burn for you

Say My Name

~Y/n's POV-

I was walking hand-in-hand with Paige through the bustling mall, our fingers intertwined, when I suddenly spotted my sister, Lily, coming out of a store ahead of us. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly pulled my hand away from Paige's.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" Paige asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Lily's here," I whispered, glancing nervously towards my sister. "I don't want her to see us like this."

Paige's expression shifted from confusion to hurt. "Like what? Us being together?"

I sighed, struggling to find the right words. "No, it's just... she doesn't know about us yet. I don't want to cause any drama right now."

Paige crossed her arms, clearly upset. "So, you're embarrassed of me?"

"It's not that," I insisted. "I just need more time to tell her."

Before Paige could respond, Lily spotted us and waved enthusiastically. "Y/n! Hey!"

"Hey, Lil!" I called back, forcing a smile. I walked over to her, with Paige following reluctantly behind.

Lily gave me a quick hug before turning to Paige. "Hi, I'm Emily, Y/n's sister. Oh. My. God! You're the Paige Bueckers!"

Paige nodded, her smile strained. "Nice to meet you, Lily."

Lily looked between us, a curious glint in her eyes. "So, what are you two up to?"

"Just shopping," I said quickly. "We were thinking of grabbing some food. Want to join us?"

Paige shot me a look, but Lily didn't seem to notice. "Sure, I'd love to. I was just about to grab lunch myself."

We made our way to the food court, Lily chatting animatedly about her day. Paige walked beside me in silence, her mood clearly souring by the minute. I felt a pang of guilt but didn't know how to fix the situation.

As we sat down with our food, Emily looked at Paige. "So, how do you know Y/n?"

Paige hesitated, glancing at me. I could see the hurt in her eyes. "We're... teammates," she said finally, her voice tight.

"Yeah, we've been hanging out a lot lately, though," I added quickly, trying to keep the conversation light.

Lily smiled. "That's great! Y/n could use more friends. She's always been so focused on school and work."

Paige's jaw clenched, and I knew I had made a mistake. "Yeah, well, sometimes you need more than just friends," Paige muttered under her breath.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, shooting Paige a warning look. "Paige is just joking around."

Paige didn't respond, instead focusing on her food. The rest of the meal was filled with awkward silence, broken only by Lily's occasional attempts at conversation. When we finally finished eating, Lily stood up.

"I need to run a few more errands, but it was great seeing you, Y/n," she said, giving me another hug. "And it was nice meeting you, Paige."

"Yeah, you too," Paige said, her voice flat.

As soon as Lily was out of earshot, Paige rounded on me. "Friends? Really, Y/n?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Paige, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to make things complicated."