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plot: unrivaled forces them to settle their differences...at least, it's attempted

trope: enemies to lovers yk how i do 😏

pairings: wbb past!uconn! biracial!reader x skylar diggins

warnings: mentions death of a parent, alcohol use, we talkin' on sight beef, get ready for some fights

a/n: y'all know i had to run to get this done when i seen smith dropped from our wifeys name 🫡 it was the only thing holding me back. now we free 🙂‍↕️ 13k words y'all

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The game was tense, filled with high pressure and high stakes. It was the fourth time they were meeting Notre Dame this year, and this time, it was in the NCAA tournament. They were on a 3-0 losing streak against the Fighting Irish. But so far, they didn't plan on making it a 4-0.

She was a guard for the UConn team, and a sophomore. You would think being so early into her college career she wouldn't have any problems with anyone. Wrong. Anyone who watched women's basketball knew how much y/n hated Skylar Diggins. They constantly got into heated arguments on the court and an occasional shove. She didn't like Skylar one bit. And it was safe to say Skylar wasn't exactly too keen on her either.

The tension had been building up all season. Fans were practically foaming at the mouth waiting for Y/n and Skylar to finally just explode. Then you had the couple of fans who shipped them and thought they should just kiss to solve all their problems. Were they a little gay? Yes. But no way in hell did that mean they'd ever look at each other with anything other than pure and utter loathing. Besides, y/n was dating Breanna.

"Hook my arm one more time bitch-" y/n pulled her arm out of Skylar's hold, and shoved her away. It was just the third quarter and things had been coming to a boil the entire game.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" Skylar was quick to get in her face, but y/n shoved her back again. "Oh you deaf now? Is that it? I called you a fuckin' bitch! You want me to print that shit out for your senior ass?!"

Breanna and Kiah both grabbed onto her to break it up before she got herself ejected. She truly never even fought with anyone, not even in highschool. It wasn't even about the Notre Dame rivalry. It was about Skylar. From the first time they played against each other, one foul later and they held a burning hatred towards one another.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Ignore her. She's just trying to get under your skin. Don't let her win." Breanna spoke, rubbing her arms in a soothing manner. Y/n sighed, walking back over to the bench, hoping Geno wouldn't be too pissed.

Last year, Notre Dame beat them in the final four. Correction...Skylar absolutely whooped her ass in the final four. That loss was probably the worst feeling in the world. She couldn't do it again. She couldn't see Skylar go out with a championship. She didn't deserve to leave with a ring.

Y/n was determined to not let that happen. UConn was determined to not let Notre Dame leave with any chances of getting to the finals.

She was lucky to avoid an ejection but that didn't mean she was safe from her coach. Geno benched her for the rest of the quarter and didn't put her back in until halfway into the fourth. She shot another three of the night, already passing up Skylar in points. Stewie finished it with the game winner. They finally beat Notre Dame. (83-65)

She didn't have anything to say to Skylar. Not even a handshake. Matter of fact, the look of disappointment and defeat on Skylar's face was the only thing that made y/n smile. It wasn't winning. No. She was saving that celebration smile for the finals. She was enjoying the look of realization that Skylar would never finish her college career with a ring on her finger. It brought her pure happiness.

She couldn't wait to make her life a living hell in the WNBA. In fact, she was counting down the days in her calendar. Now that, was something to look forward too.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

It had been a couple years since the NCCA tournament in 2013. Y/n went on to win 4 national championships with UConn Huskies. She would've been drafted in 2015 but she chose to stay another year for Breanna. It was 2016 now and y/n had been invited to the WNBA draft.

Her girlfriend had been drafted number 1 overall to the Seattle Storm. She was exceedingly happy for her. Nobody deserved it more.

It was time for the second pick, y/n felt her dad and stepmom reach over to take her hands. They were probably more nervous than her. "With the second pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft, the Minnesota Lynx select Y/n Y/l/n from the University of Connecticut." Her parents jumped up excitedly, and she grinned. The idea of playing with the defending champions was thrilling.

She stood up and brushed down the dress her stepmother picked out for her. She shared a hug with her parents before making her way to the stage. After that whole thing, she headed backstage where Breanna was waiting. She almost tackled her in a hug. She wished she could kiss her there and then but they weren't exactly out about their relationship yet.

"She'd be so proud of you." Bre whispered into her ear, her words causing y/n to hold on her tighter, a few tears escaping.

Flash forward to Minnesota's game against the Dallas Wings. They had 16 wins with just 4 losses, twenty games into the season. Skylar returned back from an ACL injury in late May. They had yet to actually meet up on the court but it was safe to people the fans were looking forward to it. She had been up the phone with her girlfriend last night talking about it. Breanna was trying to get her to be reasonable about it.

And truly, she was a reasonable person...until it came to Skylar Diggins.

As she was a rookie, coach didn't really play her until the second half, second quarter if she got lucky. Still, she was proving why she deserved to be on this championship team. Not all rookies got the same grace as her. Some of them hardly got any playing minutes. Still, she was the reason they had beaten some teams. If not for her clutch three pointers at the last second, they would've had more than 4 losses under their belt.

That still didn't mean Cheryl was gonna make her a starting five. She didn't think she was there yet. And maybe she was right. Y/n didn't care about making the starting five this year. The work she was putting in now was gonna give Cheryl no choice but to make her a starter next year.

She typically played a guard or forward position, whichever one coach needed in the game. Right now, she needed her as a guard. She finally checked in, in the third quarter. Dallas had the ball, they rotated it around until it landed in Skylar's hands. Y/n smirked, holding her hand out, her defense always made Skylar a little shaky. "Don't try it. You know you can't score over me."

"I scored over your freshman ass before," Skylar shot back, stepping back for a three but y/n jumped to block it. She ran over to grab the ball and Maya was running ahead. She passed it to her for Maya to get the layup. That genuinely frustrated Skylar to no end.

Dallas had the ball, Skylar practically demanded that they pass to her. She tried to dive in the paint with y/n pushing up against her and when she tried for that layup, y/n jumped up to block it, although part of her arm hit Skylar in the back of her head. She fell to the floor from the impact and didn't waste any time getting up and shoving y/n.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Y/n exclaimed, shoving her back.

"You're a fuckin' bitch! You did that on purpose!" Skylar argued, their teammates getting in between them.

"I didn't do shit!" Maya and Sylvia both dragged her away, the ref calling to eject them both from the game for the share of violence. They were both ejected, but Minnesota still won.

Other than that little scrabble with Skylar, her rookie season went pretty good. They didn't win the championship that year, as the Sparks beat them in the finals. Y/n made the starting five next year, and coach quite literally never let her near Skylar on the court anytime they played Dallas. 2017 was a good year for her. She even went on to win her first championship with the Lynx.

After winning the championship, she made the decision not to resign with the Lynx. Her relationship with Breanna was getting a little rocky, and her bright idea was to go to Seattle Storm to hopefully save their relationship. She won another championship with the team, but a week after that, the college sweethearts broke up. She didn't want to, but Breanna wanted marriage and she didn't.

She still stayed with the team until 2020 where they won another championship. When Breanna told her she was getting married, she couldn't find it in herself to stay another year. So, she left the Storm for the Las Vegas Aces in 2021. The Aces definitely brought her spark back for the sport. She fell in love with the team. They even went on to win two championships back to back.

Throughout those years, she obviously still had run ins with Skylar and the occasional arguments and rough defense on the court. The worst moment they had was more recent in the '22 season. It was Aces vs Mercury, and y/n seen Skylar's kid and husband in the crowd. She made some comments, nothing too bad. Although Skylar didn't exactly take it lightly when y/n asked if they wanted a new mom. Yeah, it was safe to say hands were thrown and they were ejected.

It was '24 now, and Aces obviously made it to the playoffs. It was the first round, and they were up against Seattle Storm. Guess who joined them this year? Skylar Diggins-Smith. Not that y/n even used her married last name when talking about her. In fact, when she changed her name, y/n had made a couple teasing comments about it.

