“Hey Chifuyu, did you get my order for my dogs food?” You asked. He nodded, ushering you to the back of the store. You followed as the two of you zig-zagged through the different aisles of cat food, snacks, toys, and everything else imaginable, “I swear I think the only dog things you keep here are the stuff that belong to my dogs.”

He laughed and let you in first.

You saw another person ripping into the boxes with ease. You gave the man a smile seeing as he had the food for your dogs.

“Prescription? Really? I didn’t know they made such things for animals.”

You laughed and took the bags from him, “yeah, chihuahuas take a lot of care but thankfully I only get them during the day. My sister and I share custody over them so they’re only with me a few days out of the week,” he nodded.

“You know the bags you purchase for them are over eighty dollars? You know I can cut half the price by buying them for the store and just letting you buy them off of me.”

You gave Chifuyu hopeful eyes, “Really? Ugh, that would be amazing! That would save me so much money!” He nodded, “yeah, if you want to hang around for a few minutes, I can help you set that up! I have to take care of some things up in the front but after that, I can try and set it up for you!”

With university finally finishing up for the semester and holiday break on the horizon, you knew it was inevitable with having to hear Christmas music playing throughout different stores and Chifuyu’s store was not the exception.

“Does he blast the music this loud all day?” You asked. He nodded with a sigh leaving his lips, “you have no idea, he has started it since the end of October. I don’t get it.”

You gave him a giggle and sat next to him.

“I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas if I have to be honest,” you continued, “the music, the forced holiday spirit, all of it can get really annoying.”

Kazutora agreed, “I can only stand it whenever I’m working here because I don’t have another choice,” you hummed in agreement, “maybe the two of us can convince Chifuyu to stop playing this stupid Christmas music.”

Before Kazutora could respond, Chifuyu walked in, “listen, you know I would never ask you for a favor but one of my packages was left at the post office and they close in the next hour but I can’t leave the store, would both of you mind running to get it? It’s a few Christmas cat toys that I need put out for tomorrow morning!”

You gave Chifuyu a look.

“You owe us coffee in the morning,” he instantly agreed and gave you the slip you needed to show the woman at the front office, “you coming?” You asked the blond.

He followed behind you as the cold wind immediately hit both of your faces. You walked in silence, letting the crunch of snow overtake the atomsphere, “so, do you do anything special for the holidays?” He asked cautiously. You shook your head no, “since I moved to Japan on my own and all of my family is back home, I felt kind of depressed celebrating Christmas by myself. How about you?”

He shook his head in disagreement, “never was able to celebrate it now that I’m older, I miss the tradition though. I think hearing music can be comforting because prison hardly allowed for anything to be played through the speakers.”

You knew the background that Chifuyu and Kazutora came from. Although you barely knew Kazutora, you knew they both were gang affiliated and although the both of them left that lifestyle a long time ago, the tattoos made it hard to dismiss that fact.

“Hey look, they’re giving away free samples of food and drinks!” You exclaimed excitedly. He noticed the few stalls of food and drinks at the end of the street, “would you like to try some of samples?” He asked.

You nodded and ran down the sidewalk, dragging Kazutora with you.

“Can we try a sample of your iced gingerbread latte?” The woman nodded and handed you decent sized cups, “they’ve been a huge hit with the crowd today!” She exclaimed.

You and Kazutora walked a few feet away from the stall and took a sip from the cup, “Wait, this is really good!” You exclaimed. He could feel the sweetness of the drink numbing his teeth but didn’t bother to say anything, “it looks like they’re selling baked goods over there! Do you want to try some?” He asked.

You gave him a look of excitement and the two of you ran towards the other stand selling cookies, muffins, and different sweets.

Chifuyu looked down at his phone and smirked to himself.

He knew that the package could wait and that was the reason why Chifuyu hoped that the two of you wouldn’t come back to the shop so quick.

Chifuyu knew his best friend better than anyone else and he knew that you’d be a perfect match for him. You were just a normal girl that happened to move to Japan for school and were trying to find friends in the neighborhood to celebrate the holiday season.

“For it being freezing cold outside, this muffin is really warm!” You exclaimed. He took a bite from your muffin and hummed in agreement, “do you think Chifuyu will be mad if we stay for a little while longer?” You asked with a mouthful of muffin.

Kazutora shrugged, “he’ll be fine, he can wait another day for those dumb cat toys to be put on the shelf,” you agreed and skipped to the next stall which happened to be a photo booth.

You dragged Kazutora inside and sat in front of him, “smile for the camera!” You stated. He gave the camera the smallest smirk as he watched you smile as big as possible, “for two people who really dislike the Christmas season, we really are doing the opposite,” you said in between flashes.

“Johnny, I’m sorry but we’re just two different kinds of people. You’re a man of power. Someone who comes from a wealthy family and I’m just not that. My family doesn’t have money, we aren’t from a family who transcends generations, we will never be a fit.”

Johnny growled in frustration, not understanding why you were so hesitant on just accepting the fact that you two like each other.

“You’re thinking about this too much. We’ve known each other since we were kids and suddenly my family is an issue?” You laughed in response, “it’s not that johnny! We’re just two separate people now. Yeah we might’ve been friends since we were kids but we’re grown ups now. You’re going to be a professional jockey and I can’t even afford to buy a fucking horse! We both have the same dream but you’re the only one who can achieve this.”

He starred at you, his blue eyes wavering in several different emotions.

You grabbed his hand and held it with such a softness that it kind of scared him.

“You’re going to make your family so proud. You’re going to become such a great jockey just like Nick, just like your dad, grandfather, great grandfater, and everyone before him but you don’t need someone to remind you of this dumb town. Just know that I’ll be supporting you from here and that should be enough for the both of us.”

Johnny wanted to reply but you didn’t want to stay any longer.

Finally, you placed on final kiss on his cheek and walk away from him.

Johnny felt his throat closing, tears pooling into his eyes, his hands getting clammy, and his mind racing a mile a minute but none of that was enough to stop him from pulling you back him.

He watched you walk away from him and away from his life.

-

The crowd roared in support, your female fans on the brink of tears while the males in the stands took notes on every single thing you did.

You patted your horse lovingly as she crossed the finish line with ease. Your girl immediately coming to a halt as you finally jumped off of her and took a bow in front of her before giving a kiss to the crowd in appreciation.

“Wow! ( your name )! What a win for you! You’ve won every competition so far this season! There’s only one competition left for you to win before you finally achieve the final race of the season. The Kentucky stakes is the only thing stopping you from the gold trophy! If you win this next weekend, you’ll be heading for the Kentucky Derby next spring. What could that mean for you?”

You gave the reporter a smile and took a drink of your water before looking towards her.

“That would mean a lot. There aren’t a lot of women who have achieved the Kentucky Derby so being here is just a really big accomplishment that I would’ve never thought I would have gotten. I grew up a lot differently compared to others and I never felt like I could accomplish something this big so I’ll never take any of this for granted. There’s someone in my life who introduced me to competitive horse racing and because of that, I cannot thank him enough.”

She smiled warmly.

“Does he have a name? Old family friend? Former lover?”

You shook your head no.

“I don’t think he’d appreciate the name drop so suddenly but he knows who he is and he’s one of the most decorated jockeys to date but I can’t out him this way. There’s a lot of unspoken words and feelings we’d need to work through but he means a lot to me, a lot to my career, and to this sport. Thank you!”

You thanked the camera once more before chugging back another water bottle and making your way to the dressing room where they were just replaying your interview again.

“The ghost of Johnny Joestar continues to haunt you, huh?”

Hot pants sat next to you, giving you a cold towel and your third water bottle.

“Oh shush it, you know how it is,” she nodded and watched as the second round of races began, “I do but I think it’s time you both stop running from whatever is happening between you two.

You let out a laugh and threw her the towel back, “stop joking around. Johnny hasn’t wanted to see me and he has his own career to worry about. I’m sure him and Gyro are causing enough terror to the women of the towns they stop at,” Hot Pants rolled her eyes, “but isn’t it ironic that the Kentucky stakes is being held in your hometown? To which you both are making an appearance? Isn’t that the best time to just put all of this to rest and finally reunite?”

“I don’t think so. I mean if the world suddenly makes us cross paths, I guess we’ll deal with that when we get there.”

She shook her head in disappointment and left so you could clean up.

-

The race was in a few days and although no one was due to arrive until the day before the race began, you wanted to visit a few friends and family.

The smell of the fall breeze made you reminisce in the memories that had here. The days of when Johhny would bring you one of his horses and the two of you would ride until you reached three cities over.

“Any plans for the day?” One of your friends asked. You shook your head no, “I don’t think so. I have a few duties with our old high school but nothing major. Why?”

She shook her head dismissively, “just wondering! I know a few people are coming in to watch the race,” you sighed in nervousness, “i bet. I have a lot riding on this race so I really can’t afford to fuck it up. If I win or even come in second place I’ll be heading to the Kentucky Derby next year.”

She patted your shoulder in support.

“Listen, if it’s anyone that deserves to be at the derby next year, it’s you! Don’t let anyone get into your head about it. Take a stroll around the park, go downtown, take your mind off of the race. The leaves just started to fall and I know you love that kind of thing.”

You agreed and gave her one final hug before heading towards your car.

Your hometown was small, not many people lived here, and in some weird way, that made your nerves ease up a bit. You knew that everyone was still at work or school so you weren’t expecting to get bombarded by fans or crazy dudes who wanted your number.

After grabbing a coffee, you went to the shopping center that was in the middle of downtown. It had a few of your favorite stores and you were due for a shopping spree.

In a weird way, you missed this part of your life but the way you left it made it bittersweet. You hadn’t been back since your emotional departure with Johnny.

You had went to school for a bit but after gaining a scholarship for competitive horse racing, your career instantly sky rocketed when they saw your potential. There had been a few times that where you and Johnny had stayed in the same city but you made sure to steer clear of any places that might’ve been where Johnny was staying at.

You knew that you had a lot to talk about and although you wanted to see him again, you were scared that he’d hold resentment towards you for how you left him all these years ago.

The night was coming in and the area was starting to get busy.

As you made your way back to your hotel, you noticed a small restaurant at the corner of your street. You figured it wasn’t going to be very busy as the most popular restaurants were already packed with people.

“Just one?” The hostess asked. You nodded, “can I get a seat at the bar please?” She nodded and let you pick your chair.

You ordered a simple dinner and a bottle of wine. You figured that since you were in walking distance of your hotel, you would be able to make it home easily.

“That entire bottle for yourself?”

You felt someone sit next to you and instantly recognized the long blond hair.

“Gyro?” You asked with such genuine shock. He laughed and placed his hat on his lap, “yep! Johnny boy is coming in a few minutes but I figured I’d see the woman that has my best friend yearning so badly before he came in.”

You didn’t say anything and let him sit there.

“You really are the woman Johnny loves and I figured I’d give you a heads up before he came in and took you by surprise.”

He threw in a few dollars for beer he chugged back and left through the back door. You stared at your bottle of wine in complete disbelief and before you knew it, you heard the door ring with someone coming in.

The hairs on your arm stood up when you locked eyes with the boy you had been running away from. No matter the warning you knew that nothing would prepare you for the reunion you were going to have with Johnny.

He approached the bar slowly and sat next to you. He took off his blue beanie and ordered a water before looking down to the bar top, not knowing what to say or do.

The lady that sat both you and Johnny made sure to keep any reporters and fans away from the restaurant as she figured two of the biggest jockeys in the world didn’t want to be bombarded with crazy fans or nosey journalists.

“Hi,” you whispered with such a small voice that it even took you by surprise.

Johnny stared at you with a smile and moved just an inch closer, “you look just as good as the day you left me,” you let out a laugh and shook your head, “you always had a way with words Johnny boy.”

He nodded, “you better win tomorrow, I want to see you racing with me next spring,” you nodded nervously and took a sip of your wine, “it’s easier said than done. You come from a jockey family where the cards are always in your favor. I’ve had prove myself every time I step into stables.”

“You wouldn’t have come this far if you weren’t meant for the derby. Gyro doesn’t ever believe in someone that isn’t himself or me and he genuinely believes that you’ll be right back in Kentucky next year with us.

You gave Johnny a nervous giggle, “I never meant to get this far. I was supposed to be some stupid business person in a boring cubicle. I don’t know how I got this far but I’m nervous that it’ll suddenly be ripped away from me,” you admitted.

He nodded understandingly and poured another glass of wine for you.

“It’s not. You’ve had the talent all of your life. I watched it myself. You’ve worked harder than I ever have. I was handed this life on a silver platter but you worked for it. You shouldn’t diminish all of your hard work because you’re nervous. What you’re going to do is win Saturday afternoon and bring your ass to Kentucky next spring.”

The restaurant had gone completely empty. It had left just you and Johnny along with the closing staff.

“We’ve been stuck inside this restaurant for an hour now. I’m sure that the staff has wanted us to leave a long time ago.”

You giggled and put cash on the bar as the bartender bent over, “there’s about a three dozen crazy fans and reporters at the front. If I can suggest something, I’d take the back door. It’ll lead you to the small street that connects you to the hotel you’re both staying at,” she gave the two of you a wink and went back to cleaning the glasses.

Johnny pulled your chair out and followed you out of the restaurant.

The street was still buzzing with excitement but as for you and Johnny, the two of you made your way back to the hotel.

“Do you think I would’ve still been this good of a jockey if we would have stayed together?” You asked. Johnny shrugged, “I think the distance between the two of us was a good thing. It allowed us to grow and be the jockeys we were destined to be but the universe did bring us back together for a reason, don’t you think?”

You agreed as Johnny scanned his hotel card to open the back door entrance.

“I still feel very shitty for everything I did. I know I hurt you a lot and I really didn’t mean to hurt you the way I did,” Johnny dismissed you completely and ushered you into the elevator, “everything that happened is in the past and I think we’re meant to focus on the present. We’re meant to focus on this.”

