#alessia headers

[szafilms]

alessia cara.

like or reblog if you save ♡

[unicornioup]

hey! how r u guys? a little absent but i show up here from time to time :))

like xx

[reconnectionblues]

my cellphone put the photos together and I tought I'd be nice to post thesepacks.

icons and headers aren't mine.

icons: alessiastuffs

you can like or credit mattjosephcohen on twitter

[theroleofimagination]

Yes!!!

Immediate impact from Russo!!!

[magics-neptunes-things]

Header

Hi guys!

This is a request I had some days (or weeks?) ago. I hope it would please the sweet anon who asked for it :)

Enjoy!

TW : Concussion, blood, injury, fainting.

_____________________________________________________________

Since the beginning of the day, something seems of when you look at your girlfriend. She seems worried, not at ease and is excessively clingy with you. Not that you don’t like it, but Lia always have said that you should be careful about your relationship. She doesn’t exactly want to be secret, but she wants people to concentrate on her play and not on her relationship. Which you can understand, her breakup with Caitlin Foord looked like it involved a lot of other people. The fans, actually.

You choose not to come together this afternoon for the game, you’re playing in the Arsenal’s stadium, so you have to come with your cars. You asked Alessia to pick you up and Lia is supposed to get you home. Because of the traffic jam Alessia and you are a little late. You are surprised to see you girlfriend almost jumping on you when you arrive, grabbing you by the sleeve of your jacket.

“Where the hell have you been?! I was worried sick!”

You look at her with incredulity written on your face. Where is your girlfriend, always calm, posed, thoughtful and rational?

“We had a lot of traffic on the road, but everything’s fine. Are you ok?”

She doesn’t answer, grabbing you by the hand this time, to get you to the changing room. You question Leah with a look, but the blonde only shrugs her shoulders. You take Alessia with you with your free hand, dragging her with you.

You are not even late when you get on the pitch, starting the training after hearing some of tactical adjustments from Jonas. Lia, sitting next to you, doesn’t seem to be able to stay still. And she is very nervous during the drill too, making you wonder what the hell is happening to her.

You take her around a corner before going to change for the game, far away from the other’s ears.

“Lia what’s happening? You are acting weird since this morning.”

“Nothing” Lia sighs, looking around her.

Everywhere but you. You cup her cheek with your hand, attending to have a real exchange of look with her. You know that when you look at her in her eyes, she can’t lie.

“Lia” you say with a soothing voice. “Talk to me Baby, please.”

She sights and rub her face, still leaning against your touch anyway.

“You are going to think that I’m stupid.”

“Not even in your wildest dream.”

This time your girlfriend rolls her eyes and smile lightly, making you smirk in return. You know that if it’s affecting Lia like this, this isn’t nothing.

“I just have that feeling that something bad will happen. I had it when Leah did her ACL and it’s back.”

The Swiss woman already talked to you about the feeling she had that day, almost seeming to say that it was her fault if something like that happened to Leah. You trust her, obviously. But your job is to reassure her too.

“It’s going to be ok Babe, I swear. I won’t let anyone take you down.”

Next to Katie and Leah for today, you are a defender. And for you, your job is to not let the other team come near your goalkeeper, but not to touch any of your teammates too. The fans call you The Bodyguard, and it’s not for your passion for the song « I will always love you ». You are higher than Lia but you aren’t really high either. You don’t seem to be big too, but your muscles allow you to stay with your feet firmly on the ground against almost every charge.

You offer a hug at Lia, who cuddle against you. She doesn’t exactly worry about herself, more about one of your friends. But she tries to convince herself what you said. It’s going to be alright.

During the game, you see your girlfriend flinch every time that one of your teammates is on the ground. Liverpool isn’t playing dirty, there are some faults of course, but it’s a great game. At halftime, it’s 2-0 for Arsenal.

But when you are back in your cubby, your girlfriend always seems to the point of fainting from stress. You decide to abandon Lotte and her cubby next to yours to go sit next to Lia in her cubby. You propose her half of your banana, which she take with a small smile. Looking around to be sure that no one is looking at you, you kiss her cheek.

“Breath Babe. Everything is fine, see? We are winning and no one is hurt.”

Lia nod and take your arm against her, trapping it between her two. You let her, smiling when she put her head on it. When it’s time to get back, you kiss her hair and follow her peacefully.

You should have listened to her though. Because it’s not her, it’s not one of your teammates that get hurt at the end of the game.

It’s you.

Around the 80 minutes, you are running on the box to try to take a ball from Caitlin. She sends it and at the same time as you, another player from the other team is jumping. Your heads collided. Hard. You were running from all your speed, so is your opponent. The first shock almost knocks you out immediately, but the way you fall on the ground with all your weight, head first, it’s the one thing too many.

You fall out, not reacting at first when Caitlin run to you, making you roll to your side. Jonas is screaming to the medic to “get your ass on the pitch right now”. When they arrive at your side, Alessia and Katie are here too. But Lia is frozen at the other side of the pitch, unable to make a move.

After some hesitation and realizing that the medical team shushed away almost everyone from you, Leah decides to take care of Lia. There is only Katie left next to you, maybe because she’s your best friend. Some feet from away you, Alessia and Caitlin are shaking and Lia knows right away that this is bad.

“Lia” Leah calls her.

The Swiss woman looks at her friend, who doesn’t know what to say. The blonde just takes Lia’s hand, training her slowly in the direction of the bench, where your other teammates are. But when she realizes where she’s going, Lia stop dead in her track.

“I want to see her” Lia mumbles.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea...”

Alessia, who were not far from them give a look at Leah. She shakes her head at Leah behind Lia’s back and the blonde understand quickly. But Lia sees that Leah is looking at someone and Alessia can’t stay quiet when she sees your girlfriend’s face.

“I think it’s better that you stay here for some seconds. There is blood and…”

And suddenly there is more movement next to you and they can see Katie standing up. Her hands are red with your blood and Lia starts walking without really realizing it. She ignores Leah calling her, she just wants to see you.

“Lia, stop, Sweetheart” Katie says softly when she saw your girlfriend’s coming.

“I want to see her” Lia mumbles, looking at Katie.

“I know. Just wait some seconds, ok? Believe me, please. She’s breathing but passed out, they want to clean her wound. And she kind of… Throw up. They say it’s because of the shock.”

A little far from you, the other injured player is standing but have a bag of ice against her head. But she’s up, unlike you. Lia watches Katie washes her hand and let a sob out before talking.

“I knew something bad would happen, I told her. It can’t be happening again.”

“Lia stop, it’s not your fault.”

But before she can explain why it actually is, the medical team is moving you off the pitch. They put you on a stretcher and Lia could now have a full look on you. You’re still off, a massive bandage around your head and some blood is still on your face.

“I’m going with her” Lia informs Jonas.

The man is a little surprised, usually Lia is the one of all her player who will listen to him without a second thought. But right now, he saw the despair on Lia’s face and know right away that he can ask her to finish the game.

“We’ll bring you your stuff” Leah says.

Kyra gives Lia her jacket to keep her warm and with that the Swiss woman is following you until you are in the ambulance. They put you on monitor and gave a call to the hospital to say that you are coming. You’re still not up and they want to make some tests to know and understand why.

At the hospital, a sweet nurse takes Lia in the waiting room, offering her a coffee. Lia takes it, but when Katie, Leah and Caitlin are here, her cup is still full. Katie put your bags next to Lia on the ground and Leah sits next to Lia, kissing her head. Caitlin looks unsure about what to do though. She came because she wanted to be there for Katie and for Lia too, but with their past, she doesn’t know if Lia wants her here.

They exchanged a look though and Lia just nod in direction of a free chair next to Katie. With a small smile, Caitlin sits next to Katie, taking her hand is hers.

“What did they say?” Leah asks.

“Almost nothing. They are making tests and x-ray to see how her injury is. She didn’t wake up, Lee.”

Lia doesn’t want to cry. She really doesn’t. But she can’t stop the tears from rolling on her cheeks. Big, hot tears. Feeling her heart breaking for her friend, Leah takes her against her and let Lia put her head on her shoulder.

“It’s going to be ok” Leah mumbles.

Some time pass, hours actually, and Lia almost fall asleep on Leah’s shoulder from exhaustion. But she jumps every time, trying not to. Even if the three other girls told them that they will wake her up. Lia rings your parents instead, even if she doesn’t have anything good to say to them.

“Family of Y/N Y/L/N?”

“It’s me. I mean it’s us”

Lia jumps on her legs and almost run to the doctor. He looks at the four girls with an arched brow.

“Are you all her family?”

“This is her girlfriend” Katie answers almost aggressively.

Caitlin takes discreetly her hand in hers, trying to calm her girlfriend. The doctor sighs but add nothing, looking back at his papers.

“So, we made some test to understand her injury better. She doesn’t have anything broken or blood inside, but she has a massive concussion. We don’t know when she will wake up and she will obviously staying here all the time she needs to wake up. Maybe she will have some repercussions, but we can’t say anything right now.”

“What do you mean, repercussions?”

Leah asks for Lia, who seems very close to a nervous break down.

“Loss of memory, attention disorders, chronic headaches, nausea” he starts to list with a disinterested air. “Language and visualization in space disorders, change of behavior, character... Well, you know. All that. I have to go I’m sorry, ask the nurse if you need anything”

It’s with a defeat face that Lia turns herself in the direction of her friends. They all look stunned, but no one know what to say.

“How am I supposed to tell that to her parents?” Lia whispers before realizing something else. “He didn’t even say if we can see her!”

“Let me see if I can find someone.”

Caitlin left to find a nurse and when she comes back almost five minutes later, the three others are in the same disposition.

“I will take you to Y/N, ok Love?”

It’s the same nurse that gave Lia some coffee before, and the Swiss woman just nod, following her in the floors of the hospital. They don’t say anything before being in front of your room.

“Four is a little too much but for now I will let you in. But please, be quiet, ok?”

They all nod, before going in and Lia can’t stop some tears from falling. You seem so small in this bed with all the monitors around you. They change your bandage so it’s not bloody anymore. But you have a black eye and the cocky smile you usually have on your face is gone.

Lia lets herself fall on the chair who is the closest from you, taking her head in her hands.

“The doctor said that she will have like trouble of memories and language when she will wake up” Katie says to the nurse.

She frowns at her, before rolling her eyes.

“Those are some possibilities, but they are very rare and it usually happens when the concussion isn’t healed fast. Y/N had professional who were here for her immediately, the risks are very small. They exist, that’s for sur. But don’t think about it now.”

The nurse’s statements allow Lia to breathe a little better. Her muscles remain very tense when Leah puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Lia gets closer to you while the other three are busy warning the people you are closest to, while the nurse (Lydia, like her tag says) left the room after asking them not to stay to long at four people.

“Hey Love” Lia whispers, her chin on the mattress next to your face. “It’s me. I know you are hurt and I’m really sorry. Take the time you need to get better, but please, please, come back to me.”

********

It was hard for your friends to make Lia leaves you, even for some hours and even if someone else is here to have a look on you. She’s terrified that something could happened to you while she’s not here. Or that you wake up all alone in your room. They managed to take her at least once a day off anyway, so that she can take a shower and change her clothes.

Lia is currently sitting on the same chair, making some Sudoku she stole from Leah, when she hears you mumble something. She almost falls of her chair in her precipitation to have a look at you. You already moved a little this morning, but you were still deep asleep.

“Love? Can you hear me?” Lia whispers.

It takes you all your strength to open your eyes, the intensity of the light immediately making your head hurt.

“Lia?”

After that there are some noises and movements around you. Lia called the nurses, and your mother came back running in the room. But Lia never left your hand, and this is what helps you to stay focus.

After Lia helped you to drink some water, the doctor comes to you with his flashlight to look at your eyes. The light makes you groan in pain and Lia mumble something in Swiss-German that the doctor should be happy not to understand.

“How are you feeling Y/N?” he asks you.

“Tired” you mumble hardly.

“Yes, that’s normal. You will be for some more days.”

He keeps talking but you can’t focus anymore. Squeezing very weakly Lia’s hand around yours, you fall asleep again.

Days are passing and you get better, but really slowly. The first days, you can barely open your eyes. You felt more than you saw Lia, your parents and Katie’s presence next to you. It seems like your girlfriend is always here when you open your eyes, looking way to worried for your taste.

With more days, you can stay awake a little bit longer, but you can’t have a big conversation. You listen and look lovingly at Lia, smile at Katie when she tells you real-life training stories through exaggerated gestures and you let your mother washing your hair when they change your bandage, something she probably never have done since you are two.

You did more tests too and the only problems you seem to have now, is a constant need to sleep and difficulty to keep focus. But Lydia told you that it would probably get better with time. The club made a statement about your case, and you let them handle that, trusting them with all your being.

********

“I have a good new, Y/N” sings Lydia when she comes to your room that day. “You can go home today.”

Lia smiles and you frowns. You don’t want to be something difficult to manage to Lia, you are not living together but you know that you will need someone to take care of you for some days.

“Isn’t it too soon?” your mother asks.

“I don’t think so. She has great results for the tests, get better every day and I’m sure that Lia here will take great care of her.”

She winks at you and Lia and you smirk when you see that Lia is blushing a little. Your mother can’t say anything against that, she knows perfectly how much you mean to Lia. And how much she means to you.

“I will come back with the fills to signs, the different prescriptions and everything you will need. Take your time to be ready, yeah?”

You nod and your mother takes her phone from her purse.

“I’m going to call your dad.”

It’s like the first time that you find yourself all alone with Lia. And you take advantage of that to ask her the question that is on your mind.

“Are you sure? It probably will be complicated and with the trainings and all…”

“I am sure, Y/N. Don’t worry, really. I will take great care of you, like Lydia says. We can go to your house if you want… Well, it would probably be better that way, you don’t have stairs like I do.”

You look at her rumble, your head against the cushion. You have your cocky smirk back and Lia realize it immediately of course.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing. I’m just lucky to have you. And I love you.”

She gives you her shy, beautiful smile back and takes you very softly against her. Even if you only have a head injury, she looks sometimes like she thinks you have broken ribs or something. Which you don’t.

“I love you too.”

She kisses lovingly your forehead, and you tilt your head in your direction, pouting. It makes her roll her eyes but she complied, kissing your lips softly. After that, she put her forehead against yours, looking deep in your eyes.

“You don’t know how much I am relieved that you are ok. I don’t know what I would have done if…”

With a finger on her lips, you make her be silent. She already excuses herself the other day, affirming that your injury was because of her. Because of her feeling that day and you already told her that this is stupid.

“Lia, stop. I am fine and I will be even better thanks to you. Please stop thinking that way.”

You are still very weak to be honest and you will have to take a wheelchair to left the hospital. You slept the journey to go to your house and fall asleep again after taking a proper shower with Lia’s help.

But you will get better and eight weeks after your injury, you are back on the pitch, stronger than ever.

[adascore]

Hello! Not sure if you’re taking requests but would you consider doing an addition to TSS where young!arsenal reader was starting before Beth and Viv came back and has been benched majority of the time since (Kyra core☹️). Maybe during like the west ham game was one of the subs thrown on halfway through and after the loss made a snarky comment about “being thrown on to unfuck everything” type of thing to another teammate and Viv/beth overhear and think she’s talking about them (maybe they’re already a little insecure about losing such an “easy” game, self doubt post ACL) and things are super frosty and weird at home until one of them snaps and makes a comment about how they still wouldn’t have won even if R started. Hurt/comfort angst but with a happy ending!! Not sure if any of that strikes your fancy but I had the thought and you’re so talented:) no worries if not!!!

To Jump The Gun(ners)

pairings: arsenal x teen!reader / meadema x teen!reader / kyra cooney-cross x arsenal!reader

warnings: the west-ham match. swearing. angst. awkwardness.

author’s note: OMG LOVE THIS IDEA ! like this was right up my alley I felt like 😭 thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the story!

masterlist

February 4, 2024 - Essex, England

It had become a routine, seeing her name and number on the bench. She took a glance at Kyra, a knowing look in her eyes.

The young Arsenal homegrown wondered where it all had gotten wrong. Well, she knew the answer, but it wasn't exactly something she could say out loud to anyone.

She was transported back to the 2022/23 season, where she would warm the bench until either Vivianne or Beth were too tired or they needed to be rested for the next match.

Their injuries had changed everything.

Y/N not only became a regular starter, but became a vital part of their game. Her absence would be noticed.

She scored the goals that got them to the semifinals of the Champions League, keeping them level with 2x champions Wolfsburg.

However, Beth and Vivianne were back now. Alessia's arrival also didn't help much, the former Manchester United player having cemented herself into the starting line-up.

It also didn't help that Jonas was not a fan of rotating. Only in specific Conti Cup matches or against what he deemed 'weaker' teams in the league would he make changes to the usual starting XI.

