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Chapter Text

Jess Carter is in France and supports her fiancée during the Olympics. It goes without saying that she supports her fiancée. Of course, she does that.

She knows Ann would do the same if it was the other way around.

The English player is at the stadium in Marseille, Stade Vélodrome, right now because Germany has their first game against Australia.

She wears Berger's purple goalkeeper jersey.

They already know the starting lineups from both teams. Jess was over the moon after she saw that her fiancée will be in the starting lineup. She is happy that Ann finally gets the chance to play in the starting XI in such a big tournament and to show everyone that she is a damn great goalkeeper. She deserves it so much, more than anyone else. The defender knows how good her fiancée is in the goal. After all they have played many years together.

She thinks that their club have treated her fiancée badly. Well, it is obvious that they did that. After all they pushed her away from the starting position to the third position. And  even claimed that she was out of shape and also injured, which was not true at all.

But she doesn't want to think of the former Chelsea coach or of this club anymore. She wants to focus on this game which is about to start.

Jess is all the happier that the Germany coach is giving her fiancée this great chance to be the number 1 keeper in this tournament, because he as the trust in her that many probably didn't have.

Lara Vadlau, Lea Schüller's girlfriend, is also at the game. She wears Lea's jersey from last years World Cup.

Vadlau is a sailor and is also in the Olympics They were happy that each other could qualify for the Olympics because that would mean they could meet in France. This is the first time they are in the same country during the summer.

Jess and Lara sit next to each other in the stadium. They get along pretty well. After all, they had a few double dates with each other and they were also together in Barcelona for two weeks.

Germany wins 3-0 against Australia. Hegering, Brand and Schüller were the ones who scored the goals.

It's a pretty good start in the Olympics. It's always a good thing to start in a tournament with a win. They just have to play the next two games just the same and they are safe in the quarter final.

As soon as the referee blows her whistle, Lea walks over to the bench and grabs something. It is the jersey from Lena Oberdorf with the number 6, which she hold during the team picture right before the game started. Schüller puts the jersey but the other way around, so the number and the name is in the front.

Lea was so happy to be able to play in a club with Lena again. But that won't work for now because of Lena's injury.

The blonde woman misses her best friend and wishes she would be here. It's just unfair. Obi should be with them. She should be on the field with them and play in the Olympics.

They will definitely get the medal for Obi.

The Munich player jogs over to where her girlfriend is. Lea is happy to see her girlfriend, that she is here to support her doing the game. She is so happy that her girlfriend is here. It means so much to her that she is here because she knows she is pretty busy to train for her own tournament.

Lara smiles at the sight of the Oberdorf jersey that her girlfriend is wearing. She knows that her girlfriend misses her best friend. Her girlfriend was so happy after she found out that Obi transfered to Bayern Munich. She knows that Lea missed playing with Lena for the same club again.

The sailor was watching the game on TV and her heart sank when she saw that Obi was injured, she knew right away that it doesn't look good. And it was against her own national team.

"You played great, my love", says Lara with a smile and takes her girlfriend into her arms. She cheered the loudest when Lea scored her goal.

Schüller smiles as she returns the hug.

After a moment they break their hug and Lara leans down to kiss her girlfriend.

"I love you", whispers she against Lea's lips.

"I love you too", replies the striker and pulls the older woman into another kiss.

Berger goes straight over to her fiancée and takes her into her arms.

Carter smiles brightly as she slings her arms around Berger's neck and hugs her back. She is so proud of Ann. Her fiancée played really great. And she also almost did an assist for a goal. Yet again. She did that twice in the last game against Austria. The jersey, Jess is wearing, is exactly from this game.

The goalkeeper pulls away from the hug and looks at her fiancée and sees what she is wearing.

"I love seeing you in my jersey", confesses the taller woman.

"And I love wearing it", says the defender and winks at the her fiancée.

Ann blushes a little when Jess winks at her. Carter smiles softly at her fiancée. She looks so cute when she blushes.

"I love you", says she and leans down to give her fiancée a kiss on the lips.

"I love you too", replies the German player after they broke the short kiss.

Lara and Jess stay the night. The two football players asked the coach beforehand if it was okay and he agreed.

Jess will also stay the whole time with the team in the hotel. Nobody on the team has a problem and neither does the coach. Lea doesn't have a problem with that as well.

Berger and Schüller share a room with each other, like they always do. They even shared an apartment las year during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Chapter Text

Today is the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games but without the German women's national football team. They are not in Paris at the ceremony. Because it wouldn't make much sense to drive to Paris and then back to Marseille because they have their second game in the same stadium like they had their first one.

They would be traveling for almost 8 hours by car, or better yet with their team bus, or over 3 hours by train.

The German national team is in their hotel in Marseille at the moment and watch the ceremony on the big screen.

But they are not the only team who stayed behind in their hotel. The New Zealand men's football team is also there and watch it with them. They didn't go to Paris either because they have their next game tomorrow and it would definitely be pointless to travel to the capital of France.

