(Leah Williamson and OC)
The next few days were a blur of pretending everything was normal when it absolutely wasn't.
Leah didn't talk about Elle again, and I didn't ask. There was this invisible line we both hovered near but never dared to cross at least not with words. But in practice, it was different. On the pitch, we were poetry. Her eyes found mine before the pass even left her boot. Our one twos felt like second nature. Coaches started pulling us aside to say how electric we were together.
If only they knew.
After one match a 3–0 home win Leah flung her arms around me in the tunnel, sweat and adrenaline thick in the air.
"You were unreal today, Winters," she breathed into my ear.
I clutched her tighter than I should have. Just for a moment.
"You make it easy," I said.
She pulled back. Her smile faltered into something gentler. Softer.
"I really don't."
Before I could ask what she meant, she was walking off toward media duties, leaving me stunned and aching.
________________________________________________________________________________
That night, I couldn't sleep. Again.
I opened our chat. No new messages. I hovered, wondering if she was up too. Wondering if her thoughts were tangled with mine.
Just as I was about to close the app, her name popped up.
Leah: You awake?
Me: Yeah.
Leah: Want to come over?
________________________________________________________________________________
This time, the flat was dimly lit with fairy lights. A candle burned in the corner, lavender and something sweet.
"You're really not sleeping either, huh?" I asked as she handed me a glass of water.
"Nope," she said, pulling her knees to her chest on the couch. "You ever just... want to tell someone something but don't know how?"
I swallowed. "All the time."
She looked at me. Really looked.
"Ari," she said. "What are we doing?"
The room went still.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean..." She let out a shaky breath. "This thing. Between us. I feel it. I know you do too."
I stared at her, heart hammering. My hands shook.
"I don't know how to stop feeling it," she whispered.
I stood suddenly, the fear overtaking me.
"You can't just say stuff like that, Leah," I snapped, louder than I meant. "You can't flirt with me, break up with your girlfriend, hold my hand, and then ask me what we're doing."
She stood too, startled. "I'm not I didn't mean to"
"Yes, of course I like you, Leah!" I yelled. "I've been tearing myself inside out liking you. For months. Years maybe. And every single time you smile at me like I'm something special, it breaks me a little more, because I know I'm not the one you're dreaming about at night. Or at least I wasn't supposed to be."
The words crashed out of me like a flood I'd dammed up too long.
"I wake up thinking about you. I train harder because of you. I'm in love with you and it's ruining me."
Silence.
She stared, eyes wide, lips parted.
"Ari..." she whispered.
"Don't," I said. "Don't say anything unless it's everything."
I turned to leave. She didn't stop me.
________________________________________________________________________________
The next day, we didn't speak. She looked at me in training like I was made of glass fragile, dangerous, already cracked.
I avoided her eyes. Buried myself in drills. Laughed too hard at stupid jokes. Pretended my world hadn't shifted on its axis.
That night, no messages. No missed calls.
Just silence.
________________________________________________________________________________
Two days passed. Then three.
Then she showed up at my door.
I opened it, expecting someone else entirely. Her eyes were red. No makeup. No armour.
"I'm sorry," she said. "For freezing. For letting you walk away."
I didn't speak. Couldn't.
She stepped inside without waiting to be invited. Closed the door softly.
"You said don't speak unless it's everything," she said. "So here's everything."
I watched her, heart stuck in my throat.
"I miss you when I'm not near you. I think about you before I fall asleep. I want to hold your hand in public and not explain it to anyone. I don't know what we are, or what this is yet but I know I want to find out. With you."
Tears welled in my eyes. "Leah..."
She took a step closer. Then another. Until her hands were on my cheeks, and her forehead was pressed to mine.
"I don't want to run anymore," she said. "I want to stay. Here. With you."
I let out a breath I'd been holding for what felt like years.
And then, I kissed her.
Or maybe she kissed me.
I don't know who moved first.
But I know we didn't stop.
