Chapter Text
Leah had started to think on the last few England camps that Alessia was her friend. She was one of the nicest and kindest people that Leah had ever met. She was also beautiful, and Leah had forgotten a huge part of her beauty was being an insanely talented footballer who played beautiful football. Leah was used to Alessia converting her long passes into goals, not being one of the most annoying people in the world to mark. It was hard to mark any striker, but Alessia's turns on the ball were becoming the bane of her existence.
It didn't help that she had a little crush that had been building for a couple of months while they got close at England camps and texted back and forth. She had a little crush, and there was a corner, and Alessia was pushing back against her like any other player, but now Leah was acutely aware of the fact that she was very very gay and very very attracted to women. She pulled her head back into the game and watched Katie Zelem raise her hand to take the corner. It was Beattie who headed it away, clearing their lines, and then both she and Alessia were trying to get into space to receive the ball.
It was a long ninety minutes. They were 2-0 up. Viv and Katie had scored; they had this in the bag, but Leah wanted her clean sheet, and Alessia hadn't given up on making that impossible for her. Two minutes of added time was called for as Rafa kicked the ball towards Leah along the backline. It was about dominating possession now and finishing the game out, they didn't need another goal. Alessia was making that impossible, though. Leah could see the challenge coming before it happened, but the ball wasn't reaching her feet fast enough, and Alessia was timing it well.
They both went out with the slide tackle, but Alessia won the ball fair and square, and she was on her feet first and picking it up. Leah got up and ran after her as she made her way into the box, carefully avoiding the offside trap. Leah reached her, but she turned on the ball to get away and shot it straight right at the top corner. Manu was never saving that. It curved in the air and hit the net with so much force that the net shook.
Fuck.
Leah stopped her run, watching her celebrate for just a second. A smile took over her whole face, and she lit up. Watching that, she almost couldn't stay mad. The anger just dissipated. Alessia's celebrations didn't last long, though. She was determined to get an equaliser.
The last action of the game was Leah stopping that equaliser from Alessia. The goal hadn't given her whole team the boost, but it had given Alessia one, and she'd dispossessed Lia in midfield and was making a solo run on goal. Leah chased her down and made a last-ditch tackle to save the game for Arsenal. It took both of them out, but she won it, and the ball rolled off the pitch with the final whistle. They won. It was over. And Alessia was lying almost entirely on top of her because of the tackle.
Alessia rolled off her standing up, and Leah went to stand up, trying to recover from the tackle, when she looked up to Alessia standing over her, holding out her hand to Leah to help her up. "Good game," she commented as Leah took her hand to pull herself up.
"Definitely,” Leah laughed, “Though next time, if you could play like that when we’re playing for England and not against me.”
Alessia smiled, her eyes lighting up as she did, “I could say the same. You kept getting in my way.”
“Well, you kept doing those annoying turns on the ball,” Leah walked into her a little, giving her a tiny shove, “It’s frustrating to keep up with. I’m adding you to my mental list of people I hate marking.”
"Who else is on that list?" Alessia laughed.
"We played Barcelona the other day, so the most recent addition is Mariona Caldentey," Leah paused, “She was all over the place, scoring and assisting goals, and Sam Kerr is always on there.”
“Those are some big names to be up there with,” Alessia commented.
“You deserve it, Less,” she smiled.
Alessia smiled back at her. They’d walked pretty slowly across the pitch, but Leah was called over by Katie and Beth for celebrations. “See you at camp in a couple of days,” Alessia told her as she started to walk back over to the rest of the Man U girls.
“Try and score a goal like that again,” Leah called after her.
She should’ve expected the social media reaction to her talking to Alessia after the game. She texted Alessia a quick apology when she saw it on the bus back to the hotel. She replied about half an hour later.
Alessia Russo:
what are you sorry for?
Leah Williamson:
the attention on social media
Alessia Russo:
it’s no big deal, i don’t mind
people think what they think, it doesn’t matter
Leah Williamson:
it’s just not always fun for everyone especially if people are assuming you’re gay when you’re not
Alessia Russo:
their assumptions aren’t wrong and i don’t mind
do you mind?
Leah Williamson:
people just haven’t reacted the best to it in the past and i seem to get the most of this attention
Alessia took quite a while to respond. Maybe five or six minutes and Leah started to convince herself that she should have just never texted her in the first place. She was also thinking a little too much about Alessia telling her that she wasn't straight. Leah normally prided herself on her gaydar. It was a revelation.
Alessia Russo:
Sorry, i am making my lasagna (but don't tell Lotte that, she'll come over and try to steal the whole thing)
What happened in the past?
Leah Williamson:
You're making lasagna after playing ninety-eight minutes?
