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plot: reader leaves chicago sky mid-season after breakup with her girlfriend, joining the indiana fever for the rest of the remaining 2024 season

trope: exes to lovers again

pairings: wbb poc oc! x marina mabrey

a/n: can't get her out of my mind 🙂‍↕️

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Y/n was a very quiet and reserved person, at least it's how she appeared to everyone in the locker room. Everyone except Caitlin Clark. When she first came to the Fever after requesting a trade from her former team the Chicago Sky, she was coming off a bad breakup with her now ex-girlfriend/teammate Marina Mabrey. She didn't speak to anyone unless she was required to. She just kept to herself. Caitlin didn't like that. She liked to know who her teammates were outside of work. So, in just one week, she got y/n to finally open up to her.

Caitlin would say their best friends. Y/n wouldn't say that. She wouldn't say anything. In fact she probably didn't even hear the question.

During practice, she had seemed completely off, and Caitlin was the first one to notice it. Their playoff game was coming up soon and it would be in Connecticut...against her ex-girlfriend's team, the Connecticut Sun. She wanted so badly to get over her, but she couldn't. She thought about Marina every second of every day. It was fucking her up in practice and the last thing she needed was for it to effect the way she played in the playoffs.

She and Caitlin lived in the same apartment complex downtown, so they typically carpooled- all Caitlin's idea. The ride back was quiet, the sounds in the car was the music playing, probably a Taylor Swift song, she didn't know, she wasn't paying much attention. Caitlin only broke it when she turned the corner, "you wanna get some food? My treat."

"Sure." She mumbled quietly, remembering when she and Marina always got food together after practice. She missed it.

They picked up some food and brought it back to her apartment. Caitlin set the food on the counter and set her keys down. "I'ma go change real quick. You can pick the movie," y/n said, before venturing off into her bedroom...her awfully lonely bedroom. It was far too clean, and far too organized. She missed seeing Marina's clothes thrown everyone, and smelling her perfume on the pillows. Now the atmosphere just felt void.

Caitlin carried the bag of food over to the living room and set it on the coffee table before searching for the remote to choose a movie. The goal was to cheer y/n up, so she went to the comedy category. When she returned, her favorite movie, Bad Boys II was playing on the television. Caitlin smiled proudly, "I know it's your favorite."

She chuckled lightly, hopping over the couch to lay down. "Who told you?"

Caitlin froze...she may have found out after seeing a video of Marina and y/n doing a "friendship" quiz. Yeah, she could not say that. So, lying it is. "...your mom told me."

Watching the movie, her thoughts trailed off, back to Marina. They used to watch this movie together all the time. "We used to watch this on date nights," she comments lowly, reminiscing the times.

Caitlin frowned, grabbing the remote to pause it. She turned to face her friend. "Y/n...if you're not over her, why did you break up in the first place?" That was the one thing y/n never told her. She had no idea why they broke up.

"I accused her of cheating on me."

Her eyes almost widened in shock, it seemed so out of character. "You think Marina cheated on you?"

Y/n sighed, still feeling conflicted about the whole thing. "I don't know- I mean, yeah, I think she did."

"Do you think it was with Carter? Is that why you kept getting into it with her?" Caitlin pressed, recalling their match up with the Chicago Sky and y/n and her former teammate Chennedy Carter were getting into it the entire game. And Caitlin was the only one who knew that Chennedy went to talk to her in the hall after the game and they almost got into a fight.

"Yeah. I'm not stupid- I know when someone likes my girlfriend, and she did. I told Rina 'bout it and she completely dismissed me, so that didn't help my suspicions at all. Then she wanna act like I'm the bad person for thinkin' that." She ranted, still frustrated over everything that went down. She wished she could go back and go about it a different way that would prevent her from losing the love of her life.

"You probably don't wanna hear this, but fuck her. Fuck both of them for going behind your back. Suspicions or not- if they weren't doing anything, they shouldn't have given you a reason to believe they were. You need to forget about her. Find someone new who won't betray your trust." Her advice was blunt and y/n wanted to ignore it, but something told her to listen, to take that advice and forget all about Marina.

Y/n sighed, she hadn't been with anyone else since the breakup. She always felt like it'd be cheating on her even if they weren't together. "Like who?"

Caitlin smiled sheepishly, "...I heard Kayla McBride is single."

Y/n scoffed in disbelief, "Kayla? You do know we hate each other right?"

"That's why it's so perfect."

"How about we consider some people I haven't cussed out on the court before?"

Caitlin frowned, "that's no fun, you cuss everyone out."

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It was playoffs time. The best of three, against the Connecticut Sun. If they could clinch two wins, they moved onto the semifinals. It wasn't her first playoff game. It was just her first playoffs with the Indiana Fever, an inexperienced team in the playoffs. She was the only one on the team with playoff experience. But all she could think about was Marina. She consumed her thoughts.

