Sunsets and footballers

Alexia Putellas x Character (21)

Ridley's eyes flashed at her audacity. Alexia could tell she couldn't deny it and had never had she been so called out like that before. She stepped forwards until they were almost touching. Alexia could feel Ridley's gaze on her hazel eyes. Sharp jaw. Soft lips. Strong nose. And then the frustration was gone and Ridley reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "They're not you."

Whatever Alexia expected, it wasn't that. That was as close to an admission of feelings she'd gotten thus far. Her own frustrations sidled away, especially as she realised she'd just done the opposite of what Blau said.

Ridley continued. "Besides; who do you think they looked like?"

Alexia thought back to that night she'd touched her. The woman on the bed... her hair was dyed blonde. And she did... look like Alexia.

She inhaled sharply, stunned. Her eyes moved to her lips and back. "I'm right here..." Alexia said like Blau had suggested. She saw something flash behind Ridley's eyes for a moment. Blau was right. She just needed to know she was there to stay; that she could rely on her.

Alexia reached out and smoothed the lapel of her button up, her thumb tracing over her neck as she almost whispered in Spanish. "I'm not going anywhere."

Ridley was incredible at hiding her emotions, though little things gave her away like the jump in her pulse that Alexia could feel under her thumb when she reassured her. She caught her eye. "I'm right here..."

Even though Ridley's eyes were dark, Alexia could still see her pupils dilate. Her reassurance hit her, hard.

"I know you are," Ridley murmured as if she weren't affected.

Alexia smiled, her palm now flat on her chest, just below her collarbone. "I'm not going anywhere."

Ridley's jaw flexed. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"I'm right here."

Ridley's strong expression faltered just the slightest. She closed her eyes. "Stop."

"You're not listening to me," Alexia murmured. Everything she said was gentle and supportive. She took Ridley's hand in her own and placed it against her chest, right over her heart. "I'm right here."

Alexia wasn't attempting to break her. She wasn't arguing about her being distant or having her boundaries up. She just wanted her to know that she could depend on her, as Alexia knew she could on Ridley.

'Let her pull you into her bubble herself,' Blau had said.

She released her hand and shuffled that last half a step forward to put her forehead on her shoulder. This was unusual for Alexia as well, as she wasn't used to being so openly emotional. She exhaled a large breath as her arms went around Ridley's waist. Ridley stayed still.

"Whatever you need. And that's my choice... and I hope you can do the same for me... because tonight I could use a friend."

The Australian's tension disappeared with those words and perhaps even at the feel of Alexia's body pressed up against her.

Alexia felt her relax and her arms come around the footballer, her cast hand on her back and the other cradling the back of her head. She felt enveloped, and safe. Everything was Ridley; the soft, the warmth, the spicy musk smell, and the reliable pulse of her heart. Ridley's cheek touched her hair, and the best Alexia could describe it was that it felt therapeutic.

"I can do that, Lex." Ridley murmured quietly, her jaw moving against the footballer's hair.

They stood like that a while, Alexia not pulling away until Ridley lifted her head. She was pleasantly surprised by just how long it had taken her and thought maybe she needed that just as much as she had.