Chapter 5
Ella woke up with a headache from all the crying the night before, she stretched out, almost falling off the couch as she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar setting.
The forward sat up rubbing her eyes, and realizing whose house she was in. She got up slowly, and padded over to the kitchen where the smell of pancakes was radiating from.
As she got closer, Ella heard the soft sound of Erin singing quietly and paused in the doorway, just admiring the keepers gentle voice.
At some point Erin turned and saw Ella starring, causing a blush to creep up the forwards cheeks.
“Hey” Erin spoke quietly, bringing a stack of pancakes over to the table.
“Hi.” Ella walked over to the table and took a seat next to Erin.
The two girls ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally stealing glances at one another.
“Do you uh.. want me to drive you home so you can change, or you could just borrow something of mine if you don’t want to go there.” Erin asked unsure if the forward would want to go back to her house.
“Um…” Ella forgot for a moment that she had shared everything with the keeper and didn’t need to hide anything anymore. “Could you take me there, I need to see if my mom came back.”
“Of course, I’ll just get changed then we can go.” Erin smiled, reaching over and squeezing the forwards hand. “I’ll be right back.”
Ella blushed at the warm feeling she got from the keeper’s touch, and how she wanted her strong hand back on her own.
A few minutes later, Erin came back downstairs in a white v neck, grey board shorts, and a blue snapback. Her hair was in a braid, that hung over her shoulder. Ella couldn’t help but think that the keeper looked beautiful, and as much as that thought confused her, she was starting to think that maybe she might just be okay with it.
Erin blushed as the the forward looked her over intently. “You good to go?”
“Yeah.” Ella smiled, following the keeper out to her car.
About halfway to Ella’s house, Erin hesitantly reached out, taking the forwards hand in her own. She looked over at Ella briefly, to study her reaction. Ella just smiled shyly and kept a tight hold on Erin’s hand for the rest of the drive.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” Erin asked when she pulled up to the forwards house.
“Um.. I’m okay, I’ll just be a couple minutes.” Ella gave a small smile, “Thank you.”
“Mom?” The forward asked hesitantly when she noticed the front door was cracked open. She walked around the small home, but there was no sign of anyone being there recently.
After getting changed and grabbing her soccer bag, the forward sat for a moment with her face in her palms. -Please be okay mom, please come home so I can help you.- Ella kissed the cross necklace that consistently hung from her neck. before walking back out to Erin’s car.
“Hey is everything okay?” Erin asked worriedly as soon as she saw the forward.
“Um.. I don’t really know, my mom still isn’t there, and it doesn’t look like anyone has stayed there, but the door was open a bit…”
“I can help you look for her after practice.” Erin offered.
“You don’t have t-”
“I know I don’t have to Ella, I’m not doing any of this because I have to, it’s because I want to. Please let me help you.”
“I…” Ella looked at the keeper nervously before a smile small took over. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Just so you know my mom said you are welcome to stay at our house whenever you want, I.. I know It’s not really my place but I just worry that it isn’t safe for you to stay at your house right now…”
Ella just smiled at Erin, having someone be so genuinely concerned about her was a new feeling, but something that definitely made her feel safe.
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“Ella can I uh… can I ask you something?” The keeper asked nervously. The girls were both sitting on Erin’s bed, exhausted from practice, and from searching for Ella’s mom for over an hour with no luck.
“Uh yeah sure.”
“Okay well I know you’ve been going through a lot and we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to but um.. I guess I was just wondering about the kiss...and what you said…”
Ella remembered then what she had yelled at the keeper and was immediately hit with guilt.
“Erin I’m so sorry about what I said, I was freaking out and I just I don’t know what happened. As for the kiss I… I still don’t really know what happened.. I um… I think I liked it and that really kind of scares me, but at the same time makes me really happy thinking about it..”
Erin took a deep breath before asking her next question. “Does it scare you because I’m a girl?”
Ella could see the pain in Erin’s eyes, fearing the same rejection that her father had shown her.
“I… I don’t know, I’ve never really understood this kind of thing just because I grew up in the church, and my faith has always been such a big part of my life… but I… something about you just… just makes me feel so safe and happy. I’ve never felt like this before about someone.”
Ella reached out to take the keeper’s hand in her own, playing with her fingers nervously.
“I can see how hard this is for you right now, so I just want you to know that I’m not going to push you okay? I’m not going to lie and say I don’t have feelings for you in that way because I think it’s pretty obvious by now, but I don’t want you to think there is any pressure for you to figure out whatever feelings you might be having, I know that this kind of thing is not always easy to understand.”
“Thank you.” Ella said appreciatively ,as she gazed into the keeper’s eyes.
Erin sat still for a moment, just watching as the forward leaned closer hesitantly.
When there faces were just a few inches apart, the keeper reached up slowly, cupping Ella’s face and running her thumbs across her soft cheeks. She knew that she had just said the the forward, but she didn’t think she could stop now.
Their faces were now only an inch apart as Erin whispered. “Are you sure?”
The forward nodded slightly and Erin was quick to close the minute distance between them. She lightly pressed her lips against Ella’s, she didn’t want to overwhelm her while she was still figuring out her feelings.
Erin was surprised when Ella ran her tongue along her bottom lip asking for entrance, she quickly obliged, allowing the forward to deepen the kiss. Erin became lost in the kiss, as her hands slid low on the forwards back.
After a few minutes, Ella pulled away blushing at the intensity of the kiss. “Wow.” She breathed out, looking down as Erin intertwined their fingers.
Erin smiled at the forward, she didn’t know what was going to happen, but right then, everything seemed perfect.
The two girls spent much of the night just talking absentmindedly about whatever came to their minds. Eventually they both fell asleep; with Ella pressed up against the keeper’s front as she held her close.
Erin’s mom walked in, and though she would need to talk to her daughter about the sleeping arrangements tomorrow, she couldn’t bring herself to wake up the two peacefully slumbering girls.
At some point in the night Ella woke, and couldn’t help the blush that crept up her cheeks because of the position they were in. The forward couldn’t deny how amazing it felt to wake up in Erin’s strong arms. This was definitely something special.