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[thank-youforyourcooperation]

Chasing the Wind

a/n: I am so excited to actually be doing this. I did not go into this movie thinking I would want to write something, but came out of it in love with Kate Carter. Unfortunately, the gays need to be fed and there were next to no wlw fics with Kate so I took it upon myself to write one. I don’t know how far into this I’ll go, but I’m planning on going all the way through the movie and after. Reblogs and comments are much appreciated!

Pairing: Kate Carter x fem!oc

Summary: Carol was content with the way her life had went after the accident. She had a fun job chasing storms and a good family around her. Her whole world changed when a meteorologist from New York comes riding into her life leading her on the chase of her life.

Warnings: mild language, incorrect meteorology

Word Count: 2.6k

“Ty, get your heavy ass body off of me.” Carol shoves the man off of her half asleep body. The sun was barely peeking over the motel parking lot, lighting the inside of the trailer with a warm glow. The sunlight neary blinded her, but Tylers figure laying on top of her blocked the sun’s rays from hitting her face

Tyler chucked. “Come on now Carol, you know you love me.” Tyler shimmied his way off of Carol’s bed putting his hat on his head. 

“Do I now?” She rolled off of the bed getting ready for Tyler’s bullshit. He stuck his finger in her face jokingly, “Yeah, you do,” but quickly pulled it back when she went to bite it. “Hey,” He yelped, waking up Boone in the process. “I need that for my very important job.”

Carol smirked up at him, kicking Boone in the shin, “Come on Booney baby we gotta get up and running so Tyler doesn’t lose his very important job” Boone mumbles something incoherent from his position on the floor, pulling his blanket over his head. Tyler laughs sarcastically making his way out of the trailer. 

Carol tied her hair up in a low bun and followed him out of the RV jumping on his back. Tyler groaned at the extra weight, but wrangled her onto his back. “So Tyler, what are your plans for today? Woo more women by putting your face on a T-shirt?” Tyler’s body shook with a chuckle and let out a long sigh. 

“You say that as if you don’t do the same thing Caroline.” He said, drawing out her name with an obnoxious drawl. The woman turned her head to face him, an offended look on her face. 

“First of all, don't call me that,” She glared, “Second of all, I will have you know, I can get some without slapping my face on a t-shirt.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve got some good looks and even better southern charm” She shot him an innocent look. He dropped her off her place on his back, leaving her to catch herself before she fell to the ground. 

“Hey!” She exclaimed. He chuckled at the glare she sent him. 

“Yea, you’re a real charmer Devon!” He yelled over his shoulder on his way to wake up the rest of the gang. 

-

“Alright Wranglers, this is Ben. He's gonna be doing a piece ‘bout how we live on this side of the pond.” Carol introduced the nervous man standing between her and Tyler. “I want y’all to be on your best behavior. That means you Ty.” 

The man in question rolled his eyes at her crossing his arms over his body. He threw a smirk at her, inclining his head. It was a silent promise that he wasn’t going to be on his best behavior. The group watched as the two spoke silently to each other using only their weird facial expressions.

“Yes and I hope you’ll be taking precautions to ensure my safety.” Ben’s face twisted into concern realizing what he’s gotten himself into, or who he’s gotten himself into. 

Dani laughed at the nervous man, teasing him. “Don’t get too skittish around the tornadoes Ben. They don’t bite.” Carol chuckled at Dani, looking at the British man whose face turned white as a sheet.

 Carol shrugged, “She’s not wrong, you’ll be just fine.” The man dabbed his forehead with a napkin nervously. 

“Don’t worry too much Ben, you’ll ride with me.” Tyler patted the man on the shoulder and hopped into his truck. Ben followed shortly after, with Carol taking the front seat. 

“And if you fear it...” Tyler trailed off, turning his head to Carol, grinning.

“Ride it.” Carol finished beaming at the blond man beside her. Tyler whooped rolling down the windows and sped off the motel parking lot, kicking up dirt behind them.

Carol started recording on all of the truck’s cameras and her handheld camera, pointing it at Tyler. “DJ Carol, what are we rocking with today?” Tyler said in an announcer voice. The girl just smiled, shaking her head at his antics she put her favorite mixtape into the sound system, turning the volume up to blast Luke Combs out the windows.

Sticking her head out the open window, Carol hollered out into the wind. There was nothing better than this. Just her, her family and the beauty of the storm. The wind whipped her hair in her face as she took in the morning air. 

Tyler drove in front of Dexter and Lily towards the best lookout in the town, the local gas station,  where everyone scoped out the sky. Carol pointed her camera at Tyler, “Ty, the people want to know, what product do you put in your hair to keep it so pretty?” He let out a full belly laugh before answering to the camera with a smirk.

“Sorry y’all, it’s all genetics. I’m just naturally pretty.” Carol laughed at him and his teasing. She pointed the camera towards herself. “Guys, he wants the edits. Someone edit that.”

They pulled up to the lookout where groups of people dressed in rain gear and cameras hanging from their necks waited for them to pull up. “Looky here T, it’s StormPar.” Carol hung herself out the window and restarted the Luke Combs song, capturing on the camera the groups of people that came in to go chasing.

“Hey StormPar, we’re live on Youtube, say something cool!” The woman showed the live stream the members of the pristine looking group of storm chasers. 

“Blow me.” One of them shouted out to her. Carol laughed at the man and turned the camera back to herself, smirking. “You wish I would. Come on, science is fun, right?” She whooped out at the crowd of people. 

Exiting the car, Tyle was swarmed by the crowd of fans. Boone ran up to him, pointing the camera at him. “Hey T! Tell the folks at home how you’re feeling.” Tyler smiled at the sky.

“I’m feeling pretty good, Boone” He turned to the crowd with a smile on his face. “And if you feel it…” He hollered. 

“Chase it!” The crowd yelled back at him. 

Carol looked at the crowd standing on the other side of the truck. Standing on top of the truck she yelled into the crowd, “He said if you feel it…”

“Chase it!” They screamed back to her, cheering. Carol hopped down next to Tyler. Boone pointed the live stream at himself and Tyler. 

“Oh, it’s a beautiful day.” Tyler said, helping Carol down into the crowd. 

“Beautiful day!” Boone exclaimed to the camera. 

Carol turned to look at the crowd of people and locked eyes with a blond woman standing with StormPar. Tyler patted her shoulder turning her towards Dani who busted open the door to the RV. “Hey, you tornado nerds! Who wants a T-shirt?” The crowd cheered, pulling a laugh out of Carol. 

She turned back to look at the blonde woman only to find that she was already looking at her. Carol tipped her hat at her with a smirk. She looked way too serious to be storm chasing, but since she was standing with StormPar, she probably needed to loosen up a little. 

“Hey Dani!” Carol yelled to her friend, “How many shirts of me do we have left in stock?” The woman disappeared back into the RV for a second.

“We’ve got three left. Why?” Dani came back out holding three shirts with Carol’s face on them depicting her corralling a tornado with a lasso and some cheesy storm chasing line on it. 

“I’ll sign the last three shirts for the people that buy them.” She told the crowd. She was met with yells of excitement and cheering from the group. She heard Tyler laugh from next to her. 

Boone pointed the live stream at her, pointing a finger at her grinning face. “Casanova strikes again. T, I don’t think you’re the heartthrob of the group anymore.” Carol laughed at Boone’s teasing, sticking her tongue out at Tyler.

She walks over to the people who bought her shirt and signed them, taking a picture with a few of the folks. “Alright, I’ll see you guys out there. Be safe!” She turned away from the crowd only to find the blonde woman walking off looking at the sky. Tyler came over to her and followed her line of sight. 

Looking back and forth between the two, Tyler saw a look he hadn't seen in a long time. He nudged her with his shoulder raising his eyebrows at the shorter girl who just rolled her eyes. “I know that look.” He swayed back and forth on his feet. “If you don't do it I will.” 

Carol looked at him surprised. They both knew what that meant. “You need to get out there Carol.” He mumbled. 

Without saying a word she started walking towards the blonde. Carol watched her delicately pick up a dandelion and let the seeds fly out of her hand.

“You know I used to do that.” Carol strode up behind the woman, trying not to startle her. The blonde looked back to her for a second then turned away looking mildly annoyed. Carol looked out at the sky. “Compare the wind direction to cloud movement. Get you a feel for the shear.” Carol looked at the cloud formation in the east, then the one in the west, then back to the woman who still hadn’t given her a second look. 

Carol walked up to stand next to the blonde. She was slightly taller than the woman, but that might have just been because of the lifts in her boots. She put her hands on her hips, looking out at the sky again. “Yea. I believe old ways are better than the new sometimes.” 

The blonde looked up at Carol for a brief second, then turned back to the sky, comparing the two cloud formations like Carol had done. Realizing that the woman wasn’t going to say anything, Carol pushed a bit more. 

“So, where you coming in from? California? Cause I think y’all got enough natural disasters going on over there.” Carol said somewhat jokingly. The woman next to her swallowed and let out a curt, “New York.”

Carol looked back to the woman next to her, scanning her side profile. Slightly surprised that the woman answered her question.  “Well, you’re a long way from home, city girl. You come out all this way to see our slice of the country or do you like working for StormPar?” 

Carol turned to look at the fancy trucks StormPar brought and back at the woman who turned to look back at her. Before either of them could speak, Ben jogged up to them. “Caroline, do we know which storm we’re going after yet? Tyler said you would know.” Ben was slightly apprehensive to even ask. 

Carol turned to look at Ben. “Carol is fine.” She said, turning to look at the woman she still didn’t know the name of. “Well why don’t we ask-” She trailed off pointing to the blonde standing next to her.

“Kate.” 

The woman turned around to greet Ben then turned towards Carol. Pleased with her progress, Carol gave Kate a warm smile, making eye contact. “Hi, Kate. I'm Caroline, but everyone calls me Carol.” She stared unabashedly at the shorter girl. She was fascinating. 

Kate

Beautiful was out of the question, anyone with eyes could see that she was absolutely stunning. The way her hair fell perfectly framing her face. Her lips were pursed in annoyance, but Caol could see how kissable they looked. Kate’s brown eyes locked with Carol's green ones and she could swear that she couldn’t look away if she tried. 

Kate

Ben looked back and forth between the two women. He reached his hand out to shake, introducing himself. “And I’m Ben. I’m a reporter doing a piece on American storm chasing.” Ben stuttered slightly introducing himself. Kate shook his hand firmly,giving him a polite smile.

Breaking out from her daze, Carol caught up with what was being said and looked down at her hands, fiddling with them. “Yeah.” 

“Caroline and Tyler are letting me ride along.” He said with a nervous, but excited smile.

Carol looked back up at Ben with a smile “Yeah, Ben just had to promise to write nothing but good stuff about me. And call me Carol, Ben.” She patted him lightly on the chest with a chuckle. 

Kate looked politely between the two before dismissing herself. “Well, good luck with that.” She started walking away from the two, when Carol stepped in to stop her. 

Carol didn’t want the short conversation to end. “Hang on.” Kate stopped and turned back around to make eye contact with Carol. Carol looked down, not being able to hold eye contact with the shorter girl for long. 

“You didn’t say which way we were going yet.” She chuckled. Looking around at the sky, Carol pointed west towards the double formation. “Now, from what I gather, west, we double our chances.” Spinning around gesturing behind her. “East, well,” She looked back at the shorter woman, "it's high risk, high reward.”

Kate nodded in a mocking manner, clearly unimpressed with Carol's quick explanation. “Well, go for the reward.” She told her. “You don’t want Ben to think you're boring.”

Carol nodded in agreement with a small smile. “No, boring is not usually a problem I run into, Kate.” Kate just nodded, struck with just how egotistical Carol was. Two could play at that game.

Kate turned to point towards the left, “The two cells to the west are fighting over the same inflow.” She took a few steps closer to Carol to square up to her with a cocky smile. Kate looked at Ben, seemingly to explain to him, but really to show Carol, she knew what she was talking about. “They’ll choke each other out.”

She looked at Carol and nodded her head to the east, pointing at the clouds. “This one to the east, well, she has the sky all to herself.”

Kate tilted her head to look around Carol’s larger figure. Carol followed her line of sight, looking out at the clouds there. “Moisture, wind shear, instability.” Kate looked up at Carol again who stared back at her impressed. “All the things you need to give Ben a good show.” 

Kate turned and started walking back to the gas station, proud of her show of knowledge. Carol was stunned by Kate. Not only was she beautiful, she was alluring. Knowledgeable and quick witted. 

“Well color me impressed, city girl knows her stuff, Ben.” Carol said to Kate’s retreating form. After getting no reaction, Carol repeated louder, “I said city girl knows her stuff, Ben.”

Kate whipped around with a proud smile, “Thanks. Maybe if I work real hard, I can be a tornado wrangler, too.” She said sarcastically, with a shrug walking back towards the rest of StormPar. 

Carol watched her retreat back to her group, taking in the whole conversation. 

Kate

‘I want to see her smile like that again.’ Carol thought to herself. Maybe if she made a fool of herself by chasing a tornado who’s cap would never break, Kate would smile at her like that again. 

Carol watched Kate approach Javi and Scott, talking to them about where they were going to chase today. 

Tyler walked up to her, watching the StormPar trucks roll out. “So,” He said looking at her dazed expression, “how’d the chase go?” She looked up at his amused smile. 

“Shut up.” She punched the side of his arm while he let out a laugh.

Ben looked confused at both of them “I thought she told us east.” He looked back and forth from the retreating trucks to Tyler and Carol. “She going the wrong way?” 

Tyler looked down at Carol, who broke into a smile. Putting her sunglasses on her face she looked at Ben, “Nope.” 

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

How do people just sit down and write? Someone teach me, please.

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

I’m thinking thoughts. Should I write Kate Carter fanfiction because the gays need to be fed?

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

The eye of the storm

Summary: it takes reader getting injured while out storming chasing with Kate for Kate to realise she loves reader.

Request

Masterlist

Warnings: none

-

The air was thick with anticipation as Kate Carter checked her weather radar one last time. The storm was brewing, and today promised to be one of the most intense chases yet. But before the whirlwind of adrenaline could sweep her away, she paused, glancing over at you. You were sitting on the tailgate of the truck, your eyes scanning the horizon, already lost in the possibilities of the chase ahead. The sky was overcast, the kind of gray that held a promise. A promise of thunder, of lightning, of something exhilarating. But for Kate, at that moment, the only thing that mattered was you.

“You ready for this?" she asked, walking over to you while slightly tilting her head, her voice teasing but warm. You turned to her, a smile breaking through the excitement. "Ready as I'll ever be. Though, I have to admit, it feels like we're waiting for something to happen more than usual”.

Kate chuckled, leaning against the truck beside you. "Isn't that always the case with storms? They keep us on edge until they decide to show their hand”. “True" you said, your gaze meeting hers. "But maybe it's not just the storm keeping me on edge this time” you teased, this was common for you and Kate to do. Always finding new ways to slightly and discreetly flirt with one another, yet nothing ever came of the comments, maybe that was for the better even if you wished something would.

She tilted her head slightly, a smirk playing on her lips. "Oh? And what else could possibly be making you nervous?". “Maybe it's the thought of spending the entire day with you” you admitted, your voice dropping to a more serious tone, which was unusual for you and kate, usually trying to keep the air light especially before a chase. For a moment, Kate was taken aback, but the warmth in your eyes softened her reaction. She reached out, her hand brushing against yours. "You don't need to be nervous about that. We're in this together, remember?". You nodded, squeezing her hand gently. "I know. I just... I want to make sure you're safe out there”. Kate smiled, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. It was a rare moment of vulnerability for you, and it tugged at her heart in a way she hadn't expected. She had always been focused on the chase, on the science, on the thrill. But now, there was something else or rather, someone else, who made her want to be more than just a storm chaser. “Same goes for you” she replied softly, her thumb tracing circles on the back of your hand. "I'll keep you safe, promise”.

You shared a quiet moment, the impending storm momentarily forgotten as you both reveled in the quiet before it all began. It was a simple, comfortable silence, the kind that made everything else feel distant, like the eye of the storm where all was calm and still. “Guess we should get going," you finally said, breaking the silence before you became too absorbed in the moment and the usual gaping hole could open in your stomach to crush any hope you had for things between you and Kate. “Yeah” Kate agreed, though she found herself reluctant to let go of your hand. "Let's catch ourselves a tornado”.

The chase had been everything you'd anticipated, chaotic, intense, and absolutely thrilling. The storm system was stronger than any you'd encountered together before, and for hours you and Kate had worked seamlessly, driving through rough terrain, dodging debris, and getting as close as safely possible to the swirling vortexes that danced across the plains. But as the storm began to wind down, so did your luck.

You’d been repositioning, trying to get a better angle on a particularly photogenic funnel cloud when the unexpected happened. A rogue gust of wind, more powerful than either of you had anticipated, hit the truck. Before you could react, the vehicle was flipped, and the world turned into a violent blur.

When the dust settled, Kate found herself crawling out of the wreckage, her ears ringing, but otherwise unharmed. The same couldn’t be said for you. Panic gripped her as she called out your name, her voice breaking as she saw you lying on the ground, a few feet from where the truck had landed. You were unconscious, blood seeping from a gash on your forehead. “No, no, no” Kate muttered, rushing to your side. She pressed her fingers to your neck, relieved to feel a faint but steady pulse. But you were hurt, badly. She could see the pain in your features even as you remained unconscious. “Stay with me, please” she whispered, her hands trembling as she reached for the emergency kit she always kept in the truck. She did her best to stop the bleeding, to keep you stable, but the fear that she was losing you gnawed at her insides. The wind whipped at her face and hands as she patched you up the best she could, she felt like ice but her mind was focused on keeping you alive. She kept her body close to yours and never let her eyes stray away from you.

In that moment, surrounded by the fading storm and the wreckage of what had been such a promising day, Kate realized just how much you meant to her. This was more than a partnership, more than a shared thrill for chasing the storms and a whole lot more than a friendship. She loved you-deeply, completely. The thought of losing you was more terrifying than any tornado she’d ever faced. “Don’t you dare leave me”she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. “You can’t leave before I even got to tell you I love you, I can’t do this without you!” She half yelled now with tears brimming her eyes, the majority of her words were swept away with the wind.

It took an eternity for help to arrive, but Kate never left your side. When the paramedics finally took over, she was there, holding your hand, refusing to let go even when the paramedics asked her to. Hours later, after surgery and countless prayers whispered under her breath, Kate sat by your hospital bed. You were stable, the doctors had said atleast. You were going to be okay. The relief was overwhelming, and for the first time in what felt like days, she allowed herself to breathe. As you stirred awake, your eyes slowly fluttering open, Kate leaned in, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Hey” you croaked, your voice weak but unmistakably you. Kate smiled through the tears that had started to form. “Hey yourself. You scared the hell out of me, you know that?”. You gave a small, apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I’m guessing the truck’s seen better days too?”. She chuckled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from your face. “Yeah, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re okay”. There was a long pause, the weight of everything unsaid hanging in the air between you. Finally, Kate took a deep breath, her hand still holding yours.

“I love you,” she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper, the words escaping no longer being able to be trapped inside her. “I’ve never said it before, but I do. And I’m not going to waste another second pretending otherwise”. She rambled but you didn’t hear much after that as your eyes softened as you squeezed her hand. “I love you too, Kate. And I’m not going anywhere. Not without you”. She leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead, careful of your bandages. “Good. Because I can’t lose you. Not now, not ever”.

As you drifted back to sleep, still weak but safe, Kate stayed by your side, holding your hand as the storm outside finally faded into nothing. And in the quiet aftermath, she knew that this was where she belonged, with you, in the calm after the storm.

-

Thank you for reading!

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Child - PB

Pairing: Paige Bueckers x Reader

Summary: HC of Paige as Mom (based on THIS request)

Warnings: none that I can think of :)

Word Count: 1.6k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: If it is not obvious, it is set in the future. I am thinking mid-20s for her.

Paige would be both terrified and ecstatic when the two of you bring home your little one for the first time. I mean, the girl would be working around the house nonstop for the weeks leading up to your due date and made sure everything was safe for you and your little one.

"Paige?" You ask, sleep evident in your voice. When you woke up in the middle of the night to find that you were alone (and had to pee) you got up. After using the restroom, you began your search for your other half. You checked all the normal places she would usually be when she couldn't sleep but had no luck. "Baby?" You ask heading into the nursery to find Paige struggling with the crib. The second you lay eyes on her, you can see the frustration radiating off of her. Paige doesn't hear you waddle in and lets out a groan. She had been trying to figure out this one side of your daughters crib for about 45 minutes now. She jumps when she feels hands on her shoulders. "Baby, come back to bed," you say lightly. "Need to finish this," Paige puffs and you know it's not true. You begin to rub her shoulders. "Please," you say Paige keeps working on the crib. "Baby, come back to bed," you say no longer requesting but demanding. "Gotta finish," Paige says. You stand there for a second and look at Paige clearly making no progress. Normally this would bug you but being so tired, you really just want to her back in bed with you. "Why do you need to finish tonight?" You ask your wife. Paige's hands finally settle as her shoulders slump. She turns so she is facing you now, her head resting on your little girls bump. "Everything needs to be perfect for her," Paige whispers. Your hands come to rest on her head as you smooth her hair over. "It will be," you say. "But you know what won't be perfect? You, if you don't come back to bed with me." Paige kisses your bump then make a move to stand. It was her way of saying you are right without having to say a word. You kiss her lips softly as you grab her hand and lead her back to your shared bed. Once you are comfortable again with Paige next to you, you are finally content. "Everything will be perfect because she has you as her mom. You may not think it is perfect, but it will be because you are you," you say as sleep overtakes you again. Paige inches closer to you and you inch away. "Too hot," you mutter practically asleep. Paige lets out a little laugh because of course you would go to find her in the middle of the night and force her back to bed only to not cuddle her. But she couldn't be mad, she could never be mad at you.

Paige would never want to leave Mia's side. Paige was always more than willing to be the one to change Mia or grab her from her naps. The two of them had become the best of friends.

You and Paige are on the couch when Mia begins to cry. Paige immediately shoots up and goes over to Mia and picks her up. "Shhhhh," she says softly. "I got you baby, Mommy's got you." You watch as Paige consoles your 3-month old baby girl and you can't help but smile. Paige rocks Mia as she begins to settle. You don't know how Paige did it but Mia loves her. Paige has the ability to calm Mia down every time as she knows exactly what she wants. Paige comes to sit down next to you with Mia in her arms. Mia's eyes are wide open as she is just looking up at Paige. "She loves you so much," you say as you watch Mia watch Paige. Paige leans in to rub her nose to Mia's which causes Mia to blink and smile. "She loves me because she takes after her mom, who I happen to know loves me more than anyone else," Paige says and your smile widens. "I don't know about that," you say teasing your wife. Her head shoots up to look at you. "What?" She says offended that you didn't immediately say that she was the person you loved most. Your eyes never leave Mia and Paige knows. "Fine, I guess I am okay with sharing you with Mia," Paige says dramatically. It is now your turn to look at Paige. "Let's be real, if it came down to it we would both choose Mia," you say. Paige kisses Mia's head. "Mommy's right, you have all of our love, don't you?" Paige says to Mia. "And that is never going to change baby."

Once Mia a toddler, Paige already has a basketball in her hands. That only increases as Mia continues to grow. It is when Mia is three when Paige starts taking her onto the court during games.

"Mia!" Hailey says as she comes over and crouches down in front of the little girl. Mia waddles over to Hailey with a smile. Hailey has a basketball in her hands that she put down to see Mia - Mia being Paige's daughter ignores Hailey and goes for the basketball. "Well, I tried," Hailey says letting Mia carry the ball. Paige laughs. "That's my girl," Paige says as Mia brings Paige the basketball. Mia has a giant smile on her face as she throws the ball at Paige. It wasn't uncommon for for Paige and Mia to pass a basketball back and forth. It was actually a very common occurrence in your home and if anyone asked you, you wouldn't be able to tell them who loved it more, Paige or Mia. Paige bounces the ball back to Mia who catches it and starts to walk around. "She's already got some handle," Hailey says. "Of course she does, do you know who her mother is?" Paige says proudly. Hailey answers with your name. "Hey!" Paige says pushing her teammate. Hailey laughs and Paige picks Mia up. "You take after me don't you?" Paige asks Mia and Mia nods without really know whats going on. Mia points to the hoop and Paige knows exactly what that means. Paige sets Mia down and holds her hands out for Mia to pass her the ball. Mia throws the ball to Paige and she drains the three. Mia claps and walks back over to her asking to be picked up. Paige picks her up and walks over to you on the sideline. The second Mia sees you, she has her arms stretched out for you. As much as Mia loves Paige, she also loves you. "Hi baby girl," you say as you take Mia back from Paige. "Did you have fun with mommy?" Mia nods and yells 'yes'. "Did mommy have fun?" You ask Paige as Paige kisses the top of your head. "She always does," Paige says as her arm snakes around your waist. "Great game mommy," you say to Paige. "Ehh, could have been better," Paige says and you roll your eyes. Paige had a solid double-double and shot above her average. It was a good game for her. "Whatever you say," you say. "Mia, you want to come with Mommy to the pressor?" Paige asks, knowing she has no idea what that means but knows it will be with her. Mia nods and you pass your little one back to Paige. "She is all yours," you say and Paige leans over to give you a quick peck. "We will see you soon, wave bye to mommy," Paige says and Mia waves at you. You smile at your family and wave back.

As your daughter grows up, Paige makes it a point to always spend time with her especially with how crazy her schedule can be with playing in the W. It doesn't matter how tired Paige may be, when she has time at home, she is spending it with you and Mia. You don't know how she does it.

You look at the clock and see that you have been without Paige for quite some time. When Paige was home at night, she always insisted on doing Mia's bedtime routine. You get up and go look for your wife. You walk into Mia's room to find Mia sleeping in Paige's arms as she is in the same sleeping pose as Paige. You can't help but smile and snap a photo of the two before coming over and grabbing Mia out of Paige's arms. Paige stirs just as you have Mia completely out of her arms. "Mmm, what's happening?" Paige asks, voice thick with sleep. "Don't worry babe," you say as you put a sleeping Mia down carefully. Paige is now standing and rubbing her eyes. She reaches out her hand for you which you gladly take. Leading Paige to your bedroom, she plops on the bed and you crawl up next to her. Paige snakes her arm around your waist as her head finds your shoulder. You and Paige would always fight over who got to be the little spoon and she often won the battle. You rub her back as you feel her sigh. "How you doing momma?" You ask her. "Mmm tired,' she says. "You have been doing it all," you tell her. "Our superstar." "Just want to be Paige," she mutters as a giggle escapes your lips. You kiss her head and whisper an 'I love you'. Paige mutters it back to you as the two of you fall asleep the same way you did while in college.

AN: Paige as mom is something else - she would be the literal best mom. That is just my opinion - it is giving me Stewie mom vibes, let me now what you think. And as always, thank you for your love and support 💙

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

I've Got a Wand and a Rabbit

Paige stumbles into a sex shop you work at, and you give her some satisfactory customer service.

Paige Bueckers x reader

Masterlist

Word Count: 1.6k

Themes: sex toys, masturbation, and sex mentioned

A/N: hii so I thought of this idea when I was lounging in my pool and I kinda love it. I have a few ideas for a second part if you guys are up for it

~

“That’ll be 49.95,” you say brightly, your customer service voice on full display, as you carefully wrap an eight inch glass dildo up and put it in a bag. Your customer, a tall, muscular man with shifty eyes and a baseball hat hanging low over his face, quickly swiped his card, avoiding eye contact with you, as you finished the transaction. 

“Have a great day!” You call as he rushes out of the store and into his large pickup truck. 

Ah. The joys of dealing with the closeted ones. It was certainly more appealing than the creepy straight dudes who offered to take you home and prove to you that the vibrators that adorned the entire back wall of the store were not as good as their own dicks. 

That was fucking bullshit.

You had prided yourself in being open with both your sexuality and the joys of sexual pleasure since you were old enough to know what it entailed. And you were not shy about sex or masturbation. It was a totally normal thing. 

You have often referred to yourself as The Fairy Godmother of Orgasms. Each of your friends had been given a vibrator sometime during college, with subtle instructions to learn how to make themselves cum. Because men just aren’t up for the job these days.

So when you picked up a job at the newest, trendiest sex store just outside of Storrs to help make some extra money for school, it seemed like all of the stars aligned. 

You shake your head, giggling at the hilarity of the man’s sheer discomfort and apply a layer of lip gloss to your full, pink lips. There were a few customers lingering in the store but it had been pretty quiet today, as it was the middle of the week. 

A few minutes later, the jinging of the bell on the door alerts you to a group of girls giggling loudly, faces blushing in a way that you had become quite accustomed to seeing in the store. 

College students were your favorite customers, as you loved seeing young women being open about having fun and safe sex lives, and you wave warmly at them.

“Hi there! Just let me know if you have any questions!” You chirp, sending a wink over to the tall blonde girl whose cheeks were the brightest shade of red in the group.

Her face darkens, spreading down the pale skin of her neck as the other girls shove her teasingly, and she almost falls into a rack of lingerie.

Muttering an apology, she fixes the rack, running her hand across her face, glancing back at you before running after her friends where they had assembled in the back of the store. 

Her bumbling behavior amuses you, and it was so unlike her.

You had recognized her from the second she had walked in. Paige Bueckers face was plastered all over UConn’s campus, and you were a victim of the tiktok edits bombarding your phone.

You were a willing victim at that.

Paige was not just a great basketball player. She was also incredibly kind and unusually humble. It also did not help that she was gorgeous, and you were not ashamed to admit that you had thought about those long, nimble fingers and her muscled thighs from time to time. 

Or maybe a little more than that. 

You are pulled out of your increasingly naughty thoughts by loud laughs, and you look over to where KK Arnold is holding up a huge purple dildo.

“Paige, I think this would be perfect for you!” She snorts, sending the other girls into a fit of howls.

You chuckle, putting a hand over your mouth as you observe Paige’s obvious embarrassment from behind the counter.

“God, KK, could you be any louder,” Paige mutters, eyes flickering to where you were pretending not to watch. “Shoulda just bought this shit online.”

“That’s no fun,” Aubrey says, gazing at the section of strap ons with an interested look on her face. 

The bickering continues for a few minutes, with Ice Brady and Aubrey occasionally making a few comments before you decide to go over to the group.

“Is there anything you’re looking for in particular today?” You ask. “I know the selection can be a bit…overstimulating.” You bite your lip as you finish your sentence, inwardly cringing at your provocative choice of words. 

Paige coughs, and KK erupts into another fit of laughter, and before the blonde could even form a word, KK says, “Home girl needs a nice vibrator. She is very single, and the ol’ right hand just ain’t cuttin’ it anymore.”

“Dude, oh my god,” Paige groans, hands once more shielding her face. 

“I totally understand how that is,” you say sympathetically. “Let me show you our most popular vibrators.”

You reach for Paige’s hand, somewhat surprised as she allows you to take it, and you guide her to the back wall. 

“Now this one is a classic. They call it a rabbit because of the cute lil bunny ears, which is great for the clit. And it has a dildo attached, so it’s a two in one type of deal.”

You look up at Paige, trying to gauge her reaction, and she looks completely stunned. Blushing, you put down the brightly colored toy. “I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable at all.”

“No, not at all,” Paige mumbles, a far cry from her usual confidence. “This is all just new to me.”

You nod understandingly. 

“This one might be more your speed. It’s called a wand, and it’s perfect for beginners. Not much of a learning curve for this one,” you say, holding out the box for her to inspect. 

The wand was purple and small enough to throw in a discrete bag, and with a rechargeable battery and its waterproofness, it was a fan favorite. 

“Alright, I think I’ll try this one then,” Paige says, her voice a little more sanguine as the initial embarrassment of buying a sex toy wore off. 

Aubrey, KK, and Ice erupt into loud cheers and a round of applause, and Paige responds by giving them the middle finger.

“You guys are hilarious. You should come in more often,” you laugh.

“Maybe I will if you’re working,” Paige responds, looking you up and down. 

It was your turn to blush, her sudden boldness surprising you, and your heart rate jumps at the idea. 

Paige follows you over to the checkout counter, where you ring up the toy, adding your employee discount for good measure before bagging it up and handing it to her, your fingers brushing up against hers as you do so. The contact sends shivers through your body, and you immediately think of your own toys waiting for you in your bedside drawer. 

You were really going to fucking need them after this shift. 

“Have fun. If you ever have any questions, you know where to find me,” you tease, not wanting this to be the last you see of her.

“I will,” Paige responds, sending you a cheeky wave before leaving, her friends in tow.

“She will definitely be back, don’t worry!” KK exclaims, before Paige pulls her out of the store by the hood of her sweatshirt.

You certainly hoped so.

~

Life continued on the next few weeks as normal. You went to work. You went to class. And you spent even more time with your legs spread thinking about Paige. 

You didn’t necessarily mean for it to happen; it just did. If her face was not completely clouding your thoughts before she had stumbled into the store, it was now. Even your dreams were swirled with images of that long blonde hair and her mouth, her tongue peaking out seductively.

And because you were quite single, you had turned to the toys. 

You were walking through campus, eagerly heading back to your apartment after your lecture so you could enjoy yet another solo session, when you spot Paige, KK, and Jana walking up to you.

KK was leading the charge, enthusiastically waving to get your attention, whilst Paige was trailing behind, a shy smile on her face.

“Well look who it is!!” KK teases, introducing you to Jana, who had a knowing look on her face. She reaches a hand out to you. “I’ve heard lots about you,” she smirks in Paige’s direction, who rolls her eyes.

You wave at the blonde, eyes crinkling from the sun and the excitement of seeing her again. “Sooo,” you trail. “Any issues with it?” 

The question was vague, but all three girls seemed to know exactly what you were referring to, and Paige flushes yet again. She looks at the other two girls, shooting them harsh looks until they hesitantly walk away from the two of you, leaving you with the privacy you were dying to have.

Paige coughs. “Um, I haven’t really been able to figure it out, ya know?”

You try not to laugh. “What’s there to figure out? Just turn it on and go to town.” 

“I tried,” she nearly whines, clearly embarrassed.

“And?” You prod, confused as to what she was so obviously missing.

“I couldn’t, ya know, finish,” she mumbles, looking at you with a small pout.

You wanted to kiss the pout right off those lips. 

“Need some help then? I’m kind of a professional,” you suggest boldly, hoping she was feeling the electricity flowing between you. 

“God, yes,” she breathes. 

It was all over from there. 

~

If anyone was wondering, yes my friends do really call me the fairy godmother of orgasms. And yes I am very passionate about my love for vibrators LOL

I hope you enjoyed!! Do we want a part 2??

My inbox is always open

xoxo katy

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

Warming Up - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Hesitation

Summary: Part 2 to the Hesitation series...you're welcome. You finally let Caitlin take you out on that date but it just so happens to be in New York...

Warnings: Caitlin being cute with Carson, Caitlin being in love with you - all the norms

Word Count: 3k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: I have heard the demand and I am offering you a MINI series. With that being said, it will be 3 parts with several blurbs attached. Also i'm using current events but in the future.

"I still don't know about this," you say as you board the small charter plane. The slow you wanted seemed to be moving very fast as the first date that Caitlin asked you out on was a trip to New York.

To be fair, you had hesitated a lot when she asked you initially. That is how Caitlin knew if she did all the right things, you and Carson would be joining her on this trip. If you had shut it down hard, she wouldn't have pushed as hard as she had.

"Too late Mommy!" Carson yells as he runs into the plan and takes the first seat he sees. It swallows him up and you can't help but smile.

You have taken Carson on several trips before, a luxury you grew up with and wanted to make sure Carson was also able to experience. But traveling in a private charter was something you would have never expected to be able to do.

"You don't have to know about this, I got it," Caitlin says as she places her hand on your lower back to guide you to the seat behind Carson. You watch as one of the attendants swivels Carson's chair to face you. You smile when you see how Carson's face lit up when he realized he would be sitting backwards.

Caitlin can see how your body eases when you see Carson's excitement. She wants to reach over and hold your hand but decides against it. She has been wanting to touch you since that night on your porch.

The trip to New York wasn't all for fun, Caitlin knew she had some business to take care of but knew that it would be 100x better than if she were doing it alone. When Caitlin found out that she was asked to make an appearance at the Yankee's double header is what sparked her to ask you and Carson to join. It helped when she had learned that Carson was a Yankee's fan and you had a hard time saying no to Carson.

The plane ride is short and the three of you color and play games. When you land in New York, you all head to the hotel. Caitlin made sure that there was a second room for you and Carson, right next to hers of course. Even went to the extent of making sure there was a door connecting the rooms, not that Caitlin was expecting anything to happen.

You and Carson part ways with Caitlin and head into your room. You put all your stuff down and watch as Carson runs to the curtains to see the view. You sit on the bed and Cason runs up to you.

"This is the best trip we have ever been on," Carson says.

"Ya? Better than going to California last summer?" You ask reminding him of the beaches he begged to go back to for weeks after getting back from the trip.

"Ya!" He says with pure excitement.

"Hey Carson," you say as you bring him to sit on the bed with you. "I need you to tell me something okay?"

He settles down and looks at you.

"Are you okay if Caitlin starts coming around more often?" You ask Carson.

"More Clarky?" Carson asks thinking about it for a second.

"Ya, what do you think about that?" You ask.

"I like Clarky!" He says with a smile. "More Clarky."

"I like Clarky too," you say and hug your little boy.

"Does that mean we can go on more adventures with Clarky?" Carson asks.

"It's a possibility," you say and fix his hair.

He nods and runs to the connecting door giving it a small knock. After a few moments, the door opens and Carson is met by Caitlin.

"Hey Little Man!" She says. Carson immediately hugs her legs.

"More Clarky!" He says and Caitlin laughs.

"Are you guys hungry? I was thinking we could go out to do some exploring," Caitlin says and Carson yells 'yes' while Caitlin looks up at you and you give her a smiling nod.

The three of you go out and find a small little local spot to eat. The time is sweet and fun. Caitlin spoils Carson to treats which earns a scold from you but she doesn't care, she thinks it's almost cuter than Carson. The night ends with Carson falling asleep on the ride back. You carry him up to your room and Caitlin asks if you wanted to come to hers to hang out.

"I don't know," you say standing in the doorframe between her room and yours.

"What is the worst that could happen?" Caitlin asks with a little smile.

"Well I can think of a few things," you say.

"What if I promise to stay on my side of the bed," she asks and you ponder the idea.

"Okay, I will come in if you stay on your side of the bed," you say as you follow her in. She does as she says and sits on one side of the bed. You sit on the other side.

"So how would you feel about me taking you out tomorrow after the game?" Caitlin asks.

"What about Carson?" You ask.

"I have a sitter lined up and it is one that I know is trusted," she says.

You sit there and think about it. Caitlin doesn't rush you.

"Okay," you say not caring to elaborate more.

"Okay?" She asks trying to calm her excitement.

"Okay," you say again. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well it's a surprise," she says with a smug smile.

You raise your eyebrow at her.

"You are just going to have to wait and see," she says proud of herself.

You nod respecting her decision to not tell you. You don't push it but have another idea in mind. As the two of you continue to talk, you slowly slide closer to her.

Slowly leaning in, you stop right before your lips connect with hers. She leans in trying to meet you but your hand on her chest holds her in place.

"Nuh-uh," you say. "What do you have planned for our date?" Your eyes are on her lips as you speak causing Caitlin's breath to shallow.

"I told you, it's a surprise," she says with a gulp, her eyes also looking down at your lips.

"Just tell me a little," you says as you place a soft kiss on her jawline, then another one on the top of her neck. She moans at the feeling of your lips on her skin.

Caitlin is lost in the feeling of you and doesn't respond. One of her hands finds your waist while the other settles on your arm.

"Tell me Cait," you whisper into her ear as you gently suck on her earlobe. She lets out a whimper and tries to get any sort of coherent thought out.

"Dinner," she says. Her eyes closed as all her other senses heighten at your touch. You drive her wild.

"Just dinner?" You ask sweetly as you move over her and straddle her. Both of her hands have been dying to feel the skin under your shirt again, she takes no time moving them there. Your bring your hands so her wrists as you guide her hands up and down your torso.

"Gonna spoil you," she gets out. Your lips are putting in work on her neck. Occasionally drifting down to her collar bone and sucking a little harder. "Get you anything you want."

You smile against her skin. Your lips still haven't touched hers yet and if you had it your way, they wouldn't.

You slowly crawl down her, leaving a trail of kisses over her shirt but all down her body until you are at the edge of the bed. You stand and make your way to the connecting door before looking back at her. Her hungry eyes, dilated pupils and breaths uneven.

You had played her. Teased the answer right out of her and she just let you.

"You are going to be the death of me," she says as she moves to get up and follow you but you put your hand up.

"Not my fault you are so easily swayed," you say and Caitlin completely ignores your hand. She makes her way to you, her hands coming to cup your face.

She looks into your eyes and the shine with something more than just lust. Before you can say anything she is crashing her lips into yours earning a moan from you which only wants her to keep you there longer.

After giving in to Caitlin, you finally push her away. Both of you needing the air being sucking into your lungs.

"I need to change up our date now," she says, her hand cupping your face still.

"You don't," you say. "I like what you have planned."

"Nope, you know now so I have to make it even better," she says. She leans down to give you a quick little peck then separates herself from you. She knows if she were to do anything more, you wouldn't be heading back to your room.

"Whatever you say," you say with a smile. "Goodnight Caitlin."

"Goodnight," she says to you before you close the door.

The next day is a busy one but none of you would have it any other way. You are currently at the Yankee's game where Caitlin's team has set up her to be on the field and meet some of the team. She made sure the arrangements included you and Carson.

When you first got there, you were all greeted and handed badges. Carson's hung low which Caitlin helped fix, warming your heart. The three of you headed to the field and Caitlin was greeted with fans. She signed some autographs while Carson was greeted by some of the players who were finishing their warm up. It was really sweet to watch.

Caitlin comes back over to the two of you and hands Carson a baseball. You stand and watch as the two of them play catch. As you do, you can't help but think about the 'what if's'. You think about how this could be a normal for the three of you. Not necessarily going to baseball games but watching Caitlin and Carson playing catch.

"Mommy! Watch this," Carson yells as he sets up to throw the ball to Caitlin. He throws it perfectly to Caitlin and turns to see your reaction with a wide smile on his face.

"That was great baby," you say with a smile.

The three of you head to your seats after spending some time on the field.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Carson says while he adjusts himself in his seat.

"Okay sweetie, let's go check out the concession stand," you say.

"Can I take him?" Caitlin asks.

"Clarky!" Carson yells with excitement.

"Are you sure?" You ask, hesitant letting them go without you.

"I wanna go with Clarky," Carson says already out of his seat and holding Caitlin's hand.

"I got him," she says. She can see your hesitation. "But if you would like to join, you are always welcome."

"No, you two can go. Just bring me back some nachos," you say and look at Carson.

"You do not leave Caitlin's side okay?" You tell Carson and he nods. He begins pulling Cait from their seats and up the stairs. It makes you more comfortable when you see Caitlin's security follow them.

You sit and wait for them to come back, when they do - Carson is holding a hot dog while Caitlin looks to have 5 things in hers. She has two drinks, two hot dogs and your nachos.

