👩🏼❤️💋👩🏼❤️🔥🕊️💋 — lover
brace yourselves, it's a long one
please feel free to comment what u think angels, I appreciate your opinions x
20th august 2023
sydney, australia
"You're going out with Alexia!" Ella, quite obviously the loudest of them all, gasped as she began to continuously hit Alessia's thigh excitedly, earning a roll of the eyes and a quick kick to the shin from her older sister in response.
"Shut up you, I don't want the whole pub knowing." Sophia's eyebrows furrowed as she scanned her eyes around their immediate surroundings, everybody thankfully stuck in their own conversation and celebration, causing Ella to hold her hands up in surrender. "But yes, we're going out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" All three women said in unison, a lovesick smile appearing on the teachers face at the mere thought of seeing the woman she loved, once loved, again.
"I thought it was obvious that it was going to be tomorrow?"
"Did she mention where you'll be going?"
"We both agreed just getting some ice cream, so just something casual."
"You're getting ice cream after a match?" The realisation of the significance of the meet up dawning on the Manchester United player, her eyes welling up at all the stories that she had heard from her sister about such tradition and how much she knew those times meant to Sophia. "Don't make me cry, Soph."
"You soft arse, it's just ice cream." The teacher shook her head in an attempt to play down the situation, knowing exactly where Ella was going with this.
"It is not just ice cream, I have amazing memories from that." Ella playfully wiped away a fake tear from her cheek, the women giggling at the dramatics that clearly belonged on a stage rather than a pub on a Sunday night.
"No wonder Less and Soph call you dramatic all the time." Leah joined in, being a participant in hearing many stories from both women about Ella's dramatics over the years.
Alessia was fast to agree, laughing as she pointed her finger at the small injury on the brunette's hand. "Especially about that bloody finger of yours."
"What happened to your finger?" Sophia asked with furrowed brows, only now noticing the blue plaster that sat around her sister's finger, her question causing Alessia to laugh yet again.
"What do you mean what happened to my finger? I'll tell you about my finger, it nearly fell off. And then you've got Less telling everyone I'm being dramatic."
"You were acting as if your finger was about to fall off."
"Less, I got told that if it was any deeper then I would have been in hospital."
"It's a good job you play football with your feet rather than your hands then isn't it?" Sophia nodded her head, enjoying how annoyed her little sister was getting about the cut on her finger.
"Nobody likes a smart arse, Soph." Ella stuck her tongue out, eliciting the same reaction from her older sister whilst Leah and Alessia shook their heads playfully at their behaviour before Ella changed the topic. "Well what are you gonna wear tomorrow?"
"Now that is a very good question."
👩🏼❤️💋👩🏼❤️🔥🕊️💋 — lover
20th august 2023
sydney, australia
It had taken much longer than she had anticipated to get ready for this date, if that's what they were calling it, both mentally and physically. With an audience of the three women who were aware of the plans, Ella, Leah and Alessia had all giddily congregated in Sophia's room that morning to help her find an outfit, the effects of the night and drinks shared somehow not visible in their faces or the way they had acted.
As much as she loved all of the girls and was grateful that they were so willing to provide her with help and guidance, Sophia quickly found herself wishing that she hadn't asked for any help at all. She couldn't wear a dress because that seemed like she was trying too hard and she'd get cold in the Australian evening. She couldn't wear leggings and a hoodie because then that looked like she wasn't trying at all and despite this being what Alexia saw her in majority of the time, it was too casual for an ice cream date. Thankfully, after about two hours of careful consideration and what looked like a bomb explosion on her hotel room, an outfit had been decided, Sophia's outfit consisting of her favourite pair of blue jeans, a white vest and a pink striped shirt, all of which paired with her trusty Adidas sambas; the perfect mix of casual and effort.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna be late." The teacher was silently thanking herself that she had finished her hair and makeup before getting ready due to the fact that she would in fact be running even later if those tasks hadn't been completed, a swift look on her phone notifying her that she was yet to meet her ex girlfriend in less than ten minutes and the ice cream shop was indeed fifteen minutes away. "How do I look?"
"Gorgeous." Alessia nodded her head with a bright smile, feeling like a proud mum at the situation, despite being a few years younger than the girl she considered as a sister, Leah and Ella verbally agreeing with the statement.
"If Alexia doesn't want you back after seeing you looking like this, then I don't want what's wrong with her." Ella was more direct in her compliment, earning a giggle and a shake of the head off of Sophia in response, as the blonde checked herself in the mirror one last time.
Once satisfied with her reflection in the mirror, Sophia began her round of hugging each woman, feeling as though her heart may burst at the love and adoration she held for each of them. "Thank you, my girls, and thanks for all your help."
