Chapter 21
Kelley sighs, as she walks into her apartment. Hope has been ridiculously busy with camp. Between training, recovery, and fitness testing, she’s been booked solid and when she’s free she’s so tired she can’t do much anyway. They end up watching half of a movie on the couch, before Hope falls asleep and Kelley has to basically drag her to the bed so the couch doesn’t hurt her back.
Hope hasn’t had to deal with any of Ali’s drama since the party. Luckily, Ali was sincere in wishing Hope the best with her new relationship and has kept it professional during camp. She seems to have moved on for the most part and has kept with her group of friends, leaving Hope be.
Hope’s body is starting to feel the effect of full-team training. They’re a full month into camp, which means their game is only two days away. They leave for the Algarve in just three days, which Hope is dreading. She and Kelley have been so distant with them being in the same apartment, so the distance that’s going to come with this next camp isn’t going to help their situation.
Hope’s found herself completely focused on her job. It’s been difficult to spend much time with Kelley and Lily, which has placed a small strain on the relationship. Lily’s been extra fussy lately, leaving Kelley frustrated and Hope helpless.
The past couple of days, Hope’s been spending her nights at home with Carli. After a long day of training, the last thing she wants to do is go to Kelley’s apartment, where it will lead to nothing but an argument. Even with the frustration surrounding their relationship, Kelley’s been supportive. She’s been giving Hope her needed space, while still being sure to check in occasionally and making sure she’s okay.
So now, having just finished her last day of training before the friendly, Hope makes her way upstairs to Kelley’s. She lets herself inside and drops her bag on the floor before finding Kelley in the living room. Lily’s at school, which gives Hope and Kelley much needed alone time.
“Hey.” Hope says, softly, as she plops herself down. “Hey.” The shorter woman responds. She readjusts herself on the couch so she’s sitting cross-legged against the arm. Hope looks at her, apologetically. She knows she’s mostly to blame for the strain that’s been placed on them. She’s done a shitty job of communicating and she hasn’t done enough to help Kelley with Lily.
“Is this how it’s gonna be every camp?” Kelley asks. She’s almost nervous to hear the answer. She didn’t expect it to be like this. She expected it to be the same as it was before camp, where Hope just went to training and came home, ready to help Kelley parent. Instead, she’s turned back into a single mother with no one to help her.
“No, it’s not…I’m sorry.” Hope answers, quietly. Kelley sighs, but doesn’t give her a verbal response. Hope looks at the TV, while Kelley looks at her girlfriend expectantly. “I’ve never had someone who doesn’t play soccer. I guess I’m just not used to it. I’m sorry. I know I need to work on it.” Hope states. She’s not sure why she’s allowed herself to put so much distance between her and Kelley, but she knows it was her doing.
Again, Kelley doesn’t respond, but she places a hand on Hope’s thigh. She gets it, she truly does. Hope has never been in a true relationship with someone outside of the soccer world, let alone a relationship where a child is involved. “You guys are coming to the match, right?” Hope asks, hopefully. Kelley had told her they’d be there, but that was at the beginning of camp, before everything got messy.
Kelley rolls her eyes. “Obviously.” She states, grasping Hope’s leg, jokingly. She sees relief fill Hope’s features. “You really think that just because it’s gotten a little bit more difficult that I’m just gonna leave?” Hope shakes her head, but it does nothing to convince Kelley.
“We’ll be there.” She says, firmly, before placing a kiss on Hope’s cheek. “You have to get us jerseys though.” Hope’s eyes light up, as she pictures Lily in a tiny ‘Solo’ kit. “I’ll have them waiting for you at the stadium.”
Hope flies through her recovery day, before making her way to Lily’s school to pick her up at 3:30. Kelley’s working the 11-7 shift at the bar today so Hope gets to spend time with Lily. She walks up to the parent waiting area and sits on a bench. She scrolls through her email, until she hears the pitter-patter of small feet on the tile.
