Chapter Text
She tries to ignore it, but there’s a certain amount of bitterness that fills her mouth when she hears Sydney Leroux’s name mentioned. The girl could’ve had a starting spot easily on Canada’s team, and goodness knows she would’ve been put to good use. Instead, she chose to hop the border to the other side, to play for their rival. She wasn’t even a starter for the US, a bench player. Sydney Leroux, a bench player.
Canada wouldn’t have kept her on the bench.
“We need fast people. I don’t care if we need to put two people on her, Leroux is a big threat. She’s probably going to rely a lot on Heather O’Reilly as well to help up up on the right side. If we can keep that side contained, we’ll have an easier time.” Jim stares at Kelley.
"Kelley, I want you up top scoring. We'll rely on our defenders to get the job done.” Kelley up top, just like they had practiced, just like the exhibition match against St. John. Kelley turns and looks her in the eye. Sophie knows why; unlike the match against St. John, she’d be there, she’d be the one Kelley relied one to get her good ball. Sophie nods instinctively to let Kelley know she would get the job done and Kelley offers her a satisfied grin.
The mood is set when Kelley yells out “let’s take their home game!” and the whole room whoops in response. Even Sophie shouts and claps along and she feels an arm clutch her close and shake her. Kelley has a firm arm on her and the whole team converges on them. Good, because the feel of their star forward touching her, has her whole face lit up hot. She glances over at Mel, who pretends not to see, but that shit-eating grin on her face lets Sophie know she’s going to get an earful later.
~**~
“Man, the Breakers are gonna -”
“I swear to god, you lust any harder after Kelley and you’re going to have an aneurism.” Mel interrupts.
“Fucking damn it.”
~**~
To her credit, that’s all Mel mentions of it for the rest of the week. Apparently getting Sophie to slam her head on the wheel was enough.
Sophie’s just brushing her teeth when she hears someone knocking at the door. Mouth still covered in foam, assuming it was Mel somehow locked outside, she swings open the door without even looking.
“Sup?” Kelley waves. Sophie chokes on her toothpaste, spraying it over Kelley’s black shirt, and has to signal for Kelley to wait a moment while she cleaned up the foam now dripping down her face. “Take your time!” Kelley shouts while Sophie washes her face.
“Who is it?” Mel asks, popping out of her room.
“Just go back to sleep!” Sophie hisses, her eyes darting towards the front door. Not one to let suspicious activity go unobserved, Mel walked out in her baggy t-shirt and sweats.
“OH KELLEY. NICE TO SEE YOU.” Mel says in a loud, forceful voice. Sophie dunks her face under the water, praying that when she comes up, Mel will be gone.
“Hi.” She hears Kelley tentatively reply.
“SO WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE AT THIS HOUR?” Mel continues in her now grating voice. Sophie wipes her face dry and checks her mirror just to make sure she’s absolutely presentable. She tries to tamper down the wild cockatoo hair of hers before running out to mitigate any damage Mel was doing to their reputation. They were normal, and she didn’t want Kelley to get the impression that they grew up in the boonies without any proper social interaction.
“Hey!” Sophie throws her arm around Mel, practically choking her. “What’s up?”
“Sorry, I didn’t know that you guys were heading to bed.”
“Don’t be silly, it’s…” Sophie looks at the clock. “9. We’re not going to bed. I was just, uh, getting ready, so I don’t have to get ready when, uh, I need to be ready.” She pinches Mel before she can begin to giggle. Nevermind that she was practically falling over with exhaustion.
“Ok, as long as you aren’t busy,” Kelley says, completely oblivious to how easily Sophie stumbles over her words; almost as easily as she stumbles on the pitch. She holds up a dvd. “Lookie what I got.”
“It’s blank, how the hell would we -” Sophie pinches Mel again before she could finish the sentence.
“What?” Sophie bites.
“Boston Breakers practice video from a few weeks ago! Had to bribe a friend of a friend to get the tape, but you know, gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She waves the DVD back and forth. “I was hoping you guys would want to watch or something.”
