Archive of Our Own ^beta

All the boys were sitting in a circle, in front of each there was an empty shot glass. Manuel was between Nicolò, who didn't stop talking for a moment, and Salvatore. He was excited to finally play this game, he had heard a lot about it, but at the same time he would have liked to spend his last evening in Coverciano in another way. Almost by reflex his gaze fell on Matteo.

Why is he so pretty and why am I so fucked up? he thought hopelessly and in that precise moment Matteo looked at him.

They smiled at each other. It was an almost imperceptible smile, a small thing between them, "Is everything okay?" Matteo asked just moving his lips, not a single sound coming from his mouth.

Manuel nodded. Another smile and another crack in the heart because tomorrow this will be over. Living a secret affair wasn't easy, above all if your teammates kept asking about when you'll get married, but at least at Coverciano they could spend all the time they wanted together without making anyone suspicious. They were friends, right? Well… Not exactly.

His stream of thoughts was distracted by Leonardo who placed himself in the middle of the circle, "Fino all'ultima goccia has rules. The first one is that the things that will be said here must remain here. And... That's it! Our priority is discretion, otherwise everything is fine. Giorgio and I will not participate because, unfortunately, the game requires two moderators and by seniority it's up to us, but don't worry youngsters, in this group there are brave over 30s who will surely give you a hard time," a chorus of applause exploded in room, "Let the party begin! I'll ask the first question. Have you ever won the European football championships?"

All the boys laughed. Manuel took the little shot glass, now full of some liqueur, and drank it in one gulp. So did all of his teammates, "Now that you've all had at least one glass, we can start the real game. Andrea starts and then let's go in order."

"Have you ever… let me think for just a second. I wasn’t prepared!" Andrea exclaimed looking at Giorgio, "Have you ever cheated on a test?"

"Maronn André! Leo called this game spicy and this is your question?" asked Ciro, "You can do better!"

"Okay, okay! Have you ever…" Andrea took the little glass in his hand and he lifted up in the air, "kissed a boy?"

"That's a good question!" Ciro exclaimed, taking his glass and toasting with Andrea, drinking the tequila in one go and then concluding with a quick kiss.

When Manuel heard the question frozen. So, this is how all his teammates will find out that he also likes boys. Well, one boy.

He was looking at his shaking hands, confused on what to do, when he felt his arm tagged. Manuel whirled around and saw Nicolò looking him straight in the eye.

"Kiss me!"

"Excuse me?"

"Kiss me! By the end of the evening I must be dead drunk, so if that's the way this game is going, I definitely need to kiss a guy right now. Kiss me!!" he repeated, showing his lips.

"No! There are a lot of guys here, kiss someone else!"

"Fine!" Nicolò replied, annoyed, then he began to size up the others, "No. No. Absolutely no. Yes!" and he launched himself at Spina who didn't mind kissing him.

Nicolò returned victorious to his seat and drank the shot.

"The choice of kissing Spina was so predictable. Was this 'I must be drunk dead, I need to kiss a guy' just an excuse to kiss him?" Manuel asked him, a mischievous smile on his face

"Don't you dare…"

Manuel turned, completely ignoring Nicolò and drank the liqueur. When his gaze stopped on Matteo, he saw him drinking and then showing Manuel proudly his empty glass.

"Okay guys! Let's move on to the next question. Giorgio, could you pour tequila into empty glasses?"

"Seriously?" Giorgio rolled his eyes, but got up anyway with the bottle in his hand.

At that moment Manuel realized how many glasses were empty. Ciro, Andrea, Matteo (of course, he thought while the butterflies in his stomach were doing somersaults), Salvatore, Nicolò, the poor Spina and even Gigio! That was a surprise.

"Ciro, it's your turn."

Ciro was already with the glass in his hand, "Have you ever kissed a teammate?"

"Yes!" yelled Nicolò, turning to Spina and making a heart sign with his hands.

Manuel could only give up and drink in the general confusion.

"Can we change the argument of the questions? I'd like to drink too."

"No! I want to win this game."

"Cirù, nobody wins at it!"