Alessia Russo:
I wanted lasagna. My lasagna is really good. Lotte used to beg me to make it after games sometimes and it's not too big of a task
it's lasagna, who doesn't love lasagna
Leah Williamson:
ummm…
Alessia Russo:
LEAH
YOU DON'T LIKE LASAGNA
Leah Williamson:
I normally prefer just plain pasta
Alessia Russo:
Please tell me you're joking
Leah Williamson:
I can't
Alessia Russo:
You're staying the night in Manchester, right?
Leah Williamson:
Yeah
Alessia Russo:
Which hotel? I'll come pick you up, you can't claim not to like lasagna unless you've tried mine
Leah Williamson:
I thought you didn't want to share
Alessia Russo:
Don't tell Lotte because she'll just show up and walk out with the whole thing. I trust you not to try and eat my whole dinner yourself.
Leah Williamson:
I don't need feeding
Leah was running out of reasons to say no mainly because she didn't want to say no and she had no plans beyond staying in the hotel room all night and maybe ordering room service. A lot of the other girls had gone out with Leah didn't feel like dealing with busy clubs and bars.
Alessia Russo:
The offer is open and my lasagna has been called the greatest meal in the world
Leah Williamson:
By Lotte?
Alessia Russo:
And my mum and brothers
Leah smiled at her phone and considered her options, glancing at the room service menu on the bedside table next to her before she sighed and texted Alessia back.
Leah Williamson:
At least give me your address so I can get an Uber. If you're cooking you don't need to pick me up too.
Alessia sent her an address, and Leah got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror. It was her too-casual post-match outfit of trackies and a hoodie that she had on. She quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a nicer jumper. She didn't have much to wear, so it would have to do. Leah went to the Tesco next door before she called the Uber. It felt weird showing up empty-handed, so she grabbed a bottle of wine. She thought red wine was the right thing for lasagna.
Leah pressed the buzzer for Alessia's flat, "It's the fourth floor, the door on the right." She made her way up the stairs. Her heart shouldn't be beating this fast for a simple dinner.
The door was open when she got to it. "Alessia?" she called into the flat.
"The timer went off, sorry," Alessia appeared in the hallway, still holding an oven glove and smiling brightly.
Leah smiled back at her, walking into the flat and shutting the door behind her. "I brought wine," she smiled, holding up the bottle before taking her shoes off.
"You didn't have to bring anything," Alessia walked over to her, taking the bottle from her hand anyway because Leah was clearly struggling.
"I felt weird coming empty-handed," Leah shrugged. If Leah was honest, the flat smelt amazing, and normally, she didn't love the strong smell of any food cooking.
"It smells amazing," she commented, following Alessia through to her kitchen.
"Thank you," Alessia smiled, "It always reminds me of home, the same recipe that my Nonna cooks."
"Is that on your dad's side? That's the Italian side, right?" Leah asked. She remembered her mentioning that her dad supported Italy men and England women at some point.
"Yeah," Alessia grabbed two plates from the cupboard, "She still lives in Italy, so I don't get to see her too often, but she watches all my matches. She called me earlier to tell me how amazing my goal was, it's what made me want to make this in the first place."
"Has she ever made it to a game in person?" Leah asked.
"Not yet; between my injury, COVID and playing in the States, she just hasn't been able to make it to one," Alessia explained, grabbing a couple of wine glasses.
"Do you need any help?" Leah offered.
Alessia smiled, "You could open the wine," she passed her a bottle opener while she got cutlery out of the drawer.
Alessia was annoyingly smug when Leah admitted how good the lasagna was once they were sitting at the table. It was really good. It was amazing. "Guess I'll have to cook for you more," Alessia shrugged once she stopped looking so smug, her smile softening while she said it.
"If you want to take on that challenge," Leah laughed, "Lucy and Kiera keep frozen chicken nuggets at their place for me."
"What do you normally eat?" Alessia asked, looking almost scared of what Leah was going to say in response.
They made it to a second glass of wine before they realised that they had been talking for almost two hours, and Leah completely failed at persuading Alessia to let her help with the washing up. She insisted it was easier to leave it all to soak, and they ended up sitting on Alessia's sofa with Match of the Day on. Mostly, they were talking over it about growing up supporting the team they played for and trying not to talk about the losses that both their teams had taken in the Premier League. It especially didn't help that Tottenham had won.
She only realised how late it had gotten when they were both yawning. "Let me give you a lift," Alessia stood when she did, stifling a yawn.
"You had two glasses of wine," Leah reminded her.
"Three hours ago now," Alessia showed her the time on her phone, "It'll be quicker," she insisted, grabbing her keys off the side and pulling on a Man United hoodie.
"Wrong shade of red," Leah muttered as she put on her shoes. She was sure that Alessia wasn't going to let her get in an Uber.
"The right shade," Alessia shook her head at Leah, "I wouldn't be caught dead in an Arsenal shirt."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Leah laughed, letting Alessia reach past her to open the door.
