Finding the Way Back (gxg)

Chapter 14

Sure, older fans write fanfiction too, but for the most part, those are respectful and don't push boundaries. It is seemingly always the younger ones who end up obsessed with stories that include smut, something I despise. I've made many posts about how I don't like it—especially since I am a minor—but that section of fans doesn't seem to listen. They are just way too obsessed and unhinged to do anything about.

It is one drawback of being someone people pay attention to and obsess over. That, and people who read things on Wattpad, tend to be unhinged regardless.

Yes, reading stories on Wattpad has become my guilty pleasure when I am not occupied by other things.

Like rehab and Rose, for example.

Rose chuckles. "You are thinking about that story again?"

"The one where the only vibe I got from it was that the writer is an unhinged stalker with too much time on their hands? Kind of hard not to." I sigh. "Somehow I doubt they will grow out of their obsessive phase."

The thing is, it has only gotten worse since I posted the picture of myself and Rose on vacation. Like a million times worse now, especially now that the bisexual and lesbian writers had something to bite onto. I would just have to accept that there was no way to get some people to respect the boundaries I have.

Just an unfortunate reality of the world we live in.

Then, as if realizing I needed a distraction from my thoughts, Napoli scored a second goal, pulling me out of my thoughts. I felt myself relax again, thankful to have something else to think about.

For the rest of the afternoon, Rose and I stayed curled up together, enjoying the soccer games as they played out. Following Dortmund's 3-1 win, Rose was beaming with energy, happy that she got to watch her favorite team win.

I ended up staying the night, partly because Mom was working a double at the hospital, and partly because Rose asked me to. Grace cooked an amazing meal, making me happy that I had this place to call my second home.

That night, Rose and I fell asleep, cuddled together on her outrageously comfortable bed with Rose sprawled out on top of me. I fell asleep listening to the sound of Rose's steady breathing.

~~~~~

Two days later, Monday rolled around, which meant my three hours of register duty at the bakery, followed by an hour break and the physical therapy.

Now that I could move around with little to no discomfort, I had transitioned to handling register and coffee duties by myself. I had also fully adjusted to the pace demanded for getting everything done, and I had eliminated the silly errors I had been making when I first started.

It was a major improvement, and a source of much-needed confidence. If I could already handle this, I had full faith that I would complete my recovery in the expected nine months. After that, it would just be a matter of whether I had landed myself a spot on a team.

Speaking of which, Hayes has been impressed with my recovery journey and has even volunteered to help find a team willing to take me on with a plan to give me minutes on the pitch ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup once I am cleared to play again. Even if it were only as a substitute with limited minutes, I would take it. So long as it allowed me to earn my place on the national team.

To my complete surprise, Hayes had told me that there were teams already talking to her, wanting updates on my recovery process. According to her, NWSL teams had been hesitant to approach me, given my ties to RB Leipzig and my clear intentions to play in Europe. Now that the path to doing so was in jeopardy, it seemed like they finally felt it would be worth their time to poke around and get a feel for the situation.