Part One - Chapter Fifteen: Nothing to Fear

                                    

                                          
Cristiano leant against his car as he waited for Eliana to come out of her final exam, he was glad that she was done and he hoped that she would be able to relax now that she was finished. 
                          
Cristiano had barely seen Eliana over the past two and a half weeks with her so busy for exams and he wanted her to do well; he had sent her flowers on the first day hoping to cheer her up a little. 
                          
Having never been good at school, Cristiano had only ever completed the studies that had been mandatory; he was glad that he had since football wasn’t forever and he was working on things that he would focus on when his career was over. 
                          
Cristiano perked up when he spotted Eliana coming out of the building, she looked so much more relaxed then when he had last seen her; she was officially done with her studies and he was so proud of her. 
                          
“Olá,” Cristiano greeted smiling, he moved away from his car and wrapped his arms around her; he gave Eliana a kiss, knowing that he could finally spend some much needed time with her. 
                          
The couple had barely seen each other since she had return from her photoshoot, Cristiano had noticed how tense she had been and hadn’t wanted to stress her out with exams around the corner.
                          
“I missed you,” Cristiano murmured pulling back to look at Eliana, he brushed his fingers through her blonde hair as he admired her; she was wearing a coral blue cami top and skinny jeans paired with white high heel pointed court shoes.
                          
Eliana smiled up at Cristiano, she had missed him too and she wished that she could have seen him but she knew that she would have gotten a little distracted from studying if she had. 
                          
“I missed you too,” Eliana admitted knowing that she did want to talk to him about his ex-girlfriend; she had been a little worried after seeing Nereida in person and she knew that she needed to talk to Cristiano about what had happened.
                          
***
                          
Eliana set down her white mini stud tote bag and took a deep breath, she looked around Cristiano’s home knowing that she was probably worrying over nothing; she didn’t like to think that she was jealous of Cristiano’s ex-girlfriend. 
                          
Eliana had never truly been jealous in her life and she was a little put off that she might be now, she guessed that she liked Cristiano a lot more than she realised.
                          
 “Ana?” Cristiano mused looking at his girlfriend as she sat down on the couch, in the past eight months that they had been dating; he had never seen her like this before and he could tell something was bothering her. 
                          
Abelhinha jumped up on the couch and settled on Eliana’s lap, the small terrier was very attached to Cristiano’s girlfriend while Marosca was closer to the footballer; it was nice for Cristiano to have someone to come home to. 
                          
“I saw Nereida while I was on my photoshoot,” Eliana revealed peeking at Cristiano, she had no idea how he would feel about this news but she didn’t want to upset him. 
                          
Eliana didn’t know what had really happened between Cristiano and Nereida but she could only guess that it hadn’t been pretty; he was always worried that something might pull her away from him. 
                          
“Did she do anything?” Cristiano asked staring at Eliana, his ex-girlfriend was a little renowned for saying things that she shouldn’t do to the press; he could only imagine what she would say to Eliana if she had the chance. 
                          
Cristiano had tried his best to keep her quiet, they had broken up three years ago and yet she still revealed private things about him to the press whenever she felt like.
                          
 Eliana shook her head, she could see that he was concerned and she didn’t want him to worry when it was nothing; she was just a little curious about why they had broken up. 
                          
“She just glared at me,” Eliana murmured trying to reassure Cristiano in some small way, she knew that it wasn’t much but it was all she could give him; she ran her fingers through Abelhinha’s fur trying to calm herself. 
                          
Cristiano nodded his head, he moved to sit down near Eliana knowing that she would be curious about how things had ended; he ran his fingers through his hair as he wondered if Nereida was about to start causing him some sort of trouble. 
                          
“Cris… what happened between you to?” Eliana whispered nervously, she knew that she was being nosey but she had to know if she had to watch out for a jealous ex-girlfriend. 
                          
Cristiano took a deep breath, he knew that she was worried and she had no reason to be; he had no idea what to think about Nereida only that she wasn’t what he had thought she was. 
                          
“We dated for about six months, Nereida was away lot with work,” Cristiano explained gently, it had been ages since they had gone out but it had made him a little wary when it came to dating; she was the longest relationship that he’d had until Eliana. 
                          
Cristiano knew how that sounded but that wasn’t his fault, it was hard to find the right woman when so many were only interested in the footballer that the world knew and not the man that he was. 
                          
“I found out that during that time she was here in Madrid sleeping with Sergio,” Cristiano muttered trying not to sound too bitter, he wasn’t mad at Sergio for what had happened; he had let go of it a long time before he had signed for the club.
                          
 Sergio had even come to Manchester to apologise when it came out that Nereida was dating both of them; she had played them both against one another to get what she wanted.
                          
 Eliana wrinkled her nose in disgust, she couldn’t believe that Nereida had done that and she was surprised that Cristiano was so okay with it now. 
                          

                          
“You’ve got nothing to fear Ana, I don’t want her back,” Cristiano reassured smiling a little, he knew that he would never take Nereida back and he was a lot happier with Eliana in his life than her. 
                          
Eliana nodded her head, she wasn’t worried about that and she was glad that Cristiano seemed so relaxed when it came to talking about his ex; it gave her a little comfort that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. 
                          
“I love you,” Cristiano murmured feeling it was the right time to say those words, he knew that he hadn’t said them before and he hadn’t wanted to rush things with Eliana. 
                          
Cristiano felt a little embarrassed that he had said them, he had only ever said those words to his mother and sisters; he couldn’t imagine ever saying them to another woman but Eliana anymore. 
                          
Eliana blinked a little surprised, she hadn’t been expecting him to say those words and a small smile slowly formed on her face that he had been the first one to say them; she had been worried about scaring him off if she had said them first.
                          
 “I love you too,” Eliana replied feeling a little giddy that Cristiano had said that he loved her, she smiled at him before gently moving Abelhinha off her lap and onto the floor. 
                          
Cristiano grinned moving to kiss Eliana, he pulled her close wanting nothing more than to make this work; he had never felt like this before and he wasn’t sure that he could ever let the feeling go. 
                          
Eliana wrapped her arms around Cristiano, they were going strong and she couldn’t believe that they were doing so well; she could only imagine what the next few months held for them.