Jess is also with the team as they watch the ceremony. She lies on a lounger with Berger and cuddles with her.

None of the German players have a problem with Jess being here. They like the English player. The defender is also part of the team, so to speak.

Carter sleeps in her fiancée's room. Of course, she does. I mean where else should she sleep other than in Berger's room and in her bed?

Austria is one of the first national team that is introduced during the opening ceremony. Lea can't help but smiles when she sees her girlfriend on the screen. She wishes she would be in Paris as well to see her girlfriend. Well, she wouldn't be on the same boat than her because that wouldn't be possible for known reasons, they are after all in two different national teams. The striker means more like after the whole boat thing and the introducion of the different nations.

Almost 1 hour into the opening ceremony, Jess feels like she could almost fall asleep. However, it has nothing to do with the ceremony itself and that it takes a long time and may be boring. The English player could also fall asleep during an exciting action movie.

Berger notices that her fiancée is struggling to keep her eyes open. She knows that Jess occasionally falls asleep in front of the TV while watching a movie or series. So, it's no surprise for Berger that her fiancée is tired and could almost fall asleep.

"You can close your eyes. I know you're tired", whispers the German player to her fiancée.

"I'll wake you up when the ceremony is over", adds she and gives her fiancée a kiss on the head.

The Chelsea player decides to listen to her fiancée and stop fighting against her tiredness. She cuddles further into Ann and closes her eyes.

"I love you", mumbles the younger woman against Ann's fabric of her shirt.

"I love you too", replies Berger and gives her another kiss on the head.

It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep. Ann smiles as she feels how her fiancée falls asleep and holds her a little closer to her.

Suddenly and without any reasons, Lea turns her head to her left and sees that Jess has fallen asleep while cuddling to her fiancée, but doesn't say anything about the fact that she sleeps during the ceremony. However, the Bayern player would now like to fall asleep in her own girlfriend's arms. But unfortunately, that's not possible because Lara is in Paris at the opening ceremony. But Lea is happy that her girlfriend was able to sleep with her last night. It's better than nothing.

Lara had breakfast with them this morning before she went to Paris with the other Austrians.

And in a few days she will definitely see her again because she for a fact that Lara will be at the second game.

The opening ceremony lasts quite a long time. Almost 4 hours. Why does a ceremony like this, always have to take so long? Couldn't they do it in under 2 hours? Apparently not. The ceremony will probably last until after midnight.

It's already over 2 hours into this ceremony, a few more fell asleep because it takes so long. That means the English player isn't the only one anymore who was tired.

It's really after midnight when the ceremony is finally over. Some of them thought it would never be over.

The German goalkeeper looks down and sees that her fiancée is still sleeping. She smiles because Jess is so cute when she is sleeping. Well, she is always cute no matter what she is doing right now.

But unfortunately, she has to wake her up because they can't stay here all night long. Besides, Berger prefers to sleep with her fiancée in a comfortable bed.

"Babe, wake up", says Ann softly to her fiancée to wake her up.

Carter whines a little as she blinks her eyes open. She slowly turns her head to look the older woman into her eyes.

Berger just smiles and leans in to give her fiancée a kiss on the lips. She knows how much Jess hates it to be woken up. Ann is basically the only one who can wake her up without getting kicked.

The goalkeeper breaks the short kiss and pulls her head back to be able to look Carter in the eyes. "Come on, let's go to bed", whispers she and rubs her fiancée's back.

The German national team has their next game the day after tomorrow. They have to play against the USWNT. That means Berger and Carter will meet their former Chelsea coach. Both of them are happy to forego seeing this person again. The engaged couple doesn't need that at all. They don't want to have anything to do with that person.

But since Hayes is the national coach of the USWNT and Germany has to play against them, a meeting again is inevitable.

But maybe the German goalkeeper is lucky and Hayes doesn't want to talk to her and ignores her instead. That would be the best.

She will see in two days what happens when Germany has to play against the USWNT.

Chapter Text

Germany just played their second game in this big tournament and it was against the USWNT. The English player, Jess Carter, is at the stadium again and supports her fiancée.

Jess wears Ann's goalkeeper jersey again. Of course, she does. How else should it be? But this time she wears the jersey from the first Olympic game against Australia. She stole it yesterday from her when she wasn’t looking. But honestly, Berger knew that Jess took this jersey because she knows her fiancée pretty well.

The referee blows her whistle and the game is over. Germany lost the game with 3-2.

To be honest, if it weren't Berger, Germany would have lost even higher. The keeper was able to hold onto the one ball but an opponent accidentaly stepped on her forearm. But luckily, she was able to continue playing.

Carter walks down onto the field and goes straight to her fiancée. As soon as she finds her she wraps her arms around her neck and hugs her. Berger hugs her back and melts into Jess' arms.

After what feels like forever, the engaged couple pulls away from each other.

"Does your arm hurt?" asks the English player worried and carefully holds the arm, which Ann injured during the game. When Jess saw this happen, she was pretty worried that her fiancée wouldn't be able to continue playing.

