Chapter Text
It’s a chilly night in Sevilla. The players had gotten two weeks off to rest and prepare for their upcoming games. Almost everyone went to their hometown. So did Gavi.
When he arrived at his house, his family welcomed him warmly. They spent the day talking about the current season and training.
His mum asked about his teammates and Gavi couldn’t help but think about Pedri. The media didn’t really see it, but they barely talk anymore. Gavi didn’t want to bother his mother, so he said that everything was fine.
It got late and the family had dinner. Afterwards they watched a movie but soon Gavi excused himself, saying he needed to sleep, as he was tired from the flight home.
After showering and brushing his teeth, he got into bed and tried to sleep. He was trying to get comfortable in several different positions, but he still found himself restless.
At first Gavi tried to blame it on the unusual surroundings. The street was nearby and the clock in his childhood bedroom was louder than the one in his bedroom in Barcelona.
He knew that wasn’t the reason.
His mind kept jumping back to the conversation he had with his mother. His father chimed in and asked questions directly about Pedri. Gavi had gotten uncomfortable because he had to lie and he didn’t like lying to him. He tried to answer as truly as possible, which was difficult because he hardly knew about anything Pedri was doing these days.
Nobody really knew about their fallout. Not even Gavi understood what happened. He tried to avoid thinking about that topic as much as he could.
But now that it was dark and quiet and everyone seemed to be asleep, he was alone with his thoughts- and they were racing in his head.
Truth is, he didn’t even know what happened. They didn’t suddenly stop talking, they didn’t hate each other- they didn’t even have a fight. Still, the situation was very confusing and it bothered Gavi a lot more than he wanted to admit.
In quiet moments like this he secretly wondered if Pedri felt the same. Did it keep him up at night too?
Sometimes Gavi thought he’s overreacting. Pedri still greets him before training, they small talk in the shower and when the team meets at Pedri's home he still gets invited. But then again nothing is like it used to be. They barely talk longer than 5 minutes, they don’t sit next to each other on the bus or on the plane anymore and during training Pedri teams up with Ferran.
He knew that it hurt him so much because they promised each other a lot. From saying that they’d be best friends forever to promising that he’d invite Gavi to his island. Pedri always took Ferran with him instead. Just like he trained and joked around with him. Gavi had an ugly feeling in his stomach only thinking about it.
Was it really that easy to replace him? Jealousy and anger took over his body.
How could Pedri smile at him when their friendship is falling apart? Gavi didn’t get it. He didn’t want to. He also didn’t want to accept that they were over. Like a stubborn child trying to convince his parents to buy candy in the supermarket.
The media was an additional pain.
Reporters and interviewers always wanted to know about their friendship and bond. They both got asked hundreds of questions about each other. He’s seen videos on TikTok overanalysing every little interaction they had in the last couple weeks.
They seemed as desperate as Gavi felt.
He wanted his friend back but Pedri didn’t seem to see a problem. He answered interview questions about Gavi like nothing happened, Gavi even caught him lying a few times. When he gets asked about Pedri he either answers very basic, things he’d say about his other teammates too, or ignores the question as if he hadn’t heard it.
As he turned onto his left side he faced the teddy bear that Pedri had given him a week after Gavi joined the first team.
It was white and had a Barça jersey with Pedri’s name and his old number, the 16, on it. With a smile on his face Gavi remembered their first interactions and how they immediately clicked.
They became friends so fast that Gavi forgot about the times when he didn’t even know Pedri. It felt weird and abnormal.
Gavi couldn’t remember when and how they’d gotten so close, but as soon as the media started picking up the smallest sparks of a friendship forming, they were basically forced onto each other.
Xavi saw it, the other trainers of the team heard it too. And they listened. Gavi and Pedri heard a lot about how they were meant to play together and that their styles of playing fit together perfectly. So from one day to another they became a duo. Soon they were GaviandPedri rather than two individuals.
To Gavi's surprise it didn’t bother him at all. He expected to feel that heavy knot in his stomach or the uncomfortable tightness in his chest, that bitterness whenever he’d been pushed into another player’s shadow. He was used to constantly getting compared to another player in la Masia but this time it felt entirely different somehow.
There was no comparison, they completed each other on the field. It filled him with pride when people talked about their duo. He wondered if it ever bothered Pedri and that’s why he was distant now. As hard as Gavi tried to remember, he couldn’t find a single time where Pedri seemed to be unhappy when people mentioned Gavi playing alongside him.
It was the opposite even, Pedri couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it was to have to play in a pair with him. With joy and excitement he used to show Gavi all the videos about them when they were sitting on the couch in Pedri’s living room.
Thinking about their good times always overwhelmed him with sadness. After some time his eyelids started to feel heavy and he finally gave in. The tiredness won for the night. However, one last thought about Pedri still burned in the back of his head.
“What is he doing right now?”