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To say you were oblivious towards the meaning behind all the fights that went on in the team was entirely accurate. You would always see how Lottie and Nat would argue with each other, never seeming like they would get along.
You chalked it up to the two just not being able to get along. You thought that everyone felt the same. You were wrong. The entire team knew of both Lottie and Nat's feelings towards you. Except for you. They had to beg Shauna not to tell you about it, mainly because the rest of the team (Taissa, Van, Jackie, and even Mari) found it amusing and hilarious.
It was yet another practice, except for the fact that you weren't there because you needed to study for a test. Very quickly, Lottie and Nat started to argue. "What is going on?" Jackie asked, getting in between the two.
"Go on, Lottie, tell her." Nat backed up, crossing her arms. Lottie rolled her eyes, which made Nat say it instead. "Lottie's trying to use y/n as a way to set me off."
"Seriously? Again?" Shauna spoke up, she was the only one who knew how you truly felt, yet neither of them asked her. "Just ask her out, the worst thing she could do is say no."
Jackie pointed to Shauna. "That's actually a good idea, then you guys can set all the feelings straight and get our heads back in the game." She looked at both girls. "Neither one of you can get mad if the feeling isn't reciprocated. Deal?"
Lottie glared at Nat, getting one from Nat in return. "Fine."
"I'm down." Nat shrugged with a big smirk. "I'm going to win anyways."
"We'll see."
-
From then on, the two would start doing gestures for you, trying to win you over discreetly. Lottie would shower you with gifts that were expensive and new, taking you to nice restaurants and mall trips. You hated the fact that she was spending so much money, but she always brushed it off because her parents were crazy rich. Nat would take you out to different drive in movies and she even took you to bridge that was over a beautiful lake-river-pond thing (you weren't entirely sure what it was but the two of you jumped off the bridge and splashed around with the other).
"Dude, I've had so much fun with Lottie and Nat." You giggled as you took a seat with Shauna. She smiled, nodding along. "They're both so different."
"Is that so?" You nodded, spilling all the details about what happened. "That's pretty sweet."
You shrugged, leaning against her to show her a bunch of pictures. "It's all really sweet. My best friends." Shauna covered her mouth to hide her snicker. "What?"
She waved you off. "Nothing, go on." You proceeded to show her the pictures, giggling as you recalled some of the stories. In return, she showed you newer photos about Jackie and gushed about it.
A few days later after school, you were walking out of the school after finishing a history assignment. A car pulled up beside you, the window lowering to show Lottie with a small smirk on her face. "Hey!"
"Hi," You grinned with a wave. "What are you doing here?" You held onto your bag as you slowly start to walk, Lottie driving beside you at the same speed.
"I was just going around," She lied, smiling wide at you. "Are you busy?" You shook your head. "You wanna hang out?" You pursed your lips, furrowing your eyebrows at her.
"You going to take me out on a date?" You teased, smiling softly at the blush that appeared on her cheeks.
She shook her head, immediately starting to stutter and stammer. "Sure- I mean- it doesn't have to be a date, whatever you want." You chuckled.
"Relax, Lottie," You dropped your bag and threw it in the backseat of her car while getting inside of the passenger seat. "Where we going to go?" She looked at you, smiling widely. "It better not be expensive, and you better not be paying for me."
She let out a small laugh and drove off. After around 30 minutes of shit talking, the two of you finally arrived to an arena. "Look, I know you said you didn't want it to be expensive, but I don't think I can just return tickets."
You side-eyed the girl before turning your head to look at her. "Lottie, where did you take me?"
She reached into her bag. "Surprise." She showed you tickets, your jaw slacked and your eyes widened.
"No fucking way, Lottie. These are so expensive!" You handed her the tickets back. "Shut the fuck up! No, no!" She stared at you weirdly, mainly because you were reacting weirdly. "You did not."
She grimaced. "Do you not like this?" You shook your head so quick that she was pretty sure you gave yourself whiplash.
"I love it! Seriously, but this is so expensive. I don't want you wasting any more money on me." You waved your hands in front of her, she scrunched her eyebrows.
