Through the Dark

Today was the day.

Today was the day Miranda was going to arrive at Barcelona. Leo and I were going to drive to the airport to pick her up and after that, she was going to spend some time at Leo and Anto’s house.

Ibrahim was going to be there.

This is going to be great.

“Leo, hold the sign up.” I said, pushing Leo’s elbows upwards. He was holding a cardboard box that had Miranda’s name on it.

Some people had come and asked Leo for a picture and it really made me happy that he was loved here in Barcelona.

Leo glared at me, “She’s not blind, you know.”

I rolled my eyes and waited for Miranda to come through those doors.

Finally, she was there, looking around anxiously for us. “MIRANDA!” I yelled, making people look at us weirdly.

She grinned and ran towards me, hugging me tightly. She turned towards Leo and gave him a small hug too.

“Finally, back home.” She sighed, grinning and looking around. Leo popped the trunk and we put her bags in. Leo got in the drivers seat and I got in beside him and Miranda sat in the back.

“How’s London?” I asked Miranda.

She shrugged, “It’s fine. Same old same old, I’m so happy to be back home, though. I've missed good old Catalonia.” she sighed contentedly.

On the way to the airport, I told Leo about setting her and Ibrahim up and he totally agreed. We were getting those two together no matter what!

Miranda had a British accent when she spoke English but when she was speaking Spanish, there was no mistaking her to be Spanish—especially when she argued with someone.

After another twenty minutes, we reached Miranda’s mother’s house. It was pretty close to Leo’s house, just a good ten-minute walk.

Her mother’s house was right by the beach and since Mrs. Adriana Ramirez was back home in London with her husband and two other kids, Miranda had the house all to herself.

“Alright, thanks guys! I’ll see you soon.” Miranda smiled.

“Oh! Miranda,” Leo said, running towards Miranda who was about to walk in the house, “You should come swing by the house later, you can meet Antonella again and so you know where we live and—yeah.” Leo grinned, lying through his teeth.

Miranda looked at him weirdly before nodding, “Okay…sure. I’ll go as soon as I get settled.” Miranda smiled, walking in the big house. I turned around and glared at my twin brother.

“Next time, leave the lying to me.” I whispered before we drove back home.
-
Some of the boys had already gathered for their regular movie night. Alexis, Gerard, Cesc, Ibrahim, Neymar, Puyi, David, Xavi, Thiago, Andres, Leo, Victor, Anna, Anto, Daniella, Patricia, Yolanda and I were already gathered by the TV.

The boys were debating on what movie they wanted to watch first.

Of course, the girls wanted to watch a Nicholas Sparks movie, but the boys disagreed and that was why we weren’t allowed to choose.

Leo and Ibrahim wanted to watch The Purge, David wanted to watch Mission Impossible, Xavi, Andres and Victor wanted to watch The Hangover, Cesc, Thiago and Gerard wanted to watch World War Z and Alexis and Neymar wanted to watch After Earth.

“I actually wanted to watch Iron Man, so I don’t know why I was counted out.” I interjected, only getting attention from Victor who side eyed me.

I heard the front door open and I froze, “Ariana Leila Messi! I—” Miranda cut herself off when she saw everyone standing there.

Miranda was a huge Barca fan, and seeing all those players there must’ve made her want to faint.

Of course, she was used to seeing Leo all the time. But her ultimate favorite player has got to be Andres Iniesta.

“I—uh…I…” she stood there looking like a deer in headlights. I quickly shot up and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the front of the TV where everyone could see her.

“Guys, this is Miranda Spencer. She’s one of my best friends, she just moved in for an internship at a magazine and…I invited her.”

Leo grinned and started awkwardly clapping. Miranda waved at everyone, completely in awe. “And she’s a huge Barca fan.” I added.

Then, everything clicked and everyone started grinning at her and welcoming her into the ‘club’. When she shook Andres’ hand, she nearly fainted if she weren’t leaning on me.

We sat back down near the girls and I introduced her to everyone. She had quickly warmed up to almost everyone in the room and I knew that they had already started to like her too.

I purposely picked to sit Miranda beside Ibrahim so the two could ‘bond’. I smiled as I saw them start to quietly converse while everyone else argued over movies.

“Maybe we should let the girls vote,” Victor suddenly said, making the boys shut up for 0.2 seconds before they started talking again. “I mean in our range of movies.” He said again, before all the men quieted down.

Anto and Patricia picked to watch The Purge, Patricia and I picked to watch After Earth, mainly because I just loved Will Smith. Daniella and Anna picked to watch World War Z and so it came down to Miranda.

She looked like she was hard in thought before she finally picked The Purge, making Leo and Ibrahim cheer. It was still just 5:30 PM so we had a long night ahead of us to watch all the other movies.

