#i’m so tired of vlatko

[the-ball-is-round]

Hats off to Alyssa Naeher (saved some penalties, made a penalty. Lady liberty shit), Naomi Girma (I would trust her with the nuclear codes. Such a great tournament for her), Julie Ertz (beast mode was activated the whole tournament), Emily Sonnett (she was everywhere and everything when she played), Lindsey Horan (truly played like a captain should), Rose Lavelle (an actual bombshell for opposing midfields), Lynn Williams (breaking back lines left and right), Kristi Mewis (per minute had the largest impact lmao and also deserved more playing time) Crystal Dunn (immense offensively and defensively when not slipping on the very wet field) and also all of our youngsters and debut players who figured it out in the end and will absolutely carry this team into the next generation. And also shout out to all the players who were absolutely talented enough to play in this tournament we just have a shit coach who doesn’t believe in subs.

[wosoimagines]

Enough Is Enough - Jessie Fleming/Reader

prompt: R supports Jessie as the news breaks about Canada’s national team.

warnings: none

words: 1057

(Y/N) POV

“It’s bullshit!”

“I know.”

“What do they think is going to happen? I mean it’s a World Cup year and they’re cutting our funding!”

“I know.”

“Can you stop saying that?”

“What do you want me to say, Jessie? It’s sucks. Trust me, I know! Well, maybe I don’t know what it’s like for the team to have such a significant funding cut, but I get fighting for equality against your federation,” I said. I did know what that was like. “And it’s stupid. You guys just won gold at the Olympics! You’re one of the best teams in the world and there isn’t a reason for them to do pull this shit, but they are. And I’m going to be right there supporting you every step of the way.”

“I’m sorry I snapped,” Jessie said. I softly smiled. “I just...”

“You’re stressed. I get it,” I said. I looked up when I heard the door to my room open. I wasn’t too surprised to see Becky coming into the room. “Look, I can guarantee you that every single player on this team will support you guys. You need advice? Ask. Especially with this camp. I’m rooming with Becky.”

“Is that Jessie?” Becky asked. I nodded, causing Becky to move and lean in front of my phone so that her face filled Jessie’s screen rather than mine. “Hi, Baby Canada.”

“When’s everyone going to stop calling me that?”

“Babe, trust me, it’s not going away for a long time. They still call me Baby America, and I haven’t been the newest or youngest to the team for a while.”

“You sure you got my back?”

“Yeah, babe, I’ve got your back. After all, enough is enough.”

Jessie turned her head to look over her shoulder. I glanced over to Becky who was moving over to her bag.

“The rest of the team wants to go out to eat tonight. Vlatko approved of the dinner. We leave in an hour,” Becky explained. Well, that was nice to know. “I think Alex is calling a place right now to make sure they have space for us.”

“Yeah, okay,” I nodded. I glanced back at the phone where Jessie was still distracted. “You know I don’t take too long to get ready. I’ll finish up with Jessie and I’ll get ready.”

Becky nodded before she headed to the bathroom. I could clean up nice if I wanted to, but, honestly, I was totally okay with dressing down and staying comfortable.

I grinned as I looked back at the phone at Jessie who was still distracted. I didn’t bother to say anything to her just yet before she turned back to look at me.

“Hi,” I grinned.

“Hey.”

“Becky’s in the bathroom. We’ve got about an hour before we head out for dinner,” I explained.

“I have to go. That was Sinc. We’re having a meeting,” Jessie said. I nodded at that. “I’ll call you later tonight?”

“We might be out late,” I said as I looked at the watch on my wrist. I knew that some of our players would probably take this as an opportunity to stay out longer so that they could enjoy the Orlando nightlife. “I can call you before bed? To say goodnight?”

“I’d like that,” Jessie said.

“Let me know how the meeting goes if it’s about everything, yeah?” I asked. Jessie nodded and I smiled at that. “And anything you guys need to coordinate, you can talk to me or Sinc has Becky’s number I’m sure.”

“Yeah,” Jessie nodded.

I softly smiled at her one last time.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jessie ended the call and I sighed as I threw my phone to the side. I hated that Jessie had to go through something like this. It wasn’t fair. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The shirts were something,” I said as I got closer to the midfielder.

“Well, someone recently mentioned that ‘Enough is enough,’ and it stuck with me,” Jessie said as she smiled at me. “The rest of the girls liked it and it sends a good message. We’re done dealing with the bullshit.”

“You know I’m proud of you, right?”

Jessie nodded as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I wrapped my own around her waist. Jessie must have been more tired than I realized if she was willingly hugging me this long in public.

“You think you could get away for the night?” I asked. I knew that Becky wouldn’t mind if Jessie showed up at our room to stay the night. I just wanted to make sure that Jessie got enough sleep tonight.

“Not tonight,” Jessie shook her head. “I’m rooming with Sinc. There’s no way she’ll let me go when we leave for Nashville tomorrow.”

“Shit,” I softly said. I pulled back from Jessie but moved my right hand from her waist to cup her cheek. “Then, how about you send me your flight information for when you head back to Chelsea and I’ll join you? I’ll call Coach Coombe tonight and tell her not to expect me back at a later date. Family stuff to take care of.”

“(Y/N), no,” Jessie denied as she grabbed a hold of my wrist. “You have to go join Angel City. You have preseason training. Your season starts next month.”

“And you are my family. You’re suffering. Coach can deal without me in preseason training for a week or two,” I softly assured Jessie. I knew that she would still be hesitant to let me join her. “If you don’t give me your flight information, then I’ll just book my own flight. You gave me a key to your place, so you can’t threaten to keep me locked out.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Okay, I don’t. But I hate it when you do that.”

“Make sure that you’re looked after? Jessie, you’re exhausted. Let me treat you right when we get to Chelsea,” I said as I pulled her back into a hug. “A hot bath as soon as we get to your place sounds really nice. Maybe we can cook together. I’ve missed getting to cook with you. It’s rather lonely when I do it by myself.”

“Mmmmm. That does sound nice.”

“So, we get through this tournament, and we go back to England together. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

[woso-fan13]

7.  A cry for attention

“What’s up with Y/N?” you hear a voice ask. 

“Not sure, she’s been acting off today,” another voice responds. 

You must have been better at fake sleeping than you thought you were, as neither teammate lowered their volume while speaking. The truth was, you had felt horrible all day. You were tired, you felt lightheaded, nauseous, and short of breath, and there was a weird pressure in your chest. 

You turn over, looking at the culprits: Emily and Lindsey. Seeing that you’re awake, Lindsey walks over to nudge your legs off the sofa, taking a seat next to you. You lean into her, allowing her arm to pull you close. 

“Linds? Something feels wrong, but I don’t know what it is,” you tell her. 

Lindsey is silent for a moment, considering, before she responds. 

“Y/N, I know that we’ve all been busy. This is a huge tournament and it’s really important to all of us. I’m sorry we haven’t been giving you enough attention this week, but we’ve been so swamped that we don’t have time to. I know it sucks, but you know that we have to keep distractions to a minimum during camp.”

You nod before getting up and leaving the room. Lindsey had called you a distraction and you didn’t know how to process that. She probably didn’t mean it that way, but it sounded like you were causing your team to lose. She was right though, your teammates didn’t need any other concerns. You were just stressed, you would be fine. 

You were planning on going to your room, but you make it to the lobby first and decide to crash there. It was probably better this way, you needed to leave for practice in an hour. 

At practice, you are clearly not playing your best. Vlatko calls you out on it a few times and you take his feedback and work with it. His job as coach was to help the team be the best, this is what he had to do. What hurt though, was the looks Lindsey kept giving you. She kept making eye contact, silently warning you to not become a distraction. 

So you played harder. You ran faster, you kicked harder, you were the best player you could be. Until suddenly, you weren’t. One minute you had been running upfield, yelling for a pass. The ball left Kristie’s foot in a beautiful pass to you. By the time it arrived by you- only seconds later- you had collapsed to the ground. 

Quickly, everyone rushes to you. No one calls a time out, it was simply assumed. And Vlatko knew enough to not try and pull them all away from your unconscious body to run drills, so he left them by your side. 

The medics manage to get you flipped onto your back and begin assessing you. While they are doing this, your teammates are trying to figure out what has happened to you. 

“She’s seemed off all day,” Emily shared, “and she said something felt wrong earlier.”

“Emily, what the hell? Why didn’t you say anything? You know that health comes first, always,” Becky raises her voice from where she is kneeled by your side. 

As your captain, she felt this was her fault. She should have been paying more attention to everyone. She should have noticed that something was wrong with one of her players and done something about it. But she hadn’t, and now you were on the ground. 

She looks up as Emily is making eye contact with Lindsey. She clearly has something that she wants to say, but Lindsey is discreetly shaking her head. Those two knew something. 

“Emily, spill,” Becky commands. 

When Emily refuses to speak, Becky pushes herself off of the ground and slowly walks over. She steps until she is right in front of Emily, staring at her. 

“Emily, spill,” she says again, much firmer. 

Emily panics, “she told Lindsey that something was wrong, but Lindsey just told her to ignore it. Actually, she said that everyone was busy and that we didn’t have time for distractions and she told Y/N to stop begging for attention. I’m sorry, I should have told you.”

Becky whips around on her heel, marching to Lindsey. 

“Let me get this straight. You told her that she was a distraction and needed to stop begging for attention? You told her that we didn’t have time for her? You said all of this to her after she admitted that something was wrong?”

Lindsey nods, unspeaking. 

“Look at her. She is on the ground, Lindsey. She is on the ground and unconscious, and we don’t know why. It’s not your fault something happened to her, but it sure as hell is your fault that she didn’t get help earlier. I want to see 4 laps around the field and then go to the locker room. You’re benched from the next game. Actually, you’re benched until Y/N is able to play again.”

Becky takes a stop back, running a hand aggressively across her face. She finally raises her voice from her scarily neutral tone, turning to address the whole team. 

