I'd like to be free like that, spread my wings so high
Title: I’d like to be free like that, spread my wings so high
Pairing: Carlos Marchena/Raul Albiol, hinted Villa/Silva
Word Count: 3205
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not true
Summary: Carlos notices Raul for the first time when he’s seventeen and as the years pass, still can’t bring himself to make a move. Fluff warning. Written for snowstranger for the fblslash holiday fic exchange
Beta'ed by:
albion_lass
There is something incredibly endearing about the way Raul smiles when he laughs. The first time Carlos notices Raul, Raul is only seventeen and has just been promoted to the B team from the academy. Raul’s face is familiar, so he assumes he’s spoken with him before while watching the academy games. The first and B team don’t train together often, but when they do, he finds himself in the same group as the younger player. There’s such a trusting quality to Raul’s smiles as he listens to every piece of advice Carlos gives him. It’s refreshing to work with a defender who will listen.
As refreshing as it is, Raul can also be a bit dense. Carlos thinks that genius comes in different forms. On the field, he sees the cogs working in Raul’s head and sees that he understands. Off the field is a different story.
“Do you think people can ride giraffes?” Raul asks him one day while they’re eating lunch.
“Uh…” Carlos doesn’t really have a response for that. “Like a horse?”
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to.”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Raul frowns down at his food for a minute before he lifts his head and laughs. “I like giraffes.”
When he gets home that night, Carlos finds himself googling whether or not it’s possible to ride a giraffe. The consensus is that it is possible but not a good idea.
The next time the two teams train together, he doesn’t tell Raul. He doesn’t want to spoil his fun.
--------
As the season progresses, and after Raul turns 18, Carlos starts to see Raul in a different light. He frequents the Valencia B games to watch Raul play and finds himself growing jealous when he sees Raul with his other friends. It’s irrational, confusing, and that’s when Carlos realizes that Raul is going to be trouble. Carlos is careful when he’s with Raul because he doesn’t need trouble. After he catches himself stealing glances at Raul when they train together, he knows that trouble has found him. Trouble feels weightless and like the world is on his shoulders at the same time.
At first he tries to write Raul off as an infatuation. It doesn’t work. Every time he tells himself that Raul is barely eighteen and that at twenty-five he should be looking other places, he ends up feeling like a creepy, lecherous old man. It works- up until Raul laughs and Carlos is back to square one. Carlos still tells himself it’s an infatuation until the end of the season rolls around and he’s still staring at Raul. He’s about to move Raul over into the ‘problem’ category of his mind when he finds out Getafe want to take the younger player on a loan. Problem solved.
The last time he sees Raul before everyone leaves for vacation, he settles for a hug and tells himself not to make anything of it. The hug is quick, Carlos letting go before Raul does. If Raul notices he doesn’t say anything. He just beams at Carlos with that silly grin before leaning in and kissing him on both cheeks.
“Do you already have sunburn?” Raul asks him, frowning at Carlos’s red face. “Summer hasn’t even started yet- you should get a better sunscreen.”
“Uh, yeah.” Carlos chuckles nervously and inwardly swears at himself to stop blushing.
Raul tells Carlos he’ll miss him and hugs him one more time before leaving the room. He’s glad they were alone because there’s no way anyone else would mistake his red face for sunburn. He can feel his heart beating in his throat and he sighs.
--------
He doesn’t go to the hospital when he finds out. Carlos doesn’t think they’re close enough for that. Instead he locks himself into his apartment and make sure his phone is always near him. He doesn’t shave and only showers once. The garbage is overflowing with half eaten delivery boxes, but he can’t be arsed to take it out. When the cleaning lady comes by, she shoots him dirty looks that he ignores as she picks up the empty alcohol bottles that litter the counters and floor. Carlos doesn’t care.
When Raul wakes up after five days of lying in a coma, Carlos feels he can finally breathe again. The rumors are flying as to whether or not Raul will be able to play, let alone walk, again but right now knowing that he’s alive is all that matters. In the venn diagram of Carlos’s mind, Raul is the point where trouble, infatuation, and problems intersect.
