We Took the Fall

Padding out into the living room, Catalina rubbed her eyes, sighing a little at the quiet which lingered in the apartment. It wasn’t the first time, since the school year had started up again, Catalina had found herself seeing less and less of Fernando, and whilst she understood that it would take some getting used to, it still remained a little odd. She knew that it had been coming, with his training schedule and Atletico’s involvement in the Champions League, there were going to be times where Fernando wasn’t around, and as much as Catalina didn’t want to appear clingy, she missed him, even if she did have Gizmo around to keep her company, she still missed waking up with him. Yawning, she padded into the kitchen and made her way towards the fridge, her face curving into a light smile as she spotted the handwritten note which had been stuck onto the door. It was a habit, before he left, Fernando always wrote a note telling her that he loved her and would miss her, and it never failed to make Catalina smile. His romantic habits were a lot of the reason that she loved him so much.

Shaking her head gently, she pulled the fridge door open, only for her stomach to lurch a little, causing her skin to pale. Slamming the fridge door, she made her way towards the sink before she threw up. Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she moved to sit down at the kitchen table for a second before she heard her phone beep, causing her to pull it out of the pocket of the hoodie that she was wearing, one of Fernando’s. “Hola” she grumbled.

“Lina?” Fernando’s voice was concerned “Amor, are you OK?” he posed.

Catalina blinked, but hummed, confirming that she was. “I am fine” she noted “It’s just a little early. How are you this morning, nervous?” she posed.

“Not overly” Fernando replied “It’s only Celtic, we should be OK” he added.

“They’ve beaten Barca before” Catalina replied, smiling a little at the confidence in his voice. It was something which he had been missing when he had first arrived back in Madrid following his disastrous spells at Chelsea and Milan, but she liked that it was appearing again. Part of her like that he could be a little arrogant or over-confident at times.

“Look who’s had Alex feeding her football facts again” Fernando chuckled.

Catalina rolled her eyes. “I just like to know what it going on. Alex and Esther seem to insist that I should watch every game” she mused.

Fernando chuckled. “You know that you love it really” he teased “So much so, you secretly want to come to the Calderon this weekend. Alex and Esther have already agreed to come and I would really love it if you could be there too, Lina. It feels like forever since I saw you” he rambled, causing her to peek down at her feet. It was Wednesday morning and she could only recall seeing him for a few hours before he’d left for Glasgow on Monday night.

“It feels like forever since I saw you too” Catalina replied gently, her fingertips fiddling with the material of her jumper.

Fernando sighed gently. “Have you given any more thought to quitting your job at the restaurant?” he posed gently. He didn’t want to force her into anything, he knew that Catalina liked the jobs that she had, but it made sense. They barely saw one another and Fernando didn’t quite know how much longer he could put up with not seeing her day in day out. He missed her, even if she was asleep in his bed, and he wanted more than a few hours together between her day at school and her shifts at the restaurant.

Catalina sighed. “We’ve talked about this” she murmured.

“I know that we have, Lina, but I miss you. We knew this coming, I know that, but that doesn’t mean I am OK with not seeing you properly for days at a time. I can’t remember the last time we had a night in together properly or went out as a couple and I miss it Lina, I really do. I get why you had two jobs, but you don’t exactly need two now” he explained softly.

Catalina tilted her head back, resting it against the back of the chair. “I will think about it” she murmured.

“That’s your way of saying no” Fernando replied, his voice somewhere between sharp and laughing.

“It’s not” Catalina replied.

Fernando chuckled, something which made Catalina pretty sure that he was shaking his head. “Lina, I understand why you worked two jobs before, you didn’t exactly have other people to depend upon, but it’s not the case anymore querida. You and I, we’re in a pretty serious relationship, and you don’t have to be so reliant upon you and you alone anymore. You’ve got me, Lina” he mused, his voice soft and reassuring.

“I know that” Catalina replied.

“Then get rid of that safety net and trust that we’re not going to fuck this up again” Fernando replied bluntly “We’re only going to screw it up again if we never see one another and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to do that. I got your name on my arm for a reason, Lina, and it wasn’t because I wanted something to remember you by” he explained gently.

Catalina smiled a little. She liked that he seemed so sure about them, it made her less and less shaky and more and more ready to take the next step with him, something she knew he was itching to do even if he hadn’t brought it up since the night he had accidently proposed. “I’ll put in my notice tonight” she murmured, the feeling of nausea washing over her once more.

“Only if that is what you want to do” Fernando sighed.

“It makes sense” Catalina replied.

“I miss you, Lina” Fernando mused.

Catalina smiled gently and nodded her head, mumbling the same in return with a smile on her face. She wasn’t comfortable with it, safety nets were something she liked to have in place all of the time, but she knew that he was right. She needed to get rid of it if she wanted to make them work and she wanted them to work more than she wanted anything else.