Chapter Text
The months following the interview and panel were pretty tame to say the least. Were questions still being asked about the couple? Yes. Did people try and get pictures of the couple? Hell yes. Did it bother the couple? No, actually. If anything it bothered the media how nonchalant the two were. Reporters would often ask the two how the other was doing or how was the relationship. Hope would usually just smile and continue going about her day, while Carli would usually shrug and say ‘Why not ask her?’. Needless to say, the noncommittal answers were aggravating. This was especially so when other teammates would talk to the couple and get a response.
Ashlyn Harris @Ashlyn_Harris – March 11
For the record, @hopesolo and @CarliLloyd are the worst people to have a double date with.
Hope Solo @hopesolo– March 11
For the record, @Ashlyn_Harris is jealous that I made @alikrieger blush and she couldn’t make @CarliLloyd blush.
Carli Lloyd @CarliLloyd – March 11
I can confirm this. @Ashlyn_Harris @hopesolo @alikrieger
Ali Krieger @alikrieger – March 11
I can also confirm this. @Ashlyn_Harris I’m sorry but @hopesolo is just a smooth talker. @CarliLloyd you got yourself a keeper.
Carli Lloyd @CarliLloyd – March 11
Don’t I know it ;) @alikrieger
Ashlyn Harris @Ashlyn_Harris – March 11
Hey, I’m a keeper too! @alikrieger
The conversation on Twitter had gotten the public riled up as well as Ashlyn who decided to put in more effort to romance her girlfriend, with some helpful Hope advice. This was one of the handful of social media moments that should the couple known as Harli to the world. There were tweets mentioning a date or event, a significant other presumed to be attended as well. Hope, who is known to post plenty on Instagram, posted pictures on the site that may or may not have featured another person’s leg, shadow, or hair. This obviously caused people to run rampant making many speculations and assumptions.
There was one picture in particular taken by the paparazzi of Hope dropping Carli off at the airport. It was a simple photo, a quick hug and kiss shared between the couple before Carli walked into the airport. However, people went crazy over this and many other Harli moments. But most of this didn’t affect the couple. They still trained at the max, be it separately in Seattle, New Jersey, or Houston, with their teams, National and NWSL, or together, meeting up and training with James Galanis or other secret locations. Nothing really had changed, though their teammates seemed to have fun talking about it.
Day after the Algarve Cup Final
Breakfast was buzzing with energy after not only winning the Algarve Cup again, but also claiming victory, and revenge, on the team that had beat them earlier this year, France. Chatter and laughter echoed throughout the dining room where food was being served. The energy was palpable, the feeling that this tournament victory was a step in the right direction to winning the World Cup. Despite the terrible job the referees had done, things were clicking a lot better than it had in the past year. Smiles were wide, especially Julie who had scored her first goal yesterday, the air was light as the conversation flowed freely.
Of course, this meant that Rapinoe had no filter when it came to questions. “So, Harli?” The women, who were not sitting next to each other this time around, turn towards the dyed blonde. “I figured after than monster PK save by Hope, I’d hear you guys having rigorous sex next door.” Looks of disgust appeared on most of those who heard the winger’s statement, Carli included.
“How do you know we didn’t, Megan?” Hope takes the statement in stride. “In the interview, I brought up that neither of us are particularly loud people in public and in private. So what’s to say we didn’t have sex? What’s to say I didn’t rock Carli’s world with these magical goalkeeper fingers?” As Hope continued to talk, the looks on the girl’s face got progressively more disturbed, except for Ashlyn who smirked and Ali who blushed. “Yeah you know about those goalkeeper fingers, don’t ya, Ali? These fingers that know the right spots to hit and curls at just the right moment. And just when you’re bout to…”
“We didn’t have sex,” Carli interrupted. Hope frowned and muttered a ‘You’re no fun’ under her breath. “We tend to not have sex when with the team. One we did not want the relationship to be found out and once again privacy.”
“Does that mean you didn’t celebrate after the Norway Game? I mean Carli scored two goals,” Syd asked and was shocked when the veterans shook their heads. “Seriously?”
“Cars doesn’t like distractions and unfortunately for me, sex is a distraction,” Hope brings up with a shrugged. “You get used to it.”
“We’re not saying we don’t have sex cause we do,” Carli speaks up. “Trust me we have some really good sex,” this earns shudders from the group and a smile appear on her girlfriend’s face. “So I’ll be showing Hope how proud of her I am for the blocking that penalty kick…”
“And I’ll show Carli how amazing she was for the two goals…”
“Later when were back in the states, away from everyone,” Carli finished with a glance at Hope, who winked in response.
