× Horan

"This is cute," I grinned, looking at a picture of Lynn at the age of four swimming in a red jersey with her hands up in the air mid-cheer, the biggest grin on her face. Beyond her was a football field, little kids running around trying to get to the checkered ball.

Nona leaned over the island counter and looked at the photo album in front of me. "That was one of Anders' soccer games," she explained. "It was a good day, they had won. However, it was definitely a day to remember. When we were on the way to the game, Lynn had asked how babies were made. Now, mind you, her parents thought she wouldn't understand most of it so they told her all about the sperm and the egg and so on. Then, sitting at the game with parents all around us, she blurts out 'Daddy, is your sperm still inside me?'"

I busted out laughing. I could imagine that scene perfectly; an innocent little Lynn confused as to why everyone around her looked so horrified.

"What's so funny in-" Lynn started when she entered the kitchen, but as soon as she saw the photo album lying open in front of me, she froze. "No, no, not the baby pictures!"

"Oh, relax," Nona said with a wave of her hand. "We're well past baby Lynn in the bath."

I just now took notice what she was wearing; nothing but a towel. She had clearly just gotten out of the shower. Involuntarily, my eyes traveled down her legs that exposed themselves under the hem of the towel around her waist. I quickly looked away before Nona or Lynn could take notice in my sudden interest change.

"I just told him the time at your brother's soccer game," Nona explained. "You know, the one when you asked-"

"No!" Lynn shouted and covered what she could of her face with one hand, a red tint going to her cheeks. "That's worse than the bath pictures!"

Nona laughed and went back to chopping up onions. "I wouldn't go that far, dear. However, shouting at the top of your lungs in the middle of the movie theater lobby that you 'wanted cockporn' probably made it to the top of the list."

"Okay, we're done," Lynn said as she reached over and grabbed the photo album, slamming it shut.

"Aw," I pouted. "I was rather enjoying myself."

Lynn took the stool beside me and adjusted her towel so it wouldn't fall off. "Well, you're just going to have to find something else to amuse you."

Without warning, my hand went to her uncovered leg, slowly running it up her thigh. "I have a pretty good idea what might work."

She watched me with wide eyes and quickly looked over at her grandma to see if she was paying any attention. Then Lynn swiveled away from me so my hand left her skin, but her ankle twisted the wrong way in the process and she let out a small wince, face scrunched up in slight pain.

Nona herd the grimace and paused from chopping onions to looked over, concern written all over her face. "You okay, dear? Your ankle acting up again?"

Lynn was bent down, her back to me, hands wrapped around her ankle as she twisted the joint around in a circle, feeling the pull of her muscles contrasting to her touch. "Yeah," she answered. "It started a few weeks ago. Now it doesn't take much for it to hurt."

"The doctor did say that it would give you problems," she told her granddaughter. "He also advised that you not play soccer anymore, that it would make more complications in the future."

"Your doctor said that?" I asked.

Lynn looked over at me. "He did. But he never said it was prohibited."

Nona wiped her eyes after putting down the knife. "No, but he did say it would be wise for you to stop playing. But I'm sure you know by now, Niall, that this girl can be stubborn."

"Figured that out the first day I met her," I grinned at Lynn, who only glared back at me.

"Did you hear that Katie's back for the holidays?" Nona asked, changing the subject. "Coach Sharp told me a few days ago. Apparently she's staying with her aunt and uncle here for Christmas."

"We saw her at the beach yesterday. She's probably with her cousin right now bonding over the foul play they pulled," Lynn grumbled bitterly.

Nona crossed her arms. "Are you still on that?" she asked accusingly at Lynn. "I brought her up in hopes that you two could make amends. It's been a year and you two went to school together in high school - you were on the same soccer team for Pete's sake."

Lynn didn't say anything as Nona went back to her onion cutting. I wanted to know what happened between her and Katie. I didn't realize they went to the same high school and were on the football team together, and that only drew me in more. What else didn't I know about those two?

There was three days until Christmas. Yesterday Lynn and I helped Nona set up the Christmas tree in the living room along with other festive decorations around the house. Treats and goodies lined the island counter in front of me and it brought me back to the Christmas' in my family before things turned sour. It had been a long time since I had a Christmas outside of campus.

"Oh, shoot," Nona said suddenly, drawing the attention to Lynn and I. She was looking in the fridge with a crease between her brows. "I don't have any shredded cheese or tomatoes."

Lynn laughed. "Is that your way of telling me to go to the store and pick you up some?"

Nona closed the fridge door and smiled at her sweetly. "If you don't mind."

"I guess," Lynn said before she got off the stool and fixed the towel around her waist. "Niall, you want to come to the store with me?"

I looked over at Nona who was back to preparing dinner and decided I would rather get some things at the supermarket than make small talk with Lynn's grandmother. "Sure."

