May 24th 2023
Erin enters Kelley's apartment, using the key Ali gave her, not having seen her sister since the funeral.
"I know it's only been a week since....but you need to get up and out of bed before your grief turns into depression." She says opening the curtains.
"Go away, Er."
"Absolutely not, but I will go sit on your couch, I want you to get up and shower and meet me out there in 30 minutes, you stink."
Kelley doesn't care enough to snap back at her sister's comment, but bites the bullet and eventually gets up to shower. Having not been shopping in months, she ends up having to use shampoo as body wash.
Putting fresh sweats on, she goes out into her apartment living room, not seeing Erin anywhere.
Kelley sits on the couch, staring at the wall for what feels like years, until her phone rings.
"Where the hell are you sis?"
"I need a little help, I'm half way up the stairs with all these bags. Give me a little help, will you?"
After the pair, have hustled all Kelley's groceries into her kitchen, they collapse exhausted onto the couch.
Erin opens up her phone, heads to notes and hands her phone to the right-back. "I know Gotham didn't give you a timeline to be back, blah blah blah. But I told them you'll be back June 1st."
Hearing that, Kelley sits up straight, "What the fuck, Er? I never said I wanted to go back to playing."
"Okay."
"Definitely not on my own." Kelley mumbles sadly.
"What did you say? Doesn't matter, you're still going back to training, your body needs it."
"Why am I holding your phone anyway?" Kelley grumbles.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, you're writing a list of all the stuff you want to do, in the week before you go back to Gotham. I'll organise it all for you, like the good sister I am."
Kelley sits there for a minute, before writing, sleep and stay in my bed.
"Kel, you know you can't avoid it forever, you need to choose where her grave's gonna be, Mom and Dad want to see you and I'm sure you could do a few things for yourself."
Hiding her face into her sister's shoulder she mumbles, "I'm so not ready Erin, it still doesn't feel real."
They sit in silence before Kelley starts to speak again, "When I close my eyes, all I see is her smile. When I sleep, she comes back in my dreams and it feels so real, I don't want to come to terms with the fact that's no longer her."
Erin can feel Kelley's lip tremble on her body, strengthening her grip around her. "Let it out."
"When I can't sleep, I try to decide what I would of said to her before she died, to convince her to stay." She cries.
Erin decides theres nothing she can say or do, and continues to hold her sister as she sobs.
After a while, Kelley's breathing evens out and Erin knows shes asleep. She slips out from underneath, replacing herself with a pillow.
Heading to the spare bedroom, she rings Ali.
"Hey Ali."
"How is she?"
"Didn't want to follow my idea at all, she cried in my arms for about thirty minutes. She's asleep now though."
"I know it's not what you want to here, but I think she's having nightmares, so keep a close eye on her."
"Don't worry I'm on it."
"Where do you think she'll want Wren's grave put?" Ali questions.
"London. It was Wren's home, a home at home when Kelley was there."
"I thought about that too. Why don't you try and make the list? I think it would benefit Kel if she went to London, it'll help her come to terms with it more."
"I'll try Ali, thank you for being there for Kel, when me and the family couldn't, we don't know how to thank you enough."
"I'd do anything for a teammate, you know that."
After Erin hangs up, she gets her laptop out her bag, booking flights from New York to Heathrow as soon as possible. Going through Kelley's clothes, she packs enough for a week, and puts her own bag of clothes, into a shared suitcase.
Waking up her sister, by rubbing circles on her back, she whispers, "Hey Kel, you okay?"
"Not really."
"I need you to hear me out."
"Erin, what have you done?"
"I may or may not have booked both of us, on the soonest flight to London." Erin says awkwardly, as Kelley buries her face into a pillow. "You've got to go back to be able to fully heal, so why not start now?"
After 20 minutes of bickering back and forth, Erin realises they're running late.
"Kel, we have no more time to argue, I didn't just spend a lot of money on flights, for us to miss them, so get out the door."
"I don't have anything packed!"
"I've got that sorted now go."
The pair eventually make it to their gate, after rushing around New York traffic in a taxi.
"When's our return flight?" Kelley asks.
"June 30th."
"I'm not being in London for a week! Are you mad?"
