Alana's POV
Lucy and Keira's apartment was already packed by the time Gabby and I arrived, which wasn't surprising seeing as we were late; admittedly it was my fault. Gabby had been calling me from downstairs for ages but I'd barely even picked an outfit yet as my skirt was missing, so one thing led to another and Gabby, who'd once been early, ended up waiting in the lounge for me until I finally pulled myself together. It was another thing Gabby and I didn't share; our time-keeping skills.
"Lana!" A tipsy Ingrid pulled me into a hug, her smile was wide and blue eyes gleamed even in the dark of the apartment, "I was wondering when you two would get here," She laughed.
Gabby rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, "We'd have been here a lot earlier if Alana didn't take hours to get ready."
I smirked, "Well maybe I'd have been ready earlier if I could find my skirt you borrowed last week."
Gabby's eyes widened slightly, she knew she'd been caught out.
"Have you seen it anywhere?" I raised my eyebrow, I knew Gabby still had my skirt but I was only teasing her about it, I loved sharing my clothes and shoes with her.
"I'll give it back tomorrow," She nodded.
I chuckled, pulling her into a side hug and kissing the crown of my sister's head, "Don't worry about it."
Gabby's phone began to ring and she was quick to pull it out from her bag.
Ingrid and I shared a wide eyed look, Ingrid was also like a sister to Gaby, and we'd both been hearing about one person in particular for weeks: Kyra this, Kyra that.
"Who is it?" I peered over Gabby's shoulder, but she nudged me away.
"It's Kyra," she whispered, her eyes were wide and her expression blank.
A smile made its way onto my face, "You're nervous," I poked her ribs.
"Aw that's so cute," Ingrid clapped her hands together.
Gabby glared back at her, shaking her head, "What am I meant to do?" She looked up at me.
I scoffed, I'd never known Gabby to be so awkward, maybe she was a little quiet sometimes but she'd always been social and comfortable in her own skin. "Answer it," I told her, wondering why my sister was so shocked.
"Ok," Gabby breathed, "I'm going to go out on the balcony."
Ingrid offered her an excited thumbs up and I just spied the drinks on the table, "Gabby wait!" I called for her.
My sister turned back and I threw a bottle in her direction, "To settle the nerves," I winked; it was my job to tease Gabby, I was her older sister after all.
Gabby rolled her eyes but was thankful for the drink, "I hate you," She decided.
I laughed, "No you don't. Now go and answer that call before the girl goes to sleep."
And then Gabby was off, before we'd even entered the party, though we probably wouldn't have stayed together anyway; Gabby had always had her own set of friends and I'd always had different ones.
"Oh Alana," Ingrid grabbed onto my arm and my attention was turned back to the party, "You missed Lucy teaching Mapi that song you all loved in Manchester."
I furrowed my eyebrows, wanting to catch up with my best friend in the drinking department so pouring a healthy amount of vodka and coke into a cup, "What song?"
"How does it go again?" She muttered to herself before yelling for Mapi.
"Hola Alana," Mapi strode over, laying her arm around Ingrid's shoulders; the two made the perfect pair.
"What song was it that Lucy taught you?" Ingrid looked up at her girlfriend and for a second she seemed sober.
"Sweet Caroline," Mapi knew the answer straight away.
I burst out laughing, "How don't you know that song Ingrid? It's a classic all over the world? They even play it at Barca matches!"
"I've never heard it before!" The drunken brunette claimed, "But it was quite nice, I liked the melody."
"You liked the melody?" I laughed, feeling my face brighten. I knew Ingrid was too drunk to even know what a melody meant and I, myself, lacked the musical talent.
"It was very..." She pouted for a second, "Very sing songy."
I found it difficult to fight through the laughter but somehow managed as I gulped down my drink, wanting to join Ingrid in whatever clouds she'd found herself on.
The apartment was busy, everyone in the team had come to have a night of fun and freedom away from our professional lives. It was a great team, I loved almost everyone and because I couldn't see Putellas, the night felt pretty perfect. Lucy loved to sing for everyone, teaching Mapi more of the British classics while Ingrid watched in awe and I just swayed Ona to the tempo, trying not to fall over as we all laughed.
I think Keira was a little embarrassed for us all, even sober she knew not to make a fool of herself, she'd always been like that, even back in Manchester. But eventually Lucy grabbed her hand and forced her to dance, everyone whooped and cheered because it was a sight we all loved; Keira was one of the funniest people I knew and I don't think she'd ever realized it, she didn't even mean to make a joke but somehow I'd be falling over laughing at whatever she'd said.
Lucy however loved the spotlight, she was a big kid at heart and it was why we'd always gotten along so well. Though she could be surprisingly stern when things turned serious, but I was used to her softer side and endless dad jokes from the many years we'd spent together.
The pair were like my parents and I seemed to have a habit of following them from place to place; from Manchester to Barcelona was a rather long leap.
"Want to get another drink?" I asked Ingrid.
Neither of us needed one but what harm could one more do?
Ingrid smiled widely and grabbed my hand, "Mapi!" She shouted, stretching out her other hand for the Spaniard. Mapi joined the chain we'd suddenly created and the three of us walked into the kitchen.
It was the most loved up couple in the squad and me, seeming to forever be the third wheel; but I loved the pair of them so it wasn't ever a pain.
But when we walked into the kitchen we stumbled across a sight that made me stop in my tracks. Putellas was sat on the kitchen countertops, tequila bottle in hand.
