Waking up the following morning having gotten barely any sleep, head pounding and an overwhelming feeling of heartbreak. Your head is plagued by two things people, Maria and Ingrid.
You begrudgingly dragged yourself out of bed and into your bathroom, looking in the mirror you get a sense of deja vu to a couple of week ago when you were in the exact same position, eyes just as red and swollen and tear stained cheeks, If you could feel anything you might even find this kind of amusing.
You're now fully dressed for training, standing in your bathroom mirror applying concealer to try hide the bags under your eyes, as you grab your things and leave your apartment, dreading going to training.
You're not even sure how you got to training, mind switched off, but pulling up to the training centre you become more aware, anxiety spiking as you begin to get very nervous.
Parking your car in your usual spot and turning off the engine you take a few moments to breathe and compose yourself.
Head down and trudging into the training centre, so in your own head you don't hear Alexia's voice greeting your when you walk past, nor do you see the worried glances shared between her and Irene.
Training was awful and to top it off you hit your head and got a concussion so now you are alone in the medics room with an ice pack, waiting on the Medic and Alexia to come back into the room, you are on concussion watch and need supervision so Alexia volunteered and now they are discussing what to do over the next 24 hours.
You are staring out the window at a now empty training pitch, mind constantly wandering to Maria and Ingrid, so many questions flooded your mind, wondering if they ever truly loved or if maybe there was a reason for them abandoning you for your anniversary.
You couldn't bare to look at them so you avoided doing so the whole training session, avoiding looking at them or even any of your teammates unless mandatory.
Luckily or unluckily alexia sensed something was wrong so Jonatan went easy on you and alexia partnered up with you for all drills.
You didn't hear the door opening or the footsteps approaching, only breaking out of your trance when you felt the soft touch of alexia's hand on your shoulder, slightly jumping at the scare you turned to face her, worried gaze on you as she softly spoke, "Ready to go carino, you can stay at mine for the night so I can monitor the concussion."
Nodding wordlessly you got off the bed in the medic room, trudging behind alexia you follow her out to her car, leaving your car behind in the parking lot.
The drive home was silent but you knew your captain better than that to assume she would not ask you what is up so you were mentally preparing yourself the best you could for the confrontation that was about to ensue.
Arriving at alexia's apartment you followed behind her in, taking your shoes off and leaving them at the door along with you training bag, alexia disappearing off somewhere.
Her dog, Nala, came barrelling at you, jumping up and licking you cause you to finally smile.
Your moment was broken when alexia appeared holding spare clothes, a glass of water and some pain killers.
She spoke up, "I'll make dinner, how about you take these and change so you can a nap?"
You nodded, taking the stuff off her and wandering to the guest bedroom, making quick work of changing and taking the pain killers.
Crawling into bed, suddenly hit with exhaustion you fall asleep almost immediately.
Your awoken which feels like minutes later, but realistically its been a few hours, by alexia softly shaking you.
"Dinner is ready Chiqui." She softly spoke.
You groaned, causing alexia to laugh softly before pulling the covers down.
"Vamos, dinner will be getting cold."
You threw the covers off dramatically before making your way to the kitchen.
If you were being completely honest it smelled amazing, you kissed alexia on the cheek and mumbled a thank you before sitting down.
Dinner was silent, your eyes glued to your plates, you knew alexia wanted to give you space but from your peripheral vision you saw alexia deep in thought and occasionally glancing your way, probably contemplating the best way to bring something up.
Once you were finished you finally looked up, meeting alexia's worried eyes, this must have given her the confidence to finally speak up and see if she can find out what has been bothering you.
"I've noticed that you have not been yourself in training, I do not want to push you carino but I just want you to know you can speak to me whenever"
You do not know if it was her words or the tone of voice that she used than was like you were a piece of glass and she was scared to shatter you but whatever it was had the flood gates opening.
Through sobs you told alexia about your relationship with maria and ingrid, telling her about the time when they ignored you over a joke made by patri, how you never felt like a girlfriend and more of a burden and how you made up but then they ditched you on your anniversary and it has been complete radio silence since.
You were struggling to breath so alexia sat next to you and held you, whispering reassurances and coaching your breathing.
Unsure how long you actually cried in alexia's arm but you woke up the next morning in the guest bedroom with a pounding headache, you turned to the bedside table to see a glass of water, some pain killers and a note.
You took the pain killers before downing the water, having not drank much and also cried a lot you were thirsty to say the least. You picked up the note next,
"Good morning Cari,
There is breakfast on the table and I will bring lunch home from training, please get some rest and If you don't feel like talking more we can have a move night.
Te Amo
Ale"
You smiled at the note, eyes welling with fresh tears, you knew alexia was kind and caring but this just emphasise it and you couldn't be more grateful to call her your teammate, captain and most importantly friend.
You got out of bed and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, again you could've cried when you saw what it was, alexia made blueberry pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs and there's a glass of fresh orange with a empty coffee mug and fresh coffee brewing on the coffee machine. You sat and ate, grateful for your friend.
Meanwhile at training alexia was on a warpath, sure Maria and Ingrid were her friends but they also seriously hurt one of her friends, anytime they tried to speak with her, her gaze hardened and she was short and blunt, if you had not begged her to not mention it she would have done it as soon as she saw them.
She was out for revenge and unfortunately the other member of the team were caught in the cross fire. alexia requesting Jonatan repeat drill multiple times, claiming they were not done good enough.
By the end of training everyone was exhausted and moody but alexia didn't care, she wanted Maria and Ingrid to feel even part of the hurt they had caused you.