"You can always kiss a random teammate, with me it worked!" then Nicolò turned to Manuel, "Oh, let's hope the next question is 'have you ever kissed a guy older than you' or, this is cool huh, 'have you ever kissed a player from an opposing team' or…"

Manuel's first thought was that he could drink both questions, but then Nicolò's voice continued to ring in his head with his thousand phantom questions that could be asked. But after all, if Nicolò wanted to drink, who was he to stop him, especially if he had a question specifically dedicated to him, "Next question is mine," Manuel shouted.

"Well, actually it would be…"

"Have you ever had a wet dream about a teammate?"

When he turned to Nicolò, he was looking at him in shock, "Didn't you want to drink? Drink, come on! I know about your dream, you told me, remember?"

Perhaps asking that question had been a mistake and Manuel could tell from the murderous look with which Nicolò was watching him as he swallowed the tequila.

While he was thinking that he would most likely pay for it, he heard Matteo cough to get his attention, and as soon as Manuel looked at him he winked at him and drank it all in one gulp.

What did this mean? Did he dream about him? And why was Matteo looking at him with that lascivious smile? Manuel suddenly felt a wave of heat. The first rational thought was to give himself a re-dimensioning, but how could he do it if Matteo seemed to want to undress him with the mere force of his gaze?

"Shut your mouth Loca," whispered Nicolò, one of his fingers under Manuel's chin, "if you blush like this for a look from Matteo, what will you do when you listen to my question?"

Manuel hadn't the time to tell him that it wasn't his turn that Nicolò stood up, attracting the attention of all the boys, "Now that I have your attention, have you ever felt something for a teammate?"

Son of a bitch, he thought as he took the glass and drank for the umpteenth time.

"Are you satisfied now?"

"I don't give a shit about it, but look at Matteo. Uuuh, he looks very satisfied! What are you doing? Blushing? You're so cute, Loca."

And actually Matteo was looking at him. His gaze was no longer mischievous, but it had changed. The frown in the middle of his eyebrows meant that he was thinking of something serious. Without taking his eyes off Manuel, he drank and it was Manuel who looked down, not knowing if he was more incredulous that Matteo felt something for him or that he had to find out during a drink game.

When would this hell end? The more the game went on, the more the questions became personal, the fewer people drank and the more likely they would have discovered the relationship with Matteo. Or even worse, he and Matteo could discover things that they had not yet had the opportunity (or the courage) to confess.

"Giorgio, please, also pour the tequila into the glasses of Ciro, Andrea, Matteo, Manuel and Gigio because otherwise we won't go on here."

On hearing Gigio's name, Manuel turned to him and saw him calmly thanking Giorgio. Manuel took a mental note that as soon as all this mess was over, he would take Gianluigi aside and they would have a good chat. He demanded details. Juicy details.

But he hadn't the time to think properly about Gigio's situation because a new question came up.

"Have you ever kissed a teammate during this Euro Championship?" asked an unsuspected Alessandro who, up to that moment, had not stopped whispering to Francesco for a moment.

After four shots, Manuel began to feel slightly tipsy and suddenly he relaxed about everything. Why did Gigio have to be so calm as he exposed himself to the team while he was overthinking too much, as usual? After all he hadn't killed anyone. He had just happened to have certain feelings towards a friend and which unexpectedly were also reciprocated. Yes, they were cheating on their girlfriends. Their girlfriends who were waiting for them, supporting them, cheering them up, but above all girlfriends who thought that between Manuel and Matteo there was just a strong friendship. Yes, their decision had been selfish, but it would all be over tomorrow. Their adventure was born and ended within the walls of Coverciano. No more breakfasts together, training together or ping pong games together, everything would be back to normal. Normality that included putting aside feelings for Matteo to start again as best friends.

Manuel shook his head, as if to chase away the sad thoughts that his mind kept thinking, and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Salvatore reach out and take the glass. Manuel quickly took his and turned to the goalkeeper, "A toast! More kisses between people who love each other and less paranoia!"

"Well said, Loca! I'm glad you understood," Salvatore said, smiling proudly at his friend, "Let's have a toast!" and their glasses clinked amid the shouting of the other boys.

Their enthusiasm was cut off by a new question, "Have you ever had sex during this Euro Championship?" Francesco asked.

