see you later // Pablo Gavi

Chapter 18

𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈.

𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐈 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐄𝐃, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏. I put on his comfortable hoodie jumper, and my Gavi jersey is hanging on my bedpost.

"Hey, Ember," Gavi says when he answers the phone.

"You played so well out there, Gavi," I say, right away.

"Can I video call you?"

"Why?"

"I want to see your face."

I feel myself heat up, and I wish I wouldn't. "Of course you can."

And so he does, and I'm happy to see his face, too. He's wearing a a yellow, loose, comfortable looking shirt, and his hair is only slightly messy. He looks handsome as ever.

He grins when he sees me. "You're wearing my hoodie, aren't you?" he realizes nearly right away.

Oh yeah.

Wow, Gavi. Do you really have to be so observant?

"Yeah, I am. It's comfy," I explain.

"Yeah," he says thoughtfully. "I guess I never really did ask you to give that back. Well, that's okay. You can keep it. It looks nice on you."

Pablo Gavi, stop making me blush!!!

"Thanks..."

"You saw me score that goal tonight, Ember?"

"Of course I did."

"Our eyes met."

"Yeah. That was amazing. You're the best."

"You bet I am," he jokes cockily.

I roll my eyes. "Well, what about that goal? Because I was just about to say that it was all Ansu, and you wouldn't've been able to do anything without his assist."

"Hey! Well, that's true, but I was the one who scored the darn goal, Ember."

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing you. I think you did insanely well."

"Thanks. I'm glad you think that. Because as I saw that chance, as my boot came in contact with that ball, and as it slipped in passed the goal, rolling up the net, I was thinking about you, Ember. I was thinking about how you were watching. I scored that goal for you, Ember. I scored it for Barcelona, for the fans, for Xavi, for Ansu, and for all my teammates. But most of all, Ember, I scored it for you."

I stare at him through the screen, covering my mouth with my hand. "I... thank you... Gavi, that, uh..."

"Getting emotional?" he teases. "I thought you were Little Miss Keep It Cool."

Ugh, Gavi, stop! Stop doing this to my stomach, and making me heat up! Stop making me shaky from excitement about you! Stop!

"Yes, Gavi!" I finally say. "Little Miss Keep It Cool appreciates you and your sweet words, and yes, she is feeling emotional because you just freaking said that you scored a goal for, out of everything that is so important to you, me. As you were doing it, I was in your mind! So, yes, Gavi! I am emotional, because that's the sweetest thing ever, and you're the sweetest guy ever, and... and... You're a freaking great guy, okay?! So yes! I am emotional about it!"

Even on the screen, I can see the softening of Gavi's eyes that seems to happen so much as he's talking to me. Sometimes it happens when he simply looks at me.

Then he smiles, that slightly crooked, so familiar smile that makes my heart stop every time. The left side always quirks up, just slightly more than the right. "You're a freaking great girl, Ember. Freaking great." He's teasing me, mimicking my strange choice of words, but I know he means what he says. He really does, and that touches me.

I'm touched.

How does Gavi do it?

There's awkward silence, before Gavi says, "Thanks, Ember, really."

"Huh? For what?"

"You're such a great... girl. Friend. I love being around you, and you raise my mood. Every time I talk to you. Simply seeing you brightens my day. Really. I know you feel so touched that I thought of you while I scored tonight, but I feel touched, too. I feel touched that you cheered me on. I know thousands of others were cheering me, us, on, out there on the pitch, like they do every game. But this was more than that. It meant so much more, Ember, because I know you, and I really do like you, and I really do care about you. So I'm thanking you for cheering me on. Because when Ansu crossed it over to me, I really didn't know if I could make it. It was tight. But I thought of you, and in my head, I heard you cheering me on. So I took the risk and gave it all I had, and I scored. I know it wasn't some amazing game winner or hat trick or something, but... It's a simply goal that I think I'm going to remember for a while."

I stare at him, stunned. "I wanna hug you right now so much," I say.

"I guess it's good we're on the phone then," he teases. He has a way of very easily going back and forth between very heartfelt and very teasingly, very quickly. It catches me off guard, making me laugh. It's so charming.

We talk for a while longer, because either of us specifically have anything else to talk about, but for the sole reason that both of us just want to talk with each other. That's about it.

The conversation wanders to upcoming games, and Gavi explains that next Sunday, they are going to Madrid, to play Atletico Madrid at the Civitas Metropolitan Stadium.

I sigh, saying, "I've never actually been to Madrid, but I've always wanted to..."

"It's a really nice city. I like Madrid alright. I don't know, but maybe you could come."

"What do you mean?"

"Next weekend, maybe you could come to Madrid with us. All the guys know about you by now. They all tease me unrelentingly about you being my girlfriend."

The fact that Gavi, and possibly Pedri, have spoken about me enough that all the Barcelona players would know about me enough to tease Gavi honestly is heartwarming.

"Oh. Well it's not like I could ride in the bus with you guys."

"Hmm, not necessarily. I'm no good at it, but there are a few people on the team who are exceptionally good at convincin' them to let us take someone along for the bus ride. If I could convince them to convince those in higher authority... You never know. You could meet the whole team. You would be caught on cameras, though, now that I think about it, and there is no way to lie to your friends about that..."

I say, getting excited about this idea, "Well, I could just do what you do in the mall! Wear enough clothes that the cameras don't see who I am."

Gavi smiles. "True. Then maybe we could spend some time in Madrid together, too, which would be a blast. Madrid is always fun; we always go out in Madrid."

I grin. "So you'll see if we can do that?"

"Of course. Well, I got to go now. Nice talking, Ember."

"Bye, Gavi." I hang up.