Chapter Text
The final week of Pee-Wee soccer was more an awards ceremony than anything else.
Jinx dropped off Vi and waited in their shared beat up pickup truck. Vi had said it would only take a half hour and it was important to show the kids they were supported. Jinx couldn’t argue with that - and not to mention, Vi promised her the car for the next three weekends if she waited. And so Jinx sat there blasting True Damage from her headphones and drumming on the steering wheel.
The coaches handed out the little soccer ball medals for all participants. Every athlete received a donut and a cup of hot apple cider. And then the children could shoot penalty kicks at their parents or guardians or whoever wished to step into the net until they got bored and decided to play on the playground.
Commissioner Grayson had assigned everyone duties. She even went so far as to ask everyone to applaud for, “Piltover’s Finest Pee-Wee Soccer Referees, Caitlyn and Vi”.” The children hooted and hollered while the adults applauded politely.
Caitlyn and Vi returned those cheers tenfold for each and every athlete as they received their medal from Commissioner Grayson, their donut from their coach, and their cup of apple cider from Caitlyn or Vi.
The ceremony completed, Caitlyn and Vi shuffled their feet. Neither of them wanted the event to be over. It felt too soon. The heaviness they had both been trying to avoid all morning had finally set in.
Vi snuck away before reappearing to grab Caitlyn’s hand. Vi pulled her away from the crowd of kiddos, parents, and coaches. Vi pulled Caitlyn to the bench where they’d found a truce after that rocky first week. Their bench. Vi took in a deep breath and finally spoke.
“Okay, so last week when I told you I was reformed? I lied.” Vi spun Caitlyn's wrist in her fingers before placing a pilfered medal in her palm. “This is for you… I uh.” Vi’s next thought was rudely interrupted by the sound of a blaring car horn in three short bursts.
Powder popped her head out the window of their shared beat up truck, a shit-eating grin on her face. "EY. VI. DID YOU KISS HER YET?!"
Heat crawled up Vi's neck as she sputtered, trying to say something coherent.
"SHUT UP!" Vi managed to call back. She turned back to Caitlyn, only to find a furious pink painted across her cheeks. They stood and stared at each other, something bubbling up inside the both of them only to be squashed once more by Jinx’s impatience.
“HALF HOUR’S UP! LETS GO, CASSANOVA. I GOT TICKETS TO THE MOVIES.” The horn blared again, and Vi finally let go of Caitlyn’s hand.
"I— I have to go— Thanks for the fun summer, Caitlyn. I'll see you around," and with that, Vi was gone.
Caitlyn was left alone at the bench below the oak tree where Vi shared her water bottle that second week of Pee-Wee Soccer. Crushed. She sat and sulked for a moment. She regarded her “gift.”
Caitlyn turned the medal over in her hands. It was small. One of the ones that had been handed to each child for their participation in Pee-Wee Soccer this summer. The green ribbon hung limply from her palms as she examined it. The raised holographic soccer ball on the front was a bit gaudy for Caitlyn’s taste and she certainly would not be wearing it, but it was a nice reminder of the seven weeks they’d spent in one another’s company.
But it wasn’t enough. She had so much she wanted to say.
As Caitlyn began to sink to the depths of sadness, she turned the medal over once more and reviewed the inscription on the back. She squinted when she noticed that it had been hastily scratched out and scrawled over with a permanent marker.
It now reads, “Thanks for everything. Call/Text anytime” complete with what she assumed would be Vi’s phone number. Her heart leapt in her chest and she hastily grabbed her phone and stored the number quickly before she could smudge the ink. She noticed a postscript as she did so. A tiny cupcake drawn in bulky marker with a heart next to it and “Vi” signed in blocky handwriting.
Caitlyn gathered her things and typed out a quick text. As she made her way to her car, her phone buzzed in her pocket twice.
Ice Cream?
Pilt Coast Custard
tonight? My treat.
Thought you’d
never ask 😉
See u @ 7?
Caitlyn beamed at her phone as she typed out a reply.
It’s a date.