Leah's POV:
It's been two weeks now since Jordan and I found out about Dan's injury. Still, Jordan isn't over it yet. She's been down most of the time and we haven't talked properly since that night at the hospital. It seems like she tries to avoid me at all costs, but I can't think of anything I've done wrong. All of this freaks me out, but I don't know what to do to make her feel better. On top of that both of us have been called up for the upcoming Lionesses camp, which actually is a good thing. This is my first senior call up for England so I feel honored. On the other hand I'm going to be a bit lonely if Jordan decides not to go, 'cause I know she's been thinking of decline.
"Hey Jordan, we need to talk, now!"
"About what?" She exclaims.
"You know what I mean, you have to let someone in before you have a mental breakdown! The last two weeks have felt like a living hell, you've barely talked with me. I'm not gonna lie, I do miss the old Jordan. Like, where's that always smiling and energetic person I got to know about a month ago? It all can't be gone just like that, right?" I let out, in hope for her to let me in.
"Well, first of all I'm sorry for making you feel that way, it was absolutely not my intention. Secondly, I feel like I've lost control of so many things and I can't talk to anyone about it. I miss the old me too, but it won't be better before Dan is back I suppose..."
"I'm here for you whenever you need me, just talk to me next time, okay? And by the way, don't let this bring you down, I need an experienced one to stick around with during camp! Also Lucy will probably miss you way too much if you don't show up you know, you can't do that to her either!"
"Okay, I'll accept the call up. But you need to know I'm doing this for you... and my best friend of course." Jordan responds.
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Jordan's POV:
The reason I've tried to avoid Leah as much as possible the past two weeks is because I'm no longer able to hold my feelings for her back. I just can't talk to her, I'm scared of doing something I will regret later, especially now when Dan isn't around.
~A week later at St George's Park~
I'm not in the mood for football right now, but I'm still glad that Leah convinced me to go to camp. I can at least get my mind of Dan for a second. I've missed all the girls on the national team as well, so to meet up with them after such a long time apart cheered me up a bit.
"Eeeyy Luce, how are ya?" I shout when I see Lucy appear.
"Jordan, nice to see ya mate! It's been awhile since last time."
"You good? I've bloody missed ya!"
"I'm just fine, and I've missed ya too!" Lucy says.
Me and Lucy are best buddies, I honestly don't know what I would've done without her by my side. During this first day of camp we haven't any activities planned, so everyone is allowed to do whatever they want. For awhile I've nearly forgotten about Dan, hanging out with Lucy is never boring, no matter how you feel.
The time passed away much faster than it usually does, it's already evening and time for Phil to reveal who shares room with who. I don't care who I'm rooming with, as long as Leah and I don't share. It would be pretty awkward to share room with her now when I've tried to avoid her for such a long time. When I hear my name together with Lucy's I let out a sigh of relief, maybe it wasn't that bad to go after all...
I still care about Leah, so hearing she's rooming with Keira makes me calm inside. I remember Leah has mentioned a few times that Keira is a close friend of hers, and that they've been friends for like forever. Leah has been with Keira for the whole day as well so I'm not worried at all. All I ask for now is that my soul won't betray me. As long as I can deal with my feelings when I'm around her for a couple of days I'll be just fine. Now that I'm here I need to be fully focused on football and nothing else. All other issues I can deal with when I'm back home, I tell myself.
~3 days into camp~
Lucy and I are now relaxing in our room after two tough football sessions. I feel like I've never been this exhausted before, which proves to me that I've managed to focus on the right things so far. I also feel like I've never been in better form, everything I do seem to go my way, which obviously makes me happy.
"What are you smiling about, Jord?" Lucy says after a moment's silence, waking me up from my daydreams.
"WHAT! Erm... nothing special really." I say.
"Sure thing Jordan. 'Nothing' seems to make you very happy, regarding that big smile on your face..."
"Okay okay, I'll tell you! The reason is that I play so good at the moment, I've never felt in a better place, ya know? That's all!"
"Come on Jordan, I don't buy that cheap excuse! For real, what's going on?"
"It's the truth, like what's your point with all of this?" I say, now in confusion.
