A/N: Happy monday guys! Sorry it's a bit later than usual, I've been moving and it's not going how we wanted it to go but hey it will work out eventually. Anyway I'm very sad about the news about Matthew Perry. Friends is my comfort show. When I have a rough day I watch friends because Chandler always managed to put a smile on my face. Rest in piece mate!
"Can't I just ask Mapi to swap rooms with me?" Alexia asked out of the blue, her hand going up and down my arm.
We had arrived this afternoon in Huelva and after some light training and dinner, Alexia and I ended up in her room. The both of us laid on her bed, tangled up together, enjoying the peace and quiet now both our roommates were out and gave us some space.
I chuckled at the brunette's comment and nuzzled my head a bit further in her neck, placing a soft kiss there. A shiver ran through the athletic body of the Spaniard, causing a smirk to grow on my lips.
"No, you can't. You and Jenni have roomed together for so long." I tried to reason with her but she cut me off almost immediately.
"Exactly why we should change it up. Keep everyone on their toes." She kissed my head. I couldn't see her because my face was buried in her neck but I could only imagine the proud smile she was currently sporting.
"Babe," I shifted a bit so I was now laying on top of her so I could have a better look, "we can't do that and you know it. We agreed that sleeping apart and not sharing a room together is the best way to go." I kissed the pout away that was forming on her lips.
"I know but that doesn't mean I have to like it " She whined causing me to laugh just a bit harder. I took a second to simply admire her beautiful face with a loving smile on my lips.
"What can I do to cheer you up?" I smiled at the beautiful woman laying under me.
She had an over dramatic thinking face on. As if she needed to think about it. I already knew what she would say and my suspicion only got confirmed a few seconds later.
"Kiss me here." She pointed to her forehead. With a smirk I gently placed my lips on her head and I let them linger there for a second.
"Kiss me here" She pointed to her cheek. Again I kissed her where she pointed at.
"Kiss me here." She pointed to her nose with a big smile. I chuckled and like I was told I kissed her nose. I pulled back again and I noticed that she was looking at me with a loving smile and for the last time she repeated herself.
"Kiss me here." This time she pointed to her lips. She didn't have to tell me twice.
I slowly leaned in and placed my lips on her soft ones. Immediately I melted into the kiss. Her hands went up and down my back while I used one to hold me up and the other was firmly placed on her hip.
We both lost ourselves in the kiss, fighting for dominance, both desperate to win. She ran her tongue over my bottom lip and I knew I was done for because of what was to come.
Her hands traveled to my butt lovingly but firmly massaging it, causing a small moan to release from my throat. If you thought she would stop there leaving me at least slightly in control, you were wrong.
After she licked my bottom lip, telling me that she wanted to deepen the kiss, she took it in between her teeth, gently nibbled and sucked on it.
"Babe. No." I groaned. A smirk appeared on her lips and she squeezed my butt one more time before someone knocked on the door.
This time it was Alexia who groaned. I laughed at the Spaniard and got up from the bed. It was Mapi and Jenni, both with a smirk on their lips.
"Did we interrupt something?" Mapi smirked and leaned against the doorframe.
"No, why? I chuckled, walking back inside and sat down next to Alexia, who sat up once I went to open the door.
"That light, yet noticeable hickey tells us otherwise." Jenni pointed at the small bruise Alexia had created on my neck.
My hand immediately shot up to the place that Jenni pointed out, my cheeks heating up a bit. Mapi and Jenni bursted out in laughter while Alexia had a smirk on her lips.
I glared at the hot Spaniard next to me but she was unfazed and wiggled her eyebrow at me. I scoffed at her and gently punched her shoulder.
"Shut up." I mumbled and crossed my arms over my chest making the others laugh even harder.
"So is the power couple ready for tomorrow?" Jenni sat down on her own bed while Mapi went to sit on the ground.
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at the forward, looking very unimpressed.
"What?" She shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to suppress a smirk from showing but she miserly failed.
"Power couple?" Alexia asked this time. She too wasn't really impressed with the new title we received.
"What?" Jenni shrugged again like it was the most logical thing in the world.
"We call you la Reina and she's the princess." She pointed at Alexia first and then at me, proving her point.
"Again. Shut up." I deadpanned at the mention of the nickname.
"Answer the question?" Jenni laughed at the lack of response and focus but she wouldn't get an answer soon as the door of the hotel room burst open.
"What's up Chica's!" Leila cheered walking in with Mariona, Patri and Aitana right behind her. They all walked in with a big smile on their faces and sat down wherever they could.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Alexia asked, surprised by their sudden arrival.
"We saw Mapi walk in so we decided to join." Patri shrugged while snooping into the mini-fridge that was located in one of the closets.
"Hola!" The door flew open again. This time it was Ana, Sandra and Pina who casually walked in. Jana on the other hand rushed in and threw herself on top of me.
