Stuck with you

Y/n was the apple of Barcelona's eyes. The 19-year-old girl had grown up in La Masia alongside other Barça players. Although she was different, a prodigy, that’s what they called her from a very young age.

She was a defender and had been trained by her family to be one since she was in diapers. Y/n never considered another position to play before and undoubtedly never contemplated doing anything besides becoming a professional footballer.

Spain media spotted Y/n when she debuted for the Women’s National team at just thirteen years old, starring in the Under 15 World Cup. Since then she began rising higher and further in La Masia.

At 14 she moved in with Alexia Putellas and her then-girlfriend, now wife, Olga Rios. It was weird at first, Y/n didn’t know how to act around the two women, and they certainly didn’t know what to do with a fourteen-year-old girl who played in the La Masia.

It didn’t take long for Barcelona to offer her a senior contract; at just 15 years old, Y/n was playing on Team B but was briskly established as a starter for Team A next to Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati and other amazing players.

When she was transferred from La Masia to Barcelona, her relationship with Alexia got better. They had more things in common to talk about, and having Alexia both at home and during training was comforting, something that eased her very nervous personality.

Their routine was easier too, before Y/n got into the senior team, either Alexia or Olga had to drop her off at school, which sometimes meant they would passive-aggressively argue about who was going to take her to school because they were all so busy.

Now as a senior member, Y/n did both training and School inside Barcelona, which made her life much easier. So whenever Alexia was going to training, she would just give Y/n a ride.

Aside from Y/n’s closed-off personality, she didn’t have any major thing happening to her growing up with Alexia and Olga, everything was okay.

That was until she got older.

As time went by she and Alexia started to clash more and more, either in training or at home for the dumbest reasons.

When they were in training, Alexia would go full-on Captain mode on Yn, which made her annoyed because why was Alexia screaming at her when Y/n just saw her having a meltdown hours before because Olga had eaten off of her protein bars?

When they argued at home, it went smoother mainly because of Olga, who tried to calm both of them down.

Y/n remembers a specifically bad fight they had a few years ago. She got a bad grade on two important Spanish tests because she didn’t read the books the teacher required.

Alexia was called up by the teacher who worked in Barcelona's education sector and Y/n got the biggest earful of her life when they got home.

Alexia kept going on about how school was important, even for a footballer while Y/n sat at the dining table, just listening. No reason to argue with Alexia when she was that angry.

Y/n wasn’t a crier, but Alexia was getting so angry that she felt tears building up in her eyes. And that’s when Olga, who was in silence in the corner of the room, stepped in.

She placed a firm hand on Olga, which made Alexia shut up right away, the frown on her face still on.

Olga stepped closer to Y/n and wrapped her arms around her while sitting on her side.

“I’ll help you get back on track in Spanish, okay?” Olga had said with a sweet voice. “We can study every Saturday night together, how does that sound?”

“You have dates with Ale Saturday night,” Y/n said in a whisper, eyes looking down at the table, trying not to make eye contact.

“I’m sure she won’t mind moving them to Sunday nights.”Olga held Y/n’s chin in her hand and cleaned the tears rolling down her cheeks. “You’re just a kid, it’s okay to mess up sometimes.”

Y/n now, at 19, wasn’t just a kid, but she still messed up.

Thankfully, Alexia never gave her such stern talking before. Y/n was sure Olga made her feel guilty about it afterwards because she randomly showed up with a basket of Y/n’s favourite chocolate and just left them in her room, without saying a thing.

But that was the moment Y/n realised how atypical her life was, especially when it came to Alexia. How was her team captain, but also acted like a big sister most of the time…but also as a mother when she needed to.

That made her act even more closed-off towards other people, especially people her age. She felt like an outsider whenever she talked with other young people who weren’t into football life, I mean, she didn’t even have the experience of having a normal parent for half her life. How was she going to be able to bond over other, less normal, things?

She had Vicky and Jana as her friends, and they were more than enough, although Olga and Alexia didn’t agree on that. As if Alexia’s best friend wasn't her own sister.

What was the difference between being friends with your teammates and being friends with your sister? Y/n wouldn't know, she was an only child, but she was sure it was probably the same thing, right?

Y/n and Alexia were humming softly to the song playing on the radio while Alexia drove them to training. As she was done with school, Y/n didn’t need to bring her training bag and school bag, which made her life very much easier.

“The new girl is coming today, Estrellita,” Alexia said, looking up through her sunglasses.

