Probably the awesomest chapter *EVER*

[tempered-rose.livejournal.com]

Title: The Eternal Heartache, Chapter Nine of ???
Characters (this chapter): Cesc Fabregas, Bojan Krkic, Lionel Messi, David Silva, Iker Casillas, David Villa & Kaka implied
Rating: PG-13 for making out
Words: This chapter: 3,893 ; Total: 26,804 {over halfway!!! Yay!!!}
A/N: Hee…you guys will like this chapter I know it! =-D HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to EVERY SINGLE FANTASTIC PERSON who is reading this and even HUGER THANKS to those who have commented on it! I absolutely love all of you guys. Special dedication to melj1213 without whom this chapter probably would not have been written tonight. <3 Thank you for inspiring me bb. =-D



Last part here. All previous parts listed here.




The sun slipped slowly down the ever so blue skies as it steadily progressed to its resting place; another day’s work slowly coming to an end. By mid-afternoon, its golden rays were weakening slightly, a couple more hours of light would result before the golden red fingers dipped beneath the hills.

A summer’s breeze wafted in off the ocean and spun through the city at its own lazy pace, uncaring where it went or why, just happy to be going. The cool caress of the gust whipped a boy’s dark brown, almost black, hair and tingled his skin.

“What are you going to do this afternoon?” Leo asks the group in general, not speaking to any one in specific.

“Homework.” Cesc replies already moving the canvas bag further up his shoulder because of all the books that now weighed it down. He could vaguely recall earlier this morning when it had been so light, now it was so heavy. From the way Bojan had to keep moving it up, he too was having to adjust to the newfound weight. “Yourself?”

“Probably play football outside for a while and then after dinner start on my work.” Leo shrugged. Cesc had learned during break that Leo was the avid footballer, to which he had blushed and looked away.

“You really love the sport, don’t you?” Bojan asked as he walked next to Leo down the concrete sidewalk.

“Oh, sí. Very much.” Leo smiles. “My mother gets season tickets to the Comp Nou all the time because of me. She says that I am a good player too.”

“Then why don’t you play for a team somewhere?” Bojan asks, confused.

Leo’s face turns a brilliant shade of red as he looks down at his shoes. “I tried once, for the school team, they said I wasn’t good enough.”

Bojan feels sympathy well inside of him so he tugs on Leo’s hand and hugs him from the side. “I’m sorry Leo.”

Leo is surprised at the action but eventually pats Bojan on the back awkwardly. “It was a long time ago. But I appreciate it all the same.”

Bojan releases him, cheeks turning pink, but doesn’t say anything. Cesc raises an eyebrow at his brother, which causes Bojan’s cheeks to tint an even darker color. Cesc usually did not tease his brother, but he thought that this time he could file this one away for future use.

“Silva, what are you going to do?” Cesc asks as they cross the street from the school and start down the same side of the street that Pep’s townhouse was on.

David blinked up at Cesc as if the answer wasn’t obvious. “Well clearly, Cesc, I am going to do my studies so that I can say that I have achieved success in completing the assigned work that was issued to me by my teacher’s today.”

Leo and Bojan were trying to stifle their giggles. “Do you answer everything like that?” Cesc asked still trying to put the complete picture of David Silva together in his mind.

“Most of the time, that would be an affirmative.”

“Most of the time?” Cesc asks again.

Leo pipes up. “The rest of the time, which is about seventy percent, he is talking about Villa.” Leo makes a cheesy romantic face and bats his eyelashes dramatically. His voice raises several octaves higher when he speaks. “Oh my gosh! Villa is so good looking! Did you see him in sports class? I mean he had his shirt off and every thing.”

Silva is turning the color of the reddest of strawberries. That doesn’t stop him from pushing his bag high up onto his shoulder. “You guys are a bunch of dimwits and I will succeed at far more things in life than the lot of you.”

He then started to stalk down the street. Bojan and Leo could not hold back their giggles anymore. The double up in laughter and even Cesc cracks a grin. Silva is still beat red but stops down at the next block, waiting on them.

By the time they walk to the next block to catch up with Silva, their giggles have eased slightly, but they still chuckle a bit. Leo nudges Silva when he approaches and gives a lopsided smile. Silva eventually gives in and smiles, embarrassed. Cesc puts his arm over Bojan’s shoulders as they walk in pairs down the sidewalk.

They walk past the last storefront, a café, before reaching the residential section and Cesc nearly has a heart attack. He freezes mid-stride and gulps. It was him in the coffee shop. He was at a table in the corner drinking coffee and reading a book.

“Cesc?” Bojan asks when Cesc suddenly stops walking. “Cesc, are you all right? You look like you have seen a ghost…” Bojan’s voice is worried and that is what snaps Cesc back to consciousness. Leo and Silva are watching him too, all three curious.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Cesc murmurs and then starts walking to catch up again. “I just, I just thought of a book I might have forgotten back at school.”

