The winner takes it all

[flamyshine]

Title: The winner takes it all
Pairing: Novak Djokovic/Richard Gasquet
Other characters: Andy Murray, Ernests Gulbis
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3,892
Warning: Dense Novak and gluttonous Andy.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Richard and Ernests do a battle to get what they both want.
Author’s note: This story is set on the day of round two in Rome and many thanks to my beta reader, crystaleyesd :)


“From France, Richard Gasquet!”

“Waaa!”

Enjoying the lovely cheer coming from the crowd, Richard stepped on court, waving his hand and making sure that his opponent had a good view of his backside. He had called Lacoste yesterday and had asked for slightly tighter shorts for this match both to annoy the inexperienced youngster and to impress his friend.

He had always wanted to beat the crap out of the boy with unnecessarily huge bones and this was the perfect opportunity to achieve it.

“From Latvia, Ernests Gulbis!”

“Waaa!”

Ernests waved towards the crowd as well as he put considerable distance with his short opponent who was walking in front of him. He didn’t need to see the Frenchman wriggle his butt as if he needed to go pee in a hurry. It was making him frown when they hadn’t even started the match yet.

Taking a quick glance at the VIP area, he took bigger steps towards his bench. He had cut the bottom off his shorts in the corner of the locker room so that his thighs would be more noticeable. He believed it when people said that having huge thighs enabled a guy to work better at night and he knew that his friend was aware of such a belief. Besides, even the powerful Andy Roddick had talked about his strength in an interview which he hadn’t forgotten to mention to Novak.

“Okay, guys. We have TV changeovers so please be seated till I call ‘Time’. We have…”

The umpire explained the usual stuff but neither of the players was really listening. All they could think of was how to destroy the annoying creature standing across the net.

“Good match.”

Ernests mumbled as the coin toss ended, only to leave a good impression on the Serb and make him think that he was polite even to his worst enemies.

Richard pretended that he hadn’t heard, too focused on thinking about his game plan. He was going to play a good match whether the Latvian wished for it or not.

Meanwhile, the boy in question was sitting in the middle of the VIP zone with his best friend on tour, Andy Murray.

“Wow. What a warm-up.” Andy commented as he took another bite of his chocolate bar.

“Why would you say that? It’s like any other warm-up.” Novak asked, taking a bite of his own.

“You’re kidding me? Look at them. Just look.”

Novak did as he was told. He looked. But he still couldn’t see anything different. Richard was sending the ball high so that Ernests could practice his smashes. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

“I don’t get it. They’re practicing the shots in the right order. What’s wrong?”

“Novak, Ernie’s trying to hit Richie with the ball.”

“He is? No way.”

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the ball hit the French on the right arm.

“Ouch! Watch where you hit!” Richard yelped and glared over the net.

“Sorry.” Ernests apologized, trying very hard not to laugh. His smash felt great today.

“I told you so.”

Andy finished his chocolate bar and sat back. This match was going to be interesting.

Novak watched his friends practice their serves. Both of them had asked him to come see their match and since he was close to both, he was sitting in a neutral zone. He had known Ernests since they had trained together in Munich in their younger days and he had known Richard since a few years ago when he had helped the French get back his stolen bag.

“Who do you want to see get the win today?”

Andy asked, finding it incredibly funny that his friend was so blind to most of the things that happened around him. The Serb was lucky to have someone like him to point out the obvious stuff in his life.

“I don’t know. Whoever plays better.”

“Oh, come on. You’re not doing an interview here. Give me a name.”

“Well, Richie’s been out with a shoulder injury so he’ll really want to go further in this tournament. But then, Ernie hasn’t reached a third round in months, I think. He could take advantage of Richie playing two matches in one day.”

“Oh, Nole.”

Andy chuckled at the still very ‘interviewish’ answer. He wanted to know who was closer to his friend’s heart. Although either of them would never admit it, the two players on court shared certain similarities. They were both very cute for a start, and they had this soft and gentle feature which seemed to make people want to protect them. But then, Andy could sense that they could be pretty catty when they were deprived of something that they really wanted. In this case, that would be his lucky friend, Novak.

Bleep.

Andy heard his phone vibrate next to his seat and saw that he had got a text message from his boyfriend back home.

“Is that Tim?” Novak asked, seeing his friend trying not to grin too widely.

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“Cause you’re grinning like an idiot.” He answered in all honesty.

“Thanks for the honest answer, finally.”

Andy chuckled and checked his message. Tim had recently discovered a new world of picture messages and had been bombing him with those every few hours.

“How cute. You should get yourself a boyfriend too. If even a thirty three year old can be this cute, think about how cute a twenty two or a twenty year old could be.”

