"Jude should be home any minute now," Jobe announced, taking a glance at the clock on his bedroom wall. I looked up from my book and sighed, knowing that the peaceful time I'd been spending with the youngest Bellingham was due to come to an end.
It'd been nearly a month since I'd last seen Jude and today he was flying home to watch Jobe play. There'd been a few unexpected injuries within the Birmingham City squad which meant The Blues manager had no choice but to select Jobe for the starting lineup. It was both an exciting and nerve-wracking prospect for Jobe, a chance to prove what he was capable of and a way to persuade his manager into giving him more game time. Choosing a player who was younger and perhaps less experienced was always a gamble, but I fully
believed that Jobe was an excellent player, and therefore the right man for the job.
Jude being the proud older brother that he was had wasted no time in booking a flight home. His time in Birmingham would be fleeting (he was due to fly back out to Germany in the morning) but he had insisted on making sure he would be there to support his brother and cheer him on from the stands.
Jobe noticed the sour expression on my face after he'd mentioned his brother's name and rolled his eyes. "Come on, I thought you guys were friends now," Jobe sighed.
"Well sorry to disappoint you, Jobe, but one good deed doesn't erase everything he's said and done to me in the past," I reminded him. "And anyway, we don't even know if it was Jude who got me that shirt."
"It was definitely Jude —"
"He said it wasn't him, so."
Jobe ran a hand across his face. "I haven't missed this," he muttered.
"Missed what?"
"You chatting shit about my brother and him finding any way he can to wind you up."
I caught sight of the worried look on Jobe's face and immediately felt bad. He had enough pressure on his back already with the upcoming match and all I was doing was making things harder for him. "Sorry, Jobe," I sighed.
"Can't you just try to get along? At least for today, and then afterwards you two can carry on hating each other as much as you want."
"Of course, Jobe."
He sighed. "I'm sorry, just feeling nervous
about today."
"You want to talk about it?"
"I don't know what it is but I'm really feeling the pressure. We haven't exactly had a brilliant season so far and I guess I just wanna make a difference today. Prove myself, you know?"
"The manager chose you for a reason, Jobe. He had a few other options but he didn't choose them — he chose you. That means he believes in you as much as we do."
"I just don't wanna let everyone down," he said quietly.
I put my hand over his. "You won't," I said, smiling reassuringly. "Whatever happens today, we'll know you tried your best and that's all anyone can ask of you."
Just then, we heard the front door open and the sound of Mark greeting his wife and eldest son. Jobe and I looked at one another. "Play nice," Jobe pleaded one last time before we went downstairs to welcome Jude and Denise back home.
* * *
"Mind if I sit here?" Jude asked, pointing to the empty seat beside me.
"Sure," I answered, taking a sip of the warm tea I'd bought in preparation for the match. Whilst September had still held the warm remnants of a bright and wonderful summer, October brought with it cooler temperatures and shorter days. Whilst I usually liked this time of year, I didn't miss shivering in the stands of a football stadium whilst I waited for Jude or Jobe's team to take to the pitch.
"How's things been with you?" Jude asked me.
"Alright."
"And Trent and Hayley?"
"They're fine."
Jude rolled his eyes at my short answers. "Come on Hannah, I'm tryna be nice here."
"Makes a change," I said sarcastically.
"Why do you always have to ruin things by being such a bitch?" Jude asked.
"Says you."
"Yeah says me. I'm trying to make the effort here."
"Do you want a medal or something?" I asked him, my eyes on the pitch.
"Nah but I'd give your family one for having to put up with you for twenty years," Jude mumbled.
Sorry Jobe, I thought to myself. I'd promised him that I'd be nice to his brother but we were already bickering.
I bit back my own snide reply. "Sorry," I said instead, "Jobe wanted us to get along. Just for today, at least."
"Yeah he gave me the same lecture," Jude admitted. "I tried to tell him that you were too stubborn but he wasn't having it."
"I'm not stubborn."
"Sure you aren't."
"I'm not!"
A grin appeared on Jude's lips. "See?"
I shook my head just as the players started filing out onto the pitch. I always enjoyed home matches, the roar of the crowd spurring their team on as we were all united by one cause — wanting Birmingham City to win. Considering The Blues' poor run of form recently, the atmosphere in the stadium hadn't been great as of late, but I was hoping that today's result would change that.
"Why don't you come and sit in the box with us?" Jude questioned.
"Can't beat sitting out here amongst the fans," I answered. "You can feel it all; every emotion, every moment you're left hanging on the edge of your seat...need I go on?"
