Im Here For Lesbian Agatha

“Your mom is probably the greatest bitch that ever lived, Agatha.”

“Don’t I know it.”

Agatha sighs and turns to look at Rio who was spread out on the soft grass and chewing on whatever plant she had believed to be fit for human consumption.

Rio Vidal had been deemed weird by many of their peers but that had never stopped her from unapologetically being herself. Agatha admired this about her, or at least she did so nowadays. They had been more or less mortal enemies during high school, both striving for perfect grades and neither of them was above using every opportunity to throw the other under the bus.

Things between them had only changed when Rio found Agatha crying in an unused classroom a few weeks before graduation.

Agatha was yelling at her to leave her alone but Rio ignored it and instead pulled out a flower she had plucked earlier from her coat pocket and handed it to Agatha who was so dumbfounded by the gesture that she stopped crying.

They sat there and talked for the rest of the day, skipping their classes.

Nothing had been able to get between them ever since. They found out that they would be attending the same college and swiftly decided to move in together for it.

While Rio’s parents were glad about them making peace and even becoming friends, Agatha’s mother was more than displeased. She had always done her best to isolate her daughter from other people unless she deemed them as appropriate association, which had cost Agatha many potential friendships throughout her childhood. The only reason she had even been allowed to attend a public high school was that the next private one was too far away for her mother’s liking.

With Agatha growing up and becoming a young adult, she saw her influence over her daughter slowly fading away and became even harsher in the way she treated her. Agatha, nowadays aware of her mother’s wrongs but still conditioned with the desperate need to please her and meet her expectations, was constantly torn between wanting to break free entirely from her clutches and doing everything so her mother wouldn’t have a reason to call her a disappointment again.

The friendship with Rio had been doing wonders for this. She was patient with Agatha, understood when she had a day where she avoided her and didn’t hold a grudge when she would come to apologize. She had met Evanora three times and if it was up to her, she would never do so again.

They were in their senior year of college now, both 23 and looking forward to the gap year they would be taking together after graduating.

“I know it’s asking for too much…” Agatha begins after the silence had stretched on for a while.

“Just ask.”

“Would you possibly come with me?”

“To your mother’s fancy charity dinner aka the auction of her daughter?”

Agatha flinches. “You don’t have to say it like that, you know.”

Rio sits up and looks at Agatha who has an open book lying on her lap – a plant-guide she had gotten at a garage sale a while back. “To make sure you don’t accidentally poison yourself.” She had told Rio who was surprised and very happy about her friend’s sudden interest in the local flora.

“But isn’t that just what it is? Eligible bachelors and their rich parents. Certainly not people you have been friends with.”

“I guess you are right. Which is why I am asking you to come with me.”

“And what would that accomplish?”

Agatha leans in a little and lowers her voice to a conspiratorially whisper. “You like pissing my mother off, right?”

“Now we are speaking the same language. What do you have in mind?” Rio meets her eyes with a grin. This rather boring afternoon in the park certainly was about to get much more interesting.

Agatha arrives way later at the venue than her mother had told her to which was of course a carefully calculated move.

“Are you coming?” She asks Rio who is still sitting in the passenger seat of Agatha’s car and looks very unhappy about her circumstances.

“Do I have to?”

Agatha shrugs. “You can do whatever you want, honey.”

Rio grumbles something and gets out of the car, careful as she stands on her heels. Agatha knew that she would always get her way eventually with calling her cute pet names and she happily used it to her advantage.

“The one time in my adult life I am wearing a dress would of course be for you,” she remarks as she smooths the fabric down. It wasn’t that bad of a feeling, actually. She liked the dark color and the cut made her legs look fabulous.

“And where did I force you to do that?” Agatha asks her in an annoyed tone, but Rio sees the fondness in her eyes.

“Nowhere. But with you wearing a suit and the rather conservative company that we will be keeping tonight I thought it would make for quite the commotion when you show up with the most beautiful femme in the world.”

“You act like you don’t take an hour for your make-up every day,” Agatha notes.

“Yea, but that makes me look hot in an androgynous way. This here? This is top tier femme make-up.” She gestures at her face. “Two hours with a YouTube tutorial. You are welcome.”

