"Following a traumatic event among the Stanford community, the Official Committee of University Sports decided to suspend the 2017 College Soccer season until things are sorted out. It occurs to us that this recent event is not the only one to have taken place the last few months, as another Stanford student was beaten up inside the campus. Given the fact that both girls belonged to the women's soccer team, it is natural that further investigation will take place, especially since several complaints have been pronounces between Stanford and UCLA, both in the lead of the Women's Championship. We thank you for your understanding, and hope to sort things out as soon as possible."

Megan closes her eyes.

They're currently in her friend's room, Steph listening to the news closely, muttering harsh words while her girlfriend is caressing her back. Gibby and Jane, on the other hand, are just surrounding the blonde defender, who has been crying for days. Rose, on the other hand, takes care of food. Either girl have been to their classes recently, at least not all at once. Megan can hardly leave her bed, for the matter.

Ever since Ashlyn and Becky left the team, Jill has just called a reunion that occurred the day after the tragic events. The result of that is quite unfortunate : the training have been called off, and the girls have been told not to try and reach anyone from Stanford during those trouble times. The two British coaches have been working very hard to protect the team, but unfortunately, Stanford is willing to take action in order to clear things out. And everybody knows that taking the past back is not a good idea.

In the middle of the afternoon, as Megan's eyes are wandering around, and that the other girls are working, Gibby lets Kristie in, who just got some food for everyone. Once the blonde enters the room, she immediately knows now is not the time to talk to Gibby. As a matter of fact, the brunette obviously isn't thinking about her given to all the drama that has occurred, and that Megan is just barely still alive. Slightly disappointed, Kristie hands Rose and Jane some food, as the brunette sits down next to Megan.

She slowly caresses her back.

"Meggy, you need to eat" Gibby softly says, not smiling. "Come on. I know you're not hungry, but you gotta eat. Do it for us, okay ?"

The defender only nods.

Since Kelley and Julie, after further consideration, are on their way to the hospital where Shelina is being taken care of - and where Becky has been living for days now - and that girls like Allie, Kelsey, Tobin and Kling have exams coming their way and have to study all the time, the team hasn't gotten together since that troubled night. Then, there are girls like Maro or Ada, freshly coming here, that are checking up on everybody, sometimes eating with some girls, sometimes just seeing them.

But everybody know that they're united. And that's what matters for people like Megan or even Kelley, who has seen her friends from freshman year go away from her. Even though she spends a lot of time with Allie, she can't just forget what happened.

After Megan finally eats something, Steph and Abby start looking at her. When she lifts her eyes, they just softly smile.

"We have a surprise for you, kid."

Megan raises her eyebrows. After Steph's words got out of her mouth, there is a knock on the door. Since the sophomore is too weak to even move, Kristie is the one that goes and open the door. What happens next is a light in total darkness.

A tall brow-haired steps inside, huge circles under her eyes, and even more horrifying bruises. Her greenish eyes are empty, until the moment she looks at Megan, whose eyes have gone wide. As soon as the eye contact between the two is made, Kristie gives everybody a sign that it's time to go, and they all leave the room, as the brunette is crossing her eyes against her chest, staring at the ground shamefully. As soon as the door closes, she stares at the girl, that is now on standing on her shaking legs.

Kailen is shaking as well.

"Can I hold you ?" she carefully asks, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Megan's heart stops beating for a second.

When they found Kailen in the common bathroom that night (or more precisely, when Melissa Henderson found her), she was clearly between life and death, all the veins near her wrist cut and bleeding. Thank the Lord, Melissa, who has a mother that actually is a doctor, had learnt a thing or two about saving lives, and was able to control the hemorrhage, as the ambulance came very soon afterwards. The young Canadian was taken care of in the hospital, but when the doctors told her that it'd be best for her to actually go on an psychiatric hospital, her parents refused and just forced her to go home in Canada. Hence, Megan wasn't even able to see her again.

And now, she's just pissed : pissed about the fact that she didn't get any explanation after Kailen's actions, but also pissed at herself ; how could I have not seen this ? She could have found out the plan sooner. She could've saved Kailen on her own. But instead of that, she just let herself being blinded by her feelings toward the young goalkeeper, knowing very well that the taller girls would do anything to save her from Stanford's evil plans. She knew that, but still, ignored the danger.

