In the morning, when I wake up, Y/N is stretched across my stomach, on her back, dead asleep.
"She's been like that since I woke up." Ashlyn says, coming out of the bathroom, drying her wet hair with a towel. "She was talking shit to me in her sleep." Ash finishes and I chuckle, tracing Y/N's stomach over her shirt.
"Stop, leave me alone." Y/N grumbles and I chuckle.
"Let me up." I say and she huffs, rolling off of me and laying back next to me. I smile at her, kiss her cheek and get up so I can go to the bathroom
-
Y/N
-
"Y/N, come on, wake up." I hear Alex say, and I furrow my brow, sitting up and rubbing my cheek.
"The hell? Where'd you come from?"
"My mother. Now come on, get up, we're getting ready to head to the field." Alex says and I groan.
"Don't I get breakfast fist?"
"No, it's noon. Get up, get ready, or I'm coming back and dragging your as onto the bus in your pajamas." Alex says and I sigh, getting out of bed, getting dressed and meeting the team down in the lobby, where Alex tosses me a banana and an apple.
"Thanks." I say, smiling, and laughing as Ash hops to my side, ruffling my hair.
"She awakens!" Ash yells out as I bite into the apple.
"Be quiet." I say, nudging Ash's rib cage with my elbow as we head to the bus and get settled for the ride to the stadium.
"You look happy with that apple." Kling says from across the aisle.
"Very." I say, taking another bite, laughing as Kling does.
"You're pretty loose for World Cup Final day." Moe says, poking her head over the seat in front of me and I shrug.
"Ready to go back to the states."
In the locker room, we all get ready and relax before the game, I of course, get my ankle taped, and just relax until we go out to warm up, where we really just focus on doing what we need to until Roc the Mic comes on, and I laugh as Dawn yells at me.
"Keep warming up, Y/N!" She yells and I abandon my idea of dancing instead of warming up. When we go back into the locker room, we relax for the fifteen minutes we get before the starters need to line up, and of course, some of the girls dance to the music I play through my speaker, Crystal tries to get me to dance, but I opt for preserving my energy. I have a feeling this is going to be a long, hard game, and I plan on playing every second of it.
When the starters line up, I'm behind Ash, and holding the hand of an adorable as hell mascot. Mascots are always cute, but she's got the USA crest painted onto her little cheeks and the cutest smile ever. We walk out and stand on the opposite sides of the halves we're starting on, and we listen to the national anthems before shaking hands with the refs and Japan's starters. When we get to our halves, we huddle up and listen to Ashlyn, Tobin and Carli speak.
"Y/N, you've seemed pretty confident since we landed here, we're looking to you." Tobin says and I nod.
"No pressure, right? Just gotta win a World Cup Final for my team and my nation." I say and everyone nods. "Piece of cake." I finish before letting the captains finish speaking, once they're done, we break the huddle and I get into the circle with Alex, we, of course, high five like always before I set my foot atop the ball, waiting for the whistle to blow, when it does, I tap the ball to Alex and push up as Alex drops to Morgan, Morgan looks up and sees Carli open, so she passes to her, and I take the pass from Carli, heading up and trying to find my way through, but drop to Tobin and watch the ball as it goes through the midfield and our back line, until Kelley sees me unmarked and boots it up field to me, so I follow the ball behind the defenders and level the ball, sending a cross in since I was heading up the left wing, and groan as Alex's volley is blocked, but watch Carli as she comes in clutch, putting us on the board, since the ball was deflected back into play, right at Carli Lloyd's feet, like, come on Japan, I know you're still salty about 2015, but you gotta be smarter than to let Carli fuckin Lloyd have the ball with an open goal, did you not learn anything from that half line shot? We celebrate the goal before getting back into our own half, and fight for the ball for a good five minutes, where Tobin Tobins and gets me the ball, so I decide to Tobin as well and get myself into the box, and I mean, I shook the keeper pretty quick, take the shot and smirk as I score, turning to see the keeper on her stomach about a foot away from me, did she really trip on her own feet? I shrug, but laugh as my teammates jump on me, obviously happy with that goal.
