#spain u17

[peligrosapop]

Excuse me, Mr. Fort?! You are a minor.

“you get me wet” says Hector to Marc on his pic getting soaked to cool down for the heat in Indonesia. This Barça kids generation is so funny, they all rizz each other on SM, like Argentina NT does🤭

[garciapimienta]

and there it is, his second goal!!!

[bellcza]

la masia producing a true 9 wow we have prayed for times like these 😪

[dino0316]

At the U17 European Championship, Belgium was in a very tough group with the Netherlands, England and Iceland. The European Championships took place in their own country and national coach Bob Browaeys did not want to go off. “The fear was that we would make a fool of ourselves. I also missed a creative player up front. Someone who could make a difference,' he says in Sport/Voetbalmagazine .

Eden Hazard meets the profile sought and is picked up at the U16. Despite the fact that he is still an unguided missile at that moment, Browaeys will not regret his choice.

Hazard is decisive in the opening game of the Belgians against the Netherlands (2-2), he shines against England (1-1) and shows himself incredibly altruistic against Iceland (5-1). Belgium thus reaches the semi-final against Bojan Krkic's Spain, in which it draws 1-1 and is only eliminated after the penalties (7-6).

Simple tactics

Nill De Pauw was part of the Belgian U17 at that time. 'Eden mainly wanted to have fun. Any 16-year-old playing at home against the Netherlands, England and Spain in front of 2000 spectators would normally be stiff with stress. But he made it seem he didn't care.'

"I think Hazard has become the player he is today because he seeks diversion even in the most important games. The coach tried to make him more performant, but he had developed his own internal audit that allowed him to find a balance between having fun and boosting his stats.'

Kevin Kis, an average player who later played for Union, Roeselare, Eupen and eventually Lommel, summarizes it as follows: 'The tactic was simple: we gave the ball to Eden and it was waiting for something magical to happen… You had to go blind not to systematically let the ball pass through him.'

Guillaume François shares a similar view: 'Bob Browaeys was a nice man. He's tried hard not to make it seem like the tactic was geared solely to Eden. He handled it the right way and he tried to make us important. But you couldn't fool us. You had to be very naive to believe that Eden wasn't the epicenter of the squad.'

[blkwag]

the spaniards have really pretty hair

[imaginespazzi]

Part 6: To Trying Again

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9

I don't wanna mess this thing up (I don't wanna push too far)

(In which an "evil" writer might surprise you guys just a little bit with this part)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Fluff and Angst

Words: 5.6K

TW: Swearing (I think that's it?)

A/N: Happy Monday lovelies! This is sort of a filler-ish short chapter though I do think it's important to both plot and character development. I'd like to preface this by saying I've never been to Minsk or Park Pieramohi so I'm very much going off of pictures. Editing and I remain on very, very bad terms so pretty please let me know of typos so I can fix them. As always, let me know what you liked, what you disliked and what you'd like to see going forward. Have a lovely rest of your week my loves <3

July 2018 

“You’re being too loud,” Azzi whisper-screams at the blonde girl in front of her as she closes the door to her room behind her with a little too much force. 

Paige turns her head back every-so-slightly with a pronounced eye roll, “will you please relax.”

“I would if you’d just be a little more careful,” Azzi glares, taking cautious steps as if the sound of her sneakers across the carpeted floor could potentially wake up any of the coaches. 

“Azzi,” Paige says exasperatedly, “the coaches are all the way on the other end of the hallway. Besides, they're probably all sleeping.”

And despite her stubbornness, Azzi can concede that Paige has a point there. It’s nearly midnight and the game against Spain earlier in the day might have had a final score that made it seem like the USA U17 women's basketball team had won handily, but the game itself had been draining to say the least. The post-victory dinner had featured a bunch of worn out teenagers gobbling their food without much conversation and a cohort of coaches who seemed like they needed an hour of drinking followed by good night’s sleep. But even the exhaustion of the day hadn’t been enough to prevent Paige Bueckers and her diabolical mind from coming up with the idea to sneak out into the city of Minsk. 

“No,” Azzi had said immediately even before the words had been spoken, that shimmering glint in Paige’s eyes a dead giveaway as she sidled up to Azzi at the salad bar. 

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” Paige had pouted. 

“You never say anything good.”

“That’s crazy. You’re so mean to me.”

“So mean,” Azzi had nodded in agreement, “so how about you go and bother someone else.”

“Azzi please. We haven’t had just Paige and Azzi time in ages. Don’t want someone else. Just want you.”

And after that well, there wasn’t really any chance of saying no. Azzi’s only fifteen and she doesn’t know that much about love, but sometimes when Paige looks at her with those earnest blue eyes and a smile that promises i’ll always be here, she thinks the way her heart starts to flutter erratically to a beat of and i wouldn’t want anyone else to stay, might just be the start of her finding out. 

“See,” Paige grins triumphantly as the two girls find their way out of their hotel and onto the street, “told you we wouldn’t get caught. Shit’s just too damn easy.”

Azzi rolls her eyes at the attitude, “don’t tempt fate.”

“Fate’s got nothing in front of Paige Bueckers. I make my own fate,” Paige winks as she links her arms through Azzi. 

It’s a mundane amount of contact, absolutely nothing special to it, but Azzi feels herself shiver in spite of the humidity that’s circling around them. She doesn’t quite know how it happened. One moment she was staring across the court, judging the skinny blonde practicing free throws and coming to the conclusion that she’d be no threat; the next moment said girl was next to her on the plane back from Argentina and Azzi, a self-admitted introvert, found herself rattling off about everything and nothing with this girl who seemed to have discovered the keys to all of Azzi’s locks. Hours of talking had bled into days and days had bled into months and despite the fact that facetime had taken the place of in-person conversations, the word friendship had seemed too cavalier a word to describe the relationship Paige and Azzi were building. 

Paige had whittled away all of Azzi’s carefully constructed armor until she was buried deep underneath her skin and Azzi’s sure there’s no knife in the world sharp enough to carve the blonde out from where she lives underneath Azzi’s ribcage. Azzi doesn’t want anyone to try and dig her out. She  thinks she might bleed out if they do. 

“Az,” Paige whines, waving her free hand in the younger girl’s face, “are you even paying attention to me?”

“That depends,” Azzi hums, “are you saying anything interesting?”

“I’m always saying something interesting.”

“You’re always saying something. The interesting is subjective,” Azzi teases, laughing when Paige pouts. 

“I sneak you out to give you an adventure and this is how you repay me? With insults?” Paige puts a dramatic hand to her heart.

“Walking boring streets is not an adventure. Virginia has streets too.”

“It’s not about the streets, it’s about where the streets lead to,” Paige says with grave seriousness. 

Azzi raises an eyebrow, “are you entering your philosopher Paige era?”

“I’d make a good philosopher,” Paige waggles her own eyebrows as they two girls find themselves entering park Pieramohi. 

“Virginia has parks too, you know Paige?” Azzi says skeptically. 

Paige lets out a dramatic sigh, “will you just keep walking, woman. Sometimes I wonder if you even like me?”

It’s said like a joke but there’s a hint of insecurity beaded into it that buzzes in Azzi’s ears as she wraps a careful hand around Paige’s wrist, stopping the two of them where they are. 

“Hey,” she whispers softly, nudging the older girl, “you don’t ever have to wonder with me. I’m always gonna like you Paige. Even if you’re a pain in my ass half the time.”

“Had to ruin it with the last part, didn't you?” Paige complains but her eyes twinkle at the reassurance, “Just so you know I’m gonna be a pain in your ass forever.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Azzi promises as they continue strolling through the park. 

The silence is peaceful and the breeze that flows around them is like a comforting hug. And Azzi thinks that she’d be okay if there wasn’t a destination for them to get to, as long as the journey came with Paige by her side. 

“We’re almost there,” Paige says slowly, a slightly nervous edge to her voice. 

“You sure you’re not just getting us lost-” the teasing quip dies on Azzi’s tongue as she stares at the scenery in front of her. They’re standing on the edge of a bridge overlooking a lake and it looks like something out of a disney fairytale; the picturesque image of green trees silhouetted against a magically starry night is captured perfectly on the still surface of the water that’s flowing beneath. As Azzi peers across the railing, Paige right next to her, she feels her breath hitch at the reflection that peers up at her. Because the view in front of them is beautiful but Paige’s eyes are on Azzi and she’s staring at her as if the view is nothing in comparison. 

