"I can breathe,

Watch as I become

Who I'm meant to be"

- AK.

| Cody |

"But...I-I thought you were in Orlando?" I ask the defender as she stands smugly infront of me.

"I was, but since I'm injured I decided to take Alex up on her offer of living here with you until the season's over and she can come back."

I can't help the massive smile growing on my face, and I bring Ali in for a bone crushing hug, listening to her and my mom laughing at my excitement.

"I'm so sorry your injury is bad and your season is over but I'm happy you're here."

"I can see that." She laughs at me as Alex stands. "I'm happy I'm here too, I'm actually as excited as you are." She ruffles my hair.

"I'll let you two talk, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, sweetie." Alex says, kissing me on the forehead, like she always does, as she leaves. I don't realize I'm smiling until Ali pipes up.

"I guess by the look of the giant smile on your face you two are getting along then." I look to the defender, smiling back at me and I only nod.

"Um, Ali. Not that I don't love having you here - I do! But is Ash with you by any chance?" I ask biting my lip, knowing its a very small chance.

"No, sorry Cody. Why?"

"I was just hoping for her help with something, I've been meaning to ask since I met her." I answer as vague as a corrupt banker in a meeting with the IRS.

"Help with what?"

I glance behind her, making sure nobody can hear, and I come clean to the Pro.

"I want a tattoo."

"Does Alex know?"

"No."

"Then, no."

"Why not?"

"She's your mother. If she's okay with it, I can take you somewhere to get it done, but you have to ask her."

"You're not going to ask why I want a tattoo?" I ask Ali, who stares at me so intently I'm sure she's reading my mind.

"No, but I can see it's important to you."

"What's important to her?" My mom interrupts, carrying a still-sleeping Kristie and laying her down in my bed. Ali makes eye contact with me, nodding her head towards my mom in a 'tell her' motion.

"I want a tattoo." I blurt out.

"You what?" My mom asks.

"I said, I want a tattoo. Before you say no, can I tell you why?" I ask, having the feeling Alex would just shut down the idea completely, surprisingly she nods. I take a breath, calming myself before I begin.

"I'm tired of looking at my body and seeing all the scars." I dive into the deep end, not beating around the bush and I see my mom give me a sad look. "I'm tired of always having to give myself a pep talk whenever I get flashbacks, I'm tired of looking at my body and seeing him, and what he did to me. I-"

"Stop. You can get a tattoo." I hear Alex say in a quiet voice and I look up to see her crying. She steps to me, engulfing me in a tight hug, which I give her back, looking over her shoulder to see Ali nod in my direction, flashing a smile at me.

We're on our way to Mr. Atkins office. Mom told me his first name but I honestly don't give a shit. If he's making me spend a single minute with my 'father', he's just as bad as the man who wants to take me away from my mom, in my opinion.

He's been talking for twenty minutes straight, and I'm getting bored.

"You just have to sign here, Miss Krieger, and you'll be legally recognized as Miss Den-"

"Don't call me that!"

"It's your name Cody."

"Well, I want to change it." I state, matter of factly, seeing Alex fight off a smile from the corner of my eye.

"Okay, I can get that sorted for you. It'll just need approval from a judge."

Can this guy do anything without a judge?

"Cody!"

I look to see everyone looking at me...shit.

"Did I actually say that instead of thinking it?"

"Yes" I hear the strain in Ali's voice, like she's trying her best not to laugh.

When we get home, everyone's in the sitting room, standing as Kristie goes around hugging everyone, her bags at the door and it hits me - she's leaving.

"Hey Codes. Can we talk?"

I don't speak, I only follow her to my bedroom, ignoring the sympathetic looks I'm getting from everyone. When we get into my bedroom, she closes the door, blocking my escape from what I'm sure isn't going to be a pleasant talk, and blocking out the eavesdroppers - mostly Kelley.

"Please don't interrupt me, because I need to say this." I called it. "I like you Cody. A lot. Maybe too much." I hear her mumble as she looks at her feet. "But you're still only sixteen, you're just a kid, I can't...we can't go there. I hope you don't hate me for this, though I'll understand if you do...but Cody, you need to live your life. You're finally in a place where you can be free, and you need to find yourself before you date. You need to live. I do, too. I just want you to be happy, enjoy school, meet new people, go to college, then maybe in a few years we can revisit 'us'. And thank you, Cody. Thank you for being there for me, every single time I've needed someone you were always there." She finishes, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pulls me in for a hug. We stay like that for a while, I'm honestly not sure how long it is until she pulls away slightly, cupping my cheeks as she whispers another 'thank you', before she kisses me softly.

There's something about the kiss that leave the impression I'll never kiss her again, and my stomach drops at the idea.

I stand, frozen to my spot as she says goodbye and leaves the room. I hear the front door close and seconds later, footsteps closing in on the the direction of my bedroom. I still haven't moved as my mom steps into my room, seeing my teary expression she pulls me into her body, holding me tightly as I finally break down and cry, muttering incoherent sentences, words barely stringing together.

"What, baby?" My mom asks as she runs her fingers through my hair, and I smile slightly knowing she remembers how it calms me down, until my heart clenches again.

"I-I really like h-her"

Alex doesn't speak, though I'm sure she's not happy about me falling for one of her teammates, she just holds me tighter, slightly rocking me back and forth, when another set of arms wraps around me. I lift my head from my mom's chest to see that it's Ali's arms, and I look at her with a confused expression.

