Robert and gavi

Chapter1

"I'm so fucking over it," Gavi announced to the living room. He tossed his phone aside in frustration. He glanced momentarily at the game controller on the coffee table but he didn't even care to play video games anymore. He was stuck indoors for weeks like a prisoner.

Pedri walked over with a bowl of grapes and some strawberries. He sat next to him on the couch, always careful to avoid Gavi's injured right leg propped up on the ottoman. "Open your mouth," Pedri said, holding a grape to his lips.

Gavi, still annoyed, did so and chewed on the grape. It was sweet but he could barely find any satisfaction in it.

"Remember what the doctor said? One day at a time," Pedri said. "Patience," he emphasized.

Pedri must have given him that reminder every other day for the past week. Gavi was reaching his limit. Patience was not in his DNA.

You could say it was what brought him into this situation in the first place.

That fated sunny day on the field, he'd thought nothing of going in aggressively to win the ball back. After all, his team was down 2-1 in the intramural final at their university. He did not want bragging rights taken away from him at the end of the semester. No way. They were the better team anyway.

When Gavi rushed to get the ball he made an awkward turn on his right leg. He tried to play through it but instantly crumpled into a heap on the floor. The pain was severe and he knew something was very, very wrong. A hospital visit revealed a torn ACL that required surgery and would put him out of commission for months. No more football. No more in-person classes. No more part-time job. Gavi's soul was crushed but his one consolation was that his boyfriend Pedri was by his side for everything.

At one particular hospital visit, after a crying fit, Pedri encouraged Gavi to sit up a little. Pedri leaned over to place a juicebox straw to his lips.

"Bet not caring about losing that game looks really good now," Pedri cracked to lighten the mood.

Gavi snorted. "I demand a rematch when I finally get better."

"Ah, Gavi," Pedri leaned over to kiss his cheek. "So hotheaded. Never change. Anyway, I'll take care of you so you don't have to worry about a thing, okay?"

If he wasn't reliant on Pedri for everything before, now he waited on him hand and foot. Pedri was so kind, he never seemed to mind doing everything for the injured Gavi.

But a few weeks post-surgery with limited mobility was driving him crazy. He counted the days down to when he could get into the part of his recovery to actually strengthen himself instead of just resting. He allowed Pedri to feed him another grape, made a face when it was sour and then heard a buzz from his nearby phone.

"Who is that?" Pedri asked curiously.

Gavi picked it up and saw a text reminder for his physical therapy appointment the following week. He sat up a little straighter on the couch. Finally! Some good news.

"My appointment's at 10am sharp next Tuesday," he announced. "Oh, but you have your internship at that time, right?"

Pedri leaned over to feed him a strawberry. "Don't worry, I can skip it to drive you over."

"No no no! Don't do that. I can take an Uber, it's fine." Pedri already sacrificed so much of his time for him.

But Pedri just wrapped an arm around him on the couch and nuzzled his face into Gavi's neck. "It's not a problem, Gavi. I'll drop you off and still make it back for the second half of the day." He kissed the side of his neck and looked down at the text reminder on Gavi's phone. "What does that say there? Lewa-what?"