Full Time
Meadow Park — Saturday Evening
Leah was absolutely useless for the rest of the match.
Not visibly.
Most people wouldn't notice.
But Beth noticed immediately.
Because Leah Williamson did not misplace easy passes. She did not randomly glance toward the stands every thirty seconds like a distracted Labrador.
And she definitely did not smile to herself during defensive set pieces.
Yet somehow all three were now happening simultaneously.
"Where's your head?" Beth muttered as they reset after another stoppage.
Leah cleared her throat quickly. "Nowhere."
Beth followed her eyeline toward the stands.
Then paused.
Then slowly looked back at Leah.
"Oh my God."
Leah instantly looked away. "Don't."
"That's the New York girl."
"Beth."
"She's fit."
Leah physically shoved her lightly before play restarted again.
Beth laughed so hard she nearly missed kickoff.
And unfortunately, now Leah was even more distracted.
Because Elle was really here.
Not FaceTiming from Manhattan. Not sending blurry selfies from taxis.
Here.
Wrapped in an Arsenal scarf in the freezing cold secretly watching her play football.
The thought hit Leah somewhere painfully soft in her chest.
Nobody had ever done that for her before.
Not like this.
The final whistle eventually blew with Arsenal winning comfortably, but Leah barely registered the score before looking automatically toward Row Seventeen again.
Elle was already standing now, smiling down at her through the crowd.
And Christ.
That smile.
Leah felt it everywhere.
Beth followed her gaze again and shook her head dramatically.
"You are finished."
Leah laughed helplessly because honestly?
Yeah.
Completely.
—
Media duties after matches had never felt longer.
Leah answered questions automatically while simultaneously checking her phone beneath the table every chance she got.
Leah bit back a grin instantly.
That's leadership.
That's hot.
Leah nearly forgot the question a journalist had just asked her.
"Sorry— could you repeat that?"
Across the room, Katie McCabe narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Oh no.
Leah survived interviews somehow and escaped toward the players' exit nearly ten minutes later than intended.
The second she stepped outside into the cold evening air, she spotted Elle waiting near the barriers.
Beanie still on.
Hands tucked into coat sleeves against the cold.
Beautiful.
Leah walked toward her automatically.
And the second she got close enough—
"You came."
Elle smiled softly. "Observant."
Leah laughed quietly before pulling her into a quick kiss without thinking.
The security guard nearby immediately looked away awkwardly.
Neither noticed.
"You didn't tell me," Leah murmured against her mouth.
"It was supposed to be a surprise."
"It was."
Elle smiled wider now. "You looked shocked."
"I nearly passed out."
"That explains the terrible pass in the second half."
Leah groaned loudly. "That was your fault."
"Sorry," Elle laughed. "You looked too good under stadium lights."
Leah shook her head smiling helplessly before taking her hand properly.
Warm fingers immediately threading together naturally.
God.
That already felt frighteningly normal.
"You seriously flew to England just to surprise me and watch football in the freezing cold?"
"When you say it out loud it sounds unwell."
Leah laughed softly.
Then quieter—
"You have no idea what that meant to me."
The honesty in her voice softened Elle's expression immediately.
Because she meant it.
Leah spent so much of her life being watched publicly that sometimes she forgot what it felt like to be seen privately.
But today—
Elle hadn't looked at England captain Leah Williamson.
She'd looked at her.
And somehow that mattered more.
The stadium behind them slowly emptied while evening settled dark and cold around North London.
Leah squeezed her hand gently.
"Come home with me, stay another night?"
Elle looked up at her.
That word again.
Home.
Not the hotel this time.
Not temporary.
Real.
And terrifyingly, Leah didn't even seem to realise she'd said it.