What? He made a chapter two? No way!:D

Yup. All the feedback from you lovely people inspired me to come back to this pairing, and hopefully you'll enjoy this:)

So, let's get to it!


"Okay."

Okay can mean so many things, and Lynn has said it countless times over her thirteen years. There was the time it meant, "Okay, I didn't expect them to make a sequel to that crap fest, but okay."

Or the time it meant, "Okay, fine. Don't wash your hands after reaching into the toilet."

Once it even meant, "Okay, go ahead and hang out with Tanya. You'll just be dead to me. That's all."

But here, sitting beside Paula, holding her hand and feeling this warmth coming over her…

Okay means, "Sure… Why not?"

After the movie, Lynn and Paula release hands, and nervously smile at one another through blushes. Lynn stands out of her seat, and Paula eases her way out with the support of her crutch.

They follow the crowd out into the aisle, and then into the lobby.

"That was…" Paula begins with apprehension.

"The stupidest movie you've ever seen?" Lynn finishes with a playful grin.

Paula giggles into her hand. "Yeah, it was horrible."

"Yeah… I mean, I could get past the squirrel suit, but the part where they kicked him out of the house?" Lynn comments before thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "Hmm… Why do I get the strange sense of deja vu?"

Paula giggles again. "If that gives you deja vu…"

The two girls just smile at one another for a moment before it becomes a little embarrassing, and they nervously blush as they look away and each rub the back of their necks.

"So…" they utter at the same time.

"Did you have fun?" Paula asks, looking back to Lynn.

"Yeah, I did," Lynn answers.

They smile at each other for a little while longer, and then, Paula extends her hand out, inviting Lynn to take it like she did in the theater.

She looks at Paula's hand, and can't help but become flustered. She tries not to make it obvious as she looks all around at the other patrons, wondering if anyone can see them, wondering if any of them know her.

The skeevy girls from before don't matter. They matter as much as Leni's SAT scores.

But what about Margo? Or Polly? Or Francisco?

She's all but biting her bottom lip off, and Paula detects her now obvious despondence.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

Lynn snaps out of it. "Uhm… No… I just- heh… My hands are kind of sweaty," she fibs.

"Oh, okay Diane," Paula quips with a wince. "Well, we still have a little time to kill before my mom comes to pick me up. Wanna just hang out in the food court or something?"

"Yeah, that's cool," Lynn answers, and they make their way out.

Paula looks to Lynn once more, and smiles another little smile.

Lynn forces a smile of her own.

"Okay… Maybe I've still got some things to think about…"


Out in the food court of the mall, Paula slurps on another cherry soda, and Lynn just sort of stares at the Dr. Gregger she's only take a few sips from. She rests her head in her hand as she leans on the table, looking around at all the patrons again. She doesn't see anyone she knows, but she still feels… exposed. Guilty almost.

She lets out a dejected sigh without even realizing it.

Paula notices this, and stops fat facing her drink. "Okay, what's up?" she bluntly asks.

"Huh? Nothing," Lynn responds. Unfortunately, she won't be winning any Oscars with her performance.

"You just seem a little… I don't know… Like maybe something's wrong," Paula sorrowfully says as she rubs her arm.

"No… It's not- nothing's wrong. I mean- it's not you. It's not…" Lynn stammers, but the way her "date" looks back to her with those puppy eyes…

She decides to do what she meant to before, and just tell her how she feels.

"Okay… Paula…" she begins, resting her hand on top of hers before realizing that it might not be very appropriate considering what she's about to say. So she removes it.

"Paula, I have to be totally honest with you…"

Paula already deflates, as if she knows where this is headed.

But, Lynn decides she still has to do this. She just has to.

"When you asked me- you know, if I 'liked' you, I didn't really realize what you meant at the time…"

"Oh…" Paula sadly utters as she hangs her head low.

