Could I make a request for Obi please?
They already have a established relationship.
With her recently getting injured, could it be something along the lines of Reader got injured a few months before the World Cup and had to miss it, but Obi mostly was there for Reader. Now with it being the other way around this time, Reader feels conflicted about going to the Olympics as see knows those first few weeks are the hard but she won’t be there to support Obi.
my home is with you
lena oberdorf x uswnt!reader (requested)
authors note: i'm sad about her injury :( I wanted to see her at the olympics and start with bayern soon.. I know she will come back stronger ❤️ here's your request! normally i wouldn’t decide to write about this because it’s so soon, but i do requests (unless it’s too dark & much) so i hope you like :)
warnings: many injury mentions, very long chapter.
being back in your hometown gave you a sense of peace and warmth.
you haven't stepped foot in washington dc since 2018. you left your childhood club to go play at gotham for a year-- before moving to lyon (2020-2022) and then bayern afterwards.
waking up in the morning, you wished obi the best of luck against her game against austria. yes, she will be your competitor in the group stages against germany, but she is still your girlfriend of 2 years.
afterwards, you put your phone on dnd and put it in your adidas bag that you will take to the audi stadium. on game days, the captain (lindsey) highly discourages the players being on social media before games.
as the second captain after her, you agreed to follow that rule. social media can be toxic.
if someone really wanted to reach out to you for an emergency, they can do it through lindsey, emma, or your sisters who came to the game to support your send off to paris.
that's exactly what happened. while you were getting ready in your hotel room-- lindsey got an emergency call from sara dabritz, her lyon teammate who played for the german national team.
sara isn't on the german roster for the olympics, but alex popp asked her to call lindsey-- since she needed you to know of the news as soon as possible.
"sara?" lindsey's eyebrows knitted together. sara calling her during international break and the off-season has never happened before.
"where's y/n?" sara asked, ignoring lindsey's confused tone.
"I haven't seen her since this morning, she might be getting ready now. what's going on?"
"the entire german team is trying to get ahold of y/n. lena went down pretty badly during todays game-- it was her knee." sara swallowed.
lindsey was sad to her about the news. nobody likes when another player goes down with a *possible* acl injury.
however, she was scared on how she was going to tell you the news.
hours later at audi stadium, you walked into the stadium alongside trinity and hal. both of them play on this field for washington spirit, and the three of you bonded over the last few days-- knowing washington dc so well.
trinity and hal stopped at a water fountain to fill up their empty stanley bottles with water. your owala bottle was filled with cold ice water already, so you continued on with walking into the dressing room.
as you turned the corner into the room, you hear your coach Emma, say something along the lines of "well we can't tell her until-" before lindsey stopped her with her finger pointing at your entrance.
you were the first to arrive before the rest of the team, surprising to the captain and coach talking in the room.
"hey!" you smiled, unaware of what they know.
"hey y/n, ready for the game!?" lindsey casually says with a smirk on her face.
the poker face of the lyon player is perfection. something could be wrong but as the main captain, she can't let her emotions take over her logic.
as the second captain of the team, you had every right to question what emma and lindsey were just talking about.
however, you didn't. you were too excited to play in your hometown again. many uswnt fans came just to see you play on your turf again.
"I'm so pumped! my family came just for the send off to paris. some of them talk about "oh we can't never see you play since you're in germany." but now they're here so-" you rambled as you giggled.
for a moment, emma frowned at your happy sight. lindsey turned around to look at the coach with a guilty look, hating that they both agreed to not tell you *that news* until the end of the send-off.
"that's exciting. I'm positive we have a great game ahead." emma says.
your happy mood became a miserable one at halftime. being nil-nil against costa rica was not motivating since you wanted to impress your hometown community.
in the 70th minute, you scored off of a set piece shot by mallory swanson. the crowd screamed as they've realized that it was you, their fellow dc native, that scored the goal.
the game ended with a 1-0. you knew that the team needed tons of things to work on if you wanted a chance at winning gold in the olympics, but that will come with time.
after the send off ceremony, lindsey asked if she could personally talk to you in one of the empty conference rooms.
you agreed. at first, you thought that she was going to discuss olympic matters and what will drive the team to win gold once you reach france. since she is the first captain and you're captain whenever she isn't-- along with alyssa naeher.
however, lindsey was very tense as you sat down beside her in one of the wheel chairs. she made sure to close and lock the door as well-- this is when your heart started racing.
she is your friend and hates to give you the bad news.
