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plot: breanna signs to liberty, putting her on the same team with the woman she's hated since college

trope: friends to rivals to lovers??

pairings: rival reader x stewie

warnings: small mentions of child abuse:(

a/n: she been lookin' too fine since winning that championship y'all 😩

- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! (to all those who celebrate) 🫶

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"What do you think about Breanna joining the team?"

She rolled her eyes at the mention of the woman who she knew all the way back in college from playing against her..and literally always losing against her. They even got drafted in the same year but she came in n.2 and Stewart n.1. It was certainly something she never forgot, and how could she when Breanna brought it up every time they played against each other in the W. She was transferred to Liberty in 2021 from her first team Phoenix Mercury, because she couldn't play well with Taurasi. Breanna rubbed that in for two years, and now it just felt like she was fucking with her even more by signing with Liberty.

"No comment." She muttered, dropping her bag into her locker.

"What even happened between you two? I heard you used to be best friends in high school." Sabrina pushed, not much of a meddler but her coach was pressuring her to find out what she could so they could get the two to get along. But it seemed impossible. Y/N was a very closed off person. She didn't open up about anything.

"Why do you care so much? You're all acting like I can't work with people I dislike. I didn't get along with Diana and we still made it work for five years. This is the same thing, so please just drop it, okay?" She grabbed her towel and walked out, not giving the blonde any time to get a word in.

Sabrina huffed in annoyance, looking to JJ who was just sipping on her smoothie in the corner. "This is literally going to be a nightmare, JJ." She shrugged slightly, "maybe we could put them in a get along t-shirt?" She suggested. Sabrina chuckled softly, nodding her head, "I could see that happening. She'd probably kill us though."

Y/n walked into the gym, and Betnijah greeted her with a smile, throwing the basketball over to her. "Good morning, my grumpy sunshine," she said teasingly. "You can't be grumpy and a sunshine. It doesn't add up," she retorts throwing the ball into the hoop when she came closer. "Yes, you can. Cause sometimes you're grumpy and other times you're a ball of sunshine," Betnijah stated, leaving no room for argument.

"When has she ever been a ball of sunshine?"

Y/n practically threw her head back with a groan, turning on her heel to see Breanna standing there with coach. "Ironic, given you're the reason I haven't been happy since college," she remarked. Breanna just smiled smugly, glancing over her shoulder upon hearing more of the team enter the court for practice. Coach introduced her to everyone and the team welcomed her with open arms.

"Don't look at me. I'm not hugging you," she muttered, turning back around to get back on the court.

"Don't worry, she'll come around," Sabrina reassured, patting her shoulder sympathetically. "Oh, I know she will," Breanna replied with a smug smirk. Sab didn't really understand so she just smiled and nodded. "Well, if you need anything, let me know. I'm always here to help."

"I do, actually. Could you show me where my locker is?" She requested, still getting familiar with the new surroundings. "Of course. Follow me," Sab smiled, leading her out.

Practice was...interesting. Y/n and Stewie could not stop butting heads the entire time. They kept arguing and just playing like crap overall. It was entertaining in the beginning but now the girls were just growing tired of it. Sabrina had never seen two people hate each other more than they did, and it said a lot. She knew getting them to work together was going to be a lot harder than she predicted. They really hated each other. Maybe the get along t-shirt wasn't such a bad idea.

The next practice was...something. They didn't even acknowledge each other unless it was on the court. Not even in the locker room could they meet eyes. Coach was really growing sick of it, so the women knew they had to do something about it or they were going to lose a lot of games if they kept playing like this. JJ kept pitching the get along t-shirt, but they objected because coach said not to do anything that will make them throw hands.

So, Sabrina planned a girls night at her house, and the whole team had to show up, so Y/n was given no choice. "This is gonna be fun, I promise," Betnijah assured, ringing the doorbell. They drove there together because they lived next to each other and it saved them some gas money and it was just better for the environment, obviously. "If you say so," she mumbled with the least amount of excitement.