“You do look beautiful.” Agatha sounds sincere and Rio takes note of the way she turns her head a little to the left, as if she’s trying to hide the slight flush of red on her cheeks.

This, in return, has Rio’s face turn warm and she clears her throat to focus her mind on the situation at hand again.

“You’re not looking too bad yourself, Harkness.

Agatha laughs and holds her arm out for Rio. “Shall we go then, milady?”

Rio’s hand slides to Agatha’s elbow. “Let’s face the music, handsome.”

Somewhere in the safety of their own minds they both come to the realization that this feels weirdly like they were nervous teenagers on their way to prom.

All eyes are on them the second they walk through the doors. It’s almost movielike the way most chatter ceases and heads turn to stare for a moment.

“One wouldn’t think that we are living in the 21st century with the looks we are getting,” Rio mumbles and Agatha huffs in amusement.

From the other side of the room Agatha sees her mother approaching and despite the serene expression she had put on she knew exactly that she was fuming beneath it. Something inside of her wanted to run, but she stood her ground and held Rio a little closer.

“You are late,” Evanora hisses after greeting Agatha with the coldest hug Rio had ever witnessed. “And who is this? I didn’t tell you to bring company.”

“You know Rio, Mother.”

“What, that boyish troublemaker who made you move out of my house?” She turns her head to look Rio up and down, disdain written all over her face. “Seems like you switched roles for the night. A suit is entirely inappropriate for this occasion, Agatha.”

“The invitation said formal wear and I think this suit is perfectly formal.”

Rio feels the tension in Agatha’s body and she squeezes her arm, hoping to ground her a little. It wasn’t easy to deal with the walking reminder of your traumatic upbringing but Agatha was doing her best and Rio was proud of her.

“You should leave,” Evanora then says to Rio with a smile that probably would have made a shiver run down her spine if she wasn’t so entirely unimpressed by her attempt to intimidate her.

Before she can reply Agatha takes the word. “Rio is my guest and she is going to stay.”

“It’s my event, Agatha.”

“If you throw her out, I am leaving with her.”

Evanora was getting seriously pissed now, Rio could tell by the throbbing vein on her forehead which was the same as Agatha’s.

“Whatever. Go mingle then. Dinner will be served soon and I want you to say a few words as my daughter and heir of the family business.”

“That again? I am not going to run your company.”

Evanora doesn’t say anything – much to Rio’s dismay – and simply leaves.

The tension leaves Agatha’s body all at once and she takes a few shaky breaths while Rio rubs her back in soothing circles.

“You fucking aced this, Agatha,” she praises her.

“I kind of want to throw up.”

“Oh please, do that during dinner.”

Agatha laughs and looks at Rio with pure affection in her eyes. “Right in the middle of the table, huh? Yeah. Maybe. I think part two of the plan will hit worse with the crowd than throwing up though.”

“Are you sure you want to go through with it? Not that I doubt your plan but I am maybe a little afraid for our physical integrity after assessing the vibes from these people here.”

“I am absolutely sure. If it gets too bad, we are out of here.” She takes Rio’s hand and entwines their fingers. “Let’s get some liquid courage and socialize.”

Glasses filled with expensive champagne in their hands the pair makes their way through the hall, chatting here and there with people who mostly were a little less terrible than Rio would have expected. Sure, they were snobs and had mastered the art of backhanded compliments but they were not nearly as condescending as Agatha’s mother was.

The most annoying thing were actually the men of various ages who kept flocking to Agatha, asking about her plans for after college and trying their best to somehow relate to her. It was almost pathetic, actually. Some of them were really desperate to get five minutes alone with Agatha but Rio remained glued to her friend and pretended to not get the hint.

The time between their arrival and dinner eventually passes and when everyone’s seated at their assigned tables Agatha stands up to do as her mother had requested.

“Good evening everyone, thank you for coming to my mother’s yearly charity dinner. It’s an event very dear to her and myself as well. Uhm, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some exciting news since my mother asked me to say a few words.”

Evanora, seated at the same table, was getting suspicious. The change in her expression was subtle but Rio found it rather funny.

