leah williamson x y/n - one shots

rivalry

Y/N's POV

Arsenal V Man City.

Normally causes stress anyway because City are an excellent team. But now, there's extra pressure because Viv's moved. Today was the first game of the WSL where we were playing against Viv, and it was causing major tension in our team as we got ready in the Joie Stadium away changing rooms. The girls got ready in silence, the music playing as normal but no one was singing along. I felt sick, anxious as if I had never played a single game of football before, but I knew all the other girls were stressed too, so I kept everything to myself to stop the girls from getting more stressed. That was until Leah came in, and instantly noticed there was something wrong.

"What's the matter bub?" she asked quietly.

"I don't feel good." I said. "Like, at all."

"Is this because we're playing City?"

"I have no idea, but that definitely doesn't help. What if Viv scores? We can't hug her, and Beth will be so mad at whoever's to blame." I sighed.

"No she won't, trust me." Leah replied. "I've felt the same so don't worry, you're not alone, but at the end of the day it's a game, and we still love her, but we can't let that bother us, okay?"

Leah gave me a hug, putting her bags down next to me.

"We'll be fine, I promise."

We headed out ready for kick off. I saw Beth and Viv chatting in the tunnel, I was so happy to see Viv, but not in those colours, and that was making me more nervous than ever.

We kicked off, and although it was a slow start for both teams, we eventually got into it. Arsenal had a few chances, but Khiara Keating is amazing so I wasn't surprised at all that she saved them.

Things weren't panning out too badly, but before I knew it, we were behind.
Man City scored.

I didn't even recall what had happened because we were all gathered inside the box, which was so overwhelming as it is, but I only knew about it when the City fans erupted into cheers. I saw all my teammates huddling up together whilst they celebrated, so I followed them and stood in the huddle to hear our next plan of action, until I zoned out after hearing the dreaded words.

"Goal for Manchester City, scored by number 6, Vivianne Miedema!!"

Shit.

Panic rushed through me as if I had had a mad sugar rush. I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of Viv scoring against us. My brain instantly went into panic mode, remembering that Beth was also playing and she'd be fuming about it. I ran towards Leah as we went back into our positions as I knew she'd be the only person who would talk me out of my thoughts.

"Beth's going to be mad at me." I panicked.

"No she's not bub, I promise." Leah replied, hugging me tight.

"But Manu could never have saved that, it's us on defence that should've stopped it."

"Then if she gets mad, it's at all of us." Leah said. "But I promise she's not the type of person to get mad Y/N, don't panic."

I continued playing as normal, tears streaming down my face at the thought of Viv scoring that goal against us. The sadness of having her on the opposite team as well as my anxiety about everything was getting too much, and my overthinking had got me so stressed to the point I felt Beth would be angry at me. My rational thoughts would know this was not going to be the case, but I couldn't see that at all currently.

We went in for a corner not long after, my heart still beating faster than lightning. I stood in my spot and tried to pull myself together, but I couldn't do it. Beth was taking the shot, so all I wanted to do was help score it to stop myself from getting scared. Leah came to stand next to me, but took one look at me and grabbed me tight.

"Y/N breathe." she whispered. "We're nearly done for the first half, we'll talk to Beth at half time but I promise you she's not mad."

About 5 minutes later, the whistle blew for half time. We went back inside and met Jonas in the changing room to listen to his advice for the second half.

"Good play so far girls, but we need to keep that up and become stronger over the second half. Viv's goal was good, we need to make a better chance on our end." Jonas said. We all nodded in agreement as he left the room to let us have our break. I stood up and walked to the other end of the room, having a drink of water and trying my best to pull myself together. I was taking deep breaths, trying to stop myself from panicking and to reduce my heart rate, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Beth.

"Shit." I thought. "Leah must've said something."

"Hi my darling, what's wrong?" Beth said, clearly concerned.

Beth and I were really close. When her mum died, she sometimes struggled to find comfort with Viv because she was also dealing with her ACL injury at the time, so when she needed space, I took her in and she would spend time at my house, a place where she felt less alone because I also didn't have a mum, though I knew my mum was still alive, she was just a drug addict who didn't give a shit about her daughter. Beth always kept an eye on me when I first started at Arsenal, and she understood my mental health a lot more than some of the other girls. I really hoped she'd not be mad at me, but my brain was spiralling and I couldn't help but panic when she came up to me.

I took a deep breath before trying to speak, but no words came out, just a few tears escaping from my eyes.

"It's okay, take your time." Beth reassured me.

I took a moment before saying "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Beth asked.

"It's my fault Viv scored. I know you're mad at me for it and I'm so sorry. I know I'm shit at football and I know I need to do better, I'm just so sorry for letting you down Beth, I really am." I said, bursting into tears again and looking at the floor.

"Whoa hang on a minute! Who said I was mad?" Beth started. I lifted my head up slowly to meet Beth's sad blue eyes. She looked so upset and that made me feel worse.

"Y/N I'm not mad in the slightest, especially not at you! If anything I'm mad at City for taking Viv in the first place! You've done nothing wrong, and you are not shit at football so don't ever say that again! You've upset me with that so stop beating yourself up."

I stopped for a moment to focus on what was happening in front of me rather than what was happening in my head. Beth was about to cry, and it puzzled me so much.

"So that's why you look like you're going to cry? Not because of me?" I asked.

"The fact you think so negatively of yourself breaks my heart my darling. It always has, I just wish I could help you more with it." Beth sighed.

"It's okay Beth, I know you're here for me." I said.

"But listen, stop getting yourself all stressed about that goal. It was nobody's fault, and I promise you I am not mad at you at all, I could never be mad at you, you're literally the sweetest girl on the planet." Beth pleaded.

Beth hugged me so tight after that. I cried my eyes out into her arms, but she didn't seem to mind. It helped me so much knowing that she wasn't angry at me. I pulled myself together after that, drying my eyes until Beth helped me. We started talking and joking about other things to make me smile, until we heard a voice come up behind us.

"I told you Beth would never be mad at you!" Leah giggled.

"You did indeed." I replied.

"Leah's always right." Beth smiled, winking at me, boosting Leah's ego. Leah flipped her hair, proving that Beth had given her an ego boost. All I could do was giggle at the stupidity of my best friends.