a/n: i completely forgot i had this in my drafts! here’s a cute fluffy fic before the angst 🤞
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3 times something reminded azzi of paige + 1 time something reminded paige of azzi
she just had to make it to friday.
that had been azzi’s life motto since uconn’s second semester curriculum decided it wanted to double down on the poor girl. in between practice breaks, she did flashcard reviews on quizlet. in her free time, she revised notes and annotated paragraphs upon paragraphs. even in the time that was supposed to be spent with her friends, a very stressed out azzi could probably be found in the corner of a booth at ted’s, finishing up an assignment.
none of the girls—not even kk—could get azzi to take a breather. it wasn’t because they weren’t distractions, they were actually exactly that. unfortunately, they just weren’t paige.
the blonde had a certain knack for getting azzi to relax. even if that meant getting azzi to stop working by eating her out until her brain was mush. their bond was built on years of knowing each other, and it was practically untouchable, it’s invincibility was catalyzed by closeness. clearly it wasn’t because paige was charming, even if the older girl insisted it was—azzi’s genes had mutated years ago and built up a resistance to the blonde’s antics.
it was more the fact that azzi was in love with paige, and she would anything the other girl wanted even if it was stupid or dangerous or extremely corny.
azzi was down if paige was.
with that in mind, when “piano man” started playing nearby azzi in a crowded bar, her ears perked up. sure, it was a familiar tune, but as much as the brunette appreciated billy joel, the melody itself didn’t catch azzi off guard. it was the fact—the stupid fact—that the song was being played on a harmonica.
azzi, who had been thinking about her next exam while sipping on a dirty shirley, heard the hum of the instrument and suddenly her features were filled with the devastating memory of paige. the brunette's head turned towards a group of frat guys, very drunk frat guys, messing around with a harmonica just a booth away from azzi and her teammates. and oh god, the guy playing piano man was a blond, just the cherry on top as azzi’s mind paralleled to paige’s blonde waves.
for a reason unbeknownst to azzi, her eyes brimmed with fat tears, the massive kind that just spilled out no matter how many times they were blinked back.
yanna was the first to notice.
“yo az, you good?” her concerned voice got the heads of a few other girl’s to turn towards the misty eyed brunette.
“no—yeah, i’m good.” azzi stuttered, using the back her hand to dab away the escaped tears. “just need another drink.” she moved to scoot herself away from the cramped table.
“another one? i think you actually meant your uber girl.” kk said teasingly from across the table, reaching over to unlock azzi’s phone and open the uber app. “now, sit your butt down and wait for—“ kk glanced down at the older girl’s phone, “—steven to come pick you up. he’ll be here in ten.” azzi sighed and rested her pounding head against yanna’s shoulder, letting her overwhelming thoughts blend into the buzz of bad bar music.
when azzi finally got home, albeit the memory of actually getting there was a little foggy, she couldn’t stop thinking about that guy from ted’s. well, less the guy and more her paige.
azzi remembered the night perfectly. it was the day before her final exam, economics had been kicking her ass all month, and at exactly 11:43pm paige busted into her room.
“baby, look what i just learned!” the older girl beamed. she carefully closed the door she’d almost just broken with her foot and ran to her girlfriends bed, plopping herself criss-cross, patiently waiting for azzi to acknowledge her presence.
“hellooooo. anyone home in there?” azzi was sitting at her desk, glasses thrown off to the side, and her face buried into her palms in pure defeat as she stared at another failed practice test. when the younger girl didn’t respond—let alone flinch at paige’s loud entrance—the blonde pushed herself off the pink comforters and padded across the smooth mahogany floors to reach azzi.
she rested a careful hand on the girl’s forearm, softly pushing her hands away from her exhausted face.
“you need to take a break, az.” paige peeked down at the motionless azzi, and chewed her lip. “c’mon, i have something to show you. promise after you can go back to being miserable.” azzi let herself be dragged onto her bed and pulled into paige’s lap. the older girl chuckled lightly as azzi allowed her body to be cradled, her face burying itself into paige’s warm shoulder like it was the most comfortable pillow ever. it probably was for the sleepless girl.
paige cleared her throat and brought a shiny, silver harmonica up to her lips. she began the song a little rocky, and a little too breathy, still azzi was mesmerized. by the end of paige’s rendition of piano man, azzi was crying. silent streams of adoration flowed down the brunettes cheeks while the blonde rushed to comfort her girlfriend.
