It's Always Been You

Chapter 13

December 2021 - Lyon, France

The start of December went well, with me finally being able to get back to playing. We won against Fleury 4-0, as well as progressing to the quarterfinals of the Champion's league with a 0-5 win over Benefica, along with winning our match against Paris FC, keeping us at the top of the table for now. We still had our last Champions league match to play against Häcken, but this time they were travelling to us, so it would be nice to finish our group stage in front of a home crowd. I would also get to see Stina, having not seen her since October, and Daan, Ellie and I were going to show her a little around Lyon, as well as go to a restaurant that Daan and I had eaten at a couple of months ago. Ever since our dinner though two weeks ago, we hadn't discussed it, like a mutual agreement, and with I told Ellie that I didn't want to talk any further about it. I think she felt a little guilty for setting it up, but I knew she didn't have any bad intentions, so I didn't care too much about it. I knew I had been a little honestly rude to Daan, but thankfully we were back to comfortable speaking terms.

When I reunited with Stina, I was ecstatic. It had been so long since the last time I had been with any of my Swedish teammates, and it would be nice to have my best friend back, even if it was just for a day. I found it sometimes difficult to keep in touch with my old friends, and I had found that recently I hadn't been talking to my Manchester friends as much as I used to, although I did try to message them occasionally. I hoped to visit soon, but I wasn't sure when I would be able to, with covid and everything, but I did miss at least a couple of them.

"Schtine!" I shouted, when I spotted her sitting down at the restaurant, running up to her for a hug, "How have you been?"

"Great." Stina said, greeting Daan and Ellie as well. We sat down and quickly ordered, as we were all famished from a busy training session earlier on. It was nice to talk with her, and it was even nicer that Daan and Ellie got along well with her, and that we could all eat together.

"So, I have some news." Stina announced, in a serious, yet smiley tone.

"Is it about your new club?" Daan asked, remembering when we saw her in Sweden back in September.

"Yeah, I've decided to go to Arsenal." She said, before smiling. Stina had pretty much played in Sweden for her whole life, apart form a season long stint at Montpellier a couple years ago. Truthfully, the Swedish league wasn't good enough for her. She had won a lot there, Swedish titles and golden boots, and for a while now she had wanted to go to England, so I was excited to see what she could accomplish there, especially since it was such a competitive league and she would be playing for Arsenal, which was a team in great form.

Daan instantly broke into an massive grin, clearly happy that her former club had been able to sign Stina, who was almost certain to make an impact, on a free transfer. "That's amazing." Daan congratulated, "I can't wait to go visit. Have you ever been to London before?"

"No, I haven't before actually. I can't wait to go though, I'm extremely happy that I can play for them. They've been great this whole season, and they have amazing players there." Stina replied, talking about Arsenal's campaign so far this year. They were first in the WSL, closely followed by Chelsea, and had been on form so far.

"They do have some good ones, a lot of internationals." I put in, "Thank god it's not United."

"Absolutely loads." Ellie agreed, "A lot of Matildas, Tobin as well from the USA, a ton of amazing English players and loads of other Europeans."