Manual sighed in relief, finally a question he shouldn't have been drinking. Sure, Matteo and he had kisses, some rubbing and even something more, but unfortunately they hadn't done it yet and probably never would have done it since this game would last until Nicolò was scrambled to the ground.

While Ciro was claiming his winnings, as only he and Andrea had been drinking for this question, Manuel could not ignore the glances of Francesco and Alessandro as they passed from him to Matteo and then whispered to each other.

"Didn't you two do anything?" Alessandro asked, frantically pointing to Manuel and Matteo, "Nothing, nothing, nothing?"

"Nothing!" Matteo answered, his voice was firm and serious.

"Fuck, you were right," Francesco pulled 50 euros out of his pocket and gave it to Alessandro.

"Have you bet on us?"

"Well what's wrong with that? We all knew you're together. Of course you could have done more. I just lost 50 euros because of you."

Oh my God, Manuel couldn't believe his ears, "How could you bet on-"

"Have you ever had a threesome with a person present in this room?"

Manuel immediately recognized the voice and when he turned he saw Matteo, the expression of someone who had just launched the best gossip of the century.

Everything happened very quickly. Salvatore drank the tequila, Andrea whispered undeterred to Ciro who downed the liquor.

"Did I tell you not to? Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"But it happened a century ago, we were still playing together, who do you want me to give such an old anecdote, right Salvatore?"

A hush fell over the room, all the eyes were on Ciro and Andrea. Those few seconds of silence were broken by a thousand questions made together.

It was at that moment that Manuel felt a hand leaning on his shoulder which was gently squeezed.

Manuel turned and saw Matteo, smiling, "Let's go?" he proposed and Manuel couldn't not accept.

Matteo helped him get up and then he wrapped his shoulder with his arm, holding him tight. Manuel immediately felt at home between those arms that several times had embraced him without wanting anything in return.

"How did you know what happened between Ciro, Andrea and Salvatore?"

"Easy, pretend you're listening to music while people are next to you and if it's your lucky day, you might hear something useful to get your boyfriend out of trouble."

"More like your Coverciano boyfriend. I want to remind you that we are officially engaged and not between us..."

Matteo stopped in the middle of the aisle. He took Manuel's hand in his, holding it tight, a slight blush on his cheeks, "But things can change, don't you think?"

This question hit Manuel right in his heart, like a stab. He couldn't stop looking at Matteo's bright eyes, full of hope, but also scared. Manuel didn't know if he was scared about his answer or about his future, their future.

"Yeah.. Maybe.. I don't know." he answered in a whisper. Manuel would love having the right answer to comfort Matteo, however only half-hearted babbling phrases came out of his mouth. Because of his protective nature, Manuel would have liked to reassure Matteo that everything will be fine, that things between them, outside the walls of Coverciano, will go smoothly, that they will write to each other every day and maybe they would even be able to meet. But the truth was that he was literally terrified of everything, because he couldn't handle this thing between them as he would have liked, with serenity and out in the open, "I don't like thinking about the future."

"Okay, don't worry," Matteo said immediately, releasing Manuel's hand and avoiding his gaze. "Changing topic, what would you say if now we go to the room and we conclude this last evening in Coverciano? Maybe later we will be able to make up for the last shot that we both haven't drunk ," he said, showing a bottle, "I borrowed because I was hoping that we could, you know..."

Manuel took his chin with his hand and approached his face. He kissed him, there in the middle of the corridor, without any fear that someone could see them, "Of course, we can."

"Without thinking about the future?" Matteo handed him the little finger, the sweetest smile upon his face.

"Without thinking about the future." Manuel intertwined his little finger with Matteo's one.

Matteo wrapped him in his arms and Manuel couldn't help but think he had the best Coverciano boyfriend. With a whisper, he confided it in his ear, as if it were their most precious secret, making Matteo giggle.

They had arrived in front of Matteo's room, when Manuel whirled around, his back to the door, "What about the wet dream about me?" he asked, low voice and a smirk on his lips.

Matteo slowly slipped his arms around Manuel's waist and pulled him to himself, hands gently squeezing his ass, "I'll tell you when we get to the room, in fact I'll show you. Down to the smallest details." whispered, kissing just under Manuel's lobe.

For one last night they could live the moment, leaving the future outside Matteo's room.