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Mo and Andy have been living their happy, united life a bit too much in front of other’s eyes. At least in Diogo’s opinion. While it’s true that he hasn’t seen Andy so joyful since he moved to the club, which is a huge thing knowing the Scotsman, but the way they hugged and kissed and Mo made sure that Andy always had that golden arm chain on when they were out for dinner, Diogo wasn’t sure if he even knew they had to take it out from the trash because Andy wasn’t able to believe that he was worthy of love.
He felt a little strange being annoyed by their love, but really it wasn’t because he didn’t want them to be happy, he’d just preferred it if they kept it private like him and Rúben, it was kind of uncomfortable seeing them at the edge of making out on the team bus after Mo scored a winner.
Yet not everyone agreed with him.
-They are so cute-Harvey sighed watching as the door closed behind the just leaving Andy who Mo waited for in the corridor.
-They’re a bit too much-Diogo said paying more attention to his bag he was packing his stuff into, than to the younger omega.
-You’re just single and miserable-the Englishman said, earning an ear crushing laugh from Dominik.
-Actually mate, he’s the only one here who’s not single-he chuckled, making Harvey only a tad bit embarrassed that he forgot about his teammate’s lovelife.-I’m not sure about the miserable time though.
-I’m not miserable!-he pouted, pulling in the zipper of his bag, after he finished packing.
-Yeah, yeah whatever you say “Mr. I’m in a happy relationship with a City player”-Harvey shrugged. Ever since Diogo told the team about his partner he hasn't seen the end of their constant jokes about the topic.
-While I enjoy my happy relationship with my City player, you can enjoy your loneliness-he smirked at the two as a joke before saying proper goodby to them as he left their locker room.
-Domi?-Harvey asked after a few minutes of silence.-Do you think we are lonely?-the young boy suddenly seemed sad, like the older omega’s light hearted comment weighed his soul down.
-I…I don’t think so. I mean I don’t feel any less because I don’t have an alpha-he tried to give somewhat of an encouragement speech, but clearly it wasn’t his genre.
-I don’t feel less either-the Englishman threw up his arms in defence.-But I’d enjoy a bit of attention, something like what Andy got.
-You want a teammate to court you?-he asked with a surprised smile spreading on his lips, as if it was an out of the world idea.
-Well…yeah-he admitted, looking away with pink blush climbing onto his cheeks.
-Who?
-Curtis…
Dominik, as the total unprofessional in keeping a secret, welcomed Andy and Diogo tomorrow with the news, by the time Harvey arrived they were already putting together a plan, with Mo as their inside man and everything like that which all seemed to be from some stupid romantic comedy.
-You will court him!-Andy said with an excited grin pointing at Harvey after he asked about their ideas.
Growing up in the UK he never really thought about being courted or courting someone, since most people considered the method out of fashion and an unnecessary amount of struggles, since there wasn’t much need to convince someone’s parents that you are the right partner.
-How exactly?-he glanced between the three of them.
-You make gifts-Dominik started.
-And we get Mo to deliver them-Andy finished, in a dreamy voice since he mentioned his boyfriend.
-You know if you’d truly want it, this could work-Diogo smiled softly, somehow being much more convincing than the other two.
-Yeah-he nodded slowly.-Yeah, this is going to work! And I will finally get into a relationship!-he smirked brightly, clenching his hands happily.-But what do I give him?
All three pairs of eyes glued to Andy at the question, since he was the one with the most experience regarding the topic.
-Well, I got a sign, you know the letter, then a plush, then perfume, then food, then jewelry and then we shagged-he listed.
-We didn’t need that last piece of information-Diogo sighed.
-What’s the cap council about this time?-they all turned to the door which they didn’t notice that opened and the captain standing leaned to the frame.
-You should really stop sneaking in here Virgil-Andy glared at the alpha.
-You should stop talking in the locker room instead of coming to training in time-he shook his head and waited for the three omegas to leave-Hurry up Harv!-he said and shut the door to leave him to dress up.
Through training he was too occupied with thinking about the idea to actually concentrate on his playing, he performed fairly badly but he couldn’t care. His mind was throwing in idea after idea, to create great gifts for Curtis in the categories Andy listed.
