#pittsburg

Summary: Victoria Javadi is a talented, diligent figure skater. Cassie McKay was a skilled, polished hockey player. However, both women feel a piece of something missing in their lives. For Victoria, she feels it's intrinsic; for Cassie, she feels it is extrinsic. When both women meet, will that missing puzzle piece finally be found?

Tags: mild language, mention of drinking

another shoutout to @georgiacantdraw, who drew a figure skater/hockey au of my faves. you can find it here <333

A/N: I'll be posting the first chapter here, but the rest (along with the first chapter) will be posted on AO3 here.

enjoy!!!!! this is the very first fanfic i've ever written, so plz be nice :3, if you have any recommendations, plz feel free to comment them!!!! enjoy

:]

Victoria Javadi was a beast on the ice. Everyone who knew of any sort of sport that took place on the ice in the greater Pittsburgh area knew her name -- everyone in Pennsylvania loved her. She was flawless. She lived a flawless life with her flawless family and her flawless career. External factors never made her falter.

As perfect as she may seem from the outside, she desired more intrinsically.

Something different.

  Growing up, her parents seldom let her do the “normal” teen things. Going to parties and getting fucked up on whatever substances that pooled in a red solo cup, regretting her decisions in the morning. As horrible and downright unhealthy as that sounded, she wanted something normal—just one thing.

Pristine, driven, and a damn good skater.

That’s all Victoria Javadi had to be.

Although these feelings plagued her very being, she felt something else disrupt her.

Victoria rarely felt normal. She had been homeschooled as a child, so doing the typical “teenage” thing was foreign to her. Most of her friends consisted of the girls who made up her figure skating team. Although she wouldn’t consider them friends. Acquaintance felt like the better expression.

Someone Vic could call an actual friend was none other than Trinity Santos. Trinity had been Victoria’s next-door neighbor since her awkward tween phase. Vic thought Trinity was cooler than her, considering she had been 2 years older than her. Trinity already knew what it was like to be a 12-year-old girl, so she felt safe with her – comfortable. Her mom tried her best to relate to Vic, but failed miserably.

Trinity was the outgoing, more rigid, extroverted one of the two. The two girls always thought about how weirdly compatible they were. However, they didn’t let their differences alter anything about their relationship. Victoria was Trinity’s platonic soulmate, and Trinity Victoria’s.

Before Trinity, Vic felt as if she was floating out of her body, unaware of who she was. She knew she loved skating. No matter the relationship with her mother, no matter the relationship with the girls that made up her team, skating was everything.

When she was out on the ice, nothing mattered. It was her, her skates, and the ice.

She felt as if she earned the wings of an exuberant bird, gaining a sense of freedom, and that freedom permeated throughout her body.

Trinity was her physical haven, but skating had been her spiritual one.

However, she felt as if that wasn’t enough. Her mind and body craved something different. She loved Trinity. She had been very accepting and willing of Trinity’s girlfriend, Yolanda.

Granted, it felt as if Trinity was slipping away from her. Her friend had to reassure her countless times, telling her that it would be okay. That Trinity was still her girl and that nothing would change.

While Vic felt a burgeoning pit grow in her stomach, she knew this was true.

She had never experienced love beyond Trinity.  Nothing romantic. She had no time for boys. She had no time for dates. She didn’t have the time. She had skating. That should’ve been all.

There had been a time when Trinity invited her friend to a school dance – it was the first time Vic had felt awfully nervous. The idea of being around people her age, and it wasn’t a sports-related activity, made her knees go weak.

She recalls just how humid the gym was;  an accumulation of loud, dreadful music filled the space, and the god-awful food that she was sure was going to give her some type of stomachache.

A boy who was most likely her age had asked her to dance. The idea of dancing with this random boy didn’t sit too well in her stomach. The entire ordeal was completely embarrassing – neither knew exactly what to do. It had been obvious the sheepish-looking boy lacked experience with girls just as she had lacked experience with anyone.

She wasn’t quite sure what it meant. The boy certainly wasn’t ugly. And what she felt, were they nerves? Were those what Trinity described as “butterflies?”