But the second she seen Marina, it honestly infuriated her. She looked so happy, and it was like she wasn't even a second thought. That really bothered her. She'd been miserable all this time whilst Marina was having the time of her life with her new team. She was sitting on the bench when she felt Lexie nudge her arm, pulling her from those negative thoughts. "You ready?"

"Yeah." She nodded, standing up and joining her team on the court.

"Stay focused," Caitlin said to her, patting her back as they got to their spots.

Aaliyah and Jones did the jumpball to kick off and the ball landed in the arms of Clark. Marina wasn't on the court anyways so y/n wasn't focused on her anymore. Clark passed to Kelsey who quickly threw it to y/n and she shot them their first points of the game. DeWanna shot a three immediately after that, giving them a one point advantage on the score.

About three minutes in, DiJonai had accidently hit Caitlin in the eye when she threw her hand to block. Y/n had stopped what she was doing to run over to her, not caring that the game was still going on, her teammates well beings always came first to her. There was no whistle either so y/n was pretty pissed about that. She kneeled down beside her, setting a hand on her knee, prepared to help her up whenever she was ready.

To a minute to gather herself before taking y/n's hand, and letting her pull her up from the floor. She grabbed a towel and handed it to Caitlin. She'd been hit in the eye before so she knew the pain of it. Contact happens on the court all the time. You just had to gather yourself and move on.

About four minutes in, Ty Harris got injured jumping to block Lexie's three. Y/n was concerned for the Sun player as they were actually friends off the court. "Get some medical staff over here!" She called, kneeling by her side in concern, seeing her clutching her knee. Staff quickly came over to check on the hurt player. She patted her shoulder before getting up to get out of their way and return to her team.

As they were helping Ty out, her eyes landed on Marina. Great. Now she was joining the court for majority of the game. DiJonai subtly nudged her friend who planned to go off in this game- not just for her team, but to show up her ex girlfriend...who she may have quietly been hung up on. "Don't pay her any mind."

They didn't play the same position as Marina was a guard and y/n was a forward-guard, being on the taller side. She only moved to guard position when coach wanted her to start laying threes. She was very good at the 3-pt line, as good as Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark, only her coaches mostly used her for the front court. So, she wasn't too worried about constantly facing her..unless coach decided it was necessary.

She stepped back onto the court and watched as Lexie shot a free throw. Six minutes into the 1st, the whistle blew when Caitlin fouled Marina. It was slightly annoying but she brushed it off as they regrouped. She shot two successful free throws, glanced over at y/n and smirked.

With a few seconds left in the first, y/n nailed in her first three of the game to bring the score up. Half the arena was filled with Fever fans so she got a lot of cheers for that. Alyssa added two more points for her team before the 1st quarter wrapped up. The score was 20 - 23, Sun with the higher score.

They came back out for the 2nd QTR and immediately when it started, Erica passed the ball back to her and she knocked in another 3 when Marina ran up to block her. She was a cocky player by any say, but when it came to the playoffs, she could get a little arrogant. Which is why it wasn't surprising when she blew a little kiss to the blonde.

2 minutes in, she was fouled by AT, rewarding her two free throws. She was pretty solid at the FT line, so it wasn't anything surprising when she laid them both in, bringing the score to a tie. 5 minutes in, after having trouble with the clock, Lexie had the ball and threw it to Y/n who got free from DeWanna and shot the ball for a 2. That brought their score to 30.

Halftime soon came, y/n had roughly 14 points, the most added up in her team. It was nice to finally get some rest, as she had yet to sit the bench since the game started. She was fine with playing for long periods of time, having some pretty high stamina, and if it helped her teammates get a break while she held it down that was fine by her.

That didn't stop her from plopping down on the floor by her locker. "I need the longest nap known to man."

"Your girlfriend is so frustrating," Caitlin expressed in exasperation.

"Tell me about it. She shoves me anytime we're within a foot from each other," y/n remarked, rubbing her shoulder, sore for the amount of times Marina's knocked into it on purpose.

They returned to the court for the 3rd QTR. Coach put NaLyssa in so y/n could get a break. She called a timeout after four minutes, when they came back, coach subbed her back in. Caitlin kicked it off by shooting her first successful 3 of the night. Marina answered right back with a 3 of her own. Fever gained the ball back, y/n was passed the ball by Lexie and Marina came at her, able to knock the ball from her grasp. She came up with the steal, ran and stopped before the three point line, quickly planting her feet and shooting the ball.

Y/n groaned from where she fell on the floor, frustrated with herself. "Fuck." She got to her feet, shifting her gaze to Marina who celebrated up close. It didn't help that they were down by 12. This wasn't the first time this has happened to her. Anytime Marina played defense on her, she started playing like Charles Barkley when those little aliens stole his talent. Another reason she warned her teammates to keep Marina away from her.

