three
As the months passed by, they got closer and closer. Whether it was during training sessions, where Leah was quick to partner up with Alessia before Kyra or Lotte could, or late-night team dinners, where Leah would always slide into the seat next to Alessia, asking her questions that she already knew the answer to, but just asked them to talk to her. It was clear that something more was beginning to develop - on Leah's part anyway.
Beth noticed it first. They were sitting in the locker room, all getting ready to head out for the last training session before they played Bayern Munich at home.
"I swear, Leah's acting like she's a puppy in heat around Alessia," Beth whispered to a few of the girls sitting near her.
Steph raised an eyebrow. "You mean... she's been following her around like a shadow?"
"Exactly," Beth said, raising her voice which caused a few other girls to turn their heads and raise their brows.. "I think Leah's found her new favourite target. And I don't think Alessia's entirely unaware of it either."
Caitlin, who was quietly getting dressed, simply shrugged. "I don't know. They're both so friendly. It could just be that, right? Nothing more."
Beth shook her head, looking over at Steph. "Have you seen the way Leah looks at her? It's not just acting friendly. I’m telling you, something’s going on."
And maybe there was something, but Alessia didn’t really know. She just thought Leah had been acting differently, but now that she had been doing it for a while, Alessia was starting to wonder.
Whilst Renée waited for all the girls to gather around so she could about the game the next day, Leah jogged over to the group and gently shoved Beth to the side so she could stand next to Alessia. Beth rolled her eyes, but remained silent as Renée started to talk.
"Tomorrow, it’s Bayern Munich," Renée began, her voice steady. "I don’t care what the odds are. I don’t care how tough they are. We’ve earned this moment. You’ve put in the work all week, just like you have for months now. You've shown who you are every single day, and tomorrow, we show them exactly who Arsenal are." Leah was nodding along, jumping up and down to try and get warm after she forgot to bring her jacket out with her.
Alessia noticed, and did what she would’ve done for any teammate. She unzipped her jacket and offered it to Leah, who accepted it without a second thought and smiled.
Renée continued, locking eyes with each of them. "No one walks onto that pitch tomorrow unsure of their ability. We’ve got the talent, the heart, and the spirit. We play for each other and if we stick together as a team, we’ll be unstoppable. Let’s go out there tomorrow and own it."
The team nodded, energy building as Renée’s words sank in. With a final, knowing smile, she added, "Let’s top the group."
The girls did a cool down after Renée’s speech - only a lap or two around the pitch. The photographers were still out there, taking the last few shots of the afternoon before calling it a day. And when Leah was one of the last to finish, she sluggishly dragged her body back to the locker room.
“Jacket, please?” Alessia asked, stepping closer to Leah, tilting her head.
Leah, clearly flustered, chuckled nervously, though she was trying to keep her cool. She unzipped Alessia's jacket off herself and gently handed it back to the striker. And when Alessia turned around to sit back in her spot to untie her laces, Beth and Steph exchanged looks and grinned. They weren’t blind to see the way Alessia had definitely gotten under Leah’s skin.
After watching most of the girls pack their bags and leave to go home, they both slowly started to make their way towards Leah, who was currently sitting alone.
When they saw Leah distracted on her phone, Beth grinned. “What’s going on between you and Alessia?," she asked loudly enough to get Leah’s attention.
Leah was startled and snapped her head up, cheeks flushed. “What on earth are you talking about?” she asked, trying to act cool, but the red tint of her face was a dead giveaway.
Steph crossed her arms, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Oh, we saw you today,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
And Beth chimed in “We’ve seen you for a while now. You’ve been getting a little... close with Less, haven’t you?”
Leah opened her mouth to deny it, but the words caught in her throat. She knew she wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not these two.
“Come on, Leah," Steph continued, grinning. "You can’t fool us. We saw you almost melt when she got close. And you’re definitely blushing.”
Before Leah could come up with a retort, the locker room door swung open, and the three of them froze.
“Beth, I think I gave you my car keys before. I can’t seem to find them.” It was Alessia, standing next to the door. Her face looked confused, looking between the three of them in front of her. “Are you guys good?”
“Oh, we’re great. Aren’t we Leah?” Steph said trying to hide her smirk and Beth shook her head and looked at the ground.
“Yeah, all good. Uh- I’ve gotta go. I said I'd meet Lia for lunch. Bye.” And before they knew it, Leah disappeared. Alessia got her keys from Beth and headed out not long after, noticing Leah sat in her car with her head against the steering wheel. She contemplated going over and asking if she was okay, but then she thought that she’d see her tomorrow anyway, so she could ask then if things still didn’t look okay.
****
The morning of the final game of the calendar year was a cold one. As soon as Leah woke up, she wanted to go back to sleep and stay in her bed. But she knew she couldn’t do that, she had a game to prepare for.
She spent some time checking her notifications that had come through during the night and early morning. And after texting back some family members and replying to a few emails, she went on Instagram - only to find herself being tagged in training pictures from the day before.
Everything was fine until she checked the comments, as she always does with every post. Scrolling down, all she could see was people expressing how happy they were for her and Alessia. What did they mean?
She switched apps, now looking at her X feed. Noticing how nearly every single Arsenal fan had already started ship names for the two of them, and were comparing them to Katie and Caitlin.
And then it clicked. She was wearing her jacket. The big ‘23’ on the front. She remembered that Caitlin and Katie shared their training gear all the time, and when she borrowed Alessia’s jacket for a few minutes, of course that’s when she got her photos taken.
She tried not to overreact. She was used to people starting rumours about her and a new teammate every month. But something about this time felt different to her. Maybe it was because she really did like Alessia, and the idea of other people noticing it freaked her out.
But right now, that wasn’t important. What was important, is making sure they get the three points and top their Champions League group.
