Lionesses- Harry Hampton

I actually can't cope

The girls were all sat in a tactics meeting when they heard a loud screaming. They all looked at each other, confused.

"That sounds like Harry," Hannah said, standing up and going to the window to see what was going on. Her panic was soon replaced by laughter as she saw her brother running past, a duck flying after him.

The rest of the team came to the window to see what was so funny. They instantly began laughing as they saw what was happening and the panic that was on Harry's face.

"HELP!" he screamed as he saw them all watching, still running to escape.

"We probably should," Lauren said.

"Nah he'll be alright," Hannah told her as he disappeared round the corner, his screams fading away.

"Come on, we'll go," Less said, tapping Tooney on the arm. The two of them pushed open the door and followed after him.

They stayed looking out the window, waiting to see if anything happened.

Just as they got bored of waiting, the three of them appeared around the window still being followed.

They were all screaming loudly, Less leading the way. All of them watching began laughing again.

Out of nowhere, Less managed to trip on her own feet and go flying across the grass. Ella wasn't far behind her and she leapt over, not even bothering to help her best mate. Harry did the same and Less lay protecting her head as the duck flew over.

The new progression of events meant even more laughter. Tooney and Harry disappeared round the other corner.

Not long later, they were back, bright red and out of breath, no duck in sight. Harry went and helped Less up and the three of them came inside, looking pissed off.

"If anyone says anything, I swear to God I'll make sure you're not able to play the next match," Harry said. His hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat.

They all stood biting their lips, trying to contain their laughter.

"I've got mud all up my bum," Less groaned. This comment tipped them all and the room filled up with laughter. Slowly, Harry, Tooney and Less joined in with them.

Once again, that evening they played FIFA together.

"Duck's back," Georgia said in the middle of them game, pointing at the window. Harry, Ella and Alessia all looked over and turned back glaring when they realised she was joking.

Georgia sat giggling at the looks on their faces.

"You're such a bitch," Harry said, smacking her shoulder. She carried on laughing, it had been so funny.

***

Hannah had Covid. She felt fine but she was having to isolate nevertheless. She knew that all girls would look after Harry so that was something she didn't have to worry about.

He sat leaning up against the door so he could speak to her. Despite there being a piece of wood between them, he still sat being his usual chatty self.

She smiled as he nattered away. He was a very good little brother.

***

The Spain quarter final. The biggest game yet. Harry was so nervous. It felt like his stomach was doing backflips.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he said, half-jokingly as he sat talking with Nikita as they took in the stadium. He was wearing his Williamson shirt with pride.

It was three hours before kick-off. How was he going to keep his sanity for that amount of time?

"Don't be nervous. We're too good to make anyone nervous," Keets told him.

The first half was a terrifying blur. The teams were very well matched and lots of good defending meant that it was 0-0 at half time.

"I actually can't cope," Harry said, his leg bouncing at a million miles an hour. His Grandad put a calming hand on his knee, helping the nerves slightly.

Not even ten minutes after the restart, Rachel jumped into a tackle and missed, allowing the player to get past and pass the ball to her teammate. She tapped it into the bottom corner and that was it.

For the first time this competition, England were behind.

"Fuck off I'm going to be sick," Harry said, holding his head in his hands. Normally he would've been told off for swearing but it was a such a valid sentence that neither his Mum nor his Grandad said anything.

For 30 whole minutes, England trailed behind, Mary's amazing goalkeeping skills being the only thing that kept thing from conceding another. It was terrifying.

"Well that's it we're going home," Harry sighed, slumping into his seat. He was annoyed. They didn't deserve to be out.

Just as he'd lost hope, a cross in reached Less and she headed it onto Ella who smacked it home.

Harry leapt from his seat and began jumping around and screaming. Thank the fucking lord.

"TOONEY! TOONEY!" chants filled the stadium as she ran forward and did a knee slide. She'd kept them in it. And with only six minutes until the end of normal time it was the perfect moment.

As they waited for extra time to kick off, it was safe to say that they were all feeling a bit tense.

It was the sixth minute of extra time when Keira found Georgia. She began dribbling forward and surprisingly no one pressed her.

"Come on G!" Harry muttered under his breath. Still no one came to shut her down and just outside the box, she whacked it and it flew in top bins. Everyone cheered loudly. 2-1. 2-1 to England.

Harry bounced up and down. Get in there!

Despite being in the lead, they still had 24 minutes to hold on. 24 minutes of complete torture.

When the final whistle blew, the stadium erupted. They might as well have won the whole thing the way they were celebrating.

Harry sprinted down to the side of the pitch and Georgia ran over to him. She was bright red and beaming and she engulfed him into a big hug.

"You fucking legend," Harry shouted right in her ear to be heard over the crowd.

"I actually can't believe it," Georgia said. The loudspeakers began blaring Sweet Caroline and they broke apart to join in.

They celebrated hard after the group games but that was nothing compared to this.

"TOUCHING YOUUUU! SWEET CAROLINE! BUM BUM BUUUM! GOOD TIMES NEVER SEEMED SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD!"

The celebrations that night were crazy but it was a night that none of them would forget any time soon.

***

A/N: The Spain game was actually awful. I felt ill and had given up all hope before Tooney scored.