My Cure - Mallory Pugh/USWNT (Sequel to Attached)

Chapter 22

Morgana's POV

I woke up the next morning feeling super extremely sad. 

"I'll never be happy again." I said to Mal as she got ready for breakfast. 

"You will. I promise." She said. 

"It's just not fair." 

"I know, Morg. It really isn't." She came and sat down next to me. "Are you coming to breakfast?" 

"No. Can you just bring me a bagel and some strawberries please?" 

"Of course." 

"But you eat first because I'm not hungry." I said, laying down and getting under my covers. 

"Sounds good." Mal said, tucking a loose strand of ,y hair behind my ear. "I love you. Call me if you need anything." 

"Thanks Mal. I love you too." 

She headed out after that, and I just stared at the ceiling until there was a knock at the door. 

"Who is it?" I asked. 

"It's me Ashley." 

"Come on in." 

She walked in slowly, and smiled a little smile at me as she shut the door. 

"How are you?" She asked. 

"Pretty terrible." I sighed. 

"I'm sorry." 

"It is what it is I guess. So what's up?" 

"I just came to check on you." 

"Well that's very kind of you. Thank you." 

"And I just wanted to hang out because we haven't gotten to hang out much just the two of us in a long time." 

"Okay." 

"If you want me to leave I will. I don't wanna be a burden." 

"Ashley, you're never a burden." I said. "You're my best friend. And you always put me in a good mood. I need that right now." 

"Okay." She laid down next to me. "But do you need to talk or anything?" 

"I'm fine." I lied. I couldn't have poor Ashley worrying about my shit. she's basically a kid. I feel like it would just break her. 

"Are you thinking about going home anytime soon? To see your parents and Chloe and Hayley? I'm sure they want to see you." 

"They said they were going to schedule the funeral for after qualifiers so I don't have to travel so much in such a short amount of time. Also  the funeral will be very emotional and a lot on me. But my parents and my sister are coming to Mexico to watch our games." I said. 

"Is Hayley coming?" 

"I'm pretty sure. Chloe and John are both coming so it's not like she's got anywhere to go." 

"That will be fun!" 

"Yep." 

"You don't sound happy." Ashley said. 

"Well my sister just died." I said. "But also it's a lot of stress when they come. They are coming to see me LIVE, different than on TV. Also they still don't know about Mal and I, so that's stressful." 

"I forgot about that." 

"Everything will be fine. I can't worry about it." 

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I had a lot to think about, qualifiers, my sister's funeral, my ESPY nomination, and Chloe said we had a lot to talk about when we were together in Mexico. 

I left my room to go to lifting this morning, and I was so unmotivated that I retired myself to the corner to hold back tears instead. 

"You okay?" Asked Hatch, coming over to me, followed by Mal. 

"I don't know." I said. 

"You wanna come spot me?" Mal asked. 

"I don't know." 

"Mal, you go finish. I got this." Hatch said, and Mal nodded and walked away. 

"You can go too. I don't need anybody." I said, pulling my knees to my face. 

"But look at you. You most certainly DO need somebody. And I get it that you don't want to work out. That's fine. You don't have to. I just want to make sure you're okay mentally. And I also want to tell you that you don't have to play on Tuesday." 

"I do, Ash." 

"No you don't." 

"But I want to." 

"Well than you should." 

"Why are you telling me everything I already knew?" I asked. 

"I just want to be here for you, that's all." 

Then I started sobbing uncontrollably, and all eyes were on me, who's head was buried in her shoulder. 

"Don't worry about her! Keep going!" Said one of the trainers. 

"Let's go get some air." Hatch suggested, and we went outside. 

"It's so hard. No one gets it." I said. "Not one person." 

"I know for certain I don't understand what it feels like to lose a sibling, and I can't imagine what you're going through." She said. 

"What's your point?" I asked. 

"My point is it's hard for me to see this from your perspective. But I care about you a lot, Morgana. You're so much more than a teammate. You're my French-speaking, silly, sarcastic, energetic, caring, hilarious, superstar best friend. I'm lucky to have someone like you in my life." 

"That's...." I cried again, because those words were exactly what I needed to hear. "I'm the lucky one." 

I gave her a long hug, and I figured this was a good time to mention thus. 

"And I want you to know how you're so much more to ME than a teammate." I said. "I'm sure you put this together that night, but you literally saved my life. And I don't think you get it at all, but you're the reason I'm gonna have a career. You're the reason I got to sign to the Red Stars and make things with with Mal. You're the reason I get to see my niece grow up into a little superstar of her own. You're the reason for everything in my life going forward, and I'll never, ever, be able to repay you for that." 

"It wasn't just me-"

"But you were the calm one, right? I could hear everyone freaking out inside the house. We'd all be dead if you weren't there." 

"Yeah, they all were kind of freaking out." Hatch said. "And you don't have to repay me for any of it. You being here is better than anything else. Even if I never spoke to you again after this moment, I'd still smile at the thought of you thriving as a player is enough for me." 

"Well please continue to talk to me." I laughed, but then I looked her dead in the eyes. Je t'aime." 

"That's pretty, but I have no idea what it means." She laughed. 

"It's french for I love you." I smiled. 

"I love you too, kid." 

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Hatchy and Morgana's friendship is so adorable and I love writing it so much. I hope you all enjoyed :)