Chapter 180: Driven by Hunger
November 18th, 2010
The drive home was quiet. Niels didn't bother turning on the radio, he just quietly drove the car.
Outside, the headlights lit up the dark, wet streets of Crawley streets he knew well, yet tonight they felt strangely distant, almost unfamiliar.
A few hours earlier, he'd stood in front of thousands, carrying the weight of the game, the hopes of his team, maybe even the whole crowd.
The silence pressed in around him, and with it came a heavy sense of emptiness he couldn't shake.
He kept going over those last moments in the locker room.
Not the cheers or the quiet smiles, but the silence after he finished talking.
That heavy, awkward silence.
He remembered their faces Dev's eyes filled with emotions, Max looking confused, like he didn't know what to think.
The pride they'd felt just moments before had turned into something else.
Something heavier.
Maybe it was shame.
Maybe it was doubt.
He wasn't sure.
