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Caught Between the Lines ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆.˚

Pairing: 𝖢𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗅𝗂𝗇 𝖢𝗅𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝗑 𝖬𝖾𝖽 𝖠𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗍! 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

Word count: 2.1k

Summary: 𝖢𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗅𝗂𝗇, 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖿𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝖾𝖻 𝗈𝖿 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌. 𝖲𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖻𝗈𝗒𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽, 𝖢𝗈𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗋, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒, 𝗌𝗁𝖾'𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝖽𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋. 𝖢𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗅𝗂𝗇 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗇 𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗅𝗈𝗒𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝖢𝗈𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗎𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝖼𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝗐 𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝗍.

Warning/s: 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗋 𝗅𝗆𝖺𝗈, 𝖺 𝖻𝗂𝗍 𝖿𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝖺𝖼𝖾𝖽???

Author's corner: 𝗁𝖾𝗒𝗒, 𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗎 𝗀𝗎𝗒𝗌 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗌 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗌 𝗂 𝗐𝗋𝗈𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌!!—𝗂'𝗆 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗇 𝗂𝗈𝗐𝖺. 𝗉𝗅𝗌 𝗂 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗒𝖾𝗍 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗈𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌

CAITLIN CLARK HAD ALWAYS known exactly who she was.

From the moment she first picked up a basketball, the rhythm of the game had been her heartbeat. It was her first love, her greatest passion, the one thing in life she could always count on. Every shot, every pass, every buzzer-beater was a piece of her story, written in the language of the sport she adored. And then there was Connor—her steady, unwavering boyfriend, the person who had always been by her side. Through every victory and every defeat, he was there, a familiar presence, a safe place.

She never questioned it. Not once.

Until you.

It wasn’t supposed to be complicated. You were just the new assistant for the athletic department, someone she saw in passing, a friendly face on the sidelines. The kind of person anyone would gravitate toward—kind, funny, easy to talk to. It started out simple. A few harmless conversations, a joke exchanged between drills, the kind of thing she’d never given a second thought to before.

But then she started noticing things.

The way her pulse quickened when she heard your voice. The way her eyes searched for you in the crowd before every game. The way she caught herself smiling at her phone when your name popped up on the screen.

It didn’t make sense. She was happy with Connor. She loved him. Didn’t she?

One evening, after a grueling practice, Caitlin walked outside the gym and found you waiting, leaning casually against the brick wall, arms crossed, that familiar smile playing at your lips. The golden glow of the setting sun framed you in a way that made her stomach twist—an unfamiliar, exhilarating feeling she couldn’t quite name.

"Hey, superstar," you teased, bumping her arm. "Killer game today."

She laughed, but it came out breathier than she intended. "Thanks. I try."

For a moment, the world seemed to slow. There was something unspoken in the air between you, something she wasn’t ready to acknowledge but couldn’t bring herself to ignore. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her gym bag as she struggled to push the feelings away.

"You, okay?" you asked, voice soft with concern, noticing Caitlin's uneasy posture.

She hesitated. She could brush it off, pretend like nothing had changed. Or she could be honest—with herself, with you.

"I don’t know," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think—"

But she didn’t finish. Couldn’t finish. Because if she said it out loud, if she admitted what was happening, then it would be real. And that terrified her.

You didn’t push. You just nodded, offering a quiet reassurance. "Whatever it is, I’m here."

Caitlin exhaled slowly, a mix of relief and frustration washing over her. She didn’t have the answers, didn’t know how to navigate these feelings. All she knew was that, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was standing at the free-throw line with the game on the line—and she wasn’t sure if she was going to make the shot.

As she stepped into the locker room, her teammates were in mid-conversation.

"Clark, you good?" Gabbie asked, tossing a towel over her shoulder.

"You’ve been spacing out a lot lately."

"Yeah, you better not be losing focus on us," Kate teased, elbowing Caitlin lightly. "We need our star locked in."

Caitlin forced a laugh, shook her head, sat on one of the benches, and began untying her shoes. "I’m fine. Just tired."

Monika gave her a knowing look but didn’t press. "Well, whatever it is, make sure you don’t forget we’ve got Purdue this weekend. We need you sharp."

Caitlin nodded, but even as the conversation moved on, she couldn’t shake the unease creeping in. She was used to having all the answers, knowing exactly what she wanted. But now? Now, she wasn’t so sure.

That night, as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, Caitlin tried to rationalize it all. Maybe it was just admiration. Maybe she simply looked up to you in a way she hadn’t with anyone else. But then why did her stomach flutter every time you sent her a text? Why did she replay your conversations in her head, wondering what you meant by certain glances, certain words?

Connor noticed something was off. He had always been good at reading her.

"You’ve been quiet lately," he said one afternoon as they walked along campus. "Everything okay?"

Caitlin forced a smile, nodding too quickly. "Yeah, just tired. Long practices."

He accepted her answer, but she knew it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t fair to him. It wasn’t fair to herself.

Days passed, and the weight in her chest grew heavier. It was after a particularly grueling practice that everything came to a head. She found herself lingering in the locker room longer than usual, dreading the moment she had to step out and face reality.