You stood in front of Johnny’s hotel door as he pushed you against him, “we were stupid teenagers but you weren’t wrong. I come from a wealthy family and that can be scary but if there’s anyone that can handle that, it’s you. All the scary people that were in our life back then are gone. My mom and Nick love you. Ever since my dad died, they’ve been more happier than ever.”

The small tears that ran down your face were wiped by Johnny.

“We both know we were meant to find each other again and I think that time is now.”

You agreed silently and Johnny brought you in for a kiss that was long overdue. One that was meant to happen years ago.

Yeah you were still nervous but you knew that Johnny would be there for you.

The fans roared once again for you as passed the finish line Saturday afternoon. The girls were screaming with tears running down their faces as the others were clapping as hard as they could.

Johnny (and Gyro) were sitting in your section, whistling in support alongside your family and this time when the reporter approached you, you gave her a smile that you could no longer hide.

“Kentucky is waiting for you next year! But this race, you have some extra support in your section! World renowned jockeys Gyro Zeppeli and Johny Joestar were standing with your family this race! Could you give us some insight on that?”

You laughed and smiled at Johnny.

“Johnny Joestar has been there for me since I got on a horse for the first time. He’s been there through it all even though might not seem like it. He’s been that special person in my life to help me through thick and thin. If there’s anyone who understands this life, it’s Johnny and by extension Gyro.”

“Would you say Johnny is a friend, a boyfriend, husband?”

“I guess that’s something you’ll have to wait and see, huh?”

“God, you’re so loud, it’s 7 am.”

You couldn’t bother to even stare at the sunlight as it was far too bright for you to even comprehend the thought of being as awake as Bachira was.

“I’ve been awake since 5 am!” You stared at him in shock, wondering how he was even functioning so well, “well I’m glad you’ve been up, awake, and in such a great mood but not all of us are considering Lavinho decided to take the bus so damn early today.”

With Lavinho being the oldest and the captain of the Barcha squad, he usually decided when the team would leave for any away games and that usually meant all of you were hauling ass into the team bus early in the morning.

If he could have it the way he wanted, all of you would be leaving at the crack of dawn for the next city but most of the team pushed against it and made it for seven in the morning at the earliest.

“You’re so tired because you and Bunny were out at the club last night.”

You stared at Lavinho to indicate that he should be quiet, “aw, why didn’t I get the invite?” Bachira instantly whined. You sighed, scratching your ear in anxiousness, “because Megs, the last time we took you with us you got us kicked out because you wouldn’t get off the bar top.”

The memory instantly made him giggle in response.

“Come on, we should get on the bus before we’re late.”

All of you were playing an exhibition game against Bastard Munchen a few cities away from Barcelona and the drive was known to be a long one. You had packed a bunch of snacks knowing that Bachira was mostly likely going to sit next to you and ask for food the entire way there.

You pulled up your Barcha sweater, wanting to find some kind of warmth in it so you could take a nap on the way but you knew with Meguru sitting next to you, he’d probably keep you up for most of the drive.

“Tired?” Bachira asked curiously. You nodded as you put your head up against the seat and sighed in defeat, “if I could just take a ten minute nap, that’s all I would need to be awake for the rest of the day.”

Bachira nodded and took you to the back of the bus where all the seats connected and let you have the window seat as he took the remaining two seats for himself. You gave him a concerning look but let him do what he wanted.

As soon as you sat down, he instantly pulled your legs up against his lap and threw you a blanket he had kept in his backpack, “take a nap!” He exclaimed excitedly. You couldn’t help but laugh as you grabbed the blanket from him and put your head on his legs.

“Ten minutes, okay?”

He nodded in agreement but knew he was totally not going to actually do it.

What was supposed to be ten minutes turned into the entire bus ride and before you knew it, you arrived to the arena. Bunny had threw you a hollow water bottle to wake you up.

“What? Has it been ten minutes?”

“No! It’s been three hours!”

You instantly looked at Bachira and shoved him playfully, “I told you ten minutes! Why did you let me sleep the entire time?” You exclaimed. He gave you a kiss on the cheek and warpped his arm around your shoulder, “because I can’t let my future wife be so tired! If you were, you wouldn’t be as excited to watch me play!”

You watched as Ego and Noel argued with each other much to the irritation of the other players.

You knew you had no real say in the matter considering you were nothing but a physical therapist for the team but it was like clockwork whenever the two top stars of Bastard Munchen would go for each others necks. It still bothered you to see them so angry with each other but you knew if no one else was saying anything, your concern wouldn’t be taken seriously.

“Hey, maybe someone could step in? I don’t like the direction of this argument.”

One of the other players on the team waved you off, not putting any thought into your comment, “this is just how players are ( your name ), don’t worry your little mind with the politics of this sport,” he murmured.

You huffed, not appreciating the patronizing tone of voice he used on your.

“Where’s the coach? I feel like he should be in here trying to stop this,” you continued. He shrugged and scanned the crowd before giving up, “probably giving an interview or something. They’ll give up on each other eventually,” you nodded and played with the zipper of your Bastard Munchen sweater to pass the time.

Once you realized that you were tired of hearing the two argue with each other, you made a quick escape out of the tunnel and went towards the training rooms to set up for the upcoming therapy sessions they all had in the morning.

Given that today’s game happened to be around noon, you knew that the arena would take a while to empty out. It wasn’t unusual for fans to hang around the arena for photos especially since they were waiting to see if any of the Barcha players would take time to sign or take pictures.

“Laura, can you make me a coffee? I’m exhausted.”

The woman gave you a laugh as you swiped your employee card to pay for your coffee. One of the many perks for working with Bastard Munchen was that players and staff would get almost everything inside of the arena for free or at a discount.

“Can you make that two please?” You heard a thick Brazilian accent say. You turned around and saw the face of FC Barcha standing behind you, “Lavinho, right? Would you like to go in front?” You said a bit star struck.

You had met countless players through your time with Bastard Munchen but it always took you by surprise whenever you met one of the top players for the league. Even though Noel was leading the league in goals and assists, you couldn’t help but watch Lavinho in fascination every time he played. His dribbles always mesmerized you with how flawless he moved the ball around.

“No no amor, you were in front of me, it’s only fair you get your order first, right?”

Your barista shot you a smirk while she continued to make your drink. It was the universal sign that the man behind you was flirting.

Once you finished placing your order, you moved to the side to let Lavinho order. He scanned the menu for a few seconds until he placed a simple order for an americano over ice.

“You’re the cute therapist for Bastard Munchen, correct?” Lavinho asked. You gave him a shy smile and a nod in response, “aw, don’t tell me that you don’t speak to the opposing team just because you work for this lazy team!”

You shot him a half assed look, “our team is leading the league in wins and goals so I think that Bastard Munchen is anything but lazy,” you retorted. Lavinho let out a bark of laughter, “I’m joking amor, I’m sure you work very hard to keep the team going!” He replied.

Noel walked into the hallway of where he knew he would find you. It was almost an addiction at this point. Every home game he would find you at the same cafe inside of the arena. You were probably the sole reason why that little coffee stand was still there considering all of your food vouchers were spent on it.

Just as he was about to approach you, he realized who you were speaking too.

He knew that most of the Barcha team had already left the arena for the night but since they were playing a double header in Germany, they were all due back at the arena again tomorrow afternoon.

“Do you have any plans after this? I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take the most beautiful woman in the arena on a date,” Lavinho asked. The barista stared at you in shock. Everyone knew the ego that Lavinho carried around with him but never did both of you think that he’d be this up front with it, “oh, uh, I have a few work related things to do after this but-.”

“Lavinho, did you get lost?” Noel asked suddenly. You stared up at your ‘boyfriend?’ In surprise, “Noel Noa, here to ruin people’s lives again?” Lavinho asked as he sipped his coffee with a sense of pettiness in his voice.

Noel rolled his eyes and moved closer to you. He knew what he had when he took an interest in you. You were gorgeous, extroverted, and got along with everyone on the team. The two of you had met each other at a Bastard Munchen dinner. You were striking up conversations with everyone around you and ironically enough, he got placed to sit next to you.

Noel wasn’t a man of many words but he made it a point to seek you out more often. He’d bring you that disgusting coffee you’d always order, made sure that you weren’t late to work, and even took you out to dinner a few times during the month. That was more than he’d ever do with anyone else.

You were wearing the mandated Bastard Munchen sweater and Nike running shorts like you always did to work. It wasn’t unusual to see you wearing shorts as the training and therapy rooms tended to run like saunas most of the time but he could tell that Lavinho was getting a kick out of seeing you wearing those tiny shorts.

“I believe our therapist has no business with you.” You sighed and tried to excuse both you and Noel but you knew it was no use. “She’s a grown woman, she can make her own decisions Noa.”

You gave Lavinho one final smile and grabbed Noel’s hand, “thank you for everything Lavinho but we really have to get back to work, I hope you have a good rest of your day!” You stated and practically dragged Noel away from the area.

The two of you reached the end of the empty hallway. Most staff and players had left the arena by now so you weren’t exactly afraid of anyone listening into your conversation.

“Noel, what was that?” You asked tapping your foot expectingly. Noel didn’t mutter a word, not very surprising coming from him. “Noel, I don’t know what it is that we have with each other but you haven’t formally asked me out yet so I don’t think it’s right for you to intervene in my conversation with Lavinho.”

Noel clicked his mouth in annoyance.

“It doesn’t matter what I have or haven’t said. I’ve made it very clear that you’re the only woman I’d ever take the time to be around. You are smart enough to pick up on that. Lavinho being that close to you was unwarranted.”

“Noel, maybe this stoic persona works you have works on everyone but it’s not going to work on me. We are grown adults. We can say whatever we have to say like grown adults.”

Noel didn’t bother to respond as he pushed you up against the wall and smashed his lips against yours. His hands found your thighs and gripped them with a roughness that took you by surprise.

You felt yourself moaning against his lips and tried to suppress it but everytime you did, Noel deepened the kiss even more.

“You are mine whether I’ve said it or not. I don’t let people get close to me especially not like this but you understand the life we have. Soccer will always be my top priority but you know that you’re a very close second. Lavinho is just a joke and you know that more than anyone else,” Noel said sternly. You knew that whenever Noel got angry or agitated with something his French accent would come out thicker than usual and hearing him practially speaking French at this point meant that he was being serious about this.

“Noel, it’d be great to hear you ask me to be your girlfriend. I understand that you have a life with soccer but I’m not going to be walking around here acting like I’m your girlfriend when you’ve never asked me to be. You don’t have to ask me but you can’t be surprised when others take an interest in me.”

Noel growled and gripped your thighs even harder now. You instantly laughed at his reaction because you knew that you were frustrating him on purpose.

“You’re mine, you got it? Mine. Not Lavinho’s, not Ego’s, mine.”

You clutched your bag to your side as you admired the Ubers stadium. It was large, currently sitting empty after a morning game, and the few stray employees doing some clean up around the seats after the game had finished.

It wasn’t unusual for you to be sitting by yourself. You had grown tired of fighting press, film crews, and reporters in order to make your way to the back so you told Lorenzo it’d be best for you to wait until the crowd cleared out in order to find him.

Lorenzo had made it a point to you that he could make it a lot easier for you to find him but you didn’t like the idea of burdening him with such trivial problems when you could realistically hang out in your seat until he was done with work.

“Are you ready?” You heard a voice from behind say.

You turned around and saw Lorenzo giving you that very lazy smirk he typically had on his face. You threw him a scrap piece of popcorn you found on the floor and made your way over to him.

“A hat trick? Seriously?” Lorenzo immediately laughed at your comment, “Snuffy needed to be kept on his toes!” You shook your head and gave him the keys to his VERY expensive car.

Lorenzo had offered for you to drive it more times than you could count but you weren’t exactly keen on driving a car that costed more than anything you’ve ever owned. It was a Ferrari gifted to him by some of the owners of Ferrari and you knew a car that prestigious was not meant to be driven by just anyone.

“Hey, I think I’m going to run to the bathroom, do you mind?”

Lorenzo dismissed you, mentioning that he’d wait for you at the entrance. Even if he was one of the best players for Italy, fans didn’t surround him like they did other New Gen Eleven players. You didn’t know how Michael Kaiser’s girlfriend dealt with the amount of crazed fans that surrounded him constantly and you had to give her props for even dealing with that.

After you threw the paper towel in the trash and fixed the few stray hairs that seemed to be uncooperative, you walked out of the bathroom to notice Lorenzo standing at the entrance with a girl.

You let the scene play out, not wanting to interrupt the conversation they were having with each other. You knew that Lorenzo was a pretty charismatic man. Yeah, he had a very strange and interesting personality but once people got to really know him, they immediately befriended him.

“Lorenzo, you are the sweetest man on the planet, don’t hesitate to reach out once again. I can do better next time.”

You were immediately taken back.

Do what better next time?

And why was he being the sweetest man on the planet to her?

All of these questions swirled in your mind.

“I’ll make sure to let you know, I can’t ruin this yet.”

The woman nodded and finally walked in the opposite direction. You tried to calm your breathing but it was hard when your stomach had practically fell into your ass and you felt your heart racing a mile a minute.

“Hey, you ready?” Lorenzo asked happily. You nodded, looking down at the zipper of your Ubers sweater, “yeah, you can drop me off at my apartment, I want to lay down.”

Lorenzo blinked in confusion a few times. The two of you had plans for a late lunch at one of his favorite restaurants and you weren’t typically one to deny or reject any plans so your sudden change in mood made him question everything.

“Amore, everything okay?”

You nodded again but refused to look at him. You knew the mature and adult thing to do was to ask him about the interaction without any accusations but the voices in the back of your head made you forget that.

Lorenzo huffed in slight annoyance but didn’t bother to question you anymore. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had done something wrong but the two of you had hardly spoken all morning. He had left for the stadium before you even woke up. He gave you a good morning kiss and made sure to see you before he played. All of that was normal for the both of you.

“Are you sure everything is okay?” “Everything is fine Lorenzo, I just want to go home.”

