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Often, Katie feels like she came out the womb knowing Napheesa. She'd memorised everything about her former teammate, after all.
It was hard, though, not playing on the same team anymore. Napheesa drifted more often, and as much as she hated to admit it, so did Katie.
She wasn't stupid—she knew Napheesa hadn't forgotten her or anything like that, but she did miss getting spammed by Phee, a lot more than she thought she would.
The FaceTime call connected with a ping, and Napheesa's smiling face—half-covered by Mila—filled her screen.
"Louu! Happy new year love!" Napheesa sang out, smiling widely. Mila climbed off her mom, opting to jump on the sofa instead.
"Hey, Pheesa," Katie grinned, "happy new year. How've you been?"
"As good as I can be with a boot on my foot." Napheesa grimaced. "It's fine, I make do. Alex has been helpful. Mila is weirdly attached to Paige." At the mention of the younger girl, Mila perked up, jumping back into frame.
"Auntie Paigey?" Napheesa turned her attention to her three year-old, shaking her head.
"No, Mils. Not today. Paigey has practice." Mila pouted and dropped onto the couch dramatically.
"Soon. But only if you go to your room right now." Napheesa promised, and Mila perked right back up again, like nothing had ever happened.
"Okay!" Mila then ran off to her room.
"Sorry 'bout that." Napheesa mumbled, refocusing on her best friend.
"You're good, babes." Katie reassured, "I got my own menace too, remember?" Napheesa huffed a laugh, smiling once more.
"So what's up? You haven't called in a while." Napheesa tilted her head curiously.
"Missed you." Katie said simply, and Napheesa softened.
"Sorry I haven't called in a while. Unrivaled's been…insane, to say the least."
"It's okay. Enough moping, though. You ready for the reunion?" Katie wiggled her eyebrows, and Napheesa laughed.
"Yes, actually. Hate being this far from you." Katie hummed.
"It's in, what, a week and a half?" Napheesa groaned dramatically.
"Too far!" The older woman complained, and Katie laughed.
"It'll be January 16th before you know it." Katie promised.
"I know, I know." Napheesa sighed. "It's been too long."
"We'll do a girls night." Katie watched Napheesa's eyes light up. "We're staying at the hotel right? I'll come over and we can watch movies, and talk, and eat pizza."
"Deal!" Napheesa grinned.
"It's a plan, then." Katie smiled. "So, how's Unrivaled been from the sidelines?"
"Honestly? Still really cool. First games are tonight, which is exciting."
"I know who I'll be cheering for. Hootie hoo, eh?" Katie chuckled.
"Hootie hoo!" Napheesa agreed. "I gotta go in a bit—I'm helping Alex out with admin stuff, so I have to run." She paused. "Well, I guess I can't run, but you know what I mean."
Katie laughed, soft and warm. "Go, love. Call me soon, okay?"
"I will. Take care, Lou 💕."
"Love you, Pheesa."
***
A few days later
"Phee, you wanna try?" The media girl walked over with a camera in hand. Napheesa was, at the time, going slightly insane sitting on the sidelines. She loved cheering for her team, but seriously it was boring.
She nodded, grinning, making grabby hand motions at the camera.
She took a few test shots—every single one of them blurry, shaky, and out of focus, because no one had bothered to tell her how to work this thing—before actually looking around the room to decide what to shoot.
Photo 1: Marina with her hands on her hips, hair unkempt and eyes focused.
Photo 2: Aaliyah leaping up for a rebound over a practice player, braids flying wildly behind her.
And then, she saw Skylar.
Sitting on the Peloton, one hand on her thigh, the other holding her bottle as she chugged.
"Sky!" Napheesa called while walking over, "Pose!"
Skylar looked up, confused, but when she saw Napheesa wielding the camera, she grinned. She put her bottle down, lifted both arms and flexed, smirking.
Napheesa grinned back, framing the older woman carefully and snapped the picture.
"You're such an easy muse." Napheesa leaned over for a high five, and Skylar laughed, shaking her head and lifting her hand, Napheesa grabbing her hand briefly after the high five.
"Why thank you, thank you very much." Skylar gave a mock bow before they both burst out laughing again.
***
The video was up 2 hours later.
5 minutes after that, Skylar and Phee were sitting together eating lunch when both their phones started blowing up in sync. They glanced at each other, then down at their phones.
Lou 💕: Napheesa Collier.
Lou 💕: How DARE you.
Lou 💕: Do you treat her the way you treat me?
Lou 💕: Do you pay for her food? Feed her stuff from your plate when she says she's still hungry?
