azzishands

[azzishands]

HARD LAUNCH OH MY GOD

"paige bueckers' girlfriend"

[azzishands]

👀azzi saying she still has two more weeks of camp and then that she is driving down to DC for Sundays game?!

[azzishands]

Muscle mommy oh my gyat 😩

[azzishands]

your honor i love them

[azzishands]

AZZI FUDD KK ARNOLD REPPIN THE BIG 5

sorry for spamming i got exicted

[azzishands]

Fan of a fan - Chapter seven

Paige x Azzi

WC: 8.2 k

Warnings: Homophobia

A/N: I would give up my right ringfinger to get back Trouble. But most of all I hope the author is alright.

---

If Paige was the one to choose, she wouldn’t have chosen to spend her night at the club with the rest of the Hollywood snobs. But Azzi and Zendaya had invited her along, and she didn’t want to say no to Azzi. Or rather, she couldn’t really. She didn’t want to become that type of person who only wanted to spend time with their significant other and didn’t want to do anything else. KK, Sarah and Aubrey had already warned her enough that she’s spending way too much time on Facetime with Azzi anyway.

“Yo Paige! Let’s get a selfie,” some influencer said over the loud music and snapped a picture of them with Paige smiling politely into the camera. She recognized the influencer but had no idea what his name was. Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to learn it either, because he was gone before she could even ask.

“Paige!” someone exclaimed and tapped her shoulder. Paige turned around and was met with one of the few people she actually knew, and was closer to more than just knowing their name. 

“Oh my God, Aaliyah!” she rushed forward to embrace her friend. 

Aaliyah Edwards was a basketball player in the WNBA she had gotten to know through mutual friends. She was close with all the girls of The Huskies and they used to call her an honorary husky for their close friendship. 

“What are you doing here in LA?” Paige asked in surprise.

“Drake invited a couple players, you know, Canadian connections,” the basketball player answered. “But what about you? Aren’t you supposed to be in Europe?”

Paige grew a small smirk. “Yeah, but I kind of had to make a quick visit. I’m kind of dating Azzi Fudd.”

“You are not!” Aaliyah gasped. “Don’t pretend to be nonchalant about it, I know you’re playing with me.”

“No, I really am,” Paige smirked even bigger, knowing that Aaliyah knew that she had talked about Azzi Fudd in the past, like the true fangirl she had been. 

She replayed the night before in her head as the dearest memory she has. Her, confessing that she’s in love with Azzi. And Azzi, confessing the same thing back. It was too good to be true. And now they’re officially together. That’s what they had concluded yesterday. 

Azzi was Paige’s girlfriend now.

And speaking of the devil, said girlfriend came up to the two friends with a vodka cranberry and a dirty Shirley in her hands.

“Here you go babe,” she casually said and handed the drink to Paige. 

Aaliyah just looked between the two women in disbelief. 

“Hi,” Azzi extended her now free hand towards the hooper. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Azzi.”

“Aaliyah, nice to meet you Azzi,” the basketball player shook her hand with a big grin. “So you’re dating Paige?”

“I am,” Azzi looked at Paige with a big smile and nodded. 

“I gotta tell you, I never thought I’d see the day,” Aaliyah said. “She’s such a loner, thought she would die alone to be honest. Have you noticed how she always-”

“-Woah now, what do you mean you never thought you’d see the day?” Paige questioned, clearly offended by it. 

“Anyways, I’ve seen your movies, and I loved Ricochet. Can’t believe P bagged a baddie like you,” Aaliyah just kept on talking. 

Azzi just laughed while Paige sipped on her dirty Shirley with a big frown on her face. 

“Where’s Zendaya? Can she come rescue me?” Paige groaned.

“She’s hanging out with some other friends,” Azzi said with a comforting smile. 

“Why don’t we go dancing when y’all have finished your drinks?” Aaliyah suggested. Paige quickly agreed. Anything to make her friend stop talking. 

“What is it with all my friends and family trying to embarrass me,” she mumbled to herself as she downed the rest of her drink. 

The next hours went by in a blur. Before Paige knew it, she had managed to drink way more than she usually does. If it wasn’t Aaliyah giving her a drink, it was Azzi, and if it wasn’t any of them, there was always some random influencer who thought they were buddies with her, bribing their friendship with offering a drink. 

“You can say no, you know,” Azzi said in her ear after Paige had reluctantly accepted the fourth drink somebody she didn’t know had given to her, carefully taking it out of Paige’s hands and setting it down on a nearby table. 

“Nah, it’s cool,” Paige slurred and snaked her suddenly free hands around Azzi’s waist and pulled her closer. 

“Let me go get her some water,” Aaliyah nodded to Azzi, who gave her a grateful look. 

“You’re so goddamn sexy tonight baby,” Paige groaned in Azzi’s ear, lips touching the edge of her ear, while letting her hands roam her girlfriend’s back unashamedly. 

Azzi swallowed hard but let out a soft chuckle, trying to defuse the situation into something less sexual in the middle of the club. 

“Babe,” she said and held Paige tightly by her waist, trying to stabilize the drunk girl. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need to sit down?”

Paige just let out a breath of air, as if it was a ridiculous question.

“I’m more than alright, babygirl,” she grinned. “Wouldn’t mind sitting down with you in my lap though.”

Azzi rolled her eyes but the way Paige’s hand now was loosely resting on her butt and her lips were almost touching her neck made it hard for her to think straight. She wasn’t sober, but she was definitely not as drunk as Paige. The moment she realized Paige had been drinking more than five drinks was the moment Azzi stopped drinking completely, wanting to be present. 

Paige started to lean onto Azzi’s body more, and Azzi tried to hold her up by basically hugging her tightly, while Paige just rested her head on her shoulder like a kid. 

“Here’s some water,” Aaliyah returned and poked at Azzi’s girlfriend. Azzi gently pushed Paige off of her, making sure she was standing relatively stable before she completely removed her hands.

Paige obediently drank the water and cracked a big smile as she finished it.

“I think I’m gonna take her home,” Azzi told Aaliyah.

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea. She’s looking like Bambi on ice,” the basketball player agreed. “But it was so nice to meet you, Azzi. I’m really happy for y’all.”

“You too, and don’t be a stranger when you’re in town next time! I’d love to see you again,” Azzi smiled and gave her a final wave.

Aaliyah disappeared into the dancing crowd, and Azzi grabbed Paige’s hand and led her out. Once they were outside the club, Azzi walked them to the curb to hail a cab. A yellow taxi instantly arrived and she opened the door for her girlfriend to enter first. 

The ride home was a real test for Azzi. Paige kept placing her hand on her thigh and looking at her with that dangerous look that said trouble. The singer leaned in and placed soft kisses on Azzi’s neck, and Azzi’s eyes widened and looked in the rear view mirror to see if the driver was looking. She gently pushed her girlfriend away a little and looked her in the eyes.

“Paige, not here,” she whispered, all flushed. 

So Paige just sat up straight, listening to Azzi’s wish, but with her hand still on her thigh, just having it there, tantalizingly still. 

A moment later, the taxi stopped outside of Azzi’s apartment building. They exited the car and walked hand in hand towards the entrance. But before Azzi knew it, Paige dragged them to the side of the entrance, pushing Azzi up against the wall.

“I just wanna… God, I just need to-” she babbled incoherently and looked at Azzi with half lidded eyes. 

Azzi let out a small breath of arousal. The urgency in Paige’s actions and eyes made her embarrassingly turned on. She was looking at Paige’s face, her cheeks and lips red from the alcohol and her eyes filled with nothing but pure lust. 

“If you would’ve let me, I would’ve had you right in the middle of the dance floor,” Paige said with a low voice, shaking her head a little, as if it took everything in her restraining her from not just kissing her right then and there.

“Who’s the impatient one now?” Azzi let out a breath of amusement. 

With that answer, Paige leaned in so that her lips were right by Azzi’s ear, and whispered: “Baby, I’m always impatient when it comes to you.” 

Azzi’s breath hitched in her throat and she let out the smallest whimper. Before she knew it, Paige’s lips were on hers aggressively. She gasped by the eagerness and moaned when Paige let her tongue glide into her mouth to massage her own. 

The singer’s hands gripped Azzi’s waist like she was afraid she would disappear if she would let go. Azzi’s hands found themselves tangled in Paige’s hair, caressing her scalp, pulling her closer.

Paige’s hand traveled up to Azzi’s chest and palmed her breast, caressing it, gripping it. Azzi’s hips twitched and she let out a soft moan. 

Azzi let her hands fall down from Paige’s head to her hips, and teasingly let her fingertips brush the hem of her pants, pulling on them a little. But before she knows it, Paige breaks their kiss and blinks at her with a confused look on her face. 

“You’re making me spin a little bit more than usual,” she mumbled and blinked again, holding Azzi’s arm for support, and Azzi instantly snaked her arm around Paige’s waist.

“Let’s get you inside, superstar,” Azzi slowly started to lead her girlfriend inside. “You feel sick?”

Paige closed her eyes and slowly nodded.

“You’re almost there,” Azzi comforted and rubbed her arm, still holding onto her waist, leading her every step. They rode the elevator up to Azzi’s floor and soon enough, Azzi unlocked her door to her apartment and walked them to the bathroom.

She helped Paige sit down on the bathroom floor by the toilet, and brushed her hair out of the way. Paige’s eyes were still closed and she leaned her head back against the wall, her face tense from feeling nauseous. 

“I’m gonna go get you some water,” she said and hurriedly went to the kitchen.

When she came back to the bathroom, Paige was lying down on the floor and was breathing deep breaths. She had fallen asleep. 

Azzi sat down on the floor for a second and just looked at the singer and felt her heart beat fast. God, how much she cared for that girl. She brushed the hair out of her girlfriend’s face to give her a kiss on the forehead, before waking her up to help her get into bed. 

— 

“Azzi?” 

The actress woke up by someone saying her name, and she instantly opened her eyes the moment she realized that voice belonged to her girlfriend. 

“Yes baby?” 

Paige was on the other side of the bed, looking around with a very confused look, searching Azzi’s body with her hand.

“I’m right here,” Azzi said and scooted closer to the singer, letting her arm drape over her.

Paige snuggled up into Azzi, nuzzling her face into her neck and rested her head on her shoulder, draping her leg over Azzi’s. 

“How are you feeling?” Azzi softly asked.

Paige sighed. “Not good,” she murmured. 

Azzi rubbed her back in consolation. 

“I’m sorry,” Azzi whispered.

“It’s my own fault,” Paige groaned. 

“There’s water on your nightstand and a banana,” Azzi informed her. “In case you want that.” 

Paige gave a little shake with her head. “Just want you.” 

Azzi’s heart melted at the words. How can someone be this incredibly cute? She gave Paige a little squeeze and started to stroke her hair and back. 

“Did I even say goodbye to Aaliyah?” Paige suddenly asked, still with her face nuzzled into Azzi’s neck, giving her goosebumps from breathing so close to her.

Azzi softly chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I hate feeling nauseous,” Paige said with a small voice. 

“I know baby,” Azzi whispered and massaged her head with one hand, the other still stroking her back. 

“I don’t even know why I drank-”

“Shh,” Azzi stopped her. “Just focus on breathing for a minute.”

Paige slowly nodded and sunk deeper into Azzi’s embrace with a deep exhale. The moment Paige had woken up, she had opened her eyes and instantly regretted it. Her head was still spinning, and she just needed to hold onto something to feel somewhat grounded. Thankfully for her, her girlfriend was there to anchor her down.

The whole day was spent inside Azzi’s apartment, watching movie after movie on her couch with Paige snuggled up to her side, arm draped over her. They had ordered food the moment Paige had stopped feeling nauseous. Paige was lowkey acting like a clingy baby all day in a way that would normally feel embarrassing, but Azzi took care of her so lovingly and so naturally that Paige didn’t even consider to stop.

“Here, open up,” Azzi held her fork to Paige, and Paige obediently opened up and ate the piece of chicken she was offered, still clinging to her girlfriend’s side.

“Want one with the sauce?” the actress asked and Paige nodded. 

They were in their own bubble the whole day, not caring about the outside world at all. Well, until Paige’s phone started to blow up with messages. 

“I think someone’s trying to reach you,” Azzi said, pausing the movie and started to reach for the phone at the table that was vibrating constantly.

“No, don’t pause, I don’t care,” the singer said and pulled her back to the couch. “I really don’t care.”

“What if it’s your dad, or Drew? What if something’s happened?” Azzi argued but sat back down and held Paige once again. 

Paige sighed and knew that Azzi was right. Her phone did buzz in an unusual amount for it to be something unimportant. 

“Alright,” she said and let go of her girl. She leaned forward and looked at the screen. It was filled with texts from her PR team and all of her bandmates. 

She sat up straight and opened the group chat of her PR team, suddenly feeling a bit stressed about all the commotion. 

“What’s going on?” Azzi asked.

“Uh, wait a sec,” Paige replied and scrolled up the chat.

The whole thread had started with somebody sending a pretty clear photo of Paige and Azzi making out last night. Paige’s hand was on Azzi’s breast, and her other hand was right by her hip. Paige swallowed and read what was being said.

Angelica PR: This is bad

Tom PR: We have fixed it before, we can do it again

Sam PR: Last time was just some pictures with random girls on her arm, this time it’s Azzi Fudd literally making out with her. The headlines write themselves, we can’t play the “don’t make assumptions” card this time.

Angelica PR: *Five photos attached*

Paige looked through the photos, each and every one of them getting worse and worse. There’s one in the club with Paige being all over Azzi, one outside the club where they’re holding hands, three outside Azzi’s apartment where they’re passionately making out. If you zoom in, you could literally see their tongues in each other’s mouths.

Sam PR: *Photo attached*

It was a screenshot of a Twitter thread where everyone was calling Azzi a whore, and every name in the book.

Sam PR: Paige, we’re gonna need to get in contact with Azzi’s PR team. Don’t worry, we’ll handle this.

“Paige?” Azzi asked again, softly.

Paige just swallowed hard and handed her the phone, letting her scroll through the entire conversation as well.

“Oh,” Azzi let out with wide eyes as she saw the photos of them making out, her pressed against the wall. “How did they even… I didn’t even hear them taking these.”

Paige just stared right in front of her. This was bad. 

“I’ll give you my PR team's contacts,” Azzi said as she read Paige’s PR team's request. “I don’t mean to downplay whatever’s going on, but… Why are they acting as if this is a horrible crisis?”

Paige took a deep breath and leaned back on the couch again, wishing she could sink through it and then disappear into the ground.

“I’m not out,” she whispered, still with her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her. 

Azzi made a face of surprise. 

“What? I mean, what?” She blurted out. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before,” Paige said and finally looked at her girlfriend. “But I’m not publicly out.”

Azzi just stared at her with wide eyes, being very much confused. 

“But your band, the reputation, I mean- What? How is that possible?” she questioned. “I thought everyone knew…”

“Everyone thinks they know, but I’ve never confirmed it. It’s um… kinda complicated. I know that the majority of our fanbase thinks I’m gay and some sort of player, which is fair because KK and Aubrey definitely is. But… Yeah.”

“You- you didn’t-” Azzi took a deep breath as well, trying to calm herself and let Paige explain rather than Azzi freaking out about Paige’s reaction. “Why is it complicated?” She asked at last, just wanting to understand.

“My mom… She’s not really accepting of my sexuality, and I’ve just always felt uncomfortable with the fact that she is uncomfortable with it,” Paige said, and Azzi’s whole heart sank. “And after some photos of me were published with some girls on my arm a couple years ago, all hell broke loose within the fanbase and we just decided together for a plan on how to handle it. My whole image is kind of carefully and purposefully built to let people assume but never having to confirm. The gay community sees me as gay, and the straights see me as straight. It was just easier that way, for our fanbase and for my family.”

Azzi looked at Paige with sympathy and stretched out her hand for her to hold. 

“I’m sorry,” the actress said sincerely. 

“Yeah, but to be honest, these comments are making me more upset. I hate the way people are talking about you every time we’re pictured together,” Paige said and looked at her with apologetic eyes. 

But Azzi just shook her head. “No Paige, don’t do that. It’s fine. They will always have something to say, and I’m used to being unsolicitedly criticized. They’re not gonna get to me as long as you are by my side.”

Paige gave her a weak smile to that. 

“So… what’s gonna happen now?” Azzi asked.

“I don’t know. My PR team will try and do everything they can to make it less viral, and try and sweep it under the rug or something. And don’t worry, they’ll be on my socials and delete every untrue thing said about you in the comments,” she answered. 

“They don’t have to,” Azzi said.

“Nah, I don’t let people talk about my girl like that,” Paige said. 

Azzi smiled briefly, before hesitatingly asking: “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Did you want to hide our relationship from the public?” 

Paige looked around, thinking deeply about using the right words for her answer. It was both comforting and made Azzi feel a bit uneasy.

“Not hide per se. Keeping it private, definitely,” she said at last. 

Azzi nodded, because she understood the wish to keep things private in an industry where everyone wants to know every single thing about you. To keep some things to oneself only and keep it sacred that way, is a wholesome gesture. It just didn’t feel as wholesome in Azzi’s body as much as she intellectually thought it was. 

“Is that okay?” Paige asked slowly as Azzi didn’t say anything. 

“Yeah, no, I understand that. I would want it private too,” she replied and forced a big smile. 

Paige leaned forward and gave her a kiss. “You’re too pretty to hide, anyway,” she mumbled against Azzi’s lips, and Azzi chuckled and rolled her eyes. 

