We were forced awake the next morning by the sound of Ellie beating on my door, clearly thinking I'd slept through breakfast. Leah bounced into an upright position as I got out of bed, gesturing with my eyes as if to ask her if it was okay for me to open the door, she simply nodded in agreement.
"How can you sleep for THIS many - oh, hello. Em should I come back?" Ellie was startled by the appearance of the England captain in my bed.
"Ellie, this is -" I began to say before being cut off.
"Are you seriously about to tell me who Leah Williamson is, Alex?" She laughed.
"Hi Ellie, it's nice to meet you." Leah spoke, unsure as to whether Ellie would approve of her presence, knowing she was probably aware of her lack of communication after her previous interaction with me.
"Nice to meet you too, Leah! Sorry for barging in, I thought this one was still asleep and going to miss breakfast. Are you joining us?" Ellie always was the friendly one. She could make just about anyone feel welcome, no matter where they where and I could tell by Leah's relaxed face that she appreciated this.
"I could murder a fry to be fair." Leah looked at me for confirmation that she was welcome.
"Right Ellie, go away so we can get ready. You're so dramatic, breakfast is still on for another hour." I laughed as I pretended to push her out of the room.
"Bye Leah!" Ellie shouted, teasing me as I shut the door behind her and turned to roll my eyes at Leah.
"She seems nice." Leah said, seemingly happy to have met my best friend.
"She is, she's been my best friend since we were at school. Comes to most of my shows." I told her as I climbed back into bed, cuddling up beside her.
We lay together for another few minutes before getting up to shower. I told Leah to take whatever clothes she needed from my case and jumped in the shower first, getting dried and changed in the bathroom before returning to wait for her to shower. Once she was ready, we headed downstairs to breakfast and Leah was introduced to Lydia and Gavin, my tour manager who appeared to have spent the night with Lydia. The five of us talked about the upcoming show in Liverpool and of course, my friends embarrassed me by telling Leah about my stage fright days. Leah stroked my leg under the table, knowing I was getting flustered at the stories being told about my younger, more anxious days. As Gavin's phone rang to say the bus was outside, the three left myself and Leah to say goodbye to each other. She wrapped me into her arms and placed her chin on top of my head, gently rubbing my back and squeezing me tighter. She planted another kiss on my lips before whispering that she would see me real soon. As she began to walk away, I pulled her back and kissed her once more, never wanting to let this girl go.
As I boarded the coach to Liverpool, I was greeted with 50,000 questions about last night and what had happened. Ellie was still starstruck after eating breakfast with the England captain and Lydia was in a state of confusion, not knowing the story of our previous meetings before now. The coach journey took just over 4 hours as we stopped for lunch and multiple snack breaks. By the time we arrived, my rehearsal slot was upon me.