Golden days☀️

Chapter eight

After breakfast, the players gather their things and wait for the bus, they are going to spend the day at San Siro.
The bus arrives and Chris seats next to Alexis Sanchez, who smiles and says
"Hi Chris,we haven't really had a chance to talk. I just wanted to say that i loved what you did at Tottenham, you were great."
Chris blushes and lowers his head, thinking about how to respond.
He admires the older player and he's been watching him play since he was at Ajax.
He lifts his gaze and finds D'Ambro's eyes, happy to see the dane chatting with Alexis.
"It's a lot from you, i've watched you play and i've always admired you... and i wasn't expecting to hear you compliment me. Thank you."
The journey isn't really long and Chris passes the time between chatting happily with Sanchez and sleeping.

They arrive at San Siro, where they immediately go to change and start doing a warm up.
D'Ambro,Barella, Bastoni and Skriniar all try to always stay with Chris, not wanting to leave him alone with Brozo. Every one of them thinking 'not today, not on his first match'

The morning passes fast and they find themselves having lunch in the cafeteria.
Chris had been able to control his anxiety before lunch, focusing on the ball. Now he is having some troubles.
He doesn't even know if he is going to play, but the expectations are really high for him.
He decides he needs two things:
One, he is kind of scared to ask. He would like one of D'Ambrosio's hugs, where he holds him tight and smiles happily, that would really change his mood.
The second, he is really scared to ask. He would like some advice, from someone who's been through what he's been through.
Sanchez, in particualr, arrived at Inter in September after years in Premiere League. He is the right person to ask.

So, after lunch, Chris searches for Alexis and when he finds him, sat in a chair near the field, he sits next to him.
Sanchez knows that Chris wants to talk about something, so he stays quiet and waits for the midfielder to talk.
Chris fidgets with his hands, takes a deep breath and talks about his fears and what struggles he had to face with his transfer at Inter.
Alexis listens, not interrupting.
He then looks at the dane and starts telling his experience, his first months and his first match.
"I was nervous too. But trust me, everybody feels this way. And the fans...wow. You know how it is in England, you've been there.
Here's different. They're really excited, they really are in the game.
They'll scream your name, you'll feel their love. I know you may not believe me now, but i've seen you play.
Once you touch the ball, you're gonna be fine"

Chris is speachless, he was kind of afraid, he thought Alexis would maybe just shrug him off with a "don't worry". But he took his time and told his story to Chris.
The dane is really grateful. He thanks Alexis and leaves him.

Next thing he does is to find D'Ambrosio, and he finds him in one of the hallways.
"D'Ambro!" Says Christian out loud to stop the defender.
D'Ambrosio turns around.
"Hey Chris! All good?"
"Yeah just..i was...if you could, maybe..."
The defender puts his phone away and looks at Chris, kind of amused by his speech.
"Chris, you can tell me anything."
"Ijustwantedtoknowifmaybeicouldhaveahugit'sokif-"
"Nope. Didn't get that."
The dane looks down
"I was wondering if i could have a hug (?) It's ok if you don't want to but it's just the first match and Brozo and-"
D'Ambrosio just smiles and hugs Chris, placing his hands on the dane's lower back, sensing the other relax
"I'm glad you came to ask what you needed, you did good"
Chris just smiles and mumbles a thank you, feeling already better.

The stadium is almost full with people, and the atmosphere is amazing.
Obviously Chris won't be in the starting eleven, but he feels really excited and nervous.

He exits the tunnel with his teammates to do a quick warm up, and he can't really believe what happens next.