“It’s a charity dinner to collect money for multiple good causes but I think my mother wanted tonight to also be about me finally finding myself a nice suitable partner to get serious about. I am not getting younger after all and soon enough I would become a charity case in her opinion.”

People are laughing and Agatha takes the moment to take a breath. “While I appreciate your effort, Mother, the search is already over. I would like to announce that this wonderful woman right next to me…” she puts a hand on Rio’s shoulder who puts her own onto it and smiles serenely at the crowd. “is going to become my wife. We’ve recently gotten engaged; I just didn’t find the time to tell my family and friends about it yet.”

Agatha thinks she may be close to having a heart attack, if the rapid hammering of her heart is any indicator, but her face remains perfectly controlled as she awaits the crowd’s reaction.

There is a moment of silence, but then, much to Agatha’s surprise, people begin to cheer and call out good wishes to them. There are a few sour faces in between, but overall, the mood doesn’t shift dramatically – except for Evanora’s.

She had always hated that her daughter was a lesbian and that nothing she did or said had been able to eradicate these “tendencies”. Agatha had once mentioned some sort of religious summer camp she was sent to when she was 14 that sounded suspiciously like conversion therapy to Rio, but the only thing that came from it was Agatha making out with multiple girls and her realizing that she was an atheist.

Naturally Evanora had spent years talking about how no one around them would accept Agatha after her sins committed but she was never able to crack this part of her daughter.

Still, Agatha had simply assumed that none of the people who regularly interacted with her mother were approving about people being anything but straight. Apparently many of them didn’t care – which made the expression on Evanora’s face this evening even better.

“Of all the things you did to me,” her voice suddenly booms across the table and people fall silent. “this is the most rotten one. Giving birth to you was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Agatha feels the sting but there is also gratification because Evanora Harkness was finally letting her carefully crafted mask fall in public. Unfortunately, she realizes that she can’t find her voice anymore right now and cold dread mixed with well-known panic starts to sneak up her chest.

But then Rio rises from her seat.

With one arm wrapped protectively around Agatha’s waist she glares down at the woman she hated with every fiber of her being. This was off-script but she was done with Evanora’s bullshit. If it gets too bad we are out of here. Well, Rio had decided that it was getting too bad now.

“You don’t deserve to have Agatha in your life. She is the only good thing you put into this world and she remained good; despite of all the horrible things you did to her.”

The entire room is silent and even the staff has paused their task of serving food and drinks to listen.

“Agatha became everything you tried to erase from her so badly. She is kind, loving and protects the people she cares about. She is critical and won’t tolerate people mistreating her. The only person I have ever seen her take shit from without going berserk was you and personally I think she has every right to shoot you into the sun. I know you told her that there’s only darkness inside of her, which is messed up in itself, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Agatha is a being of light.”

Every single word of Rio sinks into Agatha’s mind and soul. She nearly forgets the pain caused by her mother for a moment.

“If you can’t find it in your cold dark heart to love your daughter then that’s your loss. I plan on doing so for the rest of my life. Unconditionally, by the way. She will never have to fight and crawl to secure herself my love – she simply has it. Always. So do me a favor, Evanora and go fuck yourself. We are out of here.”

Rio then confidently leads a flabbergasted Agatha out of the hall before anyone can say something. Her last glimpse of Evanora was her face being pale as a wall.

They had just rounded the corner to the parking lot when Agatha suddenly halts and pulls Rio back to where she stands.

“Rio, wait.”

“Yea?”

She looks down at their joined hands. “It sounded like… you sounded like…”

“Like I meant it?” Rio asks quietly.

“Yes.”

“Well, I did.” She cups Agatha’s cheek, gently urging her to look up again. “I am in love with you. I do want to keep loving you for as long as I can. It wasn’t hard to fall in love with you, my best friend.”

“Rio…” Agatha feels her throat closing up and she carefully kisses the palm of Rio’s hand still cradling her face, as if she’s afraid to overstep. “I love you too.”

“You do?”

She nods. “Everything you did for me – with me. How you let me take care of you as well. We’ve been planning our future together for years now even without looking past our platonic bond. It was always supposed to be us, no matter what and no matter how, right? You are always on my mind and I’ve been wanting to kiss you for quite some time now.”