“So who’s top?” This elicited groans out of the women who heard Pinoe’s question. “Like I could see you both being top. And since like Carli’s goals happened first, does she get reward first?”
“Well you see, Megan?” Hope started giving Carli a look, telling her to follow along. “We have this sort of scoring system if you will. Based on that, it decided who gets top first and so on and so forth.”
“Really?” Megan’s eyes grew wide in disbelief.
Carli smirked, “Yeah, it’s an incentive to make us play better so we can get…rewarded well. So if I score a goal, I get like 3 points. If Hope makes a save, she gets 2.”
“Why do you only get 2 points?” Ashlyn asked, genuinely interested in this system. Who knows it could spice up her own bedroom life.
“It’s cause I’m more likely to make a save. Plus I get 4 points if I get a shutout. Likewise for every additional goal Carli scores, the points increase,” Hope answered convincingly. “There are also penalties too. You lose 3 points for a yellow, if it’s like an obvious one. I lose a point for letting a goal and a point is lost for a foul. So Carli losses a lot of points that way.”
The gals nodded along, buying into this idea while the midfielder glared at the keeper for the last statement. Nevertheless, Carli continued. “There are also some big scores if you will. If a red card happens, then that is an automatic lost to the person.”
“At the same time, I promised Carli if she scored three or more goals, she can do whatever she wants,” Hope brought up, which gained Carli’s attention. “She promised the same thing if I score a goal, though mine would be over a couple of sessions.” Carli nodded along, actually interested herself in this system all of a sudden.
“Shit, man,” Pinoe whistled, “You guys gotta make everything a competition don’t you?” the two in questioned shrugged.
“But the sex is good, right?” Ashlyn wondered. “Like not that me and Ali don’t have awesome sex, but like the system works right?”
Carli and Hope looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to the group with a smile. “For fuck’s sake guys it was a joke,” Hope said with a laugh. The women sat back, blushes adorning some of their cheeks. “Good lord we had you guys didn’t we?”
“Well it’s not the most unheard of thing you two could have thought of?” Ashlyn muttered, thoroughly embarrassed, but still wanting to try the system out, fake or not.
Carli laughed as well, “If we actually did that stuff, I would never have a chance. I foul way too much.” The group mumbled in agreement, still embarrassed about the whole situation.
“To answer your question, Pinoe,” Hope said to her Seattle Reign teammate, “We usually just go with the flow.” Hope stands up and makes her way to the trash can to dispose of the remains of her breakfast. She starts to walk out the door before casually calling out over her shoulder, “But I’m usually on top.” This causes Carli to, as usual, call out Hope’s name indignantly, the table to laugh at her expense, and other tables to look, wondering what just happened.
All while this is going on, Ali leans over to her blonde headed girlfriend and whispers something in her ear. Ashlyn’s eyes go wide and asks a quiet ‘Seriously?’ at the defender. Seeing a nod, Ashlyn and Ali quietly snuck out of the dining hall, unnoticed by all except Christie who shook her head.
“Looks like Krashlyn is about to make their own system,” the oldest women said to herself, before taking a sip out of her mug.
The team did not see from Ashlyn and Ali until later that night with goofy smiles and disheveled appearances. There were also instances says when one of the two of them would ask the coaching staff for statistics after games. Their teams pretended not to notice, but could always assume ahead of time who had scored the most points, which would be confirmed the next day when the two would show up.
Teammates were not the only ones having fun poking at Carli and Hope. It seemed that the families of the girls, namely Hope’s, were happy to speak freely about their relationship. Grandma Alice had begun to not only talk about her granddaughter Hope, but also her future granddaughter, Carli. Alice definitely pushed the issue of marriage…
Mother’s Day
Jill surprising them with their mothers on Mother’s Day was exciting to say the least. Debbie Krieger, easily passing for Ali’s twin, and Hope’s mom, Judy, had hit it off very quick as if they had been friends for years, Kristi Klingenberg adding her two cents every now and then. Donna Naeher, who was not as quiet as her daughter, was enjoying talking to Grandma Alice who seemed to have endless stories, mostly at Hope’s expense, which caused many at the table to laugh at the terror known as ‘Baby Hope’.
“Speaking of Baby Hope,” Alice said looking at her granddaughter and future granddaughter. “When am I going to get some new Baby Hopes?”
