Chapter 22
It’s the day that they leave for Portugal. Hope only has about 2 hours before she needs to leave for the airport to meet the team. Her face is nowhere close to being healed. She still needs to keep it bandaged, but she didn’t have to go to the hospital for it, so she considers it to be a win.
Lily’s been clung onto Hope’s side all day. She knows she’s leaving and has been trying to talk Hope out of it. She’s even tried to play sick. Kelley has tried to not think about the fact that Hope would be gone for 3 weeks. She’s gotten so used to having her around. Even though they’ve been more distant lately, she still enjoys knowing she’s just right down the road if she needs her.
They say their sad goodbye’s outside of the airport. Kelley drove her there so that Hope didn’t have to pay to park in their lot. Hope leaves with one last glace and a promise to call as soon as they land. Lily cries, which Hope tries to ignore.
The team sleeps for most of the flight. Hope sits next to Carli and reads a new book, while Carli listens to music. By the time they land, everyone’s awake and ready to explore. Hope decides to lay low and stay in the hotel. Her roommate for the camp aspect of their trip is Carli, but unfortunately for her, once they leave for the host city, her roommate switches to Ali.
She decides to not think about it until the time comes. Ali’s been fine during the past camp so she’s not too worried about it. She calls Kelley and they have a short conversation before Kelley has to leave for work.
Throughout camp, Hope’s face heals little by little. She finally gets to the point in the healing process where she no longer needs to keep it covered, which makes everything easier as she doesn’t need to worry about changing the dressings multiple times a day.
Hope’s made sure to call Kelley at least once a day. Sometimes they speak, other times they end up playing phone tag. Regardless, so far, so good. It’s the end of camp and Hope has just arrived back at her room. She tries phoning Kelley for the third time today and it (again) goes straight to voicemail.
She tries not to worry too much about it. It isn’t long before they’re on the bus and headed to the host city. The ride isn’t too long, thankfully, and before they know it they’re heading up to their new rooms with their new roommates.
She and Ali work on unpacking. They haven’t said much to each other, but it’s not awkward. They simply work around each other and try to get settled before their first match tomorrow. Ali mumbles something about going to find coffee, before leaving Hope alone in their room.
Hope sighs and looks out the window. The view is nothing to be excited about, as the room looks over the parking lot. She picks up her phone and checks to make sure Kelley hasn’t tried to call. When she sees no new notifications, it only serves to worry her more. Usually when Kelley doesn’t answer, she’ll call back within a few hours. She hasn’t heard from her since last night.
She’s just about to try her luck again and call her, but a knock on the door distracts her. “Heard from her yet?” Pinoe asks, as Hope lets her in. The goalkeeper shakes her head and Megan can sense the anxiety coming off Hope in waves.
“I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe the kid is sick or something.” Hope’s eyes widen and Pinoe internally berates herself for putting that idea in Hope’s head. “Shit.” The taller woman whispers. “She’s fine, Hope. Kelley would call if anything happened.” Pinoe sits down on Ali’s bed, while Hope checks her phone for the 132nd time today.
“It’s just weird. If she doesn’t call before the game tomorrow, I’ll know something’s wrong.” The brunette thinks, out loud. Megan nods, knowing Kelley wouldn’t ignore Hope before a match unless something happened.
They sit there for about an hour, watching reality TV. Hope tries distracting herself from the issue at hand, which works for a little while. Once she finds her mind wondering to everything that could have happened to make Kelley not return her calls, she knows she needs to try something to clear her head.
“I need to go. I’m gonna go for a walk.” The brunette states. Pinoe nods, but makes no move to leave. Hope grabs her room key and her phone, before heading out. The elevator ride feels like it takes forever. She finally makes it to the bottom floor and the doors open to reveal Ali on the other side, waiting to head back upstairs.
Hope doesn’t spare her a glance, before walking past her. “Wait, Hope. What’s wrong?” The defender asks, knowingly. She may have ruined her chance with Hope, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t love her at one point. She knows just by the look on the woman’s face that something’s happened.
She follows quickly after the taller woman. She catches up with her rather quickly and glances up at her face. To anyone else, Hope looks stone-cold and emotionless, but Ali knows better. Ali sighs and reaches out to grab Hope’s wrist. “Slow down. Tell me what’s wrong.” She says, pulling Hope back towards her. When she doesn’t get a response, Ali leads Hope to a nearby bench and gently nudges her down so she’s sitting.
“I haven’t heard from her since last night.” She states, as a preface. Ali tries to hold back a smirk. “And?” Ali asks. Hope rolls her eyes. “She always calls me in the morning and lets me talk to Lily before she goes to school.” The defender nods, in understanding.