"I need to tell you this before you go on your phone and see it in the locker room in front of the other girls." lindsey speaks.
your eyes widened, confused.
"what's wrong?" you start to panic.
"alex-- alex popp-- said that lena went down during the game against austria. it's her knee, y/n."
your heart shattered into a million pieces. you looked away from lindsey as you took a few deep breaths.
the blonde understood why you couldn't say anything after that moment. you thought about lena having a possible acl injury.
you panicked knowing that you weren't there to help her.
"I need my phone!'" you jump up from the wheel chair.
"here." lindsey said, pulling your phone out of her jacket pocket. she made sure that she had your phone on hand-- in private-- so none of the other girls were alarmed about seeing you so upset.
after you switched your iphone off from dnd, you had nearly 200 notifications.
the first is lena's parents-- asking you to call them whenever you had time before or after your game.
others came from lea-- updating you on what's going on with obi. she understands you were playing a game and couldn't answer right away.
some messages were from other footballers in the community that you're friends with, asking you to send well wishes to lena on their behalf.
is this how lena felt back in 2023?
back in april 2023, you were a starter in the second game against Ireland.
you weren't feeling the greatest, your friend mallory suffered a bad injury in the first game and you knew she wouldn't see the pitch for a very long time.
in the second half as the ball was coming from the air, you jumped up to head the ball. at the same time, an Irish player's foot went up in the air to get the ball.
the sharp part of the boots kicked at your ribs extremely hard. your breath was caught in your throat and you landed on the ground-- injuring your ankle by landing awkwardly.
the irish player received a red card, but you were struggling to breath as you needed medic immediately. alex and kelley stayed with you as you couldn't even sit up without squealing in pain.
your ankle was on fire and your lung felt like it was beaten in. torture would've been an understatement.
lena finished playing the game against brazil when jule pulled her-- harshly-- to look at the tv in the dressing room.
the german girl watched in horror as she seen her lover on the grass, you were crying your eyes out as you balled yourself together.
she noticed your hands going back and forth between your torso by your right lung, and your left ankle, as the medics tried their best to figure out what's wrong.
"what the fuck happened?" lena said angrily, in english-- confused as she rushed to grab the remote and turn the tv up.
"this isn't good for the united states before the world cup-- mallory went down on the first game against ireland and now *reader's last name* can barely move without a reaction." a german commentator speaks.
the entire german dressing room looks in horror.
your bayern teammates looked horrified as jule tried her best to comfort a stressed lena.
a replay of the injury happened on the tv a second later. everyone could see quinn's cleat harshly kick your ribs-- the landing on your ankle afterwards made some of the dressing room cringe as if they could've felt it themselves.
"yeah, I don't think we will see her in the world cup after this one." the woman commentator on the tv speaks when a stretcher takes you off the pitch moments later.
lena was quick to immediately call your mom and sisters, since they were there and she wasn't.
she knew how excited you were to play in your second world cup after winning the first one at age 17.
when you got back home to germany, lena was there for you. you suffered with a broken rib and grade 2 ankle sprain.
obi helped you stand up most days and picked up heavy things, since you couldn't even breathe without feeling pain for the first three weeks. lena did your chores at home, helped you with showering (your ankle made that hard to do), she did your hair. she did everything to make sure that you were okay.
you couldn't go to the world cup and watch her play, but you were still so proud of her-- even if she got eliminated in the group stage.
the injury that happened to you made lena fully committed to wanting to marry you. even through your bad injury-- you were there to comfort her once she was back from australia after a failed world cup campaign.
back in the conference room in dc, you rushed to call lea.
she answered in a heartbeat, you were surprised since it had to have been 5:30am in germany while 11:30pm back in washington dc for you.
"lea?" your voice cracked. you hated this for lena, more than your own injury from a year prior.
"how was your game?" lea tried to calm you down.
"it was fine, now what happened?" you ask.
lea didn't take offense to you wanting to know what happened. this reminded her on how lena was with you.
being her closest friend at bayern, and the one that put lena onto you, she understands the bond you have with your girlfriend better than anyone else.