“oh god, i guess it was that bad. i’m sorry honey, i thought you’d like it.” azzi just shook her head at the blondes ramblings. “no, no it’s nothing like that.” azzi’s voice cracked as she laughed at herself looking a mess in the older girl’s lap.
paige would never fail to be amazed by her woman everyday.
“i loved it, i love you. and im fucking done with econ. bed?” azzi looked up, dark circles and all.
paige was beyond confused but she didn’t care; she had her girl, and that’s really all she needed. azzi’s melodic laugh traveled across the small space as paige picked her up and carried her across the room just to turn off the lights. the younger girl laughed even harder when the blonde threw her down on the bed, just to full-body flop onto her.
that night, the pair fell asleep with full hearts, tangled limbs and a twisted comforter; paige’s harmonica was definitely lost somewhere in the mix.
azzi missed that, she missed paige.
azzi hated being sick. more than that, she hated being sick and alone. kelis was out with the rest of the team while azzi stayed back, choosing to sip on some generic herbal tea and cozy up with her latest read instead. she told everyone she didn’t mind being alone, in fact she preferred it to being bothered by their annoying asses. however, the unfortunate truth ate away at the girl, seemingly more than the common cold she had: azzi was lonely. the brunette wanted company but not enough to burden her friends by making them sacrifice their free time to sit in silence with her. so she sighed and let out a raspy cough, her throat tingled.
right on time, her phone chimed as a reminder alerted her to take some medicine. the girl groaned and pushed herself out of her warm, soft, incredibly comfortable bed to get some cough syrup. she told herself it was for the greater good, that the sooner she got better, the sooner everything else would.
azzi padded across the cool ground of her living room to the kitchen, and opened a small wooden cabinet where she stored her vitamins and medication.
“what the fuck.” the brunette peered into the shelf, all that was left were elderberry gummies that she had bought as a last minute fix when paige came over and had gotten sick a few months prior.
now azzi was sad and still very ill.
with a soft sigh, the girl gingerly grabbed the purple container and popped two gummies into her mouth. she chewed them into a grainy mush as she made her retreat back to her warm nest, reminiscence boiling her heart.
“thank you, az.” paige said with a rasp as she pushed her glasses up her very red, very irritated nose. the blonde reached over azzi’s lap for another tissue while azzi read her book; the brunette’s focus moved from the words on the page to the words her paige wouldn’t admit. the blonde was sick, and she refused to say it, no matter how much kleenex she used or how many times she excused herself to subtly—or what she thought was subtly—have a coughing fit in the bathroom. azzi was keen to it all, and maybe she was seeing how far this would go before her girlfriend gave up the stoic act.
“paige,” azzi slowly set her book on her lap, peering over at a defeated blonde.
“it’s just allergies, ma, ‘m fine.”
“it’s literally november. im going to the store to buy you something.”
paige lost all her fight, instead she groaned into azzi’s pillow case, mumbling about how she didn’t need to be babied and that she was “totally fine.” the brunette ignored her. she slid on her softest coat and warmest snow boots, shutting off the bedroom light and quietly closed the door as she made her departure.
by the time she came back with nyquil, cough syrup, elderberry gummies—the employee at CVS told her they worked well—and some tru fru, paige was completely knocked out.
azzi laughed and snapped a few photos of the blonde before gently shaking her awake to take the medication. paige took the nyquil and cough syrup easy, she took the tru fru even easier.
“elderberry gummies? im not an elderberry im a youngberry!” paige whined as azzi shoved two gummies in her mouth.
“eat. it.” paige worked her jaw overtime to chew those shitty tasting vitamins up, collapsing into her girlfriend the second she finished.
azzi now understood why paige hated those gummies; they tasted like ass. but she swallowed them nonetheless, the lingering memory of paige overtaking the discomfort of the vitamin’s taste.
azzi’s cousin was pregnant, like very fucking pregnant. maggie and her husband had invited the fudds over for dinner to break the news. katie acted surprised, tim clapped jackson—maggie’s husband—on the shoulder, jon and jose congratulated the couple, while azzi looked unamused. maggie was painfully swollen with life, her stomach protruded from underneath what was supposed to be a chunky sweater, and the way she had been carrying around various objects to cover her stomach before breaking the news only added to azzi’s incredulousness.
still, the brunette was happy for her cousin, and after dinner, maggie called azzi over to the kitchen, alone. the younger girl knew she wasn’t in trouble, yet anxiety filled her features as she headed towards the warm lit space.
