જ⁀➴ STAR — CROSSED ༘ ˚౨ৎ ⊹ .ᐟ
-ˏˋ ❝ chapter twelve —BARCELONA,
ESPAÑA. ❞ ˎˊ˗
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"i look so fucked up" jocelyn huffed, her fingers entangled themselves between the many strands of her golden bronze hair.
"you look fine, why are you even worried" isabel adjusted the fabric of the blaugrana jersey that labelled pedri's name on her upper back.
she continues, " — unless there's someone to impress, no?"
jocelyn could see her sister wiggling her eyebrows from the back of her head, without isabel, jocelyn would've never even took a glimpse towards pablo. she's never taken an interest in him, she rather finds it irritating by the way he acts towards her players on the pitch, infront of thousands of fans and family members.
"why would i try to impress gavi" she scoffed.
"i never said it could be gavi that you're trying so hard for" isabel grinned by the sight of her sister face palming herself after her so called, bold statement.
"should i wear black or white?" jocelyn frowned, her hands gripping her sides as she glances inbetween her colourless and obsidian dress.
"i think you should wear this"
swiftly, barcelona jersey was shoved into jocelyn's arms. god forbid she recalls how much she spent in the barça store, however, this jersey labelled the number six rather than eight. unsurprised, jocelyn handed it back over before she went over to get her white dress. she figured it would be valid if she wore white, considering how white was real madrid's primary color.
"it's either that or you wear ferran's jersey — " isabel laughed, her hands digging into the barça bag from the items that she purchased prior for this morning's match. she received a free jersey after her over five hundred dollar spending at the store, which ended to be ferran's.
" — no!"
she doesn't have much of a liking towards ferran torres, she recalled that one singular moment that they shared in the tunnel where she swore she heard him making inappropriate comments towards her whilst he snickered around with valverde about it before el clásico, just months ago. to assume it disgusted her was purely an understatement. if only she knew she couldn't look at the both of them the same way after that day occurred. nonetheless, she always made sure to maintain a planotic friendship with the players, no matter the circumstances, mainly because it was her job to do so.
she sighed, "i'm not wearing any of those"
"such a party pooper" isabel scoffed.
at last, jocelyn ended up wearing a nude tank top and a pair of trousers, along with a coat. they made their way onto the ground floor and headed into the cab that lilia booked just moments beforehand. the amount of time they had left was far from little, leaving the trio to enjoy their savouring dinner at their table. an oddly familiar feeling crashed into jocelyn, leaving her suddenly dumbfounded as her fork clatters against the flat plate below her. the thought of seeing pablo again made her heart flutter with excitement and a hint of nervousness that tightened her chest. she felt like a teenage girl meeting her all-time celebrity crush for the first time.
the ride into the stadium left a foreign feeling in jocelyn; only being used to the bernabeu. she tried her best to enjoy barcelona, and it was fair to say she did enjoy the city and its astonishingly beautiful architecture. it was loud and crowded, the colors of blue and red nearly blinded jocelyn while she tried her very best to distract herself from the awfully loud thumping of her heart recklessly knocking against her ribs.
"let's go" lilia screeched. although she has been to barcelona's games in the past, the feeling of excitement still lingered around.
jocelyn's unexpected arrival caused heads to turn and whispers to rise. she adjusted the hem of her shirt, paving her way into the front of the stadium to pay off her booked tickets. she hoped one of the players in the squad had informed her boss that she will be heading to a barcelona match, for clarity on the reason she is watching the match as well. people stared, hell, some even glared at her with the idea of her presence being in estadi olímpic lluís companys to watch a club that everyone thought she disliked just because she works for real madrid. it was awkward, everything felt awkward. the air was thick and her ears constantly ringing didn't help her ease her state of mind.
"hola" she gulped, she would be paying for her and isabel's tickets while lilia wanted to separately pay for her own; in pity for jocelyn's pockets.
"hola, cómo te llamas?" ( hello, what's your name? )
"is there a booking for jocelyn torres?"
jocelyn's hand clutched onto her purse while her she anxiously drag her finger tips across the strap of it.
"eh — parece que ya pagaste por ello, tu puedes ir"
[ uh, looks like you already paid for it, you may go ]
"què!?" jocelyn hands extended over only to slap her mouth to prevent herself from speaking too loud. she didn't, she swore she didn't. guilt rushed into her as the thought of someone with the same name accidentally paid for her own tickets instead of their's. dios mío. my god.
