you knew something was off the moment katies feet hit the floor with a dull thud at six in the morning. your eyes shot awake and you sat bolt upright as your girlfriend collapsed to her knees and started retching in the ensuite.
flinging off the covers you hurried to her grabbing her hair and pulling it out of her face, rubbing her back as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.
"oh babe." you sighed sympathetically as she slumped against the wall wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "you're really pale and burning up." you frowned, checking her temperature as her forehead pulsated with heat and her brow was matted with sweat.
two more times she threw up before seeming to settle, an empathetic wince on your face as her head moved to rest against your leg. "you feel up to a shower baby?" you asked gently, running a hand through her hair as she nodded.
"yeah i feel disgustin." the girl rasped out and your heart ached at the obvious strain on her voice where her throat was straining. "gimme the toothbrush first please." katie requested quietly as you did as she asked, helping her up and toward the sink once she was done.
rinsing her mouth out again thoroughly you placed a kiss to her flushed cheek and moved to run the shower. once the water was the right temperature you helped her undress as her body slumped against you, taking her hand and helping her into the shower.
quickly stripping off your own clothes you joined her, her body wrapping around yours as the water rained down on the two of you. turning her gently you helped her to wash her hair, assuring it would make her feel better.
placing feather light kisses to the back of her neck you massaged the shampoo into her hair as her taller frame leaned into you slightly, eyes closed.
rinsing off the last of the conditioner and softly kissing her shoulder you helped her out of the shower, wrapping her in a towel and gently tugging her back into the bedroom.
"hoodie or shirt?" you sat her down on the corner of the bed and moved her damp hair gently out of her face. "shirt, yours." katie mumbled out as you nodded. "i'll be two seconds baby, promise." you assured as she moved to grab you with a frown as you tried to move away.
katie letting go of your arm you quickly dressed yourself and grabbed some shorts and a shirt for her, helping her into them. not wanting her to lay back down with wet hair you gently dried it a little more with a towel, your girlfriends head resting against your stomach as she hugged you while you did.
"okay love, back to bed for a little for you." you smiled down at her softly as she nodded, letting go of you and shuffling up the bed, tucking herself under the covers and making grabby hands at you.
slipping in beside her you tangled your hands in her hair, nails gently scratching at her scalp as katies face pressed into your neck. her body heat overwhelming you kicked off your side off the blankets a little to have some respite.
your girlfriend falling right back to sleep you weren't long to follow suit, though not even an hour later you awoke to katie doubled over coughing. you sat up and rubbed her back as she wheezed and choked slightly, a bottle of water thrust into her hand from your sidetable.
a light squeeze to your knee was a silent thanks as katie quickly took a large mouthful of water. "no!" she managed to get out, grabbing the back of your top as you tried to leave the bed.
"baby i have to go get you some cough medicine, i'll be right downstairs. please stay here and try to rest, i'll be fast." you promised, the irish footballer shaking her head firmly and pulling you back into bed.
"katie, my love. you are so good at taking care of me when i'm sick, please let me return the favour." you pleaded, hands cupping her flushed cheeks as she hummed and let you go, a scowl on her face as she nodded none the less.
"ten minutes then i'm comin down after ya." the older girl warned flopping back into bed, voice cracking adorably as you chuckled. "deal." you agreed, pushing her hair out of her face and tenderly kissing her forehead.
it was just after eight in the morning as you sent leah a message that katie was unwell and wouldn't be at training, having met your girlfriend through the blonde english captain who you'd known since primary school.
leah sent her well wishes and advised if either of you needed anything to reach out, before jokingly wishing you luck as you rolled your eyes at the message.
for katie to be this ill you knew to take it seriously, the girl could break her ankle and still refuse to show a sign of weakness, one of the most stubbornly passionate human beings you ever met and you loved her dearly for it even if at times it was incredibly frustrating.
you swore quietly to yourself realising you were running low on quite literally everything you'd be needing to look after your patient, grabbing a fresh bottle of water and returning upstairs.
