The beginning of Kerr/Mewis

1.

"Did you hear?" Mackenzie Arnold said, tying up her shoes as if her life depended on it.
"Hear what?" Sam Kerr looked up, "and hey, easy now, I think those boots are tight enough."
"The tighter the better, thank you," Mackenzie replied, but loosened them when Sam wasn't looking. "And also, ahh, Nikki made team USA."
"No shit."
"Yeah, I mean, we saw it coming but Tokyo is going to be awkward."
Sam shrugged, "I'm fine. I broke up with her remember?"
"Yeah, but..."
"But what Macca, you're being weird."
"She has a girlfriend."
"Oh get fucked, already?" Sam ran her hands through her hair before tying it in her usual low ponytail for practice.
"Yeah."
Silence hung in the air for a second or two. Sam broke it quickly, not wanting her ex girlfriend to consume her thoughts.
"Well, good for her, I guess."
"Sam-"
"We'll be late, come on." She tapped her friend on the shoulder and slow jogged out the locker room door onto the field. The rest of her team was there waiting, some of them looked at her with concern, the others couldn't exactly meet her eyes. Yikes, she thought, so I'm the last to know? Perfect.

Practice was fine, sweaty, gruelling - as usual. Tokyo was just around the corner, things were tight, stressful and above else, nerve wracking. Sam felt like she had the world on her shoulders, like she had so much to prove. Being captain meant she had responsibilities and pressure like no one else, but it also meant she couldn't let them down either.
She walked back into the locker room showers to clean off the dirt and grime and stopped short. Some of her teammates gave her a quick glance, one even managed an awkward smile.
"Guys, please. It's fine."
"Sam-" Hayley Raso tried
"Seriously, I'm happy for her. I'm fine."
"But two weeks, come on that's a little harsh." Kyah Simon added, which earnt her a stare or two from everyone else.
"She's probably having terrible sex, if it makes you feel any better." Tameka Yallop pulled her shirt off from over her head and chucked it on the ground, "it's pure pity rebound sex, it's never good."
Someone scoffed and another let out a laugh. Sam didn't though.
"I appreciate it guys but I'm honestly just more worried about the Olympics. You know, the thing we've been training so damn hard for?"
"Yeah but you're not a robot, Sammy, you can be upset." Mackenzie reassured her.
"Oh my god guys, please just get off my dick." Sam grabbed her towel and headed to the showers without another word. Jesus Christ, she thought, why was everything so public?

The hot water did little to drown out the stupid thoughts racing through Sam's head. She broke up with Nikki, so why did it matter that she had moved on? And with who? And why did she fucking care? She turned the water as cold as possible and braved it to get her mind onto something else. She barely lasted a minute before jumping out, her hair hanging around her face in a wet mess. She combed it back and dried it, dressing herself in a pair of Nike shorts and matildas shirt. Casual, it's not like she could go outside the bubble anyway.

Macca caught up with her later in her room. Sam put down the book she was barely reading and let her in.
"Mac, no more Nikki talk, please."
"No no, I'm here to invite you to cards night downstairs with the boys."
"No thanks."
"Oh come on, I worked so hard to get these in." Macca opened her lunch bag to reveal small bottles of alcohol.
"We're not allowed-"
"We can have one small crazy night. We'll behave, okay?"
Macca gave her friend a look of what can only be described as puppy dog eyes. Sam sighed dramatically,
"Fine, but I'm blaming this all on you if it goes south."
Mac gave Sam a massive grin and excitedly grabbed her arm, pulling her out of her room and downstairs to where the Socceroos were playing poker with Maltesers and skittles.
"Sam!" Chris called out, shaking her hand into a sideways embrace. A couple of the other guys cheered too, making room for the girls at the table and dealing them in.
Sam knew their stash wouldn't last long with more then two people, and that someone would snitch so her and Mackenzie had poured them into coke cans and mixed them. The results were disgusting but worth it. Sam tried not to show how strong it was with every sip.
It wasn't long before she started to feel the alcohol hit her system. She'd just lost poker again, folding her cards as she pushed herself away from the table and motioned to Mac for a well needed toilet break.
"Oh come on, don't be a little bitch because you keep losing. I was doing alright!" Macca said on their way there.
Sam shook her head, "no, I already feel fucked. How strong is this stuff? I haven't drunk in months."
"So time out."
"Yeah, thanks."

