Hope
-
It's been six weeks since Y/N's surgery, and she was just told that if she wishes to find somewhere else to continue her physical therapy, she can, so she told them that she wanted to go to Malibu. She even knew who she wanted to go to, so they set it up and I took Y/N back home, where Jerramy was waiting for us, Y/N had convinced him to come back a few weeks back, it was pretty difficult, but she won, she always wins, but he was cleaning the kitchen, so I helped Y/N pack for her trip to Malibu. When we were done, she wrapped me in a tight hug.
"Thank you, Hope." She says and I rest my hands on her shoulders as I smile at her.
"Family doesn't turn their back on family. I'm glad you came to me after all this time not talking much aside from at games." I say and she smiles back at me.
"Family, Hope. Family." She says and I sigh.
"I am going to miss having you around to keep me on my toes." I say and she shrugs.
"You could always come to California with me, help me coach the teams, they'd die if I showed up to practice with you." Y/N says and I chuckle.
"I appreciate the offer, but my husband needs some time with me, too." I say and look over as I hear Jerramy behind me.
"Go on if you want to, babe, I'll be fine on my own for a while." He says and I look at Y/N.
"You heard the man. If you want to, come, I won't mind. Plus it's not like you haven't had to leave him on his own before." Y/N says and I look back at my husband, and he nods, so I sigh.
"You two should get into political debates." I mumble before heading to my room to pack up for this impromptu trip to California with Y/N.
-
When we landed, we headed to luggage claim and got our luggage before heading to where Y/N said her high school coach was waiting for us, she had told her about bringing me along, and made her keep it from the teams.
"Y/N." A woman says as Y/N eagerly crutches over to her, and they hug.
"Karen, it's so good to see you." She says as Karen steps back and looks at me.
"Hope, it's so nice to meet you." She says and I smile.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you for coming." She says and I shrug.
"It's no problem, according to Y/N, I could use a break from Seattle, so here I am, I'm glad you allowed me to come down." I say and she shrugs.
"Having someone like you around might inspire the girls to push themselves a little harder. Come on you guys, I'll take you to the apartment Y/N rented out for her recovery time." Karen says before leading us out to what I assume is her car, and I help Y/N with her bags and her crutches before getting in the back with said crutches. Y/N sits up front as Karen drives and I listen as the two talk. "Your folks are coming home in about a week, kid." Karen says, looking over at Y/N, who looks over and stares at the woman beside her, a hopeful glint in her eye as she suppresses the hopeful smile from her face.
"What's the verdict on my mom?" She asks and Karen looks at her.
"They got most of it. The rest is treatable with chemo." She says and Y/N nods, a tear slipping from her eye, and I watch as the older woman takes Y/N's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Your mom is going to live, honey." Karen says and Y/N just cracks, sobs wracking her body.
"Y/N?" I ask and she looks over and I rest a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine. Just happy." She says and I nod. After Y/N and I were dropped off at the apartment she's renting, I help her settle into the room she chose before settling into mine as Y/N lays down to rest, tired from the crying she did in the car.
-
Tobin
-
I sigh as I sit on the couch at home and stare at my phone debating whether or not to call Y/N and tell her about my decision concerning her niece or nephew that's yet to come into this world, and sit up, grabbing my phone and dialing my girlfriend for a Face Time call.
"Hello?" Y/N mumbles sleepily and I grin at her.
"Hi baby." I say and she automatically perks up.
"Hi, Toby." She says, giving me that cute as hell sleepy smile as she sits up. "Sorry, I was just taking a quick nap between rehab and practice. What's up?" She asks and I sigh.
"So you remember that situation your sister presented me with?"
"The proposition to raise my niece or nephew? I remember well. Why?"
"I think I'm going to tell Lydia that I'll take them in." I say and Y/N looks at me.
"Did I hear that right?" She asks and I nod. "Do I get a part in helping?" She asks and I roll my eyes.
"Of course you do, babe." I say and she nods.
"Hey, Monkey, come on, get up, we gotta get going to practice." I hear someone say from off screen and I furrow my brow.
"Who's that?" I ask and watch as Y/N switches cameras to show Hope standing in the doorway of the room she was in. "Oh, hey, Hope."
"Hey, Tob. Seriously, Y/N, come on." Hope says and I chuckle.
"I'll call you back." Y/N says and I nod. "Bye, I love you."
"Bye, I love you too." I say before she hangs up and I sigh, relaxing onto the couch, finally able to breathe with that off my chest, but pick my phone up again as I remember to call Lydia and tell her what I've decided.
A couple of hours later, as I'm cooking myself some dinner, my phone starts ringing with Y/N's ringtone, so I reach over and answer the call before putting her on speaker as I continue to cook.
