United in Break-Up

Chapter 8

The sun was shining on Vivianne's face when she woke up the next morning in her hotel room at the training camp. However, the sun was not the only reason why the Dutchwoman felt warm - it was also the body heat of Beth, who slept next to her in bed. Only now did Vivianne realize that she had put an arm around her teammate, cuddling her from behind. Oh my, when did that happen? Vivianne startled herself briefly and pulled her arm away from Beth. Hopefully the other woman hadn't noticed her little lapse, though Vivianne also found herself thinking that she really liked that feeling when she woke up kind of cuddling with Beth.

In general, Vivianne was actually quite pleased that Beth was in bed next to her and had thereby decided that she didn't want to switch rooms with Leah after all. It seemed as if Vivianne had found the right words yesterday to give Beth the feeling that she could feel safe with her and that she would always be there - no matter how much time and space she needed for herself. It had taken some effort for Vivianne to talk so openly with Beth - her behavioral avoidance had hurt her, of course, but she really was her closest friend at the moment and she didn't want to risk this connection for anything.

She carefully got out of bed, put on her training clothes, and got ready in the bathroom. When she returned, Beth was still asleep. Vivianne looked over at her and couldn't help thinking how cute sleepy Beth looked with her tousled blonde hair and relaxed facial expression. She decided she'd still better wake up the Englishwoman since training started in two hours and they were both supposed to have eaten breakfast by then. With that in mind, Vivianne sat down at the shared bed on Beth's side and put her hand on Beth's hand like she had done yesterday, whispering softly to her teammate, "Good morning, sleepyhead, you should get up now if you want to have some breakfast before the training starts." Beth slowly opened her eyes and mumbled, "Five more minutes, please! I'm still tired!" Vivianne smiled automatically as the Englishwoman turned to her half asleep and slowly opened her eyes. "Okay, I can get used to this sight when I wake up," Beth slipped out. When she realized what she said, she quickly added, "Well, I mean this kind of waking up is something I can get used to, it's better than my alarm clock with the horrible ringtone." Vivianne couldn't help but grin a bit at the first comment, which definitely seemed to make her teammate feel quite a bit uncomfortable. "Get up, Beth. I sure won't bring you breakfast in bed if you miss it!" the Dutchwoman replied, squeezing Beth's hand a little tighter. "And I hope I can wake you up like this more often, too, you look pretty cute when you're sleeping - and definitely much more peaceful than when you're awake!" Beth laughed grumpily and threw a pillow at Vivianne for that comment - but the Dutchwoman was already out the door with a laugh.

Once in the breakfast room, Vivianne got something to eat from the buffet and sat down at a table with Lotte, who was sitting in a quiet corner away from the hustle and bustle, leafing through a newspaper for a bit. Vivianne liked Lotte a lot, as she was also a rather calm person and when Vivianne was with her she didn't feel like she had to keep up with her other loud and outspoken teammates at all costs. Lotte was also very empathetic and often found the right words when people approached her with a problem - that's another thing the Dutchwoman really appreciated about Lotte. Vivianne sat down, pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started to answer the many messages from Alessia last night.

After a couple of minutes Vivianne noticed that Beth also entered the breakfast room and took a plate for her breakfast at the buffet - she automatically had to smile a bit as she saw that Beth was now dressed in training clothes, but still looked as sleepy as she had just been in bed, which to be honest looked really quite cute. When Beth caught Vivianne's look, a grin came to her face as well. "Thanks for waking me up, Viv. I definitely wouldn't have made it otherwise," she said as she walked past the table and sat down with Leah and Jordan. Vivianne looked after her smiling.

"So, you like Beth?" asked Lotte, her eyes still absorbed in her newspaper. Vivianne wasn't sure she had just understood the question correctly. "I'm sorry, what?" asked Vivianne in the direction of the Englishwoman. "Beth. You like her?" repeated Lotte. Now Vivianne was sure she hadn't misheard, but she still didn't really understand Lotte's question. "Well, of course! Beth is a great friend! I like her a lot, especially since the last few weeks when we really got to know each other," Vivianne replied, still puzzled by Lotte's question. Lotte finally put down her newspaper and looked directly at Vivianne: "That's not what I meant. I wanted to know if you like her in a more than friendly way? But it's okay if you don't want to say anything about it, it was just a suspicion and I thought you might want to talk about it." Well, Vivianne surely hadn't expected that. Beth and she had been close friends, especially since the break-ups with their ex-girlfriends, and she definitely thought Beth was cute and funny and interesting - but did she like her that way? She hadn't given that much thought until now - but right away the idea felt quite pleasant, Beth would surely be a good catch as a girlfriend.

"What if it was like that?" Vivianne asked out of pure curiosity. Lotte laughed at her, "Then I'd give you good prognosis on a new relationship. She's totally smitten with you according to the way she's been staring at you for weeks. Like a little puppy in love. It will also have its reason that she does not meet with other women, although the women since the European Championship definitely stand in line to wait in order to go on a date with her." To be honest, Vivianne hadn't noticed or thought about that yet, but she was also busy with other women like Alessia herself. Did Beth really have a crush on her? That might be a bit strange, but somehow she also liked the idea. They'd both been single for a bit longer now and she'd actually been waiting for Beth to get back into the dating game soon, too - but was she waiting to date Beth herself or to see her happy again with dating other women? Vivianne suddenly realized that she seemed to have a lot of thoughts to sort out there - if it was true that Beth really liked her that way. "Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lotte, I really appreciate your empathy and honesty! See you at training" Vivianne said already lost in thought as she got up to walk over to the training ground.