“Don’t call me Estrelitta,” Y/n mumbled, rolling her eyes. “Is she a Portuguese girl? Kika?”

“Yes,” Alexia said. “I’m the one introducing her to the team, to the staff, etc”

“As always,” Y/n added. “It’s literally your job as the captain.”

“And,” Alexia continued, ignoring Y/n. “She’s almost your age, so you could try and be friends!”

Alexia said as if Y/n was in pre-school and all she needed to have a friend was to share her toys. Y/n wasn’t good at making friends, she always made them uncomfortable and awkward.

She already had two friends, and they didn’t mind her personality, so she felt like it was enough already.

“I’m impressed you want me to be friends with her right away,” Y/n teased. “You are always so protective with who I interact with…”

Alexia hummed in response.

“What if this kika is like…a sociopath in disguise?” Y/n teased, but when she looked at the side, Alexia had a fearful expression.

“You’re right, Estrelitta,” Alexia said, “Don’t go near her until I have her in the clear for you.”

“Alexia, please,” Y/n face palmed her face.”I was joking, have you ever heard of a joke?”

“Well, I am not joking and you certainly never joke around.” Alexia shot back, looking at the rearview mirror. “How would I know?”

“Maybe because I’m not five?” Y/n muttered, rolling her eyes “You never joke around either, Olga has to explain the punchlines of her jokes to you all the time, it’s annoying.”

“Well, she doesn’t mind explaining them to me,” Alexia said with a grin.

“Yeah she does mind,” Y/n argued. “She's always muttering about how explaining jokes to you is her full-time job and that you don’t have an inch of humour on your body.”

“Well, I guess we–,” Alexia pointed to herself, and then did Y/n. “–are more alike than we thought”

“Why are you insulting me at–” Y/n looked at her watch. “7 in the morning?”

Alexia raised an eyebrow. “Saying you look like me is an insult?”

“Of the worst type,” Y/n nodded.

“Next time you can take the bus to training, then,” Alexia said, rolling her eyes. “Well, anyway don’t go near the girl until I talk to her first,” she warned. “Just stay close to Jana and Vicky.”

Y/n felt the words slip out before she could stop them, but it was too late now. She could see Alexia’s face tighten in the rearview mirror.

“Maybe it’s time I handle my own friendships, huh? I don’t need a babysitter.” She crossed her arms, waiting for Alexia to bite back. “I’m not a kid anymore, you know.”

Alexia bit her lip.

"I know, Estrellita. But I’m not just your captain...I’m family.” she said in a low voice, clenching her wheel. “I care about you, about Olga…not everyone has the best intentions when they want to get close to us; you remember Laura, don’t you?”

Y/n knew Alexia was very aware she was overstepping, but it was like Alexia couldn't help herself.

La Reina meant well, although it felt like she only saw Y/n as this fragile thing that needed constant monitoring.

Alexia never trusted anyone to get close to Y/n and Olga. It was just her super protective nature, but it was still annoying, nonetheless.

It even had been the reason for a lot of arguments between Alexia and Y/n and Alexia and Olga in the past.

This protective behaviour only got worse after Y/n dated Laura. She was seventeen–almost eighteen- just like Y/n, but unfortunately, Laura didn’t like Y/n, not truly. But she enjoyed everything that came with dating Y/n.

Alexia would always take them and Olga on double dates in expensive restaurants, or take them on vacations on tropical islands.

Laura loved it. She loved the luxury that came with being a ‘Putellas’, even if Y/n wasn’t truly one.

During one of those vacations, Laura left her phone unlocked while she and Y/n went swimming; and that’s when Alexia saw: more messages than she could count from different girls all over Spain, all of them with the same flirty undertone.

Olga told Y/n that Alexia had gotten very mad, but that she had been able to calm her down until the trip was over because they couldn't just leave Laura–an underage girl– to fend for herself in another country, even if she was a cheater.

When they got home from the trip, Olga and Alexia sat her down and showed the pictures they had taken of the girl's phone. Y/n was devastated. She already had a very hard time with people, and being cheated and betrayed by Laura was one of the hardest experiences in her life.

Laura was her first and only friend outside of football, and of course, her first girlfriend ever. She didn’t just lose her girlfriend, but she also lost her friend that day.

After that Alexia became properly paranoid with anyone Y/n or Olga got close with. Alexia was scared they would just end up hurt afterwards, just like it was with Laura.

