the best surprise was you...

one step at a time

The following week Beth stayed more and more at Viv's place and she could see that it really helped Viv A lot, which made Beth very happy. It became a sort of standard routine for them. Go to training, go to the shops, come home, cook dinner, watch a movie and go to bed. Beth had rarely seen her own house, only to pick up some fresh clothes. She didn't mind this in the slightest, she preferred being around people and Viv was perfect company. Beth didn't always see it that way though. She never in a million years would have believed that she and Viv would become this close. She always thought that Viv was very closed off and just plainly refused to chat with people. How very wrong Beth was. It wasn't that she didn't want to chat, it was just that she was a very shy person, which came as a surprise to Beth. Viv was a very easy person to talk to and be around, once she'd warmed up a bit.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Viv shrugged her shoulders. They had a day off today as they'd just had their big FA Cup finale against Chelsea. "Let me phrase that differently. What do you usually do on your days off?" Viv shrugged again "Nothing much really. Just some housecleaning and paperwork normally." Beth tutted and shook her head "Well we can't have that today now, can we. I suggest we change into some proper clothes and hit the town." Beth knew it was a long shot because Viv rarely went out but it was still worth a try. To her surprise however, Viv nodded and stood up. "Yeah, that does sound better than cleaning all day." Beth's mouth fell open. "Oh grab your cameras everybody." Viv gave Beth a confused look. Beth grinned and went on "Viv Miedema is willingly going out to town." Viv rolled her eyes at Beth, grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at her. "Oy" Beth giggled. "It's true, you never go out." Viv shook her head but Beth could see that she was smiling. Viv made her way to the bedroom to get changed.

"Finally, you're done. That took ages" Beth sighed as Viv made her way back into the living room. "Want another pillow thrown at ya." Beth shuddered in the pretence of being scared. "Oh no I wouldn't want that" she said with a fake shaky voice. "Well... too bad" With a broad grin on her face, Viv threw another pillow at Beth. "Oh I'll get you back for that one" Beth grabbed a pillow herself and tried to hit Viv, but she was too quick. Viv darted around the room like a newborn doe. "What's the matter, Mead? Too quick for you?" At that precise moment however, Viv tripped and fell over. Beth shook with laughter and Viv couldn't help but laugh along at her own stupidity. They laughed for a solid five minutes before Beth could pull herself together and say "Come on it's time to go." She stretched out a hand and pulled Viv off of the ground. Beth felt an electric surge going through her whole body when her hand met Viv's. Her face felt suddenly very hot and she was also very aware of the redness that was flushing her cheeks. They looked into each other's eyes neither one aware that neither wanted to pull their hand away first. They stood like this for a good minute when...

Ding dong. They both gave a jolt as they turned to face the door. Viv, realising she was still holding Beth's hand quickly pulled it back and made her way to the door. When she opened it she saw a few familiar faces. Jen Beattie, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Jordan Nobbs. Viv must've had a confused look on her face cause Jen said "We're here to rescue Beth" and with that, they all barged over the threshold. "Wait, rescue? What do you mean rescue?" Viv called after them as they made their way into the living room. Caitlin quickly turned around and said "Well you've basically been keepin' her hostage" "Yeah, we barely see her anymore" Jordan piped. "Well we're actually about to..." but what they were about to do Viv couldn't say because they'd reached the living room. "There you are!" They all rushed over to Beth and hugged her like they'd not seen her for years.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Beth said in mild surprise. "What are we doing here? What do you mean what are we doing here? Rescuing you of course" Beth chuckled which Viv found a bit weird, but it must be a thing in their friend group. "I see you're dressed, so what do you say? Go into town to grab a coffee and some cake?" They all looked hopeful at her, Viv too wondering what Beth was going to say. "Oh guys I'd love to, but I've already promised Viv I'd go into town with her." Jordan's face fell slightly but Viv couldn't help but smile. She knew she shouldn't be glad that Beth was putting her first instead of her friends but she just couldn't help herself. "Well by all means take her along," Steph said. Beth looked over at Viv, unsure of what to say next. Viv gave her an encouraging nod to let her know that she was cool with hanging out with her friends. She wanted to spend the day only with Beth but knew that, that wasn't fair to her or her friends. Beth smiled, mouthed a silent thank you to Viv and said "Well if you don't mind then yeah sure we'll tag along" Caitlin clapped her hands together. "So that's settled then. Let's go now they might still have that carrot cake." They all made their way back to the front door. Viv and Beth quickly put on their coats and went out. Although it was midwinter it was very sunny outside so Viv immediately made to grab for her sunglasses. "Looking for these?" Beth asked grinning. "Oh yeah, thanks. Wait why do you have these?" "I saw them lying on the counter just before we left so I thought I'd take them just in case." Viv smiled. Beth was always so thoughtful. She wasn't quite used to someone thinking of her first before thinking of themselves. With Lisa, it was usually the other way 'round. Viv shook her head. Now was not the time to think about Lisa. She was out on a beautiful day with good company. It was not a time to make herself sad and with that, she drove Lisa out of her mind