heartless ~ lucy bronze

chapter 1 ~ fancy seeing you here

abi rivers pov:
returning back to st georges park was nerve wracking, yet i couldnt help but feel like i was back home. its been a long road to recovery, countless rehab sessions, endless anxiety, and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears. but i did it. i made it through. tearing my acl was the worst thing that could've happened to me yet it taught me some of the most valuable lessons. one of them being patience. and i think thats a pretty hard thing to have.

stepping into st georges park and being surrounded by my teammates faces filled me with so much joy and happiness that i couldn't help but beam with excitement. i havent seen some of the girls since my last camp before my acl, so seeing their faces again meant so much to me.

'rivers!! your back!!' rachel daly shouts, running up to me and pulling me into a tight embrace. 'hey rach, its really nice to see you.' i say, picking her up and spinning around together. we pull apart, and im met with the face of alessia russo, who is one of my closest friends at arsenal along side leah williamson. 'its nice to see you here again abs.' she smiles, also pulling me in for a hug. 'its nice to be here again. have you seen-' i begin, but im cut off by my name getting shouted.
'ABI' my best friends keira walsh and georgia stanway both say in unison, running up to me and embracing me with so much force we all fall to the ground. with recovery, and the pair of them living in germany and spain, its been hard to catch up, so i havent seen them in forever. 'just the girls i was looking for. ive missed you so much.' i mumble into them, feeling overwhelmed with love. the pair of them pull me up off the floor, and the rest of the girls greet me and say hello. well, everyone except one person, who was no where to be seen.

'ahhh abigail, its lovely to have you back with us.' sarina says, a genuine smile on her face. 'its great to be back. i cant wait to get started.' i say truthfully. nothing was stopping me from performing my best on the pitch. 'im glad to hear that. im sure your tired from the long journey from london so i wont keep you waiting. your room 269, team meeting at 4:30.' she says, handing me my room key. 'thank you sarina.' i reply, accepting the room key and making my way to my hotel room. i couldnt wait to lay down in my bed and just have some time to recollect my thoughts, all the attention i was getting was overwhelming.

after a long trek to my hotel room, i use my key card to open the door, and drag my bags into the room, dumping them on the floor outside the bathroom. breathing out a sigh of relief, i walk further into my room, and the sight im met with takes my breath away. there was no way. i mustve been dreaming. blink. nope. definitely not dreaming. 'fancy seeing you here.' the voice of lucy bronze remarks, laying on one of the double beds. i cant even find the words. im genuinely just in shock. please god tell me i wasnt rooming with her. i cant stay in a room with her for 2 whole weeks. 'i- i must have the wrong room.' i manage to say, unable to take my eyes off of her. 'nope. you have the right room.' she replies, continuing to stare at her phone. 'oh great.' i mumble to myself, shocked at my bad luck. 'what was that?' she asks, her tone laced with sarcasm. 'dont start already. ive just gotten here. cant you just give it a rest for 5 minutes of your life?' i complain, sitting down on the unoccupied bed. 'wow someones bitter.' she then snaps back, evidently getting riled up. 'bitter? you think im- you know what im not even going to entertain it.' i say, standing up off the bed and walking towards the door. 'now where are you going?' she stubbornly asks me, finally taking her eyes off her phone.

'away from you.'

lucy bronzes pov:
the first time ive seen her in 10 months. 10 whole months. if you told me a year ago that i wasnt going to see her for that long, i wouldve laughed in your face and said 'nice one'. i dont really know what i expected her reaction to be when she saw me, i guess no one gave her a warning of who'd she be rooming with. to be honest, seeing her walk out because of me did make my heart pang with guilt, but it very quickly dissipated. she has no right to be mad at me. no right.

i know i should probably be the bigger person and make her feel welcome, but i just couldn't bring myself to do it. shes been through a horrific injury that is potentially career ending, i of all people know what its like. i know shes had the worst 10 months of her life. yet i just can't do it.

she hadnt changed one bit however. the only exception being her hair is slightly longer, which confused me as she always hated having long hair as she found it 'too hard to manage'. i guess long term injuries really take it out of you. sometimes i find myself wondering what it would be like if we were still together, i find myself wishing we were still together.

