Chapter Text
They were not longer runaways, they were on the run. She hadn’t known the difference when she was safe and happy (ignorant, but happy) in Brentwood.
She knew the difference now, and so did her friends (or should she say her team? It sounded like she was talking about little league, this was all so freaking weird.) That didn’t stop them from acting like teenagers (maybe children as the case may be) all the freaking time.
“We are not leaving behind Gert’s dinosaur-” Karolina had her hands up, trying to placate an argument that had been raging between Gert and Alex, and that was just getting more and more heated (and loud, so, so loud).
Being on the run wasn’t so bad. She didn’t have to go to church (which had lost its appeal after seeing her mom try to murder a pershiner), she got to be with her friends and Nico. She liked braiding Molly’s hair, and listening to Gert rant about whatever was on the radio (political or musical). She liked waking up and smelling sea salt, or eucalyptus, and she could pretend they were camping, and that their parents being serial killers was all a horrible, terrible nightmare.
Now, hey were in the mountains, the smell of fresh water and pine, standing in front of a beautiful cabin. She wanted to be hiking or making out with Nico the in a hammock that was hanging a few feet away, not playing referee for two other seventeen year olds, who were now just rehashing the same fight they had already had a dozen times.
“Old Lace-” Gert corrected.
“Right,” Karolina amended, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, “Old Lace.”
They had just barely escaped from their parents, who had tracked them down from a local police tip off in Stockton; now they were hiding out in vacant vacation cabin near Lake Tahoe, and despite everything they had just been through, they were still having this argument. The points never changed, Gert needed Old Lace, and the rest agreed she was an asset, while Alex thought she was a tactical risk.
He was outvoted, again, she didn’t know why he couldn’t just drop it.
(Sure Old Lace, ate up there dwindling food budget, but you don’t look a gift dinosaur in the mouth.)
Alex was always the man with the plan, which was great and had helped keep them alive. It didn’t make him great with compromise. He was in an especially bad mood today, he had seen his father when they escaped (none of them did well when they glimpsed there parents, even now it hurt Karolina in a place she didn’t know existed.)
“Even if she didn’t make Gert happy, we have a freaking dinosaur,” Nico piped in, she had been trying to help placate, but she wasn’t quite as… diplomatic, as Karolina was.“ I think we should use an advantages we can get.”
“Of course you are taking her side,” Alex muttered, looking pointedly between Nico and Karolina.
“What did you say,” Nico turned her head so fast Karolina was worried she would hurt herself, “Say it again Wilder-”
Nico and Alex were doing better than they were, but she was still raw from the betrayal. The thought turned Karolina’s stomach, she really wanted everyone to get along and focus on the task at hand (but the thought of Alex lying to Nico about her sister made her so angry-)
“Karolina are you Ok?” Gert interjected, her face suddenly ghostly white.
“Why wouldn’t I be,” Karolina furrowed her brow, “I don’t love it when you guys fight, and I have a headache from the yelling-”
“Your bleeding.” Karolina looked down, and sure enough there was a blood stain the size of a silver dollar on her shirt, and it was growing.
“Shit,” Gert said, “You must have ripped your stitches, how did you not feel that?”
Karolina shrugged.
“Adrenalin?” Nico glared at Alex as she said that, as though it was his fault (which it wasn’t, but she wasn’t always rational when it came to him).
“Nico,” Karolina said quietly, Nico turned to her, looking guilty. She sighed, she didn’t want her to feel guilty, but getting mad at Alex wasn’t going to help either.
“I’ll patch you up,” Nico muttered, “Let’s go inside.”
Nico weaved her arm, carefully around Karolina, careful not to touch her wound on her side. She was suddenly thankful for the support, her legs feeling more wobbly by every passing second.
“Can you guys table this fight for latter,” Karolina called out to Gert and Alex, before they could start arguing again; she started to feel queasy, even as Nico helped her walk inside, “Or finish the fight before you guys come inside?”
“We are done arguing,” Gert said, she turned at looked at Alex, “Right?”
Alex looked appropriately mollified, and he nodded mutely.
“Great,” Nico muttered, “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
The cabin had a big front room, the kitchen melding into the living room, with wood floors, and wooden paneled walls, Karolina leaned awkwardly against the back of the couch when they walked inside. She wasn’t sure how she missed ripping her stitches, her side was now smarting like a mother-
“Take your shirt off,” Nico said, her voice low; she must have not realizing the implications of what she just said, but Karolina sure did.
“Buy a girl dinner first,” Karolina teased, even as she gritted her teeth from the pain.
