Soccer/Football Imagines

Sergi Roberto [~] Long Distance

For gustins: Sergi Roberto

Lia walked into the Barcelona training camp, looking for her uncle, Luis Enrique. Lia was on vacation from school and work, so she decided to fly out to Barcelona to spend some time with her uncle. The two of them had been very close when Lia was a small girl and then he had started to move around because of his job. He finally came back to Barcelona, and Lia decided to visit him.

Flashing her pass to the guards, they let her into the training ground. Following the signs, Lia made her way out to one of the pitches on site. The Barcelona boys seemed to be in the middle of a scrimmage as Lia walked out of the tunnel. Sergi had the ball at the moment but his focus had turned from the ball to the mysterious girl that had appeared out of the tunnel.

He was so focused on Lia that he didn't notice his best friend, Marc Bartra, running towards him. One slide tackle later, Sergi found himself staring at Lia upside down, as he had fallen onto his back. "What was that Sergi?! Get your head in the game!" Lia's uncle shouted from the sidelines as Marc helped Sergi up from his position on the ground.

"Staring at the new girl too long, huh? She hasn't been out here for a minute and you're already falling down over her," Marc teased, ruffling Sergi's curls. Protesting, Sergi smacked Marc's hand away and tried to calm the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.

"Uncle!" Lia waved, causing the rest of the Barcelona squad to turn their attention to her and stop what they were doing.

"Lia! How are you?" Luis Enrique greeted, walking across the field to hug his niece. "You didn't text me that you had landed, I would have sent your aunt to grab you."

"I don't want to bother her," Lia shrugged. "You already do enough of that by yourself, Uncle," Lia teased. Luis wrapped a protective arm around Lia's shoulder, turning to see the questioning looks from his players.

"Guys, this is Lia, my niece. She's here on vacation to visit my family and me," Luis Enrique introduced, causing the guys to jog over to meet her. Lia knew most of the players because she watched nearly every single game that they played. The guys shook her hand and introduced themselves to her before going back to drills. And last, but certainly not least, was a certain Spaniard.

"Hi, I'm—"

"—Sergi Roberto," Lia finished for Sergi. "Are you okay? You took a tumble over there."

"Yeah, I-I'm fine," Sergi assured her, cursing at himself for stuttering.

"Well, that's everyone. You can go sit over there and watch if you want, Lia. I'll drive you back to my house after practice ends," Luis stated, pointing over to the bench in the shade. Lia nodded and said good bye to her uncle and Sergi before walking over to the bench her uncle had indicated. As Luis Enrique and Sergi walked back over to the field, Luis placed a hand on Sergi's shoulder. "I saw that look you gave my niece, Roberto. And if you break her heart, you can countdown to the end of your days wearing a Barcelona jersey, clear?"

"Yes sir," Sergi gulped. Luis Enrique nodded, ruffling Sergi's head, before walking back over to the bench.

"Let's try that drill again, boys!" Luis Enrique shouted, looking down at a clipboard one of his assistants had handed him with notes on it. Practice ended about three hours later and Lia waited patiently for her uncle to come out of his office to take her home. He just had to finish some paperwork and send a few emails and then he'd be done. While she waited, Sergi walked out of the locker room, his eyes immediately landing on her.

Looking around to see if anyone else was around, Sergi made his way over to Lia. "Hey," he said, causing Lia to look up from the ground.

"Hi," Lia smiled, looking up at Sergi.

"Uh . . . this is going to sound a bit sudden and everything, but when you walked out of the tunnel, I kind of looked over at you. And I kind of couldn't look away. And I kind of landed on my ass because Marc slide tackled me because I was too busy staring at your beauty. And I'm sorry I sound like an idiot. And I'll just shut up now," Sergi rambled, a blush landing on his cheeks.

Lia smiled and looked up at Sergi. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Sergi, but I don't want any long distance relationship stuff. In two weeks, I'll be hundreds of miles away," Lia replied.

"Just give me a chance, one chance, please," Sergi pleaded. "I'll get down on my hands and knees if that'll make you say yes."

"Alright, I'll go on a date with you," Lia chuckled, blowing Sergi a kiss as she spotted her uncle leaving his office. "Oh, here's my number. Text me when and where this date is going to be," Lia replied, handing Sergi a post it note with Lia's number written on it with eye liner. "I didn't have a pencil," Lia answered Sergi's mental question before running over to her uncle. Sergi watched her go and smiled.

Sergi and Lia went on a date and then another and by the day before Lia was set to leave Barcelona, both were seemingly enamored with each other. On a park bench, Lia grabbed Sergi's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We have to talk." Turning so that she was fully facing Sergi, Lia sighed once more. "We have to end this."

"Why? Because you won't be Barcelona anymore?"

"Yes."

"I don't see how that makes our relationship obsolete."

"I . . . I just . . . I can't do long distance."

"Why not? Some of the greatest love stories are centered on long distance, why can't ours be?"

"Because we're not in some fairytale, Sergi," Lia sighed. "Look, I really like you, I do. You're hilarious and you're so sweet to me. But, I don't want long distance."

"Please, Lia. Just give us a chance. If at any moment, you want to end it, just say the word. But give it a month long distance and then you can break things off. Please. I'll get down on my hands and knees and beg, you know I will."

"One month," Lia agreed. One month turned into two and two into three and three into six until Sergi and Lia reached their eight month anniversary. Because, at that point, it wasn't long distance anymore. Lia moved to Barcelona and they saw each other every day of the rest of their lives.

A.N. Neymar (Part 2) is next!