"It's the least we could do." Leah whispered in to her best friend's hair before placing a soft kiss on the crown of her head, feeling thankful that the fates had aligned for Sophia to have a second chance with the love of her life, the footballer ushering her over to the door. "You go, we'll tidy this up for you."
"Are you sure? I really don't mind doing it when I'm back."
"That's if you come back, the night is still young." Ella muttered with a raised brow, Alessia raising her hand to playfully smack the brunette's arm.
"Ella!" Sophia laughed loudly at the comment that she expected nothing less of off her sister..
"You know it's true, you'd jump her bones this minute if you could."
"Right, I'm going now." The blonde was quick to divert the conversation, waving and blowing a kiss to the women as she stepped out of the room. "See you all later, love you!"
"Stay safe and let us know when you're with her." Leah shouted back, the captaincy in her tone of voice unmissable as the three gathered at the doorway, watching as Sophia made her way down the hall.
Making it to the ice cream shop in an impressive eight minutes, and with surprise that her legs hadn't fallen off at the speed she was walking at, a sudden and overwhelming rush of nervousness coursed through Sophia's body as she edged closer to the Catalonian woman who remained oblivious to the teacher's presence.
Sophia had absolutely no clue what the evening would consist of, how the conversation would flow, whether this meeting would be like old times or awkward but what she did know was that she was looking forward for nothing more than simply spending time with the woman she had such a deep love for, the blonde rubbing her clammy hands on her jean clad thighs in hopes of removing all evidence of her unexpected anxiety, just in time for the Barcelona player to turn around.
"I was starting to think that you were going to ditch me." Alexia was first to speak up, Sophia very noticing the quick sigh of relief that left Alexia's mouth, feeling a smile tug at her lips at the mere sight of the Catalonian woman.
"I'm so sorry, I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, I promise I didn't mean to be late."
"I'm only joking, you look beautiful." Alexia's gaze was more than enough to trigger a blush to coat Sophia's face, topped with the compliment she probably looked like a tomato. "Sorry that was a bit much, you look okay. No, you look pretty."
"Thank you, Alexia. You look really pretty too." Who knew such a simple comment would turn both women bright red, the usually stoic Barcelona captain never failing to turn to mush when around Sophia, this clearly not changing even after breaking up, the two women stood gazing at one another before becoming distracted at somebody leaving the ice cream parlour, the stranger holding the door open for them.
"Would you like to go inside?" Alexia replaced the strangers hold on the door, allowing the teacher to step into the threshold first.
There was somewhat of a sensible gap between the two ex lovers as they scanned their eyes over the array of ice cream flavours, despite both knowing exactly what to get. With Sophia excitedly pointing at flavours that she had either never heard of before or ones that she adored growing up and Alexia stood beside her with her arms crossed over her chest in interest, more so watching Sophia rather than the desserts.
"Oh yeah, thank you. What are you going to get?"
"Probably just what I normally get." Was all Alexia said for the Mancunian to understand exactly what she wanted, Sophia nodding in response. "Are you getting your usual?"
"You still remember my order?" She questioned quietly as if she couldn't't recite the footballers order back to her.
"Hard to forget when you got it after every match." The Catalonian woman looked down at the blonde with a smirk on her face before ordering their respective ice creams with a smile that nearly made Sophia's knees buckle at the sight of.
"I blame you for the making of that tradition." Sophia laughed and shook her head, pulling her phone out of her pocket to pay, earning a firm no from the woman next to her.
"Please, let me get this." Alexia placed her hand over the top of Sophia's, pushing the blonde away from paying for the second thing this week, the Barcelona player not even wanting her to pay for their drinks the night before. "We can call it all even then."
"Such a gentlewoman, thank you."
"Can you translate that for me?" The playful tone in her voice making Sophia jokingly nudge their shoulders together and roll her eyes.
"After all the time I spent teaching you English, you're still going to make me speak Spanish with you."
"Catalan." Alexia playfully corrected her ex girlfriend, the correction being one that she had made many times when they were together. "And after all the times i taught you that, you still don't remember, what a bad teacher i was."
"Catalan, how could i ever forget. You were a great teacher but your methods were a bit different to mine."
"It's not my fault that you couldn't hold your laugh in every single time I taught you something."
"At least I didn't blush everytime you said something in my language."
"What can i say? You're very beautiful when you're speaking Spanish."
"I thought it was Catalan." It now being Alexia's turn to roll her eyes, the sound of Sophia's laugh making her heart feel tight in her chest, her mother's words from last night running circles in her head. "So you're saying i'm ugly when I speak English?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant."
