Chapter Text
The apartment is quiet, golden light streaming in through the west-facing windows as the sun dips below the Los Angeles horizon. Dani stands at the stove, curls a mess from dance rehearsals, face warm from the steam rising as she sautees vegetables, one of Sophia’s old training shirts slipping off her shoulder as she switches her gaze back and forth between the pan and her phone. The apartment had felt too quiet without the bubbly presence of her girlfriend, and Dani had already been told she needed to pick up her social media engagement in preparation for her next album. She figured she could kill two birds with one stone and go Live while she waited for Sophia to get home from training.
The Live was sitting at just under two million viewers and the comments were rolling in, most of them too fast for Dani to read properly. She put a lid over the pan on the stove and turned her full attention to her phone.
“Okay, I am here. I am focused.” Dani leaned in closer to read the comments. “And yes, I am wearing Sophia’s shirt.”
Dani laughed as the comments went wild at her words. While they made an effort to keep the finer details of their relationship private, Dani had no problem showing off her girlfriend and how happy they were together.
“Where’s Sophia?” Dani read the first comment that caught her eye. “She had training today. She should be home soon, I think.”
Dani mentally pictured Sophia’s absolutely insane training schedule, trying to remember what she’d be working on that day. It was the middle of the week, so it was probably a lighter cardio and jumps day, maybe a bit of dance if they had the time. Enough to leave her tired but not absolutely exhausted.
“Was Amor de Mi Vida about Soph?” Another comment asked. Dani grinned at her phone. “I’ll let you guys figure that out.”
The comments went crazy again with speculations, Dani laughing to herself as she watched the all-caps comments and emojis and keysmashes race by. She loved that her fans were as supportive of her relationship as they were. It definitely took a lot of pressure off of her shoulders when it came to hiding their relationship - a feat that they’d only managed for a total of three months.
Dani continued reading comments, occasionally stirring the food, and trying to keep from excessively checking the time. She knew that LA traffic could be hell even on the best of days, but there was still a small knot of worry in her chest. It didn’t help that Sophia hadn’t responded to her last text yet.
Her fans kept teasing her for checking the time, telling her that she was ‘whipped’ and ‘down bad’ and ‘a hopeless bisexual,’ none of which Dani could deny.
She had just finished plating the food when she heard the lock click and the door swung open.
“Hey baby,” Dani called over her shoulder, ignoring the way the Live went wild at her words. “Dinner’s ready. I made - Manon? Yoonchae?”
The sight of Sophia’s manager/best friend and the junior skater she’d been training with for a while made Dani freeze in place as she turned to face the door. The two of them were walking on either side of an obviously - to Dani at least - struggling Sophia.
“Hi, Dani,” Yoonchae said, one hand hovering near Sophia’s elbow while the other balanced the bag Dani recognized as Sophia’s on her other shoulder.
“You’re Live?” Manon asked, holding Sophia by the waist with one hand, the special case for Sophia’s training skates dangling from the other.
“What happened?” Dani asked, abandoning her phone and the food on the counter as she moved towards Sophia. They were still in view of the Live, Manon quickly stepping out of frame as Dani approached. Sophia shifted her weight and winced slightly. The motion was small, almost invisible, but Dani saw it. Dani always saw it. Her hand found Sophia’s hip to steady her, a frown pulling at her lips as Sophia halted her automatic movement to lean into Dani, favoring her left leg. “Baby?”
“I’m fine,” Sophia smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Dinner smells great.”
“What happened?” Dani repeated. Her gaze cast over Sophia’s body, looking for signs of injury. “Is it your back again?”
“No, mahal, I’m fine,” Sophia reached out to caress Dani’s cheek for a moment, smiling softly when Dani leaned into the touch. Then, she spotted the Live still going on the counter, the comments moving by faster than a hummingbird's wings. “Go finish your Live. We can talk after.I’m just going to go sit down.”
Dani narrowed her eyes as Sophia moved, slowly and carefully, towards the couch. She was still favoring her left leg and now that Dani knew there was something to look for, the slight limp was unmistakable. Yoonchae followed after Sophia, hovering over her like she wasn’t sure if she should offer to help or not, and quickly reached out when Sophia’s steps faltered slightly. Dani frowned and turned her gaze to Manon instead. “What happened?”