It was best of 3. Y/n didn't play the first game because she had rolled her ankle in practice. They beat them, obviously, but Skylar scored pretty good in that game. Y/n had full intentions of not letting Skylar make it any further in the playoffs. Playing against Skylar always unlocked something in her. She refused to lose against her.

Becky didn't want to see y/n get ejected again, so she moved her to a forward position to keep her from guarding Skylar. It worked so far. They hadn't had much issues other than the couple of blocks y/n got on Skylar. It was the fourth, they were down by a couple points. Skylar didn't fancy losing to y/n yet again.

She ran into the paint for the lay but as she threw the ball up her feet got tripped up in y/n's. Y/n quickly hooked her arms around her waist to catch her before she hit the floor. If she had, it would've been a nasty fall. Their teammates were all equally as confused when y/n had caught her instead of just letting her fall like she had done earlier in the season.

She instantly reached for the hands on her and glanced up over her shoulder, y/n looking down at her with no real expression. Once Skylar was steady on her feet, y/n let go and walked away without a word. Gabby nudged her, "you good?" She nodded slowly, still very confused about what just happened. "Yeah...yeah, I'm good."

The Aces won, moving onto the next round and eliminating the Seattle Storm. When they came back to the locker room, nobody dared to acknowledge it. Honestly, nobody ever dared to ask her about Skylar in general so they wouldn't even so much as utter a word about what happened.

Y/n was in the hall by herself, leaning against the wall with her phone in her hand. She promised she'd call her dad after every game so that's what she was doing while she had good signal in the arena. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'ma get some rest. We goin' to dinner first though."

"Alright. You did good tonight. We're proud of you, y/n."

"Thanks, dad. I'ma let you go before Syd starts yellin' at me to hurry up. Bye." After hanging up, she sent a quick message to her little brother who secretly stayed up to watch the game on his Xbox. She obviously told him to go to sleep now.

Skylar stood a couple feet away, clearing her throat to get y/n's attention. She glanced up from her phone, tucking it in her pocket as she raised a brow. "What do you want?"

She tried not to roll her eyes at her immediate attitude. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you help me?"

"I didn't help you." Her brows scrunched, teeth chewing on some gum, attitude dismissive and irritable. "I helped myself. You think I wanna hear headlines 'bout you trippin' over me and tearin' another acl or bustin' your face? You think I'm interested in bein' blamed for your failure? I don't do shit for you, Diggins. Don't flatter yourself."

Now she rolled her eyes. Of course y/n was being a bitch about it. Why was she so shocked? She couldn't even address her name properly. "Fine. Be that way. But I'm not gon' be immature about it. Can I at least say thank you?"

"Geez, if I knew you was gon' be such a sap about it, I would've let your ass fall." Y/n scoffed, pulling her bag over her shoulder and walking away without another word.

Skylar rolled her eyes, turning to leave the way she came, "this what I get for tryna be mature with a child."

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It was Unrivaled season. When Breanna first called her about it, asking if she was interested in being apart of it, she said yes. She obviously loved women's sports, and she was really supportive of the concept Stewie and Napheesa came up with. And when she heard it was fast paced basketball, she was obviously in. So, she signed with Unrivaled for their inaugural season.

She was originally supposed to be put in Lunar Owls but they changed it last minute. When she found out Skylar was apart of that team, that gave her all the answers she needed. They put her in Vinyl BC instead. She wasn't complaining. She didn't have any issues with any of the women on that team. Besides, she looked pretty good in red. It's almost like the jersey was made for her.

Of course, on media day and the days following, y/n and Skylar avoided each other like the plague. They talked to literally everyone else except for each other. Nobody was surprised by it, but they were interested. In fact, Skylar's teammates were very nosy. They were in the training room, Skylar sitting on one of the tables scrolling on her phone when Courtney brought it up.

"Yo, Sky. What's up wit' you and Y/n?"

Skylar looked up from her phones, everyone's eyes on her. "Nothin's up. We just don't get along. Never have." She stood up, ready to leave this conversation.

The second she stepped out, they were all ready to talk about it. "She's definitely lying. Somethin' had to happen off the court," Shakira comments.

"I wanna agree with you 'cause did y'all see the way they looked at each other when y/n caught her from fallin'?" Courtney input, receiving some slight nods of agree. "But, it could just be them takin' college rivalry serious."

"I agree. They definitely hate each other...but you also can't deny there's some tension there." Cam added to support her her theory.

"Sexual tension," Phee mumbles.

The next day, y/n was in the practice gym with her team. Her and Arike were going back and forth about who was the better shooter between the two when the Lunar Owls joined the practice court. Jordin leaned down to where they were sitting, "can I bet money on this?" Y/n shrugged, standing to her feet, "as long as you put your money on me."

"What? No. Don't listen to her. Put your money on me." Arike remarked, getting up as y/n picked up a ball.

"Who's bettin'? I want in on this." Courtney input.

"Y/n thinks she's a better shooter than Arike," Dearica informed, and y/n smirked, nodding her head in a cocky manner. "Oh really?" Skylar grinned, strutting her way over with a basketball tucked under her arm. "How much we puttin' down?" Y/n rolled her eyes, waiting for them to bet so she could smoke her teammate.

"I got 200 on Rike," Jordin stated, very confident in her pick as Arike grinned, dapping her up.

"A'ight, cool. I got 200 on Rike too," Court adds, the player grinning once again towards y/n. She turned towards her Lunar teammate, "yo, who you got Sky?"

Skylar pulled up a chair, staring directly at y/n with a smug grin. "I got 400 on y/n." She was playing this smart. It was kinda her way of mentally torturing her. She hated her, obviously, but she hated losing more. That's how she knew y/n would win, and she wouldn't be able to enjoy it either knowing Skylar would also take a win.

"Oh yeah, we winnin'. Y/n would never let Skylar win on her behalf," Court grinned, her and Jordin ready be 200 dollars richer.

"Okay, if we're doin' this. We're doin' it like a 3-point contest. Best of 30." Dearica stated, her, Rae, and Aliyah all setting everything up. Arike shrugged, "cool wit' me. I'mma win either way."

"Who's goin' first?" Shakira questioned, taking a seat, silently wishing she had some popcorn right now.

"Take it away," Y/n shrugged, taking a seat and Skylar moved to sit beside her. She wasn't even looking and she knew y/n rolled her eyes. "I wish you luck. We both know how much you hate losing," she comments in a condescending tone. Y/n glanced at her, not even bothering to see how many shots Arike was making. She looked annoyed more than anything. "You get off on my irritation?"

She smiled in satisfaction, "it's certainly entertaining to see you squirm."

Arike shot her last one and finished with 27 out of 30. Given y/n never participated in the 3-point contests for All Star weekends. She wasn't exactly worried. "Warm them hands up, y/n," she teased.

"Cute." Y/n smiled, standing to her feet and walking over to the line. She made the first row like it was nothing. It was baffling. Arike shrugged it off, and y/n emptied the next row with ease. Onto the final row, she didn't miss not one of those, finishing with 30 out of 30. She brushed off her hands and walked over to pick up her bag. "Told you. Better shooter."

Skylar glanced over her, the woman pulling her bag over her shoulder and leaving. She grinned, walking over to Jordin and Court. She held out her hand, "cough it up. Let's go."

"How'd you know she could shoot like that?" Arike asked, very disappointed with that outcome.

"Who you think she was shootin' over in college?" Skylar retorts, the women slapping some bills in her hand. "She also just hates losing to Notre Dame players."

"I need a rematch," Arike mumbles under her breath. She was gonna be salty about this for a couple hours.

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The Unrivaled regular season started the 17th, and the Lunar Owls and Vinyl BC came out with wins. They had yet to face each other yet. And they were told that wasn't gonna be for a while. Their game was the 27th, and now it was the 26th. Y/n had gotten there early just to get in an early morning workout. She'd been in there for maybe 30 minutes when Skylar walked in with her trainer.

"Five. Four. Three-" y/n rolled her eyes and Skylar grinned, "there it is. I'm startin' to think that's tradition. Keep that up and they might get stuck."