Rio’s playful side returns, paired with the confidence of someone who had just gotten everything and more. She reaches for Agatha’s tie and pulls her closer with it.

“Enemies to lovers, hm? Slow burn too.”

“Don’t apply story tropes to us, for the love of god.”

College wasn't as great as Rio had expected it to be. The way it was described by her peers made it seem like a whole new world, with mature people who are thriving their way into adulthood.

It wasn't much different than highschool. Rio wasn't the most popular, and she never really got on with her classmates. Not everyone was rude, but it was obvious that they didn't like her much. Rio was weird, unique, and there weren't many others like her.

It was pretty much the same in college. Sure, some people might've been more mature, but deep down, no one had changed. Even though she wasn't well liked by her classmates, that wasn't the case for the professors.

The majority liked Rio, as she never caused any disruption and was always so polite to them. She may not have been a straight A student, but they all seemed to appreciate her attendance.

One professor in particular though, let her eyes linger on Rio just a second longer, offered a smile more genuine than the rest. Her name was Professor Agatha Harkness, and she taught ancient and modern history. Rio was intimidated by her at first, but she became more drawn to her as the classes went on. The outfits she wore, her weird sense of humor that only certain people would understand, and the way that she made Rio feel seen, heard, and appreciated.

It was simple acts that made her feel that way, such as praising her essays and projects that she turned in, or not taking her eyes off of her when she spoke, whether she was answering a question based on the lesson, or telling Agatha about her day before class started.

A few months into the semester, Rio had had a tiring first few classes. She had to work in a group project with two of her classmates who made it quite obvious they didn't like her, and none of them were happy about having to work together, but no one complained.

Thankfully, it was time for history now. Rio walked into the classroom and Agatha was already there, giving Rio a soft smile in greeting.

"Good morning Rio, how are you?"

Rio's eyes beamed more than a student's should, "I'm okay, you?"

"I'm fine, dear." 

Rio took a seat right at the front, just like every single time. Originally it was so she could have the best view access to the writing on the board, and possibly have better access to ask questions and such, but now, it was also because she was hoping to get more chances to interact with the older woman.

The class passed quite fast, much to Rio's disappointment. She made sure to take her sweet time in packing her single textbook, pen and highlighter. She subtly raised her eyebrows, looking to make sure that most of, if not all of the students have left, and they had.

Agatha wandered over to Rio's seat and sighed, "Did you understand everything today? Any questions?" 

Rio looked up with her, her grin wider than she intended, "Yeah, everything was clear. To be honest, your class is the one I understand the most."

Agatha put her hand to her heart and chuckled, "I appreciate that. How's your week been so far?"

"It's been okay I guess, we just had to do this stupid group project which kind of put my mood down. Most of the people here don't like me." Rio admitted casually.

Agatha frowned, her brows furrowed, "Why not? You seem decent enough."

Rio shrugged, shuffling awkwardly, "I don't know. I've always been a little weird I guess."

Agatha grunted, taking a seat on the desk and held her hands together, "Sometimes, people just prefer to stick to the plain and boring because they're afraid," She explained, "They're too afraid to reach out to those who are different because they are too scared to be themselves."

Rio bit her lip, nodding. "It doesn't bother me too much, it's not that often that people are rude to me about it, just seems like no one is even willing to give me a chance, to get to know me." She looked up, locking her eyes to Agatha's.

Agatha's expression softened again, refusing to break eye contact, "I see you."

"What do you mean?"

"I see you." Agatha repeated, "I'd take time out of my day to talk to you at any point. It doesn't take long of talking to you to see that you're an interesting and good person."

Rio's face reddened a little bit, both a little embarrassed but mostly flattered. "Really? You like talking to me?"

Agatha nodded without hesitation, slowly taking Rio's hand in hers, "Oh absolutely. I hear you, Vidal."

Rio stayed silent, just looking at her without speaking, taking in her words and processing them. Her soul felt less empty, and her heart felt warmer

"I had my eye on you since the first day. You stood out immediately." Agatha stated.

