All of these old friends had shown up at our doorstep and I didn't really know what to feel. Some of them I hadn't seen for almost two whole years. Yet, as we were swarmed with greetings and flying arms, I felt a sense of relief. For the first time in a long time, it felt like I was going to be involved in something fun.
“Long time no see!”
“Haha, you too.”
“Wow, look at you!”
The voices rang out amongst each other, as the quieter characters of Ethan and Skyra stood back and simply waved.
“Nelly!” Holly hugged her.
“Oof... Holly! You're ok!” Nelly smiled.
“Hey.” Jake gestured.
“Hi buddy.” I grinned. It all brought back memories.
After the initial hype died down, I looked around and sighed. “I'm so glad I get to see you all again...” I nodded. “But... You all know why you're here, right?”
“Of course we do!” Gray said confidently.
“We aren't stupid!” Holly winked.
“Well, most of us aren't.” Jamie smirked.
“Hey!” Jake scoffed.
“We're here for football, right?” Skyra said folding his arms. “I'll be honest, I haven't played it in a long time.”
“Me neither.” Etienne shrugged.
“Well, this is something.” Sam smiled.
“All of you, listen up!” Darragh called. We all dropped in volume and focused on the man addressing us. “Thank you. I know not many of you have experience in the sport – you may not even like it. However, I thought it was about time that you all got together, and there's no better time than now. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Darragh Ora-Yuki, Nelly's father. Sorry I didn't have time to tell you that beforehand, but you all know why you're here – the Pokemon League's new tournament. I'll be your training coach and manager for the next two months and beyond. Believe me – each and every one of you has potential to do well. I wouldn't have called you here if I didn't believe in you all. What's more, I understand that a few of you have played football at some level of youth league before?”
“I have, sir.” Harry stepped forward.
“Me too.” Max nodded.
“Same here.” Jamie said. “...Sir.”
“Please, just call me Darragh.” Nelly's father smiled. “I also presume you're all defenders?”
The three of them stared at him in awe.
“How did I know? Well, you simply strike me as that type of player.”
“I get the feeling that Darragh's going to be a great coach.” I said to Nelly.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “He taught me a lot when I was little.”
“Right... I forgot you played football too.” I smiled.
“Dad?” Nelly asked.
“Yes, Snowflake?”
“It's wonderful that everyone's here, but... Where are they going to stay?”
“Ah, don't worry about that. I've rented out that house over there for more than enough time.” He pointed to a two-storey house opposite his own. “Obviously I'm trusting you all to be sensible with no adult. Well, Sam, you are technically an adult, so I'm leaving it to you to make sure everything goes smoothly, all right?”
“You can count on me, Darragh.” The Gym Leader nodded.
“Gray, Skyra, you two can help as well.”
They both accepted the responsibilities.
“I hope you all have studded boots?”
Everyone nodded. Thank God for that.
“Right then! Tomorrow, I'll give you all training kits, and we'll head down to our training ground for the first time! Any questions?”
Nick raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“How many toilets are in the house?” The Ranger asked.
“I'm sure there's more than enough.” Xene sighed.
*
“Hey... Nelly...?” I whispered that night while we were curled up together as usual.
“Yes Toby?” She lifted her head from my chest and looked up at me in the faint light.
“Where do you think the training ground is?”
“Oh... I think I have an idea... When I was little, Dad used to take me down to this beautiful place... It's a bank that leads down to a lovely grass pitch beside a river underneath a large bridge... There are hills on either side – you'll love it.”
“It sounds great.” I smiled. “Also... Do you... Do you think I'll be any good at this...?”
“Toby, I know you'll be great at this.” Nelly smiled.
“I'm not exactly built for sports... I'm just too bi-”
“There's nothing wrong with you.” She said sternly, sitting up so she could look down at me.
“But Nelly...”
From where I laid she pulled me into her embrace and sighed. “I love you just the way you are. You don't have to change anything... If you're nervous about anything, you know you can speak to me...”
“I know...” I swallowed, wrapping my arms around her. “I just don't know how much exercise I can take before I...”
“I'll help you.” She whispered. “If you're worried about anything, I'll be there for you.”
Her eyes were serious and caring, and the way she held me made me believe in her even more. “Thank you...” I smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Nelly ran her fingers through my hair. “I'll see you in the morning, Toby...”
“Goodnight, Nelly...”