"Oh yeah? Is that what you tell your kids?" Y/n retorts, curling a light 15lbs with her right arm.

"Don't talk about my kids," she replied defensively.

"What are you gonna do about it? Spank me?" She scoffs, setting down the weight to get up and leave.

Watching her exit, it couldn't help but annoy her. She hated when y/n walked away mid conversation. It was the most frustrating thing about her. "I'm sure you'd enjoy that."

Y/n swung her jacket over her shoulder on her way out, "in your dreams, Diggins."

Later that day, y/n went back to her apartment, planning to eat some popcorn and binge watch a TV show. She was halfway into an episode when Arike called her, asking if she wanted to head down to the pool with her and her fiancé Lala. She actually really loved swimming so of course she said yes. Being in Miami, she obviously had bikinis. Going to Florida and not having a swimsuit was criminal.

She set some of her stuff in a tote bag, like two towels, sunscreen, and her phone and wallet. She took the elevator downstairs and headed down to the pool area. It was actually really big and fancy looking. Luckily, there wasn't many people out. She hated a crowded pool. It was the worst.

"Hi!" Lala immediately got up to hug her. She had grown to really like y/n ever since she and Arike had grown to be friends. Y/n liked hanging out with them too. They were cool people. She got along with them really well.

After setting down her stuff, she tied up her braids. "I bet 20 bucks I could dive better than you," Arike challenged. Y/n raised a brow, "I see you still ain't learned your lesson from the last challenge."

"Okay first of all- that was beginners luck and also, I still want my rematch." Arike remarked, clearly still very salty about their last challenge.

"Fifty I'mma better diver than you," she shot back, accepting her challenge.

"Okay, fifty it is." Arike grinned, looking over at Lala who wasn't sure she had faith in her this time. After hearing y/n dropped 30 on her like it was easy work, she didn't know what else this woman was capable of.

"Lala can judge," Arike suggested.

"Nope. She's automatically biased. We gotta get someone who don't care about hurtin' our egos." Y/n dismissed, and Arike grinned, walking over to get her phone. She knew just the two people to call. Rhyne and Allisha. Arike did some practice dives in the meantime while they got ready and made their way down. Y/n wasn't sure why it was taking so long, until she climbed out of the water and seen Rhy with the whole Lunar Owls team behind her.

Rhy was quick to throw her friend under the bus, aware y/n wouldn't like Skylar there. "She invited them. Not me. I plead innocent of all charges."

"Another day my peace is disturbed." Y/n mumbled under her breath as Arike explained their little bet to them. Only Rhy and Lish were able to judge but that wasn't gonna stop the others from making side comments.

They decided to put Arike first, and y/n couldn't help herself when she seen her walking to the deep end. "Aye, you goin' on the wrong side. Your side is the shallow end. It's made for people your size."

Arike laughed sarcastically, the others cracking some chuckles. Even Lala had to stop herself from laughing. "That's very funny. You a comedian now?" Y/n grinned, shrugging a shoulder.

She completed her dive first, and yeah, it was solid. She clapped slowly, nodding her head like she was impressed. "All right. Yeah, that was solid...for a middle schooler."

"I'd love to see you do better than that." Arike shot back with that competitive fire.

"You will." Y/n smirked, walking down to the deep end.

"She's winning for sure," Napheesa comments. Given she was college teammates with the girl, she knew a lot about her. So she also knew that y/n was swimming long before she stepped on a basketball court. "How you know?" Court asked.

"I just know," she smiles, shrugging a shoulder.

Just off a position she got into, Arike accepted her fate before she even hit the water. After completing her much better dive, she climbed out of the water and walked back over to Arike with a smug smirk. Rhy and Lish both shared a look before ultimately giving y/n the money. "Sorry, Rike. She played you again."

"2-0," she smiles sheepishly, setting the money in her bag.

She walked back over to the deep end to dive back in, passing the Lunar team. Shakira was not at all subtle about checking her out. Even taking off her sunglasses to get a good look at her. When y/n dove back into the water, she tuned herself back into the conversation with Napheesa and Skylar. "I'm just saying, there's gotta be some attraction there, Sky."

"That's ridiculous," she objected.

"What's ridiculous?" Shakira questioned.

"Sky was just checking out y/n and now she's lying about it," Phee answered, throwing her under the bus fast.

"I can't blame her on that one." Shakira shrugs, pulling out her bottle to take a sip of her water.

"Wait- I know I was checking her out but why were you checking her out?" Skylar questioned, her tone slightly defensive and that made Phee suspicious all over again. "Uh, 'cause she's hot and this is the first time I've seen her in a bikini. It'd be wrong to ignore her."

"Good point." Sky mumbles, not arguing that. It was the first time she'd actually seen y/n without a uniform or casual attire.

"You should just kiss and make up 'cause I'm really not ready to see you or y/n get ejected for fighting tomorrow." Phee suggested jokingly, although part of her was serious about them making up. She seriously wasn't prepared to see Unrivaled's first fist fight tomorrow.

"I would rather die," Skylar stated firmly. The thought of kissing that horrid woman was enough to make her stomach hurt. At least, she thought it was? It also could've just been butterflies. It definitely didn't help that y/n was extremely attractive. Like cheat on your husband attractive.

Why was this conflicting? It shouldn't have been. It felt like every time she seen y/n, that hate for her was slowly cracking. And it all started in the playoffs last year. So technically if you think about it, it was all y/n's fault. If she never did that-- if she never showed that she had a heart, maybe it'd be easier to hate her.

Kira smiled, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth watching Y/n trick Courtney into helping her up, only to pull her into the water. "Well if you don't want her fine self, I can definitely take her off your hands."

"You don't even know if she's gay," Skylar pointed out, even though her argument was quite weak.

"Okay, are we just pretending y/n and Stewie weren't totally dating for like seven years?" Shakira questioned, scratching her neck awkwardly. Literally almost anyone who paid attention to Stewie or Y/n knew they had dated in college and the W. They weren't the best at hiding it.

"Wait- what? Did Stewie tell you that?" Skylar frowned in confusion, looking over at Napheesa for confirmation. She just held her hands up in mock surrender, "not my place."

"Oh, come on. It was so obvious. You guys try being in the same room with them. They have the most awkward ex girlfriend tension." Shakira defended very strongly. Skylar couldn't deny it there. She had seen the awkward tension anytime y/n and Stewie stood less than a couple feet from each other. "Alright...you might have a point there."

"Exactly. Thank you."

"But, those are just theories. You could be wrong and she could actually have a man waiting back home for her." Skylar pointed out, also making a point because technically y/n and Stewie were never confirmed.

"Nope. She's got girl kisser written all over her down to the tongue piercing." Shakira smirked.

Skylar just shot her a pointed look, "you're way too thirsty."

"Imagine she has a partner at home the whole time." Napheesa chuckles, deciding to mess with them a little bit. She knew y/n was single. They may not be college teammates anymore but it didn't get in the way of their friendship. They were still very close.

"I got a plan for that. Court, come here!" Their teammate made her way over, raising a brow at the pink haired girl. "What is it?"

"I'll give you 15 bucks if you ask y/n if she's single," Kira bargained.

"20 and we got a deal," Courtney countered.

"Deal."

She returned to the pool, y/n floating in the water with shades on to protect her eyes from the sun. She was trying to find a way to ask without coming off as intrusive. "Aye, y/n. What you think about double dates? My girl wants to go on one and I really got no clue how to tell her it's a horrible idea."

"Double dates? People still do those?" Y/n chuckles in amusement.

"Unfortunately. You ever been on one?"

"Yeah, back when I played for Seattle. It wasn't like dreadful or nothin' 'cause it was with Sue and Megan but I didn't willingly say yes to it. Breanna practically gave me no choice. She used the teammate bonding excuse on me." Y/n explained, turning herself in a circle and occasionally feeling Arike and Lala push her in another direction.

Well, that confirmed all of Shakira's theories on y/n and Stewie. But Court wasn't gonna tell Kira for free. "Oh yeah? Would you do it again?"