"What would you even do if you catch me wearing an Arsenal kit?" she asked, "Which would never happen."
Leah thought for a second as they made their way out of the flat, Alessia locking the door behind them. "I'd probably start by taking a photo and putting it all over social media, make sure you can never erase it from existence.” Alessia shook her head, but a smile played at the corner of her lips. “It would be even better if I had a video of you saying that you wouldn't be caught dead in an Arsenal shirt so I can dramatically edit the photo over the top.”
“What like those insta and tiktok edits?” Alessia laughed a little, and her heartbeat sped up while she watched Alessia's laugh. Her eyes brightened every time she laughed, and it was mesmerising.
“Yeah,” Leah followed Alessia to her car, walking around to the passenger side.
“Which hotel are you staying at?” Alessia asked as she got in the car.
Leah gave her the name, and Alessia typed it into her phone, looking at the map before closing the app and handing Leah the phone, “You can do the music if you want.”
“Don't you need the map?” Leah asked.
“I just wanted to check if there are road closures. They're repairing a load of the big roads overnight,” she explained.
Leah went simple for some of her go-to music. Luke Combs. She'd never heard Alessia's opinion on the music yet, she was too nice to complain about the playlists that Leah made. Her own love of country music didn't usually make the playlist, but she liked it as something more calming. It was too late at night for usual, more upbeat playlists that got the girls hyped for a game.
Alessia smiled brightly when she put it in, looking over at Leah, “You like country?” she questioned.
“I pretty much like all music,” Leah smiled, “That does include country.”
“Luke Combs is one of my favourite artists,” Alessia told her, and the two of them started trading their opinions on country music back and forth. While they pulled up to the hotel, Leah was saving Alessia's country album recommendations to her library to listen to later.
“Thank you,” Leah smiled as Alessia parked the car, “For the amazing lasagna and the lift back.”
“Thank you for the wine and the company,” Alessia turned in her seat a little to look at Leah.
Leah smiled at her. Her brain thought about the original texts and Alessia's very casual revelation that she was gay. She really hadn't expected it. Alessia caught her staring for a second and caught her eye, making eye contact with her. Leah could feel herself panic a little, and she eventually broke the moment, reaching for the handle to open the car door. “I'll see you at camp in a couple of days,” Leah smiled.
“See you then,” Alessia smiled back at her as Leah climbed out of the car, turning back to wave at Alessia as she made her way into the hotel. Alessia waved back at her.
She ended up listening to Alessia's album recommendations in the car on the way to St George's Park. Alessia had really good taste, she added a couple of the songs to the team playlist as she pulled up to the camp. She'd been texting Alessia some of her thoughts, and she knew she was just behind Leah on her way to camp in a car with Zel, Mearps and Tooney. Tooney had forgotten some things, and despite leaving at the same time as Leah and being so much closer to Doncaster, they were now running very late for their ETA.
The three of them ended up pulling up behind Leah. Beth and Lotte had ended up in different cars. She had no idea how the Lioness management team organised the transport and car shares, but she ended up alone on most trips up to St George's Park. She didn't mind too much. When she went with Beth, she normally didn't get a chance to listen to music because of how much Beth would talk. She loved Beth, but sometimes she needed some quiet.
Leah watched the Man U girls pull up just as she got up the annoying flight of stairs. She always questioned why those stairs were right there as soon as they got out of the car. It was very annoying, especially with all the luggage. “Hi, girls,” Leah removed one of her headphones, leaning over the barriers to wave at them.
All four of them waved back, shouting various greetings up at Leah. Ella and Zel made it to the stairs first, but she didn't struggle too much with her case. Alessia struggled more; hers was bigger, and she was juggling a coffee cup as well. Leah left her luggage and went down half the steps to help her, ignoring Alessia's insistence that she didn't need the help. When they got to the top of the stairs, and Leah was passing Alessia her luggage back, Alessia pulled her into a hug. Alessia had hugged her before, but they were more one-armed half-hugs to congratulate her after a goal in training. This was more crushing, the smell of Alessia's perfume almost engulfing her. Alessia gave really good hugs. Leah let herself relax into it for a second, but she could feel Mary's eyes burning into her back.
“I'm glad you liked the album,” Alessia commented, stepping away from the hug and grabbing the handle of her suitcase.
“A few of the songs might have made it on the playlist for this camp,” Leah smiled at her, grabbing her own suitcase and following Alessia through the door that Mary was holding open for them.
“Less!” Ella called out ahead where she was checking the room assignments and talking to one of the staff members, “You have to see this!”
“What was that?” Mary's arm wrapped around her shoulder as Alessia walked further away, “When did you two become so close?”
“We've just chatted a bit,” Leah shrugged.
