#*para: 009

REGGIE CLIFFTON

Most Sundays out of the year had been dedicated to soccer for the last nearing on three years for Reggie. At first it was due to being part of a team, and the last handful of months had been simply to spectate. It wasn't her favorite thing to do, but it wasn't her least favorite either. Team loyalty had always been an important part of sports to Reggie. She had always felt a sense of pride when wearing a jersey for the team she was part of, and that was especially true when it came to being a part of the Mighty Morphin Flower Arrangers. It wasn't the team that'd lead her to play the sport forever like her youth league team, or the one that would get her affect her future like in high school. But it was the one that showed Reggie she could really get through hell, and come out the other side. She got to play soccer one more time, and while it was never in her cards again, at least she overcame the odds once. As well as got a whole team of lifelong friends that she would have otherwise never associated with.

That being said, Reggie would have never expected the halftime flash mob they had done in dedication to her. At first Reggie had no idea it was meant to be for her or that it was coming-- she had been ready to spend the time talking to Harper about plans for after the game. Then music began blasting over the field and the Arrangers slowly started joining together in dance. It wasn't until Reggie saw Lola join at the forefront that she managed to put together it wasn't just some halftime entertainment, it was something for her.

If the dance hadn't been enough proof, the fact each of the girls came up to Reggie with a specifically picked flower sure would have done it. Reggie wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed getting attention. Having all eyes on her was unnerving in general, which already was making her heart race questionably fast. But having the girl with familiar, piercing green eyes bring up the rear with her own flower to hand off made Reggie's head spin. Reggie sat there with red cheeks and eyes looking at the flowers. On the surface, it could have been easy enough to explain this thing as her old team celebrating Reggie's recent progress in recovery. She was out of her cast and just had a leg brace now, walking getting easier each week. But there was one factor to it that made Regina know it wasn't just that: the fact Lola orchestrated it.

Reggie was able to brush past the situation enough, but she was on edge the rest of the game, wanting to talk to Lola but deciding to wait until after the game. She needed to think, and she didn't want to be making a big deal out of nothing. But she knew Lola, and Reggie was wise enough to know the girl didn't coordinate elaborate dances for no reason. Lola had a good heart, Reggie had seen it herself in many instances, but it wasn't the type of heart that put itself out there without motivation. And now Reggie couldn't help but remember Spencer's warning of Lola's intentions and that perhaps she shouldn't of just let it slide by or rationalize it away. As the game neared its end, Reggie noticed Lola leave the bleachers and start to leave. Reggie still didn't immediately leave, but eventually, she didn't want to wait too long and miss her chance to talk to Lola. So she handed the flowers off to Matt and said she would catch up with them later, giving Harper a quick, albeit distracted, kiss on the cheek. Then Regina Cliffton was off, focused on chasing after Lola Alvarez to get some answers.

Given Reggie couldn't exactly run yet, she sped after Lola as fast as she could, the two of them nearing the edge of the park and a great distance from where they had started. When Reggie was sure she was within earshot, she finally called out, "Lola!" to get her to stop, Reggie's steps picking up so she could get there as swift as possible. Being more out of breath than she would have liked, Reggie still tried to maintain a certain composure to her given the possible seriousness of the situation. Meeting her eyes, Reggie took a deep breath in and swallowed hard, shakily saying, "Hey, we... we need to talk about all of that back there," She declared through parted lips, pointing back from where they came but keeping her attention on Lola,  "I don't understand.... why would you... did you really do all that for me?"

LOLA ALVAREZ

The last time Lola had been to a soccer game was, quite literally, two years ago. She'd been to one of Reggie's games, she'd been in the stands, she'd screamed her lungs off. This time, she was sitting with the rest of the Flower Arrangers (most of whom remarked on how good it was to see her again, which Lola was taking as a compliment to her looks), nearby Nicola and Spencer. Reagan had delivered the flowers she'd needed, the music was all set, and everything was going to go off without a hitch. Initially, Lola hadn't wanted to be involved in the actual dance itself, but one of the Arrangers had convinced her to at the last possible second. She gave Reggie a wink as she handed her flower to her, and sauntered her way back to the Arrangers side of the stadium, cheering for the girls who had once made her feel like family in a way that Acup had yet to-- aside from Nicola and Kitty.

