooting.”, Mel announced, and everyone went up to their rooms or to the Hotel’s bar to get a drink and a snack.
Jinx followed Vi to her room and went into it with her.
“Is everything okay, Pow?”, Vi asked, as she stretched and let herself fall onto one of the beds in her room.
The younger sister crossed her arms after she had closed the door, and gave Vi a look that clearly said ‘Are you serious?’, and Vi frowned at her: “… what?”, she asked, and Jinx started to walk up and down in front of Vi, who propped herself up on her elbows while she follower her sister with her eyes.
“I thought you dumped her!”, Jinx said, while she gesticulated wildly with her hands, “And now you both look at each other like-… like you’re yearning for each other but are not allowed to meet up, like some fucked up version of medieval lesbians that are promised to some guys and meet up in secret or some shit like that!”, she complained, and Vi sat up to sit on the edge of the hotel bed: “What? Are you serious right now? Yes, I told her that we’re done! Like we talked about it.”, Vi said, still with a frown on her face.
“And still, you two are looking at each other like separated spouses, and not like she only used you for whatever she needed you for!”, Jinx accused her sister, and Vi let herself fall back into the mattress with a loud groan.
“Pow, for real…”, she mumbled, and laid an arm over her own eyes, “… I-…”, she continued, but suddenly, all her words were gone, and her mind went blank.
“…”
Jinx stopped her wandering and looked down on her older sister: “You still have feelings for her. Regardless of what she did to you. And this is a fucking problem, Vi!”, the younger woman said clearly, and Vi just groaned at that, she didn’t want to answer to this.
“What do you see in her that’s not the snooty, rich bitch that only uses people like us for their advantages, huh?! You saw what she did, what she thought about using these dumb postings online about you two, she-…”, Jinx complained and talked herself to rage, when Vi interrupted her suddenly: “Stop!! Okay?! Pow, stop!”, she got loud, sat up and wiped over her face with both her hands.
“… I-… I really thought she’s not better than the shitheads that took advantage of us after this online gossip, okay?! But somehow, that picture of her doesn’t make sense! It’s fucking blurry, the pieces don’t fit together, and I can’t pretend like she wasn’t mostly kind and thoughtful to me, she respects me, and that’s something these rich assholes would never do!”, it all broke out of Vi, and Jinx expression got darker: “Okay, say it then.”, she demanded, and Vi looked at her with a confused frown: “What?” – “Say it.”
There was a moment of silence between them, in which they just stared at each other.
“Say. It.”, Jinx demanded again, and Vi felt tears welling up in her eyes, while she tried to keep her angry expression: “I don’t know what you mean.”, she mumbled with a cracked voice, and Jinx rolled her eyes: “Say it. Say that you still think she’s different, say that you have feelings for her, even if she wants to use these postings, regardless of how you feel about that.”, the blue haired woman said, and kept the eye contact with her sister.
Vi stared at her, the words that her heart send up to her tongue got stuck in her throat, blocked by her brain which still tried to keep her safe, fueled by fear that was triggered by trauma, but finally, her heart won the fight inside her.
“I still think she’s different. And I’m still in love with her.”
-
Caitlyn used the short break to get fresh, have a snack and take a breath to recharge her social battery for a moment.
Normally, she was good at working in a team and being on display between so many others, but somehow, the situation between her and Vi was more mentally exhausting than she thought.
She laid down for 10 minutes and rested her eyes, before her phone’s alarm went off again.
The photographer sighed, got up again and looked at herself in the big mirror which was right next to her hotel rooms’ door to look at herself.
“You got this.”, she whispered to herself, and tapped her right index finger against the mirror, took another deep breath and made her way down to meet the others for today’s last job.
-
After everyone had gathered in the lobby again, they went back to the beach.
Caitlyn had read the script of every planned shooting several times, of course – And this one would be even worse than the one this morning.
Vi wore a CK outfit of a white button-up shirt and black, skinny leather pants, while she was barefoot.
She opened the button-up completely when everything was set up, and revealed nothing under it, it was just the shirt, and Jinx stood in front of her sister and wetted it, so it became slightly see-through and sticked to her toned, tattooed torso.
“Yeah, I think that will do it.”, Jinx nodded at herself when she checked her work from a step away, and grinned bright: “You’re ready to go! That brand really is dotty about ya, huh?”, she said, gave her a big thumbs-up and walked back to the crew.
“Thanks, Pow.”, Vi smiled, “Yeah, seems so, they really gave me a lot of jobs lately.”, she chuckled, and looked over to the director and Mel, who gave her approving nods, so she got in position, for which she waded knee-deep into the calm water, checked her shirt again so that nothing peaked out too revealing, opened the button and zipper of her jeans, and got into her starting pose: She dragged the open jeans a bit down with one hand, revealing the dark gray boxers with the black waistband and big, white ‘CALVIN KLEIN’ lettering on it.
The sun was gone for a while already, and the moonlight shone and reflected on the ocean’s surface, as the sky was cloudless.
The water was colder than it was earlier, but Vi didn’t feel like it was freezing at all.
It was more refreshing than anything else to her right now.
The team had set up some soft-boxes with cold-lighted flashlights and used reflectors to catch some of the moonlight, to get it directly onto Vi where they needed it for the shots and the video-clip that the client wanted.
“Okay, let’s get going!”, the director said, loud enough for everyone to hear, and the filming crew got into position, as well as Caitlyn with her camera, and they started the shooting right away.
-
Vi came out of the water after all the videos and photos were made, and even in the pale moonlight she was able to see that Caitlyn had a slight blush on her face when she passed her to go check the outcome with the team.
The British photographer had real struggle to keep her thoughts professional through the shooting.
Vi was hot, and the outfit didn’t leave much to imagination, so Caitlyn felt butterflies in her stomach and arousal in her abdomen on the view through her lens – The soaked button-up, the flexed muscles, the tattoos she’d love to hear the story behind them, Vi’s intense greyish, ice-blue eyes, her full, scarred lips…
… just everything about her.
And Caitlyn began to realize: It wasn’t right.
It wasn’t right that they had ended things before these things had even really started yet.
It wasn’t right that Vi had left her, downright fled form her instead of really talking it out when they met in London at Hyde Park.
It wasn’t right that she felt so heartbroken, and it wasn’t right that she saw the same pain in Vi’s eyes.
She had to talk to her again, and she wouldn’t let her go without a proper conversation this time.
Caitlyn was sure, if she wouldn’t, she’d regret it.
She had to.
Notes:
Ouch!
Prepare for more emotional damage in the next chapter - But as promised, our useless lesbians will somehow, somewhen find each other again <3Thank you for reading!
Chapter 18: New Directions
Summary:
Welcome to the next chapter of 'Pictures'! :)
Please fasten your seatbelt and get some snacks for your nerves and some tissues for your tears, this one contains a LOT of emotional damage!
Let me know what you think in the comments <3
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 18 – New Directions
Caitlyn laid awake in bed after the successful shooting and after the shared dinner with the crew in the hotel’s restaurant.
They had celebrated the successful day together, and also that they had finished the final part of the big project.
Everyone was relieved, but also a bit sad that the good time with the crew was over.
But Caitlyn just couldn’t really relax or be as happy as the others, as she was busy with having an eye on Vi. She made endless attempts to read her mind, what was impossible, of course, as she just couldn’t believe that Vi really wanted to end things with her.
Not after that shooting day, not with the way she had looked at her, the way she reacted to her – Something wasn’t right, and that kept her awake long after the dinner party had ended.
“Bloody hell…”
After her whatever-the-number-was-meanwhile attempt to close her eyes and fall asleep, she groaned and got up, got out of her sleeping clothes and slipped into fresh underwear, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, before she put her shoes on, grabbed the keycard for her hotel room and made her way down to the 24/7 bar of the hotel.
Caitlyn leaned onto the bar and sighed, thinking about if a drink would be a good idea, when the bartender smiled at her: “Sleepless?”, he asked gentle, and Caitlyn gave him a tired smile: “Yes, apparently.”, she answered, and he chuckled while he dried off a glass in his hands: “Seems like you’re not the only one of your group who has insomnia.”, he said, and nodded over to someone sitting on the edge of the terrace that lead directly to the beach.
Caitlyn turned her head over, and her eyes widened when she saw who was sitting there.
-
Vi was sleepless as well.
She hadn’t even managed to try to go to bed, she just walked up and down in her hotel room, trying to get her body and mind tired, even if she somehow felt more than tired already.
It was an awful feeling.
She also hadn’t felt that different from Caitlyn at the dinner party earlier.
The model had one eye on Caitlyn as well over the whole evening, and quickly looked away again when the photographer turned in her direction.
She felt like a stupid teenager, this whole thing overwhelmed her and the fact that she simply didn’t have any idea how to handle her emotions made it even worse.
Vi groaned after a while of no success to get her body to rest and decided to go down for a run at the beach, which had helped – But only a tiny little bit.
While she ran, she thought about Caitlyn and what she wanted to do, what she should do.
And the fears inside her, the insecurities about what could come in the future – It was too much.
Yes, she had fallen for Caitlyn.
Hard.
Despite all the questions that where still unanswered, she somehow knew everything that hovered between them would have a good explanation if they would just really talk it all out.
But somehow, this thought scared her more than she imagined it even could.
What if everything had a good explanation? What then? Would everything be fine? No more doubts, no more insecurities?
Just like that?
And… was she even able to actually love Caitlyn the way she would deserve it?
Provided, that there really was an explanation to every topic that came up the last weeks, of course.
Or would there always be a shadow lingering over the trust that grew as fast as it was shattered?
“…”
In the end, she jogged back to the hotel’s terrace with a big sigh.
Vi went over to the barkeeper, got herself a water that she drank in one big sip, and gave the empty glass right back before she walked back and sat down on the edge of the terrace.
She caught her breath and stared over the sand to the ocean, which soft noises seemed to help her relax a bit more, when she heard footsteps approaching her a while later and a familiar voice speaking up.
“Seems like we both are restless tonight, aren’t we?”
It was Caitlyn, who sat down next to Vi and gave her a tired smile.
She held one of the two glasses she carried, of what seemed to be whiskey on the rocks, out to the model.
“Maybe this helps.”, the photographer said, and Vi took the glass without a word, she just nodded and gave back a weak smile, before both sighed sad, turned their heads to the dark ocean and took a sip from their drinks.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Caitlyn found the courage to talk.
“Vi, it doesn’t feel right how it currently is. Between us, I mean. It hurts me way too much, and I can see that you’re hurting, too.”, she said, and fumbled with the glass in her hands in her lap, “I understand that my answer about using these posting about us triggered something inside you. And I’m sorry for this, but I also had absolutely no idea about it, and you didn’t say or explained anything to me regarding that topic. You just ran away.”, Caitlyn sighed, and she felt Vi getting tense beside her.
“…”, Vi gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into the fabric of the sportswear shorts she wore.
Caitlyn frowned worried and turned her head to the other woman: “Vi… please, talk to me. Tell me you really don’t want anything more than this business relationship. Tell me you don’t have feelings for me, and I’m gone. I’ll leave you alone.”, Caitlyn said, and her voice got unsteady when she continued: “But I want more. I have developed feelings for you, romantic feelings, and it feels anything but wrong. And I’d be lying if I’d say that I don’t feel something coming back from you. When I look in your eyes, I-…”
“It doesn’t matter!!”, it suddenly broke out of Vi, and Caitlyn looked at her with widened and startled eyes, “It doesn’t fucking matter, okay?!”, Vi spit, and she looked at Caitlyn with angry and hurt eyes, “There is no way, don’t you see it?!”
Caitlyn’s frown deepened, and she tried to read as much as possible from Vi’s tear-filled eyes.
“Vi…”, she whispered softly, and reached her hands carefully out to her, but Vi shook her head with a clear: “Don’t.”, and Caitlyn respected that, she pulled her hands back again.
They took a few seconds to breathe, while their eyes wandered nervously around.
“Can you explain it to me?”, Caitlyn asked gentle, “Because I don’t understand. I don’t see what you mean. And I want to understand and see, because I can’t bear this confusion and rejection anymore that is surrounded by so many questions.”, she explained herself, and gave Vi the time she needed to respond to this.
The model sucked the air sharp in, groaned and covered her face with both her hands, wiped them down over it and huffed loudly: “Okay. Okay, you deserve to know.”, she finally said, and thought about a way to put it.
“I’m too fucking broken, okay? Of course, I know I acted like a shithead when we met at Hyde Park. Of course, I know I overreacted when I told you that we need to get back to a professional business relationship. You fucking explained to me what happened, you even confronted Mel, and I still rejected you. Because…-“, Vi started, and the words got stuck in her throat suddenly.
Caitlyn bit her lower lip, seeing Vi so frustrated and sad hurt her.
The urge to take her hands, to pull her into a secure hug, to kiss her temple and tell her everything was going to be okay was strong, but she did her best to not cross any lines that Vi had set.
“… because I was too fucking afraid that all this were just more lies and that I was blinded by the feelings I developed for you. That you were not better than all these rich assholes that fucked me and my sister up our whole life’s! That I fell for someone like this. I really want to think that you’re different. And I did, and I still do. But I’m just so fucking afraid…”, Vi tried to explain how she felt, and the grip in the fabric of her shorts got tighter, “I’m-… I’m so, so fucking afraid that I start to trust you unconditionally, just to find myself on the floor again at some point. And for a relationship, trust is not negotiable. It’s needed, it’s necessary. And honestly? I don’t feel like I’m able to give you that.”
Caitlyn looked at her with tear filled eyes, two started rolling down of each of them when Vi was done, and she had real trouble to not touch her in any way for comfort.
“Vi… I’m sorry that you experienced this much hurt and broken trust in your life. I get that this must be extremely difficult to handle, I really do. I lived my whole life in that shark tank that you were thrown into, but I’m not one of those who smell blood and attack on an instant. I know it’s weird to say that, to say ‘I’m not like them’, because I bet you heard that before as well. But you know that I left the shark tank to swim in the open water, right? But you know, there are sharks, too.”, Caitlyn tried to explain as best as she could, and played nervously with her hands in her lap.
Vi looked at her, and when she saw the tears on Caitlyn’s face, her heart ached.
“They are everywhere we go, and I think sticking together against them, to not let them get you, that’s the best way to handle it. Getting away alone and not trusting those who aren’t like them as well, just in case… that sounds like a very lonely life to me.”, Caitlyn almost whispered, shrugged weak and kept her eyes on her hands in her lap.
Vi bit her lower lip when she heard Caitlyn’s words.
She knew she was right, but the fear inside her just wouldn’t fade.
“… so, aside from this fear inside you. What is it that makes you so certain that it doesn’t matter?”, Caitlyn asked softly, and their eyes met again.
Vi’s eyes couldn’t hold the tears anymore as well, they started rolling down her face and Caitlyn could see by the way the model’s chest went up and down more intense than before, that she was holding back sobs.
“Hey…”, Caitlyn breathed, and lifted a hand in an attempt to caress gentle over Vi’s cheek, but she stopped herself midway through and lowered it again, “… why shouldn’t we try? What is it that makes you think we don’t even have a chance? That you don’t see any possibility for us to work out?”, she asked, and Vi gritted her teeth before it finally broke out of her.
“I’m flying back to California the day after tomorrow! This whole thing was a stupid idea, Cait. We didn’t think this through, even without all that shit that happened now, it was never an option that I would stay in England. I’m living in the US with my sister, and I can’t leave her alone there!”
Caitlyn’s eyes widened at that sudden confession of the woman she fell so deeply in love with, and her features softened a little at the cause Vi told her: “Violet. Hey, stop. Why do you think I would want you to stay in England? Is it really this? Just this?”, she asked, and Vi felt her head spinning slowly, this situation was mentally exhausting.
More than that.
“I-… I don’t know, honestly, this shit is so confusing! Everything about it. I never felt like this before, I never had such feelings for someone like I have for you, and it fucking scares me, and it confuses me, and I don’t fucking know how to handle all that…!”, she groaned, and Caitlyn finally initiated a soft and careful touch, when she laid her hand on Vi’s upper arm: “Vi. Have you never considered that I could go with you? That you wouldn’t have to stay in London to be with me?”, she asked, and Vi flinched at first at the sudden touch, but Caitlyn’s warm hand quickly had a calming effect on her after the first startle.
“This is your home, Cait, why would you want to leave England?”, Vi asked with a broken voice, and Caitlyn teared up again with a little sniff: “Because I… I want. I-… I want you to be my home… someday. As I told you when we went on that date. I want to live together with the woman I love. It doesn’t matter where that is. The important thing would be her, not the place.”, she answered, and Vi stared at her with big, shocked eyes: “You shouldn’t say that. You really shouldn’t say that. Why would you-… no, Caitlyn, please. You’ll regret that.”, she mumbled, and Caitlyn frowned, huffed slightly and tilted her head: “Why would I? And even if I would regret it, it would be my own choice. I’m responsible for my choices, only me. They could never be your fault, Vi.”, she stated clearly, and let her hand run slowly down to Vi’s elbow, before she pulled it back again.
“Because we barely know each other, Caitlyn.”, Vi sighed, and looked down onto her own hands, “… we don’t fucking know each other. How can you even consider me to be that important to be called your home?”, she said weakly, and Caitlyn slowly got frustrated: “Yes, that’s why we started to get to know each other, remember?”, she said with a frown, and turned her head away from the other woman again, “And besides, I want to get to know you more, because I feel like this here is right. You and me. That’s why I consider calling you my home someday.”, Caitlyn huffed, and the frustration insider her grew more and more.
Vi shook her head: “How could you leave everything behind to get to know me? Caitlyn, you can’t give up your life in London, just too-… just because of me.”, she frowned, it absolutely didn’t make any sense to her.
“Vi. What I learned about you so far is the cause why I really want to learn more. And I’m serious about this.”, Caitlyn tried again, but Vi’s anxiety didn’t shrink the slightest.
“You wouldn’t like what you’d learn.”, Vi whispered, and Caitlyn immediately turned her head to her again: “I’d like to assess that by myself, thank you very much.”, she said, her voice was slightly angry now, but also hurt, “You have no right to tell me what I feel, or what I am supposed to feel or else, Vi, it’s not your job to do that for me, as it isn’t mine to tell you how you feel.”, she said clearly, but her voice was obviously filled with troubled emotions.
Vi turned her head as well and met Caitlyn’s eyes: “… I’m scared. I’m too fucking scared, okay?!”, she said, her voice cracked, and she couldn’t hold back some tears that ran down her face.
“I get that, Violet. As I told you, I don’t force or push you to anything. You get the time you need, my only condition is that we keep being open to each other, that we talk about what we feel.”, Caitlyn said, the frustration was now more than hear- and visible, and she groaned before she held her forehead: “Vi. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me why you are so scared, so afraid of going further with me.”, she said, and turned her head back to Vi again.
Vi stared into Caitlyn’s eyes, she was speechless for a moment.
She gritted her teeth again, changed her focus between Caitlyn’s eyes a few times, and finally spoke again: “It’s too much to handle, okay?”, she said a bit too loud, and got up on her feet again without turning around to the photographer, “As I said, I’m too fucking broken. You deserve someone who can open up to you completely, and I can’t. Do you understand? I-…”, Vi suddenly stopped, when she felt a hand grabbing hers, gently, carefully, and the hand pulled softly to turn her around.
Caitlyn wouldn’t let her run away now, not again.
Not without an answer.
“Vi… stop talking yourself so small. I do not expect you to open up a 100% to me right now. I don’t do that to you neither at the moment. This is a process, and that is absolutely fine. We both have our life’s, we both have our experiences, our past. That’s why we need to learn more about each other, to get to know each other so we can understand our behavior and reactions better. And yes, sometimes this can be too much to handle. But you don’t have to do this alone, I don’t understand yet why you think that you must challenge the world all by yourself, to face everything on your own that gets in your way. We could do that together.”, Caitlyn tried to explain, and the look on Vi’s face made her feel like her heart would instantly stop beating.
She looked so vulnerable.
So, so broken.
Vi didn’t answer, she was too overwhelmed by all the emotions inside her, and Caitlyn pulled her into a soft hug, slow and careful, so Vi was able to signal her immediately if she didn’t want it.
But the pink haired model let her, and so they ended up in a close and warm hug.
“… hey. You’ll be okay.”, Caitlyn whispered, “We’ll be okay.”, and Vi couldn’t hold back another sob before she answered: “My feelings for you are real, but they-… I can’t handle them. I’m just not ready, Caitlyn, okay? I am not ready for more, for a relationship… for love. Please, accept that. I’m doing you a favor.”, she mumbled against the taller woman’s shirt, and Caitlyn’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces – Again.
For a moment, she thought they’d be on a good path, on a way that would have some obstacles and turns, but it would lead to something great in the end.
But that thought died in that very moment.
Vi felt way too good and right in her arms, Caitlyn’s brain couldn’t connect her words she heard and the feelings inside herself, it couldn’t be more different.
But she had to accept it.
She wanted an answer – And now she got Vi’s answer.
~ 2 days later ~
Caitlyn still laid in her bed in her apartment, even if it was already midday.
She didn’t remember completely what happened after Vi had told her she felt more for her but couldn’t allow herself to act like she felt, even if she recalled the night at the beach with the model almost non-stop.
But one thing repeated itself in her head like a broken record:
Vi said she wasn’t ready for a serious relationship.
What she also remembered well was the feeling of the hot tears that had fallen from Vi’s eyes onto her shoulder, soaked themselves into the fabric of the t-shirt she wore and wettened her skin under it.
Vi had felt so frail in her arms, completely different to the times she had held her or the other way round. Like there was nothing of the strength left that she usually had.
That feeling haunted her since that very moment, and when she took a look at the clock, her heart started to feel even heavier – Vi’s flight back to California would start in a few minutes.
-
“Hey, sis’!”, Jinx grinned bright at her big sister, who seemed to not be really present mentally, so she nudged her side with her elbow: “Vi! Hello, earth to Violet! Someone in there?”, she frowned with a pout, and when she nudged her a little harder, Vi finally snapped back to reality: “Huh?!”
Jinx sighed with a raised eyebrow and rolled her eyes afterwards: “Sheesh, you’re dumber than I thought. Are you really mourning about the consequences of your own fucking decisions right now? Like. What the fuck? First you dump her, then you tell her you have feelings, just to dump her again?! I’d be fucking pissed if I was her.”
Vi had told her sister about what happened that night.
The model clenched her jaw and dug her fingertips into her thighs, the tears were burning in her eyes, but she fought them with everything she had to prevent them from falling.
“It doesn’t matter.”, she pressed through her teeth, and Jinx shrugged: “If you say so.”
The plane took off a few minutes later, and the sisters leaned back in their seats, ate some snacks, ordered some drinks and tried to make the time pass as quickly as possible.
Even if Vi was extremely tired, she didn’t manage to sleep more than having a few, light and short naps, and the exhaustion drained her more than she wanted to admit.
But finally, they arrived back in the United States and made their way to their apartments, which were in the same building in West Hollywood.
It was important for Vi to be close to Jinx when they moved there, after the model had made enough money to live in that part of the city.
And so, they got two apartments that were just a few doors apart from each other.
Since Jinx dated Lux, she stayed at her girlfriend’s place regularly, but Vi kept on being close in case she would need her, she never thought about herself in that case – So, she didn’t even consider to move somewhere else.
Just in case.
If she herself wanted to be there, if this was where she felt like home – That was never even a question.
It didn’t matter.
It was just a necessity if she wanted to be close to her baby sister to keep her safe, to keep an eye on her. It had never mattered to her if she was living in a shitty apartment, as long as she was able to be there when Jinx needed her.
Jinx came first, it had always been like that.
Always.
“Okay, I’m gonna take a shower and then I’ll be off to meet Lux! Are you good?”, Jinx voice ripped Vi out of her autopilot-mode, and she blinked a few times at her sister: “Oh! Uh. Yeah, sure. Stay safe, call me if you need me to pick you up or else.”, Vi said, and Jinx waved her off: “I guess I’ll stay at hers, I’ll take my car, no need to pick me up. I didn’t saw her in a waaaay too long time! You should get some rest, you look like you need to sleep for three days in a row. Make sure to eat, ‘k? See ya!”, Jinx said, hugged Vi tight, and hopped over to her apartment to get ready to drive over to her girlfriend’s flat.
Vi stood in the hallway in front of her apartment for a while and stared after Jinx, who disappeared behind her door, and it took her another moment to get going and open her own door.
Slowly, very slowly Vi saw a hint of reality: The tables had turned.
Jinx started to take care of her big sister.
It wasn’t that she didn’t need her anymore, but she was able to handle a lot by herself and still have emotional capacity to look after Vi now, like she did for her for all her life.
“Make sure to eat, ‘k?”
Normally, Vi would say this to Jinx. Not Jinx to Vi.
“Fuck…”, she mumbled, and squeezed her eyes shut, this whole thing gave her a headache.
She really needed rest.
A lot of rest.
-
Caitlyn used the day to make up her mind.
It was hard, but Vi was gone now – So, there was no cause to holding onto the hopes she had, she had to get rid of them, and there was something that had always helped her with these kinds of things:
Work.
So, she picked up her phone and set up a meeting, which was scheduled still today.
She got ready and made her way to the restaurant where she would meet four others, and waited at the table that she was able to reserve spontaneously.
She ordered herself just water, even if she definitely felt like drinking alcohol right now, but she had to stay sober to be able to get everything back in order that had changed into so much chaos the last time.
There was a lot to do, a lot to think through, to talk out and to get in the right lane again.
And she was determined to push herself into the right direction again.
No distractions, no hard feelings – Just work.
“I can do this…”, she whispered to herself, before she took a sip from her water, and leaned back to look around if she could spot the ones she was about to meet.
Caitlyn didn’t have to wait long, until everyone else arrived.
She turned to a group that was approaching her, and she smiled weak into the faces of Jayce, Mel and her parents.
There was a lot to talk out.
Notes:
The next update will be delayed, as I am off to a Cosplay Convention next week.
I'm sorry for that, but I promise, chapter 19 will be released the week after as usual <3
Chapter 19: New Beginnings
Summary:
Hello and welcome back!
Our girls are trying to go on with their life's without each other, but destiny has some other plans :D
Let's see where their paths will take them!Also, if you like this AU, you should check my latest Instagram Post :3
You can find the link in my linktree that is tagged in the notes, or you simply search for "rising_sun_photo"!Without further words, enjoy chapter 19 and let me know what you think in the comments! <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 19 – New Beginnings
~ 8 Months Later ~
Caitlyn entered her apartment on a rainy Wednesday in spring.
She wore a baby-blue suit under her raincoat, she had a briefcase in one hand and her camera-bag in the other.
Her eyes were clear and concentrated when she took her shoes and coat off and put them neatly away, before she went straight to the desk in her home office, that she had set-up for work, shortly after she had moved in.
She turned the computer on and walked out of the office again and into her kitchen to brew some tea and retrieve a healthy snack from her fridge, with which she went straight back to her working spot.
“Alright, let’s see…”
She took a bite from her vegetable-filled whole grain sandwich, while she fumbled in her briefcase to get a SD-Card out and took it out of its protective box, before she put it into the card-reader on her computer.
She started Lightroom and Photoshop and downloaded the work from today from the SD-Card onto her computer, selected every shot that was paid for by the customer while she finished her snack, and imported them into her programs.
“Good.”, she nodded satisfied to herself, after a quick check if every photo was fine and in focus and started to edit the shots of today’s job.
-
After the intense debates and discussions with her parents and with Mel, with Jayce for support eight months ago, a lot has changed in the British photographer’s life.
She had talked it out with her parents and made clear to them that she would break off the contact completely, if they would keep on trying to control the decisions she made for her life, that she was old enough and her own person, and that she was more than serious with the path she had chosen for herself – And if she wanted their opinion, she would ask them for it.
With Mel, she made clear that she would not tolerate anything like it had happened again, but that she was willing to give her a second chance and keep working for her under certain conditions:
- No more hiding of information, no matter if completely or partly
- Being included in choosing the jobs she takes
- The possibility of taking freelancer jobs, detached from the agency
- A raise, as she had already brought the agency very big and lucrative jobs
Caitlyn had also agreed to the deal with Mel’s agency and her mother as a new sponsor in the end.
Everything was said, everything was made clear now – Unmistakably clear.
So, if they all would stick to what Caitlyn’s conditions were, there was no cause to not have this deal with the Kiramman empire.
Caitlyn knew that having her mother as a sponsor was a huge chance for Mel’s agency, and also for herself.
She just didn’t want to sell herself for the price of independence – But now, she didn't have to give up on this for the deal.
Everyone knew now: Caitlyn was serious, and she would draw the consequences if anyone of them would ever treat her like a child again or misuse her trust.
And that would mean, that they would lose a daughter or a very good friend – So they sticked to what Caitlyn demanded.
Caitlyn was more than grateful for Jayce as emotional support when they all had met together in the restaurant, he had her back, and she knew she could always count on him.
He really was like a big brother for her.
And so, Caitlyn was back to more and especially more regular contact with her parents, and also with Mel and Jayce. She visited them all more again and had them as guests at her place as well.
The only person she hadn’t had the slightest contact with in these 8 months was Vi.
~
“Magnificent!”
The elderly, obviously gay, photographer rejoiced, after he had taken the last shot of Vi for today.
The pink haired model climbed back down from the wrecked car’s roof she stood on before, and grinned bright when the man was still complimenting her for her good work while she walked over to check the outcome together with him on a portable screen.
“Your talent is rare, young lady, and I have seen plenty talented models in my career, and believe me when I say, none of them had a charisma as enchanting as yours! Your reputation recedes you. I heard a lot about you and saw plenty of your work, and honestly, I was really looking forward to finally have you in front of my lens!”, he kept on babbling, and Vi’s grin kept on being very bright: “Thanks, I appreciate it.”, she said, and turned from him to the screen, where they showed her the outcome.
The set was post-apocalyptic, Vi wore ripped clothing, she was covered in dirt and her make-up was dark and messy. Jinx was responsible for special effects such as explosions and fire behind her, and the photographer had captured it all more than well.
“Absolutely gracious, my dears! You, too! Yes, you over there!”, the man smiled, and waved Jinx over to them, “Your precision with these dangerous effects is unbelievable, I heard you two are sisters?”, he asked, and both of them nodded, “The talent flows in the family then, it seems!”
-
The job ended, and Vi was in the studio’s changing room a while later, when she heard someone knock at the door, and as she expected it to be Jinx, she simply called: “Come in! I’m almost ready!” – But it wasn’t Jinx.
“Vi? Hey, I-… OH MY GOD!”
Vi’s eyes widened when she turned her head around and saw that it wasn’t her sister, but one of the studio’s employees, who was, apparently, covering her eyes with both her hands as Vi was standing there completely naked, only with a towel in her hands that she had used to rub her hair dry after the shower she had taken to get rid of all the dirt and grease on her.
“Fuck!! I mean-…. Sorry! I thought you’re my sister, I-… fuck, gimme a sec, shit-…”, she cursed, and quickly grabbed her clothes and put them on as fast as she could.
“Okay, it’s safe to look now.”, she chuckled amused, and combed with her fingers through her damp hair, “Sorry again. Do you need anything? If it’s for the studio rent payment or else, you have to talk to Bill, he’s the-…”, Vi started, but the woman stopped her, still red as a tomato: “No! No. That’s not it, I’m-… I’m actually here for you.”, she said, and Vi raised an eyebrow: “For me?”, she asked, and the woman nodded: “Yes, I’m Amber, by the way.”, she smiled, and reached her hand out to the model, who took it with a growing smile when she laid her eyes on the other woman properly for the first time today.
Black and long hair, tall, slim, blue eyes – Almost like…
NO!
No.
No…
“Okay, and what can I do for you, Amber?”, Vi smirked, and her greyish, ice-blue eyes seemed to have an effect on the woman, as Amber bit her lower lip and a smirk formed itself on her face.
“Well, I had hoped that you are free this evening and up for some~… fun?”, the tall woman purred, and Vi put her hands into her pockets: “Hm~ I didn’t have any plans yet, but~… sounds like I have plans for tonight now.”
-
Caitlyn finished the last edit of the job and emailed a download link with all the files over to Mel, before she decided that it was enough work for today and turned the computer off.
She sighed and stared for a moment at her reflection in the black screen in front of her.
Somehow, she hadn’t figured out what she should use her free time for since the big project 8 months ago had ended.
So, she just sighed again and got up to walk into her kitchen and started to prepare a small dinner and fresh tea, with which she sat down alone on her dining table.
A bitter smile found the way on her lips, when she remembered her own words to Vi in that night at the beach.
“That sounds like a lonely life to me.”
Caitlyn took a sip of her tea and put the mug back down again, when she whispered to herself: “Burying myself in work seems to be the same kind of lonely.”
-
Vi rolled carefully out of Amber’s bed later that night.
She collected the clothes that laid around on the small bedroom’s floor, and put them hastily but quiet on, before she grabbed her purse and keys from the nightstand and sneaked out of the apartment to make her way to her own by foot, even if it would take her around an hour to walk home from there.
The cool night air was what she needed right now, anyway.
It wasn’t the first time that she hooked up with a girl since all that happened with Caitlyn.
She had started to do that about two months ago, when the frustration had started to eat her up.
Even if she always felt worse than before, somehow, it was also a relieve.
For the moment, at least.
Vi thought about Caitlyn almost every day since she had ended things with her finally, and with every day, the realization hit her harder and harder:
It was a mistake.
It was a mistake not to try, to not give them a chance to build something strong, a relationship that had so much potential, a one that could have been… right.
It was a huge mistake.
A fucking huge one.
But it was too late now, eight months had passed since that night at the beach.
Eight months in which they hadn’t seen or spoken to each other, not the smallest contact, not even work-related.
Vi was sure, she had missed the one chance on real love in her life.
And somehow, she punished herself with having these meaningless hook-ups.
They reminded her that this was probably the only thing she could have, and that she now probably never would get what she could have had with Caitlyn:
A real relationship, with real feelings, with a meaning.
With trust.
She had fucked up.
“… like I always do.”
~
“Sweetheart, it’s so good to see you!”
Tobias smiled bright, when he greeted his daughter at the entrance of the Kiramman mansion.
Cassandra stood beside him, and she gave her daughter a smile and a hug as well, before the family went over to the fireplace room.
Caitlyn visited them on this weekend, after the approval from Mel that the client was satisfied with the outcome, so she used some free time to have tea with her parents.
And tell them about big news which she learned about just the day before.
“Thank you.”, Caitlyn smiled, and took the tea that her father had served all of them, “I have great news. I have just finished my last job that came in through the agency, then I suddenly got a call. You will never believe who called me, I was so stunned that they even got my business contact, that they know who I am.”, she chuckled proud, and took a sip of her tea.
“Who was it, Darling?”, Cassandra asked, and dipped a biscuit in her tea, while her eyes stayed on her daughter.
“Versace wants me to shoot their summer collection! Bloody Versace, Mom, Dad, can you believe it?! And this isn’t a job managed by Mel, it’s a job just for me and I will manage everything by myself, I’m really excited!”, Caitlyn smiled bright, and her parents looked at her with big eyes: “This is amazing, Caitlyn, such an exclusive and expensive brand!”, Cassandra said, and Tobias immediately joined: “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart, your career really is growing on an incredible rate! Where will the job be? Italy?”, he asked, and Caitlyn shook her head, still smiling.
“No, I will fly to Los Angeles for this job.”
~
The new week started, and Caitlyn took her flight over to LA, while Vi had a quite relaxed week with only two shootings, for which Jinx was hired as well for effects and designs.
They were all more or less busy, and the weekend came faster as expected.
~
Jinx went to Lux’ apartment on Friday, as she wanted to stay for the weekend again.
“You look like something is wrong, baby, you know you can tell me everything.”
The blonde girl sighed with a worried look while she laid on her couch and watched Jinx repair her coffee machine on the living room table across from her.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine!”, Jinx shrugged, and continued her work unbothered, but Lux frowned: “Is it about Vi? When it’s not about you, it’s always about your sister.”, she said, her tone was soft, and Jinx groaned when her girlfriend mentioned her big sister.
“Weeell, she’s an idiot.”, she shrugged, and changed the screwdriver to a smaller one, “And she won’t let me help her. But that’s nothing new!”, she added, all while she continued to try to repair the machine.
Lux got up from the couch and walked over to Jinx, where she stopped and hugged her from behind: “Hey. Will you tell me what happened? Is it about that photographer girl again?”, she asked, and Jinx laughed: “Why do you always know things before I tell you about them?”, she asked, and leaned back into her love’s embrace.
“Well, because I know you and I care about you, that’s why I try to understand you even without words.”, the blonde woman smiled, and pressed a kiss to Jinx’ head.
“Ha, yeah, well-… sounds kinda right to me.”, Jinx snickered, and shrugged again: “So, yes. First, she dumped her, then she told her she has feelings, and in the same conversation she dumped her again. Vi really should let go of that chic.”, Jinx said, and Lux raised an eyebrow: “I have the feeling that this isn’t the whole story. What did you do?”, she asked, and Jinx turned around with a frown: “Me?! Why me??”, she asked back, and Lux crossed her arms: “Because I know you well enough that you probably have something to do with this.”
“Urgh!”, Jinx groaned again, and laid her forehead onto the table, “This chic is not good for her, okay? She’s not better than these rich assholes who fucked us all our life! So, I told her she should dump her. And then she did, and then she didn’t, and then she did it again.”
Lux’ frown deepened, and she took the chair beside her girlfriend, that sounded more serious than she had thought.
“Baby, you can’t decide for Vi who she wants to date, or whatever this is between them. Besides, you are dating me, and my family is rich as well. I understand that there may have been things that made you critical about-… what was her name again?” – “Caitlyn.” – “Okay, so what Caitlyn may have said or done, but I don’t think that Vi would have interest in someone like you describe her has.”, Lux tried carefully, and Jinx finally put down her tools and faced her.
“Well, she wanted to exploit these paparazzi shots, just like Mel did back then with the pics of Vi and Sarah Fortune!”, Jinx said frustrated, and Lux frowned: “Really? Oh… I mean, yes. That’d be a cause to dump her. Did they talk about it?”, she asked, and Jinx shrugged: “Yeah, kinda.”
“And?”
“What, ‘and’?”
“Jinx…”
“…”
“…”
“Okay, okay! Sheesh. She told Vi that this was a ‘misunderstanding’, and that she ‘didn’t know’, and that she ‘confronted Mel’, and… well. Vi dumped her, nevertheless. So, what’s your point? We got rid of that problem.”, Jinx said pouting and with crossed arms, and Lux frowned again: “Jinx. If that ‘problem’ isn’t a problem anymore, why am I sensing that something is still wrong?”, she asked, this time a bit more demanding, and Jinx groaned exaggerated: “Fiiiine! Vi is still in love with her, even if she hasn’t spoken to her in fucking 8 months, and I told her to go out and meet girls, have fun and live life, and she’s doing that now.”
Lux leaned a bit forward: “Okay, but I don’t see the problem here?”
Jinx sighed and rolled her eyes, before she spoke with a tiny voice: “… maybe. Well. Maybe she-… she’s looking even more miserable than before…?”
“Oh god, Jinx. Seriously? Vi was never the type to do these things, how could you make her do this, especially out of these causes?? Baby, I love you, I really do, but that was not okay! We have to talk to her. I’ll come with you, I’ll be by your side, but we can’t let Vi continue with this. Not when you say her state is worse than before. Now.”
-
Caitlyn was at the set for the third and last day of the job on Friday.
It had gone more than well, it was exhausting but Caitlyn loved the level of professionalism this job had, and she gave her best to perform better than what was expected from her.
She knew, this job would increase her reputation even further.
As soon as Versace was part of her list of experiences, there wasn’t anything that would keep people from booking her for more jobs, no matter how exclusive they were.
She hadn’t much time to see anything of the city, as the job had demanded most of her time, so after work she mostly just got herself dinner at a restaurant and fell into her hotel bed afterwards to have enough energy for the next day.
But today wasn’t as long as the days before, it was only one last, short shooting and a meeting afterwards to check the outcome of the days and to take care of the last documents that were needed for payment, copyrights and contracts.
“… so, and we all would like to thank you for your excellent work, Caitlyn. We are more than pleased with the outcome, and working with you was an absolute pleasure!”, the woman across from Caitlyn said, and the photographer gave her an honest smile: “I should thank you for this big opportunity, I would have never thought to be trusted with a brand like this so early in my career, so, honestly, thank you!”, she said, and everyone got up to shake hands and say their goodbye’s.
“Will you fly back to London right away?”, the woman asked, and Caitlyn shook her head: “No, I’ll stay over the weekend and fly back on Tuesday morning. The weekend and Monday flight prices were higher than staying more nights in the hotel, so I decided to enjoy a little time here in LA.”
She nodded and finally let go of the British woman’s hand: “Sounds like a plan, enjoy your stay then, you deserve it after all the work!”
Caitlyn smiled with a nod and grabbed her bag: “I will, thank you. I’m excited for the release of the shots.”, she said, and waved everyone goodbye a last time, before she made her way back to the hotel to get fresh for the evening.
She would stay another four days in LA, and she forced herself to use these days to go out again for a change.
-
When Jinx and Lux arrived at Vi’s apartment, no one opened.
“Shit… do you have a key?”, Lux asked, and Jinx nodded while she searched for it in one of her cargo pants pockets: “Hmmm… yep, here we go!”, she said, and opened the door for them.
“Sis’? It’s meeee, Lux is here too, we’re coming in!”, she called into the dark apartment, and turned the lights on.
“Shit…”, Jinx mumbled, when she realized that her sister indeed wasn’t at home tonight.
She even checked the small balcony, but Vi wasn’t to find anywhere.
“Can you call her?”, Lux asked, and Jinx nodded with her phone already in her hand.
“Come on…”, Jinx mumbled, but the phone she called suddenly went off on the kitchen table.
“Fuck! Well, I guess we need to postpone that talk.”
-
Vi was out this Friday night, she started to go to a lesbian bar in LA regularly for about three months, also because Jinx annoyed her so much and long that she needed to get out of her apartment for a change, until she gave in.
That was also where she met her first hook-up two months ago, and since then, it became a kind of habit to go there for a drink or two at the weekend and sometimes follow a woman home – And leave her in the middle of the night without a word.
The bar was cozy, it had a lot of pink and purple neon lights for decoration, the interior was mainly made of dark wood and black glass, the drinks had very sapphic names, and the people who spend their nights here could be called sapphic as well.
She was sitting at the bar with a drink in her hand, when a woman sat down next to her.
“Hey, you’re Vi, aren’t you?”, she asked, and Vi turned her head to her with a smirk: “Well, depends on who’s asking.”, she said, and the woman chuckled before she smirked back: “Someone who’s heard a lot of spectacular things about your skills.”, she purred, and Vi huffed amused: “Is that so? Well, if the ladies are saying that, it must be true, right?”, Vi flirted, even if her heart was aching at the thought that people were already talking about her in that way.
But these were the consequences of her own actions, right?
“Hm, you know, I trust the girlies of course, but I also like to experience things myself before I believe something I heard entirely.”, the woman said, and Vi huffed again, turned her head to her glass and took a sip, before she faced her again: “I only arrived a few minutes ago, I’m not planning on leaving already.”, the model said, and the woman kept her smirk: “Well, would you like some company then?”, she asked, and Vi just shrugged: “Sure, why not.”
And so, Vi ordered a few more drinks over the evening, although she switched to non-alcoholic ones after the first two.
She talked with the woman, who was obviously very interested in a night with her, and tried to have a good time at the women-only-bar, until she turned her head when the door opened later that night, and someone entered that she thought she would never see again.
“Cait…?”
Chapter 20: Open Wounds
Summary:
Hello and welcome back <3
As you may have noticed, the weekly update didn't work anymore lately.
I will do a 2-weeks update now, I just don't have enough time atm to be as quick as I was the last weeks.I hope that's fine for everyone, but it will also have an important advantage for you: The quality will stay, as I don't have to rush things.
And I will also have the possibility to write a bit ahead of the update times, so I have a few chapters ready that can be released even if I am on vacation or Conventions etc.So, that's the information about the updates for now!
Let's continue with 'Pictures' <3
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 20 – Open Wounds
Caitlyn sat all dressed up on the edge of her hotel bed in a cute, black dress that went right above her knees, with matching boots and some fine jewelry on her wrists, neck, and earlobes, while she googled for a good place to go as a queer woman in LA.
She wasn’t exactly looking for a hookup or else, but she felt like a male-free place was what would be the most pleasurable experience for tonight, and she had heard that the queer nightlife in LA was something you needed to experience, so she had decided on trying that.
“Hm…”, she made a thoughtful noise when her phone showed her a lesbian bar a few blocks away, and with a deep breath, she decided to give it a try.
She knew, if she would continue searching, she’d probably manipulate herself in searching so long that it would get too late to even put a foot outside her hotel room.
“Okay, how bad could it be?”
-
When Caitlyn entered said bar, she took a look around and found a bunch of pretty women turn around and smile at her.
She immediately felt welcome, and went to a small table at the edge of the bar, where one of the waitresses greeted her: “Welcome, honey, what can I get ya? Or are you waiting for someone and need a bit more time?”, she asked, and Caitlyn gave her a shy smile: “Oh, no, I’m not waiting for anyone. I’ll… just a moment, please.”, she said, and took the cocktail menu to see what she wanted.
“I think I’ll go for the-… uhm. Pussy Eater?”, Caitlyn chuckled, and the waitress winked at her: “Good choice, comes in a second!”, she said, and left the table again, after which Caitlyn started to look around in the bar.
The mood was good, everyone seemed to have fun, and some of the women gave her a quick smile or grin, a little wave, but no one of them approached her without an invitation of Caitlyn.
She got the impression that most here seemed to know each other more or less, and she was thankful for the open, respectful and consensual way they treated her the moment she had entered.
“And here’s your drink! Enjoy, tell me if you need anything, okay?”, the waitress smiled friendly, served Caitlyn her cocktail and walked back to the bar, where the navy haired woman’s attention was dragged to someone that made her heart drop.
“Vi?”
-
“Hey, are you okay?”, the woman next to Vi asked when the model stared at the door, and Vi turned back to her acquaintance with a confused expression: “Excuse me, what?”, she asked, and the other woman tilted her head: “You look like you saw a ghost.”, she said, and Vi turned to the barkeeper: “Hey, can you get me your strongest shot?”, she asked, and the woman behind the bar nodded: “Sure, everything for you, Vi.”, she winked, and got a shot glass to prepare Vi’s order.
“Uhm… is your ex here or something like that?”, the woman asked, and Vi turned back to her: “Huh?! No-… no. No, I’m okay, don’t worry about it.”, the model answered nervously, and turned back to the waitress to take the shot she ordered.
“Here’s your Squirt, be careful with that.”, the barkeeper said, and Vi just nodded absently: “Yeah, sure. Thanks.” and dragged it down with her head thrown back.
The strong alcohol made her body shiver shortly, and she turned back to the woman she was talking to for the whole evening: “Sorry, what were you saying?”
Vi really tried to manipulate herself into thinking that she was dreaming, that the dim lights and neon colors had played a trick on her eyes, but she somehow knew, that wasn’t the case.
Caitlyn was here.
Caitlyn fucking Kiramman was here.
In the USA.
In LA.
In the same bar as her.
She didn’t manage to keep her eyes at her acquaintance for long: “So, uh…”, she said, and let her eyes wander through the bar after giving up the fight with them, and the woman frowned: “Hey. My eyes are here.”, she said, and laid her hand on Vi’s cheek to push her back to face her again: “What’s so interesting suddenly?”, she asked critical, and Vi couldn’t stand it anymore, she got up and mumbled an apology, before she walked with fast steps in the bathrooms direction.
“What the hell…?”, the woman mumbled to herself, and considered following her, what she did after a moment.
-
Caitlyn sipped her drink while her eyes were always trying to get a glimpse on that woman at the bar that looked so much like Vi – Just to be sure that it was really her.
Nothing more, right?
But honestly, who else had this vibrant pink, wild hair?
It must be her.
And when the field of view was clear, she was sure – It was indeed Vi, and another woman had her hand on her cheek.
A woman that was tall, with dark brunette hair, femme presenting…
In other words: “/She looks a bit like me./”
And she followed Vi to the bathrooms.
“… not ready my arse.”, she mumbled pissed into her non-existing beard, and she felt anger boiling up inside her.
Her head started to spin, and her thoughts were racing.
So, Mel was right with her accusations, that Vi was nothing more than a fuckboy and a liar.
All these messages and letters Mel had shown her, she felt so stupid suddenly for even trying to find an explanation for Vi’s good.
“/I was nothing more than another game for Vi./”, this thought started to burn itself into her brain, and the anger became rage.
Vi had talked about having struggles to trust her, and now she was the one who misused Caitlyn’s trust? Lying to her about not being ready, but hooking up with random girls at a bar?
Vi seemed to be an excellent actor, the show she put on at the night on the beach deserved an Oscar then.
But still, something was odd about all this.
Vi had several chances to sleep with Caitlyn, but she always denied and wanted to wait.
This all made even less sense than before now to the photographer, and she let out a frustrated groan, before she emptied her cocktail with one big sip and got up to go over to the bathrooms as well, she wanted to hear it from her, she needed to hear it from her, and she wouldn’t let her get away with another stupid excuse or fake explanation.
But before she was able to enter said bathrooms, the door flew open and the woman that had followed Vi came out with a pissed expression on her face.
“Wha-…”, Caitlyn startled, as the woman almost ran into her, and she stared at her with big eyes.
“Sorry! Sorry. And hey, if I were you, I’d be careful. There’s a snake in there.”, she spit, rolled her eyes, pushed herself through Caitlyn and went back to the bar.
And suddenly, the anger and rage inside of Caitlyn changed to insecurity, and confusion formed itself inside her.
“No. No.”, she admonished herself, straightened her back, took a deep breath, and entered the bathrooms to search for Vi, who she found in front of the last sink in the back, holding herself on it with both her hands and staring into her own eyes in the mirror.
“…”
Caitlyn took another deep breath, braced herself for a verbal fight, and approached the woman who had broken her heart into thousand pieces several times.
The photographer expected a cold expression with an even colder body language, but when Vi turned her head to her, it was the exact opposite.
Big, vulnerable eyes, low shoulders, a defensive body language, and if she didn’t know better, she would say she saw fear inside those greyish, ice-blue eyes that used to make her heart skip a beat.
There was obvious anger inside her gaze and body as well, that wasn’t deniable, but the overtaxing inside her was the dominant aura Vi had in that moment.
They both stared at each other, and neither of them managed to say a word or make a move.
None of them felt able to do anything, they both felt like they were paralyzed as a tsunami of feelings washed over them, threatened to drown them into their own emotions.
Caitlyn was the first to open her mouth, but nothing wanted to come out.
Instead, she felt a sob made its way up her throat, and she closed her mouth again to muffle it, and when she felt tears build up in her eyes, she knew she couldn’t stay here any longer.
She had to go, she must go.
Away from this situation, away from Vi.
Caitlyn turned around on her heels and walked with large strides out of the bathroom again, went to the bar, paid hastily for her cocktail, and made her way out of the front door.
Vi stared at the door through which Caitlyn had left as fast as she had entered.
She still felt paralyzed, like her feet were superglued to the floor and her hands to the sink, like her whole body was completely stiff and unmovable.
She bit her lower lip and felt hot tears burning in her eyes, turned back to the mirror and stared at herself: “… fuck. FUCK!!”, she shouted at her reflection, gained all her mental strength to break the state she was trapped in, and finally pushed herself away from the sink and ran after the woman she had never lost a single feeling for.
She had to follow her.
She knew, if she wouldn’t catch her now, she would never see her again.
This time, for real.
“HEY! Vi!! You still have to pay!!”, the woman behind the bar called after her, and Vi didn’t turn around when she shouted back: “Put it on the list, I’ll pay next time!!”, she left the bar and looked left and right over the street to search for Caitlyn, but she couldn’t see her at first.
“FUCK!!”, she cursed loudly, startled some pedestrians with the volume of her voice, and listened to her instinct when she chose a direction to ran to.
She had to make up for everything that happened.
Everything.
The night was lightened up by all the LED-lights of several shops, bars, restaurants, and streetlamps, but it was still difficult to make out a specific person, as it was quite crowded tonight, too.
“Caitlyn!! Cait?! Please…! Where are you?!”, she called into the night, and finally, she spotted a figure walking about 30 meters in front of her who turned out to be the tall photographer when she jogged nearer.
“Caitlyn, please, wait!”, she said loud enough for her to hear, but the addressed woman didn’t turn around, she kept on walking away fast, so Vi decided to sprint to catch up to her.
Vi reached her and went in front of Caitlyn, she was out of breath and her eyes were filled with hot tears when she bit her lower lip and looked up to the navy haired woman: “Caitlyn… please.”, she begged, and the other woman gave her just a short look out of extremely hurt and angry eyes, before she walked around her to continue to just walk away without saying a single word.
Caitlyn didn’t even know where she was going, she just wanted to get away, far, far away from the woman who made her heart scream - In pain and desire equally.
She knew, she wouldn’t survive another heartbreak caused by the model.
The moment her eyes had met hers, Caitlyn knew the love she had developed for Vi hadn’t faded the slightest over the last eight months. She had simply drowned them in work, and now that she stood in front of her again, everything broke upon her, every single emotion she had ever felt for her bubbled up again, and it was so much that the only thing she could think of was to get away.
Away from all these overwhelming feelings.
Away from Vi.
“Cait!! WAIT!!”, Vi’s voice yelled over the street, and Caitlyn could hear by the fast steps behind her that the model followed her again, “Please, stop! We need to talk, we must talk, I’m begging you!”, Vi said, and her voice broke midway through her sentence while the tears had already started running all over her face.
And finally, Caitlyn stopped.