In other words, she was back to step 1.

That's why it was hard to watch her teammates falling 2-1 behind against West Ham, with no one seeming to find an answer or any will to turn the game around. It was a painful spectacle.

In the 63rd minute, Jonas decided to throw herself, Kyra and Cloé in the match, and take out Vivianne, Victoria and Beth. It was a desperate attempt, and the three Gunners found themselves on the pitch, tasked with the challenging mission of trying to fix everything that had gone wrong so far.

Y/N and Cloé quickly created some chances but the West Ham defense or the swift reflexes of Mackenzie Arnold saw them go in vain.

The teenager could see the expressions of her teammates on the bench, visibly frustrated with how the match had unfolded since Alessia's successful header.

Vivianne couldn't hide the discontent in her eyes as she sat with a subtle shake of her head. Her partner, sitting beside her, noticed and Beth patted her thigh, offering silent support as they continued to watch their team scramble for a late equalizer.

As the final whistle blew, the disappointment within the team was high. Y/N did her usual post-match routine, and congratulated all the West Ham players on their win, while giving and receiving solace from her own teammates.

The teen found Kyra again, someone who she had found a friendship in over the months the Australian had joined the Gunners.

''You alright?'' The midfielder asked her, a dejected tone in her voice.

Y/N nodded. ''Yeah, you?''

''Not too great, but there are worse things in life.'' Kyra responded, trying to put the loss in perspective.

''True,'' the striker agreed, ''I can't believe he keeps putting us in these positions.''

Kyra nodded. ''You think he would learn after Tottenham.'' She sighed.

''Apparently, we're not good enough to start, but when he needs us to unfuck everything that happened, then he knows who we are.'' Y/N said, her frustration evident. The unfair treatment of some players during the season lingered in the air, leaving a bitter taste after the defeat.

As the youngsters continued their conversation on their way to the locker room, Vivianne and Beth, unintentionally overhearing their discussion, exchanged puzzled glances.

''Did you hear that? 'Unfuck everything'?'' Beth repeated her housemate's words to her partner.

Vivianne's brow furrowed as she processed what was said. ''Yeah,'' the Dutchwoman breathed out, ''not very nice.'' A hint of sadness lingered in her voice. It stung that their efforts were being discussed in such terms, especially by the young girl they were living with.

They didn't say much else to one another as they strolled through the corridor.

The atmosphere in the locker room was subdued, void of any banter and entertaining chats. Most of the players were already there as the couple walked in.

Beth took a glimpse at Y/N and Kyra who still seemed in a discussion with one another, although they were whispering now.

''Girls, we're a lot better than this.'' Kim broke the ice, a neutral expression on her face.

Everyone nodded at the captain, the collective disappointment from the match was visible. ''Well, it's done, we can't change anything about it. So, everyone just do a reset, try to get some sleep or distract yourselves on the bus, and I expect everyone with fresh minds and legs at training.''

The team nodded and weakly applauded Kim's small speech.

As the team began to disperse, Y/N caught Beth's eye, offering a faint smile in greeting. However, the winger's response was noticeably strained, her usually warm demeanor replaced by a subtle tension.

"Everything okay?" The younger one ventured, her concern evident.

Beth's smile faltered slightly, her gaze flickering away before returning to meet Y/N's. "Yeah, everything's fine." She replied, though her words sounded hollow even to her own ears.

The striker's brow furrowed further, a flicker of uncertainty clouding her features. "Are you sure?" She pressed gently, not used to this awkwardness from her teammate.

"I... yeah, I'm sure." She retorted, her voice tinged with irritation.

"Okay..." Y/N trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Sensing the dismissiveness between them, she offered a hesitant smile before turning back to where she had been talking with Lia.

As her housemate walked away, Beth's expression hardened, a pang of guilt gnawing at her conscience. She knew she shouldn't act like this towards her, but her words had really struck a nerve for some reason and it was hard to pretend it didn't.

The drive home on the bus wasn't that different, though the atmosphere was more subdued due to the loss. Y/N and Kyra were seated next to each other, Katie and Caitlin sitting on the other side of them.

''You alright, Y/N?'' Caitlin asked, noticing the youngster's quietness.

Y/N looked up, glancing away from her nails to the older Australian player. She hesitated answering, not knowing if it was appropriate to say anything about her interaction with Beth.

She sat up straight and motioned for the three of them to huddle together over the small table. They got her message and did just that.

''Did anything happen on the bench or something? Cause I had this weird exchange with Meado, and it's just stuck in my head.'' She explained, her voice hushed.

They all frowned at her words. ''No, she was just frustrated about the game, but so was everyone else.'' Caitlin responded.

''What happened?'' Katie chimed in, curious to know about this exchange.

''I don't know. She was looking at me in the locker room, and I smiled at her, but she, I don't know, just looked weird at me. I asked her if she was alright, but she was kinda distant with me? She responded a little irritated so I left her alone, but it was weird.'' Y/N gave a small summary of the interaction.

"That is strange." Kyra mused, breaking the silence that had settled over their huddle.

They nodded at her words, agreeing with the young Australian.

''I didn't notice anything.'' Caitlin said with a pout, feeling sorry she couldn't help her younger teammate out. ''Me neither, kiddo.'' Katie added, a similar expression on her face.

Y/N smiled sadly, disappointed she wasn't any wiser on Beth. Katie rubbed her arm once she noticed her dejected expression. ''Hey, I wouldn't worry about it. It's a tough loss.''

The youngster nodded at the Irishwoman's words. ''Yeah, you're right.''

Katie was not right.

As soon as she got in the car with the beloved couple it was clear that something had gone down for them to act in such a sour mood. Vivianne's knuckles were white against the steering wheel, while Beth stared out of the window, her expression unreadable.

Sensing the palpable tension, Y/N shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The youngster wanted to break the silence, but the words wouldn't come out. It felt like they were stuck in her throat.

The drive home felt like forever. Every minute made the atmosphere worse. Y/N tried to catch Vivianne or Beth's eye, hoping for some sign that things would get better, but there was nothing.

Car rides after losses were never filled with much conversation, but it had never been like this.

A wave of relief went through her as the car was parked in front of their apartment complex, longing for the comfort of her room where she could hide from whatever the situation was.

Y/N couldn't even come up with a guess on what had transpired. Did they have a fight? Did she do something? Did someone else do something?

She had absolutely no clue.

However, the tension seemed to follow them into their shared home. The silence had become even more deafening with each step they took.

Beth disappeared into her room without a word, while Vivianne headed straight for the kitchen, her movements stiff and mechanical. Y/N stood in the hallway, feeling like an outsider in her own home.

Their behaviors made her feel anxious, feeling that knot inside her stomach. What had happened during the game? What had caused them to retreat into themselves like this?

Unable to handle any of it longer, Y/N tentatively approached the Dutchwoman in the kitchen. "Um, Viv?" She began, her voice small.

Vivianne glanced up, her expression guarded. "Yeah?” She replied, accent heavy.

The younger girl hesitated, unsure of how to broach the subject. "I, uh, did, uh, something happen at the game?" She stammered, her words stumbling over each other in her haste to get everything out.

The striker's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?” She asked, her face neutral.

Her response only added to the youngest one's confusion. It seemed as though they were both dancing around a subject neither wanted to address.

"I-I just... noticed things were a bit off between everyone after the match," Y/N explained, her voice barely above a whisper, "and, well, the car ride home was... a bit weird, you know.”

Vivianne's expression softened slightly, though her guard remained up. ''Don't worry about it. Just… frustration from the game.''

But Y/N couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than just frustration. She wanted to press further, but the fear of causing further conflict held her back.

Instead, she offered a hesitant nod. ''Okay, good.'' She murmured to the floor, retreating back to her room with a heavy heart.

The Arsenal homegrown player pulled her phone out of her pocket, searching up Kyra's contact. It only took a few rings for the Australian to pick up, she was probably already on her phone as she was called.

''Hey.'' Her accent momentarily bringing a smile to Y/N's face.

''Hey, you're home?''

''Yeah, just arrived. What's up?''

There was a brief pause before Y/N continued. ''Things have gotten a bit weirder since, uh, on the bus.''

''Shit. What happened?'' She asked, her voice filled with genuine worry.

''It's just... the tension at home is almost suffocating," she explained, ''it was completely silent the entire time we were driving home, and when we got home, Beth immediately went to her room. I tried to ask Viv about, but she told me it was just frustrations, but it clearly is not just that.''

There was a moment of silence as Kyra processed Y/N's words. "That doesn't sound good," she finally replied, ''you really have no idea what might have happened? Maybe they had a fight or something?''

Y/N shook her head, even though her teammate couldn't see it. "No, that's the thing. I'm completely lost." She admitted, frustration lacing her words.

''Same. I wish I knew what to say to help.'' Kyra said softly.

''It's alright, Ky. Thanks for letting me ramble.'' Y/N chuckled, appreciating the opportunity to unload her worries onto her friend.

''It's fine, honestly. It must not be fun to be in this situation,'' the Matilda replied, feeling for her friend, ''if anything else happens you can always let me know, okay? I'm gonna have some dinner now.''

Y/N smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Ky. I really appreciate it.”

''Anytime. Take care, I'll see you at training.''

''You too. Bye, bye.'' They bid each other goodbye before hanging up the phone.

Y/N prepared to leave her room again, wanting to check if Vivianne had started dinner yet or not.

Just as she stepped into the hallway, she nearly collided with Beth, who was coming out of her room with a tight-lipped expression. The sudden encounter caught them both off guard.

''Shit, sorry.'' The younger one apologized first, giving her housemate an awkward glance.

''It's alright,'' Beth brushed off, ''uh, were you on the phone just now?" She asked, her brow furrowing slightly.

Y/N nodded. ''Uh, yeah, with Kyra.''

Beth's expression shifted, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her features. "Oh, Kyra." She murmured, her voice tight.

The younger girl simply stared at the winger, not knowing what to say to her words. "Is everything okay?" Y/N ventured, her voice hesitant as she searched Beth's face for any sign of what might be bothering her.

Beth's lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, she seemed lost in thought. When she finally spoke, her words were tinged with a hint of irritation. ''Everything's alright.''

Y/N offered a small, uneasy smile and nodded. "Oh, okay." She said, though her words felt hollow even to her own ears.

With a nod of acknowledgment, Beth turned to walk away. As she watched Beth disappear around the corner, she wondered if it had been something she had done. However, she couldn't recall saying or doing anything that day that would have provoked this kind of demeanor from the couple.

The young striker walked into the living room, noticing Vivianne bustling about in the kitchen. But what caught Y/N's attention was the hushed whispers exchanged between the couple, Beth and Vivianne not being subtle about their gossiping.

A sense of discomfort washed over the youngster as she hesitated in the doorway, unsure whether to interrupt or retreat unnoticed. But before she could make a decision, the Dutchwoman glanced up and caught her eye, her expression inscrutable.

''Hey, dinner is almost ready. Just some leftover pasta from yesterday.'' She informed Y/N, her tone somewhat forced as she attempted to maintain a facade of normalcy.

Y/N forced a smile. ''Nice, thanks, Viv.'' She answered, trying to ignore the awkwardness that hung in the air.

She retreated to the couch, feeling as if she wasn't welcome in the small space. Something was off, and she couldn't help but feel like she was on the outside looking in.

She scrolled on her phone for a few minutes before Vivianne called her to the table as the food was ready. As they gathered around the dinner table, the atmosphere remained strained, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

Vivianne served up the leftover pasta, her movements brisk as she avoided making eye contact with anyone. Beth sat across from Y/N, her expression unreadable as she picked at her food.

Y/N tried to focus on her food, but the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach made it difficult to swallow.

For a few moments, the only sound was the clinking of forks against plates, the silence punctuated only by the occasional awkward cough or clearing of throat.

Finally, unable to bear the tension any longer, Y/N opened her mouth. "So, um, what did you guys think about the match?'' She asked the pair, her voice coming out more high than she had intended.

As if on cue, Vivianne and Beth glanced up from their plates at the same time.

''It was tough, but it shouldn't have been tough. We lacked a clear tactic.'' The experienced striker answered, filling up the silence.

Y/N nodded, relieved at least one of them responded to her attempt at conversation. She took a peek at Beth, who did not seem amused in the slightest to talk about the surprising defeat earlier that day.

''It was just another match of us fucking everything up, and you kids having to unfuck it all.'' Beth said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

The youngest's eyes widened slightly at the cutting remark, not expecting those words to come out of the Brit's mouth.

Vivianne shifted uncomfortably in her seat, casting a quick glance at Y/N before fixing her gaze on her partner. "Beth, that's enough.'' Her voice was stern, warning Beth that this was not the way to go about this.

But Beth ignored her girlfriend, her eyes fixed on Y/N with an intensity that made her squirm. ''No, she needs to learn to not talk about teammates that way, especially the ones that have just gotten back from serious injuries, and need time to reintegrate into the group.''

Y/N felt a flush of embarrassment creeping up her neck, she cast a desperate look at Vivianne, silently pleading for her to intervene and diffuse the situation before it escalated any further.

''Beth, I wasn't-''

''You weren't what? You weren't talking shit to Kyra about us right after the match? You weren't talking shit about us to Kyra on the phone just now?'' The oldest continued in an accusing tone.

Vivianne let out a sigh, her frustration evident as she attempted to defuse the situation. ''Beth.'' She said firmly, her gaze shifting between the two other people at the table.

''I wasn't talking shit about you guys. I would never do that.'' Y/N managed to let out, offended at the mere idea of her not appreciating the two women who'd let her move in with them a 1,5 years ago.

''Y/N, we heard you. On the pitch after the match, with Kyra.'' Beth responded bluntly.

Y/N swallowed hard, slightly ashamed of being caught. ''We were just... we were just frustrated, okay? That comment wasn't directed at any of you guys, it was more at Jonas, to be fair.''

The couple grew silent at the admission, realizing they had greatly misunderstood the two young girls' conversation. ''About Jonas?'' Vivianne repeated, her voice carrying a note of embarrassment.

The young striker nodded. ''Yeah, me and Kyra have just been a bit upset with our game time, that's all. It felt like a repeat of the Tottenham game.''

Beth and Vivianne exchanged a glance, coming to a silent understanding. ''We're sorry for jumping the gun on that one, darling. We really thought we needed to teach you some manners.'' The Brit nervously apologized with a chuckle.

''It's alright, we probably should've been a bit more discreet.'' Y/N brushed her apology off with a hand gesture.

''No, you two are in your full right to complain.'' Vivianne retorted, agreeing on the playing time matter.

The teenager waited a few moments before elaborating. ''I don't mind sitting on the bench, it's great to get rest, you know? But it almost feels like he doesn't trust me to get the game starting or something. I like to think I did great last season, so this kind of sucks.'' She opened up, not having voiced these thoughts to anyone but Kyra.

''You did amazing last season, you stepped up when we needed someone and the team will never forget that.'' Beth smiled, squeezing the youngster' s hand.

''It seems that Jonas forgot.'' Y/N muttered bitterly, looking down at her empty plate.

The couple silenced themselves at her mumbled words, not knowing what the appropriate response would be to cheer her up about the situation. They were indirectly responsible for the young girl to not get as much game time anymore, so whatever they would tell her, she would most likely not feel much better afterwards.

''Just focus on what you're doing right now. Show up to training, recover well, maximize everything in the minutes you do get. Show him that he should trust you to start, and that you deserve to have that spot in the line-up.'' Vivianne chimed in, her voice soft but resolute.

Y/N nodded at the older woman's words, though her demeanor still seemed dejected. ''Yeah, I'll continue to do that.'' It came out somewhat passive aggressive.

''I know it doesn't fix the situation, but you're my personal star girl, regardless whether you play or not.'' Beth softly smiled at her.

The teen managed to crack a small smile back, appreciating the sentiment. ''Thanks, Beth.''

''You're mine too.'' Vivianne added.

''Hey, that's my compliment for her! Find another one if you want to be cute!'' Beth scolded her partner, dramatically feigning annoyance.

The Dutchwoman frowned. ''Everyone calls her ‘star girl'! You're not original either!'' She pouted back.

Y/N couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the banter between the couple, happily accepting the momentary distraction from her frustrations.

Beth playfully rolled her eyes. ''At least I'm complimenting her!''

''Sorry that I was just giving useful advice, Bethany.'' Vivianne retorted.

''Useful.'' The Brit repeated, her voice heavily tinged with sarcasm.

Vivianne's mouth gaped, pretending to be offended. ''It was useful! That's what I would have wanted to hear at 19 year-old.'' She defended herself.

''19 year-old's want to hear praise, Viv. They want to be called star girls, not receive a lecture.'' Beth quickly replied, with a smirk.

