Fanfic; Show Me Life - Part 1 - Prequel
Fic Title: Show Me Life
Chapter Title: Prequel; A Call That Changed Everything
Pairings: None as of yet (to be Xabi Alonso/Íker Casillas)
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never happened.
Author's Note: First of all, thanks to my beta nathan4haley! =D Who also helped me come up with a title.
This is a sort of test-chapter XD Okay it isn't really, I'm just starting nice and easy, because that's more realistic :-P I have no idea where this might go eventually, but it'll most likely be angsty and crush-related so.. I found inspiration to write this while writing the 5-things meme (5 times Xabi and Stevie *almost* got caught, scroll to the last of the 5), so this whole fic (whenever it becomes whole) can be seen as a prequel to Just Go With It and the last of those 5 drabbles, I guess..
This first chapter will be very much Xabi-centered, so for the Íker fans of you, I'm sorry.. He'll get more important as we proceed XD
Comments will be forever appreciated, simply because I'm unsure about this whole thing (plus, it's interesting to read what you guys think!)
Crossposted to footballslash, xabialonso and iker_love.
He got a phone call from Iñaki Sáez on the third day of Christmas. Like a present arriving two days late.
We want you to come to a gathering for the National team the second week of January.
He had just stared at the phone for a minute after hanging up. His mother had walked in and when seeing the shocked look on his face, asked if someone had died. He had just grinned, then started laughing and she had probably questioned his sanity for a moment.
He has been dreaming of this his entire life.
~*~
While driving to Madrid, he thinks about the past weeks. How thrilled his team mates at Sociedad had been at him getting the call. They had taken a night out to celebrate, but he still couldn't really believe it.
His father had probably been the proudest man on earth when he had told him he was maybe going to play for his country. Mikel had elbowed him in the side and said that he 'shouldn't feel safe, because one day he would take his place', before a huge grin threatened to split his face in two and he embraced Xabi in a big bear hug, muttering against his ear,
Well done, little brother.
Xabi knows that its not certain he’ll actually play a match for Spain, but he is closer to doing it than he was a month ago and that thought is enough to make him grin stupidly to himself. He turns up the sound of the stereo in the car and is soon drumming his fingers excitedly against the wheel along with the Spanish music.
The closer he gets to Madrid, the more nervous he feels. He doesn't really know any of the others, having only spoken with a few of them after matches they had played against; and that isn't a lot. He knows tonight is just dinner, small talk, settling in. But he also knows that he is the only new guy around and he doesn't know anyone, the only thing he does know is that he will be rooming with Fernando Morientes, one of the big stars of Real Madrid and Spanish football.
In fact, he will be dining, training and hanging out with all the top players of his country for five days. Just the thought of that makes him rattle with nerves and he has to pull himself together if he is to make it to Madrid without crashing.
He parks outside, what he hopes, is the right hotel and is more or less aware of his hands shaking slightly as he locks the car, fidgeting slightly with the keys. Drawing his breath as he passes through the glass doors of the rather fancy hotel, suitcase in tow, he wonders for the umpteenth time what the hell he’s doing here.
He doesn't get much time to wonder though. Standing in the lobby, talking to the receptionist, is Señor Sáez, the boss himself, and Xabi exhales slightly. He knows Sáez is a nice man, having talked to him quite a lot when he was visiting Sociedad before Christmas. Plus he is the only one he knows so far.
He walks over and stops to stand next to him. Sáez lights up when he sees him.
"Xabi! Good to see you," he says smiling as he shakes Xabi's hand.
"Good to see you too, Señor. Even though I must admit I'm a bit nervous," he smiles awkwardly as Sáez hands him the key to his room.
"No need to worry. These are all exceptionally nice guys and you have proved that you have something to do here. There is your key, dinner is in about an hour at the restaurant in there," he points to somewhere behind Xabi's back and he turns to see, then nods.
"Thank you, Señor," he says as he makes his way for the elevator and eighth floor, now more nervous than ever.
He plops down on the bed once he has unpacked, examined the brochures lying around and checked out the spacious bathroom and the view over Madrid. He looks at the time. Still half hour until dinner and Fernando Morientes still hasn't arrived.
Not a second after that thought, he hears someone at the other side of the door and he instantly gets up, nervous pulse speeding up again. He curses inwardly at his reactions. He is going to meet a normal guy for Christ's sake, it's not like Fernando is the bloody Pope.
The man who enters the room is one he has seen on television and on the field so many times before.
"Hola, you must be Xabi Alonso," he smiles his trademark grin and Xabi can't help but smile back as he extends his hand.
"Right you are, and I take it you're Fernando," he says awkwardly but Fernando merely nods, setting down his bag in one of the chairs.
"Moro for short," he says as he starts unpacking.
Their tone is friendly and rather relaxed as they walk down for dinner twenty minutes later, but Xabi feels himself getting all nervous again at the thought of meeting stars like Raúl and he really hopes nobody will notice him.
