The Voice In The Crowd - Leah Williamson

81. Not Lucy

Leah's POV.

I woke up with a nervous excitement fluttering in my stomach. Today was the day Sophia was coming home from rehab. It felt surreal, almost like a dream. I dressed quickly, trying to focus on the positives and push the doubts aside. Today was about fresh starts and second chances.

Driving to the rehab centre, I rehearsed what I'd say to her. How much I missed her. How proud I was of her. But underneath, there was the lingering anxiety about whether we could truly move past everything. I pulled up to the entrance and saw her standing there, looking healthier and more grounded than I'd seen her in months.

"Leah," she said, a smile spreading across her face as she saw me.

"Sophia," I replied, pulling her into a tight hug. "I've missed you so much."

The drive home was filled with tentative conversation, catching up on the mundane details of life and the matches at Arsenal that she had missed. As we pulled into our driveway, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over me. She was home. We were going to be okay.

As soon as we walked through the front door, the tension between us snapped. We barely made it to the bedroom before our clothes were off, driven by a desperate need to reconnect. The sex was raw, intense, and filled with an unspoken promise of renewal.

Afterwards, we lay there, tangled in each other, our breaths mingling. It felt right, like coming home in the truest sense. But then, the moment was shattered by the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand. I reached for it, hoping it wasn't anything urgent.

Sophia glanced over, and I could see the curiosity in her eyes turn to confusion as she saw the notifications from a name she didn't recognize. "Who's that?" she asked, her voice wary.

"Just a girl I met on a night out," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "We were talking, and she was really supportive. Here, let me show you a picture of her."

I pulled up a photo of Lucy and me at the bar. We were smiling, looking carefree. But as I handed the phone to Sophia, her face drained of colour. She stared at the picture, her expression shifting from confusion to recognition, and then to horror.

"Leah," she said, her voice trembling. "Do you know who this is?"

I shook my head, feeling a pit form in my stomach. "She said her name was Lucy."

Sophia sat up, her hands shaking as she handed the phone back to me. "That's the woman I... that's the woman I cheated with in Magaluf."

The room seemed to spin, and I felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me. Jess. The woman who had almost convinced me that Sophia wasn't worth another chance. The same woman who had been there during the darkest moment of our relationship.

"I didn't know," I whispered, my mind racing. "She told me her name was Lucy."

Sophia buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. "She's been manipulating us, Leah. This whole time."

I felt a wave of anger and betrayal wash over me. Lucy... or should I say Jess, had known exactly who I was, who Sophia was, and she had deliberately inserted herself into our lives. I had almost fallen for it, almost let her drive a wedge even deeper between Sophia and me.

"I'm so sorry," I said, my voice choked with emotion. "I didn't see it. I didn't realise."

Sophia looked at me, tears in her eyes. "We need to stay strong, Leah. We need to stick together. I'm so scared."

I took her hand, squeezing it tightly. "We will. We'll get through this, together."

The next few hours were a blur of emotion. We talked, cried, and tried to piece together how we had been manipulated. The pain of Sophia's betrayal was still raw, but now there was a new layer of betrayal from Jess, a woman who had preyed on our vulnerabilities. A stranger in Magaluf was suddenly in our hometown, slowly intertwining herself into our lives.

"I want to call her," I said, my anger boiling over. "I want to confront her."

Sophia shook her head. "No, Leah. She doesn't deserve any more of our time or energy. We need to focus on us, on healing."

She was right. Jess had already caused enough damage. We needed to move forward, not get dragged back into the mess she had created.

That night, as we lay in bed, I held Sophia close, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on us. But there was also a sense of determination. We had been through hell, and we had survived. We were scarred, but we were still standing.

"We'll get through this," I whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Together."

Sophia nodded, her eyes closing as she snuggled closer. "Together," she repeated, her voice filled with a tentative hope.

As we drifted off to sleep, I felt a strange sense of peace. It wasn't going to be easy, but we had each other. And that was enough.

The next day, I woke up with a renewed sense of purpose. I knew what we needed to do. We had to rebuild the trust that had been shattered. It would take time, patience, and a lot of hard work, but I was ready for it.

Sophia was too. She had changed during her time in rehab. She was more grounded, more self-aware. She had a long road ahead of her, but she was committed to healing and making amends.

We spent the day talking about our plans for the future, setting boundaries, and making promises. It was a start, a small step forward.

As the days passed, we slowly began to rebuild our lives. We leaned on each other, finding strength in our love and commitment. Jess's manipulation had almost torn us apart, but in the end, it had only made us stronger.