IMAGINE. (wsl)

𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 - 𝗮.𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱𝘆

𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧, 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘮
𝘵𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 :)
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i was spanish born and raised, it wasn't something i tried to hide. my friends knew it, my girlfriend knew it, the team knew it. unfortunately, the media knew it too, and when the world cup scandal happened and then the players returned to their home clubs, it was the perfect chance for the media to get their opinions. but they didn't have a very friendly way of getting it.

i had been called up to the world cup, i'd played in it. i wouldn't have played if i knew about the corruption that the spanish federation held. and don't get me wrong i was stoked that we won, but i refused to celebrate the fact that vilda and rubiales won too. change needed to happen. now i'd been called up to the national team again for the nations league. i was one of only three players who had stood by their decision and refused to play. mapi leon and patri guijarro the other two, who refused to play in the world cup.

i knew that they could revoke my license to play for club and country and they could fine me, but i didn't care. my manager and coach at man city knew of the situation and he was fully supportive of what i'd chosen to do. most of my teammates knew of what was happening too, especially alanna. she was my girlfriend of two years, us having got together after only a couple months of knowing each other.

normally we'd drive me into practice or training together and we wouldn't have a problem with fans or media. but this morning i was at my own house and alanna wasn't giving me a ride. she had to pick up mary from somewhere and drive her into practice. so i gathered my kit from its various places around the apartment and got ready. i grabbed my car keys from the hook and headed out.

i stopped off at the closest coffee shop on the way there, i needed to grab my morning coffee before functioning. when i pulled into the staff and players part of the parking lot, i knew something was up. there were more cars than usual here, especially in the normal parking and it had an overcrowded vibe to it. i grabbed my kit from the back and had my coffee, phone and keys in my hands.

i saw alanna's car in the lot so i knew she was here already. before i could make it inside the training facility, i was being surrounded by people, mostly fans and media reporters. i quickly typed out a 'help' message to alannna and hoped she'd know to come out. the reporters started throwing questions at me about the spanish football federation and why i wasn't playing. the fans just wanted to get photos.

i signed a couple of things and took a couple photos but the media kept asking and bugging me. they wouldn't stop, even when i tried to get in to train.

"y/n! how do you feel about being called up again?"

"are you going back to play for spain?"

"why are you refusing to play, y/n?"

only a couple of questions thrown at me were able to be heard, most of it was just people shouting and clamouring to get my attention. i didn't answer anything from the media, they were questions that already had answers to them. i'd done an interview alongside mapi and patri when this first happened and we all answered questions to this degree.

i tried in vain to get inside the training facility again before checking my phone to see if alanna had gotten my message. she of course had, and there were a flurry of messages from her asking where i was and what happened. i shot one back just stating 'outside' and hoped to god that she'd come quickly.

thankfully she did and not even a minute later i was being dragged by the wrist away from the media and journalists and back into the safety of the facility and my girlfriend's arms. i breathed a sigh of relief as she hugged me.

"thankyou, i thought they'd eat me alive." alanna continued rubbing my back in comfort.

"they shouldn't even be here, it's a closed practice. are you okay? what did they say?"

"i'm ok, lans. they just kept throwing questions about the world cup and the federation at me. and shouting. there was so much shouting."

alanna hugged me again before she lead me inside and we set my stuff down.

"i am never letting you drive here yourself ever again. hempo can drive mary, they live close, im driving you. it will never happen again." my heart warms at her fierce words.

"you don't have to do that, i'll just get here early so they don't have a chance to get me."

"they shouldn't be here anyway. i'm coming with you, end of story." she raised her eyebrow at me, daring me to question her. i found it all funny how she reacted so i was smiling. "okay okay. you drive me to training. happy?"

"yes. very happy." she looked smug and very proud with herself and we joined the rest of the team in the locker room to get ready for practice.