Mary looked at her a little sceptically. She was very protective over Alessia and Ella as the younger girls at United. “Just don't hurt her,” she warned Leah.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Leah was very confused. She had a tiny crush, she wasn't going to do anything about it. It's not like Alessia even liked her back. Up until two days ago, she thought Alessia was straight. She looked over at Alessia, laughing at something Ella was saying. Mary didn't say anything, but she could feel her staring at Leah before Leah was distracted by Kiera and Georgia coming into the lobby.
They spent a lot of time together at that camp. It started with chatting a little at a few meal times, ice baths at the same time, and chatting when they were in physio at the same time. Then, they were partnered up a few times in training and on the same side. Just more time together than usual. All the time together culminated in Leah being the one to go find Alessia when she was missing at dinner the day after their match-up against Austria. Ella had been looking for her but hadn't found her and hadn't eaten anything, so Leah offered to take over the search.
She found Alessia on one of the training pitches. “You're missing dinner!” she grabbed a coat from the changing room as she walked out onto the pitch. She was doing shooting drills, clearly practising hitting the top corner. It was obvious because every shot hit the top corner.
“I'm fine,” Alessia told her.
“We’ve been training almost all day, Less. If you're not hungry, you need to take a trip to medical,” Leah walked over to her, “And Tooney's worried about you. She's been looking for you.”
“I'll text her in a second,” Alessia shrugged as she grabbed a couple of balls from the goal, “I'm fine, Leah. You don't need to be out here in the cold.”
“You're out here in the cold,” Leah pointed out, zipping up her coat as she took one of the balls from Alessia's collection and softly passed it to her. She shot it into the top corner on the first touch. “What's going on?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Alessia shrugged as Leah passed another ball into her.
Leah sighed, “People don't normally skip dinner to shoot balls at an empty net because they're doing alright,” she tried to get more of Alessia's attention, but she was more focused on the footballs, kicking the ball between her feet before she took the shot the second that Leah stopped talking. “Less?” she walked closer to her, but it was clear that Alessia didn't want to talk.
She took her hands out of her pocket and walked in front of Alessia, trying to block her from taking another shot. Alessia looked her in the eye, shaking her head and took it anyway, but Leah stuck her leg out and blocked it. Alessia tried to take another one, and Leah got closer this time. There was only really space for the ball between them. Alessia tried to nutmeg her, clearly planning to run around her, but Leah stopped it, tripping and falling against Alessia in the process.
“This is why they put a line in when people take free kicks,” Alessia commented as they both burst out laughing. Leah took a little step back as she regained her balance with Alessia's help. Her hand held Leah's wrist to stabilise her.
“It wasn't a free kick,” Leah smiled at her with a shrug. There was still barely any space between them, and Alessia hadn't let go of her arm. Leah glanced down for a second away from Alessia's eyes and watched as she bit her lip for just a second. Leah sucked in a breath and looked her in the eye again. She couldn't quite figure out what she was thinking. She took another deep breath and remembered why she was on the pitch. “Will you tell me what's going on?” she asked her, and Alessia stepped away, dropping her arm and running her hand through her hair.
“Do you think I'm good enough to be on the team?” Alessia asked while she was turned away from Leah.
“Yes,” she didn't even need to think to answer the question. Alessia had been playing amazingly. “I just think Sarina hasn't seen you play enough yet,” Leah walked over to her, “This is basically the first season that you've actually played at United. She'll give you your shot soon, she’d be stupid not to with how you've been playing.”
Alessia vaguely nodded, running her hand through her hair and turning back to look at Leah, “I don't think I can face people at dinner.”
“If we wait it out a bit longer, most people will be gone,” Leah smiled at her.
“Don't you need to eat?”
Leah shook her head, “Already ate,” she kicked a ball onto her feet, doing a few keepy-uppies.
Alessia watched her before kicking the ball at her feet and catching it, “Do you want to wait inside?” she suggested.
“Out of the cold sounds good,” Leah smiled. They waited in the changing rooms, Alessia taking off her boots and swapping them for trainers after they'd put all the balls back in the cupboard where they were meant to be.
“Sometimes, I feel like I messed up my own chances at playing for England,” Alessia had been completely quiet until that moment.
Leah turned so she was facing Alessia, leaning against the little wall that made up the sections along the wall. “Because of the injury?” she asked.
Alessia just nodded, playing with her laces.
“It was your hamstring, right?” Leah questioned.
“Yeah, it was a tear in a pre-match training session for the games against you, I think,” Alessia looked over at her for a second for the first time, “I'd scored a lot in the opening few games of the season, I thought I was on top of my game, but I was in surgery a couple of days later.”
“It could've happened to anyone,” Leah told her what she was sure that Alessia had heard over and over again, but Alessia shook her head.