She stopped so abruptly, that Vi almost ran into her back, but she managed to stop herself in the last second before there would have been an impact.
“Speak then.”
Caitlyn’s voice was unusual cold when it reached Vi’s ears.
Vi stared at Caitlyn’s back and blink a few times, while her brain processed the two single words she had said with a voice so clear it was frightening.
“… can you-… I mean, can you look at me, at least?”, Vi asked with a sad voice, and she watched Caitlyn’s tense, raised shoulders fall a little again.
The tall woman sighed and turned around with crossed arms, and after a moment of not being able to look in Vi’s eyes, she forced herself to be strong enough to face her properly: “So?”
“… I’m sorry.”
Caitlyn blinked, and an angry frown formed on her forehead: “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?? Seriously, Vi?!”, she got louder, and she felt burning, angry tears coming up in her eyes, but before she was able to continue in any way, Vi spoke up again.
“I’m sorry for how it went, I’m sorry for how I reacted, I’m sorry for rejecting you, I’m sorry for giving you hopes and dumping you then… I’m- … I’m sorry for breaking your heart.”, Vi said, her voice was clearer than she herself expected it to be, and she used all the strength she had to keep her eyes locked with Caitlyn’s.
“I did you wrong. I was an asshole, and you didn’t deserve anything that I did out of anger or insecurity, mistrust or whatever, I was wrong, I know that now, but I can’t undo what happened. Even if I really wish I could.”, Vi spilled everything that had built up inside her over the last months, she made herself vulnerable, this time a hundred percent – She knew she had to, there was no other way now.
Not after everything that had happened.
“And when I saw you at the bar’s restroom tonight, I knew… I had to follow you, or I wouldn’t ever see you again. So, here I am.”, Vi sighed, and let her shoulder’s hang down defeated, looked down to her boots and then hesitantly back up into Caitlyn’s eyes.
“And not seeing me ever again would be bad, because…?”, Caitlyn asked, still with a more than cold voice and expression, and Vi’s heart shattered more and more into tiny pieces when she heard those words.
“Because-… fuck, Caitlyn, because I love you!! Okay?!”, it started to break out of Vi, and she got louder again with frustration in her eyes, voice and whole body language, “Because I am a useless piece of shit that mistrusted you, even if you were the first person where I started to believe that your interest in me is real, genuine! Because I was too fucking stupid to see that you and I would be so, so right together, that-… that I had no fucking cause to have any single second of doubt that your feelings for me are real, that your intentions were genuine, that you actually were giving me the time I would need to open up enough to say yes to a relationship with you, to a commitment, to-… to love, okay?!”
Vi was visibly shaking meanwhile, her face was stained with hot tears, and her chest was heaving in an unregular rhythm, she was broken – And the pieces laid spread across the floor in front of Caitlyn.
“Not seeing you again, not taking this chance right here, right now, to speak to you again, to try to explain myself, to get things right again, even if I would understand if you wouldn’t want to ever see me again, that-… I would never forgive myself if I hadn’t tried.”, Vi said, her voice fell low and quieter with every word, and her eyes sank down as well.
Caitlyn frowned.
She wanted to put an end to this, to cut this connection off the moment she saw Vi with that woman inside the bar, but the confusion that had started to build up the moment this woman stormed out of the bar’s restrooms grew unbearably big right now.
She could see in Vi’s eyes that everything that had spilled out of her right now was true, that everything she had said, every single word was honest, and that the pain inside her was real.
But it was also way too much to find an answer to it just like that, in that very moment – But what she actually was able to do and decide was to give Vi a chance to explain herself in a more calm and less public environment.
“… Vi. Hey. Vi, look at me.”, Caitlyn said, her voice was way softer and warmer than before, “Violet… hey.”, she tried again, and carefully cupped her cheeks to make her look at her, to which Vi reacted by grabbing Caitlyn’s wrists.
She needed something to hold herself on, she felt like she would lose the ground under her feet any moment.
“Take a deep breath. You need to calm down, I don’t want you to pass out in the middle of the street.”, the taller woman continued, and Vi did as she was told to, one deep breath, two, three… four.
“There you go.”, Caitlyn smiled slightly, and let go of the model again, “If you’re really honest with this, and I mean it, there is a bloody lot to talk out between us. And I can’t guarantee you any outcome, I need you to understand that. Okay?”, Caitlyn said calmly, even if the chaos inside her was more than huge.
The confusion that flew through Caitlyn’s whole body made her shake inside, and she had the feeling that her brain was floating and spinning around.
But somehow, she suddenly couldn’t put an end to all this.
Not when she looked inside those hurt, greyish-blue eyes.
“I am bloody angry with you, I am more than pissed for what you’ve done to my heart, you caused me a lot of pain, Vi. So much that I should hunt you to hell, I’m serious.”, she huffed, and crossed her arms again: “You get one chance, one, to explain yourself properly. That’s it. This is your only and last chance to get this right, do you understand?”
Vi nodded, wiped with her forearm over her teary face, and took another deep breath before she found her voice again: “Yes, I understand. Thank you.”
-
“Here you go.”
Caitlyn sat on the couch of Vi’s apartment and took the mug with hot tea that Vi had brewed for her with both her hands and a quick ‘thank you’.
The pink haired model sat down next to the photographer with her own mug in her hand.
She was close, but she didn’t touch her the slightest, she kept a proper distance which was definitely needed in the situation they were in right now.
Caitlyn took a careful sip from her tea and waited.
She just waited.
For her, it was definitely Vi’s responsibility to start this, to explain herself and tell her what she wanted, to explain her reactions and actions, to show her that she really had understood what she did and what it had caused.
And to explain what Vi wanted now.
Caitlyn would listen, as she had promised, and then she would decide what she would do afterwards.
Vi sighed, wiggled a bit around until she had found a better position to sit, even if everything felt uncomfortable right now.
The tension inside her felt like it would rip her apart, but this was her only chance to get things right, to maybe, just maybe get a last chance on real love, on something lasting.
Something right.
So, she gathered all the mental strength that was left inside her and started to explain herself.
“So…”
Notes:
There will be a LOT to talk out in the next chapter!
I hope you like it, let me know what you think in the comments <3
And thank you for your kudos! <3
Chapter 21: Explanations
Summary:
Welcome back to 'Pictures'! <3
We had a lot of emotional pain the last chapters, and I'm afraid you have to stay on the emotional rollercoaster for a while longer - I'm curious what you will think at the end of this chapter :D
So, buckle up once more, grab your comfort snacks and enjoy chapter 21 - Explanations!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 21 – Explanations
Vi and Caitlyn faced each other while Vi spoke.
The atmosphere was weird, the mood was difficult to explain, but both knew:
The next hours would decide over their future – And it was either a shared one or a separated one, forever.
“… I don’t really know where I should start. I’ll just try to explain everything somehow. Okay?”, Vi announced, and played with her hands in her lap.
Caitlyn nodded and tried to keep her cool, to not show Vi how nervous she was – Even if she didn’t feel much better than the model did.
Vi had hurt her, she hurt her bad.
And even if Caitlyn felt like forgiving her on an instant when she looked in those vulnerable puppy eyes, she forced herself to stay hard and to not make it easy for Vi, she wanted her to fight for her if she really wanted this one last chance, if she really was honest about all this.
But going out, just to find herself sitting so suddenly on the couch of the woman she had fallen so hard for months ago made it difficult to keep her thoughts together, it was just overwhelming.
“… or. No, maybe we-… can we talk about the specific topics and misunderstandings? Ask questions about them? So, we uh… so we can clear them out once and for all?”, Vi suggested, and Caitlyn made a thoughtful face for a moment, before she nodded: “… yes. Yes, I think this would be a good way.”, she agreed, and sighed with a deep breath: “Let me start with this one: Why did you lie to me?”
Vi blinked a few times, when Caitlyn immediately hit her with this accusation: “… lie about what?”, she asked, and tilted her head in confusion. She really didn’t know what she meant.
Caitlyn closed her eyes for a moment, took a calming breath, and faced Vi again: “About not hooking up with women for years. I saw all the letters and mails that were sent to Mel’s agency, that were addressed to you.”, Caitlyn explained, and kept the eye contact.
Vi’s eyes widened, and it was visible that this made her more than uncomfortable.
She got defensive and frowned: “Why did she show you this?”, she asked, and Caitlyn’s expression darkened: “You didn’t answer my question.”, she said forcefully, and Vi grit her teeth, before she sighed defeated: “Okay, okay. I didn’t lie. I didn’t have sex with any of these women, that’s the truth.”
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, and her body language tensed, while her expression got colder again.
She crossed her arms and leaned a bit back with a daring gaze that pierced itself right into Vi’s eyes: “I’m listening.”, she said, her voice demanding and dark.
“… they wanted to have sex with me. And yes, I actually met some of them, like in a bar or for example when I was in Vegas for a job. But I didn’t fuck them, okay? They tried to contact me again after we had a drink or two with these messages and letters, but I never took them to my hotel room or else.”, Vi said, and she couldn’t look Caitlyn in the eyes while she told her the answer to her question.
“… that’s it? And why do you look like this is a bad thing?”, Caitlyn asked, her eyebrow was raised again, and she tilted her head.
“…” – “Vi. You either talk, or we’re done. I’m bloody serious about this.”
Vi groaned frustrated, and she finally found her words again: “Because-… because this is fucking pathetic, okay? Because I’m a fucking loser.”, she said, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes: “A loser? Because of what? Not fucking around?”, she asked sassy, and Vi just shrugged.
“Okay, you know what? If I must drag every single word out of you, we’re done. I don’t have time to waste with someone who obviously doesn’t want to get things right, thank you for the tea, I will-…”, Caitlyn started, got up and was about to grab her bag and leave, when Vi immediately jumped to her feet and grabbed Caitlyn’s wrist to hold her back.
“NO! No-… please, I really want to get things right, I promise, I-… please, stay.”, Vi cried out, and Caitlyn turned to her with the coldest gaze Vi has ever seen on her.
She looked unimpressed down on Vi’s hand around her wrist, and Vi understood immediately.
She let go of her, and the photographer shook the feeling gently off that Vi had left on her skin, before she took her bag and threw it over her shoulder: “I told you this was your last chance, Vi.”, she said, and took a step away from the couch, when Vi spoke up again.
“I felt like a failure! I felt like a fucking loser to not be able to take these women to bed, to live, have unbound fun, to-… to not be the one everyone expected me to be. People think I’m a fuckboy, a womanizer, but I’m just… I’m just not.”, she explained with a defeated sigh, and fiddled with her hands in front of her.
Caitlyn sighed annoyed, but she put her bag back on the floor: “And why do you feel that actually being a ‘fuckboy’ would be better than not?”, she asked, and didn’t sit down again for now, she kept standing tall and crossed her arms.
“…”, Vi frowned, confusion was in her expression, and Caitlyn could see the gears in Vi’s head turning busily, “… I don’t know. Maybe, I thought pleasing women would be way better than… not? Seriously, I feel stupid for this.”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn huffed with a cocked eyebrow: “Yes, you should indeed feel stupid, because it is stupid.”, she said, and sat slowly down on the couch again.
Both sighed and took a moment to collect their thoughts again.
“… so, you didn’t have sex with any random girls? Not that it would be any of my business, but it’s my business if you lie to me when I ask you something. And I don’t tolerate liars.”, Caitlyn put her question clear, and Vi bit her lower lip on that, she definitely couldn’t lie now.
“… well. Actually, I had. For the last… two months, I guess?”, Vi whispered, and Caitlyn couldn’t hold back a frustrated groan and got louder: “Vi, can you just talk? Just bloody tell me what you want to tell me, I thought you were the one who asked for this conversation!?”
Caitlyn’s words hurt, but Vi knew she was the idiot and the asshole here, and finally, the switch in her head flipped and she managed to kick her own butt to finally put everything on the table.
“Okay. Look, I didn’t lie to you. I really didn’t, I told you the truth about these letters and messages, I promise. After everything that happened between us, at the beach and all this I mean, I talked with my sister about everything, and she… well, she was very insisting that I should go out, forget you and live my life, have fun, meet women, all this. And I tried. I really tried, but I’ll be honest, this just isn’t for me. I always felt worse than before, and I somehow took it as a kind of punishment for my mistakes with you.”, Vi tried to explain, and Caitlyn listened attentively.
“… I hope you do know how stupid that sounds and actually is, do you?”, Caitlyn asked with a sigh, and Vi ran a hand through her pink hair, before she answered: “… yes, I guess. But you know, I… this may sound dumb as well, but I felt like I would never get another chance on love like I had with you, so I took this as a ‘this or nothing’, and honestly, nothing would have been better.”
Caitlyn took the mug with her tea again, took a sip and raised her shoulders for a second, before she put the mug back and faced Vi again: “Okay, so I guess this point is cleared out. Somehow. You didn’t lie, and you had meaningless sex with different women the last weeks.” – “… yes.” – “Okay. So, it’s your turn for a question, then.”, Caitlyn said, and Vi blinked a few times, before she thought about what bothered her.
“Okay, uhm. So, about this whole thing with Mel and the ‘using our feelings for profit’. You said you confronted her, and I didn’t let you explain back then in London. Do you mind explaining it to me now?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Of course. I wanted to understand why you took your distance so suddenly, and I wanted to know what happened back then that this was your reaction to me suggesting that we could maybe use the attention we suddenly got, even if you had the clear option to deny. I hope you know that, Vi. I had asked you what you want to do about the rumors, and you just got instantly defensive and put distance between us.”, Caitlyn started, and played a little with her own hands in her lap.
Vi nodded with a guilty look on her face, and Caitlyn noticed it very well.
“That was also when she showed me the letters and messages and all that, but I didn’t want to draw conclusions, because you told me that there was nothing going on between you and other women. I defended you, even if Mel was very insisting on making me believe that you are, indeed, a ‘fuckboy’, how you call it. What wouldn’t even be a problem if that was your past. I mean, if we would have started dating, I’d be sure that I would be the only one in your life. But Mel’s explanations and ‘proofs’ made me doubt if you were really honest with me. She told me that you are not capable of love. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you about this and hear about your point of view. But we already have cleared this part.”, Caitlyn continued her explanation, and Vi felt more and more bad for not taking risks and being open to the photographer from the very start.
Vi felt hot tears burning in her eyes, but she did her best to keep them back, to not let them roll down her face – This wasn’t the time now, she needed to keep her head as clear as possible, as there was still a lot to talk out between them.
And she didn’t want to waste this chance by having a too cloudy mind.
“Vi? Are you alright?”, Caitlyn suddenly asked in her usual caring voice, and Vi nodded hastily: “Yes! Yes, it’s okay, don’t mind me.”, she mumbled, but Caitlyn tilted her head with a frown: “But I do mind, Vi.”, she said, and the model huffed with a little sob: “It’s just… very emotionally exhausting for me.”, Vi shrugged, and Caitlyn smiled bitter at her: “As it is for me.”
Their eyes met again, and a little bit of warmth came back into their hearts on these soft words.
“So, about these photos Mel used for profit. Who was this woman who’s with you on them?”, Caitlyn asked, it was more out of curiosity than of clearing certain things out, but she also wanted to understand why this was such a sensitive topic for Vi.
“Oh, well. This was Sarah. Sarah Fortune.”, Vi said with a sassy huff in her voice, and she immediately took one of the small pillows on her couch in her lap and began to squeeze it with both her hands.
“Sarah Fortune? As in Sarah Fortune the-… well, uhm… model?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi cracked a sarcastic laugh: “Yes, Sarah Fortune as in Sarah Fortune the erotic model.”, she answered, and Caitlyn couldn’t bring out more than an: “Oh.”
Vi shrugged and pressed her fingers harder into the pillow in her hands: “Yes, ‘oh’.”
“Didn’t she have this drug scandal?”, Caitlyn asked blatantly, and Vi nodded hesitantly: “Yes. Exactly that Sarah Fortune.”, she answered, and Caitlyn waited if Vi would want to tell her more about it without being asked to.
“… she wasn’t always like this, you know. When we started dating, I knew that she sometimes took a pill or two when she was out partying or something. But that really wasn’t a regular thing. But when she started to drift more and more into the porn industries’ direction, things got worse. I’m not judging models who go into more nude content or stuff, she knew what she had, and she showed it off aesthetically. But at some point, she got offers that weren’t really reputable. I told her that I didn’t like what they wanted her to do or to show, but she said it wouldn’t be any different from the shootings that she did before, and that I was okay with this before, so I shouldn’t worry about it.”, Vi started to tell the story, and Caitlyn listened while she gave Vi the time she needed without pushing her in any way.
Caitlyn observed Vi’s body language that got more and more tense, this story seemed to still stress her.
“So, yeah. She took these jobs, and first, it really wasn’t that different. But it was definitely better paid, so she continued, and I trusted her.”, Vi said, and grit her teeth before she spoke again: “And trusting her was the dumbest thing that I could have ever done. Someday, I got an anonymous message, and a video was sent to me on my phone. I could see that this was a porn video in the preview, so I wanted to delete and block on an instant, but the message said that I would maybe want to know that my girlfriend is fucking men for money. And then I realized that the girl in the video thumbnail looked a bit too much like her, so I took the risk and opened the video.”
Vi stopped to take a breath and a quick sip from her tea, before she was calm enough again to continue: “Well, guess what, it was Sarah. Getting railed by three dudes. There was an account name written in the corner of the video, so I searched for it, and I found out that she was running a porn website with a bunch of videos of her doing the most disgusting things with random guys. And there was one video that really broke me, like… I scrolled through the website and in one thumbnail the room was way too familiar too me. So, I clicked on it, and that bitch had fucked a guy in MY apartment. And uploaded it. I never felt sicker in my entire life. As I said, I don’t judge women who decide to do this because they want to do this, but she lied to me and basically cheated with God-knows-how-many men on me by doing this. So, I dumped her and made a huge fucking scene, packed my stuff and went to my sister for a while, until I found a new apartment for myself.”, Vi ended the story, and she slowly loosened the grip on the pillow in her hands again.
“Vi…”, Caitlyn said, and her expression showed that she was absolutely shocked about what had happened to Vi, “… I’m so sorry, this is just… this is just disgusting, you didn’t deserve anything of this.”, she said, and slowly and carefully took Vi’s hand in both of hers to hold it gently.
The touch was so, so warm and cozy, and Vi felt her insides calm down again.
“… these photos Mel used. Sarah waited for me in front of this coffee-shop she knew I was getting something every morning and tried to get me back. To ‘explain’ that this wouldn’t have any meaning, that it was nothing than ‘acting’. I told her that letting a bunch of men put their dicks in every one of her holes isn’t ‘acting’, and that she should go to fucking hell. She tried to argue and grabbed me, and these are those photos.”, Vi pressed through her teeth, and Caitlyn caressed the model’s hand gentle, to help her calm down again.
“The drug scandal you mentioned came after this. It somehow leaked that she was taking a lot of shit during her ‘work’, together with the others at the ‘set’. They got all busted, as they should.”
“I understand. Thank you for telling me. This is really horrible… and I can understand now why this is such a sensitive topic for you. I suppose, Mel didn’t know anything about the background of you and her?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi shook her head: “No, never told her.”, she said, and Caitlyn made a mental note that Mel had actually told her the truth about that part.
“Okay. Do you need a moment?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi took a deep breath before she shook her head: “No, no, it’s okay. I’m not upset anymore about her as my ex, I’m done with her for long now. I’m just still angry that it happened, that I didn’t left her earlier.”, she said, and when Caitlyn tilted her head to a very concerned look, Vi chuckled tired: “I’m okay, seriously. When we’re at the ex-girlfriend topic, can I ask you something as well?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Of course.”
Vi thought a moment how she should put it and started to speak then: “About this whole jealousy thing you pulled when we were in Germany. Can you tell me where this comes from?”, Vi asked, and now it was Caitlyn who got tense.
Vi noticed it and laid her hand on Caitlyn’s, which were still holding her other hand.
She gave her a reassuring squeeze, and the taller woman breathed out loud: “Yes, of course.”
Caitlyn thought of a way to put it, and she decided to simply start with the beginning.
“I was dating someone I met at university in my second year back then. She was studying a completely different thing than I did, but we still somehow saw us every day and got to know each other more and more, until we fell for each other.”, she started, and sighed with a bitter huff: “This was a serious relationship. I thought so, at least. She met my parents, we even lived together for a year after we finished university. She became family, you know? And my parents are very critical with my partner. She even managed to deceive my parents into thinking that she was loyal and good for me. I must admit, I was always a little jealous in relationships. Always have been. And she hated it, she always got angry with me when I asked something about someone she met, or about who she was writing and all these little things. Today I know of course that she reacted like this because she is a narcist and that I was very right with thinking that something was wrong.”, Caitlyn told her the story, and this time it was Vi who listened with all her attention.
Caitlyn worked her jaw and thought about how she should continue.
“… her name was Corina. Corina Veraza. Was, ha, well, it is her name, of course.”, she huffed, and continued right away, “… we dated for about three years. Until I found out that she had a second girlfriend. And that I was nothing more for her than a credit card.”, Caitlyn explained, and Vi frowned: “What the fuck… people can be really disgusting.”, she said, and Caitlyn shrugged: “Indeed.”
There was a short pause in which Caitlyn thought about if she wanted to tell her more, and in which Vi waited for her to find more words.
“Well, so, I found out by her second girlfriend. Which is so pathetic, honestly. She didn’t know about me as well, and when she found out, she contacted me, and we met up to tell each other what we knew. She was sweet, and I believed her when she said that she didn’t knew, and she believed me as well. We made a plan how to confront Corina about it, and we set up a meeting at her favorite spot at the river, where I would join them after a few minutes.”, Caitlyn continued, and Vi squeezed her hands when she felt her tense more again.
Caitlyn’s lips formed a tiny smile on Vi’s touch, and she took a breath before she told her more: “When Corina saw me, she immediately got angry. She wasn’t shocked or seemed to feel caught, the only emotion she showed was anger, because we outcalled her like this. She blamed us, can you believe it?”, Caitlyn laughed bitter, and Vi huffed: “Yeah, well, sounds very narcistic to me.”, she said, and Caitlyn nodded: “Indeed, she is a huge narcist, and that showed more than well in that moment. She told this other girl that she couldn’t believe that she had ‘lured’ her into this ‘trap’. And when she faced me, she told me that it was my fault that she got herself another girlfriend, because I wouldn’t give her enough attention and time. What was another lie, I in fact did gave her all the attention and time I could, plus, I found out that she dated this girl before me. So, she only started to date me for my family’s money. She denied, of course, when we confronted her. Then she broke loudly up with both of us and stormed off as if she was the victim here, it was an absolute shitshow.”
They both fell silent and just softly and slow caressed each other’s hands, but they didn’t touch in any other way.
“… Cait?”, Vi asked carefully, and the other woman looked up again to meet Vi’s eyes: “Yes?”
Vi looked down to their hands and then up again into Caitlyn’s ocean-eyes: “I’m sorry that I reacted so harsh to you being jealous of these fans we met. I didn’t know.”, she apologized, and Caitlyn felt a single tear roll down her left cheek: “No, Vi, I know I overreacted. Maybe we both did, but how could you know? I never told you.”, she said, and both smiled weakly about the first really soft words to each other since they had met again tonight.
“Vi? You… mentioned that your ex was super jealous, do you mind telling me about that? I want to understand what triggers you about this topic.”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi nodded: “Sure. So, yeah. She always told me not to worry about the changes in her job, as I said before. But when I had a pretty normal fashion shooting with another woman, she was always extremely jealous. One time, she even appeared at the set and made a scene. I was just supposed to hold the other model with one arm, we didn’t even face each other or anything, but she just suddenly burst through the door and screamed through the whole room. It was so fucking embarrassing. I had a hard time to calm her down in some way, but the job was ruined. They never booked me again after this.”
Caitlyn shook her head in disbelieve when she heard this story.
“This is… this is the proof that cheaters project their own behavior on their loyal partners, they always think everyone does what they do. You can be the most loyal partner in this whole world, and they will still accuse you and try to control you, this is so-…”, Caitlyn said, her voice and expression got frustrated, and Vi ended the sentence for her:
“… disgusting and toxic.”
Caitlyn looked up again to face Vi, and she nodded slowly: “… yes. Yes, it is, more than that.”, she whispered, and started to play carefully with Vi’s fingers, and she let her.
“… so, the way I see it…”, the navy haired woman said, “… we were driven by our wounds of the past in these situations, and fear overtook both of us.”, Caitlyn sighed, and Vi nodded: “… yeah. Looks like it. I mean, I could have been less defensive, and nothing can justify the way I treated you in the end. I’m sorry for this, Cait, I really am. Can you… I mean, can you forgive me?”, Vi asked, and her eyes showed how affected she was, how difficult it was for her to speak those words.
Caitlyn looked up and into Vi’s eyes when she heard this question, this begging.
She changed focus between Vi’s eyes and tried to see what Vi felt, if she was really being honest with her, if this wasn’t just another step in her direction, just to dump her again and break her heart.
Again.
But something was different.
The hesitance that was usually in Vi’s eyes, in her body language and her aura wasn’t there this time.
This time, it was nervousness and fear that Caitlyn could see and feel, it was vulnerability, something that Vi had always tried to hide or suppress, something that was the cause for her pullbacks when they made a step closer to each other.
“… Vi, I really wish I could just say that everything is alright again. But I can’t.”, Caitlyn answered, and Vi felt her heart drop, “… but I really want everything to be alright again. And I hope that we can make it work, that we can find a way. And that eventually everything will be alright again.”, the photographer continued, and now Vi wasn’t able to hold her tears back anymore.
They started rolling over her freckled face, and Caitlyn drew her eyebrow worried together and reached up to wipe them softy away: “Hey…”, she started, and her own tears started to fall as well, “… you said something on the street when you ran after me. And I really want and need to hear what you feel and what you want, Vi, okay? Can you do that for me?”, she asked, and Vi nodded hectically while her tears wouldn’t want to stop.
“… Cait, I-… what I realized in these months without you is, that I never felt so incomplete in my whole fucking life before. My fears made me want this to not work out, I sabotaged myself, and in this process, I hurt you. I accused you of things you didn’t do, and I refused to listen out of fear that-… yeah, well, that things actually would work when we cleared it out. I’m an idiot, I’m stupid and I don’t deserve you, but-…”, Vi started, and tried to explain herself as open as possible, even if she felt more than embarrassed to admit the ways she thought and acted.
Caitlyn listened, and she ignored her own tears that ran down her high cheekbones, everything that mattered right now was that Vi opened her heart to her, and she didn’t want to miss any second of her expressions and gestures by wiping her own face.
She felt herself getting dragged closer to Vi again as she realized that Vi actually had worked on herself, that she wanted to understand why she acted like she did, and she obviously had found an answer to it – And wanted to change, wanted to do better.
“… but. The thing I realized more and more after every passing day is, that-…”, Vi continued, and squeezed Caitlyn’s hands in hers and locked their eyes, “… that I love you. That my feelings for you didn’t fade the slightest, not even after everything that had happened. I couldn’t get you out of my mind, the more I tried, the more my feelings settled, if not even grew. I saw my mistakes, they got clearer to me every fucking day, and it got unbearable. So… if you still want me, I promise to love you the way you deserve it. And you deserve the world.”
Vi tried, she really tried to keep the eye contact after her confession, after she had opened her heart, took it out from her chest and offered it with shaking hands to the woman in front of her with all the vulnerability and risks that this brought with it.
But the longer the answer took, the more difficult it got for her.
Caitlyn’s heart pounded so hard against her chest, she felt like it would break though her ribcage any second.
She stared with watery eyes into Vi’s, which were so full of fear, nervousness, and… hope.
This confession was all she had wanted back then, when things hadn’t escalated yet, and her heart started a big fight with her brain.
Could she really give in? After all the pain this woman had caused her?
But she hadn’t felt different lately, right?
Caitlyn had realized that her feelings hadn’t faded as well.
But feelings and common sense were two different things.
Right?
“Vi… there will be a lot of work for us. As I said, I really want this to work, that this, us, is going to be alright someday. And this is something you will have to proof to me. Because I was ready to fight for it several times, and you were the one who always ran away, made steps back, and didn’t take the risks. I want to believe that you finally understood this, that you really want to do better, that you… well, that you are indeed finally ready to make a big step forward. Because I won’t run after you anymore.”, Caitlyn finally answered, but Vi’s inner storm of feelings didn’t calm the slightest yet.
“I buried myself in work to get away from all that happened, and I tried to bury my feelings that I had for you as well. I really dug deep, but they never died.”, Caitlyn huffed with a slight chuckle, and a little bit of tension loosened up inside of Vi, “But that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to let you break my heart another time. But I also can’t ignore my feelings, and I’ll be honest: I still love you, Violet.”, Caitlyn confessed, and before she could continue in any way, Vi let out a louder sob than she intended.
The model was shaking, and her eyes were already a little red from all the tears that they had released meanwhile.
“Hey…”, Caitlyn said, and caressed gently over Vi’s left cheek, “… it’s alright, take a deep breath.”, she said, but Vi just shook her head: “No, s-… sorry, I-… I didn’t want to interrupt you, I’m-… p-… please, continue, I’m okay…”, she sobbed, and Caitlyn forced herself to not just pull her into her arms and hold her close for now.
Even if it got more and more difficult for Caitlyn as well, she managed to retain her feelings better than Vi and prevented herself from an emotional outburst – She had something more to say.
“So, if you’re really honest with me, and if you really want us to be together, I need you to proof it to me. You have to regain my trust, because you left a lot of damage on my heart and mind, and I can’t just forgive and forget, I need to think of my own mental health if we are going to try. Okay? Every relationship is work, of course, but you and me will have to work a little more than usual first, until we have a strong foundation to build something lasting on it. Do you understand?”, Caitlyn asked, and wiped a few more tears off Vi’s freckled cheeks.
Vi took a few deep breaths with closed eyes, before she faced the photographer again and laid both her shaking hands on top of Caitlyn’s, which were still on her face: “Yes. Yes! I will do whatever it takes, I promise to work hard and fight for us, if you would take me, I will never let you go again. I’ll give you my full commitment, my whole heart, it’s yours and I trust you with it. And I hope you will be able to give me yours when you’re ready, too, and trust me with it. I love you, Cait, and I promise I will proof it to you!”
-
The room was filled with all the emotions the model and the photographer had released, all the emotions they had spilled in front of each other, all the emotions that they had carried around inside of them for a way too long time.
It was a relief to have all this finally off their chests, even if it was more than exhausting to spill that much pent-up feelings all at once, to make yourself completely vulnerable and emotionally naked.
Both knew that it didn’t have to happen like this.
But it had, and they also knew, that it was definitely more likely that they wouldn’t have met at all again, not in a private context.
But they had.
And this last chance was something that both didn’t want to waste, they knew it was now or never, it felt like fate had a hand in it, but whatever it was – They were more than glad, that it came as it has.
-
Caitlyn smiled warm with watery eyes into Vi’s, and wiped another couple of tears away, and so did Vi.
“… so, we’re trying?”, Caitlyn asked with a whisper, and Vi nodded with a smile as warm as Caitlyn’s: “Yeah. Yeah, we’re trying, Cupcake. If you still want me.”, she answered, and Caitlyn couldn’t contain a happy sob when Vi called her by that stupid nickname again: “Then what are you waiting for?”
Vi blinked a few times, until she finally understood what Caitlyn meant, that this was an invitation.
Her smile became a grin, and she leaned forward to press her lips against Caitlyn’s, first sloppy, but they didn’t need much time to find their shared rhythm again.
It was as if they had never been parted at all.
Caitlyn sank slowly down on her back, with Vi following and hovering over her.
She wrapped one arm around her neck, and the other around her trained back, while she let herself sink deeper and deeper into the kisses that felt so, so right.
“Mh~… Vi~…”, she moaned, when Vi let herself sink down on her between her legs, while she let a hand run into Vi’s pink hair and play with the wild strands.
“Cupcake~…”, Vi almost whimpered, as the feelings Caitlyn released inside her were so overwhelming, she felt like crying just from how right and warm everything felt right now.
Caitlyn’s body was clear with the sexual demand that started to build inside her, she wanted her, and she was embarrassed about how intense the effect was that Vi’s body had on her – But something made her keep back, something that was more important to her than giving her desire in.
When a hand ran down on Caitlyn’s side, and she felt Vi’s hips roll against hers, the navy haired woman grabbed Vi’s wrist and made her look at her: “Wait.”
Vi blinked and looked at her with clouded eyes, and she could see that Caitlyn was fighting with herself by the way she panted and by the way the fire in her eyes glowed.
“… I want you to get tested.”, she suddenly said, and Vi frowned: “Tested?”, she asked back, and Caitlyn sat up again and made Vi sit up, too.
“Yes, tested. You slept with a bunch of strangers, and you won’t get any of this…”, she purred, and let her flat hand run over Vi’s clothed middle, “… before we know that you’re clean.”, she said, and flicked her middle finger over the fabric right above Vi’s clit, before she took her hand back.
“Ngh~… fuck~”, Vi moaned at the feeling, and let her forehead sink against Caitlyn’s shoulder, “… yeah, okay. That’s just fair, I guess.”, she sighed, and wrapped her arms around her new girlfriend.
Caitlyn did the same and softly caressed over Vi’s back: “I can go with you and get tested, too, if you want. I didn’t have sex with anyone since we first met, but I think this would be a good start for both of us. Are you mad?”, Caitlyn explained and asked, but Vi shook her head against Caitlyn’s neck: “No. No, I’m not mad, I promise. It’s… well, it’s a bit weird to come up with this after our first kiss after so long, but I guess I deserve it. And you’re right, you deserve to be sure that I didn’t catch me anything the last time.”, she sighed, and nestled her face a little more between Caitlyn’s neck and shoulder.
“This is for both of us, Vi. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Okay? We can do it as soon as possible, then we can be sure that there’s nothing to worry about.” – “Yeah, okay.”
-
As it was already after 3am, Caitlyn and Vi decided that it was definitely time to catch some sleep.
Vi lend Caitlyn a pair of boxers and an oversized shirt, and the two of them cuddled up in Vi’s bed together after they had used the bathroom to get ready.
“Ready?”, Vi asked with a tired voice, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes.”, she answered, and Vi turned off the lights, before she wrapped her arms around the other woman and relaxed into the mattress.
“This is so surreal…”, the model whispered, and Caitlyn let out an amused huff: “Yes, it indeed is. And we still have a lot to talk about… but that’s something for tomorrow. We got time now.", she whispered, and enjoyed the warmth that started to build with both of them under the blanket.
“I’m afraid to wake up, and all of this was a dream… and you’re not here with me anymore.”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn lifted her head to face her: “Hey. I’m here. And I will still be here when you wake up tomorrow morning. I promise.”, she said, and kissed her gently.
“I really do hope so.”, Vi breathed into the kiss, and after a moment, she spoke again: “… hey, Cait?”, she asked, and Caitlyn brushed her nose against Vi’s neck: “Hm?”, she made a questioning noise, and after a few seconds, Vi smiled and tightened the hug a little: “I missed this. I missed you.”
Caitlyn opened her eyes when she heard those words, and after a surprised expression, a soft smile settled down on her face: “I missed you, too, Violet.”
With happy and warm smiles, both started to fall slowly asleep, as the exhaustion in their bodies settled down.
Together.
Notes:
They made it <3
There's a lot of restoring to do when it comes to trust, but our useless lesbians finally made a huge step!Let me know what you think in the comments! <3
Chapter 22: Baby Steps
Summary:
Welcome back to 'Pictures'!
Last time, our useless lesbians were less useless and finally made the big step to try and start to date each other <3
Let's see how they manage to build the trust again, have fun with chapter 22 - Baby Steps!
Chapter Text
Chapter 22 - Baby Steps
“….mh.”
The doorbell rang way too early for Vi and Caitlyn’s liking.
The tall photographer rolled over and wrapped her arms around the muscular model, nestled her face under Vi’s chin and against her throat, while Vi let out a pleased huff and wrapped her arms around the other woman as well.
Caitlyn smiled against the warm skin in front of her, when she felt the strong biceps squeeze her.
Her body felt so right against Vi’s, and she was too tired and too comfortable to think about the fact that someone seemed to want to see her new girlfriend.
But the doorbell rang again.
“Mhhh-… what the fuck…”, Vi mumbled, but she didn’t do anything to answer the door the slightest, “… I bet it’s jus’ some delivery dude… I didn’t order anything, the neighbors should answer them… cause’ I’m not the one…”, she mumbled sleep drunken, and Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss against Vi’s neck, to which the pink haired model answered with a warm kiss against the navy hair below her.
The two cuddled up even closer to each other, when they heard some voices who seemed to be in front of the door of Vi’s apartment, but they ignored it successfully.
-
“She has to be home.”, Jinx pouted with a frown, and Lux sighed beside her: “Maybe you should use your spare key once again? I mean, maybe she needs help or something. We didn’t see or hear from her since Friday, and the fact that she left her phone here makes it really weird now. Just to be sure she’s okay.”, she suggested, and Jinx searched in her pocket for the fitting one: “Alright, alright…”
Jinx opened the door and entered the apartment together with her girlfriend.
“Vi?! It’s meee, your favorite and only sister!”, Jinx called into the room, but she couldn’t see her anywhere in the living room or kitchen, so there was just one room where she could be right now.
The bedroom.
-
Vi heard the lock clicking and the front door open a second later.
Caitlyn had dozed off again, she laid half on top of Vi and enjoyed the heat the model’s body offered her, she didn’t hear anything – She was completely relaxed.
“… what the-…”, Vi mumbled, still not really awake again, but when she heard her sister’s voice, adrenaline flooded her veins, and she was suddenly wide awake.
“FUCK!!”
Caitlyn opened her eyes when Vi’s loud voice suddenly startled her: “Wha-…?”
Vi tried to get up, to get Caitlyn off her – fast, but gentle – but the moment she grabbed her shoulders and made her lift her head with sleepy eyes, the doorhandle of her bedroom was pushed down.
“…!!”
-
“I’m coming iiiiin!”, Jinx announced, and pushed the door to Vi’s bedroom open with a quick motion, just to find her sister in bed with a woman.
With Caitlyn.
That Caitlyn.
“… WHAT the actual FUCK???!!!”
The situation was frozen and tense – More than tense.
Jinx stood in the door frame, Lux was behind her and tried to look past her, Caitlyn still laid half on top of Vi, her hand on her chest, her head leaned against her shoulder, Vi had lifted her head and was propped up on her elbows, and stared with big and shocked eyes into her sister’s face.
They all just stared at each other.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Okay, the FUCK, Vi, did I miss something?! When did she-… WHY is she-… just, HOW the FUCK??”, Jinx broke the silence again, and Caitlyn pulled the blanket slowly higher, even if they both were dressed.
“Okay, get out, both of you! This is nothing to talk about right now, it’s way too fucking early, and I-…”, Vi started, but Jinx interrupted her: “OH no, OOOHOHO NO!! You will explain this to me right here right now, sis’, what the fuck does that limey, posh tea-drinker do in your bed?? Like, since when, how, why…?!”, she demanded pissed, but Lux pulled on Jinx arm when she started to take some steps into her sister’s bedroom.
“Baby, come on-… hey! Jinx, let’s go, we leave them alone. You can talk this out later, we obviously overdid it!”, Lux said, and gave Vi and Caitlyn an apologetic look: “I’m so sorry, really, we were just worried about you and wanted to check on you, we’re gone in a second!”, she said, and dragged Jinx out of the bedroom.
“This is going to have consequences, tall lady!!”, Jinx yelled, while Lux dragged her out of the apartment and closed the front door again.
“…” – “…”
Vi and Caitlyn stared disbelieving at the open bedroom door.
They blinked a few times, none of them really understood what had just happened, this was more than disturbing, and after a while they turned their heads to each other and cracked an awkward chuckle.
“Hey.”, Vi whispered, and Caitlyn shook her head with a sweet laugh: “Good morning.”, she whispered back, and they hesitantly leaned in for a sweet kiss, before they sank back into the mattress and cuddled back up to each other.
“… guess we’re back to normal now, huh?”, Caitlyn sighed, and Vi frowned confused: “What do you mean?”, she asked, and Caitlyn huffed: “Well, we’re back together and your sister immediately disturbs us and gives us shit.”
“…”, Vi felt guilty, somehow, when Caitlyn said this, “… I’m sorry. I will clear this out, I promise. She won’t bother us again.”, she said, and tightened her arms around the other woman, who sighed pleased at the feeling of Vi’s strong arms around her: “… I hope so~”
-
“Holy shit…”
Lux and Jinx were back in Jinx’ apartment, and Lux couldn’t help but laugh: “This was the absolute worst timing we ever had!”
Jinx wasn’t as amused as her girlfriend was, she walked up and down in her living room and gesticulated wildly with her hands: “Ooooh no, we came just in at the right time!! Who knows how long this is going on already, how long Vi is keeping this from me?! What if I had never found out if we didn’t catch them right now??”, she exaggerated, and Lux got up from the chair she was sitting on and gently grabbed the other girl’s wrists to keep her from walking around and driving herself deeper into her state: “Hey. Baby, look at me. I don’t think that Vi kept something from you. There will be a good explanation, I’m sure about that. Take a breath, try to calm down a bit, can you do that for me?”, she asked, and Jinx had real trouble to listen to her.
She wanted to be mad.
“… Jinx. Please.”, Lux said gentle and patient, and caressed softly over her girlfriend’s hands, “For me?”, she added, and Jinx sighed loudly: “… okay, okay. Sheesh.”, she mumbled, and did as Lux told her to calm down, a little at least.
“See? That’s better.”, the blonde girl smiled, and pulled Jinx into a warm hug: “Vi will give you an explanation. I’m sure about that, okay?”, she whispered, and Jinx groaned while she rolled her eyes: “… whatever.”
-
Caitlyn had dozed off on top of Vi again, and Vi caressed softly with her fingertips over her back.
The model was as tired as the photographer, she had her eyes closed and was half-asleep, enjoying the near and warmth of what they had finally managed to allow each other.
Vi held her close and safe with her other arm, and Caitlyn felt safe, being held by her like that.
It wasn’t the first time that she held her like this, but this time, it was different.
This time, there wasn’t the slightest bit of doubt, of insecurity, of simply not knowing: ‘What are we?’
No, this time she knew what they were – And this was a whole new feeling of safeness.
“Mh~…”, Vi made a sleepy noise, and blinked at the slight light that came more and more into the room. She stretched, and immediately closed her arms around the other woman again, squeezing her and pressing a smiling kiss on her forehead: “Good morning again, Cupcake.”, she whispered with a still raspy voice, and Caitlyn’s lips pursed into a cute and happy smile on the way Vi treated her.
She remembered the time they had slept together in the hotel room, but Vi had already got up and left her alone in the bed back then when she woke up – But not this time, this time she woke up in her arms, arms that held her like she was the most precious thing that Vi needed to protect at all costs.
“Good morning~”, Caitlyn whispered back, and nestled her face on the tattoo on Vi’s neck, pecked a sweet kiss on it, and sighed happy with one hand holding itself at the fabric of Vi’s shirt on her chest.
“Are you hungry? I can make us breakfast and you can stay a little longer in bed, or use the shower if you want.”, Vi offered, and earned herself a grumpy little noise: “Mhn… I want to stay here a little longer… with you~”, she spoke against Vi’s neck, which gave her pleasant goosebumps by the way Caitlyn’s soft lips moved against her skin.
“Sounds good to me.”, Vi snickered, still a little tired, and the two tangled their bodies a bit more together.
Vi tucked experimentally at the hem of the shirt she had lend Caitlyn, and the other woman lifted her upper body at this gesture, so Vi was able to pull it up a bit, get her hand under the shirt and started to caress her back again, but this time her fingertips ran gently over her bare skin.
“Mhh~…”, Caitlyn smiled happy at the pleasant feeling, her skin rose, and Vi’s touches send a prickling feeling through her whole body, “… yes, that’s good, oh my-… mh~”, she moaned softly, and enjoyed every single one of Vi’s touches.
Her grip on Vi’s shirt got firmer from time to time, and Vi enjoyed giving her those feelings as much as Caitlyn enjoyed to receive her touches – It was a nice feeling to know that she was able to let her feel this good.
Vi continued for a while, until both their stomachs growled and signaled them that it was indeed time for breakfast now.
“Hmmmm~~~”, Caitlyn stretched with a cute smile and closed eyes, when Vi rubbed over her back a little firmer with her flat hand, pulled it back eventually, and rolled completely on the model, booped her nose with her own, and placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose afterwards: “Thank you, that felt really good.”, Caitlyn whispered, and Vi grinned love-drunken: “At your service, princess.”, she said, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a snicker, leaned down for a peck on Vi’s lips, and rolled off her to sit at the edge of the bed.
“I’d actually love to take a shower, should I just take a random towel?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi rolled onto her side and let her fingertips run slowly down Caitlyn’s right arm: “Yeah, take what you need, you don’t have to ask. Let me know if you need something that you can’t find, okay? I’ll make us breakfast in the meantime. Pancakes and scrambled eggs okay?”, she asked, sat up and leaned from behind against the other woman to place a soft kiss on her shoulder.
“Okay, thank you. And yes, sounds good.”, Caitlyn agreed, turned her head to kiss Vi’s temple and got up from the bed to walk over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Vi looked after her and couldn’t help but grin bright suddenly.
She wiped her flat hand over her face, let herself fall on her back and covered her face with both her hands – So many positive emotions flooded her body all at once suddenly, a feeling she forgot that it existed, and she didn’t know if she was about to cry, to laugh, or just a mixture of both.
Caitlyn was here.
It hadn’t been a dream, this really happened, and she had stayed, they decided they would try, she had given her this one last chance – And Vi felt like she couldn’t be any happier than she was right now.
-
Caitlyn stepped out of the shower a while later and wrapped herself into one of the big towels that Vi kept in her bathroom.
She went in front of the mirror and rubbed her body dry and her hair damp before she looked for a lotion to apply to her skin.
“Hm…”, she looked around, found a bottle, checked it, and put the towel away to cream herself up before she put on the boxers and shirt again, she had to admit: She liked wearing Vi’s cozy clothes.
They smelled so nice like her…
After doing her skincare as good as possible with the products Vi had in her bathroom cabinet, she got out and was greeted by the smell of freshly baked pancakes.
She walked into the open kitchen and found Vi standing in front of the stove, dressed in red sportswear shorts, a wide, black tank top with large cutouts under her armpits, and a CK Pride bralette peeking out at the sides.
She walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around Vi’s waist, pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then another one to her nape and leaned her chin on her shoulder.
“Smells good.”, she said, and Vi froze for a second when she felt a pair of lean muscled arms wrap themselves around her.
“Hey there.”, Vi smiled, and relaxed into Caitlyn’s hug, “I sure do hope it also tastes good.”, she snickered, and took the last pancake out to put in onto the staple she built onto a plate, before she shoved the scrambled eggs in the other pan around a bit more.
“Do you want a smoothie? I can make you one, or a shake if you want.”, Vi said, and nodded over to a mixer, beside which a basket with different fruits and a few containers with differently flavored protein powders stood.
Caitlyn looked over to where Vi was pointing at with her head, and nodded: “Yes, sounds good. But I can make it myself, no problem.”, she smiled, loosened the hug to walk over to the mixer to check what she wanted.
“You’re my guest, Cupcake, just tell me what you want, and I make it for you.”, Vi offered, but Caitlyn just chuckled and started to peel a banana: “Vi, it’s okay. You already made the pancakes and eggs.”
They looked at each other, giggled, shook their heads, and prepared the rest of the breakfast together.
It was unreal to suddenly be together in the kitchen like an established couple, making breakfast together like nothing had happened, like it was the most normal thing, even if they had met again just yesterday after such a long time without any contact at all.
But this feeling was something that made both believe that it was the right thing to try.
-
“… so, I thought maybe we just call them and ask if we can come in still today?”
Caitlyn took a bite of her wholegrain toast with scrambled eggs and tomatoes, when Vi told her about her idea of calling the Planned Parenthood station in L.A. for the STD tests that Caitlyn wanted her to do.
Vi took a big sip of her protein shake, put it down, wiped over her mouth with her forearm and faced Caitlyn again, who put her toast down to answer: “Uhm, yes-… yes, of course, we can do that.”, she agreed, and Vi tilted her head: “Uhm, you wanted me to do this, don’t you?”, she asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, why?”, she asked back, and Vi shrugged: “Don’t know, you look surprised.”, she stated, and Caitlyn chuckled: “Oh, well, I just didn’t expect you to get an appointment right away, nonetheless at the weekend.”
Vi just shrugged again: “Well, what’s done is done, you know. One thing less to worry about.”, she smiled, and Caitlyn took Vi’s left hand on the small table to take it to her mouth and pressed a soft kiss on it: “Okay, then let’s call them when we’re done with breakfast.”
Caitlyn was happy about the fact that Vi seemed to take this whole thing seriously.
She took her worries serious, she took her conditions serious – And Caitlyn really had the feeling that Vi was finally ready: Ready for a serious relationship… for love.
For everything that she was so afraid of before, so much that she ran away and left Caitlyn with a severely broken heart.
~
“Hey, don’t worry. No need to be nervous, I’m sure everything will be alright.”
The couple sat together in the waiting room of the Planned Parenthood station, after they had retrieved fresh clothes for Caitlyn from her hotel room.
Caitlyn took one of Vi’s hands and pulled it into her lap to hold it with both of hers.
She smiled at her, and Vi just gave her a crooked grin: “Yeah, I guess… it’s just, I didn’t thought of that. I was stupid, reckless.”, she sighed, and Caitlyn squeezed the hand in hers: “… actually, yes, you were. But I doubt that you caught yourself something, we’re just making sure, okay?”, she said, and Vi nodded with a sigh: “Yeah, okay.”
“Ms. Lane? Ms. Kiramman? We have time for you now.”, an elderly woman smiled at the couple, and the two followed her into one of the rooms.
“So, you called to get tested for any STD’s, right? Do you have any symptoms, ailments, or else?”, the women, who turned out to be the doctor, asked, and Vi shrugged: “No, not really. It’s uhm…”, she started, and Caitlyn could see that Vi struggled, she was visibly uncomfortable, so she decided to help her out: “Well, I asked her to do this, as we just started dating and she had a couple of one-night-stands the last weeks, so we just want to be sure that she’s clean. I’m pretty sure I am, as I didn’t have sex with anyone for longer now, but to make it fair I want to get tested too, so we have an even start.”, Caitlyn explained, and the doctor nodded with a smile: “I see! This is really responsible, I wish more people would think like that. We’d had a lot less infections that way. Okay, then please follow me.”
The couple got up and followed the doctor into another room, where the needed samples were taken from them.
-
“… aaand done, that’s it.”, the doctor smiled, after she had taken the samples, and faced the couple: “The results take up 5 to 10 days, but the labs aren’t that busy at the moment, so I guess 6 to 7 days will be realistic. We only contact you if we find something, if everything is okay, you won’t hear from us.”, she explained.
Caitlyn and Vi thanked her, went to the front again and paid the fee, double checked their contact details with the receptionist, and left the building together.
“Thank you.”
Vi blinked up to Caitlyn with a confused look on her face: “Huh?”
The photographer just chuckled and took Vi’s hand to interlace their finger’s, while they walked back to Vi’s car: “For doing this for me and not being mad about it.”, Caitlyn clarified, and Vi just waved her off: “No, there’s no need to thank me. You’re right with this, I have just not thought about the risks when I hooked up with these women. I don’t want to put you at risk, just because I was reckless with my sex life for a couple weeks.”
Caitlyn answered with just a smile, and the two got into the car when they reached it.
“It’s still quite early, do you… do you want to take a walk at Hollywood Hills? And talk a bit more about everything?”, Vi asked, and put the key into the ignition, turned it and started the engine.
Caitlyn’s heart felt warm on the way Vi acted about this whole thing, she really put an effort in it since the moment she saw her at the bar the night before.
“Yes, I’d love that. We can talk about how we want to go on with all this, timings, how we go about the distance and all this kind of stuff.”, Caitlyn agreed, and Vi nodded happy: “Sounds good to me!”
-
After a short stop at a Starbuck’s drive-thru, Caitlyn and Vi were soon walking hand in hand over a trail in the Hollywood hills, sipping on their cold drinks.
“So, how long will you stay here in L.A.? Why are you here in the first place?”, Vi asked, and chuckled at her own last words, while she turned her eyes to the other woman, waiting for an answer.
“I had a job here, Versace booked me. And it was an exclusive job, not through Mel’s agency, they booked me separately, can you imagine?”, Caitlyn grinned proud, and Vi’s eyes glowed up when she heard about her girlfriend’s success.
“Really?! Holy shit!! That’s-… that’s awesome, Cupcake, you really climbed up that career ladder in record time! You can be fucking proud!”, Vi exclaimed, and Caitlyn’s grin just grew wider: “I am!”
They reached a vantage point and decided to sit down on a bench, where they were alone with no other’s being in their direct surrounding.
“… my flight back departs on Tuesday evening. And honestly, I don’t know when I will be back here. As you know yourself too well, the jobs aren’t really able to be scheduled long-term.”, Caitlyn sighed, and played with Vi’s hand that the model had laid on her thigh.
Vi’s grin shrunk to a sad little smile, and she let her play with her hand as she pleased: “Oh.”, she sighed, and her frown deepened, “… it’s the same for me. I don’t have any appointments in the UK that requires me to fly over to the agency currently.”
The mood felt heavy suddenly, and both thought of a good way to see each other regularly, a way to make this work between them, even with a whole ocean separating them.
“You… you said you would consider moving to the US for me back then. Is this still an option?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn didn’t answer right away.
She stopped playing with Vi’s hand and just laid both of hers on Vi’s bigger one, sighed, and tried to find words.
