A/N - Jill Scott has also decided to retire! Such an incredible player that will be missed massively
Lucy Bronze's POV:
"you told me there were 4 people!", I remarked towards Rosie. She began to speak, before deciding against it and remaining silent. Gareth showed me pictures and videos of around 20 girls dancing round my house and drinking alcohol as if it was water. There was an uncomfortable silence that hung in the room. Gareth looked somewhat apologetic about the bomb that he had just set off, "Lucy, I'd like to keep this meeting as short as possible so if it's alright can we move on?". I nodded my head and had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from completely exploding at Rosie. She sat to the side of me, her head hanging low - a guilty look cascaded on her face.
Desperate to prevent any family arguments occuring in his office, Gareth swiftly moved on, "I am aware that you young people like to share pretty much your whole lives on social media, but the type of behaviour that you share reflects on not only yourself, but Lucy and Man City as a club". To my right, Rosie raised her head, mumbled, "sorry" and sat back in her chair. I shook my head in disbelief of the behaviour that she has had over the past few days and questioned her, "what is happening to you Rosie? First you get sent off in an internal game against 14 year olds, and now this. In what world would it be okay to post videos of you and Millie necking on and taking shots? Especially when you have so many followers". She answered light-heartedly, "to be honest I can't actually remember posting those videos". I huffed sarcastically, "oh well that makes it much better that you were too drunk to even remember what you were doing". Gareth watched our tense conversation before interrupting, "I'm going to tell you what's going to happen, then I'm going to let you leave and sort this out between yourselves". Rosie had a look on her face that told me that she didn't even care what the punishment was. My coach continued, "I would have only banned you from the match against Arsenal tomorrow, but since you're already on a red card for that match, I will also be giving you a week suspension from the club". Rosie's eyes almost popped out of her head as she complained, "a week suspension? But that means I'll miss the Chelsea game aswell". Gareth simply shrugged her shoulders and told her she could leave. As she exitted the room dramatically, I stood up to also leave but Gareth spoke to me, "I don't know what is going on but you need to sort out the underlying issue instead of ignoring it this time Lucy. You can shout at her all you like, but that won't make her tell you the actual problem". There had been a few times since she had joined City that her anger would get the better of her. Normally it was small things like kicking a water bottle in frustration or swearing at no one in particular on the pitch. This time it seemed that it was more - almost as if she was acting out on purpose for someone to notice that there was something wrong.
When I got arrived at the car, I spotted a sad looking Rosie slumped against the window. Keira greeted me and I began the relatively short journey home. There was a painful silence that felt like me and Rosie were arguing with eachother without even opening our mouths. Keira tried to lighten the mood but it only made things worse, "so me and Luce are thinking about travelling down to London next friday with you for the Chelsea game". Rosie rolled her eyes but stayed silent while Keira shot me a confused look. Having to explain things, I told her, "we won't be going to that game". I could tell she was even more confused by my comment because she narrowed her eyes towards me and said, "why not?". I sighed, "Rosie is banned City for a week". Her eyes widened and sank back into her seat - understanding that now was not the time to ask the reason why.
The quiet journey home had given me some time to think about what I was going to say to Rosie. Even though I had planned my speech, I knew that the conversation (or rather argument) would take another turn and I wouldn't use any of it.
As soon as we entered the house, I firmly gripped Rosie's shoulder and lightly pushed her towards my study. When she understood where we were going, I released my grip and let her walk by herself while I turned to face Keira, "I'm just going to talk to her in the study. When we're done i'll help you make dinner". She smiled, walked up to me and embraced me, "take all the time you need. But you better tell me about it later". We both laughed slightly at the last bit and we broke apart, allowing me to continue walking towards the study while saying, "don't worry I will". Even though I was so annoyed, frustrated and angry with Rosie, Keira managed to make me laugh. Only slightly, but she still made me laugh. God I love her so much.
There was no point dodging the actual problem for hours, so I cut straight to it, "explain. From the beginning". She was sat on my desk chair while I was standing with my arms crossed - trying to look as intimidating as possible so she would tell me the whole truth. In the past, I had been soft and welcoming, but that only made her tell me a half truth - now it was time for the whole story without leaving bits out in between. It was time she met bitchy Lucy who could make you spill the truth in minutes.