She pulled her hair out of its ponytail. It was a messier ponytail than usual, none of the hairspray that Alessia usually had in, so her hair fell into a fairly normal place. “No, I'd lost a lot of weight in lockdown, I wasn't eating enough, so I wasn't strong enough, caused the injury and took months out, missed the Olympics, and now I just don't feel like I'm scoring the goals that I should be scoring.”
Leah took hold of Alessia's hand that was fidgeting with the hairband on her wrist, rubbing her thumb over the back of Alessia's hand, “You can't change what you missed,” she told her, “And you shouldn't blame yourself for it at all, there should be more support for players to make sure they are healthy,” Leah nudged Alessia softly with her shoulder, “And about the scoring, did you get a concussion at some point that made you forget your games or something?”
Alessia smiled a little, shaking her head, “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don't,” Leah stared at her, “I do remember the goal against Tottenham though.”
“We drew that match.”
“But the goal was beautiful,” Leah reminded her, “I watched it quite a few times and maybe a little biased because I love any goal scored against Tottenham, but scoring it from that angle, Less, it was amazing.”
Alessia laughed at that, her head dropping against Leah's shoulder for just a second. “You'll get your chance soon, Less. Take it and show Sarina how good I know you are.”
“Thank you, Leah,” Alessia told her softly. She looked like she was going to say something else, but then the door opened, and they both pulled their hands away, jumping apart. Leah felt like she'd been caught. She looked up to see a member of the cleaning staff in the doorway.
“Sorry, are you girls not finished in here,” she started to apologise.
“No, it's fine,” Alessia stood up.
“We were just leaving,” Leah added, standing up with Alessia and putting her coat back where it was supposed to be while the two of them rushed out. Neither of them wanted to be in the way. They just took the long route back to the dining room and made it there as all of the girls were filing out, talking about watching a movie.
“We'll catch you up,” Leah told them as she and Alessia made their way into the dining room, ignoring Alessia trying to tell her to go join the other girls.
Alessia got a chance in the next game, and she took it. She really took it. They might have been eleven goals up in the fifty-ninth minute when she came on, but that didn't matter to anyone on the team. They were under strict instructions to keep scoring. Leah smiled at her, giving her a pat on the back as she ran over to join them on the pitch for another corner. It didn't take her long at all to get on the ball, the game was a striker's dream and Leah's too. She was running the backline on the edge of the penalty box. She didn't know how they wouldn't keep a clean sheet.
She won the corner that got her her goal. The record-breaking fourteenth goal after being on the pitch for just ten minutes. A perfect header. The smile on her face was perfect, and Leah was standing right next to her when it happened. Leah pulled her into a hug. They weren't celebrating too much; it felt rude after about the fifth goal, but Alessia deserved a little celebration. “You're amazing,” she whispered in her ear, and Alessia just smiled at her as she pulled away from the hug. It was a huge smile that could probably never be wiped off her face, and Leah didn't want it to be.
Her second shot hit the crossbar in the most unlucky way, then Hemp got the fifteenth goal and Lotte the sixteenth. Beth sent the ball in for the header that gave her her second goal and their seventeenth, only ten minutes after the one that came before it. It was the perfect run for it as well. Leah didn't know if she'd get past the defender and goalie, but, of course, she did. “It's your turn now,” Alessia whispered in her ear when she hugged her.
“Not my job,” Leah laughed as she pulled away from the hug. She was probably one of the only girls on the pitch that hadn't scored one tonight.
The third came less than a minute later from the goal kick. It had been fumbled and undershot, no distance and all height. Most people would have let it go over their heads. That's what Leah expected Alessia to do. She wasn't alone in that thought either. Hemp was making the run to pick it up, but Alessia was jumping and directing it at the goal over the keeper’s head. Eighteen goals. Another hattrick. Doing it that quickly had to be some kind of record.
She didn't get to the huddle first, but she did get there, running up to Alessia and picking her up, “What were you on about yesterday?” Leah asked her.
Alessia laughed as Leah let her feet touch the ground again, “I don't know,” she shook her head. She was smiling from ear to ear.
“Is your head alright?” Leah teased her, tapping her forehead as they walked back out of the penalty box, ready for the goal kick. Alessia laughed as they got back into the game.
She managed to score the final and twentieth goal in the eighty-seventh minute. It fell to her feet after a corner, and she fell over trying to kick in, but she kicked it in. Leah told the girls to get back to the game, but Alessia's arm wrapped around her shoulders anyway, “Thought it wasn't your job?” she smiled.
“It was handed to me,” Leah shrugged as they parted to get to where they were meant to be on the pitch.
“You're too humble!” Alessia called after her.
The full-time whistle came, and there were a lot of hugs, handshakes and everything. Leah managed to miss Alessia while talking to the opposition captain. Sarina’s huddle came first, and all the congratulations to all the goalscorers. Then she got distracted talking to her dad and saw Alessia talking to Millie T, a person she thought was her brother in the crowd. She'd also, very deservedly, grabbed a match ball.
