ꕥ chapter one: i just want you close where you can stay forever
summary: paige spends lockdown with azzi’s family and everything changes in a way neither of them expected.
tags: so much fluff, lockdown, paige is down bad, azzi is princess (and paige treats her like one).
a/n: i promise it gets better, hope y’all enjoy! <3
It had started as a joke. The two girls were on FaceTime, Paige rambling about how frustrating it was to choose between staying with her mom or dad during the pandemic. She already lived with her father, so it would only make sense for her to spend that time with him, but her mother kept calling her, telling her how much her siblings missed her, and that it’d be so good to spend such hard times with them.
Paige, being the people-pleaser she was, kept promising to think about it, when in reality she knew it wouldn't happen, not wanting to disappoint her mother and siblings. She knew she didn't spend that much time with them, only coming to visit during school breaks and holidays, but it was difficult - every time she visited, her mother would start an argument, so she stopped visiting as frequently.
Azzi listened, nodding here and there to support her, but mostly letting the girl rant. Being best friends for three years now, she knew how family relations were for the blonde.
“You should just spend it here with me”, Azzi joked, smiling at the warmth the idea gave her.
“Maybe I should”, Paige replied, smiling back. “You’d probably get sick of me though”.
“I could never get sick of you, Paige”.
Paige felt something shift in her chest, tearing her eyes away from the screen. They had always been like that: affectionate, tender, heart-eyed, and just completely oblivious of their feelings. She knew spending an unknown amount of time together would probably not be the best for her feelings, when she spent so much effort to make them go away, but if Azzi was serious, Paige knew she could never turn her down.
“Are you for real? ‘Cause like, spending lockdown with you’d be way better than with any of my parents”, she asked, not wanting to get her hopes too high.
“If you want to, then yeah”, Azzi smiled. “My parents would love it, especially my dad, since you're blacker than me”.
And just like that, after many talks between parents, Paige flew from Minnesota to Virginia the next week.
Knocking on the door, the blonde didn't have time to prepare herself before Azzi launched herself at her, holding her tight in a hug. “I've missed you”, she whispered. “So, so much”.
“I've missed you too, Az”, she responded, hugging the girl even tighter. “So, so much”.
“Paige!”, Azzi’s dad, Tim, called from inside the house, making the girls separate against their will and get inside. Once in the living room, Tim wrapped the girl in a hug, patting her on the shoulder, followed by Katie, her mom, and her brothers Jon and José.
“We're so glad you're here, Paige”.
“Me too, Mrs. Fudd”, the woman gave her a stern look. “Right, Katie, sorry”.
“We’ll let you get settled, dinner will be ready soon”.
Before even nodding, Azzi was already tugging at her hand, pulling her to her bedroom, and wrapping the girl in another embrace once the door had closed behind them. The brunette sighed, breathing in the scent of her favorite person - the citrus from her shampoo and bodywash, the fresh woody fragrance from her cologne, things she had grown so accustomed to.
“It'll be kinda hard to get settled with you on me like a baby koala, Az”, Paige chuckled, despite having her arms steady around her waist.
“Don't wanna let go”, she murmured, her voice muffled from her mouth being so close to the girl’s neck.
“C’mon, Az, I’m all yours for like, six weeks”. Azzi stood from her place on the crook between Paige’s shoulder and neck, something flashing in her eyes the moment they looked at each other properly for the first time since the blonde arrived.
Azzi took in the sight in front of her - Paige’s blond hair thrown messily in a bun, her blue eyes, even bluer than in FaceTime, glancing at her softly, her sweatshirt sitting above her limbs looking completely warm and cozy. Something about it made her knees weak, her heart pound, and her hands sweat. She scratched her throat once the silence hung for a second too long.
“My mom cleaned the guest room for you, but y’know, you can stay with me if you want to”.
“Of course, Paige, I always want to be with you”. This time Paige’s knees weakened, and she smiled dumbly at the girl in front of her. “I, um, I cleared a drawer for you, so you wouldn't have to run through your bags to find your clothes”.
Paige’s heart pounded. It was such a banal act, but it seemed so thoughtful and caring in her mind. She wondered if it would look like that to anyone else, or just for Paige, head over heels, utterly in love, Paige.
