Cause and Effect

Twenty four

"Come on guys, pick your game up," Mesut yelled to us. "Don't stop running!"

And well, it seemed like I was destined to end my goal drought in the most dramatic way possible. In the 90th minute Danny Welbeck picked up the ball just inside our half, and dribbled until a Juventus defender tried to tackle him. He flicked the ball on to me, just outside the box. I looked up to see the keeper was off his line, having come out in anticipation of Danny taking a shot on goal. I took my opportunity, and curled the ball neatly into the top corner. It was so completely inch perfect that I didn't think it had actually gone in, even when the stadium erupted around me.

When the realisation came, I ran towards the bench, dodging my teammates who were running over to hug me. I'd said I'd dedicate a goal to Thierry, and that was what I was going to do. I threw my arms around him, and he lifted my legs off the ground, before the rest of my teammates arrived and jumped on top of us.

"That was all you!" I told him.

"No that was all you," he responded. "You're back, Nia."

"Yeah," I smiled happily, not really knowing what else to say.

There was two minutes of extra time to play, before the game ended 3-3, giving us a slight advantage on away goals. As we were walking off the pitch, Paulo Dybala joined me.

"Nice goal," he grinned, nudging me. "Want to swap kits?"

"Sure!" I smiled at the Argentinian, a little surprised. "Nice brace by the way. Man of the match for sure."

We traded jerseys, and I put his on over the top of my Arsenal under armour. Paulo slung mine over his shoulder - obviously it would be too small for him.

"Gracias," he smiled at me. "And I have a favour to ask, my girlfriend wants to meet you, she's a big fan. Can I introduce you later?"

"Of course," I nodded.

When I made it back into the dressing room, my phone was already ringing. Neymar was trying to FaceTime me. I answered the call, and he started laughing as soon as he saw me.

"I just seen the jersey swap on TV. Ew, what are you wearing?"

"Not gonna talk about my goal?" I smirked. "No worries, I'll..."

"Nah, you don't understand Nia," he giggled. "I was literally screaming at the TV, I think the others here think I'm insane. I'm so so proud of you for not giving up."

"Thank you," I smiled. "Who are you with?"

"All the Brazilians," he grinned, and turned his phone around to face them.

"Literally all of them, you weren't kidding," I chuckled, as they all yelled hellos and congratulations through the phone camera.

Bobby, Phil, Gab, David Luiz, Willian, Fred, Caitlin and Lani were just the ones I could see.

"Thanks you guys," I smiled happily. "I still can't believe that happened, probably the best goal I've ever scored in my life."

"Girl, That was so far in the top corner it was ridiculous," Hector said as he entered the room, and came to sit next to me. "Hey Neymar," he waved.

"Hey Hec," Ney responded. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah. I wish you were here," I responded.

"Can't have everything in life, can you," He said. "I wish I was there too."

I showered and changed quickly, before slipping out to go find Paulo. He wasn't hard to find - he was already waiting for me, with a girl who was presumably his girlfriend. He smiled when he saw me approaching them.

"Oh hey Nia, this is my girlfriend Oriana," Paulo grinned at me.

Oriana was a dark haired, dark eyed girl, with beautiful tanned skin, and a friendly look in her eyes. Her face broke into a wide smile at his words, and she turned to look at her boyfriend.

"You didn't tell me this is what we were doing!" She exclaimed. "It's so good to meet you, Nia, you are my inspiration! You're one of the best female footballers in the world, in my opinion."

"Wow, thank you!" I grinned, giving her a hug. "It's nice to meet you too."

We took photos, and chatted for a few minutes. The pair of them were so lovely. They seemed to keep each other grounded, but at the same time had a mutual respect and genuine love, it was easy to see how they'd ended up together. Eventually, however, it was time for me to head for the bus with my teammates, and I regretfully parted ways with them.

"I see how it is with you and Neymar," were Paulo's parting words, as Oriana headed off down the tunnel. "I don't know him well, but I do know what he's like. You should give him a chance, you know."

"I'll bear it in mind," I nodded, a little surprised. "Thanks, Paulo. You and Oriana are great together it's so nice to see genuine affection between two people, that's hard to come by these days."

"Gracias," He smiled, and I chuckled as his cheeks began to turn pink. "She's amazing."

Paulo's words regarding Neymar stayed with me during the journey home to North London, and even a few days after as well. I knew I wanted to act on them, but I still wasn't sure how.

A/N: Well somehow Paulo crawled his way into this story so I just had to write him, I think I've got it out of my system now haha. I just seen that moment between him and Neymar after the Brazil-Argentina game the other day and it made me think of this. By the way, I didn't make Arsenal play Juventus just because of Paulo, they were already going to play Juve. It just worked out very conveniently.

Also please ignore the fact that the timing doesn't really work in this chapter - I thought I'd fixed it but then I realised Neymar is sitting out for a game that is supposed to be just after the United game, but in reality is about a month and a half later. Considering it's a minor ankle injury that's a bit awkwardddd.... ignore it pls, pretend it works! Haha.

Also you got 300 extra words on this chapter. You're welcome.

K thnx bai