“Hopey!” She hears Lily shout out. She looks up just in time to catch the pouncing child. “Hey, Lil.” Hope says, happily. “What do you say? Toy store then ice cream?” She asks, earning an excited nod in return. They make their way through the toy store for what feels like hours, where Lily could pick out exactly two toys and had trouble deciding which ones she wanted.
They grab some ice cream, to-go, for Lily. “Hopey, I love you.” Lily says, in between licks of her ice cream cone. Hope’s breath catches in her throat and her eyes well up on their own accord. She looks in the rear-view mirror with a smile. “I love you too, Lil.”
Lily just shrugs and goes back to focusing on her treat, but Hope can’t get it out of her head. This kid that she’s only truly known for about six months just told her that she loves her. No prompting, no nothing, and she said she loves her. Hope knows she must be better. She knows she’s gonna have to work harder, especially when she’s away, to communicate with Kelley. She needs to take time out of her day to talk to her, to talk to Lily. It’s time for her to step up.
Hope wakes up early the next day to go for a pre-match jog and get her legs moving. When she makes it back to the apartment, she finds Kelley and Lily awake and chopping fruit. Hope pecks Kelley on the lips, before making her way around them to grab what she needs for her own breakfast.
They eat in the living room so Lily could watch her cartoons. Once 11 o’clock hits, Hope starts gathering her stuff to head to the stadium. “Okay, I have to go.” Hope states, as she slides sneakers onto her feet. Lily pops onto her feet and runs to Hope, grabbing onto her thighs. “Please don’t go.” She says, sadly. Kelley rolls her eyes.
“Lil, don’t start right now. Hopey has to go to work, but today we get to watch. Do you want to do that? Want to watch Hopey work?” Lily’s head pops up at that and nods enthusiastically. Hope smiles and plucks Lily off the ground, placing her on her hip. “I’ll see you guys at the stadium. I’ll have someone run your jerseys out to you.
She leans over and kisses Kelley on the lips, before placing a kiss on Lily’s cheek. “I love you both.” She says, before placing Lily back on the ground. Lily runs off to her room to pick out an outfit to wear, while Kelley follows Hope out the door, keeping her foot wedged in so the door doesn’t close. “Good luck.” She says, softly.
Hope sighs, knowing the next few months weren’t gonna be any easier with the Algarve coming so soon. “Thanks, baby.” She replies. She wraps her arms around Kelley and rests her hands on the woman’s lower back.
“I love you.” She says, with conviction. Kelley smiles up at her and places a lingering kiss on her cheek. “I love you too. Now go kick some ass, number one, so we can celebrate after.” She finishes with a wink, which puts a smile on Hope’s face. “I will.” She states, before walking backwards down the hallway. “I gotta go. But I love you and I’ll come out to see you guys before kickoff.” Kelley smiles and nods, before turning back into the apartment.
“Lily, you can’t wear that.” Kelley says, chuckling slightly at the sight of her daughter in the Elsa dress that Hope bought for her a few weeks ago. Lily narrows her eyes. “Why not, mommy? I want to look pretty at Hopey’s work.” Kelley laughs. “Baby, you know Hope works at the soccer field. You don’t need to dress up. You’re gonna be wearing Hopey’s jersey once we get there.”
Lily’s eyes light up. “I get to wear her jersey?” She asks, excitedly. Kelley nods, smiling. “They have a miniature sized one just for you.” She says, jokingly, pulling a pout out of Lily. “I’m not miniature sized! I’m only four years old!” Lily states, before storming into her bedroom, grumbling to herself. Kelley laughs, knowing Lily would come back with an outfit just as ridiculous and she’d end up having to pick something out for her.
“Solo, your wife coming?” Pinoe asks, while they’re getting dressed. Hope rolls her eyes at the term. “She will be here.” She states, simply. “Aw, Hopey. You’re so whipped.” Alex says, a smirk plastered on her face. Hope shoots her a glare. “Don’t call me that.”
