A Midwestern in Connecticut

"Nika!"

Nika was sitting down on a chair when she heard a familiar mid-western accent shout her name. When Nika looked up, she felt she was about to faint. She stood up and opened up her arms for the girl who was sprinting towards her.

"Hi Princess." Kate immediately jumped into Nika's arms as Nika lifted her up and spun her around. Once Nika put Kate back on her feet, their lips connected for the first time for what felt like eternity. They soaked up this kiss as much as they could've because this was something that they have both longed for.

"I can't believe you're here baby. How was your flight?!" All of Nika's problems seemed to vanish when she was with the one girl she truly felt safe and at home with.

"It was excruciating. But it was worth it because I knew I was on that flight to see you." Nika connected her lips to Kate's one more time, in awe of the words that came out of the blonde's mouth. Nika looked down at Kate, noticing Kate was wearing the first sweatshirt Nika gave to her. She knew it was Kate's favorite. Nika grabbed the handle to Kate's suitcases as the other was now intertwined with Kate's.

The two girls were now exiting Bradley International Airport on the way to Nika's car. Nika and Kate were catching up with each other, talking about how much they both longed for the other's embraces, or the plans for the 24 hours Kate's in Connecticut and the few weeks they will have in Croatia.

Nika opened up her car door for Kate. This was the first time Kate had been into Nika's car since she didn't bring it on the trip. Nika got behind the wheel, putting her hand on Kate's inner thigh. It was like nothing had changed, and they had been doing this same routine for years.

The car ride started out silent considering it was about 10PM and they had another flight to Croatia later at night tomorrow. Nika connected her phone to the car and played 'Happiness Is A Butterfly' by Lana Del Rey, knowing it would catch Kate's attention. Kate immediately looked at Nika who was already sparkly eyed, smiling at her.

"I knew this song would grab your attention." Nika kept turning to Kate every few seconds mainly keeping her eyes on the road.

"Its one of your favorites and one of my favorites babe. You know that."

"Of course I know that baby. It just felt right to play it again since we're together again. We could be a million miles apart but this song will always be our song. I will think of you every time I listen to it." Kate felt her stomach lower at the words coming out of the Croatian'0s mouth.

"We still never had our dance to this song yet. I'm still holding a grudge over that."

Nika rolled her eyes knowing the girl to the left of her is talking about that one time they were at a party in Myrtle Beach when Kate requested this song for them to dance. But of course, Nika had other plans and was with a man.

"I promise you baby, we will dance to it as many times as you want these next couple of weeks. Whatever you want me to do, I will do."

Kate smiled as she began resting her head against the window of the red and black interior car. Kate always had a hard time being able to fall asleep on plane rides. She didn't hate traveling, she just hated that she couldn't sleep. She was sure though she would be able to fall asleep on the plane ride to Croatia. Not only because she would be with Nika, but they would also be in first class with seats that turn to beds.

It was now around 10:45 PM and Kate was awoken by Nika. The only thing Kate wanted to do at this moment was to shut her eyes but she knew she had to go upstairs to Nika's apartment and greet the other girls who lived there.

"Princess, we have to get up. I can carry you upstairs if you want." Kate nodded her head 'no' in response. Nika was already carrying up her suitcases. The least Kate could do was bring herself up to Nika's apartment.

"Was I asleep that whole car ride?" Kate looked over to Nika as they were walking up the stairs to the apartment. They lived on the second story so the elevators were practically useless.

"Hell yea you were. I was ranting to you for like 10 minutes about Grandpa Geno only to find out you were sleeping. You looked cute though."

Kate looked down at the floor as they were now at the second level, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I would've listened to your rant. You can still rant to me if you want. Just not tonight because I'm ready to crash out."

Nika grew a slight concerned face on her look that did not get unnoticed by Kate. Kate looked at Nika with a 'what' expression, begging and urging for the Croatian to tell her what's wrong.

"Uhm you see, we kinda have some company over who is here to see you. Not the whole girl gang but some of them."

"Fuck Nika, you know I wanted to sleep." Nika put her free hand around Kate's waist as they were pulling up the the apartment door. Nika felt kind of guilty although she begged Paige not to invite people over.

