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When Aleix and Pol had been growing up, there mother had told them of a tale about a woman who had been given a rose by an old woman who cursed the rose so that the woman would never know love until the last petal fell.
For years the woman waiting watching the flower and yet it never seemed to shed any petals almost like it was everlasting. After a while the woman gave up on her hope of finding love and focused on just living her life and caring for those around her, so hid the rose away so that she wouldn’t have a constant reminder of what was unlikely to appear. Decades past until the woman had forgotten about the rose, when a stranger came knocking on her door on a rainy day to ask for directions, there was something that intrigued the woman so that she invited him in to get out of the rain. The pair talked and talked finding out more about each other, falling more for each other the more time they spent together until it came to the time when the man must venture back out on his way. The woman felt so upset at his leaving that she hoped for the first time in years that maybe she had finally found love, so she dug out the rose from its hiding spot and upon seeing that no petals remained the woman ran out of her house and after the gentleman pulling him into a kiss, and they lived happily ever after.
Pol had just looked at it as just another story that their mother told as a way to teach them about love and didn’t see any truth in the story, so when their mother gave him a rose he grew up looking at it as there mother just showing how much she loved them.
However Aleix didn’t see it that way, he hoped that the story held some truth inside it, that one day he might be able to experience truth love as well. So the day that their mother gifted him a rose, Aleix knew exactly what it was and burst into tears before hugging his mother close and thanking her. He just wished that he wouldn’t have to wait as long as the woman in the story.
-----
When Aleix reached his final year at school, his rose still remained in the same pristine condition from the day he received it and although Aleix knew it was unlikely he would meet his soulmate during his school years, he didn’t want to wait much longer.
From a young age the brothers had been riding motorbikes and the older they got the more races they managed to get out to. They were good often winning or battling each other for the race wins, however it didn’t stop the surprise that Aleix received upon returning home from school.
Walking into the kitchen, his father was on the phone to someone looking like they were discussing something important. When his father spotted him, he waved him over and passed him the phone.
“Hello?”
“Is this Aleix?”
“Y…yes”
“Hello Aleix, I am calling on behalf of RACC Caja Madrid, we have a wildcard entry to a 125cc Grand Prix race in Valencia and we have been scouting you for quite sometime and we would like to offer you the chance to ride our bike on the big stage. Would you be interested?”
“Of Course I would, that would be a dream come true! Thank you so much, you won’t regret it”
Aleix felt like all of his dreams came true in that moment, he passed the phone back to his dad to discuss details as he broke out into a massive smile. He didn’t know what excited him the most, the chance to meet all of his idols up close or the chance to finally try and make a name for himself in the sport that meant the world to him.
Once his father had finished the phone call he pulled Aleix into a hug and told him about how proud he was. They decided on talking details when the news had sunk in but his father promised to start planning how they would make it to Valencia.
His mother burst out into tears at hearing the news and also pulled him into a hug whispering about how she knew he would do great things and how he deserved it after all the work he had put into his races.
The one person Aleix wanted to tell the most was his brother, they never kept any secrets from each other and were always there for each other. However Pol was nowhere to be seen, Aleix chalked it off to Pol being out with friends but he couldn’t wait to tell him the good news upon his return.
-----
When Pol finally burst through the front door a couple of hours later, he arrived to see the whole family sat at the dining table waiting for him with their news but Pol had some other news he wanted to share so he didn’t notice their smiles were for something other than their everyday smiles.
“I’ve found her!” Pol exclaimed before anyone else had a chance to speak. At the shocked looks that claimed the other’s faces he continued “I’ve found my soulmate.”
Aleix almost choked on his drink at hearing the words coming out of Pol’s mouth. It wasn’t that Aleix didn’t feel happy for Pol, it just hurt how they always had conversations about their soulmates and Pol never seemed interested at all at the idea. And it hurt even more than Pol had found his before Aleix had found his.
“Well done Pol, How long have you known? who is she? Do we know her?” Oblivious to Aleix’s inner conflict, their mother started her interrogation to find out about her new potential Daughter in law.