Carlos never ends up going to the hospital. Raul is there for seventeen days, more than enough time for Carlos to go, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to see Raul hooked up to machines and have to stare at him through windows. He wants to remember Raul on the pitch, hair damp with sweat and plastered to the side of his face, dumb smile on his lips. Instead he finds a flower shop that delivers to the hospital Raul is at. As he’s browsing the website to pick an appropriate arrangement, he stumbles upon stuffed animals for new born babies and sees a giraffe. He adds it to the order and sends it without a name or a card.
--------
Somehow Raul recovers. He recovers fast enough to make his La Liga debut in January for Getafe against Atletico Madrid. Carlos watches Raul play when their games aren’t scheduled for the same time. He sees him score his first La Liga goal against Real Madrid. Carlos finds a bit of irony in the fact that Raul was born and bred a Valencia boy but has made his debut and first goal for and against Madrid teams.
The rest of the year crawls by. The season has been agonizing. They finish outside of Champions and Europa League spots. Carlos tries not to think about it. There’s no use being angry or upset over something he can’t change. The past is the past and he needs to think about the future. When he closes his eyes and wonders what the future holds, he sees childish smiles and hears out of the ordinary questions.
--------
Raul is promoted to the first team after his successful loan spell at Getafe. Carlos is almost late for the first day of training and when he gets to the locker room, he discovers that they’ve been rearranged and Raul’s locker is right next to his. A small part of him is leering suggestively while the rest of him is apprehensive and considers begging for a different locker. He has to look himself in the mirror and remind himself that Raul is not yet twenty while he’s now twenty six. Carlos tells himself he has to be responsible, a role model, and lusting after a team mate is not the way to achieve that.
“Marchena.”
He looks up as he is greeted and sees David enter the room. They’ve played together a few times before on the national team. They’re not friends, but David is new and Carlos is a familiar face. Carlos smiles as he shakes David’s hand and welcomes him to Valencia. They’re in sore need of a striker after last season and Carlos hopes David can bring what they need to the table. He’s halfway through telling David as much when the door to the field opens and someone says his name with such happiness, such enthusiasm, that he knows it can only be one person.
Arms are around him, and he nearly buckles under the weight of Raul throwing himself at him. He laughs, wills himself not to turn red, and eventually shrugs Raul off of him. Raul is all smiles and kisses, telling Carlos how much he missed him. David is staring at Raul like he has two heads. Raul introduces himself with a laugh and a grin before trotting back outside.
“Is he drunk?” David asks him, frowning after Raul.
“No, he’s always like that,” Carlos says fondly, a little smile on his lips and David raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“Nothing.” David grins like the cat that’s caught the canary. “Let’s go before we’re late.”
--------
Rooming with Raul on the road is a mistake, but the younger player asks if just this once, it will be okay. Raul has a headache and rooming with one of the teammates he normally shares with is out of the question- they prefer loud music and video games. Carlos feels slightly insulted that the younger players think he’s calm and quiet like an old man. He’s only twenty-six for God’s sake.
It ends up not mattering. Raul falls asleep after dinner, drugged to sleep by the team doctor. Carlos thanks God for sleeping pills. He tries not to watch Raul sleep, he doesn’t need to feel any more creepy, but it’s hard not to. For as clueless and silly as he is while awake, Raul sleeps with a serious expression on his face. His thick brows are furrowed as if contemplating a question, mouth slightly open as if about to ask one of his endless questions. Carlos doesn’t like it- he likes Raul with his boyish smile.
Before he climbs into bed for the night, Raul shifts in his sleep and Carlos hears something hit the floor. Going to the other side of Raul’s bed, he sees the stuffed giraffe he sent to the hospital. A blush comes onto his face, thinking that Raul sleeps with something he gave him, before he remembers that he sent the giraffe and flowers anonymously. With a sigh, he tucks the giraffe back under Raul’s arm.
