Fireproof [João Félix]

T W E L V E

"Ouch!"

"Shh! You idiot, you'll wake them up!"

"She's gonna be so mad if she finds out"

"What she doesn't know she-uh...won't know"

"What?! Enzo you make no sense man"

The noise of someone around me pierces through my skull and I fight the urge to silence them. "Now she will definitely know, thanks Ben" sighs-Enzo?- after tucking away his phone and soon a devilish grin covers his face. I stir and jolt awake. This is not my room.

"Rise and shine!" claps Ben and gives me a tight smile. I shield my eyes from the scorching sun and realise where I am. People. Here. Around me and João? He's hugging me from the side and tries to nuzzle his head deeper into my neck. Memories of last night flood into my mind like a tidal wave.

No no no, I fell asleep?!

I throw the blanket I don't remember us having on the floor and straighten my posture. João slowly starts to wake up, mumbling some nonsense under his breath and trying to find me on the couch where his arm was previously around me. He's not even aware of where he is now.

I grab onto the first person in front of me as my head starts spinning from getting up too fast. After my vision clears, panic strikes. "Holy shit! Oh my god. My uncle he-"

"Knows" 

"What" I shout and frantically search for my shoes that I had earlier chucked off. I need to get out of here and clean myself up. Thinking about all this I realise I did fall asleep in João's arms last night and they knew. They had even put a blanket over us. Shit, this is so bad. Now my whole schedule is in disarray. How could I fall asleep in Ben's house? Oh my god.

I groan irritated by my own stupidity at having fallen asleep, but Enzo grabs my shoulders and pushes me back onto the couch. "Don't worry Feisty, I just told him you'd be sleeping at my place, no inappropriate things happening of course" he winks and my face flushes at the thought of it. Ew.

"I just lied that you were hungover and couldn't come home, he knows I'm a good guy so he trusts me, you know? He also slightly threatened me if anything were to happen but let's not talk about that." My face changed at least 20 times after hearing his little story and now I'm just dumbfounded. He could have just woken me up and then he wouldn't have had to lie, but for some reason he just left me here. I'll never understand the way his mind works. Besides, how the hell doesn't he have a huge hangover?

I look from him to Ben, a sleeping João and a new figure approaching me. My mouth opens and closes. I can't really form any words as I look at them again, it's too early in the morning for this to happen.

The figure is now standing in front of me with some stuff in her hands. "Hey, I'm Ashley, Ben's wife. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting you yet" She smiles and shoves the pile of fresh clothes into my hands with some supplies. My eyes stay big and I look from the clothes to Ashley.

She chuckles at my lack of response and starts talking. "These are some clothes of mine that you can use and some extra stuff we had in here in case anyone stays over." She gestures to the pile in my hands and I finally understand what she said. Again, too early in the morning.

"Oh, uh, thanks. I'm sorry, it's nice to meet you too." Stumbling over my words, I give her a small smile and shift, but the movement hurts my back. Yup, definitely sore from the uncomfortable position I fell asleep in.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I ask the obvious to no one in particular as I rub my back to ease the small pain. João only stirred in his sleep, so he's still peacefully curled up around a pillow instead of me now.

All heads swivel towards Enzo and he scratches his head, turning his white hair into a mess. I fold my arms in anticipation of an explanation. There is silence and when I think he's going to talk he takes off running. "M-my dog needs me at home, see you later!" he shouts from the house and I watch his dash in bewilderment. The people around me chuckle and I scoff at him. That little shit. Was he really running away?

And since when does he have a dog?

A yawn comes from my left, snapping me out of my bewildered stare, and a stretching João wakes up. He goes slowly through his messy hair and his sleepy eyes look around. Finally, a goofy smile breaks free.

"What'd I miss?"

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"Delete the fucking photo Enzo!"

"Not happening!" He sings in a singsong voice as his hand reaches above me so I can't grab his phone. I swear he's so annoying sometimes. He took a picture of me yesterday while I fell asleep in João's arms and keeps teasing us with it. I don't even know how we ended up like that but I prefer to forget about it and make sure my uncle doesn't know because he's a bigger tease than this annoying footballer in front of me.

At least me and João have made up and are back on good terms. It feels really good to hang out with him again, but I have a small problem, my friend group doesn't know yet. And maybe I've been ignoring them since yesterday to avoid the situation. But I think I'll call them tonight.

"Come on Enzo!" Our bickering makes a few heads swing in our direction, but I don't care as long as his phone is in my hand and my finger clicks on the bin icon. This evidence photo can tell the truth to my uncle and if he knows where I was, the whole world will know, so to speak.

I also got an email yesterday afternoon saying that I had been accepted and could start work immediately after filling in some paperwork this morning. Mamã was very proud of me, and so was my dad. 

I'm also starting to love football again, but it's not the same as it was. The same goes for my friendship with João. It's not the same as it was, but we are both trying and it does me good that he's so sincere and open about the whole situation. Moreover, we agreed to be together more often to find out what went wrong with the messages.

Focusing on the device in Enzo's hands, I don't notice someone sneaking up on me.

"Don't worry, I got you" It's João who comes out from behind me with an adorable smile on his face. He lifts me up by my waist and I smile triumphantly after grabbing Enzo's phone and deleting the picture in one click. "Thanks" I sigh, fold my arms across my chest after handing over Enzo's phone, who doesn't look happy at all. Ha, 1-0 for me.

"Ugh, y'all are no fun." He sulks and stalks over to his friends and a certain Mason Mount who's trying to catch pistachios in his mouth. Mason and I had a little chat at the counter before lunch break and let's just say he was in a weird mood.

"I'm so glad you got the job" João speaks up and stares at where I'm staring, with a smile. He follows my narrowing gaze meant for Enzo who only sticks out his tongue for a moment. "Well, I kind of regret my decision now" I laugh and he joins me.

I stare a little longer at the friends around the table and laugh when Enzo suddenly falls off the table. That's what you get when you don't sit on chairs. They are literally made for that.

"Now that's what I call karma!" I shout and he sends a deadly look in my direction but says nothing else, other than mumbling some curses under his breath. I chuckle softly to myself, shaking my head. Life in England might not be so bad.

Feeling João's eyes on my face, I swivel my head and find that he's in fact already looking at me. "What?" I ask, a little shyly. I don't understand why he is looking at me like that. "You're still one of a kind, querida." He chuckles after earning a slap on his arm. Silly idiot.

A/N:

Now they just need to re-develop that friendship. 

Sorry for the delay.

Lots Of Love

-Camille