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plot: they fucking hate each other

trope: enemies to lovers

pairings: wbb poc reader x marina mabrey / crash out x crash out 😋

warnings: crazy ex, death, and a glock girl idk

a/n: she's so fine like cmon 😩 the way this plot would be the perfect slowburn fanfic 😭

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Y/n and Marina hated each other. It was a commonly known thing in women's basketball. It went all the way back to when y/n played for LSU and Marina played for Notre Dame. Their beef followed them into the WNBA when they both got drafted. Nobody knew why they hated each other. They probably didn't even know. They just did. Anytime they played against each other, they always got into an argument or foul trouble.

Literally everyone questioned it when Unrivaled decided it was a good idea to put them on the same team.

"Where she at?" Natasha queried, looking at their last teammates empty locker. She had yet to arrive, and it had already been a couple hours.

"Late, unsurprisingly," Marina remarked, hoping she didn't show up at all.

"Always runnin' your mouth, Mabrey." Y/n retorts, walking in and tossing her bag into her locker. "You like when I run my mouth," Marina shot back, a smirk growing on her lips when she noticed the familiar expression of annoyance on y/n's face.

"I like when you shut the fuck up," y/n sneered.

"Oh yeah? How 'bout you make me?" Marina pushed her sweater off her lap and stood up, quick to get in her face which only made her smirk.

"It's getting a lil' too hostile in here. Y'all gotta calm down." Natasha interfered, quick to get in between them.

A makeup artist knocked against the door, "uh, y/n? You ready? Should I come back later?" Y/n backed up and turned around, "nah, you can take me now." She tucked her hands in her pockets and followed her out.

"Y'all need to figure that out 'cause that's some on sight beef," Tash comments, sitting down in her chair, a sigh of relief escaping her. She thought she was gonna have to break up a fight for a second there. "I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put her on the same team as me," Marina muttered, sitting back down.

Day 1 was...okay. After their first interaction, they kept away from each other the rest of the day.

Day two on the other hand...it wasn't looking good. It was their first practice and they had argued five times in under an hour. Everyone on the team was getting sick of it. It got back to Stewie and Phee, and they knew they had to do something about it. But, they didn't want them to move teams. The whole point of placing them on the same team was to help them find some common ground.

Y/n stepped into the office, hearing Phee and Stewie requested her presence. She was hoping it was to move teams. She liked her teammates...but Mabrey was a deal breaker. "Is this about movin' teams? Cause if I had to choose, the Laces seems more up my alley," she spoke, taking a seat in one of the chairs across their desk.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not switching teams," Breanna stated.

"Mabrey switchin'?"

Phee shook her head, "no."

The door opened and Marina walked in. Y/n glanced over at her and they both rolled their eyes. The blonde grabbed her chair and pushed it further from her before sitting down. "Is this about switching teams? 'Cause personally, I like my team how it is- if anyone should be moving, it's her."

"Aw, we finally agree on somethin'," y/n smiled mockingly, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.

"Nobody is switching teams," Phee stated firmly, noting how they both huffed in reply.

"You two need to learn to coexist. We've been receiving...complains, and if you two can't learn to work together, then we'll have to let you go from Unrivaled." Breanna spoke, and their expressions remained stoic. "We both don't want to let you go. So, you're going to skip practice tomorrow and spend time with each other from the hours 11 to 6."

"Spend time together? Like...outside of work?" Y/n almost wanted to vomit at the idea of actually spending her valuable time with Marina of all people.

"Yes. If anyone wants to object, feel free, but if you don't do this, you'll be let go." Phee stated.

"11 to 6?" Marina asked, just for a little extra confirmation.

"Yes."

"Fine."

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Y/n stirred from her sleep, the sound of banging on her apartment door beginning to irritate her through her dreams. "Fuck- I'm coming! Hold on!" She exclaimed, getting out of her bed in just a pair of panties and a white tank top that was a little see through with some small holes in it. Her bonnet was thankfully still on her head. Normally it'd be on the floor somewhere in the morning.

She unlocked her door and pulled it open with a loud yawn. Marina rolled her eyes, "it's literally noon and you're just waking up?" Y/n rolled her eyes, turning around to walking away. Marina quickly pushed open the door before it slammed on her face. "Can you put on some clothes? You're basically naked," she continued.

"Fine. I'll change if it makes you feel better." Her smile was nothing short of condescending when she pulled her tank top off, upper body completely bare in front of her. Marina averted her eyes to the ceiling, but she did get a full view before looking away, "you are the most repulsive woman I've ever met. I said put some clothes on not strip."

"If I'm so repulsive why are you turning red, Mabrey?" She smirked before stepping into her room and shutting the door.

Marina grabbed a wipe from her bag and wiped down the stool before sitting down. It was twenty minutes later when y/n returned. She had taken a quick shower, brushed her teeth, tamed her curls, and got dressed. "What are we doing today?"

"I need to go get groceries. We're taking my car," Marina said, getting up from the stool.

"Good. I ain't even got a car," y/n shrugged, grabbing a protein drink from her fridge.

"That's not surprising."

"Watch your mouth, Mabrey," she scowled, pulling open her door. Marina held her tongue, remembering what DiJonai told her about not entertaining her petty comments that were only made to set her off. Y/n was a little taken back by not getting a sassy remark, but she brushed it off when she realized she didn't really care.

They arrived at a grocery store and grabbed a cart. They couldn't just go separate ways or that would defeat the purpose of this bonding exercise. Marina raised a brow at y/n's unhealthy choice of chips, "you eat that?" Y/n nods, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, "yeah, how else do you think I keep this figure," she retorts sarcastically, "with this body, a little bit of junk food isn't gonna kill me. Not everyone's a little uptight health nut like you."

"I'm not a health nut," Marina argued, "I just don't consume chips with a million chemicals."

"That's exactly what a health nut would say," y/n smirked smugly, grabbing a couple more bags of hot chips.

