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Hope released a frustrated breath and ran her hands through her hair. She glared at her reflection then rolled her eyes. It shouldn't be this difficult. She had faced tougher challenges, had been under media scrutiny, and had gone through nerve wracking situations of all sorts before. She took a deep breath.
"Okay. Stop being stupid, Solo," she grumbled and smoothed her hair down. She turned and shut the bathroom light off and walked back into the hotel room. Kelley was on her stomach, chin cupped in her hands. On the bed across from her, Syd, Alex, and Tobin were completely focused on the TV. Hope had zero interest in The Bachelor, or any other stupid reality show that the girls seemed so intent on talking about and binge-watching, and re-enacting. She climbed back into her bed and reached for her book from its place on the nightstand.
Sydney had happily volunteered her and Hope's room for a viewing party. Alex, Kelley and Tobin had shown up in their ridiculous matching footie pajamas. When Sydney outwardly groaned at what nerds they were, Tobin pulled out a fourth set of matching pajamas and Syd squealed then eagerly ran to the bathroom to change. God, they were such children. Maybe it wasn't too late to head over to Carli's room. She glanced at the clock. It was 9:30. Great. Carli was already dead to the world. That woman kept to her schedule like her life depended on it. Dinner at six, in bed at nine, and up at six in the morning.
A covered foot hit the book in Hope's hand, making it fall to her chest. She looked up and saw Kelley peering at her over her shoulder, eyes twinkling in silent mirth.
Hope rolled her eyes and picked her book up again. Kelley's foot tapped the book again and Hope swatted the offending appendage away. Kelley turned her attention back to the TV because of course The Bachelor was the only important thing on the girl's mind.
Hope continued her reading, easily ignoring whatever commentary Sydney continued to groan out about one of the contestants. She went so far as impersonating the poor girl that made the rest of the girls erupt into fits of laughter.
Kelley's foot tapped her book again and Hope snagged it, tucked it into her side, and held it against her ribs with a free hand. She felt Kelley tug her foot but Hope's grasp was solid. Hope kept her eyes on her book and ignored the pout Kelley shot at her. Hope squeezed her foot and kept reading. There definitely wasn't a smile trying to make its way onto her face.
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Hope made a beeline for Kelley. The defender was leaning against the team bus, waiting for the others to show up. She had a thing about being first in line. Hope swallowed and stopped with two feet to spare. She eased her bag off of her shoulder and set it at her feet. Kelley looked up with a huge grin, looking far too awake for this hour of the morning and she dropped her phone to her side, shoving it into her sweatpants pocket.
"Morning Solo," She greeted.
"Morning," Hope muttered.
She swallowed again. Her heart thumped and her hands got clammy. It was now or never. She glanced around. None of their other teammates had shown up yet.
"Listen, Kell, I just... I wanted to tell you something."
Kelley's grin dropped instantly. She stepped forward and grasped Hope's forearm. "You're retiring?!"
Hope's eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"You can't retire!" Kelley blurted out, eyes wide. Her grip got tighter.
"Kelley, I'm not retiring! Jesus," Hope interrupted and put a firm hand on Kelley's shoulder.
"Then why would you scare me like that?" Kelley accused, putting her free hand to her chest. "Ugh. My heart is racing. What's wrong with you?" She swatted at Hope’s stomach with the back of her free hand.
Hope laughed incredulously. "I never said I was retiring!"
"You mentioned it a few weeks ago in some interview!"
Hope dropped her hand from Kelley's shoulder and planted on her hip. She grinned. "Yeah. I also said it's not going to be for a while. We still have the World Cup to win,"
"The Olympics are right after that," Kelley mused, a little calmer. "We could get another gold. Then we can consider your retirement."
Hope smiled. "One goal at a time. Besides, aside from winning the Cup, my immediate goal is helping the Reign get that championship."
Kelley waved a hand, dismissing Hope's claim. "We'll see about that, Solo."
Her mood seemed to immediately darken. Her eyebrows knitted together and her lips pursed into a thin line. She tugged Hope closer to her and wrapped her arms around Hope's middle. She buried her face into Hope's neck and Hope felt Kelley's shoulders raise and fall with the deep breath she took. Hope held her close and rested her chin on Kelley's head.
"Don't scare me like that," Kelley murmured.
