Reunion - Mapi Leon x Reader

Chapter 3 - Rekindling

"Come on. This way."

I take her wrist into my hand and begin to lead her through the empty side streets of Barcelona. The cold wind nips at my arms, and I can feel the goosebumps on Mapi's too, but she doesn't say a word. The silence that has set over us is peaceful, content, no longer awkward like it was, but more like it used to be 7 years back. It wasn't long before we reached the towering building I had only briefly become acquainted to earlier before being dragged out again by my lovely sister. She gasps when she sees where I'm staying, pausing in the spot before I drag her along with me.

"Are you staying here? This is like… mega nice!" She claps excitedly next to me, making me laugh slightly. I slide through the doors, holding it open for her while I breathe a sigh of relief for the burst of warmth from the heater above our heads. Once again, I take her hand, not missing the way her fingers start tapping against my skin as I continue to pull on her till she's following.

When we reach my room, Mapi instantly makes herself at home and sprawls out on the bed. I sit down beside her while she reluctantly sits up to talk to me.
“So how long have you known Lucas then?” As she asks this, I feel a pang of loss within my heart as I realise just how much she’s missed out on. She used to know me so well, but the person I am now would be unrecognisable to her.

I swallow down the hurt and respond to her question. "Uhm... 5 years. I think. I can't remember. A while, though.” I say, stuttering over my words slightly as I think back to my time in the States.

“5 years? Jesus. How long have you been going out?”

“1 and a half.” I say, all too quickly before rubbing my hands over my face and groaning, the severity of the situation finally hitting me.

She pulls my hands away from my face and kisses it comfortingly in an all too friendly way for 7 years of distance. “Are you okay to tell me what happened?” Mapi’s hands twist around my wrists softly, like she used to when she sensed uncomfort, tapping her fingers against the veins and dark tattoo ink that wrap around them.

“He cheated.” I say bluntly, not ignoring the pause in the taps when my voice falters over the words I had so desperately tried to push down into the back of my mind. “I came home from work to find another pair of shoes at the door, and it didn't take a genius to work it out.” I choke on my confession, and her grip tightens.

“And he’s talking to you like that? God, what a dick.” Mapi gags and pulls a stupid face, making me laugh for the first time that evening. “I once more offer my service in talking to him.” She continues, dropping my hands and teasingly reaches for my phone, which has been abandoned at the end of the bed. I slap her arm away and groan again, not expected for the tattooed arms of my best friend to wrap tightly around my stomach and squeeze me in her hold. “ Lo siento. I wish I was there for you.” (Im Sorry)

Having my best friend back felt like blinkers had been placed back on my eyes, covering all the harsher bits of life and leaving me with a much brighter, much safer world. It made me smile how easy it was to comfort me, and I can't help but feel instant regret at having let her go at such a young, naive age. I didn't know how much I needed her then, but now I realise how much easier my life would have been if she had been in it. From when I first met her to just before I left, she was nothing but supportive and protective over me.
“I’m your soldier!” She would declare, watching me chuckle as my 8 year old self did a miserable job at patching up yet another grazed knee, after she’d chased yet another boy who looked at me the wrong way.

“I'm guessing your relationships weren’t a success then, Mapi.” I laugh, my jet-lagged bones collapsing against her.

“Hah! No. Figured out I was gay halfway through a 3 year-long relationship - with a man!” She exclaims, her insides warming as my body continues to tremble with laughter.

“Oo! Maybe that's how I should break up with Lucas!”
I watch as her eyes widen, shaking her head a million times as if to consolidate the first. “You are joking, right?” I flicker my eyes between hers, faking offence before cracking and laughing all over again.

“Of course I'm lying. I'm not a horrible person.”
“But he is.” She grumbles, her breath fanning across my neck from its sideways hold, making my insides squirm in a way they haven’t since… Since I last saw her.

We fall into a comfortable silence again as my mind whurs with things to say. Faintly, I can hear Mapi hum along to some random tune that was playing in the club, but my head is anywhere but there. I want to blurt out everything about what she's missed, tell her all about Peyton and the life she lives in America. All the cool Surfer boys she pulls in San Diego and the American soccer stars she gets to play alongside. But I keep my mouth shut tight, gritting my teeth as memories of the not so nice side of Peyton come to mind. All the times when everything felt too much to cope with, her emotions bubbling over until she was involved in yet another bar fight, not able to have her best friend to help her meant she normally got beaten and ended up with a busted lip or broken nose. All the times when she sat miserably alone at the beach, imagining all the times she had company who would laugh and pull her into the water with them till they were both soaked through in the Spanish waters of the Barcelona coast.

I don't realise they're there until it's too late, the tiredness mixed with the betrayal mixed with nostalgia, creating a wrecked mess in the form of tears and sobs. Her humming stops, and her arms are somehow closer to me. "Hey! Hey there, Lottie. What happened?"

But I just shake my head.

(Bit of a shorter chapter today because I was struggling for ideas. Stay tuned because the next one will be out in a bit. Love ya<3)