Alexia made herself even more present in Y/n’s life after that, it was like she wasn’t able to live without having Alexia constantly breathing down on her neck.

It wasn’t even the protectiveness that bothered Y/n; it was that she had never gotten the chance to figure things out for herself because Alexia’s presence was so constant all the time.

And since Y/n didn’t have much of a life besides football, Alexia was always there.

Always.

It was hard to know where Alexia ended and Y/n began.

Y/n pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the cars as she started on the streets of Barcelona.

..

When Kika arrived at the training ground, a shy smile on her face, everybody already knew she was the sweetest person ever. The Portuguese girl had everyone wrapped around their fingers.

Alexia wasn’t a hundred per cent sure she trusted the girl yet, but she was open to getting to know the new midfielder. Alexia had already talked to Kika while she showed her the Barcelona training centre. She seemed genuine, came from a small, but loving family and–as everyone on the Barcelona team–loved football since she was a kid.

Alexia asked everyone to speak with Kika in either English or Spanish since Kika said Catalan was harder to understand. Alexia couldn't help but feel bad when she spoke in Catalan to introduce herself and Kika began sweating.

Y/n watched from afar as Alexia talked with Kika. She saw that the Portuguese girl had brought a Tupperware filled with pastries.

Kika seemed nice–but so did Laura.

Kika had told the team it was Pastel de Belém, a traditional Portuguese pastry, it was an egg custard tart with a creamy filling of eggs, milk and cinnamon inside. She had made and brought them to the team as a present for welcoming her.

When Kika gave one to Y/n, she accepted it shyly, murmuring a thank you.

When Y/n was ready to take a bite, Alexia popped up by her side.

“What do you think are the chances of this being poisoned?” Alexia asked seriously, looking at the sweet and analysing it carefully. “She wouldn't do that on her first day, right? Poison everyone? Maybe she’s a true real Madrid fan and–”

“Ostres, Alexia,”[Damn] Y/n whispered-yelled so no one would hear them. “Please go to therapy! You weirdo. That’s why I don’t have any friends besides Vicky and Jana, only those two can put up with you.”

Y/n left Alexia with a confused expression on her face as she walked to the other side of the pitch, where Pina and Patri were getting ready to start training.

“Bad day with La Reina?” Claudia asked teasingly.

“La Reina was raised by wolves,” Y/n murmured, sitting down on the grass as she gave her first bite of the pastel de belen. “And then she raised me and now I have to deal with this.”

It was sweet and….impressively very good. It had a lemon in it, making it have a sour aftertaste, so it wasn’t overly sweet and sugary.

Y/n liked it a lot. Maybe Olga would agree to try making those for them at home.

Alexia was watching carefully from the other side of the pitch as Y/n ate her pastry; it was almost as if she was waiting for the girl to drop dead at any second.

Y/n decided to ignore Alexia, for the good of her mental health, instead, she put her eyes on Kika, who was still giving everyone on the team small Pastéis de Belém; even the staff got some.

Cute.

Kika was cute too.

She had dark eyes and dark hair, her skin had an olive undertone. And she looked good with the black training kit.

Y/n was almost sure she had already met the girl before, maybe in the U15 Cup, since Spain had played a match against Portugal during the quarter-finals. Alexia had told her the girl was the same age as her, so the chances of them having disputes in some international games were very likely.

Y/n hadn’t googled Kika–not yet. But Alexia had–like the freak she was– and saw that the girl played for Benfica, a club in Lisbon, Portugal before signing with Barcelona.

The club had good statistics–Y/n had googled the club–and it was second in Portugal's women’s league, so Y/n wondered why Kika decided to leave. She was doing very well at Benfica if the number of goals she scored meant anything.

Y/n watched Kika from afar, almost as if she were a mystery. Kika had finished distributing the sweets to everyone and was not sitting on the bench getting her boots ready to start training.

Kika looked a little nervous, her hands were fidgeting with her jersey and she kept pulling her hair with her index finger, something that Y/n did a lot of times.

If Y/n wasn’t such an antisocial person, she would go to Kika and offer some pep talk, but knowing herself, she would just say the wrong thing and make the situation worse.

As if on cue, Jana sat by her side on the pitch and began to scratch, laying her leg on the grass and reaching her feet with her hand.

Y/n nudged Jana’s ribs, almost making the girl fall to her side,

“Ouch,” Jana complained, a frown on her face. “What?”