When Nika and Kate opened the door, they were greeted with a massive sign that said 'Welcome back to Connecticut, Kate' with Iowa and UConn themed color balloons scattered everywhere.

"Blondie!" An energetic Paige yelled almost at the top of her lungs as she attacked and hugged a very exhausted Kate. "It's so great to see you again fam."

Kate wrapped her arms around Paige's middle back as she rested her head on Paige's shoulder. "So great to see you again too Paige."

After her hug with Paige, Kate also went to greet Aaliyah, Azzi, Ice, and Aubrey.

"Okay Kate before you do anything else, we need to introduce you to two of the freshmen who wanted to come and meet you." Kate looked behind Aaliyah and saw two girls who Kate had heard of and seen before.

"Hi I'm Ashlynn Shade it's so nice to meet you Kate." Ashlynn opened her arms up for Kate and the two girls embraced in a hug.

"Hey Ashlynn it's so nice to meet you. How's UConn been treating you so far? I know there's only so much you could do since classes hadn't started yet."

"It's actually really great. I love the team, I've been watching them for a long time now so playing with them really is a full circle moment. Not trying to throw 'shade' at you, but I can't wait for us to face off at the championship next year." Ashlynn received a jokingly eye rolled from Kate.

"Well see about that. We'll talk more before I leave tomorrow night." Ashlynn nodded in response as Kate made her way to the other freshmen. This freshmen seemed way to energetic and goofy at this time of night.

"Hey girly pop, my name is Kamorea Arnold but you can call me KK." But before Kate could get a word out, KK immediately wrapped her arms around Kate pulling her in into a very tight hug.

"Not that I've been stalking you Kate, but like, you and Nika are so freaking adorable. I know Caitlin be saying that she's the number one shipper but tell her to 1v1 me on Fortnite. Because I swear I am the number one Mühltin shipper and I say that with my whole heart." In full honesty, KK was talking way to fast for Kate's liking right now. Normally Kate appreciated people who talked fast but the only thing on her mind right no was sleep.

"Well Caitlin's very competitive and you seem very competitive KK so just make sure to get me front row sets to your Fortnite competition."

"Ight I'll make sure I do that. You seem tired as hell though so I'll let you get some sleep. See you soon dawg." For someone who just met Kate, KK seemed to know her like the back of her hand already. Or maybe Kate's tiredness was obvious to everyone.

Despite behind exhausted and having social awkwardness, Kate thought that went surprisingly well. These were people Kate's never met before and yea it seemed a little awkward, at least to Kate, she thought it went good overall and couldn't wait to talk to the two girls more in the future.

Kate was caught off guard when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Nika looking at her. "You ready to head to my room and get some sleep." Nika already knew Kate's answer although, Nika still asked the question. Nika grabbed Kate's suitcases as she lead them both on the way to Nika's room.

Nika's room was exactly how it looked during their FaceTime calls. Only this time the dark red led lights were filling the room. "Do you want anything to eat, want to shower, an extra change of clothes? What do you need, princess?"

"All I want to do is lay and fall asleep in your arms right now." Nika nodded as both of the girls headed to Nika's bed. Nika grabbed Kate by her waist pulling her in as closely as she could.

Nika sighed as chills went through her body from the touch and how perfectly Kate fit between her. "I can't wait to do this with you for a few more weeks." Kate 'mm' in response. "Goodnight princess, rest well."

"Goodnight baby." Nika kissed Kate's temple, her lips lingering there for a moment before snuggling her head next to Kate's hair.

It didn't take long for the two girls to drift off to sleep despite the noise from outside the room. Nonetheless, the two girls were excited for the long, eventful day they had ahead of them.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Kate woke up the next morning with strong arms still holding her. She turned her body around so she was now facing the Croatian, who was already smiling at her.

"Morning Princess, how'd you sleep?" But before Kate could respond, Nika placed a soft kiss on Kate's lips.

"This was the best sleep I've had since the last night of Myrtle Beach." Kate could feel Nika smiling into the kiss. "How long have you been awake for babe?"