You knew you came off harshly but you weren’t exactly to speak to someone who was going behind your back and hiding things from you.

The rest of the car ride remained silent. You were tapping the handle of the door with urgency until you finally arrived home. You gave him a look, muttering a quick goodbye and slammed his door shut.

“All of this relationship stuff is so confusing.”

He watched as you walked into your apartment and slammed the door shut. You instantly went to your couch and turned the TV on. You knew you weren’t going to watch anything as your mind was too preoccupied with the earlier events to even bother to concentrate on anything else.

After a few hours of silence, Lorenzo knew something was officially wrong. You hadn’t called, texted, or even sent him any posts over social media which was insanely unusual for you. You were chronically online, always scrolling through TikTok or Twitter and sending whatever post you saw to Lorenzo but now you hadn’t done any of that.

The recently active sign wasn’t even on which made everything even weirder for him.

Lorenzo wasn’t an idiot. He grew up on the street and learned to read people rather quickly. He figured that’s why he fell in and out of love so quickly but you were different. You had been dating him for over a year and he still felt the same way he did when he first met you.

“Dah! Sitting here isn’t helping my problems, I need to see her!” He exclaimed. Lorenzo quickly grabbed the keys to his now more modern and less expensive car and sped his way over to your apartment.

Once you got comfortable sleeping over at his condo, you hardly made your way over to your own place anymore. Lorenzo had given you a key to his place, access to everything in his house, and specifically purchased all of your favorite food and snacks so you could eat when you were there. He even went out of his way to move some of your clothes into his closet so you weren’t constantly bringing a bag with you.

The sudden knock on your door made you jump out of your sleep. You had fallen asleep and didnt even realized it. Your phone was still on Do Not Disturb, your tv was still playing reruns of your favorite shitty reality show, and the snack you had brought to the couch was sitting on the floor untouched.

You rubbed your eyes to remove any crust that had built up and looked to the time.

10:30 pm, definitely not the kind of hour where someone should be frantically knocking on your door. You looked through the peephole and saw Lorenzo standing at your door with a sense of urgency.

“Do you realize the time?” You asked, “I do but you’re not okay, something is wrong and you aren’t telling me what it is and I got worried.” You scoffed in response and rolled your eyes, “you were very happy talking to that woman earlier so I figured you’d be busy with that instead Lorenzo.”

He stared at you in confusion, “woman? Which woman?” He asked genuinely. You rolled your eyes once again, “don’t be stupid Lorenzo, the woman you were speaking to while I went to use the restroom. I overheard the conversation you both were having. Something about you being the sweetest man on the planet and you can’t ruin it just yet. Better yet, she also said something about her doing it better next time. Does that not sound familiar to you?”

You eyes were now stinging. You really didn’t want to accuse him of cheating and he never gave you a reason to ever suggest that he would do such a thing but hearing the words again made you get that sinking feeling again.

Lorenzo sighed in realization. He knew exactly what you were talking about and he could see why you were being distant now. Overhearing something like that didn’t exactly sound right.

“Mi amore, please, listen to me.”

You motioned for him to continue.

“I got you a ring, an engagement ring,” your eyes widened in realization and instantly let out a nervous sigh, “the woman you saw works for Ubers and gave me a connection to a jeweler she knew. She helped me with the engagement ring but when she saw what it looked like, she offered to find another jeweler for your marriage ring. She wasn’t a fan of the jeweler and his work.”

You instantly slid against your door and let out another sigh but this time in anger.

“Ugh, I’m terrible, I’m so sorry Lorenzo, I blew everything out of proportion and just ruined the surprise,” you said through watery eyes. He shook his head and dismissed your comment, “you didn’t ruin anything, amore, you just changed my plans a little. I’m not proposing to you here, you still have to wait a little while longer!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his response.

“Lorenzo, you have every right to be upset at me. I ruined this for you because I couldn’t communicate properly,” he dismissed you once again and grabbed you bridal style, “you did not ruin a thing! Who cares that you know about the engagement, you won’t know when I’ll do it or where so the surprise is still there!”

You didn’t say anything as he brought you in for a light kiss and left you wanting more.

You ran down the field, sliding down on your knees as made the goal in the final minute of the game.

Playing for the women’s Bastard Munchen team was something that you found incredibly easy. You were the teams lead scorer, the captain for Bastard Munchen, and the face of the team overall. If they were advertising the women’s team, your face was the one on the poster.

“Great job as usual! Incredible work by ( your name ) in the final minute of the game. Not unexpected but always a sight to see!”

You gave the crowd a wave in support before heading to bench to finally take a minute of rest.

While it wasn’t unusual for you to play the entire ninety minutes, you typically got subbed out halfway through the second half in order to give someone else on the team the chance to play but considering the team was tied, you had called to play ninety minutes so you wouldn’t have to go into additional time.

“You’re wanted for interviews after the game,” your coach muttered in your ear as the final whistle blew. You groaned in childish protest and slid down in your seat, “why! I did them last week! Give it someone else, please?” You begged.

He shook his head before handing you a towel in order for you to cool down. You knew that the men’s team was already in the arena as they were due to play in a few hours but whenever they scheduled a game back to back, it was almost mandatory for the team to stay back to watch them play.

“Who’s the one that wants an interview? If it’s the Berlin press, I’m not doing it, you know they always twist my words!” You exclaimed. He moved you in the direction of the press pool and practically shoved you towards the billion microphones on the table, “hey guys!” You said with fake enthusiasm written in your voice.

The usual round of questions started until the final one came in that caught you off guard, “so, there have whispers around the city that you’re secretly dating Oliver Aiku from the men’s Japanese team. Is there any truth to that?” The man asked curiously.

Your eyes widened, “wait, can you repeat that again? I don’t think I heard that correctly.” The man huffed in slight annoyance, “there have been rumors that you’ve been dating Oliver Aiku, the captain of the men’s Japanese team, can you confirm if those rumors are true?” He asked once again.

“Last time I checked, this was meant to be a press conference about the game, not my personal life,” you spat into the microphone. The reporters went silent as you continued, “my personal life is private for a reason but if I need to shut down some useless rumors that all of you guys have made up in your head, I will. I’m not dating anyone from the men’s Japanese team. They’re great players and some of the nicest people I’ve met but they’re not a priority to me. We can end the conference now.”

You gave the reporter one final look before kicking the chair from under you and walking towards the locker rooms to shower off. You knew that you were being a bit irrational with the reporters but you knew that they would never ask your male counterparts the same questions.

“Oh, so here comes Mrs.Aiku!” You team joked once you entered the locker room. You threw your teammate a wet towel in retaliation, “ridiculous, isn’t it? You know that they’d never ask Michael Kaiser or even Isagi Yoichi a question like that!” You exclaimed through the shower.

They all hummed in agreement, “but you have to admit, a Oliver Aiku dating allegation is kind of exciting, right? He’s like the biggest bachelor in the soccer world so to have dating allegations with him is kind of fun!” Your teammate responded.

You stepped out of the shower and went to your locker where your phone was now lighting up like crazy. While it wasn’t unusual especially after a game, you knew that the spam messages you were getting were from Alexis.

Your relationship with the midfielder wasn’t exactly fresh however the two of you agreed to keep it a secret from the public. You weren’t exactly rushing to expose our relationship with the captain of the men’s team and Alexis respected that for the most part.

“Your phone has been buzzing since the game finished, I’d make sure that everything is okay,” your teammate Trinity said. You gave her a silent thank you and quickly got dressed. You knew that Alexis had a tendency to spiral if you didn’t assure him right away and now that Bastard Munchen had benched him under the concussion protocol, he was more antsy than usual, “I’m sure everything is okay but thanks for looking out!” You responded before shouting that you’d see them in a few days.

Once you left the arena, quickly dodging the front office about staying for the game, you made a stop at the store before heading home for the night. You knew that Alexis would make his way over to your place now that the interview had made headlines online.

“Alexis? You here?” You asked as you entered your apartment. You saw his shoes at the front of the door and his car was parked outside which meant that he had beaten you home, “ja!” He screamed from your bedroom.

You put the bags on top of the table and made the way to your room.

Alexis was sitting at the edge of your bed, his phone in his hand and your press conference playing on the tv. You sat down next to him, placing your hand on his thigh slowly, “Lexi, you know that whatever that reporter was saying is just a lie right? It’s just some stupid rumor that some idiot made up,” you whispered as you put your head on his shoulder.

You noticed the grip he had on his phone and the anger written in his eyes.

“But does Oliver know that? Oliver Aiku? He’s the man every girl wants,” he said with such intensity, “I wouldn’t blame you if you did leave me for him. Everyone wants him and I’m sure he’d want you too,” he continued.

You gave him a look and grabbed his cheek softly, “Alexis, I don’t want him. Have you heard the rumors surrounding him? He’s chronically single for a reason,” you replied, “if I wanted someone like Oliver, I wouldn’t be here. You’re my boyfriend and I don’t want anyone else, okay?”

Alexis signed in response and opened his phone up, “do you think we can finally announce it?” He asked. Your eyes widened at the suggestion as he had pulled up the Instagram post he had sitting in his drafts, “you want to hard launch? Now?” You asked.

He nodded and grabbed your phone, “together?” He asked again.

You thought about it for a moment before agreeing. You knew the internet would blow up the minute you’d both post it but a part of you was excited to finally announce it.

The two of you had picked out a photo for this moment together a few months back. It was a simple picture really. The two of you were on the field in full Bastard Munchen uniform, Alexis kissing your cheek and holding you tightly as you had your arms around his neck.

Alexis handed you his phone after he finished posting the picture. The caption making everything clear for everyone involved.

“Ego, we need to start checking cameras before we head to the next board meeting.”

He gave you one look, seeing the face of unamusement written all over your face and did as you said.

“You mean my board meeting, you’re meeting with all five master before the NEL kicks off.”

You groaned, slamming your face slightly on the table making Anri laugh in response. You gave her a pleading look, one basically begging her to take your place but you knew that she had to check in with the boys which left you no room but to have to meet with them.

It wasn’t that you had a problem with the men Ego brought it, they all were very respectable players with years worth of experience, however; you weren’t exactly happy to see one of them enter your facility.

Noel Noa.

You had a small history with the white haired man and that was putting it lightly.

You had met Noel while you worked with PXG and he was training with the French National Team. Since you worked in the offices inside of the arena, it was nearly a daily occurrence when you saw him entering the building.

At first, you tried to steer clear of his path. A man of his size and his demeanor typically came off as intimidating but the more you continued to run into him made all of that intimidation eventually shake off him.

What started as small coffee dates inside of the arena eventually turned into the two of you going to small events together. Any parties the national team would holt, he firmly ask if you could accompany him. If he was due for any red carpet events, he’d ask if you could be his plus one so he wouldn’t have to deal with all of the interviews and reporting.

You had thought, at the very least genuinely assumed, that the two of you were seriously dating each other. Given how many events he asked you to and how many times he’d ask to take you out to a restaurant or cafe, you genuinely thought he saw you as a girlfriend but all of that came to a head when you asked to finally put a label on the relationship.

It had seemed like you had smacked him across the face with the reaction he had given you.

“We aren’t dating, we’re just friends, that’s it.”

Your eyes widened at his words. Friends? What friend asks another friend to be his date to a plethora of red carpet events?

“Oh, I thought this was more than that but I apologize for assuming wrong.”

That was all you could manage to stutter out. Noel brushed off your comment, not really knowing how to respond to it and moved ahead with the conversation. You had felt like someone had punched you in the gut and left you to suffer alone.

Every time he tried approaching you, you made sure to keep it as professional as possible.

You could tell that Noel was keeping his distance as well. He wasn’t inviting you to as many events, the phone calls he’d give you after a match practically became non-existent, anytime someone invited you to a red carpet event, you’d walk the carpet alone and made sure to steer away from Noel so others wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

That just happened to be the year that Ego Jinpachi had transferred from Dortmund to PXG on a trade. You had been tasked to show him around the building, making sure to let him know where everything was and how to adjust to life in Paris.

The stand off-ish personality he had made the interactions very awkward. You knew that Ego wasn’t a man of many words nevertheless a man of many actions but just like Noel, you eventually found yourself sitting with Ego at your desk until the early hours of the morning.

At first you felt like it was just going over any footage from the previous game and analyzing it all but soon it turned into the two of you just talking until you felt yourselves falling asleep at your desk.

Noel could sense that you had grown closer to Ego. You were spending much more time with him. If he wasn’t at your desk going over footage, the two of you were at cafe inside of the arena having lunch.

He knew it wasn’t his place to say much considering he made it a point to state that the two of you weren’t a couple but it stung to see you so close with him. Everything that you had done with Noel had turned into you doing it with Ego and he could tell that you were cracking the dense and off-putting personality Ego had.

You walked up the stairs of the Blue Lock facility and noticed the men already sitting at the table waiting for you.

“Good morning gentlemen, I hope you’re just as excited as I am to get this meeting started!”

All of them chuckled at your enthusiasm as you passed out folders and files of information, “all of this should answer any kind of questions you may have going forward about the NEL,” you stated.

“You got married? Don’t tell me it was to him.”

Chris pointed to the ring on your finger in shock, “oh shush, you’re the one who denied the invitation!” You replied back, “you’re the one married to a robot, amor!” Lavinho continued.

You shook your head in disbelief, “it’s not my fault that the only one who showed up to the wedding was Snuffy! Anyway, lets focus back on this!” You begged. Chris chuckled, dismissing your plea and circling back to his original comment, “what’s it like to be married to Ego? That man cannot be marriage material. He’s like a soccer robot, love! You could’ve had Leonardo Luna if you wanted too and you chose HIM?”

Before you could speak up, Ego walked into the room and sat next to you. His legs instantly crossed and slurping down on a bowl of instant ramen.

“I beat Leonardo Luna many times during my career. Why would my diamond chose a rock instead of a something more worthy?” Lavinho, Chris, and Marc laughed at his response as Loki excused himself from the table, “now if you’re all done berating my wife, we have to go back to the office to continue analyzing your boys,” he added on.

