#3wp

She carefully sets the cups down on the table before sliding onto the couch beside you. You’re quick to find your way towards her, scooting closer and closer until she has no choice but to wrap her arms around you.

“Mi amor, it’s been a week.” 

She’s exasperated, you can hear it in her voice. But that doesn’t stop you from lifting your head so you can make direct eye contact.

“A scary lady stabbed me, Ale. I was stabbed! Over and over again.”

Alexia sighs. “You know how Mapi feels when you refer to her as a ‘scary lady.’ And don’t be dramatic, you’re the one who asked her to give you a tattoo.”

It’s almost like a rite of passage for all footballers to get tattoos. All of your friends had designs, some small, some big. Yet somehow you’ve managed to live through the first twenty something years of your life ink-free. So when you decided to finally get one, there was really only one person you trusted to give you your first tattoo.

Mapi looked a little surprised but honored when you asked. She sat with you as you threw question after question at her, wanting to be prepared from beginning to end. 

But all your research and preparation did nothing to prepare you for how much it was actually going to hurt. 

“She didn’t have to make it hurt so much,” you whine, tucking your face against Alexia’s neck. 

A rumble can be felt as Alexia chuckles, hand coming up to rub soothingly at your back. 

“I don’t think there’s a pain meter on Mapi’s needle.”

You crack an eye open. “You’re defending the person who stabbed me?”

“Not defending. And please stop saying she stabbed you. She did not.”

“There was a needle! And it went through my skin multiple times!”

Okay, so maybe you were exaggerating your pain a little. You’ve been known to play through a couple of games after breaking your nose. The tattoo really only hurt the first couple of minutes Mapi put the needle to your skin. After that it became a dull sting, something that persisted only a few hours after you got  home. Within 24 hours the pain was already gone.

But your girlfriend is the Alexia Putellas, and you were only human. 

Everyone likes to joke, with all those muscles, how comfortable could she really be?

You had an inside source directly from the material herself, and your conclusion was very comfortable. Once you got your first hit, you were addicted.

So maybe you’re exaggerating your pain just to feel her arms around you. 

It’s not like Alexia wouldn’t give you a cuddle if you just asked, but where’s the fun in that?

It’s like heaven being in her arms.

A clam sort of peace settles around the two of you. You snuggle deeper against your girlfriend, Alexia’s fingers trailing lightly along your arms. The repetitive moment is lulling you deeper and deeper to sleep, your eyes feeling a bit heavier until you hear--

“Well I know one way to distract you.”

It’s instinctive, the way heat crawls up your skin. Your eyes flash open, all traces of sleep suddenly gone. 

Her hands have paused, fingers playing with the bottoms of your shirt.

“But… if you’re in too much pain--”

You shoot up, Alexia’s wrist gripped iron tight in your hand. “Nope, all good, let’s go!”

Now it’s late afternoon and the lot of you are all lying around the back of the villa. Most of the others are making great use of the pool, but you’ve found your own spot in the sun to work on your tan. Eyes closed, basking in the soothing warmth of the sun, everything would have been perfect… if it wasn’t for the shadow that falls over you in what feels like only a few minutes. 

Peeking an eye open, you’re not surprised to see your girlfriend peering over at you. 

“Pool time?” Alexia looks a bit sheepish, shuffling on her feet. It’s a question she’s asked no less than three times now, but each time you’ve come up with an excuse why you shouldn’t.

“I just ate.”

“I’ve got a cramp.”

“Oh look! I think Jenni wants your attention.”

Alexia’s an energetic person at heart. If she’s not out practicing on the pitch, she’s running or biking or doing literally anything to burn off her excess energy. Vacation Alexia is no different. She’s already managed to rope you and the other girls out on some sweat-worthy hikes. After the third time she tricked your entire group into joining her for another energy spending outing, you all banned her from planning any more activities for the group. 

She whined and pouted and argued away, but you all held firm. 

And that’s where the pool comes in. The only upside to having a pool in your rented villa, other than the occasional cooling off of course, is that Alexia has a way to work away her energy while everyone else gets to relax. It’s also a bonus that you have some nice eye-candy to look at while she’s swimming those strokes, but for the most part it helps keep the rest of you sane. 

So yeah, maybe you’ve been denying hopping into the pool whenever she asks. You know your girlfriend like the back of your hand, and you’d be a fool not to expect forced laps if you joined her in the water.

“Nope. I’m drunk. Drunk people shouldn’t go into the pool.” 

It’s a lie of course. 

