#steph talks 🙃

[pedroisghosties]

It's so funny seeing people post their "realistic thoughts" on Ghost as a lover for example like, realistic for who?? because in my world, someone with his trauma could develop as 10 different persons and you will never know which one it is until they actually grow up and stuff so calling their personal thoughts THE correct one is just ridiculous.

Plus most of them picture him as this monster that doesn't know how to communicate in any way, shape or form like bffr

[enwoso]

Lovies first football game and she spends half of the time sat on the floor picking flowers until less and the girls who came to support are calling over to tell her to get up and play the match

PRETTY CHAIN — alessia russo x child!reader

HEY EVERYONE! i’ve missed you all! i’ve been a bit mia this past week but i’ve been preparing for worlds in the next couple months so i’ve basically been living at the gym… but i’m hoping i’ll be back in the groove🙃

grumpy masterlist

today was a special day, it was your first football match. all week you had been telling people about your match, invited everyone you told to come and watch you.

alessia was a little nervous as she didn't know how you were going to react in an environment that was so fast pace but seeing you in your little training sessions you seemed to cope well and it was always a plus that you actually enjoyed it. but still alessia was still stressing.

"and lovie, remember to just have fun! winning isn’t everything" your mummy finished her little pep talk just as it was time for you to start. your mummy tying your boots up and pulling your socks up for you as you nodded a big smile on your face.

"where-" you began to ask but your mummy but you off knowing exactly what you were going to say. "the girls are on the way don't worry, and auntie ella will see all of the game cause i'm going to video it" your mummy told you as you nodded getting the answer you wanted.

getting a little worried that all the people you had asked to come were not coming, considering only your mum was stood on the sideline. ella was the only one that you knew definitely wasn't coming as she herself was playing her own match with man united.

"look it's starting, good luck lovie!" your mummy pointed to where your team was lining to play as she quickly pressed a kiss to your forehead before you ran off to your teammates, ready to start playing.

the whistle went and the first half was underway, and to begin with you were running up and down the small pitch but soon lost interest and just stood around watching the rest of your team play.

it got to a point where your team is behind by one and you were sat on the pitch picking the daisies out the grass. "why is she sitting on the floor? is she injured?" beth asked a hint of worry in her voice.

a sigh coming from alessia as she turned to look at the blonde who was first of the arsenal girls to get there, the other few that could make it following in behind her.

alessia shaking her head at beth's question,"no she's picking the daisy's out the grass" a small chuckle came from the two at how it was just typical that this was your first match and that's what you spent the half doing.

"where's the little superstar?" leah cheered as she walked in with lotte, kyra and steph. the four scanning the pitch before finding you sat in the top corner still picking little flowers out of the grass.

"is she-"

"yep she's making daisy chains" alessia smiled slightly as a knowing hum came from the four.

"well we need to do something! when's half time! she's needs a pep talk" leah rambled out fast, her competitive side coming out as the four looked at the blonde with a slight strange look.

"le, she's only five-"

"half time is in three minutes" alessia cut steph off as she pointed to the industrial clock that was standing at the side of the pitch where your coach was. alessia thinking maybe you did need some sort of team talk at half time and maybe winning was everything…

the next three minutes dragging as you sat pretty contently in the same place, picking the little white flowers from the grass as you joined them together to make a chain. you totally oblivious to what was happening down the field, you not having much interest in it.

the whistle was what brung you out of your own little trance as you heard your coach calling out for you to get up off the pitch.

you just shrugging before rushing over to your mummy with your daisy chain in your hand, your small body filing with excitement at how long your daisy chain.

“look! mummy! my chain!” you grinned holding up the daisy chain in you hand so your mummy could see it as she took it out your hand, a small smile on her face as the others looked on in slight amusement that you currently had no interest in playing football.

“it’s lovely and a very pretty chain,, but lovie your supposed to be playing football… not sitting on the floor-“ alessia tried slowly the last part of her sentence coming out as a hushed whisper as your looked on in confusion.

“but- i wanted to make pretty chains” you pouted as you bottom lip wobbled slightly. a sigh coming from alessia as she quickly tried to rack her head around how she was going to motivate you into playing football.

alessia looking around at her friends for a little help, leah crouching down to your height as she whispered a few things into your ear. the others your mummy included not having a clue what was being told to you.

but whatever it was something seemed to click, as you managed to actually play football. you even managed to poke a ball into the goal, running around your teammates with your arms out. just like your mummy did when she scored.

alessia in pure disbelief as she poked a look towards leah wondering what on earth had been whispered into your little ear. alessia screaming maybe a little too loud as she jumped up when you managed to score. her heart filling just that little bit more with warmth watching you.

the full time whistle came your team winner just 2 and you ran straight into your mummy’s arms, “mummy! did you see- see my goal!” you rushed out, so much excitement filling you - just like before with your daisy chain - so much so you could hardly form a sentence.

“lovie it was awesome, i’m so proud of you!” your mummy grinned, kissing your forehead as you light giggles left your lips. before you squirmed your way down as the girls who came to watch shared there congratulations.

“next top england goal scorer!” beth quipped with a smile as she ruffled your hair you shouting the blonde a look for ruffling your hair.

“and arsenal! isn’t that right tiny!” steph said as you nodded before pelting out your own version of north london forever at the top of your lungs, kyra joining in as the small group started to make their way off the field and towards the car park.

the group filled with laughed at your and kyra’s singing, before it turned into a game of tag down the field.

leah and alessia were walking at the back of the group, on the way back to the car park, you in front as you circled around steph and beth as kyra now chased you around the car park. your loud giggles filling the space as you ran around. the girls slightly wondering how you still had so much energy after running around on a pitch.

"so what did you promise her?" alessia asked with a quirk of her eyebrow knowing something must have been promised in order for you to play as well as you did in the second part of your mini game.

leah stood leaned against her car which was parked next to alessia's, a small smirk on her face, "just that i would get her hamster!"

"oh for god sake! LEAH!"

[magics-neptunes-things]

Trouble

Hi guys!

So this come from a request I had several weeks before, but I deleted it like the dumbass I am :) Sorry dear Anon, but they were asking for a long story like the one I did for Alessia and Caitlin.

So here it is :) I hope you'll like it, it's a long one. And I haven’t proofread it, sorry for the mistakes I’ll do it later 🙃

Please enjoy ♥

TW : Pregnancy, Angst, Injuries, mention of breakup, concussion and I think it's ok like this. Please tell me if I forgot anything.

Even if you are from Spain, you are a figure from your youngest age at Arsenal. You are here since your 20 birthdays, and you just finished your seventh year in the north London. You have seen a lot of people coming and leaving, the last one leaving being of course Vivianne Miedema. It was a sad day honestly; you are anyway happy to see Mariona coming with you and Laia to extend the Spanish population in Arsenal. You are three now. Laia, Mariona and you.

You get along pretty great with all the people, even the new signings like Kyra or Alessia. In reality there only is one person with who you don’t really get along.

Leah Williamson.

It wasn’t like that at first, to be honest. You were coming from Real Madrid, but it was to run away from the RFEF and everything’s coming around. You talked about it with your Arsenal teammates, even in 2017 you already had several troubles right there.

Like your Spanish teammates, you sign the letter against the RFEF and like a lot of them you decide not to keep playing under those conditions. But like Mariona, Ona and Aitana, they promised you some changes and you trusted them. So you get back. How wrong you were. But it was too late to change your mind, too many things were engaged. It was in 2022.

Maybe it was at this point that Leah really became hostile towards you. At least she wasn’t afraid to show it off.

You are playing in the defense, usually just next to the same Leah. Like you said you weren’t really closed, but you were doing a great job together. A lot of things happened during those seven years, you have several breaks up with one intervening in 2022 after your ex-girlfriend, Gio, left for Everton and then Spain.

Late spring 2022 too, you got hurt and stayed away from football for several months. You chose to do your rehab in Spain, much to your teammates’ misunderstanding. You still came back several times to meet your doctors at Arsenal, but that’s all. You still managed to come back on the pitches for the World Cup and won it with Spain.

This year you weren’t injured so you were able to play all the games Jonas wanted you to, and you won several other things with Spain.

Which takes us now, at the beginning of a new season.

It was a little hard to come back in Arsenal’s training without seeing Viv. You started at Arsenal at the same year than her, with Beth too. Talking about Beth, it’s probably way harder for her. But you can’t approach her, Leah being always around and looking at you like she’s going to kill you.

You pass all your time with Laia and now Mariona, even if the girl seems to enjoy being able to see her girlfriend as long as she wants now. Which you don’t blame her for a second. You don’t miss Leah’s glare when you enter the gym training, rolling your eyes while Mariona fly to Lia.

You chose a machine next to Steph, who greats you with a smile. You smile back before starting your training, your mind maybe a little somewhere else. You were still training when Jonas comes to you to mumble something in your ear, asking you to follow him.

He takes you to his office, where you find other members of the staff too. That make you frown, but they smile at you from the start, probably to ease your mind.

“Hi, Y/N. We just wanted to see how you are doing?”

“I’m fine, thanks” you answer, always a little suspicious.

Well, it was before you spot Win, Arsenal’s dog, who comes to boop your hand with his nose. You smile and start to stroke him, looking back to the other people on the room when they start talking.

“How are things at home?”

“Oh… It’s pretty great actually, thank you”

You give them a sincere smile, who seems to convince them. It was Jonas who talk next.

“We just wanted to remember you that we have a daycare reserved for Arsenal in the building. Are you still sure that you don’t want that? It could be way easier for you.”

“No” you answer, shaking your head.

Here is the real reason why you were absent during several months. You had a baby. A non-wanted baby after a simple fling with a boy who live somewhere else in the country. He visits sometimes and take your kid for a day or two, but he still lives in South Shields and told you in the early hours of your pregnancy that he won’t be able to move on in London.

You didn’t ask him to do it and you didn’t want to move from London too. So the things settled like this and you manage your career and your baby as good as you can. Your parents come from time to time to help you with, too. But your mother is sometimes a little too much, honestly.

“And what about the fact to talk about it with your teammates?”

You shake your head one more time. Here is the other thing, you haven’t talk to any of the girl about your pregnancy. You don’t really know why, you were scared to be judged, even if you know that they almost all are really understanding and sweet. You had to inform the staff and you find a compromise by saying to the world that you were injured. Which was wrong.

“Maybe it could be easier too if th- “

“I said no”

They all share a look, but you stand your ground. Leah flows in your mind, you are pretty sure that she would be piss off about the situation and the mystery around it. And the idea of your little perfection being talking badly makes you sick, to be honest.

“Ok well, you can go back to training.”

You mumble a thank you, stroke Win a last time before getting up. You are a little angry about this conversation, this isn’t the first time they tried to make you talk about it to the other players. Maybe it could explain a lot of things to them, why you are late sometimes or why you look very tired several times too. Why you skip almost all the team’s bonding too.

Well, you probably wouldn’t come if you could, Leah’s here and you stay away from her as much as possible.

You are still angry when you find your teammates and you have never been a good person when it comes to hide your feelings. Everyone in the team can see it but you ignore the whispers and the looks exchanged.

They were now in the room where Jonas talks about strategy and new of the team for the team’s meeting. You go sit next to Mariona, who gently pushes you with her shoulder. You smile softly at her, before putting your head on her shoulder.

“I’m fine” you mumble.

Mariona knows, like Laia, but only because they are your Spanish teammates, and you couldn’t hide it from them during the World Cup or the Olympics. Safe to say that they all became aunties, with Alexia Putellas of course being the favorite one. She’s really great with kids.

You intercept a furious glare from Leah and arch an unimpressive eyebrow at her.

“Can’t she give it a rest from time to time?” you groan silently when Jonas enters the room too.

“Basta” Mariona mumbles back and you groan back.

It’s only when Jonas starts to talk that Leah turn her eyes and you sight softly, sitting correctly on your chair. You hate team’s meeting, it always at those moments that the tiredness comes harder. While you are in movements, it’s ok, you can manage it. But when you are supposed to stay still, it’s harder than anything. Thanks god, Mariona keeps crushing your foot when she feels your attention getting low.

You totally avoid Jonas for the rest of the day, but you couldn’t escape Leah during the training. You are on the same team during the mini-games and we can’t say that the agreement is very courteous.

“For God’s sake Y/N!” almost shout Leah when Caitlin managed to score after passing you.

“If you were in your position, I wouldn’t have to defend the entire field alone, Leah” you spit back.

