Through the Dark

I ran a hand through my brown hair and looked around Ibiza one last time.

We were going home from 5 days in Ibiza since the boys and I needed to train for upcoming games. “We’re finally leaving.” I sighed to myself as the airport came to view.

“Yeah, finally.” Alexis frowned from beside me. He looked upset ever since breakfast this morning and I wondered if he had met anyone special during our trip here.

I looked at him with a small frown, “Everything okay?”

He shrugged, “I just met this amazing girl three days ago. We started to hang out and everything, but now I’m leaving and she’s staying there for another week. She would fly out to Barcelona but she has to take care of her mother.”

I looked at him sympathetically, resting my hand on his shoulder. “Where is she from?”

“She’s an Argentine.” Alexis chuckled, smiling at me. I giggled and patted his shoulder as we got closer to the airport doors.

“Everything will be fine, Alexis. You’re not the only one with relationship problems.” I smiled reassuringly, walking out of the small shuttle that the hotel had provided for us.

Everyone checked their bags in and after everything got settled, we all headed towards the lounges.

I looked around and finally found a Starbucks. I smiled and walked towards it. I needed some caffeine right now, and I wasn’t going to get it from some bullshit lounge.

I ordered a plain black coffee and sat down on one of the sofas. I sat there alone for a while and sipped on the coffee, feeling more awake with every passing minute.

I pulled out my phone when my attention latched on to Gerard sitting down in front of me with a coffee of his own.

“Hey,” he muttered, smiling at me. “Hi.” I said with a small smile, taking another long swig of the coffee.

He tapped his foot awkwardly and I looked around the coffee shop, avoiding his eyes. “So…” I started, trying to make a conversation with him.

Ever since we almost kissed, it’s been totally awkward between us. We avoided each other and barely said anything to each other but ‘hey’, ‘hi’, ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’.

“Should we talk about it?” he asked me, his eyebrows raised. I bit my lip and nodded.

“I’m really sorry, you know.” He frowned. I nodded and swallowed the lump that’s been in my throat for the past five minutes.

He was sorry.

He was sorry that he tried to kiss me. Did he regret it? Did he feel bad because he knew he wasn’t meant for me?

I blinked thrice and leaned back on the couch, sipping on my hot beverage. “It’s alright.”

Then we sat in awkward silence again, just waiting.

Finally, our flight was announced to be leaving in the next half hour so Gerard and I got up, threw away our empty plastic cups and headed towards the gate.

We were quiet the whole way, not having anything to say to each other. As we reached the gate, I turned towards him one more time and he handed me my ticket.

“Leo said you could exchange seats with him. It’s alright.” Gerard smiled, showing me the ticket. I bit my lip and took it from him, then smiled up at him. “No, it’s fine. I want to sit next to my best friend again.”

He pursed his lips and nodded with a small grin. We walked into the gate and took our seats.

-Gerard.
Best friend.

I guess that’s all I’ll ever be in her eyes. Just another friend of hers. She got in the window seat after we playfully argued over it for five minutes.

“Thanks.” She giggled as she started poking my face, making me jokingly glare at her. She giggled again and crossed her legs, tying her hair up into a ponytail before grabbing her phone.

Since our plane hadn’t taken off yet, she started flipping through Twitter and she laughed at a few funny posts. I smiled at how adorable she was.

It was about two years ago, when I first met her. She was shy and she was pretty much Leo’s shadow. Where he went, she went along with him.

Other than Leo, she was attached to Xavi who she seemed pretty close to as well. She had a few bruises on her forearm and when she ran a hand through her wavy brown hair, her shirt lifted and I could see some cuts and bruises on her stomach.

During lunch, she left for the bathroom and Leo eyed all us single boys and told us that she was off limits.

Leo first introduced her to us during breakfast at the hotel early in the morning. She was wearing one of Leo’s jerseys and some shorts that fit her perfectly.

Her brown hair was in a bun atop her head and she was wearing hardly any makeup but she looked so beautiful.

“Guys, this is Ariana, my twin sister. Ariana, these are the guys.”

I still remember Ariana’s frail reply, the way she squeaked out ‘hi’. Cesc was the first to reach out to her, he grinned and patted the empty seat next to him and she slowly slid into it.

“Hey, there. I’m Cesc Fabregas.” He smiled, shaking her hand. She grinned back at him, a dimple indenting on her left cheek—just like Leo’s.

“Nice to meet you.” She replied, rubbing her hands up and down her body. I watched her with a smile, she was so adorable in everything she did.

The way she laughed when Puyi told us a joke, the way her eyes glimmered whenever she talked about football.

I knew I would end up falling for her.

And I did.