Lauren Hemp short fanfic :)

part 8

When we arrived back at our stadium, it was late evening. And most of the girls headed back home to get an early night before training tomorrow afternoon. The few weeks after the game went by pretty slowly, we trained most days and on the ones we didn't we tended to do some team building or activities or something. It made the team alot closer both on and off the pitch.

I was paired with Ellie in today's training session; shooting against her to practice penalty shots when Gareth blew the whistle for our break. Most of the girls stayed out on the pitch, but a few headed back into the changing rooms, to redo ponytails or change jerseys. Once back out on the pitch, Gareth called a large number of us over to speak to us, he pulled his phone out his pocket,
"Dear ladies of Manchester City Women's football club; we are pleased to announce that England's Lionesses have chosen their squad for the 2022 Womens Euro's. The members from Man City are as follows; Ellen White. Jill Scott. Lucy Bronze. Demi Stokes. Georgia Stanway. Lauren Hemp. Keira Walsh. Alex Greenwood. Ellie Roebuck and Alina Jenssen.Congratulations on making the squad, and we will see you all at pre-camp on May 1st."
No noise came from the 9 women surrounding me,
"Girls. I need you to say something." Gareth chuckled,
"We made the England Squad?" Georgia finally speaks up,
Gareth nods, "the most amount of players scouted from one team. You guys."
That was when all hell broke loose, people were jumping up and down, hugging, crying, smiling. It was unreal. I sunk to the ground and just sat there for a few minutes. I had been at City less than three months; and I had just been signed to play at the Womens Euro's. For England. A pair of arms hugged me from behind,
"We going to the Euro's." Keira smiled in a sing-songy voice, moving my shoulders from behind.
"I'll leave you ladies to it." Gareth chuckled, making his way back through the tunnel. Keira moved round infront of me and held a hand out to hoist me up, I took it gratefully. Before I knew it, my arms were full with a certain blonde, I smiled into her shoulder, feeling her laugh in the crook of my neck.
"We did it!" Chuckled Lauren. I placed the girl back down, still holding her hands tightly. The noise died down eventually, then Lucy spoke up,
"10 of us made the squad. That means we didn't leave very many places for other teams."
"Wait. Oh my god yeah. Did Gareth day how many made it overall?" Keira asked,
"23." Jill smiled, "we've only left 13 places for other players." She laughed,
"Oh shit." Lauren started, "oh well."

All the girls in the circle had a notification come through, Ellie decided to read it aloud.
"Your England squad for the Women's Euro's 2022 is;
From Manchester United;
Mary Earps, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo.
From Arsenal;
Beth Mead, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Nikita Parris.
From Manchester City;
Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp, Ellen White, Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh, Demi Stokes, Jill Scott, Ellie Roebuck and Alina Jenssen.
From Chelsea;
Millie Bright, Fran Kirby, Jess Carter and Bethany England.
From Aston Villa;
Hannah Hampton.
And from Houston Dash;
Rachel Daly."

"Woah. There's some big names in there." Demi speaks up, Lauren glances at me I know immediately what she is talking about.
But Demi wasn't wrong. Playing alongside some of the best players in the country meant brining our A-game. All the time.

We each went our separate ways back to practice, but my personal space was soon forgotten when a blonde appears at my right shoulder, throwing an arm over it.
"I seen your face when Ellie mentioned Alessia. You gonna be alright playing with her?"
"I'm gonna have to be. She's on the team whether I like it or not."
"Who knows. She might be dating someone new?"
"I really hope so." I half-smile, putting on of my hands around Lauren's waist.
"Do you wanna get back with her? Or is it a lost cause?"
"I'm not. I don't know, I mean I don't love her anymore. But its like something's missing. Not her, just a relationship. If you understand."
"I get it. You don't miss the person, you just miss the idea of being with someone."
"Exactly." I start, "I should probably get out more. Meet someone else."
"I get you. It's hard though, putting yourself out there." She sighs, moving her hand so she's holding my shoulder.
"And plus I hate talking to people. So I wouldn't even know how to begin to flirt with someone."
"You don't have to think about it. I find that if you have a good connection sometimes the flirtiness comes without trying."
"Sounds like you have some experience." I laugh,
"Well. A good looking girl like me. The women can't resist." Lauren smiles, I roll my eyes at the blonde, chuckling, "and you've always got me."
I turn my head questioningly,
"to turn to." Lauren adds quickly, "if things do go sideways with Alessia, I've always got your back."
"Thanks Loz." I smile, resting my head against the girls shoulder, "I mean it."

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