Looking up from the floor that had become interesting, she began, "I just invited all the girls from City round. I hadn't intended on drinking but they brought all the alcohol and I guess I just joined in with what they were doing". I frowned and rested my head on my hand. That had been surprisingly easy. Still very pissed off, I began to pace the room, "you lied to me, betrayed my trust and are so calm about it. How does that work?". She tightened her pony tail and looked up at me with a sad expression, "I'm so tired of shouting and being angry. I don't think I can take much more". Even more bewildered, I removed my head from my hand and asked, "take more of what?". She bit her lip and shook her head, "nothing. It doesn't matter. Now can I go?". She began to stand up but I stood in front of the door, trying to understand what she meant, "it does matter. You began to talk about it so it must be something". I could see a battle going on behind her eyes. As if she wanted to say something, but a part of her was holding back. She stood up again and this time her movement had more power and intent behind it as she tried to push past me - but I was having none of it. I smirked, "no chance. Sit back down and explain". Clearly not amused by my comment, she rolled her eyes and began to raise her voice, "fuck sake Lucy just let me passed!". I rolled my eyes back at her and glowered, "not until you tell me what the hell is going on!". She paused, took a deep breath and shot back at me, "maybe you should stop being so overprotective then I wouldn't feel like I had to do things behind your back all the time!". All the time? What else was she doing that I didn't know about. Any other person would see that as a truthful excuse for her behaviour, but I could see through her like she was a sheet of glass, "that's bullshit. Why can't you just tell me the whole truth?". She looked at me with a painful look in her eyes and said fairly calmly, "I can't tell you because it would absolutely break your heart if you knew, so just leave it". I paused and thought for a moment. Wondering what an earth could be that bad. Rosie was now lightly shaking - barely visible but I could see it. I'm not sure whether it was out of anger or sadness or any of the many emotions she seemed to have running riot in her mind. Taking a deep breath, I said, "i'm sure it won't be that bad". She said without even pausing for air, "you can believe what you want, but I could never ever bring myself to tell you myself". I pleaded with her, now really desperate for a clear explanation that wasn't muddled or only half true, "then who can tell me?". She glared at me and took my desperation as an excuse to push herself past me towards the door. When she opened it, she turned back to look at me and said barely above a whisper, "Beth Mead".
Beth's name was the last name that I would have expected her to say. I presumed it would be Keira or Steph or one of the girls at City. Not Beth who lived over 200 miles away and as far as I knew barely spoke to Rosie out of England camp.
Rosie's POV:
When I left the study, I had planned on making my way upstairs to huddle with Narla under a mountain of blankets. That's what I would always do whenever Lucy and I had argued or if I just felt sad.
As I walked through the living area, I saw Keira sat on one of the sofas talking to someone. It seemed quite a tense conversation because she was saying things in an annoyed tone such as, "no I want to cancel the ones I've already booked, not book new ones". She made some weird hand movements towards me that I presumed meant that she wanted me to stay and not go anywhere. I tried to prepare myself for another conversation about what had happened. Even though Keira had never been angry at me like Lucy, she could still be disappointed. And that was the worst feeling in the world. I would much rather someone told me that they were angry at me rather than disappointed. It just felt like I had let them down - especially if it was Keira who said it to me.
After a few minutes I began to stare into space - not thinking about anything in particular - but I was brought back to reality when Keira said my name, "Rosie?". I apologised quickly and saw that Lucy had emerged from her office and was now cooking something in the kitchen. Keira continued talking once she had my attention, "Lucy asked if pasta is okay for dinner?". I nodded my head at her, not daring to look at Lucy, and asked , "who were you on the phone to?". She sighed and replied, "I was cancelling mine and Lucy's train tickets down to London for tomorrow. When she replied, I immediately regretted asking the question. Even if she wasn't saying the words, I could tell that she was disappointed in me.
Both of us were eager to switch the conversation to something less uncomfortable but we didn't quite know what to say. Eventually, she spoke up, "where's Narla?". I couldn't be bothered for small talk so I shrugged my shoulders, stood up and began to walk down the corridor. Lucy called out from the kitchen, "dinner will be done in 20 minutes so don't disappear". Even though my back was to her and she couldn't see my face, I exaggerated rolling my eyes and began to climb the stairs.
I flopped on my bed and decided to face time the one person who I knew wouldn't judge the situation I was in no matter what. Leah.
L: mini bronze! It's been a while, how are you?
R: I'm good, err I need some advice if that's alright?
L: of course it's alright!
R: so I had a party and didn't tell Lucy, got suspended from city for a week and now everyone's mad at me and I don't know what to do
L: woah you've had an eventful few days
R: Leah...
L: sorry I'm just shocked. That's definitely not your usual behaviour so there must be something else going on?
R: well...there is but it would hurt Lucy so much if I told her. It's best she didn't know
L: tell her
R: I can't-...
L: yes you can, you're just choosing not to.
R: I'm not, it's just-...
