"Alrighty, first things first you've got to wear this." I chuck Gigi a Chargers jersey as she stands there in a pair of jeans and her bra. It takes everything in me not to withhold the jersey but if I do we'll be late.

"It literally swamps me!" she giggles, fiddling with her hair which is up in a long ponytail. I laugh as she tries to shorten it but eventually gives up and lets it fall to just above her knees. She pulls on a pair of white airforces and does a little jump in them which makes me smile.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Ready!" she confirms with a nod then skips past me out of the room. Atlanta's still mildly hot outside during September so as soon as we get into the car parked around the front of the hotel I roll down the windows letting the air run through the car. My dad and I used to come to Atlanta a lot when I was younger and we've actually seen quite a few games here so I know the place pretty well.

The car ride was the same as most car rides, I watch Gigi jam with herself to one of her newly acquired playlists and I try and keep my eyes on the road when she pulls my hand over to hers. She likes to hold my hand when I drive, I don't know why but I guess we both find it comforting as she doesn't let go until I've parked in a bay at the stadium.

"Wow, that's kinda crazy." Gigi lets out a whistle at the Mercedes Benz stadium, it looks very modernistic from the outside and it's even bigger from the inside.

I help her down from the car and walk around to one of the entrances where an attendant is waiting for us. The man's dressed in a sharp-looking suit with a stripy tie and carries a clipboard tucked under his arm.

"Miss Lastra, Mr Jax, it's a pleasure to have you with us today! I see you're both dressed for the occasion!" he points at our shirts and smiles warmly at us, "My name is Andy, I'm here to assist you with anything you may need. Now let's get you inside!"

Andy leads us in through one of the back doors and ushers us down the underground tunnels. It's similar to the arenas and stadiums we've been in before but I still watch Gigi's eyes scan the halls with excitement like this is a completely new experience. That's one of the things I love about her, her ability to be excited and grateful about every opportunity that comes her way. Andy tells us all about the history of the stadium and the history of the Falcons, because this is their home, but he was nice enough to throw some Chargers facts in there for us.

He leads us to our seats which are quite literally on the edge of the field and hands Gigi one of those big hands, she giggles hitting me around the head with it.

We both take in the field and the atmosphere, which at the moment is light and full of excitement, before Gigi turns to me, a puzzled look filling her face.

"Okay... so how does this work? The game?" She sucks on her bottom lip.

"Alright so, the actual game is relatively simple. There's a coin toss to determine which team "kicks off" to the other. After receiving the ball, the offence has four attempts to move the ball ten yards also known as "downs". If they do not do so after four downs, they forfeit possession of the ball to the other team. That team then takes over and attempts to move in the opposite direction. This proceeds through four quarters of play, where each quarter lasts fifteen minutes. After two quarters or one "half", the teams take a brief break known as halftime. Through each set of downs, the offensive drives towards their opponent's "end zone." This zone is a ten-yard area on either end of the field. If an offensive player enters the end zone while carrying the football, they score a "touchdown," worth six points. Afterwards, the team lines up to attempt to kick the ball through the yellow uprights in the end zone. This "point after try," or extra point, means a touchdown is potentially worth seven points. If a team cannot make it into the end zone, they may elect to punt or try for a "field goal." Punting is kicking the ball as far away as possible, so the other team has a larger distance to cover to score. A field goal uses a down to send the ball through the uprights if successful, this is worth three points. At the end of regulation time, the teams with the most points win. Of course, the defence can score, too. If the ball is dropped in play, the defence can take possession. Defensive players can also intercept passes thrown by the quarterback and attempt to run for a score."

She stares at me bewildered, her mouth makes an 'O' shape then closes quickly.

"Okay... so basically... the teams just need to get the ball to the opposite side of the field and then possibly throw it through the big pointy things?" She frowns.

"Um... sort or... it's a little more complex than that but... that's sort of the aim I guess...?" She shrugs and goes back to looking at the field. Suddenly Andy appears beside our row of seats.

"Mr Jax I was wondering if you could come with me please, there's someone who'd like to see you." He says with a nervous smile. I give Gigi a shrug and help her out of our seats. Andy leads us down the underground tunnel into one of the locker rooms. The stench immediately hits me and I can see Gigi's nose scrunch.

"Hemmings!" A deep voice sounds across the room.

"Kennedy!" I say with relief as he pulls my arm into a 'bro hug'.

"What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were going to be here! I had to find out from the attendant."

Ryan Kennedy, one of the best Centers in the NFL and happens to be one of my very good friends. He was in the class above me at school but we formally met a few years ago at an event.

"I didn't know I was going to be here until about a week ago, it slipped my mind." I chuckle.

"Danm I mean that little to you? That hurts bro, that-" He pauses, smiling when he sees Gigi, "How rude of me, you must be the famous Gigi. You not going to introduce me to your girl Colt?" He raises a brow at me.

"You didn't exactly give me a chance, anyway, this is my girlfriend Gigi. Gigi this is Ryan Kennedy, Center for the Chargers and an old friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you." Gigi gives him a small wave.

"British? Cute, is this your first game?" Kennedy asks, leaning his padded shoulder against a set of lockers, his hefty muscles bulge out of his jersey.

