Never Really Over

Chapter 27

John's day with Beth and his family is one well spent; a delicious lunch, then some sightseeing, followed by dinner and some drinks for everyone but him. Usually, he would turn his nose up at being a tourist, preferring to be sunbathing rather than trailing around looking at things he could look at in pictures, but Beth seemed excited to see St Petersburg, so he indulged her. He did think Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was quite a morbid name, and he told Beth so, then laughed when she called him an 'uncultured swine' and elbowed him in the chest, as though she was any better; once they'd gone to Paris for a mini break and had spent an hour or so in the Louvre sniggering at 'dirty' paintings before Beth had thrown in the towel and asked to go shopping instead.

Years on, she seemed a little more engaged with their surroundings, "Pretty, right?" She had smiled up at him as they had looked at the mosaics inside what John had started referring to as the 'Saw' church.

"When we build that house, I want tiles like this in the bathroom." She craned her neck to look upwards at the sprawling ceiling filled with an array of colours, and John felt his heart swell in his chest at her referencing something he had mentioned all those weeks ago; Beth had obviously been contemplating their future as much as he had, and it was comforting to him. The future seemed distant, buying a house, getting married, having a baby... They were all things that adults did, and he certainly didn't feel like one of those, even though he had found himself no longer one of the youngest in the squad, and inexplicably enjoying the new responsibilities that came with it. Still, it was nice to have something to look forward to, a shared goal. He liked knowing that he and Beth had a plan, it made him feel safe.

"Nah," he'd shaken his head and wrapped his arms around her neck from behind and pecked her on the cheek. "Not having Jesus watching me in the shower." He nudged his nose against her soft skin.

"You know what I mean," she ran her warm hand across his wrists, his skin was cold to the touch, despite it being summer this big old building was chilly, she traced a prominent vein with a finger and tried to distract the images of him in training that kept popping into her head after the endless stream of content she had been bombarded with since England had arrived in Russia. He was happy here, confident in his own abilities and his role in the squad, and it showed in how he carried himself with his head held high, Beth found this new John hugely attractive and as his body presses against hers she feels a pulsing in her knickers.

He did know, she just liked the tiny little tiles, not the actual mosaics. He had never cared for interior design, more interested in functionality over aesthetics. His flat was still decorated with the same cream walls it had had when he moved in, waiting for Beth to join him and put her stamp on it. Now it was Georgia doing that, with an ever-increasingly amount of baby paraphernalia that he didn't seem to mind, because it was exciting knowing that she was growing a tiny human and that this would be its first home. He had more time than he would like to himself in Russia, and he often found himself scrolling online looking for more things to buy, sending Gigi screenshots and asking if she thought they needed a white noise machine or a nappy bin. But right now, Georgia didn't matter, only Beth.

"You can have anything you want," he kissed her again, letting his lips linger for a little longer this time. "You're the boss." He revelled in the little smile that played on Beth's lips when he said it, she always liked to be the one in control.

Knowing Beth was close by made him feel complete and he prepped for the next game with his head fully focused. He takes part in the pre-match press conference and Beth watches proudly on her laptop in her hotel room as he speaks confidently and eloquently, a far cry from the boy she first met who could barely string a sentence together. His chin is dusted with stubble that she thinks looks gorgeous, but alas it is gone by the next day, and she does not get to feel it against her skin when John kisses her after England beat Sweden to make it to the semi-final of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. As John inches closer to achieving another impossible feat, just weeks after winning the Premier League title, he starts to think he can win the World Cup too.