#the la masia kids my goodness :’)

[archivingbarca]

_rl9: Friday 🤗

(ig, 26/04/24)

[me-loving-woso]

The Aftermath

Hello Tumblr and Hello readers.

This is Part 3 of Monthly visits. I really hope you enjoy it. I’m already working on Part 4, so hopefully you won’t have to wait that much. Does this part end in a cliffhanger? Yes. Am I sorry about it? No.

Let me know if I should continue this series. Hope you enjoy this!

The past few days have been incredibly challenging for you. Ava's room was finally finished, so you had to help her move to the room and Lucia finally decided to join La Masia, so you went with her to sign the contract.

Things with Alexia have been really in a weird place. You still remember vividly your conversation with her that day after she called for a break.

"So you want a break from me or the kids?" You ask, nearly crying, changing your position on the bed to sitting, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know, okay! These past few weeks have been overwhelming; I thought I could handle it. Then, Mom began talking about holidays and Christmas, and I guess I didn't think about it before? I don't know, it feels like my life has been changing so much, and I can't keep up anymore." She says clearly, in a very anxious state. "And above all of this, there is the World Cup, and I have all this pressure put on me, and I just want to disappear." She gets out sobbing, making your heartbreak. 

"Hey, hey, look at me." You gently take her face, turning it to you, wiping away her tears. "Since when has this been going on?"

"Since I got called up for the World Cup."

"So two months ago." You say more to yourself. "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"You had already been dealing with your problems; I didn't want to add to anything."

"You are not a problem to me, okay? If you are happy, I am happy. If you are sad, I am sad. Whatever you need, I'll always be with you. I love you. And I know I don't say it much, but I probably should have. I love you." You began leaving small kisses on her face, trying to kiss away the tears, "What do you need?"

"I need not feel so broken and out of control of my feelings." She says, keeping her gaze down.

"It's alright to feel broken every once in a while, and it's alright to feel out of control. If you need time, I can give it to you. I'd rather lose you for a while than for the rest of my life. I'd wait a thousand lifetimes for you because you are worth waiting for. So when you are ready. I'll be right here." Your eyes start to water, too, as you understand what this entails. You shift on your bed, hugging her. 

"I love you so much, Alexia. I don't know what I would do without you. You really changed my life for the better. You are the love of my life. The only person I imagine spending my life with. And I swear to God, or whatever is up there, that one day I'm going to marry you, and I'll finally feel like I deserve your love."

"You know, you never said that."

"What?"

"That you wanted to marry me." She smiles shyly, keeping her head on your shoulder, hiding in the crook of your neck.

"Of course I do. I can't wait to be your wife and call you that." You pause, taking a deep breath, making her move her head to look at you. "But before that, you must focus on yourself and be good and happy. I want a happy wife, okay? Not the depressed ones you see in the movies that drink an absurd amount of wine and pass out. I want you to be happy. And if, eventually, I am not part of that happiness, I still want to see you happy." She nods, giving you a light kiss on your hand. "I want you to have fun at the World Cup and kick ass, okay? If you ever need me, I'm a phone call away."

That night was the last time you saw her. You told yourself you wouldn't call or look at her Instagram; it would be too painful. So you decided to distract yourself, of course, still having as first priority the kids. 

-

The first thing you did was go to the pitch. You decided to take Lucia and Ava with you, the older girl was about to start the season in Barcelona B, and you couldn't be happier for her. 

You were practicing free kicks and penalties. You and Lucia were in a clear competition while Ava was just there having fun with the ball. After a while, Ava got bored, so she decided to stay on the sidelines in the shadow playing some games on your phone, which left you and Lucia on the pitch.

"Where is Alexia, by the way? I haven't seen her all morning." She asks out of the blue, catching you off guard.

"She left for the World Cup." You reply coldly, quickly passing the ball from one foot to the other, then shooting hard to the goal post, scoring a top bin.

"Aren't they leaving in like two days?" She replies, clearly not getting the point.

"Aren't you asking a lot of questions?" You glare at her, then realize that your tone slightly hurt Lucia. "I'm really sorry, Lucia. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"No problem, I'm used to it anyways." She rolls her eyes, closing off, then walks away.

You were feeling guilty; you really didn't want to hurt her feeling, so you told her the truth, "She left."

"What?" She turns around, looking at you. 

You take a deep breath, "She left me."

"Wait, what? You broke up?" She says, shocked at the revelation, fully turning her body to you, taking a step towards you.

"I don't know. I'm sorry I snapped at you; you took me off guard with the question, and I still haven't fully processed it."

"It's okay. I just overreacted." She pauses. "I'm really sorry about Alexia. Do you need a hug?" She asks awkwardly.

You chuckle. "No. It's better not. If you will, I'll start crying. And I am an ugly crier, especially when it comes to Alexia. And I don't think none of us want to experience that."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I will be." You release a shaky exhale. "Now, let's go back home. Ava here is getting too bored." You wrap your arm around Lucia's shoulder and take her to her sister.

-

As you get back home, you decide to go and take a shower, and there you silently cry until no tears are left. You then change into something comfy and go outside to your garden, trying to get some fresh air, and for the first time during the day, you check your phone. There were multiple missed calls from Alba and one from one of your best friends, Mapi. You knew that you had to call back both women, so you opted to go first with Alba. You knew it would be a sad call and hoped that calling Mapi after would cheer you up.

Spoiler Alert: It didn’t.

You take a deep breath and call Alba; she almost immediately picks up.

"Y/n, are you okay?" Alba asks almost immediately, quite sadly. You really didn't want her to pity you.

"You already know the answer, Alba." You smile sadly, "How is she?" You couldn't not ask about her; even though you tried to keep some distance, you still wanted to know how she was doing.

"She is miserable and guilty but knows she must focus on herself now."

"Did you tell her she doesn't have to feel guilty?"

“Y/n.” She replies sternly. "She might be my sister, but that doesn't mean I must agree with everything she does."

"Alba, we know how your sister deals with the pressure and anxiety. Alexia has always been very sensitive. She doesn't deal well with that kind of thing; when she was younger, she had her father and football that kept her going on and deal with the pressure. Now she only has football. You can't take that away from her."

"But she can take you out of her life?"

"That is an unfair question." You clench your jaw, trying to keep at bay your own feelings.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry."

"Just know that I only want what is best for your sister, and if she really wants to, she will return; I really hope she will."

"She will." She says a little too sternly. "Or else she won't hear the end of it from me and Mom."

"Just please, stay with her, support her, and care for her. She needs it now more than ever for this World Cup."

You soon end the call after that, and after taking a minute to ground yourself, you call your best friend. She, too, picks up very quickly.

“Y/N!” She screams in your ear excitedly, .

"How was Norway? Did you already come back? Are you already in Barcelona?" You reply as excited as you can, given the circumstances.

"Norway isn't that bad; I missed Barcelona though; Ingrid made it worth it. How are you? How's Alexia?" You could feel her smile through the phone. 

"Mapi, you have been away for a month; I have some news to share, big news, actually."

"Oh my God, did you get engaged?" She replies excitedly; without making your reply, she continues, "Oh my God, I'm so happy for you guys! And yes, of course, I will be your maid of honor, and yes, of course, I already planned your bachelorette par-"

"Maria calmate, I didn't get engaged." You reply sadly while feeling utterly sick to your stomach from the sadness of the situation.

"Then what is the big news to share?"

"I think I need to tell you in person about it."

"Oh, you can't leave me hanging like that!"

"Come over, and I'll tell you." You say, nearly reaching your point of total exasperation, you knew she wouldn't budge, but you also knew it was best to tell her in person that you have children now.

"A small hint?"

Losing your patience from your long day, you went straight to the point, "I adopted two children, and Alexia and I are on a break." You say, feeling a knot closing your throat.

"Ha ha, a good joke; tell me the truth."

"Mapi, I'm not joking." You say while your voice is wavering. She never heard you cry.

"I'm coming over." With that, she closes the call leaving you with a small tear running down your cheek.

You go inside and find the two girls watching something on TV.

"So girls, change of plans; a friend of mine is coming over, so you will meet them."

"Is it someone from the team?" Lucia asks.

You nod, "Guess."

"I know you are friends with Mapi; is it her?" Ava says excitedly.

"Yes, it is her, but that doesn't change anything. Bedtime is always at the same time." 

"But-"She tries to find an excuse, but you interrupt her, "No buts, you will definitely see more of her, so don't worry." She lightly pouts, reminding you of Alexia and how she uses the same facial expression. 

When you hear the doorbell ring, you open the door, finding your best friend in front of you for the first time in a month. You share a hug, then she asks, "So what happened? What is all this about?" Trying to make sense of what you said in the phone call. "Or was this a way to make me come over?" She gives you a mischievous smirk.

"Even though I missed you, it's not. I'll let you meet the kids, and we can talk later, okay?"

"So it wasn't a joke?" You shake your head, annoyed, "Then this 'talk' will take a while.”

She enters your home and makes her meet the girls. In the beginning, Ava was very shy, hiding a little behind you. But, as soon as Mapi began asking for her attention, she gladly gave it to her. Whereas Lucia was trying to keep it cool. 

Your teammate, in the meantime, was giving the older girl a weird look as if she was trying to remember something. 

"Do I know you from somewhere?" She asks, mostly rhetorically. Your friend had a memory of steel. "Wait, you were the girl that won the meet and greet."

Lucia shyly nods.

"I remember you because you were the first kid I met after joining Barcelona. You were so excited to meet your favorite players. But then, when you found out that Alexia and Y/n weren't there, you were so sad." She chuckled. "You must be happy living with your favorite player now." She says while looking at her smirking and then glancing at you.

"Oh yeah, they never shut up about Alexia. It's so annoying." You chuckle, crossing your arms, looking at both girls as if you unveiled one of their secrets.

"Oh no, if I'm not wrong, Alexia wasn't your favorite player," You could see Lucia changing expression in one instance, trying to communicate with Mapi to stop talking, she was shaking her head, widening her eyes. She was embarrassed, and you could see it from miles away. "Your favorite player was Y/n Y/ln." She chuckles. 

You turn around facing her, utterly shocked, wearing a proud smirk.

"She couldn't stop talking about how much she loved to see you play and how she couldn't wait for you to win the Champions League. It was quite cute, actually."

 "Now. Now. Lucia. Now that I have this information, you know you'll never hear the end of it, right?" You chuckle a little, making the girl slightly blush from the embarrassment but quickly recovering.

"You really had to say it?" Lucia asks Mapi, shaking her head. 

"Of course she did! Do you want an autograph?" You joke.

"Oh my God! Stop it!" She says, smiling, clearly not enjoying your teasing.

"Lucia, pay some respect to your favorite player!" Mapi retorts, then she bursts out laughing.

"Yeah, Lucia! Pay some respect. In this household, we don't condone this disrespect, especially when talking about your idols." You finish the teasing while she rolls her eyes, "Moving on, who's up for some food?" You ask, turning to the three girls around you. 

You decided to order pizza again; you really had to begin doing some serious grocery shopping. 

You were so happy that your best friend met the two girls that you loved so much, and you were even more delighted when you saw that they got along great; it was nearly perfect. Only a person missed for it to be perfect. 

That night you played games together, and when it was time to go to bed, Ava apprehensively went to bed after some convincing.

"I think I'm going to bed, too," Lucia said soon after her sister left for her room.

"You know you don't have to; if you want, you can stay with us." You offer.

"Nah, don't worry. I'm tired, and I have some episodes that I have to catch up with." She says, heading to her room. "Goodnight!" She says, while you and Mapi reply in the same way. 

-

After a month of not seeing each other, you were left alone with your best friend.

"So, the girls are great!" She says, clearly trying to begin all the explanations you had to give her.

"Before I begin explaining everything, I need a drink." You go to your kitchen, open the first bottle of wine, and then go outside with your friend.

You sit at the table, basically downing your glass of wine. You took a deep breath then you began explaining everything to her. First, how you met the kids and what made you adopt them, then you talked about what happened with Alexia, reserving some of the most private details.

"She told me she needed a break because she was getting too overwhelmed, and of course, I let her."

"She's an idiot. She'll come to her senses, believe me. You and her work so well together; it's almost annoying. I don't think I could ever see you guys break up." You knew that she would be sad about Alexia leaving you, as she was the person that indirectly put you two together in the first place. 

"Me too. But I guess nothing good ever works out perfectly." You reply sadly, looking at your glass of wine just poured. "I even bought a ring; I would propose after the World Cup. I had everything planned. Our honeymoon, the wedding date, everything. I'm so delusional." You realize, sadly.

"Hey, hey, Y/n, you are not delusional." She reassures you, taking your hand. You look up at her with glassy eyes, looking at her skeptically. "She wants the same things as you do. It might not seem like it right now, but you'll have your happy ending in the future."

"You know what I hate about all of this? The fact I still don't know what made her decide to want to leave me. Is it me? The kids? She said she couldn't deal with the constant pressure anymore, but what made her change her mind about me? Fuck! Am I not enough? In those three years that we've been together, we've gone through so much, from dealing with my own shit to her ACL; I thought that what we had was good, great even. I thought that taking the next step would be the best thing, you know, she would give me hints too that she was waiting for the proposal. So I thought she was sure about us, but I guess I was wrong? I don't know. I really don't know." You sniff, trying to keep in tears, then you quickly backtrack. "I'm really sorry; I shouldn't be dumping you like that; I know I am talking about one of your best friends too."

"No, Y/n, you can talk to me about it. You are one of my best friends too, okay? And I'm here for you. For whatever you need. And now that you have kids. Thanks for telling me right away, by the way," She remarks ironically, earning a chuckle from you, "I'll be the best aunt they ever had."

"I know you will." You give her a faint smile.

--

--

From your talk with Mapi, you realized one thing, which is that the kids should be your first priority, and everything else would come second. 

You tried to deal with Alexia leaving after three years of relationship, in many ways. Normal people would think that you went to therapy, as this whole situation was making your abandonment issues from your parents surf up, but instead, you coped differently: watching Grey's Anatomy, the first seasons obviously. 

That show was oddly comforting for you, for many people, such as Alexia, were adamant about watching it at first. You tried to convince her to watch it for three years, but she never budged. So now that she is gone, you thought it was the best time to watch it again. You usually watch it after Ava’s bedtime. You would put it on your TV for a couple of episodes. Initially, you didn't go in order; you just watched the most painful episodes. In all of this, Lucia would be like Alexia; she would roll her eyes when you watched the show and then go and mind her own business. You often offered her to come and watch it with you, but she wouldn't; you jokingly called her a girl full of prejudice, while she replied that she wasn't as lame and soft as you. But you could definitely see her stealing some glances at the show. 

What you didn't know was that Lucia and Mapi were keeping in touch. A phone call happened, and Lucia told your best friend that you began watching the show; needless to say, Mapi was concerned because she knew that you only watched the show when you were on the verge of a mental breakdown. She told Lucia that she would be coming over soon, as she left town for a couple of days. But you still didn't know that.

That left you one night while you were watching a really intense episode. Lucia came out of the kitchen, passing through the living room, trying to get to her room, but she suddenly stopped looking at the screen. "Wait. Where is the brunette? The best friend of Meredith, I think. Wasn't she supposed to be in the show from day one?"

"She left," you replied, not taking your eyes away from the screen.

"Wait. What?" She says surprised, taking a seat next to you. You gave her a pillow.

"Yep."

"Is it okay if you put an episode from the beginning?" She asks shyly. You beam at her and switch on to the first episode.

