Archive of Our Own ^beta

1.

Carla was a smart girl.

She was intelligent, quick-witted, and good at thinking on her feet.

And she found that all of these traits were particularly useful in everyday life, especially when it came to dealing with people.

Particularly so when those 'people' included a certain blonde girl, who always wore blue dresses and smiled probably more often than any normal human being ever should.

Penny was just... too friendly. It made Carla suspicious of her, and she tried her best to keep her distance when possible.

Which, admittedly, was not as often as she'd like, considering Penny was for some reason hellbent on being her 'friend'.

Carla was a strategist.

She prided herself on her ability to do things her own way, and the fact that she didn't need to rely on relationships. She could handle just fine on her own, thanks.

However, it seemed that Penny had clearly missed the memo on that one.

It was always "hello, Carla!"  and "how was your day, Carla?"  and "I made you a friendship bracelet, Carla!"

Clearly, Penny was not as good at reading social cues as Carla, because if she was then she would clearly see the blaring signs that Carla literally wanted nothing to do with her.

However, Penny was the principal's daughter, as well as being a massive snitch, so Carla considered it best to stay in her good graces as well as she could.

(That, and Carla was pretty sure Penny had been the one to shoot a hole clean through one of their classmates that one time, so she decided that maybe it was best to not burn that bridge and put a target on her back.)

Meaning, Carla had to at least be civil with her. Which, to be fair, was pretty easy, considering she just let Penny carry the bulk of practically every interaction between them, only chiming in with occasional 'mhm's and 'no way's, or something of the like.

On one such occasion, Carla felt herself suppressing an eyeroll as Penny rambled on about something or other she'd seen over the weekend. Carla was pretty sure she was contributing about her usual amount of conversation, however Penny seemed to pick up on her thinly-veiled boredom, cheerful smile fading into a slight frown.

"Ah- sorry, I was being too enthusiastic again, wasn't I?" she apologised. "I'm so sorry if I was bothering you!"

Yes. You were.

Carla ignored what she was tempted to say, instead choosing to paste a smile on her face and shake her head.

"Nah, don't worry, you could never bother me," she told her, and Penny's face immediately lit up with a bashful grin, looking down at the ground.

"Oh! Uhm, thank you..." she fiddled with her fingers. "But... please do tell me to stop if I'm ever getting on your nerves!"

Carla responded vaguely saying she would, knowing that she was lying, considering if she told Penny to stop doing anything that ever got on her nerves, the blonde girl would have to cease to exist.

2.

Carla had assumed that, at some point, Penny would eventually tire of her.

Tire of carrying the entirety of their one-sided conversations daily, and go find someone else to bother. Especially with all the new kids; surely one of them had to be as weird as she was!

That, she was quickly learning, was not the case.

Sure, Carla could often see the blonde girl talking to the new transfers eagerly - though all of them usually seemed as uninterested as Carla was (a fact that made her frown slightly, though for the life of her she couldn't tell you why).

But Penny still seemed entirely hooked on trailing after Carla like a lost puppy, asking her what she's been up to, or what she's working on, or something else equally pointless-small-talk-y.

"Carla!"

Speak of the devil and she shall appear, apparently.

The blonde girl came running from somewhere behind the brunette, her chest heaving slightly from the exertion of needing to catch up with her. She noticed that a few strands of hair had freed themselves from her bun, and hurriedly tucked them back into place, before giving Carla her signature way-too-happy smile.

"Good morning! How was your weekend?" she asked, still clearly catching her breath.

(Which was, in Carla's professional opinion, rather weird. If she could shoot lasers, why did she need to catch her breath after a slight amount of running?)

"It was... eh," Carla shrugged. It wasn't a lie - her weekend hadn't really been anything of note.

"Mhm," Penny hummed in acknowledgement, nodding as she continued walking besides Carla, with way too much spring in her step than was necessary. "That's fair! Not every day has to be super exciting, after all. It's the little things that really count!"