She was unsure.

What she was 100% sure of was that she wouldn’t attend a high school gathering ever again.

And she would no longer dance with sheepish boys whom she didn’t know.

November 28th – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

According to Trinity’s girlfriend, Yolanda, Trinity was made aware that the Pennsylvania Reapers were playing against the New York Sirens tonight. She had thought it’d be a great idea to get her friend out of the house, considering all she does is… well, skate.

Although Trinity was entering her 4th year of college, she still made time for Victoria. She had even applied to the University of Pennsylvania and lived at home to be closer to her. Since they still lived close by, it was a quick stroll to Vic’s house – a stroll she’d make every single day.

Without knocking, the girl opened the front door of her friend’s house, knowing it was unlocked specifically for her. Granted, she could only do this when Vic’s parents weren’t home.

She made her way up the glass-lined stairs and greeted her friend in her room.

Victoria’s room had always been Trinity’s favorite spot in the house. For one, it was gigantic. The walls, embellished with a light mint green tint and posters of her friend’s favorite singers. There had also been a huge trophy case with all of Victoria’s medals and skating accomplishments. It had been nice to see her friend be so talented at something. She was proud.

“Oh- god. What are you doing?” Trinity sighs, finding her friend stretching.

Victoria yelps. “Oh my god. You almost gave me a heart attack!” Victoria exclaims while sitting up from her lunges.

“I didn’t think people actually stretched in their free time,” Trinity sneered.

“Well, I have a competition in two days. I’ve been stretching,” Victoria says. “I mean, you wouldn’t know because you haven’t been here in like 3 days…” She muttered the last bit of what she said. She didn’t want to come across as jealous or clingy. Victoria knew Trinity had been hanging out with Yolanda. The thing is, in Victoria’s mind, she’d like to think all three of them are friends. So, why couldn’t all three of them hang out?

Trinity sighs. “I’m sorry. I am truly,” frowned as she met Victoria on her bed. “Look, I’ve been hanging with Yolo and her friends. I think you should meet them. They’re pretty cool, and they’re nice and, and I feel like they may be your cup of tea. Maybe. I think.”

Victoria glared at her. She rarely hangs out with anyone other than Trinity and, occasionally, Yolanda. And even then, her and Yolanda’s first hangout was…awkward to say the least. She had been grateful for Trinity being the bridge that aided in building Victoria and Yolo’s friendship.

“I guess. I mean, you know… how I am with people. I’m not—”

“You’re not what? You have nothing to be afraid of. I promise. Yolo’s friends Parker and Samira play hockey, and I think you’d really get along. They skate for a living…you skate for a living,” she says while making weighing gestures with her hand. “It’s perfect!”

Vic couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. “Okay, so we both skate. I mean, we should get married, I think. Right?” Trinity gives Victoria a playful shove.

“I’m being serious. When was the last time you went out of the house?” Trinity questions empathically.

“I skate, that’s getting out of the house.”

Trinity groans.

“Okay, right. No, yeah, totally,” she says with a hint of annoyance. “There’s a game tonight. I want you to come and meet everyone. Please, for me?” Trinity says with a beaming smile and puppy dog eyes.

Victoria looks at her friend with a straight face, attempting to hide the agonizing pain of having to go out and talk to people. She often hated the way she acted towards her friend’s advances to go out. How else was she supposed to meet people? She had been an awkward shell her entire life.

This was one night, and perhaps, the last time she would willingly go out with people who weren’t just Trinity and Yolanda.

“Fine. I’ll go. God, I hate hockey.” Victoria confessed while burying her face into her pillow.

“You’ll have fun! Ugh, thank you, thank you, thank you, I love you, I love you, I love you,” Trinity exclaims while attempting to hug her friend, so instead awkwardly hugs the pillow that is covering her friend’s body. “Now, what are you going to wear?”

“Uh, is what I have on alright?” Victoria asks while tugging her skintight jacket.

Trinity blinks at her friend. “You can’t be serious, Vic.”

“What do you mean? This is a sports event. I’m technically wearing something sporty. I’ll also wear my coat because it’s like 30 degrees outside.”

