Looks can be deceiving (Mapi León x OC)

Chapter 35 - Norway

📍Madrid, Spain

As the bus was moving slowly through the rush hour traffic of Madrid's streets, I was staring out the window, completely lost in my thoughts.

The thoughts which have been the exact same over the past few days as they always circled back to one certain person. Even now as we were on our way to our game against Norway I couldn't help but replay the last conversation I had with Mapi in my head.

"Sucks for you. Because these are the last words you'll have ever said to me."

Not only had that been the final thing Mapi had told me, but she had also gone out of her way to make sure there was no way for me to contact her, blocking me on every possible app.

Even E-Mail.

I tried.

Unfortunately, that also meant that now the whole world knew that we were currently on bad terms and I couldn't open TikTok or Instagram without being tagged in a million posts of speculating fans. Heck, my manager even told me that a journalist had reached out to him to investigate what went on behind closed Barcelona doors.

Quite frankly, it was ridiculously ironic. Mapi had wanted to hide us so badly and now that we were apparently over, she basically exposed us herself.

The mere thought must have caused me to sigh, because Sydney, who I was sitting next to, turned her head towards me. "What are you thinking about, Mili?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I grimaced jokingly as I hadn't been talking about anything else for the past few days. Knowing that I had Sydney, Klara, and Laura supporting me was a big help, however, nothing could ease the pain that was growing stronger in my chest every day.

I just missed her so much.

"Oh, Mili," Sydney said pityingly, pulling me into a tight hug. "I know it sucks, but try to focus on the game. It's your first time captaining the team!" Alexandra Popp, our usual captain, had to leave camp early due to a minor injury, the role of captain having been given to me by Martina as I already had experience as a captain back in Bayern and knew the team well.

"You're right, but-" I exhaled loudly, fighting a growing tear in my left eye. "But knowing that I have to see her in two days when we play Spain..."

"Hey! We'll take one thing at a time, okay?" Sydney sent me an encouraging smile, her arm still lying around me. "And you're not alone, Mili. We're always with you."

"Thank you," I said quietly as the bus finally pulled into the parking lot of the Ciudad de Fútbol, the official training grounds of the Spanish national team where we were allowed to play our friendly against Norway today as part of an international campaign for the Euros next summer.

Already dressed in our warm-up clothes, we quickly made our way inside, the competitive atmosphere quickly making me forget about my problems.

"It looks nice here, doesn't it?" Laura stated as she was running next to me an hour later, finishing up our warm-up.

"It almost makes up for how toxic the Spanish football federation is" I laughed. "I've got to say I'm not happy about having to see Vilda in two days after everything I've heard at Barca."

"Honestly same, especially after wh-" The end of Laura's sentence was drowned out by a loud scream.

"Lauraaa!! Emilia!!!" a few different, but very familiar voices were shouting synchronically as we passed by a group of people.

We slowed down, only to see Patri, Aitana, Mariona, and Claudia standing at the railing and waving at us happily.

"What are you guys doing here?" Laura wondered smilingly as we made our way over, ignoring Martina's angry looks as this meant we finished the warm-up early.