You are my mums (a Lucy Bronze fanfic) - Book 2

Chapter 2 - Time

Rosie's POV:

In England, a single day felt like it took weeks to pass by. But in Barcelona, days feel like a few hours, hours feel like minutes and minutes feel like seconds. Time just seems to work differently when you're living life to the fuwllest in a place you want to be.

Since my first session in the gym, two weeks had flown by. Each day that Lucy and Keira had training, I casually made my own way to the gym to start exercising my muscles. In only a couple of weeks, I could already feel progression. Every day I would leave the buildings feeling a little bit better about myself and the situation. All of the other aspects of my recovery were also going well - I wasn't lifting heavy things, I was relaxing more and I had adjusted my diet according to Danielle's plan. However, the change in diet wasn't a problem, as it was mainly just eating more protein and fruit and vegetables to strengthen my body.

Life was going so smoothly in Barcelona. On Lucy and Keira's days off, we explored the area - either visiting new restaurants, going for walks along the beach or interacting with the locals. While all of our friends were sat freezing cold in England, we were tanning like our lives depended on it. Everything was so simple - and I liked it that way. There were no complications. It was just me and my mums enjoying time together in a new country.

Once again after my gym session, I found myself making my way over towards Alexia. We normally did our own thing, following our individual plans, but then reunited at the end before walking down to the training pitches. As soon as Alexia saw me approaching, a warm smile appeared on her face as she removed her airpods. She questioned, "good session?". I nodded my head enthusiastically, "the best one i've had so far". She raised an eyebrow and joked, "it's crazy what a rehab plan and taking a stupid amount of tablets each day can do for you". I laughed slightly at her attempt to make a joke. We were both in the same situation. Fair enough we had different injuries, but we were both trying to recover from a major setback. Alexia knew what I was going through and vice versa. It was comforting to have someone by myself who understood and could relate to all of my struggles.

We talked about each of our sessions for a bit before she asked curiously, "how long until you're recovered?". I replied, "the doctors think by the end of the year. What about you?". Alexia released a small but noticeable sigh, "i'll start training with the team in January but I won't play a game until next season. But I guess that's what you get with ACL injuries". She shrugged her shoulders, clearly feeling frustrated with her injury. I placed a hand on her knee, looked into her hazel eyes and told her, "you'll be back before then, I promise". She already missed out on the Euros, but to also potentially miss the World Cup as well is devastating. Despite all of the good things about football, it can still be cruel and unfair.

Down on the training pitch, Mapi greeted me by picking my small body up and spinning me around in a circle. When she let me down, I asked confusedly, "what was that for?". She answered proudly, "you looked like you needed a spin". I chuckled at her and said, "thanks...I think?". Grinning proudly, she draped an arm around my shoulders, "your welcome".

Lucy, Keira and Ingrid approached us, laughing between themselves at something funny. Mapi immediately frowned because she has a big fear of missing out, "what's funny?". Ingrid wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's waist, "we're just laughing about how Pina fell over earlier". Mapi seemed to remember the event happening and began to laugh loudly, "she literally...I can't even understand how she fell over when there was nothing there". She then began to impersonate Claudia by walking normally and then suddenly dropping to the floor. When I had been told what happened, I smiled at how those type of things always seemed to happen to Pina.

After talking about a few more funny moments that happened in training, Patri and Aitana skipped over to us. Patri asked in her strong Spanish accent, "sooo...are the Bronze-Walsh family ready to host the team movie night tomorrow?". I looked up to Lucy and Keira who clearly had no idea about this, so I decided to answer for them, "yes! I can't wait". Patri began talking to me at about a million miles an hour about what film we were going to watch and what food we were going to eat and everything else while Aitana looked up at Lucy and Keira, "you guys in as well?". Lucy placed her hands on my shoulders and answered, "of course!". Keira added on, "why our house? I only cleaned it today and it's going to be ruined by the end of tomorrow night". Patri told us, "it's tradition that the new-comers always host a movie night. And out of all the new-comers, your house is the biggest". Mapi jumped up and down like a child repeating "party!" as Keira complained jokingly, "my new, white, cushions are going to be stained red from pizza". Lucy removed one hand from my shoulders and placed it round Keira's waist, "babe, they're only cushions. I'll buy you some new ones if they get ruined". Patri teased, "ooh Bronzey has money!". Lucy rolled her eyes, "you're just jealous you don't have a house with a pool".