Chapter Text
Somewhere in the heart of the city that never seemed to slow down, Jude found himself stuck, in a barbershop of all places. In hindsight, he was definitely overreacting just a bit but he hadn’t expected to run into anyone today, glaringly obvious from his unstyled hair and oversized clothes. Yeah, he was definitely overreacting because the person that had made him freeze in the first place; Gavi, wasn’t even looking in his direction at all.
It was probably Jude’s fault for wanting a haircut in the middle of the week, but he needed to get out of his hotel and it wasn’t as if he was working anyway. The new La Liga season hadn’t even started yet, hell no one even knew that he’d signed for Real Madrid as of right now. There was no reason to be awestruck at the sight of Gavi, and yet here he was.
But really how could Jude not have looked, when he was cuddling up to some other boy with blonde curly hair in the middle of a damn barbershop while no one around then batted an eye, as if it was completely normal, indicating that it probably happened often. Or, maybe Jude was just overthinking because it was easier to think about that than focusing on the tan of Gavi’s skin, and his adorable smile.
So pretty . He had half a mind to curse Trent out for recommending this shop to him in the first place but apparently the barber was good so Jude bit his tongue. What was the etiquette here?. Was he supposed to go and greet Gavi?. The other boy definitely knew who he was but they had never seen each other in person before. Would it be weird?. He knew Gavi was a shy person. Why did he even know that?. In his defence he hadn’t expected to see someone so…..cute when his feed had gotten filled with pictures of Gavi winning the Kopa trophy, over him at that. And now he was looking at him in the flesh and suddenly all the social etiquette his mum had taught him as a kid had been chucked out the window.
But then Gavi waved at him, seemingly taking a break from his giggling session before he went back to whispering in the blonde boy’s ear again, as if it was that easy. Jude waved back with a light smile but he felt himself die inside a bit at the absolute awkwardness he felt. He wasn’t usually like this with people so he didn’t know what the hell had gotten into him but thankfully he didn’t have to deal with it for long when the barber called Gavi over for his turn.
“Dude, I’m telling you that was Bellingham!.”, Gavi stated matter of factly while Cristo was too busy crossing his arms and pouting at him to care.
“Yeah no shit, I just don’t see why you have to wave to him while I was clearly telling you something.” , Cristo replied with the sour look still on his face.
“Oh come on, no need to be jealous. He was clearly staring. It would have been rude not to do something.”
“Gavira, don’t fuck with me. You think he’s cute don’t you?.”
Gavi swatted the back of his friend’s head instead of dignifying his words with a response, which really was the only response the other boy needed to understand that it was a yes anyways before they went back to chatting after the barber started working on their hair.
Jude didn’t know how he had gotten himself in this situation right now but really, he had completely forgotten about the barbershop incident until it happened again. Except this time everyone knew he was a Real Madrid player, it was hard to miss what with him having already scored a brace against Barcelona in pre-season. He was honestly insanely excited for the season to actually start, which obviously called for a grooming session before their first matchday. Clearly, Gavi had had the same idea because here he was sitting right next to Jude.
This time, Jude had the idea to get a jumpstart and say hello before Gavi could even sit down. He didn’t even know why the other boy had come because his hair looked to be the perfect length, soft and fluffy on top and curling slightly on his forehead. For some reason, Jude wanted to run his hands through it. He swatted those thoughts away however when Gavi greeted him back, this time with a much less friendly demeanour. Jude wanted to snort at how petty and childish that was but he held himself back, clearly the Madrid and Barcelona rivalry was a lot more personal for some people, more so than others. Or, maybe Gavi was just incredibly petty because once he sat down he instantly put on his airpods. If Jude concentrated he could hear pop music blaring out in some other language, maybe Korean.
Against his better judgement, Jude decided to make conversation after all once he saw Gavi taking the airpods out, “So, you didn’t play preseason at all then?.”
“Hmm.?”, Gavi made a show of not being able to clearly hear Jude even if he knew that was bullshit. How petty, he hadn’t even asked anything bad.
“Nothing, I’m just asking if you played preseason at all because you were on the bench during El Classico.”
“Oh yeah, I was sick.”
