Inspired by that truly awful performance that just took place 😩😩
Jonas walked out of the locker room after giving his post game speech which mainly was just him explaining how disappointed he was. As he and the rest of the coaching staff walked out Leah started fuming. Her socks were quickly discarded and thrown away. She was filled with rage. And unfortunately for Katie she was in Leah's eyesight while she was pacing up and down.
Katie, who was feeling very disappointed in her own performance and currently having a tough time processing those emotions, made the mistake of telling Leah to sit down.
"SIT DOWN? You want me to sit down!!! That was the most embarrasing performance we have ever given. And what you Just want me to move on?"
The locker room went silent staring over at Katie and Leah. Katie felt her chest starting to close up. A feeling she had never experienced before. Trying to concentrate on her breathing instead of answering Leah she turned away and sat down on the bench.
"Oh come on McCabe never have seen you turn away from a fight. Sure don't on the pitch. Got another yellow card today and oh it was right at the top of the 18 were you trying to give them another goal? Or maybe when you were out of position god knows how many times and put us in a bad position defending with 3 people. You're a defender Katie. A defender! Fucking play the position." Leah finished off her speech giving Katie a shove in the back as she still had her back towards Leah.
At this point Caitlin had really wanted to step in, but after the push in the back and seeing Katie close her eyes and grab her chest she knew something was wrong. Quickly stepping over to move Leah backwards and away from Katie she inserted herself between the two.
"Oh perfect your little girlfriend her to protect you. Should I talk about how bad she played today. Is that what I need to do to get a rise out of you Katie."
"Back off Leah" Caitlin basically growled as she pushed Leah back and made her way to the other side of the bench to see Katie's face. When she did she realized instantly what was going on. It was clear signs of a panic attack happening and tears were starting to form in Katie's eyes as the feeling of not being able to breath was scaring her.
Leah went to start again, but Caitlin quickly stood up and got in Leah's face, "Leah I swear to god one more word and I will kick your ass." Leah was stunned for a second and it was enough time for Kim to step in and pull Leah away. Caitlin quickly went back to focus all of her attention back on Katie. She got down to her eye level and whispered quietly to her.
"Hey darlin it's just me here. I'm going to grab your hand and put it on my heart so it will help you try to match my breathing." Caitlin said slowly as she did so.
"Okay now try to take a big breath in and count to five I'll do it with you."
"1,2,3,4,5... good Katie really good. Let's do it again."
By now the rest of the locker room realized what was happening and got very quiet. Leah felt a wave of guilt hit her. She realized it was just the loss and anger from the game that made her act like that. She didn't mean to give Katie a panic attack.
After a few more rounds of breathing Katie finally was able to open her eyes. Caitlin made sure she was close enough to her so that she was forced to focus on her and not the rest of the locker room.
"Hey chick there ya go. How about me and you go to the bathroom and clean that beautiful face of yours up."
Katie nodded slowly and allowed Caitlin to help her up and lead her into the bathroom. They took their time so that some people would have cleared out by the time they were finished.
"That's never happened to me before Cait. I really didn't think I could breathe."
"I know. It's terrifying isn't it."
"Have you had them before?"
"A few times. When I was younger. That's how I knew how to help you. Jamie used to be the only who could calm me down."
"I don't know how you did it. But thank you for being there for me."
"I'll always be there for you." Caitlin said pulling Katie in for one more hug.
Making their way back to the main part of the locker room they saw that one of the few girls remaining was Leah she stood up as soon as she saw Caitlin and Katie come out which made Caitlin instantly go on the defensive and stand in front of Katie.
"I just want to apologize Cait."
Feeling Katie nudge her over slightly made her realize she could stand down and gave Leah a nod to continue.
"I'm sorry to both of you actually. I didn't mean to lay into you guys like that especially you Katie. I'm just pissed with how we performed. But it was a team loss. We as a team did terrible not just you two. I had no right to make it seem like that. I apologize and hope you'll forgive my outburst."
"Of course Williamson. You just got me at a bad time or I probably would have had a few words to say back" Katie joked, clearly back to her normal self. Caitlin, who wasn't as quick to forgive Leah just gave her a nod to indicate she was forgiven and then went to grab her and Katie's things.
As they headed out the locker room, Katie nudged Caitlin slightly "remind me to tell everyone I know not to yell at me because you are terrifying when you're mad."
Caitlin laughed and threw her arm around Katie's shoulders quickly to avoid any cameras to pull her in to kiss her head.
"It's hot when you're protective." That comment made Caitlin blush but she couldn't do anything about that until they got home.
