hard feelings - an erling haaland story

thirteen

She had been ignoring his calls and attempts of contacting her, he had instantly regret his words to her. They had been an impulsive action for him, he hadn't meant it. An overwhelming feeling rushed through his veins and before he could think rationally, the words had escaped his mouth. He kicked himself for allowing it to happen whilst she was already upset. She didn't utter any words, she didn't even look up at him, she just pushed herself off the sofa, picked her phone and key up from the coffee table and left, just like he told her to. Except when he was finally ready to talk about it, she had ignored his calls, Erling knew it would only be a matter of days until he would be faced with the sheer anger of his older brother. He knew that his sister would fight Amelia's corner, if she were aware of the situation.

"No music in the gym? What did Erl do to ya, Mils?" Jack spoke up from behind her, making her jump at the broken silence in the empty gym.

"Jack, you shit me up. What are you doing up?"

"Same as you, probably, couldn't sleep. Nightmare again?"

Amelia nodded. Her frustration building up as she remembered the events that took place in Erling's home. "He's a wanker, Jack. Honestly, I don't know why I allow it, my head's blagged! Proper fucks with my emotions."

"Rant to me about it, baby girl, but not whilst you're tryin' use the leg press." Amelia watched as he walked over, pulling at the lever to let the weight sit in its correct spot. "What's big Erl done now?"

"He's a prick, is all." She huffed, swinging her legs off the platform to look at the Birmingham native, noting that the clock behind him read '01:09'. "One minute he's all 'you're mine, Mia. No-one else's.' and then the next he's randomly like 'fuck off out my flat.' after spending the entire evening with me. It's a head fuck, Jack. I'm not puttin' up with it anymore." The anger was bubbling over, her fists clenched as she spoke, her words spilling out like an overflowing cauldron. "He's not the same person I knew growin' up and I knew that but I thought at least he wouldn't purposely try to fuck with me like that. I'm done with it. I'm movin' on with my life."

"He told you to fuck off out of his flat?" Jack questioned. "What happened?"

Amelia huffed, moving over to sit on the floor next to Jack, her legs stretching out, touching his. He gave her a small smile and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. Jack was able to feel the stress radiating from the Australian woman. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail highlighting the contrast between her olive skin and her light eyes. "We were watchin' a movie, just hangin' around, cuddlin' and whatnot. I don't know when I fell asleep but I clearly must've 'cos I had a shitty nightmare that shook me up. Next thing I know he's like 'You need to leave, Mia. Do not contact me.' Like he's some bouncer kickin' me out of a club. I want to hate him so bad, I just fuckin' can't. Even all those years back, I spent ages getting over losing him as a friend more than I did when my relationships ended. It was so icky seeing him sit in my car with his knees at his chest anyways."

Jack laughed at the girl, as he tried to process the story she had told, she had been speaking so quick, her frustration was very clear. Her impression of his Norwegian teammate had his side aching from the laughter he held back. "Millie, you have a blimmin' mini, even Phil would have his knees at his chest in your car but it's not on, is it? I'll sort him out for ya, Mils!"

He was feeling sorry for himself, thinking about how he only had himself to blame. His older brother telling him that his words had consequences and that she wouldn't put up with his behaviour for much longer, making it abundantly clear that those were her words and not his. Astor's words were stern and straight forward, to the point that Erling had been thankful that there was an entire ocean separating them and he would be able to put the phone down if it got too much for him. He sat on the team bus, headphones on with no music playing. He was the first one on and he had hoped that anyone and everyone but Jack would be sat in close proximity to him. Unlike Astor, he wouldn't be able to ignore the man from Birmingham, especially when on a two hour drive down to the stadium they would be playing at. He let out a sigh of relief as he noticed that Phil had slotted himself opposite him, with Kevin on his left. A spot remained empty, as more of his teammates piled on, no sign of Jack anywhere. It was almost like fate was teasing him as he was starting to relax, Jack came slid into the empty space next to Phil. "You've fucked it up big time, Erl. I'm not gunna lecture ya 'cos I know you won't listen, but she's my mate and so are you."

Jack was interrupted by a scoff from Erling. Despite being adamant that he would ignore Jack. He slid his headphones off and angled his body to face his teammate. Phil and Kevin shifted in their seats awkwardly, pressing play on their phones to avoid having to listen to the conversation. "Do not pretend you know Mia as well as I do."

This time it was Jack's turn to scoff at his words. He had found it amusing that Erling still held claim on it, despite knowing nothing that was happening with the Australian woman. "You used to, Erling, not anymore. You kicked her out after a blimmin' nightmare, mate, if you knew her it would be the last thing you would've done. Amelia isn't the same person she was at fourteen, Erl. I'm not here to insult ya or anythin', I want the best for both of yas and I honestly do think that it's each other so you better fuckin' sort yourself out before she hates you and it's beyond repair."

Jack's words resonated with him, although he desperately wanted Jack to be wrong, he didn't know Amelia as well as he previously did. Something that was a consequence of his own actions, actions he greatly wished he could take back. He, himself, was unsure as to why he kicked her out so abruptly, his mouth working faster than his mind. He had wanted her to stay, he wanted to make sure she was alright. Instead, he achieved the opposite, pushed her away, caused her to skip his calls. He wish he held his tongue, didn't say the words he had. Her face was unreadable as she got up and walked away from him. He wished he would've gotten up and ran after her, drove to her house and got on his knees to beg for forgiveness and that he didn't mean the words he spoke, but much like his woman counterpart, he was too stubborn for his own good. Something that caused a lot of petty arguments during their childhood. However, this time it was different, it wasn't just petty. It was something that truly hurt her emotions, especially when she had allowed this new version of herself, the version of herself he hadn't known for that long, to be so vulnerable in front of him, whether it was by her choice or not.

As Jack was about to tune everyone else out, to get into the correct mindset for that evening's match, Erling spoke to him. His eyes were soft and thankful. No other ulterior method. "Thank you, Jack. I do not know what to do to get her to forgive me for my stupid words."