Under The Streetlight

Kate's heart dropped lower than her stomach. Kate felt like she was about to pass out. She didn't know if it was the alcohol in her system, or that she couldn't take seeing the girl she was crushing on making out with some random dude. All Kate wanted to do was to go home.

Kate rushed back into the house with that image of Nika and the dude replaying in her head. Kate has never felt this angry and idiotic in her life. "I'm leaving." Kate grabbed her sweatshirt and began to go away but Caroline grabbed her wrist.

"Kate, where are you going?"

"I'm driving myself home. I can't be at this fucking party anymore. I'm losing brain cells."

"Kate you can't drive yourself home, you drank. Lord knows what could happen to you if you drove yourself home right now." Kate honestly didn't care what would happen to her right now. Kate already felt like she was on the verge of dying when she saw Nika and the dude. "I'll ask Aaliyah to drive us home. She's one of the designated drivers anyway."

There Aaliyah was, sitting on the couch scrolling through TikTok bored out of her mind. She didn't even want to come to this party. She just didn't want to deal with whatever she would hear from Paige and Azzi.

"Hey Aaliyah can you drive me and Kate home, and whoever else wants to come?" Aaliyah looked up at Morgan and for the first time ever since they arrived at the party, Aaliyah looked excited.

"That's all I've been wanting to hear this whole night."

Kate sat in shotgun. Caroline sat in the back with AJ and Hannah deciding to join them as well. No music was playing, no one was talking, the car was full on silent apart from the sniffles you could hear coming from Kate.

Aaliyah turned her head to look at Kate for a quick second before turning her attention back to the road. "Are you okay Kate?" Kate seriously didn't want to talk. She was trying her best to hold all her tears in. If she started crying, she feared she would never stop. But the girls in the car didn't deserve silence from her.

"Yea I'm okay I just saw Nika kissing some dude." Kate fake laughed as she started to wipe the tears coming from her eyes. "In case you didn't know or couldn't tell, I like Nika as more than a friend." You could hear everyone gasp and say 'aww.' There was practically no way for any of them to hug her. Aaliyah decided to just drive with one hand and put her right hand on Kate's thigh.

"I'm sorry Kate, we're all sorry you seriously don't deserve that."

"Thanks Lilli, it just sucks because I actually thought we were getting somewhere. I started to feel things I thought I could never feel again. And I felt things I have never felt before. When Nika looked into my eyes, it just felt like we were the only two people on earth. That there are 16 billion eyes in the world and she decided to look into mine."

AJ reached her arm out and put it on Kate's shoulder. "Listen Kate, we're here for you if you ever need anything. We will never judge you and the way you feel. If something is bothering you, we will understand and support you. And if you're ever crying, we will cry with you, just like Caroline and Hannah are right now."

Kate turned her head to see two brunettes have tears streaming down their faces. "Great, now we all look like a bunch of sappy children." All five of them began to laugh and just started to take turns trauma dumping as they finished making their way home.

The trauma dumping didn't end there though. When they arrived back at the house, they went up to Hannah and Caroline's room to keep chatting there. Paige and Azzi heard sobs coming from next door so they went to see what was going on.

The group filled Paige and Azzi in on what happened and then they joined the girls sobbing and to make them sob even more, they all decided to watch La La Land

"I just don't get how a movie with such a happy sounding name can actually be so devastating." Everyone laughed at Kate's comments as they were all wiping their eyes with tissues or their hands.

Once the movie finished everyone started to make their way back to their own rooms. The girls at the party still didn't come home yet.

Kate wasn't in the mood to shower again so she decided to just get in her bed. Kate's body could tolerate a good amount of alcohol so she wasn't too worried about throwing up or a bad hangover, although she didn't drink very often.

Kate spent a good half an hour just scrolling mindlessly through TikToks. When TikTok edits of her and Nika together on her FYP came up, she would watch all of them. Some of them made her cry. Kate heard footsteps coming her way that she knew was Nika's. As soon as she heard the footsteps, she pretended to fall asleep because she didn't want to look Nika in the eyes or talk to her.