The element of surprise to the whole situation caught Azzi off guard, and she did everything in her power to inwardly tell herself that this is not about her, it’s about Paige and her history and struggle with coming out. Azzi should only be supportive and patient with her. Yet, there was a small gnawing feeling that bothered her more than she wanted to admit. The fact that they maybe weren’t on the same page about everything in their relationship after all. Maybe she didn’t know Paige as well as she thought. 

But she mentally tried to tell herself that she just needed to digest this new piece of information, this whole situation. She and Paige clearly had very different relationships to their own sexualities, and Azzi just wanted to be respectful and understanding of her girlfriend’s circumstances and timeframe. 

Both of them let it go, deciding to let their PR teams do their jobs and enjoying their remaining time together without any more outside noise. Paige, because she just wanted to stay in their bubble a little longer before returning to reality - Azzi, because she didn’t want to think about what it all actually meant for their relationship yet. 

They had two very different fears that were being planted in them, and neither of them wanted to bring it up to the other, because it was too soon to tell if it was even worth mentioning.

Paige hadn’t told the whole truth. She had not lied, but she hadn’t told Azzi everything either. She was terrified of coming out, because the last time she did, it had cost her her family. There was a deep tear in her heart that she never let anyone see, except her dad and her bandmates. 

Because Paige had known who she was at a very young age. Eleven years old, and she knew that she liked girls. The realization in itself felt so familiar and at home, but the fact that it was liking girls felt like a death sentence. So she didn’t tell anyone and tried to suppress the feeling. Until her mom had found her diary. 

All hell broke loose. Her mom screamed at her, telling her how she will go to hell and how she was some perverted freak that seriously needed help. When her dad came in, he instantly put herself in the middle of them, telling her mom to stop talking about their daughter that way. 

The fight had felt like it was never ending. Paige had barely participated in it, because what was there to say? Her mom had already said it all. She had just stood there, unable to say anything, unable to walk away, unable to unhear everything.

“If you can’t accept our daughter for who she is, then you can leave,” her dad finally said after hours of yelling back and forth. 

Her mom had just looked at him and huffed before giving Paige one last brief glance, and then simply walking out the house. She didn’t even take any of her stuff, she just left. It had been haunting, the way everything in the house was exactly the same, yet everything had changed. Her mom’s scent had been everywhere in the house, her clothes still hanging in the closet as if they were waiting for her to come back any second and her toothbrush sitting at the sink, always reminding Paige of the piece missing in their family.

It had taken three months before she and her dad had removed all of her mom’s stuff from the house, having slowly realized that she would not come back to get them. 

Paige felt guilty for the way their family had split. It was obviously her fault. She had broken down every night since her mom had left, and her dad was always there to comfort her, to tell her that it wasn’t her fault at all and that she was everything that mattered to him. In hindsight, Paige can’t even fathom the strength her dad must’ve had, having to comfort her every night while processing the absence of his wife as well without ever letting Paige see his struggles. He had always been strong, always steadfastly by her side, never letting her fall on her own. 

She doesn’t know if her dad ever reached out to her mom since she left, trying to make amends, but a part of her doesn’t wanna know either. But he was not happy the day Paige told him that her mom had reached out to her.

“I have two younger siblings,” she had told him after having talked to her on the phone for the first time after four years without her. She was fifteen and she and her dad had moved to another house with Cathy and Drew. 

“That’s great sweetheart,” he had sighed. “But I just don’t trust her to be around you. If you wanna meet them, I want to be there with you.”

“It’s not gonna be a problem if I let her think I don’t like girls anymore,” Paige had mumbled. 

“Her relationship with you should be unconditional, Paige,” he had said. “Don’t ever let someone make you think you can change yourself to deserve their love or time.”

“Please dad,” she had pleaded with tears in her eyes. “I just want to make things right this time. I’ve missed my mom for four years, please.”

It had taken a lot of convincing before her dad had agreed to let her meet them. And so Paige had been able to meet Ryan and Lauren for the first time, and her heart had felt full. Her younger siblings meant the world to her, and she told herself that she would do whatever it takes to be there for her siblings. 

Her relationship to her mom had remained strained, to say the least. But her mom had never said anything about her sexuality ever since they had reconnected, and Paige had never mentioned it either. It wasn’t a normal mother-daughter relationship, her mom felt more like an acquaintance. They didn’t have regular contact, but they would occasionally speak on the phone, mostly about Ryan and Lauren. 

Paige knew that there would come a time where she needed to tell Azzi about the way her mom had left. About how she had broken up the family. But today was not the day, and probably not tomorrow either. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Azzi, she knew that she should. But every time she thought about that moment, her body would freeze as if she had traveled back in time and was the kid in the room her parents were screaming at each other right before her mom had left, and she did not want to become that kid ever again. Everything in her system refused to ever relive it again. She had done it once, when she was telling her bandmates about it, and that was a whole mess. Paige had broken down in a way her bandmates had never seen her do before. 

She tried to push away the fear of her mom seeing those pictures throughout the time spent with Azzi in LA, but she kept having moments where her heart would just start racing from anxiety. 

Azzi noticed it. When she woke up to their last day together, she turned around and saw Paige just lying awake on her back, staring at the ceiling without blinking. 

“Hey,” she croaked out with a morning voice.

Paige snapped out of her train of thoughts and turned to Azzi with a smile.

“Good morning,” she said and scooted closer to her girlfriend, taking her in her arms. 

“What were you thinking about?” Azzi asked her in her embrace.

“Just life,” she replied softly. 

Azzi didn’t push. She didn’t want to. She wanted Paige to let her in at her own pace. But the fear of feeling like Paige was internally and emotionally distanced from her was quietly starting to creep in on Azzi. 

Paige peppered Azzi’s face with kisses, and in that moment, Azzi’s insecurities seemed to disappear. She couldn’t help but crack a big smile when Paige finally grabbed her face and gave her a real kiss on the lips. 

“You’re too cute,” Paige said with a baby voice. “Could just kiss you all day.”

Azzi laughed and felt her heart almost ache out of how much joy she felt. Paige made her happy, so incredibly happy, and that’s all that mattered. She couldn’t forget that. 

She looked into Paige’s blue eyes with so much adoration, just three inches apart. Paige swallowed at the sight, and it felt like Azzi was trying to communicate with her eyes. It felt as intimate as ever. 

“Paige,” Azzi whispered.��

“Azzi,” Paige whispered back.

“I love you.” 

Paige felt as if there was a weight lifted from her shoulders, hearing those three words.

“I love you too,” she said back and didn’t hesitate on acting out those words by kissing her. 

Slowly. Gently. Desperately. 

In that moment, Azzi decided to leave all her worries behind and just focus on what really mattered, which was Paige. Paige, and everything that she embodied. 

She let her hand travel down from Paige’s cheek to her stomach, palming her lower abs, letting her fingertips brush against the hem of Paige’s boxers.

Paige sighed into the deep kiss and moved her body closer to Azzi. They were lying on their sides, facing each other. The singer pushed her hips towards Azzi to make her hand go lower, which surprisingly, Azzi obliged to.

“Wanna make you feel as good as you make me feel all the time,” she mumbled against Paige’s lips and moved her hand inside her boxers. Paige opened up her legs to give Azzi more access, and Azzi slid her middle finger and gave a long stroke through her folds, being met with Paige’s wetness.

“Baby, I’ve barely touched you,” Azzi smirked teasingly, starting to gently stroking her clit with her finger in small circles. “And you’re this wet for me already?”

Paige groaned and threw her head back, both from the touch and the comment. Azzi took advantage of the space given and planted open mouthed kisses on her exposed neck. 

“Baby, you know what you do to me,” Paige murmured with her eyes closed shut, completely engulfed by the sensation. 

Azzi only hummed in response and teasingly slid the tip of her finger into her girlfriend. Paige let out a soft gasp and breathed heavily. 

“Look at me,” Azzi said, almost demanding. Paige fluttered her eyes open and Azzi felt her stomach tighten by the sight. Maybe it was the morning face, but Paige already looked wrecked, gone, in another dimension. Her pupils were dilated, making her eyes look darker. 

Azzi slid her finger in completely now, while never breaking eye contact. Paige sighed in content and looked at Azzi pleadingly, already asking for more. And Azzi gave her more. She removed her finger to slide in two, and Paige softly whimpered to the addition.

“You look so fucking pretty in the morning,” Azzi said and started pumping her fingers in and out of Paige in a steady pace. Paige closed her eyes from pleasure, but quickly opened them to oblige her girlfriend’s wish to look at her.

Azzi curled her fingers and hit the spongy part she knew drove Paige crazy. And on cue, Paige moaned and threw her head back with closed eyes, not being able to fight against it anymore. 

“Eyes on me, Paige,” Azzi said and used her other hand to pull Paige’s head back. 

“Can’t,” Paige just groaned, but obliged and met her girlfriend’s eyes once again. “Feels too good.” 

Azzi smirked and started to rub circles over clit, using her thumb, while still curling her fingers perfectly. Paige was starting to get close, Azzi could feel it, she could see it. Because Paige was fighting to keep her eyes open, fighting to breathe steadily, trying not to completely be a mess. 

“I love watching you fall apart like this,” Azzi whispered and kissed Paige’s jaw, and that did it for Paige. She gripped Azzi’s shoulder harshly for support and moved her body down onto Azzi’s fingers in a desperate way, letting go of all her restraints and moved her face closer, breaking the eye contact to rest her forehead against Azzi’s instead. 

“You gonna cum for me?” 

Paige just whined in response, continuing to chase her high.

“I love you so much baby,” Azzi breathed, and it completely pushed Paige over the edge.

She became a writhing, moaning mess after that. She arched her back into Azzi, and Azzi peppered her neck with kisses. Seeing Paige come undone like this was like seeing heaven for Azzi. There was nothing more beautiful than her pleasure. 

Azzi helped her ride out her high before removing her fingers, immediately licking them off while looking right at her blue eyes. 

“I love you, Azzi,” Paige said when she had caught her breath, and threw herself on top of the girl and snuggled her face into Azzi’s, who was just laughing from being attacked. “Love you so so much.”

—

Two days later and Paige was back in Europe. She was jet lagged as hell, but never complained about it, considering she knew the consequences of her recent trip beforehand. 

The band were sitting backstage after a concert in Copenhagen, finally getting time to talk. Ever since Paige had landed, it had been non stop to prepare for the gig, not leaving any chances to actually catch up after a few days apart. 

“You hadn’t told Azzi you aren’t out?” KK asked in shock. 

“I know, it’s bad,” Paige sighed. “But every time we’ve been together I feel like we’ve been in a bubble, away from the rest of the world. I didn’t really think about it because we weren’t in any situations that-”

“-Nah, stop that bullshit,” KK intervened. “You freaked out the first time you got caught by the paparazzi after that first party. What were you thinking? That it would never happen again?”

Paige dropped her head in her hands in exhaustion and disappointment. Mostly disappointment.

“KK, don’t be too hard,” Sarah mumbled to her bandmate. “You know why she didn’t tell her.”

“No she’s right,” Paige finally said. “I should’ve told her, and there are really no excuses that could ever justify me not telling her.”

“But she knows everything now?” Aubrey asked. 

“Well, not everything,” the singer scratched the back of her head. “But enough.”

“Define enough,” KK said, still very skeptical of how Paige had handled everything. 

“She knows I’m not out, and she knows that my mom isn’t accepting of my sexuality, and that my PR team has helped me have this image that I have,” she told them. 

“Did you… tell her about how your mom-” Sarah didn’t even have the chance to finish her sentence.

“-No.” 

“Are you gonna?” KK questioned, this time more softly, seeing how Paige shut it down so fast, obviously not wanting to talk or think about that memory.

“I don’t know. Talking about it would mean that I have to remember,” Paige sighed. 

“I know we’ve said this for years, but Paige, I think you really should go talk to someone about it. Someone professional. You can’t carry this burden of balancing everything to cater to everybody’s needs,” Aubrey said sympathetically. 

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Paige argued. “I just don’t want to have everything in the public eye. There’s a lot of celebrities who date secretly, and I don’t see you psychoanalyzing them.”

The rest of the bandmates sighed, almost in unison. They recognized the patterns of Paige’s anxiety cycles, and now she was clearly in the suppressing phase. 

But Paige knew. She knew that her reasoning sounded unreasonable. She knew that her arguments were weak. But she just didn’t want to think about it. She told herself that the anxiety would go away as soon as this moment of virality would cease, and that it was all a matter of time. She just had to have patience. 

Instead, she focused her anxious feelings towards the fact that Azzi was getting more and more hate by the hour. It was infuriating. It turned her anxiety into rage, and that felt better than to look into herself and see the wound that was clearly open. 

“Look,” she said. “All I know is that Azzi is getting a lot of hate for these pictures, and I just wanna do everything I can to make that stop, because the hate is coming from our fans. The PR team is already working on it. I just can’t focus on anything else until that stops. Azzi doesn’t deserve this.”

“Azzi doesn’t deserve to be hidden away either,” KK said, and it felt like a slap in the face to Paige. 

“I’m not hiding her,” Paige said bitterly in her defense. “I just… Tom thinks we should be a bit more lowkey onwards, just to let the storm ride out before we think about how to handle the public eye. It’s just for some time, it’s not that serious.”

“And does Azzi know that? Is she in on this lowkey thing?” Sarah spoke.

“Not yet, no,” Paige said. “Tom literally texted me today, and I haven’t had time to talk to her about it yet. Besides, her PR team will probably suggest the same.”

“Paige, you-”

“-Look, I’m just trying to look out for her. If you would’ve read the comments, you would understand. I gotta go take a shower.”

And with that, Paige left the room. 

“What the fuck is she doing?” KK exclaimed. “I can understand that she is afraid of everything that is going on, but it’s like she doesn’t even acknowledge the fear? If she doesn’t take a hard long look in the mirror and look her fears straight in the eye, she’s gonna lose Azzi.”

“You don’t know that,” Aubrey said. 

“Azzi deserves better than to be hidden. There, I said it, again,” KK argued. “Paige is nothing but a prisoner to her past, to her fears, to her mom’s judgement, and our fans. She thinks she can control what people think about her if she just hides away parts of herself, including Azzi.”

“KK, calm down,” Sarah said with a low voice. “I agree with you, but we can’t force Paige to do something she’s uncomfortable with. She’s anxious and stressed. Her actions are coming from a place of deep rooted fear and shame. She lost everything once, I don’t think she is capable of letting herself even come close to losing anything ever again.”

KK sighed, knowing that Sarah was right. There was nothing they could do.

“I know, I know,” she said with a broken voice. “I just hate seeing how she keeps on hiding away the best parts of herself. I hate seeing her self sabotaging for others sake.”

“I know you do, but you don’t have to be so hard on her,” Aubrey softly offered. “All we can do is support her and always be by her side, and hopefully one day, she can see how much she deserves.”

Paige was locked in her dressing room’s bathroom, sitting down on the cold tiles with her head tilted against the wall. When did everything get so complicated? Why did her past always have to sneak back into her present life, no matter how many years went by? 

Her shower was running, but she didn’t plan on going in any second. She needed the one person that gave her the space and patience she wanted. 

“Hi babe,” Azzi answered the call. 

Hearing Azzi’s soothing and warm voice felt like coming home to a mother’s embrace. Not like she knew what that felt like, but she imagined it felt something like this. And it broke the last restraint Paige had, and a small tear trickled its way down her cheek. 

She couldn’t say anything. If she opened her mouth it might open everything else she had held inside, and she didn’t want to break down on the phone with Azzi. 

“Paige?” Azzi asked. “Are you there?”

“Mhm,” Paige managed to voice. 

Azzi listened to the silence one more time, understanding that something was wrong. 

“Are you okay?” 

Paige breathed heavily, trying to stop herself from crying, trying to calm herself down. But Azzi heard everything. She heard every inhale, every exhale, every choked up breath and every silent try to say something.

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m here. I’m right here, Paige,” Azzi said, and Paige squeezed her eyes shut and held her phone closer to her ear, trying to stifle a sob. She was overwhelmed by everything. From the jet lag, from the concert, from the constant messages from her PR team, from trying to repress the past, from being bombarded with hate comments towards her girlfriend, from already missing her, from feeling like everything she did was wrong and from hearing Azzi saying the perfect things when she hasn’t even told her what she needs.

The way Azzi always knew how to see Paige in a way that felt so safe and like home to her always touched her. Paige never had to ask for the right words to hear, because Azzi always said them before she could even think of them. 

And that’s why it killed Paige that she was the one exposing her girlfriend to hate comments from her own fans. Because all Paige wanted to do was give back to Azzi as much as Azzi gave her. And Azzi always gave her so much. That’s what Paige loved about her. Azzi was always overflowing with love to everyone around her and never hesitated on giving it. 

After thirty minutes of just Paige trying to calm herself and Azzi always reassuring that she was there, Paige finally felt like she had swallowed all of her tears. 

“Thank you for still being here,” she managed to whisper hoarsely. 

“You don’t have to thank me. I want to be here,” Azzi softly said back, relieved to hear her girlfriend’s voice. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t talk, I just felt like I needed to hear your voice,” she said. 

“That’s okay,” Azzi said. “Do you want to… talk about it? Did something happen?”

Paige contemplated it for a second, and decided to at least say something.

“I just wish I could become someone else just for a while sometimes,” Paige said in a broken voice. “Someone who people didn’t know. Just exist. Not have strangers judge you, or hate you, or even love you. And don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful for doing what I love and I really have no right to complain because I truly am blessed. But… sometimes the amount of attention and perception makes me wanna crawl out of my own skin.”

