"So does Mason knows you're coming?" Sophia questioned her best friend as they both say down and Eloise gave her a look "What? He'd think you're here for him"

"We haven't spoken in forever minus the new year's" she stated as the players entered the field. They did their ritual before warming up as the girls were catching up

"Damn, I still have to be here next month for Dec. This is why I hate to attend his games, they're stressful as fuck" Eloise stated putting on her glasses to see more clearly "Just right now, I'm sweating"

"Yeah, I second that" Sophia sighed as they both stood up clapping knowing the games was about to start and honouring Gianluca Vialli

When the game started, the women sat down as they watched then play. Eloise knew how much this game was importantto João because it was his Chelsea debut. Somehow she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, even if she didn't show it

The game went back and forth, there were few attempts from both sides but about 20 or 25 minutes. The other team scored making both women share a knowing look "This is bad" Eloise whispered with a serious tone

"We can still score" Sophia told her hopefully with a nod

Chelsea tried to score multiple times but it was a fail. The first half was up making both team stop and go back to the bench and then changing room. João wondered if Eloise made it to his debut game because he tried to look around but he couldn't see her

However from the bench, Mason glanced up accidentally to see a familiar figure making him take a second look to see if Eloise was really there. He felt like his heart dropped to his stomach after spotting her talking to Sophia

"Did you know that Eloise was coming?" Mason asked Kai who shook his head in denial and looked up just when Valentina joined them and they both hugged her

"What is Declan's little sister is doing here? Did you invite her?" Chilly asked curiously and Mason shook his head with a frown

"I mean, not that I'm not happy but... I don't know" Mason honestly sighed

"So where's João?" Valentina asked excitedly and Eloise shrugged

"The changing rooms" Eloise replied "Anyways, did you buy the Eras tour ticket?"

"Obviously!" Valentina sipped from her glass of wine "I would never miss it for the world"

"Stella will be there" Sophia stated awkwardly

"I know right? I seriously cannot wait to see them" Eloise said excitedly

"So is it a good time to mention that Lewis and I broke up?" Valentina said making both girls look at her in disbelief "It was long overdue and you know it"

"Are you alright?" Eloise asked her and Sophia held her hand squeezing it gently

"I feel... free" Valentina admitted with a small smile "Yeah, it's awful-"

"It's not" Eloise cut her off with a stern look "Take it from someone who was cheated on, it's better that way"

"She's right" Sophia agreed with a nod "You're amazing, and like you said it was long overdue"

There was a loud cheering making them look back to see that Chelsea scored making them jump up cheering loudly too. Sophia wrapped her arms around Eloise in disbelief just when João looked up to see them making his eyes widen in surprise

Not even ten minutes later, João had the ball but bumped onto Tete making them both fall on the grass as the later seemed to be hurt. Eloise gasped when the referee raised a red card sending the new Chelsea player out on his debut game

"For fuck sake" Eloise whispered in disbelief before sighing in frustration "This is a shitshow"

The game went on and Fulham scored her second goal and by the end Chelsea was the loser. The women made their way down to the pitch as Sophia quickly hugged her boyfriend tightly whispering something for consolation

"Eloise!" A familiar voice called making her turn around to see João walking away from the bench wearing his jacket

Eloise made her way towards him as he wrapped his arms around her "I'm sorry" she whispered softly as he rubbed her back.