''Y/N, it was useful, right?'' The older striker turned towards the teenager.

''Yeah, Y/N, tell Miss Miedema how useful her advice was.'' Beth chorused her words, grinning from ear-to-ear.

The youngster simply glanced between the two of them, before picking up her empty plate and standing up from her seat. ''I'm taking this as my sign to leave.''

She ignored their pleas with a satisfied grin, making her way to the kitchen to dump her plate, and walking back to her room.

The couple watched her depart, sharing a knowing look, a hint of amusement dancing in their eyes. ''She's gonna call Kyra, isn't she?'' Vivianne chuckled.

''She so is.'' Beth agreed with a laugh.

requests are always welcome!

[lovinpelova]

stargirl | a. russo

summary; alessia plays really well against chelsea, so you reward her. [SMUT]

🎵 collide - justine skye

north london was officially red - once again.

a massive 4-1 win over chelsea proved that, beth opening the scoreline before amanda followed with a header, then alessia after making a perfectly timed run. but she wasn't stopping there, claiming a penalty from a miscommunication on chelsea's behalf and burying the ball confidently, arsenal's defense picking up afterwards to shut down all of chelsea's attacks when both teams started using substitutes. yourself being a gunner too meant you weren't able to properly congratulate your girlfriend as you were too busy delivering all you possibly could in midfield, victoria being a massive help as you both put down masterclasses alongside each other to aid in any mistakes that were made.

eventually the full-time whistle blew and a roar of applause soon followed, blues booing loudly or shaking their heads in defeat as gooners celebrated with singing and dancing. you shook hands with everyone and made your rounds of the chelsea team, saying they played well until the last second before running off to find victoria - your best friend - and jumping onto her back. you yelled in her ear as she flinched with a grin, looking back at you as you kissed her forehead sloppily before wrapping your arms around her neck whilst hoisting you up further onto her back.

"north london is red baby!"

"fuck yeah it is!"

you joked about with the dutchie for a couple more minutes with leah and beth joining in, loving how your childish sides came out around each other although you were both twenty-four and strictly professional when it came to anything else.

"beffy, i'm so proud of you!"

you wrapped your arm around her shoulders as she slung hers around your waist to pull you closer, kissing your temple affectionately whilst you all waved to fans and looked around in awe of the atmosphere.

"it's about bloody time i've scored here again."

the blonde joked, both of you laughing lightly before you felt a pair of hands grab your shoulders with a yell accompanying them, the accent telling you it was a certain left-back you couldn't help but adore.

"shit, mccabe you nearly gave me a heart attack then!"

"i'll be having a heart attack if she gets a yellow next game."

"we all know that's gonna happen."

katie retaliated, confirming she was planning on playing dirty against spurs like usual. you and beth rolled your eyes at her as she grinned in response, leah soon coming to take her away as viv did the same with beth, yourself turning around to spot alessia yelling your name and jogging after you.

"there's my stargirl!"

you opened your arms wide for her as she collapsed into them, stumbling for a couple moments before picking you up and spinning you around, yourself squealing in fear of her dropping you before she put you down and kissed your forehead affectionately. she wrapped her arm around your shoulders as yours went around her hips, head leaning against her to stay comfortable and in her hold whilst making your rounds of the pitch.

"you know that article i found yesterday? the one about me not scoring goals but making a bigger impact literally anywhere else on the pitch."

you scoffed at the italians petty tone but hummed in response anyways, not wanting to tell her you'd read it in your own time and there was nothing bad about it. all it was saying is that she wasn't a prolific goalscorer for the arsenal yet the same way stina or bunny or sam or rachel were and she made a bigger impact with her recovery rates, possession, passes and assists.

"i wonder how that writer is feeling right now."

"okay petty girl, calm down. i'm sure they didn't mean any harm by it."

you chuckled whilst placing your hand on alessias chest and lifting your head up, watching her look down at you with an unimpressed expression that quickly melted away when you kissed her cheek sweetly.

"plus, you woke up and told them 'hold my beer' today, didn't you?"

"guess i did. player of the match to prove it."

the striker lifted up her trophy and wiggled it in your face like a child excited about a new toy, a cheesy grin covering her face as you responded with a proud look.

"my stargirl."

you mumbled so only she could hear, a bright red blush covering her cheeks as she chuckled nervously and looked at the ground, thanking you shyly.

"come on then, lets get home."

alessia responded after she gained her confidence back, practically dragging you to the changing rooms as she was desperate for a shower and to get out of her dirty kit. music was blasting from the moment you both walked in, vic and noelle following closely behind as they egged you on to walk faster so they didn't miss out on the fun- so obviously you had to walk slower just to take the piss. after an hour or so of dancing to beths music choices you were packing up your matchday things alongside a couple of the other girls, majority already having left to go home or greet their family that had made the trip to watch.

whilst zipping up your back and searching for your boots you felt a strong pair of arms wrap around your waist, a familiar scent accompanying them as your girlfriend kissed along your neck sweetly. you quickly fell back into her embrace and held her arms there for a moment, turning your head to kiss her cheek before she spoke.

"i'll be waiting in the car for you babygirl."

"okay. won't be long beautiful."

alessia snuck in a peck to your lips before playfully smacking your bum as you scolded her, the italian out of your reach before you could retaliate and already on her way to your shared car. you looked around for your boots before finding them in vics cubby, looking at the woman unimpressed as she smiled sheepishly at you.

"it was leahs idea?"

she hopelessly tried to persuade with a shrug, yourself turning to the england captain as she smirked in response, quickly smacking you away when you went after her.

"hey, acl squad members are ruled out of catfights when in recovery! besides i thought it would be funny to see how much less distracts you."

"turns out you don't even notice someone sneaking your boots when you're loved up."

victoria explained before you retaliated to leahs teasing, holding out your boots for you as you took them from her.

"thank you vic, at least someone here has maturity- more than what can be said about you lee."

you grinned at the blonde as she scoffed in mock offence, sticking your tongue out at her before grabbing your things and heading out of the changing room after a final check for everything. spotting alessia waiting in your car you speed-walked over to get out of the cold, opening the backdoor and placing your things in with hers before settling in the passenger seat. even though alessia had very sadly departed with her beloved merc after the three-year lease she signed was up, she still insisted you be her passenger princess in your newly shared car.

"you take forever sometimes."

"vic and lee stole my boots! blame them."

you retorted as alessia laughed whilst pulling out of the parking lot to start the fairly short drive to your shared flat, staying in a comfortable silence until you collapsed on the couch after practically dumping your bags on the kitchen counter with a long sigh.

"that much of a shift in midfield, huh?"

"ugh, you don't even understand how hard jessie is to mark! it's like she channelled her inner iniesta today."

alessia sat down on the couch next to you and opened her arms wide, a shocked noise leaving her mouth when you moved to straddle her lap but she clearly wasn't complaining by the way her arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer. you kissed her deeply for a moment before she pulled away to peck your lips once more, responding to your rant about the canadian you went to ucla with a fair few years ago.

"but you played with her in the states so you know how to deal with her. you played well today baby, doesn't matter if jess challenged you 'cus you showed up on that pitch every moment we needed you. i'm so proud of you."

"speaking of people who played well today..."

the blonde groaned and threw her head back at your change of conversation topic, a small blush covering her face as she grinned up at you after moving her head to face you normally again.

"my stargirl got player of the match!"

"really? i didn't notice."

you smacked her chest lightly for the sarcasm before laughing together, your arms moving to wrap around her neck and pull her closer.

"you deserve a bigger reward than a small trophy for how you played today."

alessias eyebrows raised as you watched her lips curl up into a smirk, the grip on your hips tightening whilst she moved to sit up properly and adjust so she was more comfortable, suddenly far more interested in the conversation.

"oh yeah? like what?"

you bit your lip playfully whilst pretending to be in thought, humming lightly as she patiently waited for your answer, knowing what she wanted wasn't going to come without a little bit of teasing on your behalf.

"maybe you don't sleep on the couch tonight? wait no, that's too nice. you can lie with me until i fall asleep, then you come sleep on the couch."

"oh wow, that's a great deal. but..."

the italian trailed off suggestively, carefully moving so your back was pressed against the couch and she was above you, slowly kissing up your neck before she reached your ear.

"i do have a better idea. i think you'll like it too."

"hmm, i wonder what it could be?"

"you want me to show you?"

you grinned up at alessia as she smiled in response once you nodded your head, dipping down to kiss you passionately with her hands trailing underneath your shirt and tracing your toned stomach, your own moving up to tangle in her hair and tug on it lightly. the blonde groaned lowly as her hands impatiently trailed up towards your breasts, smiling into the kiss when you moaned softly once she started massaging them slowly, eventually pulling away to take off your shirt for you. she pulled hers off soon after and threw it across the room with yours, careless on where it landed as she leaned down to kiss you again with her hands moving towards your breasts to continue their movements, her hips readjusting in a way that told you to move your legs around her waist.

you quickly followed her silent command as she deepened the kiss, hands trailing across her muscular back as her lips moved down your neck and began sucking marks into your collarbone. your hips bucked up into hers as she gripped your thighs and pulled them tighter around her waist, wanting you as close as possible whilst you pushed her head further down towards your stomach. you felt her grin against your abs and scoffed at her cockiness, lightly slapping her muscular shoulder as she chuckled with you whilst kissing along your stomach, hands taking off your joggers slowly.

"less, please hurry up."

your girlfriend lifted her head up with one eyebrow raised, pulling off your joggers and throwing them carelessly across the living room, smirking down at your needy state with her fingers teasing the waistband of your underwear.

"what if i didn't?"

you looked up at her, unimpressed, crossing your arms over your chest as she mocked your moody expression.

"doghouse."

"okay, okay baby, you know i was just joking."

the blonde quickly apologised as you grinned victoriously, watching her shake her head in disbelief whilst pulling off your underwear and trailing kisses along your hipbones. alessia moved her lips across your thighs to leave her mark, dipping the tip of her tongue in the crevice of your thigh before lifting your legs over her shoulders, broad hands gripping your thighs without a problem as yours moved to tangle in her hair again. a gasp left your lips when she finally got to work, tongue licking a long stripe from your entrance to your clit before she fully dove in, flicking her tongue across your clit at a godly pace and smirking against your heat at the immediate moan you let out in response.

"alessia!"

you squealed in shock as she began sucking on your clit harshly, looking down to see her eyes already locked onto yours as you moaned at the sight. her veiny hands keeping your thighs in place, legs over her muscular shoulders and toned back as she buried her face into your pussy like you were her last meal, eyes boring into yours as she worked you towards your high. she trailed her tongue down to your entrance and dipped it in to test the waters, taking note of the way your back arched - a miniscule amount - but still enough that she noticed it from her position.

alessia moaned into your heat and pushed her head further down, nose bumping against your clit slightly if she moved enough with her tongue burying itself inside you, thrusting in and out the way her fingers would be if she didn't have those stupid nails on. she curled her tongue slightly upwards in an attempt to hit your g-spot, grazing over it and earning a broken moan with your hands tugging her hair to push her further into you. her eyes rolled back at the sensation of her hair being pulled at as she ate you out, loving the way you tasted and wanting so much more.

"alessia- so good baby keep going."

you murmured out breathlessly, her tongue coming out and flicking over your clit in all different directions and speeds to make your back arch inhumanely, a guttural moan leaving your throat as the italian tightened her grip on your thighs. if anyone told her she would be having you as her post-match meal she would've rushed home a lot sooner; alessia loved eating you out.

"m'gonna cum- god baby, i'm gonna cum!"

alessia picked up the pace of her tongue as much as she possibly could, flicking it back and forth before flattening it out against your heat completely and trailing back down to your entrance, teasing a couple times before moving to suck your clit into her mouth again. she moaned at the taste of your wetness all over her mouth, some of it trailing down her chin as her eyes rolled back with yours, your orgasm soon coming over you and flooding into her awaiting mouth.

the italian felt you whine and tug her hair gently when her tongue didn't let up, her thumbs stroking over your thighs gently as she looked into your eyes deeply and winked cockily, moving back to the task at hand as she closed them. your thighs tightened their grip around her head as she continued flicking her tongue over your puffy clit, moaning into your pussy as you already felt another orgasm coming.

"less- are you- oh god don't stop."

alessia felt your juices running down her chin with how lazy she was being, not caring if she missed any because she just wanted to taste your cum again. her jaw fell slack for a minute as she moaned shamelessly against your cunt, hips grinding down into the couch below with her eyes rolling back as she sloppily drove you towards your orgasm. she wasn't going to stop until she got another high out of you, that was her reward, she deserved it.

that and she was clearly pussy drunk.

who doesn't love a bit of messy head anyways, right?

your orgasm approached out of nowhere as you tugged on her hair with your thighs spasming against her face, the blonde gladly licking up your juices as they burst out into her awaiting mouth for the second time that night, cleaning you up carefully and stopping her hip movements after she realised what she was doing. she didn't care about herself, she needed to make sure you were okay after such intense orgasms so soon after the other.

"you okay-"

"take these off right now."

you demanded as your hands pushed her shoulders until she was laying on her back, the blonde caught offguard by your stern tone and desperate lips against hers but moving to take off her shorts anyways once you tugged at them to let her know what you wanted off.

"y/n/n i'm fine you don't have to-"

"less, i just watched you grind against the couch whilst eating me out because you're so horny. i'm gonna fuck you, okay?"

the blonde nodded her head shyly in response as you smiled down at her, watching her throw her clothes across the room whilst trailing your fingers down her stomach with your lips marking across her chest.

"plus, don't you think my stargirl deserves a special reward too?"

you teased before biting down on her earlobe carefully, chuckling at the breathy moan she let out when your fingers reached her heat and began gathering her arousal, trailing up to circle her clit whilst she desperately captured your lips with her own. her legs opened wider for you on instinct as you pushed a digit in and slowly began thrusting, curling it slightly to work her up as you brushed against her g-spot and prepared her for a second finger. she grasped at your shoulders hopelessly whilst attempting to keep up with the kiss, breathing and moaning heavily into your mouth once your thrusts gradually sped up.

"babygirl, i need more."

she whimpered desperately against your lips, pushing her waist up into your hand and groaning when your palm hit her clit at the perfect angle. your lips trailed lazy kisses down her neck whilst you slowly pushed in a second finger, moving back to slow thrusts as she adjusted to the stretch before speeding up again and curling your digits further, relishing in the moans she was shamelessly letting out.

"y/n/n- baby, just like that. god don't stop!"

alessia threw her head back as her thighs began to tighten around your waist, back arching lightly and nails digging into your shoulders as she repeatedly chanted your name, eyes closing in pleasure as her jaw slacked open once again.

"that feel good lessi? you like that?"

"yes, m'so close baby. oh god i'm gonna cum!"

the striker thrusted her hips up to meet your hand as she rode out her high, arms wrapping around your shoulders to pull you into a passionate kiss that she was uncontrollably moaning into. her back arched into your chest as you smiled against her lips at the pleasure she was experiencing, knowing she must have needed it judging by how fast she finished and the way her orgasm was still dragging out nearly a minute later with her hips still pushing against your fingers.

your girlfriend eventually calmed down from her high as you pulled your fingers out of her, quickly sucking them clean before she could move to do so herself and smirking at the way she bit her lip unconsciously.

"you okay?"

you asked thoughtfully, brushing some of alessias messy hair out of her face as she grinned up at you and nodded her head in response, too fucked out to even form a coherent sentence. chuckling at her state you got up and headed to the kitchen, getting her a glass of water and placing it beside her before collecting your clothes again, putting them on and helping her after noticing she was struggling to lift her legs.

"shut up."

she mumbled once she spotted your cocky grin, shoving your shoulder lightly before laying down again and opening her arms for you, sighing when she had you in her embrace and kissing the top of your head sweetly as you both fell asleep in each others arms.

[totaly-obsessed]

Could you write for alessia where the reader gets badly injured during a match and alessia completely over reacts during trying to protect and look after reader

Hovering

Alessia Russo x reader Drabble & Request

-> Reader gets injured, Alessia loses it, and turns into a nurse

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Derby’s were always different matches than the usual – feistier, more brutal. There was a real passion behind it. And this game was no different. Arsenal against Tottenham, the north London derby. The training sessions were even more intense than usual, and the speech Leah gave in the changing room was terrifying. While the blonde couldn’t play, still out with her ACL, she was still a Gunner through and through – so she sat at the sidelines, shouting words of encouragement.

Standing in the tunnel you could feel the tension, it made you nervous. While most loved derby days, you didn’t – they were scary. Your lovely girlfriend knew it, trying to get you to sleep until three in the morning, whispering calming words into your ears as she rubbed your back in a soothing motion. Now, standing behind you, she rested her bigger hands on your shoulders – weighing your nervous body down.

