I'd been lectured and lectured and lectured on iceing my ankle, keeping it elevated, putting the compression wraps around it from Steph. As much as I grew annoyed at her, I was grateful that she was there to nag at me because I know full well I wouldn't do a thing I was told to and start walking on my foot like nothings happened which I knew would only make it worse.
I was currently sat inside, waiting for Gary, the club's physiotherapist to come through so we could have our physio session. I personally didn't believe I needed physio sessions for a grade 2 sprain, but whenever I tried fighting against it, I got a stern look from not only Steph, but the whole team.
I scrolled through my phone, laughing at a few Instagram posts I saw when someone matched my phone out of my hand.
"Beth!" I snatch my phone back. "Do you need something?"
"Just wanted to come see my little Elena." She pinches my cheeks and I wack her hands away.
"I'm not little, Beth. I'm a year younger than you." I tell her as she flops down on the sofa next to me.
"I'm currently 26 and you are only 24." Beth argues.
"I'm 25 in a month, Beth." I push her shoulder and she acts like it hurts.
"Oh yes, the blossom is blooming."
"I really hate you, Beth."
"No, you love me." I shake my head at the girl. "You do, don't deny it."
"I will deny it forever." I cross my arms in a stubborn manor.
"Beth, stop bugging my patient." Gary says as he finally walks in.
"Ha, ha." I laugh at the girl while I push her off the sofa.
"See you later, Els." Beth waves goodbye at me and I wave back.
"Come on, get up." Gary says and I push myself up off the sofa with the help of the arm rest. I begin walking on if, trying to act like it's perfectly fine, but it had only been a week since my injury and I had minimum one more to go. "It hurts, doesn't it?" I hide my face as I nod, too embarassed at admitting it. "That's alright, you've still got recovery time and we're going to try our best to make it as little as possible so we can get you back on that pitch." He nods towards the window and I look out at it to see that the girls having fun with one another while training.
Arsenal was a good club with good players. They were like a family here. They had their good times, but they also had their serious times, they had times where they mixed it in with a perfect average. I still felt like I didn't fit in the equation. I was still getting used to the ropes of the club.
I could see Beth chasing the girls, trying to pull them into hugs to bug them as she did. I let out a small chuckle, wanting to be the one running away from her.
"As little as possible?" I repeat his words when I look back up at him.
"As little as possible."
My physio sessions didn't last as long as the team training sessions so, I spent my time on the sofa inside, watching the girls train. I could feel my eyes shutting, but jumped when someone smacked the window.
"Fuck you!" I put up my middle finger to Leah who laughs at me with Jordan and Jen beside her. I slide down the sofa and curl up, while I continue scrolling through my phone.
I hear a light knock on the door and look up. Caitlin stands in the doorway. "Hey." She smiles at me before walking forward. I don't reply as I just watch her walk in. "Okay, look," she starts, "you've been avoiding me, I know that." I look down at my hands in shame. "But you don't have to. Everyone has their vulnerable moments and what happened last week is completely normal. I'm not going to judge you or think of you any differently so, can we talk?"
"Yeah." I say lightly and sit up, letting Caitlin sit next to me.
"I heard it's your birthday in a month, but we'll be on camp preparing for the Olympics." Caitlin says and I nod.
"Big 2-5." I laugh and Caitlin smiles at me. "I'm getting old."
"You're not. I am. I'm turning 27 on 11th of November ."
"You're born on remembrance day?" I ask with an amused smile.
"I get a lovely silence on my birthday every year." Caitlin jokes. "Obviously it isn't actually lovely, but it's alright."
"I wanna play again." I say. looking down at my ankle.
"You will, but you need to have patience." Caitlin looks at me. "It's only a minor injury so that's good. Don't make it a major one though." She warns me.
"I'm trying not to, but it's so frustrating having to sit out and not be able to play with you guys. It's not fair and how stupid am I to trip over the ball in the first place? You'd think I haven't played football my whole life."
"No, don't say that." Caitlin says, sternly. "We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. You'll get back on that pitch in no time."
"I really hope so."
"I got injured a few years back, thought it was the end of my career. I didn't want anyone to help me, kind of like you," I roll my eyes, playfully, "but when I did, that's when I started to recover. Not just physically, but mentally. Having an injury has a big mental toll on you, but being around people you love helps hou a lot, Elena."
I take Caitlin's words in for a moment. She was right. I knew she was right. I just hated being so vulnerable in front of people, I didn't like being seen as weak.
