16 years | l. messi

5. hold me close, tell me you love me.

L E O

My focus was long drained down in the gutter for the games the moment Lana left my hotel room that day, leaving me still with no answers and of course, in desperate need of a cold shower.

If you know what I mean.

I had called her earlier before practice in the morning and asked her to meet me in my hotel room, it would be my third last day in Paris before the game tomorrow and then back to Barcelona after that.

"I don't know if it's a good idea, Leo." She had told me. I could feel her nervousness from over the phone, you could say. The way she spoke so timidly, the way she whispered my name— all of it only made me believe that something was wrong with her.

Still, I brushed my thoughts aside and waited for her in my room. Thankfully, this time, I had told security to let her in.

As I fiddled with my thumbs in my lap, I closed my eyes and thought about the grey of her eyes and the brown of her hair, the dimples of her cheeks and the smile on her face.

A smile that could move mountains.

It was true, I never moved on from her, and in that moment, I realised— there will always be her, it was always going to me her, today, tomorrow, everyday for the rest of my life.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hi." I don't remember her opening the unlocked door, maybe I was too caught up in my world about her.

"Hey." I shakily let out, standing up from the carpeted floor— our favourite spot from days now. Lana walks in the room and I see behind her, a little boy walking towards me, holding her finger in one of his hands. That's when I take my time to fully look at the little infant.

His eyes were definitely that of his mother's, as well as his hair that was tousled on his head, scattered in a cute way. He actually reminded me a lot of myself from when I was in my childhood.

"Well, little Leo here looks like a carbon copy of myself in childhood." I tell her proudly and she lets out a laugh. "There's a reason for that too." She tells me, leaning forward and giving me a quick kiss on the lips, leaving me stunned.

"You know how elders and the doctors tell you that if you look at someone a lot during your pregnancy, there is a high chance you're baby will look like that specific person?" Lana states, taking my hand in her own small one, she caresses the skin and I visibly relax.

A mere touch from her made me calm, as always.

"I thought that was just a superstition." I croak, brushing back her hair from her forehead, my hand lingering there for a moment or two longer than necessary.

"Well, it's true." She says with a small smile. "I saw you play, every match, every game, even as a 25 year old ambitious young man, I never missed a game, Leo, never. Maybe that much exposure to your face led me to have your child." She laughs but my cheeks turned red, the moment she realises what she's said, she corrects herself in a heartbeat, "I mean— uh, you know, I meant a child that looks exactly like you."

At that, I let a small smile appear on my face.

"Heya little buddy," I crouch down to meet the little boy at eye level. I ruffle his hair and allow myself to pull on one of his cheeks lightly. "Do you like Barcelona?"

"I like Madrid." At his words, my face scrunched up and I gave him an uneasy smile. "They're the best." He clicks his tongue and starts to look around the room for god knows whatever thing kids look around for.

"How is this going to work?" I ask Lana who seems to be having a laughing fit at the moment. The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled— I don't remember being a witness to such a beautiful sight ever before in my life.

"How is this going to work? My son being a Madrid fan while his daddy plays for Barca." I shake my head only to see Lana stop laughing. She puts a hand to her stomach and sucks in a breather. "We'll have a lot of clashes on the day of the El Classico, that I can tell." I sigh, walking up to her and wrapping my arms around her small waist, I lift her up a little and she does the same, engulfing me in a tight embrace— as if she was afraid to let me go again.

"We can't— we can't do that, Leo." She says into the crook of my neck. In reply, I only pay her hair with my hand, murmuring sweet nothings into her ear. "I can't let you go again, I already told you," we pull away from each other.

I feel her guiding her hands down my torso and to my v line, she gently touches me there and kisses my earlobe, "Please don't leave me again. I mean every word I said. I want to be there for you, for him." I motion to the little boy running around the room.

He comes up to me and looks at me, staring intently. The pout on his face makes him look extra cute but his words from earlier about Madrid being his favourite team still linger in my mind. "You're name is Leo, I have the same name." He tells me and I smile, picking him up in my arms, pressing a small kiss to his head, "Actually yes, pretty cool, yeah?" At that, he shakes his head a yes.

I don't know when Leon passed out in my arms and started sleeping but when he did, I laid him on the bed and pulled Lana's hand to the bed, forcing her to lie down with Leon in between us. "I love you." I tell her.

"I never stopped loving you." She tells me in return.