Hunter's POV
"They are really something," Ona shook her head, still slightly surprised by the forwardness of my teammates, as she pulled out of the car park.
"Trust me," I sighed, "I know."
"But you're still enjoying Arsenal right?" Ona looked towards me, asking carefully.
I quickly nodded, "Yeah, I love it. And okay, the girls are a little annoying sometimes but I do love them."
I always knew Ona listened to every single word I had to say, she always felt interested, "Okay."
"Why'd you ask?"
"No reason," She shrugged.
A playful smirk crept onto my face, "You want me to join United huh?"
Ona rolled her eyes, "no. You'd be lucky for them to take you."
"You'd be dreaming if you ever think I'd accept" I shot back.
"Noted," Ona nodded, though I could tell that wasn't the real reason why she'd asked.
"Why'd you really ask Ons?" I tilted my head.
Even if I'd never confided in Ona, and barely opened up, I had this trust in her. Ona felt like this sea of calmness with the sun reflecting brightly onto the surface, it was refreshing yet brought peace upon the world. I knew she had a good heart, it couldn't be questioned, but we'd never been together long enough to get onto those deeper topics recently.
"I was just thinking about something," She responded quietly.
"What?"
Ona sighed, "I was thinking about going back home."
My eyes widened slightly, my stomach dropping, "Wow," I breathed.
"What?" Ona grew anxious, "You don't think it's a good idea?"
I gulped, shaking my head, "No it's not that, I just didn't expect it, that's all."
"Do you ever think you'd come back?" Ona asked as we pulled up to a restaraunt.
No.
Yes.
I didn't know.
I wanted to but I didn't. Everything about that question confused me because Barcelona would always have been the place that raised me, both Ona and I were born and bred there. We wouldn't be the players we'd turned out to be without Barcelona. My friends were there, my family, so much that I loved.
But also so many reminders of the things I had loved; the things I'd also lost.
So maybe I did want to eventually return, maybe I'd never wanted to leave in the first place, but I had. And returning didn't feel like a choice, it felt like an option I'd packed away a long time ago. Realistically the choice would always be there, I knew they'd take me, but the choice didn't ever seem possible in mind. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it's that I didn't think I could.
I shook my head ever so slightly, looking to the floor, "I don't know."
Ona led us into the restaraunt, it was a sweet little tapas bar, I think she knew the both of us needed a small taste of home.
"So are you leaving United?" I asked her, leaning slightly across the table.
Ona tilted her head to and fro, "I don't know. I don't think I've finished my journey with them just yet, but one day I'll go home. It's never been a question in my mind."
"You thought I'd go with you?" I assumed, it was a sensitive topic but I was willing to let Ona in.
We'd known one another for as long as I could remember, we'd both trained at the Barcelona academy, in the same age group, so we had grown up together. Ona had seen me at my worst but we'd never had the relationship to dwell on our emotions, she would just try and bring me up to my best again.
"I didn't know if you would," She admitted, "I just figured it must have been on your mind before."
Ona was right, it was often a question on my mind.
"I don't know if I could ever return back there," I spoke quietly, "But I wouldn't consider it anytime soon, I don't think. I've made a home in North London."
"I can see that," Ona smiled. We were always proud of one another because we related to each other in a way most couldn't, Ona had been through every step of the journey with me. We'd both moved to England, playing in the WSL, whilst we barely knew English, though she'd joined a few years after me. We knew what it was like being young and dealing with the pressures of playing on the national team, we understood one another's careers.
"You seem happy in Manchester too," I sipped my drink.
"I am," she assured me, "But home is always going to be home. And home is Barca."
"I'm glad you know that," I was envious that Ona had such security in that fact, there was no doubt in her mind that she'd return back to Barcelona one day.
We spoke a little more about football, but mostly we just used the time to catch up on one another's lives.
"You got a new player, right?" Ona asked, still chuckling from my previous remarks.
"Yeah. Jill Roord," I smiled at the thought of Jill, "She's nice."
"Are you guys friends?"
I nodded, "Yeah," I didn't know quite what else to say.
"You're smiling," Ona commented.