Azzi felt her heart sink at the words. She didn’t know that Paige struggled this much with the attention she had on her, because all she had ever expressed before was always gratitude. She was starting to realize that Paige’s humble ways was also a way for her to belittle her own feelings and push them aside until it bottles up like this. 

“You have every right to feel that way. It’s not complaining, Paige, it’s feeling, and your feelings are valid,” Azzi said. “You can feel a million different feelings about one thing. Just because you feel this way doesn’t mean you’re not also grateful.”

Paige just listened to Azzi, trying to hang on to every word like it was gospel. 

“I didn’t know you felt this way,” Azzi then said slowly. “But I’m glad you’re telling me.”

“I’m glad I told you,” Paige said. “I guess I’m just not that good at handling the pressure of being a public figure.”

“What kind of pressure do you feel?” Azzi asked.

“Just… Everything. Pressure to always be a good person, to always do the right thing, to look a certain way, to perform the way they want.”

“Who are they?”

“Everyone,” Paige exhaled. “Every. One.”

Azzi didn’t say anything to that, just letting the words land. It was heavy, the things Paige was saying and feeling, but for Azzi, it explained a lot of things, and so she wanted to hear everything Paige would let her hear. 

“I feel like everyone wants a piece of me, except that they don’t even know me. They don’t want a piece of the real me, they just want this small isolated part of me. And it’s easier to pretend that’s all I am, and keep the real me just to myself,” Paige said. “And it’s scary sometimes. It’s scary to meet so many strangers who I don’t know anything about, feel entitled to me and my whole entity, as if there’s a mutual level of acquaintance.”

“Yeah, it’s a weird imbalance,” Azzi agreed. “You’re the one with the responsibility over them because they’re your fans, who you to some degree owe your whole career to, but they are also the ones who dictate your career and narrative the way they want.”

“Exactly. Sometimes I feel like I’m a puppet, but I’m also the one with the power? I don’t know how to navigate that,” Paige said. 

“I think it’s a pretty unnatural thing to navigate through. But… have you ever tried talking to a therapist or something?” Azzi gently asked. 

Paige let out a small chuckle. “You’re not the first one to suggest that today.” 

“Must be a sign of a good suggestion then,” Azzi said playfully. “So?”

“I’ll think about it,” Paige finally said. 

“I want to hear all about your hard feelings, your sad feelings, your happy feelings and everything in between,” Azzi said. “I want to be there for you, always. But going to therapy? That’s something you do for just you. And I want you to care about yourself and be able to talk about things to someone who you never have to take their feelings into consideration. Because I have a feeling you wouldn’t tell me something if you thought it would hurt me.”

Paige closed her eyes and shook her head with a small smile. 

“You’re… Unreal,” Paige said. The accuracy to Azzi’s statement almost felt like Paige was standing naked in front of a room full of people, except that it didn’t feel embarrassing at all. 

“Paige,” Azzi said. “The more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I fall in love with you. This pressure you have to be a good person - you can let it go. You are a good person. There’s literally no imperfection of yours, no pet peeve of yours, that I would trade for anything else. I love every little thing about you. Even the fact that your favorite movie is the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”

Paige let out a small laugh, suddenly stifling a sob yet again with tears in her eyes. 

“I love you more, Azzi,” she whispered. “More than you’ll ever know.”

Maybe everything would be alright, once the storm had passed after all. Azzi was an angel sent from heaven, that was pretty much confirmed to Paige by now. 

They wrapped up their phone call when Paige heard three knocks on the bathroom door. She stood up and opened, to see the whole band standing there.

“You’ve been in there for over an hour, are you alright?” Aubrey asked as Paige stepped out and rolled her eyes a little bit over the fact that they had to come get her. But inside, she was really moved and grateful that her friends were worried and wanted to make sure she was okay. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Talked to Azzi,” she said. 

“Ah that explains it,” Sarah smiled. 

“Let’s go to bed, champ,” KK said and threw her arm around Paige’s shoulders and they walked out together towards the tour bus. 

Suddenly, it hit Paige that she had something to tell the band. 

“Yo, I met Ice in LA, and she offered us a job,” Paige told them. “To compose the soundtrack to this new movie she’s gonna be an executive producer on.”

“What!?” the three bandmates all said in unison. KK, out of excitement, Aubrey, out of surprise and Sarah out of the fact that Paige hadn’t told them until now. 

“I said I’d talk to you guys first, but I would personally really love to,” Paige continued. “And I’m pretty sure you would too.”

“Hell yeah we would!” KK said. 

The rest of the night was spent with Paige showing the unreleased acoustic album she had made years ago, explaining that it was the vibe they were looking for. The tour bus buzzed with excitement for the new project, and Paige felt like it was the perfect distraction from everything else. 

—

[azzishands]

i miss my princess.

[azzishands]

Azzi's "turbulence" is the cutest I can't 😂

Thank u 🇨🇦 😘

[azzishands]

GOD I LOVE HER. she’s so cutie patootie and her little “hmm” at the end ugh i’ll go to war for her🥹🥹

SAME. Just look at her

[azzishands]

“lovely”💀

[azzishands]

Fan of a fan - Chapter six

Paige x Azzi

Word count: 5.4 k

A/N: Hi! I wanted to give you this chapter before I go on vacation and will be gone for some days. I don't really know when the next chapter's gonna be out, but it will probably be sometime at the end of next week or later. Happy summer! Oh, and not to spoil, but it's far from over...

---

April 2025

“You got the whole summer to be with your girl, stop pouting,” KK slaps the lead singer in the head, tired from hearing her complaining about not having been able to see Azzi for the last month. 

“You’re literally Facetiming her every single night,” Sarah chimes in. 

“Aubrey, you’re with me on this one, right? Long distance is unbearable,” Paige argues.

The German landscapes are swooshing by the windows of the bus that’s driving through the country. It’s an unusually warm April night, and The Huskies are on the tour bus on their way to the next stop on the European tour. They are sitting at the back of the bus in the small living room area with a couch and a TV-screen. 

“Yeah I miss Jane a lot,” Aubrey agrees. After the Golden Globes after party, Aubrey had unexpectedly stopped with her hookups for some reason. The girls soon found out that the guitarist had actually started to catch feelings for the girl she met at the party.

“But we don’t talk all night on the phone like you do. Out of respect for the other people sleeping on the bus, you know,” she then adds, making a point. 

“TRYING to sleep on the bus,” KK emphasizes, irritated. 

“We have to Facetime during nights because of the time difference,” Paige says back. “And I’m trying my best to be quiet, but it’s not that simple when Azzi Fudd just happens to be a comedian as well.”

“Bro, just fly to her,” Sarah sighs, tired of this whole discussion. “We’re tired of hearing you complain about it, and you’re tired of not seeing her, so just go. We have four days off after the next stop. You’re not gonna be able to see her for long, but at least you won’t be here complaining about it.”

All eyes turn to the bassist. Fly to LA for barely four days? It’s not like Paige hadn’t thought about it before. But the time to fly there and be jet lagged, and then fly back and be jetlagged to go straight back into touring seemed like crazy behaviour for Paige to even seriously consider it herself.

Azzi and Paige had been talking about Azzi visiting them on the European tour, but the actress had a packed schedule of press until May. But truth be told, Paige couldn’t wait any longer. 

It had been exactly five weeks since they had last seen each other in Minnesota. Paige was afraid that they would drift apart during the tour, but Azzi was very good at upholding contact which eventually made her realize that she didn’t have to worry about it. They quickly returned to the routine of Facetiming each other every time their schedules allowed them. And when they didn’t have time, they still texted. 

“Could I really do that?” Paige asks after a moment of silence after Sarah’s passive-aggressive suggestion. 

“YES! Okay good, now that’s settled, let’s get back to Fortnite please,” KK says and starts the game that has been on hold for thirty minutes because Paige just had to vent about missing Azzi. 

The bandmates were truly tired of having heard the same complaints every day for the last weeks, but at the same time, they were extremely happy for their lead singer. They could do it without the constant whining, but other than that, they wouldn’t trade it for the world. They could see how happy Azzi made Paige, in the way Paige had started to write happy lyrics, or the way she would admire the view on the road more, or the way she was smiling all the time.

“You wanna play?” Aubrey asks when she notices that Paige is zoning out. 

“Nah, you guys play, I’m just gonna go to bed and chill a bit. Might come later though,” Paige says and stands up.

“She’s gonna call Azzi,” Sarah murmurs while rolling her eyes. 

Paige knows that the girls are happy for her, and doesn’t care about their teasing and their eye rolling. And they know it too. She’s just happy that they have the relationship with each other as sisters would have. They would take a bullet for each other, but not without annoying the fuck out of each other first.

The singer was wondering if she should surprise Azzi, or if it’s even possible. The actress could be working all those four days, and Paige would just sit alone in Azzi’s apartment, waiting for her. Of course she could meet Ice Brady while she’s there too, but it didn’t really feel worth going if Azzi won’t be able to spend time with her. 

“Hey there superstar,” Azzi answers the Facetime call with a playful smile. 

Paige is lying in her bunk with the curtain closed, trying to have some sort of privacy in the bus. 

“Hi there pretty girl,” she responds. “What you doing?”

“I just finished an interview with Variety,” she says. “It was actually very fun, I enjoyed it. How’s Berlin?”

“Berlin was great. We’re driving to Hamburg now, and then we’re playing there in two days.”

Azzi is walking somewhere, one hand holding the phone, the other holding an ice tea. She’s wearing sunglasses to shield her eyes from the sun in sunny LA, with her hair down and a baby blue top. 

“You look so good today,” Paige bites her lower lip. 

“Thank you,” she lights up at the compliment. “It’s a bit dark in your bunk but of what I can see, you don’t look half bad yourself.”

“It’s all for you,” Paige blows a kiss and gives a wink. 

Azzi laughs that laugh that makes Paige's stomach flutter with butterflies. 

“I miss you,” Paige says, all serious. 

“I miss you too,” Azzi sighs. 

“What are you doing on the ninth to the twelfth?” Paige suddenly asks.

“Uh, let me check. Why?” Azzi curiously asks as she opens her calendar app to check. 

“Just wondering,” Paige shrugs. 

“I have a shoot with Z on the ninth, and then a youtube video with some magazine on the tenth, but then I’m free on the eleventh and twelfth.”

“Is it like a full day shoot kind of thing? And that youtube video?” 

Azzi looks at Paige questioning. “The shoot is scheduled from 9 am to 4 pm, and the youtube thing is from 11 am to 3 pm, so not really. You want me to share my calendar with you?”

“I mean, if you want to,” Paige smirks. “But I’m thinking about flying to LA for a quick trip.”

Azzi’s eyes widen behind her sunglasses and she grins surprised. 

“Wait, really?” she exclaims. “How come?”

“To see you, you dummy,” she snickers. 

“Are you for real?” Azzi asks, astounded.

“Yeah, if you want me to.”

“Of course I want you to,” Azzi says. “The ninth to the twelfth?”

“Yeah. I mean I know we won’t be able to use all four whole days since you got work to do, but we still get to see each other, and that to me is good enough,” Paige nods. 

“You’re crazy,” Azzi is smiling from ear to ear in disbelief. “You’re actually gonna come for four days all the way from Europe to LA? The jetlag will be jetlagging.”

“I don’t care. I wanna see you,” Paige simply says. 

“Ugh, what did I do to deserve you,” the actress mumbles to herself more than to Paige, but Paige lights up when she picks up what she’s saying. 

“So I’ll see you on the ninth?” Paige asks.

“I’ll see you on the ninth,” Azzi nods happily. 

—

The days after that went by in a blur. The Huskies played in Hamburg, and immediately after the encore, Paige ran out the venue and took a taxi straight to the airport. She almost missed it when a couple fans recognized her at the airport, wanting to get some pictures, but she got to the gate just in time to board the plane before they would close it. 

With a layover in Amsterdam and at least twelve hours spent in the air, Paige finally arrives at LAX at 03:00 in the morning. The time difference making her travel back in time, as if she hasn’t already been through the whole night.

Paige had insisted that Azzi didn’t have to come pick her up, but Azzi had instead insisted that she definitely wants to. So that’s why Azzi’s there, with a bouquet of purple flowers in her hand, 03:00 in the morning to pick her up.

“Oh my God,” Paige breathes out to herself when she spots the actress at the gate with the bouquet. She hurriedly walks over to her and throws her arm around her, hugging her tightly.

“Finally,” she whispers into Azzi’s hair.

“Can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you,” Azzi rubs her back. 

Paige reluctantly unwraps her arms from the actress at last.

“These are for you,” Azzi says and hands her the purple flowers. 

“Purple flowers!” Paige exclaims excitedly. “They are beautiful, just like you.”

“Aw stop, you should be too tired to say stuff like that,” Azzi gently nudges Paige as they start to exit the airport. 

“Yeah, I’m glad it’s still night here because I need to sleep,” Paige states and puts her arm around Azzi’s shoulders as they walk out. 

The airport is relatively quiet and calm. People are sleeping on the benches, and the ones who aren’t are watching over the bags to make sure they’re not stolen. Paige appreciates the quiet and still atmosphere, mainly because it makes her feel like a normal person for once. No one recognizes them, no one even looks their way. 

They take a cab to Azzi’s apartment, and Paige immediately falls asleep with her head resting on Azzi’s shoulder. 

“Hey sleepy head, we’re home,” Azzi wakes her up softly when the cab stops outside her building. 

The sun is already starting to rise, and Paige blinks from the bright light. It feels like she’s half asleep the whole way up to Azzi’s apartment. They don’t exchange many words with each other, only comforting touches that never want to let go of each other again. 

“Let’s go to bed,” Azzi leads them straight to the bedroom, seeing how Paige’s eyes are barely open. 

Azzi was gonna get up in just a couple hours, but she had slept before she had gone to the airport, so she hadn’t lost that many hours of the night's sleep. But that doesn’t stop her from feeling absolutely dead the next morning when her alarm wakes her up at 7 am. 

She quickly shuts it off to not wake up Paige who was spooning her from behind, holding her tightly as if she was her teddy bear. Carefully untangling herself from the blonde, she tip toes out the bedroom to get ready for her workday. 

Paige doesn’t wake up until two hours later. With hours spent on the plane included, she had slept a total of thirteen hours. She shouldn’t be this tired, but the tour life was draining her energy more than she had realized. 

The first thing she does is open her phone to send a text to Azzi, to wish her a good morning. But the actress had beaten her to it. 

Azzi Fudd: Good morning beautiful, I made some pancakes for breakfast that I put in the fridge.Tell Ice I say hi! See you at 4 xx

The singer walks out of the bedroom and takes a look around. She has never been in Azzi’s apartment before, but she has seen it a hundred times during their Facetimes. It’s a weird feeling being somewhere that feels so familiar, yet so new. 

The living room is a lot bigger than it looks like on the phone screen, and so is the kitchen. Sunlight is streaming into the windows, making the apartment feel bright and open. Paige likes that Azzi's scent is lingering in every room she walks into. She wishes her own apartment had that function. 

She finds the pancakes in the fridge as promised, with a little note on it.

‘For Paige Bueckers only! Back off if you’re not Paige Bueckers. Paige Bueckers, if you’re reading this, enjoy!’

Paige chuckles to herself in amusement. She can’t stop smiling as she reheats the pancakes and eats them. She eats them all, feeling like she has been starved for the last hours just by sleeping. 

The second Paige leaves the apartment building to take a taxi to the cafe Ice had sent the address to, she gets approached by a group of teenage girls. It had almost looked like they had been waiting for her, the way they were already gathered right there.

“Oh my God, Paige Bueckers! Can we get a picture?” they all ask in unison. 

“Of course,” Paige smiles and gives them what they want. It’s at least eight of them, and she takes a picture with each and every one and then another one with the whole group. 

“Do you know that you live in the same building as Azzi Fudd?” one of them suddenly asks. 

“Oh, I don’t- um,” Paige tried to think of what to say. How does she explain that she doesn’t live there without exposing their connection to each other?

“Wait a second, I remember that picture of you two together. OH MY GOD, DID YOU JUST COME FROM HER APARTMENT? IS SHE HOME?” another girl exclaims in glee. 

The atmosphere quickly becomes stressful for the singer as she tries to navigate through the situation. The group of girls are all staring at her with big hopeful eyes, just waiting for her to answer. 

“Uh, yeah no, she’s not here right now,” Paige manages to say. 

“Are you guys dating?”

Paige’s eyes widen in surprise from the straight question. She shouldn’t be surprised since these girls clearly have no shame in asking whatever pops up in their minds, yet here she is, wondering how it feels to be so unhinged.

“We’re just friends,” Paige swallows hard. “I have to go, but it was nice to meet you all.”

She quickly exits the scene and starts to walk off to nowhere in particular, just somewhere far away from the group of girls. She picks up her phone, ordering an Uber and opening her messages to Azzi.

Paige Bueckers: I think you might need security, there’s literally people outside your apartment waiting for you

Azzi Fudd: Was it that group of girls?

Paige Bueckers: Yeah, do you know them?

Azzi Fudd: No, but I think they live in a building nearby. They’re harmless, kind of intrusive sometimes, but mostly just sweet. Did they bother you?

Paige Bueckers: No it was fine, they just asked for pictures, and had some hard questions for me. Just got a bit worried that people know where you live like that.

Azzi Fudd: It’s cute that you’re worried. And hard questions?

