sun to me

Six

Ooh, silence is makin' me nostalgic

Two sizes big, your shirt in my apartment

Oh, we were kids, but that don't make this less hard

Florence found herself leaning on Paige more than ever after their conversation about Jenna. Paige had a way of cutting through the noise, grounding her in a way no one else could. Despite their demanding schedules, they always found time for each other—sometimes through late-night phone calls, other times through impromptu visits when Florence was in Connecticut or Paige had a break in her UConn season.

One evening, Florence sat on the floor of her apartment in Los Angeles, her laptop perched on the coffee table. Paige was on FaceTime, lounging on her couch, still in her practice gear.

"Did you just get back from practice?" Florence asked, smiling at the way Paige's hair was pulled into a messy bun.

"Yeah," Paige said, stretching her arms above her head. "Coach ran us hard today. I don't think my legs have ever been this tired."

Florence laughed. "I don't know how you do it. I'd collapse halfway through."

Paige grinned. "Yeah, but you can hit notes that make people cry. Everyone's got their thing."

Florence rolled her eyes playfully but felt her cheeks flush. "You always know what to say."

"Just telling the truth," Paige said, her tone softening.

And over time, their conversations deepened. It wasn't just about basketball or music anymore; they talked about their fears, their dreams, and the parts of themselves they didn't share with anyone else.

One night, Florence finally opened up about something that had been weighing on her.

"Do you ever feel like... no matter how much you achieve, it's never enough?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Paige nodded, her expression serious. "All the time. There's always another game, another championship to chase. And when you're the best, people expect you to stay the best. It's exhausting."

Florence exhaled, relieved to hear she wasn't alone. "I feel like that with music. Like I can't just enjoy it anymore—it's always about what's next or this song needs to be bigger than the next."

Paige leaned closer to the camera, her blue eyes steady. "You've got to hold on to the parts that make you happy, Flo. The rest... it's noise. You're not doing this for them. You're doing it for you."

Florence smiled, her heart swelling. "How do you always know what I need to hear?"

Paige shrugged, her lips quirking into a small smile. "Maybe because I care about you."

The simplicity of her words made Florence's breath hitch. Paige didn't elaborate, and Florence didn't push, but something unspoken passed between them—a connection deeper than either of them was ready to put into words.

It was those words that made Florence fall in love with Paige in a whole different way. Sure they had been good friends and there were some feelings one could say. But it was this defining moment that solidified and ensured Florence that Paige was the one for her, even if Paige didn't know it yet.

It was a rare weekend when Florence was off, with no TV appearances or recordings needing to be done, so she decided to fly back to Connecticut. She didn't tell anyone except her parents, wanting to keep her visit low-key and to surprise a certain someone.

As she arrived home and had a warm welcome from her family where her mom helped her get away from music by offering to bake cookies and talk like she used to before the fame. After a much-needed relaxation time with her mom, Florence decided to go to Gampel to surprise her dad and the girls with cookies.