Watch My Shattered Edges Glisten| Leah Williamson X Young!reader (platonic)

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part sixteen]

Words; 2.9k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

masterlist

Astrid was now home for the Christmas break, allowing herself close to three weeks before she had to return to Sweden for training ahead of the last leg of the season. Her schedule had been quite hectic since the October international window, long training sessions, four last club games and the final Matildas games in mid november. 

The best part of the games against Sweden and Thailand, were that the squad were back on home soil and with their families for longer ahead of the Christmas break.

In the match against Sweden at AAMI park in Melbourne, Astrid played a phenomenal game of football for a whole second half, bringing on fresh legs and a certain attitude that comes with playing for your country on home soil. Herself, Caitlin, Mary and Sam had managed to score and provide an easy 4-0 win over the Swedes. 

Astrid hoped her parents might have been able to make it to the game, but timing just didn’t work to get them down to Melbourne. It didn’t phase her though, she knew they were cheering from home and the next game against Thailand just so happened to be at her home stadium in the Central Coast. 

Astrid hadn’t been home in what felt like forever and the emotions hit her hard after the Thailand match. When her number appeared on the substitute board to take over for Courtnee, she could hear her family cheering louder than ever from the sideline, trying not to look over at the friends and family box in fear of distracting herself. 

But that would actually be the thing that egged her on even more. They were already leading 2-0 but that didn’t mean they had to stop there. She was far out on the right when the ball fell to her feet,not her usual position when playing for Hammarby but one she found herself falling into more when with the Matildas. 

She tried dribbling it in towards Sam who was up front but a Thailand defender was not letting up, so the smartest move was to get up near the corner and let the opposition knock it out. And that’s exactly what happened.  

The crowd cheered behind her as she walked past Steph who was making her way over to take the corner, giving each other a high five in passing before Astrid made her way to the middle, standing out just further than the group and away from opposing players like they had planned in training. 

Steph raised her hands when ready, eyeing up who was available in the box to knock it in but the Thailand players were all over the Matildas, ready to deflect. So Steph struck hard, angling the ball slightly farther over, watching it fly towards Astrid who was ready out the back. It had become known that Astrid was able to strike hard and fast from far out, as well as very close to the net. So Astrid caught the ball with her chest, knocking it down to her right boot and taking a wide step with her left. 

The crowd went silent as they watched in anticipation, the ball flying high over the players heads, slipping past the hands of the goalie and directly into the back of the net. The crowd roared in celebration, Astrid’s family jumping up and down from the box as they watched her run directly to Steph and jump onto her. 

The girls were all screaming as they ran and dogpiled the pair on the pitch, Astrid and Steph still holding tightly onto each other as the pile began to disperse. The game ended 3-0 in the Matildas favour, making sure to consolidate the Thailand players before congratulating their teammates and eventually starting their lap around the pitch.

“What a shot kid, you fucking weapon.” Astrid felt a pair of hands jump on her shoulders, turning with a smile to find Sam’s face next to her own. 

“Yeah whatever.” Astrid tried to shrug the compliment off, always very humble and quiet about her skills and rejecting any genuine praise.

“It was incredible and you know it. Go celebrate with your family.” Sam shook her shoulders and pushed her in the direction of her friends and family in the stands. She ran over while clapping to the crowd around her but was more focused on making it to her parents. 

“MUM! DAD!” Astrid smiled once she spotted the back of their heads, pulling their attention to her and away from their current conversation. She made it to the barrier and began climbing over so she could give them a proper hug. 

She always felt safe in their arms and it had been so long since the last time that every bit of homesickness she bottled up over the last few months began to come up. 

“I missed you so much.” Tears pooled in her eyes and Joanna pulled Astrid’s face out from her chest, looking slightly up at her due to the height difference. 

“Oh my darling. We missed you too.” She wiped her daughters' tears and smiled at her, Mark standing beside them with a hand on Astrid’s shoulder. 

“That was a cracking goal my girl.” Mark shook her shoulder as she laughed with him, shaking her head at him. 

“Thanks dad.” She gave him a side hug, Mark giving her a kiss on the head. 

“Clearly working hard over there in Sweden huh?” He commented and she silently nodded, a pang to her heart as she remembered again just how far away she really lived from them. 

“Yeah, guess so.” Astrid let out a small chuckle. It’s very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of playing matches and training, that often Astrid forgot she was only 18 and living halfway across the world away from her family. But it was what she wanted and needed to do for her career. 

“Do you need to head back and get ready to leave with the team?” Her mum broke Astrid out of her thoughts, rubbing her arm gently. 

“Uh yeah.” She looked back at the field and saw them wrapping up their interactions with fans. “Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?” Astrid looked between her parents. 

“Of course.” Joanna and Mark nodded. “Go on darling, we’ll see you later.” Joanna signalled for Astrid to head off, seeing Kyra, Charli and Courtney waiting for her at the tunnel, waving over at her parents. 

“Bye.” She blew them a kiss and jumped back over the barrier, waving to a few fans who were calling out her name, stopping for a minute to take a few photos. 

“Excuse me?” A young boy called out from the end near the tunnel, Astrid turning her head to find him, walking over and bending down to his height at the barrier. 

“Hi there. What’s your name?” She put her hand out for a high five. 

“Liam.” He smiled and completed the high five.

“Nice to meet you Liam, did you enjoy the game?” She asked him, holding on the barrier to talk to him. He nodded eagerly in excitement. 

“I cheered really loudly when you scored.” He jumped up and down, Astrid laughing softly. “You’re my favourite.” He smiled largely and Astrid’s heart practically melted. 

“Well thank you Liam.” She placed a hand on her heart. “Kyra, did you hear that?” She looked over to the brunette, grinning. “He said I’m his favourite.” She raised his eyebrows and Kyra dramatically clutched her heart in pain. Astrid laughed alongside Liam as they watched Charli and Courtney shaking their heads at Kyra in disapproval. “Well Liam, would you like my jersey? Since I’m your favourite?” His jaw dropped and Astrid started to stand. 

“Yes, please.” He asked while in shock, nodding his head excitingly. 

“Okay, one sec.” Astrid ran to find a bib, putting it on in place of the jersey and heading back to Liam and his parents who were standing behind him. She was given a sharpie and put her signature under her number before handing it to him. 

“Thank you!” He looked up at her with wide eyes and a smile.

“You’re more than welcome bud.” She gave him another high five before walking down the tunnel with the girls. “Sucked in.” Astrid stuck her tongue out at Kyra confidently but quickly lost it when Kyra began chasing her down the tunnel towards the change rooms.

“You two are children!” Charli yelled as they ran down the hallway, Astrid looking back to see how closely Kyra was running behind her until she finally caught up, wrapping her arms around Astrid and picking her up and throwing Astrid over her shoulder. 

“Put me down!” Astrid pounded on Kyra’s back as the older girl just laughed and carried her into the changeroom where the rest of the team were getting unready after the match. “Please someone help me.” She cried out as Kyra continued to carry her, now spinning around in circles. 

“We’ve learnt it’s best not to become involved when it comes to you two.” Alanna snickered from the corner, Caitlin and Mackenzie laughing alongside her as the rest of the group silently agreed. 

“You all suck!” Astrid continued to hit Kyra’s back but it seemed to be no use. “Mini!” Astrid spotted Katrina walking in the room with Harper and reached her hands out to her. “Please tell your child to let me down.”

“Not my child.” Mini stated but deep down she knew that these younger players were her kids in a way, and she doesn’t like when her kids misbehave. “Kyra put her down before she throws up all over us.” Mini crossed her hands over her chest and Kyra knew that meant business. So she slowly stopped spinning and gently placed Astrid down. 

“Thank you Mini.” Astrid brushed her hair back down, gave Kyra a death stare and collected her things before walking to the showers without another word. 

“Ooooo silent treatment. In the bad books now Kyra.” Charli commented from the doorway, everyone else laughing at the midfielder standing in the middle of the room looking very lost. 

Astrid continued to ignore Kyra, not only because she was mad at her but also because it was fun to watch her walk around with puppy eyes and wait for Astrid to talk to her. Even on the bus ride, the younger took a seat next to Steph and Kyra was left to find another one to sulk in and watch Astrid from a distance. 

The next day after recovery, Astrid had been picked up by her parents and taken to lunch, wanting to catch up with their daughter after so long apart, even though they message and facetime as often as they can with the time differences and Astrid’s busy schedule. 

Meanwhile, Kyra spent those few hours thinking up ways to apologise to Astrid, something she normally wouldn't do after being childish like that. But the fact Astrid had yet to speak to her, she felt really bad and wanted to make it up to her. 

So when Astrid returned to her hotel room, she was surprised to hear a knock on her door, interrupting her packing process. She didn’t know what to expect when opening the door but it certainly wasn’t this.

“What the fuck Kyra?” Astrid struggled not to laugh at the ridiculous sight she saw in front of her.  Kyra was standing there, a pout on her face and a small cake that had Taylor Swift’s face printed on it in her hands. 

“I’m sorry for yesterday, I just wanted to have fun and I took it too far. Will you please forgive me?” Kyra finally spoke and Astrid could not believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

“You’re actually such an idiot, oh my god.” Astrid finally let out a laugh, in absolute disbelief that this was real. She pulled her phone out from her shorts pocket and took a photo of Kyra in the doorway. “I appreciate it though, thank you.” Kyra seemed to let her breath go after hearing that. 

“You’re welcome. Can I come in?” Kyra asked and Astrid opened the door wider, using her hand to gesture back into the room, shutting the door after Kyra made her way in. 

“Where did you get this?” Astrid further inspected the cake Kyra had now placed on desk, pulling out two forks from her pocket. 

“Some cake shop I found online said they did realistic photos on cakes. So I called them up and asked for a Taylor Swift cake.” Kyra spoke casually, watching Astrid’s facial expression change with every word. 

“That is genuinely the funniest thing I’ve ever heard you say, and you’ve said a lot of things.” Astrid bit back her smile. “But to be honest I was only ignoring you to see how long you could go without begging for my forgiveness. And it's safe to say I’m impressed.” Kyra smiled at her and handed her a fork. 

“Thank you. I think this is the longest I’ve gone without talking to you ever.” Kyra spoke as she ate a bite of cake. Astrid ate her own piece and thought about it. 

“I think you’re right.” She nodded before another thought popped into her head. “Should we be eating this?” She paused before her second bite, Kyra shrugging in response as she shovelled more cake into her face. 

“Who cares? We’re technically on break and we can call it a cheat day.” Astrid silently agreed with her and ate more cake. 

They sat in silence as they ate almost half of the cake together before lying back on Astrid’s bed and slowly entering food comas. 

“That was really good.” Astrid finally spoke and Kyra hummed in agreement. “Thank you for doing that Ky, you didn’t have to.”Astrid turned her head to look at Kyra beside her. 

“I had to make it up to you in some way. Thought that was a pretty good way.” Kyra turned her head and smiled at her. 

“Yeah it was.” Astrid spoke then let out a yawn. “I think it's time for a nap.” She rolled onto her side more.. 

“I’ll go then.” Kyra began to sit up, Astrid furrowed her brows at the sudden movement. 

“You can stay,” The words rushed out very quickly, stopping Kyra in her tracks. “Only if you like. You don’t have to.” Astrid corrected herself, Kyra turning to look down at her. 

“Uh… sure.” Kyra nodded and slowly laid back down beside Astrid, turning to face her body inwards and looking at Astrid. “So you forgive me then?” Kyra wanted confirmation that all was forgiven and no longer in the bad books. 

“You know… I could never stay mad at you Ky.” Astrid’s eyes fluttered shut as she found herself drifting off into sleep. Kyra bit back a smile and slowly closed her own eyes. 

“Oh…my…god.” Charli whispered as she entered her and Astrid’s shared room, trying to compose herself as she stumbled upon Astrid and Kyra asleep on the bed…cuddling… together. Throughout their food coma nap they had subconsciously moved closer and Astrid was now resting upon Kyra, who had laid a hand on her back. 

“Shhhhhh. Don’t wake them.” Mini gripped Charli’s arm, the rest of the team trailed behind them, wanting to find out where the pair of young misfits had been hiding for the past two hours and why they were yet to turn up for dinner. Most of them expected the duo to be plotting ways to mess up the other players' lives or arguing with one another over something stupid. But what they were looking at was certain to be at the very bottom of their list’s. 

“Enough gawking!” Steph had begun quietly pushing everyone back out the door, all sharing the photos with one another for later blackmailing purposes. “Leave them alone.” She reached Charli and Mini who were both trying to hold back their laughter as they urged closer to the bed with their phones, Steph gripping their elbows and escorting out of the room. 

The door closed and that’s when they both finally woke up, Astrid opening her eyes to find her arm had ended up draped over Kyra’s waist and her head resting upon her chest. She looked up to meet Kyra’s eyes, both of them very confused as to how they ended up like this, quickly separating from one another. 

“Shit, we almost missed dinner.” Kyra looked at the time on her phone, now seeing multiple messages from Charli, Mini, Courtney and even Steph asking where she was, Astrid receiving the same amount as she reached for hers.

“Let’s go then.” Astrid brushed her hair back down before standing and walking to the door, Kyra following behind. 

A week later Astrid was back in her childhood bedroom and enjoying time off from her hectic schedule, but finding herself missing the craziness of living and playing abroad with some of her favourite people. 