"A little", admits the goalkeeper. She will simply cool the arm later.

Carter looks from Ann's injured arm up and looks her into the eyes. "I love you", says she with a loving smile.

"I love you too", replies Ann and leans down to kiss her fiancée.

Suddenly, their former Chelsea coach, Emma Hayes, walks towards them.

"Hey, Berger, Carter. Long time no see", announces she herself.

The engaged couple breaks their kiss and Berger lays her uninjured arm around her fiancée's waist and holds her close to her.

"Good game", says Hayes to the goalkeeper and holds out her hand for her to take it.

Berger just looks at Emma's hand but doesn't take it. Why should she? She can't believe that her former coach just holds out her hand like nothing happened in the past. She seriously thinks that everything has been forgotten. Not on Ann's part. It's one thing to treat her like that, to bench her after her bad game against Arsenal but then she treated Jess like shit as well after she complained to Hayes that she should stop punishing Ann for this one game. To this point everything went south. She doesn't want anything to do with this woman at all. Never again.

The defender has to keep herself together not to roll with her eyes. This woman treated her fiancée like shit and now she simple told her 'Good game' like the whole past is forgotten.

After Hayes realizes that Berger doesn't want to take her hand she drops it and lets it fall to the side. She akwardly clears her throat because she didn't expect this kind of rejection from the German player. However, she doesn't give up and tries something different.

"Congrats on your engagement", says the former Chelsea coach with a soft smile.

But Jess just glares at the blonde woman. Who does she thinks she is? Did she really just congratulated them on their engagement after the statement she did during a press conference? If Hayes had her way, there would be no relationship at all between teammates or players in general. So, why the hell is she saying congratulations on their engagement to both of them? You don't treat a couple like that and then congratulate them as if nothing had happened.

But neither of them wants to ask Hayes this question, they don't want to talk to her at all.

Emma finally realizes that it's no use to try and get Berger to talk to her. She leaves them without saying one more word to either of them.

A few of the German players were watching the whole thing between the engaged couple and the former Chelsea coach. Merle Frohms, Laura Freigang and Sara Doorsun to be exact.

"I just can't understand how could this coach just bench Berger and sort her out like that", says the Wolfsburg keeper.

For Frohms, something like this is incomprehensible and fortunately it hasn't happened to her yet that she doesn't get any more playing time because of just one bad game. Merle has to admit that Berger is a really good keeper, so she really can't understand it.

"Neither can we", says Laura and crosses her arms over her chest.

Neither of them can understand how you can treat a player like that. How could this coach just bench Berger? Just because she had a bad game against Arsenal?

Fortunately, they didn't have to go through that with their coaches. They always respected them and didn't put them on the bench even though they wanted to leave the club.

"I heard that she delayed Harder's comeback after her hamstring injury. But I don't know if it’s true or just a rumor", says Sara. And she didn't really want to ask Harder or Eriksson about it. After all, it's none of her business.

Doorsun and Frohms have one thing in common. Both of them played with Pernille while she still played for Wolfsburg.

"But that's not enough, she coldly placed Magda on the bench after it was clear that she didn't want to extend her contract and wanted to leave Chelsea. This is how she treats her long-time captain", says Freigang while she shakes her head.

"Did you hear about the statement she did during a press conference?" asks Frohms.

"Yeah, hard to believe that she said something like that", says the former Wolfsburg player.

Sara was pretty shocked to listen to this statement. You think it can't get worse and then comes the statement that a relationship between players is inappropriate while she still had two couples on her team. And the season before had she the most iconic couple in women's football, Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder, who are engaged now.

The Bayern player, Klara Bühl, joins them. She couldn't help but eavesdrop their conversation.

"Pernille and Magda are really happy at Bayern. They feel like home in Munich", says Bühl.

The other three players are glad to hear that.

Chapter Text

Today on Monday, two days before the last group game against Zambia, comes out the news that Jess Carter is transfering from Chelsea to Gotham.

Yesterday was the game against the USWNT. But it's really funny that the transfer news comes out exactly one day after the game against the USWNT, against the former Chelsea coach Emma Hayes.

Actually, Jess wanted to leave right after Ann left. But she still wanted to finish the season and had done everything to win the league in the end, just because of a better goal difference. She had signed the contact the last time she was in New York to see her fiancée at a game.

Jess even already got her new number, she will wear the 27.

She already gets along well with her new team.

Ann is the only one who knew about it. She was there when they talked to Jess and wanted her to join them. She was so excited that Jess decided to join them. The German goalkeeper is over the moon that her fiancée will come to Gotham.

She can't wait to play with her again. She missed playing together with her on the same team. It was pretty unfamiliar for Ann not to play with her defender. Because they always have been on the same club since they started their relationship almost 8 years ago.

And Berger feels very comfortable in her new club and she is sure that Jess will quickly settle in. Well, she already met the teammates and the staff when she visited Ann and signed the contacts.