“But, Hopey…” Syd pipes in, with a faux-whine. Hope smiles a little bit at the teasing, but doesn’t respond. “Seriously though, Hope, did you guys talk about if you’re playing friends or not?” Hope’s eyes widen at Alex’s question. She hadn’t even thought of that. “It’s just a friendly. I doubt the cameras are gonna be on us during post-game.” Hope mentions.
Alex almost lets it go, but she doesn’t want Hope to be caught off-guard if someone snaps a questionable picture. “People have cameras on their phones, Hope. Just be careful if you don’t want the world to know yet. All I’m saying.” She shrugs. Hope pauses, as she’s lacing her boots. She hadn’t thought of that either. She rolls her eyes at herself.
“Yea. Thanks, Al.” She says, sincerely. She’ll talk to Kelley about it once they get here. Everyone on the team gets ready at their own, individual, pace. Hope is one of the first who’s ready and she finishes just in time to get a text from Kelley letting her know they’re here.
She grabs the two black kits from the equipment guy, who had them made for her. “Thanks, for this.” She says, holding up the jerseys. He nods at her, before going back to preparing for the match. Hope walks out to the back-parking lot, where she had Kelley meet her.
Hope smiles at the sight of them. They’re both wearing blue jeans and sneakers. Kelley’s hair is pulled back in a ponytail, showing off her jawline. Lily’s curly hair is falling to just above her shoulders. Lily runs to Hope, while Kelley’s eyes trail down Hope’s body.
Hope catches Lily in her arms and hands her the small jersey. “Here you go.” Hope says. Lily takes her jersey and kicks her feet until Hope puts her back down. She immediately starts putting it on over her short-sleeved shirt, while Kelley shakes her head, knowing they would have to fully change in the bathroom.
Kelley walks up to Hope with raised eyebrows. She pulls her into a hug. “You look so fucking good.” She says, softly, in the goalkeeper’s ear. Hope smiles. “You do too.” She says, pulling back and openly checks her out. Kelley swipes the jersey out of Hope’s hand and holds it up to look at it.
“You know, Kelley Solo sounds good to me.” She mentions, lightly, as her eyes trail over the last name on her jersey. Hope tilts her head a little bit, before smirking. “Kelley Solo, huh? You’d take my name?” She asks. Kelley nods, without hesitation. “I have nothing connecting me to O’Hara anymore.” She shrugs.
Hope bits her bottom lip, but nods. “We need to talk about how we want to handle cameras today.” Hope states. Kelley puckers her lips, in confusion. “Cameras?” Hope nods. “Fans take pictures post-game.”
“Oh, right.” Kelley responds. She knew this conversation would come eventually. Hope sighs, but takes the lead. “Let’s just go with it and see what happens. I don’t care if there’s speculation, but I don’t want to out myself yet, either.”
Kelley nods. “Okay.” She says, easily. She couldn’t care less if people know about their relationship or not. She just cares that Hope is her girlfriend. “I have to head back in, but I’ll see you post-game, okay?” Hope says to them.
Kelley nods. “Be safe. I love you.” She says. She squeezes Hope’s hand. Hope waves ‘goodbye’, before turning and heading back inside.
Kelley’s ‘be safe’ comment didn’t exactly work, as the game has gotten noticeably chippy. It’s only the 50th minute and there’s been three yellow cards in the game, two for Columbian players and one for Ali, who went in too late on a tackle.
Kelley and Lily watch, as a Columbian forward heads towards the box with the ball at her feet. Becky is trailing after her, but the forward has a clear step. Hope reads the play and as soon as she sees the forward lose control of the ball, just a bit, she sprints off her line.
The ball comes off the forwards foot too hard on a dribble and she sprints after it. Both players are going in hard for the ball. Hope dives and wraps her arms and body around the ball. The Columbian forward clearly thought she still had a chance at the ball, as she slides into a hard tackle. Her front cleat is up, as she slides towards an already vulnerable Hope.
