Eden sat on her bed with my laptop in front of her. There was a fleecy blanket wrapped around her body as she concentrated on the screen. The cut on her face was healing nicely and had become nothing but a pink line. In a few days, it'd be gone completely. Every few seconds, she'd giggle and it would capture my attention, distracting me from the paperwork that I was busy with. Dad had entrusted me to document what Ashley had done.

After the fight two days ago, Caleb called an emergency meeting. At first, I was annoyed because I didn't want to leave Eden's side - but Mary insisted that she'd stay with her and keep her company. The latter seemed to find it comical that I was fastened to her sister by the hip.

Once I got to the office, I found that my siblings and Dad were already there. Charlie looked about ready to bulldoze a wall with her body alone. Her face was red with fury and Dad had to tell her to calm down. I expected her to blow up because Charlie hated being told what to do. But surprisingly, she took in a deep breath before moving to stand next to me.

Caleb stated that he had some fascinating news. Apparently, two weeks ago he'd asked Luke and Ethan to sign up as coaches at the Lakeside rec centre. I had no idea how any of it applied to the situation at hand, but Caleb explained that they were tasked to train kids who wanted to play soccer.

He startled us when he declared that the rec centre was where the McLaughlin Women's soccer club practised. Luke and Ethan spied on them during their training and reported back to Caleb. When he mentioned that, Dad got upset and told him that he didn't raise his children to be cheaters.

My brother didn't even react and merely resumed by announcing that he found that the strategies McLaughlin were using were exactly what Charlie was teaching our girls. Dad's mouth snapped shut at that, whereas Charlie inquired how that was possible since she came up with all of her strategies herself.

His simple rejoinder was, "Ashley." When all of us were too dumbstruck to speak, he advanced by saying, "she's been stealing all of our game plans and strategies and gave them to the captain of McLaughlin. Luke found out that Ashley was promised a spot on the team if she helped. And just a few days ago, they saw her at the field on the same day McLaughlin was scheduled to practice. This was the proof I needed before I could do anything." He showed us photos of Ashley talking to the rival captain.

It took her a few seconds, but then my sister exploded. She lurched for the door and I had to act quick, coiling my arms around her to keep her from going to assassinate Ashley. She screeched, thrashed in my hold and yelled for me to let her go. I resorted to tossing her over my shoulder and she continued to pound her fists against my back. Caleb helped me out by taking Charlie from me, and Dad summoned Liam over the intercoms.

The bulky man appeared in under five minutes and took Charlie away, asking her if she wanted to get some ice cream. Charlie answered with, "only if you let me shove the cone up Ashley's ass."

Dad urged her not to do anything drastic, and she obeyed. It was an unspoken agreement that Ashley was to be kicked off the team. No argument there. The problem was the game against McLaughlin tomorrow. We couldn't go against them if they knew everything we had planned. It only made sense to cancel the match. Now, we needed to find a new team to go against because we didn't want the girls' training to go to waste. Ten weeks of training was a long time.

Eden's laughter pulled me back into the present moment and I watched her giggle into her hand, nestling further into the blanket. I just needed to finish up a few more things before I could sit with her. Dad asked me to state every offence Ashley committed, as well as how she conspired with the McLaughlin team. I promised myself I'd make sure that no team ever recruited her and that no one would ever play a match against McLaughlin again because they were a bunch of cheats.

Once I was content with the printed documents, I stood up and went over to my girlfriend. She scooted over slightly to make space for me. "Where's Mary?" I questioned, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"Kenzie took her around town," she muttered before laughing again at the screen. "She wants to see as much as she can before we leave this weekend."

It was like someone threw freezing water into my face. Eden didn't discern my frozen state as she giggled again, eyes still trained on my laptop. I couldn't move. I didn't apprehend that time had caught up with us. Eden was always supposed to leave after the McLaughlin match. That was the plan. And that match was supposed to take place tomorrow. Which meant that she'd leave later that night.

I glimpsed around, only now marking that there were suitcases. Her closet was slightly open and I could see that most of her clothes were missing, already packed and ready to go. It felt like I was about to have a panic attack and I had a sudden powerful urge to smoke a cigarette.

