Love on the Pitch

The Start of an End

Viv POV:
After an unfortunate crash out of the Olympics, I went to Holland to spend time with my family since I had not been home. I usually only get to spend short periods with them, and it didn't help that I had just played my last game under Sarina, who had become someone very important in my life.

I had hoped to get farther in the tournament for the one final send-off she deserved. I kept having these thoughts, and while on the flight, my mood turned sombre by the time the plane landed. I went through the motions of gathering my belongings, not thinking about my actions. When I get like this, Lisa is usually there to pull me out; she has gone back to Scotland to give me time with my family alone. I will meet her in a month.

Once I had all my stuff, I went on the hunt to find my parents. We agreed to meet in Amsterdam and take the long drive back to Hoogeveen so we could catch up with my brother and his girlfriend. It took only 2 hours to get to the house, which gave us plenty of time to catch up, and it felt like we were kids again getting picked up after training and talking about what we did. It calmed me down like Lisa usually did.

It was night by the time we got home. I went up to my old room unpacked and changed. I didn't need to look around the room. It has been the same since I moved out when I was 14.

We wanted to watch something before heading up to bed. They wanted me to pick, but I chose to let Lars pick what to watch since I didn't care what we watched and was taking this as just quality time.

He ended up picking The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. I don't know if he wanted an excuse to cuddle with his girlfriend or since it was a new movie, but I had to make fun of him: "Heb een excuus nodig om je vriendin te knuffelen" (need an excuse to hug your girlfriend). I was trying not to laugh at the face he pulled. "Nee, je hebt gewoon afleiding nodig omdat jij niet bij je bent" (no, you just need a distraction from yours not being with you). He had a smirk that said I beat you at your own game. I tried to make a comeback to that, but nothing came out. I was genuinely shocked since they knew that it was a joint decision to give me one-on-one time with my family and that I could go for periods without Lisa and be okay. It gave us the space we needed away from each other. It's always important to give each other space and alone time, which is exactly what we are doing.

The movie for being in the horror genre was not scary, and all the "scary" parts were predictable, therefore not being scary and quite undermining. The movies from the 1970s and 1980s were the best, not for the sense of gore but for the suspense and unexpected jump scares.

Over the rest of the month I was home, we just spent it playing games and going out to restaurants and pubs. It was very relaxing to have my brain stop overthinking for once and just focus on the here and now instead of worrying and getting stuck in my head. It was rare for me not to internally struggle.

On my last day, they all brought me to the airport to bid me goodbye. My parents said they would try to come out to England sometime during the new season. I had Lisa waiting at the airport to pick me up and take me back to her parent's place. We would spend a few weeks with her parents, then we would have to go back to Arsenal for the pre-season.

A week and a half into the stay with her parents, Lisa got a call from the club saying to come in a few days. We had informed her parents we would have to leave early and went to pack. When the day came, I went with her and waited outside for her. I regretted staying outside and not just going to one of the other spots in the facility.

When she came out, she just pulled me in for a tight hug and cried. I didn't know what happened and just pulled her into my chest, whispering while running my fingers up and down her back. I found out a year into dating that this motion calmed her down and was just there for her. Once she stopped crying, I drove us home so she could talk about it.

The whole drive was silent, and if there's one thing that Lisa isn't, it is being silent. Lisa can very much be quiet, and that's usually with me relaxing at home. By the time we got home, she had yet to say anything. She just grabbed me and sat me down, saying that she needed to tell me. I nodded my head as she went ahead to talk. "I'm being put on loan for all of next season." I didn't know what to say, so I just held her and told her we would get through it together. I kissed her, saying that I'd be here for her no matter what was happening. I'll be whatever she needs from me. I bent down and whispered in her ear, "Let's go to bed; it's been a long day," and that getting sleep would be beneficial for the both of us. As we were lying in bed, I told her that we would talk about it tomorrow. She was still iffy about her stance with Arsenal, so I pulled her head on my chest, whispering to her, "We will cross that bridge when we get there, and I will be there every step of the way." It took a few hours to fall asleep, but we eventually did get to sleep.
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As/N : took a bit longer than I thought to get this out but the length should make up for that and I still need to work on my sleep schedule
Happy Easter for those who celebrate as well