***
instagram

sophadiaz: when in 🇩🇰, eat 🇩🇰 pastries
tagged: siramartinezc, paulabatet, clarissaadiaz
📍 Copenhagen, Denmark

liked by pedri, katherineadams,
giodelucaaa, pauttorres and others

***

"Who is Toad and why do they keep shell-bombing me?"

"That's Dani."

"No, it's Eric."

"Eric is Luigi, dumbass."

"Eric is not Luigi," Eric Garçia answers for himself. "Nor Toad. Eric is Donkey Kong."

"Then who is Toad?" Sophia reiterates her question, eyes trained on her Nintendo Switch screen, steering her way through the tracks in the chosen Mario Kart circuit. They were currently in an airport lounge — no longer that of the San Pablo airport in Sevilla, but now in the Malpensa airport of Milan. They'd stopped over in Milan for a couple of hours after the first flight, Sophia now in a circle playing Mario Kart with Sira, Pacho and a few other footballers. Turns out a lot of older people had Nintendo Switch consoles now. And Mario Kart.

(Rightfully so.)

"Me," says Dani Olmo, with a mischievous smile.

"I was right!" José Gayá exclaims triumphantly without taking his eyes off his console once.

"Ay— who green-shelled me!" Pablo Sarabia scoffs, and the group heard Pacho's responsive cackle. "You're lucky your dad is my boss, niño." The console Sarabia was playing on actually belonged to Pedri, who hopped out after the first round (in which he came fifth in rankings, Laporte fourth, Sophia coming third, Sira second and Dani Olmo first), the Canarian now chatting to Ferran and Busquets.

They were currently on the third race of four in this second round of gaming. Sophia, as usual, had Link from Zelda as her racer. She wasn't doing as well as she was last time. Dipping in between fifth and sixth place at times. Maybe lower. She even got a Bullet Bill at one point, which tells you something. She was determined to get either first or second place in this to help her get some place on the podium.

And as the race ended, she managed to squeeze past Laporte's Inkling Boy to secure third place.

"Fuck, yeah!" It was Pacho, who'd jumped to his feet to beat Dani Olmo's Mario to first place with Luigi (the real Luigi).

"Cheat," Dani Olmo coughs under his breath.

"Sore loser."

Dani Olmo asks Sira, "Can you smack him for me?"

Sira takes a look between the RB Leipzig player and her own brother, considering it. She sighs. "I can't. My parents are right there."

Pacho, the little shit, prods his little sister in the ribs, almost exerting a reaction from Sira had the player with the master console — Gayá, in this case — not started the final round immediately, snapping her back to attention before she could retaliate against her big brother.

The final race starts, and everyone shuts up; the only sounds heard are the game tunes resounding from everyone's consoles. She knows they're footballers and all, but this gaming thing really gets the competitive drive going. She should mention this to Lucho as an aspect of training, surely it'd help in some form or the other.

Sophia steers Link into fifth place one more, receiving a red mushroom to speed her into third place past Donkey Kong (Eric) and Yoshi (Gayá). Metal Mario (Sira) and Mario (Dani Olmo) remained firmly in second and first place, respectively.

Then a green shell hits her, and she's now in sixth place. Donkey Kong turned around in his car to laugh at Link, the audacity.

"Screw you, Eric," Sophia scoffs, "I'm telling Katherine to give you extra push-ups in training."

Eric Garçia replies, "Jokes on you, because I just transferred to Barcelona."

Link gets back into fifth place. Darned fifth place. Luigi (Pacho) comes up beside Link in his car attempting to barge through however Sophia equips the banana she was waiting to throw at this exact moment. Luigi skidded and slipped back, taking Inkling Boy (Laporte) with him. Link was getting closer, edging past Yoshi and almost able to exact revenge on Donkey Kong, Sophia's finger probably had an imprint due to how hard she was pressing accelerate on her console.

Just got a green shell, yes.

Sophia wasted no time in making Link chuck the green shell at Donkey Kong in front of her.

However, she wasn't able to watch Donkey King's downfall because something lands on her shoulder, causing her to jump with surprise.

(Literally, someone put their hand on Sophia's shoulder).

"It's just me," Pedri says with a warm laugh.

She wasn't expecting that. But because of the little jumpscare and the fact she was in the middle of a Mario Kart tournament, she wasn't able to acknowledge Pedri nor the fact she's been knocked back down into sixth. It was tense.

The circuit ends, and Link crosses the finish line sixth place after Yoshi. Third place was Inkling Boy, second place was Metal Mario and first place was Mario. Dani Olmo was pumping the air with his fist. The awards ceremony takes place, and the final lineups weren't that different. Mario first, Metal Mario second, Donkey Kong third, Yoshi fourth, and Link was fifth, much to Sophia's dismay.

She'd hardly noticed the fact both Pedri's hands were still on her shoulders, standing behind the chair she was sat on.