"Hey, babe." I say as I take my phone and go sit at the island to let the food cook.
"Hello, love." She says and I smile.
"How was practice?" I ask and chuckle as I hear her sigh.
"It was fine, but my armpits and back are killing me. Hope went to the pharmacy to see if my prescription was finally filled." She says and I smile to myself.
"Painkillers for your knee?"
"And anti-inflamatories." She says and I chuckle.
"You sound excited."
"Pain relief." She groans out and I sigh.
"I miss you." I say out of the blue.
"I miss you too, love."
"The upcoming camp is in LA." I say and hear Y/N grunt.
"Cool, I can stop by and say hey." She says and I nod.
"They've got a new girl on the team, she's filling in for you as you go through rehab." I say and there's a pause. "Y/N." I say, and there's a shuffle like she jumped.
"Huh? What?" She asks, the grog evident in her voice.
"Baby, are you tired?" I ask and she whines.
"Yes, very." She says and I nod
"Go on and get some sleep, love, I'll talk to you whenever we're both free, okay?" I say and chuckle as my only answer is my girlfriend's exhausted snores, so I hang up and plate my dinner, eat it, and clean the dishes I dirtied before going to bed myself, and sigh as I catch myself waiting for Sortzen to hop up and curl up with me. God, I miss that dog.
-
A few days later, the national team gathered in LA for boot camp, and headed to the hotel we were staying at for the two weeks we were going to be staying here because we had a friendly against Trinidad & Tobago at the end of it, so as I settled into my room with the new girl on the team, she seemed starstruck by me, and I found it endearing.
"Sorry, what's your name again?" I ask and she smiles.
"It's Kate." She says and I nod.
"Well, Kate, pick a bed. Any bed." I say, and watch as she tosses her things onto the bed by the window, so I set my things down on the bed closest to the bathroom.
"So how's Y/N doing?" She asks as we both just watch TV and relax.
"She's alright. She's in Malibu right now helping MHS with the soccer team. Brought Hope along with her. I was actually about to call her and let her know that we were all here in LA if she wanted to come down." I say and she nods, but I look away from her as my phone starts ringing in my pocket, so I pull it out and smile at the picture of Y/N and I kissing the trophy after the World Cup with Ash in the back ground as the goof she is, interrupting our kiss, and answer my girlfriend's call. "Speak of the devil." I say as I sit up.
"Am I one of the cool kids?"
"But of course. I was just talking about you, and about to call you."
"Well, I beat you to the punch."
"That you did." I say, unable to let my smile drop, leaving the room as Kate coos at me for smiling so wide. "So what's up?"
"Hope and I just got out of practice. Just decided to call and check in with you. Let you know my rehab is going great. I only cried once today."
"Aw, baby. You're still in that much pain?"
"Yeah. But I'm not really surprised. It's not just a cut, but it's also not an entire knee replacement. It'll take a reasonable time to recover. Don't go getting impatient on me now, Heath."
"When it comes to you hurting, I'm always impatient." I say as I go stand at the window at the end of the hall. "How was practice?"
"Long. Karen started practice during sixth period and kept them until they get out of actual practice, but they're looking better, the JV girls aren't tripping over the balls like a few weeks ago. I'm ready to cuddle up under my blankets and nap."
"How about you have Hope drive the both of you to LA so you can cuddle up with me and Hope can visit Carli." I say and there's a small gasp.
"You're already here?"
"Surprise."
"Hope, screw going back to the apartment, drive us to LA!"
"What? Why?"
"Because I said so and you love me."
"Seriously, Y/N."
"The team just got to LA and I want to see my girlfriend, dammit, you can see Carli while we're there."
"Ugh fine, you're so annoying."
"You love me."
"Shut up."
"We're on our way, baby. I'll call you as we get into LA."
"Alright." I say before giving her the address to the hotel we're staying at and go back to the room.
-
Y/N
-
When Hope and I get into LA, she drives us to the hotel, and helps me out of the car while she calls Tobin off of my phone to let her know we're walking in, and as we walk into the hotel, I see my girlfriend and most of our teammates waiting for us in the lobby. Tobin is the first one to me of course, and I sigh into her neck as we embrace each other.
"Ugh, I miss your arms." I mumble into her neck and just revel in the feel of my girlfriend.
"I love you." She whispers, stepping back and capturing me in a kiss that I so desperately wanted and needed before stepping away and letting the rest of the girls come say hi to Hope and I. Of course they said hi to Hope first, to let Tobin and I have our moment, and when Tobin was beside me, Ashlyn wrapped me in a tight hug, which I returned, hugging just as tight and smiling at my best friend.
"If you run away like that again, I'll kick you in the vagina." She says and I nod.
"I know, I'm sorry." I say and she nods as Alex comes over and hugs me tighter than Ash did.