“Kika–the new girl–looks anxious”, Y/n pointed at Kika with her head, trying to be subtle. “Why don’t you go there and talk to her? Or get Vicky to talk to her, everyone loves Vicky.”

“Why don't you go?” Jana asked, coming back to her stretching. “And hey people love me too. okay?”

“Yeah, everyone loves you, now go,” Y/n rolled her eyes. “If I go I’d say some shit like ‘don’t worry, it only gets worse’ or something similar”

Jana thought for a moment, finger in her temple.

“Yeah, that sounds like you,” Jana agreed, wiking. “Leave it to me.”

Jana got up and headed in Kika’s direction. Y/n watched as Jana smiled at the new girl.

It was like Kika’s shoulder seemed to light up to the interaction. Y/n smiled to herself, happy that Kika was starting to feel at ease. Y/n knew very well how awful it was to feel anxious around people, especially new people.

But then Jana pointed at her, and Kika’s face turned to where Y/n was sitting.

Their eyes met and for a moment Y/n did nothing, only stared. She felt her ear flush and her cheeks getting warm by the sudden attention.

Y/n’s heart skipped a beat when Jana made a very classical ‘come with me’ signal to Kika. And then Jana and Kika walked in her direction.

Y/n began to sweat. She wasn’t good at talking to new people, she was awkward and grumpy and–

“Hi! I’m Kika, it’s nice to meet you. I mean, obviously. You’re—you’re good. Like, really good.” she said, standing in front of Y/n, Jana on her side, smiling as if Y/n wasn’t dying inside.

Y/n was silent as if she had forgotten all her words. She hoped, really hoped, that Kika wasn’t like..her fan or something like that.

Jana kicked her shin, not so gently, which made Y/n talk.

“Right... Well, welcome to Barça.” Y/n mumbled it was all that she had to offer.

No more words were exchanged, Kika looked at her as if waiting for more, but Y/n just looked down and began stretching.

“Well,” Jana said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “This is our Estrellita, she’s a defender, but it seemed like you know her whole life story already, she’s the Princess of Barcelona, bla bla bla–”

“Jana,” Y/n said in a warning. “Stop it.”

She didn’t like it when people were introduced like that. As if her only personality trait was having grown up in La Masia, becoming a good footballer and being some sort of Alexia Putellas’s shadow.

Y/n was way more than football, although she was still trying to find who she was without it.

“Okay, sorry,” Jana crossed her arm. “You’ll know very soon that Y/n doesn’t like when people call her Estrelitta, but I get a free pass because I love to annoy her.”

Jana stuck her tongue playfully at Y/n, who rolled her eyes but smiled.

She couldn't help but notice Kika’s firm gaze on her.

Their awkward conversation was cut short as the manager blew his whistle and said they were going to do training in pairs. Y/n was ready to catch Jana’s arm when Vicky showed up–out of nowhere– and took Jana with her.

Y/n watched Vicky and Jana go to the other side of the pitch, feeling her cheeks blush when she realised Kika watched the whole scene too.

“Would you mind?” Kika asked, a small smile on her face.

“Mind what?” Y/n asked, slightly grumpy.

“Ugn, pairing with me?” she said, changing the weight between her feet.

Y/n felt pressure on her chest. Guilty for not being the most welcoming person around.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Y/n said, trying to smile. “It’d be great.”

They didn’t talk during training, instead focusing on the instructions of the manager. Today’s training was about speed. Person A had to run to the other side of the pitch and take an object that was put there and bring Person B said object, then, person B would have to run to the place the object previously was and put it back.

Y/n and Kika were good at it. They were the fastest. Y/n felt that the victory tasted even better because Jana and Vicky went third overall. That’s what they got from stealing each other from Y/n. But what could they do? That was the downside of being a trio.

Y/n lay down on the pitch, water bottle in hand as she tried to get her breathing in another. Then she felt a shadow on her face, she opened her eyes and saw Kika, a rather awkward smile on her face.

“Hi, can I get one?” Kika asked, pointing at the Gatorade cooler Y/n was next to.

“Hm, yeah,” Y/n said, moving her hand around and pointing at the team. “It’s for, um, everybody, like a–collective cooler.”

Y/n wanted to rip all of her hair out. She didn’t know how to interact with people.

Kika smiled and took Gatorade, sitting next to Y/n.

“You have really nice... uh... running form. Yeah. Super smooth. Like… like an animal, you know.” Kika said, out of nowhere.

“Huh?” Y/n asked, confused, noticing how Kika’s cheek began to red. “An animal?”

