We Took the Fall

15: Why Are You Doing This To Yourself?

“Remember, we have an appointment at the wedding planner this afternoon” Alicia mused as she scuttled through the house, assembling all she needed into her handbag. It was early, too early for the striker, but with a list of errands that needed to be completed before he went to training mid-morning, he didn’t have much of a choice. It wasn’t the first time, since they had picked out their wedding date, he had often been greeted early in the morning by a list of things that Alicia wanted done, and he knew better than to fight her on it. Since Catalina had taken step back as her maid of honor, Alicia had been even worse when it came to wedding planning and Fernando had merely opted to go along with it. It seemed to be the easier choice.

“I remember” he mumbled, placing his empty mug on the counter “And I remember that we have to be at the caterers this evening to finalize the menu” he added.

Alicia nodded her head. “And you need to actually confirm that Sergio is your best man before your suit fitting tomorrow” she smiled, standing up on her toes to kiss him.

“I know” Fernando replied, pecking her lips lightly “And I will get it done, so stop panicking. It will be fine” he mused gently.

Alicia offered him one more smile before she grabbed her bag, strolling out of the house. Fernando listen to door close before he let out a small sigh of relief, padding back into the living room where he proceeded to sit down on the couch, his head resting wearily against the plush cushions. It had gotten harder, since they had arrived in Madrid, being with Alicia seemed a lot more difficult that it had in London, and Fernando wished they could go back. It had been easy to start with, Alicia had been fun and nice to be around, but as soon as he had proposed, she had changed, something which had him wondering. He did love her, he knew he did, but it didn’t quite feel the same. It didn’t feel like it did when he had been with Catalina.

At the thought of the blonde girl, he wrinkled his nose fractionally before he sat up, shaking his head. He knew that she was moving on, he had overhead Alicia on the phone the other day discussing the prospect of Catalina bringing a plus one to the wedding, but it wasn’t an idea that sat well with him. Seeing Catalina was one thing, seeing her with a man who could kiss and hug her when he wanted was another thing entirely. “Come on” he muttered, lightly shaking his head “Focus” he added before he pushed himself to his feet, once more trying to ignore the lingering thought of Catalina.

~#~
“You know, for a guy that is getting married in month, you do look pretty miserable” Sergio teased as he moved to sit ahead of Fernando, offering the striker a warm smile in greeting. It wasn’t the first time, since Fernando had arrived back in Madrid, he had spent a lot of time with the Real Madrid defender, but that day, Fernando looked less than enthused. It had been a surprise, when Fernando had explained that he was engaged, and Sergio had his doubts about whether or not the striker was serious about marrying Alicia. He didn’t look thrilled when they talked about his wedding and Sergio wasn’t quite sure the striker’s heart was in it.

Fernando offered a slightly sarcastic smile in return.

Sergio chuckled. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” he teased.

“I wanted to check that you are still on for being my best man” Fernando noted “We have a suit fitting tomorrow” he added.

“I’m fine to do it” Sergio replied.

“Good” Fernando replied curtly before he flicked his eyes down towards the menu.

Sergio watched him. “Are you still intent on marrying her?” he posed.

Fernando scoffed. “Of course” he replied firmly.

“Then why do you look so miserable? A wedding is supposed to be happy, Nando” the defender chuckled.

Fernando shook his head. “It’s stressful” he mused.

“And that’s a cop out if I ever heard one” Sergio replied, shaking his head a little.

Fernando opened his mouth to retort, but stopped himself as he spotted the blonde sat a couple of tables away from them, giggling at the man who sat across from her like he was the funniest man in the world. It hurt, seeing Catalina giggle, but it hurt even more considering their surroundings. The small café was where Fernando had taken her after the very first night they had spent together.

Sergio noted the odd expression that marked the striker’s face and frowned before he peeked over his shoulder briefly. “You want to talk about it?” he quipped, turning back to his friend.

“I can’t believe she brought him here” Fernando muttered, almost completely ignoring Sergio’s comment.

“It’s a public café, Fernando” Sergio retorted.

The striker shook his head. “This is where I bought Lina after we slept together for the first time” he muttered, his hand lightly tearing the napkin. “It was 6 in the morning and she couldn’t sleep so we got dressed and we came in here. She took two sips of her orange juice before she fell asleep on my shoulder” he reminisced.

Sergio shook his head. “It was years ago, Fernando. Perhaps she just forgot” he pointed out.

Fernando sighed. He didn’t like the idea that she had forgotten when he still remembered it quite vividly.

“Why are you doing this, Fernando?” Sergio posed, trying to pull his friend’s attention away from Catalina who was mumbling softly to her boyfriend.

Fernando frowned. “What?” he posed.

“Marrying her sister” Sergio quipped “One look at you when you look at Catalina is enough to show anyone that there is still something there. You’re sat there, pouting over the fact that she is on a date, yet you’re the one who’s getting married and not to any girl, to her older sister. So, why are you doing it?” he posed.

Fernando thought for a second.

“You love her, Fernando” Sergio pointed out.

Fernando shook his head. “I don’t quite know if she feels the same as I do and I don’t want to fuck up what I have with Cia on the grounds that Lina may, just may, have some sort of feeling for me. I can’t tell what goes on in her head, Sergio, I never could and I guess that is part of why I was so hooked on her when we were kids, but look at her now” he mumbled, gesturing subtly to the blonde who was quietly chatting to the dark haired man she sat with, her most flirtatious smile on her face “She looks happy and I don’t think I have any sort of right to stroll into that and fuck that up for her too as well as making her family hate her for something which is almost solely my fault. I should have fought when I had the chance, I should have made things work when we were younger, and now I can’t help but think I missed my chance” he explained, his brown eyes fixed on the blonde who had leaned across to kiss the man she was having lunch with. Shaking his head softly, he drew his stare back to Sergio and offered him a weak smile.

Part of him knew that he had missed his chance.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thanks to Jayme112234, lokis210 and FootieJo for the comments :)