Gavi replied curtly before taking out his phone to scroll through it. What was happening?. Was he like this with everyone?. Had Jude just managed to get lucky the other day and this was his actual personality?. Maybe instead of being shy, Gavi was just insanely stuck up with bad social skills. Or, maybe Jude was just being dramatic because he wanted to talk to him. For some reason, he wanted to have Gavi’s attention on him. He knew it already was considering he had scored against his boyhood club but that hadn’t been enough to satisfy Jude, not yet anyways.
“Oh really, what’s wrong?. Are you okay now?. I saw Xavi’s post match interview saying that you couldn’t play because you had a toothache.”, Jude kept on badgering and chuckled despite trying to stop himself.
“Well ... .yeah that plus a bad stomach and back pain. Nothing much to say there, I just like eating candy way more than I should and the back pain is probably a lifetime commitment at this point.”, Gavi spoke and the action caused him to frown while he was speaking, as if he wanted to simultaneously keep the conversation going but was holding himself back from doing so.
Jude kept the small talk going after that but clearly Gavi’s battery must have run out because he went back to blasting what was clearly Kpop music on his airpods again.
“Are you always this stuck up or do you just not want to talk to me because I’m a Madrid player?.” , Jude kept talking when he knew he should have shut up already. He understood why Vini had talked about how easy it was to rile up Gavi when he saw the frown on his forehead and puffed up cheeks from biting on them before he spoke.
“Are you always this annoying or do you just wanna get in my pants?.”
Okay, maybe Jude should have just stopped talking because that made him choke completely. He couldn’t even get a response in before Gavi got up, making sure to tap at his forehead. Instead of walking away like he seemingly was going to, he leaned down close to Jude’s ear before whispering, “Goodbye Bellingham, I’ll see you at the next classico.”
The only thing Jude could do was rub at his forehead before staring at Gavi as he walked over to get his haircut. Jude didn’t know if he even wanted one anymore but leaving would be accepting defeat so he stayed there, waiting for his turn while trying not to be too obvious with his staring.
gavi
why did i say that fermin im shaking
fermin
to a MADRID player at that
#GaviOut
gavi
shut the fuck up
why didn’t you stop me
fermin
i?? wasnt?? even there??
useless gay fuck
gavi
do you think bellingham even likes boys
fermin
we should
make kounde ask his friend
gavi
absolutely not
im loyal 💙❤️
fermin
clearly
mister ill see you at the next classico
gavi
AHUT UP
“How come you always post Gavi even when he doesn’t score?.”, Jude found himself asking his barber to which the other guy had the audacity to simply shrug his shoulders in response; he had framed two of Gavi’s shirts too. It seemed like Jude couldn’t escape him no matter how much he tried. Except he didn’t even really have to keep visiting this place now. All his other teammates visited the same barber back in Madrid and had urged him to come with them, but he had refused, claiming he liked his barber way too much. Nevermind the hour long back and forth from Madrid that he had to do, he simply couldn’t stop coming after what had happened last time.
The last thing he wanted to do was boost Gavi’s ego and make him think his presence mattered enough to intimidate Jude from coming here, it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to run into the other boy again, not at all.
“His hair always looks good, I don’t only post my clients when they score. Plus, I’ve gotten lots of business because of him.”
“What if you did?.”
“Did what?.”
“Posted the person that scores more goals.”
His barber looked flabbergasted and for good reason. Jude didn’t even know what he was trying to achieve here but he couldn’t stop. He wanted to take every opportunity to tease Gavi that he could get.
“I mean…..does it matter that much?.”
Jude thought it through for a moment before deciding to go with the response that’d make him seem normal. “Nah, it’s just banter you know we’re rivals and everything so I get to tease him about it.”
Gavi hadn’t meant to turn the TV on really, he hadn’t even planned to watch football today. Somewhere between training, cleaning his entire house and cooking all his meals he had thought he’d had a long day planned but apparently he had been wrong. He had only realised just how wrong he had been when he saw his parents and Aurora texting in the family group chat to tell him about their day.
