Chapter 7
July came and went with England coming out victorious in their Euro campaign, winning the tournament for the first time in their history. They had hardly heard from their fellow teammates the night of the victory, Jordan sending the occasional voice note which turned out to not be coherent.
Throughout July, just before the pre-season began, Caitlin had spent a few days in Manchester with Mackenzie Arnold visiting Alanna Kennedy. She’d missed home so being with fellow Aussies helped. The escape from the busy hustle and bustle of London was also welcomed.
Katie and Caitlin’s relationship went from strength to strength as the weeks went by. Although nothing happened between them other than the odd few touches of the thigh or the back or the arm. The flirting and teasing was constant, much to the dismay of the team who had to deal with it every day, but the kissing had stopped and they hadn’t slept together since that first time. .
The pre-season had crept up on them quickly and the Arsenal celebrations for their European teammates had to be put on hold, August was in full swing and they had several matches planned against other teams, but todays friendly match was against Chelsea, their fiercest opponents to date.
The match started badly with an infamous Sam Kerr goal in the 2nd minute which knocked Arsenal off course and saw Chelsea have majority of the possession and shots for the first 10 minutes. However, that was quickly ended by a superb goal from Blackstenius drawing them level in the 16th minute. It then started to go too well when Arsenal were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute which was neatly scored by Kim Little. Keeping it 2-1 was proving difficult as Chelsea kept shooting for goal, resulting in a yellow card for Katie. Caitlin smirked as she ran past Katie and muttered “stop that sass”. Half time came with an own goal from a Chelsea defender meaning Arsenal were up 3 goals to 1.
Half time in the changing rooms was a mixture of excitement but also nerves, not wanting to jinx anything, considering they still had another 45 minutes to play. It was only a friendly sure, but if they could continue playing like this for the season, they could be within a touching distance of the title. Jonas had informed a few players, like Maritz and Blackstenius that they’d be subbed off as they entered the 80th minute and all they had to do was keep running.
However, that plan to make late substitutes failed when he was forced to do an early substitute when Katie went down in a collision with Chelsea Goalie Ann-Katrin Berger 10 minutes into the second half
Caitlin watched Katie go down and watched in horror as she didn’t get back up and lay on her side unresponsive. She was soon swarmed by teammates and Caitlin ran over. She was pale and silent, being in a daze from the possible concussions she’d just received. The medical team were soon by her side and Caitlin was rooted to the spot supporting Katie’s head. It was decided that she was to be subbed off and Caitlin, with the assistance of the medical team, supported Katie off the pitch and onto the medical bed.
Caitlin had to shake seeing Katie go down out of her head. They still had over 30 minutes left to play of the match and were winning the game with a good goal difference. She couldn’t let it slip now. The 90th minute mark came and Caitlin could see the “+6” sign on the 4th officials board, sighing Caitlin pushed on. She got a little too frustrated when the clock hit the 96th minute and the ref still hadn’t ended the game which resulted in her getting a yellow card.
Cheering when the whistle blew, the team all ran to each other in the middle of the pitch. Katie had joined in the celebrations and Caitlin looked at her and held her face, inspecting every inch.
“You’re okay?” Caitlin asked and Katie nodded. “No concussion?”
“No concussion.” Katie confirmed
“You had me worried” Caitlin commented and Katie laughed.
“You’re cute” Katie said as she laughed, shaking her head at Caitlin’s concern. “A friendly isn’t enough to stop me”
Caitlin drove Katie home that night, with the Irish woman being warned against. Driving, even though the concussion test was clear, it was still a nasty bang to the head.
Katie slumped to the sofa and lay down. “Shall we get a takeaway?” Katie asked “I know it’s naughty but I really can’t be bothered to cook”
“What would you like?” Caitlin asked bringing over a drink for her and Katie.
“Chinese?” Katie said and hummed in happiness. Caitlin agreed so they set about ordering from Katie’s local Chinese takeaway. They both sat on the sofa and watched TV in silence. Caitlin’s heart still pounding from watching Katie go down and hit the floor, not moving after being knocked out.
The takeaway arrived and was demolished, and the pair ended up cuddled into each other, Katie still with her foot raised. Katie yawned highlighting how late in the day it was.
“Shall we get you upstairs?” Caitlin asked stroking Katie’s head as she sat up. Katie nodded used Caitlin as a support up the stairs. She was still slightly dazed from her knock and felt woozy.
Katie signed smiling at her bed, it was a welcome sight. Caitlin supported her into the room and quickly disappeared down the stairs to grab Katie’s kit bag that was left by the door. Katie stripped off her shorts and t-shirt and remained in her underwear whilst she moved about putting things away. Her bedroom door opened, and Caitlin gasped.
“Omg I’m so sorry” Caitlin said when she saw a half-naked Katie, she quickly turned around, not wanting to intrude on the Irish woman’s privacy.
“Cait you can turn around, you’ve seen it all before” Katie laughed as she pulled two pairs of shorts and two t-shirts out of her draws. She pulled one set on and hopped to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and washed her face. The other set of clothes remaining on the bed. Caitlin stood rooted to the spot.
“Why are you still standing there” Katie asked coming back into the room and still seeing Caitlin standing there.
“I’m just waiting for you to get into bed and then I’ll go home. I will come back tomorrow with breakfast” Caitlin said and watched Katie get under the covers. She placed a glass of water on Katie’s bed side table and kissed her forehead in goodbye.
Katie grabbed Caitlin’s hand as she went to turn and said “Stay” and nodded towards the clothes she’d placed on the bed for the older girl. Caitlin nodded and quickly got ready for bed. Turning the lights off, she got into bed next to Katie and they turned to face each other.
“I’m sorry for scaring you” Katie whispered into the darkness. Caitlin found her lips in the darkness; the kiss was tender and slow and ended with Katie being the little spoon to fall asleep to.