Chapter 10 - I promise

Rosie's POV:Tears were already building behind my eyes. I could feel them pounding to be let out, but I knew if I let the barrier down, I couldn't build it back up. Lucy deserved the truth, even though I had only known her a few days, she had already helped me more than she'll ever know. I wasn't going to be restrained by my "parents" once more. I had to do this.

After I had stopped pacing, Lucy just stared blankly up at me, confused to say the least. Something about the way she looked at me gave me a rush of confidence through my veins, so I blurted out, "I need to tell you something but I don't think I could say what I need to say without hysterically crying so I'm just going to show you if that's okay?" I looked towards her, she was nodding slowly, probably trying to prepare herself for the unknown situation that was about to happen.

As soon as Lucy had nodded, I took in a big deep breath, held it for a few seconds before letting it out. The walls behind my eyes were being eroded away with tears so I knew I had to be quick. I slowly tugged Lucy's training t-shirt over my head leaving the top half of my bruised, weak and swollen body exposed, with just a sports bra to cover me. My immediate reaction was to bring my arms up to my chest and attempt to cover the truth I had just uncovered. Eventually, I brought my eyes down to meet Lucy's, who's were filling up as she had a solemn expression painted across her pale face. Her mouth hung slightly open, and she just stared. Not in a rude and uncomfortable way though. I could tell she was just letting everything sink in. She finally had a spur of movement as she brought her hands up to mine and removed them from the tragedy I was covering. She didn't let go of them though, she held on. Tight.

Thankfully, she didn't ask any questions. She just traced my bruises cautiously with her fingers. I felt relieved that I had shared my situation with someone. My head felt lighter. I had carried it around with me for all my life and now I had finally let it go.

I could tell that Lucy was struggling for words. I understood, it must be hard to see your newly reunited daughter in so much pain. I knew she would be blaming herself for not being there for me, and even though it is a tiny bit her fault for letting me go, she couldn't have done anything to prevent this. I reassured her that it wasn't her fault but I could see in her eyes that she blamed herself.

Lucy finally spoke. And even though it wasn't much, it was enough. She wrapped her arms around me and whispered with so much sincerity, "I love you so much and I will never let you go again".  I just mumbled back, "I love you too". We stayed like that for a while before it seemed that Lucy had gotten her words back. Including questions. She sat facing me on my bed, holding my hands in hers.

(Rosie is normal, Lucy is bold)

Who are they off? The people I was living with, who claimed to be my parentsHow did no one notice?Concealer and long sleeve t-shirts, even in the summerSorry I have so many questions but why didn't you tell anyone?It's fine. I never really had anyone to tell that I trusted. Even if I did tell someone, I could never escape that house. I had nowhere else to go.So you trust me?Of course I do. I know it's only been a few days, but you've shown me more love in that time than my entire life.

Lucy Bronze's POV:After what Rosie had told..shown me, it felt like I had failed as a parent. There is no worse pain than seeing the person you love and care for the most in the world hurt. It felt like after seeing those bruises, cuts and marks, something inside me just shattered. It really made me realise that while I was away in Lyon winning Champions League medals, my daughter was fighting for her life. It made me even more determined to make up for those 15 years lost in a dark abyss. I knew she was strong minded like me, but she had endured this for the entirety of her life. She was stripped of a normal childhood and the beginning of her teenage years. No child ever deserves to feel like that, that they are the ones that have failed and have caused this problem. The strength it must have taken to go to school knowing what you were returning to.

Even from just looking at Rosie's ribs, I knew they were broken. She couldn't risk joining in with our training anymore otherwise they might not heal, "I know you probably don't want to but you need to let the team nurse examine you. She won't ask any questions, I promise". Rosie shook her head furiously towards my statement, but i kept pushing, "I'll be there with you. I promise she'll just examine you, maybe give you some medicine to take and tell you to rest. There won't be any questions". She reluctantly nodded, she knew it was the right thing to do. I picked her t-shirt up off the bed and handed it to her, "come on, let's get it over and done with, then we can relax for the rest of the night before travelling home tomorrow afternoon". I was glad it was the end of camp. It gave me time to sort things out, and it gave Rosie time to rest her injuries.

As we left the lift, Keira and a few other girls were waiting to get in. I must still have looked in shock because she pulled me aside and said concerningly, "are you okay? What happened?". I just shook my head, not wanting to begin anything I couldn't finish. She pulled me in for a hug, almost knowing that I was desperate for the comfort it brought me. I whispered in her ear, "I'm just taking Rosie to see the nurse, we'll talk later. I promise". We pulled away from eachother and she looked more confused than before, but I could also see a shadow of concern in her eyes. It made me glad that the two most important people in my life got on. It just made things so much easier. I also didn't have a problem when I told Rosie she was moving to mine and Keira's house in Manchester. In fact, she was happy that Keira was going to be around us all the time. They had a special bond, Keira was teaching Rosie how to swim because her ex-parents had never bothered to and Rosie was teaching Keira how to do the rainbow flick that she had pulled on every one of us too many times.