They were currently on vacation in Paris with his parents, Aurora and her boyfriend tagging along. Gavi was the only one who couldn’t go because of his damn schedule. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, that they had to go away somewhere without him but somehow it always manages to make Gavi feel like he was 12 again. In reality, he had been the first to decline their offer, they had done everything they could to accommodate him and try to plan according to his schedule but it was simply too much of a hassle and he hated being a bother.
So, he simply put on a smile and listened to their excited rants and all their plans and liked all their photos, even made the photo they had sent, with them all underneath the Eiffel Towel where Aurora had doodled in a little drawing of Gavi in a Barcelona jersey next to them his wallpaper. And he had completed all his tasks but yet nothing seemed to calm the anxious feeling in his heart. He had never been good with feeling homesick after all.
That had let to where he currently was, on the exercise bike because he needed to do anything to calm his heart down while simultaneously munching on cookies because he couldn’t watch anything without snacking, as the Madrid game played in the background. Atleast, it was an interesting game like the Madrid derby. This could probably count as his homework since they had the league Classico scheduled to play next week too. Yet, football was the last thing Gavi could focus on.
He couldn’t take his eyes off the screen everytime Jude came on it, his feet stopping while he was in the middle of paddling. It made him feel even more insane when he found himself following the silhouette of the number 7 shirt even when he wasn’t on camera. More often than not, Gavi found himself getting frustrated at the amount of challenges Jude rushed into and the energy he was playing with. Before it eventually lead to a goal, Gavi had half a mind to turn the TV off but even he couldn’t deny what a beautiful goal it had been, hater tendencies be damned.
He had managed to land on his couch after the game had ended, the cookie still in his hand. Just as he reached to take a bite however he got a notification while scrolling through Instagram that almost made him fall down. It was Bellingham, of all people texting him with 2 new messages highlighted in bold. He had to pace around for atleast 5 minutes before he could even get himself to open the messages, with a confused look on his face. The match hadn’t even ended 10 minutes ago meaning he was probably still in the locker room.
jude
[ post attached ]
goalscorer gets a post dedication
gavi
okay?
atleast wipe the sweat off your face before texting me
jude
haha nice one im already done showering
gavi
that fast?
jude
hopped off quick
had to rub it in your face
gavi
and why exactly did you have to do that
jude
scared of a little healthy competition are you?
gavi
now when did i say that
besides if we’re talking about trophies am i not currently up by 3?
jude
we’ll see for how long
gavi
bring it on
No matter how much he tried to stop it, Gavi couldn’t fight the smile forming on his face. The image of Jude sitting there probably still shirtless and rushing over to text him made him feel a lot more lightheaded than it probably should have but he wasn’t exactly complaining, yet.
Jude didn’t know how he had ended up here, truly. His feet seemed to find a life of their own too often these days and it led to him being in situations like this. It wasn’t exactly a particularly big deal, to be watching a Barcelona match. It being their derby against Espanyol would probably help his case too but he still had the decency to try and hide himself so he wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.
The one person whose attention he wanted finally got the hint anyway, making it so he wouldn’t have to go out of his way. Even if what he was doing right now would definitely be considered too much by some people, including himself in the past. But right now he didn’t care, tucked away in a corner in the Monjutic stadium with a soft drink and pretzel in his hand. The match seemed to pick up momentum instantly, being a lot more aggressive than he had anticipated. It made him vaguely remember seeing a video of the Espanyol fans chasing down the Barcelona players after their league win last season, which only caused him to giggle as he imagined Gavi’s face amidst all the chaos.
It seemed like the same thing was going to repeat itself because Gavi was already going for challenges that were far too reckless considering his physique. Jude couldn’t wait to play against the guy, watching him play only made him look forward to their upcoming match more and more. He could only hope he wouldn’t be stuck staring too much, like he currently was. In fairness, it was hard to take your eyes off of Gavi, especially when he was playing.
The summer vacation must have done him good because his skin had a healthy glow to it and his hair was still long enough to be curling at the top, just the way Jude liked it. It wasn’t particularly surprising that an athlete would have a great body either but god, his thighs. Jude had to make extra effort so his eyes wouldn’t travel down there specifically considering how toned and strong they looked. He didn’t have to hold his breath for long however because soon enough Gavi scored.
