Collide | Pablo Gavi

8

Alisa

I'm sitting on the kitchen counter, next to the sink, listening to Pablo's wispy breaths.

His eyes are assessing my cuts and bruises, disinfecting the deep one on my cheek. He's trying to be careful, and it's cute. Little droplets of sweat line his hairline, his eyebrows scrunched up in concentration.

"Pablo, I can do it my—," I protest but he interrupts me.

"No. Everything is my fault, I let you go, when I should've dragged you back in the house. I should've told Pedri when I took the first step into the house," he shook his head.

I liked that I could trust him. He hadn't told Pedri, which was trustworthy enough for me.

"How did you guys find me?"

"Simple. I knew you were going with Joao to someplace, and knowing him, he'd go to somewhere with food. Then, I remembered I sent Ferran after you, called him right after your Uber rounded the street."

My eyes popped out. He had me followed?

"He told us you guys went to one of the most famous restaurants in Barcelona, which wasn't surprising by the way. I told Pedri that I had a feeling you were in trouble, so he went with me without a word," he continued.

He looked down as he said the next part. "We arrived at the restaurant, and I spotted Joao immediately, with another girl, and I knew something was seriously wrong."

He looked into my eyes, as if pleading for my forgiveness for what he was about to say next.

"You know, Alisa, I didn't lie at the club when I said that next time I wouldn't be so merciful."

So Pablo had fought with Joao.

I don't know the urge that had overtaken me, but I slid off the counter and straight into his strong frame, his arms scrambling to catch me. My own arms latched around his neck, pulling him closer to me. He smelt like antibiotics and disinfectant, but that only showed that he had taken the time to care for me. I felt his muscles relax, and surprisingly, his grip on me tightened. I thought he was going to push me away.

"Alisa..," I felt his minty breath against my ear, tickling my earlobe. My pulse spiked up, and suddenly I was fighting the urge to lean in to him. His mouth was so close.

"What are we doing?" What kind of question was that? The question was so abrupt that it murdered any tension that was present between us. Tension that wouldn't have been there if I wasn't high on pain killers.

I hope.

"Hugging, Pablo," I mumbled into his shoulder. I didn't think that was the answer he wanted, because the question seemed deeper.

"Alisa--," I heard someone's footsteps just outside the kitchen, and quickly pushed Pablo away, too scared to finish listening to what he was about to say. I quickly glance at Pablo, who looks away. I think I see a flicker of hurt but I write it off as my brain playing tricks on me.

"Hola, Pedri," I plaster on a smile.

"Hola pequeña, what are you guys doing here?"

"He was just helping me with my scratch," I gulp, hoping Pedri doesn't notice how guilty we look. Guilty of what, I don't know.

"Okay, well Pablito and I have to go to training, do you wanna come?" I had nothing better to do, so I agreed.

__________

After I had said hi to almost everyone on the team, I sat down on the bleachers outlooking the training pitch, where Pedri, Pablo and the rest were already warming up.