“C’mon,” the blonde says softly, lacing her fingers through Azzi’s as she tugs her along, “I have a plan.”

“There’s more?” Azzi asks in awe as Paige guides her to the gazebo in the middle of the bridge. 

“Just a little bit,” Paige says and oh- that shy smile is different. Azzi doesn’t think she’s seen that one yet and she makes a mental note to herself, to memorize it and store it along with all of Paige’s other smiles that make Azzi’s insides swoop like a rollercoaster. 

She watches intently as Paige begins to peruse through the purple rucksack she’d been carrying. The first thing out of it is a picnic blanket and then a horde of different snacks, all of Azzi’s favorites. Two plastic champagne glasses are next and then a sheepish grin as Paige pulls out a bottle of soda. 

“Couldn’t quite risk trying to get alcohol,” Paige scratches at her neck. 

“Next time maybe,” Azzi shrugs as she helps Paige set up the arrangement and she feels herself fluttering at the thought of doing this again and again and again. 

“How’d you even find this place?” she asks as Paige begins to pour out the soda. 

“You ever heard of googling?”

Azzi rolls her eyes at Paige’s teasing smirk, “how’d you even have time to do this?”

Paige is quiet for a second as she passes Azzi her glass, “wanted to do something special for us,” she says quietly, keeping her eyes intently on what she’s doing as she pours out a drink for herself, “wasn’t hard to find time for you.”

“You could be a poet, Paige Bueckers,” Azzi whispers and she knows it’s unfair of her but she thinks it anyway. As long as all your poems are about me. 

“The poets are lucky I chose a ball instead of a pen. They’d be out of a job otherwise,” Paige says, trying to ease back into the more familiar arrogance. 

“Always so humble,” Azzi says, rolling her eyes as she holds up her glass, “alright what are toasting to?”

“I came up with this whole thing. You can come up with a toast,” Paige scrunches her nose and Azzi shakes her head at it. 

She thinks for a second before smiling brightly at the girl in front of her, “let’s just keep it simple and toast to us.”

“How original,” Paige teases but she clinks her glass against Azzi’s anyways, “here’s to us.”

“Here’s to us,” Azzi repeats as they both take sips of soda. 

They melt into a comfortable silence, relishing in this rare moment where there isn’t a screen separating them from each other. Facetimes is a wonderful creation but a blurry screen, Azzi decides, doesn’t nearly do justice to just how damn pretty Paige is. Her hair is golden as it basks in the glow of the moon and Azzi wonders if the stars are jealous of how brilliantly the blonde’s blue eyes twinkle.

It’s Paige who speaks first, her voice hesitant, “you uh- you never asked me how my date went a couple of weeks ago.”

Azzi feels her whole body go rigid. She’d almost forgotten about Paige’s wretched date. The blonde had told her about it a couple of days before the actual event and Azzi had played the dutiful role of a best friend, teasing Paige with a light-heartedness she didn’t feel and congratulating her with an excitement that came from anywhere but from the heart. She’d purposely avoided Paige’s calls the day of the date and then two days after, coming up with some sorry excuse she no longer remembers. On the third day, when the hollow ache of i miss her voice in her chest had become too hard to ignore, Azzi had finally picked up the phone and diverted the conversation straight to a different topic. She hadn’t thought of the date since. 

“Guess it slipped my mind,” she says airily, fingers gripping the edge of the picnic blanket. 

“I could tell you about it now,” Paige says slowly. 

I’d rather you didn’t, Azzi thinks but that’s a thought that veers a little too out of the sphere of best-friend-isms and so she simply nods her head, “y-yeah tell me about it. How was it?”

“It was nice,” Paige begins and there’s something hidden in her tone that Azzi can't quite place but she’s a little too busy sulking at the idea of Paige with anybody else to try and decipher it, “dinner was good. Took her to a movie after. That was good too.”

“That’s cool P. I’m glad- I’m glad you had fun,” Azzi says nonchalantly, gripping the glass in her hands just a little too tight. 

“I didn’t.”

“What?”

“I didn’t really have that much fun,” Paige clarifies and Azzi gawks at her in confusion as the older girl fidgets with the frayed edges of the picnic blankets, “just didn’t- didn’t feel right. Don’t think she had much fun either. She never texted me after.”

“What a bitch,” Azzi bites out, suddenly irrationally angry at a girl she’d never met because how could anyone possibly not have fun with Paige, “I’m sorry P. You deserve-”

“I didn’t care that she didn’t text back-”

“Still. It’s just the decent thing to do,” Azzi rants. 

“Maybe,” Paige shrugs, “but I didn’t have time to care about that. I had other things on my mind. Like the fact that you weren’t talking to me.”

Azzi flinches at the accusation, rushing out her previous defense, “I was busy.”

“Bullshit,” Paige sneers. 

“Paige-”

“But I get it,” the older girl says softly as she reaches for Azzi’s hand, tugging the brunette closer to her and Azzi feels something inside her erupt at how close their faces are, “I probably wouldn’t have talked to you for two days either if you went on a date with someone else.”

“Oh,” Azzi breathes out and there’s probably something more eloquent she should say but there’s this realization of maybe you feel it too that’s beginning to creep up her spine, rendering her speechless as Paige continues to stare at her like she’s mapping out all the tiniest details of Azzi’s face. 

“The whole date, I kept thinking how you wouldn’t order what she ordered off the menu or that you would probably hit my hand if I tried to steal something off your plate but then give it to me anyway. And that the movie would never have been so quiet with you and we’d probably get yelled at for giggling too much and I-” Paige pauses, dragging in a deep breath, “I definitely would’ve kissed you at the end.”

A sigh of relief escapes Azzi’s lips, “you didn’t kiss her.”

“No,” Paige confirms as she drops her forehead against Azzi’s, “but I-,” the blonde gulps nervously and Azzi can’t help the way her hand reaches up to caress the blush forming on Paige’s cheeks. 

“Ask me,” she whispers.

“I really want to kiss you,” Paige confesses, voice shaking slightly, “can I kiss you?”

Azzi doesn’t say anything, choosing to reply instead by pressing her lips softly against Paige’s. They move slowly at first, testing each other’s boundaries and savoring their first taste of each other. Azzi pulls the older girl onto her lap, hands firmly on Paige’s hips as the other girl clasps her own hands around Azzi’s neck.  It’s a little messy and uncoordinated and Azzi thinks they might need to practice a little more to really get it right but still, it’s everything.

And Azzi just knows

She knows it then just the way she knew Tim was meant to be her dad. The way she knew Jon and José were meant to be her brothers. The way she knew she was meant to play basketball. Azzi knows that she’s meant to fall hopelessly in love with Paige Bueckers. 

March 2033

There are three things Azzi should do. 

Push Paige away 

Tell her this a bad idea 

Run the fuck away

She does none of the above.

Instead Azzi kisses Paige back. 

And it’s still everything. Like the sun and moon are colliding and creating something so insanely powerful; something that feels so eternal. 

There’s nothing soft or slow about it as Paige presses every inch of herself into Azzi until she can feel Paige’s heartbeat as strongly as she can feel her own. It might be impossible but she swears their hearts are talking to each other, tapping out rhythms against each other’s chests that confess all the things their owners are too scared to say. And Azzi wants nothing more than to lose herself completely in the moment because Paige’s lips feel like a drug and Azzi thinks she might just be an addict in relapse. 

Except to relapse, you need to have recovered. And Azzi doesn’t think she ever fully recovered from Paige. 

It isn’t until she feels her back hit the edge of a desk and the sound of something crashing onto the floor infiltrates her ears, that Azzi finally comes to her senses. She tears her lips away from Paige as the older woman groans in protest, arms tightening their hold on Azzi’s waist so she can still have some semblance of control over the situation. And really Azzi knows she’s strong enough to escape Paige’s grip, could easily fight it if she wanted to. But well, she doesn’t want to. And Azzi’s tired of doing things she doesn’t want to do. 

“Paige-”

“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘we can’t do this’, Azzi I swear to god I’m going to kill you,” Paige threatens, pressing her forehead against Azzi’s. 

Azzi laughs softly and she can feel Paige’s whole body relax at the sound of it and like clockwork, she feels the tension beginning to release from her own muscles, “if you kill me then we definitely can’t do this.”