"get in here and cuddle me." katie croaked out, bundled up in the covers as her head peeked out over the top. "i promise i will, but-" katie let out a small groan and a cough at the last word as you sat on the edge of the bed.
"i have to go to the chemist and the store baby we've got no tissues, no cough medicine, soup stuff, tea-" you listed off what you needed as your girlfriend groaned again, shuffling across the bed and resting her head in your lap.
"don't need none of that darlin, just you." katie rasped out with a sigh as you smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "thats very sweet but unfortunately you need a little more than me if you wanna get better." you advised as the brunette shook her head.
"no."
"yes."
"no."
"yes."
"no. stop makin me speak my throat hurts!" katie huffed, looking up with a frown as you chuckled.
"then stop arguing with me." you warned softly, words mumbled against her warm skin as you kissed her temple. "baby i need to change and go to the-" you tried to stand only to be pulled back into bed, and even not at full strength katie easily outmaneuvered you.
"katie." you sighed, hint of a smile at your lips at her clingy behavior, her toned arms wrapped firmly around your torso. "thats baby to you." the girl retorted, words muffled as her face pressed into your chest, her hair tickling at your nose.
"do you want to be match fit for sunday? because we can stay wrapped up in bed all week but you won't get any better and i'll keep texting leah saying you can't train and-" a hand settled over your mouth cutting you off mid sentence.
"i don't like when you make sense." she huffed, arm settling back by her side. "i know. you just date me for my good looks and witty banter, certainly not my brain." you teased as she pinched you for the quip.
"baby!" katie whined tiredly as you wrenched her arms off and quickly rolled out of bed as she snatched at thin air. you ignored her needy huffs and moved into the bathroom, grabbing some clothes on the way.
by the time you'd changed and returned to the room you frowned not seeing your girlfriend in bed where you left her. you jumped as suddenly she stepped out of your shared closet, changed into fresh clothes.
"i'm comin with ya." katie grumbled tiredly, latching onto you tightly. deciding it wasn't worth the argument you gave in, rubbing her back and kissing her cheek. "fine. but you're staying in the car!" you warned, a firm look shutting down her protests as she nodded.
"babe i need to drive." you chuckled as katie continued to tug your hand into her lap. "drive one handed." your girlfriend mumbled, head thumping against the glass of the window which fogged up as she exhaled with a slight wheeze.
you threw her a concerned frown and subconsciously stepped down a little harder on the accelerator.
"i will be twenty minutes, tops. take a nap love you look shattered!" you requested, smiling as the brunette nodded tiredly, eyes fluttering closed as she finally let go of your hand.
you made it back in just under fifteen, the sound of your door opening waking katie who blinked sleepily but perked up as you slid into the car.
"that felt like hours." your girlfriend huffed, body slumping sideways into yours as you smiled, reaching over her to drop the bag of supplies by her feet. "you're so clingy when you're sick baby, its quite endearing." you chuckled, katie smacking your leg half heatedly and mumbling something inaudible.
gently pushing her off of you she slumped back into her seat, immediately reaching over to interlace her fingers with yours and pulling your hand into her lap.
arriving home you, with some argument from the brunette, had katie lay down on the sofa as you busied yourself making her a lemon and honey tea. again with some argument you had her sip on it, fighting out of her grip to return to the kitchen.
you had just started preparing the soup when katie grew even more restless, refusing to lay down and instead sticking herself to you like a second skin.
with her chin resting on your shoulder and arms looped around your stomach she clung tightly to you, mumbling into your neck every few minutes how you needed to hurry up.
"okay! yes i'm done now." you chuckled as she whined into your shoulder for the ten thousandth time, dishing the two of you up a bowl of soup.
again you made your girlfriend take a seat, gently pushing her off and promising with a quick kiss that if she could stomach a few mouthfuls the rest of the afternoon you were all hers.
getting through half the bowl katie tapped out with a grimace as you placed a gentle kiss to her cheek and nipped off to the kitchen, rinsing the bowls and smiling at the impatient huffs and groans coming from the living room.
forcing her to take some cough medicine, bribing her again with a few soft kisses.
finally you settled into katies usual spot on the corner of your l shaped sofa the footballer wasted no time rolling her body to rest between your legs, a cool towel on her forehead and your top balled firmly in your fists.