“I was trying to score! I can’t do everything”

“The keyword being trying here” you snort.

Leah is furious, but you are too. The frustration of the conversation from this morning is still here and you aren’t able to cool off like you usually do. The blonde is now facing you, but you don’t move. You both have literally the same height and you are not afraid of her.

“At least I’m trying things, not like you. Always doing the same boring tricks every single day of your life.”

“What the fuck is your problem, Williamson?”

Just when you wanted to push her away from you, Katie is here to take you away from Leah, while Alessia does the same with Leah.

“Hey breath Mate, it’s just training yeah?”

You nod and take the bottle of water Laia is giving to you, taking several longs sips. You shouldn’t have reacted that way, but Leah is getting on your nerves. You don’t know what Alessia is saying to Leah, but the blonde answer something quickly and animatedly to her.

At the end of the training, Jonas takes Leah and you on the side, scolding both of you like children. You put your best poker face; arms crossed on your chest. There is a hint of challenge in your eyes when you look at the man. You are still piss of about the conversation from this morning. You had a deal about your pregnancy, and they still try to turn it in their way.

“Y/N can I give you a word alone?” he asks after her speech.

“Not again Jonas, I’m sorry. I really have to go.”

He sights and makes a gesture with his hand, to tell you to go. You don’t hesitate to go to the locker room, taking a quick shower before leaving the facility. Your baby is waiting for you in the daycare and you have to go as soon as possible.

“Y/N?”

You turn when you hear Mario’s voice and stop in your run to your car.

“Yeah?”

“You know about the team night this weekend?”

“Yeah?” you say one more time.

“It’s at Lia’s. And she asked me to make sure that you will come too.

You sigh and roll your eyes. Mariona as a guilty smile and shrug. You can perfectly picture how the conversation went, and you can’t help but being amused by it.

“Will Leah be here?”

“Probably. It’s at Lia’s.”

There is a beam of silence.

“Y/N, come on please. I’ll missed you.”

“What did Lia promised you if you make me come?”

“Nothing” Mariona laughs. “She just looked at me with those green doe eyes and she knows I can’t deny her anything.”

You sigh once again while rolling your eyes.

“Alright, I’ll be there. But I’m not passing the night.”

You haven’t exchanged a single word with Leah since your fight during the training. Unlike the other times, you don’t even look at her now, you just ignore her. Making like she doesn’t exist, even if there probably is another more mature way to deal with things. But you have to be mature every day, so if a teammate decides to shout at you without reason, you are just going to ignore her and that’s all.

Of course, Leah is here when you enter Lia’s house, looking stupidly attractive in her white top and jeans. But Laia immediately takes you by the arm to lead you in another part of the room. You don’t know if they planned something together, but you decide to ignore it.

“Where’s your little one?” Laia whispers softly.

“With his usual babysitter” you answer quietly. “He was asleep when I left, maybe he’ll sleep well tonight.”

There is a big hint in your voice telling Laia that you absolutely don’t believe it. Your son has the worst sleep in the world. Laia smiles and pat your back with affection, and you snuggle against her, never against hugs, kisses and a little of love.

“Can’t she keep her hands for herself?” Leah groans on the other part of the room.

Lia, who was sitting next to Mariona, laughs softly. She’s the first-person Leah goes when she wants to grumble about you, but the Swiss woman never took it seriously. Until your fight the other day, you never have a word against each other, to be honest.

“Just stop looking at her” Lia smiles.

“Hard to do when she’s so noisy”

“You’re acting in bad faith” Lia points, making Mariona smiles next to her.

Leah snorts and drag her attention somewhere else in the room. Katie and Caitlin are giggling on a sofa, thanks god there are people as single as her in this team too. Leah was thinking about getting up to find Alessia and Lotte when Mariona talks.

“When are you going to do something about your crush for her anyway?”

Leah is so stunned that she looks at Mariona blankly for almost one minute.

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t look surprised. The sexual tension between you two is hard to miss. You fancy her and it’s ok, really. Just do something about it.”

“I don’t fancy her” Leah seems really outraged. “She’s so annoying and full of confidence, it gives me the ick. Plus, she can’t stop to touch everybody, even people she knows are with someone, just like you.”

Leah’s looking at Mariona, who arch her eyebrows. It’s Lia who answer something at that though.

“She’s Spanish, Love. They are just touchy” Lia shrugs.

“We are” Mariona confirms with a knowing smile towards Lia.

“You both are disgusting.”

“At least I’m being disgusting with someone else, I’m not just starring at a girl pretending hating her.”

“I’m not pretending” Leah growls before getting up.

From your point of view, you just see Leah getting up, complaining something that no one can really understand. You watch Lia and Mariona talking before Laia takes your attention again by asking you a question. You are now sitting with Stina and Frida, in addition to Laia and you were casually talking with a glass of alcohol in your hand.

The night went pretty great, you don’t drink a lot and you are having a lot of fun, catching up with your teammates. You talk to a lot of them, usually going away from Leah. You don’t realize that she’s looking at you from time to time, you are still ignoring her. It’s hard for you, you have to admit. Every time you spot some blonde hairs, your eyes always turn in her direction.

“Oh, I have to take this one” you frown, picking your phone from your pocket.

It’s the babysitter and it’s never good when you received a call from her. Usually, she’s able to manage your son’s cries or behavior.

“Hello?” you answer when you are on the other room.

“Hi Miss, I’m sorry to disturb you… But you probably need to come home.”

You feel your blood freeze in your veins, hearing this poor girl explaining to you that your son caught his feet in the carpet while wanting to join his babysitter in the living room after waking up.

You are livid when you end up your call before turning around, just to face Leah. You swear inside your head but for once she’s looking at you with something else than disdain. She seems concerned.

“Are you ok?” she asks.

“I… Can you get me Mariona or Laia? Please.”

She looks at you several seconds before nodding. You saw her form going in the living room while you are on your phone, asking for an Uber.

“Y/N? Que passa?”

Mariona’s voice startle you, but you are relieved to realize that Leah hasn’t follow her. Even if your friend is talking in Spanish and Leah probably don’t talk a single word, even if she likes to go to Ibiza on holidays.

You explain to Mariona what is happening in a quick Spanish, going to grab your coat when your Uber informs you that he’s coming in five minutes. The Balearian promises that she will say goodbye to Lia and the others for you and just with that, you left the house.

You took your son and his big bump on the hospital, where you pass the night. The doctors decided to keep him under observation in case of concussion. You kept Mariona and Laia informed and ring his dad too. You feel a little alone, sitting on that awful plastic chair while your son is peacefully sleeping on his bed.

You almost regret refusing Mario’s offer to come with you, but it was her girlfriend’s party. And you would have need to explain a lot of things to the others.

You skip the training two days later, wanting to stay with your son. He’s good to be honest, but you prefer not to take any risks with his health. He’s still little after all, he’s not even two years old. And seeing him in pain just break your heart.

Laia visited you and brought you some groceries and fun things for your little man. He likes when Laia or Mariona are visiting, he seems to love talking in Spanish more than English.

He was already sleeping when someone knock on your door that night and you hesitate before getting up to open the door. You aren’t waiting for anyone rand you aren’t in the mood for some canvassing.

But it isn’t someone wanting to sell you some assurance who you face when you finally open your door. It’s Leah.

You look at her blankly.

“What are you doing here?”

There is no harm in your question, almost no one came to your apartment since your delivery. You changed one of your guestrooms for a nursery, where your baby is sleeping right now.

“I don’t know. I just… You weren’t in training today” Leah shrug.

“You could have text me” you point.

“Would you have answer me?”

There’s a beam of silence.

“Probably not” you smirk before sighing when you realize that Leah isn’t moving. “So, why are you worried for me?”

“I’m not worried about you” she snorts. “I’m your captain, I need to check on my players.”

“You could have asked Jonas” you shrug.

“After our little commitment from the other day, I wasn’t sure that he would have answer something to me”

You exchange another look before you sigh one more time and let her come inside your apartment. She came here several years ago, so it’s not a surprise for her. Not a lot of things have changed, and you are a little neat freak, so there isn’t any toy on your living room.

“You can sit” you point your couch.

“Why are you whispering?” Leah whispers back.

“I’m not whispering” you whisper.

You are whispering. You really hope that your son is dead asleep and will not hear that you are having a late visitor.

Leah groan in frustration and briefly press her hands on her eyes while sitting on your couch. She then raises her head again and looks at you, sitting on the arm of the same couch.

“Look Y/N, I know things are a bit tensed between us for several months now…”

“Yeah, I still don’t know why. Just saying.”

Leah bites her lips and looks at the windows, probably trying to sort her thoughts in the right order. You are really intrigued, you never really understood why Leah’s behavior changed with you. You only have assumptions, but nothing to be sure of.

“Would you understand if I… - “

“Mamá?”

Holly shit. Leah turns so quick to the voice coming from the entry of the living room that you actually don’t see her making the move. You ignore the strange feeling in your throat and turn yourself to your son, putting the sweetest smile on your face.

“Que passa Cariño?”

He reaches out to you while you approach him, and you don’t hesitate to take him in your arms.

“Who dat?” he mumbles, switching automatically in English, his face half-hiding behind your shoulder.

“It’s Leah, you saw her on telly, do you remember?”

He nods and Leah waves at him still under the chock.

“Number 6”

“Sí Cariño.”

His big eyes are looking at her with intensity and curiosity, but it’s not the time for him to do that.

“I’ll take you back to bed” you inform him.

He nods again and wave back at Leah. You don’t have the courage to look at her and take all your time to put the toddler to sleep, even if he falls back asleep very quickly. You almost hope that Leah would have left when you come back in your living room. But of course, she’s still here.

“So… This was why you were whispering” Leah finally comments after several minutes of silence.

You roll your eyes and let you fall on the couch. Leah knowing your secret is the worst thing honestly, if you had to choose someone on the team you definitively wouldn’t have chosen Leah.

You must look desperate, because when Leah talks to you again, it’s with the most caring voice ever.

“Look, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

You just have to look at her eyes to know that you believe her. Your eyes follow her hand when she puts it on your knee, and you remember the first months of your arrival in Arsenal. Leah was sweet and caring with you too. You were getting along so great. This gesture makes you realize that you actually miss it.

“Thank you” you mumble.

“Who else know?” she asks softly.

“Mario and Laia, and I have to tell the staff obviously” you sigh softly. “And the players of my national team know too, it was impossible to hide during the World Cup. The fans assume that it was Mateo’s cousin.”

“That’s why you went to Spain during your recovery” Leah realizes aloud, before frowning. “Wait, you weren’t really injured, were you?”

“No” you sigh. “But my pregnancy wasn’t really wanted, and I panicked. I needed to go back to my parents, and they helped me with it. Then he was born and now he’s here. I sometimes want to tell you all but it’s harder everyday and I really wanted to protect him from the media and stuff. But the staff wanted me to talk to you all for several weeks now”

“Is that why Jonas calls you to his office sometimes?”

“Yeah” you breath, still annoyed. “We had an agreement with me not talking about my son but they try to make me change my mind.”

“Oh.”

You raise your eyes on Leah, to see that she seems a little uneasy and thoughtful at the same time. You don’t know why you are explaining all of this to Leah, even if she knows now, it’s still Leah.

“I was sure that you had something happening with him.”

“With Jonas?” you ask with disbelief and grimace when she nods. “Ew. No.”

Leah laughs slightly and you can feel her looking at you with attention. It’s maybe the first time she’s looking at you without animosity from a long time now. You feel yourself blush slightly, but she doesn’t point it.

“I have like a billion of questions” she admits.

“I’ll answer them, but I need a drink before. What do you want?”

“Same thing as you.”

You come back with two Spanish beer, and you smirk when you watch Leah looking at the name of the brand on the bottle before drinking.

“Who is the father?”

“You don’t know him. He was a random hookup after my breakup with Gio. I was trying to forget it; I didn’t expect to forget it that way though. He lives in South Shields.”

“So, you raise him alone?” Leah frowns.

“No, he comes from time to time. Sebastian loves him and he’s great with him, but he has his life in South Shields, and I couldn’t ask him to let everything down to come in London. And the closest place to South Shields would have been Manchester, there was no way that I leave Arsenal for United.”

Leah has a vague grimace, and you can’t help but smile. You heard her too many times talking about the fact that Alessia left the wrong team to come for the best. She then drinks her beer, seeming to register what she just learned.

“Does Gio know?”

You shake your head before answering.

“I haven’t talk to her since the breakup” you mumble.

