Work Text:
Kevin does not really listen to what's being said around him, half-playing on his phone, half asleep by Raheem's hand on his neck.
“Yeah we’re best friends, but I would dated him if he asked.”
Kevin hears Benjamin burst out laughing and he looks up to understand what's going on. He repeats what he thought he heard before staring at Raheem, who seems to have swallowed a pebble.
“What?”
He looks at him with piercing black eyes, then frowns, suspicious, mirroring his own expression.
“What?”
“What did you say to Ben?”
Raheem looks at him as if a second head had grown on his neck.
“He said…”
Benjamin does not finish his sentence, because Raheem throws himself on him to finish him. Kevin is... confused. Why is he hanging out with them, again?
***
Raheem has always been tactile as a guy. As soon as he can touch someone, he does it. It's even more true with Kevin, because he loves to annoy him like that.
“Kevin, are you done soon?”
Kevin lifts his head from his phone as he feels a cold hand slip on his thigh and turns to meet his friend’s sparkling black eyes. He removes the earring from his ear, before smiling at him.
“Raz, are you done already?”
“Yeah, when do you finish?”
"Ask the physio, he's right here.”
The physiotherapist snorts when he hears him and replies that it will be good in about twenty minutes, since they have just started.
Raheem nods sadly, his hand keeps going back and forth on the back of his thigh that is not stretched. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally sighs.
"I'll see what Leroy is doing in the meantime.”
He pats his thigh gently as he walks away and Kevin laughs because he knows what it means.
“Do not bother the lads too much!”
“Make me!”
Sterling makes a stupid grimace at him, then takes his leave. Kevin rolls his eyes and focuses on the videos he watched, without paying more attention to what just happened.
***
In the evening after dinner, Raheem drops down beside him (on him actually), while he is playing cards with other teammates. He puts his hand on his shoulder like nothing and ignores even the displeased grunt of a crushed Kevin.
“Raz, I’m trying to play here, go hang out elsewhere.”
“I came to encourage my favorite one, you serious?”
The lads shriek and whistle as if it's the best joke in the world, while Kevin feels like Raheem is trying to merge with him.
“He's everyone's favorite,” Leroy defends him.
“Thank you mate,” Kevin laughs as he puts a card down.
“Maybe,” Raheem accepts “but I’m his favorite, aren’t I, honey?”
They all laugh, even Kevin, because he loves to remind the whole world that they get along really well. He rolls his eyes and tries to move away Raheem, but it's bad to know him: he clings to him with more force.
Kevin is used to being in contact with him and knows about his affectionate nature, so he lets it go and prefers to wait until he gets tired on his own.
The problem? Raheem ended up on his lap and got tired when the coach sent them to bed. Apparently, he underestimated him.
“Good night, my cute Belgian!”
He has far too underestimated him.
***
“Love, here, take a fruit.”
Raheem places a banana in his tray and flashes him a coy smile before settling with Leroy. Kevin remains stunned, without knowing what he has the right to say or do, because this behavior is new.
Does Raheem really try to play him a prank?
***
“Vinnie, how do you find Raheem these days?”
When Kevin is with Kompany, Raheem keeps his distance and gives him a moment of respite. He would never have thought of using Vincent as a human shield, but he did the job, what more could he ask?
“The same as usual?”
“Yeah but...” he stops going because he feels like he's crazy. Whenever he asks someone what is wrong with Raheem, they stupidly respond that he behaves normally. No, Kevin would know if that moron behaved normally. "I don't know, did he tell you anything?”
“What did he tell you?” Kevin remains silent under his captain's gaze, unable to know where to begin. Would he not be thinking the situation too much? "Or do to you? Kevin, what are you not telling me?”
“You know what? It's nothing, it must be one of his stupid dork phases. He will stop by the end of the week.”
***
Once again, Kevin underestimated the situation.
Sunday arrives, and Raheem keeps calling him "darling", "my beloved Belgian", or "Kiwi" because I quote "it's the contraction of ' Kevin sweetie' and kiwi are cute anyway" that's it.
Raheem who teases him to pass the time? It's normal and innocuous. Raheem touching him without his shit eating grin? It's new. And it's even more suspicious than when he arrives trying not to make noise.
But all this is necessarily a joke, is not it? It's impossible that Raheem fucking Sterling woke up one morning thinking that he liked Kevin back. The person who will play with his heart is not born yet.
***
Kevin begins to doubt what he knows about Raheem when he acts in this strange way even during training sessions.
Usually, they do not train together often because they are not at the same position. Now? Raheem has fun repelling those who want to talk to him or play with him.
“But Raz!”
“But Kev! Look, if you hang out with them, I won't be able to watch you more closely.”
Is it really happening? Dry throat, Kevin can not find his words and stupidly makes the goldfish. It can not be happening.
“If you continue to leave your mouth open like that, I'll have to fill it...”
