𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓-𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐃; arthurtv

twenty two

"I'll go find another linesman," the remaining referee muttered before walking towards the hallway. Chris furrowed his brows, still confused about the entire situation, while Arthur continued to stare at the now empty exit path.

Theo swiftly turned to Evelyn, watching the girl regain control of her trembling jaw. "We can easily restart the match if you don't want his face online. We- it won't take long to catch up, and nobody will-"

"Theo, no, please keep going," the blonde urged with a convincing smile, her inner rage suddenly disappearing. "It'll only make him feel better about himself . . . and it doesn't affect me in the slightest."

"Are you sure?" He asked, worried.

"Extremely," she clarified. He looked at her for just a moment longer before patting her shoulder and grinning. He started to walk away, directing Chris to follow after him by placing a hand in-between his shoulder blades.

"What's going on? What happened?" The short blond man asked his friend as he was led away, leaving Arthur and Evelyn alone in the middle of the pitch.

It was silent for a moment, Arthur's thoughts obviously elsewhere as Evelyn stared across at him. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in, the last of the flames immediately extinguishing within her burnt stomach. Finally, she felt free and worriless, not having the burden of preparing herself to face the creepy man once more at the unexpected holding her down.

"Well, that was-" she was cut off straight away. Arthur had suddenly spun on his heel and stepped forward, his body clashing into hers. She jumped in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her, one hand cradling the back of her head as the other swerved tightly around her waist.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered almost directly into her ear. The blonde relaxed in his comforting grasp, letting herself cling onto him as she rested her head gently against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for not realising anything."

"Please don't be sorry . . . I don't want you to be sorry. It's not your fault I didn't tell you," she muttered back lightly. He tightened his grip on her, sighing into the side of her eye-catching hair. It smelled like avocadoes and calendula flowers.

"You shouldn't have had to . . . I should've known," he said as he pulled back softly, maintaining a small distance between them. Evelyn looked up at him, taking in his dark, pooling eyes. He slowly reached up and brushed the lone strand of soft hair that'd fallen across her forehead back behind her ear. She smiled, a dimple deepening in her left cheek. "Lynn-"

The whistle blew behind them, signifying three minutes left before the game resumed. Arthur whipped around as Evelyn peered out from behind him, watching the new linesman converse with the main referee.

"Come on, you need to get ready to beat some ass," Evelyn grinned as she moved beside him, directing him forward with a light push to his shoulder. He shot her a playful glance. "I know you're down two points but now you don't have the excuse of a shitty linesman."

Arthur laughed, tilting his head back towards the sky as the two walked back across the green field. It had seemed that the disappearance of the angry man from earlier had led to a direct change in atmosphere. Suddenly, the air had been filled with joy and uplifting energy.

As soon as the game started in the second half, Evelyn stood up with anticipation. She stood beside Chip for the rest of the game, happily chatting to him between interesting sections of the game. The times that Arthur was pulled up for a break he would immediately fall into the spot beside the blonde, standing beside the sidelines as he watched his fellow teammates run past at extreme speeds. It quickly became the friendly match that it'd originally been planned to be.