once a different story.. - maria leon

ice baths

"y/n?"
"y/n hello?"
"hellooo?"

"y/n?"
i suddenly get snapped out of my daze by mapi's voice. my head for some reason didn't respond to kei and lucy, weird.
"sorry what were you saying?" i ask, turning by gaze back to keira.
"i was just asking why you left city?"
"i thought i answered? my contract was ending and barça made a record breaking deal. "
i say wobbily, knowing im a bad liar.
"yes, but then i asked if that was actually the reason"
"what do you mean?" i ask
"i know that isn't the real reason y/n"
god her and lucy can read me like a book. they have always been like parents to me. they watch over me and they always know when something's up, they are so special i'm so glad they have eachother. they really do deserve the world.
i don't want to open up and be vunerable. normally, i would but now with mapi here. i don't want to give her another reason to use against me.
"err" i start, glancing in mapi's direction
"they all hated me, as soon as you left they were horrible to me"
"-even chloe?!" lucy interrupted
"no not chloe, obviously"
"wait who's chloe?" mapi suddenly makes herself apparent in the conversation
"my best friend at city, chloe kelly?"
mapi nods slightly, thinking.

i stirred in and out of sleep until i heard mapi gently laughing with a smirk on her face. i open my eyes to realise i was resting my head on mapi.

lucy was making mapi pronounce the hard english words. every time the spaniard butchered a word, she would laugh at herself. i turned to look up and mapi, still not taking my head off of her shoulder. she shot me a wink before resting her hand gently on my thigh.
did mapi just wink at me?

"you're okay mate? you seem flustered." keira asked curiously.

"what no... i'm fine it's just hot in here."i stuttered.

luckily, keira dropped the subject, but she didn't seem to believe me, as she shot me a raised eyebrow before laughing. i forced my head to turn to the window, trying to stop my cheeks from blushing furiously.

soon enough, we stopped at a cafe about 4 hours into the journey so everyone could stretch their legs.
right as i was walking down the stairs mapi flicked her foot under mine, causing me to slip straight down the last steps.
i glare up at her, as i am now on the floor. she shrugs slightly, laughing.
i roll my eyes as she hoists me up.
"ona please tell me you got this on video?" mapi asked laughing.

i wished the ground would open up and swallow me, i just embarrassed herself again in front of mapi. even if it was her fault, that didn't make it less embarrassing.

our rivalry lit a spark in me, making me want to get payback on mapi.
but also turning me on.

"mapi! y/n! are you two coming or what?"  bonmati shouted from the cafe.

"we better get going," mapi said reaching out for my hand. we got in the cafe hand in hand.
i quickly let go of her hand, realizing i dont like her. i hate her, why am i missing the feeling of her warm hand in mine?

the bus arrived at the hotel at which we were staying. i was glad i was rooming with alexia. maybe she could help me figure out what on earth was happening with mapi.

"we're leaving for the first training in 2 hours, so everyone is back down in the lobby at 3:30 p.m.," jonatan told the team.

"stoneyyy, i've got our keycard to come on let's go. we've got room 223. don't tell the others, we have a nicer room than them, captain benefits" alexia told me, with a wink.

we make our way up to the room, as soon as we get in i stand there amazed.
god this club has a lot of money

"alexia i need your help" i say, after getting something to eat and plonking myself next to her on the sofa.

"what's up?" she questions

"it's about mapi"

"fuck yeah i have been waiting for this"

"i dont actually think she hates me, well i know she doesn't"

"you heard us at the bar didn't you, i tried to warn her you might hear. well do you like her?"

"i'm not sure, she's very hot though " i say laughing

"well i can tell you for sure, she definitely thinks the same, she won't shut up about you."

"oh god" i say laughing

"-but alexia, why did she act as if she hated me?"

"mapi isnt good with dealing with crushes, she wanted to push away the thought of her liking you, and i guess thats just how she decided to try push it away. "

makes sense.

alexis finishes her sentence before getting up from the sofa and holding her hand out for her me . i took her hand, and we grabbed our training bags and went down to the lobby.

getting the first session of the new year felt amazing. what i wasn't looking forward to, was the ice bath that was going to follow. i stepped into the cold tub, trying to relax her muscles.

"why is this so cold?" i asked no one in particular.

"because it's an ice bath i think," mapi answers with a cheeky grin before joining me in the tub.

"brrr, why is it so cold?" mapi asked.

"because it's an ice bath," i replied with a teasing smile on my face.

mapi rolled her eyes and moved closer to me in the ice-cold water.

"you think you're really funny stone," mapi
said with a smile. before i could reply
mapi splashed me with chilly water. i squealed. "leon, you did not just do that."

"yes, i did, and i'll do it again." the spaniard said cheekily ready to splash the me again. before mapi could splash me, i grabbed both of mapi's wrists and held them above the spaniard's head.
"what was that again about you not getting flustered?" i teased

not realizing how close they were to each other. "y/n" mapi whispered staring at my lips. i leaned in kissing mapi's lips softly. mapi kissed me back, deepening the kiss. i dropped my hand, one anchoring in her hair, on pulling her closer by the back of her neck, she wrapped her hands around my waist pulling my body   closer to her.

after what felt like an hour, we broke the kiss to get air in their lungs. foreheads still touching,
mapi said smiling at me
"the water doesn't feel ice cold anymore."

"it really doesn't." i smiled and added

"i really like you, mapi."

"good y/n/n, because i like you too" she said softly.

"i know" i tease

"god im going to kill alexia" she mutters, before grabbing onto my hips and lifting me onto her lap, straddling her.
she keeps one hand anchored on my hip, the other on my lower back, sending shivers up my spine, keeping me close.

i closed the distance between us again: kissing her passionately. my fingers run through her blond and brown hair.
i let my hands memorize her torso.

our attention gets pulled away, the rest of the team has now entered the room.
luckily, they didn't see anything. but a certain alexia looked at us suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at our pink cheeks and slightly swollen lips.