Unwritten Rules

Chapter 1 - Hey Jude

There were people Jude spoke to every day.

His brother and teammates, obviously. Coaches. Family. Friends. People from the club. People who needed something from him.

Then there was Erling.

Erling Haaland was different.

They could go six days without speaking and somehow, when one of them finally sent a message, it never felt like six days had passed.

It was strange, really.

They weren't best friends in the traditional sense. They didn't have matching profile pictures or call each other every night. They weren't constantly together, and their schedules made that practically impossible anyway.

Jude played in Madrid.

Haaland played in Manchester.

Their lives revolved around training sessions, recovery, matches, flights, interviews, media days and an endless stream of people wanting something from them.

Sometimes Jude would wake up in Madrid, check his phone and realize he hadn't spoken to Haaland since the previous weekend.

He never thought much of it.

Because then, usually around midnight, his phone would buzz.

Haaland:
bro

And Jace would already know exactly what was coming.

He'd open the message and find a TikTok.

Usually it was an edit.

Sometimes it was an edit of Haaland.

Sometimes it was an edit of Jude.

And occasionally—much to Jude's amusement—it was an edit of both of them.

Those were the ones Haaland pretended not to care about.

Jude saved every single one.

On a Tuesday evening in Madrid, Jude was lying across his bed with one leg hanging off the side, scrolling mindlessly through TikTok.

He'd been home for less than an hour.

Training had been long, his legs were tired, and he had absolutely no intention of doing anything productive for the rest of the night.

He was halfway through a video when a notification appeared.

Haaland sent you a video.

Jude smiled before he'd even opened it.

He clicked.

It was an edit of Haaland scoring a ridiculous goal from earlier in the season.

The edit had dramatic music, slow-motion clips and about fifteen unnecessary transitions.

Jude watched the whole thing.

Then watched it again.

Then sent back:

Jude:
bro who made this 😭

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

Haaland:
me

Jude stared at the screen.

Jude:
you definitely did not make this, youre not that talented bro

Haaland:
y are you hating