Lifeline (Marc Guiu)

Chapter 32

Alicia had already told her parents about the move before heading to London for New Year's. It was the news they had feared but knowing that Marc's roots were firmly in Barcelona made everything different. Their son Adrià had moved abroad and married a woman from that country. It wasn't the same situation and so they hoped Alicia would come back at some point because Marc wanted to come back too. They also expected her to travel a lot during her 20s so this wasn't much more different than that.

"Here, honey. We got this two boxes for your things".

"Thanks", she told her mum, who was organising everything like she usually did.

"Do you need me to buy anything for you or...".

"Mum, I'm just taking some of my clothes and the things I need for uni. I can buy whatever I need there. They got quite a few shops in London".

"Ok. I just worry about you missing something important and then you can't find it there...".

"I'll be fine, mum".

Her mum looked at her with a sad smile on her face. "I'm surprised it took you until you turned 20 to leave. But also, it feels like you're still my baby and I can't let you go".

"I know. But I'll visit often. Marc can't be away from his family for that long either".

"Yes, I know that. But you'll call me every day, right?"

"Maybe every week...", joked Alicia. "Yes, mum. I'll make sure you know every day that I'm still alive and doing well".

While Alicia said goodbye to Barcelona, Marc had been getting everything ready for her to move in. It was so good to know she was going to stay with him for at least the next few months. They would see what live had in store for them after the season was over. Alicia could go to uni anywhere so it was up to what Marc's career demanded of him. They had spoken about it already and it truly was one less thing to worry about, which Marc welcomed.

"Welcome home!", he said, opening the door for Alicia to go inside.

"Thank you. This is exciting!"

"It is. I couldn't have imagined this happening a year ago".

"I know", she chuckled. "A lot has changed. But it's all good now so we're happy".

"We're very happy".

Alicia didn't want to bring too many things because she wasn't fully moving to England so there was no point. Still, they spent a few hours putting everything in its place and reorganising the place a little bit. Alicia had already chosen which room she would use for her uni work the first time she had visited Marc's place. So she finished the moving process by placing her school things on her desk. And then she looked around and smiled. Home sweet home.

"Are you ready?"

"For what?", when Alicia turned, she saw Marc dressed to leave the house. "Where are you going?"

"Where are we going is the question".

"Answer that one then".

"I'm going to teach you how to drive".

Alicia looked at the car keys Marc was showing her. "I know how to drive".

"Not on the left side of the road".

"How hard can it be?", she rolled her eyes.

"Better if I take you to a more quiet area so you can practise. Come one. It'll be fun".

It was actually a good idea for Alicia to try and get used to that difference as soon as possible. Even if she wasn't really planning to drive much while in England. The second she got inside the car, she noticed how it wasn't as easy as she thought. Her instinct was to move her hands to the direction she was used to. It was muscle memory or whatever that was called. And how was one supposed to rewire the brain to do it differently?

"The bus and the trains work well around here, right?"

Marc laughed hearing that. "I guess. But let's try to drive now. There's no one around here. Come on. It'll be fine".

"Ok...".

The first few minutes made Alicia feel like she was back doing her driving lessons when she was about to turn 18. She wasn't a nervous driver but this made her a little more anxious. But then, she started to get the hang of it.

"I'm driving!", she exclaimed.

"You are. Wanna go see how it is to drive around town? This area is never too busy so it should be fine".

"Let's do it then".

Marc had been right. It wasn't a super busy area and drivers seemed pretty calm. Not like how they sometimes got around Barcelona. But then...another hurdle showed up.

"Ehh...".

"What?"

"The roundabout. I'm scared of it", she confessed.

"You'll do fine. Just focus on the road".

And she did fine. Or at least she didn't crash the car. Good enough for her but she hoped the next time she encountered a roundabout, her driving will be a little smoother. Or less clumsy.

"Can you drive now? I got tired of this".

Marc chuckled and moved to the driver's seat. "It wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No. I guess it wasn't".

Their relationship wasn't a secret. They walked around Surrey acting like a couple. They also acted like a couple at the matches, where everyone could see them. But still, they didn't post about each other online. Both Alicia and Marc wanted to keep the relationship as private as possible for as long as possible. Until Marc messed up.

"Ali...", he tried to wake her up gently but Alicia was fast asleep. So Marc headed to the bathroom.

There he brushed his teeth and splashed some cold water on his face to try and wake up. He smiled remembering when Alicia had done that months ago.

When he got back to the room, Alicia was still sleeping and Marc took his phone to take a photo of her. But then he changed his mind and started to film a video. Marc started to caress Alicia's hair and then moved his fingers down her neck. When he touched her shoulder, she remained asleep but her body couldn't help but shiver. That only made Marc smiled and he stopped filming.

He wanted to post that video on his stories but only for closed friends. The problem was that in order to do that, he should have selected the option of only posting it for his closed friends...which he didn't. So the cute video was available for all of his followers to see and save and repost in other social media accounts.

"Why did you post that video of us?", asked Alicia when she finally woke up and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"It was cute. You liked it?"

"Yes. But I thought we weren't going to post about us on social media yet. I don't mind, though. It just surprised me".

"I posted it on closed friends", said Marc.

"No, you didn't".

He panicked, taking the phone and checking the Instagram app. Alicia was right. He posted it for everyone to see and his immediate reaction was to look at who had seen it and what the reaction was.

"People seem to like the video, at least".

"Of course. It's really cute".

"Well, you're in the video so of course it is cute".

Alicia laughed and checked the comments people were sending Marc about the video. "Everyone agrees that you're literally so boyfriend".

"Well. I'm literally your boyfriend".

"I know", she told him, smiling. "And I'm so lucky you're all mine".