"Let's go!" Tobin screams out and I chuckle as we get up and go back to our half.
"Y/N." Carli says as Japan takes their time to get back into position.
"What's up?" I ask and she points to the goal.
"I want you to hit it from the line. Not right now, but some time during the game." Carli says and I raise an eyebrow. "You hit every midfield shot you take in practice."
"I only do those for fun." I say and she smiles, winking at me.
"Are you having fun yet?" She asks before jogging over to her spot, and I sigh, getting into my position as well.
-
Hope
-
"Y/N Y/L/N looks to be having some words with U.S. Women's National Team captain, Carli Lloyd after that insane goal, it doesn't seem to be reprimanding, they seem to be discussing something. A captain's opinion is always appreciated in games like this."
"Speaking of Y/N Y/L/N, if you are just tuning in to this game, Y/N Y/L/N for the United states is the player to watch for this match, she's been playing with such ferocity in this World Cup, some people wouldn't believe that this is the same Y/N Y/L/N. She did say, though, that this World Cup is a personal matter to her, in a press conference Jill Ellis held a couple of days ago, to put rumors and questions about the star player, to rest, it seems to have worked though."
The commentators say as the game resumes, and the ball is filtered through Japan's midfield, Y/N following the ball like always, being patient, waiting for Japan to make a mistake, and when they do, she picks off the ball, lays it off to Alex, and follows her, leveling the cross Alex sends in, giving Morgan the ball with a back heel as Japan's defense tightens around Y/N. Moe gets the ball to Tobin, who takes a shot, but the ball is pushed behind the goal for a corner, when it's taken Carli sends in a cross and Y/N gets her head on the ball, but the keeper blocks the shot, of course, the ball lands at Tobin's feet, so she just passes the ball into goal, since the keeper was on the opposite side of the goal. 3-0 in the first 30 minutes. Japan gets the ball again and scores, so, when Alex and Y/N stand in the circle, Alex puts her foot on the ball, nodding at each other after something Y/N says and when the whistle is blown, Alex touches the ball to Y/N, who boots the ball up field.
"What the hell, Y/N, nobody is- I see." I say when the camera focuses on Japan's keeper, making the same critical mistake as 2015, ball goes in, and the US is up 4-1.
-
Carli
-
"What did I say?" I ask, running up to Y/N, who turns to me, smiles at me and jumps on me,
"Y/N fucking Y/L/N!" Alex yells, running up to us as the rest of the team surround us, minus Ash, she's still in goal, jumping, either bored out of her mind and trying to keep her feet from aching, or happily, probably a mix of both though. We all get back into position and watch Japan kick off again, Y/N seals out one of their mid fielders and passes the ball to me, so I pass up to Alex, who makes a great run, a cross is sent in, but Japan gets the ball, fouling Moe, who was about to level the ball and shoot, but the refs are blind, so they didn't see a thing, the ball comes into our half and Ali gets the ball, passing up to me, and the rest of the half is like this, offense, defense, offense, defense. When the half time whistle blows, we all file into our locker rooms and the team listens as Tobin and I speak, while the girls hydrate, especially Y/N, who has stayed doing the most for the first half, and looks like she has no intent in stopping with that. Once Tobin and I have said what we've had to say, the staff come in and speak with us, telling us who is going out and who is taking who's spot, and I share a look with Tobin, we both know that one of us is coming off in the second half, and we both know who will stand in for us.
When we go back out for the second half, we get back into our positions, Mal and Press came in for Y/N and Alex, so Pinoe went off letting Y/N fall into her place, to maybe let Y/N take it easier, which, this is Y/N we're talking about, that's not going to happen. Japan kicks the half off and the first ten minutes are another boring back and forth of possession, and when the ball goes out for a US throw in, the board goes up for subs, and I see that Kelley is coming in for me, so I take my armband off, and hand it to Y/N as I walk up to her, we hug briefly before she pats my back as I jog over to Kelley, letting her take my place on the field as Tobin helps Y/N with my armband.