“This is why we take our health seriously. I wish she had come to me, but she did exactly the right thing by asking for help. Next time someone asks for help, help them. Or send them to me, and I’ll help them. But don’t belittle their concerns and don’t make them afraid to ask for help next time.”

She takes a deep breath, walking to talk with the medics. She nods occasionally while she’s being updated, her hand reaching down to squeeze yours. When she learns of the whole situation, she squeezes your hand one more time before standing up. 

“They’re taking her to the hospital. I’m going with her and I’ll send everyone updates. It’s not great, but we don’t need to panic yet.”

She looks around the crowd, taking in all of the faces. Most seem shocked, like they can’t believe what’s actually happening. Some faces are covered in tear tracks, while some are biting their lip to keep from crying. Becky’s eyes eventually focus on one face in particular. Her face is covered in tears as she tries frantically to stop. 

“Em, do you want to come with us? I bet she could use your support.”

Emily quickly nods, walking over and grasping on to your limp hand. 

“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispers. 

She feels your hand squeeze slightly, and smiles. You would be okay, she would make it her personal mission. 

[miamarie1960]

I’m Swedish and I can’t celebrate! I feel so bad for the USWNT. The players tried and tried but couldn’t put the ball behind the Swedish goalkeeper.

Feel really bad for Rapinoe, she is going to get so much online hate. More than the other two who also missed.

I think the whole soccer world just shifted away from the US to the rest of the world. And I think it will be awhile before they win again.

Vlatko made so many mistakes in this tournament and before as well. He should take responsibility and resign but I doubt that he will. The sub thing is a total mystery to me. Smith, Morgan and Ertz looked tired. And to put Smith on one of the penalties is very questionable.

Support your NWSL teams! Change your system, form team academies and forget about 3-4 years in college. Develop individuality AND that team spirit that are so typical for this country!

[heinziderheld]

Now sub in Kelley, Sonny and Kristie. I’m tired of waiting, Vlatko, and so is your team!

[whydoiwrite]

Did you see what Carli and HAO had to say about the NT after the game on Thursday? Do you agree?

Part 1:

Yes. I’m not going to comment on midfield shape etc. re HAO, mainly because I left at halftime and didn’t watch the second half of the game. I’ll say that JJ hid a lot of defensive problems for the team while still being able to spark the offense, and Vlatko hasn’t bothered to change tactics in response to losing her, but I’m tired to analyzing stupidity so that’s that on that, and at this point, I would look somewhere not Andi and I’m not kidding about that somewhere being Emily Sonnett or Crystal Dunn in midfield.

I’ve said what Carli said plenty of time privately and possibly publicly on this site, but here we go again.

Everyone saying they won in spite of Jill never knew what they were talking about. Jill, and Pia, created the training environment they needed to have the mentality to pushed them over the edge. Running them until they were about to break. Never letting them feel secure in their position. You’ve heard Kelley talk about players puking in training and Becky talk about how she felt one bad long ball away from being benched. Yes, Jill was wrong about say Christen for example, but she was wrong about very little. So much of the bitterness towards her comes from things I will always believe were out of her control (Pinoe kneeling, the way Hope was treated, even things she’s being blamed for now ie knowledge of abusive nwsl coaches) because she was under USSF’s thumb. She knew how to be hard when she needed to, she experimented when it was appropriate, she played players where they needed to play regardless of their feelings, she got rid of players that just weren’t it even if their friend and the fans didn’t like it, she admitted (with actions) when she was wrong, and she was soft when she needed to be, with people like Rose, for example, and with bringing Sonnett back in, because she saw the big picture. So yeah, maybe tactically and technically, Tony et al. deserve a lot of credit, but like Carli said, and I hate agreeing with her, you have to know that, mentality is way more important than soccer sometimes. When you’re talking about the elite level, you’re going to see very little difference in the technical side of the game amongst top teams, but it was not a mistake that the US scored in the what? first ten minutes or less of every WC ‘19 game until the final. That was a direct result of the way she coached them, the intensity and fire and “we will fucking destroy anyone in our path,” and “we need a bitch, get Kelley,” mentality that they had. And that came before Jill, too. Tony DiCicco didn’t give a shit, he was a hard ass. You’ve seen what Anson Dorrance has done for literal decades because he makes every single aspect of his program a competition AND posts results publicly. Kelley was about to lose her shit on press members over their doubts about Alyssa. Say what you want about Sonnett, but she would force someone to carry her off the field before she let her team down. Horan gets it, you see her playing through an injury that she shouldn’t be. Alex and Crystal get it. Pinoe’s aging body get it. Player after player after player from the beginning of time til 2019 has thrown their body around and played through pain and pushed as harder than they actually could because of the way they love each other. That fight for each other (or in Carli’s case, for herself) has pushed them over the edge. But that fight is embedded in training, and like I have said before, Jill gave those players a reason to bond (their hatred of her) so they could fight for each other. They were overprepared, in every aspect, for the 2019 WC, and I don’t mean overprepared like fucking planned subs.

Not be being told I ran out of room with my pre-7am rant. Hold please.

[itsmaddienotmaddy]

Oh hey, the vibes are looking UP!!

USWNT v Jamaica

Alyssa, my god do I feel comfort when I hear her yelling and organizing. She’s my #1, hands down. I’m okay with rotation, but in a pinch, I want Naeher.

The Cook Girma combo was IT this game. Did they have an attack to deal with? Ehhh, not really. BUT, the way they were organized and directed, how they positioned themselves… extremely positive. And nothing that would give away the lack of caps or playing time together. That alone, is excellent. And the soccer IQ between the two of them… astronomical .

Sofia MOTHER FUCKIN Huerta!! Yoooooo. Her crosses and passes are so silky and just… that’s all you can ask for in a wingback. The ball to Mal which led to the cross to Trin’s goal. I was dead. Those back line destroying slip passes are my everything.

Emily Fox completely shut down Shaw. And while Shaw played incredible against Mexico and likely was a lot more tired this match, keeping her quiet is an accomplishment. Smart to keep her fresh and give that second half break so she’s good for later games.

Sonnett might have had the best performance at left back I’ve seen. I’d say it’s typically the defensive position she’s least comfortable in. What’s huge with her is stepping to 50/50 balls and when she judges those correctly, she’s not losing that tackle. Incredible diagonal ball to Sanchez.

Rose. She adjusted perfectly from last game. While she was not getting herself into open space before, NOW she’s getting open and creating chances, she’s yoinking the ball off Jamaica thinking they’ve got an offensive chance. Passes were it, movement was it, the Goal!! Rose with a right foot banger?? Yes please.

I scrolled back to the last time they played Jamaica and Horan played well at the 6 in that game too. Sooo, she’s allowed to play the 6 vs Jamaica. Her off the ball work and movement was noticeable and helped keep the offensive shape moving positively to get things created. Do I still think Vlatko is full of shit when he says she’s 100%?? YEAH. Because she’s not jumping like she should have the capability of. Like, we should be able to aim for her big blonde head on set pieces. We can’t because she’s not jumping high. P sure Rose was getting a better vertical. AND (this is the mental side,) but she not going in for tackles confidently. And I’m nervous that apprehension will result in her injuring herself more.

Sanchez grew into the game well. Not as intensely involved and got a little spicy there, but it’s fine. She’s good.

Kristie wasn’t as effective of a 6, I don’t love that. But I DO LOVE KRISTIE PKS. That left foot?? GOLDEN. And the post pk chest bump with Sonnett was so dumb and excellent

I almost forgot Korn. She didn’t do much tbh.

Mal got the ninety on that front line. While I’m not crazy about her yelling all the damn time (especially when she’s v clearly offsides lolz,) I do like her tenacity to move the ball forward and her dime crosses. Having her be the assist queen is lovely.

Midge drawing the PK, hell yeah hell yeah! She had a strong half and really pushed the Jamaican defense.

Hatch. Oof. I get resting Alex but goodness. She had her opportunities and there were a few that were v unlucky. But not her best showing. It’s a bummer her goal was called back because that could have helped get her going .

Trinity with a GOAL. Her going in at the 9 was weird when Alex was right there. But I’ll take her getting minutes! It took her a bit to get into the flow but she came THROUGH on that finish.

And SOPHIA SMITH. The baby. The brace queen. Bubble braid girlie. All the nicknames. Quad/hip wrap whatever the hell that was from last game… that shits off and SOPH WAS READY TO GO. Two goals in one half to just shut Jamaicas hopes immediately was… rude lolz. And the outside of the foot goal? Cruel and unusual punishment. I’m so happy she’s killing it.

This was a fun game, I’m SO ready for the Mexico game. And I gotta throw this in here, I am LOVING Bri Scurry on the panel. So fun!!

[lovethelifeyoulive123]

I’m so tired of the Kristie 6 debate she’s not the starter she’s a sub. Everyone loves the Rose Sanchez double 10 well guess what you also can’t play like that against an opponent who presses offensively either and yet no one question Sanchez inclusion on the team. If they have an offensively minded opponent Horan will probably drop back and play double 6 with Kristie. Having different sratgetieges for different opponents is actually smart, we can play differently depending one who the opponent is. If Vlatko puts Kristie in a position for her to fail I’ll be mad about it but I don’t think he is at least in this tournament.

Im kind of tired of the debate also anon. You're right that there is nothing wrong with having different strategies for different opponents. I do get your idea of Kristie and Horan playing double 6s. I mean we can all continue to debate this but we really have no idea what will happen. Im sure this will come up again.