"Let me finish," Lynn asserts, and Paula raises her head to meet Lynn's eyes again. "The thing is… I guess I've never really considered if I'm… Well… If I like girls that way… I mean, I didn't even know you liked girls."

Paula sighs. "That's… fair enough. I guess I did come on to you a little strongly…"

"I don't think that's quite it," Lynn rebuts. "I'm not trying to make it out to be like this is your fault, or that there's any fault at all really!"

Paula raises her brow at this. "Okay… So, what are you saying?"

Lynn takes a moment to collect her thoughts.

"What I'm saying is… I did have fun tonight. And, I do like you…"

"You just don't like me like me…" Paula bemoans.

Lynn looks into her eyes, and feels her heart racing faster than it does after she's downed two spicy subs.

"I… I honestly don't know…"

She takes a breath to compose herself again, and continues.

"I mean, the way you told those chicks off… And the way you're so head on about stuff…" She finds herself smiling again. "Not to mention… You are pretty…"

Paula's eyes widen, and she blushes as she softly smiles.

"Oh!... Uhm, wow… Thanks…"

With a little hesitation, Lynn decides to go ahead and rest her hand on Paula's again, and she makes a point to look her in the eye as she says what she needs to say.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think I'd like to just take things slow. I just need more time to think about this… Us..."

Paula sighs again as she focuses on Lynn's hand resting on top of hers.

Then, she softly smiles again.

"Well… Okay. I get what you mean," she says as she meets Lynn's eyes once more. "If you want to take things slow, that's perfectly fine."

Lynn smiles back. "Thanks."

While their moment of intimacy is nice for a little while, it eventually becomes awkward, and both girls move their hands away to nervously chuckle to themselves.

"So… I guess I have a question for you now…" Paula begins again.

"Okay," Lynn simply responds.

"Well… Tomorrow- assuming the others show up for practice… Should I just not say anything about tonight?"

Lynn takes a moment to consider this.

"Well… I mean… If it comes up, we just tell them the truth…"

...

Paula just looks to her with an expression of uncertainty, essentially begging her to elaborate.

"We'll tell them that we were just, you know… hanging out," Lynn says with an almost sickly wince.

Paula winces too, but then curves her lips into a sort of smile. "Alright… I just wanted to be sure."

Lynn smiles back, but slowly begins to realize that, maybe this isn't what Paula wanted to hear.

Before she can address it though, Paula is pulling out her phone.

"It's my mom. She's here to pick me up," she explains as she sluggishly eases her way out of her chair.

Almost panickingly, Lynn makes her way out of her chair too.

"Uhm, so, this was fun, right?" she almost thoughtlessly blurts out.

"Huh? Oh, definitely," Paula stoically answers.

"So… We should hang out again?" Lynn follows up, trying to smile in a way that doesn't look forced and awkward… failing.

Paula just weakly smiles back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lynn…"

And with that, Paula is making her way out of the food court and to the exit.

Once she's out of sight, Lynn just finds herself standing there in a bit of a daze.

"Alright… Things were going good, and now she's bummed out. What did I do wrong?" Lynn wonders. "Oh man…"

She sighs, and pulls out her phone to check the time. It's nearing 9:50, meaning the mall will be closing soon.

"Dang, I better make sure someone's picking me up…"

She's just about to call her mother…

BUZZZZZZZZZZ BUZZZZZZZZZZ

An incoming call from Luna.

She raises her brow, and answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lynn, you still with Paula?" she asks, getting right to the point.

"Uhm, no… She just left," Lynn answers.

"Alright, well I'm almost there. Be out front in five," Luna practically orders, and then she hangs up.

"O-kay?" Lynn voices aloud.

"Well, I guess I can maybe ask her about Paula… I mean, she already knows about what happened earlier…"

"Wait a second… Luna doesn't drive?"


Lynn does as Luna instructed, making her way out to the front of the mall. She looks around, but doesn't see any sign of her.

She pulls out her phone, and it reads 9:55.

