The moment my plane landed in Dortmund, I breathed a sigh of relief. I always got so nervous to fly, but alas, I had made it in one piece. I took the time to message Jobe and and my parents, letting them know that I'd landed safely. Jobe hadn't taken the news of me moving away very well, but when I insisted that it was just a temporary thing, he'd cheered up a little.
Chloe was waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers cradled in her arms. I rushed to embrace her, suddenly overcome with excitement after what had been a nerve wracking few hours. "You're here!" Chloe exclaimed. "You're actually here!"
"I can't believe it myself," I laughed. Rash decisions weren't usually my thing; I preferred to take my time and carefully plan out every single detail. Not this time, though. I'd been desperate for a chance to get away from home for a little while, and now here I was, standing in an airport in Dortmund next to one of my best friends, a huge smile plastered across her face. I'd been afraid that I was going to regret it, but now that I'd actually arrived, I knew I'd made the right decision.
She handed me the flowers. "They're a little squashed now, but I bought these for you."
I took the flowers from her, smiling appreciatively. "Lilies? My favourite. Thank you so much, Chlo. And thanks again for letting me stay."
She waved a dismissive hand. "Oh it's nothing, I'm just happy to have you here."
As Chloe led me back to her car, she gave me a quick rundown of all the things she had planned for us, including a trip to Munich to watch Borussia Dortmund play. "You'll get to meet Gio's teammates!" Chloe explained. "They're all so lovely, especially Karim."
"I can't wait to meet them," I grinned.
"Gio can't wait to see you either. I think he's more excited than me." She laughed, taking my suitcase from my hands and lifting it into the back of her car.
"How's he been lately?" I asked her. "I heard he injured his knee?"
"A lot better now," Chloe said as she started the engine. "It was his first match back the other week, and he scored within three minutes of being on the pitch."
"Wow Gio," I smiled. Chloe giggled.
"Oh by the way, I warned Jude that you were coming," she told me. "He took it quite well."
"Did he now?" I said, slightly intrigued. I still didn't know what to make of the last conversation we'd had, the way he'd admitted that he missed our silly arguments.
"Mhm. If I knew any better, I'd say there was a little smile on his face when I told him."
"Strange."
"Yeah, you're telling me."
When we got to the house, Chloe gave me a tour, guiding me from room to room. There was a massive pool in the back garden, and I was a little disappointed to realise I wouldn't be able to go for a swim outside considering it was now October and I'd probably catch hypothermia stepping out into the plummeting temperatures.
"There'll be plenty of time for that when summer rolls around," Chloe laughed.
"If I stay here that long," I pointed out.
"How long are you planning to stay?"
"I'm not sure. Until I feel like it's possible to head home, I suppose."
"Well listen, Gio and I both said you can stay as long as you need to, we don't mind." Chloe gestured at a door to her right. "And this will be your bedroom."
"Thanks, Chlo."
After I'd unpacked my belongings, I took a quick nap, feeling absolutely exhausted from the plane journey. I woke up to the smell of delicious food wafting up the stairs and the sound of voices coming from the kitchen. I quickly freshened up and headed downstairs to see Gio with his arms around Chloe's waist.
"Hey Gio," I smiled.
"Hannah!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. "It's good to see you, how are you?"
"Good thanks. A lot more relaxed now that I'm actually here." I looked towards Chloe who was stirring something in a pan. "God Chlo, that smells amazing!" I noted.
"Chloe is the chef of the house," Gio said, "I try to cook every now and then but it's never as good as what Chloe can make."
"Mhm, sometimes he can't even make toast without burning it," Chloe teased.
Gio's mouth dropped open in fake shock. "Whoa, how dare you."
Chloe giggled. I smiled at the pair of them, noting to myself how cute they were.
"I thought I heard your voice," someone said. I turned my head to see Jude leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded across his chest.
"Hello Bellingham," I said. "How are you?"
