Football One Shots

Neymar

Slight Neymessi at the end but more of an inside to Neymar's personal struggle and his feelings. Remember: this is all a work of fiction!!!

Neymar had been struggling to keep up physically with the rest of the team. The 90 minutes in a game were becoming too much for him to handle and he'd be subbed off around the 70 minute mark. Enrique gave him a week or two to work on it himself, but Neymar made no changes. So, he approached Neymar after a long practice session and had a chat with him.
At first, Neymar thought nothing of Enrique asking to speak with him, but as soon as his mouth opened, his intentions were made known. During the conversation, Neymar had to fight himself to not say a smart mouthed reply or just walk away altogether.
He simply nodded in agreement every so often as Luis blabbed on. The only time he was actually listening to the conversation was when he heard, 'you'll have to be sat out of the starting line up.'
Neymar decided, after the talk was over, that he'd push himself to his limits to become better. No matter what it took. Whether it be blood, sweat, or tears, he was ready to give his all to stay on the starting eleven. If not for himself, then for his family back in Brazil.
He went home that night and made a bee-line straight to his workout out room in his basement. He quickly stretched himself out and hopped onto the treadmill and ran his hardest for 30 minutes then jogged at a moderate pace for another 30. By the time he was finished, he had a painful side-stitch and wobbly legs, but that didn't stop him. A challenging cardio workout was next on his list and after 20 minutes he fell to the ground in exhaustion.
That night in bed, Neymar stared out his window at the clear sky, full of stars and a bold moon. He turned over and grabbed his alarm clock, setting it for 4:00 a.m., and fell asleep.
The next morning, he was up before the sun and ready to go by the first ray. His running shoes were strapped on tightly and his jacket was zipped, so he made his way out of his front door and onto the dirt path beside his house. He ran until he could barely breath and tears were coming out of his eyes. The couch called his name as soon as he entered his house, but he simply said 'no' and headed to the basement.
He upped his cardio level and pushed himself to tears once more.
The steam of the shower was a pleasing sight for him to see as soon as he was finished. His resting period only lasted an hour or so, before he was expected at practice. He grabbed his vitamins and protein shake on his way out of his door and made his way to Camp Nou.
The days turned into weeks as his daily routine continued, with him grabbing simple things to eat before running out the door for another run or a training session. His weight had definitely been dropping and he was lasting longer on the field. Enrique seemed rather pleased with his performance and praised him for his changes.
It was the day of the Barcelona A team's check-up at the office.
They all piled into the large, glass building one-by-one the day of the appointment. Neymar was a bit nervous, but felt overall confident of his stamina. They set him onto the tread mill and left him running for a half-hour. The results were pleasing to the doctors and they sent him for his BMI and weight check. When he stepped onto the scale, it balanced out slowly, but when the results came on, the doctor looked disappointed. She didn't comment on his weight, but he knew that be must've weighed too much.
He went home angry with himself and chose to skip his afternoon protein shake and push himself on the ab workout he had planned for the following week. After abs, he ran out his front door and didn't come back for over an hour.
The next day at practice, Leo approached Neymar.
"Ney, want to go out tonight for a dinner, maybe get some wings and fries?" Neymar internally vomited at the idea of greasy food.
"Not tonight Leo, I'm busy." Leo looked rather disappointed, but didn't complain.
"Maybe some other time." Leo added before walking away.
"Yeah..." Neymar mumbled.
Enrique approached Neymar once more after practice and Neymar was sure he was going to say something about the weigh-in the other day.
"Neymar, when I told you that you needed to get back into shape, I didn't mean lose weight. I meant work on your stamina, in practice... You weighed in at 134lbs and your BMI was 14.9. You're weight should be no less than 150lbs, and that's stretching it. Your BMI is supposed to be 20.9, better yet 21. What are you doing?" Neymar was silent for a minute.
"I've been running and working out anytime we aren't practicing."
"What have you been eating?" Neymar stayed silent.
"When was your last real meal." Neymar swallowed.
"I-I had a yogurt this morning." He couldn't meet Luis's eyes.
"I mean a REAL meal Neymar. Not some bullshit supplement." Enrique stood waiting patiently for his answer.
"Uh, I had a grilled cheese and some tomato soup about three weeks ago." He mumbled with his gaze falling to the floor.
"Go wait in the locker room please." Enrique sounded both concerned and disappointed.
Neymar didn't need to be told twice to leave. He waited on one of the benches in the silent locker room for few minutes before Leo stepped inside.
"Ney, are you alright?" It was the first thing Leo said to him.
"No." Neymar twiddled his thumbs nervously.
Leo said nothing more, but made his way to Neymar and pulled him into his chest.
"I think you'll be staying with me for a while." Leo mumbled into Neymar's curly hair while rubbing his back gently.
"Okay." Neymar sighed into his shoulder and rested against Leo.