However, Jess will only go to America when Berger leves too. And if it takes until the final then Jess will stay that long. But the people from Gotham already knows that.

Ann is happy that her fiancée will stay here with her and continue to support her through the Olympics until the end of it.

The former Eintracht Frankfurt player, Sjoeke Nüsken, is in her hotel room, which she shares with Freigang.

She sits on her bed and scrolls through her phone when she suddenly sees something, which she didn't expect at all. It's about Carter's transfer news.

"What?" whispers Nüsken as soon as she sees it.

She is pretty surprised and shoked by this news about Jess' transfer to Gotham.

However, she can understand it. She only noticed the whole thing that happened between Carter, Berger and Hayes peripherally. But she noticed and saw enough. She knew how her former coach treated Berger and also Carter. And then the thing Hayes said at a press conference was certainly a punch into their faces. So, it's not really a surprise for her that the defender wants to leave Chelsea and go to Gotham where her fiancée is also playing.

She will definitely miss her, just like she missed Ann. But at least she still plays with the goalkeeper in the national team.

She lifts her head up from her phone and looks over to her roommate, who lays in her own bed and reads a book.

"Jess left Chelsea and goes to Gotham", says Sjoeke and gets up from her bed. She walks over to the other bed and shows her former Frankfurt teammate the news site on her phone.

The older woman puts her book to the side and leans over to read the transfer news on Nüsken's phone.

"Well, from what I heard it's understandable", says Laura after she finished reading it and shrugs with her shoulders.

It's no surprise for her at all because it is pretty obvious that the English player wants to transfer from this club and joins the club where her fiancée is playing.

Honestly, Laura herself wouldn’t stay at such club where she is no longer comfortable and where the coach disrespected them and their relationship.

She is happy for Jess that she got the opportunity to get to the club where the love of her life is playing. She would have done the same if there is a chance to play with her partner at the same club.

"Of course, it's understandable that she wants to leave. I'm just surprised that they announced it during the Olympics and after yesterday's game", says the younger woman.

Without saying one more word or waiting for Laura to say something, Sjoeke leaves the room.

The German player immediately goes to Jess to ask her if this is really true or just a rumor. But of course, it is true. After all the official site of Gotham posted it and not some fake news site. However, she still wants to know it from her.

Nüsken hopes she doesn’t have to search the hotel to find Carter. But she thinks she knows exactly where to the English player. She goes up to the roof balcony of the hotel, where they watched the opening ceremony a few days ago.

She arrives at the door and opens it. Sjoeke walks outside and closes the door behind herself.

And she was right because she finds the person she was looking for sitting on the couch with Berger right next to her.

The younger woman walks over to the couple.

"You go to Gotham?" asks Nüsken her apparently now former teammate as soon as she stands in front of her.

Jess looks up as she hears Sjoeke's voice. It was already clear to her that the moment the transfer news comes out someone will ask her about it.

"Yes, I am. It happened too much at Chelsea", explains she and shares a look with her fiancée.

Even if Emma is no longer at Chelsea, Jess still doesn't want to be there anymore. Jess is not happy at Chelsea anymore. Not after the club treated the love of her life like that. It happened way too much there and Jess doesn't care about a new coach. She doesn't even care who this new Chelsea coach is. She just wants to get away from there. And she is lucky that Gotham wants her as well just like they wanted her fiancée.

And besides, the two do not want to have a long-distance relationship much longer. They never planned to have a long-distance relationship for long. A long-distance relationship is pretty new to them because they never had something like that.

Ann gives her a small smile and nods.

"I love you", whispers the goalkeeper.

"I love you too", replies the English player. Carter leans up and gives her fiancée a kiss on the lips.

The engaged couple breaks their short kiss and Jess looks back to her former teammate.

"But I won't start playing for Gotham until Ann returns to the states as well", adds she.

Chapter Text

Germany has to play against Zambia, which is the last group game of the Olympics.

The last time they had to play against Zambia, they lost with 1-0 and top of that the Bayern defender, Carolin Simon, tored her ACL during that game, right before the World Cup started and was almost one year out. She made her comeback in the last game of the season against Hoffenheim and even scored a goal.

Today is Lara at the game again and supports her girlfriend at the stadium. She is happy that she has time today to go to the stadium and to support the love of her life.

She couldn't be there during the last game, which was between Germany and the USWNT because she had training.

But she watched the game on her phone. The Austria woman was disappointed that Germany had lose the game.

After the game was over she and Lea had a video call with each other and Lara could see that her girlfriend was disappointed as well.

But the conversation with Lara helped her. It always helps her when she talks to her girlfriend. Every time she finds the right words to make her feel better.

But the Bayern player has no idea that her girlfriend is here in the stadium to support her during the game because Lara wanted to surprise her, so she didn't say anything to her. Even though it was pretty difficult for the Austria woman.

Today Lara wear Lea's jersey from the first Olympics game against Australia. Lea gave it to her on the same night.