So it was decided among the Sweden squad that they would spend the quality time needed with their families before and during Christmas, but meet up together again to celebrate new years with one another and welcome in the new year while holidaying in Fiji. And because they were on their break, things were allowed to get a little crazy. And what happens in Fiji… stays in Fiji.

to be continued...

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part eight]

Words; 3.0k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing, mentions of injury (no blood)

A/N; so the games for this chapter weren't easy to find or go off but they still needed to be in there so i did this, hope it not too much of a cliché... enjoy

masterlist

After the Spain and Portugal games there came the AFF Women's championship and a lot of the regular players had left and gone back to their clubs or on a break, especially considering it was only a week later. 

Charli and Astrid had been given the clearance from their overseas clubs to stay on national duty but Kyra and Courtney decided to go back to Sweden and play club games instead. Although it felt weird being in camp without the other two, it gave Charli, Cortnee and Astrid time to spend together with the other girls who were joining the squad for the first time. 

Before the competition started, Charli, Cortnee and Astrid spent their few free days in Portugal before they had to fly over to the Philippines and begin their pre-match training with the rest of the team. They pretty much spent all their time on the beach enjoying the hot weather and good food, grateful to spend a few days relaxing before getting into game mode. 

Training was training, but with a newer team full of even more inexperienced players it gave them the opportunity to develop a new style of play. Without players like Sam and Emily Gielnik there to take that central forward position, the coaches decided to test Astrid and see if she could handle the pressure there rather than on the right or left. Safe to say she could. 

She was communicating well with Cortnee and Larrissa on either side of her, fighting off the defence and working with the midfield to score goals in the mini matches. Seeing Astrid take on this role so easily inspired the coaches when deciding on the starting line up for the next match. 

Match day. Everyone was in high spirits for today, training had been going exceptionally well and the team dynamic was strong. They had been ushered into a conference room of the hotel to talk about the game and reveal the line up. Cortnee and Charli had been talking up Astrid being in the starting XI for the game, but Astrid kept brushing them off, not wanting to get her hopes up. 

Over the past few days they had been analysing the Philippines style of play, so this session was a slight revision and going over their starting line up. Then came time for Tony to reveal his line up. He went through the slideshow, going from the defenders, to midfielders and finally the forwards. Charli’s name had been shown which was no surprise and Cortnee’s was revealed for the right forward position, Astrid looking at the left side and spotting Amy’s name, dropping her head down slightly. Tony began to list the names and their positions.   

“And as the central forward, Astrid Taylor.” He spoke and Astrid lifted her head, eyes wide as she finally spotted her name on the screen. Her jaw dropped and Charli let out a little cheer, patting Astrid on the back, Cortnee ruffling her hair before Astrid finally smiled. She was part of the starting line up for the first time, as the central forward too. 

The bus ride to the pitch was mostly silent, most girls listening to their own music, some chatting amongst themselves. Astrid hadn’t really spoken to anyone since boarding, taking the time to get in the zone, needing to be focused on the game she was starting in. 

The team warmed up, took their time getting changed and had their team huddle, the subs leaving to go sit on the bench, Astrid staying behind for the first time and readying to line up in the tunnel. She gave Cortnee and Charli a hug before they left the change room, standing in front of both of them donning the number 3 again. 

She was nervous, why wouldn’t she be. She was starting for her country for the first time, a true honour and a big deal. She didn’t want to stuff up, she couldn’t, everything had to go perfectly; according to her at least.

The game had been tough from the second that whistle blew. The opposing team were determined to maintain strong possession and keep Australia from any chance at scoring, everytime they did, a tackle or block stopped any chance. The brunt of their tackles had fallen to Astrid as she was constantly trying to get a goal in and have a 1-0 scoreline before halftime. 

As the central forward, she was receiving balls from Cortnee and Amy who were on either side of the pitch. Finally the ball had been stolen off the Philippines again by Charli, passing it up to Vine who was speeding up the right side. Two defenders closed in on her so she shot the ball over to Astrid who was in direct line of the goal again. Astrid had a clear shot, preparing to kick the ball with her left foot this time. 

She saw her foot make contact with the ball, but what she didn’t see was a Philippines defender coming in for a slide tackle, knocking Astrid to the ground in an attempt to steal the ball. As she began to fall her right foot got stuck, a searing pain shooting up her ankle, grunting in response to the pain and landing harshly on the ground. 

She rolled to her back after hitting the ground, grabbing her right foot immediately. Her body could only focus on the pain and everything around her blurred into the background, barely hearing the refs whistle and the concerned gasps from her teammates. The Philippines player had been shown a yellow card and the Australian side was glad.

Her eyes screwed shut from the overwhelming pain, trying to breathe through it, but finding it difficult. Charli was the first to her, running over as soon as she saw Astrid staying down unlike the last few tackles.

“Ankle?” Charli knelt down to Astrid, the girl only nodding in response as she held back her tears. The ref had run over, Cortnee following closely behind, coming to the other side of Astrid, looking down at her. 

“She needs medical.” Cortnee looked to the ref who began waving over the medical staff. 

“Char, this is bad.” Astrid sucked air through her teeth as the pain continued, tears falling from her eyes. If Astrid was crying from this, then it was bad; she rarely cried and had developed a high pain tolerance over time, meaning it was not something minor. 

“It’s gonna be okay, star. They’re coming.” Charli squeezed Astrid’s upper arm, watching the medics run to where they had gathered. The rest of the Matildas stood still on the pitch watching the scene, a few taking this time to get a drink, but watching the scene with concern alongside the coaches. 

“Her right ankle.” Charli told the physios as they removed Astrids grip from her foot to examine it. She hissed in pain as they removed her boot, moving her arm to cover her eyes and the tears forming. 

“Out of 10?” A physio asked while looking at Astrid. 

“7.” A sob wracked her chest, not even thinking about the pain anymore, even though it was very much there. She had already been thinking about the time she would have off from football if this was a serious injury, which it was already feeling like. 

After they determined there was no way she could continue, Charli and Cortnee helped her up, she tested putting weight on it but even just a toe on the ground was way too much. They offered to get a stretcher but Astrid only shook her head, opting to hop off the pitch with the physios either side of her, holding her up. As she made it to the technical area she locked eyes with Tony. 

“Well done, you played exceptionally.” He patted her shoulder and she only nodded in response before they led her down the tunnel and into the medical wing. After they had checked her and asked her questions about how it manoeuvred in the ground, all they could determine for now was at least a two degree sprain. 

The physios taped her up and provided crutches to avoid weight bearing for the meantime until she could go and get scans at the hospital. But Astrid desperately wanted to watch the rest of the game now that halftime was over and the second half had begun. So she crutched her way back up the tunnel and to the sub bench, the girls immediately making space for her to elevate and ice her ankle and watched the game pan out.

The game ended and Australia had lost 1-0, the players shaking hands with the winners, Astrid got herself up and over to where Tony was standing at the edge of the pitch. 

“How’s it feeling, Astrid?” He asked as he saw her approaching. 

“Not too good, so far it’s second degree, 4 to 6 weeks.” She gave him a tight lipped smile, more upset over the timeline than the injury itself, everything was falling into place for Astrid and now it was halted. 

“I’m sorry, but you played so well up until that point, I’m very proud of your progress since joining Hammarby.” Tony gave her a firm pat on the back. “You’ll be back better than ever soon enough.” 

“Thank you.” She nodded and he headed off onto the pitch to his players. 

“Hey.” Charli was now at her side. “You okay?” She hugged her arms around her neck, Astrid let go of one of the crutches and held onto Charli. She tucked her head into the older girl's neck, simply shaking her head and letting tears slip again. “It’s gonna be okay.” Charli whispered in her ear, gently stroking her back. 

“You did so well today.” Astrid moved away and wiped her eyes, moving her hand back to the crutch. 

“Thank you.” Charli smiled brightly at her. Astrid could see the huddle forming behind them, Charli turning around to see where her eyes were focused. “Come on.” Charli bent down with her arms behind her. 

“What are you doing?” Astrid laughed at her. 

“Get on, it’ll be faster.” Charli looked back at her, nodding at her. Astrid shook her head, dropping her crutches to the ground and jumping with one foot onto Charli’s back, the blonde’s arms looping under the other's thighs, hoisting her up gently. 

“This is ridiculous.” Astrid laughed as Charli walked them across the field. 

“But faster.” Charli commented back. What they didn’t see was Ann walking behind the pair carrying Astrid’s crutches to the huddle and shaking her head at the two young players. Astrid had jumped down to her good foot, using Charli and Cortnee to stabilise her on one leg.

“Here.” Ann finally made her presence known, Astrid smiling as she saw the woman behind them. 

“You are an angel, Ann Odong. Thank you.” She took the crutches and placed them under her arms, sighing at the relief in her left leg as the weight was distributed to the crutches. 

Astrid had gone straight to the local hospital instead of back to the hotel with the team, the team physios wanting her to get scans as soon as possible. Charli wanted to go and keep her company but Astrid said no, not wanting to interfere with her sleep after a long game and promising to keep her updated. 

It wasn’t until 12:30 am she finally had her XRAY and MRI done, waiting for almost 3 hours and trying not to fall asleep in the emergency room. The results came back finally after waiting some more and they had officially ruled it a second degree sprain like the physios initially thought. The hospital had supplied her with a moon boot to protect it but not walk in it, still advising no weight for at least a week. 

Astrid was so tired and still in pain that she just nodded and asked to go back to the hotel, ready for bed and the day to end. They got back and one of the physios helped her to her room, Astrid assuring her she was good from there and to go to bed, knowing Charli would be more than willing to help her out. 

She opened the door and immediately Charli jumped up at the sound, rushing out of bed to come face to face with Astrid. 

“JESUS CHRIST!” Astrid almost lost her balance when Charli popped up in front of her. “Oh my god.” She let out a breath, heart racing from the fright. 

“Are you okay? What did they say? How long?” Charli shot out her questions and all Astrid could do was blink. 

“Calm down, let me sit please.” Astrid began to manoeuvre herself around Charli, flopping down on her bed and letting out a deep sigh. “No walking for one to two weeks, four to six for total recovery, no torn ligaments or tendons, just a really bad sprain.” She rattled off what the doctors told her while looking at the ceiling. 

“I’m so sorry star.” Charli sat on her own bed. Astrid turned her head in confusion at her words. 

“It’s not like you tackled me. These things happen.” Astrid let out a soft laugh. 

“I know. But it was your first start and I was so happy for you. You didn’t even get to halftime.” Charli tilted her head. 

“I’ll get to start again, it just won’t be for a little while.” She put a small smile on her face but it wasn’t genuine. 

“You need a hug?” Charli asked. 

“I need a shower, but sure a hug would be great.” She sat up and Charli jumped over to the other bed with open arms, both giggling as Astrid lent her head on Charli’s shoulder. Their arms wrapped around each other and Astrid could not be more grateful for having her best friend here with her. 

The rest of the competition continued, Australia faring much better than their first game and coming out with wins and high score lines against their opponents. But to watch from the sidelines was very hard for Astrid. 

She had never really been injured before, very lucky to only have had minor things growing up that didn’t last very long, so it was very unusual for her to just sit and watch the team play and not even be a possible substitution. But she did and she was the first one cheering when the final whistle blew, hobbling over to her teammates to congratulate them. The games were finished and it was time to return to Sweden with Charli, parting ways with Cortnee again, not seeing each other till the next camp in September. 

Although Charli’s closest airport to her Swedish home was Malmö, she chose to fly even further to Stockholm just so she could make sure Astrid was okay, nervous about flying with her injury. Astrid assured her she would be fine but Charli wouldn’t listen, telling her she would just take a train from Stockholm back to Malmö once she was settled back at home.

So when they touched down in Sweden Charli used her best knowledge of the language to source a wheelchair for Astrid to get around in until they got to the car where Kyra and Courtney were waiting. 

“You’re being ridiculous Charlotte.” Astrid sighed as Charli pushed her from the gate to the luggage collection. 

“Shush cripple.” Charli laughed, weaving through the crowd quite fast, Astrid gripping onto the sides in order to not fall out while also holding her crutches in one hand.  

Charli collected their two bags and wheeled them out, along with their carry-ons, while Astrid pushed herself to the exit, actively looking for Kyra and Courtney in the crowds. 

Kyra and Courtney kept their eyes peeled for the two other girls, expecting to see Astrid struggling on crutches and Charli close behind. Though Charli finally appeared, her signature bright grin on her face and they couldn’t see Astrid close behind. Until their eyes shifted lower and saw her pushing herself in a wheelchair, instantly covering their mouths to hide their laughter. 

Kyra not so sneakily pulled her phone out, filming Charli smiling first then over to Astrid when she finally spotted them, sending a death glare down the camera. 

“Nice ride.” Kyra said from behind the camera. 

“Shut it.” Astrid shook her head as she stopped in front of them. “Let’s just go home please.” She looked up at all three girls who simply nodded, still controlling their laughter. 

“Would you like a hand madam?” Kyra bowed to Astrid, smirking at her while extending her arms. Astrid silently passed Courtney the crutches, placing her good foot on the ground, gripping onto Kyra’s hands and bringing herself up. Courtney quickly put the crutches under Astrid’s arms, the injured girl removing her hold from Kyra. On the way home, they dropped Charli off at the train station, saying a long goodbye and promising to keep her in the loop about Astrid’s foot. 

They eventually made it back to Astrid’s place, Kyra and Courntey wanting to make sure she was set up with everything she needed and made her dinner, only leaving when Astrid was ready for bed and sure she didn’t need anymore help. 