Lou 💕: Do you kiss the side of her head and tell her she's pefect they way you do to me?
All the messages had been sent within seconds of each other. Skylar looked at her own phone, too.
Nek: Skylar.
Nek: Did I mess up? Do something wrong? Is that why you're looking at her like that instead of me?
Nek: Is that why you haven't messaged me in days?
Nek: I'm sorry.
Nek: I don't know what I did, but whatever it is, I promise I'll make it up to you.
Nek: Please, Sky.
Skylar and Napheesa glanced up at each other.
"Lou?" Skylar asked, and Napheesa sighed and nodded.
"Pissed off. Nneka?" Skylar nodded too.
"Upset." Napheesa hummed.
"We should probably apologise to them." Skylar shrugged, the gears turning in her head in real time.
"Or…" The Storm player grinned wickedly.
"Skylar, no." Napheesa tried shut it down immediately. Skylar Diggins, unfortunately for Napheesa, was aware she had free will.
"Skylar yes. Come on, movie night. Piss them off a little." Napheesa sighed, shaking her head.
"Fine. Alex can take Mila. You got anyone to take your kids?" Skylar nodded, "I know a lady."
"Well then...whose place?"
***
They ended up at Napheesa's place, because she had an actual, permanent, not team housing home in Miami.
"Perks of your husband running the league." Napheesa winked, "I'm not the only one who's not staying in the apartments, though. A few people have started talking about moving out."
"Thank god. I'm tired of seeing everyone all the damn time." Skylar groaned, taking her shoes off and following Napheesa in.
"Is it weird? Seeing the same people over and over." They went to the kitchen, raiding Napheesa's pantry. Bagged popcorn, m&ms, mini pretzels.
"It's like the damn bubble all over again." Skylar huffed, taking the bag of popcorn from Napheesa. The Minnesota player used her free hand to drag Skylar to her room.
"Sit." Napheesa pointed at the bed, throwing the snacks down, and Skylar smirked but obeyed anyways, gathering the snacks into a pile.
"Bossy." Napheesa rolled her eyes, grabbing the remote and sliding in next to Skylar until their shoulders weren't just touching but were instead fully pressed against each other before draping the blanket over them.
"Shut up and choose a movie."
Skylar's choice of movie was Bottoms, which Napheesa felt was rather odd, but Skylar just shrugged.
"What? I like a fun time." Napheesa made a small 'eh' sound, as if to say 'fair enough'.
Skylar, at some point, had grabbed Napheesa's hand and refused to let go. Napheesa didn't seem to mind, though, letting their fingers intertwine, running her thumb over Skylar's knuckles.
"Never seen you this calm before." Napheesa mumbled at one point, and Skylar didn't even falter.
"Never had any reason to be this calm before."
Halfway through, Skylar pulled out her phone and turned on the camera. She nudged Napheesa, grinning.
"Smile." Napheesa rolled her eyes but obliged nontheless, and Skylar leaned against Napheesa before snapping the photo.
"They're gonna be pissed." Napheesa mumbled. Skylar didn't move her head off Napheesa's shoulder.
"Probably." Skylar hummed.
"You don't care." Napheesa observed.
"I do." Skylar shrugged. "But Nek is grown. She can't trust me, that's not my problem."
"That's a little mean." Napheesa frowned.
"Not exactly known for being nice, sweetheart." Skylar said pointedly.
"Still…it's different. Nneka was upset. Like, genuinely upset. Lou's jealous, but she always is. Sky, Nek seemed, like, actually confused." Skylar faltered then.
"Do you think?"
"She was begging for forgiveness and you left her on read. I'd be upset too." Napheesa shrugged.
"I don't really know how to do the whole…feelings thing." Skylar admitted, voice small. Napheesa grabbed the remote and paused the movie.
"Show me the text again. I'll help you." She paused. "But also, send me the photo. Lou trusts me, I can ragebait her ass a little bit more."
***
"No, Sky, that's not enough." Napheesa said gently yet firmly.
"It's an apology though!" Skylar protested.
"Yeah, a half-assed one that sounds like you're being forced to do it. Try again." Skylar grumbled, but deleted what she'd written and started typing again.
"Maybe offer to call, too." Napheesa was half-occupied as well, messaging Katie.
Pheesa: *one attachment*
Lou 💕: Collier, do you want to die?
Pheesa: not really
Lou 💕: am i invisible?
Pheesa: last i checked no
Lou 💕: then why skylar? huh?
Lou 💕: *missed call*
Lou 💕: pick up the fucking phone.
Pheesa: can't, sky's here
Lou 💕: Napheesa Collier.