Hoping that his dense friend would at least get a hint of what he was trying to say, Andy texted his boyfriend back.

“Actually, I’m thinking about looking for somebody. All the other top players have someone, right? It must make a difference on a bad day.”

“Yeah, it does. Tim really knows how to comfort me even if he’s so far away. It helps. And, you know what? Often the right person is right under your nose. Don’t try to look too far.”

The world number four really wished that the Serb would have somebody by his side. In his eyes, both Ernests and Richard looked quite fit for the task. They were kind and had nice smiles, and most of all, they seemed to care about Novak a lot.

“Do you still wear glasses?” The Scot hoped that the glasses would help the boy open his eyes.

“Yeah. Usually when I read and sometimes when I watch TV. Why?”

“Nothing. Do you have them with you now?”

“Yeah.”

Novak fumbled through his tennis bag and found his glasses case.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Put them on. This should be an interesting match.”

“Uh… I don’t have a problem looking at a tennis ball, Andy. It’s big enough for me.”

Andy let out a sigh. “Just put them on.”

A little puzzled at his friend’s advice, Novak put on his glasses and watched Ernests serve.

“Wow, I’m always amazed at that power. What a huge serve!”

“Yeah. Think of all the amazing things he could do with that amount of power.”

Andy gave up being subtle. Something told him that he needed to be blatant throughout the match to save his friend’s life.

“He had that big serve since he was a kid. He completely destroyed me during practice, you know. If I learned how to return well, he’s played a great role in it.” Novak chuckled, fond memories sweeping through his mind.

“Does that weird length of his shorts help him serve better? Or is it some kind of a jinx?”

“Huh?”

Novak lifted his glasses a little and looked at the Latvian’s shorts. They were too short for a tall boy like him.

“Strange. Adidas must’ve sent him the wrong size. They can make stupid mistakes sometimes.”

“Well, at least, that gives us a nice view of his legs.”

Novak’s gaze automatically landed on his friend’s legs. He could tell that the twenty year old still had baby fat left which made him look even cuter.

“Fault!”

“Fault!”

“Love, fifteen.”

As if he didn’t like the attention that the VIPs were giving to the other side of the net, Richard hit a double fault. Now the two pairs of eyes were fixed on the French who hit a sensible serve this time that made Ernests almost fall on his face, chasing the ball down.

“Whoa, he almost fell.” Novak was relieved to see the Latvian back on his feet.

“It looks like Richie can generate some power too. Lucky you.”

Andy couldn’t stop chuckling at the image of Richard lying on top of Novak. He couldn’t figure out which picture looked better; Richard and Novak in bed or Ernests and Novak in bed.

‘Eww, I have to stop thinking about my friend in bed. That kills my appetite.’

Pulling out another chocolate bar from his bag, Andy knew that he had to see Tim soon or he might have to cheat on him.

Smash.

Another smash from Ernests had almost hit Richard again and even Novak could see the way the French’s eyes started to burn.

“Uh oh… I didn’t know he could look that scary.”

Andy took a mouthful of his beloved chocolate bar and enjoyed the show. This was one of the most appalling tennis matches he had ever watched.

“Game, Gasquet!”

Richard had hit another deadly dropshot and returned to his bench, enjoying the annoyed yell coming from his opponent.

Ernests swore in Russian as he put the towel over his head. He was sure that none of the other three players understood that language. He didn’t want to look bad by swearing. He wasn’t even throwing any racquets for once. He had to look good; way better than the player with an ugly serving face who was showing off his meaningless grip changing skills.

“Did he just swear?” Novak was surprised to hear the gentle boy use such words.

“I don’t know. But it sounded hot.” Andy’s sole focus was towards his chocolate bar right now.

“He really wants this win badly. Poor thing.”

Looking up at the big screen to check the score, the Serb could tell that the boy who just swore was down a break.

“He can always get the second set. That’s going to add fuel to the fire. Nom nom nom…”

“Yeah, getting a set off Richie would give him some confidence.”

“Yeah, and getting a nice boyfriend would give him even more confidence.”

The Scot finished his second bar in record time and went back to his former mission.

“Time!”

As the umpire notified the players, Ernests and Richard got up from their chairs and accidentally bumped into each other as they walked to their side of the net.

“Ahaha, this is like a morning soap opera.”

Andy was laughing but Novak was frowning. He had no idea what was going on between his two nice friends. They were anything but nice today.

“Game and first set, Gasquet.”

Richard walked to the bench with a smug look on his face. He only needed one more set to seal the deal. Before entering the stadium, the Latvian had approached him, saying that if he won the match today, the French should stay out of his and Novak’s business. Richard had snorted with all his heart and soul and told him that he should stay away if he won the match. Then the two had exchanged an injury-risking handshake, and here they were, battling to get their hands on the boy who probably had no idea of what was really happening on court.