Carla raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"So," the blonde continued, not waiting for Carla to respond - she had seemingly realised that there was no point trying to get the brunette to say more than the bare minimum during their conversations. "Are you doing anything later?"

Avoiding you.

Instead of responding with the instinctual reply, that being the truth, Carla merely shrugged again.

"Might work on a project or something. Guess I'll see how I feel."

"That's fair!" Penny beamed at her, nodding way more enthusiastically than any person reasonably should in any circumstance.

Then, she continued to chatter away, whilst Carla continued to tune the majority of it out.

3.

The Principal was dead.

There had been a secret lab under the school. The Principal had been evil.

And now she was dead.

Penny's mother was dead.

And... so was Penny. Briefly.

She had been repaired, though it had taken a few days, and Carla could not explain the overwhelming relief that flooded her upon seeing Penny walk through the gates of their new kindergarten for the first time.

It made no sense, she knew. After all, Carla was fond of science and logic, patterns and algorithms.

And it made no sense.

First, that Penny had been repaired so quickly (it hadn't been that much of a surprise that she'd turned out to have been a robot), but also that Carla had been... happy to see her?

Penny had smiled when she'd seen Carla, too, but it wasn't her usual boundlessly cheerful grin. She'd looked... sad. And tired.

Which was fair, Carla had to admit.

She wasn't all that well-versed in the realm of emotions, but she could understand one feeling upset and/or exhausted after both the death of your only parental figure, and your own death (...again?).

So, Carla decided she'd give Penny some space.

After all, the blonde girl always sought her out when she felt like it, so she could come find Carla when she was ready.

At least... Carla tried to give her some space.

However, she kept seeing Penny in classes and during recess, head down, not talking to anyone, wiping her eyes before anyone could see that she was crying.

And... Carla wasn't really sure what to do.

Yes, it was understandable that Penny would be upset.

And yes, Penny could come to her when she was ready.

But... nobody was helping her.

She didn't have any family, and everyone at school all thought she was weird and/or annoying.

...Including Carla.

This thought made the brunette's insides stir slightly with guilt. She hated Penny... so why did she feel so bad for her?

Which led to one day, when Carla found Penny sat by herself in the corner of the playground during recess.

When she saw Carla coming, the blonde tried quickly to wipe her eyes and paste on a smile, but it was obvious she knew that Carla wouldn't be convinced.

Once she realised Carla wasn't going to walk away, she slumped back down, burying a sob in her hand.

"S-Sorry..." she whimpered, looking down at the ground as tears once more began slipping down her face.

Carla's eyebrows furrowed slightly, as she sat down beside Penny.

Why was she sorry?

Her feelings were completely natural, and justified. There was no reason for her to apologise.

In fact, it would've been more concerning if she'd just been completely unfazed by the whole death-and-mother's-death situation, to be honest.

But Carla didn't say this.

"Don't be," she said instead. "You didn't do anything."

"I..." Penny sniffed, her shoulders shaking with her crying. "I didn't mean to... I wasn't... she..."

Carla blinked at her, unsure what to do.

Then, she awkwardly reached one hand out and patted her shoulder, in some vague attempt at comfort.

That small act, however, appeared to be enough, as Penny quickly threw herself at Carla, wrapping her arms around her and burying her face into her shoulder, choking out sobs.

And, strangely enough, Carla didn't even care that Penny was initiating contact without asking, or that she was most likely making a mess of her hoodie.

Instead, she just let it happen, ignoring the funny feeling in her insides.

It'll be okay.

She wanted to reassure Penny, but she kept quiet, letting the blonde girl get it all out of her system.

It was the least she could do, after all.

4.

After Carla had comforted Penny during one of her emotional moments, something had... changed between them.

All through kindergarten, elementary school and middle school, the pair had been growing closer.

Hell, Carla even found herself enjoying Penny's company (though she'd never admit it to anyone).

The blonde girl was a good listener, she'd found, and she was just as willing to listen to Carla talk about her interests as she was to rant about her own.

