Work Text:
Gavi is two seconds away from throwing his phone into the ocean.
He’s in his hotel room lying face down on his bed, the pillow absorbing a muffled and creative string of curse words that would make his mother faint.
Usually, Gavi can ignore whatever the internet has to say about him. It’s easy to ignore self-proclaimed ‘experts’ who have never kicked a ball in their lives and the weirdo fans who think players’ private lives are their business.
But what is currently making Gavi’s blood boil is TikTok. Specifically, the side of TikTok that thinks Jude and Erling Braut Haaland are star-crossed lovers separated by fate and club transfers.
Gavi scrolls with a thumb-snapping ferocity that threatens to add another crack to his fragile phone screen.
[Video: Slow-mo clip of Jude and Haaland playfully pushing each other and smiling in the middle of a match. The clip then cuts to a montage of them hugging at Dortmund while a Taylor Swift song plays in the background.]
⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪
The way jude and erling look at each other 🥹 #judebellingham #erlinghaaland #worldcup2026 #angst #fyp
🎵 cardigan - taylor swift (slowed + reverb)
“The way they look at each other?” Gavi repeats to himself in disbelief. Since the World Cup started, there has been an influx of delusional people who ship Jude and Haaland because they’re supposedly sooooooo cute together. Gavi doesn’t get the appeal— and not just because he’s Jude’s actual boyfriend. Jude and Haaland don’t even look good together! “Are these people blind?”
Gavi refreshes, which turns out to be a huge mistake. The algorithm, sensing Gavi’s impending aneurysm, feeds him more edits of his boyfriend being shipped with another man.
football yaoi ⚽️
[Video: A compilation of clips where a 185 cm Jude is looking up, sometimes craning his neck or standing on his tiptoes to make eye contact with a 195 cm Haaland.]
haalingham height difference is so cute
#judebellingham #erlinghaaland #haaland #bellingham #haalingham #worldcup #yaoi #gay #couplegoals
🎵 As It Was - Harry Styles
Gritting his teeth, Gavi does the one thing a public figure should never do on social media. He opens the comments.
Search: haalingham 🔍
145 comments ☰
Nadine
Haalingham 😍 Erling can literally pick Jude up like a doll I’m obsessed with their size difference
2h Reply · ♡ 200 · 👎
—— View 8 replies ∨
Gavi’s eye twitches. He’s tempted to use his public TikTok account to tell people how Jude picks him up like a doll and enjoys it.
brianna 🏴
the fact that 6’1 jude is considered short next to haaland omg he probably feels so tiny and cutesy next to him
2h Reply · ♡ 108 · 👎
—— View 12 replies ∨
Gavi feels like throwing up. These Jude-Haaland people are suffering some kind of mass psychosis.
♥️stacy 🎀
honestly the bellingham/haaland moments are my fav parts of the world cup
1h Reply · ♡ 85 · 👎
—— View 2 replies ∨
Favorite parts of the World Cup? Do these people even care about football or do they just want to see strong athletic men fuck each other?
Joey
Scenes when Haaland and Bellingham start making out on the pitch
1h Reply · ♡ 600 · 👎
—— View 27 replies ∨
Gavi sits up so fast he nearly snaps his neck. Jude is his boyfriend. He belongs to Gavi, not to that overgrown blondie who looks like he skipped a few stages of human evolution.
Okay, that was mean. Haaland is probably a great guy, but thanks to the internet, he replaced Vinícius as Gavi’s number one enemy.
Gavi huffs, his jealousy feeding on the endless barrage of fan edits. He’s so busy making himself mad, that when his phone suddenly vibrates— lighting up with a incoming FaceTime call— he nearly drops it on his face.
mi corazón ❤️ is calling. Jude always catches him at the worst possible time.
Nonetheless, Gavi accepts the call.
Jude’s face fills the screen, resting in his own hotel bed. He looks a little tired but smiles when the video connects.
“Hey, love,” Jude greets. “Sorry I only got to call now.”
Gavi shifts on his side, resting his chin on his forearm. “It’s fine,” he mumbles, even though he is not fine.
“How are you? Have you eaten?”
“Yes.”
Jude adjusts the phone, brow furrowing at Gavi’s clipped response. “Hey, what’s up with you?”
“Nothing.”
“I know that look. You’re angry about something,” Jude points out, concern creasing his forehead. “Is it de la Fuente again? Ugh, I can’t stand that man. Don’t let him—”
“—It’s not about him.”
“Then what’s this about? Tell me,” Jude says. “You know you can tell me anything, love.”
Gavi looks away from the camera, staring aggressively at the ugly hotel curtain. He mutters something unintelligible under his breath.
“Huh? I couldn’t hear you.” Jude leans closer to his screen. “What did you say?”
Gavi mutters again, the words catching in his throat because of how ridiculous it sounds out loud.
“What was that?”
“It’s Haaland!” Gavi exclaims loudly. “I can’t fucking stand him!”
