Run Away With My Heart

Staring at the date on the calendar, Olivia sighed a little, a familiar lump fixed in her throat. She should have been used to it, it had been 14 years since she had lost her mother and father, but still the anniversary was hard for her. She missed them, even if it had been more than 10 years since she had lost then, and she doubted there would come a day where she didn’t miss them. She hated that her mother wouldn’t be around to help her plan her wedding and that her father wouldn’t be there to give her away. Shaking her head, she turned her eyes away from the calendar and watched as Iker padded into the room, a cup of coffee held out to her. “I thought you could use this” he commented gently as he placed it in her hand “How you doing?” he added.

Olivia shrugged. “It still feels weird” she noted “I mean, it’s been 14 years, but still I miss them every day, especially today. I can’t believe that they never got to meet you” she commented, resting her head against his shoulder. Iker placed his arm around her waist and sighed, resting his head against hers. “My papa would have loved you” Olivia commented gently.

Iker smiled. “You really think so?” he posed.

Olivia nodded. “I have no doubt about it” she smiled “Papa was a Madridsta and would have loved that I had you, mostly because then he could talk football with you. He used to bore my mama with stories about watching Madrid growing up. I think you’d have liked him too” she rambled softly.

“He sounds like a nice guy” Iker noted gently.

“He was a lovely guy” Olivia smiled fondly “I still remember the time I went out on my first date. I was just 15 and a boy in school wanted to take me to dinner and I’d only said yes because I didn’t want to upset him. My padre stood on the porch for 15 minutes telling this poor boy that he was not to do anything I didn’t want to do. He skipped out on me before we even made it to the restaurant” she giggled.

“Your papa was that harsh on the guy?” Iker posed. He liked it, watching Olivia smile as she reminisced about her parents, and he wanted to keep it going. He knew how that day still got to her and didn’t want her to mope, he was pretty sure that that was the last thing her parents would have wanted for her.

“He was almost in tears” Olivia smiled “My mother had to phone his parents the next day to apologize” she noted.

Iker smiled softly at the anecdote and moved to press a kiss to the side of her head, something which made Olivia sigh. “I wish they were still here to see you” she murmured gently “They’d have been so proud” she added.

Iker sighed and gently levered her face into his shoulder, allowing her to cry gently into the material of the shirt she wore. “I am sorry, Oli” he murmured gently “I wish they could still be here to see what a wonderful daughter they left behind” he muttered as he gently brushed his fingers through her hair.

Olivia sniffed a little before she pulled her head out from her hiding place, her blue eyes peeking up at him. “Are you busy today?” she posed.

“No” Iker replied “I made sure that I had today clear so that I could be here for you. Why?” he posed.

“Because I want to drop flowers off at the graveyard and then go to lunch at my parents’ favourite restaurant. Do you think we can do that?” she mumbled, playing with the bottom of his shirt.

Iker dropped a kiss on her forehead and smiled. “I think we can do that” he confirmed gently.

~#~
“Those flowers are beautiful, Oli” Iker smiled gently as he watched her kneel down on the patch of ground ahead of the two gravestones. It was a sad sight, Olivia had been tearful all morning, but a little part of him hoped that he was helping her through it. That date had always been a tough one for her and Iker was pleased that she was finally letting him into it. For the previous five years she had merely learned to deal with it by herself.

“They were mama’s favourite” the brunette replied, gently setting them on the ground “She had them in her bouquet when she got married” she added.

Iker nodded his head softly and moved to help Olivia to her feet, holding her close to him. “Perhaps we could use them when we get married” he suggested gently.

Olivia snorted. “You have to ask me yet before we start making plans” she teased, her fingers lightly brushing the tears away from beneath her eyes.

Iker nodded his head gently. “I know that” he commented gently “But I was just thinking” he added.

Olivia smiled. “Propose first, then think” she teased lightly before she moved to walk towards the gate of the cemetery. Iker watched her for a moment before he placed his hand into the pocket of his jacket, his fingertips lightly brushing over the material of the box he had been carrying around for weeks. He’d been planning, he wanted to ensure that the moment was perfect when he finally got down on one knee for Olivia, but watching her as she wandered away from him, he couldn’t think of a more perfect moment.

“Iker, are you coming?” Olivia posed.

The keeper shook his head. “Can you come back here for a second?” he posed.

Olivia shook her head. “It’s starting to rain” she replied “And I am feeling rather hungry” she added, taking a few paces back towards him “What do you want?” she posed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Iker took a little breath before he reached out for her hand, gently sinking to the damp ground. Olivia watched him closely, her blue eyes widening a little. “Olivia Garcia Cruz” Iker’s voice shook a little as he peeked up at her “I know that this probably isn’t what you envisaged when I told you I was going to do this, but now I am doing it, I can’t think of a more perfect time. I know how hard this day is for you, how hard it has been for the last 14 years and I hope me doing this now helps to make it somewhat easier in the future, the future that I want us to share. We took a long time getting to this point, some might say too long, but I would say what we have is perfect. You’ve given me almost 6 years of fantastic friendship, almost a year of a wonderful relationship and I would like to thank you for that. Oli, I can’t imagine my world without you in it and that was why I was sort of hoping that you would want to marry me. Oli, mi amor, will you be my wife?” he whispered, shyly peeking down at his feet as the rain began to pour around them.

Olivia stared down at him, her jaw slightly open.

“Oli?” Ike pressed gently.

Olivia blinked at the sound of her name and looked at him, noting just how vulnerable he looked in that moment. “Yes” she murmured.

Iker looked up at the sound of her voice. “Yes?” he posed.

Olivia giggled. “Of course I will, Iker” she squeaked, her hand lightly brushing the rain and a few tears off of her cheeks “Why would I say no?” she added.

“I…Uh…honestly I have no idea, but still it scared me you might” he admitted as he got up, quickly pulling the small box from his jacket pocket.

Olivia shook her head. “No way am I letting you go” she gushed, watching as he placed the ring onto her finger.

Iker smiled at her reply and moved to take off his coat, wrapping it gently around her shoulder and placing the hood up over her head as the rain poured. “I love you” he noted gently.

Olivia brushed some of the water off of his face and moved to press a kiss to his lips, whispering the same 3 words back to him.