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It was a chilly Monday morning on Merseyside. While the wind blew half-desiccated, late autumn leaves around the ground, the players sat in a circle of chairs in the dining room. Besides the silent conversations occurring in whispered tones, nobody really seemed to know what they were doing there. Van Dijk decided to put a stop to that.
"Okay, everybody, thank you for coming here on time as usual. I am pleased to announce that this is our first LFC Roundup!"
The players exchanged confused, yet thankfully silent glances around the room. Except Pitaluga, who unabashedly announced how lame he thought the idea was.
“Seriously Virg, could you get a good idea once in a while?”
Thankfully, Alexander-Arnold took the initiative to step into the center of the circle of chairs. Van Dijk couldn't help but marvel at how well Alexander-Arnold had stepped up to his responsibilities. He'd gone from being the baby of the team to an intelligent and considerate vice-captain, a sudden switch that made Van Dijk worry if he wasn't adapting well enough.
“We thought this would be a good idea for our team bonding. I mean, with everything that goes on here isn't it a good idea to have a safe space for talking? Like therapy, but without all the stigma.”
The confused whispers turned into positive assertions and agreements. Nobody needed to have magic to know that the environment had dramatically shifted with that explanation.
"What are the rules?" Robertson yelled, raising his hand as if he was in school.
Van Dijk smiled at Robertson, ruffling his hair. "They're very simple, actually. Everybody goes, one at a time, and then there are all the basic respect rules. Now, does anybody have any problems?"
Alisson raised his hand immediately, followed by Pitaluga. The keeper had been stressed out for the past week, and Pitaluga, as usual, had followed Alisson around like a duckling, pulling random pranks on him in an attempt to cheer him up. "Somebody hacked into my phone, A.K.A. Marcinho!"
"It was for a good cause!" Pitaluga protested, turning towards the rest of the group. "I'd never hack into his phone to install malware."
Alisson shot a glare at Pitaluga, holding up his phone. "The dating app you installed on my phone is almost as bad!"
The whole room burst into laughter. Pitaluga laughed along, while Alisson blushed as red as a beetroot.
"Why would you even create an account for me? I've never used a dating app in my life.”
"Have you never dated before, or not? You literally said it before; every one of your crushes was either taken or not interested." Pitaluga's expression softened as he scooted next to Alisson. "I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, but have you tried talking to one of them? Not every one of them will reject you like Felix! You never know until you try.”
"Marci, you don't understand." Alisson took a deep breath, putting his phone away. “Am I afraid of being dumped? Of course, I am! Who isn't? But that's not the reason I don't want to date.”
"What's the reason, then? If it's time, then you don't need to worry. I'll drive you to your dates, I'll help you shop, I'll even help plan the proposal! I'll do anything, I will. It's just…” Pitaluga hesitated, staring down at his feet. "Look, I'm no replacement for Bobby or Flaco. I'm loud, and I love adventures, pranks, and chaos. You don't want to tell me anything because I'm a kid and you don't want to worry me, but I'm not ignorant, Ali. I know you miss how things used to be, and it's been getting you down. You had a hard time being happy for a long time, and I want you to be happy again. Not just smiling, but having fun. I want to see you enjoy your life.”
Van Dijk' eyes widened as he bit his tongue, careful not to ruin the moment. He'd always thought of Pitaluga as a little half-pint who liked to get under Alisson’s skin, but hearing him say that made him realize how much he cared for his compatriot. He felt his heart swell with emotion as he smiled back, shooting an encouraging thumbs-up.
"Marcinho..." Alisson choked up, hugging Pitaluga tightly and ruffling his hair. "I don't need a boyfriend to be happy. We have our whole family, blood or not, and they love us, no matter how far away they are.”
He gently lifted Pitaluga's chin up so the two had eye contact. "You're different from some of my other manos , that's for sure, and yes, I do worry about you when you sneak off to have your adventures on the other side of the Channel. But I don't think—no, I know. There isn't any other person I'd rather go through this with than you.”
For what had to be the first time since Van Dijk had met him, Pitaluga didn't speak. It wasn't the first time that he pounced upon Alisson, embracing him in a tackle hug. Alisson just smiled and embraced Pitaluga back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Pitaluga finally spoke.
"So, is anybody else going to unload some problems or trauma? Because it sort of feels weird with Ali and I's relationship issues just, y'know, hanging in the air like that!"
The room was silent as the others watched on in shock, unsure of what had just happened. It was so quiet, the normally inaudible sound of the heating growled like a lion through the air vents.
Finally, somebody raised their hand. It was Gakpo, which nobody had expected; Gakpo was not only extremely polite but was always smiling.
"Oh, do I have a problem! Ryan won't put his socks in the hamper no matter what I say and it's driving me absolutely insane.”
Gravenberch's expression after that could've been likened to a grill full of barbeque charcoal saturated with lighter fluid, and set ablaze by a Liverwool-style dumpster fire. "Well, you drive me absolutely insane when you keep nagging me about the way I keep my stuff! Why do you keep saying that I organize my things like I'm living in a dumpster heap?”
"Because you do! What is anybody ever going to do with those knick-knacks?”
Adrian cleared his throat. For some reason, it grabbed the Double Dutch's attention. They stopped bickering like two ten-year-olds and turned towards Adrian.