She pursed her lips in thought, contemplating it. "I want to say no, but, a pretty woman can flutter her lashes at me and I'd say yes to anything," she confessed. "Not that I could say yes anyways 'cause I'm single and have only had two girlfriend's my entire life."

"You know for some reason, I always thought you was a player," Court comments, receiving a confused look from y/n. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment."

"I don't know either."

After that conversation, Courtney rushed over to give Kira the information she needed. "What do you got? Give it to me." Skylar was very amused by this, while secretly being a little invested. "She's definitely single, not at all a player like we thought. I also got a little more info but I'mma need some compensation on that."

Shakira squints, "I'll throw in another ten."

"It's true. Y/n and Stewie did date." She confirmed, and Kira pumped her fist in celebration. "Yes! I knew it. I knew there was ex girlfriend tension."

She pulled out her phone to send her the money, Skylar trying to wrap her head around that information. Of course she'd seen up close Y/n and Breanna were during her last year in college but she didn't think they were dating. Now she couldn't help but wonder why they broke up...and who broke up with who. She turns to Phee, "do you know why they broke up?"

"Don't look at me. Nobody knows why they broke up." She was lying, obviously. Of course she knew.

Y/n climbed out of the pool, and Kira took her chance to get up and go over to her. Skylar and Phee were quick to watch this interaction. Y/n glanced behind her, wondering if Kira was maybe going over to someone else, but nope, it was her. "Hey, could you teach me how to dive like that?"

"What is she doin'?" Sky mumbles. Phee smirked, studying her reaction. Through her confusion, she could see the jealousy practically burning in her eyes. And truly, Skylar didn't even understand why she was jealous. She just was.

Maybe two hours later, Y/n had left the pool to return to her apartment, and funnily enough, as she pulled out her keys she heard someone else in the hall. Turning around to see who it was, she saw Skylar. They both paused, looking at each other in confusion. They was no way they were living on the same floor this whole time without even realizing it.

Skylar stopped by her door which was only a couple feet away. She may as well talk to her since she's there. "Hey. How you learn to dive like that?"

Obviously she had no idea why she was even talking to her, but Skylar had been doing that a lot lately and it was slightly concerning. "Is this like...you tryna to get information on me for Shakira? 'Cause I already told her I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now."

Skylar scoffed, holding a hand over her chest, feigning offense. "You think I would help my friend date a self absorbed bitch like you?"

Y/n smiled, loving when she insulted her. It used to infuriate her but now it just amused her. "Believe it or not, girls tend to go for it."

"Well I'm not that girl."

"'Course not. Why would you be? You're happily married." She retorts, her voice condescending and taunting. Why did that genuinely bother her? She didn't understand why she said it that way? Was she implying something would've happened if she wasn't married? Or was she just being a bitch again? Maybe she was just overthinking it.

She crossed her arms, still not amused by her. "Could you take a break from your bitchy persona to answer my question?"

"My mom was an Olympic swimmer. I was in the water long before I stepped foot on a court. She taught me how to dive." She answered in short terms, not saying too much or she'd get too much questions. Skylar raised a brow, not recalling y/n's mom being an athlete. "Your mom was an athlete? You're lyin'. Why I ain't ever heard of her?"

"You're thinkin' of my stepmom." Now that made sense. She did notice how her stepmom looked nothing like her. "I'm talkin' bout my real mom."

"Oh, my bad. I just never saw her at any of your games."

"Kinda hard to show up when you're dead." Y/n shrugged, turning to unlock her door and step inside, shutting it behind her.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

The 27th of January was a date that stuck out to y/n. It was the day her life changed. The day her mother died. She hide it well from the others in her team. Nobody knew. Just as Skylar did, they assumed her stepmom was her real one. No other players except Breanna knew about her mother. But they weren't exactly close anymore so she didn't talk to her about it.

When they game started, she didn't come in until the second quarter. Nobody else seemed to noticed how out of it she was. Nobody but Skylar. She picked up on it immediately. The first thing y/n would do when coming to her in a game was to make a comment on her her height. She didn't do that this time.

She even left Skylar open on 3 point shots, something she'd never do before. It was unusual, certainly. The way she played tonight was just super off. There was no trash talk either, none of their typical banter. Going for layup, Skylar pushed against her back, and she shot in the ball. Skylar jumped up to hit the ball out of the way before it hit y/n over the head.

Towards the end of the game, the winning score was 66. Y/n ran towards the basket with Skylar on her. She caught the tough pass from Arike to toss the ball in the hoop. It went in but she lost her footing with Skylar's body pushing against hers and they both went falling. Y/n stopped herself from fulling falling onto Sky by dropping on her knees. That wasn't the smartest idea either.

"Fuck," she muttered, feeling a rush of pain in her right knee. She pushed herself off of Skylar and clutched her knee, brows scrunched in pain. It wasn't acl tear pain, 'cause that would've felt a lot worse. "What's wrong?" Skylar sat up, moving over to her in concern. "I'm fine." She brushed it off, and took Aliyah's outstretched hand to pull herself up.

"It's fine. I can walk. I wanna walk." Y/n assured, letting go of her teammates to walk back to the bench. She only insisted on walking because she knew her family was watching this game and that was her way of letting them know she was okay.

She walked out, following the trainers to the trainers room. They evaluated her knee and it seemed to just be a sprain, so she'd need a brace and some time to recover. It should've frustrated her, but she didn't have the energy to care. With a heavy sigh, she found herself in an empty hallway. She used the wall to help herself to the floor. Her phone buzzed once again and this time she finally opened it to call her dad.

"How bad is it?"

"Just a knee sprain. Not a big deal." He heard the tone of her voice and obviously it concerned him. He talked to her this morning, and it seemed like she sounded worse. "I know this is hard time of year for you. I'm really sorry I'm not there. But, you know you can talk to me about her anytime you want. You can talk to Kierra too. We're here for you, sweetheart."

"I know. I know. It's just...this morning, I woke up and I almost forgot what her voice sounded like. I didn't really expect it to hit me this hard. It's been 20 years and it still feels like it just happened yesterday. I just feel like she'd be so disappointed in me. I'm thirty and I don't have a wife or kids-" he stepped out of the living room where his wife and son were watching the game to step in his more quiet office.

"Don't say that. You don't ever forget who you are. You're an Olympic gold medalist, a five time WNBA champion, and four time NCCA champion. You're carrying your mom's name with pride and she could not be more proud of you. She's always been proud of you and everything you've accomplished in your career and life."

"I've done all that and I can't even find a girl-"

"You're still young, y/n. You've got time to find love again. I know there's a woman out there who's ready to love you for everything you are. You gotta be patient, sweetheart. Love will always find you." She sighed, taking a breath because her heart was beating way too hard from the amount of tears shed. "I gotta go. Can you tell Jaden I'm okay?"

The reason she rushed to hang up was because of the woman at the end of the hall making her way over. She cleared her throat, tucking her phone back in her sweater to see Skylar looking down at her. She hated this. She hated how Skylar seemed to find her at her worst moment. Her eyes were red and puffy from the crying, and she just felt eternally depressed.

She moved to sit beside her, keeping a fair but close distance. "Your mom was gorgeous."

She glanced at her, lifting a brow in confusion. How did she know? Skylar turned her head to look at her, "I noticed your last name is different from your dad's. It didn't take me long to find out who your mom was. I remember watchin' her when I was kid. When she got robbed of bein' the first black woman to win a gold medal in swimming. The whole controversy around it. You were only ten when she died, on this day."

She didn't say anything back. But internally, she was thinking why did Skylar care so much? Why did she care enough to look her up? "I'm guessin' that's why you looked pretty out of it on the court back there." Another tear fell from her eye that she couldn't stop. "I guess I should be sayin' thank you. Right?"

"For what? For sucking?"

"No." She rolls her eyes, not a fan of y/n's sarcasm, but it was better than silence. "For stopping yourself from falling on top of me. You probably would've knocked the life outta me if you didn't catch yourself."

She hummed, facing forward again, "you're welcome."

