A World Alone

"Calm down, Thalia." Maria Sol muttered. Thalia apologised and fixed her eyes back on the pitch. The Messi family and Thalia were sitting in the private box as they watched the match against Germany. The whole world was watching and there was pressure on all the players' shoulders. The second half was coming to an end and unless somebody made a move now, they would be going into extra time and if no one made a goal in extra time - the game was going to penalties.

The whole family and Thalia had their 'Messi' jerseys on. It had been a very tense game, starting with Gonzalo Higuaín's offside goal. The referee blew the whistle and both teams got off the pitch to go to their teams. Maria Sol let out a sigh, "I'm so scared." she whispered. Thalia nodded, "Me too." she sighed. Looking down at the huddle of Argentine players, she saw Lionel who was pale and looking down at his cleats. Javier and Sergio were doing most of the talking.

After a while, the referee blew the whistle again. Mario Götze was subbed in and he took his place next to Philipp Lahm. The referee blew the whistle and the game kicked off. Thalia bit her lip as she watched the game. So far, nothing so bad was happening. Argentina had a tough defence and they were keeping Germany's ball out of their half. Suddenly, Mario Götze took a chance and got close to the goal before knocking the ball into the net. Fans everywhere went wild as the German players yelled in happiness.

Everyone sighed in disappointment. Thalia put her head in her hands as she fisted her hair in her hands. Argentina had little to no chance of winning the World Cup now and she knew for a fact that the whole world would be pointing their fingers at Lionel if Argentina loses. She looked back up and bit her lip as she watched. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it. As the period for extra time was coming to a close, Lionel was awarded the free kick. If he made this, Argentina had a bigger chance of winning and if they don't - the victory goes to Germany.

A hush fell over the stadium as Leo took his place behind the ball. He waited for the referee's whistle before drawing his leg back and kicking the ball forward. Time seemed to freeze as everyone watched the ball fly a few inches over the goalpost. The referee blew his whistle one more time and the German players went crazy, everyone ran into the pitch and started chanting. Fireworks went off and everyone was chanting 'Deutschland' repeatedly.

Thalia felt her heart break when she saw Lionel biting his quivering lip. Most of his teammates were reduced to tears as they watched their life-long dream crash and burn. An announcement was made that the winner of the Golden Ball was Leo and the winner of the Golden Glove was Germany's Manuel Neuer and the winner of the Golden Boot went to Colombia's James Rodriguez. A hush fell over the private box as everyone took their time coming to terms with the fact that Argentina had come so close to winning but had the opportunity shattered.

Maria Sol gave Thalia a small hug as they watched Lionel climb up the stairs to reach the booth where they would be giving him the trophy. Leo shook a few fans' hands before making it to the booth. He shook everyone's hand and the president of FIFA handed him the trophy. Lionel shot him a small smile but everyone knew it was forced. Leo stood on the far right as a beaming Manuel Neuer received his trophy. After a few pictures were taken, Lionel headed back down to the pitch before disappearing into the locker room as Germany celebrated being football's World Champions.

-

After a while, the WAGs and families were allowed into the dressing rooms. Thalia let the Messi family enter first so that they could talk to Leo privately. She waited outside, looking down at her shoes in disappointment. She couldn't imagine the disappointment and heartbreak Leo was feeling right now. After ten minutes, the Messi's left the locker room and Celia walked over to Thalia. She had a small smile on her face but she looked disappointed as well. "He's really feeling down, Thalia," Celia sighed, "Take care of him." she smiled before leaving with the rest of the family.

Thalia bit her lip before opening the door to the dressing room. There weren't that many people anymore since they were all leaving back to the hotel. Leo was sitting down in the corner with his head in his hands. Thalia frowned and walked over to him. "Leo?" she whispered. He looked up and Thalia could finally see how red his eyes were and he had tears trailing down his cheeks. "…Thalia." he whispered. Thalia quickly hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her as he let the tears fall freely down his cheeks.

"I love you, Leo," she whispered into his neck, "You did so well, amor." she whispered. She pulled away from him and wiped the tears from his cheeks, "You were amazing out there. You are such a good captain." Thalia reassured him with a smile. Lionel sniffled and nodded before bringing Thalia back into a tight embrace, "I just need you here with me right now." he whispered. Thalia bit her quivering lip as she tried to hold back her own tears. She nodded, "Of course."

-

Everybody retreated back to their hotel rooms as fast as they could - no one wanted to talk about their loss. It was a topic that nobody wanted to discuss. Leo was already in bed, his forearm covering his eyes as he breathed in and out tiredly. Thalia frowned and got in beside him before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, Leo." she whispered again. He rubbed his eyes and smiled tiredly at her, "I love you too, Thalia." he replied before pressing a kiss to her lips.

Thalia wrapped her arms around him and ran a hand through his hair gently. The make out session started getting heated as Leo climbed on top of her. Soon enough, most of their clothes were lying on the floor. Leo shut his eyes tightly and pressed a kiss to Thalia's nose. "We don't have to do this if you're not ready." he muttered. He knew for a fact that Thalia was a virgin and that she was incredibly sensitive, especially after the incident that occurred a few weeks back.

Thalia nodded and pecked Lionel's lips. "I'm ready, Leo," she breathed out nervously, "Te amo."