Golden Boy- Pedri

CH 26- Feeling Safe

PEDRI'S POV!!

"Pablo," I said. "What is this?"
I grabbed a plastic clip off the floor and started fidgeting with it.

It was the night after our match day, and today we drew.
We still had two games to go in Italy, so we weren't feeling completely defeated. Rather, we were optimistic that the next two matches would go better.

Pablo and I had just stayed in our hotel room tonight, playing video games.

"Oh yeah, that's either Carmen's or Y/N's. I think they left it here from a few nights ago. It's a claw clip. I only know the name because Aurora uses it and it's fun to play with." Gavi said.

Just then, his phone rang.
It was his mum, and she wanted to check up to see how he was.
We paused the game.
I decided to drop off the claw clip to the girls' room while he was on the phone.

I knocked on the door.
"Coming" I heard someone say. I couldn't tell whether it was Y/N or Carmen.

Moments later, the door opened.
Y/N opened it, and I could instantly see her eyes were red.
It looked like she had been crying. A lot.
"Hi" she said, forcing a smile.
Straightaway, I noticed she wasn't herself.
"Hey...I came to drop this off. You guys left this behind the other night".
"Oh, thanks. I'll give it to Carmen, it's hers." She grabbed it and fiddled with it.

It seemed like she was avoiding eye contact, as she didn't look up.

"Hey..." I tilted my head to the side, trying to catch her eye. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said. Looking up and doing her best to smile.
"Y/N", I said. "Who hurt you?"

I felt protective over her for some reason, and knowing that she was upset, made me angry.

"No one" She replied, looking down again. "It's nothing Pedri, Im fine. Don't worry about-"
"No." I interrupted her. "Who hurt you?" I grabbed her chin, and gently tilted her head up.
Her skin was so soft. Her face was so delicate.

She looked at me. We stared into each other's eyes.
"Y/N... What happened?"
Tears welled up in her eyes, and before I knew it, one trickled down her cheek.
I swept my thumb over it, wiping the tear away.

"I saw my ex tonight." She took a deep breath. "We didn't talk or anything, but just knowing he's here as well, coincidentally. It's.... unsettling. And he was with my friend or ex-friend. Seeing them, brought back feelings I still don't know how to deal with. I'm over him, and her too, but it's just...you know.... a lot."

I felt like beating her ex up. Wherever he was in this city, I would find him, and hurt him. But I stayed calm.

"I know," I said. "It's not easy, is it?"
She shook her head. "No, but I'll be fine."
She wiped her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. "God, I'm so pathetic. I need to stop crying".

"Hey now," I said. "You're allowed to be upset. Someone recently told me it's okay to let your feelings out. They said, 'In order to heal, you have to let yourself feel'." I smiled, quoting her own words back to her.

She let out a laugh. My smile got even bigger.
"You're right", she said, taking a deep breath.

"You're allowed to be upset. It helps you to move forward". I said.
She nodded.
"As long as you're okay".
"I will be." She still had tears in her eyes, but they were less than before, and her smile was coming back. "Thanks."
"No need to thank me," I replied.

And there we were. Standing right in front of each other. Our eyes locked into one another's gaze, and our bodies almost touching.
The tension was there.

I felt my heart beating.

This was strange.... I never got this nervous.
Only during games.....but.....

This felt different...