“I really considered it back then. But that was before you dumped me and broke my heart so painfully. I’ll be honest with you, there are a lot of pieces to pick up before this will be an option again. I don’t think that I would move over here the next time. I need more trust before I can make such a huge step.”, Caitlyn sighed, and Vi felt a sting in her chest.
It hurt.
It fucking hurt, but Vi swallowed her anger, she knew it was unnecessary and simply not fair – She was the cause Caitlyn didn’t feel ready anymore to take that big of a risk, and she also knew that this chance, this try right now was more than she deserved.
And so, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and laid the hand Caitlyn wasn’t holding onto the others: “That’s okay. We’ll find a way.”, she smiled bitter, and Caitlyn leaned her head against Vi’s shoulder: “Yes. We’ll make a new plan.”, she smiled weak, and both let out a sigh of relief.
They fell silent for a while and enjoyed the view in front of them, the nice and warm weather, and the mild breeze, while they still held each other’s hands and leaned against each other.
“… you grew.”, Caitlyn suddenly whispered, and Vi turned her head with a confused ‘Huh?’, which made Caitlyn lift her head again to face her: “You grew. Mentally, I mean. I’m pretty sure you would have gotten angry or fled if I would have confronted you with this back then. But you didn’t.”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi’s confused expression turned into a shy smile.
The model looked down to their hands and let out an awkward noise, before she looked back into Caitlyn’s eyes: “Yeah, well. I had time to make up my mind. Even if the way I walked wasn’t the best, I guess. But it seems like I did at least something right, if you give me this chance and gift me your patience again, Cupcake.”
Caitlyn lifted a hand and laid it on Vi’s cheek, before she tilted her head a bit: “I always knew that there’s someone loveable behind this hard mask you have always put on, from the first moment I saw you at this set in Milan. And I’m glad that you can face me without this mask now, Vi, I really am.”, she said, and leaned in for a loving kiss.
Vi closed her eyes when she kissed Caitlyn back, and her insides immediately calmed down again on the warm feeling.
“As I said, we have a lot of work to do, but the way I see it, we will get there. This or that way, we will build something lasting. I must admit, I’m a little afraid to trust you after all that had happened. But I’m confident that it will be different this time. And I just hope that I am right with this feeling.”, Caitlyn whispered, while she leaned her forehead against Vi’s.
“I promise I do my best, I’m serious. This time, for real. I’d be lying if I’d say I wouldn’t be afraid anymore, but I want to do better. Because I really, really want this, Cait, I swear.”, Vi whispered back, kissed her again and smiled into the kiss, before she broke it to speak again:
“I want you.”
Chapter 23: Talks
Summary:
Early release? In this economy?
YEP :DWelcome back to 'Pictures'!
I hope I can make you all happy with an early release of chapter 23 :)Please enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 23 – Talks
Jinx opened the door when the doorbell rang on Sunday noon.
She blinked a few times, pinched her eyes then to a critical expression, pouted, and stepped aside, so her sister and Caitlyn were able to come inside.
The youngest one closed the door and followed them wordlessly into the living room, where Lux sat and smiled bright when she saw the unexpected visitors.
“Oh! Hey, you two, it’s nice to see you.”, the blonde girl smiled, got up and hugged Vi for greeting, before she shook hands with Caitlyn: “You must be Caitlyn, right? I heard a lot about you already. And again, I’m so sorry that we just entered yesterday…”
~ The day before ~
Caitlyn and Vi were lying in bed after they had spent the rest of their Saturday by Vi showing her around at the popular spots, and also some of the more hidden ones that only the locals knew, getting dinner in a restaurant later and just enjoying their new time together.
Caitlyn could feel that Vi was restless, she was shifting a little half on top of the photographer, and Caitlyn let a hand run gently through her pink hair: “Hey, what’s on your mind?”, she whispered, and Vi tightened her arms around her girlfriend: “… I’m thinking of how my sister reacted this morning. I-… I hate it when there’s something lingering over us.”, Vi answered, and sighed pleased when she felt Caitlyn’s lips press a kiss on her head.
“Then let’s talk with her and explain everything. I’m fine with telling her, Violet. And the earlier, the better, right?”, she suggested, and Vi sighed deep: “… yeah, I guess you’re right.”
~ Present day ~
“Yes, I’m Caitlyn. It’s really nice to meet you! And no worries, everything about this situation was completely unexpected for all of us, haha. You’re Vi’s sister’s girlfriend, am I right…?”, Caitlyn asked, and Lux nodded happily: “Yes! My name is Luxanna, but please, just call me Lux. Please, have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”, she asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Oh, just a water would be nice, thank you.”
And so, Lux went to the kitchen after Vi had joined Caitlyn’s request for a water.
“…”, Jinx stared at the British woman, and Caitlyn turned to her when she felt her eyes drilling into her: “So, long time no see. How have you been?”, Caitlyn tried to start easy, and sat down with Vi next to her.
“I was perfectly fine until I caught you in bed with my sister.”, Jinx said, let herself fall next to Vi, closely, and wrapped her arms around her sister’s right arm.
Vi sighed, she knew this wouldn’t be easy now.
“Okay, that’s enough. Jinx, we’re here to explain what happened, because I hate this attitude of yours.”, Vi started, and Lux came back with two glasses of water for the two others.
“Thank you.”, Caitlyn smiled, took one glass from Lux, and faced Jinx again together with Vi, who took her glass as well, “It’s exactly as your sister says. I can imagine that it was indeed a shock to find me in your sister’s bed, especially as we haven’t seen each other for so many months. Vi and me as well, I must add.”, she said, and turned her head to Vi, who nodded and thought of a way to put it.
But she decided to just tell her sister what had actually happened – She would find out sooner or later, nevertheless.
“I went to that lesbian bar Friday night again, and Cait had a job here in L.A. the last week and was there, too. We both didn’t know, it really was a complete coincidence. We saw each other, and we were shocked first, I mean, who could have thought that we’d run into each other so suddenly here? Well, long story short, we talked. We talked a lot, especially about all the shit that went wrong back then. We talked about what we felt, what we feel-… what we want, and I also told her that I realized how much of an idiot I was. And Pow, the stuff you suggested me to do, regarding meeting women and all that-… it was a fucking mistake. I know you meant well when you made me go out and hook up, but I really shouldn’t have done it. I’m not blaming you, it was my decision in the end, I did that, not you. And it’s important for me that you understand that I’m not mad or else at you, okay? I just had time to make up my mind, and I got to the conclusion that this lifestyle just isn’t for me.”, Vi tried to explain and to keep it as short as possible, but Jinx just frowned and crossed her arms: “And what the fuck is this supposed to mean now?!”
Vi hesitantly took Caitlyn’s hand in her on the taller woman’s lap, and she took a deep breath, before she just dropped the bomb.
“We’re trying now. We’re dating since yesterday.”
~ The day before ~
“You’ll see, everything will be alright, darling.”, Caitlyn smiled tired, and Vi nestled her face more on the other woman’s chest.
“… I’m afraid of how she will react. She… she really was more than happy when I cut off the contact to you. She-… well, she… she gets easily carried away. And after what happened with Sarah, she got more protective when it was about new women and me. We went through a lot of shit, and almost everyone that came into our life fucked with us in some way at some point. That’s why she’s so suspicious about everyone who wants to get closer to me or her.”, Vi sighed with a little pout on her full lips, and Caitlyn started to rub her back gently while she thought of an answer to that.
“… You know, I think your sister and me should talk about all this. So that she understands that I am no threat to you or her. We had a bad start, but I’m sure we can find a way.”, the photographer said, and Vi sighed again: “… I hope so.”
~ Present day ~
“You’re doing WHAT?!”
Vi frowned and grabbed her sister’s wrists to keep her still: “Hey! Powder, it’s enough, for real! I’m done with how you act about her! I know that a lot has happened, but I also know that there are a lot of misunderstandings, which you fueled with things that haven’t even happened!”, Vi got louder, and Lux sat down next to Jinx to lay a calming hand on her back: “Hey, baby. We talked about that, didn’t we? Take a breath, there’s no reason for you to act up like that.”, the blonde girl said, and Jinx got up, ripped herself free from the other’s hands and walked up and down in front of the couch.
“Have you forgotten who she is?! She is a fucking Kiramman! She’s not better than any of those who-…”, Jinx started loudly, but Vi got up as well and laid her hands on her sister’s shoulders to face her: “Pow-Pow. Calm down. You’re seeing things that aren’t there!”, she said, but Jinx just stared furious at her and gnashed her teeth.
Vi changed her focus between her sister’s eyes, and she saw that all the trauma from their past drove her to the edge – And she wanted to get her back to the present.
A present in which they both didn’t have to fight every day to survive.
“… Pow. That’s enough, for real now. Let’s go outside, and we talk. Okay? Just the two of us.”, Vi suggested, and pulled her little sister already with her to the front door, put her shoes on, and left with her, after she gave Caitlyn and Lux an apologetic smile, to which the other two answered with understanding smiles and nods.
-
Vi and Jinx walked out of the building and into the small park that was nearby.
“I can’t believe you fell for that bitch’s lies! That can’t be a coincidence that she just appeared out of nowhere after all this time and BOOM you’re a couple?! Are you fucking kidding me, Vi??”, Jinx worked herself deeper into her rage, and Vi sighed loudly, took a deep breath and tried to not get as angry as she felt right now.
“You’re missing a lot of points here! Yes, there was a lot of shit going on back then, I admit it, but-… fuck, Powder, I was the asshole here! Caitlyn had never done anything of the shit we both accused her of, okay?! I had enough time to get my head clear over all these months, I acted like an idiot, and I was the one who broke her heart several times, not her breaking mine! Okay? I broke mine myself by being too fucking afraid of taking a risk, to trust her and just try! I believed what you told me about her, and-… and-…”, Vi started to let it all out, and Jinx frown didn’t loosen the slightest.
“’And’ what, Vi?! Huh?? What??”, Jinx asked pissed, and Vi groaned frustrated suddenly: “Argh!! Why don’t you want me to be happy?!”
Silence.
Jinx just stared at her in shock, her words got stuck in her throat, and her body froze at the spot.
Vi stared back, she didn’t mean to say it this harsh, but the words had just left her mouth together with an unstoppable wave of emotions.
“… Pow. I love her. I have never stopped loving her, never. The whole fucking time! I fell for her, and I fell fucking hard, okay? I know now what mistakes I made, I know now what Caitlyn’s intentions are, I know now that she never gave up on me, even when Mel and some other’s told her she should let go of me for her own sake. And I? I was too afraid to do that. I believed you and I didn’t even do any research on my own. I just got scared and ran away. I know you wanted to protect me, and I also know that you believed what you were saying, what you found out about her family. And yes, she’s a Kiramman. But she’s not her mother, okay?”, Vi said, her voice was way calmer now and her eyes were sad instead of angry.
Jinx felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep the tears from falling.
“But-… what if she takes you from me?! What if-… what if I am right about all this?! What if she is playing games, using you and dumping you when she’s done?? What then…??”, Jinx exclaimed, her voice was unsteady, and she gesticulated wildly with her hands.
Vi’s expression got worried when she saw her little sister like this.
She had made progress, definitely.
But she also showed relapses to old behavior suddenly, all the progress she made to become more independent, more controlled – In situations like these, it was like this progress was gone on a snap of two fingers.
“… fuck, come here.”
Vi took a step forward, pulled her little sister into a warm and tight hug, and Jinx clawed her fingers desperate into her big sister’s shirt.
“… I don’t know how often I already said it, but Pow-Pow, no one is ever going to take me from you. Never again, okay? You’re my sister. And nothing is ever going to change that, I promise.”, she whispered, and the smaller girl tightened her fingers even more into the thin fabric on Vi’s back.
“You said it yourself. You’re grown up, you have your own apartment, you have a relationship, you have a job, you… you’re independent. And I am so, so proud of you that you managed to get to this point you are now. Sometimes in the last months I even questioned myself when you suddenly took care of me, instead of me taking care of you. Pow-Pow, you’re stronger than you think!”, Vi smiled the last part, loosened the hug a little and cupped the younger one’s cheeks with both her hands: “And I appreciate it that you want to look out for me like I do for you. But you’re overdoing it with this… Caitlyn isn’t the monster you see in her. She’s not like the ones who always took advantage of us back in the days. Okay?”, Vi tried, and the tears in her sister’s eyes made herself tear up, too.
Jinx held herself on Vi’s wrists and sniffed with a loud sob: “I don’t want you to get hurt…! Or taken away, I-… Violet, please, I need you…!”, she cried, and suddenly, the adult in front of Vi turned into her 5-year-old sister who had just lost all the family she ever had.
“Pow… hey, sshh… it’s okay.”, Vi whispered, and pulled her back into her secure hug, “You’re afraid, and I think I get it now.”, she said, and pressed a kiss to the bright blue hair, before she continued: “I can assure you, I promise, I swear: No one, and I mean no one, will ever take me from you. Things change, and that’s something I also had to learn the hard way. Do you want me to be honest?”, she asked, and Jinx nodded against her sister’s collarbone, “… I was afraid, too. When you started to stand on your own feet, when you met Lux, when things became serious between you, when you moved out to live on your own… hell, I thought I was losing you! But I didn’t, right?”, Vi said, and Jinx looked up to her with watery eyes.
“… no, of course not! You’re my sister, and I-…”, Jinx started, and finally, it clicked inside her head.
Vi smiled warm at her and waited for Jinx to process what she had just finally understood, to let it settle down that it was the absolute same situation now with her and Caitlyn.
‘Nothing is ever going to change that.’
“Some things change. People change. And that’s okay. But this one thing won’t ever change. I promise.”, Vi said softly, and now Jinx couldn’t hold back anymore, she cried into Vi’s shoulder and the older sister let her, while she held her securely.
-
“I’m so sorry for how she behaves, she’s just very overprotective and angsty about her sister.”, Lux sighed with an apologetic look on her face, when she came back from the kitchen where she had gotten Caitlyn and herself some snacks.
“Oh, it’s not your fault, really, no need to apologize. I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of burdens that these two are carrying with them, I don’t know much about it yet, but I’d be happy to learn more and adapt to their triggers.”, Caitlyn smiled, and took a cookie from the plate Lux had set on the low table in front of them.
“Well, they both are… difficult. But also very loveable.”, Lux chuckled, and took a cookie as well, “Jinx will learn to accept you. And I saw how Vi acted about you, this girl is so in love with you, you won’t regret working for this to settle into an established relationship.”. Lux smiled, and Caitlyn blushed a little shy.
“Oh, well… yes, she definitely is very loveable. Even if I sometimes just want to grab and shake her to get her back to her right mind.”, she chuckled amused, sighed, and continued: “I don’t know how much you know, but we really have a lot of work in front of us if we want this to work out. I just hope that Vi is really ready for a relationship now. That she finally wants to take the risks, but that’s something we need to find out together, I guess.”, Caitlyn shrugged, and Lux took a sip of her tea, before she smiled at the other woman: “I’m sure she is ready. She suffered so much all those months without you, I bet she definitely realized what big mistakes she made.”
The two smiled at each other and leaned a bit back into the soft pillows on the couch.
“Jinx will calm down, and she will learn. Her arguments are just not valid, about this whole ‘rich family’ thing. I’m the daughter of the Crownguard’s. I don’t know if that name means anything to you, but here in the states we’re somehow what you Kiramman’s are in the UK.”, Lux explained, and Caitlyn made big eyes: “You’re a Crownguard? Of course, I know who you are!”, she said, and turned a bit more to the younger girl, “I think your parents visited us years ago about some business they had with my father. The world is a really tiny place.”, she chuckled, and Lux chuckled as well.
“It indeed is! So, what I want to say is: Trust the process, give them both time, and you will get a very caring girlfriend who will fight the world for you, I promise. Vi may be rough and aggressive from time to time, but she is also very emotional and can be a big softy. And she would never turn this aggression against her loved ones, I never saw or heard that she did that, at least. She’s protective, she’ll do anything to protect her loved ones. And with her background, she’s really good at that, but that’s something she should tell you herself.”, Lux explained, and Caitlyn smiled warm: “Yes, I thought so, to be honest. Vi is difficult, but the more she lifted the mask behind which she hid, the more I saw what beautiful character is behind all that.”
Before Lux could say something to that, they heard the lock click and the front door open, as the sisters came back into the apartment.
“Hey, are you alright?”, Caitlyn immediately asked, and Vi nodded with a slight smile: “Yeah, we talked it out. Right, Pow?”, Vi smiled, and Jinx nodded hesitantly: “… yeah, I guess.”, she shrugged, and the sister’s sat down next to each of their partners again.
“So, you have something to say, right?”, Vi said, and looked at her sister, who groaned and rolled her eyes: “Yeeeah, sheesh… I apologize for attacking you verbally.”, she said, but didn’t look at Caitlyn while she talked, “… and if you’re the one my sister wants, may it be.”, she said with another eyeroll, and Vi gave her a look.
“What?!”, Jinx groaned, and crossed her arms.
“What she wanted to add is, she won’t try to separate us anymore, right?”, Vi demanded, and Jinx rolled her eyes extravagantly much: “Yeeeeaaaah, okay, and I won’t try to sabotage your relationship anymore. Are you happy now?”, Jinx added, and Vi sighed: “Yeah, I guess.”
“I appreciate it, Jinx. And I promise, there’s no cause for you to worry that I will mistreat your sister in any way. I’m genuinely in love with her, and I really want this relationship to work, and there’s nothing more that I want than a healthy relationship.”, Caitlyn made it clear, and Jinx looked her in the eyes for the first time since they came back into the apartment: “I hope so.”
Everyone on the room let out a sigh, and silence filled it afterwards for a moment.
Vi took Caitlyn’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently, while she gave her a reassuring smile.
Lux hugged Jinx and whispered in her ear: “Thank you, baby. You’re doing great.”, while Jinx let herself plop against her girlfriend, after she had loosened the hug again.
“Jinx?”, Caitlyn suddenly asked, and the younger one looked over to her with a questioning look on her face, “I wondered, if you would like to meet up sometime? The two of us, so we can get to know each other better. That would be a good way to get along better. What do you think?”, she suggested, and Jinx frowned.
Meeting up with that chick? Why the hell would she-…
But when she saw the expression and hope in Vi’s face and felt the reassuring rub on her back by her girlfriend’s hand, she sighed loud and gave in.
“… yeah, I guess we can do that. Some time.”, she agreed, and everyone smiled at her.
-
Long sighs left two throats, as the model and the photographer entered Vi’s own apartment again, and they sank together on the big couch in the living room.
“I’m so sorry, really. As if I wouldn’t be enough, now my sister is making trouble, too.”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn plopped against her side: “Well, I somehow knew for what I signed up when I gave you this chance, Vi.”, she chuckled tired, and the other woman couldn’t help but chuckle as well, “… we will get there. Thank you for standing up for us, for this relationship we’re building.”, Caitlyn said, and wrapped her arms around Vi, while she nestled the side of her head against her broad shoulder.
“Of course.”, Vi whispered, and pressed a soft kiss on top of her girlfriend’s head, before both closed their eyes for a moment and just enjoyed the calm and near together.
“Hey, Cait?”, Vi asked after a while, and Caitlyn snuggled closer to her and kept her eyes closed: “Yes?”, she mumbled, and Vi’s lips pursed into a little smile on that reaction: “I could use something to eat, what do you think? Are you hungry?”, she asked, and Caitlyn made a thoughtful noise, before she answered: “Sounds good, but I need to go back to my hotel room first, I don’t have anything here at your place. How about we order food to my room there?”, the photographer suggested, and Vi nodded in agreement: “Yeah, let’s go then.”
-
“You did good, baby.”, Lux smiled, but Jinx was still pouting with crossed arms, since her sister and her girlfriend had left.
“Yeaaah, sure.”, she grumbled, and Lux just chuckled: “Hey, you little grouch. Come on, I think Vi and Caitlyn are a pretty good match, they got a lot of work in front of them, but I get why they like each other so much.”, the blonde girl smiled, and Jinx rolled her eyes, while she leaned her head back over the back of the couch: “If you say so…”, she kept on being sassy, and now Lux rolled her eyes.
“You know, grouchy little Designers don’t get a cinnamon roll and iced coffee… I’m afraid I have to get me some without you.”, Lux shrugged, and started to put on her shoes and grab her bag.
“… wait.”, Jinx said, and sat up straight again, “… are you talking about this store who sells the cinnamon rolls with shitloads of toppings…?”, she asked, her eyes were squinting, and Lux just shrugged: “Well, I guess that will be the store. And it would be a shame, if there’s no one who steals the tiny little marshmallows from my roll.”, she played the game further, and then, she got her girlfriend on the hook.
“Shit, you can’t just go there alone!!” – “Well, then stop pouting and put your shoes on.” – “ON IT!!”
~
Vi and Caitlyn sat with ordered Pizza and some other snacks in Caitlyn’s hotel room in the early evening, and watched a random show that was on TV right now.
They had cuddled up in cozy clothes and shared their ordered food that laid on top of the blanket under which they laid.
“So, we still have the whole day tomorrow, and after this you need to catch your flight on Tuesday evening, right?”, Vi reassured, and Caitlyn nodded agreeing: “Yes, indeed. And after that, we need to find a way to meet again and find a regular schedule for this. I think we both aren’t made for long distance.”, she answered, and Vi sighed sad: “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll miss you.”, she pouted, and leaned her head against Caitlyn’s shoulder.
The taller woman sighed sad as well, and leaned her head against Vi’s: “Yes, I’ll miss you, too. But we still have a bit of time left. Right? So, what should we do tomorrow?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi made a thoughtful noise and face: “Hmmm. I’d be up for a date, what do you think? We could visit the Zoo here in L.A. and go to a nice restaurant afterwards and take a walk at the beach?”, Vi suggested, and Caitlyn agreed with a happy smile: “Sounds great, I’d love to do that.”, she answered, and Vi pressed a kiss to her cheek: “Awesome, can’t wait!”
-
After they had finished their food, they got rid of all the boxes and containers and Caitlyn rolled on top of Vi with a little grin: “Don’t you need to work out? I mean, not that I complain to have the time with you, I just wondered. Because…”, she started, and kissed over Vi’s round shoulder and down her upper arm, to bite gently into her big bicep, “… these need training, don’t they?”
Vi watched Caitlyn do what she did, gulped hear- and visible, and couldn’t contain the little aroused whimper, when she felt Caitlyn’s teeth sinking into her skin and muscle.
“I-… I mean-…”, she stammered, and when Caitlyn looked up to her with her ocean-blue eyes, she couldn’t help herself.
She pulled her up into a kiss, and wrapped her arms around the other woman, who laid between her spread legs now.
“Mh~… you haven’t-... nh~… answered my-… mhnn~ question… haaa~”, Caitlyn gasped between all the loving kisses Vi gave her, and sank more and more into the other woman, as the feelings she gave her lulled her into a cozy and pleasurable dizzy state.
Her big hands on her back, the way she grabbed her sides, her ass, her-…
“Wait! Vi-… s- …stop…”, Caitlyn gasped, and Vi immediately pulled her hands back up and laid it on her shoulder blades with big puppy eyes, “… clothes stay on, and hands stay above my hips, until we got the results.”, she admonished her, and Vi swallowed hard, but agreed, of course: “Y-… yeah, sorry… got carried away…”, she breathed, and Caitlyn pulled her in an mind loosening open-mouthed kiss, that let the model melt under the photographer.
Vi kept her hands exactly in the areas where Caitlyn allowed her to touch her, not a millimeter elsewhere, and Caitlyn knew, if Vi would overstep her boundaries, she wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore – So this was more of a restriction for herself than for Vi.
Her trained, muscled body under her tender hands, the way Vi let out small, aroused, and pleased sounds, whimpers, moans… her scent, how soft her skin felt on her tattooed arms, the way she touched her in the gentlest but still intense ways - Caitlyn had never felt so loved like she did with the pink haired model.
And for the moment, every leftover doubt disappeared to nowhere.
The photographer tilted her head back, so Vi had better access to her neck, where she peppered every single spot with the sweetest kisses, with the softest bites and licks, which made Caitlyn feel like she would just melt under the comfortable weight that Vi put on top of her with her body.
Caitlyn’s hands roamed over Vi’s tattooed back, grabbed, scratched, held herself on her, like she would fall apart if she wouldn’t get a hold on her girlfriend, until both stopped slowly and just smiled at each other.
A slow, soft kiss, another one, and one more, until Caitlyn took the lead and rolled them over, so she was on top.
“So~… what about the workout?~”, Caitlyn purred suddenly, and enjoyed the way Vi’s face was showing an expression of complete submissiveness the second she got on top of her.
“I-… would have normally gone today, but as you’re here now, I didn’t want to waste any second that I could have with you for something else.”, Vi answered, and Caitlyn felt her heart getting warmer: “Oh, darling… you know what? How about we go workout together tomorrow morning? And after that, we go on our date. What do you think?”, Caitlyn suggested with a happy smile, and Vi agreed, still a little dizzy from the make-out session the moment before, with a few nods: “Yeah, sounds great, let’s do that.”, she smiled, and Caitlyn wiped a few pink strands out of the model’s face.
“… do you want to stay here with me tonight?", the taller woman whispered, and Vi’s smile grew even softer: “Of course, as if I would go home without you.”, she whispered back, and Caitlyn leaned down for another loving kiss.
Vi’s hands caressed softly over Caitlyn’s small back, she felt the lean muscles under it tense with every movement her fingertips made, and her happy little huffs encouraged her to continue to please her as softly as possible.
Caitlyn’s skin rose to pleasant goosebumps under Vi’s hands, and she cupped one of Vi’s chubby cheeks, while her other hand buried itself into the unshaved side of her pink hair to get a hold, as she felt like she would just melt away under her touch.
Their lips parted again, and they sank into each other’s eyes, as they told each other without a single vocal word:
‘I missed you.’
‘I need you.’
‘I love you.’
Notes:
A tiny spoiler for those who are curious about the next chapters:
We will take a look into Vi's and Cait's past in the upcoming chapters!
So stay tuned, see you at the next chapter <3And as always: I'd be happy to read what you think in the comments :)
Chapter 24: A bloody past
Summary:
Hello and welcome back to 'Pictures'!
Today I need to put a TW:
We'll have a very short scene of attempted rape. It's not graphic!And we introduce another Arcane character in this Chapter, I hope you like it :D
As always, enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!
An early release of chapter 25 is possible, but I can't promise anything for now :)
Chapter Text
Chapter 24 – A bloody past
“Yeah, she’s with me. Free trial training for her, right?”
Vi grinned with a wink to the guy behind the counter at the gym she trained in for at least 4 times a week if she hadn’t a job that consumed the whole day or was on travel for work or vacation.
“Come on, Cupcake. The changing room is over there.”, the model said, and Caitlyn followed her to said room, after she gave the guy who let her in for free a shy nod and a ‘thank you’.
“Are you friends with the owner? I mean, about the getting-me-in-for-free thing…”, Caitlyn asked, while she pulled her shirt over her head to replace it with the sportswear t-shirt she brought with her, and Vi chuckled: “Yeah, you could call it that.”, she answered, “She’s my old coach.”
Caitlyn stopped in her tracks and watched Vi change into her muscle shirt and sportswear shorts.
“Coach?”, the photographer asked in her posh accent, and Vi turned her eyes shortly to her girlfriend, before she looked down to her own feet to tie her shoes: “Yeah, Coach. I can tell you about it some time. Let’s get going for now, ‘k?”, Vi smiled, and the two left the changing room and went over to the cardio section and onto two cross trainers to warm up for the workout.
-
“Come on Cupcake, you can do it! Push!”
Caitlyn questioned all her life choices after she had asked Vi to show her how to bench-press, when she laid on the bench now with a heavy bar in her hands that was threatening to crush her.
Even if it had way less discs on it than Vi had when she showed her how to do it before.
“Don’t forget to bend your back, feet stand firm, come on, you got it!”, Vi grinned, and spotted her from behind the bench, all-time ready to rescue her if her muscles would give up.
“Yes, you got it, just a little more, aaand-… awesome!”, Vi smiled proud, when Caitlyn managed the 8th rep, grabbed the bar and helped her to re-rack it, “You’re stronger than you look.”, she smirked, and Caitlyn took a deep breath, before she sat up again and faced Vi: “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Oh, that’s nothing, you don’t know what I made Vi go through.”
The couple turned to the dark, female voice, and Vi grinned while Caitlyn had a big ‘?’ written over her face when a tall, broad figure approached them.
“Sevika! How come you’re here at this time?”, Vi asked, and went over to give her a hug for greeting, where both slapped the other’s back harder than necessary.
“I had some business with someone for new equipment, and Jason told me that you are here and brought someone for free training. You want me getting poor?”, Sevika grinned, and Vi just shrugged with a smug grin: “Yeah, well, can’t deny I brought her in for free trial training. It’s just for today, don’t worry.”, she answered, and Caitlyn got up to join the two, who seemed close in a way she couldn’t quite make out by now.
“Hello, I’m Caitlyn. Thank you for the free trial, but if this is a problem, I can pay of course, it wouldn’t be an issue.”, the tall woman introduced herself and Sevika shook hands with the stranger: “It’s all good. If you’re with Vi, it’s my pleasure to have you here.”, she said, and changed her gaze a few times between Vi and Caitlyn, until a dirty grin formed itself on her face: “… you’re fucking, aren’t ya?”
Caitlyn blushed heavily on that unexpected accusation, while Vi just snickered like a 15 year-old teen: “Not to brag, but yeah, this gorgeous woman here is my new girlfriend.”, she grinned bright, and Sevika turned to the tall woman next to her former protegee: “Are you sure you want that one? I’d think about it once again if I were you.”, she said with a raised eyebrow, and Caitlyn couldn’t contain a sweet chuckle: “Oh, believe me, I know what I’m gotten myself into. But I think I have pretty good control over her meanwhile.”, she used the opportunity to fire back, and her smile became an evil grin when she saw Vi’s reaction.
The smaller woman stared with wide eyes and an open mouth at the others, as she couldn’t come up with a proper counter to this.
“Close your mouth, darling.”, Caitlyn said dryly, and Sevika couldn’t hold back a hearty laugh: “Seems like you’re finally settling down, kiddo, huh? Good for you. It was time for you to push off your horns. Treat her well, you hear me? I didn’t just teach you to fight.”, she said with crossed arms, and Caitlyn turned with a frown to Sevika: “Push off her horns?”, she asked, and Sevika waved her off: “Oh! Not in that way, don’t worry. I’m referring to her anger and attachment issues. It’s a good thing that she makes a commitment to a serious relationship again.”
Vi groaned before any of them could speak any further: “Can you cut it off?! I was happy to see you, but I didn’t sign up for lectures and being treated like I’m not even here!”, she complaint angry, and Sevika just laughed further: “I see, you still haven’t learnt to keep your cool. But honestly, Vi, you look happy with her. Don’t mess it up. I still have stuff to do, have fun with your training, you can use everything here today for free, okay?”, Sevika smiled the last part to Caitlyn, who nodded and said a polite “Thank you, I appreciate it.”, patted Vi on the shoulder, and went back to work.
“…”, Vi was still grumpy, but Caitlyn’s gentle hand that was on her lower back the moment after helped a lot in an instant.
“So, you think I’m gorgeous, hm?”, Caitlyn chuckled, and Vi turned her head to her girlfriend: “… uhm, yes, obviously…?!”, Vi mumbled, and the other woman just pecked a kiss to her love’s cheek: “Come on, let’s continue with the workout.”
-
“Are you sure this is safe?”
Caitlyn had a very critical look on her face when she stepped on the bench an sat down on the bar, while Vi laid on the bench, waiting for her to sit steady and ready.
“Of course, don’t worry. I won’t drop you, Cupcake.”, the model grinned, very sure of her skills and strength, “I bet I can push a whole set with you.”
Caitlyn swallowed hard.
As hot as she finds it that her girlfriend would simply bench press her, as much was she scared that something could happen and one of them or even both would get injured.
“Ready?”, Vi asked, and grabbed the bar left and right from Caitlyn’s thighs, when the British woman nodded down to her: “Mhm, but please be careful.” – “Of course!”
And then, Vi lifted the bar together with her girlfriend out the rack and started to bench press her with clean and controlled movements up and down.
The model couldn’t stop the dirty thoughts every time she lowered her girlfriend down, but she forced herself to stay concentrated, so no one of them would be harmed by any mistake she would make.
“… aaaaand, 10! Holy shit, I really did it!”, Vi grinned bright, when she re-racked the bar with Caitlyn on it, and sat up while the other woman hopped down from the bar with a grin on her face.
“I can’t deny, that was kinda hot.”, she smirked, and pulled Vi into a deep kiss, broke it again and winked at her: “Can’t wait to find out how you can move me in bed.”
Vi blushed, but before she could give back a dirty answer, Caitlyn walked off to the sports mats that laid on the other side of the room: “Come on, we still have some exercises to do.”
Vi just shook her head with a silly grin and followed her to continue their workout – Not without her eyes laying on the way Caitlyn’s hips moved while she walked in the tight sports leggings.
~
The training went well, and after the couple used the sauna that Sevika’s gym offered and took a shower, the two got ready for their date in the L.A. Zoo.
-
“Hey, Vi?” – “Hm?”
Caitlyn turned her head to Vi, while they walked hand-in-hand over to the next attraction: “Tell me about Sevika and her being your coach. I’d love to learn more about you and your past, if this is fine for you?”, she asked her to, and a smile formed itself on Vi’s lips, which Caitlyn couldn’t quite read yet.
Vi’s hand held Caitlyn’s firmer suddenly, and the photographer gave the soft pressure back.
“… I don’t know if Mel has dropped anything about my past as an MMA fighter, has she?”, she asked, and Caitlyn remembered it suddenly: “Oh! Well, she did, but nothing more than that you are a former MMA fighter, and that you had illegal fights before someone helped you out. I think it was something like this.”, Caitlyn answered honest, and Vi turned her head forward again while she thought about a way to put it.
“… yeah, well. I’m not proud of this past, but I protected my sister and was able to provide for her, so, I’m also not embarrassed about it. It was necessary, and I would do it again if it meant to keep the only family I have left safe.”, Vi started, and Caitlyn gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, “To understand everything, I have to start this story way earlier, okay?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Of course, as I said, I’d love to learn more about your past.”, she said, and Vi nodded, before she started her story.
”We lost our parents very early. First, my dad. We lived in the poor streets of Detroit, and one day, someone stabbed him on his way home for the few coins in his pocket and the bread he got for us for dinner. He could have lived, but no one came to help in time… so he bled to death on the dirty street. I was about 7 or 8 years old, Powder was only born on that time. Just a helpless little thing, wrapped in a blanket in my mom’s arms.”, Vi started her story, and Caitlyn’s expression turned into a very worried frown.
She led them to a higher spot and onto a bench, from which they could watch animals of the African savanna in their accurately build territory.
“If this is a too dark story for a date, just tell me, okay?”, Vi chuckled bitter, but Caitlyn shook her head determined: “No, I want to learn more about you, and I’m happy if you trust me with your past, your worries and wounds, okay? I’m here for you, and I will listen.”, she said, and Vi’s eyes got a little bit of light back that had died out after she had started the story of her childhood.
“Okay. Just tell me if it’s too much.”, Vi asked her to, and Caitlyn nodded: “I will.”, she smiled, and Vi continued with the story of her past: “Alright, so… yeah. My mom was devastated after the police informed her about what had happened on the same evening. I will never forget the look on her face after she received the message that my dad was stabbed to death, and that sight burned itself into my brain and my soul from the very moment. Something inside me changed. I think I stopped being a kid in that moment, even if I was not even 8. I remember to have just one thought inside me left: Protect the family. I pinned a pillow to the wall and started to box against it. I wanted to get stronger, I needed to get stronger, because I felt like I had to become stronger than everyone, so something like it happened to my dad would never happen to my mom or my sister.”, Vi sighed and took a breath, before she continued: “As I said, Pow was just a baby. A helpless infant. I started to help my mom from the second these police officers rang the doorbell, and I hadn’t stopped a single second, I helped her with the household, taking care of Pow, I even tried to collect money for food by begging on the street, all this, until…”
Vi frowned and bit her lower lip suddenly.
It was harder than she expected it to be, to speak out loud what had happened to her mother, what made her and Powder orphans, what led to them living on the cold streets with nothing but each other.
“Hey. It’s alright, I’m here.”, Caitlyn whispered softly, and caressed Vi’s hand gently with both of hers, “If it’s too much, we can stop here for now.”, she offered, but Vi blinked the tears away and shook her head: “No. No, I’m okay. I’m fine.”
The model took a deep breath, gathered mental strength, and finally found her words again: “I was about 12, Pow was about 5 that time. My mom told us she had a new job, but she never told us which kind of job that was. She only said she was able to pay the apartments rent with this pay, and that was everything that counted for us back then. We were too young to understand that she had started to sell her body to provide for us.”, Vi said, and a bitter huff left her throat, “… one night, I heard someone knock violently against our front door. I woke up and told Powder to hide under the bed until I would come back and tell her to come out when I’m sure it’s safe to come out again.”
Caitlyn swallowed hard.
A horrible picture formed itself in her head, as she could feel where this story was about to go, but she remained silent and let Vi tell her story while she tried to give her the support she needed with her touches and body language.
“I heard the door open and my mom scream, and then I heard the male voice of a stranger. He shouted at her, and I froze on the spot at the aggressiveness that was in the sound of his voice. I was terrified. But when I heard my mom cry and shout for help, somehow… my body worked on its own. Like instincts kicked in and I just acted, no thoughts, just actions.”, Vi huffed bitter, it was visible that it was hard to recall the situation of her childhood, but she was determined to let Caitlyn know what she went through.
“… my feet just started to run. I entered my mom’s bedroom, and I saw him hoovering over her, she tried to fight him, but that guy was too big for her to actually get him off of her. And then, I just heard a gunshot. I don’t remember exactly what happened after that, only unbearable pain in my hands and the distant sound of a second gunshot. The first picture that is clear again is my bloodstained hands, my shot, lifeless mom on the bed and this guy with a bullet between his eyes, and a gun next to me.”, Vi said, and she stared at her own hand that Caitlyn wasn’t holding.
“… Violet. This… this is horrible…”, Caitlyn whispered breathless, and pulled her softly closer, so Vi could lean against the other woman for comfort.
“… phew.”, Vi took a few calming breaths and concentrated on Caitlyn’s embrace, before she had enough strength to continue: “Needless to say that the police were there shortly after, I think the neighbors had called them, because they had heard the gunshots. They took Powder and me, but they separated us and gave her to an orphanage. And me? Ha, well. They put me into juvenile prison for shooting that guy dead. Even if it should have been clear that I was the one protecting my family inside our home. I learned that this guy was kicked out of my mom’s ‘workplace’ for violent behavior, and he seemed to be so pissed about that, that he tracked my mom down to... to kill her for that. I was lucky that some activists fought for me while I was in there, as I still hadn’t understood what had happened and why I was the bad guy now. But even if people tried to bail me out, I was only released after 7 years. I lost my childhood, grew up in prison without any contact to the outside world, and suddenly, I stood on the street with nothing but a bag with used essentials.”
Caitlyn kissed her temple lovingly and leaned her head against hers: “Vi, I had no idea that your past is so dark… I am so sorry that you had to go through all this. We can make a break here, if it’s too much.”, Caitlyn said, and squeezed her girlfriend’s hand again, reassuring her that she was safe here, with her.
“Thanks, Cupcake. But I want you to know the whole story.”, Vi smiled weak, turned her eyes to the other woman and then down to their connected hands.
“The first thing I did was trying to find Powder. The thought of getting back to her was the only thing that kept me going, I mean, I had nothing. Not even a place to stay. And I had no idea where they had brought her to, so I tried to find out through the town hall, where I got the information that she was in an orphanage. I was 19 when I got out of prison, so Powder was already 12. I was a bit afraid to meet her after all this time, she was a young teenager now, not a little kid anymore.”, it was the first time that Vi smiled slightly since she had started the story of her past, and Caitlyn gifted her a warm smile to encourage her to go on.
“When I finally reached that orphanage, I got scared. But I forced myself to go in and ask for her, and she was indeed there. Fortunately, I could identify myself to them as her blood related sister, so they brought me out in their yard to meet her. I spotted her immediately, I mean, who else has this vibrant, light blue hair?”, Vi chuckled on the memory, “… and then, she spotted me.”
There was a short pause in which Vi let that scene play in her head, before she told Caitlyn more about it.
“We both were frozen on the spot first. It was so, so unreal. But after a while, I decided to approach her. She stared at me, still frozen, and she asked me… ‘are you real’?”, Vi said, and a little sob escaped her unwillingly.
“Hey, it’s okay…”, Caitlyn soothed her, and made clear that she gave her all the time she would need.
“… and I said ‘Of course, Powder, it’s me, Vi, your sister!’”, Vi continued with a shaky voice, “And then, we just fell into each other’s arms and cried. We cried so much, so loud, but we didn’t care about our surroundings. We found each other again, after 7 fucking years. And in that moment, I swore to myself that we won’t ever be apart again, that I would not leave her side ever again, no matter which circumstances, I wasn’t a child anymore. And I would take responsibility for her.”, Vi said, and her voice got clearer and more determined again when she spoke about that part of the story.
“After everything necessary, I took her with me. Even if I didn’t have a home, they gave her to me. I think the government and these establishments doesn’t give a shit about the children there. They are just happy when it’s one less.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn could hear the anger inside Vi about that topic.
“And to get to your original question, I started to fight for rich assholes who took bets on illegal fights in the deepest and darkest streets of Detroit. With that, I was able to earn a little money to get Powder and me some food, pay for a night in a Hostel from time to time. With time going on we made some kind of friends where we could stay a night or two sometimes, have a hot shower and stuff like that, some kind of sofa-hopping. But these rich fuckers never gave us enough to actually live on our own, to get an apartment or else. Today I know that they did this on purpose, to keep control over us. This is why Pow and me have such prejudices about people with money, privileged fuckers who use the poor for their entertainment.”, Vi huffed, and continued right away: “The first guy who wanted me to fight for him is missing a lot of his original teeth now and he will never be able to walk again without his cane.”
A lot of puzzle pieces connected to each other in Caitlyn’s brain while Vi told her the story of how she grew up, what had happened to her and her family, and she could also understand way better why Jinx reacted the way she did all the time.
“What happened to him?”, the navy haired woman asked, and Vi huffed with an sarcastic grin: “I punched his face in.”, she said as if it was nothing, and Caitlyn blinked a few times: “Why? What did he do to make you do that?”, she asked, and something inside Vi changed on that answer.
Caitlyn didn’t say ‘why did you do that’, she immediately presumed that Vi acted by an defensive cause. She wanted to know what he did that made her react like that.
She didn’t judge her right away for choosing violence.
“He tried to touch Powder. And this time, I was strong enough to protect my family before something happened.”
~ 8 years ago ~
“You’re Vi’s sister, aren’t you? What a pretty little girl you are.”
Powder turned around to the man she knew as Vi’s ‘trainer’.
She was waiting for her sister outside an abandoned factory building where the illegal fights took place and where Vi trained to beat every enemy into a bloody pulp on the floor for a few coins, so she and her little sister would have a small dinner.
“Vi told me I shouldn’t speak with anyone here, so: Fuck off. And besides, I’m 13, I’m not a little girl you old fart!!”, Powder spit, and crossed her arms.
“Well, I’m not ‘anyone’, I’m your sister’s trainer. And I am the one who pays her, so you can have a meal a day. No need to be so feisty, you can trust me. Vi send me to take you to her, so why don’t you come with me? She’s inside and waits for you.”, she smiled, and Powder frowned: “… Vi told me I should wait here. She didn’t say anything about you picking me up, so: NO.”
The man sighed with a chuckle: “Come on. You met me before, didn’t you? Vi is busy, you know she has a fight in two days, don’t you? She’s busy with training and it’s getting cold. You can wait inside, and I can make you a hot chocolate while you wait and watch her train, I may also have a sandwich left, how does that sound?”
“… okay.”, Powder gave in, as her stomach growled, and the evening air really got cold.
And the man was Vi’s trainer, right? She indeed knew him somehow, so, it would be okay.
Right?
-
“Pow-Pow? Hey, where are you?”
Vi got out of the underground car park of the building and went immediately to the spot where she had told her little sister to wait at, but she wasn’t there.
“What the-…”, she mumbled, and saw that the door to the corridor that led to the improvised ‘office’ of her trainer was open just a crack wide, and that there was light inside, so she entered the building again with a bad feeling.
And that feeling turned out to be right the second she heard her little sister’s screams.
“…!! POWDER!!??”
Vi ran, she ran as fast as she could and stormed into the room where she heard her sister’s screams from, and she found her with her trainer in front of her, forcing her against the desk in his office.
She was fighting him with all she had.
The scenes from her encounter with her mother’s violator and murderer played themselves in her head the second she saw the scene.
But this time - This time, she wasn’t only a 12-year-old teenager.
This time, she was almost 20, and she was strong.
Stronger than all of them.
A scream, then she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and threw him to the floor as if he weighted nothing. There was no time to think, there was just the opportunity to act, and she only stopped punching when she felt Powder’s small body pressed against her back and her thin arms wrapped firmly around her chest.
“Vi, stop!! Violet, you’re killing him! They will take you away again, please, stop, I NEED you…!!”
Vi’s vision went back to reality, and she had a Déjà vu when she saw her bloodstained hands, the skin that had ripped open on her knuckles – But one thing was different.
This time, her family was alive and unharmed.
~ Present Day ~
Vi took a breath after she had told Caitlyn that story.
“… I had two more ‘trainers’ after that incident. I hadn’t faced consequences, as no one there wanted to stand behind a pedophile and the guy knew that he would be exposed as one if he would sue me for attacking him. Ha, Powder had kicked his nuts so hard that he vomited before we left. And she had kicked his knee the whole time I was punching his ugly face, that’s why he can’t walk normally anymore. He got what he deserved.”
Caitlyn had tears in her eyes suddenly, she hadn’t expected Vi to have such a dark and horrible past, she wasn’t able to understand how someone who could be so soft and so, so loving had gone through all these things and still believed in love and was able to gift her the trust she received from the model.
“I started to try and fight on my own, but even with the respect I owned in this illegal scene, without a rich asshole you were no one down there. And just as I thought we couldn’t even afford a meal a day anymore, Sevika showed up. She had heard about my skills, and she watched one of my fights one night. She approached me after it and said ‘You lack patience and guard. Want to learn how to do it right?’”, Vi said, and a little laugh left her throat, “… I looked into her eyes and even if I wanted to punch her right on the nose for telling me I suck, I saw in her eyes that she meant it. And she wasn’t a man, and we didn’t have a crumb of food left, so… I agreed.”, Vi shrugged, and looked hesitantly at Caitlyn.
She knew this was more than most people would be able to live with, she knew her past was more than daunting, and for a brief moment, she was afraid that she had scared Caitlyn off.
But what she saw in the young Kiramman’s eyes was anything than disgust or the urge to flee.
It was understanding and warmth.
“You. You’re the strongest person I have ever met, Vi, mentally and physically, I’m serious about this. You have such a good heart, despite all the things that were done to it, you have never stopped believing that there is something good out there. And this is why you are where you are now, Vi. And you deserve all the good in this world.”, Caitlyn smiled, and wiped the tears under Vi’s eyes away, before she wiped her own away as well, “So many would have given up, so many wouldn’t believe in any good out there anymore, but you went on, no matter what was in your way. And this is real strength, Vi.”
“You think so?”, Vi asked hesitantly, and Caitlyn nodded with a smile: “Yes, I do. And I think I understand you more than ever now, so, thank you for sharing your past with me, Violet.”
-
After collecting their minds and catching their breaths after this exhausting conversation, the couple decided on continuing their walk through the zoo with a well-earned ice cream cone in each of their right hands.
“… and that’s when Sevika registered me for my first official MMA fight. I received the beating of my life.”, Vi chuckled, and licked on her ice-cream, “She knew I wasn’t ready, but I thought I was, and I annoyed her until she gave in. She knew I would lose, and I bet she only let me fight so I would learn that the illegal cage fights were only rough thrashing and had nothing to do with the real sport. It opened my eyes, and since then, I started to see her as my mentor. She taught me how to fight, and she taught me how to live. I spend my teens in prison, and no one there banted an eye on me, no one there taught me about life. But Sevika did, and I will always be thankful for that. She saw herself in me, I guess… she never really told me about her past, but some day when I asked her why she was doing all this for me, she told me she had to make something right again. And that when she saw me in the cage that night, she knew that I had potential, and that I was different from the rest there. She said, ‘I just thought you deserved it’.”, Vi ended the whole story, and a memory bubbled up to the surface in Caitlyn’s head when she heard that last quote.
“I just thought you deserved it.”
The photographer smiled at Vi and felt butterflies when she smiled back: “I’m glad she found you and gave you this chance. She seems rough, but I think she has the heart in the right place.”, Caitlyn said, and Vi nodded to this: “Yes, she really does.”
-
After the Zoo, the couple went to a restaurant at the beach, like they had planned to, and ordered themselves dinner and a drink.
“… and how did you get into the fashion business as a model?”, Caitlyn asked suddenly, before she took a bite of her food.
“Oh. That was as weird as the rest of my past.”, Vi huffed with a shrug, and took a sip from her drink, “As you can maybe tell, MMA fighting isn’t something for forever. I was good, I won several tournaments and stuff, Sevika has the certificates and belts and stuff on the wall in the boxing part of her gym. She’s proud, and I am, too. And with winning these things, I got into a few magazines, had interviews and all this. And one day, this guy showed up while I was training with Sevika. He wanted to offer me a contract to work for him as a model, as he was searching for someone different from the norm, someone who could get the attention of the fashion scene, because they’d break the usual view. I denied, because I wanted to fight, and I was good in what I was doing. Sevika told me to think about it, as it would open new doors for me, I’d earn more money and more money would mean a better life for my sister and me. But I couldn’t think of doing something else than fight that time.”, Vi answered, and Caitlyn listened with a curious and attentive look on her face.
She was fascinated by Vi’s history, by the way she had walked and how she managed to fight her way through life, even if it always tried to keep her from getting forward.
“I talked with Pow about it, she was about 14 that time, and she said that she’s worried about my health, long term. She said, if there was a way for me to earn money for us without the risk of getting my ‘ass kicked’, she’d support me. That really made me think about the whole thing again back then.”, Vi continued her story, and the more she told Caitlyn about herself, the more comfortable she got in doing so.
Caitlyn’s reactions were so genuine and supportive, she slowly lost the fear of scaring her off in any way.
“I continued to fight as a professional MMA fighter for one or two years, until I had a fight with someone who took the whole thing very personal and too serious. This woman got a lifelong ban from any official fights after that, she almost broke my neck.”, Vi sighed, and took another sip of her drink before she continued: “When I saw how worried Powder was, sitting beside my hospital bed, I knew I had to change something. And then I remembered this guy’s offer to start a model career. I contacted him, and the rest is history. And I’m here with you now, so that decision was the right thing, I’d say.”, Vi ended her story with a shy smile, and took Caitlyn’s hand on the table.
“I’m glad you took this path, Vi. Thank you, this must have been exhausting to share all these things of your past with me. So honestly, thank you, it’s not enough to say that I appreciate it, because it is much more.”, the navy haired photographer said, and the two shared a warm smile.
-
They let the evening end with a walk on the beach.
They held each other’s hands, giggled, fooled around, and enjoyed the soft ocean breeze, walking barefoot on the cooled off sand and just lived the moment together.
After all that happened in Vi’s life, it was surreal for her to have all these positive feelings now, to have this human being at her side who supported her unconditionally, who loved her unconditionally – Simply for who she was.
“I don’t want you to fly back to the UK.”
Caitlyn blinked a few times at this sudden mood change: “Darling, we will see each other again, soon. As we said, we’ll find a way, we make a new plan on how this can work.”, she smiled, and the two stopped in their tracks to face each other.
“I mean it. Stay.”, Vi said, and leaned her forehead against Caitlyn’s, who sighed: “Violet… I wish I could, but you know I must fly back. We will make it work, I promise.”, the British woman said, and the model sighed sad: “… yeah, we’ll make it… somehow.”, she whispered, and Caitlyn leaned down into a loving kiss.
A kiss that managed to make Vi feel that she meant it.
That she was serious about making it work, that she would fight for it as long as Vi would fight, too, and Vi gave her best to make Caitlyn feel that she was as serious as her about all this.
“We’ll find a way.”
Chapter 25: Making Plans
Summary:
Hello hello!
You might have noticed that the story changed from M to E :D
Our useless lesbians taking the next steps in their relationship, but they also realize that they are not made for distance.Let's see if they will find a way!
Enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 25 – Making plans
Five weeks had passed since Caitlyn took the plane back to England.
She and Vi video called every day if possible, but the time difference of 5 hours made it a bit tricky for both of them, so it quickly got stressful to keep in contact with each other on a daily basis.
-
“… !!”, Vi rolled from her back onto her belly when she heard the sound from her laptop that signaled her, that Caitlyn had entered the video call.
“Cupcake!”, she grinned bright into the camera, but she frowned when she saw just how tired and done her girlfriend looked into the camera, “Hey… are you okay?”
“Hey, darling…”, Caitlyn sighed, and wiped a strand of her navy-blue hair behind her right ear, “… yes, I’m quite alright, just very tired. It’s still extremely stressful at the moment. The customers demand a lot, but it’s extremely important to keep them, so they need to be satisfied with my work. This is a huge chance for us to become a bigger fish in the scene, so I do what’s necessary… and this means working overtime.”, she answered, and smiled weak into the camera, “How are you doing?”, she asked, and Vi sighed at the other side of the globe: “I get that this all is important at the moment, but I miss you. And you know what sucks double? The tests were apparently negative, as they didn’t contact us, so, we’re both clean, and I can’t be near you since weeks. I want to touch you, Cupcake, I want to be close to you...”, Vi groaned, and Caitlyn just chuckled tired: “Darling, I’m sure we will be able to see each other soon.”
