Jordan was laughing so hard that YFN worried her protein shake would come up.
"Dory, it's not funny!"
Jordan tried to talk, sitting up and wiping the tears away with the bottom of her shirt but at the sight of a worried YFN, she was right back at it, rolling around like a bug on her back on the couch. Her laugh had upgraded to a wheezing laugh as she struggled for breath which made YFN finally crack a smile and allow herself a little chuckle with her. She walked over and tilted the back of the couch up, making Jordan fall off and roll onto the carpet in the living room. Not even that stopped her. Not until Blu was getting excited at her laughing and started to lick her face and yap.
"I'm never doing anything nice again." YFN groaned.
"Ah... Jesus... okay I'm back.." Jordan chuckled, wiping more tears away and managing to pull herself back onto the couch. "If you could see your face though."
YFN whined. "Who the fuck writes that?! What if I wasn't even gay? They don't know anything about me."
"Leah said she's sorting it out, yeah?"
"Yeah.. she was really apologetic about it actually."
"Of course she was. But she's really good at sorting things like this out, no need to stress. I'm definitely not, but thanks for my daily laugh, I think I wet myself. I'm glad I didn't take you up on that offer to go instead."
YFN rolled her eyes. "She wanted it to be you. Besides, they actually know your name. They probably just wrote 'partner' because they have no clue who I am."
Jordan pulled her down next to her and squeezed YFN's cheek like a grandparent. "But that all changes today, chicken!"
"I'm so nervous!"
"I'm so excited for you! This is going to be great. Plus, your merch is sexy."
"Free beanie if you pose for a photo for me." YFN winked.
Jordan slapped her arm. "You'd give it to me for free anyways."
"You have no idea how excited I am to see you play."
"Don't get your hope up chicken, Chelsea are brutal under Emma."
"Regardless of any of that, you're still going to be there in your little kit, and I'll be on the sidelines waiting for a selfie and an autograph. I wish I could wear your jersey!"
Jordan grinned. "I don't think anyone will blame you for a bit pf favouritism on your first day. I am very cute."
"Yes.. yes you are. Very cute." She looked at the time quickly. "Now we both have to go and I've had about five hours sleep since my late night drive from London. So... let's talk about Leah."
Jordan gave a funny face.
"She was great last night, Dory. She was helpful and chivalrous and so much fun to be around. She also gave really great advice for me about Lucy.."
This interested Jordan. "Oh? What did she say?"
YFN quoted what Leah had said to her about making a mistake by convincing herself it was what was best for everyone when it's not.
Jordan's lips moved from side to side while she thought. She could tell she was a little emotional.
"So... she admits it was a mistake?"
"This isn't new, Jords." YFN said softly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Jordan smiled at her using 'Jords' instead of her nickname. "I told her that the Leah I see now is not the 'weak' woman who left you because she thought she wasn't enough. She's stronger now. More mature. She's learnt her lesson. And... I told her about how we met."
Jordan's teary eyes shot up to meet YFN's. "You told her about the beach?"
She nodded. "Multiple days, hours on end. And a little more... she cried."
Jordan nodded, as if that would stop her tears forming. She leant back and sniffed also. That seemed to work better. "She really loves me still."
"She does. Will you talk to her?"
Jordan went into her space and zoned out for a little bit before she nodded. "Yeah, I'll talk to her." Then she added in a soft voice, "But I'm scared."
YFN wrapped her arms around her friend. There really wasn't much to her at all. "It's okay, she won't hurt you. I... may have threatened her."
Jordan looked up at her in surprise and then amusement. "Did you?"
"Of course I did. She took it well, to be honest." They chuckled together at that. "Just take it slow, yeah? Take it at your own pace. If it doesn't feel right, then don't push it."
She nodded and took out her phone. She took a deep breath in and wrote out a message, pressing send before she had a chance to backtrack. She looked at YFN and blushed with a smile at how proud she looked at her.
"Your turn, chicken."