“End the Live first, Avanzini,” Manon said. She glared pointedly at Dani’s phone still in the kitchen. She lowered her voice slightly as she stepped past Dani. “And get the ice pack from the freezer.”
Dani quickly did as told.
The comments were going crazy, dozens of ‘SOPHIAAAAAA’ and ‘oh my god the pet names’ and ‘Dani sounds so worried’ and ‘END THE STUPID LIVE GIRL’ scrolling in repeat across her screen. “Sorry everyone, gotta go.”
She ended the live without further comment, dropping her phone on the counter again and retrieving one of the several icepacks they kept in the freezer before she hurried into the living room.
Sophia was settled on the couch now, her ankle obviously swollen now that Manon was carefully unwrapping it. Yoonchae was leaning over the back of the couch, gripping the cushions like they’d personally been responsible for Sophia’s pain.
“Okay,” Dani said as she perched on the arm of the sofa directly behind her girlfriend. She handed the icepack over to Manon without asking, her other hand already moving to pull Sophia’s high ponytail down and running her fingers through Sophia’s hair. “Now will someone please tell me what the hell happened?”
“It’s just a sprain,” Sophia said, tilting her head back to look at Dani. She hissed softly as Manon settled the icepack over her ankle. The sound made something in Dani’s chest clench tightly. “We were working on the new combos. I was going too fast and missed the hit for the landing. Feet were too wide to balance properly.”
She speaks like she’s annoyed at herself for making the mistake. Dani brushes a loose curl away from her forehead.
“God, you fell hard,” Yoonchae adds. “Like I swear I heard your knees crack against the ice.”
“She’s exaggerating,” Sophia says quickly, reaching for Dani’s hand and threading their fingers together. She gives Dani’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m fine.”
“You’re lucky is what you are,” Manon corrects. She looks up at Dani. “It’s a sprain, yes, but a severe one. Trainers said at least two weeks off the ice, if not more.”
“I’m not staying off the ice for two weeks.” Sophia argues. “We’re in the middle of training for Nationals and there’s already talk about Olympic qualifiers and -”
“I am well aware of your competition circuit, Soph,” Manon interjects. “But if you go on the ice before this ankle is healed - it won’t be pretty.”
Dani understands what Manon means. Sophia had always been highly disciplined and dedicated to her training, determined to bring home the gold after her silver medal run at the last Olympics. Sometimes she pushed herself too hard. A strained ligament or twisted joint isn’t uncommon, but Sophia can - has - trained through the pain of those before. She can’t do that with a sprained ankle.
“She’s right mi amor,” Dani rubs her hand through Sophia’s hair again, then down across her shoulders.
“Baby, I’m fine,” Sophia says again. Dani has the distinct impression that Sophia has been saying those two words on repeat since she first fell. “It’s a sprain, not a break. I can handle it.”
“Your body can’t.” Manon adjusts the ice pack. “Look, we were mostly going to be reviewing films and looking for routine inspiration the rest of this week. You can do that from here, take the weekend off, and see how it feels on Monday.”
“I don’t do well working from home, Manon. You know this.”
“You don’t do well when Dani is here to distract you,” Manon corrected. “But Dani is going to be in the studio for the next few days. Isn’t that what you were complaining about at lunch today?”
“I wasn’t complaining!” Sophia insisted. Yoonchae giggled.
“You were,” she said, glancing at Dani.
“I thought you liked the new songs,” Dani said, giving Sophia a teasing smile.
“I do!” Sophia twisted around as much as she could. “I wasn’t complaining about your work, baby. I was complaining that our schedules are going in opposite directions the rest of this week. The only time we’ll spend together is when we’ll be asleep.”
Dani ignored the way both Manon and Yoonchae were teasingly swooning as she leaned down and claimed Sophia’s lips in a soft, slow kiss. Sophia sighed against her, some of the tension in her shoulders easing.
“I know, mi vida,” Dani said when they parted. “I was complaining about the same thing with Lara and Megan earlier.”
“God, you two are hopeless.” Manon rolled her eyes and stood up. She pointed at Sophia. “You are not allowed back in the gym until Monday at the earliest. Take it easy. Rest. Spend some extra time with your superstar girlfriend.” She leaned down to hug Sophia gently. “The ice will still be there next week.”
