#mearps

you and your girlfriend, mary were in a relatively ‘secret’ relationship. your friends, family and teammates all knew about it, the only people really left in the dark was the media.

there wasn’t any specific reason for it, you and mary just thought it would be better this way in the beginning stages of your relationship. but the thing is, you’ve been dating for over 5 years and people still think that you and mary are just affectionate best friends. slowly but surely, you both didn’t want to hide it any longer.

—

you met mary in the england youth teams. originally, she didn’t like you at first. you were a forward and she was a keeper, and even though you were on the same team, her body would burn in anger when the ball you sent to the back of the net would graze her fingertips everytime.

you were always labelled a sweetheart, one of the nicest girls on the team by a long shot and no one could deny it, not even mary.

she always claimed she didn’t like you but as the time progressed, she began to admire you. mistaking her ‘dislike’ for intrigue.

to ‘settle your differences’, you and mary were forced to room together at every camp, meaning the two of you would talk and goof off together. it was clear to your teammates that you both liked each other, so with a gentle push, mary made the first move and asked you out. and ever since then, you’d been inseparable.

—

you and mary ended up playing together at all the same clubs, labelling the two of you as the unstoppable best friends, something that the two of you would laugh about.

—

it was the women’s world cup, you and mary getting called up for the senior team at the same time in your shared flat. it was nerve wracking, yet exciting, as everyone had good feelings about the tournament.

during this time, your girlfriend had grown quite a love for frequently posting on tiktok, making random videos with your teammates everyday. occasionally she would vlog and get you to say “hi” the comments always saying how cute your friendship was.

“hello, everyone! millie and mary here,” mary holds the phone while she sits on the plane next to millie, you’re sitting behind her. “we’re gonna play around with this guess the country filter while everyone is sleeping” mary says in a lame attempt of a whisper while her and millie cackle.

millie glances around the plane until her eyes fall on your sleeping figure. “literally everyone is sleeping right now, look at your girl over here” millie gestures to you and mary’s face lights up, she lifts up her phone to show you sleeping next to maya, both of you bundled up in hoodies. though what mary didn’t realise, was that you were wearing her hoodie.

“sleepy girls” mary coos before laughing and propping the phone up so they could continue the video.

“what’s that?” millie asks

“jaw, teeth? mail teeth?” mary says in full confusion

you woke up to the loud laughs of mary and millie with a groan, you peer over the front of your seat to see the two of them goofing off on mary’s phone. you’re visible in the camera, your tired eyes evident on your face.

you slap them both on the back of the head and they both let out a gasp in surprise, snapping their heads to see a very grumpy you staring down at them.

“too loud” you grit out and mary smiles up at you affectionately, moving her hand to pinch your cheek gently. “sorry, love” she laughs, millie blows you a kiss in apology and you couldn’t help but smile. before you sit down, you wave at the camera, “it’s india” you say simply before sitting back down, hearing the excited yells of astonishment at your correct answer.

the video blows up, specifically the comments saying how funny you all were. there were some comments saying how you were wearing mary’s clothes and some saying the way mary looked at you was anything but friendly but fans were quickly shutting them down.

everyone truly believed the two of you were best friends but the video began to decay those opinions. the speculations were growing and you and mary honestly found it quite funny.

—

you and mary room together, forcing you to film as many videos as she could with you. her tiktok page filling up completely with random videos during the day or challenges she would do with different teammates.

the social media admin was also having a field day with all the content being released from mary, they’d also been releasing their own. one that sparked a lot of interest in particular, was one of you and mary arriving to a game.

she’d gotten off the bus first and waved to the camera, grabbing your hand and helping you walk down the stairs. when you reach the ground, you look up at her and smile affectionately before she bends down slightly, showing you her back.

you instantly take the invitation and she piggybacks you while you wave to the camera.

“i only arrive in style” you joke at the camera, throwing it a wink as you rest your cheek against mary’s. “what about me?” mary mocks, you just smile and nuzzle into her.

in the distance, ella is speaking to alessia, “i wish my partner was here so i didn’t have to walk” she jokes, it’s barely audible but fans picked it up right away. at this point, you and mary didn’t really care, you were just being you and having fun and that’s all that mattered for the both of you.

—

though, a video that fully confirmed your relationship was made by mary. she’d begged you to join her on a challenge and claimed it would be extremely funny.

