We can only learn to love by loving

Part 24

Mel's Pov

It has been a few weeks since our triple date at the zoo. Things between me and Leah were perfect, we spent all our free time with one another and were growing closer as the days went by. I still can't believe I'm lucky enough to call her my girlfriend.

The more I got to know Leah, the more I seen a side of her that no one else would see. On the pitch, or in front of her opposition, she was professional, stern, and quite intimidating. The Leah that I knew was soft, loved acts of affection and would groan each morning I had to pull myself out of the grasp of her arms.

Both shops were doing great, which meant I was spending less time at either of them as we had built a cohesive team in both cities.

Despite not fully understanding the rules of football, still, today I was going to watch Leah play for the lionesses in a friendly game against Belgium. They had the world cup in the summer, and so Leah had explained they had a few friendlies scheduled so their manager could determine the best partnership and chemistry on field between the available players.

Although it was only a friendly game, Leah took her captaincy role seriously and so we did not spend the evening before the match together, neither did we speak before the game as I didn't want to distract her.

Nevertheless, Leah had gotten me a ticket to today's game in the family and friend's section. She had also arranged for me to travel to the stadium with her brother Jacob and her mum to make sure I felt a bit more comfortable with attending the game.

No-one's pov

As the stadium began to quickly fill, both teams entered the pitch to begin their warm-up drills. Music was blasted through the speakers around the stadium, including all the classic football match songs, ranging from freed from desire – Mr Brightside.

Although the game today was only a friendly, the atmosphere within the ground was electric, which had become a common occurrence since the Lionesses' Euros win last summer as the fans flocked into the ground.

As both teams walked onto the pitch, taking their place to being their national anthems, the crowd erupted welcoming both teams. Although England were the favourites to win this match, it was fair to say that you couldn't write off Belgium.

Leah stood, proudly representing the captain's armband as the whole stadium joined in with singing the national anthem. As she looked into the family and friends' section, she was greeted by the pleasant sight of seeing her loving girlfriend sat beside her family all supporting England shirts with her name proudly displayed on the back of her shirt.

Struggling to keep her stern pose, Leah quickly diverted her eyes to refrain from smiling too her family.

The game kicked off and England quickly dominated possession, passing elegantly through the lines of Belgium, swiftly making their way further up field. 15 minutes into a game, a lob from Keira Walsh played Beth Mead through on goal who easily slotted the ball past the Belgium keeper, taking a 1-0 lead.

This was then doubled in the 30th minute when a cross from Alex Greenwood was headed home by Leah, who ran to the corner flag to celebrate with the fans where she was greeted by the rest of the team piling on top of her. This time around, Leah couldn't help but beam looking up towards Mel who was jumping in excitement at watching her girlfriend proudly scoring for her country.

The game quickly passed by as it ended 4-0 to the Lionesses, Beth doubled her score tally which was then finalized when Georgia Stanway scored the last goal in the 87th from a penalty kick.

As the rest of the Lionesses gathered on the pitch dancing and celebrating with the home fans, Leah had made her way to the barrier, ushering her girlfriend to come down the stairs to greet her.

Whilst Leah was awaiting the arrival of Mel, her childhood best friend Keira wrapped her arms around Leah cheering loudly down Leah's ear, a clear sign of her enthusiasm towards the win they had just secured.

"Celebratory drinks?" Keira grinned as she pulled Leah into a side hug.

"Of course, I think I'm going to ask Mel to come so she can meet you all."

"Can't wait!" Keira confirmed whilst walking towards the rest of the team, allowing Leah to have Mel to herself, for now.

The England girls had heard a lot about Mel, from all the things Leah had told them. It was clear to the girls just how happy Leah was now, however they had not met her properly yet. Something Leah wanted to change this evening. The only person who had met her was Beth and the pair seemed to get on extremely well, which made Leah think this would be a reason Mel would agree to going out with them tonight.

Mel's pov

Once Leah gestured my way to the pitch, I quickly made my way towards her.

Just before I approached her, I seen her laughing with a red-haired girl who was heading back towards the rest of the girls.

"I'm so proud of you" I whispered, pulling Leah into a tight hug.

Leah wasted no time before nuzzling her head into the crook of my neck placing soft, but discrete kisses. We hadn't spoken about our relationship going public, but in this moment, I didn't care who seen us together.

"Did you enjoy that?" Leah smugly asked as she pulled away from our embrace.

"I did, especially the second goal" I winked, causing Leah to blush slightly.

"I best get going, your mum has already made her way back to the car and I don't want to keep her waiting" I couldn't help but allow the glumness of leaving her to be shown.

"Okay babe, hey listen" she said before clearing her throat.

"I'm going out with the girls tonight to celebrate; do you want to come?" I could tell Leah was nervous about asking me this, but of course I wanted to go.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive"

"Then I'll be there" I grinned back at her.

"Perfect! Go home and get ready, I'll text you and let you know where we are so you can meet us when you're ready."

Leah pulled me into a goodbye hug where she placed a few more gentle pecks to the crook of my neck.

"See you later, I love you" I whispered to Leah.

"I love you too."

--------------------------------------------------------

I decided to waste no time getting ready when I got home from the game. I was excited but nervous, I knew the England girls meant a lot to Leah and so naturally I wanted to make a good lasting impression for my first out with them.

To do that, I thought one good thing to do was to dress to impress.

I opted to wear a light blue lace dress, my hair was tied half up and half down with my hair lightly curled towards the end.

I applied a minimal amount of make-up deciding to go for more of a natural look.

Leah had finally texted me the address of where to go and so shortly after I made my way to the uber which had just arrived outside.

Tonight, was going to be a goodnight, right?