parity | trent alexander-arnold²

twelve.

grown woman

10/11/19

Wynter let out a small yawn as she made her way down the stairs, her exposed legs shivering from the contact her bare feet made with the tiled floor. Outside of her football schedule, she usually opted to head into her gym to get some strength work in but since it was matchday, she decided to wait until she was at Anfield to indulge herself into physical activities, seeing no point in tiring herself out so early during the day.

She rubbed her eyes in attempts to diffuse any fatigue out of her system. Then she squinted her eyes, glancing around her surroundings. As she believed she was the only one in the house, she understood why her home reeked with silence but to her, it seemed too quiet. Shrugging off her dim suspicions the french player continued her stride down the stairs. With her eyes closed as she reached the final step at the bottom of the stairs—

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Her eyes widened from pure shock as a palm settled across her chest. The moment she stepped foot into her living room she instantly caught sight of Indigo and Reese, both girls full of excitement – with Indigo utilising a party blower while Indigo recorded Wynter's reactions, laughing behind the camera. Amongst the pair were stacks upon stacks of presents along with a few party decorations hung up here and there, taking up the majority of the space in the room.

"Wait a minute," Wynter started off as she approached the two friends. "All of this wasn't here yesterday. Did they all come this morning and who are they all from?"

Reese chuckled as she brought the player into a hug. "Yup. We made sure that all your presents were to come this morning and they're from the usual, you know? Your family, Nate's teammates, Kylian and a few PSG players, your international teammates and obviously, your Liverpool teammates."

"But we're going to assume most of them are from Trent," Indigo raised a brow at the player, sending her a wink.

Wynter simply shook her head, laughing. "They better not. I told him not to go overboard with the presents."

"It's Trent we're talking about. He'll never not go overboard, especially when it comes to you. Besides, you can't talk much Winnie. Do you remember all the shit you bought for Trent's birthday last month?" Reese scoffed, glancing Wynter's way.

"What? It was his birthday," she shrugged, innocently.

"Exactly, and today is yours so allow your boyfriend to spoil you as he wants and can."

"Nah, but for real. This is all amazing. Thank you both so much for being here."

For a moment there Wynter felt her eyes pool with tears, not because she wasn't satisfied with the excess amount of gifts and treats those in her inner circle gave her, it was more than just the materialistic side of the situation. With the unnecessary hate taken by the player on a regular basis, sometimes the idea of being cared and loved by others managed to slip from her mind from time to time, the negativity somewhat bringing down her esteem without knowing it.

However, the fact that she woke up to many birthday wishes and gifts came as a wake-up call to the player that she wasn't forgotten nor hated by everyone around her—she should be valued with sweet messages, showered with compliments and cared for on her special day by others even if she could afford to do so herself.

Along with that, there were moments where she was thrown off the idea of her birthday because she didn't want to celebrate it without her family by her side. Though it was only Wynter's second time celebrating her birthday in Liverpool, it still felt quite foreign to her as she has spent her previous birthdays in Paris with her immediate family alongside Kylian and some PSG players from both male and female teams.