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#kitbag
ic-napology · 1 year
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Habemus a release date guys!
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skills2survive · 1 year
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Put your money into quality gear from small companies such as @hillpeoplegear @tuffpossumgear @cdhtac_fin. . . . . Follow me ➡️ @skills2survive ⛺️ . . . . #qualitygear #outdoors #outdoorsman #skills2survive #tuffpossumgear #hillpeoplegear #hillpeoplegearkitbag #kitbag #multipurposeseatpad #cdhtacfinland #supportsmallbusiness #survivalgear #traumakit #outdoorgear https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDX9KyufIB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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ralugraphics · 2 years
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This painting has made me a very, VERY happy girl 🙈💖
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@ralu.graphics on Instagram
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wildonlineblog · 3 days
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REVIEW- CANON RS-80N3 REMOTE SWITCH
RS-80N3 REMOTE SWITCH❤️❤️❤️❤️ Here’s another personal favourite and kit bag staple , the Canon RS-80N3 cabled remote switch. It comes with an 80cm fixed cable. The N3 connector is compatible with a number Canon bodies including my personal choice the mirrorless Canon R5 , The link at the bottom of this review has a list of all the cameras this remote fits. The remote switch allows shake free…
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heegasports · 9 months
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Heega Pro Duffle Cricket Kit Bag Ideal for Beginner Cricketers. This Kit Bag comes with dedicated compartments built for easy access to all your cricket gear. It is spacious yet compact – Large enough to carry all your match day kit.
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girlstressed · 3 months
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everything is futile and pointless until u buy yourself a little candy bar and then your will to live comes back
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sunkingwrites · 4 months
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NAILS @artistic-endchamber <3
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vibesfc · 9 months
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he fits in perfectly ~
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bestbaseballreview · 1 year
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Best Baseball Bags For Catchers
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Baseball bags for catchers are specially designed to carry all of a catcher's gear, including chest protectors, shin guards, catcher's mitt, helmet, and other accessories. These bags are typically larger and more durable than regular baseball bags, as they need to hold the extra weight and bulk of the catcher's gear.
There are different types and brands of baseball bags for catchers available on the market, from simple duffel bags to more complex wheeled bags with multiple compartments and organizational features. Popular brands include Easton, Rawlings, Mizuno, and Wilson.
When choosing a baseball bag for a catcher, it is essential to consider factors such as size, durability, ease of transportation, and organizational features. Some bags come with additional features such as ventilation to prevent moisture buildup and odors.
A good baseball bag for catchers should be spacious, durable, and well-organized, ensuring that the catcher's gear is safe and easy to access during transportation to and from games and practices.
Read More: https://bestbaseballreviews.com/best-baseball-bags-for-catchers
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ic-napology · 1 year
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And it seems it will be on theaters too!
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blogjeepster · 1 year
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redbubble.com/people/Buckwig/shop?
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procricshop1 · 1 year
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wildonlineblog · 10 days
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REVIEW- CANON RF 800mm f11 IS STM LENS
Canon RF 800mm f11 IS STM Lens The Canon Rf 800mm f11 IS STM is a super telephoto prime lens , big brother to the 600mm f11 and another staple part of my kit bag. So I may be a little biased , this compact lens that I pair with a Canon R5 body gives me stunning optical performance , quick and quiet autofocus thanks to the STM motor and with 4-stop image stabilisation the ability to shoot hand…
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prokicksports · 2 years
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Yonex SUNR 2215 Badminton Kitbag, Black/Royal – Prokicksports
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This Yonex Badminton Kit Bag is equipped with latest design and material which offers attractive look to players. These color combinations provide attractive aesthetics to this kit bag. Main compartment for storing approx. 4 to 5 Rackets.
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repulsiveliquidation · 5 months
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Crippled.
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María León x Ingrid Engen x Reader [SMUT!]
the cutest duo am i right
word count : 2.6k
warnings : fluffy smut, bon appetit.
“Ready, mi amor?”
“Si, just let me get my bag.”
Mapi stood at the door with her kitbag, grabbing her keys when you walked up to her with your medical bag. You had just been announced as the head of the medical team for Barcelona Femeni and it was your first day. Your girlfriends recommended you to the board when you were helping Alexia with her ACL; the board decided to use your expertise on the team upon her recommendation and you got the job, moving on from your private practice.
You were a little nervous about the position; the team was made up of elite athletes that relied on you to keep them healthy and injury-free to be able to do their jobs the best they can. You had met them all, but since you’ve never cared for them except for Alexia, Mapi and Ingrid so you were scared that you would mess up and cost the team.
“I’m ready.” You tell her, smiling up at your girlfriend.
“The barça crest looks good on you.” She tells you proudly, holding the door open for you as you walked to her car.
“Please, you’ve seen it on me hundreds of times.”
“It’s one thing to see you in my jersey or Ingrid’s amor, never fails to make my heart go crazy.”
“I love you,” you tell her, blushing lightly when she opens your door for you; Ingrid already sitting inside.
“I love you too,” She whispers quietly, leaning in to kiss your cheek.
//
You walk to training together, they follow you into the medical room to introduce you to everyone and to get you settled. Ingrid kisses your head and Mapi kisses you before leaving, heading to training while you work up a health plan for each and every one of the players.
You come out to the pitch a while later to introduce yourself to the team which isn’t necessary since the girls are over at your house at least once a week anyway and you knew all of them well. They come over to say hello at a water break, Alexia gives you a hug when Mapi comes up from behind and hugs you as you talk to Irene, Patri and Ingrid.
“Go back to practice, clingy.”
“I wanna hang out with you.”
“We live in the same house, you will live without me for a bit. Go.”
“Asshole.”
“That is so sweet of you, love.”
She lets go and kisses your cheek before running back on the pitch with Ingrid following her. You speak with Jonatan for a bit to discuss how he wished to have the medical team at games and such. You go back inside after, waving to the girls.
Ingrid and Mapi find you in your office after training, freshly showered and ready to go home. You make them sit and wait a bit, finalizing a little work before shaking Mapi awake to go home. You drive, the two girls too tired as they both fall asleep on the way.
Mapi crashes on the couch snoring while Ingrid forces herself upstairs, you chuckle and clean out their kit bags and do a load of laundry before starting on dinner. Mapi wakes up when she smells the steak you’re cooking, trudging to the kitchen grumpily.
“Hello sleepy head.”
“Hola,” she grunts back, sitting on the counter and rubbing her eyes.
You hand her a bottle of water and force her to have half, knowing she was probably thirsty but too stubborn to drink water. She jumps off the counter and throws the finished bottle in the trash before standing behind you and hugging you like she did earlier. She kisses your neck softly, arms snaked under her hoodie you had on.
“Dinner will be ready in 5, baby.”
“I’ll set the table. You’re the best, you know that?”
“I know.”
She laughs and lets go, setting the table before calling for Ingrid. You walk in with three plates, putting theirs in front of them before sitting down with your own. Ingrid digs in, sighing when she takes a bite. You smile and watch her eating as you join her while Mapi scarfs down her food at lightning speed.
“You hungry?” you ask her teasingly, grinning when she looks up with a mouth full of food.
“You’re in the wrong profession bebé.”
“These hands save lives and feed them. I love both babe; it makes me happy to see you both and the girls enjoy my cooking. Besides, it helps me destress from work.”
//
“Y/N!”
You heard your name being called during a game against Real Madrid. You look up and grab your medical bag and rush onto the field without knowing which player you’re treating. When you get there, your heart nearly stops. It’s María, face wincing in pain.
“María? Talk to me love, what hurts?”
“What doesn’t?”
“Quit being a smartass, tell me what hurts!”
“Ankle, I think her studs caught it.”
You move lower and grasp her leg, examining her ankle. You twist it to see the reaction and she yells out. Ingrid is kneeling by her head and stroking her hair, whispering softly to her to calm her down. You carefully pull her boot off followed by her sock, her ankle already starting to bruise.