“There’s no fucking way you’re wearing that. Victoria, first of all, you have a crazy body-”

“Okay, I’d appreciate if you just like- didn’t mention that?” Victoria replied, cutting off her friend.

“You have a crazy body. You should at least, I don’t know, wear something that shows it off. Literally, a pair of generic jeans and a T-shirt would work,” Trinity argued.

Victoria sighed. “Fine, I’ll see what I have. But I will not freeze for imaginary guys that’ll be there.”

“…or girls,” Trinity said slyly.

“Yeah, or- or girls,” Vic murmured as she made her way to her closet.

“Okay, sure, just hurry,” Trinity hollered while checking her phone. “Yolo just texted me that the game is soon, and that we might do something after.”

Ignoring the last part of her friend’s statement, Victoria glared at her unitard-filled closet. She had begun to build her wardrobe after Trinity teased her about the lack of everyday clothing she had. Her regular clothes consisted of leggings and tank tops because she rarely went anywhere, plus, her hangouts with Trinity mainly took place at each other’s houses.

For Victoria’s birthday last year, the two had gone shopping, which, surprisingly, interested her. She wished she made it an ongoing event, but her mom scolded her – claiming she “didn’t need those clothes.”

Well, now look, Mom. I need those clothes, Victoria thought.

Her eyes settled on some low-rise jeans that were flared at the bottom, and a black form-fitting top from one of the stores she shopped at the year before.

She pulled them out of the closet and asked Trinity to affirm the pair of clothes.

“Oh, thank god, I thought you were gonna pull some out some, well, bullshit. But this is cute! You’re gonna look sexy.

Vic rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha,” she replied in a sarcastic tone.

Victoria began to undress while Trinity tapped away on her phone.

Victoria wondered who’d be playing tonight. She had gone to a hockey game with her dad when she was younger. Granted, she fell asleep on her father’s lap and claimed how boring it had been afterwards. She rarely kept up with it, so much so that she was unaware that Pittsburgh had a Women’s hockey league in the first place.

“Okay, how do I look?”

Trinity’s jaw dropped.

“Like- you look—I’m speechless,” Trinity said.

“My god, it’s just jeans and like, an $8 shirt,” Victoria gushed while making her way to the bed.

“I know, but I feel like,” Trinity said while gesturing her hands up, “Like, you’d genuinely look good in anything. I’m jealous.”

“Don’t be. I promise there’s nothing to be jealous about.”

Trinity slowly nodded. “Okay,” Trinity clapped her hands, “Do you wanna do make-up? I mean, you don’t have to. Naturally, you’re already gorgeous.”

“Ugh, yes, please. I’ve looked like a troll this past week,” Victoria said.

“I promise you, you have never been troll-like a day in your life,” her friend said while making her way to Victoria’s vanity. It had been filled with make-up, presumably for competitions.

Trinity grabbed Victoria’s main makeup bag and made her way back to the bed.

Victoria grabbed the essentials: concealer, blush, mascara, and her favorite strawberry lip gloss, and handed them to Trinity.

“Un-troll me, please,” Vic said as she scooched closer to Trinity.

Trinity scoffed and began to do the girl’s makeup. “Are you excited?”

“To go to a hockey game filled with sweaty people and bad food? Sure,” Victoria retorted.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Trinity replied, putting the concealer back into the bag. “If anything, like I said, I think you’ll like the group. They’re nice, funny, and who knows, maybe you’ll warm up to them quicker than you think. Plus, you like Yolanda, right? You’ll love them.”

“Well, to be fair, I thought she hated me when we first met.”

Trinity laughed. “No—well, she’s like that with everyone. That’s what I like about her, though.”

“Her resting bitch face?” Victoria said with a smile.

“Okay, that was uncalled for,” Trinity laughs. “And no, she’s sweet and caring, and she’s just, I don’t know. She’s just it for me. I had immediate butterflies when we first met. I still do.”

“That’s sweet. I like you guys together,” Victoria bubbled.

