— "KYLIAN...."
suddenly all the memories returned to her, the good and the bad. "i didn't know you we're coming back, aria." kylian softly smiled, his eyes had that same crinkle that they did all those years ago.
she was extremely proud of him, often hearing about him when she was in madrid, after all who could forget the man that had been significant in bringing the world cup home to france at just 19 years of age.
she remembered watching one of his interviews where he stated that he wasn't only trying to make his dream come true, but his best friends dream come true as well.
that's what she loved about kylian, he had all the fame a young man could dream about, yet he never forgot his roots and the people who brought him up, he would often give credit to aria's father as well.
"how have you been?" he said, walking up to her. she looked the same as well, except her hair had gotten longer and she had gotten a bit taller and well, she matured.
"good, thank you, how have you been?" she replied, wiping tears she didn't even know were forming from the corners of her eyes.
"i've been doing good, thank you for asking, how are your studies going?" he asked, now standing beside her.
"they've been going well, thankfully." she replied. he hummed as they sat in a comfortable silence. "i'm really proud of you, kylian, i know he would be too."
his head rose fast as he looked over at the girl he was once in love with, despite the terrible circumstances between them. "thank you, aria, that really means a lot to me. everything i do is for him, i just wish we could have won it together." he says looking down at matteo's grave.
"i spoke to your father, by the way." he confessed causing her to look up at him with a confused expression, why would he do that? she thought. "did anything happen?" she questioned, staring back down at the floor.
"no, i was just telling him that i wanted to use some of my earnings to make him a professional coach at his own training centre." kylian replied with a smile.
"isn't he a little too old to be keeping up with small children like he used to back in the day?" she said. there it was, her laughter. the sound he hadn't heard in what felt like forever, the sound that was what made him fall in love in the first place.
it was so contagious and he missed it so much that he began laughing too. "poor man, leave him alone." kylian chuckled.
"he knows i love him; how's the family by the way? is ethan following in your footsteps?" aria questioned.
"yeah, i'm just waiting until he gets signed to the junior leagues, he's a talented boy." kylian replied, looking over at her.
"seems like he's gonna be better than you one day, huh?" she smiled, looking up at kylian.
he was already looking at her. time seemed to slow down as they held eye contact, and it seemed as though they were both at a loss for words.
"never, there can only be one great mbappé." he smiled looking down at her. "i missed you, you know that?" you just up and left me for what felt like no reason. i know it had to do with matteo but you both leaving hurt a lot." kylian didn't know where his sudden boldness came, it slipped out faster than he could realize but he wasn't lying. every single day he would think of aria.
when he got his world cup call-up, he saw it as a way to hopefully see her and re-connect with her as he knew her family would be coming. however, as time went on and aria was missing from her parents side more and more he realized and had to accept the fact that she didn't come to witness his dream come true. it hurt, he thought whatever they had going on meant more to her, but he had to give it his all none the less.
"you good, man?" antoine said as he sat down, wrapping his arm around kylian's shoulder.
"i'm fine, thank you." kylian smiled, but antoine knew him better than that.
"tell me what happened."
he remembered explaining his feelings towards aria to antoine. "i feel like i've lost her, man, i can't deal with losing the both of them." kylian looked down as he pulled his shirt over his face.
"you haven't lost her, trust me, it'll take the girl some time to heal, but she sounds like she values you. she may not be here in person but i assure you she's out there somewhere keeping an eye on you kylian. i can tell that you two loved eachother, and when you love someone you don't let them go that easily. take it from me, man." antoine said, patting kylian's back.
it was those words from antoine that motivated kylian in the finals against croatia. he scored in the 65th minute, and instead of doing the normal "M" he did when scoring a goal, this time he did an "A". he was confident now that she was watching him somewhere. and she was.
her and her roommate, marie had been watching the final on the television back in madrid. marie was an avid football fan and had been keeping up the whole time, whereas aria would sometimes just watch highlights from france's games. she was so proud of her country. she was even more proud of kylian.
once the 65th minute mark was reached and kylian had scored, she had her eyes glued to the television as he made the "A" symbol. she wasn't an idiot, she knew he had done it for her, but why after all this time. she remembered seeing the post game interview of kylian and never once faltering in her view. "so we know that the signature letter "M" was dedicated to your old friend, matteo, but fans want to know, who is "A"?"
"A is a very important person in my life, they were with me almost as much as matteo was and i care for them very deeply. i did it to make sure they were watching me." he replied, smiling at the interviewer. before she realized it, aria was crying. how could he have remembered this whole time? she had been trying to push out everything that reminded her of matteo's passing, including kylian.
but he never gave up on her, and it killed her to know that she was hurting him while she still meant the world to him. "aria...." marie said, sympathy laced within her soft voice.
"i want to go back to paris."
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
soo, what did we think of this chapter...
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