Chapter Text
The room swayed as Kate stumbled through the party, drink in hand. Whatever she took was hitting, and hard. Not in a bad way, not in a scary way, but it augmented the party enough to take her mind off of things. Off of her parents' divorce and her poor grades and- wait. This was a Halloween party. These are supposed to be fun, right?
Admittedly, she didn't know how to act at one of these things. Three years of college and she hadn't attended one party. She'd had invites, sure. She was begrudgingly popular enough, but never interested. What would she do at one of these anyway besides hide in the corner, avoiding people?
Today, though, she acted on impulse, accepting when Peter and MJ invited her to Tri Delta's annual Halloween bash. She had thrown on a black hoodie and a clown mask and trekked across campus to the sorority house which thrummed with music and busted at the seams with partygoers. She lost sight Peter and MJ almost instantly, throngs of guests pulling at her like the ocean's current.
The bash was so loud and intense with flashing lights and pulsing rhythm that she almost left as soon as she entered, but the seedy boy offering her something to ease her mind intrigued her. Yeah, it was stupid to take mystery pills from a stranger in a Jason mask, but so far it was working out alright.
The pulsing music turning therapeutic as Kate slinked through the party, lightly bobbing her head to the beat. At one point she closed her eyes, senses filled with the bass line.
"Um, excuse me?" Someone asked, but Kate didn't budge from her entranced little dance. "Hey, Pennywise?"
"You talkin' to me?" Kate asked, eyes drowsy as she lifted her mask. Before her stood a blonde girl dressed as Harley Quinn, shirt cropped and face smeared which makeup. "Whoa."
"If you're gonna block the couch, least you could do is play with us." She gestured to the worn brown couch taking up most of the basement's living room.
"Play what?" Kate asked as she flopped onto the couch, the blonde sitting surprisingly close beside her. A few other kids gathered; a tall blonde boy dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo, a redheaded girl dressed as a witch, a platinum headed boy as... Justin Timberlake, maybe?
"Truth or dare." Harley Quinn responded simply.
"What's he supposed to be?" Kate nodded at the platinum headed boy.
"No idea. Pietro never puts much thought into these things." The girl laughed lightly. "Apparently neither do you."
Growing increasingly warm from the closeness of the girl and the movement of the party (and also probably the drugs), Kate removed her hoodie, leaving her in just dark jeans and a black tank top.
"God, I'm freezing," the blonde girl complained, placing one hand on the hoodie and looking quite obviously at Kate's exposed biceps. "You mind if I wear this?"
"Go ahead."
The blonde slipped the article on and gathered the group's attention. Kate did not keep track of the game, really, though cringed when the blonde boy was dared to chug a 4 Loko and laughed when the redheaded witch girl prank called Little Caesar's. Then, after a moment, the group stared at her expectantly, and Kate nervously said, "truth?"
"Okay, this is difficult seeing as we literally know nothing about you," Harley Quinn said, "so, what's a secret you've never told anyone?"
"Um... I like girls?" Kate said without thinking and the group laughed. "What?"
"Don't worry, we're not laughing at you," the blonde girl said, placing a hand on Kate's thigh. "Literally all of us like girls. Those two over there are dating." She nodded to the girl dressed as a witch and another redhead beside her. "You've really never told anyone that?"
"Nope."
"Well then, congrats."
A few more turns passed, and Kate fought the urge to fall asleep, nestled into the worn leather couch and warmed by the girl next to her. Eventually, it was Harley herself''s turn, and she opted for dare.
"I dare you," the boy dressed as Fred said, "to kiss the hottest girl at the party. You know, if she wants to."
The group snickered, watching in anticipation for the blonde girl's move. She could have picked anyone, maybe the bombshell dressed like the woman from Kill Bill Kate saw dancing by the fridge. But to her disbelief, the girl turned to her, an eyebrow quirked.
"What do you say, mystery woman?" Harley Quinn asked, moving to sit in Kate's lap.
"Me?" Kate asked confusedly. "The hottest girl?"
"Well, yeah," she whispered lowly, just loud enough to hear over the thrum of speakers. "You're hot. You gave me your hoodie, and the fact that I have no idea who you are is kind of turning me on. So, you gonna kiss me or what?"
Kate nodded, and the girl wasted no time with the kiss. She kissed Kate urgently, and with much more fervor than a dare required. All that was necessary was a little peck, but the blonde went for it, as if she just needed an excuse to attach herself to the hot girl who wandered into her party. Kate gripped the blonde's hips as she moved to straddle Kate fully, still kissing her. Sparks flew, electricity buzzing as Kate eventually pulled back, and the rest of the group whooped and told the women to get a room. Yelena smirked proudly, not leaving her post in Kate's lap as the game continued.
Kate had to admit, being the momentary object of affection for a woman so confident, so bold, was incredibly satisfying. Maybe she should do drugs more often, she thought, and get out to more parties.
Eventually, through several more rounds and several more hours of blaring music and strobing lights, the party petered out. The tall blonde passed out on the couch ages ago, the couple disappeared to do God knows what, and the platinum blonde kid slinked off in search of molly or something. This left Kate and Harley, and dazed as she was, both on substances and infatuation, Kate managed a question.
"What's your name?"
The girl smiled, looking at Kate in amusement. "You don't know?"
"No..."
She kissed Kate again, chuckling lightly. "You're cute, I should keep you."
"I'm Kate."
"Kate what?"
"Kate Bishop."
"Kate Bishop, would you mind if I kept this hoodie for a while? It smells nice."
"It's yours." Kate was positively entranced, and she almost frowned when the girl finally hopped up out of her lap, stretching tiredly.
"I'm beat," she said. "You wanna stay here tonight? I have a queen bed."
"I..." Kate wanted so badly to say yes, to take the hand of this beautiful woman and see where the night took her. Alas, as she glanced to the stairs, she saw Peter and MJ waving to her, and whatever substances she took, along with the confidence they granted, wore thin. Her usual, anxious self was re-emerging, and the short, spunky blonde in front of her was turning more intimidating every second. "I'd love to... but, I've got to get home."
"Suit yourself," she whispered, kissing Kate one last time. "I'll see you."
The blonde disappeared up the stairs, toying with the hoodie strings as she passed a shocked Peter. Kate stood, less wobbly than earlier, and made her way over to her friends.
"What. The. Hell." Peter said as he climbed the stairs. "Kate, what the hell?"
Bewildered, Kate glanced to MJ. She just chuckled, "respect, Bishop. I didn't think you had that much game."
"Game?" Kate asked, bare arms chilled in the midnight October air outside. "What are you guys on about?"
"You wanna tell me how you just managed to make out with Yelena Belova for an entire night?" Peter asked, eyes still wide.
"I- what? Sorority girl Yelena Belova? Like, most popular Junior at school? No way that was her."
"What did you take?" MJ asked. "That was definitely her."
"Yelena..." Kate mumbled, replaying the unbelievable memory that she, reclusive, introverted Kate Bishop, managed to kiss the most coveted woman on campus. Sure, it started as a dare, but the way Yelena kissed her... that was real, right?
Kate thought it over as she walked home, bathed in moonlight and chilled by the breeze. The woman would not leave her mind. Fittingly, on the scariest evening of the year, Kate Bishop came to a harrowing realization. She had a crush, a big, fat, aching crush, on the sorority sweetheart, notorious flirt, Yelena Belova, and she kicked herself for not staying the night.