Jude paused. "I suppose you're right," he said. He glanced over his shoulder at the box but he didn't budge.
We looked back towards the pitch. Jobe's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for us. He allowed himself to smile when he saw Jude and I sat side-by-side, reluctantly united to cheer him on. I took a deep breath, knowing that this was going to be a difficult match for Birmingham City and thinking about how much Jobe wanted to prove himself.
"Come on Jobe, you've got this!" Jude said, joining the various shouts from the rest of the crowd.
"Not going back in the box then?" I asked him.
"You've convinced me to stay out here."
That shouldn't have made me smile, but it did.
The match soon began, and things quickly grew tense. Burnley had the most possession of the ball and the most shots on target which had fortunately been saved by the Birmingham City goalkeeper. Still though, the crowd kept up their chanting, trying to keep up the momentum and drive their team to victory. Jobe made some good passes, successfully managing to drive his team up the pitch but unfortunately nobody could bury their chances in the back of the net.
"Nice pass, Jobe!" Jude shouted, clapping his hands. At this point, my heart was racing, desperately hoping that The Blues' luck would soon change. We all knew that this would be a difficult match considering Burnley were currently top of the table, but it still didn't make it any easier when they were faced with a loss.
Around the forty-minute mark, Jobe made a great interception, passing the ball forwards once again. Their striker took a shot which was blocked by a Burnley player and then deflected right into Jobe's path.
"Hit it!" Jude cried.
At this point, my heart was in my mouth. "Come on, Jobe," I said, my whisper drowned out by the excited fans.
Jobe looked up, finally taking his chance by firing the ball into the bottom left corner as it brushed past the keeper's fingertips. The net bulged, telling us that he had scored. Jude and I leapt to our feet as the stadium erupted into cheers, our chests bursting with pride as Jobe's teammates rushed to celebrate with him.
"Yes, lad!" Jude beamed.
It turns out that Jobe's goal ended up being the match-winner, the result being 1-0 to Birmingham City. After the game, we went to congratulate Jobe as he took away his first player of the match award.
"What did I tell you?" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around Jobe.
"What a performance," Jude grinned.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about," Denise said gently.
Jobe couldn't stop smiling, retelling every moment of the match as we journeyed back in Mark's car.
"Do you want to come back to ours for a few hours, Hannah?" Mark asked me. "We were thinking of having a movie night considering Denise and Jude are flying back to Germany tomorrow."
"Sure," I answered, "that sounds great." I could handle Jude for a few more hours if it meant getting to spend some extra time with the other Bellinghams.
"You can stay the night as well, if you want?" Jobe offered.
"If that's okay?" I said.
"You know you're welcome at any time," Denise turned her head and smiled at me.
"I'll have to swing by my place to grab some stuff, though."
"Not a problem," Mark grinned.
I heard Jude sigh beside me but chose to ignore him. I wasn't about to let him ruin the mood I was in. Everyone was feeling extremely elated after Jobe's performance, and as a result we sang along to the radio at the tops of our lungs as we drove back to my apartment. Even Jude couldn't help but join in at one point, although his singing was significantly quieter than the rest of us.
I had a lovely evening with the Bellinghams, although we did have differing opinions on what movie we wanted to watch. Denise made us hot chocolate and then I ended up beating everyone in a game of Monopoly, much to Jude's disappointment. He was always so competitive and was even worse when it was me that he was up against.
I headed upstairs to the guest bedroom, exhausted after what had been a long, action-packed day. Just after I'd changed into my pyjamas, I heard a timid tap on the door. "Come in," I said, expecting it to be Jobe poking his head into the room.
But it wasn't him. It was Jude.
"Oh hi," I said, slightly surprised.
He stood awkwardly by the door, not sure if he should come in or not. "Hey," Jude said.
I looked at him expectantly as he fell silent. "Did you want something?" I asked him.
"Er yeah...I just wanted to apologise for calling you a bitch earlier."
I smiled. "Ah don't worry about it, I was being out of order," I said. "And I'm sorry for being a bitch."
Jude chuckled softly. "Is it weird to say that I sorta miss this when I'm in Dortmund?" He said.
"Miss what? Arguing over pointless things with me?"
"Yeah. Makes a change to all the people tryna kiss my ass so that they can say they're friends with a famous footballer. I don't know who's genuine these days." Jude shook his head. "Listen to me rambling on...I'll let you get some sleep."
"Goodnight Jude."
"Goodnight Hannah."