Their one-sided interactions became proper conversations, and Carla found herself legitimately interested in what Penny had to say.

As well as this, Carla grew... somewhat protective?

Anytime she heard someone talk about Penny behind her back, calling her a 'freak' or a 'snitch' or a 'weirdo', that person would mysteriously end up with a smoke bomb in their locker or a firecracker in their backpack the next day.

(Penny tried questioning Carla about this, but the brunette always denied having any involvement. Carla wasn't all that sure Penny was convinced.)

However, despite her tolerance for Penny becoming her genuinely liking the girl, Carla still felt bad for the way she'd treated her when they were younger.

How she'd been manipulative, and every other sentence out of her mouth was a lie. (Not that she wasn't still like that with most people - just not Penny.)

She knew she should apologise, but she wasn't sure exactly how to go about it.

After all, you can't really apologise to someone about being the reason your friendship is built off of lies, without exposing the fact that your friendship is built off of lies.

And now that Carla genuinely enjoyed being around Penny, she wasn't exactly sure what she'd do without the blonde girl.

Which, to be honest, she should've been ashamed of.

Carla was independent. A lone wolf. She could survive by herself. She didn't need anyone.

But... the way Penny's hand slipped into hers when they walked side-by-side, making her insides erupt once again with that unidentified feeling... Carla wasn't all that sure she'd ever pass up being able to call Penny her best friend.

Best friend.

Carla never thought she'd have a best friend. Never thought she'd need one.

Yet here Penny had come, with her bright smiles and warm hugs, as well as her understanding and empathetic nature, throwing all of Carla's values about the importance of relationships completely out of balance.

And right now, she was tapping her thumb against the back of Carla's hand, clearly trying to get her attention.

"Hm? Yeah?" Carla asked, zoning back into reality.

"Penny for your thoughts?" the blonde asked, and Carla raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly at her.

"Penny for my thoughts? Really?"

Penny laughed slightly, swinging hers and Carla's arm back and forth by their still joined hands.

"In my defence, it was unintentional!"

"Sure. Sure it was," Carla rolled her eyes good-naturedly, still smiling.

The blonde girl just had that effect on her, where she always felt like smiling when she was around her.

"Well? What's on your mind?" Penny asked. "You seem very deep in thought."

Carla thought for a moment.

I'm sorry for being so rude and dismissive when we were younger. I didn't realise how great you were to be around.

"I'm just thinking 'bout how... I like being around you," she replied. Technically a half-truth, but it was completely worth it for the way Penny's face flushed slightly red-green, from the mixed colours of her blood, and she gave her a bashful grin.

"Aww, that's the sappiest thing I've ever heard you say," Penny said, and Carla nudged their shoulders together in faux-annoyance.

Then, she spoke up again.

"I believe I get that 'Penny' for my thoughts now, no?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The blonde rolled her eyes, but smiled regardless.

"I suppose you do."

Carla tightened her grip on Penny's hand, pulling her a little closer.

"You're mine now, then. No take-backs."

She wasn't sure why saying that brought back the fuzzy feeling inside her, but it increased tenfold when Penny simply nodded, resting her head on Carla's shoulder.

"I'm yours."

5.

It was around a year later, that Penny and Carla were, once again, walking hand-in-hand - though this time, it was through a local park.

"I've been thinking," Penny began, and Carla laughed slightly.

"When are you not?"

The blonde girl hit her arm gently with her other hand, feigning annoyance. Then, she continued with what she had been saying.

"You know that one hill, out over that way?" she gestured with her head.

Carla nodded, familiar with the place in question.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I was thinking about how it would be a great place to watch the sunset from, and was wondering if... maybe you wanted to come with me to check it out, sometime soon?"

"Oh," to be honest, that hadn't been what Carla had been expecting. What she also hadn't anticipated was the sudden eruption of fuzziness inside her - which was becoming more and more common when she was around Penny. "Uh- yeah, sure."