And that is how Lucia began watching Grey's Anatomy. And what shocked you the most was that she was an emotional kid, and she got really invested really quickly, but what was funny was that she tried to hide it, but she never managed to do it properly, silently sobbing when characters died.

A week after, you were so invested that you watched it in all of your free time. You knew that it wasn't healthy. Especially for you, but it looked like she was enjoying herself, so who were you to stop her from watching something she loved. 

That day you were watching the bomb episode; Ava left with Nico to get some stuff for his shop, leaving you and Lucia with time to kill, so you put on the show, and both decided you were up for a show marathon. As you got up to get some water for the both of you, you heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Mapi, what are you doing here?" You ask happily, being surprised you were seeing your friend without her telling you beforehand.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, why?" You ask her, clearly hiding the fact that you were watching Grey's Anatomy.

"You are watching Grey's Anatomy again, right?"

"No, I am not!" You say defensively.

"Stop bullshitting me, Y/n. Do you remember after we lost the Champions League last year against Lyon? You began watching that freaking show because you thought it could bring you some comfort, but instead, it made it worst!" 

"That's not true!" You bark, even though you know it is the truth. "And you can't barge in like this, into my home unannounced, making wrongful claims." 

"Lucia told me to come."

"And since when you and Lucia talk?"

"Since the night we met, so where is she?"

"Oh, you'll love what you are about to see." You chuckle, taking her to the living room.

When she saw Lucia watching the show, her face was adorned with the most disgusted and offended look.

"Lucia?" She says, making her turn around quickly, giving her a guilty expression.

"Okay, this is not what it looks like. It's-It's Y/n's fault."

"Oh don't blame me! I didn't force you." You say, showing the palms of your hands.

"Okay, you two. We are going out. The both of you. We are going on the pitch; get ready. Where is Ava?"

"With Nico." You reply. 

"Tell him we'll be out for at least two hours."

As you get in the car with Mapi, she keeps her eyes on the road without giving you another glance. Leaving Lucia and you with an awkward silence.

As she gets to the parking lot of the training grounds, she makes you exit the car and turns to Lucia. "Have you already been here?"

"Yeah, Y/n takes me at least once a week." 

Mapi looks at you surprised while you comment proudly, "Mark my words, she's going to be the future of Barça." Lucia blushes lightly, staring at the ground.

"I'm not that good." She says, nearly whispering.

"Don't you dare underestimate yourself! At your age, I was not even near as good as you. And you didn't even start training! Imagine then." She curls her lips in a small smile, heading to the entrance of the pitch.

"Did Y/n tell you about how we got the keys to this place?"

"Oh yeah!" Lucia chuckles, "She told me that you got drunk and wanted the keys, and Alexia had to save you."

"So, are we also changing this story?" Mapi asks you accusatively, making you sigh.

"Okay, maybe I embellished it a little." You grin guiltily.

"So what happened?" 

"She was the drunk one!" Pointing the finger at you while you rest your forehead on your hand, shaking your head, not looking at Mapi. "And then, with some excuse that I don't even remember she lured us into helping her get the keys. Needless to say, she couldn't keep quiet, so her plan went to shit. She couldn't think properly because she was very drunk. She called Alexia, who was partying with the other girls because we had just won our first Champions, crying."

"I wasn't crying."

"You were sobbing because you couldn't figure out where the keys were, even though you claimed you knew where they were. And then Alexia came to the pitch, worried sick, and helped us find them. Which is something I would have never expected her to do."

"Well, she definitely told me another story." Lucia chuckles.

"Well, okay, I may have skipped some of the most lame parts of the story because it was the second time I saw you, and I wanted to not sound too lame." You reply, a little embarrassed.

She places her hand on your shoulders and smiles at you. "But you are lame."

"How dare you talk like that to your football idol?!" You say, faking being offended.

"I can, and I will!" She begins running to the pitch while you follow behind her trying to catch her. Spoiler alert: you couldn't. That girl was fast. Too fast.

After a little while, you both stop, taking a break. You put on your shoes and begin passing the ball to each other in a triangle. Then you leave Mapi and Lucia to play alone while you sit on the grass, smiling at their interactions.

-

You were more than halfway through July, meaning the World Cup was about to start. Even though you decided not to participate, you still told yourself you would watch all the Spain games. You had friends and teammates in that squad and wanted to support them. You and Mapi had the same idea, so you hosted a little get-together with other Spanish teammates who didn't attend the World Cup. Of course, you chose to tell all of your teammates about the kids and the adoption but refrained from talking about the Alexia thing. Initially, they were shocked that you had two children now, but then they were very happy for you. 

So you found yourself on the day of Costa Rica against Spain, with many people in your home, all commenting random shit on TV. You were wearing your old Spain shirt with the number 10 behind it, while Lucia and Ava wanted to wear Alexia's. You let Ava wear one of the old shirts Alexia gave you at the beginning of your relationship with her. While with Lucia, you basically forced her to wear a Spain shirt with your name on it, claiming that "You have to wear the shirt of your favorite player, and you are lucky enough that you live with her." You loved teasing Lucia about the fact that you were her favorite player, and loved even more her annoyed reactions.

The two girls looked too cute, making your heart swell. So you posted a story on your Instagram showing the two backs of the shirts and the tv behind, with no caption. You still had to wait for everybody to come when you received a text from Alexia. 

'Love the fits ;).'

You reply almost instantly, with your fingers trembling, as it was the first time you spoke to her since she left that night. 'They look so cute in it!'

‘I still don't know how you convinced Lucia to wear one of your jerseys, though…’

‘Long story’ You simply reply. This conversation confused you, as she wanted to keep talking to you. At the same time, she was the one that wanted a break, but you kept on replying to her, as you really missed talking to her. 

'You'll tell me when I get back?'

You are about to reply when you hear a knock on the door, so you leave your phone on the table in your living room and go to the door. Mapi, Sandra Paños, Patri, and Claudia quickly enter your home, clearly looking for something.

"Nice picture you put up on your insta." Mapi remarks, "People are going to ask why you have two kids on your story and why you were watching a Spain game when you were part of the 15 people that refused to participate in the selecciòn."

"Make them talk about the kids; I'll discuss everything with Lucia in the future. And for the story, I'll just say it was in support of Alexia and nothing more, which is true." You explain to your best friend. 

"So, where are the kids?" Sandra, the goalkeeper, asks you.

"They are in the living room."

After your teammates meet the two girls, you all order pizza and wait for the game to start. 

You picked up your phone and saw that Alexia sent two other texts to you.

'Wish me luck (luck-clover emoji).'

'I miss you.'

You released a shaky exhale and decided not to reply; it was hurting you too much to respond to any of it. It was unfair of her to send you that last text, and it wasn't fair to you to reply.

During the game, when Alexia did something remarkable, as always, your friends, who were clueless about your break with her, would always make little comments about her and you, which you would shrug off, but Mapi and Lucia immediately understood that they were making you a little sad.

Spain managed to win that game by a very narrow margin. 1-0. You knew that they could've won by much more. You could see that by how they played, something was missing. Alexia's performance was clearly below her average, which made you low-key very worried. You see them return to the changing room, and then you switch off the tv. All the people in the room began talking and joking with one another, mainly focusing on the two kids that you had in your home; okay, a kid and a teenager, but for you, Lucia will always be a kid.

After a while, you receive another text from Alexia, making you feel bad that you weren't replying to them. Which she wrote

'You all were right about Jorge. I should have stayed home.'

You reply to this text, saying, 'I'm sorry, Alexia. He's an asshole.'

What actually had shaken you up from the text wasn't the fact that Jorge probably verbally abused many of your friends and teammates from your national team, which still made you angry as shit, but actually was that she said that she should have stayed home. Was she saying that she regretted going to the World Cup? Or was she regretting leaving you? 

Mapi realized you were having inner turmoil and dragged you to your kitchen, asking what was happening. You showed her your phone, and she looked at you surprised.

"Since when has she been texting you?"

"Since today." You put away your phone, "I just don't get what she is doing. What she wants from me. And I know for sure that she is going through worse than me. But this is fucking torture, and the worse thing is that she doesn't even realize it."

Mapi didn't have the time to reply that a very tired Ava came to the kitchen searching for you.

"Mo-, Y/n, I'm tired."

"Do you want to get to bed?" You ask her smiling as you know the subsequent request that she will make. Over the weeks that she stayed at your home, you started giving her piggyback rides to the bed, making her fall into her bed, earning a laugh from her. Then you would tuck her bed sheets, giving her a good night.

She slowly nods, raising her arms and making grabby hands. You chuckle at her and turn around, waiting for her to jump on your back.

You put her to bed, give her goodnight with a kiss on the forehead, and return to the chaos in the living room.

You found your teammates and Lucia outside in your garden, sat down on the couches, actively talking about random stuff that you didn't even want to know about. You went out and sat down next to Lucia and took part in the conversations that were happening.

"Now Lucia, I have a really important question for you." Sandra begins, making the young girls sit up straight, a little worried. "How's living with Y/n?" Making all the people at the table chuckle apart from you. "I ask you this because when this woman here moved in with Alexia, we were really worried for Nala. And also because she has never once made a plant live for at least more than a week."

"Okay, this statement is very wrong. A, I am a great dog mom, Nala loves me, and B, I only ever owned one plant, and I hate taking care of them." You say, clearly, nobody was listening to you but were waiting for Lucia's answer.

"Honestly, she has been very good to us." She replies shyly. "She took us in when nobody asked her to, and honestly, she has been more of a mom to me this past month than my mother has ever been in sixteen years."

You look at her, eyes watering, really shocked about her statement. You give her a small smile, "Stop it, you will make me cry." You chuckle while removing with your fingers the tears forming in your eyes.

"Who would've thought that Y/n was such a softie!" Claudia teases you while you give her a deadly stare.

"Shut up, Claudia." The other girls at the table chuckle softly, then you turn to Lucia, "I'm really happy you feel that way." You hug her, and you give her a small kiss on the temple.

"If you will excuse me, I'm going to bed now; remember that tomorrow we have training." She reminds you, you slowly nod at her, and then she turns to your teammates, "It was so nice meeting you all; I hope I'll see you again sometime. Good night." All your teammates say goodnight to her, and as soon as she leaves for her bedroom, they turn to you.

"That revelation must have hit you like a ton of bricks." Mapi jokes.

"Oh, you don't even know. I wasn't expecting her to say that; she's not the kind of girl who likes to 'speak her feelings.' But it was a nice surprise."

"They are good kids, really kind and smart. You must be so proud of them." Patri speaks up.

"I am. Ava is so smart and sneaky, you don't even know. Whereas Lucia she's a really good kid, she will be playing for Barcelona B this season. I'm so proud of her; she'll surely be our team's future." 

You say proudly as if you were speaking about your own kids, which slowly you realized that as time progressed, those two kids became so much part of your life that now you couldn't see yourself without them. For you, they were your kids, but you knew that it wasn't right to both of them for you to call them that, they already had a mom, and you didn't want to make them feel like you were replacing her.

"And with Alexia? How are they getting along with her?"

"Oh great! The younger one has her wrapped around her little finger. You all know how Alexia is with kids. Ava found out how she can make her say yes to everything she wants, so that's that. Whereas with Lucia, they bonded over football and dogs."

"You all look like a happy family."

"Yeah, I guess." You chuckle sadly, trying to keep up the façade that you and Alexia were still together.

After approximately half an hour, all your guests left, leaving you alone in the house, wallowing in your pit of misery. You were so happy that Lucia told you what she had told you, and there was only one person that you wanted to tell, Alexia. But you couldn't, and that realization left you helpless.

You go to your bed, which had been half undone since Alexia left, and you lay on it, still smelling her perfume from her pillow. You really missed her. So damn much. 

You turned on your phone one last time before going to sleep. As Mapi predicted, you received many comments about the two kids and why you were watching the Spain game, but what worried you was your agent, who texted you.

'Call me as soon as possible. I don't care if it's midnight."

You decide to call him immediately, hoping he wouldn't pick up. He picked up, telling you how the story you put on Instagram makes many people ask questions, making you roll your eyes.

-

The next day you wake up after approximately two hours of  tossing and turning in your bed, and go downstairs to your kitchen; you give Nala something to eat and make her go outside. You prepare coffee for yourself and wait for the girls to wake up. 

You were scrolling through your phone when Lucia and Ava came to the kitchen for breakfast. Fortunately, after more than a month, since they moved in, you managed to get something to eat for them for breakfast, so you didn't have to go to your brother's place every day.

Lucia sat at the chair next to you while Ava tried to sit on the kitchen countertop, as she saw you many times sit there, but she couldn't because she was too short, but she wouldn't surrender. So you chuckled, then picked her up and put her where she wanted to sit.

"What are you doing?" Lucia asks, trying to peek at your phone.

"Did you open my Instagram yesterday?" You ask her.

"You might be one of my idols, but I don't stalk you on Instagram; I already live with you." She threw her hands up.

"Look at my story." You push her phone to her hands, and she picks it up and goes on Instagram.

"Wait, this is us!" She says, smiling shyly. Ava snatches her phone from her sister to see the picture, making the owner of the phone grunt from irritation, the older girl tries to physically take back the phone, making them have a small fight.

"Okay, girls, it's nearly nine a.m.; it's too early for this type of physicality. Ava, give back the phone to your sister." The little girl huffs and reluctantly gives the phone back.

"So, what is the problem with this picture?"

"People are asking who are the kids in the picture, so I thought I would post about it to get my agent off my back. Is it okay for you? I chose a picture in which you can't see your faces, so you won't have any problems." You reassure the older girl, showing the picture on the phone. 

It was one of the first pictures you took together. The first one, Alexia, took it, and it was the first time you hung out together, all four of you. Ava was very tired and fell asleep on you; Alexia took a picture and sent it to you the day after. You couldn't see the sound girl's face in it, but it was evident she was a child. 

The second one instead was a picture of you and Lucia playing football, you didn't remember who took it, but it appeared on your phone. You fell in love with the photo right away. You were possessing the ball, and Lucia was trying to take it away from you, but you were pushing her away laughing. When you saw both pictures, they became your top three favorite pictures of all time. 

The third picture being with you and Alexia you took when you won your first Champion's League together. You had just started dating and thought you couldn't be happier at that moment, but boy, you were wrong.

"I love them." Lucia simply says, nodding. 

"I don't like my picture!" Ava says, crossing her arms on her chest and pouting.

You chuckle at her antics, "What do you have against it? It's cute!"

"It's not cute! I'm sleeping." 

"Okay, why don't you decide the picture." You offer, giving you her phone, on the album where you kept all the pictures with the girls.

She casually lands on a picture you took of her and Alexia petting Nala, which you thought was beautiful and sad. Making you rethink your life choices again in the past month.

"I want to put this." She says, giving you back the phone.  

"I'll think about it." You give her a smile, then go back to preparing breakfast for them, thinking you'll finish the post that night.

That day, you had a lot of things to do. One is enrolling Ava in an elementary school and then bringing Lucia to the pitch to help her train for the season. You decided to multitask. You took Lucia to the pitch, then left for the school with Ava, and then you'd leave her with Nico and then go back to the pitch to Lucia so that you could train for preseason in Mexico.

Needless to say was that when you got home, you were exhausted. After the tough training that you and Lucia just endured, you both decided to shower then the both of you found yourself lying frozen on the couch with the AC on, waiting for Nico and Ava to come back home to dinner.

—

Fast forward to three weeks, and you still had to do the post; you opted out of it because you thought the pictures were great, but you knew something was missing: Alexia. How could you post about your family when a huge part of it was missing? So you decided not to post anything, hoping she'll return to you. 

