Chapter Text
Julian has the most beautiful birthday so far.
With a smile upon his face he enters the team bus that brings them to their stadium. He will play here today, in Dortmund, in front of the Yellow Wall.
Could there be any better way to turn 24?
He high-fives his teammates who have sung "Happy Birthday" for him in the morning after he has received many messages from his friends and family.
His family who will be in the stadium too.
On the way to the Westfalenstadion, Julian flips through more messages. His friends from Bremen wish him a great day, his best friend is even going to watch the match with his parents and brothers.
Everything couldn’t be more perfect, even the sun is shining and warming the air around him.
But something is still missing.
Julian checks his messages again but comes to no other conclusion than the dozen times before.
Kai has forgotten about his special day.
***
The match is glorious, to say the least. Julian plays right from the start and as cheesy as it might be, he scores right in front of the BVB fans, hearing them chanting his name.
He is ridiculously happy.
The fans even stand up and applaud him when he leaves the pitch in the second half and Julian knows that his family will be really proud of him today. Later, after the match, they will come and join him in his flat for a brief dinner and maybe a drink. After all, he won’t have training the next day.
Julian watches how Marco and Lukasz score too, leading their team to a well-deserved victory.
Back in the locker room, there are more messages on Julian’s mobile, this time not only congratulating him on his birthday, but also on his superb performance.
Still, there is no message from Kai.
***
The warm water in the shower after the match does Julian a world of good. He’s 24. He celebrates his first birthday in Dortmund.
Last year, he has celebrated with Kai and he misses him like mad today. Letting the water flow over his back, Julian sighs.
Maybe Kai will call him later. Kai still has to play a match in the evening. Maybe he just wanted to wait until it is over until he messages him.
Maybe.
***
The small birthday party in his flat is amazing. Julian’s parents, his brothers and his best friend have prepared some food, waiting for him to return after the match.
Julian is full of bliss that they are all here. His entire family. Jonas. He clicks glasses with every guest, juice for him, sparkling wine for the others. Only his mother doesn’t drink alcohol. When Julian asks her why, she hesitates. "We will drive back home in an hour or so, darling."
"You’re not staying here?" Julian feels slightly disappointed.
Jannis pushes Jascha into the side. "Jascha has an important match tomorrow, isn’t it so!"
Jascha nods, staring at his feet.
"So you’re all leaving?“ Julian looks at Jonas who raises his hands in defense.
"We came here in one car so I have to join your family."
Julian looks at the sparkling wine and pours himself a glass. "Cheers then," he murmurs, trying to hide his sadness.
***
The evening passes by harmoniously. Julian even forgets that he is pouting. There’s more food and a little bit more of the sparkling wine until his guests finally decide to leave.
"Thank you for coming here," he says goodbye to them.
And when Jannis murmurs: "The best is yet to come" Julian thinks that he talks about his upcoming years as a footballer.
Yet, he’s wrong.
***
Checking on his messages, Julian realizes that Leverkusen leads against Bayern and he smiles triumphantly. Maybe Dortmund will have a chance to win the title this season. He sees that Kai has scored and his heart clenches. He misses him so much that it hurts.
Julian replies to more messages. Sam and Mitch have texted him, of course they have.
In the end, Julian slumps down onto his sofa, dozing off, the image of Kai in his thoughts.
He wakes up when it is already dark outside - and when someone rings his door bell.
***
Needing a few minutes to awake, Julian listens to another ring of his bell. Simultaneously, his mobile starts to beep. He answers the call without looking who tries to reach him.
"Jule, I didn’t drive all the way to Dortmund to freeze to death in front of your door," he hears Kai’s voice, bliss shooting through his entire body.
"Kai!" he exclaims, completely surprised, hurrying to the door opener. "What are you doing here!"
Yet, Kai cannot hear him because he has already hung up.
Julian activates the door opener, rushing to his entrance. He cannot believe that Kai came.
But here he is.
Kai in all of his shining glory, mischievously smiling, a bag hanging over his shoulder.
Julian invites him inside, still thinking that this must be a dream.
"Happy Birthday, Sunshine," Kai whispers once the door behind them is closed, tugging Julian into his arms.
Miraculously, Kai suddenly has a sunflower in his hand. "Here. For you."
Julian is at loss for words. "You bought a flower for me?" he asks, still clinging to Kai.
"Uhm… I didn’t actually buy it," Kai admits. "Let’s say that it crossed my way."
"You’re crazy," Julian replies, searching for a place to put the flower away. "Come in, there’s still food left from the little party with my family and Jonas."