"She said be out in five…"

Just as she puts it away, a familiar, sleek black BMW pulls up just ahead of her.

The driver's side window rolls down, revealing none other than Carol Pingrey.

"Get in loser, we're going shopping," she greets with her air of familiar haughtiness.

Lynn just raises her brow at this statement.

Carol looks to her with the same arrogant sneer, but can't help but break as she giddily smiles. "I've always wanted to say that!" she exclaims with Leni-like enthusiasm.

From the passenger's seat, Luna leans forward to look out the window at her younger sister. "Are you gonna get in, dude?" she asks with a grin.

Lynn just shrugs, and makes her way into the backseat of the car.

"Sup guys," she greets.

Luna and Carol say nothing. They just smile to one another before Carol puts the car in gear and begins driving.

They're quiet for a moment, and Lynn feels herself becoming a little unnerved. "Uhm… So why'd you guys pick me up? You coming back to the house, C?" she asks.

Again, the older girls just smile to one another.

Carol glances back at Lynn through the rearview mirror.

"So Lynn… Wanna tell me about your date?"

Once it registers just what Carol has asked, Lynn frowns. "Luna! You told her?" she whines.

"Ahh, chillax dude… She's my girlfriend. You didn't honestly think I wasn't gonna tell her, did you?" Luna coolly states with her usual drawl.

Lynn pouts for a moment, but decides to just accept it as she slouches back in her seat with a groan-sigh.

"Okay, fine… But you better not have told anyone else! It's bad enough Lola knows…"

...

"Don't worry about Lola," Carol asserts. "I figured out what to do about her."

"Yeah, Carol does some judging for the local pageants. She'll play ball," Luna adds. She then starts snickering to herself. "Play ball… Heh heh… That's funny… Like, cuz Lynn likes sports?"

Carol rolls her eyes. "Eww. You sound like Luan."

...

Luna playfully gawks at her. "Ahh come on… You know you like it when I tell stupid jokes… It's pretty much what made you hot for me in the first place," she flirts.

"Uhm, first of all, I like it when you tell good jokes, not stupid jokes. And second of all, I'm pretty sure you were hot for me before I was ever hot for you," Carol retorts.

"Oh yeah?" Luna alluringly replies with a big flirty smile.

"Yeah," Carol says with a big flirty smile of her own.

"Uhm, guys… Still back here…" Lynn reminds them.

"Oh, right, heh heh," Luna says with an embarrassed little chuckle.

...

"Okay, so tell us what all happened with Paula. Did you let her down easy, or what? Does she hate you now? Are you switching teams?" Carol bluntly asks.

"Carol!" Luna scolds.

"What? I'm just asking…" she defends. "Oh! And don't tell me anything about the movie! We're totes gonna go see it this weekend," she adds.

"I told you I wanted to see Eternity War," Luna rebuts.

...

Carol glowers at her. "You know how I feel about superhero movies. I am not going to sit through two and a half hours of that crud just so you can stare at girls in tight spandex…"

"Hey… The guys look good too," Luna shamelessly says in return.

Lynn facepalms. "What is even happening right now?"

Then she sighs. The other two realize this, and seize their tomfoolery.

"Hey, for real Lynn… Are you okay? Is every little thing gonna be alright?" Luna asks.

Lynn wears her heart on her sleeve as she somberly looks out the window. While she'd love to talk about Paula with someone, she realizes now just how drained she is.

"I'd kind of like to just forget about it right now, honestly…"

Luna and Carol frown to one another before focusing on the window and windshield respectively.

It takes her a minute, but, with a little hesitation, Luna carefully reaches out to the radio dial… And…

Carol smacks her hand.

"Ow!..." Luna cries before shooting her girlfriend a glare.

Carol just glares back, and the rest of the ride home is spent in silence.


Later that night, Lynn is resting in a fetal position on the couch, because her room is still a guano ridden biohazard.

The television is quietly set on Dream Boat reruns from its 2008 season, back when everyone felt like they needed a soul patch.