“Come on, Ernie!”

Both heads snapped towards the VIP zone as Novak’s voice hit their eardrums. Ernests beamed, happy to hear the Serb cheer for him while Richard tried to calm down, assuming that Novak was nice enough to cheer for the loser.

‘I don’t need any cheering. He likes me. I can tell! I’ll win this set and smile ever so brightly at the net, and then ask Nole out for dinner. It’s as simple as that.’

Tying his shoelaces with his right leg on the chair so that his future boyfriend would get a nice view of him, Richard felt a little sore on the right arm that had been hit by the monster who seemed to have nothing else than a bit of arm strength.

‘I hope it will be fine for the next half an hour or so. It shouldn’t take too long to beat that piece of trouble.’

“Time!”

Both players picked up their weapons and the second set began.

“Ouch, he called the trainer.” Andy spotted the trainer head towards Richard’s bench in the middle of the set.

“It looks like it’s his right elbow.”

Novak looked over with worried eyes. His friend had just returned on tour after a nagging shoulder injury. It would be cruel to see him take some time out with another one.

“Yeah. I wish he had someone to massage that elbow later. Does he have a secret boyfriend?”

Andy already knew the answer to his own question but his job was to stir the sleeping feelings inside his friend’s mind.

“Not that I know of. I wonder why he doesn’t get one. He’s cute.”

“No doubt about that. He’s adorable. Would someone like him fit as your ideal boyfriend?”

Novak looked at the Scot with confusion on his face. “What’s with all these weird questions and comments?”

“Nothing. I’m just curious. That’s all.”

“Well, who’s going to say no to such a cute boy?”

‘You are saying no!’

Andy wanted to yell directly into Novak’s brain but he knew that he couldn’t force anything. He had to wait and rather encourage the poor soul to acknowledge his feelings.

The second set ended quickly as Ernests found his game again and Richard had trouble getting his right arm to function properly.

“Allez, Richie!”

Novak was cheering for his French friend now and it was Richard’s turn to beam. He felt great, almost not feeling the pain in his elbow.

‘Come on, Richard. You can do it! Think about what will happen if you lose this set. That pouty, frowning, curly head will have Nole all to himself!’

Fire burned inside the twenty two year old and he knew that he had to focus like he had never focused before. His opponent was known for his many unforced errors, not being able to wait patiently enough for his chances. He was going to use that knowledge and put an end to this ridiculous match. There was going to be one winner and it was going to be him.

Meanwhile, Ernests had drawn a very different conclusion.

‘I’m the one who’s got the momentum here. And, I feel fit. I’m going to stay focused and hit some aces. I can always use a couple of cheap points. Then, I’m going to pull an upset, shake his hand for a long as I can, and finally pluck up the courage to ask Nole out for a meal. He can’t say no to my puppy eyes, right?’

“Time!”

Smoothing his curls, Ernests picked up his racquet and headed back to the battlefield. He had a job to finish.

“Ahaha, he really hates Ernie. Ahahaha…”

Andy almost fell off the chair, laughing hard with his hands on his belly. Richard had just hit a blasting backhand from far behind the baseline and did some kind of trucker dance move.

“Hahaha, what a shot! But you’re wrong about him. He doesn’t hate Ernie. The three of us even had lunch together the other day.”

“Are you serious? Nobody got hurt?” The Scot couldn’t even begin to think of how funny it would have been.

“Hurt? Why would anyone get… hurt.”

Now that he thought about it, someone did get hurt. Actually, both of his friends got hurt that day. He remembered that Richard had his left index finger bandaged while he had left for the men’s room, and when he had come back from taking a phone call in the corner, Ernests seemed to have a problem with his right foot.

“Your face tells me that someone did get hurt.”

Andy had no problem reading his friend’s face. It was as easy as reading the scores on the big screen which told him that the French was up a break.

“But it’s not like they’re malicious enough to hurt each other. I’m sure it was just a couple of minor accidents.”

Andy couldn’t take it anymore. He had to say it and save himself from going crazy.

“Novak, listen to me. They hate each other and they both like you. Get the picture? Damn, I need another chocolate bar. Do you have any?”

Unfortunately, the last question hadn’t managed to get into Novak’s head. His brain was still processing the previous information.

“What?”

The Scot let out a sigh and decided to go for a more extreme approach. “Watch their reaction, okay?”

Andy put an arm around the world number three’s shoulder, hoping that Tim wouldn’t be watching this match. He sat as closely as possible to his friend and whispered some nonsense into his ear.

