A Storm Is Brewing

Standing Up

Almost two weeks later, Leah finally received a call from the hospital informing her that they would contact her to arrange a date. Good news, right? Wrong. That date was 'most likely' to be somewhere within the next one to two years. Of course, for Leah and I, that wasn't an issue; we had the funds to pay for it privately, and we were able to be seen the very next day in a private clinic. It was something that didn't sit right with either of us—the idea that we could cut her waiting time so dramatically while someone on a smaller wage would be left sitting in the dark about the next steps of their treatment. Leah was determined that this was something she would address once she recovered. She would fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

A short press release from Arsenal confirmed fans fears that Leah would be out for some time, without listing the reasons for her absence.

Update: Leah Williamson will be out for 'some time' for personal reasons. Arsenal offered no further comment other than 'sending her best wishes'.

We expected that fans would go into meltdown, making up their own theories, but I don't think anyone could've prepared us for what was to come. Leah was frustrated with the statement, mostly because it was so ominous, and she knew that some fan theories would be wild. We spoke of the obviousness that they would jump to Leah and I being over or a death in the family, but we didn't expect this.

The day before her surgery, I woke to the sound of Leah shouting in the distance. Immediately panicking that something was wrong, I jumped out of bed and began racing downstairs, stopping slightly as I realised she was on the phone.

"She's up; I'll call you back." Leah spun around to greet me.
"What's wrong?"
"Morning Soph, we need to talk, babe. Where's your phone?" She smiled, opening her arms out for me.
"It's upstairs. Should I get it?"
"No, leave it. C'mere." She whispered, placing a kiss on my lips before sighing deeply.
"Have I done something wrong?"
"No, silly. Sit down; I need to show you something."

Leah cuddled me into her side. I could tell by the way she was holding me close that something wasn't right. She pulled up her text conversation with her mum, clicking into the images and beginning to show me them. Each picture was of comments, tweets, posts, or just about anything on social media that people could put out there.

Awful news this evening about Leah, sending her all the love. Women are just awful.

Imagine getting Leah Williamson and breaking her heart so bad that she drops out of football indefinitely?

Sophie Kelly is something else. How many times is she going to break Leah's heart?

Something tells me that Sophie will regret this. Leah's comeback era is pending

#CancelSophieKelly

Let's make sure Sophie's law firm fails lol

"What am I supposed to have done?" I screwed my face up.
"Cheated on me, I think. As far as Mum and I can make out."
"But I didn't." I said softly, unable to hide my upset at being targeted yet again.
"Soph, look at me." Leah whispered, tilting my head up towards her.

I just stared.

"I know you didn't. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to let them know that you didn't too. I'm going to look after you, okay? I'm not going to let this happen."
"Okay." I mumbled.
"They're trying to stop me from responding. They're telling me that I shouldn't retaliate, but how can I not? The one person that has kept me sane through all of this—how could I not retaliate to people saying these things about you?"
"It's fine. I can deal with it."
"I know you can. And I know you would. I know you'd just let them if you thought that was best for me."
"Maybe it is."
"Nothing that isn't best for you will ever be best for me, Soph. Nothing."