One Night in Santiago/Football Under Flashing Lights (Neymar Jr. Fan Fiction)

76.

-Neymar POV-

Seeing Katerina yesterday affected me more than I wanted to admit. The feelings it stirred up were crippling. The constant reminders from the media, paparazzi and fans tagging me in posts online were driving me crazy and I was spiraling into a depression I had never felt before. Since the day Katerina walked out, I felt like a huge part of me was missing and that was visible to everyone.

I had smoothed things over with Alexis only to run into Katerina and be triggered all over again. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't get myself out of bed to training and lying that I was sick wasn't fooling anyone. I was already fined $5,000 for being late to training and at this point, I'd pay a million dollars if it meant I didn't have to leave my bed.

I was eating myself alive yet I couldn't stay away. I just couldn't understand where I had gone wrong. How could she not want me when I had showered her with love? I was there for her more than anything, well at least I thought I was. I couldn't ignore the fact Katerina had been so shady in London and Paris with late phone calls and transfers to miscellaneous 'him's.' She could've been with someone way before she ended things with me and that was what tore me apart. What if everyday I fell more in love with her, she had been falling out of love with me, if she even loved me to begin with. I had never thought like this before. All these doubts just crowded my mind. Because of her. Even though she told me nothing was going on, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. There was no other logical explanation for her to have ended things with me.

I opened my twitter app and scrolled through all the tweets on the Neyrina hashtag. I hated myself for doing it but I google searched, 'Katerina Vera and Michael B Jordan.' Links to articles popped up along with various images, some of which I knew were from a while ago and not recent. There was a picture of them together from her trip to London for fashion week. It was taken at the entrance to the restaurant for that Marc Jacobs pre-show dinner where she wore teal dress I had picked out weeks ago. She smiled softly and he had his arm hidden behind her. I could only imagine the worst possible place his hand could've been touching. I read the article headline that went with the image. 'Could Neymar and Katerina split finally mean the beginning of Michael and Katerina?' My fists clenched at the words and I clicked exited the site.

I closed the app and threw my phone to the side. I covered my face with a pillow and let out a loud muffled groan. As if it couldn't get any worse, someone knocked at the door. I rolled over and ignored it as it went on and on. I glanced at the clock and saw it was around 4pm which meant another missed day of training was over and Rafinha or Alexis would be here soon just like everyday. I heard a louder knock.

"Leave me alone, Raf," I groaned out loud.

"It's me," I heard a voice I didn't expect. I jumped out of my bed immediately and went to the door. When I opened it, I couldn't believe my eyes. "Can we talk," she asked, barely glancing at my face for more than a couple of seconds. I couldn't get my mouth to move so I nodded and moved to let her in. I knew she just came from work, partly because of her outfit and partly because I saw a TMZ post earlier in the day.

She took a seat on the edge of my bed and I sat close next to her, however, she moved and created distance in between us. "How was training?" She asked. I furrowed my eyebrows at her question but quickly fixed my expression.

I didn't want her to know I had skipped training so I answered, "the same as always."

"Really? Because a little birdie told me you were never there because you're sick," she raised an eyebrow. I let out a sharp breath when I realized I was already caught. She played me and I fell for it. It was typical Katerina to never go into a situation without knowing her facts, she was always prepared. "What are you thinking? You can't keep doing this," she said, shaking her head.