[ eleven ] 

After Regina left, America went on her twitter account and saw pictures of them together. In each of them her cousin looked overjoyed, while Oscar looked upset and tired. On her cousin's twitter profile were several retweeted messages and responses from her to other people. Each of them told her that she was lucky to be dating Oscar. Others said they looked adorable together.

The messages made America's heart hurt.

She went onto her own profile and realized she still had her cousin's picture as her profile picture. She quickly searched through her photo album and changed it to one of her.

It didn't matter anymore if people could find her. There was nothing anyone could say to her that would hurt more than not having Oscar's love.

America was in her bedroom, lying in bed, when there was a knock on her door. Her mother's voice was heard soon after. "America, darling..." Her mother's voice sounded unsure amd hesitant. "Erick is here to see you." She added in a whisper, "I can tell him to go away if you want. I have the broom ready in my hands."

"No." She shook her head. She pushed herself off her bed and went to her door. "I'll go talk to him." She felt a smile begin to tug at the corners of her mouth when she saw her mother holding the broom in hand, ready to shoo off Erick if America wanted her too.

She also saw the surprise on her face at the fact the Erick was there to see her. She knew America was upset. And America knew she didn't want to make things worse by asking why he was there to see her. She said nothing and went to the kitchen where she was preparing dinner. The aroma of food was strong all over the house. America walked down the hallway, past the livingroom and out the front door. 

Erick was sitting on the front porch next to the family's dog, Loki.

He smiled when he saw her, his hands were petting the large Alaskan breed dog. "Hey, Loki still remembers me. Even after three years."

"Yeah." She cracked a smile.

He got up from his spot on the front steps of the porch and brought her in for a hug. When they pulled away, he informed her, "I just came by to tell you I'm returning to the US. We have upcoming national team games."

"That's right." She remembered. "Congratulations. I heard you got called for la seleccion."

Erick nodded. "Thank you, Ami." He suddenly smiled nervously before telling her, "I also wanted to invite you to spend a few weeks with me in California. You can watch all my football games and that way you'll distract yourself so you won't think of that guy." His tone changed to annoyance as he referred to Oscar.

America was tired. She wanted to forget and she thought travelling would probably help a lot. She looked into his eyes that awaited her answer with excitement. America bit her lip, thinking whether going to a new country with him was a good idea. The only thing that eased her fears was that she knew there were a lot of Spanish speakers in the United States, especially in Southern California, where Erick played football for Chivas USA. She was sure she could adapt easily. It took her a couple of minutes to make her decision, but she finally nodded, "I'll talk to my parents about it tonight. But I'm sure they'll understand that I need a few weeks away from everything."

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That same day, America and Erick travelled to the United States. Their first destination was a place called Santa Clara in Northern California. The following day was the game against Chile and Erick was able to get her a front row seat for the game.

She was sitting by herself when a teenager approached her. Like her, the girl wore a green Mexican national team jersey. Only America's had Erick's name on it. It was a gift from Erick. While the girl's had Chicharito's name written across. "Hey." She told her with a smile. Next to her sat a middle aged man and a little boy. "First time watching a football game live? You look nervous."

America shook her head. "Uh, no. This is my first time watching a game in the US. I'm from Mexico."

When the girl noticed America's accent, she thought it would be easier to speak Spanish with her. "I'm Sarahy." She offered. "I came here with my dad and my brother."

"My name is America." She replied with a small smile. "I came here with a friend."

The girl looked around, trying to spot the friend America claimed to have come with. "Did they go to the restroom?"

Shaking her head, America admitted. "My friend is on the team."

"No way!" Sarahy gasped. "Who is it? If its Chicharito I will scream."

"Its not Chicharito." She informed Sarahy. "Its Erick."

America watched as the girl's eyes widened in surprise. She was speechless for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Oh my fucking gosh. Swear it!" She eyed America with recognition in her eyes until she remembered her. "You're Cubo's girlfriend aren't you? I once heard he was dating a girl named America and you kind of look familiar. Oh my gosh. Can we take a selfie together? Can we be friends? All my friends will die when they find out I met you."

For a moment, America was motionless. It had been almost three years since her break-up with Erick. And she was no longer used to people freaking out around her. It had taken some getting used to in the beginning and she didn't want that kind of attention again.

But she also didn't want to be rude. So she accepted. "Okay."

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The game ended in a tie between both teams. America spent the whole game sitting next to Sarah and found that she was a nice girl. They exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch with each other. They even agreed to sit together again at the game against Bolivia which would take place in Colorado.

She found Erick by the entrance and he grinned at the sight of her. Cutting the distance between them in a few strides, he lifted her up into his arms. 

"Where will we go from here?" She asked him. 

"Now we'll go to Colorado, beautiful." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. She brought her hand up to his lips before he could get close enough.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea, Erick." She bit down on her lip hard. "I forgave you for cheating on me, but I love Oscar and I don't think I will ever want to get back together with you."

His smile quickly dropped into a frown. "He moved on, Ami. You should to."

"Maybe one day." She nodded.

The smile returned to his face as he told her, "I won't give up until you love me again."

He whipped his phone out of his training uniform pocket and clicked on the camera button. He said he wanted to have a picture of them together, to celebrate the ocassion. It was his first time on the National Team and he couldn't be happier to represent his country.

In the east coast of the Unites States, Regina was sat in a hotel room, waiting to travel to their next destination where she would undoubtedly be forced to watch a football game. And then she had to pretend she enjoyed it. She was on social media, scrolling through pictures and tweets when she saw one that caught her eye, a picture of America and Erick smiling into the camera outside of a football stadium.

Regina knew today was a national team game, but she didn't know Erick convinced America to go with him.

She was sitting on a livingroom couch, an evil grin appearing on her face. 

Oscar noticed her sudden change in mood. She seemed bored before, but now she was smiling. He asked, getting her attention, "What are you looking at?" The young Brazilian sat next to his girlfriend to get a closer look.

She turned her phone over for him to see the picture. "It looks like America isn't thinking of you anymore." She said mockingly.

And he didn't understand why, but he could feel his heart break more in that moment.

-

last chapter for this story.

i'm gonna post the prologue next. and then most likely later today or tomorrow i'll post the sequel. ^.^

thank you so much for reading and supporting this story. 

it means alot.

so don't forget to give it a nice vote.

thank you.

i love you!

-clary xx