JANNIK SINNER IS A BACK TO BACK AO CHAMPION

pedri trying to get our forwards to score from his chances

me with every ferrari's decision

Baku City Circuit 2024 in one pic 😭

nah this is too accurate

Messi in MSL:

That's not even his foot 😭😭

love song ♬— pt 1 [ J.M ]

pairings: jamal musiala x fem!oc

summary [please read]

genres: strangers to lovers, fluff, angst, sports romance

[w.c: 2k] masterlist

notes: it's finally here!!! I hope you guys like it, because I swear as the story progresses you're going to fall in love with them xxx (I hope)

noelle braun sat in the crowded lecture hall, here eyes fixed on the clock as the minutes ticked by at a glacial pace. the air was heavy with the scent of coffee and ink, the oddly calming sound of textbook pages turning filling her senses.

all of this was a potent reminder that today marked the beginning of the end— the final thesis topic, the last hurdle before graduation, and the moment of truth that would make or break her academic career.

she had been looking forward to this moment for weeks, yet now that it was finally here, she felt a sense of trepidation wash over her. their psychology professor and head of department, dr. braun stood at the front of the lecture hall with a stack of papers in her hand.

“today you will receive your thesis topics,” she announced and began handing out the reports to the respective students— a few groans and sighs of dread filling the air as she continued to pace the lecture hall.

"remember this is a milestone in your academic journey, and the first time that you haven't chosen your own topics for your research task.”

noelle's knee bounced eagerly as her professor neared her seat, passing a rubric to a learner down the row before finally playing the piece of paper gently on noelle's desk, her eyes widening in anticipation and expectation for a topic that would challenge her.

something that would get the gears in her head turning nonstop, something to feed her curious and knowledge hungry mind. noelle loved thinking. it was her favourite pastime, just simply taking a stroll through the streets of munich with her airpods in as her mind wandered.

but unfortunately that was not the case today. her eyes scanned over the thesis title written at the top of her page, a sinking feeling in her stomach swallowing her until she was drowning in a pool of disbelief.

her hands absentmindedly clutched the piece of paper, wrinkling the edges and her brows. the sound of the bell sounding signified the end of the lecture and day, the clock above reading 2:15 p.m. dr. braun continued to go on about their due dates and so on along with the turmoil of students that stampede their way out of the university to ffinally emerse themselves in the freedom of summer break.

it was only when the lecture hall was empty that noelle hurriedly grabbed her laptop and bag, her eyes narrowing as she approached her professor. the florescent lights overhead casted and unforgiving glare on the worn linoleum floor.

“romantic love?” she questioned dryly and held up the page in the air, the crumbled edges being enough of a telltale that she wanted to shred it.

from her position behind her desk dr. brauner let out a sigh and gave noelle a questioning look. “yes. explore the subjective experience of romantic love. it's a fascinating topic and I think that you'll find it quite rewarding.”

noelle had to bite her tongue in order to stop herself from being disrespectful. how was this supposed to be rewarding? she paused for a moment and watched as the older woman continued to pack her things away, her eagerness to get home evident.

she was just about to give up, a few steps forward but she couldn't settle for this. this was her entire grade on the line. “it's just that–” her shoulders squared, her eyes pleading as dr. brauner took a seat on the edge of her desk. “–I'm not comfortable with this topic, which means that I won't be able to do my best an–”

“–that's the point noelle.” dr. braun threw her hands into the air, a lighthearted smile on her face as she stared at the conflicted girl in front of her. “this is a learning experience. a reason for you to explore and get out of your comfort zone.”

noelle's jaw tightened. “I understand that but–”

“–then you don't understand if you have something more to say,” she shot noelle down and the girl was quiet, her lips slightly parted as she contemplated fighting.

the tension in the lecture hall was thick, noelle's throat constricting with every second she stood silent. she wasn't typically the type who liked arguing, she remained as much of a pacifist as she could. but now that her degree was on the line over a stupid theis topic, she was going to fight for it.

a heavy sigh came from dr. braun and she lifted herself from her desk to take a few steps closer to her daughter, her fingers brushing a few dark strands out of her face. a warm smile drew to her lips as she felt the girl ease under her touch. “I am not just saying this as your professor, but as your mother. I really think this could be good for you.”

“mama, how am I supposed to do a research paper on something that I've never experienced? i'm not interested,” noelle said barely above a whisper, embarrassment and slight irritation looming over her head.

she felt her mother gently squeeze her shoulder. “ella, this is not just about romantic love; it's about understanding human experience. and it's exactly because you're not interested that you need to do it.”

noelle’s face twisted, her mind racing with counterarguments, but her mother's expression remained unyielding. for a moment, they locked eyes, the tension palpable.

finally she looked away, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “fine,” she muttered, the words bitter on her lips.

as she turned to leave, her mother's voice called out, “remember, growth happens outside of your comfort zone.”

noelle's eyes flashed with anger, but she bit back her retort, the words burning in her throat. she knew her mother was right, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow.