“She’s out, she can’t play like this.”
“I can, just need a minute.”
“You will not, I’m pulling you off.”
The tone you used got her to stop arguing, you motioned for the stretcher to haul her off the pitch. Ona was already warmed up and ready to go, taking her spot in the game while you tended to Maria.
She sat in the examination room quietly as you iced her ankle and taped her up. She winced and whined which you promptly ignored, knowing she would complain about it after. You helped her back to the benches to watch the rest of the game, keeping her leg elevated and thoroughly iced.
“Are you okay, elskling?” asked Ingrid after the game, helping María into the car after she showered and changed, both of them positively excited by the win.
“Yes but no one has kissed it better yet.” She replies with a pout, you roll your eyes at her as you put their bags in the back with yours.
“Our Y/N didn’t kiss it better? What kind of doctor are you?” Ingrid accused you, Mapi nodding deftly with her. You chuckle and look at both of them in disbelief, hopping into the driver’s seat. Mapi was in the back with her leg across the backseat, Ingrid climbing into the passenger seat grinning.
“I did my job, I will not coddle you María.”
“I am your girlfriend, the contract says you must coddle me.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“No.”
“Any discomfort?”
“Not really.”
“Can you put pressure on your leg despite it being black and blue?”
“Yes, it’s perfectly wrapped.”
“Then I did my job.”
She huffs, crossing her arms and pouting.
“Fine, I will kiss it better when we get home.”
“You big softy.”
“Your leg is about to be even worse, María.”
//
“Y/N!”
“Yes?”
“Can you help me?”
You walk into the living room to find Mapi reaching for the TV remote on the coffee table. Ingrid is sitting there with a book, apparently ignoring Mapi.
“I can’t reach the remote.”
“Why did you call me when she’s literally sitting right there? I’ve got food on the stove!”
“She’s ignoring me.”
“And why is that, love?”
“I threw her book across the room when she didn’t want to cuddle me.”
“Sounds like you deserve it then.”
“I am injured! You’re both supposed to pity me! Baby me!”
“You don’t throw your girlfriends book across the room when she tries to read!”
“And you don’t call her a hundred and one times just to get you the remote!”
María leaned forward and managed to grab the remote, grinning up at you proudly.
“Got it! Sorry babe, don’t need you after all!”
“Call me one more time María León and I will make sure you never walk again.”
She cowers, turning on the tv and watching it till dinner time. You bring dinner to the both of them and enjoy a little tv along with it. Ingrid cleans up and comes back to cuddle you, pulling you into her arms as her hands thread through her hair. You scoot Mapi up between your legs gently, braiding her hair into small locks. Suddenly she speaks up, looking at the both of you propped up on her elbow.
“I’m sorry I annoyed the both of you today. I just wanted your attention but I guess I just didn’t know how to say it without sounding pathetic.”
Both you and Ingrid sit up and look at each other in shock. Mapi sat herself up too, Ingrid and you moving around to kneel before her. She looks at her hands, picking at a hangnail.
“Darling, you never have to do that to get our attention. You just have to ask us, we’ll both drop everything for you.”
“You’ll never sound pathetic for asking us to love on you mi amor, that’s what we’re here for! You deserve it, you never have to hide it bebé.”
She smiles, biting her lip. You lean in and kiss her, gently caressing her leg. Ingrid moves behind her, kissing down her neck and rubbing her arms. Mapi moans into the kiss, hands flailing between you and Ingrid, unsure of what to do.
You lean over and kiss Ingrid over Mapi’s shoulder as she watches, eyes wide. Nothing turns her on more than seeing both her girlfriends making out. Ingrid takes the lead in the kiss, cradling your head how she wants, obviously licking into your mouth as your tongues taste each other. Mapi outwardly moans, which makes the both of you pull away slowly.
“Wanna join us upstairs, cariño?”
“Upstair­–I am a CRIPPLE!”
“Just joking, hold on.”
You pick her up easily, leading the way up to your bedroom. Mapi leans into your neck and kisses you, biting down softly. You gently set her on the bed, stripping her of her clothes. Ingrid suddenly pulls you into her, kissing you hotly as she makes Mapi watch. She makes a show of groping and caressing you, your hands tangled in her messy hair. She moans when you tug, pulling away to attach your mouth to her unmarked neck. She keens, holding onto you as you bite and suck. Mapi is touching herself, hand dipped between her legs as she noisily gets wetter and wetter.
“Enjoying the show?” Ingrid asks her, hands beginning to pull off your clothes sensually. Mapi watched with dark eyes, slipping a finger into herself as you swayed your hips and kissed lower down Ingrid’s body. You did the same to her, pulling off her clothing and tossing them about the room. Mapi moaned loudly when you kneeled before Ingrid and kissed between her legs. You pulled her underwear down and leaned in, kissing her barely peeking clit. You spread her a little and feasted, licking and sucking on her as she pulled your hair and keened. Mapi had two long fingers inside her now, the wet sounds coming from both sides of the room as you aided each other in getting off. Ingrid pushes you to kneel before the bed, leaning back for her to ride your face. You let her get comfortable before she pulls your hair back and grinds herself down on your face. Your nose devotes itself to grazing her clit as your tongue sticks out for her to sink herself on. She groans and looks up to see Mapi panting and fingering herself, eyes focused on the scene in front of her.
Ingrid pulls away just before she cums, leaning in to give you a searing kiss. She groans and pulls your face into hers when she tastes herself so potently on your tongue. Mapi screams incoherent Spanish, cumming hard from the erotic live show she’s got to give herself mind-numbing pleasure.
The two of you grin and climb onto the bed to kiss her, lips locked in a hot three-way lip-smacking fight for dominance. Mapi comes out of top, pulling the both of you off her to make out for her to watch briefly. She smirks at you and kisses both of you separately, giving it to both of you how you like it.
“Grab my strap for me, darling.” Mapi tells you, you hop off the bed and do what she asks while Ingrid checks on her leg. It’s been a couple days and she’s really resting just as precaution, but the two of you worry about her anyway.  
Ingrid helps her put it on, while you sit at the foot of the bed and watch. Mapi strokes it briefly before looking at you, gesturing you to come to her. You crawl to her slowly, swaying your hips just to tease. She smirks and waits patiently, pulling you to straddle her hips. The strap pokes your inner thigh when you sit on her, Ingrid leaning in to kiss you softly as Mapi caresses your thighs.
“Want you to ride me, niña.”
You whine and sit up, arousal becoming more evident when her hand slips between your legs and pulls away soaked. No one had touched you at this point, your pent-up arousal pooling generously in your cunt.
“No need for lube, wanna see you sit on my cock angel, come on.”
You listen, holding her cock steady for you to sink down onto it. You whine and shudder as it fills you, the stretch pleasant and painful at the same time. It was soul-snatchingly addicting. You bounced a little, testing the waters. Ingrid kissed you and slowly rubbed your clit, Mapi’s hands caressed your thighs and hips, softly encouraging you as you took more and more of her cock.
Finally, fully speared on her, you slowly rode her cock; moaning loudly when she gave your ass a couple hard smacks. Ingrid moved to ride her face, facing you to lean in and make out. It was pleasurable for all of you, your hands held Ingrid’s as she cupped your cheeks and kissed you harder. Mapi was devouring her pussy, noisy slurps filled the room as it blended with the slick sounds between your legs. You cried out her name when her cock grazed your spot, angling your hips to hit it each time you sank down on her. It made your head spin; her cock filled you deep and full.
Ingrid was also panting now, your hands groping at her breasts as she resumed circling her fingers over your swollen clit. Everyone was close, orgasms right there ready for us to grasp. You were riding Mapi harder now, bouncing on her thick cock, desperately pleading to cum. Ingrid was the same, grinding down on her face while reached back to pull on her hair.
You grabbed Ingrid’s face when you came, kissing her fervently as she came right after you. Mapi too reached her peak for the second time that night, chin wet with a fucked-out smile on her face.