"I know, Ale, I'm playing with you." The two ex lovers unconsciously and progressively getting closer by the second as they continued to walk towards the Sydney harbour, laughing and giggling with one another as they did. "I'm sorry for being so nervous last night and before, I don't know what took over me. I think it was just the shock of seeing you in person again in over a year."
"Remember when we were together and I used to tell you about saying sorry when things aren't you're fault?"
"Shit, did I do it again? I'm sor-"
"You still wear it?" Referencing to the small glistening diamond that sat around Sophia's neck, resting perfectly on her sternum, her sharp intake of breath noticeable at being caught out by the woman who had gifted her said necklace.
"I wouldn't ever want to get rid of it." Sophia held her hand over her prized possession, both then and still now, holding onto the memories that were captured over time, her most favourites including the pink haired woman in front of her.
👩🏼❤️💋👩🏼❤️🔥🕊️💋 — lover
The Sydney harbour was quite possibly ten times better in the evening than in daylight, the ways the lights from the opera house glistened onto the water, the smaller abundance of people gathering at the tourist attraction and overall the entire atmosphere was stunning. The women were stood shoulder to shoulder, their ice cream's long gone, as they carried on chatting about anything and everything that had happened in the past year that they hadn't seen on another.
"I don't think I will ever get over these views." Sophia said in awe, letting her eyes roam around the area as each individual light brightened her blue eyes, Alexia wondering how it would feel to be on the receiving end of that gaze again, unaware of the fact that Sophia adored her more than anything in this world. "They're so beautiful."
"Yeah, they are." The Barcelona player responded, yet her eyes were fixated on something other than the setting.
"You would've thought that after being here for six weeks, I would understand how breezy Australia can be at night."
"Are you cold?" Alexia asked, knowing straight away that it was a silly question to ask when she had all the signs pointing at one specific answer.
"No, I'm good."
"Sophia, I can see you shivering no matter how hard you're trying to cover it up." The Barcelona captain began to shrug her jacket off, Sophia quick in stopping her by placing her hands on Alexia's arms.
"But you'll get cold then, I don't want to be the reason why a world champion gets sick."
"I'm used to it, the amount of times I got a cold after looking after you."
"You liar! I can't believe you." Sophia huffed, playfully placing her hands n her hips as she tried to digest the truth after three years of pure denial. "You always told me that you were fine, I always knew you were lying."
"And I'll still be fine without a coat, stop trying to fight back with me because we both know I'd win."
"Thank you, Alé." With the comforting, oversized fit and the familiar scent that engulfed the coat, Sophia felt like she was back in Alexia's arms, embraced in a tight hug that could make all of her worries fade away instantly; using the short amount of time to properly appreciate it before they made their way back towards Sophia's hotel. "I don't know though, the day I won was a pretty sweet victory."
"You mean the only time you won because I let you."
"That's far from the truth, I won fair and square."
"Baby, straddling me was not a fair way of winning." Alexia's eyes wide as she hadn't realised what she had said until it had slipped out. "I'm sorry, that just slipped out."
Not wanting Alexia to feel awkward, Sophia swiftly changed the conversation to something that she had been meaning to ask the whole evening, barely getting an appropriate time to ask until now. "How is your knee, by the way? I was going to reach out after your first match back but I wasn't sure if they would have been the most appropriate thing to do."
"The actual injury and the recovery were some of the hardest times in my life, that's for sure. And it definitely wasn't easy and I'm still working on getting back to who I was before it but I'm definitely getting there."
"That's good, you've always been such a determined and hard working person, and you know I've always admired you because of it so I'm sure it won't be any longer until you're back ruling the pitch for the full ninety."
"Maybe I could get you some tickets for the first game of the season? Only if that's something you want?"
"Oh, Ale, I really wish I could but I'll be teaching again by that time, but I'll be sure to watch from home, like I always do."
"You watch the games?"
"Yeah." She nodded and before she knew it, for the first time since seeing her again, Sophia felt an immense sense of guilt and sadness over what occurred between the pair of them. "Alexia, I'm really sorry."
"What for?"
"For what I put you through."
"You don't have to apologise for that, Soph."
"I do." The blonde shook her head, thankful that it was getting darker so that Alexia couldn't see her glossy eyes. "You should be hating me right now, for leaving you to go back to England and for breaking up with you when you didn't deserve it. Every single day since it's happened, I've felt so guilty and I've wished for nothing more than to go back to that day and change it all."
"Sophia, I promise, I understand." Alexia wasn't sure how accepting of her words Sophia would be this time, still understanding how her brain works and the power that her actions held, reaching down to hold the blonde's hand, their fingers instantly intertwining like a natural reaction.
"You shouldn't have to though. All of this would be so much easier if you hated me."