"Oof, Hola to you too. There is a fully functioning bed right there." I barely held myself up and pointed at the bed Jenni was sitting on.
"Mmh, true but you are way more comfy." The girl shook her head and simply snuggled herself closer to me, making herself comfortable on my lap.
"Is there a meeting we didn't know about?" Lieke asked when she, Caro, Marta and Laia walked in as well and either sat down or leaned against a wall the team was now almost complete.
"No." Alexia and I answered at the same time while Mapi and Jenni answered "yes.".
"So now everyone's here, are La Reina and the princess ready for tomorrow?" Jenni asked yet again with a big smirk on her lips, knowing full well that the nickname rattled me up.
"Stop it." I glared at the forward but the damage was done.
"Ooh La princesa. I like it." Leila perked up from her spot on the floor, a huge grin on her face.
"No." I glared at my best friend but the sheepish smile never left her face.
"Yes." She cheered.
"No." I crossed my arm and ended the discussion but obviously not for too long.
"Okay then we go back to Doctor Queen." Patri suddenly popped up from behind Ana with some snacks in hand.
"Again. No." I glared at our number twelve.
"Ella?" Sandra tried but that nickname definitely won't make the cut.
"Definitely not." I said a bit harsher than I intended to which surprised some of my teammates, mostly Sandra.
"How about Doctor Queenie?" Ana smirked at me and wiggled her eyebrows.
"God, help me." I dropped my head against Jana's back and groaned. They were never gonna let it go.
"Okay, guys let's just stop and move on." Alexia chuckled and threw her arms around me so she could pull me closer to her.
"Ooh La Reina to the rescue!" Ana clapped her hands together and wiggled her eyebrows at us causing me to blush and Alexia to playfully glare at the Swiss.
"Fuck off." My girlfriend flipped her off while I hid my head in Jana's shoulder blushing.
"You guys are so cute it makes me wanna puke." Leila gagged, making the others laugh and Alexia rolled her eyes.
"You're just jealous that she chose me." Alexia playfully scoffed and smirked at the dark haired defender.
"Oh Reina, be happy that I didn't even try. I would have swept her off her feet." She said gloating. The self confidence radiating from her.
"Sure." I lifted my head from Jana's shoulder and laughed.
"Whaw, be more excited, why don't you." Leila deadpanned, definitely picking up on my sarcasm. Everyone laughed at the small banter between friends.
"Sorry but I do love you." I sheepishly smiled at the defender who smiled back at me.
"Love you too" She kissed her hand and pointed at me and I did the same.
"Hey!" Mapi pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning against, complaining about the lack of love for her.
"You too." I winked at my best friend who smiled at the reassurance but it caused the whole room to erupt. Suddenly everyone in the room started protesting and asking about my love for them.
"Chill guys, I love all of you. Geez, don't worry." I chuckled at my teammates and shook my head at their craziness.
"But you love me more." Ale whispered, leaning in to my side. I smiled down at her and placed my lips gently on hers but our small moment soon got interrupted by our dark haired best friend yet again.
"Ooh possessive Ale, I like it." Leila smirked. Alexia's head snapped her way and glared at the defender.
"Alright guys not to be the bad guy here but we have a game tomorrow." Marta clapped her hands together and successfully broke the tension that was slowly building, although it was all for good fun.
"Right. Almost forgot." Mapi deadpanned. The whole room erupted in laughter when the blonde realized that tomorrow was indeed game day.
"How can you forget?!" I laughed my ass off, holding on to Jana who almost fell off my lap laughing.
"I don't know, I was enjoying us hanging out. Sue me." She shrugged her shoulders and then held her hand out for Laia to pull her up.
All the girls slowly left the room. For me it was a bit more difficult, seeing that there was still a seventeen year old Spaniard hanging on to my neck.
"Do I really have to go?" She looked up at me with the cutest pout on her lips.
"Well kind of, I need to go to my own room." I laughed at the younger girl but that was not the answer she wanted to hear.
"Can't you stay here so I can remain on your lap and cuddle with you?" She tried again and this time found the support of my girlfriend.
"Yes!" Alexia immediately went along with the idea, earning a glare from me, telling her not to encourage the girl.
"No, we can't." I glared at my girlfriend. Alexia immediately held her hands up in surrender.
"Come on, hija let's get you to bed." I gave her one more squeeze and got up myself, forcing her to stand up as well.
"I'm not a kid anymore, you know that right?" She crossed her arms and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"So you wanna go to bed alo" before I could even finish that sentence she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the door, making Jenni and Ale laugh.
"Nope." She shook her head.
"Thought so." I smirked at the young girl and then looked back at the hot Spanish midfielder.
"Bye Babe. See you in the morning." But of course Alexia quickly ran up to me so she could kiss me and before Jana dragged me out of the door, I stopped so I could properly say goodnight to her too.
