NWSL | Off Season

1

ALEX

I wake up late tonight. 

Camp ended three days ago, and everybody has headed home. I had the choice between going back to Orlando to face my messy marriage, or go to Portland with my two best friends. I don't even need to say that the choice was easy. I charged my sister to talk to Servando, while I got on the plane. 

I am staying at Allie's for a while. Her apartment has room for three, and since Tobin set her kitchen on fire, she has to wait for it to be repaired. In other words, Allie is our savior to both. She gave me a ride from the airport to her house, during which we talked about a lot of things, as usual. I know only few girls had come home in Portland. Emily is moving in with Moe in their apartment in Atlanta, and probably will fly to a great place for a holiday, while Lindsey went back in Colorado because her grandmother is not doing well. Kling, on the other hand, decided to have a 120-hour-drive through several states with her childhood friend. Not to mention the Thorns back in Europe.  

In other words, it's just the three of us, like before. The Three Amigas. 

Once I settled my room for the next three weeks, I go back to the kitchen, where Allie is cooking something nice. Tobin is sitting on the couch, her feet on the table, geeking. As I am about to join her, my attention is caught by Allie's phone. The screen just went white - a sign that she received a text. 

When I see the name on he screen, I frown. 

"I thought you guys didn't talk anymore" I let out angrily. 

The thing with me is that I care about my friends more than I care about myself. She hurt Allie. Like, physically, and mentally. She broke her. Or maybe they broke each other. Nonetheless, I don't know the whole story, but I know my friend need protection. And the fact that she is my teammate is not helping the fact that I have to hate her. 

I can feel Allie glaring at me, and Tobin just sitting here, observing. 

"We don't" she lets out, going back to her pasta. "I mean, I never answer." 

I exchange a quiet look with Tobin, and then both of us just stay here in silence. I collapse into the couch, the whole story running back and forth inside of my head. 

The reason why the shit keeps happening is that they are freaking in love with each other. So, while Allie is doing her best to forget what happened, she, on the other hand, just drowns her tears into alcohol and lies. She sure is in love with Allie, I know that. Anyone that knows her the slightest know that. I mean, eyes don't lie. But she has this fucked up personality that nobody seem to get, and shut people out. When she hit Allie several weeks ago, I knew things would get complicated. She never held hand on anyone. When I asked her what happened, she only said something like 'it's for her own protection'. 

Now, Allie is just heartbroken, even though she would never admit it. She intensively stares at the pasta, while Tobin just turns toward me. 

"So, what are you and Servando up to now ?" she asks. 

She knows that the end of camp also meant that he and I would have this talk. We did talk, a lot. But all he did was blaming me for everything, so I left. I went to Kaylyn's for a while, and then Sarah welcomed me for a few hours before I took my flight. 

I sigh. 

"I don't know anymore" I murmur, looking down.

Tobin gives me a complaisant tap on the shoulder. 

"It's okay dude. Everything will work out fine, even though you may no longer be with him in the end of the story." 

"His loss" Allie yells, still concentrated on what she is doing. 

They burst into laughter, and I just smirk. 

**

MOE

"SHIT" 

Emily just dropped everything on the ground. Result : five broken glasses spread everywhere around us, and nobody is wearing shoes. Cari sighs with exasperation and gives the defender a little tap behind the head. 

"Damn it, Sonnett, why can't you just fucking stick to the plan !" the taller girl asks, rolling her eyes. 

I roll my eyes, while Kelley is entering the room, hands full of big boxes. When she discovers the scene, she just bursts into laughter. 

"You guys really are stupid" she lets out, before walking out to find another way to reach my room. 

I yell : "You're the queen of stupidity, O'Hara, remember ?" 

As Cari and Emily start to gather all the pieces of glass together in order to pick them up, I follow the freckled girl to my room. The reason why we moved to Atlanta in the first place is because they have a huge diversity of macaroons. Furthermore, there always are a lot of things to do here. 

When I enter the room, what immediately strikes me is that Kling, who got here before her 'tour', is sleeping on my bed. 

"Seriously ?" I ask out loud, rolling my eyes even more. 

That makes Kelley smirks. "What did you expect ? It's Kling." 

"I know" I breathe out, while the brunette is just smiling. 

As I am starting to turn over, my phone buzzes in my pocket. When I see the name on the screen, I immediately get out of the room and go in our balcony, closing the door behind me. The face that is now on the screen just makes my heart beat faster against my chest. Why is she calling me now ? Wait, does she know if the negotiations went okay ? I start freaking out, unlocking my screen and pressing the green button.

Get it together, Morgan.

"Hey ?" I hesitantly say, trying not to breathe as loud as a runny lama. 

"Hey !" 

The strong Brazilian accent only makes my heart melt into my chest. 

I could never say what exact moment I fell in love with her. It just.. kinda happened, you know ? We used to spend so much time together during the season, always hanging out with Cari and Lydia and all the Houston squad. More and more every day, my heartbeat rate would increase when she's around, and then going to practice also meant seeing her. She's super sweet, very clever, and so shy that I feel so comfortable around her. 

Back to the point, I need to answer now. 

"What's up ?" I say, cursing for asking such stupid questions. 

I feel she hesitates a bit, before saying : "I re-signed with Houston" she then says in a shy voice. 

I literally jump out of joy, silently yelling huge 'YAS' and gesturing everywhere. When I see Kling passing by inside of the apartment, looking at me like if I am some kind of psycho, I immediately stop, awkwardly waving at her. 

Once Kling is gone, I say in a very excited tone : 

"Oh my God, Andressa, that's so cool !"

She remains silent for a while. "Yeah... uhm, you really are happy ?" she shyly asks, lowering her voice. 

"Of course I am ! You're my little Cup Cake !" I let out without thinking. Shit. Say something else, otherwise that'll just get awkward. Come on Morgan. "... And Cari couldn't handle not having her two Brazilians around anymore" I quickly add. 

The truth is that, at this point, we don't know who really gets traded, or leaves the club for another. Retirements has been announced, and some trades as well - especially coming from Washington - but we don't know much. 

Andressa says : 

"I am happy about that too. I like it in Houston." 

"Me too, Cups, me too" I say. 

Meaning of what I just said : I like having you in Houston. I shake my head, trying to come up with something to say. But I hear some noise behind her, and then she just says : 

"Gotta go, enjoy your free time" she says, her voice barely being audible. 

"See you-" I start, but she already hung up. 

I sigh.