"What did you guys clean them out?" You joke at them and Carson says no with a laugh.

The three of you snack and watch the game, Carson having the time of his life. When the game is over, the three of you decide to grab some ice cream and then head back to the hotel. When you get back, you are surprised with who is already in her room.

"Hi mom," Caitlin says as she goes to hug her.

"Hi baby, it's good to see you," she says.

Caitlin turns to you and introduces you to her mom.

"Hi there," you say with a smile and she pulls you in for a hug.

"Oh it is so good to meet you," she says giving you a nice squeeze.

"You as well," Anne says. "I have been looking forward to meeting you for weeks."

You turn to look at Caitlin because you only confirmed a week ago that you and Carson would be joining her on this trip. Cait just smiles and shrugs.

"And you must be Carson," Anne says as she crouches down to shake his hand. He is hiding behind your legs but reaches out his hand to shake hers.

"Carson," you begin but Anne waves to you signaling it is okay. She turns to look at Carson.

"I am Caitlin's mom," Anne says and Carson peaks his head out.

"Clarky's mom?" He says softly. Anne nods and smiles.

"You want to know what Caitlin loved when she was your age?" Anne asks and Carson nods. "Chocolate chip cookies."

Carson's eyes light up," I love chocolate chip cookies!" He is now fully out from behind you and is following Anne to the half kitchen in Caitlin's room.

Caitlin nods over to your room and you follow her over. Once the two of you are alone, you turn to her.

"Weeks?" You ask her. She shrugs like she did the first time you looked at her on the matter.

"I've been planning this for longer than you know," she says.

"You're unbelievable," you say. "And your mother??? It would have been nice to know. I didn't now we were in the meet the parents stage."

"She has been asking to meet you ever since she saw pictures of me bringing Carson on the floor," Caitlin says.

You shake your head.

"It isn't a big deal," she says. But in your mind it is.

"But it is," you say. "Going on trips, meeting parents - this all seems really fast."

Caitlin can see how stressed this has made you. She kneels down in front of where you were now sitting on your bed and brings your hands into hers.

"I'm sorry," she says and you sigh. "I told you that we will take this slow and I know these last few weeks have been fast. But I have no intention of going anywhere. This weekend is suppose to be fun and I believe it still can be. I asked my mom to come out because I know knew you wouldn't want to leave Carson with just anyone so I brought out the best. I wouldn't have brought her out if I wasn't serious about you. Us."

You look into Caitlin's eyes and can see the sincerity. You lean your forehead on hers, eyes closed.

"You are unbelievable," you say for the second time but in a completely different tone causing Caitlin to smile.

"You should get ready, we need to be out of here in 20," Caitlin says as she parts from you.

You get ready and tell Anne everything she needs to know about putting Carson down. She repeats everything back to you perfectly and Carson is too entertained by the chocolate chips to be phased by you leaving. You kiss his head and he waves.

Once Caitlin has you out the door, she can't stop smiling.

"What?" You say with a smile of your own.

"Just excited to have you all to myself," she says.

First Caitlin takes you to a cute little Italian restaurant where the two of you talked over dinner. Dinner is followed by an evening walk through the park. You expect the night to be done but she has one more place she is taking you before back to where you are staying.

You yawn trying to not get too sleepy.

"We are almost there," Caitlin says as the car pulls up to the final stop.

You both exit and you look up. Caitlin stands next to you holding your hand and looks at you.

"Of course," you say.

Caitlin smiles.

"This is nice but I don't think it is open," you say and Caitlin leads you to the door.

Right as you approach the door, it opens and you are greeted by an older man.

"Ms. Clark and company, welcome to the Empire State Building," the man says. Your excitement is now visible on your face as the man leads you over to the elevator.

The three of you head up. Once reaching the 82nd floor, you were ready to make your way out but the doors just open and close and you continue up to the 102nd floor.

You step out and are in awe. Caitlin watches you as you step out and take in the sight before you. You aren't huge on big cities but seeing New York from this vantage point had anyone falling in love with it.

Caitlin lets you look around before coming behind you and wrapping her arms around you.

"I don't know how you are going to top this when we get back to Indy," you say as your hands come to rest on her arms.

"Does that mean there will be a second date," she teases.

"Only if you want," you respond, too in awe of the sight still to care about Caitlin's sass.

"It's the only thing I want," she says softly in your ear. You smile.

"I'm sorry for going at you earlier. You didn't deserve that," you say.

"No no no, don't apologize," she says.

You lean back into Caitlin, loving the feeling of being held by her. You turn to face her.

"i think I like you," you say smiling.

"Ya?" Caitlin says softly, bringing her hand to come up to tuck your hair behind your ear.

You nod and lean in to kiss her.

AN: You series is here. Let me know what you think about this second part! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

UGHHHH they make me sick. They’re too cute and it makes me want to die. Also can the straights stop traumatizing us please and thank you.

This was beautiful and i’m going to go jump off a cliff now!!!!!

can't take the home out of oklahoma - iiii. (k.c.)

a/n: dear God the behemoth of the crossover fic is finally finished. please remember to be kind in my comments, but of course i'd love to hear what everyone thought :). if you're new here, you can check out the other three parts here

summary: Two years after leaving California, Tyler hears from Jake, asking him to come to his engagement party. With an offer of putting the whole crew up in a hotel for two nights and an off-season lull, Tyler accepts. Two years after leaving California, you finally have to confront Javy. 

warnings: background iceman and hangster, happy ending, alcohol, swearing, please remember we are all the villains in someone's story thank you

word count: 13.2k

“So, I was thinking-” 

“Dangerous thing.” Kate mutters around a bite of waffle, prompting a fit of giggling from the two of you as Tyler narrows his eyes. 

“-I was thinking, instead of heading out to Arkansas straight after the end of the season, we take a road trip.”

“Where you thinking T?” Boone asks as you pick up your coffee cup. 

“San Diego, California.” 

You freeze, eyes flickering over to the blonde over the rim of your coffee cup, thankful you hadn’t taken a sip of the hot liquid yet. 

“What the hell, Owens?” You ask tersely, setting the mug down harder than you intend to, the brown liquid sloshing over the side. 

Tyler is pointedly avoiding your look as he sighs, shoulders deflating. “Look, my brother called. He- He’s getting married.” 

Your eyebrows shoot up. “To Bradley?” 

He nods, confirming. “Anyways, they’re having an engagement party out at Brad’s godfather’s. Jake’s invited us, all of us. Offered to put us all up in a hotel for two nights. I was uh- thinking about going.” 

“I think I’ll sit this out.” You say quietly, pushing your chair out. 

“Yeah, I ain’t so sure it’s the best idea to throw her into all of that.” Dani says, Lilly nodding alongside her. 

The girls had been told the story of your fiery departure from your hometown one night this past season, motel beds pushed together, wine drunk and cheap pizza forgotten. You’d told Dexter a week later, while you remarked on your ex-boyfriend’s love for a Louisiana crab boil, after you all had crossed into Louisiana to follow a storm. 

“Jake asked specifically about you.” Tyler admits quietly. 

You sigh, glancing up at the ceiling. “I don’t think the rest of them care to see me.” 

“We’ll make it work, okay? I ain’t gonna let anybody come at you.” Tyler pleads and you sigh again. 

You look at him for a moment but that’s all you need. It’s clear that Jake reaching out, asking him to come to this monumental event, means a great deal to him and you know as his family, it’s only right to step up to the plate for Tyler, no matter how uncomfortable it might make you. 

You know Tyler would do the same for you in a heartbeat. 

“Okay, T.  I’ll go with you guys.” 

His grin is splitting as Boone whoops, already chattering about the beach. 

“I ain’t promising to be nice to them.” 

Your words don’t even phase Tyler.

“Wouldn’t even dreaming of asking that of you, kid.”

-

The blue water sparkles as you peer out the window, the golden sunlight making it shine. 

“Jesus, I forget how blue it is.” You whisper to yourself as you take in downtown. 

The skyscrapers peer down back at you, the boats in the bay dotted across the docks. In the distance, you can see the outlines figures of the USS Midway and the Star of India. 

“How you feeling?” 

You shake your head, looking back at Kate. “It’s weird, kind of. Disorientating. I remember the first time I came home from college, it’s kind of like that. It all looks the same but the world kept turning after you left. Life kept going even though you’re not there to witness it.” 

She reaches out to squeeze your hand from the back of the truck. “I get what you mean.” 

Tyler glances at the two of you from his position in the drivers seat. The group had elected to take the van and your car, the SUV you’d bought last winter after you’d gotten sick of sharing Kate’s own storm chasing truck. 

Tyler’s red truck and Kate’s pickup had just not suited themselves to a cross country road-trip, which led you and Kate to driving most of the way. Tyler had finally corralled you into giving him the keys, under the condition you would sit passenger seat and give him directions. 

“Hey T, can we stop and get food before this thing?” 

Boone’s voice crackles over the radio and Tyler grabs it. You hadn’t really needed a radio of your own, but Boone and Tyler had insisted, outfitted the whole thing themselves. It sort of made you feel like a kid again, shouting across the room with your siblings in lieu of having walkie talkies while you played — everything followed with an OVER.

“I think they’re gonna feed us there Booney.” 

“Tyler, I am a starved woman. You rushed us out of breakfast this morning and we’ve been up before the sun was. It’s almost three in the afternoon and California already said we’ve got a decent drive across the city to get to this place. We’re stopping.” Dani’s voices comes through and Kate lets out a laugh from her seat. 

“Know any good places California?” 

You light up at Boone’s question, reaching for the radio but Tyler holds it just out of reach. 

“If you suggest In-N-Out one more time, I will drive this car into the ocean, so help me God.”

-

Niall Horan’s voice floats softly through the speakers as the car creaks to a stop in front of a familiar house. 

Your stomach flips as the barbecue from a locally owned joint near your Mom’s threatens to resurface. You distantly recall telling the group you’d been friends with the owners daughter in high school in a sad attempt to drown out Boone’s loud voice saying it would never be as good as Cathy’s. 

“You good California?” Javi asks and you startle, not even having realized you’d pulled yourself from the car. “You’re looking a little queasy there.” 

“Nerves.” You breathe and Kate takes your hand, squeezing it. 

“Thought you said they were nice.” Lilly says. 

“They are.” Just not to me. 

“This is quite the affair.” Dexter comments, glancing around the street as you walk up the road. “There’s hardly any spaces left.” 

“Bradley’s family is big.” You blurt out. “Lots of retired pilots who are probably thrilled to see their Baby Goose get married. Lots of friends from the service too I’m guessing.” 

“I wouldn’t want to be footing the bill for that wedding.” Dani whistles. 

The group begins to chatter and you wince, feeling your stomach roll as you step onto the grass. 

“You got this.” Kate whispers as you follow Tyler to the front porch. Tyler reaches out to press the doorbell, only to pull back at the last second. 

You raise your eyebrows. You don’t think you’ve seen the Tyler Owens cower back down from anything, much less a doorbell separating him from his twin. 

“You do it.” He says to you, stepping back.

“Me do it?” You ask incredulously. “You want to be kicked out before we ever step foot inside?” 

“I’ll do it.” Kate volunteers. She rings the doorbell, a short buzz followed by the sound of an I got it Mom! from somewhere inside behind the closed door. 

The door opens a few minutes later, revealing the now-taller daughter of Penny Benjamin. She blinks at the rag-tag crew. “Can I help you?” 

“Hi. I’m Kate and this is Tyler, we’re here for-“ Kate cuts herself off under the rather impressive stare of Amelia. Kate tugs on your arm, pulling you into view. “Here, you talk to the scary teenager.” 

“Hi Amelia.” You say softly. 

Amelia’s face lights up at the sight of you, exclaiming your name, drawing the attention of Tom as he rounds the corner to see who was at the door. Tom appears over her shoulder, nudging the girl back inside the house. 

“Tell Jake his brother’s here!” Tom calls after her before turning his attention back to your crew. “You must be Tyler and his crew. Jake mentioned that you guys would be stopping by. They’re all out in the back playing dogfight football.” 

Dogfight football? Tyler mouths to you as you all step inside the foyer. You shrug at his confused look. 

Long story you mouth back. 

“Anyways, I’m Tom, I’m one of Brad’s godfathers. I can take you all out to the back to meet the group?” 

You let your friends filter in front of you, hanging by the entrance to the kitchen and living room area. 

-

“I’m just gonna…” You mutter, letting your friends file out the glass door after Amelia and Tom. Penny gives you an unimpressed look from where she catches sight of you at the kitchen island and you give a sheepish shrug, feeling your cheeks heat up. “Selfish self-perseveration, sue me.” 

Pete glances up at you from one of the cabinets at the sound of your voice, lighting up as he does. “Well kid, I do have to say we never expected to see you again.” He holds out his arms and you grin, taking the invitation for a hug. 

If there was anything you’d learned about Pete Mitchell in the two and a half years you’d spent around his pilots, was that he offered Dad hugs to anyone at any chance he got. And boy, were they some of the safest hugs you’d ever had. 

“Hi Pete.” You say into his shoulder as he squeezes you. 

He pulls back, studying you. His thumb ghosts over a new scar on your cheek (thanks to an ill-timed rocket from Boone) and taking in the new piercings. “You look good kid.” 

“Thanks.” You breathe, unable to stop the genuine smile at earning his approval. 

His hand rests on your shoulder, guiding you farther into the kitchen. “Nick and Carole are outside with Coyote’s Dad and brother getting all the fixings grilled up. Do you want anything to drink?” 

You pause, stopping next to Javy’s Mom Lydia. You swallow, unsure of how she’ll react to you as you tell Pete you don’t want anything. He nods, grabbing his glass and nudging Penny towards the back patio after her daughter. 

“Hi Lydia.” You say softly. She studies you for a moment before pulling you into a tight hug. You melt into her touch, knowing you had accepted you may never get it again. 

You think of all the times you’d gotten the same hug from her, the innate soft care and compassion the woman had offered you, the same one she’d passed down to her son. 

You pull back, smiling at Javy’s sister-in-law (it seems like James had finally put a ring on it) and the little boy she holds in her arms. “Hi Scarlet.” 

The girl gives you a big grin. “How you doing?” 

“I’m good.” You answer. “Yeah, I’ve been good.” 

She smiles. “Good to hear.” She glances over Lydia’s shoulder. “Would you want to hold baby Jameson here for a minute while Dia and I go grab something from outside?” 

Your eyes grow wide. “You want me to hold your baby?” 

She shrugs. “I trusted you enough back then, I doubt I can’t trust you now.” 

You swallow, nodding. “Yeah, yeah of course.” You take the boy gingerly from her arms as he grins up real big at you. The boy only has two teeth but it looks like the nub of a third is growing in. “You and James make really cute babies.”

“I know.” She says smugly, before heading outside with Lydia.

You bounce the baby in your arms gently, cooing at him softly. 

“I sort of feel like I’m watching some alternate version of my future right now.” You gasp, whipping towards the sound of the voice. 

Leaning up against the doorjamb is Javy. 

The same Javy you’d fallen in love with all those years ago, a fond and yet pained smile on his face as he sticks his hands in his pockets. 

“Self preservation doesn’t work if you’re not outside with all your friends.” You breathe out as Jameson starts making grabby hands for his uncle. Javy walks towards the boy, letting him take his finger. It quickly becomes his new favorite chew toy as he shrugs. 

You snort as Javy smiles down at the kid. “Wanted to change. Scarlet knew I was in here so now I’m kinda figuring she left him here with you so we’d have to be civil.” You swallow, all humor leaving you as your eyes dart around the kitchen. 

In all the years you’d been gone, the Mitchell-Kazansky house hadn’t changed all that much. Maybe there were a few more pictures on the fridge, a coupon for a new pizza place, new throw pillows on the same worn couch, but the small beach front property that was inherently them had remained the same. 

“I don’t- I never expected- How are you here?” Javy asks, finally landing on words after a minute of silence and restarted attempts. 

“Jake’s brother.” You say quietly. “I’ve been working with Tyler in Oklahoma.” 

Javy reels back, Jameson letting go of his finger as he does. The toddler is quick to shift his attention to your hair, tugging on it. You wince. “Okay, I probably deserve this.” You mutter after a particularly hard yank from the toddler’s fist. 

Javy snorts, and you think it surprises him as much as it does you as a shy, goofy smile flickers on his face. “In another life, you were probably his auntie.” 

The words are meant to be light-hearted but they’re like an iron punch as the breath gets knocked clean from your lungs. 

“Javy-“ 

“Sorry, that wasn’t funny.” He dismisses as he crosses his arms. “So- Oklahoma huh? You liking it? The countryside is the last place I expected you to end up but you, uh- you look like you’re doing well.” 

You swallow around the lump that’s growing in your throat at the grief you’re having to confront earlier than you had anticipated. 

“I- Yeah, I like it out there. I’m good. Happy.” 

“I’m actually uh, not surprised to hear it. That you’re in Oklahoma. Just surprised at finally getting the confirmation.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, about a year ago, Fanboy had one of their streams on. He was just a casual fan, you know, background noise. The camera couldn’t have been on you for more than thirty seconds but I swore it was you. I made him go back and replay it a hundred times, I pulled up a hundred examples from other videos on the channel. The team was so convinced I was starting to lose it that Fanboy got banned from playing those streams anymore. Your hair was shorter in that first video, but I just- I knew it was you.” 

You hum, thinking to yourself. You’d appeared in the background of streams and edited videos countless times, but there had only been one haircut in two years. “It must’ve been after the rocket incident.” 

His eyes go wide. “The rocket incident?” 

“Boone still feels bad and Ty won’t let anyone really bring it up because it makes his blood pressure rise but imagine my surprise when I’m fiddling with something on top on the truck and Boone leans over on the console and accidentally sets off a rocket.” 

“That would only happen to you.” 

You snort. “I know. Most of the hair on one side was singed off anyways so I took the kitchen shears we have and chopped it all off in the back of the RV after we left urgent care.”

A beat passes as he drums his fingers against the countertop. “Hey, how long are you in town for?” 

“We��re supposed to leave sometime tomorrow, we’re gonna stop off in Vegas. Why?” 

“I was gonna see if you wanted to stop by the house. I’ve still got, actually quite a lot of your stuff. Like keepsakes and stuff your Mom tried to get rid of. If you wanted to swing by on your way out and pick through it.”

You nod. “Yeah, I should be able to fit that in.” You reach a hand out, nudging his shoulder. “Hey, how was Bob and Sophia’s wedding?” 

“The kind of classy country you can only imagine. It was so them.”

“Did you cry?” You tease and he ducks his head. 

“Maybe shed a tear or two.” 

“Hey, how’s your Mom?” You ask softly.

You remember all too well Javy getting that phone call. 

Four days before you were meant to defend your Masters thesis, Javy had gotten a call from his Mom, telling him that she had been diagnosed with DCIS — breast cancer. 

It had been non-invasive, thankfully, and after a quickly scheduled surgery, Lydia had expected to have a full recovery. 

Still — it had been a terrifying few weeks for Javy and you’d written out and deleted a hundred text messages to him on each anniversary of the diagnosis. 

“She’s good.” He says softly. “Still no signs of a return. Thanks for asking.” 

You nod. “I think about her a lot. And you, you know. How you all are doing. If she’s healthy, if you’re safe.” 

His eyes shine with a feeling you can’t quite name, but can describe only as a response to hearing words he never thought he’d hear but mean more to him then he’ll ever admit. 

“I think about you too. If you’re happy, if you’re happier than you were with me. If you found what it was you had been searching for.” He shakes his head, clearing your throat. “Grieving someone who was still alive-“ He lets out a low whistle. 

“I’m sorry.” You whisper. You know he hears you but he doesn’t say anything, letting the two of you exist in silence as baby Jameson babbles nonsensically.

“I can’t help but ask — you dating anyone?” 

The questions feels so stilted as you swallow. You knew he was trying to play at some cool nonchalance but he missed by a mile; it was obvious your answer meant a great deal to him. “I am.” He raises his eyebrows, clearly waiting for more information. “I have a girlfriend.” 

“What’s this girlfriend’s name?” 

You shake your head. “Don’t think it’s appropriate to bring her into this.” 

He sighs, letting his weight rest against the kitchen island. “I guess that’s fair. You were always more mature than me about stuff.”

The two of you sit in an awkward silence for a few minutes, the hollers of his friends from the back patio coming closer. You have a hundred questions for him and he probably has a thousand more for you but you both know you can’t ask them in this moment. His team must have come up off the beach and would probably be headed inside soon. His eyes flicker towards the back door, probably making the same assumptions as you. 

“Hey, do- do you think we could talk sometime tonight?” Your eyes flicker over to him, seeing the pain in them so clear. It feels unnatural to not reach out and smooth out the lines in between his eyebrows. “Now’s not the time but I- uh-“ He cuts himself off, shaking his head. 

You nod. “Yeah, we can. Just- later, okay?” 

You owed him closure. After the way you’d left, with the way you’d burned him, you owed him that at the very least.

Kate would understand. 

The backdoor slides open, the pilots shuffling in. Behind them, you can see the Wranglers, save for Kate and Tyler, take hesitant seats on the couches. It looks like Dexter’s still outside.

“Holy shit!” Omaha yells, sliding his sunglasses up. The pilots turn, a bunch of oohs being tossed up. 

“Does anybody else get the weird feeling we walked into some weird alternate timeline where her and Coyote got married and had kids?” Payback asks and Javy lets out a low groan. 

“Aliens.” Fanboy breathes out and his pilot tosses him a strange look. 

“It’s like seeing a ghost.” Natasha comments. 

“Yeah, a really bitchy ghost.” Omaha adds and you turn sharply, plopping the toddler into his uncle’s arms. 

“Would you look at that, some things really do never change. I still really hate your friends.” 

“Can I have a hug?” Jake blurts out, silencing his friends. 

You raise an eyebrow as you give him a once-over. “Um, I guess. If you put a shirt on first.”

Mickey hits his pilot as Jake disappears around the corner. “My alien theory isn’t so weird now, is it?” 

Payback winces, rubbing his stomach where Mickey had smacked him. “Nice to see you too Mickey.” You say, rounding the kitchen island. 

The boy gives you a nervous smile. It’s an odd look on the boy who’d always greeted you with a wide grin, home-cooked food, and a picture of his new Lego set. It’s an odd look for the kid who’d probably been your favorite of Javy’s friends, and definitely the closest to you, so long as no one said that in front of Bradley. (Bradley Bradshaw had taken it upon himself to name his role in your life as unintentional big brother). “Hey.” 

Jake reappears, having tugged one of Bradley’s old Top Gun shirts over his head. “Hi.” He says softly, stopping in front of you. “Can I have a hug now?” 

You sigh. “Fine, I guess.” 

You’re not sure what you’re expecting from Jake (a hug certainly wasn’t on the table) but his hug is tight, borderline painful as you hesitantly and awkwardly wrap your arms around his much larger and taller frame. You step back as someone clears their throat. Jake lets you go willingly as Boone reaches out for your wrist, tugging you to sit down in between him and Dani. 

Jake turns, facing the person who’s just walked into the house. 

“Knock knock.” She says and your head turns, catching sight of Lainey’s blond hair. Javi reaches around Boone, nudging your back, reminding you to breathe as Jake’s face lights up. “Wait, there’s two of you?” 

“Lainey! Didn’t think you’d make it! Yeah, uh, this is my twin brother Tyler. We, uh don’t talk much.” 

“Oh, we know.” You say under your breath, only loud enough for your friends to hear, and Boone spits out a laugh, Javi having to cough into his fist to cover up his own laughter. 

Tyler snaps, eyes narrowing, turning to you. “I thought you’d agreed to being on your best behavior.” 

“I didn’t say anything!” You defend, which elicits a loud laugh from Dani as Lilly throws out a “Stop being so hard on her T!” 

Tyler huffs, his hands fall to his waist and you have to bite back a giggle that eventually falls out anyways when you see Kate doing the same thing.

“You’re such a Dad, T.” You say through a laugh, shaking your head which elicits laughter from the whole group. 

Lainey turns as you talk, face softening. “I didn’t think any of us would ever see you again. Where you’ve been?” 

“Oklahoma!” Javy shouts from across the kitchen. It sends his friends into an uproar, reeling from the fact. 

“See, my aliens theory is looking more and more true!” 

-

Kate doesn’t want to admit that her stomach drops at the sight of your ex quietly slipping out the door after you but she knows it’s warranted given the way all his friends notice. 

“What’re the odds she gives Javy another chance?” Jake’s fiancé asks Jake. Jake lets out some discontented noise from the back of his throat before pushing himself off his seat on the floor and meandering into the kitchen. 

“I will put money on her coming back. I’m so Team Javy, you know this.” One of the other pilots (Fanboy, her brain recalls). 

“I’m team her staying in Oklahoma with her girlfriend. She’s earned that quiet life.” One of the girlfriends (Kaycee, she’s dating Phoenix, you’d run through all the possible attendees with her and Tyler in the car this morning in the quiet calm, dawn barely peaking over the horizon) pipes up with. 

“Of course you’re on her side.” One of the others says. “You always liked her more than the rest of us.” 

Kaycee’s eyes slide up to the man. “Well yeah, Payback, I was the one consoling at her at every group event when Hangman came down on her and made her feel unwanted. So of fucking course I don’t want her to get back together with the guy

whose friends made her feel like shit.” 

“You take that too seriously, K. We were obviously just fooling around, not our fault she’s too sensitive.” 

The girl’s eyes narrow at the man. “Omaha, so help me-“ 

“She’s not your piece of meat to fight over!” Dani finally bursts. The in-fighting stops abruptly as the attention turns to them. “I’m just saying- if she’s happy, can’t you just leave her be? She’s a person, not some object for y’all to fight about.” 

The group all but forgets Dani even said anything when the one with the glasses turns back to Bradley. “You really think she’ll take Javy back?”

“A hundred percent. You remember how she used to look at him. And he was ass over teacups for her. Remember that year she bought him the Saints jersey with his last name on the back and he near lost his mind the first time she stole it to wear?” 

“Dude, he wasn’t half as bad dating as he was before. Remember the first time he brought her to the Hard Deck and he insisted he buy every drink for her?” Mickey chimes in. 

“I remember when they came to the house for the first time to watch a movie and Mickey kept teasing her about not doing anything on the couch, I thought Coyote was gonna drown Mick in the pool. He was so desperate to impress her and yelled at us for potentially making it so she never talked to him again.” Bob adds through a laugh. “Which she totally did, she fucking loved him from the first time they matched. Remember how his hands used to start sweating cause he got so nervous around her?” 

She glances at Javi and Boone next to her, glad to see her own unease is mirrored on their faces. Lilly’s reminder from earlier resurfaces in her mind as she plays with tab on her soda can. 

She loves you Kate. She wouldn’t go anywhere in the world you ain’t. 

“Coyote’s always had a way with words around her. He’ll say the right thing, tell her he’ll miss her, and she’ll come back just like she was always meant to.” Phoenix comments and she swallows, looking down at her jeans. 

Javi and Boone both stand up next to her, a whispered conversation happening she doesn’t care to try and hear as their exit goes unnoticed. The discomfort and unease in her stomach grows, feeling her whole world tilt at the thought that someone may say something to make you realize you’d been wrong to come to Oklahoma, wrong to love her, and that you’d go back to the place you had belonged this whole time. 

She catches Tyler’s eye, a stormy look growing on his face. 

I don’t like this, it says. 

She didn’t either. 

-

“See, I’d ask if you’re just taking a breather, but I know you, so you’re definitely hiding.”

Your eyes shoot up at Javy as he gently shuts the front door to the house, moving to sit down on the porch swing across from where you’re resting your weight on the porch railing. 

“Yeah, well, when they start eating my food straight from my hands I think I have to bow out.” 

He grins at the memory. 

Just half an hour ago, you’d been trying to shove Boone off of you as he attempted to take a bite of your burger, crowded up into Lilly and Dani’s space more than they probably ever wanted you to be. Javi had leaned over, taking a huge bite of burger as it had been sitting in your hand farthest away from Boone’s reach and you’d frozen in shock when you’d seen what he’d done out of your periphery. 

Dexter had tried to save face, over the sound of Dani yelling about how foul the move was, by saying that usually the lot of you were much more civilized but Tyler and Kate had immediately refuted it with a unified no, we ain’t. It had been all the encouragement you needed to plop what was left of the burger in Javi’s hand and to disappear outside.

“They seem to really like you. That one, Boone, was telling me we weren’t allowed to have you back. You’re theirs now.” 

You sigh, crossing your arms. “They’re- they’re really good to me. They’re family.” 

“I’ll admit that’s kind of hard to hear. Rooster and Fanboy kinda seem to be under the impression that you still might come back. Mav too. If I play my cards right.” 

You let out another sigh, looking away from him. “Javy, don’t even go there. Please don’t start that with me, cause you aren’t gonna like what I have to say.”

He shifts, bending to lean on his knees as he does his best to catch your eye. “What can I say to fix this? What can I say to convince you to come home?” 

“Oklahoma is my home!” You insist, feeling frustration begin to tighten in your chest. 

“No the hell it isn’t. How many times did you say your heart belonged here? How many times did you say you were meant for city living by the beach? And now you’re telling me that you live on a farm in the middle of buttfuck nowhere Oklahoma and you just what, love your life? I don’t believe that. Not for a minute.”

A whimper of frustration slips out as your hands come down to scrub your face. “Javy.” You say shakily. “I am happy to have any kind of closure conversation you need to have to find peace and move on. But if this is going to be about you trying to convince me to come back to a life I don’t want anymore, then I will go back inside.” You say, mustering up a calm tone you don’t feel and he reels back as if you’ve hit him. 

“I just don’t understand.” He says softly and your shoulders deflate. “I love you. You were my whole world, I wanted everything with you. I don’t understand. Help me understand.” 

His voice cracks and the lump in your throat from earlier reappears. “I was- I was unhappy for a really long time Javy.” 

He immediately shakes his head, cutting you off. “No, no that’s bullshit. I know that’s bullshit. C’mon, was there someone else?” 

“Are you insinuating I fucking cheated on you?” You near shout, straightening up. 

“Well!” He matches the raise in voice, standing up from the porch swing. 

“That’s bullshit.” You say. “If I recall, I was 25, working a dead end barista job because the masters degree I went into thousands of dollars of debt for proved to be useless with a boyfriend who let his friends walk all over me! I didn’t just wake up that day and decide I was miserable Javy! It was a slow build, a build you contributed to!” 

The front door opens and shuts and you spare a glance to see Boone and Javi lingering by the front door. 

Later, they’ll confess to you that the only reason they’d ventured outside to interrupt the conversation is because the pilots inside had gotten so smug in their surety that Javy would convince you to leave Oklahoma to be with him, they’d started to worry about you being alone on the porch. 

Javi had hastily assured you that they didn’t think you couldn’t handle yourself, but he was afraid he’d hit all your guilty spots, Boone sure he’d say all the things you’d wanted to hear back then, and you’d leave the Wranglers without so much as backwards glance. They’d wanted you to know they had your back. 

They’ll admit it was selfish of them and Dani will tell them they’re stupid for not remembering how much you love your life here, and you’ll tell them that you’re not angry, that their intentions had been good. 

All their presence does now in this moment though is piss your ex-boyfriend off as he throws his hands up. “Can’t even have one conversation without your little fucking guard dogs, huh? Little side pieces behind your girlfriend’s back?” 

“Stop it.” You say sternly. “Stop going there. You know I was never unfaithful to you, you know that I never would’ve done that.” 

“I don’t know if I ever knew you at all. Not really. So yeah, who’s to say if you aren’t a cheater if you were quietly miserable enough to dump me and run halfway across the country.”

You groan, rubbing your temples. “God, you’re not listening to me. You didn’t listen to me then, you don’t listen to me now.” 

“All I ever did was fucking listen to you! You never shut up!” 

Boone lets out a “Hey man!” alongside Javi’s “Whoa there.”

“Don’t talk to her like that man.” Boone says. “Have some respect, that there’s a lady and she was a lady you cared a lot about, so be nice.” Boone drawls. 

Your ex fixes him with a glare that would’ve made a weaker man whimper, but Boone isn’t one to back down. He drives into tornados and shoots rockets at them for fuck’s sake. 

Unintentionally or not, Boone’s intervention gives you the pause you need to take a deep breath and collect yourself. “Javy.” You start, softer this time. His eyes snap over to yours. “I understand the anger and frustration and the confusion. I know that I left rather suddenly and I never gave you any explanation as to why. But you have to know, we were fighting all the time and I was so unhappy, not just in my relationship with you, but in my job and myself. And after Texas, I snapped. It was a catalyst event that permanently altered the course of my life.” 

His eyebrows furrow in confusion. “The fuck does Texas have to do with anything?” 

You sigh. “You keep saying that you still love me, yeah? The problem with that Javy is that you’re in love with a version of me that doesn’t exist anymore. That girl that you loved died in Texas and she’s never coming back.” 

“I still don’t understand.” You sigh, licking your lips as you glance at your friends. Javy’s voice is rising again but you know that you’ll never be able to get him to understand the truth without blowing up Jake’s spot. And truthfully, maybe it’s long past due. “We were in love, we were happy, you were my best friend. We go to Texas for Bob’s bachelor party and three days later, you’re dumping me to go hop on a plane to Oklahoma to never be seen again. That doesn’t make any fucking sense! What the hell does Texas have to do with anything?!” 

You move faster than you let your brain think about it, sliding through your friends as you push open the front door, striding through the foyer. You catch Bradley’s eye as you do so and he straightens. “Where the fuck is Jake?” 

Jake comes into view as he shuts the fridge, turning to face you. “What?” He asks tiredly, but judging by the look on his face, you think he already knows. 

“I want you to be honest.” You say, every bit of the calm you’d tried to collect slipping through your grasp as you inch closer to Dani and Lilly. “Tell them the truth about what happened in Texas.” 

“Are we really doing this?” He asks, plopping down on one of the bar stools by the kitchen island. 

“You owe me, Seresin. After everything you put me through, you owe me.” 

Jake sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face as Javy’s head swings wildly between the two of you. 

Just when you’re about to turn and accept the villain narrative these men had decided for you, Jake sighs again. “I asked her to lie about the rodeo.” He says quietly. “We never made it to shelter.” 

“So? A little wind, a little rain, that’s your excuse for going off the deep end?” Javy snaps but Jake isn’t finished. 

“We watched Steven die.” 

The silence that follows is one you never want to experience again as the whole room tunnels in on Jake. Lilly stands up, Dani not far behind her, nudging you towards the door and silently talking over your head to your friends but you feel rooted to your spot. 

“What?” Lainey asks first, pushing her self up as she takes shaky breaths. “You- you saw him die? And you never told me?” 

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that Jake?” Bradley asks quietly, a quiet concern and cool anger laced into the words. 

“I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking. I don’t know if I was trying to protect her or me but I did it anyways. It’s why I gave her Tyler’s number.” He says, finally raising his eyes to meet the room. “I’m the one who gave her Tyler’s info. When she dumped Coyote that day, I knew she was a serious flight risk in more ways than one and I- I knew if I could get her to Tyler, he’d take care of her. I knew she’d be safe with Ty. And I mean obviously he did.” He says, waving a hand at his brother and Kate. “I owed it to her after all this times I said those things about y’alls sex life, all those times I made fun of her behind your back. I mean, everything I said about her age or about how you guys wouldn’t work long-term so you guys would break up-“ Jake cuts himself off, sniffing. “I was awful to her under the guise of trying to be a good friend but I was a rotten friend and a rotten person and I’m sorry.” 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” 

You expect it to be Javy but it’s Tyler and you think you can see his hand shake as he pulls himself off of the couch. 

“Genuinely, you haven’t changed a day. You’re still that same piece of shit you were then, when you couldn’t bother showing up to our grandparents funeral, the people who raised us, because of some stupid little trophy. You’re out here a decade later making a poor girl in her twenties who was simply trying to exist with the guy she loved feel like her life isn’t worth living anymore, that she doesn’t offer anything of value to this world.” 

“But, I mean- it worked out right? she’s been with you guys and she’s happier than she’s ever been in her whole life.” 

“Oh, sure no, it worked out.” Javi intervenes. “If you discount the irreversible trauma and her inherent belief that she would always, eventually, force the people around her to see her as a burden, then yeah, it totally worked out.”

“Which we’re still working on undoing, by the way. Thanks for that. ” Dani comments dryly. 

“Okay, hey, hold on- that’s not all on Jake.” You interrupt and Bradley’s head swings towards you. 

“Are you seriously fucking defending him right now?” 

“I’m defending him because that’s wrong! What Jake did didn’t do anything other than reinforce an idea I have held about myself my whole life, Bradshaw! But you don’t get that, just like you never got it back then! You had two parents who loved you unconditionally and friends and all the support in the world! I’ve never had that! I grew up with a piece of shit family, I grew up with awful friends and an even worse ex-boyfriend, and you people refused to ever understand the life I came from! Don’t pin that all on Jake!” 

Lilly tugs on your arm, telling you to breathe and it’s the first time you realize you’re even crying. 

In a flash, you dig the keys for one of the cars out from Lilly’s pocket, turning on your heel. Your friends call out after you but you don’t listen to them as you wipe tears from your eyes, vision blurry as you make your way towards the car. 

And then someone’s there, wrestling the keys from your grasp. 

It’s Javi.

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” He says softly. “I just- don’t want you driving right now.” 

You nod, climbing into the car passenger seat. Once you’re in, Javi reaches over the console to give you a hug. It’s at an awkward angle and you can’t stop crying, but it’s warm and safe and all you need in that moment. 

“You’re gonna be okay, California. We got you.” 

-

“Where did you guys go?” 

Boone asks from his spot on the couch. He’s leaned up against Lilly, feet on Dani’s lap as Dexter putters around the kitchenette in your two bedroom suite Jake had paid for. 

“The beach.” Javi says, setting the keys on the entryway table. 

“Where’s Ty and Kate?” You ask.

It goes eerily quiet. “Um, they had to run an errand.” Boone says after a long minute. 

“I’m too tired to even unpack that.” You say, running a hand down your face. “I’m going to go shower.” 

You slip inside to the bedroom you and Kate had been sharing with Dani and Lilly, walking into the bathroom. After shedding your clothes, you step into the hot water. It soothing against your skin as you bite back a yawn. 

You’d told Javi to pick a beach, any beach, and the two of you had found a picnic table over looking the shore as you looked out at the moonlit waves. 

It had been a quiet, grounding peace that had settled over you as you had reviewed the events of the night. Javi’s quiet voice mixed with the crashing of the waves, soothing you as he talked about Miami, and the Tornado Tamers, and the military, and a hundred different things.

Now though, in the lull of noise, save for the quiet murmurs of your friends through the wall, guilt prickles at you underneath your skin, heavy and all consuming. 

It’s second nature, autopilot, climbing out of the shower and tugging on Kate’s sweatshirt, blindly pulling out a pair of sleep shorts from one of your bags. The bed that had once looked so appealing no longer looks comfortable as you have to work considerably to swallow around the rapidly growing lump in your throat. 

You open the door right as Kate and Tyler return to the hotel room. Tyler gives you a grin as he waves a bag in the air. “Look where we trekked to. Surprise.”

Normally, you would’ve grinned and laughed and said I’d pay good money to see the Midwesterners in an In-N-Out but now all you can do is shrink into Kate’s sweatshirt as you get the overwhelming feeling that you don’t deserve this. 

You don’t deserve Kate, you don’t deserve this team. Not this job you loved so much, not this life you’d carved out for yourself. 

Kate’s face falls as she closes the distance between the two of you. “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m so tired of feeling guilty.” You gasp out, a sob you hadn’t expected coming out. It leaves you scrambling for breath, coming in ragged pants. “I’m tired of feeling guilty for being happy, for having this job, for tricking all of you into thinking that I’m- that I’m worth something. I’m so tired of- of feeling guilty for leaving him and- and I’m tired of feeling guilty for living.”

Kate’s hug is tight, almost as if she lets go, you’ll slip right through her fingers. “Sweetheart.” She whispers into your shoulder as you hesitate to wrap your arms around her. 

“I don’t feel like I deserve it. I don’t feel like I deserve any of it. I didn’t feel like I deserved it then and I don’t feel like I deserve it now.” 

Kate lets you go, a soft look coming over her face as her hands find your face. You feel like you look worse than you ever have, tears sliding down your face, choking on your own words and sobs and snot. 

“Baby…” She says, so soft and tender, in that way that��s all Kate and usually makes you blush, makes you feel more seen then you ever have in your entire life. “You’ve had one hell of a go at life, I’ll admit you got a rough set of cards. But you- you went through something traumatic and you made the only decisions you could at the time. Those people- they’re angry at you because they feel bad for their friend cause he got hurt. And maybe we’re all a villain in someone else’s life but you shouldn’t feel guilty for doing what you need to do for you.” She takes a deep breath. “You didn’t deserve to die for him any more than I deserved to die for my friends. And for the first time, I really mean that. We don’t deserve to suffer or feel pain for the rest of our lives because of it, you know? It’s okay for us to continue to live and laugh and love — our mistakes, they don’t define us. We don’t have to live there.” Kate’s eyes are pleading, begging you to hear her and understand her; to believe her. 

You nod as she swipes a thumb to wipe away a tear. 

“You would never blame me for what my happened to my friends. You’d never say I should suffer in pain or in a life of exile because of it. You’d tell me for what it is — that it was a freak accident and it was out of your control. You can’t spend the rest of your life in those haunted what ifs and I know you’d never want that for me either.”

“Yeah.” Your voice is gravely, raw, but you can’t even focus on it as Boone’s lanky arms wrap around your frame. “Yeah, I hear you.” 

“Sides, even if it were your fault-“ 

“Boone!” Lilly chides, even as she wraps her own arms around you. 

“I ain’t saying it is! You people, you always assume the worst outta me-“ 

“Get to the point!” Javi’s exhausted voice comes from the kitchen. You snort, leaning your head into Boone’s shoulder. 

“Get on with it, Booney.” You whisper. 

“‘M just saying, even if it were your fault, it don’t change that your part of our family now. Always gonna be, no matter where them wind or tornados take us. Or what some stupid Navy guy says about you for that matter.” 

Boone squeezes you before he steps back. Lilly lets you go, albeit hesitantly and you wipe your nose on the sleeve of Kate’s sweatshirt. Javi’s hand finds your back, wrapping you into a tight hug as you turn.  

“You gotta start letting yourself believe you’re worthy of good things.” He mumbles into your sweatshirt. “Trust me, I- I get it okay. It was just as rough for me when I left StormPar, but Boone’s right. We’re a family.” 

You nod into Javi’s shoulder, squeezing the man before letting him go. You wipe your eyes, taking a breath. “Okay, okay, I think I’m good. Just been a hell of a night.” 

Javi nods and the room breaks into quiet chatter as the bags of food get passed around, burgers getting split up among the group. 

Tyler grabs your arm as you pad over to sit on the couch next to Kate. His hug is tight, the smell of cedar and campfire lingering on his flannel a far cry from the smell of jet fuel and whiskey that followed his brother. 

“You saved my life T.” You say quietly, even though no one would be able to hear you through the conversation at the couch. “The Wranglers saved my life. I hope you know that.” 

