Update because France vs Italy (might have realized I'm in love with Mattia De Sciglio, ugh).
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«Still with feet touching. Still with eyes meeting. Still our hands match. Still with hearts beating.»
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[Final Chapter]
Alexandra Westorn found herself doing what scared her the most since she left Chicago and started to walk on her own: giving up her pride. She was doing it, hell, she was losing her typical rules for Antoine and it felt good; she felt this was the right thing.
She would lie if she said her bosses' names didn't help a lot to book the flight to France, it was surprising how many people were traveling to the country that weekend. Of course Lauren Reeves knew about it, Alexandra took advantage of that 'you can count on me for everything you need Alexandra' she once told her and used it to speak with her about the story with Antoine –she didn't ask for help but her boss offered her help so she didn't say no.
Now there she was, after a well-deserved nap, standing in the middle of a sidewalk in northern Paris, waiting for Elena.
"Can I tell you this is the sweetest thing I've seen someone doing for love?" The Spanish girl appeared from nowhere and stood in front of Alexandra. "Alex, I still remember when you were struggling with telling him about your feelings for him; you've come from a long way sister"
"I am panicking inside, what if he says we're done for real?" She was there hoping he still felt about her the way he did before they had that hurtful conversation back in Madrid.
"I can assure you he won't tell you he's done with you" Elena said with a smile planted on her face.
Her eyebrows went down in confusion. "How do you know that?"
"Look Alex, I interviewed him after the game against Germany and obviously after the camera went off he asked me about you. Since all I knew about your whereabouts was that you were living in Manchester I didn't say much, Antoine was obviously disappointed because he expected me to say more of you" She explained. "I can't wait to see his face when he sees you in the stadium"
"Did you get me the ticket and the press-pass?"
"All here" Elena hugged tightly her bag. "Why are you standing in front of a sports store?"
"I need to buy his jersey duh" If showing up to the final wearing his jersey isn't a sign of love then I don't know what else to do. "I hope they still have jerseys with his number, you know he has become quite popular"
"Yeah, imagine how awkward would it be if you show up wearing a Payet jersey" Elena teased and Alexandra rolled her eyes. "No but seriously, this is great and I'll be there to witness it. Can I take pictures? You know, for the wedding"
"Stop it" She chuckled and waved her hand in front of her. "Don't go in there Lena"
"And your kids, they are going to love this story" She continued and Alexandra shook her head while smiling. "You two will make beautiful babies"
"Yeah, maybe one day" Oh God, did I just–?
"You're definitely ready" Elena grinned in a smug way.
"What?" Alexandra slightly frowned; there was a smile still on her lips. "What do you mean with 'ready'?"
"Well old Alexandra would've panicked immediately with the mere mention of marriage and babies. This Alexandra actually smiled about it" Oh Jesus. "Do you want me to start singing a childish song about how in love you're with Griezmann?" So Elena and Antonio are basically the same thing.
"Let's just get in there and buy the jersey, okay?" Elena nodded, there was still a smug grin on her face and Alexandra couldn't not roll her eyes at that.
They went into the store and she bought the jersey with his number. I look good in this, I can get used to it. Elena explained her about how the press usually worked in these finals and told her everything she needed to get an 'interview' with Antoine after the game.
No matter how many bad decisions she had ever taken in her life, Alexandra knew this was the right one.
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The entire world was aware that by the time the game was on, the team who scored would be the one lifting the Euro trophy. Both sides knew it. Antoine knew it. Every single person in the stadium knew it –and into that amount of people present, Alexandra knew it. She was living her own mental crucifixion due to the fact that France didn't score.
Crossbars, failed opportunities and –hell– Rui Patricio having probably the game of his life. Not again, please God, not again, she thought as her hands rested over her lips in a praying way.
It happened too fast, at the eyes of everyone around the world; the unexpected. Éder scored, Portugal had the lead.
A combination of disappointment, anger and sadness ran all over him when the referee blew the final whistle. The Portuguese entered the pitch to celebrate while the French players tried to assume that they lost it, in their own home. Antoine ran a hand through his hair and slowly shook his head; no fucking way.
As he walked to France's side of the benches, some Portuguese players hugged him or patted him in the back, consoling him or something like that. The France staff members glanced at him with sorrow as they told him he did it good in the game and how this wasn't their chance and shit like that; he didn't take it. Antoine took a water bottle from one of the coolers and then sat over the same cooler; he took his boots off and drank from the bottle.
He kicked his boots away and then glared around the stadium. It was at the moment when his eyes scanned the press zone when he saw her and Antoine swore he thought it was a hallucination. She was looking around while she showed the press-pass to one of the security guards.
