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Pedri's out for the Valencia game.
When Flick delivered the news two days before, he assured everyone that it's nothing to worry about, and that their number eight will be back in time for the upcoming Champions League match against Atalanta. Ferran had told everyone that Pedri caught a bad case of stomach flu, and it prompted quiet giggles in the dressing room. Gavi had pouted at the time, wanting to tell the guys off for laughing, but he thought better of it. Fermin was already trying to bait a reaction out of him.
“Damn. I can’t believe Pedri’s missing the game because he’s shitting so hard. That’s hilarious.”
“Yeah.”
Fermin had raised his eyebrows and made a prompting face, expecting Gavi to say more. The young Alpha only continued to lace his boots, keeping his eyes on the floor, and Fermin rolled his eyes at the nonchalance.
“Whatever man, you’re not fooling anybody with that act.” He stuffs his bag away and walks towards the doors. “Try not to send him more than ten messages after tonight.”
Gavi sent nine. Not because he wanted to prove Fermin wrong or anything.
The replies come a day later. Gavi would text back almost instantly. Pedri wouldn't reply to them any time soon.
Pedri's back now, looking exactly the way he did a couple of days before, match fit and smiling. It’s as if nothing had changed.
Except for the fact that he smells like an omega.
Pedri, with a few of the medical staff, announced to the team that he had presented .
A late presentation. Huh.
Everyone was surprised by it, even Ferran, as it turns out that the stomach bug thing was just a smokescreen. The club is still trying to figure out the next steps, with the matter being very delicate, but it’s agreed that an announcement will be made later that evening. They had offered to keep things under wraps for as long as he was comfortable, but Pedri had said that he wanted it to be public, not wanting to cause any future scandals for the club by keeping it a secret. Always the diplomat.
The guys reacted to the news well, as expected.
Barcelona is known for having a well-integrated changing room despite its diverse squad, which not a lot of clubs can offer. For decades, it’s been a point of criticism from outsiders, something that drew sneers and mean jokes about the club and its players, but Gavi knows that it’s the core to their strength. There are no overbearing egos, no monolith that commands over everything, no suffocating tension between two alphas. Just tight-knit bonds, sewn together with their shared love for the crest. Their ages didn’t matter, their dynamics didn’t matter, they all fought and bled for the same colors.
Pedri received many slaps on the back, the entire squad congratulating him on his presentation with excitement. Casado gave him a tight hug that seemed to last ages, the two omegas whispering and laughing between each other. Not that Gavi was counting the seconds. Definitely not. Even though Fermin had to elbow him in the stomach when his staring got too much.
Pedri wears scent blockers now, just like every other alpha or omega on the team, to ensure professionalism and safety on the pitch. The omega smells almost like nothing besides neutral deodorant and the clinical smell of the scent blockers.
But for the first few days he was on them, his scent was so intense that it overrode the blockers he wore, something common for newly presented people trying them on for the first time. Anytime Gavi would stand near him, he’d get hit with the scent of sea salt and fruit, cream and vanilla, which really shouldn’t smell as good as it does. Pedri doesn’t wear his old familiar cologne anymore, now that he has one built into his body, and Gavi can’t tell if it’s a blessing or not. Probably not.
The things he had tried so hard to ignore about Pedri, his unmarked nape, his big brown eyes, his natural flush, seem to stand out even more now that he’s an omega. Gavi swears that everything about Pedri has intensified, his smile more coy, his blush more pink, his stretches more flexible and taunting, everything just more and more and more.
He feels like a creep.
Yes, he will admit that he’s had a crush on Pedri ever since he joined the senior team. It started as juvenile admiration, something you would save for an upperclassman or an older sibling’s friend, but it quickly grew into something much more serious as Gavi matured. The constant proximity, the touching, the hours they would spend together. They were attached to the hip. There was a time when all Gavi knew was Pedri, Pedri, and Pedri. He had started to think of them as a package pair, just like how everyone joked. When he thought about his future at the club, Pedri would be there. When he thought about what he would eat for dinner, Pedri was involved. When he thought about his future mate, it was Pedri. He didn’t share the intimacy they had with anyone else.