He squeezes you. “Nah, kid. We just loved you enough for you to see why you should stay. The saving part was all you.” 

-

“I need to go run an errand.” The table looks up at you, pausing around mid-conversation, breakfast plates forgotten. “So you guys can head out on the road ahead of us.” 

“What’re you up to?” Boone asks.

You shake your head. “There’s just something I gotta do before we head out.” 

“Some unfinished business?” Javi asks. 

“Something like that.”

-

The weather is unusually dreary, rain drizzling down on and off as you make the drive over the Coronado bridge. You park in front of the boys house, turning the key in the ignition as you turn to face Tyler and Javi in the backseat. 

“I’m not sure how long this is gonna take, but I’ll be back.” 

“Man, what am I supposed to do to entertain myself?” Javi moans and Kate turns, giving him a sharp glare. 

Late last night, after everyone had fallen asleep, you’d admitted to Kate that you didn’t think you could leave things with him like that, that you couldn’t live with yourself if you never gave him the closure he so desperately needed. 

Kate had told you, voice muffled, that she understood. That she’d stand by you in whatever conversation you wanted to have with him. 

“Go take a walk for all I care. It’s a nice neighborhood.” You say, before wrenching the car door opening, cutting off Javi’s bemoaned But it’s raining! as you slam it harder behind you than you normally ever would’ve allowed it to. 

You wince, already hearing Tyler scold you in your head as you stride up the expansive driveway, saying a silent thank you that Javy’s beat-up truck is sitting in the driveway. 

You force yourself to take a deep breath as you knock on the door. The blue paint is peeling more than ever you note, before it swings open, revealing Mickey. He’s donned in basketball shorts and a muscle tee and must’ve just come back from a run, based on the sweat and rain accumulated on him.

He almost doesn’t seem surprised to see you. 

“Hey.” He says, leaning against the door. 

“Hey.” You respond. “Is Javy here?” 

He nods, opening the door enough to let you inside and the oak shuts firmly behind you as you follow him through the familiar foyer to the couches in the living room. 

“You guys are not much for redecorating.” 

Mickey groans. “Kid, the fact that we’ve gotten anything on the walls as long as we lived in this place is a miracle in and of itself, you know that.” 

Despite the situation, you snort, recalling when the boys had enlisted you to build Mickey’s desk one time two years into them living here. “Oh, I remember.” 

“Coyote!” Mickey shouts up the stairs as you arrive next to the couch, nudging Jake. He gives you a soft smile, pushing himself up to give you a quick hug. 

“I’m really sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to ruin it.” 

Jake shakes his head. “‘S my fault. You and I both know there was probably no other outcome than that.”

The fabric of his Texas sweatshirt is soft as he squeezes you, letting you go as you hear footsteps on the stairs. 

You sigh, turning catching sight of your ex turning the corner. His eyes widen slightly at the sight of you and he tugs on the edges of his Saints sweatshirt. 

He’s nervous, you realize. The taste of that truth is bitter and acrid on your tongue. 

“We need to talk.” You say with more stern bravado then you feel and you force yourself to soften as Mickey lets out a low whistle. “And you, uh, said you had some of my stuff.” 

“We have all of your stuff.” Mickey comments into his protein shake. “It’s all in Bob’s old room.” He points with a finger over his shoulder, but you still know the way. 

You head in the direction to Bob’s room, tugging on the sleeve of Javy’s hoodie as you do. 

He follows you, shutting the bedroom door behind him as you scan the room. “When did Bob move out?” You ask as you pull a box out, sifting through the books. 

“Like two or three months after you left. Think he had plans to move out earlier but uh-“ Javi pauses and your eyes flicker up to study him. “I think they were concerned I’d do something stupid to myself if it was too much change at once.” 

You sigh, eyes fluttering shut as you squat and brace yourself against the box. “Javy.” You breathe out. 

“I’m really sorry about how last night went.” He says as he leans up against one of the taller stacks of boxes. “My Mom’s pretty pissed at me for how I handled myself. I’m mad at myself too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Drinking or not, you didn’t deserve it. I was just- confused and frustrated and so hopeful it made me scared. I guess I never prepared myself for what it would be like to see you again, even though clearly-“ He says, gesturing to the room. “I always let myself keep that door open.” 

“Why did you keep this shit anyways?” You ask. “You coulda let my Mom toss all this shit out.” 

He shakes his head. “I couldn’t have. I- I always thought maybe you’d come home. That when you did come home, you’d roll your eyes about your Mom and want your stuff back. Fools hope I guess.” 

You let yourself fall to the floor in a cross-crossed position, scrubbing a hand down your face. “Javy, I am so sorry about how I left. You deserved a lot better than that from me, after everything you did for me. But I was scared and I ran and you got caught in that.”

“Every day since then, I’ve wondered what it was about me that wasn’t enough to make you stay. Did I not love you right? Did I do something to hurt you? Did I not stop when I should’ve?” He takes a sharp breath at the thought that he might’ve pushed you too far while being intimate as being your reason for running. “Every night for two years, I’ve laid in bed at night, going over every single detail. But last night, after hearing that it was Jake’s fault, I’ve gone over every what if. What if he had listened to you? What if he hadn’t taken you? What if I hadn’t gotten drunk that night before or- or had convinced you to stay? What if you had stayed home from the trip; what if Sophia had never asked you to be a bridesmaid? What if-“ 

“Javy, stop.” You stay sternly, pushing yourself up off the floor. “You can’t live in those what ifs. They’ll drive you fucking crazy. You can’t keep living in the past. And it ain’t Jake’s fault, much as we would all, himself probably included, like to lay the blame on him. We can’t go back and change it and we can’t live in that history neither. What happened, happened.” 

He lets out a breath. “You’re handling this better than me.” 

“I’ve had two years to process it. I’ve had two years in a new town with a new job and a new partner and new friends to heal from all of it. You haven’t even had two days to grapple with the truth.” You say as you pop the lid on the box. Your eyes scan the room as you let him process the information, trying to catalogue all that he has, what you need and what you don’t. 

“My Niall Horan shirt!” You exclaim, wrestling a box out of the corner of the room. “I’d been wondering what happened to this!” You pop the lid off, subsequently discovering your American Girl doll. “And Julie! I remember that year I went as her for Halloween and brought her over here. She was the highlight of the party for all the drunken idiots.” 

“That was the year of the dolls.” He comments from behind you. 

“Yeah, yeah, cause you guys all went as Ken dolls, except for Mickey, who went as Carlos from Big Time Rush, and I finally had to explain to you who they were after I made that joke, that they were the greatest boy band of our generation, on our second date.” 

“It’s crazy to think about now, how the yahoos could all see how I felt about you and I was still insisting we were just friends.” 

“Oh, enough time has passed. We can admit now that we weren’t just friends. We made out too much, in public no less, for that to be anywhere near platonic.” 

He doesn’t say anything for a minute and you turn, worried you’ve gone too far. His eyes are glassy, a fond smile on his face. 

“I really loved you, you know that?” 

“Javy…” 

He gives a half-shrug, looking down. “You can say what you want about being unhappy, about needing to leave, but I hope you know that I really loved you. I really cared about you and I really thought some day you’d come home to me. You were my best friend and I wanted to grow old with you. It just- it just feels like it didn’t mean anything to you.” 

A lump grows in your throat as he wipes a few tears away from his cheeks. You look down, unsure if you should admit the truth. 

“Javy, I found the ring.” 

“W-what?”

“The night we got back from Texas, I accidentally found it. But it- it freaked me out. I was already walking such a fine line those days, so afraid and so mixed up from what happened, already so unhappy and I knew it was over then and there. Because I found it and pictured you getting down on one knee and tried to think of what I’d say and when I knew I’d say no, I knew I needed to end it.” 

He lets out a choked sob as you work your throat around the ever-growing lump, knowing you have to finish this conversation, as much as it pains you. 

“Javy, of course it meant something to me.” You say, unclenching your hand from where it’s fisted in the dark blue material of the t-shirt. You set the objects down back in the box, taking a few steps towards him. “Javy, I did love you. Really. You were my first real boyfriend, my first serious boyfriend, my first. I thought the world of you and you were my best friend too. Okay, my favorite times were when we would stay up all night laughing or- or all those times we just existed together. But both things can be true — you can have hurt me, I can have been unhappy, and we both can still have loved each other the best we could’ve at the time.” You say, taking another step towards him. “But that’s what I keep trying to tell you. That girl that I was with you, that person you fell in love with, she doesn’t exist anymore. I’m not that version of me anymore.” Javy only looks at you as he cries as you cling to the hope that this time he’ll finally listen.

“Can I have a hug?” He croaks. You nod, reaching out for him and he’s quick to tug you into his embrace, as if you might change your mind waiting a hair of a second longer. 

His hug is tight, and you can feel the way his tears wet your pale yellow Oklahoma crewneck, the same way you know you’re soaking his Saints hoodie. 

It’s weird, because hugging him doesn’t feel like coming home like it used to. 

It’s weird, because it feels like the door on this part of your life is finally shutting behind you. 

You think you’re at peace with it.

“You sure you won’t come back?” His muffled voice sounds. 

“You know I can’t.” He whimpers as you  shake your head. “I’d be coming back to a place that isn’t my home anymore, a life that isn’t mine. Javy, you have to let me go. If not for me, then for yourself.” 

“I don’t know how.” He pleads into your shoulder. 

“It takes time.” You whisper. “But one day it won’t hurt so much. I promise.”

You aren’t sure how long the two of you stand there, but finally he lets you go, stepping back as his back hits the wall, sliding down. You take that as a sign that you can get back to sorting. 

“Hey, you’ve asked me a lot of questions about what’s changed since you been gone. Can I ask you questions about what you’ve been up to?” He asks, voice watery and raw. 

“Seems only fair.” You say, squatting down to rifle through a box full of high school memorabilia. 

“Are you dating Kate?” 

You swallow, glancing at him as you pull out your yearbooks. “Yeah, I am.” 

“I figured.” 

“How’d you figure it out?” 

“She looks at you like how I used to.” He says with a shrug as he stretches his legs out in front of him. Upon seeing your dubious look, he lets out a wet laugh. “She just- she always found a reason to be next to you last night. She always brought you into conversation, looked for you when you weren’t with her, looked for you even when you were with her. It was obvious she cared a great deal about you and I sort of guessed she was who you didn’t want to bring into this.” 

You shake your head. “This isn’t her fight. She’s got my back, I know that, but this didn’t need to involve her if I could help it. It was between me and you.” 

“She seems cool.” He finally comments after a minute. 

“Freaky genius and all the wit to match.” 

“Like you.” Your cheeks warm at the compliment as you untangle the honor cords. “She make you happy?” 

“Honestly?” You say and he nods. “I see my whole life with her in a way I’ve never seen it before. She’s my best friend and my partner. I love her to death and there’s nowhere in this world I wouldn’t follow her.” 

“You guys have any pets?” 

“Two dogs and a cat.” 

“Jesus, is this farm you live on really a zoo?” 

“I think her Mom feels that way sometimes.” You say with a chuckle. “No, the team has Buttons, but he’s really Boone’s if you want to get into it. Ty’s taken on a dog I named Enid by sheer force of will from this dog. And Kate and I adopted a kitten named Peaches about this time two years ago. Ty and I are getting horses in October too.” 

“So… you and Kate living together?” 

You shake your head. “No. Not yet, anyways. Technically, I got a small two bedroom apartment in Tulsa I rent with the other Javi but he’s almost always somewhere in Arkansas with Boone in the off-season and I spend all my time with Kate on her farm when we aren’t out on the road.”

“They seem like really good people.” 

“They’re some of the best. Hey, are you still in touch with Elle?” 

Javy’s eyes widen. “Your friend from grad school? Some, why?” 

“You should ask her on a date.”

“No- No, I couldn’t.” 

You fix him with a look. “Why not? I bet that girl is still enamored with you.” 

“She was your best friend, that would be wrong.” 

You shrug, setting aside a snow globe. “We ain’t together anymore and Elle and I ain’t friends anymore. And trust me, if you and I hadn’t been what we were when Elle came into my life, Elle would’ve a hundred percent gone after you. And I wouldn’t be mad you know. You deserve to move on.” 

“Not with one of your friends.” 

You click your tongue. “I’m just saying…”

-

Kate’s drumming her fingertips on the edges of the door as the minutes tick by, the gnawing in her stomach resurfacing as the time drags on. Javi huffs for the millionth time, blowing a stray curl away from his face as a blue Bronco passes them, pulling up to park in the driveway. 

Javi leans forward, peering over the center console to study the two men climbing out of the Bronco through the windshield. “Hey Ty, isn’t that your brother’s fiancé?” 

Tyler looks up from his phone, glancing out his window. When he finally responds, his voice is impossibly tight, making her wince. “Kate, where exactly are we right now?” 

Upon her non-answer, Tyler pulls himself from the car, a colorful swear leaving his mouth as Javi follows right behind him. She scrambles out of her door, tugging on the two men’s arms. “Stop it.” She pleads, causing them both to turn. “Look, I don’t like it either but I gotta respect the fact that she wants closure. I’d do anything to have that, you know that.” 

Tyler yanks his arm back, striding across the lawn towards the two men as they let themselves in the house. Bradley’s eyes are wide as he catches sight of Tyler, shouting into the house. 

She groans when Tyler shoulders past Bradley and Pete, Javi still hot on his heels. “I am so sorry about them.” She apologizes to the two men as they shut the front door. 

“Tyler.” Jake growls, yanking on his brother’s arm. “I will sit on your head like I did when we were kids.” 

“I am not gonna let you do this to her again. For two years, my team has been putting that girl back together, putting together pieces of her you broke.” Tyler snaps, poking his finger into Jake’s chest. 

“Yeah? And he’s waited two years for this conversation, to finally get closure. They need this. And if you interrupt it, so help me God.” Jake says as he pushes his brother towards the couch. Jake takes the hint, sitting as Javi hesitantly follows suit. After a few moments of awkward silence, Kate clears her throat, catching Tyler’s eye. She jerks her head to his brother and he shakes his head. She does it again, causing Pete to glance up at her. 

“Are you okay, kid?” 

“Tyler.” She crosses her arms. “You know she doesn’t want you to leave it like this.” 

Jake’s eyes flicker up at her, giving her an eery sense of deja vu. It had been a strange adjustment, seeing a carbon copy of a person they all knew and loved, but yet acted so different. Whereas Tyler was rough around the edges, thick cowboy country accent and swear words that would make milk curdle and friends with everyone, ever the life of the party, Jake had kept a lot to himself the night before. He held himself together, never in anyway that would indicate cracks in his well-maintained image. She saw him let loose a few times with his friends, eager to hear about your and Tyler’s lives, and always polite to the Wranglers but there was a certain detachment from it all that Tyler lacked. 

“Tyler, I am sorry.” Tyler grunts, crossing his arms. Jake sighs before trying again. “For all of it. Genuinely. I know you’re thinking I’m real selfish right about now and I’m thinking it too. I’m sure she didn’t let up to the worst of it and I’m really sorry about all of it. But I didn’t call you for some sick or twisted reason of hurting her. I called you here because you’re my brother and I want you here. I want you to see this life that I’ve built for myself, cause I’m finally happy, and I- I want to share it with you.”

“Oh, you mean the life you were too busy building to come to our grandparents funeral? Some life.” Tyler scoffs. 

Jake’s shoulders fall. “Ty, I’m sorry.” He whispers. “You’re my brother, you were my best friend, and there hasn’t been a day that goes by that I don’t regret stepping up when it mattered. No stupid trophy or promotion was ever worth losing you.”

Tyler swallows, letting out a deep breath but doesn’t say anything further and Jake clearly accepts that that’s all he’s going to get out of him. He turns to Kate. “Is she happy? With you?” 

“Yes.” Javi blurts out. “So happy.” 

She peers down at her friend, who has a rapidly growing sheepish grin on his scarlet face. “The way you say that makes it sound like we aren’t happy.” 

“Just have to make the point.” 

She gives an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.” She turns back to Jake and Bradley. “Yeah, yeah she really is happy.” 

“Does this mean I can go back to watching the Wranglers streams now or am I gonna get yelled at again? Cause now that you think about it, we all kinda gaslit Coyote.” Fanboy calls from across the kitchen. Tyler turns, giving the boy a curious look. 

“What?” 

“Mickey used to watch your guys streams until I started appearing in them.” You comment, appearing next to Kate. She jumps a little, taking you in. Your face has the remnants of tears, voice raw, but there’s a lack of weight in your body she’s been seeing you carry ever since she’s known you. You wrap your arms around one of Kate’s leaning your head on your shoulder after setting a plastic tub on the ground. “They all convinced him,” You say, jerking your head towards your ex. “That he was losing his mind. Also, how come my errands never get to just be my errands? What part of stay in the car until I got back did we not understand?” 

-

“I tried to stop them, really I did.” Kate protests. You let out a quiet laugh, hiding your face in the back of her shirt. 

“Have T and Jake made up?” You say quietly. She shakes her head and you sigh.  

“Tyler-“

“No, and we’re leaving.” Tyler says, cutting you off as he pushes himself off the couch. “With the way Boone drives they’re probably halfway to Vegas by now.” 

“That’s physically not possible.” Kate mutters and you snort. 

“Tyler, I don’t want you to leave things like this.” 

“That’s not your choice.” Tyler says gruffly, stalking to the front door. Both you and Kate wince as he slams it. 

“I don’t know where he thinks he’s going, I still have the keys.” You say, finally letting go of Kate. “It’s my car anyways.” You mutter under your breath before sighing. “Anyways, we should really be on the road because Boone’s probably stopped at the alien tourist stop in Bakersfield by now.” 

“If Tyler complains about traffic again, can we take a group vote to leave him on the side of the road?” Javi asks as he cranes his head up at you. 

“We’re not leaving Tyler on the side of the road.” Kate says with a tired sigh. 

“Even if he walks to Vegas?” Javi protests earning a tired laugh from you. 

“Okay Kate, will you drive?” She nods as you hand her the keys, Javi standing up from the couch. “Javi, take that.” You say, pointing to the box. “I’m going to be out in just a minute.”

You wait for the door to shut behind them before turning to Jake. “Okay Jake, you can have your real hug now.” He grins as you pull him into a hug. “Don’t worry about him. It’ll take time.” 

“I’m sure with a couple hours trapped in a car with you, he’ll cave and call.” Jake says softly, forced humor in the words. 

(It would take three weeks, an incessantly annoying three weeks on your part, before Ty got so frustrated with you he’d called Jake while sitting on top of his truck on the ranch in Arkansas. You’re still not sure what they talked about, what was said, but by the end of the week, Tyler walked into the house with a wedding invitation on fancy card stock Tyler teased Jake endlessly for.) 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, though.” You say, squeezing him. “Let bygones by bygones. I have.” 

He hums. “Take care of yourself.” 

Bradley gives you a brief hug. “I’m glad you’re happy and safe kid. That’s all I would’ve ever wanted for you.” 

“Hope you weren’t too hard on Jake.” 

“No more than the normal amount.” 

“The normal amount is zero.” 

Bradley laughs. “You’re being more fair to him than he deserves, hope you know that.”

“Something something time space therapy.”

You reach your arms out for Pete and he stands up, giving you a grin, as Bradley laughs harder. “Don’t do anything out there that I would do.” 

You laugh. “No promises.” You pad over to Mickey, giving him a tight hug. “If you ever decide you get tired of the pilot life and want to become a storm chaser, you let me know.” Mickey laughs. 

“You’ll have to unblock me first.” You cringe at the reminder and pat his back. 

“Done. You take care of yourself.” He gives you a two finger salute, letting you step back. 

You turn back to Javy, who’s mostly kept to himself through the whole conversation. “Come here you.” He looks surprised you’re offering him another hug, but he returns it nonetheless. “You be safe out there, you hear me.” 

“Yes ma’am.” He whispers. “Don’t get sucked up into a tornado.” 

“I’ll try my hardest. And uh, really do think about my Elle suggestion.”

You both linger for a minute longer before eventually he pulls away. “You sure that’s all you want to take?”

You shrug. “Yeah, I got what I need out there. Sell the rest of the stuff, make a quick buck off of me. It’s the least I can do.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Sounds like a deal. Uh, can I walk you to the door?” You nod and he trails behind you quietly. “So this is uh, really goodbye.” 

“Seems like it.” 

“I’m uh, really happy you found what you’re looking for. I can only hope I’ll find it someday.”

“You will.” You say quietly. “I’m really sorry it didn’t work out between us.” 

“It’s for the better it seems.” 

You nod. “Well-“ You clear your throat. “Goodbye Javy.” 

The door shut behinds you with a soft thud. You sigh, padding across the wet grass as you slip in the seat next to Kate. As she pulls away from the curb, Javi asks how you’re feeling. 

“It’s stupid.” You mumble. “But I keep thinking of this Taylor Swift lyric.” 

“Not this again.” Tyler mutters and through the rear view mirror you can see Javi flick his ear. 

“What is it?” Kate asks softly. 

“It’s just this one line — what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye. It’s just odd, I think. I did really love him at one point and I did really think maybe I’d spend the rest of my life with him, that those would be my best days. And it all just kind of ends here.” You sigh, settling back into your seat. “But- I don’t know. I’m not mad about how it all happened, I guess. It lead me here.” 

Tyler lifts his chin, giving you a soft yet sincere smile through the rearview mirror. “And we’re happy to have you here.” 

-

“So,” Kate starts from the balcony of your Vegas hotel room. Your friends are fast asleep inside, all piled somewhere on the beds pushed together. You’re pretty sure when you left, Boone had pushed himself in between Tyler and Javi and was snoring. “I’ve been sort of- I kind of have something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.” 

You glance at your girlfriend. “Yeah?”

She nods. “Last night, when Javi and Boone left cause of the bad feeling they got- they weren’t the only ones who felt that. It kinda made me sick, hearing them talk about you like that, and thinking about the fact that you might actually do it. That you might remember that you liked your life there better and leave Oklahoma.” She takes a sharp breath. “Leave me.”

“Kate-“ 

“I know I’m not really the best at- at always showing you how much you mean to me, that sometimes I get caught up in chasing the storm, in actually making it all mean something, that I forgot about how great of a thing I have. I’m trying really hard not to take it for granted, because I did once and I can’t- I can’t go through that again. To lose you would be one of the greatest losses of my life.” 

“Kate, I love you. You aren’t gonna lose me, I’m not going anywhere. I only want to be with you, there isn’t any other life for me except for the one right next to you.” 

She reached up, brushing away an eyelash that had fallen onto your cheek. “I think I’m sort of starting to understand that now.” She reaches out for your hand. “Listen, I‘ve sort of- sort of been keeping my eye on some places going up for sale in Sapulpa. I know my Mom doesn’t mind having us around but I think maybe it’s time we give her back her peace and quiet.”

“Kate…”

She reaches a hand up, tucking a hair behind your ear. “We can keep the barn as home base but I found this really cute place for not too bad of a price while we were driving out here. I sort of scheduled a tour with the realtor for the day after next.” She’s wearing a soft, cautious smile.

“Kate,” Your breath hitches. “Kate Carter, are you asking me to move in with you? Are you asking me to buy a house with you?”

She gives a sort of nonchalant shrug. “If that’s what you want.” 

“I- Yes, of course that’s what I want!” You exclaim, belatedly realizing you may wake your friends. Well, not Boone at least, who sleeps like the dead. Your voice drops considerably. “Yes, yes I would love that.” 

Kate gives you a grin, reaching out to tug on the elastic band of your pajama pants to bring you closer to her. You laugh, colliding into her. Your hands brace yourself on her shoulders as Kate smiles wider than you think you’ve ever seen her. 

“I love you so much.” She whispers. “How lucky am I.”

“I hope it’s like this forever.” You say softly. “I know, there’s no guarantee and eventually, they’ll find other things. But I hope it’s always this easy, you know? Not just with us but with them too you know? They might not be the Wranglers forever but I hope they’re our family forever.” You say, turning your head to look at your friends through the glass. 

You feel the outline of Kate’s smile on your cheek. “They will be. I promise. No matter where we all go, they’ll still be here. Can’t take the home out of Oklahoma, right?”

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

can't take the home out of oklahoma - iii. (k.c.)

a/n: i've been trapped in inspo paralysis because of the heat but i have finally pulled this together! please note that this part does contain descriptions of injuries related to tornadoes/part descriptions of trauma not unlike what we see in the opening scene of the film. the fourth and final part will play really heavily on the top gun aspect of the crossover so i've made sure things wrap up nicely if you're not here for that. as always, comments and reblog are appreciated! :)

i & ii

summary: As you and Kate grow into your relationship, you and Tyler finally talk.

warnings: descriptions of injuries due to tornadoes, past description of trauma, background retellings, hurt/comfort, swearing

word count: 5.6k

“You should be all set.” Dani says, stepping away from you. 

You pump your fists in the air. “Yes!” 

She laughs, smiling. “Go on then.” 

“Thanks Dani!” You shout, taking the stairs fastest than you ever have before, slipping out the front door. You have to stop yourself from flat out running to the barn, too excited to see Kate. 

You see Boone first. He’s screwing something on the drone, probably fiddling with it as Lilly stands in the back of the barn with the rest of group, going over the data they’ve collected over the last few days. 

Boone knocks his elbow with you. You smile. “Good news, I’m free from concussion purgatory.” 

Boone grins, reaching his fist out to bump yours. “Hell yeah baby.”

“I was just coming to talk to Kate, but she looks pretty busy.” 

And also just pretty. 

She’s immersed into the data, standing over the tablet with Javi and Tyler crowded around her. She’s saying something to Lilly and Dexter as they follow her words with rapt attention. 

“I’ll talk to her later.” You muse and Boone nods.  You pause for a minute before taking Boone’s arm. He glances at you as you lean in real close despite the fact that no one will be able to hear you from across the barn. “Hey Booney baby. I took the shot.” You pat his arm, letting go, as his eyes go wide. “Your turn.” 

You laugh all the way back to the house as Boone shouts “Are you fucking shitting me man?” 

-

Kate softly knocks on the door of her bedroom door to alert you of her presence about an hour and a half later. Her head peaks around the door and you glance up at her from your phone, smile growing as you do.

You slide your phone onto her nightstand as she slips into the room, shutting the door gently behind her. 

“Hey.” She says quietly. “Dani says you’re all cleared.” 

You nod, moving to sit upwards on the bed, mindful of the sleeping Enid on your chest. “Free from concussion purgatory. How was the chase?” 

“Two out of three storms collapsed.” She responds, climbing onto the bed next you. “We’re keeping an eye out on a few more — might head back out in the morning if you want to join us? Only if you’re feeling up to it.” Kate’s voice feigns an air of casual nonchalance but you can hear the worry in the undertone of her words. 

You hum. “We’ll see. Only if you’re going.” 

Her smile grows as she reaches over to scratch Enid’s ears, the puppy nuzzling into her touch. “Always happy to have you along.” 

It’s quiet for a minute as the two of you sit there, basking in each other’s presence. The setting sun filters in through Kate’s window, setting a golden glow to the girl’s hair. 

“Look, I-“ Kate breaks off. She shakes her head. “If you want to chalk this up to- just heat of the moment, adrenaline, whatever, I’d understand.”

“Do you want that?” You ask quietly. 

“No.” She admits quietly. “No, no I don’t.” She sighs, quiet for a minute and you let her think, pensive look crossing her face. “No, I- I’ve-“ She breaks off again and you nudge her. 

“Kate?” She glances back up at you and you take her hand, intertwining her fingers with yours. “Whatever you have to say, I want to hear it.” 

She squeezes your hand. “I- I’ve come to the realization that I’m in love with you.” 

The confession should hit you like a ton of bricks, but instead all it does is send a warm soothing feeling through your body. 

Kate loves you. 

You didn’t think you’d ever entertained the possibility that she could love you and you feel alight, giddy almost, with the joy of hearing those words. 

But marveling in her words means you’re quiet for too long and it’s clear Kate begins to panic, ready to take back the confession. “I’m- I’m sorry. I just- After what happened, I realized I was so scared of losing you and I couldn’t miss another opportunity without showing you how I felt. But if you don’t feel that way for me, it’s okay. I can- I will make this be professional, just platonic. You don’t need to leave-“ 

Your eyebrows had been furrowing as she talk and you interrupt her as she goes to tug her fingers away. “Leave? Who said anything about leaving?” You question as you tighten your fingers around hers again. 

She hesitates for a minute before sighing. “I know that you have someone back at home who still cares for you-“ 

“I’m not hung up on him, Kate.” You interrupt. “I’m not still in love with him. Our breakup was messy and sudden as all hell, but I’ve let him go.” 

“He’d take you back in a heartbeat.” She says softly, tightening her fingers around your own as if you might intend to flee as she reminds you of your ex. “He still loves you. I mean, I don’t blame the guy, you’re…” She trails off. “You’re you.” She says in a tone so soft it makes your heart swell. She uses her free hand to wipe at her face. “And I’m just Kate. Kate who gets the people she loves killed.” 

You let go of Kate’s hand, a flash of panic crossing her face, only to disappear when you move to gently pry Enid off of your chest. “Sorry baby.” You whisper as the dog whimpers. “Need both of my hands and my body for this.” 

You loop your fingers in Kate’s belt loops, tugging her closer before your hands find placement on her waist. 

“You’re not just Kate to me. You’re Kate fucking Carter, Kate who tames tornadoes, Kate who has done what nobody else thought possible. The people you love don’t get killed because of you, Kate. They wouldn’t see it that way and neither do I.” You say softly, moving one of your hands to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “And I’m not leaving. This is my family, here with the Wranglers. I’ve- My whole life, I’ve tried to so hard to find a place where I truly belonged and I know no other place is right like it is here. And a huge reason is because of you, Kate.” You croon, hand gently cupping her cheek. “Yeah, I had somebody back home who meant a lot to me at one point in time and I’ll always wish the best for him. But he and I- we weren’t right for each other. Not like this is. And I know I haven’t- haven’t exactly shared all my scars with you and I’m sorry about that-“

“Hey.” She cuts you off gently. “We’ve got time.”

You tuck stray hair behind her ears, taking a second to admire how soft it is as you do before giving her a small smile. “Kate, I’ve been in love with you for so long now and I never even thought or gave myself a chance to believe that you could return my feelings. But I promise you, there is nowhere else in this world I’d want to be than next to you.” 

“You love me?” She whispers, eyes glassy. 

“Kate, I- I don’t know how anyone couldn’t be.” 

She leans in a little bit further, but pauses. “Can I- Can I kiss you?” 

You give the girl a soft smile, squeezing your hands against her. “Kate, you can kiss me whenever you want.” 

The kiss is softer this time, letting you savor it. The last kiss between the two of you had been a rush against time, a need to express your feelings but this, right here, was just for you two. 

Kate’s hands find your cheek, languidly deepening the kiss as she tilts your head. You’re all but practically in her lap, crowding her space in a way you’ve always wanted. 

it’s only when Enid paws at your thigh to you break away, breathing out a laugh at the little dog. You sit back, letting him crawl into your lap as Kate shifts on the bed, sitting so she can tuck your head into the crook of your neck. 

“So, does this like… make you my girlfriend now?” Kate asks, a smile tugging at her lips.

“If you want.” You respond, mirroring her own grin. 

“I think I’d like that.” She says with a sigh. You snort, reaching out to pet Enid as she wraps a hand around your side. “Hey, what was Boone yelling about earlier when you stopped by the barn?”

You give her a grin, feeling a bit sheepish. “A few weeks ago, Boone started ragging on me about what was going on between you and I so I started getting on him about him and Javi. He basically said that if I took the shot, he would too. I had told him had to do it first, so I guess he sort of thought he could keep running from it.” You shrug. “And while you kissed me first, I kissed you back and well, you know, told him it was his turn to take the shot.”

Kate giggles as a knock sounds at the door and Kate calls for them to come in. Tyler pushes the door open, stepping into the room. 

“Hey, Dani let us know you’re feeling better.” He says, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

“I am.” You confirm. 

“That’s good.” He says, looking around Kate’s bedroom. Your eyes slide between the pair, discomfort settling in. 

Kate blames me, hell I blame myself. 

You catch Kate’s eye, and nod to Tyler. She sighs and shifts on the bed. “T, I’m sorry for yelling at you. It wasn’t your fault.” 

He shakes his head, taking a step forward to sit on the edge of the bed. “No need to apologize, Kate.” He says with a grin that is all too plastic for your liking. “The blame is all mine.” 

“Would you stop that?” You say sharply and he looks up at you. “It’s like I keep trying to tell you both, nobody is at fault for what happened. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. I’m an adult who is in charge of her own actions and the consequences of them. Neither of you made me take care of the truck. I chose too. And I keep telling you I’ve walked away from worse. I’d like it if we could offer ourselves a little forgiveness here.” 

Kate glances at Tyler. “Ty, I really am sorry. It wasn’t right that I yelled at you. I was projecting and looking for someone to blame. It doesn’t excuse it. I am sorry.”

“I know Carter.” He says, crossing his arms. “I was never mad at you, just myself. But if you really are fine-“ He breaks off, looking to you for confirmation. When you nod, the tension in his shoulders loosen. “Then we’re all good.” 

The three of you sit in silence for a minute as you watch the dusk roll in over Kate’s shoulder. 

“So, I gotta ask.” You both turn back to Tyler. “Are the two of you like- dating now?” 

“Maybe.” Kate responds. “Gonna bother you if we are?” 

He shakes his head, grin growing. “Nah, cause I’m sick and tired of both of y’all pinning. Plus, if Sapulpa made the first move, it means StormPar owes me forty bucks.” 

“Hey guys!” Lilly shouts up the stairs. “The doppler is changing! If we want to catch that storm we’ve been watching, we’ve gotta go now!” 

Tyler’s eyes flicker down to the dog in your lap. 

“Does anyone else get the eery sense Enid’s only interested in you when he can sense a storm coming?” 

-

Boone worms his way in between where Javi and Tyler are sitting, beaming at you from the across the fire. Even in the orange glow of the firelight, you can see when Javi’s cheeks redden as Boone indiscreetly places an arm around Javi’s waist, pulling him in. 

You snort as you and Tyler make eye contact, Tyler giving you an exaggerated roll of his eyes. 

“What, you got something you want to say?” Boone asks with a tip of his head before taking a draw of his beer. 

You look down at the girl whose head is your lap as she flips through Lilly’s sketchbook. You brush a hand through Kate’s hair, tugging on a knot as you do. “No.” You hum. “I’m not exactly much better myself.” 

Although the team had never said anything about you and Kate, you knew they knew in the same way they had known about Javi and Boone. The quiet touches (well, in Boone’s case, rather obvious touches), the silent conversations, the way you leaned into each other’s presence. The way Kate sought you out after a storm and the way you always found your way to her room at the end of the night. 

It was simple, here in this life that you had. 

You’d never felt more whole, more complete, than alongside these people who’d become your family. You wanted to spend the rest of your life with all of them, no matter how that time was spent. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Kate asks softly, moving to sit up with her weight pressed into you. You hum, tucking some stray hair behind her ear. 

“Bout how happy I am. How lucky I am to have this.” 

Kate gives you a soft smile, not an ounce insincere. Her eyes glimmer in the firelight as her right arm leans over, wrapping around your shoulders. 

“We’re the lucky ones.” She whispers. “You coming to Oklahoma was one of the best things that’s ever happened to us. To me.”

“I can’t hear what you’re saying but the sap is making me nauseous!” Boone calls from across the fire and Javi nudges Boone, Ty hitting the back of his head. 

“Shove it where the sun don’t shine Booney baby!” You call back, throwing him the bird as you pressed a chaste kiss to Kate’s lips. 

Dani snorts. “I always knew California would fit right in.”

-

“Hi Mrs. Jacobson!” Kate calls, walking up the drive to one of her neighbors houses. The elderly woman waves, beckoning you and the Carters up her front porch. 

The Jacobsons were one of Kate’s neighbors and they were getting ready to move out to Arizona to be closer to their daughter. Unfortunately, a stray kitten had decided that week that their new residence was the Jacobson’s farm. 

Mrs. Jacobson, Ellen she insists you call her, lets you all inside. Cathy had been hesitant about taking on a new pet but Kate had insisted the three of you go see the kitten anyways, just to be sure. 

(When you asked why Kate wanted you to go with, she’d simply given you a confused look and said that you’d be the cat’s mom too.) 

As you suspected she would, Kate begins to fawn over the peachy colored kitten, despite being covered in dirt from outside. Kate scoops the kitten up in her arms, cooing as the cat purrs, nuzzling into her hand. 

“We’ve given the kitten food and some shelter, but we’re just not really equipped for such a little thing and with the move on the horizon, we’d rather know the kitten’s going to a good home.” Ellen explains as you reach a hand out, gently scratching the cat’s head. 

“We could name you Peaches.” You say softly and the cat meows, prompting Kate to giggle. 

“I think Peaches likes that idea, huh baby?” She coos. Kate glances back up at her Mom, eyes pleading. 

Cathy sighs, letting her hands fall to her hips. “I’ve never been able to say no to you, you know that Katie?” 

Kate’s smile grows, jumping lightly on her toes and you chuckle, taking the cat from Kate’s arms so she could hug her Mom. Cathy runs her hands up and down Kate’s back, chuckling as she does. 

“At least you’re actually old enough to help take care of the cat this time around.”

-

“I still can’t believe you didn’t want Enid so badly.” You comment as Kate curls into your side. 

Tyler looks at the dog asleep on his chest. “That town just reminded me so much of where I grew up.” 

You glance up at him. “Yeah?” 

He nods, running a hand down Enid’s back. “When Dani was talking about his owners, it reminded me so much of how I lost my own grandparents. And we never uh, did find their dog afterwards.” 

Kate looks at Tyler. “Ty, I’m so sorry to hear that.” 

He shrugs as Enid nuzzles into his hand. “Such is life.”

You look out at your friends. Dani and Lilly are curled up together in their double camping chair, both passed out. Boone and Javi are huddled together across the fire, in quiet conversation. The blue staffy (Buttons, at Boone’s insistence) you all had picked up from the wreckage of another town is sat at Boone’s feet. Dexter is a few feet away from the fire, looking out through the telescope he’d brought. 

It was the end of the season. The storm you had all chased today had been for you, for your team. There were no cameras, just you and your friends and the sky.

Tomorrow, you all would head back to Sapulpa. 

Tyler had bought a place out by Kate’s sometime before the season so most of the team would settle there. There had been talk of roadtrips, Boone in particular wanting to head out to the intermountain west to find places to rock climb. Dexter was planning to go back to New Orleans for a little while. You supposed Kate and Javi would hunker down, focus on the data from the season and using it to get grants for the next. You knew Tyler had plans to get some relief out to towns hit by the hurricanes predicted to hit coastal towns this fall. Lilly had plans to improve her drones and Dani had been talking about binge watching all the Netflix shows she couldn’t watch during the season. 

And you- you would stay here. With this team and do anything they asked you to. You’d stay on Kate’s farm, with Enid who loved Ty more and Peaches who loved Kate even more, and help Cathy with the cows every morning. You’d help Javi and Kate draw up their grant proposals, help Boone manage the channel in the off-season lull, help Ty build relief plans for the hurricane season that had already been off to a rocky start. 

She didn’t know it, but you’d follow Kate anywhere she asked you to go. 

“Tyler, how come you don’t talk to your brother?” You ask quietly. Kate perks her head up off where it’s resting on your arm, moving to sit up. Javi and Boone both glance up, clearly intrigued by the conversation shift. 

Tyler takes a long draw of his beer. “We finally talking about it California?”

You sigh. “Yeah, I think it’s time we do.” 

“Tyler? I didn’t know you had a brother.” Javi comments. 

He sighs. “My twin. We don’t talk really at all.” He looks over at you. “How’d you know?”

Despite yourself, you snort. “The only difference between you and Jake Seresin is that he chases an adrenaline thrill by flying multimillion dollar jets for the Navy and you get it by shooting fireworks at a tornado. Otherwise, the two of you might as well be carbon copies of each other. The ego, the looks, the Southern charm. It’s all the same. I will say, the last names threw me, started to think maybe I was crazy.” 

Ty shakes his head. “When this started to get big, we had a couple crazies start to try and track down the rest of my family. Showed up in my hometown in Arkansas. Stuff like that. So, I decided to go by my Mom’s maiden name. Legally, I’m still a Seresin, but to the rest of the world and to me, I’ll always be an Owens. How do you even know Jake?” 

You hum. “I was in a pretty serious relationship with this guy named Javy for about a year and a half before I came here.” You say, squeezing Kate’s hand. “Served in the Navy with Jake. Best friends.” Your eyes flicker over to Javi. “That’s the one that you guys saw the voicemail from. The one I was scandalously younger than.” 

Javi straightens up, recognition forming on his face as Boone takes a glance at his partner. “Y’all talked about this before?” Boone asks, curiosity piquing in his voice. 

Javi shrugs. “Just a little. That night, when we got drunk and made cookies. I was sort of picking on her about it.” 

Tyler hums. “Yeah, yeah I think I met Machado a few times while they were back in the Academy. Nice guy.” 

You glance at Kate, who’s listening to your conversation with rapt attention. “Jake’s a real asshole.” You comment, scuffing your shoe against the ground. “I mean, he really-“ 

He really ruined my life, you want to say. 

“I’d agree with you on that one.” Jake mutters. 

“Tyler, what did he do?” Kate asks gently. 

Tyler sighs, stretching out in his chair. “Our parents separated the summer before we started kindergarten. Mom got full custody of me, Dad of Jake. Mom took me and went back to Arkansas to live with her parents. Jake lived in Texas but he spent so much time out there with us, all the holidays and school vacations. Dad apparently was never home much, hired a full-time nanny to watch him during the school year. Jacob Seresin always cared too damn much about his career and it’s a trait he unfortunately passed on to my brother.” 

Tyler sighs again after a minute. “Anyways, Mom died when I was 7. It was sudden - heart failure. Jake never came to the funeral. From then on, my grandparents raised me. Really tried with Jake too. But when I was in college, he was at Top Gun.” 

“For the record - Top Gun is a major competition where the top one percent of the Navy pilots compete for a trophy.” You say quietly to Kate. 

“The hell you know about Top Gun?” Tyler asks. 

You shrug. “Javy was there with Jake. And boy, do they live in their glory days.”

Tyler nods, conceding. “Makes sense. Anyways, towards the end of Top Gun, a tornado hit my town. Neither of my grandparents made it. I left school with three weeks left in the semester to be there for the funeral and sort through the estate stuff. I begged Jake to come but he said Top Gun was too important for his career, that I didn’t understand what sacrifices he’d have to make to be there. I was so angry with him I stopped answering him and eventually Jake stopped calling.” 

“And yet when I called you and told you Jake had given me your number, you still did all this for me?” 

Tyler looks up at you, the sincerity swimming in his face knocking the breath from your lungs. “I’d still do anything in this world for my brother. And if it means helping a scared girl calling me, I’d do it. And you’ve turned out to be one of the best things to happen for this team so I’m grateful I did.” 

“Me too.” Kate says softly and you smile, taking her hand and intertwining your fingers. 

“I third that statement.” Boone follows up and Javi snorts, shaking his head. 

“You ready to tell me how you ended up with my number in the first place?” Tyler asks. 