no lucy. dont do that again.

but then i come back to reality and realise its better this way, if she doesnt want to be with me then i dont want to be with her. simple. that probably sounds insanely toxic, but its the truth. i wasnt going to chase someone who wanted nothing to do with me. im not being taken for a mug. yet deep down, i just know thats not true. but if i allow myself to fall for her all over again im scared it will truly ruin me. theres been so much hurt and im done with it all. completely and utterly done.

i hear a knock at the door, it cant be abi because she has a key card - and its also her own room. 'come in.' i reply, and im met with the face of my dear friend rachel daly. we've grown up together, and we are still getting called up for camp. its nice to have a familiar face around. 'you okay lucy?' she asks me, sitting down on the end of my bed. 'yeah, why wouldnt i be?' i reply, sitting further up. 'you know with abi back.. i know it cant be easy. just know if you want to talk im here.' she says hesitantly, scared of potentially upsetting me. 'thanks rach, i appreciate it. but honestly im fine, dont worry about me.' i reassure her, but also myself. i think im fine, but that might just be me trying to convince myself im not losing my mind. 'ill take your word for it lucy, but if anything changes, the offers still there.' she smiles, patting my knee with her hand. i just smile back at her, appreciative of her support. 'come on, we best get going for the team meeting before millie has my head off that im late.' she jokes, causing me to laugh. 'yeah, lets get going.'

abi rivers pov:
what the fuck. what the flying fuck? is this a joke. this has got to be a joke. im practically running down the corridor, not really sure where im going, but anywhere other than where lucy is. i cannot believe i have to room with her for 2 whole weeks... is the universe trying to kill me off? ive already been through enough, this is going to drive me up the wall.

'woah, woah. slow down. why are you dancing up and down the corridor?' my friend leah stops me, after i nearly took her off her feet. 'leah, thank god your here. i think im going to be sick.' i manage to blurt out, overwhelmed. 'not over me i hope.' she jokes, laughing at me flustered. 'leah, not the time for jokes. tell me why im sharing a room with lucy.' i whisper shout, cautious of other ear's listening. 'you WHAT. YOU SHARING A ROOM WITH LU-' she begins to shout, but i slap my hand over her mouth before she can finish her sentence. 'shut up leah. dont want the whole team hearing about my relationship drama.' i scold her, taking my hand away from her mouth. 'sorry- i iust cant believe...' she says, obviously shocked. 'no neither can i.' i reply, rubbing my hands over my face. 'this is my karma.' i then add on. 'no. no. you cant do that to yourself. you did what you did for a reason. im sure if you explained it to her-' she begins, but i cut her off for the second time. 'no. not an option.' i say rather rudely, not meaning for it to come out like that. 'sorry.' i apologise, for snapping at her. 'no, its okay abs. im sorry for bringing it up. you've been through enough as it is. come here.' she says, pulling me in for a well needed hug.

if theres one thing about leah, its that she gives the best hugs ever. however, i can feel her start to tense up, which is quite unusual. 'shes right behind us isnt she.' i say, praying i was wrong. 'uhm. yeah.' she gulps, causing me to sigh. once ive pulled away from the hug, i turn around and im met with rachel, who's unfortunately accompanied by lucy. im not having great luck so far its safe to say. 'sorry to interrupt your little moment. but we have places to be so if you could move it somewhere else.' she remarks, getting hit on the arm by rachel for doing so. 'oh dont let us stop you. off you go.' i say, moving out the way so they can walk past us. it was petty, but i didnt have the energy to argue with her. 'the princess listens.' she laughs, before walking past leah and i with no care in the world. honestly i couldve cried, but i didnt want to give her the satisfaction.
'abi-' leah begins, but i cant listen to what she has to say otherwise i wont be able to stop myself from crying. 'dont. lets just go.' i say, walking away from her.

i dont know if i can survive two weeks of this.

Authors note:
- hey guys! hope you enjoy this story! excited to write this one. what do you think so far? 🫶🏼