"So, the only thing that makes you smile that much is because of football?"
"..." When Lucy asks it that way I begin to question my own answer, I know deep down that football isn't the only reason. I don't know how to respond to this, so I decide to be quiet instead.
"Oooh, I think I get it now!" Lucy says smirking, as she continues. "It's Leah, isn't it?"
"No?..." I say questioning.
"Don't lie to me Jord, it's obvious you like her! Do you really think your strong connection on the pitch passes by unseen? I mean that linkup, to name one thing, it's absolutely iconic! Such a strong bond is hard to break, if you know what I mean."
"Okay Luce, I do like her, a lot actually. The thing is I'm sure she doesn't like me back though..."
"Oh come on Jord, of course she does! What says she doesn't like you like that?"
Just as I'm about to answer, someone's knocking on the door. I hope it's not Leah, what if she heard us? Lucy walks towards the door to open for whoever is waiting on the other side, as I'm left alone, sitting on my bed holding my breath.
"Hey Kei, everything alright my love?" Lucy asks her girlfriend as it seems to be Keira who knocked on the door. I exhale and sigh out in relief. It's just Keira, I don't have to worry about if she heard or not...
"Oh sorry Leah, I didn't see you! Of course you're welcome in as well!" Lucy says a few seconds later.
For real, this ain't happening. How am I supposed to handle this? It works well on the pitch, but being in the same room as her... I can't run away either so somehow I need to hold myself together.
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Leah's POV:
Keira wanted to be with Lucy and asked me to join her so I wouldn't be in our room all by myself until our team meeting, which begins in approximately an hour. I decided to join her and here we are, making our way into Lucy and Jordan's room as Lucy greets us on the door. I'm a bit nervous to see Jordan, she hasn't spoken to me since the first day we arrived here. I follow Lucy and Keira into the room. As Keira sits down next to Lucy, I have no option but take a seat next to Jordan. As I approach, she doesn't even look at me. Great start, I think for myself. She doesn't even dare looking at me, what's wrong with her? As I sit down, she just keeps her gaze at her feet, not even looking up once. I can tell both Keira and Lucy feel the tension too, the three of us are looking at each other trying to understand what's going on. This seems to be worse than I feared beforehand...
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Lucy's POV:
Jordan seems to be fine when me and Keira sits down on my bed, which is opposite to Jordan's. But as soon as Leah turns up, Jordan starts to act all weird. Both Keira and I can see the tension between the two of them. I don't know what to do, until I get an idea... I have to get myself and Keira out of here so that Leah and Jordan can solve their problems for themselves.
"Uhm Kei, I forgot I have something very important to do. And I think I need your help. You coming?" I say.
"Sure Luce, we better hurry up then!" Keira responds.
Keira and I then get up and walk out the room, leaving them alone. I know that neither Jordan nor Leah are stupid, but I hope they get why I did what I did and that they make the best out of it.
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Jordan's POV:
An awkward silence breaks out as soon as Lucy and Keira leave. I'm still looking at my feet, as I don't dare look at Leah in fear of losing control of myself. A part of me wants to tell her how I feel about her, another part reminds me of how much I will regret it if she says she doesn't like me back. I get up and am about to leave the room, as I feel a hand gently grabbing my arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Leah says.
"I'm so sorry Leah, I really am. But I can't do this..."
"You can't do what?"
I feel the tears beginning to stream down my face as I turn around to face her. "I can't... I can't talk to you. It's just complicated, I don't know where to start. You won't understand anyway..."
"Please Jord, can you at least give it a try? Maybe I get it, maybe I don't. But I want to understand!" Leah says, as she stands up from the bed and pulls me closer to her. When I don't answer, she wipes away my tears with her sleeve. "Don't worry, I got ya!"
"There's something I've wanted to tell ya for some time now, but I'm not sure I'm ready to do it yet..." I say, whilst trying my best to not break the eye contact.
"It's okay Jord, you don't have to tell me right now. Just tell me when you're ready, okay?"