"Don't" he told her when she was about to pull back "I really need this"

Ben instantly looked at Mason who was talking to Koulibaly and Cucurella but his eyes were on Eloise and João who slowly pulled apart. Mason was amazed by his own strength, truly but he also knew that she didn't owe him anything

"This Valentina" Eloise introduced her best friend making him smile as they hugged briefly "You did great, I promise... things like this happen all the time"

"Yeah, I guess but on my debut game?" He scoffed in disappointment and she rubbed his arm with a tight smile

"It'll be fine, I promise" she tried to make him see the light in the situation "This is your first game, you still have plenty and I will cheer for you even if you don't score which I'm sure you will"

"Thank you" he couldn't help but smile shaking his head as Chilly approached them curiously

"Ah! Little Rice" he greeted cheerfully and she chuckled hugging him as his eyes were on Valentina "Long time no see"

"Liar, you saw two weeks ago" she stated with a playful eye roll "Oh, this is Valentina, my best friend"

"The infamous Valentina" Ben drawled offering his hand and she shook it politely "Nice to meet you. I'm Ben"

"Nice to meet you, Ben" she smiled warmly and even when it was drizzling, heat creeped up to her face

"I should probably say hi to Mase" Eloise announced looking around for Mason and when she spotted him, Ben grabbed her arm making her, João and Valentina frown in confusion

"Can we talk?" He asked but she didn't have the chance to respond, he pulled her away from João and Valentina "Where do you know João again?"

"The world cup?" She replied hesitantly with furrowed eyebrows "Why?"

"So you're here for him?" He questioned as he looked taken back

"It's his debut game and he has no friends here, well, no real friends" she elaborated wrapping her arms around her shoulders "You know, you still haven't answered the "why""

Mason was walking towards them making her smile slightly but he surprised both her and Ben by passing past her like he didn't even know. Sophia sent a questioning look at Valentina who was just as struck as everyone who noticed

"I- uh" Eloise swallowed thickly as she felt as if someone stabbed her heart, yet didn't pull the knife out "I should go"

"He's just upset" Ben tried to defend him and she shook her head forcing a smile

"It's okay, Ben. Val, João and I are leaving. I promised him that we'd hang out after" she said touching his arm briefly

"Can I come along?" He asked quickly and she looked at him incredulously "If you don't mind"

"Of course, I don't mind"

She went back to João who was chatting with now Sophia, Kai and Valentina "Anyways, let's go" she told them with a bright smile trying to hide the hurt in her eyes

"Can you wait like ten, fifteen minutes tops?" João asked her and she nodded "Thank you"

"We won't take long" Kai promised before kissing his girlfriend's cheek and walked away with his new teammate

"What the fuck is wrong with Mason?" Valentina snapped when the men were out of earshot

"Can we go?" Eloise asked numbly but before they had the time to respond she walked away and Sophia sighed as they followed her

"We can cut his dick off, you know, just say the word" Valentina offered wrapping her arm around Eloise "Im just saying, that was a dick move, therefore we should cut it"

"Val, we all know you faint at the sight of blood" Sophia stated with an amused look

"I can faint after I know his dickless"

"Ben is joining us" Eloise announced changing the subject

"Oh my God, I'm so banging him" Valentina warned them before groaning "What is he hot?"

"Just so you know, he can't commit to a car, let alone a relationship" Eloise pointed out applying her lipstick

"That's why I said bang not date. Keyword, Eloise is bang" Valentina said with an eye roll "Anyways, you should probably date João, he likes you"

"Yeah, I can tell" Sophia added with a nod

"I really need alcohol and listen to Taylor Swift" Eloise groaned placing her head on the steering wheel

"Oh my God!" Valentina exclaimed dramatically making both girls look at her "Stella Russell is dropping her debut album next month! It's called Feels like"

"You're joking" Eloise snatched the phone from her hand to see it was indeed true "Awe and Charles commented 'I'm so proud of you, baby' with a red heart. I need to date, this is no joke"

"So, we'll soon know what happened between her and Mase" Sophia said mindlessly and both girls looked at her "What?"

"No Mason talk. Don't say the M word" Valentina said sternly

"Jesus, okay"

♠️♠️♠️

Eloise, Sophia, Valentina, João, Kai and Ben entered a pub and they all settled down after placing their orders. It wasn't crowded but it wasn't empty either and the women really hoped the bar was a swiftie like they were

"You okay?" João asked Eloise when she drank the vodka glass in one gulp. She grabbed his glass and drowned it too "I guess not"

"Take that from her!" Ben exclaimed as he was about to take his drink away from her but he was and João were late "Damn Eloise, you really are alcoholic. Your brother wasn't joking"

"Yeah, well law school make you alcoholic" she stated with a sigh

"You're a law student?"