In her head, Victoria attempted to recall any crushes she had. There were very few participants. She had thought about her skating partner she had when she was younger, but even then, she knew it wasn’t a real crush. There had been a time when Trinity asked if she was gushing over anyone, and Victoria couldn’t think of anyone, so promptly, she said him. She solely picked him so her friend could stop pestering her about it.

 Although she does recall a time when he was out sick for practice, so her fellow teammate, Emma, had to take his place. She was mildly intrigued by her. Victoria recalls a time when Emma had to place her hands atop Victoria’s midriff, and she felt a warmth pervade her body. She claimed those were nerves then, but now, she wasn’t so sure.

Lost in her thoughts, Victoria hadn’t realized Trinity was practically done with her makeup.

“Beautiful as always,” Trinity beamed while applying the final touches.

Victoria made her way to her vanity to analyze herself.

“Do you like?” Trinity said, getting up from the bed and wrapping her arms around her friend’s waist.

“Yes, I do. Thank you.” Vic said while holding onto her friend's arms. “Oh! I almost forgot,” Vic said while releasing herself from Trinity to put on her favorite perfume. It had been a sweet-smelling one – floral with hints of strawberry. She had bought it while on her escapade to the mall with Trinity.

Victoria and Trinity grabbed their belongings: coats and purses, and made their way down the stairs and outside.

While walking to Trinity’s house to retrieve her car, Victoria had asked who exactly was playing tonight.

“Parker and Samira play for the Tempests,” Trinity says while starting the car, “And tonight, they’re playing against the Sirens.”

Victoria blinked. “Okay, I have never heard of either of those teams.”

“Girl, I can’t believe you live in Pittsburgh, and you hate hockey. That’s like living on an island and hating the ocean,” her friend says while pulling out of the driveway.

Victoria laughs. “I’m sorry! It’s just, it’s really not my thing,” Victoria claimed. “Okay, the Tempests do sound a bit familiar, but I think it’s because I share a rink with them.”

“Right… right…,” Trinity says. “Oh, also, I’m not supposed to say this…”

Victoria already knew what she was going to say. Victoria was betting her money on something about someone or perhaps about the team. Every time Trinity “isn’t supposed to say something,” it’s in regard to a woman. Or women. Trinity always speculated about her friend’s sexuality. Victoria was never boy crazy. She never talked about celebrity men, even fictional men didn’t seem to be on Victoria’s radar.

“But I’ve seen some of the girls on the team,” Trinity informed, “Y’know, through Instagram, and like, in person, and,” she whistled and raised an eyebrow, “and I don’t know. I think, maybe, you’d wanna…..,” She trailed off.

Victoria playfully sighed. “I don’t know. Not about the women. I mean, all women are like – pretty to me. But, I just – I’ve never… You know?”

Trinity, silently nodding, prompted: “So you think all women are pretty, then? Cause I know some uggo’s if we’re being honest. But hey, if you don’t know, you don’t know. You don’t have to tell me anything. I was just… informing you. Take the information, and do whatever with it,” Trinity says, while quickly giving her friend a comforting look.

“Eyes on the road,” Victoria jokes.

But it was true, Victoria didn’t know. She wondered who would be able to give her her very own butterflies.

⏾⋆.˚ ⏾⋆.˚ ⏾⋆.˚

The red-haired woman sat in her car while glaring at her jersey.

McKay

10

The team had lost the last 2 games, and she was feeling hopeless.  She didn’t want to let anyone down – not her team, not her coach, and definitely not herself. Before this, she felt hope was a dangerous thing for a woman to have, but it was the only thing that rang in her head.

Hope and determination; that’s what this team runs on.

Coach Robby had singed that through her head since she got appointed captain. He had told her the 1 on her jersey number meant that she was #1 – the team was #1. However, she did not feel like that was the case. She felt she had been constantly letting her team down.

However, she knew the Sirens were bullshit – their plays and the players that were on that godforsaken team. She knew they lacked what her team had: hope.

Lost in her thoughts, she hears a knock on her window. Her friend and fellow teammate, Parker Ellis, had beamed out of what felt like thin air.

She rolls her window down with a small smile, “Hey.”

