*TRIGGER WARNING IN THIS CHAPTER*
Something about the sunshine, baby, I'm seeing you in a whole new light.
There was something about seeing the sunshine in February, and it still blew Harry's mind that he was in sunshine. He was in the sunshine at the Real Madrid training ground. It wasn't everyday that someone on holiday got to go and train at a facility of one of the biggest clubs in football, but luckily for Harry, he had a really close connection to let him keep in shape during his time off.
He was all alone on the pitch, but it allowed him to focus on what he wasn't doing. He was almost done training when he noticed someone else enter the facility. It didn't surprise him when he saw Sergio Ramos coming towards him. The tall, tattooed Spaniard looked nervous coming towards him, and Harry could tell that he was nervous. He knew he hadn't been nice to him the other times they had met before.
Harry stopped everything he was doing and just waited until the Real Madrid and Spain captain was close enough to him. "So, you figured I'd be here." he casually pointed out. Sergio blushed a little bit and fiddled with his hands as he nodded. "I, erm, asked my sister since, you know, she's having girl time with Sarah," he pointed out before wincing a little, "you're not gonna hit me, are you?"
Confused, Harry looked at Sergio like he was nuts and shook his head. "No, I wouldn't do anything unless any harm came Sarah's way." he assured him with a bit of calmness. Sergio nodded and almost calmed down at the sincerity that came from his English counterpart. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "You're really protective of her." he then pointed out.
Of course, that was returned with a proud smile from Harry as he shrugged. "You do anything for someone you love as much I love her," he explained, before looking at Sergio a little less happily, "but if it were up to me, she wouldn't be coming for the Champions League." The words hit Sergio like a knife as the tone wasn't friendly in that statement. He knew Harry had a lot against the club with how everything with Sarah went down, and he didn't blame it, but it was almost like Harry didn't want Sarah to have the connection anymore.
"This is her home though." Sergio then stated, and it was a statement that didn't sit well with Harry. He just shook his head. "Sometimes home is toxic. Do you ever stop to think that she basically suffered from PTSD when she went back to England, or did you not know that?" Harry then asked. Stunned, Sergio froze as he thought about it and saw the pain in Harry's face. Sergio tried putting himself in Sarah's shoes multiple times and tried to understand, but he never fully understood the extend to which this all went.
It then hit him, Sarah missed a trip with England the season before to Madrid for England vs Spain. "Is that why she didn't come to Madrid last year?" he asked as Harry sighed and nodded slowly. "The training session before we left, I just found her in our physio room in a complete state of panic. All she could repeat was 'I can't go. I can't do it' and I made sure no one forced her. We didn't bother for the Wembley game either." he explained.
Sergio kept learning more and more about Harry's character when someone spoke of him or whenever he spoke. That man dropped everything for Sarah and made sure she was okay. Harry couldn't bare to see Sarah suffer. and that is what Sergio had lacked for so long. Even though he hated how Harry approached him the times before, he couldn't help but respect him.
"What do you hope to gain from all of this?" Sergio then asked after thinking about everything. The look of confusion came across Harry's face as he looked at Sergio like he was stupid. "Why would I be in this for my own personal gain? She's the one who deserves the whole damn universe, and that is my goal. I just want to give her all of the happiness she deserves."
The smile came across Sergio's face after hearing that. His thoughts took him back to why James Rodriguez ever wanted to be with Sarah, and all of the answers seemed so different from. Harry's. Obviously, Harry was getting a personal gain from what he was doing, but that wasn't his priority. He wasn't in it for the bragging rights. He was in it for her. That is what made Sergio comfortable with this relationship.
"Listen, you don't have to like me, but I respect that a lot, and that is what Sarah deserves. She deserves everything you seem like you're giving her." Sergio then said. The tension and the hostility then dropped from Harry's face. He nodded and looked at Sergio straight in the eyes. "I know you've learned your lesson and I know you've been a big part of Sarah's life, but it's your wife that bothers me. I don't want any harm coming Sarah's way tonight, or in a couple of weeks." he explained.
Immediately, Sergio nodded and raised his hands in defence. "We are working on it. I promise." he reassured as Harry then nodded and looked at him skeptically. He didn't fully trust Sergio with that, so maybe he just had to drop the ball, and that would make Sergio be careful. "I'm going to warn you right now. If any harm comes to Sarah, especially if it harms our baby, there will be hell to pay, because maybe I trust your word, but I don't trust your wife."