“So, you’re worried.” She says, knowingly. Hope nods and looks down the sidewalk. “What if something happened?” Ali shakes her head. “It’s only been a day, Hope, she could have just gotten busy. Don’t go crazy over it.” The goalkeeper shrugs. “I just need to walk.”
Ali nods. “Don’t be too long, it’s gonna get dark.” She states. She watches as Hope disappears in a crowd of people, before heading inside.
Hope walks until she sees the sun start falling. She thinks about everything that could have gone wrong, everything that may have happened, played every scenario out in her head. She finally makes it back to the hotel and as she steps into the lobby, she sees all her teammates standing awkwardly off to the side.
“What’s going on?” The goalkeeper asks. Everyone looks at each other and just as Carli opens her mouth to say something, she hears it. “Hopey!” She hears, as she sees a blonde headed girl poke her way through the legs of her teammates. Hope blinks a few times, as Lily runs her small legs to Hope as fast as she can.
“What? What’re you…” She trails off. She picks Lily up and hugs her tightly. She faintly hears the sound of her teammates cheering and laughing, but she’s far too surprised to pay them any mind. “How are you here?” Lily laughs in Hope’s ear. “Hey, babe.” She hears Kelley’s voice from behind her and whips her body around to see her girlfriend standing right in front of her.
“What? You’re-how did you do this?” Hope stumbles over her words, as she pulls Kelley to her. “We figured, after that last game, we needed to be able to see you play at least a full match.” Kelley says, smiling into Hope’s shoulder. She pulls away from Kelley to look at her. The shorter woman doesn’t hesitate, before leaning up to kiss her girlfriend.
Lily interrupts them with soft pats on both of their cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re here. I was so worried that I hadn’t heard from you.” Hope explains. She notices her teammates dispersing from the lobby. Kelley smiles up at her and cups her face with one hand. “I’m sorry. I figured us being here would be a good enough surprise for the missed phone calls.”
Hope nods, enthusiastically. “Hopey, the airplane had movies!” Lily exclaims. Hope laughs and Kelley looks at her daughter, lovingly. “We watched Finding Nemo twice.” The bartender explains, giving Hope a look that’s less-than-enthusiastic.
“Come to the room.” Hope says. Kelley nods. “We’re in room 210.” The bartender mentions, as they get on the elevator. “Oh, then we’ll just go to your room. I’m not sure if Ali’s in mine or not.” Hope explains. She doesn’t really want to have both her girlfriend and her ex-girlfriend in the same room at the same time. Kelley nods, in agreement, before hitting the button for the second floor.
Lily babbles in Hope’s ear. She tells her all about the plane ride, the movies they watched, and the strange man that picked them up and brought them to the hotel. “Who else knew about this?” Hope asks, as they make their way into the room. Kelley grimaces. She knows Hope doesn’t like being left out of the loop. “Everyone.” She drags the word out with a smile, hoping to charm Hope into not being upset.
Hope’s eyes widen. “Everyone? I talked to Pinoe about how worried I was! I talked to ALI about how worried I was!” She exclaims. She’s not yelling, but she’s over-enunciating her words enough for Kelley to know Hope isn’t happy at not being told.
“It was a surprise, Hope, you can’t be mad.” Kelley says, simply. She looks at Hope challengingly, daring the goalkeeper to try and be upset when they just flew halfway across the world to be with her. Hope looks down, in defeat. “I know, I know. I’m not mad. I’m happy you’re here. I’m just embarrassed that I was so overdramatic when they knew where you were.”
Hope places Lily on the bed. The child immediately jumps up to show Hope the snow globe she bought at the airport. Kelley smiles at Hope, lovingly. “You were that worried?” She asks, curiously. Hope feels her cheeks get hot, but she nods. “I thought something happened.”
Kelley lets out a breathy laugh and approaches Hope, while Lily is still digging in her suitcase. She pulls the goalkeeper into a soft, loving kiss. “Well, we’re here now. We’re equipped with our jerseys and all.” Hope smiles at that. She checks the time, noting it’s almost curfew. She sighs. “I have to head back to the room soon.” She mentions.
Lily runs to Hope, snow globe in hand. “Look, Hopey!” She says, excitedly. Hope looks at the snow globe and she and Lily discuss it for about five minutes before Hope finally stands up. “Okay, I have to go. We’ll be up early for breakfast tomorrow. Match starts at 1.” Kelley nods. “We’ll be ready.”
They say their goodbyes and Hope begrudgingly makes her way back to her room. She doesn’t want to leave them yet, as they’ve only just been reunited. But it helps Hope to know that they’re just one floor away from each other, rather than a few countries away.