Chapter Text
Chapter 3: Asking the Question
Esme’s POV:
The next couple of weeks seemed like the longest that I had lived through. I spent so much of my time anticipating my trip down to London to see Leah that I had pretty much thought through every possible scenario that might arise. The only time that I could fully get my mind off Leah was when I was on the pitch, so I spent quite a few extra hours training with a few of the other City girls that wanted to put in some extra time on the grass.
When I told Lauren that I’d be travelling down to London during our time off the first thing that she did was ask me why. I thought about how I should answer before saying “I’m going to go down and meet up with a girl, actually. I’m hoping it will work out between us.”
I could tell that Lauren was curious to find out more, but she only said “That sounds like fun! I’m always here if you want to talk about it all.”
“I know, thanks Lauren.” I replied. Lauren was really great at respecting boundaries, and I loved that about her.
The train to London was a few minutes late, but I didn’t worry about it much, all it meant was that Leah would have a few extra minutes to make it to the train station in London to meet up with me and take me back to her flat. I thought that I would spend the entire trip thinking about Leah, but it didn’t turn out that way. The woman I ended up being seated across from was a massive City fan, and she recognized me instantly. Our conversation was pretty awkward at first because she seemed really starstruck, but after a while we both relaxed a bit and ended up talking about football, travel, and all kinds of other things. Towards the end of our trip she started dropping hints that she’d like to take me out on a date. I tried to be as polite as possible when turning her down, saying that I was actually going down to London for a date I had with someone else. Thankfully she took it really well, and we were able to laugh it off. Our conversation, which had now lasted for a few hours, came to a natural end just as we pulled into the station in London.
I grabbed my suitcase and made my way onto the platform, looking for Leah. She had told me where she’d be waiting. I was grateful for my height because I was able to see over the heads of quite a few other people and spot Leah in the crowd. She was wearing a dark pair of jeans and a red shirt with white stripes that obviously came from some designer. Leah was the best-dressed person that I knew. She’d still look beautiful without any fancy clothes, but they definitely complimented her. As I walked towards her I was certain that she must have been offered some modelling contracts by now.
Leah literally cheered when she spotted me, and she gleefully ran over to me and embraced me in a big hug. When she had finally calmed down again, I said how excited I was to see her, and she led me back to her flat. It didn’t take too long before we had arrived at her home in North London.
As soon as I had closed the front door behind me Leah draped her arms around my shoulders, lifted herself up on her toes so that she was equal to me in height, and gave me a passionate kiss. I could tell from the strength and length of it that she had definitely missed me! That realization filled me with a new sense of confidence. Not only did she obviously still fancy me, but it felt really uplifting to be treated like this by such a beautiful woman. Leah always knew what she was doing, so if she loved me then that must mean that I deserved it.
Leah gave me a tour of her flat. She had been living there for a few years already, and I could tell that Leah was very comfortable in it. There were all kinds of football memorabilia decorating the walls, and I was impressed with the number of awards that Leah had racked up.
When the tour came to an end Leah turned to me and asked “So what do you think?” It was a very genuine question, and I could tell that Leah was really hoping that I’d say that I liked it, which I did.
“I love your place Leah; you’ve made it into a lovely home. The only thing I don’t like is how you have so much Arsenal stuff in here. Don’t you know that City are by far the better team?”
Leah laughed at my teasing and then led me to the guest bedroom. “I didn’t know if you wanted to share a bed or not, so I’ve prepared a room for you if you’d like.” Leah offered sheepishly.
“No Leah, I’d love to share with you. If that’s okay with you?” I replied.
Leah’s nervous and shy look was replaced with a big smile, and she said “Right, that’d be lovely. I’ll take you to my room then.”
Leah took my suitcase from where I had left it by the front door and put it down onto her bed. She left me alone to unpack, thinking to give me privacy. I didn’t have anything to hide from Leah, but it was good to know that she wasn’t an overbearing girlfriend. Oh wait, was she my girlfriend? I really wanted her to be, but neither of us had ever discussed it. I remembered that this was why I came down to London, and I resolved to be brave enough to ask her the question tomorrow. A nice evening with her and a good sleep would hopefully fortify my nerves.