We walked up to the front desk and asked the receptionist sat there what number room our team nurse was in. When she had given it to us, we made our way back to the lift and pushed the number 2 button in. Rosie hadn't said anything since we left the hotel room. I didn't blame her, this must be terrifying. I grabbed her hand to let her know once more that I was here for her. She gave me a weak smile.

Once the lift had reached floor 2, we got out and started to search for the nurse's room. Eventually we found it. I brought my fist up to knock on it. Almost as soon as I had, a small lady answered, smiling, "Lucy! How are you? Don't tell me you've injured your knee again. Who's this you've brought with you? Is this the famous daughter everyone's talking about?" I just laughed lightly while shaking my head at how forward she was. I replied, "hello! It's been a while Karen, no I'm not injured, and yes she is, I need you to check her out please". She ushered us in while saying, "of course! Take a seat dear". As Rosie went to sit on the bed, I whispered to Karen, "and no questions please". She looked confused but I could tell she understood what I meant. I went and sat next to Rosie as Karen sat down on her chair opposite the bed, "now, what can nurse Karen do for you?". I began to tell her that she had a problem with her ribs and Rosie began to slowly, reluctantly take off her, or rather my, t-shirt. When Karen saw the bruises, she didn't look too shocked, she must have seen this kind of thing before. Although, she looked like she had dozens of questions she was desperate to ask. I was glad that she remembered what I saw otherwise that would have made Rosie very uncomfortable. She looked towards the bruises for a moment before saying, "can I touch them please? Just to help me decide what this is". Rosie didn't say anything, she just nodded. I gripped tighter onto her hand. Partially because I was anxious to find out if this was a serious or a minor injury. Karen prodded around Rosie's stomach for a bit before coming to the conclusion, "luckily, you have only broken one rib, so surgery won't be necessary. However, you have quite a severe case of bruised ribs. This is probably why you are in so much discomfort". The first thing Rosie said in response to this was, "when can I play football?". The nurse replied, "you should rest for about a month, only doing light exercise. You can do relaxed training, but nothing strenuous or any matches. That would put too much strain on your ribs. Swimming and golf would be beneficial though." She turned to me, "she's just like you isn't she Luce? Desperate to play her best, even after a setback". I just smiled and nodded proudly. I was glad that Rosie had received my trait of wanting to be the best.

After Karen had given Rosie some medication to take twice a day, we left her room. Rosie seemed a lot more upbeat about the whole situation, knowing what was exactly the issue. When we returned to the room, Rosie took a short nap, so I decided that I would order Rosie some new football boots, so when we got home the next day, they would be there waiting for her. I ordered her a pair of Nike mercurials in white with her initials on the side. I was feeling productive, so I also ordered her a lot of new clothes and a few pairs of shoes as she only had a few old things. Doing this made me feel like a proper mother. Not one that has disappeared for 15 years and left her in a terrible home with terrible people.

Rosie's POV:After the weight of my secret had been lifted off my shoulders, I has managed to have an uninterrupted sleep for the first time in a while. Even the previous night when had fallen asleep in Lucy's arms, I was still disturbed. The figures of my ex-parents dancing around my dream, taunting me. Even though I couldn't play a football match for a month, I felt happy, and cautiously optimistic. This was the life that I had been dreaming about for so long. When I was younger I remember telling my ex-parents about a dream I had about becoming a professional footballer. They had mocked me and told me dreams don't come true. I had believed them, up until now. I was living proof that dreams did come true.

I had only been awake for 10 minutes before Rachel and Millie were knocking on the door asking for help with their tik toks. I pulled on a hoodie with the initials LB on it and shoved on some random black and white sliders by the room door. Before I left, Lucy looked up at me and said, "stay safe". At first, I was confused. Surely Millie and Rach weren't that dangerous. Later, I understood she wasn't telling me to be safe because of them. But because she had left me in an unsafe environment 15 years ago, and she didn't want to make that mistake again. I nodded towards Lucy before leaving with Millie and Rachel. As soon as my hotel room door had shut, Rachel shouted, "race to our room, last one takes a 10 minute ice bath!". I sprinted as hard as I could with sliders on. We ran past multiple people on the team, including Steph who just shook her head, laughing at us. Rachel had tried to pull Millie down, but she was too big and  strong. Finally, just as my lungs were about to cave in, I ran into their hotel room door. I fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath. I has just won against 2 professional footballers. I decided that I wasn't ever going to let them live that down. When they finally arrived at the room, I mocked them jokingly, "imagine being beat by a 15 year old". They just shook their heads in disbelief. After that, we spent hours doing tik toks. I had to explain things multiple times to them because they didn't understand how to do a simple thing like insert a green screen. It was only when I got a concerned text from Lucy and they got angry texts from Steph and Serena asking where we were did we realise how late it was. Dinner was supposed to start at 6.15 and I was now 6.37. We just looked at eachother silently before I whispered, "oh shit...". Millie immediately shot back, "hey mini Bronze, you're not allowed to swear, you're only 15". Rachel had a completely different approach, "it fits with the current situation though". We were wasting valuable time so I shouted out, "last one to the dining hall!" and ran off down the hotel corridor, annoying more guests.