Go for Gold

8

Y/N
-

The whistle blew, allowing the game to begin, and nothing really happened, no fouls, or penalties, and stuff like that, until about the fortieth scoreless minute, when I got the ball, and Mal came in to challenge me, but was a little too committed to the challenge and we both fell. I got the foul and Mal got a warning. I took the free kick and sent it up the field to Christine, before pushing up with the play, and taking the drop when it's given to me before megging Mal and passing to Allie who had overlapped my run while Mal takes my jersey in her fist. The foul is noticed, but the ref allows us to play the advantage, and I wink at Mal.

"Don't strip me on the field now. I like privacy." I say before getting back to playing; well, getting into the box as the ball goes out for a corner, and as the ball is crossed into me after I called for the ball, I rush into space and get my head on it. And get a look at it as it hits the back of the net, before I can react, I'm swooped up by Emily  as we all celebrate that header before gettin back into position. The Spirit kicks off again and a minute after that, as I get the ball from one of Washington's players, the whistle blows signaling half time, so we all go into the locker rooms and do the half time thing. Christine talks to us about our performance, what we need to fix, what we need to keep doing, commending me on the header. And the two fouls I've drawn off my girlfriend, all that, and then Mark comes in and basically just says what Christine said before making changes. Changes the formation from a 4-5-1, to a 4-4-2, and puts me up top with Christine, saying something along the lines of

"If she can get a header, let's see if she can get some more of those and maybe her foot on the ball, create opportunities for us. Let's go get it." He says before leaving us to rehydrate and regain our breath as well as our strength for the second half. Once we're back out on the field, we kick off, so I give the ball to Christine before pushing up and supporting, taking the ball when Allie passes it to me. I keep the ball for a minute before passing to Christine and overlapping the run to take the pass back from Christine as I make my way into the box and take a shot. Which is blocked, but the keep didn't hold onto the ball, so I followed the shot up and tapped it in, shot is celebrated, Washington kicks off again, and the rest of the game is scoreless. We shake hands with Washington and the refs before heading into the locker room, slip on the clothes we came in and get back on the bus, and I take a seat close to the front, not really feeling like walking to where I usually sit, in the middle of the bus, and just listen to music on the way back to the hotel, and up to the room, until I get a call from Mal.

"Yes ma'am?" I answer as I lay on my bad.

"I'm coming to get you from your hotel." Mal says and I chuckle.

"And why's that?" I ask and she sighs.

"Because I want to be with you." She says before hanging up and I chuckle to myself as I relax until Mal calls me telling me that she's down in the lobby, so I grab my bags knowing that she'll want me to stay the night, so I tell Emily where I'm going on my way out and she of course torments me about my girlfriend picking me up post-game. Telling me to make sure Mal takes it easy on me in the sheets, so I throw the remote at her before leaving. I go down to the lobby and find Mal standing there, so I walk over and smile as she offers me her hand, which I accept, intertwining our fingers as we walk out and to the car. She helps me into the passenger seat before going around and getting in the driver's seat, driving to her place.

-

After a couple of hours, after Mal and I had slept through some silly movie, I think it was Hotel for Dogs, I wake up and turn over to see Mal asleep, since we had retired to her room to cuddle. I smile and pull her closer before relaxing again. A while later, Mal wakes up and rolls herself on top of me so she could just bury her face in my chest.

"Ugh. Why do we have to play for separate clubs?" Mal whines to me and I just play with her hair quietly. "Just want to do this every day and every night. Fall asleep and wake up next to you. That's all I need to be happy." She says and I kiss the top of her head

"Transfer to PTFC then." I respond and she sighs.

"Next season." She says and I look at her as she lifts her head.

"Seriously?" I ask and she shrugs.

"Gotta experience more than one club before saying definitively which club I want to play with for the rest of my career. And hey, if I don't like Portland and you get traded somewhere else, I'll try my best to go with you." She says and I smile.

"You're cute. Thinking I'll let you come with me everywhere I go. See, that's how our relationship gets ruined. Distance is hard, but distance is healthy for people like you and I. We're young, we're dumb, and we're broke."

"Okay, Khalid." She says and I smile.

"I mean, I do have your location and your number saved." I say and Mal sits up to straddle my stomach.

"If you make one more reference to Khalid, I'll smother you with this pillow." Mal says, grabbing the pillow from under my head.

"I don't want to be alive!" I sing out, purposefully off key and cover my face with my arms as she begins beating me with the pillow. "That's not smothering! Not smothering!" I say, failing at keeping the blows from my face, so I just reach out and tickle her sides, smiling as she drops the pillow as she tries to get away from me. "I win." I say from my new position, hovering over Mal with her legs wrapped around my waist as she regains her breath. I kiss her nose softly and use my left hand to massage her thigh gently and just admire the girl beneath me. My girl.

"Hello, earth to cheeseball." Mal says, snapping her fingers in my face and I raise an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking about?" She asks and I give her a soft smile.

-
Mal
-

"You." She says and I smile as her hand moves from my thigh to my hip, pulling me into her lap as she sits back on her heels. "How incredible it is that I managed to score a chance with a girl as insanely incredible as you are." She continues, holding my waist as she looks up at me and I smile down at her, wrapping my arms around her neck.