Fermín and Clara have known each other since the day they were born.
He is her twin brother's best friend and has come back home to Andalusia after the 2022/23 season.
They meet again... and what will happen?
Since Friday, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face and Fermín had been on my mind 24/7. I was currently getting ready to watch Barca play Bilbao at the Olympic Stadium and I was set to meet my brother there. Fati had gone away for the weekend with a friend and after hearing that, Isa had tagged along with us. Carlito and I weren't happy at all about that but since our parents were good friends with hers we didn't dare to be rude to her. Even though she deserved it at times.
Since I was the only one with a car, I picked up my brother and Isa on my way. She wasn't happy about having to sit in the back alone, but my brother surely wasn't going to leave his passenger seat to sit next to her. My brother and I were dressed in our blaugrana kits from the US tour and she complained that she didn't have one. "Well there's a shop for that" Carlos said, starting to get impatient. "I know but they are soooo expensive... I'll just ask Fermín for one, what do you think?" she asked. I was about to answer, but my brother was quicker. "They only have a limited amount of jerseys they can give away, and he surely wants to keep the most memorable ones for himself" he said annoyedly and after that, everyone stayed silent.
"Your brother seems tense... Are things with Fati not going well?" Isa asked me when we had arrived at the stadium and were walking to our seats. "He's just got a lot on his plate with uni" I simply replied and sat down at my seat. Fermín was starting tonight and I was so excited, following his every movement during warm-up. I didn't care about any other player, he was the star of the show for me. "Hi Clara, hi Carlos" a girl that had just sat down with her family on the seats below, greeted us. "Hi..." I replied but couldn't remember her. "It's ok, we last saw each other two years ago or so... I'm Martina, Marc Guiu's sister" she chuckled and then I immediately remembered. Marc was a bit younger than Fermín but I had seen him at matches from time to time. "Of course! Sorry! You changed a lot since last time" I chuckled. "Thank God, I... well, I grew up" she joked. "Marc playing tonight?" I asked curiously. "He got called up and he told us that Xavi said there's a chance he's coming on. So we came and are crossing our fingers!" she said excitedly. "Well, we will too!" I replied and showed her my crossed index and middle finger.
The game was about to start and we sang the Barca anthem at the top of our lungs while the players were walking out onto the pitch. The game started and we clapped every time Fermín was on the ball, showing some support. It was still goalless at half-time, the teams playing a pretty balanced game. 15 minutes into the second half, Xavi started making changes, but nothing really happened. In the 79th minute Fermín was subbed off for Marc and his family stood up to cheer for him while we clapped as Fermín left the field. He had just wanted to sit down on the bench and us on our seats, when everything happened so fast. Marc got the ball from Joao Felix, surpassed the opponent players and chipped it perfectly into the net.
"YEEEEEEEES!!!!" we roared and stood up, throwing our hands in the air. Fermín had run for his life to go celebrate with the team and Marc's family in front of us was in tears, not knowing where to look or what to do. "He did it!!" Carlos shouted and shook Marc's dad by his shoulders. Isa had wanted to hug my brother in ecstasy but he resorted to patting her on the shoulder with a friendly smile on his face. The game ended 1-0 and Marc was this evening's hero, everybody wanted a piece of him. It reminded me a bit of Fermin's breakthrough this summer after the Clasico win. It was amazing to see the boys being successful after years of hard work and abstaining from a normal teenage life. I remember Fermín coming home one summer and almost crying that the trainers and teachers were so strict with their diet - whenever they were travelling they'd hide a Kinder Bueno bar in their socks or shoes where they hoped no one would find it. La Masía was definitely not a walk in the park - but at least now they could say that it had been worth it.
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📍 Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Tagged: _ferminlopez, marcguiu9 clara_1106 What a night! 😍🔥 Congrats, Marc! #madeinlamasia
marcguiu9 Oi! Thanks Clara! 💪🏼 carlos_1106 MAGIC 🪄 lamineyamal Not me not getting tagged 😭 Replying to lamineyamal: clara_1106 I didn't know you followed me 😭😅 Replying to clara_1106: pablogavi Bro has a crush on you since he walked into La Masía four years ago Replying to pablogavi: lamineyamal This is NOT true
We waited for Fermín again in the garage as we had talked about spending some time together after dropping off Carlos and Isa. He finally came out and my brother immediately engulfed him in a hug after a friendly handshake. Isa also greeted him and in my opinion she was being a bit too touchy, but I couldn't really say anything. "Hey, is Marc still inside?" I asked after kissing him on both his cheeks. His face expression quickly turned serious. "Yeah, he is. Let's go, I'm tired" he said annoyedly and slumped down onto the passenger seat. Carlos looked at me with a puzzled face and I just shrugged, not knowing what was going on now.
Isa sat down behind Fermín and started touching his shoulders, massaging him and he was even telling her how nice it felt. I gripped my steering wheel harder and instead of dropping off my brother first, I drove the longer route to her house just to get rid of her. "Bye Isa" I said loudly, with a fake smile on my face as we had stopped in front of her apartment building. "Oh... we're already here! You want to come up Fermín?" she asked and I was ready to rip her head off. "Uh... maybe next time, I'm very exhausted today... Thanks for coming tonight, it meant a lot" he said to her with a smile on his face and she looked like she was about to faint any second. She got out and waved at us, but I sped away as quickly as legally possible.
"Bro, have fun the next four years of your life" Carlos laughed and patted Fermín on his shoulders. "Got to keep them warm, a lonely boy never knows" he joked back and while him and my brother laughed, I was ready to kick both of them out at a red light. My brother's house was next and he said good night to us before getting out.
"Got to keep them warm, a lonely boy never knows" I mimicked Fermín after being left alone. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I shouted and he just laughed. The audacity of this guy. "Is Marc still inside?" he mimicked me now and my eyes almost popped out of my head. "Are you for real?! I wanted to congratulate him because he shot the goal you were apparently incapable of!" I shot back. "Ouch! That left a burn!" he fake-whined. "Yours or mine?" he asked as he leaned in closer to me to kiss my neck, hoping that I'd let go of my bad mood. "I have to be at uni early, so mine." I said, still slightly annoyed, however longing for more of his kisses now that my neck was burning on the piece of skin he had kissed.