No such luck however. As they walk towards the long end table, someone calls out Fernando's name and many of them turn their heads towards them. So much for subtlety, Xabi thinks silently, wanting to sink into the ground. Before he knows it however, Sáez is right there next to him.
"Come with me for a moment. Fernando, save him a seat," he says, putting a hand on Xabi's shoulder. Fernando nods and goes to sit down next to a man Xabi instantly recognizes as Santiago Cañizares.
He is pulled along to the short end of the table and is terribly aware of all the eyes on him as Sáez asks for everyone's attention.
"Caballeros, I want you all to meet Xabi Alonso. He is a midfielder from Real Sociedad and will join you in training the next few days. I know you will all take good care of him, but don't go easy on him on the field, because he will show you what he's made of, there's no doubt in my mind." Sáez gives Xabi a friendly pat on the shoulder and Xabi tries to will the red tint on his cheeks to go away.
That's grand, Iñaki. Let me go back to being invisible now, thanks.
He is dismissed a few moments later and makes for where Fernando is sitting.
"Didn't know you were from Sociedad," Fernando says as he sits down next to him. He nods, trying hard not to fiddle with the napkin out of nerves. The man to his left smiles at him and extends his hand.
"Íker Casillas," he says as Xabi takes it.
"Xabi Alonso," he smiles back, feeling a little more relieved all of a sudden, "You're keeper at Real, right?" he asks, more because he needs something to say than because he wonders.
"That's right. Hey," he leans a bit closer, "don't worry about the others, their names are only big on the paper. And we're playing on grass," he chuckles slightly at his own joke and Xabi smiles, knowing that he must have found at least one of the team's jokers.
"You know any of the guys?" he asks as they begin to eat and Xabi shakes his head. Íker proceeds to nod against the men opposite them.
"That's Xavi, Joaquín, Míchel and Miguel." Xabi nods politely to all of them in turn before Íker puts a hand on the shoulder of the man on his left, "and this here is David. I'll present you to the others later on, unless Moro wants to do the honours?" he asks Fernando.
"Go right ahead, you're better at this than I am," he says between two mouthfuls.
"Okay. By the way, I'm glad I'm not the only youngster in the team any more," Íker says before they both concentrate on eating.
Xabi sighs as his head hits the pillow a good few hours later. His head is stuffed full of names, numbers, facts and everything else he can and cannot think of right now.
"Good God, I'm tired," he says and Fernando just yawns as he crawls under the covers.
"Yeah, me too. And just think about how you'll be after training tomorrow. We're leaving at eight by the way," Fernando says, turning off the little lamp on the nightstand.
"Right," Xabi turns his light off also and is asleep before he has time to think about saying 'good night'.
Chapter Title: Prequel; A Call That Changed Everything
Pairings: None as of yet (to be Xabi Alonso/Íker Casillas)
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never happened.
Author's Note: First of all, thanks to my beta nathan4haley! =D Who also helped me come up with a title.
This is a sort of test-chapter XD Okay it isn't really, I'm just starting nice and easy, because that's more realistic :-P I have no idea where this might go eventually, but it'll most likely be angsty and crush-related so.. I found inspiration to write this while writing the 5-things meme (5 times Xabi and Stevie *almost* got caught, scroll to the last of the 5), so this whole fic (whenever it becomes whole) can be seen as a prequel to Just Go With It and the last of those 5 drabbles, I guess..
This first chapter will be very much Xabi-centered, so for the Íker fans of you, I'm sorry.. He'll get more important as we proceed XD
Comments will be forever appreciated, simply because I'm unsure about this whole thing (plus, it's interesting to read what you guys think!)
Crossposted to footballslash, xabialonso and iker_love.
He got a phone call from Iñaki Sáez on the third day of Christmas. Like a present arriving two days late.
We want you to come to a gathering for the National team the second week of January.
He had just stared at the phone for a minute after hanging up. His mother had walked in and when seeing the shocked look on his face, asked if someone had died. He had just grinned, then started laughing and she had probably questioned his sanity for a moment.
He has been dreaming of this his entire life.
~*~
While driving to Madrid, he thinks about the past weeks. How thrilled his team mates at Sociedad had been at him getting the call. They had taken a night out to celebrate, but he still couldn't really believe it.
His father had probably been the proudest man on earth when he had told him he was maybe going to play for his country. Mikel had elbowed him in the side and said that he 'shouldn't feel safe, because one day he would take his place', before a huge grin threatened to split his face in two and he embraced Xabi in a big bear hug, muttering against his ear,
Well done, little brother.
Xabi knows that its not certain he’ll actually play a match for Spain, but he is closer to doing it than he was a month ago and that thought is enough to make him grin stupidly to himself. He turns up the sound of the stereo in the car and is soon drumming his fingers excitedly against the wheel along with the Spanish music.
The closer he gets to Madrid, the more nervous he feels. He doesn't really know any of the others, having only spoken with a few of them after matches they had played against; and that isn't a lot. He knows tonight is just dinner, small talk, settling in. But he also knows that he is the only new guy around and he doesn't know anyone, the only thing he does know is that he will be rooming with Fernando Morientes, one of the big stars of Real Madrid and Spanish football.