The movie started and I had felt someone slide down the sofa to sit next to me. I pried my eyes away from the TV to look at who was beside me.

Gerard.

I turned to look at Miranda to give her a look but she was too busy whispering with Ibrahim. I smiled, turning away, not wanting to disturb their moment.

“Hey, Geri.” I chuckled, smiling up at him. He’s been really cautious ever since I told him about Lucas.

And to be honest, I miss the old him. I wanted to joke around with him and Cesc again, but all he did now was smile sympathetically at me.

He nodded at me and continued watching the movie, I turned to look at Cesc to see what made Gerard move to sit next to me and I saw him and Daniella cuddling together under the blanket.

“Are you okay?” Gerard asked me quietly, “Did you…run into him again?”

This is all that’s been happening for the past few days. He’s said nothing to me but ask me about Lucas or if that I’m alright or if anything’s hurting.

I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head, “No.” I whispered stiffly. If that was all he wanted to talk to me about, I wasn’t going to talk to him about anything else either.

The old Gerard Pique was long gone.

I was soon regretting telling him all about Lucas.

“No, you’re not okay or no, you didn’t run into him again?” he asked me, making me turn towards him. I looked into his piercing blue eyes and gave him a look.

He looked away from me and I sighed. I turned to see Miranda and Ibrahim chuckling softly about something.

Well, at least she was having fun.

“Hey,” someone whispered. “Ari.” I turned my head to see Neymar leaning down from the sofa and grinning at me. “Sit up here with me.”

Deciding not to ‘cockblock’ Afellay and Miranda and not wanting to talk about Lucas with Gerard anymore, I quietly stood up and moved over to sit next to Neymar.

I grabbed some of the blanket that was draped over him and he wrapped his arm around me.

“Where’s that friend of yours? Um…the forward.” Neymar asked, I turned towards him and giggled at him—he was totally falling for Sofia.
“Sofia? I didn’t call her over. Maybe I can set you guys up sometime.” I winked at Neymar who looked at me in awe.

“But, wait. How would I know the date just wouldn’t blow up in my face.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and pointed down at Miranda and Ibrahim. Afellay was doing the ‘yawn and put my arm around her’ trick, and Miranda seemed to inch closer to him.

Neymar jokingly gasped, “That was your doing?”

I nodded and he grinned, “Then I trust you!”

Cesc was beside me and Dani was beside him, they were cuddling and I heard Cesc whispering ‘I Love You’ into her ear countless of times.

Leo and Anto were cuddled up on the love seat. Anto was so into the movie, but all Leo was looking at was Antonella.

I didn’t even want to talk about Miranda and Afellay, they were clearly into each other. Then my eyes landed on Gerard who didn’t look like he was into the movie at all.

He kept sneaking glances up at Neymar and he looked really pissed off. After the horrifying movie was finished, some people took a bathroom break and I decided to go get a drink.

I got myself a glass of water and turned around, ready to head back to the living room when I bumped into Gerard.

“Oh…Gerard. Hi.” I smiled.

He didn’t return the smile, he didn’t even look at me sympathetically like he always did.

“So, you and Neymar huh?” his eyes were cold and calculating and to be honest, he was making me uncomfortable.

“Uh, no.”

“Don’t lie.” He said, inching forward so that there was hardly any space between us.
“Gerard…I—”

He smirked at me and rested his hands on either sides of my body, “You drive me crazy, you know?” he whispered, his face was so close to mine that his eyelashes brushed against the bridge of my nose.
“Crazy.” He repeated before pushing himself off of me and walking back to the living room.

I stood there for a long time, I already heard Brad Pitt’s voice on the TV. I slowly walked back towards the living room and moved to sit next to Neymar when I felt Gerard’s fingers hooking through mine.

I looked down at him and he gave me a small smile.

He gave my finger a small tug and I reluctantly agreed to sit next to him, giving Neymar a small smile.
Gerard wrapped his arm around me and put a blanket over the both of us. Leo was on the other side of the huge living room so he couldn’t see us, plus it was already dark outside which set the mood for the movie.

“What was that about?” I whispered to Gerard.

“I just wanted to send a message to Neymar that sharing is caring.” Gerard joked, it just made me glare at him. “I’m not with Neymar!” I whisper-yelled.

He looked down at me, “What? Then why are you so touchy-touchy and lovey-dovey and cuddling with each other and—”

I glared at him, “Maybe because we’re friends. And we’re not lovey-dovey, he has the hots for Sofia Cortez.”

“Oh.” Gerard whispered.

I rolled my eyes, “And I wasn’t talking about that, I was talking about the…kitchen.” I whispered.

He looked down at me and shrugged, “I was just telling the truth.”

The truth? The truth is that…I make him crazy?