#and first art of 2024! happy new year babes.

[sweatinf]

don

[jsprnt]

Healing Hearts PT. 17 | Virgil van Dijk

Would a fresh start bring you more than just a new job?

A/N: last post of 2023 🥺 happy new year babes! Wishing for 2024 to be your year! Thank you so much for all the love this year <3

WC: 3.136

Summary: Y/N L/N is a very skilled and praised physiotherapist. A certain event pushing her for a fresh start, as a physiotherapist for Liverpool FC. One question always being in the back of her mind: Will she be able to let go of her past and allow herself to experience new things?

"Do you want to go in the same car or?"

I shout from my room, getting ready for the day as Virgil is eating breakfast.

I myself didn't feel particularly hungry, more so because it was the first time we'd go into the training center as a 'known' couple. So, I figured I should at least look good, deciding to take my time on my make up.

"Yeah, we'll come home from the match together then." He answers, as hear I the dishwasher being pulled open. Then hearing his footsteps coming closer.

"What are you doing?" He asks, coming closer to me as I set my face with powder.

"Making sure my art stays in place." I joke, turning back to face him as he sits on the edge of my bed.

"I'm almost done I promise."

I finally grab my lip products, lining my lips meticulously and applying my gloss. Chucking both products into my bag as I stand up.

"Let's go."

I pull on my sneakers, checking myself out in the mirror for a split-second before we finally get into the elevator.

"Who's going to drive? You or me?"

I ask, watching the numbers on the elevator screen go down.

"I'll drive of course." He smiles, showing off his keys.

He holds my hand as we leave my apartment building, as we walk up to his car. Opening the door for me.

He walks around, as I put my seat belt on, getting in himself. Meanwhile, I grab my phone to check my notifications, now minimal since I deleted my social media apps.

"Here." I hear Virgil say, handing his phone to me.

I look at him confused, then looking at the phone screen. A playlist, titled 'red scrubs.'

"What's this?"

I ask, scrolling through, realizing it was full of all my favorite songs. Looking back up at him as he drives with one hand.

"A playlist I've made for you."

A smile forms on my face immediately, my mood getting brighter than earlier.

"You're so cute." I mumble, unable to stop cheesing at his cheesiness. It was very small and childish gesture, but the love it expressed was huge.

I watch him smirk, my hand coming up to squeeze his bicep playfully.

"How'd you even-"

"I wrote the song titles on my phone when you got excited about them."

I smile even harder, looking away for a moment to regain my composure. Then leaning slightly to kiss his cheek in appreciation.

"Let's see if you did a good job then hm?" I say, putting the playlist on shuffle.

"Why am I suddenly getting so nervous? Maybe separate cars was a better idea." I say, wiping my clammy hands on my thighs. My nerves getting the best of me.

I watch Virgil glance at me, his eyebrow raised as he drives up to the training center. Greeting the security nicely, as we drive into the parking lot.

Parking all the way in the back, this was either good or bad. We were about to do the walk of shame and pride at the same time.

He finally turns to me, his bigger hand grabbing mine. His thumb caressing my knuckles softly.

"You're going to be okay."

He assures, leaning to kiss the top of my head.

"It's like we're showing off or something-"

"So? I want to show you off. What is anyone going to do about that?" He asks, gazing into my eyes.

Right, what is anyone going to do?

"We'll go in just like usual okay? Want to hold my hand or no?" He asks, his eyes softening.

I nod only, trying to compose myself fully.

I grab onto Virgil's hand tightly, only squeezing it harder when we step into the building, his thumb still caressing the back of my hand in reassurance.

"Clara!" I exclaim, seeing her look up with a smile as we walk up to her.

She'd long known about us, we couldn't actually hide it from her as she and I hung out often.

"Finally showing your girl off huh?" She asks Virgil, as I give her a side hug.

She glances at me, probably seeing the nerves on my face.

"You'll be fine, I think the guys will love you two together. Be prepared though, you know how they are." She says, squeezing my shoulder.

We walk further into the building, stopping right in front of the stairs and I already hear a low whistle.

"Look! My new favorite lovebirds!" A very cheery Trent says, Dom walking along with him, towards us.

I dread every second it takes for them to walk up to us, frozen smile plastered on my face.

"Don't start." Virgil waves them off, greeting them both with a handshake. Then going in to hug me.

"Are we allowed to hug her now or?" Dom teases, glancing at Virgil before he hugs me.

"How did you guys learn about it?" I mutter, rolling my eyes humorously.

"My Instagram! We aren't going to be the only ones you know." Trent chimes in.

"Well thank you for the mental preparation. I'll leave to my office now. See you guys later?" I say, letting of Virgil's hand.