"I always smile," I chuckled, wondering what she was getting at.
"No," She corrected me, "You're smiling."
I knew what she meant, I understood it perfectly but I didn't understand why. "I guess I am," I sighed, sometimes wishing the world didn't have to be this big puzzle. Why couldn't it just be simple for once? Why couldn't the answer lie in my hands without even having to look?
Ona leaned onto my her hands, "Tell me about her."
I didn't know where to start, partly because I had nothing to say yet also because there was everything to say. "She's happy. She's really, really happy. I don't think I've ever seen someone smile and laugh as much as Jill."
"And you love her for that," Ona continued.
"I think love is a little much," I chuckled, "I kind of only just met her."
Ona stared me directly in the eyes, she knew me far too well, "And when has that ever stopped you before?"
I looked down to the table, laughing, "I think you might be right there Battle."
"You think Putellas?" Ona teased, "And how are you and the other girls?"
"We're good," I told her, "We're always good, I love all of them just like I always have."
Ona grimaced slightly, trying to hide her thought process but failing.
"What is it?"
"I don't know," She sighed, "I just didn't like the vibe."
Ona was begining to confuse me, which was odd because usually I was confusing everyone else, "What vibe?"
"I could be reading everything wrong here," She began, "But I walked in the dressing room and I don't understand why you got put in that situation. It was uncomfortable."
"It was just a joke," I shook my head, a little shocked that Ona had perceived it as something serious.
Ona huffed, "But it wasn't funny."
"Sure it was," I looked away.
Ona raised her eyebrows, "You found it funny?"
"I don't know," I began getting defensive, not wanting anyone to criticize the team I adored.
"I don't know," Ona warned, "It just seemed strange to me. We wouldn't do that at United or on the national team."
"We just have that humor as a group," I assured her.
"So everyone gets questioned like that?" Ona checked, it felt like she read a language which I thought was invisible. She'd always been freakishly good at reading situations but now she was a little too good, it was almost scary.
Ona was right though, thinking about it, I was usually the center of the joke but I don't think it bothered me. "I mean, I think they know I can take a joke, it's nothing mean," I told her.
"Okay," Ona backed off, seeing my apprehension about the topic of conversation, "It was just something I saw."
"Yeah," I just wanted to get away from the subject, an unease settling over me, "What matches have you got coming up?"
Ona narrowed her eyes, clearly struggling to remember the details, "We've got Tottenham next week at home."
"You better beat Spurs," I chuckled.
"I'll do it just for you," she joked, "What about you?"
"We've got Aston Villa coming up, away, again," I groaned, "So more travelling."
Ona clearly sympathized with me, the constant travel was often tiring, "But we've got national camp coming up," she reasoned, finding the positive.
"I'm so looking forward to it!"
"Who are you travelling with?" She asked.
"No one, I think Spain is sending a plane to London."
"What about I join you?" Ona suggested, another plan of hers' that I liked.
"You'd drive all the way to London?" I checked, knowing it would be a great effort.
Ona had this mischievous grin on her face, "Only for you," she ruffled my hair.
"Only for me," I repeated, gleaming at the brunette sitting across from me.
Eventually Ona drove me back to the hotel, refusing to let me get a cab even if it was in the opposite direction to her house. As she pulled up, she left me with one final message, "Hunter," she said quietly, a more serious look on her face.
I looked into her eyes, trying to find that familiar hint of humor, "Ona.."
"Don't run from her," Ona shook her head lightly.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "From who?"
Ona tilted her head, "You know who I mean, so go and find that team of yours' and make sure to stay around the people that keep you smiling."
I was a little lost for words, so I just nodded.
"Night Hunter," Ona now smiled, "I'll see you soon."
For some strange reason, tears slightly caught to the back of my throat, "I love you Ons," I assured her, "I'll see you in London to catch that plane."
"That you will," she nodded.
I left the car, slightly disheartened to be leaving Ona because our goodbyes usually meant months apart but we had national camp in just a couple of weeks. However she'd left me with a message I couldn't ignore because Ona had made me realize Jill made me smile.
Jill made me smile.