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GAVI's POV

i woke up sore as if i made no movement in my sleep at all.

later to realize... i didn't.

the last thing i remember was watching some rom-com y/n suggested to which i probably passed out to because of how boring it was. but i definitely did not think we slept together.

like.. together together.

her head was rested on one of my arms while the other held her close to me. what i didn't expect when looking down further is seeing her hugging me back.

i have so many thoughts running through my head and one of them is not wanting to move an inch of my body and just... stay as we are.

that'd be something.

my phone is right behind her so i try to reach for it without making much movement.

i pick it up only to see that it's 7:41 am and practice starts at 8:30. i look around to see if there's any sign of xavi, i can't imagine him not being up.

the first person i can think of calling is pedri to come pick me up and take me back to my place to get all my stuff. the phone rings for a while until he picks up last minute. "gavi. good morning." he sounds like he's been up for a minute. "pedri, hey um... can you do me a favor and pick me up from xa- uh actually can i send you my location if that's alright?" theres this short pause before he agrees and he hangs up on me.

i was gonna tell him xavi's place but that would lead to so many questions because everyone knows about y/n moving back with xavi, including him.

i don't want him or anyone thinking anything of it.

by sending my location that gives me a solid five minutes to run down the street to some grocery store.

y/n, though, is making it harder to follow through with this plan.

so instead of waking her up, i slowly pick up her head and get the nearest pillow to put beneath her. she shuffles around a little and i completely freeze, not knowing how much of a heavy or light sleeper she is until she goes back to her original state before i had to get her off me.

i start putting my sweater and shoes back on because i didn't imagine myself spending the night which is why i'm still in my clothes from yesterday.

as i'm getting ready to head out, i think it'd be a better idea to leave a note before she wakes up confused. i grab the nearest sheet of paper and start scribbling.

i hope it's good enough.

but just as i'm about to head out i get the biggest scare of my life.

xavi is leaned against the archway and i slowly back away before he gets a little closer. "so, how'd you sleep?" he asks before putting one hand on my shoulder, "if this is about y/n and i... we just fell asleep like that i promise-"

"hmm, okay, gavi. but can i show you something really quick?" he takes his hand off my shoulder and goes for his back pocket, making his way next to me with this grin on his face and turns it sideway before pressing play on some video.

apparently y/n had fallen asleep on the floor first and in the video i was reaching for the remote.

if that wasn't enough i got on the floor with her and moved her hair out of her face as anyone would because... i don't know maybe it was uncomfortable! nonetheless i make my way to lay down next to her and hold her in the exact position i woke up in. he speeds the video up to the exact moment she hugs me back and all i can do is stand here and try to pull a lie out of my ass.

"if i'm being honest, i remember nothing from last night so-"

"i'll see you at practice, gavi."

in other words, it's about to be a tough day. i sigh and say my goodbye before walking down the stairs until i remember i actually have to run and send my location like... right now.

☆

Y/N's POV

"it's my day off! why are you taking me to your practice?"

i didn't even get to see gavi leave, but i sure got the note.

had to leave early for practice. i'll call you after, i promise.
- pablo

i could never admit to anyone, or even myself that it didn't make me feel some type of way but in a way... i did just admit it? my thoughts get interrupted by xavi, "i just wanna see something." with no clue as to what he's talking about, i take my bag and we make our way down to the lobby where we get our mail and make our way to the garage.

because i live with xavi a lot of my important mail comes here even when i was with jana and salma.

as i'm going through a few, the US women's national team logo does not fail to catch my eye.

xavi finally gets in after loading some stuff in the back and starts the car, peeking over at me. "and that is?" i shush him and open it like some kid on christmas. as i'm skimming through the page it basically says theres interest in me going to train with them.

and now that i'm only two weeks away from turning 18, it'll be my decision.

this would take a lot of thinking, though. "what do you think?" we're at a red and i pass him the paper as he reads what i just did.

"i think it's great... don't you?" it's my dream to play for thenational team but theres always been something in the way of it.

to drop the conversation, i put away the letter as xavi turns to me with a sigh, "it should mean something to you, especially at your age to be recognized by them." yeah but it'd be better if i had the chance to play with them. i nod anyways and realize we're already here.

"what time did you even get home?"

he locks the door as we go up together. it's still early so there aren't any fans crowded up at the front.

i can only imagine how it's gonna be by the time we get out. "uhh around eleven i think. what time did you go to sleep?" the way he's asking makes me hesitant to even respond "can't remember actually." because that's the truth. so why is he looking at me like that? "whatever you say, y/n."

we make our way inside, saying a small good morning to lola before he tells me to meet him on the field because he has to drop some things off at his office.

i make my way up the the stairs to where the morning sun hits me immediately.

i guess they're taking advantage of xavi being nowhere in sight because hardly any of them are on the field and on the sidelines talking to each other. the first person i can think of right now is ansu. i always love bothering him.

plus he's the first person i saw.

his back was faced towards me so i sprint over to him before he can move and jump on his back. thankfully his first instinct is to hold onto my legs.

"good morning, ansu!" my arms are crossed over his chest as i feel it beating like crazy.

"you can't do that! especially not this early in the morning." i laugh and lewandowski comes up to us. "y/n? que ases aquí?"

mostly everyone is aware of my presence and comes to say hi.

