Golden days☀️

Chapter ten

Skriniar wakes up and after a brief glance at his phone he decides to get up. He gently wakes Chris, who hides under the covers against the light the defender just turned on.
"Chris i was thinking about having breakfast with the others since we have the morning off. How does that sound?"
The dane just murmurs a "good".
Right, Skriniar forgot about Chris and his hate for mornings.

While they get ready, the slovak texts the others and they all agree to have breakfast together; the only one who's not coming is D'Ambrosio, who apparently has other things to do.

After half an hour the two players are ready and in the car to reach the meeting point.

D'Ambrosio isn't really one to decline invitations to hang out with his friends, but this morning he has to.
He reads Skriniar's text and answers quickly, saying he is sorry and he can't come because he has other things to do.
Then he opens Brozo's chat, texting him about wanting to talk about something, and asking if it is ok for him to come to the croatian's place.
Brozo's answers almost immediately with a simple "ok".

The midfielder knows what D'Ambrosio wants to talk about; it must be about Eriksen.
He knows the defender noticed his behaviour, and blondie must have gone to D'Ambrosio to whine.
Typical,really.
He's gonna tease the dane about that, but first he has to take care of the italian defender.

D'Ambrosio knows that if Chris knew what he was doing, he would ask him to stop and let it go.
Thinking about it, Brozo could take this "meeting" as a sign of weakness from Chris' part, like sending his mum to deal with his school bully.
D'Ambrosio can't help it though, he wants to protect the dane. He already has a lot of troubles because of his anxiety and his arrival in Italy, he doesn't need Brozo and his nonsense on top of it.
Not to mention that the team would benefit from this. He remembers how bad it was when Brozo treated Perisic like he is doing now with Chris
..and it took a good talk and a few angry players to put an end to that.
And even then, Ivan left and went on loan to Bayern Munchen. He can't let Chris have the same fate.

Thinking about the past, D'Ambrosio turns off the engine of his car and walks to the door. He rings the bell and Brozo invites him to come in.

The defender looks around. It isn't his first time in the croatian's house, but it is the first time he feels this tense.

"Soo...what did you want to talk about?" Asks the midfielder sitting on the sofa.
"I think you know what i want to talk about. You have to stop treating Chris like that"
Brozo tries not to smirk, answering
"Oh really? And how have i been treating him exactly?"
D'Ambrosio tries to stay calm, knowing really well that the midfielder is just trying to play dumb.
"You're trying to make his life miserable at Inter. You're playing with his insicurieties."
"Those are just pranks between friends, nothing mean or bad behind them.", the croatian answers, looking D'Ambrosio straight in the eyes.
"Not really if the other one is hurting, you see-"
"If the guy's weak, it's not my fault. He could have told me himself and not send you to the rescue"
The midfielder can't help but laugh a little, this is going to be good.

D'Ambrosio knows he can't tell Brozo about Chris' anxiety, it would just be another thing to use to hurt him.
So he tries to reason with the guy, putting what's best for the team first and in the meantime helping the dane
"I'm not going to comment on that.
Just think about the team and your place. If you get along with him, you'll be better in the field. With your esperience and his passes we can really have the best midfield in Italy.
You won't admit that,but he is an asset to our team, you can help him fit in."
Brozo pretends to think about it, before answering
"Maybe i can do that. We sure as hell won't be friends though"
The defender knows that this is the best he's gonna get,so he takes it and gets up.
"Ok, that's probably it. Thank you for listening. See you in the afternoon"
"See you"

Brozo closes the door, thinking about his next move. The defender is right, the midfield would be really good with Chris. But he can't stand the guy, he wants to convince him that he doesn't belong at Inter, he has to show that he is better than the dane.
He needs to act more carefully from now on.

D'Ambrosio leaves the croatian's house with a little less weight on his chest; he knows he's gonna need to keep an eye on Brozo anyway, but he hopes that the player will put the wellness of the team first, leaving Chris in peace.

In the meantime, in a bar in another part of Milano, Skriniar, Handanovic, Bastoni and Chris are laughing at Barella because he managed to pour his coffe on himself. Not a bad way to start the day.