In The Darkest Hour

Part One - Chapter Twenty: Trying To Move On

Gerard grinned as he celebrated with his team-mates after their latest win, everything was starting to return to normal for him and he wasn’t going to let anything bring him down again.

“Another win,” Lionel mused looking up at Gerard, it had been a couple of months since Gerard had thrown Isla out of his life and things were going back to normal for his friend.

Gerard nodded his head, he was happy that things had turned themselves around for him and he wanted to forget the trauma of nearly starting a relationship with Isabel’s killer; he was still going to therapy and it was truly helping him even if he couldn’t talk about Isla.

“You should come to dinner tonight… Anto has this friend in from Rosario and I can’t deal with more girl talk,” Lionel said walking beside Gerard, Antonella had begged him to ask Gerard to dinner since she was determined to set him up with someone so he wouldn’t be alone.

Lionel wasn’t sure if his best friend was ready to start dating again, he was sure deep-down Gerard still had feelings for Isla even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Gerard had made a massive mistake and Lionel worried what his friend would do when he realised that Isla might not be to blame for what happened; the press still released horrible stories about her.

“That sounds good,” Gerard replied not interested in spending the night alone in his home, Milan was living with his parents since he didn’t have anyone to help him around the house now.

Gerard had little interest in hiring someone else after what had happened with Isla, he didn’t trust anyone but his parents to look after the nine month old; he would deal with whatever happened when it came to it.

Lionel nodded his head, he looked over at Cesc Fàbregas hoping that they would be able to help Gerard see that Isla had done nothing wrong; neither believed that Isla was to blame for Isabel’s death.

***

“Gerard this is Kathleen,” Antonella gushed smiling at the taller footballer, she knew that he had been devastated by Isla’s betrayal and she was sure that her blonde friend would be the cure for his slump.

Gerard smiled at Antonella’s friend, he was a little on edge about meeting Kathleen and he had a feeling that there was a reason that Antonella had insisted that he come and meet her.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Gerard murmured admiring the woman before him, she looked nothing like his last couple of girlfriends and he had to admit that she was beautiful.

Antonella smiled at the look on Gerard’s face, she had told Kathleen all about what had happened in the past year of his life and the blonde had been disgusted about what Gerard had been through.

“It’s nice to meet you too… Ella has told me all about you,” Kathleen replied stepping closer to Gerard, she had spent the afternoon with Antonella and Daniella; neither of them had spared any details on what had happened to Gerard.

Kathleen was shocked at what Isla had done and she was sure that Gerard would be better off without someone like that in his life; she had just gotten out of a bad relationship herself and was looking for a new boyfriend.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” Antonella announced before she ushered Lionel out of the living room to help her, Daniella having already distracted Cesc so that Kathleen could get to know Gerard on her own.

Gerard moved to sit down, he had no idea what to say to Kathleen but he knew that Antonella would only kick up a fuss if he didn’t put in some effort to speak to her friend; there was no ignoring the fact that she was trying to set him up with Kathleen.

“How long have you known Anto?” Gerard asked carefully, he peeked around the living room looking at the pictures that Lionel and Antonella had on the walls; he smiled knowing he would give anything to had what they had.

Gerard was all alone now and he barely saw his son, he was doing his best to fix the damage that Isla had caused; he would never forgive her for what she had done to him.

“Since we were little,” Kathleen replied smiling, she couldn’t help but admire the man before her and she could see what Antonella had been talking about; he might not admit it but Gerard was clearly missing the woman that had hurt him.

Kathleen chewed on her lip, there was no way she could allow him to waste his life on a woman that should be locked away; she could make Gerard so happy if he just let her.

“I was wondering… I’m new around here and I would like someone to show me around,” Kathleen asked watching Gerard, she knew it was forward but she wasn’t going to waste her time; she wanted him and she could make him so much happier than some nurse ever could.

Gerard blinked surprised for a moment, he considered Kathleen’s offer before nodding his head; he didn’t see the harm in spending more time with the blonde, it would even take his mind of what had happened a couple of months ago.

Gerard was determined to move on with his life, he had gotten his revenge on Isla and he would never see her again; he wanted to be happy and that was something that no one would stop him from being.

“I’d love to,” Gerard replied making Kathleen smile, she could only imagine what Gerard was like when he wasn’t all miserable; she heard he was a real joker and she would love to see that for herself when he was better.

***

Isla popped two sleeping pills into her mouth and washed the down with a sip of water, she closed her eyes feeling a little dizzy before she moved to climb into bed; she had skipped dinner and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

Isla had watched Gerard’s recent match and she was happy to see that he seemed to be doing better; she wished that she could have been there to tell him how proud she was of him, however she doubted that he would care what she had to say.

Pulling the covers of her bed over her head, Isla closed her eyes as she curled into a ball and waited for sleep to claim her; she had no interest in doing anything and she had lost quite a bit of weight.

Tracy had tried to convince her daughter to go and see a doctor, she was terrified that what had happened was pushing Isla down a dark path; she had never seen Isla like this before even when Louis had died.

Isla took deep breathes, she had been so tired recently and yet sleep seemed to avoid her; she spent days curled up in bed and she felt guilty that she had thought all of this would be okay.

“It’s all my fault,” Isla whispered closing her eyes tightly, she had been thinking a lot about the day that Isabel had died and she wished that she had done more to save her.

Even in the months that it had been since it had been revealed that she had been fired for Isabel’s death, the press still posted horrible stories about her and Isla still got messages from R; she wanted it all to stop and she didn’t know how to make it happen.

Isla sniffled, she felt something inside of her breaking and she didn’t know how much longer she could go on with this before it broke taking her with it.