"lena tried to tackle and get the ball away from a player but her knee popped. I think you need to watch this for a better understanding." lea speaks.
on the FaceTime you can see lea typing on a few things on the phone.
you looked up at a confused, yet guilty lindsey. she felt bad for you since you were far from your home in germany.
the notification on your phone showed that lea sent a link to a twitter video. you clicked on it and watch the whole thing play out.
its hard to tell at first, but slowly you could see obi's knee pop out.
this made you sick to your stomach.
after talking to lea for a few more minutes, then waking up lena's parents to talk to them (they didn't mind, they really wanted to hear from you), then laura, then klara-- you were exhausted.
you were allowed to go on the bus early and choose if you wanted to sit alone on the way back to the hotel.
lindsey told all of the girls that something happened- she explained the situation which caused the girls to feel bad for lena and your situation.
you called lena, in private, once you were back in your hotel. she sounded so hurt which caused your eyes to let out tears (quietly) as she talked about her medical scanning tommorow.
many people would do anything to participate in the olympics. you were grateful to be a bronze-medal olympian already heading to seek gold-- but you wanted to go home to lena in munich.
the best player on the uswnt was you, no debate. after scoring in the 2019 world cup final at 17, winning two champions leagues with lyon, being the second best-player now in the bundesliga with bayern, and carrying the national team to bronze in the last olympics-- the team looked up to you.
the girls let you have your space for a while. even on the plane on the way to france.
tierna, your closest friend on the national team, sat beside you. she was quiet as she watched movies while you anxiously looked at your phone to receive some kind of news.
after the plane landed, the girls were quiet as they headed out. you realized that you couldn't sit in pain waiting for the day that you will get home to munich-- that will affect the team chemistry.
as you were in your hotel room, lena called you.
"hallo liebe." you spoke softly.
you heard lena cough before a few seconds of silence started.
the fact that lena called you instead of facetiming you, you knew it was bad. the three letter injury is something u feared for lena as your eyes widened.
"its both." lena mumbles.
"its both?" you question softly as you request to switch the call to FaceTime.
lena accepts and you see her in the hospital room, tears dried down her cheeks as her red face is covered by her hands.
"acl and mcl." she breathed out as she looked at you through the camera.
you frowned as reality hit.
lena couldn't start a bayern next month.
lena won't go to the olympics.
she will have to sit out for at least eight months.
you know she will be okay, since she has the team and medical doctors to help her heal.
however, you were sad that you couldn't drop everything to go back to munich.
"obi." is all you could say.
"I already know what you're thinking-- and don't." lena randomly says.
your eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looks at you with a unreadable look.
"don't leave your team just to come here. they need you-"
"but you need me a lot more." you cut lena off.
she knows you're right, but she can't be selfish-- even with her injury.
"you will be home soon liebe, I know you love me and will care for me as soon as you can." lena says.
"once I'm back in munich, I will be there for you. you aren't going through this alone-- we will fight through this together and you will be stronger." you gave a sad smile as lena smiles for the first time since she went down on that grass.
"Ich liebe dich" she whispers.
"Ich liebe dich auch" you say back.
"when is your surgery scheduled?" you ask.
"we don't have an exact date yet, but they said it might be the week of the 29th." lena says as she lays back in the hospital bed in her black shirt and black shorts.
you didn't respond as lena flipped the camera, showing you a closer look at her knee.
"I am so sorry." you say.
"its not your fault." lena says.
"I know- but again-- I just want to be there for you."
"and you will soon, don't abandon your team." lena made it clear.
"okay, I won't" you sigh.
of course you felt bad that you didn't want to be in france, but in germany instead helping lena. however, you were sad about the group stage match against germany.
lena and you talked about that match as being one of the last moments where you will be "rivals" before she joins you in the season for bayern. now, neither will happen.
days later, the united states plays germany in the group stage after beating zambia 3-2.
you were in the starting lineup. emma needed you for this match, making sure that you talked to a sports psychologist before this match-- just so you were mentally prepared.
you knew how the germans played, so you would be a key to winning the group stage match.
as the teams were going to take their starting eleven picture, you see the germans hold up a shirt in honor of sydney and lena-- who were injured and couldn't be in the olympics.
you sadly smiled at this, happy that they're remembering them.
however, you got your act together fast. lindsey wasn't in the lineup so you were the captain of the match.
at halftime, it was 1-1. trinity rodman scored a goal in the 10th minute but klara equalized in the 34th after an error from #3 on the USWNT.
in the second half, you scored a golazo in the 55th minute after dribbling around sara doorsoun and alex popp.
unfortunately, lea equalized in the 88th minute.
the game ended 2-2 and you weren't happy or sad about it.
all of the german girls greeted you immediately with hugs and kisses on the head. you accepted them. you missed them dearly and they were the closest thing you had to lena right now.
