Chapter 13
Hanschen nervously paced around the locker room, occasionally stopping to look in the mirror and fix his hair and other small things that no one would notice. He just wanted to find something that could ease his nerves and take his mind off of the fact that Ernst was in the crowd right now. Ernst was going to watch him play. No pressure.
“Hanschen, we need to go now.”
“Coming.” Hanschen called back to the voice, not caring enough to figure out who it belonged to. He jogged out of the locker room, and 5 minutes later, they were out on the field. Staring at the crowd, he tried to spot Ernst. It was nearly impossible.
“Alright boys, huddle up.”
The coach gave what he would call an ‘inspirational speech’ (Melchior would call it ‘a bunch of bullshit’) while they all stood huddled together, and Hanschen could not focus on it even if you offered him a million euros. He was so screwed today.
“Got that?” The coach asked the group after he delivered his monologue and they all nodded. “Go out there and win.”
Shortly after they were released from the huddle, the game began. He was one of their forwards— along with Otto. His objective was simple; score goals. But it didn’t feel as simple when the guy he was basically in love with was in the crowd. Not to mention the fact that this was his first time seeing the guy in person. If he messed up he would never recover.
Focus, Hanschen.
The ball was passed to him by Melchior, and Hanschen sprinted across the field with it, dodging players left and right. Eventually he was close enough to the goal to be sure that he would make it in, and shot.
Shit, that’s definitely gonna miss. Why does the grass have to be so slippery? Stupid grass.
“1 - 0 for EMIS!”
Hanschen’s eyes widened as his team cheered, along with their school, and boy was he beaming. The clapping and cheering was deafening, and he loved it. He lived for this. Looking back at the crowd, he hoped that he could spot a glance at Ernst. Nope, the boy was nowhere to be seen.
I just need to keep this up for the rest of the game.
He wiped the smile from his face and returned to his position. Time to lock in.
The rest of the game was just EMIS and Ost Münich scoring goals back-to-back, so it was pretty boring.
That was until there were 2 minutes left in the game.
“5-5!”
One more goal. That’s it. Just one.
Ifyou don’t score this, you’re gay.
Giving himself good motivation was very important.
“Max!” Hanschen yelled to the curly haired boy, hoping he would pass it to him. Max glanced up at him and shook his head, dashing on with the ball.
That fucking idiot I could’ve gotten a goal from here oh my GOD he’s so d—
“HANSCHEN!”
Hanschen looked up to see that Max had just passed the ball to him. SHIT.
He caught it on the side of his foot and sprinted off again, dodging past all of the Ost Münich players, and—
“6-5 for EMIS! EMIS wins!”
Goal.
HOLY SHIT HOW DID I DO THAT THERE WAS LITERALLY ONE SECOND LEFT HOW DID I DO THAT OH MY GOD I’M SO GOOD AT FOOTB—
“Holy crap dude, good job!” Max cheered, running up to him and pulling him into a tight embrace. “You did so good!”
“You too.” Hanschen tensed, slipping out of the hug.
Too soon, Max.
“Good job!” Melchior ran up to him and patted him on the back, beaming. The rest of the team followed behind him and followed suit, patting him on the back and cheering and high-fiving and all of the things that they could do to celebrate.
I’m gonna be riding this high for the next week. This is incredible.
“Herr Rilow, wonderful goal!” Their coach said, scratching his graying beard and holding out his other hand for Hanschen to shake.
“Thank you, sir.” For once he didn’t feel forced to say that and was only a little bit reluctant to shake his hand instead of his usual ‘I’d rather die than do that.’
Once everyone had calmed down and started leaving, Hanschen began searching for Ernst. He had to be here somewhere. Walking off of the field and into the area where the seats were, he looked around. Maybe Ernst hadn’t come after all.
Obviously he didn’t. Why had he expected Ernst to come? How foolish of him.
“Um, excuse me sir, I was just wondering if—“
Hanschen turned around to see who tapped him on the shoulder, fully expecting it to be a child, but was met with a guy who was a good 2 inches taller than him— so about 5’11.
“Ernst?” Hanschen said weakly, his lips slightly parted in surprise. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears again and the blood rushing to his face.
Ernst was clearly surprised as well, having stopped mid sentence and with his mouth agape. “Oh, sorry, hi.”
Although Hanschen laughed at Ernst’s nervousness, he could also feel the nerves pumping through him. “Hello.” He held out a hand to shake and— God, why were his hands so smooth?
Get it together, man.
Letting go of Ernst’s hand, he watched the boy’s smile falter slightly. “Congratulations on winning! You were really good.” Ernst said quickly, smiling nervously. Hanschen thought he could see a bit of red on Ernst’s face, and that gave him confidence. “Like— really good.”
Once again, Hanschen chuckled. “I usually do better, but whatever.” He checked his nails, trying his best to look cocky.
Ernst rolled his eyes. “Can you take a compliment for once?”
“Sorry, sorry, you’re right. Thank you.” He said, unable to fight the grin growing on his face. He was finally meeting Ernst. Ernst Robel. In person. Right now. Holy shit. “I was thinking, uh—“
“Oo, don’t do that again.”
“Oh, fuck you.” Hanschen smiled, holding in his laughter. “Anyways, I was thinking that after I change we could go out to that cafe near here? Just to get some drinks and stuff. Of course you can decline, but I think it would be lovely if we went together.”
The silence that fell between them after Hanschen’s request was awkward, to say the least, but not as awkward as it was tense for the blonde boy.
“I would love to.” Ernst finally said, tapping his fingertips together by his side.
“Wonderful! I’ll just be right back. You can wait for me here.”