TW
There was a knock at the door. Leah went and answered it. A man a couple of years younger than she was stood before her.
"Hello?" she said, cheerfully with a questioning tone mixed in.
"Is Evie in?" he asked. Leah raised an eyebrow, wondering who he was and how he knew Evie.
"Yeah. She's upstairs. I'll call her down."
Leah moved to the bottom of the stairs.
"Evie? EVIE!" she shouted.
"Yeah. I'm coming," she heard a voice groan before footsteps could be heard. She appeared at the top of the stairs before freezing when she saw who it was. Her eyes widened in panic.
She turned round and ran back the way she came. A door slam indicating that she very much didn't want to see who it was.
"Sorry. I guess she doesn't want to see you," Leah told the man before moving to shut the door. She was now extremely intrigued.
"Please give her this," he said, handing over a piece of paper with a phone number on. Leah took it and then closed the door.
"Evie? Kiddo are you okay?" Leah asked as she knocked gently on the youngster's bedroom door.
"Go away," was the sniffled response that came back.
"Baby I just want to know that you're alright."
There was no reply so Leah opened the door and found the girl, curled up and crying.
"What's up?" she asked, full of concern, as she sat on the bed and allowed her to crawl onto her lap.
"That's, that's my brother," she stammered in response. Leah didn't know how to reply so she just let her lie crying and waited to hear more.
"How does he know where I live? What does he want?" Evie asked, her eyes full of panic.
"I'm sure it's all completely innocent," Leah tried to reassure her, not fully believing it herself.
"But, but I haven't seen him in years. Why now? We didn't end on good terms. We were never on good terms."
"What do you mean you were never on good terms?"
Leah knew that she'd never got on with her brother but Evie didn't like to give away details. Maybe now was the time to find out the root of the problem.
"Well he was mean to me all the time," Evie replied. Leah nodded, knowing that already.
"Like he hurt me a lot. He seemed to copy my parents and he hit me. He was horrid. Properly horrid. He said things you shouldn't say."
"He's gone now. I told him to go."
They stayed on her bed. Evie cried and Leah comforted. It was bad but Leah hoped that it would soon be put in the past. It was only a small interaction.
***
Since the unexpected turning up of her big brother, Evie had been in bad mood. She was angry throughout training and despite everyone's best efforts, she was shut off and didn't make them all laugh like usual.
She'd also been grumpy at home as well. There were no hilarious evening chats where they just laughed and laughed and Leah was missing it. She hated seeing Evie like that. It wasn't right. It wasn't like her at all.
They were playing against Reading and even in the changing room, Evie was pissed off. She had an angry expression on her face.
"You ok kiddo?" Katie asked.
"Fine," she replied bluntly before walking out to the tunnel.
"What's going on with her?" Katie asked the others. Leah just stayed quiet; it wasn't her place to say.
They began the match and Evie was going in hard. She was playing decently well but her usual smile had vanished. She was giving away ridiculous challenges and was lucky to not be booked.
Arsenal were on top and Viv and Katie both managed to score within two minutes of each other. Even when Evie managed to assist the second goal she didn't smile. She seemed hollow. Like something was eating her up.
Ten minutes from the end of the first half, they had a corner and Leah managed to head it home. Finally a small smile appeared on Evie's face as she hugged her best mate.
"Well done," she said with a little grin before running to reset. Leah was pleased that Evie was beginning to cheer up- even if it was only a little bit.
They got to half time and were pleased to be 3-0 up.
"Evie stop with the ridiculous challenges. You're lucky not to have been booked. Stop it in the second half," Jonas warned. Evie just glared at him, not willing to hear what anyone else had to say.
They restarted and within five minutes, Evie found herself making another harsh tackle. She went in a bit late and sent the Reading player tumbling to the floor.
"What the fuck are you playing at?" one of the other players asked.
"Sor-ry. It was an accident," Evie replied sassily, not caring one bit. They argued for a bit longer before Kim got involved and put her arms around the raging teenager.
"Kiddo leave it," she said as she pulled her away. Evie pushed her arms away angrily and stormed off, not even looking when the yellow card was shown her way.
The fourth Arsenal goal was scored in the 70th minute. Stina smashed it into the net and even though they were so far in the lead, from the look on Evie's face you would've thought they were 8-0 down.
It was five minutes from the end when her built up anger reached its peak. She went in horribly sending the player to the ground and getting kicked in the process.
"What the fuck?" Evie shouted, her hands pinning the Reading player to the ground. It was all her fault and the leg was an accident but she didn't care. She was pissed off and taking it out in other ways.
"Don't fucking kick me!"
"Like you haven't been kicking me all game!" the player retorted.
"Get off her!" the Reading captain said as she tried to pull her away. Evie turned on her, shoving her clean in the chest.
"Fuck you man," she shouted as she sprung to her feet. Everyone had now gathered, all arguing.
"Kiddo leave her. It's not worth it," Kim said, knowing that at this point the sending off was inevitable.
"It is worth it," Evie shouted, trying to fight out of Kim's strong hands.
The ref came over and pulled out the red card. Shit.
"Oh fuck off," Evie spat, storming from the pitch and down the tunnel. Jonas called her name but she carried on, not giving two shits what he had to say.
As she walked down the tunnel, she swung her fist in complete rage and punched the wall. The pain exploded in her hand but she carried onto the changing rooms. She was too angry to care.
She wasn't angry at the game. She was angry at her brother. Angry at her stupid life for going the way it had.
In the five minutes that was left, Evie sat on her spot, looking forward and hearing the blood roar in her ears. She was pissed.