Paige Bueckers: They had some questions as to why I was coming from Azzi Fudd’s apartment, let’s just say that

Azzi Fudd: Oh

Azzi Fudd: What did you say?

Paige Bueckers: I said we’re just friends

Azzi doesn’t answer immediately to that, so Paige puts her phone down in her pocket to enter the Uber that just arrived in front of her. There was no answer the whole ride to the cafe either. 

“Hey Buckers,” Ice gives her friend a tight embrace as the singer finally arrives through the door. “So glad to see you again.”

“You too Ice,” Paige says. “Been too long."

They sit down at a table and order some coffee. 

“How’s the tour?” Ice asks. 

“It’s tiring, but I love it. Wouldn’t want it any other way anyway, I want to give it my all,” Paige smiles. “But hey, what about you? I heard you have something big going on, that movie that’s in the works that everyone is talking about?”

“Yeah, it’s basically a female version of Call me by your name, and I’ll be making my debut as an executive producer of it, which is so exciting. Which is why I’m so glad I get to see you today, because I might have a job opportunity for you,” Ice tells her.

“A job opportunity? I’m not an actor,” Paige snorts and takes a sip of her coffee. 

“No but remember the unreleased album of some acoustic songs you made way back in the day? The one you said no one but-”

“-No one but you have heard, yeah?”

“Well, I kind of took the liberty and showed it to the director and the music supervisor of the movie, and… They loved it. They said they would be thrilled if you wanted to compose the soundtrack of the movie, if you want to.” 

Paige just stares at her friend with wide eyes, speechless. A composer? To a whole soundtrack to a movie? 

“And I’m sorry I showed your unreleased music,” Ice adds and makes a face to show how apologetic she is, and also because she doesn’t know what to say as Paige is silent.

“That’s fine,” Paige finally mumbles and swallows. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“I know, it’s okay.”

“I mean wow,” the singer exhales. “But I can’t follow Sufjan Stevens, no way.”

“I said it's basically a female version of it, it’s not literally Call me by your name but with women. It’s a whole ‘nother storyline, whole ‘nother script, it’s not the same age gap, but it is set in Italy in the eighties. And if we would’ve wanted Sufjan Stevens, we would’ve asked him. We want you, Paige,” Ice explains.

Paige nods slowly, taking in the information, feeling overwhelmed and flattered at the same time.

“The filming will be this summer, and then the release is probably gonna be some time next year. I think they said something about winter 2026. It gives you over a year to work on it,” Ice elaborates further. 

“Is this just for me, or the band?” Paige asks. 

“Whatever you want. They just liked what they heard, and if you think you can deliver it by yourself, then great. If you want the band involved, then also great. It’s up to you.”

“Okay, I want the band involved. We’re in this together,” Paige confirms. 

“Is that a yes then?” Ice raises her eyebrows with a smirk. 

Paige just snorts. “Let me talk to them first. But I’m definitely interested. But yeah, can we have some time to think about it?”

“Of course,” Ice nods. 

The singer discreetly taps on her phone to see if Azzi had answered. She hadn’t.

“So… you and Azzi?” Ice grins at her friend. 

“Yeah,” Paige smiles widely. “Or well, we’re not together or anything, but we… Yeah.”

“You’re not? You sure talk about each other as if you were,” Ice states. 

“I mean we haven’t talked about it. We’re exclusive I guess, but it was never something we talked about, we just kind of always were. I think.”

“So you’re exclusive but you’re not together, and you haven’t talked about it? Kinda sounds like you’re together,” Ice takes a sip from her coffee. 

“I guess we’re more together than not. I guess I just assumed we weren’t since we haven’t really spent that much time together. I mean we Facetime all the time, but we haven’t really been there physically with each other that much yet because of our schedules,” Paige explains. 

“I see,” her friend nods. “I mean there’s no rush. But flying from Europe to LA for four days for somebody? We’re not talking about casual, alright.”

“Of course not,” Paige huffs. “She’s amazing and I love- uh, I love being with her.”

“You know, I haven’t seen her this happy with someone ever,” Ice tells her. “I love when she’s single and not being involved with anyone because she always seems to become so passive when she is. But with you, I feel like her lively self just becomes elevated. You make her really happy.”

Paige tilts her head to the side with a questioning look. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“We haven’t really talked about our exes, but I know there were rumours about her and Maya Hawke,” Paige says hesitantly.

“Yeah, that didn’t really end well,” Ice scratches the back of her head. “Azzi was really beaten down after that. But you should probably talk to Azzi about it if you wanna know what happened.”

Paige takes a sip of her coffee with the revelation that there was in fact something between the two actresses in the past and makes a mental note to maybe ask the actress about her past relationship. 

—

“Oh my God, it’s Azzi Fudd and Zendaya!” Paige pretends to freak out as the two actresses approach the singer who casually was waiting and holding a taxi for them.

“Shit, you’re Paige Bueckers from The Huskies!” Zendaya jokes back and gives her a hug. 

“How was the shoot?” she asks and proceeds to give Azzi a tight hug. 

“Kinda boring,” Azzi deadpans and enters the taxi. The two other girls follow her lead and they are soon on their way home. Zendaya lives on the way to Azzi’s apartment, that’s why they’re all riding together. Paige is sitting in the middle with Azzi on her left side and Zendaya by her right. 

“You know Paige, you should come to this little party we’re invited to tomorrow,” Zendaya says. “I’m sure you’ll know most of the people there.”

Paige takes a look at Azzi to see her reaction to the invitation. Azzi just smiles at her and nods. 

“Sure, as long as Azzi’s there, I’ll be there,” she says and grabs Azzi’s hand. 

Zendaya rolls her eyes with a smile and whispers a “oh my God” under her breath. 

The taxi stops after a while and lets out Zendaya.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow then,” she bids her farewell to the two in the car and walks away. 

At home, Paige plumps down on the couch and motions for Azzi to join her. The actress obliges and takes a seat next to her. Without hesitation, Paige puts her arm around her and pulls her in closer.

“I’m honestly so tired,” Azzi says and snuggles into Paige. “Like, not sleepy, but just so tired from working all the time.”

“You need a break?” Paige asks softly and rubs her back. 

“I’d love a break,” she says. “Caroline called me yesterday and told me that a part in a movie I had auditioned for a couple months ago was suddenly free, and they offered me the part because the one they originally casted couldn’t. The filming would start in august, so it would definitely cut my break shorter.”

“Is it a good part?” 

“It is, and I really love the script,” Azzi affirms. “So I know it’s gonna be worth it, but yeah, kinda bummed about making my break shorter. Anyway, how was meeting Ice?”

Paige takes a second to think about what to say, before she speaks: “It was good. She offered me a job. To compose the soundtrack to this movie she’s gonna be an executive producer for.”

Azzi moves out of Paige’s arms to look at her with wide eyes and a big smile. 

“Oh my God, that’s amazing Paige!” Azzi exclaims all excited for the singer. “Wow!”

“I know, it’s a lot,” Paige feels Azzi’s reaction rubbing off on her and can’t help but actually get excited about it as well. 

“You’re gonna do it?”

“I haven’t accepted the offer yet because I need to talk with the girls about it, but I think it would be really fun,” she says. 

Azzi gently throws herself on Paige and gives her a warm embrace while smiling like a fool. “I’m so excited for you,” she says, and Paige wonders to herself what she did to deserve Azzi Fudd in her life, and quietly thanks herself for making every decision that led her to this moment. 

“You know, my absolute favorite song is from a movie soundtrack,” Azzi tells her as she lets her go from the embrace. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Iris with The Goo Goo Dolls. It was for the movie City of Angels. It’s my all time favorite song,” Azzi reveals. 

“Thought your favorite song was one of ours,” Paige fake gasps, and Azzi just rolls her eyes. “I’m kidding. Iris is a classic, but an all time favorite? I don’t know about that.”

Azzi frowns and looks at Paige, offended. “What do you mean? It’s heartbreakingly beautiful. The lyrics? The chords? The guitar solo? I cry every time. Literally can not listen to it just anytime, because I will get emotional.”

“Yeah yeah, drama queen,” Paige teases. “Have you heard Agape from If Beale Street Could Talk? That’s emotional.”

“Yeah but it’s a different type of emotional. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful as well, but it’s more bittersweet. It’s like a beautiful ending, whether it’s sad or happy. It’s what’s being played when rolling the credits to someone’s lifestory. Iris is more raw and desperate,” Azzi argues. “Nicholas Cage literally throws away his immortality for love.“

“Okay, I might not have listened to Iris in that way,” Paige admits. “But I still think nothing can beat Agape.”

“Whatever,” Azzi shakes her head and gives Paige a gentle nudge. 

“By the way,” Paige says a bit more quietly. “Ice mentioned something about you and, uh, Maya, today.”

Azzi raises her eyebrows in surprise. 

“Oh,” she just says. “What did she say?”

Paige swallows nervously and answers. “Nothing much, just that it didn’t end well. I was just kind of wondering, what happened?”

Azzi takes a deep breath and looks down a bit before she starts talking. “We were just, I don’t know, kind of dating but also not. We were great together, but she just never wanted anything serious with me, which took me a while to realize. And when I confronted her about it, she said she wanted to focus on her career, and she just kind of ended things like it was easy. Like we hadn’t practically been each other’s partner for the last months. I just felt so stupid and pathetic. Like I wasn’t enough.” Azzi sighs. 

Paige offers her a sad smile. “You are more than enough, Azzi,” she says softly. “Always.”

She sees the younger woman’s eyes get teary, and so she gently uses her fingers to lift up her chin and plant a soft kiss on her lips. 

“I’m fine,” Azzi whispers as tears are starting to fall down her cheeks. 

“You don’t have to be,” Paige just says and uses her thumbs to wipe away the tears. 

“It was like four years ago, really, I don’t think about it anymore,” Azzi meets Paige’s eyes and tries to look as non-hurting as possible.

Paige just cracks up a kind smile. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when you do think about it.”

Azzi sighs and falls into Paige’s body, who catches her so easily. 

“It’s more about the way I was feeling and thinking about myself than it is about her,” Azzi says in Paige’s arms. “Like, there were days where I just felt so… unworthy. And insignificant. I wanted to mean something to her so bad, so maybe I could stop feeling insignificant.”

Paige’s blue eyes fill with tears as she hears the word from the actress. She closes them and quietly holds her breath to not cry, being grateful that Azzi is in her arms, unable to see how close she is to breaking down.

“I just get sad that there was a time where I felt like that, you know? I’m not crying because I miss her or anything,” Azzi clarifies and gently untangles herself from Paige’s arms to look at her. When she does, she is met by Paige’s quivering lip and watery eyes that are looking at Azzi with sadness, and it feels like she’s looking in the mirror. They just stare at each other for a moment. Azzi’s eyes never leave Paige’s blue ones, and none of them need to say anything to understand what’s being felt. 

Paige wants to reach Azzi, wants to make her see what she sees, wants to infiltrate her for a second to share the way she feels for the actress. And so she just looks into those brown eyes, hoping that her blue ones reflect Azzi just the way Paige sees her - just perfect. Little does Paige know that Azzi is thinking the exact same thing about her in that moment.

“How can you be this beautiful,” the actress wonders out loud and gently pokes the blonde woman’s cheek.

“Just wondered the same about you,” Paige swallows and takes Azzi’s hand in hers. “Been wondering that for a couple years actually.”

Azzi cracks a smile at that and looks at her tenderly. 

“I think you might be one of my first fans,” she teases. “According to Cathy, you’ve been talking about me for years apparently, you little fangirl.”

Paige just rolls her eyes, trying to act nonchalant, but feeling a little embarrassed that her step-mom had outed her like that last month. 

“If I would’ve known I actually had a chance with you, I wouldn’t have opened my mouth about you that much,” she murmurs.

“Why are you so embarrassed, I think it’s cute,” Azzi chuckles. “Oh wait, were you one of those fans who made edits of me? Or like, wrote fanfics? You totally were, weren’t you.”

“No!” Paige immediately protests. “Of course not! Nothing like that, my God.”

“Yeah right,” Azzi leans forward and gives her a kiss on the cheek. 

“I just watched your movies and thought you were really talented and pretty,” she defends herself. 

“And?” 

Paige hesitates before she finally gives in. “And I might have liked one or two edits of you…”

“Uh-huh, and?”

“Nah, that’s it,” she says and shakes her head. “But if you wanna talk about fan behaviour, let’s talk about the fact that you went to one of our concerts years ago. Now that’s stalker behaviour.”

“What?” Azzi laughs. “It was a concert.”

“Or the fact that you came to me at the Golden Globe after party, asking me for a cigarette. You don’t even smoke,” Paige argues. “You wanted this cookie bad. Stalker.”

This time Azzi can’t really argue against it, because she knows it’s partly true. 

“You’re blushing,” the singer points out with a big smirk on her face.

“Shut up,” Azzi mumbles.

“Make me.”

And Azzi doesn’t hesitate as she crashes her lips to the blonde’s. Paige falls backwards from the impact and Azzi falls on top of her, perfectly straddling her lap. The way Paige gently caresses Azzi’s back with her hands doesn’t match up with the way Azzi’s kissing her so roughly. 

Paige sits back up with Azzi in her lap and suddenly breaks the kiss. 

“Thank you for telling me about Maya,” she says sincerely. 

Azzi blinks in surprise. “Of course.”

“And I think it’s only fair that I share something with you now as well,” the singer says, visibly nervous. 

“Okay,” the actress says slowly with her arms wrapped around Paige’s neck, unsure what’s gonna come next, but gives Paige her undivided attention and looks at her intently in the eyes.

“I love the way you can’t cut onions,” Paige suddenly confesses softly. “And the way you always need to take a photo of the sky. And the way you talk about acting. How you always fall asleep with your mouth open. How you cry to Frozen, every time. How you can’t help but sing any song that’s stuck in your head. How you never can admit that you’re actually shorter than me. How you listen to me when I yap. How you hold me like no one else has. How you take care of your friends and family. How you’re so grounded in this crazy industry. How you’re obsessed with unicorns. How you’re so wonderfully, amazingly, kind, beautiful, patient, funny, smart, open, warm and loving.”

Azzi doesn’t even try to wipe away the tears that are slowly rolling down her cheeks now. She just looks at Paige with the softest eyes, not understanding where this came from. 

“Paige,” she says. “What a-”

“-Azzi, I’m so so in love with you.”

Paige doesn’t even wait for Azzi to say anything back, she just grabs her face and kisses her like it’s the air she needs to breathe. Azzi’s lips taste like salt from her tears, and Paige’s lips taste like love. 

—

[azzishands]

likee u said - https://x.com/thearkvi/status/1931806195633045920

if u wondering who the daddy is

[azzishands]

paigey!

I’VE MISSED HER SO BAD Y’ALL DON’T UNDERSTAND!

[azzishands]

Fan of a fan - Chapter five

Paige x Azzi

Word count: 11.8k

Warnings: sexual content

Author’s note: I just really want to stress that the characters in this story are NOT a reflection of the real people they are based off of. There’s gonna be mentions of family members from now on and I just wanna point out that I do not know these people, so just keep that in mind, that these are fictional characters that just share the same name as the real life people. With that being said, hope you like it!<3

—

Azzi was walking out of the airport with her bags in her hands, looking for a sign of the blonde woman who was gonna pick her up. 

Two weeks had gone by fast. Azzi had been busy with shooting and Paige with ending the North America tour. They had started to exchange a few messages during the two weeks, which then led to a couple of phone calls, which in turn led to multiple facetimes. It just came naturally to them. 

It started with Paige sending Azzi a photo of the band watching Ricochet, telling her that she had convinced them to watch it. And then Azzi called her, wanting to see what exact dates she should set aside in her schedule for Minnesota. And eventually, Paige facetimed Azzi a random night after a concert, just talking about everything and nothing. And after that, it had become some sort of routine to talk or facetime every day.

Paige had quickly learned during the last two weeks that Azzi Fudd was a very calm person in general, but way more goofy than she would first imagine. She would catch Azzi do random TikTok dances in the middle of their facetime sessions, or sing with a weird voice in another language. Her favorite moment was when Azzi was baking cookies one time on facetime, and she started to sing one of Paige’s songs out of nowhere, just belting it out, while she was taking the cookies out of the oven. Azzi had not even realized what she was doing until she saw Paige smiling like a fool on her phone. 

“Oh shit,” Azzi had slipped out, covering her mouth instinctively. 

“That sounded really good,” Paige had teased her. “You should follow us to Europe and be our background singer.”

“Shut up,” the actress blushed. 

Azzi on the other hand, had learned how extremely loving Paige is towards everyone around her. The way she treats her bandmates as not just her band and friends, but as her family. The way she treats her fans so respectfully. And the way she’s always trying to be the best version of herself, and always gets disappointed in herself when she feels like she could’ve done better. That’s another thing she had caught on to - the way Paige was afraid of doing anything wrong.

“It’s impossible to see every single one in a crowd,” Azzi tried to reassure Paige one time on a phone call after Paige had accidentally not high-fived a fan when the band had exited a restaurant. A fan had taken a video of it, pointing out how Paige had ignored the fan.

“But it really looks like I actively ignored her,” Paige sighed. “I should try and find her, see if I can fix some free tickets to a concert or something.”

“Paige,” Azzi had said so softly. “It was a high-five. I promise you the fan was just excited to see you all. If she’s really a fan of yours she knows that you would never purposefully ignore her high-five.”

“I guess so,” the singer had said. “Thank you.”

And now here they were, finally getting to see each other again. 