The adrenaline clearly rushing through his body as he celebrated the goal almost made Jude want to run over there and celebrate with him, but that would have been ridiculous so he shoved that thought down his brain instantly. But then, he had the nerve, the absolute audacity to go towards the audience and put his hands up. It took Jude less than a millisecond to choke on his own breath. There was no way.
Even if he felt paralysed in his seat, the smile on his face was almost instantaneous, enough to make him take his phone out and start recording. Of course, Gavi was petty enough to do his celebration at him, If Jude was a sane person he’d have been offended but he couldn’t get his heart to stop hammering in his chest instead. Petty rivalry or whatever the intention was, clearly Jude had made enough of an impact to be thought of, especially in a high adrenaline moment like that.
The smile on his face only seemed to get deeper when he got the inevitable message from Gavi, probably to rub his goal in his face.
gavi
guess we’re all goalscorers
jude
yeah i guess
[ video attached ]
not bad for someone who’s 5’2
gavi
wait that quality is so clear
howd you get a video that fast
jude
guess
[ selfie attached ]
gavi
no way?
you were here?
holy shit
traitor, im telling mundo deportivo
jude
hey it was a good game
you played well
gavi
i know
don’t need to hear it from you
next time don’t forget to ask for my shirt
jude
sure if you wanna get naked for me that bad
gavi
of fuck off
didn’t mean it that way
jude
me neither
bye now i have to drive
gavi
oh yeah
bye…loser
Finally the day Gavi had been counting down for, the first league Classico of the season and the knowledge of how the previous ones had gone only served to amp up his excitement further. The fact that he had been texting back and forth with Jude definitely hadn’t helped either. He didn’t know…..what they were exactly doing, all he knew was that when he went back home after a long and frankly exhausting day of training and matches seeing new messages from Jude made him feel lighter, somehow. He didn’t know whether it was because it helped distract him from his loneliness or because he genuinely enjoyed talking to Jude but he didn’t care enough to dwell on it.
He knew Jude was excited too and that was enough for him, especially considering the stunt he had pulled in the previous match. None of his teammates except for Fermin and Pedri; the nosy twins, knew he was talking to Jude anyway so they only joked around with him about their “rivalry”. The rivalry in question to the public was just whatever stats the media liked to pit against each other but only Gavi and Jude knew how much it meant to them on a personal level, even if it was entirely too lighthearted to even be considered a full fledged rivalry.
Before Gavi knew it, between countless texts and selfies exchanged, suddenly they were standing in front of each other on the field. He had already known the game would be a physical one, but the pace still managed to surprise him. It felt like hours had passed by in the span of seconds and that no time had passed at all simultaneously. Before he knew it, Gundo had managed to find his way to the back of the net giving them the lead over Madrid. He immediately jumped to his feet to celebrate the way he always did, which was to hug his teammates and get on their backs. He didn’t have to turn around to envision the frown on Jude’s face. If they were texting he’d tell him to stop or otherwise he’d make the wrinkles on his forehead worse, to which he was sure Jude would only reply by being offended and having a crisis over whether he had any in the first place.
Halftime rolled around and Gavi felt ecstatic, all they had to do now was maintain the lead and they’d walk away from here with the three points. It seemed like god had another plan however because it didn’t take even 10 minutes for the match to go completely south. Gavi didn’t know what was worse, losing or the fact that he had managed to somehow assist Bellingham on his goal, passing the ball right to his feet. It was a stupid, stupid mistake and he wanted to hit his brain repeatedly no matter how many times he told himself he’d get more opportunities to redeem himself. He felt so upset that he hadn’t even taken a look back on the field to see Jude’s whereabouts, he was probably busy obnoxiously celebrating with his team anyway.
“Do you always come and get a haircut after every bad occurrence?.This is like the fifth time I’ve seen you here with a sour face.”, Gavi jerked in surprise at the sudden voice coming from behind before starting to glare at the culprit.
Of course, of all days he had to come and get his hair cut today too. How the hell did this keep happening?. There was no way it was a coincidence anymore. It had only been the day after the Classico and even if Gavi hadn’t really needed a haircut, he wanted one anyway. Maybe, Jude’s words had been right and he was only trying to make himself feel better but Gavi wasn’t going to voice that out and look like a loser.
