Don't Ice Me Out | Sam Kerr

6. You're Ok Baby, You're Ok

Sam felt her stomach drop, pure fear for the girl she knew for only a week. "Kylie, are you hiding right now?" The footballer didn't know what to do. She was in London, and Kylie was alone in Australia.

"I'm hiding behind a bush in a park." The girl whispered through the phone, her voice still frail.

"Where is the man?"

"He's uh- he's trying to find me, he's in the park."

"Ok Kylie, when you get the chance, I need you to run for me ok? I need you to run to the nearest crowded area you can find."

"I'm scared Sammy."

"I know baby, I know. Does he know where you live?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

Sam grabbed her laptop, booking a flight to Sydney as soon as possible. "Kylie, when you get to a crowded area, I need you to check into a good hotel alright? I'm booking a flight to Sydney." Maybe it was because Sam was tipsy. Or maybe it was because she was heartbroken and lonely. Perhaps it could even be because she cared about the skater. But even sober, Sam knew she would come to Sydney regardless, knowing Kylie was in danger.

"No you can't. You said we're not friends-"

"Goddammit Kylie, I didn't mean it. You need someone, you're not safe. I'm coming ok?" Kylie let out a soft sob, some form of relief flooding through her.

"Thank you." Her voice was still quiet. "He's on the other side of the park."

"Kylie, run." Once the two words reached the skater on the other end of the phone, she took off. She didn't know how fast she was running, surely it was the fastest she's ever ran before. Kylie's eyes glanced the streets looking for something, anything, that was open right now. Her ears felt muffled, and she couldn't hear anything. Not the man's footsteps, not her own, and not Sam, if she were talking. She was still on call, but her hand holding her phone was swinging back and forth as she ran, Sam would have only heard wind.

The illuminating lights of a yellow 'M' in the distance brought Kylie to relief. Maccas. She pushed her legs faster, running into the 24/7 cafe. "I made it to a Maccas." She laughed into her phone, a mixture of happiness and exhaustion in her voice. Some of the staff threw the skater a strange look, but considering it was now 2am in the morning, it was not the most unusual thing they've seen.

"You did it, I'm so proud of you baby!" Sam smiled as she packed some clothes into a suitcase. "Now you just need to get to a safe hotel, can you do that for me?"

"Yeah... yeah I can." Kylie said as she booked an Uber.

By time Kylie had checked into a room and she collapsed onto the floor, sobs racking through her whole body in exhaustion. "I was so scared Sammy, I didn't know what to do." She had stayed on the phone with Sam the entire way to the hotel. "He kept following me out of the bar, and I was drunk, and alone, and scared, so scared."

"You're ok baby, you're ok now. You did so good." Sam hummed into the phone, now at the airport.

"I don't even have anything on me, I just checked in, I stink, I-"

"It's ok, it's ok, I'll be there tomorrow ok? I'll be there soon, just hold on, ok?" Sam said, looking at her flight. She had an 1 hour layover at Hong Kong, before she would be able to talk to Kylie again.

"Kylie, I have to board the flight now, I'll call you when I get to Sydney ok? I'm gonna be jetlagged as fuck, but I'll be there." Sam told the skater, hearing a small hum, before hanging up. She didn't want to leave the girl alone, but she had to, to get to Australia.

***

It had been 24 hours since she last spoke to Kylie, and Sam tried to sync up her sleep to align with Sydney time so she wasn't as jetlagged. She had finally arrived in Sydney, before she had time to properly look at social media and the news on her phone.

Top Stories: Kylie Sato, Australian figure skater and two-time Olympic gold medallist, was seen drinking a lot at a bar at 1am. *4 images attached* She had multiple drinks; one would even say maybe too many drinks. Is one of Australia's top athletes not satisfied with her achievements? Is Kylie Sato an alcoholic? posted 20 hours ago.

Fuck. Sam had left an emotionally-potentially traumatised girl alone in a hotel, with no personal belongings, for 24 hours, whilst the media and news tore down on the poor girl.

Jack Frost

I'm in Sydney, what hotel are you at?

xxx hotel. room 1243

I'm omw. I'll be there soon baby.

_

Sam knocked on the door, also pressing the doorbell in case Kylie couldn't hear her. "Kylie? It's Sam." The door opened, revealing Kylie, who's eyes were swollen and red, her long, dark brown hair clinging onto the tears that stained her cheeks. "Oh baby." Sam walked in the room, closing the door behind her before pulling Kylie into her arms. The skater's face was stuffed into Sam's shoulder while the footballer's cheek rested on the crown of her head, lightly kissing her hair once in a while.

Kylie's body shook with sobs, cries escaping her lips and Sam could feel the tears soak into the hoodie that she wore the entire way on the plane to Sydney. Quickly, the cries turned into hiccups, and the hiccups turned into gasps for air.

The two separated from the hug, Sam holding Kylie's shoulders. One of Kylie's hands patted her chest, whilst the other one shook in the air. She looked up at Sam as the tears rolled down her face again and her chest heaved, desperately grasping for air.

Kylie was having a panic attack.

Sam guided them to the bed, gently rubbing her back. "You're ok baby, you're ok", she said softly, holding Kylie's face delicately. "Hey, look at me, you're alright, I'm right here."

"I- they say," Kylie squeezed in between breathes, "I'm an- an alcoholic" she cried. "I'm not Sammy- I'm not."

"I know baby, I know." Sam nodded at her, wiping her tears. "It's not your fault. It's the medias."

"Those- those photos-" Her breath shook with her words.

"I know baby, but you need to look after yourself first."

Kylie nodded, her breathing began slowing down.

"Why don't you take a shower? You can change into some of my clothes, I brought extra. And while you do that, I'll grab some food-"

"Sammy. Those photos, on the news. Those were taken the night I was followed. They were taken as I left the bar, as I realised being followed, and as I ran into the park to hide."

Realisation daunted on Sam. That's why there was so much fear in Kylie, why the news story hit her hard enough to the point where she had a panic attack.

The man who was following her, the stalker, took the photos for the news.