Hope turns her face at the last second, seeing a cleat coming full-speed at her. Kelley watches, with wide-eyes as the player’s cleat goes directly into the side of Hope’s face. The yelp that comes from Hope’s mouth seems to echo in her head. The crowd erupts in protest, as their keeper stays on the ground, body still wrapped, protectively, around the ball. The forward throws her arms up, as if to say ‘I didn’t do anything’.
Becky pushes the forward away from Hope, before crouching down to check on her. Ali immediately seconds the push, but doesn’t back down, going in for another. Carli sprints from the midfield, having seen the tackle happen in what seemed like slow-motion.
Pinoe is next, who comes in and pushes the forward further away from her fallen teammate, before turning and holding back Ali, who’s throwing expletives at the woman. The official immediately holds up the red card, trying to get the player off the field before the situation escalates further.
Hope turns her body, so she’s on her knees and elbows, holding her face in her hands, which are pressed against the pitch. Becky leans down with a hand on the keeper’s back. She looks down and sees what she can of Hope’s face is scrunched in pain. She waves to the trainer, letting him know he’s needed.
Carli places a hand on the back of Hope’s neck as soon as she gets to her. “Blood?” She asks her best friend. Hope nods, feeling the sticky wetness covering her hands, which haven’t moved from her face. The last thing Lily needs to see is half of her face covered in blood.
“Hopey!” Lily shouts as she sees the collision. Kelley places a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “She’s okay, Lil. Don’t worry.” She says, unconvincing to anyone other than her daughter. ‘Get up, Hope.’ ‘Get up.’ She keeps thinking to herself. Lily starts crying, unconvinced by her mother’s words.
Everyone on the team eventually makes their way to Hope, surrounding her so the camera can’t see anything. Once the trainer is there and Hope’s sure she’s covered, she takes her hands away from her face to reveal ugly cleat marks punctured into the side of her face.
She gives Carli a look and the midfielder immediately understands. She squeezes her way out of the protective barrier of bodies and jogs to the family section, where she knows Kelley and Lily are watching. Kelley picks Lily up and jogs down the steps.
Carli looks into Kelley’s scared eyes with what she hopes is a reassuring look. “She’s okay. She’s awake and talking. Nothing to worry about.” She says. Kelley nods, but isn’t convinced. Carli looks at Lily and smiles. “Hey, kid. Hope is okay. Just a little scratched up, is all.” She says, trying to sooth the scared girl.
Kelley watches as Carli jogs back to Hope’s side. She looks to the jumbotron, only to see that the team is blocking any view the cameras may have had. “Fuck.” She says, to herself. Lily’s too distracted to even mention her mother’s bad language.
The bartender feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Pinoe’s mom, who travelled up for the game. “She’s okay. She’s a big girl, she’s been through worse.” She tries to sooth the woman, who’s clearly still frazzled, even with Carli’s reassurance.
Hope sits up, at the trainer’s request. “You’re out. We need to patch this up.” He says, as he inspects the puncture wounds. Becky motions to Tom, letting him know that a backup will be needed. The trainer places a wet towel on Hope’s face. “Just hold that there. Let’s get you off.”
Hope nods and is helped to her feet by Becky and Carli. She walks on her own off the pitch to a loud cheer from the crowd, the towel held over her injury. She looks to the family section to see a scared Kelley looking back at her near the railing. She gives her a thumbs up, but she sees that does nothing to sooth her girlfriend. “I’ll be right there.” She says to the trainer, when they get to the tunnel.
The game begins again, behind her, as she walks over to Kelley. The sections clap for her, as she passes, but she doesn’t even process it, as she looks Lily who still has big tears running down her face. “I’m alright.” She says loudly, over the crowd noise. Kelley leans against the railing, after putting Lily down. Lily immediately reaches for Hope.
“Lil, I have to go get this looked at.” She motions to her face. That only serves to make Lily more upset, as she starts crying harder. “Okay, okay, come here.” She holds the towel with her shoulder and puts her hands up and gives Kelley a look that says ‘give her to me’. Kelley picks Lily up and puts her over the railing for Hope to take her.