“Would you have liked to if you hadn’t been pregnant?”

“I don’t know, Leah.”

She nods once again, looking lost in her thoughts one more time. You take advantage of it to look at her really for the first time for ages. You always loved her eyes and found the wrinkles around them very cute. But Leah is beautiful, it’s not something new. She isn’t fancied by dozens of fans for nothing.

“Sebastian is a pretty name”

She suddenly raises her head on you, catching you staring at her. Well, almost checking her, you have to admit.

“Oh, thanks”

You clear your throat nervously before talking again. You didn’t realize how hard you were staring at her and you hate her smirk and the cockiness with which she raises her eyebrows.

“I should go. I’m sorry I showed up like this without warning and kind of force you out with your secret.”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it” you roll your eyes, thinking about Arsenal’s staff.

“I can tell a word to Jonas if you want me to. Asking him to leave you alone.”

“I can defend myself” you frown.

“I know.”

Her answer makes your annoyance subside as quickly as it had ridden. She just wants to help; she’s not judging you. You look at her eyes maybe a little longer that what you should before smiling at her softly.

“I’ll ask you if I need you, ok?”

“Deal.”

Leah stands up and you are a little sad to see her leave, but you should probably go to bed too. You follow her to the door, opening it for her. She passes the doorstep before turning in your direction.

“Will you be at training tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Sebastian is going back to daycare.”

Leah smiles and before you can react, she kisses your cheek before going to her car. The way your cheek burn stupidly even minutes after annoys you prodigiously.

After that night, you realize that Leah is looking at the best way to recreate the friendship you had in the first place. She’s awkward sometimes but that make you laugh. The others have realized that something changed between both of you, and you informed Mario and Laia about what happened. It makes sense for them, but not for the others.

Leah comes from time to time at your house with a coffee for you and a hot chocolate for Sebastian for breakfast. You like those moments together and after several moment of shyness, Sebastian is now really at ease with the blonde.

“He looks so much like you” Leah points one morning while you are sitting to drink your coffee while Sebastian is playing on the ground with his little cars, his bump almost impossible to see now.

“Well, I hope so, after all the hours I worked for him to go out of me” you roll your eyes.

Leah imitates you before answering.

“Of course, he looks like you. But he has the same eyes color, the same mimic too. The only thing changing is that he doesn’t have your Spanish accent while talking English.”

“What?! I don’t have an accent anymore” your frown deeply.

“Of course you have” Leah laughs.

You keep frowning. You are living in London since almost seven years, you are pretty sure that you haven’t any accent anymore.

“Don’t make that face” Leah still laughs. “It’s kind of cute and hot honestly.”

You raise your eyebrow while looking at her. Does Leah just say you are hot? You can’t say anything else though, because Sebastian is coming to you with a frown and one of his cars in one hand, a wheel in another. You look at him wordlessly handing it to Leah, who puts it back without hesitation.

Others changes came in your relationship with Leah. Your favorites people to cuddle have been Lia and Beth, before Alessia and Kyra came to Arsenal. Leah seems surprised when you put your legs on hers for the first time during a team bonding while you were sitting on a couch, but you didn’t really think about it. You just did what you wanted without thinking.

Thanks god, Leah’s rigidity faded as quick as she came. Since that day she’s the one initiating hug from time to time.

And she takes the habits not to prevent you when she comes to your house for breakfast or in another moment of the day. She usually doesn’t come at evening because she knows that Sebastian might be sleeping.

It was another day like the other when Leah comes to your house with her bag of pastries and your hot drinks. She rings the bell like every time but she’s not facing you when the door is open. She’s facing a man around your age, looking at her with the same surprise as she is.

“Who are you?” he asks, and Leah arch her eyebrow.

“Who are you?” she snaps back.

She doesn’t like the way he’s standing on your apartment like he owns it. She read to many news items and watched to many dark television reports about men killing women.

But she doesn’t have the time to get scared a little longer, because there is suddenly a sweet, happy voice that she knows very well.

“Leah!”

Sebastian is running from the living room for Leah, jumping on her knees. Leah takes him in her arms and hug him, before looking again at the man.

“Where’s Y/N?”

“Mamá is in the bathroom” Sebastian says happily, looking in the bakery bag with appetite. “Did you buy me Mince pies?”

“Sur, Buddy.”

With his pastry in her hand, Sebastian runs back inside the apartment to sit at the dining table. Leah follows him and was starting to get really annoyed by the other man in the room just when you arrive.

“Leah! Hi.”

She smiles at you and let you kiss her cheek with a side hug. You then put your attention on your son and his pastry, obvious of the tension in the room.

“So, you met Jeff?” you ask, cleaning Sebastian’s cheeks.

“Not really” Leah mumbles, sitting next to Sebastian.

You only raise now your gaze to realize that Leah and Jeff are actually looking at each other from the corner of their eyes with almost hostility.

“Jeff is Sebastian’s dad. He came for the weekend to pass time with Sebastian” you explain.

“’e ‘o ‘o o’ie” Sebastian says, mouth full of food.

“Try after chewing your food Cariño” you roll your eyes at him playfully.

“We’re going to watch a movie and then watch Mamá and you play” he pips up with happiness.

“That sounds good Bud’.”

Leah smiles but you can say that it’s not a real smile. Jeff finally sits next to you, and you manage to entertain a conversation between the four of you, very helped by Sebastian. Around ten, Jeff and Sebastian both left to the cinema, and you hug him tight and verify his bag before letting him leave with his dad.

“I’ll keep you update about our day” Jeff says, kissing your cheek goodbye. “See you, Leah.”

Leah grumbles something back and you don’t lose a second to have a real and long look at her once the door is closed.

“What?” Leah moody ask.

“You tell me. What’s happening to you?”

“Nothing” she shrugs.

You hum in answer, not trusting her for a single second. But you don’t want to push too much. You offer her another tea before cleaning the kitchen and making your bag for the game. Leah’s here so she will drive you to the stadium.

“Where is he staying? During the weekend?”

“In the guestroom, why?”

“He’s sleeping at your house?!”

“…Yeah?”

Leah doesn’t answer. She doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like the way he kissed your cheek like you’re still his, even if you never have really been. She doesn’t like him around you, sleeping in the same house as you are.

“Leah what’s happening?”

You are lost. Leah seems angry but you don’t understand why. She doesn’t answer once again, only looking at you when you put your hand on her arm. You can see torment in her eyes, but you still don’t understand why.

“You know he still fancy you, right?”

“What?” you laugh softly.

But you realize quickly that Leah isn’t joking. The way she looks at you make you feel something funny in your stomach. It’s intense.

“It’s nothing like that between us. We are friend for Sebastian, nothing more. Nothing happened since the night Sebastian was conceived” you say with a comforting voice.

Leah hums once again, her brows still frowning. You erase them with a tentative finger, trying to read her eyes.

“Why are you asking that, Le?”

“Nothing, he was just acting like you’re together or at least like he lives here too.”

“Well he’s not. You or Mario and Laia are here way more often than him.”

Leah still seems moody when you left to take her car to go to training, but at least she’s talking to you and not sulking.

“I was wondering” Leah starts after you chose a music to listen during the trip “What’s your type? I mean it’s obviously tattooed, blond and disgusting bodybuilder for the men, but what about women?”

“He’s not a bodybuilder Leah” you laugh while rolling your eyes. “And for women, you saw my ex-girlfriend, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but Gio has brown eyes and hair. And I totally saw you with a blond before.”

She’s right. You bite your lips softly while trying to find the best way to explain how you “choose” your crushes.

“It’s not a physical preference with women. It’s more… The charism, you know? It can be someone with blond hair and clear eyes, or a brunette. It doesn’t really matter.”

“I see” Leah answer thoughtfully, before smiling. “Who was your first celebrity crush?”

“Dianna Agron” you answer without any hesitation.

How much you are sure about it makes Leah laugh, and you can’t help but smirk back. You were kind of obsessed with her in Glee, I mean have you seen that girl? It would probably be strange not to be, in your humble opinion. You don’t have time to ask Leah’s, because the blonde is parking the car in the stadium. You maybe will be able to ask her the question back after the game.

You don’t let your son coming a lot to the games, there is really less spectators than for the men’s games and you don’t want him to be exposed to someone from the staff or something. But you can’t always say no to him when he begs you to come. Today Jeff is here, so it can easily pass for a dad-son moment to anyone.

You discreetly great him with a wave during your training, internally rolling your eyes when you see him with a bucket of chicken nuggets and some chips, even if it’s like three in the evening. But after that you are focused on your training, you are on the starting eleven today and you have to be more ready than ever.

The game was hard, but it went pretty great. Leah and you managed to block almost all the shoots took by the other team and when they passed, your goalkeeper stopped the ball every time. Caitlin and Mariona scored today, with Alessia being rested. Jonas informed you that you will be sub off around the seventy minutes during the half-time and you just nod softly. You are sad not to play every minute of the game while your son is here, but he knows now that you are sub to be rested to be able to play better the other games.

You knew that at the next stop during the game you will be switch, so you decide to play as best as possible when you see that a ball is coming across the field, for a header from an opponent. You jump to try to take it first, but your head is soon hits by something very strong who made you groan in pain. You fall on the ground without being able to stop your fall, pain radiating in your head.

You are not aware of the opposite player lying somewhere close to you, in pain too. You hear the footstep of the other players around you and you open your eyes just to see Lotte’s short crouch next to you.

“Do you hear me?” Lotte says.

There are other hands on you, stabilizing you on your side. You groan in answer to Lotte, who let a breath of relief.

The pain is awful, but you know that somewhere in the crowd there is your son who is probably mad concerned. You don’t want him to see you like this. Mariona has been subbed for Chloe some minutes before so she’s not on the pitch anymore. There is just one person who can help you now.

“Leah” you whisper.

You can’t hear yourself, so you are really surprised when you hear her answer, from behind you.

“I need to get up” you mumble, rolling slowly on your back.

“It’s not a good idea” one of the medical team answers.

Opening your eyes is painful, thank God there isn’t any sun but only grey sky under you. Leah’s frame block a little of the light, which is good too. You look for her eyes before talking again.

“I need to get up. I can’t worry…”

You don’t finish your sentence, but you see that Leah understands quickly. Her eyes went just for a second where Sebastian is seated with her dad before nodding.

“I’ll help you” she says, frowning. “It’s ok, you have to take her inside, she was going to get sub off anyway”

With Leah and Lia’s help, you managed to get up and went straight to the infirmary. Laia and Mariona came with you, sitting quietly with you while you are being checked by the team.

“Do you want me to go take your things? You can maybe write to Jeff like this?” Laia proposed in Spanish.

“Yes please” you whisper back.

She pats your hand when she sees you wince because of the pain before getting up to close discreetly the door between her. Mariona holds your other hand during all the time and when Laia came back with your phone, you had to ask her to write to Jeff for you.

You both decide that you will meet at your flat after the game, you don’t know if you have a concussion for now, but it’s still better for your son. Jeff says to you that he wasn’t really happy with this thing, but that he will manage to busy his mind. You know he will.

Several minutes later, there are knocks on the door and you mumble a vague “Come in”. Leah comes inside almost hesitantly.

“How are you?” she asks, standing awkwardly next to the door.

“Tired. I have a concussion but other than that I’m ok” you answer to her.

She nods softly and you close your eyes again, looking to have a little of relief for your head. You don’t see Laia and Mariona exchanging a look before the Mallorcan talks to you again.

“We are going to get a shower. Do you need a lift to go home?”

“I can take her home” Leah interjects. “If you’re ok with that, of course.”

“Yeah” you answer only.

Mariona hums while Laia kisses your cheek.

“Call me if you need anything yes?”

“I will Mario, don’t worry”

You snap her hand when she pinches your cheek, making her laugh. You can’t help but smile back, sitting a little more when they are gone. This time Leah comes closer to you, and you can see in her eyes how worry she is.

“I’m fine” you assure her.

She groans in answer, and you almost roll your eyes again but stop the move before it’s too late. The medical staff comes right after, with a paper with the medication you will need for your recovery.

“You can’t be alone at home. Do you have someone to look after you?”

You frown softly, Sebastian can obviously not take this role. And you will need someone to take a look at him probably.

“My… A friend is at home for now. He’s supposed to stay until tomorrow late afternoon” you assure.

“No way” Leah snorts. “I will stay at your home to take care of you.”

