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“No offense, Luka, but that guy is fucking crazy.”
Luka blinked, staring at his captain in confusion from his seat on the bench. He was drinking from his water bottle, just trying to relax a bit before the 15 minute break time had passed and they had to go back on the pitch to continue their match against Juventus. There was mumbling around the dressing room, but everyone mostly remained quiet. Sergio had randomly decided to sit next to Luka though and just jumped that on him.
“Who?” Luka asked once the bottle left his lips.
“The Mario guy.” Sergio scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.
Ah.
Luka rolled his eyes, “It's just the game, Sergio. He's a good person.”
“What???” Sergio turned his head to look at his friend like he grew a second head, “Have you lost your mind???”
Luka stared at the Spaniard very unimpressed, “Just cause you don't like him doesn't mean he's crazy.”
“No- no. Luka, he tackles for literal fun. And he's not even a defender!”
Luka just continued looking at him, eyes half lidded and a slight bit annoyed.
“Did you not SEE how close he got to me? I thought the bastard was going to punch me!”
Luka blinked..
Sergio continued to talk though, huffing and looking away from Luka to continue his.. Well, monologue.
“Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if he got into a fight just because. It's like he wants to be sent off the pitch! Do you have any idea how many times that guy has bled on the pitch because he couldn't keep his head straight???”
“Why do YOU know-?” Ronaldo wondered, looking very confused, but his words fell of deaf ears when Sergio just continued talking.
“Oh and his fucking attitude. He tries to act all tough and scary to make others afraid of him but that shit won't work on me.” Sergio claimed.
“You literally backed away from him-” Bale decided to put in his two cents. “And I think he IS pretty scary.”
That Sergio, somehow, heard.
“He's really not though, he tries to act it. It's annoying. No one's a massive dick all the time.” And Mario wasn't. Luka was going to tell him. But instead he focused on Sergio and what he was saying..
“Oh, oh not to forget, he tries way too hard.” Sergio was practically seething, “We get it, dude, you're good. You don't have to show off every fucking three seconds. Good job, you scored, but he's jumping around like he was the world cup!”
Everyone grimaced for a moment, remembering 2018 and Mario's.. own goal in the final.
“... I'll skip over that-” “Yes, you will.” Kovačić nodded his head.
“The point is, Luka, he's crazy. Wouldn't be surprised if he killed someone one of these days.”
And the room got quiet, pure silence filled the room. Everyone shared glances with each other as Sergio just stared at the ground, eyebrows furrowed and still pretty upset.
Luka, however, kept looking at his friend.
A little thump filled the room, everyone turned as Luka set his bottle down onto the floor and licked his lip, as if preparing to ruin Sergio's whole career in a single sentence. He pressed his back against the locker behind him and turned his head to yet again look at his captain. Though this time he was less annoyed with Sergio's claim and more.. intrigued.
And a bit.. smug??
“You seem to pay an awful lot of attention to Mario.” Luka pointed out.
Sergio's head whipped to look at Luka, eyes squinted, “What are you suggesting?”
Luka hummed, shrugging, “I'm just saying, you seem to watch him a lot.”
“Because I'm annoyed by him.”
“Sure, sure..” Luka rolled his eyes, “Because when you're annoyed by someone you definitely pay attention to their every move.”
Sergio glared, “I don't like what you're insinuating.”
Luka looked at Sergio with fake innocence, “What am I insinuating, Sergio?” The little actor. “I'm merely stating a fact, you look at Mario a lot.”
“You're insinuating that I like him, which isn't true.”
Luka pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense “Me? I would never. I'm just saying what I thinking.”
“I don't like him.” Sergio all but growled out, “I can't fucking stand him.”
“I mean-” Cristiano spoke, “to be fair, what you just said is basically you.”
Sergio looked at Cristiano with pure betrayal in his eyes, “WHAT?”
“He's right, Luka called you out on it too.” Marcelo added onto Cristiano's thought, “And you fell in love with him-”
Sergio raised his finger up, “Hey, I had a SMALL CRUSH on him.”
