#i tried to be as respectful as possible with the italian

[here-lies-they-ran-outta-luck]

Prettiest Witch at Hogwarts (Theodore Nott x fem!reader)

Warnings: small italian!thoe, friends to lovers, comfort, angst, cussing, flirting, bad writing

a/n- this was not a request, but I did have a really good time writing it! I love this fic so much for no reason

word count- 847

“You, my dear, are the prettiest girl I have ever met,” Pansy said, dropping her voice an octave, reenacting what a boy had done to you today in an attempt to woo you. Her hand brushing your cheek the same way the boy had attempted to do makes you burst out in a loud laughter, causing the rest of the group to follow along.

“The poor bloke! Did he seriously think that would work?” Mattheo cackles, wiping a tear from his eye.

“I swear, I can never get a break! You four are the only boys that don’t chase after me!” You sigh, leaning back into the cushion of the couch, unbeknownst to you Pansy sends Theo a small smirk with raised eyebrows. Pansy was the only person that knew about your mild crush on Theodore Nott, your best friend. Pansy and Mattheo both knew that Theo has been in love with you for years. To everyone though, it was obvious that the lingering glances meant more than friends to the both of you.

The group decided to spend the rest of the night making fun of all of the boys that have tried to get with you since your growth spurt in 4th year.

“You’re gonna let me take you out to Hogsmeade, right?” Adriand Pucy, a boy you have rejected over and over since day one, asks you, leaning up against the exit of the Slytherin common room.

“Haven’t I told you no already today?” You reply, stopping and looking up at him with disgust present on your face.

“I know you don’t have a date, so why don’t you just give me a chance, let me take you out,” The boy says, pushing off of the wall in what was supposed to look attractive, ultimately failing in the end though.

“Who told you she doesn’t have a date? Come on bella, lets go,” Theo says, slinging his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer into him, engulfing you in the smell of his expensive-smelling cologne.

“Out of all the boys she could choose you really think she’d pick you? You wouldn’t even be on her top ten,” Pucy says, glaring at the taller boy.

“Merlin Pucy, have some self respect! If you ever thought you had a chance with me you certainly have less of one than before,” you say, giving him the dirtiest look you could possibly muster, and pulling Theo away from him and towards your dorm.

You knew Theo almost better than you knew yourself. Even though Theo was the most handsome boy in the school and had his fair share of women, you knew that the mean words Pucy had said would get to him atelast a little bit. He was a Slytherin, but deep down he was still the sensitive boy you’d known for years.

“Are you alright, Theo?” You ask, sitting on your bed and scooting over so he could have room.

“I should be the one asking you that,” He replied with a sad smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“You know that Pucy is just an asshole right? You would definitely be in at least my top 3,” You say after a couple of seconds, attempting to lighten the mood and make him feel better. 

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better,” He says, looking at you with his sad blue eyes.

“Theo, I’m not lying,” You answer, scooting towards him to show your sincereness.

“Did one of them tell you?” He says, hurt filling his eyes and his body language rigid.

“Did who tell me what?” You ask, putting a hand on his back to comfort him, his posture relaxing a little.

Theo looks up at you, his eyes softening a little, “You’re so amazing,” He says softly after a couple of seconds of looking at you.

“Oh come on Theo,” You say, blushing slightly, looking up at him through your eyelashes.

“It’s true. You’re so beautiful,” He says, putting some hair behind your ear, and giving you a smile, showing you his beautifully crooked teeth.

“And you are a flirt. To think you’d never chase after me,” You say, giving him the same smile.

“Would I- um, would I really be in the top three guys?” He asks, looking at you with a serious expression.

“I would date you before I even gave another guy even a look,” You reply, giving him a soft look.

“Are you sure about that though? You know I’m kind of a mess up,” He says, looking away from you.

“It means more to me that you think that I’m amazing and beautiful. I don’t think I would even be able to explain to you how it makes me feel when you call me by your stupid Italian nicknames,” You reply, waiting for an answer. You don’t wait long and you don’t get a verbal response. Theo pulls you in and gives you a soft kiss on your lips. It’s not how he kisses girls at parties, it’s soft and full of love and adoration.

#slytherin boys #theodore nott x reader #theodore nott x you #theo nott x reader #theodore nott smut #theodore nott imagine #theodore nott x y/n #theodore nott #theo nott #lorenzo zurzolo

[wannabeschyulersister]

lovelorn and nobody knows

Sometimes it felt like you had the words “I’m in love with my boss” written on your forehead in big capital letters.

As much as you tried to hide it, you couldn’t help but marvel at him. He was truly amazing at his craft and seeing him so passionate made you want to do it as well.

There were times that he acted a little like a jerk but he’d redeemed himself recently. Thanks to Sydney.

And to Claire.

You were surprised when you learned he was seeing someone. He brought Claire around when the restaurant was practically falling apart. It was such a weird moment. You physically could feel the awkwardness in the air.

She seemed really nice but part of you still disliked her just because she could call Carmy hers.

You avoided being around them as much as possible. It hurt just looking at the way he smiled at her.

Every part of your being wished that were you.

You wished you were the one he confided in after a long day at the Bear. You wished that you were the one he walked around the city with hand in hand. You wished you were the one that had his heart.

You felt like a lovesick fool.

Instead of subjecting yourself to seeing the happy couple, you started to back out of any group activities unless it was absolutely necessary.

The group would often go and get drinks at a nearby bar at least once a week. You stopped going as soon as you heard Claire was a regular now. People would ask if you were going and you always had a lie ready to go.

As much as you loved working at The Bear, you knew that it would probably be best if you removed yourself from the situation. It hurt every time you had to be around Carmen and Claire. You didn’t want to constantly put yourself in heartache.

There was a popular Italian restaurant across town that needed a sous. You had a friend of a friend that recommended you. It was the fresh start that you needed.

When you got the job, it was bittersweet. You should’ve been happier than you were.

So, you drafted up a letter of resignation, took a deep breath, and walked into Carmen’s office after closing. He was busy looking at an invoice when you knocked softly on the doorframe to make yourself known.

He looked at you and smiled a little, “Hey, stranger. We missed you last night.”

“Yeah, sorry I missed it. I uh- have something to give you.” You wanted to get this part over with.

“Yeah? What’s that?” He reached over and grabbed the letter that you handed him. You hoped he didn’t notice the slight shakiness of your hand.

You didn’t answer him because you didn’t trust your voice in that moment. Carmen quickly read through your letter and you watched the expression change on his face.

“What the hell is this? You’re leavin’?” Carmen stood up from his seat and placed your letter down.

“I got a job opportunity that I couldn’t say no too. I’m sorry that this puts you in a situation where you are short staffed but I’m giving you a two weeks notice.” You explained to him.

“I don’t understand. You’re happy here, aren’t you? D-did something happen’ that I’m not aware of?” Carmen questioned.

Yeah, you fell in love with someone else.

You shook your head, “No, nothing happened. I just think I’m ready for a new challenge.”

Carmen didn’t look like he bought your lie. “(Y/n), you don’t think that I’ve noticed that you’re distant and-and you haven’t been coming out with all of us?”

Shit.

You’d hoped that maybe he was so busy with Claire that he hadn’t noticed you slipping away from the group at all.

“I’ve just been busy with other things.” You lied again.

“What’s going on?” He questioned.

“Nothing is going on, Carmen.”

He crossed his arms against his chest and it took everything in you not to stare and drool. Even when you tried to be strong, his biceps made you feel weak.

“I don’t believe you.” He stated.

“That’s fine. I just wanted to do the respectable thing and give you an adequate notice.”

Carmen stared at you and it made you feel like he could read your mind. Like he knew the exact reason on why you were leaving.

“I don’t want you to leave, (Y/n). I think you’re amazing and- and you have a bright future in this industry. I think it’s a mistake.”

Your chest ached at his kind words. “I’m just ready for something new.”

He sighed and looked away from you as someone knocked on the door. You turned and saw Claire holding a takeout bag, “Thought I’d surprise you with dinner.”

“Now isn’t a good time, Claire.” Carmen told her.

She looked disappointed, “Am I interrupting something?”

You quickly shook your head, “No, the conversation is over. Have a good night.”

“(Y/n), wait!” Carmen called out to you but you left his office without another look back.

Even thought it killed you to walk away from him, you had to put yourself first.

#carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto imagine #carmen berzatto x (y/n) #carmen berzatto x you #carmen berzatto #the bear x reader #the bear imagine #carmy x reader #carmy berzatto

[me-loving-woso]

Bruises, Apologies and Cookies?

You already know the drill. I don't know what this is. It took me a month to do it and it's not proofread. It's 17k and you have to imagine this as an AU in which Jorge Vilda is not the coach of Spain, but it's in therapy for his misogynistic tendencies and anger issues, and the Italian national team is actually a good team. I really hope you enjoy this.

Prompt: You start to hook up with Alexia, but then you realise you aren't meant to play against one another. (I'm bad at summaries.)

Here is Part 2

-

You were traveling to Barcelona today.

Your team and the Barca team had organized the game for the Gamper trophy, and you couldn’t wait to play against your dream team. Barcelona and Chelsea have always been the team you supported when you were young, even though you were neither Spanish nor English.

You have always loved playing football since you were little. And the fact that you were raised in Italy and were Italian, one of the best countries to experience football, made your love for the sport grow even more. But you knew you couldn’t go far in your country because women’s soccer wasn’t very developed in Italy, so as soon as possible, you decided to leave for the US. There, you studied to become a physiotherapist and played ‘soccer.’

You weren’t known for your speed or physicality but your football IQ and passes. At first, your coach put you as a striker, but then he soon realized that scoring wasn’t your forte. But when one of your teammates in midfield got injured, your coach put you as a defensive midfielder, and the rest was history.

You would control the midfield and give confidence and calmness to the defenders and midfielders; you had a style that reminded people of Busquets.

In college, you met your best friend, who was also Italian. She was your number 1 supporter; she would always come to your games, cheer for you, and support you even when you transferred to your first real club, Atletico Madrid. 

To the world, you were known as one of the cleanest players in La Liga, your timing was always perfect when you tackled someone, and you were able to anticipate the player’s moves so well that, in most cases, you didn’t even have to tackle them, you would snatch the ball away from them before they could pass it to someone else.

This made you one of the only players to never receive a yellow card for a foul. You only received one when you took off your shirt for scoring the winning goal for the Copa de la Reina.

After two outstanding seasons at Atletico, Chelsea called you, but not even after a year did you send in a transfer request, which you never did; you always waited for your contract to finish.

After a disastrous year at Chelsea, you wanted to go back home to Italy, and two clubs from your country showed interest. Roma and Juventus. You never supported Juventus as a child, so the decision was a no-brainer for you. You were back home, playing for a great team and sharing the pitch with your friends from the national team. You signed a contract until 2024, and you would respect it, even though you received many offers from other clubs, one in particular being Barcelona. But whenever the coach of Barca called, you told him about your wish to finish the season with Roma; they respected your decision and said they would try to get you during the summer window.

-

This left you playing the Joan Gamper trophy against your dream team, and you got the impossible task of marking Alexia Putellas. It was the first time that you were playing against her. Over the years, you had the opportunity to play against her, but between injuries or other stuff, you never managed to do that. So you were looking forward to it. 

During the warm-up, you found yourself stealing glances at her; she was even more beautiful in real life. As you saw her train, you tried to find a way in which you could stop her. She was quick, physical, and loved going deep. So the only way to possibly stop her was to anticipate her and not let the ball go over you to her or stop her before she could pass you. You loved a good challenge.

As soon as the game started, Barcelona came at your defense hard, but you wouldn’t let the ball go past you. As soon as you had the ball, you would pass it to one of your teammates or opt for a long pass if your number 9 was free.

Even though you were extremely clean in your tackles and respectful, you were famous for cursing in Italian whenever you had to run; you hated running, and whenever you would recover a ball, you would subtly celebrate in your opponent’s face. You were very competitive in that sense, and you knew that not many opponents went past you, so this furthered, even more, your competitiveness.

In the first minutes of the game, as you analyzed your opponent’s playing style, you realized nobody would dare to move the ball through the center; they knew they wouldn’t get past you, and you smirked at that realization.

The first time you had to mark Alexia was an offside kick for Barcelona; you shielded her with your hands, not making her move. You were shorter than her; you reached her shoulders, so you knew she could physically overwhelm you well enough, so you had to find another way to stop her. She was brilliant when playing. She could see the spaces and know exactly where to place the ball to her teammates, so you knew that distracting her even a second would help you anticipate her and stop her from going forward. 

As she was trying to unmark herself from you, you wanted to distract her by talking in Spanish, “They always call you La Reina because of your skills, and now that I’ve seen you in action, I can confirm that you live up to that nickname.” She slightly blushes.

“It’s not bad having someone like you watching me destroy your team.” She pushes you slightly to show her teammates that she is free. “I must say, though, that you look pretty good out in the field.”

Now it’s your time to blush; you turn your head to face her quickly, turning your neck upwards to look at her hazel eyes, “Flattery won’t get you past me.” You wink. “But I won’t tell you to stop; I like where this is going.”

Her teammates kick the ball, which makes you both go back into game mode.

The second time you talked to her, it was during a corner. They were using her as a decoy to make your team change the positions on the corner kick, but you soon realized that, and you went to mark her “You know, I think I’m actually enjoying this game more because I’m playing against you.”

“Is that so? I’m glad you are enjoying this. But don’t think I don’t know you are trying to distract me.”

“Me? I would never distract you in any way!” You act offended, putting your hand on your heart.

“Then you are secretly trying to win my heart.” She smirks, taking her eyes off the ball and looking at yours.

“Well, if winning your heart gets me a victory on the field, consider it a strategic move.” You remark, grinning as you see the captain of the other team a fraction of a second distracted, making the ball perfectly fall into your feet.

With a calculated movement, you dribble past her while she gives you a shocked look and sends a perfect ball to your teammate, who starts the counterattack. Nobody was expecting that, so your number nine, Giacinti, ran all the length of the pitch without any dangerous opponents, leaving her only with Paños. She scored, and you were finally 1-1.

As soon as she scored, you could see that Alexia’s expression changed sorrowfully as she blamed herself for the goal while you screamed, running to your teammate who had just scored.

As soon as you get on your field to restart the match, you walk past her, and she shakes her head sarcastically, “I thought I was good at playing mind games, but you, you’re on a whole new level.”

She walked past you, “Mind games? Nah, I’m just enjoying the company of a certain someone on the field.” You remark innocently.

After 45 minutes of intense battle between you and Alexia, in which you basically won all of them, Alexia became increasingly irritated. She was getting more sloppy and aggressive, but you expected that, so whenever you had the ball or just snatched it from her, you would pass it to one of your teammates as soon as possible.

The first half of the game ended, and you returned to the dressing room. You were still on a draw, so you only needed a goal to shock Spain and win the Gamper trophy, which was your objective. So during the break, you strategized ways to score that damn goal. After the 15-minute break, you returned to the pitch and knew what to do.

Roma was starting the second half. Giacinti passed you the ball from the center of the pitch immediately after the whistle, and she began her run. You stopped the ball and kicked it high, precisely where she needed it. She had only to dribble past Ona Batlle to score and did it perfectly. 

For now, you were winning, and you could see that Barcelona was getting even more frustrated. They needed to win that trophy; it was their trophy. 

You again found yourself in the same position as the corner kick-off. Alexia was outside the area, and you were marking her again. “If you get past me, I’ll let you swap shirts.” You smirk arrogantly. 

“You’ll let me?” She chuckles ironically, not making the same mistake and, this time, focusing on the ball.

“Yes, I’ll let you.” You wink at her, putting your arm on her chest, trying to put yourself in front of her. You swear you could hear her heart beat a little faster.

“Are you sure you are okay? I swear I could hear your heart beat faster.” You tease her.

She blushes, forcefully removing your arm from her, “You are making it really hard for me to focus, and it’s not just because of the game.”

“Oh really? Maybe I’m just trying to give you a good reason to remember this match and me.”

“You wish.”

“Joking aside, do you wanna swap shirts after the match?” You quickly glance at her.

“You’ll get to see my shirt every day next season.” She raises her eyebrow knowingly.

“Wait, you know?”

“Of course, I know; I was the one that suggested you to the coach.”

“Really?” You smile dumbly at her, a mistake nearly costing you a goal. She manages to get the ball and throws a beautiful cross, which thankfully was stopped by your defender Linari. You sigh in relief and get back to the game. 

The game was getting more and more aggressive as time was running out. You didn’t know how, but you were still winning. As you were waiting to intercept a long pass from your ex-teammate from Atletico, Mapi Leon, Alexia was trying to anticipate it.

You managed to quickly control the ball, and with your first touch, you passed it to Giugliano. Still, she didn’t see that you already had given the ball away because she raised her knee to try to control the ball, but there was no ball to control. Instead, she hit you where it would hurt the most: right on your groin. It hurt. It really hurt. You wouldn’t expect it to hurt that much when you were a girl, but it did hurt. So much so that you skipped a breath and mumbled in your mother language words that you wouldn’t repeat. The game was still ongoing, but you needed a minute, and Alexia noticed that. 

“Hey, are you okay?” She asks worriedly, putting your hand on your shoulder while you are crouching down.

“Alexia, you didn’t hit the ball. And you got a powerful leg, I must say.” You sit down on the grass, visibly in pain. Your captain, Bartoli, noticed that, and she soon stopped the game and went to you.

“Tutto bene?”

“Si mi serve solo un secondo, questa qui- pointing to Alexia- mi ha dato un calcio.”

“Dove?”

“Nella figa,” You say, putting your hands over your head while your skipper laughs.

“Cazzo ti ridi.” You say, laughing too at the situation. Then, some of your teammates swarmed you, pushing Alexia away, who took a step back embarrassingly.

As your skipper told everyone what happened, some other teammates started laughing, making the tension of the match crack. You show the finger to all the teammates who laughed at you, still in pain. 

“Riesci ad andare avanti?” The defender asks you, trying to keep a straight face.

“Si, si dammi solo un minuto, andate pure.” Your teammates slowly return to their positions, and Alexia approaches you. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I hit you that hard.” She gives out a hand for you to grab to help you stand up to your feet.

“Don’t worry about it. It has always been a dream of mine for a hot woman to hit me on the groin.” You chuckle sarcastically, clearly not understanding what you have just said.

“You think I’m hot?” She grins while you clean off the dirt from your shirts.

“So not the point.” You say while returning back to your position. 

The match went on more fluidly, with your team more defending rather than attacking; you unconsciously avoided Alexia all game, swapping marks with one of your teammates for Aitana, which wasn’t at all that better, but at least she didn’t make you feel all hot and confused as the captain of the other team did. Eventually, you did lose the game, 3 to 2, but you thought this was a great way to begin the season.

As you went into the dressing room to get ready for a night out with your friend, you heard the cleats of a person behind you. You turn around, and your body winces, reminding you of the pain that you experienced earlier.

“Hey!” She walks up to you, still dressed from the match.

“Hey.” You reply awkwardly.

“Soo.” She crosses her arms and begins rocking her legs. “You said that if I got past you, you would swap shirts with me.” She smiles innocently, waiting for your reply.

“Well, that was before you made me lose the capacity to have children.” You say dramatically.

“Okay, that’s a little too dramatic. I didn’t mean to hurt you; I honestly thought that I was hitting the ball.” She says sorrowfully, looking down.

“Well, you didn’t.” You chuckle. Making her laugh.

“What were your teammates laughing about earlier?”

“I just told them what had happened. I would have laughed too if I wasn’t in so much pain.”

“Why would you? You were hurt!” She returns her gaze to you while you give her a shy smile.

“Well, you would laugh too if someone like Leo Messi would hit you in the groin like that. Even though I deeply doubt it.”

“So you think I’d have a future as a kickboxer?”

“Definitely.” You beam at her, clearly entranced by her. She was slightly biting her lips in an attempt to shy a smile; you thought to yourself that she had really gorgeous eyes. 

“So the jersey…” She suggests clearly understanding that you were slightly zoned out. You blush, a little embarrassed, and take off your shirt quickly, folding it, and then you hand it to her. 

“It’s a little dirty; I’m sorry.”

“You just ran on the pitch for over 90 minutes; you don’t have to apologize.” She takes it from you as her fingers lightly brush yours. What you noticed was that her hands were warm. It felt weird to you, as most people in your life had cold or sweaty hands, which you hated, but hers were different. They exuded this feeling of comfort that made you miss her touch as soon as she took the jersey from you.

You blink once, trying to return to the real world, waiting for her shirt. 

“Am I going back to Roma empty-handed?” You joke, while she was most definitely not looking at you in the eyes but more at your body, making you feel a little self-conscious.

“Oops, sorry.” She quickly removes her jersey, but as she is about to remove it, she stops, “Now this is embarrassing. I’m stuck.”

You chuckle, standing on your tippy toes, “Can I help you?”

“Yes, please.” You raise your hands, take the hem of her shirt, and pull it up; as soon as her head is free, her eyes lock in with yours, making you gulp slightly at the intense eye contact, lowering your feet, clearly showing the prominent height difference.

“Thank you.” She whispers, never taking her eyes off you. Your mind was getting hazier for every blink of your eyes, and you felt your cheeks redden. You thought you needed to take a step back to recompose yourself and clear that haze in your brain, but something about how she looked at you made you not move for even an inch. “How long are you staying in Barcelona?”

“Tomorrow, we are leaving.” You tell her truthfully without thinking, nor blinking, for that matter.

“What are you doing tonight?” She asks you seriously, moving her gaze dangerously close to your lips.

“I’m going out with Mapi and some of your teammates. We wanted to catch up, and she wanted me to meet some of you guys and her girlfriend.” You say, never moving your gaze from her; you couldn’t.

“ISo we’ll see each other there. And after that?” Her expression exuded an energy that you couldn’t quite understand

“What?”

“What are you doing after that?” She speaks more clearly, enunciating every word.

“I’ll probably go back to the hotel and sleep.” You reply honestly.

“I want to make it up to you. Will you let me do that?” She asks shyly, softening her gaze a little.

You, dumb as you are, don’t get what she was suggesting, making you, for the first time, take your eyes off hers and look down, which uncoincidentally was her chest. Still, right now, it doesn’t concern you that much. “You don’t have to; I know it wasn’t on purpose.” You reply innocently.

What actually concerned you was how nonchalantly, with her index finger, she gently raised your chin, making you look at her again, making you want to giggle from the nervousness.

“Are you sure?” She smirks, clearly understanding the effect that she was having on you.

The following words were some of the most honest words that ever came out of your mouth. “No, I’m not sure.”

