Lukas woke up slowly.

For a few seconds, he didn’t even know where he was.

The room was dim, lit faintly by the orange glow of the evening sun leaking through the curtains. His body felt heavy, sluggish, like his limbs still hadn’t fully woken up with him. His throat was dry. His head foggy.

That strange feeling after a long sleep settled over him completely—the kind where time stopped making sense for a moment. He couldn’t tell if he had slept for one hour or ten. His brain still felt halfway trapped inside whatever emotional exhaustion had knocked him out in the first place.

Then slowly—

the memories came back.

The restaurant.

Jane.

His father.

The car.

His chest tightened faintly at the thought.

Lukas exhaled and sat up slowly on the bed, rubbing a hand over his face before reaching for the glass of water near the bedside table. The water was warm already, but he drank it anyway, emptying almost half the glass in one go.

That was when he heard the voices.

At first they sounded like complete gibberish.

Just muffled noise coming from somewhere outside the room while his still half-awake brain struggled to process what he was hearing. But as he blinked a few more times and forced himself fully awake, the whispers slowly became clearer.

People were talking in the living room.

Lukas frowned slightly.

Then he pushed himself up and walked out of the room.

The moment he entered the living room, the conversation stopped.

Javi was there.

Marco too.

And sitting beside Joanna on the couch was João.

All three of them turned toward him immediately.

Javi stood up first. "You’re awake."

Lukas blinked at them slowly. "Yeah..."

Then he frowned.

The way they were looking at him felt weird.

Like somebody had died.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" he asked as he walked toward the kitchen counter and grabbed another glass of water. "What’s wrong?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Lukas drank from the glass again before looking back at them.

Joanna stood up first and walked over to him quickly.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, holding his hand lightly.

Lukas looked confused now more than anything.

"Yeah," he replied. "I wasn’t feeling too good earlier, but I slept it off."

Then he looked around the room again.

"Why are you guys even here?"

João exchanged a glance with Marco before speaking.

"You haven’t seen the news?"

Lukas frowned. "What news?"

"I’ve been trying to call you for hours," João said. "But your phone wasn’t going through."

Lukas pointed lazily toward the charger near the couch. "My phone died. I just plugged it in."

João immediately stood up and walked over with his own phone already in hand.

"You seriously haven’t seen this?"

Lukas took the phone from him.

And froze.

On the screen was a picture.

No—

multiple pictures.

One of them was a zoomed-in shot through the tinted window of the car. Him bent forward in the back seat with his hand covering his face while Javi sat beside him consoling him.

Another was a blurry video clip from farther away.

The quality wasn’t perfect, but it was still obvious enough.

Obvious enough that people knew it was him.

Lukas stared at the headline underneath.

LUKAS BRANDT IN TEARS AFTER REALIZING HE WILL BE LEAVING FRANKFURT

He blinked once.

Then looked up slowly.

"...What?"

Marco sighed heavily from the couch.

"Yeah," he said. "That’s the headline."

Lukas looked back down at the phone again, scrolling now.

And it just kept getting worse.

"Emotional breakdown."

"Lukas devastated over imminent transfer."

"Eintracht wonderkid unable to hold back tears."

"Fans react emotionally to viral footage."

Lukas let out a stunned laugh.

"Are you serious?"

Marco rubbed a hand over his forehead. "I was shocked too when I saw it. That’s why I called immediately."

Javi looked irritated now.

"Whoever took that video was following us from the restaurant," he muttered. "Probably paparazzi."

Lukas kept scrolling.

The comments were even more insane.

Some Frankfurt fans were posting crying emojis and edits of his season highlights.

Some were furious at the club hierarchy.

Others were already talking about Manchester City like the transfer had been officially confirmed.

And then there were conspiracy theories everywhere.

"Maybe he begged to stay."

"Frankfurt forcing him out."

"Maybe his girlfriend broke up with him?"

"Why else would he cry like that?"

Lukas dropped the phone onto the couch and leaned back against the counter with a tired sigh.

"This is unbelievable."

Joanna still looked worried. "You sure you’re okay?"

Lukas looked at her for a second before nodding slowly.

Marco leaned back slightly on the couch and looked at Lukas carefully for a few seconds before speaking.

"So," he said quietly, "how are you feeling?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Lukas already knew what he meant.

Javi must have told them what happened at the restaurant.

Lukas exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of his neck before answering. "I’ll be alright."

His voice sounded steadier now compared to earlier, though the exhaustion still lingered in his face.

Marco nodded slowly. "Good."

Then he gestured lightly toward the phone still lying on the couch beside Lukas.

"First of all, don’t worry too much about the news. I’ll handle it."

Lukas frowned slightly. "Handle it how?"

"I’ll speak to a few journalists," Marco replied calmly. "We’ll just say it was a personal family emergency. Nothing related to Frankfurt or any transfer situation."

Joanna immediately nodded. "That’s probably for the best."

"People are already making up stories," João added. "Half the internet thinks Frankfurt forced you out. " He turned and pointed to Joanna, " And the other thinks my sister dumped you."

Lukas let out another tired laugh and shook his head. "Football fans are insane."

"Very," Marco agreed.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room relaxed slightly again.

Then Marco cleared his throat.

"There’s also something else."

Lukas looked up.

Marco leaned forward slightly now.

"Diego Simeone wants to speak with you."

That got everyone’s attention immediately.

Lukas blinked once. "What?"

"Simeone," Marco repeated. "He wants to get on a call with you. Tonight if possible. Or tomorrow morning."

Lukas stared at him for a second.

"...Seriously?"

Marco nodded. "Seriously."

Javi folded his arms quietly while watching Lukas’ reaction.

"He couldn’t come himself," Marco continued. "Atlético are already in the United States preparing for the Club World Cup."

Lukas slowly leaned back into the couch.

"Right..." he muttered. "They’re playing in it."

For a second, his mind drifted back to Pep Guardiola arriving in Darmstadt just days earlier.

Manchester City had also traveled to the U.S. for the tournament, but Pep had still taken a detour to Germany first just to meet him personally.

Even now, thinking about it still felt surreal.

One of the greatest managers in football history had flown across countries just to sit in a hotel room and explain football to him for two hours.

And now Diego Simeone wanted a call too.

The realization felt absurd.

Lukas rubbed his forehead lightly before exhaling.

"Okay," he said eventually. "I’ll take the call."

Marco nodded immediately. "Good."

Then João smirked slightly from the side of the couch.

"But haven’t you already made up your mind?"

Lukas looked toward him.

For a brief moment, nobody spoke.

Then Lukas slowly sat up straighter.

"...I pretty much have already."