Luka, being the sweetie he is, called mercy on Sergio in that regard and went on with the conversation, “The point is, Sese, you seem to like Mario but you're in denial.”
“That's not true, Luka.” Sergio said..
The room got quiet, quiet and unsure..
“It's not.” Sergio tried to convince them.
“Fine fine..” Marcelo raised his hands up in surrounder, “You win, capi. You're not in love.”
“Thank you!” Sergio threw his hands up and sighed in relief…
Luka and Marcelo shared a look though. They both knew Sergio was bullshitting himself.
They just needed to find a way to convince him that he absolutely did like Mario.
… And Luka might have an idea.
Zidane came in, “Guys, let's head out, it's almost time.”
That he was going to put into action.
—
Sergio didn't like Mario. He didn't know where his friends got that idea from. He didn't know what Luka was smoking but it definitely had to be strong. He was quite literally pointing out everything WRONG with Mario, why would that mean he likes him??
So what if he watched him run? So what if he watched him celebrate? So what if he noticed some stuff?
It's ‘Know thy enemy’, isn't it? Sergio was simply studying.
And why would he focus on this anyways?! It was stupid!
He was going to relax and play the match. He'd forget all about this dumb conversation.
They had a 2-1 lead, with Ronaldo scoring two for them and Mario scoring the one for Juventus. They had to make the lead larger or at least keep it as it was. They couldn't let the other team score and leave them at 2-2 at the first leg. It would just make the second one way more difficult.
Plus he didn't want to see fucking MARIO score another goal. That was annoying.
He didn't want to see that stupid bright smile and that annoying celebration he did when he raised his hands up to his ears. The guy was happy, clearly, but did he HAVE to be so vocal?
No.. no, he wants going to focus on him.
He was just going to play.
Yeah.. that's what he thought about as he ran out onto the pitch.
… And then immediately spotted Modrić running up to Mario, who was stretching on the sidelines. Sergio couldn't help but roll his eyes yet his gaze for some reason lingered on the duo.
He watched as Mario turned to the shorter Croat with a frown before it grew into a smile, happy to see his national teammate and friend. Sergio scoffed.
The two exchanged words and Mario even bent down slightly so Luka could whisper something into his ear.
Sergio definitely wasn't suspicious of whatever that meant.
Luka wasn't telling Mario what he.. thought about THEM did he? Mario wouldn't believe that, right? It was just.. a dumb theory. Sergio didn't like Mario- Why did he keep coming back to this?
Sergio shook his head and finally turned away from the two.
He didn't like Mario.
He also failed to notice Mario giving him a confused look.
—
Sergio and Mario exchanged heated words on the pitch, earning yellow cards in the process. Luka watched them with confidence in his gaze yet Sergio was so lost in his frustration he refused to focus on that. After all, he did not like Mario.
Sergio grumbled, "What's your problem, Mario?"
Mario shot back, "Maybe you can't handle a little competition, Ramos."
Sergio scoffed, "Competition? This is football, not a playground."
Mario grinned, "Well, you seem to forget that when you're on the pitch."
Sergio, irritated, retorted, "I don't forget anything. You just love playing dirty."
Mario raised an eyebrow, "Dirty? Coming from you, that's rich."
Sergio, not backing down, said as he glared at the other "Just watch yourself, Mandžukić."
"How about you watch yourself, Ramos?" Mario smirked, his words hanging in the air like a challenge.
Sergio felt a jolt, an unexpected surge of emotions that caught him off guard. Mario's confident smirk seemed to unravel something within him. In that moment, Sergio realized he wasn't just dealing with rivalry; a deeper, unfamiliar feeling was taking root.
As Mario walked away, the realization hit Sergio like a thunderbolt – Luka was right.
… Fuck
He fucking liked Mario.
And as he turned around to face his teammates he only spotted Marcelo smirking at him.
He flipped him off but he if they asked later he wouldn't be able to deny that his cheeks were definitely red.
Out of embarrassment? Frustration? Shit if he knew at this point.