“My rose started to loose petals ever since the start of the year and there’s been a new girl called Carlota. I know you told us to keep our roses hidden but I had to know so I took it with me to school and I plucked up the courage to talk to her, she so intelligent and pretty, and afterwards I checked the rose and the last petal had fallen. You would all love her, she’s amazing”
Pol was so overjoyed at his new discovery that Aleix didn’t want to ruin the moment by telling him his news, it could wait. His father looked at him, silently questioning if Aleix was going to tell Pol but he just shook his head knowing his father would understand. He spent the rest of the evening forcing his smile and playing the loving big brother, making sure that whatever his issues his brother wouldn’t have to know about them.
----
It wasn’t until a month before the trip to Valencia that Pol found out about the wildcard ride, and that had only been due to him over hearing a conversation between his parents. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but when they mentioned about how Aleix should be excited but instead he was moping around, Pol couldn’t help but keep listening. He had been so loved up with Carlota that he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with Aleix, he had always smiled and acted the same big brother that he was, so it hurt that he hadn’t noticed any changes no matter how subtle they were.
The more he listened the more confused he was, they were on about Valencia and Wildcards and it didn’t make sense to Pol, who just assumed that they were on about another mini race that Aleix had managed to find for them both to enter like they always did. So he decided to just find out what was going on and made his way up to Aleix’s room.
Knocking on Aleix’s door, Pol waited to hear an answer but there was just silence so he pushed the door open. The sight in front of him left him shocked, Aleix was sat with his rose in front of him with his headphones on, completely unaware of Pol’s presence, and kept swiping his arm across his eyes.
“Aleix?” Pol made sure to approach slowly, so as not to scare his brother but he still jumped upon seeing him and ripped his earphones out, swiping furiously at his eyes to hide that he had been crying.
“Hey Pol, What’s up?” Aleix aimed for acting like nothing unusual was happening.
Pol approached the bed, moving the rose out of the way and sat next to Aleix, pulling him into a hug like Aleix always did to him when something was wrong. “Do you want to talk about it?”
After a few minutes where Aleix still hadn’t spoken Pol knew he was going to have to be the one to start the conversation. “You’ll meet your soulmate. I know that you were the one who believed in love all of these years but you will find them and the day you do will be the best day of your life. If anyone deserves to find love it’s you and I’m going to be there to help you find them.”
Pulling back on their hug, Aleix looked up with a truer smile than the one he had been wearing for the past few weeks. “Thanks Polyccio.”
Seeing his brother looking happier Pol decided that now was the time to ask the question that he really wanted to know. “Why are we going to Valencia?”
Aleix blanched at the question, he’d be so wrapped up in trying to be happy for Pol’s sake that he’d forgot about his own happy event. But now he thought about it he couldn’t help the grin that broke even starting to laugh at his brothers confused face.
“Come on big bro, what am I missing?” As Aleix continued to laugh and ignore his question, Pol reached over and grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and starting whacking his brother with it. “Stop laughing and tell me”
Aleix started to calm down his laughter but the hits kept coming, so once Pol hit him he grabbed the pillow off him and threw it across the room. When Pol made a move to go and get the pillow Aleix wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a hug so he couldn’t move anywhere. When they had been much younger the only way to stop Pol’s strops or playful actions was to pull him into a hug and he calmed immediately.
“Are you going to tell me yet?”
“Fine, I guess I can’t keep it a secret much longer. I got offered a wildcard ride in 125CC Grand Prix in Valencia.”
Upon hearing the words, Pol pulled Aleix into a bigger hug. “That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you! I’m going to be there cheering you on making sure you have everything you need. Then when you become a regular you can help me get a ride as well, the Espargaro brothers are going to take over the championship.”
Bursting into laughter, the two brothers spent the rest of the night talking about MotoGP, about all the riders they will get to meet and all the ways they can make a name for themselves.
The rose sat on the bedside table, forgotten about, waiting for the day not long from now where it could shed its first petal for the older Espargaro’s incoming true love.