There is now way in Leah’s mind that Jeff takes this opportunity to come closer of you in any way. You accept her offer (even if you don’t really have the choice) and with that you are walking to Leah’s car. Well, it’s more like Leah is carrying you and both of your bags.

Like you were imagining, Sebastian is still up when you come home, still wearing his Arsenal kit and looking by the windows to see you come in. He jumps in your legs when you arrive inside, and you take all your strength and concentration to take him in your arms.

“Hi buddy. Did you enjoy the game?” you ask while Leah ruffle his hair.

“Mama hurt” he mumbles, hiding his face in your neck.

“Yes, but I’m alright, ok? Have you eaten something?”

“Nothing since his fries at the stadium” Jeff intervenes. “I wanted to see if you want to eat with us before starting to cook something”

“I’m not really hungry” you shrug.

“The doctor said that you have to eat, Y/N” Leah remembers you.

You sigh softly and look at Sebastian for several seconds. He need a bath and you definitively need a shower too. Then you can all eat together before heading all in bed, that should be something possible to do, right?

“Leah, would you like to help Sebastien with his bath while I’m taking a shower? So Jeff you can cook us something, honestly just pasta with one pot of salsa I have in the cupboard would be great.”

You will see tomorrow for vegetables for your son. Sebastian seems happy to learn that Leah will give him his bath, but you see Jeff frown softly behind her.

“Is Leah staying for diner?”

“Mh in fact, Leah is staying for several day to have a look at me” you shrug.

Sebastian takes your hand to drag you to the bathrooms, so you miss the rejected look of Jeff and the happy smirk that Leah addresses him. You probably would have rolled your eyes, which is still a very bad idea.

Thirty minutes later, Sebastian is finishing his second plate while you struggle to eat more than five pastas. You can see Leah’s concerned gaze, but you start to get really tired, and you would kill to be able to go to sleep right now.

“You should go to sleep” Leah frown while looking at you.

“But Sebastian…”

“I can put him to bed” Jeff says. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Leah proposed to wash the dishes, so you just say goodnight to your son before going to your bedroom. You change for a pajama and go to a quick toilette before going back to your room and your bed.

You recognize Leah’s path in front of your room when you realize that you are the worst host ever.

“Leah” you whisper-shout.

You can’t help but smile when she passes her head through your door.

“I’m sorry I just realize that you don’t have anything to sleep in” you bite your lips. “You can take something from my stuff”

“Thanks” Leah just answer, turning to your furniture to take some short and t-shirt.

“Also, I hope you were not expecting to sleep on the couch, are you?”

Leah froze before turning in your direction, looking a little lost. Even with your brain being a new kind of jell-o, you can only notice how cute she looks.

“I did. Why?”

“Sebastian might wake up this night and maybe Jeff will take him there. If you don’t mind, you can sleep with me?”

“Oh.”

Oh? You arch an eyebrow at her reaction. It’s almost hurtful to be honest, but Leah seems quickly to find a way to recompose herself.

“Well like this I can have a real look at you”

“If you say so” you grumble, before turning your back at her and closing your eyes.

You don’t see Leah’s affectionate smile when she looks at you before she changes her clothes for yours and went to the bathroom. She wasn’t expecting you to ask her to sleep with you when your ex is around. She smirks when she thinks that she beats him there and he probably will get mad about it.

When she joins you in the room again, you weren’t far from sleeping but you still have a pout on your face. Leah lays down next to you and have to put an hand on your hips to kiss your cheek because you still have your back turning to her.

“Sleep well Princess Spain” she smiles.

How can you not smile at that? You do smile, softly.

“Night, Lee.”

“Wake me up if you need something yeah?”

She kisses your cheek again and you hum, moving a little for your back to be press against her. She lets you, even passing her arm around you. You fall asleep very quickly like this.

Like the doctor’s recommendation, Leah wakes you up every three hours just to be sure that you still have all your head working correctly. It’s only when you menace her to make her sleep in Sebastian cradle that she stops.

The next morning, when you wake up, Leah isn’t next to you anymore. You are a little lost, your head is pounding awfully, and you grab you look at your phone to know what time it is. It was before realizing that Leah hides it because you are not supposed to look at screens for now.

You were about to get up when the door of your room is open, just for Leah to be entering.

“Oh, hi. I didn’t know you were up” she says.

“Not for long” you mumble. “Where’s Sebastian? What time is it?”

“Your ex took him to have breakfast somewhere and go to a playground, the weather is nice” Leah explains. “How’s your head?”

“Hurt”

She smiles with sympathy and give you some pills and a bottle of water. You probably haven’t saw her so careful with someone when she helps you to sit, unless with Sebastian maybe. She lets you take your medicine before pressing her hand on your forehead.

“You don’t have fever. Are you feeling dizzy?”

“A little” you admit.

“You should probably eat something. What do you want?”

“Just bring me some of cereals who are at Sebastian” you shrug.

But Leah frowns softly.

“You need a real breakfast”

“You don’t know how to cook” you point with a small smirk.

But you just challenged Leah who snorts and gets up from your bed, answering something like “Try me” before leaving the room. You don’t see her for twenty minutes, time you used to get fresh and change your clothes.

You look at the tray she brings you. Fresh press orange juice, some fruits and grilled toast with butter. You realize that some of toasts are plain and when Leah comes back in bed with you, you understand that she will eat with you.

“I’ve read that you guys are eating bread with tomato in the morning. Sorry but I don’t know how to do that” she says while putting the orange juice in your hands.

“Have you typed What Spanish people eat for breakfast? on Google?”

You just wanted to tease her, but when you realize that her cheeks are suddenly a little pink, you can’t help but laugh. Leah doesn’t seem to take it bad though.

“No. More like How to feed a beautiful Spanish girl in the morning”

“Flattery will get you everywhere”

She just smiles, probably wanting to let you enjoy your breakfast. You are not really hungry to be honest, but you know you need to eat something. Leah seems to enjoy the strawberries, so you lot them to her, eating slowly your toasts. From the outside you probably look like a couple, and you can’t explain why you like that idea so much. You raise your eyes on Leah who smiles at you, and you smile back, trying to ignore the strange feeling she cause in your belly.

It isn’t new, honestly. You don’t know when it started, but it’s not the first time. You already felt your heartbeat go faster when she hugs you or kiss your cheek. Trickle on your skin where she touched you. You are a casual cuddly and touchy person, and you might have taken advantage of it to be closer to Leah.

She doesn’t comment your lack of talking, probably putting it on your concussion. You are feeling pretty great for someone who has one, but probably because it’s a light one.

“Do you need anything else?” Leah asks when you’re finished.

“Cuddles?”

She smiles and get on her back, and you don’t waist a second to almost straddle her, your head on her shoulder, one of your legs between hers and your hand stroking her arm. To be honest, you are almost entirely lying on her.

“Thanks for taking care of me” you whisper, your eyes lost somewhere facing you.

“I wouldn’t have let anyone else take care of you.”

His fingers going up and down your spine would be enough not to make you realize what her words can mean. But your foggy brain seems to be able to do it anyway.

“Why?” you ask.

“Because I care for you, Missy”

She boop your nose with her finger. She could have put teasing in her voice, but there isn’t. She seems a little breathless, which is very strange for someone just lying in a bed. It feels like it’s time for some confessions, so you decide to push your luck a little more.

“Lee?” you continue when she hums. “Why did you hate me?”

“I didn’t hate you”

Her answer seems genuine, but you know that it’s not true. You groan when you roll your eyes, remembering too late that it’s better for you not to do it.

“You did, Leah. We reached a point where we never even say hello to each other. And I felt like even me breathing was annoying you.”

Leah’s lips stretch to a small smile. It was true, but she never hated you anyway. She just needs a way to explain to you without looking like crazy. You were waiting patiently for her answer, you never really understood Leah’s behavior with you.

“I just… Felt like you were turning yourself to anyone but me. You never really talked to me about what you were living with the RFEF, but you did with Viv, Lia or Katie. You weren’t touchy with me like you were with Beth or almost everyone around. Sur we were laughing together but I felt like you never considered me for me. Then Gio came and you were always together, ignoring the rest of the world.”

You frown hearing her confessions. You need some seconds to process all of this information and it’s not because of your concussions this time.

“Gio and I were always together because we were together” you point.

“I know!”

You hear her sights of frustration and feel her moving under you when she passes her hand in her hair. Her stroking in your arm has stopped and you miss them already. You don’t add anything for now, feeling like there is something else to come.

“Then you got your injury and you decided to go to Spain, like if we weren’t enough here. And I have to learn all the shit you got through your damn federation like the public, with your petition and then you finally came back to the team. But I still didn’t know why.”

Even if you don’t know if there is a place more comfortable than Leah’s arms, you push yourself to sit anyway and have a better look at her. She’s still frowning, of course she is. You let your eyes take a look at her face, her eyes, before answering something. You don’t know what you could answer to all that, to be honest. Maybe it’ll better to start from the start.

“I never was touchy with you because I didn’t know how you will react. I know it’s different from Spain, Beth has always been extravagant so I knew she wouldn’t mind. I felt like touched depraved honestly, not in the sexual way but I missed hug and just display of affection” you shrug, playing with a piece of bedsheet.

You can feel Leah’s gaze on you, but you are lost in your thoughts and says, looking only at the bedsheet you are playing with.

“For Gio, we had a good time together but if I knew she will break up with me as soon as she wasn’t here anymore, I wouldn’t have lost time with her. She’s nice, but I was looking for something serious, not just a fling to pass time, you know?”

Leah nods softly.

“When I heard about your breakup I wanted to come to you, but I didn’t know how to approach you anymore. And then Jonas announced us that you hurt yourself during a private practice and that you went back to Spain for recovery.”

You nod softly too, biting your lips softly.

“I didn’t want to talk to you about my pregnancy because we had all of those injuries. I was pregnant because of a one nightstand which wasn’t really clever of me. I didn’t have the courage to be judged by someone. And in Spain I had my parents, even if I had the right of a lecture first.”

Leah puts softly her hand on yours, making you look at her for the first time since you started talking. Her eyes are way softer that what you were expecting.

“I understand. I can’t speak for anyone, but I probably won’t have judge you. I’m not gonna lie though, given our tensed relationship, I don’t think I’ll be helpful with you.”

You smile softly, before shrugging. You still have the part with the RFEF to talk about, which you don’t really like. You are not fond of your new coach to be honest, but at least it’s a little better.

“And for the national team, like other I tried to stand up against them while signing that paper with the other girls. They tried to make us comes back for World Cup, making promises and everything. I called Alexia about it and she explained to me that if we don’t come back, they will call younger players. And I couldn’t let younger girls having to deal with all this shit. Ale managed to convince Ona, Mariona, Aitana and myself to come back. We fight to win, hopping that after being World Champions people will hear us more”

You frown too, not far from Leah’s habits. You hate what happened after the World Cup, all this fuss with the former president and Vilda.

“But people keep calling us traitor and were laughing about what happened to Jenni. Then we made this petition attesting that we won’t come back until the RFEF change, like our coach. They changed the coach but then we got forced to come back, they threatened to take away our professional player licenses if we didn’t come back.”

You shrug, still looking at Leah. She’s silenced for now, but you can see all things getting together in her eyes.

“So, I came back because I didn’t have the choice. We talked a lot, sometimes until like three in the morning, and things aren’t great honestly, but it gets better”

“That’s a lot to process” Leah says slowly.

“Yeah. And I had a baby who couldn’t sleep at night during that time” you add with a smirk.

Leah smiles back, her face getting softer when you mention Sebastian. You can’t miss the bond existing between the two, Sebastian adores Leah, and you are pretty sure that Leah likes him a lot back.

“It was hard, but I never had a single regret about my pregnancy. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“He’s a sweet boy” Leah confirms.

You watch her scratch her forehead before putting a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She still seems thoughtful. You look at her while tilting your head, wondering what is still in her mind.

“What are you thinking about?” you ask softly.

“What would have been different if I was there for you instead of sulking stupidly.”

You shrug before biting your lips softly.

“Can I do one more confidence?”

“Of course.”

Leah sits in the bed too, her back against the bed.

“I had like the biggest crush on you on the first day at Arsenal.”

There is a blank before Leah laughs softly.

“You’re joking?”

“No”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She seems almost outraged by that information but arch an eyebrow before answering.

“You had a girlfriend, Leah. And I’m pretty sure that neither of you would have been interested in a threesome.”

You laugh at Leah’s awkwardness and the grimace she makes soon after. But now that everything was spilled out, you feel a little better to be honest. Lighter. There is no more secrets between you. Or almost, because you still have that crush for her anyway.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you during those times” Leah says, softly stroking your hand now.