"I actually got them for free." She lowered you hands. "My dad got them as a gratuity, don't worry." You let out a small sigh of relief. "I know that you've always wanted to go, so I asked my dad if I could use them."
You covered your face with embarrassment. "Jesus Christ, Lottie! You gave me a heart attack." You collapsed onto her chest, making her laugh. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Come on, loser," She got out of the car, you following with her. "Let's head in!"
The concert was amazing, you were practically losing your voice as you sang along with crowd. You were even interacting with other people. You had really good seats, and you would often for Lottie to sing along and dance with you. When you weren't forcing her to dance and it was a song that Lottie wasn't entirely familiar with, she would watching you adoringly. You would catch her staring at you, to which you raised an eyebrow while she flushed.
After the concert, your voice was just as good as gone, you could barely speak. "Holy shit," It cracked, making Lottie laugh. "Don't laugh!"
"You sound like a squeaky Miley Cyrus." You slapped her shoulder, making her jump away from you. "It's okay, you're cute enough to forget about it."
You went slightly pink, looking at her. "Sure." The way home had lots of talking, mainly on Lottie's part because you weren't able to speak properly. Your mind was also stuck on what she was saying.
"We're here," Lottie stopped in front of the house. You smiled at her, unbuckling your seatbelt. She placed a hand on your arm, stopping you from getting out. "Wait."
You raised an eyebrow, a hand on the handle to get out. "What's up?" You couldn't speak over a whisper, mainly because you didn't feel like worsening your voice. "Is everything good?"
"I just- I wanna tell you something." You felt your gut churn, your mind suddenly coming up with ideas on what she's going to tell you. "I had so much fun with you, seriously."
You bopped your head. "I did too, thank you for bringing me."
"I've been having so much fun, and it's getting really hard for me to hang around you without saying this." Your chest began to rise and fall a lot faster, mainly because you didn't want it to be what you thought it was. "I really like you, in a romantic way."
Your eyes widened. "Lottie..." You trailed, feeling a lot more guilt. "I- can you give me time?" She nodded, smiling softly. "Thank you, seriously. For everything." You pecked her on the cheek before leaving.
Once you were inside the house, Lottie stared at your window, watching a light turn on before driving off. You ran your hands down your face, letting out a loud groan before collapsing onto the bed.
You grabbed your phone, deciding to distract yourself with social media. Soon enough, you were passed out on your bed.
At least you were, until you heard a few knocks on your window. You moseyed your way to the window, opening the blinds to see Nat there. You almost let out a yelp, opening the window. "What are you doing here?" You scolded, slapping her shoulder. You looked over at your clock. "It's three in the morning."
She smirked and raised her eyebrows, holding up some keys. "Wanna go for a late night swim?"
You pursed your lips, you were just dancing and singing so you were a little tired, but you were always down for a swim. "Sure." She let out a laugh-squeal type of noise and headed out your window. You grabbed a towel that you had used earlier in the day for your shower, and brought it with you as you followed her.
The two of you drove up towards the bridge, you saw how Nat often looked towards you with that cheeky grin. "So... How are you?"
You pursed your lips, grinning. "I'm going pretty good. Um- except for the fact that my voice is a little fucked right now, but that's mainly because Lottie took me to a concert earlier-" You didn't see how Nat's eyes widened ever so slightly and she gripped the wheel a little tighter. "But overall, I'm doing pretty good. How are you?"
"I'm fine," Her tone sounded clipped, as if she was a little agitated. "Lottie, what concert did she take you to?"
"It was a Taylor Swift concert," You turned your head, watching the bright moon as you drove alongside it. "It was pretty fun." You weren't entirely sure why she was on this topic, you would much rather spend time with Nat without worrying about other people.
She stayed quiet, which made you a little confused, so you turned around to look at her. She had her eyebrows and nose scrunched up, you could almost see the gears turning in her head. "Wait, you listen to Taylor Swift?"
You nodded slowly, a little confused because you were pretty sure that you've played your music in front of the girl. "I do, I've shown you my playlists before."
"I thought you listen to R&B?" She laughed, a little confused. "Wait, don't you also listen to like Lana Del Rey too?"
"I do." Your face was scrunched up as well. "Is that a bad thing?" When her jaw slacked you let out a little giggle. "I like a little variety in my life."
