𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 || 𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙤 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙞

𝘁 𝗲 𝗻

PRETTY SMILE
"i would rather swim in stormy seas with you then sail calm waters with anyone else"

~pablo~

mal and i ate our cereal together in comfortable silence until she made up some shit excuse about needing to leave, so she left me alone. after i cleaned out my bowl and put it in the dishwasher, i abandoned the room and went to search for her.

i didn't exactly want to see her, but i was just curious to where she went. i checked the locker rooms and she wasn't in the women's or men's. i felt out of place in the women's even though i was in there earlier, it still just feels wrong.

so instead of wasting my afternoon trying to find a girl i don't even care about, i walk towards the storage room and grab a football, juggling it down the tunnel and towards the pitch.

except before i can even touch the grass, i spot mal lying down in the center circle. i walk over to her and bend over slightly to stare at her, blocking the sun from her face. even though it's winter and practically freezing outside, the sun isn't exactly pleasant to have beating down in your eyes.

her eyelids flutter open after a few seconds and her brow furrows. "gavi?" she sits up and leans back on her hands.

"so you ditched me just to sunbathe?" i question, a smirk playing on my lips.

she rolls her eyes. "primero, i can't sunbathe in this weather." she shifts over a tad and i plop down beside her, resting my elbows on my knees. "y segundo, i was getting annoyed of sitting next to you."

"annoyed? we weren't even talking." i laugh, gazing up at the setting sun. camp nou has always been beautiful, and at sunset it truly looks magical. when i learned that they would soon be tearing it down to create a new one, it made me sad. this is the original, and nothing can replace the unforgettable memories and events that took place on this very pitch.

"yeah, but your presence annoys me." she shrugs, leaning back down on the grass and letting her eyelids flutter shut.

"would you like me to leave then?" i ask, the sarcasm prominent in my voice.

"si por favor."

"muy mal." (too bad) i smirk, lying down beside her. i inhale a large breath, taking in the crisp barcelona air around us. i thought i would hate being stuck here with mal, but so far it hasn't been too bad. we ate cereal together without uttering a single word, i think that's improvement.

but do i really want improvement? i've always hated mallory, so why would that change now? i enjoy hating her, i'm not about to get all nice and shit just because we got fucked over and stuck here unwillingly.

hopefully we can find a way out soon so we can both go on vacation and then come back to training and hate each other like always. because whatever is going on right now feels so wrong. we are lying next to each other, voluntary? i hate this, this is weird.

without thinking i hop up, grabbing the ball from beside me and kicking it right at mallory's head. my eyes widen because i didn't even expect myself to do that. "what the fuck gavi!" mallory rolls over and swipes her foot under mine, causing me to fall face first into the grass.

"fuck mallory." i groan and flop over on my back to hold my nose.

"that was deserved." she laughs and stands up, jogging to get the ball which ricocheted off her into the opposite direction. i watch her as she lightly juggles it back over towards me, admiring the way she moves her feet so effortlessly. "get up and pass with me."