A World Alone

Thalia scrolled through her messages for the umpteenth time that day. Leo would have already left for Barcelona now, and he promised to text her when he was about to take off but he hadn't texted her for the last five hours. Thalia had already sent out a message to Kun who was supposed to be flying back to England the same time Leo was flying to Spain but all he replied with was 'He's fine!!' with two smiley face emoticons at the end of the text.

Thalia tried to think of something else, thinking that maybe Leo just forgot to text her or his phone blacked out on the way to the airport. Thalia was sat quietly in the living room reading a book. Theo was out at practice and their mother was going grocery shopping which left Thalia at home alone. She ran a hand through her brown hair as she tried to focus on the book and not on her boyfriend who was probably already on a plane.

Thalia put down her book when she heard someone knocking on the front door. It was probably just Theo forgetting to bring his key again or Olivia coming over for a girls day. Thalia walked over to the door and opened it. But she never expected to see her boyfriend standing there with a grin on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his arms.

"Hola, querida." he grinned at her. Thalia didn't waste a moment and dove into his arms, planting little kisses on his face. "Leo! What are you doing here?" Thalia squealed. Leo chuckled, knowing he made the right choice in coming to Buenos Aires. "I had two weeks left before I actually had to return to Barcelona. So I decided to surprise you." Leo replied with a smile. Thalia grinned, knowing that she was really lucky to have Leo in her life.

The footballer handed Thalia the flowers and she took it with a smile before kissing Leo passionately. "You're amazing." she whispered before running into the kitchen to place the flowers in some water. Thalia ran back to Leo and she led him over to the couch where she muted the TV. "How did you know where I lived?" Thalia asked. Leo laughed, "Olivia. She was more than happy to help." Leo replied. Thalia laughed, knowing that Olivia was a sucker for romance. "I'm really glad you're here." Thalia murmured, pressing a kiss to the footballer's lips.

-

"I'm home!" Theo yelled as he entered the house. He was still wearing his football boots and he tracked the grass in, knowing that it annoyed both his mother and his elder sister. "Take those shoes off, you moron!" Thalia yelped from the living room. Theo turned his head, not expecting his sister to be sat there. But what surprised him even more was his idol sitting beside her. Leo stood up with a smile and walked over to Theo, "Hola, Theo. It's great to finally meet you!" Leo greeted him, making Theo stare at him for a while.

"Dios mio," Theo breathed out, making Leo and Thalia laugh. "I'm such a big fan, Mr. Messi! I can't believe you're actually here…in my living room. I can't believe it!" Theo wheezed out. Leo laughed at his reaction, "Call me Leo. And I think you're going to be seeing me around for a little bit more." Leo smiled. Theo shook his head in disbelief and turned to Thalia who was grinning back at him. "I like your boots," Leo complimented him with a laugh.

Theo was still too shocked to say anything else so he just nodded. Thalia laughed as she looked up at two of her favourite men. "Come on, Theo. You know the drill." Thalia murmured as she stood up. Theo nodded and took off his boots and put them outside. Leo grinned, wrapping his arms around Thalia. "I love your family already." he smiled. Thalia snorted, "Wait till you meet my mother."

-

Anna Morales didn't know what to say when she entered the house and saw Lionel Messi sitting on her couch. Lionel grinned at her and stood up, "Hola, Mrs. Morales. I'm Lionel Messi. Nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot of things about you from Thalia." Leo introduced himself. Anna quickly regained her composure and nodded, "Good things, I hope," Anna replied with a shaky voice. "Only the best, Mrs. Morales." Leo grinned. Anna smiled, "Please, call me Anna."

Leo nodded, "Oh, please let me help you with the groceries." Leo said, taking the bags from Anna's arms and bringing them to the kitchen. Theo got up and ran over to the kitchen to help him and Anna turned to her daughter in shock. Thalia laughed, "Isn't he a keeper?" she gushed. Anna laughed, "Why didn't you tell me he was here?" Thalia shrugged, "I didn't even know. He came and surprised me with the help of Olivia." she explained. Anna chuckled and gave her daughter a brief hug, "Yup, he's a keeper."

-

After Theo and Anna gave the couple some privacy, Leo and Thalia were just sitting on the couch with their hands intertwined as they talked about random things. Suddenly, Thalia's phone rang. She raised her eyebrows, seeing an unknown number on the screen of her phone. "Hold on, Leo." she murmured, standing up to go take the phonecall.

"Hola." Thalia said. "Thalia?" an familiar voice said from the other end. It was familiar, but Thalia couldn't make out who it was. "Si?" she replied. "It's me, Thalia. Your padre." he said. Thalia froze in shock, not knowing what to say. She hadn't spoken to her father in such a long time. Thalia nearly dropped her phone if it weren't for him speaking again. "Querida, where are you?" he asked her. Thalia felt the tears welling up in her eyes and she knew she had to hang up before she started bawling. "Don't ever call me again." she squeaked out before hanging up the phone.

Thalia clamped her hand over her mouth, stifling her sobs. She was about to collapse to the floor in a heap of tears when she felt strong sturdy arms wrap around her. Leo held Thalia close to her even though he didn't know what was happening. He contemplated on running upstairs to tell Theo or Anna but Thalia's grip on his shirt told him that she needed him here with her right now.

"Neña, what happened?" Leo asked. Thalia couldn't get the words out so she just let Leo hold her.