Stanford

After their first game back after Kailen's death, and a touching tribute to her, the girls go back to the locker room. In a few hours, UCLA is playing on home soil and they're going to attend the game.

Sam is the last person to enter the building, still moved about their 8-0 win over Duke. She scored a brace, while Jessie had a hat trick in honor of her good friend, and then Sofia, Andi and even Lucy scored as well. The captain, proud of her teammates, hugs each one of them to congratulate them.

When she finds herself in front of Lucy, she starts shaking. Damn it, Mewis ! Pull it together for God's sake, the blonde thinks to herself, before hugging her quickly.

Ugh, why does she have to smell so good, even after a game ? She thinks, before pulling away. The defender, on the other hand, looks relaxed and smiley.

"Good job out there, captain " Lucy says in a rather flirty tone, before putting a lock of hair behind Sam's ears. She then loses her smile. "Hey, I was wondering if you could help me with something ? You're the only girl I know here so I didn't who else to ask..."

But Sam doesn't wait for the sentence to be finished when she says :

"Sure, tell me !"

Lucy gives her one of her magnificent smiles, before saying :

"I'm new here, obviously, and this campus is too huge for me to handle... Do you think you could show me around one of those days ?"

Sam blushes, and that makes Lucy smile. The defender then thinks : seriously, Hope ? You could've at least given me some more challenging girl to seduce, this is way too easy.

The midfielder says :

"S-sure, t-tomorrow?"

Lucy smoothly takes one step closer to her, only to softly kiss the blonde's jaw, before smiling again.

"Thanks, you're the cutest" she then exclaims, before walking into the locker room, where the girls are celebrating their victory.

Sam's skin us burning where Lucy's lips touched it.

*

Kristie nervously stands in front of the locker room's door, ready to cheer her teammates on. The pressure is floading : it's their first game back after everything that happened lately, and the stadium is full of people chanting from UCLA and Stanford. The support in unbelievable, and when Kristie hears that, she shivers.

She takes a final look at the starting XI for tonight's game :

She smiles : they're going to do great.

When the door opens and immediately closes, Kristie lifts her eyes from the paper and sees Kassey, who looks pretty nervous. Finding her very cute at the moment - even though she shouldn't and knows it - the middy says :

"Are you okay ?"

Kristie gets closer to her, before looking around them and pecking Kassey's lips. The blonde smiles, before jokingly pushing her away.

"Mmh yeah..." Kassey starts, but the answer doesn't please Kristie, who says :

"Come on, Kass, what's up ?"

The girl's smile disappears from her face, as Kristie regrets joking about it. Kassey then looks down at her hands, before whispering :

"I think we should have the talk..."

"The talk ?" Kristie repeats, confused.

"Yeah... About us."

What the fuck ? the blonde thinks to herself, as the other girl obviously is embarrassed. She's just playing a double game, why would she want to have a talk ? Is that part of Hope's plan, or her own plan ? Kristie shakes her head in disbelief.

She's not ready to stand down.

"Why talk when we can fuck instead ?" Kristie jokingly asks, biting her lips.

But it doesn't make Kassey laugh.

"I'm serious." The blonde insists, while Kristie loses her smile as well.

She's serious ? Why would she be ? And why would I have goosebumps right now ? What the fuck is happening right now ? As her thoughts are going on in her head, Kristie throws a beyond-confused glare at Kassey, who blushes.

Kristie then says :

"You... are ?"

She has never been more confused/surprised/thrilled/scared in her life, and even less if we talk about the four things in the same time. A part of her is telling her not to trust Kassey and keep on playing with her because it would be wise to protect herself, but the other part just wants to kiss and make love to her and let her in a little bit more.

Kassey takes a deep breath, before staring into Kristie's soul and saying :

"I'm kinda... lost right now" she explains, while Kristie's heart misses a few beats. The other girl doesn't seem very comfortable talking about herself, but she continues : "I have had a lot to handle recently, and I didn't expect you to... uhm... Anyway..."

"You didn't expect me to what ?" Kristie insists, truly curious.

"To become so important to me. And I can't protect you anymore, not if I care about you..."

"Wait, what do you mean ?"

Kassey sighs.

"I'm not the person you think I am, Kristie. I'm sorry."

When the door of the locker room opens, Kassey looks away and walks far away from Kristie. The captain, on the other hand, looks at her, in shock. Once she high-fived all of her teammates and gets to the field, she jobs right toward Kassey, who is in position already.

When she sees her come, Kassey sighs.

"Kristie..."

"Who are you then ?"

The middy is confused.

"Nobody. Really, you don't want to know the real me... You wouldn't like her."

This is it.

"Does it have something to do with Hope Solo ?"

Kassey's eyes go wide, but the referee whistling the beginning of the game cut their conversation short.

*

(McCaffrey 34' 67', Daly 89', Sanchez (sub) 90' DiBernardo 12' 16')

Sam has a bright smile on her lips, and so does everybody else on the stands : after being lead 2-0 after the first fifteen minutes, the Bruins have made an impressive come back, mostly during the second half. The middy has never been so proud of her sister, watching her direct her team to victory, literally.

After the game, the Bruins come near the stands to thank the people that have come out for this impressive atmosphere during the game, before walking toward the Cardinals to congratulate them on their own win and talk a little bit with them. When Abby, Megan and Caprice all come together, arm in arm, Sam literally jumps on them, so happy to finally see her friends.

But on the other hand of the Cardinals. Lucy quickly hugs Kassey, who had to get subbed out during the game because she couldn't breathe anymore. The British has never really known her that much, but she knows Kassey is freaking out.

"What happened ?" Lucy asks in a low voice.

Kassey shakes her head.

"It's nothing, I..."

"Oh, please" Lucy cuts her, rolling her eyes. "I saw the way you were looking at Mewis, and the way she was throwing daggers at you. Trouble in paradise with your lover ?"

This time, the blonde doesn't let herself getting impressed : instead, she throws a dark glare at Lucy, who immediately regrets saying those things. Before getting physically closer to her, Kassey basically hisses to her face :

"You better have a little bit more respect for me, Bronze, because I am not somebody you want to mess with. Got it ?"

Lucy nods, as Kassey walks away.

I can't tell Hope she's falling in love with the target, because she won't hesitate before getting rid of her, the British thinks to herself, before setting her jaw. Even though she doesn't like Kassey very much, she is not a murderer, and doesn't want her dead.

So she keeps her mouth shut.