(A/N: Sorry for not having uploaded in so long. I had already written half of the chapter when I noticed my idea didn't work with the actual outline of the Johan Cruyff training center and I'm trying to keep things as real as possible:) also thank you for 50'000 reads <3)

<3

Jonatan blew the whistle, indicating that practice was over, and I exhaustedly sank on the wet pitch after a long training session.

"Princesa, everything okay?" Mapi asked quietly, kneeling next to me.

I nodded firmly, tilting my head to the left to look  into the blonde's worrying eyes. "Yes, of course. I'm just exhausted."

"I would be too after scoring two goals last night" Mapi laughed, her hand gently running up and down my back. "Lucy and Keira had some explaining to do to their former Manchester City teammates."

As of now, Lucy was still living in Barcelona with Keira, but the latter had confined in me that she might have to return to England for her rehabilitation. Understandably, it was a difficult time for both of them as Keira wanted to stay here.

Nevertheless, a small giggle escaped my mouth as I leaned my head against the defender's shoulder. "But I just couldn't get past Jana today" I complained annoyed.

"Do you wanna practice some more?" Mapi wondered, always wanting more.

Luckily, I was the same and nodded enthusiastically, jumping back up to race Mapi to other side of the pitch.

Almost 45 minutes later, we finally finished our little extra session and went back to the now almost empty changing room, only Laura and Ingrid were still getting ready to leave, the latter raising her eyebrow at the sight of us entering together.

"Adiós" she mumbled, hastily throwing her belongings into a neon pink sports bag.

"Warte auf mich! ("Wait for me!") " Laura called out, taking advantage of the fact that Ingrid still knew some German from her days back at Wolfsburg. "Adiós chicas!" The German shouldered her backpack to run after the tall Norwegian, leaving Mapi and me alone in the room.

"I didn't know they were friends" I said confusedly, following the pair with my eyes until they were long gone as I pulled my jersey over my head.

"Me neither" Mapi shrugged unbothered. "But Guiris stick together."

"Hey! I'm one too in case you forgot" I laughed, wrapping my now almost fully naked body in a towel. "But honestly, I don't think they're truly happy here."

"I know Ingrid isn't" the blonde sighed, grabbing a towel for herself. "She isn't recognized for her talent here and quite frankly, our midfield is oversaturated so she doesn't even get many minutes. Meanwhile, we're seriously lacking in defense, but all Jonatan does is recruiting new Midfielders." Mapi let out a little ironic laugh, but I could tell it was seriously bothering her, making me wonder if she still thought I didn't belong here. It was clear that she thought Ingrid belonged here which caused my stupid heart to ache in jealousy.

"Mhm" I murmured, hastily grabbing my shower utensils from my locker.

Just as I spun around, Mapi firmly grabbed my arm, causing my towel to drop to the floor.

"Hey! What the fuck?" I protested loudly, but the defender didn't seem to plan on letting go of my arm any time soon, leaving me standing in the locker room in nothing but my underwear.

"Princesa, just because I don't agree with Jonatan in general doesn't mean that I don't think you're a great addition to the team, okay? I'm happy that you're here." the Zaragoza native reassured me, her free hand finding her way to my face.

I sighed as I lifted my head, my eyes instantly locking with hers as I got lost in the beautiful shade of brown. "How do you always do that?"

"Do what?" Mapi wondered quietly as she rested her forehead against mine.

"It's like you read my thoughts" I admitted, standing on my tiptoes to press a quick kiss on her lips, something I usually wouldn't do here after Ingrid had caught us some weeks ago.

A big smile grew on Mapi's face. "It's because I l-" A quiet, almost inaudible click interrupted us, as if someone had just shut a door, causing both of us to take a huge step back.

"What was that?" I asked anxiously, hastily grabbing the towel from the floor and wrapping it around my body again.

"It sounded as if someone closed a door, but no one's here" Mapi stated the obvious, her hand running nervously through her dark roots.

"What if someone saw us?" I worried.

"Princesa, no one is gonna spy on us. It was probably next door." the Spaniard unsuccessfully tried to hide her own nervousness. "Now let's go take a shower. I finally wanna go home."

Still not convinced, I followed her to the shower room. But in the end of the day, would it really be so terrible if someone had seen us? Maybe it would finally put an end to the hiding. But on the other hand, I knew that it could possibly drive Mapi away for good.

**

30 minutes and a refreshing shower later, Mapi and I were walking through the hallways of the training grounds when I suddenly saw Laura heading in our direction.

"Was machst du noch hier? ("What are you still doing here?")" I wondered as soon as she had reached us.

"Ich- Ich musste noch mit Jonatan reden ("I- I had to talk to Jonatan")" the tall blonde stuttered visibly upset.