Marina rolled her eyes, grabbing a bag of healthy protein chips and pushing the cart out of this isle before y/n grabbed the whole shelf. They ended up in the seasoning isle, and y/n grabbed a ton of stuff that left the blonde clueless. "Do you really need that much- of whatever that is?" She asked, taking some salt and pepper from the shelf.

Y/n tossed her seasonings into the cart and noted the salt and pepper in the blonde's hands, not even a bottle of seasoned salt or lemon pepper at the least. "They don't season they food in Jersey or you just white?"

"I don't cook often," Marina scoffed, offended by her judgement.

"No shit. The fuck a lil' salt and pepper gon' do? Remind me to never eat at your place," she deadpanned, grabbing herself some olive and avocado oil.

Marina rolled her eyes, "I'm not listening to you."

They went through some more isles in silence, both using the silence to mentally judge each other's food choices. They got to the meat section and y/n took her time picking out steaks, salmon, shrimp, chicken, turkey, and other kinds of meats for her meals. Marina just grabbed chicken and shrimp. It honestly made y/n concerned on whether this girl was eating regularly. Not that she cared about the blonde- she just didn't like people starving, it felt inhumane.

Marina was ready to leave but y/n wanted to go to the freezer section to grab some more stuff. "Can you afford this?" She asked in a teasing tone, knowing this was gonna be at least four hundred and maybe more if she kept adding. "You piss me off," she mumbled, grabbing some frozen fruits for her protein smoothies.

"Seems like everything pisses you off," Marina shrugged, pushing the cart along.

"You got something right for once, Mabrey. Congratulations."

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm."

"You never do."

They got back to the apartment and Marina made her carry everything up just for saying her music taste was trash. "I pay for your groceries and this is how you repay me," she muttered, setting the last bags down. "Shouldn't have insulted me," Marina shrugged, separating her stuff from y/n's. "It was more than necessary. It's too early in the morning to be listenin' to rap music."

"It's never too early for rap music," she scoffed.

"Not when I have a hangover," y/n scowled, packing the cold items into her fridge. "It's like your damn mission to make me uncomfortable at all costs," she added.

"I'm making you uncomfortable? You literally got naked in front of me!" Marina argued, throwing the pack of marshmallows at her head. "You told me to change. I removed my clothes so I could change. You should've been more specific with your wording," she argued back defensively, picking up the marshmallows and throwing them into the cupboard.

"I hate you."

"You not the only one, sweetheart," she mutters in disdain.

After putting the stuff away at her place, Marina took her own food to her apartment and came back because they unfortunately had to stay together for a few more hours. She didn't think it was working. She went from just hating her, to hating her and being disgusted by her. "I'm cooking dinner. You got any allergies I should know about so I can use those said ingredients," y/n spoke.

Marina rolled her eyes, "no." She looked at the couch and considered laying down- only the thought of y/n probably having sex on it was something that made her not want to. "You haven't had sex on this couch, right? Just can't be too sure with the way you act." Y/n chuckled at her words, "I'm offended that you think I would take a hooker back to my apartment. Those are what hotel's are for, Mabrey."

"At least you have some decency," the blonde retorts, laying down on the couch with a small yawn.

"I don't expect you to know what that is," y/n shot back, taking some pans out of her cupboards.

"Considering I don't have to pay for sex, I'm pretty sure my definition of the word fits perfectly," Marina remarked, her thumbs tapping against her keyboard as she was filling some of her friends in. "I'm offended, again. You seriously think I pay for sex? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"Someone who's too insufferable to willingly have sex with," Marina shrugged, a small smirk on her face.

"And how would you know? You don't know what sex with me is like," she scoffed, very offended by her assumptions.

Marina grimaced, "and I never want to so keep it to yourself."

"Oh, I was going to. You don't deserve to hear my stories."

Marina rolled her eyes, mumbling a comment under her breath as she tried to turn to TV on to keep herself occupied as her enemy made dinner. She clicked on the WNBA app and searched for the game they played against each other when Marina got y/n ejected from the game after they almost fought. It was one of her favorite games to rewatch. Just to see y/n throw a whole tantrum and lose the game by 20 points anyways.

"What are you making anyways?" Marina asked, opening her can of soda to take a sip.

"Steak and mashed potatoes. Do you have a problem with that? I can imagine you don't like much flavor in your food." Y/n retorts, still very much annoyed by her choice of television and lack of seasoning cabinet. Choosing to ignore the last comment, she replied, "don't fuck up my steak. I wanna be able to chew it."

"Well now I just might to piss you off," y/n murmured, working on the chimichurri for the steaks.

They didn't talk much unless it was telling each other to shut up. There was an occasional argument when y/n was defending herself about the calls on the game Marina was watching. She claimed they would've won had she not been ejected. And maybe she was right- cause she shot more than her teammates put together, but Marina would rather choke before she admitted that.

She finished plating the food and Marina got up to sit at the dinner table. She was genuinely surprised by how good the food looked. But she was a bit suspicious. "How do I know it's not poisoned?" Y/n rolled her eyes, leaning over the table and scooping some of the mashed potatoes with her spoon. Their eyes remained locked as she brought it to her mouth to eat. Marina gulped, breaking the eye contact first before she turned red again.

"Eat," she ushered, sitting back down in her chair.

After trying it, it was clear the enemy knew how to get down in the kitchen. She tried to not react because it was honestly so good she could roll her eyes back, "...okay, I guess it's not that bad."

"It's better than whatever bland food you be makin'," y/n retorts.

"You've never even seen me cook. I'm pretty good." Marina defended and y/n just chuckles at her, "you sound like you don't even believe that."

"Two more hours, Marina. Just two more hours." The blonde whispered to herself, bringing amusement to her enemy. "Does it count as whispering if I can hear it?" Marina rolled her eyes at her taunting, choosing to ignore it once again.

"Two more hours...it'll be over before you know it."