When Nika got into the house, Caitlin and Monika had to help keep her on her feet because of how wasted she was.

"Okay Nika, here's your room. Think you can make it back to your bed without collapsing on the ground?" Caitlin asked as she opened up the door to Nika and Kate's bedroom.

"Yes, I have it under control." Nika slurred her words which made it hard for Caitlin and Monika to understand. But they got the memo when Nika motioned her hands for them to leave.

Kate could tell the girl was struggling to take her shoes off but she just didn't want to look at Nika. Even if the girl was drunk.

Nika was too exhausted and wasted to get into pajamas so as soon as she crashed onto her bed, she immediately fell asleep.

Kate was awoken to the sound of puking coming from her bathroom in the middle of the night. She rushed to the bathroom as soon as she could. She saw Nika hovered over the toilet puking endlessly. "Oh shit Nika." Kate mumbled under her breath as she began going towards Nika and holding her hair up. This was the first time Kate's ever seen Nika look so helpless. It felt bizarre.

Once Nika started to brush her teeth and take a shower, Kate decided to go to bed again. But if she heard anymore puking she would be sure to help the Croatian out.

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

It was the next morning and Nika woke up with a pounding headache. It was the worst one she had in a while. She looked to her right and saw Kate wasn't there which was weird because she would always stay in the room until Nika woke up so she could be the first to say 'good morning' to her.

Nika had texted Aaliyah asking if she could make her some soup. Aaliyah agreed to making Nika some soup and came into her room about ten minutes later.

"Hey hungover girl, how we feeling?"

"I feel like total crap Lilli. I hadn't got this wasted in a while."

"Well no need to feel like crap anymore. I made your favorite when you have hangovers. Some ramen noodle soup." Nika loved to stay fit and healthy but if there was one food Nika loved especially when she had hangovers was ramen.

"Thanks Lilli, you're the best." Aaliyah decided to sit and talk with Nika until she finished her meal."

"Nika let me ask you this. Although you're European, you don't drink as much as people might expect. Not once have any of us ever seen you this wasted. So what made you get extra wasted tonight?"

Nika sat there and pondered for a moment. She didn't really want to tell Aaliyah the truth but that was her best friend. It would be wrong if she didn't. "To be honest, I'm really not okay right now. Last night at the party, I saw Kate getting oddly close with a girl. They didn't kiss or anything, not that I saw, but the girl was grinding up on Kate. So I just decided to drink my feelings away."

Aaliyah tried to have a calm face but her mind was saying otherwise. Kate didn't mention that in the car last night. Kate and the girl probably didn't even do anything with the girl besides dance. "I'm sure nothing happened between the two girls Nika. There were so many people in the room I doubt Kate even cared about who she was dancing with."

"Yea I know but it still hurts. But I guess I'm not so innocent either." Aaliyah knew exactly where this was going. "When I got to the kitchen, I met this dude named Sam. One thing led to another and we kinda made out for the rest of the night." Nika had a guilty look on her face when she saw Aaliyah's jaw dropped lower than the floor. Aaliyah knew about the kissing but for them to be doing it until the party ended is crazy work.

"Lilli, say something please?!"

"Nika, I love you so much I seriously do. And from one friend to another, you might've fucked up big time. Like big big time if Kate does like you more than a friend."

"Thanks so much Lilli, that makes me feel so much better about myself."

"I'm just telling the truth and saying it as it is. I think you need to talk to Kate."

"Thanks Lilli." Would Kate even look in her direction even more if Nika told her the truth? But Kate doesn't even like her that way, does she?

Some time had passed and Kate was playing her guitar in one of the living rooms. For the past hour she had been just strumming any song or melody that came to her mind. Other than basketball, this was her other only escape.

"That sounds really good Kate." Kate looked up and saw Nika standing in front of her. Kate immediately brought her eyes back down and wasn't sure what to say.

"Thanks." The usually happy Kate Nika is usually familiar with, seemed to be non-existent. Nika could tell Kate didn't want to be bothered so she just walked away from the scene.

