golden blonde¹

i think she knows (she doesn't)

elena didn't really celebrate valentines day as a kid growing up. she liked exchanging chocolates with her friends at school, but no one really ever asked her to be their valentine, so the fourteenth of february wasn't really a day that stood out to elena.

in barcelona, valentines day wasn't even the most romantic day. that would be april 23, la diada de sant jordi, but that was months from today.

she was already on thin ice with the spanish federation. she was supposed to be flying into australia today, with the rest of her foreign teammates, but she had begged them to stay for one extra day, for rest, she said. they had reluctantly let her go, but stated that she was losing valuable time to train with the team.

but her day spent with leah was worth every second of lost training.

two spare keys came with the apartment that elena and victoria lived in, leah got hers from elena, and vic gave hers to...

huh, elena didn't actually know what vic did with her spare key.

she's awoken from something smelling delicious from the kitchen, and she knew it wasn't vic that was cooking.

"morning," elena hugged leah from behind, her girlfriend flipping some pancakes on the stove.

"morning superstar," leah kissed her softly, "how'd you sleep?"

elena leaned against leah's back, "it was good," she mumbled.

the events from yesterday's game left her not fully positive of what was to come, but knowing that she had a whole day to spend with leah uplifted her mood greatly.

what was the harm in a little fib? it was half truthful after all.

after breakfast with leah, her day consists of going to a painting class.

leah had signed them up, but elena had never done anything remotely artistic in her life.

"i'm not sure about this lee..." elena muttered hesitantly as leah held the door open for her.

"just one day, painting roses and flowers and then you could hang it in your apartment!" the defender said optimistically.

their day is well spent, leah bought her some nice roses, which elena protested that she didn't need once she saw the price the vendor was selling them for. despite the ridiculously jacked up price, leah insisted. they walked around saint albans for a bit before leah drove them to london, which was jampacked with tourists and locals alike.

she gets a call as they're walking around the streets of london, blending in with all the lovesick tourists and couples that were spending their pre-valentines day in the metropolis.

"who is it?" leah whispered as she pulled elena closer.

"my sister," elena looked at her phone confused. she had assumed that her sister would have spent her entire day with jill, completely enamored with whatever they had planned.

"go on then, we'll go back to the car, it's almost dinner time anyways," leah smiled.

"hello jana, what brings you to call me today?" elena asked as soon as she brought the phone up to her ear.

"why aren't you in australia by now? are you injured? did you withdraw from camp?" her sister questioned.

"whoa, it's not a big deal janita, i asked to spend an extra day in london. i'm flying out tonight, who told you i wasn't there?"

she heard her sister sigh in relief.

"salma said you didn't arrive at the airport... i just thought that maybe you got injured or something," she trailed off.