Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Give me my phone, you bitch!” Sasha yells at her best friend, Becky Lynch.

The door to Sasha’s room is yanked open and Becky comes barreling out. She quickly leaps over moving boxes scattered around the apartment as Sasha bursts out of the room right behind her and gives chase.

It’s moving day in the newly rented apartment the two best friends share with Charlotte. The trio of friends had decided to spend their sophomore year of college in an apartment instead of crammed into dorms. And, that day, Becky and Sasha had beaten Charlotte to the apartment.

“Get back here!”

A wild laugh escapes Becky, “No chance!”

The words are followed by Becky bursting into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her. She turns the lock just as she hears Sasha slam into the door. Becky leans against the wall beside the door, sucking in heavy breathes with a wide grin on her face as Sasha tries to force the doorknob to turn on the other side.

Sasha pounds the door angrily, “Let! Me! In!”

“Not until I find ya a nice date first,” Becky answers distractedly, already waiting on the Tinder app to re-download to Sasha’s phone.

Becky has been trying to find Sasha a date for four months now. After trying out various dating apps over their freshman year, Sasha had gotten fed up near the end of their first year and had deleted all the apps and sworn to have a celibate sophomore year.

And Sasha, being the most stubborn individual Becky has met in her nineteen years of life, hasn’t looked back since. Instead, Sasha has holed herself up in classes, the library, and her room to focus on “learning” and “passing her classes.”

Like a total geek!

It’s like she’s Charlotte or something. And Becky can’t have BOTH of her best friends be complete nerds. Someone has got to come out and party with her, god damn it.

And, also…Sasha has seemed a little sad lately too. Becky can’t have that. Sasha has been Becky’s best friend since they were eleven years old. So, Sasha being anything but supremely happy will never be acceptable to Becky. Even though she won’t admit that to her.

So, it’s time to get Sasha out of the books and back into the dating game.

“Don’t you dare, Becky!”

Becky glances at the door and laughs, “It’s funny, Sasha. I’m actually quite the daredevil.”

After receiving another pound on the door and a “fuck you!” from her best friend, Becky turns her attention back to her phone. Noticing the app has downloaded, Becky pulls it up and quickly uses Sasha’s Facebook account to log back in.

On the other side, Sasha pounded the door a few last times before she finally lets out a frustrated groan. She briefly contemplated breaking the door down, but this is their first night in a brand new apartment. And Sasha doesn’t think Charlotte would appreciate her and Becky getting all of them kicked out on night one.

So, instead, she sits down with her head resting against the door contemplating just how she’s going to kill Becky when she unlocks that door.

Sasha deleted Tinder for a reason. Everyone only used it for hookups and one night stands. Nothing meaningful blossoms on that dating app, and she’s had enough bad experiences to be warned off the site.

It’s not that Sasha is overly picky or searching for some special kind of romance. She’s just...not a one night stand kind of girl. She needs...trust..and stability and— whatever it doesn’t matter.

She doesn’t want a girlfriend. And she doesn’t need some stupid app to find her one. But Becky can’t accept that.

Back inside the bathroom, Becky is quickly swiping through profiles.

Sporty. Right.

Too girly. Left.

Too many tattoos. Left.

Damn. Them titties?? Right.

Nerdy. Le—

Becky hears the ping coming from the phone and an excited grin spreads across her face. The sporty girl already matched with Sasha. Becky clicks back into her profile, only having swiped from glancing at everyone’s first picture.

Becky checks the name on the profile, Bayley. Hm. Unique spelling. That’s cool.

Her bio reads, “What’s your favorite movie? Oh, really? Mine too! That’s crazy!”

A small chuckle escapes Becky. A goofball. Sasha is gonna love it while pretending Bayley is getting on her last nerve.

Becky looks up and starts swiping through her other photos.

Bayley lifting weights at the gym. Becky pauses to scan her body. She’s got toned...everything. Sasha’s gonna die.

Bayley in a white shirt, leather jacket, and sunglasses covering her eyes, leaned against a brick wall. Super gay. Becky has seen Sasha drooling over girls in photos just like this before.

Bayley grinning from the seat of a kayak, clearly soaking wet. So she wasn’t just coasting lazily down the river. She looks like she might have even flipped the kayak at one point. Alright, now Becky likes her too.

So, goofy. Athletic. Extremely gay. Adventurous. She’s almost perfect.

Becky swipes to the final picture. Another grin emerges on her face. She is perfect.

The last picture is a smiling Bayley standing in front of what appears to be an animal shelter with a small, white dog in one arm. In the other hand is a sign saying, “Just Adopted.”

Yep. This is the girl.

Remembering that they’d already matched, Becky moves to message this Bayley girl first. After a string of messages, Becky finally feels like she’s got Sasha deep enough into this conversation that she’ll feel obligated to continue. She rises from her seat on the bathroom floor, twists the lock, and pulls the door open.

Becky, not realizing that Sasha had been leaning against that door, is startled as Sasha hits the ground in front of her. A loud laugh bellows from Becky at Sasha’s expense as her best friend groans in pain on the floor.

“Goddd,” Sasha moans, wincing, “I fucking hate you, Becky.”

Slowly, she pushes herself up from the ground and back to her feet. She glares at Becky defiantly and wordlessly sticks her hand out for her phone.

Becky grins and holds the phone up in the air.

“Nah, nah. Not quite yet, Banks.”

Sasha lifts an eyebrow, contemplating if she can wrestle Becky to the ground without breaking anything in the room.

Yes, she decides. Yes, she can.

She takes a step toward Becky, but the girl quickly waves her off.

“Hold on! Hold on! If you break your phone, then you won’t get to meet the girl of your dreams!”

Sasha growls, “You didn’t.”

Becky’s grin widens. She wiggles her eyebrows and happily bellows, “Oh, but I did.”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

Sasha jumps forward and grabs Becky, attempting to wrestle her phone from Becky’s hand. Becky struggles to keep the phone in her hand while trying to pry Sasha off her.

Nails scratch at each other, hands tug hair, and arms yank various limbs as the squabble drags them both down to the floor. Shrieks and insults echo throughout the bathroom as the chaos continues.

“What the hell is going on in here?”

Both girls look up at the same time from their position entangled on the floor to see Charlotte Flair standing in the doorway. The best friends glance at each other. Sasha begins to untangle herself from Becky when she feels another sharp tug on her hair.

“Ow, what the fuck!?” Sasha yelps.

Sasha dives back on top of Becky, and the fight for the phone resumes. An amused laugh leaves Becky when she realizes Charlotte has chosen to intervene by hoisting an angry Sasha off her.

Charlotte manhandles Sasha away from Becky and against the wall. A commanding “Stay!” and a glare from her stops Sasha from struggling. As Charlotte moves back, Sasha slumps against the wall and lets out a petulant huff, trying to move her hair back into place.

“What is wrong with you two?” Charlotte huffs, genuinely irritated by the events, “This is our first day in our first apartment! What if you had broken something, huh? We’re all 19! The landlord would barely let us sign the lease in the first place”

Sasha crosses her arms and looks at the floor, muttering, “Becky started it...”

Charlotte rolls her eyes and turns to Becky, who has moved to rest against the wall of the shower, knees pulled up to her chest.

Charlotte lifts an eyebrow at her, “What did you do?”

Becky’s eyes widen, and she gapes at Charlotte.

“What? Why do ya just believe her!?” Becky splutters, pointing accusingly at Sasha, “She coulda started it just as easily as me!”

Charlotte and Sasha both stare at her silently, expressions leaving no doubt of their disbelief. Becky, noticing there is no hope, slumps backwards against the wall.

“Fine,” Becky groans, “but it was for her own good!”

“She STOLE my phone,” Sasha shouts at Charlotte.

“She stole my phone,” Becky mocks, still pouting at being called out by her friend earlier, “Tattletale...”

“Tattletale? Bex, we’re not in first grade,” Charlotte replies, barely managing to contain a small grin.

“Yeah,” Becky retorts with a chuckle, “Tell that to Sasha’s Barney the dinosaur-themed hair.”

Becky couldn’t resist the dig at Sasha. Almost nothing is funnier to Becky than driving her best friend insane. Sasha can’t help herself. She’s always going to overreact, and it is Becky’s favorite thing about her. There’s a short pause in the room before

“Alright. That’s it!” Sasha says pointedly, before leaping at Becky again.

Becky shrieks and her hands move to cover her face but no blow comes. Becky peeks through her fingers to see that Charlotte had caught Sasha mid-air and pinned her against the wall again.

Man, sometimes having a giant friend comes in handy. But Becky makes a note to never say that to Charlotte. She can be sensitive about her size sometimes. Which Becky doesn’t get. Charlotte’s the perfect size. Becky could almost climb her.

Like, in a just friends way though.

After Sasha finally stops struggling, Charlotte turns back to Becky and sticks her hand out, face hard and serious.

“Phone.”

Becky sighs and stands, dropping the phone in Charlotte’s hand.

“Good girl,” Charlotte nods, handing Sasha’s phone back to the rightful owner, “Now, why did you steal Sasha’s phone in the first place?”

Becky grins proudly, “Well, actually, I just—“

“No! You’ve already been talking to someone?” Sasha yells in distress, reading through the messages Becky had been sending to Bayley.

“Yes! Yes, I have,” Becky happily admits.

She sweeps past Charlotte without a word, and once again swipes Sasha’s phone from her hand. This elicits a piercing glare from Sasha that goes unnoticed by Becky.

“Look,” Becky motions excitedly, quickly flipping back to Bayley’s profile, “Bayley is great! Totally your type, and you’re gonna love her!”

Sasha groans, “I’m not looking for some stupid Tinder hookup.”

“Come on” Becky pleads, “She hasn’t said anything gross or weird yet!”

“Yeah,” Sasha says matter of factly, “Keyword: Yet.”

“Just give her a chance!”

Sasha closes her eyes and lets out a deep breathe. When Becky is fixated on something like this, she’s never going to give in. The only way for Sasha to make this stop is— ugh, Sasha knows she’s gonna regret this.

“Fine,” Sasha huffs, “I will LOOK at her profile, but I’m in no way obligated to message her back.”

Becky quickly nods in agreement, “Yeah, of course, of course. Now, look!”

Sasha rolls her eyes but takes her phone back. She looks down at the Tinder profile in front of her.

Bayley.

Sasha scans the profile photo pensively. The girl is on a basketball court, clearly after some kind of game. She’s got her hair up in a side pony and the ball under her arm. A happy, tired grin is on her face.

She’s...cute. Sasha will give Becky that much.

Sasha looks down at the bio. They’re at the same university, so it’s convenient for both of them.

Age 21. Bayley is just two years older.

Bio. Sasha’s eyes scan the words Becky read just a few minutes ago. A small grin breaks on Sasha’s face before she quickly masks it. She rolls her eyes.

“Her bio is annoying,” Sasha mutters, eyes still focused on her phone.

“Ah ah,” Becky taunts, “I saw that grin, Banks.”

“Shut up.”

Sasha moves to swipe over to the next photo. Her finger pauses on her screen, and she just stares.

Gym. Weights. Arms. Muscles.

Unconsciously, Sasha wets her lips. Holy shit. This girl could probably deadlift her. That’s— no, no. Sasha doesn’t want a hookup, and if Bayley is using thirst pics in her profile then that’s probably exactly what she wants.

Sasha swipes to the next picture.

Okay, so she’s really hot. She’s athletic and strong and can...really...wear a leather jacket. Whatever. Big deal. Sasha’s seen photos like this before.

Swipe.

Bayley is drenched, sitting in a kayak. Her smile is cute. But Sasha likes to stay inside.

Swipe.

Sasha’s face softens at the last picture. She adopted a dog from a shelter. A really, really cute dog. And she made a stupid, adorable sign for the occasion.

Sasha stares at the photo with a soft smile and bright eyes. One of the biggest reasons Sasha agreed to this apartment was the deal that she could keep Ryu here. Last year, the hardest part of sharing a dorm with Becky wasn’t something from the endless list of annoying Becky habits.

It was Ryu not being allowed to stay with her. The dorms forbid it. And Sasha would have just stayed off-campus for her freshman year, but the university required that all freshmen live in the dorms their first year.

That’s why Sasha made the move to get a pet-friendly apartment this year. And endlessly begged Becky and Charlotte to split the rent with her. Her Mom is driving Ryu out here tomorrow, and Sasha is never leaving her baby again.

Mindlessly, Sasha’s thumb runs across the tiny white dog in Bayley’s arms. From beside her, Becky watches Sasha with her own small grin.

Sasha flips back to the message screen and re-reads their short introduction. She stares at the screen before nodding to herself. She hits reply and types out a message before she can chicken out.

Sasha Banks: Sorry, hi, this is Sasha. I know this is gonna sound weird, but my friend has been trying to get me on a date for like the past month. And so she stole my phone and re-downloaded this app. She’s been the one talking to you up to this point...

Sasha bites her lip and stares at the screen, waiting for a response.

Becky feels a nudge and glances up to see Charlotte quietly motioning to the door. Becky nods and the two leave the room, knowing how fixated Sasha gets when nervous. Sasha will come to them and share after.

Sasha’s phone pings again, and her eyes immediately flit down to the new message.

Bayley: Oh. Haha. At least she’s trying to help?

And before Sasha can respond, Bayley’s already typing again. She decides to wait and see what Bayley has to say first.

Bayley: But since you technically didn’t swipe for me, then it’s okay if you wanna unmatch us. No hard feelings, I swear!

‘She’s...god, she’s nice,’ Sasha thinks, barely stopping herself from swooning.

Sasha: No, no! I just wanted you to know it wasn’t me talking to you before

Sasha regrets the message the second she hits send. She should have sent an emoji or something...or started some kind of conversation. She sounds so cold.

Bayley: Ah, gotcha. Well, I for one am glad I’m talking to the actual owner of that adorable puppy with you in your profile!

A huge grin emerges on Sasha’s face.

Sasha: His name is Ryu! I saw your puppy too. He’s definitely the second cutest dog in the world! 😝 Ryu’s gotta keep his crown though. 👑

‘That’s better, Banks. Light. Playful,’ Sasha thinks.

She looks up and suddenly remembers she’s been sitting in the bathroom. And apparently, Becky and Charlotte have both left. Sasha slides her phone into her pocket for a moment and makes her way out of the bathroom. She glances around the living room and sees neither Becky nor Charlotte anywhere in sight.

So, she heads into her new room and plops down on her unmade bed. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Sasha quickly unlocks the screen and goes back to her messages.

This time, Sasha does swoon.

Bayley: Well, I guess it’s only right for the cutest dog in the world to be owned by the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Flex (my puppy🐶) is hurt by this news, but I’m pretty sure he’ll recover.

Sasha re-reads the message over and over. Usually, Sasha would scoff at being called the most beautiful woman someone had ‘ever seen.’ It seems like a planned line meant to get some sleazy dude laid.

But Bayley just seems sweet. And genuine. Sasha just...believes it from her.

Sasha backs out of the messages and back into Bayley’s profile. She scrolls back to the picture of Bayley with Flex. And looks at the innocent, excited expression on Bayley’s photo.

And, just like that, Sasha is hooked.

Sasha: Can you tell Flex I said hi?

Bayley: I would love to

A minute passes before Sasha gets a response from Bayley. In the meantime, Sasha wonders if Bayley really did go to tell her dog Sasha said hi. God, she’s so adorable.

Unable to help herself, Sasha clicks back into the picture of Bayley at the gym. She can tell it’s not just posed. Bayley’s pony is slightly messy and a light coat of sweat covers her. And her body gives away that Bayley is a regular too.

Everything is toned.

Sasha knows that if somehow Bayley is just after a one night stand, she doesn’t know if she’d be able to say no. She wonders what it would be like if Bayley—

Ding.

Bayley: Flex says hi! I showed him the picture of Ryu, and he wanted me to ask if Ryu would like a new friend.

Everything Bayley says only makes her cuter. Sasha can’t help herself.

Sasha: Ryu isn’t usually the type for new dogs in his life…but I think he might make an exception this time

Bayley: I’d like that

Bayley: I mean, Flex. Flex would like that…

Sasha lets out a giggle and bites her lip.

Sasha: Flex, of course.

Bayley: So, does Ryu think he might get along with Flex?

Sasha: He definitely does.

Bayley: Yeah?

Sasha: Oh, yeah...

For the next two hours, Sasha sits on her new bed messaging Bayley. At no point does she remember Becky and Charlotte might need help unpacking. And she doesn’t hear when Charlotte peeks into her room to see what she’s doing.

Charlotte tentatively pushes the door ajar and sees Sasha staring down at her phone with a huge grin on her face. Happiness for her friend swells inside Charlotte’s chest, and she quietly closes the door. She walks back into the kitchen where Becky is moving plates into the cabinets.

Charlotte watches her fondly.

“I think you may have done a good thing.”

Becky turns to her with a goofy grin, “Yeah, I can do that sometimes, ya know?”

“I know,” Charlotte replies, voice gentle.

The tone of Charlotte’s voice causes Becky to hesitate before picking up the next plate. She turns to look at Charlotte. The room goes silent. Becky swears she sees something flash in Charlotte’s eyes but she can’t tell what it is.

The silence continues to stretch between them, and Becky feels a pang in her chest. She looks away and swallows roughly. Casually, she picks up another plate and spares Charlotte another glance.

“How’s, uh, how’s Andrade doing?”

Charlotte seems momentarily startled by the words. However, she quickly recovers and a smile appears on her face.

“Good. Um, he’s— we’re good.”

Becky holds back a grimace, “That’s...good.”

“Yeah.”

Silently, the two women return to unboxing the apartment, each lost in their own thoughts. Their third friend remains in her room, eyes zoned in on her phone for the rest of the night.

A shy, excited smile permanently etched on.

X

The next morning Sasha is awakened from her slumber by the blare of an alarm. She lets out a loud groan and blindly reaches to her bedside table and feels around for her phone. Once she gets ahold of it, Sasha clicks the snooze button on the side but the alarm doesn’t shut off.

“What the fuck,” Sasha mutters sleepily, rubbing her eye.

“WAKE UP SASHA!”

The loud shout in her ear elicits a scream from Sasha, and she pushes herself away from the voice. In the process, she tumbles out of her bed, hitting her head on the floor while remaining tangled in her bedsheets. She looks up, letting out a pained groan in the process and rubbing the back of her head.

“Hi, Sasha. Long-time, no speaky,” Becky grins from above her, looking down from Sasha’s bed.

“Die,” Sasha growls.

She reaches up and yanks her pillow off the bed. Placing it below her, she rests her head on the soft surface, tugs the blankets tighter around her, and attempts to go back to sleep on the floor.