Silence fell between them for a moment, until Vi sighed loudly: “I don’t like it the way it is right now, Cait. It’s over a fucking month and we still haven’t found a time span where we both are free and have enough time for a travel and back, before work calls again. Actually, I hate it.”
Caitlyn’s eyes fell low with a sad expression on her face.
“I know it’s hard. But we knew it wouldn’t be easy the moment we decided to try, don’t we?”, Caitlyn asked, and looked back up into the camera.
Vi’s eyebrows drew themselves together to an angry frown: “I slowly get the feeling that you don’t really care about not seeing me!”, she said more reproachful than she intended, and Caitlyn let out an offended huff: “Excuse me?! Of course I do, I’m suffering like you do! It’s not that I don’t miss you, I’m just so bloody busy that I barely got time to think about missing you, Violet. I can’t believe you just said that!”
~ 5 weeks before ~
“Do you really have to go? I mean… like, REALLY, really?”
Caitlyn chuckled amused while she walked beside Vi in the airport, who insisted on taking her suitcase for her.
“Yes, I ‘really’ must go, Vi. I have a job on Thursday and need to be in the agency for a meeting.”, Caitlyn answered, and pulled Vi to a halt by the loop of her jeans and made her face her, “Darling, I’m sure we will see each other again soon. As we talked about it. We check if we can reschedule the upcoming appointments and jobs, so that we get at least a whole week to see each other. We talked about it only a few hours ago, have you already forgotten?”, she chuckled, but her eyes showed that she wasn’t okay as well.
“…”, Vi sighed and lowered her gaze, “… of course I didn’t forget. I’m just-… it feels like I’m losing you again, and that scares me. Can’t you do these appointments online?”, she admitted and asked, and Caitlyn’s smile immediately changed to a worried expression: “Hey…”, she started, and cupped her girlfriend’s face with both her palms to make her look at her, “You don’t lose me, Vi. I know that this is anything than nice, now, that I have to go. Believe me, if I could, I would stay longer. But I need to be there in person for these appointments. You and I have responsibilities that we can’t just ignore, okay? We made a new plan, and I am sure it will work. Alright?”
Vi laid her hands on Caitlyn’s hips and gave her a weak smile: “I know. Sorry. We will make it.”, she answered, and both leaned into a soft kiss, smiled warm at each other, and made their way over to the gate where Caitlyn was supposed to wait for the boarding of her flight.
-
“… I don’t want this.”, Vi mumbled into Caitlyn’s neck, after she hugged her tight when her girlfriend’s flight was announced for the start of boarding in 15 minutes.
Caitlyn wrapped her arms around the shorter woman and nestled her face in the shaved side of her head, closed her eyes and tried to remember her scent, her warmth, the feeling of being held by the woman she loved.
“Me neither, Vi, believe me…”, she whispered, and tried to blink away the tears, “… but we will make it. Right?”, it was more of a question than a statement, and Vi tightened the hug a little more: “Of course. We’ll make it, Cupcake. We’ll make it work.”
>Information for flight 7789 to London – I repeat: Information for flight 7789 to London, the gate will close in 10 minutes<
“I have to go.”, Caitlyn smiled sad, and wiped the tears under her eyes away, while Vi didn’t want to let go of her, but she eventually had to: “Stay safe. And call me when you arrived, okay?”, she asked her to, and Caitlyn nodded: “Of course. Come here.”, she answered, and pulled her love into a last, soft and loving kiss, before she took her suitcase and pulled her ticket out, so she could enter the gate to get to the boarding area.
“I love you.”, Caitlyn said, her eyes were already red from trying to keep the tears back, and Vi couldn’t hold her own back any longer, they started to roll down her face.
She walked the few steps forward that Caitlyn had taken to the gate, and pulled her into another, more intense kiss: “I love you, too, Cupcake, I already miss you.”, she said, trying not to sob, what she just managed to do partly, “I can’t wait to have you in my arms again.”
Caitlyn kissed her back, longing and desperate, but the speakers interrupted them again.
>Last call for flight 7789 to London – I repeat: Last call for flight 7789 to London, the gate will close in 5 minutes<
“I have to go, otherwise, I will miss the flight.”, Caitlyn said with a shaky voice, and Vi wiped the tears gently off her face: “… then miss it.”, she whispered, but she knew this wasn’t an option, and Caitlyn knew it as well.
The photographer pulled the model into a another, this time real last kiss, she took a deep breath, took her ticket out and went through the gate.
A last look, blowing a kiss, mouthing ‘I love you’, then she disappeared around the corner.
~ Present day ~
“Then why don’t you come up with a solution?! With something, anything?! I have the feeling I’m the only one here who tries to make it possible!!”, Vi got angrier, and the offense in Caitlyn’s face grew bigger: “Are you telling me I don’t care?! That I don’t want to see you, that I don’t miss you?! Vi, I’m lying in bed every night, wishing you were next to me, hugging the pillow I put the shirt on that you gave me before I flew back, it barely smells like you anymore and I could cry just because of this, so don’t come at me like that!!”, Caitlyn got louder, and her voice broke halfway through her outburst.
The anger in Vi’s face vanished and was replaced by a more than sad face.
“… I’m sorry.”, Vi mumbled, and hot tears started to roll down her face, “… I just can’t handle the distance anymore. I didn’t want to hurt you.”, she sobbed, and Caitlyn sighed, before she answered with a shaky voice: “I know. I know, darling, we really need to find a way now. But it’s not fair to accuse me of not missing you, when in fact, I’m suffering as much as you do.”
Both shed tears in silence for a while, longing for each other through the screens of their laptops, until Vi spoke again: “I’ll come visit you. I will cancel my job next week, I just can’t stand it anymore. I need to be with you, or I will simply explode, I’m serious.”, she sobbed, and Caitlyn frowned: “Vi…”, she started, but the model interrupted her: “No, I don’t care about the money or consequences, I need you. And I will ask Mel if there’s a project in the UK she can give to me, I can’t stand to not be with you any longer.”
Caitlyn stared into Vi’s eyes on the screen, but even if it wasn’t the same as looking her in the eyes in real life, she could see: Vi was more than serious, and nothing would stop her from doing so, regardless of the consequences this may have.
“Okay.”, Caitlyn sobbed with a smile, “Okay.”
~ 5 days later ~
“What do you mean you fly over to the UK? Can’t she come over here?”
Vi packed her suitcase while Jinx laid on her back on her sister’s bed with her head hanging down the edge, while she watched her sister pack her stuff.
“No, she can’t. It’s just for a week, I’ll be back soon. Besides, I also have to work over there. It’s nothing new that I’m traveling, Pow.”, Vi answered, and Jinx sighed extraordinary loud: “I hope so.”, she said, and Vi turned to her little sister: “What do you mean?”, she asked, and Jinx rolled her eyes: “I mean that I hope that you’ll be back in time!”
Vi put down the shirt she was holding and sat down next to her sister: “I’m not planning to stay in the UK, Pow. We talked about this.”, she said, and the younger one sat up to lean against Vi: “I’m sooorry. I know, but what if you will wake up one day and decide you move over there?”
Vi laid an arm around her sister and leaned her head against hers with a sigh.
“I don’t know what the future brings, Pow-Pow. As we talked about it a while ago, things change. You also don’t live with me anymore for longer now.”, she said, and Jinx suddenly threw herself in Vi’s arms: “… but I’m next door. You’d be on the other side of the globe…!”
Vi pulled her closer and held her tight, while she took a moment to think about her next words.
“I know… I don’t want to be so far away from you as well, Pow. But there aren’t any plans on moving somewhere, okay? And if such plans would come up, I’d tell you and integrate you in these plans. I promise. Okay?” – “… okay…”
~ 1 day later, UK ~
“Caitlyn. Dear, could you…. Caitlyn! Good heavens, can you sit still for just a moment? You make me jittery, bloody hell. What makes you so nervous after all?”
Caitlyn was walking around in her parent’s fireplace room, while her parents sat in their armchairs, sipping tea, and eating biscuits.
“Oh, it’s-… well, Vi will arrive this evening at the airport, and I agreed on picking her up.”, Caitlyn said, not telling the whole truth.
She hadn’t told her parents about the fact that she and Vi were dating since she was in L.A. for the Versace job.
In fact, only Jayce knew about it, and he had to swear on his mother’s life that he wouldn’t tell Mel anything about it.
Caitlyn felt anxious about telling her close ones about it, after all that happened and how it had ended back then, before she met her again and her life was turned around a 180°.
She had told Vi that only Jayce knew, and even if she found it weird at first, she accepted her girlfriend’s decision on keeping them a kind of secret for the beginning, until they were sure they made the right decision to try, until they knew it worked out between them.
“Vi? The model? That model? Why would you pick her up?”, Cassandra asked confused, and Tobias turned to his daughter as well: “I thought you two don’t have any contact at all anymore?”, he asked, and Caitlyn fumbled nervously with her hands: “Well… I met her randomly when I was in L.A. six weeks ago. We kind of talked it out, and we are in contact again since then. She also has a job here where I will be booked as a photographer again, so, that’s why she asked me to pick her up.”, Caitlyn tried to explain and not lie more than necessary to keep the most important fact a secret.
“Oh, I see.”, Cassandra said with a suspicious look in her eyes, before she took a sip of her tea, “Well, then I do hope that this rude American has learnt some manners since the last time you worked with her.”, Caitlyn’s mother said, and Tobias chuckled suddenly: “I think our daughter knows with whom she’s interacting, aren’t you, sweetheart?”, he smiled, and Caitlyn could swear she saw a knowing, tiny little smirk at the edges of his mouth.
“… y-… yes! Yes. Of course.”
-
Vi left the plane in time at 17:30 in Heathrow, and she felt like her heart would just explode any minute, while her stomach felt like it would ride a rollercoaster upside down.
She waited impatiently for her suitcase and grabbed it the moment it was spit out of the luggage pick-up station and made her way to the exit with fast steps.
Her head was spinning.
Would Caitlyn be there already?
Would she be as excited and nervous as she was?
What if traffic was so bad that she couldn’t make it?
What if something happened on the road and she wouldn’t be here?
What if-…
“VI!!!”
Vi was ripped out of her overthinking when she suddenly heard the voice of her love and felt her arms wrap around her – And in that moment, nothing else mattered anymore.
“Cupcake…!”, Vi sobbed onto the other woman’s shoulder, while she wrapped her arms around Caitlyn’s thin waist and pressed her against herself like she would just disappear if she wouldn’t hold her this close.
“Hey.”, Vi sniffed, when they finally loosened the hug just so much that they could look at each other, and Caitlyn chuckled with a sobby voice: “Hey. Gods, I missed you so much, I can’t believe you’re really here…”, she cried and shed happy tears, which Vi tried to wipe away, even if she herself was tearstained as Caitlyn was: “But I’m here. I promise, I’m here. This is real.”, she chuckled, and then, they leaned into their first kiss for six weeks.
A pleasantly warm calm laid itself in both their bodies when their lips softly touched, and all the pain, doubt and suffering of the last six weeks vanished with this one touch.
“Let’s go home, shall we?”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi nodded while they both wiped away the tears of the other with smiles and giggles, “Yeah, sounds good.”, Vi answered, and so, the two made their way to Caitlyn’s car.
Vi had her hand the whole time on Caitlyn’s thigh while she drove them the 40-minute drive to her apartment in London’s city and softly caressed it with tiny movements.
Caitlyn was thankful for the contact, she needed the touch as much as Vi did, and feeling that she was next to her was almost better than seeing that she was really next to her.
-
“Make yourself a home. I prepared a drawer for your stuff in my bedroom.”, Caitlyn smiled, after she had opened the door to her apartment and let them both in, put her keys away in the box next to the door and let Vi bring her suitcase to her bedroom.
She went over to the living room to open the door to the balcony to let fresh air in, while Vi unpacked all her necessities from her suitcase, and enjoyed the feeling of pure joy inside her, now, that Vi was finally with her again.
“Hey there~”
Caitlyn startled a little when she suddenly felt Vi’s strong arms around her and her lips pressed to her exposed neck, as she wore her hair in a high ponytail: “Vi~…”, she giggled, and turned around in her girlfriend’s arms, “Everything done?”, she asked, and pecked a kiss on the tip of Vi’s nose, who snickered at the feeling: “Yeah, put some clothes in the drawer you emptied for me and all the hygiene stuff is in the bathroom now.”, she answered, and nestled her face on Caitlyn’s neck.
Both closed their eyes and enjoyed the feeling, to be finally able to smell the scent of the other, to have their warm body against the own, they tried to actually realize that they were really together again.
“Will you join me when I take a shower? These long ass flights leave you sweaty as fuck.”, Vi mumbled against Caitlyn’s skin, who chuckled amused: “Of course, how could I say no to that?”, she answered, and so, the two of them made their way to the big bathroom where they got undressed and under the hot water.
“Wait a second. Is this the first time I’m seeing you all naked?”, Vi smirked dirty, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes: “Yes, I think so. Do you like what you see?”, she asked sassy back, and Vi’s grin grew: “Mhm, yes, I do~”, she purred, and pulled her closer by the hips and tiptoed to be able to kiss the taller woman, who gave it back with a small and amused giggle: “Good, because I like what I see as well...”
-
“Shit~ Vi…!”
The simple kiss had evolved into a heated making out in no time.
The hot water ran down even hotter bodies, which were tangled up with each other to be as close as possible. Hand roamed over silky skin, drawing aroused sounds of two throats, gasps, moans, whimpers – Desperate pleads.
“Cait~…”
Caitlyn broke the kiss and made Vi look at her out of her half-lidded eyes, which pupils had dilated so much, there was just a thin circle of the pretty greyish-blue left to see.
“Take me to the bedroom, now, please, I can’t-… Vi, I can’t wait anymore, I need you…!”, Caitlyn groaned frustrated, and Vi didn’t need to be asked twice.
She turned off the water and the two stumbled out of the shower.
They didn’t care to dry themselves off, Vi just scooped Caitlyn off the ground and carried her over to the bedroom, threw her as gently as possible onto the mattress and climbed on top of her, where she immediately continued with their heated kisses.
Caitlyn wrapped her legs around Vi’s hips and locked her, which drew a more than aroused moan from the model when their bodies collided, and she reacted by biting the photographer’s lower lip playfully.
“Shit, Cupcake~…”, Vi mumbled against her lips, before she kissed her way over her cheek, her jaw and down her neck, where she bit, sucked, and licked experimentally, until she was satisfied with the way Caitlyn moaned in reaction to her touches.
The navy haired woman loosened her legs slowly around her girlfriend and let them fall open left and right from her, so Vi was able to kiss her way further down her body.
“Fuck~”, Vi groaned, as she kissed her way over Caitlyn’s cleavage, between her boobs and then up her left one, while she started to massage the right one with her hand.
She licked her already hardened nipple, before she took it into her mouth and sucked with a pleased, deep groan, which was accompanied by Caitlyn’s feminine moan that escaped her to moment she felt Vi suck it in.
Caitlyn buried one hand in Vi’s wild, pink hair, and the other grabbed the pillow above her head to get a hold on something: “Vi~… oh lord, yes, mhn~ you feel so good on me…!”, she gasped, and her whole body felt like butterflies were having a pride parade inside her body.
Vi grinned against her heated skin, let her teeth graze carefully over her sensitive nipple, drawing a pleased moan from Caitlyn, and kissed her way over to the other one to give it the same treatment: “You’re so beautiful~”, she whispered against her, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but giggle happily to that compliment.
The model kissed her way lower over her love’s flat stomach, her subtle, lean abs and to her abdomen, where she placed extra soft and slow ones between her hips and the beginning of her thighs. She grabbed the back of her thighs and opened her legs slow and gentle a little more, while she placed kisses all over her inner thighs, getting closer and closer to her middle.
Caitlyn tensed repeatedly, as Vi’s foreplay made her more and more excited for what was about to come, and her body reacted by building up the pleasant tension inside her accordingly.
“Vi, please~”, she begged, and the addressed woman snickered with her mouth between her pussy and her thigh, when she looked up to her love with fire in her eyes: “Trust me, princess, you’ll get what you want. And more~”, she purred, and Caitlyn felt like she would cum just from these words and the way Vi looked up to her from between her thighs.
“Shit~”, Caitlyn cursed, and let her head fall back into the pillows, while both her hands grabbed Vi’s hair when she placed sweet kisses all over Caitlyn’s throbbing pussy the moment after.
“Mhh~… you’re so wet already, Cupcake. All this for me?”, she teased, and Caitlyn almost cried: “Please, Vi~! Of course, all for you…!”, and Vi decided she couldn’t hold back any longer as well.
She dived in and started to eat Caitlyn out as if she was starving for years.
Her tongue reached every inch of Caitlyn, she sucked, licked, and let her teeth graze over her labia from time to time, while she had wrapped one arm around a thigh, and the other pulled one hand of Caitlyn out of her hair, so she could hold it and squeeze while she ate her out.
When Vi let her tongue slip inside her, she felt like Caitlyn would break her finger’s by the way how hard she squeezed and pulled her hair, but she couldn't care less about the pain, as it was only proof that she was doing good.
She pulled out again, licked up between her folds and put all her attention to her girlfriend’s clit, which was quickly swollen and sensitive after her first licks and sucks.
“Vi~… Vi-… VI…! I’m-… I’m gonna, I-… holy, mhnn~… Violet, I-… aaah~!”
Vi grinned satisfied against her and rode her with soft and wide licks through her orgasm, helped her to come down by gently caressing her thigh and her hand that still clenched hers, and she looked up from between her legs with the most adoring puppy eyes.
“… shit… Vi…”, Caitlyn huffed amused with a bright smile on her face when she looked down to her love, who was still giving her relentless attention while the aftermath of her climax was still having effects on her body.
“Come up here…”, she said breathless, and Vi grinned bright, before she put a last kiss right on her clit, making Caitlyn squirm, and kissed her way up with her grin not dying the slightest.
Caitlyn pulled her into a breathtaking kiss, she moaned into Vi’s mouth when she tasted herself on her lips and tongue, and Vi laid down between her legs and gave her small, slow and sensual thrusts, which led to Caitlyn wrapping her legs around her again.
“Are you okay?”, Vi whispered softly against her lips, and Caitlyn nodded slightly, while she smiled into the kiss: “Mhm, I’m way more than just okay, Violet…”, she whispered, and laid a hand in Vi’s nape to play with the longer strands there.
“Good… because I’m not done with you yet.”, Vi smirked, and let a hand wander down Caitlyn’s side and between the two of them, down to Caitlyn’s still oversensitive middle, where she let two fingers run through her wet folds to gather enough slick to be able to slip inside her love the moment after.
“Mhhhnng~… Vi-… shit…!”, Caitlyn gasped, and bend her legs more to give her better access.
She clawed her nails into Vi’s tattooed back and left marks, which only motivated Vi to go on and give her more.
Vi crooked her fingers and she immediately found the spot that made Caitlyn moan louder the moment she hit it and made sure to do the motion over and over again.
“Good girl~… you feel so good, Cupcake, right there?”, she purred, and Caitlyn clung on Vi’s trained back more, leaving scratches and more marks: “Yes-… y-… yes, right the-… oooh~… fuck, Vi…!!”, she moaned and started to rock her hips along with Vi’s thrusts, who gave her best to stay in this specific rhythm.
“Vi~… Vi, can you-… can-… mhn~… shit..!”, Caitlyn suddenly said between all her moans, and Vi looked her in the eyes, not stopping her thrusts for a second: “Hm? What do you want, Cait, huh? What ‘can I’?~”, she purred with a deep voice, and Caitlyn tried to find her words: “Can-… mhn~… can you-… just-… just open the nightstand drawer, please, I-… ah..!!~ The-… the purple one, please….!”
Vi understood immediately and slowed her trusts down instead of just stopping on an instant.
She kissed her softly, first her lips, then her cheeks, her jaw, her neck, her nipple, her stomach, her abdomen, her clit – Then she stopped the thrusts, pulled her fingers out and licked them clean, not without holding eye contact to a Caitlyn that was an absolutely longing mess under her, before she leaned over to the night stand to open the drawer like the photographer had asked her to.
“… wow.”
Vi found quite a collection of dildos and other toys in it, but she quickly saw the harness and the purple toy-bag that Caitlyn had asked for.
“This one?”, she asked, and pulled out a quite big satin-silicone strap-on, that was formed to hit the G-spot better.
Caitlyn nodded with a slight blush, and Vi crawled back between Caitlyn’s legs.
She put on the harness and attached the strap to it, but she stopped halfway when she leaned down again: “Do you have lube? I don’t want to hurt you.”, she asked, and Caitlyn just nodded, as her mind was still cloudy from the treatment she received before: “Mhm… also in the drawer…”, she mumbled, and Vi chuckled at the way she could tell, Caitlyn was still floating in the clouds.
Vi reached back into the drawer and pulled out a little bottle of lube, squeezed a fair amount of it onto the strap, and came back once more.
“Come here~”, she purred, and pulled Caitlyn into another kiss, while she let two fingers slip inside her again. Caitlyn gasped at the feeling, and Vi carefully added a third one, to which Caitlyn reacted by clenching around her.
“You’re so needy, Cupcake… don’t worry, I’ll give you what you want.”, she whispered against her lips, pulled her fingers out and took the strap between her legs into her hand to put the tip against Caitlyn’s dripping and clenching entrance.
“Are you ready?”, Vi asked caring, and Caitlyn bend her legs more again while she held herself on Vi’s back: “Yes, please~… fuck me, Vi, I can’t wait any lo-…ahh~”
Vi entered her with a smooth movement of her hips, and Caitlyn’s eyes rolled back on the feeling of being filled up by her girlfriend.
The model slipped the whole length inside and nestled her face on her love’s neck, where she whispered: “Are you okay?”, and Caitlyn held herself on her when she answered: “Just… just a moment of adjustment…”, and Vi nodded: “I’ll be careful.”, she smiled, kissed the spot right under Caitlyn’s ear and moved her hips just slightly and slow for a few, gentle, tiny thrust of just a few millimeters, so Caitlyn was able to get used to the size of the toy she had picked.
“Does it hurt?”, Vi asked caring, but Caitlyn shook her head: “N-… no~… no, it feels good-… mhn~”, she answered, and started to move her hips together with Vi’s tiny thrusts.
“More, please…”, Caitlyn suddenly breathed, and Vi didn’t need to be asked twice.
She increased the power she put into it, and pulled out more before she gave one thrust after another, making Caitlyn moan and squirm under her.
Vi was so spellbound from the view below her and the sounds that her actions caused, that she didn’t even realize that Caitlyn’s nails left her back covered in scratches.
“Vi~! Oh my-… yes, just like that, exactly like that, don’t stop, please, right there, mhhnnn, yes~… shit…!”, Caitlyn got louder and pressed herself harder against Vi, while she rocked her hips with Vi’s movements and clawed her finger’s deeper into Vi’s back, so that some spots on her skin even broke under them and started to lightly bleed.
“Fuck, Cupcake, you~… shit, you feel so-… so good, damn, I-…”, Vi moaned, while she gave her best to please her love the best way possible, when she suddenly felt her legs lock her up again and she needed to put more strength into it to still hit her special spot, now, that she couldn’t move as freely as before.
“Yes-… y-… yes! Right there, I, Vi-… I’m gonna-… I’m-… I’m gonna cu-… aaah~…!!”
Caitlyn came unbound again under Vi, and she clung to her so much that Vi wasn’t able to move in any way anymore.
They both tried to catch their breath and just held each other close, as close as possible.
“…” – “…”
Soft kisses, soothing fingertips, sweet giggles and chuckles, and the most gorgeous smiles – The two felt like there was nothing that could be more right than them being together like this.
“All good, Cupcake?”, Vi reassured, and Caitlyn nodded: “Mhm, yes… but I think your back isn’t, oh lord, I’m so sorry…”, Caitlyn chuckled, when she got a glimpse of what she had done to Vi’s back.
“Huh?”, Vi looked confused at her, and Caitlyn just continued her giggles: “Don’t you feel it burn?”, she asked, and Vi shook her head: “Burn? Why burn?”, she asked, and had to chuckle as well.
“You look like you got in a fight with a bobcat or something.”, Caitlyn laughed, and now that she said it, the adrenaline in Vi lowered itself enough that she could indeed feel the scratches on her back: “Shit, I’m that good, huh?”, she smirked with a snicker, and kissed Caitlyn deeply, both with amused smiles on their lips.
“You are, darling~”, Caitlyn purred, “But it’s my turn now.”, she said, and rolled them over, still with Vi inside of her, and sat on top now, “I think you deserve some go-… ah~ V-... Vi-…”, she started, but got distracted suddenly when Vi grabbed her hips and gave her a thrust from below: “I think a gorgeous woman like you deserves a little more of this.”, Vi said, and let her right thumb rub over Caitlyn’s clit.
“Shit~… Vi-… I’m… mhn~!”, Caitlyn moaned, and the view on top of Vi, together with the fact that she had still the strap inside her and Vi rubbing her sweet spot, pulled her back into the mood from before.
She started to ride Vi, while the smaller woman continued to rub her clit in small circles: “Fuck, you’re so hot…”, Vi groaned and bit her lower lip, while she watched Caitlyn going up and down on top of her.
It didn’t take Caitlyn long to cum again, she was still overly sensitive and the combination of everything kicked her over the edge once more.
“Vi~! Holy… shit…”, she moaned and gasped, and let herself sink down on Vi after she had lifted herself up to allow the strap to slip slowly out of her.
The sound her pussy made did something to Vi, who watched it happen with big puppy eyes.
“Now it really is my turn, darling…”, Caitlyn purred, and kissed her open mouthed, before she made her way down Vi’s neck and to her chest, where she started to play with Vi’s small boobs.
“Fuck, Cup-… mhn~”, Vi gasped aroused and surprised, when she felt Caitlyn give her all her attention.
It felt good, more than that, but she also felt insecurity.
Giving was never a problem for her, but receiving was something that made her unsure if the other person actually wanted to do that, or if she just felt like she had to, because Vi made her cum before.
“… Vi. Hey, Violet.”
Vi blinked and found Caitlyn’s face hovering over her: “Please tell me if you don’t like something, or need me to do something specific, okay?”, she asked her to, and caressed Vi’s chubby cheek in the softest way Vi had ever felt her doing that.
“… you don’t have to, if you don’t want.”
Caitlyn blinked a few times and gave Vi a confused look: “What do you mean?”, she asked, and Vi couldn’t hold the eye contact anymore: “I-… it wouldn’t be a problem, if you don’t want to do this. I don’t expect you to give something back…”, she mumbled, and Caitlyn felt her heart break when she heard those words and saw her expression.
“Violet. Hey. Look at me.”, she said softly, and made her gently look at her again, “I want this. As long as you want me to, of course. I don’t know what your previous partners told you or what they did or not, but I want you to feel good. I want to make you feel good. And if you’d let me, I’d be more than pleased to be allowed to touch you like this. Okay?”, Caitlyn said, and Vi just stared at her for some solid seconds, before Caitlyn kissed the tip of her nose: “Can I touch you, Vi?”
Vi couldn’t find her words, she just nodded on Caitlyn’s request, and tried to relax back into the mattress, while Caitlyn started her trail of kisses again, back down to her chest and her boobs, where she massaged, licked, and sucked like Vi had done it to her before.
The feelings were overwhelming, and slowly, just slowly, Vi was able to let herself fall and gave the control and trust to Caitlyn, who did her best to worship Vi’s handsome body the way she felt she deserved it.
-
Vi felt like she was about to pass out when she looked down and saw Caitlyn lick up the length of the strap and took its first half into her mouth to suck on it, not without holding eye contact with her.
“Hm~”, Caitlyn purred, released it again from her mouth and opened the harness to take it off from Vi’s hips.
She put it aside and leaned down again, kissing over Vi’s inner thighs and up to her middle again.
“Is this alright?”, Caitlyn asked, and kissed Vi right above her clit, which made the model moan more feminine than she expected herself to.
Vi looked down and nodded with flushed cheeks, while her hands clawed themselves into the sheet below her: “Y-... yes, please…”, she gulped, and Caitlyn let her hands slip to Vi’s to tangle their fingers together, before she leaned in and started to eat Vi out.
Vi threw her head back and held for dear life on Caitlyn’s hands, who smiled against her wet pussy.
She licked up and down, sucked on her labia, dipped her tongue inside her a few times, before she licked up again to give her attention to Vi’s clit, where she let her tongue run circles around it and sucked it in from time to time.
“C-… Cait~… fuck, yes, that-… that feels so~… fuuuuck…!”
Caitlyn looked up to Vi with big eyes when Vi found her release so quickly.
She hadn’t expected her to reach her climax so fast, especially with the insecurities she had shown before she started to do her, but she couldn’t be happier about that: “There you go, darling~”, she purred, and licked her softly through her climax, while Vi was clenching and twitching under her.
“I think you can give me one more, can you?~”
Vi looked down to her love, who loosened her right hand from hers to pull it back and use two fingers of it to let them slide between her folds.
“I-… Cait, I’m-… hn~…!”, Vi moaned aroused, when she felt her play with her, “Please~…”, she gasped, and Caitlyn smirked dirty: “’Please’ what, Violet? Do you want me inside?”, she asked, and Vi nodded hectically, but Caitlyn needed her to say it: “I can’t hear you, darling.”
Vi groaned frustrated and looked down at her.
Her face was more flushed than before by now, and her chest heaved unsteady: “I-… need you. In-… inside, please…”, Vi finally brought out, and Caitlyn gave her the most loving smile: “Of course, baby~”
Vi moaned loudly when she felt Caitlyn enter her with two fingers.
She quickly found the spot that made Vi go even louder, and her tongue gave all the attention to her outer sweet spot again.
Vi buried her free hand in Caitlyn’s straight navy hair, and she felt like the pleasant sparkles that Caitlyn caused between her legs filled up her whole body by now.
She had never felt it this intense, and the way Caitlyn let out sweet and more than happy and pleased noises made it so much more pleasurable for her, as she could hear and feel that her girlfriend really enjoyed it to touch her like that.
Caitlyn increased the power of her thrusts and licked her clit relentlessly, until Vi fell apart under her once more.
She could feel her clench wildly around her fingers, and the way Vi’s fist in her hair got tighter made her moan aroused against Vi’s pussy: “Mhnnn~ fuck, Vi-…”
Vi’s breathing was fast and hard, but she slowly managed to calm down again, also thanks to Caitlyn’s hand that softly caressed hers: “So, you’re a creamer.”
Vi blinked down to her girlfriend, equally in confusion and embarrassment: “Excuse me, what?”, she asked, and Caitlyn just giggled amused between her legs: “I mean…”, she started, and licked some of the juices Vi had released all over her hand and chin up, “… that you release a lot when I make you cum good.”, she smirked, and Vi felt like her head was steaming, so hot did her face feel: “…!!”
Caitlyn’s giggles became an amused laugh, and she kissed her way back up and laid down on Vi again: “No worries, I like that.”, she purred, and kissed Vi’s pouting lips: “… you felt good. Like… really, really good.”, Vi whispered suddenly, and Caitlyn’s giggles died out.
Her expression changed from amused to adoring, and she caressed Vi’s cheek softly: “You, too, darling. I think this was a perfect first time for our relationship.”, she whispered back, and a proud smile found the way on Vi’s lips: “Yeah, I think so, too, Cupcake. I love you.”
They kissed again, before Caitlyn gave the confession back: “I love you, too, darling.”
-
Some aftercare cuddles later, Vi suddenly laughed low: “I think we should take another shower.”
Caitlyn looked up to her and couldn’t hold back a chuckle either: “Mhm, yes, I think that be the right thing to do now. And I need to clean the strap as well.”, she said, and squeaked suddenly, when Vi grabbed her without a warning and got up with her thrown over her shoulder: “Well, let’s go then! And I’ll need some good food after our session. How about we get take-away from that Vietnamese restaurant we went to with Powder back then?”, she snickered, and carried Caitlyn over to the bathroom.
“Bloody hell, Vi!”, Caitlyn laughed, while she was carried around like it was nothing, “Alright, alright, we’ll get us some, but let me down!”, she giggled, and Vi just laughed at that: “Absolutely not, Cupcake!”
Chapter 26: A sheltered past
Summary:
Hello and welcome back!
I hope you enjoyed the One-Shot I wrote last week about the teaser we got for Arcane S2!
If you didn't, check it out and leave some love if you want <3As promised, we will continue with 'Pictures' today, and we will have a look into Caitlyn's past/childhood, after we have learned about Vi's earlier.
Please enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments! <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 26 – A sheltered past
The day after Vi’s arrival was a foggy day in London and rain was announced until the evening, so the couple decided to stay inside and simply enjoy the time together.
Work wasn’t calling until the next day anyway.
-
Vi laid on top of Caitlyn on the big couch, both had their arms wrapped around the other and Vi caressed softly over the skin of Caitlyn’s bare arms, while Caitlyn let her fingertips run slowly over Vi’s exposed back, as she was just wearing boxershorts and a sports-bra.
“Hey, Cait?” – “Yes, darling?”
Vi pressed a soft kiss right under her love’s ear and whispered: “Remember that I told you about my past?”, she asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, of course.”, she answered, and Vi continued: “Would you tell me about yours as well?”
Caitlyn opened her eyes, stopped the movement of her hand on Vi’s back and looked down to the woman in her arms for a moment, before she found her words again: “Yes, of course. What do you want to know?”, she asked, and Vi shrugged lightly in her arms: “Don’t know… maybe, how you grew up, how you got into photography even if you have all these fancy degree’s and could have been a prosecutor or lawyer. How it was like to grow up as the daughter of such rich parents who have that much of influence in politics and economy.”, she said, and Caitlyn thought about a way to put it, where to start.
“Hm…”, Caitlyn made a thoughtful noise. She continued the soft caresses on Vi’s back and started to tell her story: “My parents, or mostly my mother, had always a clear plan for my future in her head. She meant good with this, she wanted me to be educated, smart, confident, and to have a bright future. A good job that would allow me to live a life without being dependent on anyone else. But in fact, she also always wanted me to be… to be a Kiramman.”
Caitlyn huffed with a bitter smile, before she continued: “And being a Kiramman means to always stand tall with your head held high, stand strong and be invulnerable. My father took on my mother’s name, as it was important for my mother’s family that our name would not be overwritten, under any circumstances. My father’s family owned the business he is the CEO of for generations, but the Kiramman’s were always above them, socially. That’s why it was no question what name they would take after marriage, and what name their children would take on.”, she explained, and Vi listened attentive.
The pink haired model didn’t stop with caressing her girlfriend’s arm, and she tried to catch every emotion in Caitlyn’s voice while she told her story.
She wanted to understand better how Caitlyn’s mind works, like Caitlyn was able to understand more how Vi’s works, after she had told her the story of her life.
“Well, starting with my father’s side, as you may know: He is the CEO of a company that develops and builds rifles for sports and hunting. Our family crest is embedded in all the models they produce since he married my mother, and they also produce special ammo for them. The bullets have the crest on them, too. It’s a sign of quality, worldwide. He and my mother both taught me how to shoot from a very young age, they wanted me to learn a safe handling and to understand the power and also the dangers these weapons have. I even attended shooting competitions in my teens.”, Caitlyn told her, and a nostalgic smile formed on her face.
“You can shoot?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, I was really good. I won several competitions and I also won championships a few times. I had a great mentor, she taught me a lot beside the things my parents showed me. She once asked me: ‘What are you shooting for, young Kiramman?’. And I simply hadn’t an answer to that. She was my opponent in the final of a championship, and I won. I saw that she held her last shot, which led to me winning the competition, so I asked her afterwards if my parents had paid her to let me win. She denied and simply said: ‘I just thought you deserved it.’”
Vi looked up when she heard those words.
It was the same sentence that Sevika had told her back then, and the feeling that this had caused inside her came to the surface once again.
She knew how Caitlyn must have felt in that moment.
~ 16 years ago ~
“I deserve it?”, Caitlyn asked, and Grayson chuckled low: “Yes, you deserve it. You have talent, young Kiramman. And your parents can see that as well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed you to attend in this open class tournament.”, she said, and sipped champagne from her flute.
The young girl narrowed her eyes and looked away from the older woman, and over to the city that was visible in the distance.
“You should think about it. I’m a policewoman, knowing how to shoot means to protect people. You are still about to find your way, your place in this world. You are an intelligent girl, I am sure you will find a profession that makes you happy. And who knows, maybe you will even become the best in what you will do.”, Grayson said, and Caitlyn turned her head back to her: “How can you know?”, she asked, insecurity creeped its way in her confident attitude, and the older woman noticed it, of course.
“It’s just a feeling. And normally, my feeling is always right.”
~ Present day ~
Caitlyn smiled warm at the memory that played itself in her head.
“After that she had offered my parents to train me, and I got even better since then. She really had a big impact on me. She was a police officer back then and a few years later, she became Police Chief of the London City Police. Her name is Grayson.”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi kissed her cheek softly: “Sounds like someone showed you a glimpse of the outside world. Like Sevika showed me a way out of the gutter.”, she said, and Caitlyn chuckled with a nod: “Yes, I think you can compare them in that case.”
Vi snickered a little and nestled her face against Caitlyn’s neck again: “Okay, and how did your mom affected you while growing up?”, she asked, and Caitlyn sighed: “Oh, well. She was always very insisting with my education and school career. I was on a private all-girls school.”, she said, and Vi couldn’t hold back a dirty laugh: “Holy shit, Cupcake, your mom send you literally to heaven!”, she said, and Caitlyn boxed her shoulder, even if she couldn’t hold back a laugh as well: “Violet!! But well, you’re not that wrong.”, she chuckled, and Vi whistled at her: “Shit, I bet the girls stood in line to date you!” – “Oh, shut up!”
After a short session of squabbles and giggling, Caitlyn continued her story while Vi cuddled up to her once again: “Anyway. So, I was always very sheltered when I grew up, so going to university later, even if it also was a private one, was a culture shock for me. But I learned to adapt all my life, so I found my place there quite quickly.”, she said, and Vi made a thoughtful noise: “That’s where you got to know your asshole of an ex-girlfriend, right?”, she asked, and Caitlyn confirmed with a nod: “Mhm. Yes. But you know that story already. So, I studied as diligent as I did in school before and accomplished several degrees. I even worked as a lawyer’s assistant for a while, while I still studied. And that was also when I realized that I’m wasting my time with something I didn’t even want to do in the first place.”, she sighed, and started to play with one of Vi’ longer strands, “I started my career as a lawyer in a bigger company. I did that for quite a while, until I laid wide awake one night and asked myself what I was even doing. I remembered a certain day suddenly, where my father gifted me my first camera. I must have been around 11 years old that time. He saw my creative talent and thought that I should try it. And I did.”
~ 18 years ago ~
“Caitlyn? Sweetheart, come over here for a moment.”
Caitlyn looked up from her book when she heard her father’s voice from the entrance hall of the Kiramman mansion.
She neatly put away her book and walked out of her room and down the stairs, where her father was waiting with a box in his hands.
“There you are! Follow me.”, Tobias smiled warm as always, and his little daughter followed him to the garden with curious eyes.
“I got you something. It’s good that you read all those books, but I want you to see the things out here in reality as well, not just printed on paper. Do you understand?”, Tobias said, and gave the box to his daughter, who took it with growing curiosity.
“What is it??”, she asked exited, and Tobias laughed amused: “Well, open it.”, he said, and Caitlyn did so.
“Wooow!”, the girl grinned bright, as she held a brand-new camera in her hands, “This is awesome!! Thank you, papa!”, she said, and Tobias melted away by the look his daughter gave him: “You’re very welcome, sweetheart. Come on, I show you how to use it, shall we?” – “Yes!!”
Father and daughter walked through the garden that surrounded the mansion, and Tobias showed her how to use the camera, what settings meant what and taught her to understand what setting was needed for which lighting.
“… and with that knowledge, you only need a good feeling to get emotion in your shots.”, he said, and Caitlyn grinned bright: “I will make the most emotional photos!!”, she said excited, and Tobias chuckled again: “I am very sure you will, sweetie.”
After that, Caitlyn ran off and started to take photos of everything she got in front of her lens.
A spark was ignited in that day, and her father could see that a passion was growing inside his daughter.
~ Present day ~
Vi could hear the joy in Caitlyn’s voice when she told her about that memory.
She couldn’t help but smile, seeing and hearing her love talking about the start of her passion made her happy as well: “Your dad did a good thing with this. I’m glad he gifted you the camera.”, she said, and Caitlyn nodded happily: “Yes, me too.”
A moment of silence fell between them before Caitlyn decided where to continue with the story of her past.
“My mother always saw the photography as a useless little hobby, but she let me keep the camera. And I used it a lot, I was roaming around in the big garden of our home and tried every possible thing with it and practiced, haha.”, she said, and her voice fell a little sad when she continued: “I heard my parents argue one night about it, my mother said that this ‘ridiculous’ hobby would only distract me, and that the shooting should be enough. But my father defended me and made my mother let me keep the camera and with it this additional, creative hobby, as long as my grades would be fine.”, she explained, and sighed: “I never understood why she was so against it.”
Vi pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her cheek when she heard the sad sigh.
“And when did you cancel your law career and decided to start a new one as a photographer?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn smiled shy: “Oh, well… that’s a little bit of a nasty story. One day, I got into a fight with my mother. Again. I wanted to make myself self-employed as a photographer and I had quit my job at the law firm, and I told her. She immediately got uptight and loud, she told me that photography was ‘barely a hobby’, and that I could not be serious about thinking that I could make a living from it. That I would throw away all the hard work I put into becoming as successful as I was.”, she answered, and swallowed visibly, before she added: “I packed my stuff and left. She called after me through the whole house, but I didn’t let her control me any longer. I went to Mel and Jayce and told them what happened, and then Mel offered me to take me with her to the Milan fashion week. The rest is history that you know about.”
Vi huffed when Caitlyn ended the story for now and thought a moment about what she had learned about her girlfriend now.
“… when we went on that date, you got uncomfortable when I asked about your parents. I must admit, I knew who they were. Pow told me, as she had made a background check and that was also why she got so overprotective about me and against this whole thing with you. Were you afraid that I would judge you for who your parents are?”, she asked, and Caitlyn let a hand go through her navy hair, before she shrugged insecure and mumbled: “… I guess?”
Vi frowned a bit and rolled off from Caitlyn, just to pull her gently on top of herself and wrapped her arms securely around her.
“I’m sorry that I left the impression that you couldn’t tell me.”, Vi whispered, and pressed a soft kiss to her head.
Caitlyn held herself firmer on Vi when she heard those words and felt the kiss: “No. No, to be honest… I didn’t want anyone to know who my parents are. I didn’t want to be seen as just ‘the privileged, rich Kiramman girl’, you know? Most people think I never had to work for anything. But I wanted to achieve this myself, to build a career without my name making it easier for me. And I guess I was afraid you would think differently of me as well, if you’d learn who my family is. Besides, you didn’t feel comfortable to tell me about your past as well, so I should be sorry that I left the impression that you couldn’t tell me.”, she explained, and Vi squeezed her gently in her arms when she heard the cause Caitlyn tried to hide her family name from her.
“… I hope you know that you will never have to feel like you need to keep anything from me again, do you? I promise, I won’t judge you. No matter what it is. Okay?”, she whispered right above her ear, and Caitlyn felt tears welling up in her eyes.
She buried her face on Vi’s neck and nodded against it with a tiny sob: “… okay. You, too.”
~
The next day came faster than they both wanted it to, and so, work was calling for them.
The sun was back in England’s capitol and waking up in each other’s arms made the thought of having to work again a little bit easier.
Caitlyn turned the alarm off and sat slowly up, rubbed her eyes and stretched, while Vi was a little sleepy puppy beside her, who rolled herself up with a pout on her lips, after the alarm had woken her up.
“Come on, we can’t be late today.”, Caitlyn whispered with a smile, and leaned down to kiss Vi’s cheek lovingly, “… okay, you can stay in bed a bit longer, but when I’m done in the bathroom, you must get up. Okay?”, she suggested when she saw how cute she was, and Vi made a tired little sound to agree to that.
“Alright.”, Caitlyn chuckled, kissed her head softly and made her way into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
As Vi would get her hair and makeup done at the set, she didn’t need as much time this morning as Caitlyn, so it was no problem to let her doze a little more.
When the photographer came out of the bathroom again, she found Vi in the exact same position as before.
“Oh, darling.”, she chuckled, and sat down at the edge of her bed, “It’s time to get up. Come on.”, she smiled, and let her hand run through Vi’s wild bed hair.
“Mhhhh… can I get a kiss…”, Vi mumbled with a sleepy but sly smile, and Caitlyn leaned down to kiss her forehead, her eyelid, her nose, her cheek, and eventually her lips: “It’s time.”, she whispered, and Vi just giggled with a silly little love drunken expression on her face: “One more…!”, she asked for, and Caitlyn laughed: “Will you get up then?”, she asked amused, and Vi nodded: “Mhm, promise.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a happy huff, before she leaned down once more for another loving kiss: “Here you go.”
Vi finally opened her eyes and looked into Caitlyn’s ocean-colored ones, stretched and sat slowly up: “… good morning, Cupcake.”, she smiled tired, and Caitlyn ruffled her pink hair gently: “Good morning, sleepy head. Get ready, I make us breakfast.”, she smiled, kissed her once more and got up to go to the kitchen.
Vi grinned happily and let herself fall back into the pillows the moment Caitlyn was out of the door.
“I said: Get up!”, Caitlyn called, and Vi laughed caught: “Alright, alright…!”
-
After Vi got fresh and dressed, she joined Caitlyn in the kitchen.
Breakfast was already served, and her girlfriend sat on one of the bar stools on the high kitchen table.
Caitlyn’s kitchen was half open and connected to the living room. It had a kitchen isle and was kept simple in a combination of glossy white and matte anthracite and had only high-quality kitchen appliances.
“Thanks, looks good.”, Vi smiled, and sat down across from her, took a sip of the earl grey with oat milk that Caitlyn had prepared for both of them, and took a first bite of the bread Caitlyn had topped with a fried egg, tomato and avocado for her.
“Shit, this’ good!”, she grinned, and Caitlyn chuckled: “I just memorized what you made yourself for breakfast and added my own idea of spices, that’s all.”, she said, and ate her own breakfast as well.
“You need to tell me what you used!” – “Of course.”
The couple enjoyed their breakfast together, before it was time to leave for work.
~
“Vi, welcome to England, again!”, Mel smiled, when Vi and Caitlyn entered the set together, where they were supposed to work today.
She turned to Caitlyn to hug her for greeting, and she gave her a curious grin: “So, you picked her up, I heard? How nice of you.”, she said, and Caitlyn blushed heavier than she wanted: “Yes… I don’t know why this would be a problem?”, she asked back, and Mel just shrugged: “Oh, it’s not a problem, dear. Honestly.”
Caitlyn sighed, it was obvious that Mel knew, or at least suspected something, and she couldn’t even blame her for it.
She was sure that Jayce had kept his promise, Mel was just too good in reading her.
And the fact that Vi asked her for a job in the UK spoke volumes.
“So! The crew is complete now. Vi, please go over to our makeup artist, he will get you ready. Assistants, please check the set once more, everything must be perfect! Cait, come over here, I want to show you the customer’s briefing once more, there were spontaneous changes we need to adapt to.”, Mel said loudly for everyone to hear, clapped her hands and took Caitlyn with her to the computer they had set up for today’s job.
Caitlyn followed her, and Mel opened a document with the customer’s briefing.
“So, as you can see, they want the lighting differently then they originally told us. I have already checked the equipment and fortunately, we have everything here to create the atmosphere they want.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn read through the document and nodded afterwards: “Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem. Just a few adjustments, different color foils and one or two flashlights more, then it’s going to be exactly as they want.”, she confirmed, and Mel nodded with a smile: “That’s what I wanted to hear, brilliant! So, and about the model. What the hell is going on with you and Vi so suddenly again?”
Aaaand there it was.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes, but her annoyed expression quickly grew into a silly smile that she wasn’t able to hold back, and Mel raised her eyebrow as high as she could: “No way. No, Caitlyn… don’t tell me you’re-…”, Mel started, but the photographer interrupted her: “I didn’t want to shout it from the rooftops yet, only Jayce knows, okay? And I told him to shut his mouth about it, so don’t blame him. He just kept a promise by not telling you. And I am asking you to keep it to yourself as well. I need you to swear to not spread it. But yes, Vi and me are dating. And as I can obviously not hiding it from you, I’m telling you now. We are trying, and we have a lot of work in front of us. But it feels right, it feels like Vi finally is ready for something serious. She’s making a lot of effort and she shows me that she loves me without the hesitation she had before. Okay? I know what I’m doing. And I would appreciate it, if you would support me instead of trying to talk her bad again. Okay?”, Caitlyn said, and Mel looked speechless at her friend.
Mel Medarda was never speechless.
Never.
“… are you alright?”, Caitlyn asked with a tilted head, and Mel gesticulated with her hands, before she shook her head in disbelief: “Caitlyn Kiramman, you will never not surprise me.”, Mel said, and crossed her arms with an amused huff, “I promise-…” – “Swear it.” – “… I swear I won’t tell anyone. But I don’t think I have to, by looking at the way you two look at each other everyone will get it sooner or later. But how do you plan on managing the distance and all that? Cait, I really don’t understand why you guys think that this is a good idea.”, she sighed and now Caitlyn crossed her arms with a sigh.
“That’s what I mean by a lot of work. We haven’t seen us for almost 6 weeks since we got together when I was in L.A. for the Versace job. And that already got us into a little fight, we both are not made for long distance. But we will find a way.”, Caitlyn said, and Mel frowned: “I don’t think that Vi will leave America, because of her sister there. And you can’t leave England, you build up your whole new life here after Vi had dumped you. I can just warn you to not leave everything behind that you worked so hard for, not for a woman.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn frowned as well: “Mel, this isn’t-…”, she started, but Vi’s voice interrupted them suddenly.
“Hey, I’m ready, we can start right away.”, she said, and the two women turned around to the model: “We’re ready in a second.”, they both said in synch, but Mel with a serious expression, while Caitlyn smiled at Vi.
“Uhm. Oookay, I’ll be waiting at the set then.”, Vi said confused, and walked off again.
Mel and Caitlyn sighed deeply, after Vi had left again.
“Okay listen, I don’t begrudge you for finally finding love, okay? You deserve a healthy relationship. I just don’t want you to ruin everything you achieved. Stay careful, and please, don’t throw away what you fought for.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn sighed with a nod: “I will.”, she simply said, and the two hugged shortly, before they joined the others to start the job.
-
Caitlyn took photos like she always did: With precision, passion, love, and professionality.
And Vi posed like she always did: Moving perfectly with the camera, showing off the products like it was asked from her and better, and with a body language that showed confidence on its peak.
“… yes, exactly like that. Perfect, thank you!”, Caitlyn smiled, and got up from her kneeling position again, before she walked over to Mel together with Vi and the customer, to check the outcome.
“Great work.”, the representative said, and nodded satisfied while Mel clicked through the raw shots that Caitlyn had taken.
Suddenly, she eyed Caitlyn and made a thoughtful noise: “Hm. I think you would look absolutely magnificent as a second model for our upcoming collection. Any chance I can get you in front of the camera instead of behind the camera?”, she asked, and Caitlyn looked flabbergasted at her: “What? I mean-… uhm! I’m really not that comfortable in front of it, my apologies.”, she answered, and the woman chuckled: “I bet you’d look great, don’t worry. But a no is a no, hm? But maybe you think about it, I have your contact through the agency. I’d really like to book both of you for a shooting, we’re gonna have to produce the promo shots for the next collection, and as Vi worked for us two years ago beside today already, I’d like to book her for this project again. She fits the vibe we want. But we also would like to make it bigger this time and add a second model, and you two look great together. You have charisma, and you have an aura around you that is interesting. This job will be in a month, but we need to still book the second model. Mel told me we can book them quite spontaneous, but she can’t guarantee the availability of course. Oh, and it will be in California, San Francisco. We booked the old Alcatraz jail for that. So, honestly… think about it.”, she offered, and Caitlyn suddenly changed her mind.
“I’m in!”
Everyone stared at her with big eyes, and the woman grinned bright: “Awesome! Mel, are you alright with this? Can you give away your photographer for that?”, she asked, and Mel immediately knew why Caitlyn changed her mind so suddenly.
California meant being in the USA - And being there meant being with Vi for some more days after the job.
So, she decided to help her friend out, even if she had already planned a shooting where Caitlyn should work as a photographer for.
“Cait, I think you forgot the job in a month. But no worries, I will get it somehow covered. You can do this job, if you want.”, she said, and Caitlyn gave her friend a thankful smile.
“Great! Then it’s sealed. You will send the contract over, Mel, right?”, the woman said, and Mel nodded: “Yes, I’ll prepare everything this week and you get it latest on Monday.” – “Great!”
-
“What the fuck was that?”, Vi laughed loudly, after the job was done and she got into the car with Caitlyn again, as their workday had ended after a quick team meeting.
“What?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi gave her a look: “You. In front of the camera? Seriously?”, she grinned, and Caitlyn boxed her shoulder playfully: “Hey, this gets us time together, that’s why I agreed, okay?”, Caitlyn chuckled, and Vi leaned over for a soft kiss: “I know, Cupcake. I’m just messing with you. Thanks, I appreciate it. And we’ll look so damn hot together, the world will burn just from how fucking hot we are!”, she snickered, and Caitlyn kissed her once more: “You’re an idiot.”, she giggled, and Vi grinned against her lips, stealing another one: “Maybe, but I’m your idiot. So, it’s fine. And you like it, be honest.”, she shrugged with a smug smirk, and Caitlyn pushed her back by her flat and on her chest with an amused laugh: “You’re not that wrong with this.” – “I know~”
Caitlyn rolled her eyes, started the car and drove off.