The former Chelsea player is surprised to see Lara here because she had no idea as well that she planned to come to the game today. But she is happy to see the Austria sailor again and Jess is pretty sure that Schüller will also be very happy about it.

They hug each other before they take a seat. Jess and Lara are sitting next to each other. But it is a complete coincidence that they sit next to each other again, like during the first game of this tournament. Because they didn't speak to each other, not like last time.

The referee blows her whistle and the game can start.

It doesn’t take long for Germany to score the first goal. Already in the 10' minute is Lea Schüller able to score the first goal of the game.

As soon as the ball went in, Lara jumps up from her seat and screams "That's my girl."

But no other goals are scored in the first half. The extra time is over and both teams are going to their respective locker rooms for the 15-minute break.

After it's over the second half starts.

Not even 3 minutes into the second half, Klara Bühl scores the 2-0.

A mistake from Berger leads to the goal from Zambia.

Ann kicked the ball accidentally to an opponent and the Zambia player took advantage of that and scored the goal without hesitation. But something like that can happen to everyone.

In the 61' minute scores Schüller a brace.

Lara is proud of her girlfriend that she scored a brace. But the Austria woman is always proud of her girlfriend, no matter if she is able to score a goal or not.

Lea almost even scored a hat trick but unfortunately the ball bounced to the post.

The now Frankfurt player, Elisa Senss, scores another goal for Germany. It was after a corner. It will become the goal of the month. However, the German player has no idea about it yet. But Jess has a feeling about that.

After the goal the referee blows her whistle and the game is over.

Germany wins the game with 4-1 and are in the quarter-finals of the Olympics. Now they have to play against Canada, who won gold back in 2021 in Tokio against Sweden in a penalty shootout. But this year Sweden wasn't able to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Germany and the USWNT are both in the quarter-finals from their group. The USWNT has to play against Japan. And they could meet again in the semi-final if they both win their game. Hopefully if that's really the case that it will be a different result for Germany.

After the referee blows her whistle, Jess goes down to the pitch and walks straight to her fiancée. She wraps her arms around her.

Carter is proud of her fiancée and her national team that they reached the next round and are in the quarter-finals of the Olympics.

The goalkeeper lays her arms around her fiancée's waist and pulls her closer.

"I love you", says Jess and closes her eyes while she snuggles closer to her fiancée.

"I love you too , replies the taller woman and gives her fiancée a kiss on the forehead.

She is happy that Jess decided to stay in France and supports her through the rest of the Olympics, instead of going to the United States to start playing for her new team.

Jess didn't need to think long about staying in France to continue supporting her fiancée.

Lara went also down the pitch and over to her girlfriend.

As soon as the German player sees her girlfriend coming towards her, her whole face lights up a whole Christmas tree.

"Lara, you are here", exclaims Lea happy and throws herself into her girlfriend's arms.

She had no idea that her girlfriend would be here. But she is happy that she is here. This is the best surprise for her.

She missed her in the last few days. Of course, Lea can understand that her girlfriend has her own training and doesn't always have the time to come to the stadium and watch the game from there. But she knows that Lara will always try her hardest to support her in some ways.

The Austria woman laughs as she returns the hug.

"Yes, I am", replies she and still laughs.

A few moments later, they break their hug and Lara leans down to give her girlfriend a kiss on the lips. The smaller woman returns the kiss and slings her arms around Lara's neck.

They break their kiss and Lara rests her forehead against Lea's.

"Can you stay until tomorrow?" asks the Bayern striker her girlfriend after they break their kiss.

"I can", answers the sailor with a smile on her face.

"I love you", says Lea and smiles back.

"I love you too", replies Lara before they break away from each other and go to Lea's teammates.

Chapter Text

The German national team just had their last training before tomorrow's game.

The engaged couple is in Berger's hotel room, which she still shares with Schüller. They watch some movies while they play something.

The two Bayern players, Giulia Gwinn and Lea Schüller, are also there and play with them.

Lea just said goodbye to her girlfriend. Lara needs to go back to her own team and train. Soon her own competition starts as well.

She is so grateful that Lara takes the time to come to the stadium and supports her during the games. The Bayern striker misses her girlfriend even though she just saw her. But she always misses her when she is not with her. She knows Lara feels the same.

Lea will see her girlfriend again very soon.

They all sit on Berger's bed.

Jess cuddles into her fiancée's side.

The goalkeeper smiles as she turns her head and gives her fiancée a kiss on the temple.

"I love you", whispers Ann against the soft skin.

"I love you too", replies Carter with a smile.

The two Bayern players smile at the engaged couple because they are really cute.

They decided to watch the Harry Potter movies and play UNO with each other. Everyone loves Harry Potter and you can watch it again and again.

It was Carter's idea and of course, her fiancée was in favor without thinking even for a second. Harry Potter are her favorite movies. She has watched the movies so often that she now knows them by heart from beginning to end. But she still likes to watch them every time even though she knows them.

They watch the movies in English with German subtitles. This is how Ann likes to watch the movies.

