Chapter Text
The chain of incredible and strange events had become for Paulo the sweetest experience in the world. Somehow, even when he couldn't fully understand, life had managed to make him happy in a way that he wasn't used to enjoying often. Good things had started almost a year ago, when the club's leaders had decided that he was talented enough to play with the first team. Paulo found in that gesture the opportunity of his life and the reward for the bet he had made when he decided to leave his native Cordoba to emigrate to Italy.
The most important clubs in the world had been prone a few years ago to accept omegas in their main campuses and Juventus wasn't a exception. After playing a couple of months in the lower divisions, which only allowed male omega players, he got the most precious gift. Massimiliano Alegri nominated him to train with the first team and Paulo became one of the 3 omegas that played along with the rest of the alphas and betas the most important competitions in Europe and Italy.
Being part of the first team had been difficult at first. Paulo was an omega and as such everyone behaved differently with him. His teammates, probably without malice, made him remember that all the time. Some of them were condescending, understanding his first mistakes and attributing them to his omega status, as if he weren't really made to play a sport like football. Others were, on the other hand, too demanding and were often biased about the differences between them and him. Paulo spent some time alone, accompanied by nobody but Mattia and Daniele, the other two omegas of the team. However, none of these situations managed to disappoint him and he sought, with constancy, to show that he was as talented and capable as his alphas and betas teammates.
It didn't take long for Paulo to delight the fans with his goals. For him it was simply so easy to get to the rival arc and destroy it. He became the scorer and the young star of the team and got the love of the fans and soon also the respect of his teammates.
Little by little, he was no longer stigmatized and set apart for being an omega, but his omega condition served to make his teammates, irremediably, paternal and protective with him. It was inevitable. There everyone seemed to want to keep him safe. Paulo was 23 years old, had big green eyes, a pretty face and a small body and the rest of the alphas, instead of seeing him as a potential couple, had dedicated themselves to treating him like a child who had to be guided and advised.
Paulo had agreed with that. He had cheerfully accepted the protection of his alpha mates in the same way that he had agreed to religiously comply with the taking of his suppressants and contraceptives in order to maintain a pleasant, calm and professional environment on the field. He wasn't interested in having a real partner either; the options in Italy weren't scarce, but he had decided to put his career first. Juventus was his home now and he could endure loneliness with triumphs and victories. Paulo had believed that things could only improve and he was sure of it until that alpha became part of the team and, with it, his perfect world started to crumble gently.
Cristiano Ronaldo was possibly the most important player that Juventus had had in the last time and captured the attention of everyone and Paulo felt strange to recognize that he had also managed to captivate him. He had kept an eye on his career as he did with most of the important and consolidated players he hoped to look like someday, so having him there, on the same team as him, was an incredible luck. Cristiano was a reference point from which to learn everything and Paulo looked at him as he would look at a guide.
But, beyond talent and technicality, Cristiano was surprisingly nice. He was nothing like the image that the media had created of him: he wasn't arrogant, he greeted everyone when he came to train, he had a good sense of humor and he was always willing to give advice or tell experiences to the younger ones. Paulo felt lucky to share the shirt with this alpha who, besides being the best player, was a great person.
With him he was especially tender, as if he was aware of the way in which all the other betas and alphas of the team treated him and wanted to join the group. It didn't take long for them to become friends; friendship that was strengthened by a latent and lasting complicity in the field game and also outside it. Cristiano was a sweet alpha. He kissed him on the cheek in the morning when they saw each other and also when they said goodbye; he insisted on taking pictures with him and spoke good things about Paulo when the journalists asked him what it felt like to form a double scorer with an omega.
Paulo understood that Cristiano was the most respectful, friendly, funny and kind alpha he had known in his life as a professional footballer and was happy to have the opportunity to play alongside him. But he also felt fear when he realized that Cristiano was the only alpha that had attracted him since his arrival in Europe.
At first, Paulo told himself it was nonsense. That he was confused and that he was misunderstanding the affection that Cristiano gave him because Cristiano was only nice and polite to all the boys and he wasn't, in fact, anything special. But that didn't mean that the butterflies in the stomach felt whenever Cristiano brushed his hands or caressed his shoulders or his hair or waist stopped.
Stunned and overwhelmed by the sensations and the veracity of that strange feeling he was beginning to feel, he blamed Cristiano. Maybe Cristiano was just playing with him. Paulo was young and pretty and he was aware of that and more than one of his teammates had warned him about the type of alpha who was only interested in get laid and disappearing from his life. Mario, as cold as he sometimes seemed, had told him that he was a great boy and that he couldn't be just fooled by anyone and that he had to be careful. Mario had whispered "I know how alphas can be, because I'm one of them".