"Hello," she says, craning her neck up to look at him.

"Hey," he returns. Pedri tuts. "Fifth place, Verdiblanco? I expected better."

Sophia sighs. "You're such a distraction, Palmero."

A smirk ghosted Pedri's lips. "I'm distracting, so you say?"

"Oh, shove it," she tells him, but she was smiling.

"I think you need to change your game strategy," says Pedri, checking out the rankings once more.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You definitely need to ditch the Zelda lad."

"And who I would I go with then? Link is my beloved. I can't cheat on him."

"Verdiblanco, he's a knock-off elf. A video game character." Pedri deadpans.

"You take that back."

"I don't think so," Pedri laughs. "I can let you borrow Wario, though."

"How kind," she snickers. "You must've bought his rights from Nintendo and everything, right?"

"The whole lot of it," Pedri goes along with a wide grin, giving her shoulder a brief rub.

"What are you two youngsters chatting so amicably about?" The question was from Gayá, looking between Pedri and Sophia: Pedri, standing, telling something to Sophia over her shoulder, who was in her seat looking up at him with a grin.

Pedri frowns at Gayá's question. Then he takes a look at the final rankings for this circuit on Sophia's console. "Fourth place, Jose," he says, "not bad for a pensioner."

"I'm twenty-eight, you fucker," Gayá protests.

"Still ten years older than me."

The older Spaniard flips his finger at Pedri, while Sophia frowns curiously up at him, who was still leaning over her chair, and thus, over her.

"You're eighteen?" She asks.

Pedri nods. "Yeah. Turn nineteen in November. I was born at the tail end of 2002."

"I know just the thing to get you for your birthday."

"It's four months away."

"I prepare in advance."

"Can I at least ask what it is?"

"Why, Palmero, that takes away the element of surprise."

Pedri raises an eyebrow. "I beg of you, do not buy me anything Zelda-related."

Sophia threw her hands dramatically in the air. "Cheers for ruining all my plans, Pedri."

He laughs, and notices Sophia placing her Nintendo Switch into its case and into her bag. "You not staying on for another round? We're not boarding the next flight for another half an hour."

"Nah," she replies as she gets to her feet, knit cardigan billowing around her arms. "I'm gonna grab coffee."

"Sore fifth place losers grab coffee instead of trying in another tournament? Noted."

"Watch it." Sophia gives his ribs a poke, to which he mischievous cackles. "You want anything?"

"I'm good, gracias," Pedri smiles.

The moment Sophia walks around the rows of seats and off in the direction of the coffee shop situated within the airport, she turns back momentarily and sees Pedri hopping over the back of the seat she just inhabited. Now sitting in what was once Sophia's seat, he turns back to meet her narrowed gaze, grins and calls out "Just keeping it warm for you," to which Sophia had no choice but to let the smile break across her face.

***

The plane from Milan had arrived in Copenhagen the previous morning. Early morning. The players had been whisked off to their hotel rooms right away; they had a training session first thing and needed their rest. Sophia's family arrived in the late afternoon, and they were all exhausted.

Aside from baby Rosie, the little machine.

Maria Adams-Diaz looked shattered when Sophia went to go greet her parents in their hotel room, while the almost-one-year-old that was Rosemary Adams-Diaz was excitedly playing with her ten-year-old big brother Matthias on their parents' bed. Clarissa had already knocked out in her and Matthias' room next door, and Maria was scolding her only son to go get some rest too after their flights to the Danish capital. Maria said Rosie slept the entire way over. Start to finish, even in their three hour stopover. The little girl was full of energy, too much.

"I'll take her for a walk, Madre," Sophia told her mum. "Sira misses her too. We'll watch her for a bit."

Maria had let out a relieved sigh. Clearly hoping Sophia would volunteer. "Gracias, mi hija," she says. Then, to Matthias, "Get tae bed, Matt."

(All these years in Sevilla and her Glasgow accent had never faded.)

Sophia took her baby sister even with Matthias's childish insistence that he wasn't tired. He went to bed, though, because it wasn't worth arguing with his mum once her mind was made. Sophia knew all too well. Sira was overjoyed to see the tiny human in Sophia's arms when she got back to their shared room, and the two proceeded to give Rosie a tour of their hotel. Not that she'd remember or understand any of it.

An hour into Sira and Sophia's babysitting duties, roaming the hotel, they found Sira's dad. Luis Enrique was lounged on a sofa in the hotel's lobby, iPad propped up on the coffee table, looking deep in thought. Converting instantly once Rosie was spotted. Which left them to chill out on the lobby sofas with him, Rosie jumping between laps whenever she got bored.

"How was training?" Sophia asks Lucho, who was showing Rosie how to draw shapes on his iPad.

"Promising, cariño," Lucho nods. "The boys look ready. And they want the win very badly, I can feel it when I enter the room. They have until after dinner to rest, we have one final session tonight before the game."