*
The next morning, Nelly and I were waiting outside her house in our new training kits. The shirt was a deep blue colour, with small ventilation holes around the armpits and waist in order to keep air flowing and minimise sweat sticking. Nelly was wearing a pretty standard pair of white sports shorts, whilst I had chosen to wear a pair of black tracksuit bottoms – I'd always worn this kind when doing sports, and it felt safer. Darragh was across the road, gathering everyone else up. It was ten o'clock in the morning and the Sun was out on a clear day, though it wasn't exactly hot. We had our sports bags by our sides – we weren't supposed to put our boots on until we got to this 'beautiful' place. “You ok?” Nelly asked.
“Yeah. I like these kits, they're pretty nice.” I replied.
“Yeah, they are quite comfortable.” She felt around the bottom of her shirt and patted the holes.
Eventually, everyone poured out from the house in their training kits with a mix of smiles. When we were all grouped up, Darragh began to address us all.
“Thank you for all being ready today. So, are you ready for this?”
“Yeah!” came the shouts.
“Great! Well, we'll make it down to the pitch, where we'll sort out some positions for you all, and I'll ask you some questions. Let's go!”
We followed Darragh in what was more of a pack than a line. After about ten minutes of walking, we came to a main part of the highway, where the road continued over a bridge that stood high above a shimmering blue lake. At either end of the bridge were steep grass banks with stairs that led down to two football pitches. One side of the river had a pitch of grass, the other a pitch of pure ground. Past the pitches were fishing spots, a playground and lots of greenery. Nelly was right – the place was beautiful.
Our group trundled down the bank and Darragh lined us up on the grass pitch. We all stood along the halfway line side-by-side. Darragh himself stood in front of us all with a clipboard and a pen. Nelly was stood next to me, smiling when she caught my eye. “Right, everyone, this is where we'll be training for the next two months and so on!” Darragh grinned. Everyone seemed impressed by it, and so was I. The field was in great condition, but I just wondered what the other pitch was for. The goalposts ahead of me stood tall and firm, and I had an overwhelming urge to run over to them for some reason.
“To start with, I'm going to record which football teams you support.” Darragh went on. “I'm only doing this so I get to know some of you better, and maybe set up some individual training drills. But, we'll see. I'll start with you, Harry.” He walked up to the end of the line.
“Liverpool.” Harry said promptly.
“Aha.” Darragh smiled, noting it down. “Good lad. Now, Max?”
“Spurs.” He said. Darragh noted and moved on.
“Manchester United.” Nick said.
“Port Vale.” Ethan followed.
“Manchester United.” Skyra nodded. Then Darragh stood before me.
“Toby?”
“Uhh...” I froze. I had never really been a big follower of the sport before... Only my Nan had ever been enthusiastic about it... What was that team again...? “A... Arsenal.” I remembered.
“Hm, interesting.” Darragh nodded, scribbling on the board. “Nelly?”
“Arsenal.” She replied happily.
“Fair enough.”
Nelly looked at me and smiled warmly, making me blush.
Darragh continued through, and there was another Spurs, another Arsenal, an Everton and some others. “Right! Thank you all for that! Next, we need to sort out some positions for you all... I'll need a few of you to help me get the equipment out of the shed.”
Xene, Gray and Sam followed Darragh to the little utility shed by the bottom of the bridge whilst the rest of us stayed back.
“Do you know where you want to play?” Nelly asked me.
“I... I don't know... I'm not good at football...”
“Don't worry, we'll all help.” She smiled.
Darragh and the others wheeled out several trolleys of footballs and set them by the side of the pitch. They then began to throw them out for us.
“Just play around for a while.” Darragh said. “Some of you need to get used to the ball.”
Sam rolled a ball to me and I planted my right foot on it. It felt kind of good. I put pressure on it and it held steady.
“Toby, pass.” Nelly said, taking a few steps back.
“Uh, yeah.” I nodded, kicking the ball at her. My connection was terrible, and the ball rolled away to her left. “Sorry!” I groaned.
“It's ok!” She giggled, stopping the ball and bringing it back. “Try hitting it with the side of your foot to pass it to me. If you use your toes you might hurt yourself.”
“Ok, thanks.” I replied, stopping the ball when she rolled it to me. This time, I used the side of my foot and it rolled straight to her.
“There you go!”
“Hehe...” I scratched my head.