Nika reaches over to check her phones time. "Apparently like 15 minutes. I didn't want to leave this bed until you woke up." Kate smiled at the thought of the girl doing that.

"That's so sweet of you baby. I just want to stay in this bed with you the whole day until its time for us to leave for our flight tonight."

"I know baby, I know. But we have to get up. Me and the girls want to show you around Storrs and campus a little bit because I know you've never had time to look around since you were only here for games." Nika stands up from the bed as she hears a groan exiting Kate's mouth. Nika wanted to lay in bed as much as Kate did but she knew how excited her friends were to see Kate again.

When Kate exited Nika's bedroom, she was greeted with the smell of french toast, and the sight of familiar faces from last night. As soon as she was walking towards the kitchen, a blonde who goes by the name of Paige wraps an arm around her shoulder.

"So how did you and my twin 'sleep' last night? If you know what I mean." Paige whispered it into Kate's ear low enough so nobody besides Kate could hear.

"I know what you mean Paige and fuck off we didn't do nothing. I was tired as hell and passed out as soon as my body touched her bed."

"I don't know if I believe you blondie. I was being extra loud last night to ensure that nobody could hear you and Nika last night. It's fine if you're embarrassed about it. Your secrets safe with me."

"Whatever feeds your ego Paige."

Kate walked over to the island and sat down. She saw Ice making her way over with Kate's favorite breakfast meal prepared for her.

"You know me so well Ice."

"I gotta treat my guest as great as I can." It doesn't take Kate any longer than a minute to immediately stuff her face with french toast. To Kate, Ice was like a mother cooking for her kid. No one could ever compare to what Ice makes in Kate's eyes.

"Oh how I've missed your cooking Ice." Kate felt a hand placed on the small of her back. She turned around and saw Nika as she was taking the seat next to her.

"Ice feeding you well huh?" Nika kept glancing between Kate's eyes and her food which gave Kate the memo that Nika wanted to have a little. Kate didn't like sharing her food but for Nika it was gladly acceptable. "Well I can give you something better to eat."

"Woah woah Nika nobody wants to hear that." Out of nowhere Azzi pops into the kitchen.

"Come on, we have to hear your and Paige's sweet talks all the time." Azzi was silent because she knew it was true. If Paige and Azzi were fired up in any way in the slightest, all the UConn girls made sure to evacuate and get as far away from them as they could.

"So what are we even doing today? We're showing Kate around campus and Storrs right?" Everyone nodded in return. Kate wasn't sure how she felt touring campus. It felt like she would be betraying Iowa and her homegirls there. But this place was special to Nika and she wanted to make Nika the happiest she could.

It was also a good excuse for Kate to get her cardio in. The past 24 hours the only walking Kate has done was getting through security to her gate. In a few hours she'll be on a plane ride for 9 hours so it was good she was getting some cardio in now.

The girls had been showing Kate around campus for about half an hour now. She was walking hand in hand with Nika the whole time. She took in how much more vibrant the college was compared to Iowa. As beautiful as the campus was, Kate could never see herself there. Only Iowa.

"So how'd you like UConn so far? Pretty nice right?" Nika playfully nudged Kate receiving a giggle out of her.

"Yea its really beautiful. I can see why everyone who goes here likes it so much. It's really colorful, its clean as well but that's probably because nobody is really here since its summer."

"So..." Nika paused for a brief moment. "Do you wish that you transferred here?"

"I'm good, thanks. I love Iowa. I've been a Hawkeye since the day I popped out of the womb. Plus if I ever transferred here than I couldn't compete with you."

When the girls got back to the apartment a few hours later, everyone crashed on the couch. Nika and Kate had to leave for the airport in about 2 hours and Paige and Azzi was taking them. Nika didn't trust her car being at the parking spot near the airport for several weeks. So just to make sure she was safe, she asked her twin if she could take them and she said yes.

Paige reached over to grab the remote and went to YouTube to find anything interesting they could watch. There was no video any of the girls could agree on until they stumbled upon something that all caught there interests.

"Paige put him on!" Paige looked back and forth between Ice who was begging for Aairrack to be put on.

"Airrack? really? Why do you guys all like him so much. I was more of a MrBeast viewer growing up."

