Chapter Text
"Kelley?" Kelleys eyes shot wide, that was not Hope.
"Mallory?" The young forward stepped out and closed the door behind her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she frowned.
"You're supposed to be in Seattle.."
"and you're supposed to be in California.."
"Dropped out.." the girl shot back.
"I know, i knew before you even started, i didn't say UC Loser A , i said California, getting with the girl that did nothing wrong.."
"Okay, you know what, now it's not the time for this, what are you doing here?"
"You know what i am doing here.." Mal sighed.
"Kell i - "
"She left him.." kelley whispered looking down, almost defensively Mallory answered.
"Not for you." Kelley looked up.
"I know that , don't you think i know that? I came from Seattle, rainy , stormy Seattle, i hate Seattle and it's stupid coffee shops and the needle and every single inch of it because it reminded me of her.. yet she wasn't there and for the first time i can't say she was with him. I don't have anyone to blame for why Hope and i aren't together .. " Mallory sighed.
"Kelley, i think it's late.."
"I read the letter." Kelley blurted out, she noticed the confused look on the young forwards face. "The letter you told me to take to her? She never knew it was missing because i put it back, i had already read it. The night before, i came into the hotel and you were in deep sleep, i helped you get in a better position and the letter fell off. I thought it was Flemings letter so i picked it up and unfolded it. Then i recognized the writing.. for years.. years she kept that in ,the truth.. she isn't a coward.. not this time and i was scared . I was scared of what it meant to know the answer. I knew the question i needed to ask but i was petrified of the answer so i covered it up... I expected something else, i expected for her to have fallen out of love with me or cheated or fallen for someone else. I expected a reason to hate her but... turns out it was my own blood that ruined the only good thing in my life.. So, i need to see her. I need to talk to her before it's too late." Mallory shook her head, she felt sort of betrayed and relieved.
"I can't even.. i am so mad at you.. She trusted me with that truth and now.. Kelley. You can't go to her, she grew around him. When she fell, wether or not we like it, he was there and we weren't. She needs to learn to be okay with just herself before she can give herself again. You go in there and it'll maybe work out, regardless she'll love you. Right now she needs the complete opposite of that. She needs to break, she needs to rebuilt herself. She needs to learn to fight, she has to drop this ' i don't deserve happiness' motto. You deserve one hundred percent of her, she won't give you that now. Let her realize you are what she wants. Let her be the one who flies across the country to be by your side. Truth is you guys aren't in 2012, you have to start off from the foundation. " Kelleys eyes filled with tears, she knew the young forward was right. She nodded and sighed.
"You're right.. i just, i have waited for so long.."
"Give it a couple of months, it'll be worth it.. " Kelley sighed.
"I'll drive back to Georgia.. it's not that far.. I have to know.. I have to know from my mother.." Mallory smiled.
"That's a good place to start. You have some healing to do too." Mal and Kelley hugged.
"When did you get so wise.." Mallory laughed and pulled back.
"The moment i cracked my head open with a post.." Kelley rolled her eyes.
"It was barely a scratch, relax.." Mal smiled. "You should be with her.." Kelley whispered.
"Yeah,i'm going back inside once you-"
"Jessie, you should be with Jessie.." Mallory looked down and gulped, she had known what the defender meant but she hoped she was wrong, she wasn't.
"I am.. i mean, in a way. Jessie and i.. we need to grow, to find ourselves before we find each other. If it's meant to be then we will meet again Kell. There is some force in the universe looking out for us but we just have to be ... patient. I am not making the same mistakes, i'm not diving head first. I did that and it landed me on a hospital bed." they shared a low laugh ." In all seriousness, Jessie is.. a butterfly, she has a purpose other than to be the best player Canada has made, she needs to reach it. It doesn't mean we won't meet in our own Seattle and escape for a weekend. It just means it'll only be a weekend till we have reached goals we need to reach on our own. There are things we need to learn about relationships, betrayal, lies, love and happiness and i don't want to make those mistakes with her. I want to go into a relationship with her where i won't get scared and run away, i have to get there first, she deserves that, i deserve that." Kelley nodded and hugged the girl bidding her good bye.
Mallory's days were spent fishing, which she sucked at since she was unable to be still, and her personal fav (not really) helping Hope build a deck. She complained day and night about how unnecessary it was for them to build it. She even offered to pay for someone to. Hope did not let her, she insisted they would build it. Day by day Mallory got an insight to Hope's mind, she learned Hopes quirks and what made the woman tick.
As a week passed she got better at fishing, she was understanding that it wasn't a competition, it was a way of thinking, of being at peace. Hope however, had never mentioned it the young girl had come to the conclusion on her own. So every afternoon, when they were done working on the dock, they would sit with wine and fish. Hope , of course, had never allowed mallory to drink. She would just prepare herself two glasses and if she accidentally placed one next to the young one it was purely an accident. She assumed the drink had spilled when she found the glass empty, the forward never corrected her.
Weeks turned into a months, they stared at the deck. Mallory turned to Hope.
"I think i know where i'll be going.." Hope smiled and nodded.
"I know you do, it's pretty cold in Paris isn't it.." Mal shrugged.
"We are mostly going to be traveling, they are going against Lyon.." Hope chuckled and took a swing of her beer.
"I think you'll win Carli over if you take the trophy yet have her hate you at the same time.." Mallory laughed and shook her head.
"I'll try.. What about you?" Hope shrugged.