Almost 8 minutes in- a couple plays later, Marina shot in yet another successful 3. A minute after that, Caitlin shot the Fever a second 3 to put the score at 53, but they were still down 12. After some foul trouble between Caitlin and DiJonai again, about a minute and a quarter left, Marina was running in for a layup which made y/n immediately run up and block it as best she could. It was proven successful when Kelsey gained it and shot them a much needed 3.

When Aliyah was fouled, y/n took the time to go over to her coach who beckoned her over. She had subbed out Erica and put in Dantas. "Play guard for the rest of this quarter." She had no problem with the request, as they literally had about 25 seconds left. She could handle being in Marina's face for 20 seconds so it was fine.

Aliyah shot a free throw, missed, caught the rebound to try again and when it was unsuccessful, they knocked it out of bounds as Marina ran for it. Y/n walked over and took the ball into her hands. Marina smiled to herself before knocking it out of her hands, something she always used to do when they practiced together. That's how she knew it was playful.

"You're such a brat. Did you enjoy that?" She asked after handing the ball back to the ref, setting a hand on her ex's waist as she was supposed to be guarding her. Marina smiled widely, nodding in satisfaction, "I always do. You never see it coming," she chuckled, pushing herself closer to her.

Marina got the ball, running back down the court with y/n on her ass, giving her no open shot. She passed to AT who threw it up for the layup, only to miss. Kelsey recovered it and ran back down the court with seconds left, shooting a three but missing by a lot. Marina patted y/n's lower back as she passed her on the court.

They returned for the 4th, and roughly 3 minutes in, Marina shot another three. The score was now 60-75, down 15 points. Literally not 40 seconds later, Marina made yet another 3. Seconds later..she knocked in a 2 right over y/n's hand, and caught the foul call. She shot in her free throw successfully, bringing their score up to 80. Seeing that was enough for y/n to accept they weren't winning this game. When her girlfriend went on a shooting streak, it was over for you.

7 minutes in, y/n shot in a two, not that it changed their outcome much. They had far too many turnovers and unsuccessful shots. This was the lowest she'd ever scored in a playoff game. She typically averaged around 26 points, and currently her number was almost half of that, at 16 points. She did have a decent amount of assists and rebounds though, at least that's what she counted- she wasn't the best at math.

After the game finished, with them obviously taking the loss. She drove back to her hotel, ordered some food and got in the shower. She laid on the couch in her hotel room and put a movie on, ending up with Tyler Perry's 'I Can Do Bad All by Myself. Her mind kept drifting off to the game, how badly they played, the little moments she shared with Marina. But they probably meant nothing.

She almost fell asleep watching the movie, that was until she got a knock on her door. Only three of her teammates knew her room number so she expected it to be one of them. She switched off the tv and got up, walking over to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open, expecting a teammate. And it was one. But it was more of a former teammate rather than her current one. Marina was at her door.

Her fingers tapped rhythmically against her leg as she tried to keep eye contact. "Uhm...NaLyssa gave me your room number. I wanted to talk if that's okay with you. Can I come in?"

She was too focused on how pretty her eyes were- barely able to focus on the words that spilled from her mouth. She nodded slowly, "y-yeah, course you can." She pulled the door open wider and Marina smiled softly, stepping inside and kicking off her shoes, pushing them against the wall.

Her gentle eyes took a glimpse around the room, it was very clean and kept up, other than the plates of half eaten food on the coffee table from room service. Y/n shut the door and walked over to her, prepared to listen to her speak. "What'd you wanna talk about?"

"I wanna talk about what happened between me and Chenn."

Her eyes fell to the floor, and Marina instinctively went to grab her hands, a habit she did whenever she was upset. "She kissed me and I pulled away. That's it. That night we broke up I only got defensive with you because I was hurt that you didn't trust me." She pulled her closer, wishing she'd look away from the floor to meet her eyes. "Can you look at me, y/n?"

She met her eyes, they were slightly red due to some tears that fell. She didn't know how to feel. A part of her felt guilty for jumping to such conclusions and the other part just wanted to kiss her and forget about the world. Marina let go of her hands to reach up and cup her face, "I miss you, I'm sorry."

She sucked in a breath, taking her hand to press a kiss to her palm. "I'm sorry, too."

Marina smiled, her features softened with fondness, all rational thought retreating as her eyes peered into y/n's. She leaned in, sliding her arms around her neck before finally connecting their lips. Y/n instantly wrapped her arms around her waist to pull her closer, pressing their bodies together. It went on until they needed to pull away for air. She pressed a peck to her lips, "I'm sorry you lost today."

Y/n chuckled lightly with a small shake of her head, "no, you aren't."

Marina slid her hands around her waist with a small smirk resting upon her lips. "Get your stuff. You're staying at my place."

"You sure?"

She smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'm very sure, baby."

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