World Cup Romance

Preparations

"And you're all set, Mr. Reus," the doctor patted Marco on the back and started collecting the pieces from Marco's cast.

"How do you feel?" I smiled at Marco. He was wiggling his toes on his left foot around, and carefully moving his ankle side to side.

"Free," he looked amazed to see his foot. "Are we all good, doc?"

"All set. Have a good day," the doctor waved and out of the door we went.

Marco had tore his left ankle earlier in the year during a friendly, and was ruled out of Joachim Löw's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. However, he was healthy enough to go and watch his national team play.

I was a huge fan of Die Nationalmannschaft, so I decided to embark on the journey with Marco. He's not only my brother but my best friend. I knew we were going to have so much fun, even if Germany got booted out.

"So Germany's leading their group currently?" I helped Marco into the passenger seat. His grip around my arm was deadly tight.

"Ja. One more game against the USA to help them qualify," Marco let go and shut his door. I walked around to the drivers side.

"Let's get ready to go then," I put the car into shift and started heading back to Marco's apartment.

We left in a day to fly to the capital city of Brasilia, then take another plane over to Porto Alegre for the Germans first knockout match against the Algerians.

"Let's get you packed," I shut off the car once in Marco's parking space. He took his time getting out, still getting used to life without crutches.

Unfortunate for him, we had to climb three flights of stairs to get to his door. I offered him a place on my back so it was easier on him.

"Careful, Nicole," he kept leaning into walls to make sure I didn't fall. It was more of a con, because I couldn't keep my balance.

"Okay, Marco," I sighed and put his small body down. "Looks like you'll have to walk."

Marco found no trouble walking the rest of the way.

He unlocked his front door and I walked in to a lingering scent of vanilla. His apartment was very open and had the nicest window view. In the distance from his window were the historical buildings of downtown Borussia. The sight was breathtaking.

"Nik can you help me?" Marco asked from a room away. I put my jacket and cell phone down then walked to his room to help him. Inside his room, he had two small suitcases on his bed.

"Where's all of your stuff?" I crossed my arms in the doorway.

"In my clothing room," he smirked. I rolled my eyes and went across the hall to a smaller room with racks and racks of clothes and shoes. In his closet were old jerseys and trophies from over the years.

"What kind of clothes do you want?" I asked as I brushed my hand over a leather jacket.

"Put together five casual outfits, and I'll pick out my fashionable ones," he told me. Marco was already busy opening new shoe boxes and scanning his choices.

I started going through some of his drawers. In no time I had five outfits that Marco would love.

I found a larger suitcase than the ones Marco had on his bed and started neatly placing his clothes inside.

Marco's POV *

After an hour of packing, Nicole and I were finally done.

"Thanks for inviting me over, Marco," Nicole went to the living room to gather her things.

"Wilkommen. Are you ready to go?"

"Of course," she opened the front door, "See you tomorrow, Bruder."