#Hayley Marie | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

skipper1331 · 1 year ago

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youngster // Lionesses

a/n: based off this request. Hope you like it :D

Getting your first senior call up at the age of 17 was shocking. Your call up came shortly before the euros and it was scary. You felt two sides of emotions, you felt the positives, the wow I’m in the senior squad and the negatives, shit I’m the in the senior squad with legends. You knew most of them, played against many of them as well yet the thought of having an actual conversation with them freaked you out.

But thinking back, you wouldn‘t change a thing.

Your first ever training session was interesting to say at least. As a striker, your goal was it to score but you didn‘t. At each opportunity, you passed the ball to someone else, so they could score. You were too afraid what the girls would think if you scored and if the ball wouldn‘t cross the line or if they thought it was selfish to shoot from your position.

By now, you knew the girls, you had to talked to some of them (not many) but something in your mind was telling you: keep distance, they‘re legends, you‘re just a 17 year old girl who got lucky with the call up.

Your behavior didn‘t go unnoticed - the squad questioning what the matter was with you.

"Kid, what‘s up?" Lucy asked one evening as she saw you sitting alone, watching the sunset.

"Lucy, hey"

"How are you feeling?" the older woman took it as her mission to get to know you. With the intention, that you would eventually warm up with her and the team, "First senior camp, hm?"

"Ye-yeah" nervously, you scratched your neck. You were literally talking to someone who you had admired since you were a little girl. As you felt the blush arose on your cheeks, you looked away, back at the sunset. "It’s okay to be the best version of yourself you know" she didn‘t look in your direction either, staring at the sunset as well.

"I- I don’t know what you’re talking about"

Scooting closer to your figure, the brunette looked briefly at you, "you‘re holding back. I‘ve seen you score goals for your club but not a single one here, why?"

"I don‘t know" you felt caught in fear yet Lucy made you feel like she wouldn‘t judge you for it. "It‘s scary? It‘s weird to know that I’m in the same room as you guys. Look at Ellen, she‘s a top scorer and when I am next to her in a scrimmage why would I shoot if I‘m in the same team as her?" you muttered the last part as you pulled your knees closer to your body.

"It‘s okay to be scared. But you‘re here for a reason. You have the talent, show them. Show everybody that you‘re not just the 17 year old," she laid her arm around your shoulder, bringing you some comfort before she whispered, "and by the way, all the girls think you‘re amazing. Even Ellen" she winked at you as you stared at here with wide eyes. Ellen White thought you‘re amazing?! The legend herself?

After the conversation with Lucy you were a changed woman. Slowly but surely, you felt comfortable with everyone on the team. You scored goals, worked hard and you’d proven yourself.

The girls became your family.

"Last one in the changing room is a loser" you shouted to Lessi and Ella while you began running, the best friends sprinting after you and Alessia almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to catch up with you. "You cheater!" Ella yelled as she chased after you, yourself laughing at her.

"Winner!" you threw your fist in the air, celebrating your little win as the striker and midfielder entered the room, "took ya long enough, huh?" mocking Ella’s thick accent, you yawned, acting as if you waited ages for them.

Ella and Alessia shared a look, smirking as they stepped closer to you. You looked at both of them, the mischief smiles obvious. "Oh no" you muttered. Before you even had the chance to react, the girls tackled you in sweaty hug as they started to annoy you with weird noises or tickle fingers.

"You‘re the loser" Lessi stated, laughing while Ella claimed, "I don‘t sound like that!"

During the international break you had two friendlies planned - one against Ireland and one against Australia.

Both tough opponents.

"Y/n" Sarina called over the pitch as you were about to take a shower like the rest of the girls. When you saw walking in your direction, you walked towards her, "yes?"

"Do you have a moment?" she asked nicely.

"Um, yeah sure!" nervously you scratched your arm, "is something wrong?"

"No! Actually quite the opposite. Let’s take a seat" she pointed towards the bench before she went there, yourself following behind. "In two days we‘ll face Ireland and you‘ll give your debut" she started, shushing you as you were about to cut her off, "you‘ll come off the bench and then you will show the world your talent."