This went on for the next week; the girls going Astrid’s every morning to make her breakfast and take her to training with them, Astrid doing some gentle rehab with the physios while they got to train. Then they would go home, cook her dinner and make sure she was all good before going back to their own place. 

Astrid was more than excited when the physios at Hammarby said she could begin walking in the boot, finally able to get around her own apartment and not have the older girls watching her every move. She was so grateful she had them there to help her, but she wanted some alone time after they returned from training, finding it hard to watch them play and train without her, missing being able to step out on that pitch and play the game she loved so much. 

To be continued...

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part seventeen]

Words; 2.9k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; alcohol and drinking, swearing

masterlist

So after spending the past three weeks and Christmas with their families, it was time for the Sweden Squad to jet off to Fiji for new years, basking in the sun before heading back to the Sweden cold.

They had all departed from their closest airports, figuring it was easier and cheaper than all congregating to one airport then taking another flight from there, so they were all arriving in Fiji at separate times. 

In Astrid fashion, the youngest member was the last to touchdown and make her way to the hotel, getting slightly lost in the airport after landing, trying to make her way to the taxi departures. It also didn’t help that her bag was the last to come out from the plane, waiting almost an hour for it to appear. It was honestly a miracle nothing else went wrong. 

“Maybe we should have taken a flight together, it might have been an easier experience on my end.” Astrid spoke as she appeared behind the other three girls who were waiting in the hotel lobby for her. 

“Took your sweet old time then.” Kyra laughed while getting up as Charli raced to hug Astrid, who then flipped the brunette off behind Charli’s back with a smile.

“You know what Kyra-.”  Astrid let go of Charli and began walking closer to Kyra. 

“No!” Courtney pointed between the two girls, stopping them in their tracks. “You two will not fight while we’re here, I’m not dealing with it, this is our relaxation time.” She looked sternly between the misfits who nodded at her, holding in their laughs that threatened to escape. 

“No fighting.” Kyra put her hand out to shake, Astrid stepping forward to connect her hand to hers. 

“No fighting.” Astrid repeated before pulling Kyra into a hug as well. 

“Alright, let's get you unloaded and off to the beach we go!” Charli had grabbed hold of the bags Astrid dropped during her arrival and signalled to the lifts, everyone else following behind as they headed to their shared room. 

The rest of their arrival day was spent on the beach, soaking in more sun and swimming in the beautiful water, enjoying their time together. And after a nice dinner, followed by a bit of partying, the four players eventually made it to bed and slept well into the next day. 

The group had decided not to plan anything for the 5 days they were there, wanting to just unwind and decide on the day if they wanted to do anything. But Astrid just wanted to swim like she had the whole time she was home. 

Growing up right on the water instilled this love and connection in her, wanting to spend as much time as she could before heading back to Sweden where the chance to swim was nonexistent unless it was in the form of an ice bath. 

This was something Astrid had been pondering for a little bit, whether Sweden really was the place for her. There was much to love; she was thriving at Hammarby, she was with her best friends everyday, she was experiencing life in a new place. But like she had felt when talking with Steph a few months ago, there was something missing but she couldn’t place it. 

Her deep thoughts were rudely interrupted when a pair of hands gripped her shoulders and disrupted her peaceful float in the pool. She let out a scream and quickly stood up in the water, turning around to face the culprit that had a wide grin spreading across her face. 

“KYRA! Really?!” Astrid pushed Kyra by the shoulders, earning a laugh from Kyra and holding back her own laugh. 

“What! I just wanna have some fun.” Kyra flashed her smile and it broke Astrid, the younger girl shaking her head and biting back a smile. “You wanna play mermaids?”

“Kyra Cooney-Cross, you are more of a child than Harper.” Astrid joked yet Kyra seemed to take it as a compliment, smiling even wider. “Come on then.” Astrid nodded her head to the deeper part of the pool, taking off under the water and Kyra excitingly swimming behind her. 

Charli and Courtney watched from their pool chairs, shaking their heads at the duo and their childish nature that seemed to match one another perfectly. Everyone was marvelled at what the pair seemed to be oblivious to but wouldn't dare bring it up, waiting for them to eventually figure it out. 

New Year's Eve. The most exciting and fun night of the year, especially when you were partying it up in Fiji with your best friends.

They spent the day lounging around once again before heading off to get ready for the hotel’s party that had been set up. Before the party had even started the girls were already tipsy and borderline drunk, taking their pre-drinks a little harder than normally, but they were on holidays so why not. 

As usual, Astrid was the last one to be ready, rushing the final steps of her makeup because Charli was hounding her to hurry up so they could get down to the party. They made it down in time, nearing 11pm and the party was definitely going strong. Everyone from the hotel had gathered outside near the pool area mingling with one another, celebrating the year ahead and most of all getting drunk as hell. 

Although they were professional athletes who were on pretty healthy regimes, no one was here to stop them from getting drunk and having fun like normal young people in their late teens and early 20s. So it went without saying that there were no limits to the amount of drinks they would consume tonight.

The four of them stayed together for the first part of the night, dancing near the DJ and scouring the people around them to hopefully find someone for a midnight kiss, but very clearly struggling as they all stood in a close circle downing drink after drink. Eventually they split up, hoping to find luck by not standing together and closing off everyone else around them.

Time had passed and suddenly it was 5 minutes till midnight; plenty of time to find a random stranger for a New Year’s kiss, right? Surely it can’t be that hard to find. But yet here Astrid was, eyeing off everyone and anyone that looked like they could be her type, but finding no one to do the job. 

3 minutes. She didn’t know where the other girls were and was getting slightly overwhelmed by the people around her, she ended up retreating out of the crowd outside and finding her way back inside the hotel. 

2 minutes. Astrid finds an empty hallway to find her breath, using the wall behind her to stabilise her as the alcohol makes her head spin. The music outside had decreased in volume largely, fading into the background of her ears, instead hearing the thump of her heartbeat in her chest. 

1 minute. She had zoned out while staring at the wall opposite her, the patterns on the wallpaper seemed to be moving or maybe it was her as she swayed on her feet, her body feeling the effects of the alcohol now that she had stopped. This is how Kyra found her, stumbling down the hallway herself when she spotted a familiar face. 

“Hey there.” Kyra’s slightly slurred words broke Astrid out of her trance and turned her head towards the midfielder, a smile instantly appearing on her lips. 

“Kyra!” Astrid’s voice was high pitched as she stepped towards Kyra with a wide smile, wrapping her hands around Kyra’s neck and pulling her into a hug. 

“I thought we lost you to someone in the crowd.” Kyra embraced the hug before pulling back, Astrid’s arms staying where they were and Kyra’s subconsciously falling to Astrid’s waist. And if there wasn’t plenty of liquid courage involved, both girls would have never found themselves so close so casually. 

“Too many people and I couldn’t find you.” Astrid playfully booped Kyra’s nose, both girls laughing before focusing in on the noise coming from outside. 

Seven…six…five…

“It’s almost midnight.” Kyra whispered, bringing Astrid’s attention back to her, the countdown fading to the background once again. 

“Yeah.” Astrid breathed out. Her heart began racing as her eyes fell back on Kyra’s. 

Four…

Three…

Two… 

One… 

The group outside cheered as the clock struck midnight, fireworks going off on the beach and yet Astrid and Kyra couldn’t be less interested. 

All they were interested in was the fact they were closer than before and now their lips were touching. 

Astrid’s hands had moved up from their place on Kyra’s neck, now resting on her cheeks as Kyra held her close by the waist. 

The kiss lasted 22 seconds before they both realised what was happening and they stepped apart. The noise outside returned to its full volume as they stepped back into reality, awkwardly looking away from each other. 

“Should we…” Astrid spoke as she pointed back to the glass doors that led back outside. 

“Uh… yeah… probs.” Kyra nodded and they walked back outside, Astrid once again feeling overwhelmed with the amount of people squished together. Kyra noticed her hesitation and silently placed her hand in Astrid’s, keeping her close as they weaved through the crowd together. Astrid followed, trying to ignore the feeling of having Kyra’s hand in hers and instead focusing on finding Courtney and Charli. 

“There you guys are!” Charli’s voice was what helped them locate the two girls, Astrid and Kyra turning around instantly, dropping their hands and stepping closer to them. “Where were you for the countdown?” Charli looked at Astrid, Courtney was now talking to Kyra separately. 

“Uh somewhere over the back.” She looked vaguely in that direction before Charli spoke again. 

“Did you get your midnight kiss?” Charli teased with a big smile. Astrid paused for a second before answering. 

“Uh yeah, I did.” Astrid scratched the back of her neck. “I think I’m gonna head up.” Astrid just wanted to get away and go to bed, her brain moving too fast for her to keep up with the thoughts. 

“You sure? You okay?” Charli instantly became worried but Astrid was quick to brush her off. 

“Yeah I think I had too much, stay safe okay.” Astrid gave her a hug before weaving herself back through the crowd and back to their room. 

“Where’s stargirl?” Courtney asked as Charli reappeared beside her, herself and Kyra noticing that Astrid was now missing. 

“To bed. Said she had too much to drink.” Charli shrugged her shoulders, Courtney nodded along before taking another sip of her own drink but Kyra was concerned and slightly disappointed but kept it to herself. 

The next day didn’t start till almost 1pm when they all finally rolled out of bed, slowly pushing back the curtains to let in some light but not enough to further increase their pounding headaches. They headed straight down to lunch, hoping to soak up any remaining alcohol and cure their growing hangovers. 

A few words were mumbled between one another but it seemed like more than a few were too much energy and they fell back into silence. To be honest, Astrid didn’t have much she wanted to talk about, especially because there wasn’t much of last night she remembered. Except for a very specific moment she was very scared to bring up. 

Kyra had easily returned to her normal self by dinner time, once again acting more like a child than an adult and attempting to encourage the other girls to join in. Astrid slowly joined in with her antics and jokes, watching Courtney and Charli shake their heads in disappointment but silently hiding their laughs behind stern faces. 

It seemed to Astrid like all had returned to normal within the group, Kyra obviously not wanting to bring it up or she in fact had no recollection of the kiss, which Astrid was grateful for. But there was a feeling in her stomach she couldn’t pinpoint when she thought about Kyra and the kiss, choosing to push it to the side and continue on with their holiday as normal. 

After one last day of fun in the sun, the group had returned to the airport, dreading heading back into a cold Swedish winter but excited to return to the sport they all love so much. The flight was long, way too long, they had kept themselves entertained individually, movies and naps taking up most of the time. But they finally landed back in Sweden, more than ready to fall in their beds and sleep, especially now that it was leaning towards 11pm. Charli had taken a separate flight from the other three like usual, wanting to land closer to her home and also stay away from Kyra and Astrid who were bound to fight over something and then make up after 5 minutes. 

An uber brought them home, dropping Astrid off first before heading up the road to Kyra and Courtney’s place, the younger girl bidding them goodnight as she lugged her suitcase up the front steps. Once inside Astrid locked the door, flicked on the lights and pulled her phone out faster than ever. 

“Pick up, pick up, pick up.” Astrid paced her small kitchen as she waited for the line to pick up, looking at the small mess in her living room that she had left behind months ago, before the last Matilda’s camp.  

“Hello?” A semi groggy voice answered from the other end and a sigh of relief left Astrid’s mouth. 

“Oh thank god.” Astrid was still walking back and forth, bringing her hands up to her mouth. 

“Astrid?” Cortnee recognised the voice and quickly acknowledged the slight panic in her voice. “What’s wrong?” 

“Something happened and I don’t know what to do.” She began letting out the thoughts that had been building over the past 3 days, running her hands through her hair. 

“What do you mean? Are you okay?” Cortnee was even more worried, sitting up a little more as concern raced through her.

“Yeah, no, I’m okay. I think.” Astrid shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. 

“Just calm down and tell me what happened.” Cortnee was trying her best to calm Astrid from the other side of the phone, needing her to speak properly.

“I kissed Kyra. She kissed me. We kissed.” Astrid finally spat it out and bit her nails even more now, waiting almost 10 seconds for Cortnee to process and finally speak.

“WHAT?!” She tried not to shout and wake Charlotte up, crawling out of the bed beside her and moving outside her bedroom. “Are you serious?!” She whispered into the phone, a small smile donning her face.

“Yes.” The line went silent as she waited. “Cortnee, help!” She whined into the phone.

“It’s about fucking time.” Cortnee commented and Astrid was confused.

“What do you mean?” She paused her pacing. 

“You guys have been pining and obliviously flirting practically since the day you met, but especially over the last few months, I’m surprised it didn't happen earlier.” Cortnee tried not to let out a laugh.

“No we have not. It wasn’t even supposed to happen.” Astrid let out a frustrated sigh. 

“You didn’t do it on purpose?” Now Cortnee was the confused one.

“No… not really.” Astrid paused, letting out a breath. “It was on New Year's Eve. We were both really drunk and I don’t remember much, I don't even know if she remembers.” The familiar feeling returned to her stomach as they brought the moment up again.

“You haven't talked about it?” Cortnee asked her softly.

“No! She didn't say anything the next day or the rest of the trip, we just got back and I needed to call you.” She stopped her pacing. “I’m so sorry, did I wake you?” Astrid prayed she didn’t mess up the timezones and it wasn’t the middle of the night there.

“I was getting up in a few minutes anyway, it’s all good.” Cortnee began walking towards her kitchen and away from her bedroom door. 

