Football fluff

Secret Santa - Adrien Rabiot

You can't get cold feet again, she thought to herself. Last year she'd been through the same and in the end decided that she hadn't wanted to find out who her loyal Secret Santa was. But it was time to finally be brave and hope for the best and not think of the worst scenario.

It was 3 am, Candice fast asleep on the backseat after she ended up eating through all the food they had in the car. She was staring out of the window, her head laid against the glass and just waited. The excitement died off a couple of hours into the night and now all there was left the doubts if this was really a good idea.

"I won't let you get cold feet again," Candice mumbled sleepily from behind her and a smile broke out on her face.

"Sleeping Beauty awake finally." She chuckled.

"Yeah, I am. Do you still have... wait!" Her friend sat up alerted, her voice coloured with excitement. "Who is that?" Candice was pointing towards the building she lived at. She narrowed her eyes to try and take a better look in the dark. Her heart was pumping so loud she could actually hear it, her arms shook a little bit. "Oh, it's just a kid. Sorry."

"Damn," she cursed softly under her breath as she fell back against her seat. Maybe they wouldn't even visit this year. Maybe they got tired of this whole thing. Maybe they would change their habit and visit another day.

"Urgh, look at this, freaking BMW drivers." Candice glared at the silver car that stopped in the middle of the road, minding nothing.

"Don't start it now." She laughed, knowing once her friend got into why she hated BMW drivers, she wouldn't ever stop again. She watched the guy getting out of the car, not thinking much of it right until the moment he headed towards her building. "Candice..." She grabbed her friend's hand so hard Candice hissed and her face pulled into a grimace.

"No, not a BMW driver, please," she groaned, watching the man approaching the building. "Well shit, it's him! Do you know who it is?" Candice asked but she was too shocked to answer.

Adrien. She'd had such a crush on him when they'd been kids. She'd never belonged to the popular bunch, she'd been a geek and sometimes ever so rarely she'd gotten lonely or something made her feel uncomfortable but Adrien had always been there since kindergarten. They hadn't been friends, barely ever talked but small things like him picking her first for his basketball team during PE stuck with her. He was one of those people she always thought of with a smile on her face.

"Oh, you know who it is!" Her friend screeched, shaking her up with the high pitched voice. "Go! Talk to him!"

"No," she stated, shaking her head vehemently. She didn't want to. Her heart was beating so fast she felt like she was going to be sick. She didn't know why he was doing this, likely out of pity and now she was panicking. Obviously, he didn't want anything from her because if he did, he wouldn't be hiding for 18 years, right?

"Babe, come on..."

"I said no, Candice," she stated firmly, blinking the tears away that desperately wanted to bubble out of her eyes. This was a stupid idea to start with.

A week has passed and even Candice stopped harassing her to try and get in contact with Adrien. She should have left the whole thing alone but now she was going to go back pretending and that was it. Adrien might have felt like she needed his charity but she wasn't that girl anymore. Or maybe she was, she snorted as she looked around herself and realized it was Friday, she was sitting home alone, having a Friends marathon and Chinese food. This was her decision though, and that was the difference between school and life currently. It was her decision to enjoy her time for herself, not the case of no one wanting to hang out with her.

There was a knock on the door and she jumped from the couch, bouncing that her extra sweets arrived. She shuffled to the door, pulling the robe with the squirrels on it tighter around her body, her kitten slippers almost getting caught at the edge of the chair but she managed to get to the door in one piece.

"Sweeeeee..." She never finished the sentence. In the door it wasn't her extra sweets in the hand of the delivery guy but Adrien Rabiot wearing a giant smile on his face, playing with his hands nervously.

"Hey," he cleared his throat, cutting the awkward silence off.

"Santa!" She really wanted to smack herself for that but he obviously found it amusing, judging by the little laugh. "I mean, Adrien... I ahm... would you... what... What are you doing here?"

"You sent me a letter?" He looked at her confused, pulling a piece of paper out from the pocket of his jacket.

"I didn't," she mumbled under her breath and took the letter from him. It didn't say much just that it was time for them to meet and maybe have a coffee. "Candice," she growled, recognizing her friend's handwriting right away. "I'm sorry for this... this is so..."

"I would love to have a coffee with you," he cut her off and she gulped. She shouldn't think much into this. As a matter of fact, she should tell him not to think much into this.

"I'm not into you." Now that was a bit harsh and sent all the shades of red into his cheeks. She didn't mean to butcher him like that but she also didn't think she could.

"That might change? I... For all these years I didn't dare approaching you because..."

"What?" She laughed out, not wanting to believe her ears. "You didn't dare approaching me?" That concept was alien, not even existing for her.

"You are the smartest person I've ever known and you know so much about everything and I kind of just... You intimidate... But I loved knowing you were smiling and giggling whenever I got you something... and now I thought... I thought maybe you wanted to give me a chance but... It was nice to see you." She was shocked to the core. What just happened? How did they end up from Adrien Rabiot, player of PSG being too good to even consider her to her being too good to consider him?

"Wait!" She reached after him, her fingers gripping his. He glanced back at her over his shoulder, his eyes sad like a lost puppy was looking at her.

"I have Chinese, also sweets on the way?" She asked quietly, biting her bottomlip. She was so nervous she thought fainting was around the corner. "Would you like to come in... maybe?"

"Really?" He flashed a smile at her that made her weak in the knees. Damn, she might have never gotten out of that crush for him.

"Please." She nodded with a shy little smile playing over her face. "Would love to have a personal chat with Santa," she added playfully and he laughed out, his rich voice filling the space as he followed her inside. This might be the best present she's gotten in a very long time.