Better With(out) You (Sequel to Second Thoughts)

One

That August sunshine made Sarah smile as she got out of her car at the City Football Academy. The new season was just right around the corner, and she could not be happier about. A new season with new hopes and ambitions. A new season where she felt pretty good going into it. Nothing was perfect, but to Pep Guardiola, perfection did not exist, yet it was something to search for. She was striving to get better everyday.

It made her smile to see such happy faces walk into the building to get ready for training. It's been a couple of days since they had gotten back from their Asian tour, and they all were pretty much recovered from the long travel now. It was time to gear up for their first game of the regular season, which would be the Community Shield vs. Liverpool

Sarah just felt really happy to be here with her brother and his teammates. They made her career a lot more fun, and it did not even seem like she was doing work. She was enjoying life everyday, and she did not really feel much stress. It was relieving for her, and she enjoyed coming in everyday to make sure the lads were okay and treat the ones who were injured. She never felt like she had a target on her back. She felt like everyone had her back all around the Etihad Campus. 

She had not thought much about the Real Madrid days since the latter half of the past season. It helped her a lot that she had went to therapy for months. She was not perfect yet, and she still went to get help at least once or twice a month. She had been making great progress, and she did not let as many thoughts of the past get to her. It helped that she was in a really positive environment. 

Every morning, she was greeted by the manager with a smile.

"Good morning, Sarah. Ben is ready to start when you get settled." Pep told her. It was refreshing that she was always walking in to players ready and waiting for her, rather than the other way around. She loved that they were ready to work. Again, another factor that made her job so much more fun, especially when it came to working with players like Benjamin Mendy.

"Good morning, Pep. I'm glad he is ready. I'll get started with him in a few minutes." she greeted the Catalan bossman. She went in to where her desk was and put down her stuff. She put down her travel coffee cup and grabbed her water bottle along with her phone. She felt a lot of energy today which was fantastic. She was happy to be able to start off a season with a lot of energy. It was so refreshing to her.

As she went to walk to the rehabilitation facility in the building, she turned to find her good friend, Danilo waiting in the doorway for her. He was another reason that her move back home was easy. They had been friends for a few years before, since Dani had played for Real Madrid. He saw a lot of the bullshit that went on in the Spanish capital, and he knew just how to help when she had returned to England. There was nothing having a friendship like that. She was thankful for him, but she did not know what was about to come.

"Buenos dias. Are you about to go work with a very hyper Mendy?" he asked with a smile. Nodding, she smiled back and walked out of the room with him. "Of course, how are you? Ready to train?" she asked The two walked made their way down to the hall towards the room where Sarah would meet with Benjamin Mendy. Dani only let his smile stay, despite having to break the news of his departure to her.

"Yes, it's gonna be my last week though." he told her. She stopped for a moment and looked at him for a second. "You're leaving me again?" she joked. This time, it would not hurt as much. She understood that with the news of a new right-back coming to the club and him being the second choice already, he needed to be somewhere that he could play on a normal basis. 

He kept his smile though. He knew that this wouldn't hurt her that bad. There would be a lot of understanding. She was so much better mentally now, and he couldn't be anymore thankful. He knew that they would be on good terms.