"where'd you find this place?" you smiled in awe as you followed leah into the arcade, the blonde not missing the ways your eyes had lit up the moment the two of you had even parked outside, exactly the reaction she'd hoped for.
it having been your girlfriends turn to organize date night leah reveled in the fact that it was already seeming to be a success before it officially started, and you had to admit the older girl knew you like the back of her hand with this choice.
with both of you working full time, leah as a footballer and you as a primary teacher you both made a commitment early on, the moment things started getting serious, that despite your hectic schedules you'd still make every effort to keep consistent with spending quality time outside of work together.
and so the weekly date nights came into effect.
they weren't always big significant events nor did they always mean the two of you left your shared home, the key takeaway was quality time and so long as the two of you were focused on one another then that was guaranteed.
"lotte put me onto it, tao brought her here on one of their first dates." leah admitted as you gasped sarcastically. "and you're not even taking the credit? oh baby i'm so proud of you!" you cooed mockingly, pinching her cheeks as the taller girl shoved you playfully, the two of you making your way to the counter.
"i'll be taking credit for all the games i'm about to smash you at my girl, don't you worry your pretty little head about that." leah smiled smugly as you rolled your eyes and she hooked you both up with a large bag of tokens, even further fueling your excitement at the fact they still ran their games the old school way, physical tickets printed and all.
"oh my love me and my pretty little head cannot wait to watch you eat your words!" you grinned in response to her call out, and given neither of you liked to lose and were incredibly competitive, it was sure to be an interesting night.
there was a reason the two of you stopped getting invites to game night with leahs family, both of you banned until you learned how to behave like well mannered young women and not hotheaded impatient numpties, in the words of her grandmother.
"well either way you can consider tonight endless tokens, if you can spend them then i will buy them gorgeous." leah promised, pecking your lips sweetly with a charming smile and offering for you to pick the first game.
"mm good question babe. what do i want to beat you at first?" you pondered, stroking your chin as leah sighed dramatically at the time you were taking, tapping her foot and shoving her hands into the pocket of her jacket with a bored look written into her features.
"oh come on!" leah groaned impatiently as you pivoted away from yet another game, amused smirk on your features as you finally stopped and nodded happily.
"basketball. lets start off simple!" you decided, grabbing your girlfriends hand and dragging her over toward the game, the blonde hurrying to yank you back as a gang of young boys sprinted past almost smashing into you, leah looking after them with a deep seeded scowl.
"hey lee, need i remind you this place is actually designed for kids baby, relax." you smiled poking at her cheeks as she huffed air out of her nose but focused her attention back on you, both of you slipping tokens into your sides as the game lit up and a strong american accent yelled out the rules.
"ready...set....go!" leah counted down as the buzzer sounded, both of you scrambling to grab the balls, zoned in on your own rings as the points started to rack up for both of you.
leah snuck a quick glance to your side, bright eyes widening in shock seeing you were in the lead and by quite a significant amount. and just as you said neither of you liked to lose, which is what lead to her next move.
"oi!" you gasped as the defender leaned over and knocked the ball out of your hand, shooting with her other, doing it again and again as you reached for the basketballs.
"leah!" you laughed at her blunt competitiveness, shoving her as the final buzzer for the game sounded and the blonde cheered victoriously, pumping her fist and doing a victory wiggle having just beat you by two points.
"you are such a cheat and a shit loser." you shook your head as leah continued her victory dance, snatching her tickets from the machine and shoving them into her pocket.
"nah i'm not, cause i didn't lose." she booped you on the nose with a token as you smacked her shoulder. "right well if you want to carry on like that. would you care to make this interesting then williamson?" you challenged, crossing your arms over your chest.