“Now try and get your toes under the ball and scoop it up.”
I did as she said and the ball lifted off the ground towards her. With ease, she twisted her body so that the ball bounced off of her chest and up. When it came back down, she smashed her right foot into the it, sending it flying over my head and over to the goal. There was a loud 'ping' noise as the ball ricocheted off of the crossbar and high up once more.
“Whoa, Nelly...” I marvelled.
“I couldn't do that again if I tried.” She blushed.
“Etienne! Not like that!”
“Oh no!”
I saw from our right that Sam was trying to stop Etienne from kicking the ball, but it was too late. It had been falling, and he had sliced it awkwardly with the outside of his boot, causing it to curl away, straight towards us. It reminded me of that night on New Year's Eve. “Nelly!” I yelled, taking a step forward. She turned as the ball flew at her face and everyone focused on her yelp. I felt my feet lift off the ground and I hurtled horizontally just ahead of her. My arm stretched as far as it could go, and the ball smacked against my bare hand in front of her head, causing it to bobble back along the ground. I myself hit the ground and skidded a small distance before pushing myself onto my knees, panting. Everyone was looking at me, speechless. Then they all erupted with cheers.
“Toby...” Nelly smiled.
“Ugh...” I winced, shaking my right hand to ease the sting.
“I think we've found the Goalkeeper.” Darragh smirked.
“I knew it.” Nelly grinned, helping me to my feet. “You'd be great as a goalkeeper.”
“Yeah!” The others around us nodded.
“You're only saying that because you guys don't want me in your way...” I sighed. “Standing still at the back is the only thing I'd be able to do anyway...”
“Hey, enough of that!” Darragh said, walking over and putting his hand on my shoulder. “The Goalkeeper can be the most important position in the squad at some points.”
“Really...?”
“Yes! And if you don't want to be running around a lot, the position would be great for you. Though bear in mind, you're going to have to work hard on other things.”
“I... I don't know...” I looked around at the faces watching. “Nelly...”
“You'll be great.” She said, before stepping in closer to whisper in my ear. “I'll support you all the way. And we can all help you! We can take shots, and you can practice your catching and reflexes.”
“Hm...” I took a deep breath and turned to look at the goalposts.
“Well...?” Darragh asked.
“Teach me how to dive.” I replied.
The pair of gloves that Darragh supplied me with would be the pair that I would stick with. They had a blue back, and the palms were pure durable latex. Between each finger there were black ventilation strips, and there was a 'finger protect' guard in the gloves themselves, which would shield my fingers from impact pain and help me to keep my hands in prime position. I didn't know a lot about football, but the Goalkeeper was the most unique position and I knew more about it than any other spot on the field. I knew I would have to get used to collapsing forwards and to both sides, and I would have to be able to leap high, make short sprints and have no fear. They say all 'keepers are crazy. Well, I was the prime model.
I stood on the goal line closest to the clump of trees and paced along it, getting a feel for the width and height. The net behind me was black, but hung back out of my vision, which meant I wouldn't have to worry about what to focus on. My fingers felt stiff at first as I wiggled them in the gloves, but I felt ready. I had also been given the goalkeeper version of the training kit, which was a long-sleeve purple top with built-in soft shoulder pads.
“Right, Toby.” Darragh said, as he stood by the edge of the penalty area. “Everyone is going to take a shot at you. Just stop as many as you can, all right?”
“Right.” I nodded. I was going to face twelve shots, and considering I had never been in a proper kit like this, I was nervous, but I didn't let it show.
“When you're ready... Go!” Darragh signalled.
Nelly ran forward with her ball and struck it from the edge of the box. I could only jerk an inch to the right before it flew into the top corner. “Wha...” I blinked.
“Forget it and focus!” Nelly called, running out of the line.
“Ok!” I turned back to face Max, who took his shot early. I watched it fly through the air and met it with my palms, bringing the ball into my chest to gather it safely. Just catching one ball felt exhilarating. I rolled it out of the way and proceeded to be humiliated by Sam and Ethan, who rocketed in with so much precision that it was scary. I tried to close Harry's angle down, put it was all for nothing as he delicately flighted the ball over my head and under the bar. Etienne shot. A strong right hand met it. Holly fired. The bottom of my left palm lifted it into the bar. It felt great to stop two in precision. As Skyra ran up for his shot, I realised that everyone's strikes had typically gone one way because of how they hit it. So this time, I anticipated and took and early step to the right. However, Skyra opened his body and hit the ball with his left foot, which caught me off guard as it flew into the empty space I had vacated.