//
“All healed now, Maps?” Ona asked her as you all got on the plane to travel to Frankfurt.
“Yes, I am fit as a fiddle. Did you know that sex is the best medicine?”
“I will injure you again, María. I may heal people for a living, but remember; I know how to undo the healing and that is a promise.” You told her, the whole plane laughing when the defender cowered into her seat and tried to hide behind Lucy as you and Ingrid gave her the death stare.
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updownlately · 5 months
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i want you to be (the only one for me)
| leah williamson x reader | angst | 10.3k | a/n: part II of this fic based on this ask! thank you guys for all your lovely messages on the first part! two months later and we finally got a part two 😅. huge huge s/o to @rockyren for beta reading this! hopefully you guys like this one as much as the first! happy reading! 🫶 (read part i here)
~~~
Two days.
Two days is all it took for Leah to realize how miserable she was. 
If the blonde thought that you being distant earlier was painful, then she was sorely unready for how bad your actual absence would hurt.
There was something utterly unsettling in the way the car seemed so empty as she’d entered it, a lump in her throat forming as her drives to and from practice were now blanketed with silence, a stark contrast to the music-filled joyrides she would have with you. 
From what used to be one hand casually on the steering wheel with the other firmly intertwined with yours was now both hands tightly gripping the steering, knuckles nearly white as they resisted the urge to reach out into the nothingness to her left, to the ghost of your presence, a taunting reminder of what she had and then lost.
Trips that were once accompanied by your shared laughter and obnoxious singing now consisted of pure quiet, the radio long since on mute. Jaw clenched as her eyes would, without fail, get misty each time she sat in the driver’s seat, the empty seat beside her remained a constant reminder of how you’d left.
The drastic change left her feeling hollow, chest wound up so tight as the space in the car felt like too much and too little- felt like it was wrong for the blonde to be here without you sitting in the passenger seat- in your seat. 
She could almost imagine your presence, having become so accustomed to it over the past months. 
Now, every time her hand mindlessly wandered over to blindly reach for yours, all she was met with was cool air and an aching heart, a shuddering breath escaping her as reality came crashing down.
And if the car rides hurt, god the way her chest constricted as she’d return to an empty apartment each evening was another story.
It was as if the hand around her heart was tightening with every passing second as she’d walk through the dark apartment, the weight on her shoulders heavier with each footfall of hers. 
Only her kitbag to be placed by the door. Just a single pair of trainers on the shoe rack. No trailing body behind her own as she’d enter- the once lively four walls now barren, devoid of emotion.
With just her pair of footsteps echoing throughout, only dinner for one to be sorted, grief buried itself in her chest as she flicked on the tv, mindlessly scrolling, shaky breaths escaping as your half finished nature documentaries taunted her on the ‘continue watching’ list. 
Sure, it felt wrong to be here, in your apartment, without you, but she didn’t think she could bear to return to her house, to return to a place where pieces of you didn’t exist- at least not as much as they did here. 
There were snippets of you tucked everywhere in the apartment. In the coffee table that held an ever growing stack of sticky notes you’d never read. 
In the records that were nestled away neatly under the tv, your favourites jutting out slightly, something you justified with the words ‘easy access’ and a smirk as the blonde would complain about them looking messy. 
In the way Leah couldn’t find it in herself to close the blinds, memories of you standing by the large windows overlooking the city at all hours of the day playing painfully in her mind whenever she tried.
And yes, of course there were remnants of you scattered throughout because this was your apartment, but there were also chunks of you because it was your apartment- because you being you, you loved so hard, so unconditionally, so unabashedly, that it couldn’t help but seep into the walls, into the worn-out book covers and spines, into the cushion that permanently rested against the arm of the couch, your tendency to lay on the couch post practice practically a ritual now. 
Love couldn’t help but bury itself in every little thing, each item precious and cared for deeply.
There were hints of you tucked into every inch inside these four walls and Leah couldn’t help but grasp at them in a futile attempt to hold on to your love- love she didn’t know if she’d ever get the chance to be bathed in again. 
So with tiredness buried in her chest, Leah tried her best, collecting her grief quietly as she’d see your favourite mug on the drying rack. Another ounce of it bundled deep in her heart when she couldn’t bring herself to cook in the mornings, too many memories of breakfasts you’d cook as the blonde would be draped across your back lazily as you hummed a song only you’d know.
With a hole in her heart, she’d gotten up these past few mornings, choosing to head to a nearby cafe instead of entering the kitchen- the cold sheets that met her hand as she’d instinctively reached across the bed already ruining her a day that had barely started. 
She didn’t want to talk about how she went out of her way to head to the bakery slightly farther from your house, purposely going past the store nearby that you both frequented often. How she avoided it like the plague since you had left because she didn’t think she could order there without a tear or two falling, silently crying as she ordered.
So while the ghost of you haunted her, as she lived in an home that was yours but a shell without your presence, she quietly begged the universe to convince you to come back, hoping, praying, waiting endlessly for a chance to mend things, because, if she was honest, nothing felt okay, nothing felt right ever since you had left- ever since you weren’t there to love the blonde anymore.
~~~
Before the blonde knew it, it had been a little over three days of your absence.
Three days of Leah quietly letting her heart constrict a bit more, the smile on her face becoming tenser, more forced. 
Seventy two hours of the blonde looking at your contact in her phone, the number staring back at her tauntingly, daring her to dial it. 
Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes of contemplating whether she should send a text or a call. She didn’t want to pressure you, or worse, make you any more upset. 
Sighing to herself before locking her phone for the millionth time today, she tossed it to the side, head falling ungracefully into her hands.
With every passing second you were gone, with each minute she spent alone, in an empty apartment that didn’t feel like home, the heart of it gone the second you had sped out of the parking lot days ago, it felt as if her world was slowly crashing down, her unable to do anything but watch in horror at the destruction occurring around her.
The most she had seen you since was the practice this morning, you appearing on the pitch mere seconds before it had started, an anomaly considering you’d often be in earlier than needed, wanting to do some of your own warm-ups before practice. It’s one of the things you and the blonde agreed on, her never needing much convincing to join you.
Today though, there you were, seconds before you had to be, once energetic, now quietly running through the drills as you hung your head low, coasting by, avoiding Leah’s piercing staring. 
You ignored the way she shuffled closer to you, inconspicuously taking a step back each time she got nearer. 
You did your best not to shiver as you felt her gaze on you multiple times throughout the two-hour long practice, a shaky breath escaping you as you realized the roles were reversed from the day in the club- except you both were hurting.
And as much as a piece of you craved to gather the other girl in your embrace and take the brokenness out of her dull orbs, you knew you couldn’t- not with the way she had grasped your heart and let it fall so many times before, the poor thing nearly shattered into pieces by now- bits you cradled so gently now as they cut you, doing your best to put them together, scars littering your hands.
Even if you wanted to comfort the midfielder, you couldn’t find it in yourself to, for your own sake, for your own sanity.
And, in your defence, while you had a very likely feeling that Leah wasn’t doing great, her dark eye bags anything to go by, you weren’t okay right now either.
You’d been crashing with Steph since you had left the game that day, and it hadn’t been pretty if you were honest.
Having spent the better part of the first twenty-four hours newly single cooped up in the spare bedroom, you’d been cocooned in one of the fluffiest blankets the defender could find, an old Arsenal hoodie of Leah’s that you kept in the trunk of you car fitted on your frame and matching your bloodshot eyes.
It was only the second night that you had even left the room, head aching from the never-ending tears, blotchy cheeks and swollen eyes, a dead giveaway of your heartbroken state. 
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. 
Hell, it wasn’t supposed to end at all. 
But you didn’t know how many more ‘maybes’ you could take. 
How many more times you could handle taking a photo with the blonde only to be quietly asked not to post it anywhere. 
How many times you could watch as she acted like she was single, only to join you in your bed when night fell and there was nobody but the two of you to witness it. 
You’d been grateful that while Steph had been shocked to find out about your relationship with the English skipper, she hadn’t said a word to anyone else, taking somewhat of an older sister role, immediately protective of you.