instead she pushed open the large campus door and let the munich summer air hit her face— much cooler than you'd expect as the crisp air brought her back to reality with a deep inhale and exhale. she looked down at the page in her hand one last time, the title mocking her.

the phenomenology of being in love: exploring the subjective feeling of being in love.

that thursday afternoon, noelle found herself in her usual post lecture spot— the local coffee shop not too far from campus. she felt down, unmotivated and… bleh. which meant that she needed one thing. coffee.

she pushed the door open, the bell over it ringing out as she stepped inside. the aroma of freshly brewed coffee enveloped her, immediately lifting her spirits. she made her way to the counter, where her friend, lauren, was working.

as usual her smiled beamed the second she caught sight of noelle, the familiar face giving her a reason to take her third break of the day. “I know that look,” lauren said with a sigh and started on noelle’s order without a word.

the glum university student managed a lopsided smile and sat down on one of the bar stools with her caramel macchiato in front of her within seconds. the two sat silently for a bit until noelle mustered up the energy to realise that the coffee shop was emptier than usual.

“where is everyone?” her gaze drifted to the booths in the far corner that were empty, the faint sound of music playing through the speakers. “is something happening today?”

from behind the counter lauren scoffed and continued to wipe down the table. “everyone is getting ready for tomorrow you idiot.”

when she didn't get a response lauren furrowed her brows in shock, initially waiting for noelle to catch on but she didn't. instead she took another silent sip of her coffee.

lauren let out a laugh of disbelief. “summer break means that it's international break.”

there was a beat of silence again which caused lauren to dramatically throw herself over the counter and slap her friend on the head. “the euros you dut!”

oh shit.

how could she forget?? it's been on her mind since the beginning of the year and she planned her entire summer around the football tournament. it was the whole reason she was banking on an “easy” thesis topic, so that it wouldn't consume all her time.

almost as if on cue noelle’s phone rang, making her jump up. “shit,” she cursed and gathered her things so that she could answer the call.

lauren watched in confusion as she scrambled her things together, barely being able to put her coat on properly as she answered the person on the other end of the line.

“I was just about to call you– yeah I just got out of my lecture.” the lie slipped past her lips easily, earning a judgmental look from lauren as she handed noelle the coffee and headed into the back to fetch something.

“I'm literally on my way to the airport right now– no I'm not lying. okay, bye I'll see you soon.”

noelle ended the call as quickly as she picked it up, and hastily grabbed her bag and coffee to make a beeline for the door she completely forget that she had to pick one of her friends up at the airport and somehow needed to be there in the next 20 minutes.

she was more than ready to get at least 3 speeding fines and–

she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes shut as she felt the liquid seep into the fabric of her sweatshirt and even on her skirt. just great.

“oh no, I'm so sorry!” the man infront of her exclaimed, as noelle tried her best to dry her jumper with the napkins on the counter.

“no, no it's fine! I'm just… really late!” she discarded the napkins carelessly, hoping that lauren would understand when she came back.

“wait, let me help you with that,” he said apologetically, trying to get some napkins to help noelle with the spill but she insisted that she was fine.

“are you sure okay?” he asked again, but she just brushed him off with an awkward laugh and a thumbs up, not giving a proper answer since she was running to the door again, her bag hanging on for dear life.

the stranger watched as she checked her phone again, her figure disappearing through the door and around the corner and surprisingly she bumped into someone as they were coming into the coffee shop again. but there was no time for apologies.

the new customer looked to the dumbfounded boy in front of him. “jamal, that girl that just bumped into me,” he turned to the door again, “sounded a lot like one of aaliyah's friends.”

the stranger now known as jamal let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. “I don't know any of your girlfriend's friends flo, but she bumped into me too.” he looked down at the ground where there was still some coffee. “I spilled coffee on her… kind of.”

florian took a few steps further into the empty coffee shop, his eyes squinting in confusions at the empty reception. he came here for coffee because aaliyah really liked this place for some reason, and so far he didn't see the hype or the employees.

he leant back on the counter to look at jamal who was still hung up on the coffee spill on the floor. “dude, she didn't even look me in the eye.” he let out a groan and put his hands on his head, “oh god she probably hates me!”

“she doesn't even know who you are stop stressing,” his friend replied but jamal was still stressing for whatever reason, letting his guilt get the best of him as usual. “it was aaliyah's friend that recommended this coffee shop too, the psych major–”

“–noelle, what the fuck?!”

the two customers jolted at the sound of the new voice, florian jumping up from the counter where the employee was stood with her eyes wide in anger and shock. and this just made jamal feel even worse.

“yeah that's her name, noelle,” the shorter of the two said and snapped his fingers, looking back at jamal with a smile but the boy looked as if he was ready to crawl into a hole and die.

note to self: apologise to noelle, the pysch major. (double check with sophia)

flick ball has me like

“when pedri is doing well, he’s compared to iniesta. when bellingham is doing well, he’s compared to pedri” case closed no notes everyone go home

Lamine is only 17y/o, he cannot possibly travel back to Barcelona on his own. Call back Pedri as his travel companion

fermín came, served cunt, scored, and got a red card