You sigh, glancing at Kate. “At the start of tornado season, we all went out to Texas for a friend’s joint bachelor/bachelorette trip. Javy and Jake, they’re friends and teammates with the groom and I was a bridesmaid for his fiancée.” You swallow around a lump that’s beginning to form at the thought of finally talking about what happened to you.

“A key point here is that Jake never liked me. He spent our whole relationship telling Javy every reason why he thought we shouldn’t be together and telling me why I’d never be enough for his friend. You know how I’ve always said that towards the end, I was unhappy?” 

The group nods, unsure looks on their faces. You sigh, shifting your hair. “Well, it was sort of this- mob mentality, with his friends right? It didn’t matter how much they liked me individually, when they saw Jake getting on me, they all piled it on. They saw it as fair game. And God, Jake would say the meanest things to me when he thought no one else could hear him and I used to beg Javy to stand up for me, just once. He never did, he wanted me to play nice with his friends. Didn’t want to go against the grain but didn’t want to do what it would take to keep me, you know? It wasn’t like he was a bad boyfriend but- towards the end there, it wasn’t like he was a good one either.”

“Shit kid.” Tyler breathes out, long and slow. “That’s not- that’s not good.” 

You shrug. “I’ve dated worse. You know, he was nice to me and we, we laughed a lot. Wasn’t beating the crap out of me or anything.” 

“Those are terrible standards for a relationship.” Javi says firmly. “Like lower than low. You should never ever let anyone treat you like that. You deserve better than that.” 

You sniffed. “I loved him.” You offer, tears seeping their way through the statement. 

Anger flashes across his face. “If I ever catch him-“ Boone nudges him, forcing him to take a breath and lean back. 

You sigh again. “So anyways, a bunch of the bridesmaids pulled out from the trip right beforehand — didn’t want to be caught dead in Texas. My presence just pissed Jake off to no end, not even acknowledging that this stupid trip ends up coinciding with Jake’s birthday. And of course, Jake wants to go out to this rodeo like two hours from the ranch we’re staying at. The night before, everyone goes out, parties too hard and the next morning the only people ready to leave on time are me, Jake, and this guy named Steven, who was a service member they all knew and owned the ranch with his wife Lainey. So we go to this stupid rodeo, but not before Jake and I spent the two hours fighting. I mean, he really- really let me have it. Kept telling me to have a backbone, to stand up for myself, like these guys weren’t eight, nine, ten years older than me and my boyfriend’s best friends. And by the time we got to the rodeo, I just- god, I knew something was wrong.” 

You don’t realize you’re crying until Kate reaches up to brush the tears from your face. “Baby, it’s okay.” She says softly, squeezing your hand. 

“All day, I kept asking Jake if we could leave and he kept saying no and then- and then it hit.” Your voice cracks as you feel yourself begin to slip into the memories. 

The leather of the truck, your outfit covered in blood and dirt, the way Jake had said have a backbone and stand up for yourself as he had hit the steering wheel, the way you had flinched. 

“All day it had been stormy and cloudy, but Jake insisted it was fine, no tornado would hit despite the warnings. He knew Texas tornados, he had said and he insisted that wasn’t it. But of course, that was it. And of course, we were in the farthest possible point from the shelters too. We ended up taking cover, holding onto this storm grate.”

It’s almost like you’re there again, the cold terror and panic like ice in your veins. The rain pounding on you. The screams of the people around you. The wind nearly tipping you over. 

“But before Steven could make it to the storm grate, some debris hit him. It sort of… went through him.” You say as Kate winces at the image you’re sure she sees. Boone cringes and Javi makes a noise in the back of his throat, eyes closing. “The immediate impact didn’t kill him and the whole time we rode out the storm we could hear him screaming out for us a few feet away to help him. By the time the tornado had passed, he was dead.” 

You remember too well the iron grip Jake had on the back of your shirt, the way he’d shielded your body with his. The whispered apologies he’d said as you cried through the storm. The way you had begged for him to help you afterwards as you stared at Steven. 

The unseeing, defeated look in his eye. 

“Jake asked me to lie. To say we had only found Steven afterwards, that we had gotten to shelter in time. I don’t know why I listened to him but I think I was in such shock, I did it. But it- it was all too much. Suddenly, my life didn’t make sense, didn’t feel right. How could I go back to San Diego knowing what I had seen? How could I go back to San Diego when I had watched a good man die? And I just kept wondering - why had it been me? What had the universe seen in this bossy, irritating girl that deserved to live over someone who had a life and a family? I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was what I had seen, about why it was me who was still breathing. All I could think about was the fact that I had agreed to lie and I couldn’t look any of them in the eye, least of all Javy. So, three days after we got back from Texas, I packed my duffle bag, marched on in to Javy’s house and told him we weren’t going to work out and that I was leaving. I didn’t know where I was going — just that what I wanted didn’t make sense anymore. The life I had didn’t fit.” 

Kate’s thumbs on your knuckles reminds you to let out a breath as you reach up to wipe the tears from your chin with the sleeves of her flannel. 

“I tunnel visioned so hard I didn’t even realize all of his roommates were there, including Jake. Jake followed me out of the house, shoved this tiny scrap piece of paper with Tyler’s number on it, and told me that if I ever needed anything to call that number. I wasn’t- I wasn’t going to but I was sitting in the San Diego airport trying to figure out where in the world I was going to go, what I was going to do, and I just- I just wanted to try.”

You pull your hands away from Kate, scrubbing at the tears on your face with your sleeves before looking at her. “That day, when he called me and left that voicemail, I realized- I realized I’ve never made a better decision than I did to come to Oklahoma.” A sob cuts through, voice weakening as you talk. “He says he’s still in love with me but the truth is, he’s still in love with a version of me that doesn’t exist, that will never exist again. That girl died that day at the rodeo and I will never be whole again.” 

Tyler sighs, standing up from his chair as he pulls you into a tight hug. “You are whole, California. You might be a bit rough around the edges but you’re whole and you’re healing. This team’s got you. We ain’t gonna turn our backs on you.” 

Tyler lets you go and you step back, looking at your girlfriend. “Kate?” You croak. 

She gives you a soft albeit concerned smile, pulling you into a hug of your own. “Javi always said we were more similar than we would think. Who knew it would be like this.” She whispers in your ear as you clutch the fabric of her sweatshirt. “You know I love you, yeah?” You nod into her shoulder. “Ty’s right. We got you. You’re safe here.”

“For the record, you heal me too. Your love doesn’t make the memories cut so deep.” 

She pulls back, eyes glittering with unshed tears.

Her hand comes up, brushing her thumb over your cheekbone. “Right back at ya.”

Javi waits until later, when you are all getting ready to turn in for the night, to pull you aside. His hug is long as he tucks his head on top of yours. Part of you thinks it may be more for his benefit than yours but you can’t deny the peace that comes wrapped around him. 

“You know, I know you’re like Owens little sister.” He says, clearing his throat. “But you’re like mine too. And it makes me angry as hell that you went through that shit without people looking out for you in the way they should’ve.” 

“We can’t go back and change the past.” You whisper. 

“We can’t. But I can make it right in the here and now. It’s like Ty said, we got your back. You ever find a time where you need me to knock some Navy guys skulls together, or hell you just need me, I’ll be there. You pick up the phone at three am, you call me ten years from now, I’ll be there.” 

“Ditto.” Boone says over Javi’s shoulder. “Whatever you need.” 

You let go of Javi’s sweatshirt, reaching out to fist bump Boone’s own. He smiles before joining the hug, much to the annoyance of Javi, based on the way he groans. 

“We’re family man. Don’t ever forget that.” Boone says, squeezing the both of you. 

“Don’t know how I ever could.” 

iiii.

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

I think i’m dying. This is killing me. Laying on the floor dead.

can't take the home out of oklahoma - ii. (k.c.)

a/n: we're soooo back! this is filled with banter and found family and all the sweet angst! also, it's come to my attention through a third rewatch that i've actually been wrong the whole time and kate's last name is in fact carter. if you catch any of my slip-ups, whoopsies! thank you to @cottagecori for letting me ramble about this one the phone for hours and to @sometimesanalice for listening to all the personal lore. i actually ended up having part iii written before i start part ii but now i think it needs a rewrite so that should be up in a few days. comments and reblog are always appreciated!

part i.

summary: You and Kate build a friendship until you stand on the precipice of something more.

warnings: swearing, alcohol, tornadoes, concussions, angst, kissing, scott is actually the villain

word count: 10.7k

Kate pushes the barn door open, a piece of toast in her other hand. 

You’ve got another cup of coffee in hand as you follow Kate inside. She stops as you take the place in. 

“This is where the magic happens?” You ask, taking it all in. The model town, the polymer tucked up at the top, extra equipment for the truck strewn about through the place. 

“Just about.” She answers. 

She hangs by the door, as you walk around, taking it all in. 

Towards the back, where some of Kate’s papers sit, are photos. There’s some of the Wranglers, some of her Mom. Others of her and Tyler, some with her and Javi. 

You nudge one of them aside, looking at one of the pictures tucked in the very corner. 

It’s a picture of an obviously much younger Kate and Javi with three others you don’t recognize. 

You think you should maybe be surprised that it’s clear Javi and Kate go back so far but in thinking about what you’ve seen from them, it feels like the signs were always there. 

There’s a comfortable ease they have with each other that can only come with so much time of knowing someone, the same one Boone has with Tyler. 

“You know, I owe Javi a lot.” Kate comments, coming to stand next to you.

“Yeah?”

She nods. “Without him, there wouldn’t be all of this. He brought Tyler and I together in a way. If he’d never convinced me to come back to Oklahoma-“ She breaks off, shrugging. 

“I get what you mean.” You say softly. 

“He’s my best friend. We’d do anything for each other I think. No matter how far apart we go, he’ll always be there. He’ll always be in my orbit.” 

“You guys complement each other in a lot of ways.” You say softly and she nods. 

It’s quiet again as you think of the conversation you’d caught on the stairs last night. 

Javi, telling Kate she should give you another chance. 

Kate, saying she doesn’t want to get hurt again.

You want to ask about these three people you don’t recognize but you know well enough that Kate probably wouldn’t tell you, would probably get annoyed at you for not having the wherewithal to not ask. 

A knock against the wooden door of the barn pulls both your attention. It’s Javi, standing tentatively at the doors. 

“Owens says we’re gonna leave in about an hour, so to be ready by then.” You nod, going to step away and Kate gestures her head, beckoning Javi in. 

You wait as Javi walks over. “Just showing her all the grant stuff.” Kate says, gesturing to the messy table next to you. There’s a white board hung on the wall, grant and sponsor deadlines in a sprawling handwriting that screams Boone. 

“That’s right, we’ve got the deadline for the proposal to talk to the governor and the senators this Friday.” Javi says, picking up a binder. “Good thing California’s got the experience writing proposals.”

“Really?” Kate asks. 

You shrug. “Nothing too impressive, just research proposals. I haven’t written many as I’ve read them — comes with the territory of working in a Writing Center for four years.” 

“The hell’s a Writing Center?” Javi asks, flipping through the binders, presumably to figure out what they should take on the road with them. 

“Place to help students with their writing on college campuses. I spent two years one in my undergrad and then both years of my Masters.”

“You’ve got a Masters?” Kate asks. 

“Yeah but not in anything useful.” You say with a shrug. 

Kate clicks her tongue. “That’s okay. I don’t even think Javi knows how to spell the word conference, so we could use all the help we can get.” 

“Hey now!” Javi defends, snapping the binder shut. “I was in the same PhD program as you!” 

-

“Agh!” Kate shouts. 

You shut the door, hand flying up to cover your eyes. 

“Sorry!” You shout. “I thought you were still in the bathroom!”

You cringe, thinking of the scar running down’s Kate thigh you gotten sight of. You think of the picture tucked into the corner of the barn, the one with three people not around. 

Kate opens the door and you spin around. She rubs her cheeks, a dusty pink covering them. “Sorry.” She says. “You just scared me.” 

You shrug. “No, it was my fault.” 

You two both stand there like in the doorway, awkwardly looking at each other until you hear heavy footsteps. You both look down to see Tyler standing at the bottom of the staircase, hands on his hips. “We’re waiting on the both of you.” He says matter-of-factly. “Hurry up. I’ll leave you here.”

He turns on his heel and you can hear the front door shut behind him. 

“He will.” Kate says. “Leave us here. So we should probably-“ 

You nod, ducking into Kate’s room to grab your bag. She waits for you and then you both walk down the stairs, Kate shouting goodbye to her Mom as she does. Cathy meets her daughter at the door and you slip out, trying to not let your heart twinge at the sight of the obvious love and care Cathy has for Kate. 

Tyler tells you you’ll be riding with Lilly and you nod, climbing into the passenger seat of her van as Lilly whoops, shouting something to Javi about finally not having hot cheeto dust all over her radio and dashboard. 

Kate leaves the house a few minutes later and your eyes meet through the windshield. She gives you a tight smile and a small wave before climbing into the passenger seat of Tyler’s truck. 

“You okay?” Lilly asks and you startle, not having realized she had opened the door. 

“Fine.” You respond. She studies you for a minute before turning the key. 

“Let’s go chase some twisters then baby!”

-

You shoot up with a gasp, feeling the sweat drip down your back as your breath comes out in short pants. Tears sting at your eyes as you take in the darkened space. 

The Oklahoma rose nightlight sits in the corner, the grey cotton sheets beneath you familiar. 

Okay. Okay. You were in Kate’s room. You were okay. You were safe here. 

You press your palms into your eyes, trying to push back the tears as someone shifts next to you on the bed. 

“Are you okay?” She asks softly and you have to bite back a whimper at the humiliating knowledge that you’d gone and woken her up. 

“Fine.” You say, pulling your hands away from your eyes. She reaches over to her side of the bed, flicking her lamp on. “You don’t have to do that.” You say quietly. “I’m sorry for waking you. You can go back to sleep.” 

Kate shakes her head but doesn’t say anything as she moves to have her back be supported by her headboard. Finally, you sigh, moving to match her position as she waits. 

“You know, I used to get them all the time too.” She says, her twang a bit more prominent at this point of night. “The nightmares.”

“How do you deal with them?” You ask quietly, chancing a glance at her. 

She sighs, shaking her head. “I don’t know that I used to deal with them per se. When I first moved to New York after it happened, I used to stay up for days at a time until I was so tired I wouldn’t dream. Some nights I’d have to spend hours reminding myself what was and wasn’t real. They’ve only gotten better since I’ve started to deal with what happened head on.”

You want to ask her what it is exactly that happened, an incident everyone but you seems to know, but you can’t bring yourself to dare to ask. She must know the questions you have though because she keeps talking. 

“I see you look at that picture of them.” She says quietly. “The one in the barn. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.” 

“I didn’t think I should.” You say quietly. 

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever made it clear you could.” She responds. “They were friends of Javi and I’s. That photo in there, it’s the last photo we ever took together. We were storm chasing that day; they were helping me with my dream.” She lets out a shaky breath. “The storm we ended up in was an EF-5, not the EF-1 we had been hoping for. We tried to hide under an overpass. Praveen was taken first, he never made it. Addy and I were trying to climb up when I got cut.” You think of the scar down Kate’s thigh, the one you’d only seen that one time on accident. “Addy got hit by debris right after. My boyfriend at the time, Jeb, he helped me get up, to cling to the metal piping. He was holding on to me until he wasn’t.” She swallows. “For years, I’d see them in my dreams. I’d wake up think Jeb was telling me we were going to be okay, that Addy was chasing one more storm with me, that Praveen was still there with his cautious concern. For years, I thought it was my fault.” 

“Kate, I’m so sorry.” You whisper. “I couldn’t- I couldn’t even imagine.” 

You think of Texas, of the horrors you’d seen there. And yet it almost can’t compare to the loss Kate’s lived through. 

“It’s why I’m glad you’re joining Javi and I in DC next month.” 

“How do you mean?”

She wraps her arms around herself, a tear trickling down her cheek. You resist the urge to reach out and wipe it off her face. 

“Praveen’s parents told me after the funeral that they could never be angry with me for what happened; that they knew their son had died doing what he loved. Praveen had gotten struck by lightening a few weeks before and I don’t know, I think they knew that those were the risks he was taking after he decided to keep going back out. Addy’s parents blamed me though. Said that I encouraged her recklessness, that Addy would’ve been safe if it hadn’t been for me.” She swallows. “But Jeb’s parents- they’ve got money, the degrees in science. They’re pretty prominent in the meteorology community but they’re not storm chasers in any form of the term. They didn’t just blame me for Jeb’s death, they blamed Javi.” Another tear drips down her face. “Javi never even got close to the storm. Jeb was dating me; he’s the one followed me into the storm. He never would’ve been there if it hadn’t been for me. But they put that stain on Javi’s name too, it’s why Javi had to fight so hard to get StormPar together, it’s why he had to bring Scott on. I’m terrified it’s gonna affect what we’re trying to do here too.” 

This time, you finally reach out for Kate. You take her hand, squeezing it. “Kate, you’re testing the unprecedented out here and it’s working. You’ve got the support of all the Wranglers, all their supporters. You’ve got this. You and Javi and Tyler - you guys are going to change the game, I’m sure of it. It doesn’t matter what they say, I see it every time you guys go out into the field and cause a storm to collapse. You’re going to change the world, I just know it.” 

She gives you a watery smile as you bite back the you don’t need me for that. 

“I hope DC is going to be good.”

“It’s going to be great.” 

She sniffs, taking her free hand to wipe at the nose. “Anyways, I didn’t mean to make it about me.”

“No, you didn’t-“

She cuts you off. “Just that if you ever want to share that stuff that’s haunting you, the stuff that keeps you up at night, I’d listen.” 

-

“You guys, I thought we had a no work at the dinner table rule.” Dani says. 

She shrugs, crowding over your phone with Javi. “Technically foods not here, so it’s not dinner time.” 

You’re inside with her Mom and Tyler and Dexter, getting ready to bring out all the food for dinner. Javi chuckles as they scroll through the outline you’d drawn up earlier in the day.  

Suddenly, your phone starts ringing with a call and her and Javi shoot back like they’ve been burned. 

She doesn’t recognize the name on your phone, but she knows you haven’t spoken of the life you’d left behind nor talked to anyone from that past. 

“What do we do?” She hisses.

“Kate, just decline it.” Lilly says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

It probably is, but it doesn’t save her from pressing the wrong button and answering the call. 

Her hands fly up to her mouth, looking around the table as they all fall silent. 

Hello? Hello? Are you there? 

She can hear a man say and she glances at Javi, wide-eyed, unsure of what to do. 

Sweetheart, can you hear me? Are you there? 

Javi’s hand darts out and ends the call. 

It feels like the table lets out a collective sigh of relief when the phone starts ringing again. 

Lilly reaches around Dani this time and ends the call. Javi picks up your phone again, going back to reading the outline. 

“Kate man, you’ve got all those fancy degrees and you’re telling me you don’t know how to decline a phone call?” Boone crows from the end of the table. 

“The question should really be are we going to say anything to her.” Dani says with a smirk on her face. 

“Oh please don’t.” She groans, letting her head fall into her palm. 

“Oh fuck.” Javi mutters from next to her and she steals a glance at the phone. “Kate can’t decline a call but apparently I can’t swipe away a voicemail notification either.” 

Out of her peripheral vision, she thinks Dani’s eyes flicker up over her head. 

“Hey guys, this feels like a real invasion of her privacy.” Lilly says and she’s right. Her Mom would wring her neck if she knew what her and Javi were reading right now but it’s like a bad car wreck they can’t look away from as the voicemail transcribes itself. 

“Hey guys, she’s coming back, I’d put it away.” Boone says, shifting closer to take the phone. 

“Okay, yeah, like put it away right now.” Dani says, scooping the phone up but it doesn’t make her forget what she’s seen and she knows Javi won’t either as they share an uneasy glance. “Here.” Dani says, offering you your phone as you slide the platter down in front of her and Javi. 

She swallows, chancing a glance at you as your confusion about the obvious fuss over the phone turns into a hard look, sliding the phone into your back pocket. 

You’re quiet through most of dinner as her and Javi keep looking at each other, both unable to participate in the conversation either. 

Hey, sweetheart, it’s me. It sounded like you picked up there for a minute but maybe it’s a fluke, I don’t know. 

I miss you, darling. I miss you so much. The last six weeks have been so hard without you and I just hope that you’re safe wherever it is you’ve gone. Your sister still calls me sometimes to ask where you’ve gone and I still listen to your favorite music hoping it’ll make you be there. 

I know you’ve said we’re done, that you didn’t want to be with me anymore, but if you ever want to come home, please let me know. I still love you baby, I always will you. You can come home whenever you’re ready.

-

“Man, California, what’s all this? It’s like an art project.” 

You look up at Javi from where you’re cutting out paper. 

“I’m getting the questions for tomorrow’s video ready.” You smack Javi’s hand that’s reaching out for the pile that has Boone’s name on it. “Stop it - you don’t get an advantage.” 

Javi hisses, retracting his hand as he glances at the kitchen. “And the cookies?” 

“I got drunk and made cookies. Kate’s Mom said I could.” You pause, looking up at him. “Well, the getting drunk was all me. But Cathy did say I could make cookies.” 

Javi chuckles. “Okay California, so what I’m hearing is I’ve got to catch up to you?” He asks, pulling another beer from the fridge. 

You shrug. “Sure, but you’ve got to help me pull the cookies out to cool.” 

He nods, sitting across from you at the table as he takes a draw from his beer. “So California, I gotta ask-“ You groan. “That voicemail.”

You sigh before reaching out for your own drink (a strong dirty Shirley Temple, Boone had teased you as you’d made them for you and Dani) and taking a long sip. “My ex.” 

“Sounded like you broke his heart.” 

“I probably did.” 

“Why?” 

You sigh again, looking over at your phone that had all the questions written down on it, the Sharpie squeaking against the cardstock you’d found shoved into one of the closets. 

“It just wasn’t working. The relationship wasn’t right anymore. It probably hadn’t been right for a while, maybe ever, but I wanted to make it work.” Javi waits for more information and you sigh, capping the pen. “He was in the Navy and-“

“C’mon California, don’t you know better than to date a military man? Coming from a former military man.”

You raise an eyebrow. “You? Actually, yeah, that tracks.” 

Javi chokes. “The fuck does that mean?” He says hotly but there’s no real malice behind his words, a wide grin on his face. 

You give an unimpressed look. “Do you really need me to explain it?” 

Javi laughs, shaking his head. “Nah, I get it.” 

You nod, uncapping the Sharpie again as you start on Kate’s questions. “Anyways, he was also eight years older than me.” 

Javi makes a noise through a laugh. “Hoohoo, so you mean to tell me you were the scandalously younger girlfriend?” 

“I wouldn’t say it was scandalous. I was 22 when we met.” 

“Making him 30. That’s pretty scandalous to me.” 

“We only went on two dates and then decided to be friends so by the time we did date I was almost 24 and he 32.”

“That’s still pretty scandalous.” 

You snort, setting Kate’s questions aside. “Yeah, well, my friends would agree with you there but honestly it never really phased me.” 

Javi takes another draw of his beer. “Yeah, cause you were being groomed.” 

The deathly look you give Javi sends him into a fit of laughter. 

“I was not!”

-

“What are you guys doing?” 

You look over at Kate and Tyler from where you’re laughing at the meme Javi’s showing you. You swallow the rest of your laughter, sliding off the kitchen counter like you’d been caught. 

“California and I got drunk. We’re bonding.” 

Tyler looks unimpressed as Kate steps into the kitchen, surveying the cookies. “Can I have one?” You nod. 

“Damn California.” Tyler whistles when he sees the amount of cookies sitting in Kate’s kitchen.

You give a nervous laugh, scrubbing your forehead with your wrist. “Yeah, I know. Its my Dad’s recipe — I always forget how much the recipe makes and I even halved it.” 

“So you disappeared from the barn to drunkenly make cookies?” Kate asks, not to you, but to Javi, and your face falls. 

Right.

Right, Javi had been in the barn with Dexter and Kate and Tyler to talk science stuff. You couldn’t find your place in the conversation with Boone and Lilly and Dani as they had s’mores, so you’d come inside to make cookies. 

Javi shrugs, a lopsided grin on his face as the alcohol paints his cheeks a rosy red. “Just trying to get to know our new team member, s’all.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to distract him.” 

Kate shrugs as she takes another bite. “Not like it’s hard.” She swallows. “He’s like a toddler — he gets distracted by food and shiny things.” 

“Hey now!” Javi says as you hear the front door open again. “Nah, California here was just telling me about her scandalous-“ Javi pauses as Boone and Lilly come through the kitchen, Dani behind them as they wait for him to finish his sentence. He must see something on your face cause he softens. “Nah California, that’ll just be between us.” 

You give him a tight smile before turning to Tyler as the newcomers realize there’s cookies. “Owens, what time are we leaving tomorrow?” 

“1. And we need to film that video for the YouTube channel, which is what I’m guessing this all is.” 

You nod as he gestures to the table with the stack of questions on it. 

“I hope Tyler loses again.” Lilly says and Tyler gives her a face in return. The group laughs at him, presumably thinking about after he had lost the game of Twisters last week, he’d had to feed Kate’s angry rooster Mr. Biscuits, who Tyler had, up until that point, thought was a dog.

“Hell no, I’m not doing that again.”

“Um,” You say as you pull the sleeves of your (Javi’s, though he doesn’t seem like he’s going to ask for it back at this point) pullover down your arms. “Can someone make sure the cookies get wrapped up? I think I’m gonna head to bed for the night.” 

“Wait, but we were gonna watch a movie!” Dani protests. 

You shrug. “Tired.” 

It’s a weak excuse as the energy shifts in the kitchen. 

Kate clears her throat. “I can. Make sure the cookies get put away.” 

You give Kate a small smile. “Thanks Kate.” 

“No problem.” 

You turn to leave the room, various calls of goodnight following you as you walk up towards the stairs. You sigh when you reach Kate’s room, shutting the door behind you. The sleeping bag you’d gotten had migrated its way inside as you always ended up falling asleep on Kate’s floor. 

She’d offered to share the bed again more times than you could count but ever since you’d awoken her from your nightmare, you’d elected to sleep on the floor in hopes to ride them out alone. 

You all but flop onto the floor, feeling your body protest as you do. As much as you dismissed the uncomfortable sleeping conditions to the group and especially to Kate, your body protested more than anything after sleeping on the wooden floors of Kate’s house. 

Your phone dings and your stomach drops as you look down at it.

Hope you’re safe wherever you are.

You swallow around a scream, seeing Jake’s name on your screen. Your fingers begin flying across your screen without your permission.

Jake gets blocked first, then Javy. Natasha and Bradley. Pete and Bob and Sophie, Elle and Sam following. Mickey and Julia and Reuben. 

Before you can even realize it, most of the people you knew who were wondering where you were now had been blocked. Maybe you should’ve done it before now, seeing as how desperate you were to leave those memories in Texas where they belonged. 

Angry tears sting at your eyes as you resist to throw your phone, deleting photos en masse. 

As you hear laughter from down the stairs, an ache settles in to your bones. 

Six weeks gone and it still sort of felt like you were always standing at the edge of this group, never quite able to find your place. They seemed to like you more now, Kate especially, but it still felt like the bonds they’ve woven together in the last year would always put you on the outs. 

A lot of the time it still felt like you’d never really run from the memories of Texas, your past life left behind. 

-

Kate says your name softly. “Are you awake?” 

You shift in the sleeping bag, turning to face her. “Kate?”

“I’m sorry.” She whispers. “Seeing that voicemail- that was wrong of us. We didn’t mean to.” 

You shrug, though you doubt she can see it. “Not your fault.” 

“I know you don’t want to talk about why you left but I- it sounded like he really cared about you.” 

“Caring about me doesn’t mean our relationship was right. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t unhappy for a while before I left.” 

Kate sighs. “I get what you mean. It just sounded like he really missed you.” 

You swallow, turning back over. “Yeah.” 

“I get that we can’t make you stay.” She whispers. “But I understand how someone could miss you that much. I think I’d miss you that much if you left.” 

Your tears are resurfacing but you can’t bring yourself to respond to Kate’s words. 

After a few minutes, when it becomes clear you’re not going to respond, Kate bids you a quiet goodnight and rolls back over. 

I think I’d miss you that much if you left. 

-

“Now, you might be wondering where our fearless leader Kate is today.” Boone says through the grainy feed of the live stream. 

“And her lovely sidekick Javi.” Lilly adds from her end. 

“Tyler, why don’t you tell the viewers at home where they are?” Boone prompts, facing the camera to Tyler. 

“Well folks, they’re in DC with our lovely social media manager to talk to the governor and Senators from a bunch of the states in Tornado Alley, particularly Oklahoma. They’ll be presenting the research we’ve been done out here in the last year in hopes of getting more state budgeting allocated to tornado research and relief.” Tyler informs the livestream and you grin as you type out a comment. 

Tyler wasn’t invited because he’s not smart enough. 

Boone lets out a bark of laughter, repeating the comment to Tyler. Tyler makes Boone gesture the camera over to him, getting real close as he drives. “I know where you sleep at night.”

Hello FBI, there’s been a threat made against my life. 

The group sets off into laughter as Boone struggles to relay the message to Tyler through his laughter. 

“What are you doing?” Kate asks, sitting down next to you, Javi across from you. 

“Causing chaos in the livestream chat.” You exit it, turning your phone off. “How come you guys aren’t eating?” 

“I think I’d throw up right about now.” Kate says, looking over to Javi, who does look much paler than normal. 

“You guys can’t seriously be nervous?” You ask around a mouthful of Cheerios. 

“You’re not?” Kate asks in disbelief.

You shrug. “I’m used to public speaking. Besides, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good presenter, if I do say so myself.” 

“Great, want to present all the data?” 

You blanch. “I wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of that. All I gotta do is talk about Tyler and well, he makes that part pretty easy.”

-

“So, it’s like I was saying, when I backed out of StormPar, a lot of these guys came over because of Kate.” Javi says as he makes introductions of his team, the ones who’ve been out in the field, using the radars to collect the data from the tornados Kate and Tyler have collapsed. 

“Javi.” Someone says and the group turns. Javi’s face sours noticeably. 

“Scott.” Javi says with a grim face before turning to you. “This is Scott, my ex business partner.” 

His eyes gloss over you as they land on Kate. “See you’re still wasting your time with Carter here.” 

Javi’s eyebrows scrunch up but you put your hand out, stopping him. “Sorry, Simon, was it?” Javi snorts. 

“Scott.” 

“Right, Sonny. Sorry. I mean- do you like take pleasure in being an asshole? That’s not a very attractive personality trait.” 

“It worked for Owens, does it not?”

“Oh, Stephen, sweetie. The internet would never make thirst traps of you like they do him.” Javi has to cough in his fist to hide his laugh and Kate has a hint of a smile on her face. “Oh, I know! You must be jealous of Javi’s sauve charm or- no, it must be because you think Kate should be in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning right? Cause women can’t have degrees.” You snap your fingers. “That must be it.” 

Scott gives you a displeased smile, turning to Javi. “When did you two get a guard dog? Couldn’t face me on your own?” 

Javi introduces you. “She’s Tyler’s new social media manager, been out there giving us a hand.” 

Scott clicks his tongue. “Maybe she’d like to meet my new investors.” Scott turns, gesturing over a woman and man, and the sight of them must mean something to Javi and Kate as they both take a step back, their faces going pale. 

Scott introduces them to you with a smirk on his face. “She’s working for Javi and Kate, figured it might be good for you all to meet.” 

The woman, in particular, has strong displeasure written on her face. “So, you decide to follow these two into a tornado?” 

You give a half shrug. “Can’t seem to think of why the decisions of a stranger would matter all that much to you.” 

She raises an eyebrow, adjusting her purse. “I just think you should be careful.” 

“I think you should mind your own business.” You say sharply, catching sight of the aide opening the door for you guys down the hall. “If you’ll excuse us, we should be going.” You touch Javi and Kate’s arms, nudging them forward. 

“And when you die for them, will it be worth it?”

It’s the man this time. 

You turn. “Excuse me?” 

“When you die for Kate and Javi, for this- this- hypothetical they believe in, like the one our son died for, will it be worth it?” 

And suddenly it all makes sense. It all clicks into place.

Kate’s words come back to you, how Jeb’s parents who were meteorologists who had money, how Jeb’s parents blamed Javi and Kate for their son’s death. 

Javi says your name softly. “C’mon, they ain’t worth it.”

“Your son didn’t die for some hypothetical. He died for research that’s working.” You say sharply. Kate grabs your wrist, pulling you back. “Maybe you should watch the YouTube channel sometime. Sounds like you could stand to learn a thing or two.” 

The aide ushers you into the conference room after that. The presentation goes smoothly, no obvious signs of how much the encounter had rattled Javi or Kate, and it’s obvious that more than a few of them are impressed with what you had to tell them. 

Until Kate asks if anyone has any questions. 

“Ms. Carter, you’re from Salpulpa, Oklahoma, isn’t that correct?” The governor of South Dakota asks. 

Kate swallows. “Yeah. That’s right, I am.”

“And six years ago, you were caught in an EF-5, right? Working on this research with your business partner here?” 

She nods, hesitancy growing on both her and Javi. “That’s correct.”

“And this research, you were doing as part of your PhD? But there was a team of five, right? What happened to your three colleagues?” 

You frown as Kate glances at Javi. “They were killed, sir.” Javi answers for her. “In the EF-5.”

“Sorry, I just- Can I ask why that matters?” You interrupt.  

The governor shifts as the one of the senators from Oklahoma turns to him. “I’d like to know as well.” 

“Well, two of my constituents are directly connected to that incident, as their son Jeb was dating Ms. Carter at the time. And they’re raising a lot of concerns about this research you’re out here doing. I mean, how are you going to ask me to sacrifice more lives and money to your data that’s not even backed?” 

Kate seems stunned, Javi too. “Well, sir-“

“Sorry, what are you implying here?” You say, cutting Javi off. 

“I’m saying that this research is led by two people who have a known history of being responsible for the death of my constituents and I simply won’t put any more time forth on this.” The governor stands, snapping his folder shut. “We’re done here.”

“So you’re saying Kate and Javi are responsible and at fault for the deaths of three equally educated researchers who willingly chose, by no influence of Javi or Kate, to go in the storm that day six years ago? Because I think that is incredibly gross and inappropriate.” 

Javi reaches out for your arm. “Stop.” He whispers. “It’s fine, we can take it.” 

You shake your head. “No, no because you’re wrong. To insinuate that what we’re doing out there is anything less than helping the people these tornados target is wrong. We use the data from the radars Javi’s team sets up to understand how these tornados are collapsing and when we can’t get to a storm in time, we’re there, on the ground, giving out food and water and helping people dig through the rubble of their lives while you sit in your fancy office, removed from the everyday struggles of these people!” 

You finally breathe, taking a step back as you pray Javi and Kate can forgive you. 

“You’re new to this team, that’s right?” 

You nod. “Been here just under three months.” 

“And how did you find yourself here?” 

You shrug. “I’ve seen firsthand the destruction and death these tornadoes cause. I’ve seen what these people can do to help. All I’ve ever wanted is to make a difference. 

“And when you die, cutting your life short, for this research?” 

You glance at your friends. “Then I’ll die knowing I gave my life helping others to change the game. I’ll died knowing I did what I could to make a difference.”

-

Her and Javi sit in their hotel room, uneasy silence between them. 

They’d invited you to come with them but you’d seemed hesitant and had retreated to your room down the hall. 

“Can we talk about it?” Javi asks finally. 

“You ever think about that voicemail we saw?” 

Javi shrugs. “Not really, I guess.” He glances at her. “Do you?”

She shrugs, pulling her shorts down. “Sometimes. Just wonder what the hell she’s doing out here when she’s got people at home who seem to care about her that much.” 

Javi shrugs. “Whatever they did to force her to Oklahoma, that cut’s gotta run deep because oh boy, she seems to be loyal something fierce.” There’s a knock on the door and Javi slides off the bed. “That’ll be our room service!” He jogs to the door, getting the food and thanking the person. He shoves a fry in his mouth, moaning around it, before he talks again. “I mean, she had the balls to stand up to the governor of South Dakota for us.” She doesn’t say anything response, running her fingers over the starchy fabric beneath her. “Kate.” 

She glances up at him. “What?” 

“C’mon, talk to me. What’re you thinking?”

“I can’t ask someone else to sacrifice their life for this.” She says softly. 

Javi sighs, sitting back down on the bed. “That’s the thing I think you’re missing Kate. You’re not asking. She’s offering.”

“But why?” She croaks. “What is any of this worth to her?”

Javi shakes his head. “That’s the part I can’t quite figure out. I don’t know, Kate.” 

-

Your head meets the table as Cathy slides a plate down in front of you. “I need three naps and an IV full of Diet Coke.” You mumble and Dani laughs into her coffee from her seat next to you. 

“So, c’mon tell us about DC.” Boone says excitedly. “You said you’d say over breakfast.” 

You can hear Javi sigh from across the kitchen at the coffee pot. “It didn’t go well.” 

“What happened?” Lilly asks around a mouthful of food. “Javi stumble over his words or something?”

“Well, for starters, we saw Scott.” Javi says as you lift your head from the table. There’s various groans and boos from the group as Javi’s grins grows. “Yeah, but she was mean to him.” 

You snort. “Yeah, I said the internet would never make thirst traps of him and he must think women belong in the kitchen. Oh, and that he must be jealous of Javi’s charm.” 

“We also saw Jeb’s parents.” Kate softly, immediately sobering your friend’s laughter. Cathy frowns, reaching out for her daughter. 

“They’re Scott’s new investors.” Javi explains as Kate looks at you. 

“They asked her if dying for me like Jeb did would be worth it.” 

Tyler scoffs. “That’s bullshit. You told them that was bullshit right?” 

You sigh. “Them and the governor of South Dakota, whose pocket they’re in. Told him it’s was gross and inappropriate to ever say Kate and Javi were responsible for the deaths of their friends.” You sigh, standing up from the table. “Sides, I know my words won’t make any difference to men like him but they didn’t go into that storm for Kate. They did it with Kate. This was something they believed in and it’s something I believe in too.” You push your food towards Boone. “Here, you can have it, I need to go to bed.” 

-

She sighs and Javi tosses her an irritating look.  

“Alright Carter, cough it up. What’s bugging you?” 

She shrugs. “Nothing.” 

“Kate, do you really take me for an idiot?” She gives him a curious look. “Look, I see how you are with her. The looks you give her when you think none of us notice. The way you’re always trying to include her in conversation, the way you always want her to be around. What gives?” 

She scuffs her heel against the asphalt of the parking lot. “Do you think she’s got a thing for T?” 

Javi sighs, rubbing his hands together. “No, I don’t.” He nudges her. “I mean that genuinely. I ain’t just saying it cause I know it’s what you want to hear.”

They both look at where you’re sitting, crowded up into Tyler’s personal space. Tyler’s arm is resting on your head obnoxiously, a cross look on your face as you elbow Ty in the ribs. To an outsider’s perspective, she could see how someone would mistake you two for something more but she knew the truth. 

Tyler Owens saw you nothing more than the little sister he had never had and had always wanted. Tyler was protective of his team, it was a given, but with you he was different. There was an innate, inherent bond between the two of you different from everyone else. And if Kate had to guess, it stemmed from where your pasts intertwined, even if they didn’t know how. 

But maybe it would be better if you did have something with Tyler. 

“Better how?” 

She blinks, turning to look at Javi. “Didn’t realize I said that out loud.” 

Javi studies her for a minute before standing. “C’mon, I need to get a jacket, come with me.” She follows as Javi shouts that they’ll be right back to the group and she catches your curious look from across the fire. 

Only once the motel door of Javi and Boone’s bedroom is shut, Javi looks at her.  “Kate, what’s up?” 

She looks at her friend before sinking to sit down on the bed. “I didn’t- I didn’t think I could ever love someone again after Jeb.” Javi’s eyebrows raise. “Ty showed me it could be possible.” She swallows, feeling tears sting at her eyes. “But I can’t ask her to love me back and to die for it in return.” 

“Wait, Kate, hang on.” Javi says, raising his hand. “You’re- Are you saying you’re in love with her?” She nods slowly. “Kate, that’s- that’s amazing.” He breathes. 

“No, it’s not Javi!” She nearly shouts and he flinches back. “Tyler nearly died for it and I saved him from that fate. But Jeb died because I loved him and so will she!” 

Javi sighs, running a hand down his face before moving to sit next to her on the bed. He’s quiet for a minute as their knees knock together. 

“Kate, look at me.” She does only to meet with a flurry of emotions. Concern like she might be spooked by his next words, love and care woven into the proudness that’s written there. “Kate, just because- just because they died doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve to love afterwards. Just because Jeb died doesn’t mean you have to suffer and pay the price for that.”

“Their deaths are my sins, their blood is on my hands.” 

Javi shakes his head, taking her hands in his own. “No it ain’t. Would you say their blood is on my hands?” 

“Never.” 

“Then you need to understand that it isn’t on yours either. What happened was a terrible stroke of luck, maybe fate. I’d give anything to have them back with us, to have stopped it from ever happening. But we can’t go back, we can’t make our homes in the past. We’ll miss what’s right in front of us. And Kate, you deserve a love as soft as hers.”

She lets out a shaky breath, feeling her shoulders let some of the tension bleed out from them. For the first time, she doesn’t have the heart to argue with Javi, to tell him that he was wrong. She wasn’t sure she could when he looked so sure and absolute in his words. 

-

You watch as Kate and Javi walk up the steps when Boone reaches over and nudges you. 

“California, when are you gonna admit you got a thing for Kate?” 

Your eyes slide over to him, giving a cool look. “Whenever you admit to the thing you’ve got going with Javi.” 

The group lets out a bunch ohs and Tyler cackles. “She’s got you there Booney baby.” 

“It’s just stress relief!” 

You look back at Boone. “You know no one believes that right?” 

“Man, stop deflecting, I was asking about you and Kate first!” 

You roll your eyes as Dani breaks into silent laughter from across the fire, Lilly’s shoulders shaking as she works on the drone in her lap. 

Tyler climbs off the truck, moving to stand behind you. You glance up at him as he does. “C’mon though. Seriously, what is going on with you and Sapulpa?” 

“Nothing.”

Tyler sighs. “C’mon California, you really expect me to believe that little lie?” 

You shrug. “It’s not a lie. I’m not denying anything I feel for her but I’m pretty sure Kate doesn’t like me in that way. Most days, I don’t even think she likes me period.”

“She likes you.” Lilly protests. 

“Kate’s just a harder read because of…” Boone trails off, looking to Tyler. 

“Because of what happened to Jeb, I know.” You say softly. “She told me.” 

“I just wasn’t- We weren’t sure.” Dani says gently. 

“But you guys always said she was a certain way with T right?” 

Dani hums. “Yeah, but they aren’t exactly who I’d take as example from considering-“ She glances at Tyler. “Well, considering their fling lasted all of three weeks before they nearly killed each other.” 

“Tyler, anything to contribute here?” Lilly says after a minute and you look back up at him. He’s got his hands on his hips, an unreadable look on his face. 