Leah’s POV:
It was so good to have Esme over. I had been missing her over the past few weeks, and I made sure to tune in to every match that she played in so that I could see as much of her as possible. Esme was doing really well, and the progression of her playing ability was clear to see. She was even starting to be the captain in games she played for City! I was so proud of her, and I kept wanting to tell people about how my girlfriend was thriving, but I would always remember that we hadn’t actually agreed to be girlfriends. Now that Esme was finally with me in London, I knew that I’d get the opportunity to ask her. I planned to give her a day to settle in and get comfortable before asking her when I took her out for dinner tomorrow.
The next 24 hours with Esme was the best 24 hours that I had lived through since the final of the Euros. I loved getting to show Esme around town, and she was such an enchanting person to be around. She held my full attention, to the point where she actually had to grab my shirt and pull me backwards. I had been talking to her as we were walking down the street, and I was so focused on her eyes that I forgot to look to see if there were any cars driving by before I went to cross the street. Thankfully Esme noticed and pulled me back before anything bad could happen, but I ended up falling into her arms. I felt safe and comfortable like that, but we were out in public so Esme lifted me back to my feet again and teased me a bit about how unaware I was of my own surroundings. I was normally quite observant, but not when Esme was around. When I was with Esme, the only thing I wanted to focus on was her, everything else paled in comparison.
The time came for me to aske Esme the question I had been wanting to ask ever since that night we spent together at her flat in Manchester. I had reserved a table for us at my favourite sushi restaurant, and it was tucked away in a private corner of the building, shielding us from the possibility of being interrupted by fans looking to get my picture. Being captain of England made you think about things like that when planning an evening out with your hopefully soon to be girlfriend.
We were getting towards the end of the meal, and I knew that it was now or never. Just as I was about to ask Esme to be my girlfriend I noticed that she was breathing differently than she normally did. Her breathing was shallower, but it seemed she was making an effort to take deep, slow breaths. I got worried and asked “Esme, what’s the matter? You having trouble breathing?”
Esme smiled nervously and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’ve just been wanting to ask you something but I’m kinda nervous to ask.”
I wanted to make Esme comfortable, but at the same time I couldn’t hold off any longer. “Okay, I promise that no matter what you ask me I’ll still love you all the same. But first, can I ask you a question?”
Esme seemed a little taken aback when I said that I loved her, but she smiled and nodded for me to continue. I reached my hand across the table and Esme put her hand on top of my outstretched palm.
“Esme, I know we haven’t been together for very long, but I feel like we’ve got something really special. You’re the sweetest, prettiest, funniest girl I know, and I would really love it if you’d be my girlfriend. Please?” I asked, looking into Esme’s eyes and praying that she’d say yes.
Esme gasped and then burst into a massive smile. “You don’t need to ask me twice! I would absolutely love to have the claim to fame that I’m dating Leah Williamson! This was the same question I was gonna ask you, but I was so nervous. Thanks for asking me first!” Esme’s words tumbled out of her mouth so quickly that I had trouble keeping track of them all. I understood that she had said yes, and that was all I needed to know.
I spent the next two days blissfully with my new girlfriend. We both agreed not to tell anyone else yet, but we were happy and in love. Actually, that’s not quite true. Esme planned to tell Lauren, and I planned to tell Keira, who in turn would tell Lucy, but we both wanted to be open with our best mates and we knew that they would never spill anything that we wanted to be kept a secret. I had planned to show Esme more of London, but she preferred to spend her time with me in my bedroom, which was something that I had no complaints about.
Our time together came to an end when Esme needed to leave back to Manchester on the last day of her break. My break was also coming to an end, and I would be going back to training tomorrow. Esme kissed me just before she left to catch her train, leaving me standing and blushing in a crowd of strangers.
I went back to my flat and saw that Esme had forgotten one of her jumpers on my couch. I picked it up, and just as I was about to text Esme that she had forgotten something I saw that there was a note underneath where the jumper had been. I lifted it up and saw that it read, in Esme’s distinctive writing, ‘I wanted to leave a little something of mine at your place. When I saw you wearing this on Wednesday I thought you looked super cute. Next time you are missing me and wishing I was there, just put this on. And maybe send me a picture or two of you in it? Love, Esme.’
I smiled to myself and immediately put the yellow jumper on. It was a bit big on me, but that made it feel cozier. I don’t know how I was quite able to tell, but it smelt like Esme did, and I loved it.
The holiday had been a massive success, and I couldn’t wait for Esme and I to meet again and deepen our relationship. No matter what happened, I was confident that we would be able to make it work, to make us work.