Maria and Ingrid noticed the hostility heavily directed them so thought confronting their captain to see what the issue is was the best idea.
They are in the changing room, the last 2 people there as they wait for alexia to be finished her captain duties and return to get her stuff and go home. Eventually alexia returns and her features turn stone like and she heads straight for her cubby to pack her things and leave as quickly as possible.
Maria was the first to confront alexia, at first alexia ignored her but when Ingrid joined in she saw red and snapped. She was berating and shouting about how they were not who she though they were, asking how the could treat you like this and just how hurt you truly were.
Alexia grabbed her stuff and stormed out, cussing them out under her breath in Spanish, Maria and Ingrid were stunned to silence, just looking at each other in complete shock.
They had not realised the extent in which their words effected you, they had been plagued with guilt over missing your anniversary and even seeing you the next morning in training, how awful you looked, they assumed you wanted space so they left you alone but they realised what has to be done.
It's grovelling time.
Meanwhile back at alexia's apartment you were cuddled up on the couch with Nala, scrolling on tik tok with some reality tv mindlessly playing in the background.
Your interrupted when you hear the door open then a bang and an annoyed "Joder," you giggled and went to go investigate, Nala closely behind, reaching the door you see alexia looking ready to explode and a smoothie spilled all over the entrance.
Alexia's annoyed expression didn't last when she noticed you smiling and soon couldn't hide a grin of her own.
Once the mess had been cleaned you both ate the remainder of the lunch she brought on the couch, watching the show you had on as you both occasionally made little comments that had you both laughing.
She soon looked at you, guilt plastered all over her face as she spoke up, "I am so sorry carino but I could not hold my temper and i shouted at them"
She let out a gasp of shock when she felt your arm wrap around her shoulders in a hug, when she realised what was happening she wrapped her arms around your torso, sighing in relief when she realised you weren't mad.
"It's ok ale, thank you for having my back. I really do appreciate you."
You stayed like that for a while longer, enjoying the warmth and comfort your friend brings you.
You two don't do much else, just order Chinese food and watch comedy movies all night on the couch while enjoying each others company.
Meanwhile the air at Maria and Ingrid apartment is tense, barely 2 words spoken as they are both lost in thought about ways to get your forgiveness, they know it is not going to be an easy task and even though they haven't showed it, they feel a piece of them is missing when you are not around.
They are plagued with emotions ranging from guilt from how the have been treating you, anger at themselves for letting insecurities get in the way on your relationship and determination to prove to you just how much they love you.
——————————————————————————
You woke up the next morning on the couch to the buzzing of an alarm, you felt a body wrapped around you and you could hear light snores falling from alexia's parted mouth.
You both had spend all night watching movies and snacking, honestly you could not appreciate your captain more for helping take your mind off recent event and instead helping you focus on other stuff.
You both had a travel day today, it was the upcoming copa de la Reina final against Real Madrid and even though you couldn't play due to your concussion, you were tagging along with all the other injured players to support the team and hopefully win another trophy.
Your mind started to drift off to your girlfriends (ex?) but before your mind could truly spiral you heard a groan and felt alexia's arm move to shut off her alarm.
"Good morning Chiqui, how did you sleep?" She said, voice rough as she had just woken up.
"Morning Ale, I slept well. How did you sleep?" You questioned, rolling over to face the Spaniard.
"I slept well too minus your snoring next to me" she grinned cheekily, your face heating up with embarrassment.
You both got up, got dressed and had breakfast before setting off to the bus that would take you to your hotel for tonight before tomorrows final.
The closer you got the more alexia could tell your were anxious about seeing Maria and Ingrid, your leg was bouncing and you were biting your nails. She placed a hand on your leg causing you to turn and face her, "You know you do not have to speak to them if you do not want to, I will make sure of it." She assured you and you felt your nerves relax slightly.
You pulled into the meeting spot where the bus was, noticing you were one of the first to arrive, feeling relieved that you and alexia could sit together.
Finding a seat in the middle of the bus, you sat near the window while alexia took the aisle, you both started chatting about the upcoming final and how you both with you could play the derby.
You were so engrossed in your conversation with alexia you missed most of the team entering the bus, only looking up when you heard Patri and Pina being loud, as usual.
It was like some weird coincidence as when you looked up you locked eyes with Ingrid, she looked awful, like she had barely slept and you hated how even after all the pain she caused you that you wanted nothing more than to make sure she was ok.
Alexia noticed your sudden tense posture, her eyes followed yours, gaze hardening when she realised who you were looking at.
She places an arm protectively around your shoulder which causes Ingrid to look away and find her seat a few rows in front next to Maria.
The coach trip was uneventful, you slept most of way and the rest you played games on your phone or watched movies with alexia.
You got to the hotel at around 8:30pm after driving for hours so the whole team was sleepy and hungry. You got to the hotel and were kind of relieved that everyone got their own room so you grabbed your key and took the elevator up to your room, not really hungry so deciding to skip dinner. Quickly showering, you brushed your teeth and changed for bed.
You abruptly woke up to loud banging at your door, heart racing as you questioned who was at the door.
All questions were answered when you heard alexia, "Sorry to wake you carino, I was going to breakfast and wanted to know if you would like to join me?"
You didn't want to keep her waiting so you advised you would meet her there in 10 minutes, with an ok you heard her walk away.
You were showered, dressed and on your way to breakfast in record time, you had just made your way into the elevator and the door were just about to close when a hand stopped it and your heart stopped when you saw the two people you had been purposely avoiding enter.
Maria and Ingrid.