"I think i might take time to travel.." Mal smiled and nodded.
"That seems like a nice idea, visit?" Hope looked at the smaller girl and nodded.
"Of course... " Mallory frowned.
"If you move your RV do you take the deck with you.." Hope looked at the girl and smirked.
"You need sleep.. come on.." Mal gasped' all that work for nothing..' Hope laughed pulling her inside. "It wasn't for nothing Pugh, you learned something didn't you.."
The next day they said goodbye at the airport. Mallory went to Colorado and spent a late birthday with her family. Many of her friends had sent her congratulations, one of them including Anika, she responded with a simple thank you.
Life after that was sort of hectic for the forward. She got a tattoo with Marley, she then proceeded to declare and sign a contract with Paris Saint-Germain. Going to the finals of a champions league, she did see a couple of minutes but that was it. The training environment was different. She trained with them even after the Champion league was over. That is when she started to see the field, her tactical game was getting better and she could feel it. Reading the game came easier and she had PSG to thank for.
Hope traveled Europe, she didn't do it alone though, she brought Carli along. The two snuck into practice one of the days they stayed over. That seemed to be the group Mallory felt best with, they were older and real. There was no gossiping or over emotional break downs. Mallory met someone, a nice girl named Sophie. At first it was a hassle since the girl refused to admit she spoke english but this only motivated Mallory to learn french. After a while though, the girl realized that if she wanted to befriend the forward she would have to let go of her believes and actually speak the foreign tongue. They became close friends, she was Laure's niece. So they seemed to always hang together, soon little conversations turned to flirty conversations and before Mallory realized it they were dating. The girl kissed different, it didn't feel as good as it felt when she kissed Jessie but it was a good different. They dated for a year before Mallory decided it was time to come back and leave paradise behind, that included the relationship. They ended on good terms.
Mallory came back and a lot had changed. Hope was happier and finally living in an actual house, this time in New York. Turns out she had been right that night and somewhere along the journey across the world Hope realized what she was missing; an over excited defender, so she came. Much to Carli's disdain, or so she says. They all knew Carli was fond of Kelley, they had Hope. The federation had no intentions of letting Hope back and they knew it, however, they were on friendlier terms.
Mallory traveled then to California, she met with Marl and in terms with Anika, Jessie was away in country duties, she had hoped to see the girl. While in California she was invited to a meeting with the Thorns, Sky Blue and Reigns, she was confused to say the least but went anyway.
Sky Blue had allocation rights and they wanted Hope Solo, but sadly she still belonged to Reign. Mallory tried not to smile through this part, her friend was getting her shit together. Sky Blue proposed to obtain Mallory and trade her for Solo with the Reigns, Reigns agreed to trade the forwards for Henry and Horan; Thorns did not sign on it though. They agreed on Henry and third draft pick.
This agreement took more than one meeting but it turned out for the best. Thorns proceeded to win the 2017 NWSL tittle, winning Courage who took the shield. Chicago lost to Pride on the quarter finals, Pride later lost to Courage. The next tittle went to Sky Blue, Pride taking the shield after losing in semi finals to Thorns, who of course later lost to Sky blue 0-1, Kelley O'Hara being the only goal. It had been epic, not the goal but the celebration. The forward took off half through the field only to jump on the keeper, a goal on the 88' minute. The two kissed as they raised the trophy, falling in love in a shower of confetti was their thing. Then came the draft of 2019, Thorns once again had allocation rights, Ashley Sanchez had finished her degree in communications two years early , in her defense, the girl went into college with an AA. Thorns allocated her, only to trade her for first draft pick in 2020 to Pride. That season was all Pride though, Alex had decided to stay in Pride the whole season, Marta and Ashley up top and Ali in defense, not many teams had a chance, specially after Tobin and Mallory had to miss semi finals but in Prides defense so did Alex and Ali, along with Ashlyn; it was the Press-Johnston wedding and the girls agreed they would have another final the year after. Pride came out in victorious with a late goal from Ashley breaking the 2-2 tie. In the finals they went against the Reign and came out victorious, this time with their full roster back.
A lot of things happened in 2019, it was world cup year and the year that the world found it that their little Mallory wasn't so straight. It came after the roster release of the world cup camp, the young forwards name was not on it. It came to a surprise to everyone , the newly turned 21 year old went on a bar streak for a whole week, this ended the second she was caught lip-locking with two girls, it was a wild May. The young forward released a statement apologizing for her behavior. Even though she was not invited into camp the newly household name made it to the roster. One of their first games was against Canada and like they promised each other; Baby Canada and Baby USA met once again.To talk about the 2019 World Cup will be a thing of the moment, Soon 2020 approached, faster than expected.
It wasn't just an Olympic year, it was the year of redemption as well as the year of the biggest NWSL draft pick and Thorns had first pick. It seemed like an easy choice, but was it? Thorns could always go for Marley Canales , who had chemistry with their starting forward but with Sinc retired, what if another Canadian were to take over? So the 2020 draft came and the first pick was chosen by Portland Thorns : Jessie Fleming. While this made the Americans heart skip a beat it came with no surprise, she stood up and clapped as the midfielders name was called. They, however, did not meet, they haven't seen each other since the starting of the world cup.
Because the draft starts so early on in the year that meant some of the draftees had to still finish their degree; one of them being Fleming. Like she did every day since she had dropped out, Mallory got inside her apartment in Portland and walked straight to the calendar and crossed out one more day, only 32 more to go before the ring ceremony.