Playing with fire - barca femeni x oc

fourteen

A/N - 20k reads! This is crazy thank you so much for reading 🥰—————————-

Aitana's alarm woke both her and MJ up the next morning.

The latter sat up with a groan and Aitana grimaced as she turned to look at her friend.

"Um MJ, you might wanna look in the mirror"

She furrowed her eyebrows and rose to the mirror on the desk, the gasp elicited by her reflection made her almost laugh at herself.

"That is awful"
She ran her finger over the bruise on her cheekbone, caused by the fall the previous evening.

"Should we try and cover it up?"
Aitana finished getting dressed and pulled the zip up on her jacket.

"No. I think that would be even more suspicious, everyone knows I'm clumsy already."

"True. They probably won't even question it"
She laughed.

The two women left the room a short time later to go to breakfast.

*

Mapi joined MJ who was sat in her usual place beside the window.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little rough but I'm okay"

"I know you're upset about not playing tonight but I'm so excited to see you back home in the right colours"
Mapi smiled and grasped her hand.

"Thank you Maps, I'm happy I get to watch you in person again, and not be playing against you."

"Yeah I'm definitely glad about that. I still don't know how you managed to beat me in a 1v1 when you were playing left back"

The women's quiet laughter echoed through the canteen and merged with the excited voices of the players ready for a match day.

*

Sitting on the bus on the way to Ajax's stadium, MJ hummed along to the music in her earphones as she watched the Dutch world go past out of her window.

This peace was quickly broken by Pina asking if she wanted to join in their very competitive board game.

The table beside MJ was taken up by Claudia, Aitana, Patri, Cata and Alexia, whereas Mapi sat behind her, chatting to Lucy.

"No thank you Clau, my head's still a bit sore"
MJ told her, only one step from the truth right?

Claudia nodded, happily turning back to the table and dealing the cards.

Alexia however, aggravating as usual, gave her two pence.

"No she's just going to sulk in the corner alone because she's too stupid play"
She grumbled under her breath.

The central midfielder was quickly silenced by a sharp kick under the table, Aitana opposite her staring back with a look of pure innocence.

Beside them, MJ turned back to the window, a warm feeling spreading through her at the protective spirit of her roommate.

*

The match ended 4-1 to Barcelona, with Salma, Patri, Aitana and Caro on the scoresheet.

MJ watched the great scenes unfold underneath her blanket in her space on the bench, and as the final whistle blew, she walked on, consoling the opponents and hugging her teammates in congratulations.

"Hey Marlowe!"

MJ turned around and was met with the familiar face of Regina van Eijk, one of her firm friends from playing against each other at youth level.

"Ah Reggie I'm so happy to see you!"

The two players embraced after such a long period apart, and ended up sitting on the bench together catching up.

"I've missed you so much MJ - I heard what happened in Manchester, I'm so glad you're here and back playing at home."

For one of the first times in the last few days, a real smile began to grow on MJ's face.

"Thank you Reg, I think I'll be good now I'm home and have my family-"

The girls were interrupted by the stadium announcer telling those left on the pitch that it would be closing soon.

"Ugh, we'll have to go but we can catch up properly after the return leg in barca yeah?"

"Of course, I haven't been since you left."

The two joined hands as they walked down the tunnel, chattering about nothing and everything-

BUMP!

A swift shoulder came into Regina's side and she stumbled against the wall for support.

"Oh sorry. Wasn't looking where I was going."
The monotonous tone of Alexia Putellas echoed in the corridor as MJ helped her friend to her feet and waved goodbye as she walked into the home changing room.

"Your girlfriend?"

"Sorry who are you? Didn't realise the star of the show controlled friendships now. Great goal by the way. Oh- nevermind"
With that MJ stalked towards her own changing room, sighing at her supposed captain and let the door swing shut behind her.

Further back, Alexia shook herself out of her daze, ground her teeth and was met with a door to the face.

Payback.

The team travelled back to the hotel with high spirits, not even dampened by the gusty wind and thunder around them.

A storm was brewing...