sweet surrender | pulisic ✓

twentieth

Stepping into the dressing room, Christian was greeted by the all too familiar scent of deodorant engulfing his nostrils. As usual, he made an over-dramatically gagging sound, which earned an amused chuckle from Roman.

"Wasn't me this time," the Swiss raised his eyebrows knowingly. "It's always you," Christian laughed, giving his teammate a playful shove. He took a seat beside Roman, who returned to sorting out his training kit.

As Christian pulled open his locker, a folded piece of paper dropped out from it. For a moment he simply stared at it, rooted to the spot. Seeing his friends' reaction, or rather the lack of it, to the fallen item, Roman nudged him. "You dropped something."

Christian narrowed his eyes at Roman, "I know," he replied matter-of-factly. A small sigh escaped his lips as he bent down to pick it up.

Roman furrowed his eyebrows at Christian's seemingly odd behavior. "You okay?" He asked as Christian sat back down. For the past few days, Christian had been almost... out of sorts. He hadn't been quite himself lately, as Roman had noticed.

"You look beat up," Roman continued, eyeing him as he fiddled with the paper in his hands. Frankly, Christian was feeling pretty beat up. The longer he didn't get a chance to speak to Alex again, the more and more helpless he felt.

It had been two days already.

"What's wrong?" Roman probed when his previous remark received no response from the American. This time Christian didn't hesitate in replying as he turned to face his teammate, "I really like her, Roman. I really, actually do."

Roman raised an eyebrow, confused at first," wait, who –" but in the next moment, he remembered, stopping himself. He pursed his lips together, flashing him a small, sympathetic smile, "Erik's sister?"

Christian nodded in reply, to which Roman hummed in return. "Then, what's the problem?"

Remembering that Roman knew absolutely nothing about the events of the past few days, Christian chuckled. So he began explaining to the Swiss all that had happened, from day one up until where they were then.

When Christian finally wrapped up his story, Roman was left with a frown on his face. He pondered silently, comprehending the facts in his head. But before he could come to any sort of conclusion, Christian spoke.

"The truth is, I can't stop thinking about her. And I really want to forgive her," he admitted. "God, you love struck kids are the worst," Roman quipped, earning a small chuckle from Christian. If it was his attempt to lighten the mood, then it definitely worked. 

Eventually, Roman returned to the matter at hand. "So," he began, "what's stopping you?"

Christian didn't have to think before answering; he knew exactly what was stopping him. "I mean, do you think it's –" he paused for a second, finding the correct words, "honestly the right thing to do?"

Roman raised his eyebrows at his question, taken aback. He was surprised that Christian had yet to see the obvious, and he was tempted to make a joke of that. But seeing the genuine anxious look on his young teammate's face, he decided against it.

Instead he took a deep breathe, summoning his inner adviser-self. Because sure, he definitely advised 18 year-olds in his spare time. Not really.

"Well, she made a mistake; but she's apologized right?" Roman queried, earning a small nod from Christian in reply. "And her apology was genuine, am I correct?"

Again, Christian nodded slowly. Anybody could have seen how sorry she was from the day, and he had absolutely no idea why he hadn't said anything then. How stupid he had been. 

"And even after all that, you still like her very much right?"

"I do," he replied almost instantly, not a hint of hesitation in his voice. Roman raised his eyebrows, raising his hands as if to say need I say more?  "Chris, she probably wouldn't have gone through all that for just anyone. I'm sure she really likes you too!"

Christian found himself chuckling as he ran a hand through his hair. To be honest, he really liked the sound of that. Roman smirked, finally seeing a genuine smile on Christian's face. "So go out there and get her," he slapped Christian's back loudly.

"I hope she's nowhere near as dumb as Erik," Roman joked, to which Christian couldn't help but laugh. As if on cue, Erik walked through the doors, a dejected look on his face. The pair exchanged glances as their laughter ceased immediately.

Roman was the first to speak. "Durm, you alright?"

Erik, who was fumbling with something inside his locker, poked his head out. He flashed them a small almost defeated smile, "oh nothing much. Just that Alex's about to have her bakery closed down."

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WHAAAAA

also guys, writers block is a killer ): but we're almost there! x
Thank you for reading loves!