You were all now watching the Spain game against the US. The same at your house for the Panama game was again at your home. Spain barely got out of the group stage, with all the players clearly missing the spark they usually had. Matches with the US have always been challenging games; they were 4-time world champions for a reason, but more than that, the majority of the players in the USWNT played in the US, so you weren't even used to playing with them in a club. 

Needless to say, Spain lost that game badly. Jorge was fuming. You could see it from the screen. He would scream at his team at any time, especially with Alexia, making you extremely worried. Alexia didn't deserve it; nobody did. He was acting irrationally for the world to see how bad of a manager he actually was. 

The US team was over the moon when the final whistle blew, whereas Spain was shattered. They were all on the ground with their hands covering their faces. Then Alex Morgan walked towards your ex-girlfriend, picked her up from the ground, and gave her a small pat on the back for encouragement. It really hurt seeing the love of your life this hurt and distraught. 

You see her go to get water near the bleachers, then the camera frame Aitana Bonmatì, which she was too standing up, but then you see her begin running. The camera changes the frame again, and you see where Aitana is running to. Alexia was drinking from a Gatorade bottle, and Jorge approached her. He snatched it harshly away from her and began talking angrily at her. You couldn't hear what they were saying to each other.

Still, you knew Alexia wasn't having any of it, chuckling sarcastically and shaking her head. He reacted by grabbing her by the arm. In the meantime, many of your Spanish teammates that have seen the scene unveiling, ran up to their captain, trying to make him take his hands off her. Ona even forcefully removed his hand from Alexia's arm, giving him a death stare. As she saw her teammates swarm her and their trainer, Alexia put a hand on Ona and Aitana, trying to stop them from doing something stupid. At the same time, Jorge kept screaming at all of them. 

You and your Barça teammates were watching the scene on TV and looking at each other worried. You were frozen and scared, hoping that things wouldn't go sideways than they already were. FIFA was about to intervene when Jorge just finished screaming when Alexia shook her head and left the pitch, practically stomping. The game's broadcasting went to the ads, and you all looked at each other.

"What the fuck just happened?" Map was the first to speak, all turning to her while you still stared at the screen. Many voices were talking one on top of the other, but you closed them out, trying to think about your next step. You knew that if their interaction had lasted more than it did, you would've probably already been at the airport.

What brought you away from your spiral of thoughts was Ava calling out your name. This made you snap out of your trance and realize that also Ava and Lucia probably saw the same thing as you and many other kids around the world. 

You went before her and then kneeled so she wouldn't have to raise her head too much.

"Y/n, why was the coach screaming at Alexia?" She asks worriedly with her head down.

You didn't know what to say to her; you couldn't possibly say that Jorge was an asshole who couldn't interact appropriately even on a worldwide broadcast.

"You know, when a person is sad and angry, they sometimes take it out on others even though they don't deserve it. That's what happened, even though you should never have your feelings out of control." She nods understandingly while you gently take her sides, "Now, why don't we go outside and get ice cream together?" She nods excitingly. "I have to make a phone call now. Can you stay with Mapi until I am back?" You look at your best friend; she gives you a slight nod, then turns her attention to the younger girl. 

You go to your room, and the first thing you do is call Alexia. It goes to voice mail. And even though you hate leaving voicemails, you do.

"Hi Alexia, it's me, Y/n. I think you probably know that already. I saw the game today. I'm trying to say that please call back as soon as possible, or even just text me to let me know you are okay. And I know we're on a break, so I must give you space. But just please let me know if you are okay. I love you." You say, probably holding your phone too tightly, trying your best to find the right words.

Then you text Alba, which you haven't heard from her since the day she called you.

'Hey, Alba. I know that you are in New Zealand right now. I just wanted to ask you if you had heard anything about Alexia. Is she okay?'

Then you send a text again to Alexia. 'I saw the game today. Can you call me when you get this text, please? Or if you don't want to call, just tell me you are okay.'

Then you took a big breath to ground yourself. You told yourself to put your concern for Alexia in little boxes in the back of your brain. You had to be strong for Ava and Lucia. 

You went downstairs to the girls and found your house empty, only Mapi and your kids.

You give the woman a puzzled look. "They left about two minutes ago. And the kids are outside playing with Nala. Did you manage to get a hold of Alexia?"

You shake your head. "I send her a text, and Alba too. I really hope that she's okay. That interaction looked like a lot. And for the whole team to intervene seemed like he was saying some hurtful stuff."

"I sent a text to Aitana to ask her what was going on. She told me that some hurtful personal stuff was said to Alexia. They haven't seen her since then."

"I mean, should I be worried? I know that we aren't on talking terms right now, but she is still someone I still care very much about."

"It's okay to worry about her. I know for sure that she won't be MIA for much long."

"Thank you for taking care of the kids, I'm sorry I left in such a hurry, but I had to make the phone call, ya know."

"If it were Ingrid, and I was in your place, I would've probably done worse." Her confession made you chuckle. 

"So, ice cream? You don't have to come if you don't want to." 

"Of course, I'm coming! I still have to beat Nico for top place as aunt/uncle!"

"You are an idiot." You say, laughing. 

You go outside and call the two girls; Ava goes straight past you to Mapi, whereas Lucia, Shows you the thumbs up and asks you, "You okay?". You nod, giving her a weak shoulder pat, making her enter the house.

Every ten minutes, you would check your phone in the hopes of notification of Alexia, but it was useless. Good thing that Mapi was there, keeping the kids busy. 

You were taking a walk when Alba called you. 

"I'm sorry I have to take this." Your mouth to the defender that it was Alba and move away from the three girls.

"Hi Alba, how are you?"

"I'm good; we are about to go back to Spain. Tomorrow we have the flight."

"Say hi to Eli from me, okay?"

"Oh no, she told me to pass you the phone when we are done talking. What are you doing?" Even though you have known Alexia's mom, she has always been scary to you, especially when Alexia was on the line.. 

"I took the kids for some ice cream with Mapi. Right now, they wandered off, probably looking at some squirrel." You chuckle, smiling at the thought. "Have you heard from Alexia?"

"Nope, she didn't even call mamá. But strangely, she is not that worried. I think she knows where she went."

"At least one of us knows." You say hopefully.

"Mamá wants to talk to you," Alba says, passing the phone to her mom. 

"Y/n, how are you?"

"I'm good, Eli. How's New Zealand?"

"New Zealand is nice, but Barcelona is better."

"No doubts about that." You chuckle, agreeing.

"How are the kids? Are they behaving well?"

"They are wonderful; you should come to dinner as soon as you get back." You say politely.

"Now, I know you love my daughter very much, right?" She asks you authoritatively, making you subconsciously make your back straighter.

"Yes, I do very much."

"When she'll come back to you because she will. Make her work for it." Your face turns into a weird and confused expression. "You two are perfect for each other and complement each other perfectly. That is why I gave you my blessing to propose to her a year ago. But when my child comes to her senses and apologizes to you, if you want her back, which I really hope you do, make her earn it."

"I will." You say, chuckling. "I'll make her sweat a little."

"Good. Now I'll let you get back at it with the kids. Give them a hug from me. And take care of yourself, with ya?"

"I will. Have a safe flight."

-

The rest of the day and the next day passed on rather quickly. You were still worried, but somehow, after the call with Alexia's mom, you were worried less. You knew she was a nearly 30-year-old independent woman; she could care for herself. 

It was approximately 11 pm. You had just put Ava to bed, and Lucia was already to bed, ‘Claiming’ that she was tired. You thought she was hiding something from you, but you weren't worried about that. When she is ready, she will tell you. At least, you hoped. 

Alone in your house, you wondered if this was like rich housewives felt when they waited for their husbands to come home, except that you didn't have a man, nor a woman, for that matter. 

So, willing to get the whole desperate housewife experience, you decided to do the most typical thing they could do. Which was pouring yourself a glass of wine or two and hoping for the best. 

You tried to find the cheapest bottle in your kitchen and opened it immediately; as you were about to put the wine in the glass, you heard an insistent knock on the door. You checked your time and wondered who in their right mind would knock at someone's door at past 11 pm.

You go to the door and open it.

"Alexia?"

[gavidaily]

Hello! Here's the full La Vanguardia interview in English translated by yours truly 💖 enjoy!

Pablo Páez Gavira, Gavi (19 years, Los Palacios y Vilafranca, Sevilla) is an one of a kind player. On the pitch, mixes a delicate technique with an overwhelming will, a mix that is rare between midfielders: he is either head or lungs, but rarely both. Outside the field, he is a stranger. Out of shyness, he would rather be sure of himself before letting people know him. The club sees him as ready. Now, Gavi gives his first long interview to La Vanguardia. His first answers are short, but soon he gets comfortable and with more confidence, he gets more open. It's hard not to like him, he sounds genuine in a world of mechanized words: pure and unfiltered, like the way he plays. 

COLORS "Being of Barça is something that comes from watching the best squad in history, Xavi's, Iniesta..." _______

I: More than 100 matches for Barça and you have given a few interviews. Don't you like it?  G: I'm shy, and I'd rather focus on football, but I'm working on it, since I have to do it. 

I: Are you aware of all the surrounding buzz?  G: A little bit, yes. I noticed on the streets and Instagram, but I try to get away from it.

I: What do you like most to hear about yourself?  G: That I'm a shy boy, but a good person with everyone. This is how I want to be known.

I: Whenever you score a goal, you kiss the Barça badge. You are from a town in Sevilla, how come you became such a big culé? G: From seeing the best team in history, the Barça of Xavi, Iniesta and others. Since then I have been and always will be of Barça.

THE WILL "Sometimes I watch the match replay and think 'Why did I do that?'" _______

I: You arrived at Barça very young, at 11 years-old. Were you scared of the change? G: Yes, a lot. I remember that a couple months before the move I told my parents I didn't want to come, that I was scared of what could happen. Today I thank my parents, they were the first to notice that I should be here. 

I: What were you scared of? G: Of everything, La Masia... I was very little and didn't want to leave my hometown, leave my friends behind. It meant changing my whole life.

I: And La Masia became like home for you... G: Yes, I spent my whole childhood here, almost sinceAs long as I've known myself, it is everything to me. 

I: Your first six months here were hard because of FIFA's ban on Barça. Gavi, with 11 years and unable to play, it's hard to imagine. A lion in a cage. G: I couldn't bear not to play, for me it's like breathing. So I deal it with how I could have. I decided to play in the football league my school had.

I: Your team was lucky, you must have won everything. G: I scored four or five goals on each match. We won everything but the day we played in the league. 

GETTING BETTER "I am enjoying this season best. We are doing things better." _______

I: What happened? G: I played my first match for Barça, I couldn't go. My schoolmates still pick on me because of that.

I: In your first year in Barcelona you lived with your parents. G: Yes, in Balmes street, but at the end of the year I told them they could leave me, that I wanted to live in La Masia.

I: Which were your favorite players? G: Iniesta the most, but Isco and Veratti too.

I: The most technical. You can shoot with both legs, did you learn it or is it natural for you? G: It's something that has happened since I was a kid. I actually say that inside the box I shoot best with the left leg, I can define better with it, it's more natural. 

I: Let's be clear: you are an interior. G: I have always been. Left interior. 

I: Now you are playing more in that position.  G: Xavi knows where I'm more comfortable, but he has a lot of trust in me and in each match he decides where I should be and I try my best for the coach. To give everything.

"Ansu will come back, I know it." _______

Gavi has simple habits. His life revolves around football and even during his free time he watches the matches on the television with his friends, most of them from his time in La Masia. "I'm a football nerd, I watch a lot of matches with my friends at home, Premier League above all. I like some clubs more than others. I follow Manchester City and now especially Brighton, because they are good and Ansu Fati plays there", says the midfielder, who misses his ex-teammate and hopes to see him back in the blaugrana locker room after the one year of loan to the english club. "I believe in Ansu. I believe he will get his confidence back and I wish he comes back. We have been friends since we met in La Masia and I wish him the best always'.

I: You dominate both legs, you are good in duels, with the head... Is there anything you see a margin for improvement? G: Taking last year as reference, I have been better on pausing the plays and not making as many fouls with divided balls.

I: Is that a personal work or from Xavi? G: Xavi tries to improve me, we talk a lot.

I: Are you not scared of getting hurt with those divided balls?  G: Sometimes I watch the match replay, I see something I did and think "Sh*t, why did I do that?. But my mother suffers more than me, she always tells me not to get in fights and it scares her a lot. But at the end of the day, it's football.

I: Do you consider yourself a harsh player? G: I consider myself a fighter, until the end, and I won't lose that.

I: Last year, from Madrid, rumors started that said you were an overly harsh player. Did it reach you? Were you annoyed?  G: I was aware, but I was relaxed. Xavi helped me and it didn't matter what some people said.

PROGRESS "I have more breaks, fewer fouls and this year I want to score ten goals" _______

I: It's an unquestionable truth that you don't like losing... G: I have improved compared to the lower categories, any coach could tell you.

I: But what did you do? Being a sore loser it's not that bad. G: Let's say I didn't take well and my teammates paid for it during the training sessions. It used to drive me crazy, I didn't know how to lose.

I: What would you do for Barça? G: Everything. I would do everything, whatever it is.

I: During the summer, with the new signings, they said you were going to be left out of the eleven starters... and now, you’re untouchable. G: I have a lot of trust in me, that's what matters to me. And if Xavi wants to talk to me and help me to improve, I thank him. The coach was one of the best players in my position. 

I: You are 19 and you already are a reference for players that come from La Masia, like Lamine Yamal...

G: I didn't imagine that when I was little, but yes. I try to calm them down, and get them excited. I had Busi, Jordi... I know it is very important to have that support. 

LOCKEROOM "I admire Frenkie. When they said he could leave in the summer, I was screwed and I told him that." _______

I: Which player do you praise for his professionalism in the actual squad? G: Frenkie, Frenkie. 

I: Do you miss him? G: F*ck, a lot, just like Pedri.

I: Well, De Jong was on the market two summers ago... G: At that moment I was screwed, I didn't want him to leave, and I told him that. Thankfully, he didn't leave, and he's still with us. 

I: Are you enjoying playing? That's important.  G: I'm enjoying it a lot more during this season. We're doing things better.

I: With the Joãos the chemistry has been instantly. G: They are very good and have settled in fast. João Félix it's on my side and I can work with him more, but I look for them both. Without them we would not have been able to make some progress this season.

 I: How do you see Madrid? Stronger? G: They have significant casualties, but they are a winning team.

I: Last year you won the League and this year you are finally required to play a good role in the Champions League. G: We have to get as far as possible, we're Barça, like the coach says. Winning with Barça is one of my dreams, one of the biggest, it's what all culés want. 

I: The match against Porto is a key match during the group stage. Do you overthink about the matches beforehand?  G: Yes, even more important ones. I think about how it's going to go and I usually imagine scoring a goal. Thoughts…

I: How many goals do you think you will score this season? G: I said to Iván de la Peña, my representative, that I'll score ten, I already did two.

I: Outside the box the shot doesn't prove much. G: I have to see it very clearly, it is still difficult for me, I have to dare.

I: Do you see yourself playing for Barça your whole life? That's almost impossible these days. G: I wish it could be like that, I wouldn't be happier anywhere else. 

[pablitogavii]

Doctora

Summary: You start your internship in sports medicine at FC Barcelona, meeting an interesting footballer who quickly develops a crush on you.