Antoine immediately rose from the cooler and began to walk towards her. The things she felt when her eyes locked with his were strong enough to make her heart want to burst out of her chest. The press, the stadium, the fans, the loss, everything disappeared in his mind as Alexandra got closer to him.
No fucking way, she came, a tiny smile formed on his lips.
The first thing Alexandra did as soon as they were closer enough to each other was wrap him into a hug. She threw her arms around his neck and she felt how his arms enfolded her waist. He held her tightly and closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her hair.
Alexandra was the one who pulled away from him. His arms remained wrapped around her waist.
"What–what are you doing here? And how did you manage to get in here?" He blinked a few times.
Her eyes darted from him to the pass hanging around her neck. He glanced at what she was looking and made an expression of understanding. "Antoine I am so–"
He didn't allow her to finish the sentence as he placed his lips on hers. The kiss was full of need even though it was a soft kiss; just like their first one. Alexandra pressed her body to his and tilted her head to one side, deepening the kiss. Antoine kissed her as if he hadn't seen her for a year; it felt like that for him. She tangled her fingers in his hair; damn, she missed him but she didn't know it was that much.
"Don't say you're sorry" Antoine said when their lips parted apart. His forehead rested on hers and he stared right into her eyes. "You win some, you lose some" She nodded, remembering those were the exact same words he told her in Milan. "I can't believ–"
"I am in love with you" Alexandra interrupted him. "Yes, I'm madly in love with you too and just like you said, I'll do as much and as long as I can to make you feel the same way about me every single day we spend together; I know this is not the right moment to tell you this but I needed you to know that you were right, this, us, is a mistake, but a beautiful one. One that needed to happen and one I am happy with" The pain, disappointment and anger for the final seemed to be vanishing away from Antoine's body. "I don't care if you live in Madrid and I–"
"Antoine can–" A reporter approached them and interrupted Alexandra.
"Go away" He said to him, not taking his gaze away from hers. The man obeyed his commands and slowly walked to interview another player. "Please continue"
"As I was saying, I don't care if you live in Madrid and I live in Manchester because we are Antoine and Alexandra, what we have is worth every little effort; I could be living in Naboo or some other weird Star Wars planet and I still would want to make it work because for me you're worth it" It felt like she was taking out a strong pressure.
It was sort of scary for both of them how good to each other they were. How the missed final, the nosy press, the failed cases, the demanding parents and all of the bad things around them disappeared just by standing there, in front of each other.
"Be my girlfriend, officially" He breathed out. One of his hands traveled to her cheek and started to stroke it with his thumb. "I know you say we don't need labels but I want the entire world to know I am yours and you're mine"
"Yes" She firmly said through a smile. Antoine's smile widened. "I want the world to know I am yours and you're mine" I am so in love with him. "But I swear to God if they call me 'WAG' I am going to drag them on Twitter"
Antoine chuckled; how much she missed his laugh. "These, these are the things that made me fall for you. Every single piece of you drives me insane Alexandra Westorn"
He kissed her again and the fireworks some people described in books were a joke compared to how her entire-self felt whenever Antoine's lips touched hers. This was it...this was the way Alexandra always wanted to feel with a man. He was the person she wanted to care about her in that way.
"I love you" He said.
"I know" She bit her lip and he smirked acknowledging the reference.
They felt the cameras around them taking pictures but it didn't matter anymore because now they were officially something. Ja! Paul was so wrong.
"We are going to make this work" She half-asked, half-affirmed.
"We are going to make this work" He strongly confirmed.
Could they break the usual protocol that came along with long-distance relationships? Well, they were Alexandra and Antoine, they broke the protocol once, and sure they could do it again.
[The End]
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«When I first met you, you were nothing more than another face but 6 months later and you're the only face I could ever find in a crowded place.»
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BLEASE READ MY STORY LOVELY (EDEN HAZARD) IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS ONE.
CONTINUE IN THE NEXT PAGE FOR A LIL EXTRA CALLED "PROTOCOL: INSTAGRAM EDITION".
IT'S HERE, THE FINAL CHAPTER. Jesus, I didn't even know how this feels like.
You guys made me want to end this story (I hope I didn't disappoint hahahaha). Each comment and vote and everything means a lot for me because I never thought this story would become what it became. Seriously, there are a lot of Antoine stories out there and you guys liked this one hahahaha. I love all of you even if I don't know you.
Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Please tell me what you thought about this story (if it was good, bad, if you love it or you hated it, I don't know, leave your thoughts hahaha). It really means a lot for me to read how you felt with this.