Nailea used to think love was a battlefield, not the haven of warmth and support others described. She often heard people talk about having 'their person', but In the cold, silent house of her childhood, where the walls knew no laughter and the air carried no whispers of affection, love was a foreign dialect she never learned to speak.
The constant clash of voices in her house had been her lullaby, the slamming of doors, her bedtime story. Her parents, wrapped up in their own endless war, had inadvertently taught her that love was synonymous with struggle and that affection was purely just a fairy tale.
It was only when she arrived at Iowa she had started to ease the edges of her hardened heart. There, she found souls that didn't need blood ties to be family; she found arms that hugged without expecting anything in return. These people, these kindred spirits, began to lay down the bricks for what Nailea would come to understand as love. It was less about grand gestures and more about the quiet moments—the shared smiles over inside jokes, the silent companionship of studying together, the reassurance found in just knowing they were there.
And then there was UConn, a place she had never imagined would hold the key to fully unlocking her heart. Paige, Nika and the rest of the team were the catalysts, the unforeseen element that turned her world from monochrome to a burst of colours.
Nailea tried to fight it, to hate Paige for the pain she had caused her back in high school, but her heart refused to obey. Paige was like gravity, an irresistible force that drew Nailea in despite the history, despite the hurt. She was in every thought, every glance, every heartbeat. She was an addiction that Nailea no longer wanted to fight.
It was in the way Paige would wait for the girl refusing to leave without her, or the way she'd pull Nailea in when they were laying down as if claiming her, protecting her from the world. It was in the late-night talks, the laughter that bubbled up from deep within, and the sense of peace that settled over Nailea whenever Paige was near.
Paige was her person.
With Paige, the arguments from Nailea's childhood seemed like a distant memory. She'd catch herself watching the way Paige's eyes crinkled when she laughed, the passion with which she spoke about her dreams, the tender care with which she'd brush away Nailea's tears on the hard days.
Love, Nailea realized, wasn't about the absence of conflict; it was about having someone who faced the those hard times with you, who held your hand and reminded you that you weren't alone. It was about Paige showing up on her dorm room with a tub of ice cream after a particularly rough day, about the way they could communicate with just a look, about the silent promise that they were in this together.
Paige had seen her at her worst and had chosen to stay, to fight for her, to love her. And Nailea, who used to pride herself on being unshakable, found her resolve melting each time Paige pulled her into an embrace.
Nailea always had thoughts in the back of her head and she knew she was risking potential hurt for a chance at this euphoria. But she also knew that Paige was worth every bit of that risk. The love she had once thought of as a myth was real, and it was here, breathing life into her once-dormant heart.
To everyone, Paige had always been the kind of girl who wore confidence like armor, her smile a shield that deflected any notion of doubt or fear. But when it came to Nailea, that armor seemed to vanish, leaving her vulnerable in a way she never thought possible. From the moment they met as toddlers, there was an unspoken bond between them, one that had grown and stretched but never truly broken, even in the face of their high school fallout.
In her quiet moments, in the privacy of her room, Paige would let her mind wander to Nailea.
She remembered the day she let jealousy get the better of her, and the words that followed—words that created a chasm between them. She had spent countless nights replaying that moment, wishing she could take back the hurt she had caused. The regret was a bitter pill, one that she swallowed every day.
From the moment they had reconnected at UConn, every fiber of Paige's being had been acutely aware of Nailea's presence. It was as if the universe had conspired to bring them back together, to give Paige a second chance to right the wrongs of the past.
Nailea was the one person who could see through Paige's bravado, the one person who could make her fumble with just a smile. The gravity of her affection was a force Paige couldn't resist, like being caught in a tidal wave, powerful and all-consuming. She loved the way Nailea's dimples appeared when she laughed, how she bit her lip when she was concentrating, and how her slowness was something of which she grew fond of.
Paige found herself doing things she never thought she'd do—reading books that Nailea enjoyed, watching cheesy rom-coms just to understand the kind of love the brunette deserved, and learning to be soft, to be gentle.
With Nailea, Paige discovered parts of herself she never knew existed. She was still the girl who could command a room with her presence, but with Nailea, she was also the girl who could speak volumes with a gentle touch, who could find peace in the simple act of holding her close.
She wanted to be Nailea's everything, to be the reason she smiled, the shoulder she leaned on, the one who held her heart with care. Paige wanted to make up for the lost time, for the hurt she had caused, by filling Nailea's life with so much love that the shadows of their past would be nothing but a distant memory.
The love Paige felt for Nailea was fierce, protective, and tender all at once. It was in the way she'd catch herself just watching Nailea, tracing the lines of her face with her eyes, memorizing the way she moved. It was in the way her heart seemed to beat in sync with Nailea's, a rhythm that had become her favorite song.
Paige loved Nailea in the way the moon loves the sea, a pull that is constant and unwavering. The blonde wanted to shout from the rooftops about her love for Nai and yet hold it close like a treasured secret.
If you could peer into the depths of both Paige's and Nailea's heart, you'd see it clearly written, their names etched on each other's hearts there since childhood.
So no matter what happened next it would always be Paige and Nailea. Nailea and Paige. Call it whatever you want because in the end it was them.
~𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐝 ~
Author speaks: I've got something really important to say so read all of this‼️
I'm sorry to say this is the end of this book. I wanna say thank you for all the support and interactions that everyone has made in this book.
I'm gonna miss writing about these two but I do have some other things planned
I know I've gotten some recommendations for new books for Nika and Kate y'all got anymore?
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