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Summer in Los Angeles was Alex’s favorite. Sure it could get hot and the beaches were usually crowded with families on vacation, but it there was always a buzz around town that she enjoyed thoroughly. When things got too quiet, she got antsy. It was a quality that had landed her in trouble on more than one occasion growing up.
She had chosen to return early from summer break, arriving back at her apartment three days ahead of her original schedule. UCLA’s campus was a ghost town; the only people around were the ones who lived close enough to begin with. Raised in Palos Verdes, her roommate, Christen, always spent at least two full months at home with her family before coming back to start pre-season workouts at least one week earlier than everyone else. So, when Alex walked through the door of her apartment and smelled something cooking in the kitchen, she was surprised to find her roommate standing in front of the stove.
“You’re back early.”
“So are you.”
Alex contemplates asking why she returned so soon, but decides she would rather unpack and get resettled before picking up her workout routine the following morning. She heads to her bedroom and throws the door open, then tosses her duffel on the bed. She lays down, overwhelmingly unmotivated to anything other than just that. She hears Christen wander in and rolls over to face her friend.
“Alright, why are you back so soon? You usually give your family a little longer before bailing. What gives?” Alex just groans in response, but Christen isn’t leaving.
“I love my family, you know I do. But I swear everything is about how Jeni is engaged and Jeri’s fancy New York internship. Nobody wants to hear about my upcoming semester or season. They don’t even know that I lead the team in scoring or that I’m co-captain this season.”
“They’re coming to the home opener, right?”
Alex shakes her head, scowling.
“They have plans. Jeri’s work is throwing a party and everyone’s family is invited so they’re taking a vacation. They’ll be back two days after the game.” She sees Christen frown at her response.
“They aren’t coming to support you? Not one of them?”
Alex just shrugs, pretending she doesn’t care, but she does. It stings that her family won’t be attending. She feels a little jealous too, knowing that Christen’s parents will be there to support their daughter. Deciding she’s had enough of the pity party, she decides to confront her roommate.
“And just what are you doing back here so soon? You’re never back before me.” Christen’s cheeks flush and Alex has her answer. Tobin and her family must be vacationing in Santa Monica again. Grinning at her friend, she gets off her bed and pokes her in the side.
“Somone’s boo is spending time at the beach again, aren’t they?” Christen turns on her heel walks back to the kitchen, cheeks still red, as Alex throws her head back in a laugh and follows her.
“So are you gonna bring your date to Allie’s end of summer party then?”
“No. I’ll be spending time with Tobin’s family.”
“Ditching me for your girl? What happened to ‘bros before hos’?” Alex tries for a stereotypical frat guy voice, while Christen lets out an amused snort.
“If anything, she’s the bro and you’re the ho,” she teases and Alex’s jaw drops, a little stunned Christen had actually said that.
“Okay, rude. Fine, guess I’ll fly solo.”
“You could always take Serv,” Christen jokingly suggests and Alex glares at her.
“Yes because I don’t already feel bad enough for unknowingly leading him on the entire first year of college. Geez, Press. Let it go,” she grumbles before opening the fridge to grab them drinks for dinner.
The two enjoy a quiet dinner, discussing a brief and general overview of their plans and promising they will keep in touch throughout their respective nights to ensure the other stays safe and each other “make good decisions”.
By the time Alex walks through the door into Allie’s apartment, the party is in full swing. She would have been here sooner, but Allie had called and told her to wear a specific outfit, which she found sort of odd but chose not to question. Her best friend was strange, but it was endearing. So Alex changed out of her comfy sweats and into a pair of jean shorts and a clean UCLA soccer warm-up tank. She kept her hair down and put in a small, simple pair of earrings. Looking at her shoe options, she decided to slip on her Vans and was on her way to the party.
She made her way to the living room, seeking out her best friend. She spotted teammates, classmates, and a slew of people she didn’t know at all when she finally found the blonde.
“Aleeeeeex.” She laughs, recognizing the voice as her best friend’s signature drunk voice. It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. Apparently, she had missed the pre-game memo. Allie stands and sways a little before pulling the brunette into a hug and introducing her to the people in the room. She already knew most of them, but she decided to just Allie go. Finally, the blonde turned and dropped her voice to a whisper, or at least attempted to.
“Go to the kitchen. I got you a present and it’s in there.”