----
By the time it came to the race in Valencia, Aleix had been so overwhelmed and excited by the whole experience that he felt he belonged in the hustle and bustle of the paddock and didn’t want to leave again.
The bike was different to what he was used to but in all the tests pre-event had made him feel comfortable. He knew that he probably wouldn’t be far off the back of the results but he wanted to at least show people that he was a talent for the future.
His weekend so far had revolved around him and Pol making themselves familiar with the paddock, even getting the chance to meet riders from the different categories. Any advice that people had been offering, they listened whole heartedly making sure that they would follow it.
On the grid Pol had been doing his best to distract his brother from his nerves by trying to make him laugh about little things. Before Pol left the grid to find their parents he wished him luck and reiterated how proud he was.
The race itself had been pretty uneventful for Aleix, he pushed the bike round, made some good overtaking manoeuvres and managed to finished 24th so at least he wasn’t last.
Some of the riders had invited him out after race, so he spent the next few hours getting to know them and trying to make an effort in case he ever got the chance to race against them in the future. He had seen so many people, he had tried to remember everyone and get autographs off them all.
When Aleix finally made it back to his family’s hotel rooms, the energy of the day was finally wearing off and he was struggling to stay awake. His parents pulled him into a hug and told him about how well he had done, making sure he thanked them for letting him take his opportunity, he bid them goodnight and entered the room he shared with Pol.
Entering the room, he noticed Pol sat on the edge of the bed bouncing his leg, a sign that Aleix had learnt meant Pol had something he was desperate to share with his brother.
“Spit it out Pol”
“I might have done something”
“What mess do I need to clear up?”
“No… No nothing like that.” Taking a deep breathe Aleix settled on the bed next to Pol and waited for an explaination. “You know the other month when I found you crying over your rose.”
This had not been what Aleix had wanted to think about when he had been on such a good high from the day. “I don’t think now is the time to talk about that.”
“No Aleix you don’t understand. I know you hid the rose away in the attic after that day, so I’ve been checking it for you every day just in case.” The shock of the confession hit Aleix hard, he never expected his brother to have noticed let alone been trying to keep his promise of helping him find his soulmate. “I thought that if this was going to be your career then maybe you’d find your soulmate here, so I might have packed the rose in my bag and brought it with me.”
“Pol, I’m grateful that you want to help but there’s so many people that come through a grand prix weekend that even if my some miracle the person was here it doesn’t mean that I would have seen them.”
“But that’s the thing Aleix, you need to look at your rose.” Not understanding where Pol was going, Pol got up and opened the wardrobe door and inside sat Aleix’s rose with a petal laying on the wood next to the vase holding the rose. “You found them Aleix, it was someone you saw today!”
Aleix couldn’t stop staring at the fallen red petal, he’d been waiting so many years to see the sight that it was almost mesmerising. “You definitely didn’t just knock the petal off?” Aleix knew it was a stupid question but he needed to make sure that he wasn’t getting false hope.
“I promise you, it fell all by itself”
“I don’t want to get my hopes up as I saw so many people today and I might not get another chance to be in the paddock so it could be years before I get the chance to meet them. What if this is as close to them as I get?”
Noticing that Aleix was starting to get too overwhelmed by the development, Pol came up behind his brother and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “Don’t think like that, I will find your soulmate if I have to drag them to you. We will be back in this paddock. Now stop worrying about it, you’ve had the best day if I thought you weren’t going to be happy I never would have told you. Think of it as a great end to the best day of your life.”
“Thank you Polyccio.”
----
The next year went fast, Aleix managed to get a full time contract in the 125CC championship. At every race Pol was there supporting him both on and off the track. He was the last one person to wish him look on the grid, he was always in the first to congratulate him on his results and he was always on the lookout for any signs of Aleix’s soulmate.
When the 2006 season started, that the brothers finally started to get a lead on the soulmate front. Aleix had never hid from his brother that he like boys and girls, which had made the search a lot harder as no one was able to be ruled out unless they were already with someone. At the start of the season Pol had started a list of anyone that Aleix seemed to take an interest in, who looked good and who Aleix had never managed to hold a conversation with. Fans had been ruled out as over the past season more petals had fallen at random intervals so it had to be a person that was part of the paddock in some way.