“sooo az,” the girl began, “i need your insight on something.” azzi’s nervousness failed to cease at the woman’s words.
“um, yeah, sure. what’s up?” the brunette swallowed. maggie turned off the faucet that had been running as she washed their dinner plates. she grabbed her phone off the kitchen counter and pressed a few buttons before showing azzi a slightly disorganized note on her notes app. it was labeled “baby names.”
“i love my aunt but i just know she’d suggest something too…outdated?” maggie giggled, “and im sure the boys and tim wouldn’t be much help either. here, jackson and i have the names pretty much narrowed down, but i wanted to see what you thought.” azzi smiled softly as she took the woman’s phone into her hands.
under boys there were: alexander, lawrence, and jude.
under girls there were: juliane, sandy, and paloma
“paloma,” the younger girl murmured, “i really like that one.”
“yeah?” the blonde smiled at her from across the gingham picnic blanket, sunlight casting a glow over her features, emphasizing the blue hue of her irises.
azzi grabbed a green grape, she chewed pensively, staring down at the charcuterie board by her feet.
“yeah. paloma fudd-bueckers.” she grinned at paige, the older girl rolled her eyes playfully.
“pretty sure it would be bueckers-fudd.”
azzi hummed in response, leaning over to take another grape. paige caught the wrist of the younger girl, tenderly guiding azzi’s grape filled fingers to her mouth. her pale hands were a gentle touch against azzi’s smooth, bronze knuckles. the younger girl couldn’t help but lean into the touch.
a satisfied smirk settled itself across paige’s already smug face, azzi wasn’t amused. she never was when it came to paige.
the afternoon would carry on like that, stolen grapes and stolen glances. and as the bright spring sun dipped into the horizon, painting the sky a rapidly fading orange, azzi nuzzled deeper into paige’s side. her head lolled to the side, landing softly on the older girl’s shoulder. the blonde glanced down at the blanket, contentment bubbling in her stomach as she sucked in a breath and rested her eyes on azzi’s dark curls.
“hmmm..” azzi stirred, tilting her head up to meet paige’s gaze. a soft breeze danced in the girls’ hair, nearly tangling their brown and blonde locks together, as if the universe were pushing them closer together. more than they already were.
azzi giggled as she lifted off of paige to push her hair back, pulling it to one side. the sound was sweet like the morning dew, it ran down paige’s exterior like a stream of water, coating the girl’s body in its melodic song.
“i’m tired.” azzi mumbled, now choosing to settle between paige’s spread legs. the blonde happily took her in, her nimble fingers playing with the brunette's soft curls as she got comfortable.
“so sleep, baby,” paige whispered, her voice drifting in the breeze, entering azzi’s ears like a familiar lullaby. the younger girl let out a groan.
“i don’t want to miss the sunset though.” her whines only made the older girl grin, “there’ll be a million more sunsets for you to watch, az.” she supplied, pausing her movements to think of a solution for her girlfriend.
“i’ll describe it to you.” azzi closed her eyes upon hearing paige’s words, she settled even further on the plane of the blonde’s toned stomach.
“the clouds are kind of…swirl-y?” the younger girl cracked an eye open to peer at the older girl, a loose chuckle escaping her throat. paige swatted at azzi’s arm in response, still her lips curled up as a warmth flushed her cheeks a light pink.
“hey I don’t have to describe shit to you then.”
“nono— ‘m sorry.” azzi yawned, “keep talking, p...” her voice drifted off as she brought her hands to rest under her chin, her eyelids fluttering closed.
so Paige did. she wasn’t looking at the sky anymore to describe the sunset to the sleeping figure sprawled atop her.
she was looking down at azzi.
“yeah, i just thought of something.” azzi sucked in a breath, “if it’s a boy, i really like jude. and if it’s a girl—” the brunette paused. “paloma is a beautiful name.”
paige was in new york for a coach photoshoot. the blonde wasn’t too fond of the loudness in the city, nor did she particularly appreciate how everyone acted as if they had somewhere to be and they had to be there at that very same moment. new york was nothing if not fast paced.
so the moment that paige had a break, she booked it. the girl needed a distraction, so she pulled up her to-do list that her and azzi had created while on the phone, right before paige’s flight.
