Only Friends

Chapter 28 - The Quad

Kristie's NWSL season ended at the end of October, but as she had some USWNT commitments at the start of November, she didn't come over to England, to see Sam or me, until mid november. I facetimed her the night before she was set to arrive.
"Sam is going to pick you up, right?" I asked her, as I was eating some icecream on the couch next to Jill.
"No, she has training tomorrow at the time that I arrive, so I was probably going to catch an uber," she replied back to me.
"No, don't be stupid, I'll get you. We have an off day anyways."
"You sure? You don't have to."
"Of course I will," I replied back, frustrated she would think I would make her take an Uber, "I'll even meet you with a huge sign that says "K Mew"" She chuckled at this, and then had to leave to finish packing.
"Ok, see you tomorrow at 3 right?" I asked, just to confirm the time.
"Yes, 3 at Heathrow." I hung up the phone, and returned to my ice cream. Suddenly, I had a spasm in my hand, and the spoon fell on the couch.
"Fuck me," I said, going to the kitchen to grab a cloth.
"You okay?" Jill called out.
"Yeah just a spasm," I said, coming back and cleaning up the stain. Thankfully we have a leather couch so there was no staining.
"Does that happen often?" She asked.
"Sometimes," I replied, "just got to live with it I guess. Comes with the territory of an injury." Having had this injury since I was 12, I have come to terms with it and have got used to it. I can't do certain things and have had to learn so hard to do others. I am lucky, in a sense, to be able to even use my hand slightly.

I arrived at Heathrow the next day at 2:50, so I could park the car and get there in time to see her walk in. I love waiting at airports for family and friends. It reminds me of the scenes from Love Actually, which is one of my all time favourite movies. As I arrived at the gate for her, I loved seeing all the excited faces of family and friends, all waiting for their loved ones to walk through the doors.

After only five minutes of waiting, Kristie walked through the gates, with her suitcase in one of her hands. I started smiling, hard. She walked quickly towards me, nearly sprinting. I hugged her so tightly, wrapping my arms around her waist. Although it had only been a month since her surprise trip to London in October, I still missed her incredibly.
"I missed you," I said to her, still holding her tightly.
"Missed you more kiddo," she replied back to me.
"Even missed the smell of your perfume," I said, as she laughed. I grabbed her suitcase, and linked arms with her as we walked back to where the car was parked.

"So," I started to say as we both hopped into the car, "are you coming back to mine to see Jill or should I drop you at Sammi's before she finishes training?"
"Yours, please," she replied back, "Sam said she would meet me at yours and we would go from there."
"Okay, sounds good."
We left the airport and drove the 30 minute trip back to my apartment. Once we arrived at my apartment, I grabbed her suitcase and went inside.
"Do you guys want tea or coffee?" Jill asked, as Kris and I settled on the couch to continue catching up.
"Coffee please," Kristie asked, "the flight was too long!"
"Yes please," I called back to Jill.

"I can't believe you guys have been together a year," Kristie said, as Jill came over with our coffees. Jill sat next to me on the couch, while Kristie was sitting beside me.
"I know," Jill replied, "feels like yesterday you started at Arsenal."
"Yeah I can't believe I have been away from Houston for that long. How did you guys go, in the league?" I asked Kristie.
"Ok, we only just scraped into play offs as the competition was so competitive. We didn't win, but I am proud of what we did. And with the Olympics everything was not smooth sailing," Kristie said with ease.
"What was it like, you know, the team environment with Rachel?" At this point, Jill zoned out and was fixated on the football that was playing on the screen.
"Um, it had its moments," she started to say, "sometimes I felt it was so awkward and that I didn't want to even do drills with her." I nodded my head, to let her know that I understood. "Similarly, I felt so at peace with myself and with who I am, because if we hadn't broken up, I would never have met or started speaking to Sam."
"Is Sam better for you?" I asked her, while sipping my coffee.
"Yeah, she is. When Rachel and I moved in together, I thought, you know, she is settling down and being content with being with me. But then she did what I knew she would do, and I realised I deserved more, you know?" I nodded my head, to agree. Rachel, since arriving in the NWSL in 2016, had already dated multiple other players before she started dating Kris in the later part of 2018. Kristie and Rachel were together the longest out of all Rachel's relationships, from 2018 to mid 2020, but still, Rachel finds it hard to settle.
"But," Kristie continued to say, "Rach and I ended mutually, and we have no hate or bad blood."
"Yeah, you guys, I think, were great with how you managed it all." She nodded her head, and I continued, "and you have Sammi now!"
"Yes," Kristie said, smiling, "I have Sammi."

