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The floorboards creaked with every step Hope took and she swore they were going to give at any moment. Her footsteps were cautious, bearing only half her weight before she decided that it was at least stable enough to stand on. Kelley on the other hand marched forward without any regard to the idea that the house might collapse on them at any moment.
“I can’t believe it’s still here!” She exclaimed, throwing up her arms excitedly.
“Me neither.” Hope muttered under her breath. She started when a giant ball of dust rolled by. “Jesus, I thought that was a mouse!” Kelley turned around and shrugged.
“Nah, no mice here. Cockroaches maybe, no mice last I was here.” Comforting, Hope thought with a roll of her eyes. Kelley waded through old toys, magazines, shattered pieces of wood, and metal until she reached an old beat up couch. Oh please don’t sit...Kelley jumped onto the couch, landing on her back with a huff. The archaic piece of furniture seemed to exhale on impact, sending a cloud of dust soaring into the sky. Kelley started coughing and she waved her hand to disperse the air around her. Hope swore she felt the floorboards give.
“Why are we here again?” Hope asked. Rain covered some of the ground, particularly the areas where giant, gaping “skylights” gave the weather full access to the second floor.
“You wanted to see where I spent most of my college days, right? Here we are!” Kelley gestured around her at the old abandoned second story. Hope opened her mouth to comment that this was more akin to where meth-heads or runaways would spend their time rather than an Ivy League student but seeing Kelley rest her legs up on the couch’s armrest as if this were her own apartment made Hope bite her tongue. It actually seemed to fit Kelley’s nature.
“Such a kid.” She laughed under her breath and shook her head.
“Huh?” Kelley turned toward her quizzically and Hope responded by smiling good naturedly. “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” Her pout only made Hope grin more. It was even more unbelievable that this kid somehow convinced her to follow, to jump over a barbed wire fence, duck under the boarded windows and climb a decrepit staircase to get where they were.
“I don’t even know why I came to visit you.” Hope said in disbelief.
“Because you missed me.” Kelley replied casually and matter-of-factly. Her feet dangled over the edge of the armrest and they wiggled restlessly. Her statement was closer to the truth than Hope cared to admit. All she remembered was the strange feeling that surfaced in her chest too akin to loneliness the night Kelley called her. Jerramy had left the state to meet his agent about his upcoming prospects, leaving Hope alone in Washington with several days to herself. It was in the middle of the night, when the emptiness of her apartment threatened to swallow Hope whole that the phone rang and it wasn't Jerramy’s voice, but Kelley’s that filled the apartment with life and voice again.
“Come visit me if you’re bored!” Hope swore Kelley was half joking when she said that, but the next thing she knew she was boarding a plane for California. Kelley met her at the airport with a hug Hope oddly didn’t want to end and they drove the distance to Stanford. Kelley’s enthusiasm was infectious and it pulled Hope out of a slump she didn’t even know she was in.
“You’re the only one who’s called me, you know.” Hope said candidly. Kelley turned her head and regarded the goalkeeper with a surprised expression.
“Really?”
“Really.” Hope hated to admit it, but she was just as terrible keeping up with teammates over the break. Kelley pursed her lips and sighed.
“Well, you get to hang with me, then.” She sat up and patted the seat next to her. “Wanna pull up some cushion?” Hope laughed and put up her hands, backing away just slightly.
“Not on your life, O’Hara, I don’t want to catch whatever diseases are festering in those cushions.” Kelley glanced down at the faded, probably moldy couch. She frowned and looked back at Hope with pitiful, puppy-eyes. Hope had no idea why this kid had such an effect on her, but the look tugged at her heart like a physical string pulling her close until their knees touched.
“No way.” Hope repeated again. Kelley shot forward suddenly and her hands found each other behind Hope’s lower back. She sat back down and Hope, in an effort not to crash into the couch, whirled around just in time to land squarely on Kelley’s lap.
“Yay.” Kelley mumbled happily. Her hands knotted around Hope’s stomach and it took the goalkeeper a full minute to process what just happened. When she finally understood that the defender had managed to catch her off guard, that she clung to her like a goddamned child, Hope burst into laughter that made the whole floor shake.
“You are such a kid!” She exclaimed. Kelley didn’t reply. Instead, she pressed her face into Hope’s strong, solid back and Hope went quiet. She could almost feel Kelley’s lips through her thick cotton shirt, but she was sure she imagined her whispering through the fabric. Whispering...or kissing.
Her skin buzzed with every breath Kelley took, and her mouth went dry every time she tried to speak. They stayed like that for what seemed like several minutes before Kelley tilted her head down and instead of lips, Hope could feel the Kelley’s forehead pressed firmly where her mouth had just been.
“I missed you.” Kelley said. Hope found her hands and grasped them. She brought one up to her lips, unfolded Kelley’s slender fingers and pressed a kiss to her open palm. She did same to the other. She had no idea what she was doing, but at least she didn’t wonder if she should be doing it. It felt right, in the absence of her husband she was left with the only one who bothered, the only one who cared enough about her to call. She let Kelley’s hand drop back down and they gathered together again right in the center of her stomach. Kelley was so much smaller than her that Hope thought for a moment that they should switch. But Kelley held her with such conviction that Hope let go of all her insecurities and allowed herself a moment where this kid...this stupid kid was the only one who convinced her that everything was still ok.
“I love you, Hope.” Kelley mumbled into her back. A shock ran up Hope’s spine when she heard those words. It took a moment for Hope to process it enough to feign ignorance but the words left her mouth too late to be believable.
“Love you too, kid.” Hope tried. Kelley didn’t press the issue. Her hands relaxed and Hope wriggled out of her grasp easily enough.
“We should get back. I swear I’m going to die of asbestos poisoning...or tetanus, or something.” Her words were nervous and disjointed. Kelley would have to be a fool to not see how her words rattled the goalkeeper. But she played along gamely, putting on a fake smile that Hope chose to believe.
“I’m starved.” Kelley said, stretching and dusting off her shorts. “I know this awesome taco stand down the street.” She quickly walked past Hope so that Hope didn’t have to witness any falter in her smile, or any glint in her eye resembling hurt. Hope watched the defender’s back; a familiar sight. Her stomach knotted, and even though she agreed, she wasn’t hungry at all. The floorboards still creaked with every step, but Hope found it far less frightening than what lay beyond those crumbling walls.