"It's going to happen sometime, KO."
"I know. But I don't want it to even be on my radar. You're my number one, y'know?"
"You're my number one too," Hope returned.
Kelley squeezed Hope tight around the middle and leaned her head back. "Well, now that that's cleared up. What were you going to tell me?"
Hope's mouth went dry. Kelley's face was incredibly close. The morning sun made her hazel eyes glow. She wondered if Kelley could feel her heart slamming against her chest. Kelley tilted her head to the side and her eyebrows knit together.
"What is it, Hope?"
Hope could feel her ears burn. She licked her lips.
"I-"
"Whose terrible idea was it to leave this early?" A voice called out and Hope jumped backwards. She dropped her arms to her side and whipped her head around. Pinoe was shuffling with a pillow tucked under her arm and was purposefully dragging her feet. A few teammates trailed after her and laughed at her dramatics.
"This is inhumane," Sydney agreed with Boss tucked under one arm.
Hope cleared her throat and picked up her bag and slung it over a shoulder. She moved to follow the team to the front door of the bus. A cool hand slipped into hers. Hope stopped and turned. Kelley stood silently, a single eyebrow raised.
Hope forced a smile. "I'll tell you later."
"You sure?" Kelley asked. She wouldn't drop it this easily and Hope knew that once Kelley had caught a scent, it was hard to shake her from the trail.
"Yeah. It's not a big deal. C'mon. Let's go."
Hope draped an arm over Kelley's shoulders and led the two toward the front doors.
She'd figure out a better place and time to tell the defender that she had fallen absurdly head over heels for her.
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Hope sprinted to the left and launched herself at the incoming ball – a rocket fired from outside the 18. She knew she wouldn’t be able to pull it in so she punched it away and landed in a rolling heap onto the grass. Her eyes tracked the ball and they widened when Tancredi recovered it and flicked it to Sinclair.
Hope scrambled up to her feet, hands clambering for purchase on the ground to propel her body into position. Broon went in for a tackle and Sinclair popped the ball over her legs and planted one foot and went for it.
Hope’s heart thudded in her ears and she once more found herself horizontal with the ground, stretching her arms like never before. She felt her lower back collide with the goal post. The intensity of the pain was fleeting and disappeared when she felt her cheek slide against grass and felt the ball clamped firmly in her hands at arm’s distance.
The crowd let out a simultaneous roar of cheers and sounds of disappointment. Hope opened her eyes and scanned the field. Her teammates were grinning and moving into position while the Canadians were falling back as well.
Hope climbed to her feet and stumbled a bit. Her low back was shooting bolts of pain up her spine. Krieger was about to jog back but Hope held up a gloved hand, scanned the field, and let out a breath.
She sent the ball flying.
The whistle blew three times.
The United States of America had won the World Cup.
Hope collapsed to her knees. Immediately the backline, yelling and grinning, sprinted to their keeper and buried her in hugs and accolades. She felt Krieger plant a kiss to her forehead while Broon and Rampone hollered at the top of their lungs. Hope only caught Kelley’s shining eyes for a split second before more bodies piled onto them.
Eventually, the women disentangled themselves from each other and hurried to shake hands with the Canadians and referees before splitting up for hugs and climbing barriers to grab American flags from screaming fans.
A pair of Under Armour boots stopped in front of Hope who was still on her knees. She looked up and took Kelley’s extended hands. She winced only slightly and put a hand to her back but kept the other clamped even tighter around Kelley’s smaller hand.
The crowd was still cheering at a deafening roar. Kelley stepped closer, grin permanently held in place.
“We won,” Kelley breathed out. She raised a hand and brushed a few blades off of Hope’s face.
Hope smiled down at the defender and nodded. “We won.”
Kelley laughed and wrapped her arms tight around Hope’s shoulder, burrowing her face into Hope’s sweaty neck.
Hope held her tight and bent her head so that she could whisper into Kelley’s ear.
There was no better time than now. Months of waiting for the perfect moment.
“Kelley, I-“
Kelley leaned her head back and smiled. “I know,” she interrupted and leaned up on tip toes to bring Hope’s ear to her mouth. Her arms provided a good enough barrier from whatever cameras that were no doubt zoomed in on the hero of the match.
“I love you too.”