16 years | l. messi

3. what happened to us?

L E O

"You're joking, right?" My laugh was humourless, and when she didn't reply, guilt further sank in the pit of my stomach. My eyes wandered to the little infant in the walker, soundly sleeping, a small smile playing on his lips. "And that— that was the father?" I croak, mentioning to the guy from earlier.

She nodded, settling in her chair.

I dropped down to the seat next to her, almost in defeat. I was too shocked to express my emotions in words, too paralysed to even raise a finger at her. "I said, I said— I'd come back for you— and you, you said you'd wait."

"Leo, it's not what you think. I— I'm sorry, but this really isn't what it looks like." She choked on another sob. Before my inner human would clutch in even more, I stood up and walked away from her.

With that, I left the cafe, and probably even her for life.
___

I screamed into the pillow of the lavish bed they gave me— it didn't help, not at all. I see her after 16 years, and she tells me that she has moved on, that she's not who she is, the love of my life.

Tears slide down my cheeks and I make no effort to wipe them away, curling into a ball— I let the sadness and anger take over me.

A knock on the door startled me.

I am forced to clean up my tear stained cheeks and get the door. Gerrard is the one who greets me, followed by...

Lana in the back.

"She's that girl, isn't it? The one you have tattooed the name on yourself?" He smirks and bends down a little, meeting me close to the ear. "Don't let this slip away, I guided her past security— she wanted to see you."

With that, he winks at me and pushes Lana inside my room, quickly closing the door behind him.

"Let me guess, you dropped your son back home before you followed me down here and then returning." I mock, folding my arms on my chest. She nods slightly at me before looking at me. "What do you want now, Lana?"

Her eyes search mine. "I want you to hear me out. Just one last time. You deserve an explanation, Leo." I shake my head at her, already taking steps toward her and ready to push her out of the room but then, I am stopped.

"For the sake of the last 16 years, please."

When I don't say anything back, she knew she had my silent approval. "The guy you saw at the cafe, his name is Emery. I'm not involved in any kind of relationship with him, just know that. We're just— paying for the mistake we made four years ago, you can say." She chuckles sadly. "Yes Leo, I had a one night stand with him and I got pregnant. I was just 22, I didn't know anything about how this all worked, you know."

We both were now sat on the carpeted floor.

"He takes care of him two weeks, and then I do the same. We decided to not become a family because he wasn't really up for it, said I ruined his life with this baby." Lana smiled sadly at me. "I'm sorry Leo, but I'm too impure for you now," she started crying even harder and I found myself melting.

I padded over to her and took her in my arms, rubbing circles on her back and then, kissing her hair.

"My parents," she started, still clutching onto my arm for her dear life. " Decided to move to France only after a year you moved to Spain. They said we had family here, but they didn't know that nobody actually wanted us here. Funny, no?"

"After you left, I really was a mess. People said I was overreacting and that I was just another victim of teen crushes like many other girls, what they didn't know was that we promised each other eternity." Lana smiles at me, and I see her grey eyes hinting ease and comfort. "I'm sorry, I couldn't give you eternity."

When the silence became deafening, I spoke up, "You have got a cute baby boy there though," I chuckle at my own words.

Even after all these years, holding conversations with people still wasn't my forte.

Lana laughs for the first time since she came in here, she covers her mouth with her hand and continues to shake her head. "You're the cutest, you know that?"

"Glad you still think that way." I tell her.

"His name is also Leo, I just couldn't let your memory fade away." My eyes pop open at her words. Did she really make her son after me?

A lover? Quite possibly an ex lover now.

"You're joking."

"No, no, his name really is Leo. Not Lionel but Leon, we call him Leo. He's four." She tells me with a grin.

"I think he'll like me when we meet." At my words, her face falls.

"You— you still want to see me after all that I told you? Leo, no—" I cut her off my placing my finger on her lips, feeling the familiar electricity that ran through my veins. Under my touch, she stiffens— not even moving a muscle.

"When I said I won't leave you, I meant it."