You both knew how high of a tolerance you have, not to mention the clearly full drink still sitting by your side. 

Alexia doesn’t miss your full drink either, narrowing her eyes at you. “Drunk you say?”

You give her your best smile. “Yep. And you know what they say about drunk swimming.”

She raises an eyebrow. “It’s a good way to sober up?”

You roll your eyes, “No, you daft--”

Whatever you’re about to say is caught off in a scream when you’re suddenly hoisted in the air, sunglasses slipping off your head and crashing back down on your chair. 

“Alexia! What are you-- Let me go!”

Your girlfriend pretends she can’t hear you, tightening her grip on your body. It doesn’t matter how much you thrash, the muscles she spent hours cultivating in the gym were definitely not just for show. 

Everyone else at least has enough mind to swim out of the way when they see Alexia approach the edge of the pool.

“Alexia Putellas I swear to god, if you throw me in--”

“What’s that? Did you say something?” Alexia turns her head side to side, but there’s no mistaking the shit eating grin on her face. “‘Please throw you in?’ Oh well when you give me a request like that.”

“Alexia, don’t you dare!” 

---

Leah hasn’t seemed to notice you yet, angrily muttering under her breath as she kicks at the box in outrage. 

“Woah there, careful with that golden foot of yours.”

Blue eyes look up frantically, relaxing slightly when she realizes it’s you. “What are you doing out of bed so late?”

You raise an eyebrow, not at all fazed by the hostility in Leah’s voice. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Your captain sighs, dejectedly thumping her head against the glass of the vending machine. You have to muffle your laughter at the whine Leah lets out. “It ate my five and won’t give it back.”

“Do you mind if I…” you trail off just as Leah huffs and steps back, not really expecting to get her money back or her snack, but not seeing much harm in letting you take a shot at it either.

Humming, you peer through the glass. Sure enough, Leah’s packet of crisps is sat diagonally, resting between its slot and the glass. Your want for tea is all but forgotten, the task at hand seeming much more intriguing than your inability to fall asleep. 

Leah tsks when your fingers trail to the buttons, randomly pressing at the coin return in hopes that it might magically treat you better than the blonde. 

“I already did that,” she sighs, frowning when you seem to ignore her. 

You muck around for a little longer after that, fiddling with buttons, randomly seeing if your hand could fit through the chute. Everything you do is met with an equally as loud breath of impatience by your captain. Despite being a calm head on the pitch, it’s obvious that her patience didn’t translate well off the field. 

In the end, all it takes is a well placed whack by the heel of your palm dead center of the glass. 

Leah stares in disbelief as a whirring sound rings out, her packet of crisps dropping down the chute as distinct clinks of coins could be heard.

You fish out her snack and money like it’s nothing, smugly grinning her way. “Feel like I should take a finder’s fee, but I guess I’ll be generous this time.”

Leah rolls her eyes when you drop her things into her hands. “Gloating takes away from the actual feat, you know.”

“What? A hero can’t revel in their success?”

“‘Hero’ is pushing it.”

“Your white knight in shining armor?”

She doesn’t even bother with a response.

“The Spiderman to your Mary Jane?”

Leah’s eye twitches. 

“The Superman to your Lois Lane?”

“You do realize the more you talk, the less attractive you become?”

Your grin widens. “So you think I’m attractive.”

Leah sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose before turning on her heels. “Goodnight.”

When you clue Lia into your dilemma, your girlfriend has the gall to laugh right into your face.

“That little thing?” Lia’s got a crease between her eyebrows, the same look she gets whenever Leah says something stupid or Kyra tries to weasel her way into conversation only meant for you adults. And now that it’s being directed at you you can say with 100% confidence that you hate it. Especially since you’re completely justified to be cowering behind the door as you’ve been.

“That little thing has eight eyes and fangs for teeth. Not to mention those thick and pointy legs are posed to strike at any moment!”

Lia rolls her eyes but you’re past the point of caring how sane you may be perceived anymore.

“Please Lia, I’m begging you.” Just for kicks you drop to your knees, careful to still keep an eye on the intruder. “I’ll do the dishes for a week. Laundry for two! Just please, please, please get rid of it!”

Your girlfriend, the traitor, pretends to think about it for a minute. Your hands tighten around hers as each second ticks past.

“Bump laundry up to a month and throw in leaf duty for the rest of Autumn and I’ll think about it.”

“Patio will be spotless. Clothes fresh and folded.”