She chuckles, “Give me your phone.” She tells you rather than ask you, making you once again be sure about your sexuality.

“It’s in the locker room.”

“Go get it.” She instructs you while she leans against the wall, still shirtless. She clearly knew what she was doing and why she was doing it.

You reply with a short nod, and without saying anything, you walk to the dressing room, your body on autopilot, with your brain still not functioning correctly. You get in the locker room and are soon swarmed by your team congratulating you, but you only have a task in mind: get the phone to Alexia. So, after some short answers, you quickly return to the hallway, searching for the woman.

She had your shirt around your neck with her back on the wall and followed your movements with her eyes, never taking her gaze off you.

You put yourself in front of her, taking her hand from her sides and placing your phone. She turns on the phone and sees your lock screen; it is a picture of your dog. “Cute dog.” She comments while she hands you back the phone so you can type the password. Then you hand it back to her, and she puts her number in your phone.

“If you are not too tired after we go out for drinks with the team if you want, we can do something else later.” She gives you a soft smile, giving you back your phone.

“Something else like what?” You tease her; riling her up is becoming one of your favorite things.

“Anything you are up to.” Raising her eyebrows, you place your hand on her stomach, gently scratching her skin. She stiffens at the contact but then relaxes, giving you a soft smile.

“What makes you think I am going to say yes?” You once again tease her.

“By your willingness to give me your phone and your hand placement.” She smirks while you retract your hand from her almost unconsciously, feeling the heat of your slight embarrassment settle on your face.

She opens her legs to reach your height, and with a small tug, she makes you come closer to her. She takes you by your sides, gently stroking the skin with her thumb. You were rather small-built, and she had big hands, which you were modestly and unceremoniously obsessed about. Her sudden pull on her made you stumble slightly, making you place your hands on her shoulders to stabilize yourself.

“So, what do you say? Will you let me take you out tonight?” You gently massage the back of her neck while playing with her baby hair.

“I’ll let you know.” You remove yourself from her, already missing the contact, and return to your teammates, leaving her in the hallway.

As soon as you sit in your cubby, you open your phone to see if she isn’t lying and actually put her phone number in your contacts. She did. In style, you could say. She saved herself as Your Favourite Kickboxer ;). That woman had some nerve, you thought, but it made you chuckle in surprise a little too loud, which got the attention of some of your teammates. They began asking you why you took so long to return to the locker room or were smiling dumbly at your phone. You soon shut down any suggestive questions and went in for a shower, making your friends more and more curious.

As soon as you leave the locker room, you meet Mapi and her girlfriend outside the pitch; between hugs and greetings, you enter their car and begin driving to a local bar with them. But before entering the place, you cannot not bring yourself not to text the woman who had been on your mind since the beginning of the day.

‘So you are my favorite kickboxer?” ‘I must say you got some nerve. The first time we met, you kicked me in the groin, and then you already put the salt into the wound.’

‘I had to find a way to make you recognize me.’ She replies almost immediately

‘I don’t know many, Alexias.’

‘Where would the fun be if I only put my name on it?’

‘Fair enough. Now I have a place I need to be. I’ll see you later?’

‘And I have a dog to feed. Yes, I’ll be there in 20 minutes.’

You were ordering some drinks and food while most of her teammates came to the bar and introduced themselves to you. But you were only waiting for someone who made you feel more today than any other girl in the last couple of years. 

“So, what happened with Alexia during the match?” Patri, one of your friend’s teammates, asks you.

“Yeah! I thought it was something serious, but then I saw your teammates burst out laughing, so I didn’t worry too much. Alexia was mortified, though.” Mapi adds, making the conversations shift towards you, waiting for you to answer.

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Oh no, she didn’t. She was very frustrated; you basically turned her into a beginner.” Your friend jokes, earning approval from her teammates, praising your skills.

So you tell them what happened, to make some wince, while your friend who has known you for years now releases a surprised chuckle.

“So that is why your teammates were laughing?”

“Yes, they are assholes. You too.” 

“I’m not laughing at you.” She reassures you. “Alexia has never been that clumsy; she must have been distracted.” She raises her eyebrow knowingly.

“I wasn’t distracted; I just thought the ball was still in the air.” You see a figure approach your table, making many heads turn around to see their captain. Her aura made it evident that she was their leader. As if she had this mask on, which showed her subtle leadership, making you smirk thinking that earlier that day, when you saw glimpses of a different Alexia that probably they didn’t see.

“Good game today, Y/n right?” She extends her arm for you to shake her hand. You innocently take it, thinking that if she wanted to play the game that you were strangers and that literally two hours before didn’t grab you by your waist nor kept looking at your lips, you would comply and play her same game.

“Thank you, Alessia, right?”

“It’s Alexia.” She said, a little irritated, still keeping her hand in yours.

“Oh, sorry, you know me, still working on my Spanish.” You wink at her, with both of you knowing that you did that on purpose.

After your ‘introduction’ to Alexia, the team divided into little groups, making you sit with Mapi and Ingrid, who were the real reasons you were there, and Keira and Lucy, whom you had already met playing against them during your time at Chelsea.

“So when are you coming to Barcelona?” Your friends ask you excitedly.

“What makes you think I want you again as a teammate?” You tease her, making her face turn into a shocked expression. Making the other people at the table chuckle at your witty reply.

“Well, Barcelona has always been your dream. We were supposed to transfer together that year, but you abandoned me for Chelsea.” 

“And I still regret it to this day.” You smile sadly, playing with your food. The year you transferred to Chelsea was one of the worst years of your life; you hated talking about it. It nearly destroyed both your career and yourself. “But the past is in the past, and I still have a contract with Roma.”

“Which will expire in 2024…” Your friend suggests making your room your eyes playfully at her. Making her girlfriend give her a warning look.

“Yes. I am well aware of my contract obligations.”

“So, Y/n.” Ingrid tries to change the subject of the conversation. “Are you single? Boyfriend, OR girlfriend?” You see Alexia from across the bar subtly turn her attention towards your table, waiting for your answer, making you internally chuckle.

“Me? No. I got traumatized.” You laugh to not cry. It was still a sore spot for you; your previous relationship ended badly for you, and you would be lying if it didn't make you more adamant about beginning a new one.

You saw people give you a puzzled look, so you explained what you had just said, “I was in a relationship with this woman for more than four years, but then we ended terms badly. But now I’m great! I’m focusing on my career, and I have a dog, so I’m good!” You try to lighten up the mood; you would hate yourself if the mods of the people around you would change because of you.

“You have a dog?” Lucy asks you excitedly. You quickly take off your phone and show her your lock screen with a picture of Argo, your dog. The fact that you had a dog created a lot of attention towards you; the team swarmed your phone to see the picture, making you chuckle shyly at all the attention given to you.

As the night progressed, you and Alexia would often find each other’s eyes and would share a small smile, something that made you look forward to the next interaction that you would have with her.

You didn’t exactly know what was going on between the two of you; she was making you confused, but at the same time, she made your heart flutter whenever you caught her looking at you.

You didn’t know what it was about her tonight, but you thought she looked stunning. Maybe it was the fact that she wore this comfortableness to her actions that made you want to bask in her aura, or perhaps it was the fact that she wore her hair down, and you literally turned into a gay panic for any pretty girl. Realistically, it was more the latter option.

As many of the girls went home or went to get drinks, this left you the opportunity to be alone with Alexia for the first time in the night. When you sat beside her, she was checking something on her phone, and you decided to make the first move. 

“Hey.” You utter, almost whispering. She takes her eyes off her phone and smiles.

“Hey, you. Are you having fun with your future teammates?” She raises her eyebrows knowingly.

You chuckle, shaking your head. “Everybody thinks I’ll become a Barça player, but what if instead I’ll become a Lyon player?” You joke, both knowing that you would never do that. “But yes, I’m having fun, even though there is someone who has been on my mind all evening.”

She looks around to see if anyone is watching your interactions and then leans closer.

“Oh really? Who is this person?” 

“Well, she is very tall, at least for me, and extremely stunning, and did I mention she has a really pretty smile? Oh, She has really beautiful eyes that, if you look closely enough, you can see some shades of green here and there. And, of course, she has a very powerful left leg.”

“I’ll let you know if I find her. For now, you are stuck with me.” 

“Too bad. I really wanted to ask her something.”

“What did you want to ask her?”

“Well, a question has been burning in my mind for the whole evening.”

“Which is?”

“Wouldn’t you want to know?” You tease her as Mapi and Ingrid come back to the table and begin a conversation with the both of you about her cat; then you hear the sound of your phone; you really hoped it wasn’t your coach wondering where you were.

You didn’t expect a text from the person in front of you.

Your Favourite Kickboxer ;)

‘Meet me in the bathroom’

You look at her, slightly puzzled, but she spurs you on with her eyes. She stands up from the table and excuses herself to go to the bathroom, thus beginning your thoughts on what justification to find to excuse herself from the table.

If you said that you had to go to the bathroom too, it felt like it would be weird, but if you threw a glass of water at yourself, it would be deemed as overdoing. Amid the panic, as you feel that time is running out, you do the second option and try accidentally throwing your glass of water on your hands. For your delusional mind, you thought that your plan actually worked perfectly, whereas for the other two people at the table, it just felt confusing and unnecessary.

You quickly go to the bathroom to dry your hands when you feel two hands sneak up on your waist from behind and perfume that is completely intoxicating you. You turn around with your hands leaning on the sink and finally see the woman consuming every fiber of your being just with her gaze. It was hungry, but at the same time, it transmitted this softness that totally fucked up your brain, not understanding clearly her intentions. But you didn’t care as of right now; that would be a problem for the future you. 

“Took you long enough.” She chuckles gently, caressing your clothed waist. 

“I had to find a way to excuse myself.” You put your hands on her shoulders, eliminating more space between the two of you, turning your lips in a soft grin when you saw her hunching a little her back to better look at you.

“Come home with me tonight.” She whispers earnestly while she slots her leg between yours, coming impossibly closer to you. Only a few inches divided you from her, her lips from yours. You didn’t drink that evening but felt utterly intoxicated by her. Everything about her made you want to throw caution out the window or, given the setting, down the sink.

You couldn’t speak. At least not something coherent, so you slowly nodded. Her lips were mere centimeters from yours, making you want so badly and so needily to close that unnecessary space and finally taste her. You thought she was reading your mind because your noses touched, making her wait for you to do the final step. 

You put your hand on her chest, “As much as I want to kiss you.” She released a low moan, making you shiver and forget your train of thought. “As much as I want to kiss you because I really do.” She lets her head fall over your shoulders, lightly kissing your neck, making a shiver course through your body, filling with goosebumps in the area. “We have friends to go back to.”

“Mmm mmm.” She goes back to kissing your neck, lightly pulling your hair to move your head to give her better access, which you obviously grant her.

“Alexia.” You warn her weakly. You were really enjoying what she was doing to you.

“Ten more seconds.” She muffles while she moves her hands all over your waist, shoulders, and back, trying to take you all in, not wanting to let go of the moment.

After at least half a minute, you warn her once again. “Alexia.”

You feel her inhale by the tickling on your neck that the air to her lungs was causing. She turns her head to look at you and then quickly pecks the corner of your lips.

“I’m done.” She quickly goes out of the bathroom, leaving you frozen in the spot recounting what just happened, still feeling her hands and lips on you.

You turn around to the sink and wash your face to sober up. It didn’t work. And you went back inside the bar.

Mapi was paying the check for her and Ingrid, “Oh hey. We are about to leave. Is it okay for you?”

“Oh, don’t worry. Alexia offered to bring me back to the hotel; she told me that she had to go that way to get to her house, so it would not be a problem for her. Plus, I know you live on the opposite side of where I’m staying.”

“Are you sure? Because for me, it’s not a problem.” She asks.

“I’m sure.” You reassure her. You saw Alexia getting her stuff and yours. “I’ll see you during National Break?” You tell her, hugging her tightly, that you missed being on the same team as her.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” She advises you, making you subconsciously look at Alexia, who is talking to Ingrid.

“Me? Never.”

You go to Ingrid, hug her goodbye, and tell her it was a pleasure to have met her. Then Alexia hands you your stuff. And you go to her car together.

In the car, the air filled with a kind of tension that you couldn’t quite grasp. Less than eight hours ago, you didn’t even know each other, but somehow, the ride to her house wasn’t awkward. It was full of anticipation for what was about to come. “How long have you known Mapi?” She tries to break the silence, genuinely curious about how you know her friend and teammate.

“We played for Atletico Madrid together, became fast friends, and have been in contact ever since. It was true what she said; we were meant to transfer together in 2017. We loved playing together. But then life got in the way.”

“You know, it’s so weird that our teams have played so many times against each other, even in Champions League games or Euros, but today was the first time we actually played against each other.” She points out, never moving her eyes from the road.

“Well, look how it played out.” You joke. 

“I already apologized many times, actually. But I already told you I’ll make it up to you.” She smirks, placing her hand on your thigh, drawing little shapes on your jeans.

“I wonder how.” You whisper to yourself, focusing on the hand that is right now inching closer and closer to your center.

As soon as you get to her home, and as she opens the door to her house, you make her turn around to you, and you pin her against the door; with your hands on her muscular waist, keeping her there, you go on your tippy toes, and for the first time during the night, you kiss her. It was soft and made her understand how much you wanted this, almost reassuring. You could see that she was nervous during the car ride, and you wanted to take some of it away. Honestly, you were nervous, too.

You usually weren’t one for hookups; you’d always preferred to have something serious or nothing at all. But there was something about her that made you change that idea.

You knew it was wrong, that after that night, you would probably see her again on the pitch, and knowing what you were doing now would distract you. But she was there, looking beautiful as always, clinging to you, with her hands covering your cheeks, making the consequences worth it.

“That was definitely worth waiting for.” She chuckles, putting your foreheads together. “Let’s get inside.” She utters, almost whispering, taking you by the hand and bringing you inside her home. She closes the door and pushes you to the wall, covering your body with hers. Her hands were roaming everywhere as she brought you into a searing kiss. Her perfume intoxicated your nostrils, and all your senses had become her. You lose yourself in her sensations as she picks you up from the ground as if you weighed nothing, and you wrap your legs around her. You stop the kiss to look at her. She was beautiful. She was wearing a contagious smile that contrasted her blown-out pupils; this softness of her, even during these moments, made you go crazy. 

 “Take me to your bedroom.” You whisper softly, placing a soft peck on her lips.

-

As you lay on her bed in pure carnal bliss, looking at the wall, you thought you were hallucinating. She was actually there, and this was happening, or better, it had just happened. And as you lay there, you thought you were happy. Maybe it was just her or the fact that she had just given you more than an orgasm, something that hadn’t happened for more than two years since you broke up with your ex-girlfriend. 

You were still in your head, which worried the woman lying beside you a little. She shifts to your side and puts a hand on your waist, giving you soothing strokes to ask for your attention. You turn your head, snapping out of your thoughts.

“You okay?” She wonders, furrowing her eyebrows, worried that she had taken things too far. You hated seeing that expression on her, so you kissed her lips, trying to convey all your feelings instantly.

You thought it was an awful lot of emotions for a simple hookup, but that was a problem for a future you.

“I’m great.” You reassure her, shifting, laying on her side, and indulging in some cuddling. She drew patterns on your back while you ran up and down with your fingers through the middle of her chest, making her sigh contently. It wasn’t a touch with any malicious or sexual motive but a way to touch and memorize her body. To never forget the fantastic night that she has given to you.

She brings you closer to her, and your lips meet again. It was the softest kiss that she had given you. You get on top of her, pulling her hands on your back until they reach your breasts, making her understand what was on your mind.

-

That morning, you woke up with your hair disheveled and a nasty headache. You hadn’t slept at all, and you were clearly late.

You look at the clock and curse to yourself. Alexia was still sleeping peacefully beside you, lying on her front, showing all her tattoos on the back. You caress her muscular back, trying to wake her up. This might be a hookup, but you weren’t an asshole, so you would at least wake her to tell her that you would leave, and frankly, you didn’t want to intrude; she might have places to be.

“Ale. Svegliati.” You whisper, making her twitch her eyes, slowly waking up. She opens her eyes to see her surroundings, then closes them again, and her face adorns with the most relaxed smile you have ever seen. You thought you didn’t know someone more cute than she was right now. 

“Hey.” Her voice was still raspy and low, and she had no intention to move from her position. “We fell asleep.” She points out. You were meant to leave around 2 AM to return to the hotel so that nobody would notice you were gone. But now it was too late. It was already morning, and at 10 AM, you needed to take the bus to leave for the airport.

She gets up from the bed and goes to the bathroom, still naked, making you glance at her body hopelessly. You get dressed, putting on the same clothes you had on the night before, when she gets back in the room, with clothes on this time, and sit next to you, putting some shoes on.

“So breakfast?” She asks casually, while you stare at her dumbly, not expecting that question. More expecting her to kick you out of the house. 

“Well, it’s the least you could do.” She continues, almost as if she was stating the obvious. “After all we did last night, we don’t have to act like strangers.” She explains shyly.

“How about coffee?” You offer instead, with both of you clearly not wanting to let each other go. “I really have to be back at the hotel. Actually, I should have been there two hours ago.”

“Sorry. I completely forgot to put the alarm on. Usually, I sleep in after a match.”

“Don’t worry about it. You have already made it up to me enough last night.” You joke, making her crack a smile.

“I had a really good time last night.” She hides her face, turning her head down to look at her shoes.

“Me too.” You reply, placing a hand on her knee. 

“So, coffee?” She turns to you, hopefully.

You slowly nod, standing up and waiting for her to lead. She takes you to this small coffee shop near her house with her dog. Which you finally met, as you were a little too occupied last night to properly meet her.

She brings you coffee at the table, and you fall into a very peaceful conversation that people who have known each other for a long time would have. It was as if you had just clicked. There was no awkwardness, just conversations flowing simply and carelessly. She offers to bring you back to the hotel.

You hug her awkwardly, saying you would see her again during the national break for the scrimmage against Spain, the first game after winning the World Cup.

As you quickly snuck up to your room, hoping nobody from your team would see you, you had a quick shower to wash off the night before and pack up your stuff, clearly focusing a little more on putting away the shirt you swapped with Alexia. As you looked in the mirror, you saw the heavy bags under your eyes. You were sleep-deprived, so you put some sunglasses on to hide it from your curious teammates.

As you are on the way to the bus, you reminisce the night before and mentally curse yourself for all the feelings that you put aside during the whole day for the future you, which coincidentally was you of now. 

You were the last to go inside the bus, making your teammates tease you and whistle jokingly to you, making small comments like “Rough night?” Or “Did you have fun?”

You sit next to your usual roommate, still with your sunglasses on and about to put your headphones in, when she turns to you expectantly.

“So, how was your night out.” Air quoting the last part, giving you a knowing grin.

“It was good. How was your night.” You ask innocently.

“Cut the crap! You have your sunglasses on, you didn’t come back to the room tonight, and you have a slight limp. Who is it? Is it your defender, friend? Or is it someone else from the group?” She wonders curiously, making you roll your eyes at her and sigh loudly, clearly showing her your annoyance.

“A, I did come back to the hotel! You were just asleep!” You try to sound as convincing as possible. “B, Mapi is in a relationship, and she is like my sister! I would never hook up with her!” 

“So there was someone.” She smirks.

“I didn’t say that. You’re just going crazy. Did you eat some hallucinating mushrooms? Did you think that they were normal mushrooms, but instead, they tasted strange?”

“You’re an idiot. But whatever you did last night, I hope you had fun.”

“I didn’t do anything out of the normal stuff you do when you go out with your friends. But yes, it was nice. Now I’ll sleep.”

-

It was a national break, which meant that you were in Roma, this time, to train with your fellow national teammates. After your underwhelming World Cup and Euros run, you just got a new coach to train your squad. You really hoped that she would be better than the last one.

You were on the training pitch joking and laughing with your other teammates, juggling and passing the ball to each other, when she came on the pitch, making everyone stop in their place looking at her.

As she introduced herself to everyone, you could already see that she was not there to joke around. She was serious and precisely decided her words, but she was passionate about her new job.

“We have two weeks to prepare for the friendly against Spain. I want to create a team with a good mix of experience and fresh talent. All of you are talented girls, but I want to see you in action to create an efficient and strong team.”

The three captains go up to her and introduce themselves and the squad. While you began to juggle the ball to keep your mind off the current situation. You always hated when you changed coach; you thought you needed to prove yourself to them to be accepted in the squad, making you completely doubt your capabilities.

What made you nervous was that she wanted to rejuvenate the squad. Your previous coach tried to do that, but she failed miserably. Many great players were left out of the roster that you could’ve definitely used in the World Cup, so you really hoped that her plan was better than the other’s coach, hoping that she wouldn’t take you off the roster. 

So you gave it your all in practice, trying to impress her and, at the same time, prove to yourself that you deserved to be there. Even running laps without complaining, shocking your teammates, as it had become an inside joke that you wouldn’t run even if the world was ending. Which wasn’t quite right. Yes, you hated running, but on the pitch, you gave it your all.

They called you the female version of Daniele De Rossi since you played in Roma and had his number on, and sometimes gave you the same nickname as him, Capitan Futuro, because of your leadership and tenacity, even though when people looked at your style, they were more reminded of Pirlo’s or Busquets. But he still remained your idol. 

As soon as you finished practice, you were about to leave the pitch when the coach called you to come to her, making your heartbeat from the nervousness. 

“Y/n, come here for a second.” She made you a sign with your hand, and you ran up to her.

“Hey, Mister.” You smile politely at her, crossing your arms.

“Good job today, I have to say-“

“That I didn’t make it to the team? I know. I am a very particular player, so I get it if you want to have someone that better fits your team. I get it; I’ll pack my stuff.” You ramble quickly out of nervousness.

The coach chuckles at your antiques, “Rule number 1, Y/n. Never underestimate yourself. If you think you don’t deserve to be here, then you shouldn’t.” She says seriously, making you unconsciously straighten your back.

“I know; it’s just you are known as a brutal coach who doesn’t care about others’ opinions and is known to make very bold choices. I know that I deserve to be here; I’ve always been on the starting 11 in any important match, when not injured, of course. It’s a great honor to work with you.” You praise her, trying to make up for the bad impression.

“Likewise. But I have to ask.” She begins while studying you curiously.

“Sure, ask away.”

“Why are you here at Roma when you could be anywhere else? Who can actually give you the chance to use your full potential?” She asks so directly, making you blink twice.

“What, sorry?”

“I know that Barcelona, Lyon, Chelsea, and Arsenal all wanted you and actually offered big money to Roma for you, but you always declined. I wonder why, that’s it. I just think you are wasting your prime here.”

