-Kelley-
The next morning I was sitting on the bed in Alex and Tobin's guest room, scrolling through my phone. I felt Emily squirm beside me, nuzzling her head into the sheets. I smiled, placing my hand on her bare shoulder.
"Humph." Emily mumbled, as I ran my fingers through her hair. She pushed herself up off the bed with her good arm, and then plopped her head down on my chest.
"Morning sunshine." I said, as she nuzzled her head into my neck.
"Morning." She mumbled. I traced my finger over her handprint tattoos, as she kicked her feet out from under the blankets.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her.
"Fine, but my back hurts." She said, and I nodded. Grabbing her pill bottle, I quickly read the instructions. Pulling out two pills, I made Emily sit up. She propped herself up with her good arm, as I slipped the pills in her mouth. I placed a water bottle to her lips, as she took a drink. "Why thank you." She mumbled.
"You're welcome." I said, as she laid back down onto my chest. "So, you called me Kiki last night." I said, and I felt her quirk her eyebrow against my shoulder.
"Kiki?" She mumbled into my neck.
"Yah." I simple said, as she sat up.
"I've never called you that before." She said, and I nodded.
"I know, but I liked it." I said, and she smiled.
"Why did I call you it?" She questioned.
"Well, you were all hopped up on pain medication. So that might have done it." I said, and she laughed. "But you can still call me it. I like it."
"Alright, Kiki. What are we doing today?" She questioned.
"Well first, you need a change of clothes. You've been wearing that same sports bra for at least four days." I said, and she faked a laugh.
"Fine, then help me change." Em said, as she paused herself out of bed. Her long tan legs hit the floor, as her back muscles clenched. Her left arm was tightly secured to her chest thanks to her sling, and the bandages on her back were slightly stained with red.
I climbed out of the bed, walking after Emily. Grabbing one of her sports bra, I stepped up behind her. Helping her take her sling off, she still clutched her arm to her stomach. I pulled her sports bra off over her head, tossing it on the floor. Smiling, I kissed her neck.
"I thought you were just helping me change?" She asked, as I tried kisses up to her ear.
"A little detour won't kill anyone." I mumbled against her skin. Spinning her to face me, I locked our lips. I felt her abs press against my stomach, as I latched my lips to her neck. She moaned out, as I scratched at her shoulders.
"Kel-breakfast. Alex-wants everyone-down." Emily stuttered out.
"You're no fun." I whined out.
"You said you'd help me change, not jump my bones." She argued back. "Now come on, or else I'll have to go down to breakfast without a bra on and tell everyone about what you just tried to do."
"Fine, fine." I mumbled, pulling her sports bra down over her head. Letting the elastic settle into place, Emily went and grabbed some of my Stanford sweatpants. I grabbed some black athletic shorts, and one of Emily's Yale t-shirts. One both of us were changed, we headed downstairs for breakfast.
Alex was cooking at the stove, as Tobin was setting their large dinning room table. Press and JJ were half asleep on the couch, Hope and Carli were cutting up fruit together, and Ali and Ash were making lover eyes at each other at the table. Moe was playing on her phone, as Kling was sipping coffee. Whitney was resting her head on the dinning room table, as Pinoe was tossing pieces of bread at her. Under the table, Leo was eating the bread pieces.
"Morning." Alex said, as me and Emily walked into the kitchen.
"Morning." We both mumbled. Alex slid Emily a cup of coffee, which she gladly took.
"So, when does everyone head back?" Tobin asked, a pout in her face.
"We leave in a few hours." Pinoe said, motioning to Moe and Whitney.
"We leave tonight." Press said.
"So do we." I said.
"And we leave in the morning." Ash said.
"Where do you guys head to first?" Emily asked Press.
"Actually, California. We're visiting my family." Christen said. Emily quirked an eyebrow at me.
"Feel like making a detour?" Emily asked me.
"Sure. California sounds great." I said.
"Maybe we could visit each other's family's?" Press questioned.
"Definitely, but only if you bring your sister." Emily said.
"What's so important about my sister?" Press questioned.
"I like her, she's funny." Emily said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yah, okay."
---
Me, Emily, JJ and Press all left later that night. The four of us headed to the airport, and eventually got on our plane. Emily listened to her classical music with her beats, as JJ slept on Christens shoulder. I glanced over at the forward, smiling at her.
"So, think your family will be excited to see me?" I asked, and she laughed.
"Yah, I think they'll be excited to see you. Ms. Kelley O'Hara, the girl who's been my best friend since college." She said, looking over at JJ. "Did you know that my parents thought that we'd end up together?" She asked me, and I shook my head.
"No, I didn't." I said, and she nodded.
"No offense, but I'm happy we didn't." She told me, and I laughed. "Because if we would have ended up together, I never would have meet Julie."
"Yah, I get what you mean." I said, looking back at Emily. "I totally get it."