I furrowed my eyebrows, I thought out prestigious captain didn't drink, I thought she saw it to be an immature over-indulgence which would ruin her historic career; she was above all the partying. But apparently not, because the bottle was half empty and I'd have put money on the fact that Putellas found it full.
Mapi dropped Ingrid's hand and walked towards her best friend, I looked to Ingrid who just shrugged.
"I thought she didn't drink," I hissed, aware that my voice was probably louder than I meant it to be but Putellas was too drunk to hear and I wouldn't have cared if she did find out; we weren't exactly on good terms. Quite the opposite actually.
"She usually doesn't," Ingrid reached for a bottle and began pouring out two martinis.
"Maybe she's decided to have fun for once," I figured, though as my eyes trailed back over to the captain it didn't look like she was having much fun. Though she wasn't my problem, she wasn't my friend and I wouldn't let her pull me away from my night of fun, because even though Putellas didn't know how to have fun, I did; I wouldn't let anyone take that away from me.
"Olives!" I cheered, seeing the bowl on the island.
"Pass them here," Ingrid held out her hands.
I was about to toss the bowl when Mapi swiftly took them off me, "Don't throw that, it will be dangerous," She told us before walking back to Putellas. Ingrid and I shared a wide-eyed looked after being told off by Mapi, she was clearly worried about her friend.
That friend then huffed, Ingrid and I turned to see Putellas push past Mapi and storm out of the kitchen, her eyes caught in mine for just a second and a cold glare was shared, but Putellas was gone just as quickly as she'd appeared.
"I'm going to give her space," Mapi sighed and shook her head, walking back into the lounge with everyone else.
"You ready Lans?" Ingrid asked me, handing me my glass.
It took me a moment to find reality again, it was probably the drinks catching up to me but I couldn't seem to forget those cold, black eyes. "Yeah," I breathed, "Let's go."
It wasn't until much later that I was looking around the room for Gabby, trying to find a strand of her blonde hair of the sound of her drunken giggles, but she wasn't here.
I tapped Frido's shoulder, knowing the pair spent a lot of time together, "Have you seen Gabby?"
The blonde turned around and shook her head, "I haven't seen her at all tonight."
"Jana?" I asked the brunette who stood next to Frido.
"Sorry I haven't seen her either," Jana shrugged.
"I'm sure she's somewhere around," Frido reassured me.
But already I was panicking, I wasn't an anxious person but when Gabby was involved I found myself to be highly strung and protective to all extremes. It was my job to protect Gabby, I loved her more than anything.
I looked out to the balcony and saw a flash of her blonde hair and then came her little drunken giggles. Instantly I let out a sigh of relief.
Gabby spun around and caught sight of me, her arms flew up in the air, "Alana!"
"Gabby!" I laughed as she pulled me into a tight hug, swinging us from side to side, "What are you still doing out here?"
Gabby took a step back and cleared her throat, "I'd like to introduce you to someone."
"Okay?" I narrowed my eyes; no one else was here apart from my sister.
Though I understood when she picked up her phone and I saw the brunette on the screen, Kyra waved to me, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink and her smile bright.
"This is Kyra," Gabby nodded, as if I wouldn't know the girl who she spoke about twenty four hours a day, "I'd like you two to meet each other."
"Hi Alana," Kyra's voice was like sunshine.
"It's good to finally speak to you Kyra, I've heard a lot about you," I smirked seeing Gabby's face turn bright red.
"Only good, I hope," She giggled.
"I think you'd be very happy with it all," I gleamed.
"But you won't be hearing it today," Gabby swiftly cut in, turning the phone back to her face, "But Kyra's coming to the Ballon d'Or awards next month," she told me excitedly.
It was great to Gabby so happy and I would be glad to spend time with Kyra, even though she seemed lovely I wanted to make sure she'd be good to my sister. "I'm looking forward to seeing you then, Kyra."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you guys too," She has a sweet Australian accent, it reminded me a lot of charlotte's, "But I'm getting really tired Gabs, I think I'm going to head off to bed. Plus, I've kept you away from your friends for too long already."
"Okay," Gabby nodded, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Kyra smiled at my sister with softened eyes, "call me tomorrow before my training?"
"Good luck if she's awake for it," I laughed.
"I will be," Gabby turned to me, "I promise," she looked back to the phone.
"Alright," Kyra laughed, "Night then, it was lovely speaking to you Alana, even if Gabby only let me get two words in."
"Nice finally putting a face to the name," I smiled.
Gabby eventually let Kyra go to sleep and then rushed inside to speak with Jana and charlotte, they'd all grown close and she was desperate to share the latest updates with them; I knew she'd tell me everything in the morning when we had more time and were both clear headed. Gabby and I always had breakfast in my apartment, we loved a debrief after any drama or party.
I rested my arms on the railings of the balcony and looked over the city; I loved how it lit up at night and each tiny window let you look into someones life, the little golden lights dotted around never made the evenings feel cold. Barcelona was a beautiful city, I just wasn't sure it was the city for me; I might've loved it here, but I wasn't sure it felt like home.
But then I heard a drunken voice from the sun loungers in the back corner of the balcony, "How do you get your sister to be honest with you?" Somehow it was the only voice I'd recognize anywhere.
"What?" I whispered.
It was Alexia, I knew just from the sound of her voice but as I walked towards her, the girl I saw wasn't the one I recognized. This girl seemed vulnerable, her chin wasn't held so high and her ego seemed to have burnt out; it was a whole new person.
A whole new person who I walked to sit besides.
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sorry for the break in updates but I wanted to get 'Like Real People Do' to a certain plot point!
What do you think of this chapter and all of Alana's relationships with everyone?