But Paulo was unable to believe that Cristiano was that type of alpha. He seemed so correct. He seemed so sincere every time he looked him in the eye and said his name. Cristiano didn't have to look for him in the corridors or wait for a moment alone, but he did it and all of that caused in Paulo a tranquility and a confidence that produced a warmth in his chest.
The day Cristiano asked him if he wanted to go to his house, Paulo's air was cut off. He wasn't sure whether or not to believe that Cristiano was serious. Visiting Cristiano's house, even if it was just for coffee or a chat, was unexpected. Paulo shrugged and pursed his lips, drowning the yes that wanted to escape from his mouth with force.
During all his questions about whether Cristiano was playing with him or was really interested in forming something, Paulo had chosen to stop thinking about the details. Alvaro had reminded him insistently, at the moment when Paulo had confessed the bizarre situation in which he had gotten together with Cristiano and Gonzalo had told him, perhaps too strongly in the voice, that he simply couldn't interfere in Cristiano's life because Cristiano had a family and if finally the relationship they had came to light, Paulo would be the only victim.
Cristiano was married and united with a female omega and had a daughter less than a year old and he used to be proud to be a father and a family man every time he had the opportunity on his Instagram and on TV. Georgina Rodriguez seemed to be the perfect omega for an alpha like Cristiano and little Alana only complemented them in a way that made Paulo feel dizzy.
Gonzalo and Álvaro were right, after all. Cristiano was a mature, married man and Paulo was just a boy who was still in training and who was probably dazzled by that football superstar who played beside him and who paid so much attention to him. Paulo knew that in the end his two friends told him the truth. If anything about him and Cristiano really happened, Paulo'd be the third in a stable and consolidated relationship and when the celebrity found out about it, they wouldn't judge Cristiano, they'd judge him and his career wouldn't recover from a blow like that.
But Paulo also believed that those were rash concerns. They hadn't even given each other a kiss, they hadn't said a confession, nor had they spoken anything that'd let him know that Cristiano felt the same. His reverie was based only on empty clues and insinuations that, after all, could mean anything. Paulo didn't have to feel guilty about a situation that still didn't really happen.
He had all that in mind when, finally, decided to say aloud the yes that was stuck in his throat and Cristiano smiled with that smile that only he could have and the way to his car was in silence and with such closeness at the same time that Paulo wasn't able to question anything at all. When they arrived at Cristiano's place, after hardly exchanging a couple of words on the way, Paulo realized something.
He was willing to accept from Cristiano whatever he wanted to give, even if the consequences later destroyed him completely.
That afternoon, Georgina wasn't there and neither was Alana and the loneliness of the house made Paulo think about so many things. The kiss that Cristiano gave him, without warning and without any clue, made him sure that all this he was feeling was really meaning.
When Cristiano moves away gently, without giving any word, Paulo can't do more than smile. He doesn't need explanations of any kind because Cristiano's eyes tell him everything and he thinks he can read them.
That day nothing happens between them, but the training is never the same again. Cristiano is a playful beast, who looks for him everywhere and who flatters him with malice every one of his games with the ball and Paulo accepts all his words and his actions and his caresses hidden in the locker room because he's so in love and Cristiano is the alpha he could only have in dreams. Paulo loves the way in which by Cristiano's side he can feel free and embraces him with force, kisses him all over his face and hangs on his neck to show him that he's totally at his feet.
Paulo never really thinks about Georgina or Alana, nor about the life to which Cristiano has to return after they separate. He prefers to focus on everything he feels when Cristiano kisses him and tries to make all those sensations last until the next day, when they see each other again in training.
Paulo doesn't know if his teammates know or if they have noticed and actually, that doesn't matter too much. Cristiano puts little effort into disguising and Paulo dreams and wants to believe that the lightness with which Cristiano acts around him is because he's in love too and that he would be able, some day at least, to recognize the love they have in front of everybody.
Paulo has told how many days have passed since that kiss in the house of Cristiano and at the exact 75, Gonzalo gives him a crude warning.
His WhatsApp message says "don't sleep with him" and Paulo, at first, cannot understand the coldness of the words, so he doesn't answer anything and instead remains anxiously waiting for Gonzalo's next answer.