The four of them nodded in agreement and picked up their files.

“Just like old times, isn’t it?” Noel said under his breath. You looked up from your tablet and gave him a look of disbelief, “no, not really,” you murmured back.

Noel could see that you weren’t exactly in the mood to deal with him, “sorry dictator, I’ll be out of the way,” Noel mocked. You could see that while Noel’s comment didn’t bother Ego on a physical level, you could sense that it irked him mentally.

“Shut the hell up and leave us alone.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his response. You knew that Ego and Noel didn’t leave off on good terms when the two departed PXG and that their feud had more to do with them on the field than it did with you but you being sprinkled on top of their feud made you laugh.

“Let’s find Anri so we can finish up for the day. I’m sure she’s ready to pull her hair out considering she’s been with Reo and Nagi all day.”

The French national team took the field with their pregame warm ups as you stood inside of the suite that Julian had provided for you and Layla to watch the game in.

You weren’t exactly thrilled to be back at the PXG arena but Julian had mentioned to Layla that he had a big game coming up in Paris and he wanted to her to be there to watch him. Layla immediately agreed to attend the game which left you no choice but to be there with her.

The two of you managed to bypass the crowd and make it to the suite before the stadium got filled with fans and let Layla walk through the building to scope out where her dad worked. Given that you knew the stadium like the back of your hand, you showed her the workout room, the cafe where you had one too many dates with Julian, and the locker room where they all got prepared to play.

“Mommy, do you think daddy will see us?” You gave her a small nod and let her go back to munching on the snacks that she had in front of her. You knew that Julian had promised he’d come up to see Layla before the game began but a part of you hoped that he wouldn’t.

It had been years since you watched Julian play and although you were hoping that he didn’t remember his pregame ritual, you knew that someone like Julian wouldn’t forget it.

He had always came up for a kiss and a small pep talk before any big game he played.

“Daddy! You’re here!” Layla exclaimed. Julian scooped her up and twirled her around as he complimented the jersey she had on. He had left her his jersey to wear and it was the only thing Layla wanted to wear in the last couple of days, “Mommy has the matching one!”

You whipped your head around and immediately waved your hands around to try to explain yourself, “It was the only jersey I had and in my defense, it’s actually Charles’ jersey from the night we all went out after you guys won against Korea!” Julian let out a laugh in response, “oh, i’m hurt! You didn’t keep one of the thousands of jerseys you stole from me?”

“Do you mind if I speak to your mama for a second? It’ll only be a second, i promise!”

Layla nodded and went back to her chair as Julian pulled you over to the secluded corner. You wondered what he could’ve possibly wanted but you truly never knew with Julian.

“Don’t you think you should be heading down soon? The game is set to start in five minutes,” you murmured under your breath. Julian sighed nervously, “I know you don’t owe it to me but I’d really like it if you came down to the pitch if we won tonight. Everyone’s family and friends would be down there and I’d love if you brought Layla down.”

You bit your lip in nervousness, “for Layla’s sake, I can bring her down,” you knew Julian wanted more than that as your answer but didn’t press it any further as he was now being called down, “win this for Layla,” you gave Julian one last look before walking back to Layla.

While everything between Layla and Julian had been going great, your own relationship with Julian was still rocky.

You knew that while Julian still had a lot of work to do to gain your own trust back, one night a few days ago had made the relationship move a step ahead.

-

Julian walked Layla to her bedroom, the two of them talking about the day they had with each other.

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Layla asked innocently enough. Julian sighed in disappointment, “I don’t think so sweetheart. I have to be back at the stadium early in the morning but mama promised she’d let you FaceTime me as soon as you wake up.”

Layla let out a tired yawn and cuddled up to her dad as she finally let sleep overtake her. Julian slowly laid her body down on her bed and left a smal kiss on her forehead before walking out.

“Did she go down easy?” You asked. Julian nodded and stood at the doorframe of your living rooom, “I brought a bottle of wine for us to share. I figured with me being gone for the next two weeks, we could talk about scheduling FaceTimes so she can talk to me,” you nodded and took out your own calendar.

The two of easily coordinated through the next few weeks and practically emptied the bottle of wine while doing so. By the time you finished, you were sitting a lot closer to Julian. He had placed his arm around your waist while your head found a spot on his shoulder.

“You know what Layla said today? That she wanted to you in a white dress with pretty flowers around you,” you rolled your eyes jokingly, “she’s had this idea in her head for the last couple of weeks that I need to get married so I can live happily ever after. I think it’s because she watched Cinderella the other week with her Aunt Laura.”

Julian let out a laugh, “well she isn’t wrong, we all deserve our happily ever after,” you fought the urge to look Julian in the eyes but it was hard considering he pulled you up by the chin to face him, “Julian, you know that this is a lot harder than your average fairytale.”

“It doesn’t have to be. I think Hugo would be proud when i say that we should just accept our fate.”

“You need to tell Vivian to stop feeding his delusions onto you,” you muttered back as you took another sip of your wine, “well you should come down to the stadium and tell him that yourself.”

Julian placed your glass of wine on the table placed his forehead against yours, “or maybe we can listen to him for once and agree that fate should just do the talking instead of trying to rewrite it ourselves,” Loki whispered against your lips.

“I’m scared Julian. You can’t even imagine the damage you did to me when you decided to leave me. You promised me that we’d get married and grow a family together and you threw that all away so you could focus on your career and left me to play single mother for four years,” Julian grabbed your hand slowly and pressed it against his chest, “I know darling. I regretted my decision the second I made it. You deserved more than I gave you and I hated that I didn’t give you everything I promised.”

Julian placed you on your back and hovered over you, foreheads still against each others.

“And what’s to say that you won’t do it again? Julian, I know you want us back together because Layla is in the picture now but we can make this work without being together. No one is forcing you to be with me just because we have a daughter together,” Julian brushed your comment aside and pulled you against him for a kiss, “I’ve wanted you back since the day I lost you. Layla aside, I know you’ve only ever been the one for me. There’s a reason why I never formally moved on from you and I think you can say the same.”

You didn’t respond with anything else but a kiss. He instantly reciprocated it and before you knew it, you were laying against his bare chest, trying to catch your breath while Julian took another drink from his own wine.

You had no idea what this meant for the relationship going forward with Julian but a part of you missed being that close with him. You missed the way his arms surrounded you. The way he kissed your head every so often while asking if you were okay. You missed almost all of it entirely and maybe that was why you were so open to letting him have you this way again.

-

You stared down at the pitch in nervousness. Your nails were bitten down to the bone, your lips were chapped from all the biting you were doing, and you daughter had passed out from exhaustion an hour ago.

The game had entered penalty kicks and it was all up to Julian and Charles to score in order for France advance to the next stage of playoffs.

You held your daughter tightly against you and watched as Charles approached the ball. You closed your eyes in nervousness but the sound of the crowd erupting into cheers made you sigh in relief.

“Come on Julian, do this for Layla. Do it for France. Do it for all the fans watching you.”

Julian approached the ball and dribbled it for a few seconds before faking a right corner kick and shooting it left.

The goalie dived to stop the ball but at the rate that Julian kicked it, it was damn near impossible to do so. You screamed in happiness as the crowd once again erupted into cheers and screams.

You quickly grabbed your things and hauled Layla into the hallway before running down the stairs and making your way to the field. Throughout all the chaos, Layla had remained asleep.

“Julian! You did it!” You screamed from the sidelines. He whipped his head around and saw you standing there with a sleeping Layla in your arms, “the savior of France!” You said sarcastically.

Julian walked away from the interview and engulfed the two of you into a hug. You wanted to push him away and say that he should go back but you knew with the cameras watching and the way Julian gripped you, it would be nearly impossible to do so.

“Layla fell asleep before she could watch you score but she was so excited to watch you play tonight,” you muttered against his shoulder. He wiped away a few tears before pulling back and placing a long awaited kiss on your lips, “you have no idea how much I wanted for this to happen and now you’re down here celebrating with me.”

You returned the kiss as Julian took Layla into his arms.

“Come on, there’s a photographer waiting to get our picture taken.”

You knew that by morning the photo of all three of you would blow up all over social media and by French tabloids but at least for tonight, you were content with just having Julian and Layla by your side.

While you were at home trying to process the entire situation with Julian, halfway across Paris was Julian who was knees deep into a crying session with Charles on one side and Hugo on the other.

What was meant to be a simple run to a restaurant before practice turned into his entire flipping upside down.

Charles, now older and the slightest bit wiser, was trying to be there for his best friend but he didn’t know how to comfort someone who just found out he was a father. Yeah he had grown older but the childish personality never left him.

As for Hugo, he tried to give him some comfort but it came out more robotic and analytical than he anticipated it would be.

“Do you think she’s tried to contact you in the last four years?” Hugo asked not knowing what to say anymore. Julian shrugged and tried to retrieve any messages that might’ve gone into his trash or spam folder but true to your words, you hadn’t contacted him in over four years. “And how has she managed to keep that a secret for so long? Paris is big but when you’re the child of the biggest French soccer player, you can’t exactly hide that.”

Julian didn’t know what to say or do.

You had very valid points. He was never home. Ever since the trio had been called up to play for the main national team, they were busier than ever. While Hugo was playing for Arsenal, both Julian and Charles were still trying to build PXG to the best team it could be. Julian could understand why you felt hesitant to contact him because his home remained alone for six months out of the year and even more on a World Cup or Concacaf year.

“Have you spoken to coach? I’m sure he’d give you the time off to deal with this. You haven’t exactly taken a break since we’ve been called up.”

Julian wanted to deny, he wanted to say he could only put his focus on soccer at the moment but he knew that he’d be falling right into the point you made back at the restaurant. He would be prioritizing his career over his daughter and he knew that he didn’t want to go that route. He didn’t want to disappoint you or his daughter anymore.

“I’ll take over as captain until you’re ready, you’re leaving the team in good hands. Charles would be right next to me to lead the team until you’re ready to return.”

All things considered, he knew Hugo was right. The national team had already secured a spot for the World Cup so now they were waiting for other lower ranked teams to finish fighting for a spot before the tournament began.

Once the two of them left the locker room he did the one thing he had been dreading to do since this entire situation began and it was to unblock you from everything.

Julian knew it was petty to have blocked you when the two of you broke up but given that it was over four years ago, he had completely forgottten to do unblock you from everything once both of you had time to heal.

The other thing bothering Julian was the fact that he was scared to find out if you had moved on from him. He had no idea if you had moved on and found another boyfriend within the four year time span but on his end, his career didn’t allow him to seek out another relationship. Yeah he had small flings here and there but they weren’t anything serious and he had hoped you had done the same thing.

He knew it was selfish to say such a thing but he couldn’t fathom the idea of you having someone else in your life more so in Layla’s life.

Releasing a breath he had no idea he was holding, he clicked on your profile on Instagram.

There weren’t many pictures you had uploaded, most of them being just random selfies you had taken with friends or family. None of the pictures had shown that you were a mother or even a wife/girlfriend.

Julian felt a smile start playing on his face but it soon came to a halt when he saw a tagged picture.

You were in the middle of a group photo and in that very photo was you getting a kiss on the top of your head from a certain player as you were hugging the arm of one of his biggest rivals. Someone apart of the New Generation Eleven.

Don Lorenzo.

While he wasn’t Julian’s biggest rival, he saw Lorenzo as one of the best in league and the idea of you even being that close made his skin crawl. You had zero connection to Italian as far as Julian knew but you seemed rather close to him in that picture.

Sure it was nearly a year ago when you were tagged in that picture but his chest had started to rise out of anger and he did not like the idea or the fact that you were so close to him. In fact, he hated it the second he saw it. He just couldn’t help but wonder how the hell the two of you had even met.

-

It had been a rare night where your friend had offered to watch Layla. She could see that you were silently drowning in a world that was being a single mother to a fresh four year old.

You had mentioned off handedly that you had heard about a club opening up a few blocks down from your place and it had been attracting a lot of people. You were interested in seeking out the crowd but you had no one to watch Layla.

She had quickly offered to watch her so you could spend the night letting loose. Layla had a night routine that she followed without a fight. She was the most perfect four year old on the planet and so when Aunt Laura asked Layla to hang out at her house for the night, Layla was more than happy to accept the offer.

You had your restraints with the idea of leaving Layla for the night.

It would be the first night you’d ever leave her with anyone else and that idea frightened the hell out of you. She was always by your side and you were always by hers. Wherever you went, she would follow and vice versa but Laura wasn’t hearing any of it. She had essentially kicked you out of her house until tomorrow afternoon.

You agreed with the notion that she’d text you every two hours on how Layla was doing until she fell asleep for the night.

The club itself felt more hype than anything else. Yeah there were crowds and you were having fun with the friends you invited out but it didn’t seem as fun as you had originally thought.

You were on the dance floor swaying to the music and sipping on your drink when you noticed a very familiar face not too far away from you.

“Lorenzo?” You asked. He turned around once he heard his name and instantly smiled at you when he realized who it was, “dah! ( your name )! I haven’t seen you in years!” He exclaimed.

You gave him a brief hug as he went to give you a kiss on the cheek, “you need to come around more often! Who cares if you’ve broken up with that Frenchman, you know they say Italians are better!” He added on.

You let out a laugh and pushed the comment aside.

“Oh stop it, you know you aren’t the kind of man to be tied down.”

Lorenzo knew you were right. He wasn’t going to tie himself down just yet. He was at the top of Italian soccer. He was captain for Ubers now that Snuffy had retired and the captain for the Italian national team. There was no way he would halt all that for a relationship but he knew how to spot a cute girl with a beautiful smile a mile away and he always thought you were far too pretty for Julian.

“Well, I’m getting a photo to memorialize the night. Get over here gorgeous.”

You called for your friends to join the picture as he did with his own teammates. They had been fresh off of a win against Arsenal and they were out celebrating for the night.