-
Y/N
-
When Press throws the ball in to me after Carli had gone off, I level it and pass to Mal, watching the child go up field with the ball, but level the ball that Japan tried to clear, passing to Sam before moving into space, taking the ball back and sending the ball up to Tobin, who sends a pass to Press over head and watch the ball go in, Japan kicks off again after we celebrate the goal, and we fight hard to keep Japan out of our box, but they get a shot on, which is saved by Ash, but goes behind for a corner, same outcome, another corner is taken, and Ash finally gets a chance to keep a hold of the ball, so she takes the goal kick and Kelley levels the ball, sending it to me, and I pass up to press, since she was poorly marked, and easily made a run, with me crashing the box, Press sends in a cross and I put my head on it, keeper gets a hand on it, but not a strong enough touch, it goes in and someone has a hat trick.
"I told you to take a midfield shot, not copy me." Carli yells as Tobin jumps on me and I laugh, smiling as we celebrate the goal before getting back into our half of the field.
-
Lydia
-
I watch my sister get back into position after that headed goal, smiling as she messes with her jersey, pointing to the crest over her heart.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was my daughter." I hear from beside me and I look over to see a familiar face.
"Abby?" I ask, nodding when my sister's idol and former teammate turns to me.
"Y/N look alike?" She asks and I chuckle.
"My name's Lydia, I'm Y/N's older sister." I say and Abby nods.
"Nice to meet you." She says, holding her hand out, and I nod, shaking it.
"Nice to meet you too." I say and she points at my little sister as she does her thing to get past the players marking her.
"She's a feisty one this year." Abby says and I chuckle.
"She's grown into her positions on the team. Someone taught her to. Not gonna mention names, Wambach." I say and Abby shrugs.
"I did no such thing."
"You two, be quiet." My mom says and I smile, focusing back on my sister as she chases down a Japan player, who obviously stole the ball from my sister, cheering as Y/N gets a fair tackle off, getting possession back and passing to Tobin, who does a thing with the ball, getting it into a great scoring position, but the opportunity is nothing more than an opportunity, goal kick is taken and Kelley O'Hara gets possession of the ball.
-
Y/N
-
"Kelley!" I yell out, running into space, taking the pass from Kelley and beating a few defenders before passing to Mal, I get behind some of the back line, and take the ball back from Mal, taking a shot, but level the deflection, and pass to Press, who scores again, we celebrate the goal and get into position. Japan kicks off, and score again, giving us a score line of 7-3 with ten minutes left of the game, including four minutes extra time. The final whistle blows when it's supposed to, and the team rush out to surround us, I smile, as we all celebrate the fourth star we just won today, and I smile, turning to the head official as she taps my shoulder, shaking her hand when she congratulates me on the win and the hat trick, before taking the ball when she sets it in my hand. I hold up the ball and the team cheers, I let Kelley take it as I go run over to my parents, Tobin is lost in the mess of celebratory teammates, so I'll worry about her when I get some time with my family, when I jump up to hug them, I smile as I see my parents teary eyed, as well as my sister, I hug them all and look over when I hear a voice to Lydia's left.
"What about me?" They say and I squeal as Abby's face appears, hugging her tight,
"Abby!" I exclaim as Abby chuckles.
"It's like you miss playing soccer with me, kid." She says and I pull from the hug, glaring at her.
"I do!" I exclaim and she smiles, ruffling my sweaty ass hair.
"You did great today." She says and I chuckle. "Now go celebrate with the girls." Abby says, and I nod, getting down and running over to the team, jumping on Tobin when I see her and kiss her, of course, our immature ass teammates make noises as my girlfriend and I kiss, so I pull away from the kiss laughing before dropping to my feet, our new World Champion shirts are passed out and I slip mine on, because that's the only way I won't lose it. In the middle of all that chaos, the award presentation stage is set up, and when we're getting on the stage, I pull the shirt back off, letting Dawn take it from me, the medals are draped over our necks and Tobin and I take hold of the trophy, Carli was supposed to do this, she's the actual captain, but she insisted I hoist it, with Tobin of course, I refused to do it alone, when we're about to hoist the trophy, Tobin lets go, and I end up doing it by myself anyway.
