invisible string theory
lena oberdorf x uswnt!bayern!reader
part one - part two - part three
summary: you're with her now, but you've known of her for longer than that.
warnings: long chapter, suggestive content
back in the united states, you were heartbroken.
due to the contract that gotham had with lyon, there wasn’t a possibility that lyon could permanently sign you. the french club tried to sign you for another loan year with a mandatory buy option, but gotham didn’t want that.
so now you’re here, dressed in a gotham kit watching the team play the chicago red stars from the bench.
its the 70th minute and you had your arms crossed sitting on the bench. your national teammate, mallory, and your other friend midge sat beside you after coming off minutes before.
“my ankle is killing me, i might have to go to medic after this game ends.” mallory hissed as she held onto her ankle. sometime after halftime, a chicago red stars player kicked the back of mallory’s ankle on accident.
“you should, its bruised!” you say as you observe her ankle from your seat, your hands still crossed together as midge decides to hold your right arm in comfort.
midge turns her head and noticed the coach, yes the coach that's not happy with you, coming your way.
“y/n.” midge tapped your shoulder. you looked to your right to see the coach looking at you with an unreadable expression on his face.
“y/n, you should warm up, you’re going on in the 80th minute.” the coach says before going back to observe the game.
your eyebrows knitted together before you quickly took off your windbreaker jacket. being a benchwarmer the last two games since coming back from france was something you were starting to get used to until another club put in their offers.
the coach has received a bunch of hate in the media because of you. which kind of soccer coach wouldn’t start one of the best players in the world? well, a coach with an agenda– that's for sure.
being subbed into the game five minutes later, you already had the ball at your feet. as you run across the pitch and dribble pass a few chicago players, you pass up to carli lloyd.
the striker takes the shot but it deflects off of the post. luckily, the ball landed back on your blue cleat and you tapped the ball into the goal. opening up the score 1-0 for gotham before the 90th minute.
knowing your situation at gotham, you didn’t celebrate as happily as you did back when you scored at lyon. all you did was put your hands up high as your teammates gathered around to hug you.
“i’m pretty sure that this is a good moment after being back from winning the champions league in europe.” a commentator says as you go back into the starting position as an attacking midfielder.
“that’s my girl!” you heard midge yell from the benches. you look over to see her and mallory with the brightest smiles as you nod your head at them.
you loved your teammates, but you wanted to be at another club more than anything.
after the game that afternoon, your agent called you.
she said that many clubs in europe wanted to sign you– permanently.
that's all you wanted, you didn’t want to take a loan deal and attach yourself to another club just to come back here again. you wanted a new permanent home. it's 2020 and the transfer window in europe will close soon.
she said that psg was the first to put in an offer for you, but you immediately declined. somehow, you felt loyal to lyon and didn’t want to join paris.
the next clubs she mentioned were real madrid, manchester united, ajax, and aston villa. you declined on those as well, not really seeing yourself in those clubs.
even though bayern munich wasn’t the last club on the list, you were interested in that offer once your agent mentioned it.
your agent mentioned that the coach personally wanted you at the club, and the club offered a good amount of benefits.
so, after a few days of deciding, you were in germany signing a contract with the bavarian club until 2025.
over the months, you adjusted to the club perfectly. you got along with the girls, made a promise that you’ll learn to speak german, and your new best friend sydney was there to guide you.
in november 2020, you were in the starting lineup to play against wolfsburg.
this is your first time going up against the green team since you were with the french club, so you were ready to face them again.
as you were standing in the tunnel, you talked with lineth beerensteyn about what to expect. this is your first start with the club, since the coach wanted you to get familiar with the games first. this was fair and something you went through with lyon as well.
“its nice to face them again.” you respond to lineth after she asked you how you felt about wolfsburg. she smirks at you before pinching your shoulder.
“oh yeah– i forgot we have a champions league winner on our hands.” she laughed. you rolled your eyes playfully as you shook your head.
“don’t forget about the world cup.” sydney lohmann joins in. your jaw dropped as you shook your head again.