---
The four of us soon ended up at the Press household, where I was flanked by the whole family. Well, everyone except Tyler. Pulling away from the youngest Press, I called out into the house.
"Tyler Press, where's my hug?" I called out. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Tyler appeared around the corner.
"Kelley!" She yelled, running at me. Tyler jumped into my arms, as I engulfed her in a hug. She pulled away from me, looking at Emily. "No. Way." Emily laughed.
"Hi, I'm Emily. I've heard a lot about you." Em said, smiling at Tyler.
"Holy shit." Tyler said, staring at Emily in awe.
"Hey Tyler, feel like taking a road trip?" I asked.
"Where?" She asked.
"The Rush household." Emily said, and Tyler about fainted.
"Hell yah." Tyler said. "Hell. Yah."
-Emily-
The drive from L.A to Grover was about an hour and a half, but we finally reached my house. My aunt Gwen's house was a two building connected cottage that was on the beach. Well, all of Grover was a beach. Jumping out of Press's car, I motioned to the house with my one good arm.
"Welcome to Grover." I said, as everyone smiled at me. Pushing my aviators up to my nose, I smiled back at my friends. "Come on." I said, heading towards the house. "Come on." I said, motioning everyone to fallow me. Pulling open the small metal wired door, I stepped inside the cottage.
I kicked aside some of Kats soccer cleats, and noticed the indoors I had gotten her. A ball was laying in the hallway, and one of my jerseys was on the wall. I heard laughter and yelling from the backyard, and motioned for everyone to fallow me. Pushing the screen doors open, I saw five people on the beach. My aunt, Kat, two of my sisters friends, and someone I haven't seen in a very long time.
"Raphael!" I yelled out, running down the deck steps. My older cousin turned around from his game of pickup, and smiled.
"Chachi!" Raphael yelled, as I jumped into his arms.
"Kelley!" I heard Kat yell.
"Hey superstar." Kelley said, as she picked up my sister.
"Raph, what are you doing here?" I questioned, as my cousin dropped me to my feet.
"Gwen needed some help, so I offered to come." He said, and I smiled.
"You're sweet, mi amour." I said, and he laughed.
"Why do you call me that?" He asked.
"Because I do love you." I said, and he smiled.
"Aren't you sweet." He mocked me. "What happened to your arm?" He asked.
"Every bone was shattered. Paris." I said, and he nodded.
"Are you okay?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Perfectly fine." Kelley, JJ, and the two Press's had made there way down to the beach.
"Ah, this is the famous Kelley that I've had to hear about entirely from tv interviews." Raphael said, glaring at me. "It's so great to finally meet you." He said.
"It's great to meet you too, except I'm not quiet sure who you are." Kelley said, shaking Raphael's hand.
"Emily Jane Rush, you have not told your girlfriend about your favorite cousin? I'm hurt." Raphael said, placing his hand over his heart.
"Callar." I said to him, slapping his arm.
"Lo que! Nunca me llamó y me dijo acerca de ella! Tengo derecho a ser lastimado." Raphael said to me. What. You never called me and told me about her. I have a right to be hurt.
"Basta! Usted puede hablar con ella más adelante. Permite sólo un juego de recoger." Stop it, you can talk to her later. Let's just have a game of pick up. He nodded.
"Multa." He mumbled. Fine.
"Um, are we interrupting?" Kat said. "I thought we were playing pick up." She said, smiling at me.
"We are you little smart ass." I said, and she gasped.
"Ouch." Kat said. Smiling, I ran and picked her up.
"When did you get so sassy?" I asked her, kissing her cheek.
"I've always been sassy, you just don't choose to except it." Kat said, and I smiled.
"That's very true." I said. "You guys know my teammates, Christen Press and Julie Johnston." Kats friends looked at me, and then back at JJ and Press.
"So, I heard we were playing pick up?" Christen asked, and the three of them nodded. I set Kat down on her feet, as I kicked the soccer ball up on my foot. Balancing it, I glanced at all of us.
"So there's me, Kelley, Chris, JJ, Raph, Kat, Elle, Lauren, Gwen and Tyler. Looks like five on five." I said.
"How are we deciding teams?" Raph asked.
"Cousin vs. Cousin." Kelley said, and I nodded.
"Up for it Raph?" I asked him, and he nodded.
"Bring it on Chachi." He said, and I smiled. Raphael called me Chachi because it was short for muchachita.
"I pick Kelley." I said, and he nodded.
"Christen." He said.
"Tyler."
"Gwen." Raph said.
"Kat."
"Julie."
"Lauren."
"And that means I get Elle." Raphael said, high-fiving the younger girl.
"Let's do this." I said, as we split up. Looking at my team, I smiled at them.
"Kat, Kel, you guys got defense?" I asked, and they nodded. "Lauren, you covering the mid field?" I asked, and she nodded. "Looks like me and you on offense." I said to Tyler, and she smiled.
"I'm not as good as a player as Christen, but I'll try." Tyler said, and I nodded.