Nico blushed and it was so pretty and so incongruous with the whole vibe she always tried to put out, she was kind of obsessed (it was like Nico was both the goth girl, tougher than nails, and the girl who blushed when Karolina said anything remotely suggestive, and she was the only one who got to see both, who got to see Nico in her entirety).
“I need to see how bad it is,” Nico said, the blush still on her cheeks.
Karolina, with Nico’s help (god she was sore, and not even the good kind), took off her t-shirt, leaving her in a sports bra and leggings. She always wanted to make Nico blush, or blush more, turn her cheeks from pink to red, like after they had kissed for hours and were both so out of breath, it was like they had run a marathon.
Those moments when they just laid there, giddy to be sharing the same space, were her favorite, (being with Nico was her favorite thing, Nico was her favorite, favorite everything).
Karolina smiled, as she adjusted herself, still leaning on the couch, so Nico could look at her wound.
“You look cute in my flannel,” Karolina added, tugging on the hem, soft from hundreds of washes before she bought it, “It’s not fair, it looks sexy on you-”
“You just ripped a couple stitches,” Nico’s cheeks were red now, mission totally accomplished, “Not to bad.”
She must have ripped them when she was running. They did so much running these days (literally running, which Karolina hated, she would much rather just do some Yoga and be done with it).
Karolina could tell Nico was trying not to stare at her cleavage or bare stomach (she was respectful like that). She gloated internally more than she was proud of (a lot more than, to be honest).
She had spent so long feeling numb when boys and men found her attractive (if not outright uncomfortable), it felt so right, to be desired by someone she desired as well. It was like the puzzle pieces finally fit, and she now was able to understand why everyone got so worked up getting ready for a date or a dance. She still looked cute to Nico, even with a flesh wound.
Karolina smiled through the pain.
“I will go get the supplies,” Nico muttered, leaving a ghost of a kiss on Karolina’s cheek before she disappeared down the hall.
Nico really did look cute in her flannel (cute like sexy, not like a puppy, or Old Lace). Karolina usually wore it like a sweater, over a tank top or t-shirt, but Nico wore it buttoned up all the way (except for one or two buttons, showing off her clavicle, who knew clavicles were sexy),with her was in ripped black jeans, and combat boots, and thick black eyeliner (it was really sexy in a 90’s grunge/punk way). (It was dawning on her that maybe it was Nico who was sexy, and the clothes had very little to do with it.) It was only kind of Karolina’s flannel, though, despite the teasing. She wore it more than anyone, but at some point, clothes become kind of communal in the van. Karolina was the one who wore this flannel the most, but at some point Gert, Chase and most recently, Nico had thrown it on.
They bought clothes from dollar bins at thrift stores and on clearance when they stopped to get snacks at Walmart or Target. Everyone just grabbed for something clean when they had a chance to change or shower. It was not too bad really; Karolina and Molly had the same shoe size, and Chase’s sweats actually fit her (the ones made for girls were always to short, and had wimpy pockets). The worst part was that everyone started to smell pretty quickly in the van, no matter what they did. They sometimes wore the same thing for days at a time; finding time to go to a laundromat is no easy feat, (and that time they tried washing their clothing was funny, but disastrous).
The best was when they found vacant vacation houses like, this one. They didn’t break in often, it wasn’t worth the risk that someone would come for a weekend trip, but after the last scrimmage with team parents, they needed somewhere to recoup. One of the first things they did was do laundry, sometimes three or four loads. And take showers, long showers.
That was the second biggest recurring fight they had; who got to shower first when they checked into a motel or broke into a vacation rental.
It was odd, what they now considered a luxury.
Staying in the cabin wasn’t just a luxury though, it was necessary. Karolina might not have noticed she needed stitches, but Chase was sleeping in one of the bedrooms, recovering from a nasty burn on his right arm, Old Lace curled up at the end of his bed (Gert was protective of Chase, and by default so was her dinosaur). Molly, while unhurt, needed to sleep; the constant use of her powers was draining, and they could all see it on her face. She didn’t sleep well in the van, and she needed more sleep than the rest of them, because of her age and because of her powers.
Before they started arguing about Old Lace, Alex and Gert were arguing how long they should stay at the cabin. Gert wanted to stay a week, Alex wanted to stay the night.
These were the decisions they had to make, risk on a neighbor calling the cops for breaking and entering, or risk hitting the road where everything from a traffic cam to a video monitor at a 7/11 could give away their location to Pride.
Nico and Karolina were able to broker a compromise of staying for four nights, long enough to recoup and plan where they were going next, but not so long as to garner unwanted attention, and limit the likelihood of the owners to come calling.
