Ngara was struggling to keep up with Gabrielle as they ran around her neighborhood the following morning. Ngara had all her workout gear with her since she had already been planning on spending the night. Just not in Gabrielle's room.

After the terrible coming out call, Euripides and she didn't want to leave Gabrielle by herself and she had told Xena they would look after her. So, when Gabrielle wanted to run in the morning Ngara agreed to go with her. She had always assumed Gabrielle trained harder and faster on her own than she did, but she had been underestimating her.

Despite it feeling like the pain in Ngara's side was eventually going to tear her entire body in two, this was probably good for her. She should start training harder and maybe she'd have a real chance of joining Gabrielle and Xena in France. Gabrielle must have already heard about her call up because somewhere within the emotional roller coaster of the night before, she congratulated her.

They stopped at they entered the park Gabrielle usually did sprints in. Once she caught her breath, Ngara looked at her phone for the first time in a while. It was a text from a contact she didn't fully remember getting.

Amarice: Yo, she good?

Ngara: I think so. She says she just wants to focus on soccer

A: Her and Xena both. Well, good luck again UCLA

N: Thanks. Good luck against Orlando

A: You know we don't need that

"I just want to focus on soccer."

Gabrielle felt like she had thought it to herself and said it a hundred times to a hundred different people. By the time she was on her way to the airport to fly to New Jersey for the CONCACAF final against Costa Rica, she probably had.

Her call with her parents had been on Thursday night. The photo of her and Xena reached mainstream soccer journalists, celebrity tabloids, and most fans of the U.S. Women's National Team's radar by the end of Friday. Gabrielle was sure her parents had to have seen it by then, but she heard nothing. She had been expecting that, but she hadn't heard anything from Lila either. She hadn't been expecting that, but she was just focusing on soccer.

Maybe she was just being paranoid, but it seemed like everyone knew and everyone was looking at her. The barista at her go-to coffee shop, the guys that worked the desk at the literature library, students that she passed everyday without thought all seemed to be seeing her in a different light. They gawked or looked impressed or murmured something to the person beside them.

"I just want to focus on soccer," Gabrielle had told basically every member of the Stanford team by the time they made their trip to UCLA on Saturday. It was a simple, mostly uneventful game. She had some good blocks, a good pass accuracy percentage, and Stanford won 1-0.

Gabrielle had texted it to Xena after her endless stream of supportive and caring texts had turned to serious questioning for only a moment. She kept feeling compelled to open her messages and stare down at her stupid response as she nursed a glass of wine on one of her couches in her crowded living room. She, her roommates, and teammates had inadvertently started a Red Stars supporters club at Stanford that met at her house to watch every game. Chicago was dominating against Orlando as anyone with knowledge had predicted.

"Th-th-they have Varia and Eve," Twickenham pointed out. "H-h-how are they bad?"

"And Satrina, she's been the national team's backup for years," someone Gabrielle didn't know chimed in.

Thalassa scoffed from her position beside Gabrielle. "Two excellent forwards and a keeper can't do anything if the backline and midfield are terrible."

"They might come in last place again this year," Stanlous offered up with a grin. "Could change up their backline?"

Ngara hit him on the shoulder. "Oh, leave her alone. Anyway, I've heard rumors of an expansion team this year."

"Oh, what in Kentucky?" scoffed at woman, who had been at all the watch parties for the last few weeks. "Who associates Kentucky with soccer?"

"Xena!" numerous people called at once.

"And E-E-Eve!"

Gabrielle declined Ngara's offer of a ride to the airport on Thursday, a week after her call with her parents, and opted for a silent Uber ride instead. She kept her mind on soccer and only soccer as much as she could as she boarded her flight to Newark. She got at least two and half looks as she made her way to her seat in the middle of the plane. She was not even sure when she had mentioned she preferred window seats to Aphrodite, probably off-handedly at a bar somewhere. She took her seat by the window and curled up against the wall, hoping to sleep as much as she could.

She couldn't sleep.

She had barely been able to since the call with her parents, so she was not surprised. It was barely 5 a.m. when her flight landed in New Jersey. The team provided a car to take her from the airport to the hotel, which was much closer to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

As Gabrielle navigated everything alone, she felt a small and guilty ping of sadness. But it was selfish and stupid. It was basically the middle of night Chicago time. It was unfair for her to expect Xena to be waiting at the airport or the lobby of the hotel, but she was a bit disappointed that she wasn't. Gabrielle check in at the desk and got her room key.

She took the elevator up to the third floor in the silent hotel with her school backpack on her back and her team-issued backpack in her hand. She fumbled with the hotel keycard for a moment before the door clicked and she pushed it opened.