Dazed, you nodded, "I’m really proud of you. This and last camp you improved very much, you deserve this" with that she left. Sarina was nice and a very good coach but also kind off mysterious which she had shown just now. You liked her.

You came on in the 75th minute for Ellen. The Og-lioness gave you a quick high five before she hugged you, cupping your cheeks while she told you "go smash it!" as well, she pressed a loving motherly kiss to your forehead. Everything’s going to be fine.

On the pitch, you looked around, assuring smiles coming from all of your team mates, even from one or two Irish girls.

Senior debut with 17, that’s world class.

While England was 2-0 in the lead, Ireland got desperate and angry, players like Katie McCabe showing it with the tackles she did.

Your moment came when Keira passed the ball to you. Dribbling around the defender you ran up to the goalie, no other defender near you, the goal keeper came out of her goal, off her line, with open legs. You had many possibilities, you could chip over her, shoot past her right/left or through her legs. And even though you had many possibilities, your brain decided on one before you could even consider which was the best option.

It was your moment to shine yet you embarrassed the gk by nutmegging her. You didn‘t care though and neither did your friends, you scored your debut goal on your debut match. It felt surreal. The stadium erupted in cheers and roars while the girls jumped on your back. Alessia was the first by your side, jumping on your back as Ella jumped on you from the side, the rest of the lionesses joining close behind. Millie and Rach smacked your head in appreciation and pride while others patted your back, Lucy being different as she squeezed your cheeks like an old aunty.

"So proud of you, little one" Leah whispered in your ear as you walked back in your own half, "thank you" you whispered, cheeks already red by all the attention you had gotten.

Like Ellen did earlier the England captain as well pressed a kiss to your forehead, showing her love.

The came continued until the ref blew the final whistle. Cheers were heard around the stadium, the girls happy with the outcome of the game. After every opponents hand was shaken the girls huddled around you, yelling, singing and the ManCity girls even dancing your name. "Debut oh oh oh, debut goal oh oh oh" they sang, hugging you in a group hug before they lifted you up.

Finally, you felt like a part of the team, like a lioness.

The game against Australia was a whole different story. With players like Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler up front, Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley in the back and a brick of wall like Arnold in goal, you knew for sure that match wouldn‘t be easy. Not one team going down without a fight.

The difference this time was though, you were in the starting line up.

Arriving at the stadium, you walked out of the bus towards the building, your hand slipping in Georgias, the bayern player looking down at you. She knew how it was to be a newbie and young. Ever since you had warmed up with the team it was known fact that you loved physical touch. It calmed your nerves and just made you feel free. None of the girls minded, they enjoyed it, you were like their kid and/or little sister. So a routine had developed;

walking out of the bus in the stadium? You would hold hands with Georgia.

Scoring a goal? The skipper would kiss your forehead.

You talked to Lucy? She would‘ve her arm around your shoulder.

Ella, Lessi and Mary? Bear hug.

The thing you enjoyed the most though was the group hugs in games, it didn‘t matter if you were squished in the middle, on top or barely in the hug - just hugging the limbs around you - it was special.

"Less, could you braid my hair, please?" you asked the blonde who was already in her warm up gear. "Yeah sure!" the striker replied sweetly. You took a seat in front of her before she started to comb through your hair and eventually braid it.

In the tunnel, you stood in front Lucy, nerves kicking in as you shuffled with your feet. The brunette saw your state, her hands creeping up to massage your shoulders. She leant towards you, "deep breaths. You‘re gonna be fine" she said and that was it.

Both teams walked out of the stadium, music playing as you stood in a row. When the official part (singing the national anthem, high-fiving your opponents, etc) was finally over you were happy. You wanted to play football.

The game started intense, Australia pressed high and played very physically. Your enemy of the night was Alanna Kennedy, the Manchester City defender. She defended and distributed balls as much as she could - she was fantastic. All of her tackles were clean, too.

