•soccer imagines•

17• mario gotze

The first thing that greeted you when you entered the house was silence. This was a rather unusual welcoming. Usually by the time that you were home from work, Mario was around to greet you. On the occasion that he had practice at least your dog ran up to you when you opened the door. However, today nobody was at the door to welcome you home. Setting your purse on the small table that you usually kept for your keys, you could her noises coming from upstairs. You decided to follow the sound and see if you could find Mario or your dog.

You did find them, both of them. They were both sitting on the floor. Mario had his head in his knees and you could see the dog trying to wiggle his nose and get a good look at Mario's face. The posture, in itself, raised flags. You could tell just by looking at him that something was wrong. Something had happened that upset Mario.

"Mario?" At the sound of your voice, Mario looked up. You could see distinct tear marks on his cheeks. Mario was crying. That came as a shock to you. The two of you had been together for almost two years and in those two years, you had never seen him cry. You were at a loss as to what to do in order to make him feel better. You kneeled down next to him. "Mario, what happened?"

Mario didn't answer. Instead he pointed to something on his computer that was on the bed. Standing up, you walked over to the bed and looked at what he was pointing to. On the screen, you saw that he had Instagram open and under one of this pages, there was a lot of comments. A lot of the comments, also didn't seem to be saying friendly things. Most of the comments were hate comments. You knew, right off the bat, that this is what had upset Mario. The stuff that you read would upset anyone.

Shutting off the laptop, you walked back over to Mario who was still sitting exactly where you had left him. The only difference was that this time, he was no longer crying. Taking a seat in front of him, you placed your hands in his, which rested on top of his knees. His head was still facing downward. Using your index finger, you lifted his chin, forcing him to look at you.

"None of what they say is true. You know that don't you? You're one of the greatest guys I know and you work so hard. It's impossible for them to know how hard you work, so don't take what they say to heart. Majority of them have no idea what you go through or what your life is like." Mario looked at you for a while. "It's hard to do that." You pulled him into a hug and gently rubbed his back.

"I know, but you have to try. If you let them get to you, that just gives them importance. There is no reason that you should give them importance." Mario nuzzled his head into your neck and pulled you tighter. It was getting slightly difficult for you to breathe but you didn't say anything. You knew that Mario needed this comfort and you were more than willing to provide it. Sometimes, after a long day, people just need a hug.

The two of you sat like that on the floor for a good thirty minutes. It was only when your dog nudged your foot that you slightly broke apart. By that time, Mario had calmed down quite a bit. "We should probably feed him." You nodded. Getting up, you were about to walk out and head to the kitchen to go get dog food when Mario stopped you. "Thank you." Turning back around, you kneeled on the ground in front of him, making you both eye to eye. "Any time." And you meant it.