"Who are you planning on starting?" asks Sira, one leg folded over the other, leaning back into her seat.

Lucho grins. "I can't tell you that, mi hija."

"Worth a try," Sira sighs defeatedly.

"I'll tell you whose been seriously impressive in training, though. Torres. Well, both have been incredible, but Ferran has been standing out quite a bit."

Sophia didn't miss the way Sira's eyes widened.

"That's, um... nice," says Sira.

"Pedri too," Lucho continues, unsuspecting of anything, "The boy is a wonder, and he's only eighteen." He nods at Sophia, "You picked a good friend to have, Soph."

Sophia chuckles, not sure what to make of the comment. "Um... thanks, Tío."

Rosie pulls herself into standing position — the closest she's gotten to walking yet — on Lucho's lap, examining his face with her two hands as if it were an outlandish thing to exist. It caused Lucho to squint, because Rosie poked him directly in the eye.

Sira bursts into laughter. "Dios mio, she's so mean. I love her."

Footsteps are heard padding down the stairs to the lobby, followed by voices. And Sira, with a clear view of the stairs in question, speaking:

"Speak of the devil."

Sophia frowns, then cranes her neck around to get a look at the stairs adjacent to them. And she understood, because the precious topic of conversation — Pedri — was walking towards the three adults and baby on the couches, Aymeric Laporte with him, both in their National Team tracksuits.

"Me?" Laporte frowns at Sira's remark.

"Nope," says Sira, "Pedro."

"Hello to you too," Pedri chuckles. "What were you guys saying about me?" But he was looking at Sophia as he said it, something charming in the way his lips perked.

"All bad things, I'm afraid," Sophia sighs. "Rude, slow riser, Zelda hater."

Pedri snickers. "Right, sure."

"Nothing bad." Sophia grins.

"Pedriño, I was just saying how glad I am you two are friends," Lucho tells him.

"Oh, yeah," Pedri clears his throat, "That, um... friends, that we are."

Sophia chuckles at how Lucho got him so nervous. He's sweet. Him and that little tuft of dark hair sticking out from the rest.

"Who's this, then? I don't believe we've met."

It takes Sophia a second to realise Pedri was talking about Rosie, his eyes trained on the infant in his boss's lap with a lopsided grin. She smiles.

"Palmero, meet Rosie," says Sophia. Lucho handed Sophia back her baby sister, sitting Rosie in her lap, after both Pedri and Laporte came forward to see her.

"Hola," Pedri chuckles, crouching down to face Rosie, instinct getting him to tickle her cheek with his finger.

Rosie turns away and burrows into Sophia in response.

"Rosie, babe, that's not how we treat friends," Sophia sighs. "Sorry... it's a new faces thing."

"It's okay," Pedri smiles. "I'd turn away if I saw Ayme's face too."

Laporte scoffs, Pedri missing his hit narrowly. "You, niño, are cheeky. Babies love me. You scared her off."

Sira asks them, "What are you two up to?"

"Just exploring," Laporte shrugs, dropping onto the couch beside Sira while Pedri sat beside Sophia and Lucho, Rosie still hugging — hiding in — Sophia. "What about you?"

"Babysitting," answers Sira. "Sophia's parents were exhausted after their flight, so asked us — well, Soph volunteered — to take Rosie."

"Your whole family's here?" Pedri asked with a bright smile, and she didn't expect him to be so excited as he did.

"Yeah," says Sophia, "They got here a few hours ago. Even my dad, he managed to get time off of work this time. They're so excited. Matt's been buzzing with energy since he realised we'd be in hospitality again." She asks Pedri, "Is your family going to be there tomorrow?"

Pedri nods, grinning. "They are. They're also hyped for tomorrow, they've each got their jerseys with my name on the back ready."

"I'll hopefully see them then," says Sophia. "I'll recognise Fernando, anyways." Rosie shifted a little in Sophia's arm, the little girl recognising a presence beside them. It was Pedri sitting close next to them, and she ever so slowly starts to peer around at him. Pedri notices, looking at Rosie with a side-eye, in the hopes he didn't scare her off again. But she notices her little eyes trained on the lanyard around his neck — his Euros ID. Sophia's was back in her room.

Pedri clears his throat a little, cautious of the baby's gaze on him. He slowly tips up the bottom of his lanyard ID, offering it to Rosie. Sophia cranes her neck enough to see the scepticism in her little sister's eyes.

Babies are so paranoid.

Rosie takes the lanyard in her two tiny hands anyways, Sophia adjusting her to fit in her lap. Rosie fiddling with the lanyard around Pedri's neck, the length of it outstretching between them, Pedri looks confused. Does this baby like him yet or does she not?

But she didn't seem to be disliking him, either.

"Does she talk much?" asks Pedri.

"The occasional babble," Sophia replies. "She's said Mama and the closest she's ever got to name yet is Fee, instead of Sophia."