“I’ll revive you after or something,” Paige says with a half-smirk. 

“Or something,” Azzi rolls her eyes, “but we can’t-”

“Azzi,” Paige groans. 

“We can’t do this right now and definitely not here,” Azzi amends, alluding to the fact that they’re still in Steph’s office. 

Paige raises an eyebrow, cocking her head slightly, “but we can do this later? Somewhere else?”

The question lingers between them as Azzi bites her lip. She knows what this is, knows that it’s Paige putting the ball in her court. A ‘no’ would likely be the end of things and that scares her more than she’s willing to admit but she’s not quite ready to commit to a ‘yes’ yet, even if that flame of desire inside of her, the one that can only be lit by Paige, is blazing hot through her veins. 

“I don’t know,” Azzi says carefully, shivering at the way Paige’s thumb is rubbing circles against her waist, the flimsy material of her shirt doing nothing to prevent the goosebumps forming on her skin, “TBD.”

“That’s not a no,” Paige says carefully, hope blossoming freely on her face. 

“That’s not a yes either,” Azzi warns half-heartedly. 

“But it’s not a no,” Paige presses. 

“No,” Azzi admits, playing with the neckline of Paige’s shirt, “it’s not a no.”

And Azzi’s so scared of the future, scared that if she lets herself burn, she’ll incinerate everyone around her but there’s something in the way Paige smiles at her words. Something that feels a lot like a promise of i’ll be the rain that washes out the fire before you can turn us to ashes. 

“I can work with that,” Paige says softly, tilting Azzi’s chin up. 

“So desperate to get back into my pants Bueckers,” Azzi teases and she expects a witty remark in return but instead she’s met with nothing but sincerity. 

“So desperate to get back into your life,” Paige whispers, voice cracking on the last two words. 

Tears prickle against Azzi’s waterline as she stares in awe at the girl in front of her. Sometimes she thinks Paige doesn’t even know that there’s a halo of goodness sitting above her head, doesn't even know just how beautiful her soul is. Paige is stunning on the outside; it’s something no one can deny. But it’s nothing compared to how gorgeous she is on the inside, nothing compared to how kind, how humble, how forgiving Paige is. 

“Why?” Azzi asks, her tone rife with heaviness. 

“Why what?” 

“After everything, after all this time, why would you still want to be in my life?” the tears fall harder as Azzi struggles to breathe, “I- I broke your heart. I broke us. How could you possibly want that again. How could you possibly want me again?”

Paige's eyes soften as she cups Azzi’s cheeks, thumbs brushing away at the drops of water running down them, “because you’re Azzi. My Azzi. And I get it- I get that you’re not ready to be all in on this with me yet and if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not completely ready either. But we can work on it right? Take it slow and see where it goes and maybe we’ll- maybe we’ll be even better this time.”

“You think so?”

“I believe so.”

Azzi presses her lips delicately against Paige’s, reveling in the way it makes Paige’s breath hitch. She pulls away faster than she would like herself and Paige chases her lips, eyes still closed. 

“What was that for,” the blonde asks, slightly dazed. 

“For being my Paige.”

***

Azzi taps her foot impatiently against her wooden patio as she glances at her phone clock for the umpteenth time. Paige is almost twenty minutes late to pick her and Stephie up to go to dinner at her parent’s house. The invites had technically been separate but Paige had insisted that they needed to go together because Paige didn’t want to walk into the house alone. Azzi’s not sure why Paige is nervous to see her dad and brothers again, not when she’s pretty sure they’re bursting with excitement to see the blonde whose pictures still have a permanent place on the family photo wall, but if Paige wants Azzi by her side, well she’s not going to say no. Not anymore. 

 It’s been a week since they’d agreed to take things slow and Azzi’s still not quite sure what exactly that means, but she thinks she likes it. She likes being able to call Paige and not having to come up with a lame excuse for why. She likes that she and Paige can take Stephie out for ice cream after Curry Camp and they don’t have to pretend they’re only tolerating each other’s presence for the little girl’s sake. She likes that they can brush their pinkies while walking and instead of jolting away, they simply just link them together. There’s boundaries of course. No sleepovers at either of their houses. No doing anything more than kissing. No kissing in front of anyone else and definitely no kissing in front of Stephie. No doing anything in front of Stephie really. And there’s still so much mountain left to climb but as long as they’re pushing up it together, Azzi doesn’t think there’s any incline steep enough to stop her from continuing up this path.

“Miss Buecks,” Stephie squeals as Paige’s car rounds the corner into Azzi’s driveway. 

Paige steps out of the car, arms wide open and ready to catch Stephie as the little girl goes tumbling down the front porch, aiming straight for the blonde. Azzi’s not an artist by any means but if she was, she thinks she could paint a thousand pictures of Stephie and her Miss Buecks. It terrifies Azzi a little bit, just how perfectly Stephie fits into Paige’s side but it calms her too because there’s a part of her that’s in love with how much they love each other.

“You’re late Bueckers,” Azzi chides as she follows her daughter’s path down the patio stairs. 

Paige grins, shifting Stephie on her lap as she opens the side door to her car to pull out two bouquets of flowers

“Will these make up for it?” she asks slyly as she hands the larger one, an assortment of pink flowers, to Azzi and a slightly smaller bouquet of purple hydrangeas to Stephie. 

“These are so pretty Miss Buecks,” Stephie gushes before pressing a kiss to Paige’s cheek left cheek and Paige beams at the compliment, “thank you Miss Buecks.”

“You took that long to get flowers?” Azzi asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“Mama,” Stephie chides immediately, “you’re supposed to thank someone when they give you a gift.”

“Yeah Azzi,” Paige’s eyes glimmer with mirth, “thank me like Stephie thanked me. Don’t you think Mama owes me a kiss on the cheek Steph?”

Azzi narrows her eyes at the scheming pair in front of her as Stephie nods animatedly at Paige’s question, “yeah Mama you owe Miss Buecks a kiss on the cheek.”

Shaking her head, Azzi walks over to Paige taking deliberately steady steps. Slowly Azzi leans in, puckering her lips. Paige closes her eyes and Azzi winks at Stephie who’s eyes widen. 

“I’m waiting,” Paige sing-songs, a self-satisfied smirk taking over her features. 

And instead of the promised kiss, Azzi licks a sloppy strip down Paige’s cheek and the blonde shrieks as both Azzi and Stephie burst into laughter.

“EW AZZI GROSS,” Paige whines, hurriedly rubbing her shirt against her cheek, “is this what you’re teaching your daughter?”

“I’m teaching my daughter not to let anyone manipulate her,” Azzi says, giving Paige a careful look, “now why were you late?”

Paige grins sheepishly as she opens the door to the backseat of the door. A lavender car seat is placed on the left side of the car and Azzi feels her heart lurch with no one’s ever cared like this. 

“It’s pu-ple,” Stephie claps excitedly, “is it for me?”

“Of course it is,” Paige confirms, booping Stephie’s nose before looking at Azzi, “it’s just- we uh- we always have to take your car cause it has the car seat and moving it between cars is such a hassle. So I just thought- you know- I just thought it’d be cool- useful- practical- if I had one too? And this way if you ever need me to take Stephie off you then I uh- then you don’t have to worry about me driving. I don’t- I don’t really knows much about car seats but I looked it up online before and the person at the store agreed that this is definitely the best one- like I swear it’s safe-”

She’s cut off by the feel of Azzi’s lips pressed to her cheeks. 

“Thank you Paige.”

***

Just as Azzi expected, Paige merges herself back into the Fudd family with the same ease she’d first had when she’d carved out a place for herself almost a decade and a half ago. It’s a little emotional at first when Tim opens the door, a smile almost as big as him decorating his face as he pulls Paige into a hug even before she can say a word. 

“Welcome home kid,” he whispers into her blonde hair and Azzi doesn’t have to see Paige’s face to know that her best friend is blinking away tears. 

Guilt surges in Azzi’s stomach and she tries to swallow away the lump of i took this from her that’s blocking her throat. It had been so simple at 15 to give Paige a part of her world; Azzi hadn’t thought twice about it. And then with the snap of her fingers, she’d taken that world away. She knows her parents had never cut Paige out; hell they’d been at her wedding to some other woman -and Azzi had pushed them to go knowing Paige would need it- but it was a far cry from what they’d been. A far cry from when Paige’s schedule was a key factor while planning Fudd family summers. 

