Thick and Thin | Klay Thompson x reader
summary -> in which, you witness Klay tear his ACL in game 6 of the NBA Finals
warnings -> fluff, anger, angst, cursing? this is bad tbh
Y/N gets up at the half to grab a drink. Golden State was down by three and she was getting exponentially more and more nervous. Toronto led the series 3-2 and Y/N knew how important winning this game was for Klay, and the whole team.
After grabbing a drink she goes to sit back at her sideline seat near the Warriors bench. Oracle was thunderous with eagerness, encouragement, and anticipation. Y/N was hoping she’d be able to catch Klay’s eye before the 3rd quarter started. Hopeful it would give him some encouragement and ease his tension a little. He already had 19 points and was playing really well, but Y/N still wanted to help in any way she could because knew how nervous he got during close games.
The Warriors start to file out of the tunnel as halftime begins to wind down. Klay walks out with Steph and Draymond, deep in seemingly important conversation. When they break away from one another, Klay scans the sidelines looking for Y/N. He finds her and both of their eyes light up. He makes his way over to her and extends his hand below his waist, to her. Y/N takes a hold of it.
“You’re doing so well baby.” She brings his hand up to her lips and gently places a kiss on it. Klay relaxes at her touch.
“Thanks, but I can’t help but feel like we’re not doing all we can. I mean we’re better than this team, we should be blowing them out.” Klay being able to get rid of his frustration was an important part of their relationship.
Y/N looks up at her boyfriend and her eyes soften, “Look, you and the guys just need to get out there and play with heart. You are better than them, so all you have to do is play like it.” Klay bends down to kiss Y/N on her forehead, whispers an ‘I love you’, and then retreats to the circle of Warriors forming around their bench and their coach.
Soon enough, 12 minutes are put on the shot clock and the 3rd quarter, and 2nd half, is underway. The first couple of minutes are shaky for Golden State as Steph and Klay miss back to back threes, and Steph gets a personal right after. Y/N was on the edge of her seat and basically biting her nails down to the cuticle.
Klay rushes the ball down and fights his way into the paint off the screen from Draymond. Klay creates some space and pulls up to bring the Warriors within 3 again. Y/N cheers by flailing her arms wildly, almost spilling her drink and the one from the person next to her. Klay glances at Y/N and gives her a fast smile before retreating to defense.
The game goes back and forth for a while, with the Warriors taking the lead eventually when Klay banks a three off an assist from Draymond. Y/N is hyper at this point, a little tipsy, and so happy. The one thing in the world she was not tired of, was watching Klay do what he loves. The tension in the area was now palpable.
In the next play, Lowry loses the ball and Curry steals it and rushes it up the court. Y/N is smiling ear to ear as Klay gets ahead and into the front court before anyone else, with Danny Green trailing. Curry passes the ball to Klay swiftly across the court and Y/N is screaming as Klay catches it and goes up for the dunk.
It all happens so fast before all of Oracle is silent. Y/N stands up so briskly, she doesn’t even realize she’s done it until Bogut is grabbing her arm so she doesn’t storm the court.
When Danny went to block Klay’s dunk, Klay landed awkwardly and was now writhing in pain. Y/N has to look away from the scene after seeing the looks on his face. Curry bounces the basketball in frustration and Y/N could tell it was less about the game and more about his friend. Trainers swarm Klay, he’s grabbing his knee and calf with an obvious look of pain. They pick him up off the ground and walk him to the tunnel. Kerr stands with his hands over his head before scanning the sidelines. He makes eye contact with Y/N before pointing at her to follow Klay and the trainers into the tunnel.
Y/N catches up to Klay who is leaning near a wall and a stretcher, “God what happened?” she asks, more to herself. The moment Y/N and Klay make eye contact in the tunnel, her tears fall.
“ Y/N don’t cry, jeez.” Y/N turns away to wipe her eyes before getting closer.
“I landed weird, I don’t know what happened.” Just then an expensive looking guy in a suit walks from the back of the tunnel, right for Klay and Y/N.
“If you don’t shoot your free throws, you know you can’t return. That’s the rules.”
Y/N turns to the man in the suit, “He’s not shooting them.”
“Don’t do that Y/N.” Klay begins pacing, a slight limp in his step, “Alright I’m going out.”
“Klay come on,” Y/N sighs in frustration, “You don’t even know what’s wrong.”
“No, but if it's something minor and I don’t shoot these, then I can’t come back. This is the finals.” He’s stern, but obviously angry with no one but himself, “Stay here Y/N, I’ll be back.” Klay limps out of the tunnel and Oracle erupts in cheers and applause.
When Klay returned, his limp looked worse than when he walked out. They head to the locker room trainers. The head trainer talks to Klay for a while, asking him if he heard a significant ‘pop’ in his leg. As soon as Klay said ‘yes’, Y/N's heart dropped. The trainer gives Klay ice for his knee and crutches, and then sends him on his way.
Klay and Y/N walk out of the locker room toward the car to head home, avoiding eye contact with all of the reporters waiting for them by the exit, cameras ready and rolling. The game was still going on as Y/N and Klay could hear the roar of the stadium as they walked out of the double doors that led to the team’s parking garage. Y/N walks behind Klay in silence as he crutches towards Y/N's car.
On the drive to their shared apartment, they rode in silence and it was making Y/N nervous. Y/N takes her eyes off the road momentarily to glance at Klay. He was slumped against her seat, staring out the window. He pulls out his phone and looks something up. Y/N isn’t sure what it is, but whatever it was, it makes Klay curse under his breath.
“We fucking lost.” Y/N sighs deeply, upset about everything that transpired in the past 30 minutes.
“I don’t want you to be upset, Klay.” She says keeping her eyes on the road.
“Y/N, of course I’m fucking upset. I’m a basketball player that most likely tore their fucking ACL of-”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Y/N pulls into the parking garage of their apartment complex. She parks the car and turns to Klay, “I don’t want you to be angry with yourself. This isn't your fault, nor is it something you could have prevented. Of course you can be upset about the situation, it fucking sucks, but we’ll go to the MRI tomorrow, together, and if it's our worst case scenario then we’ll work through it. Together.”
“Y/N,” Klay grabs her hand, closes his eyes, and buries his head, “If I tore my ACL, that’s 6 months I'm out. I'm scared of that.”
“I know baby. I’ll be here through it all, I promise.” Y/N leans over the console of the car and gives Klay a kiss that is so full of love it throws him off. But it doesn’t take him long to return the kiss, with an equal volume of love and appreciation.
