Guessing Game

32

Jessie's POV
Of course the final send off game for the US was against us. It just had to happen didn't it? It had completely slipped my mind that we were playing them before leaving for France.

And it didn't help that my teammates had caught onto my behavior the pass couple of days. They were constantly checking up on me now and trying to figure out what was up with me. But I just passed it off as nerves to perform for the world cup.

But I'm guessing that as I sit in my cubie I couldn't pass it off as nerves any longer. I bit on the end of my thumbnail as my knee bounced up and down rapidly. "Hey are you okay?" Janine asks, "you're way more jumpy than usual". I shrug, "It's just pregame nerves". I bend down to retie my laces but I'm guessing this doesn't work as she keeps going. She leans in and drops her voice, "Is something wrong?"

'Everything is wrong' I think. 'My girlfriend-ex girlfriend is struggling with a drink problem and childhood trauma and all I want to do is call her and see how she's doing but I can't because the best way for her to get better is to focus on herself right now. But I miss her so fucking much that it hurts. And now I have to go play a game with her less then a couple meters from me' is what I really want to tell her.

But what I say instead is, "No. Everything's fine. Trust me it's just nerves". And with that I get up and head out for the warm up. But judging by the clitter clacker of cleats on cement behind me I'm guessing she follows me. "But you would tell me if something was wrong right?"

"Uh hm" I hum as we keep walking towards the pitch. But just before we reach the end of the tunnel she grabs my wrist stopping us. "Jessie. There see! I used your real name. I'm being serious about this. Jess is there something wrong?" I give her a weak smile, "Nothing that can be fixed before the game". Janine frowns but pulls me into a hug, "Talk after the game?" I nod against her shoulder, "Yeah. That's sounds good". She smiles and pats my shoulder before we head out to the field.

We start to warm up but my eyes can't help but drift over to the US side. "So that's her huh?" Quinn says. My eyes widen, "What?" She nods her head to the US team, "That's Shaw right? The new call up?" I relax as I nod, "Yeah that's her".

Almost as if she can hear us she looks up from passing with Mal and looks at us. At me. She gives me a tight lipped which I return before we get back to the warm up. I shake my head and focus on the game. There's nothing that can be done now. Right now I need to focus on the game.

Afterwards we can talk

~~~

Unfortunately but not surprisingly, Aurora didn't play a minute of the game. Everyone was hoping to catch a glimpse of the newest addition to the US team. But sadly she remained on the bench the entire game. Sat quietly hidden behind a stoic look.

I stayed outside and did the post match pleasantries. As I was shaking hands with the players I finally came face to face with the person I was most anxious to meet. "Hey little lion" she mumbles as she shakes my hand. I give her a small smile, "Hey Princess". She looks at me for another second before she pulled me in by my hand and brought me into a hug. I was surprised but sank into the hug easily.

"Are you okay?" I ask quietly making sure no one would over hear us. She lets out a breath right beside my ear which causes me to shiver but I ignore that and focus on her. "No...not really". I hug her tighter at her confession, "You want to talk about it?" "I don't want to hash this out right now. I just...I just really need a hug right now" she murmurs nestling her nose against the side of my head. I move my hand up so I can scrape my nails down the nape of her neck knowing it calms her down. I can feel her sink into me slightly letting me now she relaxed the smallest bit.