A/N: Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the chapter, so I thought I'd leave you on a cliff hanger <3 Update coming tomorrow:)

Completely exhausted, I let myself fall onto the pitch after practice. Neither Jonatan nor the temperature had mercy with us today, with the thermometer climbing up to 32 degrees Celsius in the late afternoon.

"It's way too hot" I complained to Lucy, who had sat down next to me.

"I know" the English defender panted. "I've been here for two years now, and I still haven't gotten used to it."

"Are you ready for tonight?" I curiously asked, not sure if Lucy was aware that Keira had already told me about their engagement.

"I guess so" Lucy shrugged nervously. "Do you know how to get to our apartment?"

After getting up, I nodded and held my hand out to Lucy to help her up. "Mapi offered to take me."

The dark-haired athlete threw me a curious look as she reached for my hand and got up. "What's going on there?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I sighed, hiding my face in my hands so Lucy couldn't see my blushed cheeks.

Defensively, Lucy held up her hands. "Okay, okay, I won't ask again."

"Is it okay if we come straight after practice?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Yes, that's no problem at all. The Arsenal girls arrived this morning, although they might still be in the city."

I opened the door to the changing room and quickly headed to my locker. After taking a cold shower, I threw a glance on my phone to check my messages.

[15/09/2024 19:34:46] antonia.vargas24: are you free tomorrow?

I quickly went through my schedule in my head; I had two practices tomorrow, one in the early morning and one after lunch, but afterwards all I needed to do was pack my suitcase for the international break.

[15/09/2024 20:21:03] emiliacortes20: yes:) wanna grab dinner?

I then opened WhatsApp and my jaw dropped when I saw the message I had received on there.

[15/09/2024 19:59:54] Klara <3: Ich freue mich auf dich :) ("Can't wait to see you.")

So she couldn't wait to see me, yet she never replied to my messages and hung out with the girl who destroyed my life. Did she not realize how little sense that made? I decided not to reply as I had already made up my mind yesterday that I would confront her at camp. She could wait two more days.

"Emi, are you ready to leave?" Mapi yelled through the whole changing room. Emi. She'd never called me like that before, leaving me wondering what happened to princesa.

I quickly made my way to her. "Yes, María León, I'm ready."

"Call me like that one more time and you can walk to Lucy and Keira's home" She threatened me with a smirk.

Feeling like annoying her a little extra today, I stood on my tiptoes and whispered in her ear, my lips slightly touching her warm skin. "Fine, let's go, guapa."

I left the blonde defender standing speechless in the changing room as I headed outside.

"Are you coming or not, María León?"

"That's it, you're walking" Mapi stated laughingly, catching up to me and putting her arm around me.

"No, I'm sorry, I promise I'll find a new nickname for you" I begged her. "What about Mrs. neck tattoo?"

"Ugh, you're so annoying" Mapi complained, removing her arm from my shoulder as she unlocked her car.

"You still love me though."

"I guess you're not as bad as I thought."

Ten minutes later, we arrived at a big, white apartment complex in a quiet neighborhood.

"It looks nice here" I observed while getting out of the car.

"It's such a nice neighborhood, I used to live here before moving closer to the city. Our club has quite a few apartments in this area." Mapi informed me, heading to the entrance of the building.

"I really need to talk to them about an apartment" I sighed.

"Are you planning on moving?" The tattooed woman wondered while pressing the doorbell. A buzz sounded almost immediately as a sign that we were let in.

I nodded firmly. "Yes, I like my apartment, but it's small and far from the city and the training grounds. Sometimes, it takes me an hour to get to practice."

We entered a modern elevator with a huge mirror and Mapi pressed the number five. The doors closed quietly, and the elevator started moving almost immediately.

"Your apartment wasn't given to you by the club, was it?" Mapi asked me.

"No, I didn't know that was a possibility" I answered honestly. "At Bayern I never had to worry about things like that as I still lived with my parents, so I just got the first apartment I could find here."

After the elevator doors had opened, we discovered that a tall, blonde woman was already waiting for us, standing on the right side in a door frame.

Leah Williamson.