It’s why no one questioned the distance between you and Leah, more than accustomed to how you both would only sometimes interact, blissfully unaware of the rift between the two of you, only the left-back in the loop.
So you hid behind Steph throughout the practice that morning, dodging each and every single attempt Leah made to talk to you, counting down the minutes until it would be over so you could escape.
Communicating with the others only as much as you needed to, you ran the drills, grateful that your position as a winger meant you didn’t see much of Leah. 
It was only when it came to five-a-side did you interact with her, keeping it minimal as you quietly asked Lina to switch, you now attacking on the right instead of your usual left to lessen your contact with the blonde.
You held your breath as Jonas announced the teams for five-a-side, only letting it go when play had started and the two of you were on different teams. 
And as you walked to the other side, trading spots, you couldn’t help but take a brief glance at the skipper, immediately turning your head to the side as you saw her face fall, the smallest hints of hurt flashing through her eyes, unrecognisable to everyone but you.
Pressing your arms tightly to your sides, hands clenched into fists as they fought to reach out, you did your best to focus on the movement of the ball. 
Watching it be passed around in front of you, you begged your mind to figure out the lapses in the defence, only for your gaze to fall on the blonde and your mind to go wandering yet again. 
It wasn’t fair that someone could look so beautiful even after sweating for nearly two hours. 
Closing your eyes as the thought ran through your mind, you took a deep breath in before trying to refocus on the game, willing for your heart to get it together. 
How was it fair that even broken up she still had this effect on you, playing with your heart strings ever so teasingly.
You knew loving her had been hard, but you’d never known breaking up with her would’ve been even harder.
Sighing as you got passed the ball, you did your best to stay professional, your broken heart hidden carefully away with the rest of your relationship- a secret heartbreak for a secret relationship, how cruelly fitting. 
~~~
It’s later that same day that Leah’s patiently waiting at home for your return. 
She had hoped that maybe you had changed your mind by now, or at least maybe have decided to swing by in order to grab a change of clothes, or do laundry, or maybe grab that book you had started a week ago. 
Really, something- anything- that meant that she’d get to see you. Anything so that she could fix what she had broken.
You’d been miles away from the blonde at practice and Leah couldn’t remember the last time she felt so small.
Sure, she’d met with multiple sports personalities, royalty, execs of some of the biggest companies for partnerships but she couldn’t recall the last time she felt so out of place. 
The absence of your mere presence beside her, brought the defender a sense of unrest she didn’t know existed. She’d gotten used to having your constant presence around her, a quiet love that manifested itself as relief, any tension almost immediately slipping away whenever you were near the blonde.
With it gone, all Leah could do was sit in agony, searching for a sense of comfort that she knew she wouldn’t find.
Hands balled into fists as she sat on the couch, an old UWCL game playing on the TV, her notebook long forgotten as was her attempt to distract herself by taking notes, the blonde let herself fall back into the couch, palms of her hand harshly pressing into her eyes.
Three days. 
Three days had passed with you not here and Leah was an absolute wreck.
Leg bouncing anxiously, a half-eaten takeout haphazardly tossed into the fridge, hair a mess from the countless times she had ran her hand through it, the blonde was on edge, perking up at the tiniest sounds she heard, hoping that one of them would be you.
But as hours passed, afternoon turning to dusk, dusk to night, Leah sat on the couch, no sign of your return in the distance. 
Fuck.
~~~
Five days.
That’s how long it took for Leah to come to terms with the fact that she was, in fact, in the wrong. 
Five long, lonesome days is what it took for her to realize that there was a difference between private and secret. 
To realize that maybe if she’d been confident enough to keep it private, you’d still be here, in your apartment, in her arms. 
That maybe if she hadn’t been terrified of what people would say, or the focus that would be placed on you both, she wouldn’t be alone right now, heart in pieces, body exhausted, no thanks to herself.
If she was honest, these past few days had given her more than plenty of time to realize she didn’t want to lose you. You were the best parts of her. You loved the worst parts of her and still stayed. 
Yet, here she was, about to push you away with her stubbornness- so stuck in protecting her identity, her career, her future, herself, she blissfully ignored that she’d been hurting you the whole time.
It’s why, even though it was nearly quarter past twelve the night before another training day, the blonde sat in the bed with her laptop in her hands as her eyebrows furrowed at the screen.
Sighing in an attempt to fend off the oncoming tears, she rubbed furiously at her eyes. 
After having convinced herself it wasn’t a good idea to ring up your friends and the teammates you helped close in an attempt to find you, the midfielder had settled upon planning on how she could convince you to give her another chance.
It’s sometime between figuring out whether she should bring you your favourite to practise, wary of the other girl’s reactions, that the defender’s phone buzzes, jolting her out of focus.
Heart leaping at the thought that it might be you, the blonde scrambles to find her phone in the mess of sheets. 
Paper’s flying as dug underneath to locate the source of the vibrations, she could feel her heart pounding, nearly rising to her throat as she pulled her phone from beneath the papers.
Lia. 
The three letters was all it took for her heart to break again, shoulder’s dropping as her stomach sank.
Dejectedly hitting swiping to open the notification, she swallowed hard as she scanned the message, Lia asking whether they were still on for breakfast before practice tomorrow- somewhat of a ritual over the past few months, every few weeks before late morning training a recent tradition for the two to catch up. 
Eyes flickering between the pages strewn across the bed and the tabs mockingly facing her on the laptop screen, the words nearly typed themselves as Leah watched.
‘Can’t. Got plans. Sorry.’
She had more important plans tomorrow….namely to get her shit together and get you back. 
Not bothering to wait for a reply, mind already determined, she threw her phone away and let herself fall back into the head, praying that the gamble she was about to take would work.
She could only hope.
~~~
Five days. 
Five days without a single text, a single phone call, a single voicemail.
Leah had five days and you had zero indication that maybe she ever even wanted you at all. 
Sighing to yourself as you dropped the phone onto the couch beside you, you could feel Steph’s judgemental stare.
“You could just call her, y’know? Phones work both ways…”
Eyes shooting over from where you were looking out the window, you shrugged your shoulders in response, a cold shiver running through you, mind a mess.
“I could…but why…”
Swallowing to hold back the tears that you knew were coming, you shifted in your seat in an attempt to get rid of the anxiousness in your spine. 
“I could, but she’s had the time to as well. She’s had five whole days for fuck’s sake. And what did I get in that time? A text? A call? Any indication that maybe she misses me? Misses our relationship? That it meant anything to her? None. Not a single one Steph.”
Closing your eyes as you felt your heart clench as the words that had been floating around in your mind finally rang through the quiet house, you clenched your hand in a fist.
Wiping away the one tear that had escaped with your other hand, you took a shuddering breath before continuing. 
“I’ve spent the last two weeks wondering if I was ever good enough for her- if I ever meant anything to her. Two weeks telling myself that maybe she cared an ounce of what I do. That she actually wanted me in her life, in her future.”
“And you know what? You know what Steph? I don’t think she does. I don’t think so. Because maybe, maybe, if this all meant anything to her, something to her, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you right now. Maybe she’d be with me. I’d be in my apartment, with her, wrapped up beside her. But I’m not. I’m not and she’s not the one beside me. She’s not, and I think that’s telling enough.”
Breathing heavily, your heart pounding as you felt it constrict, you did your best to swallow the lump in your throat and pick your book back up.
And as Steph stayed quiet, you silently wondered if you ever meant anything to the blonde, the question continuing to haunt you as quiet voices in your mind answered with resounding ‘no’s’. 
~~~
The drive the next morning to practice is silent, but Leah’s mind isn’t.
Variations of apologies are floating through, the blonde testing the ones she likes out loud, wincing as they gradually sounded worse and worse.
I’m sorry that I didn’t treat you right.
I’m sorry that I hurt you so many times…give me one more chance?
I’m sorry for being a daft.