Pairing: Pablo Gavi x Reader

Warnings: there will be angst/smut/fluff

possibly a short series if you guys like it :)

Pablo's POV

We just came back from the short break, and my groin somewhat healed but I kept feeling numbness in my upper thigh that I didn't mention to anyone. I hoped it would just go away and besides everyone who knows me knows that I HATE doctors!

I would rather push through pain for days than go see a doctor. It was since I was a kid and they couldn't find my vein during regular check up at La Masia that I developed real fear of needles or any hospital related 'stuffs'.

It was during training when I was trying to lift weights with my legs that I kept wincing so much so that Xavi pulled me to the side to ask if everything was alright.

"Soy bien, no te preocupes" I lied but man was suspicious saying I should do a check up with one of team doctors before the next game. It was my very own nightmare!

"But sir, it's really nothing..I'm probably sore" I said realizing just how illogical that was considering this was a first training since we got back from a break.

"He's scared sir! Pablito is scared of doctors!!" Ansu joked around as others joined him making me do my best to hide the embarrassment for being afraid of something so silly. I was Pablo Gavi after all!

"I'm not scared cabrón. I just hate being poked!" I said proudly pretending like I currently had no worry in my mind (which was far from truth).

"Scared or not, you have to see the doctor after training Gavi" Xavi ordered and I could do nothing but nod rolling my eyes at the guys who were smirking at me.

This is just my luck!

Your POV

It's been such a long morning already with lots of paperwork and barely any time for a proper meal or a cup of good 'wake me up' coffee.

I was interning with the medical staff as the young college student so of course they gave me all the grunt work but I didn't mind feeling grateful for the opportunity.

"Hola..um..I'm sorry, I need someone to get my blood drawn?" Gavi walked in and I felt myself staring at him before focusing on his question instead trying to forget that I found him extremely attractive!

"I can do that. Take a seat please" I said and he does but furrows his eyebrows in process.

"Aren't you like my age? Can you really poke people??" he said and I chuckled at his choice of words while prepping the syringe and the needle.

"Well, I got my EMT certification done early and now I go to school while working here and yeah poking people is kinda my specialty. Do you have an arm preference?"I said walking up to him immediately noticing that he was the 'nervous patient' which was kind of adorable knowing how confident he is on and off the pitch from seeing him around the camp.

"Well..um..I don't know" he said and that's when an idea popped in my head seeing that he had his eyes shut waiting for me to do something.

I slowly pulled up one of his sleeves putting on a tourniquet and wetting the gauze with some rubbing alcohol. That's when I start excercising my plan.

"You know I watched you play in the last game and I thought to myself 'damn! that boy is fine!'" I smirk seeing that he was starting to relax as his confidence returned the moment I said that. Pablo Gavi loved to be complimented, that's for sure ;)

"Is that right nena??" he said as I cleaned his skin but he barely paid any attention to my actions waiting to hear me say something back.

"Mhm..I mean you in that sweaty home kit..and your hair falling on your forehead..it did things to me" I said opening the syringe and slowly tapping his veins.

"I bet I can do better things to you.." Pablo said and I felt my panties getting wet knowing that my words were god honest truth and then I finally poked his vein pulling enough blood to run all the necessary tests.

"Alright! We are all done!" my words took him by surprise as he opened his eyes shocked that he didn't even notice me poke his skin as he was too busy imagining the things he wanted to do probably..not that I minded ;)

"Wait..so was this all to distract me?" he said and I smirked tossing away the waste before getting back to my desk.

"I will see you next week when the results come Gavi" my smirk only grew when he got up and walked over placing his fingers underneath my chin making me look up before suddenly crashing his lips onto mine leaving me in utter shock.

"I'll see you around nena" he winked before leaving. Damn it! Getting involved with a player!?

That's just my luck!

Guys please comment if you want this to become a series because I really like the plot :)

[donfermin]

INTERVIEW WITH EL 10 DEL BARÇA

[Disclaimer: neither English nor Spanish is my first language, so there may be mistakes. This is not a word-for-word translation; there are some parts I have simplified. Some interviewer comments were also omitted because they were not important.]

Victor Palacios: First of all, how are you and how is the team currently doing?

Personally, I’m doing well and the dynamic of the team is great, we hope to continue like this on Sunday to get another three points.

VP: Girona is next. Are you surprised by Girona?

Yes, I think they are having a good season and they are a great team that will make it difficult for us.

VP: The team had a high during the matches against Porto and Atlético Madrid, which for me was the best of the season. I don’t know to what extent that slump before those two matches affected the team. Do you think that the press (us included) was too unfair to the team?

What we have to do is to leave what comes from the outside a little bit aside. We ourselves and the coach know how we work on a daily basis and the things we do well and also the things we do badly. We had a bad streak where we couldn’t play well, as the coach asked us to. And I think that now we have turned the situation around and we’re very happy.

Miguel Ángel Ruiz: I’m curious about many things because your career is like a dream of any footballer. You come from a village of just over 2000 people, El Campillo de Huelva, you go through a very hard stage because, as you’ve said on other occasions, you were physically smaller than the rest, and finally, when you hit your stride, you get the disappointment of being sent on a loan to Linares, but then you return to the first team. I don’t know if you are aware that you are fulfilling the dream of any child, of any person, especially Barça fans, of reaching the first team with such a beautiful story.

Yes, in the end, I’m lucky to be living what I’m living. It was my dream since I was a child, to be here at Barça. It is true that, as I have said on different occasions, I had some difficult moments, but I, like everyone else, have been able to overcome them and now I’m fulfilling my dream and I’m very happy.

MAR: Who is your best friend in the team and the one who has helped you the most?

My best friend is Gavi. I get along with everyone, but Gavi is like my brother.

MAR: Is he also the one who has helped you the most?

Yes, when I was having a hard time too, because he was there with me for most of my time at La Masia and also during pre-season, he helped me a little to integrate into the team.

VP: Is he animated now [referring to Gavi’s injury]?

Well… now he’s better.

VP: What I mean is if he’s mentally well enough to face the recovery.

Yes, he’s strong, he’s a warrior and at the beginning it was hard because they have taken away what he loves most and he’s not able to help us. But he’s very strong mentally and he’ll come back stronger, for sure.

MAR: Do you think Xavi should be our Ferguson?

In what sense?

MAR: You know that Ferguson is the longest-serving coach, namely in the sense that the project should be very long term and last as many years as possible.

I hope so, to be honest, because he [Xavi] was the one who trusted me and gave me the opportunity to be living what I am living now and I’m very happy.

VP: When you see that Xavi speaks so highly of you, that he has given you the opportunity, as you said, and you are obviously, everybody can see it, delivering on the pitch. When you hear one of the best, if not the best, midfielder that football has ever had talk about you, what comes to mind? Because I suppose you played as him in FIFA, of course.

Yes, I’ve seen him on television since I was a kid and it’s flattering that someone like the coach can think well of you. I try not to believe it too much, or else he will make me work even harder if I relax. I’ve always said that I’m grateful for the way he’s always treated me and I have to keep working hard and show that I can get more minutes.

VP: You are a Barça fan because of your uncle, right? Well, I’ve found out that you have a brother who is a Real Madrid fan. I guess you've already put him on the right path, haven't you?

That has already changed.

MAR: Luckily, you’ve been able to get him back on the right path and he’s regained his good taste in football. I wanted to ask you about President Laporta, who we often see coming to the dressing room to cheer the team up, but has he ever come down angry or to tell you off?

I think the President is a very positive person and very approachable. The truth is when he comes it is always for positive things and to give us strength and help us to move forward.

MAR: I also wanted to ask you about the issue of social media, which always generate a lot of controversy. There are good aspects, but also negative ones. Would you be in favour of avoiding controversy and everything that happens around Barça, as we have this toxic environment… Would you be in favour of banning social media for footballers?

Maybe, but almost all of us in the team don’t read the news. We try to avoid this, because for better or for worse, it’s not good. And banning them, well, everyone uses social media the way they want, but I don’t think it should be banned per se. Everyone wants to read what they want to read and that’s it. We try to stay away from that.

VP: In Madrid they say a lot of things, but why take them into account, right? But in Barcelona… That’s why I asked you one of the first questions about how all this affects the team. And you say that you don’t look at the press at all, you ignore it.

Yes, that’s true. At the end of day, we know what’s going on inside and what we are experiencing. Both when we need to improve and when things are going well, there is only us and that’s it.

VP: Is there a lot of bullshit being said, yes or no?

We don’t read them, but yes, some are nonsense.

MAR: Fermín, confess, have you ever seen Pedrerol’s Chiringuito (ed. El chiringuito de Jugones presented by Josep Pedrerol)?

Not now. When I was a kid, I used to think it was funny and all, but…

MAR: Xavi said in a press conference that the media and the environment were influencing the team, but you say you don’t read the press. In other words, you deny Xavi’s statement and it doesn’t influence you.

VP: Cancelo said no too.

It does not influence you, but it is true that in the end things reach you. But one thing is it reaches you and another if it influences you. I think the coach agreed, the coach said that outside Barça there is a toxic circle that is not good either.

VP: The pre-season goal against Real Madrid, what did you feel at that moment? Because I was shocked. It was early in the morning here and I think I woke my neighbours up with my scream.

I don’t even know what I felt, so imagine that.

MAR: Did any Real Madrid player say anything to you after the match?

Brahim? I think Brahim congratulated me or something like that. Well, they also lost, it’s unpleasant.

VP: What goal can you imagine scoring someday? That goal that makes you think “Oh shit, I hope it’s me”, right? With this shirt.

I don’t know. During the Champions League final, it would be great.

VP: Not bad.

MAR: Against Madrid.

Against Madrid would be better. If not, against whoever.

VP: A Champions League final, Barça-Real Madrid, with all due respect, I don’t want it. I’m really sorry Fermín, but I don’t want it.

MAR: I wouldn’t watch it. I don’t want to suffer. My heart can’t take it anymore. Listen, Fermín, you have always said that your idols are Messi, who has a similar story to yours because you were both small, and also Iniesta, right? But precisely because of that, how did you experience Messi’s departure? Did you cry at the final press conference?

I didn’t cry, but it was really sad. Everything I had experienced as a child with Barça was linked to Messi, Iniesta and Xavi and to see one of the greatest in history go… well, you can imagine.

MAR: The truth is that it was hard, we had a hard time. And who do you think was to blame for Messi’s departure?

I don’t know, to be honest. I have no idea. I don’t think there is anyone to blame. In the end, things happen and those who were there at the time know what happened and that’s all.

VP: This is a delicate question, but in the dressing room is there a feeling that, if it wasn’t for the refereeing, the team would have a lot more points? Well, maybe not a lot. A couple more points.

MAR: That is an understatement. Six or seven [points].

VP: They [the players] don’t control the situation, but I want to know…

It’s something we can’t control and that’s it.

MAR: Sure, but I want to know how the environment is.

Referees can make mistakes, just like us and that’s all. There is no need to think about it anymore. I wish they would always agree with us, but that’s the way it is.

MAR: Last season, Real Madrid would have won La Liga without the VAR. And their president, Florentino Pérez, has said through his puppet, Ancelotti, that VAR should not be used. What do you think, a 20-year-old kid used to technology, that we have the VAR technology and at the request of Real Madrid and because of Real Madrid’s interests, it is being used less and is harming the fairness of football?

Everyone is free to say what they want and whatever opinion they have, that’s all. I have nothing to say about this.

VP: Let’s talk about the great game against Shakhtar. It was a good night in the Champions League for you, as MVP, and you also scored a goal. I was at the stadium and I was freaking out. I posted several tweets saying “Fermín, what is this? What are you doing!” What a terrific night, wasn’t it?

Yes, it was. I think the team played a good game, although we suffered a bit at the end because Shakhtar is also a good team and they pushed us a bit at the end. But I think we played well and we had chances. I had two or three more chances to score and I’m sure I would have been a bit calmer at the end, but I think it was a great game.

VP: From the outside, it seems that we see everyone very easily and everyone has their quality, their stories, don’t they?

Of course. Every team nowadays can beat you and they are very well prepared physically and tactically. We are aware of that.

MAR: Which player from the current Real Madrid squad would you sign for Barça?

Nobody.

MAR: Nobody?

VP: What’s the matter? Don’t you believe it, Miguel Ángel?

MAR: They have good players as well. Not as good as ours, but…

The best players are here [at Barça].

MAR: That’s where I agree with you. I was going to ask you but I’m not sure anymore, as you said your best friend is Gavi. I was going to ask you who is better for you, Gavi or Bellingham?

Answer yourself. It’s obvious.

VP: I wanted to ask you about the time you went to play for Rafa Márquez [with Barça B] during a national team break, I think it was a game against Gimnàstic de Tarragona, if I’m not mistaken. Did you give an assist? [Fermín: No]Am I on the right track? And then you were sent off, wasn’t it?

Yes.

VP: I don’t know if you said to Xavi: “I’m going with the B team to help”, because it was a national team break. And I don’t know how you dealt with that moment, because then you continued to have opportunities with Xavi, everything went well. But at the time there was talk that you weren’t very…

It was a day to forget, to be honest. Because we had already agreed with Xavi that I was going to help the B team in that game, because in the end it was my team, it is my team. And nothing, I was excited because it was my debut too. It was the first official game I played with them and I don’t know, there were some decisions and they sent me off and it was a game to forget. On top of that we lost.

VP: Yes, there was a defeat. Listen, now I’m going to tell you a secret that I shouldn’t tell you. But who gave you the nickname Fermín Trujillo? [Fermín Trujillo is one of the main characters in La que se avecina played by actor Fernando Tejero]

I don’t know, everyone calls me that.

VP: But someone funny started it, for sure.

I think it was Abde [Ezzalzouli] or… well, Pedri. Pedri says it often: “Trujillo, Trujillo.”

VP: We have tried everything we could to get Fernando Tejero here today to greet you and surprise you. But eventually he’s got a lot of things to do and he couldn’t come. But it would’ve been great. Do you watch a lot La que se avecina?

Now I watch it more than before. When I’m a bit bored, I put it on for a while. But thank you very much.

MAR: Let’s talk about the Champions League. We are already in the quarter finals. Virtually first place [of the group], let’s hope so. Who are your favourites? Other than Barça, that hopefully will be at Wembley, who are your favourites this year?

I don’t have any favourite team other than Barça but there are very good teams, obviously: City, Madrid, Bayer, all of them. At Champions League level, they are all contenders.

VP: Final at Wembley. Barça against who?

It doesn’t matter, as long as we win. Give whoever it takes.

VP: You have a squad with which you can win and you are going for it, right? Do you think that the Champions League is in your mindset, a step beyond last year’s league?

Yes, obviously we aspire to win all the titles. That’s why we are Barça and we are obliged to fight for it and hopefully we can win everything. We trust in our squad, in the staff and hopefully it will happen.

MAR: Since you have spoken about Gavi, your best friend. I’d like to ask you how you feel about the fact that the Caverna Madridista and so on are calling Gavi, even though he’s a national team player, an aggressive player and treat him with such derogatory ways. Moreover, throughout its history, Madrid had some of the most aggressive players we know…

If that’s what they think [about Gavi], then they never saw him play. Or they don’t him. He has many qualities that are not often highlighted and he’s very important for the team.

MAR: When you were young, you know, we’ve seen Iniesta, he said he was a Madrid fan, he made a mistake, then he went too far and so on. You’ve always been a Barça fan since you were a little boy, of course. Why did you choose Barça? What did you like about Barça? Because, of course, in Catalonia it’s easy to be a Barça fan, but outside Catalonia it’s not easy at all, surrounded by madridistas. So, what made you become a Barça fan when you were young?