You stood next to the Italian and wrapped yourself around his arm. He placed a kiss on the top of your head and the photo was taken. You didn’t think much about it but for the rest of the night, you were with Lorenzo. You didn’t take him home and he didn’t offer to take you to his place. The both of you were hanging out as friends even if the picture said otherwise.

-

You stared at the text Julian had sent you a few days ago.

“Meet me at the PXG arena, we have a lot of things to speak about.”

You had agreed under the notion that you were only there to speak about Layla. She would be at school for the day and you would be able to have a cordial conversation with him without any interruption.

Today was unfortunately that day and Julian had let you know that your PXG pass was now active once again. You had gotten an ID for the Parc de Princes stadium when you were Loki and although you weren’t together with him anymore, you had kept the ID for memory.

You approached the stadium with caution. You were biting your lip in nervousness and your nails were now completely chewed off. While you weren’t nervous for the conversation at hand, you were nervous about the idea of having to face Julian after so many years.

You scanned your ID and it immediately let you in.

Julian told you to meet him in one of the conference rooms on the top floor of the stadium. It was early enough in the morning where most staff and players weren’t at the stadium yet.

As you rode the elevator, you gripped the small charm that Layla had made for you the night before. You hadn’t told her what you were doing but as a gift from her Aunt Laura for Christmas, she had gotten obsessed with making charm bracelets and she made one for you the night before as you were making dinner.

The elevator dinged and you were met with the silence of the hallway.

Finally you approached the conference room and saw Loki sitting with his back towards the door. He was writing something down on his tablet and you couldn’t help but laugh. It all felt like Déjà vu. You couldn’t count how many times you would walk in after work and see him on the couch scrolling aimlessly through different videos of previous games.

Julian stood up and opened the door for you. It didn’t take no more than two seconds before you had tears pooling your eyes.

“I can’t do this, maybe I shouldn’t have came.” You were mid sentence when a small hiccup came out of your mouth. Julian had no idea where to begin to comfort you but he couldn’t stand to see you this way. “Maybe we should’ve called our lawyers or something. I think that’s the best route to go.”

Julian did the one thing he could think of to shut you up and that was to kiss you.

You were taken by complete shock. You hadn’t expected this in the slightest but through your own fight in your head, you couldn’t deny yourself. You had missed Julian. His kisses, the way his arms wrapped around you. Everything.

“Julian, stop, this isn’t going to fix anything.”

You finally pushed away and stared at him. His own eyes were covered in tears and that was when you realized that he also had no idea what he was doing. For a man so composed all the time and forced to be the adult in so many situations, this time he had no idea what he was doing.

“I think we should speak about Layla, she has no idea who you are but she faintly remembers you. I think she drew you in one of her painting the other night.

You dug into your purse and took out the photo Layla had drawn the other day. She was just a picture of a man eerily similar to Julian with a house next to him and what looked like a park on the opposite side. For a four year old, she really did have a big imagination.

“Does she have any idea of me being her father?” Julian asked. You shook your head no firmly. “I told her from a young age that her father was not in the picture. She never questioned it considering I have been all she has ever needed. In a very ironic way, she is very mature for her age. It kind of reminds me of someone I know.”

Julian bit his tongue. He hated how you simply stated to Layla that he wasn’t in the picture. He knew you had your reasons but it stung. Julian didn’t want to make the situation worse but it was nagging at him.

“Would you have ever told me about her? Because it seems like you had no intentions to do that.” You let out a laugh and rolled your eyes, “you’re the one who had me blocked on every social media platform on the planet and my cell phone blocked as well. How did you ever expect me to do that when you made it impossible for me to ever contact you.”

Julian groaned, “a lawyer would have done the job,” you let out a laugh once again in response, “and do you not remember what I told you that morning at the restaurant? Layla deserves more than someone who sees her six out of the twelve months. She deserves a father who can tuck her into bed and drop her off at school in the morning. I’m not saying that you couldn’t do that but do you see yourself? We’re having this meeting at your job! You can’t just casually drop by her school to pick her up without having fans approaching you. Are you starting to get the idea here?”

“Had I known of Layla, her school would have not been one where she would be made a spectacle.” “Julian, this is not about her school! This is about you being there for her! You’re married to your job, you have been since you were seventeen. I don’t expect that to change overnight especially now considering this is a World Cup year. I can’t even imagine the stress you’re under and what your schedule is like.”

You took a sip of your tea as Julian pulled out a few sheets of paper.

“This is my schedule moving forward. Once the World Cup is over, I’ll be free until the regular season starts up again. We both live in Paris, it’s not very hard to make a schedule to work out the days for her.”

“She has never been away from me before, she wouldn’t know what to do with someone she just met regardless if you’re her father or not. The only time she’s ever been away from me was a year ago when I took the night out with some friends.”

Julian knew exactly the day you were speaking about.

“you mean the night you were with Lorenzo?” You were immediately taken back, how did he know about that? Yeah the soccer world was small and the two were rivals but you had no idea Julian knew of that night, “are you accusing me of something but I get the feeling that you are,” you replied back just as quick.

“We aren’t together but I do know of that picture between you and Lorenzo. You seemed really comfortable with your arms around him.” “Why are we arguing about this like we’re together? You made it very clear that night that you didn’t have the time for me. How do you expect me to believe that you’ll be there for Lyla when you couldn’t even be there for me? As for that night with Lorenzo, not that i owe you an explanation for it but it was just that night. Nothing happened besides us dancing together with our friends and that photo.”

Julian scoffed but didn’t say much after.

“And if we had something with each other, it wouldn’t matter because we are no longer together. I can date whoever the hell I want. It doesn’t matter if it’s you, Lorenzo, Michael or even Vivian. I’m free to do whatever the hell I want because I am a single woman with my own fucking life.”

Julian’s eye twitched in anger. He knew you were right but the idea of you dating Lorenzo, Vivian, or Michael made him far more upset than he realized.

He bent over the table and grabbed you by the collar of your sweater and smashed your lips against his. This time was far more surprising than earlier. You could sense the anger in the kiss and you figured it must’ve been what you had just said about Lorenzo, Michael, and Vivian that made him that angry.

“Do you really think that I’d ever let any of those morons play step father for my daughter? Layla is my daughter and my daughter alone. No man is going to sit there and take my place. I don’t care if I have to take a year off or seven, I’m going to be there for her. She is my daughter and she deserves to be next to me. Next to you. Next to us. Together.”

“So prove it Julian!” You screamed, “prove that you can be the father she deserves. Don’t feel obligated to date me just because I’m her mother. You’re free to date whoever the hell you want. You just need to be there for Layla.”

Julian leaned in and put his forehead against yours.

“I’ll prove it to the both of you. I don’t care how long it takes. Layla will have her family back together if that’s the last thing I do.”

You raised your eyebrow in amusement.

“You’re going to have a lot of work to do. Your main priority should be Layla, not me. Not our broken relationship or what we once had. Layla is the end goal here.”

With that, you stood up from the chair and walk away from the table. You knew that if Julian was really serious about it, he would make it work for Layla. You could tell that he really did want to be there for her but in the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but wonder what his plans were for you. He made it clear that he wanted a family for Layla and he would move earth in order to do that with you.

Julian watched as you walked away into the hallway but sitting on your chair was a small booklet.

He opened it and realized that you had left it there purposely.

It was a photo album with pictures of Layla.

You had made it the night before after Layla had fallen asleep. It contained photos from her as an infant until very recently. It had different photos from different occasions. Her first birthday. The night of her first Christmas. The first day of school. Every single milestone was in that photo album and that alone was enough to give Julian the motivation to get both of you in his life.

He tucked the photo album into his sweater of his team kit and walked out of the conference room.

“Excuse me, what?” You stated with disbelief written all of your face, “wait, you want to break up because you don’t have time? What the hell does that even mean?” You exclaimed.

Julian signed really not understanding why you weren’t getting what he was saying.

“I mean we don’t see each other very often, I’m always gone and you’re always here in Paris, don’t you feel like you’re just wasting your time waiting around for me?” He asked. You blinked in disbelief once again, “no, i mean we’ve been dating for years now, this isn’t new for us! I mean, you can be honest with me, if you’re seeing someone that’s fine but don’t lie to me.”

Julian shook his head in disagreement. He wasn’t seeing anyone but he couldn’t lie to you anymore, it was useless to keep a relationship going when it was clearly falling apart.

“I don’t get where this is coming from but I guess I should’ve seen this coming, you’ve been coming home late, you’ve been dismissing any kind of dates I’ve tried to plan and there’s a news story coming out every week that you’re seeing some new model so I guess where there’s a flame there’s a fire.”

“I am not cheating on you, you think I’d stoop so low to ever do that to you?” He asked a bit louder now. You couldn’t help but chuckle, “you’re the one breaking up with me with some lame excuse that you don’t have time anymore so it’s hard to believe anything you’re telling me right now.”

The two of you stood in silence not knowing what to say to each other. Loki didn’t want to upset you anymore than he already has and you weren’t in no mood to even deal with him anymore.

“I guess we can just end this here, you’re clearly not wanting to tell me the truth and I don’t want to be played like a fiddle anymore so I’ll have someone pack up all my things when you’re gone.”

Julian grabbed your wrist wanting you keep you from walking away but you quickly snatched your hand arm back, “cherie, please,” you gave him one final look and walked to the door, “enjoy the rest of your life Loki.”

Loki. Not Julian or Jules but Loki. The name others used against him and now you were doing it as well.

-

You pushed your glasses up in nervousness.

It had been two months post breakup with Julian and at first you thought you were handling it well.

Of course you were upset and angry at him but towards the end of the second month was when you felt symptoms starting to crawl up. It started with nausea and soon it turned into throwing up into the toilet every morning and having an aversion to your favorite foods.

It all came to a head when you realized that you hadn’t gotten your period in almost three months. Your cycle was never off nor did it ever move weeks so you knew that all of this meant one thing.

You ran to the nearest pharmacy and purchased as much pregnancy tests as you could.

During the drive to the pharmacy, you had called your sisters up in a panic to answer your FaceTime call when you arrived at your apartment. You knew you couldn’t do this alone and even though they didn’t live in the same country as you, you knew you couldn’t do this alone.

“Wait, you really think you are? I mean, maybe the stress of the breakup just made you skip it the last few months!” Your sister tried to rationalize. You gave her a look and turned over the tests, “I don’t know what I’ll do if I am, all of you guys are back home and I can’t just drop my job and move back plus I don’t know if I should even Loki, he’s had my number blocked since we broke up.”

Your other sister sighed, “well lets just start with the tests and we can go from there,” she stated.

You nodded and grabbed the five different tests you had taken. You had grabbed every brand of pregnancy test available and used every single one.

“Here goes nothing!”

You covered your eyes and flipped them all at once.

“Oh my god.”

They all read positive. Not a maybe. Not a faint line. Positive.

You leaned against the sink and let out a sob. This was not what you had expected to happen. You were doing so well with healing yourself from Julian and now you were standing in the middle of your bathroom on a FaceTime call with sisters and pregnant with his child.

“Listen, we’re all just one call away. What you need to do right now is focus on you and the baby. Figure out how far along you are and what you’re having and don’t let Julian stop you from enjoying this. You’re a mother and you’re going to be a great one.”

You nodded and wiped your eyes from the tears that you were filling them. You knew that you had to be the one to step up in this situation. Not only because you were the one carrying the baby but Julian was not willing to answer a phone call or text from you.

“It’s just the two of us darling, no one else but us.”

-

The birth of your now daughter was something you couldn’t explain to anyone.

She had came into the world as quiet as possible. The cry was there but as soon as they placed her on your chest, she had quieted down and fell asleep instantly.

“Darling, you look exactly like him. The eyes tell it all.”

The nurse gave you a smile and bent down to pat your face dry, “a name for her?” You gave her a smile and brushed your thumb on your little girls face, “Layla, Layla Loki.”

They all smiled and handed you over a few papers to sign off on. You knew it was all official paperwork that had to get done and while you just wanted to spend time with her, you knew the quicker you finished the paperwork the more time you’d have with her.

“Little Layla here is one of the quietest babies we’ve ever met!” One of the nurses mentioned, “yeah, her father was exactly like that.”

You knew Loki’s name wasn’t very common but it didn’t set off any alarms when they all heard the last name. You just hoped that maybe they weren’t big fans of soccer and thought it was just another last name.

“Well, we’ll give you some time alone with her,” another nurse said, “is there anyone you’d like to call or reach out too? We have a public phone we can access for you if you aren’t wanting to contact them yourself.”

You shook your head no and let them walk out.

You knew you’d tell your family once you were comfortably at home but with everything going on around you, you couldn’t help but wonder what Julian’s reaction would’ve been.

Julian wasn’t very expressive but you knew that if you had told him, he would’ve been there every step of the way. He would’ve hired the best doctors and nurses, would have put you on the best diet plan based around your pregnancy, helped you with anything that you needed but all of that was now ideas you made in your head.

“Layla, he would’ve loved you so much.”

-

“Layla, lets fix your dress, you can’t walk out of the house this way.”

Your daughter, now four years old, had grown an obsession with wearing dresses whenever the two of you left the house. It didn’t matter if the two of you were just going to catch dinner or find a park to play at, she was going to wear a dress and her rain boots whenever the chance presented itself.

The restaurant the both of you had picked was one of your favorites. It was a small restaurant that you had found with Loki when you first started dating. It didn’t catch much attention as it was hidden between two houses but the food was immaculate.

“Ah, welcome back ( your name ), good morning Layla! How was the walk?” The hostess asked as she seated the both of you. Layla spoke up for the both of you and give the woman a smile, “good! I saw two flowers on the way here and a butterfly!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at her response, “we’ll have two chocolate croissants, a cup of espresso for myself and a hot chocolate for her.”

She nodded and put the order in for the both of you. You noticed a few people surrounding the door and while it didn’t catch your attention at first, you heard the whispers from the people sitting down around you.

“Is that really him? No way, why would he be here?” Some said. You finally looked up from your phone and tried to figure out who exactly had walked in, “you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Your heart had fell into your stomach and you hands started to get clammy.

