"Thanks for picking me up" I smiled at Caro and Marta as I got into their car.

"Of course! It's your birthday after all. You shouldn't have to take the metro." Caro answered, slowly pulling out of my driveway.

"Are you finally gonna tell me what you guys planned?"

All they had told me was to be ready at 7:30 pm and to dress slightly fancy, which let to me sitting here absolutely clueless, dressed in a short, blue dress.

"No, but you'll find out soon" Marta chuckled, wearing a black blazer with matching pants.

We headed in the direction of the port, before stopping in front of a huge, white house which seemed to be a restaurant, supporting my suspicion that we were going out for dinner.

However, as we left the car, I heard loud music coming out of the building.

"Are you ready?" Caro wanted to know, her hand already wrapped around the doorhandle.

I nodded nervously and she slowly opened the door, letting me enter a room with dimmed lights before her.

"SURPRISE" I was greeted by a chorus of voices. As my eyes acclimated to the lighting, I could see all of my teammates standing in a big room, a buffet set up on the left. On the right, Lucy was waving at me from behind a table with a laptop and speakers, apparently being on DJ duties.

As my jaw dropped, I brought my hand up to cover my mouth. "Guys...wow. I..." I stuttered, feeling touched by the gesture of the people I had only met two months ago.

Laura pulled me into a tight hug. "Alles Gute nochmal." ("Happy birthday again!")

"Danke" ("Thank you") I smiled while being led to the buffet, which consisted of different kinds of pizza, crisps and fruits, as well as a huge lemon cake with two candles in the shapes of a two and a four on it.

"Ich soll dir von Klara auch alles Gute wünschen.» ("Klara told me to wish you a happy birthday as well.")

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Wann hast du mit ihr gesprochen?" ("When did you talk to her?")

«Sie hat mir vorhin geschrieben, dass sie dir heute Morgen eine Nachricht gesendet hat, du ihr aber noch nicht geantwortet hast. Ist alles okay bei euch?» ("She texted me earlier to tell me that she sent you a message this morning, but apparently you haven't replied. Are you guys okay?")

«Natürlich. Ich hatte heute nur viel zu tun, aber ich antworte ihr nachher gleich.» ("Of course. I just had a busy day, but I'm gonna reply to her in a minute.") I lied, not wanting to go into details as I didn't want the drama at Bayern to cause problems in our national team.

It wasn't like I hadn't seen Klara's message this morning, or the other dozens that she had sent me since our fight two weeks ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to reply to any of them as I was still hurt and confused by her actions.

To avoid any further conversation about this topic, I put two slices of pizza on my plate and made my way over to Alexia, Aitana and Keira who were standing at a small, round table, already enjoying their dinner as well.

"There's the birthday girl" Aitana smiled, putting her arm around me. "I remember when I turned 24."

"That was two years ago!" I laughed. "And yet I'm still taller than you."

"A lot can happen in two years."

"I'm gonna get myself a glass of Sangria, maybe then I can put up with you" I said, pointing to the buffet, after noticing that all the others had a glass in front of them.

As I poured the red liquid into a cup, I suddenly felt a firm grip on my shoulder.

When I turned around, I found myself looking into Ingrid's piercing green eyes.

"Happy birthday" She shyly smiled, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"No threats today?" I wondered, tasting the first sip on Sangria in the act.

"I..." the Norwegian midfielder stuttered. "I'm so sorry Emilia. I don't know what had gotten into me. It's just..." She let out a loud breath, nervously stepping from one leg to the other as she tried to provide me with a reasonable explanation.

Not wanting to talk to her any longer, I formed a slim grin with my lips. "It's okay, don't worry. Thanks for the birthday wishes." With those words, I left her, making my way back to Alexia and the others. I had only just arrived here, but I had a bad feeling the conversations I had with Laura and Ingrid wouldn't be the only unexpected things happening tonight.

Two hours and many glasses on Sangria later I found myself dancing with Caro, Jill and Jana, screaming the lyrics of the current song from the top of our lungs.

"Quédate que las noches sin ti duelen."

Stay, because the nights without you hurt.

I could tell that Jill was dedicating the song to Jana and while I still didn't know what was going on between them, we were probably all thinking of a special someone as this song was playing.

"Ya no quiero nada que no sea contigo."

I no longer want anything that isn't with you.

My eyes slowly wandered over all the people in the room, desperately trying to find the one person I was thinking of.

"I'll be right back" Caro screamed in my ear out of nowhere, not even leaving me any time to reply as she quickly left the dance floor.

Weird.

Suddenly, I felt a firm grip around my waist pulling me closer, a familiar, summery scent giving away whose lips just slightly brushed my ear.

"You look lonely, princesa."

I spun around, my eyes instantly locking with the beautiful brown one's of the Spanish defender stood in front of me, her hands still sitting on my waist.

"I'm not" I protested firmly. "I was dancing with Jill and Jana until you interrupted me."

