Fight to the finish..

31

Waking up the next morning I was instantly nervous. I knew that today was a make-or-break. Leah would either remember and we could finally speak and communicate like normal people or she wouldn't remember and that would be the end of our story. I hope she remembers. After my ex, not Lucy the one before her, Leah is the first person that has made me feel safe and secure but also never fails to keep me on my toes.

I decided it was time to get ready for training. I had an hour until I had to be there and I have to leave straight away to get the house prepared and decorated. Beth is out injured so she is going to stay home and make the tower of ham sandwiches because everyone knows that's the way to Leah's heart. After my shower, I packed my bag and headed to my car to go to London Colney.

The training wasn't too difficult, we have a game this weekend against Everton and Jonas is positive about our progress recently and we all have confidence in ourselves to bring home the win. But for now, I am putting anything unrelated to tonight straight to the back of my mind. All I need is to secure a win tonight. Then I can think about the future.

When I arrived home, Beth had made amazing progress in the house with the food prepared and she had even started to decorate the rooms. The surprise for Leah is completely out of the box but still so personal to her. We have two hours until people are due to arrive, and three hours until Leah and her mum arrive. This would be a ram packed few hours too. We still need to finish decorating and get ourselves ready, and I had to dress to impress tonight.

After an hour, the decorations were finished and it was time to shower and get ready. I'm slightly worried about the time scale because I usually need a lot more time than this. I guess I just need to shorten how long I take on each part of my routine. It took me precisely 4 minutes to wash myself and my hair and I wasn't wasting any time so I jumped out and began drying my hair and preparing my makeup.

I have 15 minutes before people start to arrive. Luckily my makeup was complete so I just need to get dressed and straighten my hair. That should be enough, I hope so anyways. I slip into a dress I brought specifically for tonight. It was much like the red one I had worn on the night that Leah collected me from the club, just this one was black and a bit more revealing. I made sure to style my hair how Leah has mentioned she prefers it, down and straight with the top section Dutch braided. Everything was finished, I had a few minutes to spare so I decided to go on my phone and message Leah.

Message to Leah: Hiiiii I can't wait to see you, you best dress to impress ;)

I didn't expect a reply, I didn't want one. I was hoping she'd leave me hanging so it would be better when I can finally see her which by my watch was in 59 minutes if she's on time. People began to arrive and I became more and more nervous for Leah to arrive. Time flew and this was it. I had just seen Amanda's car pull into the driveway.

Leah POV

This was it, we are pulling into the driveway and I am the most nervous I can ever remember. But walking up to the front door I can feel so many emotions. I am excited to see what Bella has planned for me, I miss her so, of course, I want to see her. I'm nervous because this could work, but on the other hand, it might not and that's what I'm most scared for. There have been times that I have laid in bed at night begging myself to remember the memories, to remember when I and Bels were or were nearly an us.

My mum opened the door and I was speechless. The house looks amazing and I can't imagine how long this must've taken her. There she is and she looks stunning if I do say so myself. But do I tell her that? I don't know. She's coming towards me and I just got an intense rush of butterflies.

B: Oh I guess you didn't get my dress-to-impress memo

L: Well hello to you too
B: I'm joking, you look beautiful darling
L: I could say the same but after you just insulted me, I won't give you the satisfaction
B: Come on follow me

Bella led me into the kitchen where I could see pictures of me everywhere. And from all stages of my life. A section from when I was a baby, my first Arsenal shirt, and Arsenal men's game. All the way through to my football debuts and key moments. I found all of this adorable. The thought that has gone into it was astonishing. The best part was that every chapter of my life had notes written around it from everyone. There were notes from my mum, Bella, the Arsenal girls, and the England girls. Even Sarina wrote one next to a picture of us lifting the Euro's trophy.

Bella POV

Leah is walking around the kitchen looking at all of the pictures and she looks amazed. Her jaw dropped initially but now she just seems to be happy reading the notes and looking at all of the photos. Hopefully, this is a good sign, maybe she is remembering things.

Once she has scanned the room, Leah approaches me again this time she doesn't stop. She hands me a drink and then waves for me to follow her to where everyone is dancing. Is this it? Is she going to tell me she remembers everything?

L: I'm having such a good time Bel thank you for all of this.
B: It's my pleasure Le, your smile is worth it. Are you having any luck with the memory?
Leah just stood in front of me blankly and just shook her head. My heart dropped. It was nearly time for her to go back to her mums and I was running out of ideas. I really thought tonight would work.

B: It's okay don't worry about it, I'll stick to my word and won't keep pestering you. Just know I miss you
L: I really wished this would work Bels, I wish we could work but I can't overlook the memories I do have. I just wish I remembered.
B: I know Le
L: It's time for me to go anyways, but I'll see you at the game on Sunday okay?

As she turned around to walk away I knew this was my last chance. I had to do something and I had to do it now. I grabbed Leah's trailing arm and pulled her into me. She looked shocked but she was soon smiling. I leaned in and kissed her. I could hear the girls cheering but I didn't care because this was all that mattered. She kissed me back which I was shocked by, she placed her hand on my neck deepening the kiss.

Then she just stopped. Didn't speak. She just turned away and walked out of the front door.

What. The. Fuck.