Inwardly sighing at how dumb the last one sounded, she shook her own head.
Maybe she’d just let the moment guide her, let her heart say the words. Surely it couldn’t go wrong, right?
You’d always been a sucker for romantic, heartfelt confessions, constantly swooning when the two of you would watch romance movies, you nudging the blonde and making little comments whenever the lead actor did anything chivalrous.
Taking a handful of deep breaths as she pulled into the parkade, the blonde parked swiftly as she noted the time. 
Fifty-three minutes before practice…surely you were going to be here soon. 
Armed with her kitbag, cleats, two coffees, and a small bouquet of sunflowers- your favourite- Leah trudged inside, face set in a determined glare, quietly glad that no one else was here yet. 
~~~
At this point, Leah figured that if you even showed up at all, it’d be a miracle.
There was something humiliating about sitting in an empty locker room, bouquet of flowers in hand, two coffees, and only one person. 
If Leah looked hard enough at the ground, she was sure she’d find the piece of her breaking heart there. 
She’d been hopeful as she had entered the room, fifty-one minutes before anyone was due to show up, six minutes before you typically used to show up.
By the forty-fourth minute before practice, she wondered if you’d hit traffic on the way in, or maybe lost your trainer (you had an uncanny habit of losing just one- don’t ask Leah how, she didn’t know either, but she found it for you each time).
By the thirty-seventh, doubt started to creep in.
What if you were finally, truly done with her shit.
What if that last game had unknowingly been your last straw- her last chance.
What if you’d finally given up and moved teams because of the blonde.
Maybe you’d found someone else.
As each thought got more ridiculous than the previous, anxiety creeping up her neck, Leah could feel herself sink further into her own locker, her coffee long gone, yours nearly frozen. 
At the twenty third minute, cutting it close to when the rest of the girls were about to come in, the skipper picked up the flowers and her own broken heart, placing the bundle gently at the bottom of your locker in a desperate plea that maybe you’d see she wanted you back. That she was willing to try.
Pouring out the last of your coffee in the sink as loud voices of fellow teammates neared, the blonde quietly tucked away the sinking feeling in her stomach, holding her breath as she strained her ears to find your voice.
If not before practice, then she’d catch you afterwards. She needed to.
Silently hoping you’d see the little note she’d tucked in the flowers, a failsafe she had ready (thank God), the blonde plastered a fake smile as the door to the locker room swung open, making her way to her own locker as she greeted everyone but the one person she wanted to see the most.
She didn’t know how long she had left, and most definitely didn’t want to test it out. 
~~~
Cursing to yourself, you sprinted into the change room just minutes before practice started, nearly crashing into the door before you just barely managed to get it open.
God, you were late.
You’d come in separately this morning, foregoing riding with Steph to instead look at new apartments this morning.
Since the night you’d broken up with the other girl, you hadn’t yet visited your home once, not yet ready to face the harsh reality that no overconfident blonde defender would be deftly coming and going as she pleased. 
Coupled with the fact that too many memories that you couldn’t bear to recall would haunt you if you ever returned, you’d decided late last night that going back to your old apartment was a definite no.
You were pretty sure that you wouldn’t be able to enter the apartment without wanting to instinctively remind Leah to rack her shoes properly as she entered behind you, the blonde often opting for kicking them off regardless of the innumerable times you told her off for it.
And you definitely couldn’t enter your own kitchen, memories of failed dinners as you’d to teach the blonde to cook, the two of you always eventually ending up somehow distracted, food overcooked or burnt as the blonde would try to stifle a laugh at your incredulous expression, before you’d burst out in laughter as well, reaching for the take out pamphlets. 
The bedroom was most surely off limits too, countless, countless, nights of the two of you spent late into the morning talking about nothing and everything, sometimes just holding each other in silence as you bathed in the other’s presence.
Walking through the halls would be a whole ordeal of itself as well, pictures of the two scattered throughout, pictures that the others had never seen because Leah would beg you to take them down the few times you had people over.
It’s that final thought that had you clenching your jaw hard, your eyes narrowing as you made your way over to your locker. 
Cautiously setting your kit bag on your seat, your head tilted to the side as you took in the easily recognizable yellow petals that sat at the bottom of your cubby.
Only one person knew that you were a sucker for sunflowers, one person who’d just recently broke your heart. 
Holding your breath, you reached towards the bouquet, the card stock jutting out of it begging to be read.
‘i’m sorry for how many times i’ve hurt you. you probably don’t want to hear from me and that’s fair but i want you to know i’m  sorry and i want to do whatever it is i need to  to fix us. i still love you and i can’t think of a  future where i’m happy and you’re not in it. i probably don’t deserve it, but could i please get one more chance? i promise i  won’t let you down.     - yours, lw’
Eyes tracing over the words, all you could think was why now? Why written out? Surely, she could’ve said the words aloud to you if she’d truly meant them, having more than enough time over the past week, and really the past couple months of your relationship. Why was it that even though they were expressed, did your relationship still feel like a dirty secret- a small card tucked in the flowers that could be from anyone, signed with initials rather than a name. 
And how were you supposed to believe her this time having heard these words countless times before? How many promises were you going to watch her break? Each and every time, why was it you giving her another chance to break your heart again and again, letting her stomp all over what was already broken, brutally smashed and beaten by no one other than her.
Surely you deserved better- better than a couple of flowers shoved deep into the bottom of your locker, accompanied by a card that was nothing more than ink on some paper. 
Shaking your head to pull yourself out of the spiral you were going down, you tossed the card back onto the bouquet, instead bringing your focus back to getting ready for the training that you were more than definitely late for now.
You were a strong believer of second chances- but for your own sanity, it’d be better if you stopped now, at the thirtieth or so that it was- one too many to have kept count.
~~~  
It’s you running sprints at the end of practice, the understandable punishment you’d received for being late, the rest of the girls slowly filling out as Leah tried to find some excuse, any excuse really, that she could stay back and wait for you.
She’s grasping at nothing, sputtering an incomprehensible reason to Lia as the Swiss is pulling her by the arm, inside.
With the brunette only tightening her hold as she disagreed, Leah had no option but to dejectedly follow.
“Nope, no. Not today, you cancelled on me....you better have a good reason.”
It was just the blonde’s luck that Lia thought the defender was avoiding her, trying to stay back so she wouldn’t be questioned on missing breakfast. 
Unbeknownst to her though, if to no one else, it was clear as day to Lia that something had occurred within the past few days between the two of you. 
She wasn’t blind to the way her work wife suddenly seemed ever so slightly disconnected during training, mind seemingly eons away- a surprise considering the blonde prided herself on giving 110%, even during practice.
Combined with the way you’d stormed off a few days ago and the nil interactions the two of you had had as of late- something she didn’t think was just a mere coincidence- she figured that right now, you deserved your space, and Leah likely a telling off, if the fact that your sunshine mood was in the dumps and the blonde exuded waves of nervousness was anything of a sign.
Somehow managing to wrangle her English counterpart away from the field, Lia led the blonde away from the locker rooms, instead choosing a secluded hallway near the back ends of the stadium to confront her. 
Turning around sharply once she deemed they’d walked far away enough, Lia fixed the other girl with a questioning stare, her best captain’s stare if she said so herself.
“So what’s really going on?”
Swallowing hard at the accusing question, Leah contemplated telling the truth for just a second.
It would make it easier…
“What do you mean?” Instead, feigning innocence- not wanting anyone involved in the mess she created, she tilted her head in faux confusion.
Confusion that the Swiss woman could see right through. 
“Cut the bullshit. You and I both know there’s something going on…You can either waste both our time denying it until I eventually go and ask her…or you can tell me and we can at least get somewhere. And I know which one I’d pick…”
Leah could read the silent threat in the midfielder’s eyes. The slight eyebrow that was raised no doubt indicated that she wasn’t messing around, more than ready to go and confront you about everything. What she also knew was that if it was Lia talking to you, you wouldn’t hold back.