Without thinking, she leaned down, dropping a quick kiss to Azzi’s soft cheek. “Thanks, Az”.
They stared at each other, clearly not sure of what to do. They had always been like that, always touchy and tender, but something had changed since the last time they saw each other in person, and they both could feel it every time they looked into each other's eyes.
Paige wasn't entirely sure of what had changed in the last two months. Maybe it was because they fell asleep on FaceTime every night - blame Paige, she was unable to sleep without making sure Azzi was there with her in a way -, or because Azzi texted her good morning every day on her way to school, despite the girl still being asleep.
But maybe, Paige thought, just maybe, something had really changed, something they could both feel, both fear and both yearn for. Being in love with Azzi was as natural as breathing for her; the grass was green, the sky was blue and Paige was deeply and undeniably in love with her best friend.
And she could only hope Azzi felt it too.
They finished unpacking her clothes just in time for dinner getting ready. Going down from Azzi’s room, the amazing scent of Katie’s godly food made its way to her nose, and she realized how hungry she was from not eating anything since breakfast (she was too excited to meet her best friend again to worry about eating anything) and how much Katie’s food smelled like home.
“How’s everything back in Minnesota, honey?”, Katie asked once they were all sitting at the dining table, plates full.
“Everything’s fine, though my parents are constantly fighting to figure out who I should stay with during Covid, but that’s nothing unusual. I'm really, really glad to be here, my family can be kinda hectic sometimes”.
“Is that a new word you learned?”, José asked, breaking the ice. Paige rolled her eyes at him, although she was happy not to have to be too sentimental.
“You know you can come here anytime you need, kiddo”, Tim said. “You're family too”.
Paige lowered her eyes, pretending to be entranced by her plate, when she felt a quick, warm squeeze on her thigh from Azzi, and suddenly she was not able to contain the tears that emerged in her eyes.
It was something they always did when Paige visited, spending the day playing at Azzi’s makeshift half-court her dad made in the backyard when she was little. It was a habit, not coming inside for the whole day, except for lunch, when Katie almost had to drag them inside to eat, every single time.
Except this time it felt different, charged with something new, something exciting, something oh so fucking scary.
Paige could feel it every time she looked at Azzi, every time their hands touched when they fought for the ball. But she felt it the most when she glanced at the younger girl, only to find her with her shirt lifted, showing the hem of her sports bra, to dry the sweat off her face.
It would start with a buzz in her ears, a frequency she now found herself accustomed to. Then, her face would get flushed, which was something her friends from Minnesota would tease her about, “you're so whipped, bro”, when she told them about Azzi. Which was followed by not knowing what to do with her hands, especially after seeing her best friend’s abs.
It wasn't an ideal situation anywhere at any time, in particular not when you had a basketball in your hands and were playing 1v1 against your really hot best friend, who happens to be the person you have the fattest lesbian crush on.
So suddenly she couldn't dribble anymore, and the ball kicked away from her hands, of course it did. She looked at Azzi again, only to find her brown eyes already on her, and shirt still lifted. Azzi snickered, letting her shirt down, thank god, and running after the ball before Paige could do anything.
“Didn't know you were letting me win now, Paigey”, she teased, a shit-eating grin spreading on her face as she got closer to the blonde.
“I'm not let- you're distracting me!”.
“And what exactly am I doing to distract you?”, she asked, getting even closer. Paige swallowed, trying to ignore the way they were so close she could feel the warmth radiating from her, their breaths mingling between them.
“I think you know what you're doing, Az”, she whispered, her voice tight despite her efforts to appear cool and unfazed, and narrowed her eyes.
“I think I'm just better than you”, she answered, taking a step back to shoot an impeccable 3. “And I win!”.
“I let you win, y’know”, Paige explained when Azzi got back in front of her.
“Sure you did”, she said, taking a step to make the distance between the two of them smaller once again.
Paige always thought there was something about Azzi Fudd and sunsets, and that thought runs through her mind once again when they lock eyes. There was something about the pink and orange sky and the light it cast on the younger girl’s caramel skin, making it stand out to Paige’s eyes and blend perfectly with the scenery.
Her skin was warm, shiny, and inviting, and all Paige wanted to do was grab her by the waist - and God, what a waist - and finally, finally pull her in for a kiss right there at her parents' backyard.