"Both of you are right and both of you are wrong. But none of you are seeing each other's point of view." The Spanish keeper stood from his seat and walked across the circle. He took Gakpo and Gravenberch's hands and led them to the center of the circle, then returned to his place. "I want you to argue without starting the sentence with you. Start them with ‘I feel’.”
Van Dijk groaned, fearing that Adrian had really done it this time. Gravenberch was short-tempered and hated following directions, while Gakpo was quieter and more patient but not immune to getting into a heated argument if provoked. Van Dijk could see that Adrian intended to keep them from arguing, but he wasn't quite sure how his methods would work.
"Well, then!" Gravenberch placed his hands on his hips, glaring at Gakpo. “I feel really mad when you call my side of the room a dumpster!”
“You think you're the only one who can say that? I feel crowded when I have to step over your piles of stuff to get to the closet.”
Oh, great. This will never work, Van Dijk thought. He glanced around the room and saw that most of the others in the room seemed to agree with his skepticism.
"I feel offended when you call my lucky socks dirty!”
"I feel ignored when you don't consider how many holes there are in them! Why do you keep pushing my opinions to the side?”
"Because you do that, too.”
Both fell silent, just like the rest of the room.
“It worked.” Van Dijk laughed in disbelief at what he was seeing. He'd played with Gakpo and Gravenberch for three months now, and nobody had ever managed to stop their arguments without yelling at them. “Adrian, your crazy idea actually worked ! You're, like, my lifesaver. I don't need to take twenty Advils per day anymore.”
Adrian said nothing, opting to watch the Double Dutch embrace. But Van Dijk could see a small hint of a smile in Adrian's steel-blue eyes.
*
After that, the meeting went pretty smoothly. The Double Dutch incident seemed to have convinced the others that the idea of sitting in a circle and venting issues wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Thiago, tired after cooking meal after large meal for the team by himself while Nemmer recovered from her broken arm, had drawn up a cooking schedule so nobody would be cooking for seven days straight. He would submit the idea to Nemmer and the rest of the staff after the meeting.
Jota pointed out how he couldn’t reach all the surfaces that needed to be dusted in the building without using a stepladder. The chore list had been adjusted so that Jota now mopped the locker room floor on Tuesdays, while Pitaluga did the dusting.
Salah revealed that his yoga sessions were lonely now that Fabilo wasn’t there to do them with him. Robertson, to everybody’s surprise, revealed that he had always wanted to do yoga and would be more than happy to join Salah in the garden every morning.
Everything had been going peacefully, until Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai dropped the ultimate bombshell.
“We broke up!” they said, extremely cheerfully.
Every jaw in the room dropped wide open. Despite their more than blatant flirting on and off the pitch, Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai had only started dating in mid-November. They’d seemed to be going well and everybody expected them to be under the mistletoe at Christmas, but now…
“What do you mean, you broke up with Domi?!” Robertson exclaimed at the top of his lungs. He didn’t sound angry, but he was as confused as the others were. “I thought you loved him!”
“What do you mean, you broke up with Trent?!” Endan exclaimed at the same time. “I thought you loved him!”
“Jinx! Jinx again!” Pitaluga joked, but the timing was extremely poor.”
Robertson turned to glare at Szoboszlai. It was surprisingly effective. “If you hurt Trent, I’m calling Merry!”
Endan’s glare at Alexander-Arnold was just as effective, but less surprising. “If you hurt Domi, I’m calling Erlend!”
“Calm down, everyone! Nobody hurt anyone here.” Alexander-Arnold took Szoboszlai’s hand and squeezed it tight. Szoboszlai’s nervous grimace melted into a warm smile, and he squeezed Alexander-Arnold’s hand back. “We just decided that we’re better as friends, that’s all. I think we’re a little young to be committed to someone permanently, anyway."
Robertson and Endan visibly relaxed, while the rest of the room went into its usual chaotic, curious chatter.
“Does this mean Robbo will be your best friend again?”
“So I can’t give you guys a fake pair of rings for Christmas? Aw, man!”
“Darwin, estas loco ?! Nevermind, I already know the answer.”
“Fork you, Alexis.”
“Can I have Dominik now?”
“Shut up, Ryan!”
“What do you know about love?”
“I know that if Trent and Domi broke up after two weeks, you and Domi won’t even get past the first date!”
"Everybody be quiet!!!"
The room quieted down at Van Dijk's command. Van Dijk stood up from his chair and walked into the center of the circle.
"I'm proud of you two," Van Dijk began, turning to Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai, "not just for knowing what you needed and communicating it, but for admitting that what you had wasn't working. You had the courage to listen to your instincts and take action. That's a sign of true strength and resilience, and it's a sign of a healthy relationship."
He took Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai's joined hands into his, before breaking them apart. "With the power invested in me by the Spirit of Shankly, and with the witness of the great spirits relevant to you, I officially break up your romance."
The room burst into applause, while Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai hugged each other tightly. They then hugged Van Dijk, which surprised him at first. He quickly recovered and embraced them in return. The three-person group hug grew as more players joined in.
Football was a lot about shapes, Van Dijk realized. They weren't a line-up or a Christmas tree. They weren't an offside line, or an inverted triangle, or a solar system centered around their constant, bright sun. Their sun sometimes dimmed or exploded, and sometimes another planet or asteroid had to take over for a while. Sometimes there were meteorites that passed through, and sometimes they collided with each other, creating chaos and confusion. But through it all, the shape held.
They were a circle, a circle of life. And it kept them all.