They were the last two in the changing room to get on the bus. Leah was grabbing the speaker and Alessia, she wasn't sure why Alessia was still there. The two of them walked out at the same time, heading towards the bus. Leah had one job, and that was to keep the party vibes going. Neither of them said anything as they walked, but Alessia just smiled at her, and Leah walked a bit closer to her than she would with anyone else and then Alessia's arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into her side as they walked. Leah smiled, wrapping her arm around her waist and hugging her back as they walked through the corridors. She just told herself it was happiness about the win, and that's why Alessia had hugged her out of nowhere.
They slipped away from each other when they reached the doors that led out to the bus. Both of them went to sign a few autographs for the people who had waited alongside a lot of the other girls until they were being shouted onto the bus by Mearps, who'd only just stepped onto the bus herself. Clearly, a task from the driver.
“What's going on with you and Alessia?” Georgia asked her as she took the seat next to her. Zel had gotten a hold of the speaker, and she was now off duty.
“What?” she shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about her stupid crush.
“You two suddenly all close,” Georgia prompted.
“Just went over to her place for dinner after we played them,” Leah shrugged, “We’re friends.”
She felt all of Lucy's weight on the back of her seat, “You went for dinner at her place?” she repeated, seemingly in disbelief.
“Be louder,” Leah quipped sarcastically, “Just announce it to the whole team.”
“What's wrong with the whole team knowing if you're just friends?” Georgia teased.
“I don't know why you're even talking about this. Alessia's straight,” Kiera spoke up from her seat next to Lucy.
Georgia shook her head, “She's not,” she said at the same time as Leah went to say the same thing but she didn't get the chance, but it was obvious she was going to say something.
“I know she's not straight because of the youth teams,” Georgia stared at her pointedly, “How do you know that?”
“It came up,” Leah shrugged.
Kiera laughed behind them, “Oh, she so likes you.”
“Can you guys just shut up?” Leah could feel her cheeks heating up as she shrank down in her seat.
“So you like her too,” Georgia nudged her.
Leah just rolled her eyes, and everyone was distracted by Rachel walking up the bus and serenading them with River Deep Mountain High again. Georgia and Kiera didn’t forget, though. They confronted her again when they were back in the hotel bar. Everyone was drinking to celebrate the records that they'd broken. “So Alessia,” Kiera leaned over the table they were standing around.
“Seriously,” Leah sighed, “Do you really have to?”
“Yes,” Georgia smiled, “Because you have a crush,” she said the last bit in a sing-song voice.
“You’re annoying,” Leah pushed her arm away from around her shoulder, “And drunk.”
“And you’re blushing,” Kiera poked her cheek.
Leah batted her hand away, “Do either of you have a point?” she asked them.
Georgia nodded, “Yeah, ask her out,” she told her very directly.”
“No,” she shook her head at them.
“She likes you,” Georgia smiled, “I asked Tooney.”
“What? Did you two talk about it like it’s teenage drama?” Leah sighed, hiding her face behind her drink. Her heart was beating a bit faster at the idea that Alessia liked her back.
Lucy nodded, “That’s exactly what those two did, but also, we have eyes, and so does she and she's using them to stare at you right now.”
Leah glanced over her shoulder to where she knew Alessia was with the United girls and instantly made eye contact with her. Alessia smiled softly at her, looking a little embarrassed as she averted her eyes. Leah smiled back at her before turning to face Kiera, Lucy and Georgia again. “Ask her out,” Kiera echoed Georgia’s words. She looked back over at Alessia, she was talking to Mary and laughing about something.
“Not now,” she told them, hoping it would just end the conversation.
It was all that she ever really thought about for the rest of the night. She looked over at Alessia a lot, and they kept catching each other’s eye. As everyone was starting to head back to their rooms, she glanced over at her and caught her looking again. Alessia blushed and went to look away, but Leah caught her eye and nodded towards the door. She smiled and nodded in understanding. Leah left her empty glass on the table, went outside, and waited. Alessia didn’t take long to follow her.
She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and mentally cursed herself for not thinking a bit more about what to say. The lobby was empty when Alessia walked out of the room. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Leah smiled at her, “I was just wondering ifyouwantedtogoonadatewithme,” the words tumbled out at the same time.
Alessia laughed lightly, “I didn't quite catch that?” she stepped a little closer to Leah.
Leah took a deep breath and repeated her question, “I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me?” she asked again.
“Yes,” Alessia responded quickly, smiling at her and Leah’s cheeks hurt a little from smiling back at her, “I do have to warn you, though, I think my only day off is tomorrow.”
“I hadn't actually thought about that,” Leah ran a hand through her hair, “Are you going back with the United girls?” she asked.