Rio blinked, "It didn't take long for me to find comfort in your class, either. I'm... Actually excited to come to your classes." She chuckled, and Agatha's smile widened again, squeezing her hand.

"That's what I want, hon. I'm glad my class can be a safe space for you, especially if the rest of the world doesn't always treat you right." Agatha sighed, looking at her with sympathy. "You don't need to worry about me giving any group projects, though."

Rio laughed, nodding along, her hand still holding Agatha's comfortably, "Thanks, working solo is always better anyway."

Agatha hummed in agreement, when her eyes wandered to the clock she had on the wall. She almost frowned, almost. "Oh, I have another class soon." She sighed, "How about you stop by another time and we can have another chat?"

Rio let go of her hand and smiled, "Of course!"

"Great." Agatha stood up, stretching her legs. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Rio. I would say don't forget the assignment, but I know you won't."

Rio chuckled again, "You know me well then. I'll see you soon, professor."

"Mamiiiiiii!" Adri quickly kicked off her shoes and headed for the kitchen. " We need to talk."

With her bag abandoned in the living room, the teenager made her way to the spacious kitchen and hopped on one of the counters. She faced her technically older sister, keeping direct eye contact.

"I suppose you remember this woman you flirted with at the end of the summer fair thing last week?" It was glorious. Adri was just chatting with some other teenagers who didn't look like they would annoy the ever living fuck out of her, when this woman came up to Rio and just, started flirting so openly Adri almost choked on her drink. Even better, Rio did. The woman, Agatha, she would learn later that evening, had to go after about two hours, but oh, if those weren't some of the most amusing hours of Adri's life. 

Her mami nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, obviously I do. What does that have to do with anything right now?" Adri cracked her knuckles and neck, for the sake of dramatic effect, before laying out her point. 

"Turns out she is my AP lit teacher." Adri wasn't mad, but there was no way she was not going to mess with Rio when the opportunity presented itself. The women were supposed to meet up last week, but Ms Harkness, Agatha, had to cancel due to some family crisis.

"Oh, okay", Rio took a deep breath in and let out a small scream. Loud enough to startle both of the cats, who awoke with clear disapproval of the loud noise.

"I swear, she never said so. And unfortunately, the middle school teachers don't really hang out with the high school ones too much." She checked her pasta and then buried her head in her hands. Adri had to fight herself not to burst out laughing. She knew she'd pay for this, but such opportunities never arise and passing one up would have been unacceptable in her books.

She quietly hopped off the counter, thank you no shoe rule, and went up to Rio, pulling hands from her face and pinching her nose. 

"Ha, that was hilarious. Your simping really is in my favour." Rio looked like Adri had just smacked her, and then a grin settled on her face, her 'I have been challenged' grin, and before Adri could do anything about it, Rio lifted her like she wasn't a decently tall teenager. 

"You little shit. I should tickle the hell out of you, but there is no saying when you last went to the toilet, and there is no need for a repeat of a specific incident." Adri shrieked and, after she was let down, moved to not be within her arm's reach. She had no illusions about that and no, no need to repeat the incident from precisely six days ago. 

"Come on, like you wouldn't have done the exact same thing." 

"I would, we both know I would. And I respect it, truce, no tickling." She raises her arms up, and Adri nods. And then goes in for a hug, because no one hugs like her mami. Strong, but not crushing, warm and safe. And then she remembered there was dinner being made on the stove. 

"Ehm, the pasta?"

"Mierda." She quickly untangled herself from Adri and went back to the kitchen. "Go and put the backpack in your room, please. You know the drill: change, wash your hands, bring the gossip." Adri laughed and went upstairs as Rio put on music in the kitchen, presumably dancing to Heilung.

Adri is back downstairs, not even ten minutes later, comfy sweater thrown on because it was starting to be colder, finally.

Rio was already sitting at the set table, cats audibly munching on their food. 

"Did you have to bribe them after shrieking them awake, or were the overlords feeling merciful today?" She sat down and smirked at the look thrown her way. "You know very well what their reaction was, you had to get the attitude from someone and it wasn't me."