Something in Gavi’s gut tells him that Pedri was aware of this co-dependence and how unhealthy it could grow to be. Maybe it’s why, when Gavi had finally presented as an alpha, the older boy began to quietly pull away his affections. He did it in a way that was subtle, not unlike everything else he does. He urged Gavi to get his driver's license and drive on his own to training, limited their hugs and touches, invited other people to activities they would usually only do together. The final nail in the coffin was when Pedri asked Gavi when he would go out and find an omega to date.
Gavi wouldn’t call it a rejection, but there’s really no other word for it. He took it in stride, didn’t let his new alpha brain make any rash decisions he would regret. He accepted Pedri’s answer (that’s technically not an answer), and tried, really tried to bury his feelings away.
He was doing a good job, keeping distance, until last week.
The stress from the season is getting to Gavi, they still have a leg in all competitions, a treble is on the line. It’s hard not to feel nervous. Flick tells him that he’ll be important for the upcoming fixtures, as fatigue sets in for multiple players, and the burden of expectations weigh heavy on his shoulders. It doesn’t help that he has a bad habit of scrolling through the internet.
Pedri hated whenever Gavi would spend hours pouring over Instagram comments and Twitter threads, saying he doesn’t get why Gavi bothers with the opinions of some faceless trolls. Gavi thinks it’s for the best that Pedri stays offline, especially now. The news of the older boy's presentation was accepted with as much grace as you would expect from people who yell at TV screens in their spare time. There were the expected gross comments about omegas in football, diminishing ‘analysis’ made by keyboard tacticians about Pedri’s future career trajectory, and the downright hateful and discriminatory words they somehow still let people type out in public social media. Traditional pundits weren’t better either, sitting around in their suits and smugness, spouting bullshit and talking about Pedri as if he had suffered a career-ending injury. It’s not like he’s still the same player they were praising to the stars last week, the only difference being a single letter on his ID card.
Seeing the words, the TV segments, the thinkpieces, it reignited that protective streak Gavi always had about Pedri.
He sticks closer to the older boy now, trying his best to not be obvious about it.
Pedri gets fouled a lot more in matches. It’s been a dozen games since his presentation became public knowledge, and Gavi notices that there’s been an increase in the number of tackles he receives. Pedri has always been excellent in winning duels and dancing away from opposing players, but there’s nothing he can do about a dirty challenge or a hard push to the ground. It irks Gavi, the fact that players seem to almost lose respect for Pedri now that he’s an omega, as if he deserves these unnecessary fouls that hold up his play.
They’re in the ending minutes of the game, Barca had secured a comfortable 2-0 lead early on, and the Leganes players were looking more frustrated as the minutes trickled down. It manifested when Pedri was fouled by an opposing defender. The tackle was rough, hit Pedri’s boot more than it hit the ball, and caused him to fall to the ground. Gavi’s not proud to say that he might’ve initially overreacted, shoving the Leganes player away and yelling at his face, but Frenkie had thankfully put himself between them before anything worse could happen.
Gavi could still hear his captain pleading in Pedri’s favor somewhere in the background, simultaneously arguing with the offending Leganes player. The voices become empty noise to him as more players join in on the fray. His focus is instead on Pedri, standing but still grimacing about his ankle. Gavi’s hand finds the small of his back, completely unnecessary, but Pedri grabs his shoulder for balance anyway. The simple action tugged on an old heartstring that Gavi thought he’d gotten rid of a long time ago.
“You okay?” He asks softly, searching for Pedri’s eyes with a concerned stare.
Pedri chuckles as he stretches out his hurting leg, “Yeah. I’m getting used to it, don’t worry.”
The shrill of a whistle cuts off Gavi before he can respond. The Leganes player is shown the yellow card for his foul, and Frenkie is given one too for the prolonged argument. Their captain rolls his eyes as he faces away from the referee, making his way to Pedri and Gavi. Frenkie squeezes Pedri’s shoulder, and they share a private smile. The Dutchman gives a pointed look at Gavi’s hand, before jogging back to his position, not saying anything.
Gavi suddenly tears his hand away from Pedri’s back, feeling like an admonished child caught with the cookie jar. Pedri gives him a confused look, but it quickly dies as his attention refocuses on the play continuing.
They had wasted the added time due to the yellow, and play only resumed for a couple of minutes before the ref was blowing the whistle yet again. The match ends, and the players huddle around to celebrate the victory with each other. They’re mindful not to celebrate for too long, seeing as they’re the visiting team, and quickly make their way to the dressing room.