(!!!!!A/N: From now on, it might be a little confusing, but English looks like "that" and Spanish is either like "this" or just in Spanish for this chapter.)

Of course, I had seen her on the pitch before, the last time being in the semi finale of the world cup a year ago where we eliminated them, but I had to admit that she looked even better off the pitch.

"Hi guys" she welcomed us in English, her strong British accent standing out. "I'm Leah, nice to meet you."

"Hola, encantada. My name is Mapi" Mapi greeted her back in her rusty English which made me chuckle.

"How could I forget you; I remember you of course! We've played each other quite a few times."

Even though Leah probably didn't think anything of it, she was being a little too friendly with Mapi for my liking. As quick as the thought entered my mind, I tried to forget about it again. I wasn't going to be jealous of Mapi just because of something Leah said to her, the sole reason being I found the English defender good looking.

"I'm Emilia" I quickly intervened. "We've also played against each other before."

Leah threw me a questioning look. "We have? What country do play for?"

So she didn't even remember me. Great start.

"Germany."

"Oh, well I remember beating you in the Euros" the England captain winked and before I could reply, she took a few steps back into the apartment.

"Come on, I'm gonna introduce you to the others."

She guided us through a huge corridor to an even bigger living room, in which Alexa, Jenni and two blondes were sitting at a long table.

Meanwhile, Keira and Lucy were busy running around in the kitchen to prepare dinner and just greeted us with a quick wave.

After a short introduction of the two unknown blondes, Jordan and Beth, I took a seat next to Alexia.

"I'm already annoyed of having to speak English" I complained to her as she poured red wine in my glass.

"Me too" our captain sighed. "Ever since the Euros, I can't stand the English. Also, this Beth girl seems to think I'm always robbing her of her awards. As if I'm the one choosing the winner."

"Tell me about it" I rolled my eyes, still heartbroken because of the Euros finale in 2022, as I watched Mapi talking to Leah and Jordan. "I wonder how she gets along with them, she barely knows any English."

"Mapi? She doesn't need words to get people to like her" Alexia chuckled.

I let out a little laugh, trying to ignore the jealous ache in my chest. Of course I knew her ways, but did it really have to be Leah out of all people? Honestly, I didn't even know why I cared so much.

Shortly after, Keira and Lucy carried two bowls filled with salad to the table. I noticed Keira's hands shaking nervously as she put the bowl down.

"Before we start dinner, there's something Lucy and I need to tell you" The red-haired woman announced quietly, constantly shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

Lucy reassuringly put her arm around her fiancée which seemed to instantly calm her down.

"We're engaged!" the dark-haired defender exclaimed happily.

"Ay, Dios mío!"

"What???"

"Ni de puta coña!"

"I'm so happy for you."

The table instantly erupted in a clamor of voices, everyone trying to be the first to congratulate the newly engaged couple.

My eyes met with Keira's over the table and I smiled at her, trying to prove her that she had nothing to worry about.

"Did you already know?" Alexia whispered questioningly.

I nodded with a big smirk. "You and Jenni are not the only ones who I'm the token couple's therapist for."

"Pff, I gladly inform you that we don't require your services any longer. As a matter of fact, we're really happy with each other."

"But now I'm unemployed" I complained jokingly, pointing to Keira and Lucy with my head. "They also don't need me anymore, just look how happy they seem."

"You're still a professional footballer for the best club in the world, is that not enough?"

I laughed at Alexia's Barca pride. Frankly, I'd never met a footballer who loved her club as much as she did and it kind of reminded me of how I had felt towards Bayern before everything went down.

The rest of the evening passed relatively quickly and when Jenni and Alexia left two hours later, I started looking for Mapi as she had promised to drive me home. I opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside in a humid late-summer night. As my eyes slowly accustomed to the dark, I was able to make out two silhouettes next to the railing, one of them definitely being Leah with her long, blonde hair shimmering in the dark. I couldn't see who the other person was as Leah's body covered them almost completely, but as I got a little closer, I realized that they were having a heated make out session.

My heart dropped.

It had to be Mapi.