In fact, he will be dining, training and hanging out with all the top players of his country for five days. Just the thought of that makes him rattle with nerves and he has to pull himself together if he is to make it to Madrid without crashing.
He parks outside, what he hopes, is the right hotel and is more or less aware of his hands shaking slightly as he locks the car, fidgeting slightly with the keys. Drawing his breath as he passes through the glass doors of the rather fancy hotel, suitcase in tow, he wonders for the umpteenth time what the hell he’s doing here.
He doesn't get much time to wonder though. Standing in the lobby, talking to the receptionist, is Señor Sáez, the boss himself, and Xabi exhales slightly. He knows Sáez is a nice man, having talked to him quite a lot when he was visiting Sociedad before Christmas. Plus he is the only one he knows so far.
He walks over and stops to stand next to him. Sáez lights up when he sees him.
"Xabi! Good to see you," he says smiling as he shakes Xabi's hand.
"Good to see you too, Señor. Even though I must admit I'm a bit nervous," he smiles awkwardly as Sáez hands him the key to his room.
"No need to worry. These are all exceptionally nice guys and you have proved that you have something to do here. There is your key, dinner is in about an hour at the restaurant in there," he points to somewhere behind Xabi's back and he turns to see, then nods.
"Thank you, Señor," he says as he makes his way for the elevator and eighth floor, now more nervous than ever.
He plops down on the bed once he has unpacked, examined the brochures lying around and checked out the spacious bathroom and the view over Madrid. He looks at the time. Still half hour until dinner and Fernando Morientes still hasn't arrived.
Not a second after that thought, he hears someone at the other side of the door and he instantly gets up, nervous pulse speeding up again. He curses inwardly at his reactions. He is going to meet a normal guy for Christ's sake, it's not like Fernando is the bloody Pope.
The man who enters the room is one he has seen on television and on the field so many times before.
"Hola, you must be Xabi Alonso," he smiles his trademark grin and Xabi can't help but smile back as he extends his hand.
"Right you are, and I take it you're Fernando," he says awkwardly but Fernando merely nods, setting down his bag in one of the chairs.
"Moro for short," he says as he starts unpacking.
Their tone is friendly and rather relaxed as they walk down for dinner twenty minutes later, but Xabi feels himself getting all nervous again at the thought of meeting stars like Raúl and he really hopes nobody will notice him.
No such luck however. As they walk towards the long end table, someone calls out Fernando's name and many of them turn their heads towards them. So much for subtlety, Xabi thinks silently, wanting to sink into the ground. Before he knows it however, Sáez is right there next to him.
"Come with me for a moment. Fernando, save him a seat," he says, putting a hand on Xabi's shoulder. Fernando nods and goes to sit down next to a man Xabi instantly recognizes as Santiago Cañizares.
He is pulled along to the short end of the table and is terribly aware of all the eyes on him as Sáez asks for everyone's attention.
"Caballeros, I want you all to meet Xabi Alonso. He is a midfielder from Real Sociedad and will join you in training the next few days. I know you will all take good care of him, but don't go easy on him on the field, because he will show you what he's made of, there's no doubt in my mind." Sáez gives Xabi a friendly pat on the shoulder and Xabi tries to will the red tint on his cheeks to go away.
That's grand, Iñaki. Let me go back to being invisible now, thanks.
He is dismissed a few moments later and makes for where Fernando is sitting.
"Didn't know you were from Sociedad," Fernando says as he sits down next to him. He nods, trying hard not to fiddle with the napkin out of nerves. The man to his left smiles at him and extends his hand.
"Íker Casillas," he says as Xabi takes it.
"Xabi Alonso," he smiles back, feeling a little more relieved all of a sudden, "You're keeper at Real, right?" he asks, more because he needs something to say than because he wonders.
"That's right. Hey," he leans a bit closer, "don't worry about the others, their names are only big on the paper. And we're playing on grass," he chuckles slightly at his own joke and Xabi smiles, knowing that he must have found at least one of the team's jokers.
"You know any of the guys?" he asks as they begin to eat and Xabi shakes his head. Íker proceeds to nod against the men opposite them.
"That's Xavi, Joaquín, Míchel and Miguel." Xabi nods politely to all of them in turn before Íker puts a hand on the shoulder of the man on his left, "and this here is David. I'll present you to the others later on, unless Moro wants to do the honours?" he asks Fernando.
"Go right ahead, you're better at this than I am," he says between two mouthfuls.
"Okay. By the way, I'm glad I'm not the only youngster in the team any more," Íker says before they both concentrate on eating.
Xabi sighs as his head hits the pillow a good few hours later. His head is stuffed full of names, numbers, facts and everything else he can and cannot think of right now.
"Good God, I'm tired," he says and Fernando just yawns as he crawls under the covers.
"Yeah, me too. And just think about how you'll be after training tomorrow. We're leaving at eight by the way," Fernando says, turning off the little lamp on the nightstand.
"Right," Xabi turns his light off also and is asleep before he has time to think about saying 'good night'.