Gabrielle was surprised that the light was on when she entered. Xena was sitting on the further of the two beds, reading a book that she instantly put down when she saw Gabrielle enter. She got to her feet and stood beside the bed for a moment. She was seemingly waiting for Gabrielle to close the door and when she did, Xena took a few steps toward her.

"Hey," she called out softly and a bit shyly as she stopped basically in front of the television, that was mutely displaying the Food Network. Her hair was flowing haphazardly around her shoulder, which were exposed under her USWNT black tank top that blended perfectly into her form-fitting black sweatpants. A few months ago, Gabrielle knew she would have been too distracted by how attractive she was to focus on anything else, but now the look of her face was Gabrielle's main focus. It was so compassionate, so caring, so loving.

Gabrielle realized she had been lying to everyone and to herself for the last week. She did not want to just focus on soccer. She wanted to react and talk about and respond to everything her parents did and did not say to her after that call. But she didn't want to do it with anyone expect Xena. She didn't feel comfortable enough or cared for enough or herself enough. She knew that was probably too much, too codependent. But in the moment, she did not fucking care.

She dropped her bags and hurried toward Xena. She buried her face into her shoulder and began to cry. Xena wrapped her arms tightly around her.

"Aye, I got ya," Xena whispered to her softly.

Gabrielle began to sob against her. She was not even sure how it happened but Xena managed to get her to the bed and lay her down beside her. She kept her arms tightly around her and Gabrielle placed her arms around her as well and pressed herself against her tightly. She felt like there was some sort of intense heat pulling her closer and closer to Xena. She couldn't stop it, couldn't control it. But she also didn't want to. She felt a strong need to tip her face up toward Xena's and found her already looking down at her. Xena leaned down and kissed her with such a soft, sensuality that Gabrielle unintentionally bucked up against her in delight. Gabrielle could feel Xena's lips form into a grin while they were still pressed against hers.

It almost made Gabrielle feel foolish about how lost and sad she had felt for the last week. Did it even matter if Xena was waiting up to show her this much affection?

"Welcome to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey for the CONCACAF Final against the always-favored United States and powerhouse, newcomer Costa Rica. I'm Ialous, alongside broadcast partner and two-time World Cup winner Melosa. How are you feeling about today's match-up?"

"I am most interested to see how Athena plays this," Melosa answered. "As we know, the United States has dominated the tournament so far. It is not that Costa Rica is not a threat, but they would have to pull off a miracle to end with a higher ranking than Canada."

"Yes," Ialous replied with a strong nod. "The result of this game does not matter for the United States, regardless they will qualify for the World Cup in France. The top three CONCACAF teams will qualify. If Costa Rica wins by three or more they will finished in second place, if not Canada will beat them out on goal differential and take the second spot."

"It offers Athena some flexibility," Melosa pointed out. "Maybe she will shake up the roster since this could be the team's last match before they depart for France in a few months."

"Yes, no word on a farewell tour as of yet," Ialous said. "We will be back with line-ups and kickoff after these messages."

"Hey," Xena called at Gabrielle softly to get her attention as she was walking with the other starters to the tunnel. Xena was in her full warmups and a jacket since she was starting on the bench and probably entering the game at the 65th minute. "You okay? You got this?"

Gabrielle sighed nervously but nodded at her. She was starting out of position in the midfield. Athena wanted to test something new as a possibility for when Terries returned. Gabrielle had been slid up into Yakut's usual attacking midfielder spot. Yakut slid over in the expanded four-player midfield as Tarah, who had played centerback in high school, was put in Paulina's spot and Paulina was moved over to Gabrielle's normal position at right back.

"Aye," Xena said as she confidently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're gonna do great," she leaned in to kiss her and despite her initial nerves, Gabrielle was glad for it.

Xena walked away to follow the other bench players and the couching staff out onto the sideline. Aphrodite sat beside her, wearing a large blue team-issued coat over a crisp, white pantsuit.

"This is not all too much for her?" Aphrodite asked. "You know, with everything that is going on?" she raised her eyebrows at Xena.

Xena rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Nah, she's fine. She can handle this."

Aphrodite detected a hint of uncertainty but didn't mention it. "I hope you're right, Xena. I would hate for her to loss her spot on the team when Terries returns."

Xena scoffed. "You know it'd take a disaster for that to happen now."

"Interesting shake up, wouldn't you say, Melosa?" Ialous asked.

"On the surface, yes," she replied. "But when you think about it, what it mostly tells us is that Athena is expecting Terries, the usual starting right back for the last few years, to be game-fit by the World Cup. But clearly she values Gabrielle too much to leave her off the roster."

"Yes, let's see how the young standout does in her new position," Ialous chimed in.

