[ seis ]

Valerie ordered food for the three of them, since Toni still had very limited Spanish skills. He also knew nothing about Spanish food and would not have been able to order something successfully anyway.

As they waited for their food to arrive, Toni went on his cellphone to text. Valerie said nothing for a couple of minutes but eventually cleared her throat to get his attention. She couldn't help the fact that it was bothering her. When his blue eyes met with hers, she spoke, "Isn't it rude to be on your phone when you're on a date?"

"Sorry." He said awkwardly, setting his phone faced down on the table in front of him. "I was just talking to Leon's mum." He informed her. This information made her expression turn blank. He had asked her out, and during their outing he was talking to another woman? That was something that she knew shouldn't be done.

"Yeah." Valerie wondered, pretending it didn't bother her. "What happened with her? Why isn't she ever around? Its like your son only has a father." Her questions were a product of her curiosity and she hoped he could provide an answer to them.

Toni sighed. "She just got tired and decided she needed a break, so she returned to Deutschland and left Leon with me. But I doubt she's coming back. We became parents very young and I think the two of us didn't know how to hanldle it well enough. Each time I would leave to practice I noticed how much she dreaded staying alone with him. She loves Leon, but she's afraid of being alone because she thinks she'll screw up."

"How can she want to be away from Leon though?" Valerie asked, looking at the little boy sat on the high chair at their table, oblivious to it all. Her hand reached to pinch his cheek gently, causing him to let out a giggle. "I mean, getting away from you I can understand." She joked, crinkling up her nose, and Toni shot her a playful glare. "But there's just no way you can or should run away from being a parent. If Leon gets sick, illness isn't going to take a break because she's not ready. Its going to happen anyway. Maybe you two should have thought twice before having sex."

"I can't go back on it now, can I?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Of course he couldn't.

"Well," She said, reaching onto the table to grab his phone. Valerie stuffed it into her purse and added, "If she doesn't want to be part of your life, then forget her." And she would forget about wanting to be with Sergi Roberto. It seemed like he was perfectly fine in Barcelona, ignoring her. Granted they never had anything official, but he had led her to believe with his behavior that there was a possibility they could be together.

"And we can keep each other company." He suggested.

"Why not?" She shrugged, finally accepting the fact that she would be seeing Toni Kroos a lot more. "I'm already running into you everywhere, might as well take advantage of that."

Toni chuckled. "Especially now that your friend thinks we're married."

"I'll have to correct her before we leave." Valerie said.

"No," Toni shook his head in amusement. "What's the harm in letting her think that?"

-

Over the next couple of weeks, Valerie and Toni continued to see each other. Toni stopped trying to contact Jessica altogether. If she didn't want to be with him or Leon, he was not going to beg her anymore. And Valerie stopped messaging Sergi who went about his life in Barcelona unaffected. He thought Valerie was a nice girl, but he wasn't in love with her.

At first, the two living in Madrid found each other coincidentally. It was as though something was pushing the two together. Something like fate.They eventually would make plans to see each other each day.

Valerie especially loved seeing Leon.

With all the time she was spending taking care of him at the daycare, she had grown very fond of him.

Toni and Valerie were like a couple. At least everyone saw them that way. They were always seen together, but there was nothing official going on between them. Not that he didn't want there to be. Toni had fallen in love with Valerie, but was too shy to say anything. He knew she hated Real Madrid and if she was anything like her friend, she would probably reject him because he was a Madrid boy.

It was on a day when they went out to the movies with Leon, he was very excited about a new children's movie that was out in theatres, when she approached them. By then, the movie was over. Toni and Valerie had taken Leon to McDonalds to get some food. She had actually been following them around the entire day, watching them from afar, trying to gather the courage to approach them.

The three year old was in the play area with the other children when Jessica approached them. "So this is the new woman you're dating?" She eyed Valerie. Since she was speaking in German, Valerie had no idea what she was talking about, but by her expression she could gather that it was nothing good.

Toni nodded. "You left Leon and I. We had the right to start a new life."

"I said I needed a break." She clarified.

"Um..." Valerie cleared her throat, cutting into their conversation momentarily. "I'm going to play with Leon while you both talk. Excuse me." She said to them in English. She then got up from her seat and went to the play area where the other children were having fun.

"I'm sorry, Jessica." Toni sighed. "I moved on already. You're too late."

His words made tears pool up in her eyes. Tears for what she once had and lost because of her selfishness. But she sucked in a breath and let her pride become greater than her pain. "Well, at least let me take Leon back to Deutschland with me. You're always busy. I don't want him to grow up alone." She suggested.

Again, the German footballer shook his head. When he was with Jessica, he never had time. But with Valerie it was different. He still didn't have time, but he made a bigger effort to make time. The same was the case for Leon. He understood that his son needed him. "You can visit him whenever you want." He told her. "But you can't take him from me. What's to assure me that you won't just get tired of him again if you take him? A child is a human being, not an object you can just dump whenever you're bored."

"Toni, I want my son with me." Jessica said.

"And I want him with me." Toni countered. He was willing to do whatever it would take to keep his son with him. "Lets not start an unnecessary argument, Jessica. It would only hurt our son."

"I'm sorry." Now she was the one apologizing. "But I won't lost both of you. You'll be hearing from me soon." Was the last thing she told him before she left.

Seeing Jessica was gone, Valerie left Leon to play with the other children again. She return to their table to find him with his head in his hands. "What happened?" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

He lifted his head to look into her eyes. "Jessica wanted to get back together with me."

Valerie felt her heart drop. "And what did you tell her?" She asked, trying to sound casual.

"That it was too late for that." He replied. "She thought you and I were dating and I let her believe it."

At that, she let out a sigh of relief. She was so used to spending time with them that she could not imagine anything otherwise. "I guess I can play along if she returns to bother you."

"She'll return." Toni assured her.

"How are you sure?" Valerie raised an eyebrow in question.

"She said she wants to take Leon from me." He said.

-

new update for this story.

guys, im going to see 'jurassic world' with my friends tonight! it looks like its gonna be badass. and team usa defeated deutschland yesterday! i like both, but i was cheering for team usa bc im american. but on the inside i wanted deutschland to win, even tho i wore my usa jersey.

anyway, i hope you enjoy the new chapter. it means a lot when you all read, vote, and comment. i kinda want to breeze through my stories so that i can start new ones. bc its hard to start one when i have so many bc then i go weeks without updating others.

so im working hard.

-clary xx