“I don’t know that I should be encouraging any inter-company dating here. Team dynamics and all of that.” 

Your eyes grow wide as you almost rocket out of your chair before gesturing to Lilly and Dani, who only laugh. You then turn to Boone, gesturing a hand at him. “Really?!”  You nearly yell. “You’re so full of shit Owens!” 

Tyler sighs. “California, I just don’t want to see anyone get hurt. I mean, if I tell you something wrong and it turns out to be a misstep, and shit goes wrong and one of you leaves, it’d be a huge blow.” 

Dexter shakes his head, finally speaking up. “Kate’s not leaving.” 

You can see the silent I know on the edge of Tyler’s lips, the It would be you leaving written in his eyes. 

“Hey guys,” Dani calls. “We’re all still here.  Wanna include us in whatever silent conversation’s happening over there?”

“I don’t want to get involved.” Tyler says with a wave of his hand. “Y’all are both too important to me for me to get this wrong.” 

You sigh, settling back in your chair as you see Javi’s door re-open, Kate and Javi emerging. Boone sighs, patting the spot next to him and you move, falling into the space next to him. 

“Boone, anyone ever tell you you need to shower more?” You mutter as Tyler meets Javi and Kate halfway, probably to bid them goodnight. 

“I’ll take the shot if you do.” He whispers back. You glance at him as Javi and Kate return to their original seats across the campfire. Javi’s got a strange look on his face at the sight of you and Boone and Kate’s eyes are watery as Dexter hands her a few Oreos. 

“You first.” You mutter. 

Boone gives you a wolfish grin before sliding a marshmallow into his mouth. “I’ll think about it.”  

-

“Guys, look.” Dani calls, and you and Tyler turn, seeing her hold a small puppy. 

You coo, walking over to her as she holds the dog out to you. 

“Where’d you find this little cutie?” You say, holding the little baby up, scratching underneath his chin. 

“Heard him whining under a bunch of wreckage a few blocks over. One of the firefighters helped me pull him out. EMTs said the elderly couple who lived there didn’t make it. Probably couldn’t get to safety fast enough.” 

You feel Tyler’s body deflate next to you as he kicks at a piece of wood at the ground. 

“Ty?” You ask softly as the puppy nuzzles into your collarbone. You can’t read his face but it doesn’t seem like Dani can either as he scrubs at his forehead with his wrist. 

“Could we keep him?” You ask softly. “You heard Dani.”

“We’ll find a shelter for him.”

Dani shakes her head. “Shelter here got destroyed; there’d be nowhere for him to go.” 

You turn a pleading look onto Tyler, who has a storm brewing behind his eyes. 

“We can’t have a dog on the road you guys. A dog, chasing after tornadoes? Really? Let’s use our brains here. Besides, I think Boone’s allergic.” Tyler snaps, hands falling to his hips. 

Your pout grows as you hold the puppy up to your face. “But Tyler, little Enid wants to come with us. Don’t you Enid?”

“Enid?” Tyler asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, we found him in Enid so we should name him Enid.”

“First of all, that dog is not an Enid.” Dani chokes down a laugh at Tyler’s snark as he shoots her a look. “And we are not adopting a dog.” 

“I think we should do a group vote.” You say, turning on your heel in search of the team. 

“You can’t override me!” Tyler calls after you.

“Watch me!”

You find Lilly and Dexter first, handing food out. “Group poll - should we keep this little puppy? His owners passed away. Dani and I vote for yes. Tyler votes no.” You can hear Tyler walking behind you so you drop your voice to an over-exaggerated whisper. “For the record, Tyler’s vote is wrong. Vote yes.”

“This is not a democracy!” Tyler shouts. 

“Man, just let the girl have her fucking dog!” Lilly shouts back. 

“What dog?” Kate says, appearing from the back of the van. Her face softens. “This is such a cute little puppy.” She coos, bending down to scratch at his ears. 

“I think we should keep him and name him Enid. Tyler disagrees.” You explain as Kate fawns over the puppy. 

“He seems like such a sweet little guy, and you’d have so much fun on the road with us, wouldn’t you little Enid?” She coos, taking the dog from you. 

“So that’s an enthusiastic yes from Ms. Kate Cooper.” You say, hands falling to your hips.

“Once again, this is not a democracy.” Tyler says sharply. 

“It’s an Owens-acracy.” Javi calls from down the street. “Meaning Tyler does whatever the hell he wants.” 

“Javi - Yes or no on keeping the puppy?” You shout back. 

“Aw hell yeah! Our little storm chasing dog! Our little data dog!” 

“We are not keeping the dog.” Tyler says firmly, impatience growing. 

“Is Boone allergic?” You ask Lilly, who snorts and nods. 

“Yeah but that man would die so happy covered in dogs. He loves ‘em. Had bloodhounds growing up.” 

“A dog can’t stay in most motels.” Tyler reminds the group. 

“As if he couldn’t be snuck in.” You counter. “Besides, you’re telling me that after a long day of storm chasing, you wouldn’t want to cuddle up with this little puppy here?” 

The look Tyler gives you is answer enough. 

“Somebody go find Boone and ask him if he wants to keep this dog.” 

“Aw hell yeah, we’re getting a dog?” Boone crows, walking up behind you. 

“Boone, you’re allergic.” Tyler deadpans.

“Man, I grew up hunting with bloodhounds, I’ve got like a natural resistance by this point!” 

Kate holds up the dog, smile wide. “Boone, this is little Enid.” 

Tyler sighs, turning on his heel. “We are not taking that dog and we are certainly not naming him Enid!”

“Famous last words.” Lilly mutters.

Tyler flips you all off as you break into laughter. 

-

“Man would you stop pouting, you’re ruining my vibe!” Javi exclaims, which only causes you to sink further down in your chair. 

“This is fucking stupid.” You mutter, kicking at the dirt as you do. 

“I’m not happy about this either.” Tyler says from across the fire pit, begrudgingly looking down at the dog on his chest. 

“I’m the whole reason Enid came with us and who does he want to spend time with? Oh, Tyler of course!  Smoke practically came out of his ears when he saw Enid in the truck! But nooooo, that’s who the dog wants to be with!” 

Boone’s chair creaks as he leans over. “You kinda sound a little crazy, talking to yourself like that.” 

You shoot him a glare that has him withering back in his chair. 

“I’d want a cat, I think.” Kate says thoughtfully from her seat next to you. 

“I hate cats.” You mutter, crossing your arms. “I want a dog.” 

Javi lets out a long sigh from next to you. “This is gonna get real old.”

-

You’ve been with the team for four and a half months when it happens. 

You’re in some small town, just past the border of Oklahoma into Kansas, when the second storm cell you had all been tracking touches down. 

“Hey guys.” You call, panic starting to creep into your voice. “That saying with lightning, how it never strikes the same place twice? Does that apply to tornadoes too?” 

Moments after you finish your sentence, the winds kicks up, the sirens blaring. 

It’s almost like you’re rooted to the spot, staring at the beast coming towards you as Lilly shouts from down the street to follow her to the shelter. 

“California!” Tyler shouts. “What are you doing?!” 

You sweep your gaze to him, spotting the truck as you. The unmoored truck. 

He catches what you’re looking at and he shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, come on!” 

“I got it, I’m right behind you!” You shout, already darting towards the truck. 

You think Tyler curses but then he’s off down the street after the group. “Damn it, Boone.” You mutter, brushing the cookie crumbs off the console that are preventing you from getting to the switch. “The snacks have got to stop.”

Once the button has been pressed and you can hear the gears start, you throw the truck door open, sliding down to follow  Tyler. 

Except one minute you’re standing and the next, you’re on the ground, groaning. 

You blink your eyes open to see debris scattering down the street and realize it must’ve taken your feet out from under you. You push yourself up and realize you don’t know where Tyler went. Your head hurts from its collision with the ground and through the pain, you can feel yourself start to panic. You roll over catching sight of the truck locked into the ground. 

The truck. 

The truck probably wouldn’t fly. The truck had harnesses. The truck had protected Kate once. 

You crawl to the truck in hopes to avoid catching any wind, pulling yourself up and slamming the door as quickly as you can. You tug the harness on, debris hitting the car as the wind speeds pick up.

From the bed of the truck, you can hear Enid let out a bark, climbing over the arm console to curl up in your lap. He lets out a whimper, nuzzling closer to your stomach. 

“It’ll be okay, Enid.” You whisper, letting your eyes shut as your hands curl in the dog’s shaggy fur. You guys really needed to take him to a groomer. “We’ll be okay.”

-

She watches her friends filter into the shelter, panic clawing at her as everyone from the town passed through the doors with no sight of you. 

Javi’s pushes his way through the doors and he collides with her, her fingers clutching in his jacket. “Javi!” 

“She isn’t with me Kate.” He breathes out, backing her up from the doors. 

Her breaths coming in stuttering gasps as she clings to him. “Can’t be.” 

“Kate, she’s probably with T, they were together. They’re coming, don’t worry.” Boone tries to soothe and Javi confirms his words, rubbing his hands up and down her shoulders. 

Until Tyler appears through the doors, the last of the crowd. 

“Where is she?!” She’s frantic now, a sob growing as she sees Tyler round the corner. “Tyler, where is she, I thought she was with you!”

Tyler glances over his shoulder, where they’re shutting the doors. “She- She was just supposed to nail the truck down.” 

Kate’s moving towards the doors before she realizes it but she doesn’t get very far before someone’s arms are pulling on her jacket. 

“Kate!” Javi shouts. “Kate, we can’t help her now!” She looks at him, feeling her eyes sting as she looks at his defeated face.

“It’s just like last time.” She chokes out into a whisper. 

“I know.” He says softly. “I know, but there’s nothing you can do for her right now. We just need to wait.” 

The mere minutes it takes for the storm to pass drag on, the tears unabashedly slipping down her face. 

How could this happen again? 

It’s maybe only 15 minutes later she’s standing outside in the clearing Oklahoma sky but it’s felt like a lifetime has passed and when the street is empty, save for their truck at the very far end of the street, it feels like it’ll all drag on for a lifetime more. 

Her team is beside her but all she can do is wipe at her face, unable to stop the salty tears against her tongue. 

“Kate…” Tyler says gently and she whips around, near snarling at him. 

“This is your fault! You should’ve taken care of the truck, it never should’ve been her! She should’ve come with us, you never should’ve let her out of your sight!” 

Tyler swallows, eyes growing glassy. “You don’t mean that.” He chokes out. 

She doesn’t and she knows she doesn’t. 

But this loss stings. 

Lilly reaches out a cautious hand, and when Kate doesn’t push her away, Lilly pulls her into a hug. Dani joins, Boone not far behind. She thinks she can even feel Dexter join at the edge as the tears slips down her cheeks. She clings to Lilly, the girl running a hand up and down her back. 

And then Javi shouts out. 

-

You finally breathe, blinking your eyes open as you do. 

You wince, your head throbbing as you begin to take the harness off and-

You pull on the door handle, tripping out of the truck as you start throwing up onto the gravel road. 

Tears sting at your eyes, the small rocks digging into your palms as you empty your breakfast onto the ground. 

“Yo!” Someone shouts from a ways away, but all you can focus on is the throbbing in your temple. 

A hand is on your shoulder, gently pulling you up. You blink, wincing as Javi comes into focus. 

“Javi?” You breathe out, leaning into him as the sound of footsteps running towards you gets closer. “Think I- head. My head hurts. Concussion.” 

Javi doesn’t respond as another body collides with you. It feels like the wind has been knocked out of your lungs as the person trembles against you. “Thought you were gone. Thought I lost you.” Kate whispers. 

“Kate, you’re gonna get vomit all over you.” 

“Don’t care.” She whispers, still holding you. “I know you probably have a concussion, I’ll take you to the EMT’s please just- just let me hold you for a little longer.” 

You nod. Despite how tight she’s holding you and the throbbing behind your eyes, it feels like you can finally catch your breath as she does. 

“How’d you even think to hide out in there?” Lilly asks and you blink your eyes open, seeing the team standing before you. You don’t let Kate go.

“I truly was right behind you T.” You say, locking eyes with Tyler. He looks devastated, the relief of seeing you unable to loosen the tension in his shoulders. “But one minute I was standing and the next I was on the ground and you were gone. I think some debris knocked my feet out from under me and I sort of panicked. I remembered how it had kept Kate safe and it was the only place I could think of in time.” 

“You gave us all quite the scare.” Dexter says. “Glad to see you safe.” 

“Me too.” You whisper, squeezing Kate. 

“Holy shit Enid! You been in there the whole time?” Boone shouts after a minute.

“My brain hurts. Paramedics now?” You ask. “Please?” 

Kate nods, stepping back. “Yeah. Right now.” 

-

“Stop looking at me like that.” 

Tyler scoffs. “You can’t even see me.” 

You’re laying on the RV bed, eyes closed. The lights are dim, the quiet conversation from outside barely audible. 

Tyler had shooed Kate out to get dinner and told her she actually had to sit outside and eat it or he’d remove her concussion watch entirely. 

“Yeah but I can feel it.” You reach a foot out, knocking Tyler’s knee. “T.” 

He takes your foot, but must think better of whatever jerk move he’s going to pull because he lets your feet fall on his thigh softly, hand resting over them. His thumb finds your ankle bones and he rubs over it softly. 

“That feel okay?” He asks quietly and you nod. The show of intimacy, however platonic, is nice as you sit there. 

“I’m real sorry for putting you in harm’s way kid.” 

You let out a breath through your nose, resisting the urge to open your eyes. You know Tyler will just get mad if you do. 

“You didn’t. It was an accident.” 

“Kate blames me. Hell, I blame myself. It would be okay if you blamed me too.” 

“Tyler.” You say firmly. “It was an accident. You never meant any harm to come to me. I am fine, nothing more than a wittle baby concussion. The paramedics checked me out and Dani’s been keeping an eye on me the whole drive. I am fine.”

“You’re not fine!” Tyler snaps and you wince at the loudness in his voice. “Sorry, sorry. I just- You have a concussion, not to mention the bruises and cuts you’ve saddled yourself with. That’s not fine in my book.” 

“Tyler, I got hit by a car in college. What’s a little debris?” 

A smile tugs at your lips as you remember the way Dani and Javi’s eyes had gone wide as they’d sat with you as the EMTs check out you when you’d told the paramedics that story. 

They’d told you it was incredible that this was the situation you’d ended up with a low grade concussion and the other only a sprained wrist. 

“A tornado and a car are hardly the same.” 

“Technically, the tornado never hit me. Just debris.” 

“Semantics.” 

“The semantics are keeping Kate’s sanity in tact so please don’t make the difference in front of her.” You say quietly and Tyler sighs again. 

“She really cares about you, you know?” 

“Thought you weren’t getting involved?” 

“I’m not.” 

“Then stop talking.” 

Tyler pushes your feet away, scooting closer to you. “Your loss would’ve devastated her.” He says softly. 

“So I’ll be more careful next time.” 

He sighs. “You’re not listening to what I’m saying.” 

You crack an eye open. “Tyler, my brain hurts too much for this conversation. Can you please get to the point?” 

Tyler’s point never gets made as the RV door opens, Javi telling him that Dani had pulled him off concussion watch too. 

You suspected Javi just wanted to be around you but you’d take his presence over Tyler’s interrogation. Javi sits next to you on the bed as you close your eyes again. 

“Can I get you anything?” 

“No, though I wish I could call my freshman year room mate and annoy her like she did me.” 

Javi chuckles. “How do you mean?”

“She got a concussion in a skiing accident and made me talk to her for hours because she was bored and couldn’t do anything. I need payback.” 

-

Kate wrings her hands, eyes flickering around the room nervously. 

“Kate?” You say cautiously. “Are you okay?” 

“I just- I mean, are you sure you’re gonna be okay here? By yourself, you know, I could stay with you?” Her eyes roam over your body. “No, I think I should stay. I’m going to- I’ll go tell Tyler right now. I-“

You grab Kate’s wrist, cutting her off. “Kate.” You say softly. “It’s fine. It’s a baby concussion. I’m going to sit here for a few days and force Enid to snuggle me. It’ll be fine.” 

She sighs. “I don’t know, I still think I should stay.” 

“Kate, you are no use to anyone here. Anything I need, your Mom can get for me. I’ll be fine.” 

Your heart clenches at the concern swimming in your friend’s eyes and it’s going to take every minute of each one of those day to remind yourself that that concerns is only because of the losses in Kate’s past. 

She’s lost three friends before, she doesn’t want to lose a fourth.

She sighs, taking a step back. “You’re right. But- you call me if anything changes, okay?” You nod and so she takes another step back. 

You can hear Tyler shout up the stairs for the third time in fifteen minutes. “Tyler’s gonna get mad, you should just go.” You say, already taking a step back towards her bed though your eyes never leave hers. 

“Yeah, I should-“ With one last look, she slips back out the bedroom door. You sigh, pressing your hands to your eyes, willing yourself to get it together. 

“It doesn’t mean anything.” You mutter to yourself. The door creaks open and you glance up, seeing Kate stride through the door. “Kate?” 

Kate crosses the room in three steps, pulling you into a kiss. Before you can even process what she’s doing, she’s pulled back. 

Her hands fly to her mouth, a shocked expression on her face. “I can’t believe I just did that! Oh, I’m so sorry- Mmph.” 

You cut her off, crowding her space before pulling her lips back to yours.

Your hands slide down to her hips as she cradles your head in your hands. Only does she break away when Tyler shouts up the stairs, heavy footsteps on the wood. 

“I really should go this time.” She breathes. 

“You’ll come back right?” You ask, nudging your nose with hers. “I want to talk about this, I want to make this work with you.” 

She nods. “I’ll always come back for you.”

iii.

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

I fear as though this may become a new obsession.

can't take the home out of oklahoma - i. (k.c.)

a/n: eeee! a fever dream later, i've finally cobbled together the first part of my top gun: maverick and twisters crossover fic! it's going to be lengthy so we are in for quite the ride! it's way heavier on twisters, so any non-top gun fans should have no problem reading this. future parts will deal with darker content that's only referenced right now, so that'll all be tagged and marked accordingly. for now, it's just my standard cup of angst. reblog and comments are always appreciated!!

summary: After a twisted stroke of luck, you leave behind your whole life in San Diego, California and find yourself in Oklahoma with Tyler Owens and his Tornado Wranglers.

warnings: swearing, weather inaccuracies, flashbacks, reference to past trauma, alcohol

word count: 5.7k

Your finger rubs gently over the crinkled piece of paper Jake had torn off for you, the phone number and the name Tyler Owens written in the neat penmanship the blonde prided himself on. 

If you ever find yourself down South and need something, Jake had said, a bit out of breath as he’d run out of the house after you. If you need anything, call that number. They’ll help you. 

The cursor blinks back up at you on the call pad, your cracked screen making a mockery of you. The chaos of the San Diego airport whirls around you, pressing in on you the longer you sit here. 

You take a deep breath and press call. 

-

His phone starts vibrating on the table and he frowns, eyebrows furrowing as the team, crowded around the table in the RV, goes quiet. 

He answers, despite it being an unknown number. “Tyler Owens.”

“Hi. Uh,” A shaky breath comes from the other end of the receiver before introducing themselves to him. “Uh, Jake Seresin gave me your number. Told me to call if I needed anything.” 

His gut drops at the name, a clench in his heart. “What can I do for ya?” 

“Look, I’ve- I’ve had a rough week and I’m, I’m sort of finding my life upside down. And uh, I guess I’m just grasping at straws here. Jake said, he said you could help me.”

“That so? Well, I’m afraid you’re gonna have to be more specific. How can I help you? What can I do for you?”

“A- a purpose, maybe? I need a purpose, something to do. Um, I’m in San Diego right now but I need to get out of here.”

Tyler frowns, eyes flicking around at his team. They’re all curious as to what’s unfolding, and he scrubs at his forehead, knowing they’ll be upset with him for pulling the trigger on this without talking it through with them first.

But damn it, this girl sounded scared and Jake had sent her to him. Had told her he’d help her, and he would see to it that he did. 

He wasn’t going to leave her behind. 

“Tell you what, get yourself on a plane to Oklahoma. I’ll come get you. You can come work with me and my team.”

“You- your team?” Though she sounds hesitant, she almost sounds relieved at having some sort of direction now. 

“Storm chasers. Ish. We’re doing some field research out here in Tornado Alley, but I’ve got a team, the Tornado Wranglers. And honestly, we need another set of hands out of here managing the backend of things.”

The word managing was the wrong choice as it immediately sends his team into protest. Boone stands up abruptly, Javi and Kate whispering protests to him, as Lilly starts making a face. He waves a hand, wanting them to be quiet. 

The last thing he needed was for this girl to hear, to hang up, to not follow through. 

“Okay.” You say, and he thinks he hears you stand up. “Okay, I’ll find the soonest flight out. Um, what kind of things do you need help with? My background- it’s not in science.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we could find something around here you can help with. Research grant editing or something.”

“I’ve actually got experience with that.” You say with a choked laugh, and Tyler can feel the relief bleed through the phone. He smiles a bit, pressure easing as he does. 

“Then we’ll make sure we put you to work.” There’s a beat as he hears the intercom in the airport go off in the background. “Listen, text me when your flights supposed to land. I’ll make sure I’m there to get you. We’re out in the field right now, so it may be a bit of trek out here, but I’ll make sure you get here.” 

You confirm and he hangs up and his team starts yelling before the phone is even back on the table. 

“We don’t need another team member man-“

“A manager? What kind of business do you take this for?” 

“Are you serious? Kate and I, we’ve got the grant stuff covered-“ 

“This really tells us how you feel about us, Owens.” 

He glances at Kate, who’s looking at him with a guarded expression he hasn’t seen since he first met her. She doesn’t excuse herself, simply pushing her way out, climbing around the back of Javi and Boone. 

-

It would be hard to miss Tyler, the way he’s signing an autograph, cowboy hat atop his head as he leans against the truck branded with the Tornado Wranglers logo.

You stop dead, a cold feeling washing over you at the eerie reminder of the person you’d just left behind. 

This Tyler Owens might be Jake Seresin’s doppelgänger, and based on what you’d seen during the flight you were beginning to suspect the only difference between them is the way they chased the adrenaline high. 

During the flight, you’d bought in-flight WiFi for the first time in your life, just to learn who these people were, who you’d be spending time with. Trying to understand what you’d gotten yourself into. 

Tyler perks up at the sight of you, a smile growing on his face. He holds out his hand and you take it, noting the genuine smile. You shake his hand, swallowing around the burning desire to ask the question. 

“Welcome to good ol’ Oklahoma.” He welcomes. “You ready to hit the road? The team is a bit of a ways out.” 

You nod as Tyler grabs your small duffel bag, throwing it in the back of the truck before you can even ask. 

You climb in the front, taking note of all the gadgets the truck is equipped with. “What’s all this?” You ask, as he turns the key, pulling away from the curb. “Storm chasing stuff?”

“You could say that. The trucks decked out with all kinds of stuff.”

The radio is soft in the background as Tyler talks to you about the team, about what you’ll be doing. 

As Tyler talks, as you talk, as you both think of things for you to do, you begin to lose interest in the conversation as the Oklahoma skyline begins to paint itself into a deep orange. 

“Can we stop?” You ask, voice full of wonder as you peer out windshield, watching the sky transform itself. 

You feel Tyler look over at you, before turning on his blinker despite the lack of cars around. The truck rolls to a stop as you dig around, pulling the disposable camera you’d bought from the bottom of your backpack. Tyler hasn’t even parked before you’re slipping out of the truck, walking around the front to take a picture of the sunset. 

“I haven’t seen a sunset like this since I was a kid.” You breathe, the camera clicking as you do. 

“I hear California has pretty good sunsets.” Tyler says, sticking his hands in his pockets as he stands next to you. 

You shrug.  “They do, but if you’re in the inner city, a lot of times the good ones are hard to catch. They’re easier to see at the beach but the marine layer blocks a lot of the good ones.” You say, turning to Tyler. “At least in my opinion. We can get back on the road now.” 

He nods, eyes steadily watching you as you turn on your heel, climbing back in the truck. Tyler’s a few beats behind you, still standing in the same spot as you buckle your seatbelt. 

The rest of the drive is quiet, the flow of quiet country music coming through the radio as the Oklahoma skies turns from dusk to night. 

By the time you roll up to camp, it’s clear that Tyler’s team has gone to bed, save for one. 

An older man perks up at the sight of you, climbing to his feet from his chair. “Ah, Tyler. Was just about to call and see where you were. This our new teammate?” 

Tyler nods, introducing you to this man. You step forward taking his outstretched hand. 

“Dexter.” He says, a smile on his face. “You must’ve had a long day. We’ve got some leftovers, can I get you anything? We’ve also got our extra tent set up, it’s where you’ll be sleeping.”

You glance at Tyler, although you’re not sure for what. Reassurance maybe. “I’d love some food. And a water maybe? I don’t have a water bottle with me anymore.”

It’s almost a natural instinct to wince at the thought of the loss of your emotional support water bottle that was probably laying in some crevice in the wreckage in Texas. 

Dexter sets to work as Tyler settles himself in front of the fire, a beer in hand. “We’re meant to head to town tomorrow anyways. We’ll stop, get you stuff to help out with the team. Maybe some new camping gear and whatever.” He takes a sip of his beer, cringing as he does. “Just realizing you’ll probably have to sleep on the dirt; I don’t think we’ve got any extra protectors after we visited the last wreckage. We should probably get more stuff tomorrow anyway.” 

“It’s no worries.” You say with a wave of your hand. “I was a Girl Scout for like, eight years, so it’s not a big deal. Won’t phase me.”

A head pops out from a tent nearby. Tyler perks up at the sight of him, as the man sticks his hands in the pockets of the zip-up he’s wearing. “You want a jacket?”

You glance down, realizing you’re shivering. “Uh, yeah, that’d be nice.” 

He gives you a cautious smile before looking to Tyler. “Hey Ty, man, I’ve got an extra pullover in the back of the van, can you grab it?” 

Tyler nods as the man reaches a hand out. “I’m Javi.” 

You shake it, introducing yourself.

“You from around here? You don’t sound it.” 

You shake your head. “San Diego, actually.”

Tyler comes back the same time Dexter comes back with your food and Dexter waits patiently as you scramble, pulling the soft material over your head. 

It smells strongly of rain in a way you can’t explain. In a way, the smell brings you a sliver of comfort. 

You take the food from Dexter as you do, thanking him. 

“Dexter, this is incredible.” You say around the bite. 

“It’s an old family recipe from down in the bayou. I’ve tweaked it so we can make it out here on the road, but it’s a crowd pleaser when I do.”

“You from New Orleans?” You ask and he nods. “My boyf- my ex boyfriend now I guess-“ You say, taking another bite in hopes to hide the awkward way you swallow around those words. “He’s from out there too.” 

Dexter sighs. “I miss that place, I do. But it wasn’t easy to stay after Katrina. I lost my whole family.” 

Your heart pangs, at his words, and it aches, at the thought of the person you’d left behind. 

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” You say softly. 

Javi clears his throat. “You need anything else?” You shake your head and he stands up again. “I really oughta get to sleep, but we’ll chat more tomorrow, yeah?” 

You nod and Javi gives you another cautious smile. In your heart, you want to believe there’s maybe a little hope hidden in it too. 

Dexter also bids you and Tyler goodnight, and the two of you sit there, the crackling fire filling the silence as you eat. 

“Thank you Tyler.” You say softly, staring at the burning embers after you’ve finished eating. 

You know you should explain to him how it all happened, how you got here, but Tyler doesn’t ask and you can’t forget the vision in your head of Steven’s cold eyes, unseeing. 

“You’re giving me a second chance here, and I really do appreciate it.” You settle on instead. 

He nods. “Whatever I can do to help.” 

You excuse yourself, bidding the man goodnight, only to find yourself tossing and turning on the hard ground. 

You thought sleep would come to you easier, with how emotional the last week has been, but everytime you close your eyes and a breeze rolls through, it all comes flooding back, the haze of freezing rain, of a rusty storm grate, a heavy body, and so much blood-

The sound of a door shutting (from the RV if you had to guess,) causes you to open your eyes, sitting up on the makeshift bed. 

“I don’t want her here Tyler.” A female voice says, and you frown. 

There’s a beat. 

“Too bad Sapulpa, she’s staying.” Tyler responds. 

“Stay here and do what?” The girl asks incredulously. “We don’t need her help. And I didn’t know you’re suddenly in the business of helping out random strangers who call you in the middle of the day-“

“This is our whole business, Kate.” He says firmly. “We help people. Strangers. That’s what we’re here to do, remember?”

“And how are you helping her?” 

Tyler’s quiet for a minute again. “We’re giving her a second chance.”

“A second chance? Are you serious?” The girl, Kate, huffs. 

“It wasn’t that long ago it was you who needed a second chance. We gave that to you, remember?”

Another zipper being yanked cuts off Kate’s response. 

“Yo!” It’s Javi. “Can y’all argue about this tomorrow?” 

You don’t hear the sound of Kate’s footsteps but you hear the slam of the RV door loud and clear. 

Tyler goes through the motions, getting the camp cleaned up, before putting the fire out. And then you hear him slip into the RV and for the first time in days, in the quiet of the Oklahoma night, it feels like you can breathe. 

-

You awake with a gasp, clawing at the blankets as if it was Jake’s flannel, holding on for dear life through the storm. 

You swallow back the bile threatening to spill over and blindly climb from the nest of blankets, pulling the zipper down, and stumbling into the sun. 

You swallow as someone’s head turns. It’s a girl, sat at the table the crew has set up outside. You pull yourself from the tent, unable to shake your nerves as you take in the soft baby pink hues above her in the sky. 

You introduce yourself softly and she gives you a tight smile in between bites of yogurt. “Kate.”

Your heart clenches, realizing this must be the girl you’d heard last night. 

It’s an awkward silence the two of you sit in, the baby pink fading from the sky as Tyler pulls himself from the RV. When she sees Tyler, she quietly excuses herself and brushes past him, floating back into the RV.

“You oughta get that screen fixed.” Tyler comments, sitting down next to you. 

“Haven’t had time.” You say with a shrug as you glance at the screen on your phone. It was more shattered than it was cracked, a hazard really, but what could you do? 

“I’ll take you to a place in town today that’ll replace it for cheap.” Tyler says around a bite. “Can I get you anything to eat?” 

Tyler’s team appears over the next hour, and he introduces them as they do. Dexter appears from the RV first and then Dani and Lilly from the back of the van. Boone gets dragged out from the van by Lilly twenty minutes later, and Boone pulls Javi from his tent because “if I have to be awake so do you Miami.” 

Kate doesn’t leave the RV for the rest of the morning. 

-

“They don’t like me.” You say quietly, drumming your fingers on the car door as Tyler drives to the motel that evening. 

“They barely know you-“

“Cut the shit Tyler, I heard Kate last night.” You say sharply, sending him a cold glare. “They don’t want me here.” You roll out your shoulders, looking back out the window. “If you want me to go back, it’s okay.” 

“And send you back to god knows what?” 

“I’d be fine.”

“Kid, you sounded so damn terrified on that phone — I’m not inclined to turn around and give you back to that fear.”

You swallow around a sigh, feeling Tyler watch you as he drives. 

“Give me a week. Give me a week to make it work. And if you still feel like you need to go back, hell, I’ll pay for your flight.” 

You look at Tyler, noting the serious look in his eyes. 

“Okay. One week.”

-

The next week feels simultaneously long and short in the worst ways. 

Short, in that it feels like your time is running out. 

Long, in that there are no storms to chase, dissipating before the team ever has a chance. 

Long, in that you sit around most days, doing your own research on grants and sponsors and the backgrounds of potential investors and articles on social media growth. 

Long, in that you don’t really talk to any of them, except for the one time you look over at Javi’s computer, just to tell him that his sentence didn’t make any sense. 

Long in that, Kate refuses to be anywhere near you and Boone ignores you and Lilly shuts you out of conversation and Javi sort of looks at you like you’re some sort of alien placed down next to them. 

It’s only on the sixth day, when you’re collecting everything you’ve worked on all week to give to Tyler in the morning before he takes you back, that something happens. 

The storm is too far away for them to chase it, to get any research done, but Tyler and Lilly agree that the team should head in, to be there to help out and hand out food in the aftermath. 

Because, apparently, that’s what this team is known for. 

You feel awkward here, watching the team spring into action. You feel out of place, not knowing what you were supposed to say or do as these people dug through the rubble of their lives. 

You were supposed to help people. Tyler had said you could help people here. 

The team is distracted just enough, that it’s you who catches it, not them. 

The sounds of a cry, somebody softly shushing them. You round a corner, heart breaking at the sight. 

There, a small little boy, maybe around the age of 8, is holding who seems to be his little sister as she cries. 

The poor girl can’t be any older than 3 or 4.

“I want Mom.” She blubbers out and the boy shushes her. 

“I know, sissy, we just gotta-“ The boy looks around helplessly. 

“Hey.” You call out, stepping around the rubble. “Hey, do you need help?” 

The boy nods. “Mom said not to move but-“

You hold your hands out. “Stay where you are, okay? I’ll come get you and your sister alright?” 

The boy nods, clinging to his sister’s hand.  You make your way through the rubble, kicking things out of the way to make a path back before finally reaching the two kids. You kneel down best as you can, leveling yourself to them as you introduce yourself. 

“I’m here to help. Can you tell me your name?” 

“I’m Jack.” The boy says. “This is Bella. She’s bleeding and I can’t find my Mom-“

“Hey, hey.” You soothe. “We’ll get you guys some help and get you out of here, okay? We’ll find your Mom.” You look at Bella. “Bella? Are you okay if I carry you? I’m going to help you find someone to patch that cut up, okay?” Bella nods and Jack lets her go as you scoop her up. You hold out your hand for Jack as the two of you navigate your way out.

As you weave your way through people, you ask Jack soft questions about himself, where he goes to school, if he likes dinosaurs or trucks, distracting him as he talks to you. Once you get the two kids to the EMTs, you duck around the side, in search of someone from your team. 

“Kate.” You call, as she’s sifting through rubble, calling for a dog. She glances over at you. “Hey, I’ve got two little kids here who can’t find their Mom. I’m gonna stay with them but can you let the team know? Just in case anyone sees her.” 

The face Kate makes is difficult to read as she nods. You sigh, making your way back around the truck. 

Bella’s all patched up and Jack is studying the logo on your shirt, lighting up when he recognizes it. 

“Mom lets me watch their YouTube channel sometimes!” 

You scoop Bella back up in your arms, holding a hand out for Jack to jump down as you do. 

“Oh well then I’m guessing you don’t want to come see the tornado-proof truck?” 

-

It’s late in the day when Bella and Jack’s Mom comes running down the street, hysterical. Tyler and Kate aren’t far behind her. 

Her arm is in a sling and there’s a few bumps and bruises on her, but otherwise she’s fine. Both of the kids light up at the sight of their Mom, and she’s tearful, thanking you over and over for helping them, for watching over her babies.

You wave her off, citing babysitting as just another thing you’re used to, a big family and all that. 

It’s as they’re walking away, Dexter asking if you want any food, Jack shouts out. 

They turn back, Bella running back to you with the stuffed animal she’d been holding in hand. You kneel down as she holds it out for you to take, heart aching as you look at the stuffed pig. 

Bella had seen it atop your stuff when you’d taken them in the RV and had been holding it ever since. 

It was one of the few things you had of your life left behind but you know when it’s time to let something go. 

“You keep it okay?” You say softly. “You take care of yourself little Bella?” She wraps her arms around your neck, the stuffie clutched between her little fingers. You return the hug, exhaling as you do. Bella lets you go, returning to her Mom and her brother and you stand back up, wiping at your eyes with the back of your hand. 

“Do you want some food? You’ve been with those kids all day.” Dani says softly, holding the box. 

“How’d you find Mom?” You ask quietly, crossing your arms. 

Tyler sighs. “Was sitting with her the whole afternoon when Kate came down the street, hearing her talk about her missing kids. Kate connected the dots.”

Your arms wrap around yourself tighter. “Kate, I told you I was with those kids. I told you to tell the team in case anybody found Mom.” 

Kate opens her mouth but no words come out as Lilly’s eyes slide between the two of you. 

“Here.” Lilly says gently as she holds the box out, taking it from Dani. “You should eat. Been a long day.”

“I’m not hungry.” You say. “I’m gonna get in the truck, let me know when we’re leaving.” 

-

You sling your backpack over your shoulder, the truck door shutting behind you as you walk up the motel steps. 

The backpack, downsized from your duffel bag as Tyler had gone through the Oklahoma necessities with you, which was hardly anything you owned, feels heavy as you do. 

“Hey.” Kate’s voice calls out. “That was a really nice thing you did for that little girl.” 

Tears sting at your eyes as you push the key into the lock, pressing against the door with your body weight to get the door to unstick. 

You think Tyler says something as you shut the door but under the hot water of the shower rushing down you, you can’t hear anything else.

-

You clear your throat, announcing your presence as you do. Tyler and Kate pause in their conversation as they look over to you. 

You set the folder down in front of Tyler, Javi’s pullover in front of Kate. 

“Just wanted to give these to you. Tyler, do you want me to just wait in the truck?” 

Tyler peeks at the folder as Kate asks “Wait for what?”

“What is all of this?” Tyler asks, flipping through the pages. 

“Research on potential investors and their backgrounds. Just so you guys don’t get into another StormPar situation. There’s some stuff about grants, donors in there. Other stuff I tracked down about how you could grow your social media, ideas I had. There might be a couple of pages about laws on people donating, not sure. It’s everything I’ve done this week. Y’all don’t have to use it but I just thought it might be helpful as lead points.” 

“This is- this is really great stuff.” Tyler remarks. “It’s gonna be a real loss to not have your brain on our team.” 

“Wait - are you leaving?” Kate asks, eyes flying between you and Tyler. 

“I’ll meet you at the truck.” You say, turning to leave. You think you hear Kate repeat the question to Tyler, but you shut the door to the RV before you can hear their conversation further. Across the parking lot, Javi calls out, but you wave him off as you climb into the passenger seat of Tyler’s truck. 

Your heart feels heavy as you look at your own Javy’s contact. 

It would be so easy to pick up the phone, to tell him you made a mistake, to beg him to let you come home. 

He would too, and he would pick you up from the airport, and he’d wash the Oklahoma from your skin, and he’d hold you through the loss. 

But then you remember Jake’s defeated look as the two of you had assessed the damage, the way he’d asked you to lie. 

You remember the blood-

A startled gasp leaves you as someone knocks on the window. 

It’s Kate. 

You roll down the window.

“You’re leaving?” 

You eye her, unsure why she appears to be almost nervous, fingernails digging into the soft flesh of her arms. 

“Yeah?” 

“Why?” 

You shrug, surveying the team in the parking lot. “It just didn’t work out. I didn’t fit here.” 

“But-“ She worries her bottom lip. “Where will you go?” 

“I’ll figure it out.” You say simply.

You’d have to because you knew the alternative would be devastating to everyone you’d ever known. 

She sighs, eyes flickering to Tyler, who’s moving closer. “Well, we’re headed to my Mom’s tonight. You should stay one more night. You’ve never even had real Oklahoma barbecue.”

A dry laugh escapes you without your permission. “Kate, what are you playing at here?”

She seems shocked, not expecting your question. “What do you mean?” 

You roll your eyes, huffing. “Kate, c’mon, you told Tyler you didn’t want me here.” 

Her face drops as her arms fall by her sides. “You heard that?” She says quietly. 

“Yeah.”

She licks her lips. “Look, I ain’t good with new people. I’m- It’s a me thing.” She looks down, scuffing her boot on the ground. “It’s my problem and I misjudged you. I’m sorry. Give me another night to show you how it could be.” 

“Why the hell would I stay to see how it could be when I know at this moment I’m not wanted here?” 

“I do.” She says softly. “Want you here. I was wrong and I’m sorry.” 

You let out breath through your nose, meeting Tyler’s eyes through the windshield. 

You think of Dexter’s food, Javi’s pullover, Dani and Lilly’s gentle insistence you feed yourself last night. 

You think of the Louisiana area code sitting open on your phone right now. 

“One night, Kate.”

-

“I sure am sorry you’ll have to sleep on the floor. I just wasn’t expecting an extra person from the crew but we can make sure you have somewhere to sleep tomorrow night-“ 

You cut her off, holding your hands out for the dishes from dinner. “That’s very kind of you Ms. Cooper, but I’m just fine sleeping on the floor.” 

“Please, I keep telling you to just call me Cathy and, well, you could stay in Kate’s bed?” Cathy offers as you take the plates from her. 

“Think you’d find my throat slit tomorrow.” You mutter and Tyler barks out a laugh. 

“You deserved that one Kate.” 

Cathy turns to her daughter, a look on her face. “What did you do?”

Kate pulls a face, holding her hands out. “What- Nothing, Mom!” 

Cathy hums, eyebrows furrowing but you cut them off. “The floor is just fine, Ms. Cooper. Um, do you mind pointing me in the direction of the bathroom so I could change?”

-

“Do Tyler and Kate have a thing?” You ask, taking a sip of the hot chocolate Lilly had made as Javi chuckles next to you. 

You’re watching the group fight over Uno, you and Javi sat in front of a puzzle. 

“They did at one point. When they first met, but they burned out pretty fast. Figured out they were better off as friends.” You hum and Javi’s grin grows. “Why, you thinking you want to start something up with Owens?” 

You blanch and shake your head. “No, I think I’ve more than had my fill on macho thrill seekers for this lifetime.”

Javi lets out a laugh, a real one, for the first time all week. You smile, thinking of how Tyler would fit in with those pilots like he’d always belonged there. 

You were all set on those types.

Kate though…

If Kate hadn’t been so cold to you, Kate would’ve been the type of girl you could see yourself falling for. 

Witty, bright, a soft smile always worn on her face. She’s at ease here and it makes your heart hurt to see. You want to someday be as at ease as she looks, wedged in between Boone and Dexter, the brightest smile you’ve seen from her on her face. 

“So how the hell does a city girl like you find herself in Oklahoma?”

You slide a puzzle piece into place. “I don’t, I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s okay.” 

Javi sighs, quiet for a minute. “Look, I’m sorry we were so off-putting when you first got here. We’re a tight knit group and we’ve been through a lot together. And-“

“Javi.” You cut him off with a tight smile. “You don’t have to explain. I get it, okay? You guys aren't the first group to not want me around and you won’t be the last, alright?”

He heaves a breath, an unreadable look on his face. “Just- if anyone might understand the things you’re running from, it would be us.”

“Who says I’m running?”

Javi raises an eyebrow and you sigh, setting the pieces you’re sorting through down. 

“Look, I’m not running. I’m just- I’m just trying to leave something behind.” 

Javi studies you for a few minutes as you set back to work on the puzzle. 

“Shame you and Kate can’t get along. You two are more alike than you think.”

-

You awake with a start, fingers clenching in unfamiliar fabric. 

“Are you okay?” Someone asks softly and you blink, Kate coming into focus. 

Right, you had- you had slept next to her last night after she’d worn you down. You couldn’t deny how nice it had sounded to sleep in a real bed. 

“Fine.” You breathe, willing yourself to forget the shouts of a friend left behind.