“Fuck off before I kick you in the face.”, Gavi replied while trying to look intimidating but the fact that he was in a pink hoodie and grey sweatpants probably didn’t help him.
“As if, you should let your curls grow out by the way. I think it makes you look pretty.”
Gavi had half a mind to absolutely dropkick the way. The audacity to be calling him pretty after fucking with him and forcing an error out of him. If shameless had a face it’d be Jude Bellingham.
“What are you on about?.”
“You have curlyish hair, didn’t you know?.”
“Okay, curl police. I meant how the fuck is that relevant right now?.”
“It’s not, just trying to make conversation.”
Instead of replying, Gavi went back to shoving his airpods in his ear, aware of how much that drove Jude up the wall. They had had entirely too many interactions in this waiting room for Gavi to know all of his ticks and what got on his nerves. Just as he thought, Jude didn’t waste a single second trying to keep up a nonchalant act.
“Are you seriously ignoring me for doing my job?.”
Gavi continued even if it took everything in him not to respond. Jude seemed to have another plan entirely however because he snatched off one of Gavi’s airpods only to put it in his own ear which only made him tense up.
“You’re always listening to these weird Korean songs that just sound like noise.”
If Gavi hadn’t wanted to beat him up before he was well on his way now. All it took was for Jude to get closer when Gavi tried to snatch the airpod back for him to fully tackle Jude on the floor now.
They weren’t even fully fighting, neither of them being aggressive enough for more than a few tugs and slaps here and there until Gavi started pulling at Jude’s hair which elicited a loud whine out of him that attracted the attention of people in the shop. It didn’t take long after that for their barber to kick the two of them out after a lecture that frankly felt like it lasted forever. Gavi had tuned most of it out though and evidently Jude had done the same thing because the moment they’d walked outside they’d burst into laughter at just how pathetic the situation was.
“Don’t think that just because I’m laughing means we’re friends now.”, Gavi spoke while trying his best to look intimidating but he was sure the slight smile on his face would give him away anyway.
“Never were but at least you’re laughing in the first place, that’s progress.”
Gavi took his phone out to book himself an Uber while Jude stood there with apparently nothing to do but play with his fingers, as if he was waiting for the conversation to escalate and go somewhere . It seemed like the weather was on his side today at least because soon enough it started to rain, which made Gavi curse almost instantly.
“Fuck, I don’t even have a ride.”
“You don’t?.”, Jude spoke with the surprise evident in his face.
“No, I usually hitch a ride with one of my friends or get an Uber but nobody was free today so I just got an Uber.”
“You don’t have a driver’s license at your big age?.”
Gavi looked offended at the question but the way his cheeks turned pink gave away that he seemed a tad bit embarrassed, “Fuck off, I’ve tried getting it like three times now but I failed everytime so now I have to wait again.”
“Wow, good to know you’re just as much of a danger on the streets as you are on the field.”
That seemed to further annoy Gavi but his annoyance was only obvious through the expression on his face, because when Jude had put his jacket on top of the two of them so they wouldn’t get wet in the rain, he had leaned closer making the distance between them just a mere inches, “ You’re such an asshole, I’m actually pretty good with road rage, I just get…anxious is all.”
Jude giggled even if the statement just made him want to pinch Gavi’s cheeks and coo at him, “Alright whatever man-child, I can just drop you off you know?. It’s probably too much of a hassle to wait for an Uber right now and it’s no problem for me.”
Gavi looked hesitant to accept his offer before the thunder roaring from above brought him back to reality, “Alright….fine. Just don’t say anything cocky or I’ll kick you out of your own car.” Jude immediately ignored his words by trying to get on Gavi’s nerves so instead of grumbling like he was before he acted on impulse and grabbed Jude’s jacket before getting on top of his shoulder to annoy him, leading for them both to get fully drenched
“You’re genuinely such a brat, I hope you know that.”
“Whatever, you’re the one who handed me the aux.”
Despite the fact that they’d ended up fighting and getting on top of each other in the process twice since the evening had started, the car ride had been surprisingly calm, until Gavi decided to start torturing Jude with his music choices that was. Jude had grumbled and bitched and moaned about it even if he hadn’t been having that bad of a time. All the back and forth had left him hungry however, a fact evident by how his stomach started grumbling so loud that it made Gavi turn the music down.