[13uswntimagines]

Okay I’m being honest here the Uswnt is an amazing team yess,but I get it people change things happen yes. Yea Alex had a baby we all love Charlie. We get it Julie had surgery, and yes covid happened. What a lot of people seem to forget is that even with covid other teams still trained individually I’m sure the uswnt did to,but while most of them were getting pregnant or recovering from stuff. Other teams get better and that is OKAY! yes we want to be the top always,but sometimes that doesn’t happen the USA can’t always be the “ Best” team other teams are getting there. Most people look at our team and think “ Okay they wanna be best team we need to step up.” And they have! yes, this is the OLYMPICS and at this rate it looks like the Uswnt needs a new coach at least for the Olympics. This team can’t always come out on top and that is OKAY other teams are getting there. Would it be good? Yes I would love for them to win,but if they don’t that is okay at the end of the day they can all look back and say “ We tried our best.” You win some you lose some. In my opinion for Alex the greatest metal that is coming out of it is going home to her baby who is her pride and joy.

Um…

I agree for the most part. I think Vlatko went in with the plan to save his players.

Was it a strategy I like? No. But I understand it.

I would love for us to win, but I’m at the point in my life (and anxiety) where I know that this is just a game. We can’t always be the top dogs, and I’m completely ok with that. We have to loose at some point so we can get the comeback story that all of us love to see.

We’re a good team, and I’m honestly a little shocked that our passing is as messy as it was. The goal was to defend, and I think that will change in the quarters.

I think we stand a good chance against the Netherlands, Canada and Brazil. Which makes me happy. But like if Canada or team GB won the whole thing I wouldn’t be mad about it.

Honestly I’m just upset that I stayed up all night to watch a team that didn’t look like they were having fun anymore.

Those are my thoughts.

[the-ball-is-round]

On the bright side, if the US gets knocked out either by Portugal or Sweden, Vlatko will most likely be fired. And at least that would be nice.

[woso-fan13]

NO. 14 DIE A HERO OR LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO

BECOME A VILLAIN

Desperate Measures

“Y/F/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, if you are not sitting in this chair in the next 30 seconds, I’m having Vlatko pull you from the game next week,” Alex had her mom voice on, you knew this was serious. 

Pouting, you make your way to the aforementioned chair. You take a seat, quietly looking up at her. 

“Thank you,” she says, sounding not at all thankful, “that was nice and easy, wasn’t it? That was the hardest part.”

You continue to look at her, refusing to respond. You knew what would happen if you opened your mouth to say anything. 

“Y/N, you know I’m not joking. If you keep acting this way, I’ll get extra help. Do you want me to call the whole team in here? Because I will.”

You shake your head frantically, begging her not to. 

She takes some pity on you, giving you a soft smile, “okay, so you’re going to help me out?” 

You shake your head, less certainly this time. Tears well up in your eyes as Alex stares down at you. 

“Sweetheart, I know that you don’t like it. And I’m sorry that I have to be the bad guy, I really am, but we have to do this.”

She sits down next to you, pulling you into her lap. She wraps her arms fully around you. You settle in, thinking that she had forgotten her task and was set on cuddles now. Unfortunately, if anyone was as stubborn as you were, it was Alex. Her arms suddenly tighten around you, holding you still. 

“Christen, I need you now,” she shouts through the door that opens seconds later. 

Christen peeked in, and, seeing you restrained, hurried over to you. She pries your mouth open, forcing the pill inside. Holding a straw up to your mouth, she gives you a death glare until you swallow. 

“Open,” she demands. 

You open your mouth and allow her to confirm that you did swallow the pill. 

“You guys tricked me, that is not very nice,” you say, “Alex, good luck getting cuddles from me next time you need a movie buddy.”

Alex, who had long since relaxed her grip on you, nudges you in her lap, “hey, you’re free to go. I promised Coach that I would get you to take your meds, I didn’t promise him I would do it the easy way.” 

You turn to look at her, thinking. “No, it’s okay. I’ll stay here for a while. I am kinda tired.”

Alex and Christen chuckle, Alex picking you up and moving the two of you to the bed. Christen quickly settles in on your other side. She finds the remote and turns on some reality tv show to play in the background. 

“You know, I have to take that twice a day for five days. How are you going to do that?” You finally ask. 

“We’ll make it work,” Alex promises you, “desperate times call for desperate measures.”

[gamergirl929]

The Smollest Goalie (USWNT x Reader)

Anonymous Request: Reader, a forward with the USWNT, has always dreamt of what it would be like to be in goal, though being so small, it wasn’t practical for her to be in goal. What happens when her dream comes true? 

“I’m SERIOUSLY questioning my life choices right now...” You say, grunting when Ashlyn throws a ball at you, smacking you right in the face.  

“Hey, YOU wanted to give goal keeping a try.” She smirks, making her way towards you as you flop to the ground with a grunt.  

Ashlyn laughs as she flops down onto the ground beside you.  

The veteran Orlando Pride player had been INSTRUMENTAL in practicing with you, the goalie happy to help when you told her you were interested in practicing in goal.  

“It’s okay you smol.” She ruffles your hair and you pout.  

“I’m not a smol.” You mumble, Ashlyn giving you a playful nudge.  

“You ARE, BUT you’re pretty good at goal keeping, we just have to keep practicing.” She grins and you yawn, stretching with a groan.  

Ashlyn moves to her feet with a grunt, extending a hand out to you.  

“Come on, I think that’s enough for today. We’ve been out here for over 2 hours.” 

You huff, taking her hand and moving to your feet.  

“Yeah, you’re right.”  

Ashlyn slips an arm around you, the two of you walking across the field.  

You give the woman a grin, slipping an arm around her.  

“Thanks Ash.”  

“You’re welcome short stack.”  

                                                           ***

The sound of your plate dropping down in front of you makes you jump, your tired eyes cracking open as you glance around the table.  

“Wake up.” Emily gives you a shove and you yawn.  

“I am, I am.” You mumble, eyelids again drooping shut.  

“Why are you so tired?” Megan asks, launching a crouton across the table at you and you huff, your eyes darting to Ashlyn whose brow quirks slightly, something Ali notices, her eyes narrowing.  

“Just haven’t been sleeping...” You mumble, Tierna letting out a snort.  

“You sleep like the dead every night.” She hums, eyes narrowed and you shrug. 

“Sometimes my eyes are just closed...?” You say, and Tierna snorts.  

“So, the snoring then?” She smiles smugly and you shrug, smiling innocently.  

“I was in character?”  

Tierna scoffs, the two of you bickering, meanwhile, Ali is staring at Ashlyn intently, noticing the hint of something, she’s not sure what on her face.  

The blonde turns her way, brow furrowed.  

“What’s up?”  

Ali shakes her head.  

“Nothing.”  

                                                           ***

It’s the day that Ashlyn tells her she’s spending the day with you that she decides to follow, inconspicuously of course, the woman utterly confused when the two of you head to the stadium.  

Ali sneaks in after the two of you had been in the stadium for a while, the woman’s eyes widening when she sees you in goal, the goal way bigger than you are.  

She smiles when Ashlyn makes her way towards you, doing a few squats as she holds her hands above her head and out in front of her.  

Ali smiles watching from afar as Ashlyn heads back out of goal and fires a ball your way, a ball, despite your small stature that you easily stop.  

A slow clap makes her, you and Ashlyn jump, the two of you turning to someone none of you expected to be on field.  

“I was wondering where the two of you were going.” Vlatko smiles as he moves towards you and Ashlyn, the man’s arms crossed across his chest.  

Ali can’t hear the conversation between the three of you, but when a wide smile nearly splits your face in half, she can’t help but smile as well.  

Suddenly, Ashlyn turns towards Ali’s hiding place, the woman’s eyes wide.  

“Oh my god, did everyone follow us here!?” She throws her hands up in the air and Ali giggles.  

“You were acting suspicious.” Ali teases, her wife’s pout making her roll her eyes.  

Vlatko smiles.  

“So, you’re interested in being a goalie?” He asks and you swallow hard, shuffling from foot to foot.  

“I just thought, if maybe we ran out of subs and we needed someone...”  

You huff, flopping to the turf.  

“Who am I kidding? I’m not goalie material.” You pout.  

“From where I’m standing you’ve been doing a damn good job for someone so smol.” Ashlyn says as she flops to the turf beside you.  

Your eyes narrow.  

“I’m not smol.”  

Ali snorts as she takes a seat beside you, ruffling your hair.  

“Yes, you are.”  

Vlatko meanwhile strokes his chin, the man humming.  

“You could be exactly what we need...”

                                                           ***

Vlatko and Ali had sworn to keep your extra practices a secret, as long as you didn’t push yourself as hard as you were.  

Ali had decided to tag along to those practices, the woman beaming as you jump into the air, using your small stature to your advantage, smacking the ball away from goal before diving on it.  

Ashlyn claps her gloved hands, nodding with a massive grin.  

The married couple had always been closest to you, along with Alex Morgan, seeing as you’d joined the Orlando Pride as a young, and shy rookie, who had NO idea what to do when it came to being around NWSL veterans.  

It was when Ashlyn had approached you though that everything changed, the USWNT veteran bringing her two teammates along, two teammates who immediately came to be not only your friends, but mentors as well.  

“Where’d you go?”  

You jump at the sound of Ali’s voice, a small smile stretching across your face as you adjust the gloves on your hands, gloves that were WAY TOO BIG for you considering they belonged to Ashlyn.  

“We need to get you your own gloves.” Ali giggles as she gives them a tug, the gloves coming to a stop further down your forearm than most typical gloves.  

“Are my hands THAT big?” Ashlyn asks, looking down at her own hands.  

You and Ali snort.  

“Yes.”  

Ashlyn’s eyes widen, her cheeks flushing as she hides her hands behind her back.  

“Well now I’m self-conscious.” She pouts.  

Ali reaches around her, attempting to take her hands and Ashlyn runs away.  

“DON’T LOOK THEY’RE HIDEOUS.”  

Ali giggles as she chases after her wife, catching her and taking her hands, kissing her palms.  

You shake your head with a smile, wandering back into goal.  

In all honesty, you’d always wanted to be goalie, but thanks to your small stature, you were PERFECT for the position of forward.  

You absolutely LOVED being a forward, but a small part of you still wondered what it would be like to be goalie.  