“It’s ok. I wasn’t here for you neither when you had your ACL and your breakup.”

Leah shrugs one more time and at this rate she will have done her shoulder-training exercises for the day.

“Plus, you are here now.”

“I am.”

She smiles this time and it’s hard not to have a crush for her when she smiles like this. Leah is a beautiful woman; you must have sore eyes if you don’t realize it. You found her beautiful even when you were at loggerheads, but now that you find back the personality you loved before, it’s even better.

“Would you like to-“ “I was wondering if-“

You talked at the same time, just to shut up at the same time too. You smile at her and she’s smiling too, but this time you are the first to talk.

“Sorry, go on.”

“I was wondering” Leah starts slowly “If you would go out with me one night?"

“Like, for a date?”

“Yeah?”

You really hope that it’s really happening and that you are not dreaming or something. You bite your lips softly before answering.

“I would love to.”

“Are you sure you will be ok?” you ask Mariona in Spanish for the hundredth time.

The usually calm and composed Spaniard sights and throw one of Sebastian’s toys at your head, the poor duck falling on the ground with a “quack”.

“Y/N I swear to God that if you are not leaving now, I will kick you out of your own house. Go get ready.”

You grumble something under your breath, roll your eyes when Mario shouts, “I heard you” and leave for the bathroom. You are already dressed, but you need to do your hair. Tonight is the night where Leah takes you out and you are more stressed than ever.

Mariona accepted to play the babysitter for Sebastian, and she will be sleeping in the guestroom if you are coming home late. You are not the kind of mom who lets you kid to go out usually, when you are not with him it’s because you are at training or at a game. It’s during the week so you were a little reluctant to ask the teen who usually babysit Sebastian.

When you confessed to Mariona and Laia they proposed to come, Laia hasn’t been able to come, but Lia must come soon to help Mariona. Which you find very cute and teased Mariona about. It’s only when she starts to tease you back about Leah that you stopped.

You are just finished to prepare yourself when the doorbell rings and you hear Sebastian’s footsteps running to the door.

“Leah!” he shouts happily.

You frown when you hear him call Leah a second time, but when you go to the living room you understand that it was in fact Lia who he was calling.

“Pwetty” he points you when he spots you coming in the room.

“Gracias mi Amor” you say, kissing his cheek.

“He’s right” Lia says when you great her with a hug. “Maybe I’ll change my Spaniard”

You blush, Leah glares at Lia and Mariona snorts. You then turn to Sebastian to tell him the last recommendations, like eat all his vegetables and to behave with Lia and Mariona. You finally get out of your house before Mariona does, turning in Leah’s direction with a slight strange nervousness.

“So… Where are we going?” you ask, playing with your fingers.

“You’ll see when we will be there” Leah smiles.

She puts a hand in your back to drive you to her car, which she starts as soon as you are both sitting inside. You smile when you hear Taylor Swift singing in the background and hums the melody. You are glad to realize that the conversation between both of you is still easy when Leah asks you a random question and it starts a small talk very appreciated.

You can help but look at Leah from the corner of your eyes, appreciating the way she is dress. Everything is perfect for her, but she’s really beautiful tonight. In fact, you say it to her when you are seated in the table of the new Italian restaurant Leah reserved, suggested by Alessia.

“You’re beautiful, by the way.”

“Thanks” she smiles casually. “I’ll say you are too, but Lia got ahead of me already.”

“She said I’m pretty” you smirk.

Leah laughs softly and you feel your stomach make a special squeeze. She seems so relaxed and when you remember how were things between you two months ago, it seems pretty unbelievable.

“You are beautiful” she says, looking at you right in your eyes.

Cursed be she and her incredible blue eyes. You are saved from fainting by the waitress who came with the menus. You chose to drink a little of wine, it’s not every day that you get out after all.

“It’s the first time I have a date since Sebastian is born” you confess like it was nothing, your eyes still fixed on the menu.

“Really?”

Leah seems genuinely surprised and you arch an eyebrow while looking at her.

“A pregnant woman or a woman with a baby then a toddler aren’t exactly what people are looking for” you shrug.

“Mh. Well, lucky me.”

She smirks and you smile back, trying to ignore the red creeping on your cheek. You like cocky Leah, you always had. You didn’t like when she was harsh and almost mean to you though, but it was time to forget about this moment. You are really happy to have another relationship with her now, even if it seems to be the start of something new.

The night went great, the food was delicious and the company amazing. You and Leah exchanged several longs looks when there is a blank in your conversation. But everything seems so fluid and you love it. You love the subtle flirt from Leah too. She makes you feel special, which you didn’t feel since a long time.

After sharing a dessert, it was time to going home. You don’t hesitate to accept when Leah proposes you a last drink at her house. Mariona informed you two hours ago that Sebastian is dead asleep after having his bath and eating her plate full of spaghetti.

Leah puts something on TV and you both sit on the couch just to ignore it. You are resisting to the urge to kiss her since you left the restaurant, but it’s becoming harder and harder every minute.

Leah was rambling about a random story about her mother’s dog when you finally crack. You just lean in without even taking the time to prevent her, your hand on her hips while you press your lips against Leah’s. She stays still and when you retreat yourself, she’s looking at you with wide eyes. Ok, maybe you read her behavior wrong.

You feel so ashamed that you would rather being struck by lightning right now.

“Madre mia Leah, I’m so sorry. I thought – “

But Leah doesn’t let you the time to add something else. She grabs your face with her both hands and drags you against her to kiss you. You are surprised, maybe less than Leah when you first kiss her, but you kiss her back and you definitely never feel something like that before.

Leah knows how to kiss, and you work on yourself not to jump on her. You follow the move when Leah lays down on the couch, your lips never detached from hers for a long time.  

“I wanted you to make the first move” Leah admits later, when you are cuddling on her couch. “I didn’t want you to feel any pressure”

You just hum and given Leah never refuse you a kiss since the first, you raise yourself to put a peck on her lips.

“Do you want to have the big talk now? About how we see our relationship, or do you want to wait?” the blonde asks you after that.

You frown softly, a little bit surprise by that question. You might have some random hookups at one point, but after your reciprocal confessions and tonight, for you it was more than obvious that you want something serious with her. So you may as well get it clear now.

“I am looking for something serious, I’m not going to lie. I have a toddler and I’m not interested in wasting my time, especially with you because I like you a lot.”

“Work for me baby” Leah smirks, before becoming more serious. “Another thing.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t share” she frowns.

“Okay?”

You don’t understand what she wants to say with it. I mean of course you understand what she means, but not in this situation. You are not really interested to have an open relationship.

“I’m not going to ask you to stop your arrangement with Jeff because it seems working for the three of you now, but it’s not because he’s sleeping at your house that he can say a word in your life or our relationship. And since now he better has his eyes in his pocket.”

You roll your eyes with a little smile. In your eyes, Leah is making a little too much with this story. You are sure that your ex doesn’t have a single interest in you, so you are not lying when you answer to Leah.

“There is nothing between Jeff and me, Lee.”

“For you maybe. We’ll see how he’ll react when you’ll tell him about you and I. But stop about him” she decides soon after.

You were going to ask her if there is another topic that she wanted to talk about, but it was before she shows you what she has in mind by kissing you once again. You don’t complain though, you could probably spend hours kissing her without being tired of it. Everything in Leah is intoxicating, in the right way.

“Is it time for me to get you home?”

It is, but you don’t want to. You agree nevertheless, unable to hold a pout at the thought of separating yourself from Leah, even for some hours. But it’s better this way, even if Lia and Mariona are sleeping in the guestroom, you’d rather to be there when Sebastian gets up.

Leah grabs your hand to takes you to her car and takes it again when you are going to your door.

“I had a perfect night. Thanks” you say when you turn in her direction, passing your arms around her shoulders.

“I have a perfect night too. I can’t wait for the next one”

Her lips stroke yours while she talks, and you can’t help but smile softly.

“Who says it will be another one? Maybe you’ll have to bribe me?”

“Can’t wait” she smirks cockily.

You laugh softly and exchanged another kiss before you have to let her go. She kisses your cheek softly and you enjoy a last time her smell before looking at her going back to her car.

“Text me when you are home?”

“I will. Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night.”

There is only the light in the living room who is still on when you enter the house. Everything is perfectly tidy, way more than when you clean yourself after Sebastian falls asleep. You smile when you see the drawing Sebastian made for you, in evidence on the table in the kitchen.

You pass in your Son’s bedroom to kiss him before going in your bathroom to change for your pajama and prepare you to go to bed. When you are ready, you happily find your bed, looking at your phone just to see that Leah messaged you several minutes ago.

Leah 🌹 I’m home, Lovely. Can’t wait to see you again 😊❤️

You Have a good night too 😊 see you tomorrow?

Leah 🌹 Sure, I wouldn’t want to deprive Sebastian of his morning pastry  🙃

You Seeing you makes him happy too you know, with or without pastry He probably gets it from his Mama 😉

Leah 🌹 Stop and go to sleep, you little flirt 😂

You 😇 Sleep tight ❤️

Leah 🌹 Sleep tight. See you tomorrow ❤️

[thankyouforthememoriesworld]

LaChina Robinson loves Azzi partially because apparently Azzi's mom was her favorite player, see tweet: https://x.com/LaChinaRobinson/status/885497999119593472

So I went down a little memory lane to this thread of the first SC camp. Unfortunately the videos aren't loading for me: https://x.com/LaChinaRobinson/status/1026519098778251269

But mainly, she mentioned a podcast episode. Guess what I found - interview with Azzi and Cam. Listening to Cam talk about Azzi as her roommate before Azzi's interview. And of course Steph is in the podcast talking about them (the audio is rough during this part). The entire podcast is great. :)

https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/24492833

-🔎

I missed you the most during that break, pookie 🤗.

I think LaChina is close to Azzi and her family. In addition, I've included the Duke coach's response to show that she's known Azzi for a long time.

I'm an idiot, because I did see that tweet but I never looked at the thread when she posted photos and videos of Azzi and Cam 🙃.

This podcast was adorable and now that I've heard about it, I want to know when a WNBA player is going to do a camp like this.

[foodsies4me]

Magnus saying ‘I don’t know’ because he imagined his rship with Alec to be very distant. Now he actually likes him and how soft he is and accepting and basically the rookies unofficial big brother/parent. Good bye Magnus’ resolve 🙃

Obsessed with Alec being a magnet for tired children who just wanna cuddle and feel safe 🥹 When the trainees appear it’s gonna be chaos for who gets to hold Alec’s hand and sit on his shoulders and use his blue blanket!! (the Max duo might have a bit of leverage here)

Malec holding hands for 2.0 seconds! They both gonna be thinking about that allllll week. Now the pining official begins 😬 I’m glad they got to talk for a moment cause those feelings gonna hit them real quick.

Woooooo more Malec and smol rookies being cute (me ignoring the whole plot and the fact Magnus half forced Alec into a marriage then took him away from his family + Institute cause angst)

Honestly, you are so valid for ignoring the plot and everything with it.😂

Magnus is having a lot of co flirting emotions and those emotions are having emotions about it. The only thing they all have in common is that they’re currently centered around Alec and that Magnus isn’t enjoying experiencing them because of ✨plotty reasons.✨

Alec is friend shaped and cozy teddy bear shaped in toddler eyes which means he’s the perfect spot to cuddle up to when sleepy. This superpower also works on babies as Steph’s parents know, which is why Alec spent the first year of Steph’s life with a baby strapped to his chest or back whenever she got colicky because he was the only one she would stop crying at.

Steph’s mom was initially miffed, but now she’s just happy that know Steph has a good godparent to take care of in case anything happens. Alec…isn’t aware he’s legally Steph’s godfather and has been since before she turned 1 year old. Jace and Izzy are just waiting for him to find out and cackling in the background.

[meaninglessblah-writes]

Meaninglessblah Conquers Nanowrimo!

Help me conquer my 50,000 word Nanowrimo goal by sending me an emoji-only ask from the lists. Choose two characters, one phrase, and one kink — I'll write you a short drabble based on your selection!

Pick two characters: (selfcest welcome)

☀️ Apollo • 🦇 Bruce • ☁️ Clark • 🗡️ Damian • 🐦 Dick • 💕 Harvey • ⚰️ Jason • 🌙 Midnighter • ⛓️ Ra's • 💀 Roman • 🏹 Roy • ⚔️ Slade • 🍆 Steph • 💎 Talia • ☕ Tim • 🎲 Rarepair Me!