"If you disappear like that again, I'll murder you." She says and I nod. "You really scared me." She says and I sigh.
"I'm sorry."
And it was like that for the next five minutes until a fresh faced girl walked up to me and stuck her hand out to me with a bright, confident smile.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Kate." She says and I nod, taking her hand and shaking it.
"Pleasure to meet you too. I'm sure you can tell my name with everyone using it to scold me." I say and she nods.
"Yeah. I agree with them though." She says and I look to Jaelin.
"Hey, Little Howell, if you would've introduced yourself to me with a smile, I would've liked you so much more." I say and she rolls her eyes laughing as she turns back to her conversation with Mal.
-
After a while, I was up in Tobin's room with her, all cuddled up to her and happy, while Kate was off with the youngins of the team, and Hope was off with Carli doing Harli things, and I had just finished setting up dinner with my folks for Hope and I. They wanted to meet Hope and I wanted my mommy. Just thinking of her brought tears to my eyes, and Tobin noticed.
"Baby, what's wrong?" She asks and I sigh, shaking my head.
"It's nothing. Don't worry." I say, looking down only for her to catch my chin and lift it as she dries a tear with her thumb.
"Talk to me." She says softly and I sigh.
"It's just, my mom. Just a few months ago she was so close to dying, and now she's only got simple chemo treatments to go through. I'm so proud of her, but also so scared that that could happen to me or my sister, my sister especially because she's got a daughter and another child on the way. I don't know what I'd do if I lost any of my family. I'm just so relieved that my mom made it." I say and just let my relieved sobs out as Tobin kisses my forehead and holds me close. After I had let it out, Hope called me to let me know it was time to go, because I had texted her about dinner, so Tobin walked me to the lobby and out to the car, making sure I got in alright before coming over and kissing me softly as Hope gets in the driver seat.
At my parents house, my dad greets us at the door and hugs me tight before introducing himself to Hope after letting us into the house, so as they talk, I go off to find my mom in the living room, and as she hears my crutches, she looks over and smiles.
"Y/N, honey." She says brightly, and I rush over to her as best as I can on my crutches and hug her as tight as I'm comfortable with so I don't hurt her and just sob into her. "Baby girl, what's wrong?" She asks and I look up at her.
"I almost lost you, that's what's wrong." I say and she kisses my forehead before hugging me again and I just let it all out. I had time, the food wasn't quite done yet.
-
When the food was ready, we all sat in the dinning room and we ate as my folks got to know Hope and how close we were before Rio happened, I enjoyed myself. Being around my mom and dad. Only thing that would make it better if Lydia were here, but she won't be in town until after I'm off my crutches and hobbling my ass around in a few months because she's going to move to Malibu to work for the schools. I think she said she was going to be the principal of our old middle school which was fucking awesome. But until she got here, I got to have all the time I wanted with my folks to just sob happily that I'll be able to let my mom know I love her just one more time. Maybe even more if the chemo works. After eating dinner, Hope and I bid my parents a good night and lefty back to Malibu after I gave both of my parents the tightest hugs. When Hope and I got back to the apartment, we got ready for bed, and in the morning, I woke up, and showered, somehow without falling, and got dressed as I leaned against the sink before grabbing my crutches and going into the living room to wait for Hope, and as she came out of her room, Save the World by Swedish House Mafia came on and I chuckled, getting up and following Hope out to the car so I can go get my rehab done for the day. We do morning sessions so we can go help Karen at the school afterward for a couple of hours before going and having lunch with Kenna Davis, my old teammate from high school, the one that became a cop after high school. It was nice to catch up with her, and Hope seemed to enjoy herself. After eating lunch with Kenna, we'd go home and come up with things for Varsity to do at practice later that day, well, I would, Hope would figure something out to have our keeps do during practice, because we had a game in two days on Saturday, and we wanted to be ready. Tomorrow we had pregame, which is just a half length practice to make sure nobody forgets how to defend. These girls don't understand that to be a great team, you've all got to defend, that your forwards are the start of the defense and the keepers are the start of the attack. Karen even had Hope and I vouch for that statement. Saturday finally rolled around, and we woke up at eight, we had to be at the school by noon, and we had to go get Tobin. Yeah, that's my fault, but I wanted time with her. Half an hour isn't good enough for me. I'd keep her with me all the time if she weren't a famous soccer player, but she is, so she's needed in Portland. Take 2017 as a reference for why she's needed, she was out all season with her back and PTFC was off to a rough start. A very rough start. Either way, Tobin is mine now for the day, and Karen let her stay down here with me, because Hope will be busy with the keepers, and I'll be busy with Varsity, too, but I won't be up, I'll be on the bench, so she's here to be my eyes for further down the field if someone is in my way and I can't see.