“How long have you been sitting in your car?” Parker asks. “Don’t tell me you’ve been… wallowing.”

Cassie laughs while nervously tapping on her steering wheel. “A woman can’t wallow?”

“Not before a game, she can’t! Come on, Cass. You’re not nervous over a game against the Shitrens,” Parker snorted.

“Oh my God,” Cassie chuckled. “That is a terrible nickname. I always thought you were more creative. Maybe I should hand the title to Mohan.”

“I don’t have time for your negativity. Get out the car,” Parker said in a direct, but polite tone.

Cassie sighed. She wanted to have a few more minutes to herself before the game. She adored Parker, but she didn’t need her nagging right now. But alas, Parker was right. McKay shouldn’t be wallowing, especially not before a game. But she couldn’t help it – she secretly enjoyed it.

“Alright,” Cassie huffed while getting out of the car. She made her way to her trunk to grab all of her equipment and necessities.

As they made their way into the arena, the nerves settled into the depths of her stomach. These nerves have housed themselves in Cassie’s body since the night before. It was just a regular game. It wasn’t the god-damn championship. As captain, she attempted not to have the very thought of nervousness enter her. Was it the fact that the team hadn’t been doing so well since Mel had been out due to injuries? Perhaps.

The fact: they weren’t a horrible team. They had actually gotten better when Coach Robby became their coach a couple of years ago. As weird as it may seem, Robby had felt somewhat like a brother to Cassie. He knew how hard she worked. He wanted her to realize how good a player she actually was; that’s why he was so hard on her. Cassie just wasn’t aware of how much she was worth.

Hockey had always been a refuge for Cass. When she was full of anguish, she’d head to her backyard with a puck and a stick. When sorrow overwhelmed her, the infamous duo had been her only source of happiness.

She grew up in a hockey-oriented family, so when they announced the Women’s league a few years ago, she was ecstatic.

Hockey had also been the source of her love – it even brought her first love, it was more of a relationship than it was love. Fortunately for Cassie, that faded quickly.  But she found out a lot about herself through that relationship.

The main thing being her sexuality.

Cassie had always known she never felt comfortable with the thought of spending the rest of her life with a man. She was never into “dating” and the “having your firsts” when she was in high school. Hell, that mindset followed her throughout college. She thought of all that stuff to be complete and utter bullshit. Back then, she just thought she wasn’t like other girls – turns out she was somewhat right.

When she had been made aware of her queerness, other than the very awkward, very short-lived relationship with the first and only man, she hadn’t truly had a first love.

Sure, she’d sleep around here and there, but a true relationship had never transpired. She always thought someone would have to be downright suicidal to want to date someone like her. She wasn’t a terrible person; she just never thought she had what it takes for someone to extend their love to her.

And while it hurt to think that low of herself, as long as she wasn’t ruining some poor woman, she was a-okay with it.

“Hey, um, is Yolo here yet? I wanted to meet with her before the game,” Cassie asked.

Cassie and Yolanda met when Cassie first joined the Tempests. Yolanda was the team’s medic, and Cassie had a slight crush on her. They went for drinks a couple of times, but Cassie felt that Yolanda was a bit too cool for her, and by cool, she meant mature, so they remained close friends. Cassie was actually relieved that nothing came out of that. Yolo had been as well; One, she felt it was too unprofessional, and two, she wouldn’t have met Trinity.

“Why?” Parker chuckled.

Cassie playfully shoved her teammate. “I was just wondering if we were still gonna go out tonight after the game.”

“Oh, so you wanna go out to celebrate. Well, we’ll see after tonight,” Parker declared.

“You need to have a little more faith,” Cassie said while opening the back doors to the arena. “We’re going to win against the… Shitrens…,” Cassie said, cringing. God, maybe Mohan was the more creative one out of the two, she thought.

As they made their way to the locker rooms, Parker noticed Yolo’s girlfriend, Trinity. Not only did Cassie notice Trinity, but she also noticed someone trailing behind her.

Cassie did a double-take at the shorter, doe-eyed girl. She hadn’t recognized her. She’d hung out with Trinity a couple of times, but never her.