“Hey,” Stephie pouts, tiny hands crossed over her small body “I thought you always gave me the first hug Pops.”

“We’ll make an exception today,” Tim says with a wink before letting Paige walk into Katie’s arms and spinning his granddaughter around, “but you’re always gonna be my favorite.”

“I better be,” Stephie threatens and the adults around her laugh. 

And finally it’s Azzi's turn to be pulled into one of her dad’s patent bear hugs. She goes willingly, always at her most warmest in the arms of the man whose blood might not run through her veins, but whose love had always protected her from the cruelties of the world. 

“You look really happy today sweetheart,” Tim says softly. 

Azzi’s eyes flitter over her father’s shoulder to where Jon and José are embroiling Paige in a group hug with Stephie in the middle of it, screaming about finally having their “white sister” back, as Katie and José’s fiancé Tallulah roll their eyes at the group of them, and she can’t help but smile into her dad’s shirt, “I feel pretty happy today.”

*** 

“You cheated,” Jon yells. 

“Miss Buecks does not cheat,” Stephie yells back loyally. 

“Don’t get into this Stephie. You don’t know her like we do,” José glares at Paige who narrows her eyes at him, “she’s been stealing from the bank.”

“Miss Buecks does not  steal,” Stephie defends again, wrapping her arms around Paige’s neck from behind as the blonde presses a quick kiss against Stephie’s temple. 

“It’s okay Stephie,” Paige reassures, gently swinging the little girl into her lap, “some people are just sore losers.”

“Can’t be a sore loser because I didn’t lose-” José coughs and Jon corrects himself immediately, “because we didn’t lose.”

“Y’all let it go,” Tallulah groans, leaning her head back against the sofa, “it’s literally just monopoly. Please, I'm so tired.”

“Just monopoly? JUST MONOPOLY?” José guffaws dramatically, “I can’t believe I’m marrying someone who doesn’t understand that it isn’t just monopoly Tallulah. It’s about liars and cheats and honor-”

“Miss Buecks has plenty of honor,” Stephie says stubbornly, leaning her head back against Paige’s chest.

Jon rounds on Azzi, who’s been silently watching the situation, “did you help her cheat?”

“Excuse me?” Azzi asks, glaring at her brother from where she’s been comfortable reclining on the sofa. She’d opted to be the banker instead of playing, content just handing out money to the rest of them while watching the game unfold. But really she hadn’t been paying much attention to anyone else but her daughter and Paige. Stephie didn’t quite understand the rules yet and so she was always on someone’s team. It had been a given tonight, that of course she would be with Paige. And Azzi had watched, trying not to be too obvious, with a foolish grin on her face, as her two favorite people whispered to each other, Paige listening intently to all of Stephie’s ideas whether they were good or bad. 

“Oh good point,” José turns to look at Azzi too, “you’re the banker, did you help Paige cheat?”

“Mama would never cheat,” Stephie argues defiantly as Azzi pushes herself up from the sofa to send a menacing look to both of her brothers. 

“I’m not going to dignify that accusation with a justification,” Azzi says, standing so she’s towering over her two brothers who are still sitting on the floor, “now clean up the game. It’s almost Stephie’s bedtime.”

 They might be well into their twenties and José might be taller than her now, but they’re still not quite  immune to Azzi’s wrath. Tallulah and Paige snicker as the two men, sulking at each other, obey their older sister's command without another word. 

“You’ve gotta teach me how you do that,” Tallulah says, hi-fiving Azzi who smirks in response. 

“Miss Buecks,” Stephie whispers, “what does dig-ni-fy mean?”

“Mean she’s not gonna entertain your uncles being dumba-”

“Paige!”

“Being dumbapples,” Paige corrects and both Azzi and Stephie give her an odd look at her ridiculous attempt at saving the bad word from leaving her lips. 

“Alright Stephie-bean,” Azzi says, pulling her daughter off of Paige’s lap, “it’s late enough. Off to brush your teeth you go.”

Stephie looks hesitantly between the staircase leading up to the guest bedroom -where she and Azzi normally stayed- and Paige. 

“Can Miss Buecks stay with us tonight?” she asks softly, one hand bunching in Paige’s shirt as she stares up at her mother with large doe eyes, “please Mama.”

“Stephie I don’t think-” Paige begins, ready to stick to the boundaries they’d laid out for themselves and really Azzi should let her; should follow her lead really.  

Except the words are tumbling out of her mouth before she can stop them, “yeah she can- she can stay.”

“YAYY,” Stephie squeals, jumping into Azzi’s arms as Paige stares up at her in surprise, “thank you, thank you, thank you Mama. I’m so happy,” she swings from Azzi to Tallulah, “aunty Tully did you hear? Miss Buecks is gonna stay with us and you can make her your famous pancakes in the morning.”

“I can, can I?” Tallulah asks with a raised eyebrow as she lets Stephie and her excited chatter lead her towards the bathroom. With Jon and José both having already started towards their own rooms and Azzi’s parents fast asleep, it leaves just Paige and Azzi in the living room. 

“You’re okay with me staying?” Paige asks softly, finally lifting herself from the floor and onto her feet. 

Azzi scratches the back of her neck, “if- if you want to. You don’t have to. I can- I’ll explain to Stephie-”

“I want to,” Paige says, taking a cautious step towards Azzi, “but the rules?”

“This doesn’t count,” Azzi justifies and Paige smirks, taking another step towards the brunette. 

“It doesn’t?”

“We said no sleeping over at each other’s places. This is my parent’s house. So technically it doesn’t count,” Azzi shrugs, trying to keep her face from breaking into a grin as Paige moves one more step closer. 

“And where exactly am I sleeping?” Paige asks with a knowing grin as she loops an arm around Azzi’s waist, briefly checking to make sure no one’s around. 

Azzi tilts her head, letting the grin break through, “I think Stephie would like it if you slept with us.”

“Ah well if that’s what Stephie would like,” Paige says, nodding commiseratingly. 

“For Stephie’s sake,” Azzi repeats as she wraps her arm around Paige’s neck, pressing her forehead against the older girl’s and letting herself just breathe in the peace that comes with being all consumed by Paige. 

“Azzi,” Paige’s voice is laced with uncharacteristic vulnerability as she speaks again, “you won’t- you won’t run away again tomorrow morning will you?”

“No,” Azzi promises, gently brushing her lips against Paige’s, “I won’t run away again.”

[nicky35]

if u get the time could u maybe link ur fav usa games? 💗

My favorite U16 games:

My favorite U17 games:

[leennaan]

It's the anon that requested the Klara fic I loved and definitely would love more fics of her maybe another one like an enemies to lovers one

Sorry that it took me so long to write this.

It was definitely harder as I first imagined and a challenge for me.

I hope you like it even tho I struggled at some parts😬

It is not proofread as I just wanted to get this one out😅

So enjoy ☺️

I hate that I love you/ Klara Bühl

You had met Klara for the first time while on international duty. She playing for the German U15 national team and you for the English.

Her position as a left forward and you as a right back meant that your paths crossed on various times during the match.

The game wasn’t going after your liking with Germany being 2:0 in front in the 80th minute and when Klara once again made a run into your own box you dived into a tackle you knew was ill timed. You completely missed the ball and instead crashed into Klara with your studs up,

who almost instantly screamed in pain.

You were quick to apologize but were almost immediately pushed back by a furious looking Sydney.

Once the medics were on the field and tending to Klara the referee turned her attention to you and showed you a red. Normally not someone to accept a referees decision easily this time you made your way off the pitch instantly. Not caring what your teammates said to you you made your way back to the changing room as fast as you possibly could.

Once inside you kicked the bench hard, angry tears leaving your eyes.

You never wanted to hurt her or any one. And you did just that. Not only did you severely injure another player, you also caused your team to loose 3:0 as they had to play one player down.

After the game you tried to apologize once again but the German players said that Klara was already brought to the hospital as she had a few bad cuts down her leg that would most likely need a few stitches.

So you tried to apologize via Instagram leaving a message in her DMs but she never replied to you. As there was nothing else you could really do you left it at that.