“I have a contract with Roma until 2024, then I’ll decide my future. As for the teams, I know that they are interested. Barcelona phones my agent almost every year. But I already informed them that I won’t accept any offer until the end of the season. I feel like I would let down the club. I told them that I would be there until 2024, so I’ll be there until 2024. It’s the least I could do after everything they did for me.”

She raises her eyebrow, amused, “Well, that didn’t happen for Chelsea. I followed your career and thought you were having a great season with the club.”

“I left Chelsea for personal reasons.” You turn your head skeptically. “With all due respect, coach, why are my career choices that important?”

“I just want to understand if I am going to make the right choice.”

“What choice?”

“You, Y/n, are going to be my new team captain.”

-

As soon as you go to the locker room, you go to your three team captains and ask them for an explanation.

“You know, they want to strip off your captaincy.” You say, wearing a disgusted expression to Cristiana Girelli. “You cannot let her do that! It’s disrespectful.” You say angrily.

“Y/n, look at me. I told her I wanted to step back from the national team. I’m getting older, and my time has already come. This is a new era. And you are the perfect skipper. They call you the Capitan Futuro for a reason.”

“But what about Barbara? And Elena? They are too, the captains.” You say sadly, clearly not wanting to take their place.

“Barbara decided to step down from the national team like me. Elena thought that you were the right choice as a skipper. She’s going to be your co-captain. We’ve already arranged everything. You just have to say yes.” You always looked up to Cristiana; she was your mentor, especially in the national team. If you were the player you are today, it was partly because of her.

“Do you think I could be a good skipper?” You ask her shyly, “I’ve never been an actual captain; with Roma, I’m the third, but the actual one? Do I make the cut for it?” You hated yourself for being this insecure.

She takes you by the shoulders. “You, Y/n, transmit something when you are on the pitch that not many people do. You make the team more calm and lucid. Knowing that you are back there allows everyone to be more free on the pitch. You are our most important player, on and off the pitch. So the armband is yours. You deserve it.” She gives you a reassuring hug, “Now go back to change; you are all sweaty!”

-

As the two weeks passed, you were really happy with the coach and the team. When the team found out that you would lead them, they were ecstatic, making you a little more comfortable with your new position.

The Spanish team would arrive two days before the match, and you were happy to see Mapi again and extremely stressed out to see Alexia. You didn’t talk or text after the night that you shared together; you both followed each other on Instagram, which you were stalking daily, but you didn’t give much thought to that.

You weren’t a simp. Especially for a girl that you have seen only for a day. You had some self-respect. That is what you were trying to convince yourself to believe. So you told yourself that you would avoid her at all costs. You were the skipper now, and you had to be extremely focused.

The plan failed miserably when you asked Mapi two nights before the match to meet up at a place for some drinks. She had never been to Roma and wanted to visit the city. What you didn’t expect was for her to invite some of her teammates. It’s not the fact that there were other people with you because you loved the Spanish girls, especially the ones from Barcelona, as you had already hung out with them previously.

Still, you were really scared of meeting Alexia again. Your fear turned out to be plausible because of the five players there, Alexia was one of them.

During the afternoon, you showed the Spanish girls, Roma, while they teased you, saying that you were almost better as a tour guide than a football player. They didn’t know you were making stuff up along the way, trying to act cool and knowledgeable.

You could see that Alexia would sometimes look at you, as her gaze would pierce holes at the back of your skull, but whenever your eyes would meet, you would soon avoid her gaze. You told yourself to avoid her, and that is what you did. What was more painful, though, was that she would look like a kicked puppy, making you feel very guilty for what you were doing.

After walking for a while, the girls wanted to try the typical ‘Aperitivo’ famous worldwide, so you brought them to a little place with a great view that you knew wouldn’t disappoint. They all ordered Aperol Spritz, apart from you, making them look at you a little puzzled.

“Oh, I don’t drink that much.” You explain while Mapi raises an eyebrow and chuckles.

“Okay, I usually don’t drink during the season.” She raises her eyebrow again.

“I only drink on special occasions.” Eying Mapi for making you sound like an alcoholic.

“When we won La Liga in 2017, we went out to party, and she didn’t hold back.” She glances at her, trying to make her understand to stop talking.

“And we are done with the conversation now. So, how’s Barça?”

You begin to share stories and funny anecdotes about your respective clubs, making you really happy to have decided to spend the afternoon with them. They were a tight group, and you could see that they deeply cared for one another.

As you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom, you quickly clean your hands, thinking about some random stuff, when your thoughts were interrupted by the door of the women’s bathroom swinging, finding yourself in front of you, the person you were categorically avoiding.

“Alexia, Hi!” You say, still a little shocked. She was still at the door, clearly trying to make some space between the two of you. She closes the door and then turns to you, crossing her arms.

“Are you avoiding me?” She asks you to wear this vulnerability, which is very uncharacteristic. Making you want to do anything to reassure her that it wasn’t true and make her feel better. You hated seeing her like this. But you were avoiding her.

“I-I.” You didn’t know how to reply.

“Because it’s very annoying, especially when we decided to be civil about this and not act like strangers. If you have a problem, that’s on you.” She was irritated and had every right to be; you were acting like an asshole, and she didn’t do anything to deserve that treatment. She was about to leave when you gently grabbed her hand,

“I’m sorry, okay? I just wasn’t expecting you to be here today. And you come here looking like this. It’s not helping.”

“Looking like what?” She takes a step closer to you, wearing a proud smirk. 

“Stop looking at me like that.” She was making you go crazy; your mind was hazy, fully intoxicated by her.

“Like what?” 

“Like you’ve seen me naked.” You reply. She replies, only smirking more and raising her eyebrows. She has seen you naked, and she was acknowledging that. She was coming closer to you, making you retreat to the wall.

“Alexia…” You warn her once. She knew that it wouldn’t stop her because you were enjoying this. “We have to act like professionals.” She took you by the waist and began kissing your neck. “This. It is not professional. It’s wrong.” You barely utter, trying to contain any sign that you are enjoying this. Which you were. So damn much.

“Your heartbeat says otherwise.” She gives you a kiss where you are most sensitive on the neck. She still remembered. Making you shiver. “Your skin tells me otherwise. It’s covered in goosebumps.” She leaves a small kiss till she reaches the back of your ear, whispering, “Tell me to stop, and I will.” 

You couldn’t reply. She was right. You didn’t want her to stop. You missed how her kisses made you feel, how her perfume intoxicated all of your senses, or how her hands, warm and comforting hands would roam all over your body in search of new skin to touch. She was lighting a fire that you knew you couldn’t put out. And frankly, you didn’t want to; you wanted that fire to consume you, leaving nothing but her behind.

“We can’t hook up in here.” You state, closing your eyes, getting lost in her. 

“Are you sure?”

“Come back home with me.” You blurt out, clearly not thinking about the consequences.

“So much for acting professionally.” She winks and then leaves you alone in the bathroom once again. You really had to stop going to the bathroom when you were out together.

When you both come out, you quickly find an excuse for you to leave. Thankfully, they had the hotel nearby, so they wouldn’t have to leave by car. Alexia told them that she had to buy some souvenirs for her sister, so she was going to come back late.

-

You get to your home by car, which fortunately wasn’t that far from where you were with your friends before, and you make her quickly come in, leading her without any hesitation to your bedroom. You were a girl with a mission.

As soon as you enter the room, you push her onto the bed and get on her lap, taking off your shirt in the process. She places her hands on the back of your shoulders, finally being able to touch your skin. You sigh at her touch as if you were finally able to breathe again.

Your faces were inches away from touching, but neither of you wanted to take that step, juggling anticipation with teasing. You were the one that surrendered, whispering, “Kiss me” To her lips as they soon met yours. It was excruciatingly slow, passionate, and tender. It was the first time that you kissed since the first time, and you finally realized just how much you missed it. Maybe too much for a simple two-night stand, but again, it was a problem for the future you.

As you lay together once again, this time in your bed together, both exhausted, even though it was barely time for dinner. She was lying on her front, with the sheets draping down her body, showing her strong back. She hugged the pillow, still keeping her eyes closed, fully relaxed. You loved seeing her like this. You let yourself leave a kiss on her temple while still stroking her hair, making her smile. She took your hand and slowly interlaced it with her, then kissed the back of your hand. “Hungry?” You ask her when she nods profusely.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Whatever you have.” You go to get up from your bed, and you throw on the first shirt that you find, which was hers, and you leave the room.

“Come back quickly. I want to stay in bed with you.” She tells you, making you chuckle at her cuteness.

You quickly retrieve some cookies and Nutella and return to your room. You place the food near your nightstand and roam for a shirt in your closet.

“Do you want a shirt?” You ask her.

“Yes, please.”

You throw her one of your old shirts from when you were younger, and she puts it on right away and subtly smells it.

Then you offer her some food.

“Where did you get these? They are so good.” She asks you while taking a huge bite.

“I make them.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah. Usually, before a match, I get a little nervous, so I bake. It’s my way of coping with anxiety. I usually share cookies with my teammates in secret. So that our nutritionist won’t say anything.”

“These are good!” She says. “They are very similar to the ones that Mapi did once.” Then it clicks for her. “Wait. Were you the one that taught her?”

“Who do you think she got the recipe from?” You chuckle.

“Yours are better, though. Like way better.”

“I know ’cause my recipe differs from the one I gave her. Mine is the real one. My dad would always say to never give out your recipes. They are a family’s inheritance.”

“You Italians are so weird with food and so extra.” She remarks, making you playfully slap her shoulder.

“We are not extra; you Spanish people are extra with your paella and the Jamon Iberico, or ‘Patanegra.’ You can find it cheaper here, and it is just as good.”

“That’s offensive. It’s like saying that Italian food is better than Spanish.” She says, clearly trying to rile you up.

“You did not just say that!” You put your hands on her thighs, looking at her, shocked.

“I did. And I don’t regret it.” She gives you a small peck on the lips and then goes on eating her cookie.

“You are lucky that you are cute.”

“Or else what? You are going to throw me out of your home?” She remarks playfully.

“I could if I wanted to, but then I’d be here all alone, without any clothes on, without anyone to keep me company.” You pout jokingly, making your voice even more needy to make fun of her.

In a swift movement, she pins you down the mattress with her fingers running up your thigh. “Thankfully, you are not alone.” She gives you a quick kiss. “By the way, you do look good with my shirt on, but you know what would make you look even better? If you took it off. So be a good girl for me and take it off.”

It was past midnight, you were both exhausted, and you were nearly falling asleep. You were lying on her side, slowly tracing her facial features with your fingers, trying to remember every little crease and mole that made up her skin.

“What are you doing?” She smiles, feeling slightly ticklish

“I’m trying to memorize your face. For the next time, we will see each other.” You say earnestly, not stopping your caresses.

“See. You cannot say stuff like that and expect me to not have a reaction.” She chuckles lightly.

“Maybe I want you to have a reaction to my words.” You say innocently, stopping your movements to kiss her soft lips.

“What are we doing here? What are we?” She asks you, making you retreat from your position sitting up.

“I don’t know.”

“Me neither. But I like this. Whatever this is.”

“Me too. We don’t have to label it. Can we just be? Is that okay for you?”

“I’m okay with it. Now come back here.” She offers her embrace to you, which you gladly accept, burying your face in her hair while she fatherly strokes your back, making your skin full of goosebumps. You sigh contently at the sensation.

“Can I ask you something?” You move yourself to better look at her.

“What?”

“I know that we are not an item or whatever, but I was just curious as to what happened with Chelsea. You can totally tell me to fuck off, and I won’t bring up the argument again, but you are known for always being very respectful to your clubs, and you always wait for a contract to finish before transferring, so I was wondering what made you change clubs.”

“Are you asking because you care or because you want a story? Because I really don’t like to talk about it, and if you don’t care, I’d rather not talk about it.”

“I asked because I care. I ask because since I have known you, I want to get to know you. I ask because you are a great person and I care”

“Okay,” You take a deep breath, and you begin. “This is going to be a long story.” You chuckle. “What do you know about my history with Chelsea?”

“I know that you transferred there after being at Atletico, but you sent in a transfer request soon after, and you came to Roma. That’s it.”

“You don’t know the reason, though, right?”

“There were just rumors, but I don’t know anything, and I don’t tend to believe rumors, as the majority of them are false.”

“Okay. So, to begin my story, we have to go back to my college years in the US. So basically, during those years, three major things happened: I got my degree in physiotherapy, met my best friend, and got a girlfriend who also wanted to become a physiotherapist.”

You told her how she was British and how you thought she was perfect for you. “Frankly, looking back at it now, we were very toxic for each other. We loved each other very much, but it was our first real relationship both of us. And honestly, I thought that I was going to marry her; maybe it was just me who was so in love with that girl that I didn’t even know how to distinguish and understand her flaws. But again, she was my first real relationship, and she knew how to use my weaknesses against me to get me to do what she wanted. My best friend hated her; probably, that should have been the first sign. We would fight and then make up, and then she would guilt trip me into doing stuff for her.”

“That doesn’t look like a really healthy relationship.”

“Well, yeah, I was really young and dumb. But anyway, when I went to Atletico, we tried to have a long-distance relationship. She found a job as a therapist at the Chelsea women’s team, and her career too was taking off. When Mapi and I finished the contract with Atletico, and she moved to Barça, I was to move there too. I knew that Barcelona was interested, and Barça was my dream. Honestly, it still is. But then she called me, the day before deciding on my future, saying that her mom was sick and she needed me. Probably, she just wanted to be able to see me more. So I stopped waiting for Barça's proposal and told Chelsea I would transfer for them. In the beginning, I loved being at Chelsea. I have always supported the club, and I fit their style of play. My career was taking off quickly, and I was wearing myself thin. Her mom was getting worse, so my time was divided between training and hospital visits. For my ex-girlfriend, her mom was like my dad to me. So, I understood how important she was to her, and I thought that if I stayed with her mom and kept her company, my ex would be happy. That is what I would want if my dad were to be sick. I would just want him to have all the support, not caring about myself if that meant for him to improve.”

“That’s not very healthy.”

“But if it were your father, you would do the same thing too, right?”

“Yeah.” She replies sadly. “I did the same thing.”

“So I guess I started neglecting my ex a little? I think. I know she was suffering, and I knew I could’ve done more to give her the support she needed, but I didn’t. I would train, go to the hospital, and then sleep. I was exhausted and couldn’t keep up with myself and her needs. Looking back at it now, I probably would have done things differently; I would’ve tried to not wear myself out that thin.”

“You were young.”

“Yeah, I guess. So I remember that one day, and I still remember the date. Don’t ask why; I just do. Her mom was getting worse, and she was exhausted, so I thought that I would let her go to sleep while I would try to keep her mom company. As she left, I stayed with her until the time was up, and I went back home and I-“

“No, she didn’t.” She says incredulously.

“Yeah. I caught her cheating on me with one of my teammates.”

“That whore.” She replies angrily.

“Well, she eventually married that woman, so I guess not.” You chuckle at her angry expression. “She told me that I wasn’t giving her the support that she needed and that the other girl was giving it to her. I got all of my clothes and left. I was still playing at Chelsea, but then word spread out that I was the one that cheated. Everyone started to treat me differently. I didn’t play anymore; I was always on the bench, and nobody talked to me. I reached my last straw, so I requested a transfer. Barça tried to sign me; I also wanted to go there. Everything was settled; I was about to leave when they blocked the offer and allowed me to decide between two Italian clubs, Roma and Juventus. And here I am.”

“So you stayed with her dying mother, and she had the audacity to cheat on you?”

“I guess? I don’t know Alexia. So much time has passed, and I don’t want to think about it anymore. She’s happy now, I guess. Honestly, I am happy too. I am really glad though that you won the Champion’s League final against them.”

“I am even more glad, too, now.” She brings you on top of her and gives you a hug, kissing the crown of your hair. “I am glad that you trusted me enough to tell me this. I hope that you know that you deserve better than her. You deserve the world. Her actions don’t define you, and don’t even think that you deserve what she did to you.”

“But what if-“You say insecurely when she interrupts you.

“No what ifs. You did what you thought was right, and by doing so, you put yourself second to everything else. You have no right to blame yourself for what she did.” She puts her hands on your cheeks and makes you look at her. “Okay?”

“Okay.” It was incredible how she knew what exact words to say and how, by her saying them, you actually believed them somehow.

Suddenly, you felt your heart crack open for her to enter inside it. And you realized that what you had with her wasn’t just sex. It was something deeper. In so little time, she was able to heal you from your past and open up again. And that scared you, no, it frightened you.

You had built the highest walls, and for the two days you had been with her, she could make them crumble. You were feeling too much; she was making you feel too much. You wanted to run away. Clear your head. Push her out of the way and never see her again. But you couldn’t bring yourself to move from her. Her embrace was what had grounded you. You weren’t drowning in her. She was your oxygen. And you were finally surfacing up from the depths of your mind to finally heal. This realization hit you like a ton of bricks, making you do the first thing your mind could think of. Which was kissing her.

You kissed her hard and passionately, trying to convey all the emotions to her, to show her how much her words affected you. Your action caught her by surprise, but she soon adjusted to it. You trail your kisses down her chest, then to her abdomen. Praising the body of the woman who had made you feel more today than anything your ex or anyone had ever done previously. 

-

The morning after, you wake up with an arm draped around your waist, holding you down. She tightens her arm around you as you try to tangle yourself out of her embrace.

“So you are just pretending to be asleep.” You smile at her, trying to take off her strong and dead-weight arm from your body.

“Five more minutes.” She fully snuggles into you.

“I have to shower, and you have to get back to your teammates.” You try to reason with her. “And we have to have breakfast.”

“Five more minutes.” She continues.

“Okay, but only five.” She pulls herself on top of you, spurring you to play with her hair, which you do, and the five minutes turn into ten. And then you both realize that you have to get up.

You decide to shower together ‘to save water.’ You both wash each other’s hair and back, this act of intimacy making your heart swell with affection for the girl who was currently hugging you from behind. 

You both have breakfast in your little kitchen, with conversations flowing effortlessly, alternating between joking around and surfacing more serious topics.

You could not but point out to yourself that this was what was supposed to feel like when you were in a relationship with someone. But you weren’t in a relationship with her. She liked the idea of not labeling this thing between the two of you and hell, you didn’t want to complicate stuff just because of some confusing and all-over-the-place feelings.

You bring her back to the hotel, telling each other that you will see them during the match that will take place the next day.

You put your sunglasses on, which you thought maybe were your post-hookup outfit choice, and you get to the training center. It would be your last session before tomorrow’s game.

As soon as you enter the locker room, your teammates from Roma chuckle at you.

“Fun night?” They tease you.

“I don’t know what you are all talking about.” Making some other teammates look at you curiously while you showed them the finger.

“So basically, we think Y/n is hooking up with a Barça player. So now she gave us another clue: She is Spanish.”

“I’m not hooking up with anybody. And it’s none of your business; I’m your captain. Get back to train!” You say, slightly irritated.

You quickly put your training gear on, realizing you were still wearing Alexia’s shirt, and then get on the pitch.

The coach comes soon after and calls you to revise some tactics.

“So you, Y/n, if Putellas is starting, you are going to be the one that will mark her.” Her surname makes your mind have flashbacks of your previous night. “You basically annulled her in the last game, so expect you to do the same tomorrow.”

“Yes, coach.”

“If Patri starts instead, you will mark Bonmatì.”

That evening, you were nervous, to say the least. It was your first match as the Italian captain, and you really wanted it to go well. So you started baking. You baked enough cookies for an army.

So you decided to leave some for Mapi, who has always loved eating them, and your pathetic ass also saved some for Alexia in the hopes that she would come and find you after the game.

It was match day. Alexia was in the starting 11, and your parents were in the stands supporting you, and as you were leading your team to the pitch, you felt a sense of pride. 

As you go to exchange the badge with the captain of the other team, Alexia, she tries to contain a smile that was creeping on her lips.

You shake her hand and give her the Italian badge. “Hello, Captain.” You greet her.

“Hello to you too, Captain.” She replies. You finish the formalities, and then you go to each other’s respective pitches.

Today, you would give it your all; nobody would stop you.

You were all over the pitch trying to help your teammates and leading them to score, but unfortunately, the Spanish team was a force to be reckoned with, and they exploited all of the weaknesses of your team. They were world champions for a reason. Thankfully, you were able to hold off a draw.

The first time that you had to mark Alexia, it was a free kick for Spain because of an offside.

“The armband has a good look on you.” She beams at you proudly.

“Well, the star looks good on your badge.” You reply. 

“Don’t you dare try to distract me.” She warns you.

“When did I ever do such a thing?” You reply dumbly. “I should be the one warning you not to kick me!” Mapi was about to throw the ball; thankfully, it didn’t land in the direction of Alexia because seeing her again on the pitch was making you feel a little distracted, and you’d really hate it if your team lost because of one of your mistakes. 

The rest of the times you interacted with her, you would snatch the ball away from her in most cases. You were working tirelessly, trying not to concede a goal. At half-time, you were exhausted, but you had something to prove. After half-time, Alexia was getting more annoyed; she really wanted a win as it would be their first win after their World Cup.

You knew you would get subbed off at the 70th minute to give some space for subs, so until then, you would give your 100%. It was the 65th minute, and there was a throw-in for Spain. Alexia was trying to get the ball from her teammates, and with a miscalculated movement, she quickly moved her elbow, which hit your nose, making acute pain grow in the middle of her face.

“Cazzo!” You scream. You throw yourself to the ground, still in pain, smelling iron and feeling a warm liquid in your hands.

The game quickly stopped, and Alexia turned to you, kneeling and touching your scapula. 

You were mad; you had once broken your nose more than five years ago, and it wasn’t pretty, and hated when people touched you when you were irritated, so you lashed out at her. “Don’t fucking touch me.” You squirm away from her touch,

“I’m sorry.” She says regretfully.

“You fucking did it on purpose, huh? If it’s broken, don’t you dare talk to me again!” 

Your team swarms you, pushing Alexia away. 

Linari, remove your hands from your face while keeping your eyes closed. “Is there blood? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know, or else I am going to cry or faint.”

You open your eyes for a moment and look at your teammates; they all are very worried. Linari was stomping towards Alexia, screaming in her face, but you couldn’t hear properly; your mind was a little hazy from the pain. 

You look at your hands; they are full of blood, and you begin to panic. You sit up and begin touching your nose, removing more blood, but you can still feel it flowing. 

The medics were running to you. “How bad is it?”

