Chapter 41 Sleeping On The Couch Together

"There you have it, the referee has blown his whistle to bring this entertaining battle of a match to an end," Jim said after the referee had blown the final whistle.

Ronino FC weren't exactly saddened by the loss as they had fought very well and were still in sixth place despite the loss.

"This match was one hell of a roller coaster ride," Steve said.

"Yeah, it looked like Ronino FC were going to hang on to that lead after taking the lead again but with the addition of Mateo and Roland, Unique's gameplay took a very unique change, and before anyone knew it, they were able to get two goals," Jim said.

"The match could have ended on level terms if Dave Richards had not made that save but Sandro would have still finished off that rebound if it weren't for Roland's improvisation."

The man of the match was announced as the players made their way off the pitch and there was no doubt that it had to be him.

Ferran slowly walked to the official who handed him his man of the match award which was a small ball trophy.

"Who certainly deserves that award, he wasn't that brilliant in the first half but he stepped up for the team in the second half, he could have gotten two goals if Zileven had not brought him down under a nasty challenge," Steve said.

"You're right Steve," Jim said. "This Victory puts Unique FC in ninth place, just one point ahead of Troham United who dropped all three points against Dynamo FC earlier today."

Unique FC players were all gathered in their locker room as the coach wanted to discuss a few things with them before leaving.

"The match was tough but I'm glad we finally got the win," Norman said. "It could have ended as a draw, but thanks to Dave's dive and Roland's individual effort, we were able to clinch the lead till the final whistle.

"This match puts us ahead of Troham United and one step closer to a conference league spot, we have to keep fighting, keep going, we have had a lot of setbacks but we have to keep going." He said with a clap. "Congratulations to all of you, we weren't that good in the first half but we started well in the second half and that red card made things easier for us."

After he was done encouraging, congratulating, and saying a few things about the next match, the players were allowed to go.

"Hey, I hope you're okay?" Norman asked after meeting Dave in the hallway as he was walking out with Mateo who was making sure that he wasn't going to fall.

"Yeah, they said it was just a minor concussion and I'll be okay with a good rest," Dave said.

"Okay, I hope this doesn't affect the good form you're starting to build," Norman said.

"I hope so too," Dave said.

"Alright, see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay, coach," Mateo said before Norman began to walk away.

"Hey, Mateo!" Ferran came running toward the two before the two could take any step forward.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to take a selfie with my man of the match award?" The midfielder asked, raising the silver-colored award.

"Sure," Mateo said with a nod.

"Cool," Ferran said, bringing out his phone from his pocket. "You can also join in Dave, if you don't mind."

"Okay," Dave said.

He raised his phone and took a selfie of the three of them with his award raised for a proper view.

"Alright man, I'll see you tomorrow, quick recovery Dave," Ferran said before turning to leave.

"Thanks."

"Okay, master," Mateo said.

Ferran turned and pointed at the winger with a smile on his face before continuing his walk down the hallway.

Mateo and Dave walked outside to find Emma waiting for them beside Dave's car.

She quickly rushed to them as soon as she saw them walk out of the stadium.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked after stopping in front of them.

She wanted to remove Dave's arm from her brother's shoulders and place it on hers and she would have done it if one of her shoulders didn't cause her so much pain with the slightest touch on it.

'Follow current novels on n0velbin.com.',

"Yeah, I'm okay," Dave said with a smile.

Mateo helped him into the car, Emma was going to be the one doing the driving so Dave wasn't going to be in the driver's seat.

"So, how are you doing?" Mateo asked after she had shut the door.

"I'm okay, this shoulder still hurts a lot but I'm okay." She said with a warm smile.

"I know how that feels," Mateo said.

"Are you coming to dinner?" She asked.

"Oh, the family dinner, I'm not sure I will be able to make it," Mateo said.

"It's on Sunday," Emma said.

"Wait, our family dinner is never on a Sunday," Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah, but you guys have a match that night so I convinced mom and dad to move it to Sunday," Emma said.