Mainly, because of my uncle, Juan Antonio, who is a huge culé. When I was a kid, he instilled it in me. I’ve always watched everything. Everything that is Barça. I’ve seen Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, etc. I loved watching Barça and, since I was a kid, I had that love for Barça.

VP: Your favourite moment in Barça’s history, in the history you have lived through?

When there was the team I mentioned of Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi…

VP: But tell me a game, a game that made you say “I’m so excited, I can’t stand it anymore”.

The 5-1.

MAR: To Madrid?

Yes.

VP: That was with Valverde, wasn’t it, Miguel Ángel? I think it was with Valverde…

The one with Piqué, with the hand… That was 5-0.

MAR: Of course, that was with Mourinho. Anyway, I know that you don’t want to talk about referees and that it’s logical you don’t want to get into controversy, but I need to insist. I mean, we are competing in a league in which we have seen for the first time in history that they re-refereed a game last season, they even changed a report. We’ve seen Lewandowski get three games for touching his nose. Others go around punching people in the car parks and they don’t even get penalised. In short, we are unfortunately used to this. How does the team experience these things? How do the Barça players experience it from the inside?

It’s what I told you, isn’t it? These are things we can’t control and we don’t give them much importance. That’s all. We are only looking after our own, only at Barça, and that’s it. What’s outside is someone else’s matter.

VP: Do you like this interview thing? Because Gavi does a few, but I noticed that he likes the ball, playing football, killing himself for Barça and that’s fantastic, isn’t it? But you look comfortable. I don’t know if you like to be interviewed or not.

I think it’s something that is part of my profession and that’s it. When I have to do one, I’ll do it as well as I can. It’s not something I’m passionate about, nor do I dislike it.

VP: I think we have changed a lot, during all this time, and we saw it the other day with Aitana Bonmatí, your Barça Femení teammate, who replied to Cadena Cope after a match. Footballers now have such a power that they don’t even need to give interviews. One tweet and everything falls apart.

Yes, I did see that. Sometimes it’s normal that you reach the limit and you can reply and so on, but it’s better to isolate yourself and avoid problems.

[Introduction of the third host: Cerebro Culé (Mario)]

Cerebro Culé: First of all, you didn't want to get involved with the referees and I think that's normal, right? You talked about a bad streak. I’d like to ask you how much you think Barça loosing 7-8 starting players have had an influence. Because there are a lot of people who don’t value Barcelona’s game, while we’ve had so many absentees, and I’d like to know what your opinion is.

It's true that if affected us because they were very important players for us. I think that those of us who had the chance tried to give our best and on many occasions we did. And what went wrong we have tried to improve and now we are in a good dynamic and hopefully it will continue like that.

CC: Then you also said that your best friend is Gavi. You have defended Gavi over Bellingham, and you also don’t want to sign any Real Madrid player. The truth is that we culés love it. But aside from friendship, who do you think could be the leader of this Barça? From the outside we have the feeling that it could be Araujo or another player like Ter Stegen, but from inside the dressing room itself, who do you think could be the leader of this Barça? A Barça that, among other things, had lost some very important players in recent years.

I think that many important players have the ability to lead, as you said yourself. The captains, Robert, Sergi, Frenkie, Ronald, players who have more experience, can be the ones who can help us young players a little more. Well, Pedri sometimes seems like he’s not young and he’s already a leader, almost. I think almost all of them have the ability to lead the team.

CC: There’s one thing I’ve been thinking about for a long time. What goes through the head of a footballer who leaves Barcelona Atlètic and is loaned to Linares and in just a few months after his return he faces Real Madrid, he faces what is a Primera División team like Barça. On top of that scores a classic. It’s incredible, of course. What are your feelings? What goes through the head of a 20-year-old footballer when this happens to him? As I said, in just a few months.

I try to take it naturally. In the end, it’s what I have worked for and fought for since I was a child and I enjoy it day by day with my teammates who were my idols just a short time ago, and I try to take advantage of this situation and enjoy this experience, which is my dream.

VP: How are players like Lewandowski or Gündoğan in close proximity? Because I put myself in his [Fermín’s] situation and imagine going into a dressing room with guys, as we were talking about before, who he played as [in FIFA]. Incredible, right?

Yes, it impresses you. Obviously, they are world class players and it impresses you, but in the end, they are normal people, they are very good people and I have a good relationship with all of them, but yes, it really impresses you at the beginning.

VP: These are the people who support the young people when they go up.

Yes, always. They always try to help. Even if Lamine’s case is controversial, but everyone tries to help and especially those with more experience, perhaps like Robert or Gündo, in this case, who can help us young people a lot.

VP: What happens on the field stays on the field.

Yes.

MAR: Have you not been scolded by any veteran as happened to Lamine?

When they had to tell me something, they told me, obviously. That’s always good for improvement.

CC: It’s the last [question] I have prepared here, and I’d like you to describe yourself, Fermín as a player, because we have seen him many times in the box. I’d like to see him a little bit in Pedri’s position. How would you describe Fermín as a footballer and above all, what do you think you could improve on, what do you think you could bring to this Barça?

I think I am a player with good vision, ability to shoot, last pass. I am skilful. I’m a hard worker too, I consider myself a hard worker. And what I contribute? Maybe I can get into the second line, shoot from outside and just play my football. And when the coach decides, I try to contribute.

CC: And what is the limit for this Barça? For you, who are in it and live it day by day.

We have no limit. Never, but I believe we have a squad that can do important things and I am sure we will achieve them.

[Introduction of the fourth host: Martin Miñán]

Martin Miñán: I know you’ve been in the first team for a few months, but what do you think you’ve worked on maybe more with the coach, with the staff? I know it’s often said that they do personalised video work, improving an individual aspect or the understanding of the game, something that you’ve improved in these months.

In the end the coach has the Barça DNA, as they say, and from the youth system they prepare us to be here one day. It’s quite similar to what I’ve always been asked to do, but it’s true that every coach has his own nuances and the truth is that the coach has helped me a lot. In the end, he has been one of the best midfielders in the world and all I have to do is learn from him and everything he tells me is good for me.

MM: And I also wanted to ask you about the midfielders currently in the first team. Is there one that you look at in particular? That’s not to say that you don’t notice the others, but is there one that in training, during matches, that you noticed, that you copy some movements or something like that?

As you said, I look a lot at everyone, but maybe a little more at who plays in my position, like Pedri or Gavi, when he’s available. But I try to learn from everyone, Gündoğan, Frenkie. But maybe more at those who play a bit more forward, Pedri, Gavi, Joao Felix.

MM: Now that you are mentioning Joao Felix and that’s already the last question. If I may, last week we say you on his Instagram story, I think you were bringing him coffee, or tea, a hot drink, because you lost a bet. I don’t know if you can tell us what bet you lost with Joao and if there are any bets going on in the dressing room with any player right now.

We have a good relationship, we always look for fouls or finishes and so on, so if I lose, I need to make a cappuccino. And that day I lost and he recorded it.

MM: Thank you, Fermín, thank you for your time and I wish you success for the rest of the season and in particular for the three points on Sunday.

Thank you very much.

MAR: And we end the interview with a test we have prepared for Fermín.

VP: Very quick, very easy. Play, Nintendo or Xbox?

Play.

VP: A film?

Fast and Furious.

VP: A book?

I like Iniesta’s very much.

VP: A singer or a band?

Mike Towers.

VP: Do you like “El Barrio”? Since you are Andalusian?

Yes, very much so.

VP: I thought you were going to tell me “El Barrio”. Anyway, the title you dream of winning?

Anything right now, because it would be my first. But to win the Champions League would be terrific.

VP: Best moment at Barça?

Right now.

VP: The sports programme that you say, “Oh shit, I’d take this one off the television, I can’t stand it. Why do I have to watch this on television?”

I don’t watch TV much, really. When I watch TV, it’s often Netflix. I don’t know.

VP: Living in El Campillo or in the little flat in Barcelona?

In El Campillo.

VP: If you weren’t a footballer, would you be?

A physical trainer.

VP: And how is your Catalan? Is it okay?

Very good.

VP: Thank you very much, Fermín. What a pleasure to have you here.

Thank you very much.

[maisonbelligavi]

you know in the very beginning jude's ass is jealous of pedri, fermín and all the la masia kids bc they seem to get all of gavis love and kisses and attention while he is just "the rival"

Hi dear nonny! I'm sorry this is a bit late. Life has been chaotic to say the least.

I truly hope you enjoy what I did with your prompt request. I did try to keep it under 1k but oh well, brevity has never been my strength lmaooooo.

It has been half a year since Jude joined the Real Madrid Academy. Naturally, it went without saying that by now he was overly familiar with the La Masia kids. They’ve played enough games after all. He didn’t know if it was a stretch to consider some of them friends. As much as their matches could get charged sometimes, the minute it was over, all the intensely ambitious players on both sides returned to the easy going and playful teenagers they were.

Jude has gotten used to Pedri pulling him into a hug after every game. He and Fermin had their own special handshake as weird as that might sound. Their coaches always encouraged them to practice good sportsmanship and remain professional at all times. They didn’t necessarily have to be enemies, no matter how deep the lore of rivalry ran between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Jude didn’t care for any of it. He just wanted to make it to the first team by his eighteenth birthday next year, play good ball and make a butt load of money.

For a while now, he’s noticed himself becoming more irritated at the end of each game with the La Masia kids. He knew the source of his ire well enough. What he was stumped on was how to proceed from here. What could he do to change the status quo as it were?

This was the primary thought that occupied his head as he approached the lone figure of Gavi. He was standing at the far end of the field after a hard-played game. His jersey was soaked with sweat. He had his hands planted at his waist and he seemed to look right through Jude as he reached his side.

What could the kid possibly be thinking about so intensely?

“Hey,” Jude said, as way of greeting and announcing his presence at the same time.

“Hey,” Gavi said, seeming to finally register Jude’s presence. His expression was blank. There was no smile thrown Jude’s way, his beautiful doe eyes weren’t shining with the affection he seemed to have in abundance for his teammates.

Jude felt the now familiar irritation flare within him, stronger today than it’s ever been. “You played a fantastic game, made life really difficult for me.”

Gavi shrugged, barely cracking a smile but it made Jude’s heart skip a beat all the same. “You played a good game too. I mean, you always do. You’re Jude Bellingham after all. You take care until the next one, yeah?”

He extended his hand for Jude to shake and the older boy stared at it as though it was a snake rearing its head for a bite. Jude realized this was it for today. Somehow his window of opportunity has passed once again. He swallowed the lump in his throat and shook Gavi’s hand.

It was all terribly professional, the epitome of good sportsmanship. It made Jude want to scream.

“You take care, Gavira,” Jude said, as his hand dropped to his side. “Always a pleasure.”

Gavi gave him a curt nod and walked away. But that soon turned into a sprint when he spotted Pedri and his other teammates. He ran straight into Fermin’s arms, kissing him all over the face. Pedri was his next victim, and by the time Gavi had gotten on the back of some player he couldn’t remember the name of, Jude was fuming where he stood.

He squeezed his eyes shut, dreading their next match already. He knew without a doubt he would approach the younger boy hoping it would be the day Gavi deemed him worthy of any lick of affection but the only thing he would walk away with would be a cold handshake.

That has been the status quo for the last six months, being treated like a proper rival, when all he wanted was to take the infuriating Barca boy on a bloody date.

***

Something was wrong. And it couldn’t have been related to football because Gavi’s team had claimed victory of the match they just concluded playing. But the boy looked anything but happy as he ran away from his teammates, heading for a secluded spot that Jude knew like the back of his hand. To say that he was well acquainted with the Academy’s grounds by now would be an understatement.

He found Gavi staring at the phone in his hand, as though willing for something to magically appear.

“Gavira,” Jude said, slightly breathless, after all the running he did to catch up with him. “Is something wrong?”

Gavi looked at him then, maintaining eye-contact as his lower lip trembled and his eyes shone with unshed tears.

“What’s wrong?” Jude repeated, his tone laced with worry.

“It’s stupid,” Gavi said, kicking at the grass at his feet. “Not really worth talking about.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

“I’ve been ghosted.”

“You’ve been what now?”

“Ghosted,” Gavi repeated, sounding embarrassed. “I was talking to this girl and well… I really thought things were going well. We had a nice vibe, you know?”

Jude nodded, licking his lips, ignoring the heart palpitations that assailed him out of nowhere.

“Or at least I thought we did.” Gavi let out this self-conscious laugh, running his fingers through his messy hair. “For the last week or so, she stopped replying to my messages. There was no warning at all.”

“She blocked you?” Jude really wasn’t sure how to feel about this. When he wanted Gavi to let him in, this wasn’t exactly the kind of conversation he fantasized about them having.

“She ghosted me,” Gavi corrected, because of course that detail was particularly important. “My messages deliver. She just leaves me on read. Doesn’t also pick when I call.”

“Oh,” Jude said, deflating with this information. Oh, he hated that girl with every fiber of his being.

Gavi shrugged. “I guess this is her way of letting me know she’s not interested.”

“I’m sorry.” Jude winced at how robotic that sounded. Was he even sorry? God, he was the absolute worst.

“My pride is hurt more than anything.” Gavi gave another shrug. “It’s just…would have been nice if she communicated with me, you know? This isn’t exactly the most mature way of doing things.”

“Forget her,” Jude blurted out. “Girls are stupid anyways.”

“No, they’re not,” Gavi countered, tone laden with conviction. “Girls are pretty and fun and brilliant. Some of them can be frustrating to deal with, true, but they’re anything but stupid. Boys are stupid. That’s a universally accepted fact.”

“Well, this one doesn’t deserve you, clearly,” Jude doubled down, because he’s already dug his own grave, might as well handle the burial. Retracting would only make him a pussy and Jude was anything but that.

“And you do?”

“What?” Jude said, suddenly feeling incredibly light-headed.

“Oh, don’t play dumb now.” Gavi rolled his eyes at him. “Bellingham, you’re not as subtle as you think. In fact, you aren’t subtle at all. Everyone knows you’re into me. My coach teases me about it for God’s sake. Dude, trust me. I have known since forever. The first person who runs to my side when I so much as stumble is you. How could I not know?”

Jude felt like a block of ice where he stood. It felt as though his palpitating heart was going to beat out of his chest. His brain was only capable of latching onto one thing so he voiced that out loud. “What do you mean your coach teases you about it?”

Gavi gave him a genuine smile then, the very first one, and Jude felt like a victorious gladiator in an arena full of adoring romans chanting his name.

“That’s between me and him,” Gavi said, and his smile only widened.

It made Jude incredibly curious but he didn’t press him. He had a more important question to ask anyway. “You knew all this time and yet you continued to treat me like a pariah?”

“You made me nervous, okay!” Gavi confessed, his gaze vulnerable. “I’ve never…I don’t do boys. Didn’t exactly know how to handle having a crush on one. There also happened to be this little voice in my head telling me it was wrong. So, I decided to just focus on girls. It was easier. Truth be told, this whole thing with Grazia was me trying to forget you.”

“Did it work?” Jude asked. It would take him at least a couple of days to process everything else Gavi had just said. “Or do you still have a crush on me?”

Gavi looked down for a while, chewing on his bottom lip while Jude stewed in the suspense. “Yeah, you’re pretty much under my skin. Tried damn near everything but nothing has worked so far.”

“How about going on a date with me?” Jude said. “How about we give that a try?”