“A present? Allie, my birthday was three weeks ago. You drove to Diamond Bar and took me to dinner before giving it to me.”
“Yeah, well, I got you another one. Go get it,” she waves Alex towards the closed-off kitchen.
“You’re not coming with me?”
“You’ll know when you see it. Now go.”
Shaking her head at her best friend, she wandered towards the kitchen. Ducking under the ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign, she walked through the doorway into the dark. She was looking at the counter, searching for what could possibly be her present when she noticed she wasn’t alone. There was another girl in the room, seated on top of one of the counters, illuminated only by the streetlight shining in threw the open window. Alex couldn’t quite make out her face properly.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here,” the stranger spoke and pointed to the sign. Alex turned and looked at the sign before turning back to the stranger.
“And what exactly are you doing in here?” The stranger shrugs before responding.
“Not really sure. Allie said something about a birthday present in the kitchen, though she didn’t say where to look or anything. Not to mention, my birthday is still a week and a half away and I specifically told her to not get me anything considering we haven’t known each other long.”
Alex closes her eyes and groans internally. Allie was trying to set her up again. Opening her eyes, she finds the stranger looking at her still.
“She told me the same thing, and I’m seeing now that we were each other’s presents.”
“Sneaky sneaky, miss Allie.”
“I am so sorry for...her. I don’t know what gets into her sometimes.” Alex sighs, slightly irritated at her best friend.
“Don’t worry about it. Clearly, I haven’t known her as long as you have, but I know she can be...you know…” the stranger trails off and Alex nods her head. She does know and she also knows there’s not really a good way of describing it.
“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t. But it’s Kelley. Kelley O’Hara. Stanford dropout turned UCLA assistant coach,” the girl replies, blinking rapidly when Alex finally flicks on the light to see her properly.
“Alex Morgan. Wait, I know you. You were really good.”
“Emphasis on ‘were’, my friend,” is the response as the shorter girl absentmindedly rubs at her knee. Alex frowns at the response before remembering the night Christen showed her the article about the Stanford striker blowing her knee out in the playoffs last season against North Carolina. Tobin had carried the shorter girl off the field and had been the first one she called when the news came back. She would never play at a competitive level again. She had chosen to drop out, too heartbroken to continue her academics if she couldn’t play.
Deciding not to press the other girl for the full story quite yet, she changed the subject.
“So how’d you meet Allie?”
“I was wandering around campus, trying to get a feel for the place, and I ran into her. Literally. She was on a run and I wasn’t paying any attention coming around a corner. We hit it off pretty quickly and she invited me to this party, told me a lot of the team would be here.”
Alex let out a small laugh. It was totally something her best friend would do, inviting someone she had just met to her end of summer party. Kelley keeps talking before she can properly respond though.
“I was hoping to see a friend here, but I guess she hasn’t arrived yet.” Kelley finally gets off the counter and walks a little closer to Alex who notices just how pretty the other girl’s eyes are.
“Tobin stole Christen for the night,” she responds.
“Ah, yes. The famous Christen Press. You know, Tobin still has yet to introduce me.”
“Interesting. Christen has yet to officially introduce me to Tobin.”
The shorter brunette laughs a little.
“I’ve known Tobin since we were, like, fifteen. She’s basically a giant kid. Hates wearing shoes...and pants. Always in shorts and a t-shirt that girl.”
Alex laughs at the comment and catches sight of the way Kelley’s eyes light up when she does so. The shorter girl then tilts her head to the side and speaks again, eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Wanna go see if we can find them?”
“If you wanted to get me alone, you only had to ask,” Alex teases.
“My dear, in case you forget, we’re already alone.”
“Fair. Even if I wanted to, what’s to say we would find them? They could be anywhere.”
Kelley’s expression turns thoughtful for a moment before an impish smile takes over her face again.
“I know Tobin’s tricks to impress a girl. It might take a few tries but I’m betting we could find them.”
Alex considers it for a moment, ultimately deciding she would rather spend time with the other girl than go back to the party. She nods and replies, “sure. Let’s go find us a couple of lovebirds.” Kelley grins in response.
The two head towards the door, stopping to say bye to their friends and allowing Kelley to grab her school-issued coaching staff warm-up jacket. They leave and walk to the parking lot. Kelley jingles her keys and points towards a sedan parked a few feet away.