"Food sounds good," Kai states, "I directly jumped into my car after the match."
Julian feels a lump in his throat. "Thank you for coming here", he states.
"Did you think that I will leave you alone on your birthday?" Kai snorts, taking a sandwich. "What kind of friend would I be then."
"Friend," Julian echoes, more to himself, because hell, he would like to be so much more than just Kai’s friend.
"Did you say anything, Sunshine?" Kai asks, searching for two glasses in Julian’s kitchen as if he was living here. "I bought some champagne. But don’t tell my trainer," Kai chuckles, opening the bottle. He hands one glass to Julian. "Cheers, old man."
They share a deep gaze, one of the kind that sends shivers down the spine. "Cheers," Julian replies, taking a deep sip before he reaches a conclusion. "Kai?" he says carefully. "You can’t drive anymore when you are emptying that glass."
Kai blushes but then he strengthens his shoulders and takes a deep breath before he drinks the champagne all at once. "I didn’t intend to drive anywhere else tonight," he says, voice hoarse. "In fact, I thought that I could stay with you overnight."
***
Julian stares at Kai in utter surprise. "You want to sleep here? With me?" His cheeks turn red because of his unplanned ambiguous statement. "I’m sorry, I didn’t want to…" Hastily, he takes another sip.
"Yes, that’s what I want, Sunshine," Kai replies.
"Uhm… we have to put clean sheets on the bed in the guest room first, my family slept there the night before and I…" Julian stammers.
"That doesn’t matter. I can sleep in your bed," Kai answers.
"Together with me?" Julian starts to tremble slightly.
"Unless you don’t want to sleep on the couch, yes? I mean, we shared a room before, didn’t we?"
Julian nods, trying to ban the memory of all the sleepless nights with Kai right next to him.
"Fine then," Kai smiles. "Should we watch the summary of our matches? I’d love to see you scoring."
***
They sit in Julian’s living room, side by side on the couch, watching Sportstudio. Kai’s match comes first and Julian cannot help but admire Kai for his power on the pitch. "You were gorgeous," he whispers. "I wish my left foot would be as strong as yours."
"Your right foot is much better than mine," Kai states, casually placing his hand on Julian’s leg, as if to stress what he has just said.
The touch is so tender that Julian starts to sweat and Kai doesn’t even draw his hand back. Julian muses frantically what he should do now. When there’s another replay of Kai’s goal, Julian places his hand on Kai’s leg as well. "What are we doing here?" he whispers but Kai just shakes his head.
"Shhh…," he breathes. "We’re celebrating your birthday."
Julian turns his face to the TV again, where Dortmund’s match is broadcasted now. For the first time, Julian sees his goal, hears the fans chanting his name. "I have goosebumps all over," he admits.
Kai releases Julian’s leg and touches his arm instead. "Where? Here?" Softly, Kai’s fingers travel over Julian’s arm, increasing the goosebumps even more.
"Yes. Here." Julian gasps, moving a tiny bit closer to Kai.
They watch the rest of the match with Kai’s hand still upon Julian’s arm. "Marco’s goal was good too, huh?" Kai mumbles.
"Marco is a beast," Julian states, still confused because of Kai’s closeness.
"A beast," Kai echoes, his body going stiff.
"Yeah, a beast on the pitch," Julian confirms, not understanding what he might have done wrong.
"On the pitch? Or…?" Kai wants to know.
"What are you trying to say?" Julian asks perplexed. "He’s a good friend and teammate."
Kai nods, moving closer towards Julian. "Now look at Lukasz’ goal!" he says. "Old men can still score!"
Julian punches him into the side playfully. "Just wait until you reach that age, greenhorn."
"Did you just call me a greenhorn," Kai replies, grabbing a cushion and threatening to throw it into Julian’s direction. Then, he lets it sink and looks Julian straight into the eyes. However, they are interrupted by the post-match interviews.
"Switch that off, I don’t want to listen to myself," Julian complains but Kai doesn’t hand him the remote control.
"I want to listen to you," he insists, switching the tone louder.
Julian hears himself talking about the match, about the goal, receiving more birthday wishes from the interviewer. "What have you planned for the evening?" the reporter has asked him.
"Nothing special," Julian hears his reply from a few hours ago before he also hears something else - Kai’s soft chuckle.
"Nothing special," Kai breathes, "I think that we can change that." He comes closer, so very much closer that Julian’s heartbeat paces up. "Happy Birthday, Sunshine," Kai whispers again and then, he kisses Julian.