bringing lucy home

Chapter 16: Working It Out

Keira went to sleep happy but she still had something to do. The next morning she called Georgia, hoping to resolve whatever the hell happened the day before at training. Georgia answered straight away as usual.

"Keira, before you say anything-" Georgia began apologetically.

"G, I'm not here to accuse you of anything," Keira told her.

Georgia felt guilty herself, having accused Lucy of things before knowing the full story. "Ok."

"Lucy's not mad at you, you know," Keira added. "She was hurt, but she's fine now. The thing I just didn't like is you used her breaking points to...well, break her. Why?"

Georgia sighed. "I told you, Kei. I was protective of you. And I didn't know about Lucy. I made assumptions, and I just was filled with anger thinking about her hurting you. So that's why I texted her and..."

"You texted her? When?"

Georgia froze. "When...when she was back in Lyon."

"What did you tell her??" Keira was starting to piece together why Georgia and Lucy had such animosity between them so immediately at training.

"I—I just..." Georgia didn't know how to explain herself. "I blew up on her, I guess. I'm sorry for it now, true I am. I just told her to stop the bs for once, and got on her for breaking your heart and not seeming to care. I came after her for leaving, and told her she did it selfishly...to sum it up." She winced thinking about her own words, which had been much more harsh than she was telling Keira.

"No wonder she was an unstable, insecure wreck!" Keira cried. "G, you really hurt her. And I know it was a misunderstanding but...I think you should apologise."

"Yeah." Georgia's voice was quiet and guilty.

"Look G, you're both my best friends. And I need this to be worked out. Especially since Lucy's coming back to City next season."

Georgia's gasp was audible over the phone. "As if! What!! Did she tell you last night?! I can't believe it! I—I'm happy...I can't believe it!"

"Me either," Keira agreed. "And I know its going to take some time and healing before we can all be good friends again. But it's all worth it. Love you, G."

Keira ended the call and crept down the hall, and stopped in front of Lucy's room. She stood in a doorway for a bit, watching Lucy as she slept, the golden light of the morning falling across her pretty face. She wished this had all happened sooner, and maybe Lucy could have been spared all the pain she had suffered. But Lucy was here now, and she was going to help her.

She knew that Lucy loved walks, so after she made blueberry pancakes, Lucy's favorite breakfast, the two footballers took a walk around the neighbourhood. They were both happy, happier than they had been in a long time, but Lucy still wasn't her full self, her funny, lighthearted self. She was quiet and when she thought Keira wasn't looking, her face dropped its bright smile. At least now they both knew that they would be together to face whatever came.

Georgia and Hempo dropped by that afternoon to give an apology to Lucy, who readily forgave them. Then Lucy wrote a letter to City, letting them know if they were still interested, she wanted to move to Manchester and sign for the next season with a four year contract.