Not knowing what to do with my hands, I put them around Mapi's neck as we slightly moved our bodies to the rhythm of the music.

"As if they have eyes for anyone but each other" Mapi chuckled as I felt her fingers brushing over the thin fabric of my dress, instantly sending shivers through my whole body.

I wanted more.

As if Lucy, who was still acting as the DJ, had somehow read my mind, she put on I was never there, causing Mapi to spin me around again, her body now pressed against my back.

"You look gorgeous in that dress, princesa" Mapi quietly stated in a low voice, her lips lingering on my ear a little longer than necessary.

With all the shivers running down my body and the alcohol in my system, I couldn't help but to push my body against hers even more, completely closing the gap between us. I slightly turned my head to send her a thank you smile, our eyes once again locking in the process.

The blonde's hands were still wandering over my body, one of them slowly making their way down to my thighs.

My breath hitched when I felt her fingers on my bare skin, her circling thumb finding its way under the hem of my short dress. If she only moved in a little further up, she'd feel the origin of the pulse that was travelling through my body.

My hand found her other, instantly interlocking our fingers while we weren't breaking eye contact at all, although it took me all the strength in my body not to close my eyes.

I felt her fast, warm breath on my neck, our fingers caressing the other's body as we were still attempting to dance.

However, I wanted more.

My eyes fell on her lips when I saw her tongue wetting it.

In that moment, I needed nothing more than to finally discover what those lips felt and tasted like.

But not here, not in front of everyone.

"Care to get some fresh air?" I smirked, not waiting for a reply as I pulled Mapi away.

As we wanted to step outside, the defender's hand now resting slightly above my bottom, I almost collided with a tall, blonde woman.

"I'm so sorry" I quickly apologized, not wanting to lose any precious time with Mapi, when I felt the person pulling me into a firm hug.

"Happy birthday, Em" a soft voice I knew all too well whispered.

It was Antonia.

My jaw dropped, as I freed myself from my hug, looking from Antonia to Mapi, before finding the person responsible for this chaos grinning behind Antonia.

"Do you like your surprise?" Caro smiled, not having a clue what she had just interrupted with her surprise.

"I- Uhm. Yes, yes. Of course" I stuttered, feeling Mapis eyes burning in my back.

"Care to introduce me to your girlfriend?" She asked me with an extremely fake smile.

"María León, behave yourself" I hissed at her as I turned around, my eyes interlocking with the questioning eyes of the tattooed woman for a short moment.

"Whatever" Mapi scolded, storming back inside after shooting a glance of death to Antonia.

Fuck.

Fuck.

FUCK.

"What has gotten into Mapi?" Caro wondered.

"Nothing, she's just being Mapi" I shrugged, instantly feeling bad for making her look like the bad guy.

Nevertheless, I tried to make the best out of the already awkward situation by sending Antonia a big smile. "I'm so happy you're here. Come inside!"

As we stepped back into the big room, my eyes instantly started searching for a certain blonde, but I just couldn't see her.

After a quick introduction to everyone, Antonia pulled me on the dance floor. As we moved to the rhythm of the music, I felt stuck in a trance, my glance still unsuccessfully wandering over my teammates from time to time.

Where was she?

In the meantime, Lucy had given up her spot as a DJ, leaving us with no other choice than a random playlist.

I rested my head on Antonia's shoulder when a slower song came on while my thoughts were literally going crazy.

Why couldn't I just be happy and enjoy the moment with Antonia right now? After all, she had come here just for me, even though I knew she had probably just finished her shift. And Mapi? Quite frankly, it shouldn't matter. After all, she still hadn't bothered to explain what happened with Ana and her the other week. Why would she, anyway? It wasn't as if she owed me an explanation. To her, I was probably nothing but another girl on her team that she could easily wrap around her finger.

I was just another Ingrid to her.

"Em." Antonia poked me softly in my side, looking at me in a concerned way.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" She wondered. "You're so quiet tonight."

I nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course. I'm just a little tired and overwhelmed with all the surprises today, but I'm really happy you're here."

"So am I." the gorgeous blonde smiled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

My eyes interlocked with her beautiful green eyes as I felt her fingers on my cheeks, pulling me closer until our lips crashed on each other in a hungry kiss.

It was just what I needed right now.

Just not with whom I needed it to be.

Suddenly, I felt like something was burning my back. Even before I turned around, I had already known I'd find Mapi staring at me. As I finally knew where to search for her now, I found her sitting on a chair in a dark corner of the room.

"I... I need to use the restroom" I quickly stuttered, trying to escape the situation that was completely overwhelming me.

When I opened the door to the bathroom, I was greeted by my next surprise of the evening.

"Oh my god, what is it with you guys and bathrooms" I laughed as Alexia and Jenni hastily pulled away from each other.

"Mapi and you should give it a try sometime" Jenni teased me. "That was quite a show on the dancefloor earlier."