"You look like you need a hug," Eden pronounced and before I knew it, her arms were around me. My laptop was placed next to her as she snuggled into my chest. She looked up at me, gaze troubled. "Are you okay?" Not giving me a chance to respond, she articulated again. "Because you don't look okay."

Pressing a kiss to her lips, I sighed. "I'm just stressed out with everything that's going on." It constantly astounded me how effortless it was for me to tell her exactly how I was feeling.

"Yeah, that's really messy, isn't it?" For some reason, her accent made it sound hilarious, and I allowed myself to chuckle slightly. I peeked down at her, staring at the pink scratch and the yellowish bruise on her jaw. "I suppose it makes me look like a badass, hey?"

I laughed again. "Please never say that." I wondered if Eden knew that she'd be leaving me in about a day. She didn't mention it yet, but I knew we had to talk about it soon. "So, how do you feel about the match being cancelled?"

She was still for a moment, thinking my question through. "I was prepared for the game, so I'm a little disappointed that we won't play-"

"Charlie's finding a new team to play against and they'll be ready by Sunday," I cut her off. "So you'll get to play after all. How about that?" I didn't get an answer from her and when I peered down, she was staring at me weirdly. "What?"

"I know what you're doing," she spoke with a rueful smile, running her fingertips over my jaw. I quivered at her touch. "But the festival is on Sunday, remember? I can't stay longer than this weekend." Her words made a lump form in my throat. It was already a tough subject because there was a chance that I wouldn't make it to the festival.

I had to be here for the new match and we already had our hands full with having to find a new striker and attacking midfielder to replace Eden and Ashley. We all acknowledged that Eden couldn't stay longer than she originally planned. But I hated that I might not fulfil my promise to her. She assured me it was no problem and that she'd force Alex to neglect his duties and take her.

But I could see that she was saddened- and I was too. I swore to myself that I'd be there at that festival. Because she might not have known, but her drunken self made it very clear that it was imperative that I be there at the festival.

Not wanting to continue this conversation, I lifted myself from the bed and scooped Eden up in my arms, headed for the kitchen. She squealed and wrapped her arms around my neck and legs around my waist when she felt as if she was going to fall. I laughed and pecked her pouty lips before I continued my journey. Once I arrived at the kitchen, I set her on the counter.

I placed my phone next to her just as it lit up with a message from Cassandra. Whilst Eden stared at me, I quickly responded to the message, smiling when Cassandra informed me that she and her husband received their tickets.

"Who's Cassandra?" Eden questioned, although she sounded nonchalant.

Kissing her lips, I replied, "It's a surprise. You just have to wait for a little." Knowing that Eden hated surprises, I snorted at the annoyed look on her face. I turned back to the fridge, not elaborating further, and she scowled. It had taken quite a bit of effort to track down Cassandra, and I knew it would make my girlfriend happy when I revealed the surprise to her.

Suddenly suspicious, Eden asked noiselessly, "what are you making?"

"I'm going to make us something to eat, baby," my too calm voice wafted through the air as I took a few things out of the freezer and set them down next to her.

"You can cook?" Eden sought and kicked off her slippers before slowly settling her feet onto the counter and tried standing up. It wasn't cooking. It was just chicken nuggets.

There were so many things to still learn about each other, and I felt as if I was running out of time. It was like Eden was going to slip through my fingers. "Of course I—what are you doing?" A genuine laugh left me when I discerned Eden standing on the counter.

"Ha!" she pointed at me with a snicker. "I'm taller than you!" She posed like Captain America in one of the Marvel posters. All she needed was the suit and the shield to complete the picture.

"You're going to fall down, Eden," I told her in amusement, setting the oven so that it could pre-heat before I put in the chicken nuggets.

"What's that?" she teased, cupping her small hands around her ears in mock bewilderment. "I can't hear you from all the way down there." I shook my head, leaning back against the opposite counter to grin at her.

Eden continued parading around before standing on her tiptoes to see how far she was from the ceiling. Even when boosted up on a counter, she was still very far from it. After a few minutes, I placed the chicken nuggets on a tray and into the oven. "How are you gonna kiss me if my lips are all the way down here?" I asked with a small smile.

That shut Eden up. Her hazel eyes were nearly the size of saucers; she stuck her tongue out at me before slowly sitting down again. I chuckled lowly, and sauntered towards her, standing between her legs, hands resting on her hips. "Still want that kiss?"

