by the rule book - leila ouahabi
description: in which you and your sister have a set of rules that you break because of a certain defender
warnings: let’s pretend leila attended the world cup, basically me yapping, swearing, angsty?
a/n: leila train has arrived back at my stop lmao, thank you so much for the request, much love, enjoy ❤️❤️
you and your sister had a set of rules that were heavily referenced while growing up, and the present.
this set of rules sworn on by each sister with the promise they would never be broken. and they weren’t, until leila came into the picture.
you were 8 years younger than your sister, lucy. you’re a bronze sister, meaning you were extremely fun, playful, but serious and stoic when you needed to be. you and your sister brought out the best in each other, expecting nothing but the finest.
lucy was the best older sister, she was funny and always included you in everything she did once you grew out of your snitch phase and actually became cool in her eyes. the two of you were always extremely close and that’s how you both liked it.
she encouraged you to put your heart to your passion, one of the main reasons you became a photographer.
lucy was extremely protective of you, hence why she created a simple set of rules between the two of you that shouldn’t be broken.
1 - don’t date any of lucy’s teammates
2 - don’t date any of (y/n)’s friends
3 - respect each other’s boundaries
4 - be honest with each other
the rules were easily agreed upon by the both of you, they were made when you were 16 and lucy was 24.
you followed lucy around for photographer opportunities, landing yourself a permanent position on the media teams of both england and manchester city when lucy joined in 2020.
you always loved photography, adoring the feeling of capturing a canvas that would be around for years to come.
just before lucy joined in 2020, you were both at england camp. in free time, everyone would eagerly chatter about their new or current clubs they were going to.
you angled your camera at keira while leah marked her during a mini game, checking the photos with a pleased smile until your sister hopped on your back.
“munchkin!” (your nickname for as long as you can remember) “luce! get off!” you laugh, almost falling flat on your face until your sister got off you, giving you an exaggerated kiss on the cheek that you were quick to squeal and complain about.
“you’re so annoying” you grumble, unable to fight your smile at seeing your sister’s bright grin. “shut up, show me some pics, picasso” she teases.
you roll your eyes amusingly, giving her a sneak peek of all the photos you’d taken so far, letting out a bright laugh when she made you stop on a photo of her.
“that’s class” she pinches your cheek teasingly, “well done, baby sis” she coos teasingly, a couple of the girls coming over and teasing you too.
everyone viewed you as family and a teammate even though you were just their photographer, you’d been with them for so long, they’d grown a huge love for you.
“you excited for manchester, (y/n/n)?” leah throws an arm over your shoulder as you both walked inside st george, “yeah! should be good, nice and cold” you grin,
“maybe manchester city is where we can finally see you get a partner?” she teases, you both laugh, “lee, come on, you know the rules” you laugh, “i know the rules!” lucy calls out from behind you from where she was walking behind you.
you flip her off and she gasps offendedly, “i could get you fired for that!” she exclaims, you wave her off, laughing along with leah.
you, lucy and keira all lived together in manchester, splitting the rent and living comfortably.
but in 2022, the two of them got offered contracts for barcelona and they accepted, but you didn’t. manchester felt like home to you, and you really didn’t want to leave it.
it was the first time you’d been away from lucy, and don’t be mistaken, you are a highly independent person but something was so reassuring about having your sister with you.
before they moved, they helped you move into a flat for yourself, small and homey like you needed.
it was incredibly tearful dropping keira and lucy off to the airport, you don’t think you’ve ever felt your sister hug you so tight.
“i love you” she breathes out into your embrace, you hug her back equally as tight, “such a sap, bronzes don’t do that” you tease, receiving a slap on the back of your head.
it was daunting for the both of you to be apart, not really having to do that in your lives.
“i love you too” you smile, “i’ll call you when we land” lucy sniffs, hastily wiping away her tears and letting keira hug you as well. “my favourite bronze” keira smiles, both you and lucy letting out a wet laugh.
you wave them both off with a sad smile, waiting for them to go through the gate before you dragged yourself back to your car and drove off.
you went back to work at the beginning of the season, waiting for the girls to come outside to photograph their training session.
you smile and wave to familiar faces, taking a couple of test photos before you noticed a new face that you didn’t recognise at first, one of the new signings.
your eyes narrowed slightly in concentration when you looked at her, until you realised who it was. leila ouahabi.
you’ve never met her formally, only smiling at her in the hallways of national games if you had the chance. you always thought she was absolutely gorgeous, but you also appreciated the way she defended, even your sister agreeing she was incredible.
leila smiles at you, slightly surprised to recognise you slightly. the truth was, leila had been heavily looking at your social media platform ever since she laid eyes on you way back.
she thought you were gorgeous, she could tell you were a soft soul, with your charming smile and cute little face you made when you were concentrating on your camera.
she wanted to know you, she was just shy about it, not knowing to approach you, maybe this was the opportunity she needed.
training progressed, you smile pleasingly when you look back at your photos, your ultra focus showing on your facial features as you attempt to capture the best photos possible.
you were sat on the side of the pitch watching the girls train, your eyes subconsciously drifting to the spaniard.
it was until a mini game that a certain defender was chasing the ball, kicking it out and sliding directly next to you that your breathing quickened.
you look down to see her slightly wincing, heavily breathing and looking a little too attractive but that was an afterthought.
