Lauren Hemp short fanfic :)

part 18

I glanced up at the clock, 109 minutes. We had six minutes before penalties. The corner kick was a blur, the ball landed infront of me, I took a kick at it, but misjudged the distance. It got rebounded at me and I took another kick with my left foot, just to get the ball away from my ankle. A weight appeared on my back and cheering rung in my ears and I realised the ball had gone in. I turned around quickly and glanced at the score in the stadium above. My picture was up on the screen alongside 2-1 England. The ref blew the whistle again and the game carried on, I clicked myself back into gear and took a step back. Ella took over and kept the ball as far in the corner as possible, not wanting Germany to equalise in the remaining five minutes. That five minutes went by like it was nothing, and before I knew it the three blows came through the whistle and Wembley exploded. I collapsed to the floor, sitting down in awe of what had just happened. I brought a hand up to my face, in shock. We'd won.

Footfalls appeared behind me, and a face came into my peripheral vision. I stayed on the ground. But the blonde bent down coming face to face with me, the blonde held out a hand to hoist me up then engulfed me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her waist, safe where I was.

"You did it." Lauren whispered into the hug, her voice made me feel warm, a fuzzy feeling even. 
"We did it." I replied, half expecting the other girl to pull away from the hug, but she didn't. Instead we both got tackled to the ground my Lucy. The brunette stood up laughing,
"I feel like I interrupted something." She chuckled, smiling insanely.
Lauren smiled, but didn't say anything to the girl. Lucy stalked away from us, smirking.

Lauren looked towards me, chuckling. "Did she interrupt something?" I ask, lifting my eyeline to the blondes,
"Sorry?"
"Lucy. Did she interrupt something?"
"Ali? What are you-"
"You know what I'm asking Lauren."
"Do you want her to have interrupted something?" The blonde asks, turning her head slightly.
"I mean-"
"WE WON." Georgia screamed, jumping on my back heavily. I smiled to myself, placing my hands under her legs to hoist her up. Lauren's eyes found mine once more, and she smirked; and nodded once.

Wembley was still the loudest I'd ever heard a stadium after we'd lifted the trophy. Sarina called us all the middle of the pitch, said her congratulations, celebrated some more then asked us all to go around the fans, signing  anything or taking any photos. I began the long walk around the stadium with Alessia, we got round just behind Germany's goal and I noticed a young girl; only maybe 5 or 6. With a sign, the sign read, 'alina jenssen, it's my first ever match! please may I have your shirt?'
I turned to Alessia,
"I'll be back in a minute."
The blonde nodded, and carried on her walk around the stadium. I jogged over towards where the girl was, and watched her face light up as I approached.
"Hey." I smiled, "What's your name?"
"Sophia." She grinned, passing her mom the sign she was holding.
"Would you like a photo?" I asked, mostly at her mom rather than the girl. Sophia nodded, and her mom said yes too.
"Am I alright to?" I gestured picking Sophia up, her mom nodded, I reached over the fence and picked up the young girl, resting her on my hip. She smiled toothily at her mom, then glanced at me,
"Is your leg fixed now?" She asked, her eyes lighting up again.
I nodded, smiling "Yes. It's all okay now. Thank you for asking sweetheart."
I handed the girl back across the fence to her mom, then lifted my shirt over my head and handed it to her. Sophia didn't stop smiling, even as I jogged away, her laughter still echoed behind me. I carried on my walk round, signing some more programs or photos before catching up with a few of the girls. We made our way back to the group in the middle of the pitch to do some more press photos and interviews. I was handed an England scarf by our press manager, I think it was to cover up some of the sports bra I was wearing. I posed for a few photos with Keira and Leah, but none of us could keep a remotely straight face. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around Lauren was stood there, her England training jacket in hand.
"Thought you might fancy covering up a bit." She chuckled, handing her jacket to me.
"Thanks." I smile,

"Would you two be willing to do a quick interview with BBC sport?" A spokesperson asked, glancing between me and Lauren. I looked slideways at the blonde, then nodded as she did.
"Sure." Lauren replied,

"So I am here, pitch side at the infamous Wembley Stadium with two of the Lionesses who have just won, the women's Euro's 2022. Alina, Lauren. If you can give us any words at all, how does it feel?"
I glanced at Lauren, she got the message and started to talk first.
"Honestly. It's absolutely insane. There's no words that can explain how much this means to us as a team, and apparently," she took a pause to laugh and gesture around at Wembley, "there's no words for the fans either."
"No words other than cheering." The reporter added. I smiled at the woman, "Alina? How about you? From the injury at the beginning of the Euro's, to scoring the winner at the final. How does that feel?"
"Uh- well as Lauren said it is incredible, the atmosphere the fans bring is unlike anything we've ever experienced. And, I mean, I'm just insanely, insanely grateful. When I went down in the opening game all I could think about was not being with the team throughout the competition. But the support I got from everyone; the doctors, physio's, Sarina and even as far as the women that are surrounding me. They were what I needed to get here. And it is them," I glanced at Lauren, who had a soft smile plastered on her face, "they're the reason that I am here today and  they are the reason that trophy, that trophy behind us, belongs to England."
"Thank you very much ladies. Now, go, and enjoy the celebrations I imagine." The reporter chuckled, she turned her head to the camera man and nodded. "Thank you for that."

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