ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴀɪɴ | ᴘᴏʟʏ

1

"What time would spare, from steel receives its date,
And monuments, like men, submit to fate!"
-Alexander Pope

It was an odd feeling. Odd being a huge understatement, as Logan Scott stepped off the plane and set foot on US soil for the first time in four years. It was nostalgic, and nerve wracking. Not a lot had changed in the first thirty minutes of her departure from the airport as her Uber driver took to the quiet streets in Seattle.

"Been gone long?" The man asks, quickly glancing at her in his rearview mirror.

"Huh?" Logan mumbles, completely taken aback by the question, not expecting any conversation from the rough looking driver.

"I know that look," He explains, "You're clearly not a tourist."

"Oh, right," Logan lightly chuckles. "I've been in Europe for a few years, haven't had much of a chance to get back home," Logan states, knowing it's a complete lie. She had opportunities to travel back to the States from Germany, but she couldn't bring herself to board the plane, numerous tickets bought that went to waste.

"We're here."

Logan pays her driver and kindly tips the man before hauling her bags through the door and into the lobby of the hotel. She already had a plan. Shower, unpack, eat and visit her brother.

She knew he would be mad, it was to be expected considering how she left. It's not like they hadn't spoken over the four years, they both made time to catch up with one another, but Kevin hadn't physically laid eyes on his sister since before she left and now she's back, without telling him, once again.

As for Kevin, life without having his sister nearby was certainly a challenge. He had, after all, heavily relied on her for many years. She was the one who helped him with his homework. She was the one that saved her money from work to buy him clothes, made sure he was fed, drove him to school. She was quite literally everything to him.

It's been claimed that those with higher I.Q's often find it more difficult to deal with emotional pain, a thought that Kevin disagreed with, until Logan left.

Unable to deal with the flurry of emotions, Kevin threw himself into his schoolwork. He was a bright kid and often didn't need any help but at the start of the period when Logan was gone, Kevin was what one might call "an immature brat," and refused to call, text or email his sister for help. Instead he reached out to the only other person in his life that he trusted, the only other person who had a profound impact in his life, no matter how short a time span they really knew each other - Kelley.

Kelley herself would often try and talk herself out of answering Kevin. The young boy's I.Q. would sometimes leave her feeling inadequate, but she knew that wasn't the real reason she didn't want to answer him.

Truth is, she loved the kid. Still does. The real reason is because he would remind the soccer player of his sister. The girl that Kelley struggled to get out of her mind, and her heart.

She once thought that she knew Logan, as well as she could have. Until the younger girl packed her bags, left her brother and flew across the world to start anew.

Kelley was proud, proud that Logan took the initiative, that she had the guts to start over, but Kelley was also too proud. Too proud to admit that when she chased after Logan, hoping to convince her not to get on the flight and sadly didn't catch her, that everything was okay. She was too proud to admit that her heart was shattered and that she herself was okay.

So Kelley, in her own way, took similar steps to Kevin. She emailed Logan, one last time, to tell her everything she felt and even though she never heard back, she knew that Logan got the email, and that's all that mattered.

O'Hara threw herself into her own work, under the excuse of "bettering her game," she would spend hours at the gym until she couldn't walk anymore. Everyone around her knew she was working through some issues, but nobody dared utter the name "Logan."

Kelley would be lying to herself, and you, if she said she never thought about Logan. Never hoped that the girl would be called up for the Canadian team whenever the US played against them. Never hoped that Logan would just show up one day and declare her love for the older girl. It would all be a lie, because she thought those things every single day, even if they never happened.

But she knew that wasn't healthy. It wasn't good for her to crave someone who clearly wasn't interested in her anymore, and so began to go out more with her teammates, both club and country, until she found Sarah.

Sarah, for all intents and purposes, was the opposite of Logan. Maybe that's what drew Kelley to her in the first place. She was so unlike Logan that there was no way Sarah would remind her of her first love, and that was enough for Kelley.

Logan stepped out of her old truck. It was her first belonging that she procured with her own earnings, and even though it's a beat up piece of shit, she couldn't help but love the rust bucket. She couldn't help reminiscing over all the countless times she would beat the dashboard trying to get the vehicle to simply start.

"I've missed you, baby," Logan pats the rusted roof of her old truck before locking it and walking to the front door of the stereotypical All-American white picket fenced home. She pressed on the well buffed doorbell, hearing the chimes travel from the inside through the front door.

The one-time rookie began to feel nauseous at the thought of seeing the familiar face, in person, after all this time. Before she could panic though, the door swung open and there he stood.

"Logan?" He asked, bewilderment clear in his voice. His voice which has changed dramatically, as Logan stares at the face of her baby brother. Her baby brother, who is now a teenager, and on his way to being one heck of a young man.

"Hi, Kevin."