He looks at me, eyes definitely asking for a kiss. I groan internally, Trent and Dom looking at us like we're a pair of pandas in a zoo.

I plant a quick kiss on his cheekbone, stubble grazing my skin slightly as I make a run for it before I could hear the guys say anything.

Sadly, I do hear a very loud "You know Virg, you've got some pink lip stuff on your cheek."

I walk into the canteen during lunchtime, Clara glued to my hip. Only because I forced her to, for emotional support as I watch eyes linger on me as we both fill up our plates.

"Doctor! Clara here!" I hear, snapping my head to a table, a very enthusiastic Ibou, his hands motioning for us to come over. His laugh undeniably infectious as a smile creeps up to my own face.

"Good afternoon guys." I say, realizing they probably intentionally left a seat next and across from Virgil. I sit next to him as Clara sits across from me.

Virgil automatically looks at me, grabbing my plate out of my hands and putting it down. His arms coming behind me, around my back as he smiles at me.

"Hey." He says, shamelessly placing a kiss on my cheek. Followed by immediate commotion from the table.

Some "aww's" mixed with some "my eyes!" making me laugh.

"Come on guys calm down." Clara says, trying to level out the comments.

"It's not like we didn't know already." I hear Ryan say and I immediately look up at him.

"What do you mean?" I ask, glancing at Virgil for a moment. His hand coming to hold mine underneath the table, resting both our hands on his thigh.

"We've been suspecting you two for like... two weeks or something." Harvey says and I raise a brow at him.

"Someone elaborate, please." I urge, the suspense was killing me.

"We kind of knew something was going on when we heard you went to the Netherlands and Greece game." Cody explains, looking at me.

Really, It was that easy? I had been stressing and fretting for no reason? They kind of knew already? That early?

"Yeah, but we kind of knew since your first day." Trent explains.

"My first day?"

"Yeah, captain had been talking about you in the changing room, like every day from then on."

This slowly started to become my favorite conversation ever. A grin forms on my face, gently squeezing Virgil's hand.

"Really?" I ask Virgil, a caught off guard expression on his face. That was why the guys looked so- giggly and smiley that first week?

"He's going to start blushing now!" I hear, immediately laughing as he did look insanely flustered.

"Right, he said you were 'the most beautiful woman that he’d ever worked with' and 'your smile was-" Virgil puts his hand over Curtis' mouth, stopping him from speaking.

"That's enough. Isn't it?" He mumbles, embarrassed smile on his face.

I tap his thigh, motioning him to stop suffocating Curtis as I lean into his side. His arm reluctantly wrapping around my back again.

"I want to hear more." I beam, looking at Curtis as I finally dug into my food.

"We had bets and everything." Curtis says, smug grin on his face.

"About?"

"Like who said 'I love first' or when you guys got together." Trent explains.

"Ohh, must've been very entertaining for you guys." I say, covering my full mouth with my hand.

Yeah, but it gave me heart palpitations.

"Are you two going to reveal it then? I need to know if I won." Cody chimes in, as he takes a gulp of his water.

I glance at Virgil, smiling at him. The team definitely knew how to entertain themselves with gossip.

"That's for us to know and for you to wonder." He says, pulling me closer into his side.

"You know we've seen scratches on his back and hickies on his neck-"

"Okay- I don't want to hear more actually.”

"I do not like when we draw." I mutter, to no one in particular as I watch the match unfold right in front of my eyes.

So far it was 1-1 against Bournemouth, and at least we had no injuries. I adjust my position in my seat. I sat in the last seat of the first row, looking directly at the position of the ball on the pitch.

I glance at the players behind me, all packed in their black, green embroidered club puffer jackets like me. Virgil sitting in the seat right behind mine.

The rain had been pouring down ever since the start of the match, making me hope that the damn waterproof mascara did its job and stayed on properly. At least my puffer was warm enough.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, looking back to see Virgil. "You okay?" He asks, rubbing his hands on my jacket.

"Yeah, it's just the rain that's annoying and it's cold." I complain, adjusting my zipper.

He extends his hand, giving me his hot pack.

"Here it'll help a little."

"Thank you." I smile, trying to warm up my hands as his hands stay on my shoulders. It was probably the maximum PDA I would allow in front of cameras.

The match finally ends with a 2-1 win for Liverpool, after an absolute banger of a goal from Darwin. Making us the last eight competing for the Carabao Cup.

I immediately run inside, almost slipping due to my wet shoe soles. Trying to avoid any more rain. Then waiting for everyone to pile inside again, a very happy shouting Virgil rushing in.

"You're going to fall." I comment, watching the last few players walk in.

"I fell already." He says, coming closer to me.

"You did? Are you injured?" I say, looking over him concerned. His hands coming to hold my cheek, making me look at him.