“That beauty’s mine. First stop: the pier. Tobin’s a sucker for the rides and she loves night fishing.” The pair get in the car and Kelley turns it on, her phone connecting automatically.
“Any song requests?”
“Anything but country.” Kelley looks at her, offended.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think we can be friends.”
“Hm, bummer. Put something good on, no pressure.”
The shorter girl studies her for a moment before looking back to her phone and scrolling through her music library. After a couple of minutes, she groans and shoves the phone into Alex’s hands.
“You pick, princess.”
Alex rolls her eyes at the nickname, but scrolls through the phone nonetheless. She found a lot of country albums, with various other genres scattered throughout. Finding an artist she figured they could both agree on, she clicked on shuffle and let the music fill the car.
“Ah, bridging the gap with my good friend Taylor Swift, I see.”
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for Red and 1989. Her best work, in my opinion.”
Kelley hums in response and puts the car in gear. As they drive towards the pier, Kelley lowers the radio volume a little and speaks up.
“How old are you?”
“Just turned twenty. Three weeks ago. You?”
“I’ll be twenty-one at the beginning of next month. What’s your major?”
“Psychology with a minor in philosophy.”
“Ooh, we got a little genius with us.” Alex laughs as Kelley teases her.
“Ok, miss Stanford.” Kelley goes quiet and Alex feels bad, forgetting the subject must still be sensitive. After a moment, Kelley speaks again.
“I was an English major. Creative writing minor. The only way I kept my head screwed on straight out of season,” the smaller girl whispers before clearing her throat.
“What made you choose UCLA?” Alex shrugged.
“Close to home, I suppose. And the soccer program has always been rather impressive, so I thought I’d like to be a part of it.”
Kelley nods in response and Alex decides to press her luck.
“What about you? Why come to UCLA? Rumor had it you had an offer to stay at Stanford.” The smaller brunette was quiet for a moment.
“We’re almost to the pier. Wanna grab a coffee before we get to exploring?” Alex agrees, knowing the question was deflected completely on purpose. They park and enter a twenty-four-hour coffee shop. The pair order their respective drinks and take a seat at a high top table to wait.
Their coffees arrive, but neither makes a move to get up. After a moment, Kelley speaks up.
“I wanted to make a clean break, I guess. Knowing I’d be on the side, in my favorite stadium, not being able to wear the captain’s armband or play at that level again...it stung. So, when UCLA called and offered me a job to ‘bridge the gap between players and coaches’, I accepted immediately. I told my parents, packed up my college life, and moved to LA.” Alex studies the girl next to her and notices she has taken to rubbing her knee again. However, this time, she also notices the surgical scars running across the upper part of the lower leg and knee.
Kelley then stands and nods towards the door. “Shall we?” Alex just smiles and stands, following her out of the shop. The pair walk down the pier, glancing around for their friends, but neither really looking too hard.
“Hey, look up.” Kelley’s head is already tilted upwards, so Alex follows suit. Their shoulders bump and hands brush as they look at the twinkling fairy lights that had been strung up. Alex felt a shock of electricity shoot through her at both touches and she can feel her cheeks growing warm, praying the lighting hides the blush.
“Pretty.”
“Almost as pretty as you, Miss Morgan.” Alex’s blush deepens despite the cheesy line.
“Whatever,” she grumbles and begins moving again, Kelley quickly falling in step next to her. The pair walk in comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to fill the air with pointless words. Their hands brush a couple more times but before Alex can decide whether or not it’s accidental, Kelley is pointing to the Ferris wheel, having spotted their friends getting off.
“Mission accomplished.”
Alex can’t help but feel a little disappointed that they had succeeded so quickly. She had been hoping to spend more time with Kelley.
“As much as I would love to interrupt their date, I’m not that cruel. Tobin’s only in town two more days. I’ll catch her tomorrow.”
“I thought the whole point of coming to find them was to interrupt their date and let me finally meet Tobin while you finally meet Christen?”
Kelley shrugs, looking at their friends still.
“Maybe I just wanted to trick you into a date with me.”
“You could’ve just asked.”
“Would you have said yes?
“Guess we’ll never know now.”
Kelley studies her for a moment, trying to decide if Alex had been serious or not.
“C’mon. I’ll take you home,” is what she says instead of asking her out like she really wanted to. She turns and starts walking back to the car, missing the disappointment flash across the younger girl’s face.
