hard feelings - an erling haaland story

twenty-nine

Their fingers intertwined as she took a deep breath in. He could feel the nerves radiating from her. He couldn't quite understand why she had been so nervous, she had gone to dinner with their family countless of times. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, glancing over to her. She kept her gaze straight, almost hesitant to enter the restaurant.

"They love you, Mia. You don't need to be nervous."

"E, they love me as me, not as your girlfriend, what if they think we're an awful match?"

Erling laughed. "Now that would be a shock." His mind wandered back to his mother practically begging him to reconnect with her. "Unless you commit heinous crimes in the next thirty seconds, I doubt they would not like you."

If there were few things Erling was good at, it was comforting Amelia and football. He knew what to say to her, to make her feel safe and comfortable. Leading the way, as though he was shielding her from everyone, he entered the restaurant. They were met with small murmurs and stares from the restaurant-goers. In the far corner of the restaurant, his family sat attempting to peer over his broad frame to catch a glimpse of the woman who had Erling infatuated.

His brother nudged his sister, as he caught a peek of the Australian behind him. The cocky grin plastered on Astor's face screaming 'I told you so.' The interaction was watched by their younger sibling, amused at the two of them. Erling knew that his older brother had an unfair advantage in whatever bet had transpired between his siblings.

"Mamma, Pappa. How have you been?" He greeted, as Amelia stepped to his side from behind him, his arm instantly around her waist. He watched as his parents let out, what seemed to be, a sigh of relief at the sight of the woman.

"Amelia! It is such a relief to see you, skatten min." His mother greeted. "I was worried, my stupid son here found someone who looked similiar to you and still hadn't realised how he felt about you."

Amelia felt herself blush, remembering the time she flew out to Norway to watch his debut match at Byrne, and the conversation that had occurred between his family and hers. She suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment rush through ber body at the thought they would dislike her as Erling's girlfriend, despite knowing that his mother had once uttered the words "he does not deserve you" to her. "No, he practically begged me to be his girlfriend." She joked.

He couldn't help but to stare at her as she conversed with his family, the way she laughed at their jokes or comments or politely nodded. A sight he had witnessed hundred of times before, yet something that filled him with warmth and love. It was different, she wasn't just his childhood best friend anymore, she was his partner, the person he loved. Seeing Amelia interact with them as that person filled him with a relief that he couldn't explain. He knew they would get along, as they always had, but this was different. He truly felt proud of having her on his side and seeing his family interact with her.

"I am hoping you will join us for Christmas, Millie." His father smiled at her, placing his knife and fork gently on his empty plate.

Erling glanced over to Amelia at his father's words, tensing immediately at the sight. She had her gaze fixed on her thumbs, something he knew meant she was about to say something that he wouldn't like. Her eyes glanced up, her eyebrows were furrowed softly as she looked at him. "I'm actually goin' home for Christmas, I fly out next week. Back in the homeland for three weeks."

All eyes on the table fell onto him as he stared blankly at her, unsure on what to say. He had hoped they would be celebrating Christmas together, afterall they had done it for years prior to their falling out. Maybe things would've gone back to the way it was. But that was silly of him to think, of course she would fly out to Melbourne, halfway across the world with a time difference of eleven hours. Why would she not? He felt a pit in his stomach form, his head aching slightly.

"Oh, that is good. Danny has mentioned he's missed celebrating Christmas with you. He'll be happy to have the family complete."

She nodded politely, as she swallowed the food in her mouth, her gaze flickering briefly onto Erling, who had remained silent since she dropped the bomb. "He's very excited. More excited than Gio. Can't wait to see them all though. Spent the last four christmases alone, so it'll be great."

His father nodded, as Erling made small chatter with his siblings, something which she could not understand. Amelia didn't mind, however, she knew that Erling had missed his siblings and she didn't disturb whatever was happening. It was refreshing to her to be so accepted by her partner's family, with her previous experiences consisting of passive aggressive behaviour or utter disdain from their relatives.

His silence had made the car journey awkward with Erling shutting down her attempts of conversation. She felt awful knowing that bringing up her holiday plans at dinner without making him aware first wasn't the best idea but his father had put her in a tight spot. Her guilt consumed her as he pulled up outside her building, despite their plans of having her stay the night at his. "I'll see you later." He mumbled, keeping his gaze straight ahead.

"E, please don't be like this. I tried telling you." She pleaded. "I didn't think you'd mind."

He stayed silent, eyes fixated on the lamppost ahead. He didn't want to look at her, he found himself having developed an attachment problem to the woman, a secondary side effect to their near decade separation. He found himself itching at the idea of being so far apart from her, unable to communicate efficiently due to the time difference. It was frustrating to have such a limited time with her before she left the country for three weeks, added to that the days she would be working. Much like a child, he threw a tantrum about the little time they had left to spend together and thus minimised the time they had together further. There were many things Erling had done that never made sense, he often found himself being irrational. A trait, that if you asked Amelia, she would not change about him. Some of their best memories had stemmed from Erling's rash decisions. Albeit, some of her worst memories too. He was a mere child forced to grow too quick, a reason why the Australian never held any contempt towards him. He was human, mistakes were meant to be made. It showed imperfection, a vulnerability that he hadn't exposed to anyone but her.

With one tap of his phone screen, he found himself conversing with her mother and father, hoping it wasn't a ridiculous time of night in their country, planning some surprise thay would prevent her from flying out and being thousands of miles away from him. A plan that he feared would cause her to react badly, what if she were missing her home country? He began to grow worried for himself but knew it was too late, the flights had been booked, the accommodation was sorted. Her family was coming over to surprise her and they would celebrate the holidays together for old times's sake.

He found himself banging on her door, hoping she was still awake and wouldn't be a cranky woman if he had disturbed her slumber. "Erling, it's one in the bloody morning." He was greeted by her flatmate. "Some of us have work in the morning."

"Chloe, you work in a bar that does not open until midday, you will not die of exhaust for being dragged out of your bed where you were watching tiktoks so you could answer the door to your flatmate's boyfriend." He scoffed, earning a small laugh from the brunette as she stepped aside to let him in.

Amelia stood at her door, watching them interact, her eyebrow raised at him. He smiled at her, rushing over and picking her up to sway her from side to side. She let out a giggle at his sudden change of behaviour from a few hours prior. "E, what's up with you? Why are you so happy?"

"Because I'm with you, Mia."