Haphazardly | leon goretzka

Thirty-Six: 'Third Times the Charm'

"What secret?" Leon tried to plaster a look of confusion onto his face, but he had a feeling he knew exactly what Emilia was talking about.

"Don't pretend you don't know," She scoffed at his act. "How could you do this, Leon? How could you do this to me? To us?"

As she asked the questions she needed to hear the answers to, Emilia began to sob. Her body shook as she realized this would most likely be the last conversation she'd ever have with the football star. There was absolutely no way in hell that she was going to stay with a man who would cheat on her — not again, anyways.

For Emilia, the pattern kept repeating itself. She had had three serious boyfriends, and she had been cheated on by all three. Was there something wrong with her? Otherwise, why would this keep happening to her? She tried so hard to be kind and loving, but was she missing something? What did these other girls have that she didn't?

Leon sat there in silence, looking anywhere besides the camera. It hurt him too much watching the strong woman he had fallen for in the past months falling apart because of him. As he watched her cover her face with her hands, he decided to speak up.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I care about you so, so, much and couldn't bear to see you in pain because of me."

"So you just decided to keep it under wraps?" Emilia questioned before continuing angrily, "And it wasn't even a secret because she was posting about it everywhere! You just wanted to have both of us, didn't you?"

Emi was livid. She was throwing her arms around while talking, and the reddish tint in her face was clearly visible, relaying how angry she actually was.

"I know Alyssa wasn't very secretive about it—" Leon started to say, but Emilia interrupted him, a pained look on her face.

"Please don't say her name, it hurts too much," The redhead whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Leon shut his eyes at the sight, feeling tears threatening to spill out of his eyes as well. "I should've been upfront about it. I was just so immersed with you, but the temptations were always there. And you were so far away. If you would've just moved here in August like I suggested, this wouldn't have happened," He tried to make excuses for his actions, but deep-down he knew they weren't justifiable.

"Oh, that's hilarious," Emilia laughed at him. "How dare you blame me for this. We had barely been dating two months when you suggested that I move to Germany with you. I wasn't going to throw away my plans when yes, I was falling for you, but I didn't know you that well. Plus, if I can't trust you when I'm an ocean away, how would it be different when you had to travel for an away game? Would you cheat on me then, too?" She paused, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her blue Schalke sweatshirt.

"It wouldn't matter, Leon. Because if you want to cheat, you'll always find a way to. Tru-st me, I know that by now. I've been cheated on three different times in my twenty-two years. And you know how the saying goes, 'Third time's the charm,' and let me just say you were quite the charmer."

"Like I said earlier, I'm sorry, Emi, but—"

"Don't you dare call me Emi," She seethed through clenched teeth. "Only people who care about me can call me Emi. And because you just broke my heart, you're definitely not on that list anymore."

Leon felt a sharp pain in his chest at Emilia's words. How could she not think he cared about her? After all he had done for her? The idea seemed ridiculous to him.

"Fine, Emilia--" He put extra emphasis on her full name. "I genuinely am sorry. But you told me when we first started dating that you can't force something in your heart that isn't there--" Leon closed his eyes, wincing as he said his last statement, "and i just don't feel you and I there anymore."