"mm perhaps, what do you have in mind for a wager pretty girl?" leah raised an eyebrow curiously, cocky smirk still curled into her features.
"if i win, you do all the dishes and the laundry for a month." you stated, leahs jaw dropping and your smile widening knowing she detested the two tasks and would often offer you anything in return for not having to do them.
"a month!? nah two weeks mate max."
"aw, are you that scared you'll lose baby?"
"i am not! fine, a month then."
"but if i win... then you have to do that thing i've been asking you to since christmas, with my special gift." leah cocked her head to the side, storm blue eyes roaming over your body hungrily as you frowned a little in confusion before it clicked just exactly what she was after.
both half jokingly and half seriously the blonde had gifted you a very ill fitting maids costume for christmas, stating as part of your gift to her you should spend the day wearing it, claiming it would be great motivation for her to join you in doing the housework.
you only laughed and put it away, teasing that not even that would get her to pick up a dirty dish.
but every now and then leah would find it in the back of the wardrobe and the begging would start for you to live out what was clearly a fantasy for the taller girl, and each time you'd just teasingly shake your head in amusement and depart the room with a kiss, leaving her without a real answer.
"fine, a deal's a deal." you shrugged in agreement which was clearly to your girlfriends surprise as her eyebrows shot up in shock and you extended your hand, wiggling your fingers eagerly.
"brilliant. a deals a deal." the blonde echoed as she shook your hand but not before using it to pull your body into hers, stealing a kiss and nipping at your bottom lip, pulling away with a cheeky grin as your head spun and your cheeks flushed pink.
"right, my turn to pick then. and unlike some i won't take an hour to decide!"
~
"how in the hell do you even do this? its got no bloody control!" leah huffed, the two of you sat on motorbikes as you raced around the track on the screens in front of you, the girl beside you far from getting the hang of it despite it being the second time you'd raced, leah demanding a rematch after crashing her bike and earning a loss.
"like this, winner!" you cheered loudly, pumping your fists in the air as you zoomed across the finish line sitting back smugly as leahs eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown and she smacked at the handle bars in annoyance.
"loser." you pointed to her now with a wink as she flipped you off, rings glinting in the bright neon lights above.
"maybe i should get a motorbike." you teased, turning your body as leah jumped off the bike, appearing instantly in between your legs as you stayed sitting side sadle. "over my dead body, maybe focus on learning how to drive a car first babe." leah teased making you roll your eyes, her hands settling on your thighs and squeezing them with a grin.
"i'm a great driver thank you very much."
"mmm but those handful of fines in your glovebox say differently baby girl."
"those are parking fines leah, not driving offences."
"oh i'm so sorry. correction then not only are you a shit driver but you're an appalling parker as well, can't even be trusted when the car is stationary!" leah tutted with a dissapointed shake of her head as you punched her in the shoulder and scoffed.
"sorry let me just get a score check, whose winning?" you asked, cupping a hand over your ear and leaning toward leah whose smile dropped.
"shut up." she mumbled with a small pout as you slid off the motorbike, the two of you wandering around for a moment as leah took her time choosing.
"perfect!" the taller girl grinned spotting a football shootout game in the back corner. "and how many goals do defenders normally score?" you hummed, pretending to be lost in thought as leah slotted in some tokens and rolled her eyes.
"don't be bitter that they don't have a teaching game babe, times tables aren't exactly something kids do in their time off for fun!" leah pouted sarcastically at your chosen career, you now the one to flip her off and gesture for her to start.
"right go on then superstar, dazzle me."
you had to hide your smile behind your hand as leah missed more kicks than she scored, the game clearly designed for a child with much less leg power as every ball sailed up and over the goal.
you watched as her shots became sloppier the more wound up and angry she got, only fueling her to continue to miss time and time again. "nah this is bullshit that's rigged!" leah scowled, kicking at the machine once her turn was over and grumbling under her breath.
"leah!" you scolded, moving her away from causing actual damage as she wound up for another kick.
