Chapter Text
Kelley sighed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror and began to question just how pathetic her life was becoming. Spending the last 2 hours crying had really taken a toll on her. There was a faint headache starting to settle in and her throat was raw from the sobs that had managed to escape her throat. Her face was red and blotchy and her eyes were so blood shot that her once hazel eyes were now a pale ocean green. The ocean was Kelley’s escape and that was what she needing right now, an escape. Making this connection her eyes began to water once again and she felt her stomach begin to sink. She shook her head “don’t you dare,” she challenged her reflection and swiftly turned from the hotel mirror and decided it was time for her to go to bed.
Tonight did not go as planned. She was forced to go down to the hotel ballroom where a celebration of some sorts was being held in order to kick off the victory tour. Normally Kelley enjoyed the party scene but the overcrowded, loudness of the festivities only made her long for the quiet, loneliness of her room. Her teammates noticed this sudden change in the once loud and obnoxious girl that they all hated to love. Her new behavior was met with concerned looks from Hope and constant questioning from Ashlyn and Ali. She had almost convinced the team to let her sit this one out, until Syd decided that they should all be there to “support” Alex. Since her trial separation from Servando that began the week after the world cup, Alex had fallen down a drunken spiral that began to worry everyone. She decided that for once in her life she wanted to explore a path that she was never able to since she was always tied down. This path included blacking out at local bars in Portland and waking up in bed with unknown strangers. These strangers included both men and women, which came as a surprise to everyone especially Kelley. She had been secretly in love with her best friend for years now and was finally convincing herself to move on. She wasn’t going to risk the friendship that the two girls had and besides Alex was the definition of the word straight, or so Kelley thought. But the shock factor quickly wore off after Kelley spent two agonizing hours down in the ballroom witnessing Alex drunkenly flirt with a long legged tan girl. She watched as Alex’s hand on the girl’s thigh slid further and further up as she whispered into the girl’s ear. At that point Kelley excused herself fearing that the tears would start to roll at any second and ran to the nearest elevator ignoring Alex as she called her name.
Kelley grabbed her stuffed squirrel from the nightstand and turned off the overhead light, leaving just the bedside lamp on. She bolted the door knowing her roommate, Lauren, was planning on staying with her husband for the night and crawled into bed. She was finally able to enjoy her peace and quiet. She quickly checked her phone and was unfortunately reminded that she still hadn’t texted Tobin back from earlier in the day.
Toby: Hey Kel, we haven’t talked since the world cup celebration and I think we both really need to..hope your ok
The night USA won the world cup; Kelley and Tobin had gotten extremely drunk. They were the last ones awake and some how found themselves wathing the sunrise on the roof of the hotel. That is when Tobin confessed to her that she too was in love with Alex and they had drunkenly made out in the bathroom. The taller girl was looking to Kelley for advice but all Kelley had to offer was a sudden outburst of tears and silence for the last month and a half. It had crushed Kelley but it wasn’t Tobin’s fault. She had no clue about her feelings for Alex; at this point she had only confided in Ashlyn and Ali. After multiple attempts of typing out a message and then deleting it Kelley gave up. Ignoring the problem wasn’t going to make it go away, she knew this. But she also knew she wasn’t ready to deal with it either.
Suddenly there was a loud pounding on the door that startled Kelley. She took her time getting out of bed who the hell is could this be she thought as she slowly walked to the door.
“Kelley are you in there? Its Alex.”
Kelley froze at the booming voice coming from the other side of the door and felt her stomach drop Just pretend you’re asleep and she’ll go away.
“Come on Kell I know you’re in there, or at least I hope you’re in there cause ya know how embarrassing it would be if you weren’t like I’d be talking to a metal”
Kelley quickly unlocked the door and flung it open “Are you kidding me its almost 2:30 in the morning, people are sleeping, and here you are shouting in the middle of the hall,” she hissed in a low whisper. Kelley quickly scanned the now frightened Alex from head to toe. She was clearly drunk, swaying back and forth and slightly hiccupping and although Kelley was pissed at the girl’s behavior she couldn’t help but feel the butterflies creep into her stomach. They sat in silence for what felt like forever and there was an uneasy tension that made Alex’s stomach regret that last shot of vodka she had just taken. Kelley finally exhaled sharply “what do you need Al, I need to get up early in the morning to meet Christen for breakfast?”
Alex could tell Kelley had been crying but decided not question her. Kelley did not seem too pleased to see her and seeing her friend in this sort of state made her chest ache. “Well can I come in, I had a rough night and I don’t want to be alone in my room because Ashlyn is with Ali and,” she began to nervously ramble afraid of Kelley’s response.
Kelley cut the taller brunette off and helped her into the room, throwing her clothes to sleep in before settling back into bed. “I’m surprised you’re here, what happened to the hottie at the bar, did she cause your rough night?” Kelley was trying her best to sound like a concerned friend and not an idiotic jealous person.
Alex quickly changed and sat down on the end of the bed. “She was just trying to use me,” she sighed, “She isn’t actually single and the bartender is her fiancé, His birthday is next week and her gift to him was going to be a threesome.” She looked up to her friend hoping to find a pair of eyes offering her sympathy but was instead met with a mischievous smirk across her face.
“Well damn Al that sucks, I’m sorry. It reminds me of a real life tinder moment that is horrible. Thank God you swiped left.” Kelley busted out laughing, She quickly stopped once she the taller girl quickly stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. She saw the hurt in her friend’s eyes, which resulted in an unwelcomed feeling of regret “Okay sorry it was a joke dude. I’m sorry that happened but its quite common. People are idiots and think just cause you’re into girls you’re automatically down for shit like that. Come lay down, I’ll be big spoon for once,” Kelley said trying her best to console Alex.
Alex slowly climbed into bed and Kelley pulled her in. They laid there in silence, as Kelley could smell the sweet lavender scent of Alex’s hair. Her arm laid across Alex’s waist and Alex began to softly trace lines going from freckle to freckle like a game of connect the dots.
Alex’s foggy drunken thoughts started to slowly clear as she was lying there. She suddenly remembered how sad and lonely Kelley looked when she first arrived and how selfish she was for not addressing it earlier. “Kel, can I ask you something without you getting mad at me,” she whispered.
Kelley stiffened as Alex turned her body over so that her and Kelley were now facing each other. She had no idea what to expect and didn’t know if she wanted to. She swallowed hard and shook her head yes as her response.
“Were you crying earlier? You haven’t been yourself lately; you’ve kind of changed. Not that change is a bad thing because it isn’t. I’m not the only one to notice the whole team has. I know I’ve asked you multiple times what’s wrong and you always answer that you’re fine and there is nothing wrong, but I don’t know if I believe you.” She paused hoping for a response but was once again met with silence. “I’m worried about what’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours. You’ve got to open up Kelley, you’ve got to let me in.” Alex stared into Kelley’s eyes trying to find an opening, some sort of response but all she saw was the pool of tears begin to grow and knew that was all she was going to get. Oh Kell please I’m trying. Alex took the smaller girl’s face into her hands, “ I love your freckles,” she whispered and leaned in placing a gentle kiss on Kelley’s nose and then an even softer one on Kelley’s lips. She turned herself over and snuggled deeper into Kelley’s body. “I love you Kell. Always have, always will,” Alex said softly.
Before Kelley could respond to what just happened there was a soft gentle snore coming from the body next to her. Kelley pulled her in tighter and felt the tears roll down her cheeks. She was left with so many questions but her only answer was sleeping peacefully in her arms.