Let Me Love You | Toni Kroos

Chapter 28 - Subliminal

Gabi's POV

Thankfully, my condition stabilised enough for me to return to school for the winter semester. I had some trouble catching up, partly because I'd missed completing the summer assignments, but mostly because I still had some problems with my memory.

I still had to go for weekly therapy sessions with a psychologist, though honestly she didn't have as large an impact on me as Toni did. I didn't understand why. I still felt like I only knew bits and pieces about him, that I still didn't know who he was. But yet, I felt the most comfortable around him.

Bayern's season had been heating up with all the midweek European matches, so I hadn't been seeing him very often because he was either away at training or at a match.

But he was standing there as I rounded the last corner towards the hospital, waiting for me with his training gear in one hand. "Hey," he smiled as I approached him. "Time for therapy."

I wrapped my arms tightly around him as I reached him. I felt him tense up, holding his breath and keeping his arms firmly by his sides. "I've missed you," I told him, and he tensed up even more.

"Yeah," he said softly, raising his free hand and putting it on my back hesitantly. "Me too."

"Are you busy today?" I asked as we started walking into the hospital and towards the clinic. "You don't have to come with me if you're busy."

"I'm not busy," he said, and then he started to say something else, but he stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled as we sat in the clinic, waiting for my appointment.

"Hey," I nudged him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

He turned his head slowly towards me and stared at me, his expression flashing briefly with affection before it was replaced by confusion. "No..." he said. "Not now, why?"

"You tense up every time I hug you," I explained. "Like you're afraid your girlfriend will be jealous."

He laughed half-heartedly. "I don't have a girlfriend," he confirmed. I must have looked anything but convinced, because he started laughing more loudly. He scooted over closer to me and pulled me tightly against him, his strong, comfortable arms wrapping me up in a warm hug. "Here, a nice big hug for you."

"Awwww," I rested my chin on his shoulder. "Thanks, Toni."

"Yeah," he whispered, keeping his arms around me, the both of us huddling in the corner of the waiting room. "Uh...Gabi?"

"What?"

"I have something to tell you."

"Yeah, just say it."

He went quiet, so quiet that if his arms hadn't been around me, I'd have forgotten that he was there. I wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

"Um..." he started after what seemed like eternity. "Gabi, you were my –"

"Gabriele?" someone suddenly called. I looked up and saw my therapist; it was my turn. Toni startled and let go of me, his face pink with frustration and desperation.

"Wait a moment," I told her. I turned back to Toni, who was looking down, avoiding my gaze. "What did you want to say?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, shaking his head. "It's nothing. It can wait. Go inside, okay? I'll talk to you later."

He looked up, smiled briefly at me and then my therapist, and then squeezed my shoulder and walked out of the waiting room.

Toni's POV