Little did you know, you would get that chance, the chance to make a life altering save.

The question was, could you do it?  

                                                           ***

Alex Morgan smiles when you slump against her, your head on her shoulder as the movie Tobin had picked for movie night drones on in the background.  

Emily pokes you, immediately earning a swat from the seasoned forward.  

“Let her sleep.”  

Lindsey snorts.  

“She spent the WHOLE DAY sleeping.” She rolls her eyes, alluding to the fact that you’d spent your entire free day catching up on sleep.  

Alex shrugs, she too wondering what it had been happening that lead you to be so tired as of late.  

“Hey, maybe she’s just tired?” Tobin gives Emily a nudge, the defender’s eyes narrowing as she shoves Tobin back.  

Alex shakes her head, her attention snapping back to you when you shift in your sleep, the forward’s arm slipping around you.  

Your exhaustion made Alex worry, the forward wondering if you were dealing with a medical issue, something that had yet to be diagnosed.  

Alex’s eyes narrow.  

Come to think of it, you HAD been coming to the hotel late after practice, along with Ali and Ashlyn.  

Alex hums, her eyes narrowing further.  

She was going to figure out what was going on, even if it meant tailing the three of you.  

She had to know that you were okay.  

                                                           ***

Alex’s eyes narrow when Ashlyn pulls into the stadium’s parking lot, the goalie, you and Ali slipping out of the car.  

The forward watches on confusion as the three of you head inside, her brows furrowed and arched.

What were you three doing?

                                                           ***

Alex creeps silently into the arena, the woman sure not to be seen as she made her way towards the field, a smile stretching across her face when she sees you in goal.  

The forward leans against a nearby wall, watching as Ali fires a shot in goal, a shot you almost immediately block, using your stature to move faster than most goalies and leap in front of the ball.  

Ashlyn claps as she moves towards you, her hands resting on your shoulders.  

Thankfully, Alex is able to duck down the second you turn around, remaining undetected as she watches you from afar.  

You’d expressed to her before that you’d always wanted to try out for goalie, but thanks to your small size, you’d been suited more to the forward or defender position.  

Alex peeks out from her hiding place, the woman smiling when she sees you heading back in on goal.  

She hums.  

Maybe she’d stay a while...

                                                           ***

Alex had been tailing the three of you for weeks, watching as your skills grew under the tutelage of Ashlyn Harris.  

She’d remained undetected so far, BUT that was about to change.  

You abruptly turn to the bench, your eyes widening when you spot the forward, who tries, and fails to leap back into her hiding spot.  

“Al?”  

Ashlyn and Ali turn towards you, their brows furrowed, but when Alex’s head pops up out from behind the bleachers, their eyes widen.  

“Wh-What are you doing here?” You shuffle nervously from foot to foot and Alex smiles softly, making her way towards her three Orlando Pride teammates.  

“I like watching you practice.” She shrugs and your eyes further widen.  

“H-How long have you been following us?” You ask and Alex smiles.  

“A week...” She shrugs, Ali and Ashlyn sharing a glance.  

Alex cringes innocently.  

“Maybe a bit longer. You’re really talented in goal for someone so smol.”  

Your bottom lip juts out as you cross your arms across your chest.  

“I am NOT smol.” You stomp your foot, earning three, rather loud snorts from Ali, Ashlyn and Alex.  

“Yes, you are.” Ashlyn ruffles your hair and you groan.  

Ali pulls you into a hug.  

“But, you’re our smol.” She ducks down, kissing the top of your head, your pout shifting into a smile.  

“I guess I’m okay with that.”  

                                                           ***

Your Orlando Pride teammates watched as you honed your skills in goal AND on the field, a little more pep in your step than usual, considering you were getting some time in goal, even if it wasn’t during an actual game.  

You WOULD get the chance to be in goal during a game, just not during a friendly.  

No, you’d get your chance at the 2020 Olympics in Japan, in front of a crowd of millions.  

The second Alyssa went down, you knew something was wrong, the goalie holding her ankle, teeth gritted in pain.  

The medical team is on her in seconds, leaving you and the remainder of your teammates to go to the sidelines for brief tactic talks.  

“What are we going to do?” Kelley pants, wiping her sweat covered face with her jersey.  

“We’ve got 10 minutes left and we’re out of subs.” Lindsey says, tiredly leaning against Emily.  

The team was giving it their all, and at the moment, were only leading by 1 against Sweden.  

You can feel Ali, Ashlyn and Alex’s eyes on you as you turn to look over your shoulder at goal where Alyssa is being helped to her feet, the woman limping towards the sidelines.  

Vlatko turns towards you, the man taking a deep breath.  

“Y/N...” He starts and you shake your head rapidly, heart racing.  

“N-N-No, I can’t...”

Ashlyn moves towards you, as does Ali, the two moving to stand in front of you, a tired forward who’d played the entire first and nearly second half of the Olympic final.

Alex joins the fray, cupping your cheeks and turning you to face her.  

“Y/N, this is your moment.” She says, everyone turning to the two of you, completely and utterly confused.  

“Al, I-

“She’s right.” Ali says, drawing your attention while Ashlyn takes Alex’s spot, cupping your cheeks.  

You shake your head.  

“Ash, I-

She shakes her head.  

“You can do this Y/N, Alex knows you can, Ali knows and so do I. You’re a great forward and we’ve all gotten to see what you can do in goal.” Ashlyn smiles.  

Emily clears her throat.  

“Ummm, what now?”  

“What do you mean IN goal?” Megan asks and Ashlyn waves a hand at them.  

“There’s no time to explain, Y/N.” Vlatko moves towards you and you swallow hard.  

“Can you do this?” He asks, a hand on your shoulder and you take a deep breath, glancing down the bench at Alyssa, the goalie giving you a nod.  

You swallow hard, glancing at your Orlando Pride teammates who give you nothing but encouraging smiles.  

You take a deep breath, closing your eyes before you nod.  

“I can.”  

                                                           ***

Needless to say, if Ashlyn’s Jersey was big, Alyssa’s was bigger as were her  gloves but you didn’t mind, having gotten used to wearing Ashlyn’s gear when practicing with her and the others.  

The second you moved to goal a number of the Sweden players started to snicker, thinking they had the game won considering the smallest member of the team was now in goal.  

You glance at the sidelines where Ashlyn is standing, the blonde giving you an encouraging nod.  

You nod to yourself, clapping your gloved palms together.  

“Alright, let’s do this.” You mumble to yourself as everyone gets in position.  

You’d spent years yearning for this moment, wanting to be in goal in front of a crowd of fans, wanting to show everyone you were MORE than just a forward.  

Today you were getting that chance, but not in front of the tiny crowd you thought you would be in front of, no, you were in front of the world.  

The whistle blows and you stiffen.  

Now was your time to shine.  

                                                           ***

It was soon after you got in goal that Sweden was rushing towards goal, your eyes darting around the field as you read the players, much like you do as a forward.  

The ball bounces between a number of players before it’s fired in on goal, smacking you right in the chest.  

The Swede’s eyes widen as you hug the ball tightly, a number of your teammates looking at you in the same way.  

Ashlyn, Ali and Alex meanwhile are beaming with pride.

You kick the ball back into play to Becky Sauerbrunn, the veteran smiling as she carries the ball downfield.  

You clear your throat, your eyes still focused on the ball as it heads further down field towards the opposite goal.  

                                                           ***

You were on a roll, making save after save to the surprise of EVERYONE watching, the fans screaming their assent as you kicked the ball back into play, play that was soon going to come to an end with only 2 more minutes to go.  

It’s in those near 2 minutes that it happens, a corner kick for Sweden that could literally change EVERYTHING and lead to yet another Olympics loss for the USWNT.

You swallow hard as the corner is set up, your teammate’s eyes on you, a number of them giving you encouraging nods.  

Your eyes drift to the sidelines where Ashlyn is standing and the woman holds her hands up, thumbs up in the air.  

You nod, your eyes squeezed shut for a moment before they flash open, your attention now on NOTHING but the ball at the Swedish player’s feet.  

Much to everyone’s surprises you start barking out orders, signaling for players to move in a certain way, adjusting the line in your favor.  

It’s when the whistle blows that time stands still, you watch as the woman in yellow holds her hand high, seconds later she’s driving the ball towards the line of USWNT and Swedish players.  

The ball ricochets within the crowd of women before it flies high above the group, leaving you in a dangerous position.  

Headers were incredibly unpredictable, meaning that one could slip into goal quite easily.  

You needed to stop it, so when you see your opening, you take it.  

Your teammates on the bench leap to their feet, Vlatko toeing the sidelines with Ashlyn at his side as you sprint out of goal.  

The fans cheer as you jump through the air, using your momentum to jump over the group of women.  

Gravity pulls the ball down to Earth and right into the palm of your hand, you and the ball slamming to the ground, the air knocked violently from your lungs as you hug the ball to your chest.  

The ref’s whistle blows, as she pushes her way through the women towards you, you who are slowly moving to your feet, the ball in your arms.  

“FUCK YEAH!” You hear Ashlyn scream and you grin, hugging the ball tightly to your chest.  

You duck down, kissing the ball before heading back into goal, prepared to fire it downfield, but before you can the whistle blows.  

You lean your head back and whoop loudly, jumping up to smack the crossbar.  

Your feet don’t even hit the ground before Ashlyn catches you, the woman holding you high as Ali scoops the ball you’d caught up.  

Your teammates surround you in celebration, each and every one of them beaming with pride.  

“You make a good goalie for someone so smol.” Kelley teases and your eyes narrow.  

“I’m not-

You stop mid-sentence when you realize everyone is looking your way, even some of the Swedish WNT players.  

You sigh.  

“Fine. I’m smol.” You pout, Ashlyn giving you a tight squeeze.  

“But you’re OUR smol.” She grins and you can’t help but smile.  

“There’s no one else’s smol I’d rather be.”  

