IMAGINE. (wsl)

𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 - 𝗹.𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘇𝗲 ❁

𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖲: 𝗇𝗈𝗇𝖾

it was the day of the finals for the women's champions league and i was super nervous. it was barça versus lyon and i had been selected to be in the starting eleven. i could never have imagined that i would ever be here, soccer was my dream when i was a kid, and now here i was. 21 years old, almost 22, and already playing a finals match. from the moment i signed with barça, i knew this club was it for me. it was everything i had ever imagined and more. my teammates were amazing and the felt more like family than anything.

lucy was the first person i met at barça, she showed me around and introduced me to the rest of the team. we got along like a house on fire, the whole team was rooting for us when we finally got together. that was almost a year ago, and to say that lucy was nervous because of the age gap was an understatement. it was a laughable matter to me because i had assured her that her age only made her that much more attractive to me. along with her abs. she had grinned down at me with a cocky expression in response to my words.

all these thoughts flowed through my mind as we drove to training. ona and kiera met us when me and lucy walked in together, exchanging fist bumps and hugs. there was an air about the team, something like confidence but with a hint of nerves. i must have been the only player that was actually freaking out, i was still new and much younger than some of the other girls. i knew soccer but this is the finals we were talking about. lucy must have been able to sense the tension in me, because she came closer to my side and wrapped a hand around my waist.

"we can do it, you can do it." she whispered in my ear. it was like our mantra, a chant we whispered when we were nervous. i smiled up at her, so thankful i had her by my side. "thank you, luce." "okay lovebirds, let's go!" ona yelled out, herding is out of the changing rooms. i just laughed at her antics and walked out with them. we got going immediately, jonatan had us going hard, but not too hard as to wear us out for the game in a couple of hours.

——
we had just gotten to the stadium we'd be playing at, there was no one in the stands at all, they'd cleared it for an hour so we could warm up in peace. everyone else had their own pre-game rituals but the only one that i took on was laps around the field. i had my airpods and my music so it was a perfect fit. i took off around the track, music blasting in my ears. it was a calming sensation, just running with nothing else going on around you. it helped me focus.

i kept running, until it was almost too much, finishing my warmup and stopped over by lucy, who was sitting on a soccer ball and fiddling with her water bottle. and she called me weird. "hey. you ready to crush lyon?" "fuck yea." she stood up to tower over me and the whole team was ordered off to the change rooms. the fans were starting to trickle into their seats, and soon it was a full house. every seat booked out. my nerves were at an all time high.

everyone was almost ready and i put on my lucky boots, lucy had gotten them for me for my birthday last year and i'd won every game in them since. finally everyone lined up in the tunnel, ready to run out. a hand on my back that i knew was my girlfriend, reassured me that we could do it. we could hear the commentators announce our team, and we started jogging out onto the field. everyone made it out and we all got into positions. the starting whistle was blown and we were off.

——
it was half time, and the score was 1-0 to barça. with me and kiera in the mid field and lucy and ona defending, we were almost impossible to get through. kiera had gotten the ball from lyon, racing up the field and passing it to me. i took off and weaved my way towards the goal. their goalkeeper saw me coming and i knew i didn't have a clear shot. kiera was there so i shot it back over to her, she kicked it forward but it hit a defender, ellie carpenter. she managed to get it away from the goal, but not far enough. i got it back again and booted it straight towards the net and it went in.

first goal of the game and i was elated. i ran down the field, straight for lucy, who caught me when i jumped towards her. we were now getting ready to head back out there for the last half. lyon was getting more aggressive, violent even. the weren't afraid to push, shove, trip or pull. they tried everything to score a goal and eventually they succeeded. it was wendie renard who kicked it in, assisted by vicki bècho. i was getting pissed off now too. we just needed one more goal and we were in the lead.

it was the 60th minute of the game and i had the ball, racing down the field again. i was so close, and i had a clear shot, but just as i was about to kick, there was a shooting pain in my left leg. i fell to the floor and turned to see selma bacha run off with the ball. she had sunk her cleats into my leg on purpose. the medics came running on to inspect the damage and what needed to be done. lucy was right by my side the second i went down.

eventually they helped me off the field and subbed patri on so they could ice my leg properly. i sat on the sidelines for a solid 15 minutes and did warmups to make sure i could go back on. they called aitana off so she could get a rest and i ran back on. my teammates all gave me high fives as i ran past, happy i was back on. we only had another 15 left in the game before it went to extra time so i was desperate to score another goal.

we were so close to getting the ball back and when we did it was alexia, our captain, who was streaking up the field. not surprisingly, lucy was close behind her, and so were me and kiera. alexia couldn't get a clear shot so she passed it to me then to kiera. i moved further back on the field in case it rebounded again. kiera still had the ball and was trying to play it around the lyon defenders, but they weren't easy to break. she kicked it back to lucy who took the chance to score and shot it straight into the net. 

i was overjoyed and ran back up the field to where lucy was, screaming "that's my girl!" and just in time too, the last minute ticked over and the ref called it game over, we won. i slammed into lucy and she almost lost her balance but held onto me anyway. i was probably more happy than she was, based off of my reaction. she had saved the game and scored the game-winning goal. all of our other teammates ran to us, including the ones on the sidelines and we all had a group hug.

it was the best experience ever, winning the champions league and scoring a goal in the final game. and i did it with lucy by my side.

——
the ride home was amazing, everyone was so happy and lucy had the happiest expression i'd seen. we made it back to our hotel for the night and everyone immediately went to their own rooms, they were that tired. i refused and tagged along with lucy to her room so we could celebrate together. we were comfortable together, lying on the bed in each others arms. i had drifted off into my own world just thinking of the huge accomplishment both me and her had achieved.

"what are you thinking of over there?" lucy's voice cut through my daydream. "you." i had a cheeky grin on my face to tease the older woman more. "oh really?" her eyes were sparking with desire as she turned on her side to face me. i shrank underneath her intense gaze. "what about me, love?" i couldn't even get any words out, my throat had gone dry. lucy took things into her own hands and leaned forward to kiss me. it turned into an heated make out, our tongues battling against the other. she won that match and i opened my mouth to deepen the kiss. when we pulled apart, she only uttered one thing before diving back in.

"that's my girl."