"She's a genius, we all call her the smartest Rice" Ben praised with a smirk and Valentina nodded in agreement

"Yeah, she graduated hight school at sixteen" she pointed out and Eloise's cheeks were scarlet red "And now she will get her master degree in May"

"I still have another year and I have to pass the bar" Eloise said "I'm not even sure if I'll pass the bar"

"You will" João told her with a confident smile placing his hand on her thigh before realizing what he had done making him quickly remove his hand

"Thank you" she told him grabbing his hand entwining their fingers as he tightened his grip

"I don't like this" Ben whispered to Kai who nodded in agreement "Call Mason"

"So she can murder me and get away with it? No, thanks" Kai scoffed in disbelief shaking his head in denial

"Coward, I will"

"I'm not involved, if Sophia finds out, she will kick me out of the room and trust me, it's not great" Kai told him before shrugging "He probably won't pick up"

"I'm gonna ask them to play cruel summer" Eloise told them standing up with João, their fingers still intertwined

"Silent code for we'll go somewhere to make out" Ben scoffed quietly and Kai glared at him

"I love you baby!" Sophia pointed at her before blowing her a kiss as Ben discreetly sent a text to Mason telling him to come to the bar urgently, though he didn't tell him why

When the bartender switched the music to "cruel summer", Eloise blew him a kiss before started singing. João had his left hand on her waist and the right one holding his drink

He knew there was chemistry between them, he knew that he liked her even though he only knew her for couple of weeks but something about her kept dragging him closer to her, like a magnet

"Você é linda" João whispered in her ear and she knew what he meant, though she didn't understand Portuguese but she understood a little bit of Spanish

She understood what "linda" meant making her blush before looking up smiling at him and he leaned down kissing her cheek "You really are" he told her sincerely

While she was singing, he was looking down at her with a small smile making Ben and Kai share a look knowing damn well this wasn't good for Mason who surprised them by stepping inside the bar looking around for them

Truth was, Mason and Eloise were sharing their location and he hated that he used it to track her down because of his irrational thoughts that dragged him to the bar. His eyes landed on Ben who was laughing at something Valentina said

He made his way towards them with a small smile, though he was surprised to not see Eloise anywhere with them. Ben looked alarmed when he saw him which confused Mason

"Hi!" He greeted with a polite smile

"How did you get here so fast?" Ben questioned suspiciously and Mason frowned lightly "I sent you a text literally five minutes ago, how did you get here so fast?"

"I haven't seen your text and I was already on my way... Where's Eloise?" He asked looking at Valentina and Sophia who pretended that they didn't hear him "Val, where's Ellie?"

"Why? So you'd act like you don't know her?" She questioned with a bitter smile and he sighed in frustration

"I want to apologise" he admitted glancing at Sophia who looked troubled "I shouldn't have acted the way I did earlier. Where is she?"

"Maybe you should sit down" Kai told him offering him a drink and Mason shook his head in denial

"Is she okay? Where is she?" Mason started to panic looking between them all and Ben shook his head

"No, she's completely fine, I can't say the same about you though, so have a couple of drinks, mate" Ben suggested patting the empty seat besides him just when Eloise and João approached them

"What are you doing here?" Eloise asked him making him turn around quickly, the sight before him made him feel dizzy. He had to place his hand on the bar table to support himself

João had his arm wrapped around her waist, they were so close that it made Mason want to throw up from sickness. He knew he had no right to feel betrayed but it was worse, he felt like she stabbed his heart and twisted the knife inside his chest slowly

"Can we talk?" He asked her, though his eyes were on João arm and she nodded glancing up at João who removed his arm slowly

"I'll be right back" she whispered with a small smile and walked away as Mason followed her outside the bar

"Why are you here?" She questioned the second they were out of the bar noise "How did you even know where I am?"