"Ha, not true, or did you forget the part where you raised me like the proper weirdo?" She bit into the food, very pleasantly surprised. "Oh shit, this is so good." Adri had to put the fork down and hold a hand in front of her mouth. It's not as if Rio were a bad cook, but her meals could sometimes be very questionable, even after years of constant practice. 

"Don't sound so surprised." Adri looked up and, oh, this was golden, she was blushing, Rio was blushing and not the one barely visible, no, this one made it to her pierced ears too. 

"So, is this your way of telling me that a certain AP teacher is a good cook? Because I need to be kept alive." Adri kept stuffing her face and held the eye contact, enjoying herself immensely. There was something good about the first days back at school after all.

"We have exchanged texts, sure, but also don't forget who's been cooking you meals your whole life, mija." Rio raised an eyebrow and waited. 

"Giving up, giving up," Adri lifted her hands momentarily, before returning to her dinner. "Though do tell her that she definitely won this round." Rio shook her head in amusement. 

"So, do I get to hear about your day now? I'm pretty sure that's how this is supposed to go." Rio collected the plates and pulled out the rest of the cookies they had made over the weekend. 

"It was okay enough. No one was straight up asshole, and I think there are some weirdos I might talk to again." Rio raised a hand, and Adri, with an eye-roll, accepted the high-five. "Atta girl."

"Do I tell you about your lady-love now?"

"If you want to"

"You are not subtle, mami, but then again, she did essentially shove her tongue down your throat at the fair thingy, and it only took her like ten seconds." Rio groaned, loudly. 

Adri laughed. "Want some tea? I'm feeling like hibiscus." "Sure, grab me a cup too." Adri took the now-empty platter of cookies and went to the kitchen to boil some water. As she moved through the kitchen in her now almost practised moves she could feel eyes on her. 

"Come ask whatever it is you want to ask." It's not like she had a reason to lie.

"You said that everything's fine, but I need to make sure. So, is there anyone I need to threaten or scare shitless?"

"Not yet, we'll see in the future." Adri turned around after she poured boiling water into the kettle. "Thank you." She didn't know how to say it better, so she just trapped her mami in a hug and squeezed hard.

"Anything for you, mija, you know that." 

A few months lateeeer 

"Ehm, miss Harkness?" Adri's voice was audible, but barely. One could say it was a rather good reflection of how she was feeling. It was almost time for class, and she was afraid she wouldn't find Agatha in time. Apparently, high schools are massive even in small towns. 

She could see the recognition in her body language even before Agatha turned and laid eyes on her. And that was apparently all it took. 

"Come with me, your next period would have been history with Mr Barnes, right?" Adri nodded, trying to keep her breathing regular and upright. 

"Good, I'll take care of that." She wasn't walking as fast as she normally would, thank fuck for that. But even that was too much. She had to stop and close her eyes.

"Hey, Adri, Adri, can you look at me?" Agatha stopped, laying one hand on her shoulder. Adri shook her head. It hurt too much. Keeping her eyes closed helped. 

"Okay, can I take your arm to hook it into mine so we can make it to the nurse?" Yes, yes, this sounded amazing. No need to see fluorescent lights. She nodded, slowly, because her head was already falling apart. 

"I need you to say it out loud, okay?" Agatha kept her hand on Adri's shoulder, at this point, essentially a daily occurrence. 

"Yes, ehm, you can take my arm, and ehm, hook it into your arm so" she took a deep breath "so we can go to the nurse." She fucking hated her headaches, with passion. 

"Okay, you're doing amazing. I'll keep one hand on your shoulder until I hook your arm through mine, okay? So you don't get lost in space." Agatha sounded so calm, so practised. She was, but Adri was in no way aware of that at the moment. 

"Okay", she breathed out and let her arm be manipulated. As soon as she felt her elbow touch Agatha's she brought up her other hand to the arm to hold on. 

"Let's go."

Even with how slow she had to have been, they made it to the nurse faster than she was expecting. She doesn't remember the name, but she got her medication, and then the nurse and Agatha were arguing. They were trying to be quiet, Agatha at least was, because Adri had heard her when she got excited during game nights into pretend arguments. But she wanted out of there, out of the uncomfortable bed, she wanted to go home. 