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"No, I'm not joking. She literally got naked in front of me," Marina explained to DiJonai as she had asked how their bonding exercise turned out. Y/n happened to walk on the court, "don't leave out the part where you started blushing," she input, pushing her shoulder into Marina's as she walked past her to find her Phantom teammate Sabrina.

Nai raised a brow, "you were blushing?"

"N-No, I wasn't blushing! It just caught me off guard. Don't listen to her. She can't follow instructions if they were printed out and put right in her face." Marina ranted in frustration, not noticing the way Nai just kinda smirked, wondering if there was something else the blonde wasn't telling her.

"How was your off day with Marina?" Sabrina questioned as y/n sat down on the chair next to her.

Their friendship always confused everyone 'cause they were polar opposites. But they didn't always like each other. They both went to Oregon and were roommates that got off on the wrong foot. Sab did not like that y/n kept bringing girls into their room when she was there, so they ended up talking about it and grew their friendship from there. Sab knew a side of y/n that nobody else got to see which is why she was always so defensive about their friendship whenever it was questioned.

"Boring." Y/n shrugged, pulling out her new shoes from her bag. She needed to break them in so she was gonna do that today.

"I need more details," Sabrina frowned, nudging her arm impatiently.

"She woke me up at like 11 in the morning and scolded me like she was my mom or somethin'," y/n muttered, and Sab had to stifle a laugh- knowing how much she liked to sleep in. She probably should've warned Marina about that. "Then she told me to change- which means get undressed, so I took off my clothes- and she tells me I was doing it wrong?"

Sabrina slapped her palm over her face in exasperation, "please tell me she didn't see you naked."

"Well if I told you that, I would be lying and you said I can't lie to you," y/n replied, brows furrowed in confusion.

Sab sighed, setting a hand on her shoulder, "what exactly did she see? Did you take all your clothes off?" Y/n shook her head and reached for her shirt to show her an example but the blonde quickly grabbed her shirt to push it back down. "Okay- I think I see what you mean. She seen your boobs." She nods in confirmation, gently removing Sab's hands off. "Next time- if there is one, you change in the privacy of your own room, okay?"

"Okay," she shrugs, leaning down to pull on her Kobe's.

"Good. What else did you do together?"

"Grocery shoppin', and before you scold me- I did what you said and paid for her food as a kind gesture. Let me say- she is not a grateful person. Not even a thank you." Y/n ranted in frustration, tying up her laces. Sabrina sighed in disappointment as it was sounding like they hardly made any progress. They were gonna need to work harder to get them to bond.

"Did you cook her dinner like I told you to?" Sab asked.

"Yes. She thought I was trying to poison her. She also said it wasn't that bad- I mean does that even qualify as a compliment?" Her best friend just frowned, really wishing Marina would've at least complimented the food nicely 'cause she knew her friend was a really good cook.

Practice basically went the same as before, they forced Marina and Y/n to be on the same team and all they did was bump heads. At least they didn't get into a physical altercation this time. Y/n took herself a shower before changing back into clean clothes. She typically rode home with Sab since she didn't have a car- simply because she didn't feel like renting one.

"Hey bestie," Sab nervously smiled, sitting down on her lap, fiddling with her hands. Y/n raised a brow, wondering why the change of attitude. "You don't call me bestie unless you're about to piss me off," she remarked. "Um- I have to go on a shopping run with a friend so I won't be able to take you home. And before you yell at me- Marina offered to give you a ride."

"What? No I di-" Satou quickly put a hand over her mouth to silence her, "yes you did, remember?"

Receiving two stern glares from BG and Tash was enough to make her nod. "Yeah, totally. I remember."

"I'd rather walk," y/n scoffed, gently pushing Sab off of her lap and getting up. She picked up her bag but BG snatched it from her hands and held it over her head- obviously entirely too high for her to reach. "We'd prefer y'all ride together," she said, very happy that they let her do this. She loved messing with y/n.

"Fine, but from hear on out I am officially mute." She stated and then completely shut her mouth, snatching her bag as BG lowered it.

"So am I," Marina decided, hating that they had to give into the peer pressure.

They kept their word. Not a single sound came from their mouths the drive back to the apartments. Up until they got to the elevator and a man stepped in with them. He wasn't even being subtle when he tried flirting with Marina. Y/n could tell she was growing uncomfortable as he tried to keep continuing the one sided conversation.

As they got closer to her floor, she put an arm around Marina's waist and pulled her closer. "She's gay and out of your league. Take a fucking hint, creep." Y/n stated with an annoyed look, the elevator doors opening and they stepped out together.

Marina lived a floor above her but she wasn't about to leave her in the elevator with that creepy guy any longer. "I'll walk you to your apartment, just let me drop off my bag real quick," she mumbled, walking to her door, she removed her arm from her waist and unlocked her door. She tossed her stuff inside and then they went to the stairwell.

"Thanks for doing that," Marina mumbled, glancing over her shoulder at y/n who was behind her, making sure she was in her vision at all times. "Us ladies gotta stick together, even if we hate each other."

They got to Marina's floor, but the first thing the blonde noticed was the man unlocking the door to his apartment- that just so happened to be across from hers. Y/n instinctively put her hand on her back, "keep going." She walked to her door, avoiding any eye contact with him as y/n was just staring him down, wishing she had grabbed her gun she had locked up in her place.

Marina unlocked her door and they walked in together. Y/n shut and locked the door as the blonde switched on the lights. "Change of plans. Pack up an overnight bag- you're gonna stay with me. I'll report that guy in the morning. Phee and Bre ain't gon' let him be here any longer when they hear about this."

"Not to question you or anything- but how do I know you're capable of protecting me?" Marina questioned, walking to her bedroom as the woman followed her, still keeping the door in her eyesight. "My home until I was in college was a boxing gym, and if that ain't enough to convince you, I also have a glock back at my place."

"You had me at boxing gym," Marina mumbled, not sure how to feel about the gun but when it came down to safety, that sounded like the best option at the moment.