They drive in almost complete silence, only the music accompanying their thoughts. When they get back to Alex’s apartment, Kelley follows her to the front door.
“Thanks for bringing me home.”
“No problem.” Kelley shuffles her feet and looks at the ground. Alex can tell she wants to say something more.
“Yes, Kelley?”
“Would you maybe want to do this again? But, like, properly?”
Alex quirks a brow.
“Properly?”
Kelley huffs out a breath.
“Would you like to go with me to the pier sometime soon? Like, on a date?”
Alex smiles and presses a kiss to Kelley’s cheek.
“I’d love to.”
She slips inside the door quietly and glances out the window, catching Kelley’s smile as the older girl walks back to her car.
Alex wakes up to an empty bed. The sheets next to her are still warm and she can hear muffled music floating through the apartment. Smiling softly, she stretches and sits up. The cold air hits her arms and she shivers slightly. Digging in Kelley’s drawer, she finds a long sleeve Stanford soccer shirt and slips it on over her tank top. Alex opens the door and wanders towards the kitchen smiling at Kelley when the older girl turns around to greet her.
“I’m digging the Sinatra, Kel.”
“What can I say? I can’t make proper pancakes and toast without my main men. Sinatra, Martin, Valli, Bublé.” Kelley resumes humming before actually singing, using the spatula as a microphone while Alex laughs and pours a cup of coffee.
“Something in your eyes was so inviting,” Kelley winks at her.
“Something in your smile was so exciting,” she blows a kiss that Alex jokingly dodges.
“Something in my heart told me I must have you,” Kelley grabs her waist and pulls her closer. She then places one hand on her back and grabs her hand with her other, dancing them around the kitchen and Alex laughs at her antics.
Kelley spins her out and brings her back in, still singing along to the music. Kelley stays holding her hand, but unwraps herself from the younger girl to flip the pancakes. Alex gives her girlfriend’s hand a squeeze before moving to grab plates and get her toast out of the toaster.
“Kel, you burnt the toast.”
“No no no. I make toast properly, perfectly crisp. You make toast by barely passing it over the toaster.”
Alex rolls her eyes but eats the toast all the same.
As she sits down to eat her breakfast and glances at her girlfriend, Alex feels at peace. They haven’t been seriously dating long, having waited for the season to end to start “officially” dating, though everyone knew they had been dating since September. They took it slow, by college standards at least. It took a month for them to actually sleep together, and last night had been the first night Alex had spent the night.
She felt comfortable here, at ease. Never one to dive headfirst into things, she had surprised herself that first night with Kelley. Something about the older girl’s easy-going vibe kept her grounded. Alex found it easy to trust her, to lean on her. She couldn’t quite get a read on Kelley’s feelings. She knew the older girl liked her, but Alex was falling hard and falling fast. It terrified her, the thought of being in so deep and not knowing where Kelley stood.
She is broken from her thoughts by the older girl turning around and speaking to her.
“After you’re done and I clean up, wanna go for a walk?” Alex smiles and nods. Kelley returns the smile and gets to cleaning while Alex goes to grab her phone. She hears movement behind her and finds Kelley leaning against the doorframe, smiling softly at her.
“You look good in my clothes.” Alex smiles back at her and kisses her cheek as she walks out of the room. Kelley follows after grabbing her keys and phone. The two leave the apartment and Kelley laces their fingers together and the two turn towards campus. It’s a beautiful, quiet morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Alex is happy.
The campus is dead; it’s a Sunday morning and finals had ended on Friday. Alex would be headed home later tonight while Kelley would be headed back to Georgia on Wednesday. Alex had invited Kelley to come with her back to her parents’ but the older girl had declined the offer. Alex had pretended she didn’t care, but she did. She wanted Kelley to meet her parents, but the older girl hadn’t felt ready for that yet.
She feels Kelley slow down and eventually stop, causing her to stop as well. The older girl turns to face her and kisses her briefly.
“Where’s your head at?”
“Nowhere.”
“Don’t lie to me, Alex.”
“Why won’t you meet my parents?”
Kelley sighs, closing her eyes. She is quiet for a moment.
“It just feels a little soon, doesn’t it?”
“No, actually it doesn’t. They already know about you, hell mom has your phone number. They’ve seen you at games, seen our posts. They want to meet you, officially. And I would like to introduce my girlfriend to my parents before the holiday.”
