‘ Here, take my jacket.’ for Chasemarsh. :>
I don’t think I’ve ever actually written these two before, so I hope this is alright!
Kate sat at the bus stop, waiting to return to Blackwell, when the car whooshed past, right through the easily avoidable puddle. Water sprayed up and drenched her instantly.
Victoria watched it all happen from the far end of the block. She had also been planning on catching the bus to head back to campus, so, as she approached the bus stop, she took off her coat.
“Here, take my jacket,” she said when she stepped up to Kate’s side.
“Oh, you don’t have to… I’m alright.”
An involuntary shiver ran through Kate’s body.
Without waiting for a go-ahead, Victoria draped her jacket over Kate’s shoulders, then sat down beside her on a mostly dry patch of bench.
“It’s cold enough out here when you’re not soaking wet,” she added.
Kate paused for a moment, then tugged the edges of the coat tighter around her. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, you’re… you’re welcome.”
Victoria had made her apologies for her actions in the past, and Kate accepted them. Though things were on better terms between them, it didn’t make conversation come easily, even though Victoria turned toward her several times to make small talk, anything to ease the silence. Instead, she simply found herself sneaking glances when she realized how much she liked the look of Kate in her jacket.
“I really liked your display,” Kate finally said. “For the light and dark project.”
Victoria felt a blush creep into her cheeks.
“Oh! Thanks. Yours was good too.”
“What I mean is that I really liked the way you made use of natural light,” Victoria added after clearing her throat. “It was a cool take.”
Kate turned to Victoria and smiled. “Thank you.”
Graciously, the bus arrived at that moment, so that Victoria didn’t have to find some way to cover up the burning in her cheeks or the way her brain seemed to stop providing any logical thought when Kate smiled at her.
The pair of them were split up on the bus since there were no two seats together, but when they arrived back at Blackwell they fell into step, side by side, as they headed back to the dorms. During the bus ride, Victoria planned out a handful of conversation topics, so that she would have a plan in place when her mind entered radio silence in Kate’s presence. She was able to start chatting with Kate about the upcoming history test, complaining about the essay portion, without floundering once.
“If you want, we could study together,” Kate suggested.
“Oh, uh, yeah, that sounds, uh…” Victoria wanted to slap herself. “That sounds good. I’d like that.”
“Awesome,” Kate said with another smile. “We can work out a time for later this week?”
At this point, they returned to their wing of the dormitories, and they hovered outside of Kate’s door. She removed the jacket and held it out for Victoria to reclaim.
“You can hang onto it,” Victoria offered. “It looks good on you.”
Now it was Kate’s turn to blush. “Thanks. It’s cozy. And it smells like you.”
“I assume that’s a good thing?”
Kate caught Victoria’s gaze. “It is.”
Victoria had no idea how to respond to that, as she was taken completely off guard by everything that afternoon had thrown at her with respect to Kate.
Thankfully, Kate filled the silence, though it also meant her absence.
“Well, I’ll see you around, then. We’ll set up a time to study for that test?”
“I will. And thanks again for letting me borrow your jacket.”
Victoria smiled back. “You’re welcome. Anytime. I have more jackets, too, you know, if you wanted to borrow some more.”
Kate laughed, and the sound stirred up more butterflies in Victoria’s stomach. “I don’t think I need any more jackets, but if I do, you’ll be the first person I ask.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you tomorrow in class?”
Kate entered her room, offering Victoria one last smile before the door shut behind her.
Victoria, in turn, made her way to her own room, where she promptly crashed face down on her bed. Why did Kate make her feel this way? Why was she so overwhelmed by it? Why did she offer her more jackets?
She didn’t have any answers to these questions. But she did know beyond a doubt that she was thrilled to spend more time with her. It was a crazy crush, but maybe, just maybe, Kate felt the same way too.
And Victoria was excited to find out.