“Are you hungry?. When did you last eat?.”
Jude scratched his neck in slight embarrassment before responding, “Shit, I don’t know, probably back at lunch?. I didn’t exactly think it’d take this long for a haircut I never ended up getting anyway.”
“Hmmm ... .you can come up at my place if you want. We can get takeaway or I can make something for you. It’s smarter than waiting till you get back to your hotel.”
Jude wouldn’t have refused the offer anyway but his stomach seemed to agree even more considering how loud it was getting. The fact that it seemed to make Gavi giggle made him feel a tad bit less embarrassed about the whole thing. “Yeah sure, I’d like that.”
Unsurprisingly, Gavi’s house was as messy as Jude considered his personality to be, with clothes sprawled all over the place. Even his kitchen couldn’t escape the same fate considering all the utensils that were laying around amidst takeout boxes and half eaten protein bars. The only place that seemed safe from it all was the Barcelona shrine that he had set up in the corner. The whole place was quintessentially Gavi once you could look past the messiness, with countless posters on the wall showing all his interests and a shelf that contained journals and DVDs of old Barcelona games and his favourite albums.
The only place that seemed tidier and much more put together, unlike Gavi was this makeshift garden in the corner, “Did you plant all of that?.”
Gavi raised his eyebrows at the question before giggling lightly, “Ah….that. That’s my dad’s doing. He came down here to surprise me once and immediately started complaining about how messy the place was and that it needed some nature. So, here we are.”
“I mean I can definitely see why he’d say that.”
Despite his own admission of how messy he was however, the garden seemed really well put together, like he took care of it everyday. The image of Gavi coming back from training to water his plants everyday made Jude’s heart skip a beat, probably more than it should have.
“Whatever, what do you wanna eat? There’s this amazing deal on Tuesdays where you can get a free dessert if you order a large pizza.”
“There’s no way we can eat all that food, just make me a grilled cheese or something.”
“Don’t underestimate me.”, Gavi spoke while glaring jokingly at him before he went ahead to cook without further saying anything. In the meantime Jude made himself comfortable by getting on top of his countertop, if Gavi seemed to mind he didn’t say anything and even if he voiced out his opinion Jude wouldn’t care anyway. He watched as Gavi put together a grilled cheese with probably way more care than what was needed. Jude would have started annoying him if he wasn’t hungry enough already for the process to make his mouth water.
Gavi plated the food in a cute little plate shaped like a football before going ahead to clean the kitchen while Jude started eating. He was done with a surprisingly fast pace before he decided to stare at Jude like a hawk. It must have been a testament to how hungry Jude was because he dug in immediately instead of paying any mind to Gavi. Maybe it was the mixture of carbs and fat or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t eaten in five hours but Jude didn’t think he’d ever eaten a grilled cheese this good. It managed to get out a loud moan from him which only made Gavi blush with a disgusted look on his face as he got on top of the countertop to sit next to Jude.
“What the fuck did you put in this?. It’s seriously the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
“You’re such an ass-kisser, it’s just butter.”, Gavi spoke between giggles, clearly way more pleased with himself than he was showing. The cooking and all the bickering they’d done must have tired him out because it didn’t take long for him to lean his head on Jude’s shoulder. Jude had to do everything in his power to not reach over and kiss him with how cute he looked, his feet dangling on the floor too.
They stayed there sitting in silence, somehow no awkwardness in the moment despite neither of them saying a word before Gavi reached over to tug at Jude’s lip, concentrating on it while biting his lips, “ You have something on your….”. Jude couldn’t take it any longer then, seeing the way Gavi was looking up at him with his big brown eyes was making his brain short circuit. It seemed like Gavi had the same idea, if not a step ahead of Jude’s because he immediately reached over to kiss him on the lips.
The whole thing was moving so fast that Jude felt like he couldn’t breathe but he kissed him back, his body fully moving the way Gavi was leading him. He broke away from the kiss, which made Jude flinch before he grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards his room before pushing him on the bed to get on top of him.