Now out of all the responses she'd expected, you're welcome was not one of them. "Are you gettin' soft on me?"

Y/n scoffed, a small smile curling up her lips that went as soon as it came. "Nah. You just caught me at a bad time. You'll be a triflin' bitch tomorrow." Skylar chuckled, nodding her head, "alright then, I'll accept that 'cause I feel bad about your knee."

Y/n cleared her throat, "could you uh- help me up before you go?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Skylar quickly got up and held out her hands. Y/n took them and used all the strength in her good leg to rise. She stumbled forward, instinctively grabbing onto Skylar's biceps to steady herself, and Sky grabbed onto her waist so she didn't fall. They were entirely too close, so close they felt each other's breathing patterns.

She hadn't realized how attractive Skylar was close up, usually too busy hating her to appreciate her beauty. Actually no. Nope. She couldn't think about her like that. That was weird. She was the one person- the one person she could never ever see like that.

They both awkwardly cleared their throats before taking a step back to increase the distance. "I'ma- I'ma go that way. Yeah. Bye." Y/n tucked her hands in her sweats and turned the opposite way to leave, the moment entirely too awkward for her to stay and linger on.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

"Hey, y/n! You comin' out with us tonight or what?" She turned around, her bag pulled over her shoulder to see Slim talking to her. They were talking about going to a club. "Uhh..I don't know. Clubs ain't really my thing."

She jogged over to her, "come on, it's a perfect chance for you to meet someone. It's a gay club too, so you'll feel very safe. A lot of us are goin'."

"I don't even know if I should be dancin' when I just got the brace off..."

"You don't gotta dance if you don't want to. Just stand around lookin' pretty and someone will notice you." Y/n had to admit, it did sound very fun and she did need to get out more. She'd practically been stuck in her apartment. "Alright. I'll go."

"Yes! I'll pick you up at 9. Wear somethin' sexy. Your future wife could be at that club."

Y/n chuckled, nodding her head, "I will. See you soon."

Soon after she left, the Lunar Owls had taken over the court to practice when Courtney decided to bring up her plans for tonight. "Aye, if y'all don't got any plans tonight, me and a couple of the girls are goin' to a club tonight. And yes, it's a gay one, Shakira. Phee, I already know your answer."

"You know I'm goin'," Shakira smirked.

"I'll pass. I need my beauty rest tonight," Lish added.

"You know Slim got Y/n to go," Court comments, her words directed to Napheesa. Skylar couldn't help but tune back into the conversation when she said that. "Seriously?" Phee questioned in shock. "Yeah. I was shocked too. I tried to get her to go to a bar with me a couple weeks ago and she said hell nah."

Skylar cleared her throat, grabbing their attention. "You for real? Y/n's goin'?"

They all shared silent looks, each sharing similar thoughts with their eyes. "Yeah, she's goin'. You wanna come too?"

"Uhh...I'll consider it. Send me the address."

»»

Y/n stepped out of the elevator, heels clicking against the floors. She half considered not wearing any, but the outfit wouldn't look as good with sneakers. Courtney pushed open the door to the van and her eyes widened at the sight of y/n. "Goddamn. Who told you to walk out the house lookin' that good?"

Y/n chuckled, taking her hand, "'thank you, thank you." Court helped her inside and immediately did Shakira, Slim, Natisha, and Tip's eyes widen at her. They honestly expected her to show up in some kind of suit given she typically dressed pretty masculine in her tunnel fits. They were not expecting makeup, heels, and the tightest dress that hugged her figure perfectly.

Y/n sat down, pursing her lips at the silence. "Is it too much? I don't really own many dresses..." 

"No!" They answered in unison, receiving a surprised look from her. "How are you single?" Shakira mumbled, looking her up and down for the fourth time in thirty seconds. "She means to say you look perfect," Tip insert, not letting her eyes linger long because she was very much taken.

"Yeah, you look really good." Tish added, Kira nudging her for staring at her boobs a little too long.

"Oh. Um, thank you." Y/n smiled warmly, setting her hands on her lap.

"Prepared to be hit on all night," Slim said, receiving a little chuckle from her.

They got to the club, and Slim had a table they could sit at. There was a drag show going on that y/n was really enjoying. She loved drag, a lot. It reminded her of her mom because one of her best friend's was a drag queen. "Are you a lightweight?" Tip asked over the music, holding two drinks in her hand. She got two for y/n to try one.

"Extremely, yes," y/n answered, very disappointed by that. Another reason she didn't drink as much. The only times she did was for celebrating after a game or friend's birthday. "This is a little strong. I want you to try it!" She passed over the drink to her and y/n stirred it before taking a sip. It actually tasted pretty good. "That's really good!"

"I knew you'd like it." Tip grinned, taking a seat next to her. It didn't take long for them to get some food at the table either.

Three drinks in, she was already feeling the alcohol kick in. "I'm gonna go use the restroom." She slid off her chair and Shakira quickly got up. "I'll go with you. Come on." They walked into the bathroom and after using it, they came out to wash their hands. "Um..so, I'm sorry if I like- rejected you a couple weeks ago."

Kira waved it off, "it's okay, girl. I think we work better as friends anyway."

"I think so too. You're pretty cool."

Kira smiled at her into the mirror, "careful now, you might make me change my mind," she joked.

When they came back, y/n noticed Court climbed up on the chair to try and look over the crowd of people. "Did you lose Tish?" Y/n joked, sitting back down as Tip and Kira laughed. "Nah, I'm lookin' for Skylar. She said she just got here." Court explained.

She gulped, and cleared her throat, "I'm sorry- you said Skylar's here?"

"Yeah!" Court finally noticed Skylar in the crowd, her curly hair and taller figure standing out. "SkySky! We over here!"

She finally made her way to the table, and man did she look good. Breathtakingly good. She quite literally took y/n's breath away. Why did she have to look so good? Maybe it was just the alcohol making her think this. She needed to snap out of it, right? She could not think like this, not about Skylar...a clearly married woman with two kids.

"Oh, my god. You and y/n literally outdressed all of us. Damn." Court grinned, bringing her into a hug. "Ah, it's just a lil somethin' I threw on."

Y/n stood up, "I need a drink." In a quick second, she was gone, pushing through the crowd to get to the bar.

Skylar still managed to keep her eyes on her through that. Court nudging her with a knowing smirk, "she look good, don't she? Hard to resist, right?" She teased. Skylar smacked her hand away with a scolding look, "don't start." She moved to a take a seat by Shakira, the pink haired girl snacking on some of the food. "Hey, Sky."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Sky scolded.

She rolled her eyes, swallowing the food, "okay mom," she mocked.

"How much has y/n had to drink?" Skylar asked, observing the woman from the table. She was making conversation with another girl as she waited on her drinks. "Three mixed drinks. She's a lightweight." Tip answered.

Y/n returned with three different drinks, appearing very flustered by the interaction she just had. "That girl just gave me her number!" She grinned, showing the napkin to Tip and Shakira excitedly. "I didn't even have to ask. Isn't that so cool?" Shakira and Tip were very supportive, also finding her reactions so adorable.

Skylar didn't like it. She didn't think that girl was good enough. I mean come on, she was blonde, bubbly, and short. Y/n was like a skyscraper compared to her. It would never work. Also, why did she care so much? It was bothering the fuck out of her. "I need a drink." Shakira passed her one, "have mine. I'm gonna talk to that hot girl at the bar."

Tash, Marina, and Rae arrived, three woman y/n had grown to adore. They were the sweetest. "Ooh, you're getting numbers already?" Marina grinned, taking a look at the napkin. "Yes! I didn't even ask."

"I can see why. You look so hot I might give you my number and you already have it." Marina joked, taking the empty seat next to her. She noticed right away that y/n was drunk. She was the most bubbly and energetic she'd ever seen her before.

"Come dance with me, pretty girl!" Rae took y/n's hands and pulled her out of the chair. Despite never dancing, the alcohol gave her the biggest confidence boost.

"She looks so good, it's insane. I can't belive Slim convinced her to come out with us." Marina comments, taking out her phone to record them. Not to post, just for memories.