Again, she sighs at the thought of how things ended earlier with Paula.

Her reverie is disturbed by a beam of refrigerator light from the kitchen, and some indistinct groaning.

Deciding that she's curious to see who else is awake at 4:00 in the morning, (and that there's always time to take in some extra carbs), she makes her way to the kitchen. From the entryway, she discovers Leni filching some of her favorite leftover "mine-strone" from the fridge.

Once she's gotten her midnight snack, the resident sweetheart shuts the door and turns to find her younger sister looking at her with an almost zombie-like demeanor.

"Lynn?" is all she says.

...

"Hey Len. What're you doing up?" she asks after yawning.

"Oh. I was just thinking about things… Like, physiological stuff about how the world works, you know?" Leni answers.

"Really? Didn't think you for the type," Lynn follows.

"Oh yeah… I'm always thinking about stuff. Like, what if we were all bunnies instead of people?" Leni expresses with complete seriousness.

"Yeah, okay…" Lynn rebuts, her faint glimmer of hope for Leni burning out.

"So what are you doing awake? Wait! Am I dreaming? Ooo! I know!" Leni thinks aloud as she reaches out to pinch Lynn with her free hand.

"Ow! What gives?!" she cries.

"Sorry! I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming!" Leni rationalizes.

"You're supposed to pinch yourself!" Lynn retorts.

Leni thinks it over. "That doesn't make much sense," she says with a shrug.

Lynn could facepalm, but she doesn't have the energy to. Instead, she just makes her way back into the living room to return to the sanctuary of her couch.

Once her tushy meets the cushion, she looks skyward as she prepares to lose herself in some more regret.

Leni thoughtfully looks to her sister. Rather than simply heading back upstairs with her cold minestrone, she decides to join Lynn on the couch.

"Is something wrong? Are you getting cramps?" she asks as sweetly as possible.

"What? No," Lynn tartly responds.

"Oh… That's what Mom tells me when she makes that face," Leni explains.

Both girls look to the TV, then Leni returns her attention to Lynn.

"I can tell something's wrong though. Do you want to talk about it?"

Lynn considers her words for a moment, but shakes her head.

"No, I don't think you'd understand."

"Why does everyone always say that?" Leni wonders, saying it more for herself than Lynn. She disregards it though, and again returns her focus to the other Loud girl. "Well, maybe not. But it can't hurt to try," she adds with an endearing little smile.

Lynn sighs. Of all the opponents she's competed against, of all the obstacles she's overcome- Leni's compassionate nature is the one thing she can't get the better of.

"Alright… Well, I'll tell you. But this stays between us, okay?"

Leni just smiles again. "Pinky swear," she proudly states before sticking her thumb up. "Dang it. I always do that," she curses as she corrects her error.

Lynn just softly smiles, but lets it wane as she gets serious.

"Okay… Well… I went to the movies tonight with a friend," she begins.

"Ooo! What'd you see? Syngen- syngenes-" she keeps trying to pronounce.

"No. I'm not watching that one," Lynn states with a rigid frown.

"Okay… So you saw a movie with your friend. What happened?" Leni inquires.

Lynn steels herself over how she'll respond, but thinks of a way to save face.

"Well… My friend Paulauhhh… Paul… She- He… is someone I've been talking to a lot lately," she stammers.

Leni smiles a little smile. "Ahh… So, he's a special friend?" Leni asks.

Lynn winces. "Well… It's complicated," she responds. "I guess I should start from the beginning…"

"Wait, this won't spoil anything about the movie will it? You know how much I hate spoilers," Leni states.

Lynn just rolls her eyes at the many forms of irony regarding this statement. "No."

She regains composure, and proceeds with her story.

"Okay, so, me and Paul were walking home from a game earlier today. He asked me if I liked him. And, well, I said yes…"

Leni smiles a little. "Aww… Lynn," she simply says.

