I Stay Up All Night
The first time that Katie and Ruesha slept together, it was more a fluke than either of them anticipated.
Ok, not a fluke exactly…but it was a surprise to both parties. The two had been dancing around each other for weeks, months really, neither willing to admit their attraction to each other.
For Katie, Ruesha was older and more popular, more established in the Irish squad. Katie was still trying to find her place in the group, figure out how she fit within the squad while trying to handle her growing attraction toward her blonde teammate.
For Ruesha, she worried about the fact that Katie was her teammate, and her younger teammate at that. She didn’t want to disturb the team, or do anything to hurt Katie. But for some reason, she couldn’t seem to convince herself to fully leave the brunette alone.
Katie was all unbridled confidence, quick feet, a head held high. She might be young, but she didn’t act it. When she stepped into a room, she commanded everyone's presence.
It didn’t help that she was incredibly fucking attractive, all tanned skin and strong quads and broad shoulders and perfect angles.
The first time that it had happened had been at the second camp they were at together. They were practicing, doing 5v5s as the other girls watched from the sidelines. Ruesha pulled a little behind the back move before she shot the ball into the net, Katie yelling after her “Yeah Ruesha!” which of course caused every pair of eyes to look at her. Blushing pink, Katie waved weakly at the blonde, who just smiled and laughed gently back at her.
Katie loved the sound of Rue’s laugh, all light and soft. She didn’t get to hear it often, the blonde often more focused on making others laugh, but in a way it made it sweeter to hear it, made Katie savor it.
Over the last few camps, the two had gotten considerably closer, first as friends, and then as something weird…this strange boundary that wasn’t quite a relationship but also wasn’t exactly a friendship either, just something in the middle.
The flirting had only gotten more and more obvious and persistent over the last two weeks, the girls all together in May for a few friendlies against Scotland.
Most (if not all) of the girls had left for flights to get back to their respective clubs, but Katies flight had ended up getting canceled because of bad weather in London. They just so happened to be playing their friendlies in Glasgow, where Ruesha currently lived playing for the Celtics, so naturally she had invited Katie back to her flat so she wouldn’t have to go back and sleep in a stuffy hotel. The squad had already had Katie’s hotel reservation extended for another night, but the brunette would rather spend the night in Ruesha’s guest room, so she accepted the striker's invitation.
They were friends, of course they could spend a night at one another's house, right?
(The longing glances said otherwise, but they ignored that specific fact)
And it had happened by surprise really. They were washing up after a dinner that Ruesha had cooked, which had been surprisingly good. The blonde wasn’t a good cook, per say, but she had a few dishes that she was decent at, and Katie (who would burn a pot of water if she could) enjoyed it all the same.
But Katie had been insistent on helping clean after dinner, which had landed them in the kitchen, pressed side to side over by the sink, their hips ghosting together with nearly every movement.
They worked in silence, but the air between the two felt electric and heated, their fingers brushing every time Ruesha handed Katie a plate. Neither really knew how to break the silence, or what to say that wouldn’t end up with them saying something that both were worried they would regret.
Oh, the pity of expectations. Katie genuinely wished that she could throw them away, that it didn’t have to be so complicated all the time. That she could just love Ruesha and maybe, if she got really lucky, the blonde would love her back and that would be enough. That there didn’t have to be all these hurdles stopping them.
They were just a few dishes away from being done, when Katie accidentally brushed up against Ruesha’s side more firmly, and the blonde let out a tiny gasp.
Katie froze, wondering if she’d misheard. But when she stole a glance over at Ruesha, the blonde had a blush creeping up her neck, and Katie knew she hadn’t misread this. Katie leaned over, taking the plate from Ruesha’s hand, ignoring the soap and brush and simply placing it in the sink.
Knowing that Ruesha wanted this as much as she did? Katie couldn’t keep this to herself, couldn’t ignore this any longer. Because as much as she was scared of the pressures and expectations and possibility for failure, Katie was a hell of a lot more scared of what would happen if she let this opportunity go.
With Rue, it just felt different. She had never felt like this about anyone before, she really hadn’t. And she couldn’t bring herself to be fearful of something that might be so good.
Ruesha turned toward her as Katie turned toward the blonde, and she didn’t say anything, just let her gaze flicker from Rue’s eyes to her lips. The striker seemed to take the hint, stepping forward, into Katie’s space. The brunette could smell the peony of Rue’s body wash, just lightly, as she tore her gaze back up to Ruesha’s eyes.