The crowd was electric while walking in and through the entire first half where Less had scored a gorgeous goal – the halftime speech mainly consisted of encouraging words to further the lead by a goal or two. Everything was going fine until Arsenal was given a corner kick.

Steph was the one to take it – and now the only thing you remember was hearing Katie shout out a ‘you bitch!’ as you went down. Your entire face hurt as a metallic taste filled your mouth. Dazed you sat on the ground as everything escalated around you.

The medics were talking at you, pressing a towel against your nose, and lighting a lamp in your eyes as your conciseness started to fade.

It felt like a dream when you woke up in the medical room, surrounded by your teammates, who were quietly chatting amongst themselves. “Amore! You’re awake!” Your girlfriend sat up next to you, taking your hands into hers. Your eyes were hazy, the brightness of the room needing you to hold a hand in front of them. It was Kim who turned the light off, sitting directly in front of the switch for it.

“What happened?” Alessia nearly cooed at your croaky voice, feeling sorry for you. After looking at her a bit closer, you noticed tear streaks on her cheeks. With shaky hands, you reached out to wipe the new tears away, as she gave you a tight smile. “You jumped for the header, but got pushed into the goalpost by a Tottenham player.”

And just like that, the pain in your nose returned – as you went to touch it, Less caught your hands, taking them into hers once again. “Still made the goal though. And Russo got a red.” Kyra laughed as she remembered how your goal went in, going to hug you, just to see you lying on the ground, with a bloody nose and absent eyes.

With shocked eyes, you looked at your girlfriend, who looked way sheepishly. “W- What? Alessia?” Other than expected, the girls started cheering  - quickly stopping when their striker's angry gaze met theirs. Katie patted her on the back like a proud older sister, who had gotten her sibling into trouble. “Russo here can get feisty. Some nice yelling at the Ref, pushing players – Slapping a bitch…”

You nearly thought that you had misheard the Irishwoman. “You slapped someone?” The blonde knew that she really was in trouble now – so did everybody else as they quietly laughed. “Amore – she pushed you! You were bleeding a-and I couldn’t help myself so I- I…” She gave up, seeing your raised brow.

The team girls stayed for a while as a doctor came and explained your bruised nose, chipped tooth, and very annoying concussion.

Seeing your pain and Alessia’s longing eyes Kim decided to gather the team and go home, leaving the blonde on your bed at your side before she took you to your joined home again. “I was so scared, Amore.” Now it was your turn to coo, kissing her puffy cheeks, tasting the saltiness of her tears on your lips. “I know baby. But you didn’t need to get a red. I appreciate your protecting me very much, but it wasn’t needed.”

Alessia spent the rest of the evening hovering. Helping you in the bath, helping wash your hair, helping you get out, making dinner, helping you change, and helping you get ready for bed. And as much as you tried not to say anything, it felt suffocating.

“Alessia?” You were lying in bed by now, while Alessia ran through the room, trying to think of things to make your night better. “Hmm?”

“If you wake me up in the night – I’ll kill you.” Your girlfriend gulped nervously, hoping that you were joking.

After two hours of restless sleep, Alessia was still awake, she woke you up again. “I’m sorry Amore, but I need to check, you know that.” You did know that. But you were still annoyed.

Throughout the night she was met with various harsh responses to being woken up – but she handled them like a champ, knowing that you loved her – you were just tired and in pain.

Alessia couldn’t help but hover for the next days, having taken off from training as well.

While it was annoying, you wouldn’t change it for the world, enjoying your time together even if you weren’t feeling so well. the striker would never regret that red card, content to have you by her side, nursing you back to full health.

[pnsteblnme]

wrong impressions ✿ k.m.

pairing: katie mccabe x reader

summary: a misunderstanding leads to conflicts and tension between katie mccabe and arsenal’s newest signing.

warning: cursing, katie and reader being idiots, bad writing 

word count: 5.1k (i don't even know how this happened)

a/n: here’s a little something in honour of ireland's second game today ;) also, this was my first time writing something like this and english isn’t my first language, so bear with me please <3 anyway, i hope you enjoy this and i’m always happy to hear your thoughts :)

“Oh, McCabe isn’t good. She’s borderline reckless and very petulant, plays way too aggressively and all she does is collect cards for her team.”

“The fuck,” muttered Katie with a quiet scoff after hearing Arsenal’s newest signing’s words as she walked into the training facility. Not wanting to hear more comments, she quickly made her way to the locker room and sat down at her designated spot, an annoyed frown still etched onto her face.

As the brunette was tying her shoes, a shoulder nudged hers, “You excited for our new additions?” Katie looked to her left to be met with the buzzing smile of her blonde friend.

“Mhm.”

The corners of Leah’s mouth dropped, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Finishing the tie on her shoe Katie leaned back up, let out a small sigh and opened her mouth. Before she could utter a word though, the door opened.

“So, as you all know, we have two incredible players joining us this season. I’m sure you’re all acquainted with Alessia,” Jonas pointed to the taller of the two women, who sent everyone a friendly grin, “and this is Y/N Y/L/N. Before coming to us she played for Barcelona but because of an injury, our paths haven’t crossed yet,” after he finished his sentence, you raised your hand for a timid wave and looked at all the girls with a nervous smile, a blush coating your cheeks, resulting in a few excited greetings being thrown your way. “I trust that you’ll make them feel at home and yeah, that’s all. I’ll see you on the pitch in 5,” were his last words before disappearing behind the door.

Turning around to face your new team, you were welcomed with open arms - literally. In front of you, you found almost all the girls waiting to greet you, each pulling you into a hug and introducing themselves.

After you were done introducing yourself, you quickly changed. The warm welcome they gave you resulted in your heartbeat finally slowing down (maybe not to a normal pace, but considerably slower than when you arrived). Later, you would also realise that your hands had stopped shaking halfway through the training, filling your body with warmth, that felt like the sun thawing the frost off of colourful flowers on a warm spring morning.

Right now though, your shoulders slumped as you noticed that the forward you were most very thrilled to play alongside of, didn’t greet you (and if you weren’t imagining things, even sent a glare in your direction).

Shaking off those thoughts, you made your way to the pitch, walking next to Leah. “How are you feeling?” she questioned, looping her arm through yours.

“I’m literally shitting my pants,” you chuckled, “but I’m also excited to play in this amazing team like, I don’t know, I feel like I can learn so much from you.”

Leah waved you off, “Don’t worry, you’re gonna be just fine and I have a feeling it’s gonna be the other way around.” When you felt the blonde’s hand ruffling your hair, you jokingly pushed her away, muttering about how you were going to get back at her.

And that you did. The end of the training came with a scrimmage, in which Leah and you were on opposite teams. Getting the ball from Lotte, you quickly made your way towards their goal and consequently came face to face with the blonde defender. Before she could do much, you nutmegged her and sent the ball straight to the far post, Alessia scoring a goal with a beautiful header.

Fidgeting with your sleeves, you turned to your friend with a sheepish laugh, “Sorry, I just don’t like people messing up my hair.” Chuckles coming from the girl instantly relaxed you as she patted your shoulder, “That was a nice play.”

Heat crawled into your cheeks as you muttered a quiet ‘thanks’ and made your way back to your side.

Sadly, not everyone took the scrimmage as light-hearted as Leah. With the frustration growing after each goal your team scored, the game quickly became physical. You would feel the wrath of that a few moments later.

Running along the sideline, you were just about to send another ball into the penalty box when you felt cleats connecting with your ankle and your legs being swept from under you.

You let out a groan as you held your foot, trying to stand up. Rotating your ankle a bit, you attempted to take a few wobbly steps, the new blonde forward approaching you, “Are you all right? That looked like it hurt.”

“No, it’s fine, I just have to walk it off.”

Limping a few metres, you felt the pain slowly subside and glanced at the girl that had tackled you. Not seeing her making any moves to apologise nor a glimpse of remorse on her face, a crease formed between your eyebrows, wondering why Katie was acting this cold towards you.

When the game continued with you, in particular, being the one the Irish woman directed her fury at, the uncomfortable feeling in your chest grew. That was why, when Leah and you were collecting the balls that had been shot to god knows where, you inquired, “Does Katie not like me?”

“No, what makes you think that?”

Putting the last ball into the bag you shrugged your shoulders, “I don’t know, I just feel like she has it out for me, you know?”

“Hm, it looked like she was already in a lousy mood before you came in, so she probably just had a bad day. I’m sure yous will hit it off tomorrow,” consoled the blonde with a comforting touch to your arm.

Alas, it didn’t seem to get better the next day.

Being on the receiving end of her tackles once again, this time even from the beginning of the training session, your patience was wearing thin. Your dislike for conflict made you keep quiet though, not wanting to cause drama on your second day and because no one else said anything, you just presumed that it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

After a particularly gruesome duel, where Katie had stepped onto your feet multiple times, you couldn’t push your agitation down anymore, the anger bubbling inside of you like an active volcano, fiery red lava spewing out of your mouth, “Okay, what the fuck did I do to you? Why do you hate me?”

Surprised at hearing your angry voice directed at her, the Irish woman turned around with a scoff, “Don’t pretend like you don’t know what you did.”

“I don’t, I wouldn’t be asking if I did, Sherlock.”

You watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she turned around and marched to her position. Feeling a presence behind you, you tried to get your whirring thoughts under control, “Everything alright?”

Pulling your shoulders to your ears and letting them drop again, you returned, “Yeah, I’m not so sure about her not hating me, though,” eliciting a frown on the blonde’s face.

Unfortunately, for you two and for everyone who had to hear your petty arguments, you were paired up with Katie on one of the gym days.

For the most part, everything was fine. Even though the Irish woman couldn’t help but follow a few drops of sweat that rolled down your abs with her grey eyes, which sparked her irritation, wondering how she could be thinking about a person like you like that, you two didn’t exchange any words.

That is until you were supposed to spot Katie. Padding over to her waiting by the bench press, you thought about how you could finally relax for a moment after all the tiring exercises you had to go through.

Boy, how wrong you were.

Standing at the head of the bench you had a perfect view of Katie doing her tasks. It felt like a magnet being pulled to the strongest metal, the way your eyes were glued to the forward’s arms. Not knowing what hit you, you couldn’t pull your gaze away from the heavenly sight.

Katie noticing your dazed expression, rolled her eyes with a smirk, before an idea formed in her head. Pretending to lose her grip on the weight, she laid it down on her chest and let out struggling breaths.

After she tried to get your attention with faux breathless words, you suddenly jumped out of your stupor and quickly lifted the weight off of her.

“Do you want to kill me?!”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” you mumbled, regret filling your voice as you looked down sheepishly.

Shaking her head the brunette enjoyed teasing you further, “You can’t do anything, can you?”

“I said I was sorry, relax.”

Across the room, Leah and Alessia were watching the scene unfold with confusion written over their faces, “Where did this weird tension even come from? It looks like they want to kill and fuck each other at the same time.”

“I don’t know,” Leah responded, “but I think we need to separate them or one of those two things will happen any minute now.”

These little quarrels eventually developed into a common component of Arsenal’s training sessions, even being present outside of them, like on team bonding nights.

All the girls were gathered at Leah’s house to watch a few movies and just enjoy each other’s company. Everything was fine until Katie got up from the couch to get another drink for herself. During that time you arrived at the blonde’s flat, having had an appointment before, and unknowingly sat down at the spot that was previously occupied by none other than the fiery winger.

When she strolled back into the living room and saw exactly who had stolen her spot, the brunette let out an annoyed sigh. Making her way towards you, she stopped in front of your frame, “Did you make it your personal life goal to annoy me whenever you can, or what?”

Only being met by you looking at her with those stupid eyes and your stupid button nose and a stupid mischievous grin on your face, she scoffed, “Move out of my seat, you knob.”

About to stand up, you felt a few drops of something land in your lap, which made you look up only to see the brunette raising her eyebrow, “Oh no, I’m so sorry, I guess my glass was too full.”

“Tell me, Katie, is it hard being such a relentless asshole, or does it come naturally to you?” you sent her a fake smile, before moving to the other side of the room, not before jamming your shoulder into hers though.

Before Katie could retaliate, Beth let out a tired sigh, “Girls, can we just enjoy the movie now?”, gaining agreeing mumbles from everyone else.

It all came to a head when Katie tackled Alessia, who you had grown very close to in the last two months and now considered one of your best friends.

You were running along the sideline, waiting for Alessia to pass the ball, when you heard her outcry and immediately stopped. Hastily making your way to the blonde, you kneeled down and softly put your hand on her left leg, trying to calm her down, “Oh my god, Less, are you alright?”

“It hurts,” she groaned, still holding her foot.

“Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be fine, the medics are gonna be here in a second.”

Looking up when they arrived, you also saw the woman that had caused Alessia to fall to the ground.

Only seeing red, you stood up so fast you were surprised you didn’t get whiplash, shoving the brunette with both of your arms, “What the hell is your problem?! You don’t get to just treat people like that, jackass!”

“What did you just say to me?” barked Katie as she invaded your personal space, your faces only a breath apart, meaning you could see the vein on her forehead popping out and almost smoke coming from her ears.

“You heard me, McCabe,” taking one last step towards her, your foreheads touching, you poked your index finger into her chest, “stop playing like a fucking hazardous idiot and go apologise to her right now! I know you hate me and you can come at me all you want, be my guest, but if you ever hurt her again, I’ll break your goddamn kneecaps!” Your chest heaved up and down with the rage inside of you, “Stay. The fuck. Away. From her,” punctuating each word with a jab of your finger, you gave her one last push before turning back to Alessia still laying on the ground.

With it being the last training before the first match, it wasn’t a surprise when the atmosphere was a bit tense.

So, when you accidentally bumped into the one and only Katie McCabe, because the exercise had you all running backwards, and somehow landed on top of her, her snappy remark came almost instantly, “Watch where you’re going and get the fuck off of me.”  

Putting your hands on either side of her head, you started to pull yourself up, scoffing at her overdramatic reaction, “Go take a walk and calm down, babes.”

As she quickly stood up and pushed up against your body with her glowering eyes, that reminded you of the sea after a terrible storm, the gray rolling clouds reflecting onto the almost-blue surface of the water, her intoxicating scent invading your nostrils only infuriating you further, “Why don’t you take a walk back to Barcelona?”

Having had enough of this constant back and forth, you raised both of your arms and let them fall back to your sides, “What’s your goddamn problem?!”

“You! And don’t try your stupid innocent act on me, you know exactly what you did.”

Seeing the frown on your face, Katie continued, “Unless you’re gonna admit it, you can take your shit-talking self elsewhere.”

“God, you’re so full of yourself, I’m not gonna kiss your ass and apologise for something I didn’t even do!”

“Are yo- ”

She was interrupted by Leah separating you two, “Let’s take a deep breath, ladies.” Still glaring at one another you two slowly parted ways.

The locker room was buzzing with everyone’s excitement for Arsenal’s first game of the season, excited chatter coming from every corner. As you were all about to enter the pitch for warm ups, Jonas appeared, “McCabe, Y/L/N, a minute, please.”

He waited for the other girls to leave before addressing you, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you need to get it together,” his tone emphasising his disappointment. “When I made you the offer, Y/N, I thought you two would come together as a fantastic offense, because I know Katie has wanted to be winger again for a long time now and your styles and techniques just compliment each other perfectly,” the words causing you to look at your shoes shamefully.

“Now I know that you can destroy Liverpool’s defense out there but in order to do that, I need you two to work together, okay?” he looked to the two women in front of him expectantly, causing both of them to nod, his last words only making them repeat the motion, “And if you pull anything like the the shit that went down yesterday, you’re instantly being subbed off, understood?”

Jonas’ words apparently made something inside the both of you switch. Throughout the whole game, Katie and you seemed to link up every chance you could and waltzed through Liverpool’s defense like a hazard. Even when you were behind the Irish woman, she could somehow feel your presence and get the ball to your feet. You had to admit that playing with Katie when you were both working together felt amazing, giving the impression of flying over the pitch.

Even though the game went as well as it did, you went back to being at each other’s throats afterwards.

The snarky comments exchanged in the locker room extinguishing any hope your teammates had that you would at least be civil now.

One day at lunch in the team cafeteria, Katie couldn’t help but let her gaze float towards her self-appointed enemy.

Watching as you laughed with Alessia, made her thoughts run wild. Why would you say that about her? And why was she so bugged by it, when she normally just let the nasty comments brush past her without giving them a second glance?

A fork dropping to the floor startled her, making her eyes flick towards the direction the sound came from. She could see Alessia leaning down to pick it up and noticed you putting your hand between the blonde’s head and the edge of the table, efficiently sparing the forward an uncomfortable collision with the table.

This wasn’t the first time, the brunette picked up on your kindness. All the other times, for example, you staying behind and helping the staff clean up or you giving the girl you’d walked onto the pitch with your jacket, making her wonder why you were treating her so differently.

