Odds Against Us - Alexia Putellas

Chapter Thirty-Two

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Of all of the things that Veronica had been put through in the last hours, she did not expect to see Ellie Carpenter at her front door.

The Australian woman had changed since she had last seen her. Her face had matured, and she had bleached her hair to a darker shade of blonde, she even wore darker colours compared to the bright outfits Ellie would wear during their summer days spent at the beach.

"What are you doing here?" Veronica made her presence aware, as she walked towards her own apartment door but made a visible distance between them, stopping in her tracks.

Ellie's lips parted at the sight of her ex-girlfriend, surprised by her presence—even though she was stood at her front door.

She had noticed how Veronica had became more reserved, yet her eyes carried a softness about them that she could only blame on a certain Putellas.

"You sounded panicked on the phone, I..." Ellie then cut herself off, wincing at the hardness in her tone as she spoke to the captain, "I thought you were having another episode."

Fishing her keys out of her pocket, "I haven't had an episode for months." Veronica lied through gritted teeth, knowing that the blonde had noticed the lie but decided not to comment on it.

A part of Ellie no longer felt like she had the right to know about her ex-girlfriend's business, yet she had a strong urge to be attached to Veronica's life.

"Can I come in?" The blonde asked quietly, when the captain opened her front door and left it open, instantly walking towards the kitchen.

Ellie heard Veronica shouted a disgruntled, "If you have to." And cautiously stepped in to the apartment, looking around at the interior with hesitance.

"I'm surprised." The Australian commented as she walked in to the kitchen, watching as Veronica rummaged through the cabinets—in search of something.

"Wha—? By what?"

"It's actually clean in here. You'd always leave our apartment in a mess," Ellie laughed to herself at the memories that they shared, though their relationship was toxic, they also had many good moments together, "I'd always be the one to clean up your messes."

"Is that what this is?" Veronica turned around, placing her palms flat down on to the countertop as she stared at her ex-girlfriend in frustration, "You think that this is another one of my messes that you need to clean up?"

"I'm here as a friend."

"Exes can't be friends," The brunette shook her head, a lot of her anger that had been building up over the years directed towards Ellie—the first woman that crushed her heart, "We tried. It didn't work."

"You don't believe in second chances?" Ellie wondered, watching as the brunette shook her head with a roll of her eyes, "Fine... Then believe in a bottle of wine."

Fishing the bottle of wine out of her bag, the Australian passed it towards the eager hands of Veronica, but the brunette then placed it down with a guilty expression.

"You have a girlfriend, El."

The face of Danielle van de Donk ran across her mind, her ex-best friend that went behind her back and dated Ellie, a week after their messy break up.

"She knows I'm here. I'm here for you." Ellie smiled softly, at the sudden realisation across the brunette's face. She knew that Veronica was thinking about the woman she once trusted with her entire life.

She didn't know that Veronica thought about Danielle, nearly every day.

"Don't make me regret this, Carpenter."

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Laughter boomed around the apartment, as Veronica and Ellie sat in the living room with dim lighting, only the orange lamp lights from the street shimmed through the glass.

"I remember that!" The brunette laughed, throwing her head back against the headboard of the settee, "He had no idea..."

They had spent the hours speaking of memories—Ellie brought up how Veronica had brought her to her family home, introducing her as her best friend. When really, they had been together for a year.

"Your brother knew," Ellie chuckled, "We weren't subtle..."

They fell in to a comfortable silence, then Ellie stared at the brunette for a minute too long—which Veronica had realised at the last moment, was not a friendly gaze.

The Australian leaned forward, about press her lips against the woman whom she had missed for years, despite her very happy relationship with the Dutch, there was always a part of her that longed for Veronica.

But, the Real Madrid captain did not reciprocate these feelings, pressing her palms against Ellie's shoulders to stop her from leaning any further.

"Don't do it, El." Veronica whispered, feeling the familiar sense of nausea overcoming her and her tears began to sting.

Was Ellie ever there to be a friend? Was this her plan all along?

"Why... What's wrong?" The Australian furrowed her brows, as if nothing had happened and Veronica was to one to act out of order.

"You're dating Dan. Whatever happened between us...It's over. Forever." Veronica gulped down the burning sensation in her throat, wanting to scream at her ex-girlfriend but knew that it would gain her nothing.

"Because you love her?" Ellie guessed, hinting at a certain Barcelona captain. She had seen the leaked photo of the pair kissing, and had never seen Veronica look more happier than she did in that moment.

"I... I do." The brunette confessed, her breath caught in her throat as she finally revealed the truth, "I... I really love her, but now... I've lost her."

Ellie's eyes softened at her confession, finding that it was truly genuine, "I saw the way you looked at her, it's the same way I looked at you."

Veronica embraced her ex-girlfriend, as her emotions were becoming a whirlwind and could only find peace within Ellie, in that moment.

Thinking nothing of it, Ellie pressed a haste kiss to the brunette's cheek and faced forward, staring at the empty bottle of wine with a smile, "I missed this."

"So did I... You're a good friend, El."

The Lyon player smiled tightly at this, deciding that this was the way to move forward and finally be at peace with the pain that she had brought Veronica.

Suddenly, there was a resounding knock that echoed throughout Veronica's apartment, she gulped as a feeling stirred inside of her stomach—as if she knew, somehow she always knew.

Opening the door without hesitation, she tried to stop herself from smiling in relief at the woman stood in front of her.

Alexia Putellas.

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