The blonde was looking at her with dilated pupils, and Katie isn’t exactly sure who moved first but before she knew it her lips were on Ruesha’s, standing right there in the kitchen at ten at night. Her lips are soft, and she tastes like the mint gum that she had been chewing just a few minutes ago and it's addictive and Katie never wants it to end.
But it does, and Rue pulls back, but it's just to take her hand, to lead her to the bedroom.
(They only make it halfway before Katie pushes Rue back against the wall, attacking her greedily before the blonde finally pushed her into her room and onto her bed).
They fall into bed together, a tangle of limbs and unsated desires. It’s unlike anything Katie has ever done before, and not just because of the sex.
Katie isn’t exactly inexperienced, per say, but she has only hooked up with a few girls, mostly hookups from when she was in secondary school. She’s had yet to have a girlfriend, or anything of the sort.
She’d been out since she was seventeen, but she’d never loved out loud. Never loved in a whole way, in a complete way. All the girls that she’d slept with saw her as a means to an end, a warm body that served its purpose, not something to be loved and cherished.
Ruesha, on the other hand, has done both the hookups and the relationship thing. And she knows some things. But it’s more than that, somehow. Rue was different. The way she looked at Katie, the way she touched Katie was different.
When she looked at her, when the blonde touched her, it was as if she were the most delicate, precious thing in the world. For the first time in her life, the brunette felt cared for and worshiped. And it was all she could do to give that back to Rue. It felt different, having sex with someone you actually cared about like that, who cared right back at you.
They spend hours in bed, trading orgasms back and forth with each other, until finally they start to slow down near one o'clock in the morning, the moon in full force peeking out from behind Ruesha’s haphazardly closed curtains.
Ruesha manages to pull one last orgasm out of Katie, leaving her boneless and floating as her neck cranes back, stars appearing behind her field of vision. The brunette is still coming down from it when she feels the bed shift, and when her eyes flutter open she watches Ruesha walk into the bathroom attached to her bedroom, her hips swaying slightly in the moonlight.
But watching her go reminds Katie of Erin. Erin was one of the last girls she had slept with, who immediately after they were done would get up and into the shower to clean herself off. If Katie wasn’t gone when she got out, the brunette always got an angry earful.
Katie was never supposed to stay. But…maybe this was different? The brunette was conflicted, her face contouring with worry as she thought about her options.
Should she go? Should she stay? She looks around at the room, the light that is peeking out from under the closed bathroom door.
All of the girls Katie had been with had never wanted her to stay. They sent her out of their house, either through the window or smuggled through the door in the dead of night. They didn’t want her to stay overnight, risk someone finding her in their bed. Half the girls she had slept with weren’t even out, they certainly didn’t want the possibility of being found in bed with a girl.
So Katie half rolls, half stumbles out of bed, groping for her clothes in the darkness of the room.
She’s not entirely sure where she’s going, the guest room, back to her hotel, all she knows is that she needs to get out of here, and quickly. Before Ruesha comes back, at least.
Because she’d been ok with those girls forcing her to leave. Maybe it wasn’t how she wanted to do things, but when rejection like that becomes the expectation? You get used to feeling like you aren’t enough. Like you don’t deserve the kindness of any sort of aftercare or genuine compassion after such an intimate act.
But all those girls were just random ones, and it didn’t matter because she didn’t let herself care.
But Rue? Well…she had already crossed the boundary into caring. And honestly? She wasn’t entirely sure if she could take it if the blonde looked at her and told her to go away when she came back.
Katie had slept with a few people, but she’d never really cared, and their treatment of her didn’t affect her like this was going to affect her. Ruesha was different, this whole situation was entirely different. Because if Rue rejected her, and she had to see her multiple times a year…Katie thought that it might break her.
She’d never experienced true heartbreak before, but she had a feeling that if what she thought was going to happen did, she would know firsthand how the experience would be.
The more and more she thought about this, the more she realized that this whole situation was not her brightest idea.
Katie’s groping out for her shirt on the floor when the door to the bathroom creaks open, leaving Ruesha standing in the doorway, a glass of water and a damp washcloth in either hand, a confused expression painted across her face.
“What’re you doing?” Ruesha inquires, a perplexed expression on her face. Katie freezes in her spot next to the night stand, still bent over looking for her shirt, when she whips around, staring at Ruesha with wide eyes, clutching the sweatpants she had been wearing earlier in the evening in her hands.
