Work Text:
All the flash lights in his eyes were blinding him and the noise was overwhelming, but he would never complain about it. They had waited so long for this, and battled so hard, that anything in the world could happen and they still would be happy. They had just won UEFA supercup, in a tough game against Bayern, in which he had scored one goal and assisted another. Their opponents had also scored, but they still could count on Auba – and he didn't disappoint, scoring two goals. Final score: 3x1. Marco couldn't be happier.
Pictures were being taken, chants screamed by the always impressive yellow wall, and the atmosphere was of pure joy and excitement. Everything that night seemed bigger, brighter and better. Journalists ran around the field, trying to capture each moment with their lenses and reaching for the players. They all had intense smiles in their faces, wives and girlfriends in their arms and even children rolling in the grass.
Except for Marco.
Suddenly, he reconsidered. He actually could be happier if she was here, as she said she would. He searched for Auba's wife and asked for her phone, since he couldn't go to the dressing rooms to get his own. He dialed her number, excited about just hearing her voice, but it rang for what seemed to be a long time before the call was sent to voice mail. Now Marco was starting to worry. She had told him she couldn't be there to watch the whole game, since she had a reunion at work, but said she could probably make it by the end of the second half. The game had an accretion of 30 minutes, they were already celebrating and yet no signs of her.
- What's wrong? - Auba asked when Marco returned the cell phone.
- I'm not sure… She's not answering my calls and she should be here by now.
- Calm down man, she'll soon be here. She just must be stuck in traffic or something.
- Yeah, I guess. Thanks anyway. - Marco appreciated Auba's attempts at making him feel better, but those didn't really work. It was a rainy Sunday in Dortmund, there was no traffic.
He felt extremely alone, even being amongst all that shared happiness. His colleagues, noticing his sudden change of humor, asked him to join their families, to make it less uncomfortable for Marco, but he wanted to be with his own family, he wanted to show her what they had achieved, and she wanted to feel the atmosphere on the place, to breathe that yellow joy in the stadium. Once he felt it was too much – or nothing – to hold, he started making his way towards the dressing rooms, not really caring about what the press would say of his behavior.
When he lifted his eyes though, he saw her. She was standing on his way, holding her purse, eyes locked with his. She looked fragile, stunned by the greatness of everything surrounding them. She was different, her eyes a bit distant. Marco walked towards her, insecure about what was going on.
- Hey.
- Hi.
They stared at each other awkwardly for a few instants. Marco sensed something was going on, but had no clues about it.
- I'm sorry I didn't make it on time.
- It's okay, you're here now. - He approached her and gave her a sweet kiss, he somehow sensed she needed that. - You got stuck at your meeting?
He didn't mean to control her or investigate why she was late, he just wanted to talk, make sure everything was alright and figure why she was acting so mysterious.
- I was at the hospital. - Her face showed no emotions.
- What? Are you okay?
- I'm perfect, Marco. In fact, I couldn't be better. - She handed him an envelope he hadn't noticed before.
- What is it?
She kept silent. Marco opened it, under the constant attention of her eyes. At the bottom of the paper, one single word was highlighted in yellow: positive. Marco stared at the paper for some instants, unsure of what that meant. When he finally and fully understood, it was clear for her to see – his face lit up in a way she had never seen before. When he lifted his eyes again, with a huge smile on his face, she was holding something for him: a tiny black and yellow jersey, with his name and number on the back.
- This is why I'm late.
Marco could only kiss her in that moment. He hold her tight against him, lifting her off the ground. In that moment, the world was only theirs – it was them, and all noises around were shut down in their ears. There was only the three of them, and all their past, present and future.