- empire state bldg (duhh)
- the biggest barnes & noble
- ferry —> statue of liberty
- find a bday gift for mira
god when did paige become such a tourist. the blonde read down the list and became more and more dishearted at how much energy each item would spend. that was until the last part, it was her neice’s—mira’s—birthday soon, and unctie paige had yet to get her a present.
mira was seven years old, when paige was seven years old she loved to, well, she loved to play basketball. that wouldn’t work for the little girl, so paige set her sites on something that all little girls loved: dolls.
the blonde entered the “american girl doll store” into her google maps, and began her journey.
“holy shit.” a few moms glared at paige as she entered the building, likely because of her reaction but the store was fucking huge. (and incredibly overstimulating) bright colors painted the walls, there were about a million boxes of dolls sitting in each corner each one wrapped in a pristine red box, and the play sets? they were so detailed it was mind boggling to the young woman.
paige meandered about the store for a few minutes, inspecting the girl of the year, the doll hair salon, the doll hospital, the different eras, the the books, why did every doll have a traumatic ass backstory? it was beyond the blonde, she just wanted to pick a girl and get out of there.
that was until her gaze landed upon a certain curly haired doll. it was a “truly me” doll or whatever the fuck that meant. it had soft brown curls, umber eyes, and smooth, tanned skin. the doll was in an all navy basketball uniform, ball in hand with a bunny tooth grin peeking through her lips.
it reminded paige of azzi, her azzi, who was back at home being bothered by a freshman.
“that’s our truly-me #35, she’s actually quite the fan favorite!” a worker chirped from next to paige, the blonde flinched at the sudden noise, offering an awkward grin at the employee as she recollected herself. but oh the irony, looks like her beautiful girlfriend, check, truly-me number thirty five? double check, fan favorite? sounds like her people's princess.
“uh—yeah, she’s a very nice looking doll?” paige said, cringing at how weird she made the words sound.
“well, i could get her wrapped up for you, if you’d like, that is.” the worker offered, a robotic smile plastered on her face.
“you know what, sure. i would like that.” paige snapped a quick photo of the doll and sent it to azzi, her heart pulsing as she waited for her girlfriend to respond.
paigeyy: baby look what i found [.JPEG] reminds me of you
az 💗: Aww you thought of me, what a softy.
paigeyy: alr bruh nevermind
az 💗: I’m joking babe, that’s really sweet. I miss you, come visit?
paige had them deliver the box straight to mira’s door, she attached a little note that announced it was a gift from her favorite aunt, and wished her a very happy birthday.
paige left the store, $150 poorer that is, she had a new plan. one that involved losing even more money, since she booked a flight straight to connecticut for when her obligations in new york were fulfilled.
the sound of a soft knock echoed in azzi and kelis’ apartment. the older girl had been laying sprawled across their couch, reading a romance novel about some bakery meet cute. kelis was scrolling on her phone, invading azzi’s personal space as usual and stealing the popcorn the brunette had specifically brought out for herself.
the sound made kelis shoot up from her spot, racing to the door to see who it was. azzi groaned at her freshman’s enthusiasm.
“kelis! check the peep hole before you open the damn door, ‘m not having a repeat of last time with those random ass men.” azzi yelled after the girl before continuing her rant, “besides why did they think they could enter MY apartment like that. who the f—”
“surprise, baby.” paige stood at the foot of the couch, arms open waiting for azzi to acknowledge her arrival.
“—fuck.” the younger girl finished before shooting up to jump into paige’s arms. her heart thundered against paige’s as she buried her face in her girlfriend's neck. paige let out a huff before smiling and grabbing her girl’s thighs to pull her up.
“yup. im out.” kelis took the bowl of popcorn on the couch as she left for her room, pointedly slamming the door shut behind her.
“paige, you’re here,” azzi pulled back from the blonde’s neck to stare into her blue eyes. the older girl let out a chuckle, “no shit.” azzi hit her tenderly.
the two just smiled softly at each other for a few beats before paige gently connected their lips, she walked them back until she hit the edge of the couch. slowly, the blonde lowered them until azzi was perched comfortably on paige’s lap, bunny tooth smile and all.
“you know, i bought my niece that american girl doll.”
“the one that looked like me?”
“you’re such a fucking weirdo.”
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