GӨᄂDΣП GIЯᄂ (Leah Williamson)

005

Set fire to the rain is so Rylo and Leah in this chapter. 2:27 goes so well with the kitchen scene with them. I'll let you know when it comes up. Or you can just listen to it from the start if you want. Enjoy.....

Amaryllis' POV:

I should hate her. But I don't. I wish I could. Being around her is suffocating, but in a strangely good way. And there's so many reasons this is wrong. One of them being Jordan. Katie spilled to me how Leah and Jordan are on the brink of a breakup, but it doesn't mean anything because they're still technically together. I feel like 18 year old me again that was so infatuated with Leah, that I'd do anything for her. It was pathetic but if I love someone I love them with everything, there was never any balance or in between, especially with Leah. It's the effect she has on me, her presence alone makes the hairs on my skin stand up straight. I can't help it, I never could.

I handed Leah a paintbrush, as she took off her jacket, our hands grazing slightly which felt like sparks. Electric. That's always how it's been between Leah and I. I'm surprised the spark hasn't gone out after all this time. But I'm also glad.

We start painting the walls a light grey colour to match some of the furniture. A silence settles amongst us, not awkward surprisingly, just calm. From my part, it  was because lost in my thoughts, plus the girls in the back were loud enough so it wasn't dead silent.Leah was working from the bottom of the wall,whilst I was working at the top.

"Leah."
"Hm?" The vibrations of her voice bouncing off the wall as she stood up, towering over me.
"Why'd you agree to help?"
"Honestly, I don't know." She sighs.
"You confuse me Williamson." I say with a smile to lighten the mood.
"I could say the same for you Rylo." She says with the same smile. "Look I know things have happened, but I don't see why we can't be friends or at least civil with eachother, for the sake of the team." She says genuinely.

Friends. Never did I think I'd refer to Leah as just a friend.
"Of course we can. You just have to stop being a raging bitch at training." I tease with a smirk which makes her laugh. I've missed her laugh.
"Oi. Watch it." She says with a fake warning glare but I could see the smile creeping onto her face.
"Cmon let's finish up here so we can join the girls." I reply with a grin, happy that at least the awkwardness between us is over.

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Whilst painting the walls, Leah and I had genuinely a good chat about everything we missed whilst we stopped talking. We joined the girls who were pretty much done with building the furniture and now we were just moving everything into place. I also introduced the girls to Leo who was asleep when they first arrived and they love him. After finishing up, we decided to order pizza as a reward for our hard work. Some calm music echoed in the background amongst some chatter, with a beautiful view of London's night sky. I was happy. So happy. I am so glad I chose to move to Arsenal, so far no regrets.

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my back now that I've semi-cleared the air between Leah and I. Obviously there are still a thousand things that need to be said but we can take it step by step, and I think we have taken one in the right direction.

Leo sat in Leah's lap cuddling him. To say I was mesmerized was an understatement. But I remembered the person sitting next to her, her girlfriend. Jordan. I excused myself and went to the kitchen just to take a breather. It would help if Jordan was an absolutely raging bitch but she's so kind which makes me feel more guilty. I'm also mad at myself for falling into this trap again, especially with what happened last time. I don't know why I event thought that being near Leah wouldn't make these feelings, whatever they are, arise again.

So lost in thought, I didn't even notice how Leah had walked in, and had asked me if I was okay twice. I hated how she could read me like a book, and knew something was bothering me without me saying.

*** The kitchen scene btw for the song

"Amaryllis!" She said louder,snapping me out of it and also standing right in front of me. So many things running though my mind like how close she was to me, how she said my name. My full name at that.

"Oh sorry. Sorry, what did you say?" I brushed back some of the curls that fell in front of my face.

I'm a mess.

"I asked you if you are okay." Leah said looking down at me concerned.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine. It's been a long day, just a bit tired." I was lying through my teeth. Of course I wasn't okay.

"Don't lie to me. Tell me what's wrong." Of course she knew I was lying. Great.

"Nothing. Really, I'm just tired." I lied again. There was no way on earth I was going to tell her.

"Hm. Okay." I knew she knew I was still lying but she decided not to press on any further. "Look I'm here for you,okay?"

"Well you haven't been. Not for 5 years. We've barely spoken, even at England camp, or whenever we have played against eachother." I don't know why I said that, but I don't regret it. I do however regret how my voice broke and tears started to well up in my eyes. Gosh. What is this woman doing to me?

"But I'm here now." She says softly as she wraps her arms around me. I was reluctant at first but I melted into the hug, burying my head into her chest. I've never felt safer. It was so familiar, not only her perfume but everything about this hug. Suddenly I was 18 all over again.

I pull away from the hug and she wipes my tears with her thumbs. I stare up at her, and if it was as if we said a thousand things with out saying anything at all.

"We should get back to the girls. They'll probably be leaving soon." I say breaking the silence, with a smile, one which she reciprocates.

We head back to the living room, I could feel Leah's towering presence following behind me, which would usually leave me anxious but I've found it quite conforming.

I put on some Netflix whilst we sat down and continued to chat for another hour or so until the girls started getting ready to leave. I had such a fun day today despite what happened with Leah, and I really enjoyed the girls'company. I'm definitely going to invite them round more often. Once they all had their coats on, they began to say bye to Leo, who I think they like more than me at this point.

"Thank you all for coming. My apartment actually looks like someone is living in it now." I say to everyone.

"Anytime. I think you should actually thank everyone except Beth who done basically nothing but eat." Katie says earning a slap from Beth and a few laughs. It was true though, every time I looked back at Beth whilst I was painting with Leah, she wasn't doing anything. She's good company though so I'll let it slide.

"We'll see you at training then. Bye Rylo." Viv says and everyone leaves. I caught Leah's eye as she was the last one to leave but quickly looked away unable to hold her gaze.

Then it was just Leo and I. I let out a long and tired sigh from a long and tiring day. I started by clearing up the pizza boxes and giving everywhere a clean so I could wake up in the morning to a clean house. I then started to wind down by changing into shorts and a tee, then doing my night routine. Leo jumped onto the counter. It might sound weird but I started to debrief him on the whole day I've had as if he could understand, whilst doing my skin care. It's become a thing for us.

I jumped into bed, almost instantly falling asleep, with nothing but Leah on my mind.

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The way I was thanking everyone for 500 reads literally this morning and now I'm at 1.03K🥹🥹🥹🥹. Thankyou guys so much. Hope you're enjoying the story xxxx