The heavy feeling in her gut made a crease form between Katie’s eyebrows. Turning to her right she questioned the captain of England’s national team, “Why is she literally the nicest human being to everyone but me?”

“Hmm, let me think, maybe because you’ve been nothing but mean to her since day one?” spoke the blonde after tapping her chin with a faux thoughtful face that turned into an ‘are you kidding me’ look.

Grumbling and stabbing her food with her fork she retorted, “She started it.”

“What do you mean? There’s not a bad bone, not even a bad cell, in that girl’s body.”

“Well, when I came in on her first day, I heard her talking to someone and she was saying pretty nasty things about me,” Katie claimed with a defeated tone.

A confused look crossed Leah’s face, “Are you sure it was her? What did she say?”

Thinking back to said day, she tried to get the words together, “Yes, I’m a hundred percent sure, and she was saying something like ‘McCabe is way too aggressive, all she does is get cards and she just isn’t good’ and I don’t know, normally I don’t really care about what people say about me, but I was just so excited to play with her and-”

“Are you serious?!”, exclaimed the blonde incredulously.

“What?”

“Did you listen to her until the end?”

Grimacing, Katie replied, “No, why would I? So that I could hear more of her borderline offensive comments?”

Fishing for her phone in her pocket, Leah grunted, “I can’t believe you sometimes, you useless lesbian.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the Irish woman starting to feel lost now, as her friend put her phone down in front of her, a video playing.

Scanning the screen she could see the title of said video ‘Y/N Y/L/N’s first Arsenal interview’ and the fog in her brain only thickened. Then she heard a voice behind the camera, “So, what are you most excited about?”

You smiled nervously, fiddling with the rings on your finger,  “Uhm, I’m really excited to play with this team cause their style is so different and I just think, uh, I can learn a lot from these amazing girls.”

“And who are you most excited to play with?”

“Oh, that’s easy, Katie McCabe,” you told the interviewer animatedly, “many people might say like ‘Oh, McCabe isn’t good. She’s borderline reckless and very petulant, plays way too aggressively and all she does is collect cards for her team’,” you imitated while doing air quotations.

“But I’m like, have you seen this girl play? It’s amazing to watch and maybe she’s a bit more physical but it’s working, isn’t it? I don’t know, I just think it’s very admirable and just so unique cause you don’t see a lot of people playing like that, you know? Sorry, I’m rambling,” you chuckled with rosy cheeks.

The blonde taking her phone back, brought Katie back to the real world. The realisation of what she had done came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks.

She hid her face behind her hands before she muttered ashamedly, “I’ve just really been an arsehole to her this whole time for no reason, haven’t I?”

“Yup, you have,” Leah patted her on the shoulder consolingly, “but I’m sure she’ll forgive you if you apologise.”

“Well, here goes nothing.”

When you heard footsteps approaching your table, you looked up from your plate to come face to face with the most infuriating person you knew, “Hey Y/N, could we maybe talk for a minute?”

Expecting her to start another fight, you couldn’t hide your surprise. “Uhm, sure I guess,” you told her as you got up to follow her out of the crowded room, shooting Alessia a confused look and only getting a shrug in response.

You arrived outside and when she stopped, you let your gaze study the woman in front of you. With her head down and her hands fidgeting, your eyes caught a sight you never would’ve thought to see. Used to her confident and feisty persona, you were astounded when you heard her speaking in a voice softer than you’d ever heard it before.

Trying to calm herself down, Katie took one last deep breath, before rising her eyes to meet your questioning ones, “I know you hate me and that this will not make up for the horrible way I’ve treated you and the awful things I’ve said, but I still want to apologise and explain why I acted the way I did.”

Your eyes widened as you took in her words and noticed that she looked to be on the verge of crying, so you sent her an encouraging smile, which she gratefully reciprocated.

“God, this is gonna sound so dumb,” she put one hand on her forehead and the other on her hip and continued, “Uhm, you remember your first day?” You nodded your head. “Well, I came in when you had your interview and I may have overheard a bit of what you were saying, only it was just a snippet of what you actually said, so I got the impression that you hated me, which I hope I didn’t make true, because I walked away before I could hear the rest of your answer.”

“I was just so excited to be able to play with you that I felt devastated after hearing your words, and I don’t really know why I did what I did but I just want you to know that I’m very very sorry, I truly am. When Leah showed me the whole video, I felt like the biggest fool ever. I know that this doesn’t excuse my behaviour but I hope you can forgive me and if not, I totally understand! Just tell me and I won’t get in your way until the end of time,” spoke Katie with her voice wavering on a few words.

The melodious sound of your laugh is what breaks her eye contact with the floor. Perplexed, she looked at you, trying to make out what your reaction meant.

“Sorry,” you let out another chuckle, “this is just the most rom-com movie type of shit I’ve ever experienced.”

You could see the girl in front of you visibly relax at your words, her shoulders finally dropping and letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

“And I should also apologise, it was wrong of me to treat you the way I did, especially because I just joined and don’t really know what everyone’s like and I also shouldn’t’ve provoked you like that and said the things I did, so yeah, I’m sorry too. I hope we can move past this,” seeing the hopeful glint in your shimmering eyes, Katie herself felt something inside of her spark.

With a thrilled smile, the Irish woman held her hand out as she proposed, “Friends?”

A beaming grin broke out on your face, feeling a tingling sensation in your tummy, you nodded giddily and pulled the woman into a tight hug. Your arms wrapped around her back as she leaned up to snake hers around your neck, squeezing tightly.

The warmth that encompassed you couldn’t even compare to drinking a hot chocolate under your fluffy blankets with your favourite movie playing on a snowy winter night.

The following weeks were filled with Katie and you spending more and more time together. One particular day, Katie couldn’t keep her eyes nor her thoughts off of you.

It all started with her struggling to get a glass that had been placed on one of the higher shelves in the cafeteria.

She had been trying to reach the goddamn thing for at least two minutes now and was just about to give up, when she felt the heat of a body behind her. Before she could turn around, the person took one last step towards her, their front touching Katie’s back, and reached out to hand her the item she had been failing to grasp.

If the familiar smell of your vanilla scent wasn’t enough of an indication of who exactly was pressing their body (a very fit one at that, if Katie’s sinful thoughts were anything to go by) against hers, your teasing voice definitely was, “You know, I’ve always wondered, has anyone ever mistaken you for being in middle school before?”

Ripping the glass out of your hand with a glare on her face the brunette retorted, “Fuck you.”

“Don’t mind if you do.”

Seeing her dumbfounded expression only caused your smirk to spread across your whole face, enjoying the sight of the usually confident woman trying to hide the heat rising up her cheeks and squirming in her place.

You found her flushed face extremely adorable, so there was nothing else to do but squish her cheeks between your hands - and that’s exactly what you did.

With you still squishing her warm face you exclaimed, “Aww, aren’t you the cutest?”

Slapping your hands away, she grumbled something unintelligible and turned on her spot, strutting back to her table. The laughter coming from you (which still put a slight grin on her face) didn’t help her face cool down, making the teasing from Leah inevitable.

“If you two don’t get together soon, I’ll lock you in my basement until you do, I just can’t watch this anymore.”

Katie already knew the comment would irk her, so she didn’t try to resist herself, “You don’t have a basement.”

“I don’t care, I’ll find something else to lock you in!”

A few hours later, her lack of concentration led to another incident involving you. She wasn’t paying attention for a minimum of two minutes (her thoughts being on anything but the exercise) when she collided with someone.

Tumbling to the ground, she grunted at the impact of the floor and the person landing on top of her. As soon as she saw who was almost laying on top of her, every last complaint flew right out of her head.

She looked up at your eyes to find them slightly creased at the edges, “I thought we would stop meeting like this, since we’re friends now,” you laughed.

“Maybe I just like having you on top of me,” retorted the girl laying on the ground, sending you a wink, which allowed Katie to see your eyes roll into the back of your head, as you jokingly swatted her arm and walked away.

It was her last straw though, when you two were the last ones in the locker room and you pulled a box out of your bag, “Oh, I almost forgot! I made these blueberry muffins cause you said you haven’t had any in a long time and they were always your favourite.”

You handed her the box and she sent you a grateful smile, the butterflies in her stomach awakening, “That’s really nice, thank you, Y/N!”

You waved her off with a ‘No problem’ and trudged back to your bag to continue changing.

Remembering what you had wanted to add, you snapped your finger, “Also they’re glutenfree so your niece can have some if she wants! She’s coming to yours tomorrow, right?”

The butterflies reappearing with what felt like twice the power, Katie’s whole body was overflowed with a warm tingly feeling as she realised that you had remembered every little detail.

Lost for words, the Irish woman just stared at you from across the room. Unaware of the watching eyes trained on you, you took of your shirt.

On the other side, Katie stood, still in a daze from your kind gesture, and now unable to look away from your almost uncovered upper body. The way the sweat glistened on your toned abs enchanting her with a seemingly unbreakable spell. When she broke out of her stupor, she strode over to you with quick steps.

Hearing the hurried footsteps approaching, you turned around alarmed, “Wha-”

Before you could get out another word, the smaller woman had pushed you against the wall behind you, and like the oceans being pulled towards the moon, your lips found one another.

If before Katie had butterflies, she could now feel a whole zoo dancing in her tummy, a kind of warmth overtaking her that she’d never felt before. When the woman’s soft lips caressed yours, your heart stopped for a moment before picking up at double its pace.

Warm hands landed on your bare waist, pushing you further against the wall and impossibly closer together, you felt the thud of your combined heartbeats getting quicker with every second your lips were connected.  

Your hands quickly found themselves tangled in her brunette hair and when you slightly pulled on it, Katie let out a raspy groan against your lips, sending tingles shooting from your fingers to your toes, the smell of her perfume dizzying you further.

Pulling away and getting a short breath of air into her lungs, you fisted her jersey in your palms and yanked her back, her lips landing on the silky pillow that was your mouth.

Just feeling the careful swipe of her tongue on your bottom lip, you breathed out a blissful sigh before being forced apart by the need for oxygen.

Your eyes were still closed as you felt Katie’s breath wavering across your face, “Why didn’t we do that earlier?”

Finally looking at her, you were enthralled by the sight before you. Katie McCabe with messy hair, rosy cheeks, a dazed look in her dazzling eyes and her swollen red lips slightly parted would be the death of you.

“I don’t know but we need to make up for lost time,” declared the brunette with a dreamy smile and pulled you back in by your waist.

[magicfootballstuff]

Are you flirting with me? - alessia russo x reader

Summary:

Things that Alessia Russo is good at: football, looking like a goddess, taking your breath away by simply existing.

Things that Alessia Russo is bad at: staying upright, flirting.

———

Alessia Russo has a gift for scoring goals. Tap-ins, clever shots from distance, decisive stoppage time headers, even backheels in a European semi-final - Alessia can make it all look easy.

But there are also some things she’s not very good at. Like elegance and grace.

Right now, Alessia is face down on the grass, her boot caught in the net of the mini goal she’s somehow managed to not notice and trip over during training. It takes three of you to untangle her foot, a difficult task when you’re all cackling at how Alessia ended up in this predicament in the first place, but eventually she manages to break free and gets back to her feet, brushing the grass off her training top as she walks away.

“What am I like?” Alessia laughs at herself, as one of the coaches sets the mini goal the right way up again so that the training drill can resume.

“Just another clumsy day in the life of Alessia Russo,” Ella jokes alongside her.

———

Alessia’s lack of spatial awareness is such a running joke that you bring it up the following day as you head out onto the training pitches for the warmup.

“Planning on tripping over any more equipment today?” you tease her.

Always willing to laugh at herself and her clumsiness, Alessia grins at you and says, “Well, I’m always falling over things when you’re around.”

It’s … well, you don’t quite know what to make of Alessia’s response. The words themselves almost feel like they should be flirty, but it slightly misses the mark and there’s nothing flirty at all about Alessia’s tone. It can only be more self-deprecating humour where your brain is desperately trying to search for flirty undertones.

Because the thing is, you’ve got a little bit of a crush on Alessia. Her dazzling smile, her gorgeous blue eyes, even her complete lack of coordination is endearing to you. But there’s never been anything overly flirtatious between you and Alessia so you don’t know if she’s ever going to feel the same. Instead, you just end up reading into the things she says and hoping that she’s flirting with you, when the idea has probably never even crossed her mind.

Surely if she was flirting with you, you’d know about it?

——���

You enter the changing room after training one day, having stayed out late to practice shooting, to a strange sight. Alessia is the only one still in there, but she’s standing up on the bench, apparently midway through changing as she’s wearing only her tracksuit bottoms and a sports bra, but her entire body is tense and she wears a look of concern on her face.

“Lessi, what the…?”

“Oh thank god,” Alessia says, as soon as she sees you enter the changing room. “Promise you won’t laugh at me?”

“What are you doing?” you ask her.

“There’s a spider,” she tells you, pointing to a spot on the floor. “I thought I was going to be trapped up here forever.”

It takes you a moment to realise exactly what she’s pointing at, that’s how small the spider is. From Alessia’s terror and the way she stands on the bench, you were expecting a tarantula, or at least a spider bigger than a penny coin. It sits still on the floor, unmoving, a safe distance from where Alessia would have been getting changed, hardly a threat at all.

“Do you want me to get rid of it?” you ask.

You try not to be judgemental, but you arch an eyebrow at Alessia. She says nothing, her wide eyes fixed on the spider, as if afraid that it might quadruple in size and jump at her if she even dares to take her eyes off it for long enough to blink, but nods frantically.

You walk carefully around the still motionless spider to get to your own cubby and unzip your bag, rummaging around inside until you pull out a crumpled piece of paper that has some old notes from some match analysis you did a couple of weeks ago.

Crouching down on the floor, you carefully slide the paper towards the spider, and it moves when you touch it. From the shriek that Alessia lets out when the spider twitches, you’d have thought it had bitten you, but you ignore her and keep your cool as you shuffle the paper until the spider crawls fully onto it.

“I can’t watch,” Alessia says, wincing as you stand up slowly and walk towards the door, holding the piece of paper that carries the spider at arm's length. 

You exit the dressing room and take the spider outside, shaking it off the piece of paper and into the nearest bush. When you return inside a moment later, Alessia has climbed down and now sits on the bench, relief on her face.

“All gone,” you announce.

“I need you as my girlfriend,” Alessia blurts out. Her eyes widen suddenly as she realises what she’s said, and as her cheeks redden, she stumbles on quickly to correct herself by saying, “Wait, that came out wrong. I meant that I need a girlfriend like you. You know, someone who can take care of the spiders at home.”

There’s probably not anything behind Alessia’s words, just a slip of the tongue, but one that has you picturing a scene of domesticity, of a shared home where Alessia stands on the sofa in her pyjamas shouting hysterically while you deal with a spider. Of Alessia wrapping you up in her arms once the pesky creature has been returned to the outdoors, thanking you with a kiss for saving her from inevitable spidery doom.

Now it’s your turn to blush.

You should not be having those thoughts about a teammate.

“It was no trouble,” you say, shrugging off your heroics. “The spider was only a little one.”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone about this,” Alessia pleads with you. “Or if you do, tell them it was massive.”

“It’s our little secret,” you promise her.

———

The day after the Manchester derby you only have recovery with the team physios, then the rest of the day off. Some of the team decide to go out for dinner to celebrate, a nice excuse to dress up a bit and spend time together away from a football pitch. 

As celebrations go, it’s not a wild one, with everybody’s mind still on the final game of the season next week. Alessia sits a few seats down on the opposite side of the table, which means you have the perfect view of her, and you spend far longer than you’d care to admit staring at the gold pendant around her neck that hangs in the low neckline of her top.

Afterwards, you’re outside the restaurant waiting for a taxi which you and Alessia have agreed to share as you both live just a few minutes from each other, you decide to compliment the piece of jewellery.

“I like your necklace.”

“Thanks, you too,” Alessia replies.

You’re not wearing a necklace and Alessia must immediately realise her mistake, because her cheeks flush under the lamplight and she’s quick to cover her error.

“I mean, if you were wearing a necklace it’d probably be nice because you…” Alessia trails off, desperately searching for the words that can get her out of this mess, then continues, “Because you have nice taste … you know, in necklaces.”

You try to keep it together, seeing how Alessia gets steadily redder as she rambles and not wanting to embarrass her by laughing at her, but you can’t help the way that your mouth curls upwards in amusement.

“I’m sorry, that was really weird,” Alessia says with a groan. “Can you forget I said any of that?”

“It’s cute,” you try to reassure her.

“It’s not cute, it’s embarrassing. I feel like I’m always making an idiot of myself around you because, well…” Alessia hesitates and gestures vaguely at you, as if that’s supposed to offer an explanation for her weird behaviour, then finishes by saying, “Well, you’re you, aren’t you?”

