In The Darkest Hour

Part Two - Chapter Nineteen: Milan's Birthday

Isla let out a sigh of relief after meeting with Isabel's parents, she had been a little worried about meeting them after what had happened but they had been so welcoming to her that she didn't feel unwelcome.

Isla watched Gerard with Milan and smiled, she had stepped back so he could spend time with his son; she didn't want to steal the attention away from the little boy who was turning three, she couldn't believe that he was getting so big now.

Isla had no doubts that one day Milan would be as tall as his father, she was going to be dwarfed by the two of them one day and she was sure that she wouldn't mind at all; she loved them both so much.

Isla leant against the wall and continued to watch Gerard and Milan, it had been a long day and she knew that things were going to be tense especially after what had happened.

It would always mark this day that Isabel wasn't going to be there, no one would ever replace Isabel in Milan's life; she was his mother and always would be.

Isla took a deep breath, she was aware that while Milan might call her mama that didn't really mean anything to everyone; she was just his father's girlfriend and they hadn't been together all that long.

Isla chewed on her lip, she wasn't sure what was going to happen and things were going to change; they had been together for six months and she wasn't sure what was going to happen in the next six months.

Things weren't going well at all and the rumours were still flying around and Barcelona were slowly growing tired of it; they were starting to push for Gerard to leave the club and a move back to England looked to be back on the cards.

Isla had no doubts in her mind that if it came to it that she would follow him anywhere; she wasn't going to let anything rip them apart this time.

***

Gerard took a deep breath as he watched his parents talking with Isabel's parents, he felt so odd about the entire thing but he was pleased that there didn't seem to be any trouble; there was no sign of Tonino and for that he was happy.

Gerard pressed a kiss to the top of Milan's head, he couldn't believe that it had been three years since Isabel had passed away and he still missed her; he knew that he always would but he had moved forward with his life.

Gerard ran his fingers through his hair, he knew that things were tense with the club right now and he had no idea what was going to happen if the rumours carried on; he had done everything possible to clear his name but someone was running a good hate campaign against him.

Gerard sighed looking over at Isla, he knew that she had tried to stay out of the way and he didn't blame her; she didn't want anyone to think for a moment that she was trying to replace Isabel in Milan's life.

Isla was a part of his life now and Gerard was pleased to see that Isabel's parents seemed okay with the fact that he was dating Isla; he wanted them to see that things were okay and that he hadn't forgotten about Milan.

Gerard walked over to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her, he kissed her softly knowing that things were going to be okay; he wasn't going to let anything happen to them.

Isla smiled brushing her fingers through Gerard's hair, she closed her blue eyes and rested her head against his; she could only imagine what was going on in his mind.

Isla hated that the rumours had carried on after nearly two months, she wanted to know who was doing this to them and why they were still causing them so much grief.

Gerard held onto Isla, he loved her so much and the last six months had been good to them; he didn't want to think that he could lose her.

"It's gonna be okay," Isla whispered softly, she brushed her fingers through Gerard's hair and looked up at him; she wished there was some way of making things better and she hated that he was still suffering.

Gerard nodded his head, he rested a hand on her hips and drew her close, he didn't want to think of how messy things were for them; he wasn't going to let things ruin his life and he was going to make all of this go away.

"I just wish I knew who was doing this," Gerard murmured pulling back, he hated that someone was trying to break them apart and he wished that they would just stop; he had a horrible feeling that he knew who it was.

Isla nodded her head, she kissed him wanting the same answer and she wanted nothing more than to put this behind them; she wanted things to go back to normal, she was sure that it would in time.

Gerard held Isla close and deepened the kiss, he was determined to make this work and he wasn't going to give in just because things didn't work out for someone else; he had a feeling that her parents were behind all of this.

Gerard didn't want to tell Isla what he thought, he didn't want to fight with his girlfriend but they were the only people that Gerard could think that would waste this much time trying to make him look bad.

Gerard pulled back from Isla when his mobile started to ring, he sighed moving to see who it was before he frowned at the sight of his agents name; he wondered what his agent would want since he knew that he was busy.

"I have to take this... it's my agent," Gerard murmured moving out of the room to answer it, he was sure that it had to be big if his agent was calling him when he knew he was with Milan.

***

Isla looked at Gerard as he walked back into the room after his phone call, she had just waved off his and Isabel's parents since they had gone out while Milan was taking a nap; she spotted the look on his face and it made her feel ill.

"Geri?" Isla asked walking over to her boyfriend, she had no idea what was wrong but she guessed that his agent had said something to bring him down.

The day was meant to be about Milan and Isla doubted that it was going to last especially with the look on Gerard's face; she stopped in front of her boyfriend wondering what was going on.

"Barcelona have agreed on a loan deal," Gerard murmured looking at Isla, this hadn't been what he had been expecting and he knew that there was no way around this.

Isla stared back at him, she couldn't believe that this was happening especially in the middle of season; she had thought Barcelona would give him more time to fix all of this, they had no idea what was going to happen now that Barcelona were forcing a loan deal.

"What?" Isla whispered staring at Gerard with tears in her eyes, she hadn't thought that this would happen and she felt guilty that this was her fault.

Gerard sighed running his fingers through his hair, it was for the remained of the season and then Barcelona would see how things were then before they made anymore decisions about his future at the club.

"I'm going back to Manchester United for the rest of the season," Gerard said looking at Isla, he couldn't believe any of this and he hated that he would have to leave Isla and Milan behind when he needed them the most.

Isla took a deep breath before she wrapped her arms around Gerard, she wasn't going to let him do any of this alone.