“Fine.” Sophia agreed. Yoonchae rounded the couch to hug her next. Dani rose from the couch to escort the two of them to the door before she came back to Sophia’s side. She perched on the edge of the couch now, gently tugging the bottom of Sophia’s tights up to get a better look at the swollen ankle. “I really am okay, my love.”
“Does it hurt?” Dani asked, hands hovering above Sophia’s skin like she isn’t sure she’s allowed to touch her. Sophia hesitates for just long enough to make Dani glance up at her eyes. “Baby, it’s just me. You can tell the truth.”
“It -” Sophia stops, breathes deeply. Dani waits patiently. “Yeah. It hurts.”
“Just your ankle?” Dani asks.
“My knees are a little sore, too,” Sophia admits. “They might be bruised from the fall.”
Dani hums softly in acknowledgement. Worry floods her chest, sitting heavily in her core. She hates seeing Sophia hurt and she hates even more that Sophia will focus more on the inconvenience of the injury than the actual pain. Sophia is thinking about training schedules and combos and the extra hours she’ll be putting in to make up for the days lost. Dani is thinking about how viable it would be to wrap her girlfriend in bubble wrap until Monday.
“Hey,” Sophia says softly. Dani looks up at her, sees Sophia holding her hand out. “C’mere.”
Their hands lock together and Sophia tugs until Dani is sitting on the other edge of the couch, close enough that it barely takes any effort to lean their foreheads together. Sophia’s hands find Dani’s waist and settle there, fingers slipping beneath the hem of Dani’s shirt to feel her skin. Dani inhales softly at the contact, eyes falling closed for a moment. Sophia pulls back far enough to kiss Dani’s forehead and then settles against her again.
“I missed you today.” Sophia said softly.
“You saw me this morning.” Dani laughed.
“Still missed you,” Sophia grins. Dani shakes her head with a small groan, then tilts her chin enough to press their lips together again. “Sorry I ruined your Live.”
“You didn’t.” Dani kissed Sophia’s forehead and then stood, heading back into the kitchen to grab their plates and her own phone. “I spent most of it talking about you anyway. And once you got home, most of the fans were yelling at me to end it, too.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be promoting your album?” Sophia asked, accepting the plate that Dani brought her. Dani nods. “How does talking about me help with that?”
“Baby, the whole album is about you.” Dani sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch at a slight angle so they were still facing one another. “How can I talk about my album without talking about the muse behind it?”
The question has a very pretty flush climbing high on Sophia’s cheeks. Dani chuckles at the sight.
“Eat your dinner,” Dani instructs. “I’m assuming you didn’t shower at the gym, so I can help you get ready for bed after we eat.”
“You just want an excuse to get me naked.” Sophia teases.
“Obviously,” Dani agrees. Sophia giggles and leans down to steal a kiss. “It’s not like I love you and want to make your life easier, especially when you’re injured.”
Sophia’s smile softens around the edges, her eyes shining in that way that seems to be reserved specifically for Dani.
“I love you, too.”
Later, after Sophia hobbles into the kitchen to sit on the counter and gently stretch her ankle while Dani does the dishes, they take a long bath together. The large bathtub was one of the main reasons they settled on this apartment, long days in the ice or in dance studios requiring a little bit of a soak afterwards sometimes. That fact that the tub was easily big enough for two was simply a very welcome bonus.
Dani pulled Sophia’s hair into a messy bun so it wouldn’t get wet, then guided the ice skater to lean back against her chest while they soaked in the warm, bubble filled water. Sophia hummed contentedly, turning her head enough to nuzzle at Dani’s neck. Dani smiled softly at the affection, but her normal enjoyment at having Sophia naked and in her arms was somewhat tempered by the swelling of Sophia’s ankle perched on the edge of the tub and the bruising on her knees.
She held Sophia a little tighter, wishing that her embrace alone was enough to take all of her pain away. Sophia melted into her like maybe it was.
Their phones, both sitting atop the closed toilet lid nearby, buzzed incrementally. Clips from Dani’s Live were already circling around the internet, people zooming in on Manon helping Sophia walk and commenting on the nervous timbre of Yoonchae’s voice when she greeted Dani. The fans were already speculating on what had happened - everything from ridiculous cheating rumors that would never be true to Sophia taking a sudden interest in skateboarding that didn’t work out. Many of Sophia’s own fans were working hard to clear up any confusion, reminding the general population that Sophia was a professional athlete, Manon was her best friend, and sometimes accidents happen. They were a small but vocal group, slowly gaining ground as they pointed out that Sophia getting hurt at practice was truthfully the only logical explanation.