According to the text message Paige had sent earlier, Azzi should be looking for a white pickup truck. And it didn’t take long until she spotted one, along with the blonde waving at her. 

“Hey you,” Paige hugged the actress tightly. “How was the flight?”

Azzi greeted the blonde by melting into the familiar arms before Paige took Azzi’s bags and put them in the car. 

“It’s cold here,” the actress stated and turned up the heat in the car as Paige drove the car out of the airport’s parking lot. 

“I told you to bring a winter coat,” Paige chuckled while driving. 

“I know,” Azzi groaned. 

“It’s alright, I got an extra at home.”

At last, they arrived at Paige’s apartment in downtown Minneapolis. It was a very lowkey apartment building who you would never guess a rich famous singer would live in. The inside of the building on the other hand, was definitely something a rich famous singer would live in.

“Welcome to me,” Paige said and opened the door for her guest. “Want a tour?” 

The apartment consisted of three big bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, a living room, a small home movie theatre, an office and a cozy home studio. Azzi peeked in every corner of the apartment, trying to spot all the small things that made the place Paige’s. Like the photographs of her family in the bedroom, and the Grammy standing so proudly in the studio, and the little stuffed husky in the movie theatre. But her favorite thing she saw was the bookshelf in the office, which was filled with all kinds of books. There was something very intimate about walking through Paige’s place. Maybe because she’s a very private person to the public, which makes it a contrast to how Azzi was getting to know her, getting to see every little corner of her home. 

“Damn, this place is huge,” Azzi said as they finished the tour of the place.

“Yeah it’s spacious,” Paige nodded. “But I just felt like I wanted a place where my family could stay when they’re here. And it’s convenient when the band is here as well, to be able to be in one place, you know?”

“I thought your family lived here in Minnesota?”

“My dad and my stepmom and my little brother live here, but my mom and two younger siblings live in Montana,” the singer explained. 

“Oh I see,” the actress said. “Are you close with your siblings?”

“Yeah, I try to see them as much as I can, but me and my mom have a little more… strained relationship than me and my dad, so I see my little brother Drew, who lives here, a lot more than Ryan and Lauren. But I try to fly them out here often, and have a lot of sleepovers and stuff,” Paige explained further. 

“That’s cute,” the actress smiled warmly. “Are they much younger?”

“Yeah, they’re all almost teenagers,” Paige said. “But I still see them as my babies.”

“I get what you mean. I have two younger brothers who are in college now, but I still see them as the small kids who used to run around in the house playing tag all day,” Azzi said.

“You’re the oldest too?” Paige asked.

“I mean, yeah, but also no,” Azzi said and scratched the back of her head. “My dad is not my biological dad, but he’s the one who raised me and everything. I don’t have any contact with my biological dad, but I do have an older brother from him. We don’t talk that much but we’re cool. So yeah, I’m the oldest sibling in my house, but not, biologically or whatever.”

“Yeah, family is kinda complicated sometimes,” the singer said with a sigh. 

Azzi nodded and hummed in agreement. 

“Anyway, I was thinking that we were gonna cook something for lunch,” Paige said. 

“Cook? Do you know how to cook?” Azzi asked.

“Um, yes? I’m an excellent chef, thank you very much,” the singer stated with sass. “Do you not?”

“I consider myself much more of an eater than a cooker,” Azzi replied. “But I’ll watch you.”

“Nah, you’re gonna cook with me, you don’t have a choice miss Fudd,” Paige protested and grabbed her hand to drag her to the kitchen. 

Even though Azzi’s really not into cooking at all, she secretly loved the fact that Paige wanted them to cook something together, and she couldn’t wait to see Paige doing her thing in the kitchen.

“So, I was thinking we’re gonna do lasagna,” Paige brought her hands together as if she’s some kind of motivational speaker while Azzi sat by the kitchen island, looking at her amused. “Do you like that?”

“I love lasagna,” Azzi nodded. 

“Okay good, so you can start by chopping up some onion and garlic,” the singer instructed and took out a cutting board and a knife for the actress. 

“And what are you gonna do?” 

“I’m gonna watch and make sure you don’t hurt yourself,” Paige teased. 

In the end, Paige actually had to watch over Azzi when she was cutting the onions, because she did not have the right technique at all.

“Oh my God, have you never done this before?” Paige almost shouted at the actress as she walked over to her and put the knife down. “You’re a danger to yourself.”

“Shut up, I’m not that bad,” Azzi argued. 

“You literally are. Here,” the blonde took a step towards the actress and stood behind her, wrapping her arms around her body to put her hands gently on top of Azzi’s.

“Now let me guide you,” she said softly. Her head was resting on Azzi’s right shoulder, and it was really distracting for the actress to focus on cutting the onions when Paige’s face was that close to her own. 

“See?” the singer said as she guided Azzi’s hands with the right motions. “How much easier it is when you do it like this.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Azzi said, not having paid attention at all, just leaning into the feeling of the singer behind her, almost holding her. 

Paige could tell Azzi didn’t pay attention. So she put the knife down, still having her hands on top of Azzi’s, and just stood there for a few seconds. She let go of Azzi’s hands and instead wrapped her arms around the actress’ stomach softly and nuzzled her head into the actress’ neck. Being hugged from behind by Paige Bueckers was instantly one of Azzi’s favorite feelings.

Azzi relaxed into the singer’s body, leaning back with her head, turning it towards the blonde hair and inhaled the scent of Paige’s shampoo. 

“Fuck it, maybe we should just order something and then take a nap,” Paige murmured into Azzi’s skin, giving her goosebumps from feeling the singer’s breath on her neck.

“Hmm, that sounds great, but I don’t want to ruin your plans,” Azzi said. “Besides, now I really want to eat lasagna.”

“Are you sure?” Paige leaned back from the hug to look at Azzi, still with her arms wrapped around her.

“Yes,” Azzi smiled brightly. Their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching. Those piercing blue eyes always did something to Azzi. They’re completely irresistible. She’s certain that if Paige would ask her for anything and look at her like that with those eyes, Azzi would not be able to say no, ever.

Paige licked her lips out of habit, and Azzi’s eyes darted down. This time it’s Paige who leans in. She stopped just before their lips met and looked at the actress, then lightly pressed her lips onto Azzi’s. 

Azzi sighed contentedly into the gentle kiss. She carefully turned around and wrapped her own arms around Paige’s neck, as they kissed once again, this time more firm. Paige’s hands were on Azzi’s lower back, pulling her closer. The singer lightly swiped her tongue on the actress’ bottom lip, asking for entrance, and Azzi opened up her mouth to meet Paige’s tongue with her own. The butterflies were going wild in Azzi’s stomach at the sensation. She could easily make out with Paige for hours if she could. 

That’s why Azzi broke the kiss abruptly and way too quickly for Paige’s liking. “If we don’t stop now I don’t think we’ll ever finish the lasagna,” she breathed, resting her forehead against Paige’s. 

“We don’t have to,” Paige smirked.

“Paige,” Azzi rolled her eyes with a big grin and gently pushed the singer away. 

Paige just smiled and gave Azzi a quick peck on her cheek before she took the knife in her hand and started cutting the onions and garlic.

One hour later, the lasagna was in the oven. Paige had done most of the work, but Azzi had been right beside her, helping as much as she could without being a hazard to her environment. That included stirring the meat, placing the lasagna sheets when they layered it, and sprinkle mozzarella on top. Oh, and putting it in the oven of course. 

Now they were laying side by side in Paige’s bed, having to wait another forty minutes for it to be done. The plan was to take a nap while they were waiting, since Azzi was a little tired from the flight, but none of them closed their eyes. How could they, when they were right next to each other.

“You can sleep with your eyes open?” Paige joked, as she turned to lay on her side, facing the actress. 

Azzi turned to face Paige as well. 

“Guess I’m not that tired anymore,” Azzi said.

It’s only their knees that are touching, but Paige could feel it through her whole body. It seemed that the actress could never be close enough. 

“Tell me about your dreams,” Paige said. 

“My dreams?” 

“Yeah, in life.”

“I wanna win an academy award for best actress. I want to star in a series. And I know it’s a bit cringe maybe, but I want to be a part of a film remake of a classic,” Azzi mused out loud. 

“All of it sounds like valid dreams, and really doable ones too,” Paige smiled. “It’s just a matter of time, really.”

“I don’t know,” Azzi blushed shyly. “I’m trying not to stress about it, but I feel like I’m not that young anymore and the pressure is getting to me for every day that goes by in this industry.”

“You mean you’re not a teenager anymore,” Paige stated. 

“Yeah, exactly. The age of people who are breaking through in the industry is becoming younger and younger, and even if I’m only twenty-two, it feels like I’m a middle aged woman compared to these new sixteen-year-olds, judging by the media. And don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for being where I’m at and how I got here, and I know that my career doesn’t have to end just because I’m getting older, but it’s just that… feeling.”

“I get that,” Paige said. “I think it’s a bit different in the music industry, since we don’t have to be a certain age for a role, or have a certain look. But there’s definitely some kind of pressure to attain accomplishments as young as you can.”

“Right? Even though it really doesn’t matter, it's an underlying incitement in the whole industry that seeps through in how everyone treats you and looks at you. Everything feels so rushed,” the actress agreed. “But what about your dreams?”

Paige’s eyes wandered for a bit, thinking to herself what she’s gonna say.

“Hmm, I think my dream is to live a peaceful life, continuing to write songs, playing with the band, but not always being the center of attention I guess. And maybe start a family one day,” Paige said at last. 

“Oh wow, my dreams were really shallow compared to yours,” Azzi laughed. “Was it ever a dream to win a grammy?”

“Not really, I’m not that award oriented,” Paige told her. “But I’m super grateful for it, now that I have one, it’s something I’m really proud of. It’s like a statue for how strong our bond is in the band. At least that’s what it stands for for me.”

Azzi smiled brightly. “You’re so humble.”

Paige shrugged and tucked away a strand of hair that got in Azzi’s face behind her ear, her fingertips brushing against the actress’ cheek. Azzi shivered by the faint touch. 

“Do you judge me for wanting to win an Oscar?” Azzi asked honestly. 

“No, of course not,” Paige immediately answered. “Music is too subjective for me, one might like it, one might not, it depends on who sits in the jury after all. I guess it goes the same with movies, in a way, but not with acting. At least not in my opinion. It can be a really bad movie, but the acting can still be good. Acting is a skill, and there is good and bad acting.”

“I guess so,” Azzi mumbled. 

“I like that you’re ambitious,” the singer told her. “You’re a hard working woman with big dreams you’re not afraid to chase. There’s like nothing more attractive than that.” 

Azzi let out a puff of air, feeling her cheeks starting to heat up. 

“I can think of a few things more attractive than that,” she said as she looked into those blue eyes intently.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Paige whispered back.

“Like, being a humble superstar,” she said. “And, I don’t know, having… blue eyes. And blonde hair. And a really cute smile, with the biggest heart, and even bigger hands.” 

“Hands?” Paige laughed and looked at her hand in front of her, flipping it back and forth, inspecting it. “You’re into hands?”

“No, just yours,” Azzi said and put her hand on Paige’s. 

“Your hand is almost as big as mine,” Paige stated as they’re having palm against palm. 

In the blink of an eye, Azzi intertwined their fingers, rolled them over and straddled Paige while pressing her hand down onto the mattress, using her other hand to press down Paige’s other wrist.

“Oh,” Paige chuckled in the new position she’s suddenly found herself in. 

Azzi leaned down and kissed Paige on the lips. It's strange, how their bodies just seem to flow together as if they were one. As if they weren’t meant to be anywhere else but on each other. 

Paige got her hands free from Azzi’s and let them stroke her sides, earning a soft grunt from the woman on top of her. She let them go further down Azzi’s body, down to her hips and then on her butt. 

The actress just tried to keep holding herself up with her arms on either side of Paige’s head, but the feeling of her hands on her butt makes Azzi just wanna melt down and collapse.

Azzi moved her hands to Paige’s chest, gently palming her breasts. The singer groaned while her hips jerked up a little, which in return made Azzi let out a soft moan. She started to grind down on Paige, which resulted in Paige raising her hips a little bit, helping her movements with her hands.

They’re both panting into each other’s mouth while still dancing with their tongues. Paige moved her hands to Azzi’s back, running them up and down, then caressing her sides, making Azzi feel tingles all over her body. God, Azzi loved feeling Paige’s hands on her. 

The actress started to kiss down Paige’s neck, licking and biting everywhere on the space she’s given when Paige leaned back with her head. Azzi felt tempted to leave a mark, but decided against it and moved onto the collarbone, licking along it. Paige was writhing under her touch, and Azzi could hear low whimpers coming out of her mouth. 

Paige was going insane. The kisses on her neck, the licks along her collarbone, suddenly hearing Azzi moan in her ear? It’s all just too much for her to handle. She felt as if she could come undone right there and then. Her body was moving on its own by now, just reacting to whatever Azzi Fudd was doing to her.

And then Azzi moved her leg to settle it in between Paige’s, and suddenly there’s pressure on the one place that’s been aching. Paige arched her back from the surprise and slightly gasped. Azzi’s gasping too because when Paige arched her back, she bent her knees and suddenly Azzi was practically riding her thigh. 

The actress brought her mouth to Paige’s once again, and kissed her passionately. Their clothes were still fully on, but their hands were beneath the fabric of their shirts. Paige’s fingertips dragged along Azzi’s abs while Azzi’s fingertips were caressing Paige’s sides. 

Paige can feel something start to build in the pit of her stomach. Her boxers are absolutely soaking and the stimulation she’s feeling from Azzi’s thigh is unbelievable. But it’s Azzi’s kissing that’s getting her closer and closer. The way she’s kissing her with so much passion and need. 

The singer moved her hands down Azzi’s stomach to the hem of her pants and was just about to undo them, when the alarm for the lasagna set off. 

Azzi broke the kiss and collapsed on top of Paige, letting out a frustrated groan. 

“Oh my God,” she murmured.

Paige wrapped her arms around the relaxed Azzi, and she could feel her heartbeat beat as fast as her own against her ribcage. 

“I know,” Paige whispered, equally as frustrated. “Talk about bad timing.”

“I was close,” Azzi confessed in a whisper as she removed herself from the singer. 

Paige smiled like a fool hearing that, sitting up on the bed as well.

“I’ll take care of it later,” she said and rubbed the actress’ back as comfort. “I promise.”

“You better,” Azzi looked at Paige with a serious look, and Paige could only laugh. 

Something about them already felt so familiar and domestic, and she has a feeling the rest of the remaining time together will only develop their connection.

—

It was the second to last day together in Minnesota for the two women. Azzi had been there now for two days, having two more days to enjoy together. She would’ve wanted to stay longer with Paige, but it had required a lot of planning and detailed scheduling for her agent Caroline to arrange four whole days off. Azzi couldn’t possibly ask for more when Caroline had done everything and a little bit more to make it possible. 

Yet here she was, wanting to ask Caroline if she could just stay one more day in Minnesota. Of course she knew it would never work, but in a desperate attempt to prolong her visit, she sent a text. 

Azzi Fudd: There’s no way I can get one more day off, is there?

Caroline Ducharme: No honey, I don’t think there is. You have a movie to film.

Azzi Fudd: Figured. Just wanted to double check. Thank you Caroline<3

She put away her phone and looked over to the sleeping blonde right beside her. Azzi didn’t hesitate to scoot closer and put her arms around her. She loved being the big spoon just as much as being the little. 

The last two days had been simply amazing. Azzi hadn’t really known what to expect before she got there, but she hadn’t expected them to be so… coupley with each other so fast. It came naturally of course, but when she thought about it, it was almost strange how natural and easy everything had flown between them, considering the limited time they spent together prior. 

It was the way their fingers would brush against each other every time they were beside one another. Or the way they would look at each other like they didn’t need words to communicate. Or the way Paige would just kiss her out of nowhere, so innocently, so full of affection. Or the way Azzi would curl up next to Paige when they watched a movie, and play with her hair. It was the way everything was said and done with so apparent yearning for each other. As if they had waited long enough already to not care about being obvious with what they want.

She thoroughly enjoyed it. And the fact that it all was happening with the Paige Bueckers? Sometimes Azzi had the urge to pinch herself to see if it’s all just a dream, because it was really too good to be true. 

She was in awe of the way Paige carried herself, but also just the way she looked at the world. She was always humble, never took anything for granted and did everything with love and respect. Azzi looked up to the singer in so many different ways already. 

Paige started to stir in Azzi’s arms, and she turned around and lazily swung her arm around the actress’ waist.

“Good morning,” Azzi whispered, having the blonde’s head under her own.

“Morning,” the newly awake Paige mumbled back into Azzi’s chest. She nuzzled her head closer to the actress’ neck, wanting to be even closer. Azzi just held her tighter and gave her head a peck.

“What time is it?” the singer asked.

“It’s 9 am.”

“I could set camp right here for the rest of my life,” Paige mumbled sleepily. 

“I think you’re sleep talking now” Azzi stated amused. 

“I’ve never been more awake,” Paige replied back and sighed contentedly in Azzi’s arms. 

She loved the way Azzi held her. She loved that it felt so safe to be big, small, strong, weak, confident and insecure with the actress. In the past, she would often meet girls who only wanted her confident and dominant side, and even though she was all that, she’s not only that. With Azzi, it feels like all of her fits in. Nothing is too feminine or too masculine, Azzi just sees her as Paige, and that’s enough. Being herself felt so easy with Azzi.

“I’m not used to being held like this,” Paige confessed. “But I love it.”

