.eight. 

Halfway through the second half of practice arrived two beautiful young women, one with tanned skin and dark hair that fell past her shoulders in soft waves and the other with ivory skin and naturally red hair that flowed in naturally straight strands. They were Pia and Jude, the girlfriends of his two team mates Mats and Marco. They waved hello to their boyfriends with bright smiles on their faces, opting to let them practice in order to avoid distractions and went straight to the bench area where Arabella was sitting by herself. Both of them were dressed in their Borussia Dortmund jerseys with their boyfriend's name on the back. Arabella looked uneasy to be surrounded by beautiful older women, but she was put at ease the moment the began to speak. Pia was very sweet, talkative, and giggly, and she reminded Bella of a female version of Mats. While Jude was a bit more reserved, but friendly nonetheless.

Erik watched the girls with suspicion. His friends had already told him they would invite their girlfriends over to talk to Arabella, but he didn't think they would actually do it. They were going to find out if she liked him back and although he was curious, he thought that by having them ask, Arabella would know what his true feelings for her were.

He was forced to look away when the girls said something to her that caused them all to look in his direction. And he made sure to avoid her gaze for the rest of the practice.

Practice ended almost an hour later, with all the players heading for the changers with lightning speed. Some of them had things to do while others yearned to get home so they could relax. All but three of them left the field. Marco and Mats went to greet their girlfriends, while Jürgen and other members of the coaching staff stood to one side discussing things that pertained to their upcoming game against Shalke 04. Erik went with them. His friends convinced him that he could make Arabella company while they talked so that she wouldn't feel left out.

They approached the girls and Erik felt his face turn a bright shade of red when Mats and Marco did something childish to him. They shoved him forward, in the direction of Arabella, and the only way to prevent himself from falling to the ground was to catch himself on her. He stumbled forward, trying hard to regain his balance, but it was no use. Erik stuck his arms out as a reflex, his hands colliding with her shoulders, sending her to fall back onto the grass with him falling on top of her. The one thing he saw seconds before their collision were her widened blue eyes that were full of surprise. She didn't even have a chance to move out of the way.

From beside them, Jude gasped, "Oh my gosh! Erik, Bella, are you okay?"

Mats made a face and whispered to his team mate Marco, "Maybe I pushed him too hard."

Marco only shrugged in response.

"I'm fine, Judy." Erik assured the young woman with long dark hair. Pushing himself of the seventeen year old, his eyes caught her things scattered out on the grass. "I'm really sorry, Arabella." He offered his apology and offered his hand to help her up.The girl with the bob haircut accepted his apology with a nod and took his hand. From behind Arabella, he saw Pia shoot him a thumbs up that made his face blush even more. She was definitely the female version of Mats. But he turned to his friends with a glare.

"Sorry." Mats mouthed silently.

Behind him, he heard Arabella get down on her knees to gather her things. Erik quickly knelt down to help her, the picture of them on the cover of her art book caught his eye again. "I remember taking this picture." His fingers slid over the cover slowly. A smile graced his lips.

"Well," Pia coughed to get their attention. She was now standing next to her boyfriend and his arm was wrapped securely around her waist. "Mats and I have things to do. We made plans to go out tonight. Right, liebe?"

"Uh," Mats' face contorted in confusion. "I don't remember making plans-"

Pia elbowed him, hard. "Remember Mats. We need to leave right now." She raised her eyebrow at him.

"Right." He coughed awkwardly. "Yes. We'll see you guys tomorrow then."

The couple said goodbye and headed for the exit, leaving Erik and Arabella picking up her art supplies. From a few yards off, Erik looked up to see the two of them doing a thumbs up sign for the young footballer and he rolled his eyes. Marco and Jude also stood there, side by side. By the looks of their faces, Erik was sure they were both ready to desert him as well.

"We'll be going too." Jude smiled, confirming his suspicions. They were purposefully trying to leave him alone with Arabella. "Marco and I are having a FIFA15 online tournament against Mario and Thomas later tonight. The loser has to upload a video dancing in their undies on instragram."

Marco grinned, nodding in confirmation. "Yeah. Those delusional bitches think they can beat Jude and I." Everyone who knew Jude Wopschall knew she was the best at FIFA, she never lost a single match. How Thomas and Mario had even agreed to challenge her, and to a lesser extent Marco, he did not know. They had to be brave to go into that match, knowing they were already lost before the game even started.

"Thomas doesn't wear undies." Erik cringed, letting out a laugh.

"You would know." Marco joked.

"Have fun." Arabella looked up at them with a smile. The seventeen year old couldn't wait to finally be eighteen. Her father didn't let her go anywhere, unless it were with either him or her mother. It was rare when he trusted someone enough to let her go out with them. Her days consisted of going to school, attending the Borussia Dortmund trainings and then returning home where she got her homework done and then got into bed.

"Thank you." Jude smiled back and the two left them alone.

"I'm really sorry about knocking you over." Erik began to apologize once more when they were alone.

"Don't worry about it." She assured him, looking down at the grass below her shyly as he handed her the leatherbound sketch book and her drawing utensils.

Their moment together was short lived when her father approached them. By the looks of him, it seemed he was going to tell her something he knew she wasn't going to like. "Arabella," He began, a bit cautiously. "I have some things to take care of before we can head home. Do you mind waiting?"

But she immediately complained, feeling like a whiny little child when she did. "Papa...I've already waited over two hours. I want to go home."

Sighing, her father thought up an idea. "Erik, would you mind taking my little girl home?" He placed a hand on the young player's shoulder. He trusted him with his daughter. Despite the fact that they were both around the same age, he knew the two were friends from many years back. "I know its a lot to ask, but I don't want her to wait on me all day. And we have many things to prepare before the game against Schalke."

"Uh...sure." Erik nodded, trying his best not to sound too eager. But he was sure he had failed. "I just need to go change clothes and grab my things from the locker room."

"Danke Erik." Her father smiled at him. Before the footballer could head for the locker room, he added a slight warning, "I'm trusting you with my entire world. So, take care of her."

"Papa..." She blushed, embarrassed that he would say that.

She's my entire world too, Erik almost wanted to reply.

-

this one's a bit longer. and there are two more updates left, plus the epilogue. then i'll move onto 'roses' which will be the second part to this story. anyway, i know my author's notes are normally longer because i start blabbering on like a dumbass, but i'm super tired today. so i'm just going to go to bed. thank you all so much for reading, voting, commenting, and supporting this story. it means a lot to me because i know i'm not the best writer, but i try my best.

story recommendation: kick by @rainydae. its a thomas muller story and its so beautifully written and the author is such a lovely person ^.^

i love her to bits. and i love you all.

-clary xx