#and he very much wants to get back with keeley but he's not ready to sacrifiece his relationship with roy for it

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Like Phil, I’d like to think that Jamie and Keeley still go to Brazil, in spite of the boys’ recent fuck-up, but I’d also like to think that Roy comes with them. Not because Jamie and Keeley can’t be friend on their own or wouldn’t have the best time doing Brazil together – they would! – but because I think Jamie might be conscious, given everything that’s gone down recently, of potentially upsetting what he currently perceives as a rather delicate balance.   

Maybe he brings it up a few days later before they head over to Keeley’s for a joint apology, or maybe it happens already at the holy kebab place, once they’ve had a few bites and a chance to settle back into their normal; a little worse for wear, but with no lasting harm done.

And Jamie fiddles with his sleeves and makes little faces as he tries to decide what to say (and Roy notices and waits with some trepidation) and in the end he just comes right out and says it, because that’s what Jamie does, isn’t it?

“I asked Keeley to go to Brazil with me, for that Nike thing I’m doing.”

Roy blinks. He hadn’t known Jamie was doing a Nike thing. Jamie might have told him, but Roy usually stops listening whenever he starts blathering on about brands and clothes and shit, so yeah, if told he hadn’t heard.

“What did she say?” he asks after a slightly too long and awkward moment of Jamie looking up at him, almost through his fucking eyelashes, trying to gauge his reaction.

“She said yes.” And hastily, as if worried what Roy might say or do if given a moment to, he adds: “I didn’t do it to try to get back together or anything. I mean, I do wanna get back together and she’s my friend and I love her and I thought we’d have a great time, yeah, but also, she’s great at PR and all that stuff, so. Yeah. That’s why I asked her to come. Make sure I don’t fuck it up.”

And because you want her to be your girlfriend. Roy doesn’t say it, though. Neither of them want a repeat of what went down at the bar. This isn’t Jamie trying to goad him or hurt him, he’s pretty fucking sure of that, so he’ll listen carefully to everything Jamie has to say, and then he’ll react like a fucking grown-up.

Probably. Possibly.

“Anyway, I think you should, like, come with us.”

Fucking what now? “What?”

“You should come with me and Keeley to Brazil.” Jamie is nodding his head decisively, as if repeating the statement has fully convinced him of its veracity.

“You want me to come with you and Keeley to fucking Brazil?” Roy is aware of sounding like a demented parrot, but he doesn’t give a fuck, does he, because he doesn’t want there to be any fucking room for misinterpretation here.

Jamie doesn’t seem particularly concerned about Roy’s tone. Too used to it, probably. “Um, yeah. Yeah. I mean, probably can’t get Nike to pay for it, right, but you’re rich, so you can just get your own ticket and you can stay with me and Keeley in this villa they’ll set us up in. Can’t mind that.”

Which all sounds very reasonable, of course, but still doesn’t answer the most pressing question:  “Why?”

Jamie makes a face. “What do you mean, why? Because I don’t want shit to be weird between us, mate. And I think it’d be weird if Keeley and I went away and you stayed here after what happened, you know. Besides,” he adds, and suddenly he looks slightly shy; younger than he actually is, and vulnerable, “It’d probably be fun, yeah? All three of us going, together. Because we’re friends and all.”

And there’s something sharp and jagged turning in Roy’s gut at that, because underneath Jamie’s claim there’s a note of uncertainty that Roy had no trouble whatsoever guessing the origin of, and he adds it to the long list of things he hates himself for.

He doesn’t know how to express any of that, so what he says is, “Yeah. I guess. I’ll think about it.”

Jamie’s grin is immediate and wide; relieved and triumphant in equal measure, like he’s already won – like he already knows for a fact that Roy’s going to say yes.

Roy can’t even find it in him to mind that the little prick is right.

And then they all go to Brazil and I’m currently thinking that nothing further really happened between them there, because apparently they all need to do a little more thinking and feeling and figuring themselves out, but I’m sure they still had a grand, grand time of it.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Hurts Like Heaven

Fandom: Ted Lasso

Pairing: Jamie Tartt x F!Reader

Summary: You and Jamie were nothing more than friends with benefits…then Jamie realizes that the way he feels for you is more than friends.

