Chapter 34

[tempered-rose.livejournal.com]

Title: The Eternal Heartache, Chapter 34 of ???
Characters (this part only): Cesc Fabregas, Pep Guardiola/Raul Gonzales, Bojan Krkic, Sergio Ramos, Alexis, Fernando Torres, Vicente Rodriguez; Mentioned: Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, OFC, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, David Villa, David Silva
Rating: PG-13 this part
Words: this part: 2,073 overall total: 84,372
A/N: More updates, good thing, yes? :D I’m sorry it has taken so long, but the good news is I’m finally graduated so school no longer provides a distraction :D Hopefully that means more updates xD I hope you like it :) As always, thanks to those of you who continue to read this and extra thanks to those of you that comment. I love all of you and this chapter is especially for all of you :-)



Last part here. All previous parts listed here.


The school auditorium was fairly large considering the number of students that attended. There were no windows on the walls, but thick plush padding was embroidered in the school colors to provide some sort of audio proofing. A large stage, devoted mostly to theatrical school performances, was at the front of the room. It had a large oaken floor that extended in a large semi-circle several feet above the floor.

Away from the stage, several hundred seats extended back to the far wall, gently sloping upwards. A balcony that seated around thirty hung over the last few rows. Every seat was cushioned like in a real auditorium; the upholstery was the same two colors, dark blue and silver. The floor underneath the seats was made of some sort of stone.

To the boy, it may as well have been one of the finest concert halls in all of Europe, never mind Spain.

“Is this where will we perform?” Bojan asked softly as Sergio hopped onto the stage. Nando was helping Alexis set up their equipment.

“No. We just practice here because Alexis’ mother pulled some strings. We’re now allowed to practice here every Saturday afternoon until the end of term.” Sergio replied with a shrug and pulled the keyboard from out of the blackness of the back of the stage. “We’ll perform the real performance at Plaça Reial for a small competition.”

Bojan’s eyes widened further as he came to stop directly in front of the stage.

“P-Plaça Reial?”

“Sí. They are having a small competition. The band that performs the best, according to several judges, wins almost a thousand Euros.” Sergio pulled the cover off the keyboard after he finished speaking.

“That’s why it is crucial we win,” Alexis added and Nando nodded silently.

“It’s also why we need you,” Sergio turned to Bojan with a small. Bojan shifted nervously. “Kun knew what we were up against but left us anyway.”

“You can’t blame him for wanting to go to a good school,” Nando spoke softly but Sergio shrugged.

“He still could’ve played with us first and then have gone. He didn’t have to start in the middle of the year.” Nando stayed silent and Sergio sighed. “Let’s give it a shot Bojan. You did well at the audition.”

At Sergio’s small smile, Bojan swallowed nervously and moved around the stage to go up the stairs. He wasn’t feeling brave enough to hop onto the stage the way the others had. He wasn’t as tall as they were and wasn’t intending on making a fool out of himself.

Sergio smiled at the gesture and moved over to adjust the lights. On his way back, he picked up some papers from the bag he’d brought and offered them to Bojan.

“Just relax,” he started quietly. “Pretend you’re just mucking about at home today. There’s no audience to worry about.”

Bojan took the sheet music and studied the yet-to-become familiar array of notes on the page. He swallowed. It wasn’t anything that complicated, certainly not Chopin or Beethoven, but he was still a little nervous of messing up when this was so important to them. He looked at Alexis who took his place behind the drums and Nando who was picking up a guitar. Alexis gave him a reassuring.

He let out a breath and stood behind the keyboard, his fingers moving lightly along the keys. They felt strange under his fingers, very different from the last set of keys that had been underneath his fingers. He looked down at the black and white keys and sighed quietly before he set up the sheets along the small music stand.

“Everybody ready?” Sergio asked. When no one voiced an objection, he nodded towards Alexis. “Count us off, Alexis.”

Bojan looked at the first line of notes and listened to the ticks of the drumsticks. His fingers poised over the keys and after the third tick, he began to play along with the others.



“Damn that woman!”

Raul winced as a planter of ivy crashed against the wall. Dirt and water slid slowly down the wall.

“Was that really necessary?” He asked, starting for the hallway closet to get a dustpan and a broom.

“Yes! She’s doing this on purpose!” Pep shouted and slammed his fist on the desk. Raul stooped by the mess several seconds later and began to sweep up the glass and dirt on the floor.

“For the record,” he started calmly, “what did she do this time?”

Pep sighed heavily and looked at the papers on the desk in front of him. “Her lawyer, some kid barely out of school—which, by the way, I’m not sure how she can afford since she is so financially unable—” he scoffed dismissively, “is claiming that you and I are a bad influence on her children.”

Raul frowned and looked over. “Because we are gay?”

Pep nodded once, dark look on his face. Raul never really took great offense to those people that had problems with gay people. He didn’t like their opinions, obviously, but he wasn’t so outright against them either. He would shrug things off and pretend that they hadn’t spoken and would continue living in his world where such things were normal. It was only when they started shoving their views into his face that he took great offense. Live and let live, he would think until they began their disapproving looks and malicious words.

Pep, on the other hand, took offense to anyone who dared turn up their nose towards gay people in general. He didn’t always let it show, but he never forgot a word against his preferences.