"Yeah, well, I guess I didn't realize what he meant at the time. I thought he was just talking about- you know, being friends or whatever…"

Leni sneers. "Really? I mean, when a guy asks if they like you, it's pretty obv he means like like."

Lynn facepalms. "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

Leni eases up on the sneering, and Lynn eases up on the facepalming.

"Well, it wasn't 'obv' to me. At least, not until he kissed me on the cheek," she reveals, visualizing the very moment Paula stole that kiss.

"But that's adorbs! Why is that a bad thing?" Leni asks.

Lynn wants to say something along the lines of, "Because he's a she," but does her best to contain herself.

Instead, she tells her, "Just wait…"

She takes another moment, then continues.

"So, before she- he kissed me… on the cheekHe asked me to go to the movies with him. I said yes, but then he kissed me, and- I don't know. I didn't wanna be rude or mean or anything, so I just decided to think about it at home… Well, I decided to go ahead and go to the movie with him, just to tell him how I really feel…"

"And how do you really feel?" Leni asks.

...

Lynn sighs. "I… I really don't know… I mean, I think he's a really nice girl- guy!"

...

Leni raises her brow. "I think you need to get some sleep. You keep messing up your adjectives. Or- is it adverbs?"

"...Uhm, pronouns… But whatever," Lynn says, smoothly moving right along. "He's a really nice person,and, honestly, I had a really great time with him tonight…"

"So, what's the matter?" Leni asks, almost cautiously.

Lynn thinks it over for a moment.

"The problem is, I'm scared of what will happen if we decide to be more than friends," she confesses. "First of all, there's the fact we're teammates, and if something would happen, it would be weird to play together. Not to mention what it would do to our friendship…"

She crestfallenly slouches back in her seat.

"That's not even the worst part… Honestly, I'm scared of what everyone else will think. I'm scared that I'll lose friends, and that people will think I don't like boys… Other boys, I mean. Like, if something would happen, you know?"

Leni simply nods, conveying that she both cares and understands.

Lynn shuts her eyes, feeling the anguish that comes with her next thought.

"But you know what I'm the most afraid of? I'm afraid of how you guys would react… You guys would all think of me a lot differently."

Leni becomes bewildered. "Wait. You mean- us? Like, our family?"

...

Lynn just meets her with a sorrowful look of affirmation.

"Lynn, listen. No matter what happens, we'll all be here for you. I'll be here for you," Leni proclaims. "I'm not so sure why you're worried about this guy, but, you did say you guys had a great time tonight, right?"

Lynn thinks it over. "Yeah?"

"Well… Maybe that's all that matters," Leni asserts with a little shrug.

They let the words linger in the air for a little while before Leni speaks up again.

"When I started talking to Chaz, some of my friends said some nasty things about him… They said he wasn't good enough for me. But you know what? I told them I didn't care. What matters is that... he makes me feel happy. He makes me feel good about who I am…"

Lynn just attentively listens, really considering all of her older sister's words.

Leni smiles at her. "I think you shouldn't worry about what other people think. Your real friends will support your decisions no matter what."

After a moment to let her words sink in, Lynn smiles back. "Wow… That's… pretty good advice Leni. Thanks…"

"You're welcome. I read it off a fortune cookie last time I was at Giovanni Chang's," the other girl proudly states.

Lynn just keeps smiling, but it wanes as she remembers her other problem.

"I think I may have hurt his feelings…"

"Chaz? I didn't know you guys talk to each other?" Leni responds.

"No, not Chaz… Paula- er, Paul…"

"Ohhh…" Leni utters in a way that's become all too familiar to her siblings. "Well, what makes you say that? Did you forget to share your popcorn again?"

Lynn ignores the subtle jab at her healthy appetite, choosing to focus on the important matters.

"Well… I told him I wanted to take things slow. Just to see how I felt about all this, right?"

Leni just nods.

"But then he asked me about our teammates," Lynn continues. "He was like, 'what do I tell them about us?' And…"

Light bulb. Epiphany.