The USWNT took home the gold that year, in part because the tiniest player on the team had a dream to one day be a goalie, a dream that came true at the 2020 Olympics.

[4stars-uswnt]

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes [Tierna Davidson x Reader]

requested by anon: Idk if you’re taking requests or not but could you do a tierna x reader where reader’s kinda reserved and the team doesn’t know her super well but her and baby t just bond together and one gets the courage to ask the other out. And maybe they like hide their relationship just to mess with the team or something cause they were trying to set them up. If not then it’s perfectly fine. You’re a great writer!!

A/N: thanks anon! i honestly don’t know how this got so long... oops

You hesitantly make your way down the aisle of the bus, unsure where to seat, given that this was only your fourth camp and you didn’t necessarily have a designated seat.

Spotting an empty spot next to Tierna, you sheepishly ask, “Hey, is anyone sitting here?”

“Nope,” she gives you a kind smile, glancing up from her phone. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks,” you mumble, a small smile of your own tugging at your lips.

As you’re putting in your ear buds and turning on your music, Tierna curiously watches you. “So how you liking the team so far?”

“I love it. It’s honestly better than I could’ve imagined. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming and so willing to teach,” you ramble slightly nervously, scratching the back of your neck.

Ever since you’d gotten your first call up last year, your nerves hadn’t calmed down at all. You were a naturally reserved and quiet person, but being around the best players in the world only intensified your nervousness.

Given your shyness, none of your teammates knew that much about you. The only one who knew anything about, apart from your position, your hometown, and where you currently reside, was Alyssa. The veteran goalkeeper had taken you under her wing when you went pro at just nineteen and joined the Red Stars. The two of you immediately bonded, forming a sort of big sister-little sister relationship, as you were both so similar in the way you carried yourself on and off the field. So when you got your first national team call up, Alyssa was the one to show you the ropes and help you make the transition.

And although you played on the same NWSL team as Tierna, you’d never actually had a real conversation with the other woman, so neither of you knew each other at all.

“Yeah, it’s an incredible environment,” the defender agrees. “It really does become like one giant family.”

“Hopefully, I’ll stick around long enough to become a part of that.” You anxiously chew your lip. Being on the national team has been a dream of yours ever since you could remember, and now that you are presented with the opportunity, you were scared you were gonna do something to mess it up.

“I have a feeling you will,” Tierna muses, smirking. You can’t tell if she’s flirting with you or if she’s just being nice, but either way your face flushed red.

The three hour bus ride went by seemingly quick, as you and Tierna engaged in an easy flowing conversation, talking about topics ranging from the basic introductions to the incredible cinematography of The Queen’s Gambit.

You find yourself becoming increasingly comfortable and relaxed around the other woman, and you feel this is the start of a wonderful friendship.

—————

After a quick team meeting upon arriving to the hotel, Vlatko starts to announce roommates and distribute room keys.

“Tierna and (Y/N),” he calls out, giving Tierna two key cards.

“Looks like we’re roomies,” she beams, as she hands your key.

“Looks like it.” You grin, excited at the idea of spending more time with the defender.

Both of you were pretty tired, especially after a long day of traveling, so you each quickly jump in the shower and change into your pajamas.

As you slide into bed, Tierna, already under the covers, grabs the TV remote. “Anything you wanna watch?”

“I’m fine with anything.” You shrug, as you pull the blankets over your body. “Have you seen the docuseries on Netflix about the Challenger?” You ask, remembering her passion for space and aeronautics.

“I haven’t,” Tierna gasps. “Can we watch it?”

Your heart warms at the sight of her pure eagerness. “Of course! I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while too.”

You quickly set up your laptop, connecting it so that your screen projects onto the TV.

As the episode progresses, Tierna spits out additional facts about the Challenger as well as NASA itself, and you can’t help but listen in awe and admiration.

The two of you barely make it through two episodes, as the hours of travel catch up to you and sleep takes over.

—————

It was the last day of camp, and you and Tierna had grown quite close, bonding over being the youngest on the teams as well as your similar interests.

You’d discovered that, when not playing soccer of course, you both enjoyed going on hikes, reading with a cup of coffee, and also relaxing at the end of the day with a good TV series.

She’d also given you some insight on how she adjusted to being on the national team at such a young age, something you were having trouble doing. It’s not that your skill level wasn’t up to par; you were just finding it difficult to put yourself out there and connect with the rest of the women. And just maybe your newfound friendship with Tierna would be just what you needed to open up to the rest of the team.

Over the past couple of days, as you’d gotten to know the defender, you couldn’t develop feelings for the other woman.

So here you were, packing up your hotel room, as you worked up the courage to ask Tierna out. At the moment, the freckled woman was currently rambling about some new book she’d found, but you were to stuck in your own head to really pay attention.

“(Y/N)?” Tierna pulls you out of your thoughts.

“Huh?” You shake your head, turning to see an amused smile on Tierna’s face.

“Did you hear anything I was just saying?”

“Umm, yes?” You try sheepishly.

Tierna rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. It’s alright. You can make it up to me by reading the book I was talking about. And by the way it’s about a depressed neuroscientist at Stanford.”

“Sounds peachy,” you groan, earning a chuckle from the defender.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Nothing,” you mumble, shrugging.

“Come on, what’s bothering you?” She asks, as she sits down next to you, lightly elbowing your side.

You take a deep breath, gathering all the courage in the world, before asking, “Would you maybe wanna go out sometime? Like grab some coffee or dinner when we’re back in Chicago?”

Tierna stills, her eyes widening, as her brain tries to process your question. “What?”

“I’m asking you on a date, T,” you clarify, feeling a new wave of confidence take over. “Do you wanna go out with me?”

A gigantic grin breaks out Tierna’s face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

—————

About six months later, you’d received another national team call up, and so had your girlfriend.

After last camp, you and Tierna went out to dinner at a restaurant back in Chicago, and from then on, you began dating. It helped that you both played for the Red Stars, getting to spend more time together and not having to worry about the trouble of a long distance relationship.

However, the two of you decided to keep your relationship under wraps, not feeling the need to announce or flaunt it. In fact, in public, your relationship didn’t really change, and to most people, it looked as if the two of you were just best friends.

But Alyssa had known you well enough to see that you definitely had a crush on the younger defender, and to be fair, you did, but the goalie didn’t know that you were already dating.

The Red Stars training before the national team players left for camp, Alyssa decided to see if anyone else shared the same suspicions.

“Hey, J!” she calls out, catching up to the blonde midfielder.

“What’s up, Lys?”

“Do you think there’s something between (Y/N/N) and Tierna?”

“What do you mean?” Julie furrows her brows, confused.

Alyssa gives her friend a pointed glare, nodding her head in the direction of where you were leaning your head on Tierna’s shoulder, giggling at something your girlfriend had said.

“Ah, I see,” Julie muses, nodding her head in realization. “Are they together?”

“Nope, at least I don’t think so. I’m sure (Y/N) would’ve mentioned something.”

“Well, should we help them get their head’s out of the butts and try and set them up?” The midfielder proposes.

“Camp is this weekend…” Alyssa smirks, as the two women share a knowing look.

“Kelley’s gonna have a field day with this,” Julie chuckles.

—————

After morning training the next day, the team split off into groups, as they head into town to grab a bite to eat, do some shopping, or just walk around the streets of Santa Barbara.

A group of the veterans decided to try out a cute little cafe they’d seen. As they were all sitting around the table, sipping their coffee and eating some pastries, Julie decided to bring up the subject of their two favorite team babies.

“So, have you guys noticed anything going on between (Y/N) and Tierna?”

Conversation stopped, the entire table going silent.

“Wha?” Kelley asks, her voice muffled by the food in her mouth. “(Y/N/N) and Baby T?”

“Kel, please swallow your food,” Christen requests, cringing at the defender.

“Sorry.” The freckled woman gulps down her bite of her croissant. “But Tierna and (Y/N)?”

“You don’t see it?” Alyssa raises her eyebrow, surprised that she might be the only one who saw the chemistry between you two.

“Aren’t they just best friends?” Tobin chimes in on the conversation.

“That’s what people always said about you and Chris until they got their heads out of their asses,” Ash snorts, pointing between the two forwards.

“Fair point.”

“Now that I think about it,” Christen hums. “They do act very couple-y.”

“And Tierna is really the only one that (Y/N) hangs out with, besides Alyssa,” Pinoe points out, as the others nod in agreement.

“True, though she is warming up to the rest of us,” Julie lightly argues.

“So do we have a plan?”

The rest of the table just stares blankly at Kelley, who rolls her eyes.

“A plan to get them together?” She clarifies, as if to say ‘duh.’

“Well, that’s what I thought we could discuss.” The blonde midfielder suggests, sparking the discussion of how to get the two youngsters together.

Meanwhile, as the veterans were scheming, you and your girlfriend were taking a walk along the beach, your hands laced together, as your bare feet sunk into the sand.

“I hear you might start in the match versus England,” Tierna smirks at the shy blush that creeps up your neck.

You duck your head and brush a loose strand of hair of your face. “I don’t know. Our midfield is already so stacked, so I don’t know why Vlatko would start me.”

“Hey.” Tierna stops walking, stepping in front of you, halting your movement as well. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a phenomenal player, one of our best middies, at only twenty-one years old I might add.”

“You have to say that.” You bashfully roll your eyes. “You’re my girlfriend.”

“That I am,” Tierna proudly states, as she kisses your cheek. “But seriously, (Y/N/N), you’re amazing and you’re here for a reason. Don’t ever doubt that.”

“Thank you, babe.” You lean in to give her a chaste kiss before bringing her in for a hug.

The two of you decide to walk back up to the sidewalk and sit on one of the benches that overlook the beach. After a couple of minutes of peaceful silence, you remember something Alyssa had mentioned to you a couple days ago.

“I think Lys might know we’re dating.” You raise your head from your girlfriend’s chest to look up at her.