The girls walked in, happy with the win but also concerned for their friend.
Jonas's feedback was mostly positive but then he turned on her.
"Evie do not get sent off like that again. It was stupid and reckless and very unnecessary."
She wasn't usually one to argue with bosses but she wasn't in the right frame of mind.
"I was just playing passionately. I wanted to win so I tried hard. That's what you asked of me when I came so don't get all shitty when that's what I do," Evie said, her voice raising as she spoke. The changing room was dead silent.
"Can I speak to you outside?" Jonas asked, the anger on his face very evident.
She wanted to say no but decided against it and stalked from the room.
Once they were outside, Jonas seemed more relaxed.
"What's going on? There's something more, I know it. You always play passionately but that means running with a big smile on your face not kicking people's legs out from under them."
Evie thought about it. She could tell him.
"My brother just turned up the other day and I was reminded of stuff I don't want to be reminded of."
"I'm sorry. Do you need time to sort stuff out?"
"Maybe. I don't know what's best."
"How about I give you compassionate leave? You go sort what you need to sort out and come back for training a few days before the game against Brighton."
"Yeah that sounds good."
Jonas opened his arms for Evie to step into. She did so and felt herself calming down.
"You come first. Not football. You," he said. They stayed like that for a few moments before breaking apart.
"Now let's go sort your hand out," he told her, looking at how nasty and red it looked.
They re entered the changing room and Evie walked over to the medic who bandaged up her hand. It stung and she winced as he did it.
"You okay?" Leah whispered so no one else could hear. Evie nodded.
"Yeah."
***
The drive home was relatively quiet. They were pretty tired after the game and were just grateful to be peacefully going along.
When they got back, they went inside and flopped down on the sofa.
"I'm taking a break for a while. Jonas thinks it will be best," Evie said.
"Break? Why? Because of your brother?" Leah asked, surprised that such a small interaction had affected her this badly.
"Yeah."
"You only saw him for five seconds. Why are you letting him affect your career?" Leah asked. This was an innocent question that infuriated Evie.
"Why!?! Because seeing him is enough to bring up shit I'd forgotten about. You wouldn't get what it's like to have broken family. You're so lucky. You've got people who love you and hand everything to you on a plate. I had to work for it all. No parents. Nothing. I didn't have a normal childhood. You wouldn't fucking understand that because whenever things got rough mummy was there to help!"
Leah was taken a back at what she'd just said. She was also pretty pissed off. She'd worked hard too.
"I didn't get handed everything! I worked my arse off to be here today. It's not my fault that your family was the way it was. I'm sorry that it happened but don't blame me because your parents were bastards! Everyone has their problems."
"Oh yeah because I'm sure your one bad break up was really similar to being beaten the shit out of!"
"Don't bring things I've trusted you with into arguments!"
They were both tired and this was fuelling their bad moods. Neither of them felt very considerate of the other and it was getting nasty.
"Oh just fuck off!" Evie shouted, unable to think of anything else and storming from the room.
Leah watched her go, her heart beating fast from shouting.
The next morning, they ignored each other. Leah left for football much earlier than needed and then Evie was alone. She got a text from Freya but ignored it. She wanted to be alone.
It went on like this. The next day being the same. Both of them ignored each other and the house that was usually bright and full of laughter was now cold.
They reached the evening before Leah was going to play Birmingham before Evie couldn't handle it anymore. She felt terrible and she hated it like this. The house was depressing and she needed Leah more than anything.
She walked into the kitchen and saw Leah just finishing her meal. She got up to go but Evie stopped her.
"Leah, please I just want to talk to you," Evie begged. Leah didn't say anything but sat down, allowing her to speak.
Now she had actually been presented with the opportunity to tell the truth she didn't know what to say. It was hard admitting this.
"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. You work hard. I know you do. It's not your fault that bad things happened and I'm sorry if I made you feel like it was. Seeing my brother brought back something I really did bottle up. I never wanted to think about it again and seeing him brought it back."
Evie was looking down, not wanting to see Leah's reaction.
"My-my," she stuttered before taking a deep breath to calm herself, "My dad sexually assaulted me when I was younger and my brother would just let it happen. I know this doesn't excuse what I said and I understand if you don't like me but-"
Her rambling was interrupted by a strong pair of arms wrapping around her.
"Baby of I course I like you," Leah said, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head to show that she was there. She didn't know what to say about what she'd just been told. Her heart was breaking but she didn't know how to react.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked after a few minutes.
"I've never told anyone," Evie admitted, tears rolling down her cheeks. That made Leah hold her just a little bit tighter.
"Evie! Come here!" her dad yelled from his room. Evie froze. She knew what this meant. The door burst open and there stood her dad. She tried to back herself into the corner, anything to get away.
"Please daddy no," she begged. She hated this more than anything. She'd rather be hit repeatedly than what he made her do.
He didn't listen and yanked her up by her arm.
"Please! I don't want to," she cried as he dragged her along. Jamie was in the corridor.
"Help!" Evie called, desperate for her brother to save her. He knew what happened but he didn't stop it. How could he?
She couldn't free herself from his grip and then the door was slammed shut and she was stuck.
The pair of them walked through to the living room and cuddled up on the sofa. They lay in silence but it was a nice silence, very different to the past few days.
"I'm going to go to Southampton for a few days. To see if I can find Jamie and see what he wants," Evie said. Her head was resting on Leah's chest.
"Okay if that's what you want but please be safe."
"It is. Ava says I can stay with her so I'll be okay."
***