Holding Her, Loving You

Chapter Thirteen: Reawakened Feelings

Daniella frowned as she looked at her boyfriend, she could sense that something was going on and she didn’t like it; he had been spending a lot of time with Belina recently and she knew that this couldn’t end well for her.

“I was thinking we could have dinner together tonight?” Daniella said as Cesc prepared to leave for training, he paused and looked at her; he knew that he wasn’t being fair to her and he needed to decide who he wanted more, his current girlfriend or his ex-girlfriend.

The footballer shook his head and pressed a kiss to her head, he knew that he hadn’t spent a lot of time with Daniella recently; he had even started to put some distance between him and her children but he wanted to focus on Alejandro and Lia more than anything right now.

“I can’t… I have plans with Alex tonight,” Cesc said as he moved back away from her, it had been two weeks since he had drunkenly kissed his ex-girlfriend and he hadn’t been able to wrap his head around the feeling that had reawaken; he knew that he had buried his feelings but he was so sure that he would get over them.

Daniella stared at him as he moved to say goodbye to their six month old daughter, she sighed softly as she climbed out of bed and moved to stand next to him as he cooed over Lia; she knew what was happening and she couldn’t help but be a little hurt that he was getting attached to his ex-girlfriend.

The Lebanese had left her husband for the footballer and she knew that it was wrong but she felt like he owed her for that; she had risked everything for him and now that she was divorced from Elie Taktouk, she had thought that she’d be able to build a life with Cesc and her children.

***

“I’m in love with Belina,” Cesc said as he looked at Gerard and Lionel, he had asked his two friends to meet him for lunch after training since he needed to talk to someone about what was happening; the two footballer stared at him before Gerard started laughing.

Lionel and Cesc looked at him confused wondering what the older man thought was so funny, they knew that this was not a laughing matter; Cesc was in a relationship with Daniella.

“How did I not see that coming?” Gerard barked as he continued to laugh, Lionel chuckled knowing that his friend was right; they had both knew that it would only be a matter of time before Cesc realised that he was still in love with Belina.

The two footballers knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, Cesc had told him how things had been since he had kissed the brunette and how he had been pulling away from Daniella; someone was going to be hurt and it was clear that the footballer was going to have to make a decision and soon.

“I don’t know what to do… Daniella left her husband for me and I feel like I owe it to her to make a go of things,” Cesc said as he looked down at his drink, he knew that he had to think about Lia as well; he had a feeling that Daniella would lash out if he were to leave her for Belina.

Lionel sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, he knew that this was going to be interesting; Daniella was a close friend of Antonella’s and he was aware that this was going to be far from easy, even if Antonella was starting to get to know Belina.

“Cesc… you shouldn’t feel like you owe her anything, it’s not fair to continue a relationship with Daniella if you love Belina,” Gerard said knowing why Cesc had asked to see them.

Cesc nodded his head as he thought about what his best friend had said, he knew that the taller Spaniard was right but he couldn’t decide what he wanted; he cared about his girlfriend but he loved Belina.

“Geri’s right Cesc… you needed to make a decision and soon,” Lionel said as he watched his friend, anyone could see how torn Cesc was over this and he knew that Daniella had started to notice him pulling away from her; she had spoken with Antonella about her boyfriend’s sudden change and was frightened that things were over between them.

“But how do I choose between them?” Cesc asked as he ran a hand though his hair, he had gotten a tattoo for Daniella when they had moved in together and he knew that by ending things with her that he was going to have to do something to change that.

Gerard and Lionel shared a look as they thought about their friend, they had only just got Belina back and they knew that if Cesc loved Belina that there was a chance that she loved him.

***

Daniella sighed as she held Lia, she smiled softly at her daughter knowing that something needed to be done; she couldn’t lose Cesc after everything that she had sacrificed for him.

The brunette knew that he had bought his ex-girlfriend a new apartment and was giving Belina money for their son, however she had also seen how close he was getting with his ex-girlfriend.

“Mum is everything okay?” Maria asked as he watched her mother, she could see that something was going on and it worried her that maybe Cesc didn’t want them anymore; everything had gone downhill in recent weeks and Maria held his ex-girlfriend responsible.

Daniella nodded her head as she smiled at her eldest daughter, she had known from the moment that Cesc had told her what he had done that there was a chance that he would go like this; she had known that there was a chance that he still loved the other woman.

“Mum is everything okay with Cesc?” Joseph asked as he looked at his mother, his brown eyes watched her closely knowing that everything was falling apart and it was all Alejandro’s fault; him and his whore of a mother.

The last few weeks, Joseph’s reign of terror against the younger boy had made him feel better about the fact that everything seemed to be falling apart for Daniella and Cesc; he wanted to drive the other boy away as fast as possible.

“Everything’s fine… we’re just going through a rough patch,” Daniella said quietly as she looked down at Lia; she wondered if there was anything that she could do to rebuild the bond that she had shared with Cesc when he didn’t want to spend time with her.

Joseph frowned as his sister sat next to his mother, he knew that she wouldn’t be happy if she knew what he was doing to Alejandro; the six year old had stopped coming around to the house since he didn’t want to be anywhere near Joseph.

“It would be better if Alejandro just left,” Joseph muttered bitterly making Maria shoot him a warning look, she knew what he was doing and she doubted that Cesc would be pleased to hear that he was bullying his son.

Daniella furrowed her brow as she looked between her children, she could sense that something was going on and she didn’t like it; the Lebanese raised an eyebrow at them making them look at her nervously.

“Okay what’s going on?” Daniella said as she shifted her hold and looked at her two children, she didn’t know what it was but she knew that it had something to do with Alejandro and why the six year old refused to around to the house anymore.