"lea love!" you sigh in relief when you hug her tightly for thirty seconds. the cameras capture the beautiful sight as most know the significance.
"I wish obi was here right now." you lean your head on lea's shoulder as she kissed the side of your head, above your left ear.
"I do too. I hate how fate works." lea speaks through her german accent.
"same." you roll your eyes. not in anger, but in disappointment for the situation and how things can play out for the worst.
"how are you?" lea asks.
"can I be honest?" you ask. lea nods her head.
"I want to be with her. I am so grateful to be here for a second time but I can't imagine her being alone without us." you whisper into her ear.
you didn't want any of your teammates to hear you. lea is your closest friend so you know she won't tell on you.
"she's not alone, she has her parents-- but I totally understand. she will be okay." lea smiles lightly as she pulls a piece of hair of yours behind your ear, a piece of hair that fell out of your ponytail during the match.
lea is right, lena's parents are staying with her at the new house you both own until you can go back to munich-- which could happen in a few days or weeks depending on the outcome of the olympics.
"I know. she's a fighter.' you smirk.
"and a lover." lea winked at you.
lea loves the way that you and lena respect and are in-love with each other. being the third wheel is annoying sometimes (when she has to hang out with y'all instead of her own girlfriend) but she is happy for the both of you.
after multiple matches of the olympics, the united states is awarded silver after losing against france 2-1 in the final.
you were the one that scored against france.
if you said that you weren't in a rush to get home to munich, you'd be lying.
lena's surgery was pushed back to this morning. so you took the uber straight to the hospital from the airport.
the taller german was asleep as you quietly walked into the hospital room. obi's parents hugged you and congratulated you on silver.
knowing that they've been with their daughter for many days, you offer them a break.
"you guys should go down to the cafe and grab lunch for yourselves, please don't take offense to this but ihr seht beide sehr müde aus." (you both look very tired) you whisper since you didn't want to wake lena.
they loved you like their own daughter, so it didn't take them much convincing for them to get a break-- knowing their daughter was in safe hands with you.
when they shut the hospital doors behind them, lena woke up from the noise.
you took out a blanket from your carry on luggage, your back faced towards lena so you didn't see or hear her wake up.
"liebe?" you turned around quickly when you saw lena awake.
she had the same tired look that you're used to seeing when you wake up beside her, but she was smiling at your sight.
you pout in happiness as you walked up to hug her upper body.
"my sunshine, I'm so happy to see you awake." you kissed the top of her forehead as her head pressed against your chest.
lena closed her eyes in comfort, she missed you the most.
"to see me awake? omg I didn't die." lena laughed.
"oh lena shut it, you know what I meant." you giggled back, happy to see lena cracking a joke through her pain.
you look down her body to see the scar on her knee peak out from her hospital gown.
on the inside, you felt terrible. you hated seeing lena in pain. you'd rather it be yourself than her.
on the outside, you looked at lena as she gave you a peak on the lips.
after that, you saw the ponytail of her hair tangled.
"hold on lena." you pull yourself away from her arms and reach into your tote bag.
"no don't leaveeee!" lena says
"I'm not I'm just going to help you with your hair-- it will help you relax."
you pulled out a soft brush from your bag, refusing to use a comb and risk pulling on her hair after she had surgery.
"you're so sweet" lena looks at the brush in your hand and turns her head to the side, so you have better access.
"anything for my baby." you tell her as you kiss the right side of her temple.
"i'm just glad to be back home." you mumble as you start brushing through obi's hair, getting the tangles out slowly and softly.
"isn't washington dc your home?" lena giggled, joking and teasing about the game you played in dc almost a month ago.
"nope, my home is with you."
I hope you're happy with what I wrote from this request! #comebackstrongerlenaoberdorf ❤️🙌
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