The Captain and The Kid, Part Ten

[tempered-rose.livejournal.com]

Title: The Captain and The Kid, Part Ten
Characters: Bojan Krkic, David Villa, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi, various Barça & Iker Casillas mentioned
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Bojan is called up for La Selección and finds himself falling for the Spanish captain. He knows it’s wrong and he also knows someone else is pining for Iker’s attentions. Will Bojan try to win the Captain’s heart or will he let his competition have him?
Words: this part: 1410
A/N: This part was assembled at the request of spain_fanatic79. I hope she, as well as you, like it :-]
Previous Parts: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine


Training over the past few days had been as effective as usual, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t tired from it. Everything seemed to be the same, yet a few things had still changed.

For truly the first time, Bojan really saw his teammates. He saw the way Gerard and Carles worked together and their little touches between one another. He saw the way their silent communications made them better as a pair instead of just two very talented teammates and individuals. He saw the way Jeffren and Pedro touched each other delicately during their stretches and their soft smiles. He was slightly envious of the way they acted so warmly around one another.

Just like before, during the call-up, Bojan really noticed Xavi and Andres. It wasn’t just their knack for picking one another out during midfield practices that attracted his notice. As had been evident against Madrid the first time, they had blind faith in one another.

And then he saw Victor.

The goalkeeper was his usual self, slightly to himself but always willing to toss in a joke. He was always watching everyone else and his talented fingers knocked shot after shot away from his goal. Bojan had noticed that Victor socialized with everyone but didn’t really have a best friend like the others did. Bojan frowned and decided to ask Geri about it later.

He had just gotten the idea cemented in his head when a hard tackle sent him sprawling onto the pitch.

Dazed, Bojan blinked and looked up to see Villa already running off, chasing the ball. Bojan quickly checked himself over for injuries and seemingly found none. Shaking his head, he slowly stood from the ground. He shook slightly when his ankle gave a little.

Leo came over to him quickly and offered his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Bojan leaned on Leo’s shoulder and took a step to see if his ankle still twinged. It did.

“No, I think my ankle has gone.”

Leo swore under his breath. They both looked over as Gerard began shouting at Villa in loud, vehement Spanish.

“Pep saw it.” Leo mumbled quietly as the trainers started in their direction. Leo stood still until they came closer.

“Let’s have a look at you,” the doctor said and Bojan watched as they did a small evaluation.

Bojan sighed and looked over to Villa. He stayed silent while the doctor prodded lightly at him. His eyes were on Pep who was shouting at the Asturian. He sighed when the doctor shook his head with a grim look.

“You’re done for today. No more training for this week. We’ll take another look next week. Hopefully it’s just a twist and not a sprain.”

Bojan felt his shoulders slump. The doctor gave him a small smile and helped him start away from Leo.

“See you later, Bo.” Leo offered a tiny smile, but Bojan just waved his hand.

Disappointment filled him. Pep had told him that had he trained well over the next few days, he would have started in the league match at the weekend. He already played little as it was; he needed as many minutes as he could grab.

Damn Villa, he thought bitterly and looked over to where Pep had sent him off to run laps. It seemed little consolation for what he had done. Why had he done it in the first place, though? Bojan wondered. What had he done to Villa lately that merited this?

Bojan let the doctor lead him into the physical therapy room and he sighed as he sat on the table.

“I’ll just be a minute. Rest your ankle.” The doctor turned and left the room. Bojan assumed that he was after some ice. He sighed and leaned back against the table and stared at the ceiling.

Villa had acted weird around him lately, he reflected. The Asturian had never been overly nice to him to begin with, but it had become almost hostile in the past couple weeks—ever since the call-up. He had “accidentally” run into him numerous times during training. The one time Bojan had come on for him during the match, Villa had nudged him rather hard as he had passed.

He didn’t get why David was acting so…rough towards him lately. Had he said something wrong? Did he look at him funny? What had he done?

The doctor came back with ice and an aspirin, interrupting his thoughts. Bojan stayed quiet and took the medicine as the ice was placed over his ankle.

“I’ll return to the training field, but you rest until the others come back. Then you can go.”

Bojan nodded silently and listened as the doctor’s footsteps faded away down the corridor. He sighed heavily and let his mind wander away from the soreness in his ankle. Not for the first time, his mind drifted to Iker.

He’d had a few more dreams about the Madridista like the one from the other night. With each dream, he thought less about his inhibitions about being gay or not. He had accepted Leo’s idea that maybe he was only after Iker. He didn’t want to think that he was truly gay for everyone, but for some reason, his mind accepted Iker only. He swallowed when he thought about it. But what if Iker didn’t like him? What if this was all in his head and it went nowhere? What if he was just being stupid?

Bojan forced himself to clear his mind when he heard voices coming down the hall.

“…didn’t see him, my arse. I know he’s little, but he is a person. Of course he saw him!”

“I know.”

“I mean, Bojan’s adorable. How could he not see him?”

“…he’s pretty cute, yeah.”

“‘Pretty cute, yeah’? Open your eyes, he’s gorgeous!”

“…I guess?”

“He is. You know he is. Villa knows he is. Hell, the world knows that he is adorable. In fact, if I wasn’t with Puyi, I think I might—”

“I can hear you Geri!” Bojan shouted into the locker room. He turned his head on the table and saw Geri’s grin as he came closer. Leo shook his head and turned away from the door to start for the showers.

“I know you can. You are sex on legs, kid.” Geri grinned brighter and Bojan’s cheeks burned. He looked away from the door. “Why else do you think Iker asks about you?”

Bojan’s cheeks burned more. “You’re lying to make me feel better.”

Gerard’s grin faded just a little and he shrugged a shoulder. “Pep is making Villa run extra laps. He’ll fine him as well.” Gerard hesitated a moment before he continued. “You should probably change and get out of here before he gets done. Villa’s quick you know.”

Bojan nodded slowly and shifted to sit up a little. “When the doctor comes back and tells me, I’ll go.”

Gerard nodded and looked at him seriously. “For what it’s worth, Villa said he didn’t see you. Everyone knows it’s a lie. Most of us saw it.”

Bojan stayed silent and looked down at the floor. It didn’t help much.

“Maybe later you should text Iker. Ask him how he is. Couldn’t hurt.” Gerard suggested and Bojan looked up again.

“Wouldn’t it be strange to receive a text from me? Without reason I mean.”

“I’m sure your cute little self can come up with something.” Geri winked and the grin began to form again on his lips.

“Hey, Ger?”

“Yes, my dear?” Pique hummed with a grin.

“Take a shower. You stink.”

“Love you too Bo.” Gerard smirked but turned to go.

Bojan shook his head and smiled. Despite his teasing, Gerard had provided an interesting point. Maybe he should text Iker? Besides, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t have a lot of free time in the next few days. Perhaps it would be worth it.


Villa smirked to himself as he finished his last lap. His plan was beginning to work perfectly. He’d discovered the boy’s dented armor long ago, he just hadn’t realized it at the time. But now, now he was using Bojan’s insecurities against him. He just had to tick a few more boxes that would send the boy into a total collapse of his senses.

Pleased with the thought, Villa rounded the corner flag and started back for the dressing room door. Despite a full training session, he still had a large bounce in his step.