"She does have full on conversations, though, sometimes," says Sira.

"Totally." Sophia agrees. "The babbles turn into a story, and I still don't know what she's saying. You have to go along with it, though. Pretend like she's telling you something mind-blowing."

"Of course," says Pedri, "Can't get the baby down."

Laporte, slouching on the sofa, declares to Sophia, "You know, you're not actually as bad as Katherine makes you out to be."

Sophia's eyes widen, "What lies has my dear cousin been feeding you all this time?"

Laporte snickers. "She's basically given us the impression that her scientist cousin from Spain was the next Doctor Doofenshmirtz."

Sophia raises an eyebrow.

Laporte adds, "For the sole purpose of threatening us in training, of course."

"I can assure you, Aymeric, the closest I've ever gotten to Doctor Doofenshmirtz is how I look when I'm wearing my lab coat."

"Glad to hear," Laporte laughs. He glances at his boss, contemplating over his iPad. "Still on it, Lucho?"

"Sí," says Lucho. "No rest for the wicked."

"Wicked seems about right."

Lucho threatens, "That's extra push-ups."

Laporte chuckles. "You should rest." Nods at Sira sitting beside him, "Get dinner with the family, or something. I know we're facing the World Cup finalists, but we'll be okay. You've made sure of that."

"Sí, Mister," Pedri adds. "You have faith in us, have it in yourself. We'll be okay."

Lucho nods slowly, rubbing his tired eyes. "Very well." Getting to his feet, he tells his players, "I'll see you during our last session." To Sira, "Mija, get yourself and Pacho ready for dinner for six." He places a hand on Sophia's head, and pinches Rosie's soft cheeks. He says goodbye, telling them he's going to rest in his room.

Lucho takes another look back at Sophia, with Pedri, and Baby Rosie playing with them both. A rare smile spreads up his lips.

Then he leaves, and sharing an impressed look with Pedri, Laporte says, "I didn't actually think he'd listen to us."

Pedri laughs, agreeing. Then takes another look at Rosie, tranquil, playing with his lanyard still, and takes the leap, because she doesn't seem to be against him now. "Can I hold her?" He asks Sophia.

"Oh, sure," Sophia nods. Rosie was still firm on holding the lanyard even as Sophia passed her baby sister into Pedri's arms. They all braced themselves in the case of a bad reaction from the infant, however... nothing. If anything, Rosie's little lips spread into a smile. A completely different reaction from the start.

Pedri grins. "She's like a teddy bear," he says, holding her little figure to his chest. To Laporte, he says, "Suck it, Ayme."

"That's not fair," Laporte pouts. "I'll have you know, "Phil Foden's kid is obsessed with me."

"The exception, it seems."

"That's it, I'm applying for a single room." Laporte laughs defeatedly. "We're not sharing anymore."

"I hear Gayá was looking for someone to share with," Pedri says, but he was grinning as he did so, bouncing Rosie in his arms, her little feet standing on his lap. Pedri turns to Sophia and says, "She's adorable, Verdiblanco."

And Sophia couldn't lie... seeing Pedri there, getting on with her baby sister, even making the stubborn one giggle... well, she always loved seeing cute guys with babies. Pedri was no exception to the cause, and she didn't even realise how hard she was smiling until Siri gave her that look over the coffee table.

"What?"

Sophia realised the question came from Pedri. Who was looking at her curiously.

Shit, did Sophia just get caught staring at Pedri... by Pedri?

"Nothing, nothing." She chuckles, shaking her head.

Laporte switches his eyes between Pedri and Sophia, squinting slightly. There was definitely something there. "Right..." he clicks his tongue. "Stop gatekeeping the cute child, Pedriño." Reluctantly, Pedri does hand over Rosie, who giggles immediately on seeing Laporte's smiling face. "See? I told you babies liked me. Ronnie is not the exception."

"Ronnie?" asks Sira.

"Foden's kid," clarifies Laporte. "Think he's only a bit older than Rosie here. Maybe a year?"

"That's cute," Sophia grins. Her phone buzzes, and she recognises her mother's caller ID.

That'll be Maria awake, then. And most likely wanting her baby back. She answers the phone shortly to find she was correct, that Rosie would need fed soon.

She grimaces in Laporte's direction, who was making faces at Rosie, only prompting a cheesy grin on her tiny face, five baby teeth present as of yet.

"I'm sorry, Aymeric," says Sophia. "My mum is requesting me to return the little child. Mother separation anxiety, and all that."

"Damn, that's heartbreaking," Laporte sighs, smiling a few seconds later. "It's all good. I need to stop taking other people's babies, it's giving me baby fever." He bends his head to be level with Rosie. "I'll see you later, niña," he says in a tiny voice, prompting Rosie to scrunch her little nose.

"To be fair, Ayme," Pedri cuts in with a naughty grin. "You do have a girlfriend... you don't have much of an excuse."