"My turn?"
"Oh come on. Lucy is your person. You need to talk to her eventually because there's only so much avoiding the topic I can do with her. Besides, if I saw those photos on the internet, then Lucy definitely would have."
"Oh... oh! You're right. She's going to be-"
"So fucking annoyed when she sees them and you haven't spoken to her." Jordan cut off with a mum look.
YFN pouted. She was right. It was time to talk to Lucy. If she was being completely honest with herself, it had been incredibly hard. It was like she needed her. Not just her body craving her, but her brain, her heart. Her Lucy. She deserved the chance to talk and explain.
YFN took her phone out under Jordan's watchful eye and messaged Lucy.
YFN: I'm sorry for taking so long.. I'm really not used to this, Luce. I can't stop thinking about you. Can we talk?
YFN knew she had no right to be anxious, but she was. It was now five hours later and Lucy still hadn't replied. Fair enough, she had training. It was MD-1 for her. But still, she was usually better at replying. She looked through the FC Barca stories on Instagram again and saw Lucy looking less cheery than usual in the morning and throughout training. She bit her lip at the sight of the bandage on her left hand that she'd been wondering over all morning. All of the comments were speculative and Barca management hadn't put out a statement about the injury so her thoughts ran a little too wild and worried.
Cheers erupted suddenly as the players started to enter the field. YFN pocketed her phone and wrapped her arms around her body to protect herself a bit better from the rain. YFN was on the sidelines, her crew spread out around the edges to get photos and videos. It was basically a practice game for them to get used to the best spots, best shots etc and they'd talked about it and planned it thoroughly all week. YFN put her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly when she saw Jordan walking out in the starting line-up. She flashed her a grin, finding her immediately with her purple and yellow Lumos beanie on. Although the other members of her crew were also wearing the Lumos hoodie, YFN had felt the beanie would be enough and wore Lucy's hoodie instead. It was comfy and smelled like her. Vanilla and bitter orange.
Although the game was in Birmingham, it was an unfortunate demolition of Aston Villa by Chelsea. Both sides started strong and 11 minutes in Jordan almost collected a nice assist to Rachel Daly who was on fire. She had several attempts, but all seemed to be missing to the left. YFN couldn't help but groan. She didn't have a favourite team, but she wanted Jordan to do well. Chelsea were up by 2 at the half-way break, YFN taking the opportunity to round up her team and have a chat. Some of their photos were incredible, and they all spoke excitedly to each other about what angles were working, what lighting and more. There was going to be a lot of footage to edit.
The second half began and within minutes Jordan had a shot on target that was saved. So close. Jordan was subbed off at the 71st minute mark, looking frustrated as she walked off. Chelsea were up 5-0.
It ended 6-0 to Chelsea. 6 goals with 6 different goal scorers, and if that wasn't impressive enough, they were missing their best striker, Sam Kerr. It was undeniable how good they were. How clinical. There were unbelievable players on both sides, she thought, Rachel Daly unable to be used to potential during the game for Aston Villa. She also loved how Jordan played, which was much more aggressive than she'd imagined, and she wondered if Lucy had encouraged that at all. Jordan seemed to get annoyed easily on the field, but she also managed to pick the ball from players when they didn't expect it.
When the game was done, a few players from both sides came over for a chat. As she'd said at the pub, they weren't conducting interviews yet, and so they were just friendly chats with players interested in Lumos. Most players requested photos of themselves to be sent to them, and YFN agreed to this. If they'd post them on their Instagram with the Lumos watermark, that would be a great start.
Jordan wandered over after Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert had finished their conversation with YFN. She greeted them briefly and almost fell into YFN's arms. Tired little Dory after 71 minutes of running around.
"I'm your number one fan, Miss Nobbs, will you sign my hoodie?"
Jordan was disappointed at the game but grinned at that. "I'll do you one better, chicken."
Jordan removed her jersey and signed it before giving it to YFN who's mouth had dropped open. "Really?"
