Haphazardly | leon goretzka

Twenty-Two: Quentin, the Matchmaker

"Are you sure you want to do this, Leon?" Emilia questioned as he began backing out of the driveway.

He squeezed her hand a few times for reassurance before adding, "Yes. Plus, I owe Q this; too much time has gone by already, and I don't want to prolong it. It'll be hard, but with you with me, I know I can do it," Leon kissed their intertwined hands before placing them back on the middle console between the two.

"I'm proud of you."

"Don't say that yet, Emi. Wait and see if I make it out of the car - then you can be proud," He gave her a small smile, but she could see the hurt on his face.

They sat in silence until they arrived at the cemetery. Leon put the car in park before sighing heavily and rubbing his hands over his face a few times. He reached for the Schalke jersey he had made for Quentin, and once he had it, stepped out of the car. Emilia followed behind him closely, wanting to be there to support him every step of the way.

After walking by three rows of gravestones, Leon stopped in front of one with the name 'Quentin M. Coric' written on the front. There was a soccer pitch with a ball and goal engraved on the space above his name, which Emilia thought was a beautiful touch. Leon squatted down next to it, running his hand over the top of the headstone.

"Hi, Q," He paused. "I miss you."

Just then, his phone began to ring. Leon fished it out of his pocket, looking at the caller i.d. "I need to take this, but I'll be right back," He squeezed Emilia's shoulder before wandering away.

Emi crouched down next to the gravestone as Leon had done seconds earlier. She rested her hand on the side of it, trying to keep her balance. "Hi Quentin. I'm Emilia, Leon's girlfriend," She introduced herself to her boyfriend's best friend. "I've heard nothing but good things about you - I really wish I would've gotten the chance to meet you in person."

She looked up into the sky before continuing, "I don't know if you were religious or not before this happened, but I am. From what I've heard from Leon, you sound like a wonderful man, and I'm so happy that he had a friend like you. You died helping others, and that is the ultimate sacrifice - dying doing what's right."

"Now, I know that you're in heaven because of your character and bravery, and because you're up there, I know you're watching over Leon. I don't know why or how you led him to be at that bar the night I was in Munich, but I want to say thank you. You helped guide the sweetest, kindest, most caring man to me that blustery Munich day, and I want to thank you with all of my heart. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be with the absolute man of my dreams right now, and I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet you either."

"So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Quentin. Thank you for being such a great friend to Leon not only in your life on Earth, but in heaven too. You're the best guardian angel he could've asked for," Emilia stood up, wiping the dirt off of her jeans.

She glanced behind her, noticing that Leon was approaching her. "It was just my agent," He kissed the side of her head.

Emi nodded, adding, "I'll give you two a minute. I'll be waiting at the car for you, okay? Take your time."

Leon watched Emilia trudge back to his BMW, head down as if she was praying. He kneeled down by Quentin's headstone, draping the Schalke jersey over the top. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get here, Q," Leon began. "I just miss you so much, and I drive by here at least once a day when I'm home, wanting to work up the courage to come see you, but I haven't found that strength until now," He smiled at Emilia who had her back to him.

"I wish you were here to meet Emilia. She's - she's the best, Q. After you died, I felt so depressed. People couldn't tell on the outside, but on the inside I was absolutely destroyed. On the pitch I was scoring goals left and right - and they were all for you, Q. But when I got home or was alone, I would just cry. Cry because I wasn't there to protect you that night, cry because I hadn't seen you in a while, cry because I knew I would never be able to talk to you again - it was just all too much."

"And then I met Emilia, and it was like I found happiness again. I know that you had everything to do with it, Quentin," Leon smirked while patting the headstone.

"Otherwise it's not possible that I would just randomly meet someone as fantastic as Emilia. I see you up there searching the world for the perfect girl for me, Q," He grinned, pointing up to the sky. "And I want to thank you for that, because I think you found her, Q. It might've taken you a few tries, but we've got ourselves a good one here. She's smart, loving, and genuinely likes me for me, which is a hard thing for me to find nowadays."

"That's one of the reasons I miss you so much, Quentin. You were - and still are - my best friend. And yeah, I have Max, Josh, and other teammates, but none of them are you. You knew me when I was just Leon Goretzka, and not 'Leon Goretzka., German football prodigy' You knew me when I was this shy kid who was afraid to talk to girls, and who would kick soccer balls at my mother's breakables as long as it would make you laugh. I'd do anything to hear you laugh again. I would give up my career if it meant you were here again, Q. I know that won't happen though, so I'll just have to keep scoring goals, and you can keep being my number one fan from up there. I know you're repping your number eight 'Goretzka' jersey from heaven - I can see it from here."

"I hope you know that I'm always going to remember and honor you. You'll forever and always be my best friend, Quentin. I love you."

Leon wiped the few tears away that were now falling down his cheeks. He kissed the top of the headstone before proceeding back to his car. Once inside, he peered over at Emilia who was seated next to him. She smiled softly before asking, "Can I say I'm proud of you now? Because I am."