How Deep is Your Love

Chapter Seven: Finding a Kindred Spirit

A crash of thunder made Iker jump awake, he groaned softly as he sat up to see Aliona already awake and watching the storm which seemed to be getting worse.

“Sleep well?” she asked making Iker nod as the blonde moved towards him, the grumble of thunder made him shift nervously.

“As well as I could,” Iker said offering the blonde a smile, it was the first time since he had broken-up with Sara that he had smiled at anyone.

“Do you want to talk about it?” the blonde asked as she looked at him, her father had mentioned that the Goalkeeper had recently dumped his girlfriend of two years through he hadn’t said why.

Iker shook his head, he didn't want to tell anyone about how he was feeling, he knew that it was pathetic that he missed Sara and he wanted her back.

“If I tell you my story, will you tell me yours?” Aliona offered as she sat down next to Iker, he looked at her for a moment before he nodded slowly making the blonde sigh as she took a moment to collect her thoughts.

“I first met Daniel when we were in High School, he was the popular rich guy that all the girls wanted, I wasn't interested since I was focusing my education,” Aliona said softly as she remembered how she had met the father of her children. Iker nodded urging her to continue.

“I was involved in an accident with a friend, she was killed instantly, but the doctors’ were amazing; everyone at school suddenly knew who I was,” Aliona said softly making Iker look at her sadly; he could see why she wanted to become a doctor now.

“Daniel didn't waste a moment in sending me flowers; he said that he wanted to take me to dinner and I said yes,” Aliona said softly, shaking her head thinking how stupid she had been as a teenager; she couldn't believe that she hadn’t seen it coming.

Iker watched her, he could see that this Daniel had hurt her more than she would like to admit.

“We officially started dating when I turned eighteen and he had just taken over the family business. I had started medical school and I couldn't have been happier until I found out that I was pregnant,” Aliona said softly as she remembered how happy she had been when she learnt that she was pregnant.

Aliona had been twenty-one when she had fallen pregnant and she had been in her final year of medical school and the first of her internship at the hospital where she now worked. Taking a deep breath, Aliona closed her eyes as she thought back tears.

“He… Daniel walked out when I was five months pregnant… said he didn't want any children and that was it,” she said making Iker move to comfort her; he suddenly didn't feel so along in his heartache.

The Spaniard had thought that his break-up had been tough, but Aliona had to cope with losing her boyfriend while she was pregnant and even now, she couldn’t escape her ex-boyfriend’s memory because of their children together.

***

Sitting in silence, Iker watched Aliona as the thunder cracked above them, it had been a while since either of them had spoken after the blonde had told him her story of heartache.

“I was dating Sara for two years,” Iker said making Aliona look at him, her green eyes focusing on him as he winced as he moved to sit next to her again.

“We met at some charity event and I knew that I had to see her again; it took me months to convince her to go out with me after I had tracked her down,” Iker said fondly as he thought about how he had chased Sara after the charity event, Aliona watched him closely; she hated to admit it, but he had a wonderful smile that she wished she could see more of.

“We were living together and things were going well… I was going to ask her to marry me,” Iker said softly making Aliona offer him a small smile; he sighed as he closed his eyes to hold back the tears of what had happened.

“I came home from training early the day I met you… the house was so quiet, I thought that maybe she was at work,” Iker said making Aliona nod as she watched him; she felt her heart break for him as she listened to his story. Iker took a shuddering deep breath.

“I went upstairs to have a shower… and there she was with some other man, she had told him that we had broken up, told me that it was a onetime thing,” Iker said laughing humourlessly, Aliona leant against him making the Spaniard look at her gratefully.

“Turns out it wasn’t, the man that I found her with told me that he wasn’t the first, and then Sara tried to play it off as if she hadn’t done anything wrong, and she tried to blame me for it,” Iker said as he finally let the tears fall.

Aliona sighed as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him gently, she allowed him to bury his head into her shoulder as he cried; she wondered how long that he had been holding all of this in.

“She didn't deserve you… you’ll find someone Iker, someone who will love you more than Sara ever could. You just have to find her first,” Aliona said making him look at her, she brushed some tears away as she offered him a small smile, Iker took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself.

“I don’t want to… I’m sick of feeling like this, like I’m about to fall apart, love is nothing but chemicals,” Iker said making Aliona look at him sadly as the rain continued to fall; the blonde hugged the Spaniard making him look at her confused.

“Don’t give up on love Iker, it’s out there somewhere for you, you just have to find the right person,” Aliona said making Iker look at her, she offered him a smile before looking out of the cave and taking a deep breath.

Iker watched Aliona for a moment, the images of their night together suddenly filling his mind; he swallowed as he remembered how perfectly she had fit against him as they spent the night together.

The blonde shivered lightly as she looked back at Iker, whose brown eyes looked darker before he pulled her into a kiss; Aliona didn't fight it, she allowed him to kiss her.

Being with Iker had reminded her that she was a woman; the blonde couldn't bring herself to deny him as he moved her to lie on the blanket that they had been sitting on.

“Your shoulder,” Aliona said in protest as Iker pinned her beneath him, he gently started to kiss down her neck; the blonde moaned softly as she realised that either way that this was going to happen.

“It’s just a sprain… I’ve had worse,” Iker murmured as he pulled his t-shirt over his head, he moved his lips back to Aliona’s as his hands eagerly found the bottom of her tank-top to remove it.

It wasn’t long before their cries of passion filled the air as the storm continued around them; their problems slowly dissolved as they gave in to their darkest desire.

They hadn’t expected to find a kindred spirit in each other; it was like their prayers were being answered, that their heartache now actually meant nothing.

Aliona whimpered as Iker pulled away from her slightly to lie next to her, the blonde rested her head on his shoulder; she didn't know what was happening nor did she care.

For the first time in years, she felt like she wasn’t alone, that she deserved to be happy with someone after what Daniel had done to her; even if she had to wait for Iker’s heart to heal, he had healed hers.