imbalance | trent alexander-arnold¹

sixteen.

so many smiles begin with you

The two found themselves stationed in the french player's house, a mixture of R&B and rap tunes softly flowing through the speakers that were scattered all over the house. Joyous laughs occasionally escaped from the mouths of those who participated in the game. Wynter sat across from Trent with her legs tucked under her bottom, her eyes focused on the chess game that unfolded right in front of her. 

With his expertise in the game and Wynter's lack of knowledge with chess, he played the board game effortlessly. His lips curled upwards whenever his eyes fixated on the french girl who placed her full efforts and strategy into the six-game, her brows pulling together whenever she wanted to remain in her element.

It was Wynter's first time playing the game so after countless defeats harshly taken by the player, she remained firm in her seat and continued to demand rematches but in the end, somehow, Trent always came out of the short-lived game as the victor.

While Wynter restarted the game yet again, Trent decided to speak up as he stationed his fist on his cheek. "Winnie?" when he comprehended her light hum, he continued. "Your celebration, what are the reasons behind it? Like, does it come from somewhere or someone?" Trent asked, cocking his head to the side.

She sighed, locking her hands on her knee as she glanced at him with a soft grin. "Yeah, a bit of both if you ask me. The bow came from Beyoncé's song Bow Down, the hand gestures came from Antoine Griezmann and I wink at the end because, well. . ." she shrugged with her last few words. "I simply can."

Trent chuckled at her response as he made his move on the game. "Why out of all celebrations did you choose Griezmann's celebration?"

Wynter kept her sight on Trent's move, attempting to come back from her previous mistakes. "I didn't choose it, Anto did. Plus, he has had many celebrations throughout the years so he doesn't have just one celebration. I didn't really have my own celebration before the World Cup. I mean, sometimes I copied Nate's one but then after I scored my first goal for France, Antoine asked if I wanted to use his Hotline Bling celebration and I accepted 'cause why not?"

The scouse nodded, understanding. "That's nice of him." Once the french player had made her move again, he stretched his arm out towards her, doing a grabby hand in her direction.

She smiled at the scouse, taking his hand in her own as she intertwined their fingers together. "It is. There are times where I don't do my whole celebration but I will always do Anto's because ever since I joined the France NT, he has been the one to guide me, been by my side, protected me from the abuse that came from fans, staff and even players themselves. He's basically apart of my family because my parents love him for everything he's done for me. So in my eyes, I perform his old celebration to thank him for everything he's done for me in the past year."

"Wow, that's new to me. Well, the bow didn't really come as a surprise to me," Trent rolled his eyes at the thought of her obsession with the Queen Bee. "You're always blasting Beyoncé's music in the locker rooms before we go out to play a match. "

She sent Trent a stank face, a brow rising slightly. "Hey! It's just a pre-match ritual that has stuck with me since forever," just then the french player let out a holler as the song ALREADY flowed through the speakers. "Not to mention, her music hypes me up for matches. If it weren't for that then I probably wouldn't have scored any goals at this point so technically you should thanking Beyoncé."

"Alright, alright. I'll give you that," Trent simply shook his head as he moved one of his figures. He smirked. "Checkmate, Winnie."

Wynter halted her little dance gestures, glancing at the chessboard with confusion smeared across her face. "What? I literally just reset the game! Come on, one more game. I have to win at least once against you, T."