Hope puts her on her hip. “Look, Lil. I’m okay.” She says, giving her a forced smile. Lily shakes her head and puts a hand to the towel. “Mommy has band aids in her purse. Let her see and she’ll help you.” Hope smiles, genuinely, this time.
“I might need a reeeeeally big band aid though, Lil. I don’t think your mommy has one that’s big enough. I’m okay though. I just need to go get it looked at, okay?” Lily puts a hand on Hope’s good cheek, but nods. “Okay.” She leans in and places a wet kiss to Hope’s cheekbone.
Hope looks up at Kelley and hands her back up. “I’ll be back on the bench once I’m patched up. I’m okay, Kell. I promise.” She says, looking into hazel eyes. She reached up and gives her forearm a reassuring squeeze. Kelley sighs, but nods. Hope waves, before turning back towards the tunnel. She waves at the crowd, in appreciation, before ducking in towards the trainer’s room.
She winces, as he puts antibacterial cream on the wounds. “Lucky you turned your face. Probably would have gotten your eye if you hadn’t.” He mentions. Hope rolls her eyes, but doesn’t respond. She grits her teeth at the stinging sensation. “This should be good.” He says, as he dresses and covers up the wounds. “I’ll look at it tomorrow though. If it looks any worse, you’re going to the hospital.
Hope walks back out to the bench and takes a seat next to Ash. The score is 3-0 and it’s just past the 87th minute. Ashlyn grabs Hope’s chin to turn her face towards her. She looks her face, almost half of it covered up. “How bad did that hurt?” She asks, seriously. She winces, as she thinks about that happening to her. No one should slide at a diving goalkeeper. Ever.
“It still does.” The brunette answers, before turning back towards the game. When the final whistle finally sounds, the teams shake hands, before turning towards the crowd and starting autographs. Hope heads over to Kelley and Lily.
“I’ll meet you at home. I have to sign.” She says, motioning to the crowd. Kelley shakes her head. “You aren’t driving. We’ll wait for you.” She says, leaving no room for argument. Hope sighs, but nods her head. “I’ll be like an hour and a half.”
By the time they get back to the apartment, Lily is asleep in the backseat. Hope carries her inside and places her, gently, into bed. Kelley starts making a late dinner for them, since they haven’t eaten since lunch. Hope sits at the kitchen table and watches, knowing that any offered help would be turned away.
The freckled woman places the chicken into the oven, before heading over to Hope. She crouches in front of her and places a gentle hand on her covered cheek. Hope looks down. “I need to redress this soon.” She says, softly.
“I’ll help.” Kelley says, easily. Hope shakes her head. “It’s gross. I don’t want you seeing that.” She says. Kelley rolls her eyes. “I’m helping.” She states, firmly. Hope grumbles, but doesn’t argue back. They eat in mostly silence, before Kelley leads Hope into the bathroom. Hope hands Kelley the extra supplies that the trainer gave her and sits on the toilet seat cover.
Kelley carefully peels the original bandages off Hope’s face, revealing four swollen puncture wounds. “Jesus.” Kelley whispers. Hope keeps her eyes shut, not wanting to see Kelley’s reaction. “He said they should heal for the most part. I just have to take good care of them so they don’t scar.” Kelley nods, as she carefully applies more cream.
“I’m sorry.” She says, as Hope grimaces in pain. She finishes up and places a kiss on the now covered wounds. “Does it hurt?” Kelley asks. Hope nods. “I’m gonna take some Advil and go to sleep.” She says, softly. Kelley nods, slowly. “He’s sure you don’t have a concussion?” The goalkeeper nods.
“I’m fine, Kell. Come to bed with me?” Kelley sighs, but complies. She helps Hope change her shirt, so she doesn’t mess with the bandages. Kelley crawls into bed next to Hope and places a kiss on the goalkeeper’s nose. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She whispers. Hope smiles. “I love you.” She replies.