Affinity

December 24th, 2023

"So what exactly happened between you two? I feel like you've never talked about her so I assume it wasn't that bad?" Dakota asked, readjusting how she was sitting in the passenger's seat of my car. I had just picked her up to go meet with Kit and a few other girls from our team. Sammy, one of the captains, asked if anybody would be down to get drinks in celebration of the holidays, so we decided to go. This was all before, however, she then said that significant others were welcome... Dakota had asked Kit earlier in the day if she was bringing Lucy, but she hadn't answered. I was worried that it meant yes.

I sighed, slouching back into the seat. We still hadn't left her driveway yet, and honestly I was becoming more and more nervous about seeing Kit the more the day went on. And if Lucy was there, I mean, we hadn't seen each other in almost seven years. "We um, dated going into our junior year of high school, we both played for the U21 town team. That's like half the reason I ended up coming out to my family because she was coming around more, and my brother and sister knew so I figured it was only a matter of time," I started, briefly thinking back to that period of time. "Things were great, and I wasn't ever really sure where our relationship was going to go, but we both went to college and the first break we had, I came home to find out she had been seeing somebody else from her school," I explained to her, a sinking feeling coming over my body.

"Did you break up before you went to college, or were you still together when she did that?" She asked. I could see the concern in her face, which I half expected from Dakota, who perchance is the most loyal person you'd find on the planet. Her moral code is stronger than any other and I love that about her.

"We had talked about seeing where things went, and we were okay with taking it one step at a time, but I just figured there would have been a conversation about it if she were going to start seeing somebody else, you know?" She nodded, wrapping her hand about my arm. I think that she could tell I was getting more upset about it than I had thought. "And then it just got messy, and her and the other girl stopped seeing each other and we may or may not have hooked up with each other a few times when we were home for Christmas..." I said, looking up at her, waiting for a reaction. The funniest mix of disappointment and amusement washed over her face.

"Saoirse-"

"It ended so quickly! We got into an argument that winter, and just kind of never spoke again. She was living out in Oregon for a while after college, but I'm, I guess she must be back now," I said, the mood shifting again.

"Are you going to be okay if she is here?" She asked genuinely.

"I mean, I haven't really thought about her in years, and I love Kit. I don't want to be upset or angry about it, but it is weird, and I think it's just bringing up a lot that I haven't really thought through in a while," I said to her, fiddling with my seat belt with my other hand.

"Well, look, I don't want to choose sides or anything. I care about you deeply both and want you two to be happy. But, I hope you know that it's okay to feel weird about it. I mean, it's not their fault, but it doesn't mean it's not hard for you."

I thanked her, and finally put the car in drive. It wasn't that far of a drive to get to the bar, but I knew that once we had gotten there parking was going to be a mess. So, I ended up parking in a parking lot that I knew I could grab a spot in although it was a 15 minute walk away from the bar.

Once we're done there, we were greeted by many of our teammates, who are either waiting to travel home for Christmas tomorrow in the morning, or weren't going home at all, because their family was either right in town, or too far to get to. Dakota was quick to hand me a beer, and although I was trying my best to socialize and talk to everybody, I couldn't take my eyes off of the door. Kit had told us that she would be coming a little bit later, but still had not answered about whether or not she was bringing Lucy. Although I didn't want to cause a big issue, I was still not sure what I was gonna do if Lucy were to walk into this bar right now.