"Don't look at me like that. This is my job as Mama number 2!"

I try my best to fight back the laugh that arises in my chest but I fail, Ali and Alex both grin when the tension eases.

"Now, about that tattoo, I'm free right now, and the pain from the tattoo might help to take your mind off of Kristie."

"Can I go now, mom?" I ask Alex, and I don't miss the smile on Ali's face as she watches my mom and I interract.

"Of course," she answers me before turning to Ali. "Be back for dinner, okay?"

"Wow, you two sound like a married couple. Good thing Tobin went home earlier!"

"Shut up and get out of here." I smile as Alex laughs, happy that she has a sense of humour.

.

Ali, Jack and I just walked through the front door, having only just gotten home from the tattoo parlour, and Ali wasn't kidding, the physical pain sure helped with my emotion pain, I can see myself getting a lot more tattoos.

"There you are! Hi sweetie." Alex comes out of the kitchen, Hope and Kelley in tow, kissing my forehead as Kelley and Hope greet Jack.

"I'm here too!" We all laugh at Ali before my mom gets straight to the point, obviously impatient about how long we took to get back home.

"Can I see your tattoo?"

"I actually got two." I mumble, hoping she wouldn't be mad but she only nodded.

I watch the others leave, giving Alex and I some alone time as she starts to tear up, knowing that my new tattoos are obviously about my past. We don't talk, we just hold each other until she's calm enough and she pulls away as Jack comes back, drinking a glass of water.

"Okay you two, you have school tomorrow, so get some sleep. I'm taking you to school." she just laughs as Jack and I groan, having gotten used to not attending the hell that is high school.

| Jack |

So far, school has been odd. Even for me.

Joanna is still treating Cody like shit, and seems to have convinced a few people to join in, something that never happened before Alex came along. I'd say she's just jealous but there's something else I can't quite put my finger on.

Walking to class with Codes is eventful. Not only do people stop to turn and look at Cody, whispering to the person next to them, but they're doing it with me too. It didn't take me long to figure out that everyone knew about my mom's accident, and how the Hope Solo adopted me pretty much out of the blue. I honestly thought it would go unnoticed since everyone is talking about Cody and Alex. And I mean everyone, the media continues to speculate, despite Alex not saying a word. Not to mention Jo on twitter running her mouth, safe to say her twitter followers have grown since she 'knows Cody' and everyone is desperate to get the inside scoop, it's pretty sad.

Right now, I'm at training. We're going 5v5's with flying changes and all is going fine until it's time for Cody's team to play Jo's in the final of our mini tournament.

I love watching my best friend play, she gains a freedom she doesn't have off-field, it's funny to see how much she plays like Alex, it only makes sense that they're related, but she's such a huge fan of Tobin's that she's got enough skill and tricks in her locker to get through defenders.

Today is one of those days.

Jo running her mouth, Cody running her feet. Until Joanna can't take it anymore and charges my best friend, stomping her foot clear into my best friend's ankle, completely ignoring the ball.

I see everyone freeze, shocked by Jo's outburst, and I run from the bleachers to Cody, hearing Jo talk shit about how she's sure Cody and Alex aren't related, and how my best friend is pathetic. I'd smack a bitch if I wasn't so concerned about Cody.

It takes a while, but the AT finally gets Codes all strapped up, her ankle iced and treated, thankfully nothing is broken, only badly bruised and coach calls the session.

I help my best friend hobble away from the field, to the van that the girls are in. When we see the van, holding Alex, Ali and Hope, Cody takes her hand from shoulder, and removes my hand from her waist and starts to walk on her own, trying her best not to limp too much as we approach the van. We're so close, when Joanna comes out of nowhere, shoving me out of the way, to the ground, as she starts in on Cody.

"Stop fucking lying to everyone, you're not shit to Alex, and you too Jack, Hope only adopted you because nobody else wanted you." She continues, but I ignore her as I see the three extremely pissed off players approaching us, and they're within earshot when Jo carries on. "So why don't you go back to your real family Cody, let that bastard fuck you straight." I jumped to my feet, fists clenched and my arm cocked back ready to knock a bitch out, when I feel myself literally being lifted off the ground and carried to the side. I look to see Hope is holding me in my place, glaring. But not at me, at Jo, so I glare along with her, which I'm sure looks funny but I'm way too pissed off.

I see Alex watching as Cody slowly approaches Joanna, obviously wondering what's going on in her daughters head. Everyone is silent as Cody comes toe to toe with her bully. I half expect her to sock her in the mouth, but she takes a breath, beginning to talk.

"Go home, Jo. I don't care what you say about me anymore. Your words can't hurt me in comparison to what I've already been through."

Still, nobody talks as Cody walks away from Jo, climbs into the van, all of us following after her. When nobody asks what we're all thinking, I take it upon myself as her best friend to ask her.

"What the fuck, Cody? Why didn't you hit her?!" I feel a smack to the back of my head, expecting it to be Hope but surprised when I see it was Ali, giving me a small smile.

"Because I'm not stupid, Jack. I know when I'm being baited into something. She clearly wanted me to hit her. And honestly, I was watching an old TV show the other day and something one of the characters said has always stuck with me".

"What was it?" I ask her.

"She said 'If you can't keep relations friendly - keep them smart'."