She shrugged. "I do too, but Taylor Swift?" She joked, making you slap her shoulder. She tried to avoid the hit with a laugh, but it wasn't successful.
"Taylor Swift is a really good artist! Her music really speaks to people sometimes!" You argued, before pouting and crossing your arms. Nat raised her eyebrows, as if she didn't really believe you. "If you don't believe it, that's on you, you don't have to judge me about it," She let out a laugh, throwing her head back. Seeing her laugh made you let out a small giggle. "I'll enjoy my Tay-Tay Swizzle with Lottie and Shauna, because I won't get judged."
Nat finally got to the bridge, looking at you with a smirk. "Wanna race?"
You smirked as well. "Fuck yeah." You unbuckled your seatbelt and moved your hand to the handle to quickly get out. "Last one in the water is a rotten egg!" You exclaimed before bolting out of the car. Nat quickly chased after you, while you were trying to get all your clothes off before you get to the bridge. Shauna may be fast, but you were a lot faster. You managed to get your other shoe off before Nat could even get to a body-length close to you, and you hopped over the bridge. "Woo!" You yelled, throwing your hands up and waited for impact.
When you resurfaced, you made it just in time to see Nat land in the water. "You cheated!" She exclaimed, splashing you.
You let out a dramatic scoff. "You're just a sore loser!" You replied, splashing her back. The two of you proceeded to have a splash fight, which ended because Nat surrendered. You fooled around with her, doing small contests against her. Most of which you won, mainly because she liked seeing how happy you get when you did.
Eventually, the two of you tired out and just floated around. "Wanna head out?" Nat asked, you nodded with a small smile. Seeing you all relaxed and just enjoying the moment was definitely when Nat thought you were the most beautiful. With her, and the girls, you always just acted like yourself, no fear of fitting in or stress from school. Nat loved it about you, you were always laid back and down for a good time.
When the two of you finally made it back to the top, you both grabbed your clothes that were just thrown around, surprisingly, it wasn't run over. You let out a little chatter due to the cold, so you grabbed the towel that you brought to dry yourself off. "I'm going to get my clothes back on." You told the girl, who was leaning on the hood and watching the stars. You went towards the other side of the car, pulling on the clothes when you figured that your underwear was dry enough. You returned, drying your hair with the towel. "You need the towel?"
She nodded and held a hand up, you tossed it to her, grabbing your phone. You leaned against the hood, taking a few selfies as a joke. "What are you doing?" Nat laughed, coming into view and sitting beside you.
"Just sending a few snaps." You opened it again, tilting your phone so that it would fit both you and her. Your eyes squinted as you grinned widely, Nat turning to you a little confused. You lowered your phone to take a look. "This is pretty cute."
"You have a really nice smile," She pointed out while you were saving the picture. "It's really pretty." You felt yourself blush a little, but you played it off.
"I know," You made it sound like you were a little cocky about it, and you were. "I had braces, so I hope I have a nice smile." You shut your phone off but kept it in your hand, turning back to Nat to see her jaw slacked again.
"You had braces?" You smiled, a little embarrassingly because that phase of your life was not the prettiest. "You have to show me!"
You shook your head. "Nah, come on, that was an awkward phase that was a little too awkward." You checked the time and realized you needed to get home. You were supposed to wake up in a few hours. "Shit, I need to get home."
Nat nodded, the two of you taking your respective seats in the car. The ride home was pretty quiet except for the radio playing in the background. It wasn't an awkward quiet, you mainly stayed quiet just to preserve what's left of your voice and because you were admiring the stars that shone bright in the sky.
Before you knew it, you were in front of your house once more. "Thanks, Nat, I had a fun time." You smiled, opening the door to the car, but her hand caught your wrist.
"Wait, y/n." You paused, feeling a sense of deja vu. You entered her car again, looking at her, curiously. "Can we quickly talk about something?" You felt your gut churn, for the millionth time.
At the sounds of Nat's words, you felt like you were back in the car with Lottie, as she was confessing her feelings for you. You just hoped that this wasn't like that. "Alright, is everything okay?"
