I was grabbing my suitcase after landing in Spain. I texted Ona after the finals and asked her if the offer was still up because winning the finals was a great distraction, but I wanted more. I needed to be distracted for longer. She said she'd pick me up from the airport so, I was just waiting for my suitcase to arrive now.

Once it did, I texted her saying I was coming out. The bright Spain sun hit me, making me recoil, when I exited the airport. I looked around, trying to look for Ona, but struggled to find her.

As I pull out my phone, I jump at a sudden feeling of hands on my shoulders and someone saying 'boo'.

"Ona!" I turn around and see the girl. "You scared the shit out of me." I say, my hand on my heart.

"I was just excited to see you." She shrugs as she takes my suitcase and wheels it to her car while I keep a hold of my hand luggage.

"You were excited?" I say with a small smirk ans she wacks my arm.

"Get in the car." She opens the passenger side door for me and I smile as I get in.

The drive doesn't take that long and we arrive at Ona's place in no time. She helps me take my stuff up to the room I'll be staying at and then she walks me over to the kitchen to start on some food before we go out.

"I'll help-"

"No, you won't." Ona stops me with a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, my God!" I say to her. "I cut my finger once while cutting tomatoes and now you wont let me even step foot in the kitchen!"

"Safety first, linda (pretty/lovely)."

"You're not funny, Ons." I huff as I sit down behind the island and rest my head on my arms.

"What are you thinking about?" She glances at me.

"Nothing." I shake my head and sit up. "So, what are we doing today?" I ask, knowing I'm only here for a week before preseason starts.

"That's a surprise." Ona smiles at me as she continues on the food.

"Fine." I huff again.

After we'd eaten, Ona dragged me out of the house. I'd gotten changed into a pair of denim shorts, a tanktop and a linen shirt ontop. I was excited to be in Spain and even better with Ona.

"We're going to go to the stadium first." Ona tells me as we get into her car and begin driving. She turns the music on and I begin singing along to the songs while she laughs at me. "I've always liked listening to you sing."

I turn my head to face Ona as she glances at me quickly with a warm smile. "Thanks." I smile back before looking down.

We make it to the stadium and Ona shows me around. I was in awe of the structure of it. "No way you get to play here." I say while I stand on the pitch, looking around at everything.

"Guess who else does too." Ona says and points over to the tunnel. I look over and see Lucy walking out.

"Lucy!" I run over and jump on her, wrapping my legs around her as she stumbles back but holds me up.

"You just saw me last week when we won the Euros together." She laughs at me as she hugs me back.

"I know, but I missed you." I shrug as she lets me down. Lucy and I had always been close. I wasn't as close to her as I was to Rachel or Beth on camp, but she was always a familiar face. We'd been to the 2019 World Cup together and it was scary and new for me, but she made me feel at home and now we'd just won the Euros together 3 years later.

"What are you doing here?" She asks me, realising I was just stood in Barcelona's stadium when I play for Arsenal.

"Decided to have a week in Spain with my girl, Ona." I say, wrapping my arm around Ona's shoulders.

To Lucy, I was just having a holiday out in Spain with a friend. To Ona and I, this was a getaway from everything going on at home.

"Have fun, if you guys head down to the beach at some point this week, you'll probably see me." Lucy says as she pays my shoulder and then walks away to go finish of what she's doing.

"Put beach on the bucket list." I say to Ons.

"Already done." She laughs at me. "But first, we're going to watch the boys play."

"There's a match on today?" I ask, clearly unaware.

"In an hour."

Ona and I had a lot of fun at the game. It was filled with laughter and jokes. At one point, I ended up on the floor in tears because I was laughing that hard.

I really needed that. That 90 minutes kept my mind off of everything that had gone wrong in the past few months and in those moments it was just me and Ona. Not two footballers, not two exes, just two girls having fun at a football game.

It was my last day in spain now since I'd be flying out tomorrow morning. Ona and I had gone to many different places. We'd been to resteraunts, cafés, a spanish dance class which ended up with us both tripping on one another's feet and we even drove to Vilassar De Mar, where Ona was born and grew up. She showed me some of her favourite places there and I'd learnt so much about Ona on this trip. It was really nice.

The sun hung high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the Spanish coast as Ona and I set up our towels on the soft sand. Waves gently lapped at the shore, the sound rhythmic and calming. The beach wasn't too crowded thankfully. It was scattered with sunbathers and a few families but that was all.

As we sunbathed, I closed my eyes, letting the sun radiate it's heat on my body. Ona nudges me and I open my eyes as she points to the shoreline.

"Is that-" Ona squints.

I lift my head, and sure enough, walking towards us with her signature casual stroll is the Lucy Bronze.

"Well, look who it is!" Lucy grins, her hair pulled back into a messy bun, sunglasses perched on her head.

Ona and I stand up to greet her, laughter bubbling between us as Lucy pulls us into quick hugs.

"Not surprised to see you here." I say to Lucy.

"I did warn you. I'm enjoying my holiday while life's great before pre season starts," Lucy plops down on our towel as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

The three of us sit and chat, catching up on what the each of us had done in the week and upcoming plans for the season. Lucy, as always, was effortlessly cool, filling the air with easy conversation. At one point, we all took a dip in the water, splashing around like kids, any tensions in our lives left far behind.

