Golden days☀️

Chapter fourteen

D'Ambrosio noticed something was wrong when Chris rushed out of the changing room the other night without even saying goodbye. On top of it, Brozo came in to celebrate seconds later.
He was caught up in the crowd and by the time he was out, Chris didn't answer his calls.
He knew what might be wrong with his friend, so he decided to put together a little "support team" for the dane.
He called Bastoni, De Vrij, Skriniar, Barella and Handanovic with an idea in his mind.
They agreed in an heartbeat.

D'Ambrosio wakes up at the sound of his alarm, well rested but nervous.
He wants to make Chris feel better, he needs to remind him that his worth isn't determined by what he does in the field, not for them anyway....
And one match can't change an entire career.
Wait. Fuck.
Chris is obviously gonna read the news online, which will only worsen his mood; the defender checks his phone, articles about the midfielder being a flop and an overrated player flooding his timeline.
This is gonna be harder than expected.

The first voice on his to do list, is to find danish cookies. It may seem stupid, but he is sure that Chris will appreciate the small nice gesture.
He asks De Vrij and Skriniar to handle this one.
He then has to call and book a place for the big surpries, task that he gives to Handanovic.
Barella and Bastoni, with their joyful spirits, will accompany him to Chris's house, in case he needs someone to cheer the blonde up.
On time as always, the defender picks up both his friends and drives towards Chris' place.

Just as he's closing the door of his car, he receives a text from Handanovic
"Mission accomplished"

He then calls Chris, waiting for him to pick up.

Chris wakes to an annoying sound, after some time, he realizes it's his ringtone.
He reads the name on the display, not even bothering to turn on the light.
Why is D'Ambrosio calling him?
Maybe he just wants to talk...or maybe even tell him what he already knows. He failed.
Expecting the worst, he answers
"Hi..."
"Chrisssss, how's my favourite dane? I know it's sudden, but i'm at your door.
Barella and Bastoni are here too."
Some greetings are heard in the back.
The blonde doesn't know what to think...probably his friends just wants to distract him from his thoughts...but Brozovic's words are still in his mind. They didn't even notice, they probably thought he was just tired...who could blame them-
"Chris..."
He didn't even know how long he stayed in his head until he heard D'Ambrosio's voice calling his name softly, the cheerful tone almost gone.
The chatter seems to disappear in a few seconds, probably because the defender distanced himself from the other two
"I tried to call you last night,you didn't answer. I knew something was up from the moment you left and Brozo came in"
The dane actually finds 4 missed calls from the defender
"It's nothing really..."
"I don't care. We don't care...and you're gonna tell me about it. If not me, someone else. I'm not leaving until i know you feel better."
Chris is touched, he owns it to them, he promised he wouldn't keep any more secrets
"Come in"
As the italian opens the door, he reiceves a pic from Skriniar. They even have the cookies now.

Once in the house, the trio reaches Chris' bedroom,where he sits on his bed, legs crossed and fingers playing with something.
D'Ambrosio is the first one to enter
"How about we have a little talk while Tom and Jerry there warm you up some milk?"
"Yeah sure"
Barella and Bastoni leave the room, fighting about who gets to be Tom.
D'Ambrosio sits on the bed in front of Chris, expecting the blonde to look at him.
As soon as Chris lifts his head, he says
"You didn't fail Chris. It wasn't entirely your fault if we didn't score in the first half, it's always a team job. It's everyone's loss and everyone's victory"
The dane already knew all these things, but hearing them from another person makes them a little more true and believable
"And i know Brozo said something to you"
Chris briefly tells the defender what happened with the croatian, while D'Ambrosio tries to keep calm and focus on one person at a time. First Chris.

"It's just that i've always kind of felt like an outsider...but not in the field. The kids would always pass me the ball and choose me as first, so that i could be in their team.
I wasn't awkward and weird while playing...and i never felt useless, not until-"
He leaves the words hanging in the air, while he finishes toying with whatever he had in his hands, putting the object on the night stand.
"Chris don't...i know you may not believe me, but we're going to do what we can to prove that you're not an outsider. You're not the awkward kid anymore, you're one of us."
The blond assumes a hopeful, almost childish expression
"How are we going to do that?"
D'Ambrosio understands the meaning behind the "we": Chris is telling him that he knows he has to do his part and he's willing to do it.
"Let's just start with breakfast" the defender says, ruffling Chris hair and inviting him to get ready.

The dane enters his kitchen, surprised to find not only Barella and Bastoni but also Skriniar, De Vrij and Handanovic.
He greets them, assuming they were all here because of D'Ambrosio.

De Vrij and Skriniar (with Barella and Bastoni's help) set their breakfast on the table: milk and danish cookies.
Chris chuckles and thanks everybody for the kind gesture, his gratefulness for everything they did evident in his words.

After a pleasant breakfast during which Chris talked a bit, opening a bit more, D'Ambrosio advices the dane to get ready because they are heading out for a surprise.
Chris feels like a child, and goes to get ready with new found calmness.

De Vrij goes to check if he's done,and his eye falls on the night stand.
He can't help but smile when he recognizes a white paper clip, bent in the form of a star.

Funny how the universe works somwtimes.