“Okay.” Astrid let out a soft sigh.

“But you need to talk to her. She might remember it too but is scared you didn't or don’t want to remember.” Cortnee leant against her kitchen bench, hoping to speak some sense into Astrid. 

“But I'm scared. What if it was a mistake for her?” Astrid was confused with the feelings that were building inside her as she thought about it again.

“Was it a mistake to you?” Astrid paused at Cortnee’s words, letting her brain stop racing for a moment and focus on a single thought. 

“I don't know, I mean I don't regret it…. But I don't know what this would mean for us.” The pacing began again and her heartbeat began to quicken.  

“What do you want it to mean?” Cortnee softly asked.

“Stop asking me questions about things I don't know the answers to!” Astrid let out another frustrated sigh.

“You called me for advice!” Cortnee laughed at Astrid’s clear struggle with this issue.

“And I haven't gotten any yet.” Astrid remarked, holding back the small laugh she was harbouring. 

“What time is it there?” Cortnee asked her yet another question.

“Almost midnight.” Astrid looked at the clock on the stove.  

“You’re probably exhausted, get some sleep, when you get up, think about my questions and maybe, just maybe, you’re both ready to talk about it.” Cortnee reasoned, and finally Astrid was happy with a response. 

“Okay. Okay, I'll do that. Thank you, Viney.” Astrid smiled on her end. “Any time, star. Go to sleep.” Cortnee spoke one last time before hanging up, leaving the young forward standing alone in her own kitchen and thinking about Cortnee’s words. But she took her advice and headed off to shower and then crawled into bed, trying to ignore the growing thoughts that began racing around again.

to be continued...

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part twenty two]

Words; 1.5k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC), kyra cooney cross x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

masterlist

After 2 days off in Melbourne and a quick flight to Sydney, the team were officially heading into training camp for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup. The first game of the entire tournament being theirs meant alot to the girls, kicking it off on home soil and starting their journey to hopefully take the trophy in front of a home crowd.

Astrid could never have imagined she would be standing here amongst some of the best players in the world, and the people who had become her family. 

The training ahead of the game was tough and tiring but all while sticking their heads down and focusing, they still knew how to have fun and enjoy this tournament as best they could. The girls made Tiktoks and other content for social media to show the fans everything that went on behind the games and get them hyped up for the opening match. 

The morning of the Ireland game Astrid became very quiet, unusually silent and disengaged from the group. The night before she had woken up many times from nightmares that vocalised all her deep down fears about the upcoming games; That she wasn’t worthy enough for the team, she couldn’t score a single goal and the team hated her for it, that she really was just a young naive girl who didn’t have the skills to solidify her place on the squad. The worst one being her parents looking down on her in disappointment for mess ups and missed shots in every game. 

Astrid was thankful that for the tournament they got their own rooms, meaning she didn’t wake someone else up everytime she shot up in bed, gasping for air between her sobs. She wouldn’t dare tell anyone what happened and explain why she was so quiet any more than saying she was focused on the match that night. A lot of those who asked simply dropped their questions after that, but Charli and Kyra were still hung up on her behaviour even hours after greeting her that morning. 

They eventually arrived at the stadium and the team's energy shifted. Everyone was switched onto the game and the tournament ahead of them. Astrid was feeling very nervous and uneasy heading into the game, but still tried her best to push past those feelings and get into the zone. 

She hadn’t been chosen for the starting eleven but was promised minutes in the second half by Tony which was all she could ask for as a young and less experienced player on the squad. Astrid noted the energy in the stadium as she walked out with the other subs, it was the most amount of support she had felt yet and the game hadn’t even started. 

It was a very tough first half, both teams fighting hard and slightly dirty but it proved how much the game meant to every single person out on the pitch. A 0-0 scoreline at half time only pushed the girls to work even harder and stronger in the second half and get some points for a lead in the group stages. 

Tony had listed when the subs were going to be made for the second half and Astrid was marked for the 75 minute mark to bring out fresh legs and her super-sub reputation once again.

The roar from the crowd when Steph made that penalty shot as captain on home soil was something Astrid had never heard before. The girls on the side jumped up and down in joy as they watched the girls on the pitch celebrate Steph with the crowd. 

Astrid had a fire burning in her belly to push further ahead and safely secure the win in the group stage as she stood on the sidelines, waiting for Cortnee to swap out with her. She ran on and high-fived the girls as she passed them, taking her spot on the left corner as Mary shifted into the middle.

Astrid hadn’t had the chance to get much of a touch onto the ball for the first 10 minutes, but it eventually made its way to the left side of the pitch and onto the feet of Steph. Astrid didn’t have a plan of how she wanted to score but she subconsciously made her way to where she knew she could catch it, somewhere her and Steph had made a connection many times in training this week. 

Her mind went quiet as she saw the ball rolling over to her feet, taking off running with it and trusting her team to keep the opposition away from her as she attempted a risky shot. Although Astrid was known for tapping it in from close distance, there was the odd time she had been able to make it from further out. This was one of those times. 

Her left foot planted itself in the ground, angling towards the goal as her right foot swung hard and booted the ball up into the air. The crowd went silent as they watched it spin in the air, everyone including Astrid hoping she had planned it well enough to catch the inside corner of the net and not pass over it. 

It felt like slow motion for Astrid as she watched it pass by Brosnan’s outstretched fingertips and landing in the white net behind her. The Australian crowd erupted once again with cheers and screams as Astrid began running down the length of the pitch towards Steph. Her smile was wide and her arms reached up to the sky, hands forming a heart shape as she looked up towards the sky. 

She looked back down and saw Steph waiting for her with open arms, Astrid jumping into them and holding onto Steph tight. The rest of the girls had followed behind, cheering for their shooting star before dogpiling her and Steph. She was encased with love and pride by her family as their supporters celebrated in the stands with them. 

They released and placed plenty of head pats onto Astrid, Steph placing a kiss to her hair before leaving her with just Kyra lingering to walk back to their places together. 

“That was fucking insane.” Kyra whispered into her ear, pulling the forward closer as they walked. “I love you.” Astrid whipped her head up with speed, staring at Kyra before she jogged off to her place in the midfield leaving Astrid to quickly run back to her place with a slightly dropped jaw.  

The rest of the game played out resulting in a 2-0 win to the Matildas thanks to Steph and Astrid, the crowd once again cheering when the whistle blew and the rest of the squad making their way out to the field, congratulating the Irish team before celebrating with their own. 

“I’m so proud of you!” Astrid felt a body jump onto her back, wrapping her legs around her waist out of instinct before turning her head to see Charli’s smiley face like suspected. 

“Thanks, Cha Cha.” Astrid smiled awkwardly up at her before she began walking to find Courtney and Kyra on the other side of the pitch, Charli still high up on her back. 

“There she is, star of the show.” Courtney began clapping as Astrid and Charli began falling into view of herself and Kyra. Charli jumped down and they all embraced in a group hug.

“Hey Stargirl.” Astrid lifted her head from the closed circle of giggles and turned to find Caitlin walking over to her with someone in a green jersey. “This is Katie.” 

“Holy shit.” Astrid cursed softly as she realised Katie McCabe, one of her idols, was standing one metre in front of her. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” She held her hand out awkwardly for a handshake but Katie surprised her by bringing Astrid in for a hug instead. Safe to say she was kind of freaking out but trying to keep her cool. 

“That goal was impressive, nice to see you’ve got a long range shot in ya too.” Katie remarked as they stepped away from each other. Astrid smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement. 

“Thanks, means a lot.” Astrid spoke again towards Katie, but she could feel her friends behind her snickering with Caitlin not so silently. 

“Of course. I hear you’re a big Arsenal fan.” Katie comments and Astrid nods her head silently. “Well, let’s just say I hope to play with you and not against you one day.” Katie smiles before saying goodbye to the group and walking off. 

“Okay fangirl.” Charli teases after making sure Katie was far enough away. 

“Shut the fuck up.” Astrid rolls her eyes and begins to walk to where the team and staff had begun gathering for post match talks. 

“Watch your mouth young lady.” Caitlin calls out from behind her with the other girls. Astrid contemplates flipping them the bird but too many cameras and eyes looking at her so she reminds herself to do it later. 

to be continued...

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part twelve]

Words; 2.8k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

A/N; sorry for the late update. also if you’re a follower of this series please link if i should continue this story on tumblr or if it’s easier to just read it on wattpad or Ao3. xx

masterlist

The next Matildas camp came around a few weeks later and this time it was in London, making Astrid very excited as she had never had the chance to visit before. But even though she was excited to do some minimal sightseeing, she was more excited to be playing for the Matildas again and continuing to show the coaches how much she was improving while at Hammarby. Though she really didn’t have anything to prove in regards to her footballing skills, the recent score sheets of their games showed just how hard she was working. 

Between the last international break and this one, Hammarby had played 5 games and won 3 of them, thanks to goals by Astrid and Kyra. Astrid had started and scored in all games, proving her to be a consistent player who was able to help out the team in both halves of the game, scoring in either the first or last few minutes. 

“ASTRID!” Kyra pounded on Astrid’s front door, Courtney standing behind her watching the time. The door finally swings open to reveal a dishevelled, panting Astrid. 

“Will you shut up? It is five o’clock in the morning for fuck’s sake.” Astrid hissed at the older girl before walking back through her small apartment, Kyra and Courtney shuffling in behind with their suitcases. 

“Well I wouldn’t have to be that loud if you had just been ready 15 minutes ago when we told you to be.” Kyra argued back, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Astrid disappear into her bedroom. 

“We do have to be at the airport by seven and it takes an hour and forty minutes on a good day.” Courtney nodded from her place beside Kyra, looking around at the small messes that had accumulated throughout Astrid’s place. 

“I know that. I slept in and needed to finish packing, okay? Can we move on and get going then?” Astrid reappears with her bags and a large coat now covering her body, preparing for the cool weather of London when they arrive.

“Let’s go.” Courtney nodded at the pair, interrupting before more arguing would begin and she would have to listen to them bicker on the whole drive and probably the whole flight. Luckily because it was still so early, all three girls had fallen back to sleep on the plane and woke up a little more civil than before they arrived in London. 

It was 10:30am when they landed in London and the girls had taken a bus straight from the airport to the team hotel to settle into their rooms, while the rest of the team had begun day one of training. Because of their flight times and recent playing schedules, players had been trickling in since last night, a few more still to arrive tomorrow or the next day, still leaving a few days to train as a whole group before their match against South Africa. 

Astrid and Kyra had been given their shared room number and headed straight up, wanting to get rid of their bags as soon as they could. 

“Mine!” Astrid once again snagged the window bed first, leaving Kyra the one closer to the door, sighing as she watched Astrid flop onto it. “I could do with a nap to be honest.” Astrid mumbled with her eyes closed. 

“Nope!” Kyra pulled the tired girl up by her wrist from the bed, a small squeal coming from Astrid at the unexpected movement. 

“Hey!” Astrid protested as she landed on her feet, still subconsciously holding onto Kyra’s hand as they faced each other very closely. “Why not?” She whined, looking into Kyra’s eyes. 

“Because I know if you nap now then you won’t be able to sleep tonight. And then you’ll complain and keep me up and then we’ll both be tired and cranky tomorrow.” Kyra explained with a stern yet still soft look. 

“Fine.” Astrid huffed, reaching down to the bed where her phone had landed. “Can we go explore then? Most of the girls are still at training for another hour and I’m hungry.” She smiled at Kyra. 

“Let’s go get the others then, Stargirl.” Kyra turned to the doorway, holding her arm out for Astrid to link her own in. They made their way down the hall to Charli and Teagan’s room, collecting them and Courtney from next door to join their adventure. 

They exited their hotel and began to walk the streets of London, marvelling at the beautiful architecture and historical buildings. Astrid’s eyes lit up as they walked through the city she wished to live in one day, feeling completely at home in this atmosphere.

Whilst they were walking, Astrid had moved from Kyra’s arm over to Charli’s, once again catching up after a few weeks apart. They had been together for Charli’s birthday not that long ago; the Hammarby players surprised the now 21 year old during a free weekend and celebrated her with Tegan, Mini and even Harper whilst down there. But even with how much time they spent apart, despite living in the same country, they immediately took off where they left, talking as if no time had passed at all. 

The five of them stumbled into a random café and studied the menu once sitting down. They caught up even more whilst eating and talked about the two upcoming games and what they could possibly look like. After a very satisfying lunch they had begun the walk back to the hotel to hang out with the rest of the team now that their training session had wrapped up. 

Astrid had been the last to join the team in the room where everyone else gathered, taking the time to get changed into something comfy before heading back down; and was it made known. 

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to join the cool kids.” Sam had come walking over to where Astrid paused in the doorway, looking up from her phone to see the whole room of girls staring and smiling at her. 

“Really? I don’t see any.” Astrid put a hand over her eyes as she searched the room, stopping at Sam’s face in front of her. “Yep. Definitely no cool kids here.” She frowned as she made direct eye contact with the captain. And within seconds Sam had put Astrid in a headlock and began rubbing her head as the younger girl squirmed in her hold. 

“You think you’re funny do ya?” Sam was laughing at the girl unable to release from her grasp, the rest of the room watching the interaction between the two players. Sam and Astrid had formed a natural and strong bond instantly when Astrid first joined. Sam had seen a lot of herself in the once 17 year old striker and wanted to mentor and take her under her wing, ensuring Astrid made the right choices for her career to grow as a person and a player. They had a sibling bond that was different to the ones they had with everyone else, picking on each other endlessly but knowing it came from a place of love. 