“Um…leaving? Figured you’d still want me to sleep in the guest room, or I can go back to the hotel or something, whatever works…really,” Katie finishes lamely, and her voice sounds quiet and far away. Her heart is pounding in her ears as her brain is screaming warning alarms at her. But Ruesha doesn’t tense, or agree, she softens, stepping over to Katie, placing the glass of water she had on the bed stand behind the brunette.
Very gently, Ruesha takes the pants from out of Katie’s hands, letting them fall to the floor softly. Ruesha uses her free hand to run it gently over the brunette’s forehead, down over her cheek to rest on her jaw, her thumb rubbing lightly back and forth over the winger’s cheek. She notices how tense and unsure Katie seems, a far cry from the usual unbridled confidence that the brunette normally had. She looks more like a flight risk not, a spooked horse who's ready to run at the first sign of trouble.
“I think we did this in the wrong order. I don’t want you to go anywhere, not the guest room and certainly not a hotel. Will you stay with me for the night, in bed, please?” Ruesha asks quietly, and Katie looks at her with skeptical eyes, her brows furrowed.
“I’ll make you breakfast in the morning, gives me time to ask you on a proper date,” Ruesha continued, and Katie’s eyebrows fly up in surprise, but the blonde continues looking at her endearingly. “Stay? Please?” Ruesha finally half says, half pleads, her hand still at Katie’s cheek.
The winger just looks at Ruesha for a moment, at the sincerity on her face, and finally she nods gently, not hard enough to move Ruesha’s hand from her cheek. Her jaw unclenches as she finally relaxes slightly, her shoulders unclenching. The blonde smiles softly, that tiny smile that’s only reserved for Katie it seems, and rubs her thumb over the brunette’s cheek again. Katie lets herself lean into the contact, her eyes fluttering shut softly.
Ruesha finally shifts the damp washcloth in her hands, runs it over Katie’s shoulder, down over her abdomen, gently between her legs, placing a kiss on Katie’s hipbone. The winger just stares down at Ruesha as she works, at the way that she works slowly, as if she’s admiring every inch of Katie’s skin.
It’s a new feeling, to be appreciated like this, but it’s not unwelcome in the slightest. When Ruesha stands, she tosses the wash cloth back into the bathroom, before she steps over to the bed, slipping under the duvet.
Katie mirrors her actions, entirely unsure of what to do, or how to act. Ruesha is turned toward her, looking at her with unreadable eyes, her blue eyes illuminated by the sliver of moonlight that is cast into the room.
It’s Ruesha who finally moves, when she realizes that Katie isn’t going to. The blonde moves into Katie’s space, wrapping her arms around Katie’s abdomen, bringing her head so that her chin rests on top of Katie’s head.
The brunette lays there like a corpse for a moment, unsure of what to do or how to act. This wasn’t usually a part of the deal.
It was sex, then leave. Spending the night was not on the table, and cuddling certainly had never been.
But then Ruesha’s thumb starts to rub lightly up and down Katie’s spine, and suddenly the brunette feels herself relaxing, almost involuntarily, into Ruesha’s embrace.
Katie sneaks her arms around Rue’s, resting them on the blonde’s back. She tucks her head more firmly below Ruesha’s, her cheek resting on Rue’s sternum. The blonde shifts her leg, and suddenly their legs are tangled together too, their ankles brushing.
Katie always thought that this kind of intimacy would be weird. That she might be uncomfortable with it somehow, that it just wasn’t for her. Maybe she was just the girl that you slept with, then showed the door.
But this was intimate, and so comforting and soft. Ruesha smelled like peonies, bergamot, and something distinctly Rue, and it enveloped Katie’s entire being. The brunette feels warm all over, Ruesha’s soft skin pressed against her.
And when Katie finally lets herself relax fully into Ruesha’s arms, she realizes that she can hear the beating of Ruesha’s heart against her cheek.
That night, the brunette falls asleep to the comforting thump thump thump of Rue’s heart, wrapped in the warmth and security of the blonde.
When she wakes up in the next morning, she’s still in the same position, just with her hands tucked in between her and Ruesha, pressed against the blonde’s abdomen. But the striker still has her hands wrapped around Katie, and the brunette is still tucked into her chest, their ankles brushing against one another.
Katie leans back, watching as Ruesha’s eyes flutter open, and she looks over at the brunette, a lazy smile spreading over her face.
And Katie knows, somehow, deep down, that this is it for her. That she could wake up to that smile a million times, and it would never be enough.
Ruesha does make her breakfast, but it’s Katie who beats her to the chase, asking Ruesha out on a date.
She says yes, obviously.