“His name is Carlitos,” Raul tells him in the morning, sleep lacing his smile when he catches Carlos staring at the stuffed animal. “I named him after you.”
“Oh?” Carlos doesn’t dare look at Raul. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah,” Raul’s grin overtakes his entire face, “I thought so too.”
--------
When they jog to warm up, Raul likes to run next to Carlos. When the weather starts to lose its warmth, Carlos finds that Raul comes closer and when winter hits, they run with their shoulders touching. Carlos doesn’t like the winter- it’s cold enough that they have to wear hats and scarves that wrap up around their faces. Carlos can’t see Raul’s smile on his lips, but he can always see it in his eyes. Raul is like a big, awkward puppy that is always happy to see him. He feels like he’s always known Raul, that they’ve always been together.
By the time the spring rolls around and it’s warm enough to train without layers of bulky outerwear, they still jog with their sides bumping.
--------
“Albiol!”
Carlos rolls his eyes. It’s the end of practice and somehow Raul has found a way to piss David off. Again. To be honest it wouldn’t feel like the week was complete without David harping on Raul for something.
“Yes?” Raul walks out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist and a toothbrush in his mouth. Carlos twitches and looks away.
“Is. That. My. Toothbrush. In. Your. Mouth?” If looks could kill, Raul would be on fire. Instead, Raul nods and stares at David like he can’t figure out why he’s angry. “What did I tell you about using my stuff?”
“Not to use your hair gel,” Raul tells him. “This is your toothbrush.”
Carlos leaves the locker room before he witnesses a murder. Or becomes a murder victim from laughing too hard.
--------
The end of the season draws to a near and Carlos can’t wait. He’s made the cut for the World Cup in Germany this summer and he has a few weeks off before he has to report to Las Rozas. They still have a few more games to play though, and training has been intense. The end of the season is always tense as they wait to see where they will finish on the table and tempers are flaring.
Raul is sitting outside on one of the metal bleachers that surround the practice fields. He’s frowning and staring off into the distance. Carlos knows Raul only frowns for three reasons. The first is if he’s confused and doesn’t understand something. The second is if he’s done something wrong at practice and is trying to figure out how to improve. The third is if someone is mean to him. Judging by how upset he looks, Carlos figures it’s the third and he bet he can guess who. He wonders what Raul did to irk David this time.
“What’s wrong?” Carlos puts a good distance between them when he sits down; he doesn’t trust himself to not reach out. When Raul doesn’t answer, he scoots a little closer and makes a funny face to get Raul to laugh- he doesn’t, “Do I have to beat someone up for you?”
“No,” Raul mumbles, not meeting Carlos’s eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“Did David yell at you again?” Raul shrugs. “You know he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just grumpy.” Raul shrugs again. “Come on, what did he say? I’ll go punch him if it was bad.”
That makes Raul laugh. “You wouldn’t punch Guaje for me. You’re too nice to punch someone.”
Carlos thinks there are a lot of things he would do for Raul. Raul doesn’t need to know that though. No one needs to know that.
“I can be mean.”
Raul shakes his head. “No. I wouldn’t have named my giraffe after you if you were mean.” The smile Carlos loves returns to Raul’s face. “I never thanked you for him. Thank you.”
Carlos cocks his head to the side. “How did you know it was me?”
“You’re the only person who knows I like giraffes.”
Raul slides over so they’re sitting with their sides pressed against each other. Carlos tenses. He wants to wrap an arm around Raul, kiss him, drag him home and to his bed, but he can’t. All Carlos can do is sit there and recite Hail Mary’s in his head while cursing this torture.
“David said I was stupid,” Raul tells him, resting his head on Carlos’s shoulder. “He called me a little kid.”
“I’m going to kick his ass,” Carlos mutters.
“He’s right. Everyone thinks I’m stupid.” Raul sounds miserable and Carlos wants to put his arms around him. “David’s the only one who will say it to my face.”
“That’s not true. David is just an asshole sometimes.” Most of the time would be more accurate. “You probably just made him angry again.” Raul doesn’t say anything and Carlos sighs. “What did you do?”
