"Flight DL329 is now boarding to O'Hare." You hear throughout the airport as you rush through the crowd of people trying to reach your gate. You had hit horrible traffic in the city despite leaving early. Out of breath, you reach the last of the remaining line, feeling a bit calmer, seeing that you weren't the last passenger. "Boarding ticket miss?" The older gate agent smiled at you. You smile back lightly, out of breath still and hand him the boarding ticket. 

The man scans the ticket and hands it back to you. "Enjoy your flight, Miss. Y/L/N." He nods. "Thanks!" You politely smile, and you head towards the plane. You find your seat and sit down next to a lady who was probably around your mom's age. The seat in the middle was empty, which you mentally praised. 

You settled into the seat, putting your bag on the floor and strapping yourself in. Quickly, you send a text to your friend Hailey. 

You: Made it on the plane! See you in three hours 🤪 

HVL 🏀: Thank God! Text me when you land so I can head out. Have a safe flight 😘

You knew not to overthink the blowing kiss emoji, but it created butterflies. You have always had a small crush on Hailey. You two met at LSU while you were finishing your graduate degree and remained good friends throughout the years. You followed her basketball career and supported her in every way you could.  

During those years, you slowly noticed that you had developed a crush on her. Not only was she just breathtakingly beautiful, but she was kind, smart, and talented.  Being around her brought out the best in you, and you were filled with excitement to see her. 

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You felt someone lightly tapping your shoulder, which pulled you out of your sleep. You look beside you to see the lady who was next to you with a polite smile on her face, looking at you. "Sorry to wake you, but we're about to land and thought you might appreciate me telling you so you can throw away any trash and pack your things." She says. "Oh! Thank you." You smile at her, doing just that as we descend. You checked the time on your phone and saw it was 12:25 AM. Right on time.

As soon as you landed, you texted Hailey, and quickly she said she was on her way. You were still feeling giddy about seeing her. You hadn't seen her since last year, between you starting a new job and her getting drafted to the WNBA.

You get off the plane and head to baggage claim, the airport being quite empty and quiet. The only things open were coffee shops and a McDonald's. You quickly made your way to baggage claim, which felt like an eternity with how huge the airport was.

Grabbing your heavy luggage, you made your way outside to wait for Hailey. The weather has been a bit chilly since it was October, and nonetheless, the windy city. After about 10 minutes, I see Hailey pull up in her BMW. 

"You're finally here!!" She squeals as she runs out of the car after parking it and running straight towards you to hug. As soon as you felt her arms around you, you felt like you could melt. 

"Feels like forever!" You smile, hugging her back. Letting go of each other, Hailey pops the trunk on her car and, with ease, puts in your luggage. Impressed that she threw it in there with no trouble. 

"Okay muscles." You half joke and half flirt. Hailey playfully winks at you before we get in her warm car. 

"Thank you for picking me up this late, by the way. I was so pissed when the airline changed my flight from 4 to 8 PM." You shake your head, sending a text to your mom that you made it safely to Chicago. 

"I don't mind at all, and you almost missed this flight. Imagine trying to make the 4 PM one?" She chuckles. 

"That accident wasn't even that bad for the traffic it caused in Portland; it was a fender bender." You shake your head. 

"Well, on the bright side, it's late enough that there is minimal traffic here in Chicago. If not, it would have taken me who knows how long to get here and to get back home." She smiles. 

"How come you came by yourself? I would have thought Nick would have come with you." You ask, noticing her boyfriend wasn't here.

Hailey seemed to get a bit hesitant as I mentioned him, as if trying to find the right way to tell me something. You look at her, starting to feel confused by her hesitation. 

"Everything okay?" You ask her softly. 

"We uh, broke up. Like a month ago." She says, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I had no idea." You respond, not knowing how to feel about the situation. On one hand, you felt for your best friend, but on the other hand, you were sort of glad because he was never the best boyfriend to her.  

"Trust me, don't be. I ended things."

Your head snaps to her, caught off guard by her response. Part of you wants to push on the matter, figure out what happened, but you didn't want to touch on fresh wounds. 

"Well, you have me all week to forget all about that. We can go get our nails done, go shopping, go bar hopping, go to the movies, whatever you want." You smile. Hailey smiles back as she drives.

"Oh, we're totally going out and having fun." She chuckles.

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The first few days with Hailey were great. You guys caught up, went out to lunch or dinner every day, watched movies, and went shopping. It felt like your college days again, and it wasn't helping at all with the crush you had on her. 

"Hey, why don't we go out tonight?" Hailey says as you two finish up some takeout. 