“Grandma!” Hope sputtered out as both mom and daughters laughed around the table.
“What? You and Carli ain’t getting any younger and neither am I,” Alice stated. Carli couldn’t even speak and instead looked at Hope to respond.
“We’re not even married yet, Grandma. I’m sorry you’ll have to wait until then, but I promise you there will be Baby Hopes. Right, Car?” Hope looked at her girlfriend to speak.
Carli seemed to startle out of her stupor. “Of course! I mean we’re going to have kids, but after were married and can get in the same state. Don’t worry, Baby Hopes…”
“And baby Carloses,” Kling interrupted earning a glare from Carli and a chuckle from the Solo women.
“Yeah, Baby Hopes and Carloses,” Carli finished.
“Well how long till I’m hearing wedding bells or at least a proposal?” Alice asked next eliciting another groan from the women, who had heard this question many times before. “What it’s been almost 6 friggin years.”
“I see where Hope gets her mouth from,” Press muttered to Alyssa who nodded.
“You’ll hear them Grandma,” Hope responded trying to end the questioning. “I promise you that you will.” That seemed to answer Alice enough as she decided to pick back up her conversation with Mama Naeher. The women continued to talk, Carli brought up the notion of Grandma Alice walking on the pitch with her, which the older woman agreed with delight. Hearing the older woman’s excitement caused those at the table to smile widely, Hope especially who broke out into her rare eye squinting full grin smile. Though this did cause Meghan to ask a very interesting question.
“Has anyone actually met your parent’s, Car?” Meghan questioned. “Like I understand that you don’t like distractions and all, but your mom’s not here today. I’ve never seen anyone but Brian at any games or events. I mean I’m guessing Hope had, right?”
Carli nodded though Hope decided to admit something else. “To be honest, I’m not actually sure if the people I met were her parents or people she hired to keep her privacy.” Carli smacked her girlfriend Gibbs style on the back of the head. “What I’m just saying?”
After a while, the women began to leave the room, Carli tagging along with Morgan Brian and her mom to give Hope time with her mom and grandma. While on their way back to Hope’s room, Alice stopped causing the younger women to stop as well. Alice seemed to think over some things before taking off her wedding ring and holding it out for Hope. The youngest of the trio looked shocked at what her grandmother was handing her. “When you propose to that woman, and you better, I want you to give her this ring.” Hope took the outstretched hand and took the ring gently. “You can add things and restore and do whatever you want with it. But you remind me so much of your grandfather sometimes and I know he would have wanted you to have this.”
Hope stared at the ring for a while before gathering her grandmother in her arms. “Thank you,” Hope whispered. “And I promise that you’ll see a proposal soon.” Alice squeezed Hope tightly before they continued their way to the hotel room.
The Ireland game was not their best as a team. The defense had proven itself, getting in another shutout and allowing really no shots near Hope, who brought up to Carli later how bored she had gotten just standing there. Carli on the other hand had been somewhat upset with herself. She hadn’t done much during the game and ended up getting subbed out with about 15 minutes left. The friendly against Mexico didn’t help matters as the midfielder had not scored or even assisted to any of the five goals scored. Her growing frustration of not scoring had become obvious to the teammates as well as the media.
There were some annoying people, reporters and anonymous people on Twitter, who had pointed out the slump that the midfielder was going through. Naturally those people made their usual comments about how she should just quit, that she wasn’t good enough, but now there was some added fuel. Some of the internet trolls had decided that her relationship with Hope was to blame for the slump, only adding to anger. Her response was to not respond, though there were some passive aggressive posts, but it did not make it any easier for her.
And it wasn’t really getting easier for anyone. Every day that passed, meant a step closer to the World Cup, and the pressure was on. They had been named to the roster and now it was time for everything to click. Set plays had to be accurate, touches sharper, passes on target, saves pinpoint, fitness at its peak, all had to be ready. But the team wasn’t ready for…
“MOTHERFUCKER!” A loud voice yelled out from across the field. The field players turned quickly to the scream and Carli’s body went pale. Without hesitation, the midfielder sprinted across the pitch to where the goalkeepers were practicing. Well supposed to be practicing if it wasn’t for the downed keep on the turf. Carli yelled at the two other keepers who were standing in shock to move out of her way as she kneeled down next to Hope. The woman in question had her eyes closed, face scrunched in pain, grasping her knee tightly.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Carli muttered as she rubbed the keepers arm. At that moment she wasn’t sure if she was reassuring Hope or herself. The rest of the team had arrived at this point, all fearing the worst as they saw their starting goalkeeper holding her knee in pain. Ali was having flashbacks of 2012, many other players like Alex, Ashlyn, and Pinoe were having similar moments, praying to all that is holy that it wasn’t a torn ACL. The team stood around as the trainers came to help Hope.