“We’ll need to get some groceries. I thought we could cook together tonight?”, Caitlyn changed the topic, and Vi nodded while she laid a hand on Caitlyn’s thigh while she drove: “Sounds good. Let’s do that.”
-
The couple spend the evening calm and cozy together.
They wanted to use the little time they had the best way – And the best way was, together – Close.
They both knew, the way it was right now wouldn’t work much longer.
It was a try, and they really wanted it to work out, but the way both felt after the first weeks without each other made more than clear that they were absolutely not made for long distance.
It would only lead to pain, longing and arguments – And that was anything than a good basis for a lasting relationship.
The job in a month would bring them new time together, but what would come after this?
Both knew, they wouldn’t be able to set up the jobs always in synch with each other, and it was more likely to see each other less than every month.
And even once a month felt more than wrong – They needed a solution, a decision on how they could move together. There was no other way, and both knew it.
They had to do something about it, sooner rather than later.
Chapter 27: Scars
Summary:
Hello hello!
We have a little earlier release this time, as I will be at Dokomi Friday to Sunday :D
But I didn't want to let you wait, so you get it a day earlier than usual <3So, we take another look in our couple's pasts in this chapter, I hope you like it :)
The upcoming chapter after this one here may be a little "filler episode", but I promise we will get to some new "season" of this fic after that <3
Thank you for reading and staying so long with this fic already!
As always, let me know what you think in the comments and enjoy chapter 27 - Scars !
Chapter Text
Chapter 27 – Scars
“Mhhh~… Cait…? Hey~”, Vi giggled, when she felt Caitlyn kissing her neck up and down the moment she saw that she was awake.
“What are you up to, it’s only-… oh holy fucking shit, gods, yes~…”, Vi gasped, when she felt Caitlyn kiss her way down her body and disappearing under the light blanket, while her tender hands held Vi’s sides and her kisses left a damp trail on her upper body.
“That’s one way to wake u-… ah~… shit-… C-… Cupcake~…”, Vi moaned, when Caitlyn didn’t waste any time and pulled her boxers down and off, leaned in and placed a wide lick over Vi’s middle while her hands grabbed her butt cheeks firmly from below.
“Fuck~…”, Vi breathed, buried a hand in Caitlyn’s hair under the blanket and leaned her head back into the pillows with closed eyes, while she concentrated on the feelings her girlfriend gave her.
Caitlyn smiled against Vi’s soft skin when she felt her getting wet in record time.
She ate her out, slow and passionate, and enjoyed the way Vi’s hand held itself on her hair, pulling and clenching when she hit her spot just right.
“Haaa~”, Vi gasped, and opened her legs more when the feeling Caitlyn’s tongue build up inside her grew bigger, “… sh-… shit, Cait, I’m clo-… close~”, she moaned, and pressed the back of her head into the soft pillow below her.
Caitlyn kept a consistent rhythm, which kicked Vi over the edge a while later.
“C-… Cait~!!”, Vi moaned low with her eyes pressed shut, and her legs trembling from the orgasm that her girlfriend had just gifted her.
Caitlyn grinned proud and kissed her way up over Vi’s abs, between her boobs and up her neck, her jaw and to her lips: “Good morning, love~”, she purred, and kissed her deeply, which made Vi feel like she was floating in the clouds: “… good morning…”, she breathed with a silly smile on her lips, when she tasted herself on Caitlyn’s lips, “What have I done to deserve such a blessed morning?”, she asked with a smirk, and wiped a strand of navy blue hair behind Caitlyn’s ear.
“Hm~… just being you and being here with me is enough for me to give you some morning love, darling.”, Caitlyn whispered against her lips, and kissed her again.
“Sounds fair to me…”, Vi whispered back, and pulled her into a soft making-out session, into which both sank deep with closed eyes.
-
“I’ll make us breakfast.”, Vi purred below Caitlyn’s ear after a long morning of kisses and cuddles, and the British photographer stretched when Vi loosened the hug and sat up to get off the bed: “Mhm, alright~… do you need help? Do you know where everything is?”, she asked, and Vi shook her head: “No need to help me, I call you when it’s ready. I’ll find what I need, no worries.”, Vi smiled, leaned over once more to kiss Caitlyn’s forehead, and collected her boxershorts and bralette, put it on and waddled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the two of them.
Caitlyn stretched once more and hugged the pillow that Vi had used firmly, let out a satisfied sigh and closed her eyes for another moment, until Vi would call her over.
But she didn’t last long until she wanted to be near Vi again, so she got up, put on fresh panties and threw over the shirt that Vi had worn the day before, and walked over to the kitchen where Vi was busy cutting fresh fruits for the oatmeal bowls she prepared for them.
“Hey~”, Caitlyn purred, and hugged her from behind with a kiss to her nape, “Looks good.”, she said, and pleasant goosebumps ran down Vi’s spine when she felt the kiss and Caitlyn’s front press against her trained back.
“Hey, missed me already?”, she grinned, and leaned a bit back into Caitlyn’s loving embrace.
“Of course. I couldn’t touch you for way too long, I don’t want to miss a single second with you, now, that we have each other close.”, Caitlyn said, and Vi turned around in her arms to face her: “Same for me, Cupcake.”, she smiled, kissed her and grinned suddenly into it.
She grabbed her by her butt and lifted her up to be able to put her down on the kitchen isle behind them.
“Woah! Hey, what are you-… mh~”, Caitlyn giggled, and moaned pleased when she felt Vi grab her waist firmly and bite down on her neck: “I think I owe you something…”, she purred, and Caitlyn opened her legs a little out of reflex when she heard her words in combination with the feeling of Vi’s big hands that handled her confidently.
Vi’s right hand wandered down between Caitlyn’s legs and she rubbed gently over the thin, silky fabric of her panties, which got warmer and damp quite fast.
“Please~…”
It was just a tiny little whimper, but the feeling it caused inside of Vi was anything else than tiny.
She held Caitlyn securely, her left arm around her, holding her against her own body, while her right hand shoved the fabric aside to be able to touch her directly.
“Fuck, Cupcake…”, Vi huffed aroused, when she felt just how ready the other woman was already for her, so she let the tip of her middle finger run up through her folds and flick over her clit, before she dipped it into her wet hole, quickly followed by another finger, picking up the pace of her movements, until she gave her controlled, fast thrusts, over and over against her g-spot.
“Vi~! Oh my-… yes, just like~… oooh~”
Caitlyn placed one foot onto the countertop and laid the other leg over Vi’s shoulder, giving Vi even better access, and held herself desperately on the other woman.
One hand held itself on Vi’s nape, while the other grabbed the forearm that fucked her relentlessly. The way the muscles inside it felt, the view of the flexed muscles in Vi’s exposed upper arm and shoulder – Caitlyn found it indescribable hot to be handled by her like that.
“More~… m-… more, please~”, she begged breathless, and Vi nestled the side of her head against Caitlyn’s when she whispered right beside her ear: “More?~ Want me to fill you up more, babe?~”, she asked, and Caitlyn clawed her short nails deeper into Vi’s skin: “Mhm~… y-... yes, please~”, she gasped, and Vi didn’t let her wait, she added a third finger and Caitlyn’s eyes rolled back at the feeling when her love stretched her more, still thrusting into her tirelessly.
“Hmmm~! Oh yes, Vi, just like that~”, Caitlyn moaned aroused, and Vi grinned dirty against her navy hair: “You like it big, don’t you?”, she asked, and Caitlyn cried out desperately when she felt Vi’s thumb starting to rub her clit with every thrust she gave her, “Y-… yes, yes I like it when you fill me up like thi-… Vi~”, she moaned, and bit Vi’s shoulder when she felt her orgasm build up more and more.
“Shit, you feel so hot…”, Vi groaned, and a moment later, she felt Caitlyn pulse around her fingers.
“Vi~… Vi-… Violet, oh my-… yes-…!”, Caitlyn cried out, and came undone in Vi’s strong arm that held her safely in position, while Vi slowed her thrusts down, pulled out one of the three fingers again and gave her deeper, sensual and slow thrusts to help her come down from her high.
“I love the way your pussy squeezes my fingers.”, Vi snickered, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but giggle: ”Good, because I can’t control that.”, she laughed, and wrapped her arms around Vi’s neck to get a better hold on her girlfriend and kiss her deeply after she took a deep breath.
Vi kissed her back and smiled warm inside it: “I love you.”, she whispered against her lips, and Caitlyn smiled back against hers: “I love you, too, darling…”
~
The days went by faster than both of them wanted.
So, they tried to stay up as long as possible, to have as much time together as possible and slept only as much as needed.
Caitlyn hurried with the work she had to do these days, and Vi helped as much as she could, and even if she couldn’t help – She stayed with her and took care of the cooking and the household, so that they would have more time when Caitlyn finished her work.
They were a good team, and they realized an important thing:
They worked well in an everyday life.
-
“Vi?”, Caitlyn’s voice sounded soft in the low and warm light of the bedroom, when it reached Vi’s ears: “Hm?”, she made a questioning sound, while she enjoyed the feeling of Caitlyn’s fingertips that caressed softly over her bare skin.
“Where did you get this scar?”, Caitlyn asked, and traced a quite big but pale scar that went over Vi’s hip.
Vi opened her eyes and looked down at her naked self, that was just covered with the blanket below her abdomen, and turned her eyes to Caitlyn, who was cuddled up to her side with her head resting on her collarbone.
“Oh. That one.”
Caitlyn looked up from the scar to Vi’s face with a worried expression: “You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”, she made immediately clear, but Vi shook her head a little: “Nah, it’s okay. It’s just an… ugly story.”, she said, and Caitlyn waited patiently for Vi to tell her more about it.
Vi continued the caresses on Caitlyn’s naked hip that she had stopped when she heard the question and sighed: “It’s from the time when Pow and I lived alone with our mom. It’s old, that’s why it’s so pale already.”, she started, and huffed bitter, “I wanted to get stronger, as I told you about before. So, I thought it was a good idea to get more control over my body. That’s when I decided training parkour beside the boxing would be a good thing to maintain that. I was good, I trained in the backstreets of our home, climbed the buildings there and all this. And one day, Powder wanted to come with me, so I took her with me.”, she continued, and chuckled a bit.
Caitlyn laid a hand right above Vi’s heart, and she could feel that it’s beats were a bit faster than they should be.
“I wanted to impress her.”, Vi said with a crooked grin, “Needless to say that I got a bit too cocky about it, haha.”, she chuckled, “I climbed up this scaffolding and wanted to jump from there over to the roof of a workshop. But I slipped, fell down and landed on a bunch of old car parts and scrap metal, so unfortunate, that a part of it impaled me right here. I slid down and it cut me even more, that’s why it’s so long. There was so much blood.”, she chuckled tired, and Caitlyn frowned: “Oh lord… what did you do after that accident?”, she asked, and Vi shrugged: “Well, first priority was to calm my little sister down.”
Vi shook her head on the memory that played itself in her head.
“It looked worse and deeper than it was, actually. It just bled like hell, and Powder cried hysterically at the view.”, Vi chuckled suddenly.
Now, thinking about it, it was more funny than scary – Even if it was indeed hella scary back then for them.
“I pressed my shirt against it and acted like it was just a scratch, but I also knew I had to get this cleaned up and taken care of, so I brought us both back home, where my mother scolded me for being so reckless and even taking Pow with me for such things. But she was primarily worried, of course. She took me to the bathroom, cleaned and disinfected the wound and… well. I will never forget the look in her face when she told me that she had to stitch it. I thought she was kidding and that she wanted to scare me as a punishment for my recklessness, but she was serious.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn made big eyes: “What? Why didn’t you call an ambulance…?”, she asked, and Vi huffed: “Who would have paid for that?”
A short moment of silence followed Vi’s answer.
“… I’m sorry. I didn’t think of the messed-up healthcare system over there.”, she sighed, and Vi kissed the top of her head: “It’s fine, don’t worry.”, she said, and Caitlyn let out a happy little huff at the feeling of Vi’s lips on her head.
“Anyway, so, my mom got a lighter, a needle and more disinfectant. It hurt so fucking bad, you can’t imagine. But she managed to close it neat and clean, it healed well. And I got something from her with me forever. The scar, I mean.”, Vi ended the story, and Caitlyn looked down at the scar once more, and caressed carefully over it: “Your mother was a good woman.”
A sad smiled formed itself on Vi’s face when she heard those words.
“Yeah. Yes, she really was.”
Caitlyn kissed Vi’s cheek and hugged her tight: “Do you mind telling me about this one as well?”, she asked, and let her thumb caress softly over the one on Vi’s upper lip.
“Oh. Yeah, well-… that one’s actually connected to the one on my eyebrow. Same injury.”, Vi said, and Caitlyn placed a soft kiss on each of them: “What happened?”, she asked curious, and Vi shrugged with a smile that appeared on the feeling of the kisses: “One of the harder cage fights, and one of the first I had. That guy thought it would be a good idea to grab a broken chair and hit me with it, when he realized that he was losing. My guard wasn’t up enough, and I reacted too slow, I tried to duck. But he was faster and hit me with it in my face. That’s where I got those two from.”, Vi explained, and Caitlyn pecked another few kisses on Vi’s scars.
“I’m sorry this happened to you.”, Caitlyn whispered between the kisses, and Vi’s lips pursed into a cute smile: “It’s okay, it gets me your kisses.”, she giggled, and Caitlyn chuckled when she heard that: “That’s true, and honestly, I find them hot. Can I ask about some more?”, she asked, and Vi nodded amused: “Sure, if you kiss them then, you can ask me anything you want about them.”, she laughed, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a grin: “You’re unbelievable.”
-
“… and these two small dots here are from a cat bite.”, Vi laughed, and Caitlyn let her fingertips run carefully over the tiny scars on Vi’s left hand.
The late evening had become night meanwhile, and Caitlyn had asked Vi about every little scar she found on the model’s body.
She had listened attentive to every story, no matter if it was a bloody or a funny one.
“Why did it bite you? Did something happen or was it just a little asshole?”, Caitlyn asked with a small chuckle, and Vi laughed at the comment: “Nah, it was more of an misunderstanding. When I was out with Pow when we were kids, we often climbed around in the back of old shops and stuff. One time, we heard tiny sounds and found a bunch of super young kittens. But mama cat wasn’t happy with us being near her babies, so she attacked Powder, who wanted to cuddle the kittens. I grabbed mama cat to protect my sister, and then she bit me. That’s where I got these from.”, Vi explained, and Caitlyn pressed a kiss to both the little scar dots: “So, a selfless hero story.”, she chuckled, and Vi grinned bright: “Of course!”
“… I’m a little jealous.”, Caitlyn sighed, and traced one of the bigger scars with a little smile on her face. Vi turned her head to look down to Caitlyn, who was still cuddled up to her side, and made a questioning noise, “… well. Your body tells so many stories. Mine doesn’t.”
Vi frowned and tightened her arm around Caitlyn a bit more: “That’s not true. Scars don’t just appear on the outside, they also appear on the inside. Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Your wounds may be mental, but these are often the most painful ones.”, Vi said, and kissed her forehead lovingly.
“… you know what? You are right. Thank you, Vi.”, Caitlyn whispered, and kissed her neck softly, “Although, there’s one outer scar on my body that tells a story.”, she said and lifted her right arm to show Vi a super thin, pale, almost invisible scar on the inside of her forearm.
Vi took her forearm in her hand and traced the long scar with her thumb: “What happened?”, she asked, and Caitlyn let her caress it while she told the scar’s story.
~ 17 years ago ~
“I got this…!”
Caitlyn ran through a forest that was prepared to be a shooting parkour.
She practiced as she did on every Tuesday, and she wanted to beat her own record from last week, as there was an upcoming competition in a while – And she wanted to win it.
“/Faster…!/”, she thought to herself, and it happened as it had to.
She slipped on a rain covered rock and fell down into a deep ditch beside a tree, rolled down and fell so unfortunate on her arm, that it left her with a horrible pain.
“Oh, bloody hell, fiddlesticks, ouch…!”, she cried out in pain, and tried to get up, but as she had twisted her ankle as well, she had trouble to even get up with one arm and one foot hurting like hell.
“…papa…!”
She called and cried for her father, but she was already so deep in the woods, that nobody at the clubhouse was able to hear her.
“Papa, please…”, she sniffed, and tried to drag herself out of the ditch, but she always slipped back in. There was no chance for her to get out without help, so there was no other way than call, wait and hope for help to arrive.
-
“Caitlyn?! Caithy!! Oh, my lord, there you are! Sweetheart, what happened, are you okay??”
Tobias got suspicious and worried after his daughter didn’t come back after a way too long time, so he took the two Kiramman Dobermans they had taken with them to the clubhouse today and let them search for his daughter in the woods.
“Papa!!”, Caitlyn called up, and was greeted by the two dogs the moment after, who jumped into the ditch, sniffed, and licked her face with wagging tails, happy to have found her.
Caitlyn wiped the tears away and sniffled a little: “I… I slipped, and then I fell down here. My arm and my foot hurt so bad, papa, I can’t get out myself…”, she explained, and Tobias frowned worried: “I will get you out there, don’t worry! Just hold on a little longer!”, he said, and left the dogs with Caitlyn to get a ladder and help from the clubhouse.
The Dobermans rolled around the hurt girl, warmed, and protected her, until Tobias would be back.
Caitlyn felt a little better with her protective dogs being with her like this, and the pain was a bit soothed as well when the warmth reached her small body.
-
“Careful!”
Tobias let down the ladder and climbed down to his daughter and the dogs.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing…”, he sighed worried, and kneeled to check on his child, “… oh bother, we need to get you to a hospital, I’m afraid.”, he sighed, when he saw that Caitlyn’s arm was already swollen and developed a big, dark bruise.
Caitlyn looked at him in shock and tears welled up in her eyes again: “No! No hospital, papa, please…!”, she whined, and Tobias hugged her gently: “It will be okay, don’t worry. I won’t leave your side, okay?”, he smiled, and got up with her in his arms, “We need to get you out here first.”
A friend of his waited above them, and the men helped little Caitlyn up the ladder, before Tobias helped their dogs up as well, climbed up himself last and pulled the ladder out of the deep ditch again.
He carried his daughter the whole way back to the clubhouse in his arms, where an ambulance was already waiting for them, as his friend had called them on their way back while he carried the ladder.
-
Tobias stayed with Caitlyn every possible second, and after the paramedics had checked Caitlyn’s arm and foot, as well as a quick allover check for any hidden injuries, it was clear: Her arm was broken and her ankle sprained, beside a few harmless bruises.
~ Present day ~
“My parents took me to London’s best hospital. I think it was the St. Thomas Hospital, I got the complete private treatment. The chief doctor did the surgery himself and all that. Also, the aftercare was fancier than it had to be, but my mother insisted that we do everything that it would look as flawless as possible after healing. That’s why you almost can’t see this scar anymore, as it’s so smooth and pale.”, Caitlyn explained, and Vi pulled the arm to her face to place soft kisses over the scar.
“There’s no need to hide our scars.”, Vi started, and kissed her arm again, “… they are a part of us.”, she said, and Caitlyn nodded with a soft smile: “Yes… you’re right.”
The couple fell slowly asleep after sharing these personal stories with each other, warm and cozy in each other’s arms.
-
With every night they slept in one bed, with every day they spend together awake, the love between them grew bigger and bigger.
They could feel that what they called a ‘try’ was becoming something serious, with a full commitment, with every passing second – And both their heads started to form a wish, a picture of how they imagined their future together.
But would it be pictures, ideas of a life that had enough overlaps that the protruding edges would be only little compromises? Or were they painting two completely different pictures?
~
The days went on, and Caitlyn and Vi had just yet adjusted perfectly to their shared everyday life, when it was already time for Vi to fly back to California.
“How about I just miss that flight…?”, Vi whined, when she packed her stuff and collected everything from the drawer that Caitlyn had emptied for her when she had arrived a week ago.
“Baby, believe me, I would absolutely let you miss that flight, but as I need to travel with Mel soon for a few days, there’s no use. I hate it, and I also hate it that there’s no job for you as well when we have this business trip…”, Caitlyn sighed sad, and sat down on the edge of her bed that she had shared the whole time with Vi, “… but we will see each other in about a month for that shooting. And I will talk to Mel if I can stay over a little longer and work online from your place.”, she tried to stay positive, and Vi closed her suitcase when she had packed the last thing into it.
The model got up and let herself fall onto Caitlyn, which caused the photographer to fall on her back onto the bed with Vi on top of her, hugging her close.
“Oh, love…”, Caitlyn whispered, and wrapped her arms around her as well.
She tried to be strong for both of them, like she did last time, but she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore: “… don’t go…”, she sobbed quietly, and Vi nestled her face more into the crook of her girlfriend’s neck: “I don’t want to go…”, she whispered, and could barely hide the sob that came out together with her words.
-
They arrived at the airport later that day.
“Okay. It’s time, I guess.”, Vi sighed, and kicked the floor a few times with the tip of her shoe.
She looked up to her girlfriend, and she saw pain in her eyes.
A pain she felt herself as well - But seeing her like this was unbearable.
“Hey.”, Vi tried to smile, and cupped Caitlyn’s cheeks with both her hands, “… just a month, huh? We had it shittier now.”, she tried to cheer her up, and Caitlyn’s lips formed a sad smile.
“I know… at least it’s about two weeks less than this time.”, she answered, and leaned down for a soft and loving kiss, which Vi gave back: “… yeah, we’ll make it. Like you said.”, she whispered, and pulled her into a close hug.
Her flight was announced, and she just hesitantly loosened the hug again.
“I’ll miss you, Cupcake. The time here was great, I-… I like the way we work out so well.”, Vi said with a shy shrug, and Caitlyn’s smile got warm instead of sad: “It’s the same for me, darling. I-… I don’t know if this is rushed, but I would say this here, us, isn’t a ‘try’ anymore.”, Caitlyn said, and Vi felt her heartbeat go faster, “… I would say this is more like an ‘how can we take the next steps’. I’m sorry if I scare you off with this, please tell me if you need more time.”
Vi stared at her with big eyes.
“Wait, you… you want to make us official?”, Vi asked, and her flight was announced again, “… like-… like no hiding from anyone anymore, not even your parents?”, she asked further, and Caitlyn nodded with a little shrug: “I could understand if this is too rushed for you, and if you would like to wait, I-… mh~”
Vi interrupted her with a kiss that shut her up immediately.
She laid her hands on both sides of her neck and tried to show her all the love she had for her through the touch of their lips.
“… no. No, I don’t want to wait. Let’s tell the whole fucking world, Cupcake!”, Vi grinned happily, and Caitlyn looked at her, first in shock, then a happy little sob came out of her throat, and she nodded with a grin: “Okay… yes, okay! Let’s tell the whole bloody world!”
They leaned in for another kiss, when Vi’s flight was announced for last call.
“… I call you as soon as I’m back in the apartment, okay?”, Vi said, and Caitlyn looked confused at her: “The apartment? You mean your home?”, she asked, and Vi chuckled low: “No. You’re my home now.”
Now Caitlyn couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
She pulled her back into a kiss and embrace, and Vi lets her, giving back everything she could, before they eventually had to separate.
“I love you. Stay safe, okay?”, Vi said, and Caitlyn nodded while she wiped away her own tears: “Yes, you, too. Have a safe flight. I love you more.”, she answered, and Vi chuckled at that: “I doubt that.”
A last kiss, a last look, then Vi went through the gate and Caitlyn lost sight of her quite quickly.
“… come back.”
Chapter 28: Official
Summary:
Welcome back to 'Pictures'! :)
This fic officially took over my 'Bodyguard' one (which was my top fic for long) in clicks, kudos, subscriptions and boomarks, and the comment section is SO much bigger meanwhile, too! So thank you a LOT for your support with this one, it really makes me happy to see that my fic is so well received <3
As announced in the previous chapter's summary, this chapter may partially be a little "filler episode", but we need it to initiate the next bigger plot development!
This one will end with a cliffhanger, so I'm sorry in advance haha xD
But I'm sure it will blow your mind a bit hehe, can't wait to read in the comments what you think about this!I hope you like it, please enjoy chapter 28 of 'Pictures' <3
Chapter Text
Chapter 28 – Official
~ 3 days after Vi flew back to California ~
“Cait!! Damn, I thought they have killed you or keep you in their basement now or some shit… holy fuck, how was it??”
Caitlyn entered the videocall in the late afternoon, while Vi had gotten ready for her day, as it was morning in her time zone and she would have to work in a while.
“Oh, well…”, Caitlyn had a crooked smile on her face, and she shrugged into the camera, “Let’s say, leaving and becoming a photographer was an easier fight.”
Vi ran her hand through her hair and bit her lower lip: “Shit, babe… we could have waited until I would be back in the UK or something, so that we could have faced them together.”, she sighed, but Caitlyn shook her head: “No, we talked about it. I will come to the US next time we meet and we don’t know when you will be back here, and I didn’t want to wait any longer to tell my parents. We decided to make it official, and I didn’t want them to find out through social media or anyone else than me.”
Vi sighed loudly and ruffled her hair once more: “Mind telling me how exactly it went?”
~ Two hours earlier ~
“Caitlyn, dear!”, Tobias smiled bright when his daughter entered the fireplace room together with her mother in the Kiramman mansion. He hugged her happily and she hugged him back: “Hey, papa.”
Caitlyn was nervous, and it showed – She fiddled with her fingers, as she always did when she felt that way.
“Dear, you said that you want to tell us something? Or talk about something?”, Cassandra asked, when they all sat down together.
Caitlyn took a deep breath and straightened her posture: “Yes, actually. It’s important, and I wanted to tell you in person.”, she said, and she could feel her parents stiffen.
Her father in worry, and her mother in negative curiosity.
“I am… dating someone. And we want to make it official, but before we do, I wanted you to know beforehand.”, Caitlyn started, and she could see that her mother’s heart leaped into her throat after her announcement.
“No. Caitlyn. Don’t tell me you are dating this-… this mannerless, rude American woman…?!”, Cassandra couldn’t hold back her presumption, and Caitlyn felt her heartbeat go faster on that reaction.
“Darling, let’s listen to our daughter before anything else, alright?”, Tobias tried, but he didn’t seem that happy as well.
Caitlyn swallowed hard and her posture sank down a little.
“… it’s true. I’m dating Vi. She-… me-… I mean-…”, she tried, but her parents’ reactions tied her throat somehow – She fell back into her old behavior.
“Oh lord have mercy! How can you date someone who treated you like that? Someone who lives on the other side of the ocean? Caitlyn, that woman will bring nothing than trouble and hurt into your life!”, Cassandra said clearly, and Tobias sighed, visibly torn: “Darling, please. Caitlyn, can you tell us how that happened? We know that you picked her up for this job last week, but I didn’t expect you to be that close now.”
Caitlyn looked down on her nervous hands when she spoke: “As I said, we talked it out when I was in Los Angeles some weeks ago. We got closer after this, she confessed, and I gave her a chance. It was a try, that’s why we kept it private between us first, but after she spend time here in the UK with me last week, we both realized this isn’t a simple try anymore. It’s way more, and we want to make it work. We want to be together, with all that comes with it.”, Caitlyn said, and she heard both her parents’ sigh.
She looked carefully up to them, and she couldn’t quite read their expressions.
There were definitely mixed feelings in their faces and body language.
“Why can’t you choose some neat and polite British woman, Caitlyn. Why does it have to be a rude American punk, hm?”, Cassandra asked, and pinched the bridge of her nose, while Tobias folded his hands: “Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart. I’m not generally against this connection between you and this Vi. I just saw how devastated you were after what happened with Corina. And this Vi seems to be someone who will bring trouble into your life. I just want to protect you, and this woman is not what I want for you.”
Caitlyn bit her lower lip, and she gathered her confidence back before she answered: “I’m not asking for permission, mother, father. I’m simply informing you.”, she said with all the mental strength she had, and faced both of them with her head held high.
Cassandra gasped, but before she could say something, Tobias laid his hand on his wife’s thigh: “I see. I must agree with you mother that this sounds like a mistake, but you are old enough, sweetheart. May I propose something?”, he asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Go ahead.”, she said, and Tobias continued: “Please introduce her to us the next time she visits you here in England. I want to get to know my daughter’s partner.”
Cassandra turned to him and frowned: “Tobias!”, she exclaimed, but he just patted her thigh and waited for Caitlyn’s answer.
“Of course. I would have introduced you to her nevertheless the next time.”, Caitlyn answered, and Tobias smiled slightly: “I’m looking forward to it. Who knows, maybe she will surprise us?”, he tried to be somewhat supportive, and Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose again: “Dear lord…”, she groaned, and sighed before she faced her daughter again: “So be it. I doubt that this woman meets your class let alone your status, Caitlyn, but if she is the one you chose for yourself, I will welcome her when you bring her here for dinner the next time.”
Caitlyn nodded and tried to keep standing her ground: “Alright, I will bring her here the next time then.”
~ Present day ~
“Holy fucking shit…”
Vi took a deep breath after Caitlyn had told her about the conversation she had with her parents and bit her lower lip with a frown.
A lot of thoughts ran through her mind now, which really didn’t sound like she was very welcome in her girlfriends family.
“I know. But we’ll be okay, I promise.”, Caitlyn smiled weak, and the urge to touch Vi’s cheek and caress softly over it grew unbearable right now inside of her.
“Yes, of course. We will, Cupcake.”, Vi smiled into the camera, and she didn’t feel any different from her girlfriend.
She took a deep breath and found her smile again, after the whole thing had sunk in a little.
“Sooo~… how do you want to announce us, now, that your parents know?”, Vi grinned, and Caitlyn chuckled at that: “Well, we could post a first selfie and put each other in our bios on Instagram if you want?”, she suggested, and Vi laughed suddenly, “Hey, what’s so funny?”, Caitlyn frowned, and Vi smirked: “Well, if we announce us on Insta, you first need to change your username to something less… well. Uptight”, she snickered, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes: “My username is perfectly fine!”
That got Vi’s laugh to grow, and the photographer started to pout: “What’s so bad about it anyways?!”
Vi wiped a tear away from under her eye from all the laughing, before she answered: “Seriously? ‘CKiramman’ really isn’t what you would call cool or else, that’s a boomer username. But no worries, I already got the perfect username for you!”, Vi smirked, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes again with a chuckle: “And what would that be?”
Vi’s smirk grew even more mischievous when she answered her girlfriend’s question: “’Cupcait’!”
“…”
There was silence for a moment, until Caitlyn started laughing more than amused: “You can’t be serious!”, she giggled, and Vi’s grin only grew more: “I’m totally serious, Cupcake!”, she said, and Caitlyn shook her head, still giggling: “You’re such a menace. Okay, then I’ll change my username to ‘Cupcait’, if you insist.” – “Yeah!!”
Caitlyn took her phone and changed her username, before she edited her bio to add Vi’s account to it, and Vi did the same with Caitlyn’s account in her bio.
They chose a selfie of them to post, and Caitlyn wrote them a cute caption before she uploaded it with a fluttering feeling in her chest.
They were official to public now!
And people immediately started to like and comment their post, the internet was on fire once more because of the two.
“…oh, shit! Babe, I need to go. Otherwise, I’ll be late to the job. I’m shooting for Dior today, and Mel was very clear about the importance of finally adding them to our portfolio”, Vi said suddenly, when she saw the time in the corner on her laptops screen, “I’ll post some stories if I got time, so you can see a bit of today, okay? And I’ll send you some stuff privately as well, if I get the chance”, she said, and Caitlyn’s smile died out: “Oh… yes, okay. Stay safe and have fun, alright? I love you. Take care”, the photographer said, and the model nodded at her through the screen with a smile: “I will, don’t worry. I love you, too, have a nice evening, alright? Don’t work too much”, she said, and Caitlyn nodded as well: “Thank you. Yes, let’s see.”
And so, they ended the videocall and Vi got up to grab her stuff and make her way to today’s job, while Caitlyn got up to make herself dinner and work a little more.
-
“There you are! Damn, I almost thought you wouldn’t come. Or that you fell into the toilet or some shit, that would have been an annoying task to pull you out there again.”
Vi got into her car together with Jinx, and she gave her a confused look: “How the fuck do you even come up with these things all the time? I was video calling with Cait.”, she said, and started the engine.
“Of course, you were.”, Jinx rolled her eyes, and put her seatbelt on before her sister drove off.
Vi just looked shortly over to her little sister, before she turned her eyes to the road again: “… she told her parents that we are dating.”, she said, and Jinx turned around completely to her on the car seat: “No way?! Did they disown her? Or did they throw her into a dungeon below their castle??”, Jinx asked way too excited, and Vi rolled her eyes while she tried to stop a laugh that escaped her throat anyway: “Pow… of course not. It’s the UK, not the 12th century.”, she said, still a bit laughing, and Jinx made a disappointed sound: “Oh man, that’s lame!”
-
The sisters arrived at the location where the job would take place, and the director made it immediately stressful for everyone.
“We don’t have much time, and time is money, and that’s why we will start right away! You, off to the stylist, and you, the effects need to be on point with the first try. Mel told me you both are some of her bests, so do not disappoint me. Chop-chop!”
Vi was immediately taken to the make-up station, while an assistant showed Jinx where she was supposed to prepare everything.
The job today was for Dior’s new cosmetics portfolio.
Vi was more than confused when she had the meeting with Mel together with Jinx regarding this job, as this was a customer where she didn’t see herself being fitting for.
And Mel and Jinx were as surprised as the model was.
But now, here she was – Ready and in front of a camera, behind which a man was who looked somehow pissed and annoyed by everything.
“You read the briefing, didn’t you?”, the photographer asked, and Vi nodded: “Yes, of course. I’m not a beginner”, she answered, her voice was on the edge of angry at the accusation she could hear in his voice, and she took the product she should show off from an assistant.
Vi sat on the back of a white chair with one foot on the seat and the other hanging loose down.
The floor was laid out with a transparent, light blue foil and Jinx had added LED’s and other effects, so it looked like it was shimmering water below her.
Vi herself wore a complete white outfit: A white lace bra, a white, open blouse, white women’s dress pants and white jewelry, no shoes.
The stylist had slicked her hair back and her makeup was clean with dark red lipstick, and pitch-black eyeliner around her eyes, to get a contrast to the white outfit. Her thick, dark eyebrows helped the look out as well.
She looked way more feminine than usually, but the customer booked her for their commercial, so they decided how she had to look for that.
That’s what they paid for, it was just unusual for Vi that people booked her for the ‘classic’ looks, as she was the alternative type, the type to provoke conservative viewers.
But she hadn’t time to think about that, as she needed to deliver now.
The shooting started, and Vi tried her best to work along with the photographer, who had a complete different rhythm than she had.
“… can you-… just-… oh goddammit, really?!”, he complained, and Vi opened her arms in a ‘what?!’ gesture, and the guy just shook his head: “I told you she wouldn’t fit!”, he suddenly said to the director behind him, who crossed his arms: “She does fit, you just need to do your job properly”, the director said, and Jinx and Vi couldn’t hide an evil grin.
An expression where they couldn’t hide that they were sisters.
“Or, maybe, you shouldn’t have hired a damn faggot for this job!”, the photographer suddenly spit, and Vi’s and Jinx’ grin turned immediately into an angry frown.
“What the fuck did you just say??”, Vi barked, and got off the chair to approach the man with a threatening attitude, but the guy acted like he wasn’t intimated, even if he was – especially with Jinx follow her with that creepy stare of hers.
“I said: Fucking faggot!” he repeated himself, “You don’t fit this brand! This here should be promoted by real women, not some fucked-up dyke!!!”, he got louder, and Vi grabbed his collar and pulled him painfully up: “Say that one more time…!!”, she warned him, but the director and some assistants got between them and deescalated the situation carefully.
“Okay, listen up!! As I said: Time is money, and you act like unprofessional idiots!!”, the director said angry and louder than necessary, “I don’t want anyone to be insulted and I don’t want anyone to become violent, do you understand?!”, he said, and looked between the photographer, Vi and Jinx.
“I really do hope they will finally pass the laws against these abominations”, the man mumbled under his breath, and got back to his position, and so did Vi, even if she was reluctant to do it, and they tried to at least get the job done in the quality that was expected of them.
Vi knew she risked the reputation of Mel’s agency when she would throw a fist now, and she couldn’t afford that.
She knew this here was important, and an homophobic photographer wasn’t worth it to fuck this chance up, so she swallowed her pride – At least for the time of the job.
~
Caitlyn entered the airport with Mel beside her.
The two friends would fly over to France as they would have a few business appointments with potential customers and also established ones.
“I really do hope that we can convince these companies to hire us in the future. Thank you again for coming with me. It’s always better when they can meet the person who will produce what they pay for directly.”, Mel said, and Caitlyn gave her a smile: “Of course! As you say, it’s important for the business and I’m excited for this. This is a huge chance for me to grow my portfolio.”, Caitlyn answered, and Mel gave her an affirming nod: “That’s more than true. Come on, we need to check in!”
-
The flight was calm and had just a small delay, so Caitlyn and Mel arrived safe and sound in Paris, France.
Caitlyn turned off the flight mode of her phone immediately, so she could check if Vi had send her a message and so that she could inform her that she arrived safely.
“Huh?”, she frowned, when she saw that Vi had send her a long voice message and a gif with a guy flipping over a table in total rage.
“Everything okay?”, Mel asked, and Caitlyn turned her head to her friend: “I don’t know, I need to listen to her message, give me a moment.”, she said, and started the voice mail to listen to it.
“>Hey babe, first of all: I hope you arrived safely, and I love you and I miss you! Okay, so: WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE UGLY ASS OLD WHITE MEN?? I WILL FUCKING KILL THEM SOME DAY!!!!<”
Caitlyn’s eye widened, she hadn’t expected Vi to be so furious when she started the voice message.
“>For real, this photographer at today’s job was such an asshole, like, this homophobic dipshit insulted me and even talked some bullshit about these damn anti-LGBT laws and that he hoped that they will pass the congress and some shit, this country is a fucking NIGHTMARE!! Pow and I had almost knocked his lights out if it weren’t for the director to step in…<”
Caitlyn frowned worried at that, she herself had faced homophobia before, but Vi really seemed to had enough of this now.
“>I swear, it’s getting worse over here. We had it better for a while, but it’s being more and more uncomfortable lately. Pow and Lux were even being attacked on the streets a couple days ago, in bright daylight!! This sucker approached them and started to insult them for simply holding hands, and when Pow gave him a taste of his own shit, he got physical. Good thing I taught Pow enough about self-defense and all this, she and Lux didn’t get hurt in the end, but that guy took some hits from her. Serves him right.<”
“Oh no…”, Caitlyn’s frown deepened, and Mel started to give her a curious look, but the voice message hadn’t ended yet.
“>I didn’t inform Mel yet, as I know you two are travelin’ and all this. And honestly, I’m way too angry now to tell her everything properly… maybe you can give her kind of a warning? That I have something to talk about with her about the Dior job? Anyway… sorry for the rant. I hope you are fine. As I said at the beginning, I already miss you, Cupcake. Please give me a sign of life as soon as you can, I love you!<”
“Oh no, baby…”, Caitlyn sighed worried, and took her phone from her ear to record a voice message herself.
“Hey darling, we arrived safe and sound in Paris. I’m so sorry to hear that the Dior job went like this, honestly, that sounds horrible…”, she started, and now Mel listened attentively when Caitlyn mentioned the job, “… I promise I will tell Mel about it so she knows what will come. And I am so sorry to hear that these kinds of things happened to you and Jinx, I don’t have words to describe how disgusting all this is. I really do hope that the government in your country will decide for our rights, not against them.”, she sighed, and her expression got a little softer again: “I miss you, too. I can’t wait to see you again in a while. Maybe we can have a video call later? Just let me know, and I will send you my timetable for the next days as well, so you know when I’m available. I love you!”
Caitlyn sighed and put her phone away before she turned to Mel, who looked curious at her friend: “What happened? That didn’t sound very good.”, she asked, and the two picked up their luggage when it finally appeared at the pick-up station.
“Well-… no, Vi said the Dior job was horrible. Or more like, the man she had to work with was a homophobic arse. I tell you about it on the way to the hotel.”, Caitlyn said, and informed Mel about what Vi had told her in her voice message as they walked out of the airport.
“… oh god, that’s disgusting. I had no idea, I never worked with this guy before. I will talk with Vi about that incident and also with my contact at Dior, that’s unacceptable.”, Mel sighed, and Caitlyn nodded: “Indeed.”
-
When they arrived in the hotel, Caitlyn unpacked what was necessary and logged herself into the hotel’s WLAN, before she started a videocall with Vi.
“… hey!”, she smiled worried, when Vi answered the call with a very tired groan, but she quickly found her smile when she looked through the screen into her girlfriends face: “Hey, Cupcake…”, she yawned, and Caitlyn sighed with an apologetic look: “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you…”, she said, and Vi checked the time: “It’s okay… I need to get up in half an hour, nevertheless, I wanted to hit the gym before work.”, she said, yawning again, rubbing her tired eyes.
“Oh well, then it’s okay I guess.”, Caitlyn chuckled, her smile got softer at the view of her tired girlfriend.
She looked way too cute with her wild bed hair and tired eyes.
“So, I told Mel about what you told me in the voice message. This is horrible, Vi, really… Mel is also mad, she will take care of this officially. She got it covered, so no need to worry or take any actions yourself, okay?”, Caitlyn said, and Vi nodded, ruffling her wild bed hair: “Yeah, okay… even if I want to punch this asshole’s face in.”, she grumbled, and Caitlyn frowned: “Baby… that won’t fix things. You’ll only get yourself in trouble.”, she sighed, and Vi huffed: “Yeah, well… you’re right, I guess. But still. He’d deserve it.”, she said, and Caitlyn chuckled a little: “Yes, he does, darling. Anyway, what job do you have today?”, she asked, and Vi smiled again: “I’m working for CK again. Those guys really love me.”, she laughed, “What are you guys up to? What time is it in France?”, she asked back, and Caitlyn smiled at her: “It’s almost 15:00. Mel and I just checked in, and we meet in about 20 minutes to get us some food and meet the first customer afterwards.”, Caitlyn answered, and Vi just smiled at her: “Sounds busy. Just dropped out the airplane and you’re already on the run again.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes: “That’s business, darling. You can’t make something out of nothing.”, she winked, and Vi laughed at that: “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
A moment of silence fell between the two, and Vi was the first one to speak again: “I miss you.”
Caitlyn’s happy smile got sad, and she nodded with a sigh: “I miss you, too. I’m really counting the days.”, she said, and checked the clock at the wall: “I need to get a bit fresh before I meet with Mel. But I wanted to see you and hear your voice at least for a moment. I will text you when I can, okay?”, she said, and Vi nodded reluctantly: “Yeah, I need to get ready as well. Take care, okay? I heard Paris isn’t the safest place.”, she asked her to, and Caitlyn nodded: “I will, don’t worry. I love you, have a good day at work, darling!” – “Yeah, you, too. Love you!”
The two ended the call, and both went to their work on the other side of the globe, yearning for the other one in silence.
~ Meanwhile in San Diego, CA ~
“Well, well, well… look at that.”
Sarah Fortune stalked Vi’s Instagram account, as she still regularly did every few days as she never really got completely over the breakup with Vi.
And something caught her eye immediately, just a little change in her bio, but she saw it the very moment she opened her ex’s profile on her phone.
Most was as always:
@Vi_olence
Vi
28 yo / lesbian / located in CA
Model @MelMEDIArdaInc
Fitness / Boxing / Fashion
But there was a new line suddenly:
‘<3 @Cupcait <3’
The redhead frowned angry and immediately clicked on the link to get to the tagged profile and scrolled through the account of a woman that seemed to be her ex-girlfriend’s new girlfriend.
“Seriously, Vi? A British chick? Honestly, that’s such a huge downgrade compared to me.”, she mumbled to herself and scrolled up again to check the bio of Caitlyn once more.
@Cupcait
Caitlyn Kiramman
29 years
UK based
Freelancer and Photographer @MelMEDIArdaInc
In love with @Vi_olence <3
“So, same company, huh?”, Sarah whispered to herself, and stalked the business account of Mel’s agency as well before she went back to Caitlyn’s account and opened the last post on it.
It was a selfie of Caitlyn with Vi, which they had taken when Vi had visited her in the UK.
Caitlyn had a bright grin on her face, her eyes full with love, while Vi pressed a kiss to her cheek and she was obviously smiling while doing that. They were close and Sarah could tell that Vi had her arms wrapped around the other woman, who took the selfie of them with the Big Ben in the background.
The caption said ‘We finally found each other, and I am happy to announce that we are dating officially now <3 There’s a lot of work in front of us, but I can’t wait to build something lasting with you! I love you, Vi <3 #couplegoals #sapphic #wlw #lovewins #ILoveYou #lgbt #Pride #London
She opened the comments, and one was pinned. It was from Vi, and it said ‘Thank you for this chance, Cupcake <3 I can’t wait to build a life with you! I love you <3’
They looked genuinely happy, and that made the redhead furious – More than furious.
“… absolutely not.”
Chapter 29: Admirers, Old Love and Jealousy
Summary:
Hello hello! :D
Welcome back to 'Pictures', where we just entered a toxic era with the cliffhanger of the last chapter! Sarah Fortune learned about Vi dating someone new, and she's absolutel not having it D:
Let's see what she plots... let's start with chapter 29 of 'Pictures': Admirers, Old Love and Jealousy!
Chapter Text
Chapter 29 – Admirers, Old Love and Jealousy
~ 3 weeks later ~
Caitlyn tapped her foot nervously at the airplanes’ floor while she waited impatiently for the signal that the passengers were allowed to get up and out.
They already had over an hour of delay, and as she had to keep her phone in flight mode, she wasn’t able to inform Vi about it – She just hoped that she checked the time of arrival beforehand and drove off to pick her up a little later than originally planned.
The weeks of not being able to see each other in person felt harder for them than the last time, even if the waiting time was a bit shorter than before.
The yearning got worse, and they both were worried about how this all would develop the next time.
When Caitlyn finally got out of the airplane, she walked with fast and long strides over to pick her luggage up, which came quick fortunately, and walked with the same speed over to the exit where she expected her girlfriend to wait for her already.
And Vi was indeed already waiting for her.
Caitlyn frowned when she saw a bunch of young women surrounding her girlfriend, all excited, blushing and obviously more than interested in the famous model.
The first online storm about them being closer and people making things up had faded quickly, but since they had made their relationship official, people started to post a lot about them again.
But Vi being taken now seemed to just make her even more of a challenge for some of her fangirls.
“Hey, hey-… one after another, ladies, ‘k?”, Vi snickered, as she gave autographs out to her fans and admirers, when she saw Caitlyn approach her suddenly.
Her smile lit up a lot more and she immediately gave the pen back that one of the girls had handed her, before she pushed herself out of the group and walked with fast steps to the woman that she loved and had missed more than anything.
“Cupcake!”, she grinned bright and happy, and pulled her into a loving embrace and a deep kiss, which lasted a bit longer – With Caitlyn opening her eyes shortly to give the deadliest superior stare to the group of fans when she entered Vi’s mouth possessive with her tongue, making them all feel a terrified chill run down their backs on Caitlyn’s feral gaze.
Vi’s grip on Caitlyn’s hips tightened when her girlfriend kissed her so intensely, but she couldn’t care less, being in public or not.
The photographer’s jealous stare disappeared as soon as she felt Vi’s hands slip around her and her muscular arms wrapping around her waist right after, she closed her eyes again on that feeling and melted into the model’s embrace, blocking everything else around them out.
“I missed you so much…”, Caitlyn whispered, before she kissed Vi again, and Vi smiled against her lips: “Same for me, Cupcake…”, she whispered back, and the two broke the kiss to hug even tighter and closer.
The group of young women watched the couple with crossed arms, pouts, and jealous looks. They knew that Vi was taken, but that didn’t kept them from mourning about a lost chance that they didn’t even have in the first place – Plus, Caitlyn was scary.
It was just pure fangirl behavior.
“Let’s get out of here, ‘k?”, Vi smiled, and caressed softly over Caitlyn’s cheek, who nodded happily: “Yes, sounds good. I could really use a shower after this horrible flight.”, she answered, and took Vi’s hand, while the model took her suitcase for her.
“It was nice to meet you guys, see ya!”, she winked to the girls, and left them standing there, ignoring their pleads for more selfies and autographs, which put a superior grin on Caitlyn’s face while she kept holding hands with Vi, walking out of the airport and over to Vi’s car to drive to her apartment.
-
“… these girls were really into you.”
Vi frowned when she heard that, but when she turned to Caitlyn, who came freshly showered out of the bathroom, she saw that she had a little, playful smirk on her lips and no real jealousy in her expression.
“Yeah, well. Bet they hate that they are not you.”, Vi played along, and watched Caitlyn walk around the couch she sat on, her eyes followed her intensely the whole time.
“Hm~…”, Caitlyn hummed, and stopped right in front of Vi who manspread on the couch with her arms open on the backrest, “… good thing that I am me then.”, she purred, and let the towel slowly fall down to the floor, exposing her naked body, on which a few waterdrops ran down that came from her still damp hair which fell over her shoulders.
Vi’s jaw dropped, she blushed, and she looked up with big puppy eyes.
She gulped visibly and felt excitement build up in her abdomen on that view: “Well… yeah-…”, she started, but her words got stuck in her throat when Caitlyn elegantly climbed on top of her and sat down on her lap with open legs.
“Awww… I love that look of yours, darling. So submissive~”, Caitlyn purred, and leaned down for a slow but heated kiss before Vi could complain. It lasted a little longer, until they both needed to separate again for oxygen.
“Hmm~”, Caitlyn reached down between Vi’s legs and rubbed slowly over her clothed middle, which drew a long and muffled moan from her model, “Oh well, someone’s sensitive…”, she said with a seductive voice, and leaned to Vi’s left ear to nibble slowly at her earlobe and kiss the soft skin under it, “… hmmm~ Give me your hand, darling”, she asked her to, and Vi obeyed immediately, so Caitlyn took the wrist in her hand and pulled it up to her face.
She took Vi’s ring- and middle finger slowly into her mouth, still holding the eye contact, and started to suck and lick on them with a seductive look in her eyes.
Vi was so stunned that she wasn’t able to do anything more than stare at her with her eyes and mouth wide open, while Caitlyn’s actions wettened her boxers more and more.
And when the taller woman started to roll her hips sensually against Vi’s like she was riding her, the model knew: Her boxers were absolutely ruined already by now.
“Mh~”, Caitlyn released Vi’s finger from her mouth with a little ‘plop’ sound, and she led them down between her own legs, while she lifted her hips to be able to bring Vi’s hand under it.
“One word and I stop, okay?”, Caitlyn whispered with a warm smile, but Vi’s reactions showed more than obvious that she wanted nothing more than for Caitlyn to go on, so she lowered herself down and Vi pressed her two fingers together, stiffened and crooked them, so her girlfriend was able to ride them.
Caitlyn bit her lower lip and she grinned satisfied when she felt Vi’s fingers disappear inside her, hitting her sweet spot every time she rocked her hips on her hand over and over again.
“Shit~… Vi, mh~ Yes~!”, she started to moan, and kept the eye contact with Vi, who sat under her, still staring up to her with her big puppy eyes.
Caitlyn leaned down and entangled her in a messy making out, while she continued to rock her hips and rode Vi’s hand the whole time, getting a bit sloppier when the pleasure built up more and more.
The photographer moaned into the kisses and laid her hands left and right on Vi’s neck, while Vi put her free hand on Caitlyn’s waist, gripping the flesh there while she gave her best to keep her other hand in the perfect position for her girlfriend to get the most pleasure out of it.
“Fuck, Cupcake~”, Vi groaned, when she felt her hand getting wettened more and more, and Caitlyn suddenly threw her head back and bend her back, when Vi placed her thumb over Caitlyn’s clit, so it rubbed it with every movement the taller woman made.
Caitlyn’s hands slipped down from Vi’s neck and clawed themselves into her love’s muscular shoulders, holding for dear life while her movements got a little faster once more, until she moaned out Vi’s name loud and elongated, feeling her orgasm wash over her on top of her, before her rocking got slower again, until she just sank exhausted and limp against Vi.
“… I really needed that…”, she chuckled out of air, and Vi couldn’t hold back a chuckle herself: “Always at your service.”, she snickered, and Caitlyn laughed against Vi’s neck, kissing it gently after: “Thank you.”
Vi pulled her fingers gentle out of Caitlyn again, moved her hand up to her mouth and licked them clean by herself: “You’re so sweet. Like a Cupcake.”, she smirked, and Caitlyn blushed at that comment, hiding her face in the crook of Vi’s neck: “Shut up…”, she giggled, and Vi wrapped her arms around her, still laughing a little: “Just the truth.”, she shrugged, and let her come down from her high in her safe arms.
“Hm~… do you want me to give you something back?”, Caitlyn asked with a seductive whisper right below Vi’s ear, and the model’s hands grabbed the photographer’s tiny waist firmer: “Yeah… please…”, she gasped, and Caitlyn grinned against the soft skin in front of her: “Alright… relax and let me take care of you, darling~”
Vi nodded, and slowly, the submissive puppy eye stare became a dirty smirk when Caitlyn slid down in front of her onto the carpet on her knees.
She grabbed the waistband of Vi’s sweatpants shorts and pulled them down together with her ruined boxers, with Vi lifting her ass so she was able to undress her.
The taller woman pulled Vi closer to the edge and pushed her legs more open with her flat hands on her inner thighs, smiled up to her and leaned in, not without keeping the eye contact when she placed a wide lick over Vi’s more than aroused middle.
“Shit~ Cup-… Cupcake~…!”, Vi groaned, and placed both her hands on the other woman’s head, while Caitlyn dived in more and started to concentrate her actions on Vi’s weak spots.