"This is like a whole other side of her and I'm loving it." Tip grinned, happy to see her former Aces teammate be so happy and comfortable with herself. She wished A'ja, Kels, Syd, and the rest of the Aces could see it. Even if some of them were leaving the them this year, they would always be considered an Ace and the Aces were family.

"You not drinkin' Sky?" Tash asked, noticing her sipping on water more than touching the drink in front of her.

"Nah. I gotta drive myself back. I'm just here for-"

"Y/n?" Tip teased, and Sky shot her a glare, throwing a chip at her.

"Wait- hold up. What am I missing?" Tash grinned, loving this new information she was receiving. "Nothin-" "Sky got a lil crush on y/n and she too scared to act on it cause of their stupid lil rivalry from college," Tip blurted out. Kira may have told her all the tea earlier...and trust, she was invested.

"I do not have a crush. I am married."

"Girl- we all saw that lil argument in the hallway. You don't gotta hide it." Tash remarked, receiving a baffled look by the woman. "My marriage is none of y'alls business-"

"I mean....technically, yes, but you didn't have to make it so obvious that y'all split up." Tash pointed out, "unless..you wanted a certain someone to notice." Skylar shot her a glare, "I do not care if y/n knows I'm getting divorced. It literally changes nothing. We do not like each other."

"Okay- no shade, but you're both mad dumb." Natasha stated bluntly, wishing y/n was here to hear this too cause she needed this knocked into her stubborn head. "She literal sprained her knee trying to save you and saved you from tearing your acl by catching you in those playoffs. And if I recall correctly, you have actually been less hostile to our dear y/n."

"I have not been less hostile-"

"You stopped a ball from knocking her in the head- when, I recall you throwing the ball at her head in college." She countered, making a pretty good point. The other Skylar would've let it hit her. In fact she would've picked it up to throw it harder. Now? She couldn't imagine purposely trying to hurt her. "Okay- hold on. That doesn't mean anything. I've just matured."

"Matured? You literally arm dragged her last year," Tip deadpanned. She remembered because she was there for that moment and remembered having to pull back y/n from beating her ass. "And that is exactly why we will never ever be a thing. Not even friends. We have never liked each other."

Tash smirked playfully, "cause y'all love each other?"

"I'm so close to smackin' you-"

"Who's smackin' who?" They looked over to see y/n taking a seat, immediately reaching for her drink. Not waiting for a response, she spoke again, "hey, why you ain't dancin', Diggins? We all know you can."

Skylar raised a brow, "would it kill you to use my first name?"

"Yes. Now answer my question."

"I don't need nobody dancin' all up on me in there, and I ain't nearly drunk enough like you clearly are." Tash and Tip both smirked, very interested in this conversation. Anytime these two spoke, they had to tune in, also in case they needed to prevent a fight. "That's not true. I am not drunk," she denied whilst slurring her words.

It actually amused her. She thought it was kinda cute. "I'm sure you aren't, Ms. Lightweight."

She frowned, looking to Tip in betrayal. "Did you tell her I was a lightweight?"

"She didn't have to. You make it painfully obvious, babygirl." Y/n frowned, taking a sip of her drink. She didn't like the way she said that. Nor did she enjoy the way that name gave her butterflies. "I am not your babygirl. I have a name." Skylar smiled mockingly, "well how about you use mine and maybe I'll use yours. Does that sound fair, babygirl?"

She huffed, not enjoying the way she was speaking to her. It was extremely hot and she hated it. Or maybe it was just the humidity in this club that was making her so confused. Before she could respond to it, a woman approached their table, a smirk on her glossed lips as she looked at y/n. "What's your name?"

She looked around, and pointed to herself, "me?"

She giggled, "yeah, you." Skylar already hated her. Tip and Tash were watching to see if Skylar would interrupt this little interaction.

"Oh, I'm y/n. What's your name?" Truly, this girl wasn't really her type but she was also too drunk to care and she kind of enjoyed the attention. "I'm Sonya. Do you wanna dance with me, y/n?" She held out her hand expectantly. Being the nice person she was, she wouldn't feel right turning down a dance from a fairly pretty girl. "Sure."

She practically dragged her to the dance floor, a smirk on her lips at all times that Skylar wanted to smack off. "I don't got a good feelin' about that girl. Did y'all see that smirk on her face? She's clearly up to something."

"That...or you're just jealous," Tash suggested.

"I'm not jealous." Sky scoffed, reaching for some food as she watched the two dance, keeping a very close eye on them. "You could be a little less obvious when you're spying on them." Tash comments, getting up to join Court and Slim on the dance floor.

Sky found herself sitting at the table alone, watching the drag show while keeping an eye on the ladies. She didn't like how that Sonya girl kept encouraging y/n to drink more and more. It was weird. She was already drunk. Why make it worse? She only took her eyes off of them for a second and they were gone.

That made her panic.

She quickly got up to start looking, asking her other friends but they didn't know either. She got to Marina, and the girl was only a little buzzed, and had been pretty close to y/n all night so maybe she seen something. "Hey do you know where y/n went?" The blonde turned around, nodding her head, "yeah, she told me she had to use the restroom. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. I'ma just take her home. Tell Court and them I'm taking her home." Skylar assured and the blonde nodded, "okay. I will. Y'all get home safe."

Skylar rushed down the hall to the bathrooms and checked inside, but there was no sign of her or Sonya. Then she heard y/n's voice down the hall towards the back. "No- I can't go with you. I'm with my friends! Let me go!" She ran down the hall, finding Sonya trying to pull y/n to the exit as she drunkenly resisted. "They won't even know you're gone-"

"She said she don't wanna go wit' you so back the fuck off." Skylar quickly pushed her away hard enough to make her fall over, hitting the ground roughly. The push quite literally knocked the wind out of her. Y/n stumbled back into the wall, really regretting the heels choice. "Get the hell on wit' your desperate ass." She scoffs under her breath, "takin' advantage of drunk girls like a man."

Skylar turned to pull y/n's arm around her. "Come on. Let's get you home baby."

She struggled to actually get y/n in her car when they got outside the club. "I'm trying to take you home- you're too drunk. Get in the car." She squints, smacking her hands away. "No. How do I know you're not gonna kidnap me?" Skylar rolled her eyes, slapping a hand over her face in exasperation. "You gotta be kiddin' me. Why would I kidnap you?"

"So you can torture me for being better than you."

"You're not better than me. Get in the car, y/n." She stated strictly, tired of her games.

Y/n groaned, climbing into the car and shutting the door. Skylar stepped into the driver's side and was about to make a comment until she realized y/n was knocked out, snores leaving her. She drove them back to their apartment building in silence..well, not total silence. Her snoring patterns were loud enough to make a beat.

Waking her up was the worst part. She tried to shake her, nothing. She tried to yell at her, nothing. "It's like making a toddler go to sleep." Skylar muttered, grabbing onto her arms to yank her out of the seat. Y/n groaned, "why are you pulling me like luggage?" She grabbed onto the car door to steady herself, practically yanking herself out of Skylar's arms.

"Good, you're awake. Come on." Skylar grabbed her arm and pulled it over her shoulder, y/n snickering at the height difference, reaching over to pat her head. "You're small." She shut the door with her foot and locked the car, rolling her eyes at the comment. "Yeah, well these muscles ain't."

Y/n chuckled, "mine look better."

"Don't lie to yourself, babygirl." Skylar mocked, helping her into the elevator. Y/n looked down at her, their faces entirely too close to be considered a normal distance. "You keep callin' me that and I might just assume you're flirtin' with me."

She hummed, not sure what her intent was when saying that. Did she want her to flirt? Or was she telling her not to? It was confusing. Everything about y/n was confusing. "I can say whatever I want to you, and guess what? You not gon' remember any of this in the morning with how drunk you are."

"Meaning we could makeout and I won't have to remember," y/n mumbled, her inner thoughts coming out with those words. That was beyond confusing for Skylar. Why did she say that? Was she implying that she actually wanted to kiss her this entire time?