"Paulo, I'm telling you seriously. I'm an alpha and I know what alphas want and Cristiano is not going to leave his family to be with you so please don't sleep with him. Don't get involved that way"
Paulo frowned, because he's sure that Gonzalo knows him deeply and that means that he also knows that for Paulo there would be, forever, a before and an after in the hidden relationship that he and Cristiano carry if they shared the bed even if it was only once.
"Please tell me you two haven't fucked"
Paulo answered him with the truth, but Gonzalo continued his unprecedented attack.
"I love you and I just want to see you happy. He can't make you happy. You deserve so much more"
He wants to write something, but he just cannot.
"I don't want him to hurt you"
And that last sentence was what made Paulo smile broadly.
"Cristiano would never hurt me. He swore it to me"
Gonzalo didn't insist more after that.
However, he makes him think. Sleeping with Cristiano was a secret longing he had kept hidden because of shame and shyness. When desires came to take control of his body, Paulo sabotaged himself by imagining that he probably couldn't be good enough for Cristiano. Cristiano had lived a lot more than he and surely had had unique experiences and sensations unequaled and when Paulo thought about the remote possibility of having sex with him, he couldn't help asking one question after another. Will I fulfill his expectations? Will I be able to make him like me?
Those ideas keep fluttering for a few days. Cristiano's always close to him, either behind or with his hands on some part of his body and Paulo thinks it is a raw and painful torture. One afternoon, in the showers, Paulo feels his interior burn in flames. Cristiano is gently placed behind him, when they are alone and wet and ecstatic and Paulo wants nothing more than to become one with Cristiano at that moment. Cristiano's big hands feel like fire melting his skin and while he closes his eyes, he gives himself fully.
But it never happens. Cristiano moves away from him tenderly and Paulo remains on his own, confused and stunned as the water falls on his hair and slides all over his body.
Cristiano doesn't try again after that, but Paulo is restless, moving around him more than usual when they are training, behaving in the omega way he never did before when he was in the midst of his teammates and was a first-timer . At the beginning, Paulo believes that none of it has an effect and that Cristiano is difficult to crack. However, when his vacation begins, Cristiano takes three days to send him a voice message with a proposal that he simply cannot refuse.
Two days alone in a hotel in Lipari, while Georgina is doing a photo shoot for a magazine.
Paulo can't say no.
Cristiano will be waiting there in a week and Paulo decides one thing without thinking too much. During the remaining days for him and Cristiano to see each other, Paulo doesn't take suppressants or contraceptives or any natural remedy to hide his essence and his true desires and all he really wants is to finally embrace his deepest self in the hand of Cristiano.
He's just so in love that he believes that such a risk is worth it.
When they see each other in the small hotel in Tapari, in the midst of an absolute dissimulation, Cristiano's smile only reinforces each one of Paulo's beliefs and, when they are in a bed together, for the first time, warm and in an exorbitant intimacy, he knows that all this is the only really sincere thing he has ever had in his life.
Cristiano's voice is sweet against his ears and when he gets comfortable between his legs, Paulo feels faint.
That night, Cristiano told him "have you ever done this before?" And Paulo couldn't help but laugh and come up to him and give him a kiss that Cristiano answered with pleasure and Paulo thought then, how can that be a mistake? How can this be a lie?
When his laughter subsided, he decided to whisper in a very low tone. "So childish do I look for you?"
Cristiano shook his head and Paulo squinted. He was the most perfect man Paulo had ever met.
I just don't want to hurt you, he repeated.
Paulo smiled then, as if there was no room in him for anyone other than Cristiano.
I know you never would.
Those two nights are worth an eternity for Paulo and the memories he has of them remain in his memory forever and he relives them every day, even when the holidays are over and even when he must see the pictures that Cristiano posts in Instagram of his wife and his daughter. Cristiano told him that he didn't want to hurt him and Cristiano has never lied to him and, in reality, Paulo adores him so and that means, in a certain way, that he's protected against all kinds of bullets and suffering that Cristiano could unintentionally cause him.
Paulo has no doubt about it. When 27 days have passed since the idyll, he has an even more valid proof to show everyone that his love for Cristiano is the purest thing, and he's sure that when Cristiano knows about that, he will agree with him.
The child he carries in the womb is the sweetest and most candid memory that, despite all the adversity, Cristiano could never harm him. Instead, he has given him the most innocent gift of love and, therefore, the only real and that is above anything; that is far beyond all the anguish, uncertainty and confusion he could ever feel.