“I asked him if he ever liked a guy before,” Raul mutters, glaring at Carlos as he bursts out laughing. “I guess he thought I was asking if he was gay. I wonder if he thinks I like him.” That only makes Carlos laughs harder. “What? I wanted to know.”
“Oh god, why would you ask him that?” Carlos is almost wheezing.
Raul cocks his head to the side and stares at Carlos. “You don’t know?” Now it’s Carlos’s turn to look confused as Raul laughs. “And they call me the stupid one.”
Raul leans forward and brushes his mouth against Carlos’s. Carlos doesn’t move, he’s too shocked, but the feel of Raul’s ever present smile pressed against his lips is enough to make him flush bright red and smile back.
--------
“Stop picking on Raul.”
Carlos is leaning against his locker, arms crossed, giving David a glare every bit as mean looking as David’s normal bitchface. David raises an eyebrow at him, globs more hair gel into his hair to get it to spike up, before turning and going to the mirror.
“I don’t pick on him.”
“You called him a little kid.” Carlos scowls, thinking about how upset Raul was.
“Yeah, because he follows you like one. I told him to fucking act on it already.” The frown drops from Carlos’s face and he looks down. “So he finally did something?” Carlos looks at David like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. David scoffs as he washes his hands and grabs his keys. “You’ve been tiptoeing around each other for long enough. So fucking stupid- you two deserve each other.”
Carlos doesn’t say anything as David leaves the room. When he finally moves, he rolls his eyes. Sometimes he doesn’t understand David.
--------
No one else is in the locker room when Carlos and Raul arrive. They’re early, Carlos swinging by Raul’s apartment to pick him up on the way to practice. Early means they have time alone and time alone means Carlos has Raul pressed up against a locker and is taking his time kissing him. He has one hand behind Raul’s neck and the other is holding Raul’s hand. Carlos likes the way Raul traces patterns on Carlos’s wrist when he’s kissing him.
“Get a room you two.” David’s voice isn’t angry or annoyed and Carlos wonders if he’s sick or something.
“This is a room,” Raul tells him and David shakes his head.
Carlos licks at Raul’s mouth one more time before they pull apart. Raul smiles and pecks a kiss on Carlos’s cheek as he turns to finish organizing his locker. David rolls his eyes and begins his normal tirade of Raul not borrowing his things and keeping the space around their lockers clean when the door opens again.
“Raul’s never clean, it’s part of his charm,” a voice pipes up and they all turn.
“DAVID!” Raul is across the room in a flash, pulling the other David into his arms and twirling him around. “I missed you!”
The other David laughs as he shimmies his way out of Raul’s gangly arms. Nodding to Carlos, he sets his bag down on the bench.
“Hello.” David Silva is all shy smiles as he sticks his hand out to David Villa. “I’m one of the other David’s. Everyone calls me Silva.”
“Uh…” David has apparently forgotten how to speak as he clumsily shakes Silva’s hand. “Uh, David. Villa. Guaje. Whatever.”
He scowls, drops Silva’s hand, and turns back to his locker. Raul and Carlos exchange a look. The tips of David’s ears are red and Silva is looking at him like he’s not really sure what to think.
Later, when they’re on break, they lay on the grass as they try to catch their breath. They’ve spent a majority of the practice together doing defending drills and giggling over how bad David is failing at trying to be sneaky at stealing looks at Silva. Raul has rested his hand next to Carlos’s and Carlos hooks his pinky finger over Raul’s.
“They’re building a new zoo.” Carlos tells him and Raul turns his head to look at him. “They’re going to have giraffes. We should go when it opens.”
“I’d like that,” Raul says. “I like giraffes.”
“I know.” Carlos smiles.
“I like you more than I like giraffes.”
Carlos laughs as he lifts Raul’s hand to his mouth and plants a quick kiss on his wrist; Raul grins. As they join the others after the break is over, Carlos realizes Raul is the best problem he ever had. They jog with their fingers brushing.
