Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The First Visit
Esme’s POV:
Getting the callup to the national team was really special, and something that I definitely wasn’t used to. There were a few senior players absent due to injuries, most notably our captain: Leah. While I was sad that some players had to miss out, it meant that there were more opportunities for younger players like me. I had only made my first appearance for England coming off the bench against the Czech Republic, so I was still relatively new to the senior team. I had played plenty in the youth age groups, and had captained England at the youth levels, but making the step up to playing for the senior team was a bit daunting.
I was sat on the couch in my flat in Manchester that I shared with Lauren. She had picked up a minor injury during our last training session at City that meant she was one of the players that wouldn’t be able to make it to the upcoming England camp. It would be the first time that Lauren didn’t feature in an England match since Sarina took charge, and I knew that she was feeling disappointed about it. It could have been worse, though, because she would only be missing out on a couple of friendlies instead of any kind of major tournament. Lauren didn’t want to be left alone during the international break, so she had travelled down to her family in Norwich on the morning of the day before I was due to leave to join up with the rest of the Lionesses and fly out to Spain for our camp.
It was probably only five minutes after Lauren had left when my phone started ringing. I checked to see who was calling, and saw that it was Leah. I wondered what she wanted to talk about. I answered the phone and said hello.
“Hi Esme, I was just callin’ cuz I’m in town right now and I wondered if you’d like me to come over to your place and give you some advice for your time with England? I can’t be there myself, but I can at least still help you out.” Leah offered.
“Yeah, that would be great. I’d love to get your advice, Leah, and it’d even be nice just to see you!”
“Right, well it’s settled then. Can I come over right away?” Leah asked.
I told her to come whenever she liked, and I reminded her of my address. Leah said she’d be over in about half an hour, and as soon as she hung up the phone I got busy tidying the flat to make it look presentable. I was really looking forward to seeing Leah. She was always fun to be around and her advice always helped me to fit in better with the rest of the team and to up my game. The fact that she was really fit was an added bonus.
Leah’s POV:
I was in Manchester to see a physiotherapy specialist for my ankle, and I had a spare day to spend in the city. I remembered that Esme lived here, and I thought that it would be good to meet up with her and give her some advice ahead of the England camp she was about to go off to. I felt a responsibility as captain to make sure that all the other players were well prepared for any challenges they might face, and Esme was one of my favourites on the team. She was just breaking into Sarina’s plans, so I figured she’d probably be a bit nervous. I wanted to do what I could to ease her nerves, so I was glad when she invited me to come over to her flat right away. I also had some news about me and Jordan that I wanted to get off my chest, and I thought that Esme might be the right person to tell because of how understanding and caring she was.
I found a great parking spot right outside Esme’s flat and made my way up to her door. I knew that Lauren had already left to go be with her family in Norwich, so I was expecting to find Esme alone. It would be good to keep her company, and I was sure that I would get a lot out of our time together as well. Esme was a really sweet girl, and she was quite cute too.
One thing that I loved about Esme was the way that she constantly had a smile on her face. She always cheered up the people she was around, and just being near her would always lift my mood if I was feeling upset. As Esme opened the door and let me inside, I saw that she had her trademark smile on full blast. She wrapped her long arms around me when I got inside and pulled me in for a tight hug. I felt my breath escape my lungs and my heart rate speed up. Not just because she squeezed me so tightly, but also because it felt surprisingly good to feel her body touching mine.
Esme released me after a few seconds and said “It’s so good to see you again Leah, thanks for coming!”
“Good to see you too, thanks for having me.” I replied.
I took my shoes off and Esme led me to her living room. She left to go put on the kettle, and returned quickly, passing me a cup. I took a sip and let out a little moan of appreciation. It was the best cup of tea that I’d had in a long time.
“Wow Esme, this is really good. Where’d you learn to make it like this?” I asked.
Esme grinned and said “I’m glad you like it, but I’m not revealing any of my secrets!
Esme and I caught each other up on some of the nice things that had happened in our lives since we had last talked, and then I started giving her some advice for how she could enjoy herself and do well during the upcoming international break. I gave her some specific advice for defending against Japan and Norway, even showing her some of the body movements and positions that I did to make sure that I was able to spin quickly to react to whatever an attacker tried to do to get past me. When I had finally finished giving my advice and answering the questions that Esme had, I looked at my watch and was shocked to see how much time had passed.
Esme must have done the same thing, because she said “Yikes, I’ve kept you here for longer than you probably planned, sorry. At least let me make you something for lunch to make up for it.”
