"You've never left my mind, since the day we first met..."

                                   ~~~~

         Gavi shakily inhaled a lungful of air as Ansu impatiently pushed the doors of the gym wide open. And he would've been motionless out of unease cramping up his throat if the older boy hadn't grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him inside with haste.

The Catalan's eyes made a quick scan of the huge expanse of fitness equipments before he finally zeroed-in on the group by the bright window standing beside the exercise bikes.

Fuck...

His eyes widened in realisation at the all - too - familiar figure and immediately the buzzing in his head went silent...initiating a different kind of tingling sensation originating from the very core of  his spine travelling all the way to the tips of his fingers.

Pedri...

And as dramatic as it may sound,  the world suddenly came to a halt for the younger. Pedri was no different than a myth or a legend; straight out of a storybook, his accomplishments beyond compare and his skills a work of art.

Gavi felt as though he was looking at something he should be seeing only placed within glass cabinets in a museum.

And before his mind could cope with the amount of sheer adrenaline in his blood, he was standing before the group of three men huddled together; Pedri Gonzalez, Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres.

They turned towards the approaching youngsters in unison as if on cue.

"Goodmorning!" Ansu spoke with a tone slightly more respectful and formal  than he'd done with the others they'd met prior to the group, "This is our new signing and my old teammate from La Masia, Pablo Gavi. "

Pablo nodded awkwardly at them, trying his best to put up a smile, which looked more like a nervous twitch of his lips.

"Nice to meet you, Gavi! I've heard a lot about your play. " Ferran spoke cheerily, patting the younger on the back in a welcoming gesture.

"Yeah yeah " Eric agreed " I've watched you play a couple times,  you're promising, I must say..."

The younger blushed at the vague compliments, and scratched his neck while he tried his best to reply with gratitude.

Eric and Ferran were two players that he'd grown up watching alongside Pedri, and to say they were phenomenal was an understatement. They were legends of the game themselves and to receive such words of praise from the pair wasn't even on Gavi's wishlist, simply cause he felt it was impossible.

But he was standing right now, before them. And this was his reality.

"Xavi's kid right? The Golden Boy, is that what they call you? ..." Pedri's sudden words sounded like a taunt..

Gavi quickly shook the thoughts away before they could pester his entire existence and poison his soul.

"Y-Yes, Sir..." He stuttered, unable to find a proper term to address him, while he stared at a fixed point on the ground,  hesitant to meet eyes with his idol.

"Please, call me Pedro. " his silky voice requested and Gavi finally looked up into the older's dark gaze his hazel eyes burned into the younger's soul, while his lips twitched in amusement; a smirk with twisted intentions...

Pablo fidgeted uncomfortably under the older man's blunt stare.

Pedri himself was caught off-guard the moment the younger peered at him with his big brown eyes, which, he wanted to say glistened with tears, but no... it looked more like they twinkled, his pale skin looked soft to the  touch, with pink pouty lips drawn in a pretty nervous smile...

Fucking hell.

The older fixated on him, suddenly hyper aware of every feature on the younger.

This boy was indeed beautiful...

But then he seemed to crash back to reality when he recalled how this boy was served everything on a golden platter ever since he was born.

Pedri felt repulsed everytime he saw anything on the news about this new talent; the golden boy, the new generation, the latest talent, the next Pedri...blah blah blah.

It seemed to never end. The media always came up with a new title.

And he hated that everyone pretended as though the boy hadn't received all his fame and attention simply  because he was Xavi's son and next in line to the Hernandez football hierarchy.

The boy was average at best, not that Pedri had ever paid mind to his play. In fact, he'd never watched any of the younger's matches, but he'd come to the conclusion that all that he had was undeserved...

He had made up his mind about Gavi long before he'd even met him and he was resolute on his decision.

And he could already feel desire churning in the depths of him; desire to destroy the younger's career and strip him of his undeserved titles... to ruin him, in every way....

"You guys continue..." Ansu's voice broke him out of his plans, "We'll be heading to the ground..." He clarified, as he put his arm around the Catalan's shoulder and dragged him along outside.

"Fuck..." Gavi released a heavy sigh once they were out the door.

"I know." Ansu agreed, at nothing in particular.

"What was with that stare? " He mumbled, recalling the way Pedri had looked at him, he shivered visibly at the memory.

Ansu seemed to understand immediately what he meant...

"I have no fucking idea." Ansu spoke slowly, " Although... Pedro seemed a little more tense than usual."

"What do you mean?" Gavi interrogated as they walked through the hallways.

"I mean, he is a man of intimidating aura ofcourse, but it's mostly because of his achievements that we feel so small compared to him,  otherwise he's usually friendly and generally... I don't know... kind? " Ansu explained.

The younger's face fell at that, he pursed his lips thoughtfully...

"Great.... My idol hates me..."

~~~

"That boy's style of play is pretty good; quite unique... " Eric confessed once the youngsters had moved out of earshot.

"I agree, he's phenomenal to watch..." Ferran added, he nudged Pedri with his elbow, "Don't you think?"

"Pftt...." Pedri huffed, looking bored,  "He's Xavi's son is what I think. "

He walked towards the exercise bikes, trying to avoid the conversation.

"Come on, dude.." Ferran followed after him, "The kid's really talented, and I don't know why you were trying to frighten him."

"Frighten him?" Pedri turned to face his friend, slightly annoyed, " All I did was speak to him in a way that I'd do to any other new teammate. Or do you expect me to give him princess treatment just cause he's our coach's son.. huh? Should I be all ' Welcome to your rightful throne - Barcelona ' " He mocked as he gestured with his arms wide, he was fuming by the end of his little one-sided banter and he didn't even know why.

Ferran stepped back with his hands raised.

"Okay okay ... Chill...  I was just saying.. forget it." He sighed.

Pedri seemed to be unusually sensitive on the topic of the youngster, and Ferran had known him for years but right now, it was impossible to read his friend.

"I hate that kid..." Pedro seethed, his inner thoughts unintentionally drawn on his lips.

Eric, always the wise one, simply passed by the two while mumbling, directed at  the Canarian,

"Either you hate him, or you wanna fuck him so bad..."

A/N : I know I'm such a liar, you can hate me if you want 😭 💔 But I really was busy... Also, in this book, Gavi is referred to as the 'Catalan' cause he was born and raised in Barcelona.

No promises this time... 😭😭😭