"You'll do great." I told her. Looking over at Raphael's side, I saw JJ and Elle at defense, Gwen covering the midfield, and Press and Raphael playing the offensive half. We all lined up, and I let Raph start with the ball.
"Good luck." He said, shaking my hand. I smiled.
"Game on, perra." I said, as Gwen gasped.
"Language, Emily Jane!" Gwen yelled, as I laughed. Perra meant bitch in Spanish. Most of my family actually spoke Spanish, that's where my mother was from, as was my aunt Gwen. Mexico. Raphael's mother, and my aunt, was also from Mexico.
Raph passed the ball forward to Christen, who then passed all the way back to JJ. I put some pressure on JJ, who then passed forward to Gwen. Gwen tried to pass forward to Raph, but Kat intercepted the pass. Raphael tried to get the ball back from Kat, but she megged him. Kat took the ball all the way up our sand field, and scored on JJ. We started again, as Raph dribbled up field. Kelley poked the ball away from Raphael, and passed to Lauren. Raphael ran back up field, as Lauren passed to Tyler. Raph tried defending Tyler, as she stumbled in the sand. She tripped forward, and fell into Raphael. My cousin couldn't keep his balance, and fell onto his back. Tyler fell onto his chest, as he wrapped his arms around the other Press.
"S-sorry." Tyler stuttered.
"No-no it's okay." Raphael said. I stood beside Christen, as we watched the interaction going on between our family members. The two of them continued to have a discussion we couldn't hear, but never let go of each other.
"What the hell is happening?" I questioned, and Christen shrugged her shoulders.
"No idea." She mumbled. Kat, Elle and Lauren had all ran inside the house, as I walked over to Kelley.
"What an interesting game." Kelley said, and I smiled.
"Come on, let's go." I said, taking her hand. The rest of us headed inside, as Tyler and Raphael shortly fallowed.
"So, what was that about?" I asked Raphael, as he bit into a piece of celery.
"I don't know what your talking about." He said, as I cut up some fruit.
"Oh come on Raph."
"Oh, stop being a perra." He snapped.
"Hey! It's okay for me to call you a perra, but not the other way around. Mmh hmm, nope." I said, hitting him on the head with a stick of celery.
"Aye, ya basta!" He yelled. Stop it.
"Disculparse, decir que no soy una perra." I snapped, hitting with the celery again. Apologize, say I'm not a bitch.
"Pero tú eres!" But you are, he snapped at me.
"Realmente Raphael?" Really Raphael.
"Pensarlo!" He yelled, backing away from me. Think about it. "Es casi acción de gracias. No pregunto por qué nadie pide de volver de las vacaciones? Es porque nadie quiere aquí." It's almost thanksgiving. Did you wonder why no one called you to come back for the holiday? It's because no one wants you here.
"Raphael!" Gwen yelled.
"Dejaste a tu hermana!" You left your sister, he yelled at me.
"Yo estaba jugando fútbol, estaba haciendo lo que todos siempre me querían hacer!" I yelled back at him, on the verge of tears. I was playing soccer, I was dong what everyone wanted me to do.
"Dejar de hacer excusas que quería quedarme aquí y cuidar de su hermana!" Stop making excuses, we wanted you to stay here and take care of your sister.
"Basta. Hice lo que debía. Me puse en primer lugar, me ha jodido. Pero yo venía detrás!" I yelled, crying now. Stop it. I did what I had to, I put myself first. I get I screwed up, but I came back. Everything was silent for a moment, as I hung my head. "Sólo quería escapar de ti." I just wanted to escape, I whispered.
"Usted me hace enfermo. Yo deseo habría muerto en ese accidente y no tus padres. Se ha hospedado en sería, que le habrían sido para su hermana." He snapped. You make me sick. I wish you would have died in that crash instead of your parents. They would have stayed, they would have been here for your sister.
"Raphael." I said, taking a step towards him. He backed away, heading to the door.
"Debió usted." It should have been you, he mumbled, before storming out of the house. Gwen was crying, as everyone else just looked at me confused.
At this moment, I was grateful Kat couldn't speak Spanish. Whipping away my tears, I turned around and headed back out the patio door.
Running down the deck stairs, I collapsed on the sand. Hanging my head, I cried. I've never cried so hard in my entire life. I knew that what happened to my parents was a tragedy, and no one has any idea how much I wished they were still here.
No one understands that I wanted them to be here and for me to be dead. No one knew that what Raphael just yelled at me was what I had wished for years. No one knew how much I wished that Kat could have both her parents, instead of a sister who left. I wished her mom had dad could take care of her, and not her aunt. I wished she would have mourned me for a year or so, and then moved on. Instead of me showing up once or twice a year, and the vanishing from her life for months. I wish she had a better life. I want the best for her, but I can't give her the best. I wasn't the best.
My parents were.
But they were gone, and they weren't coming back. It should have been me. Everyone would be better off without me, and better off with my parents.
It should have been me.