Further Apart| M. Mount

FIFTY SIX

2 October 2021
Stamford Bridge, London

It was another match day at Stamford bridge with Chelsea facing Southampton at home, nothing felt better to Laia than playing in front of the home crowd, hearing their chants in the sea of blue which may seem overwhelming to most but made her and the rest of the team feel right at home.

Jogging out of the tunnel the Chelsea squad were welcomed by the roar of the supporters in the crowd with the occasional 'boos' from the away crowd in the corner of the bridge.

"Who you looking for?" Mason asked Laia since she was standing for a full minute scanning through the crowd for someone.

"Mason, you scared me". Laia put her hand over her beating heart from the fright Mason had just given her by breaking her out of her concentration. "But I'm looking for my parents and a childhood friend, they decided to come over before the international break". She shrugged, giving him a small smile and a gentle squeeze on the arm before going back to the warm ups.

It was now go time and the line ups were announced on the big screens.

In goal was Mendy.
Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Rüdiger as the back three.
Schmidt, Loftus-Cheek, Kovačić and Chilwell in midfield.
Leaving Timo, Hudson-Odoi and Lukaku as the front three.

The team started the game off on a high with Trevoh putting the ball in the back of the net with an assist from Ruben, the goal only made them more confident throughout the first half however that faltered heading into the second half since Southampton were becoming more desperate for the equaliser.

Even though Chelsea were strong in defence the equaliser was soon to come as Ben fouled Livramento inside the box giving them the penalty, which was then to be taken by Ward- Prowse who scored. It was becoming a hard match for Laia as she was being pushed and shoved to the ground harshly by some Southampton players which was becoming frustrating for the blonde. But the last straw was when Ward-Prowse slid into Laia with his boots digging into the back of her ankles making her collapse to the ground groaning in pain, the speed in which the Southampton Captain slid into her left an ache in both ankles but was soon fixed when the medical team sprayed cooling spray on them.

However whilst Laia was receiving treatment the rest of the team were discussing (more like arguing) to the referee that that was more than a yellow and in the midst Mason got caught up with a Southampton player ending with the two shoving one another while the referee was at the monitor. Low and behold the referee overturned the yellow card into a red, leaving the opposition one man down with ten men.

Laia could feel the ache in both feet starting to come back the more she ran, so 5 minutes later in the 82nd minute she was taken off and replaced with Azpi who took over as captain of the team. She walked with her down knowing that the small knock might make her unavailable for the upcoming important international break, while she walked and clapped her hands to the bench she felt a pat on her shoulder and turned to see Reece giving him a small tight smile before he said, "Keep your head up squeak". 

The game had ended 3-1 to the home side, with the last two goals being scored by Timo and Ben. Once full time came Laia was sent to the Physio room to check the extent of her injury, after her feet were flexed and examined it was confirmed that she had a severe sprain of her right ankle which put her out for about six weeks but it was going to be confirmed by a scan the next morning.

"So what's the verdict?". She jumped as she turned to see Mason leaning against the door with his arms across his chest. "You know you have a thing for scaring me half to death". She mirrored his actions and crossed her arms across her chest with her eyebrows raised. "But to answer your question, I have a severe sprain in my right ankle so I'm out for about six weeks give or take but it's hard to say before the scan tomorrow". She ended with a sigh as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration before their conversation was cut short by her name being shouted from down the hallway.

"Laia!". She turned to see her parents and close friends walking down the tunnel towards her and Mason. "Hey you guys". Laia said giving her parents a hug before greeting an old childhood friend with a young child in his arms, "Hallo, Finn". She said as she gave her friend a hug with Finn giving her a kiss on her forehead in return, once she let go she turned to the young girl giving her a kiss on the forehead before taking her into her arms.

"Hallo Prinzessin, well Mason you already know my parents but this is Finn and this little one is Laura". She was now stood next to Finn with his arm around Laia's waist briefly letting go to shake Mason's hand. "Nice to meet you Mason, I've heard a lot about you" Finn said politely . "All good things I hope". Mason laughed slightly as he tucked his hands back into his pockets, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy seeing how close Finn and Laia seemed to have been but he made a note to ask Christian about him later.

"So I guess you'll be a cheerleader from the sidelines for the next few weeks then". Mason said awkwardly trying to make conversation but realised the confused faces of the ones around him, remembering that they didn't know anything about the situation and took this as his queue to say goodbye. "Anyway, take care of yourselves and it was nice meeting you all. See you soon Lai, yeah?". "Yeah see you soon Mase". She gave him a small wave and a warm smile with him returning the smile as he walked out to the parking to go back home, the only thing he wanted was to recollect his thoughts.

But as far as he could tell, he was falling for her. He was falling in love with
Laia Schmidt.

A/N: Hey lovelies!
First of all Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 🎄

Second is that I'm sorry that I haven't updated for ages but I had no idea where I want to take this book but I have a few ideas now so I can hopefully update more often for you all!

Third is thank you all for 50k reads! 💗