Uncertain Love

chapter 6

Leah's BMW opened with an ease that was almost as if it were expecting her. It had a smoothness to a car opening that Charli hadn't really felt before. It were the smaller things, in sliding into the passenger seat, that had her questioning others.

The smoothness of which the car opened, the cleanliness of the seats, how it glistened in the sun.

Mostly the trust though. The trust of the defender, whom had simply unlocked her car, beckoning for the sixteen year old to make her way into the passenger seat whilst she headed to unload her belongings in the boot. Charli could hear her chatting away to someone else as she slotted her kit bag into the back, though she didn't know who.

She was more focused on attempting to enter the car. She didn't want to make it messy, knowing she still wore her dirty kit, but neither did she want to seem to impolite.

Settling for her position, she remained stiffly upright, not allowing herself to lean back into the seat. Her bag rested on top of her trainers, keeping them from touching the floor, carefully placing her seatbelt so it wasn't over extended.

Everything she did in the car came with such extensive thought.

Apart from her fingers. They came with a mind of their own, settling on mindlessly picking at the skin round her fingers. She never knew she was doing it, coming sort of naturally in a situation which was delved in uncertainty.

She fiddled about, watching as Leah came to enter the car on the drivers side.

The defenders movements were a lot more careless in comparison to Charli's. She slumped herself into the seat, carelessly throwing the belt over her shoulder so that she could still reach for the wheel, whilst her body could melt into the seat. There was no thought going into her actions, Charli watching her every move.

Leah knew she was being watched by the younger player, glancing across in her peripheral vision.

"You can put some music on you know?"

The defender spoke up, without turning to face the player. She focused more on getting herself settled into the car, hoping to not place too much pressure onto the forward, whilst still acknowledging her presence.

Charli made no movement to reach for the screen that played music. It were as if she hadn't even heard, hadn't even processed the fact that Leah spoke. She was stuck in her own little world, tearing the loose skin round her fingers, chewing at the skin on her lips.

"You shouldn't do that you know, you'll damage your skin."

She spoke up, glancing over her shoulder as she placed the car into reverse, the hum of the engine beginning to start up. Not once did she turn her head to face within Charli's direction, but she knew the response that her phrase received.

It was a shrug. As if to say she knew the answer, but she didn't want to say it.

Though, for the first time, it was followed by a verbal answer. A word.

"Habit." She spoke, coinciding with her shrug.

It wasn't as if Leah were expecting a lengthy answer, or even an answer at all, but it was a word she'd take, giving a nod of acknowledgement.

She didn't want to respond. She didn't want to push Charli further than she may be prepared, so instead, she decided to fill the air with her own playlist, tapping the buttons on the screen to pull up her own music.

Leah was never one to sit in silence.

Once she had her own music, she slipped her phone over to Charli's grasp, being met with a usual look of confusion from the sixteen year old.