I turn my head to look at Caitlin, her ice blue eyes already on mine. I lean forward and wrap my arms around her neck, feeling the comfort of her body and presence around me. She wraps her arms around my body, pulling me closer to her. I feel my heart beat out of my chest at the warmth of the hug or was it because I hadn't hugged Caitlin before, well not when I wasn't in a panic attack state.
Whatever it was, I liked it.
"Come on, you two." I hear Beth's voice and instantly roll my eyes. "Up to lunch."
"I'm not really in the mood to eat." I say when I pull away.
"You're eating." Is all Steph says when she walks past.
"Fine, but I'm sharing Leah's toast. I'm not a big fan of the food here."
"You haven't even tried it." Caitlin says to me as she helps me up.
"I don't intend to either." I say.
"One day, you'll get over this fear and love food as much as I do."
"I'll be waiting for that day."
I begged Caitlin to come home to mine and Steph's apartment for a bit after training. I noticed her look back at Lia with an unsure expression, but she finally agreed and she got into the back of Steph's car with me.
"Steffy?" I tap the girls shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to say your name." I sit back again while Caitlin laughs at me and Steph pulls a face at me through the mirror.
We pull up to our apartment and the girls help me out of the car and upstairs. When we get inside, I walk to my room to get changed out of my training kit. I'd changed into leggings and pulled my top off, being left in my sports bra, but I got a knock on the door.
"Come in." I call, looking over at the door to see which one of the girls it was.
"I was wondering if you had clothes I could borrow." Caitlin says as she pops her head in, but then turns away when she sees me half naked. "I can come back."
"No, it's alright." I say while I stand up and limp to my wardrobe. I pull out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out and pass them to Caitlin.
"Where should I get changed?" She asks me, having not came over before.
"Just come in here." I shrug and she does, standing on the opposite side of my bed. We face away from one another as we get changed. I sit on the bed waiting for her to finish, my eyes wondering around my room infront of me. My eyes drift to the small round mirror on my window sill. In it, I see Caitlin stood up on the other end of the bed, pulling her shirt off. I see how toned her back is, the muscles on her arms. My eyes don't look away however. She pulls on the shirt, covering her body and turns around. I quickly look somewhere else before she notices me looking.
"I'm done." She tells me and we get up. She pushes her training kit into her backpack and we sit at the island while Steph finishes making some diner.
"Thanks, Steffy." Caitlin and I say in sync, making us share a look and then laugh.
Dinner consists of light chatter between me and the Matilda teammates and after it's done, Caitlin helps Steph wash the dishes while I make my way to the sofa with my limping walk.
A few minutes later, Caitlin joins me and I hear Steph's room's door shut. "Do you think the team sees me as weak?" I ask, quietly.
"Elena, we'd be mad if we thought you were weak." Caitlin tells me. "Do you not remember how you quite literally pried the lift doors open when the team got stuck in it the other week."
I laugh immediately, remembering the memory. Leah, Jordan, Jen, Caitlin, Lia, Lotte, Beth, Viv and I had gotten stuck in the lift on the way up to the meeting we were supposed to have. Leah and Lotte laughed at the situation with Beth while Jen filmed it while Viv stood in a corner, begging whoever was up there to let her out of the lift. You could tell she did not want to be stuck with us in a small confined space. Caitlin, Lia, Jordan and I were the ones actually thinking of a plan of what to do to get us out and in the end I grew frustrated and apparently grew enough muscles to pry the doors open enough to let Jordan out to go get help, thankfully the lift had broken down on an actual floor and not between two.
"That was funny, but also frustrating that Beth kept laughing at us tryna come up with a plan."
"We should've just left her in there." Caitlin says and we laugh again, our laughs turning into one as we grew closer.
A soft morning light shown through the windows, lighting up the living room with a soft touch.I shuffled slightly, but stopped when I felt my legs resting up against something they rested on. I opened my eyes, rubbing the sleep away as I looked around and yawned.
My back was against the sofa arm, my head on the back rest. My legs rested straight infornt of me on Caitlin's lap. The TV was turned off and a blanket was placed over us. We must've fallen asleep watching the movie we'd put on, but we didn't grab a blanket. Steph must've put that on us.
Caitlin shuffled in her sleep slightly, her head falling backwards against the back rest. I shuffled closer to her, keeping my legs over her since it was comfortable and my ankle didn't hurt in this position, and rested my head on her shoulder, moving hers to rest on mine.
I closed my eyes again and felt a hand on my leg. I opened my eyes to see Caitlin had placed her hand on my thigh, the warmth of her hand, making me shiver.
But I liked it.