"Don't you wear any cute panties?" Y/n raised a brow, taking notice of all the briefs she had in her underwear drawer. "Don't look at my underwear!" Marina scolded, quickly grabbing what she needed and shutting the drawer. "Oh come on, you've seen mine," she teased, turning her back to respect her wishes. "Not willingly," the blonde shot back.

"No but seriously, you dress like a stud," y/n snickers.

"Not everyone likes having strings up their asses," Marina defended, zipping her bags up.

"It sounds like you've never had a girl buy you good quality lingerie. 'Cause typically the thong is ripped off or pushed to the side as soon as it's on," y/n shrugged, her back turned so she didn't see how red Marina turned. "And you have?" She queried, searching for a pair of slides that got lost under the bed somewhere.

"Nah, I'm usually the one doin' the rippin'," y/n mumbled, but the idea didn't sound half bad.

"That adds up." Marina pulled on her slides and grabbed her things. "Okay, I'm ready." Y/n walked over to the door and pulled it open, stepping outside first and taking Marina's bag so she could lock her door. They headed back down a floor and got to her apartment, opening it up and stepping inside, already feeling much safer.

"You can take my room. I'ma get started on dinner," y/n mumbled, opening up her fridge to figure out what there was to make a meal with. "You've washed the sheets, right?" Marina questioned, only to receive a small groan of annoyance. "Yes, I've washed my sheets, Mabrey. Please don't make me change my mind."

Marina smiled, setting her stuff down and immediately throwing herself onto the bed, smiling at the feeling of the fluffy comforter against her skin. "This is heaven. Now I see why you never wanna get up."

She made them some dinner and since it was so late and they were tired, they just put on a movie and ate their food at the couch. She made sushi this time, a cleaner food to eat. "Who taught you how to make sushi?" Marina asked, seeing how perfect it all came out, like it was from a restaurant.

"Someone my mom was friends with," she answered, keeping her eyes on the TV. They argued a little of the television choice but both settled for Grey's Anatomy.

"Was?" She probed.

"Uh-huh. Was. As in, they're both dead."

Marina's face fell in guilt, internally yelling at herself for being so nosy. She never talked about her parents to the media, and as far as everyone knew, she didn't have parents. It explained why Sab's family was always in the stands for her. "Oh. I'm sorry. Shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine. It was a long time ago. I barely remember her." That was a lie. She remembered everything about her mom. She couldn't ever forget her. She was the one who pushed her to play basketball when the only thing she wanted to do was box. She died a month before y/n joined a basketball team at her local middle school. She never got to see her play in a real team.

Marina didn't bring up family anymore after that. She was not about to push anymore buttons. An hour later, y/n was still watching the show but Marina was fast asleep, quite literally snoring so loudly she was sure the neighbors could hear. Being the nice person she was, she turned off the tv and got up. She scooped her up into her arms and carried her into the room. She pulled the covers off and laid her down, then covered her up and walked out.

She cleaned the dishes and sat down on the couch. She pulled out her phone and sent an email to Phee and Stewie about the creepy guy in the elevator, giving them all the details, his room number, and his name, because she seen his badge in the elevator before he took it off.

Before bed, brushing her teeth was very necessary, so she quietly tiptoed into her room and stepped into the bathroom. She quickly and quietly brushed her teeth as fast possible before also washing her face and pinning her hair up to put on a bonnet. Protecting her hair was very necessary. Her mom used to get on her ass about it when she was younger and didn't pay much attention to her hair.

She turned off the light and stepped out. She needed her charger as well, so she tiptoed over to the nightstand to grab it. She also decided to be nice and plug in Marina's phone for her. Before she could leave, Marina's hand shot out to grab her hand, the contact making y/n feel all weird inside. "Can you stay? I would feel safer if you stayed. Please?"

She wanted badly to say no, but the tear that fell from the blonde's eye is what made her nod. She could not do tears. They always made her vulnerable. The only one who knew that was Sab and she'd prefer to keep it that way. "Fine, but wipe the tear." Marina didn't even notice the tear until she reached up to wipe it off, feeling the liquid on her fingertips. She prayed y/n wouldn't tease her about it in the morning.

Y/n grabbed her throw blanket and put some pillows between them before she laid down, staring up at the ceiling scolding herself for being so weak about a small tear. Marina turned on her side, facing her way before she closed her eyes and fell back asleep. "My girlfriend's gonna fucking kill me," she whispered to herself.

Marina's eyes remained closed, but she heard the frustrated whisper. When the fuck did y/n have a girlfriend?

..and why did that make her jealous?

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When y/n woke up at 1pm in the afternoon, Marina was long gone and the door was being pounded on. She groaned, getting up from her bed and grabbing her phone, seeing a message from Marina left for her that read 'thanks for letting me stay the night! i went back to my place after Napheesa informed me that they fired that creepy guy and made him leave this morning. thanks again for making sure he wouldn't bother me again :) send an emoji when u see this- which I assume won't be until the afternoon.'

She sent a basic thumbs up and got up before she got reported for the loud ass pounding on the door. "You better not be in there with some hoe, y/n!" She heard through the door, more muffled words and threats spilling from her mouth. Y/n unlocked the door and was faced with her girlfriend, Sasha. Yay.

"Hey baby." Sasha smiled sweetly as if she wasn't just threatening to kill her. "I missed you so much! Why you don't call me, baby?" She pouts, stepping inside and wrapping her arms around the taller woman. "I been busy, baby. You know my schedule real tight right now." That was a lie. She had plenty of chances to call her. She just didn't want to.

"Let me help take your mind off it then." Sasha smiled, slipping her hand down the waistband of her girlfriend's shorts.

Meanwhile, Marina was at NaLyssa and DiJonai's place telling them all about the last night events. "Did you know she has a girlfriend?"