“God, my knee’s killing me”, Azzi broke the silence and the blonde thanked her in her head, not knowing what could've happened if she spent another second looking at those big brown eyes glistening in silence.
Without a word, Paige scooped her up from her feet, carrying her bridal style to her bedroom, with a lot of protests from the girl and weird glances from her parents, who only shook their heads and smiled at each other.
“Paige, let me go!”, Azzi protested again once they made their way to her room, only being dropped when they hit her bed. “I could've walked, y’know”.
“I can't let my future recruit get hurt again, princess”.
“Stop calling me that”, she responded.
“But you are a princess”, Paige stated, simply. “You're cute and those dimples make anyone do anything for you. Princess, for real”.
“You think I’m cute?”, she asked, and Paige couldn't help but notice the blush creeping up her cheeks.
“I-”, the blonde’s mind thought of a million different ways she could've responded, ‘yeah, I think you're cute, Az, since the first time we met, actually’ was the understatement of all of them.
But she couldn't say anything, her mouth suddenly stopped working despite all her efforts to keep going, to finally say what she’s been keeping to herself all those years. She just froze, because of course she did.
“I'm gonna get you an ice pack”.
So she just left the bedroom, beelining to the kitchen and earning a quick weirded glance from Katie when she slammed the freezer door a little too roughly.
“Everything okay, Paige?”, the redhead asked.
“Yep!”, she replied, already halfway upstairs.
When she opened the door to the room, Paige was met with the image of her friend lying down, eyes closed, shirt discarded by the foot of the bed, only in a purple sports bra and the same (tiny) shorts. She paused in the doorway, only waking from her trance when the burning from the ice pack became too much, and she thanked it silently.
Don't get her wrong, seeing Azzi in sports bras was not unusual - they shared locker rooms, worked out together, and they weren't really the type of friends to turn around to change. So yeah, she was used to the situation. But Paige would never get used to the actual view in front of her.
Dear Lord, I am so sorry for where my thoughts just went.
She scratched her throat, making her presence known, and threw the ice pack at Azzi once she opened her eyes. They locked eyes, but blue ones drifted to her chest again, and she had to fight the urge to book the next flight to Minnesota when she felt her face getting hot.
“D’you need anything?”, Paige asked, breaking the silence.
“A new knee”, she groaned, throwing her head back to the pillows.
“I can't give you that, but I can massage it for you”, she offered, sitting next to the brunette. “I wouldn't pass if I were you, I've been told I have great hands”, she grinned.
“Oh, really? And who exactly told you that?”, Azzi teased, knowing it couldn't be further from the truth.
Paige felt her ears get red again and thought she should make a count to know how many times she blushes at Azzi daily.
“Do you want it or not, princess?”.
“Sure, but you better be good for real”.
The blonde felt an electric shock when her hands touched the warm skin of her right knee, kneading the caramel skin carefully as Azzi hummed quietly.
She glanced at the scar sitting right in the middle, remembering everything from when that happened last year. Azzi falling, Azzi screaming in pain, Azzi crying. Paige by her side at all times, from waiting for surgery, to rehab sessions, to late-night crying.
That was when she figured out her feelings for the girl. When she noticed she wanted to be there for the good and bad, to hold her hand at all times, not only when she was hurting, to kiss her and assure her everything was gonna be fine.
“I can hear your thoughts from here, P”, Azzi said quietly.
“What am I thinking, then?”.
“Probably about how I’m better than you”, she smiled, knowing what Paige was really thinking but deciding to lighten the mood.
“If that makes you sleep at night, sure”, Paige said, smiling back.
“Paige?”, Azzi called after a minute.
“I think you're cute too”, she secreted, blushing slightly at the older girl.
Before the blonde had the chance to answer anything, they heard Katie call from downstairs, “Girls, go shower before dinner gets ready!”, and it was probably for the best, because she had no idea what she would've done.
Azzi got up suddenly, dropping the ice and murmuring a quiet “shit” before taking it from the floor. She took her clothes from the closet in a rush, and moved to the bathroom beside her room without a word, leaving Paige all hot and bothered and confused, with her fingertips tingling with the lost feeling of the girl's warm skin beneath them.
Fuck, she thought, finally getting up after sitting in a trance for a minute. I'm definitely fucked.
