Chapter Text
Lottie locks the door behind them and turns on the lights.
“Holy shit, your house is huge.” Natalie says while laughing.
“I'll give you a tour tomorrow. I don't know about you but I'm ready to crash.”
They make their way up the stairs and into Lottie's room.
“Where should I sleep?” Natalie asks
“You can sleep in the bed. It's plenty big enough.”
“Okay, where are you going to sleep?”
“In the bed?”
“Is there room for both of us?”
“It's a king-sized bed, Nat. It's fine.”
“Here.” Lottie says, throwing Natalie some pajamas from her dresser.
“Thanks.”
They both climb into the bed and under the blankets. Lottie claps and the lights turn off.
“Of fucking course you have clap lights.”
“Go to sleep.”
****
Natalie and Lottie both wake up Saturday morning with blazing headaches and a deep need for water.
“Ugh, shit, I hate this part of drinking.” Natalie moans.
“Catch.” Lottie says, tossing her a bottle of Tylenol from across the room but the bottle ends up bouncing off Natalie's head instead
“Thanks for hitting me in the head.” Natalie says opening the bottle and swallowing two pills. “Can I hop in the shower?”
“Go ahead. Through those doors.” Lottie points to two big wooden sliding doors, which Natalie had assumed were a closet.
“Why wouldn't you have a bathroom in here?”
“I heard that.”
“That was the point!”
Natalie slides the doors shut and turns on the shower to hot-hot, striping her clothes. She lets the water hit her pounding head and slide down her face, removing the tear stains under her eyes from last night. The hot water burns so good and it reminds her of Lottie's arms holding her last night, something nobody has done in years.
No, it's all fake. Just to avoid Taissa's anger.
She turns the water off and walks out in a towel.
“Um, Lottie, I don't have a change of clothes”
“On the bed.” Lottie says while doing her makeup.
“Oh.”
“So, Nat, how do we plan on this whole fake-dating thing?”
“Well, we all sit together at lunch anyway so that won't change and the team is only together at practice so we just need to be close to each other in the hallways and maybe hold hands in the locker room. How do you feel about pet names?”
Natalie lays down on Lottie's bed and stares up at the roof.
“Pet names?”
“Yeah, like baby or sweetheart.”
“Ew.”
“Thank God we agree on that.”
“Should we be practicing kissing?”
“What do you call what we did in the pantry yesterday?”
“Impromptu to make Taissa go away.”
“Yeah, we can practice if you want.”
“Now?”
“Whenever.”
Lottie stands up and walks over to lean over Natalie. Lottie rests her hand on the side of Natalie's face and leans down to kiss her. The kiss lasts for barely a second but it was enough to send sparks through Natalie's veins.
“How was that?” Lottie asks
“Felt pretty real.”
Lottie nods and goes back over to finish her makeup.
“So, what about the breakup?” Lottie asks
“What about it?”
“What's the plan?”
“It'll be one day this week. We should probably plan a fake argument and just break up in the hallway or locker room.”
“Okay, we can think about it later this week,” Lottie says, “Did you want that tour now?”
“Weren't you kidding about that?”
“I wouldn't want you getting lost trying to find your way around.”
“Yeah, because it's not like I can just live out of your room.”
“Shut up.”
Lottie stands up and opens her bedroom door, walking out. Natalie sits up, looking at her.
“Coming?”
****
The tour is over and their sitting across from each other eating the breakfast Lottie's housekeepers made.
“Remind me why you held my hand that entire time?” Natalie asks.
“Any practice we can get in for Monday is worth it, right?”
“Sure you didn't just want to hold my hand?”
“I certainly didn't want you to try and sneak off to the movie room.”
“You have a movie room and you didn't show me?”
“I'm afraid if you see it you'll never leave.”
“It's not like I could find my way out of here without help anyway. Also, I'm pretty sure you'd be fine with me staying forever.”
Lottie grins and she picks up the coffee mug in between her hands to her mouth to hide the blood rushing to her cheeks. After a few seconds, she moves the mug away.
“So,” Lottie says and sets the mug back on the table, “am I supposed to take you home?”
“As much as I wish you didn't that's probably the best bet. My mom will be worried once she wakes up and can't find me.”
“I'll grab the keys.”
****
They didn't talk most of the car ride, opting to sing to the rock and pop music on the radio instead but arriving at Natalie's house neither want to go separate ways.
“I feel bad leaving you here.” Lottie admits.
“It's okay, I'm used to it all by now.” Natalie says.
“It's not okay, you shouldn't have to deal with any of this.”
“I know, but what can you do? It's is how it is.”
Lottie sighs before Natalie gets out.
“You'll be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I'll see you Monday then.”
****
School comes quickly Monday, but Lottie and Natalie don't have any classes together until tomorrow and Kevyn wanted Natalie to sit with him at lunch so Lottie and Natalie don't see each other until practice.
They meet up beforehand and walk there together. Nobody says anything while they're playing and Natalie and Lottie barely have time to even exchange a few glances.
The questions, however, flow in immediately once everyone is in the locker room.
“So, how long has this been a thing?” Taissa asks Natalie, cornering her and Lottie.
“Not very long. Two weeks maybe.” Natalie answers.