"Oh…" Lynn utters, realizing now just what made Paula so distraught.

Leni raises her brow. "What?" she asks.

"I think… I think when I told her it wasn't a big deal, I made it into a big deal. I need to to talk to her about it tomorrow at practice… Make things right," Lynn excitedly thinks aloud.

Leni just meets her with more confusion. "Who are you talking about?"

To which Lynn returns the feeling. "Huh? I'm talking about- Paul…" she responds once she realizes her oopsie, playing it cool.

"Oh. It's just- you said 'her.' You've been doing that a lot… Are you sure you're okay? Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Leni concerningly asks.

Lynn practically freezes. Leni, simply by just being Leni, has made it very fortuitous to maybe experiment with certain conversations that would need to happen in the future regarding a certain someone. Conversations that could be very difficult considering the invulnerable image Lynn's built for herself over the years, an image that only Leni is allowed to pervade every so often.

But she simply can't say anything. She literally can't help but dumbly look to Leni, her tired eyes just fixed on her with these feelings of confusion and angst now evident in them.

But Leni- sweet, lovable Leni… she just smiles that same endearing smile as before.

"I really think you should get some sleepies. You'll figure things out with your friend tomorrow. I know you will."

Belatedly, Lynn softly smiles back.

...

Without another word, Leni gets up from the couch with her minestrone in hand, and makes her way to the-

"Ah!" she hollers as she clumsily trips, spilling her leftovers all over the carpet. Lynn just painfully winces as she watches on

Leni raises her head off the floor, looking down to the mess she's made.

"Dang it… My mine-strone…"


The next day…

Ketcham Park, Daylight.

Lynn Loud Jr. arrives at the basketball court with a ball tucked under her arm, and a white towel draped over her shoulder.

She makes her way over to the nearest pavillion, setting her things down by what would appear to be Paula's belongings.

"I guess it's just the two of us again… This won't be awkward at all…"

At the half-court line, Paula is preparing herself for a shot, using both hands but still supporting herself with her crutch.

She takes a moment to measure her shot, and takes it. It's perfect… almost.

"Dang it," the taller girl curses as the ball glides around the rim of the hoop, only to fall to the side and onto the pavement below.

Lynn nervously rubs the back of her neck. "Here we go," she utters to herself as she walks over to her.

"Hey Paula," she says aloud now, and Paula turns to face her.

"Hi," she indifferently says back before hobbling her way over to recollect the ball.

Lynn just nervously stands in her spot for a moment, trying to swallow down this lump in her throat.

"So… Where's Amy? Her mom making her do other stuff?" she asks now.

Paula just barely glances back to her. "Huh? Oh… Probably. I'm not sure…"

"What about Diane? Her cat still dealing with worms?" Lynn asks now.

"I think so," Paula simply says, not even glancing back this time as she gets to the ball and picks it up.

"And Maya?" Lynn asks regarding their final teammate.

Paula doesn't even say anything to that. She just turns and face Lynn with a look of apathy.

In response, Lynn nervously, awkwardly smiles. "Right…"

Paula turns away again, and heads back to the half-court line to take another shot.

"Alright… You can do this Lynn… Just say what you need to say…"

"Paula… I have something to say," she begins, and Paula turns back to face her once more.

"...I'm sorry about last night," Lynn apologizes.

...

"For what?" Paula stoically responds with a raise of her brow.

"I'm sorry for… for what I said when you asked me about the others; about what to say to them about us…"

"Oh," is all Paula says in response, somewhat remorsefully.

"Yeah…" Lynn says as she nervously rubs her neck again. "That wasn't cool. I mean, I just- I don't want you to think that I don't like you… Because, the more I think about it, the more I realize…"

She stops, visibly becoming frustrated.

"The thing is… I just don't know how to say this all without seeming like I don't care about you. Because I do. I just- this is all so new to me, and I always thought about boys, and you're the first girl to ever act this way to me... Actually, you're maybe the first person to be this way… At least, the first to make it feel real, you know?"

