prom night and i am lonely
“You’re preening.” Her little brother stands in the door of their room. Raven barely stops herself from slugging the smug bastard known as Qrow.
Raven returns to looking at herself in the mirror, smoothing down the deep red fabric of her dress. “I am not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Like you’re any better, at least people are going to see me. You’re just going to some field to make out with Clover.”
Raven Branwen had been a lot of things, but right now, she didn’t feel the weight of any of those things. She only felt the warmth of Tai’s sunny disposition and Summer’s blinding smile. They could keep her warm, but only if she let them. In that moment, when she could feel Tai’s breath on her face and Summer’s on her neck, she made the choice that would change them forever. She would stay firmly planted like the grease that stained Tai’s hand or the red dye that forever lingered on Summer’s hairline, nothing was gonna get rid of her.
“Let’s go upstairs.” She softly whispers. Their relationship had terms and conditions, ones that Raven was about to toss out the window. The short girl pulls them into the hotel room that Tai’s parents had paid for, they had been overjoyed to hear their son was going to prom not only with his girlfriend but also his dirtbag of a best friend.
The three of them giggled as they rushed, kissing and tugging each other's fancy clothing off. Summer kissed Raven’s neck as she pulled down the zipper, allowing Tai, who was firmly attached to Raven’s mouth, to push the straps off of the shorter girl’s shoulders. Raven laughs into the blonde's mouth as she hoists her up, toeing off his shoes, trying his best not to drop her while Summer scrambled to get onto the bed
Raven hadn’t seen a lot of love in lifetime, and certainly not loves that weren’t doomed from the star, but as she looked Tai in the eyes as she allowed him to lay her on the bed she couldn’t bring herself to care, not with how he had carefully placed her head in Summer’s lap. She was loved, and it might just kill her. The black haired girl had no time to stop the tears that escaped.
Summer wipes her tears before they can fall to the bed, “Shh, little bird. It’s okay, we don’t have to do anything. We can all walk away right now, no harm, no foul. That was the deal.” Tai tries to pull away, to get off of her, but she just holds his collar tightly, refusing to let him move. Summer brushes the bangs away from her forehead, bending her down to kiss her on the forehead.
“No, no, just stay like we are. I just need to make sure I don’t forget this, when I wake up in the morning and realize it’s all a dream.” Raven croaks, reality rushing towards her. Tai shifts his weight above her, bringing his forehead to touch his best friend’s. Summer slides her fingers through the shorter girl's hair.
“We aren’t going anywhere.” Summer whispers the words like a vow.
“You can’t make promises like that, not with the legendary Branwen luck.”
“Yes, I can. We can. We made a deal, remember, we were gonna see this through no matter how long it lasted. I’ll be damned if I let you go now. Besides, I know too much, so do you.” Tai whispers, he was right. She’d confessed all her sins to him over the years, and she was about to spill her guts to Summer until they both saw her for what she was. A murderer, a bad influence, an overall terrible person. “You’re not. I know that look.” Tai had a habit of being able to read Raven like a book, and over the past two weeks, she’d become no better than a sheet of glass to Summer.
“Raven Branwen, you are strong and brave to the point of stupidity, but also kind and gentle. You’re so beautiful it hurts, let us show you how much you are loved.” Love, could someone as wonderful as Summer Rose love her? Could someone as noble as Tai love her wretched soul? The look they gave her was nothing but pure and utter devotion.
“Let’s make some memories.” Raven gasps as Tai captures her mouth again, Summer taking over when Raven huffs in annoyance over Tai’s pants still being on. If she was going down, at least she wasn’t going alone.
Raven rolls over the next morning, hoping to find warmth, but instead is only met with a pillow. Summer and Tai sit on the edge of the bed, whispering to each other. They both sound panicked, not the best sign for a morning after. She lies with her eyes barely open, squinting at the pair, before Summer calls her on the opposum behavior she’s exhibiting, “Morning, tweety bird.”
“Oh, shut up,” She grumbles, “What’s going on that has you both awake this early?” They all three turn to look at the clock that displays 12:17 in green glowing numbers. Raven shrugged, she was practically nocturnal, everything was early to her.
Tai sniffs as he goes to speak, “Uh, I went to throw away the condom wrapper, Raven, I’m so sorry.”
Raven thinks she didn’t hear him right, trying to shake the sleep out of her ears, “Huh?”
Tai’s throat tightens as he finishes his thought, terrified this will be the thing to push his little bird to flight. “The condom broke, I didn’t realize it last night, I’m sorry, I should’ve checked it before I put it on.”
“Are you telling me I might be pregnant?” Raven is sitting up now, and if Summer didn’t know any better, she’d say the younger girl was going to bolt. Tai, however, did know better and quickly moved to block the way for her to run. He may have usually left an escape open for her, but this couldn’t be one of those times. They needed to talk about this.
“Yeah, little bird, that’s what I’m saying.” Tai doesn’t reach out to her, thinking she’ll react with her usual bravado of retreating. Instead, she jolts forward, crashing into him with a grip that says if she doesn’t hold on, she’ll be lost. Summer quickly scrambles to wrap her body around the crying girl, pressing her chest to Raven’s back.
“Tai, go to the bathroom, take a shower, and call your parents. I don’t think we should we should keep this to ourselves. It’s too big, it’s not just sneaking around anymore.” Summer says after a few minutes, Tai nods, standing from the bed, walking towards the bathroom, grabbing his phone out of his coat jacket.
“Hey, mom. Can you get Dad? Something happened, I need to talk to both of you.” The rest of what’s happening rushes out of his mouth at the sound of his mother’s voice. His mother's voice soothes him when he finally ceases his terrified spiral, telling him it would be okay, that one step at a time would be the only way to take it.
Raven and Summer don’t speak. The younger of the pair allowed herself to just be held. She thinks if she can sit still enough, the universe will ignore the implications of what had happened the night before. Raven wants Tai to sit with her, but the idea of what could now exist between them made her want to scream or cry, probably both.
Summer enters the bathroom after hearing Tai end the call. She watches him for a moment before speaking, “Tai, no matter what that girl in there is still your best friend. No matter what happens between the two of you or the three of us, she is your best friend.” The redhead was right, no matter what, Raven had been his best friend since 3rd grade when he’d practically forced the girl to accept him.
After a while, Tai returns to the bed, his hair still wet from the shower, “I’ll make you a deal,” Tai whispers into Raven’s hair, meeting Summer’s eyes. In them, he sees his own fears reflected back to him. Could they weather this storm?