"No, I fell for you."

I blank stare at him for a moment, wondering if he really just said the most cheesy, cliché line ever.

"I think I need a moment." I utter, avoiding him as I walk to stand next to Klopp.

"It was a joke, come on." He complains, coming to stand next to me again. Klopp glancing at us with a smile.

"Yeah, a really bad one. Like who says that?"

"Babe? Can you... pick us up?”

She giggles, phone pressed to her ear clumsily. Dim pub lights casting a minimal glow on her face, her earrings glistening as she moves her head.

"Are you drunk love?" He asks, standing up from her living room sofa, and grabbing his car keys.

"A little, got carried away."

She mumbles, laughing at her drunk friend's dance moves.

"Okay send me your location. Can you do that for me?" He asks, walking out of her apartment.

"I think... I can- hold on." she slurs, tapping some familiar buttons. Managing to send her location to him.

"Alright I'll be there in a few. Want to hang up or stay on the phone?" He asks, starting the engine of his car.

"Stay." She answers, drunkenly keeping an eye on Sofia and Clara.

"Okay, want to tell me something that happened?" He says, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Uhm... this girl was wearing like 15 centimeter heels, like how?" She mumbles, leaning forward onto the table tiredly.

"Hm really? How about yours? Do your ankles not hurt?" He asks, humming.

"I'm just sitting down now." She answers.

"Are your friends there? They're okay right?”

"Yeah... they're very happy." She replies, looking at them laugh and chat clumsily.

"That's good, I'm almost there. Don't come outside yeah?"

She hums, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

After a few short minutes the tall athlete arrives, peering around to find three girls sit next to each other. Though, his girlfriend seems totally exhausted while her friend are as cheery as ever.

"y/n." He says, running his hands on her back.

She looks up, recognizing him and standing up. Her body immediately leaning against his, molding against it.

"You're okay." He mumbles, barely audible due to music.

"Girls, let's go." He says, watching both Sofia and Clara grab their own bags. His hand going to grab his girlfriend's bag.

"Sofia, can you walk? Or should I call Noah down?" He asks, having dropped off Clara safely already.

"I'm good." She mumbles having sobered up a bit, reaching over to open the car door.

Virgil looks at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, half awake as her head is angled downwards.

He finally gets out of the car, picking up his girlfriend and walking alongside Sofia, up to their level.

He watches Noah open the door, bringing Clara in as he throws a thumbs up to Virgil.

"Thanks lad!" He says, closing the door as Virgil throws out a ‘no problem’.

Virgil finally opens the front door, bringing y/n onto the couch as he goes to wash his hands and grabs a cup of water.

"Here drink some water." He coaxes, bringing the cup to her lipstick smudged lips.

She complies, eyes open by a sliver as she gulps the entire cup down. He leans down, chucking the heels off her feet.

"Okay now let's get you cleaned up." He mumbles, picking her up again.

"I'm going to set you down on the counter. Alright?"

"Mhm."

"Okay this is your cleanser right?"

He says, showing her a white bottle.

He was right.

"No, I can do it myself." She mumbles, getting off the counter.

"Okay, I'll brush my teeth."

He does, stabilizing her when she stared clumsily moving again. Drunkenly applying all sorts of toners and serums.

"You look like glazed donut."

"That's... the point."

"I know. Let's go to bed."

He guides her by the shoulders, placing her on the edge of her bed as he grabs her pajamas.

"No, I can- do it myself." She exclaims, grabbing the change of clothes as she starts tugging on the zipper on her back.

"Let me- help you."

His hands go up to her zipper, zipping it down successfully as she pulls the dress down further.

He grabs the dress, placing it in the laundry basket and returning to her.

She grabs onto the pajama shirt, pulling it over her head easily, his minimal help needed. She grabs the pajama pants, looking up at him.

"See? I can do it all alone. Even when I’m drunk. I'm a genius-"

She tries to say, accidentally tripping, face-first into the bed when trying to step into the pants fully.

He tries to stifle his laughter, knowing she wouldn't appreciate it. Especially in her drunken state.

"Woah- let me help you."

After a struggle and battle with the pajamas they both finally lay down into the bed cozily. His hand cradling her closer.

"My ankles hurt." She complains, soft groan leaving her mouth.

"Want me to massage them?"

"Yes, please."

He shifts in the bed. Rolling the ends of her pants up as he starts to rub and massage her swollen looking ankles.

"Did you dance a lot?" He asks, a soft hum leaving her lips.

"I wish you didn't wear those high heels then."

"They looked good."

"I know, but still."

He looks closer at the back of her ankles, realizing the back of her heels were probably too rough and made her bleed.

"The back of your ankles are bleeding."