The couple shared a look and nodded, causing Marina to frown, "okay- was I the only one who wasn't told this information?" DiJonai shrugged, "I only found out when Sab mentioned it on your little bonding day." Marina hummed, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "..did she happen to mention what she's like or...?"

"I heard she a crazy girl from Florida who been to jail," NaLyssa snorts in amusement. "Sab doesn't like her either. She called her a gold digger. Wait- why do you want to know?" Marina gulped nervously, she forgot to mention all the stuff where they slept in the same bed and made her feel some things she wasn't supposed to feel for a taken woman.

Nai was confused but Lyss was full on laughing, clearly knowing something she didn't. "Whew, I knew it. Jewell owe me fifty bucks."

"What? Why?" DiJonai asked, feeling very left out of this conversation.

"AT said forcing them to bond was gon' make them attracted to each other 'cause they personalities was good together. So, I bet on it with Jewell. I won. Your girl is fifty dollars richer." NaLyssa grinned, already shooting a text to her.

DiJonai smiled excitedly, "oh, my god, you like her?! That's too cute."

"I-I don't like her! I'm just...slightly attracted to her," she stammered out but Nai wasn't hearing it, she was too thrilled. "She's got this protective demeanor that I find kinda hot. She's still very insufferable. If I don't spend as much time with her- it'll go away and we'll go back to hating each other."

"Absolutely not. Nobody wants to hear y'all fighting every second of the day. Matter of fact, let me go knock on her door- just to thank her for taking such good care of you." Nai got up and rushed to find her shoes. "That's really not necessary. I don't even think she likes you-"

"Excuse me? Y/n loves me. She's bought me a birthday present every year since she accidentally gave me a black eye." Nai said, causing Marina to frown- unaware of that information. She never got a present and she got way worse than a black eye. "I never got a present..."

"Probably 'cause you always callin' her a stupid bitch when she fouls you," NaLyssa input, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"That's not- okay, maybe it's a little true, but she insults me too." Before she could continue, Nai was leaving the apartment, causing Marina to quickly rush after her. The whole time she was trying to convince her this wasn't necessary but Nai was very determined. She stepped out the elevator and walked to her apartment door, giving it a small knock.

Hearing some glass shatter, their eyes widened as muffled shouts were heard through the door. "I ain't goin' no where until you tell me who the fuck Mabrey is!" Nai pursed her lips awkwardly, knocking on the door a little louder. "Who the fuck is that? Don't you answer that damn door when I'm talkin' to you! Is that your little hoe?" Sasha reached for her earrings as Y/n rushed to get the door, praying it was Sab...or BG.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Marina- and she silently hoped Sasha wouldn't recognize her. "Uh, right now isn't a good time."

"No, no, let your little hoes in," Sasha encouraged, pushing y/n out of the way to open the door, and they stepped inside- not sure what would happen if they just walked away. "Hi. I'm Sasha, y/n's girlfriend. Which one of you is Mabrey?"

"Not me," Nai stepped aside, setting her purse on the table.

Sasha stepped closer to Marina, looking up at her with a judging stare, "what's your name?"

"Marina Mabrey. What's yours? Crazy bitch?" Marina smiled, crossing her arms over her chest in amusement. Nai snickered, taking a seat on one of the stools.

Sasha squints, turning her glare to y/n, dramatically gesturing to the blonde, "this is the bitch you been cheatin' on me with?" Marina raised a brow, wondering where that assumption came from. Y/n pursed her lips awkwardly, "no, this is the bitch you think I'm cheating on you with. I cheated on you with other bitches, not this one."

"I don't know if I should be offended..." Marina mumbled to herself.

"You know what? I'm not gon' make a scene in front of these people 'cause unlike you, I got class. You gon' come crawlin' back to me when you realize you can't live without me." Sasha grabbed her things and walked to the door, but still made the effort of throwing a vase right by y/n's head, leaving the smallest cut on her cheek. "You'll be back," she smiled, waving goodbye and slamming the door.

"If she didn't break that vase, I would've," y/n muttered.

"Did you actually cheat on her?" Nai questioned, still very confused by everything she just witnessed. "Only after I found out she was cheatin' on me first," y/n explained, grabbing a broom to sweep up all this glass. "What are y'all doin' here anyway? Isn't it your day off? Figured you'd be hanging out with people you actually like."

"Don't say that! I like you," Nai argued, and looked to Marina who just scoffed, "don't look at me. I don't like her."

"It's fine. I don't really care." Y/n shrugged nonchalantly, dumping the glass into the trash bin. Their phones both went off at the same time and they quickly checked who it was. Napheesa. Nai smiled when she read Marina's phone, "love that for y'all."

"Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse," y/n muttered. She and Marina were being forced to have another bonding day. Yay.

"I had my day already planned out," Marina complained.

Nai was just smirking, "you can spend those plans with y/n now."

»»

An hour later, they were at Marina's apartment. Y/n was just sitting at the kitchen island as the blonde was recording a tiktok where she was making a cooking video using the seasonings DiJonai bought her. She was silently judging her the entire time. But, she promised that she wouldn't make any mean comments while she was cooking, so she was forced into silence.

Though, she had to admit, watching her cook was not only stressful, but also entertaining. "Like watchin' worst cooks of America," she murmured.

"Hey! You said no mean comments! Say sorry!" Marina frowned, throwing a piece of pasta at her face, hitting her right on the nose.

She scowled, throwing the piece into the trash, "absolutely not."

Marina noticed the little cut on y/n's was still not bandaged up and it frustrated her just a bit. "Could you clean that up? I have a first aid kit in my bathroom." She sighed in annoyance, getting up from the stool, "fine."

"You could do that without attitude," Marina mumbled.

When she returned- a little bandage on her cheek, dinner was finally done. "Can you try it on camera?" Marina requested, but she knew that was a bit of a stretch. "No." It was worth a shot.