"Clark, you’re showering in slow motion today," Hannah teased as she finished getting dressed. "You trying to avoid something?"

"Or someone?" Sydney teased with a grin.

Caitlin sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You all are too nosy."

"We’re just looking out for you," Gabbie said, her tone more sincere now. "If something’s up, you know we got you, right?"

Caitlin said nothing in reply to Gabbie, she leaned her back against one of the lockers, running her fingers in her and softly tugged on it.

"I don't know why you're avoiding Y/N, and I don't want to meddle in on what's happening between the two of you, but I hope you two will fix this, whatever's been going on." Gabbie said in a worried voice.

Caitlin swallowed hard, nodding. "Yeah, I know. I'll talk to her soon." What Caitlin didn't know was that ‘soon’, may come a bit earlier than she would have liked.

You walked inside the locker room, your eyes looking for something or someone, your expression shifting the moment you saw her. The girls, all except Caitlin, turn to look at your arrival.

"Caitlin?"

She snapped her eyes open and stood straight as soon she heard your voice and turned to face you. "Y/N..." she said in a shocked voice.

"Hey, Cait, can we talk for a moment?" You said meekly, Caitlin merely blinked her eyes at you, unsure what to say. "Um." she mumbled, darting her head towards the girls in the room, signaling with her eyes that she wanted a moment with you.

Gabbie and the others shared a look of understanding and slowly piled out the room to give the two the privacy they needed.

You slowly approached her and took your place beside her. The two of you standing side by side with both your hands lying limply just inches away from each other, both in your mind wanting to hold each other's hands but too afraid to make a move. Neither of the two was looking at each other. Caitlin's staring blankly at the ceiling, while yours were at the ground, your right foot twiddling the floor. After a few minutes of tension-filled silence, you can't handle any more of the awkwardness dancing between the two of you and decide it was time to speak up.

"Why are you avoiding me, Cait?"

Caitlin did not reply to you, still staring at the ceiling, her eyes slowly blinking, quickly licking her lips.

"Had I done something wrong?" You said forlornly, furrowing your brows. At that, Caitlin snapped her head at you, and she immediately shook her head in disagreement.

"No, no... It's not you, God it was never you, Y/N," Caitlin quickly replied while grabbing your hand at your side, while her other hand held your jaw, her thumb rubbing your cheeks softy.

She looked at you nervously, her heart hammering. "I don’t know what’s happening to me," she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don’t know why I feel this way."

You didn’t look surprised. If anything, you looked… understanding.

"You don’t have to figure it all out right now," you said in a whisper, while slowly caressing her inner wrist with your forefinger.

"Feelings are messy. They don’t always make sense. You can talk to me, Cait. You are not alone, don’t bottle this up."

Caitlin inhaled sharply, her hands trembling. She wanted to believe you. She wanted to let go of the guilt, the confusion, the fear.

“I don’t know why I feel this way for you… It’s not fair. I— I don’t know what to do.” Caitlin choked, pressing her forehead to your neck. “I wish I could answer that, Cait.” You bit the inside of your mouth; the only comfort you gave to the teary-eyed girl was a soft squeeze of her wrist with a light kiss on the top of her hair.

Caitlin wanted to believe in you but most of all, she wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss your lips and not question why she wanted to.

Four months had passed, and Caitlin continued to wrestle with her emotions. Avoiding Connor was no longer an option. She needed to confront the truth—even if it scared her.

One afternoon, after practice, she found him waiting outside the gym. He looked at her with hurt but quiet understanding, his hands tucked into his pockets. "Do you love me, Caitlin?"

It was quiet for a moment, Caitlin hesitated, and in that pause, the answer became painfully clear. "I care about you, Connor. I do. But… something’s changed. I’ve changed."

His jaw tensed, but he nodded. "I knew this was coming. I just didn’t want to admit it."

"I’m sorry, I really am, but I don’t want to hide any longer. If I dragged this much longer, I would continue to hurt you more, it's not fair to you." she whispered in an apologetic voice.

"I just want you to be happy," he said softly. "Even if it’s not with me. Your happiness is more important."

“I’m proud of you, cait. I really am.” Connor added with a wobbly smile.

Tears pricked at Caitlin’s eyes as he walked away, but alongside the sadness was something else—a strange sense of relief. The weight she had been carrying was slowly lifting.

Later that night, she found herself outside your apartment door, heart pounding. When you opened it, surprise flickered across your face before softening into a smile, leaning against the door, crossing your arms, and leaning against the door frame.

"Yes, Caitlin?"

She exhaled, steadying herself. "I don’t have everything figured out yet… but I want to. With you.... If you'll let me."

You shook your head and stepped forward, pulling her into a big hug. "You don’t have to have all the answers or worry about what the future might hold. The answers will come when they’re meant to. Just know that what you're feeling is real. And it’s okay. You're okay."

Caitlin’s breath hitched, but this time, it wasn’t out of fear. It was out of relief. Acceptance. She let herself lean into the warmth of your touch, leaning on your right shoulder, pressing her nose at the side of your neck, finally allowing herself to believe it.

For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t afraid of who she was. And that, more than anything, felt like victory.