Half a Heart

-Maria:
After spending some awkward time in the living room with me glaring at Xavi and Anna just looking away, we decided to leave. And when I asked Anna where she was staying, she said she's going back to Xavi's so they could work things out, I nodded and me and Leo left, with me glaring at Xavi one last time. We got home and I went to take a shower. After I got out I couldn't find Leo, so I walked around the house and walked into the living room and gasped. He had decorated the entire living room with candles, and spread rose petals on the floor and on the couch. I just stood there speechless at what he'd done.

"Amor." he said smiling and walking up to me,taking my hand in his. My eyes widened, hopefully he wasn't going to propose to me, I didn't know if I was ready to get married.

"What's all of this for?" I asked softly, trying to not sound worried.

"I figured we'd have our first official date, since we never actually had a proper one." he said and I smiled, relaxing.

"You didn't have to do this amor." I said as he ushered me towards the couch, where he'd prepared dinner for us.

"I wanted to amor, and before you say anything, no it wasn't difficult at all." he said and I laughed. We had dinner and afterwards we watched Aladdin. I smiled widely at his choice of movie, I loved disney and Aladdin was a favorite. I raised my eyebrow at him and he laughed.

"I know how much you love disney, and Aladdin is my favorite." he said and I kissed him softly.

"I love you." I said, looking at him and he smiled.

"Te amo mi amor." he answered and I closed my eyes, I'd never get tired of him saying that. We watched Aladdin in spanish with swedish subtitles, I laughed and he smiled at me.

"I figured I'd learn some swedish and you'd practice your spanish." he said and I rolled my eyes at him, but he was right, my spanish would definitely improve with this. We watched the movie, cuddling together on the couch and I loved every second of it.

Two weeks later, it was time for me to start school and I was extremely nervous. Leo had gone to training whilst I got ready for school. I had bought a english to spanish dictionary so I could manage in class, although my spanish had improved loads since I met Leo, I still couldn't speak fluently. I ate my breakfast slowly and sighed, hopefully it wouldn't be so difficult to go to school, I really wanted my high school degree. I was mostly worried about me and Leo, since we had gone public and let our picture's get out, I've been followed by paparazzi's everywhere. Leo's pissed that they're following me, but I was somehow prepared for this, however I hope this doesn't mean anything when it comes to school.

I sighed and left the house, walking quickly to my car, knowing that there were photographers everywhere. Since Leo hadn't had a girlfriend for a long time, the media was hungry for news about his personal life, and now they were going crazy. I drove away to school and parked in the parking lot. As soon as I got out of the car people were staring at me. I gulped, the students obviously knew. I made my way to the reception, trying to be as calm as possible. At the reception a woman sat, reading the newspaper. I stepped forward and cleared my throat.

"¿Perdóneme?" I asked softly and she looked up from her newspaper and put it away, I gulped as I spotted a picture of me and Leo leaving the airport. I smiled at her kindly and she just looked at me.

"Mi nombre es Maria Tabrizian, yo soy el estudiante de transferencia de Suecia." I said and she kept looking at me.

"I know who you are." she said with a thick spanish accent, I smiled at her and went a bit closer.

"Here is your schedule, your first class has already started, now you need to get a teacher to sign these slips at every class ok?" she said and I nodded quickly, the last thing I needed was to get her mad, I had a feeling that she didn't like me at all.

"Gracias!" I said and she just rolled her eyes. I took a look at the schedule and went to find the right classroom. Fortunately it wasn't difficult to find the classroom, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to open. The door opened by a tall guy with blue eyes, his eyes widened a little when he saw me and I looked down before entering the classroom. The entire class was silent as I made my way over to the teacher who was smiling widely at me.

"Clase, esta es María, ella es nuestra estudiante de transferencia nueva de Suecia." she said and I smiled at the students and her. She smiled at me and indicated for me to join her by the blackboard. I gulped, she probably wanted me to introduce myself.