Jewelry. Give him a ring, a bracelet, a necklace, or maybe earrings? He does wear earrings. But should it be gold, silver, some other metal, would bronze fit to his skin, or should it be leather, maybe wood or stone, no that’s stupid that would look too cheap.
Food. Curtis has a sweet tooth, so a dessert probably, but the only scouse dessert is pudding bread, not really welcoming if you asked Harvey, furthermore English cousin is shit anyways so nothing cultural like Mo could, he has to ask around the others maybe Portugal or Hungary have some good sweets.
Perfume. Is there perfume smelling like cinnamon? Stupid question, every kind of perfume exists. But would that be the best thing to give Curtis? Maybe a peace of cinnamon, or a combination, some cinnamonish dessert?
Plush. Okay that’s the worst, no way Curtis would like a plushy, no matter if it was a national animal, a club symbol or the alpha himself. But he really should find something instead, maybe a game to his console? A special designed controller, or some other accessory with the jewelry, like a sun glass or a scarf? Fuck Curtis would look good with a scarf, especially if he wore only that. He shook his head trying to get the image out of his head, he really should pay more attention to the ball at his feet.
But one thing was still there, a letter. He knew almost everything about Curtis, they've been great friends since their first days at the academy, but now, he didn’t have any idea what to write.
-This won’t work!-he slumped down onto the bench when they arrived back in their locker room.
-Why wouldn’t it?
-Because I have no idea what to give him-he whined, throwing his hands dramatically in the air.
-Didn’t we go over that already?-Dominik asked, tilting his head at him while he stripped off his shirt.
-Yes, but I can’t bake for my dear life, we can’t give perfume to an alpha or a plushy and what the fucking hell should I write?!-he looked at Andy with huge puppy eyes as if he was expecting him to come up with an answer.
-You know, you could just ask him out-Dominik spoke again, but after a calm and well forced hit on the neck by the eldest he kept quiet.
-I mean he’s…-Diogo started, but once he heard the skin to skin contact.-Okay, fine, we do it the difficult way.
-Let’s start with the letter, I’m sure we can figure out a few lines to catch his attention-Dominik said defeatedly, taking out his phone from his locker to write down their ideas.
-Most importantly don’t send it to his house, that’s creepy-Andy hissed, the Hungarian began to type and with that the brainstorming began.
Barely 24 hours later Curtis found a paper tucked carefully under the windscreen wiper of his car. He stared at it dumbfoundedly, surely he couldn’t get a parking ticket in the team’s parking house where he had an assigned parking lot.
He carefully pulled free the paper which turned out to be a small envelope with a red frame running on its sides. Yeah, definitely not a speeding ticket, looks too fancy for that.
He tossed it to the passenger seat with the intention to read it at home but he forgot and only realized it when he was driving to training the next day. He grabbed it and carried it with himself to the locker room, this might be interesting enough to show to the others.
-Lads I got a letter!-he announced, kicking the door open.
-Unpaid electricity bill?-Virgil glared dissatisfied with the loud entrance, he should really request a seat further from the door.
-I don’t think they’d leave it on my car…-he mumbled throwing his bag at his place.
-You found a letter on your car?-Conor repeated the information confusedly.
-Yeah, check it out-he showed it to his teammates circling around him.
-Mate, it's definitely a love letter.
-Mo, you want to seduce him too?
-No, I am perfectly happy in m…-he started on a loving tone, which he always used when he talked about his fresh relationship, clearly very deep in the honeymoon phase.
-Yeah, yeah we know, you wouldn’t leave Robbo-Ibou rolled his eyes.-Take a joke.
-Okay, back to my letter, I wanna see what’s inside it-Curtis said, tearing apart the envelope, to find a piece of paper folded in three, opening it he faced with clearly printed lines and a heart drawn in the corner with the number 17 in it.
“When day and night, last the same
I’d like to meet you where it all began.
I’ll send you clues to find this place
And hope to see you my beloved”
-Curtis has an admirer!-Cody said with a bright smile, wrapping his arms around the midfielder.-Do you think it’s a teammate?