The hotel room door is open as an invitation for the other players if they want to watch Harry Potter and play UNO with them or just watch the movies if they don't want to play.

They are in the middle of the second movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Laura Freigang and Klara Bühl arrive.

"What are you guys doing?" asks Freigang curiously after they see the engaged couple sitting on a bed with Schüller and Gwinn.

"We play UNO while we watch Harry Potter", answers the former Chelsea goalkeeper and places a yellow 2 draw card on the pile in the middle of the bed.

"Seriously, Ann?" says the Bayern defender with a sigh and has to draw 2 cards because of Ann.

The keeper just shrugs with her shoulders. That's how the game is. She already had to draw 24 cards in the last three games, not that she counts. It's only fair when the others draw some cards as well.

"You want to join us?" asks Jess, who are still cuddles into Ann's side, and looks up from her cards to look to Bühl and Freigang who are still standing in the door frame.

Klara and Laura look at each other before they look back to the others.

"Yeah, we would love to", replies the Bayern player for them and they walk further into the room and take a seat on the bed as well.

But they need to wait to join them until the current round they are playing is over.

Luckily, it doesn’t take long and Lea won this round, which is her third round that she won this evening.

Now Klara and Laura can finally join them.

Jess shuffles the cards and distributes them to the others.

When the second movie is over, Schüller gets up from the bed and changes the DVDs.

After she has done that she goes back to the bed and the third part, the Prisoner of Azkaban, starts.

They play a few more rounds while the movie runs in the background.

"Are you looking into my cards, babe?" asks Berger without looking up from her own cards after she somehow feels that her fiancée looks over to her cards.

"Me? I would never", says the defender offended, even though she looked for a short time into her fiancée's cards.

"If you say so", says Ann with a chuckle and kisses her fiancée on the forehead. She knows that her fiancée is lying but she doesn’t say anything.

Before anyone knows it the third movie is over as well.

Berger looks at her watch and realizes that they still have enough time for another part.

This time it’s Giulia who gets up from the bed and changes the DVDs. Now it’s the Fire of Goblet that they are watching.

"I somehow ship Harry and Draco. I can't explain why", says Schüller as they saw the scene where Draco was sitting on the tree and told Harry that he has a bet going on with his father.

"Don’t worry you are not the only one", says Berger to her roommate. She and Jess also ship Harry and Draco.

Lea is a little surprised by that. She honestly thought she was the only one who ships them. She knows a few of her friends ship Draco with Hermione, which she definitely doesn’t ship at all.

"I never understand how Harry could easily forgive Ron for the way he treated him", says the Frankfurt player while she shakes her head as they watch the scene where Harry was celebrated by the others and opened the golden egg and how suddenly Ron talked to him again.

"I can't understand it either", replies the English player.

She could never forgive a friend so easy who treat her like Ron did. He accused him of lying and cheating. Just because he was jealous of Harry he had behaved like that. And as soon as he saw Harry being celebrated by the others, he started talking to him again. All of sudden. Honestly, who has such friends no longer needs enemies.

After the 4th part is over they stop with their Harry Potter Marathon because it is already pretty late and they would not be able to watch the Order of the Phoenix. They could watch the last 4 parts in the next few days and they probably will.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow", says the Bayern defender.

Gwinn, Bühl and Freigang walk out of the hotel room.

Berger, Carter and Schüller change into their pajamas and go to bed.

Tomorrow they have to play against Canada in the quarter-finals.

Chapter Text

Germany has to play against Canada in the quarter-finals.

Canada won gold in the last Olympics, which was back in 2021. It should have been 2020 but it was postponed because of the whole global pandemic due to Corona.

They won against Sweden in the penalty shootout, who weren’t able to qualify for this year.

Carter is in the stadium to watch her fiancée play again. Of course, she is. Where else should she be other than here support her fiancée? Well, she could be in the United States to play with her new team which she just joined.

But she wants to stay here and support the love of her life. And of course, the English player wears one of Ann's goalkeeper jerseys again.

This time Jess sits alone because Lara is not there but she will try to be there in the semi-final. Of course, only if Germany wins against Canada and reaches therefore the semi-final. But Lara is pretty sure that the German national team can do that.

Jess is not surprised that Lara is not here because this time she told her that she has her own training during that time and couldn't make it to the game.

Lea is sad that her girlfriend couldn't make it but she can understand it. Of course, she can. After all, Lara has her own tournament and has to train for it.

For Canada plays a very familiar player who knows both Berger and Carter. Jessie Fleming played together with the engaged couple in Chelsea. But now she plays for Portland Thorns.

The defender is excited to meet her former Chelsea teammate again, who also plays in the United States now. But after the game. Now they have to play the game first.

The referee blows her whistle and the game can start.

Both teams have good chances to score but nothing went into the goal. Unfortunately.

It goes without any goals in penalty shootout. Neither Germany nor Canada were able to score any goals in 120 minutes.

