Book 1: It's Time for Africa

Chapter Thirty-One: Slowly Recovering

Iker smiled as he slipped out of bed and he glanced back at Fernando, Alyssa and Sergio who were still asleep; he watched them for a moment before pulling on his shirt.

Alyssa had been released from hospital the day before and the team still had three days before the final was set to take place.

Rico had been caught trying to leave the country and was arrested on the spot; Iker stopped what he was doing for a moment as his gaze lingered on the brunette.

It had only been three days since the attack and Iker could see that she was progressing really well after what had happened to her and the therapist had really helped.

"Where are you going?" Sergio asked Iker sleepily as he looked up at him, the older Spaniard smiled at him before pressing a kiss to his lips; he was glad that everything was okay between the foursome.

"I'm going to get us some breakfast," Iker told him as Alyssa curled deeper into Sergio's arms, while her head remained buried in Fernando's neck; she was wearing a navy cotton T-shirt and blue check print pyjama bottoms so that she was comfortable.

The tattooed footballer nodded tiredly knowing that Vicente had been working them hard and today would be their only proper day off since Alyssa had been attacked.

"I'll be back soon," Iker said as he slipped on his trainers, he watched Sergio slowly drift back off; Alyssa hadn't been left alone since she had woken in hospital and that wasn't going to change now.

If Iker, Fernando or Sergio couldn't be with her then one of the other players were only too happy to step in and look after the brunette for a while.

Iker slipped out of the hotel room, he knew that most of the team would be spending the day with their partners so no one would be up yet; he sighed wondering what happen after the tournament.

***

"Does Iker hate me?" Alyssa asked softly as she allowed Fernando to change the bandage that was wrapped around her arm; he stopped what he was doing and looked at her shocked.

Sergio popped his head into the en-suite and stared at her, the brunette however couldn't bring herself to look at either them as a silence settled over the three of them.

"Nena, why would you think that? You know Iker loves you," Sergio said as he moved to comfort her, Alyssa wiped away some tears that fell from her eyes.

The last few days had made her a little sensitive to how the footballers reacted to her, she relied on them a lot right now as she recovered from her attack.

Fernando hugged her gently as he moved to finish changing the bandage, he didn't know why she would ask them anything like that; Iker loved her so much.

"I... he hasn't been the same since..." Alyssa whimpered as she tried to calm herself down, she had done a lot of talking to her therapist and she was glad that she had people around her right now.

Sergio sighed and shook his head, he knew better than anyone that Iker was completely taken by the brunette and that Iker blamed himself for what had happened to her.

"He loves you, nena, he's just worried about you," Sergio said as he wiped away a few tears for her; Alyssa smiled at him weakly but it was clear that she didn't believe him.

The brunette would need to hear it from Iker, who had just returned from collecting breakfast; Sergio slipped away from the two and moved to speak with Iker so he knew that Alyssa thought that he didn't want her anymore.

"You need to speak to Alyssa... she thinks you hate her," Sergio said softly making Iker look at him concerned; he hadn't meant to make her feel like that.

The footballer just wanted to protect her and it had been hard for him to see her so broken after what Rico had done and he was glad the man had been arrested because he wanted to kill him for what he had done to Alyssa.

Sergio pressed a kiss to his lips as Fernando appeared; they smiled at him before collecting their part of the breakfast, they knew it would be best if they gave the other two some space.

"We'll be in our room," Fernando said as he and Sergio left Iker alone with Alyssa, who had yet to leave the bathroom; they were glad that they could have some alone time.

Iker slowly approached the bathroom and sighed as he leant against the door, he watched his girlfriend knowing that he didn't want her feel that he didn't love her.

"Corazón?" Iker said softly making Alyssa looked at him as she exited the bathroom, she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze making Iker sigh and pull her into a hug.

The footballer held her close to him as he tried to comfort her, he hated that he had made her feel like this; she had done nothing wrong and he just wanted to protect her.

"I love you, Alyssa. I'll never forgive myself for letting him do this to you," Iker said softly as he held back his own tears; he had broken his promise to her, he promised that Rico would never harm her again.

Alyssa looked up at Iker, she had no idea that he had been blaming himself for what had happened; she didn't blame him for what had happened to her.

"You don't think I'm disgusting?" Alyssa said as she let a few tears fall, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders at the fact that they were okay; she had been frightened that he would break up with her.

Iker shook his head and pressed a kiss to her lips, his hands cupped her face as he held her close; he could never think that of her and it would take time for her to fully recover.

"Never, you're beautiful," Iker said as he brushed some hair from her face, he smiled softly as he kissed her again knowing that he would never allow this to happen again.

No one would ever hurt Alyssa as long as she was his girlfriend and Iker knew that the same applied for Fernando and Sergio; they would do anything for her.

"Why don't we curl up in bed and watch a film?" Iker said as he checked their breakfast, he would spend the whole day with Alyssa trying to make her feel normal again and show her just how loved she was.

***

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Fernando asked as he nibbled on his toast, he worried that Alyssa would break from what had happened to her and he wasn't sure he could stand watching it happen.

The brunette meant too much to him for Fernando to be able to let that happen to her; she was everything to the footballer and it wasn't just him that would keep her together.

"Of course," Sergio said nodding his head as he sat down beside Fernando and kissed his lips, he knew that this couldn't be easy for any of them but this was going to take a lot of work to put Alyssa back together after what had happened.

Rico would spend several years in prison for assaulting Alyssa and raping her and the footballers all hoped that he wouldn't dare show his face again.

The brunette had suffered enough and the last thing that any of them wanted was for them to be forced to face Rico again after what she had been through.

Fernando pulled Sergio closer a small smile on his face knowing that they would make fangirls everywhere jealous if they knew what really went on behind closed doors.

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Author's Note:

Three chapters left until the sequel xxx