——————

The next time that the two of you met was at the U17 World Championship 2016 in Jordan. After loosing 3:0 in the quarterfinal against Japan you and a few of your teammates decided to have a little get together in the common room of your hotel.

Only the thing was that you were sharing said common room with the German team which had a similar idea after loosing their own quarterfinal match against Spain.

You yourself had almost forgotten about the incident that happened almost two years ago but Klara clearly hadn’t.

As soon as she saw you a scowl appeared on her face. She turned to Sydney who was walking behind her and started to say something to the brunette. Now Sydney also looked over to you and you instantly looked in a different direction.

Over the course of the night the two teams mixed together, everyone enjoying the night and having fun. Everyone expected you.

You often felt the eyes of the younger German player on you hard and angry eyes starring at you.

Later on in the evening Klara appeared next to you effectively scaring you as she growled into your ear.

“You know I was surprised to still see you play for England. I wasn’t expecting them to need someone who isn’t even able to perform a clean tackle.”

Her words hitting you hard as you praised yourself for staying on your feet most of the times.

“What do you want? I know the tackle was bad. I apologized instantly, I was punished for it and I learned to do better. What else do you expect me to do?” You scowled at her. Fed up with Klaras behavior.

Before she could respond you had left the room.

Not knowing that the two of you would meet again later on in life in one of the most important games in both of your careers.

——————

Fast forward you were walking out into a sold out Wembley Stadium in the final of the Euros 2022.

Taking place on the bench next to your best friends Lotte and Alessia, you took it all in.

Goosebumps appearing on your arms as the anthems were played.

When you looked at the players that were sitting on the German bench you couldn’t help but be drawn to the women that obviously hated you even after all those years.

Nonetheless you felt bad for her, not wishing anyone to miss out on such an important match.

For a few seconds your eyes met. You send her a sympathetic smile and for a moment it looked like Klara had forgotten who she was looking at as she send you a half smile back before she released what she did and a scowl that you knew too well appeared again on her face. Still you couldn’t help but think that she was beautiful.

——————

A few weeks after England had won the Euros you were sitting next to Georgia in a plane on your way to Munich. The both of you had signed with Bayern just before the start of the Euros.

“What if they don’t like me? Yo know that Klar hates my guts since that one game and we just won against a majority of them in the final. This was a really bad idea. I should have never signed.” You were fiddling with your rings.

“Stopping worrying. You know you are a good player and a good person. Bayern wouldn’t have signed us if they didn’t think we were that good. And just because Klara is a b*tch for still hating you for a silly mistake you made when you were fifteen does not mean they all are. And you still got me.”

Georgia pulled you into a hug and you relaxed slightly, not quite able to stop worrying entirely.

The first thing you heard when you stepped into your new changing room

With G was Klara. “What is she doing here?”

The players weren’t informed of your guys signing to surprise them but while most of the team looked excited to have you and G here Klar most definitely wasn’t.

You instantly felt bad, once again second guessing your transfer.

Luckily for you, your new trainer Alexander

interfered.

“Y/n and Georgia have signed a contract for the next few years and we are really lucky to have them play with us and not against us. I want you all to be friendly to each other. That includes you Klara.”

Klara grumbled slightly before she murmeld a quiet apology.

Against your hopes Klara still hated you even after almost a whole month that you played at Munich now.

You often caught yourself staring at her. And more than once did you find that the younger girl was already looking at you.

You hated to admire that she was really beautiful.

Which made you even sadder that the girl would not talk to you besides the necessary football talk.

She would run into you by ‚ accident’ or push you over in training always accompanied with sneer in your direction. „I am so sorry Y/n I totally misjudged how fast I was.“ Her sarcastic words hurting more than you admitted.

While you had made friends with a lot of your teammates Klara was obviously not one of them. But what surprised you was that Sydney had become one of your best friends.

So one evening when Sydney had invited you and a few other teammates, Klara not being one of them, to cook together you asked her why Sydney’s best friend still hated you.

“ I can’t help you Y/n. I have known Klara for a very long time and she is normally one of the sweetest human beings I know. I only know that she had a few problems with her leg after you tackle. She had to miss a few games and after she was cleared to play again she was scared to go into 1 v 1 which resulted in her being benched and only having a few minutes of game time for the reminder of the season but i can’t imagine that she hates you only for this.”

You nodded along to what Sydney said, once again feeling angry at yourself for misjudging the tackle.

“I never wanted to hurt her. I felt so bad that day. I was benched for the next four games even tho I was only suspended for one. I tried everything to apologize to Klara but she ignored me completely so the only thing I could do was to learn from my mistakes.”

“And you did. You are a remarkable defender. I don’t think I know another defender who stays on her feet and still recovers the balls as often as you.”

The slightly taller girl pulled you into a side hug. Never one to just accept a compliment you blushed.

“Leah thought me that. She took me under her wing when I first joined the senior squad. If you ask me she is one if not the best defender there is right now.”

That evening you decided to find out why Klara hated you so much.

The next day at training you waited for Klara in the changing room, as she was the last one to finish after having to stay on the pitch because Alexander wanted to talk for her.

„Why do you hate me so much?“ You asked her once she entered the room.

Totally surprised Klara just stared at you. „What?“

„Why do you hate me so much?“

You asked me again.

„Why do you care so much?“ she asked back and you couldn’t believe her.

„Because I don’t understand it. Yes I made a mistake but for crying out loud that was almost ten years ago! I apologized multiple times and you still hate me!“

You shouted. Sick of Klaras behavior. Yes she was the the one physically hurt that day but that didn’t mean that the way she treated you didn’t hurt you.“

„For you it was just a bad day. For me it was bad years that followed.“

She growled. Her face had turned red and she looked furious.

„That’s not true! I now that your season did not end as you wished for but mine did not as well. I was out for four matches afterwards and I refused to go into any sort of tackle the next games I played wich resulted in me being dropped to the second team at my club so don’t tell me you were the only one affected.“

You shouted at her now angry yourself.

Klara was still looking at you with so much hate in her eyes that you had to swallow a lumb that had formed in your throat.

„You know what. I don’t care anymore. Hate me all you want. I had seen some of your games before we played against each other. I thought you played amazing and hoped that maybe we could become friends. Even now I still had hope that maybe we could still become friends but I clearly thought wrong. As long as it does not affect my football I don’t care anymore.“

With that you started to leave. But just before you could walk out of the door Klara stopped you.

„Wait. I…I don’t hate you.“ she whispered and you couldn’t believe what you just heard. „I am sorry. What?“

„I don’t hate you.“ she repeated.

„I hate my self for how I treated you. Yes at first I hated you. I blamed you for my season and also the teasing I received in school for the scars. But then I was just scared to stop hating you. I didn’t want to accept that I was wrong in the way I treated you.“

Now Klara was crying and you heart broke a bit for the younger girl.

„But why? I always just wanted you to stop hating me.“

Slowly you had walked to Klara and had rapped your arms around her. At first her body tensed, before she relaxed into you.

„Because I.. because at some point I stopped hating you and… I… I started to watch your games and I saw how amazing you played and I.. I thought that you looked beautiful and suddenly I was scared what others would think and than I saw you again at the euros and I said to my self that I’ll apologize to you but than you won and I was just so heartbroken and sad and angry at my self that I couldn’t play so I once again started to hate you for it. And the you stood in this room and I just I couldn’t see you so soon and my thoughts were all over the place.“

You watched as Klara started to rumble about her feelings.

„Hey hey. Breath, everything is fine. Just breath“ Trying to calm her down you looked into her brown eyes, trying hard not to get lost in them.

„And I hated that i stared to fall in love with you.“

Your heart stopped when you heard Klara say those words to you.

„You what?“

„I started to fall in love with you. I am in love with you.“

And before Klara could start her rumbling again you kissed her.

The kiss was full of passion. Butterflies erupted in your stomach when Klara pushed you up against the wall. A moan escaping your lips when she slightly bit down on it.

When air became necessary she pulled away, your bodies still tightly pressed against each other.

„I hated that you hated me. Because I think I had a crush on you from the moment I saw you. That is why I cared so much.“ You said slightly out of breath and with blushed cheeks before you pulled her into another searing kiss.

You were interrupted by Syd, who came into the looker room looking for Klara because they where supposed to drive home together.