“Hm,” Tierna hums, not looking concerned or fazed, only curious. “Did she something to you?”

“The other day she asked me if I had feelings for you.” You snuggle back into your girlfriend’s body, comforted by the fact that she didn’t seem to be freaking out about the possibility of one of your teammates knowing. “Well actually, her exact words were: ‘Do you have a crush on Tierna?’”

“And what did you say?”

“I said ‘yes,’” you mumble, your cheeks tint pink.

“What was that?” Tierna teases.

“I told her ‘yes’ I have a crush on you.”

“Aw, babe,” she coos, tapping your nose. “I have a crush on you too.”

All you can do is scrunch your face and stick out your tongue at your girlfriend and her antics.

“Do you think we should tell the team we’re dating?”

“Words probably gotten around that you have feelings for me, and seeing how we’re ‘best friends,’ knowing them, they’re already probably devising a plan to get us together.” Tierna shrugs, lightly chuckling.

Though you hadn’t been on the team as long as the defender, you knew she was most likely right.

“Well, who are we to stop their fun?” You say with a small smirk on your face.

Your girlfriend raises her eyebrow at you, surprised by your uncharacteristic boldness and mischievousness.

“Whatever you say, babe.” Tierna softly kisses the top of your head.

The two of you spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other’s presence, the calm waves crashing in the background, before you have to return to the hotel for team dinner.

—————

As you and your girlfriend were off on a brief romantic walk, the rest of the team, who had been recruited by the Kelley, had been finalizing their plan to set you and Tierna up on a date, so you can confess your feelings.

“So,” Kelley, the leader of this operation, announces. “Tomorrow, when we have dinner off, Alyssa, you’ll ask (Y/N) if she wants to grab a bite to eat, and Casey and Abby, and whichever youngsters wanna tag along, will bring Tierna out to dinner.

“The rest of us will grab a table in the backroom so we can see them without being seen. Everybody got it?”

They all nod along, voicing their agreement.

“Awesome,” Ash cheers and claps her hand together. “What do you think Lys?”

“I think it’s good, hopefully it works.” Alyssa nods, quickly glancing at her phone. “I also think we better head back for dinner before Vlatko sends out a search party.”

The rest of the women check the time, their eyes widening, as they all scramble out of their seats, rushing to make it back in time for team dinner.

—————

The next day, at the end of training, many of your teammates, mainly Kelley and Sonnett, were anxious about their upcoming blind date they’d set up for you and Tierna.

“Gosh, I don’t know how I didn’t see it before,” Kelley groans dramatically, watching from across the field, as you and your girlfriend were leaning on each other, laughing at something you’d said.

“How can they be so oblivious?” Tobin shakes her head, following her friend’s gaze.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Megan snorts, as she approaches the two women.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Chris had heart eyes for you for like three years before you actually noticed.”

“That’s different,” Tobin protests, earning a laugh from her two teammates.

“It’s really not.” Kelley clasps the forward’s shoulder, giving her a sympathetic smile.

“But we’ve learned.” Pinoe boasts with a pointed look.

Tobin just tilts her head and furrows her head in confusion, not following along.

“Oh, Toby.” The freckled defender slings her arm around Tobin’s shoulder, as they make their way back to the bus. “After being tortured by you and Press’s oblivious pining for many many years, the team collectively decided that when two teammates develop obvious feelings for each other, we’d put our own dignities aside and get them together.”

“Hence, our dinner plans for Tierna and (Y/N),” Megan finishes.

“You guys are all crazy,” Tobin says with a light-hearted roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, but you love us,” Kelley chirps before skipping off to catch up with Alex on the bus, leaving the two forwards chuckling at their teammates playful behavior.

—————

After hopping out of the shower and getting dressed, you decide to text Tierna to see if she wants to grab some dinner.

(Y/N/N):

Hey, you wanna grab some dinner?

I think I saw a taqueria that looked good :)

T 🤍 :

Sorry, babe :/

Casey already asked me to get dinner with  Abby  and Sam.

(Y/N/N):

Aw man, okay.

Stop by after?

T 🤍 :

Of course

I’ll see you later :)

You give the message a heart, before shutting off your phone. As you contemplate what you’re gonna do for lunch, there’s a knock on your door.

“(Y/N/N),” you hear Alyssa’s muffled voice. “It’s Alyssa.”

“Come in!” You call back.

The goalie saunters into your room and plops on your bed. “You wanna grab some dinner?”

“Yeah,” you beam. “I saw a Mexican place downtown that looked good.”

“Hmmm, I had tacos for dinner last night,” Alyssa hums, pretending to think it over, even though she already has a restaurant in mind. “Tobin mentioned a good Japanese place they ate yesterday. We could try that?”

“I could go for Japanese,” you agree. “You wanna head out now?”

“Yeah, I’m down.” Alyssa jumps up from the bed, as you gather your things, following her out the door.

The two of you make light conversation, as you walk through the streets of Santa Barbara, enjoying the warm evening air.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, the hostess leads you to a table by the window, but as you sit down, Alyssa remains standing.

“I just have to run to the bathroom real quick,” she tells you. “If they come by to order drinks, could I get a lemonade?”

“Of course.” You nod, before scanning the menu.

While you think Alyssa is going to the restroom, she is actually going to text Casey that you’re sitting at the table near the window.

After a couple minutes, you hear footsteps approaching, which you think is the waitress coming to take your drink order.

“Hey, funny seeing you here.”

You immediately snap your head up when you hear your girlfriend’s voice.

“T, what are you doing here?” You ask, obviously quite surprised, as Tierna sits down in the chair across from you.

“Well, I was supposed to meet the girls here, and they just they’d be at the table by the window,” she chuckles amusedly. “Obviously our teammates are setting us up, not that I’m complaining.”

You roll your eyes at the teasing smirk on your girlfriend’s face. “Yeah, Lys brought me here for lunch. I didn’t think it was in her to be a part of their little matchmaking plans.”

“Alyssa is full of surprises.” Tierna shrugs, as she picks up the menu to look at it for herself.

“Aint’ that the truth,” you laugh.

As the two of you sit in a comfortable silence, deciding what you wanted to eat, you spot a familiar head of purple hair out of the corner of your eye.

“I think we’re being spied on,” you whisper, leaning forward in your seat.

“Huh?”

“Pinoe’s pink hair is a dead give away,” you slightly nod your head towards the back room of the restaurant.

Tierna turns her head to subtly scan the room, and then lets out an amused chuckle. “So how are we gonna play this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, since they’re watching us, do we wanna play into their hands or should we mess with them a little?”

“We could do a little bit of both?” You propose, earning an impressed grin from your girlfriend.

Before Tierna can respond, the waitress comes by to take your orders.

—————

“What can you see?” Sonnett shouts from the other end of the table.

“Keep it down, Sonny,” Kelley scolds, swatting the younger defender’s arm. “But, P, seriously, what’s going on?”

“They’re just talking, laughing occasionally,” Pinoe reports, as she cranes her neck to see the table in the other room. “From what I can see, no sparks are flying yet.”

“Gosh, this is painful. We need to move them along,” Kelley whines, before her eyes widen and her eyes light up, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. “I have an idea.”

“Oh no,” Christen groans. “This should be good.”

The freckled defender just waves her hand, ignoring her friend’s comment. “Just you wait and see. This is gonna work.”

The team has to wait a couple more minutes until the waitress comes back to refill their waters for Kelley’s plan to unfold.

“Excuse me,” Kelley calls over to the waiter, briefly glancing at her name tag. “Virginia, could I order some dessert?”

“Of course.”

“I’d like to get one slice of your cheesecake, please. And if I could ask for a favor?”

The waitress nods with a polite smile.

“Would you deliver it to my two friends over there sitting by the window?”

“Aren’t those your teammates?” Virginia turns to see where Kelley’s pointing.

“Yeah, we’re trying to set them up. So if you could just say it’s on the house or something, we don’t really want them to know we’re here.”

The waitress just chuckles, as she shuts her notepad. “Of course.”

“Oh, wait,” Kelley stops her one more time. “If you’re cool with it, maybe you could flirt with one of them, maybe say the cheesecake is from you?”

Virginia pauses for a second to contemplate her options, before ultimately agreeing. “Fine, but only if I can get your friend’s number over there.” She smirks and points over to where Emily’s sitting, sipping on a glass of wine.

“Deal, but only if my friends over there get together by the end of the night.”

Virginia just smirks, as she leaves to continue her job and get a slice of cheesecake.

—————

You and Tierna took advantage of the date your teammates had set up for you, enjoying some delicious rolls and a bowl of udon. Even though your teammates were technically in the backroom watching, you and your girlfriend enjoyed a nice evening to yourselves.

As you’re finishing up your meal, the waitress comes over with a slice of cheesecake and places it down in front of you.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” You move to return the dessert. “I didn’t order any dessert.”

“I know, cutie,” Virginia flirts. “That’s from me, on the house.”

“I- I, um.” You blush, flustered, while Tierna shoots silent daggers at the waitress. “I’m flattered, but I actually have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the waitress apologizes, glancing between the two of you. “Is this your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I am,” Tierna answers, hints of jealousy lacing her voice, as you give a sheepish nod.

“Ah I see,” Virginia observes, amused, knowing that the other group of soccer players were going to be quite shocked. “Well, I’m sorry, again, for hitting on you. Keep the dessert as an apology?”

“Everything’s forgotten,” you amend with a kind smile. “Thank you for the cheesecake.”

As the waitress turns to leave, she suggests, “Maybe you guys can share? I’m trying to win a bet.”

Before you or Tierna can respond, Virginia gives both of you a knowing smirk, as she takes your plates and goes back to the kitchen.

“What does that mean?” You tilt your head and push the plate of cheesecake towards the middle of the table.

“I assume that our teammates probably had something to do with that whole scene,” Tierna guesses, shrugging, as she takes a bite of the dessert. “Mmmmm, but thank goodness they did because this cheesecake is delicious.”