“okay let's not talk about me, lets talk about the upcoming match” you say.
“you’re right you’re right,” lineth laughs at her teasing towards you, “games against wolfsburg get pretty intense when you’re with bayern. they’re the “rivals” or whatever you want to say.” she continued.
“just make sure that you take advantage of any opportunity you see. some of the midfielders will go for your ankles so i’d watch out for that too. things can get heated” the dutch finished.
you nodded your head as you observed the wolfsburg players around the tunnel. some, like svenja and dominique, patted your back since you’re happy to see you again but in the bundesliga.
before you walked ahead to talk to sydney, you felt a hand on your left shoulder.
“so– what brings you here?” you look over your shoulder to see lena.
honestly, you forgot about her after the champions league final. you have her jersey in your apartment along with other players' jerseys you’ve traded with in the past, but things were stressful for you when you went back home.
“beating you again.” you teased. lena placed her hand over her heart before giggling,
“not that! i mean it's nice to see you in this league.” she says.
“oh danke– sorry– the adjustment here was easy thankfully.” you smile.
lena wraps her arm around your shoulder, causing you to feel warm on the inside, does she know what she is doing to you?
“that’s good– it would’ve been nice to see you in our jersey though.” lena whispers. you look over at her, your voice caught into your throat.
“um- no thanks. i would miss getting my ankles broken by you if we were on the same team.” you tease. she unwraps her arm from your body, and pats you on the shoulders with a smirk, before going back to where the wolfsburg substitutes are without saying anything else.
“y/n.. how do you know lena?” sydney walks up to you with her eyebrows knitted together. she looked curious, smiling, as you crossed your arms together.
“we met during some adidas event at the world cup. well- i met giulia actually but lena just happened to be there and-”
“and you guys are dating? why didn’t you tell-”
“woah syd slow down! we aren’t dating?” you cut her off.
sydney smirks at you before laughing, realizing what the conversation turned into.
“i’m sorry. you guys looked very flirty and familiar with each other.” sydney said as she rested her arm on your shoulder. you shrugged the other shoulder.
“I mean the last time I talked to her was at the champions league final last season. she's cute but i don’t know if she even sees me that way?” you whisper in sydneys ear.
you’re comfortable talking about this with sydney. she’s become your best friend since arriving in germany, but it feels like you’ve known her for longer than that.
“the way that she looked at you, i would say she does.” sydney comments.
you were going to question that but everyone started to lineup in the tunnel to head out. so, all you could do is wonder with your thoughts as you walked out to start the game.
a year later, you were waiting at the airport in wolfsburg after a last minute decision.
after that game in november 2020, lena and you started following each other on instagram. the both of you got each other's phone numbers and have been in touch everyday since.
due to not being on the same club team, or national team, you didn’t see lena much– if not at all.
randomly, as you were in your kitchen hours before– lena texted you.
obi
we should go to this new restaurant that opened up downtown wolfsburg
y/n
how? i’m in munich..
obi
check your email.
when you checked your email, you saw that she sent you a confirmation and a plane ticket for wolfsburg. you jaw dropped in the middle of your kitchen as you were finishing making a few pastries for the bayern girls.
y/n
did you really buy me a plane ticket to see you?
y/n
you’re insane
y/n
the flight is in three hours? you’re eager
y/n
where am i supposed to stay at?
obi
yes i did
obi
just for you
obi
you can stay with me. i have a spare room
you stood outside of the wolfsburg airport with a carry on bag waiting for lena’s car. luckily, there is no training or games scheduled since its thanksgiving break– so you had a day or two to spend with lena.
after talking for a year, you guys weren't official. its clear that you are in the “talking stage” with the wolfsburg midfielder, but you hoped that she will be your girlfriend soon– even with the distance.
as you looked down at your phone, watching a tiktok video that popped up on your fyp, you heard a loud car beep their horn.
ignoring that your heart nearly jumped out of your chest in fear, you looked up to see lena getting out of the drivers side of her car.