Jordan seemed proud of herself. "Really." She had her arms wrapped around her little body, shivering in the rain.
"Come here!" YFN took one of the Lumos merch hoodies she had and pulled it over her friend's head. "I know it's company merch, but you can just hide the logo with your arms if you want."
"Ohhh it's so warm." She said as she pulled the hood up, still shivering. YFN pulled her to her chest and rubbed her back. "Y..Yeeeeees."
"Comfy, huh? You played brilliantly out there, Dory. I didn't realise how aggressive you get when you play?"
"Do I?" She asked sheepishly.
"Ohhh yes. Very entertaining. Also, do they not have a kit small enough for you?"
"I'm an extra extra extra small. And no, they apparently don't. I'll need a belt for my shorts soon!"
Matt and Ruby appeared then, wide-eyed at YFN holding Jordan to keep her warm. They were both from Birmingham and Matt was an Aston Villa fan. "J...Jordan Nobbs, I'm Matt... hey." He introduced himself with an awkward hand out.
Jordan was amused by this and shook his hand. "Hello Matt. Did you get any good photos? You were almost chasing us up the boundary line!"
"Oh! I hope it wasn't distracting. I'm a videographer and I have a few of you if you'd like to see?"
Matt and Ruby showed Jordan the footage they'd gotten for her, proud when Jordan was obviously impressed.
"Oh I think this is going to work out great, chicken." She said to YFN with a grin.
"We'll make sure to edit the footage and have it sent to you tomorrow for approvals to post, and for your own use." She smiled.
"Yes! Please! And I was thinking pizza tonight?"
"I would die for some pizza and hot chocolate in this weather. The crew and I need to go through a lot of editing though before the games tomorrow though."
"Just bring everyone over! We have room. There's only eight people, right? I'll get extra pizza."
"Wait.. you LIVE together?" Ruby asked.
Jordan looked at YFN and gave a little chuckle. "You haven't told them?"
She shrugged. "It didn't seem relevant... but I think that's a great idea. We'll all have pizza and do some editing, as long as no one is allergic to Blu."
"I get to meet Blu?!" Matt asked before he blushed at his admittance that he knew Jordan had a dog.
"As long as everyone is out by 8pm. We need to get some sleep." Jordan slapped her friend's shoulder.
"Five of our guys need to get back to London tonight so they'll all be out early. As for pizza...Joe can shout that." YFN said with a wink at Jordan.
They'd been through five pizzas and hours of footage and photos when YFN's phone finally dinged. She'd never picked up her phone so quick in her life. Jordan gave her a look that she missed as the room drowned out and she focussed on her phone.
Lucy: Sorry, little one. Just got home from training. Lost my phone yesterday.
YFN: How are you texting me..?
Lucy: MacBook.
YFN: I was starting to worry.. can we talk?
Lucy: We need to talk, but not over text. I'm not a good texter. Security said a fan found my phone so I'll get it tomorrow at the game and call you after it, okay?
YFN could tell Lucy had something to say and agreed that it would be best to talk over the phone rather than things being misinterpreted over text.
YFN: Okay Luce.
Lucy: I'll call you about five-thirty your time. Will you be free?
YFN: Okay, I'll be driving to Crawley then.
Lucy: You'll be staying in the London apartment overnight, I hope?
A worried Lucy meant she still cared.
YFN: Is that still okay?
Lucy: I'd be upset if you didn't. I meant it when I gave you that keychain.
YFN looked down at it. Three different coloured house keys, the car key, and three flags. She bit her lip and remembered the look in Lucy's eyes when she'd given it to her. It was the best present anyone have ever given her. They had so much to talk about, but most were better off over the phone except one.
YFN: I love it, Luce. How's your hand?
Lucy: It's okay. Stupid accident. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, okay?
YFN: Yes, please. Have a good game tomorrow, Luce.
