When they had gone back to Dortmund, everything seemed to go back to normal.
Hanne had nothing to worry about other than the due dates for her pictures, and Erik had training everyday, going wherever in the city with the Dutch girl afterwards. This is what normal was for them.
And life was good normal.
"How are you and Hanne doing?" asked Marco.
The boys were in the middle of training, prepping for their upcoming match against Schalke 04. They were doing a warm up jog around the pitch, and the two found themselves in a sea of yellow and black.
"We're doing good," Erik responded. "What about you and Vika? Are you guys still video chatting each other?"
"Ja, but she's constantly going to different places for her hockey matches. We're going to get through this and try to see each other for Christmas here in Dortmund."
"You know, Hanne taught me how to do photography once," Erik said, the both of them curving around a corner. "She taught me how to use her cameras and how to take good photos, she even let me use it for an entire day!"
Marco smiled at sound of his friend speaking about his girlfriend like she was something holy. It seems unreal to think that almost two months ago, the two hadn't talked to each other once. And now, they're in a relationship together.
Truly, it was beautiful. Most of the boys in the team had noticed it as well, even if Erik didn't verbally talk about it a lot. Ever since he got together with Hanne, he's been posting more pictures on his Instagram, which made sense right? Her being a photographer and all.
"I'm happy for you, Erik." Marco placed his hand on the defender's shoulder, their warm up lap coming to an end. "You really do seem happy with her, and I think that's what we all want here."
Erik nodded, his eyes looking across the grass as if he were looking for someone. "We're really happy together."
"That's good to hear."
"Erik!" Mats yelled as he came jogging into their conversation. "Your cheeks are red again."
The young German boy practically wanted to melt out of embarrassment when Mats yelled that out. They always use that against me... he thought, looking straight at the grass as his cheeks gradually got redder.
"Actually, Erik's been telling me about his girlfriend," Marco said.
"Oh, that Hanne girl, right? Is she sick or something? She hasn't been out for the past hour to take pictures."
Erik nearly froze when he heard those words. "Couldn't be. I texted her this morning and she said she would be taking the bus to work."
"Yes, but she isn't here to do her job—which is to take pictures of us," Mats told him.
He made a point.
Hanne wasn't out here on the pitch to do the job she's been asked to do, and it's something she was very good at doing. So it wouldn't make sense for her to just not show up in her usual spot. The only exception to this would be her working inside on the computer, which wasn't very common to happen.
