Chapter Text
"Have you noticed it?"
"Noticed what?"
"Lewy and Reus, they are pretty close, no?" said Kuba, leaning his side against a locker as he watched Łukasz organise his books during the break.
"Hm, I think so," Piszczek shrugged, rummaging through his locker. "They always got along."
Błaszczykowski rolled his eyes. "I know that," he hissed with no real annoyance in his voice. "But recently they've been much more... you know?"
Łukasz took out one last notebook before closing the locker door. "I don't know?" he pressed on Kuba to explain his thoughts, looking straight at the other with expectancy.
Kuba spoke only when necessary, keeping rather most of his thoughts to himself, but Piszczu from the start tried to get him to open up more, even if it was just harmless opinions. Which Błaszczykowski appreciated of course... to a certain point.
"Oh, c'mon. You can't act this oblivious." Kuba covered his face with his palms, showing off his growing irritation—he was quick to lose his temper. His hands slid of his face, as he crossed his arms now, jaw tense. "Lewy barely hangs out with us anymore. It's always 'Marco this, Marco that'," Błaszczykowski scrunched up his face, exaggerating his voice. "And no, I'm not jealous. I was just making an observation..." he huffed, looking away from his friend.
Łukasz didn't say anything for a hot minute. It's not that he disagreed with Kuba—because the other was completely correct. It was the fact that once his friend mentioned it, he could recall a few moments his friends seemed... close. Closer than friends, even. Robert mentioned Reus frequently as well, but no one ever batted an eye. He thought for a moment, as his brows furrowed.
"Well..." Piszczek started off slow. "I have to agree with you, there's something going on between them," he mimicked Kuba's position, leaning his side against his locker. "But it's good, don't you think? Robert had always been rather closed off, always independent. Now, he has a best friend, just like we have each other." he pointed at himself and Kuba, giving him a genuine, warm smile.
Błaszczykowski narrowed his eyes at the last sentence, raising his eyebrows in slight suspicion. "Don't you have me AND Marcel?" he gave the other a small chuckle and faint close-lipped smile.
Piszczek grinned wider, laughing. "What, jealous?"
Kuba gave the other a shove. "You're insufferable..." He muttered.
—
Sooner than expected, because not even a day later, Piszczek witnessed something unexpected.
Right after he was finished with his classes, Łukasz decided to come to his basketball training earlier than usual, since he skipped the last one because of studies. During late spring, teachers would bombard students with tests and he wasn't gonna disappoint anyone, especially himself.
But as he was changing into his workout clothes, two voices broke through the silence.
"The changing rooms? Are you sure nobody's in here?"
"Basketball training starts in two hours, trust me. No one is that crazy to be here so early."
Piszczek wasn't deaf. He heard those voices loud and clear through the door. And he was fucking sure it was Marco and Robert.
"You have to be kidding me." he whispered to himself, wondering what are his options. Does he spy on them or does he make it obvious he's here with a loud 'hey'?
Remembering his talk with Kuba, he didn't pick the latter. Łukasz quickly collected his belongings, shutting himself in the bathroom, locking the door just in case. He heard nothing for a while, until a louder laugh was accompanied with the creaking of the changing room's door. From now on, he'll be hearing all of it and he better not regret it.
"You're so stupid, why would we even want to be here?" Marco asked, giving Lewandowski an unamused look.
"Privacy," Lewy simply replied, a soft smirk planted on his face as he looked around the empty room. "It's much more cooler here." He sat down on one of the benches, patting a place next to him.
Reus, still unamused, sat down next to the other boy. He didn't wait long to get comfortable, leaning slightly against Robert as he straightened out his legs before him. Their hands found their way to each other, their fingers loosely intertwined, as neither of them dared to push things further.
"You wanted to talk about something in particular?" the blonde murmured out after a few moments.
Lewandowski's answer wasn't immediate, as he played around with Marco's fingers lightly. "No," he eventually spoke, a little sheepish. "But I just really wanted to spend some time with you."
The most important moments for Robert, were the one's filled with a comfortable silence and unspoken trust. To say it out loud would be embarassing, but it would be the truth. It's not like Reus didn't already know that. He didn't even say anything, letting the calm dominate the atmosphere, as a content smile showed up on his face.
On the other hand, Łukasz was stunned just behind the bathroom door. Hearing Robert so soft spoken, it was as if he was hearing a whole new person. He usually sees him tease Marco during class—poking him, ruffling his hair or stealing the other's pen when he wasn't looking. Reus often strikes back, which makes their friendship full of playful banter. But this? It was a completely different side of his friend—one that Marco was likely to experience first. Piszczu even started to feel bad for eavesdropping on such a moment. If either of them found out, he would probably be dead.
So Łukasz didn't dare to make a sound, staying in one place and begging for Hummels to show up already, since he always came to training before everyone else. Through the bathroom door he could hear from time to time a whispered joke between his two friends, both of them giggling freely.
—
The next day, during lunch, Łukasz ended up sitting with Marco, Auba and Erik. Usually he would eat lunch alongside Kuba, but after yesterday he decided that some more innocent investigating won't hurt anybody.
Per usual, Auba was nerding out about his newest addition to his comics collection, summarizing Batman's yet another dark adventure. Reus looked like he was actually listening to whatever his friend was yapping about. Not that it surprised Piszczek—Marco is probably friends with half of the school, hanging out with someone new everyday.
"Actually, do you guys want to check out the comics store today?" Auba suddenly suggested, looking at everyone at the table. But the one who's approval he would appreciate the most, was Marco's.
Erik was about to happily accept the suggestion, with the way his eyes sparkled for a moment, but his excitement was quickly put down.
"Oh, I can't. I'm busy today." Reus blankly spoke, as he continued to eat his sandwich.
No one said anything for a hot minute. Auba wanted to say something, but he found himself only opening his mouth and closing it seconds after, as if he wasn't prepared for such words from Marco. Erik gave the other an upset look, being the first one to speak up.
"Busy with...?" he made a twisting motion with his hand, gesturing for an explanation.
Reus chewed up his bite, not showing anything through his face expression. "I've already made plans with someone, sorry."
It was almost as if a light bulb lit up above Piszczu's head. That 'someone' had to be Robert, because why else would he be so secretive about a person he'll be hanging out with? Something about privacy... Łukasz couldn't be more certain. But he believed he was the only one to notice, because the two other boys didn't question Marco's answer further, both of them shrugging as they ate their lunch. Or maybe they just didn't care? Piszczek felt stupid for getting so invested, as if it changed anything about his life. It was none of his business.
And yet, the fact that two of his friends were meeting up in secret was much more interesting than any high school subject.