“baby, please, it’ll be so good!” she pleads, hugging you from behind while you brush your teeth. “can’t you ask me later?” you muffle out, mouth full of toothpaste and she laughs affectionately. kissing your cheek repeatedly as she squeezed your waist gently. she stares at you in the mirror and you give in easily, “fine” you groan, finishing up brushing your teeth as she squeals excitedly.

you had training today, both of you agreed to film the video at the training facility as it involved water.

she’d clearly already organised this, when she walked you in the room, the entire team was there and had brought all the materials.

you laugh in disbelief as your water bottle and tortillas are thrusted in your hands. “what are we doing again?” you smile at mary while she gives the phone to another tiktok expert, esme to film. “so we fill our mouths with water and then do scissors, paper, rock and then whoever wins slaps the other person with the tortilla” mary explains, all the girls are in fits of giggles excited to see the video happen right in front of them.

you shake your head amusingly but agree, laughing when mary gives you your tortilla. she does a quick intro with her arm slung around your shoulder. “hello everyone, me and this hottie over here have a great video for you today, enjoy!” she says cheekily, you roll your eyes at the pet name and ignore the teasing coming from behind the phone.

you fill your mouth up with water and try not to laugh at mary’s appearance, she was clearly trying to make you laugh and it took everything in you to hold it in. you send her a warning glare before holding your hands up for scissors, paper, rock.

you win the first one and gently slap mary’s cheek with the tortilla, clearly missing the challenge. people awe at you from behind the camera and you look at them confused, mary swallows her water and laughs. “you’re so cute, (y/n/n)!” millie yells and you try not to laugh at her.

“you need to slap hard!” mary exclaims, your eyes widen but you nod, gesturing for her to continue. you win again and look at mary trying not to laugh. you slap a little harder but still quite gentle and mary smiles at you, swallowing her water and pulling you into a little hug.

“i’ve picked the wrong person to do this with” she coos, you swallow your water and laugh when she cradles your head to her chest. “you’ve gotta slap me really hard with it, love, don’t hold back!” mary smiles at you before separating again.

you get back into position and do scissors, paper, rock again, this time mary wins and you look at her nervously. she smirks and lines the tortilla up next to your face. you let out a little squeal in fear as she pretends to slap you but doesn’t. the team laughs brightly at the interaction, some of them a little scared for your cheek.

mary finally slaps you with the tortilla and your eyes widen in shock and you spit out a little water in the process. the slap was hard, so hard that she broke the tortilla in the process. people let out shocked gasps and laughs as they watch you recover. you were trying not to spit out your water from laughter but failing completely, you keep laughing with little spits of water coming out of your mouth while you hold your cheek.

mary looks at you in shock, swallowing the water and cradling your face between her hands. “baby! oh my god, i’m so sorry” she looks into your eyes and smiles when she sees you laughing.

“shit, mearps, the gym is working out for you” you joke, she kisses your slapped cheek repeatedly as an apology and you can feel yourself growing warm. “i’m so sorry, my love” mary says earnestly, you kiss her cheek back and tell her not to worry about it.

you walk up to the camera with a big grin, showing them your cheek with a laugh. “confirmed, mary earps is a tortilla abuser, slapped her own girlfriend” you joke, mary laughs brightly from behind you, “oi!” she hoists you over her shoulder and you let out a gleeful laugh, she playfully slaps your behind and runs off. esme stops the camera and the girls watch it back together, pissing themselves laughing at it.

mary takes you to a hidden corner of the room and pulls you into a loving kiss, it lasts for a couple seconds before she pulls back and inspects your cheek. “i’m so sorry, baby, i overestimated the strength of the tortilla” she laughs, “it’s okay, babe, now i can say mary earps slapped me with a tortilla, big achievement” you shrug, she smirks and closes the gap, kissing you again quickly before walking towards the girls again.

—

the video blows up, becoming one of the most popular world cup videos as well as the confirmation of your relationship. everyone claims “they knew it” on the video and sending the two of you support. now that everyone knows, mary will make couple tiktoks with you and feeds everyone in the woso community their favourite couple content.

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you know the drill!!! - just pretend it’s you xx ily chlo

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1maryearps: when she confirms the relationship 🫦

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yourname: mary earps slapped her own girlfriend with a tortilla

↳ 1maryearps: i said i was sorry!