Karolina loved her friends (even Alex, who was really sweet when he wasn’t so freaking calculating), but it was exhausting, to constantly strategize how to stay safe, constantly broker compromises, and always wondering how they were going to manage staying alive (and, though Karolina avoided thinking about it, staying good). The stakes were so high, sometimes, she lay awake thinking of all the possible outcomes, how everything, on the turn of a dime, could go, terribly, horribly wrong-
“Kar,” Nico murmured, “Can you sit down”
She gestured to the kitchen table.
Karolina nodded, gingerly sitting on a wooden chair, with one of those little seat cushions tied on (this place was really cute, they would have to leave an apology note for eating all of the ramen and using all of the laundry detergent, before they left).
Nico sat beside her, dumping her medical supplies on the table in front of them.
Nico became there medic, somewhere around week three on the run. She used a spell, after Karolina needed stitches the first time, to give herself knowledge of how to fix the wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding (she had already used the spell for stitches on Gert the week previous). Nico now guessed she had the medical expertise of surgical intern. They stole some supplies from a free clinic (Karolina memorized the name and address so she could pay them back, someday), so for now, Nico could treat second degree burns, stitch them up, treat a fever or a minor infection. They didn’t like to talk about what would happen if someone got hurt beyond her expertise, or if they needed supplies that couldn’t be swiped from a clinic.
“It’s kind of fucked up that I am getting better at stitching people up,” Nico murmured, as she touched Karolina’s side, this touch was completely clinical, but it still caused Karolina’s heart to race a little faster.
“At least, now we don’t have to go to the hospital,” Karolina said, with a gasp, not sure if it was from the pain or Nico’s hands (both, probably both), “ The cops would find us, so quick.”
Karolina grabbed Nico’s hand as she reached for a familiar blue bottle.
“Don’t waste the numbing stuff on me-”
“Kar-” Nico said incredulously.
“No seriously.” Karolina closed her eyes, “I can take it, and we don’t know when we might need it.”
Nico looked at Karolina and then the bottle, then back again, clearly thinking hard. She didn’t want to think of the scenarios they would need it, but once you started thinking about it it was hard to stop.
“Fine.” Nico said, worry etched on her face, “But I am doing this under duress.”
“I’m ok with that,” Karolina winced, as she felt the needle enter her skin. She was never going to get used to that.
“Brat.” Nico said, but there was no sharpness in her voice.
“That’s me.”
A few painful seconds go by, and Karolina can see stars beyond the black of her eyelids (probably not a great sign but-)
“And we are done-” Nico smiled, caressing the spot below the neat line of stitches (they slash down, parallel to her ribs, ending, just above her hip); she leans down and kisses right below the stitches, as though it can take away the pain. It’s probably stupid, but Karolina kind of believed it would work.
“I think we should talk,” Karolina said, her heart suddenly beating like a drum.
Nico looked up, Karolina winched: she guess that didn’t sound great.
“About?” Nico asked carefully.
“What is this?” Karolina pointed at the space between them, “Between us.”
Since they ran away, since they rescued Karolina from her Mom and Jonah (who was not her father, would never be her father, if she had to think about her conception, which she avoided at all cost, she called him sperm donor), and Nico had kissed her soft and quick and sweet as she sat on the trunk of the van, they had been…
Hooking up?
That didn’t seem to encapsulate what they had been doing, at least, not totally.
They made out, a lot. If they were alone in the van together (which happened less often than she would like), they would gravitate towards each other, and just kind of start kissing, and more recently, taking articles of clothing off, with hands wandering. Karolina was cataloging every new sound that Nico made, every new inch or skin she saw, every inch she touched, and every mark she left (because sometimes it was a sweet kiss, almost innocent, while the teams back was turned, but sometimes, a lot of the time, it was crashing together, and accidental scratches, and not so accidental bite marks and bruises).
Karolina didn’t know what it said about her, that she cherished the marks that Nico left behind, that she was near devastated when they faded (not that Nico was shy about remarking her).
She catalogued Nico, and it could be all in her head, but she felt like Nico was doing the same.
Sometimes, after they kissed Nico just stared at her, like she was memorizing Karolina, just as she was in that moment. She wondered what her blushes looked like, and if Nico liked how pink fit her cheeks.
(Karolina wanted to know what she thought, because in those moments she thought Nico was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, even with smudged lipstick, and a flush rising on her collarbone and mussed slept in clothes; maybe that was her favorite Nico, because that Nico was hers).
