United in Break-Up

Chapter 6

Vivianne had a strange feeling that something was wrong with Beth and her. When she woke up the morning after the reunion party, her head was literally pounding - but not because of a bad hangover, but rather because she was kind of worried about her teammate and friend, who seemed to be very drunk and kind of weird yesterday. She reached for her phone and immediately smiled at a nice text message from Alessia asking if she had had fun yesterday and got home safely, before getting worried that she hadn't received a message from Beth yet. It was already 11 o'clock in the morning and usually the two of them meet on their days after drinking or partying to chill out  and sober up together in good company. They named those meetings "Hangover-Hangouts" and it had become their own little tradition to spend a day of being lazy together and getting comfy with delicious food and a great movie. Vivianne and Beth both enjoyed their little tradition and treasured it very much - even if they never said that to each other.

Even before answering Alessia, Vivianne decided to send a message to Beth asking where and when they were going to meet today for their usual "Hangover-Hangout". A few minutes later the answer promptly followed, "Hey, sorry, I won't be able to make it today. Got a headache from hell and I'm nauseous. I guess I'll have to sober up a bit more on my own.". Vivianne didn't really know what to make of that answer as she sighed and put her phone back down. Beth had never canceled on her before for reasons like that. Sure, she had drunk a lot of alcohol yesterday and Leah had to take her home, but was that the only reason why she called of their tradition, which she usually seemed to place such value on?

Something had changed between Beth and her in the last weeks and Vivianne noticed that, but she couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was. Leah's reaction last night when she suggested that she could bring Beth home was still echoing in her ears. She was a good friend of Beth, why was she the "last person" who should bei taking care of Beth at that moment?
She picked up her cell phone again and began to respond to Beth's message, "Hey, that doesn't sound good. Get some rest and a good round of sleep - text me if you need anything. Otherwise I'll see you tomorrow when we head to training camp. I look forward to seeing you!" Satisfied with her answer, she opened the chat with Alessia afterwards - maybe Alessia was free and wanted to spend the afternoon together today, even if Vivianne would also very much like to meet with a different English blonde being honest...

The next morning the Arsenal Ladies met punctually at 9 o'clock for departure to the training camp in the north of England. There they wanted to prepare for one week for the upcoming football season in a sports hotel. Vivianne also arrived with her suitcase packed at the meeting point where the bus was to leave in a few minutes. She hoped that on the two-hour bus ride she might be able to talk to Beth or even to Leah in peace - she still had a weird feeling somehow and just wanted to reassure herself that everything was okay with them. 

As she boarded the bus, she looked around for the two of them as she greeted the others in a friendly manner. Vivianne was always the shy type and not one for effusive greetings, but when she didn't see Leah or Beth, she sat down in a seat by the window, leaving the seat next to her empty as well. As Beth boarded the bus, Dutch waved happily at her, "Hey Beth, come over here, you can sit next to me!". The Englishwoman raised her head briefly, but then lowered her gaze again and replied in a mumble, "Sorry, I'm sitting next to Leah today. We have a lot to talk about. But thanks for kind of saving me a seat, though.".

This behavior hit Vivianne like a punch in the gut. First the cancellation for the Hangover-Hangout and now the turndown for sitting together on the bus. They didn't have permanent seat partners, but on the last trips to away games, the two of them usually sat together. As the bus started to move, Lotte sat down next to Vivianne. "Well, didn't you sleep well last night? You look gloomy today," she said with a concerned tone in her voice. But Vivianne didn't feel like talking, so she just nodded to Lotte and tried to get some sleep to take her mind off the worries circling around her friendship with Beth.

Once they arrived at the training camp location, the standard procedure was to announce who would be sharing a room with whom. Since most of the players got along well with each other, the sharing of rooms always worked out quite well. It was already arranged that this time Lotte and Jordan, Manuela and Frieda, Caitlin and Katie should share a room until Vivianne's name was called up - her heart jumped a little when Beth was announced as her room partner. She shot a small yet also unsure grin at Beth, but it seemed like the other woman exchanged a seemingly rather unhappy glance with Leah at that moment.

Before the players could settle down in the sports hotel, a joint lunch was on the agenda. This time Vivianne didn't sit down at the table where Beth and Leah were sitting, somehow she had the feeling that she wasn't wanted there at the moment. Instead, she joined Lotte and Jordan, who were sitting at a table a bit away from everything. "Hey Viv, seems like we'll be seeing a bit more of each other in the coming days," Jordan grinned at her. Vivianne looked confused and replied, "Yeah, every day probably, after all we're in training camp together now." "And maybe sometimes overnight when want to sleep next to Leah, you might have to make some room in the bed," Jordan explained. This statement confused Dutch even more - as captain, Leah always had a single room, so why would Jordan spend the night with her and Leah?

"Wait a minute, why would you sleep in a bed with Leah and me? Leah has a single room and I share one with Beth," Vivianne asked already having a bad presentiment. "Didn't Beth talk to you? If Jonas allows it, she wants to switch rooms with Leah this camp. I don't know why those two would want to do that, but it's nice that a person without a girlfriend here gets the extra privacy while I now have to deal with you in my bed," Jordan laughed without knowing what her words triggered in her counterpart.

The rest of the lunch went by without Vivianne remembering anything. Fortunately, other players joined them at the table, so it wasn't particularly noticeable that the already quiet Dutchwoman fell even more silent than usual. Only Lotte seemed to sense that something was wrong with her and gave her a worried look on occasion. Vivianne just wanted to go to her room - no matter with whom she was sharing the room, she needed some time for herself. Just a little time to sort out her thoughts and feelings. Already completely lost in negative thoughts about losing her friendship with Beth because of something stupid she apparently might have done to her, Vivianne picked up her suitcase and walked over to her hotel room.

Once there, she opened the door and suddenly looked Beth straight in the eye for the first time today. Her heart skipped a beat at that sight, somehow she hadn't expected the Englishwoman here. Finally, Vivianne entered the room and closed the door while trying to maintain eye contact with Beth. "Why do you want to change rooms?" the pain rang in her voice as Vivianne asked that question directly at Beth.