She didn't reply, the elevator opening just in time. She led her out and down the hall to her apartment. "Where are your keys?" Y/n frowned, reaching into her bra to grab them but they weren't there. Then she remembered. "Um...they're gone."

"What do you mean?"

"I leaned over to flush the toilet and when I did that- my key fell out of my bra."

Skylar groaned, internally facepalming, "oh, my god. You flushed your key? Why didn't you say that sooner?!"

"Don't yell at me. I forgot." She frowned, leaning against the door tiredly and drunkenly.

She really didn't want to have to take her all the way downstairs and try to get her a new one. And leaving her in the hallway wasn't an option either. Who knew what could happen when someone sees a drunk girl passed out on the floor? "Alright, come on. You can stay the night with me and we'll get you a new key tomorrow morning."

She didn't object, too scared to say anything that would upset Skylar any further. She truly looked the most stressed out she'd ever seen. She helped her over to her own apartment just a couple feet away. "You gotta be quiet. My kids are sleeping."

She twisted the key and pushed open the door. They stepped inside and she noticed the tv was still on. It must've just been her babysitter watching it. "Come on. We almost there." Skylar led her down the hall, getting to the living room, they stopped. Her son turned around, eyes widened when he realized he was caught.

"What are you doin' awake?"

Deciding to deflect, he looks at the familiar girl leaning against his mom. "Who's that?" Y/n smiled, offering a little playful wave until Skylar smacked her hand back down.

"Nobody. Just- stay right here. I'll be back." Skylar sighed, helping the amused y/n to the bedroom. There was only two rooms in the apartment. Hers, and the one her daughter and son shared. Y/n plopped down on the bed, ready to shut her eyes until Skylar switched on the light. "You are not sleepin' in my bed wearin' that."

"You complain too much." She mumbled, staring up at the ceiling as Sky shuffled around in the drawers to grab some shorts and a t-shirt.

She walked over to her and immediate unbuckled her heels to pull them off. "Sit up. Let's get that dress off." She directed, taking her arms to pull her up. "No no- you're gonna see me naked and you're gonna judge me 'cause you hate me." Skylar sighed, "I would never judge your body, y/n. But if it makes you more comfortable, I can turn around."

"Okay." Skylar sighs in relief, reaching over to unzip her dress and at least pull it down her shoulders so she could do the rest herself. She turned around and y/n kicked the dress off her legs. She huffed, "I can't get my bra unhooked." Skylar turned around, looking up to avoid her body, she reached behind her, her touch unknowingly sending shivers down her spine.

After unhooking the bra and she turned back around and y/n pulled on the shirt and shorts. "I'm decent." Skylar pulled out the covers and pulled them over her, and second her head hit the pillow she was out.

She shut off the lights and walked down the hall to check on her daughter before walking out to the living room. The babysitter was just waking up. As her son continued watching cartoons on the TV, she paid the babysitter and the woman left. She turned to her son, hands on her hips, "what did I tell you about staying up late?"

"Who's that lady in your bed?"

She sighed, annoyed with his constant deflecting that he learned from her. "She's a coworker."

"Then why was she dressed like that?"

"Like what?"

"Dressed like you guys were on a date," he answered, gesturing to her outfit, that looked like something you'd probably wear to a date.

She scoffed at the accusation, "we were not on a date."

"It looked like a date to me."

"Okay Mr. Smartypants. Get your butt to bed. Come on." He sighed, getting up and taking her hand. "Is she gonna be our new daddy now that you and dad broke up?" He asks, looking up at her as she led him down the hall to his room. "You really gotta drop that. I'm not dating her. She's a coworker that I'm helping out. Your dad is still your dad even if we aren't together no more."

He wasn't buying it. "Why won't you date her? Is it because you got into a fight with her at that game? She's probably sorry for saying mean things to you." She really didn't understand why he was so pushy about this. He hardly knew anything about y/n other than the impression she had on Skylar on the court.

"No she's not. Trust me. That girl is bad news." Skylar dismissed, turning on the night light as he climbed into the twin bed.

"But she's pretty. You're supposed to forgive girls when they're pretty." She snickered in amusement, "who told you that?"

He smiled proudly, "Courtney."

Skylar sighed, shaking her head- not at all surprised. "Of course she did." She pulled the covers over him, and he was still very persistent about this conversation. "Are you sleeping in the bed with her? You know that makes her your girlfriend, right? That's what Court said."

"For your information, nosy, I am sleeping on the couch tonight."

He sighed in defeat, turning on his side, making sure she seen his disappointment. "You have no game, mom." She scoffs, feigning offense, "excuse me? I have game- actually, why am I talking about this with you? Go to sleep. Love you. Goodnight." She pressed a kiss to his head and stood back up. "Love you too. Goodnight, mom."

She headed back to her bedroom to grab some clothes when she noticed the line of pillows beside y/n. She lined them up as a little barrier so Skylar could also lay down on the bed without either of them feeling uncomfortable. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing to sleep in her bed tonight. The pillow barrier looked like it would hold together quite well.

After taking a shower and changing into comfortable sleep clothes, she grabbed another blanket in the closet and laid down. She was silently considering placing a pillow on y/n's face to muffle her loud snoring. It was the most annoying thing ever, and yet two minutes later, she closed her eyes and she was out like a light.

Hours later, it was morning, her son was sitting on the bed with a muffin in his hand. "Your girlfriend left." She rolled her eyes at the label and squints, noticing the chocolate muffin in his hands. She did not remember buying muffins. "Where'd you get that?"

"Your girlfriend left a box of muffins to say thank you," he answered, taking another bite of the muffin.

Skylar groaned tiredly, plopping back down on the pillow. "She is not my girlfriend."

"She should be. She makes good muffins."

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"I ain't even jokin', man. This girl called Sonya won't stop blowin' up my phone. I don't even know a Sonya." Y/n spoke, shooting another three, the ball being passed back to her. "Hold up- you said Sonya? That girl you were dancin' with?" Rae questioned.

"I was dancin' with a girl?"

"You blacked out, ain't you?" Arike asked, figuring that must've been it since y/n could hardly recall anything.

"That's why I don't drink." Y/n retorts, shooting another three and walking back over to the chairs to take a seat. "I heard Skylar took you home. You remember any of that?" Dearica asked with a teasing smile.

"Fortunately, I do not. But, I assume I lost my key 'cause I woke up in her bed and had to get another one from the front desk." Y/n explained, all of them pausing to look at her. Their minds went the exact same way. "Wait- did y'all...?" She grimaced at the suggestion, "God no. That's horrid."

"Not too much on Skylar's fine ass," Dearica defended.

Y/n shrugs nonchalantly, "she a'ight." She was lying through her teeth and she knew it. She knew Skylar was fine as hell. That didn't mean she gonna admit it out loud, especially to her gossiping teammates.

"I need you to be serious." Arike deadpanned, not buying that shit for a second.

"Why y'all want me to like her so bad? What's wrong wit' hatin' her? Y'all don't got a problem with Jewell hatin' her, so why is it a problem when it's me?" She countered defensively, and her argument was solid if it wasn't for her blatant attraction towards Skylar.

"Fair enough." Dearica mumbled, quick to back out of this.

"Alright. I'll leave you alone if you answer me this." Arike spoke, y/n leaning back in the chair, brows raised with interest. "Why do you hate her? And don't bullshit me. What's the first thing she did to make you hate her?"

She huffed, "I can't just hate someone on first glance?"

"Answer the question, y/n."

She shrugs, getting to walk away from this conversation. "I don't have an answer for you."

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Y/n truly didn't care to win any championships in Unrivaled. But, that didn't mean she wasn't gonna try her hardest to win when she was put in the position to get there. She wasn't playing her best lately in Vinyl, her knee still giving her some trouble. She played like she didn't trust it. That made her nervous coming into the semifinals against the Lunar Owls. Her parents and little brother were gonna be in the crowd, only able to make it that day because her brother didn't have school the next day.