Both phones buzzed again and Sophia sighed as she reached for hers. Dani watched over Sophia’s shoulder as she thumbed through her notifications.
“Why is it that anytime people see you and Manon together, they think something crazy is happening?” Sophia asked. “It’s like they don’t see how Manon is head over heels for Lara.”
“That’s because they don’t,” Dani reminded her. “Lara and Manon haven’t announced their relationship yet.”
“We hadn’t announced ours either and people still figured us out after a couple weeks.”
“Amor, we were both caught sneaking into each other's events multiple times before we were even official.” Dani kissed Sophia’s neck. “And Megan posted that picture of us practically dry humping on New Year’s. It wasn’t a stretch.”
Sophia grumbled softly. “Manon and Lara are obvious about it too.”
“Around us, not in public.” Dani pulled Sophia further against her chest, fingers tracing idle patterns against her skin beneath the water. “It’s just fans being crazy on the internet. None of it actually matters.”
“It’s still annoying.”
“I know.” Dani settled her chin on Sophia’s shoulder. “Has your team decided on a statement yet?”
“No,” Sophia opened the group chat with Manon, her coaches, and the main physical therapist for her team. She read through the messages quickly. “Looks like the team thinks it’s best to just leave it be for now. If the noise online gets any worse, then they’ll say something. Manon said I could always post something myself or do a Live with you.”
“I’m sure my team is saying something similar.” Dani didn’t bother reaching for her phone. If anyone on her team really wanted her to answer, they’d call instead. She pressed a kiss to Sophia’s cheek, grinning. “Think we can break the internet again if we do another joint Live?”
“Maybe,” Sophia laughed. “But I’m not singing this time.”
“But babyyyy”
“Nope, not happening,” Sophia shook her head. “I’m supposed to be graceful and cool and elegant.”
“It’s not my fault you have the voice of a Disney princess.”
“But it is your fault that Yoonchae played A Whole New World during warm ups every day for a month.” Sophia found Dani’s arm beneath the water and pinched her playfully. “I have an image to maintain, you know?”
“Whatever you say, princessa.”
Whatever comment Sophia might have made in response was swallowed as Dani turned her face and pressed their lips together. Sophia almost dropped her phone into the bath, giggling against Dani’s lips as she tried to lean over far enough to put the device down without breaking their kiss.
When they did part several minutes later, Dani gently eased Sophia off her chest and stood up. She dried quickly, aware of Sophia’s eyes watching her heatedly, and wrapped the towel around herself before she turned to Sophia and held out her hands.
“Let’s get you in bed before your ankle decides to act up and keep you from sleeping.”
Dani is careful as she guides Sophia to her feet, helping her balance without putting any pressure on her sprained ankle as Dani towels her off and then helps her dress in loose cotton shorts and t-shirt they’ve traded back and forth so many times, neither one of them can remember who it originally belonged to.
They make their way into the bedroom after that, phones silenced and plugged in for the night, blackout curtains pulled tight against the light from the street lamps outside. Dani left for a few minutes to grab some extra pillows to prop up Sophia’s ankle, snagging a glass of water and some extra pain pills to leave on the nightstand in case Sophia needed them during the night. It was only after Dani was satisfied that Sophia was properly settled that she finally slipped into bed beside her.
Before Dani could make an attempt to curl up behind Sophia as the big spoon, slim arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in. She ended up pressed against Sophia’s side, head pillowed on her shoulder, arm thrown over Sophia’s waist. She was laying on Sophia’s good side and her leg moved to tuck between Sophia’s, toes resting against the inside of Sophia’s calf. She sighed heavily as she settled, smiling against Sophia’s shoulder when she felt the kiss pressed against her forehead.
“Thank you,” Sophia said softly into the darkness. Dani hummed a question. “For taking care of me - even when I don’t make it easy.”
“You don’t have to thank me for loving you, mi amor,” Dani whispered back. “It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
She felt Sophia’s exhale against her forehead, followed by a second kiss. She tilted her chin up enough to kiss Sophia properly and felt the last of her tension drain out of her. Sophia slipped off to sleep only moments later, Dani waiting until she was certain that Sophia was fully asleep and as comfortable as possible before she let sleep claim her as well.