Gavi’s response came quickly this time, shy smile playing around the corners of his full lips. “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

[stillthe1]

for the 5 sentences fic!!!

as a pair: versainz and as the word prompt 'clasico' 👀

ily baby🥺💖💖💖💖💖💖

send me a pairing and a word, and i'll write it!

MY LOVE, HI. here you have it. one half is very much "I LOVE BARÇA BARÇA IS THE BEST. and madrid is just. there." and another half is just... kind of NSFW.

“It still feels like a betrayal, you know?”

The spanish accent slipped into Carlos’ voice, tainted with exasperation. Max chuckled, shaking his head, and smoothed down his precious, signed, Barça t-shirt. There were hours until the clásico, but he was already excited and a tiny bit anxious.

“Look, you cannot deny that Barça–” As soon as Max said Barça, perfect accent and all, Carlos' brows got even more furrowed. He was pouting like a kid, lower lip fully out, and arms crossed, showing off his fucking perfect biceps.

(Carlos Sainz Jr was made to distract Max Verstappen, and it’s been proved efficient way too many times. Shoo, Carlos, shoo.)

“Nope, nope, nope. You are not even catalan! Coño, you are not even spanish! Why are you wearing that?” Carlos pointed at his, again, precious, t-shirt as if it was the antichrist, as if it could curse him forevermore if he touched it. “Didn’t you love PSV Eindhoven? Why did you have to move to the dark side?”

Max couldn’t help it anymore, breaking into giggles at Carlos’ exaggerated movements and expressions. It was breaking Carlos, just seeing Max wearing Barça merch, and the match hadn’t even started.

“Okay, listen.”

Carlos opened his mouth again, to start spouting some Barça-bad-Madrid-good speech, but Max shushed him. Was ready as fuck to just, shove his hand on Carlos lips.

Shut up, brain. Shut it, shut it, shut it. Don’t think about Carlos’ lips. Ever.

“Listen. I love Barcelona. My first win with Red Bull was there, and I feel connected to it, I guess?” He looked at Carlos, to see if he was going to interrupt him again, to see him nodding. “So… I started visiting more. Catalans are really kind… And it just felt right to start watching the matches, too, right? And fuck, their history is so good. La Masia creates legends, and it's silly, but I kind of relate it to Red Bull too?”

The timer on the screen pointed 30 minutes until the match, and Max felt more impatient every second that passed. He wanted the match right the fuck now.

“I know you probably came out of the womb with a Real Madrid t-shirt, and it’s— it’s fine, even if you have bad taste, I still like you, okay?”

Fuck.

He said it. He was so deep into his rant about football that he blurted out the worst fucking thing he could’ve said. Ever. He needs to leave, leave Madrid (ew) and maybe find a pretty hidden house in the woods of the Empordà, find a way to get in-and-out of races without seeing Carlos at all, and maybe get a fake Passport through Willem, and disappear after 2028—

“You like me?”

There was awe in Carlos’ eyes, and he was looking at Max with such a soft expression that he felt ready to melt into a puddle. Who gave this man the right to be that handsome, and worse, have the hottest accent in the entire paddock.

“Yeah.” His voice shook, full of nerves and too many thoughts running around his thick skull, telling him that this was not good, that he should just get the fuck out, right now. As usual, he ignored them. “Yeah, I like you, C. I’ve liked you for some time, too much going by Victoria’s complaints.”

He was biting his lower lip, almost drawing blood from the force of it. This was going better than how he had imagined it, but it was nerve wracking. He didn’t even care about the Clásico right now, his senses focused entirely on the sight before him.

He felt Carlos’ thumb on his lips, sudden and mind-blowing. “Max… I like you too. Muchísimo, demasiado. My mom tells me to shut up about you too many times, and every friend I have outside of our sport makes fun of me about it. I look at you like a lost puppy, joder. No podría ser más obvio, cariño.”

The spanish peppered on the confession made Max’s brain swim, short-circuiting with too much information. Carlos thumb forced him to stop biting his lip, and he felt the urge to lick at it, get it into his mouth and—

Godverdomme, Max, stop it. Stop.

“I don’t understand spanish as easily as I understand catalan…” He gave Carlos an attempt of a cheeky smile, blinking his eyes innocently. “Can you translate that for me, big guy?

Max was already blushing, embarrassing but guaranteed when having Carlos’ hand over him. He felt like he was floating in the best way, leaning into Carlos’ hand, his thumb caressing slow circles on his lower lip.

“Oh, you cheeky–”

In a swift movement, the hand on his face was gone, and there was a complaint already on Max’s tongue, when Carlos kissed him. Hard, sloppy and messy. The best first kiss he has ever had. All their emotions were bubbling into the surface, and it made Max grind into Carlos’ thigh, all decked in Real Madrid regalia.

It felt dirty, like he was betraying his team, and it only made all of this more tantalizing. Enemies to lovers, huh.

A moan bursted out of Max’s throat, rough and ruined, his hands buried in Carlos' hair, tugging at the strands, grinding again and again into Carlos, while kissing the life out of him. Everything clicked right into place, with Carlos' hands wandering across Max’s thighs, pressing the back of his hand on Max’s already hard dick.

Max stopped the kiss, just to take a breath, and Carlos pressed harder. A smirk was painted on his lips, and Max’s dizzy brain couldn’t help but focus on the hair on Carlos arm, on those perfect hands–

“Fuck, Carlos. Yes, yes, yesss. Nggh, don’t stop, please.” He was aware of the begging, but Max needed this. Needed Carlos to get on his knees, worship him, all dressed in white, while he was dressed in the most perfect blaugrana. “Please, baby, get on your knees. I need you, boy.”

[ikram1909]

oh God I didn't even think about the camera showing Gavi everytime we concede a goal 😭 Gavi my love, go to the women's matches instead.

So many people talking about Gavi today too. We already knew he was what was missing but good on them for catching up. Someone called him "el corazón con patas" (so like a heart with legs. Makes more sense in Spanish but basically called him the team's soul) when he got injured and really that is what's missing. Fermín and Lamine are apparently the two that took the loss last night the worst so they can be our new Gavis. Only Masía players truly get what playing for this team means. Pep talked more about us than City today. A huge team like us demands the right attitude at least.

Like, no I don't want to see the look on his face when we're losing thank you very much 😭😭

El corazón con patas really is the perfect way to describe him, he's a little ball of emotions that speaks and breathes 😭😭 I hate the fact that it took him getting such a serious injury for people to clock how important he actually is. They all took him for granted and harassed him for years when all he ever did was give his all for the team. There's this one clip where he falls and gets up and starts running before he's even fully standing yet he's a tad insane 😭😭 it's nice to see him get the recognition tho I wish it didn't come at such a high price ☹️ la masia kids live el clásico differently, they growing knowing RM are their biggest rivals so ofcourse Lamine and Fermín took it the hardest. They know what it really means.

[peligrosapop]

Rules : 🎶 when you get this, list 5 (or 10 #@doinggreat)songs you’ve been listening to & tag 5-10 people.

I was tagged by @cherishlalune on 5 songs with explanations and @doinggreat on 10 with no explanation. So I'm doing 10 with short info. I added spotify preview link so you can hear them a bit. No one has to do that, though. 1. Gel - Honed Bladed. Hardcore punk band from New with non-binary/female singer who wear cute scrunchies and yoga pants to perform, they kick ass, I Iove them.

2. Choir Boy - Happy to be Bad. Goth-new wave band from Utah, sounds like it's from 1986 but it's from now.

3. French Police - Hidalgo. Post punk Chicanos from Chicago that are sexy as fuck. The live in audiotree studio version is FIRE

4. Caroline Polachek - Welcome to my island. Although most of her stuff is a bit much for me, this song is really good. Reminds me of early Imogen Heap.

5. Taylor Swift - You're on your own, kid. This is the only song I honestly like from Taylor. I heard it an Gavi @ La Masia fancam and now I like it.

6. Mitski - Love me more. I enjoy Mitski's last two albums but this is probably one of two real hit single on her last album and I can't stop singing it after i hear it, every time.

7. Bizzarap ft Villano Antillano. Villano Antillano is a they/she trans from my home town in PR and their fav basket team is mine as well. Last Bizzarap song that was a real banger.

8. Somos la Herencia - Pesar . Goth-wave band from Spain. It's so dark it makes me wanna make out cause I'm weird like that.

9. Art School Girlfriend- A place to lie. English indie electro-pop artist from the queer scene who's first album and EPs I love. Met her in 2019 too. New single I'm into.

10. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Could you be loved? I revisited Bob Marley's discography in February and March and realized I've been listening to him all my life bc everyone around me always listened to him. I was singing along most of the time. This one is great.

I tag for these people to make a list for us and bear their music souls @hufflepuffhabs @mischai9 @richard-arlison @julianalvarez9 @neyxmessi @rubendiasatl @greyscxle-is-taken @ephemeral-you @lovelaughliverpool @fanzines

[ladylooch]

HI

how are you, b? i hope everything it’s going good. i’ve seen you had a difficult time a few days ago, and that’s really important. give yourself time to feel bad, to feel sadness and tiredness. we need to feel our feelings. also, i’m very happy you had a good time at the kings game!!

it’s been a busy weekend and it will be probably an even busier week but what really matters is: my dear fc barcelona won (it was a hard fought win but a win nonetheless). the match was good, would’ve been better if half the starter team players weren’t injured (i would commit crimes to get frenkie de jong and robert lewandoski back for el clàssic) but once again it has been proven that la masia (barça’s youth academy) has the best young talent out there. xavi (barça legend/current coach/father figure) put this 17 year old i’ve never heard of and the kid score after playing for 23 seconds.

also, the liv x lio drama is so heartbreaking. you have me tearing up every time (it’s partially my fault bc i do reread all the blurbs bc i like being sad but stil!!). and poor little lucie is stuck in the middle, it’s not even her fault.

always great talking to you, b. have a great day today!!

— 🫀

Awwww thank you so much 😘😘 I am doing bunch better now. Unfortunately feeling my feelings works 🤪

Wow it sounds like you had a fun and exciting weekend! I’m so happy you got to see your team and they put on a battle for you! Hopefully that continues! Wow 17 and playing a professional sport seems so daunting. I couldn’t imagine. Sounds like he handled the pressure well tho!

Liv x Lio drama really has come to a head. I feel so bad for our sweet LuLu. You know she cried to Nico after that. And m poor mama Em trying to work it out while dad is clueless 🙄 oh T. We love ya anyway!

I hope you have a great day and week! I too will be very busy and am traveling for work and a lil fun 😈 in a couple of days.

[gavisuntiedboot]

I think what the anon was getting at is the difference between gavi in 21/22 and now where his role this season and last isn't as clear and it seems like all he does is press (which is why we keep getting roasted by madrid fans who say all he does is foul which is...I mean they employed Pepe and Ramos). as far as pedri goes imo gundo has years of experience playing ss and is GOOD at it (we love a talented muslim brother), and pedri does better controlling the midfield w frenkie based on last season's matches (we don't count the dark ages aka when barça's medical team just left pedi's injury up to higher beings).

what we really should be discussing is that koundé should never play rb again bc every time he plays cb he plays like he's in the ucl final and we desperately need better wingers

and abde...I hate to say it but brother is bismillah-ing his way through every match.

I think what you’re saying is true about player strengths and weaknesses, but again, I think Xavi is exploring during these games to see what works where. I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s the problem at Barca. If we had 11 people on the field there is not a doubt in my mind we would have scored. And yeah… Abde’s performance was disappointing. So many stellar chances created that just kinda fizzled out. In my opinion, Gavi or Ansu should have come on for a game with such high pressure, and the La Masia kids should have been left to the end, not the other way around.

[garciapimienta]

Hiiii! I just wanted to ask, since you seem very knowledgeable about this things🧐, what’s our best option for DM next season/ this transfer window? I know we have some La Masia kids( gosh saying that sounds weird when I’m also just 18😭) that are really good and I think you mentioned Federico Redondo at some point but I would like to hear you thoughts at this point in time. I’m not saying I don’t like what the club is doing this transfer window because they are doing a great job but the missing DM player on the team is really making me worried. Anyway, thanks for answering this when you find the time and much love for you and your spectacular blog❤️❤️❤️

First of all thank you, you are so nice!

In regards to the DM question, I'm not even sure myself to be honest, and I am really worried too. In my opinion the best solution, and by miles, was Declan Rice. I know he wasn't exactly affordable but I think the club should've at least attempted to get him and I also think he was worth shelling out a little even if it meant we couldn't afford as many other players. But of course, I understood that with the financial situation, it maybe wasn't doable.

The second option for me, and the more realistic one (well, kinda) was Zubimendi. I personally think he's great and would suit the team so well and he's also ready for the club (not as in 'he's top level already, he doesn't need to learn anything more' but just that he's ready even though ofc he'll continue growing and developing and getting better). That said, Zubi is as loyal as they come, so there's really not much the club could do, he wasn't going to come this season.

Now that both of them are out of the question, I think Oriol Romeu, which seems like the most likely one now, is fine-ish??? He's not a player I absolutely love or someone I think has the general level to be a player for us, but it's also true that there's not much out there that isn't a) very young, or b) not for sale/out of our league in terms of what the club could pay. So basically it seems that we'll have to settle for someone, which I hate because I think the club should've prepared for Busi's retirement much better and has had years to do so.

So yeah, to summarize because I got carried away, I think maybe the best option for now is to settle for someone reliable and temporary like Oriol Romeu and also sign a young developmental pivot for the future (my preferences: Mats Wieffer (highly recommend checking him out, he's really good and has an incredible potential too), Redondo or Vermeeren), while still continuing to develop the Masia prospects who are looking better suited for the position and with a lot of potential (Pau Prim and Marc Casado being the most obvious and most talked about ones, but there are others with high quality and a lot of potential too, like Gerard Hernańdez).

I've just realized I have not mentioned Nico (González) at all in this reply and tbh I 'm actually on team "Xavi should give him a chance" even though I've always said that I've never been fully convinced on wether he can play in that role in the way I would want him too. It's just that considering that there are no better options and Nico is a player that's already in your squad and who has shown a lot of potential and has a lot of talent and resources (even for an interior, which I know we don't need but if he doesn't work out as pivot you could still benefit from using him for rotations every once in a while for one season before selling him/loaning him out again), I think we should give it another try. But if Xavi doesn't like him/isn't willing to do it, then there isn't much to do, seeing as to how he's the coach...

[palaugranetes]

🔵BLAUGRANETS🔴

Carlitos: yo my dudes

.........

Carlitos: Hellooooo

Ansu: yo

Carlitos: Not you

Ansu: Rude..

Ansu: it's on me though.. for being nice. I should have let you be ignored.

Ansu: Enjoy having no one to talk to.

Carlitos: 😒😒😒

Carlitos: I just meant the ones who had the talk with Leo.

Ansu: I was there too you idiot

Carlitos: So what did he want???

Ansu: What makes you think I'm going to tell you after your rude behavior?!

Riqui: Children I swear. Can you at least pretend to be adults?!

Carlitos: Would someone just tell me what Leo said!?

Riqui: Sure yeah I'll tell you.

......

Carlitos: DUDE

Riqui: Sorry.. I was distracted

Carlitos: Let me guess.. Tiktok

Riqui: uh no..

Pedri: He was freaking out about Leo

Carlitos: 😥 What about Leo?!? WHAT DID HE TELL YOU GUYS?! SOMEONE SPEAK

Francisco: It was...

Dembz: Right?!

