Lean on Me

Part One - Chapter One: Goodbye Liverpool

Returning home from training, Fernando Torres sighed as he walked into his home of four years, he knew that his wife hadn't been herself lately and he hoped that she would be in a better mood now that he was home.

"I'm home," Fernando called softly as he set down his training bag and headed for the living room, he swallowed wondering why his home was so quiet before he found his wife sitting in the living room; she looked nervous and he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't about to like what she was going to say.

"Olalla, what's going on?" Fernando asked as he ran a hand through his brown hair, he licked his lips as he slowly approached his wife of a year and a half; she shifted nervously as she looked down at her hands, while they hadn't been married long they had been together for nine years now.

"I want to leave Liverpool," Olalla said making her husband stare at her, she knew that he wouldn't be happy about what she was asking; until today he hadn't thought that anything was wrong.

Fernando blinked moving to sit down on the couch, he couldn't wrap his head around what she was asking of him; he didn't know what had brought this on and he had a feeling that she had been thinking about this for a while.

"I know that Chelsea were interested in signing you and maybe if you put in a transfer request, we could move down to London," Olalla said hopefully as she looked at Fernando, he stared at her taken back that she was asking him to leave the club that he loved.

Olalla watched him hoping that he would agree, she couldn't remain in Liverpool anymore and she didn't want to tell him the real reasons why she wanted to leave the city.

***

"So what are you going to do?" Steven Gerrard asked Fernando after the Spaniard had confided in him about what was going on; Fernando hadn't known who to turn to when he had arrived at training.

Steven was one of his closest friends and Fernando couldn't help but wonder what would happen if his transfer request was accepted; no matter how much he loved Liverpool, his family came first.

"I have to think about my family... I mean, I don't want to leave but this is my marriage we're talking about," Fernando said making Steven nod his head, he knew that if his wife did the same thing that he would do anything to make sure that their marriage survived.

Steven sighed as he leant against his locker and watched his friend, Fernando had already handed in a request but it was clear to see that he didn't want to leave the club that had given him so much in the last three seasons.

"Whatever happens, you know you have my support," Steven said as he moved to pat Fernando on the shoulder, his friend offered him a weak smile as they prepared for their training session; he had a feeling that he would be the only one that saw what he was doing as a good thing.

"Don't let them get to you," Steven said as they headed out for the session, a couple of the other players glanced at the pair as if knowing what they had been talking about.

Fernando sighed as he spotted the coach watching him, Kenny Dalglish would be aware that he had asked for a transfer and he had a feeling that after today that everyone else would know about it as well. 

Running a hand through his brown hair, Fernando slowly started to stretch as he ignored some of the looks that were being offered to him; he didn't want to talk about his pending transfer request.

"You okay?" Pepe Reina asked as he looked at his fellow countryman, he could see that something was bothering the other Spaniard and he had a feeling that it had something to do with his marriage; he had heard from his wife, Yolanda that Olalla had been acting out of sorts recently.

"Never better," Fernando said as they started with some light stretches and jogging, Pepe however didn't let up as he kept up with Fernando; he wanted to know what was going on and he worried for the other Spaniard.

"Come on Nando, what's going on? Yolanda said that Olalla was acting strange yesterday," Pepe said making Fernando look at him; he knew that Pepe wasn't going to drop this and even Steven had noticed that this wasn't going to go away.

Sighing as he realised that he would be the one to break the news to his team-mates, he took a deep breath as he prepared to break the news.

"Olalla wants to leave Liverpool," Fernando said dropping the news that he had been trying to keep quiet; Pepe stared at him taken back while those who had heard his confession stopped what they were doing.

"She wants to leave?" Pepe said wondering why Olalla would want to leave the city, it was clear that there was something going on but Fernando look just as lost as he felt about this revelation.

Nodding his head, Fernando ran a hand through his hair, he still couldn't believe that this was happening.

"She wants us to go to London... I've had to put in a transfer request," Fernando confessed as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening.

Everyone stared at him shocked that his wife had asked him to do such a thing, they all knew how much Fernando loved Liverpool and he would never leave unless he had no other choice.

***

"Torres," Kenny called making Fernando stop as he prepared to head into the locker room, he looked at his coach who nodded his head at the man in a suit who was stood next to him.

Licking his lips as Fernando realised that this would be the news that he had been waiting for, the deadline for transfers was in a couple of days and Fernando wasn't sure that his late request would happen.

Steven offered Fernando a sad smile as his friend moved to see what was going on, the man in the suit moved to reveal Fernando's agent, who was smiling at his client.

"They've agreed to sell you to Chelsea," the agent said making Fernando stop as he realised that he was going to be leaving Liverpool; he had never thought that his match against Fulham would have been his last at the club.

"We'll need to travel down to London, but it's confirmed as of the 31st of January you will be a Chelsea player," his agent said making Fernando nod his head as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening; he never thought that this day would come and yet it was happening.

Taking a deep breath, Fernando headed back into the locker room where his team-mates all watched him concerned; they had heard what had been said and they could all see that the Spaniard was devastated that it was happening so quickly.

"It'll be okay Nando, you're doing this for your family," Steven said as he tried to reassure his friend, he was upset to see the Spanish forward leave but he knew that he was doing the right thing for his children and to save his marriage.  

Fernando nodded his head as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on, he felt numb at the fact that he was saying goodbye to the club where he had made his name; he hoped that with this transfer that his wife would finally be happy.