"Yep, it's... confusing..." she chuckles slightly and gives me a look.

"I've tried to explain it but I think I just sent her brain into shock." I squeeze her fingers.

"It's not as complicated as it sounds, you'll pick it up by the second half." He shrugs, "Anyway, I need to go warm up but it was lovely to meet you Gigi and I hope we can all meet up some time? It'd be great to see you guys again, it been too long Colton!" He says pushing himself up off the lockers.

"Of course, we're on the road still but definitely message me if you're in the same city," I reply, I have missed seeing Kennedy, he's great to go out with. Jayd, him and I used to go out a lot.

"It was nice to meet you, good luck!" Gigi chirps as she shakes his hand and we leave, finding Andy waiting by the door.

The game was really good, the chargers won by a lot and I even saw Gigi getting into it by the second half... I'm still not she quite understands it but she looked like she was having fun. It's been so long since I've gone to a good game and coming out of the stadium I feel so liberated, I think Gigi does as well since she's bouncing alongside me.

"That was fun, I'm not going to lie. Did I understand any of it? Probably not but it was fun to scream when they scored a goal." She sing songs.

"Touchdown" I chuckle, "Its a touchdown. Not a goal."

"Potato, potahto. Either way, it was... interesting." She smiles.

"You are something else, Lastra." I put my arm around her waist to stop her bouncing, it's like she's had five shots of coffee.

"Eh but I'm your something else so deal with it CJ." She winks very un-seductively as she struggles to jump into the passenger's side of the car.

She's right, she is my something else and I love that.

"You want to grab some food?" I start the ignition and pull out of the space.

"Please I'm famished" she groans selecting a playlist titled 'proper bangers'. The name rattles me slightly.

"What do you fancy?" She ponders for a few moments but then,

"Maccies" she beams.

"Maccies?" I question, what the fuck is a Maccies?

"McDonald's?" She furrows her brows at me.

"Gigi who the fuck calls McDonald's Maccies?" I feel slightly offended at the word.

"Who the fuck doesn't?" She shrugs and goes back to selecting a song.

It doesn't take me long before I reach a drive-through window. Gigi places her order of two double cheeseburgers, a large fries, Diet Coke, four nuggets and a McFlurry. I get roughly the same but two Big Macs and a box of six nuggets.

I drive to a nearby picnic area I spotted on the way here and we sit in the dim light munching away.

"I feel like Mcdonalds fries are the ultimate god tier of chips." Gigi says holding up a fry to inspect it before dropping it into her mouth, "They're just so... holy. The right amount of salt, crunch and Flavour."

I stare at her quiet baffled.

"What are you on about?" I take a sip of my coke washing my rising laugh down.

"I mean.. like what food would you consider to be an elite tier food. For example, my elite god-tier food would be a potato." She smiles triumphantly at me, I just gesture for her to continue because I still don't quite get this concept.

" You can do so much with a potato. There's Chips, mash, crisps, you can make a jacket potato, new potatoes, roast potatoes, potato cakes, you can dauphinoise them. You could probably just live off a potato... although I wouldn't recommend that, it doesn't sound overly healthy." She takes a bite of her burger after finishing her lecture on how great potatoes are. I just stare at her, trying to hold back my laughter because I'm pretty sure she's being serious about this.

"What?" She asks seemingly unphased.

I couldn't hold it back anymore, this roar of laughter comes up from my throat.

"I've never heard someone talk so passionately about potatoes. Your mind... it's just so..."

"Dumb!" She winces.

"No it's beautifully crazy...but I guess that's why, I love you." I finish taking a sip of my coke nonchalantly like that didn't just fall out of my mouth. Silence fills the air and I'm sure she's about to bolt. Run for the airport and get the first plane back to London.

"You don't have to say it back I know this whole thing is still new but I just wanted you to know, I'm in love with you Gigi. These past few months you've come in like a tornado and flipped my life, but you haven't made a mess, you've restored everting. Been my lighthouse in the dark and I can't live without you. You make me want to get up in the morning because I know I get to see you. Even though it's only been a few months it feels like I've been in love with you for years, it's just normal. I love you, Giovanna Lastra, for your talent, caring nature and everything good about you but I also love you for your sometimes scary-ass mood swings and weird food cravings. That's just the way it is."

The silence still fills the air and I bring myself to look at her eyes, tears streak her cheeks. Panic rises in my throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry I-" she gets up and slings her arms around my neck, perching on my thighs. Her hair tickles my neck as she whispers into my ear.

"No ones ever said anything like that before, I'm so grateful for you Colton. I really don't deserve you."

"You deserve the fucking world, Gigi, it's me that doesn't deserve you. So I'm grateful you're giving me a chance to prove I'm it."

I held Gigi in my arms just listing to the sound of the nature around us. Her heart thumps quietly beneath her chest. It's okay she didn't say it back, I didn't need her too. I know she's trying and that's all I could ever wish for.

I hope you all had a really good Christmas Day! I'm currently writing the epilogue to TTS which is actually crazy! It's so sad it's coming to an end buttttt that means I'm going to start writing Balance really soon! 🖤

Thanks for reading!
Iz x