state of grace ✦ leon goretzka

e i n u n d z w a n z i g

the bauer house

HE WOKE UP TO THE SOUND of the alarms that he had set for the night before. He had to be at the training grounds by 9, so the alarm was set for half past 7. He woke up first, and realised that somehow both of his arms had managed to sneak around her and they were practically spooning. He switched off the alarm.

The light came through the bay window since the only thing stopping it were sheer fabric hanging over as the blinds weren't drawn. It concentrated sunlight onto the foot of the bed.

Beneath him was her.

Leon had never seen her at a state so peaceful despite being at a time so stressful. Her lips rested comfortably together and her eyes were shut softly, not tightly screwed up. Her hair was like a halo, floating on the pillow around her. The same way she thought he looked like an angel the time when they fell asleep on his couch, he thought she looked heavenly.

Sighing and deciding they had to get up, Leon pulled his arms from around her, causing Grace to lightly frown and stir. Her body turned to face his, but Leon knew she was still asleep.

"Grace," he called out softly, shaking her side, "Grace."

A groan was released as she stretched out her legs and arms, thankfully avoiding hitting Leon. She flopped back to a relaxed state before she was able to open her eyes, and her eyes opened to him.

"God, you're fucking ugly in the mornings," she chimed, her voice hoarse.

"Hey! I look like this through the whole day! I should be saying that to you since you're not wearing makeup," he retorted playfully, watching her glare form before he brought her closer and kissed her temples, "I'm kidding. You're beautiful all the time. You hardly even wear makeup."

"Hey! The damage is done!" she sneered, "But your morning voice is hot."

"So i've been told."

"By who? The models you've slept with?"

"No, by-"

"I think i'd take the models answer over the Max answer," she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Uhhh, by the models then?" he answered wearily, cautiously, "Though it's not like I slept with models frequently before I met you. Whenever I did though, I was always gone before they woke up so you should be lucky i'm still here."

She scoffed at him, pushing herself out of his grip and getting up, "I'm not one of your hookups, Goretzka. And you're a terrible person for leaving before they woke up. I bet you can't even remember their names now."

"I know you're not one of my hookups; I actually like you," he pushed the covers off his body, "Can you remember the names of your hookups?"

They weren't shy in talking about this kind of stuff. They were adults- adults who had gone to university and were a professional football played. Both things warranted to a lot of opportunities to get it on. One day, it had come up and Leon had been forced to admit that yes, he had slept with quite a few women, and Grace was also then guilted only by herself into saying that she had her fair share of hookups in university at others' dorms (oh God, she would never bring them back to her family's house!). It didn't matter; those hookups weren't present in their lives. It was just them now; just Leon and Grace.

"That's what I thought," he huffed with a triumphant smile, "So, we get changed, have some breakfast and I go off to training? What time are you picking up your mother?"

"I told her to be ready around 9," she shrugged, "I'll leave the same time as you, I guess."

Leon nodded, fully standing up from the bed, "I need to grab my duffel from my car to get changed. Are you showering?"