Chapter Text
The locker room door slowly opened.
Jude Bellingham stood still for a few seconds, clutching his new yellow and black shirt. His name was written on his back, but at that moment it still seemed to belong to someone else. He had arrived in Dortmund with a huge dream and an even greater fear.
Seventeen years old. A new country. A new language. A team full of champions.
He took a deep breath and set foot in the Borussia Dortmund dressing room.
Then he heard a voice.
"You must be Jude"
He turned around.
Before him was Jadon Sancho, he grew up in the streets of London with a ball at his feet; he learned a talent, driven by a passion for the game.
Sancho, like Bellingham, found himself some time earlier making an important choice, abandoning his hometown to a tender age of seventeen, and entering Borussia Dortmund.
He knew how out of place it felt in a whole new environment, his story was similar to Jude's.
"Welcome to Dortmund"
"Thank you.." Jude replied, his voice soft, and quiet.
That day he was going to train for the first time, with a new team, which looked friendly and talented, except for... one player.
His gaze flashed from one side of the room to the other, studying all the faces he saw in front of him, but he paused on one in particular.
'Erling Haaland' read on his shirt, a name certainly not of English origin.
Tall, nice body, well-built and toned, hair as blond as the winter sun's rays, and an icy gaze...
In reality, Jude thought his gaze revealed a certain friendliness and kindness; but as he thought about it, he realized he had stared at him too lon-
Haaland with a confused, but not disoriented, rather surprised look, gave them a simple smirk
Which left Jude embarrassed by what had happened.
At that exact moment, the door leading to the camp opened, letting in a gust of fresh air.
Once on the field Jude looked around, the green of the grass in the sunlight shone an emerald color.
He was there, he really was: his first training session with Borussia Dortmund.
For others it was a normal day. For him, however, it was the beginning of something new.
The group began their warm-up, the balls were already placed on the pitch, their teammates exchanged passes with each other, and the sound of shots against the net became increasingly audible.
The coach then pointed out the couples for the exercises, Jude clearly needed someone to help him settle in.
"Jude, with Erling"
For a second he stayed still, then approached his teammate
Haaland passed him the ball with a simple but precise movement.
"First time here?" He asked with a friendly smile.
"Is it that noticeable?" Jude replied
Erling let out a little laugh.
"A little, I was like that at first too."
That sentence surprised Jude. He expected a stubborn and difficult player to approach, but instead, in front of him, he finds someone who seemed to understand exactly what he was feeling.
"It's weird and scary to leave everything behind and start over, right?" Erling continued.
Jude, looked around, then smiled slightly, nodding.
"Yeah, but I think it's worth it."
Erling returned the smile.
"Then welcome to Dortmund"
After training, Jude returned to the apartment, where he had spent his last nights. It wasn't really home: There was still a half-open suitcase, a duffel bag with personal belongings, clothes resting on chairs, and an uncomfortable bed.It gave him the strange feeling, of something that was only temporary.
He spent nights waiting for that moment.
He would have finally joined the rest of the team at the hotel where Borussia had arranged for the players to stay. He thought that maybe it would've been the first step to truly being part of the group.
With his bag on his shoulders and suitcase in his hand, he entered the hotel Hall. A welcoming, warm, Minimal-style place.
He immediately heard the voices of his teammates, and the movement of the staff.
"Bellingham, right?" A person at the front desk asked, "We've found your room, but unfortunately there were no single rooms available, so we've adapted you into a double room."
Jude nodded, without thinking about it too much, he didn't care about having to share a room with someone on the team, and it would've helped him make a friend.
Well, that was just until he heard the name.
"Room 139. With Erling Haaland"
For a second he stayed in absolute silence, then took the keys, thanked him, and set off.
Haaland.
The guy that Despite his lean physique, Jude had seen scoring, running, dominating practice just hours earlier, was in the same room with him.
He took the elevator. He headed for the room, took the keys and opened the door.
Part of it was already occupied: a suitcase by the bed, a sweatshirt resting on the desk, and the soccer cleats, neatly arranged in the shoe rack.
Honestly, he didn't expect this 'Viking' (he gave him this alias because of his Scandinavian origins) to be a truly tidy, neat person, and organized in his intimacy.
Jude heard footsteps coming from the bathroom, and a voice; "Oh, it's you."
Jude turned around.
Erling was leaning on the doorframe.
"It seems like we'll see each other very often." He looked down before meeting the other's eyes again, smirking.
Jude before answering, thought about how Haaland managed to be so calm and confident after someone had entered his room without warning, and now he would've been his roommate. Maybe he was just reckless, because he kept smiling like an idiot.
He let out a nervous chuckle.
"It seems so", on that single day Jude had seen the Borussia Dortmund team's big star, Haaland more times than he had seen his mother in his entire life." (Just kidding, of course.)
"Don't worry, I won't bite you," Haaland said with an amused smile. "At least until you steal my bed..."
That joke caught Jude off guard, he actually laughed, for the first time in Dortmund since he arrived.
Maybe that new city wouldn't have been so bad after all.