Pick one phrase:

🤫 “Anybody could tell.” • 😮 “Don’t look so surprised.” • 🖕 “Fuck you.” • 👂 “Get loud for me.” • 🔥 “Go to hell.” • ✋ “Harder.” • 🙃 “Is he better than me?” • 🙄 “It’s hardly a choice.” • 👌 “Just like that.” • 🤥 “Lie to me.” • 🤐 “Say that again.” • 😉 “Slower this time.” • 😳 “Tell me the truth.” • 😟 “This isn’t you.” • 😈 “You can take it.” • 😏 “You like it.”

Pick one kink:

🙏 Begging • 🦷 Biting • ✉️ Blackmail • 🙌 Body Worship • 💨 Breathplay • 🎪 Collars • 👄 Confession • 💧 Crying • 🧼 Dirty Talk • 🩸 Discipline • 📸 Exhibitionism • 💦 Facial • 🔫 Gun Play • 🎀 Hair Pulling • 💡 High Protocol • 🙈 Humiliation • 🚫 Inappropriate Use • 🔪 Knife Play • 💄 Lingerie • 🥜 Masturbation • 🤝 Mutual Non-Con • 👏 Objectification • 🔒 Orgasm Control • 🤏 Overstimulation • 🍌 Pegging • ⭐ Praise Kink • 💭 Service Top • 🍑 Spanking • ⏰ Stress Position • ⚓ Suspension Play • 🧊 Temperature Play • 👁️ Voyeurism

Send me an emoji-only ask!

[that-damn-fouth-chaosemerald]

Heeeey!! Okay listen! Could you do x reader headcanons for Steph and Alex with a fem!so with a LOT (8 in particular, 4 in both ears, and i also have double helixes like Alex +lobes, 5 more are coming in the next few months) of ear piercings? Like would they like them, make comments on them, how would they react to the healing process (my rook was bleeding randomly🙃) etc. But also my piercings are the only things representing my gayness and i am OBSESSED🥹. Love these girls! Hope its not too much, mwuah😚 ( Aaaand sorry, oversharing is my literal hobby and i am not ashamed😈)

—❢—

×A/N×

Gosh, I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting!

I thought I've already post this-

Btw can we talk abut how beautiful they are?😭🙏❤

(Yes, the author is simping again, keep scrolling-)

×❢ About my work ❢×

we can call it fluff, mention of bleeding, the girls are so supportive!, fem! reader, she/her pronouns used, swears

Fandom: LIfe is Strange: True Colors

Character(s): Alex Chen, Steph Gingrich, You| (Y/N) |The Reader

Ship(s): The character(s) x You| (Y/N) |The Reader

Form: Headcanons

Requested by @riu025

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

[Credit goes to the creators of the gifs!]

Steph Gingrich

• Steph would be like "Wow." and just stare with her owned smile.

• or, if you have more than a few piercings she would be like "Wow, looks like you didn't yourself hold back!" and then she would let out a smile or laugh.

• I think Steph would find it really cool

• Although, the healing process might scare her a bit

• "Uh... Are you okay? Your ear is bleeding..."

"Oh, yeah! That's normal!" :)

"... Okay."

• also, she would ask you if she would look cool with piercings

• "We could have matching piercings, (Y/N)!"

"Matching piercings? Is that even a thing?" You lifted your eyebrows up with a chuckle.

"Yeah! :>"

• Will ask your help before choosing (if she even choose to have a piercings)

• if the piercings are new and you've never had piercing before, she'll just hold her eyes on you and after a moment she'll let out a confident "Hot." to you

• Eitherway, she thinks you're cool

Alex Chen

• she wouldn't be scared of the healing process, cause she's used to it

• in fact, cause she also has some experiences with piercings, she would help you

• i don't think she'll get another piercing, but if you really want her to have an another one with you

• she will. But just one.

• and you'll search ideas together

• "What about something like this?" you showed her the picture which was on your phone.

"I don't know, (Y/N)..."

"Come on!"

• Also, Steph would be like "Wow, you two have the same thing!" to the helixes

"Yeah... Almost."

In the final words:

• I think they would love you with piercings. I mean, they accept and love you in any way, so-

I don't think they would stop or disagree with you. Especially Steph. She thinks you're hot with it.

• You just showed up in front of Alex's door, hoping that she could see your new accesories. Although, you couldn't shrug off the feeling of excitement and nervousness, but you still wanted to see and ask her opinion about it. As Alex opened the door, you could see that Steph is there too. Great!

You walked in and of course Steph couldn't ignore the fact that you changed a bit.

"Holy shit, (Y/N)!" she grabbed your face to get a better look. After a second, her grip got softer of the thought that she could may hurt you. You chuckled nervously.

"Alex! Did you see that she has new piercings?" she looked back from Alex to you again with a smirk.

After Alex closed the door, she came up to you as well. Her lips curled into a smile as she saw you.

"It looks good on you, (Y/N)!"

"I know, right? She looks so hot with them!"

"Thanks, but my face starts to hurt a bit, Steph." you giggled.

"Oh, sorry!" she let, but both of them still kept their eyes on you. "But seriously, you look badass!"

Alex agreed with a silent nod and a sparkling smile.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph!

I just wanted to ask something that has probably been asked many times: why does Sherlock say "I killed his wife" in TLD? And why does John reply with "Yes, you did"?

I mean, Mary willingly decided to jump, take the bullet and save Sherlock... then, why do they both say that he killed her?

If Sherlock had said "I couldn't save his wife" it would have been different, but "killed" doesn't make any sense at all!

I read some meta about Mary's death but I couldn't find anything about this two lines. Do you know any?

And what do you think about this?

P.S. Sorry in advance for any mistakes; English is not my native language.

Hey Nonny!

DON'T APOLOGIZE, it's ALL good!! Your English is better than mine, LOL hahah.

Sorry for the delay in a reply.... I thought I answered something similar so I've been trying to find the post but it's not coming up, so I'll try my best here.

Many of us believe that T6T and TLD are a false narrative, because YOU'RE RIGHT; IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! I don't think anyone has SPECIFICALLY talked about those two lines, but I personally believe that, at least in TLD, we're witnessing a John's Alibi scenario and what we're seeing is a story told from either John or Sherlock's perspective about the truth that John actually did kill Mary in a showdown of some sort, and to protect John, everyone involved are falsifying the record.

My own theory is a bit spotty, honestly, but yeah, since I read the series a bit differently than surface level, I personally believe that it's Sherlock taking the fall for Mary's death in his own retelling of it since he believes he has immunity given his abrupt return from his exile and who his brother is.

Again, shitty spotty theory that needs a LOT of work (I've lots of SNIPPETS of notes since I had planned (am planning?) to write a metafic for S4 for YEARS, but yeah, kind of the messy first draft that never progressed to more than that, LOL. Because I am LAZY.

If anyone wants to chime in, please do. I'm so sorry Nonny I'm not more useful than "lol it's fake" 🙃

[enneagram-reblogs]

Countertype Series: Type Four.

From NineTypesCo by Steph Barron Hall.

Meet Jake! (@jakefentonaz) In this interview, he shares what it's like to be a Self-Preservation Four.

Defining the Self-Pres Four subtype:

Self-Preservation (SP) Fours tend to be less expressive of their emotions than other Fours, and can even seem stoic, even though internally they have a lot of the same emotionality that other 4s experience. These 4s are commonly misunderstood because they have a bright, happy disposition. They often hold incredibly high standards for themselves and work painstakingly to reach them, even to the point that they might burn themselves out because they believe they deserve to suffer in some sense (and that they don't deserve a break).

Did you ever mistype?

"Yes. I thought I was a 3. I have a strong 3 wing, but I have never felt like I could be truly successful & authentic at the same time. I intuitively knew that authenticity/honesty was the most important thing to me but couldn't find the words to articulate what I felt. I would read the qualities of a 3 and 4, and I identified partially with both. I decided I was a 3 because 4s are sad, depressed, and sensitive. That's obviously a very misinformed view, but that's why I thought I was a 3.

"Then I read Beatrice Chestnut's explanation of the subtypes, particularly the self-preservation 4, & the Enneagram finally clicked. It went from sorta being accurate to describing me almost to a T. Finally I had words for what I felt/knew!!"

How would you describe the SP4 subtype? What is it like for you to move through life as a Self-Pres 4?

"I feel like a walking paradox. Some days I am able to throw caution to the wind (the recklessness of the SP-4), but most days I am wondering why everyone is wasting time, wading around the shallow end when we could add more value to life by diving into the deep end.

"Sometimes the shallow end is good. I have learned that my conversations with people don't have to turn into quasi-group-therapy sessions, and it's fine to just talk about the weather or The Lakers.

"But I love people & I'm so curious about them & their lives. I want to cultivate deep relationships. I also think I have this compulsion to help others, even when they aren't asking for it."

"Who's actually going to help you walk through that difficult circumstance, navigate that loss or offer a space for you to actually be your authentic self?

"I love all these things about the 4, but I'm also jealous of those that can just move through life talking about the weather. I want to talk about the weather, I see the value, but it's hard for me."

What is the biggest challenge you face in your life related to your subtype?

"Definitely being told: 'You're a 4 so you're always in your feelings.' From a young age I felt like my feelings couldn't be trusted. (What kind of 10 year old thinks this way??)

"I knew that I shouldn't always trust how I was feeling, but those feelings shouldn't be disqualified either. So I have a tendency to move against them in an effort to process them. They come in really heavy like waves.

There are days where I wake up so depressed I don't want to get out of bed. Those are the days I force myself to get up and drink extra caffeine before the gym. Those days are few and far between, but they do happen.

It honestly pisses me off that I can feel things so strongly because it can throw me off course for the day or week. I've got shit to do, and since I'm feeling sad about whatever, it's pissing me off that I'm even dealing with these emotions. It's really annoying! I wish I just didn't feel so much 🙃 It's like my 3 is frustrated with my 4."

What do you think is the biggest difference between yourself and other Type Fours?

"Definitely how aggressive/proactive I can be. I was talking with another 4 today, and she was describing how difficult it is to have conflict with her husband or the mental gymnastics she has to perform to get herself to do something difficult. I really don't operate like that at all.

"Conflict doesn't bother me at all—I'm glad to start it or engage in it if it's the right thing. I have no problem working aggressively toward a goal or being a little self-interested when it comes to accomplishments or accolades. It adds to my paradoxical nature I guess.

"I can play the stupid schmooze-wine-and-dine BS that's required in a sales role, and I'm good at it. But I also sorta hate myself for it. That's when my 4 is frustrated at my 3."

Is there anything else you'd like people to know about your subtype?

"Think of the internal world of an SP-4 as an orchestra. Every instrument represents an emotion, likely connected to an experience in the past.

"The SP-4 is the conductor. This conductor can turn up or down the volume on certain instruments or section of instruments. The entire orchestra plays representing the full spectrum of emotions living inside the conductor.

"But the conductor changes the volume on a certain instrument to elevate n emotion that must be processed. This is the SP-4. The orchestra is always playing.

"A lot of people experience one emotion at a time. They might feel happy or sad or angry. Maybe a few emotions at once given the right circumstances. But the 4? The entire orchestra plays always, the full spectrum of emotions always being felt. I think this is what made me a great pastor when I was in the ministry. I could authentically celebrate with that family that just had their baby & then an hour later hurt with the husband that lost his wife to cancer.

"It's a wonderful thing to be able to access those emotions but it's also exhausting to manage them all the time. As long as I hear the orchestra play, I'll leverage that in service to others."

[pedroisghosties]

Where do y'all find friends who you can rant and talk about your new obsession with?? I have a friend of 7-8 years and everytime I've sent a voice note telling her what I'm going thru, she never listens to them because she's too busy being on vacation so what I do now is just tell her I'm doing good.

[enwoso]

Lovie having an even worse day than the grump story and hitting Vic pelova and having an all mighty meltdown

TINY TEMPER — alessia russo x child!reader

a long one🙃 got a little carried away when i was writing this, but ENJOY!

grumpy masterlist

travelling was tiring for the average person. travelling to the other side of the world was exhausting. travelling to the other side of the world at the age of four was anything but tiring, until it hits you like a brick wall that is.

alessia knew this would happen. she's tried so hard for it not to happen but when your so little and you get to do exciting things there's no containing your energy.

but it was now officially day two of arsenals post season trip to melbourne and you were past the point of tired.

when the flight landed at seven am yesterday morning you were fast asleep, alessia not thinking anything of it. more thanking her lucky stars she was going to be able to get through customs a little quicker without having to have eyes in back of her head in case you decided to bolt. something you'd done on the layover finding it the funniest game ever.

however, alessia wished she could have gone back in time and told herself to wake you up instead of just trying to make things easier for herself as when it came to bed time last night you had more energy than a duracell battery meaning you didn't exactly have the longest night sleep.

but hey you were four and had no concept of time never mind time zones..