Sergio's eyes immediately widened, and it was a wakeup call. "Baby?" he asked as Harry nodded slowly. "Hopefully we have a princess that looks exactly like Sarah, but either way, harm my woman baby and my actual baby, and you'll have a lot of making up to do." he reminded him. Sergio couldn't let anything get ruined now. He had a niece or nephew coming, and he needed to be on their good side to be a part of the child's life. "I promise I'll do what it takes to keep things in line."
Would it be kept though?"
_
Later that day that promise was tested. They sat off in a private portion of a nice restaurant in Madrid together. It all seemed a little bit awkward for the women that were in the whole debacle. This was the first time that Sarah had seen Pilar in person since the whole incident in London back in August. She felt tense, and Harry had to keep his hand on her thigh to keep her calmed down.
"Do you remember in 2018 when it was just four of us and it was James instead?" Sergio asked her as she sipped her water. She looked at him weirdly and almost winced at that memory, before nodding slowly. "Yes, why are you bringing this up though?" she asked a little skeptically as Sergio smiled and gestured to her and her significant other. "This is a much better and happier sight to see. You look a lot more relaxed and happier than you did, and that's great to see." he explained to her.
She smiled a bit awkwardly and nodded as she took Harry's hand. "Thank you. I don't think I could have gotten any luckier." she told Sergio as she smiled a little bit more. There was that sparkle in her eyes that Sergio didn't see in a couple of years. That was relieving for him to see, and that made him smile more. "Told you he was a great man, Sese." Laura remarked as she gave him a nudge as he just rolled his eyes and shot her a playful glare.
"Oh trust me, I've heard it from all of my teammates that have known Sarah for years." he pointed out as Sarah just shrugged and laughed a little bit. "They've just been waiting to see me like this. You know, like they've pointed out." She then explained. She still felt a little bit nervous there. She was sitting there and listening to the people that had such an impact on her life bring her up to speed on the past couple of years as well. It just felt so strange to her. It felt strange being able to open up somewhat about all of what was good.
It was still so hard for her to look at Pilar, however, because Sarah could see that fake smile on her face. She knew there was something going through that woman's mind, and she could not trust whatever was going on. "Can I just say something?" Sergio then interrupted the thoughts going through Sarah's head. That classic Sergio smile was there, and from then on, Sarah must have known that there was at least something good.
"It is not the same without you here, because we all miss you, but we're thrilled that you're living your best life and have everything that you want now." he went on with his smile turning into a grin. Sarah sat there, a little bit confused, but then she figured it out that he knew. Someone must have said something to him, but she would let it pass. Good news should have been shared.
"This is the path I wanted to be on for a long time." she went on confidently. Of course, there was that unreadable expression that came from the woman next to Sergio. Sarah was confidently thriving, and was that really making the later uncomfortable? It seemed okay, but then things started to get a little bit weird. Her head started to hurt, which seemed something normal to her lately with the pregnancy.
"Head?" Harry asked her as she drank some water. "Wish I had something I could take, since you only can take certain medications when you're pregnant." she sighed under her breath as she rubbed her temples. In the twists and turns of the moment, Pilar pulled her purse out and grabbed something. "I have just the thing for that. I got the headaches when I was pregnant with Alejandro."
It took Sarah by surprise that there was such a gesture from the woman she viewed as a witch. She was naive to it all as she took it without any hesitation, especially when there was no look on the woman's face that would say otherwise. All seemed fine and they carried on chatting for a bit. It seemed like things were okay, but then, it just suddenly hit her.
Pain, and not where Sarah wanted it to be. That was no headache medicine that she was given. "Fuck." she whispered under her breath as she stood up and swiftly went to the nearest restroom. She had no hesitation looking back at her worried boyfriend and confused pair of siblings with one confused spouse and the other keeping a poker face on.
There was suspense around the table as to what was going on. All that was thought was that it just could not end well, could it?
A few moments later, Sarah came out and grabbed her purse with plenty of anger and pain written all over her face. "We're going." She muttered under her breath. Harry looked at her with plenty of worry, before looking at Sergio, who was plenty confused. Next to him, it was obvious that Pilar was hiding something. His gaze turned into a slight glare. "What did you give her?" Harry asked as she shrugged and kept her look innocent. Sarah just shook her head and put on her coat, before wincing in pain.
"If I didn't want to get myself in trouble, I would have bruised her already, and bruised her badly." She spat whilst Harry stood up and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. "What's going on?" He asked her quietly as tears started to form in her eyes. "Baby." She mouthed to him. She immediately moved her hands and took Harry's wrists knowing that he could react just the way he did in Manchester months back. The tension was clear in Harry and he was ready to break free from his girlfriend's grip, but he knew she wouldn't want him to cause a scene. He just took a deep breath and shook his head.