Aaliyah called for a meeting with Caroline, Hannah, Paige, and Azzi to tell them the brand new news she had. They all decided to meet in Caroline and Hannah's room. When they all looked at Aaliyah, they could tell something bad must've happened by the way her face looked so frightened.

"Shit what happened Lilli." Paige looked at Aaliyah with a hint of confusion on her face. There was no way things were about to become more complicated.

"So this morning, I went into Nika and Kate's room to see how Nika's hangover was going. I brought Nika some soup and decided to just sit on her bed with her and just chat." Aaliyah looked around at the four of the girls' faces. It seemed like they did not like where this conversation was heading.

"I had asked her why she had gotten so wasted last night because I have never seen her with that bad of a headache before. And then she just started blurting out things that really fucking scared me."

"Shit what did she say." Azzi looked so stressed right now. She loved Nika more than anything but by the way the conversation was going, she knew that her best friend fucked up.

"So we all knew that Nika was kissing some dude. But what we didn't know before and what Kate doesn't know is that that lasted the full night. It wasn't just like a one and done thing like it lasted till the party ended."

"My twin fucked shit up man. What the fuck."

"That's not all though. What we didn't know is Nika caught Kate dancing very very close with some girl. I wasn't with the rest of the group the whole time but I know you, Hannah and Caroline were witnesses so did you guys see anything?"

"Nope, not at all. Me and Hannah were dancing right next to them and yes as uncomfortable as it was seeing Kate dance freaky, they did not kiss what so ever. They just danced and then they parted ways."

"Shit."

Paige pursed her lips thinking about what to say. "Lets think about everything. So moral of the story, Kate danced very close with a random girl, Nika saw and she got mad so she got wasted. She then met this guy and made out with him while Kate and that girl never kissed. They both like each other but they don't know that the other likes them. So whose going to be in deeper shit?"

Everyone looked at each other and screamed the same name at the same time. "Nika."

"See? It's a party you're bound to dance with someone random, apart from me I would always be right next to Azzi." Azzi was blushing as the blonde girl looked at her and smiled. Everyone around them made fake barfing faces. "I love my twin, I really do. But its wrong to assume that someone did something with someone when you don't know the full story."

"Nobody tell this to Caitlin because she will flip if she finds out her favorite ship has sunken." Everyone laughed at Hannah's comment because its true. Everyone-besides Nika knew how much Caitlin shipped them.

The sun had now started to set and all the girls were outside for the barbecue, the water was pretty, and the sound of chatter and music was filling the air.

Most of the girls were taking pictures of themselves and others with the sunset in the background. Paige, Molly, and Ice were responsible for grilling all the food. Its not like they were forced to make it, they volunteered because they knew if anyone else tried to grill, they would burn the whole house down.

Kate, Caitlin, Amari, and Aubrey help lift the dining room table onto the outside porch since there wasn't enough seating out there.

Kate had completely ignored Nika the whole time everyone was setting up. Nika was starting to give up on trying to talk to Kate and decided it was probably best to talk to her later in the night when people are more vulnerable and open.

While everyone was putting plates and napkins onto the table, Hannah made her way up to Kate. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not going to lie, I've been better. I just still can't believe last night y'know, I actually thought me and Nika were getting somewhere. But now I just feel stupid and humiliated."

"Don't worry Kate, I'm sure it was just the alcohol in her system that was doing the talking not her. I'm sure she doesn't give two shits about the man."

"Thanks Han, I've just been ignoring Nika this whole day. I can't bear to look at her face right now. She's been trying to talk to me but I wouldn't listen." Kate honestly didn't know what Nika had to say and she didn't know if she even wanted to hear it.

"Just give her a chance to clear the air. I know it might be difficult at first but she at least deserves to explain everything."

"She doesn't deserve my fucking ears to listen to her. I don't even know what she would want to talk to me about."

"The vibes have probably felt different, Kate. Just let her talk to you no matter what its about." Hannah pulled Kate into a hug as Kate thanked her. Its true, Kate had no idea what Nika could be talking to her about. But she didn't want to hear whatever the Croatian had to say to her.

