An Off Day

Part 1

"Car? Hey superhero where are you?" Hope enters their shared hotel room after finally escaping the press following their SheBelieves Cup victory. After putting the Golden Glove from the tournament on the small table, the goalkeeper surveys their room. Carli's bag has been dropped on the foot of her bed, so she definitely made it back to the room. A quick peak in the bathroom tells Hope that the captain is not in one of her famous ice baths.

"Where in the world is Carli Lloyd?" The goalkeeper sighs and checks her phone, hoping for a text or at least a missed call. Luck is not with her it seems, as Carli is being the silent type tonight. A second sigh is heaved as Hope slips on her sandals to start looking for her closest friend. This is not how she planned on spending the night after a hard tournament.

The woman searches high and low for the missing midfielder. She evens go so far as to ask many of her teammates. Kelley and Lindsey are raiding the vending machines when they inform Hope that they haven't seen her. The goalkeeper finds Christen and Tobin sneaking out of the equipment room and through giggles finds out they haven't seen her either. Alex, in the conference room Skyping Servando, shakes her head in response to Hope's whispered question. She begins growing frustrated at Carli's ability to disappear and seemingly avoid all their teammates.

"What's up Hope? I figured you would be in bed by now old lady." Julie teases her teammate while she is filling her ice bin.

"Oh, shut up JJ I am not that old. I can still kick your ass any day. But that isn't the point. Have you seen Carli? She dropped her stuff in our room but I haven't been able to find her. No one has even freakin' seen her."

"Carli? I did see someone heading up to the roof when we came to get ice. I can't say it was her for sure, but you might want to check."

"You are amazing Jules. Thank you!" Hope gives the blond a quick hug and heads to the nearest stairwell. Before she can fly up the stairs, Julie hollers for her."

"Yo Hopester!"

"What JJ?" The strain is evident in the keeper's voice. She wants to find her friend.

"Tell Carli... tell her that we all still have her back. Carli is our captain and we all have faith in her." Julie finishes her statement with a sad smile. Only Hope will be able to get through to Carli right now. As weird as their friendship seems to everyone else, those two have always been able to read each other.

"I will Jules. Thanks." A quick smile is flashed her way then Hope is gone, disappearing into the stairwell. She takes the stairs two at a time, silently thanking Krieger for always making her take the stairs with her. Hope reaches the roof door and takes a moment to gather her thoughts and catch her breath. She slowly opens the door, not desiring to spook her friend if she is standing near the edge of the roof. Hope spots Carli sitting propped up against a brick wall of a maintenance shack. The midfielder doesn't turn around as Hope approaches her, too lost in the depth of her mind to notice she isn't alone.

Sitting down next to her the midfielder Hope settles in for a nice long chat. Carli had done this many times with the troubled goalkeeper, especially over the past year and a half. She will gladly return the favor to her most trusted friend. A hand on Carli's knee is the only action Hope takes, willing to let Carli open up when she is ready.

"This tournament was crap for me."

"Yeah, it was."

"I didn't score, bag an assist, or make any meaningful plays. Once again I got lost in the midfield."

"So, you had a bad tourney. It happens."

"But it can't. Not anymore, not with everyone watching." The crack in Carli's voice betrays her, telling Hope how deep this tournament and her performance has impacted her.

"Carli, we have been playing pretty much nonstop since the start of the last NWSL season. We fought through the Algrave, the Send-Off Series, the World Cup, the NWSL season, the Victory Tour, January Camp, Olympic Qualifying, and now SheBelieves. That is an incredible amount of soccer. You are allowed to have an off tournament." Hope's short speech is accompanied by her thumb making small circles on Carli's knee. A glance at the midfielder reveals the unshed tears in her brown eyes before her head slums forward between rounded shoulders, heavy with the weight of the world. Carli squeezes her eyes shut in a last desperate attempt to keep the painful tears from falling.

"Car...oh honey its ok. You cannot put all this pressure on yourself. You will get back to playing like yourself once you have had a few days to relax. Get away from soccer for just a little bit. Remember there is more to life."

Silence descends upon the pair again as Carli takes the time to process everything Hope has said. The goalkeeper keeps rubbing circles on her knee, not wanting to break the small contact. Neither of them knows how much times passes as Carli's head finds its way to Hope's shoulder. Finally sharing her burden with someone else, if only for a moment. It is yet more time before she finds her voice again.

"God I hate when you are right, you know that?"

"No, you don't. It is exactly what James would tell you. IN fact, it's probably in an email from him sitting in your inbox right now."

"Oh, shut up." Carli playfully nudges her dearest friend, a small smile in the form of upturned corners of her lips as well as a faint glimmer in her tired eyes. The combination silently tells Hope that her roommate is on the mend.

"Hey now...." Hope returns the nudge, a full-blown smile gracing her face. "Careful there Car."

"Oh, like you would hurt me." Carli scoffs as she stands up. The chuckle that follows is music to Hope's ears. She takes the hand that Carli offers, and lets her friend pull her up.

"Yeah yeah but keep it quiet." Throwing an arm around Carli, Hope leads her friend back inside. "I have got a reputation to protect."

"Whatever you say Solo. You're a softy."

"Only for you Car. And Julie, that cinnamon roll."

A/N:  A very short one shot I wrote after watching SheBelieves 2 years ago and Carli's lackluster performance. I had the thought that we as fans forget that players can have off games or stressful moments in their personal lives that impacts their play on the field. This was the end result of that thought. As always, let me know what you think.