imbalance | trent alexander-arnold¹

twenty-one.

[ warning: heavy mentions of panic attacks ]

. . .

two lost souls

Like the scouse promised a few training sessions ago, he aimed to approach Wynter during today's training session if she were to train alongside the squad. He wanted to get down to the bottom of his girlfriend's unbelievably huge and complex problems—he believed that because Wynter can be a very selfless person, her dilemmas were normally kept on the low from not only the team and her friends, but also the media as she never sought attention just so then she could retrieve temporary notability from it.

And yes, yes. Trent heard this one line from multiple individuals—if Wynter has something to tell you, she will tell you—Jordan, Virgil, Claire, Peyton (who the scouse contacted when he found himself desperate for answers) and even Jürgen fed him with that claim and in that moment, Trent took their word for it. However, the pair had been together for the past few months and as time passed, her usual jovial mood shifted towards a more secretive one which set alight confusion in the scouse.

At this point, he felt as though Wynter and himself should've been able to share anything between them. So why did he feel as though the french girl hadn't reciprocated that thought yet?

There was also a hint of frustration within him. He noticed the same people who claimed everything was feathery with Wynter were also the ones who his girlfriend ran to for support, advice and comfort. As the player's boyfriend, he felt as though he'd the right to know about her well-being as well as her life off the football podium.

Once he felt satisfied with himself, Trent made his way downstairs into the kitchen where he found all of his family members. When they took notice of his presence in the room, the light atmosphere suddenly fell.

He glanced around the room, pressing his lips together. "What up?" Trent asked in a hesitant tone.

"Have you not seen the news or talked to Winnie today?" his mom said, surprise clear in her voice.

Slowly, Trent shook his head. "No, I haven't done neither this morning. My phone was dead when I woke up so I haven't gotten the chance to see what's going on. . . uh, what is going on?"

Tyler walked up to Trent and gave him his phone. "Take a look for yourself," he said before heading towards his seat, folding his arms.

Trent glanced at his older brother for a second before he focused his attention on the media in front of him. One photo showcased Wynter with black ray bands, which shielded the harsh flashes that sourced from the paparazzi. Her face seemed neutral though Trent easily captured her fallen mood in the picture. She walked alongside her mother and another woman, someone unknown to the scouse.

Then, he clicked on the video and watched as the three women made their way into what seemed like a court. When the scouse thought things couldn't have gotten any more confusing, he read the title of the article.

STAR PLAYER, WYNTER REYES, CAPTURED GOING TO COURT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS (TO THE PUBLIC).

"Did you know about this, Trent?"  his father broke the silence after a while, snapping the scouse out of his daze.

"No, I didn't. Not until now," he read the date of the publication of the article and realised it happened to be the exact same day he told his teammates he would confront his girlfriend. He glanced up from Tyler's phone. "The reason's unknown. Surely the reason has to be public in one way or another."

"I've looked around different sports sites and channels, but they're all just rumour," Marcel jumped into the situation, leaning on the kitchen aisle. "Tax avoidance, drug abuse, doping. Typical football player accusations, but none of them are confirmed Trent so don't go all off on your girlfriend during training."