Spain, Soccer, Love?

Chapter Thirty-One

Mae's Perspective

If I'm being completely honest, I've been counting down the days until my meeting with Real Madrid. I haven't been counting down because I'm excited. No, of course not. It's because I'm so fucking nervous.

I'm so scared that I'm going to run into him. Going to have to see his face in person. Going to have to talk to him, and listen to his lame ass excuses. I'm fucking terrified.

Yet, I can't be. I have to pretend like everything is fine, and that I'm happy to be going to this meeting and getting all of this dealt with. If I don't, then Gavi will catch on, and I'll have to explain everything to him, which will just put more stress on him.

I can't do that to him. There's already so much pressure on him to do well in the El Clasico, he doesn't need one more thing to worry about. And I know damn well if I told him my freaking ex was on the other team, he'd probably be too focused on him to even pay attention in the game. I won't sabotage him like that. I love him too much to do that to him.

"Whatcha thinking about love?" Gavi asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I turn to find him smiling down at me, holding out a smoothie I had asked him to make earlier.

"Oh thank you," I say, taking the smoothie out of his hand.

"I'm just thinking about everything I guess. Are you sure it will be okay if you don't travel with the team?" I ask.

Our plan was to leave tomorrow morning, so we wouldn't get there too late. The day after we arrive is when I have the meeting, and the day after that is game day. We were also going to drive, that way we wouldn't have to worry about how we would get around the city.

"Ya, it's fine. It really isn't that big of a deal anyways," he says.

"Are you sure? I don't want to get you in trouble or anything," I remark.

"Hey, I would get in trouble all the time if it meant helping you," he smiles, pulling me in for a kiss.

"Ugh, as much as I want to kiss you, I have to pack," I groan, pulling away.

He stares at me with his dumb looking puppy eyes, causing a small giggle to escape my mouth.

"Hmm, maybe if you help me pack and we finish quickly, we might have a bit of time to fool around," I grin mischievously.

He instantly starts grabbing the things I have laid out, and folding them and putting them in my suitcase.

"Just give me five minutes," he promises.

"If you say so," I laugh.

The drive from Barcelona to Madrid is a 5 hour and 40 minute drive, six hours if there's traffic. Lucky for us, no one is really making the long drive in the middle of the week, so we've been making excellent time.

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Gavi asks, looking over to me from the passenger seat.

As much as I would like to say yes, and let him take over, I can't. I hate driving, but he should be getting rest, considering he'll be playing in one of the hardest matches of the year in two days.

"I'm fine. Besides, we only have a little over an hour left to drive," I point out, checking the  navigation on my phone.

I glance over at him, and notice him yawing, looking very tired.

"Hey, why don't you get some rest. You don't have to force yourself to stay awake just to talk to me," I tell him.

"You sure?" He asks, looking a bit worried to leave me with the silence.

"Yes, I'm sure," I assure him.

He gives me a smile before reaching for his pillow in the back, and leaning back his seat. He shuts his eyes, and after about ten minutes, he's asleep.

I'm finally left to my thoughts, and boy do I have a lot to think about.

I can't help but think about him, and all the memories we shared. All the moments we shared. The feelings he caused me to feel. Believing that it was real, and that he was the one. Finding out that none of it was actually real, and our whole relationship was a lie. The pain I felt, and the pain that followed me through college.

He made my life miserable, turned it upside down. He broke me over and over again, ruining me from the inside to the outside.

For that, I would never forgive him.

I take a quick glance at Gavi, who's sleeping peacefully, and realize maybe I'm not so broken as I think. I'm in an amazing relationship, with a guy who treats me with so much love.

Honestly, sometimes I believe that he's too good for me, and that he deserves someone better than me. It's in those moments that the damage my ex caused me really shows. It's in those moments that I have to remind myself that I deserve to be happy.

"Whatcha smiling about?" Gavi asks sleepily.

"Nothing," I smile.

"Hey look, we're here," he points out.

"Yes, we are," I realize, as the once open space soon starts to turn into clumped buildings and busy streets.

Although I'm a Barcelona fan, who lives in Barcelona, I have to admit, Madrid is beautiful. I'm actually very excited to explore the city after the game.

"I honestly wouldn't mind transferring to Real Madrid if it meant getting to live here," Gavi jokes.

"Take that back!" I exclaim, whacking him on the leg.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. I would never leave Barcelona. Especially if you're living there," he smiles.

"Good," I huff, rolling my eyes at him.

Guys, I'm very very sorry this was such a short chapter. I would also like to warn you that next chapter will probably be even shorter. I'm trying to lay it out a certain way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a bit of an emotional one! Also, I've never been to Madrid, so I have no idea if it's actually that beautiful. It just looks pretty in the pictures I saw online! Next chapter is coming out on Thursday! (6/22/23)