distracted by thought of you - rafael leao.
request - hi can you write a rafael leao fic. where he and reader are acquainted during the world cup and he actually already has a crush on her since shes a famous singer and a big ac milan fan.
it was the day portugal player morocco in the world cup quarter finals. you knew how excited rafael was seeing as though he hadn’t stopped talking about it.
he had already bought you a ticket much to your dismay. you hated people buying you things because you were more than capable of doing it yourself, but you knew how important this was to him.
the first time you met him was at an ac milan game. growing up in milan, your family were huge fans of the club so you naturally began to support them as well.
your profile picture on instagram was even a photo of you wearing an ac milan top from when you were a child, something your fans adored.
you lined up to get into the stadium, quickly texting rafael and telling him you were here. in the changing rooms, he smiled at the message.
“is your little girlfriend here?” ruben asked, peering over his shoulder to secretly read his message. “she’s not my girlfriend.”
“you want her to be though.”
rafael sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. “well it’s never going to happen.”
“hey, never say never,” bernardo butted in, patting him on the back. rafael knew that it was possible for him and you to start dating, but he wasn’t sure if you even liked him in that way.
you fell for rafael hard, and you had the same concerns as him. what if he didn’t like you? what if you weren’t enough for him?
as you were led to your seat, the players were walking out and you saw rafael make his way to the bench.
it was a rocky start and as soon as morocco scored their first goal, a bad feeling hit you. the screens shown the bench and rafael seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.
when the final whistle blew, you scurried off to the changing rooms and waited for him to come off the pitch.
a couple other players bumped into you, sending a warm smile but they still looked heart broken.
“he’s coming now,” ruben told you, and you looked over his shoulder to see rafael walking with his head hung low.
you immediately pulled him in for a hug. he returned it and you could tell he had been crying. “please don’t cry,” you begged, frowning at the tears straying down his cheeks.
“i-i can’t believe it. i don’t want to believe it.”
you grabbed his cheeks, forcing him to look you in your eyes. “it’s not your fault. it’s nobodies fault. you all tried your best.”
he didn’t have the heart to tell you that he was distracted the whole game. distracted by the thought of you and how you’d react if they got through.
rafael was at your house after his match, something you couldn’t make it to due to recording your new album.
the pair of you were eating from the local takeaway whilst he relaxed. your presence made him feel at home.
he’d been in your home countless times but this time, it felt different.
you were closer than normal, his head resting on your stomach as you watched the tv. your hands were running through his locks.
you hummed, looking down at him for a moment then back at the screen. “do you love me?”
pausing, you took a breath whilst thinking of the right answer. “what, of course i do.”
your voice was shaky and you hoped he hadn’t picked up on it, but he did. “because i love you.”
you didn’t know how to respond; you didn’t know what he meant. did he mean it in the platonic way or the other way?
“thanks,” you mumbled, automatically cringing at your choice of response. rafael was also dumbfounded but he knew that he needed you to know.
and if you didn’t feel the same way, it was okay.
“do you remember at the world cup?” he started, shuffling so he was now sat up across from you on the sofa. “you told me it wasn’t my fault. i-i didn’t tell you why i played so bad.”
“rafael,” you sighed, taking his hands. “you didn’t play bad. please stop saying that.”
you knew it did damage to his confidence seeing the comments on social media and you had told him countless times to ignore it, but he was still bringing it up.
“no, no. it’s got nothing to do with that.”
eyebrows furrowed, you contemplated what he was going to say. “before the game, the boys were teasing me in the dressing room. they called you my girlfriend.”
“don’t listen to them then, raf.”
“no. it got me thinking so much that i couldn’t stop looking at you. i wondered if there was maybe a possibility of us being a thing. i don’t know, maybe in some alternate universe…”
he trailed off, still looking at you to see what your reaction was. you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. laugh because he was talking about alternate universes, or cry because he’d actually thought of a future between you two.
“so what are you saying?”
“i want us to be more than friends. i want to dedicate goals to you and treat you like you deserve to be treated.”
you snickered, blushing a little before nodding lightly. “if that’s how you put it, then i’d love to be your girlfriend.”
rafael nodded, unsure of what to do because of the shock of you actually saying yes. but he knew one thing for sure - he couldn’t wait to have a future with you.