Have Hope

31

Y/N POV

"What...what are you doing here?" I asked, completely forgetting about everyone else in the room.

This was quite possibly the most unexpected thing to ever happen to me. My mom wasn't supposed to come, she told me she wasn't coming.

My mom smiled at me, her eyes full of sadness, guilt, and fear. "You were right, Y/n. It wasn't right for me to keep hiding you. I was putting myself before my child at the biggest moment of your life. I realized how selfish that was."

"Wha...no, no, no, you don't just get to show up here and expect me to forgive you. Things were fine between us until I brought it up last month and suddenly you shut me out, just like you always have when I asked about it. Mom, you've lied to everyone, you've hidden me for twenty two years. If you're ashamed of me just say it, but stop torturing me. Do you know how horrible it feels to lie to your friends? Your team? Because god forbid someone find out Hope Solo has a kid, right?"

A humorless chuckle escaped my mouth, and I shook my head, turning away from the former goalie, coming face to face with my team, who I had forgotten was even in the room.

"Y/n..." Alex said, looking into my eyes.

I shook my head once more, silently telling them all to just leave me alone. I refused to show weakness.

The crowd didn't hesitate to part for me, and I walked towards the door, leaving the conference room and not looking back.

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Alex POV

I could not believe my eyes when Hope had turned around. It was the first time I've seen her in nearly a year and a half.

What shocked me the most was when Y/n said 'Mom'. 

I thought I had been imagining it, but less than a few seconds later the goalie was nearly shouting, clearly angry at the woman before her.

It was hard to watch Y/n be so upset, I wasn't even thinking about the fact that she had kept such a big secret from us for nearly eight months.

I wasn't sure what to say when Y/n turned around and met my gaze, her blue eyes full of unshed tears. It made my heart clench, and all I wanted to do was hug her, but I could tell she wasn't in the mood.

"Y/n..."

She just shook her head, walking to the door as the team parted for her.

As Y/n slipped out of the room, I started to walk after her but both Christen and Ali grabbed my arm.

"Give her some time." Ali said softly.

"She's upset right now. Let her cool off." Christen agreed.

I huffed but reluctantly agreed, turning back to Hope, a harsh glare on my face.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Solo. Where the fuck have you been?" I questioned angrily, my friends holding me back before I could punch her in the face.

That's when I remembered.

Kelley.

Hope had been the love of her life until the goalkeeper had broken up with her and left without any explanation last year. 

I looked over at the Defender, who's face seemed not to have changed in the last five minutes.

She looked nothing but hurt, shocked, and angry, and I sure as hell couldn't blame her.

"Kel-"

"Fuck you, Hope." Kelley growled before turning on her heal and marching out of the room.

No one followed her, which was probably good since she looked like she could rip off someone's head. 

"I know you all probably have questions." Jill said. "But I want to please just as that you listen to Hope. We'll wait for Kelley and Y/n to calm down before explaining anything."

"Fine, but at least tell us what you're doing here, with no warning. Jill, did you know she was going to show up?" Carli questioned, arms crossed.

"I did. Hope called me last week to let me know that she was coming to France for the finals game."

"I told her not to tell any of you, so don't blame Jill for everything. I'm here for Y/n, and for all of you. I'll explain everything soon, and I'm sorry for just showing up out of the blue like this, especially the night before such a big event, but I just couldn't sit by any longer and force Y/n to lie to you all." Hope finished, looking each of us in the eyes as she spoke.

"Yeah, well maybe things were better that way. You fucking left us, Hope. You left and didn't even bother telling anyone why!" I couldn't help it, I was just so angry at her. 

Angry not only for upsetting Y/n and hurting Kelley, but angry at how Hope had left, angry for the pain she caused our entire team. We spent the entirety of 2018 trying to recover from the loss of one of our most valuable players; it sure would have helped to at least know why.

"I know, and I'm so sorry, and I promise I'll explain. You all have every right to be mad at me. Trust me, I'm not proud of the choices I've made either, but that doesn't mean I don't care."

"Really? 'Cause it sure seems like you don't." Ashlyn spoke up. "What the fuck was I supposed to do Hope? You were my mentor. My teacher. You ditched me."

Other players starting voicing their anger before Jill raised her voice. "Okay, everyone, please calm down! I understand you're upset, and just as Hope said, you have every right to be. But again, we will talk about this later. For now, I suggest you all go up to your rooms and cool off. Gather your thoughts. Find Y/n and Kelley. I want everyone back down here at 5, and we can talk after we eat."

Some of the other players and I wanted to protest, but we knew it wasn't worth fighting Jill.

With one last disappointed look, we turned around and left the room, walking to the elevator in silence. 

I could only hope Y/n was okay.