So far the list included a few of the riders who were still in 125 from Aleix’s wildcard, some of the team younger staff in the 125cc class, some of the family members of riders and 1 marshal who had been at least 2 races when the petals fell. It still wasn’t much to go on but it was a start.
By the middle of the year, Pol had managed to secure some rides in 125cc while Aleix had by some miracle secured a bike in 250cc. The brothers put their search on hold while they settled into their respective championships. So after a few more races, Aleix finally searched out the rose again, it was a shock to have found more petals had fallen, especially when most of the people Aleix came across had changed, meaning they had to scrap the list and start again.
This time the list came up a lot shorter and had no restrictions, it was made up of only Spanish riders that were friends of or teammates of the riders that either boy hung out with, as that was the only way they could think of someone being in their lives for the past 2 years without them talking.
However there was only one person on the list that seemed appealing to Aleix. Out of the 6 names on the list, Jorge Lorenzo was the only person that Aleix thought was attractive. Aleix had always been intrigued by the way he kept to himself but always noticed every little thing that happened. Every time he saw Jorge in the paddock, Jorge would nod at him and it blew that the leader in the championship even recognised him as a rider. They had never held a conversation always someone in the way or somewhere they needed to be but Aleix hoped that one day he would get the chance to speak to him.
Each race that passed by Aleix would see Jorge around the paddock more and more, yet never long enough to approach him. He shared his thoughts with Pol who kept trying to find a way for the two to have a conversation so they could get conformation if Jorge was Aleix’s soulmate.
Pol had taken Aleix’s rose as he Aleix’s motorhome always had people about and they didn’t want someone to discover the rose since every person’s is personal. Every time Aleix had mentioned seeing Jorge, Pol would check the rose and each time another petal had fallen, so even if Aleix was still unsure, Pol was convinced that Jorge was the one for his brother.
After the final race of the year had been won, the brothers celebrated with their friends on a good year. All thoughts of soulmates forgotten for the night, until Jorge and his entourage, all drunk, walked past Aleix and Aleix could have sworn he saw Jorge wink at him. Blushing Aleix left to find Pol for a glance at the rose. Informing Pol of the wink, they both inspected the rose to see that there were only 5 petals left.
“Not long now brother!”
----
When the season started again, it was pretty uneventful for both brothers. They were now regular point scorers and were now starting to get used to the routine of not only themselves but their fellow riders. They learnt who would hang out where and with who, but more importantly they found out when and where Jorge had all his media extra commitments since winning the championship last year.
It wasn’t that they were planning on stalking Jorge, just so that they could avoid him until they had figured out a plan for getting him and Aleix to talk. Aleix wasn’t shy but he had been waiting for his soulmate for so long that now he was potentially right in front of him, Aleix was scared of taking the last step in case he embarrassed himself and got the wrong person. Now that the brothers had been investigating Jorge, they had investigated the others and ruled out all the others on their list, so it was either Jorge or bust.
The brothers had flown into China for the Thursday morning, earlier than most of the other riders in the paddock, and were making the most of the emptiness. They were currently laid out in the run off at turn 1, with notebooks in front of them. If anyone looked they were just taking notes on learning the track, breaking points and any other notes people would expect for learning and improving their knowledge of the track, however when no one was in sight they were turned to the back of Pol’s notebook which was reserved for soulmate plans. Aleix had laughed at how organized Pol was but Pol was determined that nothing was going to stop him from getting Aleix together with his soulmate.
What the brothers hadn’t counted on was that Jorge had managed to secure himself an early flight as well so everywhere they looked in the paddock, Jorge had been with either one of the team or one of his friends.
They had originally set up base in the canteen while they got some food but Jorge had made his entrance and sat at one of the tables nearby. So the brothers had quickly changed their conversation to one about family and ate their food faster than normal so that they could find somewhere else to talk. It was too hot to spend the day talking in their hotel room and none of the garages would be available to both brothers until race day when they sometimes made it into the others garage now that they were in different categories. The next logical place seemed the track as they could make it look like they were thinking about the bikes and no one would be able to hover without making it obvious.
