The day after the game, on their day-off, Tobin decides to skip that dumb team-committee - where they probably are going to talk about the incident that occurred earlier, and the middy clearly doesn't care about those Stanford gals enough to hear about them even when they don't play against them - and join Laure.

Ever since the French arrived in UCLA two years ago, as Tobin was a sophomore, the two girls have grown closer and closer. Even though nothing happened between the two of them - something Tobin is quite happy about, because she likes it how they are getting to know each other deep inside by taking their time - they both are aware of the situation. Before Laure, Tobin would just hook up with whatever girl she'd find. Those past two years, she seriously slowed down her love interests. She would only spend her parties with either of friends, or Laure through texts.

Allie, who has known Tobin for almost 20 years now, immediately knew something was the cause for Tobin's change. She also appears to know that Tobin's past could actually scare the French girl. So when she finally got Tobin to admit she had a crush on Laure, she warned her friend. Now, Allie can proudly say she is the only person knowing about them ; well, there are rumors here and there.

After a little walk, Tobin finally finds her way to Laure's dorm : she is rooming with her best friend, Sabrina Delannoy, who also appears to be French and cool. As Tobin is about to knock at the door, it opens and she finds herself face to face with Sabrina.

The French girl smirks.

"Hey, you can go in. She's under the shower and will be ready in five." Sabrina says, and once again Tobin is amazed by how her French accent has vanished with time.

Laure's, on the other hand, is still here, and incredibly sexy, Tobin thinks to herself, before focusing again.

"Kay, thanks dude" she lets out.

"Anytime, have fun !" Sabrina shouts, before walking down the stairs. She then suddenly realizes she forgot to say something : "Please remind her she has to be here at 4 pm for the volleyball reunion !"

"Will do."

After Sabrina disappears from her sight, Tobin nonchalantly closes the door behind her and sits down on the bed.

Then, something on Laure's desk draws her attention : it's a photograph of her and Tobin, the first time they've met. It was at the university's marathon, and they found themselves running next to each other for hours. Tobin would always remember their instant connection, and the fact that Laure was and is still the only girl Tobin likes more than a friend or random person in her life.

Lost in her thoughts, Tobin doesn't hear the shower stop and the door open. It's only when she hears a loud cry, and turns around that she is snapped out of her thoughts. Laure is here, a towel covering her body, scared to death : she wasn't expecting her. She probably also thought that Sabrina was gone and that she would be alone. Tobin, on the other hand, just starts laughing, and Laure throws a shampoo at her.

The French then rolls her eyes

"Damn, I thought we said rendez-vous at 2" Laure sighs out, rolling her eyes at her American friend.

"We did" Tobin confirms, smirking.

"Then why are you here one hour early ?"

"Well, training got cut short so I figured we could spend more time together" she explains, innocently shrugging.

Laure suddenly isn't mad anymore. She only grabs her clothes - a cute dress and elegant shoes, since she's always been pretty feminine in the way she dresses - and goes back to the bathroom. Two minutes later, she comes back, her dress opened on the side.

She looks at Tobin, pretty uncomfortable.

"Can you help me with that ?" she asks, blushing.

"Uhm" Tobin lets out, checking the girl out without her noticing. She then shakes her head and gets on her feet. "Sure."

As soon as her fingers attack the zipper, brushing by Laure's skin, the French shivers and tenses up. The middy, who has noticed that, awkwardly coughs and pretends to be all chill and shit, like she usually is.

Once she's done, Tobin walks away from the girl.

"So, what do you wanna do ?" Laure asks, as her blush quickly disappear

I love seeing her blush, Tobin thinks to herself.

"Sab told me to remind you about some volleyball meeting" the brunette lets out.

That immediately makes Laure sigh.

"Ugh, forgot about that. Maybe I could ditch it ?" she says, looking straight at Tobin.

"No !" the middy argues, gesturing. "This team needs you, Lau !"

"You're right." Laure says, obviously annoyed. Afterwards, as she is grabbing her bag and that Tobin is at the door, she gives her a funny look, before saying : "You still haven't told me where we are going ?"

"Coffee ?"

Of course Laure knows Tobin is talking about their favorite coffee shop on campus, where they always meet.

*

"Where the fuck is Tobs ?" Becky asks, angry.

"I don't think she needs to be here" Julie argues, meeting her mentor's eyes with concern. "I mean, she wasn't even on the pitch anymore when it happened."

"True" the captain says.

The whole room falls into silence.

Here are practically the whole team, minus Kealia, Abby, Megan, Kristie and Lindsey, who all have exams today. All the girls have heard or seen what happened with the Stanford girls, especially Alex Morgan, who was slapped by a girl from the basketball team. The girl in question didn't say anything about the fact that Becky told her she could beat Alex up, and pleaded that the Stanford players was throwing abuses at them.

