Somebody Like Me

Sparing a small glance down towards the screen of his phone, Sergio let out a small sigh, noting that it was still devoid of any messages or missed calls from Cassie, a sight which caused his stomach to turn. He knew that he’d pushed things, from the moment his first ‘I love you’ had fallen out of his mouth, he’d known that he’d made things between him and Cassie slightly awkward, but he was still a little disappointed to find no messages, even if he couldn’t take what he had said back. He was a slightly disappointed to find out that she was avoiding him.

Admiring the blank screen for a moment, he briefly contemplated sending her a message before he shook his head, moving to slip the phone back into his pocket before he leant his head against the window of the coach, another soft sigh falling out of his mouth.

“It’s a girl, right?”

Sergio, who’d moved to close his eyes, startled a little at the sound of Cristiano’s voice before he lifted his head. “Huh?” he posed, his expression caught between surprised and confused.

Cristiano smiled at his expression before he shook his head, moving to sit down in the empty seat which sat beside the defender. “You’ve been quiet since we left last night” he pointed out “And that’s not like you. Your problem, it is with a girl, isn’t it?” he posed. He didn’t want to push, when it came to relationships, Sergio tended to try and keep his cards close to his chest, but he wanted to offer him the chance to talk to someone, even if he did reject it. He wanted to at least give him the option.

Sergio briefly mulled his question over, contemplating telling him that it was nothing, before he shook his head. “It’s complicated” he noted softly.

“It’s the girl you started to see after things with Pilar ended? The pregnant one?” Cristiano prodded, trying to start a conversation. It had been a surprise, when Sergio had informed them that he was only a matter of months away from welcoming a baby, most of the team had been more than shocked, but they were happy for him, even if he’d not said too much about. They could all see how excited he was about the prospect of the baby arriving.

“It is” Sergio confirmed with a small nod “Her name is Cassie and we’ve been seeing one another for a couple of months now” he added, a brief smile passing over his features.

Cristiano spotted the small smile, but opted against saying anything, affording Sergio the opportunity to keep talking.

“Things were going really well” the defender mused softly “I mean, after we found out about peanut, we were pretty awkward around one another, but we figured things out and, until yesterday morning, things were going along pretty well, but then I went and stuck my foot in it and now…now she’s avoiding me” he added, a small frown pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“What did you do?” Cristiano asked gently.

Sergio scoffed before he shook his head, resting it back against his seat. “I told her that I love her” he mumbled.

Cristiano frowned. “What?” he posed.

“I said ‘I love you’ to her” Sergio repeated “And since then, I’ve not heard from her. I mean, I know that I probably shocked her, it did come out pretty suddenly, but I thought…I thought that maybe it was possible that she felt the same way about me” he added, his tone shifting between hurt and irked. He knew that it had caught her off guard, the look on her face when the words had fallen out of his mouth had confided it, but still the idea that she was avoiding him hurt. He had thought that she’d felt the same way as him.

Cristiano offered him a soft look before he shook his head. “I don’t quite know what to tell you” he mused “I mean, I’ve not met Cassie and you don’t say too much about her, but if you want my opinion, I’d say you moved too quickly and scared her, hombre” he quipped.

Sergio tilted his head, wordlessly encouraging the other man to keep talking.

“Things are happening quickly between the two of you” Cristiano quipped with a small shrug “I mean, only a few months ago, you’d not even tell me if you were going on a date, and now you’re in a relationship with a girl who’s expecting your baby and it’s fast, Sergio, something I think probably scared her. You two, it’s still very new, and I don’t blame her for having a few doubts, nor would I blame you. It’s not all going to be smooth sailing, there are going to be a few bumps along the way, especially with peanut in the picture” he explained softly.

Sergio spared him a small look, allowing his words to hang around them for a brief moment, before he shook his head, something which made Cristiano chuckle a little before he patted the Spaniard’s shoulder. “You’re onto a good thing, Sergio” he quipped “I mean, you smile whenever you say her name and that’s pretty adorable” he quipped teasingly.

Sergio scoffed playfully. “I don’t do that” he quipped, nudging the winger’s shoulder playfully.

Cristiano let out a laugh before he shook his head, gently patting Sergio’s shoulder. “You’re onto something good, Sergio, with Cassie and peanut…it’s a good thing, but you ought to be careful. The last thing you want to do is run through things only for them to stumble when peanut gets here. He or she is the most important thing right now” he noted softly before he pushed himself up to his feet, mumbling something about them being nearly back at the training complex.

Sergio watched the other man back to his seat before he shook his head, a soft sigh falling out his mouth. He knew that Cristiano was right, things between him and Cassie had moved quickly and he knew that it was something which did have the potential to worry her, even if it wasn’t that they’d sat down and talked about, he knew that she was slightly wary about pushing their relationship too far too soon.

Briefly mulling over Cristiano’s words, he let another soft sigh fall out of his mouth before he slipped his phone out of his pocket, quickly pulling up Cassie’s number. Pausing for a second, he briefly contemplated calling her before he shook his head, typing the word ‘dinner?’ before he moved to stow his phone back in his pocket.