The loud alarm begins blaring again, and Sasha lets out a moan. She grabs her pillow, placing it over her head. Resting her head on the floor, she attempts to ignore the alarm and once again return to her beauty sleep.

However, she’s disturbed once more by the pillow being yanked away from her. The anger steadily rising in her is waking Sasha up, and she turns her glare on Becky.

“Go away,” Sasha growls.

“No,” Becky grins back proudly.

“I hate you.”

Becky’s smile only widens, “I love you too, bitch. Now, get your ass up here. It’s gossip hour.”

Sasha groans, irritated that her sleep has been disrupted. And that there is no sign she’ll be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. Instead of responding to Becky, she untangles herself from her covers and makes her way out of her bedroom.

“Hey! Where do ya think you’re going?” Becky complains from behind her, immediately rising to follow Sasha through the living room.

“Coffee,” Sasha grunts.

Sasha ignores Becky on the way to their new kitchen. When she enters the room, she glances around and begins to search for the coffee grounds she made sure to pick up for herself on the way to the apartment yesterday. Although Becky probably knows where they are, Sasha would rather light her hair on fire than let Becky think she’s starting a conversation before her morning coffee.

After searching for a minute, she locates the coffee in one of the cabinets and starts the machine up. While she waits for the pot to fill, Sasha leans forward against the counter. She rests her head on her arms, closing her eyes.

“Ooooooo,” Becky sings from behind her, “Someone has a few messages from Baaayllleeeyy. Do you want me to read ‘em to ya?”

Immediately, Sasha springs up and shoots over to snatch her phone from Becky. A fiery glare pierces into the girl.

“Stop. Taking. My. Phone,” Sasha growls.

Becky waits for further threats to fly but is surprised by Sasha unlocking her phone instead. She watches in bewilderment as her best friend reads the messages on her screen and a shy, happy grin emerges. Sasha doesn’t talk to anyone in the morning nor does she crack a smile until she’s downed at least a full cup of black coffee. What in the hell did this Bayley chick say?

Sasha’s phone dings as another messages comes through. This time a girly giggle escapes Becky’s friend. Becky has to know what exactly is going on here.

“Alright,” Becky starts, trying to garner Sasha’s attention, “Who are you, and what the hell happened to my best friend?”

The grin immediately drops from Sasha’s face as she looks up from her phone at Becky’s question. Sasha’s eyes narrow at her friend in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“I dunno,” Becky continues, “You’re being all weird. Smiling and giggling at your phone before you have one sip of coffee? How big of a crush can ya have on this lass after one night of texting?”

Sasha’s eyes widen and she splutters nervously, “I don’t have a- a crush! Are you kidding me? What am I, like 5? I don’t get crushes, Bex. That’s ridiculous.”

Becky spots the opportunity to rile Sasha up from a mile away. And, just like always, she can’t resist.

“I don’t know,” Becky replies skeptically, “Seems like ya got a big ol’ crush to me. Are you guys writing love letters to each other? Oh, Bayley, do you like me too? Yes, no, or maybe!”

“Shut up,” Sasha hisses.

“Bayley! I like you so much, but my Mom says I’m just too young to feel this way!”

Sasha’s eyes narrow into a glare, and she reaches out to grab at Becky. But Becky catches the movement and darts away before Sasha can reach her. She walks backward, knowing Sasha is too tired to commit to a chase right now.

“Bayley, you’re so pretty! Every time I see you, I get all these butterflies in my stomach! Do you think I’m pretty too?”

Sasha seems to break and makes a move toward Becky, who turns and leaps over the couch. She stumbles backward toward her room and watches Sasha to see if she’ll run after her. However, before she makes it into her room, she decides to let out one last taunt.

“Bayley, you’re so strong! Oh, I wish you could just pick me up and whisk me away from this dreary old tow— ”

Becky’s interrupted by a smack to the back of her head. She turns and sees Charlotte meeting her with a scolding glare.

“Ow! Dude, what the fuck?”

“Stop harassing Sasha. It’s good that she’s talking to someone new, and you know it,” Charlotte lectures her, speaking as if Becky was her child.

Becky hears Sasha’s loud laugh from behind her. Becky’s ego takes enough of a hit to goad her into a response.

“You’re not my boss,” Becky mutters, still rubbing the back of her head.

Charlotte rolls her eyes, “I’m not. But you could learn to be a little nicer to your best friend.”

“But she was—” Becky whines and turns to point back at Sasha, only to notice that the girl has already shifted her focus back to her phone. And once again the huge grin has returned.

“See,” Charlotte whispers fondly, “Look at how giddy she is. Just let her have this one, okay?”

Becky watches her best friend and lets out a sigh. Charlotte is right. Just like always. Becky hates that about her.

“Fiinnneee,” Becky groans, making her way back into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

She’ll give Sasha some time to talk to Bayley, but she’s going to dish with her later. Even if she has to throw Sasha’s phone out the window. Bayley be damned. Well, not damned. The whole point of this was to get Sasha a date, and that doesn’t look like it will happen without Bayley. Okay, Bayley will be temporarily damned then.

Becky glances back over at Sasha, now pouring her first coffee of the morning. Although, there will certainly be more cups to come. Sasha’s phone dings again, and she immediately sets her coffee cup down, eagerly grabs her phone, and reads the message Becky assumes is from Bayley.

A small grin breaks free on Becky’s face as she watches Sasha giddily respond.

Bayley: No way! Dream Bean is my favorite coffee shop around here too! It’s about 5 minutes from my apartment and right on the way to class LOL. How have we not seen each other there before??

Sasha: That’s crazy! Are you serious? I have no idea, but I definitely would have noticed you…

Sasha hits send before she can second guess the message. She has to remind herself that it’s okay to flirt with Bayley. If she wasn’t interested then they never would have matched. Maybe Bayley even wants Sasha to flirt with her. But she can’t help the flicker of doubt that creeps into her mind. What if Bayley is just being nice? She’s not interested, but she would feel bad if she cut the conversation off. Sasha stares down at her phone, worriedly awaiting a response.

Bayley: Yeah? Well, if you think I’m noticeable, seeing you must be like getting run over by a car.

Sasha grins down at her phone. God, she’s so sweet. She knows that it’s beyond time to get her head out of her phone, but she just can’t stop messaging back. Every time Bayley sends her a message it’s like this tiny fire lights inside her, and it’s almost addictive.

Sasha: lol what does that mean?

Bayley: It means you’re beautiful.

A small squeal escapes Sasha when she reads the message. Embarrassed at the sound, Sasha quickly glances up and around the kitchen. When she notices that Becky and Charlotte have left, she sighs in relief. If Becky heard Sasha squeal at a message from Bayley, then she could never live that down. Knowing she’s off the hook, Sasha takes a sip of her coffee and looks back down at her phone.

Sasha: You’re too sweet.

Bayley: I’m just telling the truth. I swiped on you almost immediately, just from your first photo. I couldn’t believe it when we actually matched.

Bayley: Even though technically the person I matched with was Becky LOL.

Unable to help herself, a minor streak of jealousy flares up in Sasha. She quickly stifles it though. Bayley swiped for Sasha’s picture. She’s talking to Sasha now. Realizing her train of thought, she’s stunned for a moment. She’s always been a jealous person, but for that to be showing up so soon...over something that makes no sense…

Maybe Becky was right. Maybe she does have a crush. But already?

Sasha: Hey, now, you didn’t swipe for Becky’s picture! That was all me babe

Bayley: Really? Good to know lol

Sasha: And... I would have swiped for you too. If I had decided to actually get back on this app after all the creeps I’ve matched with before.

Sasha reaches down and grabs her cup of coffee. She decides to move to the living room, so she can actually have somewhere to sit. After walking over to the couch, she gently places her coffee down on the side table before sitting beside it. She rests her feet on the coffee table and picks her phone back up to read the reply from Bayley.

Bayley: Haha so I haven’t been put into the creep column yet?

Sasha: I don’t know…it’s a little early to tell…

Bayley: Pft! Come on, now. Remember my cute puppy? I’m clearly not a creep

Sasha lets out another giggle before replying.

Sasha: Flex could just be bait! How am I supposed to know?

Bayley: How DARE you accuse Flex of participating in this scheme!!

Sasha: So, you admit there is a scheme?

Bayley: My only scheme is to talk to a pretty girl

Sasha smiles down at her phone and is ready to type another response when a loud laugh comes from behind her. The sound causes her to jump and her phone flies into the air in the process, landing on the rug in front of her. She turns around and sees Becky behind her, almost breathing over her shoulder.

Sasha let’s out a groan and rolls her eyes, “Why won’t you leave me aloonee?”

Becky leaps over the couch and lands directly beside Sasha before turning to look at her, “Hey now! I’m your best friend, and I’m just tryna have a conversation here. I want the tea on this Bayley girl.”

Sasha scoffs, “No one says tea anymore.”

“Ummm, I just did,” Becky replies, pointing at herself with a cheeky grin.

Involuntarily, Sasha smiles. Becky is an idiot. But maybe she’s an idiot that’s a little bit right. Not about tea, because Sasha’s right about that one. No one says that. But maybe she should take a minute to dish with Becky. Thinking back, Charlotte and Becky basically unpacked everything for Sasha while she texted Bayley last night, and they never once pulled her away to help.

Sasha grabs her phone and unlocks it. She ignores Becky’s offended, “Hey!” for a moment and types out a message to Bayley.

Sasha: Stop being so sweet to me! Do you mind if I put a halt on the convo for a minute? Becky won’t quit annoying me about hanging out

Bayley: Yeah, no prob! :)

Sasha drops her phone in her lap and looks back up at Becky, “Okay, let’s dish.”

An excited grin emerges on Becky’s face, and she bounces in her seat slightly.

“Alright, bitch, let’s go. I was right. She’s totally hot.”

Sasha grins wide and exhales, “Yeah she definitely is.”

Sasha flashes back to that picture of Bayley working out. That is a show that Sasha would be more than willing to watch in person. Maybe Bayley could even help her work out. Sasha’s mind wanders to thoughts of how Bayley’s hands might feel guiding her through exercises. She wonders what Bayley sounds like. If she would be sweet and gentle in her instruction or...strict and serious. A small shiver crawls up her spine at the thought of Bayley unapologetically telling her what to do.

“You gonna tap that?” Becky teases, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

Sasha balks at the unexpected question. That may have been the path her thoughts were taking, but no way in hell is she ever admitting that to Becky.

“I haven’t even met her yet! And I’m not even looking for sex, dude,” Sasha replies indignantly.

“Not looking,” Becky grins, “But not opposed either. Am I right?”

Sasha rolls her eyes, “I don’t even know why I agreed to talk to you.”

Becky waves her hands in surrender, not wanting to shut Sasha down so soon. She’s serious about wanting a dish session. They always talk about this stuff, but she especially wants to now. It usually takes Sasha weeks to get all giddy about a new crush, and even that has barely happened once or twice. But less than twenty-four hours of talking to Bayley, and she’s already hooked?

Man, Becky might get to brag about starting this relationship for months. Sweet!

“Fine, fine, fine,” Becky acquiesces, “No more talking about how you wanna bone Bayley down.”

Her only response is being hit with a sharp glare that brings a momentary smirk to Becky’s face. She quickly stifles the expression and gets ready to attempt a more serious approach.

“But, for real. Do you actually like her?”

Becky watches Sasha grin shyly and a light blush coats her cheeks.

“Um, yeah,” Sasha mutters happily, looking down at her hands, “I, I think I do. I mean, I haven’t talked to her long, and I haven’t met her in person. But I just, I don’t know. I really think I might like her.”

A genuine smile spreads on Becky’s face at the confession. Sasha looks...so bubbly and happy. Man, Becky hopes this Bayley thing works out, and that she’s everything Sasha says she is.

“And, um,” Sasha continues, “She says the sweetest things. Here, look at this.”

Sasha retrieves her phone and pulls up her messages with Bayley. Using her finger to scroll up, she skims their conversation until she lands on the one she was looking for. She turns her phone around to face Becky and points at one of the messages on the screen. Becky moves her head closer and squints a little to read the fine print.

“The picture you took with Ryu was just perfect,” Becky reads the message out loud, “I don’t swipe on many people from their first picture, but there was just something about you. You’re so beautiful, and the way you were looking at Ryu. I could tell you have a really big heart. And I couldn’t help myself. I had to swipe immediately.”

Becky looks up from the phone and catches Sasha with the giddiest expression Becky has seen on her in a long time. Becky can’t help but grin back.

“Damn, girl,” Becky exclaims, “She laying it on thick and not even holding back.”

Somehow Sasha’s grin widens even further and a happy laugh leaves her, “I know. I just, no one has ever said anything like that to me on these apps. She’s just, she’s just different, Becky.”

“When are you two lovebirds going on your first date?” Becky asks, partly to again tease Sasha and partly a serious question.

Upon hearing the question, Sasha begins to fidget with her hands nervously. She’s never really been the type to ask for the first date on a dating app. She’s always waited until the other person made the move. And it’s never happened this fast before either. Sasha would usually talk to the person for an entire week before even agreeing to a date. But if Bayley asked now? Sasha would probably get ready and meet her for coffee in an hour.

“I don’t know,” Sasha answers tentatively, “She hasn’t asked yet.”

“She will,” Becky replies, nodding her head in assurance, “And if somehow she doesn’t, why can’t you ask?”

“I, I don’t know,” Sasha stutters, brushing her hair back over her ear with one hand, “I’ve never asked before. The other person always asked first. What if she says no?”

Becky rolls her eyes with a scoff, “No? Are you serious? With all that smoke she’s blowing up your ass? This girl is in it to win it. And by it, I mean you.”

Sasha glares playfully at her best friend, “I’m not a prize, you bitch.”

“Maybe not,” Becky starts teasingly, “But Bayley sure is looking to score some points at your stall.”

“Shut up!” Sasha squeals gleefully.

She tackles Becky playfully onto the couch and the two begin attempting to shove the other off the couch. Finally, Sasha gets the advantage and Becky lands ass first on the carpet. In response, Becky reaches up and smacks Sasha’s knee.

“Ow!” Sasha squeals in pain, reaching down to hit Becky’s side in return.

Becky reaches up to land another blow on Sasha when they are again interrupted by a voice.

“Do you two ever stop?” Charlotte answers from above them with a grin.

“Nope.”

“Not really.”

Charlotte rolls her eyes. Last year, she stayed in her own dorm while Sasha and Becky bunked together in the next room. For a solid month, Charlotte was convinced the two were having sex and was surprised to discover nothing was going on between the two best friends. When she finally questioned the relationship, Becky and Sasha had laughed hysterically while fake gagging for the next fifteen minutes. When her two morons finally calmed down, Sasha explained that play fighting had been a part of their relationship since both were children.

“Well, are you at least done now?” Charlotte questions, “I thought I heard some dishing going on in here without me, and I want to hear all about this Bayley too.”

Sasha grins and extends a hand to pull Becky back up on the couch beside her. While they get settled, Charlotte moves to sit in the armchair on Becky’s side. Sasha turns to Charlotte with an excited grin and begins to relay everything she told Becky.

Charlotte listens carefully with a fond grin on her face and hopes dearly that maybe Sasha has finally met her match.

X

A week later and classes have finally resumed for the year. The three friends had tried to sync their schedules up as much as possible, the process easier because all of them are still working on their basics. So, negotiating class times and professors over the summer, the three had found a way to share about half their classes. Which means often, they run on the same schedule.

The worst part of their schedule is an 8 AM Lit course on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Their first Thursday back finds Charlotte especially grumpy in the morning. Their friend had just started her period Wednesday and woke up feeling like shit. Becky spent the morning attempting to convince Charlotte to just stay at home sick while Becky and Sasha took notes for her, but all of that effort was to no avail. Out of the three, Charlotte is by far the most studious in her classes.

She never ditched and a bad day of cramps would be no exception. So, instead, Becky proposed that the three head out a few minutes early and stop at a coffee shop along the way.

Charlotte tiredly answers her, “Dear, God. Please.”

Becky nods, with a gentler than usual expression. She turns to Sasha next and rolls her eyes when she sees her best friend with her head buried in her phone yet again. A sight that has become more routine than special attraction throughout the past week. Even though Sasha hadn’t met Bayley in person yet, she seems to become more enraptured by the woman each day.

“Sasha,” Becky calls out, trying to pull her attention from her phone, “What do ya think? Coffee?”

Sasha looks up momentarily, dismissively replying, “Yeah. Coffee. Sounds great. Let’s do it.”

Almost instantly after Sasha’s words, an idea pops into Becky’s mind. Last semester, she heard Sasha raving constantly about this one coffee shop. Maybe they could go there.

“Hey, what was that one coffee shop you wouldn’t shut up about last year?” Becky questions, still trying helplessly to remember the name of the joint.

“Dream Bean,” Sasha mutters, head still buried in her phone.

Becky can tell that she’s barely listening but stifles her small amount of irritation in favor of setting the plans.

She turns and nods at Charlotte encouragingly, “Yeah, why don’t we go there, then? I don’t think it’s too far.”

Becky looks from Charlotte back to Sasha and notices that she’s tensed up. For the first time in this conversation, she’s pulled her head out of her phone. She looks at Becky, disguised panic in her eyes.

“Um, no. No. No,” Sasha stutters out quickly, “That’s fine. Let’s just go to the Starbucks on campus. That works too.”

Becky eyes her critically. What is her problem? She loves that coffee shop. Always talking last year about how much better it was than Starbucks. So, why is she opting for Starbucks now?

“No, Starbucks is always way busy, and you said this place was kinda a hole-in-the-wall type. Let’s just go there. It’ll be faster,” Becky responds, trying to hurry the conversation along so they can head out.

Charlotte is already borderline grumpy, and if they are late to class, then it will only get worse. And whenever she’s in a bad mood, Becky is usually in for an earful while Sasha is spared the honor. So, if they can hurry this up in any way that’s what Becky is going to do.

“No we can’t,” Sasha squeaks out, placing her phone down on the armrest of the couch.

Again, Becky narrows her eyes at her best friend, “Why are you so adamant we don’t go to your favorite coffee shop?”

“I-uh,” Sasha stumbles, diverting her eyes from Becky, “I don’t...like it anymore?”

Becky scoffs, “That’s not true. Can ya just tell us the real reason, so I can say you’re wrong already? We’re gonna be late to class.”

Charlotte’s head shoots up, tuning into the conversation herself, “Late?”

Becky sighs, turning to her other friend, “No, we aren’t going to be late. We’re going to Dream Bean. Just go grab your bag, Char.”