With the flower down to just two petals before they had flown out, it was almost certain that by the end of the weekend it would be down to one and then the meeting was almost imminent. Pol wanted to make a plan for Aleix so that it was the perfect meeting that his brother deserved but if the past couple of years had taught him anything it was that Aleix wasn’t going to be making the first move, it would have to be the soulmate. So what he didn’t tell Aleix was that he had a second plan inplace that he would instigate instead.
“Aleix you’re staring at him again” Jorge had made his way onto the track around 15 minutes after the brothers with one of his mates and they were had been cycling laps around the track, however they didn’t look like they were going to finish anytime soon. Every time Aleix thought that Pol wasn’t looking he watched as Jorge biked towards then and round the corner before disappearing to the next part of the track but he obviously wasn’t as secretive with his glances as he thought he was.
“I’m not staring, just observing everyone who goes round”
“Yeah right, you didn’t even look up when Alvaro shouted hello on his way past”
“I know I just want to know if it’s him or not and it’s not helping that everywhere I look he seems to be there.”
“Well you only have one more chance at looking before you have to talk to them whether its Jorge or not.”
“Sometimes I wish I had your courage to just go and strike up a conversation and find out.”
“When the times right you will, that’s why we’re planning so you don’t have to worry about a thing. You’ve always been there to help me so let me help you with this.”
----
When the evening started to come to life with more riders, Pol and Aleix had split off to find other company for the night for a catch up before all the serious race preparations began.
What Aleix didn’t know was that Pol had decided that tonight was the night he was going to put his plan in action and speak to Jorge on his brothers behalf.
While Aleix and his mates had gone off to one of the motorhomes, Pol and his friends had made their way to one of the communal canteens that had been set up. It just so happened that they were in the same area that Jorge and his mates were currently situated in.
After eating and joking with his fellow riders, Pol excused himself and made his way towards where Jorge was seated. Upon getting closer, the table that had been laughing at something started to quieten down as the noticed Pol approaching.
Taking a deep breath Pol readied himself, he was doing this for Aleix and nothing was going to stop. “Hey Jorge, you got a minute?”
The elder Spaniard almost had a look of being impressed but before he could answer one of his mates spoke up, not looking impressed at the interruption “What would you want to talk to Jorge about?”
Pol hadn’t taken his eyes off Jorge, knowing he wasn’t about to back down “Well I could just blurt it out for the whole paddock to hear but I’m sure Jorge wants to keep this one private.” That seemed to all he needed to say for the table to erupt in laughter about Jorge’s latest secret and a bigger smirk to grace Jorge’s lips.
“You got guts, kid. Come on” Jorge got up and started walking out of the area and once Pol shook the shock out of his system followed.
When they finally stopped it was down near the medical centre which was always the quietest part of the paddock when there was no action on track.
“I’m not a kid, so don’t talk like I am” Pol wanted to clear up the point before getting onto what he needed to say.
“I know you’re not, Pol”
“I’ve been …. Wait you know who I am?”
Jorge snorted before composing himself to reply “Of course I know who you are. You’re Aleix’s brother.”
“So you do recognise my brother. You know the one who you always look at when he’s not watching, the one you wink at when you’re drunk, the one you always seem to find where he is and the one you have badly been trying to keep an eye on all weekend. He may not have noticed all the small things but I do.”
“So maybe I have. Are you here to try and get me to stay away from him? Do the whole stay away from my brother or else?”
“No I want you to do the complete opposite and actually approach him rather than creeping around in the shadows”
“You really do have balls”
“And you obviously don’t or you’d have manned up and spoke to him by now.”
Pol was watching Jorge’s face closely trying to make out whether he had made a mistake but Jorge’s face had remained in his signature smirk the whole time, not letting any emotion show on his face.
“So why hasn’t he approached me? Why are you the one telling me to say something and not him, if it’s that important that we talk?”