They inspect your nose, “It’s not broken; the impact broke some blood vessels, and you burst your lip. That’s why there is so much blood.

“Can you make it stop? I want to finish the game.” You look at your coach; she signs you to come off the pitch. 

You stand up, take your armband off, give it to your co-captain, and leave the pitch. You go to your coach, who reassures you that she doesn’t want you to risk anything for a friendly

-.

The medics brought you to the physio room and gave you some ice to put on your nose. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped soon after, and you were left watching the game on the TV while waiting for your teammates. You were happy that your team was able to hold a draw. As soon as the game finished, you were swarmed by your teammates checking up on you. You told them that you were okay, and then you began laughing and joking.

They stayed there for five more minutes, and then you heard a knock on the door, and you saw some of the Spanish girls checking up on you. Your team slowly exited the room, giving the death stare at Alexia, who shamefully wouldn’t look at you.

“You okay?” Mapi asked worriedly.

“I’m good. Thankfully, it is nothing serious; the impact burst some vessels, that’s why there was so much blood.”

They stayed there for another five minutes while Alexia stayed in the corner awkwardly looking at her teammates, never looking at you. As they were about to leave, you called her to stay a little longer.

“I’m sorry if I lashed out.” You say regretfully, holding out your hand for her to grab it while pulling her near you. “I know that you didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just- I had already broken my nose and didn’t want to break it again.”

“I’m really sorry.” For the first time, she looked at you; she had this kicked puppy look that you hated seeing on her face.

She takes the ice from your hand and slowly takes it off your face to check the bruising.

“Do I look that bad?” You try to joke; half of your face is red and really swollen.

“You look beautiful as ever.” She smiles.

You blush at her words, “You just say that because you were the one that caused it.”

“You know that I got screamed at by your teammates?”

“Linari?”

“Yep, Apparently, she knows Spanish really well. Honestly, I deserve it. If my teammate got kicked and punched by the same person, I would have had the same reaction.”

“Maybe you should stop then. Cause I really don’t want to know what will happen next time.” You joke.

“Maybe we aren’t meant to play against each other.” She remarks suggestively.

“Maybe not…” You reply. She kisses you on the forehead,

“Can I kiss you?”

“Just be gentle; it still hurts a little.” She gives you a feathery kiss, so gentle and so soft that it seemed like it was just a mere graze. She lingers her lips there for a couple of seconds as if she wants to savor this moment, and you both hear the door open, and you break off the kiss, pushing her away from you. You turn around and see your tattooed ex-teammate and friend staring at both of you, shocked.

“Oh wow. That was very unexpected.” She releases a surprised chuckle. “I’ll come back another time. I just left my sweater in here before.” She retrieves the sweater and she is about to leave when she turns around to the both of you, “I have to ask, though, when did you start dating, or whatever this is?”

“We are not dating.” Alexia turns to look at her, with her shoulders high and a serious face. She was closing off.

“Yeah. We are just casually keeping each other company?” You tentatively back up Alexia’s claim, clearly not realizing how weirdly you phrased it. Alexia’s face turned quickly to look at you weirdly. “Okay, that sounded a little bad. I apologize.”

“So you are hooking up?” Mapi concludes.

“Mapi!” Alexia rolls her eyes at her.

“What? It is true!” You slightly nod, making the other team's captain roll your eyes at you, too.

“I’d rather not discuss my sex life with you! I already know that in a matter of days, everybody from Barça will know, so the less you know, the better.” 

“I would never tell anyone!” She replies, offended.

While you sit there still in the bed, observing the interaction between the two friends, clearly annoyed with each other, you could see though how much they cared and loved one another. 

“So you wouldn’t tell Ingrid, right? I swear to god, you tell everything to that woman.” 

“She’s my girlfriend!”

“Yes, but still, you can’t keep a secret for shit!”

“Well, at least I didn’t nearly break her nose and kick her in the groin.” She comments calmly, making you release a surprised chuckle, making the two girls turn to look at you but soon shift their attention to each other again.

“For the last time! I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“Okay, that’s enough. As much as I don’t care about this bickering, I think it’s enough for today.” You go to stand up, but Alexia froze you with her gaze. Making you not move from your position “Now come and hug me. I won’t be seeing you for a long time.” You open your arms, and she walks right in them. 

“Take care, okay?” She says to you.

“I will. You too.”

“Let me see if I remember correctly. Ti voglio bene?” She asks, with her broken Italian accent.

“Si, Ti voglio bene anche io.” You chuckle. She exits the room, smirking at Alexia, leaving the two of you once again alone.

“Oh, I totally forgot. Can you pass me the bag that is under the table over there?” You point the bag with your finger while she quickly retrieves it and puts it on the bed next to you, where you are sitting, with your feet dangling in the air.

You quickly open the bag and hand her a little bag. She looks at you confused and then opens it.

“I made you cookies.” You explain, making her smile excitedly at the pastry.

“Why?” She turns to you incredulously, shocked by your kindness.

“Two days ago, you said that you liked them, and yesterday night, I made a batch for the team, so I thought that you would love to have them for your trip back to the airport. I made them also for Mapi.”

Her expression changed from incredulity to shock and then a mix between guilt and thankfulness. Seeing the shift in her face, your mind is plagued with doubt. “Did I overstep? I’m sorry. I just thought you might like something to eat. I always get very hungry after a match. I should’ve asked. I’m sorry.” You ramble quickly while you try to take the bag away from her, but she tightens her grip on them.

“No, you didn’t overstep.” She reassures you and gives you a big smile. “It’s just, nobody has ever done anything like this before. Thank you, Y/n. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing, really. Even though you don’t deserve them, you still can have my cookies.” You tease her.

“Thank you. Thank you for the cookies, and thank you for the kiss. I have to get back to the locker room, or other people will start to wonder what we are doing here. I’ll see you tonight?” She asks as if it was the most normal thing.

“I can’t tonight. My parents are here, they came here from home to be at the match. Plus, I don’t think that we can do anything tonight.” Circling with your finger, your face.

“I just wanted to check up on you. Can you send me a text if it gets worse, please? I’m really glad, though, that there is someone with you tonight. I don’t think I could’ve slept well tonight if I knew that nobody would take care of you when I nearly broke your nose.”

“You are worrying too much. It’s just a bruise.”

“Yeah, but I don’t bruise the people that I dat- that I care about.”

“Ohh, you care about me!”

“Shut up. Do you want me to take the cookies to Mapi?”

“Yes, please.”

“I have to go now.” She hesitates. “Can I have a hug?” She asks shyly. You make her a sign to come to you, and she gently brings you her strong embrace, lightly pecking your neck in the process.

“I’ll see you next time?” She asks, hopeful.

“Goodbye, Alexia. Have a safe flight back home.”

-

‘Are you okay? Does it hurt?’

It was the third text that she had sent you that night. Every time, you would reassure her that it was nothing, just a bruise, but she didn’t care. She would ask you to send an update about your well-being every hour. 

‘I’m okay, Alexia. Stop worrying too much.’

‘I don’t care. In an hour, I’ll send you another text.’

‘Don’t you have like other stuff to do than worry about me?’

She sent you a picture of her and Mapi eating the cookies you baked. ‘Yes, but I can multitask. Like rn, I’m eating your cookies.’

‘I’m glad that you like them.’

‘You’ll have to teach me how to do them.’

‘You wish, haha.’

“Who are you texting?” Mapi asks suggestively to her captain, seeing her smiling at her phone.

“Me? Oh, Y/n, I wanted to see if she was okay.” She replies, never taking her eyes off her phone.

“You are down bad for that girl.” She grins.

“No, I am not. We are just casually hanging out. Plus, she told me that she didn’t want to label it. To ‘just be’.”

“Well, I don’t usually bake cookies for nightstands when they nearly have broken my nose.”

“She was just being nice because I told her that I liked them when I went to her place.”

“So you didn’t have to buy souvenirs?”

“Are you really that dumb?”

“Well, well, well, I didn’t know that you had it in you to have a nightstand. Not even her, honestly.” Alexia pulls her head down, not looking at her friend sadly. “Oh my god! You like her, like her!”

“I don’t know, okay,” She says, frustrated. “In the beginning, it was just physical. But then we began talking and laughing, and I don’t know. She just makes me feel so happy and relaxed whenever I’m with her.”

“Maybe it’s just the good sex.”

“The sex is good. Like incredible. But the little moments we have after are what I look most forward to. She baked me cookies, for god’s sake; how am I supposed to compete with that?”

“Can I say something that I don’t know if it will make you feel better or not?”

“Just say it.”

“When I first met Y/n, she was this shy little girl who just came from the US. She knew very little Spanish, but she had a huge heart. We became very good friends; on the pitch, we worked perfectly; off the pitch, she was my best friend at Atletico. Everybody loved her there. We also met her girlfriend at the time.”

“Total bitch.”

“Yeah, she loved her so much, but what hurt the most was that Kate was bluntly taking advantage of her kindness and generosity. Nobody in the squad liked her. When we were about to leave for Barça together, I was so happy. It was our dream, and I loved playing with her, but then her ex called her, and she wouldn’t wait for Barça. We got into this huge fight; it was the only time I had seen her angry. And then she moved to Chelsea.

What I’m trying to say is that Y/n, is a very kind and giving person, especially to the people she cares about. She always puts herself second to others, especially when they are in need. Giving you cookies might seem like a small and weird gesture, but for her, it is just a way to make your day, even by a little, better. She wouldn’t do this for people she wouldn’t care about.”

-

The third time you see Alexia was during the Champions League game against Barcelona. Talking to your coach, you refused to mark her, so you opted to mark during the game Aitana instead. With Alexia, things were going weirdly. You started texting more since she nearly broke your nose. So now you were friends? You really didn’t know.

The day before the match, the Barcelona team was at your stadium to meet some of your teammates from each other’s national team, but you quickly ran up to Mapi and gave her a hug. She was with some of her teammates, Alexia included, talking to each other. You soon greet all of her other teammates, leaving Alexia last.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” She picks you up in the air and embraces you tightly. “You okay?” She asks you, slowly putting your feet back down on the pitch.

“I’m good.”

“How’s the nose?” She gently pinches it and moves it to see if there is any swelling.

“Stop smothering me. It’s been like six months now.” You take her hand away from you. “And don’t you dare injure me again tomorrow?”

“I’ll try my best.”

 During the last six months, clips of Alexia injuring you from your previous two matches against you went viral. People saying that she hated you or that she didn’t care. Sometimes, even in interviews, people would ask you about your relationship with her or vice versa. And the both of you would simply say that you were just, unfortunate when playing against each other and that you were actually friends in real life. 

-

It was match day, which meant that you were about to face the best team in the world, which frankly scared you a little. It was at home, so you really wanted to win or at least have a draw. 

As you are about to go on the pitch, you meet your friends from Barça in line, and you go and shake their hands to all of them.

“We are swapping shirts after this?” You ask your ex-teammate, hoping that she would say yes. 

“Sure. If I win, of course.” She replies cockily.

“We have a pretty good team, you know. I wouldn’t be so sure about a win.” You sent her a playful smirk while you walked to shake hands with Paños and then Alexia.

“Capitana.”

“Good luck out there.” She smiles, slightly lingering her hand in yours, and then the moment is destroyed by your skipper calling you back.

In the first half, you became the shadow of Aitana; she never got past you. The difference between her and Alexia was that the younger girl was much quicker and more stubborn with the ball.

“So you are not marking Alexia this time?” She asks you, still with the game going on.

“Nah, I’d rather preserve my physical well-being.” You joke, making the younger girl release a small chuckle, then go back to focus on the pitch.

Alexia was looking at your interaction on the other side of the pitch, rolling her eyes and scoffing.

The game was pretty balanced somehow. You were giving it your all, running way more than needed. You could already feel how sore your legs would be the next day, especially when you knew Alexia would be coming over tonight.

It was the 60th minute of the match, you were on the counter-attack, and you sent the perfect long ball to your number 9, and she was running to the goal. You knew that she would be swarmed by the opposing team in a matter of seconds, so you started running too, to give her some support. Your legs were hurting, but you kept on going; you would score one way or another. You were nearly at the box when Giacinti cut the ball perfectly to your right foot, and you powerfully kicked the ball off the right top bin. Everybody stopped, you stopped. All looking at the quick ball, which was currently in the air. Paños dived, but it was too late. The ball already went inside the net. 

You ran to the side of the pitch where the fans were and kissed your badge, pointing at them. This was for them. Then, all of your teammates swarmed you and hugged you.

You raise your arms to make the fans get louder to cheer for your teammates. You were winning against the best team in the world. Now, you just need to keep it up; don’t let any slip or mistake jeopardize the victory.

As the final whistle blew, you could see the disappointed looks of the other team as they registered the first loss of their season, while you just dropped to the ground exhausted. Clearly, the stress from before the match and the running and shooting took a toll on you, and finally, you were able to rest. 

“You ok?” You open your eyes to see Alexia staring at you worriedly.

“I’m good. I just need to catch my breath.” She offers her hands to help you stand up, and you gladly take them. “You were great today. No wonder you scored against us.” You thank her again and search for Mapi to swap shirts.

“So, do you still want to swap shirts?”

“Yes, of course!” She pulls her shirt and gives it to you, and you do the same. You go and hug her, “Do you want to go for dinner tonight?” She offers, while you look at her a little guilty.

“I already have plans. But for the next leg, for sure.” 

“Plans with a certain tall woman from my team?” 

“Who, Ingrid?” You tease her.

“No, idiot. Alexia.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” You lightly blush, looking away from her knowing eyes.

“You know damn well what I am talking about.” She points her index finger at you, smiling. “I’m really happy that two of my favorite people started dating.”

“We are not dating.”

“If you say so!”

“I know so!” You saw all of your teammates leave for the locker room, “I have to go. Take care, okay? Don’t do anything stupid. Ti voglio bene.”

“Ti voglio bene. And you, too, don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”

“So you would fuck Alexia?” You began laughing.

“Eww, no. I’ll leave that to you.”

You playfully roll your eyes at her and then quickly hug her. “Bye, Mapi.”

“Bye.”

You quickly go to the locker room, but the UEFA people told you that you had just won the MOTM, so they wanted to give it to you. You pose for the picture, leave to change, and get ready for the night. You were exhausted. You kept yawning and barely kept your eyes open. But that night, you were going to see Alexia, and you really didn’t want to disappoint her. 

That night, you picked her up from her hotel to get to your place; you were having a really relaxed and enjoyable conversation when you got inside your house and led her to your bedroom. You sat on her lap, and as you were about to kiss her for the first time in nearly six months, you yawned. 

“Are you sure you want to do this? You look exhausted. Do you want to sleep?” She asks you worriedly, stopping you from doing anything else.

“No, no, I’m good. I don’t want to waste your time. I’ll be fine.” You go to kiss her, but once again, she stops you. She starts rubbing your thigh, soothing your aching muscles, making you close your eyes in relaxation.

“You are not wasting my time, cariño. I’m just happy to see you. We haven’t seen each other in nearly six months. We can just sleep if you want. We don’t have to do anything if you are not up to it.”

“I really like it.” You leave a small kiss on her nose.

“What?”

“The nickname, cariño.” You explain, feeling a warmth spreading in your chest. It had been some time since anyone had given you a nickname.

“Sorry, it just slipped.” She says, slightly blushing.

“I love it. Is it a problem for you if we just sleep? I’m really exhausted.”

“I’m okay with that. I’m really tired, too.”

“At what time do you leave tomorrow?”

“Not until in the afternoon.”

“Do you maybe want to stay tonight?” You ask shyly, tucking your head in her neck.

“There’s no other place that I would rather be.”

She makes you stand up, searching for something while you look at her confused.

“So, do you have any fresh clothes to change in? I don’t think you want to sleep in jeans.” She asks you while you point at your closet. She opens the first drawer and chuckles. 

“Is that my shirt?” She throws it at you, making your face turn pink.

“Well, it’s comfy, and it smells like you. Correction: It smelled like you. Now it’s just the fabric’s smell.”  

“I thought you had thrown it away.” She remarks sadly, throwing at you a pair of shorts.

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know.” She insecurely looks at you, changing the topic. “Can I borrow some shorts?”

“You can borrow anything you want.”

She takes a pair of shorts from your drawer and leaves to the bathroom to give you some privacy, which you thought was unnecessary as she has seen more of you than most people.

She returns to your room and lays down on your bed, making grabby hands for you to join her. You gladly do, sighing as you fall in her embrace, finally relaxing.

“Can I have a small kiss?” You ask her as you put your hand on her chest, quietly feeling her heartbeat.

“Ummm. Let me think about it.” She jokingly puts her hand on her chin, pretending to think. “Just one.” 

“Only one? You are making me work for them?” 

“Yep.” She pulls you for a slow kiss that takes your breath away. You hadn’t been kissing this woman for nearly half a year, and only now you realized how much you missed it. How much you missed her. As you finish the kiss, you both look at each other, “Okay, maybe another kiss.” You smile into the kiss as once again your lips met hers, and this time you melt into the kiss and break it off until you need to breathe again. 

“Buonanotte, Alexia”

“Goodnight, cariño.” You snuggle into her as she tightens her embrace, making you feel safe for the first time since you were little.

The next morning, you wake up with an empty bed. You sit up sadly, thinking Alexia left without saying goodbye or having breakfast. You leave your room and go to the kitchen to get some coffee, and there, you see her. She was rummaging through your cupboards when you walked to her and hugged her from behind.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, cariño. Did you sleep well?” She feels her relax in your embrace while you snake your hands under her shirt, gently scratching her abs.

“Really, really well.” 

“I’m glad.”

“What are you doing?” You ask her, peeking with your head around her back.

“I’m trying to understand how this thing works.” You turn to see that she has it in her hands, a Moka.

You chuckle, gently pushing her to the side, taking it from her hands, and unscrewing the top of the coffee maker. You prepare the moka, and then you put it on the stove. In the meantime, you go to retrieve some mugs; they were on the highest cupboard, so you had to stand on your tippy toes to get the mugs, but your lover? Could you call her that? Walked behind you while putting a hand on your side and retrieved them for you, making you want to giggle at the action.

“Showing off your height, are we?”

“Me? Never. I’m just helping out my short queen.”

“Oh wow. How chivalrous.”

You both sit down at your little table and bring a piece of cake from your fridge.

“Do you want a piece?” You offer, getting a piece for you.

“Did you make it?”

“Yes, I did. Yesterday morning. It’s still good.”

“I swear to god, Y/N. You’ll get me out of shape if you keep feeding me.” She remarks jokingly, taking a bite from yours.

“Hey! That was mine!” You smack her hand away from your little plate, offended.

You stay together for another hour, and then you go back to the hotel very reluctantly. You didn’t know what it was, but something shifted that night between the two of you. You didn’t know if it was because you hadn’t seen each other in so long or because there were a lot of unresolved and unspoken feelings between the two of you. But when you said goodbye to her this time, it felt sadder and more longing.

You didn’t want to leave her side, nor did she, for that matter. You gave her a last kiss. She called you for the last time, cariño, and then she left. Leaving you this weird feeling lingering in your chest that you couldn’t quite pinpoint.

-

In the second leg of the Champions’sChampion, you didn’t play as you got injured two days before. It was nothing major, but it still stopped you from playing the match, which you really wanted to. You knew this would be your last season in Roma, and you wanted to bring your team to new heights.

As soon as the whistle blew, your team lost 2-0, and you felt a wave of sadness come over to you. And that was where it really hit you. This would be your last season at Roma, last season with the girls. You went on the pitch with your crutches, picking your teammates up from the ground and consoling them, trying to keep your own emotions at bay. Your team soon huddles up, and your coach makes a speech, but it was all a blur for you. You shut yourself off completely and left immediately after the pitch. 

You go inside the hallway away from the cameras and push your back to the wall, resigned. You didn’t cry. But you needed to isolate yourself and not show any weaknesses to your teammates. At least one of you needed to be strong.

“Cariño?” You hear a soothing whisper while hands cover your face. You recognize the warmth of the hands, which make you bask in contact. “Are you okay?”

“Alexia, what are you doing here? You should be out celebrating with your teammates. You got into the quarters.” You slightly push her away.

“Don’t push me away, please. What do you need?”

“I need a hug, please. Can you hug me?” Your eyes twinkle wetly with a vulnerability that Alexia has never seen before.

She quickly acquiesces to your needs and brings you in a tight hug. Your head was on her chest because of the height difference, and you could feel her heartbeat soothing and giving a rhythm to your brain. She began placing small kisses on the top of your head, and her hands rubbed your back to give you as much comfort as possible.

“Are you okay?” She whispers worriedly.

“I just realized that this will be my last Champions League with Roma and my last year with my teammates. I just feel a little vulnerable. But I’ll be okay, eventually.”

“Let’s get you home.”

“Alexia. I will be no good company tonight. When I am sad, I only watch romance movies or listen to sad songs. It’s not pretty. And you don’t have any obligation towards me.”

“I know, but I still want to. We can do all those things that you listed together. Let me take care of you.” She offers, smiling earnestly at you, making it impossible for you to say no.

“Okay, but if at any time you want me to go, I’ll leave. I’d hate to be a burden.” She rolls her eyes at your stubbornness. 

She kisses your forehead. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll be with you.” She left quickly to her changing room, making you smile dumbly at her. At that specific moment, Mapi casually walks past you, rolling her eyes. “Definitely just hooking up.” She says ironically, leaving without the opportunity to say anything else.

Alexia was back to you in precisely five minutes and ready to leave. Meanwhile, you told your teammate that you would leave alone and be back tomorrow morning, to which she replied with a very suggestive smirk. You honestly really weren’t hiding anymore the fact that you were hooking up with a Barcelona player. All the team basically knew it, also your national team, so it was no surprise.

-

You get to her home, and she soon gives you some of her clothes to make you more comfy and then makes you sit on the couch and gives you a small blanket. Her little dog, Nala, sat on your lap, asking for cuddles. It was almost perfect, it just needed-

“Do you need something else? Do you want some food? Something to drink?” She was acting all serious, and while you just beamed at her, you realized that nobody had ever wanted to take care of you like she was doing right now. Your heart exploded with affection for the woman who was currently making herself so available to your every need.

“I just need you. Can you hold me, please?” She quickly sits on the couch and waits for you to come to her. “Watch out for my leg; it’s still injured.” You lightly warn her so she would make any movements towards your leg.

Your head was on her chest, some romance movie was playing in the background, and she was whispering sweet nothings in your ear, trying to lighten your fragile mood.

“So this is going to be your last year at Roma? You are not renewing?” You shake your head.

“So, where are you going?”