Vi tensed from time to time, enjoying her girlfriends’ actions more than hear- and visible, and Caitlyn focused on Vi’s clit after a while of a lot of teasing, and entered her with two fingers, pressing them over and over against her inner sweet spot until she felt her clench and pulse around them.
“C-… Cait-….!! Cait, fuck…!!”
Vi felt her orgasm wash over her intensely, and she rolled her eyes back on that overwhelming feeling – She had missed it to feel her like that.
Caitlyn grinned against Vi’s arousal, which got a lot wetter once more than before, and started to slowly lick her clean and helped her getting down from her high.
“Good girl~”, she purred, placed a soft kiss on her clit, and kissed her way up until she sat in Vi’s lap again, wrapping her arms lovingly around her love.
“Damn… when I started dating you, I didn’t expect our sex-life to be that intense.”, Vi snickered out of breath, and Caitlyn just chuckled: “Ow, that hurts!”, she said and made a fake sad face, to which Vi reacted by grabbing her and wrestling her down onto the couch under her: “That’s not what I meant, and you know it!”, she grinned, and started to pepper her face and neck with a million kisses, which transformed Caitlyn into a giggling mess under her: “Stop! Hahaha, please, enough!!”, she giggled loud, but Vi’s grin developed into an evil smirk, and she continued her kiss attacks: “Nope, I won’t stop giving you my love! Take it! All of it!!”, she laughed, and the two squabbled giggling and snickering, until they heard the door lock click suddenly.
Both froze immediately, and looked up over the backrest of the couch, just to find Jinx entering Vi’s flat.
“Yo, sis’! I wanted to ask if you-… OH FOR FUCKS SAKE, NOT AGAIN!!”
Jinx groaned loudly and overdone, bended completely back with both her hands on her face and turned around: “Are you at least dressed???”, she asked, still with her hands on her face, and Vi got off from Caitlyn and quickly pulled up her boxers and pants: “Yes! I mean!! No, wait a sec’-…”, she said, and picked up the towel that Caitlyn had dropped to the floor earlier, gave it to her and the photographer quickly wrapped it around herself, “… okay! You can turn around.”, Vi said, and Jinx did so.
“I thought she’d come tomorrow, sorry for bursting in, but what the fuck.”, Jinx mumbled, shook her head, “Can you just NOT jump onto each other every single moment you’re together?! Jeez, disgusting. Are you 17 and overly horny or what.”, she kept complaining, and Caitlyn gulped: “Hello to you, too, Jinx. I-… will get dressed.”, she mumbled, and went into Vi’s bedroom with fast steps and closed the door behind her.
Vi pulled a bit on her shorts and top, before she stepped around the couch to approach her sister: “Hey. So, uhm-… what do you need?”, she asked, and Jinx looked at her with crossed arms: “Well first: I need you to open a window, jeez, it smells like gay sex in here. Second: Don’t touch me, I don’t want to know where those fingers have been right now. And third: I wanted to ask if you’re up to go grab some iced coffee and a snack or something. Lux is out of town, and I didn’t want to go alone”, the younger sister answered, and kept her arms crossed.
“Oh! Well-… yeah, sounds good”, she said, and went over to actually open a window, “I’ll ask Cait and text you, okay?”, Vi suggested, and Jinx agreed: “Alright, don’t take too long. It’s hot and I need something icy”, Jinx said, and pointed a finger at her older sister, who chuckled: “Don’t worry, I’ll check with her right away.” – “Good.”
And so, Jinx left the apartment and Vi took a deep breath, before she walked to her bedroom and knocked: “Can I come in? She’s gone”, she called, and Caitlyn answered: “Yes, of course!”, and so, Vi opened the door and entered the room.
“She really has a sense for catching us”, Vi chuckled a little embarrassed, and sat down on the edge of her bed, while Caitlyn was fixing her hair in front of the mirror that was integrated in a door of Vi’s wardrobe.
“Oh, apparently, she has, indeed”, Caitlyn sighed, but a light chuckle left her throat right after and she walked over to Vi to stand in front of her sitting girlfriend: “Was she alright? Did she need anything?”, she asked caring, and Vi wrapped her arms around Caitlyn and nestled her face in her flat belly, while the taller woman reacted by laying hers loose over Vi’s shoulders.
“Nah, she just thought you’d arrive tomorrow. That’s why she came in unannounced. And she asked if we’re up for some iced coffee and a snack in town?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Of course. I mean, I am really tired because of this long flight, but it may be good to stay up and trying to not get a jetlag”, she shrugged, and Vi smiled against her bare belly, as she wore a crop top: “Nice, let’s go then, ‘k?”
-
The trio walked down the Hollywood Boulevard a while later.
Jinx hopped in front of her sister, who held Caitlyn’s hand and talked to her about some of the tourist spots they passed, while the British woman listened attentively and looked interested around.
“Over there!!”, Jinx grinned bright, and hopped into a side street in which the café was she wanted to get her iced coffee at, “Hurryyyy!!”, she called after her sister and Caitlyn, who followed her with light chuckles.
There was a small queue in front of the small coffee shop, and Jinx tippled impatiently from one foot to the other, while everyone else waited way more patiently.
Caitlyn squeezed Vi’s hand shortly and gave her a smile before she let go of it and turned to Jinx: “Do you already know what you want? Can you recommend me something I should definitely try?”, she tried to start a conversation with her girlfriends’ sister, and Vi was more than happy that her love tried to bond a little with Jinx.
So, Vi let them be and took herself a bit back and just observed.
“Huh?! Oh! Yeah, well. I don’t know if you have a sweet tooth, but you should definitely try the Frozen Rainbow Sparkle Cold Brew with oat milk, that makes your brain feel tingly, because it’s so sugary, hehe!”, Jinx grinned bright, and Caitlyn laughed amused: “Oh, that sounds quite intense!” – “IT IS!! And if you slurp it too fast, prepare for BRAIN FREEZE!!”
Vi smiled at the conversation in front of her, it made her heart feel warm to see her sister talk so easily with her girlfriend, she definitely wanted and needed them to get along well – They were both way too important to her to have them not get along.
“Do you always order the same? Or are you more of an experimental kind of person?”, Caitlyn asked with a smile, and Jinx snickered with her hands on her hips: “Kinda both, I guess! I have my favorites, but I like trying new things a lot! What about you?”, the younger one asked back, and Caitlyn chuckled softly: “Oh, I’m afraid I’m more of a creature of habit.” - “Lame!” – “Excuse me?!”
Jinx giggled amused, and slapped Caitlyn’s back a little too rough, which drew a surprised huff from the taller woman: “I’m messing with you, jeez, you brits really lack a sense of humor, don’t you?”, Jinx grinned, and Caitlyn crossed her arms with a half offended, half amused huff: “I’d describe it as a different kind of humor”, she said, and Jinx laughed loud: “Let’s keep it at that for now!”
The queue got quickly smaller, and when Caitlyn and Jinx entered the café, Vi felt someone stopping her suddenly by touching her lower arm and caressing over her hand, when she heard a very familiar voice:
“Vi? I should have brought flowers.”
A cold chill ran down Vi’s spine when she realized who had approached her, and she turned around to look into the face of the woman who had betrayed her in such a painful way.
“… Sarah?! What the fuck?”, Vi asked obviously caught off guard, and Sarah Fortune crossed her arms and rolled her eyes overdone: “Is that your way to greet an old love, honey? Rude.”, the redhead huffed with a little smirk, and let a finger run slowly down Vi’s upper arm, “I saw you across the street and thought I’d come and say hi.”, she smiled at her, and Vi took a step back: “I told you back then to leave me alone, Sarah. And I am still sticking to that.”, the model said with a clear and firm voice, but her ex simply ignored it.
“Honey, no need to be so distant. How about we grab us a coffee and spend some time together?”, she asked, even if she had seen Jinx and Caitlyn with Vi before they entered the coffee shop, “I think there’s a lot to talk about, don’t you think so, too?”, she purred, and came even closer again, until Vi felt the wall of the building in her back, as she tried to keep the distance: “No!! Leave me alone, I-…”, Vi started, when a posh accented voice was to hear suddenly.
“Vi, darling, is everything-…”
Caitlyn stopped in her tracks when she saw Vi with her back against the wall and a woman, that she had only seen on some photos, in front of her.
“What is going on here?!”, the tall photographer asked, and her voice and expression was extremely serious, she crossed her arms and changed her look between the two in front of her.
Sarah grinned, that went exactly like she wanted it to: Caitlyn was pissed.
“And who are you?”, she asked, and raised an eyebrow at Caitlyn, knowing very well who she was.
But she didn’t expect Vi to act so quickly and thwarting her plan, to make her ex-girlfriend insecure, in the process of getting Caitlyn jealous.
The model pushed her away and took the two steps to Caitlyn, took her hand in hers and gave Sarah an angry stare: “She’s my girlfriend. And you’re not, got it?! For long now. And this won’t ever change again, do you understand?? Leave us alone!”, Vi made her message clear, and Caitlyn seemed to understand what had just happened.
She intertwined her fingers with Vi’s and held her head high when she spoke with a cold voice to Vi’s ex-girlfriend: “You heard her. I wish you a pleasant day, goodbye.”, she said in her very posh accent, and Sarah crossed her arms with a huff: “Oh, you wish.”, she mumbled with hatred in her eyes, gave Vi a little wink, “See you, honey~”, and turned around to let it go – For now.
Vi turned to Caitlyn with a frightened expression after Sarah had turned her back to them.
“… shit, Cupcake, I swear I don’t know where she came from so suddenly, I did NOT meet with her since the breakup and all this, I swear, I-…”, she started to try to explain herself way too fast, and Caitlyn turned to her to cup her face with both her hands: “Vi. Hey, it’s okay. You told me about what kind of person she is, what she did to you. I believe you. Okay?”, Caitlyn said with a slightly worried frown, and Vi stared at her.
She believed her?
Just like that?
Vi let out a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding, and the tension inside her slowly faded when she realized the caring and worried smile Caitlyn gave her.
“I believe you. Take a deep breath, she’s gone, okay?”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi did as she told her, before she nodded: “… yeah. Yeah, you’re right, sorry”, she mumbled, and Caitlyn gave her a soft forehead kiss: “I’m not doubting you so easily, remember this, okay?”, she whispered, and kissed the tip of Vi’s nose, when Jinx popped her head out of the café’s front door: “Hey, what’s going on?! We’re next in line!” – “We’re coming!”
-
After that first encounter after years with Sarah Fortune, Vi felt uneasy.
She had a feeling that there was more behind her appearing so suddenly, she couldn’t believe in a simple coincidence. Especially not exactly on the day Caitlyn arrived and went out with her the first time for her stay.
It was extremely suspicious to her, and she prepared herself mentally for what could come.
“Vi? Are you alright, darling?”, Caitlyn’s voice ripped Vi out of her torrent of thoughts, and she blinked a few times, before she turned her head to Caitlyn, who walked beside her with the iced coffee that Jinx had recommended her in her hand.
“Huh?! Yeah-… I mean. No, not exactly”, Vi sighed, and Caitlyn took her hand again to give it an encouraging squeeze: “Is it because of your Ex?”, she asked, and Vi nodded, but before she could say something more, Jinx seemed to have heard them: “What Ex??”
The couple looked to the younger girl in front of them, and Vi sighed: “Sarah appeared out of nowhere when you were already in the café earlier”, she said, and Jinx frowned pissed: “What the actual fuck?? I blow that bitch up!!”, she got angry, and Vi huffed: “Yeah, I’d really like that idea.”
All three chuckled shortly, before Vi sighed again: “I have the feeling that she’s up to something.”, she said, and Caitlyn squeezed her hand once more: “I don’t care. She can’t drive a wedge between us. She doesn’t have that power over us, okay?”, the taller woman smiled encouraging, and something in Jinx eyes changed when she heard her sister’s girlfriend say this.
She showed more than clearly that she stood by her side, and that she wouldn’t allow anyone to bring just the slightest spark of doubt between them.
This was the first moment that Jinx realized that Caitlyn was serious with her love for Vi.
“… yeah, okay”, Vi smiled, and squeezed Caitlyn’s hand back, “You’re right. She doesn’t have any power over us!”, Vi said, this time, her voice was way more determined than before.
“Good. And honestly, I’ll shoot her dead if she tries anything”, Caitlyn casually dropped with the most serious look on her face, and Vi blinked shocked at her love, while Jinx laughed hearty and loud: “You know what, tall lady?! I might start to like you!”
~
When the day of their couple shooting arrived, Caitlyn, Vi and Jinx waited with a part of the rest of today’s crew at the dock on which a ferry would pick them up to get over to the little island on which the old prison Alcatraz stood.
“I never visited San Francisco before, it’s beautiful! And it’s nice to see the Golden Gate Bridge live for once”, Caitlyn smiled, when she looked over the water to the big red bridge in the distance.
“I think Pow and me were here once before, right?”, Vi smiled over to her sister, who balanced on the backrest of a bench beside the trio: “Yeah! Guess we had a job here, and you dragged me to the Pride district. Had to admit, it was quite nice!”, Jinx grinned, and hopped down when she saw the ferry dock and open its gate.
“Is that the whole crew already?”, Caitlyn asked confused with a look at the small group, but when they saw another small group approach them with fast steps, she smiled relieved: “Ah! There’s the rest.”, she said, and just as they wanted to walk over to the ferry, she saw a redhead which she really didn’t want to see ever again just near her girlfriend.
“Oh, Vi! Hey. How’s your uptight girlfriend?”, Sarah smiled bright when she approached Vi, and ignored that Caitlyn and Jinx stood right beside Vi.
“Do you really want to make a fool out of yourself so bad?”, Vi said, and crossed her arms, “You should get your eyes checked if you’re serious with this. What are you doing here anyway?!”, Vi asked annoyed, and Sarah just fake giggled amused: “I’m working, just like you. They looked for an extra assistant, and I was free and open for the job, and they gave it to me when I applied for it”, she winked, and tried to touch her arm again, but Vi reacted fast enough and took a step back to not be touched by her.
She took Caitlyn’s hand in hers, turned around and left her Ex behind without any more words, followed by her sister.
Jinx turned around and peaked her tongue out to the redhead, pulled her right eyelid down with one finger, and flipped her off afterwards with the meanest grin, before she turned to Vi and Caitlyn again to follow them onto the ferry.
-
“What the bloody hell is she doing here?!”, Caitlyn asked with a snarl, and Vi shrugged tense: “I don’t fucking know, this woman is a fucking nightmare. We need to be careful”, she sighed, and looked up to the upper deck, where Sarah leaned against the railing and waved with one hand, shooting Vi a wink and blowing her a kiss, which made Caitlyn furious.
“I will go up there now and confront her. This is ridiculous!”, the tall photographer huffed pissed, but Vi grabbed her wrist to hold her back: “Babe, please. That’s what she wants, reactions. Making you angry. She tries to trigger us, she always did this kind of shit back then, and she obviously hasn’t changed. Please”, she said, and Caitlyn took a deep breath: “… alright, but if she keeps acting up like this, I’ll have a serious conversation with that bitch!”
Jinx giggled amused, seeing Caitlyn so jealous and feral was funny to her: “You really got it in you, didn’t thought you’d be so-…”, she started, but Vi stopped her: “Okay, can we stop now? Really, let’s just get this job done.”, she sighed, and Jinx was still giggling, while Caitlyn turned to Vi again to lay her hands on the sides of her neck: “I’m sorry… come here”, she said, and leaned in for a kiss, which Vi gave back with a relaxed sigh and her hands on her tiny waist, and which made Sarah angry now – She frowned more than pissed on the view, and Jinx noticed it.
The youngest grimaced at her again, before she hopped off to inspect the ferry a little more by herself and left Vi and Caitlyn behind for now.
-
They arrived at the small island shortly after and the crew got everything and everyone ready for the job.
“Alright! Thank you again for agreeing to this, Caitlyn. I know you’re nervous, but I’m sure you will do just fine! We start with a few single shots of both of you, and then we do the first outfit swap and get you two in front of the camera together, is that fine for you?”, the woman who booked them asked, and Vi nodded, before she turned her head to Caitlyn, who fiddled a bit with her hands: “Yes, sounds lovely. Is it fine if we start with me? I think that’d be the best way for me to get rid of the nervousness”, she asked, and the woman smiled at her: “Of course, no problem! Let’s get going then!”
So, they changed into the first outfits and the make-up artists got them ready.
Caitlyn took a deep breath and walked over to the first set that they had built up in the hallway between the old prison cells, and stopped at the spot she was supposed to pose.
Vi positioned herself next to one of the soft boxes and crossed her arms with a bright and proud smile, to support Caitlyn somehow in the, for her, new situation.
Caitlyn appreciated it, she gave her a quick thankful smile, and then she focused on the photographer who joined them.
It was weird for Caitlyn to see someone else in her usual position, but Vi’s proud and encouraging smile gave her the confidence she needed to perform quite good and loosen up more and more.
“Hm~… how did you two meet? Like, with her being British and all this…”
Vi flinched when she suddenly heard Sarah’s voice beside her: “What the fuck?! Sarah, for real. We’re all adults, can’t you just behave like one? We’re done. And there’s nothing you can do to change that”, Vi sighed annoyed, and crossed her arms again after she had loosened them from the little heart attack before.
Sarah just rolled her eyes and flicked her index finger over Vi’s chin: “Oh come on, you can’t be serious with her. What we had was special, don’t you think? She’s just some British chick, what do you even see in her? She looks silly with her tall figure and this ridiculous tooth gap. Be real”, she asked, and before Vi could get angry and tell her off, she heard the photographer’s voice.
“Hey! We’re not done, where are you going?”, he asked super confused, and the next thing Vi saw was navy blue hair swooshing past her and Sarah being pushed away.
“It’s bloody enough, keep your hands off my girlfriend, do you hear me?! I don’t know who you think you are, but there’s one thing I can tell you: Vi is not your girlfriend anymore and she won’t ever be your girlfriend again, got it??”, Caitlyn hissed feral, and tapped her index finger over and over against Sarah’s chest with fire in her eyes.
“Woah, hold your horses, hahaha!”, Sarah just laughed at her, and acted like Caitlyn’s threatening aura didn’t affect her at all, “No need to get so handy, girl. We’re just talking. And I don’t know what’s wrong with simple talking~”, she purred, which made Caitlyn even angrier.
“Cait…”, Vi started, and pulled her gently back on her upper arm, “She’s not worth it. Babe, come here”, she said, and it was like their roles were reversed.
The anger in Caitlyn, and the de-escalation in Vi.
“I have an eye on you.”, Caitlyn growled, and Sarah raised an eyebrow with a dirty smirk: “Oh, I hope you do, believe me~”, she grinned, and left the couple to go back to her work as an assistant of today’s shooting.
This went exactly like she wanted – And she was far from done.
Chapter 30: Catfight
Summary:
Hey and welcome back to 'Pictures'! <3
Today we have more Sarah Fortune drama, let's see where this goes D:
After this chapter we will probably have an early release next week and then a little pause, as I am on holiday then. I do my best to update asap after that! I think we will continue mid september after the release next week :)
🚨UPDATE🚨: Chapter 31 will come mid September, I'm so sorry, but I don't manage to finish it before I fly to Japan :( I hope you guys won't be to sad about the wait 😭
Please enjoy chapter 30 - Catfight!
Chapter Text
Chapter 30 – Catfight
The shooting went on quite normal after Sarah’s attempts to get Caitlyn angry and Vi insecure.
The photographer took the last single shots of Caitlyn, before he continued his work with the single ones of Vi, for which they changed the location inside the old prison.
After the man nodded satisfied with the outcome of the solo shootings, the couple changed into the next outfits which they were supposed to wear for the first couple shots today.
“Okay, I want you two to be close, but not too intimate for this one. Alright?”, the woman who managed everything said, “… we have two matching outfits after those, and for them we can go a little harder”, she chuckled, and positioned the couple the way she wanted, “After I learned that you two are really a couple and not just colleagues, I really couldn’t wait to use the aura and feelings you two radiate for this collection! The love you two have for each other is feel- and seeable, and this will be something that’ll make the photos even more special! Are you fine with this?”, she asked, and the couple smiled at her.
But Sarah? Sarah’s expression darkened. Heavily.
“/Love? Feel- and seeable? Pff, what bullshit. Vi is mine, and she can’t love anyone but me./”, she thought to herself, and crossed her arms like a pouting child.
“Yeah, sounds great. I bet we can transmit what you want through the shots”, Vi said, and Caitlyn agreed: “Yes, I’m pretty sure that we can deliver what you want”, she smiled, and laid her hand around her girlfriend’s forearm to walk over to the spot they had prepared for them with her.
Vi stood inside a cell on the small bunk bed, and Caitlyn stood on the floor next to it, leaning with her back against Vi’s side.
She held Vi’s hand with both of hers, which hung loose over the navy haired woman’s shoulder.
Vi wore dark brown slacks, a black lace bra and an open, white linen button up over it, while Caitlyn wore a color matching outfit of a pencil skirt and blouse, combined with a plaid beret in the skirt and slacks color.
“Good! That’s perfect, we go like this, let’s start!”, the photographer smiled, and the couple started to play with the camera.
Caitlyn had loosened up a little meanwhile, she was more confident than she was at the beginning, but the fact that Vi’s cheating ex-girlfriend was here with them, blatantly hitting on her girlfriend, made her tense.
She tried to not let her have any effect on her, but it got harder the longer she felt Sarah’s eyes on them.
Caitlyn remembered her and Vi’s talk about jealousy, and fear joined her mixed emotions suddenly.
What if Vi would get the ick again, because she acted up on Sarah?
She couldn’t risk it, not because of someone like that.
“Hey, you okay?”, Vi whispered suddenly, and ripped her girlfriend out of her thoughts, “You look like you’re not really with us”, she frowned worried, but Caitlyn shook her head with a little smile: “No, I’m good! Let’s talk after the job, alright, darling?”, she answered, and Vi nodded, kissed her forehead quick but soft, and turned back to the photographer again.
“You know what? That was actually really cute! Can you do that again? I want to try something.”, he smiled to the couple, and they looked at him with big eyes, before they chuckled and repeated the forehead kiss with cute smiles.
“Yes, that’s really sweet!”, the man grinned, and showed them the outcome.
Sarah stood at the side and got a glimpse of the sweetest forehead kiss photos, which made her roll her eyes overdone and crossing her arms again, before she huffed annoyed when a voice interrupted her drama.
“Face it. You fucked up big times, missy.”
Sarah frowned and startled a little, when her ex’ little sister suddenly appeared behind her out of nowhere.
Jinx gave her a belligerent, shit-eating grin, and was obviously waiting for her reaction.
She hated this woman with all she had, as she had caused her big sister so much unnecessary pain, and even if she wasn’t that happy with Caitlyn at Vi’s side, she made it her mission to fight Sarah Fortune back – No one would hurt Vi under her watch.
No one.
But Miss Fortune was a toxic bitch, and she knew and loved it to act like this – So, fighting such a person back was anything than easy.
Even for someone like Jinx.
“Well, you know how to fuck up things like a professional, don’t you, Powder?”, the redhead smirked evil, using her birthname on purpose, and Jinx mocking attitude changed to an angry one, but Sarah wasn’t done yet: “Your sister made a big mistake, and as you obviously don’t want to help me fix it, I will do it by myself. It’s a shame tho, honestly… we always got along so well, didn’t we? But whatever. Vi will see that I am the only one for her, she needs me, and she will realize it sooner than later. This British chick is no competition for me, and Vi will see that, too. So, are you sure you don’t want to help me making your sister happy again?”, she asked, still smirking, and Jinx’ frown deepened: “First of all: No one. And I MEAN no one!! Calls me ‘Powder’, except Vi, you better get that memorized!! And second of all: You better go back to where you came from, I don’t know yet if Caitlyn might or might not be the right one for my sister, but if I know one thing then it is that YOU are definitely not the one!!”, Jinx spit, and Sarah just chuckled arrogant: “Oh girl, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyway, I have work to do, don’t you, too?”, she winked, walked off and left the younger woman standing there.
“…”, Jinx stared after her, and tried to swallow her anger, which wasn’t easy at all for her.
But when she looked over to Vi and Caitlyn, who were still shooting together, she managed to take a deep breath.
Vi looked happy.
And despite the drama and chaos that Sarah had started, despite the insecurity she had planted in Vi – Next to Caitlyn, Vi was genuinely happy. Confident. She was herself.
Her healthy self.
She was the version of herself that Jinx wanted to see when she looked at her big sister.
Her big sister, who had always done everything to keep her safe, to make sure that she got something to eat, protected her from everyone and everything, her big sister who put her always, always above her own wellbeing.
And she would not allow anyone to destroy the self Vi finally became again.
Especially not Sarah Fortune.
-
Vi and Caitlyn had changed into the next outfits, which were more formal wear.
Vi wore a cherry-red suit with a white button-up and dark brown dress shoes, while Caitlyn wore a baby-blue pantsuit with a white, strapless croptop which only covered her strapless bra and left a lot of her stomach to see, and black stilettos, while her hair was tied up into a high ponytail.
When everyone was ready, the team walked out of the prison building again to walk down to the cliff of the island on the harbor side, so they would have the sharp rocks and the water as their photo background.
The wind was just a mild breeze, the temperatures were warm but not too hot, and the sky was just a little cloudy. The sound of the low waves filled the air, and Caitlyn took a deep breath with closed eyes, to just feel the atmosphere in which she was supposed to work now.
Just as she turned around with a happy smile, Vi’s ex walked up to them with a confidence that drove her mad.
“Let me help you with that, honey~”, Sarah purred, and reached for the collar of Vi’s button-up to straighten it out, “… you look great. And your nice ass shows pretty good in these pants.”, she winked with a smirk, and Caitlyn felt the rage inside her boil up again, when Sarah turned to her and looked her up and down with one eyebrow raised: “… well. I don’t think there’s anything that can fix this up.”
“… listen here, you little-…!!”, Caitlyn hissed, but Sarah ignored her skillfully and hopped down the rock the couple stood on, but not without flipping her hair and wiggling her hips, before she got back to her position, where she turned around and kept her evil smirk when she looked up to the others.
“I will shoot her dead, Vi, I-…”, Caitlyn whispered through pressed teeth, and Vi made her look at her with her hands laid softly on Caitlyn’s cheeks: “Babe, honestly, she’d deserve it, and I would cover up for you, I swear. But I will handle this. Leave that to me, okay?”, she asked her to, and Caitlyn frowned: “Are you sure? That bitch doesn’t shy away from anything the way she behaves.”, she asked, but before Vi could answer, the photographer got into position and the director walked up to them.
“Alright, guys! So, I want this to be classy, a contrast to the environment here! And I want you two to be close, to touch and we will have some more intimate ones later in the inner courtyard with the last outfits. You memorized the briefing?”, she asked, and the couple nodded in synch before they got into position – And they felt sassy eyes on them.
-
Sarah stood beside the other few assistants with her arms crossed.
She had her left eyebrow cocked slightly the whole time, and her aura was so intense, even her colleagues felt that the woman had a personal problem with the two that posed in front of the camera right now.
“Hey. Are you alright?”, a young woman asked the redhead, and Sarah’s glare changed into a smile when she turned to her: “Huh? Oh, sweetie, of course everything is fine. Everything is perfectly fine!”, she smiled quite fake, and the woman frowned a little: “Do you know them personally? I really don’t want to offend you or get personal, but it looks like you’re jealous or something.”, she said with a tiny voice, and Sarah just laughed amused: “Oh, no. Haha. I’m not jealous, I’m just… let’s call it worried. About someone who’s making a big mistake, but I will handle this. You’re a bit too curious, girlypop~ Be careful to not stick your nose too deep in other’s business, got it?”, she winked, and a cold shiver ran down the other woman’s back – Sarah Fortune was a little creepy.
“Oh! O-… of course. I’m sorry, I just thought-… I thought, maybe I could help, you know?”, the woman shrugged with another shy smile, and an idea formed itself in Sarah’s head: “Oh, you’re really too sweet! What’s your name, cutie?”, she asked, and the younger woman smiled a bit brighter when they shook hands: “Alice. Nice to meet you-… uhm…?” – “Sarah.” – “Nice to meet you, Sarah.”
The redhead grinned a little: “Oh, the pleasure is entirely on my part~”
-
The last part of today’s shooting was being prepared soon.
Caitlyn and Vi changed into their last outfits of a dark blue mini dress for Caitlyn, and ripped, dark blue jeans and an also ripped, black tank top for Vi.
It had the vibe of a cheerleader and the outcast, or a groupie and a rockstar.
“Shit, Cupcake, you look so hot in this.”, Vi smirked dirty, and laid her hands on Caitlyn’s hips, let them slip down to her butt cheeks and grabbed and squeezed them with an even dirtier smirk, which made the taller woman squeak in both, surprise and embarrassment.
“Violet Lane…!!”, she admonished her with a flushed face, “… we are working…!!”, she whispered, but Vi just snickered amused and wiggled her eyebrows: “Oh come on, Cupcake…”, she grinned, “… that dress is so short, I had to! And…”, her voice got lower, “… I have to mark my territory, don’t you think?~”, she purred, and Caitlyn bit her lower lip on that: “… mh. Yes, that shall be a quite understandable cause to act that mannerless…”, she whispered back, and both couldn’t stop a sly grin which formed on both their lips.
Sarah kept being near Alice and tried to flirt with her when Vi looked down to the crew, but it had less than zero effect on the pink haired woman – She simply ignored it and gave all her attention back to where it belonged to: Caitlyn.
The couple leaned in for a quick kiss, when they suddenly heard the photographer clear his throat: “Uhm… I am ready, ladies. Are you ready to start as well?”, he smiled, and the couple laughed a little, nodded and went into position.
“Perfect, let’s get this a little more heated!”, he grinned, and the last shooting of the day started.
The director crossed her arms after the first shots, and walked up to the models: “Are you up to try something? If this is too much, feel free to tell me!”, she smiled, and helped them into the position she had in mind.
Caitlyn with her back against the wall, Vi in front of her, Caitlyn’s left leg up in the air, held by the back of her thigh by Vi’s hand, causing her arm to flex, while one of Caitlyn’s arms was around Vi’s neck and the other arm’s hand grabbed Vi’s ass.
“Yes, that’s good! We want this heated, alright? I leave the rest to you!”, the director smiled, and the shooting went on.
Vi grinned and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend’s neck, and Caitlyn leaned her head a bit back with a turned-on expression on her face, tightening the grip in her lover’s hair and butt cheek.
It was hot.
And when Caitlyn got a glimpse of the way Sarah Fortune looked up to them, she felt the need to mark her territory – Just like Vi had mentioned it before.
“…”, Caitlyn suddenly remembered what Vi had told her about Sarah appearing suddenly at a set and making a scene, because Vi was shooting with another woman.
An evil smirk formed itself shortly on her lips, and she knew how she could trigger the woman who tried to get between her and Vi – She would eat, and she wouldn’t leave any crumbs, that was for sure.
“Vi~…”, she purred, leaned in, and nipped on Vi’s earlobe, while she looked possessive into the camera, but not without giving Vi’s ex a superior and challenging glare before focusing on the camera.
“…fuck, babe-… you’re making me so wet…”, Vi whispered only for her girlfriend to hear, and bit her lower lip when she felt Caitlyn go full force for this shooting, not realizing that there was a catfight going on behind her back.
“Oh, don’t worry, love… I will take care of this in a while.”, Caitlyn purred back, and the way the anger rose in Sarah’s face made Caitlyn feel more confident in what they were doing right now – And she would go even further.
But Caitlyn definitely wasn’t done yet.
If Sarah wanted to play this game, she would play along – And beat her in it.
“Can I suggest something?”, the navy haired woman asked, and the director and photographer nodded with a smile, so she looked at Vi and told her what she had in mind: “So, can you lift me up under my knees, Vi? Holding me against the wall?”, she asked, and Vi made big eyes when she heard that: “…uhm!! I mean-… sure?!”, she agreed, and lifted Caitlyn with ease, like she would strap her against the prison’s outer wall.
“Shit, Cupcake… you’re so hot, really, what the hell”, Vi snickered, and couldn’t hold back a low groan when her front met Caitlyn’s, meanwhile, very heated one, “You’re driving me insane, I swear…”
Vi couldn’t deny that going this hard on each other in front of a camera and the whole team turned her on. She wasn’t aware before that this was a thing for her, so she made a mental note about this and tried to concentrate on the shooting again.
“Yes! That’s great, keep going like this!”, the photographer said, after he got an approving nod from the director, and walked around them to get the best shots from the scene in front of him.
Sarah’s anger developed into furiousness when she saw her ex-girlfriend pressing a woman that wasn’t her so sexually against a wall, and Caitlyn’s plan worked out – Sarah Fortune snapped.
The scene in front of her took her back to the moment she burst into the shooting Vi had some years ago, together with another female model.
~ A few years ago ~
Sarah found the briefing for Vi’s shooting she left for a while ago between other documents, when she looked through them for something interesting.
“… excuse me, WHAT?!”, she frowned, and read through the lines again.
- Holding her with one arm, facing the camera
- Presenting the outfit from the front and with a flexed body
- Skin peeking out slightly
- Hand on chest, pose showing off the second outfit from the back
- …
Sarah put the document away, she didn’t need to read more.
Someone should touch Vi? HER Vi? Absolutely not.
The redhead grabbed her purse and made her way down to her car, after she had taken a photo of the studio’s adress Vi was supposed to work today and drove off way too fast to the address of the job.
-
“Great! Just like that, yes. Perfect, that looks exactly like we need it!!”
The team around the photographer was more than pleased with the way Vi and the other model posed for them, they were both through and through professionals, after all.
“Awesome, two more, then we change the outfits. Ready?”, the photographer asked, and the two models agreed with a short nod and a smile and got into position: Vi holding the other model on her waist, who leaned a bit back and had one hand on her shoulder, while the other hung loose down.
“Let’s go!”, the woman behind the camera smiled, but before she was able to take even one shot, the door flew violently open, and a furious Sarah Fortune stormed inside the studio.
“VI!!!”
Vi startled at the sudden scream of her name, and looked at her girlfriend with big eyes: “Sarah? What are you do-…”, she started, but got interrupted by the other woman immediately, who stormed straight to her and pushed the other model away.
“What the fuck you think you’re doing, huh?? Who is she?! Why the hell are you touching her like that??”, Sarah made a scene, and Vi lifted her hands in a defensive manner: “Babe, I’m working… nothing more! I told you I work with another model today, what the hell is this all about…?!”, Vi was more than confused, and it was visible in her expression.
“’Working’?! This didn’t look like ‘working’, Vi!!”, Sarah accused her, and tapped her finger against her girlfriend’s chest, “I will not allow you to work with other women ever again, you hear me?! This is definitely too much!!”, the redhead continued her rant, and the photographer came up to the fighting couple.
“Excuse me, who do you think you are? You can’t just enter a studio and interrupt the work here!”, she said, and Sarah turned to her: “I am Vi’s girlfriend, and I am allowed to be where she is, got it??”, Sarah hissed, but the photographer wasn’t having it: “I don’t care whose girlfriend you are, you will leave, now!”, she said clearly, and Sarah just crossed her arms: “Pff! I’m not going anywhere without Vi!”, she said, and Vi felt herself getting torn.
“Sarah, babe, calm down. Everything’s fine, this is just work, we didn’t do anything!”, Vi tried to calm her, but Sarah just huffed offended: “Excuse me?! No, I don’t want you to touch anyone else then me!”, she continued, and Vi sighed, this wouldn’t go anywhere.
“Okay, listen… let’s go outside and talk quick, you’re making a scene”, Vi said, but that just made Sarah explode again: “EXCUSE ME?? I’m definitely NOT making a scene, that’s ridiculous! And oh, yes, we will go outside and STRAIGHT home, there’s nothing to talk about, Vi, you’re done here, come on!”, Sarah said, and grabbed Vi’s wrist to pull her with her, but Vi resisted.
“Sarah, I need to finish the job here. We talk this evening when I’m home, okay?”, Vi suggested, still trying to calm her down, but Sarah wasn’t having it: “No. We go home now, and this job here is cancelled! You either come with me, or we’re done! Don’t you love me? Is this bitch over there more important to you than I am? Is it that, huh?? Do you want to stay with her instead of me? Your girlfriend?”, Sarah gave Vi an ultimatum, and by the look on Vi’s face she knew: She got her on the guilt tripping hook.
“… okay, okay. Just let me-…”, Vi started, but Sarah kept going: “No, Vi, now!”, she pressured her, and Vi gave in: “… okay.”
Sarah pulled Vi out of the studio, with Vi grabbing her bag on the way out, and the photographer just called after them: “That will have consequences! That was the last time we booked you, remember that!!”
“…”
~ Present day ~
“VI!!!”, the redhead screamed up to the couple, and stormed past the director and also the photographer like she did back then and grabbed her ex’s shoulder to pull on it so hard, that Vi had to let Caitlyn down.
“What the hell?! Are you serious?? I told you I don’t want you to touch other women, I don’t care if this is work or not!!”, she screamed, and Caitlyn blinked at the scene in front of her.
That woman really seemed to have serious mental issues, she suddenly talked as if Vi was still her girlfriend.
“…”, Vi took a deep breath and shoved her ex away to gain distance between her and herself, and especially to create distance between Sarah and Caitlyn.
“… are you done??”, the model asked, anger was in her face, but Sarah just continued to blame her: “Excuse me?! I’m not the one pounding someone else against a fucking wall!! And-…”, she tried to continue, but the attempt was stopped by Vi the second she tried to accuse her of more things, “… I asked: ARE YOU DONE??”, Vi repeated her question, and her aura changed to a very intimidating one.
The whole crew stared at the drama in front of them, and everyone was just frozen in shock – The crew didn’t understand why the situation escalated so suddenly.
“What the fuck do you think you will get from this behavior, huh?? What?? Do you really think I take you back?! By doing the same bullshit that drove us apart?? Acting like we’re still together?! Huh?? Do you really believe this would work??”, Vi barked, and Sarah took a step back, “I’m not under your influence and manipulation anymore, Sarah, my mind is made up, do you understand?! You don’t have any power over me anymore, go it??”, Vi talked herself to rage, and for the first time in years, Sarah was speechless.
She stared at Vi, a Vi who had never talked to her like that, a Vi who had healed - Healed from the mental wounds she had left on her mind, heart, and soul.
“You don’t want me, Sarah. You just don’t want someone else to be by my side, this is not about me, this is about you having power and control over me!! I can see all this now, and you know what?! This is thanks to her!”, Vi continued, and pointed to Caitlyn who stood just a step behind her, “Because this woman here took the time and gave me the patience I needed to heal, heal from the wounds you caused me!!”, Vi said, her voice was still angry, and she gave her best to don’t let it tremble the slightest.
“You better leave, Sarah. And I don’t want to see your face ever again, do you understand?? I’m not playing, I’m fucking serious. We’re done. We are done since the breakup, and this won’t ever change. I love Caitlyn, and she treats me right. You never did that. Get some help, but I’m definitely not the one helping you find some”, Vi said, and silence filled the whole inner courtyard of the old prison.
Caitlyn could see in the way Vi’s shoulders and chest heaved up and down that the stress inside Vi was unbearably high, so she took a step forward and laid her arm around Vi’s waist to give her physical and mental stability, but she didn’t say anything yet – This was between her and her ex, and she would only step in verbally if she was sure Vi needed her for backup.
Sarah stared at the couple in front of her, and the gears in her brain were grinding hard.
That didn’t go like she had planned it, that didn’t go the slightest like she imagined it would.
Vi’s new built confidence was something she hadn’t expect, and as it was normal for her to treat a partner like she did, it didn’t get to her mind that Caitlyn provided Vi with genuine love and support.
That Caitlyn loved her for who she was and always had her back in what she did.
That she didn’t date her for advantage, but for a serious and eye-leveled relationship.
And in that moment, Caitlyn became her enemy even more.
“You’re making a big mistake, Vi. It’s not me who ‘influenced’ you. It’s this bitch beside you who makes you think I am the villain here. But you will see, I will open your eyes, just wait a little longer, I have my ways.”, Sarah huffed, and now Caitlyn couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Is this a threat? Are you threatening us?? You must be bloody delusional to really believe what you’re saying. You heard her. Vi made more than clear that she doesn’t want to see you ever again. So, leave it be and go on with your life. You’re wasting your time here”, Caitlyn said, her voice cold and intimidating, while she still had her arm around Vi, who was thankful for the support.
“I wasn’t talking to you”, Sarah said, and crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes before Vi answered again: “It’s like she said, Sarah. Do yourself a favor and just leave. You made a clown of yourself already, don’t make it worse. Look behind you”, Vi said with an annoyed sigh, and Sarah frowned, before she turned around to look inside the faces of the whole team staring at them.
They all looked at them with big eyes and open mouths, and Jinx was snacking a pack of gummy bears like a bucket of popcorn while she watched the show in front of them.
“Weeeeell, so, I think this was a perfect last episode of this reality show drama, Sarah.”, the younger Lane sister smirked evil and bright, and threw another few of the gummy bears into her mouth while she took a few steps forward, munching on her snack while she said: “Time to go, missy.”
“Oh, this isn’t the last ‘episode’, remember my words!! I QUIT!!”, Sarah said way too loud, and screamed her termination in the directors’ direction before she stormed off to the docks to wait for the next ferry to take her back to the mainland.
“… what the fuck was that?”, the director blinked in confusion, and looked up to the couple, which took a deep breath like everyone else present.
“I’m so sorry, I really am. We can go on, if you’re still up to work with us…?”, Vi asked insecure, as she remembered how this turned out the last time.
But it wasn’t like last time.
Vi didn’t bend, she stood her ground, and Caitlyn was at her side, having her back.
The situation was different than it was back then, she was stronger, and she didn’t allow Sarah to ruin the job this time.
“Of course, you’re not the one who made a scene here”, the director smiled lightly, “I’ll let my colleagues and partners know that they should never hire this woman if she applies for a job, that’s for sure. She won’t ever get a job again in this industry. Okay guys, let’s finish these shots, then the job is done, and we can call it a day after this show we all witnessed right now!”
The anxiety inside Vi vanished after she heard this.
It healed a part inside her that still thought that Sarah was able to destroy what she had if she wanted to, but seeing that everyone was on her side now, and watching Sarah stomping off like a defiant child made her realize that this wasn’t the case.
People saw that Sarah was the problem, not her.
And this feeling let her confidence grow a bit more and broke down a piece of her trauma.
-
The shooting went on, and with Caitlyn’s near and support, Vi was able to get mentally back to work in front of the camera.
She lifted her again to press her gently against the wall, and Caitlyn leaned her forehead against Vi’s: “… I love you, Vi. And I’m proud of you, so, so proud. You know, this all showed me once more that you really meant what you told me in all our conversations since we met again in L.A. and started dating. You deserve my trust, Vi. And I’m happy I also feel like I can give you this trust again.”, she whispered, and Vi nodded with closed eyes, trying to hold the tears back that bubbled up on her girlfriend’s words.
“Thanks, Cupcake… for everything.”, Vi whispered back, and Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss to her love’s forehead, before both took a deep breath and concentrated on the work they still had to do.
The photographer took more shots, and the models changed into a few more poses, all of them provoking and intimate – They went full force and the director was more than satisfied with the outcome, she wanted to provoke the viewers of this collection, and she also had an extra job from Mel, who wanted a small portfolio of these shots for an article in a magazine, which wanted to write about her agency and the way Mel included queer representation in her work.
“… awesome! I think we got everything!”
Vi blinked when she heard the photographer, and Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss on her nose with a bright smile, before she took Vi’s hand and walked down to the crew with her to check the outcome together.
“Oh shit… we’re fucking hot, Cupcake!”, Vi grinned, when she saw the raw shots on the portable screen, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but grin a bit mischievous: “Oh, indeed, we are, darling.”, she said proudly.
“You did so good. I knew you had it in you, babe. I’m serious, you’re a natural.”, Vi grinned, and Caitlyn blushed a little at that compliment: “Darling, you’re exaggerating… that was my first job in front of the camera, I bet there’s a lot to improve.”, she chuckled, but the photographer intervened immediately: “No, Vi is right. I would have never guessed that this was your first time if I didn’t know beforehand. You delivered perfect work!”, he said, and Caitlyn blushed even more: “Oh, stop it… thank you…”
“Alright guys, time to pack our stuff and take the next ferry back! Good job, everyone!!”, the director said with a big grin, and everyone applauded the whole crew for today’s good work, before they got ready to call it a day.
-
“Hey. That was quite a show.”
Jinx let herself fall giggling beside her sister, who leaned against the railing of the ferry with Caitlyn beside her, munching on some snacks.
“I’m proud of you. Just wanted to let you know”, the younger sister smiled with a shrug, and leaned her head against Vi’s shoulder, “That bitch really needs to be blown up. You handled it well, consider a few punches for next time maybe, but let’s hope she doesn’t show up ever again for now.”, Jinx shrugged, and Vi chuckled, before she leaned her head against Jinx’.
It felt good to be taken care of, for a change.
Even if it was very unfamiliar to Vi, as she was normally always the person who took care of others, who protected others.
But having backup, allowing others to take care of her – It felt freeing, even if it had always scared her to death to show weakness – But she understood in that moment, that it wasn’t weakness.
It was a strength.
“… thanks, Pow-Pow. Cait. Both of you. For always being there for me.”
Chapter 31: NYC
Summary:
Hello hello, and welcome back after the little break here at 'Pictures'! :)
Thank you for waiting and your understanding <3
As promised, here comes the next chapter right after I'm back from Japan!It's a bit longer than the ones before, I hope that makes up a little for the delay :D
And it's filled with smut, so enjoy, hehe.I hope to be able to update every 2 weeks again, let's see if life allows me to, lol...
But without further ado, let's get started with Chapter 31 - NYC!
Chapter Text
Chapter 31 - NYC
It was the night after the shooting.
Vi laid on top of Caitlyn in her bed, snuggled up to the taller woman who had her arms securely wrapped around her, taking in her warmth and scent which had such a calming effect on her.
Caitlyn let one hand caress gently over Vi’s back, while her other hand played with her hair and softly scratched her scalp, making her feel all cozy and a little dizzy, as her touches let her skin prickle pleasantly.
“… do you feel better?”, Caitlyn softly whispered her question, and pressed a loving kiss to the top of Vi’s head, “… is there anything more you want to talk about?”
They had unwrapped the situation with Sarah Fortune earlier when they had dinner together.
Vi assured Caitlyn that her jealous reactions to Sarah acting like that didn’t trigger her jealousy-ick at all, it was more on the contrary, she felt supported and trusted with.
She had needed the support and the feeling of being sure that Sarah had no power over them, and that she believed and trusted her, even if Sarah was playing these mind games with them.
“… no. No, everything is said, I think”, Vi whispered against Caitlyn’s chest, and tightened her arms around her a little more, “… I love you. And no one can convince me otherwise.”
~
Two days passed after the Alcatraz shooting, and Vi managed to process everything that Sarah Fortune had pulled the last days with the help of Caitlyn and Jinx.
She was proud of herself and her healing status, and so she was able to enjoy the time she had with her girlfriend to the fullest again.
At the morning of the third day after the shooting, Mel contacted Vi and Caitlyn all of a sudden regarding a spontaneous job.
“… no, of course. We’re free for that.”, Caitlyn said, sitting at the high kitchen table, talking to her friend on speaker, while Vi was making them eggs for breakfast next to her girlfriend.
>”Magnificent! Thank you, this is the first time we got the permission to shoot our own fashion line there, we can’t miss this opportunity. I will book you two a flight to New York City for this afternoon right away, you’ll get the tickets to your phone in just a few minutes. Oh, and I will provide you with a small loft apartment to stay the nights, before you fly back to L.A. the day after the job.”<, Mel informed the couple further, and Caitlyn looked to Vi, who just nodded agreeing before she turned back to the stove.
“Sounds good. Please remember to book enough luggage weight for my equipment.”, Caitlyn said, and Mel chuckled at the other end of the line: >”Of course, don’t worry. I’ll add the insurance as well, as always. Good, I get everything done and you will receive the tickets and information per mail in a while. If there’s anything missing or else, just call me.”< - “Yes, of course. Hear you, bye!”
They ended the call and Caitlyn got up from her high bar chair with a slight grin at the view she got in front of her, focusing on a specific part of Vi’s body.
“Sounds promising, don’t you think? It’s been a while since I was in New York, we could-… eeek!!”, Vi squeaked high pitched, when she suddenly felt Caitlyn’s hands squeeze her butt and her canines biting teasingly down between her neck and shoulder: “Mhh~… those grey sweatpants really flatter your perfect arse, darling~”, the photographer purred, and kissed the spot she bit before.
Vi blushed heavily, she hadn’t expected this sudden ‘attack’, and Caitlyn complimenting her feature so directly did something to her.
Caitlyn smiled amused when she could see Vi’s skin rising into pleasant goosebumps, and she laid her hands on Vi’s naked waist and pressed her front against her back, drawing a little moan from the other woman, who just wore a bralette to her sweatpants.
“Cait…”, Vi mumbled, and leaned back into her love’s embrace, enjoyed her scent, warmth and the feeling of her body against hers, “… you’re driving me crazy every single second, what the fuck…”, she chuckled, and turned her head for a sweet kiss on Caitlyn’s lips, “… and you’re really obsessed with my ass, am I wrong?”, the model teased with a smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows, and the other woman just chuckled amused at that: “Oh, darling… not as obsessed as you are with my boobs.” – “Haha, fair! Come on, let’s eat and then pack our stuff.”
~
The flight to New York went smoothly and was in-time.
Vi had napped with her head on Caitlyn’s shoulder, while the photographer had read a few times through the briefing Mel had sent them, took some notes, and informed her girlfriend about everything on the last hour before landing, when she was awake again.
Vi had just tiredly but attentive listened to Caitlyn’s info dumping, focusing more on how cute she found her when she was so invested and focused than on the actual topic.
“… did you understand everything?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi just kissed her with a bright grin: “I love you!”, she snickered, and Caitlyn just looked confused at the shorter woman: “Huh?!”, too flabbergasted to give the surprise kiss back.
“Yeah, I got everything, Cupcake!” – “You’re incredible, really.”
-
“Good old New York City!”, Vi said, and took a look around, “As dirty and crowded as I remember.”, she chuckled, and took Caitlyn’s hand in hers after she had typed the address into her phone’s navigation app, and they started their walk to the loft apartment that was booked for them.
“It’s my first time here, actually. It is indeed impressive, like people always say”, Caitlyn said, and looked up to the high buildings that surrounded them, “… I’m curious in what kind of place we will stay”, she smiled, and Vi found herself not paying the slightest attention to the big city around them, her focus was entirely on Caitlyn’s pretty face and the way her eyes widened as she took in the new surroundings.
She was so incredibly beautiful to her.
Just everything about her, the way her jawline flexed when she looked up to the skyscrapers, the way her high cheekbones seemed even more toned when she had this genuine and bright smile on her face, the way her little tooth gap showed when she smiled that way, her incredibly blue eyes that sparkled in the sunlight and in excitement, her silky, straight navy hair that would fall like weightless feathers through her fingers when she caressed it – Honestly, just everything about her.
“Vi? Do we still need to follow this street? I think we need to turn here.”
Vi blinked when Caitlyn’s question pulled her out of her daydream about the woman that was hers, the woman she was so proud of herself that she fought for, and the woman that gifted her a second chance on trust.
A second chance on them.
“…oh! Yeah, you’re right, babe.”, she answered, after her mind drifted back to reality, “It’s not far from here. Just another left turn over there.”, Vi said, after she checked her phone for the directions.
-
The couple entered a loft apartment in an old, high building in the heart of the city and rolled their suitcases inside.
“Wow… it’s beautiful!”, Caitlyn said stunned, and took the place in.
Two walls where basically big windows, one made of a lot of smaller square windows, and the other had a big round window embedded in the brick wall.
The other walls were naked, red brick walls, while the floor was laid out with dark wood.
A big bed stood in front of the round window, made with grey sheets and duvet covers.
The kitchen corner was open and quite small, but equipped with modern kitchen appliances.
A few old steel pillars drilled themselves through the floor and ceiling, making the industrial look perfect.
In one corner, a spiral staircase led up to an open, second level where another bed stood and a small lounge with low and wide couches stood.
The rest of the loft was furnished with wood and steel furniture and décor, and old factory logo was still painted to one of the brick walls, the whole atmosphere was more of a photo set than an actual apartment.
“It really is beautiful…”, Vi was stunned as well when she checked out the place together with Caitlyn, and walked up the spiral staircase to check out the second level, where she threw herself on the couch and looked down at her girlfriend: “Hey there, Cupcake! Come up, it’s fucking cool up here!”, she grinned, and Caitlyn just chuckled at that: “Give me a second.”
The photographer put down her bag and kicked off her shoes before she made her way up to join her love and let herself fall down beside her.
“You know… I have a few ideas how we could use this place after work…”, she purred, and leaned against Vi, who turned her head to her with a wiggle of her eyebrows: “Oh, do you?”, she smirked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Mhm, I do. Want to hear some details?”, she teased, and Vi nodded excited, so Caitlyn chuckled a little and told her what she had in mind.
“So… I have this vision of you, naked, on the bed below this round window, touching yourself. And me, taking photos while watching you~”, Caitlyn purred, and Vi felt her heart and abdomen flutter: “Uhm… holy shit, Cupcake”, Vi grinned, and laid an arm around her, “… I like your way of thinking. Will you be wearing something?”, she asked, a teasing undertone in her voice, and Caitlyn chuckled amused: “Hm, what would you like me to wear?”, she asked, and Vi turned her head to the wooden ceiling with a thoughtful face: “Hm… how about a set of lingerie that I’ll buy you tomorrow after work?”, she suggested with a smirk, and Caitlyn laughed sweet: “Hm, sounds like a deal to me.” – “Awesome!”
~
Vi and Caitlyn arrived at the job’s location the next morning.
