Status: Active, updates may be very slow though, but bare with me
Shoulder to Shoulder
Fifteen
January and the beginning of February spelled another period wherein Elena and Juan didn’t get to see each other. As the time passed, their calls became further apart and when they did manage to speak to each other, their conversations seldom lasted more than 5 minutes.
To Elena, she couldn’t help but see this as the beginning of the end. At the start of their relationship they could sit on the phone for literally hours and always find something to talk about. But of late, aside from asking about each other’s day, neither could find anything to say.
“Lila, what can I do? We barely talk to each other any more. It’s really…rubbish!” Elena said, walking right into her best friend’s room without so much as a knock.
Elena missed it, but Lila couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask him?” she replied shortly, but Elena didn’t notice the edge to her friend’s tone.
“I would but we just don’t seem to have anything to say anymore, y’know what I mean?”
Lila nodded, ready to tell Elena about something she’d found out from her mum earlier, when Elena jumped up off of the bed and flitted out of the room without so much as a goodbye.
“Well, I’ll see you later then!” Lila called out after Elena, sarcasm dripping from her every word.
When Elena had received a text from Juan asking if she wanted to come to the final of the Capital One Cup, she agreed excitedly.
She spent the next week and a half looking forward to the match at Wembley, not only would she get to see Juan and watch him play at Wembley Stadium, but she’d be able to finally get to talk to him.
On the day of the final, Elena couldn’t help but feel nervous, her stomach was turning over so much she was unable to eat before she left her house for London. The nerves were a mixture of wanting Chelsea to win and seeing Juan after so much time apart.
Upon reaching the train station, Elena was made aware of the fact that her train was being delayed by half an hour. This infinitely annoyed her, because she was cutting it fine with regards to getting to the stadium on time as it was. She was supposed to be going to meet Christine at her and Frank’s before heading to Wembley together.
“I’m so sorry!” Elena said, breathing heavily as Christine opened her front door. The older woman led Elena inside and went to put on her shoes and collect her bag. Having never been there before, Elena surveyed Frank and Christine’s new house. It was beautiful, the majority of the walls were pristine white and everything had clean edges and the spaces were very open. It could have looked un-homely, but the drawings by Frank’s daughters that were framed and hung on most of the walls, along with the photographs of them on dotted around made it look like a real family home.
“Girls, come on!” Christine called into the house, and in a flurry of high pitched giggles, two young girls appeared in front of Elena wearing little Chelsea shirts.
The two of them avoided looking at Elena, whispering to each other in what Elena recognised as Spanish. Every so often they’d glance at her, until one of them stepped forward and waved.
“Hi! I’m Luna,” her grin was wide, yet shy. “This,” she said, pointing towards her sister, “is Isla.”
Elena knelt down so they were at eye level with each. “Hi girls, I’m Elena. It’s very nice to meet you both,” she held out her hand and Luna shook her hand before nudging Isla in the side and encouraging her to do the same.
From somewhere deep inside the house, Elena heard Christine call out an apology, saying she’d be ready in a minute. Checking her watch, Elena realised that she hadn’t been as late as she’d first thought. It was 2pm and the match didn’t kick off until 4:30, they only needed around 30 minutes to get from their house.
As the three waited in the front room together, Isla would whisper things to her sister, all while never looking directly at Elena.
After one whisper, Luna giggled and nodded enthusiastically.
“Isla thinks you’re pretty!” Luna said, drawing a gasp and a shove in the side from her little sister, who suddenly had a face like thunder towards her sibling.
Elena ruffled her hair and smiled back at them. “Aw, thank you.” She placed her bag down on the floor next to her. “You know who I think is pretty?”
They both shook their heads, hanging on Elena’s every word. Elena didn’t verbalise her response either, she just pointed at the two girls.
Isla looked shocked and took her little finger and pointed it towards her own chest. “You think I’m pretty?”
A nod from Elena confirmed her suspicions. “I think you’re both gorgeous!” she exclaimed.
Looking back and forth between each other and Elena they giggled.
On the drive over to the stadium, Christine informed Elena that she’d managed to twist Frank’s arm and convince him to have the wedding in Somerset. But only on the condition that they’d honeymoon in the South of France, which she happily agreed to.
~
The match was tense, as finals always are, but eventually Chelsea triumphed, winning 3-1. As the final whistle was blown, the blue half of Wembley erupted. Blue is the Colour began to blare out around the stadium, and the players descended into a state of pure euphoria on the pitch, running around and hugging each other and applauding the fans who had turned out to support their team.
~
Throwing her jacket on to Juan’s sofa, Elena pulled her boyfriend into another hug. “Congratulations, I’m so proud of you.”
“Gracias mi amor.” He grinned in response kissing her lips hungrily. Almost two months of not seeing each other or having any semblance of physical contact had clearly taken its toll on the two. No more than 5 minutes after they stepped through Juan’s front door had they shed their clothing and ended up in his bed. Their lack of ability to hold a verbal conversation had in no way hindered their capacity to connect on a sensual level.
Their weekend together had been nice. Polite. It didn’t feel the same as it had before, but Elena didn’t want to ruin Juan’s celebratory weekend by bringing the mood down with Serious Relationship Chats. So she kept quiet, hoping it would get better and that by the next time they saw each other there would be no issue that they would need to talk about.