The way you agree without hesitation has Lia pausing. While you never minded helping her with tidying up the leaves, you detested doing her laundry. Everything was always muddy, sweaty, and gross. You must really be on your last legs if you’re willing to brave it all for a month just so she could get rid of the spider.

Pressing a kiss against your cheek, Lia shuffles you behind her.

You watch with bated breath as she pulls out an empty cup from her bag. For a second you really think everything’s going to work out without a hitch. Just for a fleeting second.

And then just as Lia takes a step forward, so does the little gremlin.

Fast as lightning you’re shrieking, diving behind the door like the spider’s too dumb to find the gap underneath it.

You could have been hiding there, trembling and regretting all of your life choices for hours or it could’ve been just mere seconds before you hear an amused clearing of a throat.

In her hand Lia’s got a flipped cup resting on a random sheet of paper. You don’t have to peek underneath it to know what’s hiding underneath.

“I take kisses as payment,” she smirks.

You mirror Lia as she steps towards you, taking a step backwards.

A perfectly manicured eyebrow raises in question but you put your hands up in defense.

“Not another step until that is out of our place.”

Lia drops her eyes towards the cup before looking at you again.

Your heart sinks when you notice the look on her face.

“Don’t.”

Lia raises her foot daringly.

“Lia Joëlle.”

Lia doesn’t take your warning seriously.

When she lunges forward while simultaneously feigning dropping the cup you leap back…

Right into something hard and not so sturdy.

A hand shoots forward to steady you but it’s too late.

A sparkle, a loud pop, and your tailbone lands hard on the ground as the lights all go out.

“Shit!” Lia curses.

There’s a deafening sound of something plastic hitting the floor.

An uncomfortable silence fills the air.

Then, “Okay. Don’t panic but--”

You tilt your head towards her, a singular eyebrow raising up in question as your arms stay halfway through your training shirt. Of all times Tobin could’ve started a conversation of course she had to wait until you were quite literally trapped with nowhere to escape. 

“Why do you think I have anything to tell you?”

“You have a hickey the size of Maine on your neck.”

You follow her eyes down to your skin. Your still very bruised skin. 

The memory of mischievous eyes sparkling as you tried to sneak out this morning flashes clearly through your mind as you hastily pull on a neck warmer from your cubby.

You can still feel Tobin’s eyes on the side of your face as you try to busy yourself pulling on the last of your clothes. 

“You’re seeing someone, don’t lie.”

“And why do you think so?” You look up to see Tobin giving you a look. You roll your eyes. “Apart from the hickey.”

“You’re really going to make me play detective today?” When you don’t respond Tobin lets out an annoyed grunt. “Where to start? Well you’ve been sneaking in at 6 in the morning for the past couple of weeks.”

It’s not your fault you haven’t been given a drawer yet. Frankly the number of times you’ve stayed over should’ve already gotten you a place to store your things but Alessia’s been extremely paranoid about letting you leave traces of yourself at hers. Something about how her England teammates like coming over unannounced. A lot. Better to keep no trace of you at her place lest a blabbermouth blabbers too much.

“And changing your phone password? Not cool, dude.”

You cringe at the memory of Tobin storming into your room at half past twelve the other day, exasperated at the fact that a). you weren’t up and making her breakfast yet, and b). she couldn’t get into your phone to doordash some food.

You and Tobin shared everything. Cooking duties. The occasional snapback. Your phone passwords. But that last one was the first thing you changed when you started seeing Alessia. 

“And finally, this,” Tobin pokes at the light blue hoodie peeking out of your duffle, “is not yours.”

You try ducking under her arm to get out of the locker room but Tobin grabs a firm hold of your training top, jerking you back towards her.

You’re nose to nose now and the forward has no problem using her height advantage to stare you down. “I’ll ask again. Who have you been locking lips with?”

You scowl. “Well you’re playing detective today right? Guess.”

Tobin’s lips pinch shut, a displeased look on her face.

Before she can retaliate, a brief call of her name by Kim has Tobin turning away. When her hands loosen their hold, you bolt, taking full advantage of Tobin’s brief dip of attention.

Unbeknownst to you, a pair of blue eyes follow you out of the room.

It isn’t until you’re already stretching on the sideline that long legs catch up to you. A soft smile breaks onto your face at the sight of other girl, hands opening and closing as you mime at her to come closer for a kiss.

For a second you think Alessia's going to crumble to your demands. 

And then you see her panicked expression.

“Did Tobin figure out we’re dating?”

