Fine Line

Giddy

The lionesses had been victorious in their first outing at the World Cup. It was tough game but the girls prevailed. The notorious duo had made their World Cup debut and it felt amazing. Such a massive achievement in their careers and they had done it together. They were exhausted getting back to the hotel. They had shared a brief hug before collapsing on their respective beds and falling into a blissful sleep.

Alessia woke to the sound of Ella's rapid breath. She frowned, initially thinking it sounded more like a pant. The blonde panicked she may have interrupted Ella in a... more intimate act than drying her hair.. She slowly turned over to see Ella was still unconscious.

She sighed in relief, stretching a bit, her body feeling sore from the game the day before. Her eyes squinted at her watch on the bedside table. It was a little before 8am. She watched her best friend cautiously as her breathing returned to normal. Alessia frowned, a little confused. Ella must've been having a nightmare.

Alessia's eyes fell shut again but a couple of moments later, Ella's breathing got rapid again, this time the striker sat up. Looking over at her, she seen her legs and hands twitching. Alessia felt a flush of gentle panic brace her chest. She worried that her best friend might be dreaming of the panic attack that followed her breakup with Joe.
The final straw for the blonde was hearing little whimpers from her best friend.

She rustled the sheets off of her legs and quickly moved to sit on the edge of Ella's bed, she rested her hand on her friends shoulder squeezing it lightly.

"Ella?" She spoke quietly but the midfielder didn't answer.

"Ella!" She said a little louder but softly not to startle Ella. Leaning over her a little bit for her voice to carry to her ear.

Ella's eyes slowly flicker open, there was a glimmer of light illuminating Alessia's face which was hovering above her own.

"You alright?" Alessia's voice was still soft, her brows raised in concern. Her blonde hair an adorable mess. She felt her hand slip down her arm and gently squeezing her hand.

The midfielders free hand raised up slowly, coming to rest on Alessia's cheek.

The blonde initially flinched at the contact but relaxed into Ella when she felt how soft her hand was against her face. Her own breath becoming quicker. She seen Ella's eyes soften, skipping from her own to her lips. She recognised the same look in Ella's eyes that she had last seen in her flat back in Manchester. An element of vulnerability and softness in her gaze.

She frowned, in her tiredness she tried to make sense of what this interaction was. Her eyes searching Ella's face for an answer. Alessia felt an intense urge to lean down and taste Ella's mouth. Something she had desired for quite some time. The only other time she had been this close to Ella is back at St. Georges after they reunited. But this was different. It was the look in Ella's eyes that spoke a thousand words to Alessia.

She felt Ella's hand slip from her cheek to her neck, the midfielder applied a subtle pressure. Ella was pulling her closer and Alessia was allowing her too.

CRASH!

The two women were startled by the almighty crashing noise outside their door. Alessia quickly got to her feet rushing to investigate what the noise was.

Opening the door, she burst into laughter as she saw Hempo sprawled out on the ground next to Chloe Kelly who was rolling in silent laughter. There were two overturned tea trollies next to the pair. She looked up to the top of the corridor and seen G, Esme and Roebuck (who had folded to the ground) all cackling.

Alessia felt warm soft hands on her waist, gently sliding her to the side.

"What happened?" Ella slipped past her and Alessia couldn't help but admire her with tender eyes.