Judge My Skills, Not Me

Chapter 17: Mirrorball

A/N Pure Taylor Swift vibes (I'm sorry to those who aren't TS fans lol) 

Mirrorball by Taylor Swift & This is Me Trying by Taylor Swift

"So," Neymar said trying to make the silence between his friends less awkward. "Anything new?" Cristina looked around the tunnel as Leo stared at Ney trying to communicate with his eye that now was not the right time. "Fine, don't talk to me. I'm used to being ignored," Ney said crossing his arms and walking over to Dani.

The pair were now left alone and didn't want to be the first to leave. They avoided each other for the last couple of weeks. The most they would interact with each other was with sad smiles and calling for passes during games. So far, their active avoidance hadn't hurt their style of play. Luis Enrique recently was trying to switch Cristina across the middle field. She was there to move the pressure up since she was more agile and faster than Andres and Busquets. Cristina didn't mind, she liked the playmaking role and was involved with almost every goal. 

However, today was going to be different. It was the first game of the Champions League group stages and the team was in Rome. Earlier that week, Luis accidentally twisted his ankle badly during the last practice before they left for Italy. Luis Enrique scrambled to figure out what to do. During the flight, he told Cristina she was playing up front and subbing for Luis as a striker. She didn't know what to say. 

Cristina wasn't a striker. Of course, she could make goals and get in the right situations to make the play, but that was completely different from what she was used to. "Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone, and do what's best for the team," Luis Enrique said as he walked over to tell the others. 

"Apparently, everything I do is for this team," Cristina said under her breath as she let out a frustrated huff. It feels like everything she did these days was for everyone else, but herself. 

"Hey, this isn't just for the team. Remember that," Leo said in the corner as he passed her on the way to the locker room. She hadn't even seen him walk in or realized he heard her. 

"Thanks," she said giving him a slight smile as she walked away. 'Why did he have to make ignoring him so difficult," Cristina thought as she got ready. Even when she was a horrible person, he still tried to comfort her. He was just too kind for this world. 

Leo stared straight ahead to the pitch as they both waited in the tunnel. Cristina snuck a look at him for the first time in weeks. Before, she never really noticed anything different in the man in front of her, but looking at him closer he looked sad. His face looked more stoic and the bags under his eyes were more pronounced. Instead of looking put together, he let his hair grow out a bit and she noticed some stubble on his face rather than his usual clean-shaven look. All that aside he looked fine, but there was this look in his eyes that she noticed as he looked forward. He had a faraway stare that made him look uninterested in the world around him. Sure he played with all the intensity in the world, but he played like a robot rather than a person. As she studied his face further, he turned to look at her. She looked down sheepishly and blushed from the embarrassment of being caught. He simply looked down smiling as the teams got ready to walk into the stadium. 

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Roma wasn't giving them any room to adjust to Luis' absence. In the first couple of minutes, the playing flowed as usual. Ney and Leo got control of the front wings. While it was difficult for Cristina to make the runs, she felt fine. Ney scored the opening goal in the 20th minute from a cross Leo made that only had to be tapped in. Ney celebrated by running to his teammate and hugging him. Cristina smiled at Ney's attempts to get Leo out of this grumpy mood he'd been in before the game. Leo eventually gave in and gave a slight smile to his friend.