"honestly, i don't know but xavi asked me to come along and i didn't mind cuz i have another day off." after saying that, i realized i should've just made plans with jana and salma before agreeing to watching them play.

there's always tonight and after practice though, so maybe we will.

"strange, but we love having you here so-"

"y/n?!" frenkie and ferran finally notice me after being the only ones. "you guys seriously can't be that blind." i get off of ansu as they come and hug me. "how'd you sleep last night?" with a cheeky smile, frenkie asks me up until stegen hits the back of his head with his glove.

it gave me a good laugh. "good i guess? why do you ask?"

"because xavi-"

"because nothing!" lewandowski doesn't even let frenkie say another word. "oh my god so basically-"

"will you two shut up?!" and just as before, lewandowski shuts ferran up from whatever he was about to say. "come warm up with me, y/n." ansu puts his hand out and i do nothing but follow. "can you tell me what that was about?" he shakes his head without thinking about it. "you guys suck, that's why i'm gonna ask koundé later because we know he can't keep his mouth shut."

he's sure to tell me.

"i'll pay him enough not to say a thing." but why not is what i wanna know?! we do some passing and catching up.

"what'd you do last night?"

is there something they know that i don't think they know? "i mostly talked to jana and salma all night."

even then, i still felt the need to lie. "nothing more?"

"nope." if they can't tell the truth, why should i?

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GAVI's POV

"wait you're telling me your sister did what?"

pedri and i were making our way up to the field after telling him about that time my sister chased me with a snake but at the time i thought it was the hose until she threw it at me.

it wasn't the hose.

pedri couldn't stop his laughter and i couldn't help it either if i was being honest. "you probably deserved that."

i slapped his arm and he shoved my head to the side as our cleats smacked the concrete stairs to where we were met with everyone on the sidelines except for two pairs doing warming ups.

i get a closer look and realize that's literally y/n... practicing with ansu. but from the looks of it, they're mostly laughing rather than warming up.

the team comes up to us but mostly gather around my side, "um, good morning?" this is definitely new. "of course it's a good morning, look who's here." ferran throws his arm around me and points out to the field. christensen yanks it off though. "her and ansu seem to be getting along well."

i mean yeah, they're friends, aren't they?

i hum in response and try to move away from them, without breaking contact with both her and ansu.

"earth to gavi! whatcha looking at?" frenkie and ferran are definitely acting differently.

"nothing, jeez." i try to brush them off but the one time i look away, i finally see that y/n noticed me and is coming towards me. "hey!" we haven't really learned how to interact whenever everyone is around so i just stood there awkwardly, "morning."

so maybe i'm a little annoyed.

i just didn't expect to see her. i don't think i would even be annoyed if the first thing i saw was ansu being playful with her at all.

it's not something i would expect this early in the morning.

the team looks at each other and i can't help but notice the way her face dropped slightly. i clear my throat and excuse myself to a bench so i can tie my laces. i clearly didn't get far enough to ignore their mumbles.

i hear someone approaching, only to take a seat next to me. i notice they aren't wearing cleats, so it's definitely her.

"i got your note, are you okay, though?"

"don't see why i wouldn't be."

"your face says otherwise." i guess my facial expressions don't match my emotions. "still don't get what you mean." i scoot away, tightening my laces, maybe out of anger because they were so tight there was hardly any room. "are you upset or-"

"the hell would i be upset over?" god, will she give up already? "sorry i guess. i was gonna ask if you wanted to warm up, but have it your way."

she definitely sounded upset as anyone would be if i was acting like this.

as she gets off the bench, i shut my eyes and realize that even though i might not hear the end of it later from everyone, it'll be worth it because i hate having to see her leave knowing i'm being an absolute dick. so i get off to go after her and grab her hand. "i'm not upset at you it was just... i don't really know. but i'm so sorry for that. would you still wanna warm up?"

her brows furrow, "you're really confusing, gavi. but yes, we can still warm up."

i'll never get over how understanding she is.

"oh guess what."

she starts talking on our way to the middle of the field and i can't help but stare at her as the morning sun is directly hitting her, making her eyes glisten to a lighter shade.

how could i possibly take my eyes off her?

our passes are a bit sloppy due to laughing over whatever she was saying. i couldn't concentrate enough with a laugh like hers.

i'm doing it again.

☆

what they both failed to realize was that xavi and everyone was watching by now.

"so, we're not telling them we know about the pic?"

"god no, she would kill me. just... enjoy the moment." xavi, who brought y/n to see how practice would go if she was around, was proven right.

almost every break, gavi found his way to her to get a word in, no matter how short their time was. he also didn't fail to get physically close to her. and even during practice time, he found himself staring even if she was doing nothing but staring off into her phone, and xavi took note of every single detail. everyone's last straw was at the end of practice to where he ran up to her and swung his arm around her as they exited the field together. not even realizing everyone was behind them when he kissed the top of her head.

it was the epitome of freeze tag before everyone started shouting and hugging each other because they couldn't get enough of the two.

unfortunately, y/n who overheard everything from where her and gavi were, yet still trying to pay attention to whatever gavi was saying, put the pieces together.

do they seriously think we're dating?!

that put the thought into her head, and all throughout waiting for gavi outside the locker room was all she could think about.

as if gavi could feel something for me.. right?

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