They met today’s team at the busy Time Square, which would be the location for the day.
Vi got quickly styled, and as the outfit was delivered to their loft apartment, she already wore it when she arrived.
Caitlyn checked the equipment with the two assistants she had today and took a few test-shots for adjusting the settings of her camera, before she nodded happily and turned to Vi: “I’m ready if you are!”, she smiled, and Vi gave a nod back: “Yes, alright!”
Vi wore black, ripped skinny jeans, combined with a sleeveless, bloodred button down, over which she had an also sleeveless suit jacket in the same color. Her shoes were black dress lace-up shoes, and a bit of jewelry made the fit complete.
Caitlyn swallowed a little harder when she watched Vi through her lens when she started her walk and she took the first shots of today, she was… hot.
As always.
But today, the outfit made it even worse for her.
It suited her form perfectly and the warm weather let the veins in her muscular arms and her hands stand out a little more.
Caitlyn was fucking weak for her.
And the best part? She was hers.
-
The shooting went smoothly, and Vi had two outfit changes meanwhile.
And with time, a few people gathered behind the crew to watch the fashion shooting and take photos with their phones, and again, a few fans also recognized the model and some even fangirled over the photographer.
“Good job, guys!”, Caitlyn smiled to Vi and the rest of her team, and she got up from her kneeling position she was in for the last shots.
“Alright, how about we-…”, she started, when suddenly a few of the spectators called for her and Vi and asked them excited for selfies and autographs.
Caitlyn blinked confused and pointed at herself: “Me? Why?”, she asked dryly, completely flabbergasted, and Vi joined her with a laugh: “Come on, Cupcake. You made yourself a name, those are also your fans.”
Caitlyn was a little shy with all the attention on her now.
It had been easier when she wasn’t in focus and Vi handled the fans, but now they demanded to interact with her as well, and that was new for the photographer.
Vi took her hand and went over to the waiting fans, helping her by taking the lead of giving autographs, and pulled her closer for selfies, so she didn’t need to do them alone with the fans.
Vi made sure that her girlfriend didn’t feel alone in the situation.
“… okay guys, we still have work to do! It was nice meeting you, but we need to get this shooting wrapped up, alright?”, Vi smiled, waved the group, and took Caitlyn’s hand to lead her back to their little set. Caitlyn smiled shy at the fans, gave a little wave as well, and followed Vi back to the rest of the team: “… thank you, darling.” – “Of course, don’t worry, babe.”
After a short break, Vi put on the last outfit for today and Caitlyn gave her best once more behind the camera.
After they checked the outcome on Caitlyn’s tablet, the team called it a day and Vi and Caitlyn said their goodbye’s to the others, as they had different plans for tonight – And Vi owed Caitlyn a new set of lingerie, right?
-
“Hmmm… what do you think about this one?”
Vi held out a very revealing, dark blue lingerie set, and Caitlyn turned her head to her girlfriend: “I can try it on, yes.”, she nodded and picked out three others she liked as well from one of the clothes rails in the Victoria’s Secret store they were in right now.
“Give me that, I’ll try them.”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi gave her the one she picked out with a big grin, but Caitlyn gave her a look: “Oh no, darling. You won’t see this before tonight, this will be a surprise~”, she winked, and Vi couldn’t stop a big pout when she heard that: “Owww, man… that’s just mean…”
With a shake of her head and a little smirk to her girlfriend, she got into one of the changing rooms and tried the four sets one after another on, checking herself out on the mirror and decided that one of those she chose herself fitted her best, so she peeked out of the changing room and looked at Vi: “I chose one, and you will so like it, darling~”, she purred with a wink, and Vi got an expectant grin on her face, but Caitlyn continued right after: “So, you will go and wait at the check-out with your credit card for me now, chop-chop!”, she ordered playfully, and Vi just chuckled amused at that: “As you please, ma’am”, Vi snickered, shaking her head and stuffing her hands into her pockets before she walked over to the check-out, feeling a little silly with the way they acted about their little game.
Caitlyn changed back into her own clothes, hung the ones she didn’t want back and walked over to the check-out, where Vi was waiting for her.
“Do not look!”, Caitlyn admonished, still with a certain playfulness in her voice, and the cashier chuckled at the scene in front of her: “Did you find everything you need?”, she asked with a smile, and Caitlyn nodded happily: “Yes, we did! But she’ll got to see this later, it’s a surprise. But she promised to pay, so please pack it in a bag and she will pay then.”, Caitlyn chuckled, laughing a little about herself when she told the cashier, who was very amused as well about all this.
“Of course, haha. Here you go.”, she played along, scanned the lingerie set and packed it in a bag, before she turned to Vi: “You can pay now, Miss. That will be 119,99$”, she smiled, and Vi turned to her and pulled her credit card out: “Ouch”, she chuckled, but it was obvious that she was just joking, “Here you go.”
Vi paid, the cashier thanked them politely, and Caitlyn pressed a soft kiss to Vi’s cheek: “Thank you, darling~”, which made the model grin bright: “You’re welcome, babe.”
The couple said their goodbye’s and left the store again, Caitlyn carrying her bag with a happy smile with one hand, and holding Vi’s with her other, tangling their fingers together.
“Can’t wait to see what you picked out!”, Vi grinned, turning her head to her girlfriend, while they walked down the street looking for a restaurant to get dinner at.
“Oh, you will, but now I am hungry. How about this one? Looks promising”, Caitlyn suggested, and nodded to a restaurant with a sign that said ‘The Terrace and Outdoor Gardens’, “That looks quite nice, don’t you think?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi turned her head to said restaurant: “Yeah, looks fancy. Let’s see if we can get a table there”, she agreed, and so, the couple entered the front door and asked for a table for two.
-
“Oh lord, really?”, Caitlyn asked with an amused chuckle, before she took a fork of her pasta, and Vi just nodded with a muffled laugh: “Yeah, I’m serious! It took us days to get all the glitter out of her hair, and Mom still found traces of it in the whole apartment for months!”, Vi snickered, and took a sip from her beer.
“You and your sister really seemed to be little troublemakers as kids. But honestly, you both still are troublemakers. Big ones”, Caitlyn chuckled sweet with a raised eyebrow, and sipped on her wine.
“Haha! I mean, I can’t deny that, Cupcake!”, Vi laughed, and took a bite of her own pasta, munching happily on it before taking another one, “Mh, so, uhm-… want to go back to the loft after dinner?”, she asked, wiggling her eyebrows slightly.
Caitlyn huffed with a little grin and raised her eyebrow again when she answered: “Someone’s needy, hm?”, she asked, and Vi’s grin just grew when she shrugged at that: “What can I say, I’d lie if I say I’m not excited for tonight”, she answered, and gave her a look of which she knew it made Caitlyn’s knees weak.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes, Vi…”, Caitlyn almost whispered, her attitude shrinking a little, but Vi didn’t stop: “What eyes, Cupcake?~”, she smirked dominantly, and Caitlyn pressed her legs together: “You know exactly what eyes…”, she mumbled, and Vi leaned a bit forward: “Oh, do I?”, she purred, and licked her lips, “… so, I suppose we go back to the loft after this here?~”, Vi continued her game, and Caitlyn just nodded, being equally excited for later as Vi was now: “Yes, please…”
-
The door to the loft opened with a big bang, when Caitlyn and Vi got in, making our heavily.
Vi kicked the door shut when they went through it, Caitlyn threw her purse carelessly into a corner and the couple kissed their way over to the big bed, until the taller woman stopped them before Vi could throw her onto the bed.
“Wait~-… wait…”, she huffed out of breath, and Vi listened, even if she was heavily aroused and lost in the moment: “Okay-… okay…”, she breathed heavily, her pupils as dilated as Caitlyn’s.
“You’re going to undress for me and wait on the bed, like the good girl you are, won’t you?”, Caitlyn purred, while her hand ran slowly down over Vi’s jawline, her neck and onto her cleavage where she pushed her off from her and made her stumble backwards onto the bed, “… and I will go change for you now~”
Vi snickered with a dirty smirk when she found herself on her back on the bed, propped herself up on her elbows and nodded: “I’ll be waiting patiently for you~”, she purred, and Caitlyn gave her a dominant look: “And why is that, darling? Say it”, she asked, and Vi’s smirk got a little shy: “… ‘cause I’m your good girl…”, she said, and Caitlyn smiled proudly at her: “Exactly, you’re my good girl, and you’ll get your reward when you’re good for me. So, prepare accordingly, got it?”, Caitlyn ordered, to which Vi nodded agreeing, and Caitlyn seemed to be satisfied with that, as she took the shopping bag with her new lingerie and took it with her to the loft’s bathroom.
Caitlyn undressed and unpacked the new lingerie set and put it on, checking herself in the mirror and got a little fresh again, checked her hair and make-up once more and took a step back to take a look at herself in the big mirror: “… yes, perfect~”
She walked out of the bathroom again and found Vi in the position she had expected from her.
“C-… Cupcake~”, Vi moaned softly, as she laid on her back, a little propped up against the low headboard of the bed, all naked as she was asked to, with her legs open and her hand between them, rubbing softly on her arousal.
Caitlyn bit her lower lip on that view, and she crossed her arms when she stopped at the end of the bed: “Such a good girl, getting all worked up for me…”, she purred, and locked eyes with her girlfriend’s, who slowly became a mess under her own touch.
The photographer turned and walked to her camera bag, getting her camera out and walked with elegant steps back to the bed, where Vi was still touching herself.
“Shit… you’re so hot, darling…”, Caitlyn whispered, as she turned her camera on and lifted it up in front of her face to look through the lens, focusing on the other woman on the bed, taking a few test shots of her.
“… oh yes, exactly like that…”, she mumbled to herself, biting her lower lip again, “… open up more, babygirl~”, she ordered, and Vi did so, opening her legs more for her: “Mhn~… li-… like that…?”, she asked, already more than wet by now and clearly turned on by Caitlyn’s looks and actions.
“Yes darling, exactly like that”, Caitlyn answered her, and lifted her camera again to take more photos after she had adjusted the settings, “… you’re gorgeous…”, she whispered, and Vi leaned her head back, going a little faster on herself than she did before, and Caitlyn took a step forward, kneeled down on the bed and towered over her girlfriend now, still with the lens directed to the model in front of her, as she took more photos of her.
“Cupcake, please~…”, Vi begged, but Caitlyn shook her head: “No, darling… not yet. Keep going and cum for me, would you?”, she purred, and the words alone let Vi’s arousal grow more.
The model let two of her own fingers slid inside her and pressed them against her inner sweet spot, over and over again, before she let them slip out again to rub her clit rougher than before, until she felt her climax come closer.
“Who’s my good girl, huh?~”, Caitlyn praised, while she kept looking through her lens, “Come on, say it”, she dared, and Vi started to whimper in front of her: “Me~… I’m you-… I’m your good girl, I’m so good for you, I’m a good girl-…”, she moaned out of breath, and Caitlyn licked her own lips on that view in front of her: “That’s right, you’re my good girl, and you’re doing so good for me right now, darling, so, so good… such a good girl~”, she went on, and that kicked Vi over the edge.
“Ca-… Cait, I-… oh god, fuck~… mhh…!”
Vi arched her back suddenly, threw her head back into the pillows and angled her legs more when she came undone from her own hand, releasing more slick and pulsing visible for Caitlyn to see, who caught the intense moment with her camera.
“Lord… Baby, you’re so hot, that was just perfect”, Caitlyn almost moaned, when she put the camera down and came closer onto the bed, where she leaned down to put a wide lick over the mess Vi had made, tasting her deeply and flicking her clit with the tip of her tongue, “… you’re so good for me~… and you taste so good as well~”
Vi whimpered and quivered when she felt the sudden touch between her legs and ran a hand through her wild, dark pink hair, before she looked down to Caitlyn who kissed her way up over her exposed body, until she nipped gently at both her nipples one after another, which made her throw her head back once more.
“Haha… oh baby, you’re so sensitive…~”, Caitlyn whispered amused, and kissed her way up over her neck and jawline, until she reached her lips and kissed her deeply: “Mh~… such a good girl…”
The praise sent more shivers down Vi’s body, and she laid her arms around the other woman, holding onto her when she found her words again: “Shit, Cupcake~… let me touch you…”, she said, dizzy from all the arousal and overwhelming feelings, and Caitlyn chuckled sweet at that: “Say it nicely, darling. Use your pretty words”, she demanded, and Vi swallowed hard, before she tried again: “You’re stunning… can I please touch you, Cupcake? I want to make you feel good, ‘cause you deserve it…”, she asked, and Caitlyn smiled at her with a nod: “Yes darling, you may touch me~”
Vi didn’t need to be told that twice, she took the lead and rolled them over, so that Caitlyn found herself under her girlfriend in a second.
“Woah, darling-… careful~”, Caitlyn chuckled, her eyes full of desire and lust when she opened her legs more to give Vi more space, laying her arms over her head so Vi had the full view on her pretty outfit for tonight.
It was a midnight blue set of high-quality lace, it was slightly see-through and hugged her body just perfectly, showing skin here and there. It was combined with a thin layer of lace that went around her thighs in a thin strap, connected with the rest by some straps, and one detail let Vi almost cum on the spot again: The area between her legs was cut out, and she could see that Caitlyn was already dripping wet for her.
“Fuck…”, Vi gulped, realizing that she was able to love her with the whole set that flattered her body so perfectly staying on, and her desire rose into immeasurable highs.
“Liking what you see?~”, Caitlyn teased, and let her fingertips run softly over Vi’s forearms, causing pleasant goosebumps to rise on her skin.
“Yeah, more than that…”, Vi’s words were barely a whisper, and Caitlyn chuckled sweet at her reaction: “I’m glad you like it. So then, take what’s your, Violet~”
-
Vi moved Caitlyn through the sheets like she weighted nothing.
From the front, the side, the back, below, above – Caitlyn was floating in the clouds, Vi’s grunts and moans were like music in her ears, and she gave herself fully to the other woman, trusting her with her body and her mind equally.
The model had brought some of their toys with her, ‘just in case’, and Caitlyn was more than glad she did – And, that they didn’t double checked them at the airport with them in Vi’s suitcase.
When Vi leaned over her again with a new strap, a quite thick one with nubs all over the shaft, Caitlyn gulped for a moment: “I don’t know if I can take that one, it looks bigger right now than in the store somehow”, she doubted suddenly, and Vi snickered: “Babe, I’ll be careful, I promise. Just say if it’s too much, but you took me so well already the whole time, I know you’ll like it~”, she smiled, and leaned down into a deep kiss, to which Caitlyn’s legs opened automatically again.
“Just be-… mh~… be careful…”, she whispered into the kiss, and Vi nodded: “I will, don’t worry.”
Vi took the lubed strap in her hand and brought it to Caitlyn’s throbbing entrance, testing the waters with dipping the crooked tip in and out a few times, rubbed the whole length a few times through her folds and slipped smoothly and slow inside her, making Caitlyn squirm and moan under her.
“Who’s the good girl now, huh?~”, Vi smirked dirty, giving her some experimental thrusts, “Look at you, taking it so well from me, fuck~”, she groaned, biting her lower lip and looked down to where she thrusted her strap over and over into Caitlyn, who was still wearing the lingerie set that allowed them access to Caitlyn’s private parts.
“Mhn~… Vi…!”, Caitlyn cried out when she was filled up so good by her girlfriend, the form of the strap stimulating her in a new way, but she quickly learned she liked it – Very much.
“Tell me, who’s my good girl?”, Vi demanded, her thrusts became a harder, rhythmic pounding, and Caitlyn’s eyes rolled a little back, while she clawed her hands into the top Vi’s thighs.
“Me~… mh, I’m your good girl, Violet, oh my-… oooh~”, Caitlyn cried out, visible on the edge, and Vi grinned as she took the camera that still laid beside them, and pointed the lens to her love that was squirming and moaning under her.
“Yeah, that’s right… you’re my good girl~ Mine!”, Vi whispered roughly, and took photos of her being deep inside the other woman, while she kept on fucking her relentlessly.
-
Caitlyn didn’t know anymore how often she came already under Vi’s worshipping, she just knew that her whole body was tingly and overstimulated, but every touch of the muscular model still felt like heaven to her, and she couldn’t get enough of Vi taking care of her.
“Mhn~… I love you, Violet…”, she gasped for the hundredth time this evening, and Vi’s answer was the same as all the times before: “I love you more, Cupcake~”
“… can we take a little break?”, Caitlyn asked breathlessly, when they laid tangled into each other on the bed, exchanging the sweetest kisses, and Vi nodded: “Of course. Want me to make us a snack? Need some water?”, Vi asked caring as she always was, and Caitlyn nodded exhausted: “Yes, that sounds lovely, thank you, darling”, she agreed, and Vi kissed the tip of her nose lovingly: “Alright, then I’ll make us something”, she said, kissed her lips with a quick peck and got up, naked as she was, to check the kitchen for anything edible.
“Uhm… Cupcake?”, she asked, but before she could turn around, she felt lean arms wrap themselves around her waist, a chin resting on her shoulder and heard a tired voice speaking: “We didn’t buy anything, we don’t have anything here to cook”, Caitlyn sighed, the realization had hit her a little late.
“Oh, right… okay, let me grab some pants and a shirt and I go get us something quick. ‘k?”, Vi suggested, and Caitlyn snuggled against her back: “Mh… okay, but hurry, don’t stay away too long…”, she answered, and Vi turned in the hug to face her and wrapped her arm around her girlfriend: “I’ll be quick.”
Said and done, Vi quickly got provisionally dressed, kissed Caitlyn’s cheek and grabbed her wallet, before she sprinted down the staircase of the building to get them something to eat.
Caitlyn laid back down on the bed and stretched, a tired but happy and satisfied smile was on her lips, and she closed her eyes for a moment while she waited for Vi to return.
-
When the model came back, armed with a bag full of take-away and another one with cold drinks, she found her girlfriend sprawled out on the bed, her hair falling around her like a halo, and she couldn’t get enough of the view of her in this forbidden hot lingerie set.
“Hey babe, I’m back, got us some Thai take-away and I got us coke, iced tea and water from the kiosk around the corner”, Vi said, and put the stuff onto the counter in the open kitchen.
“Mh~… come over here, baby…”, Caitlyn purred, stretching out a hand to her love, and Vi turned her head to the photographer: “Wanna eat in bed? Naughty. I’m a bad influence”, she snickered, and took the stuff she brought over to the bed, where she climbed onto and settled in with Caitlyn.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a little chuckle and took the food container Vi handed her: “Thank you, darling. And yes, maybe you are a bad influence, but primarily you’re an idiot”, she said, poking her nose with her fingertip, “… but: You’re my idiot. And I love you more than anything.”
Vi snickered, a little blush was on her cheeks, and she couldn’t keep a shy grin from spreading on her face: “Yeah, well… there’s nothing I could say against this, Cupcake. I love you, too, come here~”, she smiled, and leaned into a kiss, after which they both leaned against the low headboard of the bed and opened their boxes to start eating.
“Mhh~… I really needed that, it’s delicious!”, Caitlyn smiled delighted, and took another bite of her food, leaning a bit more into the pillows behind her back.
“Not as delicious as you”, Vi smirked dirty, and Caitlyn shoved her with her shoulder against Vi’s: “You’re a dirty minded girl, Violet Lane.”
The two snickered a little and ate their food, hydrated themselves with the drinks Vi brought, and Vi collected the empty boxes to throw them away in the trash bin that was inside the kitchen, before she came back to her girlfriend who stretched on the bed.
“Mhhh~… baby, I think I need more of you~”, Caitlyn purred with a playful smirk on her lips, and lolled around a little in the soft, big bed, her bedroom eyes catching Vi and holding her hostage, “… so, come here and love me, would you?~”
Vi didn’t need to hear that twice, she stopped in front of the bed and pulled the shirt over her head, threw it aside and hopped out of her pants, before she climbed into the bed to join Caitlyn again, prying over her and kissing her deeply: “The whole night and longer, I will not stop until you tell me to, that’s a promise~”
Caitlyn had her eyes glued on Vi’s body when she undressed in front of the bed, she bit her lower lip in expectant excitement and opened her legs for her to settle in between them, wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her hungrily back, moaning softly into the kiss when she felt Vi’s body collide with hers, flush against each other, and she felt her arousal building up immediately again.
“I take your word, Vi~”, Caitlyn gasped into the kisses, and Vi bit her girlfriend’s lower lip playfully: “You know me, I don’t do things by halves~” – “Oh, I do know that, darling!~”
-
“Oh god~ Violet…!”
Caitlyn pressed her palms against the glass of the round window when she moaned out loud, she could look down to the busy street of New York and into the windows of the apartments in the building across the street.
Vi was behind her, gripping her waist just above her hips, her big strap slipping in and out of her love’s body, the harness sitting firm on her hips, allowing her to put good pressure into her thrusts, not giving her or herself a break.
She grunted, feeling her body getting sore from all the fucking they did since they came back here after work and dinner, but she didn’t allow herself to slow down just the slightest.
Caitlyn’s moans and pleas were enough to fuel her, to go on, and the sounds she caused by her thrusts weren’t motivating any less.
The spot between them was darker than the rest of the sheet, it was soaked wet from both their body fluids, and this fact alone let Vi bit her lower lip when she saw that.
“Fuck, Cait~… mhhn-…”, Vi groaned aroused, and slid her right hand around her, so she could reach her clit to rub it together with her thrusts. She leaned forward in the process and planted loving kisses over her back, when she felt her girlfriend losing strength below her, so she gained her last power to hold her up with her left arm, rutting fast and hard into her, ignoring the pain in her legs and lower back, until she heard Caitlyn’s moans getting messy.
Vi could see in the slight reflection on the window that Caitlyn’s mouth stood open and her eyes were rolled back slightly, her sweaty hands slipped on the glass and she tried to get any hold there somehow, when her strength left her suddenly and she slipped down, her head sideways in the pillows, her hands grasping weakly in the pillows, her weight falling completely into Vi’s strong arms, and all she could do was letting Vi use her, let her love her and give herself fully to the other woman.
Even if Caitlyn lost complete control, she felt safe with her.
She was completely vulnerable right now, Vi had the power in this situation, and Caitlyn was pretty sure she was so exhausted that she couldn’t even properly say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ anymore, but she knew she didn’t need to – Vi knew how to read her, and she also knew the other woman would never take any advantage of her.
When her next orgasm approached, Caitlyn didn’t know if she could bear it.
The overstimulation, the soreness and exhaustion, she never felt it as much as she did tonight, but she trusted Vi, and she wanted her to absolutely ruin her tonight – And Vi did a proper job on that.
“Ngh-… ah-… aaah~”, desperate sounds left the photographers throat, and her body felt like it would burn when her climax approached and washed over her with force after some more thrusts of Vi’s hips.
Caitlyn’s body was shaking, shivering, twitching, she collapsed into the sheets, the tiny leftover of strength vanished as well, and Vi moaned a little painfully out when she tried to keep her girlfriend’s ass up and still fuck and rub her, but she somehow managed to do it until the last second.
“Fuck…”, she gasped, and used her last bit of power to let Caitlyn sink gently into the mattress and pull out in that process, before she let herself sink down on top of her, breathing heavy and exhausted, her whole body aching.
“… are you okay? Cait…?”, Vi whispered a bit worried, when Caitlyn did nothing than breath low under her, but the taller woman nodded slightly against the pillows: “Mhm…”, she managed an approving sound, and Vi pressed a soft kiss to her nape: “Good… I’ll get us some water as soon as I can move again…”, she chuckled weakly, and Caitlyn let out an amused huff.
Vi rolled off from her and pulled her with sore arms into hers, kissing her forehead lovingly: “I love you, Cait…”, she whispered, and squeezed her weakly, to which Caitlyn giggled softly: “I love you, too, darling… that was. That-… that was just incredible… I don’t have the slightest bit of strength left in my body, haha”, she said, and enjoyed the soft embrace after she had been taken so roughly and intensely.
Vi snorted a bit when she heard that and caressed her back softly: “That was the assignment, wasn’t it?”, she snickered, and kissed her forehead, “… did I hurt you?”, she asked, but Caitlyn shook her head against her neck: “No, don’t worry. It was perfect”, she whispered, and pulled her head a bit back to be able to give Vi the softest kiss on her full lips, “… just like you.”
Vi kissed her back and giggled a bit shy, not able to answer to that, so she just nuzzled her nose into Caitlyn’s hair, hiding her face in it.
“Haha… you’re cute, love”, Caitlyn chuckled at that reaction, and the two cuddled a while longer, until Vi was able to get up and get them some water.
“We should get into the shower”, Caitlyn sighed, after they both had regained a bit of energy after hydrating themselves, and Vi nodded at that, taking another sip of water: “Yeah, probably… but no promises that I can keep my hands off you in there.” – “Oh god, Vi…”
Both chuckled, shoving each other gently with their shoulders, and then Vi stole a peck from her with a wide grin: “Sooo~… come on, I’ll help you”, Vi said, and got up with a little shaky legs and held her hands out to her girlfriend, who’s legs gave up when she tried to get up from the bed.
Vi caught her and held her securely, ignoring the pain in her own legs as good as possible: “Woah, careful, Cupcake! I got you… maybe no more fun in the shower, huh? Come here, we take it slow”, she said, and helped her over to the bathroom.
“God, I feel so silly and stupid…”, Caitlyn chuckled a little embarrassed, but Vi just smiled: “Nah, don’t. Really, Cait, I think that right now was the hottest night we ever had, and that’s just proof of it right now!”, she chuckled, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but laugh: “Oh well, indeed, you’re not wrong”, she said, and with Vi’s help, she sat down on the closed toilet lid.
“Okay, let me just…”, Vi started, and helped Caitlyn out of the lingerie she still wore, “… yep, alright. Let’s get into the shower, ‘k?”, she asked with a smile, and helped Caitlyn up and into the big shower together with her.
They stood still under the hot water for a while, just holding each other silently with closed eyes, and enjoyed the moment of intimacy.
The sound of the water, the heat that built up in the air, the warmth their bodies shared, just feeling each other – It was a peaceful moment.
“… you know, Cait, I think I was never more thankful for something than I am for you giving me the second chance that led to what we have now”, Vi whispered after a while, and Caitlyn tightened her arms around Vi: “… I’m glad I did as well, darling…”, she whispered back, and they squeezed each other gently.
-
Vi laid awake that night at some point.
Caitlyn slept deeply in her arms, one arm wrapped around her and her head resting on her naked chest.
The model remembered the night they laid in the hotel bed together where she decided to cut her off out of fear.
But this time, this time it was all different.
This time, there were no doubts, no fears, no bad thoughts – This time, there was only love.
She turned her head a bit and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, and watched her sleep for a moment, before she pulled her even a little closer, kissing her head once more.
“There’s nothing more right than us”, she whispered, and closed her eyes, let her body relax more into the mattress and the cuddles, and let out a satisfied sigh.
And this time, she was able to find peaceful sleep – With the love of her life in her arms.
Chapter 32: Troublemaker
Summary:
Hey guys!
I'm SO sorry for this late update, I'm just super busy with other projects (especially Cosplay related ones as you may saw on my Instagram), but I will keep my promise to finish this fic, as I finished all my Arcane/CaitVi fics yet!
So, even if it may take a bit longer for the last chapters, you can be sure that this story will get the ending it deserves <3This chapter has a few more time- and scene skips than usual, as it's basically preparing every character for the end, which will come soon! I hope it's not too confusing and you can follow the story as usual :)
I'm looking forward to read what you think, so let's start with chapter 32 - Troublemaker!
Chapter Text
Chapter 32 - Troublemaker
~ 2 weeks later ~
Caitlyn was back in England, and she missed Vi already.
Their parting at the airport was emotional again, and Vi had promised her to visit her as soon as she could manage to leave for a few days.
-
The photographer sat on the desk in her home office, editing some photos, when her phone suddenly exploded with notifications.
“Huh…?”, she looked up, and took her phone to unlock it.
Her eyes widened when she saw what several people had send her, and she opened the post of an account she unfortunately knew.
“What the heck…?!”
The post showed Vi, together with Sarah Fortune.
Arm in arm, Sarah grinning into the camera and Vi kissing her jaw with the prettiest smile.
The caption said ‘Love my girl, so proud of her <3’, with a lot of couple-themed hashtags.
“… what-… how-…?! Why??”, Caitlyn was more than confused, she scrolled through the messages and the comments under this post that tagged her. She saw that some people even hated on Vi, accusing her of cheating on Caitlyn or dumping her for Sarah, and she got angry.
She didn’t know exactly if she was angry about Sarah or both of them, but what she knew was, she was very angry.
But before she could even open the chat to Vi to videocall her, Vi video-called her and Caitlyn hesitated a moment before she answered the call. She looked with an ice-cold expression into the camera of her phone, an eyebrow raised, and her face clearly said ‘Explain this to me. Now.’, without even saying a single word.
Vi looked more than distressed, panic was in her face, and she stumbled over her own words: “Cupcake!! Babe, do NOT open your socials, I-…”, she started, but Caitlyn’s face spoke volumes, “… you have already seen it, haven’t you…?”, Vi asked, and Caitlyn just kept staring at her silently.
“Okay, listen, I have nothing to do with that, and there has NOTHING happened at all between her and me, okay?! I haven’t even seen her since the last time we both had to deal with her, okay? You must believe me, please! That’s an old picture of us she used, she’s messing with us! Caitlyn, please, I would show you the photo and the date when it was taken, but I have deleted everything of Sarah and me when we broke up, I don’t know how to proof that to you other than telling you the truth, please, I don’t want to lose you, I love you, don’t leave me, please, I-… s-…say something… I’m begging you…!”
Caitlyn looked through the room, faced Vi on the screen again, closed her eyes and took a big breath.
Vi looked and sounded honest, the panic she had was real, but she couldn’t deny that the distance between them bothered her more than ever in this moment. She just couldn’t know if her girlfriend met with that bitch when she was home in England. And that bothered her immensely, even if she knew that Sarah was probably trying exactly this: Making her insecure and trying to get distance between them, so they would eventually break up.
“Violet. You know how this looks, right?”, Caitlyn asked, her voice more unsteady than she intended, “… you’re on the other side of the globe, we haven’t seen each other in over a week, we have this time difference, I miss you, we can barely chat or talk, and then this bitch drops this bomb? Even if I know it’s probably just some stupid bullshit she’s pulling, it hurts, Vi! I feel betrayed, even if I don’t believe you would ever cheat on me. I can’t do this anymore, Vi, I just can’t. The distance kills me!”
VI teared up, and now Caitlyn felt bad for causing this.
“Cupcake, please… don’t do this to me, no, please, there was nothing between Sarah and me, that’s exactly what she wants, I-…” – “Vi. Vi, hey, stop. I’m not breaking up with you! What I want to say is, we need to make a decision about how we want to continue our relationship. I know we don’t date for that long yet, but I also know that our love will be damaged and doomed when we keep this distance up. I want to talk to you about this when you’re here. I want to introduce you to my parents, I want to show you what your life would be like over here, and I want us to have a serious discussion about where this between us should go.”
There was silence for a moment, and Vi let out a breath she was holding after some solid seconds.
“… okay. Yes. We can do that, it scares me, but I guess it’s the right thing to do”, Vi sighed, relaxing a bit again, “… but you believe me about this photo she posted?”, she asked, she needed to know that Caitlyn wouldn’t have the suspicion of her cheating with Sarah as soon as she was out of the country.
“Violet. I know you don’t cheat on me, even if I can’t know that for sure. I trust you, but I can’t deny that this really rattled on my trust for you for a moment, and I don’t want this. I don’t want to feel like this. I want us to work out, you know? Seriously. I want to be with you, Vi, but we can’t go on like this. We tried to see if we work out, and we do. God, I never was so sure about someone than I am with you! Maybe it’s time for the next step, even if this one really is big”, Caitlyn said, and ran a hand through her navy hair, “I know it’s scary, Vi. I know our situation, and I know about your worries. But if you really want this, us, I’m afraid we must talk about this next step and make a decision at the end.”
Vi took a trembling breath, this all came so suddenly now, and she hadn’t expected to deal with this much of emotional pressure this morning already.
“Cait, I-…”, Vi started, but no more words wanted to come out, so Caitlyn sighed a bit: “Vi, you don’t have to say or decide anything right away. But I do want you to take some time to think about what you want and what you don’t want. Talk to me, to your sister, whatever makes you feel safer with this, okay? I know it’s much. I know it’s scary. But I fear if we don’t move together soon, we-…”, now Caitlyn teared up, “… we will fail. And I don’t want us to fail, I love you too much for that, Violet.”
Vi swallowed hard and blinked some tears away. She knew Caitlyn was right, she knew that.
“… I don’t want us to fail as well, Caitlyn. I’m just so scared.” – “I know, baby, I know… I’m scared as well.”
~
Vi stood in front of Jinx’ apartment two days later, she hesitated to knock, but she finally did it.
“Sis!! What’s up, come in, want me to crack you a beer?!”, the younger sister grinned bright, and hopped over to the kitchen already.
Vi huffed a bit tense, followed her after she closed the door and kept standing in the room: “Yeah, a beer would be nice, I guess”, she said, rubbing the back of her neck, and Jinx frowned at her: “Okay, what happened? What’s wrong, who do we need to kill? I know where we could hide the body, no problem, I-…” – “Caitlyn and I need to move together.” – “… I go crack the beers.”
When Jinx came back with their cans, she handed her one and sat down close to her on the couch, leaning against her big sister.
“So, you will leave, huh?”, Jinx asked, wrapping an arm around Vi’s, “… when?”, she added, and Vi put her can away again to pull her sister into a big hug: “I don’t know. We need to discuss this when I can visit her again, but I think I can’t fly over earlier than in two or three weeks. I wanted to talk with you about this because you’re my sister and I love you. And if you say you need me here, I will stay, I-…”, Vi explained, and Jinx interrupted her at this point: “No. No, Vi, you can’t make your life dependent on me, okay?! Of course, I want you to stay”, she sniffed, and pressed herself onto her big sister, “but I can’t lock you up here. Okay? You deserve to live your life, even when it’s with some posh brit, what I will never understand by the way, but okay, and yeah, uh…”, Jinx babbled, and suddenly, a big sniff left her throat, “… but you won’t forget me, will you…?”
That was when the tears started to roll down Vi’s face, and she pulled her even closer, buried her face in her vibrant blue hair and sobbed suppressed: “Of course not, Pow, how could I ever forget about you? Are you kidding me? You’re my sister, and that won’t ever change! I love you, so, so, so much… and I wanted to talk to you about something regarding this. I know, you have Lux here, but, what if you come with me? To England? If we decide that I move in with Caitlyn, that is.”
Jinx frowned, her fingers gripping harder on her sister’s sweatshirt, and Vi could feel her thinking strained about what she had just told her.
“… you would take me with you? So, we… we could still be near?”, Jinx asked, her voice tiny, and Vi smiled at her, tears still rolling over her face: “Yes, Powder. Yes, of course”, she answered, and Jinx rolled up in Vi’s arms: “But… where would I live?”, she asked, and Vi kept holding her close and secure: “We would find you a nice place. And you know, maybe Lux would come with you? Listen, I’m scared for you guys since that incident with that attack on you on the open street in bright daylight, for just holding hands. We could leave this place, Pow. You could be with Lux in England as well, and I could be with Cait there. And we’d be closer to our working place as well, this… I know this is scary. And I wouldn’t blame you for saying no, I offer this to you and it’s completely your decision. I will accept whatever you decide, I promise”, Vi said calmly, and could feel her sister getting smaller in her arms.
“Vi, this is all so sudden, I can’t just-… I can’t just decide to leave the country so suddenly”, Jinx sighed, trembling a bit, and Vi felt guilty for making her feel like this, “I will need to talk to Lux about that, and there’s so much else to consider, this… Vi, this-…”, she whispered, overwhelmed from all the information that dropped down on her so suddenly.
“Hey, it’s okay…. You don’t have to make a decision right away. I will have this conversation with Cait when I fly to her in a while. But I wanted to talk to you first before I do talk with her, ‘cause she said we have to decide the next time we meet. I know that’s hard, but… Pow, she’s right. We can’t go on like this, I know that, but it still scares me big times”, Vi sighed, and Jinx looked up to her, looking like little Powder: “Do you love her that much?”, she asked, her eyes watery, and Vi smiled a little: “Yes. Yes, I love her that much, Pow-Pow”, she answered, and Jinx rolled up in her sister’s arms again: “… then you should go to her.”
-
Caitlyn had invited Jayce and Mel over a few days after she and Vi had that tense videocall.
She and Vi texted every day and video called each other occasionally when they had the time and opportunity, their relationship kept going not less than before the incident with Sarah, but there was a certain heaviness lingering in the air that both of them needed to fade as soon as possible – And for that, they needed to talk in person.
And Caitlyn needed to talk to her closest friends, like Vi had needed to talk to her sister.
The three sat together in Caitlyn’s living room, drinking tea, and eating some scones, while Caitlyn poured them her heart.
“… I don’t want to put that pressure on her, I don’t want this to be like an ultimatum, but it somehow is. Isn’t it? Lord, I am so scared to push her away with this, but I also can’t act like I could go on like we do any longer. I love her, no matter where she is, but I also need her with me. I can’t endure this distance any longer, and with her ex pulling these disgusting things on us… that makes it even worse. I know it’s not Vi’s fault, I know, and I don’t blame her. But it makes me more insecure than it should make me… I trust her, I do, am I a bad girlfriend? God, I am a bad girlfriend…”, she rambled, and ruffled her own hair with a frantic expression.
“Okay, first of all, breath, Caitlyn”, Mel sighed with a little chuckle, “You’re not a bad girlfriend. It’s very understandable that you want her near, to live with her and actually build a life together. You two only see each other in a kind of holiday way, and that won’t work out the longer this goes. You’re very right to ask her to move together, and I also don’t think it’s too early or something. Sure, you two don’t date for years yet, but you both are adults, you both committed to each other and if you really want this, well, hell, then try! What’s the worst that could happen? Even if you two don’t work out, if you learn that you are not compatible in an everyday life. So what? Then you break up, she can decide if she wants to stay here or move back to the US. You both are grown-ups, you both earn enough money to handle that if it turns out to be a mistake. But the way I see it, if you don’t try, you will reach that point this or that way. There’s only this path that could lead to you staying together, every other way is a dead end.”
Jayce laid his big hand on Caitlyn’s knee: “Mel is right, Cait. I understand that this is all shitty right now, and scary. But what you told me about her, and the way how you speak about her… I never have seen you so in love like you are with her. Take that risk, and if she loves you like you love her, she will move over here. And if not, well, then she doesn’t deserve you.”
Caitlyn took a big breath and sighed.
She knew the two were right, but the reality of all this felt heavy.
She loved Vi, more than she had ever loved a partner before, and she knew what they had was worth fighting for.
“You’re right. I know you’re right. God, I just hope Vi doesn’t get too scared about this…”
~
Not even a week later, Sarah posted the next photo - And this time, Vi and Caitlyn struggled to ignore it.
“I will write her, this is fucking enough!!”, Vi said, obviously angry, and Caitlyn sighed annoyed, working while she video called with Vi: “We should just sue her. She can’t just do that, this is illegal. We sue her and only communicate over our lawyer, Vi, I don’t want you to react to her, that’s what she wants”, she said, and saved the photo she had just finished the edit on.
Vi groaned frustrated and ran a hand through her hair, and then down her face: “I want to punch her in the face so bad, for real”, she said pissed, and Caitlyn laughed when she heard her girlfriend’s words: “Be careful, she’ll like that in the end”, she joked, but rolled her eyes with a sigh again, “Believe me, if I had my ways, I’d shoot her dead. But we really should give this case away, so we don’t have to deal with this more than necessary. We order a cease and desist, and the problem will be solved quite quick. I can take care of this if you want me to”, she suggested, but Vi shook her head: “No, this is between her and me, I’ll take care of it.”
Both sighed deeply and closed their eyes for a moment, this was just so absurd.
“Okay. Just tell me if you need my help, Vi, I’m here for you. You know that, right?”, Caitlyn said, her voice and expression worried, and Vi sighed deeply while ruffling her hair once more: “Yes, I know, Cupcake.”
Another moment of silence.
“Hey. Do you know if they drop the magazine today where we took the photos for at the prison?”, Vi suddenly asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, it’s scheduled for release today. And I’m pretty sure I will have a call from my parents later”, Caitlyn chuckled, and that made Vi snicker, too: “Oh, shit. First time it’s a good thing I’m not with you then, so your parents can’t come over and lynch me, haha!” – “Oh god, Vi. It’s not that serious, come on. I’m not 15 anymore”, Caitlyn huffed amused, and Vi grinned cheeky: “I know, but I also know that they don’t like me dating you”, she said, and Caitlyn grinned back through the screen: “Yes, but that’s only because they didn’t meet you in person yet, so they haven’t realized that you are indeed a very loveable cutie that treats me very right.”
Vi’s grin died and she blushed: “I’m not cute, I’m vicious…!”, she complained, and Caitlyn had to laugh hearty: “Yes, of course you are, darling. But honestly, I’m sure they will like you when they meet you in person. You just have a hard shell, that is all”, she smiled, and Vi chuckled a bit, still blushing: “… yeah, maybe.”
Caitlyn smiled warmly at her through the camera, she missed her.
God, she missed her so much.
“Vi?”, she broke the silence, and the model tilted her head: “Hm?”, she made a sound, and Caitlyn took a deep breath before she continued: “Have you… have you thought about the whole, you know, moving-over-here thing…? I don’t want to put even more pressure on you, I know it’s stressful enough, I really do. But it’s stressful for me as well, so, is there anything I should know about?”, she asked carefully, and Vi’s gaze lowered, she started to play with her own hands and sighed deeply, before she answered: “I… I took some time to think about it. And I talked with Pow, as you know already. She wanted to talk with Lux about it, but I don’t have an update on this yet. But I plan to go over to her when we’re done here, I’ll ask her.”
Caitlyn listened and nodded at the end: “I’m sorry that I put you into this situation, but I just know we have to make that decision, I’m afraid we-…”, she started, but Vi interrupted her: “No! Hey, stop. Stop! I know this is necessary. I know that, babe. It’s just scary and a massive step. That’s all. We’ll find a good way. Okay?” – “… yes. Yes, okay.”
-
Vi went over to Jinx again after her video call with Caitlyn and let herself fall with a big groan onto her sister’s couch.
“Sarah is really overdoing it, huh? Sheesh, and I thought I am crazy”, Jinx huffed, somehow fascinated, but also somehow disgusted by what her sister’s ex was pulling, “Have you talked with Kitty-Cait about what you want to do about it?”, she asked, and Vi sighed loudly: “Yes, I have video called her earlier. She says we should issue a cease and desist and offered me to take the lead in this, to give it to her lawyer, but I told her that this shit is between Sarah and me, and that I would take care of it.”
Jinx hopped over and just blatantly sat down on her laying sister like she was the couch: “Hm, maybe you should let Caithy at least help, it would make it less stressful for you, you know? You still have to learn that you don’t need to fight every battle alone, you know. We’re all here for you the way you are here for us”, she said, leaning back and played with her long, blue braids, “Just saying.”
Vi stretched her arms over her head and let them fall behind her, staring at the ceiling: “… you might be right. I just think… I don’t want Cait to become an even bigger target for Sarah. God knows what she’s capable off beside this bullshit she’s already pulling at the moment, you saw how she exploded when we had the Alcatraz shooting. That’s why I told her I would take care of it. I want to protect her”, Vi said, and Jinx chuckled: “Yeah, and she wants to protect you. And I want to protect you, just like you always do with me. Is your brain working, or do you still don’t get it?”, she said with an eyebrow raised and a cheeky grin on her face.
Vi frowned and looked at her sister, confused: “Huh? What do you mean? Of course, I want to protect you both”, she said, and Jinx rolled her eyes exaggerated: “Yes. Just as I want to protect you. Just as Kitty-Cait tries to protect you by offering you to take care of that shit with Sarah. Are you still not getting it?”, she asked, and Vi’s mind got a blockage, visible in her expression.
“Oh my god. Okay, listen, I’ll explain it for dummies, as you definitely are one, so: We all love you the way you love us, is that so unbelievable for you? We want to look out for you like you look out for us, but you make it fucking hard, Violet, ‘cause you don’t let us take care of you!”, Jinx said, gesticulating wildly with her hands, “But you are important to us, too, Violet, and we want you to be happy and to be near us, and-… and just feel safe. As safe as you make us feel. Okay?”, she sighed, and Vi sat up to pull her into a warm hug when she heard those words.
“…”
Jinx turned a bit, so she could hug her properly back, and the sisters just remained in this position for a moment, just breathing, feeling.
“… so, you think I should let Cait help me with Sarah?”, Vi asked, and Jinx chuckled with a roll of her eyes: “Yes, dummy. Let her and me help you out for a change”, she said, and Vi couldn’t help but chuckle as well: “Okay… and you check with Lux about the whole emigrating thing?”, she asked carefully, and Jinx sighed: “… yes. That’s what I can do for you. And maybe blowing Sarah Fortune up, but that’s a different story.” – “Pow.” – “Yeah, yeah… love you, ‘sis.” – “Love you, too.”
~
“Tobias!! TOBIAS!!!”
Tobias Kiramman startled in his armchair and almost dropped his newspaper when he heard his wife call for him so loudly all of a sudden.
“Cassandra?! Cassy, darling, are you alright??”, he asked worried, and almost stormed into her office upstairs, “What happened??”
Cassandra stared at a magazine she held with tense fingers in her hands and turned it around for her husband to see: “This is our daughter!! In front of the camera, with this-… with this american stray!”, she gasped, and was completely outraged.
Tobias took a deep breath and took the magazine from his wife to take a look at the article that was opened.
“… this”, he started, and cleared his throat, “… this is, uhm, something else”, he gulped, when he saw the very intimate photos of his daughter with the woman she had cried over in his arms some months ago.
“I can’t believe she agreed to such a-… such a thing! I mean, we know she is dating this American, I know, but that is no cause to pose so lascivious with her in front of a camera for a magazine like this!”, she complained, still shocked about what she had seen.
Tobias took a deep breath and tried to calm the situation: “Okay, let’s look at this objectively, neutrally, okay? She is, indeed, her girlfriend. And her girlfriend is a model, right? And Caitlyn is working as a photographer, often together with her. And you must admit, our daughter definitely has the potential to stand in front of the camera as well, right? So, it’s no wonder that someone has maybe asked them to model together?”, he spoke out his thoughts, and Cassandra sighed loudly with a groan, while she pinched the bridge of her nose: “Tobias, I… oh dear Lord. Yes, of course, you are right. But still, why does it have to be so sexual?”
Tobias huffed a little and put the magazine back on the desk, before he rounded it and laid his hands on his wife’s shoulders: “Darling. Take a breath, it’s not like Caithy attended in some kind of adult media. I agree, it’s a bit overdone, but it’s still a pretty normal fashion magazine, isn’t it?”, he tried, and Cassandra took a breath like he asked her to, and sighed deeply: “… you are right, love. I think I just still don’t completely agree with this relationship, maybe it’s this.”
Tobias turned her chair and pulled her up into a warm hug: “Cassy, do you really think Caitlyn would date someone who wouldn’t treat her like she deserves it? She went through too much to let someone near who won’t treat her right. And she is old enough to know what she is doing”, he smiled, and Cassandra sunk into his embrace: “You may be right. It is really time she introduces this punk to us.” – “Cassy…” – “Fine, introduce her girlfriend to us.”
-
“Jinx?”
Lux entered her girlfriend’s apartment with her spare key. She came over after Jinx had asked her to, and she got on her way right after they ended the short call.
“Babe! Come in, hey, haha, how are you? Have you already eaten? Do you want anything? Haha, I mean, uhm-…”, Jinx stumbled nervously over her own words, and Lux frowned critical: “Okay… what have you done? What happened?”, she asked, and crossed her arms.
Jinx fiddled with her hands, obviously overwhelmed with the topic she wanted to talk about with her girlfriend, and Lux sighed before she took some steps forward and covered her hands with hers: “Jinx, baby, is everything okay?”, she asked carefully, and Jinx bit her lower lip with tears in her eyes: “I-… yes, of course, everything is great, honestly, you know, it’s just that my sister plans on leaving the US and move over to England, and that means she will be super far away, and to be still near her means that I have to go with her, but that means you would be far away then, and I am super afraid of asking you to come with me, because I know you like it here, and then I am afraid you will leave me when I move away and that you don’t want to join, so there’s just a breakup left for us, and-…”, she started her ramble, and couldn’t stop anymore, until Lux interrupted her.
“Jinx! Jinx, baby, hey…! Stop. Honestly, stop, okay?”
The blonde woman let go of her girlfriend’s hands and laid them on her cheeks: “Jinx. We won’t break up, okay? Delete that from your mind. Let’s sit down, shall we?”, she smiled softly, and led her down to sit with her on the couch and cuddle up.
“Okay, first of all: Take a deep breath. Relax with me, okay? One… two… three… breath~”, she helped her, and the blue haired troublemaker did as she was told, and so she sunk deeper into their snuggles, “Good… feeling better?”, Lux asked gently, and Jinx nodded against her throat: “Yeah… thanks…”, she whispered, and Lux caressed her lovingly: “Okay, so, once more. Vi wants to move for Caitlyn to the UK?”, she asked, and Jinx nodded, “And you want to go with her, because you don’t want to be so far away from your sister?”, she asked further, and Jinx nodded again, “Okay. That makes perfect sense, Jinx, don’t worry, okay? Of course, I don’t want to lose you. Or make this what we have long distance. But you need to understand that this would be the case for a while, at least. You’re working for the same company as her, which is based over there. But I have my job here, you know? I can’t just decide that right away and say bye-bye. I need time for preparations, all the emigration stuff and I need to find a job before I can follow”, Lux said, and Jinx looked up to her with confused eyes: “You… you sound like it’s not even a question that you follow me?”
Lux chuckled and pressed a kiss to her girlfriend’s forehead: “Of course, silly. I’m with you because I love you. And you know that my family is jet-setting all the time, and honestly, it’s getting more and more uncomfortable here for us when we want to live out our queer life, so, I don’t mind moving away. I just need more time. It’s that, isn’t it? You wanted to ask me if I would come with you, right?”, she asked with a small smile, and Jinx nodded with a big sniff: “Yes. Yes! Would you come with me to England? I need you there. How should I survive between all these posh brits without you?”, Jinx pouted, and Lux laughed: “You’re unbelievable, really. But yes, I would come with you. You just need to decide if you want to stay with me until I am ready, or if you already move when Vi moves.”, she explained, and Jinx didn’t have to think twice about that: “I stay with you until you’re ready!”
Lux smiled and kissed her lovingly: “Then it’s sealed, hm? We leave America!” – “Ha-… hahaha, yes!! Fucking YES, we’re leaving!!”
~
Vi sighed deeply and pressed the call button the day after she had the talk with Jinx and waited for Caitlyn to answer it.
“Hey darling, sorry, give me a minute, I just came in-…”, she said, and Vi could see a bit of Caitlyn’s apartment while the British woman put away her keys, jacket, bag and shoes, all while holding her phone with her left hand.
“Alright, now! Hey, love, is everything alright? Have I forgotten about a call we scheduled?”, she asked, and Vi shook her head: “No, no, don’t worry. I’m… I’m calling because of this shit with Sarah”, she answered, and Caitlyn frowned: “Has she posted another photo??”, she asked, but Vi shook her head: “No! No, luckily not. It’s just… about that offer of yours. About suing her, you lawyer, and all this…”, she said, and Caitlyn softened again: “You want me to help?”, she asked, relieved that Vi seemed to finally let her help her for a change, and Vi nodded hesitantly: “... Yes, actually. I have no idea about how to handle this If I’m honest, but I didn’t want to drag you deeper into this shit…”
Caitlyn chuckled with a little huff: “Darling, we’re already both in this shit. And I’d be very happy to help. Do you want us to talk about that issue right now?”, she asked, and Vi nodded: “Yes, I guess the faster the better, hm?”, and Caitlyn agreed: “Yes, indeed. Alright, let me just start my PC and then we can talk about the details.”
-
“… alright. Then we got everything!”, Caitlyn smiled, after she and Vi had collected every information needed to give the case to the Kiramman’s lawyer.
“Thank you, Cait. Really”, Vi sighed, and the navy haired woman shook her head: “It’s nothing, Vi. I’m happy to help, and I am proud of you that you accepted my help”, she smiled, and Vi huffed a bit with a lowered gaze: “Yeah, feels good”, she admitted shyly, and Caitlyn smiled warm at her through the camera: “And there’s no shame in asking, okay? I’m here for you, the same way you’re always there for me.”
Vi huffed a bit, when Caitlyn told her the same thing Jinx had told her before.
“Yes. Yeah, you’re right”, she said, and Caitlyn prepared the mail to her lawyer: “You’re never too much, okay? I love you, and I want to take care of you. Okay, so, if you’re fine with it, I will send it out. Alright?”, she asked, and Vi took a deep breath before she nodded: “Yes. Yes, let’s sue that bitch.”
Caitlyn nodded and clicked ‘send’ – And with that, Vi felt some weight being taken off her shoulders. It was a freeing feeling, something she barely had, as she shouldered everything alone most of the time. She didn’t want to be a burden, even if her loved ones would never see her as that.
Vi had always been the one who took care of others.
It was hard for her to change the position, to rely on others or let them take care of her problems, but with Jinx development lately and Caitlyn’s caring way of treating her, she slowly learned to let go, to let someone else take a bit of the weight off her.
And it felt fantastic – Even if she couldn’t get rid of the last bit of her inner restrain yet.