“Oooooo, let me try!”

As you and your girlfriend share the slice of fluffy cheesecake, your teammates were waiting for something to happen.

“Anything?” Alyssa asks impatiently. The goalie had been becoming increasingly agitated, because she had seriously thought there was something between you two.

“Not yet,” Kelley sighs. By now, the rest of the team had lost interest and decided to just enjoy their night out.

“Oh wait!” Pinoe gasps, holding her hand up to get everybody else’s attention. The pink-haired forward watched intensely, as you leaned in closely to Tierna, who was holding out her fork with a bite of cheesecake for you.

“Baby T just fed (Y/N/N) a bite of cheesecake. I repeat, Baby T just fed (Y/N/N) a bite of cheesecake!” Megan exclaims. “It was the last slice, too!"

“And they are totally giving each other heart eyes right now,” Kelley adds, excitedly bouncing in her seat.

After a few minutes, as the team bubbles with anticipation to see what would happen next, Virginia returns to the table with the checks and hands it to Kelley.

“By the way, you owe me your friend’s number.”

“Um, I don’t think so. We don’t know for sure that they ended up together,” Kelley protests, as she passes the checks down the table.

“Yeah, we do, because they’re already together,” Virginia boasts and moves to collect the empty plates, smirking when she sees you and Tierna holding hands, as you make your way over to the team’s table.

“What? No, they’re not.” The defender frowns, not noticing her two youngest teammates.

“Yes, we are,” Tierna simply states, leading you out the backdoor, as you duck your head to hide your flushed cheeks.

“And, thanks for the cheesecake,” your girlfriend throws over her shoulder, leaving your teammates sputtering in shock with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

“Well, that was fun,” you snicker, as you step outside.

“Yeah, it was,” Tierna agrees, kissing you cheek. “Now let’s go have some fun of our own.”

Laughing freely, you relax into your girlfriend’s side. You couldn’t help but feel lighter, like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders, now that the team knew about your relationship, and maybe this is the push you needed to open up to the women who would soon become your second family.

[whatisthiswritingthing]

But you hate each other - Tierna Davidson x Reader

Prompt: I’m horrible at prompts but a baby T imagine where the reader and her are college rivals? or something along those lines. 

Not sure if this is what you wanted, hope I am close.

“Y/L/N and Davidson,” one the of the team managers called out the room assignments for the camp that all the players just arrived for.

Y/N and Tierna both slowly stood from their chairs in the boardroom, walking to the front to get their room keys.

The rest of the players sharing brief looks, knowing there was some animosity between the two players. They had played for years together at Stanford, always an under lying tension simmering. Y/N and Davidson got along, for the most part, but there was definitely some form of rivalry between them.

Neither of the soccer players said anything, each taking a key, continuing to the elevators to their room.

“Remember, bus in half hour for training!” Vlatko called after all the retreating players.

The elevator ride up was in silence, everyone unsure of what to say, sensing the tension.

 Half an hour later, the team was on the bus making their way to the first practice of camp. The roommates now separated, the tension gone.

The tension returned near the end of practice during scrimmage, Tierna at defense and Y/N at forward, the two regularly facing each other.  

The two battled the entire scrimmage, neither letting up.

“It’s practice Davidson, chill the fuck out,” Y/N said, getting up from another slide tackle from Tierna, frustration evident.

The defender just rolled her eyes, ignoring the forwards comments.

Everyone watched on as the two challenged each other for the scrimmage, waiting for the tension to become too much. Neither player pushing the other too far, just enough to frustrate the other.

After practice, everyone made their way back to the bus, todays practice had been relatively easy, meant to ease the players back in, tomorrow would be fitness testing however.

Y/N and Davidson had both been quickly swooped by other members of the team after returning to the hotel. Everyone having the same mindset, wanting to avoid any potential conflict between the two.

While the team knew there was some unspoken tension between the two, no one had been bolded enough to ask where the tension came from, surprisingly.

“Alright Baby T, what is the deal with you and Y/N?” Julie asked while they lounged in her room later that evening.

“What do you mean? Her and I good,” Tierna replied, confused, focused on her phone.

“What do you mean what do I mean?” Julie commented again, “the two of you look like we shouldn’t even trust you guys to room together.”

“Y/N and I are a little competitive together, that’s it,” Tierna commented again, shrugging her shoulders, smiling at her phone now.

“If you say so, you guys just looked ready to take each other out at practice this afternoon.”

Julie dropped the subject for now, knowing she would still keep an eye on the two younger players.

 “How long do you think they’ll go?” Sam whispered to Rose.

The team was doing the beep test, Y/N and Tierna were the last two running. Both exhausted, pushing themselves well past their limits.

As they each approached the line again, they glanced to each other, giving each other a small nod, they ran again.

Both had far surpassed the mandatory level, Dawn watched the players closely, debating how far to allow the players to push themselves.

Watching them go one more, both of them struggling to get full breaths. Dawn decided enough was enough and called them off.

“Alright thing one and thing two, that’s enough. I don’t know what competition you have going on but it’s done.”

The two stood next to each other, hands on their knees catching their breath. They both glanced to each other, sharing a small nod and smile.

“They smiled at each other, they can’t totally hate each other,” Rose whispered.

 Camp continued the same. Y/L/N and Davidson continue to battle each other at everything; getting on the bus first, finishing eating first, getting to the room first to shower, everything. Practices were brutal between the two, neither working to injure the other, but challenge the other.

Vlatko had kept them on the same team for scrimmage this practice. As much as the two seemed to have a strong distaste for each other, they worked incredibly well together. Connecting passes easily, reading where the other would be, meshing incredibly well.

Everyone was stunned watching the two, not expecting the two to play so well together. The two may have played together at Stanford, but watching the two play after seeing how much tension there seemed to be was nothing short of incredible. The two played together flawlessly. Y/N had even managed to help Tierna score during the scrimmage.

 “What the hell was that?” Julie questioned as soon as they sat on the bus.

“What was what?” Tierna questioned, not looking up from her phone.

“You really need to stop answering my questions with a question! And who are texting all the time?” Julie challenged, frustrated.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about JJ,” Tierna said calmly, glancing up from her phone, avoiding the second question.  

Julie just rolled her eyes.

“How the hell do you and Y/N go from looking ready to tear each other apart to playing like?”

“We played for four years together at Stanford, obviously we are good together,” Tierna shrugged, going back to her phone.

“You are impossible! The two of you ran each other into the ground during the beep test, now you’re sending her passes without even looking!” Julie countered, frustration mounting.

“Don’t know what to tell you,” she just shrugged, cutting off the conversation.

Julie flopped back in her seat, aggravated.

“What are you up to tonight? I think a few of us were thinking of watching a movie,” Julie tried to change the subject.

“I’m pretty tired, I’m just going to spend the night in my room,” Tierna replied.

“You and Y/N going to manage not to kill each other?”

“I’m sure we’ll manage.”

 Once at the hotel, everyone made their way to their own rooms.

“Seriously Dunny, it’s not right. How do they play four years together, but hate each other so much?” Julie ranted to Crystal in their room.

“I don’t know Jayje, maybe something happened while they played. You saw them today, they work well together, last week they broke the beep test record, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Nope I don’t like it!” Julie expressed, jumping off her bed and making her way to the door.

“Where are you going?” Dunn jumped up as well, following the blonde.

“To make them be friends!”

Julie stormed down the hallway to Y/L/N and Davidsons room, stopping briefly at the front desk for a copy of their room key. Bending the truth slightly to convince the person there to give her a copy.

“This ends now!” She explained, pushing the hotel door open.

Barging into the room, Julie stopped at the edge of the bed.

“You have got to be kidding me!” She exclaimed, when she saw the two women.

Y/N was laying on her back, looking confused having just been woken up. Tierna slowly pushed herself off Y/N’s chest, just waking up as well.

“What?” Y/N asked confused, voice gravely with sleep.

“You hate each other!”

“It would be really weird if I hated her,” Tierna sat up fully, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“That’s literally the opposite actually,” Y/N sat up as well, adding her own yawn.

“Wait, what?”

“Hate is the opposite of how I feel about Tierna,” Y/N smirked.

“Quit toying with her,” Tierna smacked Y/N on the chest. “We have been together since Junior year at Stanford.”

“Wait, what?” JJ repeated.

“We don’t hate each other, we having been dating for several years, she plays in Chicago, I play in Houston, we live together in the off season in California,” Y/N sits up fully, clearly explaining what’s going on.

“Wait, what?”

“What else is there to understand? We are competitive together, neither big fans of PDA, don’t know what else to tell you,” Tierna shrugged as well.

“Congrats?” Julie said hesitantly, still seemingly confused.

“You staying? Or can we go back to sleep?” Y/N asked, sliding back down to go back to sleep.

[itsmaddienotmaddy]

Half baked midnight takes?? I HAVE them

USWNT v. Australia (the friendly version Pt. 1)

Casey Murphy = player of the match, duh. That’s a first cap, my GOD. And we’re all thinking it and saying it… Jane who?

Cook and Baby T? Center backs of the future? I can see it and it doesn’t make me worried at all. It’s a nice feeling. Truly. So composed. I love the Stanford buddies

HOWEVER. Not quite sure why the most capped player on the back line who just won a championship (and played v v well) at center back is not being played at center back. Sonnett does fine at right back. She had some decent tackles and header clearances. Did less fine at left back. But idk why she’s not put in a position to succeed or at least given an opportunity to try. Her near goal was also very exciting

Emily Fox had good runs up the side. Very USWNT wing back esque. But if she wasn’t 100%, which was clear, not big on the decision to play her now instead of waiting until the next game

Sofia!! Back with a well deserved cap and her header to start the Midge run to the Rose goal was so GOOD. She runs through the ball really well, and is extremely hard to stop once she gets going. I’m excited for her to play more.

