Escape | Jude Bellingham

28

It had been a few days since Elliana had left Germany. For Jude, the days seemed to blur together—a whirlwind of training sessions and debriefing of different strategies for matches etc.

amidst the chaos, there was a constant string connecting him to Elliana, their calls, texts filled with love and longing and the occasional video chat that made the distance between Germany  and England.

Elliana had settled into her life back home, where her entire life was full of photo shoots, runway walks and hang outs with her sister Maya, Derik, their daughter Olivia and of course her closest friend Aaliyah.

Missing Elliana's presence since she last left to Germany her family treated her with open arms the entire time although Ellie did spend very short time with them as well and any break she had she napped in the comforts of her apartment.

Maya and Elliana sat on the couch in Ellie's cozy apartment, sipping on steaming cups of tea. Olivia was tucked in bed after a busy day of school. She forced her mom to come and stay with her aunty Ellie. The atmosphere was calm, a rare moment in Elliana's schedule.

"I miss him, Maya," Elliana confessed softly, her gaze drifting to the window where raindrops tapped against the glass. "Every day I think about when I'll be able to see him again."

Maya placed a comforting hand on Elliana's knee. "I know, Ellie. But you made the right choice. To come home for a bit and focus on work, Jude understands, I'm sure."

"I hope so," Elliana murmured, her thoughts momentarily clouded with doubt. "He's been so supportive but I worry about us sometimes. Distance has a way of... changing things."

"Love doesn't change, Ellie," Maya reassured her, her voice firm with conviction. "It's what holds you two together."

"Anyway! Semi finals are tonight yeah? I can't believe Jude's made it this far," Maya remarked, a proud smile curving her lips. "He's been incredible this season."

Elliana nodded, her eyes brighter now at the thought of Jude fulfilling his dreams. "I know. He's worked so hard for this moment."

Maya squeezed her sister's hand reassuringly. "Derik is coming over to watch the match as well, he has nothing but good to say about your boyfriend and is way to excited to meet him." maya rolled her eyes slightly and Elliana laughed.

"They'll get along for sure" Ellie added with a smile, "oh no that makes Jude a weirdo" Maya joked.

As the clock ticked closer to the game, Derik entered the apartment after his busy day at work with a bag of snacks and drinks. "Are we ready for the big game?" he asked with a grin, setting down the snacks on the coffee table.

"We sure are," Maya replied, her excitement shown through her voice. The girls, Ellie and olivia included sat in the comfortable couch as the TV screen began showing the teams entering the field and commentators letting them know everything they needed to.

The atmosphere in the apartment was charged with nervous energy as they settled in front of the television fully ready for the game and Elliana held Olivia's hand as they anticipated the match to begin.

The match unfolded with breathtaking intensity. England and the Netherlands battled fiercely on the field, each team fighting for their spot in the finals. Elliana found herself holding her breath with every near miss and close call her heart pounding along with the entirety of England and the roaring crowd on the television screen.

Jude, ever so smooth of a player, orchestrated plays with so well a determination. His presence on the field was commanding, showing off  his skill and commitment to the game which he worked so tirelessly for.

The team that consisted of Phil foden, Bukayo Saka and many others of whom which Elliana didn't have the pleasure of meeting yet. As the match progressed, tension mounted, the score deadlocked at 0-0 as the clock ticked towards the final minutes of time.

Then, in a moment that seemed to defy gravity, Netherlands  seized an opportunity—swift passes by their teammates, a burst of speed, and a thunderous strike that sent the ball soaring past the goalkeeper into the back of the net.

A sound of disappointment played within the apartment as the other countries fans erupted with joy.

However as time passed the English team managed to score goal causing the apartment erupted into cheers and shouts of joy as England evened the scores during the dying moments of the match.

"lets go! Yes!" Maya exclaimed, her eyes shining with pride.

After the game ended happily for the english team, They spent the rest of the evening watching in the happiness of victory, watching post-match analyses and celebrations on the television. Phone calls and messages flooded in on social media, congratulating Jude and the rest of the English team on their hard-fought win.

Later that night, as Elliana lay in bed, her thoughts drifted to Jude and their shared journey.

Despite the challenges of distance and their extremely busy careers, their love remained the same for eachother as they constantly reminded whenever they got the chance to talk, it had been a few months since she had first met him almost 4 to be exact.

They had basically gone through storms together and celebrated wins away from eachother , their bond growing stronger with each passing day was enough to show that you don't necessarily need a longer time with your person to truly become an important role in their lives.

As she closed her eyes, a sense of peace washed over Elliana—it was deeply rooted in her that no matter what happened neither one of them were ever going to lose eachother because even in their busy worlds of modeling and football they found eachother as an escape, maybe by chance and may not be by pure coincidence but just the universe and God forcing them to find who they were truly meant for.

Elliana fell asleep with a smile, no matter how deeply in love both of them were, this was their love story was just beginning