She didn't want to lose in front of her family. She hated that. She'd done it many times before and each one felt worse and worse. So, tonight, she needed to play like she trusted her knee not to give out on her. She also refused to lose to Skylar in a semifinal match up. The Notre Dame loss in her freshman year still affected her and it probably always would.

Before the game started, y/n had ran over to her family in the stands. She scooped up her little brother with a grin, "you're gettin' so big! You're gonna catch up to me soon." She joked, setting him down as he grinned. She shared a hug with her parents next, really happy to finally see them after months of being away.

Her brother walked down the stairs whilst they were talking, spotting Skylar getting in some practice shots. He reached over to tap her on the arm and she turned around, expecting it to just be a fan or worker. She didn't exactly recognize him immediately. It took her a second. Then she seen that nose he had and immediately knew this was y/n's brother.

She leaned down to his height, curiosity filling her eyes. "Hi?"

"Hi." He rubbed his arms nervously, still surprised he got this far without backing out. "Um, can you be nice to my sister? When you're mean to her, she gets sad after games and it makes me sad because I don't like when she's sad." He voiced, very soft spoken like his sister at times.

"Oh. I'm sorry." She frowned, guilt immediately seeping through her chest. "I'll try my best to be nicer. I promise."

"Thanks. Bye!" He smiled softly before running back up to the stands to get back before they noticed he was gone. Y/n turned around, her brother sitting down in his chair looking around like nothing happened. "..you look suspicious."

Jaden shrugs, playing with the batman watch on his wrist. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She squints, leaning down to his height, staring him down in attempt to intimidate him. When he was under pressure, he could never lie. "What did you do?"

He sighs, the pressure getting to him. "I told Skylar to be nice to you."

She groaned, knowing Skylar was gonna use that against her. "Why did you do that?"

"She's mean to you."

"What's wrong with that? I'm mean to her too."

"Then you should stop. You could hurt her feelings. Mom and Dad said bullying isn't nice." She honestly understood where this was coming from because he didn't ever play sports. He didn't know what trash talk really was. And he did tend to get bullied at school from kids anytime she lost a game. Kids were just cruel.

"You're right. It isn't. I guess it wouldn't hurt to be a little nicer." He cheered, bringing her into a hug as their parents smiled.

It felt like everything they said to him disappeared as soon as they stepped on that court. They walked up to each other, moving side to side, hands at their hips all while saying, "I'mma whoop your ass." Y/n scoffs, pushing into her side, "you're not unbeatable, bitch." Skylar shot her a glare, pushing back into her, "you can't say that when you haven't beat us yet."

"At least I didn't cry like a bitch when I lost," y/n retorts.

"Call me a bitch one more time-"

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Cry some more?"

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《

It was hours after Vinyl had beaten Lunar Owls, sending them home in the semifinals. She had dinner with her family before taking them to the airport and getting back to her apartment. It was when she was opening up her door, she heard her neighbors door open. And by neighbor, it was just Skylar. She strutted straight over to her. "We need to talk."

Y/n groaned, hitting her head against her door. "What now? You gon' cry about being the only one taking this serious?"

She scoffed, "so that's what this is about? You're seriously offended by that?"

"If the roles were reversed, you'd be offended too." She unlocked her door, ready to walk away from this conversation.

The minute she stepped inside Skylar rushed over to stop the door from shutting, "uh-uh, I am sick and tired of you walkin' away from conversations. You're gonna listen to me whether you like it or not 'cause I ain't goin' nowhere." Y/n rolled her eyes, tossing her keys on the counter and kicking off her shoes. "I could literally just pick you up and carry you out."

"I know how to fight." Skylar scoffed, shutting the door like it was her place.

"What you wanna say? Cause I got more important things to do than sit here and argue wit' you." Y/n retorts, taking a seat on the sofa in her living room. Skylar stood in front of her, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's your problem with me? What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me?"

"You need to leave-" Y/n stood up, ready to go to her room until Skylar grabbed onto her wrist to pull her back. "Tell me why!"

"Cause you were better than me!" She pulled her wrist out of her grip, her answer leaving Skylar more confused than before. "You were everything I wanted to be. Is that what you wanted to hear, Skylar? God, you just couldn't leave it alone?"

"You terrorized me in college because you didn't know how to cope with not being the best and I'm the problem?" Y/n rolled her eyes, expecting that from her. Of course she acted innocent, like she never played a part in making her feel like shit. "Oh please, don't act so fucking innocent. You knew exactly what you were doing."

"I knew it- you've always been so fuckin' jealous and obsessed with me. You stayed a fifth year just to get ranked higher than me only for your little girlfriend to be drafted before you. Just face the facts, you would've never been been drafted that high if it wasn't for Stewie. And you've never been better than me." She argued, poking her finger into y/n's shoulder.

She scoffed in disbelief, finding her statement ridiculous. "You think I'm jealous of someone I've been outplaying since I was a sophomore? Even if you had won that ring- which you didn't, I'd still be better than you." She stepped closer, not afraid to get in her face if it got her point across. "'Cause unlike you, I've actually won rings and championship in college and the pros, something you've always failed to do."

"Maybe." She shrugs, trying to act like that didn't sting just a little bit. "But at least I got the satisfaction of knowing I'm a better person than you."

She chuckles mockingly, reaching up to brush her curls behind her ear. "Oh, baby. How about we tell the truth? That's the least you could do. Why don't you tell me just how much I mean to you? Since we're both telling the truth here, eh?" She grabbed her wrist, pushing her hand away from her face. Y/n shrugs, turning to walk away, "fine, be stubborn. What do I care?"

"Wait!" She paused in her steps, turning around to raise a brow, waiting for her to continue. "I know I give you a hard time when it comes to our rivalry....but, without our rivalry, without you...I don't think I would've come back. When I was casted out..treated like a villian, you were the first one to who stood up for me, because despite our problems, you respected me. When I lost my passion for this, you brought it back. Our rivalry brought it back."

There was silence. It was suffocating. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

She couldn't stop herself. It just...it was instinct. Y/n rushed forward, pressing their lips together for the first time. Her hands cupped her jaw gently, a tear falling down Skylar's cheek that she wiped away with her thumb. It caught her off guard, but she didn't make a single effort to push her away. In fact, she pulled her closer, the kiss was calming. It was an act of love she hadn't felt a long time.

Y/n pulled away, the guilt sinking in for kissing a married woman. "I'm sorry-"

"I'm getting divorced." She blurted out, watching her reaction closely, hoping she wouldn't try and dismiss her or walk away. "And I'm tired of acting like I'm not completely falling for you."

"Is it because of me?" Was the only thing she could get out.

She shook her head softly, "no."

"Good." She brought her back in, the kiss deepening, filled with pure yearning. Who knew years of hatred could disappear with just a kiss? Of course their hate slowly diminished and cracked over time but this kiss broke it completely.

Her mind was in overdrive, rational thought retreating the longer this went on. She leaned down to slide her hands to the back of her thighs, lifting her off the ground. Skylar got the memo and hooked her legs around her waist, only pulling away for a second to catch her breath. She carried her down the hall, pushing open the bedroom door with her foot.

"Are you sure you want this? I'm good with takin' it slow," y/n spoke softly, setting her down on the edge of the bed. She was so soft and understanding, a side Skylar hadn't ever experienced before. Her concern was sweet and all, but she had no plans of slowing down right now.

"I've been waiting too long to slow down now." She reached for the seams of her shirt, pulling it over her head, a black bra underneath. She reached behind her to unclip it, pulling it off and tossing that to the floor somewhere. "I hope you know what you're doing 'cause I've never done this with a girl before."

Y/n pursed her lips, trying to act calm and collected like Skylar wasn't half naked in front of her. She pulled off her sweater and tossed it to the side. "Of course I know what I'm doing." Sky rolled her eyes playfully, a little amused, "you're cocky during sex too, why doesn't that surprise me?"

She smirked, leaning down to connect their lips, moving between her legs. "Watch the attitude."

Sky whimpered into the kiss, melting against her body, weak hands reaching over to grab a fistful of her t-shirt. "Make me."

The competitiveness never left them, even in their most intimate moments. That somehow made it better.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《