After a couple of hours, Lucy checked her phone and stood up, brushing the sand off her legs.

"I've gotta head off, meeting some friends for dinner," she says, throwing on her shirt. "You two enjoy the rest of your day. And hey-don't get into too much trouble."

Ona laughs, shaking her head. "We'll try."

With a final wave, Lucy jogs off, disappearing down the shoreline. Ona and I watch her leave, a small silence settling between us now that we're alone again. The sun sits lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the sand, and the crowds had thinned out even more.

I lay back on the towel, my eyes on the horizon. "She's always so chill," I say, breaking the quiet.

"Yeah, she is," Ona replies, but her voice is softer now. "but I'm glad we're alone."

The sky begins to transform, fhe fiery orange and pink hues reflecting off the water. The breeze picked up slightly, cooling out skin. The atmosphere had shifted to something quiter, more intimate.

I propped myself up on my elbows and glances at Ona, noticing the way the fading light caught in her hair, the gentle curve of her smile.

"You've been quiet today." I say, my tone soft, almost hesitant.

Ona shrugs, though a hint of something deeper flickers in her eyes. "Just thinking. About us. About how things have changed."

My heart slips, slightly, my pulse quickening. We hadn't talked about our past in a while- not since the United game which was over 6 months ago. The silence between us now felt loaded, as if there were things still left unsaid between us.

"You still think about it?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

Ona looks down at the sand, brushing it with her fingertips before meeting my gaze. "Sometimes. Not in the same way I used to. But being here with you... it brings back memories, you know?"

I nod. I do know. The two of us had tried moving on, but the lingering history, the old wounds, they hadn't completely healed.

But instead of focusing on the past, I smile. "We were different back then. Maybe we needed this time apart to grow."

Ona smiles too, though it was tinged with a sadness that felt like nostalgia. "Maybe."

The silence stretches over us again, but it isn't uncomfortable. It's the kind of silence shared between people who know each other too well to fill it with unnecessary words.

The sun begins sinking lower now, casting a beautiful orange glow across the sea. I stand up and hold out my hand. "Come on. Let's watch the sunset from the water."

Ona takes it and we walk to the shoreline, our feet sinking into the wet sand as the waves lap around our ankles. We stand there, side by side, watching the sky turn from orange to pink, then fade into a deep purple.

As the sky dims and the stars start to peek out, I glance at Ona again. The soft light of dusk made everything feel softer, more fragile. Without thinking, I reach out and gently brush a strand of hair behind Ona's ear.

Ona doesn't pull away. In fact, she leans slightly into my touch, her eyes searching my face for a moment, as if considering something.

My heart races. This moment feels too intimate, too raw, but I don't want it to end. We had left so much unspoken between us, and yet, standing here in the twilight, it felt like all the words in the world wouldn't be enough to describe what we had shared once.

"Ona?" My voice is barely higher than a whisper as the girl hums in response. "Did you ever find it hard to love me because of how closed off I am?"

Ona looks out at the sea for a moment, the waves reflecting the fading light of the sunset, before turning back to me. Her eyes softened with understanding, but there was something deeper there, a mixture of sadness and regret.

"I never found it hard to love you, Elena," Ona begins, her voice steady but gentle. "It wasn't about you being closed off. You've always been... guarded, yes, but I knew that from the start. I loved you for who you were. I never needed you to be anything else."

My gaze drops to the sand, my heart heavy with Caitlin's words still echoing in my mind.

Ona sighs softly and reaches out, lightly touching my arm. "What made it hard wasn't that you were closed off, but that sometimes... you wouldn't let me in at all. Not in the way I wanted. I don't think you even realized it. I know you were trying. But it felt like you were always waiting for me to give up on you, even when I had no intention of leaving."

Ona pauses letting the words settle between us, watching as I process what she's saying.

"I didn't need you to be perfect, or to have everything figured out. I just wanted you to trust me with the parts you kept hidden. The parts that scared you." She hesitates, then adds quietly, "I think you were afraid of being hurt, even before you had a reason to be. And that's what made it difficult."

My throat tightens as I look at Ona, feeling the weight of her words. "I didn't mean to keep you out," I say, quietly. "I just... didn't know how to let you in."

Ona smiles, a small, sad smile. "I know. And I didn't blame you for that. I think we were both trying, but maybe we didn't know how to reach each other the way we needed to."She steps a little closer, her voice soft but firm. "Loving you wasn't hard, Elena. What was hard was watching you doubt whether you deserved to be loved."

My chest tightens at those words, the truth of them sinking in. Caitlin's harsh words from the breakup had planted a seed of doubt, but hearing Ona say this now made me realize it had been there long before.

"You know," Ona speaks again, "this is exactly what I needed."

I smile, my hand lingering near Ona's until the Spanish girl finally interlocks our fingers. "Me too."

We stand there together, watching the last sliver of the sun dip below the horizon, the waves now glowing under the faint moonlight. For a moment, it felt like nothing else existed but the two of us and the sea.

Whatever had happened between us in the past-whatever heartbreak, misunderstandings, or unfinished conversations-didn't matter here. This moment, under the Spanish sky, was our quiet truce.