↳ yourname: YOU. SLAPPED. YOUR. GIRLFRIEND. WITH. A. TORTILLA

↳ 1maryearps: I’M. SORRY.

↳ yourname: you’re lucky you’re cute

↳ mbrighty04: you’re the cutest (y/n/n)!

↳ yourname: no you mills!!

↳ 1maryearps: i’m sorry, am i missing something here?

-----

You were browsing your local supermarket for dinner inspiration after a long work day. The day had been filled with important meetings, and you were still dressed for the part. You ended up in the pasta aisle where you saw a woman trying to reach for a jar that was slightly pushed back on the top shelf. Without a second thought you walked towards here, “Let me get that for you.” You say and reach for it. 

The moment you hand the woman the can, is the first time you see her face. You were mesmerised by her beauty. “Thank you, it was just out of my reach.” The woman said with a beaming smile. Her words snapped you out of staring, “Of course, no problem.” The woman in front of you looks between the two of you and starts laughing. “Look at us, full suit versus full tracksuit.” You hadn’t realised the stark contrast in your outfits until she pointed it out but laughed with her once she explained. “Your outfit seems a lot more comfortable, and I definitely switch to something similar when I get home once I figure out what to eat tonight.”

You weren’t usually one to talk to strangers in a supermarket but something about the woman in front of you made it feel like you weren’t strangers at all. She was easy to talk to, and you felt yourself not wanting the conversation to end. “Well, I was going to make some spaghetti bolognese, would you like to join me?” You were intrigued by her offer but also didn’t want to impose. She seemed to notice your hesitation in answering, “Please, let me thank you for helping me.” She managed to get you to set your doubts aside. “Okay, let’s do it then. I’m y/n by the way.” The woman holds out her hand for you to shake it. “It’s nice to meet you, y/n. I’m Mary.” 

“Great, I just need to get something for dessert.” She hadn’t let go of your hand, so she used it to guide you towards the dessert section. “Since I chose dinner, you can choose dessert.” You head to the front of the store once you’ve picked out desserts, and after Mary made sure you didn’t need to get anything else at the store. With a bag full of groceries, you walk out of the store together. “I live like two blocks away from here, my friend dropped me off at the store, so I was planning on walking home. Are you okay with walking there?” You nod over to your car a few parking spots over, “Or we can take my car?” Mary smiles, “Perfect.” 

You get into your car and look down at your outfit, “Do you mind if we stop by my house? I would love to get out of this suit.” Mary buckles up, “Or I can lend you some trackies and we have a cosy date.” Her eyes widened, “Wait, sorry, I never clarified it as such.” You shake your head and laugh, “A cosy date sounds lovely.”

After setting down the groceries in Mary’s kitchen, she leads you upstairs to get you a comfy outfit. She opens her closet, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen that many sports clothes together outside of a store. You notice the Manchester United, and the England crest on many of them. “You’re a big football fan then?” You let your eyes go over the many jerseys. 

Mary smiled at your comment, it was a nice feeling that the stranger at the grocery store liked her for her and not because she was a fan. “You can say that.” She says with a laugh. You turn to face her with a furrowed brow. “They’re my jerseys. Mine as in I wear them when I play for United and for England.” She pulls out one of the jerseys showing the back. “Earps, that’s me.” She says proudly. “Wow, I had no idea. That’s really cool. So you get to wear comfy stuff for work every day then, maybe I should consider a career switch.” You both laugh.

Your first date with Mary was a big success, she was easy to talk to, and while your careers differed immensely, you had a lot in common with her. She walked you back to your car, where you shared your first kiss. Mary was standing on her tippy toes, with her arms around your shoulders. The kiss was short and sweet, with a promise to more since you had already planned your second date.

After a few dates, Mary had asked you to be her girlfriend, which you had happily said yes too. 

One month into your relationship you found yourself amongst the crowd at Leigh Sports Village, where you watched Mary play for the first time. She had explained the basic rules of football to you while watching a match on the tv together one night. Now that she wasn’t by your side to explain what was happening, it was harder for you to follow but that was okay. Whenever you didn’t understand what was going on, your eyes went to her in the goal. 

Mary met you in the family and friends lounge when she was done, she introduced you to a couple of her teammates before taking you back to your place. Since your first date was an at home dinner that you prepared together, you wanted to create the tradition to do the same for your anniversaries. So, starting off with your first month anniversary today, you went to the store you had met each other in to pick out the ingredients. 