“Babe, I’m flying out of LAX. If I go home with you I’ll be doubling the time it takes to get to the airport. That’s a hell of an Uber fare.”
“I’ll take you,” Alex offers.
“I’m not going to ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering because I want to.”
Kelley studies her for a moment.
“Okay.”
“Really?” Alex’s eyes light up and Kelley can’t stop the smile that spread across her face as she leans forward to kiss her girlfriend again.
“Okay,” she repeats. “It clearly means a lot to you. So, yeah, let’s do it.”
“Okay, well I’m packed but I need to get my things. Walk me to my dorm? I’ll grab my suitcase and come back with you so you can pack.”
Kelley nods and the two change directions, heading towards the younger girl’s apartment. When they arrive, Alex quickly grabs her suitcase and checks to make sure she hasn’t forgotten anything. They walk back to Kelley’s apartment, stopping by an on-campus takeout place to grab lunch.
Arriving at Kelley’s apartment, the two eat lunch and Alex goes to turn on the tv while Kelley goes to pack. She hears country music playing and smiles when she hears Kelley’s voice accompanying the music.
“Hey, Lex? When do you wanna leave?”
Alex stands and walks into the bedroom. “Well, I told mom we’d be there in time for dinner. So we should probably leave around four-thirty. You good with that?” Kelley nods and zips up her suitcase before placing it on the ground next to the overnight duffel she packed for her three nights at Alex’s house.
“All done. We still have,” she checks her watch, “an hour before we need to leave.” She steps forward with a smirk.
“What ever should we do with a spare hour of time?”
Alex smirks back.
“I may have an idea.”
“One condition,” Kelley holds up her pointer finger.
“Yeah?”
“ I get to be Mario this time. Get ready to lose princess.”
“You’re on, O’Hara.”
-
“YEESS!” Alex cheers and throws her hands up as Kelley pouts and mutters something about how she had clearly cheated. She tosses her Wii remote and then stands and stretches, glancing at the clock.
“Alright, cheater. Let’s get our stuff in the car and head out.”
“I didn’t cheat. Quit being a sore loser.”
The pair pack the car and hit the road to begin the almost hour-long drive to Diamond Bar. As they drive, listening to the radio and watching the sunset, Alex glance at her girlfriend who is humming along to whatever song is playing while watching the landscape fly by and accepts the reality in front of her.
She’s completely in love with Kelley.
The couple arrives at Alex’s house a little after five-thirty having lucked out and not being caught up in traffic. They get out of the car and Alex hears the front door open. She sees her mom wave from the front porch and she smiles, waving back. Kelley is around the back of the car, grabbing Alex’s suitcase and her own duffel bag. She comes around and smiles at Alex’s mom and the two head inside.
“Kelley, right? I’ve heard so much about you,” her mom introduces herself and pulls the older girl into a hug after she sets their bags down.
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Mrs. Morgan,” she smiles at the woman when they pull apart.
“Call me Pam. You’re part of the family now,” she turns to Alex. “Alex, sweetie, why don’t you go put your things in your room while I take Kelley to the kitchen to meet everyone.”
Alex nods, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, knowing Kelley was about to face her first interrogation. Picking up the bags, she kisses Kelley’s cheek softly before heading up the stairs while the older girl follows her mom towards the kitchen. She places the bags down and hurries back to the kitchen, hoping her family hasn’t scared off her girlfriend yet. She finds them sitting at the island, her sisters sitting on either side of Kelley and trading off asking questions.
“So how’d Alex manage to land you?” Alex actually does roll her eyes this time while Kelley turns to look at her with a smile.
“I think it’s me who somehow managed to land her.”
“How much did she pay you to say that?”
“Jeri, play nice,” their mom warns.
“When will dinner be ready?” Alex changes the subject.
“Probably around seven. That’s when your dad will be home.”
“Alright. Well, Kelley and I are going to go take a nap because we’re tired.”
Kelley looks confused. “We are?”
Alex gives her girlfriend her best ‘I am trying to save you and spend time alone with you’ look and Kelley stands.
“We are.”
The pair head up the stairs and Alex immediately falls onto her bed, pulling Kelley down with her. Kelley lets out an ‘oof’ when she falls on top of the younger girl and they giggle before getting properly settled in bed. Kelley wraps an arm around Alex’s waist and lets out a content sigh.