“Gee, Kelley, trucking all this way just to watch a -” Sophie thinks that this next pinch will leave quite the bruise and Mel flings her arm off and steps away.
“Yeah, I think that would be great prep for this weekend!” Sophie replies, inviting her in. Kelley takes her shoes off at the door and grins when she sees a pair of fluffy duck slippers on the shoe rack.
“Whose?” She asks and Sophie laughs bashfully, pointing to herself. “They’re adorable. They totally suit you.” Mel makes an obvious cough that Sophie ignores.
“You want something to drink?” She asks.
“Just water.” Kelley replies as Mel shows her where the DVD player is. She pours two glasses for the two of them, consciously choosing to forget Mel. She sets the glass down on the coffee table.
“Well, you kids have fun, I’m retiring for the night.” Sophie can’t tell if Mel’s serious or not. The wink suggests the latter, the hour implies the former and Sophie settles with Mel being tired and biding her time. Tomorrow morning is going to suck.
“Ok, ‘night!” Kelley says, looking back over the couch and waving. The room quiets and Sophie finds that whatever ease she had with Kelley before vanishes with the two of them on her couch, watching TV. Sophie feels like she's one yawn and "arm stretch around Kelley's shoulders" away from being two teenagers watching movies in the basement.
The humidity kills. It’s still cold outside, but they have the heat cranked up to an sweltering degree. It’s not bad most of the time. Most of the time she’s not sitting next to Kelley O’Hara.
“I’m hot, are you hot?” Of course she is, a voice in the back of her head snickers. She’s Kelley. She’s hot and you know it.
“Nope. Sorry, Cali girl - sorta. Anyway I like the heat.” Kelley watches the video and Sophie watches her. Not obviously, of course, but enough to make her feel like a creeper when the only things she knows about the video is what Kelley narrates to her.
“Sanderson, dude. Have you heard her story?” Sophie shakes her head, an unnecessary gesture since Kelley continues talking before she does it. “She’s like, on the England team, right? And then she just up and leaves, didn’t get any playing time, politics. But she’s amazing, look!” Sophie looks for the first time and sees Sanderson kick a bouncing ball accurately and powerfully into the corner; a shot even the best goalkeeper in the world couldn’t save. “She does that all the time. It's like her thing."
“No loose balls around her.” Sophie nods.
“That’s what she said.” Kelley jokes and Sophie groans in return. After a few more minutes of watching video, Kelley yawns and leans back, resting her head an inch away from Sophie’s shoulder and Sophie breaks out in cold sweat. There is SO much space on the couch why would she, oh god, she’s so close.
“We’re so going to beat them with this…” Kelley says sleepily. Oh, Lord in Heaven. Please. Please don’t fall asl- or do, or...help me…
“Kelley? Are you falling asleep?” Sophie pokes Kelley’s shoulder but her eyes barely flutter.
“Kelley." She shakes Kelley by the shoulders but Kelley only shifts towards her, sliding downward dangerously toward her lap. Sophie jumps up and the additional disturbance finds Kelley face first into the seat cushion. She feels like a pervert, watching Kelley sleep. But she can’t help herself, if Kelley was cute awake, she was down right tooth-rotting with her mouth open snoring into the cushion. Sophie clears her throat, a last, feeble attempt at waking her. When that fails, she scurries off to her room and drags a blanket out from her closet.
She prays Kelley stays asleep throughout the night. That way she can make her breakfast. That way she can see what Kelley’s hair does in the morning. A flutter in her chest makes her stop in her tracks. It was uncomfortable, either heartburn or too much caffeine in her tea at dinner. She waits for it to subside before draping the blanket over the entire couch and tucking Kelly in tightly. She watches for another moment, just enough time for Kelley to stop snoring and flip onto her back where the speckled light from outdoors creates even more shadow freckles on her glowing skin.