And that almost made her lose Kailen. And she'll never forgive herself for that.

"Please" Megan whispers.

Kailen immediately walks toward the girls and firmly wraps her arms around Megan's neck and shoulders.

As soon as the defender starts crying, Kailen holds her closer, just to let her know she's here, and won't go anywhere this time. She came back for her, and somehow Megan knows she's never done that for anyone else. Kailen has always been kind of a loner, but maybe not anymore. As the goalie slowly caresses Megan's hair, kissing her forehead again and again, the defender's hands find their way on Kailen's waist.

The Canadian goalie slowly whispers :

"I'm so sorry, baby girl".

Megan starts crying harder. I almost lost her. That sentence has been running on Megan's head for days, asking herself if one day she would finally be able to reveal the taller girl her feelings. But now is not the time.

Kailen is crying as well.

"I'm so, so sorry Meggy" she repeats, with a piercing honestly that goes right at Megan's heart, that shatters. "P-please, forgive me. I'm nothing without you."

"I, am nothing without you" Megan immediately says, trying to hit Kailen in the stomach. But she is so weak that it only feels like soft hits, as she is letting herself go in the girl's arms. "So you never get to decide to just take your life like that, because it also means to take mine."

Quite shook by this ultimate declaration, Kailen holds her girl even closer to her body, closer to her heart and soul, and says :

"I love you."

But Megan is crying too hard to say what she thinks : I love you too idiot. So she just cries, and when her friends come back, both girls are lying on the bed, in each other's arms, both finally feeling alive again.

*

"Hi."

As soon as those words escape Kelley's mouth, Becky opens her eyes and stare at the girl, frowning. She probably heard about what happened among the team, with so many girls that have to leave the team because their parents don't want them associated with the recent event - as in Moe, Kling and Lindsey joining UVA, and Janine and Kealia joining Harvard, in addition to Ashlyn joining Stanford - and the UCLA team set to close because of the deficit of players, because she doesn't even look upset when she sees Kelley. She is holding Shelina in her arms, closed to her heart, as the girl's head relies on her shoulder, fast asleep.

When she also sees Julie by Kelley's side, the defender is moved. But she doesn't let any of this get in the way : she has to be tough.

"Hey" is all she answers in a neutral tone.

Julie smiles.

"I miss you, Broon. The whole team does." she says in a genuinely honest tone, trying to make as much eye-contact with Becky as she possibly can so that the older girl knows it's for real. "We kicked Ash out because of what she's done."

"Ashlyn has always been a influenceable person" Becky thoughtfully lets out. She then looks up at Kelley, before saying : "What are you here for, Kel ?"

The brunette shakes her head.

"Just checking on you, just like you did to me" she says. She then looks into Shelina's direction, before saying : "She's pretty."

Becky smiles. "She is." she adds, caressing the girl's hair, before looking up at the two girls in front of her. "Why are you really here for ?"

There is a meaningful silence.

"We need our captain" Kelley lets out, honest. "We need you."

Becky has a soft smile on her lips.

"You have me, girls. I never left."

"Technically, you did" a sleepy voice says next to Becky, and all eyes are now on Shelina, who sits down on the bed, a shy smile on her lips. "Hey."

"Hey" Julie immediately says, before walking toward her, giving her hand for her to shake. She then smirks. "I'd never thought I'd say that, but, I'm glad you're okay"

Shelina smiles.

"Thank you, Julie."

"But I gotta warn you : if you break my big sister's heart, I'll end you." Julie adds, dead serious.

Shelina frown. "You never told me you had a little sister, hon" she says, looking at Becky, freaked out.

The defender rolls her eyes.

"She's not my real sister." Becky explains, but when she realises how dark Julie's eyes are, she adds : "But she kinda is my spiritual sister. At least I consider her as one. As well as Kelley."

The brunette looks at her captain, almost shocked to hear that : the two girls never express their feelings, and have not said something nice to each other in ages. The only fact that Becky just said that means everything to Kelley.

She smiles, before sitting on the bed as well.

