Something Like Casual

Mariana Sofia Blake Tough Bronze, Lucy Bronze's younger sister, had her future mapped out: Arsenal, a wedding, and a life she'd spent five years building with the girl everyone thought she'd grow old with.
But when the love she trusted slips into someone else's hands, Mariana packs her bags, her broken engagement, and her blonde impulsive impulsive reinvention, and disappears on loan to Benfica, where no one knows the truth.

On the pitch she's chaos wrapped in talent: ADHD-fuelled energy, flirty dancing, dyed hair, and a smile that hides how much she's trying to outrun her heartbreak. Off the pitch she finds unexpected refuge in her new teammates, especially a younger midfielder who becomes the first person to make her laugh again.

Still, secrets don't stay buried forever. A Champions League clash throws Mariana back into the orbit of old friends who notice the missing ring... and the cracks she can't hide forever. As whispers spread and loyalties shift, she starts something new, something exciting and reckless and strictly casual, with someone who understands broken hearts a little too well.

But casual never stays casual for long.
Not when feelings start to bleed into the spaces they promised to keep empty.
Not when music and football are the only things steady enough to keep her sane.
Not when home stops being a place, and starts being a person again.

Some endings aren't endings at all.
Some are just the first step toward something real.

22.07.1995