𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 - 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡

𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎

It had been over a week since Jack had built the cinema fort for Joelle and things were going smoothly for the pair. It was like their six-year gap didn't even exist.

Jack was currently out at training so Joelle took this time as an opportunity for her to catch up on the housework that was needing done.

The girl was halfway through sweeping up the floors when she heard her phone ding.

j ❤️

hey
I left my shin pads
at home.
could you bring them
to training for me? x

jojo 💕

only if you take
me out for ice cream x

j ❤️

deal x

Joelle sighed as her best friend's forgetfulness. She had forgotten to ask where his shin pads could be so she went up to the room that he was staying in. It was laid out in a similar way to his childhood bedroom since he had stayed just next door. The curly haired girl noticed all of his sport wear in one corner so she went over and raided it, looking for the child-sized shin pads.

After searching his room for a whole ten minutes and not finding the shin pads, she stumbled across a scrunched up piece of paper with her name written on it. Usually, Joelle was totally against invading privacy but when it had her name on it, she needed to know what it said.

Unscrunching the piece of paper, she flattened it and let her eyes read the words that had been scrawled on it with Jack's handwriting. As soon as she was done, she wished that she hadn't read it for it was far too revealing. It was something that Jack should have told her himself and not something that she read.

"Come on. Where are your stupid shin pads, Jack?" Joelle's chocolate eyes scanned the room and they stopped on the shin pads, seeing that they were peeking out from beneath the t-shirt that he was wearing the previous night.

"Tidy up and you don't have this problem." She scolded him despite the fact that he wasn't there to hear her.

Pulling her worn and favourite pair of converse trainers, she put Kevin on his lead and took him out to the car so that he wasn't left on his own for too long. The elderly dog was perfectly capable of being left alone but Joelle didn't like to do it too often.

When Joelle pulled up outside the Aston Villa training ground after a short journey, she reassured her dog that she wouldn't be too long.

"Hey, loser! I've got your shin pads!" Joelle caught the attention of Jack Grealish and almost all of his teammates as she strolled onto the grass pitches, holding his sweaty shin pads in the air.

"You're a lifesaver, thank you." Jack jogged over and pressed a kiss to Joelle's cheek. She wasn't expecting it and she blushed, her cheeks turning a shade of pink.

"So, you're the girlfriend?" A Scottish boy walked up to his best friend and the girl that was standing beside him. Joelle immediately recognised him as John McGinn.

Like Jack, Joelle grew up as an Aston Villa fan. The pair would attend matches together and watch their beloved team on the TV. After Jack left, she didn't stop watching them. She was annoyed at herself for it but she felt so much pride when she saw villa's number ten winning games with his team and performing well.

"Gosh no," Joelle laughed off the awkward situation and if the girl wasn't looking closely, she would've missed the look of disappointment that was on Jack's face for a split second.

"Hold on, are you Joelle? The Joelle?" The brunette girl nodded her head slowly at John's question, finding it slightly weird. As far as she was concerned, she wasn't a celebrity.

"You're the OG best friend! Jack never shuts up about you, been going on about you since before I got here." Joelle quirked her perfectly groomed eyebrows at what John had just told her and looked over to her best friend who was now looking at the floor and avoiding all eye contact with her.

"We should probably get back before Dean kills us but it was nice to meet you!" The Scottish boy called out as he jogged back towards the pitch, jack staying behind so that he could talk to Joelle.

"Sorry about him," the Brummie boy started to apologise for john embarrassing both of them with his assumptions but the petite girl in front of him shook her head with a smile on her face.

"Jack, it's fine. It was one tiny mistake. I don't know why you're getting so awkward about it." She laughed to try and ease the situation slightly but he didn't find it helpful at all. He continued to be quiet and that worried Joelle because Jack was rarely quiet, especially around her.

Truth be told, Joelle had a feeling about why Jack was acting this way and she wasn't sure if she should say something now or wait until later. Either way, she had to say something.

"Obviously, I'm not helping the situation, whatever the 'situation' is." Joelle let out a sigh and Jack shook his head, hoping that she wasn't blaming herself for his newfound dour mood.

"No, it's not you. I'll talk to you about it at home. I promise." Jack's word was good enough for Joelle and she nodded, giving him a quick hug before allowing him to get back to his training session.

Walking back to the car, Joelle was left with her thoughts. She didn't know what Jack was going to tell her and it made her nervous. When they were younger, they would tell each other everything. She told him about her first period and he told her about the first morning he woke up with a boner. It was probably a good thing that they weren't as uncensored anymore.

"What do I do, Kev? I see the way he looks at me, I'm not blind-" she tried to stop herself but she was too late.

"That was insensitive, I'm sorry." She apologised but the dog simply looked in the direction of her voice and wagged his tail.

"Anyway, I see the way he looks at me. It's the same way that he did when he was sixteen. I just got him back, I don't want to lose him again," the girl sighed as she clapped her dog, Kevin appreciating the extra affection.

"What do i do?" Joelle asked herself before starting the car's engine and driving away.

a/n: so joelle has herself in a bit of predicament!

what do we think was in the note that she found?

who's excited for the restart of the premier league tomorrow? i am but i'm also very nervous about it.

if you're a reader of 'boyfriend', i'm going to publish the second last chapter tonight so that we can enjoy the last chapter tomorrow :(

enjoy and stay safe!

lots of love, e x