"The hell." I say and Tobin smiles.
"We all agree that you should do that by yourself, so you did." Tobin says and I sigh, but smile, we just won a fourth world cup, what's there to be upset about. The awards are finally given out, and Ash, of course, gets golden gloves, other awards I was too busy thinking to pay attention to, and the only thing that snapped me out of my thoughts was my name, and the girls shoving me toward the presenter, who held a golden boot out to me, I shook his hand and went back to where I was standing and I was shoved toward the presenter again after a minute, and a golden ball is set in my hands.
"Stop copying me, kid." Carli jokes as I go back to standing next to her.
"I'll try." I say and she chuckles. After the ceremony, we scatter and cameras are everywhere, but I don't really mind at the moment, I'm too damn happy to care. Kinda happy that this all is getting documented, I want to remember this. As we're all heading to the locker room, we interact with the fans, taking pictures, signing things, doing videos for friends who couldn't come, all that, and when we all finally get into the locker room, Danielle hands me a shark to cut the tape off of my ankle, so I sit down in the chair in front of my locker, take off my cleats, and my socks, cutting the tape job off of my ankle and toss the shark to Paul's assistant, Edward as I get up and throw the tape job away.
"So we just got our fourth star." Jill says, walking into the locker room and we all cheer. She speaks for a minute longer before disappearing, so I turn the music back on and we jam out happily as we change out of our cleats mostly. Too damn hype to get out of our uniforms. We all load onto the bus once we're changed and we're taken to the hotel to do what we want to before the post game party at nine, so Carli and I get an ice bath and I groan, resting my head against the wall as we sit in the cold water.
"You alright?" Carli asks and I nod.
"Happy, and tired." I say and Carli chuckles.
"Well, you've got a right to be happy. Mini Lloyd."
"You told me to take that midfield shot."
"I didn't tell you to get four out of seven goals."
"You're lucky I took the midfield shot." I say and Carlil chuckles. After our twelve minutes is up, we get out and I head to my room so I can get a shower, and as I walk into the room, Ash is just coming out of the bathroom drying her hair, so I close the door and go into the bathroom, turning the water on before going out and to get some clothes to change into, well, just a bra, panties, and a pair of shorts, because I plan on taking a quick nap before the party.
-
Tobin
-
At the party, Y/N was lively as hell, especially since Crystal would encourage her to get out on the dance floor right after she'd come off, so Y/N kisses me softly this time before going back out as Stay by Alessia Cara comes on and she smirks a little.
"What's with the smirk of hers?" Ash asks and I shrug.
"She did a routine to this a couple years ago, with Jade Chynoweth, I think that was her name." Lydia says and nod, watching my girlfriend dance what looks to be a perfectly choreographed routine to a certain part of the song before stopping and dancing normally for the rest of the song.
"How long has she been dancing?" I ask, turning to my family and my girlfriend's family, since we had all just grouped together.
"Since she was five." Her mom says and I nod, smiling.
"It was her second love. After soccer of course." Her dad says and I nod.
"I can see that." I say, glancing at Y/N as she dances to the music that comes on, after a little bit, I turn back to the two families at the same table as me, and just talk with them.
"Yo, Tobin." Lydia says and I look over at my girlfriend's sister to see her pointing behind me, to see her dancing with Crystal. To Take You Down. "Looks like Dunn is trying to steal your girl." Lydia says and I roll my eyes.
"It's not Crystal's fault I can't dance." I say and look over to my parents when I hear my mom speak.
"It's not my fault either." Mom says and dad shrugs.
"Mine either," Dad says and I groan.
"I'm gonna go get some food."