Invisible string (Robin Le Normand)

Chapter 10

On matchday, Robin didn't have an excuse to leave the house early in the morning so he made his way downstairs and found Leire having breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning".

"Good morning...you look tired".

"I am tired", said Robin, yawning again.

"You didn't sleep well? You have a match tonight so that's not ideal".

"It's a late kick off so I have time to take a nap later. I stayed up late reading last night".

Leire stared at him, surprised. "Reading?"

"Someone left a book for me right there", he pointed at the area of the kitchen island where Leire left the book for Robin to find. "I thought it'd be rude not to read it. And then it ended up being really good and I couldn't put it down until I finished it".

There was a part of Leire that wanted to slap her own face to stop herself from going back to stupid thoughts. But Robin's compliments meant so much to her. They shouldn't, not anymore, but she needed the validation. She needed his validation. Because, for the longest time, all she ever wanted was to be good enough for Robin. And it hurt to know she never was.

"Glad you liked it", was all she said. "I'll go out for a run. See you later".

"Ok".

Leire got up and put her bowl in the dishwasher before turning again to look at Robin. It was so painful how hard it was for them to talk when once they could just tell each other about every thought in their mind. Well, not every thought. But almost.

"Thank you", she said, making Robin look up. "For reading the book. And for your words about it".

"Anytime".

Robin meant that word but could tell Leire didn't fully believe him. But at least they hadn't really argued much recently. That gave him some hope. Until Leire found an excuse to leave the house, like she just did, to be away from him. That didn't give him hope.

The late kick off meant Robin had a long time until he needed to go meet the team. He usually napped and maybe went out for a walk. But he was supposed to drive Leire to the stadium as well so he felt like he needed to be home to be near her. To make sure she remembered when they were going to leave. Maybe they could have lunch together too, since she'd be around...unless she was planning on going out.

"What I need is to stop overthinking".

The run Leire went on didn't last long. She was pretty active and liked to work out but running wasn't her favourite form of exercise. Also, she still didn't know the area well and didn't feel confident going too far.

"Oh, hello. Do you live here?"

Leire took off her airpods to listen to the mail guy who was walking towards the door. "Yes".

"Then I can leave this parcel with you".

"Of course. Do I need to sign something?"

"No", he smiled. "Thank you. Have a good day".

"You too".

Leire looked down at the parcel, knowing she hadn't ordered anything so it wasn't surprising to see it was for Robin. It was also his house so...

"Robin?", she called when she got inside the house. "Robin? Are you home?"

"One second".

Soon Robin was running down the stairs to meet Leire. "Mail guy gave me a parcel for you".

"I didn't order anything...", he said but took the parcel anyway.

"Maybe it's something a brand sent you".