Sophie trudges to bed, turning down the dimmer until the light was barely there. She wasn’t sure if Kelley was afraid of the dark or not, and it was better to be safe that way. When she crawls into her own bed, she’s a blanket short, and only has her topsheet for warmth. Still, even as the heat dials down in the night, she doesn’t mind. Better Kelley be comfortable and think her a good host so she’ll come back soon.
~**~
“Wake up, we're going to be late!" Mel shouts from the doorway. Sophie groans and rolls over in her bed before her eyes snap open and she jumps out of bed with a single thought: Kelley O'Hara. She dives into the living room and scans the area for her. Instead, she finds blankets folded neatly on the couch and a post-it note stuck on top.
"What's this?" Mel and Sophie both lunge for it but Mel gets to it first. "'Hey, Soph.'" Her eyebrows waggle. "'Sorry for falling asleep on you...' Woah woah she fell asleep on you?!"
"No! She means falling asleep while we were watching the tape." Sophie stumbles to correct Mel. When Mel doubles over, she throws her sweatshirt at Mel. When Mel finally calms down, she stares at Sophie and watches as she slips her sweatpants over her shorts.
“Hey Sophie?” Sophie looks up while lacing her sneakers. “Look.” She bites her lip and sighs. “You don’t have to agree with me. I just need to tell you.”
“What?”
“It’s just, since we’ve been here.” She sighs and changes tracks. “I’m just not sure if you’ve caught on.” Sophie feels a familiar itch on her skin. It’s nervousness and dread. Something in the back of her mind switches on.
“Oh god no. No, no, no, no. Mel, come on, we’re just friends.”
“But you don’t want to be.”
“Yes I do! I just want to be friends!”
“That’s not what your actions say at all.” Mel says, taking a firm step forward. “You might not know you have a crush, but you do.”
“Oh my god. What the hell do my actions say to you?!” Sophie stumbles back onto the couch as Mel advances determinedly.
“That you want it. That you’re crushing hard core.”
“How do you think anything I’ve done suggests I have a crush on you?” Sophie yells, backed into the corner of the couch. Like two trains headed on a collision course but averted at the last moment, a light switch flicks on in Mel’s mind and she lets out a hoarse cry and falls back.
“OH GOOD GOD NOT ME.” She says, holding her index fingers in the shape of a cross in front of her. “I mean Kelley O’Hara you idiot! You’re crushing on her so hard and it’s obvious! Jesus! Not me!” They both catch their breath, having narrowly avoided wrecking any semblance of sanity in the household. When the dust settles, and the gravity of Mel's words sink through Sophie's skull, she curls up into herself
"Oh shit." Like she hasn't had the word to define her feelings, like a third grader hearing it for the first time, Sophie realizes that Mel's right. "Oh shit."
"You seriously had no idea?" Sophie ruffles her hair.
"I guess I did. I just, I was hoping...it was me being stupid and awkward."
"I mean, you're not wrong." Mel cracks but Sophie doesn't respond. "Hey, Soph, it's just a crush." Sophie messes her hair violently and cries out in frustration. She could ignore it when it didn't have a word. She could pretend she didn't like Kelley, she could just objectify. Kelley was...is...pretty. She could live with just that but with it hanging out in the open like this forced her to recognize its existence. Mel looks at her watch.
"Hey. We gotta go. Have your crisis in the car." Mel helps Sophie off the couch and Sophie drags her feet the whole way to practice.
~**~
"Hey!" Sophie bristles when she hears Kelley's voice. She looks forward and increases her pace. She just needs to make it to Mel's car in three seconds. Kelley catches her. "Hey! You doing ok, buddy?"
"Yeah." Sophie replies curtly.
"You seemed kind of distracted. I kept calling at you. Are you feeling OK?" Sophie bites her lip. Shit, was it that bad? They had a job to do, they did have to work together. She'd only be fooling herself if she thought she could avoid Kelley.
"Yeah. Just some stuff going on in my mind." She replies without eye contact.
"Oh, and I'm sorry for bailing on you last night. I had to get my stuff for practice. I would've said goodbye normally." Sophie's mind flashes to the feel of Kelley's warmth emanating so close to her and she clears her throat as if it could also clear her mind.