“I do, yeah.” Astrid spoke from within Sam’s tight grasp. Sam laughed and eventually let her go and pulled Astrid into a hug, the latter girl always happy to be reunited with who she looked up to so much.  “Good to see you Sammy.” 

“You too kid.” Sam spoke into Astrid’s shoulder, squeezing once more before letting go. “So being at Hammarby is treating you well aye? I’ve seen your recent games and I gotta say I was pretty impressed by that nutmeg a few weeks back.” Sam laughed before looking around the room. “Cait was too.” She nodded to the Arsenal forward and Astrid let out a smile, spotting Caitlin, Macca and Lani playing some form of card game.

“Thought I’d try something new.” Astrid shrugged her shoulders. Sam patted her on the back before excusing herself, being dragged into another conversation with some coaching staff members. 

After a night of shared laughs and conversation the squad had dinner together and headed off for an early bed, Astrid more than happy to finally get to sleep after a long day. 

The next morning after breakfast the whole squad had piled onto the bus to make their way to the training pitch for day 2 now that everyone had arrived and they could have a proper session. For the England based girls who trained yesterday it was more intense than those who were just coming into camp and off the back of games like the Sweden based girls. 

Astrid was having a great session so far, on top of her drills and even reaching a new top speed in their monitored sprints. But because the coaches and physios didn’t want those fresh from club games to be overworked, after an hour they sent them off for a light gym session; which highly disappointed Astrid who would miss the end of match scrimmages today. 

Day 3 quickly rolled around after a night of rest and they were on their final day of training at the Wimbledon Qualifying and Community Sports Centre before completing their MD-1 at Kingsmeadow tomorrow. Though Astrid tended to be quite goofy and silly during these camps, when it came time to train she was heavily focused on keeping in top shape for the games. 

Everyone began to notice this about the young forward as of late, impressed with her dedication but confused about her lack of lighthearted pranks and laughter during their training sessions. Truth is she was just trying to keep up a standard she had begun to set for herself. And with her accomplishments so far at club and international level it was pretty high. 

She felt the need to prove herself and her place in the Matildas squad because she was so young and inexperienced compared to the other players. She knew she would have to keep working so hard after her initial call up, because you don’t always know if you’ll get one when camp rolls around. 

This anxiety of maybe not being called up again began just before this camp when she was back in Sweden. Because this camp was quite close to their last one, the squad was selected quite quickly so preparations could be made for flights, accommodation and other admin things. 

Kyra, Courtney and Charli all got their call ups on the same day, telling each other instantly and they waited for Tony to call Astrid and celebrate all together. But that call didn’t come on the day everyone else’s had and it left Astrid confused and upset. The girls tried to encourage the youngest player and Astrid brushed it off, convincing them she was fine but she would be lying if she said it did mess with her a little bit. 

A week passed and she finally got that call from Tony asking her to join them in London for the next camp. She was excited to be called up but still lost and worried as to why she wasn’t asked in the first place, considering how well she had been playing at Hammarby recently and during that last camp since returning from her injury. 

That’s why she was pushing so hard in training today, and it’s safe to say everyone was impressed. She was slotting shot after shot into the back of the net during the drills and attacking strongly during the scrimmage they were currently playing. 

She was all over the field, originally being placed up front on the left but drifting behind and in towards centre when needed to, stealing the ball back from her opposition with ease to then run at it alone and score 4 goals for her team. The final whistle blew, her team winning thanks to her. And although she had fun in the scrimmages, she was exhausted after this one, dropping her hands onto her knees, taking deep breaths into her lungs while feeling her friends patting her on the back as they walked past. 

“You okay stargirl?” Charli’s voice appeared and Astrid finally stood, looking the blonde in the eyes as she handed her a water bottle. “You really pushed yourself out there, huh?” Charli shot her signature smile as Astrid squirted the cool water into her mouth.

“Guess so.” Astrid shrugged nonchalantly, hot in her shorts and t-shirt training kit even though it was only around 16 degrees celsius right now. 

“Come on, superstar.” Charli wrapped an arm around her and they began to walk towards where the group had huddled around Tony and the rest of the staff. After praising their performance today, Tony applauded them and sent them off inside to do some recovery but before Astrid could leave the pitch, Tony caught her for a chat. 

“Astrid.” Tony called to her, Astrid pausing between Charli and Kyra, telling them she’ll catch up. 

“What’s up Tony?” She used a hand to block the sun from her eyes. 

“I just wanted to applaud you on your hard work today and over the past few months. You’ve really gotten stuck right into it after your injury and I’m very proud of your progress.” Tony spoke kindly and Astrid felt her heart grow. 

“Thank you, it really means a lot.” She smiled brightly at him, grateful for his kind words.

“You deserve it. You’re a real asset to this team and I’m so glad to have you here with us.” He politely held her free hand, squeezing it between his own. 

“Glad to be here, coach.” She nodded, squeezing his hands in her own before excusing herself to join the team inside. That small conversation with Tony changed her mindset of this camp. They wanted her here and a part of this team and believed her actions made a real difference on and off the pitch. 

For MD-1 they headed over to Kingsmeadow, aka the home of Chelsea. Astrid was excited to go to the grounds where legends had played and Sam could tell. Astrid was the first one to walk onto the pitch, admiring it when Sam caught up to her. 

“It’s beautiful isn't it?” Sam was half talking to the cameraman filming them and to Astrid as well. 

“Not bad Sammy.” She kicked the grass with her foot, looking around at the empty stands. 

“So, when you gonna come join me and play on this every week?” Sam snickered and Astrid whipped her head quickly. The team had followed the pair and made their way onto the field slowly, walking past the two stopped strikers.

“Do you not know where my loyalties lie Samantha? London is red through and through.” Astrid stuck her tongue out, hearing the cheers from Steph, Caitlin and Lydia behind her. 

“Atta girl!” Steph cheered, Astrid turning around to spot her, smiling at her before turning back to Sam. 

“I have lost all respect for you.” Sam deadpanned before walking off to her team. Astrid just laughed out loud before sprinting to catch up with her, jumping directly on her back. “Get off me you jerk!” Astrid laughed while detaching herself from Sam’s back, now standing beside her.

“Have you not seen my childhood pictures? I lived in an Arsenal kit.” She crossed her arms over her chest, squinting at Sam through the bright sun. 

“Whatever.” The captain waved her off and walked away from Astrid and the Arsenal players who had surrounded and laughed alongside her before they all walked back off to the rest of the group. 

After a long and intense day of training the team headed back for their pre match team dinner of pasta and a night spent enjoying each other's company. But with focus pulling towards what could be a tough match tomorrow against South Africa, everyone headed off to their rooms for bed. 

“Okay, predictions for tomorrow?” Astrid broke the silence in her and Kyra’s room as they laid in separate beds. Kyra placed her phone down, stopping her previous scrolling to look at Astrid. This had become part of their pre match routine whether they shared a room or not, speaking what their thoughts on the future match were and placing bets for the winning predictions. 

“Alright. You,” Kyra points at Astrid in the mostly dark room. “Are going to score… a brace in the last… 20 minutes of play.” Kyra smirked at the other girl, Astrid raised her eyebrows. 

“God, setting high standards are we?” Astrid scoffed at the midfielder before thinking of her own predictions. “You are going to start.” She paused. “Play the full game and have an assist.” She smirked in the darkness. 

“You have a lot of faith in me.” Kyra laughed, Astrid joining in softly. “Loser has to take the winner out for lunch before the next game.” Kyra placed the bet, sitting up and closer to the edge of her bed to extend her hand to Astrid who was doing the same. With soft smiles they shook each other's hands, sealing the deal before lying back in their own beds. 

“Goodnight Ky Ky.” Astrid whispered in the silence. She could just see Kyra’s face with the small moonlight that crept in through the curtains, a soft smile still lingering. 

“Goodnight stargirl.” Kyra spoke into the room before they both drifted off to sleep.

to be continued...

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part twenty one]

Words; 2.1k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; none

masterlist

The lead up to the world cup is no easy feat, for anyone. Everything you did as players both at club and on national level in the months before mattered more than ever. And for Astrid the pressure was building up inside. 

She had made her mark in the team again at the last camp against Scotland and England, playing in the second match, assisting Charli’s first Matildas goal and slipping one of her own in. Not to mention her 19th birthday celebrated in England before she went back to Sweden and returned to Hammarby training with Kyra. 

They were in the start of the Damallsvenskan season and nearing the end of the Svenska Cupen, hoping to make it to the final and win the cup. Astrid and Kyra were both a major part of the squad, either playing full matches or close to and making an impact within the team. They continued to work well with one another, creating beautiful passes and more assist/goal partnerships than anyone else on the team. 

Their relationship outside of the game was continuing to grow with one another, but only behind closed doors. They knew what fans could be like with speculation and looking deeply into photos to find “clues” as to whether or not their close friendship had evolved anywhere further. So it was best if no one was in on their secret, not even Charli or Courtney who thankfully lived further away and didn’t interrupt their stolen moments at home. 

On the 6th of June, 2023, Hammarby had their final game in the Svenska Cup against BK Häcken for the title. Kyra had been named in the starting line up with plenty of other strong players she could create chances with, but when they got to halftime and no goals scored by either side, she was ready for Astrid to come on. 

Replacing Matilda Vinberg on the wing, Astrid came on with a fire to take out the cup and win her first trophy with Hammarby. Madelen Janogy helped them get ahead with 2 goals within 15 minutes of the second half. 

Astrid’s first goal came not long after that, a corner by Kyra’s right foot, the ball landing directly at her head as she stood close to the goal, knocking it in with precision to slip past the keeper's hands. She immediately ran over to Kyra who came in from the corner, jumping onto her and nearly pushing her down but Kyra stabilised themselves, before the rest of the team came and dogpiled them.

One more goal from Maika at 68 minutes and there was no chance they weren’t winning, the possession stayed with Hammarby and although the Häcken keeper was able to block a lot more the of the shots towards the end, Häcken wasn’t able to get any goals into the net either. The whistle blew and the team screamed in joy, running in together and celebrating their cup win. 

After the end of that cup, the Damallsvenskan was in full force and Hammarby were on a winning streak. The 4 games in the remainder of that month ended in victory for the club and happiness forAstrid for making one or more goal contributions to each of those games. 

The 3rd of July 2023 became a date Astrid would never forget. It was early morning right before they left for training when Astrid’s phone began buzzing, Tony’s contact appearing on her screen. Without hesitation she quickly accepted the facetime and held it up to see him. 

“Ah! Hello Astrid.” Tony waved through the screen. 

“Hi G-man, how are you?” Astrid waved back, a wide smile on her face but her stomach churned in anticipation.

“Very well, thank you.” Tony laughed at the nickname like every time she said it, Kyra was also shaking her head and holding a laugh from the otherside of the room. 

“Congratulations on the cup win, very deserved.”

“Thank you Tony, very happy with the result.” Astrid nodded her head and waited for him to speak further. 

“Astrid,” He began falling into a more serious tone. “My reasoning for the call is to talk about the next camp against France and also this year's World Cup.” Astrid stayed silent and nodded her head. “As a coaching staff we have never been more impressed with a person of your age and talent. You are strong, skilled, resilient and so much more. You are a large asset to the team both on and off the pitch.” Tony smiled kindly at her, watching her face light up at the compliments. 

“Thank you.” Astrid held back the tears brimming from her eyes and let him continue.

“Which is why it is my pleasure to invite you on our roster for the 2023 Women's World Cup if you would join us?” Both their smiles grew bigger and Kyra was jumping up and down in the living room for her girlfriend. 

“Yes, yes. Absolutely yes.” Astrid beamed even brighter, nodding her head up and down as Tony laughed and they wrapped up their conversation. As soon as the call ended Astrid dropped her phone and ran over to Kyra, jumping up and wrapping her legs around Kyra’s waist. “OH MY GOD!” Astrid yelled out as they spun in circles. Tears of happiness ran down her face as Kyra placed her down again. 

“I’m so proud of you.” Kyra wiped Astrid’s tears with her thumbs before leaning in and kissing her. But they were interrupted when Kyra’s phone started buzzing in her pocket. “It’s Tony.” Kyra looked from her phone back up to Astrid who was practically answering the facetime for her and pushing it up to Kyra’s face, stepping out of view. 

Astrid was half paying attention to the facetime as she stood opposite Kyra, instead thinking of her parents and how proud they would be. Wishing she could tell them but they already knew as they watched over her every single day of her life. Astrid zoned back in as Kyra finished her conversation and ran to her girlfriend with an even bigger smile.

“WE’RE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP BABY!” Kyra shouted as they jumped around in a circle holding hands before pulling in and kissing one another with pride. A morning Astrid will never forget. 

Only 5 days later Astrid and Kyra were jumping on a plane back home to Australia for their final World Cup prep match against France down in Melbourne. The flight was long but not awful, both of the girls managed to sleep a lot of the way, landing well rested and not irritable. 

They pulled up to the hotel and jumped out, grabbing their bags and moving into the lobby. Because of their club schedule the pair were once again last to arrive, after rooms had been assigned by their teammates. So it was a mystery which teammate they had been paired with until they opened their room doors and greeted their bunkmate for the next week.

Astrid and Kyra walked hand in hand while no one was around, soaking in the last minutes they could act like a couple for probably a few days. They waved bye to each other and reached their separate rooms. Astrid opened her door and pushed her way through, dragging her heavy bags in and peering around the corner. 

