Somewhere Only We Know

“I need to sleep” Ariana complained as she and Iker made their way through the airport. It had been a painfully long flight and whilst Iker had managed to find sleep, Ariana hadn’t. She had spent most of the flight worrying about what would happen when they got home. She knew that she had to adjust, once Iker’s cast was off and he finished with the physical therapy that would allow him to play again, she would have to learn to share him with Real and his fans, but it was a thought that concerned the brunette. Lucia may have been a total bitch, but the notion of Iker finding someone better had stuck with Ariana and she knew it was more likely once he was playing again. She wouldn’t be there to stop the girls falling at his feet.

“You should have slept on the plane mi amor. Other than feeling a little sweaty, I feel remarkably refreshed” Iker quipped smugly as he grabbed hold of Ariana’s hand.

Ariana glared him playfully, causing Iker to lean down and kiss her gently. “You love me really” he grinned.

“Sometimes” she shrugged.

Iker shook his head and pecked her lips again. “All of the time” he noted.

Ariana nodded. “Of course Iker” she smiled as she continued towards the baggage carousel. Iker smiled gently and followed along, quickly retrieving their bags before he led her towards the exit. He knew that it would take a little while, Ariana needed sleep and so did he in reality, but he couldn’t wait to start packing her things and moving them into his home. It was a big step, Iker hadn’t even taken it with Sara and they had been together far longer than he and Ariana had, but he knew that it was the right thing for them. He wanted Ariana around all of the time and she clearly wanted the same thing, something which pleased Iker. He didn’t quite know what he would have done had Ariana told him that they were moving too quickly or that she wanted to slow things down.

“Your place or mine?” Ariana mused as they moved towards the taxi rank.

“Yours” Iker replied, his arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her a little closer to him.

“Why?” Ariana poked. It was a fact that her apartment was significantly smaller than the house he had owned.

“Because once we have slept, I can start packing boxes and moving them to mine quicker” he quipped with a wide smile.

Ariana rolled her eyes and stood up on her toes, pulling him softly into another kiss that Iker happily returned.

He couldn’t wait until she was moved in with him and he had the chance to kiss her whenever he wanted.

~#~
“Did you miss anything major?” Ariana poked as she led Iker up towards her apartment, her blue eyes noticing the phone that sat in his hand. It had been switched off, neither Iker nor Ariana had turned their phones on whilst they had been out in Australia, and she was a little reluctant to turn her own back on. She was sure that there would be one or two scathing messages from her parents about leaving so suddenly whilst her sister was in hospital and she no desire to read them, knowing that they would likely upset her again.

“Madrid won on Saturday, Sergio scored” Iker said with a little shrug.

Ariana nodded. “We should go out with him and Pilar before we start work again” she suggested.

Iker offered her a smile. “Look at you” he teased “All prepared to go out on double dates. You’re all grown up” he joked.

Ariana rolled her eyes and turned to place the key in the lock, pushing the door to her home open.

“Ariana?”

The brunette paused for a second before she stepped deeper into her home, her blue eyes widening as she found her mother and father sat on her couch. “Mama, papa, what are you doing here?” she mused as she dropped her keys onto the table.

Isabella looked up at her daughter. “We wanted to talk to you. We think it is best that Lucia moves back in here with you” she mused.

Ariana stood, dumbfounded for a moment, before she shook her head. “Mama, she doesn’t want me near her” she protested a little. She knew that Lucia wouldn’t want it, not unless it meant she could get something in return, and Ariana dreaded to think what her parents had promised her sister. She had always had Isabella and Harry wrapped around her finger.

“We’ve discussed that with her and she says she will move back in, providing that…” Harry’s voice trailed off as his brown eyes lifted slightly, peeking at Iker that stood behind his daughter. Ariana noted the trail of his stare and turned, a spluttered ironic laugh falling out of her mouth.

“Providing that Iker is never here?” she hissed.

“She just doesn’t want you two throwing your happiness in her face” Isabella mused “Is that too much to ask?”

“Yes, it is. Ma, I love him and I am not going to put him on a schedule because Lucia doesn’t want to see him” Ariana returned.

“She’s your sister Ari, she needs someone to look after her” Harry noted.

Ariana sighed gently and dropped her head, something which caused Iker to step towards her, capturing her cheek in his warm hand. “Ari” he whispered low enough for only her to hear “Tell them. Tell them that you are coming to live with me” he mused.

Ariana swallowed. “Do you think they will be mad?” she replied.

“You shouldn’t care, not if it is what makes you happy. I am what makes you happy right?” he noted.

Ariana smiled and nodded her head before she turned back to her parents. “She can’t live here with me” she mused.

“Why not? We bought this apartment Ariana and if we say that Lucia is going to be staying here, then we mean it ok?” Harry snapped.

“She can’t live here with me, papa, because I am not going to be living here myself. When we were out in Australia, Iker asked me to move in with him and I agreed to it. Lucia can live here, but it won’t be with me” she explained shyly.

Harry’s face flicked through a range of emotions before a small sigh fell out of his mouth. It was fast, too fast, but Ariana wouldn’t listen to him. Like her mother, his youngest daughter could be awfully stubborn and wouldn’t be told that she couldn’t move in with Iker, not without it making her want to do it even more.

“You’re moving in with him?” Isabella squeaked “Ari, you know next to nothing about him” she added.

“I know enough to know that this is what I want mama. I love him and I want to be with him” Ariana replied calmly.

“You’ve barely been dating five minutes, how can you think this is a good idea?” Isabella shot.

“I don’t know whether I think it is a good idea, mama, but I want to try it” she mused as she moved to grab hold of Iker’s hand. The keeper smiled a little and squeezed her hand, proud that she was standing up for herself.

“What about Lucia?” Isabella protested “Where will she go?”

Ariana shrugged. “I don’t know mama, but I know that she is no longer my problem. If she can’t even pretend to be happy for me now that I am dating Iker, then why should I be there to help her? She’s tried, single handedly, to break me, to make me so shy and so nervous that no one could ever see to love me and I don’t want to be dealing with it again. Lucia’s someone else’s problem now Mama” she mused causing Iker to squeeze her hand again, a proud smile on his face.

Isabella noticed it and narrowed her eyes. “Did you put her up to this?” she snapped.

Iker shook his head. “No, I didn’t put her up to anything” he noted.

Isabella shook her head. “She would never have put anything ahead of family before you appeared. You must have said something”

Iker’s dark eyes narrowed as he looked at his girlfriend’s mother. “I merely told Ariana that she doesn’t need to listen to every vicious word that comes out of her sister’s mouth. Your older daughter is vile, she has tried time and time again to make Ari feel worthless and I simply told her to stop listening. Ariana’s wonderful and I have made it my mission to show that to her” he spat.

Isabella went to speak again, but was cut off as Ariana lifted her arm, motioning towards the door. “Go mama, papa, I want you to leave” she murmured.

“Ari” Isabella complained, but Iker shook his head.

“Get out of here” he muttered “And don’t come back until you can see that your older daughter has tried single handedly to ruin Ariana’s life” he added.

Isabella glared at the keeper before she grabbed hold of Harry’s hand, leading him out of the apartment.

Ariana watched after her parents before she sighed, her blue eyes closing. Iker moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her. “It will be ok Ari” he breathed softly as he rested his forehead on hers. “We will make it through without them” he added.

Ariana nodded her head weakly.

She wanted to believe him, she wanted to think that she was making the right call when she chose to stay with him rather than look after her sister, but part of her simply couldn’t get to grips with it. Family had always come first for her and with Iker around, her family were quickly disappearing from her life, something she wasn’t sure that she liked.