Charlotte nods and leaves the room to gather her things while Becky turns back to Sasha. She’s momentarily surprised to notice that Sasha has still not grabbed her phone, even though it’s vibrated with several messages from Bayley. What is her problem?

“We can’t go to Dream Bean, Bex,” Sasha mutters, demeanor seeing more nervous and reserved.

“Why?” Becky questions plainly, curiosity and mild concern beginning to arise within her.

Sasha’s eyes shoot to her phone for an instant before flickering back to Becky. Unconsciously, she begins to tug at the edge of her jacket sleeve, a nervous habit she’s had since the two were children.

“Bayley goes there every morning. And she has an 8 AM too…” Sasha mutters anxiously.

Becky furrows her eyebrows, “Why does that matter? Don’t ya wanna meet Bayley?”

Sasha self-consciously tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She does want to meet Bayley. But that’s planned. When Sasha can take her time and get ready. Pick out a nice outfit. And have days notice to prepare for the meeting she’s not been able to stop thinking about for the past week. She doesn’t just want to run into Bayley at a random coffee shop, barely in any makeup with a sweatshirt and shorts on. She wants to impress Bayley, and that means showing her Date Sasha. Not 8 AM morning class Sasha.

“I do,” Sasha begins to explain, “But not like this. I don’t wanna run into her looking like this.”

Becky scoffs dismissively, “You look just fine.”

Sasha scrunches her face up and sarcastically retorts, “Oh, yeah. I’m absolutely thrilled to meet Bayley looking ‘just fine.’ Thanks, Bex.”

Becky stares at her blankly before abruptly standing up, “We’re going. We need to get to class on time, or I’m going to spend the rest of the day getting bitched out by grumpy Charlotte. And I’m not in the mood for that.”

Sasha leaps to her feet and squeaks out, “I can’t see Bayley like this!”

Becky turns to head to her room and collect her things. She waves Sasha off over her shoulder.

“Ah, whatever. She probably won’t even be there, Banks. Get your panties out of a wad.” Becky says, slamming her door right behind her at the words.

In the living room, Sasha stops her foot angrily and bites her tongue. She notices as Charlotte walks back into the room, having grabbed her backpack from her room. Charlotte notices Sasha, no bag in hand and not ready to leave. She glances at the time on her phone, before meeting Sasha with a glare.

“We need to leave,” Charlotte almost growls at her.

Sasha flinches momentarily. She always forgets how terrifying Charlotte on her period can be. Deciding to put aside her fears of meeting Bayley in favor of continuing to live, she quickly scoops her phone up and scrambles back into her room to gather her things for class.

X

As the three girls leave their apartment five minutes later, Sasha pulls out her phone to check her messages. She feels nerves course through her at the thought of running into Bayley at Dream Bean. What if Bayley sees her in person and changes her mind? What if they talk and things are different?

After opening up the Tinder app, she clicks into her messages with Bayley.

Bayley: I hate 8AMs so much. All I want is to crawl back into bed, but I can’t afford to skip classes my final year here :(

Sasha: I’m sorry :( At least we’re both suffering through the 8 AM hell together!

Bayley: Haha that’s true. You heading to class now?

Sasha: Unfortunately. Bex and Charlotte wanna grab coffee first though, so we’re stopping to do that.

Bayley: COFFEE!!!!

A wide smile appears on Sasha when she receives the message. She feels a hand grab her arm and pull her to a stop. Looking up from her phone, she notices they are at a crosswalk. She turns and mutters a quiet ‘thank you’ to Becky and turns her attention back to her phone.

Sasha: Lol yes Bayley, we’re getting coffee

Bayley: Omg are you coming to Dream Bean??? I’m here right now!!

Instantly, Sasha’s heart plummets into her stomach and air leaves her lungs. At the same time, Becky grabs her and drags her forward to the other side of the road. She stares at her phone as she’s being dragged, nerves overtaking her completely. Panic creeps up her chest and climbs up into her throat. Right as they land on the other side of the road, she grips Becky’s arm and pulls her to a halt. Beside them, Charlotte notices they’ve stopped and turns around to face Sasha.

“Becky, I can’t go,” Sasha pushes out quickly, eyes wide with fear.

Becky observes her panicking friend and meets her with an eye roll. Sasha always comes through with the dramatics. The story of Becky’s life since they met.

“Come on,” Becky urges, pulling her along, “We’re almost at the shop, and we don’t have much time. We gotta get to class.”

Charlotte nods firmly beside Becky, “Yes. Class. On-time.”

Becky eyes Charlotte wearily before moving closer to Sasha.

“I’m trying to not get us killed right now. If we’re late, then one of us is dying, and it’s probably gonna be me,” Becky mutters to Sasha quietly, ensuring that Charlotte can’t hear her words.

After she gives a pleading look to Sasha, she steps back and claps her hands.

“Great,” she declares happily, turning to Charlotte, “Sasha has agreed to keep going, so let’s get a move on, gang! It’s coffee time!”

Before Sasha can protest, her arm is again gripped by Becky, and she’s being dragged forward. She looks up and notices the coffee shop directly ahead of them. Frantically, she grasps her phone and pulls up her messages with Bayley.

Bayley: I got a minute before I head to class! If you’re coming, I’ll wait so maybe we can say hi? Wow, I hope you’re coming here!

Sasha reaches the end of the message just as she’s dragged through the doors of the coffee shop. Instantly, she begins brushing her hair into place. As Becky drags her into line, Sasha finally hears it from behind her.

“Sasha?”

Sasha turns around, and there is Bayley. Live. Standing in front of her, with a smile so wide Sasha is surprised that Bayley doesn’t blind everyone who looks at her. The first thought that pops into Sasha’s head is unfortunately vain. Bayley looks...even more attractive than she expected from her pictures.

When Sasha breaks herself from her reverie of staring at Bayley, she suddenly realizes that Bayley is waiting on some kind of response. So, it would be a good idea if Sasha talked now.

“Hi, Bayley,” Sasha squeaks out shyly.

Sasha mentally cringes at her voice. Bayley takes quick steps forward until she’s within reaching distance of Sasha and smiles down at the girl happily.

“I would stick out my hand for a handshake, but I’ve always been more of a hugger,” Bayley grins and opens her arms comically, wiggling her eyebrows, “So, how about it?”

Sasha can’t help the small grin of her own that breaks out as she pushes forward the few extra inches until she’s wrapped up by Bayley into a hug. A warm, soft hug. A gentle, steady embrace. Bayley smells like comfort, and she feels like safety. And Sasha can’t help but bury her nose a little further into Bayley’s shirt.

“You look even more beautiful in person,” Bayley mutters quietly into her ear, before pulling back and greeting her with another kind smile.

An immediate warmth rushes to Sasha’s cheeks. God, she could barely take these compliments over the phone. Actually hearing Bayley say the words to her, especially while wrapped up in her arms, is enough to almost cause Sasha to malfunction.

“I— um,” Sasha stutters out, eyes shooting to the floor momentarily before lifting back to meet Bayley’s gentle eyes, “Thanks. You look, um, great.”

A laugh escapes Bayley. Warmth spills into Sasha’s chest at the sound and a bright smile comes to her face. Her shoulders loosen, and she finally begins to relax. When Bayley gestures for them to get in line, Sasha walks contently beside her. They continue their first conversation until they reach the front of the line, where Sasha begins to place her order while rocking back and forth on her feet. A habit she unconsciously indulges in when she’s experiencing a particularly delighted mood.

After Sasha places her order, she reaches into her purse to grab her wallet. But, before she can pull her card out, Bayley begins to place her own order.

“Wait,” Sasha interrupts, “Don’t I need to pay first?”

Bayley turns to her, smile still present, “Absolutely not. I have to pay for your coffee in honor of our first meeting!”

Sasha shakes her head with a frown, “No, no. I can get my own.”

Bayley, simply ignoring her, finishes her order and slides her card into the machine before Sasha can say another word. She turns to Sasha with a cheeky grin and sticks her tongue out playfully at her. Sasha can’t help the small laugh that leaves her.

“You have a beautiful laugh,” Bayley says, eyes lingering fondly on Sasha as they walk over to the pick-up counter.

They come to a stop in front, and Sasha stomps her foot lightly with a frown, “How are you always this sweet?”

Bayley shrugs with a grin, “Ah. It comes naturally.”

Sasha looks up at Bayley, matching grins on their faces. The light conversation between them freezes as their eyes connect. Before Sasha can look away, Bayley reaches up with both her hands and lightly grips the edges of Sasha’s glasses. She slides them back up higher on her face.

“Your glasses were about to slip,” Bayley explains.

Her hands linger for a moment as she stares at Sasha before she pulls back jerkily. Just as Sasha is about to mutter a ‘thank you,’ the employee at the counter calls out their order. Bayley walks forward and grabs the coffees, thanks the server, and walks back over to Sasha.

She hands Sasha her cup with a playful smile, “Your coffee, m’lady.”

Sasha accepts the cup from her, shy grin unmistakably forcing its way back. Their eyes linger on each other for another few seconds. Sasha can’t believe how nervous and reluctant she was to meet Bayley just a few minutes ago. The comfort and ease seemed to instantly emerge between the two, all thanks to the pure kindness radiating out of Bayley. The infectious happy demeanor radiates off her, making it impossible for Sasha to do anything but reflect it.

“Hey, lovebirds. We gotta go!”

Becky’s unmistakable voice pierces the light air between the two women. Sasha jerks her head over toward Becky, shooting her with a piercing glare. She tries to convey with her eyes her plans to bludgeon Becky later tonight for the teasing. However, Becky doesn’t flinch. Instead, she waves Sasha impatiently over, pointing insistently between Charlotte and the exit.

A disappointed sigh escapes Sasha as she turns back to Bayley.

“We’ve gotta get to class now. I’m sorry,” Sasha informs her, frown on her face.

Sasha can’t help but pick up on Bayley deflating at the words. A light feeling glides over Sasha knowing that Bayley is just as disappointed for Sasha to leave. But, instead of voicing any complaint, Bayley nods solemnly.

“First week of classes. I completely understand. And, actually, I really need to get to class too,” Bayley responds kindly.

Sasha watches Bayley pull her phone from her back pocket to check the time. She nods to herself before looking back up to Sasha.

“What building are you heading to?” Bayley questions.

“Um,” Sasha has to think for a moment before recalling the name, “Martin Hall. What about you?”

Bayley frowns and her shoulder falls in disappointment, “I’m at Stone Center. That’s on the other side of campus.”

Sasha frowns back. She doesn’t want to leave Bayley so soon after meeting her in person. If it wasn’t the first week, she would ditch her classes and spend all day talking to Bayley in this coffee shop. Her eyes shoot down to her feet, and she scrapes her shoe back and forth across the floor until she feels a hand rest gently on her arm. Sasha looks back up to meet Bayley’s soft gaze.

“Hey, can we see each other again soon? Like, for real. Not a run in,” Bayley asks confidently, “A date. I mean, if you would be interested in going on a date with me.”

The words lighten Sasha back up and excitement rushes through her. Again, she unconsciously rocks back and forth, happiness radiating from her. She nods enthusiastically at the question.

“Yeah. Yeah,” Sasha breathes out, “That would be—I would like that. I’m, um, I’m interested.”

Relief flashes on Bayley’s face before the confident grin comes back. Unexpectedly, Bayley reaches up to tug off the beanie resting on her head. Sasha smiles at the slightly disheveled look the beanie caused. ‘God, she’s so adorable,’ Sasha thinks.

Bayley grins at her, “Just to assure that we’ll see each other, I’m loaning you my beanie. That way you’ll have to meet up with me and give it back.”

Sasha reaches to grab the beanie with a bashful expression. However, before she can get her hands on it, Bayley has already reached up to gently pull the beanie into place on Sasha’s head. She looks at Sasha and hums happily.

“Wow,” Bayley sighs, “You look so much better in it than me.”

Sasha reaches up to maneuver it into position on her head, muttering a soft “thank you” to Bayley as she adjusts the beanie.

“You’re welcome,” Bayley grins while she looks away from Sasha toward the exit, “Hey, I think your friend over there is getting a little mad.”

Sasha shifts her gaze to meet Charlotte angrily glaring at her, pointing at the time on her phone. She turns back to Bayley abruptly.

“Yeah,” Sasha sighs, “Charlotte is in a bad mood today and hates being late to any of her classes. So, I guess I’ll see you later?”

Bayley beams down at her with a twinkle in her eyes, “Absolutely. We still have our date planned, and I’ve gotta get my beanie back somehow.”

Sasha smiles at her, warmth settling into her gut, “Yeah. Bye, Bayley.”

Bayley moves forward and quickly wraps Sasha up into another hug. Sasha sighs and sinks into the embrace just a little.

Bayley softly mutters, “See ya later, Sash.”

They pull back from the hug, and both begin to make their way over to Becky and Charlotte. As they do, Becky quickly jerks the door open and gestures a rushing motion to the two girls. All of them quickly make their way out of the coffee shop. Becky turns to face Bayley hurriedly.

“Nice to meet ya, Bayley. I’m Becky. I’m sure Sasha has mentioned me. She’s got it bad for you, and it’s gross,” Becky rushes out, “Alright, nice conversation. We gotta go.”

Bayley laughs, “Nice to meet you, Becky. I hope I haven’t made you guys late for class.”

Becky grasps Charlotte’s arm, already beginning to pull them down the street away from Bayley, “No problem. All good. Have fun.”

The two begin to walk away, and Sasha looks behind her to watch them. Before she leaves, she mutters a soft goodbye to Bayley who nods back in her direction.

“See you later, beautiful,” Bayley returns, grinning.

Sasha’s face brightens at the compliment, and she tugs on the beanie resting on her head. She walks backward for a moment, eyes still connected with Bayley before she turns and begins to jog to catch up with Becky and Charlotte. When she finally catches up with her friends, she turns around to catch Bayley watching her leave.

She smiles at her and turns back to continue walking with Becky and Charlotte. As they round the corner of the block, she smacks Becky sharply in the arm.

“That’s for being embarrassing, you bitch,” Sasha snaps, half-joking and half-serious.

“Ah, shut up. Why don’t ya just go back and makeout with your girlfriend?” Becky barks back teasingly.

Sasha lifts her hand to smack Becky again, but her hand freezes in the air when Charlotte interrupts their banter.

She growls, “Class. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sasha and Becky both squeak out nervously.

The trio of friends lapses into a lighter conversation as they make their way to their first class of the day. However, Sasha remains slightly distracted the whole way. No matter what, she can’t help her thoughts drifting back to Bayley again and again.

As the three girls shuffle their way into the classroom one minute before it begins, she tugs on Bayley’s beanie with a smile.

Chapter Text

“FOOD!”

Sasha hears the excited yell from behind her and whips around just in time to have Becky rush past her and come to a screeching halt next to Charlotte in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Charlotte pulls a pan off the hot stove, placing it on top of a dishcloth. Then, she rotates to tug an oven mitt onto her hand, using it to turn off the dangerously hot rice cooker and carefully let the steam rise out of the large pot.

Becky watches none of this, eyes hungrily locked on the chicken, broccoli, and carrots Charlotte removed from the stove. Upon hearing the steam rush out, she almost bounces over to the cabinets, excitedly pulling a bowl from the lowest shelf. She walks back over to Charlotte, stopping to procure a fork from a kitchen drawer, and impatiently watches as Charlotte finishes preparing the rice.

Charlotte’s eyes flicker to Becky, “Can you move back a little? The rice is still going to be here even if you’re not invading my personal space.”

“But I’m hunngrrryyy, Charlotte,” Becky whines, pouting at her friend.

Charlotte rolls her eyes with an unmistakable grin, “God, you’re such a man about food. Can you go be useful and grab the Yum Yum sauce?”

Sasha interrupts the two, stopping beside Becky with the sauce already in hand, “Here, I’ve got it. Can we eat now?”

“Dibs!” Becky hollers, attempting to snatch the sauce from Sasha’s hand.

Reacting quickly, Sasha jerks her hand back and steps away from Becky. A smirk blossoms and she waves the bottle mockingly in front of Becky before shoving it behind her back.

“Dibs are irrelevant,” Sasha declares, “I’ve got the bottle. I go first.”

“But it’s my favorite food,” Becky pouts, turning to their other friend, “Charlotte, tell her I go first.”

Charlotte rolls her eyes, “Both of you are children. Do I need to buy the two of you one of those ‘get along’ t-shirts and stick you in a corner somewhere?”

Sasha’s face scrunches in disgust, “No thanks. I don’t wanna get Rollins’ germs all over me. Don’t think I didn’t hear you two last night!”

Sasha’s head whips over to Becky, and she shoves her finger down her throat, pretending to gag. Becky’s eyes shoot to Charlotte before turning back to Sasha with an arrogant smirk. She shrugs with a smug grin painted on her face.

“Hey, ‘s not my fault Bayley won’t come over and give ya a friendly orgasm or two. Seth and I are buds. No shame in sharing some favors.”

Sasha rolls her eyes, “God, straight people are so disgusting.”

“When did I become straight? I’ve exchanged my fair share of orgasms with some fine ladies too. I just like to share the love,” Becky points out, shrugging the conversation off in favor of grabbing the large spoon from Charlotte and beginning to scoop rice from the cooker.

Charlotte grimaces, “Can we stop talking about orgasms right before I eat?”

Becky hands off the spoon wordlessly to Charlotte with a shrug, now completely enthralled with fixing her food. She glides over to the saucepan and piles the chicken, broccoli, and carrot mixture on top of her rice. Then, she begins mixing it all with her fork. Meanwhile, Charlotte finishes gathering rice into her bowl and passes the spoon off to Sasha. For the next few minutes, all three women work their way around the kitchen, putting their dinner together.

After the friends have made their way to the couch, Becky flicks the TV on and clicks into the Netflix app, pulling up the most recent episode of Glow. The friends had been steadfastly binging the show over the past week and have quickly progressed into the second season. As the episode begins, they all settle until their seats and tune into the show.

Sasha is lifting another bite of her food to her mouth when her phone vibrates. Immediately, she drops her fork and snatches her phone from the side table. When she sees a message from Bayley appear, a warm feeling courses through her and settles in her stomach.

Bayley: Hey, you gonna be up late tonight, Sash?

Sasha: Yeah, probably! Why? What’s up?

Bayley: Can I call you? After hearing your voice last week, I miss it too much.

Excitement and nervous jitters flutter in Sasha’s chest at the idea of speaking to Bayley again. Staying up late talking on the phone all night is the classic new love blossoming cliche. And Bayley wants to call her. To hear Sasha’s voice again. Even if it’s just over the phone this time instead of in person. Another thought goes through her mind.

