That One Time We Kissed // Bishova College AU

Girl Meets Mom

Yelena Belova was shockingly calm. As her taxi weaved through crowded New York streets, Kate's hand in hers, all she felt was eery serenity. Kate had walked on eggshells around Yelena all day, quiet as she zipped up Yelena's tight black dress, gentle as she opened the taxi door for her, though found no inklings of trepidation.

Somehow, Yelena felt ready. Even as rain poured onto her cab window, creating the perfect incubator for brooding, she took a calming breath, squeezing Kate's hand in hers. No need to be nervous. It was just Pepper, after all.

"Are your nerves made of steel?" Kate asked, speaking for the first time since departing the penthouse. "Or perhaps just numb?"

"Maybe a bit of both." Yelena rested her head on Kate's shoulder, careful not to smear makeup on the crisp black button up. "I don't know. Maybe I'm short circuiting from feeling so much at once, or maybe I'm just calm."

"I'm nervous enough for the both of us, I suppose."

"How do you mean, myshka?"

Kate chewed her lip. "I just hope it'll be everything you've wanted."

Smile laced with melancholy, Yelena leaned in for a soft kiss before whispering, "it already is."

Electricity crackled between them, and Kate found herself falling into, swimming in Yelena's warm eyes. Lips swollen, Kate forgot herself and leaned in again, hungrier this time, before her cab came to a halt.

"Damn," Yelena pouted, hand brushing against Kate's disappointed face. "Save it for later, tiger."

Kate paid the driver and assisted Yelena out of the backseat, assuring she did not trip on any curbs or snag her dress on the way in. The doorman of the expensive apartment building showed them in without a second glance; they looked as though they belonged with their black tie attire.

Though the lobby was certainly enthralling, practically a palace, Kate couldn't keep her eyes off of Yelena. Something about dressing up so nicely, having an evening outing in the city, it made her feel as though she was a celebrity, or someone in a movie. It was decadent, elegant, classy. Yelena clocked the look in Kate's eyes as the two boarded the elevator, thankfully alone.

"Kate Bishop?" Yelena quirked an eyebrow at the lack of response. "Cat got your tongue?"

Kate chuckled as the door slid shut, moving to gently pin Yelena against the side wall of the elevator, strong hands grasping at her hips. "No. You do."

"You're quite forward tonight, my love."

"Maybe I'm just trying to take your mind off of things." Kate thought for a moment. "Or my mind. Either way," she placed a hand above Yelena's head, enclosing her fully, "you just look really hot tonight."

"It's unfortunate that elevator rides are so notoriously short."

"Oh, is that right?"

As Yelena protested, Kate proceeded to mash every button on the panel, of which there were about sixty.

"Kate Bishop, you're insufferable," Yelena grumbled, but couldn't help but grin as she said it.

Truthfully, there was no one else Yelena would rather be with right now than Kate. The way she was making her laugh, taking such good care of her, it warmed Yelena's heart, and she relished getting to kiss Kate Bishop, her Kate Bishop, for the entire sixty floors.

Breathless and a little giddy, Yelena tugged Kate out of the elevator by the hand when the door opened, and for a moment, felt like an overexcited teen ready to show off her first girlfriend to her mother. Which in a strange way, she was, but it was also entirely different, a half truth of normal young adult life.