Jude blinks, like the internet connection in his head is running on a five-second delay. “Did I hear you correctly? Did you say Haaland?”
Gavi grunts. “He’s pissing me off.”
“…Have you and Erling even met?”
“Once.” Gavi will never forget it. Spain played against Norway during the Euro qualifiers. Both Gavi and Haaland wore number 9 shirts, but Gavi was the only one who scored that day.
“What could Erling possibly have done to you?” Jude asks, baffled.
Gavi hates how casually Jude says ‘Erling.’ “It’s not him! It’s the internet!”
“What are you talking about?”
"All everyone talks about on TikTok is you and him! They’re making edits of you and saying you’re cute together! They’re even crying over your height difference!" Gavi rants. “They think you and him are boyfriends!”
To Gavi’s outrage, Jude starts laughing.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Gavi yells at the screen, cheeks turning a furious pink at Jude’s reaction. “It’s not fucking funny, Bellingham!”
“It is pretty funny,” Jude says between laughs. “You’re actually jealous of Erling.”
“It’s those damn edits!” Gavi grits out. “I’ll lose my mind if I see one more TikTok of you and that Minecraft character!”
“I told you to delete TikTok before the tournament, Gavi.” Jude still hasn’t stopped giggling. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“I’m serious, Jude!” Gavi exclaims. “So many people are shipping you and Haaland! They’re saying your pheromones are going to distract Haaland from playing!”
“My what?”
“They’re saying you and Haaland are going to make out on the pitch during your match!”
“Pablo,” Jude starts. “Erling and I are friends, nothing more. You know how some fans get with friendships. They like to overexaggerate things.”
Is this how Jude felt when fans were going crazy over Gavi and Pedri? Because it doesn’t feel so good. “Haaland has his own boyfriends at Man City. He should be hugging them instead of you.”
“Gavi, Erling has a long-time girlfriend and a child.”
That hasn’t stopped other footballers from having boyfriends. “You should tell the media that you hate Haaland.”
“That won’t stop people from making edits of us.”
Gavi pouts. “Then stop smiling so much when people ask you questions about him.”
“I’ll give a press conference tomorrow specifically to reject him, just for you,” Jude says. “I’ll tell them I prefer midfielders from Barcelona.”
“We have like, ten midfielders at Barça, you have to be more specific.”
“Alright, fine.” Jude indulges Gavi. He leans in closer to his camera. “I prefer a very specific, handsome, short-tempered Barcelona midfielder who wears number nine for Spain, wears his heart on his sleeve, and has zero self-preservation instincts on the pitch. Better?”
The tight knot of jealousy in Gavi’s chest loosens. “Better.”
“Pablo, listen to me.” Jude isn’t done. “Erling is a mate from my Dortmund days. That’s literally it. He isn’t the one I’m staying up until two in the morning to FaceTime, he isn’t the one I think about after matches, and he is definitely not the one I’m in love with.”
Gavi bites his inner cheek to keep from smiling. “You think about me after matches?”
“Of course I do. You’re my boyfriend.”
Gavi can’t hide his smile anymore. He loves when Jude calls him his boyfriend.
“See? You’re smiling,” Jude says. “You don’t have to hunt down Erling and attack him.”
“I can still pocket him if I want to,” Gavi says, though his voice has lost its venom. “I’ve done it before.”
“Okay, love,” Jude says. “Now delete TikTok before you find something else to get mad at.”
Later, when England faces Norway and the final whistle blows at 2-1, Gavi can’t help but beam at the screen.
Jude scored both goals for England, and Haaland and friends are rowing back to Norway. Gavi has never been prouder of his boyfriend.
Gavi looks over at the tournament bracket. England is slated to face Argentina next while Spain has to get through Dictator Mbappé and the rest of France (ew).
Don’t get Gavi wrong. It would be a dream to play against Messi and Argentina in the final, but lining up against Jude on the world’s biggest stage is too perfect.
Gavi
congratulations, jude!
you were incredible today
❤️❣️💘💖💕💞💗❤️💞💖💗❤️💘❤️💞
It takes a while for Jude to respond— understandably so after all the interviews— but Gavi grins at the message.
mi corazón ❤️
thank you 🥰
we have argentina next
Gavi
please try to ask messi for his shirt 🙏
mi corazón ❤️
you just want that shirt for yourself
Gavi
don’t act like you don’t 🙄
mi corazón ❤️
i wanna knock argentina out of the tournament more than anything
Gavi
if you do then i’ll see you in the final
mi corazón ❤️
see you in the final 🤝
when you lose you’ll wear my england kit afterward, yes?
Gavi
in your dreams
you’ll be wearing MY kit when spain wins
mi corazón ❤️
no love
england is winning it’s coming home 🏆
Gavi
you guys say that every year and it never happens
mi corazón ❤️
it’s happening this year and you’ll wear my kit to celebrate with me
Gavi
see you in the final then
mi corazón ❤️
see you in the final
i love you
Gavi
i love you too