Penny beamed at her, eye's widening as she squeezed Carla's hand a little tighter.

"Really?!" she asked, and Carla felt her breath hitch as she met Penny's eyes.

The way they sparkled with excitement. The way the wind had pushed a few strands of her blonde hair loose from its signature bun. The way she looked so hopeful. So happy.

You're beautiful.

The sudden unconscious observation caught her slightly off-guard, but suddenly so many things made so much more sense.

The fuzzy feelings, the protectiveness, the hand-holding...

Carla had a crush on Penny.

She blinked a few times, slightly startled at herself, and could tell she was flushing, but tried to swallow her surprise of her new revelation, instead nodding simply.

"Of course."

Penny made an excited noise, pulling Carla into a hug, and the brunette felt her face growing red, her stomach once more erupting in what she now recognised to be what was commonly described as 'butterflies'.

She hoped this new realisation wouldn't make her do something she'd regret.

+1

Carla was a smart girl.

She was intelligent, quick-witted, and good at thinking on her feet.

However, she found herself exerting exactly zero of those traits as she and Penny stood, hand-in-hand, watching as the sun sank slowly behind the hills in the distance.

All she could focus on was the feeling of Penny's soft hand in hers, and the picturesque scene they'd found themselves in.

If Carla wasn't blushing profusely, she would have even dared to call it perfect.

Tearing her gaze away from the sunset, Carla glanced over to Penny, only to find her looking back, a soft smile on her face.

There was an unidentifiable look in her eyes, in which the sunset was reflecting, creating a mix of colours that Carla found undeniably beautiful.

In fact, everything about Penny, Carla found truly and undeniably beautiful.

I'm in love with you.

As soon as the thought entered her mind, Carla immediately tried to repress it, averting her eyes from Penny to try and force it out of her mind, but it was too late.

Because she knew it was the truth.

However, as she looked back at Penny, probably to say something to cover up the realisation she'd just had, she noticed that the blonde girl's eyes had widened, her mouth slightly agape, a red-green blush spreading across her face.

And as she looked at her, Carla felt herself flushing too.

Because that was when she'd realised.

She'd said it out loud.

"I..." Carla tried to say, but she felt her throat tighten. She wanted to avert her eyes from Penny again, but she couldn't make herself look away, analysing the girl's face for any sort of reaction. Relief? Anger? Pity?

However, for a good few moments, Penny just seemed to be entirely in shock. Then, slowly, she took a step forwards, before wrapping her arms tightly around Carla's torso, pulling her into a hug.

Carla tensed for a moment, still recovering from her sudden realisation and confession, before relaxing into the embrace and slowly returning the hug.

"Carla..." Penny said, muffled by the fact that her face was buried in the brunette's shoulder. "I love you. So much."

The brunette blinked a few times, stunned by the admission.

There was no way she wasn't dreaming this, right?

Instead of responding, she simply hugged Penny tighter.

After what felt like hours, but was realistically probably only a few minutes, they pulled away from the hug, though Carla made sure to grip Penny's hand again, entwining their fingers together.

"I'm sorry I wasn't all that nice to you," she murmured. "Back then."

"When we were five?" Penny asked, laughing slightly. "Do you really feel bad about that?"

"Wha- hey!" Carla stuck her tongue out. "Are you making fun of the burden of guilt I've been carrying for years?"

"Maybe," Penny shrugged. "I mean, it's fair enough, really. I was annoying, you wanted to be alone, I wouldn't let you be alone."

She went quiet for a moment, before shuffling a little closer to Carla.

"I'm glad I didn't though."

Carla felt her breathing hitch for a second, her heart skipping a beat, but she nodded.

"Me too."

Slowly, Carla angled her head so that she could press a gentle kiss to Penny's cheek, and the blonde flushed further, tightening her grip on Carla's hand.

"Hey Penny?" Carla murmured, nuzzling her face into Penny's shoulder.

"Mhm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."