Stanford

Melissa Henderson always lets the door of her dorm open when she's in her room, because she likes to have oxygen. Those past days have been so intense that she leaves it wide open because she is lacking of air.

Of course Christen knows that. She also knows that Mel likes to have a Thai Latte in the morning while walking to class - because she doesn't like either bikes or cars - or that she always stretches out after training, right after everybody leaves. It's those small things that Christen likes in her, and also the way she is standing for herself, and for the others. Those past few days, the blonde has been protecting the younger girls of the team, probably forgetting to take some time for herself apart from her revisions for the upcoming exams. In between training sessions and classes, Christen never has the time to talk to her.

So today, she managed to postpone an appointment only to check on the girl. Of course she doesn't want to make it seem that way, but deep inside she knows she only needs to know if Mel is okay, before nobody is really asking. Or maybe she's never saying the truth while answering, because nobody tries enough.

Christen doesn't even knock on the door and says :

"Hey, it's Chris. Can I come in ?"

"Sure" the blonde immediately answers.

Christen finds Mel sitting on her bed, books all around her. As Mel is focusing on her work, the dark-haired sits down on the side of her bed. The blonde ignores her at first, but after a few minutes of Christen staring at her intensively, she lifts her eyes and meets with hers.

She then sighs.

"Yes ?"

"How are you ?" Christen asks calmly, serious.

"Good, and you ?"

Christen smirks.

"I'm going to ask the question one more time, but this time I want a real answer, Henderson. How are you ?"

"How am I ?"

There is a tensed silence.

Of course Christen knows Mel doesn't like to talk about herself, or even puts herself first in any kind of situations. She's built walls all around her, that Christen is ready to climb if she has to, and even lose a leg in the process if it's needed.

Mel smirks.

"How am I ?" she repeats, thoughtful, putting her pen down. "I am good. I have to be. Sometimes I feel nauseous, pretty much tensed all the time. But overall I am good. At least better than Whitney Engen."

"Melissa, don't..." Christen starts.

"It's not a joke, Chris. I'm at that point where I survive, but I don't live. Yesterday, I spent hours trying to convince Andi and Jessie that everything would be all right. And they don't even know about what Hope and Jerramy did, so I guess I just tried to convince myself. They think I'm crazy now."

Her soft laugh invades Christen's ears and makes her shiver, but she doesn't lose focus. She closes Melissa's laptop, as the blonde grimaces.

"You don't have to lie to me" the Latina says. "I know you're not doing okay by the only fact that you're avoiding me because you know I'm the only person that can see through your mask. So I'm asking the question a third and final time : how are you ?"

That makes Mel smirk once again.

"Do you really think you know me that well ?"

Christen is now confused, as she says : "I do."

"Then yes, you're right : I'm not doing okay, and I am avoiding you. Do you want some applause now, you psychologist ?"

"All I want is to cheer you up and support you, that's all".

The dark-haired soft and caring voice makes Mel frown : of course she's used of seeing Christen care about her. But what she doesn't know is if she's ready to face that and ask herself : why is she caring so much ?

She choses to let a small smile on her lips, before saying :

"Maybe I could use a hug".

Christen doesn't make her wait long.

She climbs on top of the books and literally lies down on her, as Mel's arms are now wrapped around Christen's body. The Latina can't help but bury her face on the blonde's neck, since they haven't had any physical contact in a while. They both remain still, obviously comfortable with the position and having each other so close to them.

After a few minutes, Christen relies on her elbows and makes sure she can look at Mel's eyes for a while. The blonde frowns, so Christen only says :

"I like your hugs"

Mel smirks, before saying, with an huge smile on her lips :

"I like them too. Thanks, Chris."

As they both are staring into each other's eyes, something in Christen's mind happens and she slowly, very slowly leans in, waiting for Mel to react. But the blonde freezes, and her hand only caresses Christen's back : they know they both want it to happen, but also that the circumstances are not the best yet.

So Christen stops leaning in and stares at the girl underneath her.

"You're welcome."

"Christen..."

As the dark-haired is trying to get away from this embrace because she feels like she won't be able to restrain herself anymore, Mel stops her from doing so by blocking Christen's legs with her own.

The Latina blushes.

"Let it go, Chris. Let's lie down together." Mel whispers.

Christen thinks about it for a second, before rolling her eyes : she has the right to feel something. So she finds the positions she was in seconds ago - with her lips so close to Mel's neck - and lets out a sigh of relief. After a few seconds, Mel's sweet corporal smell invades her nose, and Christen naturally kisses Mel's neck ; at first, only little pecks here and there, but then her lips are attacking the skin, as Mel's body is tensing up in a good way. The blonde moans, as Christen becomes more and more confident in the action.

But the sound of someone coughing makes her stop, and the Latina literally jumps off Mel, losing balance and falling on the ground. When Mel sits down on her bed, dying in embarrassment, she sees a pretty shocked Jessie and an excited Andi, both hiding their eyes with their hands.

Mel and Christen exchange a look, before the blonde says :

"You can unfold now."

The two youngsters starts smirking, as they are staring at the two girls - and also making fun of how uncomfortable Christen now is. Since they know they are not very welcome here right now, Andi says :

"Team meeting in five. See you there !"

As they are making their way out of the room, Mel runs after them, her mean/bitch face on, before grabbing their shoulders and strictly say :

"You tell anyone and I'll make your life a living hell. Understood ?"

"Understood" both Andi and Jessie let out, bursting into laughter.

Mel briefly kisses their foreheads and watches them walking away. Then, when she turns around, she realises that Christen took advantage of this brief period of time to sneak out of the room and avoid the awkward moment.

She's so cute is all Mel can think at the moment.

*

UCLA

Kelsey starts walking in circles, as Shelina is watching her. The defender has managed to join the goalie in her room without anyone noticing, even if it was risky. Becky is still behind bars, as the evidences against her are not known.

Things are evolving in Stanford, according to Shelina. Hope has taken over the team, and is trying to soften things down. Of course girls like Ashlyn and Alex are not happy with that, while Carli is reluctant but supportive. From Shelina's point of view, the faster they find out who Whitney Engen's sister is, the best it is. Weird thing is that there is no record or picture of the sister in question, which means that girl either wasn't living with the rest of the family, or just wasn't in the car and someone hid her identity.

It's been three hours since Kelsey has been hacking police and hospital records, but without any real progress.

"I bet it's someone from Stanford" the goalkeeper mutters.

Shelina lifts her eyes, before rolling them.

"What makes you say that ?"

"People down here are loyal" Kelsey insists.

The Canadian bursts into laughter, before saying : "Sure, what about Ashlyn then ?"

"This was different."

There is a cold silence, before Shelina says :

"Well, let's start with UCLA then" she starts, thinking. "It can't be either the Seniors or the Juniors, because Whitney's sister was younger than that. It's either a freshman or a sophomore."

Kelsey nods. "Jane, Megan, Abby, Gibby, Rose, Mal, DeCaff..." the counts, before smirking. "Well at least I'm sure it's not DeCaff, because she always talks about her freaking sisters that are older and pissing her off with their family pictures. It's not Megan as well, because she only has one sister who lives in Boston. So..."

"Jane, Abby, Christina or Mal ?"

"Theoretically, yes." the goalie insists. "Now, let's go through Stanford roaster, shall we ?"

Shelina shakes her head.

"Andi, Kailen, Jessie, Sam... That's it. But I think it is safe to say it's not Sam because..."

"Kristie."

"Yah"

The list shortened.

One of them killed Christie Rampone, and it is up to Shelina and Kelsey to find out who.