Arnau: I just..

Carlitos: FORMULATE PROPER SENTENSES YOU JERKS!!!!

Ansu: ouff

JC: Umm.. what?

Carlitos: EXACTLY

JC: I'm so confused right now

Dembz: Right now?

JC: shut up

Oscar: Are you gonna do it now @Riqui ?? 🤔🤔

Riqui: Dude I have no idea....

Sergiño: Bro take a breath and do it.

Pedri: Just go ahead man, it's not that difficult.

Riqui: SAYS YOU!

Pedri: I did.. now do it.

Frenkie: Sooner or later Riqui you're gonna do it.. so why later rather than now?

Riqui: Thanks

Ronald: Want me to do it?

Riqui: I can do it. I am not handing the admin-ship to any of you clowns.

Carlitos: WILL SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!

Iñaki: Sucks doesn't it

Carlitos: What does?

Sergiño: 😂😂

Pedri: Put Curly out of his misery bro

Sergiño: Okay Riqui come on

Carlitos: 😒😒😒😒😒😒😒

Iñaki: Payback is a bitch

Ansu: So...

Riqui: Promise you will behave!!

JC: When have we ever not behaved!!

Dembz: It hurts me that you would say that

Ronald: you two especially.

Ansu: 😂

Ronald: You're not excluded

Francisco: 🤭🤭🤭🤭

Riqui: Here goes

Carlitos: 😩😩

Pedri: 😬😬

Riqui added Leo👑

........

Leo👑: Well I expected more activity here. Is it always this quiet??

Leo👑: Hey guys

Ronald: Hi Capi! Welcome to the group!

Ronald: Not really.. It's never ever quiet.

Ronald: It's both refreshing and unsettling

Francisco: Hi Capi!!

Francisco: Welcome!

Dembz: Salut @Leo👑!!

Ronald: Here they are

Sergiño: Hello Cap!!

Leo👑: So who again is in this thing?

Pedri: Basically all the 1996 and under.

Pedri: Hi Leo! 💙❤

Leo👑: I see.

Riqui: Welcome to our club within the Club Leo.

Leo👑: Thank you.

Riqui: Stay as long as you want.

Oscar: Preferably for as long as possible please.

Riqui: I meant here Oscar. But yes definitely.

Leo👑: Hahaha alright

Pedri: Please

Leo👑: It'll just be a short stance for me here. But thank you @Riqui

Iñaki: Better it be short here than the Club.

Leo👑: It came close kid, but this is home.

Arnau: 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Carlitos: HOLY SHIT

Carlitos:🤭🤭🤭

Carlitos: Sorry.. But of all the things I expected, this was not it.

Leo👑: 😂

Leo👑: So guys, real talk now

Leo👑: I asked Riqui to add me here for 2 reasons.

Leo👑: I just wanted to collectively once and for all say that I am proud of all of you. I know it must be difficult to not always be starting or to just barely play. It sucks. But I feel a few months from now things will change.

Riqui: Are you going to vote?

Leo👑: I don't know kid, not sure.

Carlitos: As long as you are here we will be alright.

Leo👑: Thanks rizos.

Oscar: 💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤

JC: OH MY GOD

JC: Is this real?

JC: 😱😱

Ansu: Bro calm down!

Ansu: Welcome Leo!!

Leo👑: How is your knee kiddo?

Ansu: Better and better

Leo👑: 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

Frenkie: "Leo👑: I just wanted to collectively once and for all say that I am proud of all of you for your professionalism, dedication and progress. I know it must be difficult to not always be starting or to just barely play. It sucks. But I feel a few months from now things will change." 👑💙❤💙❤

Frenkie: And the 2nd reason?

Iñaki: Did you by any chance have a talk with Geri?

Leo👑: I did. I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help.

Leo👑: He is as stubborn as a mule.

Iñaki: Do you have any clue of what he is planning to do?

Leo👑: In my experience with dealing with Geri, I just don't.

Leo👑: I have seen too many things happen to Luis I wouldn't be surprised if he repeats.

JC: Um.. Question

JC: I heard Neymar got his even when he was all the way in France?

Leo👑: True

JC: Well fuck

Leo👑: Who exactly is under threat here?

Iñaki: Me

Leo👑: Well this is the plot twist of all plot twists!

Leo👑: Why???

Iñaki: tagged by association. I was standing next to these clowns @Riqui @Carlitos

Leo👑: Oh

Ansu: I was pardoned.

Leo👑: 😂

JC: Me.....

Dembz: I am too

Riqui: 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Me

Carlitos: And me.. 🙄

Arnau: 😂

Oscar: How long do these things go @Leo👑

Ronald: I don't think Iñaki can take more stress.

Sergiño: Do you think anyone else knows about this @Leo👑?

Leo👑: About what?

Sergiño: Geri and the guys.

Leo👑: Busi and I had a vague idea.

Leo👑: I don't think the others know.

Pedri: Is it true he stole your clothes once?

Leo👑: Yes, when we were La Masia

Francisco: How did Luis escape?

Leo👑: Who said he has😂

Carlitos: What do you suggest we do?

Leo👑: How did @Ansu get out of it?

Riqui: He assisted his goal😒😒😒

Ansu: Hey.. It's not my fault.

Leo👑: True, it's Ronald's

Ronald: Me?! What did I do??

Frenkie: 🤭🤭

Oscar: 🙄

Leo👑: No no.. not you

Ronald: Oh right..

JC: But it's not fair.

Leo👑: How did you get involved in this from all the way over there!?

JC: I wish I knew

Dembz: Spend a few hours with him Leo, you'll see why

JC: I blame Sam

Dembz: No one to blame but yourself.

Iñaki: Do you think if I went to Geri and asked him to just get his thing over with, he will do it?

Leo👑: Doubt it, he goes at his own pace. But give it a shot. Nothing to lose.

Iñaki: Nothing except my dignity.

Leo👑: 😐

Carlitos: I have a question.. curiosity..

Leo👑: Shoot

Carlitos: Are Luis and Ivan still in the other side chat?

Leo👑: Which?

Carlitos: How many are there!?

Leo👑: 2

Carlitos: Which one has Puyi?

Leo👑: Ah.. yes they are.

Carlitos: Ah.. cool cool.

Riqui: What is the other one??

Leo👑: 😏😏

Pedri: Are you going to tell Geri or the guys about this?

Oscar: Very important question

Leo👑: Nope. Your secret is safe with me

Riqui: 💙💙💙💙💙💙🍿

Riqui: 💙*

Leo👑: Any other questions?

Francisco: I got nothing

JC: Pray for us

Leo👑: 😂 okay

Leo👑: And @Carlitos best of luck in Madrid. And take care of yourself

Carlitos: 💙❤👑 will do.

Leo👑: Alright guys.. this was fun. But I'm gonna go now.

Riqui: Come back whenever. I'll send you a link.

Pedri: Or just stay😊

Leo👑: No.. this is your space. Have fun in it

Frenkie: Like Riqui said, come back whenever.

Leo👑: We will see what happens

Sergiño: Thanks Leo

Francisco: 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻👑

Ansu: 💙❤

Leo👑: Okay guys... See you in training tomorrow. ✌🏻💙❤

Ronald: 💙❤🙌🏻✌🏻

Leo👑 Left

Arnau: I know this is just a gc.. but this hurt.

Pedri: Gosh.. the horror of those words together!!😣😣😣😣

Ronald: Horrific. Truly.

Ronald: Leo .. come back.. it was so peaceful here..

Francisco: 😂😂😂

Frenkie: Everyone froze

Oscar: By everyone you mean the Trio from hell?

Arnau: And tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum

Iñaki: 😂

Sergiño: That's cold dude

JC: Ha Ha Ha

Ansu: 🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿

Dembz: 😒😒😒😒

Riqui: oh shut up

Carlitos: 🤬🤬🤬

Oscar: It's like they're a package deal

Pedri: Guys.. What did you do??

Riqui: 🤨🤨🤨

Ansu: Be more specific

Pedri: Geri just sent me a voice note?!?!?!?!

Pedri: WHAT

Pedri: oh.. 🤭

Carlitos: Boy spit it out

Ansu: How long is that voice note

Sergiño: might as well have called him

Francisco: Right?!

Carlitos: SPEAK!!!

Pedri: So um.. Geri said "if your not yet fully developed brains have not figured out the riddle, let me make it easier for you. JCCDR in that order"

JC: Fuck me..

Carlitos: 😩

Dembz: 🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️

Riqui: Oh brother

Iñaki: Wait.. there is no I...

Francisco: You are free!

Iñaki: Am I? AM I?

Oscar: I think you are

Sergiño: So it seems dude

Iñaki: This seems to good to be true

Ronald: It looks like it bro

Iñaki: WHY IS THIS EVEN MORE STRESSFUL?!

Ansu: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[cicici03]

Who You Goin To Choose- Chapter 2

Finally I have update “ Who You Goin To Choose”. If you need a refresher, I have Chapter 1 link below!!

Chapter 1

How I felt after I wrote this chapter:

------------------------------------------------------

“ Babygirl you not happy to see me?” Dominique asked Kia as he let go of her.

Kia was in shocked about seeing Dominique standing right in front of her. Kia looked over to her father to see him looking outside the window at the strip.

“ Daddy, what is this?” Kia asked with her voice going up while walking over to Ernest’s desk. Ernest looks at his daughter.

“ Well it seem like that Dominique is here because his cousin’s husband is facing your husband.” Ernest quietly said in a monotone voice.

Kia walked over to her dad. Looking him in the eye.

“ Daddy, I know what you are doing. I already doing the one thing you tell me to do, but I am not leaving Florian!” Kia yelled at her dad while pointing at him.

Sean, Ross, and Alexis were shocked by what they saw because Kia never stood up to Ernest. Ernest cleared his throat and looked at his only daughter.

“ Well you don’t have too, but remember I told you that the man is going to take all of your money if you got pregnant or after he was done having jungle fever. So with that, I will make sure that I will take you out of the family account so he don’t take mines too.” Ernest said with calmness in his voice.

Kia, eyes blurry with tears, looked at her father. Kia ran out of his office and went to hers.

Ernest turn his head to Dominique and nod for her to go after her. As he did that, he went back into his seat behind his desk. 

“ I can’t believe you going to give her an ultimatum. You know she loves Florian, and you going to make her choose on building her own family or biological family. Then you bring the same man that cheated on her, treated her like trash, made her get rid of a baby, and top it off gave her an STD!” Sean yelled to his father with his deep voice.

Sean started to laughed.

“ You are dirty! Plus, I bet you never told her the money Momma left to us!” Sean snickered while looking at his father, which  Ernest had his head down.

Sean left out of the office and went to his own to cool down. Ross looked at his dad and went out shaking his head. 

With that, it only left Alexis and Ernest.

Alexis wanted to say something, but she couldn’t tell Ernest how to raise his own kids. 

Even though Alexis knew Kia strongly dislike her.

She wanted to help her.

Alexis looked at Ernest as he was typing away on his computer.

As Alexis walked out, she realized that she going to have get into family business even though she knew Kia would be highly upset.

Alexis walk to the elevator and press the button to go down.

She looked around, and saw through Kia’s glass office window, Dominquie rubbing her back while she cried.

He was whispering sweet nothings into her ear, and Alexis could see that Kia was falling for them.

She shook her head as the elevator door open.

Even though Kia may hate her after what she is about to do.

She is trying to save Kia’s marriage.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, 6:00 p.m.

“Uau, ador ce a făcut Kia cu locul !”  Momma Flo screech while walking into Kia and Florian’s house. 

( Wow, I love what Kia did with the place!)

As she was walking in, Florian, Masias, Sandro, and Papa Flo was carrying all the bags that Momma Flo brought . 

With that, many of Florian’s relatives and friends followed into the house. 

With that, Florian put down the bags and finally relieved to be home.

It took them so long, because Momma Flo didn’t tell him that she invite almost everyone from Romania. With that, Flo had to rent a two more vans to fit everyone and their stuff in.

“Deci, unde este Kia?” Florian’s cousin asked with much excitement. One thing about Florian family, they love everybody in Kia’s family and Kia except for Ernest.

( So where is Kia?)

“Ei bine, probabil că se lasă de la serviciu și se îndreaptă spre casă.” Florian said while sitting on the sofa to play with one of his little cousins.

( “ Well she probably getting off work and heading home.”)

As everybody was getting settle and was talking. 

Momma Flo looked at her son and smile.

Seeing him with kids and seeing how happy he was made her happy. She wished that Florian and Kia would hurry up.

However, she knew that Ernest was holding Kia back on it. From the conversations that Florian and Momma Flo had, she could tell that Ernest was trying to keep the two separate.

She really despises that man, because during Florian and Kia’s wedding he was about to object.

Momma Flo was really hoping Kia would stand up to her father, but Kia was just like Momma Flo. A person that loves her father and would do anything to keep her father happy.

Even it means that she will be hurting herself and other people that she loves.

“ Mamă, când vei începe să gătești?” Flo asked while walking towards her. Momma Flo snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her son.

( Momma, when are you going to start cooking?)

“ What?” Flo asked while looking at his mother while drinking his water.

Momma Flo smiled and rubbed her son’s cheek.

“ Nothing,” Momma Flo stated, “ Acum, voi toți oamenii care puteți găti. Vino să mă ajuți!” Momma Flo screamed while taking out pots and pans.

(  “ Now all of you people that can cook. Come help me!”)

Flo laughed at his mom. Florian realized that he left something upstairs for his cousin.

He ran up the stairs into his bedroom to get it. As he found it on the coffee table in their room.

Something on the chair caught his attention.

The silver object that was just freshly puncture and was missing a pill.

Florian picked it up.

He knew exactly what it was.

Florian sighed and and looked up at the ceiling.

Florian head was going through so many thoughts and was going all type of crazy.

She really must didn’t want a baby.

Kia has been lying to me.

The one thought that went through his mind really took him.

Ernest has been putting something in her brain.

As Florian, was starting to analyze his last thought, a voice interrupted.

“ Hi Florian.” Alexis quietly spoke seeing that Florian was in deep thought.

Florian look at Alexis and put on a smile. Florian and Alexis was close friends now as they both help each other navigate life with the Ford’s.

“ Hi Alexis, what are you doing here?” Florian asked while sitting down in the chair.

“ Well I.. I want to talk to you about something.” Alexis hesitated said.

Florian pointed towards the chair which Alexis sat in.

“ Well... it’s about Kia.” Alexis said while breathing very frantically.

Florian head turn to her so quickly.

“ Is she on birth control because I found this.” Florian spated out while putting the birth control on the table.

As Alexis was about to say anything, Kia walk through the bedroom door that was close.

Kia looked at Alexis with eyes of fury. 

“ What hell is this!” Kia smugly said with her eyes looking at Alexis.

“ Nothing is going on Kia.” Alexis  truthfully stuttered out while looking at Kia.

“ Then why was my fucking door close! You are nothing but a hoe!” Kia yelled at Alexis while charging her way.

Before Kia could get to Alexis, Florian stood up in front of her.

“ Now, stop it! I should be asking what the hell is this!” Florian barked at Kia while holding up the birth control.

When Kia saw that, her face drop.

Even though, Alexis thought Kia hid her expression about the birth control.

Florian knew that she was taking it.

“ Alexis, please leave and close the door.” Florian muttered out while still looking at Kia, whom was looking at the birth control in his hand. Alexis quickly left the room and close the door.

As the door close, you could feel the tension in the air.

Kia finally looked at Florian, and she could see the anger written over his face.

