Just Say Yes
Inspired by this post by @politics-notmything. This is the second and last part of “Just Say Yes.” I had a really fun time writing this and am excited about the next few one shots that will be posted throughout the next couple of weeks. As always, enjoy this one shot! 💙💚
Word Count: 2288
Pt. 1
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Anne was a surprisingly safe driver, Cathy noticed quickly. She stayed within the speed limit even though Cathy was sure the car could probably go about three times the speed. She didn’t attempt to run any red lights or have any other reckless habits which Cathy was immensely grateful for.
A short drive later, Anne pulled into a parking spot in front of a small cafe that wasn’t too far from campus. Anne turned to face Cathy with a small smile before removing her car key from the ignition. “We’re here.”
The two got out of the car and entered the coffee shop hand-in-hand, both with giddy expressions on their faces as they stared at their interlocked hands. Once inside, Cathy breathed in the strong aroma of coffee that wafted from the machines and sighed contentedly. She looked around and noticed that the seats were mostly empty, with only a few people scattered around the tables.
Anne led Cathy up to the counter where the cashier was smirking at the sight of their intertwined hands. “Well, well, well. Anne Boleyn! I thought you were waiting until marriage to hold hands,” the cashier joked.
Cathy curiously looked over to Anne, who had tightened her grip on Cathy’s hand gently at the comment. “Ha ha. Very funny, Cleves.”
Anne looked back at Cathy with a soft smile. “Catherine, this is my roommate and best friend, Anna of Cleves.”
Anne turned back to Cleves with a warning look before introducing Cathy. “Cleves, this is my soulmate, Catherine Parr.”
A look of recognition passed over Cleves’ face at the name. “Oh, the girl you’ve been trying to ask out for months? I’m so proud of you, Boleyn!” Cleves laughed as she watched Anne’s face go beet red.
Cathy also blushed at what Cleves had just said. Had Anne really been working up the courage to ask her out for months? She shook her head in astonishment. The more she learned about Anne, the more Cathy realized how far her assumptions about the girl were from the truth. And the more she fell in love with the real Anne.
“Anna. I am going to salt your bed when I get back to our dorm room,” Anne said through gritted teeth.
“Relax Anne,” Cleves replied with another smirk before turning to Cathy. “She’s very dramatic, which you will find out very quickly.”
“That’s good to know,” Cathy giggled and turned to look at Anne. “You are majoring in theater, right?”
“Yeah I am,” Anne answered with a soft smile, staring into Cathy’s eyes for a moment before Cleves interrupted their moment.
“And she should already have her degree by now for all of the monologues I’ve had to endure while she practiced asking you out,” Cleves added.
“You know what, Anna! When you get back to our dorm, you’re not gonna have a bed at all anymore!” Anne huffed as she looked down at her feet in embarrassment.
“I could always steal yours,” Cleves replied before addressing Cathy. “I'm curious though. What did Anne say to win your heart, Catherine?”
Cathy shot Anne a questioning glance, silently asking permission to show Anne’s best friend her soulmate mark. Anne sighed in response before saying, “Go ahead, love. She’ll find out one way or another… but either way I’ll never live it down.”
A smile tugged at Cathy’s lips as she quickly let go of Anne’s hand, rolled up her sleeve, and took Anne’s hand in hers once more. Cathy showed Cleves her soulmate mark as she gently squeezed Anne’s hand to get her attention. When Anne’s gaze met hers, Cathy offered her another quick smile that was eagerly returned.
The couple stayed like that, smiling at each other, until Cleves let out a boisterous laugh as she finished reading Anne’s speech. “Wow, Anne! Smooth.”
“I didn’t think about what I was going to say,” Anne shot back. “She dropped her keys and I saw my chance to finally talk to her. I didn’t have enough time to script out an elaborate profession of love! I had like two seconds!”
Cathy giggled at Anne’s confession before bringing Anne’s hand to her lips and kissing her knuckles softly. “You still won my heart, Annie.”
Anne blushed at the gesture before Cleves cleared her throat to get the lovebirds’ attention. “Anne, as much as I love embarrassing you in front of your soulmate, I don’t want to get fired from this job for shirking my responsibilities.” She grabbed a cup from the stack beside her and stared expectantly at Anne.
“Oh, right! I’ll have that cinnamon thing then,” Anne said before turning to Cathy. “What would you like?”
“I’ll have a regular coffee,” Cathy added before realizing she had left her money inside her backpack, which was still in Anne’s car. “Oh, wait! I forgot to bring my wallet!”
“Don’t worry, Catherine. I got it!” Anne responded as she reached into her pocket for her own wallet. She released her grip on Cathy’s hand to pull out her credit card and pay for their drinks.
“Thank you, Anne,” Cathy said as they walked to one of the booths by the window. “I guess I’ll have to pay for our next date then.”
“Next date,” Anne repeated dreamily as she slid into the seat in front of Cathy. “I like the sound of that.”
Cathy smiled shyly at Anne. She couldn’t wait to take Anne to all of her favorite places and make lasting memories with her on future dates. Cathy imagined walking with Anne to her favorite spot in their university's park and having a picnic together under the oak tree. Or stealing quick glances at each other as they studied together in the library. Or getting dressed up for a fancy evening at one of their town’s expensive restaurants. Cathy wanted it all. But most importantly, Cathy wanted to spend each of these moments with Anne.
Cathy hadn’t even realized that she had been staring at Anne until she was snapped out of her thoughts by the barista calling out her name. Quickly, Cathy got up and grabbed her coffee along with Anne’s pumpkin spice latte. As she returned to the booth where Anne was waiting for her, Cathy noticed the writing on Anne’s cup. She smirked to herself as she slid into the booth and placed the cup in front of Anne.
“Your roommate really loves teasing you,” Cathy commented, gesturing to the word simp under Anne’s name on her latte. She giggled as Anne rolled her eyes at Cleves’ jab.
“She’s trying to get back at me for all the times I teased her about being soulmates with my younger cousin,” Anne confessed. “She swore she would have her revenge when I found mine.”
Cathy laughed at Anne’s words. “She’s doing a pretty good job so far.”
“Unfortunately,” Anne grumbled to herself before suddenly becoming quite shy. “I hope you’re not weirded out by what she said. I’ve wanted to talk to you all semester but I never had the courage to approach you after class.” Anne rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment as she waited for Cathy’s response.
Cathy smiled gently at Anne, hoping to quell her fears with the simple action. “If anything, I’m surprised you actually wanted to talk to me at all. I mean, practically everybody on campus adores you and wants to be with you. I usually fade into the background to people like you.”
Anne tilted her head slightly at Cathy’s confession as a soft look passed over her face. “You are always the center of attention to me.” Anne paused for a moment before continuing. “That’s why I sit behind you in lit class. I look less suspicious to the professor when I try to look at you from across the auditorium.”
Cathy almost choked on her coffee at Anne’s last statement as a light blush crept into her cheeks. “You really are a simp, Annie,” Cathy quipped back after she recovered.
“Only for you, Catherine,” Anne replied before taking a sip of her drink.
“You can call me Cathy, if you want. It’s less formal than Catherine,” Cathy said as Anne put her cup back on the table.
“Cathy. I like that!” Anne spoke aloud as she tried out the new nickname. A sudden thought struck her as she said the name and, before Anne could think about what she was saying, she blurted out, “Though, I’d like to call you my girlfriend, if anything.”
Cathy’s heart skipped a beat at what Anne had just said, feeling a swarm of butterflies erupt in her stomach. This moment felt exactly like one of Cathy’s many daydreams about the Boleyn girl, making her want to pinch herself to see if this was really happening. Though, the sight of hope and fear swirling in Anne’s emerald irises suggested that this was very much real.
A wide smile spread across Cathy’s face before answering, “I would love to be your girlfriend, Annie.”