"Was ist los? ("What's the matter?")" I asked, throwing Mapi an excusing look as she wasn't understanding a word of our conversation.

"Nichts wichtiges ("Nothing important ")" Laura sighed, her glance wandering to Mapi. "Gehst du noch zu ihr? ("Are you going to her place?")"

Now it was my turn to stutter, my cheeks turning red as I didn't know what to say. "Nein, ich ähm... warum? ("No, I- ehm... why?")

The German looked at me in a confused manner, but didn't get the chance to interrogate me more as Mapi interrupted our conversation. "Can we please leave? I'm extremely tired!"

I reassuringly put my hand on her arm and nodded before turning my attention back to Laura. "Bist du dir sicher, dass alles in Ordnung ist? ("Are you sure everything is okay?")"

"Ja, ja ("yes, yes")" Laura laughed. "Ich muss eh auch gehen ("I need to leave too")"

She pulled both Mapi and me into a quick hug, before storming down the opposite direction of the hallway.

"Was she okay?" Mapi wondered as we made our way outside to the car park.

"I don't know" I sighed as I harshly opened the door to Mapi's car. "But she asked if I was going to yours."

Concentrated, Mapi glanced over her shoulder as she pulled out of the parking space. "Mhm. What did you answer?"

"Nothing. I got all confused and irritated and then you interrupted us" I took a deep breath, scared of how Mapi would react to what I was about to tell her. "I hate having to lie to my friends, Mapi. I don't want to have to do that anymore."

Mapi, focused on navigating the car through a small group of fans waiting in front of the exit, frowned. "Oh."

Oh.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. Had I seriously expected that I would be any different to her than the dozen of girls before. That she would be any different than Sydney in that matter? My gaze fell on the blonde's side profile, her small nose wrinkled as she was staring on the road.

"Is that all you've got to say, María?" I checked coldly, my voice almost cracking.

The Spaniard exhaled loudly, lifting her hand to nervously run through her hair. "No, of course not, princesa. Listen, it's not that I want to keep this a secret or that I expect you lie to your friends, but your friends are my teammates too and I know how it could end. I don't want to cause any problems or make anyone feel as if they have to choose a side."

"So you're already thinking about how this ends?"

I had been right all along.

"No. Yes. I don't know, okay? " Mapi exclaimed, finally turning her head towards me. "It's not like I want this to end, I'm just considering all possibilities and I want what's best for the team. We've only just grown closer again after a long down period and Ana and I were a huge factor in that."

She must have seen the hurt look on my face, because I could suddenly feel her firm grip on my leg. "I'm sorry, princesa. Tell whoever you want, just don't shout it from the rooftops yet. At least not in the team."

"Sure" I sighed, knowing that the conversation was over as we pulled into the garage of Mapi's apartment complex.

"I need to collect my mail" Mapi announced as we walked up the stairs to the ground floor, the blonde slipping through the main entrance, returning with a stack of paper an instant later.

"So many advertisements" the Zaragoza native complained, instantly throwing a few flyers in a trash can located in the lobby.

I glanced over her shoulder as we entered the elevator, discovering a letter with a well known emblem in the left corner. "Does Arsenal send you personalized ads or...?"

"Usually just to my manager, but it seems like they can't get enough of me" Mapi joked.

Neither could I.

We entered her apartment, Bagheera instantly greeting us with a loud meow.

"Come here, cutie" I lifted the dark fur ball off the floor to carry it to the couch. "I'm so exhausted."

Mapi let herself fall next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. "Me too, princesa. But I still shouldn't have lashed out at you earlier, I'm sorry."

She slightly lifted her head to look at me with big puppy eyes, causing me to let out a small giggle. "It's okay, don't worry. I get it."

I didn't. But this wasn't the time or place.

Mapi's hand found it's way to my hair, slowly pulling closer until our foreheads rested against each other as my fingers gently brushed against her back.

"This may sound stupid because you literally only came into my life three months ago" Mapi mumbled with closed eyes. "But I hope you know how much you mean to me."

Her words set my whole body on fire as if someone had released a thousand butterflies in my stomach. As an answer, I gently connected our lips for a slow, but deep kiss. She was just granting my tongue entry when we got interrupted by my phone ringing loudly.

Rolling my eyes, I reached for the small mobile phone in my back pocket, but a smile grew on my face when I saw who was calling.

"Hallo Martina ("Hello Martina")" I greeted the  trainer of the German national team when I picked up. "Was gibt's? ("What's up?")"