"oh did someone not have a good night sleep?" steph giggled slightly as you sat at the breakfast table with your arms on it as your head rested on them an almighty frown on your face.

"who you asking tiny or less?" kyra teased as alessia glared at the young australian a cup of coffee secured tightly in her hands. steph slapping kyra on the shoulder also giving the girl a warning glare. your mummy placing a bowl of cereal in front of you and a bowl of fruit next to it.

you would usually start digging into it but not today, instead you pushed it as far as you could away from you. not wanting it anywhere close to you. pushing it until it hit steph's plate as she was the one who was sat in front of you.

"lovie, don't do that please" alessia said firmly as she pulled your bowl back to be in front of you. you huffing as you turned your head away from the bowl.

"i never thought i would see the day tiny not eating her coco pops!" kyra tried as you gave her a cold stare. you didn't want to eat them, you wanted to sleep but every time you closed your eyes mummy was tapping you on the shoulder waking you up.

"you'll have to be quick, otherwise they'll go all soggy and yucky-" kyra tried again, usually you would listen to kyra as she helped you create some fun when everyone else was being all dull and serious.

"just leave her kyra, she's not gonna eat them" alessia sighed as she watched you turn so you were sat on the on edge of your chair, kicking your legs back and forth. your white crocs which were on your feet close to coming off.

you swinging your feet further and further until your crocs flew off you feet. them being very close to landing on the table next to you. where katie, cailtlin and teyah were sat talking and eating their breakfast.

"ay whose little croc is this" katie's thick irish accent coming out as she picked up your croc, sending you a pointed smile. you giving katie a frown in return as you went back to swinging your legs back and forth.

"do you want it back?" katie had got up and walked the few steps handing your croc back to you but you just ignoring her as katie looked up at alessia who was shaking her head telling the irish girl a no. katie giving a nod understanding you clearly weren't in the mood.

"i'll just give it to your ma" katie nodded to alessia handing your shoe over as alessia mumbled a small thank you as katie returned back to her seat.

alsssia was exhausted already and the day had nearly just begun and that wasn’t due to jet lag although it probably played a big factor but from the fact she knew she was in for a day from hell with you and your grumpy mood.

you come out your shell a little, playing around with vic in a soft play area that the hotel had, most of the girls had been told to chill before it was time for meetings.

alessia was a little more content knowing you were playing with vic, although she would have preferred it more if you’d had a nap but you were having none of that when the idea was suggested.

so alessia sat in the little cafe next to it doing some uni work. her eyes glancing over every so often to where you and vic were. vic admittedly looking like she was having way more fun in the small play area sitting in a ball pit filled with colourful plastic balls.

you were sat playing with building blocks, building them as high as you could before barrelling most definitely a little too aggressively your foot in the bottom of it watching it tumble before restarting.

“vic me wan that one!” you pointed to another little boy who was in the play area on the other side playing with what looked to be his younger brother, as he also was building a tower with other coloured blocks.

“no tiny, you can’t right now someone else is playing with it” vic smiled gently as she picked up another ball in the ball in the ball pit.

“me wan that one!” you demanded a little louder this time, looking over to the little boy as you glared at vic who was starting to get a little uncomfortable as she didn’t exactly know how to respond or handle the situation which in her eyes looked like it wasn’t going to end with your usual cheesy grin.

“tiny you’ll have to wait your turn.. why don’t you play in the ball pit with me” vic tried, hoping it would help for you to forget about the building blocks.

unfortunately for vic it couldn’t be that easy, you instead shaking your head totally uninterested in the ball pit that was filled with colourful plastic balls.

instead you got yourself up from where you’d been sat, vic seeing you were making a beeline for the little boy. in a blink of an eye vic was up out of the ball pit, colourful balls flying out the pit as she lifted you up just inches away from the little boy.

you letting out an angry scream you began to kick your legs into viv’s body as well as flaying your arms around. what vic hadn’t realised is that there was a building block still in your hand and with your arms flaying around, the block hit vic straight in the eye.

the scream alone was enough to catch alessia’s attention as she shot up leaving her uni work, seeing your temper tantrums finally happen. quickly getting to vic’s rescue you were taken out of vic’s arms as you carry on kicking your legs and screaming just this time on the floor.

alessia quickly asking is vic was okay, the dutch girl flashing a smile and nodding her head. her eyes watering a little bit in all she was in fact okay.

alessia’s attention moved to you, as you were still on the floor of the hotel. screaming and crying while you kicked you legs out in pure frustration. alessia could sense the other guests wondering the hotel where staring at the scene that was happening.

alessia trying to pick you up by your hand but you were having none of it, just letting your entire body go limp. to the point where alessia’s patience had worn and she had to pick you up.

"tiny temper strikes!" kyra says with a proud smile, as the others look at her with a pointed look, totally unimpressed.

"you've been waiting ages to say that haven't you-" steph asks as kyra nodded her head enthusiastically watching on as you pull a tantrum in the middle of the hotel lobby. your over tiredness really kicking in.

"that's a singer you tool!" katie laughs at the young australian as the others look on, kyra sat with a confused look.

"what, no it's not" kyra shakes her head not understanding what katie was saying as it breaks katie into another fit of laughter, caitlin hitting katie on the shoulder for her to quieten down.

“katie your thinking of tinie tempeh” steph corrected the irish girl as katie rolled her eyes playfully, “same thing”

alessia managed to get you back to the room, where your sobs had quietened down as you face was now stained with tears as the occasional sniffle came from you.

you had been sat on your own for the past minutes, your mummy giving you the space you clearly needed before trying to talk to you. alessia had tried to talk to you but you just kept moving your head away from her every time she spoke.

“lovie?” your mummy said calmly, as she stood a few inches away from you. alessia was upset with your behaviour but she also knew it wasn’t entirely your fault as you were only acting this way because you were overly tired and overwhelmed. but still it was so excuse.

you glanced over to your mummy as you came a little closer, sniffles still coming from you. your mummy bending down so that she matched your height as you sat on the end of the bed.

“now y/n you understand that what you did to vic wasn’t very kind?”your mummy spoke in a serious which told you she was disappointed in you, you bowing your head so you just looked at your feet, a little hiccup coming from you from spending twenty minutes sobbing.

“you could have really hurt her or yourself with how you were acting” your mummy continued as you still were looking down at you socks and the patterns that were on them.

“do you understand where mummy is coming from?” she asked as you nodded slightly, you understood that what you had done was wrong and you didn’t feel a little upset with yourself for the way you had acted.

"how uncle gio would think if he saw you acting like this?" your mummy asked as you shrugged your shoulder, slightly confused as to why she was bringing up gio he wasn't even here, you hadn't seen him in person since christmas just before he set off on his big adventure around the world.

you shrugged, "uncle gio not here though"

"well he was coming to see you but i don't think he'll want to now especially if you being not very kind" alessia told you as you lifted your head a little. uncle gio was here, how?

“m’sorry” you mumbled under your breath, still looking at your feet.

“i know you are lovie, but when we see vic next i would like you to apologise to her, can you do that for me?” your mummy asked as you looked up from you feet and nodded a small squeak of a yes coming from you as you nodded.

“good, now lovie i want you to promise if you ever get any big feelings that you don’t know what to do. i want you to tell me and mummy can help you” your mummy told you as you slides down from the bed and hugged your mum. alessia’s arms going around you tiny waist tightly as she stroked her hand up and down your back just like she always did.

“can i make a card for vic to say sorry?” you asked quietly, as you mummy flashed a small smile before nodding.

“i think that would be a lovely idea lovie! i’ll get your pens from the suitcases”

you had spent all your time in the afternoon while your mummy trained making vic a card, drawing yourself on it with vic and all of her favourite things — that you could remember that is.

you wanted it to be perfect, and after training you asked your mummy to help you write what you wanted in it.

your mummy writing it while you told her what to write. you making sure to add your own little personalisation into it.

vic was one of the last ones out of training, having went to make a trip to see the physio. just to get a ice pack for the small bruise you had given her on the side of her eye,

your mummy had told you to leave it on her bag, so you doing as you were told you did just that.

mummy was in a strange hurry to leave training you weren’t quite sure why, but you did as you were told. putting your shoes and jumper on when asked before holding tightly onto your mummy’s hand. saying bye to couple of arsenal girls that had managed to get back to the changing room.

your mummy lead you to the front of where you had been training, stopping in the front lobby. as you looked up and asked why.

“just waiting for a second lovie, then we can go on a walk” your mummy smiled as she looked around the lobby.

“can we go to the park?” you asked with hopeful smile, you had seen one on the coach on the way to the hotel and it looked pretty cool and had things you hadn’t seen in the park near your house in london.

“maybe, we’ll see” mummy said quickly as you frowned a little. you hated when people older than you would respond to you with that as it usually meant no, and that was no fun to you.

but the frown was quickly turned around into a smile as your mummy pointed to someone coming around the corner, you gasped as you realised just who it was.

"uncle gio!" you called out excitedly as he lifted you up in the air, throwing you slightly as giggles escaped you as he caught you. your mummy stood recording the whole interaction.

"hey kiddo, you've gotten so big since i last saw you!" gio smiled as you nodded proudly starting to babble how you'd grown and show him how much with your hands.

"i heard you've been causing some trouble!" gio whispered as you gave him a blank smile back, moving your head to face your mummy who's eyebrows were raised.

"i think we are still adjusting to the new time zone in australia, but still we've had a little chat and tomorrows a new day isn't it lovie!" alessia have you a small smile as you nodded your head before resting it on gio's shoulder.

your mummy and your uncle gio began to talk as gio carried you walked through the streets of melbourne. your mummy claiming she wanted to go shopping as you felt comfort in your uncles arms, pointing things out as he gave you a reassuring nod and smile.

but before you had even got to the first shop, you had fell into a trap of dreams. your eyes had felt heavy when walking past a cute little coffee shop but that's the last thing you remember before your eyes, which had felt heavy since the moment you woke up, closed.

"wait- what how on earth have you done that..." your mummy stopped before entering the first shop, noticing you had fallen asleep, something she had been trying all day to get you to have a short nap.

"done what?" gio looked at alessia with a confused look not quite sure what she meant. he hadn't done anything except walk along the streets with you in his arms.

"got her to sleep!"

"cause i'm an amazing uncle duh!" gio laughed once he realised, alessia shaking her head at her older brothers cockiness.

"well she's got half an hour for a nap, you can be in charge of waking her up" alessia smiled sarcastically before continuing.

"and with those amazing uncle skills i’m sure you'll have no problem with lovie's grumpiness when you have to wake her up" alessia continued, the same smile still plastered on her face as she tapped her brother on the back before leaving him to go and look in a shop.

alessia

liked by leahwilliamson and 839,065 others

alessia eventful few days😅 tiny on tour continues🛫🧳🦘

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[dailycass-cain]

Dark Crisis wrapped up today with #7. So it's no better time than to talk about Cassandra Cain and DC “Mega Events”. How she's faired in them and compare fairly how the most recent said event was for the character.

Now, just a heads up this is me talking about universal events in DC. Not Bat-specific ones. So No Man's Land, Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive, Night of the Monster Men, Joker War, Fear State, etc.

The very first mega event Cass took part in was Joker: Last Laugh (I know right? I said no Batman but guess who the mega event centered on? 🙃🙃🙃) were said Clown Prince of Crime infects various supervillains with a modified form of Joker Venom and set them upon the DCU as his "lasting legacy" because he thought he was dying (sadly he wasn't).

 #3 She shows up to find Harley Quinn with Spoiler. And we get this being the only big highlight of her in the main book:

Cass is well-- overtly cocky in this comic and she gets a hubris check (and her meta-human weakness being exploited as she takes on 3 superpowered Jokerized foes with Steph).

This totally makes the tie-in issue all the more baffling as Cass just straight destroys a Jokerized Shadow Thief in the tie-in with this event in issue Batgirl Vol. 1 #21.