“Oh, we can go back and get it if it’s important?” Bojan offers already turning back to the school but Cesc shakes his head and conjures up a smile.

“No, it’s perfectly all right. I remembered that I had it after all.” Cesc smiles easier now and continues walking.

At the last four-way intersection before the block that Pep lived on, Silva bade his goodbyes and turned to the left. They all said goodbye before they started walking again. Down the street, a ways down from where Pep lived, a few boys of younger age had set up trashcans as goals and were playing football in the street.

“Where do you live Leo?” Bojan asks as the trio walks quietly down the even quieter street.

“Three houses down from where that boy just scored.” Leo says. “That’s my neighbor’s brother, Ricky. They call him Kaka though. They are from Brazil or somewhere like that.”

“He’s really good.” Cesc says when he sees the small boy pull off a trick that he was sure took a lot of skill to do.

“Yeah, yeah he is.” Leo says shyly and both Bojan and Cesc notice.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I forgot.” Cesc feels embarrassed and he bites his lip.

“No, it’s okay.” Leo shrugs it off. “Not all of us can be Maradona now can we?”

Cesc shakes his head with a small smile. “No, I guess not.”

Leo shrugs and speaks in a quiet voice, one that has lots of suppressed admiration in it. “Ricky is good enough though.”

Bojan squeezes his arm again and Leo smiles at him sadly.

Inside Cesc’s mind, a strange urge of desire and want floods his senses. He knows that he has to look out for Bojan; that is nothing less than blatantly obvious. But another part of him, he did not know just how big that part of him was, desperately wanted to see him again.

His head is yanked from the cloud of his thoughts when he hears Bojan ‘aww’ over something Leo said. Listening, Cesc tried to rejoin the conversation. Leo says something else, about a video game, and Bojan laughs again.

“I will probably just end up playing the new FIFA again.” Leo shrugs. “I would rather play that than do homework!”

“Who wouldn’t?” Bojan asks still smiling. “I would love to play just any game. I have never played one before.”

Then it clicks inside Cesc’s mind as if the metaphorical light bulb had been switched on. “Well why don’t you?”

“What?” Bojan asks, turning a confused face to his brother. “Why don’t I what?”

“Well, I mean,” Cesc goes for awkwardness and it works amazingly well. “If Leo doesn’t mind that is…”

“I get what you are saying.” Leo says and smiles. “No, I don’t mind. I would be grateful for the company actually. My mother won’t be home for a while yet, so it would be nice to have a friend over.”

Bojan looks at Cesc carefully. Cesc sees his lower lip tremble slightly. “Do you want me too?”

Cesc nods and then explains. “I think it would be good for you to get out more. You hang around me enough, it’s time to get ‘socialized’.”

“But what will you do?” Bojan asks already starting to like the idea of learning to play video games and spend more time with Leo.

Cesc stretches and makes a show of holding his book satchel. “Well, I guess I can start in on this stuff. But I want you to have fun, Bo.”

Bojan nods and hugs Cesc as they stop outside their uncle’s door. “I will be back soon. I don’t want to spend all night at Leo’s.”

“I wouldn’t mind. In fact my mother would probably be pleased to have you for dinner as well.” Leo says and then rethinks what he just said. “Well not have you for dinner but have you eat with us.”

Bojan giggles and Cesc loves hearing the sound. “Okay, I will call the house though Cesc to tell you that I am on my way home. Oh, will you take my books and put them in our room?”

“I can do that.” Cesc takes the bag offered to him and notices the lighter books. That wasn’t fair. “Have fun Bojanito.” Cesc rubs Bojan’s hair affectionately.

“Bye Cesc. And thank you.”

“Thank Leo, he’s the one that will be your host.” Cesc smiles and watches them start to walk down the street.

Before they get out of earshot, Cesc hears Leo ask Bojan a question. “So, you have never played video games? How is that even possible?”

Cesc shakes his head and wonders what Leo would think if he learned that he had not even played video games before. However, he remembers where he is and why he had to make sure that Bojan was otherwise occupied.

He runs up the flight of steps and opens the door of the great house with the key that Pep had made for him, Bojan had one also, and chucks their bags in the door. He stands inside for a few minutes, allowing for Leo and Bojan to have crossed the street to the other building and get inside it. He counts down the seconds till it has been exactly four minutes before he opens the door again. He shuts it quickly and the runs down the street.

He stops before he gets to the coffee shop so that he doesn’t look flustered. He smoothes down his shirt, hoping to get the wrinkles out, before he walks to the door. He swallows and opens the door and steps inside.

