Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter Ten: Getting Some Advice

The next three weeks went quickly for Nicole and between her dates with Cristiano, which became a regular thing and her chemotherapy sessions she found herself finding herself content with her life for the first time.

The brunette had started to notice that her hair was starting to thin out and she was more tired than usual however she still had yet to tell Cristiano that she had Leukaemia; she didn’t want to tell him yet but she knew that she was going to have to do it soon.

Nicole had also found herself getting closer to the other spouses of the players, even though Cristiano hadn’t asked her to be his girlfriend yet; things had been going pretty well for them.

Nicole sighed as she watched some of the other WAGs looked at clothes and tried them on; she was sat next to Sara who was talking on her phone to her boss about some work details.

Caroline chuckled and sat next to the brunette and smiled, she could tell that there was something wrong with Nicole and she wished that there was some way that she could help her.

“You feeling okay?” the Brazilian asked making Nicole nod at her not really paying attention, she had done a lot to keep her illness a secret and she wasn’t sure how much more she could do to keep this quiet from the world.

Caroline nodded as she took hold of Nicole’s hand and started to look at her nails, after a few minutes shook her head sadly at Nicole; she knew that this had to be serious and she wanted to help her.

“I know,” Caroline admitted looking at the white lines that ran along Nicole’s nails, Nicole looked at her surprised as she realised what Caroline was talking about; she didn’t think anyone had noticed how her health had changed since she had started treatment.

Caroline quickly stood up and linked arms with Nicole, she doubted that the brunette wished to discuss this when anyone could hear; the Brazilian quickly announced that they were heading to a different store before she pulled Nicole from the shop and away from the others.

The pair quickly headed to the food court where they got a coffee and sat down to talk, Nicole looked at Caroline waiting for her to starting talking; she felt self-conscious about this and she hoped that she wasn’t in trouble for keeping this quiet.

“So what do you have?” Caroline asked making Nicole sigh as she glanced around to see if they had been recognised, she knew that if this got out then it would be all over the news in a heartbeat.

***

Cristiano jogged up and down the training field with the rest of the team, a couple of the other players were joking about the fact that he was actually dating someone.

Sergio still wasn’t really himself after Nicole’s disappearance and none of the other players had been able to figure out what had happened.

“So how is actually dating someone?” Iker asked making the Portuguese roll his eyes as he continued to jog, he knew that they were all having problems believing that he could settle down but he was serious this time and he cared for Nicole.

Sergio looked over at Cristiano concerned but he didn’t say anything, Sergio was aware that Nicole hadn’t told Cristiano that she had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and he hoped that she would do it soon.

“I was considering asking her to move in,” Cristiano said with a shrug making some of the players look at him surprised; Iker slowed his jog so he was next to Cristiano and looked at the footballer concerned.

“No offense Ronaldo but you have only been dating for three weeks,” Iker said knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Cristiano was so used to having what he wanted and the women agreeing but Nicole wasn’t like that; he doubted she would jump for joy at the idea of becoming closer with the footballer.

Cristiano rolled his eyes as he glanced at Sergio who was now scowling at the floor, while Kaka chuckled at the look that was on Cristiano’s face whenever the brunette was mentioned.

“Maybe you should wait until Sergio’s cheered up to ask her,” Kaka said as their training session was called to an end by Jose, who was looking down at a clip board annoyed.

The Brazilian knew that if there wasn’t a reason for Cristiano to stop then he wouldn’t and it could ruin things for them.

Cristiano sighed and nodded as they started to make their way into the locker room, he knew that they were right and he couldn’t help himself, he really cared for Nicole and he wanted her to be his.

“Okay,” Cristiano said softly unaware that Sergio was looking guilty at his back, he wanted everything to be perfect and he hoped that one day soon that this was going to work out for him.

***

Nicole was surprised how good it felt to tell someone what she had been hiding; talking to Caroline about her illness, it made her feel better about what she was doing and she knew that she could finally be honest about how she felt.

“Does Cristiano know?” Caroline asked making Nicole shake her head rapidly, she knew that she should tell the footballer that she had leukaemia since it wasn’t fair to keep him in the dark; she was hiding a lot from him and she knew that it would only hurt him in the end.

Caroline nodded unsure of what to say next meaning the two women sat in silence before the Brazilian sighed and looked at Nicole; she knew that this was only going to end up with someone getting hurt.

“You have to end it with him,” Caroline said simply looking at Nicole, who looked at her surprised; the brunette hadn’t been expecting the other woman to say anything like that, she watched Caroline sighed as she set down her coffee.

“I saw how much it hurt Cristiano to lose his pai to chronic liver disease and I know he has strong feelings for you. I don’t know what it would do to him if he were to lose you,” Caroline said while Nicole sat quietly listening to her; she knew Caroline was right but she was worried that he would leave her when she told him the truth.

Caroline carefully took Nicole’s hands, she knew that this was far from easy but everyone know how Cristiano had been when he had lost his father and he didn’t deserve to get attached to the brunette only for her to die.

“I know this is hard… but you need to do this Nicole, you both aren’t ready for a serious relationship,” Caroline said as she tried to make this easy, she hated to say all of these things since she could see how happy the couple made each other.

She knew that if things were different then she wouldn’t be doing this but they weren’t and someone was going to get hurt.

Nicole pulled her hand from Caroline’s and pushed herself to her feet, she felt horrible about herself and she knew that she needed time to think; she took a deep breath as she looked at the Brazilian.

“Tell the others that I wasn’t feeling well,” Nicole said through her teeth before she shouldered her bag and walked away, she felt tears burn her eyes as the words that Caroline had said rang in her ears.

Caroline watched the brunette leave as guilt started to eat away at her, she wished that she hadn’t had to do that.