Steph, who is lying down on the arms of a tired Abby, starts feeling inpatient. She throws a death glare at the two defenders, and says :

"Can we go back to the point please ?" she asks in quite an aggressive tone. "I'm fucking hungry."

Becky only looks at Abby tho. "I don't know how you still can bear her. Amazing what love can do right ?"

That causes a few laughs in the audience, while Abby just rolls her eyes at her annoying girlfriend and runs her fingers through the brunette's hair. Steph immediately relaxes and pays more attention to what is said.

Janine, who is sitting on the other couch with Kling and Gibby, sighs.

"Those Stanford gals should never have come in the first place, Becks" she says, serious, looking up at her captain. "You have nothing to feel bad for. Like, for real, that Morgan girl deserved it."

"Agreed" Allie lets out, which basically is a miracle since her and Janine never agree on anything.

The Canadian smirks at the blonde, before winking.

As Becky is talking about why she acted the way she did - obviously not the whole story...- the door opens and Kristie appears at the door. She silently greets everyone, before noticing the only space left is next to Gibby. So while nervously biting her lips, she totally ignores the younger girl, sitting next to her.

Gibby, on the other hand, is focused on what Becky has to say, because it's quite important :

"We should focus on the games ahead of us, because our first game against Stanford is only in two months. We need to build our relationships on and off the field, because the newbies need to be integrated : we can't rely on the veterans only. I need 100% commitment, and also no distractions." Everyone can hear Steph sigh, as some of the girl start smiling. The captain looks at the couple, before rolling her eyes. "You guys are not concerned by this. What I mean is that I need you all to be here."

"Yes captain" Allie yells.

The girls start clapping, before silence falls again.

"Okay, so our next game is next weekend, against Clemson. They're not a big team, so the rookies will be tested. I count on every single one of you here to support them, and push them toward victory. Understood ?"

In a common agreement, all the girls start clapping their hands, as Kling starts grabbing Mal's shoulders to shake her up a little bit. As the team is now set to go and grab some dinner together, Ash stops Becky.

The captain waits for everybody to be gone and their voices to have vanished to ask :

"What is it ?"

The goalkeeper, who never has been the kind of girl to ignore something that is bothering her, doesn't keep her voice unheard.

"Are things okay with Zola ?" she calmly asks, raising her eyebrows. When she sees Becky's eyes darkening a little bit, she immediately adds : "You seem... somewhere else recently. And I barely even see you guys together, so I figured-"

"You figured badly" Becky interrupts her, serious. "We are going through the usual couple stuff, but that's not something you might possibly understand because you don't have an actual girlfriend, am I right ?"

Of course Becky's got claws. Ash knows that. But she also knows the captain to have played by her side for three years already : something is indeed bothering her, but the keeper can't seem to put a finger on it.

She silently nods.

"You're right. I'm just trying to be here for my friend."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Right now we all need to focus on this team." Becky says.

The goalkeeper nods, and leads the way outside of the dorm.

*

Gibby, who is walking back to her dorm on her own because she wanted to walk alone - therefore, she lied to her roommates, telling them she needed to call her mother, who actually is in an humanitarian mission in the middle of Irak, with no WiFi, so, yeah - looks around her, grateful to be able to be in one of the best campus in the USA.

As she is walking in the total silence that is 2 am in a quiet side of campus, she hears some footsteps behind her. She jumps, turning around in a rush, only to find Kristie a couple meters away, hands in her pockets. Gibby hesitates on whether she should wait for her or not, but she finally decided to follow the thoughts that remind her what Becky just told them about team bonding or something and wait.

Of course, the middy takes her time to catch up with her. Once she does, the blonde looks down at Gibby, who looks tired.

"Hey" the brunette says, setting her jaw.

"What are you doing here all by yourself ?" Kristie asks, totally ignoring the first sentence Gibby said.

The rookie shakes her head.

"I could ask you the exact same question." is all she answers, before walking faster.

"Woah, kitty got claws" Kristie sarcastically says, as Gibby is slowly distancing her.

The brunette doesn't take what she says into consideration, until Kristie jogs to her and grabs er arm.

"I'd rather walk alone please" Gibby says, before looking up at Kristie in the eyes.

The blonde smirks, before she stops grabbing her arm.

"Sorry, Giblet, I didn't realize you're challenging your inner Grumpy" Kristie says, before starting to walk away slowly. She then looks at Gibby, who hasn't moved a big, before saying : "We should have coffee together one day."

"No way."

"Your call, Giblet."

"Go away."

When Kristie disappears into the night, a smile suddenly finds its way on Gibby's lips.