There had been no text from Lucy when she woke, but she'd expected that. Her start to the day was slow as she woke early to pack her bag for an overnight in London. She left before Jordan was even awake, putting her overnight bag in the boot before she got in the driver's seat. She looked down at the little keyring that Lucy had given her. She'd only realised today that the key colours represented her clubs. The blue key for Manchester represented Man City, the red key for London represented England, and the yellow key for Barca represented Spain and the Barca away kit from 2022. It would be her first time using the keys, and the idea of using them felt a little wrong to her, especially after the previous few days. She felt bad. She played with the little flags before putting them in the cup holder and starting the car.
She arrived at Meadow Park early, glad that her reserved parking space was close so she wouldn't be so held up trying to get to the end of the Spurs and Everton game. She met up with Bridget and Emily who were a couple, and both Arsenal supporters. It was very obvious, the way they were practically bouncing up and down. Bridget and Emily both did a bit of videography and photography, however it was clear that Emily was better with photographs and Bridget with videography as Bridget was a bit more excitable when it came to chasing players around the boundary lines for videos, whereas Emily was definitely the more shy and level-headed one. They were incredibly entertaining.
As YFN was also present, she would make the most of herself by taking some photos also. As she was setting up her camera, she felt two arms slide around her waist and pick her up in a hug.
"Ohhhh here she is!" Caitlin almost shouted.
"I could pick you up with one arm, chick, there's nothin' to ya!" Katie said as she put her back down.
YFN laughed and hugged the pair. They were in their warmup gear, ready to prep with the rest of their teammates who were entering the field. Kyra saw them and ran over excitedly.
"Finally here to watch the Aussies, huh?" She cheered as she leapt onto Caitlin's back.
"You're so annoyin'!" Caitlin laughed. Kyra was definitely the little sister of the group.
"I'm a bit worried we won't be able to keep up with you, to be honest. You're just too quick, mate." YFN winked, knowing Kyra would love the compliment. She did. She grinned proudly.
Bridget and Emily noticed the interaction then and couldn't resist walking. YFN introduced her excited and nervous colleagues to the trio.
"Oh, I've seen you around in the stands before." Caitlin said.
"Yeah, don't you two do Tik Toks?" Katie asked.
"We used to have a Tik Tok and Instagram channel for female football, but now we've had a lot more training and we're with Lumos." Bridget said, proud that they recognised them.
"Ohh upgradin' to the big leagues are ya? Well it's nice to have you in the team. We're lookin' forward to the photos you can get for us."
"If you can keep up!" Kyra said, flexing her bicep. Katie grinned while Caitlin rolled her eyes in fake annoyance.
"Bridget and Emily are massive Gooners, they'll keep up for sure."
Jonas called out then and the trio said their goodbyes as they headed over to warmup.
"How is it that you know everyone already?" Bridget asked as she looked at the team in awe. "We've been around forever and we've never met them."
YFN shrugged. "Luck, I guess?"
Both Katie and Caitlin were starting for Arsenal, with Caitlin's Matildas teammate Steph Catley and Lucy's England teammates, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alessia Russo. For Man City, Lucy's old team, there were two Matildas; Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler as well as a few of the England squad also; Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp, Esme Morgan and upcoming goalkeeper Khiara Keating. The game was a mess... but it was great. The referee had given out so many yellow cards that even YFN who knew the bare minimum about the sport knew it was overkill. In the first 20 minutes, there were 4 yellow cards, 2 to each team, and a goal for Arsenal. A beautiful assist from Caitlin to her Aussie teammate Steph who launched top bins at the 14 minute mark. By half time it was 1-0 Arsenal, and 6 yellow cards had been given out. The teams were very evenly matched, both with incredible players from all over the world.
After half time, the game restarted just as crazy as the first half and at the 53rd minute mark, Caitlin was shown a yellow for a bad foul. A few substitutions were made for both teams in the 60th minute, however it didn't seem effective until Man City scored their equaliser with Chloe Kelly. Steph went down hard in the 85th minute, and finally Arsenal had their second goal 2 minutes later. Unfortunately, their goal had come at the cost of a bad mistake make by the Man City keeper, Khiara Keating who was left in tears. More shots were made, more substitutions and of course, Katie managed the game's 8th yellow card in overtime for a bad foul.