"como puedes ver aquí, la marca de verificación verde indica que pagaste a las 5 pm más temprano a partir de hoy" [ as you can see here, the green check mark says you paid for it at 5pm earlier from today ]
"no pienso así — " [ i don't think so — ]
jocelyn's hands were now in her hair. the amount of money in her bank account never changed, not even a single number digit ever moved. she huffed, her hand reaching into her purse to get a hold of her phone to show that she hadn't payed for anything, only to be cut off by the register lady.
"ai — mis disculpas, dice pablo gavi en la parte inferior de tus boletos reservados." she pointed to the name beneath the line of what seemed to be jocelyn's tickets. [ my apologies, it says here that someone by the name of pablo gavi payed for your reserved tickets beforehand ]
jocelyn's mouth open briefly just to be paused by the lady once again, "puedes entrar ahora"
[ you may enter now ]
"sí, sí. gracias"
jocelyn dragged her sister with her as they're reaction weren't no different from hers. she tried her hardest to remain calm, she was grateful that pablo had paid for her and her family — including lilia. however, she didn't want him to think that she wasn't capable of doing so on her own. also, she didn't want him to make it up to her by the use of his money. she wanted to stormed into the front of the locker room, she didn't care whether she was allowed to or not because to her, it was a casualty that she could enter the locker rooms whenever she wanted in madrid. what she had reminded herself was, this wasn't madrid.
having no hope, she rushed back to her seat, observing as the players stand beside one another. it was just mere minutes before the match begins, jocelyn kept her jaw locked while her eyes burned holes into pablo's head, only for him to return the favor with a cheeky wink.
he nudged pedri in the arm and pointed towards her direction, like how kind pedri was, he waved to her before he was called over to pose properly in order to take the squad photo.
the players had now gotten into their positions, the match had just briefly started and three minutes into the game, lewandowski had already scored; which cheered on fans including isabel. jocelyn had respect for the football club, clapping among the supporters as she watch others jump off their seats and lift up their scarfs to show their love and support.
barça continues leading the match by 1 — 0 the whole match after lewandowski's goal were only passes and attempts to score from the opposing side, that was until the twenty - third minute where oliver skipp had scored the equaliser for tottenham hotspur. cheers and screams begin to arose from the other side of fans, raved in the colors of navy blue and white. it was often that jocelyn noticed pablo stealing glances at her, taking to mind how close she was to the pitch. she wasn't blind, she was looking as well, catching onto the way the corners of his lips would twitch into a subtle smile that he tried to hide after sneaking several glimpses at her.
boos and groans from barcelona's side erupted in the air as oliver skipp scores for tottenham by scoring the leading goal, leaving the score line with 1 — 2, for now. pablo threw his hands in the air, a disappointing expression displayed on his face while he attempts to fight for the ball without a fright.
jocelyn wouldn't be surprised if he had received a red card for his style of playing, she wouldn't call it provocative, but rather antagonistic and hostile if she were to put it. numerous passes were made and attempted goals as well, as richarlison tries to score for spurs, however it was a shame that the ball landed right into ter stegen hands. the first out of two halves of the match had ended, leaving the supporters to an agonising fifteen minute view of the score line.
jocelyn dived her hand in her purse for her phone, sensing that someone might be calling her number. her relief was met when she saw jude's contact load up on the screen, quickly swiping her finger right to pick up the phone call.
"jude" a toothy smile was spread across on her face, her eyes sparkled as she glances into the pitch.
"how's the game" his subtle dimples creasing his cheeks as his smile curves further his face.
"we're losing by one goal, half time just started and it's driving my sister insane" she chuckled, facing the camera towards a straight faced isabel.
"we're?" jokingly, jude delivers her a side eye.
"they're" she rolled her eyes in response to his reaction to her choice of words.
"did ... anything happen?" he raised an eyebrow.
jocelyn's mouth hangs open for a brief moment while she pauses herself, "yeah."
"tell me all about it"
she cleared her throat, bracing herself to explain the situation.
"he paid like — three grand for our tickets"
jude's mouth drops in disbelief, "did u talk to him yet?"
"no, why would i?" she mumbled.
"i don't know about him but, if i paid thousands for my girl's tickets, then i would be disappointed if she didn't spare a word for me."
jocelyn gulped, "im not his girl."
"then what are you?"
she stayed silent, her throat searching for an answer to something he would address her. jocelyn didn't think of pablo as, qoute on qoute, her boy either. it was strange to think that she hadn't give him a label yet. she liked to think of him as a one night stand that kept lingering around in her life.