"You sure you don't want me to sneak in in the middle of the night?" She tried one final time with a smirk on her face.
"Ale." I warned her. The woman immediately held her hands up.
"Fine. Yeah, yeah, being professional but you make it so damn hard." She whined and dropped her hand next to her body.
"Good because you make it hard as well. Now go to bed." I kissed her with a goofy smile on my face and slowly pushed her in the direction of her bed.
"We wouldn't want La Reina to be tired during our game now would we?" I winked at her while she rolled her eyes.
"Love you, amor." She laughed and kissed me one last time.
"Love you too Babe." And with that Jana grabbed my wrist again and I was out of the door.
It was time for the pitch inspection and like usual Mapi and I would walk the field together and do our thing. Today, however, the blonde was busy flirting with another Swiss blonde, taking her sweet time to get ready.
"Leon, keep the flirting to a minimum and hurry up!" I yelled at my best friend, grabbing my cartentials and walked to the door to wait for her there.
"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." She yelled back and rushed after me with an apologetic smirk on her lips.
"Sure, if I let you do whatever you're doing, that sure will happen." I mumbled, opening the door for her when Mapi finally caught up with me.
"What was that?" She looked at me confused, she didn't catch what I had said.
"Nothing." I chuckled.
"Now hurry up or I'll look for someone else to pat the grass with." I pushed her through the door with a smile on my face.
"You wouldn't." She looked behind her so she could send a wink my way.
"I would, now let's go." I pushed her again and together we walked out on the field.
Some of our teammates were already out, walking around the field. As usual Mapi and I stuck together and strolled around the field on our own.
"You know, I actually missed doing my pre game routine with you. It has become kind of boring now without you." Mapi broke the silence first, keeping her gaze straight ahead with a small smile on her lips.
"Yeah, it felt weird doing it all by myself. My teammates were all looking at me like I was crazy but it felt wrong not to do it." I confessed and agreed with the blonde.
We had reached the center of the field and we crouched down to pat the grass. Mapi kept looking at me, debating whether or not to say the next few words she wanted to say.
"It meant a lot, that you did it, you know?" She softly said with a smile.
"You're my best friend Mapi. I'd do anything for you. Including patting the grass." I winked at the girl.
"Nice. Way to ruin the moment." She tried to suppress a chuckle but failed miserably.
The game was a lot tighter then we had hoped it would be. I was part of the starting eleven but Alexia wasn't, which meant that I was more of a defensive midfielder today and Kheira would be the attacking one but more importantly, it meant we had to stick to our positions more and be less creative.
We were well into the second half and the score was still scoreless. It was really starting to get on my nerves. Our sloppy play, missed timed passes caused a lot of work for myself and our defenders, luckily without any consequences.
Kheira was being her very annoying self again. She refused to acknowledge me on the field and wouldn't play me the ball, creating a lot of dangerous mistakes.
In the seventieth minute, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Alexia stood at the sidelines with the officials, ready to come on. I let out a sigh of relief, hoping that with her help we could finally turn this around.
Alexia jogged past me on her way to her position. She briefly looked at me and gave me a small wink that no one noticed.
"Ready to finish this?" She smirked at me once she took her place, waiting on the referee to continue the game.
"More than anything." I returned her wink and focused back on the game which soon after our little interaction, started again.
Mapi made a move up field. She passed the ball to Patri, who held onto it so the blonde could run up right next to me. Patri wanted to play Mapi again but due to the high pressing from our opponent, Patri's ball to Mapi wasn't so clear making it hard for the defender to control it.
I saw it all happen. Mapi struggled to control the ball so the ball got slightly away from her but more importantly, I saw one of the midfielders initiating what would turn out to be a very poor tackle and I couldn't let that happen.
Before the midfielder's cleat collided with Mapi's leg, I jumped in front of the blonde, pretending to reach for the ball but more so to protect her from the impact.
And an impact it was. Right when I placed down my right foot in the grass, the girl planted her cleat right on my knee, causing it to slightly twist. The pain was intense.
Luckily I didn't feel a pop, but a wave of pain shot through my knee and with a rather hard tud, I landed on the ground, releasing a pained cry. My teammates could only stand there in shock and watch it all happen.
Alexia and obviously Mapi, because she was standing right next to me, were by my side immediately, trying to talk to me, to either assess the severity of the situation or to calm me down but I blocked them out, the pain was just too much.
I buried my face into the grass and held onto my knee. It was a throbbing pain and for a second I felt sick to my stomach. The medics arrived, turning me on my back and started doing various tests but with some deep breaths, the pain was starting to get manageable.
"It's fine. I'm fine." I waved them off.
"I'll be the judge of that." Amelia said without looking up from my knee that was already slightly swollen.
"Amelia, it's fine. I promise. It doesn't hurt that much anymore. Just help me up." I held out my hand so she could help me up.