Pheesa: yes?
Lou 💕: i'm going to give you one chance. call me before midnight your time or i will fly to miami myself and murder you.
Pheesa: :)
Lou: watch it.
Skylar tapped her on the shoulder, and flipped the phone around, "Is this better?" Napheesa scanned through the text twice, making sure everything was fine, before nodding.
"Send it." Skylar did, and then threw her phone down.
"How're things with Lou?" Napheesa grinned and handed the phone over. Skylar read all the texts over before promptly smacking Napheesa on the arm.
"Since when were you this much of a menace?" Napheesa winked cheekily.
"Silent killer, right?"
***
"Nek."
"Sky." Skylar twiddled her thumbs out of frame.
"Hi." She said awkwardly. Even through the screen was pixelated and blurry, Skylar could still see the undercurrent of fear Nneka was barely holding at bay.
"Hi." Nneka's face didn't change. It remained watchful. Careful.
"Sorry I left you on read for so long." SKylar started sheepishly.
"It's alright." Nneka said quietly. "You're busy with Unrivaled, I understand."
"Nek…" Skylar trailed off, struggling to put her thoughts into words.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry if I made you feel less important or anything. It's never…it will never be like that, no matter what happens to us. You are so special, and I will always need you in my life. The thing with Phee wasn't like that."
"Okay." Nneka looked away. Her voice was so small, so fragile, it was nothing like the girl she knew.
"Nneka, please." Skylar sighed, "You know you're the only one who sees this part of me. Who makes me feel seen. And if I made you feel like you weren't being seen…that's something I'd never forgive myself for."
"Okay." Nneka repeated quietly.
"Nek, please say something." Skylar begged.
"What do you want me to say, Sky?" Nneka huffed, finally looking up at the screen. "That my feelings were hurt? That I care about you more than words can explain? That I doubt myself around you because you're always so confident?"
"Nek…" Skylar exhaled, eyes wide.
"Whatever. It's fine." Nneka said bitterly.
"No, it's not." Skylar said firmly. "You should've told me."
"It's fine." Nneka repeated. Then, quieter, "I don't want to give you more issues."
"You're never an issue. Ever. You're my priority no matter what." Skylar insisted.
"Then why don't I feel like your priority?" Nneka asked finally.
"Because I never stopped to think about how you feel." Skylar admitted without missing a beat, "But I want to try. I want to be better, for your sake."
"Okay." Nneka agreed, a small smile appearing at last.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
***
In Napheesa's apartment, things were heating up.
"Napheesa Collier."
"Katie Lou Samuelson."
"No, you don't get full name privileges." Lou shook her head. "How dare you?"
"What did I do?" Napheesa asked innocently.
"What did you—?" Lou scoffed, looking ready to throw her phone across the room. "You called her an easy fucking muse. Smiled. Laughed. Had a movie night with her. Movie nights are our thing, Pheesa. Does that mean nothing?"
"Of course it means something." Napheesa said without hesitating.
"Then?"
"She asked. I wasn't going to say no, Lou. She's my teammate."
"And what am I? Less than that?" Lou demanded.
"Someone's jealous." Napheesa said in a sing-song tone.
"Of course I am! She's stealing you from me!"
"Lou…"
"Don't "Lou…" me!"
"Babygirl, you know no one's ever going to matter to me more than you, don't you?" Napheesa asked gently.
"Well—yeah, but—"
"So why does it matter? Huh?"
"Because…" Lou seemed to hesitate, unsure. She didn't seem as angry anymore, simmering down to upset. "Because I hate that she gets what I can't have."
"Oh, love…" Napheesa sighed. "I see you in a week."
"But she sees you now. And throughout Unrivaled." Lou's voice was tight.
"And you've seen me at my worst and loved me even then." Napheesa reminded her.
"Still…it doesn't change the fact that I only really get to see you maybe thrice in a year." Lou mumbled.
"I know it sucks. I'm sorry I can't really do anything to change that." Napheesa grimaced.
"'S fine. Not your fault, anyways. It's just…it's so much easier to feel forgotten when I barely see you, y'know? I love that you're having fun, of course, but…"
"I know." Napheesa hummed emapthatically.
"I miss you. A lot, Phee." Lou sighed.
"Soon." Napheesa promised, the word weighing on her while lifting pressure off at the same time.
"Soon." Lou echoed, smiling. Then, she paused, lost in thought.
"Wait, where's Alex and Mila?" She frowned.
"The other house." Napheesa waved her hand. "It's fine, he's a grown man, he can take care of her."
"...Honestly, Alex might be the only man who I don't doubt that about."