She frowns as she pulls her pants on. “I’m, uh, sorry for waking you up. Gotta help Mom with the cows.” 

You wave a hand, pulling yourself to sit up in the bed. “Want a hand?” 

“Mom would kill me if I let a guest help. Why don’t you get some more sleep, okay?”

You lay back down as she quietly ducks out of the room, but you know sleep won’t come. 

You’re restless so you pull yourself from the bed, padding down the staircase and sitting in one of the chairs on the porch. Tyler appears a minute later, an extra coffee mug in hand. You take it from him with a quiet thank you before the two of you start to watch Kate. 

“So California, are we gonna talk about it?” Tyler asks. 

You sigh as Tyler kicks his feet out. “Well, you’re gonna ask me questions I don’t want to answer and I’m gonna ask you ones you don’t want to answer, so unless you want to start copping to some things…”

Tyler shakes his head. “Won’t talk about it then, California.”

You eye him. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t call me that. Sort of hard to leave that life behind when you keep calling me that.”

“You gonna stay?” Tyler asks, looking over at you. 

You shrug, finger running over the rim of the mug. “I don’t know that I should.”

“I know it’s been a rough start with them.” Tyler sighs, shoulders hiked up. “But they’re good people.” 

“I don’t doubt that.” 

“You’re good people too.”

“Doesn’t make me a good fit here.”

Tyler sighs. “It’s my fault, I should’ve approached it a different way. But if you leave, we’d really be missing out. You’ve got those fancy degrees and you’re smart and you’re one fucking selfless girl. We could use someone like you around.” 

Kate and her Mom appear, Kate’s bright smile appearing as she pulls herself onto the railing of the porch. 

“You guys hungry? I’m gonna go get started on breakfast.” 

“Starved.”

“Wanna come see the barn?” Kate asks you as her Mom opens the screen door. 

“Now hang on, California ain’t said if she’s staying. No reason to show her the barn if she’s gonna be leaving.” 

You sigh, look down at the mug you can feel going cold. You rub your thumb over the Oklahoma written into the side as you think of Kate’s smile, of Tyler’s kindness, of Dexter’s food, of Javi’s pullover that had somehow ended back up in your bag after giving it back to Tyler and Kate yesterday. 

You blink, looking back up at them. “Okay. Yeah, okay, I’ll stay."

ii.

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

So many thoughts, so many feelings. I just can’t get over how she said ‘rest of our marriage’ 😭

pride and prejudice

part: epilogue pairing: paige bueckers x sonia george word count: 10.6k c/w: sexual content, language a/n: well. here it is. the long-awaited epilogue. i have a couple bonus scenes mapped out, but i think it might be time to say goodbye to paige and soni. if i don't, i fear i will never stop writing them. i would love to know who you think the godmother is in the last little snippet tho :) there are some pretty obvious hints, butttt love you all so much, like always. and thank you a billion times again :)

May 2025 - Dallas, Texas

“Are you gonna help or nah?”

I stare blankly at Paige, who’s glaring at me incredulously. Then I shrug, returning to my phone, crossing one leg over the other from my seat on the kitchen counter. We’re moving into our new apartment - a spacious two bedroom apartment in Highland Park, just outside of Dallas. 

“Nah.”

Paige sets the large cardboard box in front of me with an overemphasized thud.

“You’re being a bitch,” she states.

I blink up at her again, tilting my head. “Go get the rest.”

Paige huffs adamantly, bracing her hands on her hips. She’s wearing a plain black tee over white shorts, her lanyard dangling from her pocket, chains glinting against the black, and glasses perched precariously on her nose. She pushes her glasses up stubbornly and huffs, redoing the bun at the base of her neck.

“But there’s so much!” Paige whines, crossing her arms in a manner not dissimilar to that of a petulant child.

I cock a brow. “Should’ve thought of that before you said I couldn’t beat you one on one.”

Paige scoffs. “You can’t.”

“I did.”

“You cheated.”

“And you have at least ten more trips to make to the car. Take your time,” I hum, sending her a poisonously sweet smile. 

She makes a face at me before stalking out the door, returning five minutes later with another large box.

“Why do you have so much shit?” Paige demands.

I narrow my eyes at her, leaning back on my hands. “Half those boxes are your shoes,” I remind her.

She scoffs again. “Whatever,” she grumbles.

I let her make about two more trips before I hop down from the counter and she drops the box in front of me, panting. 

I clap slowly, taunting her. “Number one pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, everyone.”

Paige grabs for my shoulders, hooking her arm around my neck and dragging me against her before jamming her free fingers into my sides. I shriek with laughter as she begins tickling my neck, too.

“This how it’s gonna be, huh?” She questions, her tone playfully angry. “You not a team player?”

“Fuck off!” I gasp. “You made a bet! Where’s your integrity?”

“I sold it for a natty!” Paige teases, picking me up with her arms linked around my waist, squeezing me tight enough that it’s difficult to breathe.

“Okay, okay!” I giggle, elbowing her. “I’ll help!”

Paige sets me down, smooching my cheek exaggeratedly. “Good girl,” she mumbles, smiling against my face a little. 

I smack her shoulder, following her out the door.

Once we’re all moved in (for the most part), Paige and I both stare bleakly at our kitchen. We’ve hung up a couple photos with magnets - winning the national championship, getting drafted together, the like - and the cupboards hold pots and pans that may or may not be used. Most likely, they won’t be. I twist my mouth, glancing at Paige.

“I can cook?” I suggest to her, and she snorts loudly. 

“I wanna live to actually play in the league, thanks,” she drawls, and I punch her arm.

“Ow!” 

“Rude ass. First you make me move all the shit-”

“Into your own apartment, mind you.”

“Then, you almost kill me-”

“You’re so fuckin’ dramatic, you know that?”

“And now, you insult my cooking?” I gasp, holding a hand to my chest and pretending to be offended.

It’s Paige’s turn to roll her eyes. “Don’t tell people I’m in love with you. It’s embarrassing,” she gripes, fishing her keys out of her pocket. “Chipotle, though?” She offers, jangling her keys a bit, and I perk up at the suggestion.

“You’re paying?” I ask, wiggling my eyebrows, and she grins at me, leaning down to peck my lips. 

“Always.”

After we’ve collected our food from Chipotle and I’ve endured a long, arduous ride of Paige singing quite badly to the entirety of Rod Wave’s discography, we collapse onto the couch, our bowls in hand, All American playing on the TV in front of us.

“Mm!” Paige mumbles suddenly around a mouthful of food. “Hard launch!”

I groan, scrubbing at my face with my palms. “Do you have to?” I complain. “People already saw us making out at some random gas station - do they really need a hard launch?”

Paige waves me off, digging around the couch for her phone. “Who cares if they need one?” She asks, finally locating it. “I wanna show you off.”

My cheeks burn, and I wrinkle my nose at her. “Corny,” I mumble, but secretly I’m pleased.

Paige snorts. “I can be as corny as I want. Look what I pulled.” She turns her phone screen towards me, and I can’t help but smile as she swipes through the pictures. 

First, it’s just a picture of me. I’m sitting on the hood of her car, that morning I had dragged her out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to go watch the sunrise. My hair is mussed, my eyes bleary from sleep, remnants of a donut probably crusting the corner of my mouth, but I recognize the picture - Paige has it as her lockscreen.

Next, There’s a picture of the two of us, taken in our hotel room before the draft. It’s a mirror selfie, a picture of me leaning forward and adjusting my earrings in the mirror, my draft outfit on, makeup done, hair made up. Paige is in the background, holding the phone up to the mirror. She has her fist near her mouth, lips pursed, eyebrows scrunched - as if to say ‘yeah, I’m tapping that.’ She looks stunning, her hair slicked back from her face to make her facial features really stand out.

Then, it’s a picture that KK had taken of us in our jerseys at senior night, after the ceremony. I’m laughing tearily at Paige, wiping at her tears with my thumbs, and she’s bawling like a baby, fanning her face.

A picture of the two of us at the bar afterwards, my torso clad in Paige’s sweatshirt, her arm draped easily over my shoulders where I’m seated on the barstool, her cheek pressed against my hair.

Another picture Paige had made Flau’jae take - arguably the most stereotypically ‘couple’ picture we have. We’re both in our outfits we wore to the All-Star Game afterparty; me in all black, her in the purple and white set I had picked out for her. We’re standing side by side, her arms wrapped possessively around my waist. I have a hand braced against her chest, and we’re both beaming deliriously at each other. If it weren’t me in the photo, I’d probably be sick looking at it.

She has a picture of the two of us at the Final Four from our sophomore year in this folder, too, me in my South Carolina jersey, her in her UConn one. I’ve just hit a three in her face, and I’m smiling like an insane person at her in the photo.

I cover my mouth, grinning stupidly at the collection.

“Damn, we look good!” Paige muses, beaming at me. “I can post these, right?”

I bite my lip, nodding. Then, surreptitiously, I lean over and kiss her on the cheek, overcome by endearment.

She blinks at me, surprised at the sudden display of affection. “What was that for?” She murmurs.

I shrug sheepishly, and Paige chuckles, pulling my body into hers and placing an emphatic kiss on my shoulder. “C’mere,” she mumbles, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tight. She hands me her phone, nuzzling her nose into my hair and kissing me there, too.

“You can pick the rest.”

_____________

July 2025 - Dallas, Texas

“Ow! Paige!”

“What?!”

“You’re cutting off my circulation!”

“She’s cutting off my arm!”

The green-haired tattoo artist pauses, lifting the gun from Paige’s bicep and raising a pierced eyebrow at my girlfriend. All six feet of her, and she’s still whining like a little baby over getting the tiniest tattoo of my initials. That, and she’s squeezing my hand so tight that my fingers have begun to go numb. 

“Is she okay?” The artist asks. Claire, I think her name is, at least according to the name tag hanging off of her black tank top.

I nod, wincing a little as Paige’s nails dig into my palm. I shoot her a warning look as she writhes in the chair, and she looks up at the ceiling, biting the inside of her cheek to distract herself. Claire chuckles, her gun buzzing as the needle makes contact with Paige’s arm again. She whimpers, bringing our clasped hands to her face and pressing her forehead against them.

“Aren’t you those basketball players? From TikTok? Like, WNBA?” Claire asks, and Paige bristles a bit.

“Yeah, we play for the Wings,” I supply, and she nods in understanding.

“So, y’all are, like… professional athletes?” She presses. I grimace a little. 

“Technically,” I grumble, shooting Paige a withering glare. She gives me a questioning look back, as if to ask “what?”.

“Okay! All done!” 

“Oh, thank God,” Paige breathes out, and I yank my hand away, shaking it out and making sure it still has feeling. 

Claire chuckles, setting her tattoo gun down. “Y’all together?” She asks, and Paige nods.

I shrug. “Nah. She’s just a friend.” 

Paige’s mouth drops open. “Bro!”

Claire laughs, grinning at me. “You’re a good friend for sitting with her through this,” she winks, and I find myself smiling over at Paige, whose blue eyes are still tinged with mock hurt. 

“Yeah, well,” I mumble. “It’s pretty hard to say no to that face.” Said face breaks out into a grin at this, and it damn near blinds me.

“Your girlfriend’s hot,” Claire says to Paige, and I snort at the offended look that immediately overtakes the blonde’s features. “You be good to her,” she continues, and I return her toothy smile, mumbling a ‘thank you’. Paige blusters next to me, her mouth opening and closing in indignance.

Claire snaps off her gloves, disposing of them on the tray. “They’ll charge you up front. I take it this will probably be her last one?”

I chuckle, glancing at Paige, whose jaw is set stubbornly. “Probably,” I reply.

The next day, we head into practice at College Park Center, and Paige is proudly showing off her new tattoo to our teammates. 

“SG,” Maddy Siegrist frowns a little, squinting at the tattoo. “Paige, you know you play point guard, right?”

“Yo, chilllll,” Paige complains. “It’s for Soni! She has mine, too.”

I look up from the bench, where I’m lacing my shoes. “Me?” I interject. “Nah, mine stands for peanut butter.”

Paige narrows her eyes at me. “You might actually be the worst girlfriend ever.”

Maddy pats her on the shoulder. “It looks good. Arike, did you know Paige got a tattoo for you?”

I snicker as Arike Ogunbowale frowns at my girlfriend. “Yo, Paige, we’re tight, but not that tight,” she says uneasily.

“Man, y’all fake!” Paige huffs, grabbing her shoes and storming out of the locker room.

“What’d she really get?” Rike questions, plopping down next to me.

My cheeks warm a little. “My initials,” I mumble, then show her the inside of my left ring finger, which has the letters ‘PB’ inked in black. “To match the one I have for her.”

Rike whistles low under her breath, and I elbow her.

“So y’all locked, huh?” She teases, and I roll my eyes. “Yeah, whatever,” I grumble.

“She cried, though?” Satou Sabally calls from across the locker room. I snort at Sa’s question.

“Like a bitch.”

___________

January 2027 - Miami, Florida

Sonia’s eyebrow arches as I slam the door behind me, entering my temporary apartment in Miami. It’s a smaller place than the one we both have in Dallas, but it’ll have to do while I’m playing for Unrivaled for a second season. 

“Hello to you, too,” she greets me, returning to the book in her hands when I roll my eyes and wave her off. She’s staying with me for some photo shoots she has going on here before returning to Columbia to help Coach Staley out with the Gamecocks team. 

“You better check that attitude,” she muses from the couch when I slam the fridge door, entirely unsatisfied with the pickings inside of it. The nonchalant tone of her voice, combined with the incredibly frustrating practice I just had, does nothing but irk me further.

“Or what?” I mumble under my breath, mostly to myself.

“What was that?” She presses.

“Or what?” I say louder, turning sharply to face her. 

“Watch your tone,” Soni bites back, not even bothering to look up at me. If she wasn’t already being infuriating enough, she also looks ridiculously enticing. She’s wearing a thin white tank top and a pair of pajama shorts, displaying her tattoos and her collarbones, as well as her belly button piercing. Her hair is swept over the other shoulder, a sleek black curtain hanging down to her stomach. One ear is revealed, displaying the piercings lining the shell of her ear.

Fuck her.

“Man, Ion’t need this shit from you,” I gripe, stripping off my shirt as I head into our bedroom, tossing the garment onto the bed. I storm back out. “I’m tired, I just had the worst practice fucking ever, and I’m starving on top of all of it.”

Soni looks at me thoughtfully. Her eyes twitch once, and she sets the book down on the coffee table in front of her. “If you’re hungry,” she begins pensively, cocking her head and standing up off the couch.

“Then eat something.”

I’m on her in what feels like less than a second, my hand gripping her throat harshly as I throw her down against the couch, crashing my lips to hers in a punishing kiss. I lodge my knee between her thighs, pressing her core against my leg.

“Always with that fuckin’ attitude, huh?” I growl, devouring her lips. She moans, scratching a little at my arms. I push at her throat, and she gasps against my mouth. 

“Just wanted to get you going,” she rasps out, and I just kiss her harder at that, wrapping my tongue around hers. 

“You’re sick in the head,” I whisper to her, and Soni just bucks her hips against my knee.

“You fuck so good when you’re mad, though,” she reasons, smirking, and it only drives me crazier.

“God, you’re a slut, you know that?” I demand, pushing my knee up into her.

“Am I?” She muses, grinding against me again.

I shake my head, biting at her lip and pulling back to look at her. “Say it,” I breathe, and I feel my pussy drenching at the sight of her - pupils blown wide, my hand wrapped around her neck, lips bitten and shiny, parted desperately, begging for me.

“Say what?” Soni whispers back, searching my eyes.

I press harder at her neck, and she gasps. “You know what.”

She bites her lip, widening her eyes up at me with faux innocence. “What?” She asks, her voice strained. “That I’m a slut?” Soni drags out the last word, letting her tongue curl upwards sensually, and I let my head fall to her neck, sucking hard at her throat, raking my teeth across it and letting my hands delve under her tank top.

“Keep going,” I instruct.

“I don’t know what you want,” she protests feebly, letting her head loll back as I mark her up ravenously.

“Then you’re not coming tonight.”

“I can do it myself,” she huffs.

“It won’t be as good,” I shoot back cockily, shoving her hips down so she pushes against my knee again.

“Says who?” She demands, panting a little. I bite her earlobe.

“Says you. First time we fucked.”

“How do you remember that?” She whimpers, and her hands are in my hair now, scraping against my scalp.

“Same way you’re gonna remember exactly what I want you to say right now,” I argue, pulling back from her neck. I nod, satisfied. Those will be beautiful tomorrow.

Soni huffs. “Fine. I’m such a slut for you, Paige,” she bites sarcastically.

I place my fingers on her cheek, shoving her face to the side a little. “Try again.”

She moves her head, taking my fingers in her mouth. I watch as her lips wrap around them, mesmerized as her tongue coats them in saliva. 

“I’m such a slut for you, Paige,” she whispers, her voice throaty, her eyelashes fluttering.

I watch, hypnotized, driven near mad by desire as she continues. “For your fingers,” she murmurs, smiling seductively at me.

I feel my heartbeat stutter.

“Your mouth, fuck,” she whines, letting her eyes roll back in her head, and I know she’s thinking about it - how good it feels for her when I go down on her, eating her out like she’s my last meal.

Then she grabs my chain, dragging me flush against her body so her lips can press against my ear.

“For your cock,” she breathes, and my resolve snaps.

I wrench myself away from her, tearing her shorts and panties down her legs and spitting into her cunt, letting my saliva mix with the slick already coating her folds.

And I think I must black out, letting my tongue lap through her folds, sink into her entrance, digging my nails into her thighs as I push them apart. I’m sucking at her clit, dragging my teeth and my tongue against it, and she’s making these sounds - fuck, moaning and whining and groaning and begging - that I could come just from listening to.

“Close,” she chokes out, her fingers pulling at my hair, and it hurts so good - almost as good as she tastes. 

“Gonna make you come, Soni. Wanna make you come… so fucking hard for me,” I mumble deliriously in between licks, and then I’m shoving two fingers into her, watching hungrily as she sucks them up. She arches her back as I fuck her, and I can hear her faintly in the back of my mind, telling me not to stop, telling me I fuck her so good, telling me she’s so close and she just wants me to taste her.

I even feel her come for the first time, I think - feel her pulse around my tongue, gush around my lips so hard that it drips down my chin. 

I remember coming up for air, swiping at my chin with the back of my hand.

I remember staring at her folds, swearing I can see her pussy throb, begging me to fuck her until she really can’t take it anymore.

I remember going in for round two, her hands pushing at my head, thighs clenching around my face, her protesting that it’s too much and she can’t take it.

“Shut the fuck up,” I spit at her, more or less drunk off the taste of her, the feel of slurping her up, of tasting every inch of her with my tongue.

“Please, Paige.”

“One more,” I slur, and fuck if the moan she lets out isn’t pornographic, her hips bucking against her will, nails digging painfully into my scalp.

“God, it hurts!” She whines raggedly. I feel a grin take over my face, feeling slightly manic.

“Look how bad you want it, though,” I mutter, my voice low as I suck hard at her clit.

“Fuck- God-”

“Fucking dripping for me, telling me you can’t take it,” I hiss, thrusting my fingers back into her and pressing my thumb hard against her clit.

“I can’t- fuck, please, baby, I can’t,” she sobs, and there are tears tracking down her face. They do nothing but spur me on.

“You’re doing so good, though,” I praise, fucking her deeper, hitting a spongy spot deep inside that has her crying out. I watch her take me, marveling at the way she engulfs my fingers so flawlessly, so wet and warm.

“Just push yourself, baby,” I coo, and there are marks in her thighs where my fingers have dug into the flesh that become evident when I move my hand to press against her stomach. “So perfect when you finish for me.”

“Wanna… finish… for you,” Soni pants desperately, and my fingers move faster, mouth attaching to her clit.

I feel myself going deeper into that haze, my mind clouding over from how beautiful she looks under my mouth and fingers - muscles flexing under her brown skin as she writhes against the couch, her perfect lips parting to let obscenities flow from them, the feeling of her nails dragging against my scalp and gouging thin red lines down my arm.

“I’m coming, fuck. I’m gonna come again, Paige, shit-” She’s just babbling at this point, and I’m fucking her harder and harder and harder, wanting nothing more than to taste her when she finishes.

She shatters with a scream, body grinding against my face as her head tips back into the couch. Her hips shudder as she finishes, breathing hard. “Fuck,” she pants, brushing my hair out of my face to get a better view, gazing down at me in something like disbelief as she cups my face adoringly. “You’re so good at that.” Her tone is incredulous, even after nearly two years of learning exactly what I’m capable of.

I smirk, pressing my lips to her palm and finally dragging my head away from her cunt. “That what you wanted?” I demand softly, massaging her thighs a little as I stare down at her, chastising.

Soni nods, teeth digging into her bottom lip as she stares at me. “I was right,” she whispers, and I raise my eyebrows, urging her to continue.

“You do fuck better when you’re mad.”

______________

December 2028 - Hartford, Connecticut

“Man, was our workout with Coach this morning not enough?” Sonia whines, lacing up her skates, anyway.

I snort. “Please. Geno hardly worked us at all.”

Soni hums. “Well, the shower after…”

I grin to myself proudly, recalling the steamy hotel shower sex that had followed a relatively light workout with Coach Auriemma. I’d specifically asked him to work her harder, maybe throw a few snide jabs at her, really get her going. It would be easier to work her up afterwards if she was already pissed from the workout.

It seems that in the three years since Soni and I got drafted, the old man has gone soft. He hardly got onto Soni for missing layups, even praising her shot form. Ridiculous.

I’d had to try exceptionally hard - even for me - to piss her off afterwards. I’d flirted a little with the barista when we went to pick up coffee afterwards, ‘forgotten’ our room key in the car when we got back to the hotel and made her go back down to get it, then spilled coffee all over her white sports bra - all for extremely unselfish reasons. I’m trying to recreate our first date, the one we’d planned in my car as twenty-three year olds and thrown together after the championship our last year at UConn.

But after the way Soni had sunk to her knees in the shower, eating me out and finger-fucking diligently as the water streamed in rivulets down her bare back, it’s safe to say that perhaps my reasons were not entirely unselfish.

Soni looks up from her skates to shoot me a sly smile. “You still sore?” She teases, standing up. She wobbles a little, catching at my arms to balance herself. “Are you?” I retort, and her smile only grows. I know her mind is racing with the memories of everything I’d done to her afterwards, but I don’t have time for daydreaming. I’m on a strict schedule. 

“C’mon,” I murmur, taking her hand and leading her to the rink. She looks beautiful - a loose gray sweatshirt of mine hanging off her shoulder, black flare leggings on her long legs, dark hair braided loosely to the side.

She steps onto the ice, and true to form, it’s an immediate disaster.

“Fuck! Oh, my God, I’m gonna break my ankles,” she protests, clutching onto my arm.

“I already did that this morning,” I chuckle, but I loop an arm around her waist to keep her upright anyway. 

Soni curls her lip at me. “You lost that workout, you know,” she says snippily, but you can only look so haughty when you can’t even ice skate properly.

I frown at her. “Ion’t even know what that means. How do you lose a workout?” I demand.

She raises her eyebrows. “You tell me.”

“Aight, enough outta you. Skate.”

“Damn! All impatient, for what?” Sonia grumbles, trying her best to follow me lead on the ice, but ultimately just skittering around.

“This is hard,” she grumbles. I laugh at her a little, skating in front of her to take her hands. 

“You got it, baby,” I encourage. “Just one foot in front of the other.”

Sonia looks like a baby deer out on the ice, her cheeks flushed with frustration, dark brows furrowed in concentration. “Am I getting it?” She grits out, still skidding around a bit.

I laugh softly, my chest suddenly tight at the sight of her. “You’re doing perfect.”

She smiles at me, tentatively, then returns her eyes to her feet, carefully placing one in front of the other. And I only get to see it for a split second - the way her lips spread wide, parting to reveal pearly white teeth, that smile I’ve grown to learn she saves for me and only me - but it tucks itself away into my brain, imprinting itself on my never-ending roll of film entitled ‘Times I Fell In Love With Sonia George’.

“You having fun with this?” Soni grumbles, glancing back up at me.

I smile at her, entirely sincere. “I always have fun when I’m with you.”

“Even when we’re fighting?”

“Are we ever not fighting?”

“Fair enough.”

Sonia’s silent after her response, humming softly to herself. She’s gotten the hang of skating pretty quickly now, just like she does with everything else. But she still hangs tight to my hands, gripping my fingers and keeping pace with me.

“Hey, Paige?” She says suddenly.

“Hm?”

She squeezes my fingers once. “I love you,” she mumbles, and her eyes lock with mine when she says it. I remember the first time she said it, backstage at Barclays Center in New York, my face in her palms when she told me that I was her everything.

“Love you, too, headass,” I tease, tugging her to me and wrapping her in a hug. She sighs against my chest, and the Sonia now is so different than the Sonia I used to know - the erratic Sonia, the fickle Sonia who was terrified to love me, to let me love her.

And there’s parts of her that haven’t changed, that I pray never will. The tenacious Sonia, aggressive and determined and hardheaded, always unwilling to back down. The Sonia who cares so fiercely and adamantly, the one I fall more and more in love with everyday.

My Soni.

I lead her off the ice. “Hot chocolate?” I suggest hopefully. 

Sonia nods. “You wanna eat my whipped cream?”

I stare at her. “Yo, pauseeee,” I laugh at the unintentional innuendo, and she elbows me.

“Oh, my God. Paige, you are twenty eight years old. Please.”

“You have to hear yourself, though,” I snicker, and Soni rolls her eyes. “Two hot chocolates, please,” she tells the worker running the concession stand.

“You’re so insufferable,” she complains when I quickly whip out my card to pay before she can. 

I raise an eyebrow at her. “What? Because I don’t let you pay for anything and I pay for everything because I’m the most spectacular, kind, caring, considerate girlfriend ever?”

Soni’s eyes widen playfully. “Somebody’s got an ego,” she sing-songs under her breath, grabbing our drinks and a spoon. We walk over to a standing table, and like clockwork, she hands me her drink and the spoon. I scoop up the whipped cream, ignoring the slight pounding in my chest and the weight in my jacket pocket.

“Paige,” Soni chastises, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Mm? What?” I ask, slightly panicked. She can’t be onto me, right? I’ve been so careful.

Soni chuckles softly, reaching over to swipe some whipped cream off the corner of my mouth, sucking it off her thumb. “You’re such a mess,” she teases, grinning at me. 

I push the whipped cream free cup over to her side of the table, returning her smile.

“Only for you.”

After grabbing some burgers - and complaining that they don’t match up to the In-N-Out in Texas - we hop back into our rental car. Soni yawns loudly. 

“I’m beat,” she sighs, her eyes fluttering closed in the passenger seat. I glance ahead of me, clocking that the sun has almost set through the windshield of my car. I shove her shoulder, shaking her awake.

“Yo, lock in,” I tell her, and she whines, pushing my hand away.

“Let’s go home,” she complains, and I glare at her. 

“Soni. Get up.”

“God, you’re so annoying.”

“And you’re a bitch,” I mumble, my eyes still on the road. Soni pokes my arm a little at that, but laces her fingers with my free hand anyway.

“Do you think we would’ve ended up together if I hadn’t transferred to UConn?” She wonders aloud.

I shoot her a curious look. “Where is this coming from?” I muse.

She shrugs, playing with my rings, squinting out the window. “Just wondering. Like, I know if we got drafted to different teams, we’d still be together-”

“Oh, would we?” I tease. Soni scoffs at this.

“Shut up,” she mumbles, her eyes flickering back to me.

“Well, I think you transferred to UConn for the purpose of getting with me, so there’s that,” I joke, and Soni groans.

“You are so unserious!” She complains, and I laugh, pulling over into an empty field. 

“Where are we?” Soni demands, looking around at our surroundings. There’s nothing but snow for miles, but we’re far enough away from any people that the stars gleam dazzlingly against the night sky.

I turn the ignition off, keeping the heat up, and climb out of the car. Opening the trunk, I lower the back seats and spread out the assortment of blankets and pillows that I’d piled inside. Shivering, I climb inside the open trunk, beckoning to my girlfriend to join me.

Soni blinks at me. “Paige Madison, we are not having sex in this car right now,” she says sternly. 

I roll my eyes. “Bro, you’re nasty. I wasn’t even thinking about that.” Then I pause. “But now I am,” I say suggestively. Soni climbs back towards me, swatting my arm. 

“Too cold for this shit,” she complains.

I fold her into my arms, covering us with blankets and pecking her temple a couple times. “I can keep you warm, baby,” I joke, and she pretends to gag, sticking a finger into her mouth. I just squeeze her tighter, sneaking my hand to my pocket to feel around, stifling a sigh of relief. 

Soni looks up at me, then places a soft kiss against my jawline. “You do this with all your girlfriends?” She teases. I sniff at her. 

“Nah, I be taking them to Cabo and shit,” I reply easily, and Soni laughs out loud.

“What is funny?” I demand. “Do you know how many side hoes I have?”

“Zero,” Soni cackles, then reaches up to kiss me firmly on the mouth. “And keep it that way,” she breathes.

I smile down at her, biting my lip. “Do you remember when we met?” I murmur, brushing hair out of her face.

Soni frowns, then her eyes light up. “Yeah, oh, my God. We were supposed to play for the same AAU team!”

“Then you tripped me during practice -”

“That is not what happened.”

“And we almost got into a fight.”

“Which you would’ve lost.”

“But then you never came back.”

Soni chuckles, scooting even closer to me. “My mom made me switch teams. She said you looked like trouble.”

“That’s all you, ma,” I murmur, kissing her again. She sighs against my mouth, smiling giddily into the kiss. 

“Crazy because we still ended up being teammates,” Soni comments, brushing her nose against mine. 

“Always running away from me, huh?” I whisper, and her eyes twinkle. 

“I never get very far, do I?” She muses, brushing her thumb against my cheekbone. 

“You should probably stop trying, then, yeah?” I ask, and she grins at me, recalling our conversation from draft night. 

“I stopped trying forever ago.”

Forever. It’s a funny word. Not the kind that’s tangible, or one you can quantify, or even quite touch. 

Or that’s what I used to think. 

I take a deep breath.

“You know I love you, right?” I say, and my tone is serious.

Soni blinks at me in surprise. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

I pause, reaching into my pocket and letting my fingers close around the small, velvet box. 

“Paige, you’re freaking me out,” Soni says, sitting up. I clasp her hand in mine, lacing our fingers.

“The first time I saw you play in a game, I was twelve years old,” I tell her.

“I didn’t know what love was. I didn’t even really know I could love another girl like that. I just knew I liked your jumpshot,” I start, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “And that I thought your eyes were pretty.”

Soni’s stifling a smile as she gazes up at me. She squeezes my hand again, eyes shining.

I continue, feeling much more grounded when I remember that her hand is in mine. “I remember you texted me when I tore my ACL our junior year. And I couldn’t stand you, Soni, God. You were arrogant and bitchy and you knew you were so much better than me. But I wanted to keep talking to you, anyway. For some reason, I didn’t really care that anyone else reached out. Only you.”

“I’m still pretty arrogant and bitchy,” Soni reasons, kissing the back of my hand.

I shake my head at her, smiling a little. “I used to watch your pressers. Before you transferred. I wanted to see if they asked you about me, I wanted to know what you would say. I’d have your games on repeat, and I’d make up some bullshit excuse to Coach that I was scouting.”

Soni laughs at this. She brings our hands into her lap, and her eyes are glistening a little.

“I didn’t know what to say to him when I was rewatching your old games even when you couldn’t play,” I chuckle, almost to myself.

“The first time we took the floor together, as teammates… It kinda felt like the first time I ever picked up a basketball. And you’re gonna call me corny, but it felt like it was meant to be, Soni,” I whisper.

She shakes her head, tears welling at her waterline. “S’not corny,” she chokes out.

“Nothing has ever felt more right than sharing a court with you, baby,” I tell her, feeling a lump in my throat.

“I should’ve known,” I say. “I could never stay away from you. I don’t even think I ever really tried. I’d go to AAU tournaments, or we’d play y’all, and I’d be plotting to place myself exactly where I knew you’d be. I think I’ve always been a little bit in love with you, Soni.”

I ease myself out of the trunk, disentangling my hand from hers and standing in front of the car. She shivers from the cold, scooting forward, pulling me between her legs. I cup her face with my left hand and let my right hand dip into my pocket. 

“And now, I’m completely, hopelessly, terrifyingly in love with you,” I murmur.

“Paige-”

“I love you so much, Soni,” I continue, interrupting her. “I’ve known it was you since I was twenty two. Maybe I even knew it at twelve.”

“You asked me if we would be together, still - if you hadn’t transferred, if the draft hadn’t worked out, whatever. The answer is yes. Because just like I used to, at tournaments, games, media, whatever - I would’ve found you. I’m always gonna find you, Soni. I’m always gonna come home.”

I sink to one knee, pulling the little black box out of my pocket. I ignore the way the snow seeps through my jeans, freezing my knee. It’s easy enough - instead, I watch Soni’s hands fly to her mouth, her tears overflowing and dripping from her eyes down her face when I open the box.

“No fuckin’ way,” she whispers, glancing between me and the ring, and I laugh, my heart pounding.

“I ain’t even ask yet!” I protest.

Her eyes widen, realizing it sounds like she’s just said no to marrying me. “What? No! Oh, my God… Sorry, go on.”

“I’m not really asking, anyway,” I murmur to her, still gazing up at her, as mesmerized by her beauty as I was the first day I saw her. Her eyes gleam with mirth, mouth twitching up into a smile.

“But I’mma still give you this ring… and you’re gonna marry me, Sonia George.”

Soni laughs tearily as she hops out of the trunk and drags me to my feet, pulling me into her and clutching me tight. Her hands grip the collar of my coat, eyes searching my face.

“You didn’t need to ask,” she whispers to me. “I told you, remember? You’re the main thing. You’re my future.”

“Good,” I mumble back, slipping the diamond studded silver ring onto her finger and pulling her into me by her waist.

Then I kiss her in the snow, under the moon.

And I don’t stop.

_____________

March 2030 - San Francisco, California

KK clinks her fork against her glass, climbing on top of her chair. Soni’s eyes widen as she stares, shocked, at KK over the greenery and candles adorning the white table cloth. 

“Tell her to get down,” she hisses to me, and I place a consoling hand on her arm, stifling a laugh.

“E’cuse meeeeee!” KK intones shrilly, and the room quiets down. 

Soni hadn’t wanted to do anything big for our wedding, and I had shared that sentiment. And by that, I mean she had told me what was going to happen and I went along with it. 

Any wedding where I get to marry Sonia George is my dream wedding, anyway. Especially when the ceremony had been in a gorgeous church just off the San Francisco Bay, our reception is currently being hosted in a swanky hotel downtown, and Sonia’s sitting next to me looking like she walked straight out of a movie.

Her dark black hair is slicked down at the front into a sort of headband, the rest of it falling in soft waves all the way down to the small of her back. Her arms are now covered in small, minimalistic tattoos - the Libra constellation, a couple quotes, a dainty little key near the pulse point on her wrist - and they’re fully on display in her sleeveless gown. The gown itself is simple - plain white silk that hugs her body before flaring out elegantly at her knees. The top cuts straight across her chest, a neat v sliced out of it that extends from her breasts to her stomach. Her makeup is soft, cheekbones gently defined, cheeks subtly blushed, lips glistening with the pinkish-brown shade I love on her. Her brown skin gleams in the setting sunlight, and I haven’t taken my eyes off of her since she walked down the aisle earlier this afternoon.

Until now. KK commands everyone's attention loudly before directing her voice at me. “Miss Boogers, your wife is not going anywhere. Please direct your attention to Kee-Kay Arnold, thank you!”

Titters echo through the room, and I catch sight of Ice shaking her head in slight disapproval, mouthing ‘Sorry’ to Sonia. I snort, letting my eyes land on KK.

“Now, as you all know - or maybe not - Paige, Sunny, and I played basketball at a little school out east called UConn.” Our old Husky teammates cheer, and her old Gamecock teammates - and, well, everyone else here who played basketball against us and lost - begin booing loudly. I catch sight of Coach Staley, who’s seated next to Coach Auriemma, Sue, and Diana Taurasi. Dawn raises her champagne glass at me, her eyes twinkling.

“We won a natty together, whateverrr. But y’all gotta know what happened behind the scenes. I mean, these two are some of the hardest workers, the most competitive people I know. And I’m saying this in a room with at least fifty rings in it, total!”

The crowd laughs at this, and I catch sight of Nika dapping Azzi up reluctantly. Last season, Sonia and I had requested trades out of Dallas, wanting to explore other teams. She’d ended up here, in the Bay, and teamed up with Azzi to bring a chip home to San Francisco last season. They’d beat me in Toronto and then Nika in LA to win it - a fact I’m sure Soni will lord over me for the rest of our marriage.

KK looks over at us, hopping down from her chair. The room gasps - probably not the best idea to be jumping off of chairs and doing acrobatics in a room full of basketball players who have had their fair share of injuries, but it’s KK. 

“I’ve also never seen two people more in love,” she continues, and the crowd awws.

“Y’all don’t even know,” KK says, pointing to me. “I have never seen anyone so down bad in my life!” Soni snorts next to me, then hides her face when I shoot her a look, stifling my own chuckle - because it’s true. 

“Aight, bro-” I try to interrupt KK, but I’m laughing, anyway.

“I mean, Sunny said jump, Paige would say how high - that’s how it works with these two. But… It really works. They’re so passionate and stubborn, and you would think, like - they make each other worse. But they really balance each other out.They just complement each other so perfectly. Aw, look at them!” She gushes, gesturing to us with her champagne glass. “Look at Paige, all bougie in her Louis V! And then Sunny, so beautiful. Ugh. Y’all make me sick, ew. Give it up for the happy couple, y’all!”

The room fills with whoops and cheers, and Soni squeezes my hand tightly, giggling. 

“To Sunny and Paige!” KK announces, raising her champagne glass. “And to keeping the Ultimate Rizzler tied down for the rest of her life, because we know she ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

Everyone laughs, and we clink our glasses together and sip on the champagne before KK starts a chant: “Kiss, kiss, kiss!”

I can’t help but laugh, beaming over at my wife. She smiles coyly up at me. “The people want us to kiss,” she tells me.

I shrug, leaning in, quite grateful for the opportunity. “Gotta give the people what they want, right?”

_____________

November 2031 - Hartford, Connecticut

I watch Paige say goodbye to a camper. The little six-year-old wraps her hands around my wife’s neck, and Paige leans down to whisper in her ear, hugging her back. The girl giggles before grabbing her mom’s hand and skipping out of Mohegan Sun.

I let myself indulge in the daydream - Paige, holding a little baby with dark hair and blue eyes, as impossible as I know it is. We hadn’t really talked about it seriously yet. I was never really sure that I wanted kids, and Paige knows that. But, lately, I’ve been thinking that having a mini Paige running around might not be so bad. Just more of her to love, I guess.

Not to mention, seeing her interact with these kids at the Sun camp lately has been… enticing, to say the least. It’s so easy to imagine her as a mom - a kid perched on her hip as she makes breakfast, her teaching our little boy or girl proper shooting form while I yell at her that she’s doing it wrong. There’s this aura about her when she’s talking to them, a surety and confidence that I can’t help but find ridiculously sexy.

I glance down at my phone to check the time, and I’m met with a picture of Paige from our wedding day. She’d shed her white suit jacket as soon as we got to the reception. In the picture, she’s laughing as she leads me to the dance floor, her white dress shirt tucked into her suit pants, silver chains gleaming underneath the collar. Her head is turned towards me so her jawline is prominent, hair slicked back into a bun, face done up lightly. Her eyelashes are long and black, the blue of her irises stark against them. I smile at the picture, then glance back up at my wife, who’s saying goodbye to the last camper.

“You want one, huh?” A voice sounds next to me. I start, nearly dropping the towel I’m holding.

Diana Taurasi’s smiling at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling, the hair slicked back into her bun graying a little. Her eyes are as alight with youth as ever, though - just like Sue’s always are. She’d moved to Connecticut after retiring from the WNBA as the all-time leading scorer, a title she still holds. She’s been a huge help to Paige and I after we got traded back here - finding a place, getting us settled - and now she’s helping us run this little charity basketball camp.

“Sorry?” I ask, furrowing my brow.

Dee smirks at me. “Ah, I know that look. Penny got the same one in her eyes, and then before we knew it, we had Leo. Same thing with Isla. When you know, you know.”

I hesitate, letting her words sink in. “When… did y’all know?” 

She shrugs, squinting a little in thought. “I think it depends who you ask. Penny always wanted kids. I think I wasn’t really ready for a while there, but it all works out how it’s supposed to. You know, Paige is… so much like me, in so many ways. But one thing I can tell you: she’s always known she wants to be a mom. And she’s gonna be a damn great one.”

I smile over at her, nodding. “Look at the old hag. Guess you are good for shit other than techs,” I tease.

She nudges me, scoffing. “Careful. Don’t let Sue hear you talking like that.” She grins at me.

“Soni! I’m ready!” Paige calls. “Hey, thanks again, Diana,” she addresses the older woman, approaching the two of us and pulling her in for a little bro hug. 

Dee spreads her arms. “What can I say? I’m a giver. I’ll see you guys for dinner soon, okay?”

Paige and I both nod, waving goodbye to her.

We both collapse onto the couch as soon as we get home. “Man, those kids are obsessed with you,” Paige comments, yawning a little.

I raise my eyebrows at her. “Me?” I ask. “They can’t get enough of you.”

Paige smirks, kissing her bicep. “More than enough to go around,” she tells me, and if I wasn’t already turned on enough by how effortlessly she’d handled all those kids, that dumbass comment definitely does it.

Suddenly, I’m more than awake. I sit up, waiting for a beat. Then I crawl into her lap, letting my legs straddle her waist and biting the inside of my cheek. I run my hands along her biceps, and the smirk she gives me sends heat straight between my legs. Her large hands spread across my ass, just resting there possessively for now.

“I like watching you with kids,” I say simply, twirling a piece of hair around my finger.

“Yeah?” She hums, scooting my closer.

“We should have one,” I continue, and I don’t know if Paige is taking me seriously, because her eyes are glued to my lips.

“If I could knock you up, we’d prolly have five kids by now,” she jokes hoarsely, reaching up to kiss me. I swat her shoulder lightly.

“Paige,” I hiss. “I’m serious. I wanna have a kid with you.”

Paige blinks. “Wait. Are you being for real?” She asks, her tone a little disbelieving.

I nod shyly, and her face breaks out into a grin, blue eyes gleaming at the idea. “Holy shit. You’re gonna look so fuckin’ hot pregnant, baby!” She tells me happily, kissing me firmly on the mouth. I pull away from her, a hand at her chest, eyebrow arched.

“I am not getting pregnant,” I tell her.

Paige pauses, considering her options, twisting her mouth. “You’re gonna look so fuckin’ hot… signing adoption papers?” She suggests, and I giggle, leaning back in to kiss her. 

“God, I can’t wait,” she mumbles, kissing me eagerly. “You’re gonna be such a good mom.”

I smile against her lips and sigh. “You’re gonna be the favorite parent, I already know.”

Paige pulls back, frowning a little. “I’mma be the fun parent, for sure. But I don’t know how anyone could know you and not love you more than anything in the entire world. So don’t say that.”