Then there was a corner kick.

Alex stepped up to take it as everybody positioned themselves in the box or close to it. You remember the ball flying in your direction, you remember jumping in the air and something hitting your face. It wasn‘t the ball, it wasn‘t an elbow either - it felt painful.

Your body hit the ground with a thud, your vision already black as (unknown to you) blood trickled down your face. Everyone was so focused on stopping the counter attack that no one on your team, the opposing team or the referee noticed that you were on the ground, knocked out. Macca was the first by your side, she got the message instantly - you weren‘t going to get up. She yelled something, her gloves already tossed aside as she turned you around. There was a nasty cut on the right side of your forehead, going down to your temple and blood running out of your nose. When the ref finally realized something was wrong she blew her whistle, too far away to check on you immediately - she gave the sign for the medics to come on the pitch. It took one look at your numb body before the first girls started running. Ellen and Lucy were by your side while the medics did their job. Leah was arguing with the ref, angry words leaving her mouth as Millie tried to stop her. Yet Millie also having not so friendly words resting on the tip of her tongue.

When the replay was shown on the big screen every person in the stadium inhaled sharply. It showed you jumping up and Hayley Raso jumping up as well with an outstretched leg which then connected with your face. That was enough for Millie to let go of Leah and march over to the Australian, Rachel close by. Angrily, she poked her chest as she muttered how reckless that was. There was big huddle, other players got involved but still, you were laying on the pitch. Everything happened so fast and got out of hand way too quickly.

"My head hurts" you rasped out. Ellen’s eyes grew wide, "hey" she sighed in relief.

"Do you have a twin?" you asked, eyes closing again.

"No?"

"why do I see you twice?"

Helplessly, Ellen looked at Lucy who shrugged her shoulders before she looked at the medics.

"The stretcher is coming"

You laid on a bed, head bandaged as you mumbled something. Benched Lotte sat next to you, Sarina with the strict order to look after you. Lotte held your hand in a comforting manner even if you didn‘t realize the act. "You know, a shrimp‘s heart is in its head" you muttered, smiling at the ceiling, high on painkillers. Lotte smiled to herself as the next random fact left your mouth and another one. Actually, she was quite impressed by your random knowledge.

"How is she?!" Jill asked as she harshly opened the door, the other girls behind the tall woman. Squeezing together in the room, the whole squad including Sarina stood inside, all eyes on you, "hi hi" you giggled, clapping your hands.

"I like you, you, you and you, you, you, oh and you," you pointed at each of the girls until you didn‘t feel like it anymore "ah, I just love all of you. My heros"

The days after, the girls took care of you like you were a royalty. They helped you to get dressed, reminded you to take your medication, walked with you - so if something happens, they could help you and everything. You really appreciated it, even though it annoyed you, after the first week where everything was almost back normal.

When the euros call up came, you were beyond excited. A European championship on home soil, could it get any better?

You loved everything about that tournament. The mood in the team was untouchable, the flair unreal and the games on fire. It surprised yourself when you got the chance to play in an actual euros match and even scoring. You felt a high like everyone else did.

It was the match against Spain when you scored the winning goal. The stadium erupted in roars, the girls celebrating jumping around you as each of them gave you a forehead kiss. Leah was the first who did - she always did it after a goal of yours but when Lucy did the same after that and Georgia joined as well, all the girls pressed a loving and thankful kiss to your forehead. It was the perfect moment, could’ve been a movie moment.

Winning the trophy was your and the highlight. Ella scored the opening goal and Chloe the final one, it was surreal. You had never felt prouder in your life.

When the final whistle blew, you ran for your dear life. You ran to the person who was the closest and jumped onto her as you shouted something cheerful. You - like everybody, felt euphoric. It was phenomenal.

You did it. The girls did it. The lionesses did it. They brought the trophy home.

With just 17 you won your first major senior trophy, many to come and as the youngster of the group, there will never be a day where you have to worry about anything. The girls had your back and you had theirs because you‘re a lioness.

All for one and one for all.

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