You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Forty-One: England vs France

Gabriella took a deep breath as she fanned herself, it was so warm in the stadium and she couldn't imagine how Joe felt right now; she doubted that she would have managed to concentrate in this heat. 

Elena snoozed comfortably on her mother's lap while the match continued before them, things were going pretty slow and Gabriella was praying that things went well for England. 

She couldn't imagine how the team would cope if they were forced to play extra time in this heat; she could only see it ending badly and that wasn't something that she wanted to happen. 

"I think I need a bucket of ice," Coleen whispered fanning herself, she peeked down at her boys knowing that they were just as hot as she was and she was glad they had cold drinks with them. 

The air in the stadium felt stifling and no one seemed to be faring well in the heat, Coleen hadn't been surprised when the two teams had stopped for a water break earlier in the match because of the heat. 

Gabriella nodded her head, her eyes moving to Joe who was wiping the sweat from his forehead and she prayed that he was going to be alright; she didn't want him blaming himself if this went south. 

It was on Gabriella's mind a lot that any moment England could be knocked out of the Euros and she wasn't sure how she would be able to comfort Joe when that happened.

***

"For the love of God," Coleen snapped shaking her head, this was the last thing that anyone had wanted and she knew that there was so much pressure now on everyone that had been chosen for this moment. 

England were about to play penalties against France, it was the last thing that anyone in the stadium had wanted but there was no way around it now. 

Extra time had not changed the one-one score that had happened during the full time play, no one had wanted it to reach this point where they could only watch in baited breath about how this would end. 

Gabriella could barely bring herself to watch the penalties, her stomach turning each time she saw Joe in the goal and she couldn't imagine what was going on in his head. 

Pressing a kiss to the top of Elena's head, Gabriella couldn't help but feel her heart pounding in her chest; it got worse when one of the English goals were saved. 

Closing her eyes, Gabriella was unable to watch as Joe stepped into the goal and Coleen took her hand; they needed him to catch this one for England to stand a chance. 

Praying under her breath, Gabriella tried not to panic when she heard the people around her curse as the french player scored against Joe; she feared that this was how it ended for England. 

Coleen wrapped her arms around her sons, she was sure they would be disappointed like their father about the result and she dreaded to think how upset Wayne was going to be about all of this.

Opening her eyes, Gabriella looked down at the pitch just in time for another french goal to happen; it was officially over for England and she couldn't believe it. 

The French cheered in happiness over knocking the English out of the Euros and being able to reach the semi-finals; they would play against Germany in the next round. 

It was over, England had been knocked out of the Euros by France on penalties and no one was sure what to make of the ending of their campaign. 

Gabriella looked towards where Joe was crying and she had no idea what he was going to be like when he saw her and Elena.

***

Joe sighed ignoring his friends talking around him, they were all talking about going to the hotel bar and getting drunk after how the match had ended; he had very little interest in joining them. 

He was playing the last goal over and over again in his mind and Joe couldn't believe that he had messed up so badly; he just wanted to curl up and forget about what had happened. 

"Are you joining us Joe?" Tom Heaton asked looking over his shoulder at the other man, he had been quiet since they had left the stadium and no one blamed him for what had happened. 

They had all failed their country and there was little point in blaming each other, they could have played better together as a unit and they had messed this up badly. 

Joe shook his head, he had no interest in getting drunk out of his mind when they had an early flight back to England tomorrow morning; there was only one place that he wanted to be right now. 

Leaving his team-mates, Joe headed towards the elevator so that he could travel up to the hotel room where he knew that Gabriella and Elena would be waiting for him. 

He was sure that his girlfriend was torn about how to comfort him right now, she had kept her distance after the match and he couldn't blame her for that. 

Joe ran his fingers through his hair and thought about the holiday that he had ready for them to take in a few weeks; he was looking forward to it now and he doubted that it could come soon enough. 

They would have to return to England while Gabriella finished off some work and Joe couldn't blame her for that; he just hoped the press weren't going to be too much a problem. 

People tended to forget that he was human when he screwed up like he had and Joe was hopeful that he would be able to relax for a while.

It didn't take him long to reach the floor where Gabriella was staying, he didn't waste a moment heading to her room and knocking on the door; he wanted nothing more than to curl up with them for a few hours. 

Roy no longer cared what his players were doing as long as they were staying out of trouble and that they made it for their flight back to England in the morning. 

Gabriella opened the door and paused, she stared at Joe surprised that he had come to her instead of seeking comfort in his team-mates; it broke her heart as he burst into tears. 

Wrapping her arms around him, Gabriella whispered reassuring words into his ear; she hated seeing him like this and she quickly hurried him into the hotel room so no one could see them. 

Joe held onto Gabriella and tried to calm himself down, he hadn't meant to cry upon seeing her and he knew that she certainly hadn't been prepared for this. 

"I'm sorry," Joe whispered trying to get a hold of himself, he hated that he hadn't been able to take England further and he felt like he had let everyone down by screwing up. 

He had never wanted things to happen like this and he held Gabriella close knowing that he had wanted to do better for her; he had wanted to make Gabriella and Elena proud of him. 

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Gabriella told him with a shake of her head, she held Joe close and whispered comforting words in his ear hating that this had hurt him so much. 

It had been a horrible shock for Joe and Gabriella couldn't imagine how he was feeling right now; the press were only going to make it worse when they got home. 

Their holiday couldn't come soon enough and she was looking forward to spending time with Joe and Elena away from all their problems. 

She just needed to get through a couple more weeks working on Adam's wedding to his fiancée.