“You're left footed...?” I blinked. He simply nodded and left the line. Gray, Nick, Jamie and Xene all scored. Only Jake was yet to take.
My old friend seemed to hit the ball awkwardly, and his face said it all. It went fast, but across the ground, zipping along the grass. It all slowed down in my mind as I pictured myself leaping onto it. “I can dive here...” I thought. With one step, I reached towards the ball, but I couldn't do anything. As I went down, I recoiled and tried to pull out of it. In the end, the ball rolled past as I landed on my knees. “Wha... N-no...” I swallowed.
“Three out of twelve, not bad.” Darragh nodded, walking central.
“It sounds bad...” I mumbled.
“Toby, you did great.” Nelly congratulated me, holding out her hand. I took it and stood, shaking.
“Why couldn't I dive...?” I groaned. “I did it before...”
“It's fine, Toby.” Darragh patted my shoulder. “Your body isn't used to it. You want to, but your brain doesn't believe that you won't get hurt.”
“Oh...” I sighed. “How do I overcome that...?”
“Practice, I'm afraid.”
“Urf...”
After that, Darragh set everyone some little group tasks based on the teams we supported. Sam, Nelly and I stayed by the goal and we tried to work something out. “I take it you two are going to be strikers.” I observed.
“Not necessarily.” Sam shrugged.
“Why not? You're so good at shooting...”
“Hey, Toby, do you want us to take more shots?” Nelly asked.
“Well... Yes, please do it.” I nodded. After a minute, we had several footballs at our disposal, and Sam and Nelly stood on the edge of the box waiting.
“We'll hit them low, ok?” Sam suggested. “That way, you might be able to make a dive.”
“Ok, go.” I said, shifting my feet into the ready position. Sam hit one low and I could feel it in my legs. I wanted to fall. I wanted to grab the ball. Instead, I jumped down to my knees and the ball smacked off of my kneecap and out to the side.
“Well, it's a start.” He chuckled.
“Toby, try lying on the floor, and I'll roll one to you.” Nelly suggested.
“Uh, ok.” I flopped onto my side and held my hands out. The ball hit the padding on my hands and stuck. That would be my position if I made a diving save, I figured. “Again!” I yelled. Sam kicked one at my chest and I cradled it in safely. We kept doing this as I changed sides every so often. Soon we moved on to having me spring along the ground from a crouching position. Skidding along the ground to reach the shots wasn't painful, but it always felt like the kit I was wearing might have ripped at any moment. However, it stayed firm and only got dirty on the shoulders.
“Do you feel ready?” Sam asked after we had been practising for a while.
“I can try...” I nodded, using my fist to push me onto my feet. He struck a shot low and hard and I felt something click inside me. I didn't dive, but it was close. I collapsed onto my side quickly, but the ball bounced off of my arms and agonisingly over the line. “Dammit!” I cried, punching the ground.
“Hey, at least you're trying.” Nelly smiled, walking over to help me up.
“Hm...” Sam looked at the ball by his feet and then to me as I struggled to my feet. “I have an idea.” He said, lining up to hit the ball. “Heads up!”
Sam throttled his foot through the ball and it tore through the air in an alarming direction.
“What are you...” I gasped, moving my feet swiftly. In the heat of the moment, I felt my feet leave the ground as I leapt towards Nelly. “Hrraagh!” I growled out as I stretched as far as I could go. The ball struck my palm and deflected over Nelly's head. I hit the ground front-first and slid a couple of centimetres along the dirt, feeling my knees scrape up.
“Toby!” Nelly called from above, falling to her knees beside me.
“Are you ok?” I asked, straining to push myself onto my haunches.
“Yes, I'm fine, thanks to you... You did it! You dived!”
“Well done, Toby.” Sam said, walking towards us.
“Wh... What did you do...?” I groaned. “You tried to hit her...”
“Believe me, I wouldn't have aimed for her if I wasn't completely certain that you'd make it.” Sam responded. “Earlier you dived to stop the ball from hitting her. So I just recreated that.”
“I... But what good am I going to be like this...?” I took a deep breath. “Nelly can't stand in the goal with me.”
