The streets of Wigan were still carrying the remnants of the previous night, despite the fans and locals carrying on their day as if nothing had even happened.
There were empty bottles near the bins.
Scarves that had been left on a railing.
And as he walked the street, people nodded at him, smiling slightly like they shared a secret with him.
"I am not happy this morning," Leo muttered as he rubbed his face with both hands.
He then looked up, seemingly searching for the reason he was up.
It wasn’t early, but for what his body had gone through the day before, he needed the extra hours.
Ahead of him, Jake and Ezra were already at it, arguing about sothing that had apparently started before Leo had joined them and showed no signs of resolving itself.
"How do you two have this much energy?" Leo said.
Jake turned around without breaking stride, walking backwards, and pointed at his own chest.
"I didn’t play yesterday."
Ezra turned too, pointing at himself.
"I played, but not for long."
Leo looked at both of them as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"Of course," he said as if it explained everything.
They had only taken a few more steps when a small voice from across the pavent to Leo’s left made them slow.
There, a kid, maybe eight or nine, was already pulling at his dad’s sleeve before the dad had fully stopped walking.
The mom had her phone out before anyone had said anything, which Leo had learned was usually how these things began.
He stopped and crouched slightly as the family of 3 ca across.
As they did, the kid turned towards his chuckling parents and had a go at them.
"I told you we could et him," he said as he turned to face Leo like he was expecting a pat on the back.
"Sorry for the disturbance, but can we get a picture?" the dad asked as they neared Leo.
"And maybe a signature if that’s alright."
"Course," Leo said.
The picture was soon taken, sa with the signature that went on the back of what appeared to be a match program, the dad had produced from sowhere.
After that interaction, the kid then turned to look at the duo, who seed to be walking with Leo before settling on Ezra out of the two.
"You did good yesterday," he said, giving him a very serious thumbs up.
Ezra accepted this with equal seriousness. "Thank you, man."
Then the kid looked at Jake.
Jake’s eyes widened slightly, reading the situation, clearly expecting sothing, but then the kid turned and walked away with his parents.
Leo felt it before he heard it, the laugh starting sowhere in his chest and coming out before he could do anything about it.
Beside him, Ezra was already gone, properly gone, shoulders shaking already while one hand settled on Leo’s arm for support.
Jake watched the kid leave with the expression of a man processing a minor injustice.
"Not even a look," he said.
"He’s going to regret that when I win the Golden Boot next season," he added, which made it worse.
"Sure, Mohamd Jake," Ezra spat before continuing with his laugh.
They were still going when Jake eventually turned and started walking again with what was left of his dignity, if he had any left.
At that, Leo and Ezra wiped their eyes and followed.
"Right," Leo said, pulling himself together. "What was it you wanted to show ?"
"We’re almost there," Jake said, glancing around. "Coming up soon."
Leo looked around and realised they had taken the long way around to the back of Jake and Ezra’s building, coming in through the lot at the rear rather than the front entrance, sothing he hadn’t noticed until now.
As they rounded a corner, Jake went ahead a few steps and then towards sothing behind him.
"Taadaa," he said, with the arm gesture to match.
Leo looked, and sitting in the lot, catching the morning light better than anything in the surrounding area had any right to, was a rcedes-Benz GLE coupe. 2020. Dark.
Leo’s eyebrow went up at that before he turned to look at Jake, who had the expression of a man who had been waiting for exactly this reaction.
"Nice," Leo said, walking toward it. "How did you afford this?"
Jake’s face shifted into sothing between offended and amused.
"We’re footballers," he said as the question had surprised him.
Then he chuckled.
"I’ve had my eye on one for a long ti, so I started putting it on my wishlist. And," he turned and shoved Ezra’s shoulder, " we won’t be hitching rides or taking taxis to the complex anymore."
Leo nodded agreeably, inspecting the car with his hands in his pockets before turning towards Jake, who was fist-bumping Ezra.
"If that is how it works, then I’d love to put a few things on that wishlist too."
Jake ignored the comnt but then looked back at Leo.
"You need to think about your own thing too. You’re leaving the complex soon, yeah? "
"Yeah," Leo said. "But I haven’t even found an apartnt yet. Plus, I can’t afford that."
He nodded at the car.
"I’m not well off like you outside of football."
Jake stared at him.
"That hurt," he said while clutching his chest. "That actually hurt that you think that about ."
Leo and Ezra both rolled their eyes at him while Jake shook his head and moved toward the driver’s door, pulling it open.
"You really think it’s going to stay that way?" he said, looking at Leo over the roof of the car.
"You just basically carried a team to the Premier League. You think Noah’s not already doing the maths on your contract?"
Leo said nothing at that as Jake set on foot in the car.
"Expect a call," he said simply before dropping into the driver’s seat.
Then a second later, he stuck his head back out of the window.
"Now get in, both of you. I’ve got plans tonight, and I’m not spending the whole day standing in a car park."
Leo looked at Ezra, who in turn looked back.
"Hot plans," Jake added, apparently feeling the sentence needed sothing extra, but that increased the intensity of the looks they were giving him.
"I an like," Jake started, "there’s this thing, and so people, and it’s not—"
"You’re weird, bruh," Leo said, opening the passenger door.
Jake nodded at Leo’s words and kept to himself, not wanting to paint any more of his thoughts out.
"You know," Leo said as he strapped the seatbelt around.
"You could have brought the car to the complex instead of taking the cab to the complex, so we can take another cab back here again and walk on top of that!"
Ezra stuck his arm out at Leo’s comnt, almost like he had said that earlier.
Jake, on the other hand, stared at Leo before starting the car when he couldn’t find anything to refute.
"Oh boy," Leo said, holding onto his seatbelt the mont Jake began driving out of the lot.
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