They also always slept next to each other.
Always.
At first it was because no one else wanted to sleep near Karolina (she was like a portable space heater, her mom had always just told her that women in her family run hot, bit of an understatement considering her true form was UV rays). Now that it was getting colder, the further north they traveled, they still slept next to each other, (Karolina usually closer to the middle, so the rest could benefit from her inhuman heat) but it was a more than just a habit, now.
Nico once told her, whispered while they both were lying on the floor of the van, everyone else's breath rising and falling and snoring, that she couldn’t fall asleep if Karolina wasn’t close, that even when they were lying next to each other, sometimes she needed to reach out and touch her before she felt ok again.
(Karolina felt like this too, when she woke up without Nico’s arms around her, or Nico out of her sightline she panicked, even if she new, intellectually, that Nico was probably just going to the bathroom, or taking a breather outside the van. That fear had not dissipated, even after being on the road for months).
Sometimes they held hands, like in front of the others. She mentioned it to Gert, who looked at her like she was an alien (well more of an alien). She had said to Karolina that holding hands was pretty normal when you are dating someone.
But were they dating? Karolina really didn’t know the answer. She knew she was important to Nico, but besides that, she had been to scared to ask.
Until now.
She could hardly handle all of the mental gymnastics necessary to be on the run from the law, she couldn’t go another day without knowing what they were to each other.
(It was like Nico was physically part of her, she would survive if they parted, but it would be like losing an arm or a leg. She was sure that she would have phantom pains, knowing that the space next to her should be occupied, but wasn’t.)
“What do you want it to be?” Nico asked, looking up at her through her eyelashes. She had washed her makeup off in the sink when they first arrived (Alex had one the rock paper scissors and got first shower) but there was still a bit of black rimming her eyes.
“That’s not fair answering a question with a question,” Karolina said with a sigh, her heart dropping before, she whispered. “I like you a lot.”
Like was too small, it sounded almost silly. She knew if she said the other word, Nico would run. She wasn’t ready.
Yet.
“I like you a lot too,” Nico said it immediatly, like she had been waiting to say it for a while, and now had the opportunity.
(A girl could dream).
“I know it doesn’t really matter the labels-” Karolina didn’t want to trap Nico, force her into something-
“I want to be your girlfriend.” Nico said it so quickly, Karolina almost didn’t understand what she had said.
“Yah?” Karolina’s voice was so hopeful but so fragile, even to her own ears, it was like she was offering something delicate into the world, even though the world had a tendency to destroy delicate things.
“Yah,” Nico said firmly, reaching out and grabbing Karolina’s hand.
Karolina leaned in and kissed Nico’s cheek.
“Cool,” She felt stupid saying it. It wasn’t cool, it was glorious or magnificent or awesome Or all three.
Still it was something, and Nico smiled wide, and leaned in to kiss her, hands finding her waist, and Karolina didn’t have to think, she just had to feel.
And Nico kissed her once, then twice, then-
Well, Karolina lost count.
“You know I did the math,” Nico said slowly, as she pulled away, returning to her own chair.
Karolina’s face scrunched up.
“What math?” Her head may still be a bit fuzzy from the kisses.
“There are four bedrooms here.” Nico said, “Gert always shares with Chase or Molly, then there’s a room for whoever she doesn’t share a room with, and one for Alex and-”
“One for us.”
Karolina’s pulse quickened.
They had never had this much room before. They had shared a bed, but usually the rest were sleeping on the bed and couch next to them, or at the least, Molly was.
They had the van to themselves for an hour or two, or a motel room when the rest went to get breakfast and try to find a newspaper but-
A bedroom.
Just the two of them.
A bed.
“We don’t have to do anything,” The possibilities of ‘anything’ race through Karolina’s mind. “Especially with your stitches-”
Nico’s hands trail up Karolina’s side, leaving fire in their wake.
“-I am just happy to have you alone.” Nico finished, her blush returned and Karolina was happier than she had the right to be, considering they were on the run and her parents were serial killers and she didn’t know what the next hour, let alone the next day would bring.
Karolina smirked.
“That sounds like something a super villain would say-”
“Call it parental influence-” Nico smirked right back.
“Nico!” But Karolina was laughing, and it felt good, even if her side ached.
“You feeling better, Kar?” Gert, walked through the door, Alex trailing behind.
“Good.” Alex said, and it sounded like he meant it.
“Yes, I am.” Karolina smiled and then turned to look at Nico, “I am doing amazing, actually.”
Nico blushed even deeper.
She hadn’t thought that was possible.
It was awesome.