Ever since you started dating, you would get everything from the top shelves for Mary, but now you turn around from the pans on the stove to find Mary climbing on top of the counter. “Baby, what are you doing?” You laugh. “I’m just getting some wine glasses.” She said innocently. You take the glasses from her, before you help her down from the counter, and spin her around a couple of times. “You know I couldn’t easily grab those, right?” She pecks your lips. “Yeah, just a habit I still need to break.” 

-----

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1maryearps: Creating traditions.

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fan1: Omg mearps is dating someone??

ellatoone: Cuties

fan2: they are so cute!

fan3: who is she with?

alessiarusso: Finally someone else that can cook a proper meal

-----

Swan lake is one of the most demanding ballets and the black swan pas de deux, which could be regarded as the hardest dance in a ballet, is part of the extraordinarily challenging role of Odette/Odile. As the lead dancer in this duet executes one of the most challenging sequences -32 fouettes.

Swan Lake features two intermissions and a running period of about three hours. The dancers need to be extremely strong and resilient.

Ballet appears effortless and graceful, but it actually involves years of rigorous training and is incredibly technical.

You could imagine how your training schedule looked like. The ballet was hard, demanding yet you loved everything about it. You loved to work with your co-workers who became your second family.

Ballet was your first love and even if you thought about quitting, you never did, the love you held was always stronger than the actual negative.

So basically your life consisted of ballet and Mary Earps, your longterm girlfriend.

Mary.

Your anchor in the sea.

She understood you like no one else did, she loved you like no one else did.

The world refered to you as the power-sports-couple.

The footballer and the dancer as they say. It wasn’t always easy between the two of you, you had your ups and downs - professional footballer and ballet dancer, busy schedules, not much time for one another. Yet you managed. Your love was stronger than any schedule - your love was the motivation the other one had to keep fighting.

A match made in heaven.

-

"You‘re coming tomorrow, right?" you asked Mary who was laying beneath you as she drew patterns on your back.

"Of course, baby, I wouldn‘t miss it for the world" she stated, squeezing your hips as reassurance.

Weirdly enough, even though you had completely different schedules and training plans, Mary had always been at every important performance of yours and you were at all of her important matches (Euros, etc). It was something that meant more than words could: you would support each other no matter what.

"Lessi, Ella, Leah, everyone is gonna be there. They‘re gonna be amazed by you!" You giggled in her chest, her pride radiating of her body.

-

"Guys" Mary said in a stern voice to her national team mates. They looked at her with wide eyes, she normally used that tone on the pitch and only on the pitch. Were they in trouble? "So you know Y/n?"

"The girl you never shut up about?" Lessi asked with a sweet grin, knowing how obsessed Mary was with you and everything you did, "nah we don‘t know her" Ella added, mocking.

"Shut it!" Mary grumbled before she continued, "well, in a few months there will this big ballet performance and she‘s the principal dancer,"

"Is she havin‘ heart eyes?" Maya whispered as she looked at your lover girl who had the biggest smile and so said heart eyes covering her face. "And I want you to come. You don‘t have to, but i know she’d be really happy to see support from her friends."

Within seconds, the girls agreed, they loved you and the fact that you made Mary happy.

-

"What if I mess up?" you asked as you laughter died down, your head hidden in the crook of Mary’s neck. "You won‘t, love. You worked so hard to be there, you deserve it my girl, you deserve everything" she pressed a lingering kiss to your head, hugging you tightly.

Mary knew for sure that you would amaze everyone and with that thought she fell into a slumber, ready to see you shine.

-

"Wake up, baby, it‘s your big day" the goalie whispered as she kissed along your cheek. Not a morning person at all, you turned away, grumbling, "no baby, you‘ve to get up" pressing more quick kisses over your face as it scrunched up in responds, she knew you were slowly waking up. "Proper kiss?" you demanded softly with your morning voice while sitting up and rubbing your eyes.

"Anything for you" Mary firmly pressed her mouth on your own, one hand cupping your cheek to deepen it as she purred every inch of her love in that kiss.

Your mind was spinning as she pulled away, chest heaving at the intensity of her kiss - not expecting something like that in the early hours of the morning. "I made you breakfast and your towel is in the dryer so it‘s warm after your shower" you watched the goal keeper with so much love as she went to her drawer to hand you her hoodie, knowing that you get cold easily when you left the bed.

