Attached - Mallory Pugh/USWNT

Chapter 34

April 16th, 2022  - 4:00 pm

Mal's POV

"But you don't HAVE to go back yet!" Morgana said, following Ashley around as she packed up the last of her things. 

"Morg, I do. I'm sorry. I have to get back to D.C." Replied Ashley, stopping to face her. 

"But what I am I going to do without you?" 

"You're gonna be fine! You are gonna go back to school for a few more weeks, come home, be on summer break. You can come visit then. My house is always open." 

"I guess." 

"Everything's going to be okay. I promise." 

"Morg leave her alone. She's trying to pack." I sighed. 

"Fine." 

"Ash, how did your stuff get all over the room liek this anyway?" 

"Morgana." She sighed, finally zipping her bag. 

"Huh?" 

"She threw all my stuff so I would have more time here." 

"So you're saying that her 4 year old niece is more mature than she is?" 

"Essentially yes." 

We laughed, and Morgana sat there staring at us. 

"You have everything?" I asked finally. 

"Yep. Let's go so I can actually get back home on this flight." 

"Alright. Come on, Morg. You're driving." 

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In the airport, we got gate passes so we could walk Ashley to her gate and wait with her for her plane, which she made by 30 minutes because Morgana caused her to be very late. 

First she threw all of Ashley's stuff all over the room, then she pretended like the car wouldn't start, and then she decided to stop to get Starbucks (she doesn't even like coffee) so here we are now. 

We got recognized a few times, and took a few pictures with people. We passed the 30 minutes by checking social media, seeing what was being said about the tournament. 

There was one tweet from a sports network that caught my eye. It was from Hatch's interview after the last game, and it was the video clip attached under the caption. 

The caption was "Morgana LaRue wouldn't hurt a fly. She's intense in games and practice, but never to the point of intentionally injuring another player. That's what's great about her. She cares so much about the game and wants to win more than anyone ever, but she cares about others more." 

Then the England player that got a red card and kicked out for trying to sight her. She retweeted and on it she said: 

"Wouldn't hurt a fly? Why'd she come after me then?" 

Before showing it to Morgana, I looked through the comments. Almost all of them were saying how she owes Morgana an apology, because dipping into her personal life on the field was a terrible thing to do. Another comment said that the girl probably will never get another call up because of her behavior, which I think is very valid. 

I clicked on her profile, and she made another tweet about it, saying that she won't give an apology for something that wasn't her fault. 

I wanted to fight back, but I realized that it would look bad for me and probably Morgana. 

Then they made the boarding announcement for Ashley's plane. 

All 3 of us stood up, And I gave her a hug. 

"See you soon, alright? Don't get hurt. Good luck." I said before I pulled away. 

"Thanks Mal. All the same to you." She said. 

"Thanks Ash." 

Then Morgana stood there sadly for a minute, then gave her a hug. I took out my phone and took a video because it was really cute. They whispered something to each other that I didn't hear, then once they stopped hugging after life a full minute they did their handshake, and Ashley got in line to board. 

As we walked out of the airport, Morgana pulled herself together, but I could still see the sadness on her face. 

"Everything okay?" I asked her once we were in the parking lot. 

"Everything's great." Shereplied. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Nope." 

"You want me to drive?" 

"Yep." 

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April 16th, 2022 - 6:30 pm

Morgana's POV

As I watched Ashley board the plane, it hit me how hard it's gonna be when Mal leaves. I have no idea if she even has a flight back yet, and I have absolutely no idea what I'll do when she's gone. 

Mal drove home, because I was too afraid to cry while driving. But I didn't tell her that. 

But I don't cry. 

I don't know why this hit me so hard. Ashley and I were always close because of playing together on the youth national teams and stuff, but this time was just a lot more special.

"You wanna stop and get something to eat?" Mal asked. 

"Why not?" I smiled. 

"My parents come home tonight so I probably have to go see them." 

"So you're leaving me too?" 

"Nah. Just going for the night. I'm gonna come back here so I don't have to pack all my stuff, you know?" 

"Yeah." 

"They fly out to Chicago pretty frequently. It's not the #1 priority honestly. I saw them 2 weeks ago. Who knows how long it will be until I see you again?" She asked as we pulled up to a restaurant. 

"I get it. But you should be with your parents. They probably want to see you after all that." I said. 

"Yeah, but they're coming to Chicago next week for my game. Again, who knows when I'll see you again." 

"Let's go eat before I get all sad again." I laughed, and we went inside. 

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At the table, I checked twitter and social media again, because my phone continued to blow up. I saw that the most popular tweet right now was Hatch again, but it was her quote about my heart of gold. 

"Mal I have something I need to do after we leave. Just quick before you go see your parents." I said. 

"What is it?" 

"You'll see." 

"Fair enough." 

We got a lot of looks and stuff in the restaurant, but no one bothered us which was pretty unusual. We did take a picture with the owner for the wall of famous people who have visite, and we made sure to compliment the chef because it was delicious. 

"Can I have the keys?" I asked Mal as I sat in the drivers seat. 

"Yeah. So where are we going?" She asked, handing them to me. 

"You'll see." 

Hope you enjoyed! Ashley story is out tomorrow for real this time! My wifi sucks here because I'm on the very edge of the coast of North Carolina. But seriously this time it will be out in the next 24 hours!