"Wow Paige we all were. Just put on Airrack I've been watching him so much recently he's really entertaining." Paige looked around seeing the looks on everyone's faces. There wasn't a single person who disagreed with Ice. Paige sighed and pressed play on the remote.

To Paige's surprise, she actually enjoyed his videos. They sat on the couch binging as many of Aairacks videos as they could until it was time for four of the girls to leave.

The four girls walked down to Paige's car as her and Nika put the suitcases in the trunk. Kate was getting deja vu. She knew she would have to say goodbye to Paige and Azzi again. Although she only spent a day with them, they spent as much time together as they could. But Kate wasn't as sad as she was leaving Myrtle Beach. Because unlike that time, she was going to be with Nika, and that's all Kate cared about.

"So what Croatian things are you two going to do? Is Kate going to meet Roberta and Darko? Is Hana even home Nika?" Paige tried to look at Nika the best she could through her mirror in the middle. It didn't help that it was getting darker outside every second.

Nika had mentioned her parents to Kate as much as she could. But even with Nika FaceTiming them everyday, she felt like she hadn't really known what her parents have been up too. Every now and then her father would send photos to the family group chat of the new mountains they have hiked everywhere in Croatia. Nika was secretly hoping her and Kate could do that one of the days they were there visiting.

"Uhm, we're going to do a little bit of everything. There's some things Kate knows that I have planned, others she doesn't." One thing Kate didn't know about was that Nika was planning to ask her to be her girlfriend. "My parents have talked about how thrilled they are to meet Kate, and I actually recommended them to watch some of her Iowa clips which they gladfully did. I also want to show her my childhood basketball court, take her to Zadar, and yea really as much as we can fit."

"Ooh that sounds very eventful are you excited for it blondie?" Paige smirked, wiggling her eyebrows. If it was daylight, Kate probably would've said some not so nice things to Paige with that smirk on her face. But once again Kate was way too sleep deprived.

"Yea I'm excited. I can't wait to meet the people who raised such an angel." Nika smiled as her and Kate made eye contact. "This also may sound very cliché but I'm ready to see the area she grew up in and her culture and everything that made her the person she is today."

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the airport. It felt like Kate was just here. Probably because she was. The four girls said there goodbyes to each other and parted into two ways. As much as Nika wanted to walk Kate's suitcases for her, she couldn't because she had her own.

Nika and Kate made it through luggage check and security through a breeze. Bradley was a smaller airport and it was the middle of the night. They walked around searching for their gate to make sure that it existed. They decided to just sit and wait at the gate because by time they got settled in the lounge, they would have to be back here already to start boarding.

About 15 minutes later, the groups started boarding. Once again, boarding was a breeze for them since they were group A. I suppose that's one of the many benefits that come when you're dating a Croatian who travels back and forth a lot.

They were two of the first to board the plane. They only had to walk a few feet into the plane to find there seats. They were in the middle and the seats were right next to each other that had dividers for extra privacy.

They sat down in there seats. Nika was nonchalant considering she's flown first class on this airline multiple times. On the other hand, Kate was pressing every button she could find. The remote was built in, there was multiple chargers, the chair could recline into a bed. Everything imaginable for a flight like this.

Because Nika and Kate didn't have window seats, the TV's were connected to camera's outside the plane so they could see them moving in real life time.

"Holy shit Nika. This is too much you didn't have to buy first class for me."

"I've done this trip enough times, I have enough miles to buy this seat more times. Besides your a princess. I give you the best of the best." Kate leaned over her seat and placed a soft kiss on Nika's cheek.

"You ready to do this flight princess?"

"I'm ready."

And so after a few minutes after everyone settled in on the plane, the plane started to make its way to the runway. Nika decided to watch Grease while Kate was on the window view screen. Before they both knew it the wheels of the plane parted ways with the ground and started soaring into the sky. Goodbye USA, hello Croatia.

Kate (@katemartin03) added to their story

Authors Note:

Hope yall enjyoed this is kinda a filler chapter

Drama should be starting in a few chapters though

Also is Nika okay shes out for personal reasons I hope she's alr

Also once again hope yall enjoyed sorry if it sucked