Since leaving Dream Bean, Sasha has impatiently waited for Bayley to finally ask her on their first date. For the past week, Sasha had been donning Bayley’s beanie almost every day, despite the almost constant teasing from Becky about it. But Bayley has yet to make a move and officially ask Sasha on a date. Part of Sasha had been worried that Bayley had changed her mind, even though she has talked to her every day since their impromptu meetup.

Maybe Bayley is finally going to make her move. Sasha can’t guess why she’s waited this long but excitement builds up within her as her mind runs through different ideas of where Bayley will take her on their date.

Sasha: Yeah! Sounds great! I’m free anytime after 10 PM. I would say now but Charlotte and Becky would kill me if I interrupted our Netflix binge session.

Bayley: Of course! Who am I to interrupt the fabulous women of Glow?

Sasha had shared her Netflix ritual with Bayley a few days ago. Binging Netflix shows together on Sunday nights had been a tradition between the three friends since the beginning of their freshman year. And breaking the sacred tradition would be considered blasphemy among the group. Honestly, Sasha was pushing the limit by texting Bayley now.

But she couldn’t help herself.

She cuts her eyes to glance at Becky and Charlotte and a quiet sigh escapes her when she notices her friends were too enthralled to pick up on Sasha’s diverted attention. Not wanting to push her luck, Sasha decides to only shoot one last text to Bayley before rejoining the group.

Sasha: Haha definitely not a good idea! So, we’ll talk at 10?

Bayley: Sounds good! Can’t wait to hear your voice…

The warm feeling rushes up inside Sasha again as she tucks her phone underneath her and attempts to zone back into Glow. She settles herself further back into the couch, feeling more content and happy than she has in a long while.

X

Hours later, the girls’ marathon had ended, and they had all bid each other goodnight before splitting back off into their individual rooms. Sasha closed the door to her bedroom, walked over to her dresser, and pulls pajamas from her drawer. She languidly changes into the clothing, throwing her day clothes haphazardly on the floor. She grabs her phone from the spot she’d tossed it on her bed and checks the time.

9:54 PM.

Only six minutes until Bayley is supposed to call. Sasha grins and bites her lip thoughtlessly, anticipation pouring out of her. She flops down on her bed and pulls up Twitter, half-heartedly scrolling through her timeline. She barely registers any of the tweets as her mind remains focused on Bayley.

Honestly, the more the two talk the more attached Sasha can feel herself becoming as each new day passes. The butterflies grow, the warm feeling in her gut continues to grow hotter, and the smile on her face becomes more and more frequent. At this point, she realizes that she’s already developed a heavy crush on Bayley, and that does make her nervous.

Nervous at the quickness and what that means. If she’s already feeling this much for Bayley now, how will she feel after their first date? How much will she feel for her if things continue for a month or a few months? Sasha can sense how fast and hard she’s going to fall for her. And, even though it’s so soon, the idea of it is a little overwhelming.

But not in a way that makes her want to cut and run.

She wants to experience this. She wants to stay. Stay with Bayley and let things develop, no matter the fear that builds inside her sometimes. The idea of vulnerability has always scared Sasha. But....but maybe it doesn’t have to be so scary with Bayley.

She’s broken from her reverie by the sound of her phone ringing. Quickly, she swipes her thumb across the screen to answer the call and brings it to her ear, breathing out a “hello.”

“Hey, Sash,” she hears Bayley’s voice over the line, “How was the binge-a-thon?”

“It was good. Fun like usual,” Sasha answers with a happy exhale, feeling an unexpected giddiness rush over her at the first sound of Bayley’s voice.

God, her crush is so embarrassing. It’s like Sasha is back in high school all over again. With an intense, exhilarating rush at just talking to a girl on the phone. Although, she can’t remember ever feeling this quite so strongly, especially this soon.

“I’m glad,” Bayley laughs lightly, “So, I may have been a little deceptive when I texted you earlier saying I just wanted to talk.”

The words spur another rush of excitement in Sasha as Bayley seems to be confirming her earlier theory. She’s finally going to ask her out. God, Sasha has been waiting for this. And, if she’s being honest, she’s been waiting for it since their very first conversation.

“Yeah?” Sasha utters hopefully, gripping her phone tighter in anticipation.

“Yeah,” Bayley confirms lightly, “Don’t get me wrong. I definitely want to talk to you. I mean, that’s almost constant. But I also wanted to ask you a question.”

A wide grin emerges on Sasha, “Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

“Well,” Bayley sighs, clearly faking a somber tone, “you see, I just noticed today that I seem to be missing one of my beanies. And the last time I remember having it was at Dream Bean with you. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

It’s happening. It’s happening. It’s happening.

Excitement quickly overtakes Sasha, and she can barely prevent an embarrassingly happy squeal from leaving her. They’re going to go on a date. Bayley’s about to ask her out. God, she’s going to get to see her again. Hug her again.

“Yeah, I might know something about that,” Sasha grins, a dreamy expression appearing as she mindlessly rakes her fingers through her hair.

“Ah, good. So, what do you know, beautiful?” Bayley replies teasingly.

Sasha’s eyes glance over to her desk where the beanie is currently resting before tuning back into the conversation with a smile.

“I just so happen to have a blue beanie in my possession that I found at Dream Bean that same morning. Do you think it could be yours?”

The teasing conversation between the two is saturated by their flirtatious tones and words. The giddiness in Sasha has expanded and filled her up entirely. Everything about speaking to Bayley right now is exhilarating. She feels like her body is being flooded with serotonin. Like she’s been injected with a shot of adrenaline that’s rapidly making its way through her entire system.

“I think it just might be,” Bayley answers lightly, “Hm, this is a real conundrum. Now, how could I ever get my beanie back?”

Sasha flips over onto her stomach, moving to lay down with her head at the bottom of the bed. Unconsciously, her feet kick up and down continuously, unable to sit still and contain the excitement inside her.

“I could mail it to you?” Sasha suggests teasingly.

“No,” Bayley quickly rejects, “No, I don’t think that could do. What if my precious beanie got lost in the mail? I don’t think I could stand the loss.”

“Understandable,” Sasha nods to herself, an uncontrollable grin remaining on her face, “Maybe I could bring it by your place sometime?”

“My, my. Sasha Banks,” Bayley responds, voice purposefully portraying shock and disbelief, “Going back to my place already? I don’t think I’m ready for that step.”

Sasha shakes her head with a grin, “Shut up.”

“So rude,” Bayley replies with an exaggerated gasp.

Sasha rolls her eyes with a smile on her face. But, before she can extend the banter, Bayley beats her to the punch.

“Actually, I think I might have an idea,” Bayley suggests.

“Oh? Well, what ever could your idea be?” Sasha asks, nervous butterflies within her beginning to reach their peak of intensity as she waits for Bayley’s next words.

“There’s this new ice skating rink nearby that I’ve been hearing about, but I haven’t had a chance to go yet. Beanies are appropriate skating attire, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasha breathes out, amazement coating her voice.

“Hm. See, I thought that was interesting. Because, when I see the beanie you found, I might need some time to see if it’s really mine. And, surely, I couldn’t take the beanie from you unless I was certain it was mine. It’s only fair,” Bayley responds, faux thoughtfulness in her tone.

“Right,” Sasha says sarcastically.

“I’m glad you think so too,” Bayley teases, “I think an hour or so to test out the beanie on the ice rink would be enough time. Don’t you?”

Sasha nods her agreement until she realizes that Bayley can’t see her.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sasha breathes out, awe lining her words, “That- that sounds like it could work.”

“Good. That’s really good. And, y’know, while I’m testing out the beanie we might as well skate too, right?” Bayley asks hopefully.

“We should- we should definitely do that. I would like that a lot.”

Sasha bites her bottom lip to contain her brewing excitement. They’re really going on a date. Their first date. She can’t believe how lucky she is right now. Bayley is so sweet and adorable and funny. Honestly, Sasha can’t even comprehend how she’s behaving right now. The pure, unadulterated giddiness inside her is something she’s never experienced before. Something about Bayley is just...she likes her so much. And she can’t even explain it.

“Great,” Bayley cheers excitedly, “What about this Friday at six? I know you get out of your last class at 3:45.”

“Six works,” Sasha responds airily, thoughts already drifting to all the possibilities of their first date.

“Well, then, it’s a date,” Bayley confirms, dropping the facade, “I’m looking forward to spending more time with you, Sasha. I like you. A lot. Like ‘how is it possible to like someone so much this fast’ a lot.”

Sasha’s heart swells inside her chest until she feels as if it’s straining against her ribcage. Bayley likes her too. Everything that Sasha has been feeling, that she’s been worrying about, Bayley feels the same way. She can’t help but long for Bayley to be here with her already, so Sasha could just bury herself into her arms. She recalls their hug at Dream Bean with a special longing in her chest, knowing that she’s only a few days away from being with Bayley again.

On an official date this time.

“I-I feel the same,” Sasha stutters out, breathless, “I like you too. So much.”

Sasha hears a sigh of relief escape Bayley over the line.

“Good to know. I can’t wait to see you, Sash.”

Sasha softens, “I can’t wait to see you too, Bay.”

Silence lingers between the two as both of their minds wander to the events of their date this Friday. Excitement and anticipation course through them in waves. Even the usual first date nerves are settled since they’ve already met last week. The only thing remaining is a budding elation at their plans. A rush winding through both women at all the possibilities of the night. Bayley is finally the one to break the silence.

“So, tell me how this binge-a-thon tradition got started?”

Sasha smiles and begins explaining the origins of the weekly tradition shared among Becky, Charlotte, and her. As they continue talking, the conversation shifts seamlessly from topic to topic. So easily that neither of them notices the hours pass by, too enthralled by the sound of the other girl’s voice.

When Sasha’s phone vibrates to notify a low battery, she notices the time and blinks at the phone dumbly. How is it 2 AM? They’ve been talking for five hours…

And Sasha doesn’t even feel like she wants to put the phone down anytime soon, but it is late. And Sasha can feel the tiredness seeping into her bones and weighing down her eyes. She pulls the phone back up to her ear and lets out a yawn.

“Bay, ‘m kinda sleepy,” Sasha mutters, sleepily rubbing one of her eyes with her fist.

Bayley lets out a sigh, “I know. You’ve got class tomorrow too. You should get some rest, babe.”

A monetary thrill shoots through Sasha at the pet name but the ache in her bones quickly resurges.

“Okay,” Sasha agrees tiredly, “Goodnight, Bay.”

“Goodnight, beautiful. I’ll pick you up Friday at six.”

Sasha lays back on her bed, head coming to rest on her pillow. A sleepy smile is apparent on her face as she mutters a second tired ‘bye’ to Bayley before disconnecting the phone. Instead of moving to get settled for sleep, she stares up at the ceiling on her back. She folds both of her hands over her stomach and thinks back over her conversation with Bayley.

Honestly, Sasha has never felt this connected to someone she just met in her life. It’s like some kind of magnetic attraction. Sasha was drawn to her almost instantly, and every new thing she learns about Bayley only encapsulates her further. Usually, Sasha is the type to keep her walls up for months before letting someone in. Before letting them see the real Sasha.

But something about Bayley has made it almost impossible to keep her guard up, and she’s sure their date is going to make it even more difficult. Bayley is just so disarming. So genuine and easy to trust.

Another yawn escapes her, and she finally lifts herself from her bed. She plugs her phone up to charge and pulls the covers back. As she falls into her bed, lifts the covers to her chest, and closes her eyes, her last thoughts before she succumbs to a night of sleep are of Bayley.

X

An irritated growl escapes Sasha as she stomps over to the front door. She swears to God that she’s going to strangle whoever woke her up this morning. Ryu had been dropped off by her Mom early last week and had been sleeping happily in Sasha’s bed every night since. But, with the loud knocking on the door this morning, he was woken up.

And immediately started barking incessantly right next to Sasha’s ear.

But, Sasha loves Ryu deeply and would never, ever be upset with him. Unfortunately, that means the person on the other side of this door is about to die. And, after she’s finished with them, she might leap at Becky and Charlotte next for forcing Sasha to get up instead of them.

When Sasha reaches the door, she yanks it open and is met by Seth Rollins on the other side. Dressed in the typical Seth attire of a band tee, ripped jeans, and a backward baseball cap resting on his head, his skateboard rests in his left hand, bottom wheels lying on the ground.

His dumb smile only infuriates Sasha further, and, instead of a greeting, he’s met with a piercing glare.

“Hey, Sasha. Is Becky here?” Seth asks happily, eyes darting past Sasha to scan the apartment for his friend.

“Yes,” Sasha answers plainly, immediately shutting the door in his face.

She hears a yelp and a distinct shout of “Hey!” from the other side of the closed door. The knocking starts up again, and Sasha’s irritation peaks. She turns and opens the door again, vicious glare returning to her face.

“Becky is in her room. Get her quietly. Do not disturb me,” Sasha orders in a strict, dark tone.

Seth looks at her nervously, “Yes ma’am. I can do that.”

Sasha nods at him, turning to leave the entryway and head into the kitchen. There’s no point in trying to sleep again. Once Ryu is awake, then her little angel wants Sasha’s full attention, and that requires Sasha to be awake. Once she starts the coffee pot, she walks back into her room. She smiles gently and coos at Ryu as she refills his food bowl. She grabs his water bowl and scratches behind his ear before heading back into the kitchen.

As she refills his water bowl under the sink, Sasha longingly watches sweet, delicious coffee drip into her coffee pot. Her gaze is interrupted by the sound of Becky and Seth barreling out of Becky’s room.

“Morning, Sash,” Becky yells over at her from the living room, “Morning, Ryu. Aww, what a good boy.”

Sasha glances toward the other room and sees Becky bending over to pet Ryu. She smiles at the sight and looks up to see Seth standing beside her, clearly staring at Becky’s ass. A feeling of disgust runs through her at the sight, and she rolls her eyes. Men are repugnant.

Not wanting to look at the sight any longer, she turns back to watch her brewing coffee.

“Morning, Becky. Next time have your idiot boyfriend text you before he wakes Ryu and I up at the ass crack of dawn, alright?” Sasha stiffly responds.

“Damn,” Becky bellows, cackling at Sasha’s anger, “What crawled up your ass this morning?”

Sasha’s irritation at the annoying twosome grows. She reaches up into the cabinet above her, grabbing a coffee mug while she contemplates the best response.

“This coffee mug is about to crawl up Rollins’ ass if he wakes me up again,” Sasha replies, facing the two with a sickly sweet smile.

Sasha stifles laughter at the momentarily horrified expression on Seth’s face while Becky explodes with loud laughter beside him. Becky pats Seth on the back sympathetically at the burn, and he just looks at her with an offended, pouty face.

“Ah, quit your pouting. Shoulda just texted me ya dumb git,” Becky scolds playfully.

Sasha glances back at the two while filling up her coffee mug, “Actually, why the hell did you make me get up if you knew Rollins was coming?”

Becky shrugs, “Didn’t know he was coming.”

Sasha rolls her eyes and moves into the living room, sitting down on the couch. Ryu leaves Becky to jump up beside Sasha on the couch, curling up beside her thighs. Mindlessly, she reaches down and softly strokes Ryu’s back.

“If I have to hear you two having sex in your room at 7 AM, someone is getting stabbed,” Sasha threatens.

She retrieves her phone from her pocket and unlocks the screen. As is now becoming a ritual, she moves into her messages and sends Bayley a good morning text.

Becky replies, “We aren’t having sex this morning—“

“Although I’m willing to amend those plans,” Rollins chimes in from behind her.

His response is met with a disgusted scoff from Sasha and an elbow to the gut from Becky. He wheezes from the impact of the elbow, bending over slightly and sucking in heaving breaths. Sasha laughs loudly, taking pleasure in Seth’s pain.

“What,” Rollins chokes out through painful breaths, “What was that for?”

Becky laughs alongside Sasha and shrugs, “Mostly? Thought it’d be funny. But, also, we don’t talk about our special friendship bonding, right?”

Sasha’s face scrunches up, “You two are so disgusting. We all hear you having sex, Becky. We know.”

At the statement, Sasha sees Charlotte emerging from her room. She freezes for an instant when her eyes land on Seth before she continues past them. She mutters a tired “morning” to the group and walks into the kitchen. Opening the fridge door, she retrieves some grapes from one of the drawers and a bottle of water.

As Charlotte puts together her breakfast, Becky’s eyes linger on her friend. A little softer than usual. Seth leans over when he notices, whispering something in her ear. At the words, Becky’s shoulders drop, and she moves her eyes away from Charlotte.

“Well,” Becky declares suddenly, a little too loudly, “Rollins, we gotta split. Big plans for the day. Lots of… stuff to do. That’s not here.”

Charlotte glances at the pair from the kitchen and mutters a quiet, “bye,” to them. She grabs her plate of fruits and her water bottle and plops herself onto the couch beside Sasha. She smiles at Ryu and moves to pet him, scratching underneath his chin.

Becky's eyes linger on her a few moments, confused by the almost total lack of acknowledgment from Charlotte. She’s only pulled from her reverie by a gentle tug on her arm from Seth. She turns to him with a nod.

“Alright. Goodbye, ladies. We got places to be,” Rollins declares, slinging an arm around Becky’s shoulder and nudging her along to the door.

Sasha bids them goodbye with a smile, having had enough coffee to wake up and remind herself that she actually quite likes Seth. However, Charlotte remains quiet with her head tilted down, continuing to shower Ryu with attention. She coos at the dog, and he happily licks at her palm. Sasha watches the interaction with a fond smile on her face and doesn’t look up when the door closes behind Becky and Seth.

Charlotte speaks up as soon as the door closes, “Why didn’t you go out with them today?”

Sasha shrugs, taking another sip of her coffee, “Kinda tired to be honest. Plus, I have no clue what they’re doing. And who knows? Maybe those two wanted some alone time. I swear I have no clue how they’re not dating already.”

Sasha glances down at her phone at the end of her explanation, checking to see if Bayley had responded to her message yet. She frowns at the lack of response but assumes that Bayley must be still asleep. Lucky her.

While looking down, Sasha had missed the flash of hurt that had materialized on Charlotte’s face. However, Charlotte had quickly stifled the fleeting feeling and tossed a grape into her mouth. She grabs the remote from the coffee table beside her and flicks on the television. After waiting for YouTube TV to load, she mindlessly turns on the local morning news channel for some background noise before turning to face Sasha.

“So,” Charlotte asks, soft smile appearing, “How are things with Bayley?”

