Fine Line

Space

It had been a good few days. Ella had followed Mary's advice, opting for space from the striker. Initially she found it hard, it hurt to see the blonde enjoy her time with others. Seeing the posts on social media where Ella wasn't there. But when she looked at things in perspective, even though wasn't there. She was still experiencing everything Australia had to offer.

Going on little shopping trips and walks with her United team mates in their spare time. Looking at the random but somehow normal wildlife strutting around. Stopping in the evening to spend time with her other lioness teammates in their common room. Engaging in a game of pool or darts. She had become particularly fond of a game of guess who with LJ, with Lucy chirping in every now and then.

The other midfielder had a laid back banter that Ella was fond of. To finish off before heading back to the room to sleep she and Alex started a habit of grabbing a hot or cold drink, whatever they fancied really and having a nice chinwag. Ellas mind was eased of its constant occupation of Alessia.

In the last few days her main focus had been recovery. Making sure she was going above and beyond to get back fit for the game. Alessia had helped a lot. The striker wasn't the same with Ella but it was clear she still cared for her.

Making sure there was ice in the room waiting for when she came up. Grabbing her breakfast or dinner from the buffet table making sure she didn't stand for too long. Constantly reminding the midfielder to elevate her leg. The one night Alessia had actually gotten into a bit of grump when Ella had ignored her instruction. Getting out of the comfort of her bed and shoving an extra pillow under the midfielders foot.
They laughed about it shortly after. Ella poking fun around the adorable pout on Alessia's face.

She had gotten to the point where she could now walk unassisted, the swelling had reduced to barely anything but the bruising was still prominent on her skin.

It was last day of training before their knock out game against Nigeria. Their opposition proving themselves to be a somewhat tough and unpredictable outfit. It was going to be a physical match. One Ella wanted to be apart of, today was the day she would find out if she could do just that.

Slipping her feet into her boots, she was the first to walk out onto the crisp ground. Unknown to her, she was closely followed by Alessia.

"Don't push yourself too hard will you?" Ella turned to look at the voice behind her.

She was met by a concerned looking striker who was pulling her hands into her sleeves.

"Lessi I'm fine!"

"Tooney..." she sighed getting closer. "Just don't hurt yourself... please?" The blondes tone was sincere, her eyes matching it.

Ella paused, a small smirk curling her lips. She reached her arms out to the striker. Alessia's lips also broke into a soft smile, shuffling forward to hug the smaller woman, wrapping her arms around her waist lifting her up.

"I'll be okay" Ella giggled as Alessia put her back on the ground, stepping away from their hug. Tooney caught the blondes eyes staring.

"Okay.." the striker eyes quickly looked out to the grounds infront of them. Walking toward the already set out drills.

The team came out in drips and drabs but not one player was late.

They all lined up carrying out their warm ups before slipping into drills. Every player aware of Sarinas hawk like vision on them. Analysing their movements, Ella was hyper aware of that fact.

As they neared the end of their session. Ella started to feel the fatigue in her foot. Her heart telling her to power through. She needed to make that match. But her mind mulling over the words of Alessia. She hated it, but the blonde was right. If she was in pain, she needed to stop. She couldn't afford to make it worse.

In a short break between drills, Ella sought out Alessia for the first time in days. The striker looked so naturally pretty, it made butterflies run riot in Ella's stomach. But she fought that feeling, reminding herself that Alessia's friendship is what she needed in this moment and nothing more.

"Alright?" Alessia arched her brow, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah..." Ella didn't really know what she wanted to say to the striker.

"It's hurting isn't it.." The blonde flattened her lips, looking down at Ella's foot.

"No!" Ella was quick to respond, but was quickly unraveled by an intense and knowing look from Alessia.

"Alright. Maybe a bit" She shrugged, blinking away from the blondes gaze.

"Define a bit?" Alessia's hands gripped into her own hips. She mirrored that of a teacher telling off one of their students.

"Like, don't think I can't keep kicking a ball type of bit" Ella hunched down leaning on her knees and looking up at the striker. Expecting to see a stern look on her face. But instead she was met with a soft look of compassion.

Alessia leant down, her head next to Ella's.
"I know how much you want to keep playing in this tournament and I'm going to ask you to do me a massive favour for all of us now" She started, grabbing Ella's attention as the brunette looked across to her serious blue eyes.

"Stop training, go to the staff and tell them you're in pain. Trust the girls around you to pull us through to the next stage." Her words were quiet but carried meaning.

Ella paused in Alessias gaze for a moment before nodding. She looked across to the group of coaches before bringing her eyes back to the blondes.

"Do you trust me?" The striker murmured.

"Yeah, of course" Ella quickly answered.

"Then you know what to do" Alessia stood up and walked back to her position in the drill. Leaving Ella stood alone.

The midfielder took in a deep breath, bringing her hands to her head and starting walking over to the staff. She felt a lump in her throat knowing this could be her last training session of her first World Cup and she wasn't able to contribute anything further to their campaign.

She told the staff glumly of her discomfort and was shown off the pitch by one of the team doctors. Looking back out to the drill as the players lined up again, she caught Alessia staring. The striker was biting down on her lip with a concerned weight on her brow. She watched as the striker took a deep breath, turning away from Ella. The midfielder sighed as she turned back around. Shaking her head as she walked back inside.

This could be it. This could be her World Cup over.

But she did trust Alessia. She would trust that woman with her life. Despite everything. Alessia was still home to her. That would never change.