The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Nineteen: The Morning After

Lionel blinked confused as he slowly woke up, his head pounded and he felt something warm pressed against his body in interesting ways; his brown eyes opening as he brushed his fingers against some soft bare skin.

Lionel looked around the bedroom as he tried to remember how he had gotten home the night before, he sighed knowing that there was something that he was missing.

It was only when he moved to glance at Lucia, which Lionel realised that the something warm that was pressed against him was her naked body; Lionel swallowed as he stared at her knowing that he’d gone and done something incredibly stupid.

Lucia made a soft noise in her sleep, completely unaware that her husband could barely remembering sleeping with her the night before; she had a soft and content smile on her face as she slept making Lionel only feel even guiltier for what he might have done.

Carefully rolling Lucia away from him, Lionel climbed out of bed and pulled on his boxers; he stared at his wife knowing that this was going to come back and bit him in the ass.

Lionel made sure that Lucia was covered before he hurried to the en-suite, he wanted to have a shower before he headed down to make some breakfast; he knew that it was the least that he could do for his wife after last night.

Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, Lionel swallowed as his pale face knowing that his hang-over was the least of his problems; he would have to find a way to make things up with Lucia.

“What have you done Messi?” Lionel muttered to himself as he splashed some cold water on his face and opened the cabinet to find some aspirin for his headache.

***

Lucia brushed her fingers through her hair as she walked downstairs confused, she knew that Lionel couldn’t have gone far especially considering how drunk he had been the night before; she didn’t doubt that he was hung-over.

Lucia fought back a yawn as she thought about what had happened between her and Lionel, she really hoped her husband remembered what had taken place.

Lucia hated to think of what he could accuse her of since they had both been naked, she shouldn’t have allowed him to seduce her but she had been overwhelmed by him and her own feelings.

Stepping into the main room of the house, Lucia blinked a little taken back as she spotted Lionel preparing breakfast; he had a focused look on his face and she knew he remembered what had transpired between them.

“Buenos días,” Lucia greeted as she watched Lionel, she made sure that her pink kimono was closed and she crossed her arms as she watched the footballer pause for a moment.

Lucia offered Lionel a small smile as he turned to look at her, she really hoped that things wouldn’t be awkward between them; it was already a little strange that she was Lucia Messi and she didn’t need Lionel avoiding her because of what happened.

“Mañana,” Lionel said as he shifted nervously, this was going to take some time to fix and he couldn’t believe that he had drunkenly slept with his wife; that wasn’t how he wanted their first time to be.

Lionel had wanted to wait a couple of months before they would approach the idea of trying for a baby, he did want to be a father but he hadn’t thought that he’d do something stupid like this.

“Leo,” Lucia breathed as if sensing her husband’s guilt about what had happened while he was drunk, she wasn’t mad and she wouldn’t admit it to him but she had actually felt like he did love her while they had been intimate.

Lionel looked down ashamed of what he had done, he knew that there were some things that he just didn’t want to think about especially when it came to Lucia; one of those was that she had feelings for him that were more than the best friend kind.

“Lo siento,” Lionel said knowing that what he had done had been stupid and selfish, he had used her feelings against her to get what he wanted; his mother had pointed out when he had announced their ‘engagement’ that Lucia had feelings for him.

Lucia sighed as she walked over to Lionel and wrapped her arms around him, he would be upset with what had happened; even if she was sort of happy about it.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Lucia said as she cuddled into him, she couldn’t help but smile as Lionel held her close; she had been in love with him for a while now and she knew that he didn’t believe that he would ever find love, he didn’t think he was worthy.

Lionel held Lucia close to him, he was going to have to talk to her about this; he didn’t want to led her on when he didn’t think that he would ever be able to have a loving relationship.

“I have everything to apologise for Lia, I shouldn’t be leading you on,” Lionel said as he pushed Lucia away from him, his heart ached at the look on her face; he hated to upset her but that was why he had married her, he would never be able to find love.

Lucia blinked as she looked at Lionel, she had a feeling that she really wasn’t going to like what he was about to say; she hide away the hurt knowing that she had to convince him to give this a real go.

“I can’t give you what you want Lia and you knew that when you married me, this isn’t about love and I can’t love you,” Lionel said softly knowing that this was hard enough; his mother had told him on their wedding day that Lucia was in love with him and had been since they were children.

It was only now that the footballer could see just how right Celia was about Lucia’s feelings for him; he had been thinking a lot about what had happened last night and he hated that he was going to hurt her.

“Leo, what happened?” Lucia asked as she took a shaky breath, she had known that he would push her away but it still hurt; she ignored the ache in her chest knowing that she had to know why he thought like that.

Lionel swallowed as he looked away from Lucia, he knew that she deserved the truth and after what had happened; he knew that she would understand.

“After what happened with Antonella… I can’t love you Lia,” Lionel said shaking his head softly, he felt his chest ache knowing that no one was aware about what had happened between him and his ex-girlfriend; it was painful enough to think about, it was even worse to talk about.

Lucia closed her eyes for a moment knowing that it would always come back to Antonella; the two had hated each other as children and Lucia had been a little hurt to hear that Lionel had kept in contact with Antonella and not with her.

“We were so happy, we were going to have a baby, get married and I lost all of that,” Lionel said not looking at Lucia, he knew that this wasn’t easy for her to hear but he was being honest with her about what had happened; he only wished that he could have done it sooner.

Lucia looked at her husband as she finally realised why he had married her, he was still in love with Antonella and she didn’t want him anymore; he didn’t think he could love anyone else.

“I can never love you like I love her,” Lionel said confirming her thoughts, he was going to pretend that their night together had never happened; it was for the best.