The second game of the season, played against Tenerife's team at home, ended up in a 2-1 victory, with again a goal from Alexia out of a pk, as well as a long-range effort from Keira, who had been quite absent ever since she got to Spain.
It was my family's last night in Spain after a few days' roadtrip to the Southern part of the country before they have their flight tomorrow in the early morning, so they decided to order a table in a fancy restaurant, telling me I could invite one of my teammates. The choice was easy: I knew Alexia needed to clear her mind after she fell asleep on her own couch out of exhaustion, and since her sister's at the hospital for the final phase of detoxication, it was the perfect excuse to take her out of her apartment.
Therefore, when she makes her way toward me at the restaurant's entrance - whose dress code was way higher than how we both dress in our everyday lives - my brain seems to freeze for a small but intense moment.
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While the color would highlight the fiery look inside her eyes, her outfit highlighted her perfect body, making all the other people here blush. I think it is the first time I actually find a woman attractive. Don't get me wrong, I find plenty and have wound plenty of women very beautiful, but more in the sens of oh I want to be her, not in the sense of oh I want to kiss her.
But right now, it felt like a earthquake was occurring under my feet, as Alexia walks toward me, a bright smile on her lips. Realizing I looked like an idiot with my mouth slightly opened and my eyes going wide, I just awkwardly cough, but it's too late.
"You okay, Mewis? You look like you've swallowed a whole fox or something."
"Y-yeah, I'm fine! Are you, uh, ready to go in? They're already seated."
"Yeah, sure!"
As soon as we enter the dining room together, I can sense Kristie's eyes on us - and not only her, visibly. While I had opted for a very simple black dress, Alexia and I both looked pretty chic with out outfits, that fitted well together. When we get to the table, I can sense something awkward, as we sit down across from each other, me on my sister's side, and Alexia on Lucy's. My parents were just smiling at us, content.
The dinner in itself was quite nice, surprisingly enough: we had some good laughs about funny anecdotes, while our parents roasted Kristie and I by uncovering childhood mysteries - which consisted in Kristie and I doing dumb things. Lucy couldn't stop laughing, while Alexia was silently judging me, amused. Once the dessert is served and consumed, we exit the restaurant, saying goodbye to our parents, who were tired.
It was Kristie's idea to go to some random bar in order to have one last drink - which actually transformed itself into a dozen, having us quite drunk. So here we are now, the four of us, toasting together.
"To Barcelona ending Lyon's reign in the UWCL again this year!" Kristie exclaims, quite loud.
"Amen" Lucy comments, before kissing her fiancé's lips, smirking.
While the two lovers keep on making out, Alexia turns toward me and says something I couldn't hear because of the music around us. Realizing that, she rolls her eyes and gets closer to me, putting her hand on my shoulder.
The reaction is immediate: my whole body shivers, while I jump a little.
"You know..." Alexia starts, before her eyes go wide because of my reaction, asking: "oh, I'm sorry, are my hands cold?"
"No, n-no, they're not, I was just... surprised" I answer, trying to restrain myself from running away.
Alexia awkwardly removes her hand from my shoulder - well, not awkwardly, because she made it seem quite natural, but I couldn't help but feel things I definitely shouldn't.
Nevertheless, Alexia remains close, saying in my ears:
"I was about to ask you when your sister and Lucy's wedding was gonna take place?"
Relieved it wasn't a more personal question, I just answer, almost screaming so she can hear me:
"In a few months, I guess, closer to mid-spring"
But she realizes something is wrong.
"You okay, Mewis?"
"Maybe I should go and get some fresh air - I feel like I'm gonna pass out."
"Let's go" Alexia immediately says, grabbing my forearm, dragging me towards the exit.
On our way out, she subtly warns my sister and Lucy that we are going to be back, before making sure nobody would stand in my way. Feeling my heartbeat rate getting faster with each step, I concentrate on the warm feeling procured by Alexia's warm hand on my bare skin.
What are you even doing, Sam? I ask myself, terrified, it must be alcohol - it must be, because whatever you're delusional about cannot occur.
Once we - finally - reach the outside, I let a loud sigh out, immediately going on the side to sit down on the low wall, quickly imitated by Alexia, who stares at me, patient. She also seemed quite concerned.
After a few seconds, she ends up asking:
"What happened?"
Sighing, I just answer without even looking at her:
"Happens a lot when I'm in a closed space - I just start feeling bad and only think about getting out of here. I guess it's some kind of claustrophobia. I've had it since I was a kid."
"You should've told me" Alexia says, throwing me a deadly glare. As I look up at her, she adds in a softer voice: "I could've seen the signs and gotten you out before you felt bad."
I nod my head, setting my jaw.
"Only you yelling at me for being claustrophobic"
"No" the brunette immediately lets out, staring at me as if I just insulted her, "maybe getting mad at you for being an awful communicator, but not for being claustrophobic."
"Same thing" I comment, oddly teasing.
She smirks, before giving me a small bow in the stomach, making me burst into laughter and respond by kicking her leg with my foot.
"You are unbearable, Mewis" Alexia then ends up conceding, putting her lock of her own hair behind her ear.
There is a slightly long moment during which our eyes just meet, and that we both freeze for whatever reason. The silence establishing itself in between us just persists, as I could barely even breathe.
As if she was snapped out of her transe, Alexia suddenly gets up, while Lucy and Kristie appear near the door, probably looking for us. After that, we just follow Kristie and her enthusiasm to a nightclub, and although Alexia's eyes warn me that it wasn't that good of an idea if I was already feeling bad, I just blindly follow my sister, setting my jaw.
