𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙚𝙩 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 - 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘥

𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴

Caitlin's POV

The team and I all sit at our usual booth at the local bar we've proclaimed ours. I sit inbetween Katie and Steph. Elena sits on the other side of Steph, but because the booth is round, I still get a perfect view of her.

She was dressed in a pair of blue straight leg jeans with a white tube top. Her hair fell perfectly passed her shoulders, the red undertone in her hair glistening under the bar lights, perfectly complimenting her features.

"I bet you can't drink that whole drink and mine." Beth challenges Elena as she pushes her drink over to the girl.

"Bet." Elena giggles, already tipsy. She swallows down her drink and picks up Beth's. She pauses for a moment and everyone waits to see if she'll put it back down, but she doesn't. She never backs down from a challenge. Elena emptied Beth's glass and placed it back down on the table with the whole booth erupting into cheers.

I laughed at her as she looked around the table and her eyes met mine. Her eyes were a sea green which looked like a perfect mix of the sea and land.

"I'm gonna go get another drink." She says and stands up, but stumbles.

"No, you're not." Steph says and grabs her hand. "We're getting you home."

"But the party's just started." Elena whines, giving Steph the puppy dog eyes.

"But you're drunk and we still have training tomorrow." Steph says and stands up. She picks up her bag and walks Elena out of the booth.

As everyone says goodbye to Elena and Steph, I can tell Steph doesn't actually want to go home yet, but she was the one that drove Elena here so she kind of had to.

"Steph, I'll take her home." I stand up and say. Elena stumbles towards me as I get out of the booth.

"Steffy, Caitlin said she'll take me home." Elena says as she stands next to me, her body leaning against mine, which is how I know she's way too drunk to stay in the bar.

"Are you sure?" My Matilda teammate asks me.

"Yeah, I was gonna head out anyway." I say. I was actually thinking of going back home. As much as I loved hanging out with the team in the bar and especially after our first game of the season, I still found it uncomfortable to be around Lia while the breakup was so fresh. I was happy to see her enjoying herself with Leah as they danced to the music, but I couldn't bare watching her seem happy after the breakup was slowly draining me.

"Thank you." Steph thanks me as I give her a quick hug and put my arm around Elena's waist to stabilise her.

"Bye, guys." I say to the girls. Elena seems to be already trying to pull me along. "Elena say 'bye'."

"Goodbye." She says in a funny voice, making the team laugh. I shake my head at her as I guide her out of the bar. She tries moving to where some people are dancing to join in with them, but I pull her away. "You're no fun, Caitlin." She pouts. I open the passenger side door of my car and help her in, putting her seatbelt over her body.

"I've got the responsibility of getting you home and in bed safely." I tell her as I get into my side.

Elena mocks me, repeating my words in a silly voice. I can't help but laugh at the state she's in.

"Caitlin?" Her voice is quiet as we drive through the night. It was september now and the days were starting to get longer as we welcomed in Autumn.

"Hmm?" I hum, concentrated on the road.

"Why's your name Caitlin? Caitlin." She repeats my name a few times until it feels foreign for even me.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask my mum." I shrug with a laugh. I like the way she says my name.

We finally reach her and Steph's apartment. I park my car and get out and open her door. She tried getting out the car without taking her seatbelt. I start laughing at her, having to step back to compose myself as she starts telling herself she has to be strapped in otherwise the no gravity in the spaceship she's apparently in will make her bang her head on something.

"Elena." I laugh. "You're in a car, the gravity is very much still on, let's go." I help her out of the car and into the building. We take the lift up to her apartment and then walk to the door. "Key, please." I hold my hand out to her, but she only shrugs at me. "Did you not bring your keys."

"Oh, yeah. Caitlin, before you try that door," she begins as she leans against the door, "I didn't bring keys."

"Thank you for warning me, Elena." I sigh. She's funny when she's drunk, but also a huge ass load of work. "We'll have to just take you back to my place."

"I can sleep here." She tells me, sliding down the door to lie down, bud I grab her and pull her back up.

"You're sleeping in an actual bed, not on the floor. Come on."

We managed to make our way back down towards the car and I have to go through the whole process of getting her, putting her belt on and then listening to her say noncense the whole drive back to my apartment, which luckily isn't far.

"Caitlin, I'm tired." She tells me as she practically falls against my body when I help her back out of the car.

"Thank God." I mumble as I help her inside. We make it up to my apartment and I unlock the door. "Let's get you to bed."

"Okay." Elena nods, finally listening to my instructions.

I walk her to my room. I'd only got a one bedroom apartment so, she'd have to stay in my bed and I'd sleep on the sofa tonight.

"Let's get you changed into something more comfortable." I sit her on the bed and grab her a pair of leggings and one of my shirts. I pass her the clothes, but don't trust her to be in the room alone so, I look away and wait for her to tell me she's done.

"Caitlin, help me put my shirt on." She says. I turn around to see she's somehow twisted the shirt I gave her. She stands there in only her bra and leggings. My eyes wander down to her toned stomach, where I can see the lines of her abs. I walk forward and untwist the shirt before holding it above her head for her to get into.

She puts her head through and I help her with the arms. My cold fingers brush against her body and she looks up at me.

She sits down on the bed and gets herself into the bed while I go grab her some water and ibuprofen. I send Steph a quick message to let her know Elena's at mine so she doesn't get worried when she comes home to an empty apartment.

Elena takes the medicine and drinks the water without me having to tell her to do much, thank God. She'd worn herself out. "I'm going to be on the sofa if you need anything." I tell her as she shuffles back down into the warm sheets. She shakes her head at me. "What?"

"You can sleep here." She tells me. I pause for a moment. She holds the covers open and gives me the puppy eyes now, that I know I can't resist. I roll my eyes as I get into the bed beside her.

Elena shuffles closer to me and moves her arm around my waist. She rests her head on my chest and I move her hair out of her face.

She looked angelic lying there with her hair swooped past her face, framing it perfectly. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was soft and gentle.

I was happy to have a good friend like her.