Chapter 24: The Quiet Climb
Sunday, 14 December
The ground was wet again, not from rain, just from the kind of mist that settles in and lingers. The kind that makes even still things feel like they're moving. The kind that sinks into your coat before you even know you're cold.
Niels stood at the edge of the training ground, arms folded, his breath rising in short, visible puffs. The squad was out there jogging laps, working the draw out of their muscles.
The match against Burton ended 1โ1. It wasn't exciting, but at least it wasn't a loss or a disaster.
The old Crawley might have crumbled after falling behind. But not this time. They stayed calm, fought back, and stayed in control. That made a difference.
Reece gave Niels a glance as he passed on the jog. Just a look that said, "We know."
Niels nodded back, barely moving. There wasn't much to say. No frustration. No over-analysis. The team had taken a punch and stayed on their feet.
Now, they were learning to swing back.
Later that afternoon, Niels sat in the quiet of his small office. Match footage looping silently on his laptop. Outside, the pitch lights still glowed, empty now. Quiet.
Later that afternoon, Niels sat quietly in his small office, watching the match footage loop on his laptop. Outside, the pitch lights still glowed, but the field was empty, silent and peaceful.
The goal was all about the team perfectly executed, clean, and exactly how it should've been.
He leaned back, exhaled through his nose, and picked up the pen, jotting a quick note on the pad next to him.
Then his phone buzzed once.
A message from his sister.
_"Mum made your favourite. No one else wanted it ๐"
Attached: a photo of a half-eaten casserole dish. Familiar. Comforting, in a strange way. A cake beside it, with a plastic fork stuck in like a flag.
Niels stared at the photo for a long while.
The kitchen in the background looked the same those familiar curtains, the uneven counter corner. It was like his body remembered, even if his mind hadn't quite caught up.
"Tell her I would've eaten all of it. And tell Dad the fork in the cake is ridiculous."
The reply came quickly.
"He put ketchup on it too. Call us soon, okay?"
It's just a playful conversation about the odd things happening with the family meal.
He didn't answer that part. Just locked the phone and set it screen-down beside his notes.
It wasn't that he didn't care, that was the hardest part. Every time they messaged, he felt a faint pull in his chest, a mix of guilt and distance. But he still didn't know how to pick up the phone.
Ever sinceโฆ waking up like this, since stepping into this version of his life, there hadn't been any memories of them. Just photos. Hints of something. Shadows of what used to be.
They were family, but in a story he hadn't lived.
Still, the message made him smile. Even if it hurt a little.
Monday
The morning meeting room was warm from the old radiator that always kicked on too loud.
Niels was already writing when the senior players walked in. Accrington Stanley next in away game. A tough and scrappy side. The kind of match that doesn't show up in highlight reels but tells you exactly who you are.
He circled two words on the whiteboard:
"Ugly."
"Composed."
"We'll need to make it boring," he said, not looking up yet. "Control the pace. Don't let it turn into a coin toss."
Reece leaned back in his chair, arms folded. Luka twirled a pen between his fingers. Nate had a notebook this time, he'd started writing things down since matchday 12. Niels noticed and nodded as he approved that.
"They win by tearing teams apart," he said. "We just can't let that happen."
No speeches. No hype. Just straight to the point.
The climb wasn't about magic. It was about repeating the right things.
That afternoon's training was sharp and clean.
The drills were sharp. No sloppiness. No daydreaming.
Max had a point to prove. His shot off the post at Burton still clung to him like static. But he didn't rush anything. Didn't lash out. Just hit every pass with focus.
Luka and Dev were combining well with quick, one-touch sequences in tight spaces. Reece was vocal again, marshalling the left side.
Even the lads outside the starting eleven, Ellis, Korey, Qazi they trained like they were next up. No complaints, no slowing down.
Niels watched from the sideline, hands in pockets, making small notes. A few drills later, he put the notebook away and just observed.
They were evolving, silently shaping into something stronger.
The climb was slow, but it was happening.
That night, back in his flat, Niels heated up a simple meal and sat on the small sofa with his laptop. He opened the same file he'd been writing in since preseason. The one with the restless mind. The notes and the unspoken truths.
He scrolled past a line he'd written weeks ago:
"What comes after survival?"
Then another:
"The teams that rise don't always win. But they don't lose the wrong ones."
He clicked below, started typing again:
"You don't always hear the moments when something shifts. Sometimes it's just silence, and then suddenlyโฆ everyone knows."
He stopped and looked at it. Let it sit.
Then picked up his phone and stared at the screen.
One unread message from his sister, still waiting from earlier.
"Call us soon, okay?"
He hovered over the reply box.
Then, finally, typed:
"I'll try. Soon. Justโฆ tell Mum thanks."
He sent it. And that was enough for now.
He didn't know how to express everything he felt, or if he ever would. But he could say something. That had to matter.
Outside, frost was settling again. The same layer that always returned after the lights went out.
Niels stood by the back window, staring out at the empty street. No cars, just the slow drip of cold air settling in.
He didn't need noise, or attention, or a headline.
Only progress. Calm and Consistent.
The kind that holds when things get heavy.
Matchday 19 was coming.
And they'd be ready.
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