-What?! No!-he denied instantly, Diogo and Andy were taken, Harvey was his best friend and as much as Curtis wished for more between them he knew the omega wouldn’t want it and he was too scared to break the bond they built, and Dominik, he wasn’t even sure if the lad was straight.
-So sure? Met a pretty girl in a club, or what?-Jarell teased smirking, which only earned another glare from the captain.
-Nah, don’t worry skip, I ain't going to clubs mid season.
-Lying to my face now?-he asked smugly.-Now get your asses dressed we got training to do-he said before they could even start laughing at his joke.
The next gift, clue or whatever they wanted to call it, came pretty soon, tomorrow precisely. It wasn’t at his car this time, it was actually hanging on the locker room’s door knob. A tiny ceramic…elephant? It was a keychain most likely and a little piece of paper with the number 17 and a heart to tell everyone what this was.
-I don’t get it-he said turning it in his palm as if the backside of the animal would explain why it was there.
-I mean you have big ears, maybe it’s a…
-Shut up Ryan!-he interrupted.-I don’t have big ears.
-Maybe they do-Trent shrugged next to him.
-If you tried to court Domi, the first clue you’d give him is that you have size 8 feet?-Jarell elbowed him in the side.
-I wouldn’t court Dominik-he mumbled turning away blushing lightly, not addressing the point made by the central defender.
-What did they say in the message?
-Nothing, it's just the heart-he said.
-No, I meant in the letter yesterday-Endo said, really the Japanese was the only voice of logic in this room. Curtis dug through his beg to find the now crumpled paper.
-I’ll send you clues to find this place-he read out loud.-Anyone knows where to find elephants around here, cause I’m ain’t going to India.
-A circus maybe?-Cody said-Would be authentic of a place for a clown like you.
-I’m not a clown, I’m a glorious acrobat-he glared, dramatically throwing his hands above his head.
-If you’re an acrobat, then I’m a lion tamer-Alexis laughed out loudly.
-Wait, you might be onto something?-Ali said.
-What?-they asked in sync as almost everyone turned to look at him.
-I mean not with this circus thing, but animals. Maybe they want to go to the zoo, that’s a pretty standard place for a first date-he explained.
-That would make more sense than the circus-Curtis nodded and placed the gifts into his pocket. He had to look up a map of the Liverpool zoo to find where the elephants were.
Next day was game day, so his mind was on anything but this mysterious person. Who by the way had still no idea about, he beat it into himself that it couldn’t be a teammate, but it was likely someone who worked around the team facilities or at least had some connection to someone who did, because how else would you get to the main squad’s locker room?
The strange thing was that they still found a clue after the game. He was out giving an interview and arrived back later than most of the guys, he went to shower last and hardly anyone was there by the time he got to put up his shoes.
Leaving only four of them to combine their very few brain cells to think.
-What the fuck?-he shouted, after something stung his feet as he stepped into his shoe. Trent, Cody and Mo all turned to stare at him while he shaked his shoe until something fell out of it.
-Okay who put that in there?
-I think that’s up for you to find out-Cody said, lifting up the now well known piece of paper with a little red heart and Curtis’ jersey number on it. Connected to it hangs something small in the Dutchman’s hand, probably what poked his feet.
-I think that’s an amazing way to try to seduce you-Trent laughed, as the striker handed the new gift to Curtis.
-Fuck off!-he glared than looked back at the tiny object.-Is this…a lego boat?
-Romantic boat road in the zoo?
-Is there even a boat in the zoo?
-I don’t know, I haven’t been like since I was twelve-Trent shrugged.
-We should discuss this with the others tomorrow. Clearly we won't figure out anything here-Mo said, carefully folding his jumper into his bag.
-Fine-he sighed and dug the boat into his own.-We’ll ask Jarell about the zoo, he’s so young he might know.
-Yeah-Cody laughed-I bet they still take him there on his birthdays-he rolled his eyes and left the room.
At least half of the team spent tomorrow morning making guesses of what this could mean, both the porcelain and the lego migrated from one pair of hands into another.
-Any ideas?
-Two programs maybe?
