Lifeline (Marc Guiu)

Chapter 28

The alarm went off at 8 am which was definitely way too early for a Saturday morning. Alicia turned around and put the pillow over her head to stop hearing that awful noise before Marc had time to stop the alarm. He kissed her shoulder and lifted the pillow so he could see her.

"Hey. You don't need to wake up now but I have to go soon. 12.30 kick-offs are the worst".

"That sounds like it should be illegal", muttered Alicia, still not being able to fully open her eyes.

"The 9 pm kick-offs in Spain aren't much better".

"Also illegal".

"Well...the good thing about this is I get the match out of the way now and have the whole weekend to spend with you".

Alicia opened one eye and looked at how Marc was smirking at her. "I do like that. I like that a lot".

Alicia fell asleep again while Marc was walking around the house getting everything ready for the match and then he had to wake her up again. He hated that but he also wanted to say goodbye to Alicia before leaving.

"I need to leave".

"Can I have a kiss?"

"Of course", he chuckled before kissing her.

"You brushed your teeth".
"Yeah. I usually do".

"I didn't. I have morning breath while you smell and taste like fresh mint. I'm never going to stop thinking I'm the weak link in this relationship".

Marc laughed and shook his head. He got up and picked something from his bag, which caught Alicia's attention. "Too soon to ask you to wear my shirt to a match?"

"I've wanted to do it for a while, so not too early. And I look great wearing blue".

"You always look great".

Alicia took the shirt and looked at it. It wasn't the nicest kit she had ever seen but all she cared about was how it had Marc's name on the back.

"I hope I got the right size. I'm not good at guessing and I don't want to offend you if I got one that's too big or something".

"Don't worry. My current self-esteem issues have nothing to do with my body".

"I don't like that you have self-esteem issues in the first place", started to complain Marc. What couldn't Alicia see herself the way he saw her?

"Well, try being a woman, babe. And it fits perfect".

"It looks perfect", he said, staring at Alicia wearing his shirt. How many times had he imagined that happening? "You know where to go, right?"

"Yes, you explained it to me 20 times and I'm not that dumb".

"I can't wait to see you there".

"I can't wait either", she confessed and then Marc had to leave to go meet the squad.

It wasn't so easy for Alicia to find the gate she was supposed to go to but with a little help from a security guy, she finally made it to the area where the players' families watched the match. She had been to the Barça equivalent of this plenty of times, both at the Camp Nou and Montjuïc. However, in Barcelona she was always with Victoria and her family. In London, Alicia was alone. Marc had promised to introduce her to a few of the other WAGs, mainly the ones who already spoke Spanish. But that'd be soon...so she had to spend this match alone. Which wasn't that bad.

The match itself wasn't the best. Chelsea could only draw and Marc only played the last 10 minutes of the game. Not the best result but the end of the match meant that now Marc had all the time to dedicate to Alicia. Minus a small recovery session on Sunday morning.

"Hey!"

Marc approached Alicia, who looked so beautiful wearing his shirt, and kissed her in front of everyone. He was so incredibly tired of hiding that it felt too good to be able to do something as simple as kissing his girlfriend where anyone could see them.

"Hi! You played well".

"Thanks. Shame I didn't get any good passes to try and score".

"You will next time".

It was also so good to have Alicia cheering him up after the matches. Marc's family had attended a few matches but...it wasn't the same.

"I have to shower and then I'll meet you here, ok? In like 15 minutes?"

"Sure".

Marc kissed her quickly again and ran to the dressing room. He didn't want to waste too much time when a whole weekend alone with Alicia awaited him.

Alicia was looking around, feeling so out of place again. There were all the families of the players around her but she didn't know anyone yet. So she just stayed there waiting for Marc to be back. Still, she could notice the way they looked at her. They were all probably wondering where she came from since Marc had told them all he was single. And he had been single but also unavailable. It was hard to explain without telling them the whole story of everything that had happened.

While Alicia waited for Marc to be done getting ready to leave, she spotted someone she knew. Well, she didn't know her but she knew of her. The blonde Chelsea fan that had been after Marc. Alicia had learned her name was Kelsey and she was friends with other WAGs, which was why she got to be in the family area and had access to the players. Alicia looked away but Kelsey didn't care and continued to walk towards where she was standing.

"Hi".

"Hi?", Alicia just stared at Kelsey, not understanding why she was talking to her.

"So...you're Marc's girlfriend?", Alicia nodded. "Then we need to talk".