Work Text:
“Nat, seriously tell me where we’re driving.” Akilah pressed from the passenger seat, which was a rare place to find her in the car. She usually drove because Nat couldn’t drive for shit. Tyson Ritter was belting out Swing, Swing from the crappy staticky radio.
The blondes eyes were fixed in the road and she was hunched over the wheel, grumbling at some old lady to cross the street faster. Akilah thought Nat didn’t hear her and was about to repeat the question before Nat answered,
“One minute,” she smiled and hit the gas, the engine puttered to a start and she jolted forward, “we’ll be there soon.”
Akilah let her mind wander about what Nat had planned for the night. She had been so excited the past few weeks, which was unusual for her because she always seemed so grumpy. That probably meant whatever she had planned for the night was going to be good.
Nat slowed to a stop infront of a familiar looking red brick apartment building. She had the feeling she knew it from somewhere but couldn’t place how.
“Is this-“ she racked her brain, “Van’s place? What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see.” Nat flashed her a wolffish grin and swings open her door. She walked around to the other side and opened Akilah’s door, she stood to the side and held her arm out.
“Ladies first.”
Akilah rolled her eyes and grabbed her girlfriends arm, “What a gentleman,” she smirked.
Nat lead her to the door and knocked. It was swung open almost immediately by Van, smiled broadly as soon as she saw them. She wrapped her and Nat in a bear hug.
“Aww I missed you guys!” She exclaimed.
“Babe, let them go before you scare them away.”
Akilah gasped and her head snapped up from its place on Van’s shoulder.
“Tai? Oh my god!” She leapt out of Van’s arms and enveloped Tai in a hug. It had been way too long since she’d seen the other girl. Ever since she had moved to Maryland for Howard (which she had gotten in full ride, no surprise there though) she hadn’t been able to see the other Yellowjackets. Over the years she had become like a sister to her, and Akilah often missed the days when Tai would stay with her after a game to help improve her technique.
“Come on, you know I couldn’t miss your 20th big shot.” Tai teased. Van slung her arm over Nat’s shoulder and they shared a sly smile before turning to Tai.
“We should really get this party going!” She exclaimed loudly, as if it was a cue to a room of people that weren’t there. But of course they were, Akilah had seen Lottie’s car parked up the street, and she could see Jackie’s honey brown braid seemingly floating from behind the arm of the couch. The silence was thick for a second, and the other girls looked impatient and Nat was practically biting her nails from the nerves.
“Surprise!” A chorus of voices echoed as girls sprung up from their various positions around the room. Shauna and Jackie were behind the couch, Lottie and Laura Lee had hidden behind curtains, and Mari had popped out from the bathroom.
Akilah covered her mouth and laughed, she really didn’t have any words. All these girls had been scattered all over since high school ended and they never really had the chance to actually talk since then. It felt so good to know they had reunited for her birthday.
“Thank you guys so much.” She crossed the room and hugged Mari.
“Don’t get all sappy on us now.” Mari grumbled, despite the embarrassed smile spreading across her face. Akilah walked around the room and greeted everyone before finally making her way to Nat. She tilted her head up and kissed her.
”Thanks a lot Nat, this really means a lot to me.” She mumbled against her lips. Nat turned to let out a breathy laugh, her face was red.
”It was nothing,” she turned back to Akilah and held her gaze for a second before adding, “but it was worth it to see the look on your face.”
Now it was Akilah’s turn to smile shyly, she grabbed Nat’s hand and led her to the kitchen where Van was passing out beers to the other girls. Even Laura Lee was nursing one in the corner, Lottie’s arm slung casually around her shoulder. Nat had floated over to Jackie and it looked like they had already begun their playful bickering. Tai was catching up with Shauna, when she caught her eye and waved her over.
“So how are you and Scatorccio doing?” Tai asked with a smirk, “you know she planned this whole thing, right?”
“Yeah I guessed that much. We’ve been doing pretty good though.” That was an understatement. The past year had been the best of her life. She had fallen into a comfortable routine of waking up, heading to Nat’s place on campus (which she shared with Jackie), she would somehow get through her classes and study, occasionally meeting up with Nat afterwards. It was nice to know there was someone always waiting for you.
In turn, Akilah had become a much needed constant in Nat’s life. She was something steady to lean on, a welcome distraction from when she would get lost in the past. She helped her move on.
”How are you and Van? I saw that look you were giving her earlier?” She smirked, pleaded at having caught Tai off guard and flustered. Shauna watched, obviously amused at whatever was going on.
“Hey Shipman, care to contribute to the conversation and tell us how you and Jackie are doing? We’d love to hear your input.” Tai quipped with false sweetness, wiping that shit eating grin off Shauna’s face.
“What are you talking about? Me and Jackie are fine. Did she say something?”