“I can’t imagine that, you’re very holdable,” Azzi stroked the blonde hair and started to massage her scalp softly. “You’re just a baby.”

“I’m older than you, you’re the baby,” Paige protested. 

“Shh my baby,” Azzi cooed and just kept on stroking her hair as if she was comforting her. “Don’t start crying now.”

Paige would normally keep the bicker going, but not this time. Hearing Azzi call her her baby did something to her, even if it was play pretend. Feeling this way shouldn’t be possible when they’ve barely known each other for a month, but here she was, feeling big feelings for the actress already. Hearing that possessive pronoun made her heart flutter. 

The singer leaned away a little from Azzi’s embrace to look her in the eyes.

“I really appreciate you being here Azzi,” Paige said dead serious.

“I really appreciate being here,” Azzi answered. “With you.” 

“Kinda don’t want you to leave tomorrow,” the singer mumbled before nestling her head under Azzi’s head once more. 

“Me neither,” Azzi breathed, her heart beating fast at the way Paige had just looked at her, so full of affection, so full of admiration and… care. 

Yesterday had been a day full of adventures. Paige had been driving them around, showing Minneapolis. They had been shopping, going to a museum, eaten at a fancy restaurant at night, then gone to a movie theatre to catch some random movie. Every single second spent together the last 48 hours had been simply amazing. There was never a dull moment with the two together. Azzi felt like she could do laundry with Paige, and it would somehow be fun. Paige felt like she’s never experienced Minneapolis the way she had the last two days with Azzi. She had never realized how romantic the city really is. 

Paige’s favorite moment was when they were at the Minneapolis institute of art, and Azzi always dragged her to another painting or photography and said: “Look, look, this one’s really cool. I like the colors here. And this one! Oh my God, how do you even capture this? Kinda gives me the creeps but in a good way.” It was so cute how Azzi was so excited to show Paige all things she found beautiful. It made Paige feel special, like Azzi wanted to share all the beauty in this world with her, eagerly. 

Her reminiscing came to an abrupt end when her phone started to ring, and Azzi opened her arms to let her go so she could answer the phone.

“Morning kid,” her dad answered the phone.

“Hey Dad."

“I know you said you’re gonna be busy having company these four days, but Drew is really impatient and he wants to play some basketball with you like right now. How about you and your company come over tomorrow night and eat dinner with us?” he asked. 

“I don’t know…” Paige looked over at Azzi who was looking at her curiously. “Let me think about it and I’ll call you back.”

“Yes, think about it,” Bob, her dad, said. 

They hung up and Azzi rose from the bed and started to get dressed. 

“Your dad?” she asked while putting on some pants.

“Yeah, he um… he kinda invited us to eat dinner with them tomorrow night,” Paige scratched the back of her head. 

“Oh,” Azzi stopped what she was doing. “I mean, I don’t mind. Do you want to?”

“The question is, do you want to?” Paige chuckled. “It’s our last moment together before you gotta fly home, you wanna spend it with my family?”

“As long as you’re there, I don’t see why not,” Azzi smiled. 

Paige’s lips curved into a smile. “Really?”

“Really,” Azzi nodded. “It’ll be fun to meet Drew too.”

“He wanted to play basketball with me, that’s why we even got invited,” Paige scoffed. “Dummy.”

“You know, I played basketball in High school, and could’ve gone to college if I wanted to” Azzi said. “If he wants to play with a real hooper instead of… you.”

Paige let her jaw drop in disbelief. “Excuse me, I also played in High school and was close to being recruited, but then our band started to take off so I didn’t pursue that career.”

“Oh really?” Azzi challenged. “Did you also get to meet Steph Curry for being such a great three-point shooter?”

“Um, no?” Paige said with an attitude. “I was more of an unselfish player, letting my teammates shine.”

“You mean they carried you.”

“Nah what the hell is this,” Paige protested. “Tomorrow imma show you videos of me playing and then I dare you to say that again.”

“Or, we can just play against each other and settle it that way,” Azzi suggested. “That is, unless you know you can’t win against me and would rather have me watch a video.”

“Bruh, you’re on,” Paige said. “Get ready to be humbled tomorrow.”

“Likewise,” Azzi said with a smirk. 

The two women got dressed and hopped into the car to drive to a “place with a view”, as Paige had called it. They had packed two sandwiches for lunch and had put on warm clothes for some light hiking. Apparently Paige loved to be outside in nature. 

“This is like my favorite spot ever,” Paige said as they had parked the car somewhere near a forest and had started walking. 

It was still winter and a bit chilly in the air. Their boots left prints in the snow and Azzi could see steam from her breathing through her mouth as they walked. The sun was shining, and the snow on the ground was glittering all around them. It was truly beautiful.

“Wow, it’s so still out here,” Azzi said as they had walked up the hill to a more sparse part of the forest. They had walked so much upwards that they now could see the city from a distance, from above. It could’ve might as well have been a ski slope, the view, the snow, the altitude and the lack of trees around them. 

Paige sat down by a bench that was thoughtfully placed where you could see the view the best. Azzi joined right beside her.

“I love to hear the nature around me, like the birds or the wind. Or just the silence. God, I love hearing the silence,” Paige told Azzi while looking out over the view. “I used to come here a lot when I had fought with my mom growing up.”

Azzi looked at Paige with a sad smile. “What about now?”

Paige’s blue eyes met her brown ones with that, and gave her a small smile. “Not that often anymore. Now I go here to just wind down in nature, not necessarily to escape anything.”

“It really is a breathtaking view from here,” Azzi said, still looking right at Paige. The singer nodded slowly, holding the eye contact carefully, not wanting to break it. 

“You like being in nature?” Paige asked. 

“I do, although I’m not hiking or anything, but I love to be outside in general. My grandparents have a cabin near a lake, so we used to be out on the water, fishing or swimming, and it’d be the best time of summer really,” Azzi reminisced. 

“That sounds like the best kind of summer,” Paige said. 

“It was,” Azzi nodded with a smile. “But I don’t make that much time now to be out in nature, unfortunately.”

“It’s a bit hard to do that in LA perhaps,” Paige mused. “You like LA?”

“I do,” Azzi answered. “It’s convenient and Hollywood is where the industry’s at. But I wouldn’t mind spending a year or two somewhere else, like going to a foreign country and film a foreign movie.”

“What kind of country are you interested in? I can be on the lookout on the Europe tour for you,” Paige asked. 

“Somewhere with a totally different culture than here. And aesthetically pleasing views, or beautiful nature. With lots of history to it,” Azzi mused out loud. 

“That’s… a lot,” Paige laughed. “Not very specific. I think you would like most countries.” 

“I haven’t traveled a lot, because I’ve been working mostly, so I wouldn’t really know,” Azzi admitted. 

“You should come to one of our concerts on the tour,” Paige said. 

“You’re inviting me everywhere,” Azzi laughed. “I’m gonna get fired for neglecting my job.”

“Is that a yes?” Paige smirked. 

“No,” Azzi snorted. 

“Is it a no?”

“...No.”

“I’ll see you in Europe then,” Paige said with a grin, knowing that Azzi most definitely wanted to come see her on tour. 

Azzi just rolled her eyes with a smile, gently shoving Paige’s arm. 

They just sat like that, next to each other, looking out at the view for the next few hours. The conversation flowed effortlessly like always. 

The rest of the day was spent in Paige’s apartment. Azzi had to read through her script and have a meeting online, and while Azzi worked, Paige cooked dinner for them. 

“I could get used to this,” Azzi said as she entered the kitchen after having ended her meeting, and saw the homemade meal of pasta alfredo. It smelled incredible.

Paige raised her eyebrows with a smirk. “Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah, getting spoiled like this,” she nodded and sat down at the table. “Having a private chef.”

Paige lit some candles and put on some chill jazz music in the background. 

“Romantic,” Azzi commented. 

“It’s our last dinner together, just us,” Paige shrugged and sat down across Azzi. “I wanted it to be special.”

And it was special. It was special in the sense that it felt like a date between a couple who had been together for years. The way they would share funny stories from their childhood with each other and laugh so loudly. But mostly it was the fact that there was no nervousness surrounding them. It felt safe. It felt familiar already.

Paige could see it. She could see them in the future, just like this, spending their days together like this one - Azzi rehearsing her script, having online meetings in one room, Paige being in the other doing her thing, cooking for them, to at last join together for dinner. It was a vision she was steadily desiring more and more. Just more of Azzi in general in everyday life. In the big and small things.

Azzi was secure in their newfound connection. She didn’t doubt for a moment that they were on the same page with each other. She found Paige very consistent with her words and actions towards her, she felt no need to talk about where they were headed or clarify what they were doing. She felt safe in the unknown with Paige. And it meant everything.

—

“You ready?” Paige asked as she buttoned the last of her white button up shirt. 

Their final day together had arrived, and the two women were getting ready for the Buecker’s family dinner. 

“Yeah,” Azzi replied, giving herself one last look in the mirror. 

“Wow,” Paige said as she turned around to see the actress. Azzi was wearing a long black bodycon dress that was hugging her figure tightly with an open back. She had her curly hair down with silver earrings, necklace and rings. 

“You look absolutely stunning,” Paige blinked, not believing what she was seeing. 

“You think?” Azzi smiled innocently and gave a little twirl for Paige to see the whole thing. “Is it too much for a family dinner?”

“No,” Paige answered immediately, not being able to tear her eyes away from the other woman. “You should definitely wear that.”

“You know, you don’t look so bad yourself,” Azzi said and walked up to the blonde, wrapping her arms around her neck. Paige’s hands instinctively landed on Azzi’s lower back, pulling her in.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm. Kinda starting to regret us going somewhere where I can’t touch you like I want to,” Azzi whispered, her eyes hooded with mischief. 

Paige could feel her knees go weak with that. Azzi’s eyes were driving Paige mad, the way she was looking at her like she couldn’t wait to devour her. 

“Believe me, I’m gonna try and make it a short dinner,” Paige swallowed hard. 

Azzi just laughed and embraced the singer. “You know I packed my bag because I have to go straight to the airport afterwards.”

“Nothing’s impossible,” Paige just said and hugged her tightly. 

The car ride to Paige’s dad’s house was unbearable for Azzi. The way Paige was gripping the steering wheel in a white button up shirt and a jacket stirred something inside of her. She was practically squirming in the passenger seat. All she could think about was unbuttoning it, and feeling Paige’s chain against her skin, amongst other things. 

“You okay?” Paige asked, concerned with how shifty Azzi was being next to her. 

“Uh-huh,” Azzi just said, trying to play it cool. 

“Why are you… squirming like that?” Paige raised her eyebrow, still with her eyes on the road, and to Azzi’s misfortune, her hands still on the steering wheel with her veins popping. “Are you cold?”

“No no, I’m just… nervous, I guess,” Azzi lied. 

“Don’t be,” Paige smiled and put her hand on Azzi’s thigh as a supporting gesture. But that was really the cherry on top for Azzi.

“Oh God,” she blurted out at the contact. 

This time Paige turned her head for a second at Azzi with both her eyebrows raised suggestively. She saw the look on the actress’ face and finally understood what was going on. She snorted quietly to herself, not letting her hand go off Azzi's thigh. 

“What’s the matter?” Paige asked, pretending to not notice how worked up the actress was. She started to rub her hand up and down Azzi’s thigh as a sign of comfort. 

Azzi was trying to calm herself and steady her breathing. If she was gonna survive the night she was gonna have to become composed. But how could she, when Paige was rubbing her thigh like that, driving like that, being dressed like that?

“You can’t- I mean, I-” Azzi stammered and put her hand on top of Paige’s to make her stop moving it. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Paige said and withdrew her hand completely.

“No I-” Azzi stopped herself from saying anything.

Paige turned her head towards the younger one with a smug smile, revealing that she knew what was up. She placed her hand between them with her palm open, inviting Azzi to intertwine their fingers. 

“Is this better?” she asked. 

Azzi let out a breath and held her hand. “A little.”

Azzi was convinced Paige was one of the most precious human beings on this earth. Her gestures were always the cutest and pure. Azzi was sure that this woman right next to her could never hurt a fly. She was gentle, caring and loving in everything she did, she learned more and more everyday. The confident lead singer was still there, but it was really not the main characteristic like Azzi thought it would be in the beginning. 

Paige’s dad’s house really looked like any other house in the suburbs of Minneapolis, and Azzi was looking forward to meeting the people that raised the kind soul she had gotten to know. Paige parked the car in the driveway and the two women exited the car and entered the house.

“Paigey!” a young boy ran up to them and jumped up in Paige’s arms as soon as they walked in. 

“Hi Drew,” Paige held the boy who looked about eleven years old or something, Azzi couldn’t really tell. “Drew, get down, you gotta say hi to our company.”

Drew reluctantly let go of his big sister and looked at Azzi. 

“Oh wow,” he blurted out. “Hi.”

Azzi gently chuckled. “Hi Drew, I’m Azzi. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I know who you are,” the boy deadpanned. “You’re that actress that Paigey loves.”

“Bro,” Paige facepalmed herself while Azzi gave her a smug smile. 

“Thought I heard someone at the door,” a man walked into the hall with a big smile. 

“I’m Bob, and this here is my wife Cathy,” he introduced the woman next to him. 

“Hi, I’m Azzi, it’s so nice to meet you.” 

“It’s so nice to meet you too,” Cathy said. “Wow, you’re very beautiful, Azzi.”

Azzi gave a kind smile with a “thank you” and follows the family into the kitchen where everything is set up. Paige gently put her arm on her back, leading her to one of the chairs to sit down by the table.

“Dig in,” Bob said as they all sat down around the table. 

“So Azzi,” Cathy spoke. “Congratulations on your Golden Globe.”

“Thank you,” Azzi slightly blushed, not having expected them to know about the recent award. 

“I remember last year when you were nominated, and we were watching it here because Paige made us, as the movie fanatic she is, and she got so upset when you didn’t win,” Bob told her with a smile. “Said something about being robbed.”

“Oh?” Azzi looked over at the blonde with an amused grin. “That’s sweet. Although I do think Lily Gladstone truly was the worthy winner, so I didn’t feel robbed at all. But thank you.”

“Perhaps,” Paige said, a bit embarrassed about her dad revealing her enthusiasm about the actress a year prior. “But I’m happy they got it right this time.”

Azzi smiled at the singer, and Cathy and Bob exchanged a knowing look. 

“Azzi, who’s the most famous person you know?” Drew suddenly asked. 

“Dude,” Paige just chuckled. 

“I bet it’s someone more famous than all of Paige’s friends,” he continued. 

“Hmm… Maybe Zendaya or Emma Stone,” Azzi answered. “And Paige Bueckers of course.”

“Paigey isn’t even that famous,” Drew commented. 

Paige snorted with a frown. “I’m not trying to be.”

“You’re doing pretty well for someone who’s not trying,” Azzi said.

“I know,” Paige shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m a natural.” Azzi just playfully rolled her eyes at that, finding Paige’s confidence to be stupidly charming. 

“Well Paige has been talking about you for years Azzi, so I’m glad we finally get to meet her friend,” Cathy spoke. 

“I’m glad to meet you too,” Azzi said, smirking on the inside with the knowledge that Paige’s parents probably thought that they had been friends for years just judging by how much the singer has talked about her. Paige on the other hand felt exposed everytime a family member opened their mouth. 

The dinner moved on steadily after that. Bob and Cathy were inviting people who made an effort to get to know Azzi with natural ease. The actress felt like she could be herself around the family and even joke with them. Azzi could see how this environment had shaped Paige into being the kind soul she is. 

“Thank you so much for this dinner, it was delicious,” Azzi said as they had finished the meal. 

“No problem honey,” Cathy answered. “If you’re ever in town again, you’re always welcome here.” 

Paige looked at the younger woman and nodded happily. 

“Are we gonna play basketball now?” Drew asked impatiently. 

“Yeah, let me and Azzi change clothes first,” Paige said and grabbed Azzi’s hand to lead her somewhere else. 

“Oh wow, is this Paige Bueckers room?” Azzi said as she looked around the small room with posters of artists and basketball players on the walls. 

“Here,” Paige tossed a hoodie and some sweatpants to Azzi. “You can wear that.”

Azzi started to take off her dress, but not without seeing how Paige was just unashamedly staring at her as she did. 

“Seeing something you like?” she teased.

“Let me help you with that,” Paige just said and approached the actress. She pulled the dress up, lightly caressing Azzi’s thighs in the process. They stood face to face, looking deeply in each other’s eyes.

Azzi lifted her arms up as Paige removed the dress completely from her. 

“Oh my God,” the singer exhaled at the sight of Azzi wearing a black lace lingerie set. “You did this on purpose.” Paige tossed the dress somewhere in the room and put her hands on Azzi’s waist and pulled her in closer, and Azzi snaked her arms around Paige’s neck.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Azzi answered, before planting a soft kiss on Paige’s lips, barely touching. “You like it?”

“I love it,” Paige nodded and leant in again to give her a proper kiss. Azzi sighed into it, feeling Paige’s hands roam freely over her body. The way she caressed her sides, her butt, her stomach, her back - it drove Azzi crazy. She let out a soft groan into Paige’s mouth. 

“Paigey! Azzi! Are you done changing soon or what?” a very impatient little brother shouted from the other side of the door, and Paige broke the kiss with a sigh. 

“Relax, we’ll be out soon!” Paige just shouted back, her hands still on Azzi, not letting her go. “Now where were we?”