Julian Loki.

You knew you couldn’t exactly get up and leave the room considering you still hadn’t gotten the order and to your unfortunate luck, they had seated the both of you in the front of the restaurant.

“Layla, lets quiet down, we don’t want to disturb anyone here.”

She nodded in agreement and had quietly asked you if she could use the bathroom.

Once she went towards the bathroom, you looked towards her chair and hoped that she would take an extra few minutes to play with the water.

“Hello,” you stared down at the table in agony. You knew that luck would not be on your side today and you recognized the voice anywhere, “I’m shocked you still come here given all of our first dates were here.”

You finally looked up and stared back at Julian, “just because you left this place doesn’t mean I did. Is there something you needed?” You asked as quickly as possible.

“No but I knew I couldn’t pass you up, you look just as gorgeous as you did four years ago.”

You nodded hoping that he’d finally leave you alone but as soon as he finished speaking, you daughter had came out of the bathroom and sat back down.

“Mama, who is this?”

Julian whipped his head around and felt his own heart fall into his stomach.

Your daughter was staring at him with a small smile on her face. She had no idea that the man that was staring at her happened to be her very own father but Julian instantly knew. Those eyes didn’t lie.

Golden eyes weren’t very common unless you were apart of the Loki family and now those very same eyes were staring back at him.

“( your name ).” “Julian, not here, not now. We’re in public and I can’t have you turning this into some kind of scandal.”

Julian felt his eyes stinging with tears. The girl who was aimlessly coloring in her journal and humming to the song that was playing in the restaurant was making the both of you sob.

“So when is the time to do that ( your name )? My daughter is sitting right in front of me!”

You tried to hide the tears that were falling down your face but as you tried to wipe them away, your daughter had bent over the table and wiped them away for you.

“Silly mommy! You forgot to take your allergy medication again!”

You couldn’t help but laugh, “you’re right Layla but how about we take our food to go? I think it’s going to start raining again and I don’t want you getting wet again. We can’t have you missing school,” Layla nodded and packed her journal into the little backpack she always carried around.

“Layla?” Julian whispered to you. You nodded and told your daughter to wait by the door of the restaurant, “you have my number. you know it by heart but do not feel obligated to enter our life. You left mine like it was no problem and she doesn’t need someone like that in hers.”

Julian grabbed your hand and held it, “don’t walk away, please.” You gave him one final look and sighed, “Layla deserves more than someone who’s gone half the year. She deserves more than someone who told her mother that he didn’t have the time anymore. She needs a present father who is willing to be there for her and if you’re not willing to give her that, please do us both a favor and walk away.”

Julian discreetly wiped away a tear that was coming down his face.

“Think about all of this before contacting me.”

With that, you grabbed the hand of little Layla and walked out of the restaurant.

“Oh! Oh okay this is what we’re doing!” You said frantically, waving your hands in nervousness. You watched Bunny and Sae approach each other, Sae looking like he was ready to murder the Spaniard in the blink of an eye, “bunny no, you can’t make him mad!” You continued.

He gave Sae a smile, one that you knew would make him rage even harder than he was already.

“As both of your consultants, I really need you guys to knock this off,” you muttered into your hands. Bunny didn’t falter but Sae let out a grunt before making his way out, “seriously? Why?” Bunny shrugged with that stupid nonchalance he always had and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, “it’s funny to watch him get so angry!”

You shook your head once again and looked down to your phone, “okay so you’re done making him that upset because now I have to go fix that,” you groaned before removing his arm from your shoulders, “be nice Bunny!”

It was hard being the consultant for the two youngest players in Spain’s youth training league. You weren’t a lot older than the two, only being a few months older than Bunny and Sae.

“Sae, you need to come back to the field before coach drags you out here by the ear,” you screamed into the locker room. You didn’t get a response but you knew that if he didn’t come back out, your coach would have your ass, “SAE ITOSHI GET BACK OUT HERE NOW!” You screamed louder than you wanted.

It wasn’t until you heard the slam of a locker when you realized that Sae finally listened to you but you didn’t expect the reaction he had given you when he finally stepped out.

“Hey, you need to take a breath, this entire situation regarding you and Bunny needs to stop.” Sae didn’t give you another second as he stepped up to you, inches away from your face, “you need to back off. You have no idea what you’re doing and you’re only being a pest by constantly screaming in my ear.”

“Excuse me?” You replied in confusion. You were completely taken back by his choice of words but one thing you learned at such a young age was to never take any disrespect form anyone. “I might not be your superior but you will not speak to me in that way. I am consultant and have helped you since you’ve arrived to the league. You think it’s easy to have to deal with two immature boys who won’t listen to anything but their own ego? It’s not but guess what? Bunny has made sure to never speak to me in that way and maybe it’s time you pick that up from him as well.”

Sae cracked his jaw in response, “you think I care for what that moron does or doesn’t do? There’s a reason why I was called up to Madrid and not him.” You rolled your eyes, not believing that you were fully arguing with one of Spain’s best prodigies, “you know what, I’m not dealing with this. Since you’ve made it clear that you’re fully committed to Re-Al, I think it’s best you don’t come back to practice. Your things will be handled internally and I will notify the coach and staff.”

“I did a lot for you Sae, more than one should have and I don’t think it’s okay to treat someone that way especially since you’ve already lost the relationship with your brother in the same way.”

-

“Bunny, it’s time to wake up before we’re both late,” you muttered into your cold pillowsheet. He laid his arm around your stomach and pulled you in closer, “amor, por favor, un minuto mas,” he replied with no energy in his voice.

You moved his arm from your stomach and reached for the shirt that laid on the floor, “no, we can’t, we’ve been late everyday this week and I need to get to the Barcha facility before the match tonight,” Bunny groaned in response but lazily got up from bed.

The two of you went into the bathroom, both of your eyes crusted over in eye boogies and body covered in small bruises and love marks.

“You’re so lucky that you wear the long sleeve jerseys or else you’d be in trouble,” Bunny gave you a bashful look and placed a small kiss on your head, “lets hope that we only run into Leonardo tonight and not Sae,” you muttered with the toothbrush still in your mouth.

You knew Bunny had been waiting for this rematch against Re-Al. The last two matches between them ended in a tie and Buny was sure that he was going to win tonight. The rivalry between the two didn’t go unnoticed as social media was hyping up the match all week. Thankfully, Barcha had home advantage this time around.

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed for the day, the two of you made your way to the Barcha stadium. You were wearing the standard Barcha kit which consisted of the team sweater, pants, and running shoes. You opted for a tennis skirt instead of the horrible sweatpants they offered with it.

“Jefa, there’s someone in your office waiting for you,” Lavinho said off-handedly. You threw your bag on the floor and made your way towards your office. You knew with tonight’s game, there was going to be front office management at your door all day, “Sae?” You asked.

He looked up from his phone and gave you a nod.

“Is there something you need or did you get lost?” You asked, “I wanted to stop by before I went to train with Re-Al for the rest of the morning,”.

You allowed him to sit in the chairs in front of your desk as you made your way to the opposite side of your desk, “I wanted to apologize. I know the week I left for Madrid we got into an argument and I know that my frustration caused me to lash out on you. You were nothing but the best while I was training in Barcelona,” your eyes widened in shock, not expecting what Sae was telling you at all.

“Oh Sae, I’ve forgotten that interaction a long time ago,” you replied, “you’ve moved on and so have I. I think something that long ago should remain in the past and both of us should just let it go.”

Sae nodded in agreement, “do you think I could treat you to dinner? At least as another way to apologize?” He asked.

You chuckled softly but shook your head, “listen Sae, I really appreciate you reaching out to me but I don’t think my husband would be okay with that especially right before the game,” Sae gave you a look of confusion until he realized what you were pointing at.

The nameplate that was sitting nicely on your desk.

(First initial) Iglesias.

“You married Bunny?” He exclaimed. You nodded happily as you showed him the ring, “we married last year and took the honeymoon right before the season started,” you explained, “we dated a few months after you left for Madrid.”

Sae nodded and quietly congratulated you before leaving your office.

How dumb was he to miss that? Your married name was on the door and even on the wall next to it. Ultimately, it was his fault for not paying attention to it and still thinking he had a chance.

( your name ) Iglesias, manager.

“He doesn’t deserve you, why do you keep going back to him?” Julian asked with a face full of concern. You stared at the Frenchman with sadness written all over your face, “Michael has put you through enough and you still can’t explain to me why you think you deserve that kind of treatment.”

Newspapers, social media, gossip shows, every kind of media you could think of reported on Micahel Kaiser’s affair with you.

It was bad enough when you woke up to the thousands and thousands of tweets of Michael locking lips with some girl at some Bastard Munchen after party and it was even worse when you realized that you had been blocked by him.

You didn’t know why he had done it. Michael was the one who made the mistake yet you were the one who was dealing with the fallout and criticisms.

The comments on social media were the worst ones in your opinion. The majority of people supported you but the few comments that blamed you felt like a punch to the gut.

“Well she did gain some weight so how do you expect someone like Kaiser to stay with them?”

“She’s been using him for money and fame, it was only a matter of time before he realized it and moved on.”

“She was way out of his league, are you kidding me? He could have anyone he wants and he chose HER?”

Many people didn’t know your friendship with Julian. You had met him while staying abroad in France. You had taken a year in Paris for University and managed to find a job that allowed you to stay in the country after you graduated.

The two of you met by complete accident and while some in the beginning speculated that the two of you would end up dating, Julian made it a point to both of your friends that neither one of you were interested in dating each other.

It was after a game between France and Germany when you met Michael. You ran into him after the game finished and hit it off completely.

That was three years ago and now you were dealing with what was the worst breakup of your entire life. You never expected to find out that your boyfriend of a couple years would be publically humiliating you.

“He told me he’d change, he told me he wouldn’t do this again!” You screamed into your PXG sweater as you managed to scare a few of the players that surrounded you. They all stared at you with sympathy written all over their eyes, “what do you mean again?” Charles asked with a bit of more seriousness than usual.

“This isn’t the first time he’s done it to me. He’s cheated twice before this but this time it was caught on camera.”

His eyes widened in shocked as a scoff from Hugo came from the opposite end of the hallway. The three of them could tell you were on the verge of sobbing again.

“He swore to me he’d stop and he’d be serious about our relationship but I guess what people say is right. Once a cheater, always a cheater right?” You whispered before another sob racked your body, “how does someone like him get away with so much without any consequences, its not fair!”

Your voice filled with agony was heard throughout the hallway and even people who weren’t eavesdropping on your conversation could hear what you were saying.

What felt like the 50th time of you wiping your eyes, you finally realized that you had the three most powerful French players staring down at you with concern, anger, and sympathy. It was rare when Hugo or Charles involved themselves in drama that wasn’t on the field but it was hard to ignore it when you were quite literally sobbing into Julian’s arms.

“And you stayed with him? Why?” Hugo asked. You looked up to him with your eyes blurry once again, “love makes you do crazy things especially when someone promises you the world each time they ask for forgiveness.”

He remained silent and stared at Julian to make him say something. Charles on the other hand was scrolling on his phone, a smirk playing on his face and his mind racing a mile a minute.

You had no idea what he was doing but you figured it was nothing good. Charles knew more than anyone that Julian had held feelings for you. Julian made Charles swear to never utter a word about it and he was shocked that he managed to keep it a secret for this long.

“Julian is right, you know he would never change and you still went back. You should’ve calculated that after the first time he would’ve done it again.” You stared at Hugo with anger in your eyes but you knew that the most tactical person on the team would never hold back his words, “it’s only fair that you get revenge before he makes you look like a clown. More than he already has that is.”

Hugo walked away from the conversation once he realized he was done with giving his advice.

“Don’t worry ( your name ) I got it all covered!”

You turned to Charles in confusion when he turned his phone over to you and showed you the picture he posted from his burner fanboy account. It was just a simple photo but one you had no idea even existed.

It was of Michael screaming and throwing stuff in the locker room after a loss from PXG to Bastard Munchen. Michael crashouts weren’t anything new but this was seemed more sour given the situation.

“CHARLES!” Julian screamed as he tried to grab the phone from him but he quickly threw it into his pants and ran away with it, “It’s fine, as long as it doesn’t get traced back to Charles, it’s okay, right?”

“That rat bastard is lucky he’s nowhere near me or else he’d be at the receiving end of a vandalized house.”

Julian laughed and pulled you in for a friendly hug before grabbing your phone and shoving it into his locker, “come on, I’ll treat you to some food so you can start forgetting all of this,” you wiped your tears away once again and walked with Julian out of the building.

-

“Don’t be scared, Julian was built for this kind of environment. I blame all of the parkour he does.”

His mom gave you a confident look as she watched her son sitting in the seats a few rows in front of her. He was sitting next to his French teammates with a secure smile on his face.

Julian had been nominated for the Ballon d’Or and you had been invited as his other plus one for the event. He was in the running alongside Don Lorenzo, Isagi Yoichi, Michael Kaiser, and Leonardo Luna.

You hadn’t been face to face with Michael since that fateful day but that was nearly four years ago and you could say that you were truly over the German especially now that you had been Julian for about two years.

“Now for the winner of this years Balllon d’Or. These five players were the best of the best this season but only one can take this trophy home and truly say that he’s the best player in the world.”

You stared at his mother in nervousness but as she held your hand, you noticed the envelope opening.

“This years Ballon d’Or winner,” you held her hand tighter, “Paris x Gen, not only did you take home the championship trophy this year but Julian Loki, you are this years Ballon d’Or winner!”

You stood up in excitement alongside his mother as Julian shook hands with Lorenzo, Isagi, and Leonardo. You noticed that he quickly snubbed Michael’s hand and went to the stage to accept his award without a second thought.

Julian wasn’t a man of many words as he quickly thanked the fans, the PXG club, and his family and friends for the support but his eyes never left yours and it didn’t take an idiot to realize that.