Sabrina pulled open the door with the most contagious smile ever, immediately bringing them into a hug. "I'm so glad you made it! Come in!" She pulled open the door wider for them and they walked in. She kicked off her shoes before glancing around the familiar home. Sab and her husband invited her to dinner a lot because they never liked that she was always alone, so that's how Y/n was familiar with the home. She spent a lot of nights sleeping in Sab's guest room because of this.

"Everyone is in the living room. We're trying to pick a movie to watch. There's pizza, popcorn, and all the candy you could ask for. I ordered you some Chinese food too, so that will be here very soon just for you," Sabrina rambled excitedly, pulling y/n into the living room. "Thanks, Sab," Y/n smiled warmly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Of course. Let me know if you need anything."

She greeted her teammates, moving around to get to her favorite spot on the couch until she realized Breanna was already laying there. Perfect. "You're in my spot."

"Sit somewhere else," she shrugged nonchalantly, throwing some popcorn in her mouth.

"Or maybe you could just move cause that's my spot," she sneered, pushing her feet off. "Fine, you really wanna sit here?" Breanna grabbed onto her waist and pushed her down next to her so they squeezed into that one spot. "There. Better now?" She asked sarcastically. "I hate you," she huffed, crossing her arms together but still staying in that spot because she was stubborn and just assumed Breanna would get annoyed and move anyways.

"We are not watching Spider-Man again," Betnijah snatched the remote from JJ's hand with a scowl. "We should let Breanna choose this time," Sabrina pitched, taking the remote to give it to their new teammate. She ended up choosing Harry Potter, a movie she and y/n were both huge fans of. They loved the franchise with their entire hearts so there was no shock when she picked that movie.

"Stop touching me," she whispered, pushing Bre's arm away. "I'm not even touching you," she scoffed. "Well you're invading my space," she scowled, trying to scoot away but it was no use because she was trapped between her and the couch cushion. "That's your fault for being a stubborn ass," she retorts, adjusting the blanket so it covered both of them. She was not about to get complaints about hogging it.

"You shouldn't have sat in my spot then," she shot back defensively, not noticing the sound of the doorbell. Breanna rolled her eyes, finding this whole thing incredibly ridiculous. "You can't just claim a spot and expect everyone to move for you. Believe it or not, but you're not everyone's first priority." She just stared at her with hurt in her eyes, those words meaning a lot more- it wasn't even about the spot at that point. "Trust me, I know." 

She quickly climbed over her to get up, heading over to the door because she noticed Sabrina had gotten up to get the food. She found her in the kitchen, setting the food onto the counter. "By the way, you might have to share your room with one of the girls," Sab said, beginning to take out the containers to make sure it was all there.

"That's fine. I grew up in a big family. I'm used to sharing," she shrugged, taking an egg roll from the bag.

"Now that you mention it- and you don't have to answer...but I wanted to ask, where is your family? You don't really talk about them." Sabrina said, hoping she could finally get her to actually open up about something other than basketball or her love life- which wasn't much either.

"Uh, my mom and dad are dead, and most of my siblings are scattered throughout the states. I think one of my sisters is in Puerto Rico with her boyfriend. I'm not really close with any of them. The younger ones stopped talking to me after they got adopted. The only time we talk is when they're asking for money." She explained, shrugging her shoulder carelessly, "the whole family kinda split after my parents died and I don't really see any point in talking to them."

Sabrina's face fell with sympathy, "I'm really sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. My dad beat me with wire hangers so I think it was for the best," she pursed her lips, internally shrugging as she reached for the fried rice. Sab just blinked in shock, "your mom didn't help you?"

"No, cause after he beat me, he was nice to her so I was sorta used as the punching bag and she was okay with that. That's why I always stayed at Bre-" she cut herself off quickly, really annoyed with herself for going that far. "Breanna's, you mean? You don't have to talk about it- I just, I want you to have someone you're able to talk to, you know? You can trust me."

A smile found it's way to her, finding it really sweet that Sab cared about her so much. "We went to the same school and became friends through basketball. She was my escape from everything. She promised that she'd never leave my side...and when she did, I hated her for it. I'll never forget the day she told me she wasn't going to South Carolina with me."