It wasn't the easiest thing to figure out, but Leah forgot her nervousness about asking Alessia out, trying to find a time when they were both free. They went through a few options and learnt that Coventry was exactly halfway between them in the process, but eventually, the only thing that worked with Alessia going back with the United girls was Leah getting her car to take her back to Manchester and then getting the train back to London after.
“See you tomorrow,” Alessia told her, squeezing her hand after Leah had walked with her back to her room.
The next time she saw her was when she was about to leave. The United girls’ car was blocking her car, and only Zel was there on time, chatting to Leah about the music choices. “Tooney’s lost her passport,” Mary announced, walking out of the hotel with what seemed like hers and some of Ella and Alessia's luggage.
“She didn't need it in the first place,” Zel pointed out as they both went over to help Mary get all her things down the stairs to the car.
“Apparently, it's what Tooney had forgotten when we had to turn around and when Less pointed out to her that she didn't need it, she panicked and brought it anyway, and now she can't find it,” Mary sighed, “Less is going on about how she told her about five times not to bring it because she would lose it.”
“Where's Ella and Alessia?” a very stressed coordinator came out of the hotel, leaning over the barrier as they got the luggage into the boot of the car.
“Ella’s lost her passport,” Mary called up to her.
The coordinator looked so lost, rechecking her clipboard, “We didn't leave the UK,” she pointed out.
“We know,” Katie smiled at her before taking a long drink of her coffee.
“Does this happen with Tooney?” Leah asked them, they were both far too relaxed about it to not be used to what was going on.
“This is the improvement as a result of Zel’s life-saving checklists, which put an end to learning she'd lost something three days later,” Mary explained as her phone rang. They found it in Tooney's backpack, that Ella was insisting she'd checked ten times when she and Alessia came out of the hotel. Alessia was telling her that she's terrible at looking for things. They'd missed each other at breakfast. Leah had gone down earlier than usual and missed most people, and then the chaos of leaving day meant she hadn't seen Alessia.
“Have we been blocking you in?” Ella realised as she reached the car, looking at Leah waiting in front of hers.
“It's fine,” Leah shrugged, “It's really not been long.” It was a good thing that she wasn't going to show up at Alessia's before Alessia got there herself.
Alessia smiled at her from where she was standing behind Tooney as the rest of the girls got in the car. She waited for Ella to get in, shutting the door behind her before she went to walk around to the other side, passing Leah on the way. “I'll see you later,” she smiled, pulling Leah into a hug, her arms wrapping around her shoulders.
Leah wrapped her arms around her waist, “Definitely,” she whispered, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. Alessia smiled at her again as she stepped out of the hug before she walked around the car and got in. Leah got in her own car. She'd already talked to the driver and had given him Alessia's address instead of her own.
She asked the driver to make a stop at a drive-through, so she arrived at Alessia's after she'd gotten there. It was also convenient because it meant Leah got to show up with a coffee that Alessia hadn't had time to have while searching for Tooney's passport.
Alessia was waiting at the door when she reached it, “Long time, no see,” Leah laughed as she hugged her, “I brought you coffee,” she smiled as she stepped away from the hug, offering her the cup.
“Thank you so much,” Alessia looked relieved when she took the cup, drinking it slowly as she stepped back to let Leah in, “You can just leave your luggage there,” she told her as Leah looked around a little awkwardly.
“I still can't believe Tooney and that passport that she never needed,” Leah smiled as she followed Alessia into the apartment.
“Don't,” Alessia shook her head, “She'll actually forget it next time we go away.” Leah laughed lightly, leaning against the counter. “Do you want something to drink?” Alessia turned to face her. It felt a little awkward, like dates sometimes do at the start, both of them nervous and not quite knowing what to do. It didn't help that they hadn't discussed their plans at all.
“Can I have a glass of water, actually?” Leah asked her, watching her as she grabbed the glass and filled it before passing it to Leah.
“What do you want to do?” she asked, leaning against the counter next to Leah, hiding a little yawn behind her coffee cup
Leah smiled at her, “Do you want to just collapse and watch TV?” she suggested, noting Alessia's exhaustion and her own.
Alessia looked a little revealed, nodding, “What do you want to watch?” she asked.
They landed on a simple comedy, collapsing on Alessia's sofa with the chaos of a week on national camp catching up with them. National camp was also exhausting. They started sitting a little apart, talking every so often about the show but they moved closer to each other until, eventually, Alessia's head had fallen to her shoulder, and Leah had her arms wrapped around her. Alessia talked softly about her days at UNC and living in the USA. Leah could honestly listen to her talk about it all day, but hunger put a stop to it, and they decided to go on a walk and find somewhere to eat. It was easy being around Alessia like they'd been doing it forever.
