Snippets || Frenkie De Jong - Matthijs De Ligt

04 - Better

1st June 2017

Since the encounter in Matthijs's flat, the situation was worse than ever. Two weeks had passed and neither of the three involved parties had talked to each other. And even if they had talked, things wouldn't have gotten easier. The whole situation was just too complicated, too muddled.

Way too many emotions were involved; disappointment and anger on Frenkie's side, but also determination because he still wanted his girlfriend back, guilt for Y/N and Matthijs as they both felt like they had betrayed their best friend and on top of that a whole lot of confusion.

After mulling the situation over, Y/N decided to deal with it in the most unhelpful way. She left the city without leaving any trace of where she would go behind. It wasn't her intention to leave Amsterdam for a long time, just until the situation had calmed down a little bit.

Deep inside she knew that it wouldn't be that easy, but it was the only solution she could come up with. After all Y/N never intended to break someone's heart, even though it had somehow become inevitable along the way.

°

The streets of Enschede were peacefully quiet as Y/N sat down on a bench in the town center. She had always adored this quaint town that was never too crowded, but also never empty. Everything seemed to be in place here - no chaos, no confusion.

The whole atmosphere was almost calm enough to take Y/N's mind off of everything that had happened in the last few weeks. Almost. The sad look in Frenkie's eyes and the feeling of her rapid beating heart when Matthijs had been about to kiss her had followed the young woman all of the 162 kilometers from Amsterdam to Enschede.

Although Y/N tried her hardest not to think about either of them anymore, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on in her hometown. Both footballers had already tried to reach out to her since she had left, but every attempt had led to nothing except for silence on Y/N's end. What was she supposed to say after everything that had happened? How was she supposed to find the right words when she didn't even know how she truly felt?

Being with Frenkie was an incredible feeling, Y/N always felt save and loved around him, but on the other hand also very, very vulnerable. In contrast to that, being with Matthijs was exciting and something completely new for her. It was as if she didn't need to fear losing anything when she was with him.

Sighing Y/N took her favorite book out of her bag and started to read, but she didn't make it very far before becoming distracted again. An annoyed groan left her lips as she placed her head in her hands, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Y/N? Are you alright?"

The young woman's head quickly shot up at the sound of a strangely familiar voice that she couldn't quite place. Her eyebrows rose in confusion as she came face to face with yet another footballer playing for Ajax Amsterdam.

She had never really talked to Donny van de Beek and she certainly hadn't expected him to approach her in the streets of Enschede. Nevertheless, she quickly replaced her frown with a smile and gestured for him to sit next to her. "What a coincidence that we are both here at the same time," She started and giggled a little awkwardly in an attempt to make him forget about his question.

"Indeed," Donny agreed and looked at her for a moment, silently debating whether he should be blunt with his teammate's ex-girlfriend or start a polite conversation. After some moments of consideration, he couldn't hold his question back anymore.

"Why are you here?"

Y/N's smile faded at his words and she tried to think of anything plausible to say, but that was to no avail as Donny spoke up again.

"Look, I know it may seem strange for me to say this and I really don't want to seem rude, but the whole team is wondering what happened with you and Frenkie or you and Matthijs or whatever. The two of them haven't talked to each other in weeks and they definitely aren't themselves. Whatever it is that's going on between all of you, you need to resolve your issues."

There was nothing Y/N could reply to that because she finally, finally realized that she had been a coward all along. It was cowardly to break up with Frenkie, it was cowardly to ignore him and most of all it was cowardly to leave Frenkie and Matthijs without any explanations.

"You're right," She whispered, quickly jumping up from the bench she was sitting on, "I need to talk to them." Donny was surprised that his words had actually gotten through to her, especially since she barely knew him and he barely knew what was going on between her and his teammates.

"I need to get back to Amsterdam," Y/N concluded and was about to make her way towards the train station, when Donny grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I can give you a ride back," He offered, running a hand through his blond hair, "I was about to leave anyway." After considering his words for a moment, Y/N nodded quietly. She wanted to get back as soon as possible because she finally needed to get everything off her chest.

On the way back to Amsterdam, Y/N's thoughts were clearer than they had been in what felt like years. Her own decisions and actions now seemed like the most stupid things in the world. Why did she leave Frenkie in the first place? Out of unnecessary and needless fear it seemed.

Everything had been perfect, until she had ruined it.

The feelings for Matthijs were still something she couldn't explain or understand and they were still there, but nevertheless, she knew that she had to get back to Frenkie. Her best friend. The one she loved, although he might not be the only one.

When the odd pair of Y/N and Donny finally arrived at Frenkie's apartment, they saw him standing in front of the building, seemingly waiting for someone or something. His eyes immediately widened as he recognized the car and its passengers. Muttering a quick 'thank you' to her newfound companion, Y/N got out of the car and stormed over to Frenkie.

For a moment it was silent between the two of them as they looked at each other, but after a while something in Frenkie's eyes changed and an assessing grin found its way onto his lips.

"Making out with one of my teammates wasn't enough for you, hm? Did you already find another one?"

His words left Y/N absolutely dumbfounded. She knew that she had messed up, but she had never expected him to speak to her like that. The sadness in his eyes she had seen in Matthijs's flat was completely gone now and replaced by disdain. "What -," She started, but was cut off before she could say anything else.

"I guess my love wasn't enough for you. Good luck trying to find someone who can love you better."

For a split second hurt was visible in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had come. Y/N was speechless. Without saying anything else, Frenkie walked around her and got into the car that had arrived a second ago. With tears threatening to roll down her cheeks, his ex-girlfriend watched as he took his place next to a beautiful young woman and they sped off.

A broken heart. That's exactly what he must have felt when he had seen her in Matthijs's flat.

The tears made their way down Y/N's cheeks as she sank to the ground, hiding her face in her hands. She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, until she felt a pair of arms being wrapped around her and Matthijs's voice close to her ear as he pulled her into his chest.

"I'm here."

[Inspired by the song 'Better' by Nico Santos and Lena Meyer-Landrut]