Lifeline (Marc Guiu)

Chapter 15

Everytime Marc was asked to train with the first time, he felt so weird. The mixed feelings that his current situation at Barça created didn't mix well with his heartbreak. But then again, nothing did.

A few of the boys were surrounding Fermín, who was laughing at whatever was being said. Marc tried to listen to their conversation and he heard the boys tell Fermín he was going to get boyfriend of the year because he got VIP tickets for Victoria to go to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Madrid. It was easy to guess Alicia would be going too. She listened to Taylor's songs all the time. Marc always teased her about it because that wasn't the type of music he liked and Alicia teased him back complaining about the music he listened to. Add Taylor Swift to the list of things that made Marc sad because they reminded him of Alicia. It was a long list.

"Who's going to the concert?", asked Marc, inserting himself the conversation.

"Vicky. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, you know. My sister is going too so I just thought it'd be good to know someone else who was around. She's going with a few friends".

"Vicky will be there with her best friend", said Fermín and Marc just nodded.

Maybe he could use the excuse of wanting to look after his sister to go to Madrid and see Alicia again? No, that'd be stupid. His sister would never allow him to travel with her friends because a few had a crush on Marc. And nothing was worse than your friends having a crush on your brother.

For Alicia, hearing that they were going to the show had put a smile on her face for the first time since everything that went down with Marc. It was so sweet of Fermín to get those tickets for them.

"This one is for you", said Victoria, giving Alicia the new friendship bracelet that she had made. It was keeping them entertained while they were on the train.

"Thanks. I love it".

It was a simple one with their initials and the number 15, as in the song Fifteen. Taylor wrote that one for her best friend and when Alicia and Victoria found the meaning of the song, they made it their friendship song.

Madrid had been taken over by Swifties, which was really fun to see. They knew they could enter the stadium more easily due to their VIP passes but still, they wanted to hang out with other fans and truly enjoy the experience.

But that also meant listening to Taylor's songs all day long. Not that Alicia minded that since she already did it most days. But listening to so many heartbreak songs when you were heartbroken could be a bit challenging if you did it in public. And in front of the best friend that had been so worried about you.

"Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again

But I just miss you and I just with you were a better man

I know why we had to say goodbye like the back of my hand

But I just miss you and I just wish you were a better man"

Hearing the other fans sing along to that song made something inside of Alicia break, which was funny because she felt everything had broken already. However, that song managed to break her further. Not because she wanted Marc to be a better man. He had done nothing wrong. And she knew why they said goodbye...because of her and everything she did wrong. It was all her fault. The song only made her more aware of her mistakes. She should have been a better woman when she was with him and she wasn't. And now it was probably too late.

"Should we go grab some food before the concert?"

"Yes", answered Alicia. "Where should we go?"

"I saw a pizza place over there. Sounds good?"

"Lead the way".

Victoria took Alicia's hand and walked her to the pizzeria to get a pepperoni pizza. That was their usual order when it was just the two of them eating together. There was so much that they did that was a tradition of some sort. Alicia held onto that to remain strong. She had Victoria by her side and she had to be happy for her. After everything her friend went through, attending a concert like she was doing today felt unbelievable. It was something they couldn't have imagined happening not that long ago. And Alicia couldn't ruin that for her.

The start of the concert changed everything for Alicia. It was so incredible to be there with her best friend seeing their favourite singer. They last time they attended one of Taylor's concerts was such a long time ago, this felt extra special. Alicia and Victoria kept hugging each other randomly just because they were so happy, they needed to share the happiness with each other.

But then it was time for one of Alicia's favourite songs to sing: We are never ever getting back together. It was a fun song...in a way. A song to sing along with your friends while using a hairbrush as a microphone. A song Alicia loved to scream sing...but now while her heart was broken because she thought she was never, ever, getting back together with Marc. Victoria, somehow, noticed something had changed in her friend's mood and she hugged Alicia again.

"I love you, Ali".

"I love you too".

By the end of the show, everyone was crying because of all the emotions they went through the previous few hours. So Alicia crying wasn't seen as odd.

"That was the best night ever!", screamed Victoria when they were getting out of the stadium.

"Don't tell Fermín your best night was at this stadium...and while he wasn't there".

Victoria laughed. "Now I can't wait to tell him to see his face".

"He scored a goal here and trolled the Madrid fans so I guess he has good memories of his nights in this stadium too".

"I loved that goal...and that celebration", said Victoria, biting her lip. "Maybe we can facetime him when we make it to the hotel and you can annoy him too".

"Sounds good to me".

But they didn't really get to do much talking because Fermín was with his family and they kept interrupting the conversation. So Alicia and Victoria took turns to take a shower and get ready for bed.

While they were trying to fall asleep, they picked their favourite photos of the day and posted them on Instagram. They commented on each other's posts and soon found Fermín had liked both of their posts and was leaving comments on them too. The usual.

It was easier for Victoria to fall asleep but for Alicia...well, there was too much going on inside her head. So she went back to Instagram and checked for new comments she could reply to. But what she saw surprised her. Marc had liked her latest post. He never liked her posts. They followed each other but never interacted on Instagram. Why did he like her post now? And what did he think of the photos where Alicia was pretending to be happy instead of miserable? Did he buy the lie?

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A/N: sorry to the non-Swifties. I'm still not over the Eras tour show I went to and I had to write about it at some point 😅😅