You feel your heart start to pick up pace in your chest as your brain has a really stupid idea, but surely Alessia is in no place to laugh at you for what you’re about to ask, not after the weird word vomit that’s just left her lips.

“Lessi, are you flirting with me?”

Alessia’s eyes widen in surprise, then her shoulders slump as she relaxes with a laugh.

“To be honest, I’ve been trying to flirt with you for weeks but I have no idea what I’m doing! You must think I’m such an idiot.”

“Like I said, it’s cute,” you tell her, with an amused smile.

“You’re cute,” Alessia blurts out.

“Alessia Russo, please never change,” you grin at her.

You reach for her hand, tangling your fingers with hers, and she looks down at your joined hands with a mixture of awe and disbelief.

“Do you want to go out with me?” Alessia asks dumbfoundedly.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” you tease her. Your taxi pulls up at the side of the road and you decide to put Alessia out of her misery. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.”

“Oh, thank god for that!”

[maxsimagination]

𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 - 𝗺.𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗱

warnings: none

a/n: let’s pretend they won against england

----

tony stood in front of us, giving his pre-game speech in an attempt to hype us up for the next 90 minutes. i had zoned out, someone cheering me on was never the way for me to get into the game.

i had always been the sort to get angry and play my heart out. in my trance my eyes had trained themselves on mackenzie, or macca, as the team nicknamed her. she was intensely listening to tony's speech, her being the complete opposite to me in almost ever way.

she must've felt my eyes on her and turned her head just slightly and glanced at me with a small smile. i return the favour and grin over at her before tuning into what tony was saying. "...we can do this girls, finals here we come!" he finishes with a shout and sam steps up to head off our chant.

"tillies on three. one, two, three, TILLIES!" we all shout the last word and break apart with a cheer.

i was insanely nervous but i knew i could do it. the girls started dispersing around the changing room, most just completing their pre-game rituals if they haven't already. i only had one, and me and mac did it together. before we did, i went around the room, hugging the girls and wishing them good luck, we could do it.

then i got to mackenzie. she pulled me in for a bear hug and i melted into her. "i love you so much. you can do this." she grinned down at me from her 5"10' stature.

"i love you too." i laughed.

tony clapped his hands, grabbing our attention. "alright girls, time to get out there." we moved into the tunnel, each of us holding a child mascots hands.

——

the whistle was finally blown after we sung the anthems for both countries and took a knee. i jumped in my place, remembering what mac had told me earlier. england had first possession and they were running towards us, full speed.

i was immediately in there, looking to steal the ball back from millie bright. she managed to spin away from me but i still took off after her, she was fast i'd give her that but this was a warmup for me.

the ball was mid-pass to rachel daly when i kicked away and took off with it. weaving in and out of the opposing players, everyone tried to get it off of me but they couldn't. i kicked it to sam who pulled a header and i took possession again. i was closing in on the goal and mary earps who looked like she was ready for me. we'll see.

i went in for the kick but made it look like it was going one way then kicked the other, sending mary the opposite direction to where i had kicked. the crowd went wild, and i ran back into my teammates who were cheering like crazy.

australia was 1-0 and it had only just been five minutes. we reset and england had possession again, taking off towards us again. i tried to get in there but it was alessia russo with the ball and she had always been the one player that knew my tricks, after i had a 2 year stint at arsenal with her. and she could match my speed. we stayed neck and neck with each other, getting closer and closer to mac and our goal.

i made one last ditch attempt to get the ball away but alessia was too close and she booted it straight towards mackenzie. i sucked in a breath in anticipation and watched, almost in slow motion, as the ball went hurling towards mac and... she caught it!

mackenzie caught the ball, landing roughly on the grass but getting up just as quickly, yelling a 'come on!' as if to ask if that was all they had. i just ran to hug my girlfriend and then got back on the pitch. we played the rest of the first half, with neither side scoring another goal and went to half time, australia still 1-0 to england.

——

"keep it going! we only have one last chunk left and we're in the finals, further than we've ever been before!" tony was almost giddy with excitement at how we were going. half time break was almost up and we all fist bumped each other, getting ready to head back out.

i was getting jumpy, waiting to get on the field again and finally we could. i was the first out there, followed by sam, and we got into position.

whistle blew and we were off, we had the ball first this time. sam kicked it to me and i quickly passed it on to hayley, she ran down the wing but was surrounded by england players. she kicked it out the side to me and i gave it back to sam who took off with the ball.

there were only two players in front of her; millie bright and lauren james. neither of the two girls could stop the ball from flying past them and into the net behind mary. sam had scored our second goal.

we all ran towards her, the crowd went wild behind us. i checked the time displayed on the screens, reading 20:00 in bold numbers. holy shit, it's been 25 minutes already? it seemed unreal but i had to quickly focus back on the game.

england started in possession, and it seemed this time they were more aggressive, trying anything and everything to score a goal. but every time they got near the goal, it was steph defending, or if it got past her then mac saved the ball. i was so proud of her, she was absolutely crushing it out here.

we kept going, the score still 2-0 to us after sam's miracle goal in the 67th minute. the timer blinked 90:00 but it wasn't over yet, we still had to play injury time, 5 minutes of it. as much as i wanted a 3-0 score for us, and tried my hardest to get through england's defence, it wasn't happening in five minutes.

the ref called the game over and we were over the moon. we'd won the semi final match against england and we were into the finals.

i ran around the pitch, crashing into my teammates who were just as happy and excited. mac had come up the field to celebrate with us and i made a beeline for her, getting to her before alanna does.

"mackenzie arnold, you brick wall! i love you so much!"

she burst out laughing at my words, picking me up and swinging me around. once she put me down the rest of the team swarmed her, all of them praising her masterful goalkeeping abilities.

i calmed down from my high, and looked over to see the england players dejected, in particular lucy. she was a friend, i had played with her when i moved from arsenal to lyon, but then west ham picked me up and i moved back to the wsl. i just sat next to her on the field, one arm around her and head on her shoulder.

"next year luce, next year." she sniffed, and that broke my heart. i don't think i'd ever seen her cry except for losing a match that had meant everything to her. she thanked me, insisting i go back and celebrate with my team.

i jogged back over to them and joined in the victory lap around the pitch. macca had taken her gloves off so i grabbed her hand and she liked to see me. "you're our saviour, mac. couldn't have down it without you." she grinned back down at me. "i'm a brick wall, right?" her words referenced mine before.

"my brick wall."

[aus-wnt]

‘Global Football Week’ series will see three English sides play exclusively in Melbourne

Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Arsenal Women FC will headline a series of international football club matches at the MCG and Marvel Stadium in May.

And Newcastle will take on an A-League All Stars team at Marvel Stadium on May 24, before an Arsenal squad including three Matildas becomes the first Women’s Super League outfit to play on Australian soil.

The three-game “Global Football Week – Melbourne” series will see all three English sides and the A-League All Stars play exclusively in Melbourne.

Arsenal, featuring Melbourne born and raised Matildas captain Steph Catley, will face an A League Women’s All Stars squad that will play for the first time.

Girlpower will be given top billing in the Marvel Stadium double header, with the women’s match played after the men’s.

Arsenal’s squad also includes Matildas stars Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross.

And the Gunners boast England captain Leah Williamson, Irish skipper Katie McCabe and forwards Alessia Russo and Beth Mead.

Big crowds are expected at all three matches. Fans will also be able to attend open training sessions to see star players up close.

It comes after more than 54,000 fans filled Marvel Stadium for a Matildas match against Uzbekistan last month.

Tickets, from $59, will go on sale via Ticketek at 12pm on March 28.

A waitlist at www.TEGSport.com.au will give access to a pre-sale on March 27.

[futbol16]

Rio Manuela ・ England Lionesses/Barcelona Femení

This is a platonic story with the England lionesses and the Barcelona Femení girls. The character has a given name, but the story is written in second person. I was also bored enough to make an edit so hope you like that as well.

Id love any feedback you guys could give me! English is also not my first language so excuse me if anything is incorrect. Enjoy!

Word count: 3,7k words

It’s been a month since you and your team have won the 2022 EURO’s and to say team spirit was still high would be an understatement. It was one of the many reasons why your team felt like a big family, especially with being one of the younger ones. 

You were an incredibly successful player at the ripe age of 24 and by many fans' requests, you had been working on a biography. Although you had been keeping it on the down low, it was no secret.

That is exactly why the team was buzzing today as it was the release day of the movie. You on the other hand weren’t only excited but anxious as well. You didn’t have the best upbringing and you were scared of how the world would react to this side of your story. Moreover you were nervous about the team’s reaction, only a handful of people knew and even they only knew what you let them know.

“IT’S MOVIE NIGHT TONIIIIIGHT!” - Ella screamed as she ran around the pitch as training started. A few of the girls laughed at her excited antics, they too couldn’t wait. 

You laughed even bigger as you felt her jump on your back, screeching in your ear when you nearly dropped her.

“All right girls, gather around. We’ll do skill exercises today and a bit of strength training, I need all of you to be ready for the match that’s in two days.”-Sarina called you guys over.

Warming up in pairs you stood in line with the rest as you started training.

You looked up from your feet as you spotted Hempo getting ready to cross the ball. Picking up your speed you jumped into the air hitting a perfect header to the back of the net. Despite it only being a scrimmage in training you ran to the blonde smiling at her and celebrating.

“This is why they call you Barcelona’s bird.”- she grinned, making you chuckle.

“I think it’s also the name, you know, Rio and the movie with those blue birds?”- Rachel spoke up from behind the two of you, most of the team heading for their water bottles as training came to an end.

“Oh, yeah i guess that makes a bit more sense”-You laughed as a look of embarrassment washed over Lauren’s face, nudging her in the shoulder.

“Maybe, but I’m only Barcelona’s bird when I play for them, here, with the national team, I'm England’s lioness just like you guys.”- you smiled at the two then shrieked as they both squeezed the water from their bottles at you. Running away, the other two laughed loudly as they chased you around.

Lucy grinned as she watched the three of you. Turning to the other two as they waited for you. 

“Her biography is out today, right?” - Keira asked with a hopeful expression.

“Yeah, god the kid’s so young and she’s got a movie done for her, makes me feel old.”- Lucy chuckled, though with a proud smile on her face.

“Mhmm, the younger ones are really excited to watch it tonight.”- Leah continued.

“Pretty sure the whole world is. I mean she’s one of the best players in the world, it’ll be interesting to see her journey throughout her younger years.”- Leah’s smile faded a bit at that, she was one of the few people that knew, knew the little you shared.

Sitting in the relaxation room of the national team’s facility, all 23 of you got yourselves comfortable. Carrying three bowls of popcorn you thanked Leah and Alessia as they each took one and handed them to a group of girls allowing you to sit down between Lucy and Ella.

“WHO’S READY TO GET STARTED??”- Ella once again shouted forcing you to cover your ears with a smile as the others cheered.

 “Okay I was thinking about first watching the trailer and then we can start the movie.” - the others voiced their agreements as one of the girls started the trailer. Sitting back comfortably you crossed your arms over your chest as you waited patiently, this would also be your first time seeing the finished product, seeing the story of your football career.

The opening scene flashed across the screen showing you sitting in your cubby in a locker room, your England jersey proudly hanging behind you, the number 10 and Manuela printed onto it.

"All my life I had to fight, no one believed in me, so I had to believe in myself.”

Your back was to the camera as you walked through the tunnel leading you to the stadium’s football pitch. “To all of you, I have one thing to say. I’m not like you, because I’m not you. I am Rio Manuela.”

As the trailer finished, the girls seemed even more interested in your biography than before. Glancing around you took in some of their expressions before your gaze landed on Leah who smiled at you reassuringly and nodded her head. Smiling back at her softly you turned back around as the movie started.

1998, 𝖣𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 10, 𝖱𝗂𝗈 𝖽𝖾 𝖩𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗂𝗋𝗈

Soft cries indicated your arrival into the world, the nurse handing you to your father as he looked down at you with tear filled eyes.

“She’s so beautiful.”- he looked up at your mother, a tear running down his face.

“Have you got a name ready for her?”- one of the nurses asked with a polite smile turning towards your parents.

“Marcia Rio Manuela” - your mother answered, watching as your father placed a gentle kiss onto your forehead, your soft cries subsiding.

2002, 𝖱𝗂𝗈 𝖽𝖾 𝖩𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗂𝗋𝗈

Age 4

“Come on Marcia”- your father extended his arms as he scooped you up, turning back towards the reporter as she asked him something in Portuguese. Quickly getting bored, you got distracted with the short curls on his head, reaching up playing with them as he smiled at you.

Giggling at him you snuggled into his neck as the reporter decided to wrap up with her questions.

You smiled as a few other happy clips were seen playing on the screen. Willing yourself to not tear up, you felt Lucy wrap an arm around your shoulders from your right, allowing you to lean into her.

2007, 𝖲𝖾𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 21, 𝖱𝗂𝗈 𝖽𝖾 𝖩𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗂𝗋𝗈

Age 9

Your little feet hurried towards the ball as you played with a few of your team mates. Hearing your coach call you over, you picked the ball up trying to put it under your arm as you walked towards him.

“Listen Marcia, mom is here to pick you up, she said you needed to go somewhere. Go get your stuff, she’s waiting for you.” the smile fell from your lips as you took in what he was saying.

“But coach practice is not over yet, I wanna play.” - you all but whined, not happy with having been interrupted while you were so close to scoring a goal.

“I know amada (sweetheart), but your mom is waiting for you.” - he smiled at you sadly, confusing you but you blamed it on him also being sad about you having to leave.

Nodding your head you took off towards your mother who didn't spear you a glance as she opened the car door for herself, waiting on you as you got in too.

You didn’t dare ask questions after getting a harsh ‘quiet’ after your first two. 

The car pulled into the driveway of the familiar family house, getting out and into the house, you watched as your mom pulled out suitcases throwing different articles of clothing into them.

“I wasn’t told until after we landed in England that my father had died during one of his missions at the Navy. I remember I was in such despair as the words slipped out of my mother’s mouth. But I know I was also upset that she took me away from home, from all that I knew.”

You spoke into the camera, sitting on a chair with a gray background behind you. Your face showed one of sorrow as you ran your fingers through your hair.

“I decided to go by my middle name after that, Rio, in honor of my dad. He and I both were born in Rio de Janeiro and he always told me his happiest memories were from growing up there, he loved Brazil, it was his home” a small smile made its way onto your face

2010, 𝖫𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗇, 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖠𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝖥𝗈𝗈𝗍𝖻𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖢𝗅𝗎𝖻 𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗁 𝖠𝖼𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗆𝗒

Age 12

“Go Rio, drive forwards, come on!”- your academy coach shouted at you as he saw your hesitation. Nodding to yourself you sped up coming face to face with one of your opponents, making eye contact with her you sent her a devious look before megging her and running around her to collect the ball. 

Moving past her you skillfully dribbled past four other opponents, looking up you saw you were one on one with the goal keeper. Pulling your leg back you aimed and then watched as the ball soared through the air and hit the back of the net. Your teammates screamed as they piled on top of you, the whistle being blown signaling the end of the match. 

The camera zoomed in on your face as you grinned, your coach sending you a proud thumbs up.

2012, 𝖫𝗈𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗇, 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖠𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝖥𝗈𝗈𝗍𝖻𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖢𝗅𝗎𝖻 𝖸𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗁 𝖠𝖼𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗆𝗒

Age 14

“Good job girls, practice is done for the day. Go home and rest alright?”- your coach smiled at the young girls as they ran off towards the locker room. Hanging back a bit you took your time getting to the changing room.

Entering you were met with one of the taller girls on the team, a red head. Her name was Grace and she really had it out for you. “You could’ve passed more today.”

A few of the others looked up from their own chatter, now paying attention to what was about to go down in front of them.

“You weren’t open, you can’t expect me to pass to a player that’s clearly being marked.”- you answered her with an unimpressed look, this wasn’t the first time she came for you.

“Oh shut it Manu, we both know it’s only because of your huge ego.”- she seethed her palms pressing onto your shoulders as she tried to shove you back, but you didn't budge.

Raising an eyebrow at her, a small smirk made itself present on your face.

“That’s all you can do? Come on, I thought you wanted that ball.”- you commented with a smug look. Out of the corner of your eye you saw the short blonde girl stand up about to intervene before this would go the wrong way, but you gently shook your head. She sat back down with a worried look on her face. 

Focusing back on the redhead in front of you, you barely dodged her hit as her fist grazed your cheek. A collective intake of breath was heard throughout the locker room as she tried again, this time you ducked before hitting your elbow to the back of her knee. You watched as her knee buckled and she fell on her bum. Deciding that you’ve had enough, you made your way out of the locker room.