Pairing: Carlos Marchena/Raul Albiol, hinted Villa/Silva
Word Count: 3205
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not true
Summary: Carlos notices Raul for the first time when he’s seventeen and as the years pass, still can’t bring himself to make a move. Fluff warning. Written for snowstranger for the fblslash holiday fic exchange
Beta'ed by:
albion_lass
There is something incredibly endearing about the way Raul smiles when he laughs. The first time Carlos notices Raul, Raul is only seventeen and has just been promoted to the B team from the academy. Raul’s face is familiar, so he assumes he’s spoken with him before while watching the academy games. The first and B team don’t train together often, but when they do, he finds himself in the same group as the younger player. There’s such a trusting quality to Raul’s smiles as he listens to every piece of advice Carlos gives him. It’s refreshing to work with a defender who will listen.
As refreshing as it is, Raul can also be a bit dense. Carlos thinks that genius comes in different forms. On the field, he sees the cogs working in Raul’s head and sees that he understands. Off the field is a different story.
“Do you think people can ride giraffes?” Raul asks him one day while they’re eating lunch.
“Uh…” Carlos doesn’t really have a response for that. “Like a horse?”
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to.”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Raul frowns down at his food for a minute before he lifts his head and laughs. “I like giraffes.”
When he gets home that night, Carlos finds himself googling whether or not it’s possible to ride a giraffe. The consensus is that it is possible but not a good idea.
The next time the two teams train together, he doesn’t tell Raul. He doesn’t want to spoil his fun.
--------
As the season progresses, and after Raul turns 18, Carlos starts to see Raul in a different light. He frequents the Valencia B games to watch Raul play and finds himself growing jealous when he sees Raul with his other friends. It’s irrational, confusing, and that’s when Carlos realizes that Raul is going to be trouble. Carlos is careful when he’s with Raul because he doesn’t need trouble. After he catches himself stealing glances at Raul when they train together, he knows that trouble has found him. Trouble feels weightless and like the world is on his shoulders at the same time.
At first he tries to write Raul off as an infatuation. It doesn’t work. Every time he tells himself that Raul is barely eighteen and that at twenty-five he should be looking other places, he ends up feeling like a creepy, lecherous old man. It works- up until Raul laughs and Carlos is back to square one. Carlos still tells himself it’s an infatuation until the end of the season rolls around and he’s still staring at Raul. He’s about to move Raul over into the ‘problem’ category of his mind when he finds out Getafe want to take the younger player on a loan. Problem solved.
The last time he sees Raul before everyone leaves for vacation, he settles for a hug and tells himself not to make anything of it. The hug is quick, Carlos letting go before Raul does. If Raul notices he doesn’t say anything. He just beams at Carlos with that silly grin before leaning in and kissing him on both cheeks.
“Do you already have sunburn?” Raul asks him, frowning at Carlos’s red face. “Summer hasn’t even started yet- you should get a better sunscreen.”
“Uh, yeah.” Carlos chuckles nervously and inwardly swears at himself to stop blushing.
Raul tells Carlos he’ll miss him and hugs him one more time before leaving the room. He’s glad they were alone because there’s no way anyone else would mistake his red face for sunburn. He can feel his heart beating in his throat and he sighs.
--------
He doesn’t go to the hospital when he finds out. Carlos doesn’t think they’re close enough for that. Instead he locks himself into his apartment and make sure his phone is always near him. He doesn’t shave and only showers once. The garbage is overflowing with half eaten delivery boxes, but he can’t be arsed to take it out. When the cleaning lady comes by, she shoots him dirty looks that he ignores as she picks up the empty alcohol bottles that litter the counters and floor. Carlos doesn’t care.
When Raul wakes up after five days of lying in a coma, Carlos feels he can finally breathe again. The rumors are flying as to whether or not Raul will be able to play, let alone walk, again but right now knowing that he’s alive is all that matters. In the venn diagram of Carlos’s mind, Raul is the point where trouble, infatuation, and problems intersect.
