Walking down the hallway, I was straightening my clothes after the situation I just found myself in.
'Unacceptable.' I scoffed.
Raphinha laughed, throwing an arm over my shoulder. 'Bobinho, you could've called one of us as soon as you got here.' he smiled.
'Yeah, well, I thought Pedri took care of everything.' I shook my head.
'Pedri isn't playing. You know that, right?'
'Yeah, yeah... I'm here for Gavi.' I nodded my head.
'Oh, and I was thinking you'll be here for me.' he laughed.
'Raph, you know I'm like your biggest fan.' I chuckled. 'Regardless I'm coming to the match or not.'
'I always knew I was your favourite brazilian.' he said smugly.
'Oh, shut up.' I hit him playfully.
We arrive in front of the changing room, me stopping while he opens the door.
'Are you not coming in?' Raph asked confused.
'No.' I shook my head with a smile. 'You can just let Gavi know I'm here.'
'Are you crazy?' he said grabbing my arm. 'You've been in a changing room before and you're not a stranger to most of them.' he said dragging me after him.
He was right. I wasn't much of a stranger. I knew some of them, but not all of them. I've always felt weird entering a team's changing room, including this one that I had no relation to whatsoever.
'Look who the cat dragged in!' he said loudly, making the players turn around to face me.
I shyly smiled, my cheeks heating up.
'Irina?' some of the players asked in unison, while some were just eyeing me up.
Gavi turned around instantly as soon as he heard my name and he sprinted towards me. 'You're here?!' he asked surprised, a big smile on his face. He wrapped his arms arounds me, but let go faster than I expected, his arms resting on my shoulders. 'Wait, why are you here? Oh my god, he told you, didn't he?'
'It's good seeing you too Gavi.' I laughed, shaking my head.
Some of the players that I've already met before came to say hello. Araujo, Ansu, Dembele, Kounde and Torres looked more than happy to see me, making me feel at ease.
'You guys, she had one hell of an entrance.' Raphinha laughed, explaining to the little group what happened.
'You know that wouldn't of happened if you worked here.' Gavi said as soon as Raphinha was done with the story.
'That would be even more stress.' I said shaking my head. 'This gave me a little boost of adrenaline.' I laughed, the boys joining me.
***
The match was about to start so I was taking my seat next to the player's bench. The players were starting to come out to enter the pitch, my eyes looking for Gavi. As soon as he spotted me, he stepped away from his teammates and came to me.
'Thank you.' he said quietly, giving me a hug.
'Hey, it's okay.' I smiled at the young boy.
Before he left, I caught a glimpse of his boots and his undone laces. I quickly grabbed him before he could get far away, dragging him towards me.
'What the hell?!' Gavi asked almost looking his balance.
'Your shoelaces.' I said, bending down and doing them.
'Woah, you didn't have to do that.' he said his cheeks flashing red.
'You can trip and injure yourself. Better be safe than sorry.' I shrugged my shoulders with a smile.
***
Barcelona was playing Real Madrid.
Their bitter rivals. The first time I was witnessing two of the biggest clubs playing against eachother. New players. New talents. New techniques.
The match was quite tight, both teams trying to score goals. In the 26th minute, Raphinha receives the ball from Gavi and shoots straight for the goal.
AND IT GOES IN!
'YESSSS!' I jumped up from my seat and start clapping in excitement.
Raphinha did his celebration, not before winking at me and letting me know that he saw me cheering for him.
***
Both teams were now returning from half-time, Real Madrid players giving it their all to make it 1-1. In an instant, Vini jumps higher than Gavi, trying to hit the ball with his head, resulting in Gavi falling to the ground. I stood up, unsure of whether my little beast was going to pick himself up from the floor or he'll need the medical team. Raphinha ran towards him, trying to pick him up but he started screaming, hitting the ground with his hand.
If I worked here, I could've sprinted on that pitch without people questioning me. If I worked here, I would've been next to Gavi, making sure he's alright. But I don't.
'IRINAAAAA!' that was all I heard before I left my seat and sprinted down the stairs and onto the pitch.
'Screw this.' I mumbled to myself.
As soon as I stepped foot on the pitch I ran to Gavi, every horrible thing popping up into my head. My thought instantly flew to Neymar's injury from 2014, making me panic.
I crouched next to him, grabbing his hand. 'Hey, hey, you're okay, you're okay.' I said, scanning his body's reactions.
'It hurts, it hurts!' the young boy said, breaking my heart.
'Where Gavi, where?!' I asked panicked, looking over to the medical team who was taking their time to come over.
Gavi pointed at his back, his hand tracing all the way to the side, making me let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't going to be too bad. It's just the impact.
'The medical team is here, but I'm not going anywhere. I just need to take a step back so they can have space.' I said softly, squeezing his hand before standing up.
My head instantly turned towards Vini, who was smugly talking to one of his teammates, barely showing any interest in Gavi.
'Don't.' Raphinha said trying to grab me, but I dodged him, going straight for Vini.
As he wasn't paying attention to anything else around him, I slammed my body against his, making him lose his balance for a little. However, he quickly steadied himself, looking at me with a smirk.
'What the hell is wrong with you?!'
'I didn't know the kid has a bodyguard.' he said smugly.
'Well, sur-fucking-prise.' I said through my teeth.
Raphinha and Araujo rushed towards us, one placing himself on our right side, while the other took the left side.
'Irina, let's go.' Raphinha said quietly.
'Princess, we're playing football, not dancing ballet.' Vini said chuckling, looking at his teammate who had the same stupid smirk on his face.
'Oh, I'll show you football.' I said angrily, pushing Vini, everyone gathering around us.
He tried to take a step towards me, but the players got in between us, Araujo grabbing me, while Raphinha positioned himself in front of me.
'It's not worth it.' Araujo said to me, not letting me go.
'Do you realise what you could've done?!' I screamed, trying to grab him. 'Are you that unconscious?! You could've ruined his whole future!'
'Does Neymar even know you're swinging for other teams now?' he screamed at me through the players.
'Oh, you did not!' I said angrily, managing to get away from Araujo and charging straight for him. 'Say it to my face! Go on! Tell them to let you go!' I said trying to get through to him, but Araujo grabbed me once again, picking me up from the floor and turning me the other way.
