Fine Line

Determination

Heavily descriptive of the Aus V Eng Semi Final match. I just wanted to relive it, England played that match as though it was the final.

The last two weeks had been much of the same for Ella. They had beaten Columbia, Alessia scoring a stunner. No surprise there.

Her foot had been giving her little to no grief too, which was a relief. In the absence of the closeness she initially shared with Alessia, she found that she starting to miss Manchester though. She was missing her family.

The striker wasn't giving Ella the cold shoulder, but the flirtatious banter had gone. The midfielder had tried a few times, but each time it went unacknowledged by the blonde.

Tooney started to worry that she had read things the wrong way. Maybe Chloe and Hempo crashing those tea carts were a blessing in disguise.

There was still that feeling in her gut though. Telling her that there was something Alessia was hiding. The few nights they spent time together in their room alone, Ella had tried to press the information out. Each time being greeted with the same robotic responses: 'I'm tired' 'I'm fine' 'it's getting late'...

Now that she was sat on the bus, next to Mary as Alessia had taken a perch next to Lotte, it started to stir in her stomach.

"Alright, mate?" The goalkeeper took out her headphone.

Mary had always been known to be quiet on the way to games, liking her own space to prepare. But when Ella turned to her and told her about Alessia sitting with Lotte when they were en route to the stadium to play Columbia, the goalkeeper was quick to make sure Ella sat next to her.

"Yeah good, nervous is all" Tooney looked down at her phone.

"You'll be alright!" Mary nudged her shoulder, putting her earphone back in.

It was a massive game in front of them. Australia. The host nation. A sell out crowd. The semi final of the women's World Cup and Ella was in the starting XI.

***

Alessia knew she had distanced herself from Ella. Setting unspoken boundaries between them. Ones she's pretty sure Ella hasn't even noticed.

They're boundaries set more for her own piece of mind. She had shut down those feelings, almost shutting down a part of her self in the process.

But what she found in doing that, was her performance on the pitch was next level. Scoring the winner against Columbia and tirelessly attacking and defending for the 84' she played. She was a stand out on the pitch.

She was focused, but also numb. She felt as though she had been an outsider looking in over the last 14 days. Not actually living the experiences she had been fortunate to get.
Gio had warned her about this.

There had been multiple occasions where she and Ella had locked in a hug for a few more seconds than was 'normal'. Lingering eyes and flirtatious comments, but all of this was in her head. Her cracks were starting to show and she knew it, Ella questioning what was on her mind. Was she really that bad at hiding her emotions? How did she do it all these years?

She shook it all from her mind.

There was a game ahead of them. The semi final, against the host nation. They were going to win it. She was sure of it.

***

Alessia sat on the bench in the changing room. The atmosphere buzzing around her, she sung along silently to the music that filled the room. Going through her pre match routine. Briefly chatting to Zel and Beth.

She sat back and looked around the room of players, all wearing nervous but excited expressions. Her gut was doing summersaults. Nerves rife through her limbs.