“Thank you. I love you, Cait, so much…”, Vi sighed a bit tired, and Caitlyn tilted her head: “I love you, too, darling. And as I said, I’m happy you let me help you. I will let you know as soon as I got an answer back, alright?”, she smiled, and Vi nodded: “Yes, please. And I promise I won’t search for her to punch her”, she snickered, and Caitlyn laughed sweet: “Oh, believe me I would love to see that happen, but we really should keep ignoring her and let the lawyer take care of this. By the way, do you know already when you can come over here?”, she asked, and Vi sighed a bit: “It’s not quite sure, I have a few jobs next week, and I’m trying to convince Mel to send someone else for a job the week after that, but it seems like the customer asked exclusively for me. So, earliest next Thursday. If that’s okay for you, I’d check for plane tickets.”
Caitlyn pouted a bit, but she knew it was no use: “Yes, please book the earliest day possible. I’ll make sure to be able to pick you up”, she said, and Vi nodded: “Yes, okay. I’ll let you know.”
~
Two days later, Sarah checked her postbox and pulled out a big envelope, frowning when she saw that the sender was a law firm, and she took it inside to open it.
“What the… are you fucking kidding me??”, she screamed offended, and her grip on the paper got firmer with every word she read, “… that bitch really brainwashed you, Vi, can’t you fucking see it?!”, she cursed further, but when she saw what penalty would wait for her if she wouldn’t take the pictures down and stay away from Vi and Caitlyn, she froze.
“… fuck.”
She knew, if she would continue this and they would stick to what she had read now, she would never financially recover from this.
Sarah gripped the documents harder, ripped them with a scream and threw the pieces through the room, kicking after the flying pieces of paper, raging hardly.
“You can’t do this to me, Vi!!!!”, she cried angry out, and grabbed her phone to call Vi, but the call didn’t go through. So, she opened her Instagram and checked for her profile, but she couldn’t find it anymore.
She got blocked. By both of them.
“…!! You can’t treat me like that!!!”, she raged further, and threw her phone with force against the pillows of her couch, when one of the ripped pieces of the document landed beside her.
It read the deadline until she had to remove the photos of her and Vi, and she grid her teeth.
“This isn’t FAIR!!”
But in the end, she knew she had no other choice, and so, she grabbed her phone again and deleted the old photos she had posted with Vi and her on it.
She had lost. Even if she didn’t want to admit it completely.
Chapter 33: Family Business
Summary:
Hey guys!
I'm happy to share chapter 33 with you, earlier than I thought tbh! The work on my Enforcer Vi Cosplay was going well, and so I can provide you with the next chapter before I go to Comic Con Stuttgart this weekend :D
We only have one chapter to go, which will be kind of an epilogue.
I can't believe this story will be finally finished after that! I received so many comments and kudos on 'Pictures', I appreciate every single one of them SO much <3So, please enjoy the penultimate chapter of 'Pictures'!
Chapter Text
Chapter 33 – Family Business
The time until Vi finally boarded the plane to England felt like eternity for both of them.
Again.
But finally, Vi arrived in England and was expected by a nervous Caitlyn, who fiddled with her fingers and tried to spot her over the heads of other people who also waited for their loved ones.
When she spotted vibrant pink hair, she lifted a hand and waved to make her notice her, and Vi spotted her instantly, which was also simply caused by Caitlyn’s height. She jogged over to her and fell directly into her arms, to which Caitlyn reacted by wrapping hers immediately around her as well, holding on tight.
“Fuck, I can’t do this anymore, I don’t want to endure this shitty distance any longer…”, Vi mumbled into Caitlyn’s neck, and the taller woman nuzzled her cheek more against Vi’s head: “… me neither, Vi, me neither…”
They held onto each other for another moment, before they parted just as much as to be able to look at each other and lean in for a soft and long kiss.
They both looked tired.
“Let’s get home, shall we?”, Caitlyn smiled, when they separated again, and Vi nodded: “Yes, let’s go home.”
-
When they arrived in Caitlyn’s apartment, Vi rolled her suitcase over into the big bedroom to sort her stuff into the drawer Caitlyn always keeps empty for her when she visits, and walked back to her girlfriend who stood in the kitchen to chop the vegetables for the meal she wanted to cook for them this evening.
Vi wrapped her arms around her waist from behind and kissed her nape softly: “Hey~… wanna join me in the shower?”, she asked, and peppered more kissed to her nape and shoulder, giving her pleasant goosebumps.
“Hmm~… yes, that sounds heavenly. Let me just finish this-… Vi!”, she giggled, when her girlfriend tightened her arms around her and simply lifted her up to carry her over to the bathroom: “Hehe! Come on, I help you chop the ingredients afterwards”, Vi snickered cheeky, and let her down on the bathroom floor, before she pulled her own shirt over her head and pulled down her sweatpants that she had worn for the long flight.
Caitlyn chuckled sweet and shook her head when Vi just started to undress, and followed after her with taking her own clothes off as well, before they entered the big shower and turned the hot water on for them.
“Hm, come here~”, Caitlyn whispered, and pulled Vi by her wrists to her into a hug. Their bodies fell flush, the warmth build up around them and they both just enjoyed the near, the feeling and certainty that they really were together again.
“… Cait?”, Vi whispered, barely hearable under the sound of the water, “Hm?”, Caitlyn made a questioning sound, and she felt Vi taking a deep breath before she spoke further: “… I want this here every day. I feel like dying when I think about going on with all the distance, all the time we don’t have each other near. I think I’m ready. But there are some things I need to get cleared”, she said, and Caitlyn felt her heart getting warm: “Yes, darling, of course! Of course… we will talk about this in every detail you and I need, alright?”, she reassured her, and caressed softly over her muscular back, kissing Vi’s shoulder and feeling a bit of weight fall from her heart, weight that was created by uncertainty about if Vi was ready to leave her home for her or not.
The two remained a bit in their entangled position, enjoying each other silently, before they actually started to wash their bodies and hair and left the shower again to dry off and get back to the kitchen, where Vi helped Caitlyn cook now.
“What are we cooking?”, the model asked, chopping some Tofu that Caitlyn had handed her.
“I thought about a vegetarian Cheese-Curry, how does that sound?”, the photographer smiled, and Vi grinned bright: “I’m always in if it’s for cheese!”, she said, and Caitlyn chuckled amused: “Well, then I make sure you get an extra portion of cheese on your bowl.” – “YAS!”
-
After dinner, Caitlyn had cuddled up on top of Vi on her wide couch, and they listened to soft lo-fi music from Caitlyn’s record player, they got cozy in dimmed lights and a few candles burned on the low table in front of the couch.
Vi caressed gently over her girlfriend’s back and played softly with her hair, while Caitlyn let her fingertips ran lovingly over her arm.
“Do you want to talk about it now, or do you want to rest and talk tomorrow?”, Caitlyn asked carefully, and Vi huffed a little thoughtful: “I’m fit enough for now, I’d say. The earlier the better, I guess, what do you think?”, she asked back, and Caitlyn agreed: “Yes. Better now than later.”
Both took a deep breath, and Caitlyn slipped a bit higher on Vi, so her head shifted from Vi’s chest to her shoulder: “So, if you decide to move here, I’d love to welcome you here in my apartment. It’s big enough for both of us, for the start, at least. I’d be open to buy a house or something later on, if you want that, too? But I’d be very happy if you would move in with me”, Caitlyn started, and Vi nodded, kissed her hair and answered with a little smile: “I thought that was given, Cupcake”, she chuckled, “Of course I want to move in with you. What would be the point of getting me an own apartment, when I’d be over here every day and night anyway?”, she grinned, and Caitlyn chuckled: “That’s a good point, you’re right. I’m glad you think that way”, she smiled. And both felt a bit easier after that start.
“You said something about clearing some things? Details? What things are this?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi let her head fall back into the pillow she leaned on: “So, the most important thing is, Pow will follow with Lux later on. And I want to help find them an apartment, so, if you have any ideas or connections, that’d be helpful”, Vi answered, and Caitlyn nodded immediately: “Yes, of course. That won’t be a problem”, she said, and Vi smiled a bit: “Thank you.”
Caitlyn frowned a bit at the silence that followed, and she asked carefully: “What else is there you want to clear?”
Vi sighed a bit, before she spoke again: “I haven’t talked with Mel yet. My jobs are mostly in the US, the customers there book me a lot. But if I move over here, I don’t want to fly back for work every week, you know? That wouldn’t help us and would be even more stressful than coming over to you”, she spoke her worry, and Caitlyn took a deep breath with a little smile: “Vi… do you really think I haven’t talked with Mel and Jayce about our plans? Mel knows about this. And she supports us. We will find a solution for that, plus, you know best that we can provide shootings for customers overseas from here as well”, Caitlyn said, caressing Vi’s chubby cheek gently, “You don’t have to worry about this. You can talk openly with Mel, maybe she even has a solution in stock already, you know her”, Caitlyn smiled, and Vi huffed a bit relieved: “You think so? I was a bit scared the whole time about this, so I delayed it over and over again and never called her regarding this.”
Caitlyn slipped up a bit more and kissed her cheek and the corner of her mouth: “Don’t worry, love. Mel is on our side. If you want, we can talk to her together? While you’re here, in person?”, she suggested, and Vi turned her head to kiss her lips properly: “Yes. Yeah, sounds like a plan, thanks, Cait”, she smiled, and Caitlyn pecked her lips once more: “Of course. Is there anything else?”, she asked, and Vi shrugged a bit: “Yeah, well… your parents. Is there anything I need to know, before we meet them the day after tomorrow?”, she asked, and Caitlyn groaned a bit: “Oh, yes… I almost forgot about that”, she sighed, and snuggled her face on Vi’s neck.
“We’re expected for dinner at 6pm. My father will be way easier to handle, compared to my mother. But Vi, I want you to know and memorize that I will stay by your side, and that nothing my mother will say or do will change anything about my feelings for you, or about the plans we have. Okay? Nothing”, Caitlyn reassured her, and Vi tightened their embrace for a moment: “Thanks… I needed to hear that. Not that I doubted this in any way, but it’s… calming to hear it beside feeling it”, Vi said, and Caitlyn kissed her neck again: “We go visit them, I introduce you to them, we have a nice dinner, and I’m sure when they got to know you they will understand why I want to be with you”, Caitlyn soothed further, and Vi let out a loud sigh: “Yes, I do hope they will at least accept me at your side.” – “They will.”
A moment of cozy silence followed, in which they both closed their eyes and just enjoyed their time together, until Caitlyn opened her eyes again and spoke: “Vi? So, uhm… this means, you will definitely move here, doesn’t it?”, she asked with a tiny voice, and Vi opened her eyes again as well to face her: “Huh? Oh. Yes, Cupcake, I will move here, to you”, she smiled, and Caitlyn bit her lip with shimmering eyes and a sparkling expression: “You do? We move together, is this real? Is this really happening…?”, she asked again, and Vi laughed amused: “Yes, Cait, we’re moving together! For real!”, she said, and Caitlyn squeaked happy, before she rolled completely onto her girlfriend and squeezed her tightly while pressing a big kiss to her lips.
Vi giggled amused and wrapped her arms around her firmly as well before she kissed her back and wrapped her legs around her hips with a big grin: “We’re doing it! We’re fucking crazy!”, she laughed, and Caitlyn got infected by her girlfriend’s laugh: “We certainly are, oh my god!”, she laughed, and the two melted into intense but soft kisses, tangled into each other, and giggled happily over their decision.
A decision, and a clear commitment – For love.
~
“Oh god, I’m shitting my pants, Cait, for real, I’m not joking, the situation is critical…!”
Vi sat beside Caitlyn on the passenger seat of her girlfriend’s car, who drove them over to her parents’ mansion.
“Darling, please. You’re making me unnecessary more nervous than I should be!”, Caitlyn complained, “Take a deep breath, we’re almost there. I’m here with you, everything will be fine. I’m nervous, too, okay? We’ll get through this, together”, she said, and took Vi’s hand to pull it over onto her thigh, where Vi grabbed it immediately.
“Remember what I told you yesterday. There’s nothing that could happen which would change a thing about the two of us. Okay?”, she reassured her more, and Vi did as she was told and took a deep breath: “Yes, I know… I know. Sorry, we’ll be just fine.” – “Exactly.”
Caitlyn stopped the car at a big gate that had the Kiramman family crest on it, and typed a code into a box, after which the gate opened.
“Holy fucking shit… you’re really rich rich…”, Vi mumbled, when she saw the mansion that came into view at the end of a straight alley after they had entered the estate through the gate.
“My parents are rich rich, Vi”, Caitlyn corrected her, “I left, have you already forgotten? I earn my own money”, she said, and Vi just kept staring out of the windshield with her mouth open, which Caitlyn pushed shut with a finger under Vi’s chin: “Vi. Concentrate.” – “…! Yes, yes ma’am!”
Caitlyn parked in front of the mansion and turned the engine off before she took a deep breath.
“Okay. Phew. Just be yourself, okay?”, Caitlyn asked Vi to, and the pink haired model raised an eyebrow: “Are you sure that this is what you want me to do?”, she asked, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes and couldn’t hold back a little chuckle: “Yes, I want you to be yourself, because I love you the way you are and there is no cause to act differently in front of my parents. I don’t want either of us to bend in any way, okay?”, Caitlyn reassured her, leaned forward, and kissed the tip of Vi’s nose, “I love you. Come on, let’s go inside.”
Vi took a deep breath and nodded, slapping her own thighs with both her flat hands: “Alright, let’s do this!”
-
“I think I heard Caitlyn’s car outside, darling”, Tobias smiled, and got up from the armchair he was reading in, when Cassandra turned her head to him and lowered her teacup: “Yes, I think I heard it, too. I hope her girlfriend brought manners with her.” – “Cassy, please.”
-
“Ready?”, Caitlyn asked, and squeezed Vi’s hand in hers, which Vi did as well: “Yes, and you?”, she asked back, and Caitlyn sighed a bit: “… no, but we can do this. Let’s go.”
Caitlyn gave herself a little push and rang the doorbell, and Vi could feel her being tense by the way she clung to her hand, so she gave her a reassuring squeeze and a smile that showed that she was here for her, and that she would stand her ground.
The door opened, and instead of the butler, Tobias and Cassandra opened the door themselves.
“Caitlyn, sweetheart! It’s so good to see you”, Tobias smiled, and hugged her, before he faced Vi with a little different smile, but it was still genuine: “You must be Vi, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, I’m Caitlyn’s father, you can just call me Tobias”, he greeted her, and the two exchanged a firm handshake: “The pleasure is all mine, Tobias, thank you!”, Vi answered, and watched Cassandra hug Caitlyn for greeting, before she faced her.
Vi could feel her eyes wandering from her neck tattoo to the one under her eye, then to the scars her face had, and just then she looked her in the eyes: “My name is Cassandra Kiramman, I’m Caitlyn’s mother, as you may already know. Welcome”, she said a bit stiff, and Vi reached her hand out to her: “I’m Vi, it’s nice to finally meet you”, Vi smiled, a little stiff herself, and Cassandra’s eyes fell down to Vi’s hand. She hesitated a second before she took and shook it, feeling that they were calloused.
“How about we go inside? Dinner will be served in a few moments”, Tobias smiled, and the four entered the big mansion together.
Vi looked around in the entry hall, taking in the huge room with all its fancy decorations, the portraits on the walls, the expensive looking vases, and the gold and blue design all over it.
It was big, and it was much. She had expected a big house and luxury, but she hadn’t expected a literal palace.
“Vi, love, are you coming?”, Caitlyn asked softly, and ripped Vi out of her stunned state: “Oh! Y-… yes, sorry, of course!”, she said, and took the hand Caitlyn held out to her and followed them to the dining room, where the table was already prepared for them.
“You can sit here, darling”, Caitlyn smiled, and pointed to one of the seats, before she sat down next to her, across from her parents.
Vi sat down and looked around, the room was as fancy as the parts of the house that she had already seen, and she folded her hands on her thighs when she sat next to Caitlyn, rocking her leg a bit out of nervousness.
“So, Vi, how was the flight?”, Tobias tried to break the awkward silence, and Vi turned her head immediately to him, ripping her eyes away from all the things that were so new to her: “Oh! Uh, boring as always, to be honest, but okay. We had no turbulences or stuff, just a bit of a delay, but the pilot was able to arrive almost in time”, she answered with a small smile, and Tobias smiled back at her: “That is good to hear, the distance really isn’t a piece of cake. Speaking of that, it must be exhausting for the two of you to live so far away from each other, isn’t it?”, he asked, and Caitlyn answered this time: “It is, indeed. And this is why Vi will move in with me soon”, she said, and she and Vi felt their hearts jumped a little in excitement when she announced it to her parents.
“Is that so?”, Cassandra asked, and looked over to the door when the cook brought in the serving trolley to serve them their plates, “Thank you, it looks delicious”, Cassandra told the cook, who thanked her with a little bow, before he left again to the kitchen, “Are you sure you want to do that? It’s a big step”, she addressed Vi and her daughter again, before she took her cutlery.
“Please, enjoy the meal”, Tobias smiled, and everyone started to eat the dinner.
Vi took a bite and remembered to chew and swallow delicately, before she answered Cassandra’s question: “Yes, we’re very aware of the risks and what this means for us and our lives”, she started, and took another bite – It really was delicious -, before she continued: “But Caitlyn and I have talked about it openly, and we came to the conclusion that this definitely is the right thing for us to do. A big step, but we’re both looking forward to it”, she smiled, and looked over to Caitlyn, who smiled happily back to her.
“We indeed look forward to it with excitement”, Caitlyn smiled, and squeezed Vi’s forearm on the table before she took a sip from her glass. Cassandra’s eyes changed between the two younger women in front of her, and sighed then: “So, you want to emigrate from your home country for my daughter?”, she asked, a bit stunned about that, and Vi nodded without hesitation: “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
There was a bit of silence, Vi’s words sunk in, and Cassandra seemed to soften a bit. This woman really seemed to take it seriously what she had with her daughter, and it was something she definitely hadn’t expected.
“That is a big commitment”, she said, turning to her food again, “But it also shows that you prioritize my daughter, and that is something I appreciate”, the older woman said, and Caitlyn’s smiled grew a little: “Vi really is treating me very good, our relationship has grown so much lately, we are ready for this. And I am very thankful for her doing this immense step”, she said, and Vi turned her head to her girlfriend, giving her a warm smile: “I love you. It’s the right thing to do”, she said, and squeezed her hand on top of the table.
Tobias smiled warmly at the two, also pleased with the way Vi presented herself to them, about what she was planning to do for his daughter: “I am glad to see that Caitlyn seems to have found someone who really treasures her. I do hope those are not just empty promises, tho”, he said, and Vi frowned: “I keep my promises.”
Caitlyn stepped in, feeling that some anger bloomed inside her partner: “Papa, there’s no reason to doubt Vi’s promises. And I won’t allow you or mother to question Vi’s intentions with me. We went through enough to know that we can trust in each other’s words”, she said, her voice clear and determined, and her parents sighed.
They knew, criticizing Vi or doubting her would only drive Caitlyn farther away again, and that was something they didn’t want to risk.
“I apologize, I didn’t want to assume anything. Do you know when you will move over?”, Tobias asked, trying to get the mood better again, and Vi and Caitlyn seemed to calm again.
“Not to the exact day yet, we need to check what needs to be done before I can legally immigrate to the UK. But we’ll start with this immediately, so as soon as possible, I’d say. Right, Cait?”, she asked, and Caitlyn nodded: “Yes, exactly. I will help her as best as I can with my knowledge which I have from my law studies and all this. We’ll get this done as soon as possible, right.”
“Well, I do hope it all goes smoothly, then”, Cassandra said, and the four concentrated mainly on their food then.
-
The rest of the evening was filled with getting-to-know-each-other small talk, which Vi managed to handle well, and with Caitlyn having her back and showing that she wasn’t up for any bullshit about her girlfriend, and Cassandra and Tobias had to admit, Vi wasn’t the rude punk they thought she was.
She was serious about her relationship with Caitlyn, she was educated and knew what she wanted.
And: She was willing to make a commitment.
“… so, were you always modelling?”, Cassandra asked, curious about Vi’s background, and Caitlyn felt Vi stiffen. That definitely wasn’t a topic she wanted to discuss with Caitlyn’s parents, but before her girlfriend could step in, Vi spoke herself: “I took care of my little sister, and that demanded every job I could get. I worked here and there, nothing specific. I got the chance to start at Mel’s agency, and I took the chance. There’s nothing more behind it”, she said, not willing to say anything more about that.
Tobias and Cassandra raised their eyebrows a little, but before they could continue this topic, Caitlyn took the lead: “Speaking of jobs and business, how’s it going at your companies?”, she asked, leading the attention from Vi to her parents.
“Oh, nothing too big. We’re doing well at the company, we developed a new rifle for sport shooting, and we have an Olympian gold medal winner who wants to test it. If he’s satisfied, he will promote it”, Tobias said, and Cassandra shrugged: “Nothing new, the law firm runs well as always, we have some big cases we’re taking care of, and you know that I can’t talk about political details”, she said, and Caitlyn just nodded: “I see, sounds like business as usual”, she smiled slightly, and her parents just nodded to that.
-
“It was nice meeting you, Vi”, Cassandra said, and shook hands with her, before Tobias reached his hand out to her as well: “It was a pleasure. We’re looking forward meeting you again soon”, he said, and Vi shook his hand as well: “Yes, it was nice to get to know Cait’s parents, thank you for having me”, she smiled politely, and watched them hug her girlfriend goodbye.
Vi and Caitlyn got into the car, and both took a deep breath.
“Oh god, they hate me!”, Vi chuckled, and Caitlyn playfully slapped her thigh: “They don’t! God, you did so well, thank you, love”, she chuckled back, leaned over to her, and kissed her gently, “And even if so, I don’t care. I love you, and that’s all that matters.”
Vi huffed with a little grin and buckled up: “I love you, too, Cupcake. But still, they fucking hate me”, she grinned, and laughed when she received another complaint and playful slap.
~
A few weeks later, Vi stood at the airport with her sister.
She was sleeping at Jinx’ place the last month, as she had sent her stuff over to Caitlyn already, who had got it delivered to her apartment for when Vi would move in with her.
“I can’t believe you’re really doing this. That we are doing this. Shit, I leave the country, because you decided to fuck a posh, British girl, what the fuck!”, Jinx teased with an evil laugh, and Vi ruffled her bright blue hair with the same grin: “Hey! Don’t act like you don’t want to leave anymore now”, she laughed, and Jinx fought her sister back, both giggling like they were kids again.
“I’ll miss you”, Jinx pouted, and plopped against her big sister, to which Vi reacted with wrapping her arms around her: “I’ll miss you, too, Pow-Pow”, she sighed, “But it’s not for long, okay? You’ll follow soon, you heard Lux. Her preparations are going well, you guys will be in England faster than you know it!”, she smiled, and squeezed her before slowly letting go, “Love you, stay safe, okay? I’ll text you when I arrived.”
Jinx sighed and nodded then: “Yes. Love you, too, sis’”, she said, but jumped into her arms once more, sobbing a little, “…”
Vi caught her and sniffled a bit: “I’ll have your apartment ready when you guys come, I promise. Can’t wait to have you over there with me, Pow, okay?”, she said, trying to hold back her own tears, to stay strong and smile for her little sister.
“Yes, okay…”, Jinx sniffed, and loosened the hug, “Go, you’ll miss your flight. Go to her, you deserve that”, she said, and Vi chuckled a bit: “You sound like we won’t see each other again”, she said, and Jinx shrugged: “For now, that’s long enough”, she said, and Vi just shook her head at that: “Alright. Take care, as I said, I text you when I arrived. Bye, Pow!”, Vi said, a last hug, then she made her way to the security check and disappeared in the crowd, after she had looked back once more to her sister, who waved at her, before Jinx made her way back to her girlfriend’s apartment.
-
When Vi arrived in England, it hit her that she would stay now.
That she didn’t have to fly back in a week or two.
That she was about to officially move in with the love of her life, the woman who had helped her learning to love again, to trust.
And when she went out the door that separated the luggage pick-up station with the open area of the airport, she saw her standing there.
With her pretty smile that was so bright her adorable little tooth gap was to see, with her cerulean eyes that were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and her hands that fidgeted nervous with each other, while she waited for her.
God, she loved that woman so much.
So, so much…
“Vi!”, Caitlyn called, and the pink haired model walked up to her, her own smile growing at the realization that they would start their life together now.
Today was the point their commitment reached a full 100%.
And it felt nothing but right.
“Hey, Cupcake! Ready to share our lives?”
Chapter 34: Epilogue
Summary:
Hey guys!
Here it is - The last chapter of 'Pictures'!
What a ride, we started in the beginning of October 2023, it feels unreal to finish this story that so may of you are reading and following for over a year :)I want to say thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments, subscribed, bookmarked, and also to those who read in silence.
This story is the most successful I have written by now, and I am a little proud of it <3You can be sure that there will be coming new stories from me, I just don't know yet what kind - But it will definitely be CaitVi of course <3
So, let's start with the Epilogue of 'Pictures' - Please enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments!
Chapter Text
Chapter 34: Epilogue
~ 6 months later ~
“Caitlyn, how can you date her with that knowledge?!”
Cassandra walked up and down in her office inside the Kiramman mansion and talked to her daughter on the phone on speaker, as Tobias was with her, being equally concerned about his daughter’s dating choices.
“You’re dating a convicted felon! I can’t believe this, you can’t be serious!”
She had found out about Vi being in prison in her teens, and the picture she and her husband had from their daughter’s girlfriend immediately changed. They had got to know her better the last months, they had visited them about once a month when their work allowed it, and Vi had been polite and eager to leave a good impression, but that got crushed the moment Cassandra did a little research on the American punk her daughter had brought home.
-
Caitlyn groaned annoyed with a frown, pinching the bridge of her nose, while she listened to her mother on the phone.
“Mom, that was a whole different story! Could you please not judge my girlfriend by some old newspaper articles?! You don’t know anything about what Vi went through, so stop saying she’s a criminal, because she is not!”, she said with a firm voice, and she could hear her father in the background: >”Caitlyn, we’re worried about you! They say she killed someone, how could we not be concerned about your safety and doubtful about Vi’s intentions?”<, he said, and Caitlyn let out another big sigh: “Because she told me the whole story, and she was a child back then! The system failed her and her sister, but this is way too personal for me to tell you, all you need to know is that she is good for me, she treats me more than right and she is not a criminal, she’s a victim!”, Caitlyn defended her love, when she heard the front door open.
“Hey babe, I‘m back! I got everything, should I-… uh, is everything okay?”, Vi entered their apartment and frowned worried with puppy eyes, when she saw the expression on Caitlyn’s face.
She walked into the open kitchen and put down the grocery bags, before she approached her girlfriend and kissed her cheek, “Who’s that?”, she asked, nodding to the phone on Caitlyn’s ear.
Caitlyn just rolled her eyes with a little shake of her head at the question and smiled when she received the kiss, before she held her hand to the phone to cover it: “It’s my parents, don’t worry, I’ll handle this. Would you unpack the groceries and start cooking, darling? I’ll help you in a minute”, she said, kissed her lips gently and went back to the call while she walked outside on the balcony, while Vi nodded and went back to the kitchen, but not without a worried expression.
Something was going on, and she had a feeling she wouldn’t like it.
The photographer walked up and down on her balcony, still kind of arguing with her parents: “Could you just listen? I won’t leave Vi, she isn’t a murderer, stop saying that!! Honestly, it was self-defense, she was a child, there’s nothing more you need to know!!”, she said, getting louder and angry meanwhile, and Cassandra and Tobias sighed defeated at the other end of the line: “>I can just hope you’re right with this, Caitlyn, we can’t ignore such a thing about your partner<”, Cassandra said, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a frustrated groan: “How often do I need to repeat myself? She is the victim in this story! And I won’t discuss this further, everything is said, and I refuse to listen to you talk so badly about the woman I love! I don’t want to listen to any of this further, good day.”
And with that, she ended the call with a shaking hand, took an even shakier breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm down and keep herself from crying out of frustration, anger, and sadness.
They hadn’t the right to judge Vi. They just hadn’t.
“… hey, Cupcake? Are you alright?”
Caitlyn opened her eyes when she heard her girlfriend’s words and felt her arms wrap themselves firm but gentle around her waist.
“Hey”, she whispered, and leaned back into Vi’s hold, while she laid her arms on top of hers, “… god, sorry…”, she sniffed, and Vi frowned worried at that sound: “Hey, what happened? Is everything okay?”, she asked, and turned her around in her arms, cupped her face with both her hands and wiped the tears away with her thumbs that had started running.
Caitlyn sobbed with a bitter chuckle: “It’s just… god, how can they not see how gentle and loving you are with me? Just look at you… you’re perfect”, she sobbed, and went in for a tight hug, she buried her face on Vi’s neck, and the model just held her, she gave her the secureness and hold she seemed to need so badly right now.
“… it’s alright, Cait, hey”, Vi whispered, “Can you tell me what happened? I don’t quite understand what’s going on, are your parents alright?”, Vi asked softly, and Caitlyn took a deep breath before she leaned a bit back to be able to look at her love: “Yes, don’t worry, they’re fine. It’s just… well, they found out about you being in prison back then. And now they tell me I’m not safe with you, I-…”, Caitlyn tried to explain, when another sob let her voice break, “I’m sorry, you have to believe me, I told them they have no right to talk about you like this, I told them you’re good for me, I-…”, she rambled, when Vi stopped her by laying her index finger on her lips: “Hey. Stop. I know that, babe, it’s alright, we talked about all this. I told you everything, didn’t I? Is there anything more you need to know about my time there?”, Vi offered, but Caitlyn just shook her head with a sobby little huff: “No. No, see? This is exactly why I know you’re perfect for me. You care so much, Vi, your heart is so big, so, so good… I won’t let them talk you bad. I won’t.”
Vi smiled a little and tiptoed to be able to kiss her forehead: “Whatever your parents do or say, you said it yourself: They can do nothing to keep us apart”, she said, and wiped the last tears away from her face with her thumbs, before she kissed the tip of her nose, “So… that means I’m uninvited from that posh little gala?”, she grinned, wiggling her eyebrows, trying to make her laugh, but Caitlyn just huffed amused and shook her head: “No, I’m afraid you will still have to accompany me, now more than ever. You won’t get out of this, Violet.”
The Kirammans hosted a yearly charity gala for projects they chose themselves or owned themselves, and the next one would be in four days. They had invited Vi as their daughter’s partner, and Caitlyn got excited for the first time to attend this party, even if she had always been up for the purpose of them.
“Oh man. Seems like I must be extra hot now, huh? Can’t arrive there and not beat the hot criminal allegations, can I?”, she joked, trying to cheer Caitlyn up, which kind of worked: “Oh, believe me, you’re too hot to handle for them already now, you’ll be the eye candy of the whole gala”, Caitlyn teased, and laid her arms around Vi’s shoulders, “God, I’m so sorry. I don’t want this to have such an effect on me, I really don’t. It just makes me angry, and it frustrates me to hear them talk so poorly about you when they don’t know anything! They just found the newspaper articles from back then and judged right away. It’s not fair”, she sighed, “And you’re not a criminal, don’t say that. Simply because you’re not.”
Vi’s smirk softened to a gentle smile when she cupped Caitlyn’s face with both her hands again: “I know. And you know this, too. Nothing else matters, okay? At least as long as being so sexy isn’t a crime, that is”, Vi snickered, and now she finally got Caitlyn to laugh again.
She rolled her eyes and nudged her shoulder with a grin she couldn’t hold back: “You’re the worst, Violet Lanes!”
~
Two days later, Vi and Caitlyn stood in their walk-in closet and tried to find matching outfits for the charity gala.
“So, it has to be blue and gold, or it can be blue and gold?”, Vi asked, while she looked through the few suits she owned. She didn’t always get to keep the outfits she modelled in, and she didn’t buy that much herself, so she didn’t have that many options right now.
“I am tempted to not meet the family colors after what they said about you, but I am afraid we should, so the guests can recognize us better”, Caitlyn answered, and pulled out a navy-blue pantsuit with golden decor, “I like this one. I don’t feel like wearing a dress this time. I think I could wear a black turtleneck under it, what do you think? And the golden high heels?”, she suggested, and Vi turned to her to take a look at what she had picked out.
“Mhm, yes, I can see that. But a turtleneck? For a party?”, Vi answered, crossing her arms, “Why not that golden blouse?”, she suggested, and Caitlyn huffed with a chuckle: “You just like how my chest looks in that one”, she teased, and Vi smirked: “And? It looks good on you”, she said, shrugging.
“Maybe I’ll consider it”, Caitlyn winked, and took said blouse out of the closet as well, “Do you know which one you’d like to wear?”, she asked, and Vi sighed: “Not really. I only have one in dark blue, I don’t know if it fits?”, she answered, and took it out to lay it beside the one Caitlyn had chosen.
“Hm. No, that’s not it”, Caitlyn said, not satisfied with the color combination, “Okay, but what if you take this one here…”, she said, and pulled out a Bordeaux red one, “… and we get you a golden button-up with this? You can wear your black suit shoes with them, or those leather boots you have. And I would like to go shopping today for some matching jewelry, what do you think?”, Caitlyn suggested, and Vi crossed her arms and nodded then: “Yes, sounds good. Shall we go to the city then and get us everything? I’m also in the mood to get some food at this little kebab place, what do you say, Cupcake?” – “I say, let’s get dressed and started!”
-
A while later, the couple walked hand-in-hand through the Oxford circus, Vi in black jeans and a grey tanktop under a light, red blazer, while Caitlyn had chosen a color fitting dress with a wide belt around her waist.
“So, button-up first?”, Caitlyn asked, and Vi nodded in agreement: “Yes, sounds good. After that we can look for the jewelry that you want”, she said, and the two went through a few shops that sold expensive brands, until they found a fitting one.
“Hm, does it fit at my back?”, Vi asked, and turned around for Caitlyn to check after she had stepped out of the changing room.
“Let me see, darling…”, Caitlyn said, and got up to check on the shirts fit on her girlfriend’s body, “… yes, perfectly if you ask me”, she smiled, and let her hands caress over her shoulder blades, “It highlights your shoulder and back muscles”, she grinned, and leaned forward to press a kiss to the tattoo on her neck, “I like it.”
Vi shuddered when she felt Caitlyn touch her, and the kiss send pleasant goosebumps through her whole body: “Yeah? Well, then it’s bought I’d say”, she grinned, turned her head, and stole a kiss, before she went back into the changing room to get her own clothes back on.
The two went to the checkout, Vi paid for her new shirt, and the two went on to look for some fitting jewelry.
“Do you have something specific in mind?”, Vi asked, holding Caitlyn’s hand with one, and the bag with her shirt in the other.
“Oh, well… I thought maybe we could get something with our first name initial. Is that too cheesy…?”, Caitlyn answered, feeling a bit self-conscious, “We could also get you a necklace with a bullet with the Kiramman crest embed on it? I bet my father could get us one quick”, she suggested, and Vi squeezed her hand reassuring: “I think the initials are actually a cute idea, Cupcake. I like the bullet as well, but given the circumstances, we maybe should not ask your parents for anything right now”, she answered, and Caitlyn sighed with a nod: “Yes, you might be right. Then let’s see if we find something matching for us!”
The couple strolled through a few shops, until they found what they were looking for.
“Oh, Vi, look! These are really cute, don’t you think?”, Caitlyn smiled happy, and pointed to tiny pendants that were available in every letter of the alphabet. There were gold and silver options, and Vi looked at them as well, nodding: “Yeah, looks good. Can I have mine in silver?”, she asked, and Caitlyn chuckled: “Of course, chose what you like best. I just want to have something of you on me.”
“Welcome! How can I help you?”, and elderly man approached them politely, and the couple explained to him what they were looking for and that it was about their names, when he smiled and pointed his finger up: “I think I have something even better for you, at least for you, Miss”, he said, looking at Caitlyn, and went behind the checkout and disappeared through a door behind it, before he came back two minutes later.
“What do you think about this?”, he smiled, and presented a little golden pendant with the roman number 6, so it said ‘VI’, “This way it would be even clearer, and it matches your girlfriend’s tattoo”, he smiled, and tapped his own cheek with a smile to Vi.
“Oh my god, I love it! Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for and even better!”, Caitlyn cheered happy, and Vi smiled cutely at her love’s joy about being able to wear her name around her neck, “I’ll take it! Darling, would you like the silver pendant with the letter ‘C’ then?”, she asked, and turned to Vi who nodded: “Yes, but is there an option to get a necklace that’s more like a chain?”, she asked, looking at the filigree necklace that Caitlyn had chosen for her pendant.
The man nodded with a smile and pulled out a box from under the display he stood behind: “We have a variety of necklace designs, maybe these here would be to your liking?”, he said, and presented her a few thicker ones, which Vi took a curious look at: “Hm, what do you think, babe? I like that one”, she said, and pointed to a darker silver necklace that was formed like an actual chain, and Caitlyn nodded with a smile: “Yes, I think that would be very fitting, love. Maybe try it on, if that’s possible?”, the photographer answered, and the man nodded immediately: “Of course! Let me just attach it quickly.”
Vi took the necklace when he handed it her, and put it around her neck, before she looked into the mirror the man held up for her.
“I like it. What about you, Cupcake?”, she smiled, and Caitlyn agreed: “I love it. Shall we take those two then?” – “Yes, sounds great.”
“Very well!”, the man smiled, and packed the jewelry for the two in nice cases and a bag, after he had scanned them in his cash register, “That be 579,99£, please”, he said, and before Vi could take out her card, Caitlyn laid a hand on hers: “Let me, I want to treat you today. And it was my idea, after all”, she smiled, and pulled out her purse and card to pay for them.
“… Cupcake, you know you don’t have to, do you?”, Vi said, and shoved her walled back into the back pocket of her pants, before she laid an arm around her hip and kissed her cheek, “Thank you, I love you”, she smiled, and Caitlyn leaned into her girlfriend’s kiss: “I know, but I wanted to. You’re welcome, darling.”
The man smiled at the scene in front of him, gave the card back to Caitlyn and handed her the bag: “Here you go, thank you very much! The receipt is in the bag, and if there is any issue, don’t hesitate to contact us. Have a great day!”, he said, and the couple thanked him before they said goodbye and left the store, holding hands again.
“So, food?”, Vi grinned, and Caitlyn chuckled with a roll of her eyes: “Yes, darling, food.”
~
The day of the gala came, and Caitlyn put in some golden earrings when Vi walked up to her from behind.
“Looking sexy, Miss Kiramman~”, she grinned, and kissed her exposed nape, as Caitlyn had put her hair into a high ponytail, “I need your opinion, the black tie or the black bow tie?”, she asked, and Caitlyn turned around to her: “Thank you, Miss Lanes”, she purred back with a little chuckle, and took a look at her girlfriend, who wore the Bordeaux red suit they had chosen with the golden button-up they had bought two days ago.
“I like ties better, but that would cover the necklace we got you. So, the bow tie it is”, she answered, and booped Vi’s nose, before she stole a little kiss and turned back to the mirror to check on her hair once more, “Love, would you put my necklace on for me?”, she asked, and Vi immediately nodded: “Of course!”
She went to Caitlyn’s dressing table and took the golden necklace out of its box and went back behind Caitlyn to put it around her neck.
“It looks good on you”, Vi smiled and looked at her though the tall mirror.
It fitted Caitlyn’s navy-blue pantsuit well, the golden blouse and the golden décor on her blazer looked harmonic with the makeup she did, and the little ‘VI’ hanging around her neck rounded the look perfectly.
“Thank you, you look divine yourself, darling”, Caitlyn smiled, and turned around to kiss her gently, “Are you ready? We should get a taxi and drive over, I don’t want to be late.” – “Yes, let’s go.”
-
The Kiramman mansion slowly filled with the first guests when Caitlyn and Vi pulled up to the event.
They got out of the taxi and paid the driver, before Caitlyn hung herself on Vi’s arm, holding onto her bicep: “Okay, we’ll get through this. It’s for a good purpose. And please tell me if you need a timeout, alright?”, she said, squeezed her bicep and smiled at her.
“Yes, don’t worry. We’ll get through this, I’m right by your side, and I won’t let anyone give us shit”, Vi said, and Caitlyn pressed a kiss to her cheek: “I know, but please don’t make a scene, okay? Whoops…”, she huffed, and wiped the little lipstick from her face that she had pressed onto it with her kiss.
The two entered the mansion and looked around, noticing that everyone’s eyes were on them.
“Ha, guess I meet the hot criminal allegations”, Vi whispered with a grin, and Caitlyn tried to hold back a chuckle: “Yes, it’s definitely that. My parents are over there, let’s say hi and show them we’re not up for any bullshit.” – “Lead the way, Cupcake.”
Tobias and Cassandra looked up when Caitlyn and VI approached them, and they could both feel the looks on Vi.
“Caitlyn. Violet. Welcome, I’m glad you came to attend”, Cassandra said stiffly, and Tobias didn’t seem to know how to act as well: “Hello sweetheart, Vi, it’s… good to see you”, he said, and Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her parents: “Are you serious? Nothing has changed about me or her. Can you just stop to act like she’s suddenly a different person?”, Caitlyn said, the anger was to see in her face, but she kept her voice down to not draw attention from other guests.
“Caitlyn! Please. Not now”, Cassandra said, shushing her, and the younger Kiramman huffed offended: “Listen, you either treat us both normally again, or we’ll indeed do have this conversation right here, right now!”, she said, and Vi laid her arm around her waist, when she started to gesticulate with both her hands while talking to her parents.
“We can talk after the gala, sweetheart, can we do that?”, Tobias tried to deescalate, and Caitlyn and Cassandra let out the same deep sigh, agreeing in silence, “Good, thank you. Let us concentrate on the charity tonight”, he said, and the four all took a tense breath.
-
Vi followed Caitlyn as her arm candy tonight, she tried to not look too bored or clueless while Caitlyn did all the talking with the wealthy guests to make them donate more than intended, and grabbed herself occasionally finger-food and champagne flutes when they passed a waiter with a tray.
“… god, if I have to fake a laugh one more time tonight to an unfunny joke of a man, I will throw myself from the roof”, Caitlyn huffed annoyed, when she and Vi took a little break at the side of the room.
“Please, don’t”, Vi chuckled, and snatched a flute from a waiter’s tray to give it to Caitlyn, who emptied it in one big sip, “Woah, easy, babe…”, Vi snickered, and Caitlyn had to laugh honestly for the first time tonight: “God, I don’t know how I endured this all these years without you, honestly. I love you so much, Violet, I really do…”
Vi smiled and took her free hand to caress gently over it with her thumb: “Hey. You won’t ever have to endure these things alone again, you won’t get rid of me so easily, Cupcake”, she said with a light chuckled, and Caitlyn smiled at her with love in her eyes: “And I am so incredibly thankful for that, I really am. I love you”, she said, and the two leaned in for a loving kiss, when they heard someone tapping a microphone to test if it was on.
“Oh. Mother’s speech”, Caitlyn sighed, and the two turned to the little stage that was set up for the occasion.
The speech wasn’t long, but Vi could tell that Cassandra knew what she was doing to make the guests feel like donating more than intended, it was impressive.
“She knows what people want to hear”, Vi commented, and Caitlyn huffed beside her: “Yes, I mean, she has to as a politician, doesn’t she?”, she said, and Vi shrugged: “Yeah, I guess you’re right with this.”
The donations rose after Cassandra’s speech and the party went on, but Caitlyn didn’t want to wait any longer at some point, so she approached her parents and asked them for a word upstairs, and they followed through.
“Darling, could you wait down here, please? I know, hey-… I know! But I must clear this out with my parents alone. Can you hold the position down here for me? It won’t be long, I promise”, Caitlyn said, and Vi frowned at that, she didn’t like that, and her face showed it clearly: “But what if you need me? Babe, I don’t feel well leaving you alone for this!”, she complained, but Caitlyn laid both her hands on her girlfriend’s chest: “You’re helping me if you stay here for me, okay?”, she tried again, and Vi sighed: “… okay. Okay, just-… just let me know somehow if I should come upstairs, okay?” – “I promise, come here, I love you”, Caitlyn said, kissed her gently, and went upstairs with her parents, while Vi stayed back between the guests of the party.
-
“I can’t believe you’re treating her like this! Us! Why can’t you just be happy for me, why?! Vi is the most loving, loyal, and big-hearted person I ever met in my entire life, why have you even searched for her past?!”, Caitlyn confronted her parents the moment the door was closed behind them.
“Caitlyn, isn’t it obvious? Because we care, because you brought some American punk home that you barely know, who has hurt you so badly already! Don’t you remember the day we came visit you in your apartment? How can you not see that?”, Cassandra said, and had the same look on her face as her daughter.
“Well, then I guess you should have done your little research better! Because she is not what you accuse her to be! She was a child, mom, dad, she witnessed her mother being murdered, and you come at us and accuse her of being a murderer? Are you bloody kidding me?! Do you have ANY idea how that feels for her?? She was taken away from her sister, her mother was dead, nobody believed her, they just locked her up!! And you’re doing the same thing now by not believing what I am telling you, and I will not allow you to make her feel like this ever again, do you hear me?! I didn’t want to tell you the whole truth, because I thought this is something very personal to Vi and that she should decide who hears about this, but I can’t let you treat her like this and hurt her, this is why I asked her to wait downstairs, because I will not have her live through this nightmare again!! I love her, I love her with all I am and all I have, and I will protect her from feeling these horrible feelings again!!”
Caitlyn didn’t realize she had shed angry tears through her emotional outburst, the only thing that was present inside her was her will to protect Vi, to protect her the way she would protect her as well, no matter what.
Always.
Cassandra and Tobias were speechless for a moment, they hadn’t expected this outcome, as their honest intention was to protect their daughter.
“Caithy, I-…”, Tobias started, but Caitlyn interrupted him: “No, I don’t want to hear any kind of ‘I didn’t know’, if you would have done your research properly and wouldn’t have judged by the very first newspaper article you found, we wouldn’t have to be here and argue. Admit that you were wrong. Promise me you will apologize to her. That’s all I want, and that’s the only thing I will accept”, she said, and it was visible in her eyes that she was bloody serious.
Tobias looked at his wife, who looked back at him with the same expression.
They knew they made a mistake. But it was hard to admit it.
“And you are certain that what she told you is the truth? Caitlyn, we’re worried, I promise you our intention was always to protect you”, Cassandra sighed, but Caitlyn kept being hard: “And I am protecting my girlfriend from you now! I am more than certain that what she told me is the truth. I have no cause to doubt her intentions, we communicate well, we’re taking care of each other. And I demand that you believe me when I tell you she is good for me!”, Caitlyn kept verbally fighting for Vi, not willing to give up or back off just the slightest.
“Can you tell us what you see in her? That makes you so certain?”, Tobias asked, and Caitlyn let out an offended huff: “Are you bloody serious right now? You got to know her the last months, can’t you see it? I never met anyone who loves so much and intense like Vi does, she is so strong and still believes in love and the good in people, even after all she’d been through. She is so loving with me, she gives me everything I need in a relationship, we work in the same field, we complete each other, mom, dad, I can even imagine marrying her someday, okay? She’s the right one, I just know it. We’re like soulmates. And I won’t let you get anything between us, I’m serious”, Caitlyn told them, her voice was full of her emotions, and her parents finally softened.
“I’m afraid we made a mistake, love”, Cassandra sighed, and looked at her husband, before she faced Caitlyn again, “I believe you, darling. We panicked when we read about Vi’s past, we lost you once when we didn’t support you properly, we didn’t want to lose you completely…”, she admitted, and that was when Caitlyn softened for the first time since this conversation started.
“Mom, dad… if anything, then Vi will make sure neither her nor you will lose me. Okay?”, Caitlyn sighed, and made a step to her parents, “Can you please fully accept her at my side, and tell her as well? She has almost no family left. I want her to give her a family that cares, that sees her. And I want you to be a part of this. She doesn’t have any parents left, and I don’t want her to feel like my parents don’t want to have her in this family. But she is already a part of our family, if you like it or not. So, please. Welcome her the way she deserves it, that’s all I’m asking of you. And I thought you got along well the last time, until you read this old article full of lies, that is. Dad, you even took her with you fishing that one Sunday!”, Caitlyn sighed, “And mom, I thought you got along well when she showed you one of her signature recipes in the kitchen, she cooked here for you, god, are you even listening to yourself? Vi is no threat. She is anything but that. She’s a blessing.”
There was silence for a moment, in which the Kirammans breathed deeply.
“We will apologize to her. Still today”, Tobias said, and Cassandra nodded: “Yes, of course. Darling, we will get this right”, she said, and Caitlyn finally felt like she could believe them and stepped forward to hug both her parents: “Thank you.”
-
Vi was trapped in a conversation with some snooty looking elder couple, and she tried to keep being polite when she finally heard her girlfriend’s voice behind her and felt her hand lay itself around her upper arm.
“Excuse me, I am afraid I have to kidnap my partner for a moment, please, enjoy the festivities and catering, thank you for being here!”, Caitlyn smoothly got Vi out of the situation, who groaned deeply when they were out of earshot: “God, thank you, you’re my rescue, I think one more minute and my ears would be bleeding, holy shit, how can people talk so much about nonsense?!”, she complained with a huff, and looked up to her girlfriend’s eyes: “Are you alright? How did it go?”, she asked worried, and Caitlyn led her over to the side of the stage, where her parents were waiting: “I think my parents have to say something”, she announced, and Vi looked between them with big eyes: “O-…kay?”
Cassandra and Tobias both had their hands folded in front of them and an apologetic look on their face: “Vi, we have to apologize”, Cassandra started, “We read about your time in jail, and we were worried about our daughter. But we did you wrong with this, Caitlyn was very clear about it. We want you to know that you are always welcome in our house, that we accept you on our daughters side, and, well…”, she said, and Tobias laid a hand on his wife’s back, before he continued for her: “What we want to say is, if you are ever in need of a parental advice or a parental figure, we both would be happy to help.”
Caitlyn knew this was their way of telling Vi that she was now a part of the Kiramman family, but she couldn’t tell yet if Vi would accept this.
Vi frowned, she listened but before she said anything, she looked at Caitlyn to see what she thought about this, and when she nodded with a small smiled, she nodded back and faced Cassandra and Tobias again: “I appreciate your genuine worry about your daughter, because she’s precious to me as well. And I thought I had made this clear the last months, so, it was hurtful to hear what you thought about me without even knowing the whole story behind it. But as Caitlyn believes you’re honest with what you just told me, I’ll accept the apology. And the offer, but I don’t know if I will make use of it”, Vi accepted the apology a little stiff, but she reached out her hand to them, and Cassandra took it right after Tobias to shake it, “I appreciate it, tho.”
Both parents nodded in appreciation on Vi accepting their apology, when Caitlyn spoke up again: “I think we’ll take some time for us now, right, love?”, she smiled, and Vi nodded: “Yes, please”, she smiled, and Cassandra and Tobias nodded at them: “Please, enjoy the festivities. We’re deeply sorry for everything, I mean it”, Tobias said, and Caitlyn and Vi nodded shortly, before the photographer took Vi’s hand and pulled her with her.
“Hey, where are we going?”, she asked, and Caitlyn giggled a little: “To a spot I used to flee to when it got too much. I never took anybody there, so you can feel special”, she winked, and Vi chuckled amused: “You’re something else, Cupcake!”
-
Vi found herself on the roof of the Kiramman mansion, after Caitlyn had shown her a secret way up there.
The two laid side by side on the edge of it, they laid close and held hands, while they watched the stars in this cloudless night.
“I can imagine teen Caitlyn sneaking up here”, Vi snickered, and caressed gently over Caitlyn’s hand with her thumb, “The little rebel coming up here after an argument with her mom”, she continued, and Caitlyn couldn’t help but snicker as well: “You can’t imagine how accurate that is, love.”
The photographer huffed a little, looking at the stars: “This was my hideout. My place to go when everything felt too much. This is why I kept it exclusive for me”, Caitlyn explained, and turned her head to Vi, who was already looking at her: “And why did you decide to show it to me now?”, Vi asked, her grey eyes shimmering in the pale moonlight.
“Well… I don’t need it anymore”, Caitlyn said, and giggled a little at Vi’s confused expression, “Because I have you now. You’re my hiding spot. My comfort. My go-to, whenever I feel like I need shelter, warmth, and secureness. I love you, Violet… and I do hope I can be all that for you, too.”
Vi’s eyes widened at that confession, and her eyes got a little watery: “You are! God, you are, and so much more, Cupcake. And it means the world to me that I can be all that for you, too”, she said, her voice broke a little, and Caitlyn reached out to caress over her cheek, to which Vi reacted with taking her hand, kissed it and held it to her heart, “I love you, Cait, so much…”
Now Caitlyn teared up as well, Vi really felt all her emotions so intensely, and Caitlyn felt privileged that she was allowed and in the position to see and feel all of this with her, to be able to be a catalyst for Vi when she felt too much, when she didn’t know where to put all this what her heart let her feel – She was glad to be this important to her. But still, something was bothering her tonight.
“Hey… I’m sorry for what my parents did. It wasn’t fair, and I didn’t want them to trigger anything in you. They apologized because I told them what happened to you. And I am sorry if I was invasive by telling them. I know it’s a very private and sensitive topic, but I wanted to protect you with this. That’s why I asked you to stay downstairs and let me handle it. I-… shit, I… I could understand if this was too much, if I acted wrong in your eyes, if you… well. Would want distance to me and my family. I overstepped, I-…”, Caitlyn suddenly rambled, but Vi just smiled and squeezed her hand, before she let go of it and laid a hand on her girlfriend’s cheek, making her look at her.
“You did nothing wrong, Cait. And besides… you won’t get rid of me so easily”, she whispered, and Caitlyn looked back into her eyes: “You’re… you’re not angry, because I told them?”, she asked, her voice insecure, “… you want to stay?”, she asked, and Vi’s smiled got even warmer when she leaned forward and kissed her gently.
“I am the dirt under your nails, Cupcake. Nothing’s gonna clean me out.”
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