“You know exactly why it’s important and I’m sure you know what I’m on about or you wouldn’t be doing such a poor job of spying on him. Aleix never puts his happiness before everyone else’s and that why he’s too scared to approach you in case it backfires. I’m here because I care for my brother, I’m pretty sure you do to and that’s why I’m here to tell you to make a move or you won’t ever have him.”
With that Pol turned around and walked off, not stopping until he reached his shared hotel room where Aleix was already asleep, and let out a deep breath hoping that they were right about Jorge and he had not just embarrassed himself or his brother.
----
Throughout the rest of the weekend, Aleix knew something had happened even if he couldn’t figure out what it was. Pol was quieter and almost jumpy whenever Aleix asked him a question about what was wrong, just shrugging him off. The other thing he noticed was that Jorge never seemed to be around quite as frequent. When Aleix was with Pol, Jorge was nowhere to be seen but when he was with friends Jorge was always conveniently nearby.
He had not had much chance to try and do any investigating due to all the practise sessions, qualifying and even the race. After the race, Aleix would usually go out for drinks with Pol and other riders but they had all made their excuses so he was left on his own.
Pulling out his headphone, Aleix decided he wasn’t ready to turn in for the night but didn’t want to socialise with anyone else. So he started walking, not really knowing where he was heading, just walking wherever his feet would take him. The where turned out to be out on one of the tyre walls at the end of the start straight.
Aleix quite liked the quiet that came after all the stress of race weekends. Plus it was the only time where he could be alone with his thoughts without the worries of anyone disturbing him.
It wasn’t until much later when Aleix had nearly started to fall asleep, that he spotted a figure approach him. Getting ready to run if it turned out to be a marshall, Aleix pulled out his headphones and sat ready to pounce, when he started to see the figure more closely.
“You do know it’s off limits to be out on track after the race?”
“Then why are you out here, surely you don’t want to risk any penalties ruining your bid for another championship.” Aleix couldn’t believe it, all this time worrying about what to say to Jorge and they were here talking about penalties.
“I figured it was worth the risk.” Jorge jumped up onto tyre wall next to Aleix and got himself comfortable.
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here instead of celebrating your win.”
“It’s not like there won’t be other wins, besides can’t a guy just come and see how you are?” At Aleix’s disproving look, he continued “Alright Pol told me where I could find you; he said you usually end up on track when you look for peace and quiet”
“Why would Pol tell you where I was? It’s not like we’ve ever spoke before” Aleix wanted to be happy he was finally getting the chance to talk to Jorge but he couldn’t get passed the fact that Pol had been scheming behind his back and this was obviously the reason he had been so jumpy all weekend.
“Maybe he’s just looking out for you. Just because we haven’t talked doesn’t mean that I haven’t tried. You’re hard to find when you’re on your own.” The bravado that Jorge gave off around the paddock seemed to have disappeared and instead replaced with a more caring attitude.
“Is that why everyone’s suddenly too busy or too tired tonight? So you could get me on my own?” Aleix was scanning Jorge’s face trying to make sense of what the other Spaniard was telling him.
“No, the credit for that goes to Pol. He said it was all part of his master plan to finally get us talking.”
“I don’t think this is quite the conversation he had in mind but I guess it worked.”
“Admit it; you’re actually really happy that he set us up.” Jorge had gone back to his default smirk as he watched Aleix blush and bow his head aware from Jorge’s gaze.
“Maybe just a little bit” Aleix whispered, unsure of himself but Jorge nudged their shoulders together and made sure they were now sat as close as possible.
“Then I guess we better thank him, next time we see him. I got a feeling this could be the start of something beautiful.”
----
Aleix and Jorge had spoken for what seemed like hours, finally getting the chance to get to know each other more personally. By the end of their conversation, their sides were touching from shoulders to toes and Jorge even held Aleix’s hand in his own.
Once they finally decided to call it a night, the rest of the paddock was deserted with no people in sight. Jorge, ever the gentleman, insisted on walking Aleix back to his hotel so that he knew the younger lad would be safe.
