[ five ]
Two long weeks passed before April recieved a response from Nev. By that time, she had long since forgotten why she was even worried about Lucas. The video he sent her had been enough to calm her fears, though she still found it odd that he never had time to video chat when she asked him to.
As the days turned to weeks, the World Cup was upon them and in the first week of May, all members of the Brazilian national team were summoned to Sao Paulo for group training.
Though Neymar was going to be in Brazil, representing the colors of his country on the most important stage in the football world, he told his girlfriend April that he would be there visiting family. Pretending to be a small time footballer in a second division team, he couldn't let her know he was on the national team because he knew she would suspect him.
When he found out Jonathan's older brother Giovani would be representing Mexico in the cup, he knew he would have to tell April about his true identity soon. In a matter of weeks, Brazil would be appearing on the pitch against Mexico and if she was watching, which he knew she would, she would then realize Lucas dos Santos didn't really exist.
Snapping a picture of the clouds from his window seat on the airplane, he watched the view with a smile.
After so long in Spain, he was finally home.
lucas_2_santos: i missed brasil. #homesweethome
aprilestiano: @lucas_2_santos how lovely ^.^ i hope you have fun, bby.
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Because the players were encouraged to keep absolute concentration during the cup, they were designated luxurious suites in one of the best hotels in the city. Neymar got out of the taxi after paying the driver and pulled his luggage out with him.
He walked into the lobby to find a lot of his team mates were gathered there, greeting each other. When Neymar spotted Oscar Emboaba, one of his closest friends on the team, a smile formed on his lips. "Neymar!" The ivory skinned young man called out, making all the other players turn in the direction of the entrance.
Cutting the distance between them, the Barcelona player bumped fists with his current team mate for the next month and a half to greet him. "Oscar," Neymar smiled. "How's everything in Chelsea?"
"Cold." Oscar replied immediately, crinkling up his nose. "I missed the beautiful weather of Brasil."
Hulk was the footballer who approached them next. "More like the beautiful women." He said jokingly after having heard their conversation. He then nudged Neymar and the three laughed together, Oscar high fiving his team mate.
"No women for me." Neymar shook his head with a grin. "My girlfriend would kill me."
"Whipped." Oscar coughed fakely.
"He's taken lessons from Ricardo." Hulk muttered to Oscar, the two bursting into laughter once again. Ricardo was another one of their team mates who didn't drink, didn't smoke, who's favorite book was the bible, favorite drink was water, and his favorite music was Gospel. And though he had the most boring tastes ever, he was also one of the friendliest guys both on the field and off. He had never engaged in fights on the pitch and only stood in the sidelines if members of his team started to fight the opposite team. There was just no way of hating him.
"Well if loving my girlfriend is funny..." He trailed off, a slight hint of annoyance at them showing. He liked the idea of a good laugh, but not when it was at his expense.
