SUNSHINE

twenty nine

Fifteen minutes later Alex was out of the shower and changed into a romper and a nice pair of flats, while Casey was in a pair of light denim ripped skinny jeans and the white sweater she forgot she packed, so she looked a little better than jeans and a sweatshirt.

"Here, wear these." Alex said, tossing a pair of light brown ankle boots at her. "Lucky we're the same shoe size. I knew you didn't pack anything else but your Birks and Nikes." She added, and Casey laughed.

"You're not wrong." She confirmed, and they were both laughing.

"Alright, just got a text from Ali that they're outside. Ready?" She asked, and Casey nodded. She unplugged her phone and grabbed her lanyard and put it around her neck. The two of them made sure they had their room keys and they left their hotel room, taking the elevator down to the main floor and seeing Ali standing outside the car, Ashlyn remaining in the driver's seat so they weren't parked. As soon as she saw them walk out the building she jumped up and down, for they had not seen each other since the last game of the regular season last year. She ran up and hugged the both of them, and it made Casey happy to see such a joyful face.

"Ah you both look amazing! How are you?" Ali asked cheerfully as they all got in the car.

"Been better, but I'm just glad to see both your beautiful faces." Casey answered with a small chuckle as Ashlyn started driving toward the Red Hen.

"We heard what happened Casey, we're sorry about Jackson." Ashlyn said, looking in the rearview mirror at her.

"Yeah me too, but it'll be alright. I'd rather not talk about it though, if you guys don't mind." She sighed, and they respected her wishes.

"We heard you got a dog Cas!" Ali said excitedly, changing the subject. "How's Blue with him?"

"They're great, they're best friends actually. I think it was a good idea to get another dog in the house." Alex responded as their driver pulled into the parking lot and parked the car, and the four of them got out and went inside, after Ashlyn got a chance to hug and greet them of course.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" The host asked them in a charming manner.

"Hi, we have a reservation?" Casey said with a charming smile right back.

"Alright and a last name?" He responded.

"Radcliffe." She informed, and his eyes lit up when he found the reservation.

"Alright if you four would follow me this way." He said as he grabbed four menus and started walking toward the back of the restaurant. They got seated and all got their drink orders in before looking through the menus. Once they all ordered, they fell into comfortable conversation, catching up on things that had been happening in their lives since they last saw each other.

"Okay, I know you said you didn't wanna talk about it, but Jackson really cheated on you with Riley?" Ali asked, and Casey just laughed.

"Crazy, right? The two people I trusted the most went behind my back." She responded with a broken smile on her face.

"Cut them toxic people outta your life, Cas. Let that shit go." Ashlyn said, and she nodded.

"Probably the best advice I've heard through this whole mess." She laughed, and Alex gave her a pointed look. "Alex, you've been my rock through this, you've been giving me some great advice all week."

"You're damn right." Alex grumbled in response, and they all laughed.

"This means someone better will come along. He wasn't the one." Ali said in all seriousness.

"I've been in love with that kid since the seventh or eighth grade. He was the one." Casey sighed.

"Then there will be another one." Alex added, squeezing her hand. "And like I said, if you want me to go kick his ass, I would in a heartbeat."

"Thanks, but if anyone's gonna kick his ass, it's gonna be me. I guess it's time for a new slate. New adventure." She answered with a laugh, and as they all got going, their food was served and they dug in.

"You guys shoulda seen her the day after they broke up." Alex started, then Casey laughed. "He came by the house and she went off on him. It was amazing, I don't think I've ever seen anything so badass."

"I broke down crying right after, but it felt pretty good to throw all his stuff at him and kick him out of the house." Casey added, and they were all laughing now. It felt good to laugh about something that had broken her, but she took it as a part of the healing process. It felt kind of normal to joke about it all. Sure, she was still healing, but what happened happened, and she could not change the past.

"Hey, The Grove is having some sort of open mic night, you guys want to stop by? They do karaoke, comedy, slam poetry. We've been a couple times and it's usually pretty good." Ali suggested as they finished their meals and paid.

"I'm down, what about you Alex?" Casey responded.

"Sure, but we have to keep in mind we have training at nine tomorrow morning." Alex agreed, and they nodded.

"We have training tomorrow morning too, plus this thing only goes from six to nine or so, and it's already almost seven." Ashlyn said as they walked out of the restaurant, their stomachs full of the best Italian food Casey had ever eaten. They got back into the car and Ashlyn started it.

"We were there for three hours?" Alex asked, and they all started laughing.

"I guess that's what happens when we get to talking." Ashlyn muttered as she pulled out of the parking lot. Ali turned up whatever was on the radio and started singing along, and everyone joined in, shouting in a singing manner as they went through downtown Washington D.C., arriving at a small cafe called The Grove in the heart of downtown about fifteen minutes later. They piled out of the car, and when they went inside, they were transformed into another universe. The event had already been going on for an hour, so when they walked in, it was full but not completely packed, so they were able to find seats all together at a table. A slam poet was in the middle of his performance when they walked in, and by the time they were seated, he had finished, and everyone was clapping for him.

"This is such a cool atmosphere." Casey said in between acts, looking around and observing everyone and everything.

"You've never been to something like this?" Alex asked, and she shook her head in response.

"No, I've never really had the time to I guess. I've always wanted to though." She responded as Ali and Ashlyn came back with coffee for all of them, and she knew to order decaf otherwise they would all be up all night.

"Casey don't you sing?" Ali asked when she sat down, and Casey felt her cheeks go red.

"Here and there, never in front of an audience." She answered quietly.

"Dude, you sing in the shower all the time and you're amazing. You should go sign up." Alex urged, nudging her arm.

"I've never sang in front of an audience!" She reasoned, and they rolled their eyes.

"You've played professional soccer under the scrutiny of thousands of people. Plus, people don't even know who you are here! You should go for it." Ali pressed, and Casey shook her head.

"I can't." She said, and Ashlyn got closer to her face.

"Who's the one who said time for a new adventure?" She asked, and her question was met with silence on Casey's end. "Exactly. Come on, you're gonna do great."

"You know, I actually hate you guys so, so much." She sighed as she stood up, going to the sign up list at the side of the stage. There was one act ahead of her, then she was up to sing in front of a ton of people she did not know. It was a little comforting that she only knew the people she came with, but there was a nice sized crowd filling the cafe. She took what Ali said in stride and got on stage when it was her time. She introduced herself and told the crowd what song she would be singing, and went for it.

And man, Casey Radcliffe knew how to sing.