"What me and Sara do in our free time is none of your business, Pedriño," Laporte huffs, "You'll understand when you become an adult."

"I'm eighteen."

"Un N-I-Ñ-O," Laporte enunciates slowly in Pedri's face, making the latter roll his eyes. Laporte passes Sophia her baby sister back, and both Sira and Sophia stand up to leave.

"Will I see you at dinner?" Pedri asks.

"No, sorry," Sophia frowns. "Myself and the family are checking out the Nyhavn area, my dad was looking at restaurants earlier. I'll... um... see you at the game tomorrow, though, right?"

"Definitely," Pedri smiles. He stands up, a hand on Rosie's tiny arm. "It was nice to meet you, bebita," he grins. "I'll see you later. Enjoy dinner, Verdiblanco. Sira."

"See you, Palmero." She gives Pedri a parting smile, and then Laporte too, and heads back into the elevator with Sira and her baby sister.

***

The morning of the game, Sophia, Sira and Clarissa planned on exploring the city a little before the game. She knew Paula, Pau Torres's girlfriend, would be around too, and she had her Instagram after the last match, so reached out. She seemed lovely at the match and even that party, Sophia thought it would be a good chance to get to know her.

At breakfast, she'd hardly seen any of the players dining in the morning, unlike the previous morning. No Pedri, Ferran, Laporte, not even Lucho. They had either already awoken or getting extra rest.

Sophia texted Pedri, anyways. Good luck, Palmero. Don't doubt yourself, you have this💙

But then the match started, and Croatia took the lead in the twentieth minute. By an own goal. It was a fucking howler, Sophia couldn't lie. It was Pedri who passed back to Unai Simon who ended up tapping the ball directly into the net. She's not sure which of the two the own goal went to, despite it. Sarabia got it even for the two teams right before half time, and in the second half Azpilicueta scored, and so did Ferran. It looked good.

But then the unthinkable happened, and Croatia scored once in the eight-fifth minute and in the final minute of injury time.

The game was going to extra time.

"I'm going to be sick," says Sophia.

She has her hands in her face, arms balanced on her knees, the exact moment the extra time whistle was blown.

A hand was on her back, and she looks up to see Pacho standing over the crowd, not looking nervous.

"Please don't be sick," he says, "people will begin to think you're pregnant."

"Bullshit," Sophia laughs at how absurd his comment was, but guesses that was the purpose of it, anyways. "Whose kid would it even be?"

Pacho gives her an indicative look. She swears his eyes flit to the pitch for a moment. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

She rolls her eyes. Still seated, slouched, to her other side there was Sira, almost identical to her. The contrast between the two siblings' mental states in this match could not be more different.

"How are you so calm?" asks Sophia. "Sira's about to have a meltdown. Me too, to be honest."

"Soph, we're either going to win or lose. My dad is the coach. I trust his plan, and the players trust his plan too. As long as they're calm I will be."

Sophia nods, because the older Martinez-Cullel sibling has this bit of sense to him. She takes a deep breath, sitting up on her plastic chair, reaching out to Sira, who frantically links her shaking arm with Sophia's. Yeah, Sira and Pacho handle football games so differently.

Sitting in the middleish of the hospitality box within the Parken Stadium of Copenhagen, Sophia's family in the same row as her too, alongside Pacho, Sira and their mother. Matthias had his cheeks painted with red Spain flags, wearing his SERGIO-5 Spain jersey. The little boy's eyes were wide with terror watching the rest of the game unfold, and an identical look was in Clarissa's too, clutching onto their dad's arm for dear life.

This game.

Right from the start she made sure to keep an eye for Fernando and the rest of Pedri's family, and ended up seeing them back in the hospitality lounge — she waved at Fernando, and he had given her a bright smile, proceeding to say something to the short woman beside him who — Sophia presumed — was his mother. And Pedri's, of course.

Ferran had an incredible game, scoring the third goal for La Roja. And Pedri... well, anything Sophia could say wouldn't do justice to the talent the boy had. Even despite his fatigue — which playing the entire ninety minutes and extra time would do to one, his legs continued to run, accept balls, and pass them, as composed as he did in his first touch of the game. He was remarkable, Sophia knows she's not being biased here. As friendly as they were with each other, Pedri was a special player. When he had walked onto the pitch, Matthias shook Sophia's shoulder saying, "Soph, there's your friend Pedri! Look!"

Bless him.

Ten minutes of extra time had passed, and no goals. Sophia feared penalties were close. Oh, she would actually be sick then.

However somewhere in the midst of the cheering and the chaos and one ball being passed again and again and again, Dani Olmo intercepted a pass, crossing it into the box — Morata touches it once, then while it's still in the air—

"GOAL!"