Paula just retains her conflicted expression as Lynn struggles to go on.

"I don't want you to think that's like, the only reason I like you either though. Because it's not! I mean, I think you're awesome! I just- I still mean what I said last night, like, how I wanna figure things out, but, at the same time-"

"Lynn," Paula finally says, cutting her off.

And Lynn Loud clams up, animatedly puckering her lips and widening her eyes.

"You know what I want?" Paula asks.

Lynn just meets her with the same peculiar look.

...

"I want to play basketball with a really cool girl," Paula finishes with a soft little smile.

And Lynn eases into a little smile of her own.

"...But since I can't find one, I guess I'll just play with you," Paula jokes, passing Lynn the ball.

She catches it, and just looks down to it as she feels the texture of it against her palms.

"Paula…"

She looks up to her now, and they just share the same warm smiles for a moment.

"...You know I have to annihilate you now, right?" she finishes.

...

"Bring it on, shorty," Paula ripostes, and with that, they get to business.

Lynn dribbles the ball, strategizing her next move as she challengingly fixes her eyes on her opponent.

Paula doesn't bat an eye though. She's making a point to show that she won't be intimidated; that she's ready for whatever Lynn can throw at her.

Or, that's what she thinks anyway.

Lynn makes her move, swiftly maneuvering to Paula's right side- her crutch side. Paula side steps in an attempt to halt her momentum, and Lynn tries to get around with a side step of her own. They repeat this a couple times, and during the stalemate, Lynn tries changing it up with an abrupt step to the left. Paula suddenly hops in her way though, and they collide into one another.

"Woah!" the blonde cries, and she falls to her butt.

Lynn blunders too, her tuckus also meeting the pavement. "Ouch!"

...

She rubs her tender backside, and recovers to sit up. When she does, she sees that Paula has somehow snapped her crutch in two.

"Shoot! I'm sorry dude!" she cries as she jolts up to her feet.

"Dang. My mom's gonna kill me," Paula bemoans through the discomfort as she realizes what's happened.

"Are you okay?" Lynn asks now as she comes to her side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Good hustle," Paula says with a little grin. "It's gonna be hard for me to play without my crutch though," she somewhat jokingly says as she tries to get to her feet. "Ah, ah," she moans in pain, this endeavor proving to be defective.

"Easy. Just relax," Lynn tells her, gently helping her meet the canvas again. Then, she positions herself under Paula's arm, and helps her stand.

"Dang, you weren't kidding. You really annihilated me," Paula quips.

"I'm so sorry," Lynn apologizes again.

"It's fine, dude. Just… help me over to the pavilion so I can get my phone. I gotta have my mom bring me a new crutch," Paula instructs.

"Okay…" Lynn says with a discriminating blend of relief, guilt, and amusement in her voice.

Together, holding onto one another, they make their way off the court and into the grass.

"Uhm… You know what I just realized," Lynn begins.

"What?" Paula responds.

"We use the same deodorant, heh heh," Lynn answers with a little chuckle.

"Heh heh… You're funny, Lynn," Paula simply says with a smile.

Lynn just loses herself looking at her for a moment. For the first time, she really notices her. She has hazel eyes that compliment her blonde hair, and her nose is just right. Not too big, not too small, it's just right. And, she realizes, she has dimples.

The cutest dimples.

"Lynn- Lynn!" Paula panickingly blurts out, and Lynn follows her eyes to see what's the matter. Before she can even realize that it's going to happen though, Paula's falling out of her grasp, and onto the ground below…

Right into the big puddle of mud Paula tried to warn her about.

Lynn just looks at her, her mouth agape, her heart now pounding. "Oh my gosh- I am so sorry!" she apologizes once more, not even tempering the desperation in her tone.