“Oh, I mean,” Kika began to stutter, probably realizing what she had said didn’t make any sense. “Like a fast animal, not like a gazelle, more like a–lion? Or better yet… hm.”

“Kika, I think we can both agree we are a little socially awkward,” Y/ said, trying to take the girl out of her misery. “I won’t mind when you say something weird, and I hope you don’t mind when I do it as well.”

Kika laughed shyly as she rubbed the back of her back. “Ok, I agree.”

The manager, again, blew the whistle, cutting their conversation.

“Let’s get back,” Romeu said. “Same pairs as before, we’re going to do some pass training.”

“I guess I got stuck with you again,” Kika said smiling, before getting up and going back to where the girls were.

..

When training was over, the sun had already set in Barcelona, and the cold air of the evening was setting in. Both Alexia and Yn had taken their showers and were heading home, Alexia was the one driving–again–because she refused to let y/n do so.

Alexia unlocked the front door of their house, stepping inside first, Y/n trailing behind, holding both hers and Alexia’s training bag, since the blonde was carrying in some groceries they had bought on their way home.

The house felt warm–the scent of the chamomile candle Olga had burning lingered in the air. Olga was sprawled across the couch, laptop on her lap and earbuds on, probably working.

She looked up. “Hey, my girls!” She greeted them happily.

Alexia stepped closer to her and kissed her softly on the lips while Y/n rolled her eyes–as she always did. Too much PDA.

“Ew, can you guys stop, I’m right here,” Y/n whined, sitting on the couch as Alexia also rolled her eyes.

“Remind me why didn’t you move away when you were eighteen?” Alexia asked

“Olga didn’t let me,” Y/n said, putting her head on Olga’s lap and pushing Alexia away. “She said she’d miss me too much.”

Olha laughed, caressing Y/n’s scalp.

Olga was one of the only people Y/n let be physically close to her. She was comforting. Almost like a mom.

“So, who pissed you off today’ Olga asked.

“Take a guess,” Alexia huffed out a laugh.

“I’ll give you three guesses, Olguita,” Y/n said, using the same nickname Alexia called Olga.

Olga snorted. “I’m going with Jana, Vicky and…” she squinted her eyes, mocking seriously. “Putellas right here.”

Y/n grinned, feeling relaxed for the first time since training. “Bingo,”

“Tontas.” Alexia shook her head with a small smile on her face. “You’re both ridiculous.” [idiots].

Alexia walked towards the kitchen, tossing some of the grocery bags over her shoulder. “You could tell how it was training instead of gossiping.”

“You know how training was, Ale.” Y/n scoffed. “You were there.”

Alexia vanished into the kitchen, and Olga put her laptop to the side and urged Y/n to sit down, before leaning herself forward, the grin on her face widening.

“Okay, but I wasn’t there,” She said. “So spill it, give me something entertainment that doesn't have anything to do with bad clients.”

“Bad day at work?” Y/n guessed.

“Yep,” Olga nodded. “But forget about it, tell me.”

Y/n hesitated a little. “There’s the new girl, Kika–”

“Oh, the Portuguese one?” Olga perked up and asked. ‘The one Alexia talked about?

“Um yeah,” Y/n said, feeling shy suddenly. “She’s mine and Vicky’s age, she’s a bit awkward and she tried to say hi but then she went all nervous.”

“Poor thing was probably terrified,” Olga said. “First days are scary, especially when you’re playing with…what? Three Ballon d'Or and miss FIFA’s prodigy.”

“FIFA’s prodigy, really?” Y/n asked deadpan.

“Oh that’s how people see you cariño,” Olga said, waving off. “You have to accept it someday–but keep going, what happened?”

“Yeah, well, I dunno… She’s kinda funny, too. Like, not on purpose, but…” Y/n shrugged. “I think she’s alright.”

“Alright, huh” Olga's smile turned sharp. “That’s a glowing review from you."

“Olga,” Y/n groaned, feeling flustered. “Don’t start–it’s nothing like that, she was just very nervous, like fidgeting with her shirt and all that, so Jana went to talk with her and we ended up pairing up for training.”

“Oh, and you noticed all that?” Olga teased, but there was something softer in her voice now. Less playful, more... knowing. Her fingers brushed through Y/n’s hair again, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“I just think she’s alright,” Y/n muttered, stubbornly staring at the ceiling.

“Sure,” Olga said lightly, but her smile lingered like she knew something Y/n didn’t yet.