She nodded, retreating her hand to play with her hands nervously. "Everything is good, I just- I really like you, and I've been enjoying whenever we hang out. I just wanted to tell you before it's too late."
It was like your breath was taken away, your words no longer can form on your tongue. You just nodded, which earned a little confused look from Nat, who was waiting for a response from you. "Cool- um- can I just- think about it?" She was still confused as to what you meant, but still nodded. "Thanks." You kissed her cheek before dashing off to get back into your room.
She let out a small laugh when you practically dove through your window, knowing that there was probably a pile of clothes that caught your fall. She then drove off, which properly left you alone with your thoughts.
You let out another loud groan, digging your face into your pillows. You decided to cope the same way that you did just earlier, go on social media to distract you.
It wasn't the smartest decision.
Your phone had your alarm set, but since you were using it so late, it died and you didn't have an alarm to wake up to. Even if you had your phone set, you wouldn't have woken up to it, mainly because you slept in and you wouldn't wake up.
You slept in until around one in the afternoon. When you woke up, you found your dad, who was waiting for you to wake up. When he heard how squeaky and scratchy your voice was, he let you be. Since you took the day off, you used it to finish off the rest of your work, but you weren't able to go to practice.
"Where's y/n?" Jackie asked Shauna, who just shrugged. "Jesus." Practice was finally over, and they were all gathered in the changeroom.
Shauna quickly came to your defense. "She probably slept in or something, she's done it before, don't worry about it, babe."
Nat decided to use this as a time to poke at Lottie. "Yeah, she had a busy day yesterday." She turned to Lottie, who raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you looking at me?" Instead of going on about it, Nat just shook her head and waved it off.
"Speaking of y/n, have you guys asked her out yet?" Van crossed her arms and leaned against the locker. "One of you must've done it by now."
Lottie and Nat made eye contact, as if waiting for the other to go ahead. When neither did so, they both spoke up at the same time. "I did yesterday." They both immediately glared at each other at the same time. Van's jaw slacked, she covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a giggle, while Taissa just smacked the girls thigh.
"What'd she say?" Taissa asked carefully, unsure how the two would react. She, and the other three, didn't want to get caught in between the two. They both looked a little embarrassed, as if they weren't satisfied with their answer. "Lott?"
Lottie scratched the back of her head. "She asked to think about it." She noticed that Nat didn't react whatsoever. "Surprised you're not jumping for joy."
Nat let out a small scoff. "She told me the same thing." She crossed her arms, a little unsure what to do now. They all looked to Shauna. "Has she told you anything?"
Shauna pursed her lips, thinking about everything that the two of you have discussed. "You know, she's never brought up her crushes. Ever. From what she's told me, she's enjoyed hanging out with the both of you, a lot."
"Okay, but did she say who she likes more?" Lottie asked, frowning a little. Shauna shook her head, making them all curse softly. "I guess we wait it out?"
They did that, you had gone to school since then, but you practically made it a mission to avoid being with either of the two alone. You would always be in a group setting, if not, you would be missing.
You continued to do that for the next few days.
At least, until they've all gotten sick of you avoiding the elephant in the room. So, after practice, Lottie and Nat cornered you in the equipment room. You, being a generous person as always, were helping Misty put away the equipment, which gave the two the perfect time to get an answer out of you.
"We need to talk." You let out a yelp, turning to see the two that you have been trying to avoid the most. "You haven't given either of us an answer."
"And be honest, please?"
You grimaced, leaning onto the basket for all the soccer balls. "Are you sure?" They both nodded. "Okay, I'm sure we all know, I'm not the best with reading people." They both let out different forms of agreement, you were quite the oblivious one. "Well, it wasn't until a few days ago, that I realized why you guys have been so..." You trailed, not entirely sure what word to use. "close with me." You gripped the basket even tighter. "And I feel really bad about this, because I feel guilty about it, and I just wanna apologize beforehand, because now it feels a little wrong."
"Okay, so who do you like?"
"That's the thing," They looked at each other before looking at you. "I don't think I like girls."
They both let out an exclamation. "You don't like girls?" Nat asked, looking down at your clothes. "Are you sure?" You slowly bopped your head up and down. "Oh my god."