„Finally I am sick of this whole fake hate between the two of you. It was almost painful to watch you two love sick puppies steeling glances at each other and not realizing that you were undressing each other not hating the other.“

[skipper1331]

Jealous // Guro Reiten

Jealous. A word that described Guro perfectly.

The first time you realized she was jealous was at a U17 match against Spain.

The game had ended in a 2-1 win for Norway but that didn‘t stop the spanish defender from apologizing to you.

Towards the end of the game she had tackled you which resulted in you limping off the field. It was nothing serious but to be sure you got subbed off. Guro was furious. As soon as she saw you lying on the floor she wanted to rip heads off. You were her weak spot and every teammate knew that. So before Guro could storm over one of them held her back.

"I‘m really sorry. I didn‘t mean to hurt you." the defender said while holding out her hand. "It‘s okay" you answered, shaking her hand.

Guro watched the whole scene. She could have sworn the moment your hands touched the spaniards face turned red. Yet you couldn‘t see because the defender hugged you. Too long for Guros liking. "You good?" one of your teammates asked her, seeing her furrowed brows. "Totally" sarcasm laced in her voice, her eyes never leaving the sight in front of her. Following the direction where Guro was looking your teammate saw the problem. "You‘re jealous?"

The word jealous caught her off guard. Her cheeks began to burn, she felt embarrassed yet it described her feelings perfectly.

She felt jealous seeing you with the spaniard. She felt jealous when the spaniard touched you. How could a stranger dare to touch what‘s hers?

"Someone is watching you" the spaniard laughed. You turned your head slightly just to be met with the familiar face of your girlfriend. Even though she was a bit away you could see how her face softened when you looked at her. Her stone cold face turning into a sunshine one again. Only you had that effect on her.

When she had a bad day; only you could cheer her up.

When she had a bad dream; only you could calm her down.

When she was sad; only you could make her smile.

It‘s always been you.

"Right" you laughed "I better keep going. It was nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was all mine" with that you said your good byes.

You were on your way back to your team, to Guro, when Guro walked up to you. Your girlfriend pressed her lips forcefully on yours, grabbing your waist and pulling you into her, claiming you as hers.

She made sure the spanish defender saw it.

But because you were still in public you shortly pulled away after. Guro whined at the loss of contact. "What was that for?" you questioned breathlessly. "Just because" she replied whilst tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. You two gazed lovingly at each other like you often do until you broke the silence. "You were jealous, right?" giggling at her, you couldn‘t hide your amusement. "What? No!" she tried to deny it, to defend herself but you knew better. "Fine. Yes" she grumbled.

That was the first of many times you saw Guro jealous.

The recent one was again in presence of your teammates. This time though it wasn‘t the nationalteam, it was the Chelsea team.

The team had agreed to have a fun night out. So while Guro, Erin and Sam got ready at Sams Madga, Pernille and you got ready in the Eriksson-Harder apartment.

On the way to the bar, you picked up Niamh and Jessie. Magda and Pernille were considered as the parents of you all. So of course, the three of you were squeezed together in the back seats whilst singing your hearts out to Taylor Swift songs.

Most of the team were already waiting for the five of you. And when you did finally show up the fun began.

"You look absolutely breathtaking" Guro whispered in your ear as you entered the bar. You blushed like a little girl.

People were dancing around, sitting and chatting and other people just drank.

As the night went on, some of you were dancing and some of you sat at the tables chatting. But Guro couldn’t keep her hands to herself. Either she had her hand on your thigh or she had her arm around your waist. She could hardly focus on what her friends were saying because she was hypnotized by you and your beauty. The outfit you were wearing made her go crazy. "I‘m gonna go dancing with Z" you whispered in her ear. After a kiss, Z dragged you away. The first song you danced to was 'Shut Up and Dance', then ABBA, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry. The music was a wild mix out of everything. You loved it. "Do you want something to drink?" Z asked as she stopped her dance moves. "No thanks" you shouted so she could hear you. With everybody singing, chatting, doing whatever it was loud. She gave you a thumbs up and went to the bar to get herself a drink. Despite being without anybody of your friends on the dance floor, you couldn‘t care less. The music was awesome and you felt great, so why don‘t enjoy it? That was until a woman started to hit on you. At first she just danced in front of you but when she came closer to you and said "Hey! You look really pretty." you were overwhelmed. Her hands made her way onto your arms which made you feel very uncomfortable. "I‘m mar-" your attempt to clarify that you‘re happily married was cut off by an angry Guro Reiten. "Get your fucking hands off my wife" with one push the strangers hands were off of you and Guro was dragging you outside. "Are you alright?" she asked in a concerned voice. "Yes" you told her truthfully. Everything was okay. You were a bit shaken up but alright. Guro looked for any signs of discomfort in your eyes but there were none. "Good. We‘re going home." Her voice was back angry. She was angry. Yet she held your hand. She needed to feel your touch. It always calmed her down. The walk to her car was silent. The car ride even more. Her jaw was clenched, her gaze fixed on the road. You hated the silence. You didn’t understand why there was one. Did I do something wrong? Why is she mad at me? "Baby?" She didn‘t answer you. Her gaze still fixed on the road. "Guro?" you tried again. "Don‘t call me that." her voice softer now but still her facial expression showed you that she was angry. "Then tell me, what‘s wrong? You haven‘t looked at me since we left."

"I‘m angry."

"At me?" your voice was quiet.

"No"

It was clear that Guro didn‘t want to talk. So you respected that.

The ride home was long, longer than it should have been but you didn‘t say anything. If she needed her time, you would give it to her. She drove around for half an hour until she stopped at a car park. The two of you remained sitting in silence. If she wanted to talk about it, she needed to go first. "I wanted to leave the bar as soon as we entered" she confessed "the moment we walked in everybody had their eyes on you. They all checked you out. It annoyed me. And when I saw this woman touching you - I noticed you being uncomfortable I only saw red. I‘m sorry for not speaking to you." she looked at you with pleading eyes. Eyes that told you, she loved you. They told you, she was sorry. Taking her hand in yours, you pressed a kiss onto it, looking directly at her. "I love you" was your only reply. Those words meant more than an simple I love you. It meant: it‘s okay, i‘m yours and more. It was a promise.

Guro will always get jealous when it comes to you. It didn‘t matter if you both were young or old and gray. If someone looks at you for too long, touches you for too long, Guro would make sure to claim you as hers.

That‘s the way it was, is and will be.

—————————

[mapileonxputellas]

Little Sister (Mapi Leon, Alexia Putellas x Reader)

Request and description found here. Wanted to get a little something out this weekend. 2.6k words. Enjoy x

TW: head injury and mentions of blood

Moving to the other side of the country at just 18 was one of the hardest but best decisions of your life. You’d impressed at your local team and the u17’s for Spain but you knew that you had to make the most of the current hype and consider all the options you had for your first professional contract. There was a lot of pressure having been described as a ‘generational talent’ but you couldn’t allow that to get to you.

When Barca come calling it is hard to say no, but you knew your parents wouldn’t be able to make the journey with you, they were both settled in their jobs, your younger siblings were settled in school and they couldn’t leave your elderly grandparents. But all of that left you just over a year ago stood outside the training centre in Barcelona knowing no-one and wondering if all this has been a mistake.

1 year ago….

You’d arrived at Barcelona a few days before pre-season started and though you’d originally planned to try and look round the city, you didn’t realise how lonely it would be on your own. So in a way you were grateful to meet the players but that meant meeting some of your idols as well. Being an out and out centre forward you’d grew to model your game on the efficiency of Hermoso, the creativity of Putellas and the delivery of León.

They were all behind those doors, waiting for everyone to gather but it was almost as if you couldn’t move your legs. The nerves had paralysed you, but you were brought out of the trance by a soft hand on your back.

“Hola.” It was fair to say you were embarrassed that the one and only Alexia Putellas had been the one to catch you in this state. “You must be Y/N.”

“Hola. Yes that’s me.” You confirmed shaking her hand.

“What are you doing out here then, come inside. We really don’t bite, well other than Patri. Come on”

If it hadn’t of been for Alexia you probably would have been stood there all day, but she was the one to take you inside, introduce you to everyone and make sure you were settled in the dressing room. Which is where you met Mapi, as she insisted you call her when you stumbled out Maria, who took you under her wing on the training pitch. Partnering up with you for the exercises and talking tou through what was going to happen next.