A/N: inspired by the song I Think I Like You by The Band Camino

You and Jamie had been friends for a few years. You met through Keeley and he'd tried to get into your pants after they'd broken up. But girl code meant you don't sleep with your friend's ex unless they say it's okay.

Years later, he and Keeley still aren't together. It originally saddened Jamie, however, he learned that he valued her highly as a friend and he eventually lost feelings for her.

That's when you came in.

Jamie didn't feel ready to get back into serious dating, but he also didn't feel like going back to random hook ups like his early days. That's when you suggested a friends with benefits relationship.

The suggestion surprised Jamie, especially since you rejected him a few years ago.

You rolled your eyes at him, "Yes, but I've gotten Keeley's permission to sleep with you if I chose to do so."

His brows rose, "I'm sorry, what? When did this happen?"

You shrugged like it was no big deal, "Like a year ago."

"So you're telling me we could've been fucking for a year now?"

You snorted, "I didn't think you'd still be interested."

He grinned at you, "Oh, I'm still very interested."

It was nice. He thought the arrangement would change things but it didn't. He still texted you about the things Jan Maas said or a new song that Dani introduced him to. You two would facetime for hours while he was at away games until you both fell asleep. He used to be a man of not many words, but he found himself never shutting up in your presence.

You grabbed lunch or dinner when you could and instead of going your separate ways, either one of you followed the other to your respective homes and you had sex.

Some days, you didn't have sex at all. He'd come over with take out and you two would watch a movie. Or he'd help you cook dinner while you're both singing Harry Styles' lyrics at the top your lungs. He felt so happy and at peace with you.

It was great. It was nice...until you told Jamie that someone had asked you on a date.

"It's fine. We're not dating or nothing, so why would it matter?" he asked you when you broke the news.

You shrugged, "I dunno. Guess I-nevermind. I'm going to cancel our movie night on Friday then."

"What? Why?"

"That's when my date is. Unless...I cancel it?" You looked at Jamie like you were hoping for...something. What you were hoping for he didn't know, but he shook his head, "No, no. It's fine. Could probably go to the pub with the lads or something." He then pointed a finger at you, "But you let me know if he does something that makes you uncomfortable. I'll pick you up. Just say the word."

You nodded and give him a smile, "I know. Thanks, Jame."

________________

It's the night of the date. Jamie has been on edge the entire day and he's not exactly sure why. You'd sent him your outfit for the date and you...you looked beautiful, sexy, gorgeous. There was a pit in stomach when he realized that you'd never dressed up for him like that. Why would you? You two are only friends who also sleep together. Nothing that would warrant you to put much that effort...but Jamie wanted it.

Fuck, did he want you to dress that way only for him, to take you on dates and call you his girl.

Holy fuck, why did he have to realize this all too late?

Even when he went to a club with the lads, he couldn't stop thinking about you. He kept checking his phone every five minutes to see if you'd messaged him. The last thing you sent was you telling him the restaurant you were at and he'd sent you a thumbs up.

He stood at one of the standing tables, nursing a beer and just watching the crowd. His teammates were drinking and dancing with women, except for Colin who was dancing with his boyfriend, Michael.

Getting a bit anxious, he pulls his phone out again, looking at the thread of texts between you and him.

"Are you alright, Jamie?" Sam asks above the club's music.

Jamie sighs and pockets his phone, "I'm gonna step out for a bit!" he shouts back and Sam responds, "I'll come with you!"

They take their beers and head out to the back patio of the club. The music is still loud but not as much.

Jamie lets out a deep breath, letting the cool air encompass him. Sam nudges him, "What's going on?"

Jamie chuckles to himself, "Think I'm in love, Sam," and then winces.

Sam cocks a brow in confusion, "Why do you look so pained then?"

Jamie sighs and runs a hand through his now brunette hair, "It's complicated."

"Is it Y/N?"

Jamie's head whipped to Sam's direction, "How the fuck did you know that?"

Sam can't help but laugh, "You don't hide it very well when you're with her. You're...happier with her."

He scoffs, "'M not so happy now, am I? She's on a date right now."

"Why?"

