Faulty Trust || Katie McCabe

19

Thursday rolled around signaling the start of our Conti Cup run this season. Arsenal were the current cup defenders and we acted as if it was our prized possession. Katie was sat next to me on the bench tonight as Jonas decided to throw in some rare rotation against Bristol. Neither of us were exactly pleased to be on the bench, but we were grateful for the rest. Though I'd missed the match against Man City over the weekend as a precaution, and I was itching to plan again.

"Lotte and Jen work well together, no?" Katie hummed as I shifted my eyes to our back line consisting of Lotte, Jen, Steph, and Noelle. Of course they'd work well together since they've been at Arsenal. I wasn't sure what Katie was getting at.

"Yeah? They do," I agreed with a raised brow. Katie glanced at me with a light smirk before turning her attention back to the field. I was in utter confusion, and was genuinely confused as to what her words might mean. "What are you getting at?" I finally broke after another beat of silence.

Katie grinned at me this time, "Nothing! Just an observation I wanted to share."

"Katie," I frowned.

She leaned in slightly towards my ear after seeming the frown deepen on my face. "I'm only messing with you. I know you want to be on the pitch right now."

At this I gave her an unamused look because her words were true. I'd give anything to be back on the pitch, but I knew I'd have to wait until at least the 60th minute. "Fuck off," I mumbled crossing my arms and slumping in my seat which caused Katie to laugh a little. Though a minute later I was on my feet shouting for Lotte who'd just given us a 2-0 lead with a brilliant header.

Halftime arrived quicker than I'd expected and I stood near the tunnel giving teammates high fives before heading in myself. It was something I'd always done when I was a sub; giving subtle encouragement was always nice to receive no matter the performance.

My eyes drifted upwards into the crowd before I exited the pitch, a certain platinum blonde catching my eye. A wide smile spread across my face as I locked eyes with Elaina, giving her a small wave which she returned before I disappeared.

I didn't know she was in town, and I couldn't believe she didn't tell me. Who does that?

"What's got you so smiley?" Steph asked as she held the door open for me. I let out a laugh at her raised eyebrow, her expressions always made me giggle.

"Nothing, nothing. Just found out a friend of mine is in the crowd," I had a huge smile on my face that made me look like an idiot.

"A friend?" Wally overheard our conversation as I sat down across from her, Steph letting out a laugh before sitting down in the corner with Caitlin and Kyra.

"Elaina's here," Wally's eyes widened in shock making me laugh even more that I'd already been. I'd been smiling so much the past ten minutes that my jaw was starting to hurt.

"What's she doing here?" Wally asked once the shock had passed.

"Dunno, I'll find out after the match though." I stretched my calves as Wally drank the rest of her water. Jonas giving us a short tactics talk as the team recovered from the first half. Though I wasn't entirely paying attention because the feeling of eyes burning into side of my head was a tad bit distracting.

When my eyes finally met blue, her look of subtle jealousy took me by surprise. Furrowing my brows, I mouthed 'what?' while still trying to listen to Jonas. I was coming on in the 60th minute so I needed to somewhat pay attention.

Katie shook her head, but I could see her jaw clenching and I knew something was up. I just didn't know what, so when we finally made our way back towards the tunnel and out onto the pitch I grabbed Katie's wrist and held her back.