"So, you stopped being friends because you both went to different colleges?" Sabrina questioned, not really understanding how that could happen without them eventually making up. There's no way you just stop being best friends like that and not at least clear the air once. "It's not just that. It's the fact that she broke her promise," she explained.

"Okay, I'm not like defending her or taking sides, I promise. But...don't you think holding a grudge against her for a promise she made when you were kids is a bit much? I mean- did you even let her explain why she chose UConn?" Y/n hummed, pondering her friend's words -that she didn't necessarily agree with- but also understood what she was getting at. "I see your point, but I don't think a little explanation would change anything. It was still a betrayal."

"I think, maybe you're letting your trauma cloud your judgement." Sabrina suggested, obviously with the purest intentions. "She was your person of comfort, so naturally you would sort of fall in love with a person like that. Not saying that you're in love with her or anything- I just mean, it's normal to feel betrayal when they're someone you see as a shield from all the abuse. I hope I'm wording this right, cause the last thing I'd want is to offend you-"

"It's okay," she reached over to take Sab's hand to bring her some assurance. "I understand what you're trying to say. I'm not offended by it. Honestly, you could be right. I'll definitely give it some thought, but otherwise, I'ma take this food and go enjoy some Harry Potter." Sab chuckled softly, passing her some chopsticks, "don't eat too much or you'll upset your stomach like last time."

"Okay- we do not need to bring that up every time I'm in the presence of Chinese food. I told you- those egg rolls were very dodgy." She defended, picking up the tray as Sab just laughed at her defensiveness, "then why did you still eat them?"

"I plead the fifth." She scoffed, making her exit and returning back to the living room.

She noticed Breanna had moved the cushion away and pushed herself more against the frame to leave room for her so she wasn't as trapped. It was thoughtful...but was she gonna thank her? Absolutely not. She sat down, setting her tray down on her lap and smacking away Courtney's hand when she tried to grab an egg roll. "Get your own. I didn't forget when you took my last lunchable from the fridge."

"I almost forgot how obsessed you were with lunchables." Bre comments with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Funny 'cause I wasn't talking to you," Y/n mumbled, making Bre roll her eyes. "Can I at least get an egg roll? I highly doubt you need ten of them."

"That's so cute. Absolutely not."

» »

"Oh, fuck no." Breanna and Y/n exclaimed simultaneously, turning to Sabrina in disbelief.

"She is not sleeping in here, Sab. Literally anybody but her. I would rather get kicked by JJ a million times than sleep next to her," y/n expressed, throwing her pillow at Stewie. "And you think I want to share with you? You kick, you talk in your sleep like a psychopath, and you snore!" She argued back, picking up the pillow to throw it back at her.

"I do not snore!"

"Oh yeah? Why do you have a nose strip on? I know damn well it's not for those pores," Breanna sassed, crossing her hands over her chest.

Y/n turned to the blonde just standing by the door awkwardly as if she was their mother. "Sabrina! Do you see the way she speaks to me? How could you do this?" The blonde opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out so instead, she had to resort to back up. Betnijah soon entered the room, already annoyed when she seen the two glaring each other down. "Y'all are a bunch of children. This is so childish. I can't believe you woke me up for this shit. Put some pillows down and go to bed! Stop stressin' Sab out in her own house."

"I rather sleep on the floor," she muttered in disdain.

"Then you go ahead and do that, sweetheart. I don't care. Just share the room, lay some pillows down, shut your eyes, and go to sleep. Goodnight children." Betnijah gently ushered the tired Sabrina out and shut the door, giving them no choice but to share that room.

"Cruel. Just cruel people." She spoke under her breath, gathering the pillows to make a little wall and Breanna went over to help with that because she was going too slow. "Can you like- turn around? I need to change." Y/n requested as Breanna just plopped down on the bed tiredly. "Act like I haven't seen you naked but okay," she mumbled, turning on her side.

"The last time you seen me naked, I hadn't even hit puberty, practically had no boobs, and I was ugly," she scoffed, pulling her shirt off to remove her bra. Sab always kept some pajamas for her in the drawer when she would sleep over so she had those to wear. "You weren't ugly. Don't talk about yourself like that. I hated it then, and I hate it now." Breanna spoke, staring at the decor in the wall.