The game ended 2-1 Arsenal, effectively ending Man City's unbeaten start to the season. It was the best game of football she'd ever seen, though she couldn't help but be upset for the young Man City goalkeeper who couldn't seem to be consoled for her mistake. She had spoken to her at the pub, though knew she didn't know her well enough to try and comfort her. Her teammates were already supporting her enough. She looked over at Bridget and Emily who were being respectful and not trying to get any footage of her as she walked off the field.
Kyra came back over to YFN before any of the others could, and they started chatting. She was the newest signing to the club and hadn't had the opportunity to show how good she was, but she seemed confident that she would.
"Will you cover internationals?"
"That's the plan! My boss wants to take over everything so this is really just the beginning."
"Yeah the girls were showing me some of the photos and they look great!"
"We'll send them to you so you can do what you want with them also. Promote yourself, mate."
"They don't cost anything?"
"Nope."
"You're going to be so busy.."
"Oh don't I know it. We've only covered two games so far but I can already see we need a lot more people for all areas, especially editing." She groaned, looking over to where Katie, Steph and Caitlin were making their way over.
Kyra noticed and spoke nervously before they arrived. "Have you... been to a Leicester game yet?"
"Leicester? No, that one's in Liverpool tonight so I'm missing it this round."
"Okay."
YFN wondered at her question. "Are you a secret Leicester fan?"
"No! No.. I just.. I know someone who plays for them."
"Oh? Who?"
"Well there's Remy Siemsen who's Aussie too.." She looked at the trio getting closer. "..and then there's Courtney Nevin..."
YFN understood now. Caitlin had told her about that. Courtney and Kyra grew up together and went to high school with each other. They dated for a while and then had a falling out, both unfollowing each other and never seen talking to each other. She looked at the young Australian who was blushing and looking at her feet. She leant closer to talk quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "Would you like me to talk to her?"
"I'm not sure. I just.. think I want to make sure she's okay."
YFN caught her eye and gave her a supportive smile and a nod. "I'll do that when I see her, okay? I'll let you know."
"Thanks." She whispered.
"Ohhhh COONEY CROSS CROSS CROSS." Caitlin wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close. "Debut next week for you, Ky, I bet money on it."
Kyra grinned.
"That'll be fun against Leicester, you can run wild!" Katie said.
Kyra's face dropped, and her eyes widened as she caught YFN's eye. That's right, it was Arsenal vs Leicester next week. "Will you be there?"
"I won't... I'll be covering the Bristol, Aston Villa game in Bristol. Matt and Ruby will be covering that one."
Kyra gave her a 'please help' look that she couldn't avoid. "But now that I think about it... it would make more sense for me to switch with Matt and do the United/West Ham game and then the Arsenal/Leicester game so I have more interaction with the players. Plus, Matt is a huge Aston Villa fan."
Kyra looked a little relieved.
"Steph, great game!" YFN said, looking at the Matilda's vice-captain. "Great goal."
"Aw, thank you! I'm not really known for my goals so I'm happy to get one."
The five of them bantered for a little with Bridget and Emily joining them, utterly star struck as they showed them their photos and videos. Then Katie insisted that they do an interview together.
"I don't have my equipment... my microphones. I haven't even prepped questions."
"Oh bull, we'll be fine. Besides, we'll answer anythin' you ask."
"Microphones are right here," Bridget said sheepishly as she opened her equipment box.
YFN thought for a second before deciding she couldn't pass up the opportunity. Players were never interviewed more than two at a time usually, so it would be a brilliant first interview.
She set them up with their mics and Bridget set up the camera. YFN was nervous, but she went with it.
