today was no different. as you and your dad walked into the training center, some players already came up to ask questions, but he shooed them away for a moment of peace and to get set up. you couldn’t help but smile as you walked past, setting down your bag on a bench and sitting down on the turf, looking around at the players getting set up.

you felt someone approaching, so you turned to look, only to meet gilberto’s eyes. you smiled and jerked your chin towards the spot on the turf next to you before going back to looking at everyone. he let out a sigh as he settled next to you, following your gaze to the players. you didn’t notice, but the other players did. gilberto’s face was basically the color of a tomato.

everyone but you knew how badly gilberto was crushing on you, and it pained them to see gilberto fumble every opportunity to get close to you. “y/n,” he muttered. you turned to look at him. “hm?” “can you help me? stretch, i mean.” his eyes couldn’t meet yours, instead locking on his fingers that he was fiddling with. you nodded. “i was planning on it, anyway. my dad says you need extra help on warming up your body or whatever.”

his eyes lit up, an awkward smirk creeping up on his lips as he nodded. “yeah.. yeah, i do. okay, thanks. bye. see you.” he managed to mutter, quickly jumping up from the turf and walking away, stumbling over his feet as he walked towards edson and armando, who were already wiggling their eyebrows with a smug expression.

after everything had been set up, most of the players were already on the outside field, warming up. gilberto was sitting against the tall metal fences, waiting for you to come out and warm up with him.

gosh, he was already so giddy at the thought of your soft, gentle hands on him.

finally, you walked out of the doors in your soccer kit, as well as some battered soccer cleats. fuck, gilberto thought, you’re gorgeous. he quickly stood up, making his way towards you. “c’mon,” you said, jerking your chin towards a spot on the field and letting your arm drape over his shoulders as you lead him to it.

“i’m not an easy person to warm up with, y’know.” you warned him, turning your head to look at him. he chuckled, debating on whether or not to wrap an arm around your waist but ultimately deciding against it. “i can handle it.” he looked at you, but quickly looked away after getting too nervous.

you pulled away after reaching the spot and motioned for him to lay down. he smiled, obeying and looking up at you for the next step. you kneeled in front of him, taking his right leg and throwing it over your shoulder. rolling his shorts up his thigh, you began feeling around to know where to massage.

the blissful feeling of your hands on him was cut short by a sharp pain in his thigh, causing a yelp to leave his lips. “a la verga, que ases??” he whimpered, lifting his head to see you practically digging into his thigh.

“you’re tense here, this is why you can’t run too good.” you replied, massaging harder. he threw his head back at the pain, letting out a cry. “con cuidado, y/n! it hurts..” you rolled your eyes, feeling for another tense spot and pressing down.

that drew another cry from him, a hand coming up to cover his eyes as he dramatically complained. “be gentle!! i’m delicate!”

after warming up, the players practiced various skills and ended it off with a couple games.

when everyone was calming down and resting, gilberto walked up to where you were sitting against the fence, claiming the spot next to you. he was out of breath and sweaty, so you handed him your water bottle.

he accepted it, staring at the bottle with a little bit of nervousness before waterfalling a good amount into his mouth and handing it back. “i think your warm up methods left me with some nerve damage or something.” he spoke up after a moment of comfortable silence, his hand rubbing his thigh.

you laughed, your hand coming down to feel his thigh as well before pulling away. gilberto felt his heart skip a billion beats.

“you were playing better though. so it was for the better.” he stole a glance at you while you weren’t looking, admiring your pretty smile. no way was he going to tell you he liked you anytime soon, but this was progress. he liked this.

©BUUMGYU

you sat on the corner of your bed, the faint sound of your ipad playing “aquel nap zzzz” by rauw alejandro occupying your thoughts. “should i call him?” you suddenly thought.

yet you couldn’t help but feel that a call from you would be the last thing that he needed. right now all he needed was his teammates and his family. people who were available.

as the trip came to its end and you finally arrived back in your cozy home in mexico, you realized armando had not contacted you once.. well, he’s probably busy, right? i mean, he was in the world cup and everything.

more days passed, and not one text of his came through.

you were sitting at your desk, trying to focus on your school work, but armando plagued your thoughts. did something happen? did the loss make him want to break up? the constant confusion on your end was driving you batshit crazy.

ding

the first whatsapp notification went unnoticed by you, you who was too busy groaning in annoyance and scrubbing your hands over your face.

ding

this time, you heard it. you quickly pushed back your chair to get up and plop down onto your bed to where your phone was. it was armando..

“im sorry” said the first text. your thumb dragged up on the screen to read the second one.

“do u still love me?? truth baby plz” said the second text.

your brows scrunched in confusion. what the hell was he talking about??

“do i still love u??” you replied. you waited all night for his response, yet the message stayed as read. first he wasn’t texting you at all, now he’s suddenly questioning your love for him over text?

you decided to sleep it off, thinking he probably saw your text and forgot to reply.

you woke up to the blaring of your whatsapp ringer in your ear. you sat up, groggily rubbing your eye to get a good look at the contact name.

“Lindo güerito 🤍🐶” was calling.

you quickly accepted the call, putting it on speaker phone and getting out of bed to start getting ready. The phone was on your vanity as you looked through your closet.

“baby,” armando said in a quiet, unsteady voice, “why are you ignoring me? dime, preciosa.”

every word that came out of his mouth sounded as if it was going to be interrupted by a sob.

“what are you talking about? it’s you who’s ignoring me. you haven’t contacted me since mexico lost to england.” you quickly said back, a little angry that he was the one accusing you of ignoring him.

all he could do was sigh, hanging up the call then texting you. you pressed on the notification. “im omw”

you groaned, burying your face in your hands. why was he acting like this? ignoring him? he was the one who wasn’t texting you. you checked your whatsapp messages, seeing if he was actually texting you.

[ LOAD MESSAGES RECEIVED IN AIRPLANE MODE ]

you pressed yes on the pop up, causing a bunch of texts from armando to pop up.

“did i disappoint u” “baby i love you so much talk to me” “don’t ignore me preciosa please” etc.

ah, shit…

you quickly got ready, pacing around your room while wallowing in guilt for your perfect puppy of a boyfriend. gosh, he must’ve thought you hated him for losing against england.

the sudden sound of the doorbell startled you, yet you wasted no time running downstairs, opening the door to see armando all disheveled and puffy-eyed. it was like instinct, the way he grabbed your hand and clung to you as tight as he could.

you managed to have him let go long enough to take him upstairs to your bedroom, where he dropped to his knees and grabbed your hips to hold you close, his face pressed against your side.

“i’m sorry.” he said quietly through choked sobs. when you didn’t answer, he looked up at you with his big, sad eyes, lips quivering.

you turned so his face was against your stomach instead. your hand reached down, gently cupping and wiping the tears from his pretty face.

“for what? the world cup wasn’t your fault.” you reassured softly, brushing his hair from his forehead.

he let out a sigh, nuzzling against your hand before turning his head to press a kiss to your palm.

you helped him stand up, wiping the rest of his tears before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. his hands reached up, one hand holding your jaw gently so you couldn’t pull away, and the other on the curve of your waist.

his kisses trailed to your temple, “i thought you were done with me.” he said with a smile against your skin, finishing the sentence with a kiss to your temple and pulling back to trail his gaze over your features.

“love you.” he murmured, pressing another kiss to your cheek.