Y/n set her hands on waist to get around her and opened up the fridge to grab a water she put in there earlier. She sat down and Marina set a bowl in front of her with chicken and shrimp pasta in it. She unfortunately wasn't allowed to be rude, otherwise she would've criticized it already. When she tried it, it wasn't a bad as it looked, maybe a little dry. It was okay for a beginner.

"Why did your crazy girlfriend think you were cheating on her with me?" She'd been wondering the whole time and finally just asked 'cause she really needed an answer.

"Ex girlfriend." She corrected, taking a sip of her soda, "and she found a blonde hair on my pillow so she looked through my texts and seen the one you sent me where you said you stayed the night. Didn't take her long to put the pieces together. Why do you care anyways? You seemed so happy to finally get away from me this morning."

"Why do you care that I left?" Marina retorts.

She licked her lips, shaking her head, "I don't."

"Okay then. That settles it. We both don't care."

"Fine."

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

A few days later, practices were going...relatively well. They hadn't argued, or really even talked, hardly acknowledged each other honestly. It felt...awkward though. There was a shit ton of tension. Sab and Tash occasionally caught them sparing some interestingly long glances at each other during practices or workouts.

They couldn't really complain since y/n and Marina were no longer so aggressive towards each other. At least, that was until they finally changed the rotation and put them on opposite teams. That's when it got messy. One minute Marina was guarding y/n and the next minute she was on the ground clutching her calf after y/n had accidently fouled her. She didn't think it was an accident though.

She immediately kneeled down to help her but Marina just pushed her away, "get away from me!"

Y/n scoffed, storming off the court in frustration. She got into the locker room and grabbed her stuff. She got an Uber and waited outside for it to arrive so she could go home. Sab ran outside, grabbing her hand to turn her around. "You can't just go whenever you feel like it, y/n!"

"Why not? After that- everyone is gonna think I did it on purpose and call me unsafe to work with. You're the only one who actually wants me here. I don't belong here, Sab. I should've just went overseas." She pulled her hand out of Sab's and turned, walking down to her Uber and climbing inside, not sparing her best friend a look 'cause she knew there'd be tears.

As soon as she got back to her apartment, she began to pack her things up and scheduled a flight back to Minnesota two days from now. She planned to let Breanna and Napheesa know about it tomorrow morning. Hopefully they'd just let her leave and not attempt to stop her.

It was midnight when she got a knock on her door, followed by a key turning and unlocking it. Sabrina made her way in, kicking off her shoes and heading to the bedroom. She pulled off her jacket and climbed into the bed, wrapping an arm over y/n's body. She knew it was Sab 'cause she only knocked once. She also just didn't want to get out of bed when she was already so comfy.

She turned around, resting her head against the pillow to provide her attention. "If you really want to go, I respect your decision. But please give it one more try. For me? Please?" She wanted to say no, argue that this was for the best. But she couldn't. A single tear fell from her eye and that was enough to curve her choice.

"Only for you."

Sab smiled, bringing her into a hug, "thank you."

"Can I go back to sleep now? You pulled me from a really good dream."

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

It was morning when there was a loud knock on her door. She groaned, burying her head into the pillows. Sabrina was already awake making them breakfast so she quickly answered the door before y/n got frustrated. It was Marina. "Oh, hi!" She smiled, bringing her into a hug. "Come in. I'm just making breakfast. Y/n is still sleeping...she's not a morning person."

"That's obvious," Marina mused, stepping inside and closing the door after her.

Y/n walked out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes tiredly and letting out a loud yawn. "I'm not gon' miss wakin' up early, that's for sure," she muttered, still set on the fact that she was leaving. Would she give it another try? Yes. But she wasn't so sure it would change her mind. Sab walked over and quickly tied up y/n's robe, mumbling, "you have a guest."

Her eyes found Marina's and she raised a brow, "what do you want?"

Sab smacked her shoulder, "be nice."

"I came here to apologize," Marina began, but y/n was quick with her response, "for what? You're right. It was my fault." Marina rolled her eyes, "you're so frustrating. Tash showed me the video. You didn't do it on purpose. Don't try to backtrack now 'cause you want everyone to hate you."

"I don't want everyone to hate me. I want you to hate me."

"Why?"

"'Cause I like it. I like that everything about me pisses you off."

Sab frowned in confusion, wondering where this was going and if she had to leave the room...or apartment. "Should I go...?"

"See, this is what pisses me off. It's your ego. You're so caught up in yourself that you don't see other people. I've tried to make amends with you- a few days ago I would probably laugh if someone told me I had actually apologized to you, but you don't even care that I'm trying. All you do is shut people out. That's why you only have one friend. Your own teammates don't even know any details about your life."

Was she right? Yes. But that didn't mean y/n liked anything she had to say. "Get out of my apartment, Mabrey."

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled, "gladly."

Sab couldn't help but sigh when the door slammed shut. "...I know you don't wanna hear this from me, but you know she's right."

"We're not having this conversation."

"Fine." Sab sighed, plating them some breakfast and joining her at the dining table.

"I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at Marina," she spoke after a few seconds of silence.

Y/n took a bite of her food, not meeting her friend's eyes, "what do you mean by that?"

"I may not swing that way, but I know when my best friend likes a girl way more than a friend." She didn't get a response, just an annoyed hum. "It's okay to have feelings for her, y/n. You deserve to be happy. It's so obvious she makes you happy. She's bubbly, and-" y/n groaned, cutting her off from listing multiple reasons about Marina being perfect, "give it up, Sab. A girl like that would never stick around long enough to actually love me how you think I deserve."

"Do you genuinely believe you're unlovable? That's so far from it. I love you! My family loves you! Marina spent a few days with you and she's already smitten. If she didn't care about you she wouldn't have said all that she did. She cares. You just need to let her." Sab snatched her plate, causing her to look up with a glare, "give me my food back, Sab."

"Not until you agree to talk to her."

"No."