Sighing, you push yourself off the ground, taking care to brush grass off your legs. “No, Tobin’s smart but she isn’t that smart.”

Alessia gives you a look that has you wondering if she’s offended on the behalf of the striker. 

You roll your eyes before giving her a light shove. “Relax, all she saw was your hoodie. She’s not going to know it’s yours.”

Alessia’s eyes widen at the mention of the sweatshirt you snuck out of her house this morning. Usually it’s cute and all and she really does love seeing you in her clothes, but faced with the fact that it’s branded with the UNC logo on the front? Or the fact that Tobin knows you followed in Christen’s footsteps and went to Stanford instead of Chapel Hill? 

“My hoodie? Babe! Of course she’s going to know it’s mine!”

“Relax,” you repeat, hands coming up to rub at her tense shoulders. “There are four of you who played at UNC who are on the team now. She’ll be too busy trying to figure out if it’s you, Lotte, or Foxy to ever find the real culprit.”

If anything, your words only seem to agitate her more. Alessia slaps your hands away, arms crossing over her chest. “You’d rather Tobin think you’re dating Lotte or Em over me?”

Safe to say, any words you try to defend yourself with only digs you deeper into the hole.

Tobin’s pleasantly surprised to see you moping on the couch later that night.

.

It doesn't take as long as you’re expecting for Tobin to figure it out.

You’re doing your weekly check-in with your sister a couple days later when Christen’s face suddenly widens into a teasing smirk. 

“So Tobin tells me you have a new girlfriend.”

You resist the urge to fling your phone across the room. Instead, you do the mature thing and hang up the phone.

Christen doesn’t look impressed when she calls back and you pick up. 

“Oh don’t be a wuss. There’s nothing you can do without me knowing. So spill. Tell me all about her.”

 You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Really, Chris? This is what you want to talk about?”

Even from a continent away you can see the megawatt smile being sent your way. “Couldn’t take my number so you had to take out a girl who has it too, huh?”

The meeting you slipped into was already in motion, multiple eyes zeroing in on you as you tried to sneak in undetected. So with a healthy dose of tiredness and shame following you to your classroom, you really hoped that your rambunctious lot of third graders would magically surprise you with manners fit for royalty.

It really shouldn’t have irked you as much as it did when all twenty-five of them seemed to catch the wiggle-bug. Nobody was able to sit for more than a couple minutes without jumping or shouting what was on their minds.

By the time the clock signaled the end of the school day you were more than ready to rip out your hair. As politely as you could you wished all of your students goodbye, waving at their grinning faces as their parents herded them away.

Any hope you had at relaxing was dashed when you noticed the cars lining the street all the way up to your driveway.

Sighing, you drove a bit further away before parking on the curb, knowing better than to expect the girls to leave you a clear spot to park in your own driveway.

Mumbling under your breath you stepped over the shoes discarded carelessly by the door. Although you could hear laughter wafting from the living room, you took the side door to get a well needed beer from the fridge. As much as you loved Aitana and all twenty of her clubmates, you needed something to help rewind before even entertaining the idea of playing host.

The second your foot crosses the doorway leading into your kitchen however, you freeze. Your fingers tighten against the doorframe as you take in the sight in front of you.

Something was baking in the oven, but dirty bowls littered your counters, as did half-used ingredients. Flour covered almost every surface, even tracking throughout the ground. 

Clearly the girls had never heard of leaving things as they found it. 

You shut your eyes, jaw clenching so hard that you know your dentist will be giving you an earful when you see her next.

“Aitana Bonmatí Conca, what the hell did you do to my kitchen?!”

The chattering ceases instantly. 

Angrily turning around, you stomp into the living room to give the girls a piece of your mind.

You’re met with wide guilty eyes, the footballers looking scolded before you even started. 

“Hola bebé, you’re home early.” Aitana gives you a timid grin but you’re not amused.

Your nose flares angrily as you take another step forward. Everyone flinches when you shove a finger into Aitana’s chest. “Clean up my kitchen. Now.”

The air is silent as no one dares to move.

You quirk an eyebrow, tilting your head to make eye contact with the rest of the team. “Now! Pronto! Move your asses girls! I wanted it spotless yesterday!”

It’s like a hurricane storming when everyone scrambles up all at once. Quiet apologies are thrown your way as they pass by, everyone eager to escape your anger.

Aitana tries to sneak away with her teammates but your hand clamps down on her arm before she can even take a step.

“I love you?” she tries, deflating when she sees your unamused look.