Paula looks at herself, sickly winces, and then looks up to Lynn with a sorrowful expression. She sadly frowns, then extends her hand for Lynn to help her up without a word.

Lynn frowns too, accepting that she has officially messed this whole thing up.

Literally.

With that, she reaches out to Paula, and takes her hand.

She tries pulling Paula up, but, the girl won't budge.

Confused, Lynn gives another tug, but Paula still doesn't move.

At first, she thinks that maybe she's stuck or caught or something. But then she sees the look in Paula's eyes.

First, they're vengeful. But then, they're devious…

...

And with a grin, Paula pulls Lynn with all of her strength, sending her down into the mud with her.

As she comes to terms with the reality of the situation, Lynn meets Paula with a look of shock.

But Paula just sweetly smiles, and giggles into her hand.

"Hey. You've got a little mud on you," she jokes.

Lynn finally gets with the program, realizing now just what Paula's intentions were.

So she smiles too.

"Oh, I've got a little mud on me, huh? Ah, no big deal. It's just a little mud… Not like all thismud on you!" she declares as she takes a fistful of mud and stiffly palms Paula in the chest.

"Uhh! You nub!" Paula playfully retorts, and she returns the favor with some mud slinging of her own.

"Ah, that tears it," Lynn says, and she wrestles Paula onto her back.

"Haha! Stop! It's gonna get in my pants!" Paula says through her laughter.

"It's gonna be everywhere when I'm done with you, you- you- tall person!" Lynn cleverly ripostes.

She has all but forced her into submission, using her bodyweight to keep the taller girl down, and wrapping her hands around her wrists to fully trap her.

Paula tries nudging out of it, but it's no use. Lynn has her pinned.

Panting, she defiantly tells her, "You suck…"

But of course, she smiles as she does, really showing off those dimples.

Lynn just looks into her eyes. Here in this moment, feeling the mud on her face, seeing the mud on Paula's, she can't help but think back to the night before. All those warm feelings that came with laughing, smiling, and holding hands… They're back. And they feel even better now that she can really see those hazel eyes outside of that dark, crowded theater.

She just keeps gazing into them, and Paula just gazes back. It makes Lynn's heart start racing again, in a way that's newer and more exciting than when she had to regurgitate those spicy subs.

Slowly, she lets go of Paula's wrist with her right hand, and moves a stray strand of hair away from her face.

Then, she doesn't even think about it. She just does it.

She kisses her… on the lips.

It's not like those cheesy romance movies where they totally get lost in sucking face. It's just a little smooch. Enough to just feel her lips against hers, and to tell her all those things she was trying to say before that just wouldn't come out quite right.

"Sorry," Lynn utters with a smile as she sits back up.

Paula's eyes widen as her face brightens up. "For what?"

...

After gazing into each other's eyes a little while longer, Lynn finally gets up to her feet, and extends her hand to Paula once more.

This time, Paula just takes it, and Lynn helps her up to her… foot.

She wraps her arm around her to support her again, and, again, they smile.

"I uh… I still wanna take things slow," Lynn says to her.

...

Paula just lets another little giggle escape her.

"Okay."


Thanks as always for reading my darlings. Now, if you're wondering why Carol was here and not Sam, it's because of my other story "Carol Likes Luna." I don't feel like typing fifty thousand words to explain myself any further, so just go read it and be prepared to smile a bunch.

And who's Tanya? Go read "Live to Lynn" by LoudAutomata16 to find out. I should also say that he inspired the last scene for this chapter, and that he's the second best Lynn author there is;)

Anyway… What's next? Well, I'm not done with Lynn and Paula. I'll say that much. I think I'm going to turn this into a series of one-shots similar to what some other authors do on this site, and just update whenever inspiration strikes. If you have any suggestions for what Lynn and Paula could get into in the future, feel free to share your ideas, and I'll take them into consideration. Dream work makes the teamwork. Yeah. Something like that.

Thanks for everything true believers. Hopefully we'll all see each other again sooner than later:)