Leah is so good at making me feel comfortable, I'm very lucky to have a friend like that. I know I have to let her in at some point, but I'm just not ready for it yet. After all it wasn't that bad to talk to her, I think I need to relax a bit. We're still standing close to each other, and Leah hasn't let go of my arm. We both look into each other's eyes. By the look she gives me I can tell she's concerned about me.
"I'm okay Leah, don't you worry about me." I say calmly, as I pull her in for a hug.
"You sure about that? If something's wrong, don't doubt to speak with me. I care about you, you know that right?"
"Yeah..." I say. We stand there, just hugging each other, for some time. I feel her warmth, I feel my adrenaline levels raise, and I feel her lips touching my forehead softly. Hang on, did she just kiss me on my forehead? Just the thought of it made me smile, maybe she loves me back.
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Leah's POV:
I feel sorry for Jordan, and yes I might be a bit concerned about her well being. I don't know what came to my mind, but I just kissed her on the forehead. I hope she doesn't mind it, otherwise it'll be a bit awkward later on. I love the feeling of having her close, so I hold her tight against me, not wanting to let go.
It turns out she doesn't seem to mind that kiss at all as she grabs my hand after letting go of me. I'm glad to see her smile again, so I walk out the room, hand in hand with Jordan. The two of us picked up Lucy and Keira in mine and Keira's room before heading to the team meeting. When we arrive in the conference room, everyone's eyes are on us.
"We're not late, are we?"
"No we're not, it's five minutes left until the meeting starts. How come you ask, Jord?" Lucy says.
"I don't know if you've noticed it yet Luce, but everyone in here are staring at us!"
"Oh, you're right Jordan. But why?"
"I'm not sure, but it could have something to do with the fact that you two are holding hands?" Keira utters, while gesturing towards Leah and Jordan.
"Of course they think like that... Just because you're holding hands doesn't mean you're together!" I mumble for myself as I let go of Jordan's hand.
~Last day of camp~
Keira and I are in our room, packing our stuff. It's the last day of camp and we're all heading home in a few hours.
"I'm gonna miss you so much Kei!" I say.
"Don't worry buddy, we'll meet again when you guys play us in Manchester in a few weeks."
"But seriously Kei, I'll miss ya too much! That game is like a month away."
"I'll miss you too! But you have to promise me one thing before we meet again." Keira says sounding very serious.
"What promise would that be then?"
"Come on Leah, don't you get it? Every single one of these days at camp, all you've talked to me about during our spare time we've spent together is boys. That's not like you, not at all. So I've talked to Lucy about it, and now it all seems to make sense..."
"What does make sense? I have no clue what you're talking about."
"The tension between the two of you have been obvious all week, maybe not on the pitch, but off it I think we've all noticed how you're acting towards each other. One day you're enemies, the other you're like best friends again. You like her?"
"Like who?" I say, even tho I know who she meant.
"Jordan, you dumbass!"
"No?... Why do you ask?"
"Leah, you're officially the worst liar I've ever heard of. Who even questions their own answer if they're sure about it?"
"Okay Kei, I might like her the smallest bit. But I'm sure she doesn't like me back..."
"What makes you think like that? Have you ever tried to pick up some hints from her actions?"
"Well... she's been avoiding me for more than two weeks straight, she doesn't even dare look at me when I'm around, and as if that wasn't enough. The other day, you know when you and Lucy left us alone in the room... I felt so sorry for her, she didn't dare to speak to me at first. But when she did, she began to tear up. I don't know what I was doing, but all of a sudden we hugged each other, and that's when I... when I... I can't even say it."
"You can't say what?"
"I felt hurt seeing her that sad... so I kissed her on the forehead, and next thing I know is that she intertwined our hands..." I then get cut off by Keira, before I can say anything further.
"Take a deep breath Leah and listen to me. That's a good sign, right? She's probably been avoiding you because she can't control her feelings, and for the same reason she can't talk to you or dare look at you. And have you not seen the looks she's been giving you? Like, can't you see the way she looks at you? That girl likes you! It's obvious!"
"Okay, let's say she does like me, like hypothetical. What do I do?"
"It's damn obvious you like her too, don't miss this chance. I suggest you go for it!"