When she registers the question, Sasha looks down at her lap shyly. The finger of her right hand begins to pick at a string that has come loose on her pajama pants. Her mind shifts to Bayley and their date on Friday and a subdued smile emerges uncontrollably. She glances between Charlotte and her lap intermittently while answering.

“I-” Sasha begins, voice a little quieter and more vulnerable than typical for her, “She called me last night. Asked me on a date this Friday.”

Charlotte squeals in response, immediately reaching forward to grasp Sasha’s forearm excitedly.

“Oh my God! Where are you going?”

Sasha meets Charlotte’s eyes, grin widening, “That new ice rink over on Meighan, right past the Burger King.”

“That’s so cute,” Charlotte coos, “I’m so happy for you, Sasha.”

Hearing the sound of Charlotte cooing, Ryu assumes he is the one being addressed. He perks his ears up and takes a few steps to plop his head on top of Charlotte’s thigh, staring up at her expectedly with his tail wagging behind him. Charlotte grins down at the puppy, patting him a few times on the head before turning her attention back to Sasha.

Sasha watched the interaction while fiddling with her fingers.

“Thanks, Charlotte. I’m really excited to spend some time with her. I just hope everything works out like I want it to.”

Charlotte’s eyes fill with sympathy, and she reaches out to hold Sasha’s hand this time. She knows that Sasha has a hard time trusting people and has since her dad left her family at a young age. Growing up without a dad was damaging to Sasha, and this was only extended by her mom being forced to work two jobs to support Sasha and her brother. This left Sasha as the almost full-time caretaker of her younger brother.

So, sometimes Sasha has difficulty believing that things will work out for her. It doesn’t take much to shift Sasha back into the belief that the universe is somehow geared to ensure that she can’t be happy. It’s something that Charlotte has been the only one to understand about her. Even Becky, although an amazing friend to Sasha, had never really related to the bouts of pessimism Sasha experiences.

But Charlotte got it. She’s had her own confidence issues in her life. Her own struggle to let herself be happy and trust others around her. It’s a bond between Charlotte and Sasha that became the foundation of their friendship. They were able to find something in each other that they never could in anyone else. Someone who understands.

So, when Sasha expresses the hint of doubt about her date, Charlotte immediately picks up the underlying fear.

“Good things are allowed to happen to you, babe,” Charlotte reassures her gently, “They will happen. You just have to let them. Don’t let fear chase you away.”

Sasha looks up at Charlotte, sadness and fear swirling together in her eyes, “I know. I just— I like her so much, and I can’t even understand how I have all these feelings so quickly. We haven’t even been on a date, and I can’t stop thinking about her. What if something goes wrong?”

Charlotte sighs, knowing she was correct about how Sasha was feeling.

“Things do go wrong. But not always. I can tell how much you like her, Sasha, so just dive in. Let go. We’re always going to worry about something going wrong, but we can’t let that control us. We have to make the best of every situation. We’ve got to allow ourselves to be happy.”

Sasha smiles sadly at her and nods, “I know. I’ll try, Char. Thank you for always understanding. You’re the only person I can talk to about this stuff.”

Charlotte smiles and pulls Sasha into a hug, rubbing her back.

“I know, sweetie” she mutters into her shoulder, “I feel the same. I love you, Sasha.”

Sasha sniffles into Charlotte’s shoulder and pulls back to look at her friend, “I love you too.”

Charlotte nods with a smile, “Now, you have fun on that date, Friday. And you better tell Becky and me all about how sweet and cute Bayley was the second you get back.”

Sasha smiles shyly. She thinks back to the coffee shop and how overwhelmingly sweet and amazing Bayley was to her in just the few minutes they were together. If that trend holds, Sasha might come back to the apartment floating on clouds.

“I definitely will,” Sasha promises.

The two friends share another smile before adjusting back into a comfortable silence. Charlotte turns the volume up on the TV and continues eating her breakfast snack. Meanwhile, Sasha finishes her first cup of coffee and gets up to grab a second. While she’s filling her next cup, Sasha’s mind wanders to the date.

Her worries attempt to rush back to the front of her mind again, but Sasha pushes them back. She focuses on taking Charlotte’s advice. Good things can happen to her, and Bayley is a good thing. A really good thing. Sasha is allowed to be happy.

The date is going to be great.

Just as she makes her way back into the living room with her second cup of coffee, Sasha hears her phone vibrate. When she settles back into the couch, she pulls her phone out and reads the message from Bayley with a smile.

“Is that Bayley?” Charlotte asks, already knowing the answer by the grin Sasha is wearing.

“Yeah,” Sasha smiles up at her then looks back down at her phone, already typing out a response.

“Good,” Charlotte smiles.

She doesn’t say anymore, content in letting her friend go back to her phone. Let her talk to her crush. Thoughts of Sasha and Bayley bring Andrade to the forefront of Charlotte’s mind. Maybe she should talk to her own ‘crush.’ Deciding to call him, Charlotte stands with her empty plate and walks to the kitchen to place it in the dishwasher. As she makes her way to her room, she looks back at Sasha with a smile.

And she hopes that maybe Sasha has found someone to make her happy too. Just like Charlotte.

Unconsciously, Becky comes to mind. Frustration builds at her wandering thoughts, and she forces herself to think about Andrade. Sweet, caring Andrade. He’s helped her through so much over the past year. Because of him, she’s found confidence and become comfortable in her skin. When they started dating, for the first time in Charlotte’s life, she felt sexy.

She felt wanted. Worthy. Loved.

Charlotte closes the door to her room and sits on her bed. Becky has plans today. Maybe Charlotte should make plans of her own. She pulls up Andrade’s number in her phone and gives him a call.

The second she hears his voice comfort settles over her. She’s safe with him. He’s a guaranteed thing. She knows that, with Andrade, there will always be someone there. He won’t leave. He won’t worry her. He’ll never do anything reckless. He’ll just love her. And they’ll be happy.

And she just can’t let that go.

X

Friday morning comes faster than Sasha anticipated, and she’s so thankful for it. The anticipation and nerves for her date hardly left her mind. She’s never been much of a patient person and, for Sasha, waiting has always been the worst part. But strangely, when she wakes up this morning, her nerves are nowhere to be found.

Instead, a giddy smile seems permanently stuck on her. Her normal morning grumpy mood has entirely disappeared, and Sasha feels like she could run a marathon with all the adrenaline pumping through her system. She almost doesn’t even feel the need for coffee but still starts up the coffeemaker out of habit.

She crouches down beside her and picks Ryu up in her arms. Grinning widely, she cooed happily at her sweet baby. Her dog seems to have sensed her good mood and is even more enthusiastic than usual. He wiggles in her arms until he’s close enough to lick at her cheek. Sasha giggles at the feeling and scratches his chest one last time before setting him down on the kitchen floor.

Instead of her usual mug, Sasha pours her coffee into one of her sealed, reusable cups. She doesn’t have time to linger this morning. She stayed up late last night with Becky and Seth, the duo having forced her to go with them to check out this diner one of Seth’s fraternity brothers told him about. Although, Sasha can’t for the life of her remember the guy’s name.

Rome?

Either way, the night wasn’t too bad, even though Becky and Seth’s booming voices almost got them thrown out of the place. Despite Sasha pretending to be apathetic toward Seth, he is genuinely one of her friends too. Even though Becky and him anywhere near each other almost guarantees a mess.

They may be a mess, but they are Sasha’s messes.

And, honestly, Sasha will never understand why the two aren’t dating. They spend more time together than Sasha has ever spent with any girlfriend. They have sex. They always sense when something is wrong with the other person, and Sasha has heard Becky crying to him in their dorm last year. They trust each other emotionally and physically.

It’s like everything is perfect, but neither of them wants to commit. For what reason, Sasha has no clue. But she’s never really been one to meddle. If they haven’t told her, then she stays out of it. But she does hope that one day...things work out for them.

She grabs her bag from off a chair in the kitchen and heads toward the door. This morning, Sasha has a Macroeconomics class alone. Becky and Charlotte aren’t required to take it for their respective degrees, but Sasha’s advisor had pushed her to go ahead and get the class out of the way before her junior year.

Becky and Charlotte don’t have a class this morning until 10 AM, where all three girls share Bio102. So, both typically sleep in while Sasha heads out early. Sasha leans down to pat Ryu on the head and kisses him before heading out the door for class.

The walk to class is quaint and peaceful. Fall is already settling over the city, and she can feel it in the cool air and see it in the colorful leaves on the trees. This has always been Sasha’s favorite season. Fall is like a fresh start. She watches her surroundings shed off the old skin of the past, taking the first step toward healing and growing anew in the Spring.

When she arrives at her class five minutes early, she settles into a desk in the middle corner of the room. She pulls her phone out and clicks back into her messages with Bayley with a grin.

Bayley: Can’t wait to see you tonight!

Sasha: Me either :) I’ll make sure to bring your beanie

Bayley: Right. Right. Gotta remember to check and make sure that’s mine. Can’t forget the purpose of the whole date.

Sasha laughs at the message and thinks of Charlotte’s advice last night. Charlotte’s words give her the confidence to be a bit more adventurous and flirty than usual.

Sasha: So seeing me isn’t the purpose of tonight :(

Bayley: Seeing a beautiful woman is always a worthy purpose ;)

Sasha: Always? Are you seeing other beautiful women? Should I be jealous? :P

Bayley: Definitely not! You are the only woman I see :P

Sasha laughs at the cliche message Bayley purposefully sent. She’s about to type out another response when the professor walks into and greets the class. She quickly shoots off one last text before tuning into the lecture.

Sasha Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it for the date, Casanova.

Slipping her phone into the side pocket of her backpack, she unzips her bag and pulls her notebook and pen out. Opening her book to where she last left off, Sasha begins to meticulously copy down notes from the lecture. But, every few minutes of the class, Sasha will remember her date tonight.

And she’ll smile.

X

“Becky, where the hell are my black ripped jeans?” Sasha yells from the confines of her room.

Charlotte turns to Becky sitting beside her on the couch with a lifted eyebrow. Becky looks sheepish but quickly recovers and answers her best friend.

“Hey, how do ya know that you didn’t lose them? Or, Charlotte didn’t take them? Why am I the one always blamed in the house?”

Sasha pokes her head out of her room with a glare, “Because it’s always you. So, do you have my jeans?”

Becky sighs, defeated, “Yeah. They’re in my room.”

“Thanks,” Sasha says flippantly, quickly sweeping into Becky’s room and emerging a minute later with her jeans.

When Sasha closes herself back in her room, Becky turns to Charlotte with a pout, “Why is everyone so mean to me in this house?”

Charlotte chuckles, “Stop pouting. You know we love you.”

Charlotte flicks to a different station on their TV, trying to find something at least half-entertaining to watch tonight. Sasha had her first date, but Becky and Charlotte had both avoided making plans for the evening. Becky, preferring to stay in after being busy with Seth for the past few days, and Charlotte who just wanted a calm night in at the end of her week.

The pseudo-love declaration from Charlotte draws Becky’s eyes to her. She can’t help but linger on Charlotte’s face. Sometimes Becky wanders if Charlotte truly realizes just how beautiful she is. Hopefully, Andrade tells her constantly. Because it would be kind of weird if Becky did.

Charlotte and her are just friends. They always have been, and they always will be. Becky forces her gaze to turn back to the TV.

It’s another fifteen minutes before Sasha finally emerges from her room. She’s wearing a tight, dark blue sweater with black, ripped skinny jeans. Bayley’s beanie is resting on her head. She moves to stand in front of the TV (ignoring Becky’s loud protest of “Hey!”) and stands nervously in front of her two best friends.

“How do I look, guys?” Sasha asks, eyes flitting back and forth between the two of them.

Charlotte smiles at her gently, “You look amazing. Bayley will love it.”

Sasha smiles gratefully and looks down at her feet, “I hope so.”

“I think your makeup is smeared,” Becky remarks offhandedly.

“What!?”

Sasha frantically rushes into the bathroom. Becky turns to watch her and when she slams the door shut, Becky can’t hold back her laughter. Charlotte rolls her eyes and an annoyed expression rises on her face. She stands from the couch, thinking of going after Sasha, but instead turns to Becky.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Hey, now,” Becky defends, still laughing, “I’m just tryna have a little fun.”

Both girls hear the bathroom door open again, and Sasha sweeps back into the room.

“Charlotte, I can’t tell what’s wrong with my makeup,” Sasha rushes out worriedly, “and Bayley is supposed to be here in five minutes.”

Charlotte shoots a glare at Becky, who raises her hands in defense. Then, she turns to Sasha with a comforting smile.

“Nothing’s wrong. You look great. Becky is just being an ass.”

“Hey!” Becky yells, “I did nothing wrong!”

Sasha rolls her eyes, realizing that Becky was fucking with her. Instead of saying any more, she walks to her room and grabs her bag. When she returns to the living room, she smacks Becky sharply on the back of the head. Becky yelps at the pain and moves to grab at Sasha. However, her best friend leaps away before she can retaliate.

“No breaking our deal, Bex,” Sasha warns with a delighted smile, “No fighting on date nights.”

When Sasha’s words register, Becky sinks back into the couch and groans. Charlotte watches the two with a smile, no matter how well she thinks she knows the duo there is always something new to discover. And Charlotte doesn’t think she’s ever met two friends in her life that knew each other better. Trusted each other more.

Sasha and Becky are so comfortable with one another that it puts to shame a lot of married couples. It’s like they almost know what the other is going to do before they do it. They flow around each other so naturally, it’s no wonder Charlotte’s first guess was that they were dating.

Becky scowls, “Fine. No payback tonight but you damn well better believe I’ll get you back later. Sleep with one eye open, bitch.”

Sasha rolls her eyes, “Yeah, sure. You’re all talk. Keep running that mouth, Bex.”

The banter is interrupted by a series of knocks on their apartment door. A large grin spreads on Sasha’s face, and she excitedly looks back to her friends. She’s met with matching grins and a shooing motion from both to go answer the door.

“Go on!” Becky whispers encouragingly, the dispute from just a few seconds ago already forgotten.

Sasha nods at her best friend, a smile still in place. She turns and almost floats over to the door. When she comes to a stop, she hesitates for a few seconds, then reaches to turn the knob. A nervous grin appears as the door opens and reveals Bayley in front of her.

“Wow...you look beautiful,” Bayley breathes out.

Sasha blushes at the awed tone of her voice and glances down at her feet in a fruitless attempt to disguise her embarrassment. How is she always so perfect? Always apt to ruin the moment, Becky interrupts the two before Sasha can respond.

“Ew, that’s gay,” Becky teasingly heckled.

Sasha hears a sharp slap on the arm from behind her followed by a yelp of pain from Becky. Sasha grins, knowing Charlotte has just smacked Becky for her comments. She turns to find herself correct, noticing Becky rubbing her arm with an offended expression.

“Why is everyone hitting me tonight?” Becky shouts defensively.

“Maybe because you keep behaving like an ass,” Charlotte retorts with a laugh of her own.

Sasha turns back to Bayley to catch her shrugging with a grin on her face, “Hey, well, technically she is right. That was completely gay.”

Becky laughs from behind the pair, “Alright, I like her!”

Sasha beams at Bayley when Becky’s words register. Becky may be the most annoying person Sasha has ever met in her life, but she’s still Sasha’s best friend. And her approval of anyone in Sasha’s life will always mean a great deal to her. Because, at the end of the day, Becky has been the most important person in Sasha’s life for nine years. And Sasha can’t see that changing anytime soon.

Bayley grins down at her, the few inches of height difference giving Bayley the advantage.

“You ready to go, Sash?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Sasha confirms, still unable to stifle her steadily growing smile.

At the words, Bayley steps back and opens the door wider for Sasha to pass through first. She lifts her arm and waves Sasha ahead.

“M’lady,” Bayley teased with a twinkle in her eye.

Sasha keeps her eyes on Bayley as she walks past her. The two grin at each other excitedly as Bayley lets the door shut. In their eagerness to spend time together, both had forgotten to so much as send a ‘bye’ to Becky and Charlotte. As the door shut to the apartment, Becky gapes with an offended look.

“Did you see that?” Becky guffaws, “I didn’t even get a goodbye! Do I not matter at all? Am I invisible? Charlotte, can you see me right now?”

Becky reaches forward across the couch, grabbing Charlotte’s face and squeezing her cheeks together. She looks at Charlotte with a faux-panicked expression. Charlotte rolls her eyes and pries Becky’s hand from her face.

“You’re so stupid,” Charlotte mutters, looking down at her lap and trying to stifle her smile.

“Rude,” Becky expresses flippantly, “I’ll have you know that I have a 2.9 GPA right now.”

Charlotte scoffs, “Yeah, and I have a 4.0. You could too if you weren’t slacking off all the time.”

Becky shrugs, grabbing the remote to search for something new to watch, “Eh. Not interested. But you’re welcome to join me in my mischief sometimes.”

“No chance,” Charlotte laughs, “I have no interest in joining you and Rollins on your weekly attempts to get arrested.”

Becky turns to Charlotte and wiggles her eyebrows, “Who said anything about Rollins joining us?”

Charlotte bites her bottom lip with a blush, sucking in a deep breath at the subtly suggestive words from Becky. She looks down at her lap and shakes her head. For a moment, her mind flashes to Andrade and guilt washes over her. She doesn’t have a crush on Becky, and she doesn’t need to behave as if she does. She loves Andrade.

And he’ll never leave her. He’ll never go out and recklessly get himself hurt. He’ll never do anything impulsive that hurts her. He’s just safe. A steady hand. A guarantee. And that’s all Charlotte has ever needed in her life. Someone who would just be there, because, as much as her father loved her, he never really was.

But Andrade is. He always has been from the second they met.

“Fat chance,” Charlotte quips back, turning away from Becky.

Forcing her focus on the TV ahead of her, Charlotte misses the momentary hurt expression on Becky. She shakes her head lightly and looks down at her lap. She can’t keep doing this to herself. Charlotte’s not interested, and she never will be interested. She has Andrade, and he is perfect.

Always on time. Always prepared. Never in trouble.

Not like Becky.

And Charlotte deserves so much more than Becky could ever give to her. It would never work. She just has to force herself to give up. The two women lapse into silence, both lost in their thoughts of each other. Of what could be, but never will. The space between them on the couch hurts, but the consequences of closing the gap are much too deep.

No matter how much they might want to.

X

Sasha watches as Bayley closes the door to the passenger side of her car and smiles at her. She walks around the front of the car and gets in beside Sasha. The two buckle their seatbelts, matching grins on their faces. Bayley cranks the car and then turns to look at Sasha.

“You ready to go?” Bayley asks, excitement apparent on her features.