“Here’s our numbers.” Alexia passed me a piece of paper as the three of us walked outside after training. “If you need anything or just need someone to speak to please use them. Iit must be daunting being here alone.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you getting home?” Mapi asked.

“Oh, I was planning on walking. It’s only like 20 minutes.”

“Nonsense, come on I’ll give you a lift.” Mapi almost instructed me, taking the bag out of my hands as she walked to the cars lined up outside. “I’ll pick you up for training tomorrow as well.”

“Thank you, really you don’t have to do this.”

“I know, now come on.”

…..

That became the routine of your pre-season, Mapi would pick you up and drop you off after training. You went out for the team bonding sessions and made friends with the girls closer to your age, but by the end of the night you were always found with one or both of them making sure you got home safely.

You made several cameos in the warm up games, but you knew you would have to be patient and just wait for your time to come. That came sooner than you thought it would as in the final training session, Jenni appeared to pull up at the end and Jonatan pulled you to the side.

“Jenni cannot play tomorrow so we’re going to put you in from the start. Are you ok with that or do you want me to change formation? Are you ready?”

“I’m ready, I promise I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.”

So that’s how you found yourself at 18 years old making your debut for Barcelona in the first match of the season, granted it was a team who barely scraped relegation last season but it was an opponent none the less.. With that came the expectation and therefore the nerves as you made your last few preparations to get ready.

“Give me those.” Alexia shooed your hands away as you tried to lace up your boots for what was probably the fifth time, each time the laces twisting in your hands and not quite falling right. “Look at me. I watch you every day in training and you’re amazing, I’m not lying. Just go out there, be yourself and enjoy it. You’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to let you all down.” You admitted.

“You won’t.” Mapi obviously was listening in and slid her arm around your shoulder. “No-one can ask for anything more than you just trying your best. Run hard and don’t let your nerves stop you.”

“Thank you, both of you.”

“No worries baby.”

Everything was a whirlwind after that moment, from walking out onto the pitch to giving it your all in the first half to help the team get 3-0 up. You’d tried to get on the end of a few crosses and driven at the defence but nothing was just quite working.

The manager kept his faith in you and left you on the field for the second half and finally your hard work was rewarded. A free kick was awarded just outside the box and Mapi was stood over it. Not being the tallest you were stood in line with the back post on the edge of the box and watched as the defender got her head to it but only cleared the ball as far as you. It was like time stood still as you put as much power onto the ball as possible and watched it curve into the far corner of the net past the oblivious goalkeeper.

You were brought back down to Earth as a pair of arms wrapped around your waist, immediately giving Mapi away as the culprit, flinging you into the air. “You did it!”

After everyone else had congratulated you, Alexia and Mapi wrapped their arms around your shoulder to walk back to the other side.

“See I told you, just believe in yourself.” Alexia said.

“I couldn’t have done it without you two.”

“We know.”

….

Fast forward a year and the bond between the three of you had only grew stronger. When you couldn’t afford to go home for Christmas, Alexia’s family had invited you into their family home for the day and you were a regular at Mapi’s for a takeaway after a game. The two of them were very protective of you but they were also the first to congratulate you as you made progress throughout your first season and became known as the impact substitution.

The heartbreak of Alexia’s ACl injury gave you the opportunity to repay every favour she’d given to you, keeping her company in days immediately before and after her surgery, running to the store whenever she needed anything and trying to take her mind off the hard journey she had ahead.

The second season was where you knew you had to make an impact, Jenni leaving left the door open for you to make a firm impression in the league and you knew you had to step it up in training. Everyone noticed a difference in you, from your professionalism in preparing for every session to the intensity and discipling you trained with, it was obvious how focused you were and how much you wanted to improve.

It was eerily silent as Mapi and Alexia pulled up outside of the training centre, the two of them running late as they had been chosen to attend a league sponsor event.

As they were walking over they noticed Patri and Irene stood by the doors with a look on their face that they couldn’t quite read. “Hey what are you two doing out here?” Alexia asked as they tried to enter the building but were stopped by the two of them blocking the entrance.

“Oh we managed to finish training early so we thought we’d save you the trip inside, you can go home.” Irene told the two but her eyes were elsewhere, as if she was looking out for something behind them.

“We can go? We don’t even have to speak to Jonathan, does he not want to know how the event went?”

“Oh I’m sure you can tell him tomorrow.”

Alexia was beginning to grow annoyed as Patri once again blocked her path inside. “Cut the crap, what’s going on? You two are acting suspicious.”

“Nothing.” But the look of panic on their faces became visible as ambulance sirens grew lounder and louder behind them until an ambulance came into view. “Shit.”

“What’s going on? Has something happened?”

“We didn’t want you to worry, she’s in the safest hands and we knew that you two would only panic and she needs to stay calm.”

“Who needs to stay calm?” Mapi asked but was just met with silence. “Who?”

“Y/N.”

Patri and Irene gave up the fight at that point, almost running to keep up with the ambulance crew and the other two players as they raced through onto the field whilst trying to explain the situation. “She was trying head the ball and collided with the post, she’s got quite a big cut on her hairline and she started complaining about her neck so they’ve tried to stabilise her neck. She’s 19, we’ve tried to reassure her but she’s very panicky.”

“You should have called us sooner.” Mapi was angry at the whole situation but at the moment Patri was taking the frustration. “We could have reassured her, she’s probably frightened.”

“We didn’t have much of a choice.”

Mapi and Alexia broke into a sprint as they came into view of the situation with the medical department around you and the team watching on from a few metres away.

“Mapi…” Irene tried to stop her from going over but it was no use as the defender shook her off.

“No, she needs me.”

The situation was a lot more serious than they ever could have expected, blood completely coated your face and shirt as one of the doctors continued to apply pressure to the wound. Another one holding onto your neck as they tried to talk to you.

“Hey babe.” Mapi and Alexia knelt down next to one side of you so the medical staff could continue on the other side, your eyes immediately finding their own as they gripped your hands. Tears evident in your eyes as you squeezed their hands. “Can’t leave you alone for one minute.”

“It really hurts.”

“I know it does, but the doctors are here and you’re going to be fine.” Alexia reassured her. “Where’s the pain coming from?”

“Mostly my head now.”

“That’s good.” Mapi could see the massive gash on your head as the paramedics tried to wrap it up. They’d seen enough head injuries now to know that the majority of the worry right now would be coming from the neck situation and any potentially career threatening injury there. “Just keep talking to us, keep that neck still and they’ll sort everything out.”

“I was speaking to my mum this morning and she wanted to invite you round at the weekend.” Alexia tried to distract her from the situation. “I think you’re definitely her new favourite daughter.”

“She’s the best.”

“Bagheera has been lost without you these last few weeks.” From looking out for Alexia, you’d started hanging out at Alexia’s place as a three rather than Mapi’s which left you missing a certain car. “She misses your cuddles.”

“Oh I love her.”

“Right we’re going to try and move her now and get her to the hospital.” The two girls looked up as the paramedic instructed everyone. “Is anyone coming to the hospital with us? Any family?”

“I’m not leaving her.” Mapi and Alexia both insisted. “We’re practically her family.”

“She has no immediately family in the area.” The club doctor confirmed. “These two will be able to calm her down the most.”

“Ok.”

……

The two of them didn’t leave your side, from moving you onto the ambulance, to arriving at the hospital and getting the initial checks done. Thankfully the scans on your neck had come back clear and they put the initial pain down to the impact of the collision with the post.

They wanted to keep you in longer to check for any longer lasting concussion damage but the final nurse finally left the three of you alone after stitching up the wound leaving you with a giant bandage across your forehead. It must have been in the early hours of the morning now but neither of them had made an attempt to leave yet.

“Wow, we leave you along for one session and this happens?” Alexia teased as the two sat either side of you finally alone after the long day.

“I don’t think that goal post and I can be friends anymore.” You tried to joke but the tears only started again. “I thought that was it for me today. I’ve heard about people suffering from spinal injuries and it only ever ends with their careers ending. I thought that was it and there was so much blood. I could see the panic in their eyes as they tried to treat me and the blood was just soaking everything.”

“It will take more than a goal post to stop you from becoming the best.” Alexia said. “Stop worrying about that now, all the checks have been double checked and everything has come back clear. I know it’s frightening in that moment but thankfully we’ve got through it.”