When they reached the hotel, Aleix turned to face Jorge “I’m really happy you came to find me tonight, I’ve had such a good night. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, hopefully we can do it again soon” Jorge pulled Aleix towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, not wanting to be too forward. “Goodnight Aleix”
“Goodnight Jorge” And with that Jorge walked away and disappeared off into the night.
It took a few minutes for Aleix to gather himself, before he started running back to his room. All night the topic of Soulmates had been avoided but Aleix had to know if Jorge was the one.
Upon reaching his and Pol’s room he quickly pulled out his key card and entered the room. Pol was laid out on his bed, flicking through tv channels but stopped upon seeing Aleix’s entrance.
“Had a good night?” Pol snickered at the blush developing on Aleix’s face.
Catching his breath, Aleix didn’t reply to Pol. He had one thing on his mind, he had to check his rose. Grabbing the wardrobe doors, he pulled it open and started rummaging through all his clothes to find where he had stored it.
“Looking for something?” Pol smirked at Aleix’s antics.
“I need to check my rose.” Aleix spotted the green stem of the rose and started to pull it out “Got it.”
Pol came closer so he was right behind Aleix, wanting to know the end result as much as his brother. As the rose finally came into view, both brothers were shocked to see that it still had one petal stuck to the stem.
“Aleix, I’m so sorry. I really thought it was Jorge.” Pol wrapped his arms around his brother and pulled him close as the tears started to fall down Aleix’s cheeks. The shakes that wrecked Aleix’s body, lead to more tears and all Pol could do was hold his brother, whispering sweet nothings to try to console his brother.
Unbeknown to the brothers, one of Aleix’s tears rolled off his cheeks, hitting the finally petal and causing it to fall to the floor.
Eventually Aleix’s tears started to dry up, and Pol moves to take the rose out of Aleix’s hands, when something catches his eye. The last petal lays at Aleix’s feet, completely separate from the stem.
“Aleix look!”
Aleix opened his eyes and looked to where Pol was pointing. He froze in his spot, staring, unsure if this was some kind of dream. Shaking himself out of shock, he picked up the flower and held it in the centre of his palm.
“It’s him Pol, It’s him. I finally found my soulmate”
Without warning the tears started again, this time for both brothers, only this time they were tears of happiness they had finally made Aleix’s dreams come true.
----
Monday morning rolled around and Aleix had one thing he wanted to do before he got on his flight back to Spain. He’d woken up with one aim, talk to Jorge, but to do that he had to locate him.
Aleix had been in the canteen for nearly an hour trying to draw out his breakfast in case Jorge showed up but no such look. Next he walked around the paddock trying to spot him but still nothing. He even spotted members of Jorge’s entourage and some of the riders that hung out with Jorge, but Jorge wasn’t with any of them.
Aleix didn’t want to give up but he had run out of ideas of where to find Jorge, so with a sign he resigned himself to having to talk to Jorge and the next race.
“Looking for someone?” Aleix almost had a heart attack when he heard Jorge’s voice behind him. Turning to face Jorge, Aleix saw him leant against one of the walls between buildings with another of his trademark smirks plastered on his face. “You’ve been all over the place this morning, they must be pretty important”
“Maybe they are…. Wait have you been spying on me all morning?”
“I wouldn’t call it spying more observing.”
“And like what you see?”
“Maybe if you were a little closer so I could get a better look.”
Aleix took a deep breathe deciding this was his last chance to walk away but dismissed the thought and walked up so that he was in the shadows with Jorge.
“Yes I defiantly like what I see, I could get used to seeing this sight all the time.”
Aleix ducked his head to hid his blush, when he felt Jorge’s fingertips at his chin, guiding his face back up to look at his. Jorge studied Aleix’s face checking for any sign that he was about to get rejected but when he found none, he leaned in and kissed Aleix. Aleix felt Jorge putting his everything into the kiss and all Aleix could do was kiss him back just as passionately.
Pulling back, Jorge rested his forehead against Aleix’s. Smiling at each other, Jorge ran his fingers over Aleix’s cheek before stopping so that he was cupping Aleix’s jaw.
“I’m glad we’re soulmates Aleix”
“Me too”