Eden rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss. I held her tightly in my arms as if she'd disappear at any moment. And she was. She was going to disappear, and I'd be all alone again. I pulled away imperceptibly and dragged my nose lightly across her cheek.

My next words were barely perceptible, and she only heard it because I whispered it right by her ear. "Please don't leave me." I pressed a light kiss to the corner of her mouth.

She pulled away abruptly, keeping me at a distance as her eyes widened. "I'm not leaving you, Christian." She appeared at a loss for words, stuttering and barely able to let out a proper sentence. Her eyes suddenly became moist, and I cursed softly. "Is that what you think?"

I shook my head, trying to pull her back into my arms. "I just don't want you to go. London is very far away from California, baby. I don't know how far but-"

"5,323.21 miles or 8,566.88 kilometres. That's the shortest distance by plane," she spoke over me, voice tremulous. I glanced up at her, but she wouldn't meet my gaze and instead focused on her legs. It looked like she was trying to gather her thoughts.

When I still said nothing, she recommenced, voice a little tougher this time. "You think I don't know how big the distance is? You think I haven't been crying myself to sleep for the past week because soon enough, all of that distance is going to be between us, Christian." There were tears pooling in her beautiful eyes and I clenched my jaw. "That's 8,566.88 bloody kilometres between us."

It was a huge mistake on my part to think that this was only taking a toll on me. Clearly, Eden had been thinking about it too. My throat felt as if there was a pebble stuck in it and I couldn't swallow around it. I hated seeing Eden cry. My hands began trembling but I still couldn't bring myself to say something, afraid that I'd end up bursting into tears - because that's how I felt, like crying.

"11 hours and 16 minutes," Eden murmured, reaching out to cup my jaw. "That's how long a plane ride from here to London is. I've already figured out a stupid schedule to work around school and me visiting you. I have to save up money though." She laughed in embarrassment, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks, and I wiped them away.

I placed my forehead against hers, encircling my arms around her. "I know you're not leaving me, it's just going to be difficult. But you know what?" Pulling away, I kissed her again. "You're worth every mile between us, Eden. It'll hurt not having you close all the time, it'll hurt like fucking hell. But it'd hurt even more if I didn't have you at all."

She burrowed her face into my neck, allowing me to just hold her. Because soon all we'd have to be close to each other were text messages and calls. I didn't know how long we stayed like that, but it must've been for a while. When I opened my eyes, Dad was leaning against the doorframe with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Eden lifted her head slightly. "It smells like something's burning-"

"Fuck," I swore, letting go of her to hasten over to the oven. When I opened it, a tremendous puff of smoke came out and it bombarded my nostrils with the smell of charred chicken. I could hear Eden's laugh in the background as I grabbed a cloth and began fanning the air.

She stopped when she discerned Dad by the door. With an awkward smile, she stammered, "I'm gonna go pack the rest of my things." Dad beamed at her on the way out, and it seemed to freak her out because she sent me a perplexed look before vanishing.

I put on gloves to take out the tray whilst Dad leaned against the counter Eden previously sat on. "She's a shy one, isn't she?" He gesticulated to the doorway where Eden went through. I didn't respond because I was still furious at him for making me stay for the match. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." I rolled my eyes, abandoning the burnt chicken nuggets. "You said not having her close would hurt like hell. Do you even know what hell is?"

Tossing the gloves aside, I turned to face him. "Hell is distance between two people who love each other. Is that the answer you were looking for?" He laughed to himself, probably because I wasn't taking him seriously.

"Yes, that's the right answer," he grinned, and I looked away. "I know how you feel. I'm in a long-distance relationship myself. Your mom's in heaven and I'm down here."

He was still smiling, and I muttered, "that's not funny."

Dad cleared his throat, but he was still grinning. "No, it's not. But I know how you feel. And that's exactly why I was looking to speak to you. I have one important question. Do you really love her?"

For some reason, I felt like a blushing schoolgirl whose frenemy told the entire school who she had a crush on. I crossed my arms, hoping to look more composed. I scoffed. "Love is too weak of a word to describe what I feel for her. "

There was silence for a few seconds and when I finally looked at Dad - he was smirking. And then he said something that made me want to hug him until he passed out.