"A bit disappointed to see your plane didn't crash and burn, but I can't have everything I suppose," he answered sarcastically.
"Wow, charming as ever," I muttered.
"Hey don't be mean," Chloe scolded Jude. "I'd like to have a nice peaceful dinner, thank you very much."
"No chance of that when these two are together," Gio pointed out.
"Hey no, we can be nice to each other, can't we Hannah?" Jude asked, turning to me.
"No, I don't think we can," I said.
"Jude why don't you make yourself useful and go to the shop for me?" Chloe grinned.
"Sure, what do you need?" Jude said.
"Just some wine. Oh, and take Hannah with you so she can familiarise herself with the streets."
"Yes boss." Jude saluted then turned to me. "Right come on then, Hannie." He left the room and I turned to Chloe.
"Seriously?" I questioned.
"You two are going to learn to like each other, whether you like it or not," Chloe replied, smiling sweetly.
I sighed. "Fine."
It wasn't fine, but I was already asking a lot of Chloe. It was extremely nice of her and Gio to let me stay in the first place, so I didn't want to make things difficult for them by being a bitch to Jude every time I saw him. Whether I liked it or not, Jude was their friend and I had to learn how to tolerate him, even if it was only when the others were around.
I stepped out of the house, walking side by side with Jude in silence for a few minutes. I felt him look at me and turned my head to meet his gaze. "So..." he said.
"So?" I echoed.
"What made you want to come to Dortmund?" He asked. "Couldn't stand to be away from me, hey?"
I rolled my eyes. "As if that would be the reason."
"Oh come on, you like me really."
"I really don't. If I had a pound for every time you annoyed me, I'd be rich enough to buy an island and live far, far away from you."
Jude smirked. "You have such a way with words, Hannie." He paused. "So why are you here?"
"It's complicated," I answered.
"Really?" He sighed. "Is that all I get?"
"Well sorry, but it's not really any of your business."
"Alright, I was only asking," he said.
"I know, it's just not something I want to talk about at the moment."
Jude's gaze softened. "Well I'm willing to listen if you ever need to talk about things."
"That's awfully kind of you," my voice was dripping in sarcasm, something I immediately regretted when I saw how serious Jude looked.
"I mean it, Hannah. Jobe messaged me. Wanted me to look out for you," he said. "So...you know...if you need to talk about anything and you feel like you can't tell the others, you can talk to me."
"Thanks." It was unlikely that I'd ever come to Jude with a problem, but nevertheless I managed a smile. "So where are we going?" I asked Jude, changing the subject.
"We're heading into town which is about a fifteen minute walk from Gio and Chloe's place," Jude explained. "It's not too far so hopefully you shouldn't get yourself lost. Just pay attention to what's around you."
"Alright," I said, glancing at a road sign that was in German. Now I was beginning to wish that I'd paid more attention when I took lessons in German back in high school, because little did I know that they'd come in handy one day.
We continued the rest of the journey in silence, Jude smiling politely at people who recognised him in the street and me trying my best to pay attention to my surroundings. I'd never been great at directions. Eventually, we reached the little grocery store on the corner of the street.
"By the way," Jude said, "Mum wanted to invite you for dinner this Saturday. You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"Dinner sounds good," I said.
That's when I noticed it, a little flicker of warmth in Jude's eyes and a slight smile gracing his lips. "Alright, I'll let her know."
We headed to the drinks aisle, looking at our options carefully. "What wine does Chloe even like?" Jude asked me.
I shrugged a response and grabbed the bottle closest to me. "This one will do. I drink this back home and it tastes good, so..." I said.
"Well you know more than me," Jude said, taking the bottle from my hands. "Did you want anything else?"
"Um...well I have been craving Haribos recently."
Jude raised his eyebrows. "Really? Okay then, I'll get the princess her sweets."
"Huh?"
Jude laughed. "You know, Hannie, I might just get used to having you around."