The stadium exploded like never before. Sophia, Pacho and Sira jumped into one another at the same time, Matthias's tiny voice yelled "Vamos!" as he hugged their mother and Rosie — decked in a miniature Spain kit, and it was fucking adorable — Vincent and Clarissa yelling ferociously too, because they were back in this. Pedri's family was cheering, Laporte's girlfriend Sara was cheering, Torres's girlfriend Paula was cheering. Morata's wife, Alice, screamed at the top of her lungs, "MI ALVARITO!" The sounds from the hospitality box was deafening  enough, let alone the entire stadium.

Then three minutes later, Dani Olmo received another pass, passed it into the box, and Mikel Oyarzabal hit the back of the net.

The cheering never stopped, not once. Even as the first half of extra time ended, even in the break between the two halves. Adrenaline and all scientific things Sophia studied were at an all time high.

That last fifteen minutes of extra time. Goodness. It was the longest fifteen minutes of Sophia's life. The score was 5-3 to Spain, but the previous ninety minutes was token to how meaningless that could be. People were still cheering, but all Spanish fans were praying that their players would keep the damn ball. Pedri was still on the pitch, sweating in the scorching heat. Kind of remarkable, because he's eighteen and playing the full ninety and extra time for his country in the European Championships.

The full time whistle blows, and relief and ecstasy floods the faces of the Spaniards.

"Oh, dios mio." Sophia breathes as her relieved figure is taken into a hug by Clarissa. Sira and Pacho folded their mother into a hug, and when Lucho crossed over the pitch to see him, he leaped over the bannister to engulf his family in his arms.

A pair of arms attack Sophia from behind, and Matthias's voice fills her ears: "Soph, they did it! We're through!"

"We're through," Sophia giggles, turning her head to plant a kiss on her little brother's cheek as he launches himself onto her for a piggy back.

The minutes that followed consisted of players from both teams swapping their shirts, Spaniards consoling the Balkans, as well as congratulating each other on advancing to the quarterfinals. The kids of players jumped out of the box, running on to the pitch towards each of their dads - who, Sophia saw, included Morata, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Koke and Thiago.

Pedri ran up to their box, jumping over the bannister and directly into the arms of his family, Fernando giddily jumping over Pedri's embrace with their parents. Fernando puts his head to Pedri's, and tells him something she can't quite hear from this way away. Then Pedri's head moves in the direction of Sophia, as indicated by Fernando's nudge of the head, and she sends him an exuberant grin, Matthias still on her back, whooping with joy.

Dios mío, she wanted to hug Pedri. After everything that went on in the last hundred-and-twenty minutes, she wanted to hug him bad. Without caring that cameras were following this talented youngster everywhere and that she herself was just some random Andalusian, she wanted to be close to him.

Before she could register that Pedri was shuffling his way through the seats towards her, a pair of arms overcomes her - and Matthias - once more.

"Ay, Sophia! Matthias!" The voice belonged to Lucho, and Sophia chuckles in his embrace.

"You really don't know how to win without causing a few heart attacks, do you, Tío?"

Lucho pulls away with an everlasting grin, and after the stress the last few days had on him, it brought Sophia so much joy. "Where's the fun in that?" He jokes.

"You were incredible, Tío," Sophia says nonetheless. "You deserve this."

"You're gonna make me cry, Sophia," Lucho chuckles, and he brings Sophia - and Matthias, for the little boy was still on her back - in for another hug. "Gracias, cariño." He pulls away, ruffling Matthias's messy brown hair before he moved on to greet Vincent. The little boy steps off Sophia's back and onto the seat. He had enough of the high view.

She scans the crowd all around her, not sure where Pedri had went. However she was just as elated when a finger tapped her behind on the shoulder, she was facing the other way. When she whipped around, Ferran was there a row below, excitement etched over his features.

"El toro!" Sophia laughs, pulling him in for a hug over the little decline. "Ah, Ferran, you played so well. Felicidades."

"Gracias," Ferran chuckles, Sophia's dad also clapping him on the back with a "Good game, chico," after she'd introduced the two. Ferran also made himself known to Matthias with a fist bump. Who was still shocked that his sister knew footballers.

"Hey, Ferran," the voice that shocked Ferran (and Sophia) only, came a few seats along where he was.

It was Sira.

"Um, yeah?" He asks, frowning a little. Sophia guesses this meant they still hadn't talked after that night, dios mio.

Her face spreads out into a smile, and she nods. "Good game."

"Oh, uh," He chuckles. "Gracias, Sira."

Then they did that look thing again where one of them didn't want to break the line of eye contact and it was awkward because they were in a packed full noisy football stadium and this was not the first time Sophia experienced this secondhand and -

"Hey, you."

The familiar voice appeared in front of her. Pedri appeared in front of her, standing beside Ferran on the lower step. Skin flushed, shin pads in hand, socks rolled up, covered in sweat, white Spain away kit stained grass-green...

But he was smiling, and it might be the most beautiful smile Sophia had seen.