“We’re just upset we weren’t there for you,” You could see the struggle in Mapi’s eyes as the rarely emotional girl got upset. “I promise if you ever need me again then I’ll be there.”

“Don’t worry.” You were the one doing to the reassuring now. “You’re here now and that’s all that matters. I don’t think I would have liked to have been Irene and Patri trying to stop you though.”

“Mapi almost charged them down.”

“Are you feeling ok now? Do you need me to get you some more painkillers?” Mapi asked.

“No, it’s more just like a dull headache now. Thank you both so much for today, you don’t know how much I needed you both today and to know you’ve stayed with me this entire time…”

“And like I’ve told you a million times before we’re your sisters now.” Alexia reassured her, climbing up onto the bed, so you could rest your head on her shoulder. “I told you on that first day we’d be here if you ever needed us and you needed us today.”

“I love you both.”

“We love you too.” Mapi said, not quite managing to squeeze onto the bed but she held your hands together. “Just don’t scare me like that again.”

“I’ll try not to.”

[peligrosapop]

8 Masia kids at Spain U -17

Pau Cubarsí, Marc Cubarsí, Andres Cuenca, Marc Bernal, and Spain NT U17 team (Hector Fort, Pau Prim, Quim Junyent, Juan Hernández included)

[garciapimienta]

and pau (cubarsí) masterclass too <333

[didalexiabreakupwitholgayet]

I know that Aitana and Patri have known each other since they were 15 years old (when they played for Spain u17) and they have played together for many years. Are they friends?

hey, i talked about barça team friendships in this post earlier.

no, i wouldn't say that aitana and patri are super close or bffs, but they are friendly with each other and get along extremely well professionally on the pitch.

[tasthedelulu]

Were you there when we lost against both Iran and Portugal. When we got robbed against Spain? Were you there? Our NT has come so freaking far since then . We qualified for the world cup , reached the semi finals etc. THIS IS THANKS TO CURRENT NT AND WALID REGRAGUI.

Ffs, just bc Ziyech or whoever is playing in the Turkish league/saudi league doesn't mean they should get benched. IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD BADMOUTH THEM. do you forget what they have done for our country and this team? Ziyech picked Morocco and got hate it for it. Ziyech , amarabat etc picked morocco when our nt was in shambles. RESPECT THEM. I remember all the times we lost and how i cried . But you know who also cried? Those players who you are now insulting.

Yes, you want Lamine , diaz or whoever . I get it . You're entitled to your own opinion.JUST DONT DISRESPECT OUR CURRENT PLAYERS. You're like bench ziyech for lamine . They both amazing players and the thing is Lamine hasn't even picked morocco yet. He is still young and we shouldn't pressurize him. He has the right to play for whatever country he wants to. Let him live his life. HOW LONG HAVE SOME OF YOU BEGGED DIAZ TO PLAY FOR US?

STOP DISRESPECTING OUR CURRENT PLAYERS, THE ONE WHO CHOSE MOROCCO FOR PLAYERS THAT HAVEN'T CHOOSEN MOROCCO YET OR IS STILL UNSURE ( AKA DIAZ). Every damn time when Diaz is in Morocco and then ya'll like Diaz is gonna pick morocco. Ffs,leave Diaz alone . I am begging .

Additionally, we have good u23/u17 players. We have Abde , Bilal elkhannous, Oussama el azzouzi, Ismael saibari, Ibrahim Salah etc. so relax.

the trophies will come if Allah swt has willed it for us . Diro niya guys diro niya . ( since ya'll like we need to move on from Ziyech etc in order to win trophies).

[laresearchette]

Friday, November 10, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: FOR ALL MANKIND (Apple TV+) THE CURSE (Paramount +) EVERYTHING CHRISTMAS (W Network) 9:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? AFTER THE BLAST: THE WILL TO SURVIVE (ABC Feed) BELLE COLLECTIVE (TBD - OWN Canada) THE CURSE (TBD)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA 007: ROAD TO A MILLION DINA HASHEM: DARK WHISPERS KANDAHAR TREVOR WALLACE: PTERODACTYL

CBC GEM CRIME (Season 2) LE COYOTE TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (starts today, goes until November 12th)

CRAVE TV A CHANCE FOR CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE FOUR CHRISTMASES GODFATHER OF HARLEM (Season 3, Episode 1) INTO THE DEEP THE JOURNEY HOME LAMBORGHINI: THE MAN, THE LEGEND MIRACLE IN MOTOR CITY ONE WEEK PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH SISU STILL MINE VIOLENT NIGHT

DISNEY + STAR BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT

NETFLIX CANADA AT THE MOMENT (TW) THE KILLER TEAM NINJA WARRIOR (Season 2)

2023 FIFA MEN'S U17 WORLD CUP (TSN/TSN4) 6:48am: Spain vs. Canada

GRAND SLAM OF CURLING (SN) 11:00am: National - Draw 14 (SN) 3:00pm: National - Draw 15 (SN) 7:00pm: National - Draw 16

NHL HOCKEY (SNWest/TSN4) 7:00pm: Flames vs. Leafs (SN1) 7:00pm: Wild vs. Sabres (SN) 10:00pm: Sharks vs. Knights

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 7:30pm: Nets vs. Celtics (SN Now) 8:30pm: Clippers vs. Stars (TSN/TSN3/TSN5) 10:00pm: Lakers vs. Suns

AMPLIFY (APTN) 7:30pm: Anishinaabe electro-pop artist Wolf Saga draws inspiration for his music from a painting his grandmother bought, which connects him to his culture. This episode features Richard Gracious, Janis Monture, Elder Mary Lou Smoke and Betty Albert.

THE FATHER (CTV2) 8:00pm: A man refuses assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and the fabric of his reality.

7TH GEN (APTN) 8:00pm: Matthew Monias - Mattmac: Many people know Matthew Monias by his stage name, Mattmac. Discover how this Oji-Cree blind recording artist from Garden Hill First Nation is taking the world by storm with his music and blazing a trail with his advocacy work.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF JERSEY (Slice) 8:00pm: La Finn

PLANET WONDER (CBC) 8:30pm: How the language used about climate change affects the motivation to do something about it.

A DASH OF CHRISTMAS (CTV Life) 8:00pm: To apply for her dream job at a foodie startup, an executive must learn to bake. When she recruits a handsome baker to help her, she inadvertently ends up in a Christmas Bakeoff.

FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER (APTN) 8:30pm: The inaugural NASCAR Pinty's race finally arrives at Ohsweken Speedway and Aaron Turkey proves to be a hometown hero in the historic event. Meanwhile, Joshua Hill hustles to get his car back on the track after getting into a wreck the night before.

THE FIFTH ESTATE (CBC) 9:00pm: The Girls Around Robert G. Miller: In partnership with Radio-Canada's investigative program, "Enquête," "The Fifth Estate" examines troubling claims that a Canadian billionaire had a long history of paying teenagers for sex.

TRANSPLANT (CTV) 9:00pm: Bash reconnects with the man who got him to Canada.

BEAT BOBBY FLAY: HOLIDAY THROWDOWN (Food Network Canada) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Katie Lee Biegel cracks the wishbone with Turkey Day classics and makes this holiday reunion a surprise family affair. Chefs Darnell Ferguson, Bryan Voltaggio and Michael Voltaggio attempt to squash Bobby Flay with a new turkey tradition.

CATWOMAN: HUNTED (Cartoon Network Canada) 9:00pm: Catwoman attempts to steal a priceless jewel.

VIOLENT NIGHT (Crave) 9:00pm: An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.

W5 (CTV) 10:00pm: The Mystery Bomber: "W5" investigates the identity of a would-be bank robber who exploded in a dramatic heist.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: Nothing is What it Seems: Part 1: A man walking his dog comes upon a neighbor's garage engulfed in flames; when the smoke clears, a woman is found dead with drug paraphernalia nearby; nothing is what it seems, and police are left combing through a web of lies to find the killer.

[uswnt5]

As a USWNT fan I’m concerned about Spain being a problem internationally once they have all the trash out and can play freely they are going to be tough to beat lol!!! They develop their younger players better than us I feel like. They’ve won the World Cup at all levels recently.

I mean they just won the WC with trash in so yeah, they're gonna be a problem for years to come! Yep, they are the U17 and U20 holders as well!