Reunion - Mapi Leon x Reader

Chapter 8 - Home

After we eat, we wander down towards the beach. I know I should probably head home. After today's horrible performance in training, I need to rest and aim to be in a more focused headspace tomorrow. I’ve already spent the last few months feeling like I’m not playing my best game. Ale assures me she can’t notice a difference, but it feels different to me.

As we walk along the road adjacent to the beach, I take my shoes off, not wanting to get sand in them, and Lottie looks at me with severe judgement. I’ve forgotten that she hates the feeling of sand between her toes. To me it’s like running barefoot over grass. Makes me feel like an innocent, free child. I take Lot's hand and drag her with me onto the beach.

“Mapi! No!” She squeals, but there’s a smile on her face, so I continue to run. I let go of her hand and dropped my backpack and shoes next to each other. I slip off my overshirt as well, knowing what I plan to do next.
“Come on! Shoes off.”
“No. You know I don’t like this.”
“You like the water.”
She sighs and reluctantly pries her shoes off too slowly for my liking, so I run away from her towards the ocean.
“Wait!” She scrambles to catch up to me.

As soon as she’s there, I pull my hand through the water and splash her, absolutely soaking her top.
“María Pilar León Cebrián!” She shouts, as she does the exact same back to me.
“Carlota Sofia Aguila Magaña!” I copy her reaction before splashing her back again. She grabs a hold of my wrists to stop me from being able to splash her, and I completely lose my balance, falling backwards. She lets go of me before she falls as well and just laughs at me, sitting down pretending to be crossed at her. I can’t contain my laughter, however, and stand up again to try to get paid back. She makes the mistake of turning around to face the wind in an effort to get her hair out of her face, and then I jump onto her back, and we both fall down into the water together.

It’s deep enough that we’re not hurt, but shallow enough that we can sit there with our shoulders above the water. I flick water into her face, and she grabs my hand, pulling me up with her to walk back to the shore. The sun’s beginning to set, the border of the sky becoming orange, as we collect our belongings and begin to walk home.

I get out my phone trying to google Maps a way back to my place - navigation has never been my strongest skill - and groan when I realise how long it’s going to take me. Lots looks over my shoulder at my screen.
“You could always stay the night at my place again.”
“Yes.” I blurt out almost too quickly. I don’t know why. I guess I’ve realised how much I’ve missed her and how little time we have left to catch up on 7 years apart. The wedding’s in 2 days, and then she’s gone again. The Lottie I knew would have made a sarcastic comment at how quickly I replied to her, but instead, she took my hand, yet again, and we make our way back to her hotel.

Once at her place, and once we’ve changed out of our wet clothes - me borrowing a t-shirt and shorts from Lottie - we lay across her bed sideways both on our phones. I’ve got a few texts from Ale, and it appears she’s the real detective here. So I did some digging and found out more about Peyton, she’s written, her actual name’s ✨️Carlota Aguila✨️, and she started her career at the same club you did as a teenager. You know her don’t you? Is she the reason you were so distracted today?.
Okay, I know it sounds bad, I replied to her, but yes, she may have been the reason. Alexia originally texted me hours ago, so I’m not expecting a reply right away, but her response is instant. Mapi, I want to be disappointed, but I’m more intrigued than anything. Tell me more?.
We’re not having this conversation over text, I reply.
What do you like her or something?
I’m about to reply when I’m interrupted.

“Who are you texting?” Lottie asks with a smirk on her face. She’s looking over at me, phone abandoned on the bed beside her.
“Why?” I ask, putting myself in more trouble than I would have if I just told her.
“You’re blushing.” She says, and I realise she’s right.
“No I’m not.” I say, even though we both know I’m lying.
“Mapi! Tell me.”
“No. It’s nothing.”
“Okay. You’re no fun.”
“Excuse me.” I mock offence, but laugh along with her.

The thing is, I don’t know why I was blushing, and you can’t exactly tell someone else something if you don’t know the reason yourself. We sit in silence for a bit longer before I become bored.
“You made a good choice playing for the US Women's National Team.” She takes a moment to catch onto the new conversation.
“Yeah, I suppose I did.” She considers what she wants to say, and I realise she knows what I did. “I think you were very brave.”
“It’s what had to be done. After Euros last year, we just realised that no difference would be made unless we did something.”
“I still think it’s brave. You’re putting your career on the line. It’s a World Cup year.”
“I know. I don’t want to go under Vilda’s management anyway.” I say this with such certainty, but then she looks at me, and although I know I’ve made the right decision, I’m fighting back tears at the moment. I’m not going to play the World Cup this year, and that hurts. Playing would hurt me more, but there’s no good option.

I try to compose myself before changing the topic.
“I’ve got training tomorrow. Need to sleep.”
“I didn’t upset you, did I?”
“No. You’re not the problem at all.” I shift myself around to put my head on a pillow, and she does the same. She rolls onto her side, looking over at me, and I let her see me like this, I let her put her arms around me, and I let myself cry into her shoulder. As much as I love my friends at Barça, I haven’t had someone I can be this real around for a long time. She was more than just my best friend as a child. She was my home, and I was hers. My heart drops as I realise there’s only a couple of days until I’m homeless once again. It doesn’t seem fair.

(When the cats away, the mice will play..  or when Izzy's asleep, Em will write. But seriously, how are we doing? Leave a comment. Love ya<3)