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Y/N's POV
it's times like these where i'm so grateful to have met salma and jana. whether i'm home with them or not, we're only ever closer than we were before.
so yeah, i told them everything.
that same night i came to pick up most of my belongings, i sat down with them and we had our last dinner for awhile. i couldn't take not telling them because i know they're the ones who deserve the truth more than anyone.
after a lot of gasping, choking of foods, banging on the table, and tears, they came to a conclusion.
they hate gavi and i hate that.
it wasn't my intention but the news got to them more than it got to me.
but what did i expect?
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"en serio?!"
"yes but-"
"no buts! the next time i see that kid we're literally gonna fight it out."
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the bus ride to the office doesn't take too long. today was going to be full of interviews with both teams. so there was no way out of avoiding him. at this point, i wasn't so worried about me seeing him, i was worried about him seeing salma and jana.
getting out of my seat, i can't help but realize the whole bus looks like duplicates of each other.
we're all in small black blazers with a white button up and black ties. some opted for the slacks, some for the skirt. i stuck with the skirt and folded the bottom because it made me look like a hag if i didn't.
we follow each other off until i look to my side and see that the men's bus was right behind ours.
the camera flashes could blind.
like actually, i had to cover my eyes but i didn't realize i was completely blocking my view of the door. if it weren't for the hands that i felt swerve my entire body the right, i would've ran into that door and i can only imagine how embarrassing that would be with paparazzi capturing practically everything.
those hands were now resting on my waist as i turn around to get a good look.
i should really practice on how to make my facial expressions less noticeable. every chill went down my body when gavi was standing right in front of me smiling ever so slightly like i'm gonna smile back. "you were really close to hitting the door, i just figured-"
"she's fine. come on, y/n."
i couldn't help but stare at him directly in the eyes even before he started talking and before jana yanked my arm and made me stumble, completely bumping into torres. "woah, y/n!" up until now i hadn't realized how long it had been since we talked.
"does she have a thing for pablo's or is that just something i'm making up?"
"shut the hell up, salma."
hoping and praying torres doesn't hear them from next to me. "torres! i can't even remember the last time we met up."
"yeah but now that i'm seeing you, congrats on the ballon d'Or!" he goes in for a side hug but he looks really stiff. "that suit isn't in your favor, huh?"
"let's not talk about it."
"oh since we're congratulating you, can i intervene?" bellerin squeezes in between jana and i and looks down at me. "woah when'd you go bald?" he puts his hand over his heart dramatically, "it's been like... a month?! and it's a buzz. i'm not like.. bald bald." we snort at each other because bellerin reminds me so much of the older brother i wish i had growing up, "in my eyes, you're bald."
"dude, i'm not bald."
"you should match him, torres." i say as bellerin is whining next to me, "like hell, y/n."
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GAVI's POV
after trying to explain what i was doing, jana, her friend dragged her away but also gave me a brutal response to which put her ahead of me and all i could do was trail behind and listen to the conversation between her, pablo torres, and hector bellerin from in front of me.
i couldn't help up but notice the way torres looks at her.
i only say this because he's mentioned her more than enough times for everyone to know he also has a thing for her.
this just made it so much more obvious when he only got closer to her when the conversation was between her and bellerin.
we all walk in through a pair of doors but are put to the side for someone to direct us to our seats for the first group of people to get interviewed while the others sit in the crowd.
i can't help but look down at my shoes because i want nothing more than for this to be over already.
"xavi called for us. he's putting us up front, come on." my head snaps up at y/n's voice. had i seriously blanked out there for a few minutes? "wait, why us first?" i hope she can't tell i'm doing this out of spite for a conversation between us. "don't know, so stop asking questions. he needs us and you're slowing us down."
so much for that.
what i don't realize is her hand going for mine and leading me out the crowd of our teams just standing there.
"sorry, sergio!" i hear her whisper loud enough for him to hear after hitting his arm.
i can't help but stare at that fact that we're hand in hand as if we were on mutual terms.
i wouldn't even know what terms we're on if she could just speak to me. after our run in with each other and me trying to get through to her, she didn't budge and continued to tell me it's best we just don't talk about it or each other at all. but how could i not?! it's been eating me up these past few days and you can easily tell by the way i've been training awfully.
and now she pulls this?! i've never been so confused.
i can feel my grip tighten on her soft hands. i shouldn't have done that because she didn't even hesitate to drop it before picking up her pace to go up the small stairs and shake the hands of some management before taking her seat with her name on the tablet.
i make my way up too, shaking the same hands she once did and we're sat front and center.
jonatan on her left, and xavi on my right.
if the cameras weren't clicking before, they're going crazy and i can hardly tell where to look or where i'm looking.
questions are thrown for all of us.
lot's of which asked both y/n and i what it meant to be with barça at such a young age, future plans, rumors of transfers, our recent matches, and anything you can think of to give you a good headache. especially the interviewer who just asked y/n...
"would you ever be interested in gavi? i mean you two seem perfect for each other! both sharing the same love for this sport and club and with your close age, seems like the perfect pair to me."
i can't help but turn my full attention to her.
jonatan who continues to look straight ahead has a smile planted on his face, not even hiding his amusement. "uh, i don't know about that one. i think that question would be better off answered by the princess."
and just like that my face instantly drops like my hopes of a humane response.
so while the room fills with some laughs and more clicks of cameras, i shuffle around my seat so hopefully no one had seen how i had switched up after her response, "what about you gavi? is there any interest for y/n?" what i didn't expect was to receive the same question.
"she's- she's perfect on and off the field and i think that speaks for itself." and i guess that's all i had to say to get the crowd with their jaws on the floor. by now, she's also fully turned looking at me and i can feel it, meaning i'm side eyeing like hard.
the overhead speakers say our time is up and we all get up, pushing our chairs for the rest of our teammates to go up.
as we get off the platform, i follow her closely behind.
we're put into a room where theres much more people to shake hands with before we're left almost completely alone, giving me the chance to take my seat next to her. "you look really pretty-"
"gavi, what was that back there?"
"if i offended you, it wasn't my intention, but i meant it so could you please talk to me?" that's all i've been aching for these past few days.
"what were your intentions then?" she finally looks at me, bouncing her leg as she once did before. "to give you a reason to talk to me?"
her face drops and she's about to get up and walk away before i grab her hand. "wait no i really did mean it! you just really wanted a response and i just said anything."
"let go, please." even when she's mad at me, it must not be a good enough reason to still be as generous as she is.
"okay. but um..."
"...um?"
"i just..."
"...you just?"
"stop that." i finally say but i can't lie and say it didn't make me smile slightly. "what do you wanna say then?"
"i wanna say that we should really talk about what happened. after this do you... would you like to come with me to a cafe? it's not far, i just can't keep living like this." i move my finger indicating whatever we have going on.
"i moved on, there's no need-"
"but i haven't! please and then after this if you can't stand being near me then fine. i just- i just really want to make things right with you, or at least try."
she looks down at our hands.
"your hands are cold." the air conditioning blasting in here isn't helping.
"i'll go with you, though." she doesn't look up, instead she only got closer to warm the one hand she was holding and puts it in between hers. "thank you!" i sound like an overly excited child it's even hard for me to watch.
as if that matters, i can only hope things go right after.
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