“Is that really a question when you already know the answer?” You tell her you weren’t looking at her face, but you could feel her face adorn with another one of her beautiful smiles.

“You are moving to Barcelona?” She asks, clearly trying to hide her excitement.

“Nothing is official yet, but I already talked to your coach. If everything goes to plan, we will be teammates. But don’t say anything to Mapi. I want to give her a surprise.”

“So we will play together? On the same team?” 

“Si, piccola mia. We will play on the same team.”

“I guess we were never meant to play against each other.” She chuckles jokingly.

“I guess not. I think we were destined to play together.”

#barcelona femeni #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas #co #woso imagine #woso x reader #woso fic #alexia putellas one shot

[russos-ventitre]

alessia russo x reader | lezioni di italiano III 🧸

✘ summary: you have a breakthrough with your emotions and it scares you

✘ warnings/tags: friends to lovers, angst, reader is mid-20s, AWFC!reader, ItalyWNT!reader

✘ words: 2717

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎→ part i ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎→ part ii

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎→ part iii

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎→ part iv

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎→ part v

a/n: translations provided as always!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tre

Three weeks later...

Another week meant another lot of lessons, continuing to teach Alessia your mother tongue, moving past the basics and onto more intermediate stuff. She was really starting to get the hang of things, happy to switch from English to Italian mid-conversation when she sensed that's what you wanted. She was very charming in that respect, her confidence growing alongside her vocabulary.

The blonde would come over multiple times a week and listen to you go on and on about the weird rules of the Italian language, why words had to be ordered in a certain way, how the language was mostly phonetic with a few exceptions, and a few other annoying things that you wouldn't really know unless you were a native.

Nonetheless, she never got bored of listening to your lecture or rant, or sometimes both, bouncing from thought to thought as you remembered a new thing, probably confusing the hell out of the poor girl.

You paused your lecture to walk into the kitchen, your throat dryer than a desert from all your talking, grabbing a glass of water, you chugged nearly the entirety of it. Letting out a sigh as you stared out the window in front of your sink, watching as the rain slid down the pane. You watched as the droplets slid down the glass, allowing yourself to zone out as the faint rain provided white noise. You weren't sure why but you were feeling anxious, hands clammy, throat drying up again, despite you downing a glass moments ago, and your body slightly shaking like a chihuahua.

What is wrong with me?

You wiped the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand, watching as it trembled before you gripped onto the edge of the sink. You dipped your head down, closing your eyes, letting out a deep sigh in hopes of calming your nerves. There was a hushed noise from behind you, but you couldn't make it out, brain all fuzzy and thoughts all deafening. It called out again, a bit louder this time, a bit more familiar.

"[y/n]?" A hand came to rest on your shoulder, pulling you out of your suffocating thoughts.

Your head lifted up, turning to meet her, the girl you couldn't stop thinking about, the girl that you were seemingly convinced was the reason why you'd been acting off recently.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her hand coming to wipe away a tear that had trailed down your face.

Was I crying?

"Hmm? Oh.. y-yeah.. just uh- needed a minute.. sorry.."

Alessia's eyes softened the longer she looked at you, seeing your heart aching just by looking deep into your irises. Without a word, she pulled you into a hug, you not at all having the strength to reject it and run and hide in your room. You had no idea you were crying and now that she had come and found you, seeing you in a state like this, you were completely embarrassed.

Her strong hand came to cradle the back of your head, holding you close as you had no choice but to bury your face in her shoulder, your own arms coming to grip at her back. Her other hand stroked down your thick frame, perfectly manicured nails calmingly scratching at your back. You didn't know why but the second your body made contact with hers you just felt all of the pent-up emotions you were containing just release into her arms.

"Hey.. it's okay.." She cooed, pulling you even closer, if that were at all possible, deep concern painting her features.

The striker led you to your living room, helping you settle on the sofa as she continued to hold you in her arms, your head now resting in her chest, as you tried evening out your breathing.

"Parla con me." [Talk to me.] She whispered, continuing to rub her hand down your back.

You took in a deep inhale, followed by a hiccup from crying, slowly lifting your head you faced her for the first time in what felt like ages. Tear stains decorating your face, alongside the swollenness of your eyes and redness of your cheeks.

"Mi dispiace.. stella." [I'm sorry.. star.] You started, dipping your head back down as you felt a knot form in your throat.

"..I don't know what's wrong with me.. everything just feels.. fuzzy and suffocating and loud all the time.." You shook your head slightly, feeling bad for not making sense, the blonde continuing to comfort you by rubbing your back, her eyes never leaving your face.

"..theres too many things going on right now in my head and I can't make the thoughts stop.." You sighed in defeat, slumping your head on her shoulder, without a single care on how it would only further increase your physical contact with the younger girl.

Alessia waited a minute before speaking, desperately trying to read your mind or will the pain away that was currently haunting you. "What kind of thoughts..?" She asked cautiously, afraid that the next things you might confess could be detrimental.

You let out a deep sigh, shaking your head as you weren't quite able to believe what you were about to say, knowing that you wouldn't be able to take it back once it was said and that it could possibly ruin your relationship with the blonde or worse, make the current club you're playing for, a now awkward environment.

"Tu mi piaci.." [I like you..] You murmured, hiding your face in her neck, wishing the floor would just consume you as you felt her skin turn hot.

The striker swallowed hard, feeling you go tense in her grip. "..mi piaci davvero.." [..I really like you..] You continued, hating yourself the more you spoke but knowing that you'd continue drowning in your own thoughts if you never admitted your feelings for her verbally.

She rested her head on top of yours, her hands never straying from your back. "Anche tu mi piaci davvero." [I really like you, too.] The younger girl whispered, a smile slowly forming on her lips as her face heated up.

Your breathing hitched in her arms, your eyes going wide as you tried to process if you were dreaming or not, heart racing a bit faster than it already had been. Slowly, you removed your face from hiding, locking eyes with the blonde.

"Posso baciarti?" [Can I kiss you?] You asked quietly, your demeanour becoming timid the longer you stared into her baby blues.

"Per favore.." [Please..]

Your hand delicately cupped her face, pulling her in for a soft kiss, the striker's hands holding onto your waist and pulling you in closer. Everything felt warm, everything felt natural, everything felt calm.

She kissed you tenderly, leaving you breathless as she slowly claimed your mouth. Her hand carefully manoeuvered to your back as she began to lean forward, laying you flat on your back on the sofa, never breaking the kiss. You felt your heart fall out of your arse as she lowered you into the cushioning, eyes rolling back as she took over, taking care of you with her soft lips and delicate hands. The blonde was now hovering over you, continuing to kiss you until your lips were swollen, you hands located on the younger girl's waist the entire time.

After some time she pulled up for air, her cheeks flush red and her chest panting as she looked down at you. Your face just as red as hers, maybe worse, looking back up at her to see her smiling down at you. Your hand came to caress her face, tongue weting your lip as you craved more. Both of you had only been given a taste but you already wanted more, craving each other's touch.

You hands grabbed at the collar of her hoodie, pulling her down for another breathtaking kiss, both of you happily humming into it. You felt all fuzzy inside, body melting against the material of sofa as you passionately kissed your girlfriend?

Are we official now?

Whatever the two of you were, you didn't care, you were just finally happy that you could be in her arms again, this time for an entirely different reason. And it felt so right.

The Next Morning...

As you woke up, you went to stretch out your body only to be restricted in moving your arms when you suddenly realise who was attached to you. You blushed, taking note of how adorable Alessia looked whilst attached to your body, your heart absolutely swooning when she nuzzled her face closer.

Yesterday wasn't a dream..

You ran your fingers through her golden locks, giving her light scratches on her scalp to wake her up.

"Ale-" Wait.. "..baby..?" You muttered, trying to wake her.

Woah.. that feels weird.

"Mmm.. hmm..?" The blonde groaned, not really hearing what you said as her head just barely lifted off your chest.

"How'd you sleep baby?" You asked more confidently, carding your fingers through her hair.

Alessia's head immediately perked up at the term of endearment, her cheeks heating up as she locked eyes with you. Your eyes widened at her notable sudden burst of energy.

"D-Did I say the wrong thing?" You asked panicked, worried that you were maybe going too fast.

"No no! I really like that.." She admitted, blushing harder now and trying to hide her burning face with her hair.

Your face softened, your hand trailing to her face to cup her cheek. "Sei carina.." [You're cute..] You sighed, watching her melt in your hand.

"Vieni qui.." [Come here..] You motioned, helping the blonde crawl up your body and rest her head on your chest, pressing delicate kisses to the top of it as she laid her head and hand on top of your chest.

The blonde nuzzled her face in your neck, a place that was quickly becoming her favourite place to be, pressing a soft kiss to your skin before settling.

Later that week...

It had only been a few days since the two of you became official, the both of you able to spend some time together before Arsenal camp resumed. It was nice being in each other’s company, Alessia taking it into her own hands and slowly moving into your flat, not that you were one to complain. You adored the blonde, you felt empty when she wasn't around, so having her stay at your flat was refreshing, especially when you would find some of her belongings scattered around your newly shared home. It gave you something to smile about during your day.

"Amorina.." [Little love..] You sighed, stroking your fingers through her hair.

"Hmm..?" She hummed back, smiling softly as she nuzzled herself closer to your chest.

"Are we gonna tell the team?" You questioned, feeling her head lift off your chest.

"Umm.." The blonde pursed her lips together, looking up at you. "..we can do, it's whatever you want though, love."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm." She responded with a nod, pecking your lips quickly before settling back down on your chest.

"Or we can keep it to ourselves.." The taller girl continued, a hand slithering around the back of your torso to pull you closer.

"..our little secret." She giggled.

"Il nostro piccolo segreto?" [Our little secret?]

"Sì, il nostro piccolo segreto, amore mio." [Yeah, our little secret, my love.] The blonde hummed back happily.

First day back...

Alessia offered to drive the two of you to training today, especially since you stayed over at hers for the night, intentionally bringing your kit bag and all your training necessities with you. It's not like you weren't expecting the offer and you definitely were going to miss out on an opportunity for her to drive you around. The thing is you liked driving, it was nice and calming, you just weren't fully comfortable with the whole idea of driving on the other side of the road.

You happily took a seat inside the blonde's Mercedes, almost instantly feeling her hand coming to rest on your thigh as you settled into the car. Heat crawled up your neck, all the way to your cheeks as you watched her fingers gently stroke at the material covering your leg. Her eyes were fixated elsewhere, too busy fiddling with her car to notice your obvious flustered self.

"Ready to go?" She asked, pulling her sunglasses from the top of her head, onto the bridge of her nose, smiling in your direction.

"Y-Yeah.." You mumbled back, struggling to get your words out.

"Tesoro.. miei occhi sono su qui, amore." [Darling.. my eyes are up here, love.] Alessia took her other hand, tracing her fingers under your chin as she tilted it upward, finally meeting your gaze.

"Tutto bene?" [Everything okay?] She tilted her head down slightly, allowing her sunglasses to slide down the bridge of her nose, revealing her ocean-blue eyes.

"Mmm." You nodded back, lips pursed together as her fingers continued to linger below your chin.

"Parole, amore." [Words, love.] The striker muttered back, only further making you blush.

"I'm okay baby.. promise." You smiled back shyly, knowing full well that she was doing all this to wind you up right before training.

"Good." She hummed back, pulling you in for a breathless kiss before swiftly pulling away to reverse out of the driveway, you sat in the passenger seat feeling all dizzy from your quick exchange.

Entering the building with Alessia, standing very closeby her, earned the two of you a lot of knowing looks and a few hushed whispers. Everyone had their eyes on you two, some faint 'oooohs' and some light teasing towards you both occurred throughout the entire day. To say that the team didn't know was a lie, people sensed something between the two of you the minute you transferred to the club. It was almost like you and Alessia were the last two to know about it.

"So.. you and Less.." Victoria started, slinging an arm around your shoulders as the two of you walked back inside.

"-stop.. she was just doing me a favour.." You brushed her off, shaking your head as you looked at the ground.

"Tell that to the smile plastered on your face.."

"Vaffanculo Pelova.." [Fuck off..] You muttered, watching as the brunette ran over to gossip with the other girls.

You gathered your belongings, changing out of your dirty kit, before making your way towards your blonde lover, sitting in front of her cubby as she packed her own things away.

"Pronti?" [Ready?] You asked, arms resting on your legs as you looked up at her with a smile. You weren't exactly going out of your way to pretend like you weren't head over heels in love with the girl, although your tough exterior was softening anytime you were around her and it wasn't going unnoticed by your teammates.

"Quasi, tesoro." [Almost, darling.] She muttered back, shoving the last few bits of her things in her kitbag before slinging it over her shoulder. Luckily the two of you were alone so you were able to be yourselves in front of each other, but that didn't mean that someone couldn't walk in at any given moment.

When she finished, she blindly reached her hand out in front of you, you happily lacing your fingers with hers, lightly pressing a kiss to her knuckles as you stood up. She peered her head out of the dressing room, seeing if anyone was still around, before guiding you out into the corridor.

"Really.." Leah snorted, unable to hide the shit-eating grin on her face as she watched the two of you slowly make your exit, both of your faces bright red.

Alessia swiftly turned around, hiding herself behind you, hand still laced with your own. "You scared the shit out of me Leah!" Your girlfriend whined, resting her chin on your shoulder.

"Don't you dare Williamson." You spoke sternly, watching as she laughed quietly to herself.

"I won't.. go on then you two." She waved her hand, ushering for the both of you to leave.

"..I think a certain Meado owes me 25 quid.." She mumbled to herself as she watched you wrap an arm around Alessia, protectively pulling her close to your body.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎← part ii ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏part iv →

#alessia russo #alessia russo x reader #alessia russo imagine #woso #woso fanfics #woso community #woso x reader #woso imagines #engwnt x reader #england women #arsenal x reader #arsenal wfc #arsenal women #awfc #awfc x reader

[emo-batboy]

Battinson and Food

He’s vegetarian and I will hear none of your crap

Depression meals, so many depression meals

I already made a post of his greatest hits here but here's three more:

A whole tub of apple sauce

Instant grits mixed with a hot chocolate packet

And a bowl of croutons

Some meals have actually graduated from the “Depression Meal” category to “Whenever I Can Sneak It Out of the Kitchen” status (because Alfred is appalled every time)

Dick, with the invincible, titanium-lined stomach of a 9yo, doesn’t know why Bruce makes them, but he loves taking bites of Bruce’s weird concoctions.

His favorites so far are:

Cream cheese and jelly sandwich

Spoonfuls of peanut butter (with chocolate chips, that was his idea)

And frozen garlic bread

Diner Food is King. (This is New Jersey. What did you expect?) His go-to order is two eggs over easy, well-done rye toast, grits with syrup and butter, and a fruit cup with no melons from the 24-hour place two blocks east. Hasn’t changed since he was five. Never will.

Bruce can cook food that is edible. Edible.

Like if he tries to make Italian, he can successfully cook the pasta. He can make a basic sauce. He can even plate it.

The tomato sauce is crunchy in some places, yes, but it’s fine :) and it is edible

but Bruce has NEVER succeeded in a baking endeavor, and it positively devastates him every single time

“Baking is science! I love science! I’m great at science. So why didn’t the cake rise when I did everything on the recipe?!” “You need to make it with love-“ “That wasn’t on the ingredients list, Alfred!”

He can handle spice surprisingly well. It’s not like he could avoid it while training all over the world, so he ended up building a tolerance, but his eyes still go unbelievably red every time.

He really fucks with bagels (I mean, what self-respecting Gothamite doesn’t) and he has a very specific bagel order for every possible mood from the great place downtown

The workers at Bagel Kingdom know which moods correspond with which order, and they have a designated spreadsheet taped to the back of the counter so they can work accordingly.

They know he’s barely hanging in there when he gets a toasted blueberry bagel with no butter.

He’s having a good day when he gets a plain bagel sandwich with tomato, provolone, two fried eggs, and hot sauce. In that order. That’s the shit

When he’s stressed, he gets a pumpernickel bagel with strawberry cream cheese to cheer himself up.

The workers of Bagel Kingdom will NOT let you disrespect his bagel.

Bruce almost burnt the tower down when he tried to cook a toaster waffle in the microwave while running on 40 hours without sleep, and he just kept cooking it because it wasn’t crisping for some reason

Alfred needs to force him to eat all the time

(It is definitely because Bruce suffers from disordered eating.)

There was one period of time in which Bruce went days without food, and Alfred (lovingly) threatened to send him to in-patient if he didn’t eat

Bruce said that those gross, mushy, lukewarm blueberries were the only thing he’d tolerate when he was struggling, so blueberries became their indicator: if Bruce can’t stomach blueberries, he goes to in-patient.

He’s gone twice, and Bruce was very mad each time, but he still uses healing methods that he was taught in there so it couldn’t have been that bad.

(He’s also friends with some of the nurses now. He, Denise, and Kayleigh have a group chat.)

Dick once convinced him to test taste different kinds of olive oil to learn the difference between regular and extra virgin. It was absolutely disgusting, and he ended up puking an hour later. Alfred now puts child locks on the kitchen cabinets.

The first time Bruce ever makes a meal that doesn’t look horrid is when he spends two weeks practicing Romani dishes for Dick the month after he adopts him.

He has since perfected three different recipes:

Stuffed peppers

Goulash

Cabbage rolls

(Keep in mind Dick is not vegetarian like Bruce.)

He tried making almond cake like 80 times (which is more like a biscuit but still a baked good) but could never do it right so Alfred makes them instead.

At dinner time, Dick always eats off Bruce’s plate more than his own. Alfred has chastised him several times, but Bruce only encourages him more. He thinks it’s cute. And so does the general public when they attend dinner parties.

One of Bruce's favorite memories of his parents is when he had a bad dream in the middle of the night so Thomas and Martha drove him out to the nearest diner to have a chocolate milkshake at 3 am.

Now, after patrol, if Bruce saw something traumatic or something that reminded him of his parents’ death, he’ll go to that same 24-hour diner and sit for a bit with a chocolate milkshake.

He continues this tradition after Dick becomes Robin. (Even if it took months for Bruce to even consider the idea of letting Dick near harm’s way.)

No matter how hard he tries to keep Dick away from the gruesome stuff, he can’t stop everything. They get milkshakes a lot more than Bruce would like.

But eventually, it turns into a treat whenever Dick does well in school or needs a pick-me-up.

And when they add Jason to the mix, they introduce him to the tradition as well.

They know everything will be okay when they have chocolate milkshakes together.

#battinson #bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #battinson is so jerseycore #i would die for him #tw eating issues #tw food #tw disordered eating #tw ed descussion #alfred pennyworth #the batman 2022 #the batman #batman 2022 #battinson needs a hug #soft bruce wayne #gotham #dc universe #dc #batfamily #batfam #jason todd #dc robin #robin dc

[bluespring864]

"They tell me I'm mentally strong. I'd say: not yet."

From the latest Sky Sport hour long interview with Jannik (Jannik oltre il tennis: Sinner un anno dopo)

- talks about how it always feels special to play Carlos, how he feels a different energy when playing him and how it feels different to see his name in the draw

- talks about how fortunate he feels to be a tennis player, and puts his job into perspective ("not like a doctor who can't make mistakes during an operation")

- talks about how it's probably not possible to be "happy" on court but how he strives to be cheerful/joyful

- analyses how competitiveness is something you have inside yourself and describes how it manifested itself when he was a child (he is 22, how in god's name is he so self aware?)

- gets asked about critics, e.g. people saying "he's never going to be as good as Alcaraz" and how he feels about it, says criticism is a positive thing because it shows he's at a level where people are interested in what he does, and it's usually something that will make him go "I'll show you" but that he also tries not to put too much stock in it because he knows best how hard he works ("and of course I'm a bit happier when people compliment me instead" *cute little grin*)

- when asked about it says the match point against Carlos at last year's US Open was very painful and it took a few nights to get over it and that during this year's US Open loss the cramps he had must have been a mental issue "a bit like what happened to Carlos with Nole at Roland Garros"

- playing in Italy is the most beautiful thing for him "because I feel at home"

- tennis is an individual sport but you have your team and when you practice, you practice WITH the other player, you have to in order for practice to work, so there is a certain team aspect there as well, it's only when you are on court for the match that you're truly alone

- "the best feeling for a tennis player is when you feel that it's a beautiful match and that you're part of a beautiful match"

- "respect is the most important thing in sport and I respect a player whether he's the No.1 or the No. 2000, because respect isn't based on ranking or strength"

- when asked about maturity levels and how grown up he feels he talks about leaving the dishes in the sink for three days, which is just about the sweetest most relatable thing he could have said (I don't have a dishwasher either, Jan and I still leave the dishes in the sink, don't beat yourself up about it)

There was lots and lots more in there, go watch it if you can! [And disclaimer that I don't speak a word of Italian and my Italian comprehension stems from hearing it a lot at work and speaking related languages, if I've made an egregious translation error please correct me!]

The interview is here (VPN set to Italy needed if outside of Italy)

And I also recommend watching the first interview done a year ago, also on YT (Jannik oltre il tennis: Sinner si racconta)

#jannik sinner #sinner mania #this man is taking over the (tennis) world #as he should #tennis #long post

[inkstaindusk]

Remember that reddit post about the guy who keeps getting into fights with the cook at waffle house? Ok that but joecherry, as witnessed by respective apprentices Langa and Reki

Reki likes Sia la Luce. It's pretty fancy, but he has to wear a kimono during his apprenticeship anyway so he never sticks out too badly. The food is really good--he never had Italian before he started coming here--the employees are all nice people, and the atmosphere is usually pleasant. Usually. The only exception being...

"You must have lost whatever smidgen of skill you had to your oversized muscles!"

"Clearly your tastebuds need to be checked as much as your eyes, damn four-eyes!"

Reki chews slowly on his pasta as his teacher and the head chef Nanjou argue over the counter. Again. Like they do every time they eat here. There's never anything wrong with the food in his opinion, but Cherry--Kaoru-sensei in public, he's reminded him countless times--always seems to have some problem. He can't tell if this is bad flirting or what. Mostly, it's just kind of weird and disruptive.

One of the junior chefs, Langa, slides into the seat across from him, also glancing at the fight. "Um, your food isn't that bad... right?" he asks hesitantly.

Reki shakes his head wildly. "No, the food's great! Awesome, even!"

Langa sighs with relief. "I made your meal today, so thank you. I'm glad you like it."

Reki nearly chokes on his next bite, but manages to swallow it down, hopefully without being too obvious about it. It shouldn't be a big thing. Of course one of the chefs would have made his food; it doesn't have to be the head chef. But Reki has had a crush on Langa ever since he saw him the first time Cherry took him here and he can't help getting his hopes up that maybe this means something. Maybe. Possibly.