I shove her a little before kissing her again. “Don’t be corny,” I chastise, but privately, the admission makes my heart sing. 

I move my mouth with hers slowly, slipping my tongue into her mouth and dragging it languidly against hers, letting her hands roam my body - squeezing my ass, dipping under my shirt, tracing my back tattoo. 

“You know, speaking of getting knocked up…” Paige whispers in between kisses.

“We stopped talking about that, like, ten minutes ago,” I reply softly, moving my lips right next to her ear and placing feather-light kisses there.

“Well, I’m still thinking about it,” she sighs, lacing a hand into my hair.

“What? You wanna knock me up?” I ask slyly, and she groans, shifting underneath me.

“Fuck, Soni.” 

I hum, returning to her mouth. “You wanna try?” I ask, hovering over her lips, knowing damn well that it’ll drive her crazy.

She’s off the couch in a flash, my legs wrapped snugly around her waist as she carries me to our bedroom, kissing me hungrily. I laugh, disposing of my shirt somewhere in the hallway and responding with equal intensity. She tosses me against the bed, pulling her shirt off and her bra with it. 

Sometimes, I don’t know how it’s possible that I’ve seen her naked and that I’m able to control myself around her. Paige is fucking unreal - her abdominal muscles have hardened even more over the years into hard lines down her torso, biceps defined even without her flexing. The striation in between her breasts has become more apparent, the v-line at her hips jutting out. She looks like she could crush me with her bare hands - and I can’t fucking get enough of it.

I prop myself up to take my bra off, and Paige lips attach to my right tit immediately. “Fuckin’ perfect tits,” she groans, sucking at the nipple, licking at it with her tongue. She moves her attention to the other one, and I sigh, combing through her hair and pressing her head down a little. She kisses down the valley between my breasts, coaxing a soft moan out from between my lips when she runs her hands down my sides, squeezing my hips over my shorts.

“Off,” I mumble. “Take them off. Touch me. Please.”

Paige laughs a little at my desperation. “You can wait for it, ma.”

I huff, pushing at the waistband of my shorts impatiently. Paige obliges, sliding them down my legs and then kissing up my thighs. She kisses the tattoo near my bikini line, the way she always does when it’s in her sights. 

“Maybe I can’t, though,” she mumbles as she spreads my legs and takes in my cunt, which I’m positive is dripping for her. I buck my hips involuntarily at the sheer hunger in her eyes. 

“Paige,” I breathe, and she slowly drags her eyes up my body to meet mine.

“I need you,” I whimper when we make eye contact, and she closes her eyes, tipping her head back as she hums in satisfaction

“Again,” she orders, her voice low and throaty.

“Please, baby,” I plead breathily. “Need you so bad.”

“Need me to what, ma?”

“Need you to fuck me, Paige,” I beg, trying to buck my hips, but her hands are there, fingers pinning me against the bed.

“With what? My cock? Want me to come inside you?”

My eyes roll up into my head at that statement, and I nod eagerly, absolute putty underneath her grip.

“Tell me, baby. Wanna hear those words from your pretty mouth.”

I watch her slip out of her shorts, tossing them to the side, and then her thighs are on display and I can hardly stand the fact that she’s not inside of me in any capacity. Her hand wraps lightly around my throat, moving my jaw to look at her.

I lock eyes with her intentionally. “Paige,” I breathe.

“Yes?” She coos, rubbing her hands against my torso, urging me to say it.

“Come inside of me.”

Her eyes flutter back at this, and her hand squeezes my throat. “Fuck, baby,” she rasps, wrenching herself away from me with considerable effort and leaving her room.

I whine at her retreating back, too frustrated to even appreciate the way her muscles flex. “You’re such a tease,” I complain, letting my head fall back against the bed and groaning. 

I gasp when I feel something rubbing against my pussy, my head darting back up. Paige is there, a silicone dildo hanging from her hips. There’s a faint buzzing I hear, and when Paige pushes into me a little and lets out a soft moan to match mine, I realize that there’s a vibrator on the other end pressing into her clit.

Fuck. That’s so hot.

“Gonna give you what you want,” she grunts, pushing deeper inside of me, and I whimper as she fills me up. “Fuck you with my cock, fill you up with my cum.” I gasp as she hilts herself fully inside of me, registering just how dirty her words are.

Then she starts moving, dragging herself laboriously against my walls, pushing in and out slowly. 

“Oh, God,” she whimpers, biting her lip as my hands move to my chest, taking a breast into each palm and kneading slowly.

“Oh, yeah,” I sigh, reveling in the stretch. “That’s it, baby.”

“Shit,” Paige groans, her eyes glued to my fingers.

I smirk at her, loving the fact that she gets to actually get off on fucking me. “You like it when I play with my tits like that?” I coo, and suddenly there’s a hand at my throat.

“Stop,” she forces out. “Just shut the fuck up.”

I know she’s holding out. The vibrator’s probably driving her insane, stimulating her like crazy, but she’s holding herself back from building up to her climax just yet. 

The sentiment is sweet.

Winning is just a little bit sweeter.

“Faster, baby. Wanna feel your cock deeper,” I whimper, bucking my hips a little.

“Fuck, take it, Soni. Take me, shit, it’s so perfect,” she groans, fucking me faster, the strap hitting deeper inside of me. She’s panting as she talks, a light sheen of sweat covering her torso, highlighting her collarbones and the deep lines.

“Yes, Paige!” I moan out, exaggerating it a little, but honestly not that much, because she feels fucking incredible rutting in and out of me, getting closer to that one spot.

“Oh!” I cry out when she hits it. “Fuck, Paige, keep going!”

A smirk paints her face, her hand squeezing my neck tighter as she hits that angle over and over and over again, and all I can do is plead and beg for her to keep going. Her free hand reaches down to toy with my clit.

“You almost there?” Paige asks, fingers abusing my clit.

My jaw goes slack a little as I try to formulate a response, but she’s fucking me so good - rubbing circles at my clit, fingers pressuring my neck, hips snapping against mine as her strap hits deeper and deeper.

Her fingers move from my neck to my face, hand squeezing my cheeks.

“Fuckin’ answer me,” she snarls, and I cry out as she thrusts into me especially hard and deep.

“Yes!” I bite out. “So close, so… right there. Oh, fuck me- baby, right there. Right there, right there.” I know I must sound pathetic, must sound pussy drunk or strap drunk or whatever you want to call it.

But then my back is arching off the bed, and I’m screaming her name out so loud that my throat feels scratched raw. Paige collapses against me, shuddering through her own orgasm as mine courses through me, my cunt pulsing violently around her still.

“Fuck,” she hisses, her hips twitching. “Fuck, Soni, that was so hot.”

I nod, panting. “You… God. Did your big one there,” I sigh out, kissing her hair, catching my breath. 

“Can’t believe you like that shit,” she teases, pressing a kiss to my chest, and I roll my eyes. 

“Can’t believe you like that shit.”

“Nah, you’re definitely freakier than me,” Paige argues, easing out of me and rolling off to lay on her back next to me.

“What?” I demand, still breathing hard as I look at her incredulously. “You literally said you wanted to come inside of me.”

Paige holds a finger up to my face. “No. You said you wanted me to come inside of you.”

“Because you made me!”

Paige makes a face at me and sighs. “Bro, just take some fuckin’ accountability. Maybe I don’t wanna have kids with you, if this is what you’re gonna teach th- yo, chill!” She laughs, dodging my backhanded hit to her stomach.

“Fuck off,” I grumble.

_____________

February 2050 - Storrs, Connecticut

“Coach!” Jordan protests, and I stare up at him with a withering glare.

“Another word out of you, and the whole fucking team runs. Right, Paige?”

“That’s right.” My wife is next to me in an instant, her clipboard clutched in her hand, blonde hair tucked behind her ears, smile lines apparent at the corners of her eyes. She’s aged beautifully, but that opinion might be a tad biased. After a long, long playing career - both of us with the Wings in Dallas, then her in Toronto and me in Golden State, before finally ending our careers together in Connecticut - we had come back to where it all started: together, at UConn, but this time as coaches. 

“I can make that shot! Just let me-”

“I don’t give a damn if you can make it,” I snap. “You will not take it.”

He looks helplessly at Paige, who shrugs. “Listen to your mother,” she tells him, and he rolls his eyes before slouching away. 

Having your wife as your assistant coach certainly has its perks. Having your son as your player… a few more downsides.

“Jordan Bueckers-George, you check that body language!” I call after him, watching him shake his head as he returns back to practice.

I scoff, placing my hands on my hips. “I just don’t know what to do with him!” I say exasperatedly. “That attitude of his… it’s going to get him nowhere!”

Paige shrugs. “It got him here,” she reasons. 

I stare blankly at her. “What? With both his moms on the coaching staff? His godmother winning three titles here? Please. Geno had his jersey ready before we even got married.”

Paige raises an eyebrow. “Those are all the reasons he committed here. We almost lost him to Duke, don’t forget.”

I snort. “He would’ve been grounded blind,” I snap. “Hey! Hey!” I yell to a practice player, a junior. “Are you just gonna stand there? Move those feet on defense! Hustle!”

Paige sighs, moving behind me to brace her hands on my shoulders, letting her fingers dig in and work at the knots. “Don’t be so hard on the kid, okay?” She murmurs. “He’s just getting his legs under him. It’s his freshman season.”

“Well, when you think you play like a senior and you want minutes like a senior, you’re not getting special freshman treatment.”

She hums and brushes off my shoulder a little. “Talented, arrogant, stubborn. Reminds me a lot of someone else I knew in college.”

“You better be talking about yourself,” I say drily, and blow my whistle. “Start it over! Back to the line! Inbound!” I yell.

I motion to the assistant coaches to take over, massaging my nose bridge and stalking out of the gym to the coach’s office. Paige is hot on my tail. 

“Listen, I’m not saying you need to give him preferential treatment-”

“Sounds like it’s exactly what you’re saying,” I cut her off.

“Come on, baby. He’s our kid, you know he’s not gonna respond well to this kinda confrontation.”

I narrow my eyes at her after punching the up button on the elevator. “I’m sorry. Are you his mother? Or his coach?” I sneer.

Paige ignores my tone of voice, refusing to be goaded into a fight. Nearly twenty years of marriage have conditioned her to keep even her temper in check - at least in certain situations.

“I’m tryna be both here, Soni!”

“Well, you better pick one. And if you wanna be his mommy, you can see yourself off my coaching staff.”

Paige pauses at this, narrowing her eyes at me as the elevator doors slide open. “Watch it,” she warns, and I sigh, striding into the head coach’s office and collapsing into the chair. I cover my face with my hands and scrub at my eyes with the heels of my palms.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, and I feel Paige squat down in front of me, her hands on my knees and her thumbs rubbing soothing circles. 

“Just take a beat, yeah?” She mumbles, and I remove my hands from my face, looking down at her. “He’s gonna be fine,” she reassures me. “I’ll talk to him about giving you a hard time.”

I twist my mouth. “I just want what’s best for him. I hate that I always have to be the bad cop.”

Paige snorts. “Please. Jordy respects the hell out of you. He only comes to me when he has girl problems or needs money.”

I smile a little at this. “I always knew you’d be a great mom,” I tell her as I let her pull me to my feet.

“I’m aight,” she shrugs, turning me around to the window that faces the gym. I watch our son hesitate just past the logo, contemplating the shot I’d been telling him not to take. Paige presses her lips to my temple, hands rubbing at my shoulders again. “You and me together, though?” She muses. Jordan passes the ball, trading off the shot.

“Absolutely unstoppable,” she whispers, and I can’t help but smile.

I’ve been married to Paige for twenty years. We’ve been together for nearly twenty six. But the brush of her lips against my skin still sends a swarm of butterflies swooping through my chest, still raises the hair on my arms.

“We’re a team, right?” I mumble to her. “Teammates?”

Paige laughs quietly, hugging me tight from behind and kissing my cheek.

“Teammates.”

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

Pups - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: You and Caitlin just keep missing each other until she decides it's been long enough (based on THIS request)

Warnings: just fluff

Word Count: 2.8k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: I am switching the request up a little to make it fit a little better since it is set post-college for Caitlin and Kate, I hope it makes sense when you read it!

When you moved to Indiana for work, the first thing you did was head to the local animal shelter. It was your first time living alone and you hated the idea of being truly alone. You walked in expecting to come out with a sweet pup and ended up walking out with two, Pebbles and Bam Bam. When you learned they were surrendered together, there was no way you were going to separate them.

Bringing P&B home was nothing shy of eventful. The second they walked through the door, they were already making it their home. They are the reason your single ass upgraded from a queen bed to a king bed, ensuring the three of you would all have enough room to sleep comfortably together. Considering they were both medium sized dogs, you didn't really understand how you all didn't fit on your queen but your love for your two fur-babies was enough to make the switch.

Your two companions were the sweetest. They typically don't bark inside and are excellently trained.

Since you live in an apartment and work from home, you take them out often to make sure they stay active and so you don't go stir crazy. It works out well. You have found several local restaurants that love Pebbles and Bam Bam and have even met several people who frequent the same places as you. They have helped you build a little community in a place that is starting to feel like home.

It is late Tuesday morning when you take P&B out for their second walk of the day. As you set outside of your door you feel a immediate tug on Bam Bam's leash. You have just enough time to close your door before you are being guided in the wrong direction.

"Bams, chill out," you say as you gather yourself and adjust their leashes.

"Why hello there," a voice says. You look over to see a young man standing holding a trash bag. Bam Bam at his feet sniffing his shoes. Pebbles is much more reserved and looks at the man as if she doesn't quite know what to think.

"Hi," you say thinking the man was talking to you. You quickly realize that his full attention was on Bam Bam who is now running in circles greeting him. The man looks up and smiles lightly at you.

"Hi," he says, attention now on you. "I'm Colin, I believe I am your neighbor."

Colin looks to be a few years younger than you. Your first impression is that he is well-mannered and doesn't shy away from conversation.

"Hi Colin," you say and then introduce yourself. You extend your hand to shake his and you see P&B sitting politely as if they were waiting for you to introduce them.

"Your dogs are very well mannered," Colin says looking down at them.

"They are. I don't know how I was able to end up with them but it was almost as if they chose me when I walked into the shelter," you say with a little laugh. "This is Pebbles and Bam Bam."

"May I pet them?" Colin asks as he sets the trash bag he is carrying down and squats in front of P&B.

"Oh yes! Of course! They would love that," you say.

Colin puts his hand up to let the two dogs sniff it before he begins petting them. Bam Bam being the friendlier of the two has no problem with Colin right our the gate. Pebbles on the other hand, is still friendly but is more skeptical about the new person in front of her. She sniffs his hand but just stares at him.

"The one on your left is Bam Bam, he loves everyone and will be your best friend. Pebbles is on your right and she takes a little longer to warm up to people but once she does, she is a sweetheart and won't leave you alone," you say as Pebbles looks up at you.

"Are they Australian Sheppards?" Colin asks giving all his attention to Bam Bam who is eating it up.

"They are," you say. "I was surprised to see them in the shelter but they weren't there long. They were surrendered just a few days before I went in - sounded like their previous owner passed away."

Bam Bam now has Colin sitting on the ground while he sits right next to him, absorbing all the pets. Pebbles is still sitting at a distance but has laid down, now just observing Colin. You let them interact and watch at how much Bam Bam loves him.

"Bams is a fan of yours," you say. "Give Pebbles a few meetings then she will be just like Bam."

Pebbles stands and stretches as she hears her name, looking at you as if she is saying she is ready to walk.

"I sure hope so! They are already my favorite out of everyone I've met in the building," Colin says and you pretend to be offended. He laughs.

"I can't blame you, they are my favorite too," you say as you both head to the elevator. The two of you talk on the ride down and only part ways after Bam Bam says goodbye to his new friend.

You get back to work when you return from your walk. It is only Tuesday but your week has started off to be a good one.

Caitlin gets home and is exhausted from morning work-outs. When she enters the door she sees dog hair by the entrance and is curious as to where it came from. She just cleaned on Sunday.

"Colin!" Caitlin yells as she makes her way to the kitchen. "Why is there dog hair in the apartment?"

Colin emerges from his room with a smile on his face.

"It is probably Bam Bam's," he says as if Caitlin should know what that means. She gives him a questioning look.

"Bam Bam is the Australian Sheppard that lives next door. He has a sister, Pebbles but she hasn't quite warmed up to me yet. She will be in no time though." Colin says.

"Pebbles? Bam Bam? What are the Flintstones living next door or something?" Caitlin asks.

"Ahhh! That's why the names sounded familiar. I remember when mom and dad would put that on before school," Colin says. "And no, their owner was not apart of the Flintstones."

Caitlin laughs.

"You would love Pebbles and Bam Bam," Colin says. "They are the sweetest. Their owner was also pretty cute too."

Caitlin raises her eyebrows at her younger brother. "A cute neighbor?"

"Ya, not my type but she is cute. Honestly seems more up your ally but we only talked for like 10 minutes," Colin says.

"I don't have a type," Caitlin says with a little scoff. Now it is Colin's turn to laugh.

"You so have a type," he says as he makes his way back to his room.

Caitlin stands at their kitchen island and thinks on if she has a type. She wouldn't say she does, she doesn't feel like she has dated enough to have a type. Colin is just instigating. Yeah, that's it - her brother is just trying to get in her head about the cute neighbor. Caitlin tells herself that before heading into her room.

The next time you run into Colin is on your way back into the building. It is a few weeks after your first encounter with him and Bam Bam goes crazy.

"Bams!" You yell as your pup takes off sprinting to Colin. Both you and Pebbles follow closely behind.

"Bam Bam1" Collin says with the same excitement Bam is greeting him with. Colin immediately sets down his bag and pets Bam.

"I've missed you buddy," Colin says as Bam wiggles his butt in excitement. Pebbles also goes up to Colin, sniffing his knee then looks up at him. Colin takes notices and holds one hand to meet Pebble. She sniffs him as her behind starts to wiggle a little in excitement. Colin begins to slowly pet Pebbles and she lets him for a little before making her way to sit right next to your foot.

"Well that is nice progress," you say with a little laugh. Bam still going crazy over seeing his best friend.

"Hey, I will take what I can get with her," Colin says.

The two of you talk on your way back into the building. He talks about how he is only here until his school starts up again and you talk about what you do for work.

"Is your apartment empty when you aren't here?" You ask as the elevator reaches your floor.

"No, it is actually my sister's apartment. She is here full time, I am only here when I am on break," Colin explains.

"Ahhh, I see. Well don't tell Bam Bam that, he is going to be really sad when you head back to school," you say.

"Just one more semester and then I will be here full time!" Colin says with an innocent excitement. "So he doesn't need to be without me for long!"

You laugh.

You end up inviting him on a Saturday hike with the pups which he immediately accepts. He mentions how that is something his sister loves to do but has work the Saturday that's planned. You mention having her join next time and he agrees.

The two of you build a friendship and you find yourself really enjoying Colin's company. Almost as much as Bam Bam does but you don't think anyone could match the excitement Bams has when he sees people he loves.

Pebbles, like you said, warmed up to Colin. She still greets him with hesitation but lets him pet her and love on her.

Colin tells Caitlin all about you and your pups. Little to your knowledge you are a hot topic in the Clark household. Every time Caitlin gets back from practice, Colin is quick to talk about your most recent outing. He starts off by talking about something cute that Pebbles and Bam Bam did then always goes into how cool you are as a person. It has Caitlin's desire to meet you grow into something she thinks about everyday when she passes your door. She will sometimes slow down in front of your door to see if she can hear you talking to your pups. That is when she realizes that she might actually be jealous of the time that Colin is spending with you. Hell, she hasn't even met you and is jealous. She blames Colin for saying that you are her type after first meeting you.

During Caitlin's next off day, she is determined to meet you. That isn't hard to do considering Colin has plans to go on a walk with you and the pups and she has every intention of crashing it. When Colin calls out that he is going for a walk, Caitlin immediately pops out of her room ready to join.

"I think I will join you today," she says already in athletic shorts and a t-shirt.

"Great!" Colin says. "Bam Bam will love you, he is the softy when it comes to meeting new people. Pebbles will be skeptical at first but just give her some time and she will warm up to you."

Caitlin nods and follows him out the door. Colin walks up to your door and give it a special knock.

"It's open," you yell from the inside and Colin moves to open the door. Caitlin didn't realize the two of you were on such close terms. Leaving your door unlocked for anyone to enter is wild to her considering she has to take so many precautions being who she is.

Once they step through the door, they are greeted by who Caitlin believes to be Pebbles and Bam Bam. Bam Bam makes his way directly to Colin and starts running in excited circles. Who Caitlin suspects to be Pebbles, sits and waits for Colin to come up to greet her.

Once Colin is done saying hi to Bam Bam, he make his way over to Caitlin. Caitlin crouches down and begins to pet the fluffy pup who is excited to meet her. She can't help but fall in love with him on the spot. Pebbles, like Colin said, was much more reserved. She sat at a distance from where Cait stood and just observes her. It is almost as if she is interrogating Caitlin and seeing if she is worthy of knowing her human.

"I'm ready," you say as you pop out of nowhere but head straight to the kitchen. Caitlin barely catches a glimpse of you before you are out of sight again. Colin is already putting Bam Bam's leash on. It's as if he has done it several times before, which he has.

"My sister is coming with us today, if that is okay," Colin says as he struggles with Pebble's leash as she looks at him knowing his struggles.

"Awesome! I finally get to meet her," you say as you grab water for the pups. You finally make your way to the front door with a big smile on your face. Caitlin reciprocates it when she realizes how beautiful you are.

"Hi! It is so nice to finally meet you," you say.

"Same to you, I have heard so much about you and these two little ones for months now but Colin has been keeping you all to himself," Caitlin says and wishes she could have met you sooner, a hint of jealousy reveals itself as she eagerly shakes your hand.

"Wait," you say stopping dead in your tracks. "You're Caitlin Clark."

Caitlin's smile widens at the fact that you know who she is, something she usually tries to avoid when she goes out to preserve any sort of normalcy she can. But when it comes to you, it makes her heart jump.

You turn to Colin and hit him on the shoulder.

"You didn't tell me your sister was Caitlin Clark!" You say to him and he puts his hands up in surrender.

"It is not something I usually go around announcing," he says.

"I don't blame you," you say after thinking for a second.

"Well it is so nice to meet you Caitlin Clark," you say as you reach out your hand to shake hers, introducing yourself. She smiles and repeats your name and it is in that moment that Colin knows he was right about his older sister having a type.

"I see you have already met Pebbles and Bam Bam," you say looking down at your babies. Bam Bam is still getting pets from Colin and Pebbles is sitting in between you and Caitlin while she stares up at her.

"I have, Colin has given me the run down," Cait says with a laugh. You join her with a laugh.

"Good, Pebbles will get there eventually - she is just very protective," you say and Caitlin looks down to see how Pebbles has made it clear that she will be staying in between you and Caitlin.

"Well, I look forward to earning her trust," Caitlin says.

The three of you head on the walk. Colin is holding Bam Bam's leash and is a few steps ahead of you, Caitlin, and Pebbles. Pebbles walks right in between you and Caitlin, only moving to sniff something and relieve herself.

You and Caitlin talk the whole time causing Colin to whisper to Bam Bam, 'I told you they would hit it off'. When you get back to your apartment Caitlin wishes the walk was longer.

"Would you and the pups like to come over for dinner?" Caitlin asks, surprising both you and Colin.

"Are you sure about that?" You ask, knowing some people don't like having animals in their home because of the hair.

"Ya, I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure," she says. You nod.

"We would love that," you say with a smile.

"Great," Caitlin says matching your smile. "Why don't you come over around 6ish."

"Sounds great," you say as you enter your apartment. "We will see you tonight!"

Caitlin and Colin head into their apartment and Colin gives her a look.

"You hate when I bring dog hair into the apartment," Colin says. Her inviting you and the dogs over will surely be a cause for there to be more hair than ever before.

"A little dog hair never hurt anybody," she says as she begins to go through the cabinets and fridge to see what she could whip up for dinner.

"Mmmhmmm, I'm pretty sure I remember you saying how it was going to be a 'pain in the ass' to clean when I first started bringing it in," Colin says teasing his older sister.

"Ya well, it's worth it," Caitlin says thinking about the way you eyes smile.

"It's worth it or she's worth it?" Colin asks.

"She's worth is," Caitlin says without hesitation.

AN: Okay but this is absolutely adorable and if you think otherwise, you are wrong. But still, let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

sunshine vs moonlight

pairings: wednesday x fem!reader

word count: 2.6k

warnings: smut 18+ reader knows nothing about plants, swearing and mention of cunnilingus, begging kink… lots of begging, fingering (r receiving)

summary: reader is in a relationship with wednesday's self-proclaimed best friend (aka enid) but maybe reader prefers moonlight over sunshine... (all characters are 18+)

a/n: apologies in advance for any mistakes also the class project idea was inspired by 'tarasknife' on c.ai. 🙏 i don’t really know what this is tbh but i hope you enjoy #stillanewbie

MASTERLIST

A movie night with Enid means another one of those cheesy movies. They’re not necessarily bad it’s just her movie taste is far from versatile and you’re getting sick of it.

Her laptop is perched up on one of her pillows on her bed, she’s huddled up to you on the right. Her giggles, squeals of excitement and gasps at the most obvious twists, are all that can be heard besides the movie.

Bored of the movie, you look across the room and see Wednesday sitting at her desk, her posture more than perfect. She appears to be reading over the novel she’s working on. At the sight, your mind wanders back to the time you and Wednesday were paired together to find a specific flower in the woods by Miss Thornhill.

“Silence would be much appreciated.” Wednesday hisses, her eyes focused on the ground in hopes of finding the flower, wanting to get this project over with.

“Is that it?” You ask, pointing at some random flower like a toddler who asks one too many questions. Wednesday turns around and looks in the direction of which you’re pointing. Her eyes meet your gaze, jaw clenched. A sigh of frustration falls from her lips.

“Y/N. That is a leucanthemum vulgare.” Your eyes immediately widen as you stare at her dumbfounded. What the hell did she just say? “Huh?”

“Oh… Let me rephrase it for a certain imbecile. That’s a common daisy. We’re looking for an epig-“ She cuts herself off, knowing you won’t understand. “A ghost orchid.” She responds, turning back around and going back on task.

“Cool name…” You mumble, staring at the ground as you drag your feet through the leaves. You don’t even know what the flower looks like so your best option is to just stay quiet and follow her. You look up off the ground and notice her being miles ahead of you.

“Considering you have such small legs, you’re really fast…” You grumbled, almost out of breath from catching up to her. Wednesday doesn’t respond with words, only glaring at you from the corner of her eye.

As you struggle to catch up to Wednesday, she suddenly stops in her tracks, holding up a hand to signal you to be quiet. Her eyes scan the forest floor intently, searching for any sign of the elusive ghost orchid.

"There." She whispers, pointing to a delicate, ghostly white flower partially hidden amongst the fallen leaves. "Be careful, Y/N. This flower is extremely rare and fragile. Don't you dare ruin this for me.”

Wednesday slowly approaches the orchid, kneeling down beside it. Her long, slender fingers gently brush away the leaves surrounding it, exposing the flower fully. You watch in awe as she tenderly examines it, her expression softening for a brief moment.

"Finally..." Wednesday breathes, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Now hurry up and help me collect, before someone,” she sends you a side eye, “damages it.”

You crouch down next to her, trying your best to be as gentle as possible with the flower. As you work together in silence, the proximity feels more intense than ever. Your hands accidentally brush against hers as you lift the flower, and you both freeze for a moment, the contact lingering longer than it should.

You glance at Wednesday, expecting to see annoyance, but instead, you find her watching you with an unreadable expression. Her gaze flickers to your lips for just a fraction of a second, and your heart skips a beat. You quickly finish placing the flower in the bag, trying to shake off the feeling.

Wednesday takes the bag and carefully stows it away in her satchel, her movements uncharacteristically slow and deliberate. She turns to you, her face much closer than you expected, her usual stoic mask slipping ever so slightly.

Without thinking, you blurt out, "You know, you’re not as cold as you pretend to be.”

For a moment, you think you've crossed a line, but then something shifts in her expression. Wednesday's eyes soften, and before you can react, she leans in. The kiss is brief, almost hesitant as if she’s testing the waters of an unfamiliar emotion. When she pulls away, her composure is back, but there's a flicker of something new in her eyes.

“We should return to Thornhill,” she says, her voice calm but with an edge you can’t quite place. She stands up and strides back to the school, leaving you behind, stunned and reeling from the unexpected kiss.

Yup, Wednesday Addams kissed you. As much as you hate to admit it, you’re in a love triangle. Your feelings for Enid are minuscule compared to your feelings for Wednesday, and it’s killing you. You know how much it’d hurt Enid if you ended things and then got with her best friend, she is sensitive after all.

You’re snapped out of your daydream when Enid begins to move around in the bed, climbing over you and walking to the toilet facilities outside the dorm. You slump back onto her bed, letting out a sigh at all the confusing emotions you’re experiencing.

"How much longer must I endure this cinematic lobotomy?” Wednesday speaks up from her desk, her hands folded neatly in her lap as she turns in her chair to face you. “It’s all I can hear.”

“Tell me about it…” You mumble, closing your eyes and rubbing your forehead to try and rid yourself of the headache caused by the brightness of Enid’s side of the room.

Neither of you have spoken a word about the kiss but the tension between you two has only increased with each second spent together. You’ve become highly aware of every subtle glance, the brush of hands, the slight upturn of her lips. It’s becoming hard to ignore. The inner turmoil you’re battling is becoming overwhelming. You feel guilty for even considering this opportunity of unspoken desires, when Enid, your sweet… loud… bubbly girlfriend is there.

Out of boredom, you reach over to her bedside table, grabbing your headphones. It takes years to walk to the toilet block so why sit in silence? You turn them on and scroll through your phone before selecting ‘Lunch’ by Billie Eilish. A classic song about cunnilingus.

The song soon fills your ears, your head gently moving to the beat. “I could eat that girl for lunch, yeah, she dances on my tongue.” You sing along, pulling that ‘this shit is goood’ expression.

Wednesday speaks up from her side of the dorm, “How do you listen to that?” She mutters a hint of disapproval in her tone. “I’ve had to endure that frivolous ‘movie’ and now you singing…” She rolls her eyes, turning back to her typewriter to read over what she’d written.

You smirk in response, obviously wanting to push her buttons. You continue to sing the song, seeing how much you can push her. Wednesday’s hands are now fists as she tries her best to concentrate on her task. After a few moments, she stands up from her desk and walks over to where you’re positioned on Enid’s bed.

“Shut. Up.” She demands through gritted teeth. You shake your head, looking up into her eyes as you continue to sing along with the song. You know you’re being annoying, but she’s fun to piss off.

Her jaw tightens at your refusal, her hand reaching out to cover your mouth. You wince slightly, her hands are very… very cold. But, you keep going, your singing now muffled. Her free hand wraps around your neck, her nails digging into your skin. She roughly pulls you closer, your noses touching. You stop singing for a few moments to lick her hand, causing her to lose her composure. She quickly pulls her hand away with a small grimace.

“I’ll run a shower for you like you want-“ Wednesday sighs frustratedly as you begin to sing again. She tightens her grip around your neck, holding you in place as she silences you with her lips. This shuts you right up. Your eyebrows raise, frozen in place before you kiss back. Your lips meet in a passionate dance.

She brings her other hand to the back of your neck, deepening the kiss. You can feel the remains of your saliva against the nape of your neck. She stops choking you. Instead, she moves her hand to your shoulder, supporting herself as she straddles you. In a swift movement, her legs wrap around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer. She pulls back slightly for air, a string of saliva attaching your lips.

The sound of Enid walking- no, skipping back to the dorm can be heard. Wednesday quickly entangles herself from you. Wiping her mouth and patting down her uniform before returning back to her desk. Damn… She’s got a good poker face.

Enid reenters, looking over at you with a bright smile that’s almost blinding. She seems completely oblivious to your flustered state. You force a smile, trying your best to act casual though the guilt and lust is eating you up inside.

—

You’re sat in your dorm revising for an upcoming exam. You’d been procrastinating about it all week and you’ve finally started. Only because your phone died. Yoko, your roommate, is sitting on her bed reading a book. There’s a comfortable silence between the two of you.

Scurrying footsteps can be heard outside of the dorm before a note slips under the door. At first, you thought some sort of animal had gotten in but then you realised it must’ve been Thing. You practically pounce onto the note, not wanting Yoko to get to it before you and uncover the love affair.

‘Midnight. Jericho’s cemetery ~ W.’

You soon find yourself wandering through the dark woods near the school. Your phone the only source of light as it helps guide you to the cemetery. Wednesday and you have been having frequent meetups where stolen kisses are shared in the shadows of secrecy. The thrill of these hidden moments makes your heart race, each touch more intoxicating than the last. You’re starting to be blinded by desire, the guilt you feel being buried deeper and deeper until it’s almost unnoticeable.

You eventually find the cemetery, putting your phone in your jacket’s pocket. It’s a beautiful yet eery site. The moonlight shines down on the gravestones, it’s picturesque, to say the least. Wednesday emerges from the shadows, as though she’d teleported.

“You came.” She acknowledges, a small smile playing on her lips. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she approaches you.

“Anything to get out of studying.” You shrug with a small smile, looking around at the cemetery. The gravestones weren’t in the best condition, it looked almost abandoned which totally doesn’t make it more creepier…

Wednesday raises an amused eyebrow at your words, she nods and follows your gaze. Silently, she turns around and walks through the cemetery. You follow behind her both confused and curious as to what she has in store.

“You mentioned you liked stargazing.” She states, causing you to frown. You can’t recall ever telling her about that. She stops walking and turns to face you. “November 4th at 17:42, to be precise.” That leaves you speechless; you don’t even remember what you’d eaten the day prior.

She leads you to a gravestone, sitting down in front of it. You sit next to her, looking up at the stars, admiring them. It’s a very calming moment, your mind starts to wander to light years… The fact that you’re practically staring at the past. You shake your head, getting rid of those mind-boggling thoughts.

14 minutes later, you find yourself being dragged by Wednesday to the abandoned cemetery building. It’s a well-known place for hooking up. The building is run-down, a damp smell filling your nostrils. Some broken glass crunching under your feet.

Wednesday pins your wrists above your head, trapping you against the wall. Her lips crash into yours in a hungry, dominating kiss. You feel her body press firmly against yours, radiating heat and desire.

"Mmph!" you grunt into the kiss, completely at her mercy. "Nngh... Fuck..."

Wednesday's tongue plunges into your mouth, exploring and conquering. One of her hands leaves your wrist to grip your throat, just firmly enough to make you acutely aware of her control over you.

"That's right, beg for me," she growls against your lips, her hot breath caressing your skin. "You're mine now, pet. Time to learn your place."

Her free hand trails down your chest, nails raking lightly over your covered skin. She breaks the kiss, lips travelling to your neck where she sucks and nibbles roughly.

Wednesday's grip on your wrists tightens as she pins you more firmly against the wall. Her dark eyes bore into yours, a wicked smirk playing on her full lips.

Her free hand trailing down your body to cup your sex through your panties. "You're soaked for me already, aren't you?"

She applies just the right amount of pressure, making you gasp and whimper.

"P-please, Wednesday... I need-" you plead breathlessly, hips bucking against her hand.

Wednesday silences you with another bruising kiss, swallowing your cries. Her fingers slip under the lace, finding your throbbing clit and circling it torturously slow.

"Shh, pet. I'll take care of you," she murmurs against your lips. "But first, you're going to beg me for it. Beg me to make you come."

Wednesday's grip on your wrists tightens as she pins you harder against the wall. Her dark eyes bore into yours, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

"Look at you, writhing and desperate for my touch," she purrs, her free hand trailing down your body to grip your thigh. "Such a needy girl."

Her fingers drag along the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, inching ever closer to your aching cunt.

"P-please, Wednesday..." you whimper, hips bucking futilely. "Please, I need you... I need to come so badly."

Wednesday smirks darkly, her lips brushing against yours in a mocking semblance of a kiss.

"Beg me properly, pet," she demands, her fingers teasing the damp fabric of your panties. "Tell me how much you want my fingers inside you, fucking you until you scream."

The vulgar words send a shameful thrill through you, your body betraying your desperate need.

"Oh god, please! I need you to fuck me, Wednesday!" you cry out, shamelessly begging. "I want your fingers filling me, stretching me... Make me come, please!"

Wednesday's smirk widens as she hears your shameless pleas. She slowly, deliberately slides her fingers under the lace of your panties, grazing your swollen, sensitive flesh.

"That's a good girl," she purrs, her lips trailing down your neck. "You beg so prettily. Now let's see if you can take my punishment like a good slut."

Without warning, she plunges two fingers deep inside you, making you cry out. She sets a punishing pace, curling and thrusting her digits relentlessly.

"You're so wet for me," she growls, nipping at your earlobe. "I'm going to make you come so hard, pet. Over and over again until you're a mindless, quivering mess. Enid could never get you in this state like I do…”

Her thumb finds your throbbing clit, circling it roughly in time with her thrusts. The sensations are overwhelming, building up inside you.

"Oh god, yes! Wednesday, please don't stop!" you wail, hips bucking desperately against her hand. "I'm so close, I'm gonna-"

Your words dissolve into a shrill scream of ecstasy as your orgasm rips through you, your body convulsing under her.

—

lol.

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

good luck charm (explicit)

(nika mühl x reader)

Where you and your girlfriend’s love language is good luck head

Warnings: smut. yeah. editing was also kinda rushed so. welp.

A/N: if you saw me disappear off the face of the earth for months, no you didn’t. will be back to football soon (hopefully)!

word count: 3.1k ish

“Nika, fuck,” you pant. 

“Shhh…”

“I have to go, you know I have a test at nine-thirty,” you insist, but your wonderful, strong, and horny girlfriend seems much too occupied with pinning you down in bed and pressing her lips against your neck.

Nika Mühl is something of a headache. 

The athlete is a wonderful lover. 

She also loves to get on your every last nerve.

She’s an infuriating mix of snappy and adorable—cocky yet doting. She adores you with every inch of every bone in her body, and she’s also fully aware of just how irresistible she is to you. 

So while Nika spoils and praises you constantly, she’s also picked up the habit of inconveniencing you horribly just to make up for her actions with perfectly weighted kisses and strong arms that cuddle the forgiveness out of you. 

Case in point: Multivariable Calculus at the University of Washington is no joke, and Nika knows precisely how many hours you neglected her in order to study for this test. Yet, someone is holding you down and keeping you from getting to class right now. 

Your girlfriend knows damned well that you can’t resist the familiar, yet captivating, feeling of her open-mouthed kisses. Like clockwork, as she starts to press her lips harder against your skin, your head tips back and your hands start to grip the sheets. 

The athlete is just so wonderfully solid on top of you, and the perfectly stinging kisses on your neck have you writhing in pleasure underneath her. 

“That’s a whole thirty minutes away, baby,” she mumbles, letting her right hand fall from its position pinning you down to grasp at your waist. “It’s only a ten minute walk to your class.”

You let yourself indulge further, getting lost in her touch and the smell of her shampoo—encapsulating you in your own Nika-induced heaven. 

But when that hand begins to pull at the waistband of your shorts, you use the last bit of strength left in you to push her shoulder.

“Nika—baby,” you mumble as you hold onto her shirt. She relents, albeit with her jaw clenched at the interruption. “I can’t miss this. You know that,” you insist, eyes pleading for her to take mercy on you and let you get to class.

To your surprise, your girlfriend scoffs lightly. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion as she sits up and rests her weight straddling your hips.

“Baby, I’m offended that you think I can’t finish you off well before class starts,” she taunts.

You roll your eyes at that comment.

“Bitch,” you mumble as you try to sit up, only for a hand at your chest to push you back down onto the bed. You watch as she grabs your phone from the nightstand and fiddles with some buttons, her famous smirk eventually appearing as she turns the screen to you:

4:58 remaining.

The moment you realize what your girlfriend just did, you feel one hand return to the waistband of your shorts and see the other toss your phone somewhere on the bed. You meet your girlfriend’s eyes—hers intensely searching yours for your consent.

God damn competitive athletes.

“Fuck. Okay. Fine. Hurry up,” you breathe out as you slide your shorts and underwear down and feel Nika’s weight shift to the edge of the bed. 

Your girlfriend wastes no time, mouth eagerly diving straight to your core. Your eyes almost immediately roll back as you feel her tongue press against your clit and her hands come to grip your thighs. 

Nika-induced heaven.

She knows you well—knows exactly how hard and exactly where to lap at to drive you insane. Her tongue switches between teasing your entrance and running over your clit, causing your eyes to roll back, your thighs to tense around her head, and expletives to escape your mouth. And when Nika’s right hand leaves your thigh and a finger slowly probes into you, the familiar stretch causes a high-pitched moan to bounce off the walls of your bedroom.

God bless basketball hands. 

She rapidly builds a rhythm, letting a second finger stretch you out further and repeatedly target at the spot inside you that drives you insane. Your girlfriend’s mouth has never relented, her tongue now fervently grinding against your clit, and you’re unable to control the noises leaving your mouth. 

You can hear the sounds of her fingers in your slickness cut through the silence of your apartment bedroom, and it triggers something in your brain. 

The tightening feeling in your body arrives embarrassingly quick, but, of course, how could you ever forget how immensely talented Nika Mühl is in all regards. 

“Nika, fuck,” you whimper as your thighs tighten and your hands tangle in her hair.

The sounds of your pleasure always do wonders for Nika’s ego, and the whine you let out as the tension in your body snaps has the athlete smirking and her obsession with you growing tenfold. 

The fingers inside you slow to an eventual stop while your thighs finally relax. Her mouth is still on you as she slowly pulls out, now gently cleaning up your arousal—hyper aware of your sensitivity.

You let yourself enjoy the feeling of her aftercare, still deep in the euphoria of your orgasm, when the blaring of an alarm quickly startles you into opening your eyes. 

“Told ya.”

You decidedly ignore the cocky smile you know your girlfriend is donning, instead choosing to push her head away from your body and pull your clothes back on as she amusedly—and borderline vulgarly—cleans her fingers off in front of you.

“Fuck off.”

As you finish fixing yourself up, Nika stands up and grabs your backpack and phone before you can, walking with you to the door in comfortable silence. After you slip on both your shoes, you reach out to grab your belongings only for the athlete to pull you in close first. 

“You got this baby. I know how hard you studied, be confident,” she reassures before pressing a few soft kisses on your lips—a wild contrast to how aggressive her mouth was on you beforehand. “Now get out,” she chuckles, almost pushing you out the door while you scramble to put on your backpack.

And, as she expected, an hour and a half later Nika’s phone pings.

“Aced it.”

“You’re welcome 😁”

-------------------------------------------------------

“Baby.”

You didn’t mean for this to happen. Really. 

You woke up still slightly annoyed from a petty argument started the night before, which Nika had yet to apologize for. 

And now, suddenly, she's knelt down in front of you while you're perched on the countertop, running your hands over the solid muscle of her shoulders and moaning as she languidly mouths at your core.

Nika’s simply irresistible—she knows exactly how to charm her way back into your good graces (and your pants). 

