Through Her Eyes - Alexia Putellas

Chapter Seven

There were many times in Valerie Williamson's life when she felt anxiety take over; taking away her ability to breathe, like that one time when she had been stalked by a fan while playing at Lyon, or when Leah found out that it was her sister stealing her tracksuits.

More than once.

But as the blonde saw Alexia go down in the penalty box belonging to Wolfsburg at the 85th minute, and the referee blew the whistle for a penalty—her breath was snatched from her chest.

The crowd cheered as Barcelona were awarded the penalty, all of the girls turned to look at Valerie who walked nervously to the spot. No one seemed to have taken notice to the woman's jittering lip or shaking hands.

As Valerie passed by the girls, she was pulled back by a mystery hand, the Brit didn't turn as her eyes were too focused on the goalkeeper smirking at her, attempting to get into her head.

"You better prove to Jona than you're a better choice than me," Then the stranger walked away, Valerie took a deep breath and strolled in front of the ball.

As she stared deeply at the goalkeeper, a fire lit inside of Valerie's stomach as she pondered over what had just been said, 'Prove to Jona than you're a better choice'. For her entire life, Valerie had fought to prove others wrong, she loved nothing more than shocking people who didn't believe in her.

And as the whistle blew, confidence rose up inside of the woman who took two steps back from the ball, as the goalkeeper spread out her arms to make herself look bigger.

Valerie's eyes focused in on the right side of the net which the keeper had caught onto and dove in that direction, as the Brit kicked the football—the stadium leant forward in anticipation, as silence overtook the crowd.

Cheers exploded throughout the stadium as the football hit the back of the net and the colours of Barcelona erupted in smoke, Valerie didn't think before she ran to the corner and was crowded by her team mates.

"You did it!" Aitana shouted, the small woman throwing herself on Valerie's back and smiled against her shoulder.

"I did..." The victorious Brit said exasperated, looking around for them familiar eyes, until they landed on the captain who held an unbothered expression then also met eyes with Valerie.

As the whistle blew, Valerie ran towards Alexia with a cautious look, "Did I prove myself as Alexia Putella's replacement?"

The pair stood in silence, watching as the girls celebrated their win—now that the first leg had ended, they now looked forward to the second leg against Wolfsburg.

"Creo que debería recibir el crédito por tu penalti," (I think I should get the credit for your penalty) Alexia smirked, taking pride in annoying her teammate who rolled her eyes at the remark.

"I expect nothing less from Captain Annoying," Valerie laughed when she saw the captain's smirk drop and push the Brit back by her shoulder, "Te ganaría en la tanda de penaltis cualquier día.." (I'd beat you in a shoot-out anyday).

The Catalan shook her head with an amused smile, the air between the two woman was warm and there was a lack of hatred, which was strange for the two.

"Though it kills me to say this," Alexia spoke in broken English, "I'm proud of you. You've proven yourself."

✰

It was a few days after the victory at Camp Nou, and now the team were training for the second-leg semi final against Wolfsburg, training became more brutal by the day—Valerie started to believe that Jonatan enjoyed seeing the women struggle.

But this is what made them the best.

When Valerie still lived in London, she used to joke with Lucy about how much she complained about her training with Barcelona—now she takes back every joke.

She had never felt so relieved when Jonatan blew the whistle for a water break.

"You look like a tomato," Keira deadpanned as she walked over, sparing a glance at the woman hunched over holding onto her knees for support, "Usually that's me!"

She and Lucy high-fived while laughing, pleased with their teasing.

"Trust me, it still is." Valerie smirked when Keira's smile dropped and held her chest as if she was offended, in the corner of her eye she saw Mapi and Alexia approach like they were deep in conversation.

"¿Por qué te ves tan roja?" (Why do you look so red?) Mapi questioned, grabbing hold of the Brit's cheeks and squeezing them with a laugh, "No me digas que es por nuestra capitana aquí..." (Don't tell me it's because of our captain here...) The blonde whispered noticing how Valerie's eyes widened and slapped Mapi's hands away.

She had hoped that Alexia hadn't heard there, mostly because she didn't want her enemy to think that she could possibly like her. No, Valerie couldn't think of anything worse.

But that hope had died when the captain began to smirk while looking away into the distance, knowing that she was being watched by Valerie.

"Eres una idiota," (You're an idiot) Valerie pushed away the tatted blonde and walked past Alexia, not before sparing her a glance.

The two hadn't spoken at all since the game against Wolfsburg—the main reason being because they had let their walls down, and Alexia hated herself for how she comforted the woman.

On the other hand, Valerie didn't want to come to terms with the fact that they could be friends, after all she sworn to never be close to someone so... Arrogant.

"¡Chicas! Forme parejas para el siguiente ejercicio." (Girls! Pair up for the next exercise.) Jonatan ordered, clapping his hands quickly.

Valerie turned to the right to Keira beside her, disappointed to see that she had went off with Lucy. Then she turned to the left to find that Mapi had ran away with Ingrid.

"Guess you're my partner, super fan."

Sorry for the short chapter, I am posting straight after this as an apology for being late to upload.

Hope you are all enjoying the story so far!