Carlos never ends up going to the hospital. Raul is there for seventeen days, more than enough time for Carlos to go, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to see Raul hooked up to machines and have to stare at him through windows. He wants to remember Raul on the pitch, hair damp with sweat and plastered to the side of his face, dumb smile on his lips. Instead he finds a flower shop that delivers to the hospital Raul is at. As he’s browsing the website to pick an appropriate arrangement, he stumbles upon stuffed animals for new born babies and sees a giraffe. He adds it to the order and sends it without a name or a card.
--------
Somehow Raul recovers. He recovers fast enough to make his La Liga debut in January for Getafe against Atletico Madrid. Carlos watches Raul play when their games aren’t scheduled for the same time. He sees him score his first La Liga goal against Real Madrid. Carlos finds a bit of irony in the fact that Raul was born and bred a Valencia boy but has made his debut and first goal for and against Madrid teams.
The rest of the year crawls by. The season has been agonizing. They finish outside of Champions and Europa League spots. Carlos tries not to think about it. There’s no use being angry or upset over something he can’t change. The past is the past and he needs to think about the future. When he closes his eyes and wonders what the future holds, he sees childish smiles and hears out of the ordinary questions.
--------
Raul is promoted to the first team after his successful loan spell at Getafe. Carlos is almost late for the first day of training and when he gets to the locker room, he discovers that they’ve been rearranged and Raul’s locker is right next to his. A small part of him is leering suggestively while the rest of him is apprehensive and considers begging for a different locker. He has to look himself in the mirror and remind himself that Raul is not yet twenty while he’s now twenty six. Carlos tells himself he has to be responsible, a role model, and lusting after a team mate is not the way to achieve that.
“Marchena.”
He looks up as he is greeted and sees David enter the room. They’ve played together a few times before on the national team. They’re not friends, but David is new and Carlos is a familiar face. Carlos smiles as he shakes David’s hand and welcomes him to Valencia. They’re in sore need of a striker after last season and Carlos hopes David can bring what they need to the table. He’s halfway through telling David as much when the door to the field opens and someone says his name with such happiness, such enthusiasm, that he knows it can only be one person.
Arms are around him, and he nearly buckles under the weight of Raul throwing himself at him. He laughs, wills himself not to turn red, and eventually shrugs Raul off of him. Raul is all smiles and kisses, telling Carlos how much he missed him. David is staring at Raul like he has two heads. Raul introduces himself with a laugh and a grin before trotting back outside.
“Is he drunk?” David asks him, frowning after Raul.
“No, he’s always like that,” Carlos says fondly, a little smile on his lips and David raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“Nothing.” David grins like the cat that’s caught the canary. “Let’s go before we’re late.”
--------
Rooming with Raul on the road is a mistake, but the younger player asks if just this once, it will be okay. Raul has a headache and rooming with one of the teammates he normally shares with is out of the question- they prefer loud music and video games. Carlos feels slightly insulted that the younger players think he’s calm and quiet like an old man. He’s only twenty-six for God’s sake.
It ends up not mattering. Raul falls asleep after dinner, drugged to sleep by the team doctor. Carlos thanks God for sleeping pills. He tries not to watch Raul sleep, he doesn’t need to feel any more creepy, but it’s hard not to. For as clueless and silly as he is while awake, Raul sleeps with a serious expression on his face. His thick brows are furrowed as if contemplating a question, mouth slightly open as if about to ask one of his endless questions. Carlos doesn’t like it- he likes Raul with his boyish smile.
Before he climbs into bed for the night, Raul shifts in his sleep and Carlos hears something hit the floor. Going to the other side of Raul’s bed, he sees the stuffed giraffe he sent to the hospital. A blush comes onto his face, thinking that Raul sleeps with something he gave him, before he remembers that he sent the giraffe and flowers anonymously. With a sigh, he tucks the giraffe back under Raul’s arm.