Azzi gently pushed her away with a chuckle. “Let’s not make him walk in on us.” 

Paige threw her head back with a groan, clearly not happy with the interruption, but knew that they had no choice but to stop there. Azzi put on the sweats Paige had given her and Paige put on some as well. 

It didn’t take long for Azzi to see that Paige was indeed a very good basketball player. She was just observing the two siblings going at it one-on-one for a while, not wanting to interrupt their sibling quality time, even though both Paige and Drew insisted on her playing with them. 

“No, you guys play first, I’ll just watch for a while,” she had said. 

“Hm, I know what you’re doing,” Paige had smirked in response. “You’re checking out the competition.” 

“What competition?” Azzi had challenged. 

And now Azzi realized, that was exactly what she was doing. 

Paige clearly didn’t play all out against her little brother, but Azzi could tell that she was fast enough and shifty with the ball to make it hard to guard her. Drew really had no chance against his big sister, but the few times he caught the ball, he was pretty good as well.

“Why don’t you let Drew start this time,” Azzi suggested after about twenty minutes of just Drew not being able to get the ball from Paige. 

“Nah, he’s gotta learn defense,” Paige just said. 

“Paigey!” Drew let out a frustrated shout after another failed attempt to steal the ball. 

“Come on little dude,” she just replied. “Take it.”

“I’m done,” he answered, all tired from having spent the majority of the time just running around chasing the ball. He walked straight into the house and didn’t look back.

“You’re a menace,” Azzi said. 

“Well that’s usually how our hoop sessions end,” Paige shrugged. “Besides, I wanted to have time to play with you too.” 

Azzi shook her head as if she couldn’t believe Paige’s ways of getting what she wanted. She stood up and approached the woman.

“Give me your best shot,” Paige said and threw the ball to her. 

And Azzi did. But it didn’t take long for Paige to read her plays, being able to steal the ball a couple times. Since Azzi had observed the older girl’s game for a while, she had an idea of how she would defend against her, but now actually playing against her, she realized how wrong she was. Paige was unpredictable. 

“10-10,” Paige said after they had played for a while. “You’re not that bad, I’ll give you that.”

“It’s a tie,” Azzi deadpanned. “You can’t say that I’m good or bad without calling yourself that.”

“Okay, first one to reach fifteen wins,” Paige decided. 

None of the women held back. They were playing as if their life depended on it. Paige had learnt early on in their game that Azzi was a killer at shooting, and did everything in her power to not give her any open space to shoot comfortably. That didn’t really help though, as Azzi was just as good at dribbling the ball past her, finishing with layup after layup. 

But Paige was not far behind, and in the end, her speed and ability to score pretty much from anywhere paid off. 

“15-13. What can I say, still undefeated,” Paige smirked at Azzi who was breathing heavily. “Do I get a prize?”

“Hell no,” Azzi snorted. 

“I didn’t peg you as a sore loser, Azzi,” Paige said and teasingly pushed her. “I pegged you as a loser, sure, but as a sore one? Well, you should just get used to it from now on.”

“This is literally one of the worst losses in my life,” the actress said. “You’re so annoying.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” Paige continued the teasing. 

Azzi rolled her eyes and started to walk in again without waiting for the singer, but Paige quickly ran up to her and put her arm around her shoulders. At that moment, it really hit Azzi that this was their last moment together, and she sunk into Paige’s touch, snaking her arm around her waist holding her closer. 

It didn’t feel right to leave. She could already feel how much she was missing the older girl. She should be worried how attached she had become just in a matter of three weeks. 

“We’re gonna go to the airport now,” Paige announced to her family as they entered the house. 

“No!” Drew exclaimed. “Are you leaving now, Azzi?”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” she answered with a sad smile, feeling touched with Drew’s reaction. She gave him a tight hug and promised to play more basketball with him next time, without Paige. Then she hugged Cathy, who wished her a safe flight and told her that it was a great meeting her. 

And then there was Bob. He hugged her tightly and whispered: “Thank you for making my daughter so happy.” Azzi’s eyes widened. The way he had said it was as if it was a secret he was letting her into. It was clear that he didn’t want anyone else to hear it, just Azzi.

Azzi let go of the hug and nodded slowly but surely. She didn’t really know what to respond to it, considering she felt like she should be the one to thank him for raising someone so amazing like Paige. 

“Thank you guys for everything, I’ll hopefully see you again soon,” Azzi said a final goodbye and exited the scene with Paige. 

The moment Azzi sat down in the passenger seat, she felt that something had changed inside of her. What Bob had said to her had stirred something. She had never doubted their connection, never doubted Paige’s intentions, but now she somehow felt more sure than ever. Almost as if she had a new realization, a new conviction. 

“Take me home,” she blurted out to Paige as Paige started the car. 

“What?” Paige asked, confused. “You are going home,” she stated.

“No, I mean take me home to your apartment,” Azzi said with a serious tone. 

“Did you forget something?” Paige asked, still confused. “You’re gonna miss your flight if we go home, I could just send whatever you’ve for-”

“I can’t go home just yet,” Azzi said quietly. “I’ll take a flight home in the morning.”

“Azzi… I mean, are you sure?” 

Azzi just nodded, not really meeting Paige’s eyes, because she had a feeling that if she did, she would fall apart. 

“Then I’ll take us home princess,” Paige smiled widely and took Azzi’s hands in her own, giving the back of it a sweet peck before driving out the driveway. 

The ride home was quiet. They barely spoke to each other. Azzi was too occupied feeling everything all at once. It was quite overwhelming, how much she felt, and she couldn’t even name what exactly it was. It was as if her body hadn’t been able to feel the difference between leaving Paige or being chased by a lion. Her heart was beating fast and all she could focus on was trying to breathe steadily and the safe feeling of Paige’s hand holding her. 

Paige’s head was occupied too, replaying what Azzi just had said and what it meant. Azzi wanted to stay as long as she possibly could, and it meant everything to Paige. Seeing the younger girl being so reluctant about leaving made Paige realize how real this was, how raw it was. It was starting to become something more.

Once they entered the apartment, Azzi wasted no time. She knew what she wanted, and it was Paige. All of Paige, as long and as much as she could. She pushed the singer against the door and crashed their lips together. Her hands were already at the hem of Paige’s hoodie.

Slowly and deliberately, Paige moved her tongue against Azzi’s. She could feel the urgency from the actress but had no intentions of rushing through the night. She grabbed Azzi’s hands from underneath her hoodie and spun them around, pinning the younger one against the door. 

After having spent the last three nights with the actress, Paige had learnt that Azzi was not afraid to take control and take initiative. It was something Paige valued a lot, considering her history with passive and submissive girls, so having Azzi being so assertive was quite refreshing and liberating for her. Of course she had seen a submissive side to Azzi, and it was clear as day that girl was a switch, but this night, she wanted to evoke that side of her to a new level she hasn’t seen yet. 

This time, Paige was done with letting Azzi take control however she wanted. She wanted to treat Azzi the way she deserved to be treated - spoiled with pleasure.

Moving her hands to the actress butt, she slightly bent down and lifted her off the ground. Surprised by it, Azzi’s eyes shot wide open and she flung her arms around Paige’s neck, holding onto her. Paige had one arm under her butt and the other on her back as she carried her to the bedroom while sucking on Azzi’s neck. 

Azzi threw her head back with a soft moan from the sensation. Paige removed her lips from her neck and let her down on the bed, hovering over her.

The actress swallowed from seeing the way Paige was looking down on her. Those blue eyes piercing through her very soul. She could see the hunger and the unadulterated lust in them. It sent shivers right through her. Paige made her feel so desired. 

“Have I told you just how beautiful you are?” Paige whispered.

“A couple times,” Azzi smirked. 

“Hmm, not enough then,” she stated. “And have I told you how fucking sexy you are? The thoughts that ran through my mind tonight during dinner were unspeakable. God Azzi, the things I wanna do to you…”

Azzi let out a desperate breath, almost a whimper, from hearing Paige speak like that. 

“And the way that dress clung onto you,” Paige groaned and lowered herself so she was right by Azzi’s ear. “Just wanted to tear it off of you right then and there.”

“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” Azzi breathed into Paige’s ear. 

“I think it’s the other way around, pretty girl,” Paige took off her old hoodie that Azzi was wearing and flung it on the floor, to then immediately take off her pants as well, leaving her in her matching set of lingerie.

“Fuck,” Paige groaned and felt her breathing starting to become heavier just by the sight in front of her. 

Azzi was just about to reach out her hands to touch Paige, but Paige just pinned them down onto the mattress and said: “You’re not in charge tonight, princess.” Azzi just swallowed hard at that, feeling her center ache by the words, getting indescribably turned on. 

Before Azzi knew it, Paige flipped her over so she was lying on her stomach, head buried in the pillows.

“Paige!” she flinched surprised when she felt the singer’s hand give her butt a firm slap. 

The blonde placed her legs on either side of Azzi’s butt and leaned down so she could whisper in her ear. 

“Kinda want to take you like this,” she said and massaged the younger one with her hands on her back. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Azzi didn’t say anything, just trying to catch her breath from everything.

“I said, wouldn’t you?” Paige tugged on her hair so she could look at her face. 

“Yes,” Azzi let out with a soft moan. Her eyes clouded with lust. Paige smirked at seeing Azzi like that. She knew that they hadn’t been drinking at all, yet she looked like she was on another planet. 

“Good girl,” Paige praised and started to kiss down Azzi’s shoulder blades, gliding her fingers delicately down Azzi’s sides to her hips and thighs. Azzi’s body was reacting on its own, hips jerking at every touch, legs squirming trying to get some sort of friction. 

Paige then lifted her hips so her ass was up while her upper body still was down in the sheets. 

“Look at you,” Paige murmured, caressing Azzi’s butt. “You’re soaked.”

Azzi moaned at the remark. 

“Please,” she whispered desperately. She just wanted Paige to touch her where she needed it the most.

“Aw, babygirl needs it badly huh?” Paige asked almost mockingly. 

“Paige,” Azzi pushed herself back against Paige’s soft touch, wanting more, but Paige removed her hands from her completely. But before she could protest, she felt Paige pull her panties down and took them off. 

“You’re dripping,” Paige groaned and couldn’t wait to touch her anymore. She leaned in and flattened her tongue against Azzi’s wet pussy, softly dragging it from the clit to the soaked center. 

“Oh God,” Azzi moaned loudly at the first contact. 

Paige gave another long lick to then detach herself from the actress. 

“Paige please,” Azzi whined, already too impatient. 

“Sit up,” Paige said, and suddenly Azzi felt two hands on her stomach, pushing her upwards. She did as she was told and saw Paige’s face between her legs, waiting for her to sit on it. 

Azzi didn’t waste any time and grabbed Paige’s hair while lowering herself down on her tongue. 

“Fuck,” Azzi moaned and started to grind herself on Paige’s tongue, but really, she was riding on her face. Paige’s hands were roaming Azzi’s front, pulling her bra up and playing with her nipples. 

“You’re so desperate, princess,” Paige mumbled. 

“Shut up,” Azzi breathed out as she felt herself getting closer and held onto Paige’s head harder and grinded even faster.

But Paige was not pleased with that, and flipped them over once again. Azzi’s back hit the mattress. Paige detached her tongue from the actress’ clit and stood up from the bed. 

“Paige, what the fuck!” Azzi exclaimed, extremely frustrated. Paige didn’t listen and just walked over to her closet. Azzi didn’t have to wait long to realize what Paige was doing. 

Before she knew it, Paige was standing before her with her clothes off and strap on. 

“You gonna be good for me now, or are you gonna talk back again?” Paige pushed Azzi’s legs apart, positioning herself. She grabbed a pillow and put it under Azzi’s butt to give her better access. 

“I’ll be good,” Azzi swallowed, her heart hammering in her chest at the sight. 

Paige nodded, satisfied with her answer. She leaned down and kissed the actress on the lips, still being wet from having her face ridden on just a moment ago. Azzi could taste herself on Paige’s tongue. 

Even though she loved making out with Paige, this time it felt unbearable. She could feel the strap against her clit with Paige hovering over her. 

She moaned into Paige’s mouth at the sensation between her legs. 

“Please,” she groaned. 

“Please what?” Paige looked down at her. 

“I need it,” she breathed out and put her hands on Paige’s hips. 

“You need it?” Paige just repeated. 

“Need you so, so, bad,” Azzi practically moaned. 

“That’s it, baby,” Paige smiled and grabbed the dildo with one of her hands and slowly entered Azzi. 

“Oh my God,” she arched her back as Paige was slowly but steadily entering her. She wrapped her arms around her neck, holding onto her for dear life. 

“Such a good girl,” Paige whispered into her ear as she had fully eased the dildo into her. 

Azzi wanted to tell her to start moving, to do something instead of just staying still like this, but she knew better now than to start being bratty. Instead, she just started to lightly buck her hips up, feeling the dildo hit the right spot. She moaned into Paige’s ear, and Paige just kissed her neck.

At last, Paige started to move her hips. Azzi’s eyes rolled back in pleasure, her hands holding onto Paige’s back, wanting to be close to her. It felt so intimate, having Paige on top of her like this, fucking her like this. 

“Feels so good,” she whimpered. “You feel so good, baby.”

“Nothing feels better than you, princess,” Paige whispered back and gave her a kiss on the lips. There was something so pure with the simple kiss that was more than just lust. There was trust, there was care and there was admiration in it too. 

“Wish I had a mirror in the ceiling so you could see just how pretty you are, getting fucked like this,” Paige said. “You’re doing so good for me.” 

Azzi could feel herself getting close with those words. 

“I’m gonna cum,” she moaned. “Please.”

“Cum for me baby,” Paige groaned and fucked her even deeper.

And Azzi did. It was as if her body was waiting for Paige’s command, because as the words came out of the singer’s mouth, her body was taken over by pleasure. She arched her body into Paige’s, holding on for dear life while throwing her head back with a loudest moan yet.

Paige slowed down and gently pulled out when Azzi had completely unraveled underneath her. She carefully laid down onto the actress and rested her head on her shoulder, her lips right by her ear. 

“You’re incredible,” she whispered and gave Azzi a sweet kiss on the cheek. 

“You’re, you’re the one to talk,” Azzi panted, trying to catch her breath. She caressed Paige’s back and peppered kisses on her shoulder. 

“I’m glad you wanted to stay a little longer,” Paige leaned back to look into Azzi’s eyes.

“You sure made it worth it,” Azzi smiled. 

“And there’s still so much left of this night,” Paige winked.

“You gotta give me a minute,” Azzi laughed. 

“Want some water?” Paige got up from the bed and headed to the kitchen.

“Yes please.”

Azzi could hear Paige in the kitchen with the tap. Even if they had just finished having sex, the fresh memory of it made Azzi shiver and get goosebumps all over her body. The anticipation of what the rest of the night had in store for them made her tingle all over again. 

So when Paige returned with two glasses in her hands, Azzi threw herself at her, almost making her spill water all over the floor.

“That didn’t take long,” Paige mumbled against Azzi’s lips, smiling like a fool, quickly shutting up to reciprocate the kiss. 

—

“You look like hell,” Zendaya said as she gave Azzi a hug as she entered her trailer. “How was Minnesota?”

They were just about to go to hair and makeup to start the day, but Zendaya wanted to interrogate her friend first. 

“I have barely slept,” Azzi deadpanned. “I flew in this morning, literally just came from the airport. But, it was worth it. Minnesota was amazing.”

“Uh-huh, Minnesota, or Paige?” Zendaya teased.

“Both. Mostly Paige, but Minnesota was actually very beautiful as well.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“I think I’m… starting to really like her,” Azzi carefully said to her friend. “Like, for real.”

“Girl, I could’ve told you that two weeks ago,” Zendaya smirked. 

“But isn’t it way too early for that? For feelings and stuff?” Azzi asked. “I feel like I don’t want to mess it up by expecting us to be too serious too fast.”

“Don’t think about that, just let things happen and you’ll see that it’ll get there naturally,” her friend said. “You’re allowed to have feelings. Hell, you have some great feelings. Enjoy it.”

“You’re right,” Azzi smiled. “You know, we were up all night, and I just felt like everything made sense. Being with her makes sense.”

“Up all night huh?” Zendaya winked. “Doing what exactly?”

“Having sex,” Azzi shrugged. “And talking. And then more sex. And then talking. And then cuddling. It just felt like we couldn’t get enough of each other in any way. It was literally heartbreaking to leave. I love being around her.” 

“Aw, that’s adorable,” her friend wrapped her arm around her. “I’m so happy for you Azzi.”

“Yeah. But she’s going to Europe soon and we have the press tour coming up, so we won’t be able to see each other that much now,” Azzi sighed. “And I already miss her.”

“You have your whole life ahead of you to be with her, don’t stress,” Zendaya stated casually, while Azzi just flinched at the mention of “whole life”. It kind of overwhelmed her how this could potentially end up being the best or the most hurting thing in her life. But she quickly tried to comfort herself by thinking that everything in life was a risk, and this was no exception. Except the fact that Paige felt like a piece in her life she wasn’t willing to risk losing. Not even a little bit. 

“Let’s go to hair and makeup now. I can’t believe we’re almost done shooting,” Zendaya stood up to exit the trailer. 

They had approximately two weeks left of shooting the movie before a short break to then go out on a press tour. It wouldn’t be a big press tour, since the real one would start closer to the premiere which would be some time next year. 

