A World Alone

Thalia giggled as Lionel pulled her back down to the couch and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Leo...you have training in the morning." Thalia murmured with a little giggle at the end. The past few days have been amazing for the new couple. Lionel had squeezed coming over to Thalia and Olivia's apartment in secret into his busy schedule. Lionel had chosen not to tell anyone about his relationship with Thalia since he didn't want any paparazzi following her all the way back to Buenos Aires without him there with her.

"It's okay, Lia," Lionel replied, hugging Thalia tightly to his chest. "Nine days left. Nine." he sighed. Thalia and Olivia had nine days left in Barcelona before they had to go back to Buenos Aires and continue with their jobs as journalists. Thalia and Leo haven't talked much into it, but they knew the time would come and they would have to either say goodbye or cope with long distance. Lionel was going to do everything he could to make her last nine days in Barcelona amazing.

Thalia didn't reply, instead cuddling further into Lionel's side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "Do you want to do something with me tomorrow?" Lionel asked. "I thought this was a secret." Thalia said, motioning towards the two of them. "Yeah, I know. Maybe just a small get together at my house with a few teammates. You can bring Olivia, I'm sure she'll hit it off with a few of my friends."

Thalia thought about it for a while. She met a few of his friends already, so what was the harm in meeting a few and some other WAGs. "Sure. Why not? I'll ask Liv." Thalia said. Lionel nodded and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "I should get going. I have training early in the morning." he said, stifling a yawn. Thalia nodded and stood up. He leaned in and kissed her passionately, "See you tomorrow. I'll pick you up around twelve thirty."

Thalia nodded and hugged him one more time before he left her hotel room. Thalia made her way towards Olivia's room and pushed it open. Olivia was sorting through a bunch of stuff she bought a few weeks ago with her cousins. "Hey, Thals. What's up?" Olivia asked, running across her room to pick up a shirt.

"Leo's having this get together at his house tomorrow. You should come. He's bringing some of his teammates." I smiled, sitting on the edge of her bed. Olivia looked at me and grinned, "Football players? I'm in."

-

The doorbell rang early in the morning the next day. Olivia, who was drinking coffee lazily in the kitchen, walked towards the door and pulled it open. Lionel was standing there with a brown paper bag. He was wearing a Barça jacket, sunglasses and a scarf thought it was pretty hot outside. "Got you guys some breakfast and stuff. I've gotta go, I'm running late. Tell Thalia I said hi." Lionel said before running back towards the elevator. Olivia shrugged and looked inside the brown plastic bag to see it piled with croissants.

"Thalia! Your amazing boyfriend just left us some croissants. If you ever let him go, I'll take him." Olivia joked. Thalia walked into the kitchen and smiled as she saw the brown paper bag. Olivia started stuffing her face with chocolate croissants while Thalia started eating some butter croissants. "So, what should I wear later?" Olivia asked. Thalia shrugged, "I'm just wearing a dress. I don't know. I guess I want to make a good first impression on his teammates and some of the other WAGs."

Olivia raised her eyebrow, "Are you kidding me? I'd kill for your legs."

Thalia chuckled and continued eating her croissant. "I'm going to take a shower." Thalia muttered, hopping off the stool and walking towards the large bathroom. She started peeling off all her clothes and started showering. She stood under the showerhead for what seemed like hours, just thinking about Leo and how they were going to work this long distance thing out. She finally stepped out and dried her hair before making her way to her room to pick out a dress.

She decided on a simple white lace summer dress with a brown belt. The dress ended just above her knee and it fit her well. She put on just a bit of makeup and dabbed on a bit of lipgloss on her lips. She glanced at the clock to see that it read 11:53. Leo would be here soon.

She slipped on her brown flats and checked her hair one last time before exiting the room to check on Olivia. She was dressed in a dress as well, it was hot pink and showed off her curves. "Too much?" she asked. Thalia chuckled and shook her head, "It looks fine, Liv."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Thalia went to answer it. Lionel stood there, sunglasses covering his eyes and a scarf covering half his face. "Leo...?" Thalia murmured awkwardly. Leo pulled off his sunglasses and gave her a half smile. "You look beautiful."

Thalia blushed and cleared her throat, calling for Olivia who ran into the living room. "Why are you wearing that scarf? It's hot outside." Olivia murmured, looking Leo up and down. "It's a disguise, ladies. Now come on." Leo chuckled, ushering the two out.

They got into Leo's car and he started driving to his own house. "Who's going to be there?" Olivia asked, shifting in the backseat of Leo's car. "Um...Alexis, Neymar, Cesc, Geri, and more." he replied. Olivia sighed and shrunk back to her seat, "Wow. I'm actually meeting Barça players. In person."

Lionel chuckled before pulling up outside his house. "Let's go." he muttered, pulling his keys out of the ignition and getting out. Thalia followed after him and so did Olivia. No one was here yet, so it gave Thalia a chance to calm her nerves. She didn't want Leo to know, but she was really nervous. She's met a few of his friends, but he was bringing more of his teammates and the WAGs.

Olivia sat down on the couch and smiled as she watched TV with Leo. Thalia lingered behind nervously, playing with the hem of her dress. "Thals? What are you doing there?" Olivia asked. Before Thalia could reply, the door opened and Gerard Piqué entered with Shakira behind him. "Hola, Leo!" Shakira sang, making Thalia's heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. She loved Shakira's music and she was so nervous to meet the singer.

Lionel stood up and so did Olivia. The both of them walked over to Thalia and Leo smiled, wrapping his arms around Thalia. "Shak, Geri, this is Thalia, my girlfriend. And this is her friend, Olivia." Leo said, pointing at Thalia first then at Olivia. Shakira grinned and struggled from Gerard's grip before running over to the two girls. "It's so nice to meet you!" she grinned, shaking hands with the two Argentines. Thalia grinned at the singer, already starting to calm down.

After a while, a few more people came in and soon enough, Thalia had already met Daniella, Anna, Nuria, Vanessa, Carol and Thaissa. She felt slightly out of place, but she was starting to feel less nervous and the girls were kind enough to include her in most of their conversations.

Thalia had wandered off alone and was sipping water in Leo's kitchen alone when she heard someone behind her. She turned to see Shakira there, smiling at her. "Hola, do you mind? I was feeling a bit lightheaded in there." she said. Thalia shook her head, "It's fine."

Shakira sat on the chair beside her and sighed, "So, how did you and Leo meet?" she asked. "Well, I watched a match at Camp Nou when Olivia just realized that she left the key card behind so we went back. I bumped into him on the way and I cut my elbow. He took me to the infirmary and that was that, but then we bumped into each other again and he made me spill my coffee. Then we exchanged numbers." Thalia replied, laughing at how weird it sounded.

Shakira giggled along with Thalia and before either of them knew it, they talked for at least a good half an hour. "And what are you going to do when you get back?" Shakira asked. Thalia's eyes dropped and she sighed, "I don't know. We either stop this or...go long distance. I'm so confused. I like him so much, though."

Shakira frowned, "Well, it's not like Leo won't ever see you again. You're from Argentina, his country, he'll see you a lot. When I was on tour, Gerard had to stay here because I left in the middle of the season. We could only talk for an hour a day sometimes and I missed him so much, but the key is trust, I guess. If you trust each other, you'll have no problems."

Thalia nodded, taking in Shakira's advice. "Thanks, Shakira. I'll definitely do that." Thalia said, turning to look at Leo who was laughing at something Gerard had said. She turned back around and smiled, knowing she wasn't planning to let go of Leo anytime soon.