A Year With Real Madrid

Chapter 8

Alice's P.O.V.

"I want this one."

"No! Let's get that one!"

"But that one is tall!" 

"Look! This one is so perfect!" 

"Okay, that's it! Shut it! All of you!" I finally yelled at the boys who were going on and on about different trees.

We were shopping for a Christmas tree and the boys couldn't stop arguing. They all liked different trees and couldn't settle on one. I've been listening to them for half an hour now and it was safe to say that I was irritated beyond belief now.

"We are going to get one tree that is wide and short so it can fit inside the house. I'll choose and you all with shut your pieholes. Got it?" I asked in a stern voice and they nodded.

"Good. Now let's look around without the fighting." They nodded again and we began our search once again.

After another half hour of looking, we finally found the perfect tree and got it trimmed to perfection. Then we went to the supermarket to buy decorations. We spent hours there and brought too many decorations. 

We got home and had a hearty lunch before we got started on the Christmas tree.

"You know, we could have easily hired someone to decorate the place properly," Marco said as he struggled with some decorations.

We all laughed at his struggles and I decided to help the poor boy out.

The whole house was in a festive mood with loud Christmas music playing, decorations stringing and the constant loud banter.

We actually ended up doing a great job and the living room looked amazing!!

We even hanged lots of Mistletoes around the house cos we thought it'd be hilarious when guys have to kiss each other randomly. And we were proved right when Jesus ran around the house with Borja on his heels. Apparently, Jesus didn't want Borja's germs on him and that only motivated Borja further. He eventually succeeded in his task. The immaturity these guys had was amazing!

"We made hot chocolate!" Marco and Dani announced as they entered into the living room with two trays.

"Yay!" We cheered and they both offered mugs to everyone. We all settled on the floor and sofas in the living room and talked about our holiday plans.

The show was doing great so far. We had two episodes each week and the ratings were looking good.

The boys and I were getting along perfectly even though we did have a few small arguments here and there.

"Ally, what are you planning to do on Christmas?" Mateo asked.

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it yet. I couldn't go to visit my parents' cos the season was still going on and I couldn't leave mid-shooting. I sighed at the thought.

"Umm, I don't know yet. What about you guys?" I faked a grin and turned the conversation back to them.

I am really good at faking my emotions and taking the attention away from myself.

Like, scary good!

"I know that look," whispered a voice in my ear.

I turned my head startled, only to meet with a pair of deep brown eyes.

Isco was staring at me intently, our faces were very close to each other. I could feel his breath on my face and my heart started beating faster.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" I stammered. 

"You want to go home for Christmas." 

I smiled at him sadly, "Of course I do. But we all know that I can't so why waste time talking about it? Maybe they can come down here. I'll just talk to them."

"Yeah and if they can't come down then you can spend Christmas with us when we get back from Dubai for the Club World Cup."

"Thanks, Disco." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

We turned back into the conversation going around us and drank our hot chocolates.

"Hey guys," Lucas shouted, "the show is on!" He said as he turned up the TV volume.

Watching the show together had become a tradition of ours ever since it started. It was fun most of the times and sometimes embarrassing for me as the guys would tease me mercilessly about some stuff but it was all good and honestly, life was good.

The episode being aired was the one where I had shown the hate tweets to Isco. 

"Football is a game, it's a beautiful game but it is cruel sometimes. Everyone wins and everyone loses, it's the only way that the game works in. If you don't lose every once in a while, you don't learn anything new. That's what happens to us. We lose our way, we fight the odds and then we fight to get back on the top. That's what makes us the best club in the world. That's what makes us Real Madrid."  Isco said on the screen and everyone in the room cheered.

"You better listen to him Ally, we don't want you to take those haters to heart. It happens to the best of us." Marco said as he slung a hand around my shoulders.

"Yeah, no matter what you do people are always going to find the faults in it. And you're a part of the team now so you have to learn to ignore the hate but you don't have to do it alone. We're here with you every step of the way." Dani said, pulling me into a half-hug and soon enough I was engulfed into a group hug.

My eyes were teary as I hugged them all back, "Thank you so much, guys. You all are literally the best." I smiled.

I've always heard people call some of their friends family but in all honesty, I have never connected with anyone on that level ever but now, for the first time, I felt like I've found a family in friends. The ones that would support me in everything and have my back through anything. It was an incredible feeling and nothing could wipe the grin off my face through the whole night.