So Leah got out of bed and went into her kitchen to make her breakfast.
****
Leah’s plan that she had made up on the way to Meadow Park wasn’t an entirely thought out one. They were in Lia’s car, after the brunette had offered to pick Leah up the night before. During the journey, she had told herself she was going to avoid Alessia as much as she could. Stay away from her in the locker room, stay away when warming up, make sure they aren't standing next to each other in the team photo. Maybe if she distanced herself, Beth and Steph could back off and everyone else can just forget the idea of them two being a thing. It sounded pretty straight forward.
It was going fine until Alessia got the equaliser to make it 2-2. Leah wanted nothing more than to run up the pitch and give her the biggest hug. But she didn’t. She chose to stay back and run over to Renée to listen to her instructions.
And when the final whistle blew, and they beat Bayern Munich 3-2, Leah went straight to Georgia Stanway. They talked for a while, until Renée shouted her over for the group talk. This time, she was the furthest away from Alessia. She stood in between Lia and Stina, staring at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with Alessia. Also Beth and Steph, who noticed Leah’s odd behaviour.
She was just grateful she had a few weeks to recover from whatever was wrong with her. Time with her family and by herself was just what she needed. No football, no annoying friends and no distractions.
****
After a few weeks celebrating the holidays and getting the opportunity to spend time with loved ones, Arsenal were back to start the second half of the season
Alessia was excited to be back, she had been on an incredible scoring streak and she had been in the best form in her career so far. She just hoped she’d be able to keep the performances up.
She was also excited to see the girls. She had only seen Lotte and Beth over the break, with everyone in their home countries and busy with their families. The first person she saw was Vic, who was back in team training. She had given her a hug in the car park and they walked into the facility together.
As the players trickled in, Alessia was already sitting in her space, trying to untie the knots from her laces. Each time a teammate walked in, she flashed them a smile, her eyes sparkling, a clear sign she’d missed the squad during the break.
But when Leah stepped into the room being one of the last to arrive, Alessia’s smile grew even wider. She looked up at her teammate, expecting the usual exchange, but instead, Leah merely glanced at her before walking straight past without a word or a smile. Alessia blinked, momentarily frozen in confusion.
She watched Leah disappear into the back of the locker room, her mind racing. What’s that about? Was it a joke? Did Leah not see her? Alessia’s smile faltered for just a second, and she sat there, a little thrown off, trying to make sense of the unexpected insult. It was definitely a shock, but sadly not the first time. She had noticed the strange behaviour from Leah just before the last game of the year. And since then, things hadn’t really been as they were, and she didn’t know why.
****
Their first game of the year was against Crystal Palace, and within the first 6 minutes, they had already scored. And of course it had to be Leah. Alessia was happy for her, but stayed away from the celebrations, watching how Emily and Steph were the first to hug her. The first half ended with only a one goal difference, and the next goal had come from Alessia herself.
This time, Leah had run over to the celebrations and patted Alessia on the shoulder before running back to her position. It was something, she thought.
After the game, which they had won 5-0, the girls all decided to go to one of the local bars and have a few drinks to celebrate. Alessia was expecting Leah to do what she always did when they came here, which was go and sit next to her. But that never happened, because the entire time, Leah was chatting and laughing with Lia. Alessia felt a twinge in her chest that she couldn’t ignore. She wasn’t jealous
Lia had always been a quiet presence in the team, calm and composed, she kept herself to herself. But there was something about her that Leah seemed to gravitate towards. They were talking about something, but the way they leaned into each other as they spoke, the smiles exchanged - Alessia couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of something.
She told herself it was nothing. That Leah was just being friendly, as she always was. But deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was changing between them. Leah hasn’t said more than two words to her today, and this time a few months ago she would be praying for Leah to shut up. Her attention wasn’t as constant as it had been.
As Leah followed Leah to get another drink, Alessia overheard a conversation between Beth and Steph as they sat a few seats away from her.
"Did you see that?" Beth muttered, her eyes on Leah and Lia. "Leah’s all over Wally today. What’s up with that?"
Steph shrugged but added, “Leah and Lia? They’ve always been pretty close, you know that. Probably just nothing.”
Alessia’s pulse quickened. It shouldn’t have bothered her, but it did. She tried to keep her cool, not let her face show how she was feeling. But every time she’d glance over, she’d see Leah’s hand placed on Lia’s waist or vice versa. Why was it bothering her so much?
"Everything alright?" Emily asked, noticing the change in Alessia's demeanor as she sat back down next to her. "You seem a little... off."
Alessia forced a smile, trying to shake off the feeling. "Just tired, I guess."
Emily raised an eyebrow, but didn't push any further.
****
They had a mid week game against Brighton, which they had won. Alessia didn’t score, and she beat herself up about it for not extending her scoring streak. But there was always the next game, she kept telling herself that.
But the next game didn’t go to plan at all.
During the first half, Arsenal had won a corner kick. And as the players gathered in the box, Alessia felt a hand on her shoulder. Leah whispered something in her ear about where to go and from then on, she was finding it hard to keep focused. Whatever it was, it needed to be fixed.
They had managed to keep Chelsea from scoring all the way until the end. And they only managed to score because of a penalty, but Katie got sent off, which didn’t exactly help them to get something back. It was their first loss in a while, and they had failed to score.
They'll go again.
****
It was a few days later, after the match, when things finally reached a breaking point. The team had just finished their last training session before Bristol City, and Leah was her usual playful self, all over Alessia. It was like she wanted Alessia’s head to explode.
The playful smile that Leah had given her just moments ago felt distant now.
She felt the weight of her own feelings pressing down on her, and she knew it was time to confront it. To confront her.
"Can we talk?"