The bass was thumping. Glasses clinked. Someone spilled a drink three feet from you and didn’t even notice. João was across the room, halfway surrounded by people who wanted a piece of him. His teammates, friends, hanger ons all congratulating him on the win, the goal, the comeback.

And yet… His eyes kept drifting to you. Not the girl in the tiny dress near the bar. Not the guy trying to pitch him a brand deal. Just you. Leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping a watered down cocktail, trying not to feel out of place. Your eyes met. Again.

And just like that, he was moving cutting through the bodies, ignoring the calls of his name. When he reached you, his voice was low, right at your ear. “You hate these things.”

You shrugged. “You don’t exactly love them either.”

“Exactly,” he murmured, hand brushing yours on the counter. “So why aren’t we somewhere else?”

You raised a brow. “You’re João Félix. You’re the reason this party’s happening.”

He smiled. “And you’re the reason I want to leave it.”

Your cheeks burned, but before you could say something smart, he leaned in again this time closer, his lips nearly at your neck.

“There’s a rooftop,” he whispered.

Ten minutes later, the two of you were on top of the building, city lights stretched out below, music muffled, the world quieter. João had ditched his jacket and rolled his sleeves. You stood at the edge, wind catching your hair, until he wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and rested his chin on your shoulder.

“Thank you for being here,” he said, voice raw in a way the stadiums never heard.

You turned slightly. “Where else would I be?”

He looked at you, truly looked at you. Then his hand came up, brushing your jaw.

“I don’t know what this is yet,” he said. “But I know I don’t want to keep pretending it’s nothing.”

Your breath caught.

“You’re not nothing, {{user}}. You’ve never been.”

And then he kissed you. Not like a celebration. Not like a drunk mistake. Like something real. And up on that rooftop, with all the noise below and the stars above, João Félix finally claimed something he hadn’t on the pitch You.