It was half an hour after practice, all of the girls had been picked up already. You sat against the wall as you seemed to zone out staring at the ball in your hands. The sound of boots hitting the ground woke you out of your trance, looking up at your coach as he exhaled.

“Has she not come yet?”- you shook your head at his question, though you thought the answer was obvious enough. - “I’ll be back in 15 minutes, if you’re still here I’m taking you home myself.”

With that you stood up making your way back onto the pitch which by now was lit up by the big lights. Fooling around with the ball at your feet, you already knew you would have to walk home alone.

Entering the apartment you shrugged your coat off as you chucked your training bag onto your bed. Making your way into the living room you spotted her figure hunched over what you assumed to be paperwork.

“Where were you? My practice ended an hour ago.”- you asked her, rightfully upset as she barely acknowledged you.- “You were supposed to pick me up.”

“You’re here now, aren’t you?” - you scoffed at that.- “Eat whatever you find and then go to your room, I’ve got work to do.”

“Diane failed to act like a mother, I could count on one hand the amount of times she’s cared enough to show up for her daughter.”- your academy coach spoke as he looked back on those times. He sat in front of a maroon background as he scratched his chin.- “I’m glad Rio had the academy, she had us and we supported her through everything.”

You felt a few of the girls glance towards your way, Lucy squeezed your shoulder as she sensed your discomfort.

2014, 𝖩𝗎𝗇𝖾 6, 𝖤𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖶𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇’𝗌 𝖭𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝖥𝗈𝗈𝗍𝖻𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖳𝖾𝖺𝗆

Age 16

“We both made our debut for the national team in 2014. She was one hell of a player, I think that’s why many didn’t like her at first. Even when we were younger and in the academy, if she wasn’t looking for trouble, trouble found her. People always looked down on her. And then she’d step out onto the field and prove them wrong.”- Leah Williamson spoke as she chuckled at the childhood memories you shared.

A few videos were shown of your debut, your first goals and first assists for the national team.

The girls’ eyes widened as one of the clips showed you jumping over a defender trying to slide tackle you, the ball held firmly between your ankles before you landed at the other side of her and ran towards the goal. 

2016, 𝖴𝗇𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖪𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖽𝗈𝗆

Age 18

Hey Rio, why are you still here”- a young Leah Williamson appeared on the screen. You were still in your training gear as you smiled at her sheepishly.

“Well..you know.”- you pulled your lips into a tight smile.

“She didn’t come to the game?”

“She doesn’t come to any of them, never has, said she’s got more important things to do”-you looked at the blonde with a confused expression she dragged you towards the stands where her mother and brother stood.

“Rio sweety, come here.”- her mother wrapped you up in a hug as you reached over and ruffled Jacob’s hair who only groaned at your actions. - “Come on, you’re having dinner over at ours.”

You and Leah grinned as you swung an arm around each other, walking out the stadium.

Behind you Leah smiled fondly at the memories grabbing ahold of your hand as you reached it out to her and squeezed it.

2017, 𝖲𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗇, 𝖥𝗎𝗍𝖻𝗈𝗅 𝖢𝗅𝗎𝖻 𝖡𝖺𝗋𝖼𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗇𝖺 𝖥𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇í

Age 19

“I met Rio this year actually. She amazed us all right in her first training session. We quickly became friends, because we both were the rookies of the team.”- Maria Leon, Mapi laughed into the camera. - “She’s got this amazing personality too. I remember this one time -it was actually when she got her nickname- I remember she scored a banger of a goal with an assist from me and I was so happy I just ran through her legs and lifted her onto my neck”- she laughed out loud, her voice fading as the clip played on the screen, both of your younger selves laughing loudly at each other as someone - you assumed Leila Ouhabi- filmed the two of you, laughing along before speaking up.- “And there goes Barca’s bird”

2020, 𝖲𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗇, 𝖥𝗎𝗍𝖻𝗈𝗅 𝖢𝗅𝗎𝖻 𝖡𝖺𝗋𝖼𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗇𝖺 𝖥𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇í

Age 22

“What was your favorite goal of the season so far?”- the interviewer asked you in a post match interview, your hair still damp with sweat and a bit out of breath.

“That absolute rocket I just scored!”- you exclaimed happily, adrenaline still coursing through your veins from the win as you pointed your thumb behind you to the pitch. The rest of your team was seen dancing around and celebrating.

“How does it feel to score a winning goal in the Copa de la Reina?”- she asked you as you bounced on the balls of your feet.

“Absolutely fucking amazing!”- you screamed into the camera as you got up close. The camera man and the interviewer laughed out loud as you got swept off your feet and onto the shoulders of your captain.

Mapi ran up behind you as you were seen waving at the camera while Alexia walked you back to your team to celebrate with you. - “That bicycle kick was one for the history books!”

“Bar-celo-na’s li-ttle bird, Rio,Rio! Our goal scoring hero,hero!”- your chants were screamed by the fans in the stadium.

Watching your bicycle kick being played on the screen a sense of pride filled your chest again as you heard not only the fans in the stadium screaming for you but your national team mates sitting around you as well, a few of them leaning over to pat you on the head or shoulders.

 It definitely was still one of your favorite goals.

2021, 𝖡𝖺𝗋𝖼𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗇𝖺, 𝖲𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗇

Age 23

Another interview was shown on the screen. It was one with a few of your Barcelona teammates, some of your trophies laid out on the ground.

“OH, MIS BEBÉS!”- you shouted as you hugged the two Ballon D’ors close to you. Alexia and Jenni laughed loudly at you as you grinned back at them.

“Those are definitely her favorite trophies.”- Alexia turned towards the camera.

“Are you kidding me? They’d be my favorite trophies too.”- Jenni jokes.

“Don’t worry Jenni, you’ll get your own.”

2022, 𝖴𝖤𝖥𝖠 𝖤𝗎𝗋𝗈𝗉𝖾𝖺𝗇 𝖶𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇’𝗌 𝖥𝗈𝗈𝗍𝖻𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗆𝗉𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉

Age 24

England vs Germany

“Germany has always been a great threat to any country they’ve played against. Today the England Lionesses face them at home grounds, at Wembley Stadium.” - the commentators were heard as your team lined up for the anthems.

“Yeah I think this team has really shown just how good they are. They’ve got great quality and obviously a good mix of experienced and inexperienced players. Every single one of them has great potential, and you know, working together and cooperating, the sky has no limits, this team has no limits and hopefully we get to show that to the world at the final match.”- Sarina Weigman spoke at the press conference.

Dropping to your knees you allowed the tears to fall freely as the final whistle was blown. Looking up at the sky you placed a kiss on your pointer finger before pointing upwards.

Soon you felt a body colliding with you, Leah’s familiar blonde hair clouding your sight as the two of you hugged.

“We fucking did it!”- she all but sobbed, holding you tighter by the back of your head. You laughed in glee, pulling back you wiped her tears.

“We fucking did! My captain, my Leah, we did it!” - you told her proudly as her tears kept flowing down her face. Pulling her up you gave her another squeeze before she sent you towards Lucy.

Falling into the arms of who you considered to be your big sister she spun you around before inviting you to slide into the confetti pooling on the pitch.

2022, 𝖲𝖾𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 21, 𝖴𝗇𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖪𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖽𝗈𝗆

“Who do you think you can thank your success to?”- you were asked. Leaning back in your chair you briefly glanced at the dark blue background behind you.

“I’d rather answer another question first.”- you lightly laughed as the person behind the camera nodded.

“What do you think your greatest trait as a player is?”

“Hmm, I’d have to say my drive to succeed for not only myself but for the club, the country and most importantly my teammates.”- you answered with a thoughtful look on your face.

“Oh it’s definitely her passion for the sport. I have met many great players, myself being one of them, she’s one of the players with the greatest passion towards football. I really do admire that about her.”- Lucy answered halfheartedly in a separate interview, sitting in front of the blue background.

“The strength she has, not only as a player but as a person as well. Her mother sort of..abandoning her…in some sense, obviously hurt her a lot, it would hurt anyone, but not everyone would be able to fight in spite of that. To continuously show up and prove others wrong.” - Alexia answered the same question with a sad smile on her face but a proud look by the end.

“Her love for the sport and for the people around her. She has such a loud and fun energy to her, on and off the pitch. She’s hard to forget.”- Leah smiled with a chuckle.

“Well I mean if nothing else works then she’s got a real good death stare. Like you can see the opposition back down from her…but most of the time I guess her skills are good enough”- Ella laughed as Allessia sent a jab at her ribs, laughing as well before answering. - “Yeah, she’s got it all.”

“Back to the first question, why do you think you succeed and continue to succeed in football?”

“My family.”- you answered, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Your family?”- she asked with a somewhat confused face.

“Yeah, it’s thanks to them that I’m still here. I’ve learnt everything from them and they continue to make me not only a better player but a better person as well.”- you smiled big with a light blush coating your cheeks.

“By family, do you mean your parents?”

“No, I mean I know my dad’s watching me from up there and I know he’s proud of me, that’s more than enough for me. But my family is my club team and national team. All 46 of them have my back and I have every single one of theirs.”- you answered truthfully. - “And I absolutely adore every one of them.”

The girls cheered as your biography ended, some with tearful looks on their faces, others with big smiles but all of them with a proud glint in their eyes. 

Your mother might have not cared enough, that redhead at the academy might have caused you more trouble than you would’ve liked and yeah, your abilities were definitely doubted by many at the start of your career, but you knew you were right where you belonged.

 In the arms of your teammates, your best friends and sisters. And when you’d be back for preseason at Barcelona, you’d be with the other half of your family. 

Football gave you a home.

[tooneys-russo]

BOOTS AND BROKEN HEARTS

Previous Parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Summary: Alessia and her UNC coach Willa have a bit too much chemistry. Only downside is that Willa has a girlfriend.

CHAPTER 4

The first game of the season was against Providence College, it was a very tight game and Willa approached Anson telling him they needed to put on Alessia. At half time Willa thought maybe he would make the change, she was visibly frustrated when the change wasn’t made and she stood by the bench with her jaw clenched. Alessia couldn’t help but stare at her coach, she looked really good pissed off. At the 55th minute Willa walked over to Anson and they appeared to have a somewhat heated discussion, Willa smirked and turned to Alessia. “Go warm up.” Willa won the battle to get Alessia on, it was ridiculous that she wasn’t on the pitch to begin with but now they would get some of that hard football that they needed. As soon as Alessia was on the pitch the whole game changed. UNC were pressing forward and keeping the pressure on Providence, Alessia watched a cross come in and got a header in, but it was just saved by the keeper. She groaned in frustration, “Less keep it going you got it!” She heard Willa from the sidelines. Willa was sat with a few of the other players talking them through the game when Alessia had a shot that was deflected by the keeper and scored off the rebound by Julia Ashley. The team celebrated but Alessia was slightly worried that she would remain on the bench after helping her other striker get the winning goal. After the game Willa found the blonde girl after their meeting and she had a change to shower and get changed. “Well done.” Willa leant up against the wall of the hallway, “I didn’t score Willa.” Willa shrugged. “You got the assist.” Alessia sighed, “Yeah off my shot.” Willa put her arm around the girl’s shoulder and lead her down the hallway. “Oh young one, don't worry, a few sessions with me and you will understand why you had a phenomenal game.” Alessia shoved Willa in the side with a slight smile. “You are annoying, teach me to score and I might think you are less annoying.” Willa laughed. “I will work you hard just so you know. Goodnight Alessia, celebrate and I will see you tomorrow at 10.” Willa stopped by her office and Alessia waved to her coach as she headed back to her dorm. There was an undeniable tension between the two of them, there was clear flirtation in each conversation that neither of them were going to cut back on. 

The following morning Willa got some Gatorade and water ready for the session, she set up some mannequins and cones then waited for the gorgeous blonde to come by. Alessia checked how she looked in the mirror before she walked onto the field, she wore her UNC shorts and training shirt with her Nike boots. As she walked onto the grass she saw her coach standing there in a UCLA training shirt and shorts. “What the hell Willa! You do know you are at UNC right? Can’t just walk around in UCLA crap.” Alessia laughed and Willa looked down at her shirt. “This looks way better on me than that sky blue, royal blue all the way princess.” She kicked a ball to Alessia, “Start warming up and no complaints.” After a minute Willa joined Alessia in warm up so she wasn’t lonely, they chatted about the game briefly during the warm up. They shifted into some ball work, going around cones and quick changes of movement. Willa was impressed by Alessia’s ball skills and the way the ball would do whatever she wanted like it was on a string. “Next drill, back to the mannequins then turn and shoot.” Alessia did the drill with ease, she needed some real pressure. Willa moved the mannequins while Alessia had a much needed drink, she then put on her boots and grabbed a few balls. Willa waited on the edge of the 18 yard box for Alessia who soon followed. “Okay, it’s you up against me now.” She tossed a ball to Alessia who smirked. “Do I get punished when I kick your ass?” Willa laughed. “Yeah you will be benched again.” Alessia gasped and shoved Willa. “Not funny.” She put the ball at her feet, Alessia began coming towards Willa who followed each movement Alessia made but didn’t make a tackle. It was hard for Alessia to be able to make any ground, she was used to players diving in to tackle and going around them. They seemed to be doing this dance for a few minutes before Willa closed the gap and tapped the ball slightly away from Alessia then took it a few metres down the field. “You got lazy there Russo, take me on.” She passed the ball back. Alessia found it hard to get used to the style of defence that Willa was doing and soon just used her body to block the ball. Alessia pressed her back into the front of Willa who put one hand on Alessia’s waist to hold her slightly. Alessia tried to turn but Willa was right there like velcro on her. Their bodies were pressed right against each other, able to feel every movement, both of them very aware of each twitch of their muscles but trying to focus. Alessia went to turn and Willa got the ball and Alessia fell over her leg. “Ugh what the hell?! How do you do that?” She laid back on the grass frustrated, Willa laughed at her reaction. “Well princess I can tell exactly what you are going to do. Use my body as a way to predict.” She held her hand out and pulled the striker up. “Turn around.” Alessia followed her instruction and suddenly felt Willa’s body against her and hands on her hips. “Use these to turn me. Push back to get me off balance, that will give you a few seconds of peace from me.” Alessia struggled to focus feeling Willa’s hands on her hips then it clicked what she was asking, to push her ass against her to turn her, it would be rude not to listen to her coach. Willa kept her hands on Alessia’s hips, Willa then felt the striker push back into her, sending her stepping back, this gave Alessia the opportunity to turn and have a shot on goal. Alessia turned with a smirk, “Well I guess you do know a thing or two about this football thing.” Willa stepped closer to the blonde, “There is a lot I know about this football thing.” They looked into each other’s eyes for a minute before Willa stepped back and cleared her throat. “Um good work Russo, film session later today.” She turned and began packing up, Alessia collected herself. “Yeah thanks, see you then.” She quickly headed back to her dorm and laid down on her bed.

Lotte watched as Alessia flopped onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. “How was your little private session with Willa?” Lotte smirked and Alessia groaned. “Ahhh yes that sounds phenomenal. Did you say actual words with her or just speak in grunts while you drooled all over her?” Lotte laughed and Alessia just gave her the finger. After a few minutes Alessia sat up and gave a recount of the training, their bodies together and the flirting. “Holy shit Alessia! She is so into you!” Alessia ran her fingers through her hair. “She has a girlfriend and she is amazing but again she has a girlfriend.” Alessia looked over at Lotte. “Look something is clearly going on between you two, you could keep going the way you are and just bide your time or you can shut it down. Only you can decide Less.” Lotte looked at her friend sympathetically. After their classes Lotte and Alessia walked into the theatre Willa was sat up the back in her usual spot with her notebook, Lotte gently pushed Alessia, “Go sit with your girl.” She whispered and went to sit with Lois. Alessia fixed her hair and sat next to Willa, “Hey Coach.” Willa smiled up at the blonde girl. “Well hello there Russo.” Willa shifted her body to face more towards Alessia. Anson spoke to the girls about the upcoming game, the previous UNC game started playing on the projector. Willa whispered tactics to Alessia, as the game continued Willa put her leg against Alessia’s. Neither of them made an attempt to move, Alessia put her hand on Willa’s thigh, “Just wondering, if I was going to cut back in that situation would I do what we did this morning and fake going down the line?” Willa looked down at Alessia’s hand and swallowed hard, she could only answer with a nod. Alessia smirked and moved her hand as she sat back, she knew what she was doing was very wrong but technically nothing had happened between them…yet.