L: Rosie, you wanted advice and I've given it to you
And then I hung up. Once I'd done it, I deeply regretted it. She was right, but I couldn't tell Lucy. The last thing I wanted was more people feeling sorry for me and pitying me. I just wasn't too sure how long I could keep in all this anger and sadness and pain.
I heard Lucy shout up the stairs that dinner was ready, but I didn't move. I stayed curled up in a ball on my bed - desperately trying to block the tears from falling down my cheeks. I couldn't let myself show my pain.
After a while, someone entered my bedroom and sat next to me on my bed, occasionally rubbing my back softly. They didn't speak, but they didn't have to. I knew it was Keira. Not wanting to show her how weak and vulnerable I was currently feeling, I mumbled, "go away". When she didn't listen to me, I repeated it louder - trying to keep my voice from wobbling as I spoke. This time, she listened and slowly left my bedroom as quietly as possible. Despite what I told her and was trying to tell myself, I really didn't want to be left alone in my current state. I wanted nothing more to have people who cared comforting me while I absolutely balled my eyes out next to them. All I wanted was for someone to be there and stay with me until the very end. However close or far away that was.
I pulled my phone under the blankets with me and turned it on. The brightness making my eyes burn with the difference in dark and light. After turning down the brightness and completely opening my eyes, I saw numerous concerned texts from Leah and even some from Jordan. I guessed that Leah had told her what happened and how I abruptly cut our conversation short. Ignoring them all, I pressed my thumb on the messages app and scrolled down until I found the person's name I was looking for. I typed a short and simple message : u need to tell Lucy for me. I can't go on like this much longer. I hovered my finger over the send button before finally gathering the courage and pushing it as hard as I could - almost as if it would make the message reach the recipient quicker.
Rising from my bed with red, blotchy eyes and my clothes heavily creased, I knew I had to leave. I couldn't be in the house when Beth did whatever she decided to do with that message.
Lucy Bronze's POV:
Keira and I were chilling on the sofas watching some random show on Netflix that she wanted to watch when Rosie walked in, "I'm going to take Narla for a walk". Keira's eyes still glued to the TV didn't notice her clearly tear stained face, but I did, "why's your face all red?". I tried to say in the softest tone I could manage but it came out all wrong - sounding harsh and interrogating. Panic soared around her body as she paused for a moment before answering as confident as she could, "hayfever". That excuse was one of the most stupidest excuses I had heard in a long time. It was almost laughable, but given the current situation, I had to remain straight faced.
What Rosie had said earlier about me being overprotective had stuck in my mind. But my thoughts deciding whether to let her go on a walk were cut short by my phone ringing from on the kitchen counter. Rosie immediately seemed to be in much more of a rush as she heard my ringtone, so she turned to Keira to try and get confirmation that she could leave the house. Keira was still engrossed in her TV show to notice Rosie glaring into the side of her head. It was only when Rosie said Keira's name did she answer, "Narla went on a walk earlier, she won't need another one till later tonight. Don't worry about it". Rosie began to insist on walking Narla, but Keira shut her down once again, "you need to eat before you go and do any exercise. You've barely eaten anything today". Rosie simply shrugged her shoulders and answered, "I'll grab something when I'm out. So can I go?". Keira paused her show to turn to her and question, " I think you should just stay in. Why are you so desperate to go out anyway? Are you meeting Millie?" Rosie ignored Keira's questions and directed one of her own at me, "who was calling you?". It was only then that I realised I had been too engrossed in their conversation to actually pick my own phone up off the counter and answer the call. Looking down at the lock screen photo of me, Keira and Rosie and seeing the missed call notification, I mumbled, "Beth. I wonder what she wants? I'll call her later once I've made sure you've had something substantial to eat and not just a packet of crisps".
As I said Beth's name out loud, something seemed to be nagging at the back of my mind. Rosie had mentioned her name previously this evening - she knew the big heartbreaking thing that Rosie couldn't bring herself to tell me. I had to call her back as soon as I could.
"Can you stop picking at your food and just eat it?" I said to Rosie. After I had reheated her food, all she had done was stare at it. My comment seemed to have triggered something inside of her because she set down her fork, took a deep breath and told me, "I need to go out". Narrowing my eyes towards her, she slid her chair back, stood up and made her way towards the front door. I could sense that Keira was as bewildered as I was as she shouted protectively down the hall, "where are you going?".
The last look we got of Rosie was when she turned to face us and say, "dunno".
A/N - the next chapter is going to need quite a bit of time spent on it so I'm not too sure when it will be released, but I promise that it will be worth the wait. I'll try and get it out asap though.
Thank you for the incredible amount of support that I've received over the past few days :)
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