His gaze went right over to Sergio, who looked as confused as ever, but also worried. The glare stayed across Harry's face as he shook his head. However, he slowly shifted his look over to Pilar. He never wanted to hit a woman until now, but he would never sink to that level and kept his composure considering that is what his mother told himt to do if something ever happened. The stare of death came across, but he said no words as he slowly shifted his gaze back to Sergio. "I can't wait until we go to Sevilla and let your mother know about this."
Harry's arms went carefully around Sarah as Sergio stood up in defence. "How was I supposed to know?" he asked. Again, it blew everyone's mind how Sergio reacted. Did he forget about the conversation the two men had earlier at the training grounds? That was what angered Harry. Sergio still did not get it. "It's been a year and a half. You still don't get it that you enable all of this shit to happen? Sarah's never hated you. She's just been afraid of what is going to happen to her if you're in her life, and rightfully so. She tried one time tonight to be nice and have an open mind. She's gotten so much better, but there's no change from your side. It not only affects her, but it's gonna affect me now too, because I wanted that baby. I asked you for one thing, and you've failed. You were warned."
He didn't waste time anymore. He didn't want to listen. Perhaps Sarah may have wanted to listen to see what would happen next, but Harry was not going to let her be put through this anymore. The one thing Harry had asked for, and it was not given to him, and it led to Harry taking his significant other out of the restaurant and back to the hotel they were staying at. There was not much said between the two of them. Harry just held her close to him to comfort her. That was all she needed.
She just could not say much even up to the room. She went in and got into her pajamas with her thoughts and let a few tears fall out as she looked at the blood that was on her underwear that should not have been there. All she did was shake her head. It was a new low that had been hit. She didn't expect any of the feud she had to go that low.
She let her hair down and walked out of the bathroom then to her love waiting in bed for her. He had never seen her so quiet before. She talked so much with him, and that alone made him know how much she was hurting. The kisses were planted onto her head as Harry took her into his arms and held her. "I never expected it to go this low." she quietly admitted. It was the most she had spoken within the past hour, and it hurt Harry to hear that.
Losing a baby was always so hard on any woman. They always felt like they were at fault, but never was that the case, especially now. "It is not your fault. If you want to, you can blame me. I told him if anything happened that would hurt you or our tiny, then there would be hell to pay. I warned him, and his attempt failed. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut about our daughter, and then this would not have happened."
He blamed himself, and it hit her hard. Maybe it was a mistake that he said something, because why should Sergio know right away? But perhaps Harry did it with the intentions of trying to protect her, and as tragic as it was, sometimes things like that happened. She had to think of the intentions he had. Everything he did for her was just to make sure she was protected, and there was a slip up.
She sat up, took a good look at him, and shook her head. He put on such a strong face for so long that night, but he was hurting now. "You did not mean for it to go this way. You're okay." she told him quietly. However, it was the first time in their relationship that Harry had really seen her in a lot of emotional pain. It hurt him a lot, and he felt awful for putting her in this position by bringing her back to Madrid.
"But I brought you here though. I brought you to Madrid when I should have known." he reminded her with tears falling out of his eyes. She shook her head and just wiped them away. She had already cried enough and did not want to see him cry. "Again, everything has been done with good intentions and it just didn't go according to plan. I don't think I could be upset with you for that."
She thought back to all of the other times she had been hurt. She thought back to what James did in Russia. She thought back to her previous relationships. All had the intentions of their own gain that hurt her, but Harry just protected her. "I know mini you wasn't planned either, but I just wanted her for us. I know she was something you waited so long for as well, so that was also my last chance I was giving them." he confessed to her.
Sarah nodded and hugged him. Both were in pain as this is something no one wanted to experience, but they would forge on. What the future held for her relationship with the Ramos family was unclear, but that one part would have all of the world to give to make up for it.
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Hi babes, it's been a very long time since I have written here. So many other stories I wanted to write. I had changed where I wanted to go with this story about a million times too. I was originally going to keep the baby, but I felt like it made more sense to go this route since there was going to be some drama anyways. As much as I didn't want the plot to go this way, it just made so much more sense, because there needed to be a big moment that triggers the rest of the events of what I have planned for this book, and that is with the pandemic tied in, because I think the pandemic makes sense with the second leg of the City and Madrid matches last season being in August and there being a good time frame for a plot there. Love you all, and stay safe.