[ elf ]

Erik arrived at the compound some time around noon. He and Mats had a couple of weeks left of vacation after a successful world cup in Brazil. When Lolita invited him to visit, and informed him she would be bringing a friend, he thought to bring Mats so that he could keep her friend company. as they drove up to the front gates, Mats observed the property and commented, "I feel like we've been here before."

"The place does look familiar." Erik agreed.

He let the guard at the gates know that he was a friend of Lolita and they let him in after informing her that he was there. Erik drove up the dirt path to the mansion where Lolita was already waiting for him with a bright smile. Beside her was a blonde haired girl that Mats instantly liked. "I think I'm going to enjoy keeping this girl company." He said about Gena.

"Lolita is the one with dark hair." Erik informed Mats.

Mats nodded, "I was talking about the blonde. But Lolita is pretty too."

From the livingroom window, Thomas looked out at the car that parked in front of the house. He saw the way Lolita rushed to the car before he even got out and there was a bright smile on her face. He watched them in annoyance. 

Why couldn't she go back to liking him again?

Before the boy got out of the car, Thomas had decided he didn't like him. But he was taken completely by surprise when Erik Durm emerged from the car, followed by Mats Hummels. Both were footballers from BVB Dortmund and the German National team. He was genuinely surprised that the Erik he knew was the same Erik Lolita had been talking to. 

Thomas pushed past the front door, pretending he would greet Erik. But what he really wanted was to ruin their moment, if even for a little while.

"Erik, Mats," He greeted with a smile.

Lolita crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance at the sight of her step-father. 

"Thomas! No wonder this house looked so familiar. Its the house where we all came for the party when you married Gabi." Mats exclaimed, cutting the distance between them and pulling him into a hug. Erik soon did the same. As they pulled away, Mats' face contorted in confusion. "But wait, I thought you'd be in Cabo San Lucas with the rest of the guys."

The Bayern footballer shook his head. "I decided to stay."

Before their conversation could continue, Lolita went over to Erik and linked her arms with him, pulling him the opposite way, away from Thomas. "We should go so we can get back before the sun goes down." She said to Erik and Mats, "Have you two ever ridden a horse before?" She wondered. The only way to get to the lake through the woods was by horse back. The two shook their heads, making Thomas smirk victoriously. At least they wouldn't be going, or so he thought. But Lolita's next words wiped his smile clean off. "You can ride with me, and your friend can ride with Gena. Just hold onto me real tight, I wouldn't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

Erik nodded with a shy smile.

With that, Lolita dragged him off towards the barn where they kept the horses. Gena and Mats followed behind them, a bit more slow and awkwardly. Mats was all up for keeping Gena company, but Gena was the one who seemed hesitant. 

As they disappeared from sight, Thomas warned the BVB footballer, "You take care of Lolita, Erik. She's like a daughter to me."

-

By horseback, the lake was about fifteen minutes away. Mats seemed to be enjoying riding with Gena, while she seemed very uncomfortable about the whole situation. Elsa and Marco soon joined them, each one of them had taken a horse, since they knew how to ride. 

The moment they arrived, they tied the horses in a place where they could barely reach the lake in case they got thirsty. Then they stripped down to their swimsuits and jumped in the water. 

Everyone except Gena who sat by the edge of the water.

Mats was the first to notice and went to sit by her side. In the short time since he met her, she seemed to spark curiosity in him. She was so reserved and hesitant, and there was almost something of fear in her eyes. He wanted to know what she was so afraid of, but he didn't want to meddle in her life when he had only known her for fifteen minutes. 

"Why aren't you going in the water?" He asked.

She stared absently at the lake in front of her. "I just never went swimming before."

"And you can't swim?" He guessed, offering, "I can teach you if you want to learn. Its not difficult at all."

"I'll just watch." She responded.

But Mats wouldn't take no for an answer. Getting back on his feet, he extended his arms out for her to take his hands. "Its really not that bad, and I'll catch you if you feel like drowning. There's nothing to worry about."

Genavee thought about it, her eyes stared at his waiting hands. She finally made her decision and took his hands. He helped her up and led her into the water. They didn't go to deep into the lake and Mats was impressed that she got the hang of swimming rather quickly though she had been scared at first. 

At one point, she submerged herself into the water and came back up, her long blonde hair in her face. Mats pushed her hair back behind her ear and found a long scar down the side of her face that he hadn't noticed even before they got in the water because her hair was in the way. His finger tips traced the long scar that went from her temple to the place where her right ear ended, his words coming out in surprise.

"What happened to you here?" He asked her.

She quickly swatted his hand away and brought her hair back to its place, where it covered her scar. "Its nothing." She said nervously.

"But-" Mats began.