"Okay, rolling? Fantastic. We're here at Meadow Park with four of our Gunners, and the famous Ausenal trio. Now, we didn't originally plan for an interview today, but Katie insisted on it..."
"Heeey hey hey, don't tell them that!" Katie laughed before looking at her teammates. "And now that you say it, I'm feelin' a little excluded bein' the only non-Aussie here."
"Are you used to being around the Aussies yet?"
"They're so unique that I'm not sure to be fair."
"Aw come on, we're not that bad, mate." Caitlin chimed in. They shared a look. "Maybe Kyra."
"She is the annoying little sister." Steph laughed.
Kyra rolled her eyes and looked at YFN. "They're always complaining, but they love me really."
The interview went so naturally between the five that YFN had lost all sense of nervousness. Instead, it ended up being good banter and she could see from the reactions of Bridget and Emily that it must have been entertaining. They spoke a little about Kyra settling in, Steph's goal, Man City's players and then with Caitlin starting them all teasing Katie about her late yellow card. Katie never admitted to it, but it was obvious she enjoyed her reputation of yellow cards with that cheeky Irish smile of hers.
"Oh, here's trouble." Steph said as Alanna Kennedy crashed their interview. She was a defender for Man City, and the Matildas. She greeted them all, obviously knowing the Australians, knowing Katie because she was dating Caitlin, and knowing YFN from their long conversation at the pub.
"Hey babe, I'm a bit offended you never asked me for an interview." She teased; arm slung around Caitlin's shoulder.
"Oh, I was forced into this, mate." YFN grinned.
"Well let me call Alex over and we'll give you the Man City perspective..."
Alex Greenwood joined the now extending interview, the girls having to share the microphones between them, and Bridget needing to step back just to get them all in frame.
They spoke about Man City, and YFN made sure to compliment the way the Arsenal and Man City players were able to compliment each other's teams, players and good plays. They had a brief conversation about that being one of the great, major differences between the men and women's games, and Kyra made a cheeky comment also about not rolling around on the ground for as long.
YFN wasn't going to bring up the incident with Khiara Keating, but Alex and Alanna did, both showing their support. The Arsenal girls were also incredibly supportive about the incident also, and Katie spoke about mistakes that she had made that were necessary to the player she was now.
They ended the interview as the girls were all called over to their teams, and Kyra stole the Lumos beanie from YFN's head. She rolled her eyes and laughed at them as they ran away. Bridget and Emily were gushing about it all the way to the car park, excited to edit the video. They all said goodbyes and parted ways, the pair headed to Crawley for the Brighton/United game while YFN was stopping by the Spurs/Everton game to check on Matt and Ruby.
YFN arrived just in the last ten minutes of the game as Everton were able to equalise with a goal. She spoke to Matt about the change of schedule for the next week, and he seemed excited to be covered Aston Villa again, not minding about the extra drive, and Ruby offering to pick YFN up from the airport as she would be flying in from Barcelona.
Before she left Brisbane Road stadium, she checked the Barca game to see how Lucy was doing. It was well into the second half 7-0 to Barca, with 4 goals by Salma, 3 assists by Graham Hansen, and 1 beautiful assisted lob by Lucy. The next 3 goals were made after half time, 1 assist by Alexia before Lucy was subbed out at the 58th minute. Alexia was subbed out not long after, and she wondered at that, looking at the highlights of the parts of the game she'd missed. What interested her was the fact that the commentators were speaking about how aggressive Lucy and Alexia were being. Both had been yellow carded, which was a rarity for them, and from the highlights, she thought they were both lucky to have only gotten yellows. They were pushing and shoving and getting a lot of aggression out. It made sense that they'd both been subbed off, even though they were playing incredibly well.
She started driving, finding herself thirty minutes away from Crawley when the clock ticked over to five-thirty. She waited for the phone call a little nervously. As each minute ticked over, she grew more and more disheartened. Eventually she arrived at Crawley, pulling up into the stadium and giving up on waiting for the phone call that would never come.