Stand By Me - Leah Williamson

Extra Minutes To Cherish

Kameron's POV

The whistle blew. The match was on.

A soon as the game started, all my nerves faded, it was now just pure exhilaration, the adrenaline racing through my veins. 

The pitch was my home, this is where I was supposed to be.

Both teams were playing impeccably, I had no clue which way this was going to end, but in my heart I never doubted us for a second. Deep down, I knew that we had it in us to win this thing. 

Everything was so equal, it felt as if our possession was matched, our passing was matched. Everything was the same, which made this so difficult. 

Keira passed the ball up to be at around thirty minutes, she found the perfect space, right in-between two defenders. The ball landed at my feet, I dribbled it forwards, hoping this was going to be the one. 

I shot, it was headed for the top left hand corner, but the German keeper leapt and pushed it over the cross bar, my shoulder sunk slightly. I should have been able to score that, I could hear the entire crowd ready to cheer and then all collectively sigh. 

Banging my hand over my head, I walked over to the box, Georgia was taking the corner. It was booted right out of their half. 

Half time rolled in and Leah came from behind, giving me a hug as we walked towards the tunnel, back to the kit room.

"Hey," she said to me, she knew I'd be annoyed at that missed chance, so her words were unusually cheery.

"Hey," I replied, somewhat monotone.

"Kam, it was one shot. We'll get more, don't worry."

"But I should have scored it," I groaned turning around as she pulled me into a hug, kissing my forehead. 

"It was a great shot, their goalkeeper is just amazing. But hey, Kam, this is the game that we'd promised we'd enjoy every second of. You have another whole forty-five minutes, you'll do something amazing," she reassured me. 

I realized that she was right, though I still felt as if I should have managed to score, I wasn't going to let that one missed opportunity bring me down, this was the final of the Euros, this was never going to happen again on our home turf.

Looking up, I smiled at her, "You're right," I kissed her quickly, making her smile.

"Good, now let's go hear what Sarina has to say."

We walked back into the kit room hand in hand, I was so thankful for Leah, she always could put things right back into perspective. Almost as if she were slightly rewiring my mind each time, putting it back onto the right path. 

Sarina had congratulated me on my shot and given us some advice, but assured us that she had confidence. Sarina had confidence in each and every one of us, she knew we could do this. 

As we walked out, back into our positions for the second half, I waved to my family. They all had such different ways of supporting, it was sweet. They were all wearing my top but my nan had her little flag, waving it around smiling at me, looking a little drunk and dazed. My grandad held up his banner, waving it around as he saw me looking at them. My aunt, glamorous as always, pulled her sunglasses onto her forehead, sending me a smile and little clap. Saka and Rashford both cheered my name at the top of their lungs, massive grins on their faces. And Ingrid jumped up and down a little, cheering for me, clapping her hands, getting very involved in the game. 

As a footballer, it was always difficult to watch any game quietly, it almost always felt as if you were on the subs bench, offering advice to your team.

I looked at my dad's seat, reminding myself that this was all for him, that he was right there watching and cheering me on.

The whistle blew and the game started again, both team with a new sense of determination, somehow making the match even better. 

In the sixty-second minute Ella had the ball at her feet, she shot. I clasped my fists tightly together, waiting to see if the goalie would save it. She scored.

The shouts just fell out of my mouth, I ran over to Ella pulling her into a hug which everyone else piled in for. Everyone's face was just a picture, elated and so determined. This goal was exactly what everyone needed to show ourselves that we could win this thing. 

At the moment we were winning this thing!

We weren't in the lead for long though as ten minutes later, Germany scored. I huffed, it was not ideal, but my belief in us didn't fade for even a second. Though I saw the frustration on Leah's face, not that the striker even went close to her, but as a defender she felt responsible. 

Our eyes caught from across the pitch, I smiled at her, mouthing 'don't worry, we got this', she somehow saw those words and smiled at me, it was still a little sad. But she shook the feelings off as the game play continued. 

Both teams battled until our legs felt as if they were about to collapse and our lungs were on fire, but still, neither of us scored. We'd created good chances, just never been able to finish them which was ridiculously frustrating. Germany had some good shots too, but Mary had saved them with seemingly little effort. 

The ninety minutes was up, every player, completely out of breath, walked back to their team, forming little huddles.

As I walked over to everyone, I could have collapsed then and there, I was completely exhausted. So I tried to do it a little classier and hoist myself onto the floor and just sit there trying to catch my breath back.

Alessia tapped my shoulder, "You alright?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Just exhausted."

"Tell me about it, we've got another half an hour left."

Even though every muscle in my body ached and my lungs felt like they'd never return to normal, a little piece of me was flooded with relief. The expected ninety minutes was up and I wasn't ready for it to be over yet, so the extra time meant I could stay in my bubble for a little longer. Have some extra minutes to cherish. 

Though I really did not want this match to continue into penalties. I hated penalties with a burning passion, I'd grown up seeing every England match go to penalties and we'd basically always loose. They did not have good connotations. 

It seemed I may have been a little dramatic and after a couple of minutes, I felt a lot better, I could breath again and my body was back to brand new.

The squad stood there, in a circle, Sarina in the middle as she spoke to us all, "I don't think there is anything more that any of you can be doing. I have no doubt in any of you. We just need to create a chance and get a goal, do you think we can do that?"

Everyone nodded, Jill started cheering, she was always the first one to celebrate, even when there wasn't a real reason to. But it meant the rest of us joined in and all our spirits were high, we were ready to win this thing.

We had a couple of minutes before the extra time began so I walked over to my friends and family, waving at them as they waved and blew kisses back. But mostly, I just wanted to feel closer to my dad, no matter who walked into my life, they could never replace him, they'd never even come close.

The shirt sitting there should be being worn today by him, the scarf should be around his neck and that pint should have been drunk, but it sat there, full to the brim. But I knew he was still there, he just couldn't directly show me. 

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Author's note

I can't lie every time I write about Kam's dad it makes me cry. But yeah, hope you guys are enjoying the book :)