Gavi walks with Pedri in the tunnel; they don’t say anything, but stay in close proximity to each other. The Leganes stadium has its changing rooms divided by secondary genders, and they’re all too tiny to fit the entire squad into one. Even though the alpha rooms come in first from the tunnel, Gavi still walks with Pedri all the way to the omega changing rooms. It feels like walking a date home.
Pedri stops as they reach the door, turning to Gavi and giving him a tired smile. His eyebags seem darker, almost purple in this light, but his flush stays pink all the same. Pedri’s hair has stuck to his forehead with sweat, the strands are longer now that he’s finally grown out of the buzzcut, making him look disheveled and pretty. Gavi thinks he might’ve never successfully buried those feelings away.
“Well, this is me. You can let me go now.”
Gavi flushes at his voice, “Oh. Um. Yeah, of course. I wasn’t, like, keeping you hostage or anything.”
Pedri raises an eyebrow, amused. “Sure. And I needed a chaperone to guide me from the pitch all the way here.”
“We’re not in our own territory…”
“We’re surrounded by our teammates.”
Gavi blinks. Pedri huffs out a laugh at his silence, it sounds like baby angels singing.
“Let me change, and after you change, you can wait out here to walk with me back to the bus.”
“Oh. Okay. Yeah, I can do that.”
The older boy nods, keeping eye contact with Gavi and raising his eyebrows as if to prompt him. Gavi stumbles backwards, almost tripping over himself, and sprints back to the alpha changing room. He hears Pedri’s echoing laugh from the other side of the hall.
Gavi had changed his clothes embarrassingly fast, which got him lots of side-eyes from Fermin. He hadn’t stayed to hear the teasing, even though Fermin didn’t need to open his mouth for Gavi to imagine the things he would say.
He waited dutifully outside of the omega changing room, constantly having to remind himself that Pedri had asked for him to be here, and that he’s totally not being a creep. Fermin can go fuck himself.
Pedri had taken his sweet time, letting basically everyone on the team pass by Gavi in the hallway and give him weird looks, and he stopped trying to explain himself a long time ago.
When the older boy finally does come out, Gavi wouldn’t be surprised if they were the only two Barcelona players left in the stadium. To say that Pedri even looked the slightest bit apologetic would be a lie.
“Sorry for the wait.” He said, sheepishly, not sounding sorry at all.
Gavi opened his mouth, before promptly shutting it back. Pedri had taken off his scent blockers.
It’s a bit embarrassing; he’s had several weeks to get used to the scent, but he just hasn’t. It gives him whiplash every time it reaches his nose. Creamy, fruity, sweet, with just a hint of sea salt. Pedri smells like eating a fruit sorbet on the beach. Gavi thinks he’s going crazy whenever he gets a whiff, feeling like he’s got Pedri in the back of his throat. Is Pedri’s scent that intense? But he knows that it’s just him, because nobody else on the team reacts as badly as he does.
He looks away and coughs, tries not to notice how good Pedri looks, still disheveled from the match but warm and cozy from the shower. The omega drops his smile at Gavi’s reaction, expression looking somber and slightly disappointed. Gavi feels like he’s just had an entire salt shaker opened on his tongue.
They walk together quietly again, still in each other’s proximity, close but not touching. The air feels tense, their scents clashing with each other, almost electric.
Right before they reach the exit doors, Pedri breaks the silence.
“Do you hate it that much?”
“Huh?”
Pedri turns to look at him, eyebrows furrowed. “Do you hate the fact that I’m an omega that much?”
What.
“What?”
The surprise must be showing on Gavi’s face, because Pedri looks away quickly. “It’s just that, you’ve been so weird lately, after I presented. Weirder than usual.”
“That’s– That’s not because you’re an omega– Wh– Why would you think that? Do you seriously think that I would hate you just because you’re an omega?”
“Yes! Because everyone suddenly does! Do you understand how it feels? To have thousands of people suddenly looking at you as if you’re half the person you were a week ago? Or to act as if you’re this fragile thing that’ll break with a slight push. Just because of some stupid biology?”
“Pedri–”
“You won’t even look at me when I don’t have my blockers on. Is my scent that disgusting? Does any reminder of my presentation gross you out that badly?”
