Under Your Skin | Jude Bellingham

013

"Can I come in?" Trent asked.

"Sure," I replied, inviting him into my room. He shut the door behind him, then turned to me with a slight smile. We stayed looking at each other like that in silence for a few moments. It was evident that things weren't exactly right between us at that second, we'd never sat in awkward quietness before. Trent's gaze fell on anything but me, meanwhile I sat looking up at him, waiting for him to say something, anything, to rupture the silence between us.

"So how's Germany?" He asked me eventually, hesitantly settling on the edge of my bed.

"It's been great," I answered.

"Are you happy here?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood but Trent's expression remained deadly serious. "Yeah, I am happy here," I admitted.

"Good, because you seem it," he finally cracked a smile. "I can't remember the last time you smiled this much. And surprisingly, it always seems to be when you're around Jude."

"Yeah, well he's a good friend of mine now."

"Mhm. I told you that you two would work your shit out one day."

"Alright Mr Know-It-All."

Trent laughed before changing the subject. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You hadn't visited us in ages and I was starting to think that maybe I'd done something to hurt you."

"Of course not," I lied. "You haven't done anything wrong, I just needed a change. Something new and exciting, and I guess Dortmund was just that."

Trent nodded. "You would tell me if I'd done something, right? I'd hate to think that I'd hurt you in some way."

"Yes, Trent." My voice faltered slightly, but luckily for me he didn't seem to notice. My heart sank like a stone once again as I was reminded of my feelings for Trent that were still present, a twinge of disappointment settling like a shard of glass in my gut. "But how have you been?" I asked him. "I'm so sorry about your injury."

"Eh, it is what it is," he said, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. "I can't change what happened, I just need to focus on getting better so I can get back to playing with the squad again. If anything, I was more concerned about you."

"There's no need to be. Chloe and Gio are looking after me. Jude, too."

"I'm glad. Chloe and Gio seem really nice."

"They really are. They never once made me feel bad about asking to stay with them and have done nothing but make me feel welcome."

"Can I just ask how the fuck you and Jude became friends? One minute you were in England talking shit about him, then the next thing I know you're in Germany and the two of you are suddenly besties?"

I laughed. "Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are," I said. "I guess we finally realised that it was time to make a fresh start."

"Well I'm glad you did. You two seem to get along really well," Trent pointed out.

"Yeah. I guess Jude and I are more similar than I originally thought. Maybe that's why we never got along."

Trent grinned. "I'm just glad that two of the most important people in my life are finally getting along."

I smiled back.

Trent stood up. "Well it's getting pretty late," he said, "so I'll let you get some rest."

"Okay, Trent."