“Oh you’re down bad Shipman!” Akilah exclaimed and Shauna gave her a pleasing look to lower her voice.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t been crushing on Jackie since, like, middle school.” Tai laughed.
”I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I’m not down bad.” Poor Shauna’s pride wouldn’t let her speak the truth, it didn’t matter though because everyone knew about Shauna’s crush except an oblivious Jackie.
“Whatever. Welcome to the club.” Akilah sighed as she watched Jackie yell at Nat and Van as they raced to chug beers. Mari was laughing at them with Lottie and Laura Lee was covering her mouth with her hand to hide a smile.
“We should do something. They’re gonna hurt themselves.” Tai said soberly.
”We shouldn’t, we deserve to keep that small shred of self respect we still have.” Akilah snorted, watching Nat finish then grab another beer from Lottie, Jackie still tugging at her arm. They stared for another minute then immediately gave in to break up their game.
The rest of the night passed quickly, they played with a Ouija board, then Tai brought out a birthday cake and the girls sang and cut into it. Just as the party was winding down they began to take out their presents. She hadn’t been expecting anything, their presence was enough, but presents were presents and Akilah was in no position to refuse.
Jackie had bought a perfume, which smelled like vanilla and cinnamon. Shauna gave her a few cds, Laura Lee and Lottie gifted her rosary beads and some new pastels for her art class, Van gave her the first SpiderMan trilogy on dvd because she knew it was her favorite Marvel series, Tai bought her a history on art throughout the years because, “you’re such a nerd”.
Last but not least was Mari, Akilah’s best friend. She glued all the pictures she had taken throughout their highschool years and glued them into a scrapbook. It wasn’t like Mari to be sentimental, but that just made the present so much more valuable.
“It’s got every moment in it- from our first match, to nationals, and even that time when I caught you and Nat sneaking out to smoke after nationals.”
“What?!” Nats head perked up, suddenly invested in the conversation.
”You took a picture?!” Akilah’s shouted, Van and Jackie were howling and Laura Lee had a horrified look on her face. Mari sat back, pleased with herself, and shared a look with Lottie.
“Yup,” she shrugged smugly, “don’t blame me. It was just one of those moments you’re gonna wanna save forever, for moments like these.”
“At least you didn’t catch us before.” Nat smirked, and Akilah gasped and hit her playfully. Van pretended to gag and barf and Jackie looked like she actually was going to.
“I can’t believe I let you corrupt her Scatorccio!” Tai exclaimed.
”Don’t give her all the credit.” Mari piped up.
”Oh that’s right!” Akilah’s snapped her fingers, “remember that time me, you, and Lottie skipped French to go to the mall!”
“Oh so that explains why you were so terrible.” Jackie said pointedly at Lottie, still bitter about not being invited.
”Don’t pretend like you were some prodigy Jackie, remember how you were failing that test and you had to cheat off me?” Lottie reminded her.
”Uhm, Jackie still failed it.” Shauna said bluntly.
”Exactly!” Jackie shouted, and the girls burst into giggles. The rest of the night faded away and ended with the girls slowly leaving in little groups. Finally when it was just her, Nat, Tai, and Van, they got ready to say their final goodbyes.
“I’m gonna miss you.” Tai squeezed Akilah and ruffled her hair teasingly.
“We gotta get together sometime soon, maybe when Tai comes back for summer break.” Van said and Nat nodded in agreement.
“Alright we better get going. It’s late and I still haven’t given Akilah her present.” Nat said and took her hand, Van wiggled her eyebrows.
”See you around love birds.” Van called out as they left, waving.
”Take care!” Tai yelled out when they headed down the block to their car. Nat opened her door and slid into the drivers seat, leaning back to the backseat and pulled out a little box.
“I wanted to get you something special.” She blushed and handed her the box. Akilah pulled the bow off and opened the top to reveal two little gold earrings. She gasped and held them up, her heart swelling at Nat’s thoughtfulness.
”I saved up for a while to get them, I know they’re not much, but I saw them one day and just knew they were perfect for you,” Nat rambled, her eyes fixed ahead so she couldn’t see her girlfriend’s reaction, “anyway, I really hope you-“ Akilah’s grabbed the collar of her leather jacket and pulled her into a kiss.
“I love them Nat, seriously.” Nat stared at her in disbelief, then went in to kiss her again. Nat deepened the kiss and her pulled away. Nat’s eyes were hooded and she looked softly back at her.
”Why don’t we save that for later, hm?” Akilah said. She smiled and kissed Nat’s forehead. Nat but her lip, conflicted, before turning back to the steering wheel and speeding back to her room. Akilah couldn’t have had a better birthday. She was surrounded by people she loved and was going to have the perfect end to a perfect night. Even if it was just her and Nat, it would have been enough. Anytime spent with her was never a waste