The food suddenly tastes a whole lot better now. How about that?

"Y-you're a really good cook, Langa!" Reki stammers. "Thanks for the meal!"

Before Langa can say anything else, the argument kicks up a bit and there's a choking sound. When Reki looks to the side, Cherry is trying to strangle Nanjou with the collar of his tight shirt. A few patrons actually look over this time and in the blink of an eye, they've fixed their appearance as though nothing happened.

"Man," says Reki, "they have way too much practice with that."

Langa nods. "Mm. They're childhood friends, so it makes sense."

"They're what?!"

Langa tilts his head at him. "Sakurayashiki-san hasn't told you? They grew up together."

Cherry did not tell him this. Any time he tried to ask about why they keep coming here Cherry just gave him a scary look and said Oh so you don't want me to pay for your lunch anymore? Reki values his life, wallet, and future prospects, so he stopped pestering. Eventually.

"You know, that makes sense," he says thoughtfully. "Ch--Kaoru-sensei wouldn't just fight with anyone." With no one looking at them, except for Reki and Langa, Cherry and Nanjou have gone back to their hissed argument. It's starting to look a lot more like weird flirting now. He kind of doesn't want to keep watching anymore.

Reki looks back at Langa. "Hey wait, what are you doing out here anyway? I thought you weren't allowed to be a server."

"Nanjou-san said it's okay if it's you. I'm 'better at smiling' when I'm with you." As though to prove his boss's point, Langa smiles.

Reki ducks his head, hiding his own smile behind his food.

(By the counter, the argument continues:

"Now look what you've done! Your employee is slacking to flirt with my apprentice!"

"How is that my fault? Is your AI heart too mechanical to appreciate young love?"

"Not when they're on the clock!"

"And what do you think we're doing right now?")

#sk8 #sk8 the infinity #matchablossom #joecherry #kojiro nanjo #kaoru sakurayashiki #reki kyan #langa hasegawa #renga #talks about skoo #anya tries to write #drabbles #fp.txt

[doromoni]

Hunting Affections

Charles Leclerc x photographer!reader

Max Verstappen x photographer!reader

Part 6.

fanfic + smau fic

y/n faceclaim : Hwang Eunbi

warnings : Ferrari bashing ( Im so sorry , the plot needs it 🥹) , mentions of abuse.

A/N : UP FOR EDITING 🤍

<previous next>

Summary; Love is but a concept — just connections of neurons that take part in the brain … and yet, why is it the most painful when one falls alone?

or

Loving someone who doesn’t love you back , until you can’t no more. Maybe then they’ll actually know what they’ve lost.

Ignorance is medicated by knowledge and experience — but ignorance can only be cured when the problem is seen and acknowledged.

I used to think that I was just what you made of me, thinking that what I’ve accomplished was because of your influence. You were sensitive, I wouldn’t say that you were insecure, no— you just had the tendency of being self righteous and self serving , I grew in fear that I would’ve taken a piece of your spotlight, so I hid in your shadow … always so quiet and obedient.. But I guess , I now know that i was also at fault, I was ignorant of how you made me so dependent to you and your actions.

I liked to think that I grew apart from ignorance, being enlightened by my own wrong actions and thoughts. Braking the chains that hindered me from living life— the chains that you’ve shackled on me. Maybe, it wasn’t your intention to cage me and poison me with your affections… maybe you’re we’re ignorant , just like I once was. But your ignorance is still no excuse.

I could only hope that you find your own peace and fulfillment . Because I have found mine, and I will be selfish this time and I wont ever let go.

———

Majority of racing fans see Red Bull Racing as the evil power hungry villain of Formula 1 , that and all people in its team are hateful scums of the motorsport world . When in fact , they are the most kind and loving team I have had the chance to work with — where people who treat each other with respect and warmth no matter their organizational hierarchy . But do not get me wrong , the other teams aren’t bad … it’s just Red Bull has its business and employee relationships balanced to a tee.

Moreover, the issue of sexism had been rampant in the motor world, that is already a fact, yet I felt both seen and understood in the premises, in walls of the Red Bull Office… who would’ve known. My presence here was not for a diversity hire or some agenda. I was put here to actually innovate the Red Bull Racing brand and pull my own weight.

Never in my career in motorsports have I felt so appreciated and significant enough to be treated correctly , most specifically in this moment , that sadly I cannot say hadn’t happened before .

I was discreetly pulled from my meetings to talk face to face with Christian Horner. All the possible mistakes I could’ve made came rushing in to my mind. It hasn’t been a week since I’ve officially worked for the racing team , yet here I am walking towards the office of the CEO and team principal of Red Bull Racing.

With a deep breath , I gently knocked on the mahogany door that separated me from my possible dismissal.

“Christian, its Y/N”

“Oh , yes yes . Come in!” Christian’s voice echoed through the thick wood. Slowly opening the door , there I saw my boss with his back pressed on the plush leather material of his office chair ; a hand perched on the bridge of his nose as he signaled me to sit.

“ So , am I in trouble? Why did you need me?” I gave an awkward laugh as I tried to lighten the mood

“It’s about Max” Memories of the meetings and debriefings of relationship lectures from the Italian team came to mind. The lectures were harsh and are mostly one sided , as the fault was somehow always pushed to me ; even if I wasn’t entirely involved , but who could they have blamed? Charles? He was their golden boy — so the nearest person to point to was me. It was always me.

Just like muscle memory, my words instantly echoed.

“I’m so sorry “ slipped from my mouth.

My hands trembled as I waited for the unending reprimands to be more careful not to taint the team brand and all the crap that followed.

But, nothing came … Christian’s face contorted to a face of confusion and perplexity

“…For what? “ He then asked leaning a smidge forward ; his chair squeaking a little.

“Oh … uhm , you said something about Max? I’m assuming that I did something to dirty his image?” I said slowly, now also confused.

“What? No! Max’s image has never been better., Well not if we couldn’t cover this issue. I called you here because I wanted you to work closely with the PR head to cover a fight with Max and other drivers”

my brain stop working , as I heard the words Max , fight and other drivers, slowly connecting the dots ; my mouth spoke before I could realize

“WHAT?! Is Max okay?! How did that happen??”

“Max , is physically ok .It was after the press conference. It was between Max , Leclerc , Daniel and Oscar . We couldn’t get any of the drivers to talk … We were hoping that you could talk to Max.”

As I processed his words , the dilemma of professionalism and personal life came tumbling down and the distinction between the two are becoming blurry. The trauma of working for Ferrari with Charles once again came rushing back.

“Sir, are you asking me as an employee to interrogate my boyfriend? “ I asked , swallowing my nerves . Hoping that what I was thinking of was no where near the truth.

“No y/n , I’m asking for you to see If Max is alright and If he would like to sit out the practice races tomorrow … and if he does open up to you about the fight, then you are not obligated to tell us anything without Max’s consent” As Christian said those words , I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding in; the huge weight leaving my shoulders , because even if they had asked that of me I refuse to betray the person that I love for my career.

“Thank you, Christian. Where is Max right now?” I asked standing up .

“He’s currently inside his driver room — he’s not allowing anyone to enter. Well we hope you’d face a different outcome ” Christian said as he walked me out of his office.

I chuckled at his statement , a very typical Max Verstappen move. Not that he doesn’t want anyone to near him, he’s just afraid that he might say something wrong in the heat of the moment ; something that I’ve learned to handle in the years that i’ve known the Dutch Red Bull driver.

“Hey, Christian… thanks for not asking me to break Max’s trust” I said as I hesitated going out the door.

“Of course, kid. Max is family and now you are too.” He said as he ruffled my hair, earning a groan and a swat from me.

— — —

Pacing through the Red Bull motorhome in a mix of a jog and sprint , I made my way towards Max’s driver room.

And right outside the door was Mary : Max’s Pr manager, pacing back and forth as she spoke to someone on her phone.

Her eyes met mine , and in an instant she was in front of me

“ Oh thank goodness! , y/n! Finally ! you go talk to Max , please . I need to sort important matters about the issue, which of course will be debriefed in our meeting later… alright bye!”

And just like that , Mary was gone . And once again I am facing a mahogany door, only this time it was my boyfriend on the other side.

I raised my knuckles towards the door and gently knocked. Pressing my ear towards the door

“My love , it’s me . What happened? Can you open the door” I heard rustling, but there was no reply.

“Max, please open the door, love . Remember what we agreed on? Communication is the highest priority, please love, let’s talk”

then a soft click and a knob twisting was heard , as the door opened I was then pulled into his embrace . Max’s head buried in my neck , as I felt wetness and heard soft sniffles, Max was crying.

Suddenly alarmed with the severity of the situation, I instantly wrapped my arms around him , a hand softly brushing his hair ; saying soft reassuring words in his ear.

I continued to hold Max tightly in my embrace, as rouge tears slowly fell from my eyes. hurt filling my heart at the sight of the person I love breaking down. Briskly wiped the tears from my cheeks, I heard Max mumble.

“Max?” I asked as I gently maneuvered his face towards me , cradling his cheeks and wiping his tears away with the pad of my thumbs.

“I- I lost control, and I hit him. I punched Charles … I’m sorry. He was insulting you and I-i … it just happened. I was so angry … and I enjoyed doing it., am I really a monster?” His voice broke . A gasp fell out of my lips as my eyes fell to Max’s knuckles , they were bruised and bleeding from the cuts.

The conversation that we had about physical violence came to mind. Max had entrusted me with the knowledge of the extent to which his father had used physical violence to discipline him in his childhood. They’re relationship was better now… but the trauma still stays. Max had sworn to no longer resort to physical violence , he didn’t want anyone to go through what he had before.

“ Shhh, shhh Max, my love . It’s alright. Everything is okay , you’re okay. You didn’t enjoy hurting him , you fought for me, you protected me… that’s it my love, that’s it . You’re not a monster , you never were and you never will be. Max you’re the farthest from it . My love, I’m sorry that you’re facing this because of me. Im so sorry” I lifted the his busted hand and gently pressed a kiss to his wrist.

Guilt suddenly came twisting my stomach, bile rising to my throat. Because of me , Max had done what he hated the most. Im so sorry Max.

“N-no , I don’t regret protecting you , Schatz. I regret my way of doing it. You will always come first.” Max’s change of attitude gave me whiplash. Gone were the tears and vulnerability. The look of determination overcoming his entire feature, he looks so determined for what? Am not so sure.

“My love , what do you mean by that?” I asked as I searched the answer in his eyes.“The track , Liebling … the track” a grin now stretched his face.

“Max , please think straight .You don’t need to do anything “ I said as I once again raised a hand to his cheek softly.

“It’s my job to protect you, My Schatz” Max said , now pulling me closer in his embrace.

“Yeah , yeah … but who treats your wounds, huh? Big baby, please be safe” words muffling as Max pressed my head to his chest. The worry never leaving my mind.

y/n_stills.

Liked by redbullracing, maxverstappen1, schecoperez and 1,427,995 others

y/n_stills. I didn’t sign up for this @redbullracing I was promised 2 normal drivers. But good job on P1 and P2 on practice 3 I guess

tagged : @maxverstappen1 and @schecoperez

user1 not you using these pics 😭.

user2 y/n outing the red bull drivers. i love it!

user3 Keep em coming @y/n_stills.

y/n_stills. You’re welcome children

maxverstappen1 wow… thanks dear

y/n_stills. Love you 😘 @maxverstappen1

redbullracing you’ve signed the contract

y/n_stills. unfortunately :))

redbullracing excuse us?

y/n_stills. nothing ~ thanks for the snacks 😘

user1 y/n is continuing the beefing with motorteams saga 😭

schecoperez thanks y/n

y/n_stills. you are welcome checo 😇

danielricciardo the sarcasm is so nice 😇

maxverstappen1 you’re lucky you’re not here @danielricciardo

landonorris oh, are we bullying @y/n_stills.?

alexalbon another reason why I don’t regret leaving Redbull. 🫶

y/n_stills. I hate you all >:(( and @alexalbon? lily wants a word with you 😇

mclaren our drivers are well behaved 😇

y/n_stills. Im giving the fattest side eye. 👀

landonorris I am well behaved!

y/n_stills. This u?

landonorris … touché

danielricciardo what did I do??

y/n_stills. @danielricciardo fault by association

oscarpiastri but i’m good right? @y/n_stills

y/n_stills. You’re safe for now @oscarpiastri , little papaya… better watch your attitude 🤨

user4 y/n is not playing y’all HAHAHAHAH

user5 she ain’t holding back fr fr , the grid should watch their back 🤣

user6 everyone say thanks to y/n for giving us driver interactions.

user7 it’s great to see Redbull’s wacky side tbh~ they are not as evil as people make them to be .

user8 they literally instantly cut off their second drivers.

user9 @user8 woah thats statement is baseless, they do give them chances for the drivers to prove themselves… at the end of the day the goal is to win.

scuderiaferrari work for us again

y/n_stills. I don’t go back to my exes , sorry ☺️

user1 SIDE EYE

user2 did y/n really just 🫣

user3 THE TEA IS HOT , y/n your never escaping the rumors , girl.

mercedesamgf1 get it line! you already let her go once smh

user4 which ex 🤔 hmm ? Don’t be shy y/n , which ex.

y/n_stills. 10 mins

viewed by maxverstappen1 , charles_leclerc, landonorris, and 2,729,691 others

story replies

maxverstappen1 Thank you, Liebling! I love you 💙

y/n_stills. love you more 💙

maxverstappen1 lmao no.

y/n_stills. Emilian 🤨 Excuse you? Dafuk you mean , no?

maxverstappen1 no, because I love you more.

y/n_stills. Your love disgusts me 🙄

maxvestappen1 well then be ready to be disgusted for the rest of our lives.

y/n_stills. Woah wut?? Max?

y/n_stills. MAX?? Hello??? You don’t get to dip after that

y/n_stills. max max max max

y/n_stills. safe driving … luv u 💙

maxverstappen1 Love you more 💙

y/n_stills. ugh I hate you >:((

oscarpiastri make em chow their last ka-chow?

y/n_stills. You’re too young to understand top tier humor , oscar

oscarpiastri I’m literally 1 year younger than Lando and 3 years younger than you

y/n_stills. Yes and still a baby

oscarpiastri Wowwwww. Ghee and you’re old, mom

y/n_stills. Watch your mouth, young man 🤨🤨

oscarpiastri sorry mom

y/n_stills. That’s better! Good luck with qualifying ,little papaya 🧡 drive safe

oscarpiastri thank you 🧡

charles_leclerc seriously y/n , stop it

y/n_stills. seriously charles, move on.

charles_leclerc do you honestly not miss me at all?

y/n_stills. nope, so stop whatever you’re doing and be happy with what you have.

charles_leclerc you’re just confused

y/n_stills. Dude? You’re the one who’s confused . For the last time, leave me aloneeeeeee . I swear I’ll block you and file a restraining order.

f1wags

Liked by user1 , user2 , user3 and 168,281 others

f1wags Y/N L/N spotted with Victoria Verstappen today in the F1 Paddock! But the Red Bull Senior Designer is not in a Red Bull Uniform , I see. It looks like y/n is a full time wag today and she is off duty. Go support yo man, girl! 😏

Y/N L/N was a no show today at FP3 , which had fans curious and speculating of the photographer’s absence on the grid . But the curiosity of fans are quickly satisfied, as it was reported that y/n is indeed within the confines of the Red Bull motorhome offices , catering to her responsibilities to Red Bull. Nevertheless, she had shown support by posting congratulatory memes of the 2 Red Bull drivers on her instagram account.

Moreover, it looks like we will be in fact seeing more of y/n l/n but this time within the confines the Red Bull Garage; as a support of Max Verstappen and the whole Red Bull crew!

user1 it’s great to see that y/n takes her job seriously.

user2 we do love a boss bitch

user3 Red Bull had hit the home run with y/n fr fr

user4 a professional queen 🤍

user5 she supports Max both emotionally and professionally, we love to see it

user6 you know what I love the most? Right after her work , she said bye to the uniform

user7 I mean, no one can stop a fashion icon 😎

user8 she’s so extra , I love it HAHAHAHAH

user9 Im in love with her jacket! Someone please tell me where to get it pls pls

user10 Brunello Cucinelli … and the price hurts 😀

user 11 I always forget that they are literally loaded

“ So everybody , welcome back to Formula 1 . It’s a sunny day , no rain forecasted for today’s qualifying. Teams are stowing away their slicks and wet tires and our drivers are all at standby in their cars as they wait for the firsts qualifying session to officially start.”

“ I must say, Crofty . Our drivers are quite tense today during FP3, and even yesterday during the practice sessions; specially our drivers in red .The Ferrari Garage not particularly happy with Charles Leclerc’s rookie mistake during the 4th turn — almost causing a collision with his own teammate Carlos Sainz.”

“Ferrari was not having any of it! the drivers were called to pit instantly— was this another lapse in strategy? Or perhaps a driver error? I cannot tell, the issue was not brought up to the FIA… I mean it’s their own teammate. Very aggressive on Leclerc’s part, I might say”

“ And do you know who’s also driving aggressively during the free practices? Max Verstappen and Checo Perez — I believe that Christian Horner is loosening the reigns on his drivers. There were no radio calls to the drivers when both cars were given warnings for impeding Leclerc’s car during free practice 2 yesterday “

“ Also , another impending incident had also happened to Charles Leclerc, only this time it was by the Mclarens, By rookie Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris .They were also only left of with a warning by the FIA , as the both Mclaren were bound to enter the pits.”

“Wow , wow, The FIA is very lenient with the teams this Grand Prix… but what an unlucky session for Charles Leclerc, They could only hope that his chances in qualifying would be better”

“ First one to go out of the garage is the 7x Champion Lewis Hamilton , and not long after is George Russell. Both Mercedes are out of their garages and is waiting at pit-lane exit. Along with Fernando Alonzo’s Aston Martin.”

“And out goes Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Max Verstappen goes next, last year’s pole position and winner”

“Will he be able to do it again? Will Max Verstappen be able to grab another pole and another win?”

Max’s eyes never left the car infront of him , his gloved hands flexing on the Red Bull steering wheel. Body fueled with adrenaline

Mind zeroing on the red Ferrari, til the radio sound came on and the voice of GP sounded,

(Radio conversation are italicized)

; Max we are with you. Do what you need to do;

;Thanks guys, will do. I’ll keep it clean, tell checo I said thank you;

;Thanks Max, will relay your message to checo;

Max’s eyes came to view the Ferrari’s side mirror , to see Charles already looking at Him ; eyes glaring with rage. Max scoffed , lifting his visor — staring back with no fear nor regret.

“Oh, a radio from Max to his engineers, “say thank you to perez”. What could that mean?”

“And that starts the first qualifying session for this week’s Grand Prix!”

***

“ 17 minutes in Q1 and all cars are out of their garage with Lando Norris is currently leading and Piastri 0.100 seconds behind his team mate. 1 minutes left in Q1”

“Oohh! And Charles Leclerc spins out to the gravel… the wing might’ve taken some damage on that turn. It looks like the car is beached! Let’s look at it in another angle .Ferrari could only hope that Leclerc’s time will get him to Q2”

;MERDE!! THE CAR IS UNDERIVABLE!

; You’re pushing the car so recklessly!! Go back to the garage!;

;Fix this, Oversteers like shit…;

“ And that’s the checkered flag! Sargeant, Zhou, Magnussen, Hulkenburg and Ocon . And that is it for Haas and both Alphatauris are in q2! Leclerc barely making it! “

As Q1 had ended, both Red Bulls are called back to the garage and asses damages.

;That’s P3 , P3 , Max. Don’t push the car … let’s conserve the tires for now , Leclerc has been beached;

A scoff escaped Max’s lips.

;Copy;

Heat, sweat, the roar of the engine and enraged shouts filled the Ferrari garage. Charles Leclerc was seen in an argument with his engineers and mechanics — tension within one side of the garage grew rampant as the mechanics scramble to replace the front wing of the car.

Q2 was not any better for Ferrari, barely qualifying both drivers to Q3. Having everyone confused at the driver difference — as Sainz qualified in P4 while Leclerc qualifying P9.

“And welcome back to Formula 1 , We are starting Q3! Verstappen , Perez , Leclerc , Sainz, Norris, Piastri, Alonzo, Hamilton, Russell and Stroll battling for pole position”

“And that’s 12 minutes on the clock! And Half of the cars are on the circuit”

“ Hamilton sets the fastest 1st sector and 3rd sector , while Piastri sets the fastest 2nd sector!”

***

“And that is the checkered flag! The drivers have 1 one more lap for qualifying!”

“LECLERC TAKES THE FASTEST TIME! That’s P1, and Sainz crosses the line! That’s P2 and P3 for Oscar Piastri!— an amazing drive by the Ferraris!”

Everyone was tense at the red bull garage as they wait for Max to cross the finish line.

;Max , your currently in P7 , P7 , thats P7. You can do one last lap , send it Max;

;Copy, copy, where’s Leclerc?”

;Currently P1;

Max’s fingers flexed , a smirk growing in his face.

“Max makes the fastest 1st sector, and the 2nd sector…. and that’s the fastest 3rd sector!! And max crosses the checkered flag! ”

“AND THAT’S P1 FOR MAX VERSTAPPEN ! MAX TAKES POLE AGAIN! “

; What position was that?;

;That’s P1! P1! You got pole Max. Nice driving!;

; Amazing job everyone , let’s do well in the race;

“And that Qualifying! P1 for Max Verstappen, P2 for Charles Leclerc, and P3 for Carlos Sainz!”

The three drivers parked their cars to their respective places . The spaniard came rushing to hug Max , excitedly patting the Dutch driver’s back while the words “great driving” and chuckles were exchanged. The spanish driver parted from Max, then nudging the pole sitter towards the car of Charles .

The 1st Ferrari driver was getting out his car, clearly fuming. Max went near the Monegasque driver only to whisper “That’s for Y/n”, then moving away not once looking back.

“Max! Max! Congratulations on getting pole today! How does it feel to be in pole in this circuit again?“ Max went to answer the question

“Getting pole was amazing , specially this one… this holds a significant meaning to me personally.Today had been great , the car was amazing to drive ; and the team was as cooperative as ever.”

“Also Max, People had noticed that you were particularly motivated today? Is there a particular reason for that?”

“Well it’s always a motivation to win for the team , for all their hard work and all the time they spent making sure that the car was to its best. Also my friends and family are here to support… and of course my girlfriend who’s in the garage cheering me on right now”

Max answered smoothly with a practiced smile , as Leclerc was fuming from his peripheral vision.