"No prob." She says. Kelley spots Christie waving at her from across the parking lot and she pats Sophie on the shoulder. Each touch feels like it left a crater on her skin.
"I'll see you bright and early for the drive up tomorrow?" Kelley says.
"Sure." She watches her sprint across the asphalt, unable to keep her eyes off her anymore. She freezes when she catches Christie watching her, and her even gaze and knowing smile unnerves her to no end. It didn't escape her mind that Christie, through decades of playing with various teams, might understand the look on her face, probably a mix of confusion and longing.
“Hey, you wanna grab dinner?” Once they’re in the car, it’s easier to exhale. Sophie nods and Mel fires up the car. “The bar down the street from her, I’ve wanted to check it out, sound good?”
“Yeah.” She rubs at her tired eyes and Mel leans over to punch her on the shoulder.
“Don’t be such a downer.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have a crush on anyone.”
“According to you just a few hours ago I had a crush on you.” Mel laughs and Sophie buries her head in her knees, groaning.
“What do I do?” Sophie asks as the hurtle down the road going 20 miles over the speed limit.
“About freckles?” Mel asks absently making an illegal u-turn into the parking lot of the bar. She catches a glimpse of Sophie nodding sadly. “Do you want to pursue her?”
“I’m pretty sure she’s straight.”
“Oh as an arrow.”
“You’re not helping.”
“Just saying what I’m thinking.” Mel shrugs as they both unbuckle and step out of the car. She should’ve seen the familiar van parked not three feet away. She should’ve noticed the sound of Reese and Rylie’s voices as they argued over crayons. Kelley O’Hara being in the bar still surprised her.
“Hey!” Kelley waves at them from the corner of the restaurant and Sophie forces herself to smile back.
“You planned this, didn’t you?” She says through gritted teeth as the waitress offers to seat them next to Christie Rampone and company.
“I swear I didn’t.” Mel says, hardly able to contain her laughter.
“Funny seeing you here.” Christie says, trying to prevent Reese from coloring all over the table.
“Closest bar.” Mel replies. Sophie sits across the table from Kelley and buries her face in the one page menu. She does her best to stare at the font instead of the stupid childish grin on Kelley’s face as she tries to make walrus teeth out of brick red and blue.
“Excuse me, Miss? Miss? Miss?” The waitress taps her on the shoulder and she starts.
“Sorry?”
“Do you know what you’d like to order?”
“You’ve been staring at the menu long enough.” Mel leers.
“Um. Grilled cheese.” She mumbles, not in the mood to eat anything else. The waitress takes her paper fort away after she collects the rest of everyone’s orders and Sophie finds herself unprotected against Kelley’s hazel-green gaze. Her mouth feels sandy and she eagerly downs the glass of water.
She’s glad Reese and Rylie are there, not just because they’re cute, but because they distract her so that she barely says anything to Kelley the whole dinner. Christie and Mel both discuss the state of soccer in the states and Canada, while Rylie learns another magic trick from Kelley. Her hands mask the quarter, and Sophie watches her eyes sparkle when she makes it appear again and Reese laughs in surprise. But the whole dinner feels like she’s holding her breath, like she can’t breathe properly or else Kelley might notice her and talk to her.
“Alrighty, it’s time for me to get the kids home.” Christie says, putting money on the table. “Should cover me.” Kelley gets up and fishes around in her shorts for several seconds. Her perplexed expression morphs into horror, and then frustration.
“Shit. My wallet’s in the car with my stuff.”
“I got it.” Sophie interjects before anyone else can offer. Kelley blinks at her.
“Serious?”
“Yeah, go on.”
“I got you dinner next time!” Kelley says, hoisting Rylie in her arm. they watch the four of them disappear out the door, with Sophie still playing with her straw.
“You all set, or are you waiting for the coast to be clear?” Mel asks.
“Just another minute.” Sophie mumbles before promptly letting out an exasperated sigh. “I’m so screwed.” Mel pats her on the back.
“I know bud, I know.”