It All Leads Back to You

Chapter 20 - Leah

"I love you forever Leah Williamson. You're too good to a broken person."

"You've got to stop with the negative talk. You're not broken. You never have been. You're bent. I'm bent. The entire world is bent. I love you endlessly, Dani."

"How are Georgia and Keira?" She swallowed. "Good?"

"Yeah, they're alright. All of the girls are good." I heard a bunch of shouting. I turned to look down the hall. Rachel was shouting something about Millie cheating. "They're playing some game and arguing about it."

"Sounds about right." Danielle laughed.

Something else was bothering her. I could see right through my girlfriend. I'd always been able to see through Danielle.

"What's going on?"

"Jonas pulled me aside at training. He told me I'm sitting the bench for a few games."

"What? Why?"

"I don't really know. Something about the team's image since my return. I don't know, Leah."

"There are people everywhere that don't like me. Don't like Kimmy or Katie, but they don't sit. I don't understand that."

"I don't either. It's fine though."

"Dans...that isn't fair."

"No, but it is what it is."

"Leah! We've got movie night!" I heard Keira.

"Ignore her—"

"No, no. You go. I'm fine. I'll be cheering you on tomorrow, Le. Hottest one out there."

"I'm your girlfriend." I laughed.

"Okay and? Go have fun. I love you."

"I love you too."

I led England out of the tunnel and got us into our line next to the referee. I'd never been one to wish away a game, but I was wishing away this one so much. I wanted to go home and see my girlfriend.

As much as I hated to admit Keira and Georgia were right, I was worried about Dani. I wasn't worried she would drink though. That was the least of my concern. She hadn't been alone in a while, and yes, she had people at the training, but I understood the loneliness. When your closest friends are away but you're not, and you're left feeling alone, it sucks.

"Captains!" The call from the referee brought me out of my head. I shook hands with the Korean captain and the refs. "Heads," she showed the coin "tails." she flipped it. "Away team's call."

"Tails."

Heads. I smiled to myself.

"Ball first. Defend this half."

"Alright, have a clean game."

And for the most part it was. We kept the game fairly even until Chloe scored near the end of the first half. We'd ripped tons of shots and possessed most of the half. I wasn't necessarily concerned about them coming back to score. Defense had been solid all night.

Alessia scored in the sixtieth and Tooney scored about ten minutes later. We were in the final minutes of the game when we got a corner. I stood inside the box with my hands on my knees until the ball was swung in. I went up and hit the ball into the back of the net with my head. I'm not going to lie. That sort of hurt. But it was totally worth it.

When the match was finally over, I searched for my mum in the crowd. I didn't see her in her usual spot, but then I saw Mum next to someone's familiar face. I ran over to them and jumped the barrier.

I picked her up, "I missed you, Dans."

I could feel the excitement in her body. "I've missed you too. So much." I smiled into neck.

"I didn't think you were going to come." She kept her arms around my neck but looked into my eyes. "You're staring."

"I love your eyes." She slipped out of my arms. I wrapped them around her waist. "And of course, I was coming. I didn't want to tell you. Amanda kept a pretty good secret."

"You bet I did." Mum laughed. "You played great, Bubba." I hugged my mum and kissed her head. "Be proud of yourself."

"I am. I'm proud of the girls mostly."

"So humble." Dani lightly punched my arm.

"I try." I grinned. "I'm going to go finish up with things then I'll meet you in the tunnel. Both of you. We can go out for some dinner. Sound good?"

"Sounds great, Le." Dani kissed my cheek and squeezed my hand. "We'll make our way over there, yeah?"

"Go for it. I'll let security know. I'll see you both in a bit."

I headed towards the tunnel and into the changing room. Beth was standing in the tunnel entrance with a large grin on her face.

"That smile looks good on you, Leah." She wrapped an arm around me. "She looks good too."

"She does, doesn't she? I love her."

"I know. I see it on her face too. Go hurry. I'll tell Sarina you family showed."

"Thanks, Beth."

So, I hurried to shower and change. I didn't really have much on me besides my England tracksuit, but I could make it work.

I met up with the two in the tunnel and we found Mum's car in the back lot. I told Dani to sit up in the front with Mum, so I sat in the middle seat in the back. Dani still found a way to hold onto my hand.

When we were seated at the restaurant, we both sat across from Mum and conversation began to flow easily. It was when Dani excused herself to use the restroom, was when my mother spoke her mind.

"She's been good, yeah?"

"Almost ten months sober. We've been together for about two now. We're good. She's good. I'm good."

"She looks good. Happy and carefree. I'm glad she's back but in a...healthier way."

"Hey," I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. "What'd I miss?" Dani sat down and connected our hands.

I watched Mum smile.

"I was telling Leah you look good." I saw a hint of blush creep its way onto my girlfriend's face. "I'm proud of you Danielle. I know we don't like to get stuck in the past and I think it's a good thing, but for what it's worth, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Amanda. It hasn't been easy, but with the right people," she looked at me. "it's been easier."

~~~~
AN: Long overdue, but crazy few days. I've slept so much, but I'm still exhausted 🤣
I have a plan as to where this is going. So, updates may be faster. I'm also stuck in a 13 hour car ride tomorrow, so I'll have a lot of time.
Thank you for being patient. I'm navigating some life things at the moment, all good things, and I'm tired. Also, yay to 17 years of being here on this planet!

New Book Question: Would you like the prologue as an introduction then wait for the chapters until It All Leads Back to You is done? Or just wait for it all until this is done?
It's hard enough to write one book and update, as you can tell, so I'm not going to double up for the sake of my sanity.

You Are In Love - Taylor Swift
They're in love.
p.s., I'm dead to the world.

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