"So it's true".

"What?"

"You don't want to sign".

"I didn't say that." I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms as Alexia adjusted her clothes. She pressed her lips together, uncomfortable with the situation, uncomfortable that I had found out. "Who told you?"

"The president and Mapi talked to me about it. They're worried".

Alexia sighed, massaging her temples.

"Who else knows?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess they must have talked about something in the locker room for Mapi to come and ask me about it". She nodded at my words, also leaning against the opposite wall and hiding her face in frustration. I stepped forward, moving her hands away from her face and holding them in mine. "Tell me what's going on."

"I don't know if it's a good idea."

"I won't say anything," I assured her, squeezing her hands and capturing her attention. "Maybe the two of us can find a solution to whatever's happening."

Alexia sighed.

"It's just that nothing is happening. Everything is fine with the girls, with the team." I furrowed my brow. "I feel good here."

"I don't understand."

She took my face in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Promise me you won't run away," she murmured against my skin, not pulling away yet, her fingers gripping my jaw.

I couldn't help but let a small smile escape.

"I promise I'll stay."

She exhaled with exasperation, letting herself fall back again with an awkward smile.

"I'm really nervous."

Alexia bit her lip, swung her legs back and forth, her eyes darting a mile a minute, everywhere but toward mine.

"It's not..."

"I'm talking to Chelsea".

My eyes widened at the confession. Barcelona was her lifelong club, you could see the change the badge on her chest brought to her face, how she felt the colors since forever. It was simply impossible for that possibility to be on the table.

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm in love with you."

I blinked the maximum number of times my eyelid muscles would allow me. My head started to weigh, to move, I couldn't even hear clearly what she had just said, because she had said it, right?
Meanwhile, Alexia's mouth kept working, moving her lips, her tongue, words pouring out of her mouth without restraint, like a waterfall that I couldn't hear anything from because my mind was stuck on the sentence: "I'm in love with you."

"You're in love with me?"

The footballer stopped the rush of anxiety she was projecting onto me. She looked directly into my eyes, observed them. And she breathed.

"I've never felt like this before" I pressed my lips together, her eyes sparkled, I felt mesmerized. "I need to see you all the time, touch you all the time. I want to go to the movies, to dinner, to walk around the ugliest neighborhood in Barcelona, whatever you want. I can't stand not telling everyone about you anymore. You're the only thing on my mind. I miss you even when I'm with you", She swallowed "You warned me that this couldn't happen, and I understood, I swear I understood perfectly; but I couldn't, Mía, I couldn't not fall. I've never been able to stop looking at you since I saw you for the first time. I felt it inside, from the beginning, that it was one of those things that only happen once. And I know it's very early to tell you this. I don't want you to feel pressured, I didn't want you to know the reasons. I just want to be with you."

"Alexia..." I took her hands, "I can't let you do that. You can't give up your lifelong club because of me."

"I would be willing to give it all up."

"You're not leaving Barcelona", I shook my head multiple times, "It should be me the one who leaves before"

"No, Mía. Since you work here, you radiate light. You're where you always should have been. I won't be the one to take that away from you.

"I love you," Finally, Alexia let out all the breath she was holding, her pleading eyes narrowed, and I kissed her. The blonde responded to the kiss. A different kiss, much slower, synchronized, full of sensations I had never experienced, with the feeling that I could melt at any moment. "And I won't let you go."

Her eyes locked onto mine, she smiled at me tenderly, and left a kiss on my cheek.

"It's already decided"