The Secret - Alexia Putellas

29.

Thank you Eliza!

The day of Alexia's comeback.
March 22, 2023
12:21 a.m.

It was already past midnight.

Alexia was back in her room and had been trying to fall asleep for hours. In vain. Prior to her injury, it had never been a problem for her to fall asleep before match day. Being a mentally strong athlete, she used to feel calm under pressure. But just like many other things, it seems like that had changed as well.

Obviously.

Perhaps that changed after the mental problems Alexia suffered after her second Ballon D'Or win. And the fact that Erin wasn't lying next to her for the first time in weeks made it even worse.

Without giving it a second thought, and since a good amount of sleep was incredibly important before match day, Alexia unceremoniously threw on one of her favorite hoodies, grabbed her door card, and then tiptoed to Erin's room.

No one would be up at that time of day anyway.

It took a while before Erin answered the door. Since the blonde had already dozed off as they talked each other into sleep earlier - as it turned out, that only worked for Erin - she was quite confused when there was a knock at the door, jolting her out of her dreams.

With one eye closed and one half open, Erin peered outside, and found the hallway far too bright to look anywhere at all.

"Ale? You know you're not allowed out of your room at night", she mumbles, reaching forward to pull the brunette into the dark room nevertheless, in which Alexia happily enters as her fingers entwine with Erin's cold hand.

"I can't sleep", Alexia pouts, stripping off her hoodie and tossing it to the floor, before quickly slipping beneath the warm comforter Erin had been sleeping under just seconds ago. The blonde couldn't help but smile.

"Why is that?", wonders Erin, tiredly rubbing her eyes and taking a sip of her water, before getting in bed beside Alexia.

"Maybe I'm a little nervous", Alexia murmurs, shifting closer to her girlfriend, one arm draped across the blonde's body as she rests her head on Erin's chest.

"Maybe you still can't sleep without me. Or the fact that Martha kissed me is still in your head", Erin answers softly, running her fingers through Alexia's long hair, playing with the brunette's loose curls as she closes her eyes.

"Hmm... I won't deny that. I'm gonna have a talk with her. Your body is so much warmer than those ice cubes, you know", Alexia chuckles in a low voice. She closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling of the therapist's fingers tangled in her hair, while the other hand slowly runs up and down her strong back.

Those hands were still magical.

Since day one.

"You were outstanding in practice today. I know you'll deliver a perfect performance tomorrow, so don't worry", Erin whispers in a calm voice as she tries to talk Alexia into sleep.

Erin was counting down the days - she assumed she could stay in Spain for 12 more days before she had to leave the country - and she was very glad she had another night with the brunette.

Still 12 more days.

"Are you... okay?", Alexia asks, lifting her head from Erin's chest as she suddenly feels the blonde's body tense up.

"I'm fine, don't worry", Erin lies and pulls Alexia back towards her, wrapping her arms around the athletes strong body, who doesn't resist, but isn't satisfied with Erin's answer either.