Dinner had gone fairly well. For the first time since the two girls started to get along, Nika and Kate didn't sit across from each other. They sat on whole opposite sides. Nika kept trying to look into Kate's eyes for the blonde girl to notice her, but Kate never looked back.

"Nika keeps looking at you." Paige whispered into Kate's ear. Kate rolled her eyes because the Croatian would not give up.

"Just tell her to fuck off for whatever it is." Paige's eyes widened not expecting those words and attitude to come out of Kate's mouth. Paige looked back towards Nika who was waiting for a response. Paige just mouthed back to Nika 'she doesn't want to talk.' Nika's face started to grow furious because Kate won't talk to her. Why was Kate angry at her anyway? Shouldn't Nika be the angry one?

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

Once everyone finished eating, they all decided to hangout in the living room and watch the Las Vegas Aces vs Los Angeles Sparks game. Everyone had casted a vote on who they think would win. Majority chose the Aces because they had just won their first WNBA Championship Title in 2022.

Whoever was rooting for the Aces sat on the right side of the living room, and whoever was rooting for the Sparks sat on the left side of the room. Nika and Kate were both rooting for the Aces to win.

As the game started, a lot of the group was already starting to get exhausted because the game started at 10PM since they were on the East Coast. There was a bunch of chanting and celebrating when one team scored, and cursing when the opposing team let them score.

Everyone was zoned in, in watching the game except for Nika. She was paying attention to how much Kate was into this basketball game. That was quickly ruined though when Nika realized how much the blonde girl hated her right now.

It was officially midnight when the game ended. The Sparks lost to the Aces by a good amount. Everyone started to part ways and go to their rooms. Before Kate could start going up, Nika grabbed her wrist.

"Let go of me Nika." Kate was trying to maneuver her way out of Nika's wrist but Nika kept holding on.

"Just talk to me Kate."

"Let go of me Nika, please, I'm not dealing with this right now." Nika let go of Kate's grip but she kept following her. Kate went out the front door and was walking towards the sidewalk.

"Fucking talk to me Kate. Jesus Christ why the fuck are you ignoring me." Kate turned around to look at the girl who was standing a few feet away from her. The night was dark and the only lights shining were the streetlights.

"What do you think? Huh?" Kate was screaming but she honestly didn't care if she woke up the neighbors or anybody in the house. "I request the DJ to play one of your favorite songs and I spent countless minutes searching for you. And when I finally do I see you sucking face with some random ass dude?"

Nika was speechless. She didn't know what to say. "That's not fair Kate you weren't innocent either. I did that because I saw you dancing with a girl who was grinding up on you and because its my own fucking life I can do whatever the fuck I want!" Nika was yelling too now but she didn't care.

"But we never kissed!"

"God why do you care so much Kate?!"

"Because I fucking like you!" Kate accidentally blurted that out and Nika's lips parted. "I've liked you ever since I laid my eyes on you. This trip didn't help my feelings at all. I'm so fucking crazy for you Nika. You make me feel things I have never felt before and I hate it so much. I can't bare to see you with someone who isn't me. And to see you making out with some dude fucking hurts. Its unfathomable how down bad I am for you Nika you have no idea-"

Just then, Kate felt hands cup her face as lips connected with hers. They parted and both looked at each other for a moment before they reconnected there lips. The kiss started out slow and started to quickly escalate as each kiss felt more needy and desperate as Kate put her arms around Nika's waist.

There the two were, standing and kissing under the streetlight like the world around them didn't exist.

They had both craved each other for a long time and could now fulfill there wishes.

Before things could escalate any further on the middle of the sidewalk. Nika parted her lips with Kate. Kate kept peppering kisses down Nika's neck though.

"I've liked you this whole time too, Kate. I only kissed that dude because I was jealous seeing you with somebody that wasn't me." Kate looked back into Nika's eyes and kissed her one more time before they both made their way back into the house.

Authors Note:

So it finally happened. Sorry if there romantic scenes won't be very detailed in the future only cuz I cringe writing that stuff. Ill try to get through it tho for you guys.

Nonetheless, hope yall enjoyed this chapter.