Fic: You are how my life begins (Part 1)
Title: You Are How My Life Begins (Part 1)
Fandom: Football RPF
Pairing: Sergio Ramos/Fernando Torres
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Word Count: 2372
Disclaimer: Never in this lifetime.
Notes: This is my baby of all stories; the one I worked on the hardest and cherish the most. Loosely based off this prompt, but like all stories, it diverges from what it was meant to be. Fernando and Sergio are the same age (I used their real birthdays); Xabi and Stevie are 15 years older. Also on AO3.
Summary: Running is not freedom, Fernando Torres knows that better than anyone. His unpredictable journey, from Madrid to Liverpool and beyond, snapshots from the life of a boy who grew to be more than just a man.
Liverpool signs 20-year-old Nando Alonso to professional contract
Ron Liddle
Oct 12, 2006
Liverpool Football club has just signed Nando Alonso, a product of the youth academy to a long term contract thought to be worth 17 million pounds over four years.
“I never thought I’d get a chance, to play in the red of Liverpool.” The young player said at the press conference where Liverpool broke the news. “And now that I have this opportunity, I’ll try my best to not let the fans down.”
A number of sources claim that Alonso was only able to break into the first team through nepotism. There have been some discrepancies about how he came to join Liverpool Academy at the age of 16. His father, Steven Gerrard, is a youth coach for the Academy.
“Yes, the usual entry age into the academy is in the early teens.” Mr. Gerrard said in a phone interview. “But Nando showed extraordinary skill with the ball as an amateur. He went to a normal public school and played on the school’s football team. He was actually scouted by a colleague of mine, and I didn’t know until they asked if he was my son.”
Kenny Dalglish, director of the Liverpool Youth Academy released this statement. “We give trials to kids of all ages based on the skill they show. Sometimes the greatest players don’t get discovered until they’re older. This is what happened with Nando and Liverpool is glad to have recognized his football prowess. Who his father is had no consideration with his acceptance.”
After progressing through the Academy, Alonso established himself as a regular member of the Under-21 side that last season pulled off an upset against PSG in the NextGen Series Championship. This was the first time in over a decade that Liverpool’s U-21 have won the youngster’s version of the prestigious Champion’s League. Alonso scored a brace at the final in Paris, with Liverpool winning 4-2 with goals also coming from Sterling and Ngog.
The young striker has scored 27 goals in 41 appearances for Liverpool’s U-21 team. Since being called up for the senior squad in May 2006, he has scored 6 goals in 10 appearances, with 5 of those coming off the bench as a substitute. These numbers hint at a promising future on the field for Liverpool’s new striker.
Source: The Telegraph
“Nando Alonso.” The judge calls out. “You have been granted emancipation from your parents José and Flori Torres. You will be under the legal guardianship of Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso until you reach the age of majority of 18 when you will reach legal adult status.” She bangs her gavel and the sound echoes around the empty courtroom. “Motion settled.”
There are only two other people there, Xabi and Steven come towards him in and Fernando, no it’s Nando now, doesn’t realize he how badly he is shaking until they embrace him. Warm, steady hands pull him in and when he opens his mouth, nothing comes out except for a sob.
“Hey kiddo, it’s okay.” Mr. Alonso, who insists on being called Xabi (“Mr. Alonso makes me sound senile”), pats him on the head. Fernando just cries harder, he’s horrified at the tearstains on Xabi’s meticulous suit and tries to pull away, but the older man’s arms are warm but firm, letting the boy sob into his chest.
On his other side, Stevie is also having a hard time holding it together. “Welcome to the family,” he croaks out and pulls the kid closer to him. It’s a sign of how far Nando’s come, how much he already loves these men who were mere strangers barely months ago, when he doesn’t even flinch as he breathes in the clean scents of his newfound parents.
Nando wants to say something, he wants to say thank you for rescuing me because I would probably be dead without you two but he just can’t get any words out. He wants Xabi and Stevie to know how utterly grateful he is to them, for giving him a home when he didn’t have one, for loving him despite everything.
For the first time since he’s left Spain, Nando feels something like happiness. Something he thought was gone forever, that night he stumbles away from Sergio’s house. A night that has turned into a painful memory now, and he hope it’ll stay buried in his mind in the years to come.