Without caring about who, or what might be the consequence of the publicity, Sophia goes and throws her arms around Pedri's neck. He almost stumbles back at the abruptness of it, but his arm catches her around the waist, the other holding her head and smoothing the raven hair falling down back in curls.

"Verdiblanco, I stink."

Sophia had to laugh, the sound muffled by her face being pressed into his neck. Still chuckling, she returns, "I think I can let it slide with how good you were today."

Eventually, at some point, they separated, but Sophia's not sure who moved first. He had his hand on her arm as she regained her stance on the upper level. Pedri grins excitedly on seeing Matthias's figure, still standing on the seats. This time when Pedri holds out his fist, Matthias doesn't leave him unanswered, and gives Pedri his owed fist bump.

"Hola, pequeñín," says Pedri. "Did you have fun?"

"Sí, Pedri," Matthias answers, almost mesmerised.

Sophia clears her throat, gesturing between Pedri and her parents, who were watching the interaction between their eldest daughter and the footballing youngster with plenty of interest. "Er- Mama, Papa, this is Pedri. Pedri, these are my parents."

"Hola, señor, señora," Pedri greets Sophia's parents, shaking each of their hands. "Soy Pedri."

"We know who you are, chico," Vincent chuckles. "Sophia's told us a lot."

"Dad," Sophia's cheeks go red, and Pedri smirks.

"It's lovely to meet you both," says Pedri. Rosie, in Maria's arms, giggles, and Pedri gives her stomach a small tickle. "Nice to see you again, bebita," Pedri chuckles. "I met her yesterday in the lobby with Sophia and Sira. She's a ray of sunshine."

"She definitely remembers you, Pedri," Maria smiles at the Canarian, as Rosie reaches out to touch Pedri's face. "You've got a new fan."

"Excellent," he laughs. His gaze shifts back on to Sophia. "Some show, eh?"

"Understatement of the century," Sophia laughs incredulously. "You were fantastic, Palmero. I hope you know that."

Pedri chuckles, lowering his head. "I'll take that compliment any day," he says, "especially if it comes from you."

A bashful smile overcomes Sophia's face. "What are the celebrations planned tonight?"

"No idea, to be honest with you," he laughs. "However... I have a question for your little brother."

Sophia frowns. "Um, fire away. Matt."

Pedri beckons Matthias to come closer, and he does.

"I hear you're a massive fan of Busi, pequeñin," he says to Matthias.

Matthias nods, frowning.

"Well," Pedri continues, "I spoke to him and he really appreciates all of your support. He wants to say thank you, and he's also asked if he can play a little with you too." Pedri's eyes darts up to Sophia, "If it's okay..."

Sophia, eyes wide with shock, looks at her parents, also as astounded as her.

None as astounded as Matthias, though.

"Um, of course," says Sophia. "That's incredible. Thank you."

Pedri grins, looking back to the ten year old. "What do you say, pequeñin?"

The shock on Matthias's face dissipates, replaced with an eager sort of excitement. "Yes, of course!"

Pedri laughs, "Come on." He holds his hand out, and Matthias takes it, climbing over the seats. When they reached the high(ish) bannister Pedri helps hoist Matthias over it and onto the green pitch, swinging his own legs over afterwards.

Busquets, kicking a ball around with his two young boys on the grass, spots Pedri and Matthias, and waves them over. Matthias almost became frozen, if it wasn't for Pedri's hands on his shoulders guiding him towards the Spanish team captain, looking at her little brother with the biggest smile.

Sophia wishes she could hear what they were saying, but she knows Matthias will tell her everything later on.

Sergio Busquets hugged Matthias tight and in a moment he'll remember for the rest of his life, kicked a football in Matthias's direction. Matt stopped it, and passed it back. Busquets' sons joined in too, a rondo between the three young kids and the Spanish legend in the middle.

Matthias wasn't the only one who'd remember this moment forever.

Sophia doesn't think she could ever forget that look of Pedri's as he glanced back towards her, while Matthias was playing football with his hero, she doesn't think she'll ever forget that smile. And that a friend of hers would do this for her family.

Friend.

(Friend?)

This boy.

***

The highlight of Matthias's life was made clear after his mini-cameo on the football pitch alongside his hero of all footballers. The little guy was not able to shut up when they got back into the hotel, and Sophia was here to listen to all of it. How Busquets loved his first touch, his haircut, how Matthias suited Busquets' top more than he ever did himself.

It was hours later that he was eventually sent to bed, and so was Sophia, but she could not sleep, not yet.

People came and went in the hotel lobby; it was dark outside now, people were going out the hotel to enjoy some nightlife, dinner, or even a walk along the canals in Copenhagen. The Spanish football players had slowly been trickling in too, after their own celebrations in the past few hours. She'd asked the receptionist if one in particular had checked in yet, but he hadn't. Which left her to lounge on the lobby sofa, with nothing better to do other than wait.

Sira tried to understand when Sophia said she was heading out, but the girl was too exhausted to give it her best effort.