"fine. i'll go talk to him after." she huffed.
jocelyn's leg bounced anxiously after she ended her conversation with jude, creating a visual of how her and pablo's conversation would go like in her head so she wouldn't fuck things up when she talks to him. to her surprise, a whistle shoots loudly in the air that dissipates her thoughts from running as the match restarts.
it was a game that caused stress and frustration upon everyone that sat on the edge of their seats. although jocelyn's heart lies in madrid but she hoped barcelona would win by a miracle remontada. pablo didn't seem to play as reckless this half, which she assumed xavi or pedri might've told him to ease his attitude during half time. she knew lewandowski wouldn't let this loss slide, considering how he would always make an attempt to score a win for barcelona.
players were sent off and others were sent in within the span of five minutes at the sixtieth to the sixty fifth minute, including pablo. a total of ten minutes were the amount of remaining time for barcelona to make a comeback, however the scoreline remains the same as it was, as fans began to lose faith in their club. just as some fans were already exiting the stadium, ferran torres scores a clean goal for barcelona assisted by sixteen year old, lamine yamal. isabel hopped off her seat, hands springing in the air as she celebrates along with the other fans.
the game continues, barça fans expecting it to end with a tying scoreline of 2 — 2 and nothing more. the last minute approaches and to their surprise, ansu fati scores another winning goal for barça at the last minute, or so they thought. until the referee had given the match an extra five minutes, contributing to barça's last goal for the match by ezzalzouli, leaving the game with a leading score of two goals ahead.
fans kiss the badge placed on their hearts which indicates love and respect, while the players celebrate and pose together in a lineup with the trophy.
"campeóns, campeóns, campeóns!" they chanted, lifting the trophy in the air whilst pablo was being lifted up. [ champions, champions, champions! ]
once everything was settled and nearly everyone made their way out of the stadium, pedri gestured jocelyn to come on the pitch. her eyebrows stitched closer to one another, as confused as she was, he jokingly pushed pablo frontwards after whispering something into his ear. a cocky smile was on his face before he could run over and assist her to jump over the gate that guarded fans from the pitch.
"esto es estupido pablo" she huffed, his grip on her arms to guide her onto the pitch tightened as he lifted her over the gate by her lower arms like a child.
[ this is stupid pablo ]
"no puedes divertirte con tus rivales ahora?" he couldn't bring himself to erase the foolish smile on his face by her presence. [ you can't party with rivals now? ]
"no es que me vayan a despedir ni nada" she rolled her eyes, clinging onto the fabric of his shirt as she was placed down. [ it's not like i'm gonna get fired or anything ]
he raised an eyebrow, "no jersey?"
"no. problem?" she scoffed.
"i thought you'd appreciate my money and at least wear my jersey"
at this point she wanted to slap the fuck out of him and his teasing, although she collected herself and bit her lip instead.
"i'll pay you back, your move was un-necessary"
immediately, he talked her into not returning his money. because to him, three thousand dollars was nothing compared to his weekly wage. besides, he would feel guilty and ashamed for allowing her to pay him back.
"jocelyn!" pedri called out, embracing her into a brief side hug.
"quién es?" frenkie de jong joined in the conversation, walking over with alejandro balde underneath his arms. [ who is this? ]
jocelyn glared at the youngster who stood beside him, she figured that balde might've told frenkie something that wasn't true, knowing that they've encountered each other once in that bar and he was the reason behind why people started to accuse her of having a one-night-stand with his teammate.
"mi amiga. amazing photographer, by the way" pedri spoke up before she could respond.
"i think i've seen you with a real madrid player before. who was it again ... vini?"
frenkie's question made pablo's jaw clench tighter than ever, narrowing his eyes towards his teammate as jocelyn tries to find a proper answer to his awkward question.
" no, no. he's, uh, my friend" she stuttered.
frenkie nodded, feeling embarrassed he even asked her anything to begin with. pedri wanted to clear the air, asking jocelyn to take some photos for the team with one of the barça photographer's camera. after what felt like, a minimum ten thousand photos, some players returned into the locker rooms to change themselves into different clothes besides being in their sweaty jersey for the whole remaining day.
now, pablo occasionally avoided photos of him being taken because he always ended up looking terrible in the off guard pictures that the admin would post on their instagram. however, he had asked for jocelyn to take as much as she could, with most of them having an outcome of duplicates from his lack of poses and expressions.
he leaned into the view of the camera, inches away from the side of his face touching hers.
"my place tonight?"
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ᯓ★ RENA SPEAKS ... !
my longest chapter so far, progress is progressing!! an extremely BONUS chapter for my long ass break, which i will be taking again because exams. i promise it won't be long tho! i had to pace around and contain myself in the making of this chapter because the amount of fluff is driving me absolutely insane. also, praying that gavi's injury isn't as serious even tho it's the worst injury to have in football. #everyonewithgavi anywaysss ... thoughts on this chapter?? 😔
shoutout to my friends 🤮🤮
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