“Why don’t we celebrate with some ice cream?” Xabi smiles at the two men that he loves, one being his husband, the other a boy that already feels like a son despite the short time they’ve know him. He’s not the emotional type that Stevie and Nando are, but it’s impossible to suppress the happiness that he is emitting.
“That’s a great idea,” his husband exclaims. “Let’s go to the gelato place, we haven’t taken Nando down to the docks yet.”
Nando doesn’t get a chance to protest before his new guardians grab each of his hands and they walk out of the building into a rare day of sunshine in the Merseyside. He’s still overwhelmed by the decision; it’s been the best thing that’s happened to him since - well it feels like he hasn’t had anything good in a long time. He briefly thinks about a set of hips, swinging to the beat of flamenco, but that memory is fuzzy. He is brought back to reality by the warmth in the fingers clutching his hand, and the two solid men at each side chase those thoughts away. Surrounded by Stevie and Xabi, there’s a feeling in his chest that he didn’t think he would ever feel again.
~
Despite how much he bitches about it, Sergio does actually enjoy his job. The clients are a lot of fun, when they’re not fussing over unnoticeable skips in the track (what skips, they’ve gone digital) and yelling at him to redo the same stanza for the thirtieth time. Most of the time the music is interesting, even if it’s not his style, but above all, he loves how he can help other people channel their creativity into something material.
The people who work at Navas Recording aren’t bad either. The owner Jesus isn’t much older than Sergio and has a pretty keen eye for people who are good both with people and music. They met once at a local music festival and gave him a job when he decided to drop out of university. Sergio never did like studying.
The other full time employee is Mesut, a kid from Germany who hitchhiked his way to Madrid and never went back. He still stumbles through his Spanish, but the way he layers tracks, blending bass and vocals with the beat of the drums, it’s pure magic. He does DJ gigs on the side too, and once in a while he drags Sergio to an underground event brimming with people with too many piercings and tattoos. Still, he’s gained a certain fondness for trashy europop.
Sergio’s life is simple and full of routine. He goes to work five times a week, though sometimes the hours are a little odd. Every morning, he goes to the local gym and runs for an hour followed by a round of weights. Sometimes Mesut joins him there, he’s trying to get a six-pack to impress the girls. On weekends, he goes to local gigs. Madrid has a fairly big indie scene going on, and some of them have real talent to make it big. Sergio is always impressed how some of these bands keep on pushing, working crappy day jobs just so they can get their music out.
The only thing that disrupts the carefully scheduled life he has sets up are these triggers Sergio has. There are no patterns to them, these sudden bouts of incredible loneliness and a chest pain that can’t be explained medically. Anything can set them off, no matter how minor, sometimes he can’t even explain it. The way a customer’s brown eyes crinkle in the sunlight, a new trainer at the gym with freckled cheeks, or even walking by a local park and seeing a group of kids kicking around a ball. Whatever it is, the result is always the same.
That night, he’ll go to one of the seedy clubs that litter his neighborhood and pick a guy. Any guy will do, there are usually a dozen of the really desperate ones who come up to him, and he picks the easiest of the bunch. He never asks for names, doesn’t remember if they tell him. And when he’s done he always kicks them out. Sergio’s gained a certain reputation around that crowd, they call him Gitano, the gypsy who uses and never goes back for the same one.
~
Stevie has no idea why he’s standing here, holding a glass of vintage wine that he can’t appreciate (give him a pint at the pub any day) and chatting to a bloke who doesn’t give a damn about football. It’s one of those Liverpool cooperate meet and greets with sponsors and other equally important people, but he just doesn’t give a damn. The only reason he’s here because the head of the Youth Academy came down with a kidney stone and Stevie is the only one they could find on such a short notice. That and the fact that everyone knows he’d bleed for Liverpool, though making polite conversations in an uncomfortable suit isn’t what he had in mind.
He’s explaining the Under-16 tournament to a representative from Kansai, the club’s official paint sponsor - who knew Liverpool had an official paint sponsor? But it’s clear the other man has zero interest in what Stevie is saying. Probably another bloke forced to be here by the higher ups. He’s immensely relieved when the other guy waves to a figure in the crowd and moves off.