Michael followed the trajectory of his eyes and was blown away when he realized that you were sitting down next to his mother. His mouth went dry, his hands got clammy, and that was when he realized why Julian had snubbed him for a handshake.

At first he thought it was just petty games that Julian was playing but when he saw that you were wearing an engagement ring on your left finger and a small bump was on display, he realized that this was more than just a petty game. You were engaged to Julian Loki and pregnant with his child and it seemed like no one knew about it.

Julian walked down the stairs and made his way to you and his mother. You let her have a moment with her son as she congratulated him and hugged him for what felt like the millionth time tonight but as soon as she pulled away, you stared at Julian like he had hung the moon and the stars.

“I’m so proud of you Jules, you deserved this more than anyone I know.”

He pulled you into a hug, making sure that everyone in the building saw it. Julian liked to keep his life private but it was hard when the love of his life was sitting there perfectly for him and giving him the praise he deserved.

“Come on mon amour, we have photos to take,” he said while grabbing your hand and leading you and his mother to the back for press photos and interviews, “are you sure? Your mom and I can head back to the hotel.”

Julian went to protest but his mom quickly beat him to it. She excused herself by saying that she was tired and not in the mood to be in such big crowds anymore which left you and Julian to yourselves.

“Ah Julian, I had no idea you were expecting, congratulations!” Leonardo said in excitement, “how far?” He asked. You gave him a smile and a small thank you, “we’re only five months along but we wanted to make sure everything was okay before we announced it officially.”

“Ah! No way! You guys, i knew it!” Lorenzo screamed in excitement. You felt yourself bracing for Lorenzo’s hug but it never came as he went to hug Julian instead, “i knew she was pregnant when I saw you guys last week! You liars!” He continued.

You started laughing and leaned against Lorenzo who was now holding a bottle of water out for you, “if we had told you, the entire world would have known by now,” you said smacking him playfully. He nodded his head in agreement but as the two of you continued with the conversation, you failed to realize that Julian had away from the group.

He noticed Michael’s menacing stare from down the hall and knew that he had to approach him before he caused a scene in front of the entire venue. While Michael was pretty levelheaded, he learned from you that Michael could lash out at the worst time possible.

“I guess a congratulations is in order?” Michael stated through bitter words, “ah, don’t worry about it, I really should be thanking you! If it wasn’t for you screwing up almost three years ago, I wouldn’t have had the chance to make her my wife and the mother of my children. Something that you couldn’t do, right?”

Michael’s eyes widened in shock, “don’t bring that up,” he muttered. Julian let out a laugh and pointed his finger over to you, “who do you think was the one taking care of her when you broke her heart into small pieces? Who do you think wiped every single tear away and helped rebuild that very heart you broke?” He continued.

You were still standing with Leonardo and Lorenzo, your hand laying comfortably on your bump and a comfortable smile on your face.

“I really do have to thank you, every tear I wiped away made her realize that what she needed was right in front of her and now she’s going to be my wife,” Michael continued to stare at Julian in anger, “I have the award you’ve been chasing since you joined Bastard Munchen and a wife that deserves more than you ever gave her. Doesn’t that hurt? Doesn’t that sting?”

Julian let out a laugh and started walking away from Michael.

“Everything that is happening to you now is karma for everything you put her through in the past. Maybe you’ll get lucky next year although I don’t that will happen as Charles will be in the running for the Ballon d’Or,” he stated once more and fully walked away from the German with a smirk on his face.

Michael watched as Julian wrapped his arm around you and placed a kiss on your cheek before getting into conversation with Lorenzo and Leonardo.

He knew that his past was bound to catch up to him but he never expected it to come in this way.

“Lavinho, your antics are going to piss off our coach, please be serious.”

Lavinho gave you a smirk but it was like what you said went in through one ear and right out of the other.

The Barcha team were getting spoken to about their upcoming game against RE-AL. It was the final game between the two clubs and you knew with the game being held in Barcelona, they were sure to get the home advantage and come out as the winners for the season.

“Hey, are you attending the afters tonight?” You gave your coworker a look of confusion when he asked the question, “I’m far too old to be attending any kind of afters, are you insane? I haven’t been to any afters since I was 23,” You stated with a bewildered look.

He couldn’t help laugh at your answer causing Lavinho to turn around in curiosity, “what’s going on over there?” He asked. You shook your head and pointed over to your coach, “pay attention, we’re not going to be yelled at because you aren’t focusing!” You exclaimed.

“Come on, Bunny wanted to make his way over to the club on Main Street and you’d totally be a fun time,” you shook your head again, “my party days are long gone, please don’t drag me out to any kind of party where I’m going to be the oldest woman in the building.”

What you hadn’t realized was that the quick huddle Barcha was having had ended and Lavinho was now behind you.

“Oh, you wanna act like a saint now?” Lavinho asked. You stared at him with your eyes squinted and a look to make him shut up, “don’t let her fool you, she was shitfaced drunk from ages twenty to twenty-four. There wasn’t a day where we weren’t drunk out of our minds every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

“Really? No way!” You sighed in annoyance, “please stop, i didn’t ask for my business to be aired out like this.”

Lavinho put his arm around you and smiled, “oh, this girl was in the club with me from dusk to dawn. You were a child so you clearly have no idea what she was up to when we were in Brazil,” you groaned, practically begging them to stop talking.

“Now you have to go! Please!” You shook your head no, “absolutely not, I’m not going to any kind of ‘afters’ and you can take any kind of thought of me going and run away with it.”

“When we were in Mexico, we were celebrating the win against their national team and she was so drunk that she got on top of a bull-,” your eyes widened when you realized where he was going with his story, “oh my god please shut up!” You screamed as you attempted to cover his mouth.

Lavinho started laughing and easily removed you from him, “don’t worry, once we get this win against RE-AL, we’ll all be going to the ‘afters’ or whatever you youths call it now.”

You walked away from the two boys and made your way to the training rooms to start inventory before in game staff started showing up.

“Look up our pictures from a couple years ago, you’ll be shocked how much the lady has changed.”

Lavinho gave him one more look and walked away from him to find you. He knew you better than anyone else and he knew you purposely didn’t go out to any parties or clubs after an incident involving the both of you.

The two of you had met when he first signed with Barcha as a fresh eighteen year old.

You were just a student looking for a summer job after you graduated high school and once your internship had ended, they had signed you on as an official sideline assistant. You had grown close to Lavinho during that time as the two of you were the youngest in the club and when he asked you to be his personal unofficial assistant, you couldn’t resist the opportunity.

That had been nearly ten years ago and the two of you had been through hell and back with each other. You were there for all of his victories, his losses, and most of all, his scandals.

He had given many of his PR managers a run for their money during his early twenties. He was a young boy with millions of dollars and while you tried hard to get him to calm down, there was no calming down Lavinho when he put his mind to something.

Your coworker quickly dug into google, researching everything he could about you and Lavinho.

“Come on, you have to come out with us when we win against RE-AL, it won’t be the same without you,” Lavinho asked. You shook your head no, “Lavi, you know exactly why I don’t go out with you or any of your teammates anymore.”

That fateful day was one he learned to love and hate.

The incident happened when you both were twenty four and ever since that night, you refused to ever go out with him or anyone on the Barcha team.

What started off as your typical night out quickly went south. You both were plastered drunk after leaving the club as he was left shirtless and pantless on the streets of Barcelona. You were sitting next to him laughing your ass off and hanging off of him like a lovesick girlfriend when the paparazzi had caught the both of you making out under a random streetlight.

The following morning, you had gotten a call from the Barcha front office. Your job was on the line for causing a PR nightmare on Lavinho’s behalf.

You were getting screamed at by several different people over the phone and it left you sobbing, apologizing profusely for causing such a scene for the club and Lavinho.

If it hadn’t been for Lavinho practically stating that he’d quit and pay his own contract out, you knew you wouldn’t be with the team anymore nor would you be anywhere near a Champions League club.

After that, you had swore to Lavinho and any of the players on the team that you were done partying and going to any after events with the team. They all tried to protest, screaming that you were one of the best people to go out with but you knew that you couldn’t afford another scandal like that again if it meant you job was on the line.

The only good thing that came from that night was that Lavinho finally got the chance to realize his true feelings for you.

It wasn’t a secret that he held feelings for you. Anyone could sense that he liked you on a romantic level but you purposely denied any kind of rumors. You didn’t want to put his image on the line again and while you knew that Lavinho was not the one to care for how others perceived him, you still didn’t express your own feelings out of fear of losing your job.

It had left you both in this weird limbo of acting like a couple in front of the team but making sure to never put it out publically.

“Amor, please? It would mean everything to me if you went out with me one last time.”

You sighed, shaking your head in disagreement.

“Lavinho, you weren’t the one with your job on the line that night. I had men screaming in my ears calling me a whore, a woman who wanted to ruin a young man’s image, a girl who could be easily replaced with someone more experienced,” you exclaimed putting your head in between your hands. He sighed and brought you in for a hug, “those filthy men are long gone. They’re all miserable in their homes with their ugly wives and kids.”

You couldn’t help but laugh into his chest.

“You know I’d love more than anything to go out with you again but I can’t take those names again, they weren’t directed at you, they were directed at me,” he sighed and placed a soft kiss on top of your head, “promise me this, if we win tonight against RE-AL, you’ll at least be in the locker room celebrating with his and the rest of the staff.”

You sighed in contemplation as Lavi gave you another head kiss.

“Por favor?” You hesitated for a second before agreeing, “but just in the locker room, if you guys even think about asking me out to a club, I’m quitting.” He immediately put his hand up and swore he wouldn’t even think of asking you.

-

The game against RE-AL was left tied in the 90th minute with only two minutes left in additional time. You were chewing your nails down to the bone and your coworkers were on their knees in anticipation.

You noticed Lavinho easily crossing Leonardo, shooting straight towards their goalie as another player blocked Leonardo and Sae at the same time.

You heard the smack of the ball hit the net before the stadium erupted into screams. You immediately hugged the closest person to you as the game was called and purple, black, and gold confetti shot into the air.

You went straight to the locker room to prepare the wine, champagne, beer, and any other kind of alcohol they had asked for.

It wasn’t long before you heard screams and the noise of the players coming into the room. You had started the music and it wasn’t long before the team immediately ripped into the champagne. You quickly adjusted the goggles onto your face and made sure to cover your eyes before the burning sensation of the alcohol hit them.

“Ah, mi vida, you made it!” Lavinho screamed in excitement. You rolled your eyes and popped open another bottle to spray him with. He immediately opened his mouth and let himself drown in it, “open wide!” He screamed.

You immediately let him spray you with his own alcohol. The two of you were drenched in champagne and you couldn’t help but laugh in genuine happiness. You hadn’t gotten a night like this with Lavinho in years and you had missed it more than you could admit.

“Smile for the camera!” You heard a player say. You didn’t think anything of it and grabbed Lavinho for a hug as the two of you smiled at the camera, “perfecto!” He screamed.

Lavinho looked down at you and leaned in, placing a kiss on your lips. You were shocked to say the least but returned the gesture. You pulled him in for a kiss by the neck and let him stay there until you were both out of breath.

“Fuck,” you whispered. He could tell your mind was racing with those ugly thoughts from earlier, “do not let them get into your head, mi vida. You are my girlfriend and if this club gets mad for showing the world that you are my girlfriend than I think it’s time we start looking at another team for me.”

You were surprised at the sudden name he gave you but you knew it was bound to happen. The two of you acted like a couple, the both of you had met each others families, and went on vacation together.

“And if the world has a problem with it, they can all kiss my ass.”

You laughed against his lips before he placed another one on yours.

And true to his word, he made sure to let the world know that you were his girlfriend before any rumors started. It was the picture of the two of you that your teammate had taken.

He had posted it on instagram with two simple words.

“Haha, you’re joking,” you muttered to Leonardo and Lavinho. They shook their heads in agreement, “Wait, he’s going to ask me what?”

They didn’t have a chance to explain themselves before Ego approached the three of you.

The two men excused themselves, muttering things in Spanish about how you’d need all the help you could get when it came to Ego.

“You’re ( your name ), general director for the main team in Mexico,” you nodded in agreement, still wondering what it was that he wanted with you, “we need you for the Blue Lock project.”

You stared at him in disbelief, “uh, no? I direct under the Mexican selection. I don’t think it’d be smart to help my rivals.” Ego rolled his eyes, not understanding why you were refusing. He knew you had connections to Anri as you were essentially in her role but just for a completely different country. The two of you weren’t strangers, if anything, the two of you were friends.

“We aren’t rivals, we’re just building something that could help Japan finally achieve the World Cup.”

You stared at Ego with a dumbfounded expression. You really didn’t understand where Ego found the audacity to ask you for help but you had to applaud it. It was rare to see someone with such balls to ask such a huge favor.

“I’ve seen you direct for teams in Brazil, Spain, and England,” he replied sitting right across form you. You sighed in acknowledgement, “you’re correct but I’m contractually obligated to finish my time with the Mexican National Team. They’re also seeking to get a World Cup themselves if you didn’t know.”

Ego swiped up on his tablet, clicking and huffing at a few things, “help,” you said to the two of them in desperation. You could see Lavinho and Leonardo laughing at your reaction.

You had met Lavinho when you were helping direct the under fifteen team in Brazil. He was playing for the national team and the two of you exchanged numbers one night at a gala the team had thrown. He originally wanted to ask you out on a date but as he got to know you through the night, he realized you weren’t at all interested in him.

Leonardo was a completely different story.

The two of you had completely clashed with each other when you took up a role for Re-Al. You were assistant to the main coach and Leonardo didn’t take it well at first. He questioned your authority far too much and the two of you ended up in a screaming match one night after Re-Al had lost a playoff game. After that day, Leonardo had gained an insane amount of respect for you as you refused to step down to him.

You had kept contact with both of them so it came off as a surprise when both men had talked to you about this potential Blue Lock project. You were interested to see what the JFU would think of it but as rumors started to spread about the seriousness in it, you kept tabs on Anri and Ego.

