football | one shots

Heart Invasion > Julian Draxler

He could hear the thumping of his heart as he raced towards the ball at full speed. The opponent tailing him, Matthias Ginter, was almost as close to the ball as he was. But Julian wasn't going to give up. With one last burst of energy, he reached his leg out to steer the ball away from Ginter.

Despite Julian getting hold of the ball, Ginter carelessly knocked into him in an attempt to snatch the ball away causing them both to tumble down onto the ground. The ball lazily rolled away from them and outside of the line.

"My ball!" Julian reacted almost immediately as he untangled himself from Ginter. His adversary was quick to follow him, waving his hand frantically, "that was mine!"

The referee, who had first turned to the fourth official, jogged up to them. "Dortmund's ball," he said firmly before adding, "don't argue with me."

It was at that moment that he heard the barking. Initially he thought he was imagining it. But when they turned around, they found two gigantic golden retrievers casually running around on the pitch. Julian watched as they cautiously approached his teammates.

One of them was advancing towards him, wagging its tail excitedly. He bent down to scratch it's fur and in response the canine only become even more energetic. He laughed as it raised its head to lick his face. "You're adorable," he smiled.

"This is amusing," André Schürrle chuckled beside him as he stroked its back. The excited dog jumped onto André, who began praising it like a father praising his child. "Who's a good boy?"

As Julian laughed at him, he suddenly caught sight of a girl at the foot of the stands, pointing anxiously towards the pitch while speaking to a steward. The dogs must belong to her, because she nodded furiously when the steward asked, "yours?

As they continued their conversation, he found himself staring at the girl. She had long hazelnut brown hair, tousled and messy as if she had been scratching her head numerous times before. She laughed suddenly, and Julian could see her lips forming into one of the most enthralling smiles he had ever seen.

"Julian!"

That voice broke him out of his trance. He turned his head to find Dante running towards him, "back to work." He patted Julian's back before running to his position.

Right.

As he slowly headed to his position, he couldn't resist the urge to turn back to the direction of where the girl was standing. But to his dismay, she was already gone.

Back to work, then.

The game ended 1-0 in Wolfsburg's favor and the whole dressing room was caught up in discussing about the adorable pitch invaders. It was definitely an unforgettable moment.

"You should have seen Reus' face," Christian Träsch stifled a laughter as he and Julian exited the stadium. "Was he shocked?" He asked, fishing out his sunglasses.

"He just stood there with his mouth wide open."

They burst into laughter, Marco's shocked face etched into their heads. They were headed for Christian's car when he heard the barking.

"Hey, it's the dogs," Christian pointed to the source of the sound. Julian looked to where he was pointing and sure enough, there were the dogs who had invaded the pitch earlier. They wagged their tails, panting eagerly at their owner.

Before Julian could stop himself, he walked towards them. "Nice dogs you have," he said, "really friendly."

The girl looked up at him, confused. There was an awkward silence between them before Julian realized she didn't recognize him. "I was on the field," he smiled.

When she heard that, she immediately laughed, "I am so sorry about that. I normally take them for walks here and they don't usually run into the stadium like that."

"It's okay, they were very nice." Christian, who had run up to join him, said. He was instantly attracted to the dogs again, and squatted down to rub their furs like he did on the pitch. The girl smiled as she watched him, and Julian took a couple of seconds to coolly study her.

She was donned in a grey sweatshirt, coupled with a pair of black joggers. Her hair, which had been dishevelled a while ago, was now tied up into a messy bun. Despite that, she still managed to look really cute.

"So you're always around here with them?" Julian asked, gesturing at the area around them. She nodded, "usually."

"Do you watch our games?"

She giggled shyly, "No. And I'm sorry I don't know who you guys are." Julian exchanged glances with Christian, who laughed cheekily. "I'm Christian, and this is Julian."

"And you are?" Julian blurted. "Josephine," the girl beamed, not intrigued by the fact that two men were randomly asking for her name. Perhaps it was the fact that they were professional footballers that made her feel comfortable.

The dogs began to prance away suddenly, and Josephine instantly reacted. She glanced at her dogs before hurriedly saying goodbye. "I have to go, I'm sorry again. See you around!"

Julian watched her go, mentally cursing himself for not getting more details from her. As they were about to head back to his car, something caught his eyes. On the floor in front of him was someone's wallet. He picked it up and checked inside.

That someone was none other than Josephine herself. She was either really clumsy, or had purposely left it there for him. He laughed to himself; probably the latter.

"Change of plans, Christian!" He said, flashing him the wallet. And as he waltzed to his car he could feel the thump of his heart again. Only this time, it was just nervousness.

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This was inspired by the pitch invasion during a friendly between Galatasary and Ahlen in 2013. Enjoy the cuteness in the video below! :)