KEEP CALM AND DRINK DIET COKE

Lindsey leaving for France, Emily being bounced around from team to team, it all seems like another lifetime. The person Emily was when Portland traded her and the person she is now are so incredibly different. But there is one constant, Lindsey. 

Lindsey is different too though. She’s more confident, she’s happier, especially now that she’s back stateside, but she’s still the same Lindsey that Emily has loved on and off for ten years. She knows Lindsey like the back of her hand, which is why she’s not taking offense to the fact that Lindsey hasn’t replied to Emiy’s text saying that they’ve made it to the hotel. 

It’s not because Lindsey is ignoring her, no she’s probably stared at Emily’s text fifty times by now, it’s because Lindsey doesn’t know how to feel about this weekend. 

It’s crazy actually, that they’ve made it this far in their relationship without ever playing a game against each other. It’s like there was a spell or something put over them to keep them apart, even when Lindsey was still in the league here. Lindsey has always been big into manifestation, so maybe she actually masterminded all of it. 

But now, Gotham is here in Denver to play the Summit and Emily knows how conflicted Lindsey seems to be. So, instead of waiting for a text, she calls. 

“You’re really gonna make me stay here in this crappy hotel tonight?” Emily asks before Lindsey even has the chance to say hello. 

“What? No, of course you can stay here,” Lindsey says, guilt in her voice, “I’ll come pick you up.” 

Half an hour later, they’re sitting on Lindsey’s (stiff) new couch, together for the first time since Brazil. Lindsey lays her head in Emily's lap, nearly purring as Emily gently cards her fingers through thick, blonde hair. 

“I don’t want to play against you,” Lindsey pouts. 

“It’s because I’m too good, isn’t it? Or maybe it’s because my raw, animal magnetism will distract you on the field?” Emily jokes. 

“Those aren’t untrue…” Lindsey says quietly, “but I just… I want us to win, you and me, and that’s not how this works.”

“I think you underestimate how competitive you are,” Emily tells her, “you love me but you also love winning, so do I. But it’s just a soccer game, Linds, we’ll be okay.”

“It’s just going to be so weird,” Lindsey wrinkles her nose adorably, “we can’t even do our handshake.”

“Promise that you won’t try to go easy on me,” Emily says, knowing what kind of response it’ll bring out of her girlfriend. 

“Over my dead body,” Lindsey snorts. 

***

Gotham wins, it’s not particularly close, but Lindsey manages to beat Emily to a header and gets herself on the score sheet. 

“This green looks good on you,” Emily tells her after the final whistle. 

“Shut up,” Lindsey groans, “I hate losing.”

The league is on a long break, which means Emily’s days are free too. She’s back from Brazil, allowing just one afternoon of teasing about her acting skills in the game, and Kelley can’t wait to spend the summer with her. 

“Where are we going?” Emily asks as Kelley leads them down the street. 

“There’s a new cafe I saw the other day,” Kelley replies, “it looked like a place you’d like.”

Kelley had been walking back to her train station after tennis when she saw it. Small, maybe just three tables, and a truly inviting aroma wafting out into the street. Spanish, maybe? Or Moroccan? Whatever they’re serving smelled delicious, but Kelley wanted to share this with Emily, trying food together is sort of Emily’s love language. 

The problem is, as they’re walking around, Kelley realizes she has no clue where this place is. She tries to retrace her steps from the tennis courts, the route she normally takes, but this mystery cafe is nowhere to be found. 

“Are you sure it was on this street?” Emily asks, looking at her phone to try and see what’s around. 

“I thought I was,” Kelley pouts, “but it’s clearly not here.”

“Hey, it’s not that big a deal,” Emily says softly, “we’re in New York City, there are plenty of other places we can go.”

They end up in the park, laughing together, and at one point, Kelley hooks her pinky around Emily’s as they wander around the Ramble. It would feel like a boring Saturday afternoon with anyone else, but it’s Emily, her person. Nothing they do together feels boring or monotonous. The sun is shining and Emily is smiling, that’s all Kelley needs for a perfect day. 

As they walk, Emily pulls Kelley a little closer and twines their fingers together without pausing her sentence, like it was instinct, and Kelley melts all over again. Falling in love, being in love with Emily is as easy as breathing for Kelley, and she’s pretty sure her partner feels the same way. 

There’s a team coming to Atlanta and Kelley knows they’ve already put one call into Emily’s agent. As much as they both love New York, a little house with a garden on the edge of the city might be calling their name sometime soon. They’ve built a life together, and going back to where it all began makes all the sense in the world, if Emily wants it. Because Kelley would follow Emily anywhere.