"I'm going to get dressed and then we can leave," Lynn said as she walked out of the kitchen.

I watched her go, her incredibly long legs that met the span of her hips that swayed with every step. It was hard to look away, and the only reason I did was because Nona cleared her throat, drawing my attention to her. She was watching me closely with knowing eyes.

"Eyes above the neck, Mister."

× × ×

We were at a small supermarket called Jon's Marketplace or something like that. It only took us seven minutes to drive there and the parking lot was nearly deserted. The floors were wooden and the walls were painted a nice shade of tan. The place was well stocked and clean, unlike the local supermarket closest to campus. It was a cute place if you were into family owned, small as hell, markets, I suppose.

When we found the tomatoes, Lynn grabbed a produce bag and collected two nice, round ones before putting them into the basket in her hand.

I picked up a fruit and held it up for Lynn to see. "If I were a watermelon, would you spit or swallow my seed?"

"You already know the answer to that," Lynn quickly responded with a grin.

I laughed, totally not expecting her to retort so fast.

I followed Lynn around the store as she grabbed some snack foods and soda before we started heading to the dairy department. When Lynn grabbed a couple bags of shredded cheese, her phone made a noise. She moved the basket to the crook of her arm and dug out her phone. When she read the text message, she let a small laugh.

"Grandma sent me a list of things she just so happen to forgot that she needed," Lynn said, holding the phone out for me to see.

I skimmed the list. "You get the whipped cream and I'll go get the bread."

We parted ways and I easily found my way to the bakery. I grabbed what Nona had requested and started making my way back to Lynn, but got distracted before I had the chance.

"Did you get it?" she asked a few moments later.

I placed the bread in the basket and held up a long French bread. "Do you think this is accurately represented?" I asked and held it out from my crotch.

Lynn bit her lip from laughing. "You're horrible."

I put the bread back and took a step closer to her. I placed my hand on her hip and drew her into my chest, my lips ghosting against her neck.

"You didn't answer the question," I teased.

It took her a moment to respond. "It wasn't accurate."

I pulled away from her. "You're right, I'm bigger."

Lynn took a few steps back, holding the small red basket in front of her as her thighs hit the plastic mesh when she walked. I could tell she wanted to say something, but she didn't as she just stood and stared at me.

"Do you mind going to get me some painkillers?" she asked suddenly. "I'll get the rest of Grandma's list."

"Sure," I said with a grin and started making my way to the pharmacy.

I wondered around once I was in the department and found the aisle where they had the painkillers. I was greeted with a long row of different sized boxes and bottles of different kind of brands with the choice of capsules, tablets, or jell. How anyone could find what they were looking for was beyond me, it was like a goddamn maze of pain relief.

I grabbed a random bottle since Lynn didn't specify what she wanted and continued to walk around, waiting for her to join me. I was standing in front of a cased display in front of the pharmacy when she finally arrived. I dropped the painkillers into the basket and continued to look at the selections in front of me.

Lynn looked at me wearily. "What are you doing?"

"Why do they have the condoms locked up?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Either people are too embarrassed to buy them so they end up stealing them or people think it would be funny to poke holes in the condoms before resealing the package. You have to ask someone to open the case for you."

I had to look at her to make sure she was being serious, and from the look on her face it was clear that she was. "America's fucked up."

Looking around, I spotted a worker and flagged her down. I told her that I wanted something inside and she quickly unlocked the case without question. I grabbed a box of Trojan's and dropped them into the basket.

"Why do you need condoms, anyways?" she asked suspiciously.

"I was in a rush when I was packing and forgot them."

"What do you have in mind for this trip?" she continued to press.

I shrugged, a small smile forming on my lips. "You never really know when you might need them."

There was suddenly a cruel laugh behind us. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you by the condoms," they said. "You've always been a whore."

I turned around and came face-to-face with a girl around our age. I instantly recognized her from the beach yesterday and knew the conversation Lynn wanted to avoid wasn't going to go in her favor. Lynn was tense beside me, but she easily stood her ground in front of Katie.

"It's not my fault your boyfriend in high school payed more attention to me than you," Lynn said monotonously. "Apparently you weren't satisfying enough."

Katie visibly sneered and it was clear Lynn was pushing her buttons. "He went to you because he knew you were easy," she jeered. "Which brings me back to you being a whore."

"I never even slept with him. Honestly, he was annoying, you two made a good couple."

She opened her mouth to respond, but right then a tall lad walked up to Katie. "Did you get what you needed?" he asked.

Then he looked up and saw Lynn and I and the moment his brown eyes locked on Lynn, he become rigid. I noticed him instantly start fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and with his blonde hair on the back of his neck. That was something I did often, but this was different. Mine was out of nervousness where his seemed more like an involuntary tic.