“I know, but this is just a start. It's all about mentality. As long as you're able to stop the ball from hitting her, you'll be able to keep it out of the net.”
“But what if I miss... She'll get hurt...”
“Don't worry, Toby.” Nelly smiled again. “It'll all come together in the end. You'll be able to dive at any time as long as you work hard.”
“Exactly. This is just the initiation of the process.” Sam nodded.
“Everyone! Come in! That's enough for today!” Darragh called from afar.
We all gathered around Darragh in the centre circle and listened as he spoke widely to us. “You've all done really well today, considering some of you have only just started. I've been watching you all closely, and I'll let you know in the next session where I think you should play on the pitch. I'll let you rest tomorrow, because some of you won't be used to the exercises we've done. For now, though, well done. Let's pack everything away!”
Most of us cheered ironically, while I just stared at the ground sadly. “Come on, Toby.” Nelly said, picking up a ball and walking towards the shed.
“Yeah.” I nodded, picking up some more.
There were a lot of footballs out on the pitch, so it took a while for everyone to gather them up and store them away in the utility shed. I was inside the small shack, placing a couple back into a small trolley. The floor was made of cream-coloured concrete tiles, and there were several shelves around the sides that housed first aid kits, cones, flags and other pieces of equipment. Nelly was at the back of the shed, moving some things around. Skyra moved the trolleys into place and walked out of the doorway, pausing as Darragh called from the distance. He nodded and reached back for the door, pulling the keys out and walked off. “Are you ok?” Nelly asked when she saw that we were alone.
“Yeah, I'm fine...” I sighed.
“Come on... What's wrong? You did really well today.”
“No I didn't... I was terrible...”
“Don't be so hard on yourself.” She said, walking up to me. “You've only just started. You can only get better from now on.”
“I don't know, Nelly... I just-”
There was a cold gust of wind and a loud creaking noise. We turned to see the shed door slam shut, the sound echoed throughout the small space. “Uh...”
I tugged at the inner handle and pushed it in the opposite direction too. It wouldn't budge. “It won't open...” I swallowed, hitting the door.
“What? Why would it lock like that?!” Nelly gasped, running up beside me. “Dad! Dad!” She called. There was no response, just the cold silence of nature. “Toby... What do we do...?”
“Isn't there a spare key?” I asked.
“I don't think so.”
“Oh damn... I... I don't know...”
I whacked the door with my fist over and over again. “Darragh!” I yelled. “Skyra! Sam! Anyone!”
Nothing.
I felt Nelly's fingers wrap around my arm as she got closer. “Toby...” She looked at me with a worried look in her eyes. “I don't like it... I'm scared...”
“It's all right.” I took her hand and looked at the dim light hanging above our heads. “He'll come back for us.”
After half an hour, there was still nobody to be seen. We were just pacing up and down, trying to calm ourselves. I could feel the chill from outside, so it must have been fairly late in the afternoon. A look at my watch showed that it was about five o'clock. Nelly seemed to be getting really nervous, too. “Toby...” She said shakily, putting her head on my shoulder. “It's cold...”
“I know... Ok, sit down.” I said.
“What?”
“Please?”
“Ok...”
She slumped to the floor and sighed. I bet it felt nice. My legs were aching from all the work they'd been through. I had spotted something on one of the shelves that caught my eye. I reckoned it would help in a situation like this. After rummaging around, I pulled out a thick, beige woolly blanket. I sat down beside Nelly and laid it over her legs, smiling. “There you go...”
“Thank you...” She replied. We shuffled up to the wall so we could rest our backs. After a little while, Nelly curled up close to me, and we had the blanket up to our chins. Even like this she was still shaking. “Are you still cold?”
“A little bit...” She nodded.
“Come here, then...”
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Everything will be ok, I promise. We won't be here for much longer.”
“I hope so...” She sighed, hugging me back. “Ugh... I'm so sweaty... I just wanted to go home and shower.”
“I know what you mean.” I laughed.
“I... I meant what I said earlier...” She said quietly. “About you... You really did do well... You saved me. Again. Twice...”
“But that's not the point...” I tried to argue.
“Listen... I'm proud of you, Toby...” Nelly smiled, bringing her head up. “Don't forget that.”
“Ok... I...”
For a moment tiredness took my body and my sense of feeling became enhanced. I felt her close to me and she was so soft... “I love you, Nelly...”