The choice was clear, really- but the defender didn't choose it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
Leah watched as the woman in front of her eyes narrowed, jaw tightening as she tilted her head back in a ready challenge.
Please don’t call my bluff.
All the blonde could do was pray silently.
“Okay.”
One word.
One word was the reply the blonde got, Lia staring at her silently for a second longer before marching away, a determined weight set on her shoulders. 
It’s fear that has Leah blindly reaching out, her hand connecting sharply with the Swiss’ wrist, pulling her back before she could make it any further. 
“Promise me you won’t ask her about this. You can’t Lia…please…”
Nearly begging, the skipper, eyes silently pleading, held on tightly.
“I’m going to ask this once, and only once more…Leah what happened?”
She could either tell Lia of how she’d failed to treat you right and get absolutely bashed for it, or she could push it under the rug once more, make a lame excuse and get out of this.
Sighing deeply to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose, the blonde made her decision. 
Maybe it was time she grew up. 
~~~
You do your best to hide your surprise as you walk into the locker room and don’t see Lia or Leah, the absence of LW squared making your heart leap into your throat, thoughts you knew were nothing but blasphemy clouding your mind.
You knew they were work wives, nothing but platonically of course. You knew they prided themselves on being the best of friends on the pitch and off it. You knew there was nothing more going on between them- well, at least you hoped, for you didn't know what you would do if they were anything more. 
The thought that you’d never been enough for Leah still floated around your mind. You weren’t a crazy striker, or a mind-blowing defender. You were a midfielder that just so happened to be pretty good at their job, but that was all.
You weren’t special. You weren’t the captain of your national team. You weren’t heavily sought after for brand deals, you weren’t the popular, favourite player that Leah was- the player nor partner she deserved. 
You were simply you- and you didn’t know if that was enough for the English skipper.
Your thoughts get interrupted by the thump of the door hitting the stopper, two distinct voices echoing through the hall as the owners make their way in.
Leah and Lia.
Willing yourself not to turn around, you take a peak out of the corner of your eyes, immediately regretting your decision. 
The pair was close- Leah had an arm slung over the other girl’s shoulders, a soft smile on her face and the Swiss captain had her own arm around the English skipper’s waist and it did nothing to ease the rampant thoughts in your mind.
They were both sharing hushed words, indifferent to the few stares in their direction, too consumed in their conversation to bother paying attention. 
It was only as Lia gave Leah a gentle squeeze in the side-hug that they had going on did the pair break up, the two still sticking close together as they headed towards Leah’s locker. 
Turning to face your locker, your eyes caught the bright yellow of the petals, jealousy anger coursing through your veins as what used to be your favourite laugh rang out. 
Hastily grabbing the card and throwing it back into your locker to be dealt with later, you stared at the sunflowers peering up at you. 
Ironic that of all the days to receive them, you’d gotten them when the world felt anything but full of sunshine and rainbows. 
Making the quick decision, you quickly grabbed the bouquet on your way out, ignoring the questions being shot your way from the teammates that heard the unmistakable sound of the cellophane. 
Quietly letting Steph lead you out the door, you quickly glanced behind you in a silent prayer that Leah still cared for your presence- that she was looking at you.
She wasn’t.
Tossing the flowers into the nearest bin as a sour expression crossed your face, you helplessly let the thoughts of the past two hours take a hold of your heart, the poor thing constricting ever so painfully.
Clenching your jaw and hastily tossing on your headphones, you shouldered your kit bag, more than ready to get out of here- to go to a place that felt more like home than your apartment now ever would.
With you long gone before Leah even leaves the change room, you don’t get the chance to witness the way the blonde stops talking mid-conversation as she’s leaving, her stopping in place as her eyes notice the golden petals that peeked out from the top of the bin. 
It’s why you’re unknowing of the way the blonde’s heart shatters a bit more, her eyes widening, heart sinking, and head immediately hanging low as she processed the bouquet unceremoniously dumped in the trash.
And with a rough shrug to get out of Lia’s comforting pat, instead wiping away tears she refused to let fall in the presence of the few remaining teammates, Leah hurries out, discussion on how to win you back momentarily forgotten as she focuses on soothing her aching heart.
~~~
It’s a couple days later that the weight of you leaving makes itself known again to Leah. 
The past few days, the blonde had been silently stewing in the memories of you two, but had been fortunate enough that there weren’t any new stark reminders of your absence. 
But now, if Leah was honest, the feeling of you not near the blonde as she walked off the pitch post-game felt like a stabbing pain in her chest.
It was odd, the way wins didn’t feel like wins as of late.
Not when you weren’t by the blonde’s side. 
Euphoria wasn’t an emotion she felt of late, but with the absence of you in your rightful spot to the right of the blonde as she walked around the pitch, misery stung the blonde harder than before.
The high Leah (rightfully) expected after the win against United didn’t come.
It didn’t pounce on her immediately as the whistle blew at the end of the game.
It didn’t hit her like a truck as she headed towards the locker room.
It didn't sneakily creep up on her as she entered a locker room full of her fellow teammates dancing in celebration, music blasting, the joy palpable in the room.
All that sunk in was the gut wrenching feeling of regret in her chest as she timidly watched you make your way to your locker. 
For the past few days, three or so having passed since she last saw you at training, the blonde had been crashing with Lia, not that you would know. 
She’d been actively visiting your apartment, trying to find any signs of life there besides the three plants of yours she’d been watering in her visits. 
Each time though, she was left with not a single trace of you, it evident that you hadn’t been home yet. 
It was just slightly over a week of your absence, and with each passing day, Leah was losing a bit more hope, a bit more of her sanity, a bit more of her ability to feel anything but despair.
So it didn’t surprise her that the exhilaration of the win didn’t come. It was the norm. It was the norm for her now that she’d gone and fucked up. 
Rubbing a hand over her face as the sight of her teammates came into view, Leah tried to will away the spiral of thoughts in her head, headache imminent with the lack of sleep she’d had these past ten days. 
Sighing to herself at the pounding music in the room, the blonde hung her head low, trudging her way to her kit bag as she pretended to yawn in case anyone asked about her foul mood. 
If she’d looked up once though, she’d have seen your concerned look. 
She would’ve saw the way you had involuntarily turned to face the blonde as she entered, your arms itching to reach out and pull her into a hug, as you had done many times before in the safety of your own home.
But she wasn’t yours anymore. She wasn’t yours to hold, to hug, to comfort, especially anywhere but in the four walls of your apartment.
So you’d brought your arms taught around your own body, giving yourself a hug as your heart sank, a shaky breath escaping you as you closed your eyes, letting the overwhelming emotions wash over you. 
~~~
It’s as the girls are leaving the locker room that Katie remembers to invite Leah for the celebratory night out the team had planned. 
You’d been asked immediately after the game, the Irishwoman surprisingly able to sense the change in your mood as of late, doing her best to try and make you laugh more in the past few days to try and silently uplift it, bless her. 
You’d thought about going. Considered getting more than friendly with Millie, your last conversation with Leah replying easily in your mind. 
Maybe if you’d make her jealous she’d realize you still existed. 
But just as quickly as those thoughts crossed your mind, you shook yourself out of them.
If she couldn’t see your importance in her life, you weren’t about to go and beg for her to see it. You couldn’t show her something that wasn’t there.
Having then declined the offer, you’d cited your tiredness as an excuse.
Now though, you tried to act nonchalant as you eagerly awaited Leah’s answer, well aware that she was one of the last people asked.
Maybe she’d wonder whether you were. 
The blonde was tired, that was clear for all to see. But would that be enough for her to spend the night in? 
Would your absence mean she’d go home in misery, or was the blonde okay? More than over you, ready to move on?
You wondered if she’d find someone to bring home tonight. Whether she’d spend the time at the bar (that they’d inevitably, somehow end up at). Would that someone be better than you? Better company? A better girlfriend?
Hearing the immediate cheers following Leah’s quiet hum of agreeance and quiet ‘why not?’, you bit the inside of your cheek. 