"Ethan," Katie said, a huge smile on her lips. "You remember Lynn, don't you?"

The lad didn't say anything and just continued to stare at Lynn and play with his hair. The more he stood there, the more his tic seemed to get worse. He clearly knew and remembered Lynn well to have this kind of reaction toward her.

"I know Lynn remembers you," Katie continued to grin, looking at Lynn like she was a nuisance. "I can't imagine it being easy to forget."

Suddenly, Lynn's hand was in mine and pulling me away from them, muttering that we should leave and never come back. I obeyed willingly, but not before I looked over my shoulder at them one last time. Ethan was looking every which way, but Katie was glaring at the two of us as we walked away.

× × ×

Back inside her Jeep with the grocery bags at my feet, I decided to bring up the conversation I was dying to know more about.

"So, what's the deal with you and that Katie girl?" I asked. "I know she tripped you during your game last year. But why?"

"It's kind of a long story," she said, biting her lip.

I sat and waited for her to continue, but she didn't. We passed houses that looked the same, saw children playing at a park, and people walking their dogs. According to the movement of the trees, there seemed to be very little wind and the temperature outside felt like summer to me.

"It started in middle school," Lynn said, surprising me. She was gripping the steering wheel with one hand and the other on the stick shift between us. "Katie tried to outdo me in everything - grades, soccer, even boys. It lasted all the way through high school until she moved away in eleventh grade."

We stopped at a red light and in the side view mirror I saw a firetruck pull up behind us.

"We were on the same soccer team in high school," Lynn continued as the light turned green. "She was captain of the team and took every chance she got to rub it in my face. Then one day I saw her smoking pot behind the school an hour before practice started. I debated if it was even worth telling Coach Sharp, but in the end I knew that I didn't have a choice.

"I told Coach about it and after the 'random' drug test proved me right, Katie was kicked off the team while I took her captain spot. She was pissed. We were sixteen at the time so that was on her record until she turned eighteen. But as you know, being in soccer, that stuff stays with you forever. So when she moved to North Carolina and tried out for the soccer team in college, they wouldn't let her join. The only reason she's in it now was because her cousin pulled some strings."

The car was silent after that. I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to say, if I was being honest. Everything made sense, though, why Katie would have such a huge grudge against Lynn.

You ruined my life, was what she said when she interrupted the victory party so many months ago.

Drugs were a football player's kryptonite. It could literally destroy any chance you have at playing ever again, and Katie experienced that first hand. But it was her own fault. Lynn wasn't responsible; she was only doing what she had to do for the sake of the team. If Lynn knew what Katie would do in the future, I was damn sure she wouldn't have uttered a word to her coach about the drugs.

"The stunt she pulled last year was because of all that?" I asked.

She nodded. "The cousin who pulled the strings to get her on the North Carolina team was the same cousin who was refereeing that game. They both wanted payback."

"And her cousin..."

Lynn nodded. "Yeah. It was Ethan."

All of it was insane to me. If anyone had any proof of this, Katie and her cousin not only would be fired/kicked off the team, but probably have some legal forms to fill out, as well. If karma was real, then I hoped for Lynn's benefit that it pulls the rug right out from underneath those two sometime in the near future.

We were a block away from the house when suddenly the firetruck from behind us started up the sirens, making Lynn and I jump in our seats from the sudden noise.

Lynn quickly pulled over to the side to let them pass, and we watched as the truck turned the corner, down Lynn's block.

"Oh, god," I heard her say from beside me, her voice thin and distant. "Oh, nononono."

Then she was in drive again, gunning the engine down the road. She turned down her block just in time to see the firetruck drive past Nona's house and disappear around the corner, the sirens fading in the distance.

Lynn stopped in the middle of the road and stared out in front of her. She had a look in her eye I haven't seen before. It didn't belong on her face and it scared me. She was breathing all wrong, beginning to gasp like there's not enough oxygen in the air, a symptom I knew too well from my panic attacks. I could see her shaking as she moved her hands to cover her face, placing her forehead down against the steering wheel.

I wasn't sure what to do. I was never good at comforting people. But going off of experience, I knew the best thing I could do was sit and wait until she calmed down.

Eventually Lynn sat back up and removed her hands from her face. She looked absolutely overwhelmed and relived at the same time.

"I'm sorry," she said softly into the silence. "I just thought... I thought maybe Grandma was in trouble. The last I saw her she was in the kitchen and I just kind of got ahead of myself." She paused and continued to look out the windshield, taking deep breaths. "I'm sorry, I was over reacting."

"You don't have to apologize."

We sat in the jeep for a few minutes as Lynn caught her breath. "Can I..." she trailed off. "Never mind."

"No, what were you going to say?"

"Can I show you something?"