A few weeks had passed, Willa was able to see Jennifer a couple of times but to be honest the reception to her being there was cold. Jennifer was so focused on hanging out with some of her teammates, some more than others. Willa threw herself into her work with the team which included multiple sessions with different players, none were as tension filled as the ones with Alessia. She and the striker were always pressed against each other during the trainings and finishing the sessions catching their breath but not from the running. The team were on the plane headed to Notre Dame for what was promising to be a tough game, Alessia and Willa exchanged looks throughout the flight. Once they were at the field, Willa brushed past Alessia, probably a few too many times as they got ready for the game. Alessia didn’t complain once and even a few times she made sure to be in her coach’s way. When the game started it didn’t take long for Alessia to make an impact, not even a minute in and Alessia lost her player and was able to header the ball into the back of the net. Alessia ran over to the sidelines and hugged her teammates, everyone began walking back to reset and Alessia winked at Willa making the coach’s heart race. Notre Dame equalised after 10 minutes and the girls dropped their heads slightly. At half time Willa stood in the middle of the players. “Keep pushing, that goal came from a lack of concentration. Remember those sessions in the Carolina heat, you pushed hard and fought for each other. Keep going and we have this!” The girls headed back out onto the pitch pumped up for the next half. Alessia came off in the 75th minute looking frustrated, Willa came over and patted Alessia on the back. “You are only getting a couple minutes off Alessia then I want you pressing those defenders. Pretend it's me in our sessions, use your body and don’t be afraid to shoot.” Alessia locked eyes with Willa and nodded. True to her word it was only a few minutes and Alessia was back on, again within two minutes Alessia made an impact, she had a shot on the keeper which rebounded to Freshman Taylor Otto who smashed it into the back of the net. The team was elated when the final whistle blew and began celebrating in the middle of the field. Once they were back in the change rooms the music was blaring, the players were dancing with a disco light strobing in the room. Alessia snuck away from the main group to find the coach standing to one side laughing. “Did you see my goal?” Alessia looked at her coach. “Of course I did. You really put a show on for me didn’t you?” Willa put her cap on and leaned in to whisper in Alessia’s ear, “In a few days you and I have a game to watch. Make sure you bring your tissues.” She left Alessia standing there as she watched Willa leave the room. 

The flirting between the two intensified on their way to Syracuse, Alessia made sure to bend over while Willa was close by and brushing against her coach whenever she could. At the game Alessia didn’t score but she did find herself sitting next to Willa on the plane ride home. They watched a movie together, Willa picked ‘Goal!’ Alessia only complained about having to watch a movie about Newcastle United for 10 minutes before Willa quieted her down with some snacks. Alessia rested her head on Willa’s shoulder and soon fell asleep. When they landed Willa gently touched Alessia’s hand that was resting on her thigh. “Hey princess, wake up.” Alessia groaned and sat up, she rubbed her eyes and then looked at Willa. “Well I seem to have wasted my flight haven’t I?” She got up and grabbed her things as they exited the plane. Conveniently for Willa, Jennifer didn’t seem to notice Willa’s new found focus because she too was focused on another footballer, Alanna Kennedy. There were rumours circulating that there was something more than friendly between the two, they had been snapped dancing together in clubs and getting close at training, this was squashed each time by Jennfier explaining that she was just friends and she had no one at her new team. Willa just accepted Jennifer’s explanation and moved on. 

The morning of the Newcastle United v Manchester United game Willa sent Alessia a picture of her in a Newcastle United shirt and shorts. Alessia checked if anyone was around and went to her wardrobe and grabbed her Manchester United jersey and went into the bathroom. She had on very short soccer shorts with the jersey and you could only just see the bottoms of them. Alessia held up the hem of the jersey slightly so you would be able to see the band of her shorts. She took the picture and sent it through to her coach with the message, ‘Red is such a nicer colour’ Willa stared at the picture before getting a call from Anson, she had to do a few things for Anson ready for their next game. There was a few hours before the game for her to kill with the work Anson needed done, she could do it before seeing Alessia, but she forgot to respond to the blonde striker. Alessia had spent the last three hours since she sent the message in a silent panic, maybe she took it too far and Willa was freaked out. She was pacing in her room and Lotte was starting to get worried, “Okay what is going on? You are going to wear a hole in the carpet.” Alessia groaned, “I messed up.” She sat on the end of Lotte’s bed. “I sent something to Willa.” She handed her phone to Lotte, the defender’s eyes widened as she saw the image. “Oh wow. At least it is a great pic.” Lotte handed the phone back. “I am sure you aren’t the first player to have a crush on a coach, you will be fine with the team, you won’t be kicked off or anything.” Alessia looked at Lotte. “I didn’t even think of getting kicked off the team! I was just thinking of having to face Willa for the Newcastle and Manchester game!” Alessia laid back on Lotte’s bed and covered her eyes. “Just leave me here to die.” She groaned and Lotte laughed. “At least you had clothes on.” It was little consolation for Alessia knowing the coach had definitely seen the picture. Willa checked her phone 30 minutes prior to the game starting, she noticed she hadn’t replied. ‘Sorry for the late reply princess had to quickly do some work. But yes you do look great in red, see you soon.’ Alessia felt a wave of relief sweep over her as she re-read the text and rushed over to the theatre where Willa was waiting. 

There was a moment of silence when Alessia walked into the theatre and saw Willa standing there in her Newcastle shirt. “God, you need to get rid of that.” Alessia grabbed the hem of the shirt. “You need to get rid of that.” Willa replied and grabbed the hem of Alessia’s jersey. They stood there looking at each other until the whistle from the game interrupted them. “Wanna sit?” Willa grabbed Alessia’s hand and took her to the middle rows where some food was set up. They cheered and bickered during the game, at half time Willa groaned. “If they bloody had defenders willing to track back we would be fine.” She put on her cap backwards and leant back with her hands on her head. “Just convert Willa, trust me it would be less suffering to go for Manchester.” Alessia smirked. “Read my lips Alessia, there is no way in the world that I would wear that god awful Manchster United kit, I'd sooner wear Middlesbrough.” Willa leant in with a smirk and Alessia bit her lip. Willa couldn’t resist anymore, this girl was constantly on her mind, she leant in and connected their lips. Alessia immediately put her hand on the back of Willa’s neck to deepen the kiss, Willa grabbed Alessia and guided her onto her lap, sliding her hands up the striker’s thighs. Their lips moved together in perfect sync, small moans escaping both of their mouths, three months of teasing had finally led to this moment. Willa made her way down Alessia’s neck planting kisses and digging her fingers into Alessia’s thighs. The moment was cut short by Willa’s phone ringing, Alessia picked it up while Willa was still making her way along Alessia’s neck. Willa felt the blonde on her lap stiffen and quickly get off her, “Less?” All Alessia could do was hand Willa back her phone and quickly leave the theatre. Willa looked at her phone and sighed, it was Jennifer. “Hey baby.” Willa said as she sat back, the game still on the big screen. “I saw your schedule and thought that you could come out to see me?” Jennifer sounded very perky and excited to hear her voice. “Yeah baby the game tomorrow?” Willa knew that she was in deep with Alessia and now had to try and pretend everything was okay with Jennifer. 

She got an afternoon flight and let Anson know where she was heading to, she just needed some time to think. Jennifer was waiting by the gate when Willa got off the plane, they shared a kiss and a hug as soon as they saw each other. Willa compared the kiss with Alessia's. It was nice but it wasn’t like what she had with Alessia, there was so much passion and intensity. The night was spent cuddled up on the couch watching a Hallmark movie and eating some pasta, in comparison Alessia gave Lotte a full rundown of what had happened. Lotte couldn’t believe that they finally gave into their feelings for each other. The two Brits sat down for a movie night, Alessia wanting to keep her mind off Willa, she scrolled on Instagram while the movie played and saw a picture of Jennifer and Willa kissing at the airport, Willa still wearing her Newcastle United jersey that Alessia had been holding onto while they made out. Alessia bit her lip to stop herself from crying, Lotte noticed and asked what was going on, Alessia simply handed her phone over and tucked her knees to her chest. Lotte clenched her jaw, “Bitch.” Alessia’s head snapped towards Lotte who was always the calmest and most sensible person. “How can she just go and be with her girlfriend after making out with you! Is she an idiot?” Alessia laughed at Lotte, it was nice to have someone in her corner. “Okay new plan, we forget her no more flirting with her, cut her off.” Alessia nodded, might be easier said than done. 

The game was fantastic to watch, Jennifer played well too. She was prominent and assisted in two goals. Willa watched closely as the game progressed, she made some notes on things she wanted to try with the UNC team when she got back. Willa looked at her phone and typed out a message to Alessia wanting to press send, ‘Hey Less, I am so sorry for what I did. You probably know that I am with Jennifer right now at her game but when I come back I want to talk about what happened. I do care about you, I am so sorry again.’ She backspaced everything and just simply sent, ‘Hey Alessia it’s Willa. Can we talk when I get back from Orlando?’. There was no reply for the whole game which Willa did kind of expect. After the game Jennifer met Willa outside the back of the stadium, Jennifer had a crop top and jeans on with a pair of heels. “Baby we are going out, you have to come!” She wrapped her arms around the coach. “Um yeah okay lets do it.” Willa tried not to go out too much, she got bored quickly and often Jennifer would forget that she was even there and leave her while she partied with her friends. It seemed that Willa could predict the future as she sat at the booth for hours while Jennifer danced with her teammates, she seemed to be quite close with them especially Alanna Kennedy who currently had her hands on Jennifer’s hips while Jennifer pressed her ass into Alanna. Willa rolled her eyes and finished her drink, it was clear that perhaps Jennifer and Alanna were a bit closer than just friends. Willa had enough of watching her girlfriend and she left the club, it wasn’t her scene. She looked at Alessia’s instagram profile and flicked through a few of the pictures, she had the kindest eyes and was gorgeous. Willa knew that she needed to end things with Jennifer, Jennifer was into Alanna and she was into Alessia. 

Jennifer didn’t come home until 4am while Willa was asleep. She was quickly awoken by Jennifer stumbling into the room drunk, “Where the fuck did you go?” Jennifer put her bag on the bed. “I came home. You seemed to have your hands full.” Willa said dryly not looking at her girlfriend. “Are you serious? I dance with my teammates and you get pissed?” Jennifer came around to the side of the bed that Willa was sleeping in. “I want you out. Now.” Jennifer pulled back the covers on the bed and Willa sat up. “Fine.” She grabbed her already packed bag, knowing what was coming as soon as she got home. Jennifer was always like this, she would get drunk, get flirty then kick Willa out when Willa was upset with her behaviour. “You didn’t speak to me the whole night Jen. But you were grinding up against Alanna right in front of me. If you don’t want me anymore just let me know.” Willa opened the door. “Fuck you! We both know you are just jealous that you never made it like me.” Jen crossed her arms. “You’re right.” Willa closed the door and called an Uber, she headed to the airport. 

Willa got a flight at 6:00am back to North Carolina she landed at 7:50am and was back at her apartment by 8:40am, the first thing she did when she got home was get changed into UNC uniform and headed to the gym. She worked out until 11:00am when her body was beginning to give up on her. Willa had done an hour on the treadmill, thirty minutes on the rowing machine and the rest of the time she did an arm weights workout. As Willa was finishing up Alessia walked into the gym, wanting to get in a quick session. She noticed the blonde and attempted to go over but Alessia turned her back when Willa got close. “Don’t bother.” Was all Alessia said, Willa sighed and left the gym. She had a shower to clean up before the team meeting, at least she would see Alessia in the meeting, maybe they could talk quickly. As they entered the theatre Willa sat in her spot up the back and soon after Alessia walked in, she noticed the girl up the back but chose to sit in the third row with Lotte and Lois. Willa needed to have a talk with Alessia about what they had done. The team meeting was very beneficial as Anson added in some of Willa’s tactics, as they were leaving Willa grabbed Alessia’s wrist and stopped her from leaving. “Hey, just wondering if we could have a chat?” Alessia looked at Willa’s hand. “Sorry, I have to get going, it’s late and I have class.” Alesia took her arm back and walked past the coach without looking at her. Alessia remained distant up until the game against Miami, they were a good team but were somewhat dirty as well. Willa had a chat with a few of the players outlining their tactics and ways to use it against them, she nervously walked up to Alessia. “Hey, um just like we worked on in training. They are a physical team and will want to come after you especially, if it gets too much let us know and we can bring you off. We need to keep you protected.” Alessia looked at Willa coldly. “I will be fine.” She pushed past Willa who knew that she deserved the girl’s hatred.

CHAPTER 5

[basicallyblank]

Australia vs England World Cup semi final; thoughts

ENGLAND ARE THROUGH TO THE WORLD CUP FINAL !!! I thought we played fantastic today, eery player genuinely stepped up and got the job done. We went into this game looked at as the underdog, people didn't expect us to win, we saw who the ref was and didn't think this game would go well, we saw that we were wearing the away kit and thought some curse was going to get us, the code to the England fans allocated seats got leaked and Australian fans bought most of them, some Australian news paper sent a HELICOPTER to spy on us... but this team blocked out every single bit of that noise out and did all of their talking on the pitch.

Our backline was a brickwall today, for the most part :) There were mistakes made with the Sam Kerr goal, but they didn't let that happen again, they regrouped and Millie Bright put her body on the line time and time again to stop Sam Kerr. Her long balls were the difference today, passing the ball down down the field which lead to the Hemp ad Russo goals which made us abe to safely see the game out and relax was one of the reasons we won. Lucy Bronze was everywhere again today, she put her body on the line (her bloody ankle says it all) and her headers which got the ball away helped us, she knows how to see out a game ;) annoying for some but she knows. Jess Carter and Alex Greenwood have saved us throughout this tournament, Jess Carter covering for Lucy Bronze and allowing her to go forward and covering that space in behind her so that opposition attackers cant make crosses or get up the pitch has saved us many times, shes been a rock this tournament. Alex Greenwood, the stats speak for themself, shes been our best player. She's created the most chances at this world cup (14) and her passing is pin point, she only made 5 incorrect passes against Australia.

We've all had concerns about our midfield throughout this tournament, it was a target area for other teams to silence, which significantly damages our play, but this team always finds a way. Ella Toone, recieved a lot of criticism this tournament, from myself as well, but in this game she showed up and reminded everyone of what she's capable of, showing up in big moments. The pockets of space she was picking up during that game which allowed passes to flow through from the backline into our attacking line were fantastic, she scored a rocket of an opening goal and overall had a great match. Keira Walsh, another outstanding tournament from her, her off the ball work is excellent, probably been marked more than she would have liked but she still manages to make it work, KW4 world cup final first england winning goal incoming ?? ;)

Our attacking lineeeeee cmonnnnnn. goals galore, probably not as many as we'd like to have seen, but they got the job done ! most of the time :) Lauren Hemp has set this tournament alight, as has Alessia Russo. Rachel Daly has been good at the front and at the back, which speaks volumes of her quality. Now that we're in the final, means that Lauren James can return to the squad following a 2 match ban after recieving a red card in the RO16 against Nigeria, curious to see where she'll fit into the plans for the final, she was having a good tournament and could've potentially been in the race for golden boot.

Mary Earps has obviously been THEE difference maker, the life saver, the game changer. England have conceded THREE times in this tournament. Three times. She's the best in the world for a reason she the least she deserves is her shirt being sold.

The Jordan not playing thing, will address my thoughts because i get a few asks lol. Obviously its disheartening that she hasn't gotten any game time, she left Arsenal to get into this squad, she really wanted to be here. Jordan will know her role in this team, she's an older player now, she's been out of the national team for a while, on the outskirts not really having a role, she's come back with a fresh mentality and new experiences to draw upon for this tournament. She's elevating this team, the younger players, Alessia, Ella ect have all said how close shes become to everyone in this team, shes uplifting them so they can perform at their best. She'll have known her role going into this tournament, obviously its sad she hasn't gotten any game time but if she lifts that trophy on sunday, i dont think she'll mind too much.

On sunday, we play in the final of the World Cup for the first time ever, we've won the Euro's (where we beat spain), we've won the finilissima, today we defeated the only team we've lost to since Sarina took over in 2021. This team are not finished yet, people underestimated us going into this tournament, they underestimated us today, on sunday we'll show them that we cant, and shouldn't be underestimated. In Sarina we trust xx

[allthingsrusso]

Alessia Russo Is Ready for Her Next Big Moment

Sarina on Alessia: “She just really has a feeling for scoring goals. She is a good header. She has a good shot. She just is a real 9."

On the growth of the women's game: “It’s what we’ve wanted for the women’s game, for years and years. I hope to still see it climbing the way it is now. The stages it deserves. The crowds it deserves, which we’re all getting now.”

On how it used to be: “There’s some really, really humbling stories that you hear of older players that have had to work crazy hours and then go to training and then travel to games, and it’s just like, ‘How was that a thing?’”

On the World Cup: “You go into every single tournament wanting and expecting to win. The Euros lit a fire to want to go and win more. Lifting the World Cup would be the ultimate next step. I just want to win, as much as I can.”