"Some bloke from the IT department asked her and she asked me how I felt about it and I said it was fine. That her going on that date doesn't matter 'cause we're not exclusive or nothin' and now I fuckin' regret it 'cause I fuckin' love her!" after his mini rant he looks back as a smug looking Sam, "What?"

"I think the solution to your problem is very simple, Jamie."

"Yeah? And what's that."

"Tell her."

He's immediately shaking his head, "No. No. I can't. I can't. It'll ruin everything."

"I don't think it will."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but I have a strong feeling it'll be okay."

Suddenly, his phone is buzzing and your contact photo is staring up at him. He looks up at Sam and his teammate is grinning at him, "Tell her," he says before patting Jamie on the back and heading back inside.

Jamie nods and answers your call, "Hey, you alright?"

"He was a complete prick! He yelled at our server because his pasta wasn't al dente and complained about me eating too much bread."

"Pft. You love bread."

"I love bread so much!" you sigh, "I'm having uber me drop off because there was no way in hell I was getting in the car with him again."

Jamie frowns to himself, "You should've told me. I could've picked you up."

"I texted you ten minutes ago and you didn't respond!"

Jamie curses and pulls back his phone going to the text thread to see you had texted him, "Shit. Sorry, love."

"It's fine. You can come over after your night with the boys."

"I'm leaving right now. Wasn't very exciting anyway. Want me to grab some food?"

You groan, "Yes, please. That meal wasn't satisfying enough."

Jamie finds himself smiling, "Alright. I'll be over in a bit. Get comfy for me."

"Waaaay ahead of ya. Tossing the dress in the hamper as we speak and pulling out my comfy clothes. Shall I pull yours out as well?"

"Please."

"Got it. See you in a bit, Jame."

"Right. Bye." After he ends the call, he heads inside to say his good-byes to his mates. Sam is giving him a knowing look and a "Good luck" as he walks out of the club.

___________________

Half an hour later, Jamie is letting himself into your place with the spare key that you gave him. He places the takeout on the coffee table in front of you.

"Go eat. I'm gonna change."

"Thank you!" you holler as he walks down the hallway to your room and where you've laid out a pair of joggers and a t-shirt for him. He quickly changes and heads back to your living room where he sees you shoveling your face with the food he's brought.

He's smiling wide as he sits beside you, "Good?"

You nod, "Soooo good!"

He grabs your remote and plays the movie you picked, "Guess we ended up having our movie night after all."

You snort, "Shout out to Liam for IT for being a prick, I guess."

Jamie stills. His brows furrow and you see he's thinking hard about something. You set your food down, pause the movie, and turn to completely face him on the couch.

"What's going on?"

"I realized something."

"Okay...is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Depends on how you take it, I suppose," he turns to face you as well, "I...I think I like you more than I should."

"Meaning..."

"I'm in love with you. I think I have been for a while now but it just didn't hit me until you were out with that prick-"

"Liam-"

"and all I could think about tonight was losing you. I hate that you looked absolutely gorgeous for someone else. I hate that it was him taking you on a date and not me. And I hate the thought of someone else being where I should be."

You chuckle, looking away and shaking your head, "Jamie Tartt," and this is when Jamie prepares to be rejected by you, "took you long enough."

Oh. Oh. That's not something he expected.

"So, uh, so you-"

You lean in pressing your lips against his and when you pull away you're smiling, "I love you too."

"Oh. Great. Cool. That's-That's good."

You laugh, "Did I break you?"

"Maybe?"

You laugh more and he's smiling again. Your laugh is music to his ears and it's filling him up with so much warmth and love.

You pat his knee, "Alright, loverboy, let's continue this movie night , yeah?" you press play and you grab your food. You curl up into Jamie's side and he relishes in your warmth while you feed him some of your food.

A day later, Jamie posts a picture of you sitting across from him at the same restaurant you went to with Liam, with the caption: Dinner with me girl <3.

His comments littered with applause and congratulations from his teammates and fans. They all love you, but Jamie loves you the most.

[yelena-bellova]

Heartfirst: A Ted Lasso Story - Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen: Free

Plot: The morning after Y/n and Jamie’s heartbreaking talk, an unexpected savior shows up on Y/n’s door, leaving her at a crossroads.