In Sophia's little wait by the hotel lobby, she was around tenth time lucky before the person she was expecting walked in.

"Pedri," she says, grinning a little that he'd finally walked in.

"Sophia," returns Pedri, walking towards her, appearing torn on whether to smile or frown.

"Um, hi," she returns. He wasn't alone. Dios mio, he was with his family. "Hey, Fernando."

"Hey," Fernando grins in return. "Did your brother manage to calm down after the excitement Pedri caused him earlier?"

"With difficulty," she chuckles. His parents were standing there too, and she clears her throat. "Um, I've not introduced myself. I'm... Sophia. A friend of Pedri's."

"Mucho gusto, Sophia," says Pedri's dad, shaking her hand.

"You were also at the match earlier, sí?" Pedri's mother asked, her turn to shake Sophia's hand.

"Sí," answers Sophia. "I stay with Lucho's daughter in Barcelona. It's... it's how we met." She sends a smile Pedri's way.

"You're from Barcelona, Sophia?" Pedri's dad asked, slightly hopeful. She's reminded that these people are diehard Culérs.

"Sevilla, actually," Sophia answers.

"Papa, before you ask the question, don't," Pedri sends his dad a grin. "Sophia comes from a family of Béticas."

"That's no good, then," Pedri's dad frowns jokingly, then picks it up into a grin.

"I'm glad Pedri's found some friends in Barcelona aside from his teammates," says his mother. "Moving away from home is tough."

"I understand," says Sophia, because she did. "I'm glad to... be Pedri's friend."

She frowns, and then her cheeks go red, stop being fucking awkward, Soph. She clears her throat.

Fernando was looking at a piece of art on the wall of the hotel lobby. Nothing special, but still special enough for him to prompt, "Mama, Papa, check this sick bit of art out!"

"What is it this time," his mother sighs. "Adios, Sophia."

"It was lovely to meet you both," Sophia smiles at Pedri's parents. They left them, and it was just Pedri in his national team joggers and T-shirt and Sophia in her red home kit and denim skirt.

"What's up?" Pedri asks Sophia. "I know you didn't just wait in the lobby for nothing."

Sophia nods, "I just wanted to, um, say..."

"Take your time," says Pedri. Sophia gave him that knowing look, laughing lightly.

"Thank you," she tells him. "For what you did for Matthias. Busquets is his hero, and—"

"Whoa, Verdiblanco," Pedri smiles, a hand on her arm. "You already thanked me. It was my pleasure, honestly."

"I know," Sophia nods. "We just... it means a lot to us to see you care that much and..."

She sighs.

Sophia closes the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him again, burying her face in his neck. Pedri remained frozen for a second, but realised there was absolutely nothing wrong with hugging back this pretty, nice-smelling Andalusian, and wraps his arms around her waist.

"Thank you for caring," she whispers into his ear. Then peels back a little, but just enough space to be able to press her lips to his cheek briefly.

Enough to leave him at a loss for words. Lips parted slightly, his eyes were wide, and when she pulls away completely, there's a little frown on her lips.

"Are you okay?" She asks Pedri.

Pedri clears his throat. "I...um—I—yeah, I just... Um, yeah, I'm fine."

Someone coughs over their laughter in the distance, and it was clear that Fernando and his parents were not able to hide their eavesdropping.

"I'll see you... later, Palmero," says Sophia. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Verdiblanco," he manages to get out the most meagre, yet dopey smiles ever. She watches as he makes his way back to his family.

"Ay, Pedri," she hears his mother gush once they've started walking away. "Ella es muy guapa!"

"Mama!" The hushed whisper came from Pedri, Sophia still hearing.

"Sí, chico, she's a very pretty girl!" came from Pedri's dad.

"I know Papa, you—"

"We need to tell your aunt back home!"

"Y tu prima! You know how long she's been waiting for you to meet someone!"

"Shh!"

Pedri's insistence on his family to lower their voices did no good. She heard it all.

Sophia was smiling and it was a stupid, silly, happy smile.

***

this is probably full of spelling/grammar ALL SORTS OF MISTAKES AND IM SORRY IF IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE im sorry if my English isnt englishing i swear this is my first language 😫 it's 1:30am and i need to ✨sleep✨ but it's almost been two weeks since i last updated so i rlly hope u enjoy this. thank u for all the comments in the last few chapters they make me laugh so so SO MUCH!!!

gonna post my fav pictures from barca's supercopa de españa win because it brought me SO much joy🥲

ugh i love this man so much 😫

LOOK AT HIM HES SO PRECIOUS!!!

well aware this is just the supercopa but guys!! barca won their first trophy without messi (cries)!! a barca without messi IS possible!! a new era IS possible !! we !! must !! have !! faith!!

updates might be a bit slower now that my semester has started back up so plz bare with guys 🫶🫶

take care ily all

(also can u tell how much i enjoyed writing that mario kart scene this game is my beloved)