Raul shook his head in dismissal. “Once they hear testimony against her, once they hear what those boys had to go through,” Raul shook his head again, this time in disgust, “then they will see. Then they will see.”

Pep’s expression softened and he looked over to Raul who was swallowing hard. He released a pent up breath of frustration and stood from the chair. He moved across the room slowly until he stopped beside Raul. He let his hand rest on his lover’s shoulder and squeezed lightly.

“We’ll have to tell the boys what is going on,” he started quietly and kept his tone soft. “They should be kept informed. Plus, Mourinho wants a doctor to examine them and to make a record of their injuries.”

Raul looked up. “They’ll probably not go for it,” he bit his lip.

Pep nodded. “I know. But they have to if they want this to proceed further. If there’s a trial, which Mourinho wants, then they’ll be called to testify. I don’t want to put them through that,” Pep added when Raul opened his mouth to protest. “I don’t think they should be made to. I’m going to have a word with him about that. But as far as the exam, they’ll have to do that for the sake of the case.”

“Be gentle when you ask them.”

“I will.”

Raul felt reassured when he saw the look of warmth and protection in Pep’s eyes. He nodded and continued with the cleaning up of the ivy.

“I’m sorry,” Pep apologized after a minute.

“You know I quite liked that vase,” Raul spoke quietly.

“I’ll buy you a new one.” Pep replied instantly.

“Only if you promise to not put it within your arm’s reach this time.”

Pep stayed silent and only gave his Raul a playful glare when the other man began to smile innocently.



Once again, the lure of Vicente’s family’s boathouse was too great a call to ignore. Except this time, instead of staying inside the shack-like building, Cesc had allowed himself to sit on the dock with his feet dangling in the water. He enjoyed the feel of the sun on his skin as well as the soft breeze blowing to ruffle his hair. The soft lap of water hitting the rock-lined shore was constant and it allowed him to let his thoughts drift.

He was reminded of the day spent on the river not that long ago. Bojan had been younger then, not just by several months, but somehow he’d been less mature in some ways then. He’d been innocent. Since he’d been in Barcelona, he’d branched out and grown up a little bit. Cesc liked it and thought it was good for his brother, but in some ways, he wished he still had the wide-eyed innocent boy back.

Vicente had come outside with him several hours earlier. He was still there; Cesc could still feel his presence. He looked subtly to his right and saw that, indeed, Vicente was sitting in one of his mother’s benches underneath one of the large trees in the backyard. He had a book open in his lap, but Cesc could see something in his hand; he guessed it was Chente’s phone.

Cesc looked back down to his feet underneath the water. It was cool against his skin and for a second he wondered what it’d be like to just jump in and see if it would feel as wonderful as he thought it would be. One thing he always liked to do was just jump under water so that the only sound he could hear was his heartbeat. It was somehow calming.

The same problem that had been bothering him for a while began to make its reappearance. Cesc sighed and tried to focus on his toes under the water and not the thoughts beginning to poke into his conscious.

He had considered taking up a hobby to keep the thoughts at bay, but nothing he had tried seemed to take his interest. He’d tried learning cards with Villa, but he had quickly gotten tired of his constant losing towards Guaje. He couldn’t prove it, but he had a good idea that he’d been cheating. He had tried chess with Silva, but should’ve known that would’ve been a mistake. Silva had schooled him in under ten moves. Even when he had gone home to practice with Pep, he still lost. Chess just wasn’t for him. He had hung out with Sergio, Alexis, and Nando a few times, listening to their music. He liked their music, but not enough to see how it was made. He thought that made him a bad friend.

The only real person who he found himself hanging out with was the very tall Pique. At first, he’d thought that Pique was just a little too strange. He’d quickly figured out that Geri wasn’t that strange; he just had his quirks like anybody else. His nature was a little too outgoing for Cesc’s liking, but he found himself able to enjoy the boy’s company.

Gerard made him smile occasionally, and for that, he was grateful. They didn’t hang out a lot, due to the fact Gerard had a girlfriend and the fact that he was also on the football team. Cesc had seen them practice, but he’d never tried for the team. He didn’t think he was so great at football anyway.

“Cesc?” Vicente’s voice called from a distance and Cesc looked over. Chente was standing and walking closer. “Mother said we could eat lunch out here. Are you hungry?”

Cesc took notice of his stomach. He shrugged. “I could eat.”

Vicente stopped close enough so that Cesc could see his smile. “Perfect, I’ll just go tell her.” He turned to leave before he stopped a half-step later. “Actually, we could go out on the boat, if you want?”

Cesc raised his eyebrow. “The boat? Wouldn’t that be a lot of trouble?”

Chente shook his head and smiled. “Not at all. I’ve been able to sail since I was little. We could make a picnic out of it,” he grinned before it quickly faded. “Unless you’d rather just stay on land? I saw the way you were looking at the water earlier, I thought you might like it?”

He watched Chente bite his lip and he sighed. He’d never been on a boat before and he’d never been out to see that way before either. But the way Chente was looking with hopefulness on his face, Cesc couldn’t quite say no.

Besides, it could be fun right?

“If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble…” Cesc hesitated.

“It’s not.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Cesc nodded his agreement.

Vicente beamed and turned to go back to retrieve their soon to be picnic.