"So Maria, would you mind introducing yourself to the class?" she said and I felt my hands sweating. Damnit! I thought and looked over the classroom, feeling all eyes on me. I licked my lips and took a deep breath.

"Umm Hola." I started and they were all silent, great they didn't answer.

"I'm Maria and I just turned eighteen a couple of months ago, I just moved to Barcelona from Stockholm, and umm here I am." I said nervously and suddenly one student raised her hand. She chewed gum and resembled one of the plastic's from Mean girls.

"Is it true that you're dating Lionel Messi, and that you moved here to be with him?" she asked, looking at me curiously. I sighed and realized that the entire class probably wondered about the same thing. I closed my eyes and decided to tell the truth, we did let the entire world know, so why not let these kids know. Besides, Leo told me that he had the entire school signing confidiality papers, so nothing would come out.

"Yes, that's true." I said slowly and they all gasped. I made my way over to an empty seat and suddenly they all seemed interested in who I was. I just groaned and sunk back in my seat, I had spent my entire time in school being invisible, and suddenly everyone were interested in knowing me, this was a bit uncomfortable. Class seemed to take an eternity to get over, and as soon as the teacher announced that class was over, I literally ran out of the classroom to go find my locker.

"So, how serious are you and that Lionel guy?" someone asked playing with my hair from behind and I jumped, terrified. I turned around to see the same guy that opened the classroom door.

"That's none of your business, now please move, you're a bit too close." I said and he smirked getting closer.

"Oh c'mon I know you love it." he said and my eyes widened, he leaned in to probably kiss me and I ducked under his arm and ran away. I got into the bathroom and locked the door. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Suddenly my phone rang and I saw it was Leo. I answered and smiled when I heard his voice.

"Are you ok amor?" he asked sounding a bit panicked.

"Yes, I'm ok, what's up Leo?" I asked curiously and he sighed.

"The picture of us are everywhere and I just drove by your school to see it covered with photographers." he said and I closed my eyes.

"Has anyone tried anything?" he asked and I sighed.

"It's been a little bit overwhelming and there 's one guy who doesn't seem to take no for an answer, but I'm ok, I'll handle it, we'll talk more about it when we're home, don't worry, now I need to go, gotta get to class." I said and he sighed once again.

"Te amo mi amor, and be careful." he said and I smiled.

"I love you more, and don't worry, I will." I said and hung up. For the rest of the day, I had to deal with people staring at me and some trying to kiss me like the other guy. I sighed as I got in the car and drove away quickly. This wasn't exactly the ideal first day of school that I'd planned.

When I unlocked the door, Leo came up to me and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tight. I kissed him and we moved to the living room, sitting on the couch.

"We have to do something if you're planning on staying in school amor." he said and I nodded.

"What do you have in mind Leo?" I asked and he sighed.

"You're not going to like it querida." he said and I looked at him.

"I know, but tell me anyways, it might be the only solution." I said and he smiled at me.

"The solution to the problem is to get you bodyguards, and have me pick you up and drive you to school." he breathed out quickly and looked at me. I sighed and closed my eyes, I knew he was right, if this kept on going then something bad would happen.

"You're right amor, but do the bodyguards have to follow me everywhere?" I asked and he smiled.

"No, they would just be hanging around the school, making sure to be there if you were to be in any sort of discomfort." he said and I knew he was referring to the guy from yesterday.

"Ok then." I said and he smiled. We watched some tv before having dinner and spending the rest of the night just talking. I woke up in the morning to Leo kissing me. I laughed and kissed him back. I got out of bed and took a shower, when I was finished I found Leo in the kitchen getting us both breakfast. After breakfast he looked at me as I was tying the laces of my shoes. I looked up and he suddenly grabbed my face, kissing me passionately.

"I hate sending you off to school, knowing what happened yesterday." he whispered after we pulled away and I sighed.

