Foolish one

Chapter 40

It was time for our first match of the season. I had been told I would be starting, which felt strange. I had been here for a season and was already starting games. It would have been less strange if I had transferred here, because you needed to be a good player to play for Barca.

"You will do amazing" Alexia said with a smile. We were still in bed, but soon we would have to get up to prepare for today. As always, we needed to eat breakfast before heading to the bus. I spent most of the nights at Alexia's place. My apartment was barely touched. I only went there to pick up a change of clothes every once in a while. It was almost like I had moved in here. Alexia didn't complain about it, she wanted me to stay. I wanted to stay. "So will you" I smiled back at her. She placed a soft kiss on my lips and then got up to start cooking us breakfast.

I stayed in bed for another few minutes before joining her downstairs. "I have been thinking about something" Alexia said when she felt my presence behind her. "What have you been thinking about?" I asked and got started with making some tea. "I want to get a dog, but I wanted to talk about it with you first" she answered. I felt myself smiling. A dog. I thought it was something way worse. "That sounds like a lovely idea" I responded and hugged her.

"You think?" Alexia asked. I loved when the shy version of her made an appearance. She was always so confident, it must have had something to do with how good she was. Alexia was one of the best players in Spain. No, that wasn't enough. She was one of the best players in the world, and she knew exactly how good she was. It didn't help that she looked like a goddess. Whenever I felt her eyes locking with mine from across the room it was like nothing else mattered. She was all that mattered. Her brown hair and hazel eyes made sure that everyone who looked at her fell in love. Or maybe I was the only person who felt like that. We had only been a couple for a month, still I thrived in her company. She made sure that I survived and helped me become the best version of myself. I had her to thank for everything good in my life.

A smile covered my face when Alexia turned around. "I would love to have a dog" I answered, and she kissed my lips. "How about we look into some breeds and breeders and come to a decision soon?" she asked, and I nodded at her. She didn't say I, no she talked about us. "How come you always have the best ideas?" I asked. It was almost an answer to her question, well that depended on how you interpreted in. "I don't know" she answered with a smile.

We continued to make breakfast. Alexia was doing her best with the oatmeal. It was hard when she insisted on either holding my hand or holding on to my waist. "Are you excited for the game today?" I asked as I put another bite of food into my mouth. "Very, but mostly I am excited for you" Alexia answered. A big smile covered her face. She was very smiley in private, something that you would not think when you saw her at a press conference. "It is the first game of the season, and you are starting. I am so proud of you" Alexia said and kissed me. Her lips were as soft as they always were. "Can't we like go out tomorrow?" I asked her. "I want to go to the beach, and maybe go on a hike" I continued with a smile. "I would love that" Alexia said and kissed me once again.

When we were done with our oatmeal, I made us some sandwiches. With eggs, avocado, and tomato. I found them delicious and so did Alexia. We both changed into outfits for the day. Alexia was wearing a brightly coloured tank-top, with jean shorts, sunglasses, and as always matching Nike trainers. I on the other hand went with a black skirt and one of Alexia's t-shirts. She handed me another pair of her sunglasses, and I was also wearing Nike trainers. She was not the only one who was sponsored by them, and they wanted me to do some advertising for them. I liked the trainers I had gotten, so it wasn't a problem showing them off.

"You look great cariño, ready to head out?" Alexia asked. I held my toiletry bag in one hand, the other hand rested in hers. "I'm ready" I answered with a smile. We walked out of the apartment and Alexia locked the door behind us. The drive there was spent in silence. In the background some radio station played songs from the 80s. I looked out through the window. Alexia rested her hand on my thigh. All her focus was on the road in front of her. All my focus was on the upcoming game. Plays, passes, and interceptions filled my head. Every possible way the match could go was thought about. Everything that could happen I explored inside my head. I was doing my absolute best to be prepared for the game, and I was succeeding.

She had to drive slowly into the parking lot. Fans were standing outside and wanted a picture with her. Her hands were now both on the steering wheel, trying to make it seem like two friends catching a ride together. When they found out I was in the car they went wild. I knew there were rumours about the two of us dating. These rumours would only be more noticeable after today, and fans would be sure that we were dating. I mean, we were, but we didn't want the whole world to know yet. I liked that we were a bit private about everything. It felt better, and I felt more in love when we kept it just ours. Our friends knew, but it wouldn't have been fair to them if we kept it a secret. Both Alexia and I loved being able to be with each other with our friends.

We made our way into the changing room in silence. We were right beside each other, high fiving the camera man as we got inside. I sat down on my place and Alexia sat down on hers. We were not sitting next to each other, I was in between Paños and Mapí. I loved my spot. Paños was like a mother, always calm and encouraging. She helped whenever she could and made sure we all stayed out of trouble. The last part was difficult, everyone was always in trouble.

The warmup didn't go great. I liked when that happened. A good warmup meant a bad game, a bad warmup meant a good game. Before walking out I jumped as high as I could. My body got warm from doing that, and it was superstition to do it. If I didn't do it something bad would happen. Mapí was standing right behind me, laughing as I jumped. She barely took anything seriously outside of the pitch. On the pitch she was always serious, sometimes even a little aggressive. I on the other hand was never aggressive on the pitch, I left that for when I played games on my free time.

When we walked out during half-time, we were up by one goal. It was a beautiful goal scored by Alexia in the 37th minute. I had intercepted the ball far up on the field when I saw Alexia starting a run. I passed the ball long to her and she was free with the goalkeeper. When she was in that position it was almost impossible to stop her. I was the first person she celebrated with. She hugged me tightly and in the middle of our group hug she kissed my hair, thanking me for the assist.

I scored my second ever goal for Barca in the second half. I rarely scored, one of the downsides of playing as a central defender. It was the position I had always played in that position, for as long as I remember that was my position, that my place on the pitch. It was from a corner, I got my head on it and it flew into the back of the net.

Alexia was the first one to get to me. I jumped up and she grabbed a hold of me. My hands were in the air, and I was screaming. Our teammates surrounded us. Mapí, who had assisted me, jumped up on my back. This caused Alexia to tumble and fall. She brought Mapí and I with her. We all laughed together on the ground. It must make for some interesting pictures.

We won that game with three goals against zero and celebrated in the changing rooms. A win was the best way to start the season. "Sleeping with Alexia has turned you into an attacking player" Mapí joked. The rest of the players laughed while Alexia and I blushed. "Then maybe you should sleep with someone, so you can start to score goals" I remarked. It was low, I had to admit that. "Are you offering up Alexia?" Mapí joked, clearly not offended from what I just said. "She is not" Alexia said from the other side of the room. While doing so she snuck up from behind, hugging me tightly and kissing my shoulder. We were all in sport bras, on our way into the showers.

"Get a room" Ottilia called out. This sent another wave of laughter through the room. I was bright red while Alexia laughed along with everyone else. Everyone showered together, with loud music and singing. It was strange how we all showered together, every single week. If you were on your period you could shower at home, but no one ever did. We were all comfortable with each other.

I loved that.

I loved our team.

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This flew away from me. Next chapter will be lovely I can promise that.

I have no inspiration for this story. If you have any recomendations leave them in the comments!

Slower updates will be expected. 

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