We continued to chat for a couple hours until Sam arrived. Sam messaged me saying she would arrive around four in the afternoon. So, at around four, when the doorbell rang, Kristie quickly got up and opened the door to find Sam standing there. Jill and I turned to look at the door, to watch their reunion. Kristie jumped on to Sam, wrapping her legs around her waist. Sam held onto Kris tightly, as Krisite nuzzled her head into Sam's shoulder. As Kristie placed her legs back on the ground, they kissed.
"Aren't they the cutest?" I said to Jill. We turned away, not wanting to be weird by watching them.
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine being away from you for that long," she said, while pulling me between her legs on the couch.
"Well, lucky for you," I said, while moving to sit on her lap, with my arms wrapped around her neck, "you don't have to." I leaned in and kissed her, hard, but not for long, as we heard the front door close, and Sam and Kristie were standing arm in arm at the door.
"Hey Sam!" I said, while they both came over. "You guys want to stay for dinner? Or do you have your own plans?" I asked them, as Sam sat on the couch and Kristie sat on her lap.
"Well I hadn't made any plans," Sam said.
"We can order some take out and then you guys can be off. We can eat early," I offered.
"Can we?" Kris asked, "I am starving."
"You ok with that Jilly?" I said, looking at her.
"Sounds like a plan."

I ordered the food so it would be ready sooner rather than later. The Indian takeaway was delivered at six and we sat at the table to eat. Jill and I opposite Sam and Kristie. Somehow I did it. I managed to get my three favourite people in the entire world, in the same room eating the same meal, together. I must be a miracle worker!

"I want to get away," Sam said, as we had finished up the food, "I just want to go on a nice holiday and just get away."
"From football or..." I asked her.
"Just from the whole thing," she said, "sometimes I feel trapped, like I can't go anywhere."
"We should go away," Kristie said, speaking to the table, "all of us. Go on holiday."
"That would be a dream," Jill said, leaning back in her seat drinking from her beer.
"It would be but the schedules are hectic right now." We all nodded in agreement. I thought about it for a second, trying to work out when we could get away, to have a break.
"Do you have a break after Christmas?" I asked Kristie and Jill, knowing both Sam and I have no Matildas commitments.
"Yeah, think so." Jill said, and Kristie nodded.
"Well, after christmas we have a week off, from super league and national team," I said to all of them, smiling.
"We can go on our holiday!" Sam exclaimed. We started talking about logistics about this vacation such as trying to figure out where we would go, for how long we would be away from London for, where we wouldn't have to quarantine and so on. After a couple of hours of talking and planning, we had done it. We had booked a holiday to the south of France in Nice.
"We did it!" I said, leaning back in my chair, somewhat exhausted.
"That took a while," Sam replied, "But we fucking did it!"

Sam and Kristie left soon after we had finished planning the trip. I told Kristie that she had to see me at least twice a week, and that Sam wasn't allowed to hog her. They both left and only a few minutes after, while I was checking instagram, I saw Kristie's story. It was from before our dinner, and Kristie had taken a photo of Jill, Sam and me in front of our food, waiting to start eating. She wrote:

With my favourite girls again @indiharrison @samanthakerr20 @jillroord

I missed her desperately and I was so happy that she was going to be in England for the next couple of months!

I saw Kristie regularly throughout November and December, and as Christmas fast approached so did our vacation!