Chapter Text
Irene sits on the side of the court, a few rows behind the bench of the home team. Currently, the girl's basketball team of Grandma Earl is hosting an exhibition match with a neighboring town. The cheer team doesn’t cheer for exhibition matches because it becomes a break in their hectic cheering schedule, but Irene is here for more personal reasons. Scottie is currently playing in the exhibition match.
The match is made of a combination of alumni and current players of the schools and Scottie was tapped to join in. Danielle, who served as her partner on the court, chose to sit this one out so she sits on the benches beside Irene, Honey-Belle, Gunther, and Kevin, with some of Scottie and Danielle's teammates two rows behind them, all cheering on Scottie and the fighting reindeer. So far, their team was leading with a sizable margin. Scottie, who didn’t have to score as much as she would during normal games, was perfectly content guarding the opposing team’s best guard, who had only made two out of their eight shots.
Near the end of the game, Scottie stands just behind the three-point line, the girl guarding was far enough that Scottie shot the ball with no problems. Everyone’s sight turned to the other side of the court, expecting the game to continue, but the team had begun to surround Scottie, who from what Irene can see out of the people surrounding her was sitting down and gently holding her hand, face scrunched ever so slightly in pain. A teammate motions Scottie to the bench, calling for a replacement and when Scottie finally walks out of the semi-huddle on the court, Irene sees her gently cradling her right hand. Fighting the urge to run down to her, Irene meets her eyes instead, an unspoken question passes through both of them, and Scottie mouths “I’m okay.” back.
The nurse rushes to the bench, right beside Scottie, and the game resumes. Rather than watch the game, Irene’s attention sticks to the nurse and Scottie who are talking calmly. She gets a glimpse of Scottie’s right hand and sees her middle and ring fingers bent and swelling.
“Oof, she must’ve jammed it” Irene turns to Danielle.
“Is it serious?” Panic starts to settle in Irene’s stomach.
“It isn't. It’ll take at least a week to heal, though.” Danielle’s face shows little worry for Scottie, so Irene shouldn’t worry either, but the panic and worry remain fluttering in her stomach. Turning back to the bench, the nurse has apparently finished with Scottie as she’s already on her way back to her seat at the scorer's table. Scottie’s holding an ice pack on her fingers.
The game ends with the Fighting Reindeers leading with fifteen points. All the players converge on the side to shake hands and share hugs. Scottie mingles with them for a good ten minutes before heading back to the lockers. Irene and her friends head out to the parking lot to wait for Scottie.
Scottie comes out of the gym with her duffle bag and heads straight to her friends. Irene meets her first with a hand circling her waist and kissing her cheek. “Damn, Scottie, you were on fire today Scottie,” Danielle says offering Scottie a side hug and a pat to the head. Honey-belle full-on hugs Scottie who takes it all in stride with a large smile. Kevin and Gunther give her massive pats on the back while congratulating her on the good game. Irene only watches them, paying extra attention to not hit her hand which she keeps on the duffle bag. After they’ve said their goodbyes to their friends and said promises to go on another triple date to the Munny sometime, Irene and Scottie walk back to their cars which they’ve parked next to each other.
“Can you drive home?” Irene asks, pointing to her hand.
“Um.” Irene frowns at the hesitation. “Probably, though I’ll have to take it slow.”
“Don’t risk it, I’ll drive you home.” Scottie opens her mouth to argue but Irene’s stare leaves no room for argument. Without any other argument, Scottie hops into the passenger side.
“Aww, are you that worried about me?” Scottie pouts mockingly at her, when Irene rolls her eyes at her, Scottie breaks out laughing.
“Well, I can’t have you hitting someone’s car and getting another fake girlfriend. I wouldn’t want to subject someone to that.”
Scottie gasps at her “I’ll have you know that I am an amazing fake girlfriend.
“Sure you are, babe. You totally didn’t develop feelings.” Irene says with a smirk. “Do you want to eat something before heading home?”
“Yeah, some burgers sound heavenly right now.” Irene hums in response. Scottie’s hands rest on Irene’s thigh comfortably before she closes her eyes and leans back on the seat. Irene had to force herself to focus on the road.
After a quick drive-thru and eating in the parking lot, they sit together and talk with a Fine Young Cannibals song playing. Afterwards, Irene drove Scottie home, dropping her off right in front of her house.
“See you on Monday.” She says as Scottie is making her way out of the car.
“Will do.” Scottie pokes her head back in to give Irene a kiss.