Love Will Find A Way

Part One - Chapter Twelve: Hair Loss

The day Nicole had been dreading had finally arrived, the brunette was entering her fourth session of chemo when her hair started to fall out more rapidly; she had been a little surprised how quickly it had come but it had and it still upset her.

Nicole stared at herself in her bathroom mirror, a sad look set upon her face as she looked at her ever thin hair; she took a deep breath as she set down her hair brush and wondered why this had to have happened to her.

Cristiano sighed as he appeared and wrapped his arms around Nicole’s waist and rested his head on her shoulder; although he hadn’t officially moved into Nicole’s flat, he had yet to properly return to his own home for more than an hour or two since he didn’t want to leave her alone.

It hadn’t taken long for the rest of the Real Madrid team and some of the WAGs to learn the truth and most were supportive of Cristiano’s and Nicole’s relationship.

Caroline had been surprised that the footballer had stayed with the brunette after what she had told him, however the Brazilian was doing her best to support the couple when they needed it.

They also hadn’t run into much of a problem of keeping their relationship out of the press since Nicole had stopped going to work because she was often too tired and Arthur and Marisol wanted her to rest and recover from her illness before she returned to work.

“It’ll be okay,” Cristiano whispered pressing a kiss to Nicole’s neck and closing his eyes, Nicole nodded trying to keep her mind off what little hair she had left on her head.

“I know…” Nicole said shrugging making Cristiano smile as he pressed another kiss to her neck and sighed as his watch beeped signalling it was time for him to head to training.

Nicole turned around in Cristiano’s arms and kissed him gently on his lips; Cristiano sighed and rested his forehead on Nicole’s.

“I’ll see you after training,” Nicole said making Cristiano sigh as he pulled away, he really didn’t want to leave her when she was this down but he didn’t have a choice.

If he didn’t show up at training then Mourinho would fine him and that was the last thing that he needed while he was dating Nicole.

“I’ll see you when I get back,” he said turning and leaving Nicole in the bathroom, she waited until he was gone to pick up her phone and dial a number.

She took a deep breath as she moved to her bedroom and sat on the bed as she waited for her friend to answer.

“Caroline? I need a favour,” Nicole said knowing the Brazilian would be there within a few minutes, she needed someone to help her with her plan before Cristiano returned home.

***

Caroline and Sara knew why Nicole had called before Caroline had even answered the phone when she had called; they’d both been having lunch when the brunette had called asking for help with her hair.

The three women were sat in Nicole’s bedroom looking at the wigs that Caroline had bought for this occasion; the Brazilian swallowed as she thought about the fact that she was about to take away her hair before it cruelly all fell out.

“So how do you want to do this?” Sara asked looking at Nicole’s hair making the brunette sigh and shrugged her shoulders as Caroline held up a hair shaver; Sara raise an eyebrow at her, she knew that if the brunette wasn’t sure about this then she wasn’t sure if they should do this.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this,” Caroline told the other two women; Nicole looked at her questioningly but didn’t say anything as she moved to sit in front of Caroline and Sara took her hands knowing that this couldn’t have been an easy decision for her.

“Gracias for doing this for me,” Nicole said meekly making the two women smile at her before Caroline went to work at shaving off what was left off Nicole’s hair while Sara looked over the wigs again.

It didn’t take long for the last of the hair to be shaven off making Nicole sigh softly as Caroline quickly brushed it into a bin and Sara held up a light brown wig that looked similar to Nicole’s original colouring.

Nicole smiled at her and with little assistance placed the wig on her hair to cover up her new found baldness; she knew that it would take some getting used to but it saved having to wear a hat so people didn’t see that she had lost her hair.

Caroline smiled as she looked up at the younger woman; before she glanced at the clock, she had to get home soon since she had two children to look after and Kaka was at training.

“It looks good… nearly like the original,” she said sitting next to Nicole on the bed as the three looked across the room at Nicole’s mirror that was in the room; they knew that it was going to take some getting used to but it had been for the best.

Caroline sighed and gave Nicole a one armed hug which Sara joined in with, they hoped that the brunette would get better soon; she had been through so much that she deserved to be happy.

“He’ll understand,” she said softly before she stood up. Nicole nodded and quickly thanked the two women again as they started to make their way towards the front door.

***

When Cristiano arrived home, Nicole was sat in her living room waiting for him; she knew he was bound to notice that her hair had changed since he had left this morning.

“I’m home,” Cristiano called as he made his way through Nicole’s flat making her tense up slightly at the sound of his voice; she swallowed as she took a deep breath hoping that everything would be okay, she hoped he wasn’t upset.

“I’m in the living room,” she called back causing him to chuckle in response, Cristiano quickly drop his bag onto the bedroom floor and pulled his training shirt over his head.

“No need to sound tense amor,” he said making Nicole stiffen at her new nickname, taking a deep breath she pushed herself off of the couch and made her way into the bedroom where her half naked boyfriend was waiting.

“We need to talk,” she said as she leant against the door frame as he took of his trainers; however he stiffened when he heard her voice.

“I know I said I was here as long as you wanted me… but I’m not going anywhere,” he said defiantly making Nicole smile and shake her head. Walking close to him, Nicole sat down on the bed next to Cristiano and sighed, as she rested her head on his shoulder. “

That wasn’t what I was going to say but that’s good to know,” she said softly pressing a kiss to his cheek, Cristiano nodded trying to think what Nicole wanted to talk about.

“You know I’ve been losing a lot of my hair recently…” she said making the Portuguese man roll his eyes as he finished taking off his trainers and socks; he didn’t care what she looked like and he never had.

“Well, I called Caroline and she helped me shave the rest of it off,” she continued making Cristiano snap his attention to Nicole, who rolled her own eyes at him not noticing the wig until she had mentioned it.

Cristiano sighed and rubbed his tired eyes before nodding.

“I don’t care about your hair Nicki, I love you for being who you are,” Cristiano said before he paused as he realised what he had said.