She grabbed Alessia's hand before she buried it in her pocket, interlocking their fingers and then putting their now joined hands in her own pocket. November, Manchester and exposed extremities didn't mix at all. Alessia smiled at her, lightly squeezing her hand and stepping a little closer to Leah but not interrupting her talking about her brother. They'd found themselves on the topic of siblings, and they were mostly trading stories back and forth about how annoying brothers could be. Alessia was the youngest, though so her brothers would switch and become protective, too, whereas, for Leah, it was the other way around, she was the oldest, so she was still trying her best to protect her baby brother no matter how annoying he got.
They walked away from the centre of the city along the canals and a bit of the river and found themselves in a little cafe not too far from Old Trafford for lunch. It was simple, your usual cafe food, but Leah didn't like anything fancy, and she didn't care either because it was with Alessia. There was also a huge leaflet wall in the cafe, which Leah scanned while Alessia was in the toilet. The one for a mini golf caught her eye. She managed to persuade Alessia that it was a good idea when she got back.
They spent most of the time laughing. Alessia was far too clumsy to manage to be vaguely good at it. Leah tried to show her how it was done, but it didn't go well at all. “You're not this clumsy on the football pitch,” Leah laughed as she handed the golf club back that she'd somehow dropped.
“I am,” Alessia laughed, “I fall over most times I score a goal. Keep an eye out for it.”
“I definitely will,” Leah smiled.
Alessia had a record of twenty-two to get in the hole, while Leah had four hole-in-ones. The two of them made their way back to Alessia's after, getting in just before the rain started. “What train were you thinking of getting?” Alessia asked as she took her coat off.
“There's one at seven-fifteen,” Leah checked her watch as they both walked further into the apartment. It was six, and she'd need to be at the station at between six-thirty and quarter to seven probably, and with getting to the station, they had less than half an hour.
Leah's heart beat a little faster as Alessia looked over at her. Neither of them were quite sure of what to do. “Do you want to finish that episode?” Alessia eventually suggested, going over to walk towards the couch.
“Alessia,” Leah reached for her hand, stopping her and pulling her back towards her. She looked confused at first until Leah tugged her hand to get her to come a little closer, and she stepped forward. Leah could see Alessia's eyes drop to look at her lips for just a second before she looked Leah in the eye again.
Leah reached up with her free hand and tucked some of Alessia's hair behind her ear, resting her hand just under her chin. “Is this okay?” Leah whispered, pausing as she leaned in. Alessia didn't say anything in response, just closed the gap between them. Her lips met Leah's in a soft kiss. It was gentle, cautious, neither of them completely certain.
Leah pulled away for just a second, looking Alessia in the eye before she kissed her again. This time, Alessia's hand gripped her waist and pulled Leah in, deepening the kiss as their bodies pressed against each other. Her nerves melted away as she kissed Alessia, and butterflies replaced them. She felt like a teenager again having her first kiss with how giddy it made her feel. When they eventually pulled away from each other, looking each other in the eye, neither of them could stop smiling, and neither of them stepped away.
Alessia picked up Leah's wrist, looking at her watch, “It only takes fifteen minutes to get to the station,” she smiled. Leah laughed lightly and kissed her again.
It had been a long time since Leah had just kissed someone without thinking about taking it any further. They both knew they didn't have time, so there was no sense of waiting for more to come or wanting something more. They were just kissing for the sake of kissing, and Leah couldn't stop herself from smiling.
Eventually, they had to stop and sort out the swollen lips and Alessia's smudged lipstick before they went to the station, but even then, every time Leah looked over at Alessia, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Her cheeks hurt from the smile. They spent the car ride trying to figure out when they both had a free moment in their schedules. Leah was holding both her and Alessia's phones and comparing them.
It was busy, and Arsenal had the start of the Champions League and Barcelona on their schedule to contend with as well. “I don't think we have time until the Christmas break, but mine comes before yours,” Leah told her, “I get out of training after our last match on the 15th, but you have a match against Villa on the 19th. I could just come up then.”
“And I'll be driving down south for Christmas anyway; you don't need to drive all the way up,” Alessia told her.
“What if I want to come see you thrash Villa?” Leah looked over at her with a smile.
Alessia shook her head, laughing as she pulled into the station car park, “We might not thrash them. Anything can happen in ninety minutes.
Leah just shrugged, “Think about it,” she smiled at Alessia as she pulled into one of the parking spaces.
Alessia nodded, undoing her seatbelt and going to get out of the car. Leah stopped her with her hand on her leg, “You don’t need to get out. It’s raining,” she told her. Alessia just smiled and leaned in a little across the console, and Leah closed the rest of the gap, kissing her softly.
“Text me when you get back?” Alessia asked her as she pulled away.
“Yeah,” Leah smiled, waiting just a moment before she got out of the car and grabbed her suitcase and backpack from the boot. She waved one more time at Alessia before she went to catch her train.