Trust ~ Pedri

XI

It was June 1st.

The Champions League final against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

The players were in the locker room, preparing to come out. Sofia's entire family (plus Alyssa) was there, since the game was at Wembley and pretty convenient to them. Or, at least, convenient to her parents, Isabelle, and Alyssa. Sofia, her aunt and uncle, and Valeria, Rafael, and Gabriella all had to fly out.

Sitting with them was Ale and his family, Mikky and her and Frenkie's family, including Miles, Sira with her and Ferran's families, and Pablo and Aurora Gavira and their parents.

Sofia and Aurora had become pretty good friends over the past couple months, since she was Sofia's boyfriend's best friend's sister, and they had sat with each other for every game that they were both going to. Aurora got busy with work sometimes, so she wasn't able to make it to the UCL semifinals game at the Montjuïc Stadium.

Twenty minutes before kickoff, Sofia's phone dinged with a message from Pedri.

hey

hey

so im not supposed to be on my phone

xavi said we have to "stay focused" or some shite

but just wanted to say i love you

i love you too

no matter what happens

we're gonna win

i can feel it

100%

alright i gotta go

it's time for the pep talk or whatever

but i'll look for you

see you soon

good luck

"You alright?" Alyssa asked, looking at my worridly.

I didn't realise it, but I was wiping away tears.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." I smiled. "Just talking to Pedri."

"Oh."

It's weird to think about. This time, last year, I couldn't have cared less about football. The only reason I even somewhat followed it was because of my family. Now, it seemed like that was my life. Football this, football that.

And I loved it.

The league had ended several days ago, on May 26th, and Barça had finished in second place to Real Madrid. It ended up being a close title race, with Girona finishing in third and Atléti ending up in fourth. Barça and Madrid had only been two points behind, which was a miracle considering where the team was in La Liga just several months ago.

Because of this, most of the players didn't care much. The Champions League was more important, anyways.

The first half was one of the most stressful forty five minutes of my life. No goals, which was as expected, as the previous four UCLs had all been won with just one goal. Still, Sofia was incredibly anxious.

Then, in the 83rd minute. Cancelo to Ferran to Lamine to Pedri.

Who scored.

Every Barça fan (and many of the neutrals) in the stadium erupted in cheers, and Sofia's entire group of friends and family was screaming.

"We're winning! We're winning!" Isabella was shouting in Sofia's ear. "Oh my God! We're actually winning!"

Seven minutes later, the ref added on six minutes of extra time. It was a nerve-wracking six minutes, but at the end, the ref blew the whistle and the game was over.

FC Barcelona were champion of Europe!

Several minutes later, Sofia was able to run onto the field. She found Pedri quickly, and he picked her up as they hugged.

"I'm so proud of you!" she shouted amidst all of the noise. She was certain that somewhere, somebody was pointing a camera towards them, but she didn't care. "You scored the winning goal! I love you so much!"

"I love you so much, Sofia!"

Xavi came over to them several moments later, red and blue confetti stuck in his hair and all over his black blazer.

"Don't ask." he said quickly, and then he grinned. "Congrats, Pedri. I'm proud of you. You really deserved that goal." He reached over to pat Pedri on the back and then shook Sofia's hand. "I gotta go, I promised Thierry Henry an interview, but I'll see you too again in a few minutes."

Sofia watched as Xavi made his way through the field, stopping a few times to greet the players and families, and then to shake Pep Guardiola's hand.

"The next couple days are going to be crazy." Pedri said, drawing her attention away from his manager. "Parade, team party..."

"I can't wait." Sofia grinned.