“are you okay?” you breathe out, the girl on the floor looks up at you surprised, a sly smile taking over her features.
“i’m fine, hermosa (beautiful), thank you” she winks, pushing herself up from the floor and dusting herself off, walking back to the pitch and making sure to look back at you with a flirty smile.
you blink in shock, what was that interaction?
these interactions went on, situations where you felt extremely nervous around her even when she was barely doing anything.
you were photographing the new kit, only a set amount of players selected for the campaign, and luckily for you, leila was the very last model for the day.
leila came in with her charming smile and a dray of drinks in her hands, she perks up when you make eye contact.
“good morning, hermosa (beautiful)” she grins, extending the warm drink out to you, you look at her in surprise, a grateful smile gracing your features.
“morning, leila, thank you” you take a sip and let out a pleased sigh, “how did you know this is my favourite?” you tease.
“i read your cup” she says with a flirty smile, though her cheeks tinged slightly with pink. you smile before clearing your throat.
you go through the plans for the shoot, explaining what type of photos you’ll be taking, the approach of the shoot and what you needed from her.
she maintained eye contact the entire time you spoke, nodding along with each and every word and clarifying on things when she didn’t understand.
it was almost hard to press the shutter button when leila would pose, it was a simple, basic, arms crossed - stoic football pose photo that you’ve taken numerous times in your career but something was just so different about how leila did it.
her confidence poured out of her and her smirk made your stomach flip. she was serious but loved to joke around with you when the time called for it.
the two of you basically chatting, taking a photo, chatting, taking a photo. a simple yet effective formula that you both enjoyed. so much so, leila asked you to go out on a date with her and you accepted without a second thought.
the two of you went on a couple of dates before the two of you started dating. back then it was really fresh but extremely obvious with the heart eyes you’d send each other.
the manchester girls caught on before the two of you could even process it. and the only condition for everyone was to vow their silence around your sister with the promise of the best pictures being published.
as time progressed, you both moved in together, both of you in one of the most genuine, loving relationship the two of you had ever had.
“baby, i’m working” you giggle, pressed up against a random wall, one hand on leila’s hip, camera in the other.
“amor (love), you’re not working right now” she grins cheekily, lips quickly locking with yours. one of her hands on your cheek and one on your hip holding you close to her.
you let out a little exhale from your nose in a laugh, to focused on kissing your now girlfriend of a year.
it was hard hiding it from lucy, especially when the two of you lived together. you were able to get away with it most of the time, telling your sister your roommate was just really chatty.
“baby” you mumble against her lips, attempting to push her away by the chest but the girl was attached to you, “shh, let it happen” she mockingly scolds, giving you a stern look before she kissed you breathlessly.
that’s when you hear it, the chuckles and teasing coming from familiar blondes, alex and chloe. “get it, baby bronze” alex whistles, you and leila pulled away with a roll of both of your eyes.
“don’t forget about that photo i have of you, alex” you threaten, one taken of her with an expression on her face during a header that had her screeching in fear when she saw you laughing at it.
“you’re just as annoying as your sister” alex flips you off when you blow her a kiss, laughing as they walked away.
leila squishes your cheeks together with one of her hands, forming your lips into a little pout, “mi amor (my love), those are my kisses” she grins lazily, clearly teasing you when she placed a little kiss on your forced pout.
you usher her off to training, giving her a playful slap on her backside that she shook her head at.
it was during the 2023 world cup that you both got found out, and boy was it an experience. your sister was extremely confused as to why you were so excited spain was in the final, wondering what your certain new interest about the spanish team was about.
“don’t tell me you’re a traitor, munchkin?” lucy scoffs while you set up your camera on the pitch during a pre-match walk.
“luce, i’ve got my england merch on, thank you” you laugh, shaking your head as you take a quick photo of her with an evident frown on her face, her eyes narrowed at you.
“why do you keep looking at their bench?” she questions, following your eyes to see some of the spain girls walking out to do their own checks.
“why are you so paranoid, lucia?” you tease, punching her lightly on the arm and wincing when a slap made its way to the back of your head.
“some of the girl’s play for city, i’m just being nice” you rub your head in slight pain, glaring at your older sister that she returned.