“I love you too.” She yawned, closing her eyes. “So tired...”
“Sleep if you can. I'll wake you up when he comes.”
She nestled down and soon began her 'sleep breathing' that I found adorable.
Darragh thrust open the door I don't know how long after that. He stood there as the setting Sun shone over his shoulders, and the look of disbelief on his face was clear. “I'm so sorry.” He held his head in his hand. I simply shook my head and yawned.
“Nelly... Nelly... Wake up, Sweetheart... We can go now.” I whispered into Nelly's ear. She stirred slowly and looked up at me, then to her father.
“Snowflake, I'm sorry...” He began.
“I just want to go home...” She yawned.
“Y-yes, of course, of course.”
I helped her to her feet, and the three of us left the shed. Darragh locked it after checking it thoroughly. We walked home together in the cold, talking off the awkwardness. It hadn't been too bad in the end anyway. I got to spend more time alone with Nelly, after all.
When we got back, we went straight to the bedroom and got our pyjamas ready. Nelly was leaning against the bed with hers in her hands. “You use the bathroom first.” I said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah...” I nodded, stretching my legs out and patting my knees. They were still aching.
“All right... You are ok, aren't you?” She asked.
“I'm fine.”
“Ok... See you in a bit.” She kissed my cheek and left.
While she was gone, I went downstairs to see what was happening. A few our friends had come over from the house across the road to have dinner with us. Skyra was there, and he said how he was sorry for taking the key away whilst I was still in the shed. I waved it off and sat on the sofa for a bit. Bonnie saw me and laughed at the mess I was in. She was playing with Maruki, who was sat on the floor holding several teddies.
After ten minutes, Alexis came down the stairs carrying some laundry, and smiled at me. “Did you have fun today?” She asked.
“Uh, yeah. It was different.” I replied.
“Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it.”
“Uh... Alexis, have you seen Nelly...?”
“I think she's in the bathroom.” She said, piling the laundry into a basket.
“Oh, ok...”
I wandered back upstairs and into the main hallway. I couldn't hear the shower going. There was pretty much no noise at all up there. Slowly, I approached the bedroom and opened the door. She wasn't there. I wanted to talk to her, but she was nowhere to be found. Eventually, I went to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Hello?” Nelly's voice called out.
“Oh, you're still there.” I sighed.
“Toby, what's up? You don't sound too good...”
“Well I... I wanted to talk to you...”
“All right, hold on a second.”
I stood back and looked around. There was noise behind the door, and I heard the lock click. “Don't come in.” She said.
“Ok...”
After a few seconds, she called out again. “Ok, come in.”
I grasped the handle and slowly pushed the door open. There were several little puddles of water across the floor. The bath was on the right, against the wall. The shower was above it, but the curtain was drawn around it. There was a small stool by the end of it, not far from the toilet. “W... Where are you?” I asked.
“In here.” She replied. Her hand came from behind the far end of the curtain.
“O-oh, I'll leave...” I blushed, turning around.
“It's ok, come sit here.”
“A-all right then...”
I locked the door and walked over to the stool. Nelly smiled at me from the bath as I sat down. It was filled with bubbles, which made me feel better. “What's up?” She asked.
“Well, I... I just don't know if I can do all this... I... There's all this pressure on me to do well, but I... I don't know if I can do it, Nelly...”
“Toby... You've only just started... Don't tell me you want to give up?”
“No, not really... Not yet... I just... I know I'm not fit... How am I going to keep up with everyone when we do group exercises? How am I not going to get embarrassed...? I can't run, I have low stamina... What can I do?”
“Oh, Toby...” Nelly sighed, putting her hand on mine. “If you're scared, we can do everything together. I'll run with you. I'll hold your hand and we'll do it all together.”
“I... I guess that would help...” I smiled. “But do you really want me holding you back? I don't want to hinder you...”
“You could never do anything wrong to me.” She smiled back.
“Anyway, are you ok besides that?”
“Yeah, I guess so... How are you, Nelly?” I asked, squeezing her hand.
“I'm just tired.” She replied happily. “Can we just stay in bed tomorrow?”
“R-really?”
“That sounds boring, doesn't it?” She looked down at the bubbles sadly.
“No, it doesn't. I'd love that. You have no idea how much I just want to lay with you.”
Nelly blushed and giggled. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I stood up, leaned over and kissed her. “I really do.”