When, more than an hour later, Thiago came into the changing room, the party was still on.

Everybody was either eating a piece of cake, talking, laughing, taking selfies, or even dancing. He smiled when he saw that Joshua was on a corner, away from his teammates, with a girl: it was probably Demetria. Finally, the kid was dating her, or at least, almost.

"Where the fuck were you?!" Mats screamed, and Thiago jumped with surprise.

"Flirting with the baker, I guess," Thomas said.

"No, I was not. Someone had to take her to the infirmary."

"It took you an hour?"

"I had to drive her and her brother back to their bakery because she fell asleep."

"Aw, boyfriend goals," Mats said with a high-pitched voice, and Thomas and Thiago looked at him as if he was completely insane.

"I need an honest opinion from you guys," Thiago asked.

"Yes, you should date the girl, she's hot anyway so-"

"Do you hear me saying that Cathy is hot?!" Thiago yelled, annoyed, and Mats pinched his nose.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were that whipped. She's cute for you. Is that better? Now, tell us."

"Are eight years a lot?" Thiago said quickly, and Thomas frowned.

"What the fuck, I know we're football players, but you don't know how to count or what? Oh wait..."

The Spaniard lowered his gaze.

"She's 18?" Mats whispered. "Well, fuck."

"What kind of fuck? Fuck it's too much? Fuck you can't date her? Fuck you shouldn't even have a crush on her? Fuc-"

"Nu-huh, it was "fuck, I didn't expect that but you should go for it.""

"He's right," Thomas nodded. "I mean, you pretty difficult with girls, but for some reasons, you like her and not someone else. The only thing you may want to worry about his what people are going to say about it, but...do you really care?"

"You know I don't," Thiago shook her head. "But what if she does?"

Mats smiled.

"Talk to the girl."

Talk to the girl.

He wasn't the kind to listen to his teammates' advice, usually.

But this time, he didn't have any better choice.

_

The next day, he was back at the bakery.

And he was alone.

And determined.

"Hi, Thiago," Mark smiled.

"Hey. Uh...Is your sister here? I mean Constanze, I don't know if you have another sister or something, so-"

"Yeah," Mark smiled widely. "Yeah, she's here. And she's my only sister. Should I call her, or?"

"Can I come in and go talk to her instead?" he asked, looking at the door to the kitchen.

"Sure. But she may be a little...harsh, because she hates when she's baking and someone is around here."

He shrugged.

"It's okay," he said, not because it was okay-he didn't really want her to yell at him-but just because he wanted to see her.

"Okay, you can just go, then," Mark smiled, and Thiago nodded, but when he walked next to the boy, he grabbed the football player's arm. "Do you like her?"

Thiago looked at Mark, puzzled. He didn't expect that. At all. But he couldn't lie to him.

"I do."

"I knew it," he smiled. "Good luck."

Thiago frowned, surprised.

"You...you know that I'm 8 years older than her, right?"

"I do know that," he nodded. "And I don't care."

Oh, I wish that would be everyone's reaction.

_

"What do you want again, Mark?" Constanze asked, annoyed.

She just wanted to be in peace to finish icing her cupcakes.

"It's not Mark."

"Oh," she said, recognizing his voice. "Hey. Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's okay, your brother warned me," he smiled.

Nice, thanks Mark. Thank you a lot.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, putting the cupcakes in the fridge.

She liked to have him here, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she couldn't act naturally around him, she had to think about everything that she was doing. And it was kinda annoying.

"What are you going to bake?" he asked, changing the subject, and she shrugged. "Can you make those muffins that I loved?"

She looked at him for the first time since he came in, surprised.

"Sure. Is that why you came here? You could have asked Mark."

"Not really."

"If it's about my nose," she said, putting some shredded coconut in her mouth, "he's totally fine-"

"I like you."

She started coughing really loud, and he sighed mentally. Why was he so stupid?! He looked around him and found a glass that he filled with water and gave it to her. She drank it in silence, still a little red with all the coughing.

"I'm sorry, it was a really bad timing, are you okay now?"

She shook her head. She wasn't okay, but not because she almost chocked on coconut. Because he just told her that he liked her. That wasn't possible. That wasn't real.

"Just...say something," he mumbled, and Constanze could see that he was really feeling low. So, she decided to react like a TV show's character. She took a big breath and she kissed him.

And I don't need to tell you that he kissed her back. He did, and he was so happy. Because for a mere second, he thought that the feeling wasn't mutual. So they kissed, her hands on his cheeks, his hands on her waist, in the middle of the kitchen.

That's when he broke the kiss: when he remembered that they were in the bakery's kitchen, where everyone could enter at any minute.

So they just stayed here, forehead against forehead, in silence.

Until Constanze opened her mouth.

"You're 26."

That was not the best thing to say. At least, not after the kiss they just shared. But they couldn't ignore the elephant in the room.

"You're 18," he said with a smile, and even if this supposedly joke was stupid, she laughed.

"Is that why you wanted to know how old I am? Because I look younger than 18?" she asked, biting her lips, and he had to look away not to kiss her again.

"Yeah."

"Mark and I came by car to the stadium yesterday," she frowned. "You know that you have to be 18 to pass your driving license, right?"

"Oh my God," he realized, shaking his head are how stupid he was, and she smiled. "Would you date someone 8 years older than you?" he suddenly asked very seriously.

"I just kissed someone eight years older than me," she answered. "What about you?"

"I kissed you back."

___
Mmhm what just happened
I didnt write that, my elfes did
Love u all