January soon became February, at this point Leah and I had been living together for about 3 weeks now. Things were never better. We were definitely the best versions of ourselves which translated to our perfect relationship. We still had fights, but they would be over the stupidest things, like her not washing the dishes or me leaving my clothes on the floor, we weren't screaming at each other like before, these were normal relationship fights.
Although the one thing that would really piss me off is her telling me I needed to talk to my dad. Maybe I was being stubborn and overreacting about this, but she would tell me everyday. One of the things I love most about Leah is how much she values family. Maybe I'm just used to losing a family member in my lifetime that it didn't hurt as much as the first time, or I'm used to going long periods of not talking to him, like when he left, back when I was 17. Maybe that was one thing she would never understand about me, but at least she was trying to.
She would often tell me how it can be hard at any age, to see one of your parents fall in love with someone else, and that I would probably hate whomever it was for a little while. That's exactly what I was doing. Hating Leslie, because she's with my dad and my mum isn't, and overreacting when she said the littlest things, but to be fair both Leah and I agree she could've toned it down for the first time meeting us.
Leah and I were in the best part of our lives, this time last year if either oof us tried to understand one another heads would've been ripped off, we were unstoppable.
She let me wait a little longer to contact my dad again, but I knew there was a point I needed to.
Now that it was the middle of February, the work on my thesis became much more. I needed to submit it by beginning of March for review, and if it was to the Universities liking I would be defending it by end of March. There were countless late nights typing away on my computer. Deleting sentences, adding sentences, and erasing pages, because they weren't too my liking. I used to never think I was a perfectionist, but I was so wrong.
In the beginning of February Leah used to let me work on it in our bed, so she could still fall asleep with me in bed with her, and then as the time progressed, She made me write downstairs at night. Apparently, I would aggressively type and swear at my computer, so she couldn't sleep. Maybe I truly was a perfectionist.
One of those late nights, I got an unexpected call from my mum.
"Hey honey"
"Mum, it's so late"
Clearly I was awake at this ungodly hour, and my mum was in a different timezone.
"It's Jack's birthday"
To be honest I fully forgot, which is horrible of me, I guess I've just been so wrapped up in my own life and my thesis, to even remember the world around me.
"I'm sorry, I've just been so busy, I would've texted you"
"I thought you were going to tell me again how you don't like talking about it"
I never liked talking about it, it's why I always used to lie about being an only child, forgetting he ever existed in the first place. I knew now that wasn't the way to go through life.
"I know, but I shouldn't anymore"
I talked to my mum for a while longer, she was crying, so I started crying. Once she hung up, I closed my lap top and headed to mine and Leah's room, still sobbing.
I hopped into bed, still in my jeans and blouse I had been wearing all day, and wrapped my arms and legs around Leah's body.
She felt me and turned around, I was still crying.
"Ab, what's wrong"
"It's Jack's birthday"
She positioned her body so now my head was laying on her chest and she was holding me, tightly.
"I didn't even cry at the funeral, I don't know why I can't stop now"
She started drawing circles on my back with her fingertips.
"Maybe because you've bottled it up for so long"
"I think it's more than that, I've never had closure"
"We'll find that for you, some way or another"
I cried myself to sleep on her chest that night, and the rest of the week.
----
After a few days pause from working on my thesis, I finally started up again. I set a deadline for myself so my professor would have time to look over it, so the late nights started up again.
For the next couple weeks I dialed in and began to make extensive progress. Leah was getting annoyed that I barely was spending time with her, but she began to understand that this would cement my future in the field of sports psychology.
At the end of February I finally finished. Everything I worked so hard for in the past year and a half finally reflected in 40 pages of written work. The only step left was to let my professor go over it and make any final changes. I told myself I wasn't allowed to touvh it any more, I would only overthink and end up rewriting it, even though I thought it was perfect, and so did Leah, who forced me to let her read it. I protested of course, but she found a way for me to let her, she always found a way.
The next day, when I went in to Arsenal, I stopped by my professor's office making sure he wasn't there to drop off a printed copy. I was too anxious about it to even face him, it would be better after he read it.
However, I was so wrong. Throughout the day, I was constantly distracted. I watched the clock tick by, hoping it would tick faster, or I could travel through time to the end of the day. I just wanted to hear his thoughts, maybe I should've given it to him on a day that wasn't a work day.
"Abi, are you even listening to me?"
I was caught in a daze again.
"Sorry Beth, there's a lot on my mind right now"
"You and Leah are fighting?"
"No, we're actually in a really good place"
"Then what is it?"
"My thesis, I gave it to my professor today to look over, and I guess I've just been nervous that it's not good enough"
"What even is that?"
"It's like a big research paper, almost a reflection of my time here at Arsenal"
"So you won't be here next semester"
The question I've been dreading to answer, these were my friends that I was leaving.
"Yeah, I will be"
I saw her face drop, but it wasn't like we would stop being friends.
"Can I say something now?"
"Yeah go ahead"
"Before you came, I would always just go to these sessions because we were required to, I didn't think it helped much, but then you came, you changed my perspective on everything, these sessions have helped me become the player I am today, and I have you to thank for that"
"You're acting like I'll never see you again"
"I'm just telling you, thank you Abi, for everything"
I nodded trying to accept the big compliment she just gave me, and we shared a hug.
----
It was finally the end of the day, and I stopped by my professor's office at the end of the day to hear his feedback. The feedback that distracted me all day from doing what I was supposed to.
When I arrived at his office, DVD, was just finishing with her session, she said hello to me, and I responded. Then she left the room and my professor gestured for me to come in.
I sat in the chair across from him, and waited for him to tell me how horrible my thesis was.
"I don't really know what to say"
That's it, my career is over.
"It was, incredible"
"Wait really?"
"It's not just well written, I can read the passion you have, not only for the field, but the passion you have for wanting to help these women, I have no feedback to share with you"
"Wow, thank you"
I got up to leave, not really knowing what else to say, but he stopped me.
"One more thing"
"Yes?"
"I was going to wait until it was confirmed that you were being awarded with your master's degree, but I have no doubt in my mind that you will"
I had no idea what he was referring to.
"I got offered a new job, to lead research in sports psychology across the Womens super league, which means I would have to leave Arsenal"
I waited for him to continue.
"I want you to be a apart of that team, by taking over here at Arsenal"
-----
A/N:
-Sorry guys, I literally went through a breakup, lol, so I kinda went MIA, so im sorry if this chapter is horrible, I tried.
-There may be longer times between updates, but I will say writing this today, really helped me, and it was nice to be back to this community.
-As always thanks for the love <3