"What did I do to deserve you?"

Holding out her hand for you to take, the united player replied, "I ask myself the same question everyday" she didn’t give you the time to react before she pulled you at your hand in the kitchen, the table full of your favorite foods.

"Mary!" you gasped, "who‘s gonna eat all of that?" laughing at her confused expression, she answered straightaway, "you?"

-

Mary was jittery as she took a seat in the front row, next to her friends. She was biting her nails, body and mind filled with emotions.

She felt pride.

She felt excitement.

She felt nervous.

She felt afraid.

How will this end? She prayed that everything would work the way it should. That everything you did was the way it was trained. Ballet wasn‘t like dancing - Mary went on the pitch not knowing what‘s going to happen while you went on stage knowing exactly what should happen. It was the fear, the nervousness and the adventure that made both so exciting. In a way, your job and her job were so similar because they were so different.

The lights were on, people chatting and the curtain still closed, "she‘s going to be great" the skipper whispered in Mary’s ear as she was sitting behind her friend. With a squeeze on her shoulder, Leah tried to ease the goalies mind. Back at her funny and cocky self, she answered, "I know she will" and Mary truly believed it.

-

After what felt like forever in Mary’s eyes, the light started to dim before it went out fully, slowly the curtain was pulled open as it revealed the stage design. Everything looked beautiful and on point, nothing was where it didn‘t belong. The orchestra started playing, yourself going on stage looking absolutely breathtaking as you started the performance.

Mary sat there with her mouth agape, amazed by everything you did, her heart swelled with pride, eyes wide with hearts.

The goal keeper‘d seen you train and the effort you put in the show, the tears that left your eyes at night, the amount of times she carried your sleeping figure out of the car,

for the moment right now.

Everybody was holding their breath, nobody dared to say something (even Tooney, the goofy loud girl), the world just stopped. Everything disappeared - the ballet of the swan lake.

-

As the last note of the orchestra sounded, the silence became loud, a single tear of pride and joy escaped from Mary‘s eye. She said it before and will gladly do it again, you never failed to amaze her. It was the elegance of ballet that appealed to people, but if you look behind the façade - like Mary could - your mind would change, then you would know it not only looked effortlessly beautiful, but the years that each individual had to sacrifice.

The first to break the silence of the lionesses was Lucy, "wow" to which every girl agreed.

That performance was more than just wow yet everyone was too speechless to say anything else. As the lights were turned back on, the audience started to clap. Every single person in the audience stood up, clapping in their dazed state - it was the beauty of ballet.

The dancers, including yourself, stood in a row, smiling at the audience before bowing down. Your smile reached both of your ears, eyes fixed on Mary as she smiled proudly.

Everyone was also introduced individually with their role, who was then supposed to take a step forward, wave and bow again before joining the line again.

No doubt, when it was your turn that Mary told Alessia, "that‘s my girlfriend!" before clapping and cheering the loudest.

The goalie was the proudest girlfriend in the world, not just today but everyday.

-

"Baby, you were so amazing! And the sound effects with the-" Mary imitated the orchestra music, her hands flying around to visualize it, "and your moves" she stretched her legs in the air, walking on tip toes as she tried to explain every detail she saw. "Deep breaths my love" you giggled as you jumped on the kitchen counter, enjoying the show Mary gave you with her interpretation of swan lake. "Nah! It was just- you were just so- I’m so stunned" she flopped in your arms, standing in between your legs while her arms wrapped around your waist, "I’m so proud of you" she mumbled, her forehead resting against your own.

You matched her voice level with your answer, "Thank you. I love you"

"I love you too"

"I’m so fucking tired" you laughed, the iconic line of Lucía García leaving your lips. Mary with her famous laugh, picked you up and carried you, like so often, to bed, tugging you under the duvet after she had changed you in some comfortable sleeping clothes.

Before Mary even had the chance to join you, your soft snores filled the room, your body too exhausted to stay awake a minute longer. When she got cozy beside you, she pulled you close, cuddling your deep asleep figure.

Yet not going to sleep without giving you a good night kiss, so she pressed one against your forehead.

That night she dreamt about your gracefulness in the ballet and -

The beauty of the swan lake.