“obi!” you say as you grab your carry on bag. the german smiles brightly as she held her arms out for you.
when you hugged her taller body, the nerves in your stomach eased away. the warmth of her body and her coconut scent seemed to give you peace in those short seconds.
“hi liebe! how was your flight?” she whispered in your ear, not breaking the hug just yet.
her proximity to your ear made you feel something that you’ve never felt before. something you couldn’t say out loud.
“my flight was smooth, i had a row to myself.” you smile as you looked at lena’s blushed face.
you weren’t surprised about the small amount of people on the flight, it was an 6pm flight and plane rides from munich to wolfsburg weren’t long at all.
“that’s perfect. here, give me that.” lena held her hands out.
you were confused before you noticed that she was pointing at your bag. you gave her your carry on, which she gently put in the trunk of her car as you got into the passenger seat.
when you guys arrived to her apartment, you were quick to pull your adidas slides off and sit on her couch. lena smiled, happy that you made yourself comfortable in her space.
“it’s late, so i’m not sure if you want to do much.” lena says.
pulling your phone out of your pocket, seeing that it just hit 21:00, you agree.
“we could watch a movie.” you suggested.
“we can, but can it not be those horror movies you love seeing?” lena asked.
as much as you guys had in common, movies weren’t one of them.
lena loved disney animated movies and comedies, you loved horror films along with star wars.
“you know what we should watch!? we should watch the phantom menace! it's not horror!” you smirked.
lena rolled her eyes playfully, remembering a phone conversation you guys had in the past.
“I remember when you said that you wanted me to get you started on the star wars trilogies. it's a win-win for the both of us,” you stood up from the couch and held lena’s hands with your own. the close proximity made lena’s face turn a shade of pink.
“i get to watch star wars, and you get to watch a disney movie– since star wars is owned by disney.” you came closer, just inches from her nose hitting yours.
she's taller than you, so she looked down at you slightly with a questioning look.
“sure.” she says, distracted.
your boldness seemed to go away the same second that you stopped talking. your breathing slowed as you realized what you’ve done.
lena’s eyes looked down to your lips as you did the same with her.
the both of you are alone in her apartment, you realize that no-one would be there to distract you if she kisses you.
you didn’t mind.
the german moves her arms around your lower waist as you lean in to kiss her. as you made contact with her lips, your hands moved to the back of her neck.
the kissing got heated quickly. lena was clearly the dominant one in the situation as she lifted you up and your legs were around her waist, walking you to her bedroom.
and you know how things went afterwards!
before you left to go back to munich two days later, lena asked you to be her girlfriend.
you said yes, happy but sad to leave her so soon.
after another few months, it's july 2022.
unfortunately for you, you were out on a three month injury. your hamstring teared while you were on international break with the uswnt– so you were free to return to germany.
however, you didn’t go to germany. you wanted to support lena and the rest of your bayern girls at the euros in england.
you’ve seen the prep that your girlfriend lena has put into this competition. due to the distance, you don’t see her everyday– but you guys have perfected the routine of seeing each other when off-days align.
on the sidelines of the final with germany against england, you wore the green germany kit with some levi 90s jeans. of course, the kit had lena’s last name on the back.
some people might be offended that you, an american player of their national team, is wearing another countries kit– but you know the majority wouldn’t care, and neither did you.
lena deserved to be here at this moment you thought. there was no way that you weren’t going to support her beside her family,
“so, how long are you supposed to be off the pitch?” you looked over to see lena’s father speak to you, his german accent stronger than lena’s. the first half of the final ended and it's nil-nil and it could be anyone’s game.
you wore a black brace around your leg where the injury occurred, so you figured that he was talking about that.
“oh, i won’t be playing until the start of next season. so a couple of months– i have a grade 2 tear in my hamstring.” you respond, smiling as lena’s father nodded his head in understanding.