"Yeah? What did you have in mind? A Bar?" You ask as you throw away an empty plastic container of food in her recycling bin. 

"Yeah, we can go to Nobody's Darling." Hailey smiles. 

"Wait...isn't that a lesbian bar?" You ask about it because your friend in Maine told you all about it. 

"It is, some of the girls on the team go there, so I thought we could check it out." Hailey says with a hint of nervousness in her voice. 

"Yeah, ok, that sounds fun! Let me go get ready." You smile, heading to her guest room where you had been sleeping the last few nights. You put on some music on your phone on shuffle, and immediately the song Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko came on. 

"Of course." You mutter to yourself at the irony of that song coming on. 

  After about 45 minutes getting ready, you were done wearing a denim jeans, a black long-sleeved bodysuit, a long leather trench coat, and some pointy-toed, kitten-heeled type of black shoe. You spritz your favorite perfume on yourself and grab your black clutch, heading to the kitchen to pre-hydrate yourself before the drinking that's about to take place.

Hailey comes out of her room looking jaw-dropping. She had on a red long-sleeved satin dress that stopped right under her butt and hugged her curves perfectly with some heels. 

"You look amazing." You say to each other in unison. You felt yourself going red as Hailey smiled at you.

"I ordered a car for us, it should be here any minute." Hailey informs you. You not being able to stop staring at her beauty.

"We can head down to the lobby, though I suggest putting a coat over that lovely dress. It's 32 degrees outside and windy." The protectiveness you always had over her shines through. 

"Good idea." Hailey grabs a black long trench coat and ties it around her waist before grabbing her small purse and leading the way out of the apartment.

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The bar was nice, dark, and cozy with a live band playing a great number of songs. It was packed, but not to a point where you couldn't walk or hear a conversation with people. Hailey and you sat in a nook with a small round table facing the small stage set up. 

"That woman over there keeps looking at you." Hailey says to you as she scoots in closer. You look over to see a pretty woman with long braids giving you a flirty smile. You politely smile back even though you weren't interested. You look over at Hailey, who was giving the woman the stink eye. 

"Why are you looking at her like that?" You chuckle, taking a sip of your espresso martini. 

"Like how?" Hailey looks over at you, her expression immediately changing. 

"Like you want to fight her." 

"Am not." She scoffs.

"Sure..."

Hailey orders another round of drinks, but this time she gets us some beers. 

"Beers?" How masc of you." You joke.

"Random question, are those the type of girls you're into? I know some feminine lesbians prefer it." Hailey asks her questions, kind of taking you off guard. 

"I don't really have a preference. I just like who I like." You shrug.

"Are you seeing anyone? Is that why you don't go talk to that woman who keeps looking your way?"

"Nope. I've been single since college with a few hook-ups here and there, but I've always had my eyes set on someone else. Which is dumb of me." You admit. You knew this was the liquor talking. A waitress brings over the drinks, and Hailey tips her as we both thank her. 

"Why is it dumb of you?" Hailey asks before sipping her beer. 

"I know she doesn't feel the same way." You shrug, sipping your own beer.

"She's in a relationship?" 

"Used to be, but she isn't into girls." You look at Hailey in a way you'd hope she got the hint. Realization sets in, and a look of shock plays upon her gorgeous face. Her blue eyes scan your face. 

"Maybe... she is into girls." Hailey says, a smile creeping on her face. The song Fade Into You starts playing, and Hailey gets up, asking the table next to us if they'd watch our drinks and purses. The older lesbian couple gladly agrees.

"May I have this dance?" Hailey reaches her hand out to you, and you take it as she leads you to where everyone else is starting to dance. 

You too get close and personal, Hailey wrapping her arms around your waist and you draping your arms over her shoulder. Dancing while looking at each other in the eyes, getting lost in them. 

"I wish you had told me how you felt," Hailey whispers. 

"It was never the right time, you moving schools, focusing on basketball, dating Nick, and me starting my career...plus the draft. It was just not something I wanted to add to your plate. Also, I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Our friendship means everything to me. Losing you would have destroyed me." You admit, Hailey's eyes getting glossy. 

Hailey then leans in and kisses you. Butterflies erupt within you, and you melt into lips. Tasting the beer, but mostly the wine she had. Not caring that both your lip glosses were getting smeared. 

"I can't believe you just kissed me with espresso breath." You joke, making Hailey laugh and lean her forehead against yours as she gently squeezes your sides, sharing another intimate moment. 

"Let's pay the tab and get out of here. Tonight you're sleeping in my bed."