Berger is excited for the penalty shootout because she loves penalties. It's not a surprise for Jess or any of her teammates. She is always happy when they do penalties in training.

She is probably the only one who is excited about it and who loves it.

Jess, on the other hand, is always nervous during penalties. Her heart is pounding like crazy. It is pounding in her throat. She seriously had to look away during the penalty shootout because she can't take it. She is just glad she doesn’t have to do the penalty herself.

Even during the game when her fiancée has to hold a penalty she had to look away because her heart couldn't take it. She doesn't know what worse is, during a game she herself plays as well and is on the pitch or the one like right now where she isn't part of the team and only supports her fiancée who is responsible for holding the penalties.

Germany needs to shoot first. Bayern's defender, Guilia Gwinn, takes the ball first and scores the penalty.

Now Berger has to go into the goal. She never knows where to put her arms during the penalties that's why she always puts them behind her back.

She saved the penalties from Lawrence and Leon.

To everyone's surprise, including Carter's, Berger takes the next and 5th penalty herself.

Apparently she can not only save penalties but also shoot them herself.

She kicks the ball and it hits the net. The Canada goalkeeper didn't have a chance because she jumped into the wrong corner.

Germany won the penalty shootout with 4-2.

As soon as Ann scored the penalty every Germany player run over to their goalkeeper. Berger becomes the penalty hero. She holds two penalties and scored one herself.

Canada won the last penalty shootout in the Olympics. But they lost this one.

To be honest, Fleming is not surprised at all that Germany just won the penalty shootout.

She knew how good Berger is at penalties. After all, she saw it herself when they both still played for Chelsea.

The German goalkeeper saved their ass during the Champions League quarter-finals against Lyon where she became the penalty hero as well.

She knows it’s almost impossible to win a penalty shootout against Berger. She really had a feeling that they would lose the penalty shootout.

But of course, she didn't say that out loud because that would be pretty stupid if she did that.

Jess goes down to the pitch and walks over to Ann.

When she found her, she jumps straight into her fiancée's arms. She slings her legs around Berger's waist. Without saying anything, she grabs Ann's face with her hands and pulls her into a passionate kiss.

Ann is taken aback by it at first but recovers quickly and returns the kiss. She wraps her arms around Jess' middle and holds her close.

The English player breaks their kiss and jumps down from her fiancée.

"I'm so proud of you, my love", says Jess a little out of breath because of their kiss.

The taller woman smiles at Jess. She loves it when she makes her fiancée proud.

Berger leans down to give her fiancée a short kiss on the lips.

"I love you", whispers she against Carter's lips.

"I love you too", replies Jess with a bright smile.

The engaged couple goes over to their former Chelsea teammate.

Even though Fleming just lost the game she smiles when she sees her two former teammates coming towards her.

"It's great that you will be playing in the United States as well", says the Canada player to the defender and takes the smaller woman into a hug.

Jess smiles as she returns the hug. She is really happy to see her.

They break their hug and Berger takes her former teammate into a short hug.

"Good game, Jessie", says the goalkeeper.

"You too and it's good to see you again, Ann", says the Portland Thorns player after they break their short hug.

"Likewise."

Germany really kicked out the Olympic gold winner from the last time. Nobody expected that. Really nobody. But it really happened.

Now Germany has to play against the USWNT in the semi-final. Yet again. They already had to play against the team from Emma Hayes during the group stage. But unfortunately, Germany have lost that game with 3-2.

Hopefully this time they will win against them and reach the final. Maybe it could be an advantage that they have to play against the USWNT again, because they have had the experience against the team and know how they play.

The other semi-final is Spain against Brazil.

Chapter Text

It's the day before the semi-final against the USWNT. Lea and Ann are in their hotel room and lay in their respective beds.

The former is on her phone and waits for an message from her girlfriend. She hadn’t heard from Lara in a long time and is a bit worried. But maybe it’s not a big deal and she has just training and that’s why she couldn't write back, which she of course can understand because when she has training herself she can't write back either at that moment.

Suddenly, the English player comes back into the hotel room.

"Lea, there is a surprise for you in the hotel lobby", says Jess to the Bayern player as she enters the hotel room.

When Lea hears Jess' voice coming from the door frame, she lifts her head up from her phone.

She didn't even notice that the former Chelsea player was no longer in the room. When did she leave?

But that's a question she can ask later. Now she wants to know what kind of surprise is waiting for her in the hotel lobby.

She puts her phone on the bedside table and gets up from her bed.

She goes together with Jess to the hotel lobby to see her surprise.

They arrive at the hotel lobby and Lea beams from ear to ear when she sees her girlfriend standing in the middle of the hotel lobby.

"Lara!" exclaims the German player and jumps into Lara's waiting arms. She is happy that Lara is here.

The Austria woman chuckles and hugs her girlfriend back. They hold each other for a moment before they break their hug.

Lara smiles as she leans down and gives her girlfriend a light kiss on the lips.