“Aitana, babe, love of my life, I love you but you’re the bane of my existence. I’m exhausted and would love it if you could reign in the girls and not make messes for me to clean up.”

A look of determination crosses her face as Aitana nods quickly. “I will do a better job of cleaning up.”

“Thank you,” you sigh, relaxing a bit when Aitana timidly leans forward to give your forehead a soft kiss.

Your girlfriend takes it as a win when she wraps her arms around you and you instantly sink into her hold. The exhaustion from your day seemingly catches up to you as you sway dangerously, ready to go to bed despite it still being early. 

Sighing, you rub at your eyes before gently pushing Aitana off of you. “Thank you for putting up with me. ‘M sorry for yelling.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure you’ve had a long day. Is there anything I could do for you?”

Humming, you give her a kiss when she leans forward for one.

“Could you go get me a beer and tell the rest of the girls that they don’t have to hide in the kitchen from me?”

“I--” Aitana winces. “I think we’re out.”

When Ingrid pokes her head out of the kitchen a couple minutes later, selected by the bunch as the least likely to get her head bitten off by you, she’s met with the sight of you sitting on the couch, feet thrown up on the table as you mindlessly flip through the TV.

You hold up a stack of papers towards the Norwegian. 

“Got a new team bonding activity for you heathens.”

Aitana sighs when she catches sight of the rest of her teammates with each of their own personalized shopping lists at the store down the street. 

Peacefully closed eyes, button nose, hair done up in neat braids, yeah, you’d know that face anywhere.

“Aita.”

Your best friend murmurs incomprehensibly but doesn’t stir.

You sigh, nudging her again. “Aita!”

This time you get a tiny mumble, the other girl’s eyebrows furrowing as she fights to stay asleep.

“Aitana wake up!” This time your words are paired with a harsh yank of the bracelet on your wrist, Aitana’s hand consequently raising up as a result.

With a sputter the brunette wakes, lurching up so suddenly you almost clash heads.

“Ugh,” she groans, clearly feeling the effects of partying last night as much as you. “Why are you yelling so early in the morning?”

“It’s nearly noon,” you point out.

Aitana rolls her eyes at your correction. “Whatever. My question still stands. Why the yelling?”

“I don’t know, Aita, you tell me. Why are we handcuffed together?”

The footballer’s eyes stay narrowed for a second.

It’s clear when your words finally hit.

“Why are we what?!”

She seems frantic when she notices the predicament you’re in, ignoring your hisses of pain when she starts yanking her arm back with vigor.

“Stop it!” you yelp, free hand clamping down on Aitana’s wrist to stop her from detaching your hand from your body.

“Give me the key!” she all but shouts.

You give her a look. “You think I’d wake you up if I had the key? Honestly-- Wait why do you think the handcuff’s mine? For all I know it could be yours!”

Aitana tries to shove you in retaliation but all it does is yank her on top of you when you fall over.

“Why hello there,” she chuckles, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“Do not even think about it. You’re not getting anywhere near my pants until we get out of these cuffs.”

Aitana lets out a groan when you shuffle your way out from under her.

While you reach for your phone in hopes of piecing together your night, Aitana snags a discarded hoodie from the foot of the bed.

You give her a look. “What do you think you’re doing with that?”

“I’m cold,” she points out like it’s obvious.

You roll your eyes at her. “And how do you think you’re going to get it on?”

Aitana opens her mouth, retort ready to fire before she realizes you’re right. Her mouth snaps shut with a click.

Sighing, you scoop up a blanket and drape it over her shoulders.

You pretend not to feel something when her free hand grazes yours and she murmurs a soft ‘thank you.’

Some day the two of you will have to sit down and actually define what you are.

Some day.

But not today.

You have more pressing things to do.

Like kill Patri and Claudia.

When Aitana frowns at your declaration you shove your phone into her hand.

“I swear to god, when I find them--” you huff.

Aitana’s silent as she reads through your text chain with the older of the two. Clearly sent sometime after the two of you got home and passed out, the texts read as follows:

[when you and aitana gonna get together]

[?]

[are you ignoring me :(]

[haha blame claudia]

[dunno where she got the cuffs didn’t ask but it was a great plan]

[have funnnnnnn]

[no freedom until you figure things out]

Clearly you’re going to need to re-educate Patri on what an “emergency key” means. Because sneaking into people’s houses in the middle of the night to handcuff them is definitely not in the handbook of uses.

Aitana seems to agree as she all but shoves your car keys into your hands.