“ So, you been lying to me!” Florian screamed at Kia. Kia did what she do best:run.

Kia walked to the closet and started to find some clothes.

“ Are you fucking kidding me Kia! You been fucking lying to me! Then you have the audacity to not look at me!” Florian ran right behind her.

Kia still facing her clothes didn’t turn around to Florian.

Florian chuckled with anger.

“ So I bet your dad had something to deal with this!” Florian shouted again.

Kia took off her dress blouse and skirt to put on so comfortable clothes.

As she got finsih, she turn to Florian, which their eyes met.

“ I don’t want kids Florian!” Kia roared out which hurt her as she said it.

She could see Florian breaking in his eyes even though his face didn’t change. At that moment, it was the air in the room seem like it left.

One thing that was obvious to them both, was that Momma Flo was in the room. She was trying to tell them the food was done, but she got more than she bargain to hear.

“ I’m going to leave for my hair appointment, and I just go to my dad’s house since you have weigh ins tomorrow.” Kia quietly spoken as she grab her purse and left the closet.

Florian was still stucked in the same spot since Kia told him about her not wanting kids.

As Kia got to the door, she saw Momma Flo looking at her with tears in her eyes.

“Kia regândește-te! Florian și tu vei fi părinți buni! Știu că tatăl tău te-a pus la dispoziție pentru această miere! Obișnuiam să fiu tu! Dacă aș fi încă ca tine, nu i-aș fi avut pe Florian și pe Papa Flo în viața mea!” Momma Flo choked out with tears coming down her eyes.

( “ Kia rethink about it! Florian and you will be good parents! I know it was your father that put you up to this honey! I use to be you! If I was still like you, I wouldn’t have had Florian and Papa Flo in my life!”)

Kia looked at her and shooked her head and she left while running out of the house to avoid anybody.

Momma Flo realized that Kia was running from physically, but emotionally. She didn’t want to face that she may lose her dad for her happiness. She also, didn’t want to face that she may lose her husband for her dad’s happiness.

So the only thing she was going to keep doing was running.

However, you sooner or later have to stop running.

—————————————————————

Wow.

Y’all I don’t even have questions for this one because I’m just in schock!!!!!!

Please tell me how you feel by commenting! I love comments good or bad!!!

Please Reblog!

Please Like and Tell Your Friends!!!!

Taglist: @19jammmy @twistedcharismaaa @designerwriterchic @queen-zelieonna @amethyst09 @champagnesugamama @natashacoco @cocobutterqwueen @bvssmob

[doux-amer]

Posted this on Facebook and copying and pasting it here, incorrect all-lower punctuation and all, so it’s easier for me to find it and because I need everyone, football fans and non-football people alike, to understand why this man is so special BECAUSE HE’S SO SPECIAL even though a bunch of you, especially the CLFers, know how much he means to me personally:

this is going to be long because this is something that means a lot to me and something that i'm emotional about (breaking news: i get sad sometimes). ever since iniesta announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season, i've struggled to come to terms with the news. i wondered why i wasn't more upset, but it was because i didn't want to think about it and because it was unfathomable. xavi and iniesta embodied barça's DNA. they ARE barça. both exemplify the best of what barça has to offer. they're la masia graduates. they're midfielders. they're visionaries and artists. they were the reason why i fell in love with la roja a decade ago and why there wasn't any choice in what club i picked (as the saying goes, the club picks you). no other players have fundamentally shifted my understanding of the game more than these two, and i'd argue that no two players have shifted the game as drastically as them over the past decade.

i say these two because they were a package deal (and they knew it too. one of my favorite stories about them is that they switched numbers; iniesta took #8 for barça and #6 for spain, and xavi was #6 for barça and #8 for spain). they were the textbook definition of drift compatibility. they were soulmates, one soul living in two bodies; there's that famous moment of them gesturing to each other wordlessly and somehow understanding exactly what the other person was thinking because they not only never needed words to communicate, but it was also as though they had a psychic bond and as soon as one person thought something, that person immediately did too as though they were the one who thought it. it's why when xavi left, i was devastated and it was strange to see iniesta holding up the copa del rey trophy alone a few weeks ago. now the moment i've been dreading for years has finally come: xavi and iniesta are both gone even though they were supposed to be here forever.

words can't describe what iniesta means to me. if you're a fan of barça or football, you know his genius, but if you're not, it's difficult to describe how uniquely and preternaturally gifted "el ilusionista" is. all that comes to mind is what pep said to xavi on iniesta's first day training with the first team: "you're going to retire me. this kid is going to retire us all." i can think of no better quote to describe the special bond connecting those three, the change of guard from one generation to the next, and the enormity of iniesta's talent than that quote.

but if you don't know much about football or about iniesta (and you can be forgiven for that because for a long time, iniesta flew under the radar and even now, he doesn't possess the celebrity his more starlike companions enjoy), then this might give you a better example of his importance: iniesta scored the goal that won spain its first world cup. he's dearly loved across spain for that—but not only because of that. he's loved because of his compassion, humility, and generosity. everyone remembers him for what happened after. the ball went in and then he tore across the pitch, stripping off his jersey to show the shirt underneath to the millions watching across the world. it read "dani jarque siempre con nosotros." it was a tribute to his friend who passed away suddenly at the same age i am now. dani was the captain of espanyol, barça's despised rival across town. there's no other club cules hate more than espanyol except maybe real madrid, and the animosity is a two-way street, but iniesta didn't give a damn about that. he dedicated his world cup goal to his friend when that moment could have been about him and no one would have begrudged him for that especially considering his struggles during the months leading up to the world cup due to his injuries and his grief over dani's passing.

and that's what made him so special. he's still that shy, quiet, tiny (and pale, but he demonstrated that he can, in fact, get a bit of color and ACTUALLY TAN, the one thing i thought was impossible for him to do) 12-year-old kid who arrived at la masia 22 years ago. the only difference is that he went from being a tearfully homesick kid who awakened everyone's protective streak to becoming a leader, though i'm sure victor valdes is out there somewhere, still ready to fight anyone who so much as looks at iniesta the wrong way. totally relatable because as i've said for years, iniesta is the one footballer i will fight to defend; you so much as say the slightest critical thing about him, and i will punch you because he's an angel and how DARE anyone say anything bad about him or worse, upset him.

i don't have to worry about that, though, because the whole world loves him and no one has a bad thing to say about him. he's that rare breed of class and humility. he doesn't pick fights, act self-pitying and dramatic, or play dirty. he's hard-working, selfless, and generous. everything he does is in service to the team—and off the pitch, to the fans, his family, and the world. he's also gentle and kind to a fault; back when he became captain after xavi left, people worried that iniesta wouldn't be able to be a leader, even fans who loved him. they thought he'd be an uncharismatic pushover, but he showed that you don't have to be loud or forceful to lead. everyone deferred to him because of their admiration for him as a person, and he led with calm, gentle firmness, always stepping in to defuse situations, to encourage and support his teammates, and to protect his teammates and friends when they needed defending.

that's why he's not just my favorite player tied with xavi. he's my role model and has been for the past decade, and that's what makes him so much more special than all the other players i love dearly. he means so much to me as both a player and as a person, and he's a shining example of what people should strive to be. at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you're a good person and that's exactly who he is and tries to be. okay, i'm getting really emotional right now and am on the verge of getting as tearful as i was watching his last match yesterday (i'm definitely going to even more of a mess when i watch iniesta's press conference and farewell ceremony (I STILL HAVEN'T SEEN EITHER OF THEM BECAUSE IT'LL HURT TOO MUCH)). i got misty-eyed when i saw iniesta handing the captain's armband to messi and realized i'd never see one of the best partnerships football has ever seen ever again, and then i cried (DON'T EVER MENTION THIS TO MY FACE) when i saw him crying on the bench as a stadium of 80,000 chanted his name and heard the announcers saying that the four captains of the pep era and the true barça captains of my heart—puyol, valdes, xavi, and iniesta—are now gone.

it's the end of an era even though i know iniesta's one true love is barça forever and always (this is the man whose house was decked out completely in barça colors; google it because it's wild), and i know he'll be back soon. i'm just thankful that i was incredibly lucky enough to get a front-row (or second-row?) seat and watch him from only several feet away at camp nou twice. it was a dream come true to see him play in person. i'll never forget how indescribably magical those moments were, just as this past decade following him was. ❤️💙 

[jessiewre]

Day 37

Mon 10th Feb 

Phil the crazy runner got up to his alarm ‪at 6:30am‬ and was out running by ‪7am leaving me with the double bed to myself instead of the‬ 10% of bed space I normally have.

He returned by ‪8:30am‬ with a half marathon under his belt and was feeling rather happy with himself. I was quite proud of myself too as I'd managed to press snooze on my alarm only twice.

We went to the little outdoor kitchen and actually felt all excited to be cooking our own food. Ok fine, we were literally boiling some eggs. It was good though. Eggs, avocado and sweet sweet toast 👌🏼

We got some worrying messages from Jimi though, so spoke to him on the phone. He told us he'd had some tragic news - a friend had been hit on their motorbike by a taxi and passed away from his head injuries. Really really sad. Jimi was upset but was able to get a lot of comfort from his belief in God which is something. A reminder of the fragility of life.

We sat down to do some research to work out our next move and decided on Lake Naivasha & Hells Gate national park as there was the option of cycling through it to spot the animals. No big carnivores there don't worry, more like giraffes and zebras and them chill animals that don’t eat humans 😝

It wasn't long before Phil got really hungry though and we agreed (I suggested) that he should pop out to the local market to get some food so we (he) could cook lunch and dinner. It would save us $50 if we avoided ordering from the hotel that day so it was a no brainer, especially for me, as I'd offered to keep an eye on things at the camp while Phil went off to do all the buying. 

Phil went to the market on a hotel boda and returned about an hour later (bit slow but what can I do, I was busy minding camp) with a loot:

2 red onions

10 rather green looking tomatoes 

Garlic clove

3 avocados

Spaghetti packet

8 carrots

We got to work cooking (I reluctantly agreed to get involved though I was sure the camp still needed my supervision) and to keep Phil's hunger under control, I cut a mango open and we attempted to bite at it. I'll tell you what, they are more hassle that they're worth. Phil looked at me with pure disgust and disdain as he bit into it, repeatedly getting mango strings stuck in his teeth. We gave up within 10 seconds and gave the half eaten mango to one of the staff guys to crack on with. Not sure anyone in the UK would have taken it, in fact they’d have been offended with the offer, but this guy was well happy with his new car crash of a mango 🥭

We made a pasta sauce with cubed carrots in (recipe available on demand) but made the mistake of cooking all the pasta in one go thinking we'd prep dinner at the same time. 

As soon as it was done I realised it was a very bad shout. That cooked pasta was not going to improve throughout the afternoon. It wasn’t like a tasty sauce, getting better as the time passes. It was pasta for gods sake.

But it was too late, the stuff was cooked now, so we bunged half of it in a bowl for the evening, crossed our fingers, and ate the rest of it. Wasn't too bad! It wasn't amazing, but it wasn’t bad. Totally edible...

By the time we ate lunch, it was nearly ‪4pm (as I said Phil should have been quicker on the buying really but I let it go)‬. 

Phil had made friends with his boda driver Edward, who also worked at our camp, and he sneakily arranged for us to visit Edward’s Masai village instead of doing the touristy one for $20. It wasn't just about the money but sometimes the touristy things are really contrived and feel like a performance. Walking round to Edwards village was totally impromptu so without expectation. 

On the way, we walked from the road to the grass through a muddy ditch and despite my best efforts trying to avoid the bad patches, my trainers were getting muddy. Then I stood on a particularly soft sticky patch and my trainer went quite deep. As I pulled my foot out, it got totally stuck and then my foot flew up and the trainer CAME OFF in the mud while I hopped around like an idiot. That’s me, providing top quality entertainment in all its forms.

We narrowly avoided the hidden barbed wire in the grass as we walked through shrub land and over little streams that Edward put big rocks in to build us a bridge and arrived.

Edward’s village was all about simplicity and necessity. He showed us where they kept the different animals (cows, goats, chickens), the separate buildings they had for kitchens and living spaces, and the fenced areas they grew vegetables in. I helped add a few more sticks to the fence on his vegetable patch as there was a pile that needed doing but after maybe 6 sticks, I thought I’d better stop incase he was being polite about my talent for it. There were 5 puppies wandering round doing cute yapping barks and we met Edwards mum & some of his young siblings as they went about her business.

He showed us the large pen they'd built for the cows to be in overnight and it was like a gladiator colosseum made of corrugated metal and wood, with churned up mud as the floor. I tried to walk over this mud to the other side of the doorway and what I didn't realise was this mud was actually PURE COW SHIT.

And obviously I stood in a giant pile of this shit that I thought was dry, and my foot broke the dry crust and went about 3 miles south into the pile of shit - did I mention it was shit? And for the second time in an hour, my trainer was fooked, but now it was covered in stinky cow dung. 

Edward looked a little awkward but Phil was wetting himself laughing.

Edward kindly found me a cleaning brush and got a bucket of water for me to clean my shoes while the shite was fresh. It’s important to get it when its fresh like (top Masai tip that). So there I was, in a Masia village, scrubbing my shit stained trainers while everyone watched on at the silly muzungu👌🏼

A young boy about 7 years old (I think it was his brother) in purple wellies was told to herd up the goats that had naughtily crawled under the fence to outside the village and he casually got them together, carrying some of the smaller ones into their little pen. Skills.  

Edward proudly showed us into his living room with his smart sofas he’d saved up for and after 25 mins of prep by his mother, he gave us hot chocolate powder with hot water to make. Phil poured it all out and definitely gave me the bigger one on purpose. I couldn’t quite hide my aversion to the 8 million flies in the room but tried to minimise my flapping around as much as I could. One of his little 2 year old relatives was hanging around staring at us which was so cute. She never smiled and never looked sad either. She was just staring at us, watching, working us out. She had about 10 flies round her face and mouth the whole time which definitely bothered me more than it bothered her.

One of the smallest puppies that looked on the verge of death was nearby and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t loving the hot chocolate, so without thinking I offered the puppy the remains of the drink. The lil pup enthusiastically drank away and I was so pleased to be able to give it some calories, but when I looked up at Phil his eyes were wide and he was giving me absolute daggers. He shook his head the tiniest amount as if to say JESS STOP FEEDING THE PUPPY EDWARD’S SPECIAL HOT CHOCOLATE and I suddenly became aware of my surroundings and tried to subtlety bring the chocolate back to me as if I was going to finish it. A few minutes later I went outside to see the sunset and lobbed the rest of the drink behind the hut.

After thanking his mum and waving goodbye to the people milking the cows and all kids who had gathered to say hi, we headed back to camp for dinner. Despite his reluctance, we gave Edward 500ksh to buy something to thank his mum for hosting us.

Unsurprisingly, our dinner of spaghetti-a-la-lunch-repeat was not amazing . Let’s call it Noodle Mush (recipe available on demand). Phil seemed more enthusiastic than me about the taste one again, I think buying the ingredients sometimes makes you like it more 😂

But the saving grace of the meal was my garlic bread. What a thing of beauty. Definitely worth burning my hand twice for. 

We chatted to the family who’d returned from their 2nd safari day and they’d had a brilliant time seeing tons of stuff like leopards & a little cat that looks like a house cat called a servat. Would have been cool to see it, but we knew we would safari in other countries and you can’t do them all or we’d run out of cash in about a week.

Booked our transport for the morning journey back to Narok and went to bed.