Like outside the event had NUMEROUS Cass appearances? Besides her main book, we get good stuff like this little bit in Wonder Woman #175 below (the issue features all the female heroes of the DCU at that time having their moment and this was Cass's):

That and this event gave us her only team-up with Supergirl (Linda Danvers) in Supergirl #63 where she fights a Bizzaro Supergirl and a Jokerized Two-Face (her second canon encounter with the villain, and the last time she’d fight him canonically until this year’s Batman One Bad Day: Two-Face #1) with the Linda variant.

The next Cass appearance in a DC mega event wouldn't come until... 2007 with World War III.

Aka the only reason, she's in this "event" was to showcase HOW Deathstroke nabbed her and explain why she was EVIL due to "One Year Later".

Now I know I could list Infinite Crisis (the event prior to this). Yes, Cass did have crossovers prior to the “main series”. I.e. #60--71 is one long “tie-in” as she takes on the Society (who Penguin uses to send assassins against her like the Brotherhood of Evil and Deathstroke/Ravager), OMAC, and the Society again (with Nyssa being a member along with using them to make a weapon for her advantage). 

Of course, the biggest effect of the main series would also haunt Cass aka the destruction of Bludhaven:

:But again, she never showed up in the “main series”. Just dealing with the aftermath. Unlike say WW III where she appears throughout the mini-series (which mainly tells of Black Adam wanting revenge against the world for what was wrought upon him in the 52 series). 

Cass’s role though is more “filler”:

That's it. 

That's the extent of "WHY" she's justified in this event. 

We already know HOW this goes down (not good for Cass) and it's just "Why do we need this?!" Other than to fill that gap between OYL and Titans East (which was going on in the Teen Titans comic at the time this event was going on. It was DC’s attempt to get the last gasp of EVIL Cass before they undid the STUPID mistake they made back in 2006).🙃

I mean they did retcon showing that it was her and Alfred who really was looking out for Gotham during that year (and not just Harvey Dent with a few weeks of training from Bruce). But oh shucks that wasn’t the story we COULD’VE GOTTEN INSTEAD.

A year later we'd get our very next appearance of Cass in an event with Final Crisis #1 and she's in this group shot here and...

That's it. That's all she does. She doesn’t even show up as a corrupted female Fury (but then again maybe that’s for the best). I guess the closest we get to an actual “appearance” is the prelude to the event which had DC running various mini-series that all fed into this comic.

For Cass she appeared near the tail end of Gotham Underground (her and Helena mopped up some of the gangs that were at war with one another trying to take over the Gotham Underworld with Great White having been taken out by Bane). 

 We wouldn't get another appearance of Cass in a mainline DC Event until--- 2015 with Convergence.

But it’s a bit of rinse and repeat here. Not really doing much in the main book Cass does but showing up towards the final issue of it in various panels (like the one above). 

Her, Steph, and Tim do have their part in Convergence Batgirl #1-2. But yeah... I made my thoughts much on how flawed that series was (even if #1 has a few cute moments).

Truth be told, I rather enjoy her one panel cameo in Nightwing & Oracle #2, where she and Steph attend Dick/Babs’ wedding. And I didn’t even realize that it was them until much latter on. 

So we’re given another event by DC that didn't treat the character with any sort of respect. Surprisingly, it would take until 2020 we'd get an event that would treat Cass fairly in Dark Knights: Death Metal.

Cass shows up in various forms in the event first in #4 as Batgirl in the "bad ending" to Final Crisis with Darkseid winning (seriously it’s little bits like this that writer Scott Snyder pays so much attention as these three heroes were the ones really not accounted for when the New God took over the Earth at that time period. 

Then right after that issue began showing up all over the place in the event. From being a supporting cast appearance in the secondary story in Dark Knights: Death Metal Robin King #1 (along with a one-panel cameo in the first as an evil Batman being tortured by the Batman who Keks) to appearing throughout the remaining three issues of the main book.

Along with showing up in Dark Nights Death Metal: The Last 52 - War of the Multiverses #1 (in the Dexter Soy drawn scenes particularly because I guess he loved to draw her) and another as Batgirl in the Prime one-shot to this event.

Though to her appearance in the later I more attribute to timey whimey multiverse shenanigans as Nightwing was flashing between his Justice League tie-in garb to his usual attire in the story. So I guess he and Cass had “issues”. 

That or an artist slipped this in because she was back to being Batgirl in the main Batman comics at this time.

I gotta say this is probably one of the better events for Cass. Even if she didn't do anything it got you interested in with a, "Hey who is this?" And blows the lid off the rest of the events prior.

This leads us to the latest event, Dark Crisis of Infinite Earths. Cass did have appearances in the main series yes. I did enjoy the comic because of #2 and well three of my favorite DC characters being in an event warms my heart.

Look I love Cyborg Superman too. Don’t judge me.

While I did ENJOY Dark Crisis, were the Cass appearances throughout the main series good? 

 No.

The book's core theme is legacy and yeah the Batgirls were there but never once did the Batgirl mantle mean anything in the event save kick Punchline in the face (which okay is VERY DESERVED given she’s abusing their girlfriend in her mini’s). But...

Cass/Steph/Babs never once appear in the "legacy" shots of the book nor is the Batgirl mantle even treated as such either (unlike Green Lanterns, the Flashes, the Supermen, the Batmen, and Wonder Women). 

Really of the Batgirls in the event, probably Steph had the best showing in it of the three. She had a little subplot go on from the beginning to end with Nocturna. 

I mean yeah both Cass/Steph had a good showing in The Flash #786 (which isn't all surprising as it is the best comic DC is currently churning out).

But even with the final issue when there COULD'VE been a moment. No really there SHOULD’VE BEEN A MOMENT.

We literally had main universe Cazzam and all we got was this:

How do you screw up something so awesome? Tom Taylor would’ve freaking given us it! Heck why wasn’t he on speed dial to the editor saying, “Um yeah Cazzam needs to do something with that specify cover coming up in January). 

But there wasn't. 

I do like that Cass was consistently SHOWN in the final battle attacking things way out of her class (she literally tried to attack the Spectre and was shown attacking B and C-list supervillains who are all physically strong). 

But yeah.

 I'm conflicted about the event when it comes to that when thinking about the overall appearance of Cass in this. She appeared and fought, but really didn't do anything of note (unlike Death Metal where SOMETHING of a status quo shift hit her directly).

I digress we didn't get that ACTUAL ramification with Cass until LAST WEEK'S BATGIRLS #13!!! It's only been implied never fully shown Cass had her past memories (or old origin fully back).

A wee bit two years later. 😬

I mean if you take the implication that she’s Orphan during this event and at the start of Joker War she still is such and then during said event becomes Batgirl again with Steph (Batman: Joker War Zone #1):

Again, I'll take Dark Crisis and Death Metal over the stuff DC had given Cass in the past. Even if they screwed up the overall legacy message (at least for Batgirls) I'll take it over World War III or Convergence any day.

Cause at the very least both treated the character somewhat fairly. The message was there even if it wasn't fully stated in Dark Crisis as it was for Death Metal. So we got a happy Cass in the end in both:

[audiovisualrecall]

Every time I work too much/too many days in a row recently I seem to get sick. First with the flu, then I caught covid right after, and now I worked 5 days in a row and wham, I come home last night and my throat is sore when I talk and swallow, and getting 8+ hours of sleep one night didn't magically fix it unfortunately, just left me with a vague headache :/ I'm so afraid it'll be *something* like the last 2 times I got sick. I don't think I should work tomorrow because I'm afraid it'll get worse. Even if I go to sleep at like 10:20 instead of 11/11:30 tonight I think I need several days of real Rest to prevent this uncomfortable cold thing from becoming something else that would keep me out longer so me staying home one more day is also in their interests bc one day vs a whole week or two 🙃 but idk in tired of being sick and I'm tired of being out sick. I probably do need like a week off again bc I jumped straight back into working after I was symptom free from covid and didn't stop since then plus I stayed up late to work on steph's gift, and my days off were stressful trying to get a multi-month project done in 5 days, plus everything else, and I was stressed out the other day bc I was afraid with the weather I'd get stuck at work, and we were trying to have a hanukkah party, and then when I did get home i stuck my foot in my mouth over steph's gift and it snowballed and everyone ended the night a bit unhappy :/ So it's just been a long week, or two weeks, I don't even remember last week tbh. And at work I got this file sorter and the astl used command strips to hang it on the wall over the sink and of course it fell a week later with only papers and folders and a lightweight clipboard in it. All of it unceremoniously dumped into the sink which had water in it of course. And the extreme cold and rapid temperature changes don't help anything.

[cindytoast404]

💙💚🤓⚫️🙃 for the hf asks?

thanks for the ask!!!

favourite tgwdlm character (💙): probably emma, i absolutely adore that scene with paul where she’s talking about why she moved back to hatchetfield and she’s just such a good character. i almost wish we could get a song with her or smth but obviously it didn’t make sense in the setting of tgwdlm

favourite black friday character (💚): on the one hand my lex kin is too strong on the other hand i cannot deny the absolute obsession i had with general macnamara when this show came out. like jeff was absolutely serving in that role. we stan one (1) military man.

favourite nerdy prudes character (🤓): ….can i pick brooke? nah just kidding, in actuality i’d probably pick steph or grace. i adore grace’s arc and slow descent into bloodlust, and steph’s just. so cool. she’s fr every crush i had on a popular girl, asgdgdgsg.

favourite lord in black (⚫️): tinky or nibbly! tinky bc i too would like to trap ted spankoffski in a box, and nibbly bc he just has such a cool design.

favourite nightmare time episode (🙃): witch in the web!!!! holloduke instantly became one of my favourite hatchetfield couples, and the INSANE amount of lore dropped in that episode is everything to me. also the web i spin for you is one of my favourite songs so :)))

[wehelddarkness]

x

[inevitably-johnlocked]

STEPH!!! hi!!!!

*even more hugs because we all deserve more hugs!*

sooo you seemed interested in my babbling and my book recs so here i am 🙃🐢 hope you don't mind...

i just finished reading "another day" which is basically "every day" by david levithan but from the GIRL's view! i swear this author just keeps stealing my heart-

i cried AGAIN at the ending oh GAWSH THE FEEEEELS HOLY CRAPPIDY POOH!!

it's sooo interesting and fascinating and the writing style 😩 *chef's kiss* if i could i would marry it seriously- i read this one on my kindle and i highlighted every second paragraph i feel like xD

Rhiannon falls so hard for A and you never realize until you read another day!!! it's so cool... and A suddenly realizes how much they are missing from having to switch bodies (tho there are advantages of course)

(i'm suddenly thinking of all these people that follow you and are super confused what this weird turtle is talking about... lemme throw in an apology abou that - sorry turtles!)

anygays it was awesome (apparently i have read it but i had no memory if it lmao) and i discovered there is a THIRD BOOK WHICH CONTINUES THEIR STORY!!!!

gaaaahhhh i'm so excited for it!!!

i'll decide if i will write a johnlock AU after reading that book (it's called "some day") but it would be a fun project!!! even though i am not sure how to write this in my own style and ig it would be giant but i am so hooked omg!

PS: i probably just should have reblogged one of the other posts... oops. sorry about the inconvenience!

PPS: it's 2:45am where i live and i am like staaarving and it takes SO MUCH willpower to not just start the next (and last 😭) book... (okay i already got a sneak peek but still!!) yk when you're just so entranced by a book/story/universe you wanna keep reading forever but also can't wait to get to the end?? my gosh readers are poor creatures..

PPPS: omg i am so sorry this got so long!!! i'll stop now! hope you're okay/doing better! you are awesome!

all the love and much more (flowers? chocolate?)

-turtely 🐢

(following up on this post)

HI TURTELY!!

Listen, I love when all of y'all come here to ramble and be excited! It makes me very happy to know when Lovelies are happy, and it's comforting to know other people have hyperfixations like me, y'know?? I think it's amazing!

Wow, that book series sounds SO amazing!! I hope you write an AU for it, I think it will be awesome!!!!

And don't apologize, I usually miss reblogs until it comes back through my queue, so it would have been another month LOL. Sending another ask is fine HAHAH!

AND GO TO BED!!!! You're so silly!

And I'm doing okay, just very tired and very stressed, and looking forward to the long weekend coming up in a few weeks, since I booked a day off and we have Monday as a stat day, LOL.

Thank you so much for sending me this ask, it always makes me smile :) AND THANK YOU FOR THE HUGS!! I am so starved for affection and human touch, LOL.