Upon trying to stretch out the injured limb, Hope let loose a string of curses. “Fucking c*nt-licker. God fucking damnit.” Some of the more innocent players (Press) cringed at the words that continued to pour out of the Washingtonian’s mouth. The trainers managed to get Hope up and, with the help of Ashlyn and Alyssa, started to guide her to the medical room. Carli was making her way to follow the keepers in before being stopped by Hope. “Carli you need to stay,” Hope spoke causing her girlfriend to stop. “I know you want to come, but it’s important for the team to have their captain on the field practicing with them.”
“You could be seriously injured, Hope. We promised to be there for each other if the other is injured, plus I’m not the captain.” Carli responded hotly.
Hope motioned her fellow keepers to turn her around to face Carli directly. “We also promised that the team would come first,” Hope spoke softly. “You will be the first to know about the injury, I promise. But the team needs you more right now than I do. You may not be the official captain, but during the games you are, and the team needs to see their captain believe in them despite an injury. They need to see you showing leadership even when things look bleak. I’ll be fine, now go and show the team I’ll be fine. Because if they see you down, then they’ll get down, our confidence will disappear, and then our chances of a World Cup will go out the window. Okay?”
Carli was quiet for a second. “I hate when you’re logical.” Hope smirked. But before she could turn in leave, Carli brought a hand to Hope’s face, guiding her into a kiss. Across the pitch, the rest of the team stood in shock, the first true instance of PDA by the couple. This along with Carli’s reaction to Hope getting hurt was surprising. There had been instances in the past, heck in the past couple weeks, where one of the two of them had be hurt. Back during the Algarve Cup, Carli had gotten a black eye during practice. Hope did not chew out the player that had caused the bruise, she instead laughed which Carli pouted at. Hope said that she would care but, the midfielder gets them too frequently, so she stopped caring.
On the other hand, there was the Mexico game a couple days ago. After Hope had fun discovering gravity, Carli went over like the rest of the team to see if the keeper was fine after the hard collision. Even then, it was the normal check in, though she did ask again after the game. The couple had always shown concern when it came to an injury, but never went out of their way to make sure the other was fine. So seeing Carli run as fast as she possibly could to Hope and to see her initiate a kiss, that lasted longer than others before, was surprising.
The couple pulled away slowly. “You better not have broken or tore anything or I’m doing the same to the right leg, got it?” Hope chuckled in response causing Carli to smile.
Hope looked at Carli again before giving her a small peck, “I promise. Now,” Hope motioned with her head, “go practice I’ll see you later.” Carli nodded before making her way back over to the team.
It wasn’t until dinner that the team had seen Hope again. Alyssa and Ashlyn were pestered by the group for any information, but they had none. Like with Carli, Hope had made the two keepers leave the room, stating that if she was out for the tournament, then they better be at their peak. The team was out at a restaurant for dinner, talking amongst themselves, though there was an obvious cloud over everyone’s head. Abby and Moe specifically tried to get Carli to join into the conversation, but the midfielder played no part, choosing to look between the empty chair next to her and the door.
It was half way through their dinner that Carli jumped up and all but ran up to Hope who had walked through the door. There was an audible sigh of relief seeing the keeper walk through. They watched as Carli held Hope for a while, Hope whispering something into Carli’s hear and the younger women nodding periodically. Eventually the two pulled apart and made their way over to the table, the goalkeeper with a pretty noticeable limp. Getting closer, one could see the brace around the keeper’s knee. Carli sat down first, Hope pushing in her chair before sitting down herself. The team all stared at Hope waiting for her to respond.
Taking a sip form her water, Hop answered the unasked question. “It’s not my ACL,” a lot of sighs were released around the table. “Basically the slide I did caused my cleat to get caught in the turf. I twisted my knee and the muscle tore surrounding it. Not career ending, not surgery needing, just incredibly sore and swollen. I’ll get treatment and I’ll be fine.”
“Will you be good by the World Cup?” Abby asks.
“For the most part, yes…”
“But you won’t be a 100% will you?” Seeing Hope shake her head, Abby groaned. “You can’t catch a break can you?”