God, how could you be so naive to think she’d ask if you were going?
And as your thoughts spiralled again, you felt a gentle hand come to rest on your shoulder, Steph protectively stepping into your space as she could practically feel you fall into the rabbit hole of your mind. 
“Let’s go home, yeah?”
The both of you having agreed that Australian would drop you off at her place before heading out with the team, you adamant on her enjoying the win and her night, you let yourself be led out, increasing the volume of the headphones on your ears to drown out the world, and more importantly, your mind. 
~~~ 
The air’s chilly and Leah can’t help but wrap her arms around herself a bit tighter in a futile attempt to stave off the cold.
She’d expected the crowded club that the team had arrived at to feel stuffy and hot, but it wasn’t the case. 
All the blonde could really feel was the cool breeze she couldn’t locate the source of and a constant shiver in her spine as she saw practically everyone but you there. 
Having waited all through dinner praying you’d show up, and then convincing herself you’d be there as the team decided to move things to a club, the blonde felt stupid for not remembering how you hated cramped social gatherings like these.
For the months that you were together, Leah had gotten accustomed to spending nights in, cherishing them actually, for they gave her the breather she so rarely got. 
It’s why she’d love it when you’d often pass up the nights out, giving Leah the perfect opportunity to leave events early, a smile on her face despite being called variations of ‘old’ and a ‘party-pooper’, the thought of going home to you more than overpowering the salty accusations. 
The few times you’d both gone out together with the team, it’d always ended with you two sneaking out of the celebrations early, revelling in the chaos or peace of the night as you’d trek home, more than content to be in each other’s presence.
It had gotten to the point where the few date nights the two of you had consisted of Leah convincing you to stay in. The decision was a mix of not wanting to be in the public and getting you all to herself, but she’d never tell you that. 
And yeah, sure, she’d avoided you on the nights that you’d both be out, surrounded by teammates and friends celebrating god-knows-what, but she swears she did it for your own good. You didn’t need the press, the comments, the voices that came along with the fame.
At least she made the decision you didn’t. 
It’s looking back now that she realises the implications of her actions, her avoidance of you no doubt a joke- her only failing to protect you from any hurt, instead being the one to cause you grief.
God, she really treated you and your relationship like shit…
Shaking her head to herself, mood already soured with the lack of your presence, Leah excused herself from Lia’s side, heading to the table and grabbing her coat. 
There wasn’t a point staying. Not when you weren’t there too. 
Bidding her goodbyes and ignoring the pleas to stay longer, Leah shot the Swiss captain a grateful look as she distracted a tipsy McCabe away from trying to convince her to stay. 
Taking a deep breath as she exited the stifling building, the blonde began her trek home, lost in her thoughts, wary of the empty apartment she’d no doubt be returning to. 
~~~
Steph had texted you early on in the evening, letting you know that Leah was at the dinner, and you didn’t know whether to be glad or not.
All you knew was that it was the perfect opportunity for you to finally grab your things, a change of clothes, something you desperately needed now that winter was finally kicking in. 
You’d expected the blonde to be gone at least a few hours, so you’d taken your time to show up, grabbing dinner before you had made your way over. 
What you hadn’t expected though, was the blonde cutting her night short- the clock reading near half past nine taunting you as you heard the familiar jingle of keys as the front door opened. 
You could feel your heart pounding in your chest- hell, you could hear it, as you listened to the sounds of the taller girl kicking off her boots, something you would tell her off for time and time again. 
Holding your breath as you heard Leah hang up her keys and drop her clutch on the island as she always did, you wondered if you had enough time to escape. 
Surely, you could sneak out, right?
Shaking your head at the stupid idea, you looked around you, contemplating on how you were going to get out of this.
What were you to tell the blonde? That you weren’t kicking her out of your apartment? That you instead were moving out, already having talked with your tenant about likely cancelling your lease soon. You wondered what Leah would think you’d ask for her set of keys back- for her to take her stuff to her house as you’d empty your apartment.
You wondered if she’d then realize that she’d likely ruined the last good thing you had going for you, a house you’d been staying in for nearly two years now, a place you cherished deeply but now needing to say goodbye to. 
Sighing as you took in the sight of your clothes scattered around the bedroom, clothes you’d been sorting into a ‘yours’ and ‘Leah’s’ pile, you waited to hear the movement of the blonde. 
It was only as the trudge of footsteps padding down the hall reached your ears did your throat go dry, body freezing as you anxiously anticipated seeing Leah in your bedroom for the first time in over a week. 
Swallowing hard, you wondered if this was the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning. 
~~~
Leah didn’t know how she didn’t notice the light peeking out from under the bedroom door. Nor how she missed your infamous Converse tucked behind the door. 
All she knew was that you were here. 
Here, in your apartment. 
In your shared bedroom.
And all the blonde could do was stare at the sight of you looking like a kid caught stealing out of a cookie jar, the various piles of clothes scattered around you making you look tiny.
Flexing her jaw a few times, the midfielder struggled to find any adequate words, a quiet ‘what?’ the only thing she was able to muster out. 
There’s a blanket of silence that covers the room after the word, the pair of you rooted in your spots, staring at each other. 
It’s only as Leah realises that the hoodie currently in your grasp is one of her old England ones, from camps eons ago, does the silence break.
“Wait a second- I’ve been looking for that...”
Furrowing your eyebrows, your shock long gone and anger replacing it, you did your best to keep your voice level.
“That’s your concern?”
This was the first and only chance the blonde had gotten to you since you’d broken up with her, and her concern was the hoodie you were holding. 
“You know what? Fuck off.”
Throwing the hoodie at her with all the rage you could muster, you watched as it softly hit your ex in the face, Leah pulling it off as her eyes widened. 
“Okay wait! Wait. No. Sorry. It just took me off guard…” 
Rubbing her neck sheepishly, the blonde brought the hoodie behind her in an attempt to brush over what just occurred. 
Shaking your head because of-fucking-course, you pinched the bridge of your nose, pausing for a moment before realizing just how utterly done you were with the blonde already.
Waiting a second to see if she’d continue, to see if she’d ask you how you were, what you were doing, or better yet, apologise, you sighed as silence overtook the room once again. 
Checking your watch, you figured that if you ran through all you needed to, you could be out of here by half-past-ten, a whole hour earlier than you had originally planned for. 
“Listen, all I need is like an hour then I’ll be out of your hair.” 
Muttering the words, disdain clear in your voice, you started speeding up your actions, sorting the pile of clothes behind you and tossing everything that was yours into the open suitcase.
It took a minute for the defender to understand what she just heard, to comprehend what she’d witnessed.
One hour and then you’d be gone? 
Taking note of the clothes scattered across the room and recognizing her extra pairs of pyjamas and trainers in the decently-sized pile on one side, garments that looked distinctly like yours in the other, the blonde felt dread sink in.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait…what do you mean ‘out of my hair’?”
It’s as the weight of the words sunk in did Leah step into the room, squinting her eyes as her mouth fell open slightly, body rigid with concern.
Sighing deeply inwards, you ran a hand through your hair, pulling it slightly in an attempt to stave off your annoyance.
“Leah, I’m moving, yeah? It’s about time.”
You watched as the hoodie fell from the blonde’s hands, dropping unceremoniously  into ‘your’ clothes pile as she swallowed hard.
Yes the pair of you weren’t together anymore, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. You weren’t supposed to move out, much less out of your own apartment, that’s for sure. 
Shaking her head as she felt her heartbeat pick up, panic in her eyes, Leah closed the distance between you.
“You’re not moving out.”
The statement was nothing of a question, hands going on her hips as the blonde eyebrows furrowed.
“I know I hurt you, but you can’t move out.”
Watching an exasperated expression cross your face, an expression that Leah was all too familiar with, having seen it every time she declined your request to post a picture of the two of you, she dropped her own shoulders, closing her eyes in defeat. 
“Please don’t move out.” 
Please don’t leave me.
“Please.”