“Ah ,of course! Y/N! A dear friend of ours here at Sky Sports! And lastly , any words for tomorrow’s race , Max?”

“Winning is always the goal , so yeah , We will try our best to keep the adding wins to the record. Thank you”

Max turned his back to the camera , handing the microphone to the Monegasque Ferrari driver — a face splitting derisive grin plastered on his face further infuriating the Ferrari driver.

“Thank you Max! We now have Charles Leclerc here with us! So Charles, how does P2 feel?”

Charles wanted nothing more than to storm out and leave the interview , as his face grew redder by the second .

“Well , its not better than pole. To be honest I’m very disappointed with the results.”

“Still an amazing effort for the team! That’s P2 for you and P3 from your teammate, right? Basing from the previous races, Ferrari had brought serious upgrades”

“Yes , but it is not enough for pole. But we will do our outmost best to beat Red Bull in tomorrow’s race. That I am sure. Thank you” and with that Charles went storming back to the Ferrari garage

“Oh! Uhm.. thanks Charles! Next we have another Ferrari Driver, Carlos Sainz on P3! So how do the upgrades feel Carlos?”

“I personally thought that the car was great compared to the last car during the last Grand Prix… the upgrades worked. We are very far from the Red Bull level of machinery, but we are getting there ….”

y/n_stills.

Liked by maxverstappen1, redbullracing, oscarpiastri , and 728,627 others

y/n_stills. Another pole for you , love! Amazing driving as usual. Couldn’t be prouder 💙

P.s you didn’t have to show off, just because I’m here 🙄

tagged : @maxvertappen1

maxverstappen1: I mean that pole was for you :))

y/n_stills. 🥺🥺🥺

redbullracing a motivated Max is a scary Max

y/n_stills. Boy you said it 🥵

maxverstappen1 🫣🫣🫣

landonorris ew, keep it in your pants

y/n_stills. go cry somewhere else , norris ~ we are happy here.

comments are limited

—SPORTS HUB DAILY—Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc sparks fire within the Ferrari Garage

Article by Joseph Bens

Ferrari Driver Charles Leclerc was seen to be having a heated argument with his team, despite qualifying 2nd for the race this Sunday. The team statement was that they are happy with both of their drivers’ performances during the qualifying. According to Sainz , the car was very pliable and relatively easy to handle— and so we can rule out Leclerc having major issues with the car.

The Monegasque was reported to be unusually touchy and erratic based on fan reports as he was very adamant not to sign merchandise and interact with fans. The usually friendly driver was then seen storming off the circuit with alleged girlfriend scurrying in tow .

An inside source had tipped that an scuffle had happened between the drivers last Thursday, after the driver press conference , between Leclerc and Verstappen . The details of the fight were unknown, but it was said that Verstappen came storming out of the room — followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Oscar Piastri and a bloodied Charles Leclerc. The FIA not taking action as the incident was said to be just that, an incident and the drivers involved has refused to release a statement.

The Red Bull driver and the Ferrari driver are bringing heat on and off track! And we cannot wait for it to unfold. Tomorrow’s race would be one to watch indeed!

———

——— F1 Breaking ———

Ferrari appeals for FIA investigation towards Red Bull Racing and McLaren Racing for Impeding and possible brake checks

#f1 #formula 1 #max verstappen #red bull racing #ferrari #formula one #cl16 x reader #cl16 #cl16 imagine #cl16 x you #mv1 x reader #mv1 #charles leclerc #lando norris #op81 #f1 fic #f1 2023 #f1 imagine #scuderia ferrari #mclaren

[axewchao]

Space Orcs AU yet again, because I wanted to tweak Dal a little bit, wanted to draw his dog again, and draw B-Junes again, all in one go owo)b

And also wanted to make another space background, thanks to Mario RPG. Stars are pretty...

Anyway more tidbits under a readmore, here we go!

Bowser Junior

During an experiment that Iggy and Ludwig were performing in hopes of improving the travel speeds of their spaceships, an accident caused all eight members of the Royal Brood to be pulled into multiple wormholes and scattered across the cosmos. Junior ended up on a planet filled with Dino Piranhas, and struggled to survive until a trio of strange, squishy creatures found and seemingly adopted him.

While Junior tried keeping his distance out of fear that these squishy folk were actually kidnappers, it didn't take long for his curiosity and need for comfort to overpower any of his fears. He bonded fastest with the purple-maned one; often riding piggyback around the ship or curling up next to him and his fuzzy friend when it's time to sleep. He turns out to be a quick learner when it comes to their languages, easily figuring out short sentences in English and, by courtesy of the red-clad one, several curse words in Italian.

Dalex

A fifteen-year-old human who was snatched in the dead of night while taking his dog out for a late-night bathroom break. Despite his near-overwhelming fear, he teamed up with Mario and Luigi to hijack the ship the three of them were imprisoned on, successfully taking control of the newly-dubbed Starship Mario. It takes a while for Dal to actually warm up to the Bros., but regularly talking about their respective families helps him avoid cracking from under the stress and homesickness.

After rescuing Bowser Jr., Dal becomes the turtle kid's primary caretaker, along with some of the younger Koopalings once they too are found. Before meeting Iggy and subsequently getting a translator built, Dal taught Junior how to speak bits and pieces of English, and can understand his words better than Mario or Luigi. Think of it like "babysitter learning a kid's speech patterns while other people still hear gibberish."

Viridi

Dal's loyal companion and fuzzy baby child. He was abducted alongside his owner and stayed as close to Dal as possible during both their confinement and eventual starship takeover. 'Distraction' was the name of this dog's game, barking at their captors with varying degrees of success during the fight. Hard to tell if they'd never heard a dog bark before or they were actually scared by it, but they got an old-fashioned Mario Bros. Beatdown regardless.

Compared to all the other "crewmembers," Viridi's the most calm, even excited about what awaits them on their new journey. He likes the odd scaly child; those claws give the greatest scritches he's ever gotten in his life (sorry Dally). Of course, being excited and curious isn't always a good thing, as Viridi's go-to method of following his nose can lead to trouble. Of all the times to lose the leash, it had to be during a space adventure... =_="

#Super Mario #Mario Space Orcs AU #Bowser Jr #Real Worlder!Dal #Dalex Rathmore #Viridi Rathmore #the idea of Dal wearing an old hand-made cardigan was too cute to pass up #his grammy-gram made it and now he wears it constantly ;w; #honestly just wanted a slight difference between him and the other RW!Dal #just so it's easier to tell which one's the victim of an isekai (because getting warp piped to the Mushroom World can count as an isekai)- #and which one's lost in space- #axewchaoscribbles

[homomenhommes]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … April 18

382 BC – Philip II of Macedon, ancient Greek king and military genius - the actual date is unknown, so we'll use today. (d.336 BC). He served as king from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great, Philip III and possibly Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Philip was the ancient military genius who defeated the combined Athenian and Theban army and conquered all of Greece, setting in motion the grandiose ambitions of his son Alexander.

Philip II, like his son, pursued young lovers tirelessly all his life. His very death came at the hand of a vengeful former beloved, Pausanias, who had been spurned by the king.

The reasons for Pausanias' assassination of Philip are difficult to fully expound. The only contemporary account in our possession is that of Aristotle who states rather tersely that Philip was killed because Pausanias had been offended by Attalus, the king's father-in-law.

Fifty years later, the historian Cleitarchus expanded and embellished the story. Centuries later, this version was to be narrated by Diodorus Siculus and all the historians who used Cleitarchus. According to the sixteenth book of Diodorus' history, Pausanias had been a lover of Philip, but became jealous when Philip turned his attention to a younger man, also called Pausanias. The older Pausanius' taunting of the new lover caused the younger man to throw away his life, which turned his friend Attalus against Pausanias. Attalus took his revenge by inviting Pausanias to dinner, getting him drunk, then subjecting him to sexual assault.

When Pausanias complained to Philip the king felt unable to chastise Attalus, as he was about to send him to Asia with Parmenion, to establish a bridgehead for his planned invasion. He also married Attalus's niece, or daughter, Eurydice. Rather than offend Attalus, Philip tried to mollify Pausanias by elevating him within the bodyguard. Pausanias' desire for revenge seems to have turned towards the man who had failed to avenge his damaged honour; so he planned to kill Philip, and some time after the alleged rape, while Attalus was already in Asia fighting the Persians, put his plan in action.

Other historians (e.g., Justin 9.7) suggested that Alexander and/or his mother Olympias were at least privy to the intrigue, if not themselves instigators. The latter seems to have been anything but discreet in manifesting her gratitude to Pausanias, according to Justin's report: he says that the same night of her return from exile she placed a crown on the assassin's corpse and erected a tumulus to his memory, ordering annual sacrifices to the memory of Pausanias.

1925 – John Paul De Cecco (d.2017) was an American academic. He was a professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Homosexuality from 1975 to 2009, and a "pioneer of sexuality studies."

John Paul De Cecco was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He had four siblings, and he was of Italian descent. His father was a restaurant and property owner. His three maternal uncles were members of the Mafia who "married prostitutes."

De Cecco graduated from Allegheny College, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1946. He subsequently earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in European history from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1949 and 1953 respectively. He took additional coursework in educational psychology at Michigan State University. He also attended Columbia University in 1968-1970.

De Cecco became an assistant professor of education and psychology at San Francisco State University in 1960. He eventually became a full professor of psychology.

De Cecco took part in the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War. He was a member of the Gay Activists Alliance and the faculty adviser of the Gay Students Coalition at SFSU, co-founded by Mark Thompson. With Michael G. Shively, De Cecco was the co-founder of the Center for Homosexual Education, Evaluation and Research (CHEER) at SFSU in 1975. De Cecco served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Homosexuality from 1975 to 2009. Additionally, he was a "member and sponsor" of the GLBT Historical Society.

He was described as a "pioneer of sexuality studies" who had been "in the forefront of three decades of change in gay-related academia".

1934 – Mark Frankland, British journalist (d.2012), was recruited to MI6 as a young man but left to become a distinguished foreign correspondent for The Observer, principally in Moscow. But though he worked for the paper for more than 30 years, he remained an enigma to his Observer colleagues, who failed to penetrate the mysteries of his family background and his carefully protected personal life.

It was only through his memoir, Child of My Time, written when he was 65, that they learned that he was gay.

His father, Roger, became a wing commander in the war and served at Bletchley Park. Mark's parents were plainly unhappy. They divorced while Mark and his elder brother Timothy were away at school. Mark's mother's second marriage also failed and she became an alcoholic.

Frankland was a withdrawn figure – tall, thin, with penetrating eyes behind rimless glasses, giving little away about himself but inquiring eagerly about the people he was talking to. This was not only a useful quality for a journalist but also for a spy, which he became after graduating from Cambridge.

For National Service, Frankland volunteered for the Royal Navy, where there was an appetite for people with proven ability as Russian translators. He liked learning Russian, rapidly acquiring a working knowledge. And, as he revealed in his memoir, the navy provided the 18-year-old Frankland with a newfound opportunity for gay sex. This section of his memoir rather startled some old friends. It was not that anybody doubted his sexuality, but he had always been discreet about it; neither proud nor ashamed to be gay. Just was.

His knowledge of Russian, which he had learned during National Service with the Navy, marked him out to MI6, and Frankland was recruited after helping a Polish student escape to the West when he was attending a conference in Warsaw.

He was trained to pick locks, use codes and secret inks and eat messages written on special paper. He also learned how to fire a Browning automatic pistol and how to send signals from a beach to a submarine. In an exercise he failed to shake off pursuers who were tailing him, despite jumping on and off Underground carriages as the doors were about to close, as he had seen done in films.

Eventually, after working in MI6's headquarters, he refused a posting to Africa and decided that the world of espionage, dealing in "boyish tricks and thuggery, stealth and deceit", was not for him. He resigned after a year, which was virtually unheard of.

He had no training as a journalist before joining the Observer in 1962 and had to be given lessons in newspaper writing by the veteran Soviet correspondent, Edward Crankshaw.

Frankland's appearance in Moscow as a journalist raised eyebrows at MI6. They thought he might be turned by the Russians if they learned of his intelligence background – as they might well do, given that the traitor George Blake, who had worked in Broadway Buildings when Frankland was there, had compiled a list of British spies for his Kremlin masters.

MI6 approached him and asked him to report on the Russians he was seeing. When he refused, he felt that a black mark had been placed against his name and he was given an uncomfortable grilling at the Ministry of Defence. He sensed he was being followed and that a watch was kept on his London house.

When he was asked bluntly by a colleague in later years "Does one ever really leave MI6?", he replied non-committally: "Now there's a question." In fact, as he explained in his memoir, he found himself caught in a curious espionage halfway house, not fully trusted by London, and certainly not by Moscow.

Frankland made a point of studying the language, history and culture of all the countries he reported on. He was profoundly affected by the war in Vietnam and later helped a Vietnamese family to settle in the West. The war left him with grave doubts about America, but he grew to love the country when The Observer sent him there. In Japan he learned the language and immersed himself in the country's customs. In Czechoslovakia he became a friend of Vaclav Havel.

Mark Frankland was survived by his long-time partner, Dang Thuong Nguyen, a Vietnamese painter and poet.

1963 – Heterosexual Eric McCormack is a Canadian/American actor, musician, writer and producer, best known for playing a gay man in Will and Grace. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School.

For much of the late 1990s, he lived in Los Angeles and had minor roles. He made his feature film debut in the 1992 science fiction The Lost World. McCormack appeared in multiple television series roles, including Top Cops, Street Justice, Lonesome Dove: The Series, Townies, and Ally McBeal. McCormack later gained worldwide recognition for playing Will Truman in the American sitcom Will & Grace, which premiered in September 1998. His performance earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2001.

McCormack received his break-through role in 1998 when he was cast as lawyer Will Truman on NBC's sitcom Will & Grace, a series centered on a gay man (Will) and his Jewish best friend (Grace). McCormack said that when the part came along, he was convinced he was right for the role. "At the end of the audition, Max [Mutchnik, co-creator and executive producer of the show] said 'That was perfect. Just to let you know, you never have to be more gay than that.'"

He explained that when he first read the script, "what hit me immediately was that this was me. I mean, sexual orientation aside, Will was so much like me. He's a great host, he's relatively funny and he has great friends and he's a good friend to them ... the gay issue just wasn't really a big thing."

The show debuted on September 21, 1998 and was watched by almost 8.6 million American viewers. Will and Grace quickly developed a loyal audience, with the show and McCormack receiving strong reviews. John Carman of the San Francisco Chronicle commented that McCormack and Messing worked "nicely" together. Kay McFadden of The Seattle Times also praised McCormack, Messing and the supporting cast as "very funny". For this performance, he earned four Emmy Award nominations (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005), one of which resulted in a win (2001), for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. In addition, he received five Golden Globe Award nominations.

McCormack is a supporter of same-sex marriage and attended a march in Fresno, California, on May 30, 2009, after the Supreme Court of California upheld a ban on same-sex marriage approved by voters in November by ballot Proposition 8.

1950 – Kenny Ortega is an American film and television producer, director, and choreographer, best known for directing Hocus Pocus, the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concerts.

Ortega was born in Palo Alto, California. Initially known for working with dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly on the film Xanadu, Ortega went on to choreographing the dance for the Menudo video "Hold Me", as well as the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and has won awards for choreography in music videos, such as Madonna's "Material Girl". He also worked with The Tubes on their stage shows and directed the video for She's a Beauty.

Ortega directed Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" video, which is often cited as the worst music promo clip ever made and has been blamed by Squier for killing his career. Together with Michael Jackson, he created and designed the Dangerous World Tour 1992-1993 and the HIStory World Tour 1996-1997. He has also choreographed events ranging from Super Bowl XXX, the 72nd Academy Awards, the 1996 Summer Olympics (Atlanta) and the 2002 Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City).

In addition, Ortega has directed and choreographed High School Musical, High School Musical 2, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and was choreographer of The Cheetah Girls 2.

In May 2009, Ortega began work on the scheduled Michael Jackson 50-date This Is It concerts, which was cancelled subsequent to Jackson's sudden death. He directed the concert film Michael Jackson's This Is It which was put together from rehearsal footage recorded at the Los Angeles Forum and the Staples Center.

Ortega directed the Michael Jackson Public Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which was broadcast live on several networks on July 7, 2009. It reached a television audience of 31 million in America, and more than 1 billion worldwide and via the internet. At the end of the service, he introduced a rendition of Jackson's 1985 charity single "We Are the World" created for the This Is It concerts, featuring Jackson's backing singers on lead vocals with his dancers performing around them.

On May 12, 2014, Ortega guest-judged on the 18th season of Dancing with the Stars during the semifinals.In the clip below he talks about life as a gay man today:

1976 – Today's the birthday American actor and singer and multiple Tony award nominee Gavin Creel.

Born in Findlay, Ohio, Creel received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre at the University of Michigan in 1998. He most recently portrayed Claude in the new Broadway revival of Hair for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Actor. Gavin has also appeared on Broadway as Jean-Michel in the 2005 revival of La Cage Aux Folles. He received a Best Actor Tony nomination for his performance as Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Creel originated the role of Hollis Bessemer in the premiere of the Stephen Sondheim musical Bounce. Creel's debut album is titled GoodTimeNation with collaborator Robbie Roth and continues to perform his original music.

Creel, who is openly gay, is a regular on the LGBT RFamilyVacations cruise with Rosie O'Donnell. He is also one of the founders, with Rory O'Malley and Jenny Kanelos, of Broadway Impact, an organization fighting for equality and the LBGT community.

Creel's latest single, "Noise," released in December 2011 and co-written with songwriter Robbie Roth, is intended to raise funds and support for marriage equality across the country. To promote the single, Creel and Roth, along with their friend and colleague, Newsies star Andrew Keenan-Bolger, created a groundbreaking new music video for "Noise," which tackles the entire history of the gay rights movement, and presents it as a pop-visual presentation.

You can find and download the song at iTunes. ($0.99)

1983 – Kansas passes a new sodomy law that makes sodomy for hire a less serious crime than not for hire.

#Youtube

[quordleona03]

What are your thoughts on Charcahy?

They're sort of my NTP in MASH, though the kind of No True Pair where I'm certain someone could probably convincem e if they tried hard enough. Let me explain.

Charles Emerson Winchester is a racist bigot. He has no redemption arc. (In "The Tooth Shall Set You Free", he takes the smallest part possible in the entrapment of Major Weems - and while he may be partly motivated because Weems sending black soldiers into harms' way to get them killed our wounded - but either way out of his unit - was just too much even for him.) His views on people are explicitly formed by how much melanin they have in their skin. He has no redemption arc: we never see him realise he was wrong to think or feel like this. (He does apologise to Honoria for his temper tantrum about her marrying an Italian, but only after the wedding is called off.) As with Potter's villainy, by the time Winchester is part of the series,. his bigotry is played for laughs. It is never supported in-script, but we also made to see that Winchester is - unlike Frank Burns - capable of being civil and even kind to those he despises as inferior to him. (Charles dances with Kellye in the officer's club: he is genuinely sympathetic to Margaret even though he explicitly says to her that after alll, she is marrying out of her kind when she weds Donald Penobscot.) It'm confident he would have remembered to be polite to Ginger Bayliss, if she'd still been part of the nurses corps when he got there.

One reason why I think this: whatever Charles's sexual orienation, I have seen him written convincingly as gay or straight or bisexual or ace - he clearly very much enjoys being with women. The nicest thing about him is his love for his sister Honoria. (I think Cousin Alfred used to bully Honoria over her stutter and Charles never spares a chance to be vicious to him in revenge.) Whether or not Charles is sexually-attracted to women, he is convincingly fond of women's company, and gentlemanly in behaviour even to women he sees as his social inferiors.

Charles is prejudiced against Father Mulcahy. Mulcahy is working-class in origin: he's Irish: he's Catholic: Wincester writes him off as a ditzy optimist, and, for the most part, even his compliments are phrased as "you're a credit to your kind of people". There are two occasions where Charles does go to Father Mulcahy for help - in "Strange Bedfellows", where he's worried that he really does snore, and - much later and with more effect - in "Moral Victory", when he is unable to get over the fact that he was unable to save a pianist's hand. In the latter episode, Charles has simply despaired: he cannot comfort the man he operated on, he wants Father Mulcahy to try. I don't think Charles would let himself find Francis Mulcahy an attractive man. If he did, then I feel their relationship would end when, like Mr Darcy, he made clear to his beloved object how much he realises that a relationship with a man of Mulcahy's sort would be a very bad idea for a Winchester but nonetheless irresistible. Jane Austen had this end happily, but only because Darcy went away, thought about it, realised Elizabeth was right, and reformed himself - but also, Elizabeth realised that at least one of the areas where she had supposed Darcy to be in the wrong - over Mr Wickham - he was actually right: Wickham is a scoundrel. Francis Mulcahy dislikes Charles. Not a passionate dislike - though he does lose his temper at Charles more often than he does at anyone else - but Mulcahy sees Charles's prejudices and vanity and arrogance and while he manages mostly to be good-humoured and surface-friendly to Charles (who is one of his parishioners, even if Charles doesn't want to be) the surface friendliness is abraded sometimes when Charles says or does something that Mulcahy finds infuriating - usually a comment about the Irish.

Father Mulcahy regards the surgeon Charles Emerson Winchester with respect, and the bigot with irritation - and neither feeling is particularly passionate. Mulcahy has heard this kind of thing before. He mostly doesn't allow his irritation to show through. Sometimes he loses his temper with Charles: mostly he succeeds in not doing so: but there is no passion it. Mulcahy dislikes Charles, and his reasons for doing so are quite solidly grounded on the kind of person Charles actually is.

So: I don't see it. Change my mind....