Sam took a moment to sit down and clear her head, or at least stop the room from spinning.
"We shouldn't have drunk those."
"Live a little, Sammy. We don't have a game for a while, it's a few drinks. Just loosen up-"
"You're trying to get me to forget about the Nikki thing."
"No! Just focus on something else. Or someone else." Mac made eyes at her and Sam smiled a little. Mac wasn't one to gossip about girls, but she could appreciate her efforts to cheer her up.
"Yeah, alright." Sam said, letting out a sigh. "Let's do this, let's have some fun before it's all work soon."
"That's my girl!" Mac jumped up and took Sam's already unlocked phone, landing on a post on Instagram from the English Women's soccer team.
"Might I say, Kirsty Smith is something." Mac made eyes at Sam in a knowing way. "But she's mine, I call dibs first."
Sam laughed a little, Mac was someone who could always get her to be a little goofy after intense circumstances. Mac and her had been best friends for years, on and off the felid. A striker and a goalkeeper- who would have thought? But Mac matched her energy when it came to the stuff that was important, she was funny and loud and made inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times - so they had a lot in common. Being captain had stripped away some joy in that area, Sam had to be more serious now, focused, but with Mac she was just Sammy, not Sam Kerr the Matilda's captain. She could unwind a little around her, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever tell her that, but that shit was so important to her.

Mackenzie kept scrolling until she landed on a post from Kristie Mewis, her blonde hair framing her face in the sun. She's beautiful, Sam thought, I mean she always has been but damn. Not like this.
Mac let out a whistle.
"Damn."
"What, no." Sam snatched her phone away from her friend quickly and tried to put it away. Mac grabbed her arm to stop her.
"You think she's hot." Mac stated.
"Don't you?"
"Eh, she's not my type. She is yours though. Blonde, blue eyes, team USA."
"Oh shut up." She lightly punched her friend in the arm and Mac let go of it, faking an injury.
They both laughed for a short minute before stopping and staring with a huge grin on her face.
"What?"
"I have an idea." Mac said, snatching Sam's phone out of her pocket.
"Hey!" Sam shouted, her eyes widening. "How do you know my password?"
"Oh please, it's your dogs birthday."
"What are you doing Mac?" Sam tried to get her phone back but Mac held it over her head and out of her grasp.
"Asshole." Sam exclaimed.
"I'll give it back if you promise to post a comment on Kristie's photo."
"What!" Sam looked at her friend mortified, "no way. I've talked to her once!"
"And you think she's hot. Besides, it'll go viral and Nikki will see it and connect the dots."
"There are no dots to connect though."
"So it's harmless! See?"
Sam paused and thought for a second. It wasn't the worst idea in the world, or maybe her tipsy brain was being irrational. Because suddenly it sounded like a great idea.
"Only because it's harmless, and I'm not posting something flirty."
"Fine."

After a few minutes Sam gave Mac her phone.
"Posted." She said.
"Now your dunks are creased." Mac read out loud, "where to fuck is your game? Come on."
"I'm not flirting with my ex's teammate on Instagram right before the Olympics.  And it's somewhat of an inside joke from when we talked once."
"Oh perfect, good idea."
"I also posted on the picture before and said leg action."
"Ok, weird but I like it."
One of the boys called out to Mac to go and join them again. She went to pull Sam along with her but Sam pulled back.
"I'm going to go to bed, sorry Macca, my head isn't feeling great."
"That's all good. Let me know if Kristie replies." She said with a wink and disappeared back to the game.

Sam made it back to her room and crashed on her bed. She felt weird and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. She looked at the comments again and smiled. They'd already racked up some likes, it was too late now.
Sam didn't care if it pissed Nikki off.
She fell asleep dreaming of Kristie sitting on her face.