Somewhere Only We Know

68: I Don’t Think So

Twisting her wedding ring around her finger, Ariana closed her eyes, her teeth nibbling at her lower lip as the familiar feeling of nausea washed over her. She still felt awful, even despite the near week that had passed since Lucia had sent her the image, and she couldn’t shake it. The notion that Iker’s hands had ever touched Lucia’s skin made her sick and she couldn’t stop thinking about it, no matter how hard she tried. All she could see when she closed her eyes was the image that Lucia had sent to her and it wasn’t going away any time soon.

“Ari?” Sergio breathed, his dark eyes set on the brunette. He felt for her, she had been a mess since she had called Pilar the morning after Lucia sent the picture, but he felt more for Iker. The keeper had been nothing short of a shadow of himself for days and Sergio didn’t know how much more the keeper could take. He could have sworn he had seen his friend cry at training a few days previous and that hurt Sergio. Iker was stronger than most people he knew.

Ariana nodded. “Yes?” she squeaked.

“I was just wondering if you had made a decision yet” Sergio murmured tentatively. He didn’t want to rush her, Ariana had a lot to think through, but he hoped she would at least speak to Iker. The keeper spent hours just staring at his phone, willing it to light up with Ariana’s name.

Ariana sighed. “Sergio” she whined softly.

“I know Ari, but he is a mess and I starting to worry for him. You know what he is like” Sergio replied quickly, his body sitting down beside the brunette. He didn’t want to force her into anything, she had every reason not to want to speak to her husband, but he needed to try. Iker was a mess and needed to see his wife.

Ariana closed her eyes. “How am I supposed to look at him Sergio? Every time I think of him, all I see is him and her and I can’t stomach it. The mere idea that my sister touched Iker the way I have makes me sick and I don’t think I have it in me to look at him. I am sorry” she whispered, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

Sergio sighed. “He just wants a chance to explain Ari” he breathed.

“I don’t think I can listen to another explanation Sergio. This is the third time that my sister has gotten between us and I am sick of things being explained or having to explain myself” she whispered as she pushed herself off of the bed, padding towards the dresser.

Sergio watched her for a second before he felt a lump rise in his throat, his dark eyes locked on the brown envelope that Ariana had pulled out of a drawer. “Ari, please don’t tell me that isn’t what I think it is” he bumbled out.

Ariana sighed and nodded her head. “My madre helped me find a good lawyer. He had these written up a couple of days ago” she murmured, her eyes glancing down at the envelope. She felt terrible, she couldn’t even muster the guts to deliver them to Iker herself, but she knew that there was no fixing it.

No matter what, Lucia was always going to try and get between them and Ariana was sick of fighting.

“Ari, you can fix this” Sergio insisted.

“We can’t. Short of killing my sister off, there is nothing I can do to stop her getting involved with me and Iker, and I am sick of playing this stupid game. I love him Sergio, but I hate this feeling more and I am sick of ending up like this. We’re better off apart” she murmured as she moved to set the envelope in his hand.

Sergio glanced at the envelope for a second before he lifted his stare back to Ariana. “What about Violeta?” he posed.

“It’s all in there” Ariana murmured “Please can you just given them to him?” she posed.

Sergio sighed. “Is there really nothing he can do?” he murmured.

“I don’t think so” Ariana admitted gently.

~#~
“So?” Iker pressed as he allowed Sergio to step into his home. He knew that it was cowardly, asking Sergio to encourage Ariana to speak to him, but he was running out of options. Pilar wouldn’t let him over the threshold of her home and Ariana wouldn’t respond to any of the ways he had tried to contact her. She was ignoring his very existence and he didn’t know how much more he could take. He just wanted a chance to explain himself.

Sergio sighed. “She still doesn’t want to see you Iker” he murmured, his hand fiddling with the bag he wore over his shoulder. He knew how badly it would hurt Iker, but he had to do it. Ariana had her mind made up and she wasn’t going to change it for Sergio, the defender was nothing more than Iker’s best friend to her.

“Did you tell her how much I miss her?” Iker pressed, pacing the hall.

“Of course I did Iker, but she isn’t budging” he replied.

“I need to see her Sergio” Iker spluttered out.

“I know…”

“I need to explain. I don’t remember much, but I am sure that I never slept with Lucia” Iker ranted.

“I know…”

“I just want the chance to explain. Why won’t she talk to me?” Iker whimpered.

Sergio sighed gently before he opened his bag, pulling out the brown envelope that Ariana had given to him. “This is why” he murmured, extending the letter to Iker “She’s asking you for a divorce” he added weakly.

Iker stared at the defender wide eyed for a moment. “Wh…What?” he stammered.

“This envelope was given to Ariana by her lawyer. She doesn’t want to be married to you anymore Iker, I am so sorry” he breathed.

Iker stared at him before he tentatively reached his hand out, taking the envelope from his friend. “She really said that?” he breathed, his stare wandering over his name that had been written on the front of the brown envelope by Ariana.

“She said something about it being too hard to be with you. She said you were better off apart” Sergio replied, his eyes set sadly on his friend.

Iker shifted a little before he tentatively tore the top off the envelope, his dark eyes quickly wandering over the agreement that Ariana’s lawyer had set out for them. “She doesn’t want anything” he whispered.

“What?” Sergio squeaked.

“She doesn’t want anything from me. She’s given me shared custody of Lettie. She doesn’t want a thing” he murmured.

“Iker” Sergio breathed “What are you going to do?” he quipped.

“I am not signing them Sergio” Iker replied quickly, not entertaining the notion of giving his wife the divorce she had asked for.

“But she doesn’t want to be with you” Sergio objected.

“Then I will just have to convince her Sergio. I am not going to let her just walk away from me” Iker replied determinedly. He knew that it was going to be hard, Ariana was clearly not prepared to make things easy on him, but Iker wasn’t prepared to give up on them. He knew that he and Ariana were good together and he wasn’t about to throw it away.
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