Fast forward a few weeks and Katie found herself in the stands of Caitlin's first Olympic game. She sat next to her mum and sister and waited to Australia and Germany to walk out the tunnel. Katie had never been to an Olympics before so despite wishing she was playing, the absolute next best thing was getting to watch her girl go out there and be an Olympian.
Caitlin and her had talked extensively leading up to this game, mostly Caitlin worrying about whether her leg muscles would hold up as she previously told Katie was a big concern for her. But Katie told to work on recovery and focus on getting better rather than what if it happens again. It seemed to shift Caitlin's focus and she seemed about as prepared as possible for this game.
Katie of course was sporting a #9 Australian jersey and wore it with pride. What she didn't expect was to have nerves. She'd played in countless games herself and wasn't as nervous as she was right now. She realized besides the game they played against in the World Cup, Katie hadn't been in person to one of Caitlin's international games yet while they were dating. The World Cup didn't give her a chance to be this nervous for Caitlin as she was occupied with the stress of her own team. But now. All that was on her mind was that she hoped Caitlin and her team won. Caitlin's sister caught on to the nerves as she saw Katie rub her sweaty hands on her pants for the third time in five minutes.
"Nerve wracking isn't it?"
"Yeah I didn't realize I'd be feeling like this" Katie responded a little embarrassed she was caught.
"Feeling never really goes away, but it gets easier to manage." Jamie responded giving Katie a comforting smile.
Soon the walkouts began and Katie's felt herself skip a breath as she immediately located Caitlin. If Caitlin had heart eyes for Katie when playing for Ireland then Katie realized she probably looked like one of those cartoons with eyes popping out of their head. Cause damn Caitlin looked good right now. And the confidence and determination in her face was enough to leave Katie's mouth a little dry.
The game started really close. Back and forth with no team really controlling the game. That was until the 40 minute when Mary Fowler scored a rocket to put Australia up 1-0. Katie celebrated with Caitlin's family while making sure to keep her eyes on Caitlin because the relief of her team scoring caused her smile to be the brightest she'd seen on her face in a while and Katie wanted to stare at it as long as she could.
Unfortunately the celebrations were cut short as Germany equalized only 3 minutes later. The teams went into half time all tied up at 1-1, leaving Katie just as stressed as before.
The second half started with even more intensity. It was getting aggressive as both teams were really pushing for a victory. There were really good chances for both teams the whole half but nothing had went in. Jamie felt Katie move to the edge of her seat In the 85' with her eyes glued on Caitlin almost as if she was seeing a play develop before it actually did. And she was right. Not even a few seconds later Caitlin found a late burst of speed and received a long ball from Raso.
"Come on Cait split 'em" Katie yelled as Caitlin was on a 1v2 breakaway against the two German central defenders. But there was a ton of space between them and Caitlin was fast. She sent the ball straight in between the defenders and barreled in after it. Despite their attempt to close the gap they were too slow, leaving Caitlin was one chance from the top of the box to score. And she did just that. Sending the ball to the top left corner Caitlin brought her team up 2-1 with just minutes to spare.
Katie had never yelled so loud in her life. She didn't even noticed the drink she kicked over as she jumped out her seat as the ball sailed in the goal. She gave Caitlin's mum and Jamie a huge hug while keeping her eyes on Caitlin's celebrating with her team.
The Germans fought back but ran out of time in the end resulting in the Aussies winning their first game.
Katie couldn't have wiped the smile off her face if she tried. But her smile grew even larger as she saw Caitlin immediately making her way to the stands. She gave her mum a huge hug right away and stood there for a few seconds before turning to Jamie and bringing her into the hug too. Then she looked towards Katie and pulled her in my her jersey for a deep kiss.
Caitlin was the one who didn't want their relationship blasted all over the internet. Despite LOVING this kiss, Katie pulled away to remind Caitlin of that.
"Cameras" she breathed out quickly
"Fuck the cameras" Caitlin said back bringing her in for one more kiss.
If it wasn't for either her mum or sister, she wasn't even sure, fake coughing Caitlin probably wouldn't have released Katie all night.
"Save it for later ya Cait?" Her sister teased making Caitlin roll her eyes.
"I'm so proud of you" Katie said just as Caitlin unfortunately had to go rejoin her team. "I'll see ya later"
"I can't wait" Caitlin responded back with a wink.
"Ew Caitlin your mother is right here!" Again her sister joked
"Oh let her be Jamie the girl is in love and just scored the winning goal. Can't blame her." Their mum retorted
Katie laughed at the interaction all while keeping her eye on Caitlin the whole time and thinking about how damn good that kiss felt. She would live the wag life every day if that was the kiss that resulted from it.
