when you were young; kopal
Jun 2, 2020 3:07:55 GMT -5
Post by charade on Jun 2, 2020 3:07:55 GMT -5
k a t e l y n .
I've been awake in every state line
Dyin' to make it last us a lifetime
Tryin' to shake that it's all on an incline
Find me a way, I'll be yours in a landslide
It was getting late, the night air was cooling down from the day. Katelyn had asked Opal to meet her at a karaoke bar. She hoped she looked alright. Generally, she preferred to keep it simple. But she’d done her hair differently, and after agonizing about for half an hour she’d decided to wear heels with her little black dress. The slits on the thighs might have been a tad too much, but it was too late to change now. The train ride snaked its way back into her head, but she ignored it, shoving Cyro and Arabella out of her mind. Fairy tales and orphans could wait. This was her night.
And when Opal approached her seat at the bar, looking like the angel of her dreams, her heartbeat was louder in her ears than a dozen Capitol canons. “You look stunning,” she said as she got up, her eyes drifting across Opal with awe and a hint of desire. She cleared her throat before continuing. “Opal, I—I wanted to apologize about earlier today. I shouldn’t have dropped all of that on you, especially when it’s been so long,” she said a look of worry crossing her face for a moment. “I’m not— “she bit her lower lip. “I’m new at this. I’ve never— nobody’s ever asked me what I want. It’s always what I can do. How I can help them.”
Not that she minded. Helping others was second nature to her. But the older she got, the more she started to wonder when she would that time for herself; and the more she knew she would have to make it. The music she’d requested earlier started to play and she glanced up at the ceiling, saying a silent prayer to whoever was listening.
“Do you recognize it?” she said hopefully. It was the song they had danced to a decade ago, when Opal had consoled her after the show. One of the last good things that had happened to her before everything had gone wrong. Before the weight of the world had crushed her. Before she’d spent years picking up the pieces and putting them back together as best she could.
“But I know what I want Opal,” she said, taking her by the hand and leading her out to the dance floor. “It’s you.” And it was true. The last ten years might have been very different if she’d been a little selfish. If she’d put herself first instead of the Capitol’s whims. If she’d focused on the present instead of a dozen potential hells for the Rhodes and the Miristiomas. If she’d watched her tongue and hadn’t played with rebel fire just because she had known there were people counting on her.
If she’d returned that kiss goodnight.
“It’s always been you,” she whispered in Opal’s ear, nipping it gently as she thought about the reaction it had gotten last time. Her lips trailed, planting soft kisses on Opal’s earlobe, cheek and lips as she started to sway to the music. Katelyn had given so much of herself to everyone over the years; and she knew that before the quell was over, she would open her heart and hold out her hands to anyone that needed to be lifted up.
But for at least one night before the quell, she could be selfish. She could be happy.
“And I want tonight to be about us.”