piece by piece~j.d

~2~

Aubrey played with the ends of her hair as Bailey drove the car towards Whitten Oval, the place in which he trained to play the sport that he had adored since he was a kid. Bailey reached over and pulled some of it so that it was out of her grasp. Since she had gained the habit when she was much younger, it was a very common occurrence to have a family member prevent her from pulling her hair out strand by strand.

"Chill out Aubs, I promise you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about." Bailey smiled at his sister kindly. "If they scare you to much you can take the car home and I'll find a lift."

"Thanks little, I appreciate it." Aubrey smiled, though she sighed when Bailey parked in one of the parking spots. He got out of the car and walked around to open Aubrey's door for her. "Since when did you get manners?"

"I'm just such a nice guy."

"You're a piece of shit and anyone that tells you differently is lying to make you feel decent about yourself." Aubrey shoved him lightly.

"Wow Aubs, I can't tell you how much I've missed you." Bailey drawled sarcastically. "Hurry up before you make me late."

"As far as I remember you always make me late."

"You have been getting old, maybe your memory is being tested through all of your old age."
"I hate you so much."

~~~

Bailey led Aubrey through the hallways that he had become so familiar with and watched as his big sister took everything in with an expression of awe on her face, similar to how he is sure he looked on his first day at the club. It was challenging for him to not have her around when he first started because it was as much her dream to see him achieving his life goals. 

"I forgot to tell you, it's like an open training," Bailey said once they reached the oval and saw that there were a few people already there. "But that's good news because it means that some of the wives and girlfriends are here so you won't be awkward and alone."

"They better be nice," Aubrey glared at her brother, she had met a fair share of girls that weren't the nicest people in the world. "Also, I don't like your chances of me not being awkward, its kind of a key part of my life."

"I swear they are, I'll take you to them now and you can meet all of the boys once training is over." Bailey started to walk again to where he saw a group of the players partners and children standing together. "Oi guys!" He exclaimed once he reached them and they all turned to give Bailey their attention. "This is my sister, she just came back from living in Ireland and I want her to meet everyone so please be nice."

"We got her, don't worry." A brunette stood up and smiled, making her way towards the pair of Smith siblings before motioning for Bailey to leave.

"Have fun little." Aubrey smiled and waved at Bailey who said a quick goodbye before jogging so that he could attend the short meeting that would attend before they actually started to train.

"Hey, I'm Chloe." The brunette greeted and led Aubrey to take a seat, all of the girls sort of drifted off back to their conversations and weren't paying to much attention to Aubrey. They had all been there before and didn't want to overwhelm the girl.

"Aubrey." Aubrey smiled and waved a bit awkwardly, her hand made it's way back to thread through her blonde hair as she tried to keep her breathing even and attempted to ignore the swirl of negative thoughts that instantly flooded her head.

"You don't have to be so worried, we aren't here to judge you." Chloe assured the girl. "What's it like having Baz as a brother?"

"He's really sweet when he wants to be, but he's a right pain in the ass the rest of the time." Aubrey giggled. "So which one is your boyfriend?" Aubrey questioned as all of the boys filtered onto the oval and the fans cheered them on as they did so. "Or brother," she added as a quiet after thought. 

"Number twenty seven, Pat. My boyfriend, definitely not brother or anything like that." Aubrey followed where Chloe was pointing to and nodded once she caught sight of him. "What about you? Any boyfriend?"

"As if, I'm not really good with the whole socialising thing." Aubrey chuckled. "Plus the last one wasn't exactly ideal by any measure."

"Well you haven't been too bad with me." Chloe laughed. "You'll find one anyways, it's not like you're thirty. Maybe we can find one on the team for you, look around at your options, you may even find someone by the end of the day."

"I don't think Bailey would be a big fan of that." A voice spoke up and said exactly what Aubrey was thinking, both of the girls looked to their right where a blonde was sitting with a little baby in her arms. "I'm Logan, Jason's partner."

"Aubrey, who's this little cutie?" Aubrey questioned and pulled a face at the little girl who started to giggle hysterically.

"This is Lola," Logan smiled at her daughters giggles. "And I think she likes you."

"Well I like her." Logan happily passed Lola over to Aubrey who relished in the baby cuddles that she was getting. The three girls continued to talk throughout the training and if Aubrey was being honest, she really enjoyed herself.

~~~

"I know you guys are going to have to go home soon but I think I might keep her." Aubrey spoke, they were making their way to the boys as training had finished for the day and they had made their way around the oval signing some of the fans guernseys and other items.

"We would love a quiet night, when I need a babysitter you'll be the first person that I call." Logan chuckled.

"You better stick to that." Aubrey laughed. "Chlo and I will hold down the fort."

"If by that you mean that you'll look after Lola and I can have a few drinks to unwind for a night then sure." Chloe agreed easily, smiling contently at the idea of those events.

"Deal, I've always wanted a baby."

"That's going to have to wait a few years." Bailey cut into the conversation. "Isn't it?"

"Bailey, I don't even have a boyfriend. Chill out."

"Is this your new girlfriend Baz?" A voice sounded before Bailey could reply to his sister and Taylor Duryea became visible to the group, wiping his forehead but smiling politely at Aubrey none the less.

"Not quite." Bailey said as all of the girls started laughing. "Doc this is my older sister Aubrey, Aubs one of my teammates, Taylor."

"I'm so sorry, that's embarrassing." He laughed. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Aubrey shook the hand that Taylor offered out to her.

"We are going to find her a boyfriend though, one of the boys." Chloe speaks up, ignoring the shake of Bailey's head. "Who do you think would be good for her?"

"Watch out!" A voice called out before a footy made its way in the direction of the group before Bailey had time to voice his opinion which would no doubt be that none of his teammates would ever be good enough for his big sister.

aubreys gonna meet josh next chapter🤩