“His name is Carlitos,” Raul tells him in the morning, sleep lacing his smile when he catches Carlos staring at the stuffed animal. “I named him after you.”
“Oh?” Carlos doesn’t dare look at Raul. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah,” Raul’s grin overtakes his entire face, “I thought so too.”
--------
When they jog to warm up, Raul likes to run next to Carlos. When the weather starts to lose its warmth, Carlos finds that Raul comes closer and when winter hits, they run with their shoulders touching. Carlos doesn’t like the winter- it’s cold enough that they have to wear hats and scarves that wrap up around their faces. Carlos can’t see Raul’s smile on his lips, but he can always see it in his eyes. Raul is like a big, awkward puppy that is always happy to see him. He feels like he’s always known Raul, that they’ve always been together.
By the time the spring rolls around and it’s warm enough to train without layers of bulky outerwear, they still jog with their sides bumping.
--------
“Albiol!”
Carlos rolls his eyes. It’s the end of practice and somehow Raul has found a way to piss David off. Again. To be honest it wouldn’t feel like the week was complete without David harping on Raul for something.
“Yes?” Raul walks out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist and a toothbrush in his mouth. Carlos twitches and looks away.
“Is. That. My. Toothbrush. In. Your. Mouth?” If looks could kill, Raul would be on fire. Instead, Raul nods and stares at David like he can’t figure out why he’s angry. “What did I tell you about using my stuff?”
“Not to use your hair gel,” Raul tells him. “This is your toothbrush.”
Carlos leaves the locker room before he witnesses a murder. Or becomes a murder victim from laughing too hard.
--------
The end of the season draws to a near and Carlos can’t wait. He’s made the cut for the World Cup in Germany this summer and he has a few weeks off before he has to report to Las Rozas. They still have a few more games to play though, and training has been intense. The end of the season is always tense as they wait to see where they will finish on the table and tempers are flaring.
Raul is sitting outside on one of the metal bleachers that surround the practice fields. He’s frowning and staring off into the distance. Carlos knows Raul only frowns for three reasons. The first is if he’s confused and doesn’t understand something. The second is if he’s done something wrong at practice and is trying to figure out how to improve. The third is if someone is mean to him. Judging by how upset he looks, Carlos figures it’s the third and he bet he can guess who. He wonders what Raul did to irk David this time.
“What’s wrong?” Carlos puts a good distance between them when he sits down; he doesn’t trust himself to not reach out. When Raul doesn’t answer, he scoots a little closer and makes a funny face to get Raul to laugh- he doesn’t, “Do I have to beat someone up for you?”
“No,” Raul mumbles, not meeting Carlos’s eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“Did David yell at you again?” Raul shrugs. “You know he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just grumpy.” Raul shrugs again. “Come on, what did he say? I’ll go punch him if it was bad.”
That makes Raul laugh. “You wouldn’t punch Guaje for me. You’re too nice to punch someone.”
Carlos thinks there are a lot of things he would do for Raul. Raul doesn’t need to know that though. No one needs to know that.
“I can be mean.”
Raul shakes his head. “No. I wouldn’t have named my giraffe after you if you were mean.” The smile Carlos loves returns to Raul’s face. “I never thanked you for him. Thank you.”
Carlos cocks his head to the side. “How did you know it was me?”
“You’re the only person who knows I like giraffes.”
Raul slides over so they’re sitting with their sides pressed against each other. Carlos tenses. He wants to wrap an arm around Raul, kiss him, drag him home and to his bed, but he can’t. All Carlos can do is sit there and recite Hail Mary’s in his head while cursing this torture.
“David said I was stupid,” Raul tells him, resting his head on Carlos’s shoulder. “He called me a little kid.”
“I’m going to kick his ass,” Carlos mutters.
“He’s right. Everyone thinks I’m stupid.” Raul sounds miserable and Carlos wants to put his arms around him. “David’s the only one who will say it to my face.”
“That’s not true. David is just an asshole sometimes.” Most of the time would be more accurate. “You probably just made him angry again.” Raul doesn’t say anything and Carlos sighs. “What did you do?”
