Through the Dark

-Gerard.
After we left Leo’s house, I got into Cesc’s car since he was going to be dropping me home. I immediately pulled out my phone and started texting Ariana.

[Gerard: Ari, are you okay?]

[Ariana: Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?]

[Gerard: I saw you crying]

[Ariana: Oh, that was nothing. Don’t worry about it]

[Gerard: Did Neymar say/do something?]

[Ariana: No, Neymar was actually the one that cheered me up :)]

[Gerard: Oh]

NEYMAR!

What was it between the two of them? The curiosity was killing me and I had to know.

“Alright, spill.” Cesc said just as we stopped at a traffic light.

“What?”

Cesc raised his eyebrows, “Come on, Gerard. I know that you have a thing for Ariana. You couldn’t stop checking her out and I know you were jealous of her and Neymar.”

Damn it, this is what I get for being his best friend for nearly 20 years.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe I do have a thing for Ariana. But you can’t tell anyone!” I panicked as soon as it slipped out of my mouth.

Cesc smirked at me, “I knew it.”

I shrugged, “She helped me with Shakira, I can talk to her about anything. But then…Neymar.”

Cesc sighed, “Look Geri, I admit that Ari’s a really pretty girl. But do you really want to take a chance? She’s Leo’s sister.”

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair in exasperation, “Whatever…she’s Neymar’s anyway.”

-Ariana.
I woke up to be blinded by the Barcelona sun. I dragged myself out of bed and got into the bathroom, taking a quick shower.

I brushed my teeth and blow-dried my hair. I got dressed in a simple flower sundress and let my natural wavy hair go, braiding my bangs and clipping them to the side of my head like I always do.

I bounded down the stairs and smiled when I saw Antonella cooking breakfast and Leo reading something on his laptop.

“Morning, guys.” I smiled, sitting down on the table.

Anto placed a plate of food in front of me. I grinned and thanked her, grabbing a fork and starting to eat my eggs.

“What are your plans for today?” I asked.

Leo shrugged, “Probably stay here, and invite some of the boys over. Basically my routine whenever Anto goes out.”

“That reminds me,” Anto grinned, “I’m going out with Daniella. You should come!”

I grinned, “Yeah, sure.”

About an hour later, we heard a honk from outside. I grabbed my bag and Anto kissed Leo goodbye before we both ran outside and into Daniella’s car.

Anto sat in front while I sat in the back.

“Hey, girls,” Dani grinned, driving towards the mall, “Ari, I heard that Pep offered you a spot in the Barca Femenì club! That’s amazing.”

I smiled at her through the rearview mirror.’

“Yeah, I’m real excited. Except, he hasn’t even confirmed it yet.” I frowned, biting my lip.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll ace that try out!” Anto grinned.

After a little more gossip talk, we arrived at the mall.

We decided to go shopping at Cotton On Body first since I so badly needed new sweats and tank tops.

I took the clothes I wanted to the fitting room when I ran into someone unexpected…Shakira.

“Shakira?” I gasped.

She looked at me with a weird look, like she knew who I was but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Oh! Ariana Messi, is it?” she said with fake excitement. “I heard a lot about you from…Gerard.”
I bit my lip, and looked down at my feet.

“Well, yeah…I guess.”

“You helped him through the breakup, didn’t you? He can’t stop fawning over you.”

There it was again. Butterflies in my stomach.

His ex was telling me about how he can’t stop talking about me? Talk about awkward.

“Oh…that’s nice.”

She nodded and the two of us stood there awkwardly, “I better get going.” She said, before walking away from me.

After a while of just standing there, Anto and Dani ran over towards me. “Ari! Did you just talk to Shakira?”

I nodded and they looked at each other.

“What?” I asked.

They shook their heads before pushing me into a fitting room, “You go try on those clothes, and hon. Then we can go and get our nails done.” Daniella called from outside the door.

I sighed and tried on the clothes, deciding to buy two sweatpants and one hoodie that said ‘SLEEP’ on it.

I brought the two out and paid for it before the three of us went to get our nails done.

The day ended well and before I knew it, I was already back in my room, just chilling and browsing the web when my phone rang.

I picked it up without checking the caller ID.

“Hola?” I chirped into the phone, feeling happy for no reason.

“Ah! Ariana. It’s me, Pep.”

I nearly choked on my own spit. I carefully ran outside my room and into Leo and Antonella’s room where Leo was laughing at something on his phone and Anto was reading.

I quickly turned the phone on loudspeaker.

“Hi! It’s great to hear from you again!” I said normally, making Leo turn towards me in curiosity.

“So, I’ve talked to the manager of Barca Femenì and they seem really interested to have you as a forward!”

I nearly had a heart attack right there but I had to keep my cool or Pep would quickly change his mind.

“That’s great!” I gushed.

I heard him chuckle on the other end, “Si, but they must see you play first. If you don’t mind, please come to Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper the day after tomorrow at around 1:30 for an observation?”

I nodded quickly, but I knew he couldn’t see me.

“Si! Thank you so much, Pep!”

“It’s my pleasure! See you soon!” he said before the line went dead.

I started screaming and rolling around in the bed, making Leo and Anto laugh at me.

“I’m so excited. I can’t even talk about it anymore.” I sighed.

Then, we heard the sound of a door opening and voices start talking simultaneously.

“There they are!” Leo said before speed walking out of the room and downstairs.

“Are they always here?” I asked Anto who nodded, “Leo doesn’t like going out, so he brings them here.”

I chuckled and walked downstairs. I smiled when I saw Dani there with some other women—WAGs, I presume.

Anto hugged the girls and I stood there awkwardly.

“Oh, of course,” Anto smiled at me. “Ariana, this is Anna, Andres’ wife. Yolanda, Victor’s wife and Patricia, David’s wife.”

They all seemed so nice, just like Dani had been when I first met her.

“Hi, guys. I’m Ariana.” I smiled, shaking all their hands.

“Leo’s twin, right?” Yolanda asked me with a grin.

I nodded and she smiled at me.

The six of us sat together and just talked about random stuff and I already felt myself bonding with them and I knew I’d be really good friends with them.

“I’m gonna get something to drink, want anything?” I asked the six of them. They all shook their heads except for Anna who stood up with me, “I’ll come along.”

The two of us walked to the kitchen, just making random small talk about the newest chitchat in town. Just gossiping.

I got some water and so did she and we leaned against the kitchen counter just looking at the boys who were playing FIFA.

Gerard, Cesc, Neymar, Andres, Victor, David, Xavi and Carles were here, just the normal bunch.

“Got your eye on any of them?” Anna asked me, reminding me of the first time I talked to Daniella.

I shook my head even though I wanted to tell her I couldn’t stop thinking about Gerard.

“Come on, I can see it in your eyes. It’s fine, you can trust me.”

I looked at her with a smile and decided to just trust her.

“Well, okay. I kinda have a thing for…” I mouthed ‘Gerard’ and she finally understood what I meant.

She nodded and gave me a small smile.

“I can picture you guys together, you would make a great couple.” She grinned before looking over towards Gerard who was cheering due to a goal he just made in the game.

He grinned at Xavi who patted him on the back before his eyes flickered to me. When we made eye contact, he quickly blushed and looked away from me.

“Yep, he definitely likes you.” Anna whispered, making me look at her in shock. “What makes you think that?” I asked.

She chuckled, “I’ve known him for quite some time, and I know that he would never blush for any girl. And did you see the way he looked at you? He was totally shy! He’s almost never shy.”

I felt myself blush and I heard Anna giggle, “Oh, you guys are so cute.”