"Do you kiss all of your friends?" He questioned with a glare and she felt as if someone slapped her face with a a brick

"How dare you?" She snapped pushing his chest making him stumble back, though she knew it was the alcohol speaking "How fucking dare you!"

"Were you just waiting for him to show up so you'd discard me?" He questioned with a bitter smile "Good enough to fuck but not good enough to date?"

"You know what Mason? This is exactly why I'm not ready to date you, I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready, I was in love with you since I was fourteen for god sake and you never failed to remind me that you only saw me as a little sister at every given chance but then you kiss me when I was seventeen while you were dating someone else, what else do you want from me Mason?" She asked him and pain reflected in her eyes, he was speechless. He knew this ought to happen, sooner or later. She was going to explode

"Eloise-"

"You think I trust you with my heart?" She asked him as her voice cracked "How could you act territorial when you ignored me for days! Fuck me and go on a date with someone else the next morning, if it doesn't scream a big 'you're worthless, Eloise' then I don't know what else does. One day you want me and the next day I'm nothing. I'm tired of going back and forth, if you're not over your ex, I'm sorry it sucks for you but she moved on and maybe it's time for you to stop being a fucking coward and move on too"

She was about to walk back but he caught her wrist stopping her with a pleading look and she shook her head in denial. He slowly removed his hand making her bump onto Ben just when she was about to get in and he grabbed both of her shoulders

"Do you want me to take you home?" Ben asked her and she refused to meet his eyes as she nodded

"I'll say goodbye to everyone" she replied as a tear escaped her eye and she forced a smile wiping it away "Sorry, I tend to get emotional when I drink"

"Don't be" he told her rubbing her shoulder to comfort her and she quickly got inside the bar and he looked up to see Mason who hit the wall with his hand

"Don't say it, I know" Mason told him with a scowl as he looked at his hand that was bleeding a bit

"I'm going to say it anyways, you're an asshole" Ben stated with a cold glare "What the fuck? You straight up called her-"

"Don't, I didn't mean it that way" Mason warned him glaring back at him "Fuck... what did I do? What the fuck?"

"Yeah, you just hurt the woman you love" Ben shrugged opening his car with his keys "If you're going to keep hurting her, just let her go and she's right about what she said, you know? If you didn't move on-"

"I've moved on" Mason trailed him off quickly and Ben looked up with a raised eyebrow "I didn't move on from what happened?"

"You know if you don't talk about it'll only get worse" Ben told him softly as he placed a hand on his shoulder and Mason's eyes glistening with tears before looking up trying to hold him back

"She was pregnant" Mason said quietly before sitting down on a chair looking down at his hands as Ben's eyes widened "She had a miscarriage and... I was going to marry her, you know. She was strong, we were but then the feelings were no longer there and then... she left."

"Fuck" Ben breathed out sitting down beside him "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that... bad"

"She tried to stay, she really tried but it wasn't working anymore" Mason explained with a frustrated sigh "And I know I fucked my chance with Eloise... she was bound to leave anyway"

Meanwhile Eloise was still saying goodbye to her friends, she hated the fact that Mason ruined her mood by just his presence as she hugged Valentina, Sophia and Kai. Lastly, she wrapped her arms around João

"I have a class tomorrow" she whispered and he tightened his arms around her before kissing her cheek and then nodded

"Can I see you after practice?" He questioned before pulling away and she nodded with a small smile and then she stood on her tip toes kissing his cheek  "Text me when you get home"

"I will, Ben will be back though" she told them

"I thought you're going with Mason" Kai stated with a deep frown and João tensed for a moment

"No, he can join you all if he feels like it, but we aren't going together" she retorted with a dry smile and he nodded slowly "Bye, see you soon"

♠️♠️♠️

I should probably turn this into a João fanfic lol