“I asked him if he ever liked a guy before,” Raul mutters, glaring at Carlos as he bursts out laughing. “I guess he thought I was asking if he was gay. I wonder if he thinks I like him.” That only makes Carlos laughs harder. “What? I wanted to know.”
“Oh god, why would you ask him that?” Carlos is almost wheezing.
Raul cocks his head to the side and stares at Carlos. “You don’t know?” Now it’s Carlos’s turn to look confused as Raul laughs. “And they call me the stupid one.”
Raul leans forward and brushes his mouth against Carlos’s. Carlos doesn’t move, he’s too shocked, but the feel of Raul’s ever present smile pressed against his lips is enough to make him flush bright red and smile back.
--------
“Stop picking on Raul.”
Carlos is leaning against his locker, arms crossed, giving David a glare every bit as mean looking as David’s normal bitchface. David raises an eyebrow at him, globs more hair gel into his hair to get it to spike up, before turning and going to the mirror.
“I don’t pick on him.”
“You called him a little kid.” Carlos scowls, thinking about how upset Raul was.
“Yeah, because he follows you like one. I told him to fucking act on it already.” The frown drops from Carlos’s face and he looks down. “So he finally did something?” Carlos looks at David like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. David scoffs as he washes his hands and grabs his keys. “You’ve been tiptoeing around each other for long enough. So fucking stupid- you two deserve each other.”
Carlos doesn’t say anything as David leaves the room. When he finally moves, he rolls his eyes. Sometimes he doesn’t understand David.
--------
No one else is in the locker room when Carlos and Raul arrive. They’re early, Carlos swinging by Raul’s apartment to pick him up on the way to practice. Early means they have time alone and time alone means Carlos has Raul pressed up against a locker and is taking his time kissing him. He has one hand behind Raul’s neck and the other is holding Raul’s hand. Carlos likes the way Raul traces patterns on Carlos’s wrist when he’s kissing him.
“Get a room you two.” David’s voice isn’t angry or annoyed and Carlos wonders if he’s sick or something.
“This is a room,” Raul tells him and David shakes his head.
Carlos licks at Raul’s mouth one more time before they pull apart. Raul smiles and pecks a kiss on Carlos’s cheek as he turns to finish organizing his locker. David rolls his eyes and begins his normal tirade of Raul not borrowing his things and keeping the space around their lockers clean when the door opens again.
“Raul’s never clean, it’s part of his charm,” a voice pipes up and they all turn.
“DAVID!” Raul is across the room in a flash, pulling the other David into his arms and twirling him around. “I missed you!”
The other David laughs as he shimmies his way out of Raul’s gangly arms. Nodding to Carlos, he sets his bag down on the bench.
“Hello.” David Silva is all shy smiles as he sticks his hand out to David Villa. “I’m one of the other David’s. Everyone calls me Silva.”
“Uh…” David has apparently forgotten how to speak as he clumsily shakes Silva’s hand. “Uh, David. Villa. Guaje. Whatever.”
He scowls, drops Silva’s hand, and turns back to his locker. Raul and Carlos exchange a look. The tips of David’s ears are red and Silva is looking at him like he’s not really sure what to think.
Later, when they’re on break, they lay on the grass as they try to catch their breath. They’ve spent a majority of the practice together doing defending drills and giggling over how bad David is failing at trying to be sneaky at stealing looks at Silva. Raul has rested his hand next to Carlos’s and Carlos hooks his pinky finger over Raul’s.
“They’re building a new zoo.” Carlos tells him and Raul turns his head to look at him. “They’re going to have giraffes. We should go when it opens.”
“I’d like that,” Raul says. “I like giraffes.”
“I know.” Carlos smiles.
“I like you more than I like giraffes.”
Carlos laughs as he lifts Raul’s hand to his mouth and plants a quick kiss on his wrist; Raul grins. As they join the others after the break is over, Carlos realizes Raul is the best problem he ever had. They jog with their fingers brushing.