Azzi had always loved acting. Ever since she was a kid she was in every school play, every local theatre play and her mom always helped her get small background roles. It was her way of expressing herself, her outlet of emotions. She was grateful her parents were so supportive of that dream, since she understands that most parents would want their children to reach for more stable jobs than acting, but they never stopped believing in her. 

It was only five years ago she felt like she entered the real movie industry and the big Hollywood scene when she was starring in a Christopher Nolan movie amongst other big names. It really happened over night, the difference between being just an actress, to suddenly becoming a celebrity. 

Of course she had been known before, especially internally in the business, and there were some fans here and there. But the mainstream media never covered her like they started to after that movie. The paparazzi were always waiting outside of her home for the whole duration of that movie premiere and then some more months afterwards. Mostly because she was rumoured to be having something with her at the time co-star Maya Hawke, and they were seen leaving together more than once.

And truth be told, Azzi and Maya hadn’t been platonic at all. But they were never officially together either. Maya never wanted to be. She wanted to focus on her career. And it’s not like Azzi didn’t want to focus on her career, but she didn’t feel like she had to make a choice between her job and her love life the same way Maya wanted to. And so after one big fight, they just cut everything off. 

The moment Maya stopped being seen with Azzi, the paparazzi started to simmer down. They didn’t go away completely, but she wouldn’t get blinded every time she would go out at least. 

Azzi had never confirmed her sexuality to the media. She never felt the need to. She was well aware that the majority of her fanbase were queer, who were also hoping that she was queer too, and that they still shipped her with Maya and tagged her in edits every single day. She loved them deeply and appreciated every single one of them. If she would ever officially come out, it would be to them, to share the experiences they all had in common - to proudly be a part of the community. But for now, it was enough to be a part of the community without having to declare it, but without hiding it too. 

Hopefully, Azzi thought, it would happen naturally hand in hand with Paige Bueckers. 

—

[azzishands]

Fan of a fan - Chapter four

Paige x Azzi

A/N: This is kind of a short chapter, so I'm def gonna try and update the next one this week as well. Hope you like it!

---

Azzi wakes up from hearing her phone vibrate. She opens her eyes and tries to move her arm to make the noise stop, but for some reason, her arm seems unable to move. Fully opening her eyes she sees Paige lying on her right shoulder, fast asleep, snuggled up to her side. 

The actress’ stomach flips at the sight. Her right arm is trapped under the blonde’s head, so she carefully tries to reach her phone with her left one. 

The screen lights up with the name “Zendaya” on it. Not wanting to wake the other girl up, she declines the call and texts her friend instead.

Azzi Fudd: Can’t talk right now

Zendaya: Where are you? We’re supposed to shoot in an hour

Shit, Azzi thinks as she looks at the time. 

Azzi Fudd: I’ll be right there

Azzi slowly and carefully frees herself from the singer, staring at her during every movement to make sure she doesn’t wake up. She looks around the room and sees their clothes spread out everywhere. She simply gathers them and puts them on, smiling a little to herself as the night before flashes in her mind as she collects each piece.

Fully dressed, she walks over to the bed quietly, just to look at Paige one last time. Her heart melts at seeing the blonde woman sleeping so peacefully. It reminds her of a cute little puppy, like a sleeping golden retriever or something. Azzi can’t help herself but to lean forward and gently stroke the blonde hair away from Paige’s face, planting a small kiss on her forehead. 

And with that, she leaves the hotel suite. 

Azzi hails a cab outside the hotel, riding to the location of the photoshoot she’s supposed to be at already. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she says as she enters the photo studio with quick breaths, clearly having rushed there. 

“It’s alright,” the creative director says. “We’re behind schedule a little bit so it’s all cool. But you gotta sit down for your makeup and hair right away.”

The actress nods and goes straight to the makeup chair, greeting the makeup and hair artists with a “sorry I’m late” and “nice to meet you’s”. She takes out her phone while the artists are doing their things, and sends a text to Paige, explaining why she had left. 

“Well look who’s in the same clothes as yesterday,” Zendaya comes in with a full on smirk.

“I forgot to set an alarm,” Azzi just states. “Thank you for calling me.”

“And why did you forget in the first place?” Zendaya continues to tease.

“You know why,” Azzi just mumbles. 

“Yes but I would love to hear all about it,” the co-star raises her eyebrows.

Azzi, feeling a bit conscious about the fact that the makeup and hair artists were still very much there, in her face, didn’t really know what to say.

“We can talk about that later,” she dismisses a bit embarrassed. “Let’s just focus on the shoot now.”

The two actresses are put into different outfits, shooting for a magazine for their upcoming movie. The shoot isn’t done until around lunch, and Azzi hasn’t looked at her phone once, partly because she wants to focus on the shoot but also because she’s feeling a bit nervous just thinking about if there would be a notification from a special someone or not.

“So tell me now, how was your night?” Zendaya asks as they’re walking together from the photoshoot to find someplace to eat lunch after having finished the work of the day.

“It was… great. She’s great, I really enjoy being with her,” Azzi confesses. 

“Bro, tell me the juicy details, don’t be so vague,” Zendaya scoffs. “Did you do it or not?”

Azzi rolls her eyes with a big grin. “Yeah, we did.”

“OH MY GOD,” Zendaya jumps up and down, slapping Azzi’s shoulder. 

“Calm down,” the younger one blushes. 

“No, tell me EVERYTHING.”

“I am not gonna tell you everything.”

“Okay but tell me something,” Zendaya keeps on pushing.

“Well, she’s actually way cuter than you’d think, and really down to earth,” Azzi smiles. “And very observant. It was everything I imagined. And so, so hot. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Zendaya replies. “You gonna see her again soon?”

“I don’t know, we fell asleep after, you know, and then I left her this morning when she was still asleep. But I left her a text, telling her to text me when she wakes up.”

“And has she?”

“I haven’t checked.”

The two actresses enter a sushi restaurant and order their food and proceed to take their seats in the corner of the restaurant.

“Check your phone now,” Zendaya urges. 

“Fine,” Azzi says and takes up her phone. 

No notifications from the blonde one. But one from Ice Brady.

Ice Brady: Someone had a good night? *Photo attached*

“Oh. My. God.” Azzi says with her mouth wide open. 

“What?”

“Ice sent me a screenshot from The Hollywood Reporter, there’s pictures of me and Paige leaving the club yesterday,” Azzi sighs. “Fuck, they’re fast.”

“Let me see,” her friend says and grabs the phone. “”’Is Azzi Fudd the new groupie of The Huskies’ Paige Bueckers?’ What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Cute pic tho, I like how she’s holding onto your wrist as if her life’s depending on it.”

“Yeah, the picture in itself isn’t the problem,” Azzi makes a face. “It’s more about the story they’re gonna invent from it.”

“You know this will blow over in a few days,” Zendaya comforts her friend. “After all, it’s just a photo of you guys escaping the paparazzi. It would have been another thing if they caught you kissing or something.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Azzi nods. “As long as they don’t have any photo evidence, it’s just empty claims.”

—

The scent of Azzi Fudd overwhelms Paige the second she wakes up. She can’t help but inhale deeply, smiling at her senses. Until she stretches out her arms and slowly realizes that she’s alone in bed.

“Azzi?” she mumbles confused as she opens her eyes and looks around. But there was no sight of the actress anywhere. 

A pang of sadness hits Paige. Did she leave? And when did she leave? What if she left the second Paige fell asleep last night?

Paige puts on her sweats and walks to check the bathroom. No one there. She goes to the hall and sees that Azzi’s shoes are gone.

But before the sadness fully takes over, Paige grabs her phone and sees the notification from the woman.

Azzi Fudd: Good morning! I had a photoshoot this morning, that’s why I had to leave so early. I hope I didn’t wake you up. I had a great time with you, text me when you’re awake:)

Paige checks the time. It is 1 pm right now, and Azzi sent that around 8 am. It warms Paige’s heart that she had texted her.

But before Paige can even respond, Aubrey calls her.

“Wassup,” she answers the phone.

“Bro, good morning to you. Is Azzi there?” Aubrey asks.

“No, no she’s not,” Paige replies confused. “Why?”

“Have you been on your phone yet?”

“No, I just woke up. What’s going on?”

“The paparazzi pictures of you and Azzi are going viral, and the headlines are that Azzi is your new groupie.”

Paige shakes her head in surprise. Well not surprise, she’s well aware and experienced how the media paints things awfully. But she never gets used to the audacity of the media.

“Shit, I gotta call Azzi,” Paige just says.

“Before you do, how was your night?” Aubrey asks.

“Ugh, it was amazing. Azzi Fudd is unreal,” Paige smiles. “I guess dreams do come true.”

“Aw, you’re adorable. Can I be your bridesmaid at your wedding?”

“Shut up,” Paige says, annoyed and slightly amused. “I’m hanging up now.”

Paige goes on social media to check what’s going on, and indeed what Aubrey had told her was true. ‘Azzi Fudd joins the obsession every teenage girl seems to have with The Huskies singer’, ‘Paige Bueckers newest conquest is none other than the Golden Globe winner Azzi Fudd’, and so on. Every headline wanted to paint Paige as a notorious fuckboy, and Azzi as the slutty victim, and it made Paige’s blood boil. 

The singer calls the actress.

“Hey you,” Azzi answers the phone. “Awake now?”

Paige calms down immediately at the sound of the actress. 

“Hey, yeah. You know, you were allowed to wake me up and say bye,” Paige says with a smile. 

“Yeah, I’m really sorry for leaving like that,” the actress says.

“Nah it’s cool, I just mean that you don’t have to be afraid to wake me up, like at all. Even if you just wanted to tell me that you’re going to the bathroom, it would be okay, you know?” Paige quickly says, not wanting to make Azzi feel guilty about leaving like that. 

“Is this for future reference, you mean?” the actress smiles. 

“Exactly,” Paige says, her heart beating faster, knowing that they both somehow had just confirmed that there might be another night like the last one. 

“Gotcha. How did you sleep?” 

“So good,” Paige answers. “But you must've gotten only like five hours tops, judging by the time you sent the text.”

“Yeah I’m a little tired today, not gonna lie. I forgot to set an alarm, so I woke up by Zendaya calling me, asking me where I was,” Azzi tells her. 

“Damn, how did I not wake up by that,” Paige says.

“You were pretty much knocked out,” Azzi chuckles. 

“I wonder why,” Paige smirks. 

“Hmm, I have some ideas,” Azzi playfully says.

Paige hesitates for a second before she decides that it’s best to not play around it.

“Have you been on social media yet?” Paige asks.

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’ve seen them?” Azzi states more than asks.

“Yeah. How are you feeling about it?”

“It’s fine. I mean it’s nothing new. If it’s not this then it’s something else. What can you do? As Zendaya said, this will blow over in a few days. Some influencer might cheat on someone tomorrow, who knows.”

Hearing those words was extremely comforting to Paige, and she finally understands why celebrities often date other celebrities. She felt instant gratitude for Azzi’s calm and mature approach to it all. Someone who’s not in the public eye would probably freak out by now. 

“God, it felt good to hear you say that,” Paige confesses. “I didn’t like the way they painted you out to be just another girl for me. I mean-”

Paige panics a little bit, not having realized fully what she had said and how it can be interpreted. Even though Azzi Fudd obviously isn’t just another girl for her, it felt weird to acknowledge that this early on. 

“Don’t worry,” Azzi cuts her off. “It’s fine.” 

The singer hears Azzi’s words, but it still doesn’t make her less upset about those headlines.

“Just… Promise me you’ll tell me if it ever gets to you?” Paige says softly, and Azzi’s heart skips a beat. “I don’t want to tarnish your image.”

“Paige…” Azzi says with a sad smile, just as softly. “It’s not your fault.”

The way she said it, with that soft voice, with a tone that makes you feel so seen and so cared about, it moved Paige. 

“Still,” she whispers. 

“I promise,” Azzi says firmly. “If you promise to let me know if it ever bothers you too.”

“Deal,” Paige says. 

“So, how long are you gonna stay here in LA?” 

“Why, you tryna see me again?” Paige teases. 

“Nah,” Azzi deadpans. 

“I’m actually leaving tonight.”

“For real?”

“Yeah,” Paige sighs. 

“Well shit,” Azzi says. “Where are you going?”

“Portland. We’re playing about eight more shows on this North America tour, which is about two weeks. Then we have a little break until the Europe tour.”

“Busy girl,” the actress just states.

“You’re the one to talk, miss working-early-on-a-saturday-morning,” Paige chuckles. 

“I guess we’re both busy women,” Azzi says, wondering reluctantly to herself if their schedules will be an issue for their newfound friendship. 

“But you should come see me in Minnesota before we go to Europe,” Paige says, so casually. 

Azzi lets out a breath of amusement. This girl really makes everything so easy. 

“I mean, if you can and want to,” the singer adds. 

“I’ll make sure my schedule is free for that,” Azzi smiles from ear to ear. “Wouldn’t want to miss Minnesota when Paige Bueckers is there to be my guide, would I?”

“It’s a once in a lifetime experience, what can I say?” Paige chuckles. “So, I guess I’ll see you in two weeks?”

“I guess so,” Azzi replies. “Oh and Paige?”

“Yeah?”

“Just know that you’re not what the tabloids make you out to be,” the actress says softly. “Like, at all. They don’t know you.”

Paige swallows hard and takes a deep breath. Azzi had struck a nerve with that comment, probably not realizing how much Paige struggles with what the tabloids say about her. What anyone says about her, really. It had mostly been okay, but from time to time they would tear her down, make her out to be something she’s not, and it always made Paige feel so small and tenuous. How sheer hatred could get in her head on a random night, just reading her own comment sections. She should be better at handling it by now, and she has become better, but not anywhere near how she wants to be. It might be hard to imagine, how the confident lead singer in a famous band, who never seems to be fazed by anything, actually really gets affected by false narratives about her. 

That’s why it meant a lot to her to hear Azzi say that. A lot more than Azzi probably understands.

Paige croaks out a weak “I appreciate that”. 

“I’ll see you in two weeks then, blondie,” Azzi says, wrapping up their phone call.

“Can’t wait.”

They say their goodbyes, and hang up the phone. Paige just sits on her bed, replaying every single word said between them just now. Azzi sure knows how to calm her down without even trying. 

Six hours later, and the band is on their way to Portland in their tour bus. It’s a spacious one with bunk beds and even a couch and a TV in the back, where they’re currently sitting, trying to do some songwriting while on the road.

Paige is sitting comfortably on the couch with an unplugged electric guitar in her hands, playing some chords, trying to come up with some melodies. 

“Mhm, how do you know everything I haven’t told you yet,” the singer hums. “How are you able to meet me in the middle when I’m all the way over here?”

“I like that,” Sarah nods along. “Do it again,” she says and records it on voice memos on her phone. Paige sings it again.

“I’ll name the recording ‘Azzi Fudd’,” Sarah says with a huge grin on her face, and KK and Aubrey burst out laughing. 

Paige’s eyes widen. The audacity of the bass player. “Sarah!” she exclaims.

“What, is it not about her? Do you have anyone else in mind?” Sarah innocently asks. 

“I don’t- I mean I-” Paige stammers. “Fuck y’all. I’m not writing any more.”

“No come on, we’re just messing with ya,” KK says, walking over to the singer and gives her a hug. “We’re just not used to hearing you write happy lyrics, that’s all. But we love to hear it.”

“What do you mean, I’ve written lots of happy lyrics,” Paige mutters, feeling more embarrassed than mad. 

“Okay girly pops,” KK says sarcastically. 

“What did you guys do after we left the club last night, by the way?” Paige asks to change the subject. 

“We just hung out with Zendaya,” Aubrey answers. “She’s cool.”

“Yeah, she’s like our friend now,” Sarah chimes in. 

“Aww, did you guys make a friend, I’m so proud of you” Paige coos like a proud parent and pinches Sarah’s cheeks. 

“Stop,” Sarah moves away from the blonde.

“She told us all about how it was to film Dune and Challengers, it was really cool to hear, and now I kinda want to watch them all again,” KK says. 

“Yeah, let’s have a movie night!” Aubrey agrees. “With lots of snacks.”

“But I wanna watch a Azzi Fudd movie,” Sarah says. “I don’t think I’ve ever watched one.”

“Bruh, what? How can you not have seen any of her movies? You live under a rock?” Paige frowns. 

“I’m not really into those types of movies,” the bass player shrugs. “I just watch horror and comedy.”

“You mean you only watch unserious movies,” the singer deadpans. 

“If Azzi Fudd would’ve done a horror movie, you would’ve loved it,” Sarah argues. 

“Maybe… But that would probably be a Jordan Peele type of horror movie then, not those horrible indie horror movies you watch,” Paige says.

“Don’t-”

“OKAY, whatever, y’all can fight about Azzi Fudd’s movies another time, I wanna watch Dune!” KK interrupts.

“Nah, Sarah has to watch Ricochet now,” Paige protests. “You gotta see Azzi in it, she’s incredible.”

“You can’t go a day without seeing your girl?” KK crosses her arms, really wanting to watch Dune.

“Bro, I’m not gonna be able to see her in two weeks, don’t even start,” the singer responds. 

“Two weeks? You’re not gonna go home to see your family during break?” Aubrey asks.

“No I am… She’s gonna come to Minnesota.”

“Oh.”

“Girl, you’re down bad,” KK just says. “But we’re gonna watch Dune anyway.”

Paige just shakes her head, letting KK have it this time. 

After all, she’s gonna see the actress in person soon again. 

Two more weeks. 

—

[azzishands]

Chapter 4 when?

hahah love the urgency! probably sometime next week, but i'll try and update even sooner if i can:)