“Yeah, yeah, I am,” Sasha nods, promising herself to be open and not succumb to her fears on this date.

Bayley is too sweet to push away, and Sasha deserves to be happy. She can’t sabotage herself, not this time. She knows if she does that she’ll regret it and that Becky will immediately try to set her up with someone else. And Sasha is sure that person will not be anywhere near as kind or gentle as Bayley.

As Bayley backs out of the parking lot, she sparks light conversation between the two as they drive to the ice rink. The whole drive the two are smiling and laughing. Things between them grow comfortable and easy so quickly that it feels like Bayley has been in her life for years. Bayley tells her stories of her first three years of college, and Sasha shares some back. Bayley regales her with silly tales from her childhood, and Sasha reciprocates with all the antics Becky and she got up to after they first met.

The drive to the ice rink was thirty minutes but felt much, much shorter to Sasha. When they arrived to the rink, both women got out of the car and walked to the entrance. Before Sasha could so much as grab her wallet, Bayley already had the cash out to pay and was handing it over to the worker in the ticket booth.

Bayley turns to Sasha, “What size skates do you need?”

“You don’t have to pay for me,” Sasha whines, pouting up at Bayley.

Bayley shrugs with a smile, “We’re on a date, and you’re a beautiful girl. Of course, I’m paying. Plus, you did me the honor of finding my beanie, so I think I owe you one.”

Sasha smiles down at her shoes before looking back up at Bayley and beginning to pull the beanie off to return it to her. Bayley notices the action and quickly rests her hands on top of Sasha’s, preventing her from removing the beanie. Sasha looks up at Bayley, confused by her action.

Bayley grins, “I said I’m grateful you helped me find my beanie, not that I wanted it back.”

“So you don’t want it back?” Sasha questions, already retreating into shyness at the prospect.

Bayley shakes her head, “Nah. Who I am to steal a beanie that looks so cute on you? I have others anyway. It’s no burden, darling.”

Bayley removes her hands from on top of Sasha’s and smiles down at her. Sasha’s heart soars at the action. How is she so perfect? However, she immediately misses the contact and weighs a decision for a few seconds. When she remembers Charlotte’s advice, she knows that she should be a little brave.

Sasha reaches down and grabs Bayley’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Bayley’s hand is soft and warm, just like the smile on her face. Instead of saying anything, Bayley gently tugs Sasha forward, and they recite their skate sizes to the worker. After grabbing their skates, they walk past the ticket booth and into the outdoor ice rink.

While making light, flirtatious conversation, they find a bench and sit next to each other. The conversation wanes as both concentrate momentarily on tugging on their skates and tying them.

“You ready?” Bayley questions Sasha when she finishes adjusting her skates.

Sasha ties one last knot then nods up at her. As she thinks about the ice, her mind flashes back to the last time she skated. Suddenly, she remembers that she hasn’t skated in years, and the last time she did she was a clumsy mess. As Bayley begins to stand up from the bench, Sasha grips her arm with a nervous expression. Bayley looks down at her, frowning when she notices Sasha is scared.

“What’s wrong?” Bayley asks, crouching down to look Sasha in the eyes and grab her hand again.

“I—,” Sasha stutters nervously, “I was so, um, excited for our date that I kind of forgot I was a terrible skater?”

Bayley smiles gently and reaches up to carefully stroke Sasha’s cheek with her thumb. At the contact, Sasha’s eyes flutter closed for a few seconds before flickering open to look back at Bayley. Sasha has...no one has ever been this gentle with her. Everything Bayley does is exactly what Sasha wants in that moment. She’s so perfect, and Sasha’s chest fills with longing. Her eyes drop to glance at Bayley’s lips. When she catches herself, Sasha quickly jerks her eyes back up to look at her.

She is met with a gentle smile from Bayley, who seems to have missed Sasha’s momentary blunder.

“It’s okay,” Bayley comforts, voice soft and so kind, “I got you. I promise.”

The longing returns to fill Sasha’s insides. Unable to help herself, she thinks, ‘Can you always have me?’ When she processes the thought, a spike of fear courses through her. How can she be falling this fast?

Bayley tugs Sasha to her feet unexpectedly, causing her to stumble into Bayley’s chest. Sasha looks up and meets Bayley’s eyes. Only inches separate the two women. Nerves are renewed in Sasha at Bayley’s proximity. Immediately, she wishes Bayley would just kiss her.

And a small part of Sasha longs for Bayley to kiss her and never stop.

“Let’s go,” Bayley coaxes Sasha, grabbing her hand, “and if you fall, then I’ll catch you.”

Sasha sucks in a sharp breath at the words. She wants Bayley to mean them in so many more ways than just catching her on the ice. Because Sasha can already feel it deep inside her chest. She can feel it aching in her bones. She can hear it like a whisper in her heart. She’s going to fall, but not just on the ice. And she needs Bayley to catch her because she doesn’t know what might happen if Bayley doesn’t.

By the time Sasha reaches the end of her thoughts, she realizes that Bayley is standing on the ice, hand still interlocked with Sasha. She gestures for Sasha to step out and holds out her other hand. Sasha takes a step onto the ice, and Bayley’s other hand comes to rest on her waist in an attempt to steady her.

The gesture works and Bayley waits a moment to allow Sasha to steady herself before she let’s go. Their hands remain intertwined as Bayley begins to slowly pull her forward. A smile remains on Sasha over the next few minutes as she skates successfully with Bayley beside her. The two continue to talk, the conversation mostly stemming from Bayley’s continued encouragement. Reassuring Sasha that she is doing great, and that everything’s going to be fine. She’s not going to hit the ice and hurt herself.

After a few laps around the large rink and the constant compliments from Bayley, Sasha begins to feel her confidence grow. Eventually, she becomes more assured that she can do this on her own. So, they make one more lap around the arena when Sasha pulls them to a halt and turns to face Bayley.

“Do you think I should try to skate by myself now? I think I can do it,” Sasha questions, still a little unsure of the safety.

Bayley nods with a smile, squeezing Sasha’s hand and letting it go, “You can do it. I’ll stay right beside you though, just in case.”

Sasha smiles, reassured by the knowledge that Bayley won’t be far from her. She gestures for them to move forward and slowly begins to glide around the rink. Bayley skates along beside her, proud grin on her face and watchful eyes on her. Again, Sasha can feel her heart skip a beat at Bayley’s clear protectiveness. Her eyes only stray from Sasha for a few seconds before flickering back to check on her.

Sasha’s insides heat up again, realizing that maybe she can just feel safe around Bayley. That maybe she cares enough to protect her. To make sure she isn’t hurting. Sasha knows that if she falls right now that, more likely than not, Bayley is going to catch her.

The thought of being in Bayley’s arms unexpectedly sends Sasha’s mind back to the gym photo on Bayley’s Tinder profile. Sasha could tell how well-built Bayley was just from the photo. The arms. The abs. The definition. God, Bayley is so....strong.

Sasha bets that Bayley could lift her straight up easily and slam her against a wa-

Sasha’s skate suddenly hits a slippery piece of ice and she stumbles, falling backward. There’s an instant of realization of the oncoming crash, and Sasha braces herself for an impact that never comes. Immediately, Sasha feels arms on her waist, and she opens her eyes to see Bayley above her.

She smiles down at her, “Woah, now. No falling around here, darling.”

Bayley tugs her back to a steady, standing position and removes her hands from Sasha’s waist. So respectful.

“Thanks,” Sasha whispers, tugging Bayley’s beanie back into a secure position on her head.

“I told you I’d catch you,” Bayley responds with a smile, “and I always keep my promises.”

Sasha doesn’t know how many times she can lose her breathe on this date before lapsing into cardiac arrest. But she can’t even help it. She feels like she’s floating on clouds every second she’s around her tonight. In some ways, it’s overwhelming, but in other ways, it seems like a key sliding into its lock.

The perfect fit.

After the small mishap, Sasha shyly asked Bayley if they could go back to holding hands. Instantly, Bayley agrees with a smile and takes Sasha’s hand in her own. For the rest of the night, they fly around the rink. They stay there for hours, losing track of time in each other’s company.

Conversation flows freely, laughs ring out between them, and shy compliments are exchanged. Sasha doesn’t fall again. Not on the ice.

But talking to Bayley under the rink lights. Watching her glide so easily on the ice. Seeing how Bayley will continually take the time to make sure Sasha is steady beside her. Hearing her laugh as Sasha tells stories. Feeling Bayley’s hand in her own. Listening to Bayley’s voice, jokes, stories, compliments.

Maybe Sasha doesn’t fall on the ice again.

But she still falls that night.

And she just hopes Bayley will catch her this time too.

Chapter Text

Sasha and Bayley stay on the ice until they hear the closing announcement over the speakerphones. When Sasha hears the announcement, she’s finally broken from her first date haze. She pulls out her phone and sees that’s it’s 11PM.

“We should probably head back,” Sasha suggests with a frown.

Bayley nods, “Yeah, you’re right. Come on, we can head back to the car.”

Bayley guides her back to the edge of the ice. She steps up first and turns around, reaching down to secure her arms around Sasha’s waist as she carefully steps off the ice. Again, Bayley releases her immediately and disappointment rushes through Sasha.

Bayley is so respectful and sweet but maybe Sasha just wanted to be held for a little bit longer. Despite the setback, she pushes negative thoughts to the side. It’s their first date. Bayley just wants to be careful, and it’s honestly endearing. She’s an absolute sweetheart.

The two women locate the same bench where they sat before, untying their skates with an amicable silence resting between them. Both are dealing with disappointment as they approach the end of the date and a distinct tiredness coming from hours of skating.

They return the skates to the ticket booth and make their way out and back to Bayley’s car. Ever the chivalrous woman, Bayley again opens Sasha’s door for her. Sasha sits down in the car and grins up at Bayley, who is returning the smile. They continue to stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment before Bayley seems to startle and look away.

She shuts Sasha’s door and moves around to her own side. The drive back to Sasha’s apartment is filled with more conversation, but this time slightly more subdued. Both girls are exhausted, and the long drive only settles the feeling in more.

When they arrive back to Sasha’s apartment, she unbuckles her belt and turns to smile at Bayley.

“I had a great time,” Sasha admits shyly, breaking eye contact with Bayley to fiddle with a string on her ripped jeans.

Sasha feels a finger on her chin, and Bayley lifts her back up to regain eye contact. She’s gazing at Sasha with soft, caring eyes.

“You didn’t think I was just gonna let you walk yourself back inside, did you?” Bayley asks, voice and eyes both so gentle.

Sasha’s eyes shoot down again, and she stutters out, “I didn’t— I didn’t know.”

Bayley moves to interlock her fingers with Sasha’s again, “Come on. Let me walk you back inside.”

At that, Bayley releases Sasha’s hand and opens her door, jogging around to Sasha’s side. She opens the door for her and holds her hand out for Sasha to grab. The heat on Sasha’s cheeks confirms that she’s overwhelmed by Bayley’s actions tonight. This is by far the best date Sasha has ever been on. Nothing else even compares. The night has been absolutely perfect.

Sasha reaches out and grabs onto Bayley’s hand, using the grip to pull herself up. Bayley shuts the door behind her without letting go of Sasha’s hand.

As they walk back to Sasha’s apartment, Bayley turns to her.

“So,” Bayley grins, raising her eyebrows suggestively, “Tell me more about this great time you just had.”

Sasha’s eyes flicker away from Bayley, embarrassed, “Shut up.”

“Come on,” Bayley teases, nudging her shoulder against Sasha’s with a laugh, “It was adorable.”

A blush appears on Sasha’s cheeks, and she mutters, “I’m not adorable.”

Bayley turns to her with an adoring look, breathing out, “You absolutely are.”

The closeness of Bayley causes Sasha to shiver. Bayley’s voice was husky and deep. Firm and confident. That’s…maybe Bayley would talk to Sasha like that more if they were—

“Well,” Bayley sighs, interrupting Sasha’s train of thought, “We’re back.”

Sasha looks up and notices they’ve come to a stop at her door. She startles and reaches down into her purse, feeling around for her keys. After a few seconds, she wraps her hand around them and pulls them from her purse.

‘Okay, this is the moment,’ Sasha thinks, ‘I can either put my key into the lock, head inside, and say goodnight. Or, I could wait a moment. Linger for just a few seconds. And maybe she will understand that I want her to kiss me.’

Sasha looks at the door for a second, then makes her decision. She turns to Bayley with a gentle smile and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, blinking up at her. Bayley glances down at the keys in Sasha’s hands, clearly noticing that she is making no move to enter her apartment. Her eyes shift back to Sasha and, for the first time that night, Bayley actually looks nervous.

‘That’s okay. She just needs a little encouragement,’ Sasha thinks.

“Thank you for tonight, Bayley. I really did have a great time,” Sasha hesitantly admits.

The nervous expression doesn’t disappear, but Sasha notices that Bayley has mustered up a smile. Bayley takes a step closer and places a hand on Sasha’s arm.

“I had an amazing time too. The best night I’ve had in a long while,” Bayley confesses quietly, “Can we do this again soon?”

An excited grin emerges on Sasha as Bayley’s words confirm that she wants to spend more time with her. That the date wasn’t a failure for her. That she’s still interested. A sigh of relief escapes Sasha, and she nods eagerly, breathing out, “Yeah, I would like that.”

Silence resumes between the two women. Bayley’s hand lingers on Sasha’s arm, and neither can look away from the other. Sasha watches as Bayley gulps nervously. Then, she seems to steel her eyes, suddenly looking reassured in herself. She moves in closer, and the nerves reignite inside Sasha.

She feels like she’s been waiting for this moment for weeks, and she’s wanted it all night. It’s the final confirmation that Bayley feels the connection between them too. That she feels the magnetic pull that’s driving Sasha to her. That maybe Bayley wants this as much as Sasha knows she needs it.

Sasha closes her eyes and parts her lips, waiting for Bayley to make the final move and kiss her for the very first time. A few seconds pass before Sasha feels Bayley’s breaths ghosting over her mouth. Sasha stretches up, unable to combat her unconscious desire to be closer to Bayley.

“Before I kiss you,” Bayley whispers.

A shiver wracks Sasha’s body at the words, and she stifles a needy whine.

“I want to know if it's what you want. So, can I kiss you, Sasha?”

Sasha’s eyes shoot open at the question, and she immediately makes eye contact with Bayley. They stare at each other for several long seconds, tension building the longer they remain this close. Sasha has been attracted to Bayley since she first scrolled through her Tinder profile. She’s had brief moments of thoughts lingering on the possibility of...of being close to Bayley. Touching Bayley. Bayley touching her.

But those were just fleeting. Quickly swept away by nerves, shyness, and a light, innocent fluttering in her heart.

This is the first time that… the thoughts are not fleeting. For the first time, Sasha feels a deep spark of attraction between them. And she— she needs Bayley to just kiss her already.

“Please,” Sasha whispers, grasping the lapels of Bayley’s jacket, “Please just kiss me.”

With permission granted, Bayley doesn’t hesitate a second longer. Her hand moves up to cup Sasha’s cheek and she tilts her head down, leaning forward the extra few inches needed to close the gap between them.

And, then, they’re kissing.

The feel of Bayley’s lips moving on hers sends an adrenaline rush straight through her system. Her arms move to wrap around Bayley’s neck, and her hands tug Bayley closer. She feels Bayley’s left hand come to rest gently at the small of Sasha’s back. She sighs into the kiss, sinking into Bayley.

A few more sweet seconds pass before Bayley slowly pulls back to separate them. Their lips part, but they stay close. Bayley moves to rest their foreheads together, and both women try to return their breathing to normal. Seconds pass by in silence as they attempt to commit this moment to memory.

“Um, wow,” Bayley finally breathes out, the words washing over Sasha.

A grin emerges on Sasha, “Yeah, wow.”

At that, both women begin to laugh. They separate slowly from each other until the laughter has died down. Sasha looks down at her keys, before glancing up at Bayley through her eyelashes. The moment of confidence during the kiss has lapsed back into shyness. No matter what happens, Sasha can’t seem to shake this bashfulness around Bayley.

It’s something that she had never experienced to this degree in her life. She had always been hesitant about dating. Always a little more nervous around someone she was interested in. But, somehow, it’s different with Bayley.

And she can’t explain why.

“I think I’m gonna head back home. Thank you for a great night, Sasha,” Bayley says, disrupting Sasha’s thoughts.

“Okay,” Sasha replies softly, “I’ll see you soon?”

Bayley grins, “Most definitely.”

Sasha frowns as she watches Bayley make her way down the hallway, a little disappointed the date has ended. She turns and works her key into the lock. When she hears the distinct click, she begins to push forward—

A hand softly tugs her arm, and she catches sight of Bayley in front of her again just as she leans down and kisses Sasha for the second time. Her eyes flutter closed at the unexpected feeling washing over her again. Bayley slowly pulls back, and Sasha’s eyes flutter open to see her.

“Sorry,” Bayley grins cheekily, “Couldn’t help myself.”

Bayley walks backwards down the hallway this time, grinning at Sasha the whole way. Sasha just stares after her, completely dazed. When Bayley turns the corner, Sasha pushes the door open to her apartment and walks in. She shuts the door behind her and falls back against it. Closing her eyes with a smile on her face, Sasha thinks back over the entire night.

Bayley constantly calling her beautiful. Bayley opening and closing car doors for her. Bayley paying for her. Bayley being so careful, gentle, and protective of Sasha the entire time they were on the ice.

She thinks about how it felt to hold Bayley’s hand. To be in Bayley’s arms for a few moments when she slipped on the ice.

And she thinks about that kiss.

Kisses.

Bayley kisses just like Sasha imagined. Warm, confident, caring. With just enough impulse to keep things exhilarating.

Sasha’s eyes open and she scans the living room, softening when she notices a sight on the couch. She quietly walks over to the duo and carefully pulls Ryu from Becky’s arms. Apparently, the two had fallen asleep waiting up for her. Ryu wakes up, and she quietly shushes him, not wanting to disturb Becky.

She walks into her room and sets Ryu down on her bed. He curls up at the foot of the bed, tired and ready to return to sleep. Sasha smiles down at him. Then, she turns to grab a blanket laying on top of her desk chair and leaves the room. She approaches the couch again and smiles, noticing Becky had found a pillow to latch onto where Ryu was placed before.

Gently, she lays the blanket on top of Becky, making sure it covers all of her. Then, she heads back to her room. She spends the next twenty minutes calmly getting ready for sleep. She changes into pajamas. Wipes off her makeup. Slips into her glasses and brushes her teeth.

Just as she settles in to bed, she hears her phone ding. Sleepily, she grabs it from her bedside table and unlocks it to read the message.