Sam was laying on one of the beds and looked up from her phone upon hearing the door open. “KIDDO!” She threw her phone down as Astrid appeared around the corner. 

“SAMMY!” Astrid yelled in reply as she dropped her items and ran forward tackling Sam on the bed in a bear hug. 

“UGH!Get off me you rat.” Sam laughed and pushed Astrid away and over to the bed opposite. 

“What? You’re not happy to see me?” Astrid scoffed as she flattened her hair down again, pouting playfully at Sam. 

“No, not really.” Sam shrugs playfully, pretending to occupy herself by picking at her nails and Astrid is not having it.

“Admit it Sam, I’m your favourite.” Astrid crosses her arms and raises a brow, awaiting Sam’s response. 

“Ha! You wish As-turd.” Sam retaliates as she settles back down into her previous position with her phone. Dramatically Astrid gasps with a hand to her chest. 

“Excuse me, only Macca is allowed to call me that.” Astrid mirrors Sam, lying down on her own bed and turns her head towards Sam’s bed where the captain was also looking over at the young striker.

“Whatever. How have you been? Congrats on the cup.” Sam brings them to a regular conversation. 

“Thanks. Yeah, I’m good. Excited to be back home.” Astrid speaks with a soft smile, turning towards the roof. She loved coming back home to Australia after so much time away, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. 

“Good.” Sam nods and the room goes silent for a minute. “How’s it going with Kyra?” Astrid's eyes widen and her head snaps back to Sam. How does she know?

“W-what do you mean?” Her voice wavers a bit and Sam continues looking at her phone. 

“Aren’t you guys living together? Is she making you pull your hair out yet?” Sam chuckles lightly and Astrid lets out a sigh of relief. 

“Oh yeah. Everyday.” She laughs and rolls her eyes. Phew.

“Are you ready for dinner?” Sam asks after checking the time and seeing it was time for team dinner now that everyone had arrived. 

“Yes, I’m starving!” Astrid jumped out of bed and they left the room together. 

As everyone arrived at the dining room they greeted one another, excited as always to be on camp with the people again and playing the game they love. 

Astrid sat with Kyra, Charli, Courtney, and Mary, or as everyone else called them, the babies, and they caught up after 2 months apart and loudly annoyed one another which then annoyed everyone else. 

After a night of catching up, playing games and relaxing before the week ahead of their French battle, everyone tiredly returned to their rooms and fell asleep early. 

The girls had four days together to prepare for game day and no one was messing around. Well, kinda. 

The team always liked to have fun with one another in training, laughing and giggling at one another's mistakes, pulling small pranks and teasing but most of all chatting. They loved to chat while running drills, especially Astrid and Charli. 

They could chat and chat for hours while still perfectly executing drills or simply running around the track. The other girls were marvelled with how much they could get done while talking to one another and giggling mostly. 

After four days of training it was finally match day at Marvel Stadium. The team had gone on their pre-match walk and completed their pre game training, watching the fans start to filter through and fill the seats. 

Astrid hadn’t been named in the starting 11, which slightly disappointed her but she understood that her reputation still stood as a super-sub and she was more than happy to come on towards the end and hopefully score a goal for the fans. 

And that’s just what she did. At 75 minutes her number 31 was flashing green and number 20 was red as Sam made her way to the sidelines for Astrid to come on. Astrid ran to her position as the new 9 alongside Tameka as the 10. 

It didn’t take long for Astrid to get her foot on the ball and close to the goal, after Kyra had passed it through to her and now she was 1v1 with a french defender. She battled easily and managed to nutmeg her before running around and towards the keeper. She was alone and onside and the net was clearer than ever. 

Her line was as clear as it was going to get so she went for it. Her right foot swung hard against the ball, rolling across the grass in what felt like slow motion as it rolled through the keeper's feet and past the white line. 

The crowd roared and Astrid took off running, hands reaching up to the sky and forming a hard with her hands as she ran, her teammates running behind her before she stopped and they jumped all over her. She smiled and laughed with her best friends as they celebrated and the crowd was cheering.  

The game ended in a 2-0 win and a very happy crowd of supporters celebrating the last game before the world cup starts only 6 days from now. 

The girls did their round of the stadium for the fans, taking photos and signing merchandise, making people's dreams come true. This could easily be Astrid’s favourite part of being with the matildas, watching peoples faces light up with joy over a simple interaction or wave in their direction and it made everything they go through as players worth it.

To be continued...

Joining the club | Jen Beattie x reader

Summary; 2023 and the start of 2024 seem to have something in common already; everyone in the WOSO community seems to be getting engaged. And when you bring this up to your long term partner Jen, it seems she has nothing to say, or does she….

Pairings; Jen Beattie x famous!reader

Words; 2.5k

Warnings; pure fluff, swearing

A/N; It seems to be the season of getting engaged and even though I am way off getting engaged and very very single, I thought I would pretend and imagine that I was getting engaged to the one and only Jen Beattie. There is also a lack of Jen fics on here and I feel the need to write one for her. Enjoy!

First it was Steph and Dean all the way back in January. Lynn and Marley finally did it back in May. Then in June it was Emily and Kat, and Katrina and Clara just a few days after. Kristie and Sam finally revealed theirs from September after months of teasing. Chloe Kelly and Millie Bright got it within the same week, sharing photos with their partners around christmas. And finally a surprise from Ellie and Daan on the first day of a new year. 

It seemed 2023 and now 2024 was the time for engagements in the world of women’s football and you were quite caught up in all the news. 

“Oh my god babe, another one!” You let out a gasp as the post from Ellie and Daan popped up on your instagram feed, stopping your pre-dinner scrolling as you paused and assessed the picture. It was from a few days ago, and you were seeing it now because you had been away with Jen and her family, avoiding social media to spend time with them and only now catching up. 

“What?” Jen’s voice called from the kitchen, you jumping up from the couch with your phone and running quickly into the kitchen. 

“Look.” You aggressively shoved your phone into her face and she adjusted to the bright light as she tried to look at the photo. 

“Oh wow, congrats to them.” Jen smiled quickly before turning away and back to the food on the stove. You frowned at her quick response and disinterest at the post.

“Do you not think it’s funny?” You asked with a small laugh from beside her. 

“What is?” She asked whilst moving around the kitchen to find the rest of the ingredients for your dinner. 

“That everyone in the footballing world seems to be getting engaged at the moment?” You asked again and she didn’t respond with any excitement, again.

“Oh, guess I didn’t notice.” She shrugged and continued to stir the pot. You opened your mouth to talk again but she got there before you. “Could you grab me some bowls, love?” She asked while keeping her eyes on the pan. You paused for a second before grabbing two clean ones from the dishwasher and placing them next to her. “Thank you.” She smiled at you briefly before beginning to dish up the pasta that was now done. 

“You’re welcome.” You snapped out of your trance and silently moved to grab some glasses and the wine from the fridge. She waited for you to finish pouring your drinks before she grabbed both bowls and headed for the couch, you following close behind her. 

“What are we watching tonight, love?” Jen asked as she sat beside you on the couch, now both holding your dinner and the wine glasses on the coffee table. 

“I don’t mind, you pick.” You shrugged before taking a bite of your food and now it was her turn to frown at you, normally you always took control over what to watch together. 

“You okay?” Jen asked simply and you nodded silently while eating and staring at the screen in front of you. “ Okay, how about Bridgerton? We still haven’t finished season two.” She suggested and once again you nodded silently from beside her. 

You weren’t sure why you were feeling slightly off after Jen’s reaction to the post and your comments, but you still snuggled into her on the couch after finishing your pasta and wine.

The episode finished and you could feel the both of you drifting off after a long day. Jen had been back at training after winter break and your schedule had been hectic since returning from time off. You were an actress and your new movie was about to come out so all the promo shoots and interviews were now in full swing, though you were grateful it began in London so you could still go home to Jen every night.  

You met Jen a few years back at an event in London you had both been invited to, catching her eyes from the other side of the room and instantly knowing you had to go talk to her. You knew who each other were, an actress making her name in the world and a famous sports star who silently followed each other in their respective lines of work. One conversation and you knew there was something there, and so did she. You both knew it would be hard with your professions and the distance you would have at certain times, but you wanted to make it work, somehow keeping it from the public eye for two years before hard launching it on your anniversary and sending both sets of fans into a frenzy. 

“Ready for bed love?” Jen spoke softly into the dark living room, smoothing your hair softly. 

“Definitely.” You yawned and sat up, rubbing your tired eyes as Jen stood up and held a hand out for you. You smiled at the gesture and met your hand in hers, pulling yourself up and making your way to your bedroom together. You both had already showered when you got home earlier so all that was left to do was to brush your teeth together. 

Your night routine was almost the same every night, no matter what was going on in your separate lives, you always spent those last few minutes together before crawling into bed. So once you both finished in the bathroom, you hopped into bed on your chosen sides but made your way closer to the middle and each other, Jen opening her arms to you as you laid your head on her chest.

“Sorry I’ve been quiet, tired.” You mumbled into the darkness against Jen as she drew small circles against your back. 

“It’s okay, me too.” Jen looked down at you to meet your soft eyes. 

“I love you.” You smiled and snuggled into her chest once more, eyes drifting closed. 

“I love you too.” Jen placed a kiss against your head before closing her own eyes and drifting asleep. 

The topic of last night's conversation was mostly forgotten in the morning, or at least it wasn’t brought up again between you too. That didn’t mean it wasn’t brought up with different people. Jen arrived at training and as both Steph and Beth walked up to her, they could tell something was on her mind. 

“You alright there Jenny?” Steph bumped her shoulder as herself and Beth joined her sides. 

“Hmm? Oh yeah.” Jen nodded at them but went silent straight after. 

“You sure?” Beth dragged out her words and brought her face as she could to Jen’s, their height difference proving to be a little difficult.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Jen tried to brush them off again but these two were persistent and she knew she wasn’t going to get very far if she didn’t tell them. She stopped her walking and sighed before speaking. “Last night, Y/N brought up how it seems like everyone’s getting engaged at the moment, and I didn’t really say anything back. And then she seemed upset for the rest of the night, but she said she was just tired, which I know she has been, but I also think I might have upset her in some way.” She let out in almost one breath as Steph and Beth tried to process her words. 

“Well she’s not wrong, especially in the last few weeks.” Beth added with a shrug. 

“Do you think she’s ready?” Steph ignored Beth’s comment and looked at Jen.

“Well, I wasn’t sure before, but after last night I think she is.” Jen looked between the two of them. “Just the way she was talking about it and then when I didn’t really say anything…” She trailed off and looked down. 

“I think she’s ready.” Steph spoke with a smile. She had watched from the beginning of your relationship with Jen just how happy you were with one another, and how easy the relationship seemed even when spending time apart due to work. 

“Are you?” Beth asked sincerely, her and Steph awaiting Jen’s reply. Jen was silent for a few seconds, bringing her eyes back up to look at her best friends. 

“I bought the ring like 2 months ago.” She mumbled but they still heard it and instantly started beaming at the Scottish woman. 

“You sly little bastard.” Beth punched Jen’s arm softly as they began to walk again so that they wouldn’t be late for training. 

Throughout the whole day the three of them, mostly Steph and Beth, were coming up with ideas on how she should propose but Jen kept shooting them down. She wanted it to be private, special and a surprise, so anything that involved taking you out somewhere would instantly make you suspicious. 

While Jen had been conversing her thoughts and plans with her best friends at training, you were in your head all day thinking about last night. Which wasn’t really helping especially when you were trying to film press interviews all day and talk about your movie. 

You could have talked to your co-stars about it, after all they had become close friends while shooting and now being with each other everyday for promo, but the only person you really wanted to talk to was Jen; it was always Jen. 

Jen got home long before you, taking her time to deep clean the flat and cook dinner for you once again, knowing you would be exhausted from your long day of work. 

She didn’t hear you opening the door and making your way through the flat, she had been vacuuming with her headphones on and dancing around your bedroom. You stood in the doorway for a few minutes after spotting her, admiring her and waiting for her to see you. And when she did, boy did she get a fright. 

“Ah fuck!” Jen almost jumped out of her skin when she finally turned around and spotted you lurking in the doorway, using one hand to remove her headphones and the other to turn the vacuum off. “How long have you been standing there?” She dropped the vacuum and began to walk over to you. 

“A few minutes. I was admiring your hidden dance skills.” You smiled and stood up straighter, welcoming her into a hug like you do every day. “Hi.” You mumbled into her shoulder. 

“Hi love.” She pulled back and leaned in for a soft kiss. No matter how many times you kiss Jen, it feels like the very first time all over again, even after 4 years. “Busy day?” She asked as you parted, taking in your tired expression. 

“Busy day.” You nodded and smiled at her. “How was training?” You asked as you walked hand and hand to the kitchen. 

“Good, good to be back with the girls.” Jen smiled at you before letting go to retrieve dinner from the oven. You stood at the counter, simply watching her as she moved about wrapping up dinner. “Go put something on, I’ve got it.” Jen smiled and placed a kiss on your temple before ushering you to the lounge room.

“Okay bossy.” You laughed before making your way to the couch and switching the TV over to Netflix to finish the final episode of Bridgerton. You wait patiently for her on the couch, looking over your shoulder every few seconds to see if she is coming around the corner. 

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jen is trying to hide her anxiety and nervousness as she plates up dinner and feels her pocket one more time. With two champagne glasses now full and a tray full of food she finally makes her way to you, letting out a final breath before entering the living room. 

