Always You || Patrick Cripps

53.

Patrick's POV

I let the days pass by without thought. Over a week had passed since Charlie had given me her number.

It stayed, buried in my training bag. Beneath the empty water bottles and sweaty towels that I carry with me.

Training carried on, I made my appearances and did as I needed to, but my head was all over the place.

At first, I didn't want it. I almost refused to accept it. I even planned on throwing it in the bin on my way out of the club.

But the more time I kept it, I allowed myself to think maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. I wouldn't call it a back up, but ultimately, if things never progressed with Georgia, the number would be there.

So when I got home that day, I entered the number into my contacts, ensuring I didn't include the heart when I typed it in.

After that, I hadn't looked at it, I hadn't even thought about it.

If anything, it made me realise my feelings towards Georgia still hadn't changed. Even with the fighting and disruptions, the way I felt about her stayed the same.

I always thought it would change. That maybe it was only a matter of time before those feelings disappeared. But I had been feeling that way for years, and it still hadn't happened.

Piecing this all together over the last few days, I realised there was no moment like the present to do something significant.

Something I had always planned on doing.

There was no point waiting until tomorrow, or the next day, or even 2 weeks from now. The outcome would always stay the same, no matter what time I decided to do it.

Seeing all of my teammates coupled up, forming connections or longing over past ones, I was envious of them. I could admit that.

How could I not be jealous of the life I thought I would have. 26 and still still looking for 'the one'. Even though there was no point in searching any further.

I usually didn't believe in stuff like that. Stupid cliches with no evidence of being real. But it was hard not to believe in something when you had already met 'the one'.

Dangling in front of me as it had been for months, all I had to do was get over myself and do what I knew was best.

And that was to tell Georgia how I felt. Every emotion. Every word I had planned in my head.

All of it.

To tell her I had never felt as relaxed around someone as I do when I am with her. That my life is enriched by her presence in it.

I want to tell her that I feel like a billion butterflies rush through my body when she's mentioned, and I randomly think of how she's doing and it makes me smile.

That I feel safe in her hands, and the fact that I want to get closer to her than physically possible.

I've always known these things, but I believed they were just thoughts. Only now have I seen that they are so much more than that. I know now that I can't just sit around and wait for her to be swept up by someone else.

Just say it to her face and let the rest play out as it does.

I think that was the only thing stopping me. The fear of her reaction. Of it ruining everything we had built up to this moment.

My stress was mainly caused by the things I can't control in my life. I wanted everything to work out the way I planned it. But not this time.

If she didn't feel the same way, then so be it I said.