When Reggie came running (not literally, but figuratively) to Lola post-game, she felt her heart swell up. This was what she'd always wanted, and this was where they were going to make the tide turn in what was left of their relationship. It had been so easy for them to pick up where they had left off, and Lola had absolutely no intentions of going back to the friend zone when she could tell that Reggie wanted her around just as much as she wanted to be there.

"Why?" Lola tiled her head to the side, as Reggie spoke. It wasn't the burning kiss she'd dreamed about, nor was it a declaration of love, but it was certainly not a negative reaction, so she'd take it. "Hey, listen. I know days like today totally suck for you. I mean, I know how much you want to be out there on the field. And I think that the girls wanted to show you how much they love you and miss you, but didn't know how to. We wanted to make you smile, that's all."

Lola took a deep breath before starting on her next mission. "And... I really can't tell you how much it meant to me that you came with me to see Mimi. To have her remember... well, it made me hope that maybe someday, she could remember me, too." Lola glanced down at her Vans, shoving her pockets into her skinny jeans and looking rather sheepish. "Mimi loves you, you know?" A pause-- her heart raced and her mouth moved before she could stop herself--

"I love you, too."

REGGIE CLIFFTON

Despite the fact Reggie was managing to catch her breath, she still felt a little lightheaded. All her life Reggie had been the type to give romantic gestures to those she was interested in. To go that extra distance with giving her girlfriend a note slipped in a locker, or sneaking out late into the night just to see them. They were small things, but that was when Reggie was younger. Before she was an adult and learned it was possible for love to have a bite to it. Enough of one to make Reggie keep her distance from the feeling, whether it be by choice or force. In the case of Lola, it had been a mix of both, with the added part of Lola pushing her away. At the time, Reggie couldn't blame her, and even more so, knew it was for the best. Did she think she would ever see Lola again? She hoped, but never knew. As time passed, Reggie became the emotionally detached person she had hoped to be. At least, until the last few months, which made the situation... the girl in front of her all the more complicated. Especially with the answer she gave.

"Mimi loves you, you know? I love you, too"

Reggie hadn't quite composed herself, by the time the words were out there, but as they settled into the air, Reggie's shoulders broadened and back straightened. She took a gasp of a breath in and felt some sensation wash over her that she, in the moment, couldn't exactly decipher. She felt a buzzing in her fingertips and a lump form in her throat as she choked out an, "I-I..." as she felt her panic start to rise. Reggie could handle emergencies, she could be a rock for someone, but when faced with an emotional problem she herself had to confront, those were the most daunting and impossible of tasks. Especially after having seen Lola put her heart out so blatantly, so bravely, and so beautifully, all for Reggie.

She felt her cheeks heating up and eyes were seemingly glued on Lola. Yet what came out was, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I can't... I don't... I'm with Harper. You know that." Reggie's eyes slipped closed as she tried to get herself in order. She was trying to make some sense of it all, "After that day, in Acup... I thought you moved on. I thought we both did. W-why... why now Lola?" Of course if Lola had done a gesture of any degree before, when Reggie wasn't with anyone to begin with, that didn't guarantee much more success. Reggie just couldn't fathom a world where Lola had pushed Reggie away, but kept holding a candle for her. Not when she could have her pick of so many others with far less complications from the get go.(edited)

LOLA ALVAREZ

Despite how difficult it was for her in that moment to remain candid and open and honest, Lola felt herself start to close in. Her arms folded around her chest, as if she were trying to hold herself together. Lola had found love and lost it in the most devastating of ways. As a child, she'd been abandoned and taken in and returned to a foster home like she was a used toy with a part missing. Nobody had been able to claim her as theirs, forever, until Mimi came along.

Even that, the love of a parent, was all too fleeting for Lola, who had little more than a decade of a real home and a real family. Despite how she'd been shunned and made to feel like an outcast by that coffee shop everyone went to, she was still searching for that sense of home, a place of belonging. And maybe it wasn't the right place or the right time, but she'd decided that Reggie was going to be the person to give it to her. Maybe Reggie wasn't the right person for it, period, but Lola was too stubborn and had put too much work into their friendship to be completely cast aside. She knew she hadn't been Reggie's only girl, but didn't she have the right to be?

"Because you said you weren't ready for a relationship." Lola replied, her voice probably more blunt than she needed it to be. "But clearly, you are now. So here I am, back for what I deserve. I love you, and I deserve to be happy."