Sorting the shirt that was in your hold, you placed your hands behind you, letting your weight fall on them as you leant back, head thrown back, eyes fixed firmly on the ceiling you were very much used to seeing on lazy mornings spent with the blonde in front of you. 
Making sure your voice was steady, you closed your eyes as you spoke. 
“We’ve broken up. One of us needs to move out.”
“No...”
“Leah…”
“No.”
The second ‘no’, firmer and coupled with a definitive tone in Leah’s voice had you appalled, your eyes opening as you righted yourself and faced her
“No? Leah, I’ve spent enough time seeing you with another woman outside of this apartment. I’m not in the fucking mood to see it here as well, in my apartment.”
You waited to see if she’d offer to move out instead, considering this was your place after all. 
You waited, only to be met with silence. 
Guess it was a good thing you didn’t wanna stay here anyways. 
“I mean it. Please don’t go…”
The timid voice had your shoulders dropping. 
Sure, she broke your heart, but it didn’t mean you were heartless.
Deciding to humour her, for your own sake- you wanted to see just what her justification would be, you hummed in response.
“Why?”
She’d broken your heart enough. So why was it that she was asking you to stay? 
You watched as the always-confident blonde wrung her fingers, her head hung low as she stared into the ground. 
“I still love you…”
The weight of the words blanketed the room in quiet. Or it might have been the blood rushing in your ears. Either way, you couldn’t believe what you were hearing- unable to do anything but sigh in response, mind a frenzy. 
Racking through your brain to find the right words to say, you curse at the universe for aligning so maliciously. 
“You can’t just say that.”
“Ba-“
“No.” Cutting her off, your voice raising slightly, you bit the inside of your cheek.
“You can’t say that. You can’t say that when you’ve practically been a stranger to me any place outside of these four walls. You can’t say that when all you’ve done is gone and break my heart multiple- Leah, multiple times. You can’t say that when you haven’t once rung me in the week that we’ve broken up. You don’t get to call me ‘baby’ anymore and you don’t get to say those three words anymore.”
You’re breathing heavily by the time you finish, having gone and stood up at some point during that rant. 
Eyes level with Leah’s as there’s a defiant look in your eyes, you wait.
You wait to see just what excuse she’d come up with this time.
“I didn’t-“
Lips pursing, you rolled your eyes. You knew how these words always ended.
“Let me guess…you didn’t know if I wanted to hear from you, yeah?”
You watched as she nodded sheepishly, nearly curling into herself as your voice got sharper with each word. 
“Y’know…I told myself that maybe if I waited long enough, that you’d eventually care enough. Told myself that if I tried hard enough, loved you enough, was a better player, a better girlfriend, maybe I would’ve been good enough for you. That you’d want me as much as I want you.”
You watched as Leah looked at you, it clear that she was itching to say something, but you continued. 
“I spent the last week with my ringer on, do not disturb off, hoping you’d call. Hoping you’d text. Send me a message, someway, somehow. Anything that would let you know me breaking up with you killed you as much as it killed me. And what did I get? Nothing.”
Your voice is quiet as the final word slips through, the both of you staring at each other, the room an outright mess with the clothes strewn around, suitcase open beside where you were sat.
Truth be told, you didn’t want this to end. 
You didn’t.
All you wanted was for Leah to realize your importance in her life. And whether that was good or bad, you wanted to know where you stood- because you’d stick around if she loved you, but you couldn’t bear to stay if you weren’t wanted. 
You couldn’t light a candle in the rain. 
Watching as Leah flexed her jaw once, then twice before inhaling deeply, you felt a chill go up your spine as anticipation slowly killed you. 
“It hurt more than I could ever imagine…”
The confession was quiet, barely a whisper, but it had your attention, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the other girl.
“It’s killed me every time I’ve come to this apartment alone y’know? Every single time I’ve walked into this place and you’re not behind me yelling at me to put away my shoes properly.”
Swallowing her emotions down and steadying her voice, she continued.
“Do you want to know how wrong it felt, driving to practise without you beside me? Without your humming and singing? Or how much it sucks not being able to stand beside you at practice. Or how the only thing I’ve wanted these past few days is just one of your hugs- the ones you give me when you know I’m not feeling well, too tired to do anything but cuddle you?”
“It’s stupid, but I’ve visited- stayed- at your place nearly every day since our breakup, hoping each day that you’d come back and I could- we could talk. That I could make it up to you. I’ve missed you. I really have. More than anything else ever- I swear. Spent the first night and the second too, on your couch, hugging your favourite cushion and your international hoodie.”
Smiling bitterly to herself at the memory, the blonde wiped away the few tears that had escaped.
Feeling your eyes starting to sting as you remembered just how gruelling the first few days had been for you, you quickly wiped away the one lone tear that managed to escape, holding back the oncoming sniffles.
Feeling your chest rise as you did your best to loosen the anxious feeling in your chest, you stayed rooted to your spot, too afraid to move for fear that Leah would stop talking.
“Did you read the note?”
The question was small, especially after the large confession just moments ago, and it had you nodding in response, scared that you’d break the atmosphere in the room if you spoke too loud.
“I-,” Leah cleared her throat, running a hand through her own hair as her gaze met yours again. 
“I meant it y’know? Seeing you and just you in my future? I wanna fix this…us. I’d really like to fix what I broke, if you’d let me.”
Biting back a grimace because wow, were you really about to give her the power to break your heart again. The one thing you told yourself you wouldn’t let her do- not anymore.
“I don’t know how to trust you again…”
You knew the words were harsh, but they were the truth.
How could you trust someone that single handedly broke your heart over and over again. 
Holding your breath as you watched Leah slowly step forward, inching towards you until she was merely inches away from where you stood, you wondered if you could ever let the blonde back in. 
“One chance is all I ask for. I’ll earn your trust again, I swear. Just please don’t go. Please don’t leave me.”
You watched as her fingers flexed, jaw clenching and unclenching as the blonde fought herself internally. 
As she made a decision, you smiled at the way the little crease between her eyebrows disappeared, a place you loved to kiss whenever the blonde was upset about the movie you’d choose for movie nights. 
So caught up in your memories, you were only jolted out of the dreamland your mind went to as you felt Leah hesitantly grab your hand, the touch cautious and feather-like as she tried to gauge your reaction. 
Looking down at your intertwined hands, you bit your lip, one question floating around your mind. 
“Are you planning for us to continue being a secret or…?”
Closing your eyes as you waited for her answer, you wondered if this would be the last time you’d feel Leah’s touch. 
You knew you couldn’t bear to be a secret. You liked private, sure, but all you really wanted to do was be you. Be you and her, and be able to show the world that, without bounds. 
“No.”
Eyes flying open, you narrowed your eyes at Leah, surprised by the confident tone, so sure of herself, so assured, that it nearly had you convinced. 
“And if you let me down?”
“Then I’ll leave your life myself, just say the words and I’ll go. But I don’t plan to let you down. Not again. Not ever. I don’t want a life without you. I’ve had a taste of if, and fuck, I needed that. I needed that because I know I’d rather deal with everyone’s comments, everyone’s judgement, their prying, their invasive questions, than lose you.” 
Swallowing hard at those words, you felt your shoulders relax, mind and heart practically numb with the overwhelming emotions you were feeling. 
Words a whisper, tears silently falling down your cheeks as the weight of the past week hit you, you prayed that you never felt this type of hurt again. 
“Hurt me again and I’ll break your kneecaps alright?” 
And letting yourself be pulled into the taller girl’s embrace, you let yourself sink into her hug, a warmth you’d missed so dearly, so fervently in the past few days- a hug that even the best Calvin cuddle couldn’t compare to, you let out a sigh.
Things weren’t alright yet. They weren’t going to be for a while. 
But this was a step in the right direction. A step you’d take, praying to the universe that it wouldn’t let you fall- at least not without someone to catch you. 
You just hoped it would be Leah- she was the only one you wanted to catch you when you fell. You just had to trust her word that she would. 
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