Bayley: You looked so beautiful tonight. Sometimes I would look over at you and feel like I couldn’t breathe.

Sasha’s exhaustion leaves her unable to keep any semblance of a guard up. So, she responds honestly.

Sasha: How have you made me feel more in one date than I’ve felt in any other relationship?

A few minutes pass with no response. Sasha, too sleepy to feel concerned, let’s go of her phone and closes her eyes. Just as she’s drifting off, she hears one last ding. She searches for her phone for a few seconds before finally grasping it in her hand.

Bayley: I must be very, very lucky.

Sasha: Maybe you should play the lottery

Bayley: No, I don’t think so. I’m a little too focused on Banks right now.

The joke takes a few seconds to register in Sasha’s sleep-deprived brain. However, when it does she rolls her eyes with a smile, trying with much difficulty to suppress the laugh that wants to break free. Nope, it’s not funny. Puns are unacceptable.

Sasha: Blocked

Bayley: No, wait!

Sasha: This number is unavailable

Bayley: Sasha, come back!

Sasha: Error 404 return to sender

Bayley: Come on, it was just a pun! It was cute and adorable! Like me!

The grin on Sasha’s face is blinding as the back-and-forth banter with Bayley continues for the next few minutes. The new playfulness that arises between them only makes Sasha feel even more safe with Bayley. She’s just a big protective goofball with an affinity for stupid, romantic puns.

And she’s comfortable.

Maybe even safe.

And that’s all Sasha has ever wanted. To just feel safe.

X

Sasha is woken up the next morning by a slimy feeling on her face. She blinks her eyes open wearily and sees Ryu directly in front of her, licking her face continually. A sleepy smile appears, and she tiredly grabs her dog, pulling him into her arms. She places a gentle kiss on his head and rolls over onto her back, placing Ryu down on her stomach.

The dog happily wags his tail and bends to lick the palm of Sasha’s hand.

“Good boy,” Sasha coos, voice slightly raspy after a night of sleep.

As Sasha pets her dog, she begins to fully wake up. The smile on her face widens when she remembers the previous night. Her first date with Bayley. The perfect date. A deep sigh escapes her, and she sinks further into her bed.

She thinks back over every moment of the date, trying to force herself to commit it all to memory. To not lose a single second of the night. Bayley was amazing, even more so than Sasha thought. Being with her for an entire night...it just felt incredible. Already Sasha wanted to see her again. Speak to her again. Hug her again. Kiss her again. She craves all of it, and it honestly is a little scary to think about just how much.

Not wanting to linger on her fears, Sasha decides to get up and make her morning coffee. She pulls Ryu off her and sets him down on the floor while she stands up from the bed. She pulls a pair of sweatpants off the floor and tugs them on and makes her way out of her room, Ryu hot on her heels.

When she strolls into the kitchen, she notices Charlotte talking on the phone, back facing away from Sasha. Since Charlotte hasn’t made any move to acknowledge her, Sasha assumes Charlotte has no idea she's here. Smiling mischievously, she makes no sound, happy to listen in on whatever conversation Charlotte is having.

“Look, I was just tired last night, okay?” Charlotte sighs, rubbing her forehead, “My classes have been stressing me out, and I just wanted a night to relax. I swear that’s all it is.”

Sasha’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. Is Charlotte talking to Andrade? It sure doesn’t sound like the enthusiastic, lovey-dovey talks they usually have on the phone.

“Yes, Becky was here,” Charlotte answers snappily, “I don’t understand why that would be a problem. She lives here, Andrade.”

Sasha feels a flare of anger and confusion run through her. Why is Andrade mentioning Becky? Especially in what seems to be a negative light. Who does he think he is?

Sasha had never had a problem with Andrade up to this point, but she wonders for a moment if she had misjudged. But, just as quickly, she pushes the thoughts away. She can’t hear the other side of the conversation, and Andrade has always been nothing but kind to Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky. She has no right to accuse him of anything else.

Charlotte sighs again, this time sounding regretful, “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to sound so snappy. I know you like Becky. I’m just stressed and have a huge headache. Do you want me to come over tonight?”

Sasha creeps to the side quietly, trying to get a peek at Charlotte’s face without being seen. She releases a relieved sigh when she notices the slight smile Charlotte is wearing. Whatever the problem was it seems to have been settled. Thankfully. Sasha likes Andrade, and she loves Andrade with Charlotte. She’s been so much happier since they started dating, and Sasha has been delighted to see her friend’s confidence truly begin to blossom and grow as their relationship progressed.

Andrade is good for Charlotte, and Sasha is glad this spat appeared to be minor.

“Yeah, see you tonight, baby,” Charlotte says, pulling her phone away from her ear and hanging up.

Sasha clears her throat, and Charlotte startles at the sudden intrusion. She spins around and breathes out a sigh of relief when she notices that it’s only Sasha. Sasha lifts an eyebrow at Charlotte in question.

“What was that about?”

Charlotte sighs and leans back against the kitchen counter, “Andrade was just a little worried. We haven’t been spending as much time together lately, and he was worried I was pulling away.”

Sasha watches Charlotte pensively, “Are you?”

“No, of course not!” Charlotte rushes out hastily, “I love Andrade. I don’t want to be away from him. It’s just been...things have been busier lately. But we can work it out.”

Sasha nods, although there’s a little voice in the back of her mind telling her that something is still off. When she said things would work out...she really didn’t sound so sure of that. Although Sasha wants to ask, she pushes away the thought. Charlotte has been acting a little more strange recently, but she has never the one to push. Especially around Charlotte, who is just as apt to shut down completely as Sasha can be. When Charlotte is ready to talk, then she’ll do it. Until then, Sasha just has to support her.

“You will. Andrade and you are the perfect match,” Sasha smiles comfortingly at her friend, before turning to prepare her morning coffee.

She doesn’t catch the wavering look on Charlotte that only becomes more apprehensive when she glances at Becky still asleep on the couch. After a few seconds, her face softens at the sight.

Charlotte mutters quietly, “Can’t believe she fell asleep on the couch last night.”

Sasha nods, still concentrating on getting her coffee started, “Yeah, came in and saw her like that last night. She was all cuddled up with Ryu. It was adorable.”

“Did you get her the blanket?” Charlotte asks softly, still unable to remove her eyes from their friend.

“Mhm,” Sasha replies, finally turning to look at Becky too, “Didn’t want her to get cold in the night. Plus, I knew she’d kill me if I woke her up. Safer for all of us to just let her stay there.”

The conversation in the kitchen seems to stir Becky from her sleep. Her eyes blearily blink open, and she stretches out on the couch. She turns to look at the two women in the kitchen and rubs at one of her eyes. Charlotte can’t help but stare at the adorable sight, but she forces herself to repress the longing she feels looking at Becky.

“What’s goin’ on?” Becky mutters, voice groggy and raspy from sleep.

“You fell asleep on the couch last night, doofus,” Sasha quips back, making her way over to the couch.

She lifts Becky’s feet and plops herself down in their spot, allowing Becky’s feet to drop down into her lap. She sips on her coffee and unlocks her phone, frowning when she notices zero notifications on her screen. Becky adjusts against the couch, trying to move into a more comfortable position. She pushes herself up a little higher and readjusts the pillow behind her.

“I was waiting for you to get home,” Becky mutters, reaching behind her to locate her own phone.

Charlotte perks up at the conversation, “Speaking of last night, Sasha how was your daaaattee?”

Becky perks up at the mention of Sasha’s date last night and eagerly lifts herself into a seated position to listen. Sasha grips her coffee cup and smiles down at her lap. For a moment, she lapses back into memories of last night.

“It was…she’s perfect,” Sasha breathes out, eyes focused on her coffee, but mind miles away,

Charlotte’s eyes soften in Sasha’s direction, “What happened?”

“I just,” Sasha quietly begins, “She was so kind. The entire night. I was scared to fall on the ice, and she held my hand the entire time. And when I thought I could skate alone...and I almost fell. She caught me. Everything was so easy. At the end of the night… she walked me to the door. And she asked if she could kiss me. It was...everything.”

Becky leans over with a wide grin, nudging Sasha’s shoulder until she looks up. When their eyes connect, Becky wiggles her eyebrows at her teasingly.

“So, how was the kiss?”

Sasha laughs softly, voice still out of breath, “Soft. And gentle. And— I don’t— I really, really like her. So much. I can’t believe she feels the same way.”

“Of course she does,” Becky replies, voice sure and gentle, soft for once, “You’re Sasha Banks. She’d be an idiot not to fall for ya.”

Sasha takes another sip of her coffee, trying to ground herself and temper her ever-widening grin. She feels so much. So much that she’s never felt. And it isn’t stopping. Only growing. Every time she sees her. Talks to her. Thinks about her. Everything in her chest expands, and all that’s left is this feeling deep inside her. Whispering ‘Bayley’ over and over again.

Already, the only thing Sasha wants is to see her again. Be with her. It’s overwhelming, all-encompassing. And Sasha just can’t shake it.

She doesn’t want to.

“Well, either way,” Sasha responds, voice quiet and awed, “I don’t want this to stop. I don’t want this feeling to go away.”

Charlotte walks forward, placing a gentle hand on Sasha’s shoulder and squeezing. Her own smile unable to leave, happiness for her friend filling her. She’s never seen Sasha this soft. This light. And happy.

“Then, don’t let it. Don’t let her go,” Charlotte urges kindly.

Sasha released a deep, contented sigh and sinks further into the couch. She seems to withdraw into herself, lost in thoughts of last night. In thoughts of Bayley.

Her two friends watch her for a few seconds, happiness for their friend coursing through them. Realizing that a reply from Sasha seems unlikely to come soon, they both allow her to keep to herself, deeming it important to let Sasha gather her thoughts. Treasure these new feelings.

The trio lapse into silence, all quietly going about their own business. Sasha’s thoughts continue to linger on Bayley. When the warmth inside her heats into deep longing, she grasps the phone braided her, pulling up her messages and texting Bayley.

It’s only a few seconds later before she receives a message back. Sasha’s heart flutters before she even reads it.

Bayley: And good morning to you, beautiful. I can’t stop thinking about last night. About you.

Sasha: Me neither…all good things, right?

Bayley: Great things. You’re amazing, Sasha. When can I see you again?

Sasha bites her lip, and her eyes shoot up to the ceiling. Giddiness rushing through her at Bayley’s immediate eagerness to see her again. At the reciprocation of everything she is feeling. She looks down at her phone, staring at the message. Trying to think of what answer won’t come off as clingy when all she really wants to say is ‘Now.’

See me now. Come over now. Meet me somewhere. Anywhere. I’ll do anything if it just gets me beside you again.

Just as she begins to type out a message, she’s interrupted by Becky.

“Ladies,” Becky declares loudly, “We all officially have plans for tonight.”

Charlotte, currently flipping through the latest edition of The Atlantic, doesn’t so much as glance up from the pages.

“No.”

Becky rolls her eyes and protests, “Come on! I didn’t even say anything yet!”

With no hesitation, eyes still focused on her article, Charlotte flippantly responds, “And yet I already know that I don’t want to go.”

“Well, too bad,” Becky declares, “You’re going, and it’s gonna be a great time! You too, Sash!”

Sasha looks at her curiously, “And what are my supposed plans for the night?”

Becky grins at Sasha’s slightly more open reaction, “Seth’s frat is throwing a house party.”

“Absolutely not,” Charlotte scoffs dismissively, “I will not spend my Saturday night surrounded by disgusting, drunk frat guys. And I’ve already made plans with Andrade anyway.”

“Rollins isn’t disgusting, and most of his brothers aren’t either!”

Charlotte rolls her eyes, flipping a page in her magazine, “Debatable.”

Becky, deciding it best to ignore Charlotte for now, turns her attention to Sasha with a pout.

“Pleaasseee, Sash. We haven’t been to a party in forever!”

Sasha sighs, “Bex, I love you. But the last time I went to a party at Seth’s frat, I spent my night being hit on by drunk men. I don’t really wanna do that again.”

Becky’s shoulders drop in disappointment at the rejection, really expecting a win there. She stares down at her lap, bummed out, when suddenly an idea pops into her mind. Her eyes shoot back up to Sasha excitedly.

“What if I guarantee you that you won’t be hit on?”

Sasha eyes Becky cautiously, unsure of any ‘idea’ Becky comes up with, knowing from experience that most of Becky’s plans never end well.

“How can you guarantee that?”

Becky smiles confidently, “Bring Bayley.”

Sasha pauses at the words, contemplating the suggestion. If she invited Bayley, then she could see her again tonight. A party could be a fun, more of a chill vibe than ice skating. And maybe...there are plenty of rooms to sneak into. And Sasha really wants to kiss Bayley again. Preferably as soon as possible.

But would Bayley even want to go to a party? Is she the party type?

Asking couldn’t hurt.

“I’ll go,” Sasha decides, “But only if Bayley comes too.”

“YES!” Becky celebrates loudly.

Charlotte jumps at the disruption, finally looking up from her magazine. She shoots glances between a smiling, practically bouncing in her seat Becky and Sasha, clearly texting away on her phone with her own matching grin. Her shoulders drop, knowing if Sasha goes that she’s going to be dragged into this as well.

Meanwhile, Sasha is texting Bayley about the unexpected plans.

Sasha: Hey, Bay :) Speaking of hanging out again, Becky just told me about this party tonight at her friend’s frat. Idk if you’d be into it, but would you wanna go with me?

Sasha bites her lip nervously, hoping Bayley agrees to come. More out of a desire to see Bayley again than wanting to actually go to Seth’s party. She only has to wait a minute before a reply comes.

Bayley: Sure! Sounds fun :) What time and where?

A grin emerges on Sasha as her mind rushes through a thousand possibilities of tonight. She looks up and meets Becky’s eyes. Becky is looking back at her, leaning forward with hands clasped together and pout on her face.

Sasha rolls her eyes but smiles, “We’re in.”

“YES!”

Becky leaps out of her seat with a cheer and immediately turns to Charlotte with a shit-eating smirk. Charlotte stares back at her, eyes carefully guarded and impassive. However, Becky’s grin isn’t tempered, her confidence only rising at the look.

“So, Charlie,” Becky confidently begins, “Sasha and Bayley are in. Gonna sit at home like the old nanny ya pretend to be or ya gonna come out and have a little fun?”

Charlotte’s eyes flicker back and forth between her best friends. She rolls her eyes at the matching pouts on their faces and sets her magazine down. She eyes Becky critically before a smile comes to her face.

“I swear to God,” Charlotte chimes, shaking her head, “If I have to cart either of your drunk asses home tonight, I’m leaving you on the floor. Let me call Andrade.”

A loud laugh erupts from Becky, and she claps her hands together excitedly.

“PAAAARRTTTYYYY!!!”

X

Sasha glances behind her for what must be the tenth time in fifteen minutes. She’s gathered around the kitchen with Seth, Becky, Andrade, and Charlotte. They arrived at the party around eight and have been drinking lightly since. Sasha can already feel the alcohol beginning to work its way into her system. And the more she drinks the more she wants Bayley beside her.

“Everyone knows that I’m the best drinker in the group. No American can outdrink an Irishwoman.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Sasha scoffs with a roll of her eyes, “Always talking shit. You’ve lived here since you were eleven. I can drink your ass under the table, Lynch.”

Becky smirks and lifts her eyebrows, “How bout a shot to start the night off then? Before your girl gets here.”

Sasha quickly stifles a smile behind her glass at the mention of Bayley as ‘her girl.’ Instead, she takes another sip of her Smirnoff and schools her features into an unbothered expression.

She shrugs, glancing away uncaringly, “Eh, why not?”

Becky grins and reaches for one of the many vodka bottles resting on the kitchen island. She walks over to the cabinets, retrieving two shot glasses with ease. When she walks back to Sasha’s side, she slams the small glasses down in front of them with an arrogant grin and pours them full.

“Remember what I said about leaving your asses on the floor?” Charlotte interrupts the two, taking a sip of her own drink and leaning further into Andrade.

Without sparing her a glance, Becky waves her off, “Yeah, yeah, buzz kill. We heard ya.”

Becky grins at the scoff she receives from Charlotte at the dismissal then lifts her glass and looks at Sasha, eyebrows raised.

“Ya ready, lass?”

Sasha shoots her a sly grin and lifts her own glass, “Always.”

The two best friends nod at each other and lift the glasses up, tilting them easily into their mouths. They stare each other down, both forcing themselves to mask their distaste. Not willing to give away an iota of discomfort to the other woman.

Becky smirks and her eyes shoot behind Sasha momentarily. She lingers on something for a few seconds before glancing back at her friend.

“Well,” Becky replies pensively, “Not too shabby. I would demand round two, but I think you’ve got company.”

Becky nods behind her, and Sasha looks confused at the response. But at Becky’s gesture behind her, she turns around and spots Bayley. Her brain short circuits at the sight of Bayley in front of her. Backward snapback on her head, sleeveless tank top showing off her toned arms, and an adorable grin that seems permanently etched on. She looks...God, she’s hot.

Bayley stops directly in front of Sasha, cutting her eyes to the rest of the group in the kitchen. She looks back down at Sasha.

“Getting started without me?” Bayley asks teasingly, cute smile instantly disarming Sasha’s mask of bravado she had up seconds earlier.

“I’m sorry?” Sasha squeaks our hesitantly, already feeling the alcohol beginning to set in her system.

Bayley laughs lightly, “Ah, it’s good. Just means I gotta play a little catch-up. But, first—”

Confidently, Bayley leans down until there are only a few inches of space between them. Sasha feels a hand come to rest softly on her waist, thumb brushing up under her shirt. Immediately, Sasha is swept up by the closeness. She still hears the noise of the party, still knows her friends are surrounding her.

But the only thing she can think about is Bayley.

“Do I get a kiss hello?”

Sasha’s mind unfreezes, rewinds, and fast forwards in those few seconds. Her usual Bayley-induced nerves swept aside in favor of an eager desire to be kissed (right now please). It only takes Sasha a few seconds before she is nodding and instantly Bayley moves in. She presses her lips lightly against Sasha’s for a few, sweet seconds before pulling back with a squeeze of Sasha’s waist.

She winks down at Sasha before looking up over Sasha’s shoulder, addressing Becky, “Can I get a shot poured for me too, or are your bartending services a best friend exclusive deal?”

Becky chuckles at the question, and Sasha turns around to see Becky’s eyes shining happily, clearly amused by Bayley. Sasha feels warmth spread through her, realizing that her best friend already seems to have taken a liking to Bayley.