“Dinner is served.” She places the tray down on the table and bows which makes you laugh. Your eyes fall on the glasses and you’re instantly confused. 

“What’s with the champagne? Decide the wine wasn’t good enough?” You joked and she let out a small laugh shaking her head. 

“Some nights are a little more special than the others.” She cryptically says and has you even more confused but you leave the comment alone and hit play on the remote. 

You eat dinner together while watching the episode, silently watching with a bit of commentary along the way before cuddling up after eating. The episode finishes and you can feel Jen’s heart beating particularly fast, her fingers are nervously playing with one another and she hasn’t spoken in a few minutes. You sit up silently and look at her, she doesn’t look at you. You’re about to fill the silence when she beats you to it. 

“You know how much I love you, right?.” Jen rushes out and leaves you slightly bewildered. 

“I know. I love you just as much.” You reply. “What’s wrong?” You bring your hand up to brush her hair back into her low bun. 

“I’m about to do something and I hope you don’t think it’s random and forced because it’s not and I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I didn’t want to make a massive deal about it because it’s just you and me and that’s all that matters.” Jen speaks in one long breath and you need a second for your brain to catch up but before it can she’s pulling you up off the couch with her and standing in front of you. She holds your hands in hers and looks directly at you. 

“Wha-” Before you could even think about finishing your sentence, a giant gasp leaves your mouth at her next action. She drops down to one knee whilst still holding holding your hands, smiling up at you as tears well in your eyes. 

“My love, I could go on and on about how much I love you but you already know. There is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with, no matter where it shall take us. So,” She let go of your hands, you bringing them up to your face and hers reaching down into her pocket. She fishes the small, black box out, opening it to reveal a sparkling ring and looks back up at you. “Y/N Y/L/N, will you-” 

“YES!” You interrupt her before she gets to finish causing her to laugh and shake her head. 

You just stand there admiring her as she gets up and removes the ring from the box. She brings your shaking left hand from your face and slides the ring on. Your jaw drops at the ring before you jump into her arms, causing her to react quickly and grab hold of your legs. “I love you so much Jen.” You cry into her shoulder as she holds you before you lift your head up, meeting your eyes with hers before pulling in for a kiss. 

The rest of the night is spent in one another's arms just admiring each other and talking softly with each other about the rest of your lives while wrapped up in your sheets.

yourinstagram and jbeattie91

yourinstagram we joined the club 💍

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stephcatley so happy for you! welcome to the club 😉

bethmead_ about time jen jen. congrats 🥰

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THE END!

so real

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part four]

Words; 3.2k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing, mentions of alcohol

A/N; took me a while to do this one so sorry its a bit late. hopefully you enjoy this, I really like this one. again, please give it some love and hope you like it. also this might have a love interest at some point but i haven't figured it out yet. x

masterlist

The team had now travelled down to Canberra for their second and final match against New Zealand again. Throughout the day they had taken their match day walk, eaten their meals together and prepared for the game, feeling somewhat confident after their last win over the opposing team. 

Astrid was still on a buzz from the last game and the love she had been showered in from her teammates, coaches, parents and especially the fans. Making her debut and scoring a goal in the same game on home soil was something really special and Astrid never thought that she would be doing it so young. She was still only 17 and had accomplished so much. 

She was in a really good mood and the team could tell. She usually had a fun, bubbly personality, constantly making jokes and pulling lighthearted pranks but today she just had an extra aura about her that instantly lightened the mood of everyone on the team. And they knew why. Not only had she been promised some minutes on the pitch this game, but tomorrow was her 18th birthday. Finally, the baby of the team was becoming an adult; legally at least. And she got to celebrate with her new family; her own unable to until she planned to go home for a little while, now that club season was over and the next camp wasn’t until late June.

The rest of the day was spent in focus mode, making sure everyone was warm and ready for what could be another tough game. 

The Matildas were off to a great start, taking possession of the ball and a good few attempts at scoring within the first 14 minutes before a corner from Steph and header from Sam secured their lead on the game. Only two minutes later and a great shot from the edge of the penalty box by Hayley, the ball just skimming past the goalie, had given them that extra leg up on New Zealand. 

A shot from Sam had brought them up to 3-0 before New Zealand secured their first goal in the extra time before the whistle blew for halftime and the substitutes got themselves up to warm up in the break. 

Astrid, Charli and Kyra found themselves chatting about Astrid’s upcoming birthday while practising passes and shots at the goal. 

“Guys it’s not that big of a deal.” Astrid spoke, taking a shot at the net with her right foot, surpassing Teagan’s attempt to block it, sending it right in the back, a small smile at Teagan before turning to the girls with confused expressions on their faces. 

“Not a big deal?” Charli used air quotes, stopping her small passes with Kyra. “First of all it’s your first birthday with the team,” She began counting her fingers as she walked closer to Astrid. “It’s tomorrow,” She counted a second finger.  “AND it’s your 18th. What is wrong with you?” Charli was clearly more passionate about this than Astrid, gripping the younger girl’s shoulder, trying to look stern but failing, letting out that signature smile. 

“I’m with Charli.” Kyra had stepped forward to the pair. Astrid bit her top lip, staying silent, contemplating Charli’s reason. 

“Ugh fine. I guess we could do something,” Astrid finally gave in. “But!” She lifted a finger, Charli and Kyra grinning slightly. “Nothing crazy okay, everyone is about to go back to clubs so they probably want to relax.” Astrid spoke, grunting softly as they engulfed her in a hug after sharing a sneaky smirk with one another. 

The second half of the game had finally started, and even with a few misses at a shot, the Matildas were still doing well. Substitutions had been made for both sides, all the Aus subs continuing to keep warm and moving on the sidelines. It was at the 70th minute that Alanna went down from a head collision, resulting in a broken nose and having to leave the pitch. That led to Charli being subbed on a few minutes later as a defender, happiness from Astrid growing for Charli and worry growing for Alanna as she was taken to the changeroom. 

Again with only 15 minutes until full time, Astrid got to take her place on the pitch, subbing for Caitlin in the left forward position, the coaches hoping her fresh legs might help gain them another goal before the end of the game. And they were right. 

The ball was shot far from Lydia, sending it to the midfield where Sam had collected it, heading for the goal but ran out of space, shooting it over to Astrid who shot it through the goalie’s still legs as she expected a higher shot, and slotted it right in the back of the net. The crowd roared, Astrid ran directly to the midfield where most of the team watched the shot, immediately covering the young girl with their bodies, screaming and yelling at her goal that brought them to 4-1. 

The huddle of players parted, Charli making sure to press a kiss to Astrid’s forehead before they both ran off to their positions again with wide smiles. The final whistle blew and Australia had won against New Zealand again, Astrid fighting the urge to run and celebrate with her friends, instead calmly shaking hands with the opposition and sharing clap hugs with her teammates. 

The team all get to their huddle after a few minutes, happiness running high through them about the successful win, waiting for Tony to begin his speech. 

“You’ve been phenomenal in terms of focus and what you can control. Two good games, two wins. This is the closure of the camp now, so that you can enjoy the time with your families tonight, happy birthday to Astrid for tomorrow. Safe travels. Good luck in your club, okay? Looking forward to see you next camp. Good job, everyone.” He wrapped and everyone disconnected to start clapping. 

Family and friends were invited down onto the pitch, Harper being snatched up by Mini the second she saw her and Astrid slowly moving to approach the mother and daughter. 

“Hi Harper.” Astrid waved at the baby in Mini’s arms. 

“Say hi.” Katrina picked up one of Harper’s arms, waving at the player as a smile grew on the baby’s face. “Good job again today Astrid, nice shot.” Mini looked up at the teen. 

“Thanks Mini. Welcome back officially.” Astrid met the older woman's eyes and smiled. They both turned in the direction of both teams gathering on the pitch around Aivi, all of them moving closer to the huddle, Astrid going to stand with Kyra and Charli like always. 

Aivi was shaving her head today in honour of her brother and donating it in a bid to raise $30,000 for brain tumour research. Everyone cheered on as they watched the brave woman, all running over when it was done, patting and rubbing her bare head as tears sprung in everyone's eyes. 

The next morning Astrid had awoken in her and Charli’s hotel room to most of the team, balloons filling the air, and all the girls screaming happy birthday as soon as her eyes had opened. Her heart pounded against her chest at the fright of seeing at least 20 more people in her room at 9am, screaming in her face.

After letting out a quiet ‘fuck’, Astrid’s next reaction was to crawl back under the sheets feeling surprised, shocked and extremely loved in that very moment that the first thing she thought to do was to hide from it. The room filled with laughter and cheers, watching as Kyra and Charli pulled back the sheets and wrapped their arms around Astrid who was about to cry. 

“Aye, she’s finally an adult like the rest of us. Took long enough.” Macca yelled from in the room, everyone laughing along with her, Astrid just looked her dead in the eye. 

“Does that mean you’ll stop calling me kid?” She cocked her head at the goalkeeper. 

“No.” Mackenzie spoke with a dead face.

“Absolutely not.” Alanna chimed in and everyone shook their heads. Everyone gives Astrid a hug and wishes her another happy birthday before leaving, now just Kyra as the only person out of their assigned room. Kyra and Charli approached Astrid on her bed with presents in each of their hands. 

“Guys, no. You seriously did not need to do all of this.” Astrid could burst into tears with the amount of love she was receiving from her friends. 

“Of course we did.” Kyra came to sit beside Astrid, holding a small bag. 

“You’re part of the team, our best friend and as I said yesterday,” Charli paused, trying to emphasise her next point. “It’s your fucking 18th birthday.” Charli smiled and then sat down on the other side of Astrid, placing a box in front of her. 

“I love you guys so much.” Astrid pulled the girls in with an arm over each of their shoulders, turning to place a kiss on their cheeks. 

“Love you too, now open them please.” Charli was bursting with excitement to watch her open the gifts. 

“This one is just from us.” Kyra handing the small bag over to Astrid. 

“Thank you.” Astrid smiled, taking the small bag from Kyra’s hand. A little white box was inside, pulling it out to open it. “Oh my god.” Astrid gasped at the ring that was inside the box. It was a simple silver ring, an oval plate in the middle that was engraved with a small soccer ball. 

“Do you like it?” Kyra shyly spoke after watching Astrid inspect the ring closer. 

“I love it.” Astrid spoke, tears forming in her eyes. 

“Good, because now we all match.” Charli smiled, herself and Kyra bringing up their hands to show the same ring on their own fingers. Astrid pouted before the tears of joy ran down her face. She had never felt more loved by two friends. “Oh, star.” Charli used the nickname she had given Astrid in their first camp. 

Upon deciding that she couldn’t shorten her full name, Charli began to call her ‘star’ or ‘stargirl’ because her name sounded like something to do with the stars; later the rest of the team adopted it on and off the field. Astrid really liked it and anything was better than Macca teasing her and calling her ‘Asteroid’ or ‘As-turd’; although Astrid did think it was quite funny. 

The girls brought the crying girl in their arms again, laughing at her reaction and glad she enjoyed their gift. 

“Okay, enough crying. Open the next one.” Kyra spoke, Astrid wiping her face and letting out a small laugh. 

“This is a bit of something from everyone.” Charli moved the box closer to the birthday girl. 

Astrid opened the box to reveal a bunch of little goodies; a few cards, little bottles of alcohol, some Taylor Swift nic-nacs and other small presents. Astrid examined every one of them, reading every card and letter as the other girls got up to give her some personal space. They also collected some birthday hats they bought, along with a ‘18th birthday’ sash for her to wear. 

“This is way too much, thank you.” Astrid jumped up, running to give them a hug again. 

“Of course not, you deserve it.” Charli pressed a kiss to Astrids head. “But enough of this, we’re going to be late for breakfast if we don’t hurry up.” They all looked at the time and realised they had to be down in 10 minutes. 

To Astrid’s surprise, the rest of the day was spent with the team as she thought most of them would be leaving today to go back to club. But when Kyra and Charli notified them of the important birthday a few months back, they all decided to stick around an extra day and celebrate their youngest member. She was showered with love throughout their team breakfast, when they went for a picnic lunch and then at a nice dinner where a cake was being brought out. 

“Happy Birthday to Astrid, happy birthday to you.” The table cheered, taking photos and videos of Astrid and her cake, a wide smile on her face. 

“HIP HIP!” Charli led the entire restaurant who had joined in. 

“HOORAY!”

“HIP HIP!” 

“HOORAY!”

“HIP HIP!” 

“HOORAY!” Everyone clapped as Astrid leant forward to blow out the candles, silently making her wish that she could be with this group of people forever. 

“Okay, now you have to skull your drink.” Sam who was sat across from Astrid pushed the girl’s almost full cocktail towards her. Her mouth opened in confusion. “It’s tradition, kid. It’s what you do at your 18th.” Sam simply shrugged her shoulders, Astrid looking to her other teammates who were nodding with grins, some holding their phones out to film her. 

So she picked up her drink and began drinking it fast, trying not to spill any on her new dress. Everyone cheered and clapped until she was done and she wiped her mouth, showing off her empty drink. 

A lot of the team members had left after dinner, opting to for an early sleep before their international flights, rather than taking Astrid clubbing for the first time. Those who remained with Astrid included, Kyra, Charli, Cortnee, Courtney, Clare Wheeler, Teagan, Ellie with Caitlin and Steph acting as chaperones for the youngsters. 