REGGIE CLIFFTON

For every question, Reggie was getting answers, but they weren't ones that were making things any less complicated. In fact, it almost made them all the more hard to understand. Yet, how could Reggie be so surprised? When Lola started coming back around Acup in recent months, it was almost too easy to just fall back into the way things were before. It was the effortless way with Lola that had caused Reggie's fear of what could be between them that made Reggie effectively end things before they got deeper. However, feelings were impossible to escape, it seemed, no matter how many precautions were put in place to prevent them. For Reggie, love didn't cross her mind, and it hadn't in a very long time. It was like Reggie had been able to turn that off the part of herself completely to stop the word from ever being something she thought to say. Thus hearing someone so confidently and surely say they felt that for her, especially someone with a history as seemingly sordid yet sincere as theirs, was hard for her grasp. But one thing remained:

if Reggie couldn't even come to the conclusion she was in love with her girlfriend of months, she wasn't going to be able to say it to the girl she had lost once before, either.

"You can't do this, Lols. You can't. Okay? Not with me." And in truth, Reggie wasn't sure what she was exactly telling Lola she couldn't do. What she was begging her to not do for her own sanity and sake. It could of been sincere gestures from the heart, telling Reggie her feelings, being around her right now, looking at her with both her walls coming up yet sincerity hiding behind them... the options were almost endless.

Reggie took a small step forward but her body didn't follow along, knowing the distance was for the best, yet not wanting to be hurting Lola. Saying the wrong thing was almost Regina's specialty, it was more true in moments like these, but especially if it had to do with the L word. Reggie was still too terrified of the phase and the power it held, "You deserve to be happy... you deserve it so much, but I... I-I wouldn't make you happy. I can't make you happy. You could have anyone... anyone would be better than me. You have to know that." Reggie explained, the tone a little broken and soft, which matched the way her eyes looked. She didn't want to lose Lola again, but Reggie was spoken for. She had a girlfriend, one she cared about the feelings of and also didn't want to hurt. Yet, without realizing it, already had and was.

LOLA ALVAREZ

As soon as the words were out of Lola's mouth, she regretted them.

What kind of psycho told someone they loved them post a soccer game? With said someone's girlfriend in the stands? After that someone told you that she liked you, but didn't want to date you? What kind of someone still had feelings for that person afterwards?

Her eyes welled up, probably from the emotional high of dancing in front of people and the adrenaline rush of her confession, combined with the fact that she hadn't wanted to say any of this to Reggie in the first place, and well, Lola was a straight up mess in that exact moment. The two things did not have anything to do with each other. Lola hadn't done this because she wanted to tell Reggie she loved her, but it had slipped out, and there was nothing more Lola could do to take it all back. To be fair to the situation, Lola really didn't expect Reggie to say it back.

This had gone from awful to even worse in a span of seconds, and she was very quickly giving in to the flight response. Normally Lola was all about being the center of attention, but "Don't tell me what I can't do," Lola said softly, shaking her head, before she decided to take a different approach. "But you know what? You're right. What do I know about love anyway? I'm sorry that I said anything at all, really. I'm hoping we can just... forget this conversation ever happened." Lola glanced behind where Reggie was standing to where her roommate and girlfriend had been sitting. "I'll see you around, Reg."

REGGIE CLIFFTON

Reggie could tell she had said the wrong thing, but what was the right thing to say? It seemed obvious, and to many it probably was, but it just wasn't to Reggie. Not even a little. She couldn't say the words Lola wanted for many reasons, the biggest being that she couldn't even fathom the concept of love. Watching someone do it with no shame, with confidence and certainty, only to watch them fold into themselves because of Reggie's own reaction was upsetting. She cared for Lola more than she could say, which was in a way, the problem at this moment. But it made her want to be able to say something comforting. Something that would make this better for her, yet, Reggie wasn't dumb. She knew she couldn't be both the problem and the solution. That didn't mean she didn't want to try for Lola. She hadn't tried so many other times before, and it resulted in Lola going through hell alone.

"Lou, please..." Reggie started off quiet and sincerely after she heard Lola's soft words. It was the next moment that Reggie could practically see Lola pulling away as she started taking back the words that had already been hanging in the air. It didn't help that Reggie's own throat seemed to close back up. She knew Lola's heart was good, and strong, and likely had a lot of love to give. Love that anyone would be lucky to have. Love that was terrifying as just a word to Reggie, and it made her even more wide eyed to hear Lola say it again at all. With eyes glancing away and a hard swallow following as the rising sense of panic started to be evident for Reggie. Which meant this time, as Lola walked away,