Half a Heart

-Maria:
After what happened, Leo hasn't left my side at all. Every since we arrived in Brazil, he's been over protective, and I honestly don't blame him. We were close to lose our little boy and that's not anything I'd like to experience ever again. Currently I was at Leo's training, tonight he had the game against Iran and I was excited to finally see him play, but he was extremely worried about me. However I wasn't going to let him lose his focus on the game, I knew how much this meant to him. After training he jogged over to where I was sat and smiled at me.

"How are you querida, any pain?" he asked and sat next to me, rubbing my back. I moaned slightly as he rubbed my back, recently the back pains had gotten more frequent and painful, Dr Ramirez had said that it was because my body was preparing for giving birth.

"My back is killing me, but that's normal so I guess I'm fine, what about you?" I asked and grabbed his other hand, lacing our fingers together.

"Well I'm really excited for the game tonight, especially since I'll have you there." he said and I smiled before kissing him. He deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around me carefully. After a while we pulled away and I smiled.

"I've missed you so much Leo." I whispered and he smiled.

"I missed you to nena, and I was so worried." he said and I sighed, moving over to rub his shoulder slightly.

"I know amor, but we're both fine, and you need to focus a little less on me and a bit more on yourself, I don't want you to stress too much." I said and kissed his cheek. He smiled and shook his head.

"You and Thiagui are the reason of my existence querida, I'll always put you first, football is always second." he said and I smiled.

"I know that amor, but you need to focus on yourself a little, have you even had a decent night of sleep?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Then I want you to please get some sleep before the game amor, I love you." I said and dragged him away from the pitch to get to the hotel. As soon as we got the hotel, I practically forced him into bed and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep and I shook my head. He was wearing himself out. I plopped down on the bed next to him and closed my eyes, placing my hands on my stomach.

I guess I fell asleep, because when I woke up, Leo wasn't there. I took a look at the clock and realized it was about an hour until the game and he had probably left to get ready. I got up and took a shower, and curled my hair. I put on Leo's jersey and some jeans before making my way out of our room to get to the stadium. As I walked to the stadium, I could hear people cheering already and I smiled. This would be amazing. I made my way over to Leo's family and they smiled when they saw me. Celia hugged me right away.

"Mi hija, I was so worried, thank God that you're both ok." she said and placed her hand on my stomach. I smiled and nodded. We stood in the line, just like everyone else, and waited patiently to get in. I could hear the fans of Iran being loud already and I laughed.

"I cant deny the fact that the fans of Iran are going to be the loudest tonight, this is the first world cup for them, and they're excited." I said they all laughed. Suddenly someone poked me from behind and I turned around and gasped, it was Araz. I hugged him tightly and laughed.

"What are you doing here goofy?" I asked and he chuckled.

"It's Iran in the world cup, of course we'd be here." he said and I paled when he said we.

"By "we" do you mean what I think you do?" I asked and he sighed.

"Yes, she's here, and I see your not supporting Iran." he said and gestured to my Jersey disappointedly, by this time Celia and the others were staring at us.

"You know I wouldn't support Iran, how have you been?" I added quietly and he sighed before gesturing to Celia and the others.

"Oh right, guys this is my stepbrother Araz, he's the only one I keep in touch with." I said and they nodded at Araz, but still looked at him suspiciously. Araz cleared his throat and turned his attention back to me.

"Well we're ok, but we miss you." he said quietly and I sighed. The line was moving by now and I guess the doors had opened.

"You know I'll never be able to trust her, look at what she's done." I said and he nodded.

"I know, but that doesn't mean you have to shut the rest of your family out as well, your little sister needs you, when did you turn out to be so cruel?" he spat and left before I could say anything. I felt extremely guilty, what if he was right? We moved into the stadium and took our seats at the bleachers. Soli squeezed my shoulder gently.

"You know you've done nothing wrong, this is their way of ruining this for you, don't feel guilty." she whispered to me and I smiled weakly at her. The teams came in and it was time for the national anthems. I couldn't help but sing along to Iran's national anthem quietly, no matter what anyone said, Araz was right, I'd left my little sister to suffer my fate, I was horrible. After the national anthems, Leo shook the captains hand and took a quick look at me, and I smiled at him and mouthed "I love you.", pointing to my stomach afterwards and he smiled brightly.

As I had thought, the game was tense. Iran's defense was as strong as it was against Nigeria, and it was difficult for Argentina to score. At the same time, it was impossible for Iran to score, so the entire game was tense and nerve wracking. Leo had a sour expression on his face and I bit my lip, I really hoped Argentina would score, and I could tell that everyone else agreed with me as well, considering the serious,deeply concentrated looks of Jorge, Celia, Soli and the rest. The game continued this way and we were now in the 87th minute, with some additional time added already. I closed my eyes and prayed, as did everyone else, a goal felt impossible at this rate.

At the 88th minute something amazing happened. The game suddenly seemed a bit more exciting as Argentina finally got a chance, it all happened fast, suddenly Leo had the ball and kicked it, the goalkeeper never had the chance to get the ball, before it hit the net and we all screamed, cheering for Leo. I got up from my seat with everyone else and cheered for Argentina. Leo ran across the pitch and got embraced by the rest of the team, he looked over at me and smiled brightly before pointing at me and mouthing "Te amo" as he always did when he scored.

After the game, I made my way to Leo's dressing room, now he didn't want me being alone, but I wanted to do this. I quickly knocked on the door and covered my eyes, in case someone wasn't dressed, since Leo shared it with the rest of the team. As the door opened, I was embraced by Leo and I smiled, even though he was sweaty.

"Congratulations amor, that was amazing!" I said and Leo smiled widely, before putting his hand on my stomach and feeling Thiagui kick. I laughed and placed my hand on his.

"This little guy has been kicking like crazy every since you went out on the pitch, he certainly knows his papi already." I said and Leo laughed.

"Te amo querida, I'm so happy that you're here." he said before kissing me passionately.

"I love you more Leo, and you know I love to see you play." I said after we pulled away and he just smiled.

"Now hombre, you need to take a shower, I'll meet you outside." I said and he laughed before kissing me quickly and heading towards the showers. I went out of the dressing room and quickly made my way to Soli who was waiting for me at the stadium. She sighed loudly when she saw me.

"Thank God chica!, you had us all so worried!" she exclaimed and hugged me when she saw me.

"Sorry, I was talking to Leo." I said and blushed slightly, she just shook her head. After a while Leo joined us and we made our way to celebrate his win. The whole time I felt watched for some reason, and even though Leo had his arms around me, I felt extremely uncomfortable. What was going on?