"You should have it on file. She gets them regularly and is monitored by doctors. Her mother is a teacher at middle school, and they're out on a field trip today, so she won't be back for at least five more hours."

"There needs to be someone else here. You're her teacher."

"Technically her and mami started sucking faces before school started, and we're new in town, moved in August." She managed to get out of her system. Her eyes were still closed because the nurse didn't want to shut the lights off and they were, you guessed it, fucking fluorescent. 

She didn't care for the silence that followed. 

"Dating, she means dating."

"I won't comment on the language, only because of the headache" asshole nurse. 

"It's body ache" she rasps out. "And if she can, I would love if Agatha could take me home. She has the keys too I'm pretty sure, and if not, I do."

Her more rational brain would scoff at her for the oversharing. Her rational brain had to suck it, because this was survival mode brain. 

"I'll need to call her mother."

And they did. Rio was pissed, mostly at the nurse, definititely not at Agatha and sure as hell not at Adri. And with her mami's blessing, Agatha was able to take her home. 

"Are we taking Nicky too?" she asked as they exited the building. 

"You can try opening your eyes, it's dark and cloudy, just as your vampire self likes it." Adri smiled and indeed, she only needed to keep them partially closed to block out the most intense light. She still kept her hold on Agatha, though. 

"And no, I already messaged Wanda, she'll pick him up and then bring him over once he's done with school."

"Shit, and what about your classes?" it completely slipped her mind, fuck. 

"Hey, no, don't you worry about that. I have adult stuff handled, you hold on until I can get you comfy on the sofa." Adri nodded and settled into the car's front seat. 

The drive didn't take too long. Agatha immediately turned off the radio and only spoke when explaining what she would have to do once they got to the house. 

"You'll go and change clothes, and then we'll get you settled. Rio's already texted me instructions on how to make you your tea and what things you'll be willing to stomach." She wasn't rambling, but it was adorable. 

"You knew about the sofa."

"Sofa is where your favourite human hangs out, and where the cats are. Pretty sure Morena won't leave you alone until at least dinner time, if not longer. After all, her adopted human is in pain." Adri chuckled. 

"Guess so."

Once they got to the house and Adri assured Agatha that the meds were working and that she could go upstairs on her own and change, and that she would call out if that was no longer a case. "I'm the reason mami stood by the railing on both sides of the stairs."

"I wouldn't have expected anything else." With that, she left for her room, found the comfy short leggings, a tank-top and then went to steal her mami's basketball hoodie, the most comfortable thing in the whole entire world, no exaggeration. 

When she made her way back down, definitely more lucid than before, there were already soft foods waiting for her at the coffee table, her favourite blanket was out, and she could hear Agatha softly cursing at the tea instructions. 

"Do you want my help?"

"No, it won't be the best tea, but your mami's had me practice in case something like this happened. I shouldn't butcher it completely." Oh, her mami was such a simp, it was so adorable. 

"I guess I can forgive you, especially since you keep teaching her how to properly cook." Adri settled into the corner of the sofa and settled under the blanket, and right then Morena came to her, dropped herself into Adri's arms and stared pourring. 

Agatha brought the tea by only a few minutes later and set it on the designated tray on the coffee table, they should rename it, neither she nor Rio drank coffee. 

"Is there anything you need?" Adri shook her head. While she was upstairs, Agatha somehow managed to draw all the curtains closed, so there was a wonderful dark tone on the entire ground floor. 

Agatha turned to go and sit at the dinner table, probably, but Adri didn't want to be alone. 

"Do you, do you think you could read to me?" Agatha did a lot for her already, but Rio never left her alone when she could help it at least a bit. And she liked Agatha, she was nice, she was good to her mami, and to her. 

"Of course, is there anything you'd prefer?" Adri thought for a few seconds. "There's a book, the girls I've been, it's on the shelf where we keep the most reread stuff." She whispered. Agatha made her way over and quickly picked the book up. 

Adri curled into Morena and then, then she managed to fall asleep to the sounds of Agatha's voice reading a tale so familiar she could fill in the words in the text if asked. 

--- 

"Can I go say hi?"

"No, remember how I told you that Adri sometimes gets really bad headaches?" 