“Thanks for being my best friend, Al,” she breathes out and Alex’s heart flutters. She knows the real meaning behind it. Kelley may not have actually said the words, but Alex knows.
Kelley loves her too.
“I miss you,” she pouts at her girlfriend through the phone. Kelley was stuck in Virginia while Alex was packing to move to Portland. When Kelley had accepted the assistant coaching position at UVA at the end of Alex’s senior year, the younger girl had been more okay with it than she had expected. She knew she would miss her girlfriend like crazy being a country apart but she also knew their relationship was strong.
“I miss you too, babe. Virginia is significantly less fun without you.”
“At least you’re coming back soon. I need motivation to finish packing for Portland.”
Kelley is walking around her office, cleaning up a little. The older girl flitted around, humming while Alex watched her with a fond smile. She stopped humming after a minute and smiled at her girlfriend.
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“I can’t wait either, Kel.”
Kelley moves her desk. It was messy, littered with papers of potential recruiting prospects, players stats, and game reports. The wall was covered in old pictures of Kelley’s playing days, ones of the whole team, and the most current USWNT poster. Kelley takes a seat at her desk and opens her laptop.
“Hey, babe. I’m gonna switch to my laptop,” she fumbles with the computer and switches the FaceTime call over. Alex’s screen pauses for a second before returning and she smiles at her girlfriend again.
“How’s the office coming along?”
“Ugh, I’m so unmotivated to organize, but I know I need to. Like, really need to. Look at this desk.”
Kelley picks up the laptop and turns it so Alex can see the tornado on the desk. Alex laughs, but the laugh dies when she sees a familiar-looking framed photo.
“Kel, what’s that?”
“Hm? Oh, the photo. Yeah, I finally bought a frame. It’s my favorite photo of us.” She picks up the photo, confirming to Alex it was the one she thought it was.
It was Alex’s favorite photo of them too. The picture had been taken at Alex’s graduation. It was cheesy as hell, but she had begged Kelley to take the photo and the older one had happily agreed despite teasing her for being chliché. They had gotten Allie to take the photo and the blonde had laughed and teased them the entire time.
They took a normal photo, Kelley’s arm around her waist while Alex pointed to her diploma with a smile and took some pictures with Alex’s family. Then, they took their photo. Alex had removed her cap and held it up with her left hand, hiding her and Kelley’s faces while the two shared a hidden kiss.
Knowing that Kelley had it sitting on the desk in her office warmed Alex’s heart.
“Have you met any of the girls yet?”
“Yeah, most of them actually. They got a couple who are stars for sure.”
Alex’s eyes twinkle.
“More than me?”
“You’ll always be my favorite star, Lex.”
“I better be,” she smiles at her girlfriend.
“Hey, doesn’t Morgan Brian play out there?” She remembers the name and the girl along with it. She was good, very tactical, and high scoring.
“Yeah, she’s captaining the team this season actually. Along with, uh,” Alex watches as Kelley looks around her desk, “Danielle Colaprico.” Alex recognized that name as well but knew less about the player than she did the first one.
“Do you have a favorite yet?”
“Lex, I just met the girls. And I can’t play favorites, you know that.” Kelley lets out a laugh.
“I know. But I also know the girls will love you and you always manage to find some weirdo to be your protegé.”
“Eh, fair. Now that you mention it, yeah there is one. Quirky, always dancing and joking, but sweet nonetheless. Good person, great skills on the pitch. Big heart eyes for her girlfriend who’s a big fancy professional player in France.”
“I hope you aren’t corrupting her, Kel.”
“You think so little of me,” the older girl feigns offense.
“I think the world of you.”
“And I, you.”
Alex smiles softly at her girlfriend, wishing she could reach out and touch her. Kelley returns the smile, wishing the same thing.
“I miss you, Kel.”
“I miss you too, Lex. I’ll be home soon, I promise.”
“Home,” Alex echoes back. She likes the sound of that. She is living for the day Kelley comes to Portland with her but knows it’s still a good two years away. At least until it’s a permanent move. For now, though, the older one would spend mid-July through early December with the UVA team and would spend mid-December through the following June with Alex in Portland. Both were counting the days until Kelley was released from the pre-season coaching camp to spend a little time together before Kelley had to return to UVA.
“I should get going, get back to my place. Good luck with packing, babe. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Kelley stifles a yawn and stretches.
“Night, Kel. I love you.”
“I love you, too, darling.”