"Fine, then you'll go to practice starving." Sabrina smiled, getting up but y/n quickly stopped her, "wait! I'll talk to her. Can I get my food back?" The blonde raised a brow and she sighed, "I promise." Sab grinned, setting the plate back in front of her. "Yay. See how easy that was? Now all you gotta do is confess your feelings and win your girl back."

"Like that's ever been easy, Sabrina."

»»

Y/n followed Sab to the locker room, her bag pulled over her shoulder as she dreaded what was to come. She felt relieved when Marina wasn't in there, but that didn't mean she could avoid it. She got changed and they joined everyone at practice. It was very awkward seeing Marina again, but otherwise practice was okay.

After practice, to avoid a scolding from Sab, she went to the gym to get a workout in. It also gave her the chance to think of what to say to Marina. She was really clueless when it came to this stuff. Her Lynx teammate Courtney sat down at the bench beside hers and she decided to just ask her for some advice. "Um- I need some relationship advice, and I know you've got a girlfriend so you seem like the best person to ask.."

"You need relationship advice? For real?" Courtney set down her weights and turned to her with a grin, a bit surprised y/n was even talking to her about something other than sports. "I never really had a girlfriend...who's not insane," y/n mumbled the last part and Court chuckled at the mention of Sasha.

She raised a curious brow, "do I get to know who this special lady is?"

Y/n sighed, she knew she had to trust people more, so this was a good opportunity to start. Courtney's never done anything to make her not trust her. She glanced around, making sure nobody was close enough to hear. "It's...it's Marina."

Court's jaw practically fell wide open in shock, "no way."

"I'm just as surprised as you, trust me."

"A'ight, I'ma need a pen and paper. You confessin' yo love right?"

"I thought I was supposed to be speakin' from the heart?"

"You are. Your heart is just special, okay? It needs a lil' bit of help. Ain't nothin' wrong with that."

»»

When she came back home, she got showered, freshened up and changed into a simple pair of sweats, sneakers, and sports bra 'cause it was too hot to be wearing anymore than that. At least it was for her, she got hot way too fast. She'd been trying to memorize everything her and Courtney put together on paper, and so far she had done pretty good at reciting it all..in the shower.

It took her a full thirty minutes to work up the courage to finally step out of the apartment and go to Marina's place. It took her another five to actually knock on the door. Marina opened the door and her smile immediately dropped, "what do you want?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Marina sighed, pulling open the door wider to let her in. She shut the door and the first thing she noticed was how nervous y/n was. Her hands were shaking a bit and she tried to hide it by tucking them in her pockets. She didn't know if that was her fault but it made her feel a little guilty. Maybe she had went a little too far with her words this morning.

"I want to apologize for kicking you out of my place when all you did was tell me what I needed to hear. 'Cause you're right. I do shut people out. But, I don't want to do that anymore." She took her eyes off the floor, remembering that Court told her eye contact was important. "Especially not with you. You're the first one besides Sabrina who actually put in effort to know me despite how stubborn and rude I've been."

Marina's eyes softened the more she took in her words, how delicate her voice got when she spoke to her. It wasn't rough or stoic like before. It was filled with real emotion that the blonde used to believe she didn't have. Y/n took a breath, pulling her hands out to intertwine them, "I get it if you want nothing to do with me- I've given you no reason to like me. If you don't want me here, I will leave and go back to Minnesota and never bother you again."

"I don't want that," she declared almost immediately, barely able to process the thoughts before they spilled out. Her eyes softened into a fond gaze, "I don't want you to go."

"Are you sure?"

Marina nodded immediately, very sure of herself. "I know we've had our fair share of problems, and we don't really get along, but that doesn't mean I wanted to get rid of you. If you were to leave, I'd hope it'd be on your own terms. I don't want to be the reason you're unhappy here. I'll be sad, but if leaving makes you happy then I'm fine with it."

Y/n raised a brow, "you'll be sad?" She found it a little hard to believe. Maybe it was the denial etched into her. She didn't believe anyone could miss her. She'd always felt that way. Marina nodded- and pursed her lips, trying to tone down her fondness, "yeah..I mean- not like that sad, but decently sad. I won't miss you throwing the ball at my head on purpose but I'll miss some other things."

Y/n hummed with the subtle furrowing of her brows as the corner of her lip nudged upward, "is that so? What exactly will you miss about me, Mabrey?"

Marina tensed up as y/n took a daunting step forward and suddenly her hands grew unsteady, the butterflies in her stomach not helping her state at all. She didn't know how to be soft or nice to y/n yet, so she turned it into frustration- even if it meant that frustration was sexual. "You're trying to seduce me with that cocky sultry voice you have and it's not gonna work 'cause I'm not one of your little girlfriend's. I have standards and you don't meet them."

And suddenly the words she and Courtney worked so hard on disappeared from her train of thoughts. She stepped closer to the blonde, backing her into the wall, not once leaving her eyes. "How do I meet them?"

"W-What?" Marina stammered, trying not to think of how close their bodies were. One more step and there'd be no room between them.

"How do I meet your standards?"

"Y-You, you need to tell me things about yourself- like any normal couple would. You have to consider my feelings. You have to be open minded. You have to trust me. You have to meet my family- my sister first. You have to try my cooking and tell me you love it even if it's the worst thing you've ever put in your mouth. You have to be able to have fun with me. And most importantly, you can't break my heart."

"Is that all?"

"There's a little bit more but we don't have to get into that right now," Marina mumbled nervously. Her breath almost disappeared when y/n took another step, closing in the space that was once between them. "Believe it or not, I had rehearsed an entire page of words I would say to you that would sum up all my feelings for you. But, the more I look at you and listen to you, all my brain can come up with is how much I want to kiss you."

"You want to kiss me?" Her cheeks flushed red, her pupils dilating as she peered back into her eyes.

"I do." She reached for Marina slowly with a small measure of uncertainty in the back of her mind. Her hands reached up to gently cup her jaw, suddenly not so hesitant. "I'm sorry. I'm an impatient person." Marina rushed out, and leaned in- pressing their lips together with undertones of desperation. Her lips are smooth, the kiss was slow but careful, still clearly becoming familiar with the feel of each other's mouth.

