lowkey | joão félix

2

irl

fermín pulls you into a hug as soon as he sees you.

"i can't believe you're here," he says, shaking his head slightly. you match his grin.

"i can't believe it took us a year to meet," you retort.

"true," he says, shrugging. you see lamine and héctor standing behind him and try not to freak out, heart racing in your chest. it feels weird seeing the players you admired on screen in person.

sure, you follow each other on instagram, but this was totally different. you wonder if this is how fans feel when they meet you.

fermín turns to introduce you to them and you exchange warm smiles, a flutter of nervousness in your chest.

"you guys played great today," you say to the two and they respond nod in thanks.

"until that guy tripped me," lamine grumbles. héctor pretends to trip him again and lamine pushes him back. you laugh, amused.

fermín pushes through, obviously used to them. "you can come to all our games," he jokes, elbowing you lightly.

"only if i get a good seat again," you joke back.

"consider it done."

"seriously?" you exclaim.

"seriously," he affirms. you throw your arms around him again.

"i knew there was a reason we're friends," you say, playfully. fermín shoves you off of him, pretending to be offended.

suddenly, the door to the locker room swings open behind fermín and your attention swivels. joão walks through the entrance, spotting your group in the hallway and making his way towards you.

you can feel fermín side eyeing you, gauging your reaction, but you keep your composure.

you can't help but notice his hair is slightly damp but still fluffy from the shower. not that you're staring, of course.

joão meets your eyes and offers a polite smile with a nod. fermín re-introduces you and joão holds out his hand for you to shake.

"hey. nice to meet you," he says.

"you too. big fan," you blurt out, turning red. you couldn't help it. fermín gives you a look and tries not to laugh. thankfully, joão just grins at your words.

"she's got good taste," he says to fermín, nodding approvingly, and fermín rolls his eyes.

"oh, why aren't you wearing a barça jersey, y/n?" lamine asks curiously. fermín shakes his head, tutting disapprovingly.

"i thought i packed mine, but turns out i didn't," you admit with a frown.

"we probably have some spares," héctor offers. joão leaves, presumably to check.

"are you free tomorrow?" fermín asks. "we've got a free day from training, so we could all do something?" the two other boys nod along.

"sure, i'm down. you can show me around," you agree. "i just landed today and the first thing i did was come and watch the game," you confess.

héctor and lamine chuckle. "you're crazy," fermín says.

"i prefer dedicated," you correct.

joão comes back with a balled up jersey in his hand. your eyes light up once you see it and you accept it gratefully.

"it'll be a little big, but i think it'll be fine," he says. you hold out the jersey in front of you, noticing that there's name and number on the back.

joão félix, 14.

your mouth opens in surprise and you meet his eyes. he shrugs sheepishly.

"since you're a fan," he explains, raking a hand through his hair. "i have heaps, so why not?"

lamine and héctor share a look. fermín's eyes dart back and forth between you and joão, but says nothing.

"thank you," you say breathlessly, slipping it over your head immediately.

you were never going to take it off.