"Yeah, it makes her entire body hurt, and we can help by being quiet and nice!" He was whispering, such a sweet kid, clearly still excited.

Adri opened her eyes and saw Nicky sitting in Agatha's lap, facing her, staring at Persephone, who nestled herself into Agatha's thigh. 

"Hey Nicky, how's it going?" Her voice was raspy, but the headache was better. A lot better. She reached for the water and now cold tea, drinking first the water, and then the tea, both in sips. 

"Adri!" he scrambled off of his mom's lap, mindful of the cat, and went around, sitting close by her as she slowly pulled herself up into a quasi-sitting position. 

"Is your headache better?"

"Tons, your mama took really good care of me." Adri smiled and ruffled his hair. Her body was still tired, her movements slow, but her headache was no longer in her danger area.

At that, Morena sat up, stretched, and went wherever she wanted to, jumped off the sofa, probably to find Persephone so they could scheme together. 

"She's really good at that." Nicky agreed all seriously. 

Right then, Agatha came into her view, with a tray of things. 

"I have your meds here, and some more water." She lowered it onto the table, letting her pick whichever she needed, per her own accord. She was so grateful for that and reached for the mid-strength one. 

"It was a good book, by the way, The Girls I've Been," Agatha noted as she nagged Nicky to drink some water too. 

"You could probably tell that I read it way too often."

"It's clearly a comfort read, never too much of that. And you fell asleep during the first page."

"You like to listen to things when you have headaches?" Nicky moved to sit closer to the teenager. 

"Yeah, oftentimes I can't stand a screen and noise helps my brain focus on something that isn't pain." She explained. 

"I like it too!" Adri's eyes widened, and she looked at Agatha, her brain running worst-case scenarios. 

"No, he's okay. He had a really bad case of pneumonia last winter and forgets that when he says stuff like this, it can scare people who care and didn't know." She explained, kissing the top of his head as she sat behind him. 

"I scared you?"

"Kind of, it sounded like you're in a lot of pain right now." She could see the look of realisation on his face. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." 

"It's okay, Nicky, I'm just glad you're okay." She signalled, opening her arms to Agatha, who nodded, so she offered a hug to Nicky. 

"Are you sure it won't hurt you?"

"Don't you know? Good hugs heal." he grinned at her and slowly settled himself on her lap and wrapped his little arms around her. 

"You're so warm!"

"I was just sleeping, buried under the blanket for a few hours. Do you know how long until mami gets home?" she directed the question at Agatha. 

"Should be back in under thirty minutes. She's pissed she couldn't be here, has been texting me non-stop." Adri chuckled. 

"Yeah, sounds like her. She isn't too used to being able to, you know, actually rely on people." Agatha stuck around, she deserved to know what mental state Rio would probably be in, even if she can't see her mami at not dropping hints. 

"Yeah, I had to get used to it too. What do you want to eat?" 

"I know it's not proper food..."

"Kid, if I had one of your headaches, proper food, even the one you should get in, would be the last thing on my mind."

"We have these fruit pouches in the pantry, I'm sure you've seen them, maybe even got them for the little manace." She gently squeezed Nicky for a second, causing him to fall into a set of giggles. 

"Yeah, pretty sure I know the ones. I would say don't move, but he's as good as a cat in making people sit in their positions." Nicky, who was finally breathing properly again, straightened his back and proudly smiled at her. 

"Do you want to watch something with me?"

"I thought you said that watching the things makes your head hurt more?" he gave her a puzzled look, sucking his lip in. She's pretty sure she's seen Agatha make the same expression throughout the past couple of months. 

"Yeah, but if I close my eyes, I can listen."

"Sure, but don't you want to wake up a bit more before that?" Rio appeared in the living room, seemingly out of nowhere. 

"Mami!"

"Rio!"

Rio came to the two of them, and Nicky got off Adri's lap just in time before she wenll, she didn't throw herself at her mami, her head still hurt, but a slow version of that. 

"Hey mija, how are you?" Rio gently stroked her hair and rubbed her back. 

"I'm a lot better, Agatha took good care of me," she murmured into her hair. And then, even quieter so Nicky wouldn't hear her, "We have to keep them."

Author's note: