We Were Still Calling It Friendship
Kathy had always enjoyed tension.
Not drama.
Not games.
Just that dangerous little moment when someone looked at her too long before realizing they were doing it.
And lately, Lara had been doing that a lot.
It started subtly.
The nervous pauses after compliments.The way her honey-brown eyes darted away from the screen whenever Kathy teased her too much.The tiny stutter in her voice whenever conversations became even slightly personal.
Kathy noticed all of it.
She always noticed everything.
That was both her best quality and her worst habit.
After work that evening, Kathy returned home emotionally drained, dropping her keys onto the kitchen counter before letting out a long sigh. The apartment felt quiet in the way lonely places often did after midnight. Rain tapped softly against the windows while distant city lights blurred beautifully through the glass.
Normally, she would shower, throw on an oversized hoodie, and call Lara looking exhausted and half asleep.
But tonight felt different.
Not planned exactly.
More like curiosity finally becoming too loud to ignore.
For weeks now, something had been shifting between them.
Not openly.Not verbally.
But quietly.
Inside longer silences.Inside lingering eye contact during calls.Inside the way Lara reacted whenever Kathy accidentally sounded too flirtatious.
Kathy would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it.
Because she did.
More than she should have.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a long moment, hazel eyes studying her own reflection carefully.
Then slowly, she smiled.
Not sweet.
Dangerous.
“Fuck it,” she whispered softly.
For once, she decided not to hide parts of herself.
The apartment changed first.
She dimmed the lights until warm shadows filled the room softly. Candles flickered around the apartment afterward, turning the atmosphere golden and intimate. Slow music played quietly from somewhere in the background while rain continued tapping against the windows like the night itself was waiting for something to happen.
Then came the outfit.
Black lace beneath a loose silk shirt hanging carelessly off one shoulder. Enough visible to feel distracting without crossing into obvious intention. A dark choker wrapped around her throat afterward, fingers adjusting it slowly while loose blonde hair fell naturally around her shoulders.
Kathy stared at herself one last time.
Not trying too hard.
That mattered.
Seduction stopped being attractive the second it looked desperate.
This?
This felt natural.
This felt honest.
The confident side of her.The sensual side.The side she usually softened beneath jokes and teasing smiles.
Her phone buzzed against the counter.
Lara:“You disappeared.”
Kathy smiled instantly.
“Miss me already?”
The reply came faster than expected.
“Maybe.”
That single word settled warmly inside Kathy’s chest in a way she didn’t entirely appreciate.
Dangerous.
She ignored the feeling quickly.
Then pressed video call.
Across another country, Lara answered almost immediately from beneath her blanket, expecting another normal conversation.
The second the screen connected, her entire brain stopped functioning.
Kathy looked unreal.
Candlelight wrapped softly around her blonde hair while shadows flickered beautifully behind her. The loose silk shirt slipped slightly off one shoulder, exposing pale skin and dark lace beneath it.
And the choker—
God.
The choker nearly destroyed Lara instantly.
Something about it made Kathy look different tonight.
Softer.Hotter.More dangerous somehow.
Like she had stopped hiding pieces of herself.
Lara forgot how to breathe properly.
Completely.
Kathy noticed immediately.
Hazel eyes narrowing slightly with amusement while leaning comfortably against the couch.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
Lara blinked rapidly.
“Y-yeah.”
Liar.
Kathy could practically hear the panic inside her voice.
Lara looked away too late after accidentally staring at Kathy’s chest for several painfully obvious seconds.
Heat rushed violently through her body instantly.
This was bad.
Very bad.
Because for weeks now, Lara had already been privately fighting thoughts she was too ashamed to admit aloud.
Late nights imagining Kathy too closely.Thinking about her voice while lying awake.Wondering how her hands would feel resting against skin.
Then afterward came guilt.
Always guilt.
Because girls were not supposed to think this way about girls where Lara came from.
Especially not girls like Kathy.
Girls who looked confident without even trying.Girls who wore black lace and chokers like temptation came naturally to them.Girls who smiled softly while making your heart feel completely unstable.
“You’re staring again,” Kathy murmured quietly.
Lara immediately looked away.
“I’m literally not.”
“You literally forgot how to blink.”
“Kathy.”
“What?” Kathy laughed softly. “You look nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Your face is red.”
Lara covered part of her face instantly with her sleeve.
Kathy smiled slowly at the reaction.
Cute.
Way too cute.
And the scary part?
Kathy genuinely enjoyed the effect she had on her.
More than she probably should.
Lara swallowed hard before speaking again.
“You just look different tonight.”
“Different good or different concerning?”
Lara hesitated.
Big mistake.
Because Kathy noticed hesitation too.
“Well?” Kathy pressed softly.
Lara looked at the screen again.
Another mistake.
The candlelight made Kathy’s hazel eyes look darker somehow. Softer too. And the slow way her fingers moved absentmindedly against the choker around her throat nearly destroyed the little self-control Lara still had left.
“You look…” Lara started quietly.
Kathy waited patiently.
“Hot.”
Silence filled the call instantly.
Heavy silence.
The kind that changes everything afterward.
Kathy’s expression shifted slowly.
Not surprise.
Something calmer.
Sharper.
More interested.
She leaned slightly closer toward the camera, blonde hair falling over one shoulder while hazel eyes stayed locked on Lara’s face.
“Say it again.”
Lara’s heartbeat stumbled violently.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Kathy’s voice stayed soft, but something underneath it changed.
Something teasing.Testing.Dangerous.
Lara swallowed hard instantly.
“No, I said you look good.”
Kathy smiled lazily.
“That’s not what you said.”
“Kathy—”
“You called me hot.”
Lara covered her face completely this time.
“Oh my God.”
Kathy laughed quietly beneath her breath.
“You panic so easily.”
“That’s your fault.”
“Oh? So now I’m responsible for your emotional instability?”
Lara rolled her eyes despite herself, but her pulse still refused to calm down.
The conversation should have moved on after that.
Instead, the tension stayed.
Lingering quietly beneath every sentence afterward.
And both of them felt it.
Kathy crossed one leg slowly beneath the camera frame while continuing the conversation casually, completely unaware of how badly Lara’s imagination reacted to every tiny movement now.
Or maybe she was aware.
That possibility terrified Lara even more.
“You’ve gone quiet again,” Kathy observed eventually.
“I’m listening.”
“No,” Kathy murmured softly. “You’re thinking.”
Lara’s stomach tightened instantly.
Hazel eyes watched her carefully through the screen.
Observing.Reading.Understanding too much.
Kathy always read people frighteningly well.
“What do you think I’m thinking about?” Lara asked nervously.
Kathy tilted her head slightly before smiling.
“I think,” she said slowly, “you overthink everything before saying it out loud.”
The truth in that hurt more than Lara expected.
Because yes.
Lara constantly filtered herself around Kathy now.
Especially lately.
Especially after realizing her feelings were becoming harder to hide.
Some nights she replayed old voice notes before sleeping.Some nights she imagined Kathy’s hands against her waist while guilt twisted violently inside her chest afterward.
She wanted things she was never supposed to want.
And now Kathy sat there tonight looking like every dangerous thought Lara had desperately tried to suppress.
The silence stretched between them again.
Then Kathy spoke softer this time.
“You know you can relax around me, right?”
Lara looked down instantly.
Relaxing around Kathy was exactly the problem.
Because every day, Kathy became less like a friend and more like something Lara emotionally craved.
And now physically too.
Kathy reached for her drink casually before pausing mid movement.
“You’re staring again.”
Lara nearly choked.
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
The words came out effortlessly.
Confident.Certain.
And maybe that was what scared Lara most.
Because Kathy sounded like she already knew.
Not everything.
But enough.
Enough to realize something was changing between them.Enough to notice the tension slowly growing stronger inside every late night conversation.Enough to recognize that neither of them was really calling this friendship anymore.
They were simply too afraid to admit what it was becoming instead.
Kathy leaned closer toward the camera one last time, candlelight dancing softly against her skin while a slow smile touched her lips.
“You really think I look sexy?”
Lara froze completely.
Her throat tightened instantly while Kathy watched her reaction carefully, almost patiently.
And suddenly Lara understood something terrifying.
Kathy was teasing her on purpose now.
Not cruelly.
Not maliciously.
But knowingly.
Like she wanted to see how flustered Lara could become before completely falling apart.
The realization sent heat rushing violently through Lara’s chest.
“Kathy…”
Her voice came out softer than intended.
Kathy’s expression changed slightly after hearing it.
Something subtle shifting behind her eyes.
The teasing remained.
But underneath it now existed curiosity too.
And maybe hunger.
Not physical alone.
Emotional.
Because despite all the tension building between them tonight, despite the dangerous flirting and lingering looks and nervous silences—
the thing pulling them together most was still the same thing that started all this in the beginning.
Loneliness.
Two lonely girls slowly becoming addicted to the comfort only the other person could provide.
And somewhere beneath the teasing smiles and racing heartbeats and dangerous tension finally catching fire—
both of them realized this was no longer innocent anymore.
They just weren’t ready to admit how badly they wanted it to stop being innocent completely.