And Becky came in the game! Corralled the kids and made sure they finished with a clean sheet. Big shout out and thanks to Mama Rebecca

Rose. Is. Probably. Concussed. I usually do not disagree with Vlatko this much but holy shit she did not look well after that. The risk was…?? I’m not gonna sit here and be mad that she scored a banger or sliced and diced the Australian back line, but I am concerned + care about the well being of her BRAIN

Lindsey had a slower start. She was all talked up as the leader and then struggled a bit to keep possession. Complete 180 and second half was controlled and much, much better. Things go well when the ball moves through her in the midfield. She went down a LOT, but to be fair, she gets pushed a LOT. And she drew that PK and buried it.

Andi. Girl was going through it out there. I expected her to stay back a bit more defensively than she actually did. I can cut her and pretty much all the gals that played last weekend some slack because they have got to be TIRED. Coming back after a nosebleed always seems so badass. Though how she got it.. that header.. lol MAAM.

Ashley Sanchez. Not a lot of time but I thought she did great!! More minutes for her plz

Kristie. Again. Not too much time. Vlatko. My dude. Put her on the field with her gf. It’s what the people want. Also, her corners remain sexy

Midge! She gets an exclamation point because her assist was gorgeous and she had moments of absolute brilliance. But she was quiet most of the game, a little lost in the mix in the first half. She did put in the work to come help on defense too which was mucho appreciated.

Lynn. Highly underrated in the header flick that led to Hatch’s goal. I’m so happy she gets to be in Australia with her boyfriend! But we did see some classic Lynn overthinking and not just playing. Free Lynn and let her run everywhere. She seemed more stagnant

Ashley Hatch. I mean. That goal. Definitely what she did all season to get that golden boot so it wasn’t surprising. That touch was sweet and she buried it. Wasn’t doing too much the rest of the game, but made her mark in that first minute!! And her work rate was there, I was v aware of her making those defensive runs.

Morgan Weaver. What’s more baby than Baby Horse?? She wanted a debut like Hatch so bad. But she spent the majority of her time on the field falling onto the ground. To quote School of Rock, just a little sloppy joe. Gotta tighten it up. She needs time, experience, all those good things. Out of the young players, she definitely plays the ‘youngest’

Bethany Balcer. Her journey is so cool so for her to finally get a cap is so fun. I want to see more minutes for her because she was settling into the game and really looked dangerous on a few occasions.

I think that’s everyone. So many people played. I’m glad we won. Can’t wait to watch it all again at the ass crack of dawn. SEE YALL THEN

[perfectly-imperfect82]

Adopted kid part 2- krashlyn

Ali, Ash, and you had just arrived at the hotel, being the last to show up for this camp. This would be the first time meeting the team for you. Ali and Ash had set rules for the team but overall they were still extremely nervous. You had opened up even more and became more cuddly, but you were still really quiet and closed off with new people.

As you guys were getting the room key, your eyes caught Alex. You had meet her and opened up to her due to the amount of time you had seen her with your moms. Ash and Ali had made a point to make sure were comfortable with Alex, seeing as you would see her in Orlando and with the national team.

You took of running towards her and running into her with a smile as you hugged her legs.

When she saw you who ran into, a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, little one" Alex said with a smile as you looked up at her with smile and waved.

That's when the other made their presents known to you by awwing, which caused you to hide behind Alex legs while Alex placed a head on your shoulder to try and coax you from behind her.

That's when Christen and Tobin kneeled down in front of Alex so she was eye level with you.

"Hi (y/n), I'm Christen and this is Tobin. we are friend of you moms" Christen said

"We are happy to finally meet you" Tobin said as they waited to see what you did.

You peeked from behind Alex to look at them and the 3 ladies behind them as they watched anxiously for your response. Having been warned to let you set the pace for things.

You gave a small wave before you took off back to your moms who had watched the whole interaction from a far, also curious to how you would do.

Once you reached them you just looked up at them, waiting to see what was happening next.

"Hey bud, happy to see Alex" ash asked as you gave a quiet "yes" in return as Ali gave her teammates a smile to let them now you were good.

"Did you meet some of mommy's and I friends?" Ali asked cautiously

"Nice" was your response to which they understood as they are nice, being used to your one word responses. They were working on getting you to talk more.

"Want to go meet the rest of our friends" Ali asked as  they saw you start to get nervous and play with your sleeves.

"Okay" you said as you walked closer to Ash "up?" You asked and Ash could never say no to you as she picked you up.

You rested you head on her shoulder while you still played with your sleeves, nervous to be meeting new people.

Ash and Ali shared a look but knew at one point you would have to meet the team. They looked over at the other group of ladies and headed their way to meet up in the conference room with everyone before going bed for the night.

Ali and Ash walked into the conference room behind the others and was instantly meet with the rest of the  team whose focus turned to the little girl in Ash's arms

"Aww, she is so cute" Emily and Mal squealed as soon as they saw you. ash felt you tense up as you snuggle even further into her and now your head was in the crook of her neck.

Ali just watched you, while Kelley went and slapped both of there heads "idiots" she said as they rubbed their heads

Megan slowly walked up to Ash and Ali and gave a smile before turn her attention to the little girl who she has been dying to meet in person.

"Hey munchkin, it's aunty Megan. Remember seeing me on FaceTime?" Megan asked as you slowly peaked your head out of Ash neck to look at her before you said "yes." Which the team had to hold back an awe at how quiet and sweet your voice was.

"Want to come with me and with can play some cool games on my phone?" Megan asked holding out her arms for you.

You peaked over at you mama who gave you an encouraging smile and nodded before you lead over for Megan to grab you who held a victorious smile on her face as she carried you to sit a chair with you on her lap.

Alex taking a seat on one side of Megan and Ash and Ali on the other.

Everyone watched as you slowly came out of you shell while being distracted by the game you and Megan were play, with Alex occasionally interfering. Vlatko not even minding as he discussed the plans for this camp with the team.

"Come on love. It's past your bed time" Ali said once the meeting ended and they saw you yawn.

"Goodnight munchkin" Megan said giving you a quick kiss on your head before handing you off to Ali. You instant wrapping your arms around her neck and closing your eyes as you laid your head on her shoulder, which always caused Ali heart to swell with love as you cuddled into her whispering "tired mama"

"Want to say Goodnight to everyone?" ash asked, curious to how much they could get you out of your bubble tonight.

You didn't even pick up you head as you waved your hand as to say bye, struggling to stay awake in the comfort of your mama arms. This causing everyone to chuckle and smile fondly at the small family as they headed to bed.

—————————————————————-

Ash and you had just walked into the conference for breakfast. Way earlier then what is normal for Ash, but thanks to you she was starting to get used to waking up earlier.

Only three people being the the conference room that early, Becky, Alyssa, and Carli.

"Morning" Ash said as you gave a smile wave getting smiles and mornings back from the three women before you went with Ash to get your food.

The three women subtly watched as Ash joked and messed with you while you guys got breakfast. Happy to see you more out of you shell and smiling.

You both quickly returned, taking a seat at the table with the three of them as you guys started eating.

"Not used to seeing you this early" Becky said with a smile

"This one likes to wake up early" ash said looking at you

"hungry" you replied causing the others laugh

"So were we" Carli said smiling at you as you continued to eat.

The adults talked while you listened. Eventually you got bored and were still  hungry.

"Mom" you said grabbing her arm to get her attention, which also caught the other women attentions who were not used to Ash being called that and hearing it for the first time

"Muffin" you said eyeing the chocolate one and looking to see if she approves.

"Race you" Ash said with a smile as you to took off towards the table for the chocolate chip muffin with her behind you, letting you win

You weren't watching as the next thing you knew, you were on the ground after hitting someone.Ash froze  and watched your reaction, fearing you would panic.

You froze and your body went ridge as you saw you hit a person. However, you relaxed as you saw she was smiling down at you with Emily and Rose by her side also smiling.

"You okay, little one?" Sam asked bending down to check on you as you nodded, calming down when she was smiling. This caused Ash to back away to the table she came from to let this play out. Ready to step in if needed

She stood up as you also stood up, eyes going wide when you saw how tall she was

"Wow, tall"  causing the three of them to smile and laugh at your reaction, cause you to blush some as you went to go back to Ash

"I am tall, want to see from my height?" Sam asked, sparing a glance at Ash to make sure it was okay

You nodded you headed excitedly so she picked you up with smile.

A smile giggle escape your lips at being tall causing Sam to smile.

"Your now taller then me" Emily exclaimed as you giggled

"You want to be as tall as Sam when you grow up?" Rose asked to which you replied "taller" causing them all to smile

"Want to join us for breakfast?" Sam asked and you nodded yes

They all went to gather to get breakfast, Sam keeping you in her arms so you can continue to see from her view.

"Muffin" you said pointing to the chocolate chip muffin

"Ash, your kids wants a muffin. Can she have it?" Sam asked look at Ash who nodded as she was still watching you as more people came in. You not really noticing them but Ash waiting to see if you become close off.

Sam placed you in her lap as she ate and talked to everyone. Emily making a point to keep making jokes and faces at you to make you laugh.

Everyone coming in was getting their food and watching as you giggled and smiled at the youngsters on the team, loving hearing the new voice.

Ali being one of the few to come, has to stop in shock as she saw you not with Ash, Alex , or Megan. Before she makes her way to Ash who was smiling watching you.

"Looks like Alex and Megan are gonna to have more competition for favorite Aunt" Ali said taking a seat next to Ash

"No one is going to take my spot. I'm the favorite" Alex said

"No, I'm the favorite" Megan said glaring at Alex

"Looks to me like Sam is her favorite to me" ash said with a smirk that quickly turn into a smile of adoration as Sam wiped your face of the chocolate from the muffin as you smiled up at her before lending back into her.

Ali and Ash shared a look of relief and happiness knowing that you would be okay with your new family and that they would help you open up more.