“you’ll be back out there soon!” lena’s mother spoke with encouragement. you smiled, happy that your girlfriend had sweet parents that treat you as if you were their own.
after talking to her family for longer, the start of the second half comes along. you’re anxious as both teams are keeping possession with the ball.
watching other teams in person is making you miss being out on the pitch playing.
all thoughts aside, your jaw drops as you watch ella toone from england put the ball in at the 62nd minute.
lena got a yellow card moments before for a tackle on your friend, georgia, who is coming to bayern soon. so, lena was already in a disappointed mood before this moment.
as the substitutes for germany and england were starting to come on, you started to feel anxious. you hated this feeling for teams that aren’t your own, but this happens everytime you invest a couple of hours into watching others– especially your girlfriend who you want to see with the euro trophy.
when lina magul scored the equalizer for germany, you put your hands up and clapped as you witnessed the german girls huddle around in a big group hug.
“come on obi!” you whisper to yourself, hoping that this was a fairytale where lena would score the winner for her country.
unfortunately for you, germany’s team, and the fans– chloe kelly taps the ball into the net in the 110th minute– giving england the lead in extra time.
deep down, you knew that was it. you looked ahead at lena with sadness in your eyes. however, you wanted to keep hope.
after the game, seeing lena accept the young player award with tears in her eyes broke your heart. this is something that you’ve never gone through before from the outside, since usually you are the player that needs the comfort of a non-player after a loss.
after thirty minutes of the award process– with the hard watch of england lifting the trophy you wanted lena to lift– lena pushed herself to walk towards her family and you.
at first, you thought she was going to go to her parents for a hug. you stepped back as you made sure that her parents were slightly in front of you.
lena, with dried tears on her face, looked at you and held her hands out. being at the front row before the field, you accepted her embrace– holding her with as much as possible.
she picks you up and pulls you over the barcade, making sure that your leg would be okay, so you’re standing on the pitch now.
“i know you might not want to hear this right now– but you did amazing throughout the tournament. i am so proud of you.” you whisper into her ear.
her strong arms squeeze your waist, a silent thank you that you’ll take it as. she holds you for another minute, knowing that what she needs is your love and reassurance.
as you lift her head up from your shoulder to look at you, she frowns as she closes her eyes. another tear flows down her cheeks but you’re quick to wipe it away–
“hey! don’t beat yourself up. you were the best player of the tournament, and i’m not just saying that because i’m your girlfriend.” you reassure.
you know what lena is thinking– what did i do wrong? was there anything else i could’ve done? did the yellow card send the team into failure? those thoughts were not unfamiliar to you when you lost games, but you’ve never played in a euros final.
“danke.” she smiles slightly.
part three here
<3
132 notes
·
View notes
No bc I love women and football tell me all the gossip with mccabe and foord and the ex (who is she) ☕️
alright this is going to be long im sorry but get me started on woso and i just blabber. uhh most of my sources cited but this is mostly me going back thru texts from during the world cup and grabbing facts/pictures from then so a few of these claims are a little
BUT i promise i didnt make this up LOL i was Deep in google for the entirety of the world cup so i Know i got my info from somewhere
everything else under the cut bc this got SO long im actually so sorry
there's three primary people involved here:
katie mccabe: left back (but honestly left everything wonder woman). captains the irish national team. plays for WSL's arsenal, has been since 2015 (minus a lil bit loaned to glasgow in 2017). those are the two important facts here really but the below is ~flavor~.
she's 28 and 5'5 and she's a DREAM. scored an olimpico at the world cup (FIRST IN WOMENS WORLD CUP HISTORY!!!!) (THATS WHERE YOU SCORE A GOAL DIRECTLY FROM A CORNER. FIRST ONE SINCE THE 60S IN A WORLD CUP IN GENERAL!! LITERALLY INSANITY!!!)
also for context this world cup was ireland's wnt's first ever major tournament appearance. she's the first ever irish goal-scorer (of men and women!). she's amazing. here's her for arsenal:
ruesha littlejohn: striker/midfielder. scottish-irish, but represents ireland at the senior level. 33 years old. has played for a lot of teams club-wise. currently plays for london city lionesses, a second tier team, but that wasnt announced til after the world cup. her most recent wsl team was aston villa (but i mean it, she's played like everywhere lol). 5'6 if you're curious.