The smell of coffee plays with his senses until they are lethargically relaxed. There is a soft beat of music playing in the background, the kind of beat that was soothing enough to relax you but lively enough to have you tapping your foot to it. There were comfortable chairs in the warmly painted room. Most of the patrons were reading a book or working on their personal computers. He was one of the few reading a book.

Cesc took him in in all of his amazing glory. He had not changed since the last time Cesc saw him, for that Cesc was most grateful. He wore a t-shirt that revealed his toned arms this time, and the little bit of color that was on them. His hair still fell forward into his eyes but Cesc thought that if his hair were arranged any differently it would somehow be wrong.

Realizing that it would look strange if he just stood in the middle of a café for hours on end staring at one of the patrons, he moved forward. He surprised himself by not moving towards the line to place an order, but directly to the man’s table. He gulped and crossed the room and as he approached he prayed that he was not going to misjudge the moment that they had shared a few days earlier.

He sat in one of the chairs opposite him at his table. Then, he waited. It took half a second before the man, Iker, lowered his book enough to see who had sat down. When he realized who it was, Iker lowered the book completely and snapped it shut.

“You!” Iker’s voice is whispered but still just as shocked as the expression on his face. “How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”

“I saw you in here, reading. It wasn’t planned or anything…” Cesc replies and he strongly hopes that his nerves don’t come out in his tone.

Iker just watches the boy across from him through a carefully guarded expression. The panic from earlier subsided long enough to study him intently. After a few moments of just watching one another, watching each other’s movements and traits, Iker speaks.

“What do you want?”

It is such a simple question but yet it means so much more than the obvious. To Cesc, he was confused. Ever since he had met the man last week, he had never been far from his thoughts. As for what he wanted, he did not know. He felt something for this stranger, something that he could not quite identify, and he was fairly certain that the man felt it too. It was a connection between the two of them that had no real name, but yet it really did not need to be described, only felt.

A boldness rose in Cesc that he did not know he possessed. “You. I want you.”

Cesc’s reaction to his own words should have been embarrassment for being so brazen. He should have blushed and ran out the door, not stopping to look back. He should have at least looked away. But he did not do any of those things; he looked straight into the man’s eyes as he spoke the truth.

Iker swallows thickly and lowers his eyes for a brief moment. He then raises them with curiosity in the dark orbs. “Perhaps…we should talk for a little bit. You know, to get to know each other a little bit.”

Cesc nods. “I think that would be a good idea.”

“What’s your name?” Iker asks and Cesc blushes that he knows Iker’s name but that the favor was not returned. “I want to know the name of the boy who has tormented me.”

“Cesc.” He replies and wonders at what Iker said about Cesc tormenting him.

“Cesc…” Iker nods. “It suits you.”

“Gracias.” Cesc feels a flush rising up his neck but hopes to quell it.

“How about some coffee?” Iker asks with his mouth tilting upwards in a small smile. “We are in a coffee shop after all. How about I buy you a cup?”

Cesc lowered his eyes at that. “All right, thanks.”

Iker nods and pulls out his wallet. Cesc sees lots of bills thickening the leather book as Iker pulls out a ten-euro note, which he then proceeds to toss onto Cesc’s side of the table. “Go get whatever you want.”

Cesc looks up into Iker’s eyes and sees the amused sincerity and he takes the note. “Thank you.” Iker just nods and watches as Cesc leaves the table to go place an order for a cup of coffee.


When Cesc returns, he puts the change in front of Iker. Iker pushes it back across. “Keep it, I don’t need it anyway.”

Hesitantly, Cesc looks at him. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to take your money…”

Iker waves a hand. “Trust me, I don’t need it.”

“Why not? Being a shopkeeper’s assistant can’t pay much, can it?” Cesc asks as he takes a sip of his hot chocolate. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker anyway.

Iker throws back his head and laughs, a rich and warm sound. Cesc likes the sound of it immediately but then he feels embarrassed that Iker is laughing at him. The scowl on his face gives him away and Iker recovers and clears his throat; grin still intact on his face.

“To be honest with you, Cesc, the pay is beyond terrible. It is non-existent.” Iker shakes his head as if thinking about it. “It is a punishment for my sins, handed down from the incredibly unmerciful hand of my father.”

“Your sins…?” Cesc asks as he picks through the new information.

Iker grins. “Not all of us are innocent angels.”

Cesc doesn’t believe that this man could have done anything that would demote him as an angel; he had seen too many demons in his lifetime to know an angel and a saint when he saw one.

Cesc shakes his head at that. “Not everyone is a demon though either.”

“That is true.” Iker agrees and leans back to study the boy. “I am sorry for our first meeting, I was not expecting you to be in that room that day. I was not expecting anyone like you at all any day.”

“Anyone like me…?”

