1. Kick (Thomas Muller)

in which Libby discovers and Thomas is uncovered

It was colder than she had expected, Libby had thought as she walked to a taxi. If she hadn't had this jacket, she would've had frozen punch all over her.

Her teeth chattered as she entered the yellow cab, quickly muttering the hotel's name and slipping her seatbelt on.

It was about twenty  minutes until they arrived and Libby  tossed a few bills to the front.

The rest of the night was a daze, but Libby  found herself in her bed the next morning, tears glued to her face, and still smelling like the gross punch and as sticky as the night before, possibly even more. Libby was still in her dress and the jacket, which smelled of a strong cologne that Libby liked a bit, Libby noted.

She also noticed that Hope wasn't back, which caused her stomach to lurch. She had specifically warned Hope not to get involved with the players, they had girlfriends back at home.

But then again, when did Hope ever listen to her?

The clock read 8:46 am. This was the latest Libby had ever slept. She quickly got up, slipping off her dress in the process and throwing it on the floor, wanting nothing more to do with it. She neatly folded the jacket, taking a huge whiff of it, because no one was there to see her do it.

Libby hopped in the shower and as water streamed down on her sticky body, so did her thoughts.

Would she return the jacket? This was the main question that extended farthest from her mind. She didn't even ask for his name or remember anything. She felt dumb, thinking about it now.

She had acted like a fool in front of so many people. Thank goodness she was wearing a mask, otherwise she would have had to change her identity.

After cleaning the wretched juice off of herself, Libby slipped on some skinny jeans and her soccer sweatshirt.

While drying her hair, Libby checked the jacket's pockets. There was bound to be something in there.

And as she had expected, there was something. It was a wallet.

Libby's heart pounded. First of all, this guy's name was most likely in here, which meant she could give this back and know who had ruined her night. Second of all, it was his WALLET! How had he gotten home last night without money?

She immediately felt a deep pang of guilt and anxiety. Knowing she had to give this back, she flipped open the wallet.

There were many credit cards and a few crumpled money bills. Libby took out the ID. Her eyes widened.

Müller, Thomas.

___________________________

Thomas woke to realize he was back in the hotel. The horrible memories of last night flooded back to him.

Groaning, he read the clock: 9:07 AM. This was the latest he had ever gotten up, excluding his birthday.

Bastian wasn't in his bed, which made Thomas quite uncomfortable, knowing he had reminded him numerous times that he had a girlfriend.

Bastian and the rest of the team laughed at his face. That was when Thomas had indefinitely decided to leave the ball, knowing it wasn't going to get better.

He had then summoned a taxi and drove back to the hotel. As he had arrived, he realized his wallet was in his jacket, which he had given to that girl.

He started to apologize, but the driver had merely furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him for a moment or two, probably realizing who he was, and with a huge grin had asked for some tickets to a game.

Thomas had remembered taking his phone number and promised four tickets to the next game.

And then he had ended up here. Alone and walletless. To his surprise, his cheek stung a bit from where the girl had slapped him, which Thomas found amusing.

Thomas quickly threw on a black t shirt and some jeans, knowing that the girl would find his roomto return the wallet.

He was positive she would come. I mean, who wouldn't? It wasn't like she was going to run away with it just because he didn't know who she......

Wait, Thomas thought, panicking, she technically could just make a run for it.. He didn't know who she was.

As if on cue, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Thomas opened the door with haste.

There stood Bastian with no shirt on and his hair disheveled. Thomas and Bastian looked at each other for a couple of seconds, Bastian with a goofy smile, and Thomas rolling his eyes.

"THOMAS! You missed out, man," Bastian tackled him and then walked to the bed. Thomas trailed behind him, his mind still on the wallet and how he was supposed to get it back.

"Yeah, Basti, I don't even wanna know what you did last night," Thomas grumbled as Bastian spread his arms out, his mouth still plastered as a smile.

"I wasn't planning on telling you, you'll just be dissapointed..." and with that Bastian trotted to the bathroom and started singing loudly, acting like he was still drunk.

Thomas found it all amusing, but was still concerned about his wallet. And more so, the girl.

He struggled to finally get up and make the decision to go down to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast.

It was very crowded, but the food was of much variety, as Thomas had a pile high plate of fruit, pancakes, and a few waffles. He sat down, next to a few of his teammates.

"Look who decided to show up!" Manuel patted Thomas on the back. Thomas shrugged and munched into a waffle, syrup pouring down the side.

"You have fun last night, Manu?" Thomas asked. If he didn't have fun, he would've liked if his team did.

"The most! Americans sure know how to party!" Manuel said quickly. The restof the team chorused in agreement.

Thomas held back a sigh of dissapointment. He pretended to listen to the teams' stories about their extravagent nights, but his mind wandered off into some depressive daydreams.

"---and then she totally just- Thomas?" Manuel looked at Thomas with a puzzled expression. Mesut whispered something to Khedira. Erik handed Thomas a napkin. And Mario anxiously glanced around.

"What?" Thomas questioned.

"You-you're crying..." Manuel stated, his eyes a little bit wide.

It was then that Thomas realized there were tears just streaming down his face.

He quickly wiped them away, faking a smile.

"I-uh- had a sneeze, but it never came..." Thomas made up. It wasn't his best lie, but the team turned back, continuing their deranged tales about the ball. He really didn't wantto explain his minor depressed situtation. They would laugh and say it was just for some girl. But they didn't know Lisa.

He had known her since he was 15 and they got engaged and...then it feel apart and it was his fault.

Finishing his breakfast, Thomas walked back to his room. He entered to find Bastian playing some video games.

"You okay?" Bastian asked in the midst of shooting someone. Thomas just nodded and watched him play.

Both of them jumped as someone rapped the door harshly.

Bastian looked at him expectantly. "GO!" He yelled, pushing Thomas towards the door.

Thomas stumbled forward,but caught himself, walking to the door.

He slowly opened it, not caring enough to check through the glass hole.

"You forgot this."

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a/n

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Thank you so much ily all a lot :*