Falling for you | Sam Kerr

Chapter 5: Cuddles and colds

Song for this chapter is "Flowers" by Lauren Spencer Smith. 🤍🎵⚽️

IVY
3 days had passed since visiting the cemetery; the Matilda's had successfully won the friendly against France once again, though at the sacrifice of Carpenters calf.. Either way, they were all back at training, preparing for their upcoming round of the World Cup, and transfers into clubs.

Ivy had walked into training with Sam by her side as they began the warm up laps, listening to her try convince Ivy (for the fourteenth time that week), that Chelsea truly was the best place for her. She was going to choose Chelsea anyway, but it was fun to see how hard Sam was trying, especially since Arsenal had put out an offer.

Their relationship had become public since the first friendly; it would have been rather hard to hide from the public any further, especially with the paparazzi pictures of them visiting the cemetery, hands interlocked. Luckily their relationship had continued to flourish. They even had a date tonight!

Thoughts veered back to training as Fowler nutmegged Ivy. "Don't get too lovesick on me Valdez" she grinned teasingly, and Ivy, as a response, stole the ball back and hammered it into the back of the net.

Macca groaned "it's 8 am, could you take it easy Valdez?" and immediately, Sam grabbed a nearby ball and pummeled it into the goal with a smirk.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think Kerdez wasn't a great idea after all" grumbled Macca, but she was still good-naturedly smiling as she ran over to collect the second ball. Everyone on the team had been incredibly happy for them (and of course, they all claimed to have "known from the first minute").

Ivy let her eyes wander over to Sam again; she was so happy on the pitch, eyes glinting with fiery excitement, feet whirring as fast as her thoughts.

Ivy couldn't have been more proud.

SAM
"Dezzy, you do realise if you don't emerge from the bathroom, every museum in the country will have closed?"

Ivy finally exited the bathroom, where Sam had heard (but not seen) the thuds of makeup and hair brushes for over an hour. She had been banned from seeing anything, including the "carefully curated outfit"- and boy had it been worth it.

Ivy, still muttering something about Sam being too comfortable bossing people around, was breathtaking in a simple black wrap dress, curled glossy hair, and bright red lipstick.

She smiled gently at the captain- "So Kerr, worth the wait?"

"Every damn minute."

"You brush up quite nicely yourself Captain."

Sam knew she had stuck to the basics; Nike sneakers, a button down top, and some black pants- but something in Ivy's tone had made her blush like a 13-year old heading to the movies with their biggest crush.

The date hadn't even started, and it was already the highlight of her week.

IVY
The date (a trip to the Louvre) had gone wonderfully, though the exhibition Ivy had originally begged to see became nonexistent beside her stunning company.

Sam, ever the chivalrous type, had not only rented a car, but also insisted on carrying her coat and holding Ivy's hand through the whole thing. Fan interruptions aside, they had been laughing and talking non-stop.

Better company would simply never exist.

Afterwards, Ivy had been banned from looking outside the car window- in Sam's words, this was payback for the hour she had waited for Ivy to get ready. As they arrived, Ivy wiped a smudge of lipstick off Sam's cheek with a grin.

She had been led up to a cafe, and though her ED roared with indignation, enjoyed a croissant in front of the sparkling Eiffel Tower, fully in the moment. The quintessential French experience had been beaten only by Sam with her arms wrapped protectively around Ivy's waist as they watched the tower gleam.

SAM
She knew something was wrong the minute her eyes opened. The date last night had been so magical, and yet Sam now felt as though she had been punched by a thousand bears.

Ivy was tangled up in the blankets beside her, lips still slightly red from the kisses and lipstick. Sam tried not to wake her, but her eyes instantly opened with a soft smile- damn morning people.

"Hey love"

"Hey Dezzy" Sam croaked out.

"Oh my gosh, Sammy you're sick!" she said, eyes flying open with comical horror.

"I hadn't noticed" she replied, ignoring the pounding now developing in her head. Sam tried to pass it off; "I'm fine, seriously. We've still got today and tomorrow, we can go out somewhere together."

"No way."

Ivy's protective side had kicked in, reserved for the soccer ball, and apparently, for times like this, where Sam was sick.

"The only reason you're sick is because I forced you to go to that stupid exhibition with all those people- I have to make you some soup." 

"There's really no need" she started, but Ivy was already up and determined as ever. Sam did love how tenacious Ivy was, and to be honest, chicken soup did sound good, so her protests quickly became feeble.

IVY
Aside from her chicken soup, Sam had requested constant cuddles and Netflix, both which Ivy happily supplied. They rotted in bed as Gilmore Girls blasted on the TV.

Sam was finally asleep, her head tucked into Ivy's chest and arms wound tightly around her stomach. Ivy, having been partially immobilised by the cuddle position, was now just scrolling on her phone.

It had truly started off as innocent; just a small distraction whilst waiting for Sammy to awaken, and an opportunity to reply to some team messages. But somewhere along the path, she had found an article, and then more articles, then posts, and even reddit pages, every one dedicated to Kerdez, and every one negative.

The topics ranged;
Valdez had a bad influence on Kerr (in which she was blamed for Sam missing the last friendly match, and only scoring once since their relationship started).
Valdez wasn't good enough to be with Kerr (in which jealous fangirls dumped their minds onto their keyboards, several commenting on Ivy's appearance, skills, and overall personality in comparison to their incredible captain)
Valdez was a rebound from Mewis (self explanatory)
Valdez would be the reason the Matilda's lose the cup (in which she was accused of sleeping with the captain to get a good position)
and most painfully,
Valdez would be the one to ruin Samantha Kerr and her reputation.

Ivy knew the only reason insults would sting so bad is if they were true, and so tears started streaming down her face with no hesitation.

A few landed on the peaceful girl wrapped around her chest, and Ivy desperately tried to stifle the tears as to not alert Sam.

She had no luck though, and Sam awoke with a start. "What's going on? Is everything alright?
Ivy tried desperately to get her act together.
"Yeah I'm ok, just watched a sad animal video. I'm sorry I woke you."
"Nah, I have to get up sometime today anyway. Are you sure you're ok though Dezzy? You know we can talk if you need.." Sam's brown eyes pierced her own, and it took everything inside for Ivy's response to be "I promise I'm ok. Love you Sammy".

She refused to be a bigger burden than she already was.
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Slightly sad ending... let's hope it doesn't get worse for Kerdez.... That marks the end of the fifth chapter (!!!) with 1270 words.

Thank you for reading, and as always, suggestions and feedback are welcome. 🤍

A/N I'm so sorry for not publishing any chapters the past 2 days- just had a lot going on haha. The next chapter will be out tomorrow, and you might need tissues 😭