"hey. breathe for me please, it's just a stupid arcade game, you're still a champion of europe baby. nothing takes that away!" you grabbed at her face, placing a soft kiss to her lips and feeling her body relax somewhat.
"...its just a good thing they didn't need you for any penalties because those attempts? massive yikes."
"oi thats a red card for you my girl, absolutely uncalled for!"
~
"right, this ones the final game." leah glanced at the time and announced with a clap, the two of you so caught up you'd not even realized the time and how long you'd been here.
"oh how convenient, we're tied." you rolled your eyes, not believing that the 'score card' leah had been in charge of was really all that accurate, having been typed up in notes on her phone.
"and what is that supposed to mean?"
"i'm accusing you of score tampering, williamson."
"no idea what on earth you're on about love, i'll even be so kind as to forfeit my turn so that you choose our last game."
"wow, and they say chivalry is dead?"
"mmm that one." you nodded to a shooting game in the corner you'd not yet tried, leah humming in agreement as you made your way over. "was that your stomach?" you asked in disbelief hearing a loud gurgle.
"yes! i'm fucking starving." leah moped with a huff, earning herself an unimpressed look from a mother standing at the next game with her two young kids, you smacking leah lightly and mumbling about her language.
"sorry miss." your girlfriend teased with a cocky smile as you rolled your eyes and gestured for her to take her turn. the gunner shot down 8 tin ducks out of 12 and shrugged, seemingly happy with her efforts.
"beat that, four eyes." leah smirked, flicking at your ear as you smacked away her hands and shot her a dirty look.
you only wore your glasses when you were using your laptop, reading or occasionally when teaching, and as much as leah found you utterly adorable in them the english captain also would never miss an opportunity to rib you about your poor eyesight.
"happily, noodle legs." you quipped back with a smile, grabbing the gun as leah mocked you under her breath and ordered for you to hurry up as her stomach rumbled again.
closing one eye you balanced the toy gun on your arm as the game commenced, shooting down six ducks with ease, a few more to go and you'd win still with plenty of time left to do so.
however as you placed your finger on the trigger, the timer counting down from ten, a set of hands wrapped themselves around your waist, one hand in particular slipping up the inside of your top and harshly squeezing at one of your boobs.
in shock at the unexpected touch you squeezed the trigger and dropped the toy gun, missing the ducks by a mile as the timer went off and leah's hands suddenly disappeared, your skin burning where they'd once been.
"oh that is so not fair! you. are. a. dirty. dirty. dirty. dirty. dirty. little cheat." you protested with a growl, turning on your heel to glare towards a smug looking leah, poking at her chest angrily with each word.
"i simply do not know what you're talking about gorgeous, i guess your aim was just off. and that is not my fault!" the blonde simply smiled cockily, knowing she'd now won.
though sensing your rapidly growing annoyance leah reached for your hand, pulling your body into hers and stepping the two of you in between two pinball machines, briefly tucked away from sight.
"leah catherine williamson you are an unbearably bad loser, a big child, bad mannered, short tempered and-" not even giving you the time to finish your sentence the taller girl cut you off by bringing your lips together, pressing your body against the arcade wall.
leahs hands settled themselves on your hips tucked away under her jacket you'd stolen from her earlier in the night, the defender slowly swiping her tongue against your bottom lip, taking control of the kiss as your arms wrapped around the back of her neck, tangling themselves in her recently chopped short blonde locks.
though before the two of you got any further carried away someone winning a game meant a loud siren went off behind you, the two of you jumping away from one another in shock at the abrupt noise of the machines, sharing a look before breaking out into soft laughter.
"come on hangry, lets go get you some food then." you smiled with a sigh as leahs stomach rumbled yet again, previous annoyance melting away as it always did when it came to the mischievous footballer you were head over heels for.
"no i think we should head home, i'm hungry for something else now." leah murmered quietly, thumb stroking your jaw, lips curling into a smug smile at how your cheeks flushed scarlet at her suggestive tone.
"plus i think you're due for a little outfit change baby girl. a deal's a deal and you're nothing short of a woman of your word, right?"