Stanford

After Mel bursted out of the room, everybody just remained still, looking at their feet. Hope left with Jerramy and his dogs, as some girls were just too shocked by the manner the goalie used on them to hold them back.

But something else is on Christen's mind : Mel. She knows the blonde is mad, and she knows she didn't want anything like that to happen, because now even Jessie or Andi are involved, and it's kind of her fault because she found herself in the middle of all this. But collaborating with the Bruins was Christen's idea : she brought them in the garage, and she gave the board the anonymous letter with Christie's affair proof. The forward has never seen the blonde so upset, and she needs to have a conversation with her.

So when she finally spots the blonde energetically jogging toward the forest, she follows her. Once they're out of sight, Christen jogs faster and grabs Mel's arm. The blonde, who has her earphones on, didn't hear her coming and lets out a loud cry, scared as fuck. When she realises it's Christen, she rolls her eyes and groans.

"Why can't everybody just leave me the fuck alone ?" the blonde asks, angry.

Christen smirks.

"You don't like to be scared" she teases her.

But Mel doesn't laugh.

"Nobody does. Can you go now ?"

"I came here to talk to you"

"You mean, you followed me, ran after me to talk to me ?" the blonde sarcastically rephrases, upset.

Christen smiles.

"Yah, basically." she settles, before looking away and losing her smile. "I'm sorry about all this, I know it's my fault."

"Whatever, Christen, seriously..."

"You tried to warn me and I didn't listen" the brunette interrupts her, ruthless. "Looking back at that moment, I asked myself 'why couldn't just I obey you ?'. And then it stroke me : because I didn't want you to fight this by yourself."

"Why ?" Mel asks, doubtful. "Because I'm too weak ?"

"No, it's quite the contrary actually : because you're too strong and you'd have faces the storm all by yourself. And I can't risk you. I don't want to."

There is a long silence, during which they are just staring at each other. Then, Mel puts her earphones back on and starts running away from Christen (literally.) The brunette sighs, knowing very well what she was going to get as a reaction from her as soon as she thought about that.

As she walks back to her dorm, an idea strikes her : she might have found a solution to this whole situation and needs to get in touch with Kelsey.

*

Once Becky is asleep, Shelina puts on some pants and t-shirt and gets out of the apartment, her phone in hand. She knows what she has to do if she wants to keep her girlfriend safe, and it involves taking one of the biggest risk ever.

A black Range Rover is waiting for her down the street. After locking Becky into the apartment - knowing that she doesn't have the key and won't be able to get out of here to try and 'rescue' her or something - and putting the keys into the neighbours letterbox, Shelina walks out of the bulding, taking some deep breaths. Two guys are waiting for her outside of the car as she gives them her phone.

It is time, she thinks to herself, breathing heavily. She knows what trouble she's in : someone somehow discovered Rampone's secret, and gave an anonymous letter. And she's one of the only people that knew about that.

When she sits down on the car, she immediately looks at the person next to her : Hope Solo.

"Do you have something to do with that ?"

The dark-haired is dead serious, as Shelina is trying not to freak out. Of course she didn't say anything : she wouldn't have dared, because it meant risking Becky's safety as well. She shakes her head, knowing that Hope wouldn't believe her.

So she only decides to say :

"No."

Hope makes a light gesture in order to make the car start, and the two girls are caught in total silence. Only the thought of Becky being safe in her apartment makes Shelina feel better, because right now she knows in how much trouble she's in. There is no words to describe what she feels right now.

After a few miles, the car stops. Shelina can easily guess they're in the middle of a forest, because that's what Hope would do to get rid of someone. The Canadian shakes her head : Hope didn't believe her.

When the goalie looks at her again, Shelina says :

"You know I would never have betrayed you. Especially after all you did for me."

The goalie smirks.

"Funny how life goes sometimes, isn't it ?" she asks.

"I guess."

The two girls get out of the car and start walking behind two boys. Even though the defender is feeling a fear she has never been feeling before, she keeps her head up : she knows something big is about to happen.

Half-way to the turning point - a place where Hope and Carli came to when they were younger during trouble times with their parents - Hope suddenly stops. She makes a sign to the guys, and they keep on walking. Confused, Shelina only looks at them leaving, her heart beating really fast on her chest.

"You know what was the first thing I thought when I found out you were in love with Sauerbrunn ?" Hope asks, casual.

Shelina only shakes her head, but since Hope is looking away and hasn't caught that, she hardly whispers :

"No ?"

"I thought you'd leave me right to Hell because you'd chose her over me."

The Canadian doesn't even know what else to say. She then sees one silent tear running down Hope's cheek - such a rare thing, that is hardly ever happening, even when she lost her parents - and feels her heart stop beating.

This is the end. She is going to kill me, right here, right now. Those are the dark thoughts running through Shelina's mind at the moment.

"Hope..."

"Don't you dare interrupting me" the goalie harshly says, finally staring at Shelina with such a strong intensity that the defender immediately stops breathing for the second time in a matter of minutes. "I saved your life. I put you in rehab, prove your innocence in regard to your father's death, helped you live with your diseases... I saved you, protected you, Shel. And how do you reward me ? By loving her ?"

Shelina almost chuckles in her saliva, but manages to say :

"I never betrayed you, Hope."

"This is not about betrayal. This is about honour, and pay back."

"I don't understand..."

"This is pay back, Shel."

Before the girl can say anything, everything goes black, and the last thing she sees is Hope's face, half-upset, half-worried for her.