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Contract talks.

Ale and Jordi travelled out the Seville game with us, it was the first time that he had travelled to an away game with the team and he loved every single second of it, so did the girls. Mapi insisted that she got to sit with us on the coach to the airport, promising that she would keep him entertained, which she did, by pointing to things that passed by out of the window and practicing his new skill of playing peek-a-boo over and over again. Half of the team seemed to be crowded around us, looking over the backs of seats and standing in the aisle as Jordi put on a show, placing his hands over his eyes before quickly pulling them away and giggling loudly, an occasional little snort coming from him as he laughed.

Ale was sat quietly next to me, she had never been the most vocal one when we were travelling, but she had seemed a bit off for the last couple of days. Nothing that anyone else would notice, but I definitely did. She seemed distracted like her mind was completely focused on something else.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked as I leant over and spoke quietly into her ear, my hand resting on her knee trying to get her attention.

"Yeah, sorry. Just got a lot going on in my head, but I'm ok" She sent me brief smile.

"You'll tell me when you're ready though, yeah?"

"Of course, we're fine though... it's just work stuff" She reassured me, placing her hand on top of mine and squeezing it gently.

"Contract?" I mouthed to her, not wanting any of the girls to hear as I knew how private she was about this sort of stuff.

"Yeah" she mumbled, before looking over to Jordi who was banging his hands on the table that sat between the four of us.

Ale's contract discussions had been going on for a few months now, she would have frequent calls with her agent, meetings with the Barcelona board and discussions with Jonatan at the training ground, but it didn't seem like a renewal was getting any closer. She had a call from her agent late last night and that was when she went really quiet, so I guessed that there had been some news.

The flight was about an hour and a half long, which happened to coincide with Jordi's nap time perfectly. He fell asleep on Ale, which I think was what she needed to take her mind off everything, even is was just for a while.

"I'm jealous" I whispered as I rested my head on her shoulder.

"Of what?" She laughed slightly, slowly turning her head towards me.

"The sleepy Jordi cuddles that you're getting"

"I can give you some sleepy cuddles tonight if that makes it any better?" She smirked leaning over and kissing the top of my head.

"That might help"

"Are you sure your parents are ok with having him for the night?"

"Definitely, they haven't stopped talking about it. Especially Dad, he's so excited to have him for a sleepover"

My parents came by the hotel to pick him up that afternoon, Jordi was excited about seeing them again so soon after his birthday, but was a bit apprehensive about leaving with them. It had been a long day of travelling and being away from the comfort of his own home, but eventually he warmed up to the idea and happily let me buckle him into their car.

"If he doesn't settle for the night just give me a call and I can come and pick him up" Ale said to my parents through the open driver's side window

"He'll be fine..." I said as I closed the back door and joined her, placing my hand on the back of her shoulder.

"We'll see you at the game tomorrow, enjoy some time to yourselves and let the grandparents take over for a bit" My dad smiled at us through the window.