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

Chapter 31 - One mistake

A/N - how is everyone? Sorry for the long wait again

Rosie's POV:

Estonia. A country i'd never really thought a about up until recently. It's one of those things that slips your mind and you forget exist. Previously, I had no desire to travel there. I'm not sure why, maybe because it's not a very popular tourist destination. It's in north-east Europe : mainly filled with vast forests, mountainous hills and beautiful views. Often overlooked, the country has a lot to offer with culture, scenery and many small, rural villages.

From the moment we stepped out of the airport after the short flight, its' calmness welcomed us with open arms. People were friendly and relaxed, imitating the landscape stretched around us.

On the training pitches, panoramic views of the mountains circled around us. We soon grew to learn that it was a quiet country where everyone respected their surroundings. It was quite the contrast the the business of Barcelona or Manchester. In fact, as a whole, it felt like the polar opposite to anywhere I'd ever been before. It's the type of place where you can go and tranquility is guaranteed.

Having the opportunity to play football in such a breathtaking environment made me feel extremely lucky. Waking up every morning to expansive fields containing exotic animals, and having breakfast with the group I've grown close to was an amazing feeling. Training in the moderately warm weather was a nice change to the extreme heat and humidity in Spain. It took everything in us to focus on training and not the sublime scenery around us.

With every day that passed, we grew closer to the opening game. In our group was Poland, France and Sweden. It was a tough group but after seeing the quality in the team, I felt confident we would advance to the knockout matches at least. Each game we played would give us the confidence and experience to move on to the next knowing we can win it.

My coach invited me for a walk around the hotel grounds after lunch one day. It was slightly nerve wracking, obviously I had been around her before, but never one on one.

She pointed out immediately as we exited the hotel, "You've impressed me". I didn't know what to reply with so I gave her a small smile and muttered a quick thanks. She paused before telling me, "Me and the coaching team have discussed it and we want to start you for the first game...if that's okay with you of course. I am aware of what you went through last summer and need to make sure that it's not too much pressure".

I frowned. I hadn't expected to play many minutes this tournament, so I wasn't sure what to make of her offer. Of course it would be great to start for England, but did I want that pressure on me. It's already stressful being part of the team and I don't want to overdo it. Part of me wanted to shout yes, but there was a tiny bit of my brain that was telling me that it would be too much.

I bit my lip and asked, "Can I have some time to think about it?". She nodded her head definitely and spoke, "I can give you until the end of tomorrow to decide. Sorry it's not long but we need to finalise all of the formations and everything else". I thanked her for even giving me a day to consider it.

Before we bid goodbye at the hotel entrance, she looked into my eyes, "I understand if you don't want to Rosie. Make a decision based on what will be good for both you and the team. But remember, your mental health comes before football. Always.".

I could tell that she didn't want me having a relapse in the middle of Europe without any family around me. And I get that. It would disrupt the team and threaten our chances of winning. I think I can do it and handle the pressure but I'm going to get some advice before the deadline tomorrow.

Despite needing to be up early for a final training session the next day, I went straight up to my room and called someone who I knew would give me good advice. Leah's smiling face answered the Facetime. It was nice seeing her in clearly such a good mood. After three weeks of processing her injury and not really wanting to talk to anyone, she appeared to be happy in my company. We hadn't spoken much since she was discharged from the hospital after surgery. She grinned, "Hey. How are you? Sorry I haven't called or texted you in ages".