៵⋆ the reality of distance ៵⋆
➜ summary: surprising paige when she needs you most
➜ warnings: fluff (thats about it!) || not proofread!
➜ pairing: paige x long distance gf
➜ authors note: did we appreciate the donnie darko reference? anyways, here’s some fluff that i wrote this morning. i hope y’all enjoy!! also, feel free to ask if you want to be mentioned when i post something!!
three weeks, twenty eight days, six hours, fourty two minutes, and twelve seconds. that was how long it had been since paige bueckers had seen her girlfriend and she was going crazy. the longest she had ever gone without you was maybe four days, mind you, at the VERY BEGINNING of your relationship but once you guys hit the 2 month mark, she was hooked. her behavior was that of a codependent puppy. she refused to be without you for five days at most. christmas breaks? she booked you flights to and from your hometown and minnesota. during the summer of your junior year, her parents weren’t surprised when she brought you with her. you were an extension of her and during long periods of time, she didn’t know what to do without you which just made going to the wings impossible. well, not really. she was so excited that she didn’t even realize she would be leaving you until she found herself in your car, driving her to the airport. you helped her get her bags from the back but she was almost in a trance. she had tried to convince you to go with her (multiple times) but you couldn’t. there was too much school stuff, too much job stuff, and too much family stuff that just had to come first. “but mama, i promise it’ll only be for a few days.” she begged, practically on her knees. “im sorry, baby” you whispered, placing a kiss to her head and waving her goodbye. luckily for paige, she was able to immerse herself in basketball so well that she didn’t have the time to think about how far away you were. she didnt have time to mope or be lost without you.
until she did.
it was out of the blue, really. she was at a game when she saw someone who resembled you sitting courtside and it hurt. sure, she had facetimed you almost every hour of every day which helped enough but seeing someone who looked so much like you IN PERSON broke her. she felt herself succumbing to the loneliness of missing you again and everyone could see how badly it affected her. maddy noticed first, seeing how paige began to sulk. dijonai saw it in her fake smiles and forced laughs so she knew she had to take action to help out her rookie. you were sitting in your room, organizing your clothes to go back to your home state when you got a call from nai. she practically begged you to come to dallas, claiming she would get you anything you wanted and do your bidding for the rest of her life if it meant you come to surprise paige. all it took was one photo of her looking absolutely miserable for you to get on the next flight to dallas.
when you stepped into the arena, the noise was deafening. it was littered with people wearing her number on their backs and waiting for the team to start their warmups. dijonai offered for you to go into the locker room to surprise paige but you didn’t want to throw her off her game so you waited. you sat somewhere in the crowd, watching your girl play. she was even better in person than you remembered. during halftime, you got a text asking why your location was off which you ignored. then she called you. you sighed and found a quiet(ish) space to answer. “where are you? why is your location off?” she begged, clearly worried and upset by this. you sighed and glanced around. “i’m- at a club. with some friends. and i turned off my location so my parents couldn’t see?” you weren’t sure how convincing that was. probably not convincing at all because of how your voice wavered and sounded more like a question than an answer. paige huffed and you could almost see her pout. god, you wanted to see her… but you had to wait. “i dont believe you” she whined, growing more anxious. “just keep playing, baby. you’re doing so good.” “youre watching my game from the club?” “shut up.” you hung up with a small smile, returning to your seat. the wings were up 75-71 and you were cheering your heart out for your girlfriend. she was on fire. after the game (with a wings w), paige went into the locker room by dijonai waited for you. she watched as you rushed down to the court and then led you to the teams exit area. she told you to wait there, making a comment about how happy paige would be.
about fifteen minutes later, the players started filing out, some of them recognizing you from the numerous photos paige had shown them. nai tapped your shoulder and whispered, “she’s coming out now.” you smiled and nodded, beyond ready to see your girl. you hadn’t seen her in person for so long and god, she looked good. better, close up. her muscular ar,s were protruding through her shirt and it made you want to be wrapped in her. you quickly went back to your spot behind the wall and waited for paige to walk by, waiting until her back was to you before calling, “p! can i have your autograph?”
her heart skipped a beat and she didnt hesitate to turn around, her eyes wide and so beautifully blue. she blinked a few times before it actually registered that you were there. her girlfriend was there. it took maybe less than three seconds for her to tackle you in a hug, the both of you falling on the ground. her teammates took pictures and videos, gushing over how cute you two were but she drowned them out. the only thing that mattered was you. paige nuzzled her face in your neck, not even caring that you two were on the ground. “i missed you so much,” she whispered, hugging you tighter, “don’t ever leave.” you laughed and hugged her back just as tight before helping her to stand up but she wouldn’t budge. “baby, you have to get off the floor,” you laughed, amused and touched by her childish behavior. she huffed and stood up before clinging to your arm again, looking at you like you hung the moon.
later, you two sat on her couch in the quiet of her apartment. there were no distractions, no teammates, no schedules. just you and her, and the weight of all those days apart. paige leaned her head on your shoulder and whispered, “i didn’t realize how much i needed you.” you smiled and kissed her temple, holding her tight. “i’m here,” you promised, “i’m not going anywhere.” she smiled back and kissed your lips gently.
the way you two were wrapped in each other reminded you that even in the reality of distance, what you had was real and nothing could change it.