"Oh."

"See you around." She said moving to the other side of the car. "Nice performance by the way, too bad you didn't get the man of the match award."

"Thanks," Mateo said. "I got in the match before this one so it's nothing."

"Okay," Emma said before entering the car and slamming the door shut.

The engine roared a few seconds later and in no time, the car had zoomed off the stadium area.

Emma drove for about one minute before quickly turning to him to say something only to discover that his eyes were closed.

"Oh." She said slowly turning back to the road.

Dave may have been really tired and had his eyes closed but he was still pretty much awake in his mind.

[ Victory Rewards ]

[ Three crucial saves: +30 exp ]

[ Goals conceded (2): 0exp ]

[ Match rating: 7.9 ]

[ 155/200 exp ]

'And again the rating matches with that of the match.'

<Yeah, but just know that one day, it's not going to match and the one you see here is the one you should believe>

It didn't take long for Emma to drive to the house and now she was staring at Dave wondering if she should wake him up or not.

'What are you even thinking Emma, you have a broken shoulder?'

"Hey, Dave." She said, tapping him on his arm.

"What?" Dave muttered slowly opening his eyes.

"We're here." She said.

"Okay," Dave said, quickly pushing the door open.

"Hey, wait, let...."

She could finish that statement as he had already made his way out of the car and was walking toward the house now, more like staggering toward the house.

[ 2/100 Energy ]

<You should get something to eat fast, that's the only way you can regain half of your lost energy>

Emma quickly got out of the car and locked it before quickly making her way to him.

'ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ No(v) e lBin ᴏɴʟʏ.',

"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy." She said placing her hand on both of his shoulders to prevent him from mistakenly falling over.

The two had made their way into the house now and all Emma wanted to do now was get him upstairs and on your bed.

"Hey, come, we just have about twenty steps to climb before we get there," Emma said.

"No, I think I'll crash here." He said before quickly staggering toward the couch and falling on it.

Emma stared at him for a while before slowly making her way to him.

"You seriously want to sleep on the couch?" She said with a baffled expression on her face. "It's just a few steps up before we get to the room."

"No, I'm okay here." He muttered.

"And I thought I was going to force him to do it next week," Emma muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing." She said turning toward the staircase.

She stared at the staircase for a while before turning her gaze back to him.

"I'll be back." She said before quickly making her way toward the staircase.

"Okay," Dave muttered.

It had been about fifteen minutes since she had gone upstairs and she still had not returned.

[ -1 Energy ]

"Owwww." Dave groaned as he rolled to lie on his back.

<Where did she go? Does she want your energy to drop to zero?>

'What happens when my energy drops to zero?'

<You do not want to find out>

He was glad as he had begun to hear footsteps coming down the stairs and it didn't take long for Emma to appear before him holding a sleeping bag and three pillows.

"What are those for?"

"I decided since you want to sleep on the couch, why don't we do it together." She said dropping one of the pillows on the floor.

Dave wanted to say something before knocking was heard coming from the door.

"That must be the pizza." She said.

She dropped everything she was holding and quickly made her way to the door.

"You ordered pizza?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.

She opened the door, got handed the pizza by the pizza delivery guy, and paid him before returning to him with the pizza package in her hand.

"Yeah." She said with a smile. "Now."

She slowly dropped the pizza on the small table behind her and quickly picked up one of the pillows on the floor before stepping closer to Dave, raising his head, and placing the pillow there.

"That's better right?" She asked after allowing his head to relax on the pillow.

"Yeah," Dave said, giving off a warm smile.

"Good." She said before setting up her sleeping bag beside the couch and dropping one of the remaining two pillows on the edge of the couch beside Dave's head. "Now, the pizza."

"Emma," Dave called just before she could grab the pizza.

"Yeah," Emma said, turning to him.

"I don't know what I would do without you." He said with a smile.

"Me too." She said returning the smile.