Somewhere Only We Know

41: We Will Make It OK

“Oh Iker” Carmen whispered as she wrapped her arms around her son. She was devastated, she had really thought that Iker had found his happily ever after in Ariana, but that was clearly wrong. The brunette had tossed Iker’s heart back at him with venom and Carmen detested the younger woman for it. Ariana had known exactly what Iker had been through before, he had been entirely vulnerable with her, but still she had insisted on cheating, something which disgusted Carmen. She had thought the world of her son’s fiancée and hated that she hadn’t been able to see through the act that Ariana had so expertly put on. Iker sighed at his mother’s touch and hugged her back feebly. He felt numb. Once the anger and the pain had subsided, Iker had been left confused but he was sure the last thing he wanted was pity. He should have seen it first and didn’t need people feeling sorry for him.

If he had just been more vigilant, he would have seen it coming.

“Come, I have soup ready” Carmen whispered as she grabbed his hand.

“Mama, I don’t want soup” Iker protested softly “I just want to go and lay down, can I do that?” he whispered, his doe brown eyes soft and vulnerable.

Carmen’s heart shuddered at the sight of the look on his face. She had never seen him so upset before.

“Please” Iker whimpered “Just let me go and lay down. I will eat later” he added.

Carmen nodded. “Alright, I will save the soup til later” she conceded.

Iker spared her a weak smile before he padded up the stairs, leaving his mother watching after him desperately. Her son was a strong man, Iker never really showed any great deal of emotion, and it hurt her to see him so upset and broken.

Her little boy had rarely cried before.

~#~
“Ariana?” Alyssa mused as she and Daniel made their way into the brunette’s home. She had been quick to get in contact, Alyssa’s heart had snapped when Ariana had cried over the line, and the red head knew that they had to be there for her. There was simply no one else who could comfort her. “Ari, sweetie, are you in here?” she called once more.

“I am in the bedroom” Ariana’s feeble reply came.

Alyssa sighed. “Danny, why don’t you go and get some ice cream or something from the store?” she whispered with a look back towards her husband. It was clear that the brunette was in a worse state that Alyssa had thought she would be and she doubted Ariana wanted Daniel seeing her like it. The doctor had a habit of being awkward around women at the best of times and was even worse when it came to women that were crying.

Daniel frowned. He could hear the pain in Ariana’s voice and it made him feel awful. He had anticipated that she would be upset, Iker had been the first love of her life, but the reality was distinctly worse than his imagination. She sounded broken and Daniel didn’t know if she could be put back together again.

“Danny, did you hear me?” Alyssa muttered as she nudged her husband.

Daniel jumped and nodded his head, skittering back out of the house.

Alyssa rolled her eyes before she wandered towards Ariana’s bedroom, her throat drying at the state of the girl ahead of her. It hadn’t been long, Ariana had phoned practically moments after Iker had stormed off, but that made her state even more shocking to her friend. She was shaking, hushed sobs and whimpers were falling out of her mouth, and it was a shock to Alyssa. She hadn’t known Ariana all that long, but she was still surprised by how vulnerable she looked.

“Oh Ari” Alyssa cooed “Oh you poor thing” she added as she quickly ushered the brunette into a hug.

Ariana folded her arms around her friend weakly and hid her face in her shoulder, weeping still.

“What happened Ari? I thought you and Iker were on the fast track to being Mr and Mrs?” Alyssa whispered as she rubbed her friend’s back, trying to soothe the hiccups that fell out of her mouth.

“I…Iker…He…” Ariana started.

Alyssa sighed. “Let’s try and get you a little calmer before we talk ok? I am going to get you some water and you should go and wash your face” she explained as she leant away from her friend slightly.

Ariana nodded feebly and moved to her feet, padding into the bathroom.

Alyssa watched her and sighed.

Whatever had happened was clearly not going to be fixed easily.

~#~
“So, do you think you can walk me through what happened?” Alyssa mused as she stirred her drink. It had been a little while, Ariana had calmed down somewhat, and the ginger girl was curious. Whatever had happened was clearly very serious.

Ariana sighed. “I lost my phone and then someone came and gave it back to Iker, only it was filled with all these texts from a guy named Finn that I swear I have never met. Iker read them, freaked out and dumped me” she whispered.

“He dumped you?” Alyssa squeaked.

“He took my engagement ring and told me to pack my stuff. He really thinks that I cheated on him” Ariana whispered as she pushed her hair back behind her ear. She felt awful, Iker had looked nothing short of heartbroken when he had left, and she felt bad that he thought she had put him in that position. She knew how badly he took Sara’s cheating on him and hated that he had grouped her in with the other woman.

“What did the messages say?” Alyssa poked.

“Feel free to read them” Ariana mused as she put her phone onto the table.

Alyssa slid it towards her and sighed, her eyes flicking through the series of messages that had been exchanged between ‘Ariana’ and Finn. “They’re awful right?” Ariana muttered.

Alyssa nodded. “Iker thinks you sent these?”

Ariana nodded. “He thinks I have been stringing him along for months, something which is entirely impossible. I love that man more than anything and to think that he hates me…” Ariana’s voice trailed off as more tears gathered in her eyes.

Alyssa shook her head and leapt up, hugging her friend close. “How do you think that this happened?” she whispered as she felt the tears soak through her shirt onto her skin.

Ariana sighed. “Someone’s setting me up Lys, I know it, but there is no way of proving it and even if I did, Iker wouldn’t change his mind. He’s more stubborn than I am” she whispered.

Alyssa sighed and hugged her friend tightly. “We will find who’s doing this to you Ari, we’ll find them and then we will make Iker see that he was wrong to believe those texts over you. We will make it ok” she insisted.

“How?” Ariana whispered.

Alyssa shrugged and peeked over at the door, her eyes glancing at Daniel who looked awfully odd. “We just will, won’t we Danny?” she pressed.

Daniel looked at the scene ahead of him and forced a nod and smile.

Things were worse than he had thought they would be and Daniel wasn’t sure what to do next.

He needed to talk to Lucia.
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Thanks to Jayme112234 for the comment :)