He was cut off by her. "Its nothing." She repeated. "I'm just going to sit at the edge of the lake and wait until everyone finishes. Please don't talk to me anymore." The blonde haired girl hurried out of the water, leaving Mats there in awe. 

There was more to it than she led on.

How was it that she could get so nervous over a scar if it was nothing?

Mats tried to talk to her again, and tried to apologize about what happened. But she didn't want to hear him. She sat by the edge of the lake, with her knees pulled up to her chest, while the others had fun.

-

Lolita spent her entire time at the lake having fun with Erik. She was so engrossed in her conversation with him that she completely ignored Marco, Elsa, and Gena. When they were just about ready to head back when the sun was near setting, Marco watched the two bitterly. The smile Lolita had for Erik was one he never noticed when she looked at him.

Each time Marco spoke to her, he noticed she only saw him as a friend. But with Erik, it was evident that she was attracted to him.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see it was a smiling Elsa, trying to make conversation with him. He rolled his eyes at her, but she didn't seemed to catch on that he was annoyed. 

"Marco, I was saying that today was a lot of fun, right?" She beamed. 

Of course, her words were a lie.

The entire time, she tried in vain to capture his attention, but he didn't want Elsa's attention. He wanted to be noticd by Lolita. And Elsa felt a hint of jealousy in the pit of her stomach. If Lolita was rich and beautiful, as well as smart and a great person, why was it that she had to take Marco from her too? She had everything.

Her thoughts were shaken away quickly as she reminded herself that Lolita didn't want Marco and had even helped pair them together for the lake trip. 

Lolita's matchmaking abilities had their limits. 

Marco nodded, uninterested, at Elsa's question. "Ja, a lot of fun."

"Oh, come on, Marco." Elsa groaned, nudging him in the stomach. That caused Marco to let out a laugh. He was very ticklish. Elsa grinned upon remembering this. Now her fingers went to tickle his sides with a grin. "Remember when we were kids and we had tickle fights?"

Laughing, Marco nodded, "Yes! But stop it." Trying to get away from her, he ran and hid behind Lolita who watched Elsa approaching them.

From behind Lolita, Marco peeked out at Elsa. 

"Lolita, save me!" He said to the seventeen year old. 

She instead turned to him with an amused smirk. Her hands reached to tickle him as well while Erik watched them, not knowing what to do. "I still remember you're super ticklish." Lolita laughed along with Marco. He attempted to do the same with her, leaving Elsa and Erik to stand there alone, but Lolita wasn't as ticklish as he was. 

While Lolita had her attention on Marco, Erik approached Elsa, asking her curiously. "So Lolita and Marco...do they have a thing?" He genuinely was attracted to Lolita and wanted to know if she was only looking for a friendship with him.

Elsa shook her head. "Lolita and Marco?" She snorted. "The three of us have been friends since we were nine years old, but that's all. Marco likes me." 

Erik was reassured by her words. "Oh, okay because I really like Lolita."

"She likes you too!" Elsa immediately said to him. She wasn't sure if that was true or not. But Lolita definitely seemed to be attracted to Erik, and the sooner Marco could understand that, the sooner he might notice Elsa and move on.

"You think so?" Erik smiled.

"I know so." Elsa nodded, "She told me herself."

Lolita, having finished her tickle war with Marco, tapped Erik's arm to get his attention. "Sorry, Erik." She apologized breathlessly, though the smile on her face touched her eyes. She definitely liked Marco, but not in the way Erik thought. "As my guest, I owe you my full attention. Marco just sidetracked me for a moment."

Erik shook his head. "Don't worry, I was having a nice conversation with Elsa."

"But I'm not out to take him from you, eh!" Elsa winked.

Lolits shot her friend a playful glare as she groaned, "Elsa!"

That afternoon, they returned to the mansion just as the sun set over the horizon. Lolita had invited Mats and Erik to dinner with her mom and Thomas. But both declined. It was getting late and Erik thought it would be rude to just show up at dinner without her mother knowing about it yet. He wanted to do things right with Lolita and he wanted to be properly invited.

Lolita said goodbye to Erik and Mats waved goodbye to Gena from the car with a smile. She in turn waved awkwardly before rushing into the house.

As they drove away, back to their hotel in Munich, they both agreed they wanted to see the girls again.

-

update!

guys, nothing much to say today. only that LA SELECCION PLAYS TOMORROW. against costa rica, my other concacaf baes. i hope mexico wins though because they are my top babies. oooh, the argentina vs colombia game today was intense. i kinda wanted colombia to win bc james and  bc as mexicans, we have a strong rivalry with argentina and thus we hardly ever cheer for them.

but i also kinda (not really) cheered for argentina bc kun (my perfect bby), marcos rojo (bae), higuain (pipita my darling), and messi (the king). but my heart won the battle and i cheered for colombia.

but yah.

i hope you all like the update. made it extra long for ya.

-clary xx