'I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along'

III

"You weren't answering my texts and I tried to call you and you wouldn't answer.. Daley said he tried too but nothing?" Suha couldn't believe it, she didn't think he would just turn up like this, so unannounced. "Marco, what are you doing here? I really don't want you to be here when Aaron gets back, you know what he will be like.. " Marco looks at her full of sympathy and reaches out to cup Suha's face and she welcomes him. "Where's Daley now anyway? He has been texting me and calling me all morning, I'm so angry with him." Suha is still half asleep, yawning and rubbing her eyes, she just wanted Aaron to come home, she wanted the warmth of him, she wanted it to be him that she woke up to. "You and Daley both know that what happened.. It can't happen again, right?" An overwhelming surge of guilt sears through Suha, flashbacks of that evening coming flooding back to her, she feels sick to the pit of her stomach, the look on Aaron's face when she burst through the door is something she could never forget, the tears.. her beautiful Aaron, how could she be so foolish. Marco can see the anguish on her face and reaches his arms out to comfort her. "Please, Suha, I can tell that you're upset, just come here.. " he opens his arms to embrace her and Suha falls into him. He wraps his arms snugly around her, he runs one of his hand down her back consolingly "I spend one stupid night getting drunk with you and Daley and look what happens. I should never have drank anything, i knew it would end in tears" Marco ran his other hand down the back of Suha's head and ran his fingers through her hair as he clutched her closer to him "Suha.. It's fine, everything is going to be okay" Suha let out a sigh and shook her head "I really don't think it is Marco, not this time" Suha could picture events from that night like it happened yesterday, still. It pained her but she felt safe in Marco's arms she was comforted by him, she always was, that's partly why she loved him so much. Marco is usually such a goofball and so happy-go-lucky, it was the first thing that she noticed about him, but he had a soft and sensitive side to him that he didn't let very many people see, he always knew how to make her feel better. Much like the first time that they met, Marco made her feel so comfortable and like she had known him for an entire lifetime.

-
"Come on babe, throw it over here!" Suha was not particularly blessed at playing football but she definitely did enjoy watching it, whether it was on television, in a stadium or at the local park. The heat was bearing down and it was an absolutely sweltering mid July summers day in central London. Suha couldn't believe her luck when she woke this morning to find the clearest blue skies and the sun beaming right through the window, she and Aaron had arranged a kick about at the local park with a few of the Arsenal lads and some of their friends, and everyone was really enjoying it so far. It seemed impossible to separate Aaron from Olivier, they were best friends on and off the pitch, Olivier was always swearing and Aaron still found it hilarious, even after all these years. Ox, Alexis and Mezut also came along and Mezut had brought his fellow German teammate and Borussia Dortmund player Marco Reus. Suha threw the ball over to Aaron and he hit it on the volley and shot it across to Marco who controlled it beautifully, off his chest, onto his knee and then let it drop straight to his feet, it was so impressive. She had seen him play for Dortmund but had never really fully taken him in until now. One thing she did notice was that he was always laughing and smiling, he had a crooked but beautiful smile that was bewitching at first glance and the sweetest dimples.

Suha sat herself underneath a staggering oak tree that must have been at least 30ft tall but it's overhanging branches and leaves provided her with the perfect shade from all the heat. It was quite a way from the match the boys were playing but that didn't bother her, she could take some time for herself to listen to some music and relax in the heat. No sooner had she rested her head against the tree's trunk and closed her eyes was she interrupted "hey! You're Aaron's girlfriend right? I'm Marco I don't think we have properly met." Suha tried to open her eyes but found herself having to squint because of the direct sunlight, Marco moved to the left a little and then moved to the right, "am I making this any better or worse for you?" He said with a chuckle, he put his hand on his hips and struck a pose, they both laughed "I think if you stand exactly like that and don't move a single muscle it should be absolutely fine!" Suha replied with a wide grin, they laughed again. She wasn't sure if it was the glint in his eyes, the lightness of his blonde hair or the glare from the sun but she couldn't quite take all of him in. "Yesss, I'm Suha, it's really lovely to meet you" Marco leaned down, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze "it's nice to finally meet you too. I've been spending a lot of time with Aaron and he speaks about you a lot, and its true what he says, you really are quite a sight" Suha was taken aback and incredibly flattered, she could feel the blood rushing to her face and she knew that she had turned bright red "yeah, Aaron said that would happen too.." Marco smiled directly at her, it made her blush even more "oh god, no no no, stop! Please, you are crazy, Aaron doesn't know what he's talking about half of the time anyway!" Suha quickly pulled her hands up to to cover her face in embarrassment. She never really knew how to take compliments and she definitely didn't take them well. "Is it okay if I sit here?" Marco pointed to the empty space beside Suha "I really don't want to bother you if you would rather be left alone"' Suha shook her head "no no no, it's absolutely fine, I'd quite like the company actually"

A hour or so had passed and it was like they had been the best of friends for years, like they already knew each other. They were both sat looking out at the boys playing football and making passing comments, but what Suha didn't see was the way Marco was looking at her. He zoned out when he was with her, it was completely true what Aaron had said. She really did have the most incredible brown eyes that could mesmerise you if you held their gaze for too long, the most subtle cheeks bones that made her cheeks so prominent and full when she smiled, it felt like fireworks were going off inside him every time she laughed at one of his jokes, and her lips were the most perfect feature of all. Marco couldn't help himself from glancing down at them each time that Suha spoke to him. He wanted to kiss her, and he had wanted to from the moment he saw her. Her smile could make you believe that anything at all in this world is possible, that perfection was right before him. Could it be, that love at first sight truly exists?

-
Aaron finds himself walking aimlessly along the Thames trying desperately to make sense of everything that has happened in these last few hours. Reminiscing over the first time they walked by this river in the summer that she decided to move, it made Aaron the happiest man alive. She gave up the world that she had built for herself to build their own entirely new world together. He got so much stick off all the lads when he brought her to a training session for the first time, but he didn't care, he just wanted to have her around, he was so happy knowing that she was always there with him, supporting him, loving him. Aaron stopped by the river and looked out, the sun was bouncing off the water and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. 'Suha would love this' he thinks to himself. They always loved looking at the sky together whether it's sunrise, sunset or just looking up at the clouds. Suha would wake him up early in the morning, clambering over him in their bed, shaking him until she got his attention before dragging him over to the bedroom window. He would wrap his arms around her waist while they stood just gazing out at the stars before the sun slowly started to rise, that's when she would make Aaron sit with his back against the bed, place herself in between his legs and wrap his arms around hers and around her chest. He would whisper 'of all the things my eyes have seen, the best by far, is you' quietly into her ear and squeeze his arms even tighter around her, and that is how she would fall peacefully back to sleep, so close to him, so perfect. She was his world. Remembering her just brings reminders of the text and that brought him right back down to earth which made his heart jolt and also put his stomach in knots. He needed to get back home and he needed answers.