The Love That Wasn't Enough | PEDRI

25

I walked into the locker room with my head down, and my hoodie pulled up over my head. Normally, I would walk in with a smile on my face, greeting everyone as I walked to my locker. But ever since that night at the hospital, I haven't been myself. I make my way to my locker and start taking off my hoodie.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gavi asked. I turn around and look at him. He looks concerned.

I force a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous for the game." The truth is, I am still shaken up from what happened with Nailea and I wasn't sure if I going to be able to play my best.

"You sure? You seem a little off". He questions. "Yeah, I'm sure." I don't want to worry Gavi, especially before the game.

"Alright. Well, if you need anything, just let me know." He says putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He smiles and walks over to the others, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I quickly changed into my uniform and sat down, waiting for Xavi to come in and talk to us before we had to go out onto the field.

As Xavi started to speak, I spaced out, not really paying attention. My mind was elsewhere, and I couldn't focus on what Xavi was saying.

I go on my phone and start looking at old pictures of me and Nailea. I scroll through, and comes across a video and I play it. It was a video of Nailea dancing around the kitchen. It was during the summer when we went to Italy for our 3 year anniversary.

I smiled at the thought of the memory. I remembered it like it was yesterday.

I then receive a text from Sophia. I click on the text and see that she is letting me know that she found her seat.

Sophia: hey Pedri I found my seat, I am sitting next to Mikky.

I completely forgot that she was coming to the game today. I had invited her to the game so she wouldn't be home alone. I knew that's what Nailea would have wanted me to do.

Pedri: hey Sophia, okay! We will be heading in the field in a few to warm up.

I puts my phone away and walk out with the boys to the field. As soon as I step out, I hear the roar of the crowd. I look into the crowd to find Sophia. Once I find her, I notice her also looking my way. She smiles and waves at me, and I do the same back.

Our game vs Rayo wasn't great. During halftime, I walk into the locker room with everyone. Xavi immediately starts yelling at the team, and I turn to look at Pablo who is also giving me a look. This game is definitely interesting. Once Xavi was done talking, everyone got quiet.

I walk out of the locker room and go into the hallway. I needed a moment to breathe.

I sit on the hallway floor. "Hey." I hear Sophia say. I look up at her and give her a small smile. "Hey." I mumbled. Sophia then sits next to me.

"How are you holding up?" She ask playing with her rings.

"I'm just tired." I whisper closing my eyes trying to relax. "It's just been a long day." I say

"I get it. Do you want to talk about it?". She questions, I open my eyes and look at her. I shake my head. "Not really." I say quietly.

"Okay, well, if you change your mind, I'm here." She says, looking at me. She smiles a little, trying to comfort me. We are both looking at each other and not saying anything. She then pulls me into a hug.

I was caught off guard by it. I didn't hug back at first, but I eventually did after. We hug each other for a bit until we slowly pull away.

We hold onto each other's arms and are facing each other. I can hear her breathe slowly. This is wrong. What is going on? We immediately hear someone cough, and we pull away from each other. It was Gavi. He looks at us in shock.

"Hey, we need to start heading into the field soon." Gavi mumbles looking back and forth at me and Sophia.

"Okay, let's go." I say immediately getting up and walking up to Gavi.

"Bye." Sophia whispers, as she also is getting up. "Bye." I say and start walking with Gavi.

As we walk towards the field, an awkward silence fills the air between me and Gavi. I can feel the tension and I don't know what to say. I look over at Gavi, hoping he'll say something, but he doesn't. We continue walking in silence, and I can feel my heart racing. I want to break the silence but I don't want to make things worse.

"It's not what it looks like, Gavi." I tell him trying to break the silence.

Gavi shakes his head. "I don't want to go into it right now. Let's just get this game over with." He says not looking at me.

I knew I messed up. "Okay." I say quietly.

The silence is almost unbearable, and I wish I could turn back time and make a different choice. As we get closer to the field, I take a deep breath and prepare for the game.

I didn't know what I was doing or why I even let it get that far. I feel like I betrayed many people but especially Nailea. I walk with my head down, lost in thought.