“When did you even realize you guys liked each other?” Van asks
“It wasn't like something we talked about. It sorta just happened.” Lottie responds
“Wait, exactly how did it happen?” Laura Lee asks
“It's all kind of a blur. We were just talking behind the school and then everything happened at once.” Natalie answers
“Who kissed who first?” Mari asks
“We both did at the same time.” Lottie says.
“Wait, so does this mean-” Van starts to ask but is interrupted by Natalie
“Are you guys the cops or something? We're just going with the flow and seeing what happens.”
The players stop asking questions after that and everyone gets ready and leaves, leaving Lottie and Natalie alone in the locker room for the second time in a few days.
“Nice on-the-spot lies.” Lottie comments.
“Yeah, you too.” Natalie replies with a smile.
“Do you want to hang out at my house tomorrow after school?”
“Sure. Are your parents still gone?”
“Yeah. Their business trips are pretty long.”
“Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?”
Lottie nods and Natalie walks out the door, smiling as she goes.
*1 day later*
Lottie always sits toward the front and Natalie always sits in the back, that doesn't change even when they have classes together.
This day is no different. They both sit in their usual spots. What is different is that Natalie cannot stop staring at Lottie for the entire class period. It's not like Natalie planned to stare at her, it just happened that once Natalie looked at her, she couldn't tear her eyes away.
Luckily for Natalie, their English teacher, Mrs. Quinn, opted for them to watch a film about a book all period. That means Natalie can stare at Lottie all class and not get a failing grade but it also means with Lottie at the front, she can't see her staring.
Unfortunately, the people around her take notice pretty quickly.
“Who is that girl you're staring at?” the guy next to her asks.
“What? Oh. Uh, my friend.”
“Yeah? Is your friend single?”
“No.”
“Damn. Who's she dating?”
Shit.
“Me.”
SHIT.
“I thought she was your friend?”
“Friend, girlfriend. What's the difference?”
Pretty big fucking difference, Nat.
“Is it, uh, serious between you two?”
“That's none of your damn business, dude.”
The rest of the class goes by in awkward silence, Natalie refusing to acknowledge the boy and having to keep averting her eyes from Lottie's direction.
When the bell rings, Natalie grabs her things and rushes out the door in hopes to find Lottie and talk about the situation she just put them in.
Natalie spots Lottie by her locker, talking to Laura Lee, but as she gets closer she realizes how Lottie's eyes are practically sparkling and she can't help but think back to their conversation at the party.
“...I love her to death, I do...”
That's what Lottie had said in regards to Laura Lee, and Natalie hadn't thought twice about it then, but as Natalie leans back against the lockers closest to her and shuts her eyes, she can't stop the thoughts from spiraling.
What did Lottie mean by that?
Exactly how much does she love her?
Are they together?
Why does it even fucking matter, Nat? It shouldn't. Fake. Fake. Fake. That's all this is. Fake dating.
“Hey Nat, you okay?” Lottie asks resting her hand on Natalie's arm. The touch snaps Natalie out of her mind.
“Yeah. Just, um, tired.”
“Are you still coming over later?”
“Why wouldn't I be?”
“Just making sure. I'll see you later then?”
“Yeah.”
*4 hours later*
Natalie knocks on Lottie's front door and the second Lottie pulls it open, Natalie is pushing her way in.
“Okay, Lottie I think I might've messed up earlier but I couldn't tell you and I didn't see you the rest of the day and I need help fixing it.”
“Woah, okay, slow down. Let's go upstairs.”
Natalie throws her bag in the corner of Lottie's room and collapses down on her bed, Lottie coming over and sitting next to her.
“Okay, tell me what happened.” Lottie says.
“Right. So, this guy in our English class wanted to know who you were and if you were single. I didn't know what to say so I just said you weren't but then he asked who you were going out with and I sorta panicked and said me.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Why is that a problem? Are you serious? He is going to tell all of his dickhead - and probably homophobic - friends that we're dating.”
“Isn't that the point of all this?”
“The point was for our team to believe it, not the whole school.”
“Okay, fair, but this whole fake dating thing isn't even that bad. If the whole school wants to believe it, let them.”
“...you don't get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“I think I’m actually falling for you and I don't want the whole school to think we're a couple just for us to stage a breakup. At least within the team, it would be enclosed to a small group of people but I don't think I am going to be able to handle the entire school talking about something that was never real to begin with.”
“Wait, what did you say?”
“Were you listening to me at all?”
“Yes, of course, I was. I just - what do you mean ‘I'm actually falling for you’?”
“I'm falling in love with you, Lottie! And I’m fucking terrified I’m never going to be able to catch myself! Especially if the whole school finds out. I get that you don’t feel the same and probably want this to all be over, but you have got to understand where I'm coming from!”
“Who said I don't feel the same?”
“What?”
“The whole reason I wanted to make sure you were coming over earlier was because I wanted to talk to you about all this. That first night, after we left the party, I started to realize how much I care about you and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“I wouldn't do that, Nat.”
Lottie reaches over and places her hand under Natalie's chin, gently pulling her toward her. Their lips meet gently and they both relax into each other, and suddenly everything in the world seems to make sense again.