"Really?"

"Hold on."

He walks back and forth to the bathroom, grabbing the necessary disinfectant and band-aids.

She winces as the ointment makes contact with the small wound. He quickly places a band-aid on both ankles and patting her leg.

"I'm sorry love. It's over." He says, voice deep and thick with sleep.

"Let's sleep now."

I watch as Curtis and Virgil pretend to be Santa in front of the camera crew. It was the first week of November but I guess the PR team decided to film Christmas videos already.

I was having some food with Clara at the other table as they had walked in with the cameras on. I try to muffle my laughter as they kept pulling out ridiculous presents from their bags.

I finally see them nearing the end of filming, Trent, Robbo, Curtis and Virgil gathered around and flipping through the calendar full of images from different players.

"Doctor come see this, you'll love it."

I hear Robbo say, looking at me as I pop a strawberry into my mouth. I raise my brows, chewing the fruit as I stand up to see what he's talking about.

"What is it?" I ask putting my hands in my pocket, looking him with questioning look.

"Here see for yourself." He says handing me the calendar. I glance at the guys for a moment, opening the calendar to see every month having a new photo of Virgil.

"Oh-" I say, raising my brows as every photo becomes even more questionable.

"You can have it from Santa!" Curtis says, pushing the calendar further into my arms.

"Oh it's-"

"Aw you don't like it?" Trent chimes in, glancing at Virgil.

"Doesn't really fit with the interior of my apartment you know." I tease playing along, though unable to contain my laughter as Robbo bursts out in laughter.

"You're serious?" Virgil say, looking betrayed.

"You know you seem to love it more than me Andy. Besides, I've got the real deal already."

I joke, handing it to him. Winking at the camera for jokes. There's no way it would be used anyway.

[blueshinefox]

Shizuka: through the years

Hello there, everyone! After I fully redesigned Shizuka, it was high time that she got her own timeline, because she hasn't even changed drastically, per se.

You see, Shizuka was first created in 2019 when I was obsessed with Titmouse, Inc as this pretty sparkly fox. As in, she’s my fox character from back in the day until now.

She's still blue and sparkly, and she always will be.

August 29th 2019 - February 10th 2023

Okay so the first one, I have no idea what to say. Just look at it. Poor creature. She was made to look like an almost exact ripoff of Krystlekmy's OC Krys-Wolf, only a fox and with some black markings and whatnot??? Idk what I was thinking at the time. Shizuka was originally based off of Titmouse, Inc. Of course, this never happened, but this was the very first official design of Shizuka when I first created her in 2019, and stayed like this for a long while.

February 10th 2023 - March 2nd 2023

I decided to get rid of the black markings on her paws. This design was slightly edited.

March 2nd 2023 - March 5th 2023

Shizuka’s design was changed slightly and the titmouse marking on her forehead was removed. This one didn’t stay for too long, though.

March 5th 2023 - April 20th 2023

Shizuka just went into a HUGE revamp. I decided that her last design was too bland, so I also was thinking that her new design should have the color blue in it. I changed her sky blue fur into neon blue fur, her brown eyes into palatinate blue eyes, and her cerulean blue paw pads into sapphire blue paw pads.

April 20th 2023 - May 10th 2024

Shizuka’s design was changed slightly and the colors were changed. I changed her neon blue fur into luminous vivid cobalt blue fur, and her sapphire blue paw pads into luminous vivid cornflower blue paw pads. That design stayed for a while until I realized how bad it actually was. Overall her design still looks kinda scene, especially her 'hairstyle'.

May 10th 2024 - NOW

This is Shizuka’s current design. The one I designed just this week. I do not have any plans on changing her for a while, because I’m happy with this design. I've been thinking of redesigning her for a long time though but never got to it. She looks a lot more blue now, a lot sparklier too. Her ear tips, her scene hair, and even her nose, are changed from eerie black to a much more darker black. Her luminous vivid cobalt blue fur was turned into palatinate blue fur, and her palatinate blue eyes were reduced to just blue eyes. Her luminous vivid cornflower blue paw pads are now Bleu de France blue paw pads.

I'm compensating for how blue that they used to be obvs.

BUT YEAH. She was made in 2019 as my ambiguous little fox babe and from then, she's gone through very few changes to become my grown up vixen that she is now :^)

Alright! I’ve shown you here how her design has changed. Many of these designs match the date they were created. Shizuka has always been a character that has truly connected with me, and she has always meant something to me. I’ve officially had her for almost 5 years, and I’ve kept her active for so long. Thank you all for your support, and the fans that I love her as much as I do.

Thanks for looking!!

DeviantArt link: https://www.deviantart.com/xxscenefoxxoxx/art/Shizuka-through-the-years-952479969