"Excuse me, didn't know I wasn't allowed to criticize myself," she replied sarcastically, buttoning up the pajama top. Breanna sighed in frustration, sitting up, and turning to look at her. "If that's the way you want to view yourself, fine. But I'm not gonna just sit here and listen to you criticize the same girl who always defended me when I was shamed for my looks. That girl would never speak bad about someone's looks, especially not her own because I made sure she knew how beautiful she was when everyone tore her down."

She sighed, shaking her head as she finished the last button, ignoring the tear that fell on her thumb. "You don't get to talk about that girl anymore, Breanna."

"God, you are so frustrating." Breanna stood up, moving around the bed to get closer so she couldn't just turn around and shut her out again. You never even listened to my reasoning. You just cut ties with me like I meant nothing to you- like everything we went through was nothing. You blame me for everything but it's just as much your fault as it is mine. Yes, I admit, I should have told you I applied to different colleges. But you never even stayed to hear me out. You just left. That was the betrayal."

"What was there to hear out, Breanna? You knew how much South Carolina meant to me-"

"They didn't want me! They just wanted you." She blurted out, sighing in relief now that it was finally out. But, seeing the look on her face took everything in her not to pull her into a hug and hold her like she used to when they were kids. "I didn't- I didn't tell you because I knew how much SC meant to you and I knew you would try to change your mind to follow me."

"You should've let me follow you." She smiled tightly, trying to blink away the tears. Bre shook her head, holding back the urge to take her hands, not knowing if they were there just yet and she didn't want to overstep. "No. You wouldn't have been happy there. I promised to protect you, that would've been selfish of me to take you away from your dream."

"It was selfish of me to make you promise that..." she trailed off, wiping her face but more tears just seemed to stream down.

"You didn't make me do anything. I don't regret making that promise. The only thing I regret is leaving New York without making things right between us." Breanna assured warmly, reaching for her hands and surprisingly Y/n let her take them, finding comfort in her touch. "I guess I should apologize now. I mean- this is mostly my fault, so I'm really sorry for leaving you. That was the worst thing I ever did. You didn't deserve that."

"I'm sorry too. I should've told you the truth from the beginning. You didn't deserve to be lied to." Without processing it, Y/n pulled into a much-needed hug, and obviously Bre returned it -with a sigh of relief- because she didn't how much longer she could go missing her best friend. But, there was something else she really needed to get off her chest. A secret she'd been holding onto since high school.

"There's something else I feel like I should confess." Bre mumbled, and Y/n pulled away, looking at her with slight confusion but always ready to hear her out. "What is it?" She couldn't get any words out, so she did the second best method of confession...she just kissed her. She was very caught off guard but it only took a second to kiss her back with the same amount of passion.

Pulling away for air, their eyes met again, and Bre broke out in a smile, her cheeks flushed cherry red. "Been wanting to do that since we were fifteen."

"Seventeen for me..." she confessed, rubbing the back of her with an awkward little chuckle.

Bre gasped dramatically, holding a hand over her chest with a look of betrayal. She even took a step back and fell back onto the bed. "It took you that long to realize? That's just- wow. I feel really offended right now. I bet it was that ugly boyfriend you had when we were sixteen."

Y/n laughed, nodding her head with a slight grimace, "...yeah, that was certainly a phase."

"Oh yeah, that was a dark phase. He was really ugly...and a ginger." Breanna stated unapologetically.

"Bre! That's mean!" She playfully smacked her arm, "he was a sweetheart." Bre scoffed, reaching for her waist to bring her closer, "no, he was a dumbass who was high 90 percent of the day." Y/n grimaced at the memories, her falling in embarrassment. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. He didn't even know how to spell my name right."

"Am I your first girlfriend?" Breanna asked, messing with the strings on her pajama pants. Y/n squints, "who says I'm your girlfriend?" She just shot her an annoyed look as she pulled her onto her lap. "I say it, 'cause you are. I didn't wait this long for you to not be mine. So, answer the question."

"Yes...but it's not that I didn't try-"

"That's all I needed to know. I'm satisfied."

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