"Guten Abend, Emila ("Good evening, Emilia")" the older woman greeted me back in her familiar voice. "Ich machs kurz, du bist nächste Woche natürlich wieder in der Auswahl für die Länderspiele am 13. und 15. Meinst du, du kannst dieses Mal mitkommen? ("I'll keep it short, you're obviously in the selection again next week for the internationals on the 13th and 15th. Do you think you can make it this time?")"

"Natürlich ("Of course")" I simply said, knowing the German wasn't a fan of too many words. "Wann gehts los? ("When does it begin?")"

"Wir treffen uns in einer Woche, am 7. November  in Murcia. Ich habe bereits mit Laura gesprochen und sie ist damit einverstanden, mit dem Zug von Barcelona nach Murcia zu fahren. Wir können dir aber auch einen Flug organisieren? ("We will meet in Murcia in one week, on November 7. I have already talked to Laura and she agreed to travel to Murcia by train. However we could also organize a flight for you?")"

"Nein, nein. Ich werde auch mit dem Zug kommen ("No, no. I'm gonna take the train as well.")" I quickly intervened, not seeing the point in taking such a short domestic flight. Like many times before, the international camp would be taking place in a warmer climate than Germany which I was endlessly thankful for.

"Super. Am 12. fahren wir nach Madrid. Norwegen hat sein Trainingslager auch hier in Spanien, weshalb wir am 13. ein Freundschaftsspiel gegen sie spielen. Am 15. spielen wir dann gegen Spanien. Ich schicke dir noch alle Infos. Noch fragen? ("Great. On the 12th we'll go to Madrid. Norway has their international camp in Spain as well, which is why we play a friendly against them on the 13th. Then on the 15th, we'll play against Spain. I will send you all the details via e-mail later. Any questions left?")"

I sighed loudly which caused Mapi to look at me in confusion, so I hurried up to say goodbye to Martina.

"Guess what" I challenged the Spaniard after hanging up, my feelings mixed about the news.

"I don't know, but it's hot when you speak German" she smirked, her hand slowly moving up my leg.

Now it was my turn to stare at her in total confusion. If there was a language that certainly wasn't attractive, it had to be German. "Anyway" I laughed, intertwining my fingers with hers. "We're playing against you on the 15th!"

"Oh my- I don't know if I like that" the blonde grimaced. "I want to play with you, not against you."

"I know, baby. Me too" I sighed, quickly biting my lip when I realized what I had just said.

"I see I got upgraded from María to baby" María sassed.

"I can downgrade you within a second, María" I threatened jokingly, giving her a big wink.

"You wouldn't dare!" Mapi protested, launching herself on top of me to pin me on the couch, forcing poor Bagheera to run for his life. "Promise you won't say that again!"

"Say what, María Pilar?" I winked, holding myself onto her neck.

"If you weren't so cute you'd be a dead woman by now." Mapi's hand quickly moved up my body, eventually tickling my stomach.

"Ahhh. Stop! I surrender" I screamed.

"Let me hear those words!"

"I- I promise not to-" A loud peep of my phone interrupted us once again.

"What is it now?" I grumbled annoyed, reaching for my mobile phone which I had placed on the small couch table after my phone call with Martina.

[1.11.2024, 17:56:12] [email protected]: *One attachment*

I frowned when I saw that an unknown e-mail address had sent me a photo on iMessage. Confused, I clicked on the small icon.

"What the actual fuck" I exclaimed when found myself staring at a picture of me, dressed in nothing but my underwear, kissing Mapi in the locker room earlier.

[1.11.2024, 17:57:04] [email protected]: "I'm sure the press would love to see this."

My jaw dropped at the sight of the second message, turning my phone in shock to show Mapi what I had just received.

The blonde's eyes seemed to grow bigger as she lifted her hands up to her head. "Holy shit" She mumbled angrily. "What- Who- Who the fuck did this?"

"I wish I knew" I shook my head in confusion, my heart racing faster and faster by the second. This picture just couldn't be released to the press. What would my friends say when they saw I had been hiding this from them? What about my parents? And after all, I was wearing underwear on the photo, kissing my teammate in the locker room. Surely, Jonatan wouldn't be the biggest fan of this unprofessional behavior. Meanwhile, the press would definitely eat this up.

My gaze fell on Mapi, who had gotten up just to pace from one end of the room to the other. Suddenly, she stopped to look at me. "It had to be Laura. There's no other explanation."

"What the fuck? Why would you think that?" I angrily defended my friend.

"She was the only one left in the training grounds of the team and she seemed distressed. Also, she texted you, meaning not only does it have to me someone you know with access to the training ground, but she also must feel a closer connection to you than to me" Mapi presented me with the facts. "Also, didn't you say she made a remark about you leaving with me?"

The scales fell from my eyes; she was absolutely right.

It must have been Laura.