He does not even hide his understatement. It reconnects Kevin's few neurons, who then frowns.
“I am going to train with Vincent.” Raheem is about to refuse or make a scene for him, so he raises his hand to cut him off. "As long as you're like that, you do not talk to me.” And he leaves him there, trotting quickly towards Kompany, his face on fire.
Lord, it was so embarrassing!
***
Raheem takes his threat seriously from the second day, surprised that Kevin actually spent the day ignoring him. So he stops shitty jokes. And replaces them with equally ambiguous touches.
Fingers hanging on his hip when he passes by him, hugs too long at any occasion, a hand that is found on his thigh during meals, a body that traps his on the couch, unwarranted kisses, scrutinizing and appreciators eyes not even discreet...
Kevin does not know what to do.
“No lad, I don't wanna know, leave me out of this,” Leroy answers when he seeks for any advice.
With terrible friends like him, we sure feel surrounded and taken into account.
“If you ask him to date you, he will accept,” Benjamin says when he asks him.
Benjamin lost the benefit of the doubt a few minutes after they first met, Kevin will act as if he did not hear anything.
"You should talk to him face to face," David tells him.
“But David, I don't have time for his stupid little games.”
“Listen, it's been going on for two weeks now, his jokes are never so long. Talk to him.”
***
Kevin is stubborn, if he decides to talk to everyone, except the main one, about what's bothering him with Raheem, then that's what will happen.
Since Kevin has decided not to say anything to anyone, even Sterling is not ready to hear about it. And to avoid the problem, he does the most rational and sensible thing: he avoids the source of the problem. If he does not face the problem, it is that there is no problem.
Competition or not, he is determined to avoid this kind of situation. He does not know how long his poor little heart can handle Raheem's bullshit.
***
Kevin did not really believe that avoiding Raheem would work. He is surprised by his own ability to not talk to him for two days, even though he knew the backlash was going to hurt.
Literally.
“Are you actually crazy?”
Kevin massages the back of his head, moaning, surprised that Raheem really dragged him in his hotel room using all his strength without warning. They got tangled together, he finally hit the wall, while Raheem massaged his lower back grimacing on the floor.
Well shit, they are beautiful, the City players.
“If you stopped avoiding me, we would not be here!”
“I’m not avoiding you!”
Raheem gets on his feet, prodigiously annoyed and comes quickly to him. Kevin steps back to put the most distance between them, but gets stuck alone, like a big man, against the door.
Fucking perfect.
“Oh, you're not? Then what did you just do, huh? Kev fuck, what's the problem?”
Kevin does not handle the pressure well, even more when his crush reproaches him for something, as if this is his fault. He did nothing, out of the question to be accused wrongly:
“You! Raz, you’ve been really weird for almost three weeks!”
Raheem is about to reply, but stops to look at him from all angles, unsure of what to do. Kevin does not know why they are there, he just wanted to put his phone to charge, shit...
“So why are you looking at me like that?”
Kevin frowns, taken by surprise. How does he look at Raheem? He is certain to be discreet and to let nothing show through, impossible to be shown.
“Like what?” He defends himself.
“Like I am the eighth wonder of the world! We're looking for each other all the time, your eyes are shining with joy whenever you see me and I feel your eyes when you think I'm not paying attention. Kev, you sent me so many signals... It was signals, right?”
This time Raheem looks scared that he could have been wrong all the way, while Kevin's heart almost beats out of his chest. Is it really serious...?
“Ben told me that you would date me, if I asked; it's really serious? Raz, I have no desire to...”
In the next few seconds, Raheem grabs his face in his hands and looks at him straight in the eyes, the most serious in the world. Kevin watches these beautiful hazel eyes, not daring to believe his luck, because it's impossible, right?
“Ask me then.”
His throat is dry, the words are jumbled in his head, he does not even know how to form a correct sentence. He can not leave these beautiful breathtaking eyes, unable to escape.
“Kev...,” he murmurs against his lips. “Ask me.”
It's hot, butterflies keep playing in his stomach and it's so overwhelming. He drowns in his eyes, struggling to ask for something he longs for. Since when has he lost his communication skills?
“Kev...,” Raheem despairs, fearing the refusal.
"Date me," he finally blurts out.
Finally said. He feels his face bubbling with embarrassment, red from head to foot, unable to do anything. He struggles to support his teammate's devouring gaze. Would Raheem burst out laughing and say it was just a joke, that he thought nothing of what he said?
Would he…
Nothing at all, because Raheem is kissing him, putting an end to the unbearable wait. Kevin closes his eyes to take advantage of the contact against his lips, his hands naturally find their place on the striker’s hips and his aching heart finally stops tormenting him.
He smiles against his lips, when the kiss ends, but does not go away in the least.
“Je ne sais pas sur quel pied danser avec toi.”
“What?”
“It's a French expression. Sometimes it's hard to know what you want or think.”
Raheem laughs and chooses to kiss him again, instead of answering him.