As if on cue, my stomach began to tell me that I was indeed feeling hungry. “Sure, that would be great Esme, I’d love to stay for lunch. But nothing too fancy for me please, just a ham sandwich if you’ve got the ingredients.”
“Of course I do. You sure you don’t want anything more though?” Esme asked.
“No thanks, I like to keep it pretty plain most of the time.”
Esme went off to the kitchen and returned a couple minutes later with a sandwich for each of us. We got talking again, and I listened as Esme told me about some of the charity work that she’d been doing lately. She then asked me about how my recovery was doing, and I told her how happy I was to be out of the protective boot that I’d had to spend some weeks in. Esme then told me some funny stories she had of captaining England youth teams. I could listen to her talk for a whole day, and actually, I kinda did. When our conversation finally came to a lull again I looked lifted my wrist and looked at my watch. It was late into the afternoon!
“Wow, we’ve been talking for a long time! Sorry that I’ve taken up so much of your day.” I said, worried that Esme must have been bored of me by now and praying that I’d leave.
Esme just laughed a little and said “Nothing to apologize for, I really like hanging out with you, Leah, you’re such a good friend. Please would you stay for supper?”
“Really, you want me to stay?!”
“Of course. Unless you have somewhere else you need to be?” Esme said.
I had only planned to go back to my hotel and get a meal from the restaurant there, so I was very happy to take Esme up on her offer.
Esme’s POV:
I was really glad that Leah agreed to stay over for supper. She insisted on helping me out in the kitchen this time, so I led her to my kitchen and we agreed on a carbonara that we both wanted to eat. Leah helped me cook, but I basically had to show her where everything in my kitchen was because she wasn’t used to it.
“Why do you keep your pots with your glasses?” Leah asked, looking perplexed.
“What do you mean ‘why?’ Doesn’t everyone keep them together like that?” I asked back.
Leah laughed out loud and said “No they don’t! You and Lauren are so weird sometimes.” Leah noticed my smile drop, though, and she quickly added “Like weird in a cool way, not a bad way.”
When we had finished cooking, I took both of our plates and brought them to the couch in the living room. Leah and I had agreed on a show that we both wanted to watch while we ate. I only had one couch that faced the TV, though, so Leah and I both sat together as we ate. I sat down first and took a spot right at one end of the couch, leaving plenty of room for Leah to sit. But instead of taking up a spot on the other end of the couch, Leah sat down right beside me, so close that she was almost sitting on top of me. I was surprised, but I liked it. I liked Leah a lot, even though I didn’t let it on because she was with Jordan. They had a strange on again off again relationship that was difficult to keep track of. It seemed as though Leah could read my mind, because just as I began to wonder what was going on between her and Jordan, she answered my unspoken question.
Leah turned to me, looking a bit said, and said “So I might as well confess this to someone. You’re someone I can trust, Esme, and I want to be honest with you. Me and Jordan have broken up. For good. It’s just not working out between us and neither of us think it ever will.”
Leah’s voice trailed off and I pulled her in for a big hug. She held onto me and I gently patted her on her back. I supported Leah as best I could, and I wished I could fix all her problems for her immediately.
When she leaned back again she wiped a couple of tears, and I told her how she had been very brave. I spent the next hour or so talking with her about how she was feeling, how she and Jordan were still able to be friends, and by the end of that part of our conversation I could tell that Leah was feeling relieved and a lot happier.
“Thanks for hearing me out and being so nice about all this Es, you’re lovely!” Leah said.
“I’m happy to listen to you anytime Leah. So how are you feeling about moving on from Jordan then?” I asked.
Leah actually smiled briefly and then looked a bit more serious again as she said “I’m actually wanting to move on pretty quick. It’s already been a little while since Jordan and I split, and I’ve had my eyes on this one girl in particular.”
“Aww, that’s nice Leah. I hope that she notices and likes you too.” Leah smiled knowingly and said “Mmh, me too.”
Then I noticed something strange, or at least I thought I did. Leah seemed to be flirting with me as we sat beside each other on the couch. I didn’t believe that she was at first, but then I noticed her eyes momentarily break away from mine to look down at my lips every few seconds. Maybe I was that ‘one girl’ that Leah had been talking about? It was like a dream come true. I hoped that I wasn’t just dreaming. I didn’t know if I should take the risk or play it safe. I wanted to be with Leah so badly. When Leah got up to take our plates to the sink and left me sitting on the couch I made up my mind.