"Let me sum it up : if you hurt Becky, you'll have what's left of her whole freaking team coming at you and haunt your dreams. Got it ?" the squirrels says in the same tone than Julie used earlier.

That is not going to make Shelina feel more comfortable, though.

"Got it" she manages to say in a rather confident tone. In order to make them believe her, the Canadian puts her hand on Becky's leg, squeezing it firmly. That makes the defender smile, but she doesn't dare to kiss Shelina's cheeks for now : her teammates still don't know her well enough to handle that. "She's safe with me."

"We'll see that" Julie mutters, smirking.

After that, the three girls order pizza, as Shelina has to stick to the medical meal. Surprisingly enough, they had no problem to talk with each other, and ended up appreciating each other, even Kelley.

Becky smiles.

*

Kristie stares at Gibby, as the brunette is tidying her room, making her bed for the first time in ages. Jane and Rose has taken off to take a class, as the other girls are either studying or jogging together. Even with all those complicated and conflicted situations - Megan and Kailen being one on their own, even though the goalie was kicked out of the team - Kristie couldn't stop thinking about Gibby.

She knows she needs to talk to her.

So she finally manages to man up and stand up. But once she's done so, Gibby is already doing something else, as she seems focused. The blonde rolls her eyes, before intentionally getting on her way.

"Schatz" Gibby says, obviously annoyed by the blonde. Kristie smiles at the nickname Gibby came up with in order to take revenge for 'Giblet', that means 'honey' in German (Maro taught her that), while not moving. Gibby stares at her, tired. "I need to have this done so that my roomies don't have to deal with a dirty room. Can you please step away ?"

"You can't avoid that conversation forever, Giblet"

"I know. But now is certainly not the right time, so-"

"It's never the right time" Kristie insists, sighing.

The only fact that the blonde actually cares about something for once makes Gibby stop for a moment, before she sighs as well and says :

"I am avoiding this conversation for a very simple reason : look at our team, we don't need any more drama."

"Who said anything about drama ?" Kristie asks, raising her eyebrows. She then manages to wrap her arms around the other girl's waist, who immediately panics and gets out of that embrace. Kristie sighs, fed up. "All I want is to have a second date so I can show you I can be serious sometimes."

"Serious about what ?" Gibby asks, paying dummy.

"When I said I really liked you"

"Kristie, we really don't need that right now, furthermore I-"

"Come on, shut up !" Kristie says, her voice getting louder.

There is a small silence, as Gibby is staring into Kristie's multicoloured eyes. The freshman knows there is no way out of this, away from Kristie, but she has no choice but try and resist, because yes, the team don't need this and also, she is not ready. The only thought of belonging to someone, being trapped by someone, being owned by someone, is repulsive to her. Even though Kristie could be that person.

So she only shakes her head.

"Do you mind helping me with the lists Becky asked me to do please ?" Gibby asks, her innocent voice causing Kristie to roll her eyes once again. "That'd be very find of you."

The blonde thinks about yelling at the brunette for a second, but then decides not to. Instead, she grabs the pile of paper in front of her and sighs.

"Sure."

They then both continue to do their thing, in total silence. Sometimes, Kristie almost catches Gibby staring at her, but every time the freshman manages to look innocent and focused on her work.

Kristie tends to become desperate, so she randomly says, out of nowhere :

"Then I should go to that date some guy proposed me". When she realizes she immediately caught the younger girl's attention, Kristie smirks and goes on : "I mean, you wouldn't mind, would you ?"

Of course Gibby is upset.

"Fine, do whatever you want Kristie" she spits, annoyed.

"What, are you jealous ?"

"No" Gibby hisses, her face becoming redder. "What I am is angry, because you're trying to make me upset on purpose by asking me out on a date, and then pretending like you've got someone else in mind when you don't. I know you, and it doesn't work with me."

"Oh, Giblet, don't be so-"

"I think you should go."

The blonde rolls her eyes, not moving a bit.

"I'm staying" she firmly announces, and before the brunette can say anything more, she adds : "I have to do that damn list."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Even though the atmosphere is tensed, Kristie is smiling widely : Giblet cares about who I go on a date with. And she knows pretty well that the only person Gibby wants her to go on a date with is Christina Gibbons.