#itolfa

[updownlately]

i'm tired of lovin' from afar (and never being where you are)

| alessia russo x reader

~~~

The incessant buzzing coming from your phone beside you rudely jolts you out of your daydreaming.

Groaning into your pillow, you sluggishly reach over, hand flailing around until you make contact with the device.

Blinking, trying to bring yourself back into reality, you take a deep breath before taking a look at the caller ID.

You smile softly to yourself at the name you see, amused at the timing of the call, how the one running in your mind was the also one calling you.

Tapping the answer button, you move to hold the phone in front of you.

"Hi Lessi," you answer, the smile on your face becoming brighter as your girlfriend materializes on the screen in your hands.

"Hey love."

Running through the pleasantries, you ask her how she's doing and listen to the striker tell you about her past twenty-four hours, letting her familiarly distinct accent calm you. The time difference between you both resulted in her day nearly being finished whilst yours had barely made it halfway through, paving the way for tons of stories from training ready to be shared by the Englishwoman.

It's only when she finishes retelling the latest saga of how Georgia somehow managed to prank Leah and Kiera into eating a pie of shaving cream that Alessia notices the lack of bags under your eyes and the sleepy look on your face, nap lines running across your cheek.

"Were you asleep?" she asks, eyes full of amusement.

You nod shyly in response, head ducking down so that your reddening cheeks are hidden behind the pillow in your arms.

Audibly awing, Alessia can't help but just slightly be worried for you, aware that you had a tendency to nap when you were stressed or sad (or both).

"Is everything okay though love? I hope camp isn't too stressful or tiring?"

The barely dying down blush comes back in full force on your face, heart bursting at how attentive your girlfriend was, at how well she knew you.

You hum in response, composing yourself for a second before answering. "Everything's great. Camp's been fun so far. Tiring but just perfectly enough."

"And yet you look like you've spent the last few weeks hibernating?" the blonde teases.

"Oh..." You let your voice trail off, hoping that Alessia doesn't push further, embarrassed at the reason you'd been napping more recently.

"You wanna tell me why my girlfriend's suddenly turned into a tiny panda? Just constantly napping on top of being a cute goofball?"

Her question has you smiling, something you seemed to do a lot (almost never not smiling) when she was in the vicinity.

"It's embarrassing..."

"Oh come on, I think that's more the reason for me to know then," Alessia says cheekily, the excitement in her voice increasing.

Taking a deep breath in, you prepare yourself for the inevitable teasing that was headed your way once you shared your reasoning.

Pulling your pillow closer to your chin, you mumbled out the basis behind your constantly sleep state, Alessia only catching a few words along the lines of 'miss', 'dreams', and 'here'.

"Baby, you gotta get your face out of the pillow and repeat yourself. I'm not letting you get out of this one now," Alessia grinned.

Sighing again, you move the pillow underneath your chin, your eyes going everywhere but your phone screen.

"I nap when I miss you. When I sleep, you're in my dreams and it kinda feels like you’re here next to me," you admit sheepishly, the rose tint now taking permanent residence on your face.

Alessia can't help the pout that makes its way on her face, her heart feeling ever so full at your admission.

"Aww, love...you're so adorable it's not even funny." Taking in your shyness, she continues. "I can't wait to have you back in my arms, back home. We only have a few days left and then I'll have you here, in our bed, and we can nap together...how does that sound?"

Curling into yourself, you feel the warmth of her love spread through your body. Nodding in agreement, you sink into your sheets again.

"Can you tell me more about your day? Your voice is pretty..." you request, head falling onto your pillow as you reposition yourself to lay on your side, almost making it so that Alessia seemed here beside you, instead of over six thousand miles away.

"As long as you promise not to fall asleep on me," Alessia jested, a smile resting on her face.

You shook your head in response. "Never. Wouldn't dream of it."

And as Alessia launched into another tale of the English team at camp and you listened intently, eyes admiring the other girl, scanning her face, trying to commit every freckle, every little laugh line, every wrinkle into memory.

Missing your girlfriend terribly, you knew that if she couldn't be here with you, then the thought of her would have to do. And if that's what you had to make do with, then you were going to make sure that the image of her that visited you in your dreams was just as perfect as the girl patiently waiting for you an ocean away.