Let Me Adore You. (Cressi/Lionaldo) (Cristiano Ronaldo/Lionel Messi)

9.

*****

It seemed like time was just flying by, day by day and it was like everything was going uphill. Even through the club transfers, and various rumors about them being thrown around on a daily basis. They managed to maintain a steady and healthy balance, Leo had Cris to fall back on whenever he wanted (which he did do when the news of his transfer away from Barcelona broke) and of course, Cristiano continued to make his cute and super embarrassing posts about Leo. All was well.

Until the day they announced the winner of the 2021 Ballon D'or.

All the progress they had made in the media and between their fans, it was all shot back to square one. Leo read the tweets with a frown, he expecting a response like this but even if he had prepared for it, that didn't mean it hurt any less. Various people left and right commenting on who won the Ballon D'or and who truly deserved it.

He wanted to just shout out on the internet and make a big post about how much he wanted to congratulate Cris on all of his achievements throughout the year, but his media manager persisted that that would be a bad decision. What's done was done, and if Leo made a post now it would only cause more mayhem between the fans and their rivalry against one another.

Leo really didn't know if he believed that but he wasn't in the mood to argue with someone overseeing his social accounts. That was their job after all, and if anyone knew what was best it was them.

"Anto?" Leo sighed, phone now pressed up against his ear.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing really, just sitting here.." the silence on the other end made Leo nervous.

"Are you okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned and at that moment Leo wished he was one of the people that could lie. Unfortunately he wasn't.

"Yeah, I mean... no. Just not feeling good."

"What's bothering you?"

Leo let out a weak laugh and shrugged, now pacing the floor in his living room. "I really am happy that I won, you know that right? Like don't get me wrong, I'm overjoyed. I couldn't have done it without the fans and it makes me really excited for the future."

Anto hummed, and waited, as if waiting for Leo to continue. "But?"

"I don't know," Leo huffed and stopped his pacing. Pulling the phone away and putting it on speaker, with a few touches the tweets were on his screen again. "Just listen to this, okay?"

"I'm listening."

"This guy on Twitter said, I like both of them but come on. If you seriously think that Leo deserved that Ballon D'or, you're either delusional or you don't understand the game. It's a steal." Leo could hear the shaky inhale from the other end.

"Leo-"

"Then he added a clown emoji at the end. I'm sorry but," Leo let out another big breath. "I know I'm not supposed to let them get to me and I know that there's always going to be people doubting me or Cris but after awhile it gets tiring. I'm tired of it and I just wish there were more people out there that understood me and Cris have a great friendship going here and this stupid rivalry thing is only going to separate us further."

"You're right and you're wrong Leo," Leo frowned at that.

"How?"

"Well I mean you're right about the haters thing, there are always going to be people that don't like you or Cris. It's just the way it is."

"Well gee, thanks Anto. You make me feel so much bette-"

"Stop being dramatic and just listen to me." Anto laughed, the action making Leo roll his eyes. He bit his lip from spouting anything back. "The thing you're wrong about though, is this isn't going to separate you and Cris. You do know that he is absolutely gone for you right? Seriously I mean I've never seen a man post about another man so many times before."

Now he was properly blushing, heat filling his cheeks. "Shut up-"

"He loves you Leo-"

"Stop it," Leo mumbled and sat down on the nearest chair, silence settled in between them.

The thing was, even though they had gotten closer, nothing changed. Leo never made a move, and he was afraid that if he tried he might scare the other off with his emotional baggage. So far, Cris has been stuck in the friend zone and Leo deemed that an appropriate place for now. It'd be better for them to be friends first and then maybe, a big maybe, they could try for something more.

"I don't want to lose him Anto," he whispered, his voice soft and full of honesty.

"I know."

*****

Cris seen several tabloid articles about it already, posting various things about the pair. It was all lies, and Cris honestly had no idea how the writers got these ideas from. In what universe would Cris be mad about Leo winning? We're his posts invisible to these people?

It took the whole day for him to realize that maybe this thing was actually bothering Leo, the Argentinian hadn't made a post at all since winning. He said a wonderful speech and Cris had expected some kind of grand post, but nope. Nothing. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together and realize that maybe Leo hadn't posted because of the stupid false articles.

The realization made him feel both angry and disappointed, he was mad for Leo, words could hurt and that was something these people didn't understand.

"I'm going to make a post congratulating him," Cris glanced over at Gio, she smiled as they made eye contact.

"It's about time," she teased and Cris shook his head. Attention now back on his phone.

"Do you think he'll like it?"

"He always does."

"Not always," Cris mumbled but smiled when he felt a light punch on his shoulder.

After making and posting the picture, he decided last minute to upload a cute quote onto his story.

Never apologize for how you feel @leomessi

*****

It was stupidly predictable at this point, Leo's heart was racing as seen the post and read the quote on Cristianos story.

"Anto, he posted about me." Leo tried to sound neutral and not phased, but his happiness was evident in his voice.

"Well are you going to respond?"

"Of course I am," Leo's fingers were moving too fast and he had to retype a few words a couple times.

Thank you Cris ☺️ @cristiano