“i’ll find out, i always do” she concludes, letting you go back to taking some photos and other little media bits.
and unfortunately for you. she did find out.
the girls were lining up in the tunnel, about 5 minutes until everyone would walk out. ironically you see you sister standing next to leila in the tunnel, you try to fight your smile when you make eye contact with your girlfriend.
she smiles at you, your bodies moving on their own as you completed her pre match ritual, three quick pecks on the lips.
you both smiled brightly when you pulled back, before you heard a sharp voice coming from behind you.
“what the fuck was that?” your sister exclaimed, her hand on your shoulder and spinning you around, both yours and leila’s eyes widened, realising what had just happened. “fucking ouahabi” she breathes out in disbelief.
“i really hope you’re fucking joking, (y/n) bronze because i’m not fucking laughing” she says lowly, not wanting to attract much attention but she was.
you just look up at your sister in shock, mouth slightly agape, “nah, we’re talking about this. later” she glares, both at you and leila.
the girls walk out and you watch them dumbly as you go. you were grateful that moment wasn’t recorded.
during half time your sister wouldn’t even look at you, brushing you off like you were nothing. “don’t” she pleads, walking past you as you tried to approach her.
you walk to the tunnel and felt the tears pricking in your eyes, and like a magnet, leila’s hand found yours, dragging you into a quiet corner where the two of you could have some privacy.
as soon as your girlfriend brought you into a tight embrace, you broke down. “shh, it’s okay” she hums, kissing your cheek softly as you cried in her arms.
she pulls back slightly, looking at you with a sad expression when she saw your tear streaked face, her hand moving up to wipe away the evidence.
“i didn’t want her to find out like that, i was ready to tell her tonight” you sniffle, leila nods along with your words, listening to your little ramble intently as she comforted you.
“i know, bebé (baby), i know” she says sympathetically, pulling you into another hug and just holding you.
she stayed with you the entire time, talking you down and making you look presentable before you went back on the pitch.
she knew she would get subbed off anyway, only wanting to focus on you for the minute. you were still in a hug when lucy came out of the change room, her face softening when she saw your red eyes.
she was about to say something but she stopped herself, not wanting to do this right away. she weirdly smiles at both of you, tight lipped but still somewhat of a smile.
“it’s okay” leila whispers, and it really felt like it was.
leila kisses you softly before she makes her way back on the pitch, and of course when the match ended and england lost, the mood changed.
your sister let you hug her tightly after the loss, holding onto you for dear life as she hugged you. “luce, i’m so sorry, you played so well” you whispered, your hand rubbing up and down her back.
“i’m sorry, munchkin, we still need to talk” she sniffles, wiping away her tears and giving you a gentle smile. you nod, pulling her into another tight hug before you went off to congratulate your girlfriend, weirdly through the encouragement of your sister.
“hey, baby” you smile at your girlfriend, giving her a quick hug when she presses a quick kiss to your cheek.
“hermosa (beautiful)” she greets with a bright smile, “congratulations” you whisper, she thanks you quickly, looking over your shoulder to see your sister hovering around with tears in her eyes, walking around by herself.
“give me one second” leila whispers, gripping your hand gently and walking over to lucy, you and your sister having matching surprised expressions.
“i want to honest, i love your sister, we have been together for a year and we were going to tell you sooner but she was really scared and i respect her” she blurts out,
“i would love to talk about this with you, if you’ll let me” leila says nervously, lucy pauses for a moment before nodding, pulling leila into an extremely quick hug but extremely meaningful.
“sure thing, leila” your sister smiles, a little laugh escaping her lips, “you know, you broke rule number one” lucy teases, telling you everything was going to be okay.
“it doesn’t count! you left when she came over” you groan, letting leila tuck you into her side as she giggled, watching you and your sister bicker like kids.
she could tell how much you cared about each other. but lucy could tell the same for the both of you.
all three of you did have that talk, you and your girlfriend explained the details of your relationship to your sister that she was actually quite happy about.
she’d never seen you so happy, so light with any of your previous partners.
she could tell you both loved each other because it was so painfully obvious but she was truly happy after she let out a rant about how you literally broke every rule in the contact.
she got over it though, a hefty shopping spree having your bank account screaming for salvation.
you know the drill - pretend it’s you! ily oniiii
liked by alexiaputellas and 44,232 others
leilaouahabi: biggest fan and personal photographer
yourname: baby, my job is a photographer
↳ leilaouahabi: you’re no fun
lucybronze: hands off my sister
↳ yourname: you’re annoying
↳ lucybronze: you’re annoying
↳ leilaouahabi: i won’t touch her i swear
alexgreenwood5: so happy i don’t have to but my tongue anymore
↳ alexgreenwood5: no comment
leahwilliamsonn: told you!!
↳ yourname: you really did!