"It was nothing" I brushed it off, even though I could see my cheeks blush in the bathroom mirror. The reflection staring back at me looked tired, sad and just exhausted.

"Ale, I know you were the mastermind behind this, so I just wanted to thank you" I told the Barcelona captain, who was still stood at the grey bathroom wall, probably waiting for me to leave so she could get back to business.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I had so much help that I don't deserve to be called a mastermind. You should thank Mapi, she's the one who organized most of it."

My jaw dropped as soon as I heard those words. "She did?"

Alexia nodded, not paying me much attention anymore as her focus seemed to have shifted back to the black haired forward.

"Well, thanks anyways" I mumbled, leaving the bathroom to give them their privacy, making a mental note at the same time to never enter a bathroom again when Jenni and Alexia were intoxicated.

As I came back to the big room, I saw Antonia talking to Caro and Marta, so I took the chance to go over to the dark corner where I had spotted Mapi earlier.

She was still sitting on that same bar stool, seemingly occupied by her phone.

"Hola María" I greeted her shyly, unsure of what her reaction was going to be as I nervously stepped a little closer.

"Alexia told me you were the mastermind behind this" I continued when the blonde defender stayed silent. "So, I just wanted to say thank you."

"No problem" Mapi said coldly, as she finally lifted her head, looking me in the eyes. "Before I forget it, I have a birthday present for you."

She opened her small purse, pulling a tiny black box out of it, before handing it to me.

I carefully opened it, finding the necklace I had seen in the store in Tenerife just a few days ago.

"Wow, thank you so much" I whispered, touched by her actions as I sent her a careful smile. "Would you maybe want to put it on me?"

Mapi nodded reluctantly, gesturing me to come closer. As I stood over her legs, I lowered my head so she could put the necklace on, my head now touching hers. When her hands finally touched my neck, I instinctually closed my eyes, wishing the time would just stop.

After she was finished, I couldn't help but to pull her into a tight hug. "Once again, thank you so much, Mapi. You're truly the best."

"Anything for you, princesa" the blonde mumbled, so quiet that I easily could have imagined the words, and strengthened the hug, causing me to practically sit on her lap.

Neither of us dared to move too quickly, Mapi's hands were just slowly wandering over my back, while I started playing with her hair. I slightly lowered my head once again, so that our foreheads would be touching. As I did so, I could feel Mapi's breath hitch just like mine. Her hands had found my bottom, gently squeezing it, which caused my stomach to tighten itself.

This was my chance. I needed to do more until this hug was over.

Quickly, I let my hand wander over Mapi's face, down to her throat and removed all the hair strands in doing so. Then, I slowly put my lips on her neck to give a kiss, to which she let out a soft moan.

Suddenly, I felt a third hand on my back.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but Jenni and I are heading home" Alexia let me know with a huge smirk. "Don't stay too late, you guys know we're playing Real Madrid on Saturday and we have to beat them!"

"Yes, capitana" Mapi and I laughed, letting go of each other to hug Alexia and Jenni goodbye.

"I think I'm gonna leave too" I said as Jenni and Alexia walked away. "I'm so exhausted."

Mapi nodded. "Yeah, me too." She got up, now standing in front of me, the two of us only being a few centimeters apart. For a short moment, I studied her face, before getting lost in her eyes again.

Those damn eyes.

"Goodbye, princesa" Mapi came a step closer, not breaking eye contact until she lowered her head and softly pressed her lips on my cheek, dangerously close to my lips.

I watched as she made her way through the few of our teammates who were still dancing, a part of me wanting to hold her back, but I knew I shouldn't. Most importantly, it wouldn't be fair towards Antonia who came all the way just for me.

Where was she anyway?

I soon found her, still engaged in a conversation with Caro and told her, I was going to leave.

We made our way out, entering the humid, dark night in complete silence until Antonia spoke up. "What's going on between Mapi and you?"

"Nothing!" I insisted nervously, looking at my feet. I'd always been a terrible liar.

"Em, I'm not stupid. I knew the second you bumped into me on your way outside earlier."

Then why didn't she just leave again? The evening could have ended better. With someone better anyway.

"No, trust me, there's nothing going on" I stepped closer to her in an attempt to calm her down, but Antonia backed away as soon as she realized.

"Trusting you is the last thing I do right now" She screamed angrily. "I took care of you after your heat stroke and that's how you thank me? You'll regret this!"

The light blonde spined around, attempting to storm away in the dark.

For the second time tonight, I made no effort in trying to hold back someone I definitely should have, especially looking back at what she said. All I cared about in this moment was, that I didn't have a ride back home.

I really needed a new apartment.

emiliacortes20's story                                     3 hours ago

emiliacortes20's story                             10 minutes ago

A/N: a bit of a longer chapter in which everything seems to be falling into place... but you know what they say, everything can change in a minute (or the next chapter;) )