"You know I could never hate you." Before she could register what she had done, Alexia squeezed Sophia's hand three times, the silent cue that expressed their love without saying a word. "You put your career first, just like I always told you to, and you did what was best for you. I could never hate you for that, no matter how much you want me to."
"I think it hit me harder when I left after your surgery, watching your recovery online was not the easiest when I know that I should've been there with you during it. Be there to hold your hand after rehab sessions, to reassure you that everything would be okay and to support you through it all, but all I could do is anonymously send you flowers because I was too much of a coward to do anything more than that."
"You was the one who was sending me the flowers? Sophia, why didn't you say anything?"
"I couldn't, I knew you wouldn't have wanted to hear from me so what was the point."
"I always want to hear from you, no matter the scenario. Just being here with you is more than enough for me, this year has been too quiet without you."
"I thought you would've been thankful that you've not had to hear me blasting Taylor Swift songs all the time."
"Never because I could hear you more than her, you always sounded so happy listening to her, how could I complain about that?"
"Can I ask you a question?" Sophia asked as they grew closer to returning back to her hotel, the lavish hotel in their sights as they slowed their walk to preserve all the time they had together. "Why did you ask me out?"
"Do you want a simple answer or the honest one?"
"Honest."
"I miss you." The Catalonian woman finally said it, the words that sat on the tip of her tongue for as long as she could remember were finally out in the open. "I've missed you for over a year and ever since the day of my surgery, I couldn't let you slip through my fingers again, not when I got the chance to see you last night."
"Alé, I miss you too but I can't put either of us through that hurt again, it's not fair."
"But we've both changed, Soph, I know we could make this work."
"I have no doubt about that but it's a scary risk to take. You're going to be busier than ever with this World Cup win and getting fully back into football and I'm still trying to sort some things out about my job, we'll be too busy for each other."
"Sophia, look at me."Alexia raised the blonde's chin to make contact, her thumb softly caressing Sophia's cheek causing the teacher to lean into the featherlight touch. "Do you ever think of what could have happened if you stayed?"
"All of the time." Sophia responded in a heartbeat, the absolute lack of hesitation making Alexia's heart flutter.
"Do you sometimes regret not staying in Barcelona?"
"Yes." And once again, she had replied with absolutely no hesitation, not missing the way Alexia's shoulders dropped or the way she let out a sigh of what sounded like relief at her answer.
"Do you think you would regret not giving us a second chance?" She knew it was a big question and she knew that it could potentially lead to further heartbreak, but it was a question that she was desperate to know the answer to, desperate to know if she had a second chance to get the love of her life back for good.
"Alexia." Sophia breathed out and in that moment, Alexia wanted to do nothing else than to kiss the woman she still loved more than anything. "Of course I would regret it but I'm scared, I don't want to lose you again."
"Who said you were going to lose me?" A lovesick smile spread across her face. "It's you, it's always been you and I'll do everything I can to prove that to you, whether we're one thousand miles apart or not."
"You've always had a way of words haven't you?"
"Learnt from the best." Alexia nodded at the blonde, grinning at the red he that made yet another appearance on Sophia's face. "So what do you say?"
"If we're really going to do this then we need to take it slow." Sophia said, reinforcing the seriousness of the situation, both desperately wanting their soulmate back and knowing that this was the only way to make that happen. "We've never tried long distance so it's going to take a lot of work, trust, communication and commitment."
"We can do that, Soph, you don't have to worry about anything. Plus, I don't mind the Manchester weather every so often."
"You hated Manchester weather, I've never heard anybody complain about it as much as you."
"How can you blame me? It rains ninety percent of the year."
"I'll have you know that a few of my summer dresses actually got worn this year for once."
Alexia knew this. How could she not when she spent majority of her free time going through the pictures and videos that she had taken of Sophia during their three years together, with the occasional look at her social media to see how she was doing and how England how been treating her since her return. "That's because you spent your Summer in Australia."
"Touché, this is me." The blonde sighed as they had finally reached the entrance of the hotel, squeezing the Catalonian's hand before letting go to place a delicate kiss on Alexia's cheek. "I had a really nice time today, thank you."
"When can I next see you?"
"In your dreams, Putellas." Sophia recited with a smirk on her face, just as she had done a mere four years ago when the two women met for the very first time, the memory eliciting a blush to spread across Alexia's cheeks as she replayed that night in her head. "Remember, we're starting slow, ask me on a date!"
liked by caitlinfoord, alexiaputellas, alannakennedy and 28,366 others
sophiatoone smiley girl
2,872 comments
ellatoone wonder what's got you in such a good mood then...or should I say who?
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sophiatoone thank you beautiful girlie! as do you always xx
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