epilogue.
Marc sped through the busy streets of Barcelona, headed towards the nearest train station, which he was certain she would be leaving from. He reached the station minutes later, but parked the car in the drop-off area. It was a no parking zone, but Marc didn't care. He didn't have the time to leave the car in the lot. He needed to find Ashley before she was gone forever.
Shutting the engine off, he hurried out of the car and stuffed the keys in his pocket. Though he heard other cars honking for him to move, he ignored them and ran inside the station. There were people everywhere, and screens signaling which trains were departing at which times. He glanced at the schedule and found out where the train was located. He ran down the halls of the station, pushing past all kinds of people until he reached the platform of the train he was looking for.
From a distance, he could see her climbing up the steps of the train. "Ashley!" He called as loud as he could. "Ashley!" He called once more in between tired breaths. But she was too far off and could not hear him.
She had been the last to get on and the doors closed behind her. Through the side windows, he watched her walk to her seat and went to stand beneath the window. She spotted him instantly, her brown eyes widened in surprise. She climbed up onto her seat to get a better look at him, her hands pressed against the cool glass. She looked towards the exit and saw that the train was just about to leave the station. But her heart fluttered when she realized he was there to see her. Her lands found a latch on the window and she pushed it open.
"What are you doing here?" She gasped, looking down at him.
"I don't want you to go." He begged.
"I have to. I can't stay in Barcelona. Valerie had to go to Madrid and I can't pay the house on my own." She yelled her explanation over the loud horn which announced the train would be leaving in one minute. They could also already hear the engines running.
"I can help you." He offered.
Ashley shook her head. "I can't accept your offer. Especially not after I was such a horrible person to you."
"That's all forgotten." He assured her. All he wanted was for her to stay. "I just need to know one thing. Do you love me?"
He reached up to touch her hand, feeling it under his touch for the first and possibly last time. "I do." She replied, giving his hand a light squeeze and she let go just as the train began to move away from the platform slowly. She watched him and he watched her until the large train was but a mere speck in his vision. It was far away now, and taking his love with it.
He lingered there for several minutes, so long that a new train had pulled up to the station. That was when he decided it was time to head back to practice. He knew he was going to get scolded by the team manager for skipping, but this was very important to him. Marc wondered if he would ever see Ashley again. He had no idea where in Valencia she would be staying, there was no way he could find her now. And in his hurt of rejection, he had deleted her phone number from his contact list. He had no way to contact her anymore.
Marc grabbed his cellphone from his pocket to check the time. When his eyes looked at the screen, he found there was a message in his inbox from an unsaved phone number.
His thumb clicked to open it and there he saw:
don't look so sad, barca boy...i know where to find you. --ashley.
Marc smiled to himself.
Now he was sure he would see Ashley again. It didn't matter to him how long it would take. The very possibility of seeing her was good enough for him.
the end.
bonus:
Marc returned to the training ground, certain that no amount of scolding from the team manager could ruin his day. His friend saw him approach them, hopeful to hear the good news when they saw the grin on his face. "So...what happened? Did you find her?" Lionel was the first to speak.
The only response he got was a nod from the Catalan footballer.
Gerard was the next to speak, with a question of his own. "Were you able to stop her from leaving?"
With the same goofy grin, Marc replied, "No."
"Will you see her again?" Sergi wondered.
"Yes." Marc said.
His friends were confused. They couldn't understand why he was so happy, but she was still gone. Would she come back? Marc was the only one who knew and perhaps his short answers were a sign that he didn't want to tell his friends about it.
Sticking a hand into his jacket pocket, Marc brought out Lionel's car keys along with a slip of yellow colored paper. He handed them to his friend. "Thank you for letting me borrow your car, Leo. It means a lot."
Lionel took one look at the folded paper and knew what it was. "You got a ticket, didn't you."
Marc nodded.
"Well," He handed the paper back to Marc. "You're paying for it."
-
i wasn't going to include the italics part in there, but then i decided i should because it was a short but fun scene. haha. so this finally marks the end of barca boys. i really hope you all enjoyed reading this. it means a lot that so many of you liked it. thank you. i might post the spin off tomorrow or friday. i dont know yet. AND LET ME JUST CONGRATULATE MY BABY JURGEN DAMM FOR GETTING CALLED UP FOR THE MEXICO NT. he really deserves it. yaaaaay. we got a half-german on the team now. we already have a half-brazilian and a quarter spaniard/quarter lebanese.
-clary xx