Y/n hands find her waist, her hand still on her cheek and the other sliding around her neck, the kiss growing hungrier. Marina suddenly pushed her away, catching her breath, she was speechless as she found her gaze again. "This is wrong. We're supposed to hate each. You have to hate me. I have to hate you. It's how it's always been. This isn't gonna last. You're gonna realize that I'm too frustrating and you'll break up with me."

"You're frustratin' me right now. That doesn't make me wanna kiss you any less, Marina." Y/n argued, and the blonde froze, her eyes softening again with a delicate fondness. "You called me by my name."

She did not realize that. No wonder it felt odd coming out. "I did....that was an accident."

"You like me. You really like me." Marina smiled, nudging her arm teasingly, smiling even wider when she peeped her eyes rolling in annoyance. "Does your mood always switch every five seconds or are you just trying to annoy me?" She scoffed, smacking her arm, "that's not nice! See what I mean? Being nice to me is literally impossible for you."

"I can be nice to you." Y/n scoffed, and Marina raised a daring brow, "oh yeah? Prove it. Give me a compliment and maybe I'll let you kiss me again."

"Okay- I think you're hotter than Kelsey and you pull the bun off way better," she answered.

Marina glared, shoving her away, "you're such a liar!"

Y/n chuckled, grabbing her hands to stop her from hitting, "okay, okay, that was mean, I'm sorry." She pulled her back in, leaning in closer, "I like how you always tried to keep me from falling despite how much we disliked each other. You could've pulled me down or shoved me but you never did. You always protected me from injury and it made me feel like in another life, we could've been really good friends instead of enemies."

Marina tried to remain calm but internally she was freaking out. It didn't help that anytime y/n said something- her face got as red as a cherry tomato. "What if I don't wanna be your friend or your enemy?"

"Then what do you want to be?"

Marina smiled smugly, knowing she had y/n in the palm of her hand. "Your girlfriend."

"I have no objections to that." Y/n answered, and Marina smiled in satisfaction, leaning back in to envelope their lips. She pushed her back to the couch, as soon as the back of y/n's knees  hit the furniture, she sat back and Marina climbed onto her lap. She pressed a kiss to her cheek before moving down to her jaw, peppering kisses there. "Take your shoes off. You're staying the night."

She didn't object to that either.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

Y/n and Marina decided to keep their newfound relationship a secret, at least for a little bit to enjoy it for themselves without everyone else's commentary. The only person who knew was Courtney and she didn't say a word about it cause it wasn't her place. "Wait- drop me off right here, I'll walk the rest," y/n said as they stopped at the side of the building.

"Don't you think this is a bit dramatic?" Marina complained, parking near the side walk. "No. I told Sab I was takin' an Uber. If she found out I lied to her, she'll kill me. She hates lies, even small ones. I'll see you inside, baby." She pressed a peck to her lips before grabbing her bag and hopping out.

In the locker room, her teammates were very happy to see that y/n had decided to stay in Miami. "You comin'?" Tash asked, the rest of the team headed out of the locker room for practice, leaving y/n and Marina left as they were still getting ready. "I'll catch up," Marina explained. Tash was a little uncertain about leaving them together in fear a fight would break out, but she also didn't wanna wait to find out.

Once the door shut, the two glanced up, their eyes immediately finding each other's. "You've been tying that shoe for five minutes," Marina deadpanned, a little flattered that she was stalling just to get a moment alone with her. "I know, it's one of my best skills," y/n shrugged, getting up and walking over.

Marina scoffed, not impressed. "You call everything you do a skill."

"You're so mean to me." Y/n smiled, biting her lip, she reached for her girlfriend's waist to bring her closer. "Givin' me a little compliment wouldn't kill you, ya know?"

"You just want me to stroke your ego," Marina smiled sarcastically, running her hand over her hair that was slicked back into a bun. "Like you don't want me to do the same," she shot back, leaning in to connect their lips.

They soon joined the rest for practice. Marina was mostly taking it easy until her injury healed up some more. They were supposed to guard each other again today and y/n was told by coach to take it easy on Marina so she wouldn't get hurt any further. Their teammates half expected Marina to be upset with the pairing but she didn't seem bothered by it.

That was until Marina got annoyed with y/n, feeling like she was going too hard. "Are you trying to injure me again? Don't you know what go easy means?" She argued, and y/n tried to take her serious- but it was a challenge. "I am going easy. Just admit you're not ready for the court yet."

Tash winced, knowing this was gonna turn into an argument. "How much y'all wanna bet they throw hands this time?"

"No, you just don't know how to play defense without being rough. I bet if I was Sabrina you wouldn't be pushing on me so aggressively." Marina argued back, pushing y/n back in frustration. "This is ridiculous. You're overreacting," y/n dismissed, scoffing lightly and her girlfriend just glared angrily. "I am not overreacting! You're pushing against my leg and it hurts! I have the right to complain."

Y/n sighed, feeling guilt that her girlfriend was in pain because of her. She took her hands to pull her closer, her teammates all raising a brow at her movements. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, baby." Marina mumbled a soft thank you as y/n pressed a kiss to her forehead. The blonde smiled to herself, wrapping her arms around her torso.

Tash pursed her lips, sharing a look with a very impressed BG. "You know what? I was not expecting that."

"Get a room," Sab teased, not at all surprised to see that. She was very relieved that they worked it out.

"Fuck off." Y/n flipped her off as her girlfriend pressed a peck to her lips and pushed her away. "I'm still upset with you so no more kissing me," Marina said, walking back over to the chairs to sit down. "I said sorry," y/n frowned, holding her hands up in surrender.

"Someone play Sorry by Beyoncé," Sabrina said, an amused smirk on her face.

"Mind your business!" She scolded, pointing a finger at the blonde.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《