Chapter Text
Neymar remembered bits and pieces of last night, of him calling a Lyft to stumbling up his doorstep (even though he was completely sober now) , to turning on Do Not Disturb on his phone and to planting himself face first in his bed. He'd remembered not being able to sleep because of the burning sensation on his lips, and so he had gone to the bathroom and scrubbed so hard that his lips were red and raw.
He had felt disgusting. But the worst part was that he'd felt disgusted for not feeling disgusted with himself after the kiss. In fact, he'd felt completely the opposite. And that was what had scared him the most.
Not the thought that they could have been seen, even though everyone there was drunk out of their minds and there were no incriminating pictures or articles online, as far he'd checked. He felt horrible, because it had felt so good. He didn't remember a lot, but he remembered every second of the kiss, he remembered the way Leo's lips had felt, and how his hands were tight on Neymar's hips, hard enough to leave a bruise. Sure enough, he lifted his shirt up slightly and saw hand-shaped marks that were already purpling.
He felt something building up at the bottom of his stomach and he numbly realized it was arousal.
Fuck.
Neymar needed to do something about this situation immediately.
He pulled out his phone and saw 4 messages from Leo.
Ney, are you ok?
Where are you?
Did you get home safe?
Neymar, pick up the phone.
At the last message, he instantly opened up the phone app and saw 5 missed calls from him. Oh, shit. Now he felt even more horrible for completely ignoring Leo, even though Neymar was the one who had caused them to be in this situation in the first place.
He decided to think, because he sure as hell wasn't doing that last night.
Neymar would just ignore him, since they had a week holiday anyway, and chalk it up to not looking at his phone because he was visiting his family. Then, when he went to practice, he would just pretend like it had never happened, like he had no recollection of that night.
Yeah.
**
A week went by and it was radio silence from Leo, even though Neymar should've been glad that that was the case. He could see that Leo was active on social media, posting pictures of him and Aguero, and Neymar's stomach clenched uncomfortably. He put his phone down and went to get ready for practice, even though it was in an hour.
As he drove to practice, he felt his thoughts crash upon him, almost knocking him out of breath. His palms started to sweat uncontrollably, and his breath hitched. As he pulled into the parking lot, he almost thought of just driving back home and faking an illness, but he couldn't do that, that was his excuse last time.
He grabbed his training gear and headed to the locker room. It was empty, as expected, since he'd come 30 minutes early. He jogged onto the field and started doing his warmups, stretching out as much as possible.
Neymar saw the other players come in, talking to each other lively about their vacations. He spotted Dani, and before he could look away, Dani ran up to him and smacked him on the head. "What was that for?" Neymar asked, insulted. Dani rolled his eyes. "You haven't responded to my texts or calls in a week, bro! I only knew you were alive from your Instagram."
Neymar looked down sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I was busy." Dani rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair, eliciting a groan from Neymar. "Fine, but next time at least send me one text so I know you're not dead."
He was about to answer until he saw a figure approaching from the tunnel. Neymar stopped talking and craned his head.
It was Leo.
He looked normal, talking with Suarez as if nothing happened. Suddenly, he looked up to see Neymar staring at him, to which Neymar turned away so fast he would've gotten whiplash. He felt something burning in the middle of his chest.
"Yeah, sorry Dani, promise I'll text you next time." Dani looked at him with an indecipherable look on his face, and sighed. "Alright Ney."
The rest of practice went by in a blur, mostly consisting of Neymar doing his drills all the way across the field with Dani instead of where he usually did it with Suarez and Leo. He felt Leo staring from all the way across the field, could literally feel his eyes burning two holes in the back of his neck.
The moment Enrique blew the whistle, signaling the end of practice, Neymar practically sprinted to the locker rooms, undressing as fast as possible and hitting the showers, before his teammates started coming in. One teammate in particular.
As he felt the hot water hit his back, he felt his tension slowly ebb out of him. He'd been so high-strung the past week, and he felt as if he was just walking on a never ending tightrope, trying not to stumble in front of everyone. Neymar made sure to take his time in the shower, waiting for everyone to pack their things and leave so he could come out. As he heard the last of his team shuffle out the door, he turned off the tap and reached for his towel. But instead, he felt something warm. Neymar opened the curtain in confusion and-
Fuck.
Out of all the people it could be.
Leo hadn't noticed yet, and Neymar silently grabbed his towel, tying it around his waist. However, as he tried to walk past casually, Leo looked up.
The moment he saw Neymar, his face softened for just a millisecond, but it was immediately replaced by a look of anger.
Neymar's heart dropped, and he felt a wave of nausea coming on. But before he could get out of there, Leo grabbed his hand and held tightly, refusing to let go.
"Ney, I just want to talk," said Leo firmly.
"There's nothing to talk about," stated Neymar stiffly, trying to let go of Leo's hand, only for him to grip it even tighter.
"So we're just gonna act like nothing happe-"
"Yes, nothing happened," interrupted Neymar. "It was a drunk mistake, and I'm sorry for that. Can we please just forget about it?" He looked at Leo with pleading eyes full of guilt.
Leo searched his face intently, looking for what, well, Neymar had no clue. He gently released his arm and looked at him with an unreadable expression.
"Isn't there anything else you want to say to me?" asked Leo, with a hint of desperation in his voice.
"I'm sorry," repeated Neymar again. Only this time, tears had started to pool in his eyes and he looked at the ground furiously, trying his hardest to not cry. But Leo noticed.
He always noticed.
Neymar stood there, tears streaming down his face from all the tumultuous emotions he was feeling and having no way to deal with them. He felt Leo wrap his arm around him and pull him close slowly, as if afraid Neymar would run away.
Neymar let him, relaxing into the touch and hugging him back tightly. He felt Leo rubbing circles on his back, and finally, he calmed down.
He looked up at Leo with a soft smile on his face.
"Thanks Leo."
"You don't have to say thanks for this, Ney, you know that."
"Yeah, well," shrugged Neymar. He got up and went to change. Leo patiently waited until Neymar came out, wearing his atrocious bright orange sweatshirt and even brighter orange shorts.
"I will never understand the way you think, Ney."
"My outfits are immaculate Leo, and you know that."
The two bickered all the way to the parking lot, so loudly that the entire city could probably hear them (it was only Neymar being loud). He hadn't felt this light and free in a week.
As they got to Neymar's car, their words trailed off, leaving nothing but an awkward silence.
"Ney," said Leo very seriously. Neymar looked at him, with a question in his eyes.
"Don't ever ignore me like that again."
"But-"
"It doesn't matter what happens or what you do. I would never be mad at you. Just promise me you won't do that again."
Neymar smiled softly. "I swear Leo, I will never do it again."
He would never do it again.
Neymar silently swore to himself another promise, to never do it again. He wasn't like one of them.
And he never will be.