The first sign of that nervously stuttering man that had been the one that Cesc had floored the week before returned. Iker lowered his eyes for the first time since he had decided to engage himself further into this odd relationship. “A boy so charming and alluring as you. I was not prepared for that.”

Cesc feels a warmth spread through him at being called ‘charming’ and ‘alluring’. He smiles unguarded at Iker. “I don’t think you would have been prepared even if you had known."

Iker raises his eyes, amusement twinkling in them now. “I probably wouldn’t have been, you’re right.”

Cesc and Iker go back to studying each other, each trying to use their eyes to bore into the other man’s soul. In the end, neither mind is penetrated and only more questions arise than answers. Cesc realizes that he has been sitting in this coffee shop a long time; he isn’t sure how long.

Panic rises and he realizes the potential consequences if he is caught.

“I have to go now,” Cesc apologizes and stands up. “Thank you very much for the coffee.”

Iker frowns when Cesc says he has to go and stands as well. “You’re welcome.”

Cesc throws away his cup and looks back at Iker before he walks out the door. “Goodbye.”

Cesc sees Iker watching him as he leaves and sighs. More questions float inside of his head than what was answered. He feels a great pleasure run like electricity through his bloodstream at the fact that he just spent a bunch of time with Iker, alone.

The sun has slid down the sky to kiss the hills and street lamps have already clicked on, pools of artificial light start collecting on the sidewalk. Dusk is quickly approaching and Cesc prays that he is going to make it home before the others do.

“Cesc!” His name being called stops him and he looks around. Walking out of the coffee shop, Iker comes the few meters it takes to get to Cesc’s side.

“Yes?” Cesc asks watching Iker come closer.

Iker looks around briefly before he puts his finger under Cesc’s chin and tips it upwards. Cesc’s breath catches somewhere between his lungs and his nose as Iker’s head comes closer to his own. Iker’s finger seems to draw Cesc closer so that the boy is standing close to him, closer than Cesc ever thought he would be.

Iker’s soft lips brush across Cesc’s, sending sparks of lustful fire down the boy’s spine. Spasms of sheer delight and pleasure race through each nerve ending, dancing throughout his entire nervous system like shimmering lights, each bursting with a new sensation of delight and pleasure. Cesc hears somebody moan and it does not even register that it is him making that noise. All he can feel is the softness of Iker’s lips and the stirring of life that he feels with the connection made between the older man’s lips and his own.

Cesc moans in anguish when Iker pulls away. The loss of contact is too much too soon and Cesc tries to lean forward to get Iker to kiss him again. Iker’s hands rest on his shoulders and hold him in place as he forces himself to take a step away from the boy.

“I wanted to know what you tasted like.” Iker says for explanation. Cesc barely notices that Iker is as out of breath as he is.

“Do I taste good?” Cesc asks hoping that the answer is a ‘yes’.

Iker smiles and leans forward, brushing his lips against the boy’s cheek. He leans in, voice hot and incredibly sexy beside his ear. “I don’t think I will ever get enough of the way you taste.”

Iker pulls back enough to put his lips beside Cesc’s ear as he kissed his way across Cesc’s cheek to reach the corner of his lip. He pressed a chaste kiss there and then pulled back completely. He opened his wallet again and pulled out a card.

“Call me at this number when you can get away for a few hours.” Iker hands him a card with a number on it. “Something tells me you want me as much as I want you.”

Cesc was grateful that he was still flushed from his first kiss. It covered up the blush that was creeping over his skin. He nodded. “Okay.”

Iker nods and then lifts his hand to run his knuckles over Cesc’s cheek. “See you soon Cesc.”

Iker gives him one last fleeting look and then wrenches himself back to walk away. Cesc swallows thickly. The taste of Iker’s mouth was still fresh and it tasted like coffee and a different sort of taste that he could not name. He loved the way it tasted though and hoped that no matter what he would always remember this.

He turned around and started to walk back to the house, trying to make sure his feet didn’t get caught up and twisted underneath him to trip himself. He felt as if he were on cloud nine.

Cesc remembers that Pep is due home any moment, as is Bojan, and Cesc remembers that he needs to pretend that his alibi is actually in effect. He runs the rest of the way home, savoring the taste of Iker that dances on his tongue.

Cesc pulls his key from the pocket of his jeans as he jogs up the front stairs. He opens the door half expecting Pep to be glaring down at him, telling him that he has to go home for not being here when he was supposed to be.

The inside of the house is dark, as he had left it. The only sounds come from the kitchen where the refrigerator is running and the air-conditioner is cooling the house from the sticky heat outside. Cesc breathes in and out, relaxing, as he shuts the door behind him. He runs a hand over his jaw and remembers when Iker kissed him there.

Cesc made a mental note never to make fun of Silva’s crush over Villa again. If this is what falling head over heels with someone felt like, long may the tumble continue.