"I'm not your surprise", replies the taller woman with a smile as she takes one of Lea's hands and leads her outside where a black van stands.

Lea is confused. What does Lara mean that she is not her surprise?

The Bayern player first thought that Lara is her surprise. Because after all, she had no idea that she was coming and she last saw a few days ago.

But before she can ask what is going on here, the door of the van opens and Lena Oberdorf gets out it.

"Obi?!" exclaims the Bayern striker completely taken aback.

Lea didn't expect that her best friend will be here. But damn, she is happy that she is here.

"Hi, Lea", says Lena with smile. 

Lea approaches her best friend with a bright smile on her face.

"Obi, you are here", says she excited and still can't believe it as she takes her best friend into her arms.

"I missed you so much, Obi", adds she and buries her head into Lena's neck.

She misses her best friend to have in their team.

"I missed you too. I take it you like your surprise?" asks Lena with a smirk as she hugs Lea back as good as she can with her two crutches she needs for the next few weeks.

"Of course, I like it, Obi", replies Lea and breaks their hug. It's not even a question for her.

"Well, you can thank your girlfriend for that", says the former Wolfsburg player with a smile and nods her head to Lara.

She brought Obi to the hotel. It was her idea because she knew how much her girlfriend misses her best friend.

As soon as Lea hears that, she turns to Lara.

"Thank you, babe", says the striker and leans up to kiss her girlfriend.

"You don't have to thank me, my love", says Lara softly.

The Austria woman lays an arm around her girlfriend and gives her a kiss on the temple.

"I love you", whispers she against the soft skin.

"I love you too", replies Lea and closes her eyes for a moment.

Obi hugs Jess as well because she doesn’t want her to feel left out.

Lea pulls away from her girlfriend and takes Lena's bag.

"You don't have to carry my bag, Lea", protests the injured player when she sees that.

"Yes, I do. You can't do it yourself because of your crutches", says Lea and raises an eyebrow at her best friend.

Lena just rolls with her eyes but doesn’t protest any further because she knows that Lea is right. However, she doesn’t say it out loud.

The four women go into the hotel. Lena gets the hotel room right next to Ann and Lea's room.

Lea brings Lena's bag in her room before they all go over to Berger and Schüller's room.

The goalkeeper is surprised to see Oberdorf but she is happy to see her here. She gets up from her bed and takes the other woman into a hug before she sits back on her bed.

Lena sits on Lea's bed and lays her injured leg up on the bed. She put her crutches on the floor right next to the bed.

Lara takes a seat on Lea's bed as well.

Jess sits down on the bed next to her fiancée and puts her head on Ann's shoulder.

Ann smiles as she wraps an arm around her fiancée's shoulder and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you", says she and gives her another kiss.

"I love you too", replies Jess and puts her arm over her fiancée's stomach.

The injuryed player looks over to the engaged couple and smiles. They are really cute. But not as cute as Lea and Lara.

"I heard you transfered to Gotham", says Lena to the English player.

"Yes, I did. The long-distance relationship was too much for us, even when it was only a few months", answers Jess.

"I have no idea how Magda and Pernille could do that for over 3 years", says Berger.

For her the few months felt like a whole eternity. So, she knows 3 whole years would be pure hell for her and also for Jess because she feels the same way that these few months felt like a eternity.

"Nobody really knows that", says Lea.

She asks herself that. But she is glad and happy that they survived the long-distance relationship and are so happy with each other.

"And besides, I wasn't happy at Chelsea anymore. Definitely not after everything that happened with Emma", continues the English player.

Lena decides not to ask what happened. Because it’s none of her business. Besides, she thinks she knows enough about that.

The injured player does not want to move aboard for the time being. After all, she just joined the FC Bayern Munich. But unfortunately, due to her ACL injury, she will probably not be able to play her entire first season with her new club. But unfortunately, it is not possible at the moment.

She was already looking forward to play with her best friend in the same club again but then she injured her ACL during a national game right before the Olympic Games started.

Obi hopes that she will be fit again soon enough to play at least one game for Bayern. Like Caro Simon last season. She was also out with a ACL injury andwas only able to play on the last matchday against Hoffenheim.

The former Wolfsburg player wishes that she herself is on the pitch and play. But unfortunately, that it’s not possible for a known reason.

She had tears in her eyes when she saw that Lea had her jersey on after the first game against Australia. Lea showed her with this that she is still part of the team. She would have done that too if Lea was the one who got injured.

Lena is proud of the team that they reached the semi-final. Of course, she will be in the stadium for the semi-final.

Speaking of the semi-final, there is something that Oberdorf has to say.

"It was pretty impressive what you did in the quarter-finals against Canada, Ann", says Obi to the goalkeeper.

After all, Berger hold two penalties and scored one herself.

"Thank you, Obi", says she and blushes lightly.

Lena will spend the rest of the Olympic Games with the team.

The Germany coach knows that Oberdorf is here and that she will stay for the rest of the tournament. He is happy that she is here. Everyone misses Lena on the team.