Anne matched Cathy’s smile as a breathy laugh escaped through her lips. “I found my soulmate and got the girl of my dreams, all in one day! You’ve made me the luckiest girl in the world, Cathy!” Anne reached across the table to take Cathy’s hand in hers, stroking her knuckles lovingly.
Cathy glanced down at their hands momentarily before looking up to meet Anne’s eyes with a soft expression. “I’m pretty sure I’m the luckiest girl in the world, because I get to call you mine forever.”
“I guess we’re tied for ‘Luckiest Girl in the World’ then, love,” Anne joked.
Cathy giggled at Anne before saying, “I guess we are.”
The two queens spent the next couple of hours talking with each other, excitedly discussing their shared interests and favorite childhood memories. They bonded over their shared love for music and literature, exchanging their favorite titles of each and marveling at how similar their tastes were. Anne shared some anecdotes of her younger self, earning several giggles from Cathy. If their future kids were anything like Anne, they would surely be a handful.
Cathy shook her head at that last thought with a small smile on her face. It was too early to bring up the subject of children but Cathy couldn’t help but romanticize having a family with Anne a few years down the line. Her heartbeat quickened at the thought.
“Shit!” Anne's sudden expletive snapped Cathy out of her thoughts. She looked to Anne with a confused expression.
“It’s almost noon!” Anne exclaimed as she looked up from her phone and back to Cathy. “You have a class, right?”
“Oh! Yeah!” Cathy answered anxiously, running her fingers through her hair. “I hadn’t even realized we had spent so long here.”
Anne slid out of the booth, followed by Cathy. “Time flies when you’re having fun, Cathy. And I am always fun.” Anne winked at Cathy, who playfully shoved her with her shoulder.
“I’m sure you are,” Cathy joked as they walked back to Anne’s car. Anne quickly walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for Cathy. In response to the chivalrous deed, Cathy kissed Anne’s cheek softly and slid into the passenger seat. A dopey smile spread across Anne’s face as she closed the door and made her way to the driver’s seat.
The drive back to their college campus was peaceful, despite the rush to get Cathy to her next class. Anne even held Cathy’s hand for the entirety of the trip, showing her superb one-handed driving skills at the same time. They pulled into the parking lot in front of the university hall with a few minutes to spare.
Cathy shuffled with her backpack before turning back to Anne with a shy smile on her face. Anne had a similar look as she watched Cathy bite her lip nervously. They both leaned in slowly until their lips touched, a soft and gentle kiss that only lasted for a few moments yet sent shivers down both of their spines.
As Cathy pulled away, she whispered quietly to Anne. “I’ll see you after class?”
“Yeah,” Anne breathed out. “I’ll find you.”
Cathy smiled softly at Anne. “Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
“Maybe then I can take you back to my dorm,” Anne said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
“So we can salt Anna’s bed together,” Cathy joked, earning a small chuckle from Anne.
“I was actually thinking of doing something on my bed together,” Anne said with a small smirk on her face, letting her eyes rake over Cathy’s body long enough to get her message across.
“Anne Boleyn!” Cathy exclaimed as a deep blush crept into her cheeks.
“Now get to class before you’re actually late, love,” Anne replied, smirking even wider as she noticed Cathy’s red cheeks.
“Right!” Cathy exclaimed, having completely forgotten she had a class to attend. “I’ll see you later, Annie.” Cathy shared another quick kiss with Anne before exiting the green sports car.
As Cathy walked to the front steps of the building, she looked over her shoulder at Anne, who noticed she was glancing back at her and blew her a kiss. Cathy smiled shyly at the gesture before finally entering through the doors and rushing to class.
Though the lecture hall had a cool draft blowing through it, Cathy decided to take off her hoodie and stow it away in her backpack. Her eyes landed on the words on her forearm as the memories of Anne speaking them into existence crept into her mind. Those words marked the beginning of a beautiful love story, with chapters that Cathy was excited to write together with Anne for the rest of their lives.
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