Always You || Patrick Cripps

2.

Patrick's POV

Devastated was an understatement. Losing a game that was in the palm of my hands hurt more than anything. And the worst part was that I blamed myself. I felt some kind of responsibility as the captain to lead my team to victory a week after a great win. It was almost expected of us to win, and we just couldn't live up to it.

The game was well and truely over and all the boys and I were heading down to the rooms. The supporters cheered us off the ground but I hung my head low in disappointment. I just wanted to get through all the meetings and go home. I knew Georgia would understand how I was feeling. She knew me that well. When I suffered a bad loss, I didn't really want to be around anyone. I preferred to stay quiet and reflect on what had gone wrong.

Georgia and Lily were both at the game, just sitting separately. I wished they got along but I was also happy they didn't because I would never be able to pick between them. Lily always questioned why I was friends with Georgia. To me it was quite ridiculous. I never questioned why she was friends with certain people. It was just something Lily did and I couldn't change it.

The loss was to the Bulldogs and I could tell all the boys were pretty down about it. My good mate Marcus Bontempelli was playing so we had a chat after the game. He knew what the look on my face meant and he felt sorry for me. I knew him through Georgia. Georgia's brother Josh was really good friends with Marcus so we got close over the years. Our family barbecues were always a lot of fun with all of us together.

We only lost the game by 3 points after a pretty spectacular comeback. I know the boys had belief to win but we just could get the job done. Despite Charlie's 7 goal haul. It was a career high for him. It would have been nice to reward his efforts but it just didn't come together. It was really disappointing because we were really trying to prove people wrong about us. Teaguey has taken over and we were doing well.

As we walked into the rooms, our families gathered to support us and applaud us with pity as we came in. I walked over to the wall and slid down feeling discouraged. I took my boots and socks off and put my head in my hands. It was my first year as captain and it is really stressing me not having Doch alongside me since he's out with an ACL. Of course I had the help of Murph and Ed. But I felt the added pressure immensely.

We all sat like that for a while before we had to have a team meeting. Teaguey just addressed where we went wrong and reassured us all that we were still on track. After the meeting, I walked out and saw 'my girls'. Georgia and Lily were standing next to each other in the far corner. One with a genuine smile on her face and one with a obvious fake smile. I walked over to them and wrapped Lily in a hug. I pulled away and tried to give Georgia a hug when Lily pulled my face towards hers and kissed me sloppily once again. She wasn't usually that controlling, it was just because Georgia was in the room. She pulled away with an even bigger smile on her face.

"Great game babe, you guys played awesome" she said looking back down at her phone.

"We lost" I said to her with a confused look on my face. She never really cared for footy, even though she came to watch, she never knew what was going on. I never held it against her. I just wish once and while she could pretend to be interested in something I care about.

"Oh yeah sorry. The girls and I were at the bar most of the time" she said looking up at the roof trying not to make eye contact. A chuckle came out of Georgia's mouth from beside me. I gave Georgia a smile and then wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry about her" I whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, I'm used to it. I'm sorry about the game" she replied.

"Thank you for being here" I said appreciatively.

"Always" She said as we pulled away from the hug realising it was a bit too long. Lily stood there with a frown on her face.