Unexpected (bayern munich)

Chapter 40

"Nat?"

Natalia heard Thomas' booming voice from her foyer. She wiped her hands and surveyed the dinner table. Jamie was already eating peas with his hands, but the rest of the table looked pristine and covered in dishes.

"Hi Tom," Natalia said kissing him hello. He pulled away quickly.

"I heard a rumor today," Thomas said, a shadow over his face, and Natalia felt her stomach sink, "That my girlfriend was moving to London. I told Philipp it wasn't true, because that's something you would have told me, but judging by the look on your face, it is true." Thomas said leaning against the counter.

"God, I wanted to be the first to tell you," Natalia said taking a step back from him and wringing her hands, "It wasn't official until this morning—"

"Why didn't you talk to me about it? Before it became official?" Thomas asked quietly. Natalia almost wished he yelled, his low volume was even more frightening.

"Because I didn't want you to talk me out of it," Natalia responded.

"Why would you think I would do that?" Thomas asked turning to face her, betrayal on his face, and Natalia felt her heart twist in her chest.

"Thomas, you love Bavaria, I wouldn't ask you to leave," Natalia said furrowing her eyebrows, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I wish you would stop making decisions about my feelings," Thomas said shaking his head, "Let me tell you, eh?"

"I feel sad. Sad that you would think I would try to manipulate you into staying, sad that you think I wouldn't even consider going with you," Thomas said as Natalia stifled a sob.

"I'm sorry, Thomas," she said letting them spill over onto her cheeks, as she stood vulnerable in her kitchen.

"Hey," Thomas said blinking rapidly himself, and realizing how upset Natalia was. He crossed the kitchen in one large step and placed his hands on either side of her face, wiping her tears with his thumbs.

"Leaving Germany is the last thing I want to do," Natalia said staring into Thomas' face, growing increasingly aware of how foggy her vision was, and how much her sinuses were clogged, "Jamie's grandparents—all four of them, want him back in London. I can't leave him there alone," Natalia explained, wiping her nose with her hand, as Thomas held her face, "I have to go back. I have to go I have to--"

Thomas kissed her hard, despite the tears on her face, "I know."

After she put down Jamie for the night, Thomas had little to say to her. She could tell he was upset, but there was nothing to say. They lay still in silence on either side of the bed after turning off the light for several minutes, before she heard Thomas exhale loudly.

"Fuck it," she heard him hiss, before coming onto her side of the bed, and they made desperate love, trying to no avail to regain some sense of familiarity, and home.

_____

"So this is it, isn't it," Natalia said turning to face Thomas in her now empty apartment. All of her belongings were either in storage, at Thomas', sold, or had been shipped back to Munich.

He nodded, and kissed her slowly again. She could tell he was sad—he kept swallowing hard and blinking a lot.

"Promise me you won't forget me," Natalia said swallowing the lump in her throat that seemed to just be consistently present since her sisters passing. Thomas' face broke into a weak smile.

"In the two weeks until I see you in London? Hardly," Thomas joked wrapping her into his arms for the last time. Natalia's parents collected Jamie the week before, and since then she had hardly spent one minute away from Thomas—going so far as to watch his practices mindlessly, even though she was hardly working anymore. Cat was actively training for Naomi's job, something Natalia couldn't even begin to think about.

For the first time in her life, there was something more important than work. Arsenal offered her a position with open arms, and she planned to stay there for as long as she could.

"Don't go fixing any Arsenal players broken hearts and then making them fall in love with you, ok?" he said in one breath.

"Don't go falling in love with the new nutritionists," Natalia said looking up at his face and smiled.

"Deal," he said kissing her again.

"I'm going to be late," Natalia said into the kiss, glancing at her watch (another gift from Thomas. It had two faces, one for Munich, one for London, so she could always remember him).

"Ok, lets go," Thomas said keeping his arm over her shoulders as they took one last look at her Munich apartment, trying to remember everything as it was, and just barely beginning feeling the crushing despair of change and distance. This is it.

--

Well guys, this is it! We've made it to the end (for now). I'm taking a break with this story—it's been a really long journey. Even though I only started posting chapters in May, I started writing it in August of last year. 1 year 51 k words! I have a sequel planned out and I'll start posting those chapters in about a month or so. I want to finish my Toews story before I do any more of this.

Love you all so much, thank you for reading.

--Parker xx