To Elena, she couldn’t help but see this as the beginning of the end. At the start of their relationship they could sit on the phone for literally hours and always find something to talk about. But of late, aside from asking about each other’s day, neither could find anything to say.
“Lila, what can I do? We barely talk to each other any more. It’s really…rubbish!” Elena said, walking right into her best friend’s room without so much as a knock.
Elena missed it, but Lila couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask him?” she replied shortly, but Elena didn’t notice the edge to her friend’s tone.
“I would but we just don’t seem to have anything to say anymore, y’know what I mean?”
Lila nodded, ready to tell Elena about something she’d found out from her mum earlier, when Elena jumped up off of the bed and flitted out of the room without so much as a goodbye.
“Well, I’ll see you later then!” Lila called out after Elena, sarcasm dripping from her every word.
When Elena had received a text from Juan asking if she wanted to come to the final of the Capital One Cup, she agreed excitedly.
She spent the next week and a half looking forward to the match at Wembley, not only would she get to see Juan and watch him play at Wembley Stadium, but she’d be able to finally get to talk to him.
On the day of the final, Elena couldn’t help but feel nervous, her stomach was turning over so much she was unable to eat before she left her house for London. The nerves were a mixture of wanting Chelsea to win and seeing Juan after so much time apart.
Upon reaching the train station, Elena was made aware of the fact that her train was being delayed by half an hour. This infinitely annoyed her, because she was cutting it fine with regards to getting to the stadium on time as it was. She was supposed to be going to meet Christine at her and Frank’s before heading to Wembley together.
“I’m so sorry!” Elena said, breathing heavily as Christine opened her front door. The older woman led Elena inside and went to put on her shoes and collect her bag. Having never been there before, Elena surveyed Frank and Christine’s new house. It was beautiful, the majority of the walls were pristine white and everything had clean edges and the spaces were very open. It could have looked un-homely, but the drawings by Frank’s daughters that were framed and hung on most of the walls, along with the photographs of them on dotted around made it look like a real family home.
“Girls, come on!” Christine called into the house, and in a flurry of high pitched giggles, two young girls appeared in front of Elena wearing little Chelsea shirts.
The two of them avoided looking at Elena, whispering to each other in what Elena recognised as Spanish. Every so often they’d glance at her, until one of them stepped forward and waved.
“Hi! I’m Luna,” her grin was wide, yet shy. “This,” she said, pointing towards her sister, “is Isla.”
Elena knelt down so they were at eye level with each. “Hi girls, I’m Elena. It’s very nice to meet you both,” she held out her hand and Luna shook her hand before nudging Isla in the side and encouraging her to do the same.
From somewhere deep inside the house, Elena heard Christine call out an apology, saying she’d be ready in a minute. Checking her watch, Elena realised that she hadn’t been as late as she’d first thought. It was 2pm and the match didn’t kick off until 4:30, they only needed around 30 minutes to get from their house.
As the three waited in the front room together, Isla would whisper things to her sister, all while never looking directly at Elena.
After one whisper, Luna giggled and nodded enthusiastically.
“Isla thinks you’re pretty!” Luna said, drawing a gasp and a shove in the side from her little sister, who suddenly had a face like thunder towards her sibling.
Elena ruffled her hair and smiled back at them. “Aw, thank you.” She placed her bag down on the floor next to her. “You know who I think is pretty?”
They both shook their heads, hanging on Elena’s every word. Elena didn’t verbalise her response either, she just pointed at the two girls.
Isla looked shocked and took her little finger and pointed it towards her own chest. “You think I’m pretty?”
A nod from Elena confirmed her suspicions. “I think you’re both gorgeous!” she exclaimed.
Looking back and forth between each other and Elena they giggled.
On the drive over to the stadium, Christine informed Elena that she’d managed to twist Frank’s arm and convince him to have the wedding in Somerset. But only on the condition that they’d honeymoon in the South of France, which she happily agreed to.
~
The match was tense, as finals always are, but eventually Chelsea triumphed, winning 3-1. As the final whistle was blown, the blue half of Wembley erupted. Blue is the Colour began to blare out around the stadium, and the players descended into a state of pure euphoria on the pitch, running around and hugging each other and applauding the fans who had turned out to support their team.
~
Throwing her jacket on to Juan’s sofa, Elena pulled her boyfriend into another hug. “Congratulations, I’m so proud of you.”
“Gracias mi amor.” He grinned in response kissing her lips hungrily. Almost two months of not seeing each other or having any semblance of physical contact had clearly taken its toll on the two. No more than 5 minutes after they stepped through Juan’s front door had they shed their clothing and ended up in his bed. Their lack of ability to hold a verbal conversation had in no way hindered their capacity to connect on a sensual level.
Their weekend together had been nice. Polite. It didn’t feel the same as it had before, but Elena didn’t want to ruin Juan’s celebratory weekend by bringing the mood down with Serious Relationship Chats. So she kept quiet, hoping it would get better and that by the next time they saw each other there would be no issue that they would need to talk about.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry this one took so long, I wasn't sure how to write it. But I took a different route and changed the plot of this chapter a little. Hope you enjoy!