‘What the heck is Andy doing?!’

Richard refrained himself from jumping up to the VIP area. As far as he knew, the Scot was still with Tim and had no feelings for Novak.

‘Whoo… Let’s calm down. It’s nothing. Andy’s just being friendly, probably hyper from all the chocolate he had. It’s nothing.’

Richard took a deep breath. The only thing that he could do now to make himself feel better was to change his grip, again.

“Acckakak…”

Ernests couldn’t afford to jump up anywhere since he was busy choking on his sports drink. He had never considered Andy as one of his rivals. There hadn’t been any alarming signs from the world number four and Novak had told him that Tim and Andy were like an old married couple.

“You saw that?”

Andy sat comfortably on his own seat again, looking for something to drink now. He was going to stop being friends with the Serb if he still couldn’t see it.

“Yeah, I did.”

Judging from his shocked tone, Andy assumed that he could keep his friend.

“Good. So does either of them make your heart beat faster? Don’t tell me that both do. A three person relationship’s not going to work out here.”

The fluffy question gave the Scot endless goose bumps but he was willing to make such a sacrifice. He was a really nice friend.

Novak put his right hand on his chest and looked at the two players. The match wasn’t going to last long. He was running out of time to get a grasp of why his heart was pumping blood as if he was the one doing the running.

‘What is going on? I thought we were all just a bunch of good friends.’

Thump-thump.

‘Ernie?’

Thump-thump.

‘Richie?’

‘When did things start to change around us? I don’t understand...’

“Game, set, match, Gasquet. Six-two, one-six, six-four.”

His time was up.

“Mwahaha!”

Richard had excused himself and was currently standing in the middle of the men’s room, enjoying the laugh of his life. He had won the battle despite having to play two matches in eight hours.

‘Ah, this is so great!’

Well aware of the fact that this was more than just a second round match of a Masters series, the twenty two year old used the opportunity to enjoy another good round of laughter.

“Wahahaha!”

Resisting the urge to spend the next few hours laughing, Richard checked himself in the mirror and finally left the restroom.

‘Ah, he looks handsome today with that black polo shirt. And, did he change his conditioner? His hair looks even nicer!’

Enjoying the view of his hopefully soon-to-be boyfriend, the French headed back to his table with a bright smile. He had asked Novak if he had time for dinner today but he hadn’t succeeded in overcoming his shyness to ask him out on a proper date. He knew that he had to try even if the Serb might break his heart in a polite way.

“Someone’s in a great mood today.” Novak smiled, finding himself rather attracted to his friend.

‘This is all Andy’s fault.’

He wanted to blame the Scot wholeheartedly, but the more he thought about Richard and his interaction, the more he felt that he had been ignorant of his own feelings towards him.

“How’s the food?” Richard asked, looking at Novak’s plate which was already half-empty.

“It’s awesome! You know how much I enjoy French cuisine, n’est-ce pas?”

The bit of French made Richard giggle and Novak couldn’t stop himself from completely falling for it.

“Since you’re paying for the meal, what if I pay for the drinks?”

The Serb suggested, quickly looking down at his plate as Richard’s smile got even brighter. Now that he slowly got to admit how he was feeling for the French, it was hard to see him just as a good, old friend.

“I won today, Nole. That means I have a match tomorrow.”

Richard pointed out with another giggle after some careful observation of the reaction of the other player. It seemed that Novak was enjoying his small laughs.

“Oh, right! Sorry. Then…”

“But I can still have some coke. Victory coke!” He added before Novak could change his mind.

“Haha, alright. I’ll pay for the coke then.”

The two exchanged a meaningful glance and Richard looked away first, horrified at himself blushing all over. It wasn’t like they shared a kiss. It was just one intense look and he was blushing like a teenage schoolgirl.

“Richie… I need to tell you something. It’s very important.”

Novak lowered his voice and prayed to God that he wouldn’t get a ‘no’ for an answer. He may have realized it late but that didn’t mean his feelings were any less serious. All he could think about since that fateful match had ended was how excited he was when the winner asked if he could have dinner with him and how obligated he felt about asking Richard to be his boyfriend.

“Okay. I’m all yours.”

Richard laughed inside at the literal meaning of his words and met Novak’s eyes. They were sincere and deep, making him wonder what the topic could be.

“Are you seeing anyone these days?”

The French shook his head reflexively and saw his friend smile with a soft sigh of relief.

“Then, would you be an angel and give me a chance?”

“Eheehee…”

The boy didn’t have enough time to stop himself from grinning like a fool. He didn’t even have to ask for it. Love had just knocked on his front door.

Richard’s smile lit the spacious restaurant as he nodded. “As I said, I’m all yours.”