"It'll be good for you. It's also not a week, we arrive there tomorrow which means, you're only really there for 4 days."
As they board the flight, Erin can see how overwhelmed the brunette gets, as it all becomes real.
"I know it's super different from the amount of times you've done this, but it'll really help you in the long haul."
"I know Er, I just had no time to prepare." Kelley sighs, leaning her head on her sisters shoulder.
"Try and get some sleep, I'm not going anywhere."
May 25th 2023
Erin wakes up unexpectedly, feeling the body next to her shake unconsciously.
"Kel, wake up, it's not real, I'm here."
"Wren, don't go." Kelley mumbles in her sleep.
"Kelley, it's Erin." She says rubbing circles on her back again.
"Erin?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"How long left?" Kelley says opening her eyes.
"Around a hour. How about you watch a movie?"
Erin joins the plane wifi, sending a message to Ali.
Erin: Do you think you could book me and Kel a hotel room? Don't think she's going to want to sleep at Wren's house. Thank you x
Ali: Of course. On it right now.
Two and a half hours later, after they've collected their suitcase and taken a taxi to their hotel, Kelley falls asleep again.
Erin steps outside for one moment, accepting a call from her Mom.
"Hey Erin, how are you both?"
"I'm fine Mom, trying my best to be there for Kel. I managed to drag her to London."
"That's good, I'm sorry me and your Dad couldn't be there with you. I'm proud of you for taking this responsibility on."
"I'd do anything for her."
"We know that. What are your plans in London?"
"Although she won't admit it, I think she wants Wrens grave to be over here, especially as her body already is." Erin gulps trying to hold back her tears.
"I know you're trying to be strong for your sister, but it's okay to cry darling."
"I know Mom, I need to get into contact with Arsenal somehow, I think it'd be nice to see how they're doing too."
Many people pass throughout the hallway, but Erin takes no notice, too busy talking to her mom.
As she hangs up, she realises just how much being in London, makes her miss her sister-in-law.
"I can't imagine how Kelley feels." She whispers under her breath to no one in particular.
Composing herself, she slips back inside her hotel room. Seeing that her sisters awake and scrolling on her phone, she jumps into the bed beside her.
"What time is it?" Erin questions.
"10:00am, you were out there for a while."
"Sorry, I was talking to Mom."
"It's fine, I haven't been on my phone in a while."
"I don't travel as much as you do, but I do know that jet lag is awful."
"You get used to it at some point." Kelley presses her lips together.
"Can I sleep for a bit? Then we can figure out what we're going to do for the remaining time we're here."
"Sure."
*
"Pick up your fucking phone." Erin rambles. "Where the fuck are you Kelley?"
"Erin, chill. I'm just around London."
"I've been asleep for 4 hours, I don't know how long you've been gone for and you just tell me you're 'around London'?"
"That is what I said yes. And I've been gone for just over two hours."
"Can I come meet you?" Erin says still panicked.
"If you want, I was just about to get a taxi back to the hotel."
"Come right back here, okay? I'll see you in a minute." Erin says hanging up.
When Kelley opens the door, Erin lets out a sigh of relief.
"You had me scared shitless."
"I just wanted to get a coffee and see London again."
Erin pats the bed beside herself, indicating Kelley to sit down. "How was it?"
"It was strange. London's the same it was, I'm not." Erin wraps her arms around her sister.
"I love you."
"I love you more Erin."
"Enough being soppy, you need to decide where you want Wren's grave."
"We made up our minds a long time ago."
"What do you mean?" Erin asks confused.
"She's already at London Road. She looks beautiful."
"Does anyone else know?"
"Maybe Leah. We came to the decision a long time ago, it's her home and in some ways mine."
Engulfing Kelley in another hug, Wren mumbles, "I'm proud of you."
notes:
- i kinda wanted this to be longer but i cba to write anymore & feel like its a good place to leave this chapter at (although it isnt for me bc it means more writing🫣)
-if u dont get the last part its that they both decided to be buried at london road cemetery when they die which i thought was cute
- i upload a chapter and then wait till my motivation comes back and i think of a chapter to write which is what happened rn obvs
-thanks for reading chicas