fresh air | pulisic

07.

She watches as Christian plays with his whole heart on the pitch, listens to the deafening cheer of the crowd as he scores and then after the whistle blows and the fans starts to make their way out, she goes to find him. It takes a little while because there's so many people trying to leave at once, but it's not hard to because donghyun's the one surrounded by everyone, receiving praises left, right and centre from passing friends and the group around him.

She sees Christian searching for him amongst the crowd of people and he smiles, his heart fluttering because Nia really was waiting for him. She doesn't miss the way Christian's eyes light up when he finds her, doesn't miss the sigh of relief Christian breathes when he makes his way towards her and then arms are wrapped tight around her waist as Christian presses his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply, breathing in his scent.

"You came," Christian breathes with a laugh, tightening his arms around her neck. "You really came."

"You did so well," she murmurs into his ear, squeezing his waist. He looked so good in his simple kit, the Christian Pulisic she'd met was not the same man that'd just been playing in front of the crowd.

The Christian she knew was always nervous, spent too much time in his head, had a short fuse and frowned a lot, but the Christian that'd just been on his stage had enjoyed himself, lived in the moment and was confident about every move he'd made (and was also sexy as hell, Nia adds, because that's important). He's still tense, still so nervous, the beat is still thrumming in through his veins, but Nia has never seen a bigger smile on his face and she decides that she really, really likes it when Christian smiles like that.

She holds him for as long as Christian needs, feeling him slowly relax in his arms, wondering if Christian can feel her heartbeat through their clothes with how close they are, if he can feel how her heart just wants to leap out of her chest with how proud she is of him.

With how much she likes him.

And then Christian is pulling back to look at her and Nia lets him, his smile never leaving his face as he watches a blush paint itself over Nia's cheeks. Her eyes drop to glance at his lips with how close they are, but then Christian is speaking and Nia has to pay attention because he's mumbling. "Are you back for good?"

Reaching up to fix a kink in her hair, Nia nods, licking her lips, trying to fight the urge to kiss him. "Yeah, for a while anyway," and ahe chuckles, her nerves getting the better of her because would Christian be mad if she did? Maybe. "But I was wondering if you'd come with me the next time I travel?"

It's not what she wanted to say, but she goes with it anyway, her mind filled with nothing but Christian, Christian, Christian at this point, because Christian is giving her one of the prettiest smiles she's ever seen, his eyes smiling with him. "I'd really like that." is his answer, and Nia's heart skips a beat.

"Good," she breathes, holding Christian a little tighter, leaning in a little closer. "Because I don't know what I'd do if you said no."

And then she kisses him, pressing her lips against Christian's slightly chapped ones, her fingers sinking into his soft hair, cupping the back of his head to hold him closer, as close as she can.

They're panting when they part, trying to catch their breath and Nia licks her lips one more time because she really wouldn't mind doing that again. Her heart is singing as she lets out the rest of her nerves with a sigh, leaning in one more time to press her lips against the corner of Christian's lips because she can't help it, and then she's laughing a little because Christian's almost whining, hiding his face in his arms that are still around Nia's neck.

"My parents saw that, didn't they?"

Nia can't help herself at that and she laughs properly, looking over Christian's shoulder at his family and friends who all look amused at his sudden show of affection to a stranger. "Yeah, they did."