here's her in ireland's kit:
caitlin foord: forward! plays for australia internationally, and arsenal (so teammates with katie. this is important.) she's played for arsenal since 2020! used to play for the thorns in the nwsl once upon a time. 5'7, if, again, you're curious. she used to date a swiss footballer (lia walti, who's played for arsenal since 2018) but they broke up like six months before the world cup. walti unfollows the australian team on instragram right after they post a video of foord, it's all very dramatic (THEYRE STILL TEAMMATES AT ARSENAL THIS WHOLE TIME BTW). arsenal man, always at the scene of the crime.
ok so now you've met our main players!!
world cup happened this past summer (2023), btw. to give you an idea of timing.
katie mccabe and ruesha littlejohn dated for 6-7 years (some articles say 6, some say 7). they came out in june 2019 and said they'd been dating for three years already. their breakup was confirmed right before the world cup (like THE SAME WEEK??), in an article where mccabe was like "yeah, ruesha, my partner at the time..." very casual.
and then. in JUNE. (world cup starts july 20th!!)
foord and mccabe go to ibiza w an ex-arsenal player (jordan nobbs). who (in june 2023, not anymore) played at aston villa with. you guessed it. littlejohn. so yeah your ex gf goes on a trip to ibiza w a new girl and your current teammate, you might be a lil pissed off. maybe.
the sun's (i know, BOOOO but this made me laugh so hard) caption on a pic from the trip had me cackling:
(the title of the article was "inside the glam lifestyle of pals caitlin foord and katie mccabe after ireland’s star’s ex snubs world cup handshake." borderline galpals commentary like have writers there never heard of regular synonyms for friends?? there was also a line that just screamed please don't sue us: "However, The Sun does not suggest the Aussie forward had anything to do with McCabe and Littlejohn's break-up.")
so now we've got two exes on the irish national team going into their first world cup appearance, the captain of the swiss national team and an australian player having broken up like six months ago, and much more, but that isn't directly related to This Specifically.
while you, anon, presumably know how the world cup works, ill give a mini explainer for anyone lost: there's the group stage, where the teams get divided into groups (in this case, of four), and your team plays every other team in the group. you get three points for winning a game, one for a draw, and none for a loss. those points add up and top two teams move on. and then you go into the knockout stage, where you have to win to advance, and if you keep winning you make it to the final yay!!
but for this we only care about the group stage. and more specifically, about group B.
group B is made up of nigeria, canada, australia, and (drumroll please) ireland!!! it is the stuff reality tv shows WISH they could make happen.
ireland and australia play. it is (almost*) the very first game of the tournament (but it's still on july 20th). it is at 5am my time. you would not believe the timezone fuckery i went through that month.
(*ok new zealand played norway starting a bit earlier on the same day but that's not as dramatic sounding)
and you know how they shake hands with the other team before a game? yeah well here's littlejohn apparently refusing to shake foord's hand:
here's a lovely photo of a Look from littlejohn to mccabe:
here's a diff irish player (sullivan) separating littlejohn and foord after the game (australia wins 1-0, btw.):
and i already shared this on @powerful-owl's post BUT. here's mccabe's little sister, supporting mccabe. please note the date (july 20th) and the comment from foord (from after the game, im like 99.99% sure) asking if she wants her jersey now. me personally if i just beat my totally platonic friend/teammate on the world's stage i wouldnt be pulling up in their sister's comments asking if she wants a jersey now (also implication of the word now as in previously discussed, etc etc. this was the thing that pushed me over the edge into insanity at like 9am after no sleep)
i admittedly have not kept up to date on anything that's gone down since the world cup so it's entirely possible more has happened! in fact i would say that it is downright likely lol. i love soccer lesbians n the insane charts necessary to keep track of their relationships <3
22 notes
·
View notes