#francis mulcahy #charles emerson winchester iii #father mulcahy #charcahy #mash analysis #mashposting #mash slash #rarepairs #ask #ask me anything

[heresronnie21]

deaf will headcanons

noticed this is a fairly common headcanon so i thought i’d share my thoughts on it:

struggled a lot in school

didn’t know he had hearing loss until arriving at camp

during his time in cabin 11 before being claimed the Stolls figured he was just defiant, which they respected as troublemakers themselves so they never brought it up when handing him over 

it was Michael and Lee that put it together 

constantly woke up late and missed out on showers because he didn’t hear anyone trying to wake him up 

tying into that, he was usually the last up in cabin 7 so he was the last to pick his chores and got saddled with the worst ones 

struggled to make friends because he couldn’t follow conversations, especially since camp activities are mostly in groups. spent a lot of downtime on his own researching his spins.

gets Bad dinner table syndrome 

Lee noticed this and tried to help, it made his loss even harder on Will

it took him a long time to adjust to wearing hearing aids, would get very weepy when he was overwhelmed 

mixes up “s” and “sh” sometimes, especially when he’s not wearing his hearing aids 

LOUD

adhd overstimulation + listening fatigue led to meltdowns of Horrific proportions, as well as lashing out. No one who didn’t know him as a younger camper would expect it but the only camper with more violent incident reports is Clarisse

the first thing he spent his allowance on after getting hearing aids was a pair of over-ear headphones so that he could listen to his mom’s music

repeat deaf metal customer

in fact, he loves customising his hearing aids as much as possible

mostly listens to male singers because he can hear lower-pitched noises more easily (but he IS gay and likes country he’s a Dolly Parton stan for life). 

enjoys the ☆context☆ he gets from his expressive italian boyfriend

uses his glowing powers to light nico well enough that he can read nico’s lips but softly enough it doesn’t trigger nico’s photophobia

#will solace #deaf will solace #solangelo #trials of apollo #the sun and the star

[understance]

Fic idea - Terzo trying to teach you Italian. He teaches you a dirty phrase. You have no idea. Hilarity ensues.

i tried my darndest to get this finished and out as quickly as possible! i hope you enjoy <3

“No no no no- it’s amo, my love. Ah-moe. Try again.” Terzo gave you a small encouraging smile from his spot across from you. The two of you sat at a small table in a corner of the ghouls common room, drinking tea and eating snacks. You had been there for about an hour before Terzo suggested teaching you a bit of Italian, as a way to pass the downtime. 

You nodded, copying the way he had pronounced the word. putting it into a full sentence,”Ti amo?” You questioned, looking up at him for signs of approval or disapproval. “Ah-ha! There you go! I told you you’d get the hang of it.” He exclaimed, looking at you with what could only be described as admiration.

You smiled, muttering a small thanks and ducking your head shyly. Terzo takes a sip of his tea and thinks for a moment- racking his brain for other words and phrases he could teach you. After not even a second of debating on whether or not this was a good idea, he quirks his eyebrows up, setting down his mug and readjusting in his seat. “Oh, i’ve got another good one. How about you try ‘dovremmo scopare’. ”

Without hesitation, you repeat the words, watching as Terzo tries to stifle a giggle behind his hand. Embarrassment washes over you, “Why are you laughing? What did you just make me say?” He only shakes his head, lowering his hand and successfully pushing down his giggle-fit. 

“It just means ‘you’re handsome’, nothing bad, I promise.” He lies straight through his teeth, holding his hands up in mock innocence. You glare at him for a second before coming to the conclusion that he would never make you say anything bad that could get you into trouble. “Hm, alright then.” You huff, taking a swig of your tea. 

After a brief (and slightly awkward) silence, Terzo’s eyes light up with another stupid idea. “Say…why don’t you go say that to our dear Omega? I’m sure he could use a sweet, small pick-me-up.” He nods towards the couch where the quintessence ghoul sat with Dewdrop and Alpha, browsing through TV channels. 

You think it over. While it could potentially come off as creepy and forward, he has been having a particularly rough week. With balancing his nurse duties, helping Aether ease in the new quintessence ghoul, and struggling with helping out paying taxes, he’s had a lot on his plate. 

“Sure, why not?” 

You take one last drink from your tea and stand up, walking over to the couch and stopping to stand off to the side -by the armrest- next to where Omega was sat. “Hey, Omega?” He turns his attention from the TV to you, fully rotating his torso, and smiles. “Hello there, caro. What can I do for you?” 

You shuffle your feet anxisoulsy, slightly intimidated by the big ghoul before you. Even while sitting, it was hard to ignore his size. You take a deep breath and hit a metaphorical ‘fuck it’ button in your brain, “Dovremmo scopare.”  

You watch as Omega’s expression changes- eyebrows shooting up and mouth falling open in surprise. From further down the couch, Dew bursts into laughter- gripping at his stomach and folding over himself. 

Immediately you realize somethings wrong. You damn near give yourself whiplash from how fast you turn to face Terzo, watching as he too begins to laugh. Your stomach drops, “What did I just say?!” 

Terzo tries to answer, but everytime he opens his mouth to speak he laughs even harder at his own stupid, childish joke. Alpha pipes in from the other end of the couch, “Uh, it means ‘we should fuck’.”  

Horror washes over you. You cover your face and sink to the floor, wishing it would consume you and drag you down into the deepest pit of Hell. You just said that to Omega. OMEGA. One of the most well respected, mature, and powerful ghouls in all of the Clergy. Scratch that- the most powerful ghoul in the Clergy. 

Omega reaches over to lightly pat your back, both comforting and reassuring you that he didn’t think you were a complete weirdo. 

You were going to drown Terzo, you decided.

#the band ghost fanfiction #ghost band fanfic #the band ghost fic #fanfic #the band ghost #ghost #ghost terzo #omega ghoul #alpha ghoul #dew ghoul

[chrisevansluv]

I know the whole truth behind CE and AB PR relationship. He found the love of his life in a Brazilian woman, but Megan doesn't allow them to be together and deceived him into believing that he needed a public relations relationship to get more visibility. But the truth is that she (Meg) used it to distance the Brazilian from him and prevent the two from meeting.

They chatted via whatsapp and the agent started to speak in his place, pretending to be him to hurt the Brazilian, even asking for money so that she could meet him. She thinks she achieved her goal and the Brazilian didn't notice, but the girl understood everything. I have evidence

He met the Brazilian in the most unusual way possible, she sent him a letter in the mail in 2020. They started talking since then, but there was always someone to get in the way. It is not the first time that the two, she and Chris, have been deceived. An assistant of his also pretended to be him in the past to hurt her feelings. She discovered the truth and managed to show it to him. But now it happened again and she can't access him anymore. They have such a beautiful, pure and true love. They are soulmates! She loves the trees and the sky, she sent him a letter in a purple envelope, she's brunette, almost his age, she told him her favorite Italian composer…

I need to hide her identity out of respect for her privacy, but this is proof: Brazilians are good at fighting, right?! She is fierce! lol

[21/12, 12:36] she: Christopher, I've tried to give you up, but I can't. I can't forget you, I can't stop thinking about you. I love you, I miss you so much. Come stick with me. You promised me to spend Christmas with me. Come please.

Summer has already arrived, I'm beautiful and hot with a bikini mark. The beach calls you. 😊 Come so we can talk, look each other in the eye and see what happens. Let's have fun and love each other. [21/12, 12:40] Chris Evans: Honey you block me because of money [21/12, 12:40] Chris Evans: You and mummy [21/12, 12:40] Chris Evans: You don't make the payment for us to meet why [21/12, 12:41] Chris Evans: I told you make the payment so we can meet together [21/12, 12:45] she: oh lord I was thinking he was already here. But it's still you, dog! [21/12, 12:46] Chris Evans: You call me a dog? [21/12, 12:48] she: Yeah, that's just who you are, pau mandado [21/12, 12:49] Chris Evans: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 [21/12, 12:52] she: Satanás , é você?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 [21/12, 12:54] Chris Evans: Honey why are you doing this to me honey [21/12, 12:55] she: Just send him my message, okay [21/12, 13:19] she: Do you work for Megan, right? [21/12, 13:21] she: We have a saying here in my country: I am Brazilian and I never give up! So let her know I won't give up on him, e.v.e.r. [21/12, 14:46] Chris Evans: Who are you talking about honey [21/12, 15:00] she: 1. You are the dog

Send my message to Chris, okay, dog?!

You can show Megan too [21/12, 15:01] Chris Evans: I don't understand you [21/12, 15:01] Chris Evans: What do you mean [21/12, 15:05] she: Just do what I told you, pau mandado [21/12, 15:05] Chris Evans: Pick my call [21/12, 15:06] she: No. I don't use to talk to dogs [21/12, 15:06] Chris Evans: Who is the dog 🐕 [21/12, 15:19] she: Did Megan like my voice? [21/12, 17:54] Chris Evans: Honey [21/12, 17:54] Chris Evans: Honey [21/12, 17:57] she: Yes, Megan [21/12, 18:05] Chris Evans: What are you doing me this [21/12, 18:06] she: What are you doing me this [21/12, 18:11] she: Why you don't like me? What right do you have to rule his life? [21/12, 18:15] Chris Evans: Honey you have to know I love you too [21/12, 18:15] Chris Evans: Please [21/12, 18:15] Chris Evans: Come back to me okay [21/12, 18:15] Chris Evans: I don't like this way your giving me honey [21/12, 18:19] she: You really don't know the truth, do you? Ask Megan. Oh no she won't tell because she is very bitter and will never say how jealous she is. Does she do therapy?! It's a very good thing to do [21/12, 18:34] Chris Evans: You mean I should send your number to Chris Evans right [21/12, 18:36] she: Oh, now you know?! [21/12, 18:42] Chris Evans: Okay send your email [21/12, 18:43] she: Aeeeeee kkkkkkk, idiota 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 thanks [21/12, 18:52] she: No need, no, he already has [21/12, 18:54] Chris Evans: Honey what is going on [21/12, 18:54] Chris Evans: Who are you talking about [21/12, 19:02] she: Are you afraid? Tell Megan I don't bite. You know, I'm praying for her all the time. Maybe she can be a good person [21/12, 19:25] Chris Evans: I don't understand [21/12, 20:02] she: bye

Good fanfic

#cevansluv #anon

[wesninskijr]

@juliejoyfuls sooo I went in on this,, it's kinda all over the place ngl and I haven't read tkm or the additional content yet so there might be some that contradict canon,,, but I stay sillay :3

part 1: the upperclassmen first bc they're woefully underdeveloped. Part 2 monsters Soon

1. 🧡 Dan Wilds🦊- (I'll be using he/him pronouns bc of my trans hc :3 )

🐾 um Adam Parrish to the max. Getting all his money taken by his family and then cutting them off as soon as possible? "Trailer trash"? I couldn't believe the similarities. Bc of this he Hates for his space to get to messy. He's always going around picking up after his friends (unless he's drunk, then he sits in Matt's lap and doesn't worry about it).

🐾He likes Italian food the best

🐾Unironic pop music lover and will launch into a rant about how the 2000s were the best time for pop music

🐾Motherfucker who wears athletic wear exclusively

🐾 His tiktoks have vine energy bc he has an impeccable sense of when they boys are about to do something funny

🐾He likes to be organized but doesn't bother with a planner - he's a rebel like that. Besides what's on the calendar in the foxhole court lounge he keeps it all in his head (but he does utilize sticky notes)

🐾Matt is his peace. Matt knows when to stand up for him and when to be quiet (but Dan gives him hints by squeezing his nails into him).

🐾One time he did this sort of Gus Waters (tfios) thing where he laid down on the dorm floor and pretended to be dead and had everyone give an impromptu eulogy. He played it off as a joke but Matt suspected he was trying to get some reassurance about his place in the world.

🐾Despite sidestepping his own feelings, he's one of the more articulate and careful when it comes to helping his teammates. He has an uncanny ability to sense exactly what someone's struggling with emotionally and bring it up tactfully, like Neil taking too many classes

🐾Many things rage trigger him. Stupid people in class mostly, but he tries to keep it in check by ranting to Matt or the group chat when he feels like it would be a waste of time to yell at whoever he's mad at.

🐾Matt and Wymack are good to push and shove if he needs a physical outlet. They're also good to curl up to when Dan inevitably breaks down crying after a rage episode.

🐾I once saw a tiktok of a stripper that was like "when men give me all their money and think they're in love with me but I'm just a little autistic boy in a wig". Yeah thats him. He likes his stripper girlfriends and they like him because they're all scrappy and do what it takes to survive. Dan respects that in anyone.

🐾 When the monsters took him to Eden's he was Pissed the Fuck Off about being drugged and gave them all a mouthful for that for 45 minutes before it fully kicked in and he started to answer questions

🐾Likes "white trash" movies like the hangover and we're the millers. Been watching South park since he was a kid

🐾Sweet tooth boy :3 he loves candy, especially chocolate. Has Matt trained to catch m&ms in his mouth

2. 🧡Matt Boyd🦊 -

🐾He has this bumbumz named Matt on his bed. He has several stuffed animals because the upperclassmen (and Neil) buy them for him and he's not too masculine to keep them on his bed. They get ones that remind them of him like sharks and bears

🐾 He dresses like a redneck with bootcut jeans and boots on a normal day (Allison, throwing up)

I feel like him and Seth make out when they're drunk!!! I'm sorry I want this to be them

Dan and Allison both support it so they have a reason to tell Seth to shut the fuck up when he gets on Nickys case.

🐾This horrible bastard likes country music. Do not give him the aux cord. He also likes to hike when he can, to the see mountains and waterfalls. Renee and Dan are sometimes down. If seth and Allison come it's to drink around the bonfire.

🐾 Loves karaoke and likes to let his friends pick the song for maximum silly. Picture him doing Superstar by the Carpenters (Allison's choice) or Rockstar by nickelback (Seth's choice)

🐾He likes action movies and spy movies (John wick, James bond, and of course fast & furious)

🐾Will eat most food but he likes sushi best. He has this in common with Allison. Dan once got sick after eating sushi and will now barely touch it.

🐾When the monsters took Matt to Eden's Twilight he just rambled on about how he doesn't feel like he fits in anywhere. Not redneck enough for SC, not preppy enough to fall in with rich kids. How he feels like a fuckup rich kid doing it for attention, like he doesn't deserve to be a fox. Andrew was like jfc I didn't sign up to do emotional labor on this man. Matt feels good when he's high and with the upperclassmen tho.

🐾Absolutely holds a grudge for Andrew forcing him to get clean by making him too high and sick. Thinks its fucked up that Aaron got the same loving treatment and begrudges that Aaron won't talk to him about it.

3. 🧡Seth Gordon🦊 -

🐾 horrible ex scene kid. Has studded belts and fingerless gloves in his closet. I see him with snake bites and/or an eyebrow piercing. Don't give his ass the aux cord either - he likes Hollywood undead, 3OH!3, and msi. Also likes YouTube video game music that treads dangerously close to nightcore. Has dyed his hair black. Dunked on 1D but listened to blood on the dance floor

🐾Watches video game twitch streamers and would do that if he wansnt playing exy. Wants Allison to be his hot cat ears gamer girl bath water twitch gf. Allison doesn't hate the aesthetic but doesn't wanna give him the satisfaction simply because it would go directly to his dick

🐾Mr. Where's my redbull and vape. Allison or Matt has to make him eat breakfast.

🐾Definitely takes ab thirst trap pics in the gym mirror

🐾Dyscalculia king. Neil helps him with math and it's painful for everyone involved

🐾His trauma is giving Ron Anderson meets Ethan r&m to me. Gotta be something with his dad. He wakes up anxious and Matt has to calm his nerves by being stable and gives him any medicine he needs. If he heard a balloon pop during this time he would recreate Gordys Home.

🐾Does crackers and smokes weed, but he and Allison are the annoying couple that exclusively smokes together or he has to call/text her and ask

🐾He likes fast good best. Give him pizza, nuggets, fries, or taco bell and he's happy. He also mixes food together like Allison Reynolds (lol) from the breakfast club, like making a cereal sandwich.

🐾Matt and Allison split the work of taking care of him and it makes Seth sooo happy to have a dependable bro who likes him all the time and doesn't think he's an asshole

🐾Lets himself get dragged to whatever publicity events Allison has to do when she's back home with her family, even lets her put him in suits and style his hair instead of wearing a fucking Rick and Morty hoodie and sweats

🐾His favorite movies are 80s and 90s black comedies (Heather's lover JD kinnie)

4. 🧡Allison Reynolds 🦊-

🐾 also a pop music warrior of course but also definitely kpop (girl groups mostly). Definitely makes seth watch the videos and learn their names. Has a light stick for the concerts.

🐾She loves to wear heels and feels very natural in them. Very coordinated bc of this and is the hero that brings the drinks from the bar to the table.

🐾Buys Seth expensive man jewelry and doesn't care if he likes it, it's worth it for her to see him look nice

🐾She likes to be platinum blonde or at least have streaks in her hair

🐾Dyson hair tools warrior (I don't actually know what they're called bc I've only ever heard about them secondhand lol). Makeup expert. Does related brand deals for her insta

🐾Also a sushi warrior Claire Standish style and Seth thinks she's insane for it. Can take a Wasabi shot without blinking. Eats Wasabi peas as a snack (and feeds them to Renee).

🐾She likes reality TV like Jersey Shore and the Simple life. Her tiktok likes are filled with edits or people lip syncing iconic moments from them. Does not give a shit about movies, especially Matt and Seth's horrible man movies. She was so glad when Neil moved in and they had someone else to indoctrinate

🐾Hates having to drink wine and champagne at public events. She likes to drink vodka and get riggity riggity wreckedddd

5.🧡 Renee Walker🦊 -

🐾She loves blind bag toys. She has a weird power where the one she wants is a common one but she'll pull the ultra rare one she wasn't even looking for. She trades with Allison in this case.

🐾Her favorite movie candy is nerd clusters and she likes breakfast food the best :3 she's happy if you throw her an egg Mcmuffin any time of the day

🐾She listens to Christian contemporary and artists that started on Disney. The first CD she bought with her own money was Hillary Duff's Metamorphosis.

🐾Her first foray into hair dying was with kool-aid packs. Dip dying. Maybe if she'd known seth he would have given her raccoon tails with sharpies

🐾She likes to draw and write on her hands. She does it when she's anxious or wants to hurt herself (and Andrew isn't around to spar with). She likes to know she created something beautiful out of her bad feelings.

🐾Tiny butterfly clip girlie. The foxes are always stealing her tiny clips and bracelets. She's also got big keychain swag and they steal cute little trinkets for her keyring.

🐾Instead of a purse she carries a little backpack, maybe even a stuffed animal one, and always has a pocket for survival supplies. Bandaids, a knife, a lighter, even matches. It makes Dan feel safe to know that she's prepared (Dan won't carry a bag because he's Masc™).

🐾She likes to do conservative makeup Buffy Summers style with cute colorful eyeshadows and lip tints

🐾She's one of the only foxes that I have an actual fancast for - I've imagined her as Hunter Schafer from the start. This is Renee Walker to me.

#dan wilds #matt boyd #seth gordon #allison reynolds #renee walker #aftg #aftg hc #thanks for tuning in

[maybetomoko]

Yuji Itadori (Jjk Official Fanbook)

“I have already decided how my life will end.”

Age: 15 years old

Birthday: 20 march 

Birth place: Miyagi 

Method of enrollment: scouting 

Technique: none 

Ability: divergent punch, he can use black lightning 

Hobby/Particular capacity: karaoke, watching the TV, imitations 

Favourite food: any kind of rice bowl with something on it, noodles 

Food he doesn't like: none 

Source of stress: scientific subjects (he failed molecular sciences)

His type: Jennifer Lawrence (tall girls with big butts)

Q: What is the originin of the his name? 

A: The surname comes from a medicinal herb, Reynoutria Japonica, while I took the name from a classmate of mine. I tried to make the names as realistic as possible. 

Q: His hair are dyed?

A: No, his hair are naturals. 

Q: Does he usually talk to Sukuna? 

A: I wouldn't say. The two of them don't get along at all.

Q: Seems that Sukuna talks frequently when he is alone. Can he sleep at night? 

A: Yes, he has no problem. Itadori can sleep comfortably also on the asphalt of the Tomei Expressway (which connects Tokyo to Nagoya).

Q: What would happen if Itadori, who has a strong resistance to curses, ate an cursed uterus Kusozu?

A: In the case that he ingested a Kusozu instead of Sukuna, the consciousness of the cursed womb would disappear and become evil energy inside of Itadori. If on the other hand, he ingested it now that he had already assimilated Sukuna, the Kusozu would be erased from the curse.

Q: Itadori practices martial arts? 

A: No, none in particular. He learned some karate from his grandfather. Even the "manji-geri" we see in volume 14 was merely the best move he could think of using at that time. 

Q: Which are the movies that Itadori saw during his training with Gojo?

A: I don’t remember well… I think was Léon, The Descent, The Host, Yuki yukite shingun. The film that Gojo anticipates is Deep Blue. 

Q: Is there something that Itadori can’t absolutely tolerate? 

A: A disgusting wickedness.

Q: Does Itadori have friends other than those at the Occult Arts Institute? Does he still in contact with his friends from middle school or his hometown? 

A: He had friends like everyone else but since he only started having a cell phone after he got to the institute, you can imagine how it continued. 

Q: Which type of job would make Itadori do if he had not become a sorcerer? 

A: He probably would have become a firefighter. 

Q: Does he have a favourite tv show or a preferred genre? 

A: I imagine him like a omnivore, one who leaves the TV on and he watches it continually. 

Q: Is he the type who always does homework for school is vacation homework? 

A: He is the type that does his homework the day before. Anyway, even if he does his homework at the last minute, he always turns it in. 

Q: What event in his hometown caused him to be called "the tiger of the Nishi School?"

A: I never thought about it. Maybe some students had tried to pick a fight with him thinking they would win and he beat them up, or he routed thugs to save someone and then people started talking. 

Q: If Itadori and Todo were not sorcerers but went to the same middle school, would they have become good friends? 

A: Yes, I think they would have both felt sympathy one way or another. 

Q: How did Itadori feel when Yuko Ozawa asked him to take a picture together at the graduation ceremony? 

A: “Ah, a photo, eh? Okay!”

Q: Itadori seems to have many hoodies. Is this a part of his character design that he particularly cares about? 

A: I wouldn't say, it is just that I am used to drawing him with a hood. 

Q: You once said that you don't like Itadori very much. Why choose as the main character a character with whom you have difficulty? 

A: It's not that I don't like him, it's just that I'm not good at handling him and I'm trying to improve in that respect. Incidentally, given the trend, I'm well on my way to giving him a bad end. 

(this translation is from italian to english, so there might be some grammatical mistakes (or maybe not). anyway i decided to start translating some pages of jjk's official fanbook because i love jjk and i would like to improve my english. you can reblog my translations no problem; it actually makes me happy to know that someone finds what i translate interesting. anyway if you decide to reblog, i would like you to use the hashtag i use, so: tomokotranslates or tomoko's translations or even both, as you prefer)

#tomokotranslates #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk fanbook #jujutsu manga #jujutsu itadori #itadori yūji #yuji itadori #jjk yuuji #jujutsu kaisen manga #jujutsu kaisen fanbook #yuuji itadori #jjk manga #itadori yuuji #tomoko's translations #itadori yuji