Becky shakes her head, “Aye, I‘m afraid so, lass. These hands only pour for my best friends. However, I think ya may have traded enough saliva with Sash over there to qualify for a one-time exception.”

Bayley grins, glancing down at a red-faced Sasha. She raises her eyebrows in amusement at the apparent anger on her face, having gone unexposed to Sasha’s feisty side so far. Looking to temper her momentarily, she slings a casual arm over Sasha’s shoulder. Instantly, Sasha seems to be distracted, sliding closer into Bayley. Bayley smiles down at her.

“Didn’t know kissing you came with special benefits?” Bayley questions, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

Sasha blushes at the statement, glancing shyly at Bayley’s arm around her. However, before she can come up with an answer, the resident thorn in Sasha’s side beats her to it.

“Oh, definitely,” Becky boasts loudly, happily ignoring the immediate warning glare she receives from Sasha, “I’m sure there are plenty of special benefits Sasha will be happy to give ya tonight!”

Embarrassment and rage flood Sasha at the words. Yes, she may have been thinking about… getting slightly more hot and heavy with Bayley tonight. But she’s still going to kill Becky for implying it.

Unable to help herself, Sasha snarls, “Shut the fuck up, Lynch.”

“Ooooo,” Becky retorts gleefully, “Testy tonight, Banks? Maybe ya need another shot to get ya in the proper mood!!”

The subtle teasing again sets off Sasha but she bites her tongue. Becky always wants to goad her, especially around someone Sasha likes. She thinks she’s doing Sasha some kind of favor by just coming out and saying what Sasha won’t. She’s stupid. But trying to help...in her own Becky way.

“Hey, now,” Bayley interrupts, “If you guys are doing another shot, then that means I gotta do two. We got any more glasses?”

Becky turns to Seth with a sly grin and a nod, “Can ya grab me two more glasses?”

“Anything for my lady,” Seth answers teasingly, turning to grab the glasses.

As Seth passes by Becky, she smacks his arm sharply with a cheer.

“Whipped!” Becky taunts, making a cracking sound while gesturing as if she’s holding the whip.

Seth pauses at the action and thinks for a moment. Shrugging his shoulders, he quickly turns with a smirk and gives a return smack to Becky’s ass before darting out of reach just as her hand shoots out toward him.

He walks backward to the cabinet and sticks his tongue out at her. Becky rolls her eyes at him, flipping him the bird with an uncontrollable smile. Charlotte's eyes flicker to the pair with a harsh stare, lingering for a moment before she turns back to Andrade. The pair sink back into their own conversation, leaning into each other as they talk. The comfort between them is palpable, and when Becky notices the couple, hurt contorts her expression.

“Got your glasses, Bex,” Seth yells, slamming three glasses on the table beside her.

Becky jumps slightly, startled at the sudden interruption. Her gaze lingers on Charlotte and Andrade for a few more seconds before she turns her attention back to the group with a smile. Her eyes shift down to the shot glasses in front of her, and she looks up at Seth.

“Hey, moron,” Becky heckles, drawing his attention back to her, “Can ya not count? I said two glasses.”

Seth raises his eyebrows, “You think I’m gonna let all of you lovely ladies take shots without me? I don’t think so, B.”

“Okay, fair,” Becky nods, followed by clapping her hands together decisively, “Now, let’s get to it!”

Seth holds the bottle for Becky while she lines the five shot glasses into a row. When she’s finished he passes her the bottle, and she begins pouring. Beside them, Bayley has kept her around Sasha’s shoulder, and the two divulge into their own short conversation. While talking, Sasha reaches up to tangle her fingers with Bayley’s.

“Thank you for coming,” Sasha says softly, adoring gaze focused solely on Bayley.

Bayley smiles, “Why wouldn’t I come? Who voluntarily misses out on a party with a beautiful girl?”

Sasha glances away from Bayley shyly, eyes flickering up to their intertwined hands, “You’re beautiful too.”

“Oh yeah?” Bayley responds with a teasing lilt to her voice.

Sasha musters up some courage and shoots her eyes back to Bayley, “More than. You look...really good tonight.”

“SHOTS! Ladies, stop being gay for two seconds. It’s time to get FUCKED up,” Becky interrupts loudly, emphasizing the word ‘fucked’ by wiggling her eyebrows with a shit-eating grin.

Sasha rolls her eyes, irritation steadily climbing at Becky, “Oh, just give me the shot.”

“Gladly, grumpy,” Becky laughs, distributing the shots to the group.

She looks up at Charlotte and Andrade, still talking while sipping their own drinks casually. She swallows back the bile in her throat, deciding it’s better for their friendship to attempt to include them than just ignore the pair all night long. Maybe exposure will...numb her to it. Help her move on and get it through her thick skull that Charlotte could never be interested in her. Not while she has Mr. Perfect wrapped around her finger.

“Yo, losers,” Becky shouts over, getting the couple’s attention, “Y’all taking shots or what?”

“You know I hate vodka,” Charlotte replies, taking another sip of her sweetened drink.

“Charlotte asked me to drive you girls home tonight, so I am not drinking,” Andrade replies, smiling kindly, lifting his cup up, “Only soda for me tonight.”

Becky’s face scrunches up in disgust, and she looks away to disguise her scowl. Of course, he’s driving them home. Mr. Perfect strikes again. Becky is going to get extremely wasted, while Andrade stays sober to take care of Charlotte. Perfect. Charlotte probably thinks she’s some kind of loser. A waste of space.

Fine, if she already thinks that and loves Andrade so much, then Becky is just going to prove her right.

At that thought, she grabs her second shot of the night, throwing it back easily and slamming the empty glass back on the table with a scowl. She quickly refills the shot and tosses back another before the rest of the group can take their first. She looks at Charlotte, eyes hard, but Charlotte only gazes back with concern.

Becky smirks, “More for me then.”

“Daaaammnnn,” Bayley laughs loudly, “You just threw those back like it was nothing.”

Becky shrugs, “It’s the Irish blood running through my veins.”

“Just make sure that you keep a little blood in your veins tonight instead of alcohol,” Charlotte nudges gently.

Their eyes connect, and Becky softens at the look of worry. Maybe Charlotte doesn’t think she’s just an idiot after all. Or maybe it’s just those three shots already hitting her.

“Well,” Seth interrupts with a laugh, “I guess it’s our turn then. Ladies?”

Bayley and Sasha raise their glasses and wait on Seth. When he tips his glass back, the two women follow. As soon as Bayley has finished her first, she reaches for her second shot and throws it back. As the second shot burns it’s way down her throat, Bayley winces at the sting.

“God,” Bayley coughs out, “Guess I don’t have your Irish blood, Becky.”

Becky lets out a laugh at that while Sasha rubs her back gently. A few more seconds pass before Bayley composes herself.

“So,” Bayley chuckles, “What now?”

“There’s beer pong going on outside. Two-on-two?” Seth challenges, gesturing between himself, Becky, Bayley, and Sasha.

Sasha shrugs and looks up at Bayley, “I’m down to kick their asses if you are.”

Bayley smirks and looks up at Becky and Seth, “Hell yeah. I’m in.”

Becky narrows her eyes, “Oh it’s on. Char, Andrade, y’all coming?”

Andrade laughs, “I definitely want to see this one.”

“Somebody’s gotta look out for you idiots,” Charlotte says, rolling her eyes with a fond smile.

“LET’S GOOOOOO!”

Becky cheers and turns around, making her way toward the back door. Seth follows, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they make their way out. Andrade and Charlotte share a grin before following behind them while Bayley and Sasha linger in the kitchen.

“So,” Sasha teases, lifting an eyebrow at Bayley, “You play beer pong as well as you skate, or do I have to captain this team?”

Bayley’s eyes spark with amusement, “I can handle myself pretty well, Banks. You shoot as bad as you skate?”

Sasha paints a faux-offended expression on and slaps Bayley lightly on the arm, “Watch it now. Who knows what might happen if you insult me again…”

“My, my, Ms. Banks,” Bayley teases, moving in closer to Sasha, “Are you flirting with me right now?”

Sasha feels an uncommon burst of confidence rush through her at Bayley’s proximity. Instead of blushing or shying away, she steps in closer to Bayley. Until they’re nose-to-nose. She purposefully glances down at Bayley’s lips and lingers before looking back up into her eyes. Running her fingers lightly up Bayley’s arm, she blinks up at her with wide eyes.

“Maybe I am,” Sasha breathes out, voice low and quiet.

Bayley stares back at her, gaze focused with just a hint of desire hiding within their depths. A shiver courses through Sasha when she feels Bayley’s hand on her waist, this time moving up under her shirt to brush against bare skin. Her hand is warm and light on Sasha’s skin. Bayley’s confidence is intoxicating.

“As much as I like this side of you right now,” Bayley whispers, voice rough and deep, “I think your friends might be waiting for us outside. And I’ve never really been one to disappoint when I commit myself to something.”

The subtle suggestion hidden in Bayley’s words raises goosebumps on Sasha’s skin. Sasha would really like to find out just how true Bayley’s words are. Just how much Bayley...wouldn’t disappoint. Not here. Not tonight. But soon. Preferably really soon.

Sasha steps back and lifts her eyebrows, “You ready to go?”

Bayley grins, “Absolutely.”

X

Sasha’s drunk eyes watch with anticipation as Bayley lines up a shot at the final cup remaining on Seth and Becky’s side. Their game of beer pong had lasted about thirty minutes at this point, the two teams remaining almost even throughout the entire match. The competition had drawn a small audience at this point, waiting to see who will sink the ping pong ball into the final cup that remains for each team.

Bayley eyes the cup on the other side, swaying back and forth slightly from all of the beer she had been drinking. She pulls her arm back and aims. Everyone goes silent as she releases the shot, eyes glued to the ball as it bounces once on the table. It rebounds and flies forward, landing in the cup of beer with a small plop.

The small crowd gathered around them cheers, and Sasha leaps forward and throws herself into Bayley. Bayley stumbles back at the impact but steadies the two, arms around Sasha’s waist. She looks at the crowd around her and lets out a loud cheer before drunkenly laughing. After a few more seconds, Sasha pulls back and turns toward Seth and Becky with gleaming eyes.

Sasha lifts an eyebrow, “Losers drink the last cups.”

Becky scowls at Sasha as she watches her retrieve the cup remaining on her side and walk it over to Becky. Seth’s shoulders deflate, and he removes the ball from his cup. He turns to Becky with a disappointed look, and the defeated team knock their cups together before lifting it to their mouths.

“Chug?” Seth questions, getting ready to tip his cup back.

Becky smiles back at him, “You know it.”

The crowd of college students cheer as the two tip their cups back and chug down the beer within it. They finish the beer quickly and slam their cups down at the same time. Becky blinks, drearily looking down at the finished cup. She’s clearly past tipsy at this point, having done three shots and five beers in the past hour.

She turns to Sasha with a smirk, “Alright, alright. Apparently, you girls got some game. Celebration shot in the kitchen?”

Bayley moves to join the group conversation, draping her arms over Sasha’s shoulders from behind. She rests her head over Sasha’s left shoulder and lets out a pleased sigh at the contact. Sasha turns to look at her, adoring, drunken smile on her face. She reaches out and squeezes Bayley’s hand to get her attention.

“One more shot in the kitchen to celebrate our win?” Sasha asks softly, still smiling at a drunk Bayley.

“Hm? Yeah, sounds good to me,” Bayley replies, glancing up at Seth and Becky, “Y’all down?”

Seth laughs, “Hell yeah! I’ll even pour for our beer pong champs.”

Sasha pauses, scrunching her face up, “Rollins, is your downstairs bathroom still working?”

“Nah,” Seth shrugs, “Busted again. If you gotta puke, then you’re gonna have to go upstairs.”

Becky groans, “Are you seriously gonna puke already?”

Sasha scoffs, “Please. My stomach isn’t that weak. I just need to pee. I’ll meet you guys in the kitchen?”

Sasha’s eyes dart around at the three remaining in their group, Charlotte and Andrade having slipped away sometime during the beer pong match. Becky and Seth nod in agreement, and Sasha’s eyes turn to Bayley. She lifts a questioning eyebrow at the girl, who only stares at her in concern. She seems to decide something and nods to Seth and Becky.

“We’ll meet you in the kitchen. I’ll go with Sasha just in case,” Bayley says, waving Seth and Becky away.

A wide smirk spreads across Becky’s face, “Aye, I see how it is.”

“No,” Sasha interjects harshly, “I have to use the bathroom. We’re not— not—”

Becky nods and hums disbelievingly, “Sure, sure. Totally believe you. Rollins, do you wanna ‘go to the bathroom’ with me in your room?”

Seth’s face scrunches up in disgust, “Um, I don’t think that would—”

Realization dawns on Seth’s face, and his eyes widen. Suddenly, the man morphs into an excited puppy who has just been handed a bone. He nods, drunken eyes gleaming excitedly. Sasha’s face morphs into one of revulsion.

“Yes,” Seth answers eagerly, “We should definitely go do that. Right now. In my room.”

“Down, boy,” Becky responds with a laugh. She tugs on the collar of his shirt, beginning to drag the man away. Seth follows willingly, not so much as sparing the other two women a glance. Before they go inside, Becky smiles at the women one last time.

“Upstair. Right past the bathroom on the left. Dean’s out of town visiting his girlfriend back home. Room’s free of use. See you lesbians later,” Becky replies with a grin, pulling Seth back into the house and out of sight.

A blush graces Sasha’s cheeks as she’s left alone outside with Bayley. Her eyes shoot down to her feet, and she curses Becky in her head. She didn’t come here to have sex. She doesn’t want to have sex with Bayley...yet. It’s too early, and Bayley’s too...too good to mess up this early. Bayley clears her throat, and Sasha meets her eyes.

Bayley rubs her neck sheepishly, “Do you wanna go upstairs? Not for— not for that. Just to use the bathroom.”

Sasha nods shyly, “Um, yeah. Let’s go.”

The two make their way into the house. Sasha scans the room for her friends, but the two couples seem to have vanished. However, she does spot one of Seth’s frat brothers, and he grins at her in recognition. Quickly, he nudges one of his brothers and gestures at the drinks on the table. The brother nods, and he pours some shots into glasses. The one Sasha recognized (Rome?) grabs the glasses and makes his way over to Sasha and Bayley. He grins down at Sasha with a welcoming expression.

“What’s up Sasha?” Rome nods in greeting, kind smile still in place, “Seth said you were coming tonight and bringing your new girl. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Roman.”

He turns to Bayley for the introduction, nodding in her direction. Bayley smiles and reaches out to shake his hand but grabs two of the glasses from him, noticing his hands were full. Roman passes two more to Sasha, leaving two for himself.

“Figured I’d bring you ladies some shots to celebrate your victory out there. Not many people can take Seth out in a game of beer pong, so we gotta savor it when that boy loses. One shot isn’t enough.”

Bayley laughs, slinging an arm around Sasha’s shoulder, “I may have made the winning shot, but I couldn’t have done it without this girl right here. She’s the real MVP.”

Roman nods, “Fair enough. Fair enough. I’ll let you ladies get to it. But, drinks first?”

Sasha smiles, warming up to Roman, “Drinks first.”

Sasha lifts an eyebrow at Bayley, and she nods in response. Roman holds his drink out, and the three clink their glasses together before throwing them back. Matching winces on their faces, they repeat their actions for the second shot. Immediately, Sasha feels the sting sliding down her throat. And, after handing the glasses back to Roman and taking a minute to bid him goodbye, Sasha can fully feel the alcohol coursing through her system. She giggles, letting the light feeling rush through her.

A squeeze of her arm draws her attention back to Bayley, “You ready, drunky?”

Sasha giggles again, reaching up to wrap her arms around Bayley’s neck with a drunk smile, “You’re hot.”

Bayley laughs and places a hand on Sasha’s waist, “So, giggly drunk, huh? Can’t say I expected that one.”

Sasha whines, pulling Bayley closer with a frown, “Baaaayyy, I need to pee.”

“Okay, baby,” Bayley nods, eyes slowly glazing over from the alcohol, “Let’s get you upstairs.”

Sasha nods, and Bayley grabs her hand, guiding the pair upstairs. They push past some different partygoers on the way, Bayley turning back along the way to make sure Sasha is still upright. When they reach the top of the stairs, Bayley pauses, not knowing which way to go. She turns to ask Sasha, but, before she can say anything, Sasha passes her. She sways slightly as she tugs Bayley down the hall and comes to a stop in front of a door.

Sasha eyes Bayley warily, “This is the bathroom.”

Bayley nods with a grin, “Okaayyy.”

Sasha frowns and stomps her foot, “You can’t come in with me. I don’t want you to see me pee on our second date.”

“I...won’t come in then?”

Sasha grins brightly at the response. She leans forward and presses a sloppy kiss to Bayley’s cheek. After, Sasha leans into her and buries herself into Bayley, wrapping her up into a hug. Bayley smiles softly at the embrace and wraps an arm around Sasha’s shoulder, leaning down to press a kiss into her hair.

Sasha pulls back and stares back up at Bayley with a dreamy, drunk smile, “Okay. I gotta pee, but I’ll miss you. You’re still hot.”

Bayley laughs again and nods to the bathroom door, “I’ll miss you too. Now, go pee. I’ll wait here.”

Sasha nods and turns to the door. After staring at it for a few seconds, she steps forward and opens it, moving inside. Just as Bayley moves to lean against the opposite wall, she startles as the door slams back open.

“Hey,” Sasha says with a smile.

Bayley grins in confusion, “Uh, hey, yourself?”

“You know what I just thought?”

Bayley shakes her head in amusement, “What did you think, babe?”

Sasha seems pleased at the pet name and pauses to soak in the moment before continuing, “I wanna play a game after I pee. Will you go get us a drink? Rum and coke for me. Please.”

Bayley looks back and forth down the hall, wary at leaving a drunk Sasha alone. But, when she turns back and meets Sasha’s pout, her shoulders slump. It seems she’s already willing to break her own rules for a pouting Sasha Banks. She grimaces and shakes her head with a smile.

“Okay, Sash,” Bayley acquiesces, moving forward and planting another kiss in Sasha’s hair, “I’ll get us some drinks. Just stay in the bathroom until I get back, alright? I don’t want you to be up here alone, and, as much as I like Seth, I still don’t trust frat dudes.”

Sasha nods happily, warmth filling her at Bayley’s continued display of protectiveness, “I can do that. Hurry back!”

Before Bayley can get another word in, Sasha slams the door in her face. Bayley laughs at the action, shakes her head, and makes her way downstairs to find them some drinks. She thinks of Sasha the entire way, unmistakable grin never wavering.

She really likes this girl.