Worth It In The End

“¡Sergio, puta, regresa aquí en este momento con mis zapatos!” (Sergio, bitch, get back here right now with my shoes!) Maral yelled after her boyfriend. We’d come to Cadiz in the south of Spain for vacation after the boys won the World Cup in South Africa. It’s been two weeks since they won, and we finally just got the chance to come out and vacation after all the hectic celebrations and interviews.

“Ow.” I screeched as the football the boys were passing around hit me in the head while I sat next to Maral, soaking in the sun. I held my head while Gerard ran over, kicking up the ball and holding it at his side with his arm as he knelt down beside me.

“Sorry Addison. Are you alright?” I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes, daring him to ask me if the ball that was kicked by one of the players of the best team in the world hurt. He let a smirk slip on his face. I brought my hand down to see a bit of blood on my hand.

“Uh-oh. No bueno mi amigo.” I said in a funny voice as I shoved my hand in Gerard’s face. He chuckled and threw the ball back to Fernando and Puyol who were complaining about him taking too long. He gripped my wrist with the bloody hand with one hand, and held my head at an angle that he could see the cut with the other hand.

“Let’s go get you bandaged up mi querido, you’ve turned into Sergio.”

“¡Cierre la boca!” (Shut your mouth!) Sergio yelled as he plopped down next to Maral, placing her shoes by her feet as she caressed her hand over the little cut above his eye, Geri’s comment reminding her of the boot that hit Sergio in the face during the game against Paraguay.

“Sergio wasn’t the only one that got hit Geri, make fun of my man and I’ll remind you of the injuries you endured yourself my dear…running around the field with cotton balls sticking out of your mouth.” She mumbled the last part, earning a laugh from Sergio who just grabbed her hand from his face, bringing it down as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. I smiled at how affectionate my best friend and her boyfriend were, not caring who was around. I sighed, wishing I could have that as I turned to Gerard, who still had a wide smile playing on his face, his blue eyes shining bright. He stood up, holding his hands out for me to grab so he could help me up.

“Make sure you make me look pretty like Sergio did with the bandage.” I teased a bit more before we walked off. Maral clicked her tongue, not even bothering to look over at me, too busy with Sergio whispering in her ear. We walked next to each other towards the beach house we were staying at in a private section of the city. Our hands bumped once, but neither of us made the attempt to hold the others hand. I looked over at Gerard as he stared straight ahead at the house, longing to hold his hand. I looked behind me noticing that we were getting pretty far from everyone else, I didn’t notice how far out we’d gone this morning. I figured no one would see, being too occupied with themselves, I reached over and laced my fingers with Geri’s, pulling him from his focus on the house to look down at me as he brought our hands up to his lips, kissing my knuckle. Gerard went ahead and slid the glass door that led us to the back of the house open. I walked in behind him as he led me upstairs to the bathroom. He sat me down at the edge of the tub while he rummaged through the cupboard above the sink, quickly pulling out rubbing alcohol and some gauze and tape along with a bandage. He kneeled down in front of me, still eye level with me due to his height. I was too busy staring into his eyes that were looking straight at me to notice what he was doing with the supplies. He slowly leaned in to kiss me as I shut my eyes and closed the gap between us. I hissed into the kiss as he placed the gauze he had soaked with rubbing alcohol over my cut. That cheeky slag was distracting me. He only smiled into the kiss as I felt the sudden stinging sensation cool down and finally dissipate. He pulled away at the same time that he took the gauze away from my head.

“Wasn’t that bad was it?” He asked as he reached behind him to grab another piece of gauze along with the tape and bandage he was going to wrap around my head.

“Why can’t we tell anyone yet? It’s been a month, are you ashamed of me?” I placed my arms around his neck as his shoulders slumped, a slight sigh escaping his once smiling lips. He ignored my gaze and looked down at his hands that were unrolling the bandage. Without another word he taped the gauze in place over my cut and wrapped the bandage around my head. He stood up when he was done, cleaning up after himself, leaving me sitting on the edge of the tub. He turned to me as he stood in the entranceway of the bathroom.

“Venga en Addy.” (Come on Addy.) I turned my head to the side, deciding to be stubborn until he answered my question. I heard him sigh and walk over, kneeling in front of me once again. He took my face into his hands, turning my head so I’d look at him. I just rolled my eyes up and focused on the ceiling until I felt his thumb slowly begin to caress the side of my face and brush my hair behind my ears. I was caught in his icy blues again. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip before planting a small kiss. “I only do it to protect you. Do you want to have cameras following you around the way they follow Sergio and Maral’s every step?” I slowly shook my head. “See, and I know that, I know that you don’t like everyone following your every move. I could never be ashamed of you mi querido, I care for you so much, that’s the last emotion I feel towards you.”

“But I want to tell our friends, I want to be able to hold your hand around them, I want to be able to kiss you when it’s just us and our friends at gatherings like today, when there are no cameras around. And, I’m okay with the cameras outside too, if it means that I’ll be with you, because I know it’s a part of your life that you can’t change, and I can accept that, because I…I love you Gerard.” He wasted no time in pulling me towards him to give me a kiss that was so full of passion. I locked my hands around his neck as he grabbed my legs and picked me up off the edge of the tub and walked us out towards the nearest bedroom. He gently sat me down on the bed, finally breaking our kiss.

“I love you too…so much.” I smiled as the smile returned to Geri’s face as well. I could hear people talking outside, immediately recognizing Maral’s voice telling someone, probably Sergio, to put her down. Gerard and I walked out into the hallway and downstairs to meet everyone, fingers laced together. We stood in front of Fernando and Sergio, who had Maral thrown over his shoulder, so she hadn’t seen us yet, but she knew the boys saw something that she didn’t as they froze in front of us, mid conversation.

“Why did you stop walking? What’ going on? ¡Sergio, me dejó!” (Sergio, put me down!) Sergio slowly placed Maral back on her feet, she fixed her shirt and turned around, Sergio’s arm still around her waist. Her expression matched that of Fernando and Sergio’s. “Addison…Gerard…what? Why are you holding her hand? What am I missing here? I’ve been under the sun too long.” I laughed as Geri let go of my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulder.

“We’ve been going out…for the past month.” I slowly stated as Sergio gave a crooked smile.

“Bueno.” Sergio said as Fernando nodded in agreement with a smug smile on his face. They walked towards the kitchen area, leaving Maral still staring at me in disbelief, while Gerard grew a bit nervous beside me. I patted his hand that was placed around me letting him know that he could join the guys. He kissed the top of my head, careful not to hit my cut and left towards the kitchen. I grabbed Maral’s hand, pulling her towards the living room knowing that I had a lot to explain to her, but happy nonetheless because it was all worth it in the end, it always is.