“Are you even supposed to be back here?” Parker asked in a playful tone. “Do we have a new teammate I didn’t know about?”

“Oh god no, I’d rather kill myself,” Trinity joked, to which Parker slightly chuckled. “Yolo left her med stuff at my place the other night, and I’m here to give it to her,” Trinity said while holding a black duffle bag that had a big red cross and Garcia – Pittsburgh Tempests embroidered on it. “I think she was just way too busy to actually pick it up.”

“Oh, okay, well, we should probably be the ones to take it. Non-players aren’t allowed back here. Sorry. Rules,” Parker stated.

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I don’t wanna get, like, kicked out or anything – I don’t wanna miss the big loss tonight,” Trinity jokingly smiled, which made her friend, Victoria, chuckle.

Parker and Cassie glared at the girl, while Parker, noticing the stifled laugh come out of Trinity’s friend, prompted jokingly: “Oh, you think that was funny?” Parker asked, smiling.

The doe-eyed girl was stunned.

“Oh- um. I don’t- no. That wasn’t funny,” she protested.

“Chill, I’m just messing with you,” Parker reassured, making the shy girl smile a bit, and readdressing Trinity. “That was fucked up,” she said, pointing at Trinity.

Cassie hadn’t thought the joke was funny, but also noticed the doe-eyed girl felt a bit ashamed for laughing. She felt a little bad for her.

Trinity snickered. “Oh, also, guys, sorry for my rudeness, but this is Victoria,” she said.

Victoria, Cassie's mind echoed the girl’s name as her friend said it.

Cassie sized Victoria up and down. The first thing she observed was how alluring the girl had been. Straight out of a magazine, she thought. This admiration didn’t matter; it’s not like Cassie would see the girl again. But, Cassie had definitely noted her beauty.

The fawnish girl waved. “I’ve heard so much about you guys. Well, not so much, but, Trinity has talked about you, like once or twice.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure. I’m Parker, and this is Cassie,” Parker introduced.

Cassie awkwardly waved back and glanced to ground. It had always been awkward to meet new people, and seeing a girl like Victoria made her nerves all the more strong.

“Have you ever been to one of our games?” Parker asked.

“God no, she hates hockey,” Trinity exclaimed.

This had made the awkwardness looming in the air go from a 3 to a 10.

The statement had made the others raise both eyebrows in unison. Neither players took this to heart, of course.

Cassie had truly wondered if girls like her had ever truly liked hockey. Of course, she didn’t know Victoria, but based on how she looked, girls like that only ever went to hockey games to gush over the men.

Victoria let out a scoff, “I don’t hate it. I just,” she stuttered while looking between her and Trinity.

“It’s okay, your friend is just an asshole,” Parker joked to which Trinity stuck out a middle finger to her.

“Um, I think we should, uh, head over to the locker room,” Cassie said, ending this awkward tormenting of Trinity’s poor friend. “It was nice seeing you, Trinity, and,” she gestures to Victoria, “It was nice meeting you, Victoria,” Cassie says, softly while grinning.

“You too,” Victoria smiles. “Oh! Don’t forget the bag,” she says while taking the medical bag away from Trinity and giving it to Cassie – their hands brushing up against one another.

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” Cassie says while promptly taking the bag, noting the touch of Victoria.

“Good luck!” Victoria beamed.

Parker and Cassie smiled and walked away from the two girls, making their way into the locker rooms.

Cassie, clearing her throat, “Uh, you still down for like, drinks tonight?” Cassie asked Parker, hoping the sudden interest wouldn’t seem too suspicious, but Parker gave Cassie a look.

She wasn’t sure what the look from her teammate meant, but what she had hoped to see Victoria again.

She hadn’t realized her heart beating so fast.

Cassie recognized this feeling all too well.

My Babe - Dakota Staton

1960

Smoky jazz-blues with bite and swing

Dakota Staton keeps the blues rough around the edges while the band swings it smooth.

The song first surfaced with Little Walter in

1955

Sunset

First Connecticut Lake, Pittsburg, NH

Quantaray 24mm f/2.8 lens