The Girl in Cleats

⚽️Chapter 47⚽️

Authors Note: The long awaited chapter 47 is here :)

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{Cameron POV}

"Why on earth would you call Kiera and say that?" I ask Asher over the phone.

"I-I don't know, I just found out myself and I wasn't think-"

"Obviously." I say curtly.

I take a deep breath, "Look, I gotta get her mind off of it until she has a good way to cope with it. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Cameron?" Asher says quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Stay with her tonight." His voice is full of pain. He didn't want to say that.

"Alexis volunteered, it's probably better that way." I say quickly. Kiera is going through a difficult time and she needs to mourn without worrying about bottling it up because I'm there.

"Ok. I'll call tomorrow." Asher says, and then he hangs up.

I walk back over to Kiera, a sad smile on my face.

"You okay, kiddo?" I ask gently.

"Not especially." She tries to laugh, but tears roll down her cheeks once more. I hold her close, rocking back and forth.

"Her dad is on his way." Dustin walks into the room.

"Thanks man." I say, glancing at him. He's not wearing his signature grin, and his eyes are dark with sadness.

A few minutes pass and I hear voices downstairs; her dad must be home. I cling to Kiera tightly, almost as if she would fall to pieces if I were to let go.

Her dad appears in the doorway. He smiles sadly at me and steps forward. "Mind if I take over?"

"Not at all." I begin to let go and Kiera looks up at her father, and I see how sad and dark her eyes have become. My heart breaks.

Her dad wraps her in a bear hug like only fathers can do. I decide to go downstairs and leave them alone.

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{Asher POV}

"Asher, I'm so sorry." Lauren walks into my room quietly.

"It's not your fault." I say, laughing bitterly.

She sits on the bed next to me. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... they found us."

My heart stops.

"They said they're going to come pick you up in an hour."

She looks truly heartbroken. Why does life have such terrible timing? I knew they'd find me eventually, but now just isn't the time.

"Ok."

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't lie to them. Catrina needs a mo-"

"I know, don't worry about it." I smile. "You've been such a good person to me."

Lauren nods.

"I suppose I should get packing." I stand up and look around before realizing there's nothing to pack.

"Take what you need." Lauren smiles, "It'll do you more good than me."

"I'll be back someday. You're family to Kiera so I'm family to you."

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"Man I didn't think you'd get caught so quickly." Chase says to me as I sit on my old bed. Nothing has changed in here, but I've only been gone a few weeks.

"I don't really want to talk right now, man." I say, staring blankly at the wall.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything."

Chase leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. It's a good thing he did, because it was at that moment, I curled up on my bed and sobbed silently. Tears were pouring out of my eyes yet I made no noise. Probably better that way.

I start shaking with rage and sadness. My mind is so cloudy and overbearing that I give myself a headache. Doesn't matter, I continue crying anyway.

I must've fallen asleep because when I wake up, Chase is standing over me with an aspirin and bottle of water looking very concerned.

"I don't have a hangover..." I say slowly.

"You've been crying, Asher. No jokes right now, I know when someone's heart has been ripped apart."

What a delightful picture that put in my mind.

"Thanks." I say, taking the pill and water from him.

"Look, I'm always open to talk about anything." He says, looking me in the eye.

I put my hand on his shoulder, "I know. I just need to process everything for a day or two."

"That's totally fine." He smiles.

The door opens and Scarlett steps in. "Hey I don't mean to interrupt your bromance or anything, but we have to go eat dinner."

"Nice to see you too, Scarlett." I say with a smile. It is nice to see my friends, I just don't want it to be at this place in these circumstances.

At least I'm not alone.

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{Kiera POV}

My throat burns from crying, and my chest aches. It feels like every bone in my body was broken and tossed aside. My heart seems to be barely beating, as if it's lost its will to live.

Keep beating, please keep beating.

It's early in the morning, there are a few rays of sunlight peaking through the clouds.

It feels like my body has given up, and my brain is desperately trying to get everything to do its job. Everything has gone numb.

He can't be gone. Asher was lying.

You know that's not right.

There's nothing I can tell myself to make the pain go away. Odd, I feel everything yet I'm so numb at the same time.

You're gonna make it, Kiera. You have to, so get up and push through it.

You can't possibly do that by yourself.

That's what family is for.
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