“It doesn’t gross me out–”
“Then why do you keep pulling away from me like I—”
“Don’t! You don’t get to blame me for pulling away . Not when you did the same.”
Pedri takes in a shuddering breath. They’re facing each other now, Gavi can see the hint of tears in Pedri’s eyes, can smell it. Pedri looks away when the eye contact gets too much, and Gavi is still waiting for a reply.
“I– I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Silence. Gavi watches as Pedri tries to put the words together.
“We had grown so close, and… I knew you had feelings about me, but I just. I couldn’t let you.”
“...What do you mean?”
Pedri laughed wetly, still not meeting Gavi’s eyes. “I felt selfish, being a beta and having all of your attention and love. Lots of people… Lots of omegas would’ve died to be in my position. Didn’t matter if I felt the same way, I always thought that you deserve someone better, someone more beautiful, someone who would make a better mate.”
Didn’t matter if I felt the same way .
Gavi felt as if an entire boulder had been lifted from his chest. He stares at Pedri for the longest time, trying to make sense of this man who has been the owner of his heart for as long as they have known each other. He moves to grab Pedri’s hand, and the touch must be electric; they both flinch, but Gavi holds on anyway.
“I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else. I wouldn’t have cared, whatever you are, I’d still want it to be you. I still love you.”
Pedri lets out a scoff, or maybe a laugh, Gavi doesn’t know. He’s not really hearing things right now. The older boy looks at him, eyes vulnerable and pleading.
“Do you really?”
Gavi feels himself physically soften, “Of course I do.”
In the blink of an eye, Gavi suddenly has his arms full of Pedri, the omega engulfing him in a tight hug. Somebody lets out a gasp, and it’s probably him. The hug feels like a confession, intimate and emotional. It’s the most contact they’ve shared in months. Gavi accepts it with eyes closed and mouth open. It feels like an oasis in the middle of a desert.
His nose instantly finds the space between Pedri’s neck and shoulder, the feel of the skin familiar and welcoming like home. The sharp smell of mangoes and vanilla fills his brain, and he shamelessly takes a deep breath to imprint the scent in his memory. They spend what seems like forever just taking in each other, no other sound except for harsh breaths. Tentatively, Gavi sneaks a light kiss just above Pedri’s scent gland, just like the way he would always do before, testing the waters on where they stand. He feels Pedri shiver, and the arms around his neck tighten. It's things like this that throw Gavi in on a loop. As painful as it is, Gavi pulls away just enough to see Pedri’s face.
He’s flushed to the ears, damp around his eyes, but still as beautiful as ever. Gavi feels like if he holds Pedri any tighter, the older boy might break, but if he loosens up, Pedri might run away. Again. He frantically grabs one of Pedri’s hands, puts it up to his face, and forces Pedri to look at him.
“Tell me you still feel it for me, please, Pedri. If– If you don’t, it’s fine, but please just tell me how you really feel. I can’t stomach being in the dark, I hate it, I've hated the past few months.”
Pedri’s brown eyes meet his, wide and surprised, before slowly crinkling with a smile that takes over his entire face. Gavi is not a religious man, but he truly believes that God has sent him an angel.
“I still do. I always have.”
The entire team is waiting for them on the bus, and trying to pretend that they haven’t been snooping in on their conversation by the exit doors. Gavi tries his best to glare at anybody who glances at them, but Pedri was having none of it.
“Please, we kept them waiting for fifteen minutes, let them stare.”
Fermin’s snicker echoes through the silence of the bus.
The ride back is quiet, the team too tired to be making any noise, despite the win. Gavi finds himself sitting next to Pedri, something he’s been trying to be totally casual about. The act was convincing for a total of five minutes, with Pedri having to recline Gavi’s chair after the younger had sat with his back straight for a comedically long amount of time. The omega thankfully had not poked fun at him.
Pedri fell asleep half an hour into the trip, his head lolling to find Gavi’s shoulder. Lightning could strike on top of his head right now, and Gavi would still find a way to be happy. The omega’s scent is a comfort, sweet and inviting.
He buries his nose into Pedri’s hair, still somewhat wet from the shower, and doesn’t even bother hiding his smile. With Pedri’s scent and the comforting smell of the team surrounding them, it doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep as well. That night, Gavi ends up dreaming of mango parfait and sunset views of the beach.