Before kickoff, Gabrielle had been incredibly nervous even with Xena's encouragement. Gabrielle knew almost nothing about the Costa Rican National Team, expect that they had a strong midfield centered around two players that played in the NWSL. And now Gabrielle had been unexpectedly thrown in with them.

Like usual when Xena started on the bench, Athena had switched the formation to a 4-4-2. Gabrielle found herself charging inward much more than normal and receiving passes from Eve and Varia that she usually provided. Gabrielle's nerves began to dissipate when she managed to flick a cross from Eve toward the goal with her head. The Costa Rican keeper was barely able to chip it over the crossbar, creating the U.S.'s first corner. Varia sent in a perfectly weighted pass. Gabrielle knew it was too high for her and ducked so Ephiny could have an open line of sight. She hit it perfectly off her forehead and it floated passed the keeper.

"Yes!" Varia screamed in excitement as she ran and jumped at Ephiny. She held her up for a moment as the rest of the team swarmed them.

"And that is an early lead for the American in the 13th minute here at the CONCACAF Final," Ialous called.

"That is the first goal for Ephiny but the fifth assist for Varia, who is currently leading the tournament," Melosa added.

Gabrielle, Paulina, and Tarah all seemed to fall perfectly into place in their unusual positions. After a clumsy first touch in the 21st minute, Tarah managed a clean second touch and booted a pass up the field to Gabrielle, who quickly got around her defender and chipped it up to Eve. The placement was so flawless, she got a foot on the volley and it rocketed into the back of the net. Xena's cousin pointed at Gabrielle excitedly before she clapped and ran back to her starting position.

They scored once more before the half ended with a series of excellent passes from Cyane to Chilipa to Gabrielle to Varia and ending on a backheel that Eve tapped in. The crowd erupted and the halftime whistle blow a few seconds later.

When Gabrielle entered the locker room at halftime, Xena was already leaning back against the lockers they had chosen beside each other with her arms crossed over her chest and a grin on her face.

"Told ya, ya had nothing to worry about," Xena told her with a smile.

Gabrielle approached her and leaned down to kiss her.

"Ewww," Amarice called from her locker across the room.

Numerous other players laughed.

"Oh fuck off, Amarice," Gabrielle shot as she stood, turned, and sat beside Xena.

That drew even more laughter.

"Alright," Athena loudly called as she entered the center of the locker room. "The fun is over. Let's have a real talk about this game."

She was silent for a moment and moved her arms from being crossed against her chest to putting her hands in the pockets of her black pant suit. "I am impressed. Incredibly impressed by all of your performances today. I know I asked possibly questionable feats from many of you. You all rose to the occasion and I could not be happier about that. However, I would like to throw in another challenge."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Xena," Athena called. "You will be subbing into your usual position on the frontline. Yakut, you will be coming off, so we can return to a three-person midfield."

Athena continued her explanation for the tactically changes, but Gabrielle stopped listening. She assumed Xena had too since she had moved her hand over to Gabrielle's thigh and squeezed it. She looked up at Xena, who was giving her a pleased and impressed expression. Gabrielle felt codependent and needy again, but she also needed Xena's reassurance to make it feel true. Athena had kept her in the game playing in an untested position, over keeping in Yakut in her normal position. It felt like a huge moment and she was overly pleased that Xena was there to share it with her.

The second half went as spectacularly as the first. Xena scored in the 60th minute, Paulina scored off a set piece in the 75th, and Varia scored in the 91st. The game ended 6-0 in favor of the United States. They had won the CONCACAF tournament and qualified for the World Cup.

Gabrielle had seen it so often on television, on social media, and on soccer blogs, but being a part of the trophy lifting and post-game champagne spraying celebration was more exhilarating than she could have ever imagined.

Amid the champagne spraying, Amarice reached Gabrielle and clenched the sides of her face, pushing her ski-goggles even tighter against her temple. "This is only CONCACAF, bitch! Get ready!" She called at her excitedly as she lightly slapped her face.

"Aye, aye, aye," Xena called as she reached them and playfully shoved Amarice away from Gabrielle. "Leave her alone," Xena laughed as she took a long swing of the bottle of champagne in her hand.

"Yeah," Gabrielle added as she readjusted her goggles. "I'm with Xena," she called and the blushed a bit, suddenly feeling how this much champagne had mixed with 90-plus minutes of game play.

Amarice chuckled. "Oh shit, captain," she directed at Xena. "You need to take her home."

Xena laughed as she downed the last few drops of her champagne bottle. "Yachi'd be sayin' the same, so get home safe, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Amarice replied. "Go get fucked."

"Ignore her," Xena called in annoyance as she led Gabrielle away.

"But don't ignore my advice," Amarice called after them.

Gabrielle began to laugh as Xena pulled her out of the locker room and into the hallway.