Hope chuckled a bit at that. “It appears not, but this is not as bad as my shoulder was four years ago and I played through that. I can definitely play through some knee pain. The big thing is we need to keep this out of the public eyes until after the World Cup. They focused so much on my injury last time and I’d rather avoid that now, seeing as they are already talking about me and Car.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem Hope,” Abby responded.
Hope nodded, “With that covered, I’m starving.”
Everything seemed to be going alright despite Hope’s injury, and then the match against South Korea happened. The US had once again held their opponent scoreless, something that the defense and Hope were proud of, but they had gone scoreless themselves. They had plenty of chances, but none had hit the back of the net. Sure Alex didn’t play and neither did Pinoe, but who when they were doing to be able to play. They could not rely solely on those players to make plays or goals. Trying to show that anyone on the team could score, not just Abby or Alex or Syd, that there are plenty of playmakers on the team…this game did not show this.
Frustration could be seen on the faces of many of the players, thoughts over some players checking out, others on just not being able to finish, thoughts on thinking they should have lost this game. Had Hope not made the last second save, well their confidence would have been out the window. No one was particularly happy as they made it back into the hotel, each going to their respective rooms. No laughter, no plans for movie night, or late night snack run. They knew they would talk about it in the morning, they had to before they were on their way to Winnipeg. But for tonight, sulking had to happen.
It was about 10 pm when Carli knocked on Hope’s hotel door. The door opened to revel a blonde haired goalkeeper, which confused Carli for a second before she remembered that Ali was Hope’s roommate. Carli walked behind Ashlyn, closing the door behind her. Ali was laying on her own bed, Ashlyn joining her, watching something on an iPad. Hope was sitting up reading in her own bed, bag of ice resting on her left leg. The dark haired goalie looked and muttered a soft greeting to her girlfriend, scooting over to give the midfielder space to lay, which she gladly took.
“We can leave the room if you guys need to talk in private,” Ali mentioned to the older players.
Carli shook her head, “No it’s fine. I didn’t come to talk about anything serious…that’s for tomorrow.” Ali nodded and went back to her iPad, Ashlyn looking over her shoulder. Hope went back to reading, running her fingers through Carli’s hair as she did.
“All of us wearing glasses makes us look like old couples in a nursing home,” Ashlyn brought up with a laugh noticing that the midfielder had walked in with her glasses on as well.
“The way we played today, we might as well have been,” Carli said earning grumbles from the other two who had played. “Not to mention our injured or team is, we walk like a bunch of old ladies. Speaking of,” Carli pointed down at Hope’s knee, “how are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Hope said moving her leg a bit. “Very little pain the entire match. Just icing it to keep the swelling down. I feel like I should be asking you if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” the look Hope gave her made her rephrase her answer. “Ok maybe I’m frustrated because that game was frustrating.”
“Amen.” Ali chimed in.
“I think all of us are aggravated, I mean you took a thrown in, Hope. The only thing that could show you frustration more is you goal kicking the ball out on the opposite end of the field or you showing your forward skills and scoring a goal yourself.” Carli looked pointedly at her girlfriend.
“I was tempted to do so admittedly, but we don’t need to give Jill ideas for the future,” Hope answered honestly.
“Well maybe you can play forward and I can play midfielder, and we stick Alyssa in goal?” Ashlyn brought up.
“Please do not give Jill that idea,” Ali responded this time. “She might actually follow through on it.”
“Honestly, if that will get us goals…” Hope quickly hit Carli. “Ouch geez, I was kidding.”
“Hush,” Hope said. “Your shots will go in.”
“Yeah but when?” Carli questioned. “I mean our defense has been rock solid so far.” This led to a Krieger smile. “Like seriously Ali, you, Kling, Becky has been like this quiet rock, and JJ has really come along so well. Our defense is playing so well, but our offense just fills so stagnant.”
“Things will work out, Carli,” Ali said. “We don’t have to figure it out immediately, but we will figure it out.”
“Ali’s right,” Ashlyn added. “We have so much depth as a squad and we’re easily the fittest bunch in the World Cup. We can do this.”
“The first games we’ll be nervous, everyone will be,” Hope continued. “But I think we believe in each other enough. Our team communicates better than 2007 and is healthier and more in sync than 2011.”
“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Ashlyn said with a smile.
“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Ali repeated.
“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Hope reiterated with smirk.
“We’re ready for the World Cup,” Carli finished with a smile.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about…”