Truly, the morning started off relatively normal. 

You woke to the feeling of a heavy arm on your stomach, a torso halfway on top of your own, and a head tucked adorably into the crook of your neck. Soft breaths hit your skin, and you can’t help but run your fingers through your girlfriend’s soft, jet black hair while she’s relaxed—and not getting irrationally jealous over some five-foot seven teenager who hit on you at the bar the night before.

You think back to the moment and roll your eyes slightly. You know your girlfriend loves you deeply, but every so often, she’ll overreact—swearing one too many times or conjuring up some extreme scenario where you suddenly leave her for a tiny-dick loser—in a way that pisses you off rather than makes you swoon over her commitment.

You’d gone to sleep without Nika and woke up to her on top of you, meaning she was probably hoping you’d be less ticked off after a good night’s cuddle. And while you’d normally let her win your forgiveness with some morning kisses, you decide to get up earlier today and go for a run—you need to give a presentation at your internship in a few hours, and getting all the tension out from the previous night would probably be for the best.

You get ready quietly while Nika dozes peacefully, pulling on some shorts and a sports bra before brushing your teeth and tying your hair. You press a kiss to your girlfriend’s forehead before leaving, thinking she’ll be gone for practice by the time you get back. 

When you return to your apartment, however, the first thing you see is Nika sitting at the counter, phone in hand. She’s dressed in sweats with her training bag on the floor next to her, and when she sets her phone down on the counter, you see she was working on a long text—most definitely an apology to you.

“Hey, what’re you still doing here?” you ask as you close the door and walk to the opposite side of the counter to face your girlfriend. She wears a small grimace as she watches you move.

“I—fuck. I thought you had left because you were still mad,” she explains, and you can see—practically feel—her regret for how she acted the night before. “I’m sorry. It was stupid getting jealous over that motherfucker.”

Her apology and regret has your anger dissipating almost instantly—really, it was just a small little squabble and her sincerity, in addition to the morning run, has your head cleared.

“You’re fine, baby,” you say, making your way over to her side of the counter. The athlete stares at you, clearly still apprehensive of her forgiveness, and you roll your eyes before guiding her face down to press a kiss onto her lips. 

“I promise,” you reassure with a small smile. She’s looking at you like you’re the sole source light of the world and God she’s so fucking adorable.

You can’t help it. You want her.

“You know what you could do to make it even better, though?” you softly ask as you run your thumb along the blush on her cheekbone.

“Hm?” 

“I have a presentation today. Could use some luck.”

And almost immediately, you see her lips turn up into a smirk and her demeanor change completely. God she’s hot.

Then her lips are attacking yours and you can’t help but lose yourself to the feeling of her tongue pushing against yours. You barely even feel her tugging at your shorts and underwear until they’re pooled at your feet and Nika’s nails are digging into your ass.

When you finally break apart to catch your breath, you’re unexpectedly lifted onto the countertop and that show of strength?

Yeah, you’re a goner. 

Wetness pools between your legs and your girl wastes no time—a finger is sunk into you at the same time Nika sucks a mark into the column of your neck and you can do nothing but dig your nails into a strong back and hold on as pleasure thrums through your body. 

“God, Nika, you’re so good.”

You feel a sharp inhale against your neck.

And then you see the athlete fall to her knees and insert a second finger into you at the same time her tongue flattens against your clit. 

You feel how your arousal coats Nika’s hand, and she momentarily removes her fingers from you to fully lap at your cunt. 

“I could do this forever, baby.”

You dig your nails into her shoulders, and the way you clench around her tongue when you feel it breach your entrance has her moaning in approval. 

She’s going to be insufferable after this.

She moves her mouth to suck at your clit before inserting her fingers back into you, now pistoning in and out with fervor, hitting all the right places.

It’s hot, heady, and perfectly passionate. You’re whining and your head tilts back as the tension in your body builds and builds until a final moan accompanies the snap.

As you finish, core muscles tense and thighs shaking, Nika stands up while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and licking her fingers clean. She’s still looking at you with that soft, submissive and adoring look, and you can’t help but lean down and kiss her.

Your girlfriend is perfect.

And there’s no way you won’t crush that presentation later. 

You chase Nika’s lips when she pulls away, but she looks at her phone and lets out a small groan. She tucks it away and immediately buries her head in your chest, while you wrap your arms around her neck, amused.

“Really gotta go to practice,” she muffles into your shoulder as you press a few soft kisses on the top of her head. You let her indulge in the warmth of your embrace for a few moments longer before gently untangling your arms. 

“You’re gonna kill it, I’ll see you soon, okay?” you say as you tuck your girlfriend’s hair behind her ears. 

You kiss her once more before leaning in close to her ear. 

“I’ll be waiting to repay the favor,” you whisper, before shoving her away playfully with a smile. You see her jaw clench, but she grabs her bag from the floor and drags herself to the door, an “I love you!” and “Good luck at the meeting!” being her final words before she makes her exit.

-------------------------------------------------------

You love gameday. 

Getting to see your girlfriend play basketball in an electric arena of screaming fans never gets old. 

The way the lights shine down on Nika’s body—whether she’s sitting on the bench with her teammates or running up and down the court—has your eyes glued on her at every moment. The buzz of the crowd always keeps you lost in the moment—no other thoughts ever occupy your brain but those of basketball tactics and your pretty girl.

However, your absolute favorite part has to be Nika’s pregame tradition exclusive to you only. 

Your girlfriend has a tendency to style some immaculate outfits. She looks exquisite in every single one, and today is no different. 

In fact, today’s is particularly… salivating. 

Nika’s arms and abs are on full display as she pairs a bralette with a cropped, unbuttoned black shirt and pants. You watch from the edge of your bed as your girlfriend takes pregame outfit pictures in the full-length mirror a few feet away, changing poses every few minutes. 

When she’s finally satisfied with her pictures and tucks her phone into her pocket, she turns to you with a smirk.

“Thoughts?” 

She knows you’ve been staring at her—and her abs—through the mirror for the last ten minutes, and she can practically see the R-rated thought bubbles forming above your head. 

Instead of answering, you stand up and walk over to her—only to grab at the hem of her shirt and pull her back with you until you both are standing in front of the bed. She looks down at you amusedly as you busy yourself with gently running your fingers down along her torso, eventually resting them at the waistband of her pants.

“Fucking delicious,” you finally respond, donning a smirk of your own as you push her to sit down at the edge of the bed, facing the mirror.

You kneel down in front of Nika, looking up through your eyelashes in a way that would drive any sane person feral. 

“Christ, baby,” she breathes out as she looks down at you, then looks at the mirror and sees you unbuckling her pants, ready to sin.

Your girlfriend grips the edge of the mattress.

You giggle as Nika opts to close her eyes when you begin to kiss down her abs, feeling how the muscles tense up and become even more defined. She lifts her hips as you pull down at her pants and underwear, throwing them up onto the bed so that they don’t get wrinkled.

Immediately after, you busy yourself with leaving stinging kisses at the top of her inner thighs and enjoying the feeling of one of Nika’s hands running through your hair. The warmth of her legs envelops you into perhaps the most comforting, and most breathtaking, paradise on Earth. 

You’re too preoccupied to notice when that hand stops—and to notice Nika grab her phone from the pants pocket and lean back, body resting on one elbow now. 

You do, however, notice the sudden sound of a camera shutter. 

The noise has you stopping dead in your tracks, confused. You look up to see Nika holding up her phone, taking a picture in the mirror with a smug expression. 

Fuck, that’s hot.

But two can play at that game.

You let your tongue press against your girlfriend’s clit, and you’re entranced by the sight of pure pleasure washing over her face. She lets out a breathy moan as her head tilts back slightly and you can’t wait to see that picture.

“Keep going,” she breathes out, thighs tightening around your head.

All the voices in your mind telling you to tease her further dissipate—the knowledge of her desperation has your self control disappearing and your need to feel her clench around you growing. 

You move on to pushing your tongue in and out of her, gradually increasing pace until you hear more moans than camera shutters.

You bring your fingers to rub over her clit as you maintain your movements with your tongue, causing her thighs to squeeze around your head—and you think that if your last moment was spent in between the strong quads of a professional basketball player, you would die the happiest being ever.

There are maybe three or four more clicks of the camera intertwined with whimpers and groans—and you cannot wait to see the different expressions she captures—before Nika’s thighs tense again and you hear the thud of the phone hitting the bed.

“Shit, oh my God.”

And suddenly there’s more arousal, more of Nika to consume. She’s now fully laid down on the bed, catching her breath. Her slick covers your chin but you don’t mind—you can only think about how addicting her taste is as you continue to lap at her cunt. 

“Fuck, baby, no more,” you hear as your girlfriend gently guides your head away, still catching her breath. You feel a sense of pride wash over yourself as you see how blissed out her face is, and how you're the only one that gets to see this.

This is your pregame tradition, and you wouldn't trade it for the world.

You obey her request, standing up and pulling Nika up with you before handing her her disregarded clothing on the bed.

While she busies herself getting ready again, you snatch up the phone from the bed, unlocking it and opening the Photos app. You flick through the stills she managed to take—some blurry, but all of them fucking incredible. You send every one to yourself before leaning up to kiss Nika hard.

“Pictures turn out nice, babe?” she teases, wearing quite a self-satisfied look as she pulls back from your lips.

“Best pregame photos I have ever seen, my love.”

"Yeah? I'll make sure to look over them before the game starts," she murmurs before pecking your lips one more time.

“Yeah, maybe it'll give you some extra good luck.”

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

pairing: paige bueckers x fem! reader

warning(s): nsfw/18+, fighting (verbal/physical), toxic relationship stuff, fingering, thigh riding, pussy eating, squirting,

synopsis: the bitchy, possessive, and temperamental gf who paige thinks she can handle proves her right!

word count: 2.4k

Author Note: got my first lil hate comment the other day 😜 i feel like an actual writer now lmao! here goes draft #6, comin’ in lit 🔥

Fuck knows what you're complaining about this time. She's straight from practice — from a rigorous, exhausting, and intense practice, frustrated with her own performance, only to find you waiting at the door, already irritated about something entirely. Perhaps it was how she didn’t answer you at all today—or how you saw her looking too close for comfort to another 'fan' as she claimed, though you never trusted it—or maybe she even fucking sighed at you the wrong way upon entering through the door because the littlest of things ticked you off—you—her bitchy, demanding, and infuriatingly sexy girlfriend, whom Paige has to constantly remind herself she willingly got involved with, knowing full well she was signing up for the being the figurative property of the brattiest, bossiest, most high-maintenance girl on campus.

"Are you even listening to me?!" you fume as Paige storms past you, stripping a trail of her clothes all the way to the bathroom, letting her hair fall loose from its low bun as she saunters away from your chaos, massaging her temples.

"Seriously, Y/N, now's not the time, I gotta-" - "I don't give a fuck!" you explode, chasing after her and grabbing her arm to spin her back around. "I don't care about your shitty day or your shitty excuses. Why the fuck didn't you text me back, hm?" Paige sighs, avoiding your eyes with an air of exasperation, her gaze shifting to the ceiling in an attempt to not roll them. At her silence, you feel your anger boil over, frustration evident in the clenched fist at your sides and the tense set of your jaw. "You're the fucking worst, Paige!" you snap, "You think just because I'm understanding that means you can take pictures with all these other bitches, post all on your Instagram, but then NOT text me back!"

Paige knew she was the man, the kind of person who could handle any challenge, which is why she thought dating someone like you—a real piece of work—would be a good match. She believed you could keep her on her toes, pushing her to become mentally stronger, more confident, and dominant—qualities she hoped would shine on the court, but on days like this, when you demanded drama and chaos, she wondered if she was truly cut out for it. Her honest, no-bullshitting, no-pretense attitude of: My girlfriend is so sexy opinion? Nah. And she promptly proved that stance when she spat out, “Alright, I’m sorry, baby… Is that what you want me to say? That I’m sorry I have things to do and you act like a bitch about it?” her voice venomous and defensive, stunning you. “Man, get the fuck out of my way right now. I don’t feel like fighting with you, for real,” she demanded, trying to brush past you. You couldn’t believe she actually spoke to you like that—she was usually so considerate of your feelings. In a fit of rage, you squared up to her and pushed her back by her shoulders with a strength you didn’t know you had over the 6ft wall of strength she was. Growling, you commanded, “You’re gonna stand here until WE’RE done talking!”

Paige stands with her hands on her hips, clenching at her sides with such restraint that her basketball shorts ride up, revealing her boxers underneath. She warns, "Stop playin' with me, yo. Step aside." and as she advances again, trying to get to the bathroom door behind you, you block her path, arms crossed and eyes flashing. Sneering, you challenge defiantly, "No. What are you gonna do if I don’t step aside, P? Hm? You gonna hit me?"

She takes a deep breath, drops her head, and shakes it exasperatedly before a light chuckle escapes her, broad shoulders bouncing. “Whatever, ma,” she mutters, turning around and picking up the clothes she’d left scattered on the floor. “I’m gonna go shower at Mikayla’s — forget this.”

You don’t have enough time to be angry about her saying she’s visiting Mikayla’s house—the slut you’d warned her to stay away from. Instead, you sprint to the front door, grab her keys off the rack, and hide them behind your back. Coldly, you say, “You’re mine, Paige. Turn around and get your ass in bed, NOW! You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

Paige knows you and your past well enough to recognize that you aren’t joking about this possessiveness. However, she’s far from intimidated at the moment. Instead of backing down or appeasing you like she usually does for her princess, she glares at you with a fiery defiance. Her voice is firm as she refutes, “Give me my keys, Y/N.”

You gaze at her, a smirk forming on your face as you watch her façade of nonchalance crumble. Her face turns a subtle red, veins bulging in her hands as she holds them open, waiting for the keys, her lips curled inward and cheeks hollowed. She stands there expectantly, like a statue, until you bristle as she seizes your wrist, slamming it against the door while reaching for the keys with her other hand. Instinctively, you counter with your free hand, pushing her away. She’s lost her calm and collected demeanor. It’s scarier how she doesn’t run but still chases you with the relentlessness of a predator. Her eyes blaze with determination as she follows your running with a steady, purposeful stride. You taunt, “Come and get it, doggy! Yeah, you little bitch!” luring her toward the bathroom, the only room in the house with a lock, and Paige knows exactly what you’re up doing. Just before you can slam the door in her face, Paige lunges for it and forces it open, stepping inside and backing you against the door. This time, she tries a different approach to get the keys—she clasps your waist, holding you in place with her knees pressed against your smaller legs, effectively immobilizing you. As she tussles with you for the keys, you keep a tight grip on them. The struggle is fierce, and you're both panting in each other’s faces, exchanging only ragged breaths. You finally manage to break free from the bathroom and run for the bedroom with Paige hot on your heels. As you glance over your shoulder to see where she’s at, you realize too late that she’s no longer focused on reclaiming her keys. With a swift tackle, she takes you down onto the bed, pinning you there and forcing you into submission. The keys fall out of your hand, but Paige remains on top of you, her anger unrepairable as she growls, “Wanna bitch at me like that when I’m tired?” Her big hands begin to untie your nightrobe. “Wanna piss me off when I’m trying to be nice about things?”

She moves with an almost animalistic quality, yanking you down the bed by your legs and sending your clothes flying off with the force of her pull, baring your body to her hungry blue eyes. She hisses against your neck, “Little bitch?” and you nod rebelliously, “Yeah..fuck,” you heave, “look at you, so pissed, hm?” Her words are unbearably sexy when she vows, “I’ll show you a little bitch.” Mere moments later, she’s seated on the edge of the bed, with you draped over her lap like a ragdoll. You’re writhing, still trying to resist, biting and clawing at her thighs, but Paige’s grip is unyielding. Under her strength, you’re completely powerless.

Her hands spread your ass open, giving her a clear view of your dripping pussy. She chuckles cockily, the smirk evident in her voice even though you're not looking at her when she drawls, “This is why you’re really bitchin’ out, huh, ma?”

You whine at her words, stuttering and squirming, “Let me go, Paige, f-fuck!”

She tuts dismissively. “Aw, but that’s not what you really want, baby... you just need this pussy fucked, don’t you? To get fucked back to your senses—make you my good girl again, my princess...” she purrs, her fingers sliding through your slick and teasing your asshole. Then you hear the dirtiest, most sinful suck of fingers in her mouth you’ve ever heard.

Hips arched high with her strong arm restraining you from running, pressed firmly into your lower back, punching pressure deep within and outside of you, all aligning on the inside, she works her fingers into your soaking wet cunt with precision. She curls and bruises against your walls, relentlessly hitting that spot that makes you squirm like a torture puppet and cry out, "Ah!" for your dear life.

Her smarmy, taunting response? “I know, baby, I know, fuck… too tight for it, I know,” she bellows, feeding off your whimpers and whines with a sadistic delight. That smirk on her face—the one you wish you hadn't turned back to see—tells you she's savoring this victory a little too much and has no intention of letting you go anytime soon, even if you've clearly accepted that you're the little bitch. “Please,” you plead, sinking your nails into her thigh, but it doesn’t seem to perturb her in the slightest—if anything, it only eggs her on, makes her devilishly speed up. “It won’t happen again—I-I won’t act like a bitch anymore, daddy, I’m sorry,” you submit, hoping for some mercy, but she’s unforgiving. She chuckles darkly, yanking you up by your hair so you’re forced to look her in the eye, even if hers aren’t fully focused on yours, watching how your tits bounce as she fucks you senseless. “One more time,” she stares at them, biting her bottom lip with a smirk before she refocuses and demands it sternly. Without hesitation, you repeat it louder before she even finishes her command: “I won’t act like a bitch anymore, daddy, I’m sorry!” She smirks, her grip tightening. "I know you won't. Not after I'm done with you." She releases your head, and you fall forward hard, your back arching under what feels like tons of weight as she drives into you overwhelmingly, making you cry out in shock. "Shit!" you gasp, involuntarily pushing back against her long fingers to soften the blow and the jam, so forcefully that your ass claps with each thrust as she fucks into you.

“Say my name, baby, who’s fucking you,” Paige demands. You groan, clenching around her thick, long fingers and spilling spurts of slick arousal as you pant, “You, Daddy!” Paige tilts her head, unsatisfied. “Nah.” Her hand, once forcing down your back, quickly wraps around your throat, clasping firmly as she whispers, “Tell me, Ma.” With the blonde holding you tightly, despite your attempts to escape, with no leverage, she easily grips you by the throat like a puppet, forcing you back onto her fingers with insane speed and force. She thrusts into you even faster, your clit now grinding against her thigh. You hike a leg up in a desperate attempt to run or crawl away, but she's got you firmly in place.

“Paige! Paige, Paige, Paige, you’re fucking me!” you cry out.

“And you like it, baby? Like how my fingers feel fucking that tight pussy?” she taunts, flexing her leg muscles and increasing the friction.

“Aww shit,” you moan strainedly, feeling the familiar coil in your stomach emerge. Your body still tries to crawl away, but your brain forces you to stay put, losing all the air inside you.

“Stop fucking running, ma, take it,” she commands. “Take it, baby, just cum for me, kay? Cum for me, give me your cum.”

You listen to the sound of your cunt, feel it pulsing and clenching around her fingers before you give up and stop fighting and allow all the pleasure crash over you, your body convulsing as your orgasm hits. You gasp and cry out, surrendering to the intense sensation as your cunt tightens rhythmically around her fingers, your clit throbbing against her thigh. She fucks you through your orgasm, continuing even after that, giving you no recovery time, no chance to catch your breath before she has you on your back, legs still spread and a wet mess beneath you. Leaning in, she murmurs, “Be good for me, be still, kay? Let me clean you up—jus' lemme taste you, baby.”

Your hand comes up to cover your face, crying out as you feel her tongue glide through your folds. Gripping onto her hair tightly, you sob—a genuine cry from the overstimulation. Through your tears, you manage to gasp, “Fuck, baby, it hurts so good, ugh!”

You shout and clamp your legs shut, burying her with a guttural scream once her fingers scissor your folds and hold them open, her tongue flicking exactly against your clit, making direct contact.

She pries your legs open inhumanly, like an uncaring monster, her voice resounding and vibrating in your cunt, "Hold your ankles in the air." a command.

You obey, and she’s even nice enough to help, her strong arms holding your legs apart as she laps and slurps up all your cum like she’s parched, her swallows audible and incredibly sexy.

You look down at her and watch her head shake around wildly, losing herself in the abyss, entranced. You try to push her away by bucking into her face, hands occupied, but you end up unintentionally pushing her closer instead. You whine out desperately, your toes, nipples, and cunt especially on fire. "Pl-PLEASE!" you gasp, "I c-can't, I’m gonna—" Her fingers replace her tongue on your clit, while her tongue dips inside you as she murmurs, "Mhm," You cover your face, and the last thing you hear before you pass out is the frantic noise of her tongue fighting to slip even deeper inside you. There’s the sound of a leak, then the subsequent opening of your eyes after what feels like days. You look down at your girlfriend to find her face glistening in a pool of arousal, juices smeared everywhere. Her first instinct? To lick around her mouth, trying to savor the taste as she smiles at you smugly, knowing she’s clearly gotten her point across to your fucked-out self.

Needless to say, Paige has proven herself to you as she knew she would always: she is NOT someone to be underestimated.

MASTERLIST

AUTHOR NOTE #2: uhh so i reread this and i just wanna know if anybody else reading this who writes, is it crazy i reread my own work and blush at it like a viewer 😅 am i a freak guys 😅😅😅 do you do that too?? ANYWAY GUYS PLS INTERACT WITH ME ILY ALL MWAH!

[thank-youforyourcooperation]

50 Shades of Red || Chapter 6

pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Natasha Romanoff

summary: Wanda wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, then goes through emotional whiplash. Curtesy of a rich, sexy CEO.

content warnings: mentions of throwing up

word count: 4.2k+

masterlist

comments and reblogs are always appreciated! happy reading ♡

Warmth. The sounds of muted bird calls filter through Wanda’s brain, her eyes squeezing shut tightly as she registers golden light from behind her eyelids. She’s comfortable, wrapped in a thick blanket on a soft bed. She sighs, breathing in deeply and snuggling further into the silk pillow. 

Wait. 

Silk pillow?

Wanda’s eyes shoot open, blinking against the sunlight streaming in through the open window, a slight breeze ruffling the curtains. Sitting up, she feels her head spin from the abrupt change in position, and her head pounds from sharp pangs as she remembers the night before. 

Holy fuck. 

The memory of liquid fire streaming down her throat pulls Wanda’s face into a grimace. She can’t remember how many shots she took, but she can remember the feeling of it regurgitating out of her throat into the bushes while someone held her hair back. Someone with firm hands and soft hair and strong arms and bright… green… eyes…

Shaking her head, Wanda glances at the bedside table. A glass of orange juice waits, the condensation dripping down the glass. Two pale pink pulls lay beside it, and Wanda gratefully swallows them, washing the Advil down with ice-cold orange juice. The rancid, bitter taste in her mouth disappears, and Wanda gratefully drinks more of the juice. 

It’s more than she probably deserves. Cringing internally, Wanda remembers how Ms. Romanoff had rubbed soothing circles on her back while she puked her guts into the bushes, and throws her head back into the pillow, the blanket falling off her shoulders at the action. She breathes deeply, realizing that she’s wearing unfamiliar clothes. 

She’s in her t-shirt, bra, and underwear. Her pants and socks are nowhere to be found. 

A violent flush spread across Wanda’s face, the heat starting from the tips of her ears and descending towards her chest. God, this was embarrassing. Not only had Ms. Romanoff witnessed her unfortunate reaction to too much alcohol, but she also had undressed her and tucked her into bed like some sort of… wayward child. 

There’s a knock at the door, and Wanda has just enough time to feel her heart drop to the pits of her stomach before Ms. Romanoff is strolling in. 

Of their own accord, Wanda’s eyes roam the figure of the woman before her. She’s dressed in a long-sleeve compression shirt and sweatpants, her hair braided neatly behind her. Her pants are hanging off of her hips, almost low enough that if she happened to stretch, Wanda would be able to see far more than she’d anticipated. 

Shaking her head from those thoughts, Wanda glances back at Ms. Romanoff’s face. 

Great, she’s smirking. Wanda would like to wipe that infernal smirk from her lips, and she’s in the middle of deciding whether she wants to punch or kiss the woman when Ms. Romanoff begins speaking. 

“Good morning, Wanda. How are you feeling?”

Her shirt is sweaty, a dark patch running from her collarbones and down her chest. Wanda can’t focus, the sight of Ms. Romanoff’s slightly damp skin sent her brain reeling. She wonders what type of workout the woman does, what her muscles look like when she’s lifting weights of what her form is while she’s running and-

“I’m fine.” 

“Are you?”

Wanda remembers the pounding in her head. She takes another large sip of her orange juice, watching as Ms. Romanoff smiles. The woman doesn’t even attempt to hide her amusement. It makes Wanda want to throw something. 

“How did I get here?”

Ms. Romanoff sits on the edge of the bed, her fingers splaying out on the comforter. She’s close enough that Wanda can smell her perfume, the cinnamon mixing with a subtle hint of sweat. Wanda takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, shooing away the inappropriate thoughts that linger at the edges of her mind. 

“I brought you here.”

Yeah, no shit. 

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to risk you throwing up in my car on the drive to your apartment. The hotel was closer.” Ms. Romanoff’s voice is low. Wanda feels her head spin. 

“Did you put me to bed?”

“Yes.”

“Did I throw up again?” Wanda’s voice is quiet, and she hates how meek she sounds. 

“No.” Ms. Romanoff’s face is impassive, her green eyes dark and locked on Wanda’s face. She fights the flush that attempts to rise. 

“Did you,” Wanda clears her throat, glancing down to where her fingers are gripping the edge of the comforter. “Did you undress me?”

“I did.”

“Did we?” Wanda can’t finish the question. 

Ms. Romanoff quirks an eyebrow, her face serious. 

“Wanda, you were unconscious. I would never take advantage of you like that. Somnophilia isn’t really my thing. I enjoy my woman receptive, conscious, and yearning for more.”

“Ah,” Wanda responds lamely, “Well, I’m sorry.”

Those lips quirk up again, “It was a very riveting evening. It won’t be easily forgotten.”

Wanda is about to agree, before she sees the sparkle in the woman’s eyes. Ah, she’s making fun of her. 

Fuming slightly, Wanda looks back down at the soft comforter she’s gripping between her fingers. Whatever, the woman can laugh all she wants. It’s not like Wanda had asked Ms. Romanoff to come and get her. She feels scolded, like an unrepentant child, and immediately resents the feeling. 

“You didn’t have to track me down like you’re some kind of spy with top-secret government equipment,” Wanda snaps, her voice frigid. Ms. Romanoff stares at her, those green eyes widened slightly, a wounded look appearing in them. 

“The technology that allows me to track cellphones is available over the internet, Ms. Maximoff. If I hadn’t come to get you, you’d probably be waking up in a very different room right now, with a photographer who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word no,” Ms. Romanoff responds, her voice raspy and eyes hard. She’s glaring at Wanda, her posture tense, and Wanda can’t help the vision of an angry raccoon as it flies through her mind. 

Biting her lip, Wanda smothers a chuckle. “How noble of you. What fantasy book did you fall out of?”

Those perfect eyebrows crinkle, and Ms. Romanoff seems unsure of how to respond. Blinking slowly, she processes the quick change of emotion, before her expression warms and her eyes soften. 

“If anything, I’m the misunderstood villain,” she says, her smile sharp. Then, she changes tactics. “Did you eat last night?”

Wanda shakes her head, admiring the way Ms. Romanoff clenches her jaw. She lets out a sharp breath, running a hand over her braid before beginning to take it out, her long fingers nimble. Wanda can’t take her eyes off of it, her imagination running wild.

“You need to eat, that’s why you’re feeling like this,” Ms. Romanoff waves a hand in Wanda’s general direction, and she can’t help but giggle at the statement. Those green eyes find hers again, a surprised look in them. 

“Are you just going to scold me all morning?”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Yes.” 

“Well,” Ms. Romanoff stands, moving towards the desk and grabbing a towel draped over the side of it. She turns towards Wanda, wrapping the towel around her neck and grabbing onto the sides of it, her posture tall. “You’re lucky I’m only scolding you.”

“I-” Wanda blinks, the barest hint of a smirk on Ms. Romanoff’s face. God, this woman is insufferable. “What do you mean?”

“If you were mine, you wouldn’t be so smug after the stupidity you displayed yesterday. You didn’t eat, got drunk and put yourself at risk. I hate to think what could have happened to you.” Her eyes are cold again, something that looks like fear flickering in them slightly. She walks towards Wanda, her steps slow and sure.

“I was with Kate, I would’ve been fine.”

“Mhmm,” Ms. Romanoff murmurs, leaning over the bed, her face dangerously close to Wanda’s. “And the photographer?”

“He just,” Wanda doesn’t know what to say. “He just got a bit out of hand.”

“The next time he gets out of hand, maybe I’ll teach him some manners.”

“You’re quite the disciplinarian,” Wanda says, her voice as acidic as venom. She’s frustrated with the turn in conversation. Honestly, she was having a fine morning, and now the woman had to bring Vision, of all people, into this?

“Oh sweetheart, you have no idea.” Ms. Romanoff’s smile is blinding, her eyes sharp. It's completely disarming, and Wanda finds herself wheeling from the whiplash. She can’t find any words, completely mesmerized by the rare smile Ms. Romanoff has graced her with. 

Also, the pet name? Fuck. 

“I’m going to shower, unless you’d like to go first?” Ms. Romanoff’s voice is sickly sweet, dripping with something Wanda can’t comprehend. It feels like every synapse she has in her brain is firing all at once, her breaths short as her heartbeat races. 

“Breathe, Wanda,” she whispers, reaching over to trail a single finger down Wanda’s face. It grazes her lips, sending electricity tumbling straight to her heart, before resting under her chin. “Breakfast will be here in fifteen minutes.”

Standing, Ms. Romanoff gives her a look, a silent command of some sort. Wanda feels completely out of her depth. 

“You must be famished, having emptied your stomach last night so… ungracefully.” With that, she winks and closes the bathroom door. 

Wanda lets out a long breath, leaning back against the headboard as the water turns on. She’s never had this urge before, this… desire. All she wants to do is wrench open the bathroom door and get in the shower with Ms. Romanoff, or punch her straight in those beautiful lips. Wanda hasn’t decided which one she wants to do more, yet. 

‘If you were mine.’

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? And why does Wanda’s heart race at the mere thought of it? 

Ms. Romanoff is confusing, Wanda decides. An anomaly sent into her life to destroy any semblance of peace she’s managed to scrape together. She’s sweet and alluring in one moment, then antagonizing and difficult the next. Who else sends a first edition of a book worth thousands, then tracks her all within 48 hours? 

Regardless, Wanda has never felt more safe than she does at this moment. In a hotel room, a penthouse, from the look of it. She feels protected, and a sliver of warmth nestles itself in her heart when she remembers that Ms. Romanoff came to rescue her. 

Then, she scoffs. Danger. As if Vision could ever truly be dangerous. The memory of his cologne seeps unbidden into her mind, the suffocating weight of his body pressed against hers as his alcohol-flavored breath hit her face capturing her thoughts. 

She feels like throwing up all over again. 

Scrambling out of bed, Wanda looks around wildly. She suddenly feels the need to escape to… run, far away from the situation she’s found herself in. She turns over the covers, her heart racing once more as she searches the room for her pants. 

The door opens, and Wsnda whirls around. Ms. Romanoff seems just as surprised to see her out of bed, the towel wrapped neatly around her still-glistening body. Wanda can’t take her eyes off the woman’s bare shoulders, the muscles shining as she gently wrings her hair. 

“If you’re looking for your pants, I’ve sent them to be laundered.” Her eyes are dark, trailing over Wanda’s awkward form. “They were covered in your vomit.”

“Oh,” Wanda flushes. She doesn’t know how to respond. 

“I sent Taylor out for another pair and some shoes. They’re in the box next to the desk.” 

She sent her driver out to shop for new clothes. Wanda will never live this down. Although, clean clothes aren't the worst thing in the world. 

“Well, um.” Wanda stutters, bending down to grab the box while Ms. Romanoff watches with intent eyes. “I’ll be in the shower then. Thanks.” She darts into the bathroom, locking the door behind her and letting out a shaky breath. How was she supposed to react when she was mere inches away from the perfect body of Natasha Romanoff?

Stepping into the shower, Wanda lets the hot water run over her face, washing away the night before. God, she can’t believe this is her life. She turns the water to a slightly cool temperature, willing her flush to disappear. 

She wants Natasha Romanoff. That much is clear to her. Everything else is… muddy. Doubts and insecurities creep into her mind, and Wanda washes them away as she lathers her hair with a coconut-scented shampoo. She can’t even read the name of the brand, and decides to not think about the price as she continues to shower. 

Opening the body wash, Wanda breathes in the scent. It smells just like Ms. Romanoff. She rubs it over her body, the suds gathering as she fantasizes that it's her rubbing this soap into her skin, across her chest and circling her nipples, over her stomach and down between the soft skin of her thighs with those strong, long-fingered hands. 

“Breakfast is here.” She knocks on the door, and Wanda drops the bottle. 

“Okay,” Her voice is strained, and she curses herself as she picks up the soap, rinsing the suds off. She takes a breath, ignoring the wetness between her thighs as she finishes her shower, washing all evidence of her erotic daydream away. 

Toweling herself dry, Wanda inspects the box of clothes. Not only is there a pair of new pants and Converse, but also a dark, forest green shirt with black panties and a bra. And fuck, they’re perfect. The design is soft, with a gentle lace design around the edges that has Wanda giggling at the thought of Ms. Romanoff’s driver standing in the middle of Victoria’s Secret picking out her undergarments. 

Slipping the clothes on, she marvels at the fact that everything fits perfectly before toweling her hair dry. She eyes the hair dryer, but decides to let it dry naturally instead. She’d rather not have crazy, blown-out hair in front of the most gorgeous woman on earth. Taking a deep breath, Wanda finds a sliver of courage and opens the bathroom door. 

The bedroom is empty, her footsteps quiet and muffled on the soft floor. She scans the room for her purse, not finding it. Pausing to steel herself, she walks into the living room area of the penthouse, her eyes widening at the sight of an actual dining table and multiple plush chairs. Everything is elaborate, and Wanda finds herself nervous to touch anything in the room, sure that even the silverware was more than her month’s rent. 

“Fuck, Kate,” Wanda mumbles. Ms. Romanoff looks up from where she’s seated on the couch, laying her newspaper on her lap. 

“She knows that you’re alive and here. I texted Yelena.” That damned smirk is back again. 

Oh, God. Wanda remembers the looks that her roommate was giving Yelena the night before. Kate had really put on the maximum amount of charm to seduce Ms. Romanoff’s sister, and Wanda sighs slightly. The last time Kate had picked someone up from the bar, Wanda was seated on the couch watching sad movies and eating ice cream out of solidarity while she lamented. She just hopes that Yelena shows the same respect that her sister has.

“Sit,” Natasha says, gesturing towards the table. She stands, uncovering the multitudes of platters adorning the table. 

“I didn’t know what you would like, so I ordered a bit of everything.” Her smile is small, her eyebrows crinkled slightly. Wanda finds it cute.

“Thank you.”

A pleasant silence fills the room for a moment, each of them eating their respective breakfasts. Natasha finishes first, having scarfed down some bacon and eggs. She reaches for the sausages as Wanda slowly cuts up her pancakes before lathering them in butter. 

“That color suits you.”

Wanda blushes, her knife clattering against her plate. 

“You should learn how to take a compliment,” Natasha says, her tone kind. Those green eyes watch her, and Wanda finishes her bite before speaking. Her fingers shake slightly around her cutlery, and Natasha glances down at them. 

“I should give you some money,” Wanda mutters, noticing the way Natasha’s eyebrows shoot up. “I can’t accept your book either, as nice as it is. Please, let me pay you back.”

“Wanda,” Natasha’s voice is barely a whisper, and she stops her rambling. “I can afford it.”

“That’s not,” Wanda lets out a breath. “That’s not the point, I mean- why should you buy these nice things for me?”

“Because I can and because I want to.”

“That doesn’t mean you should.” Wanda’s voice is equally as quiet. Natasha simply raises an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling. 

Sitting back in her seat, Natasha watches her for a moment. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“I- what?”

“I believe I asked you a question, Wanda.”

Flushing, she sets her fork down. The topic change has her mind reeling, so Wanda simply chooses to observe the woman across from her for a moment instead. It doesn’t help to clear her mind, but she doesn’t really care. 

Natasha is seated casually, her arms resting on the arms of her chair. She looks regal, her head tilted slightly as those lips quirk at the corners. Her hair has almost dried, only the tips still slightly damp. Wanda has to urge to smell it, to see if she used the same heavenly-scented coconut shampoo. 

“I’m moving up to Seattle.”

“For?”

What’s with all the questions? Wanda hadn’t realized this was an interrogation. A sliver of annoyance creeps up in her mind, but she pushes it away in favor of admiring Natasha’s sharp jawline. 

“I’ve applied to a few internships, I’m still waiting to hear back from them.”

“Ah,” Ms. Romanoff nods, drumming her fingers against the table. “And did you apply for the one I recommended?”

Wanda can’t help but let out a sharp laugh at that. “No, I haven’t.”

“Is there something wrong with my company?”

“No, it’s not that. It just feels like cheating, somehow.” Wanda bites her lip, unsure of how else to answer the woman. Dark green eyes follow the movement and Natasha sits up in her chair slightly. 

“Don’t do that,” Natasha’s voice is hoarse and strained. Wanda’s eyes widen in realization.

Fuck, she wants to hear more of that. Wanda hasn’t seen the woman lose even a small bit of her composure, and yet here she is cracking over a small lip bite. It just makes her want to do it more. 

“What are you gonna do about it if I don’t?”

Those eyes flash, glancing up and meeting Wanda’s. A shiver runs down her spine at the heat behind them. Natasha’s voice is raspy and low, her words slow and sure. “I’ll bite it for you, only much… much harder.”

Wanda doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Before this progresses any further, we need to sit down and have a discussion about our interests and intentions.”

What? Wanda blinks, curiosity blooming. What a cryptic and definitely-not-confusing statement from Ms. blunt-is-my-middle-name. 

“When are you free this weekend?” 

After a moment of hesitation, Wanda’s curiosity wins. She wants to learn all of Natasha’s secrets, unraveling them one-by-one until she finally sees the truest form of the beautiful woman seated before her. This is the first step. 

“I’m free tonight.” 

“Perfect, we’ll fly up to Seattle then. My home is much more comfortable than this hotel room.” Ms. Romanoff’s tone is matter-of-fact, but Wanda is still stuck on one word. 

“Fly?”

“Yes.” There’s a smirk on those lips again, and Wanda finds that she doesn’t quite mind much anymore. “I have a helicopter.”

“We’re flying… by helicopter… to Seattle?”

“That’s what I said. I don’t like repeating myself.”

Wanda flushes, her jaw working slightly. “Why?”

“Because I can.” Natasha grins, and Wanda blinks. She feels like she’s in a daze, but lets out a quick breath. If she doesn’t think about it too much, maybe she can pretend like it’s completely normal for people to buy thousand dollar books and fly to the next city over. 

Fuck that. Natasha Romanoff is anything but normal, and Wanda is surprised at how easily the thought settles within her. She decides to change the subject. 

“Where did you sleep last night?”

If Natasha is surprised by the question, she doesn’t show it. “In the bed, on top of the covers.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, it was quite a different experience for me as well.” Her face is impassive, her fingers trailing down the side of her glass. 

“The not having sex part, or?”

“No,” she shakes her head, her brows furrowing slightly. “Sleeping with someone.”

Wanda blinks again, slowly eating her pancake as she mulls that over. Had Natasha truly never slept with another person in the room? But the woman was obviously not a virgin, not with the confidence in which she spoke about sex and… if Wanda was hers. 

A pleasant shiver runs down her spine, and Wanda resumes eating. She pushes her questions to the back of her mind, studying Natasha as she reads the newspaper. Allegedly, the woman would reveal her secrets tonight… her interests and intention, as the woman had so eloquently put it. 

Now all Wanda had to do was wait.

—

“Ready?”

Wanda nods, her body brushing against Natasha’s as she slips past her into the hallway. Peeking up at her through her lashes, Wanda bites her bottom lip gently as she suppresses a smile. 

A second date, that’s essentially what tonight will be. She genuinely can’t believe that she’s made it this far, with Natasha Romanoff of all people. Wanda glances over at the woman again, feeling the barest brush of fingers against her hip. It’s intoxicating, and she immediately wants more. 

The elevator dings, and they step in. The elevator is empty, and for some reason, most likely the close proximity in an enclosed space, the energy between them changes. Wanda breathes in slowly, filling her lungs with that addictive cinnamon scent as a charged sort of anticipation fills the space. 

The only thing Wanda can hear is her own heart pounding in her head, the pressure of Natasha’s shoulder against hers sending her senses into overdrive. Wanda turns her head slightly, and sees the other woman do the same. Dark green eyes meet hers, something heady and wanting behind them. The air crackles with tension, and Wanda gently, slowly, bites down on her lip. 

“Fuck,” Natasha growls. In one smooth movement, she presses Wanda against the wall of the elevator. Before Wanda can even process, her hands are being held above her head by Natasha’s strong fingers while the woman’s other hand is gently gripping the back of her head. Her hips are pinning her against the wall, and her fingers tangle with her hair before pulling. 

Wanda’s face tilts up at the action, a gasp escaping her for a moment before Natasha’s lips are pressed against hers. She moans into the older woman’s mouth, not caring if the sound is desperate, and feels a strong tongue moving against her own. 

Natasha’s lips are insistent, practically devouring her with gentle swipes of her tongue and harsh bites to her bottom lip. Wanda has never been kissed like this, so passionately and thorough. 

Pressing her hips against Natasha’s, she smiles into the kiss at the strangled sound that claws its way out of the other woman's throat. Her tongue finally starts to work, tentatively stroking Natasha’s and dancing with hers as another moan escapes her. 

The hand in her hair moves to grasp her chin, holding her in place. Wanda feels helpless, and moans deeper at the thought. God, she has never felt so comfortable or dominated, with her hands pinned and her hips restrained by another woman’s. 

“So. Fucking. Good.” Natasha rasps out, each word accentuated by her lips against Wanda’s. She never wants it to stop. 

The elevator dings. The doors open, and Wanda is suddenly pushed away, the air feeling much colder than it was mere seconds ago. She brings a hand up to cover her swollen lips, and avoids the three smirking businessmen as they enter the elevator. 

Glancing towards Natasha, she glowers. The older woman looks cool and collected, like she’s been sipping tea and doing a boring sudoku puzzle all morning instead of kissing Wanda within an inch of her life. There’s a light flush on her cheeks, and she lets out a slow, long breath. 

Wanda smirks. Not totally unaffected, then. 

The elevator dings again, and the three men get out. The doors take an agonizingly long time to close, and Wanda sucks in a deep breath the moment they do. Natasha turns towards her, eyes bright and her lips sculpted into a salacious smirk.

“Oh, Wanda Maximoff, what am I going to do with you?”

---

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