"Alright, try to put some weight on it." She held onto my arms and let me put all my weight on her. Slowly and very gently I tested out my knee. It still hurt but the pain was doable.
"How does it feel?" Amelia bent down a bit to look me in my eyes.
"Still painful but I'll manage." I determinedly told her. She simply nodded and slowly let go of my arms.
"How is she? Are you okay? I'll tell Lluís to sub you." Alexia worriedly strutted over and frantically looked me up and down, her worry fully taken over now.
"I'm fine, Ale." I waved her off and continued to do all Amelia's mobility tests.
"No. I'm not falling for that this time." She sternly looked at me and pointed at my knee. "It's already swollen. You need to get off and ice it."
"Alexia, I'm fine. I can handle twenty more minutes." I matched her tune, showing her I was serious. Mapi sensed the tension and stepped in between us, trying to assure Alexia that I was fine.
When Amelia was done with most of her assessments, the referee told us to get off the field so they could continue the game.
"Sub her off." Alexia grabbed Amelia's arm and sternly looked at the physiotherapist.
"Ale, let it go." I turned back around to face my girlfriend with a glare. It was a tight game, there were twenty minutes left on the clock, no way I was gonna get subbed off.
Lluís was pacing the line, impatiently waiting for Amelia and I to come off the field. He immediately approached us the minute I reached the line.
"How are you feeling?" He asked me, full of concern.
I bent over and held my knee in my right hand. Lluís placed a hand on my shoulders and looked at Amelia concerned.
"It's a sprained knee. It's minor but she needs further assessment." Amelia carefully told the coach who's expression immediately sobered.
"Tell Ana to warm up. She'll take Ellie's place." Lluís looked up and told one of the staff members but that's where I intervened.
"No, I'm good to finish the game. I got this." I stood up again and gave my coach a reassuring nod.
"Are you sure? It's not worth the risk." He double checked but I kept my ground.
Amelia taped my knee a bit so it would hold for the rest of the game, then I was good to go. With a slight hobble I jogged up the field again and took my place, much to Alexia's frustration.
The girl was furious that I refused to be subbed off and took the risk to make my possible injury worse. She shook her head with a glare but nonetheless, shoved it to the back of her mind for the time being.
Only five minutes later we finally scored that goal. When Alexia intercepted the ball from a defender, she did her thing and dribbled her way to the goal. Once she reached the penalty box, I made my run in it and with a perfect chip, the ball ended up at my feet. All I needed to do now was put my laces to it and smash it in the net which I did.
"Yes, Queenie!" Patri screamed out of the top of her lungs and jumped on my back. The sudden impact made me stumble and another pain wave shot through my knee.
"You, hero!" Aitana didn't notice my painful grimace and patted me on the back.
The one who did notice wasn't very pleased. Although Alexia was happy that we were finally in the lead, she was not happy that I was still on the field. So instead of congratulating me like she always did, she settled for a simple pat on the back and with that she took her place again.
"She'll turn around. Enjoy your goal." Mapi carefully wrapped me up in a hug, mindful of my painful knee. I gave her a sad smile and with the others we returned back to our own half so we could finish up this game.
When the final whistle blew, I felt relieved. The pain in my knee was still manageable but I couldn't say that the last twenty or so minutes were easy. The painful knee made running and passing the ball a lot harder than I had anticipated at first but we got the job done.
"The hero of the day!" Sandra jogged over to me with a big grin on her face.
The goalie lifted me up in a big bear hug but that hurt my knee. Sandra immediately set me down once she heard the hiss and other teammates hurdled around me.
"Are you okay there Quuenie? How's the knee?" Sandra asked, her voice laced with worry.
"A bit sore but it's fine." I smiled through the pain.
My teammates seemed to believe that lie. All except one. Well technically three but we're not counting Mapi or Leila because those two are not looking at me like they wanted to kill me.
However, despite the slight setback of the knee, I still played a good game. The coach, staff members and my teammates all congratulated me on it. All for Alexia, who kept her distance.
"You know, when you said that you'd do anything for me, I didn't expect you to actually take a tackle for me." Mapi gently punched me in the shoulder, laughing. I laughed back at the defender and walked alongside her, greeting the fans.
"Yeah, well, I meant what I said. I'll do anything for you." I hummed and looked at the defender.
She had a big grin on her face that soon turned into a loving one. She threw her arm over my shoulder and gently pulled me into her. That's how we walked around the stadium applauding our fans and although I was quite content in that moment aside from the slight pain, one thing was missing. Alexia.
"She was just worried. She thought it was your ACL. She'll turn around soon." Mapi said as if she could read my mind, so she pulled me a little bit closer to her.
"What if she doesn't?" I quietly whispered, staring at the ground.
"She will." Mapi kissed the side of my head and together we walked inside.