Chapter Text
Shauna was going to play Soccer again
Jackie had bullied her into signing up for a recreational soccer league. Shauna had been reluctant to join her. She hadn’t kicked a ball since college and she was woefully out of shape. Being a high functioning alcoholic probably didn’t do much for preserving her athletic ability.
She had always been defenceless against Jackie’s persuasion efforts and she found herself lacing up the boots that Jackie had bought for her instead of sleeping in on Sundays.
Callie was very excited for soccer. It seemed that it had been their schedule before Jackie had made time for her. Jackie met the women the pitch with warmth. They teased her about missing matches. It seemed to be a bunch of lesbians.
“Hey everyone, this is Shauna! She hasn’t played in a while so go easy on her.” She said.
Usually, Shauna would have been nervous meeting this many people for the first time but she felt fine, Jackie introduced her to her team. They made small talk and
Shauna had to do very little of the socializing.
Her anxiety spiked up as she warmed up for the match. She could feel herself losing breath already. In High school she had breezed through these without breaking sweat.
“I want to play with Shauna.,” Jackie said
The captain grinned and nodded.
She was playing in the midfield again. Her lungs started to burn in 5 minutes. She was lot slower than she used to be. She didn’t tackle hard at all because she knew her tackles would be late. She was almost catching her breath a little when a way ward pass was near her. She brought the ball down with her left foot. She knew Jackie would be drawing the defenders away by starting a run. She hit the ball hard to the wing. It was perfect, the ball floated to the gap that Jackie had made and was picked up by their winger.
It seemed she still had some of her ability. The team pushed her forward after that cross. She still could spot the run and move the ball quickly. It was fun, she hadn’t usually played the distributor role but it worked for her as it involved a lot less running. They had dominated play. The ref blew the whistle for half time.
Jackie came running towards her, she had a massive smile on her face.
“You are playing so well!” she said giving her a hug. Callie bounded over towards them and offered her a bottle of water.
They sat on the bench for a few minutes. “ I will be playing against you next half.” She said
“Wait, what?”’ Shauna asked
“Hazing ritual for bringing my girlfriend over.” She said rolling her eyes.
“I am not going easy on you just because I love you, Shipman.” Jackie said
“ I never asked you to go easy on me, Taylor.” She responded
The match restarted quickly after. The team decided having Jackie woman mark Shauna would be funny. Jackie was her shadow falling around the pitch. Jackie didn’t help by teasing and flirting with her while they played. Jackie was not letting her breathe for even a second while telling her to take it easy and promising to tire her out in other more fun ways. She had never been more agitated during a match before.
She decided to drop deeper into the field. She used short quick passes to stop Jackie from having pressuring her too much. They had left a massive hole in the midfield to adjust for sacrificing a striker to haze her.
She received the ball and faked a pass, Jackie had over committed to cover her pass and Shauna was able to turn and run into the space in the midfield. She didn’t have a long time. An opposing midfielder was running towards her and Jackie was surely be on her any second. She looked right towards her winger before sliding the ball through the two defenders. She hopped someone was on the other end to finish the shot. How she wished she was passing to Jackie. Her striker deftly nudged the ball past a defender being shooting the ball.
Shauna raised her arms to celebrate. Some of her teammates hugged her.
“Goal! Goal!” A small voice yelled from the line. It was Callie.
“Great to know I have raised a traitor” Jackie whispered. There was no bite in her words. She had the most radiant smile on her face. The rest of the match was intense and Shauna could feel herself slipping. She was bone tired. She was subbed off at the sixtieth minute.
Shauna sat next to Callie who was very excited about her performance and wanted to learn how she did all of that. She explained a lot of what she did there. She was going to raise a soccer nut wasn’t she?Jackie was pulled off the match at the 80th Minute.
“Hey, my little traitor.” Jackie said scooping her up Callie into her lap. Callie giggled. Jackie leaned on her. Shauna felt content. It had been difficult for her to see any future for herself but she wanted a thousand Sundays playing soccer with Jackie. She wanted to watch Callie play when she inevitably picked up the sport. She wanted to exist in this cozy bubble that Jackie had built.
Callie wrestled out of Jackie’s arm and ran toward one of the women on the team.
“Shauna, Are you okay?” Jackie asked “you look like you are going to cry.”
Shauna blinked away her tears.
“What’s it?” Jackie asked
“I feel happy.” Shauna said. “ I have realized I haven’t been happy for a long time.”
Jackie cradled her face in her hands and kissed her for a second.
“Soak in it, I am so proud of you. I love you, Shauna.”