Ego wasn’t wrong when he said you knew about Anri. You two were some of the most powerful women when it came to soccer and the two of you tended to stick together whenever you were around each other.

“You are but Blue Lock would pay your contract out. We see Japan winning the under 20 World Cup and we could use your skills. We’ve seen what you’ve done for Spain and Brazil and we’d like to see the same result for Japan.”

you sighed once again in disbelief. You knew men like ego were as stubborn as they came but you really didn’t know how to get it through his head that you weren’t interested in the position.

“Listen Ego, i appreciate the offer but I can’t just drop my priorities at home and leave to another country,” you stated, “there’s something we’re building in Mexico that can lead them to the World Cup and I want to see it through. I’m sure you understand because you want the same for your boys but I don’t understand why you’d think I’d just drop them for you and your team.”

Ego chuckled in response, “the Mexican national team hasn’t seen a World Cup in decades. The national team hasn’t seen past round sixteen in ages. Do you really think that the next World Cup would be any different?” Your eyes widened in shock, “for someone who is trying to guilt me into joining a company that has no wins or even credibility, you sure are doing a horrible job.”

“Listen, we have 300 boys at a facility waiting to become the worlds best striker. They’ve been training for weeks now and Anri suggested to give you a call. Leonardo has knowledge of what we’re building and we think you’d help us achieve that. You helped Brazil construct the team that won the World Cup and while you weren’t awarded the World Cup, you can be with Japan. Mexico doesn’t have the players to win the next World Cup and you know that.”

“Okay, that’s really mean. The men’s national team has won every single preliminary game they’ve needed to in order to move onto the qualifiers and I think they do have a solid chance of winning.”

“Are you saying that with sincerity or out of obligation? You’ve worked with the national team for three years now and nothing but losing has came out of it,” Ego said as your eyes widened, “you know that you aren’t the problem, it’s the men around you that are failing those boys and you know that no matter how much you explain it to them, they won’t listen.”

“Stop it, I won’t stand here and hear you slandering my team that I’ve worked hard to build,” ego scoffed in response, “if it was you building those boys, you would’ve won a championship by now but you haven’t and you know it’s because you aren’t the one in charge. You pretend you are but they don’t listen. Blue Lock is comprised of Anri and I and if you join, you will have people around you who will listen to your suggestions and directions.”

Your shut your eyes but Ego continued, “there’s many steps in order for us to take to win the World Cup but we will attain it and you should be apart of that.”

-

It had caught Leonardo and Lavinho by complete surprise when they saw your face plastered on the Blue Lock official page. You were smiling like it was just another day at work but to the soccer world, it had shook them to their core.

Blue Lock was not something credible to most people in the soccer world and your own team had laughed in your face when you turned in your official resignation papers along with the payout that Blue Lock provided.

“It’s useless, you’ll be back before you know it.” “They’ve never won a single World Cup and you think you’ll help them achieve that?”

At first, you were hesitant on responding to them but now you knew that Blue Lock needed to win a World Cup even if it came out of spite on your end.

Anri was over the moon when she found out that you had finally accepted the role. She had gifted you a basket full of Blue Lock merch and a few of your favorite snacks and candies.

“I could throw up, I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it.”

You were sitting on the bench next to Ego as you watched the boys fighting their hardest against the U20 Japan team.

“Stop it. It’s useless to be nervous when you should be analyzing their work,” you rolled your eyes, “sorry I can’t be a robot like you. Anri and I actually have emotions and it’s normal to react this way when your job is on the line.”

Ego didn’t bother to respond.

The two of you were sat at the edge of your seats as Anri was standing on the sidelines.

“Isagi, you can do this. I believe in you. You’ve trained hard and it’s time you show them,” you muttered to yourself. You were biting the sides of your fingers in nervousness when Isagi received the ball and made the decision to shoot it instead of passing it, “you can win this all.”

As soon as the ball hit the net and you heard the cheers from the crowd, you instantly dropped to your knees with your face hidden in your hands.

The crowd was going wild. The boys were all jumping onto Isagi meanwhile you were on your knees, Anri remained on the sidelines with tears covering her eyes and Ego stayed sat on his hair with minimal reaction.

“We did it!” You screamed as you jumped onto Ego. He immediately stiffened up but didn’t bother to push you off, “we fucking did it Jin!”

You remained hugging him for a bit longer before pulling away and looking at him, “Isagi did it,” you whispered to him before looking to Anri who was still on the sidelines by herself.

As soon as you ran over to Anri in excitementt, the two of you joined the boys on the field, congratulating them and handing them towels or water bottles.

“I’ll prepare the locker room for them!” You whispered to Anri who nodded in agreement. You zipped up your coat and went over to the locker room to prepare the food they were going to swallow whole.

What you hadn’t realized was that Ego was already in the hallway making phone calls and emailing different people from the JFU. You gave him a look implying that he needed to stop.

“You just won the most important game of your career and you’re sitting in an empty hallway talking to sponsors?” You asked leaning against the concrete wall. He shook his head, “just because we won doesn’t mean the works stops. We need to focus on the next era of Blue Lock and that’s the Neo Egoist League.”

You sighed and approached him slowly, “men like you need to step back even if it’s for the night to enjoy what you just won. Overworking yourself won’t help you or the team,” you whispered as you grabbed his bolo tie and started to loosen it.

He stiffened up once again but didn’t stop you. When he scanned the hallway and realized that everyone was still celebrating out on the field, he did the one thing he had been thinking about for a while now.

Ego grabbed you by the collar of your jacket and pulled you in for a kiss.

Your eyes widened at his reaction but you didn’t bother pulling away. Your hands found their way to his own jacket and held it tightly against your own hands.

The sounds of both of your heavy breathing was the only thing you could hear in the hallway and it wasn’t until you heard the commotion from the boys in the tunnel that you finally pulled away.

“Seriously? Right now?” You asked quietly. He nodded and wiped off the small bit of chapstick he felt he had on his lip, “that hug you gave me on the field was all the confirmation I needed.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you quickly pulled him in for one more kiss, “we’ll be talking about this later so don’t stray to far and if I catch you talking to any officials or sponsors tonight, I’m going to grab you by the collar of your shirt and drag you to sleep,” he didn’t reply but the look on his face gave you his response.

Men like Ego weren’t easily whipped. They weren’t men who typically found themselves falling in love with just anyone but women like you were as stubborn as they came and were hard to shake off and he liked that about you.

Your relationship with Marc was still new. You had only been dating him for a few weeks when his entire life had turned upside down.

In a nervous panic, he dialed your number. You didn’t know whether to help him or call for help as he whispered what he walked into but as you drove down the street, you had made the call in case he still hadn’t done it.

As you arrived to Mick’s apartment, you noticed Marc still holding Mick’s body against his. His eyes were wide in shock, panic, disbelief, and sadness.

You inched closer to the two, not really knowing what was okay for you to do. You knelt down beside him, holding his hand in one and Mick’s in the other. His body was already cold to the touch.

“Help should be here soon,” was all you managed to whisper into his ear.

Marc nodded but still maintained that grip against his body. You remained to his side as the on sight paramedics made there way in.

“Marc, I think it’s time we let the paramedics and police do their job. You have to let him go.”

Marc tightened his grip as you placed your hand on his shoulder, “Marc, please,” you whispered. He let out a racking sob and placed his best friend in the hands of the primary paramedic.

You instantly grabbed him and pushed him against you, letting him cry it out completely as paramedics, firefighters, and police officers worked around you. They didn’t make any motion to tell the two of you to leave and you didn’t want to make Marc even more upset.

After hours of the both of you crying, you grabbed Marc by the arm and hooked it over yours, “we can come back tomorrow or even later tonight but we have to get you home to rest. I can’t let you sit here all day and all night,” Marc didn’t respond but his movements followed yours.

The streets were dark, the noises were non-existent, and the air around you felt heavy.

You put Marc in the passenger seat and drove to your place. It was nothing compared to his but you knew you didn’t want to leave Marc on his own. You didn’t want to leave his side unless it was to pee or cook the both of you food.

-

“Uh, Marc? Why are you calling me, it’s late,” you whispered into the phone, “you better be dying or telling me that you just won the Champions League.”

Marc chuckled as he sat next to Lorenzo in the dentist office, “we’re going to have a guest over when I land back home,” you looked down to the phone in disbelief, “Marc, it’s two in the morning my time! What the fuck do you mean we’re having guests over and why are you telling me this when you aren’t even here?”

“I can explain it when I get home.”

“Sure, whatever! I’m going back to sleep!” You screamed as you slammed your phone down and fell back asleep.

Lorenzo looked to his friend with a small smirk on his face, “your wife? She sounds pretty.” Marc laughed lowly, “she’s more than that.”

What you hadn’t realized what Marc meant when he said you’d be having company over was essentially the two of you adopting a teenager.

You introduced yourself to Lorenzo, giving him a hug and a meal as Marc filled you in on everything. You understood why he did what he did but you still couldn’t wrap your heard around the fact that he essentially placed the two of you as his parents now.

“Marc, you’re batshit insane for this.”

“I know but you know I couldn’t just let him sit in that pile of junk and die. He has talent, he just needed someone to guide him.”

You remained silent but let Lorenzo finish his meal before showing him around the house and where he’d be staying.

You swore to Marc after that fateful day that you’d do anything for him but you didn’t know that also meant caring for a barely fifteen year old he had found on the street. You could tell that all Lorenzo needed was a bit of TLC and you were more than willing to do that but it definitely wasn’t something you expected to happen overnight.

-

“Those alternate jerseys are hideous, our colors are white and black, where are you getting blue in this?” You asked the board of Ubers management. Marc chuckled over this sweater as you stared at the men in disbelief, “if we’re going to debut a new jersey, shouldn’t we keep the colors the same? It seems pointless to change colors overnight when so many fans already own our black and white stripes.”

The men sighed in agreement.

When you originally met Marc, it was in a boardroom with the rest of the Ubers management. You were the fresh face for the marketing team and you were definitely a breath of fresh air.

Once the men disbanded and went their separate ways, you walked out of the conference room with Marc. The two of you exchanged looks until you both arrived in your office.

“They’re so dumb. Blue? Are you kidding me? That’s like saying we’re going to make the next jerseys pink!” You exclaimed. He shook his head and put his hands on your shoulder to relax, “amore miso, take a breath,” you did as instructed and let out a few shakey breaths.

“We need to take a vacation, something small on the coast of Italy. This job is taking up too much of your mental health.”

Marc’s serious expression made you realize that he wasn’t joking. You knew that ever since the incident with Mick and the events that followed after, Marc always made it a priority to make sure you weren’t doing anything to overwhelm your mental health.

“Can it be a cold climate? A cabin in the woods perhaps?” You asked. He knew you loved the winter. The snow, the fuzzy blankets, and the hot chocolate was your comfort, “Switzerland is calling your name sweetheart!” You giggled at his reply and placed a kiss on his cheek before letting him go off to his practice.

-

You had known about the Blue Lock project for a while now.

You weren’t unfamiliar with Ego Jinpachi or anyone he had invited to mentor the boys but what did take you by surprise was that Ego had personally called Marc to ask him.

His part in the project was inching closer by the day and that was why the both of you were now inside of a cabin in Switzerland.

“Babe, we should help Lorenzo pack once we get back. I love the boy but I don’t know if I trust him enough to pack a suitcase for a trip that long,” Marc let out a belting laugh, “imhabbe, he’s nineteen, I think he knows how to pack a bag.” You shook your head no in response, “I don’t know, you know unless it’s soccer or picking up girls, he’s really not the prepared type.”

Marc shook you off as he handed you a cup of coffee, “I saw the video your friend posted last weekend,” he whispered into your ear. You felt your face get red with warmth, “shut up, I was drunk and definitely way too ahead of myself at the time.”

Your closest friend had posted a video of the both of you. You were dancing against her and smiling into the camera. It definitely wasn’t recent and if you had to admit, you were a bit embarrassed by it. The party days were long gone but Marc every once in a while asked to see older pictures of you and you were always hesitant to show them.

“Like you’re the one to talk, I’ve seen the pictures the paparazzi’s took. Your arms wrapped around multiple women’s shoulders.” You lifted your eyebrow as Marc sighed in defeat, “we both had our party days, you more than me though,” you joked.

Marc agreed and sat down next to you, “it’s snowing,” Marc muttered over the mug. Your eyes widened as you grabbed his hand and ran with him to balcony, “Marc! It’s snowing! Oh my god! We should go build a snowman! Please!” You asked enthusiastically.

He nodded in agreement but the words weren’t registering in his head. He knew he only had one shot and he figured now was the time.

Marc didn’t know why it took him this long to ask but as he watched you looking over the balcony at the snow, he knew he only had one chance to ask you.

He grabbed your hand and held it softly, “look at me,” he whispered.

You looked at him and smiled, “What is it?” You asked. He let out a breath of nervousness, “with everything happening in the next few weeks, I knew I couldn’t leave Italy without asking you this. We’ve been doing this for a long time. You’ve seen me at my best and definitely at my worst. I definitely waited too long to ask and according to Lorenzo, I should’ve done this years ago but I know that with me leaving for Japan and you staying back, I have to ask, will you marry me?”

Your eyes widened as he opened up the small velvet box.

The ring was gorgeous. It was a decent sized diamond with even smaller diamonds surrounding it. The main statement was definitely the gold band that held it all together.

“Marc, are you kidding me? Yes, of course!” You screamed as you jumped up and down in happiness, “oh thank god, I was hoping you’d say yes considering I have a camera recording us.”

He pointed to the small camera in between a few plants which made you giggle.

“Lorenzo is going to lose his shit,” you whispered against his lips, “I told him right before we took off. He’s been blowing up my phone every morning asking if I had done it yet.”

The two of you started laughing as Marc slipped the ring on your finger, “we definitely have to call him to let him know,” Marc agreed but smashed his lips against yours, “but I think we have other things to attend to before we do that.”