-It’s supposed to give us a place-he gestured drastically, it bothered him greatly how this person overestimated his IQ level so much. He leaned back to his locker tiredly, he would never admit it but he spent all night turning in his bed, thinking about boats and elephants. What if he doesn’t figure it out and they never meet, what if they meet and it turns out to be the worst mistake of his life to show up? What if it’s just gonna be an awkward date he’ll never talk about, or some fan who has been messing with him, or he gets kidnapped and his organs end up on the black market.
While his teammates restlessly tried to put together a possible solution, he decided it was time for him to change clothes. He opened his locker and inside found a new piece of paper. How do these get in here?
-There’s a new one-he said, and before he could add anything more Darwin already pulled it out to show it to the rest.
”The Enthusiastic Elephant,
who ferried himself across the water with the
Kitchen Poker and a New Pair of Ear-rings.”
He read it out in his broken English, and fairly Curtis just felt even more confused. At this point he was ready to give up, why couldn’t they give him a bracelet with a letter to meet here and then, he didn’t know anything just that there was an elephant in a boat.
And where the fuck should he find an elephant in the boat…
-Wait, I think I got it-Conor blurred out suddenly, earning everyone’s attention. He took out his phone and started rapidly typing something, before showing it into Curtis’ hand with an article about attractions in Kirby. He scrolled down and found what fit the clues perfectly, Edward’s Elephant, a statue of an elephant, in a row, referencing the poem they just found.
-Mate you’re a miracle-he threw his hands over the right back hugging him tightly.
The cheerful mood was broken by Virgil, who surprisingly didn’t tell them to dress for training but made a useful comment on the topic.
-So we know where. But when?
-They wrote about it in the letter-he said pushing himself away from the right back, turning to his bag with a quick spin and pulling out the thorn, crumpled paper.-When day and night, last the same-he quoted.
-The equinox?
-Yes that, someone googled it!
-It’s tomorrow-Ali announced, pointing at his telephone screen.
-Well they didn’t leave much time for you to figure this out.
-I think we got this just in time-he shrugged, smiling. He had 24 hours to figure out what to wear for his dear admirer.
In the end he decided on the most basic, simple blue jean, a black jumper, hood pulled over his head, he debated whether to wear a hat or not but he assumed that would be a slight bit too suspicious. After all, he couldn't just show up at this almost empty square in a tuxedo.
It was never mentioned in the letter, or on the papers coming with the clues, which hour should he come, so he came as soon as training ended. He felt like he was acting a bit too desperate for someone who he only ever received a key chain from, but really he’d be happy to finally go on an actual date instead of a one night stand, and a try can’t hurt, right?
He waited for around fifteen minutes standing in one place, staring at his phone and occasionally glancing up, to avoid making actual eye contact with anyone who could notice him. But fairly, this was fucking boring so he started to walk around the statue, just to find a box carefully placed under the boat only a small paper poking out, the similar heart was on it but instead of his own it held the number 19.
Was this all for Harvey, and they just messed it up, was he coming to meet an alpha who tried to court his teammate. He sighed tensely as he lifted up the box and removed the lid. Sweet cinnamon scent hit his nose as he looked at the pile of cookies inside.
-I hope you’ll like them!-he heard from behind him and he turned around with wide eyes after realizing how similar the voice sounded.
-I spent all night baking them, and let me tell you I’m not good in the kitchen-the smaller man laughed as smiled up at a frozen, deeply blushing Curtis. His deep chocolate eyes stared at the omega in front of him, as if they’d never met before.
-Curtis?-he asked, tilting his head to the side, his brows furrowing worriedly.
-It was you?-he asked quietly.
-I thought it was obvious-Harvey said, taking a step closer, the distance between them now smaller than a step.
-I…I didn’t know you felt like this. I really…thought you just considered me a friend…-he mumbled, lowering his hands, holding onto the box with only one now.
-I mean…if you don’t feel the same-Harvey wanted to take a step back, but the hand coming to hold him by the waist stopped him.
-I do, I do feel the same-he smiled, leaning down to place a kiss on the omega’s forehead.
Harvey leaned ahead wrapping his small arms around Curtis’ hips, his head resting on the alpha’s chest, with a happy smile spread on his lips.
-Wanna come to my place? We don’t need the press to take a picture of the first time I’ll kiss you-he smoked, moving his palm alongside Harvey’s spine gently.
-You don’t have to ask twice.