"Who loves school anyways, but you know I need this degree to be something, and no I'm not being a home wife." I said and he laughed. He drove me over to school and got out to open the door for me, before I had the chance to get out myself. I heard a couple of student's gasp at us and Leo wrapped his arms around me protectively. Before I went inside, he pulled me into a kiss whilst everyone watched. I blushed furiously as he pulled away and kissed my cheek.

"Bye mi amor, te amo." he said and I smiled.

"I love you more, and I'll see you later cariño." I said and went inside and quickly got to my locker. Today no one bothered me and I smiled. This seemed to work, and I did feel a bit more safe, knowing that there were people surrounding the school that could help me if anything happened. After another boring day of classes, I smiled as I got my things out of the locker and made my way outside. Leo was leaning on the car, waiting for me in the parking lot and I smiled at him.

"How was school today then amor?" he asked as I got in the car.

"It was ok, a lot better than yesterday." I said and he smiled.

"That's amazing mi amor, how do you feel about going over to Xavi and Anna?" he asked and I nodded.

"Sounds like a great idea, I need to talk to her." I said and he smiled. He started the car and drove off to Xavi's place. Over the couple of weeks that had passed since Anna got back with Xavi, I decided to give them some space, so this is the first time in forever that I'd meet her. We pulled up in the driveway and got out of the car. Leo held my hand and I dragged him to the door, excited to finally meet her. He just laughed and shook his head. I knocked on the door and we waited for someone to open.

A slightly disoriented Anna opened the door and I raised my eyebrow at her. She smiled shyly and moved in to hug me. I hugged her tight and we got in the apartment.

"Where's Xavi?" Leo asked and Anna blushed. I looked at her suspiciously and she smiled at me.

"He's getting dressed, he'll be here in a minute." she said and my eyes widened. It had just been a couple of weeks and it seemed as if she'd forgiven him already. I raised my eyebrows at her once again, not saying a word. She shook her head and Leo dragged me to the couch.

"What's the matter amor?" he whispered and I sighed.

"I don't know, I'm just shocked that she's forgiven him already." I admitted and Leo chuckled.

"Amor, you said yourself that if love isn't crazy then it isn't love, so I'm sure they had their reasons." he said and I rolled my eyes but nodded, he was right. We were soon joined by Anna and Xavi.

"So thing's are back to normal with you two then?" I asked and Anna looked down, I smiled at her showing her that I wasn't mad.

"Yeah, we've talked and worked things out." she said and I smiled at her.

"That's amazing Anna, and Xavi don't forget what I said on the pitch the other day, as far as I'm concerned that still stands, and I'm still a little mad." I said and Xavi nodded.

"Yes m'am." he said and I chuckled. Leo laughed as well, wrapping his arms around me.

"So I see you two are in the making up phase." Leo said, winking at them and I laughed. Xavi and Anna both blushed and that made both me and Leo crack up in laughter.

"Oh shut up midget!" Anna said blushing, and I continued to laugh before stopping, pretending to wipe tears away.

"Hey what's the deal with Anna calling you midget anyways?" Xavi asked and I chuckled.

"Well you see that I'm very short in contrary to Anna who's very tall, so she's always called me midget." I answered and he laughed.

"Well you're perfect for Leo." he said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, don't say that to Leo, I think he's perfectly tall, I wouldn't want to be with a giant anyways." I said and Leo smiled at me. Xavi laughed and shook his head.

"How come you say that, do you have any experience with giants?" Xavi asked again chuckling.

"Well I say that anyone over 180 cm are giants, compared to me anyways, and there was this guy in my old class, he was really skinny and around 2 m on the top of that he was extremely creepy and smelled weird, so yes I do have some experience." I said and they all laughed. We spent the afternoon talking and generally laughing a lot. After dinner, me and Leo decided to leave and go home. On the car ride home, I thought about how everything was perfect, but somehow I couldn't help but feel worried about my mother not contacting me at all, it felt almost surreal.....