Stevie looks at his watch, it’s only eight o’clock, and the event doesn’t end for another three hours. He glances around the elaborate hotel room; the mayor is in a corner chatting with the owner like they’re best friends. He scowls and downs the wine; he really doesn’t have the affinity for networking and sucking up to strangers in suits.
At least they sprung for an open bar, he thinks. He can’t imagine how much worse this event would be if he had to be sober for it. “Something strong.” He says to the bartender.
“Make that two of the Black Label, single malt.” Says a smooth voice from behind him.
Stevie turns around to see who hijacked his drinks order, it’s a well built brunette in a fine-fitting suit. There’s something about the way this stranger holds himself together, it’s like every piece of his clothing was tailored for the class that’s exuding off him.
“I find that this usually makes the occasion somewhat more bearable.” The handsome stranger hands him a glass. “I’m Xabi Alonso, from British Petroleum.”
He takes the glass and goes in for the obligatory handshake. “Steven Gerrard. I work with the youth academy.”
“Oh, so you actually represent Liverpool.” Xabi says in delight. “I’ve met more company grunts than people from the club.”
Stevie laughs, it’s a rarity that someone sounds so excited when meeting him. “Yeah, it seems like it. Did your company force you to come too?”
“Not at all.” Xabi says. “I volunteered. I’m a huge fan of the team.”
Something must’ve shown in Stevie’s face because the other man continues. “Besides, there’s not much else to do in this city.” His English is very fluent, but the Scouser can pick apart a distinct Spanish accent.
“That’s true.” He agrees. “So where are you from Xabi?” He pronounces the name with his bottom lip, the way he knows it’s said in Spain.
“Gipuzkoa. It’s part of Basque Country.” The Spaniard explains. “Pretty tiny area right by France. But I came here for university and never left.”
“Fascinating.” Stevie says. It might be because of the scotch he just downed, or the way Xabi’s beard reflects ginger underneath the ballroom lights, but he does something out of character. Stevie asks, “Do you want to get out of here?”
Xabi’s mouth curves into an amused smile, “Sure, why not.”
“There’s a pub around the corner that serves a good house ale. Plus they have Liverpool re-runs all night long.” Stevie says, but he doesn’t’ want to presume too much.
“Sounds great to me.” The Spaniard puts a hand on the other man’s back and guides them past the crowd of people. Stevie is very well aware of how warm the hand feels, how it sends jolts of electricity down his spine. Xabi doesn’t remove it even after they’ve left the hotel, but the other man doesn’t protest, it’s as if that hand has always belonged there.
~
“Want to come over after school?” Asks a familiar voice behind his locker door.
Fernando swaps out his Spanish textbook for Biology and closes the door; his boyfriend is leaning seductively on the other side. It’s chaos in the hallways between class changes and nobody pays them any attention. “I can’t, football practice.” He shrugs in apology.
“Again?” Sergio drops his smile and slouches. “This is the third time this week you’ve blown me off.”
“You know training is four times a week for the freshmen. I really want to make the team this year, and that’s not going to happen if start skipping practice.” Fernando tells his boyfriend.
Sergio sighs as the warning bell rings. “Fine. You better clear your weekend for me then.”
“I have to help out at the shop on Saturday, but you can have me for Sunday?” Fernando offers.
“Just one day?” Sergio whines. It feels like he never gets to see the other boy anymore. The whole point of them going to high school together was so they would be together more.
“I guess you’ll just have to make it count.” Fernando yells as he sprints down the hall to class. Sergio watches appreciatively at his boyfriend’s lovely ass. Well if he’s only going to get one day with Nando, he better make it special.
Source: Twitter.com
Part 2
Notes:
1. I'm looking for a beta for this baby, so far there's been 35k words written so far, but don't let that scare you! I'll be posting in chapters of 4-5k at a time.
2. Sorry if it's confusing, it should make more sense as the story progresses. But in case you are confused, there are time skips and some scenes aren't in chronological order.
3. This will be a media!fic, kind of based off sings the revolution by meretricula. Hopefully the coding will be kind to me regarding headlines and pictures.