Flash forward to 2am and the last remaining partiers stumbled into the hotel lobby by the guide of Steph and Caitlin. Charli and Cortnee held Astrid up with either of her arms, Courtney and Kyra following behind, Steph and Caitlin just watched all of them drunkenly walk to the lifts, trying not to laugh. They all eventually made it to their rooms, Steph instructing Charli to call her in case something happened with Astrid who was drunker than her. 

Charli guided the girl who was almost passed out into their room and sat her down on her bed. 

“Star, hey.” Charli stopped Astrid from falling asleep. “You’ll be mad at me tomorrow if we don’t get this makeup off and out of this dress. So just stay awake for a few more minutes. Okay?” Astrid nodded silently, using Charli’s outstretched arms to pull herself up and walk to the bathroom. 

With makeup removed, teeth brushed and now both in pyjamas, Charli led the drunk girl back to her bed and helped her under the covers. As soon as Astrid’s head hit the pillow, she was out cold. Charli snapped a quick photo before falling asleep in her own bed.

Safe to say it was a good night out when Astrid woke up with a pounding headache, the natural sunlight pouring into the room harsh on her eyes, quickly pushing her face back into her pillow with a grunt. 

“Oh welcome back from the dead.” Charli laughed as she walked out of the bathroom, Astrid lifting her head slowly to give the girl a death stare. “How do you feel, party girl?” Charli sat at Astrid’s feet, watching the girl slowly sit up, hands rubbing her face. 

“Fucking shit.” She laughed as she met Charli’s face. “I went hard didn’t I?” Astrid rubbed her temples, attempting to ease the pounding in her head but it wasn’t working. 

“Oh yeah. You did. Come on.” Charli laughed, hitting Astrid's feet as she stood herself up. “Let’s go soak up all that alcohol with food, coffee and water.” Astrid groaned but slowly got out of bed. After a shower and some fresh clothes, Charli and Astrid had made their way to the team breakfast room again where most of the team still sat, Astrid may have walked in with a pair of sunnies over her eyes. 

“She made it through the night everyone!” Mackenzie threw an arm over Astrid’s shoulder as she rolled her eyes at the goalkeeper. She nudged her away and flipped her the bird with a smile before walking over to the coffee station. 

“Fun night then?” Hayley asked as Astrid sat down next to her with an iced coffee and some buttered toast. 

“Yeah… I think. I don’t remember a lot actually…” She took her sunnies off and rubbed her eyes. “I better ask the babysitters.” She directed her head over to where Steph and Caitlin sat. 

“First night drinking and you got black out. Nice.” Sam reached across the table for a fist bump which Astrid loosely returned, shaking her head slowly, which ended up bringing back the headache that was fading into the background. 

Everyone finished their breakfast slowly, taking in these last moments of camp together because not all of them would be together for quite a while. A lot of the senior players were going into an off season soon after returning to their international homes and taking a break for the first time in a while. 

Everyone caught a flight together back to Sydney from Canberra before separating for their international and domestic flights, saying goodbye to each other in the departure terminals. 

Kyra, Courtney and Charli were the last people Astrid had to say goodbye to, the three of them heading back to Sweden and Astrid sticking behind in Sydney. 

“I’m going to miss you guys so much.” She brought them all in for a group hug quickly. 

“It’s okay, we’ll be back together for the next camp soon.” Charli hugged Astrid singularly, squeezing her close to her one last time. 

“Where hopefully we all get some more playing time.” Courtney smiled at the youngest girl. 

“And we can have even more drunken nights with miss party animal over here.” Kyra teased, Astrid pushed her shoulder lightly, shaking her head. 

“Alright, you guys better go before you miss your flight.” Astrid nodded at them to go, putting a small smile on her face that hid the fact she was quite sad she wasn’t going with them. One day, hopefully. “Have a safe flight. Love you.” Astrid called out as they walked away. 

“Love you stargirl. I’ll text when we land.” Charli yells back before they are out of view. 

“Ready to go?” Cortnee came up behind Astrid, she had been patiently waiting for her to say her goodbyes after her own with other teammates. 

“Yeah, sorry for making you wait.” Astrid apologised as they wheeled their luggage out of the doors and began making their way to Cortnee’s car they left parked before camp. 

“No, it’s all good. I get it.” Cortnee smiled over at Astrid. They made their way back to Astrid’s apartment where Cortnee dropped her off. They said their own goodbyes, Astrid promising to text her later as she made her way inside. 

Her place was small, one bed, one bath, a kitchen and a living room, but she didn’t need much more for just herself. She was leaving again to go back home tomorrow, seeing her extended family for the first time since Christmas to celebrate her birthday with them. That meant she had the next 16 hours to unpack, repack, sleep and get on the road to Bateau Bay.

She also had to think about the next club season and what that looked like for her. Her short contract with Sydney FC was officially over and her agent hadn’t contacted her just yet about whether that was going to continue or if other clubs were looking at her for the 2022/2023 season. Hopefully she would know soon and her future would be clearer than it is now.

to be continued...

Time Bomb | Criminal minds x fem!reader

Summary; Y/N’s mind is overworked and tired from case after case after case and the team begins to notice, prodding her until it gets too much. 

Parings; BAU team x BAU!reader, no romantic relationships mentioned. (she/her pronouns) 

Warnings; angst, mentions of chronic headaches/migraines, swearing, physical and emotional pain

Words; 1.7k

No one is permitted to steal, copy, or reblog my work as their own!!

Gif is not mine. @book-place​ 

It wasn’t unusual for Y/N to have a migraine, let alone a simple headache. She was diagnosed with atypical migraines when she was 15 and has been dealing with them since. But joining the  BAU 6 months ago really seemed to ramp things up for her. Since the day she left for that first case, the severity of her headaches increased, impacting her working abilities.  

She knew it wasn’t going to be an easy job, the commitments alone were tough but what was worse was trying to leave every painful detail of a case behind and move onto the next one, especially so quickly. She felt like she was doing work 24/7, whether she was on a plane flying across the country, stuck at her desk filing reports or thinking about cases when she got home. Everyone else on the team had been there for much longer than her so they had it down packed. But Y/N was still struggling, not that she would let anyone else figure that out. 

She became quite good at compartmentalising, hiding her emotions from her colleagues, family and friends. But all of this stress, tension and hurt came through in her migraines. Having suffered in pain for almost 10 years already, she was good at moving through the pain, pushing it aside, but lately it began bothering her more than ever, and the team began to notice. 

Derek was the first to pick up on her change in mood when she didn’t acknowledge his daily “Good Morning Firecracker”. Instead of her normal response, she flipped him the bird and kept walking to her desk in silence. He was quite insulted at her actions but took it as a bad morning. The other surrounding team members took note of this unusual behaviour from Y/N, all beginning to watch her closely. 

Reid noticed her mental distance during a case when it repeatedly took her 8 seconds longer than usual to answer a question or hear her name being called.

It was then Emily who tried to comfort her, but was brushed aside and ignored by Y/N. It happened yesterday, the team were in the office, working on files from the previous case and Emily noticed the younger team member had been silent all day. She watched with concern from her desk as Y/N held her head in her hands, rubbed her temples and took painkillers every few hours. As the day ended Emily approached Y/N, tapping her on the shoulder lightly to get her to raise her head off the desk. 

“What?” Y/N turned to Emily with tired eyes and an exhausted expression. 

“Sorry, I just wanted to check that you were okay? You’ve been quiet all day.” Emily removed her hand from Y/N’s shoulder. 

“I’m fine, Prentiss.” Y/N used Emily’s last name for the first time in months and it shocked everyone in the room. Y/N gathered her stuff and quickly left towards the elevators, brushing Emily’s shoulder on the way out. The whole team, including Rossi and Hotch who’d left their offices, stood in shock at the agent's actions. Something was definitely wrong. 

                                                    ~~~~~~

This morning Y/N slept in for the first time in weeks, and not on purpose. She had slept through three alarms and would officially be late for work, but it didn’t bother her. The pain pounding through her head was insufferable. It felt as if her skull was squishing her brain, waiting for it to explode. So she took her time getting ready, pausing every few minutes to sit and attempt to not pass out or throw up. Could she have just opted to take the day off? Yes. But she was too stubborn for that. 

She eventually made it to work, slowly making her way through the glass doors, now almost an hour late according to her watch. But when she finally looked up from the floor, no one was at their desks, or in the kitchen, or milling around the bullpen. It was silent. As much as she admired the peace and quiet, it was bugging her, where the hell was everyone else. Curiously she made her way up the stairs, peeking into Hotch and Rossi’s empty offices, then towards the conference room that suspiciously had the door closed and shades drawn.

She opened the door slowly, expecting to also find no one, but was wrong. The whole team was sitting at and standing around the table, previously talking lowly amongst themselves. 

“What the hell is going on? Why are you all in the fucking dark in silence? It’s weird.” Y/N’s voice caught the attention of her friends and boss, everyone staring at her with shock or concern plastered on their faces. 

“Come sit down Y/N.” Hotch finally spoke up, his hands crossed at his chest nodding his head to the empty chair in the centre of the table. 

“Fine.” Y/N snickered, moving slowly towards the chair. “What is this? An intervention?” Y/N laughed as she sat down in the chair, sliding down into a comfortable position. The room stayed silent. “Will someone please fucking say something!” She waved her hands in the air and looked to Emily, then Spencer then Derek. 

“Y/N.” Derek sighed, moving away from the window where he was previously leaning, catching the attention of Y/N. “We’ve all noticed some changes in your behaviour recently and we just wanted to see what was going on.” 

“Yeah.” Emily’s voice perked up from beside Y/N, moving to place her hand on top of the other agent’s. “We’re all worried for you, you haven’t been yourself. You get mad at the smallest of things, you’re constantly tired and falling asleep everywhere. Is there something you need to tell us? Are you-” Emily couldn’t even finish her sentence. 

Y/N shook her head in disbelief, they probably think I’m an alcoholic or drug user. Unbelievable. “Wow!” She laughed out, snatching her hand away from Emily’s. “Okay, so how about you guys take a guess at what’s wrong with me and I’ll tell you if you’re right.” Everyone’s jaw dropped at her outburst, not wanting to say anything to make it worse. “Hm. Go ahead. Or are you too scared?” Y/N stood up from her chair. 

“That’s enough Y/L/N.” Hotch sternly expressed to the agent, urging her to calm down. 

“No, Hotch. I’ve had enough! This is bullshit.” Y/N began walking towards the door behind her, only to be stopped by Derek. “Move.” She argued but he didn’t budge. “Stop it Derek, let me leave.” 

“No.” He uncrossed his arms, now softly holding her forearms. 

“Derek,” She was really frustrated now, tears began welling up in her eyes. “I swear to god.” She shook her head at him, her voice was breaking. The physical and emotional pain was getting too much. The pounding in her head  was so loud she thought her ear drums were going to burst. Derek saw her pain, swiftly moving to pull her into a tight hug, one that she didn’t reciprocate but also didn’t try to remove herself from. She broke down, for the first time in months she’d finally let go. She stood there, crying into Derek’s chest as he held her tight, protecting her, the room was quiet besides the sound of Y/N crying. 

This was the first time any of them had seen her cry in the 6 months of knowing her, not even after hard cases. They looked at each other, hearts breaking for their colleague and friend. After a moment she began to move and Derek’s grip on her loosened. She wiped her bare face and held her head down as she went to sit back down. “Talk to us honey.” JJ was now in the seat beside her, stroking her back lightly. 

She took a deep breath before she spoke again. “I have chronic migraines. I have since I was 15. And since working here, they’ve been worse than ever. Especially today.” She stopped, I sound so stupid, she thought to herself. Emily squeezed her shoulder encouraging her to keep going. Y/N sniffled, “I guess the heaviness of the cases, the workload, the stress has been getting to me a lot more recently. And don’t get me wrong, I love this job and you guys,” She lifted her head to look at her friends who were now all sitting or standing in front of her. “But sometimes it’s just too much and the emotional pain turns into physical which then turns into anger and a bad mood.” She looked back down at her hands, picking at her nails. 

“Well why didn’t you tell any of us you were struggling?” Rossi spoke kindly from across the table, meeting eyes with Y/N. 

Y/N’s mouth twists before speaking, trying to stop the tears. “I didn’t want to burden you. You guys have your own lives. And I’ve been dealing with it by myself for so long I thought I had it under control.” Her voice cracks at the end causing everyone’s hearts to shatter. How did they not see this earlier? They all thought to themselves. 

“Y/N, look at me.” Derek was now behind her, she looked up behind her shoulder. “You are not a burden. You are an incredible and important asset to this team and this family. That’s what we are.” He smiled down at her. 

“And that means that we’re always here for each other, good or bad.” Penelope’s sweet voice spoke next from further down the table. “Okay?” She asks when Y/N looks like she doesn’t believe her. 

She stayed silent for a while, thinking about their words. Slowly she began nodding her head, careful not to increase the pain. “Okay.” She smiled at her team. 

“How about you go sleep off the pain in my office for a bit?” Rossi offered, she almost rejected because she didn’t want to let them down but Rossi continued before she could open her mouth. “Just until we get a case, okay?” He hoped that would do the trick, and it did.

“Thank you.” She sniffled. “And I’m sorry for how rude I’ve been, it wasn’t intentional I promise.” She looked specifically at Emily and Derek who had received the brutal end of her outbursts. 

So now the team was fixed once again, now knowing how to help Y/N on her good and bad days.

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