Word Count: 6.8k

Warnings: f!reader, language, mention of child neglect/abuse, mention of sex

A/N: THIS IS IT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS THE CHAPTER. I’m so excited for you guys to read this one and have all your questions answered. I hope the payoff is as sweet as you’ve been expecting. Y’all have been so enthusiastic over the last few chapters, it really makes me smile. Enjoy!! ❤️💙💛

———————

Heartache could spread through the body just as easily as illness. Y/n’s head was fogged, her limbs hurt and she felt nauseous the second she opened her eyes.

Somehow she managed to call room service and order breakfast, plain toast and coffee, before falling back into bed. The clock read 10AM, she hasn’t slept that long in years. Then again, there wasn’t much sleep had.

The weight of Jamie’s confession weighed in her chest just as heavily as the moment he’d made it. She’d been up till some unholy hour, replaying the whole thing. His words, the quiver in his voice, his lips against her face…it reduced Y/n fits of tears, breaking her over and over.

There was no question as to whether she should skip the match or not. Not only did she have no desire to be around people, but she didn’t want to mess with Jamie’s head any more than she already had. She was worried enough she’d already cost him the game.

A rhythmic knock at her door signaled room service arriving. Y/n trudged across the room and opened the door, expecting to meet the waiter.

Instead, she got Ted, comically lifting the lid off the platter.

“Mornin’ sunshine!”

Y/n sighed, smiling as much as she could, which wasn’t very much.

Ted, however, found himself hilarious. “Room service fella was about to knock right as I was walkin’ by. Thought I’d have some fun with it.”

“Of course,” Y/n gestured to the room, “Come on in.”

Ted set the tray down on the table before turning back to Y/n, who was already moving to the other side of the room. There was a stiffness to her posture, as if she’d allowed a home invader in. Ted was well familiarized with her character, but he hadn’t seen her so reserved since she first started at Richmond.

“So what’s up?” Y/n asked, her tone devoid of any life.

“Oh, I just wanted to check up on you,” Ted shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets, “Haven’t seen ya in a while.”

“Yeah, things have been busy.”

“I bet,” Ted smiled, “You and Keeley must be kickin’ butt over there. The Dynamic Duo, but with gobs more style.”

Y/n chucked politely, playing with her hands out of nervousness.

Ted waited, watching as Y/n tried to dodge his line of vision. He didn’t expect an explanation to fly out of her mouth, but she was clearly on edge. His chances of waiting her out were decent.

“Well, we’re all glad you’re back,” Ted added, “Owner’s box has been lonely without you, I’ll bet.”

Y/n shut her eyes, it made the lying easier. “Yeah, Ted, I don’t think I can make this one.”

His face didn’t fall an inch, “Oh no. Something wrong?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t get much sleep,” she continued, that part was true. She thought she remembered the clock reading 5AM around the time exhaustion took over.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Ted played along, “I know the boys miss havin’ you around.”

Y/n slipped around the topic, walking to the window. “They excited for today?”

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, “Revved up and ready to go.”

“That’s good,” she kicked her foot against the wall and diverted her gaze to the curtains. “How’s, uh…how’s Jamie?”

Ted studied Y/n, taking in her fidgeting hands and the exaggerated effort to her words. As hard as she tried, Y/n wasn’t that good an actress.

“He’s alright,” Ted answered, “Bit off, y’know. Little bit like you.”

With every word exchanged, Y/n could feel Ted unraveling the whole thing. He could see right through her.

“That’s too bad,” she said, her voice wobbling. The tears that she’d fallen asleep with were reawakening.

“Yeah, it is,” Ted agreed, “I sure hope he figures out whatever’s botherin’ him before the game.”

“Mm-hmm,” Y/n hummed, feeling like she couldn’t breathe, “He’s got a lot of people counting on him.”

“Yeah, but that ain’t as big a deal,” Ted took a seat on the edge of Y/n’s bed. “I’m more concerned with him, y’know. Why he’s hurtin’.”

Ted noticed Y/n’s shoulders begin to tremble.

“Why he’s keepin’ whatever it is to himself rather than leanin’ on somebody.”

Y/n wiped her hands over her face, her cheeks wet with guilt. She had finally reached it, her dreaded breaking point.

She turned to Ted, who looked at her as only a father could. He knew.

“You wanna tell me anything goin’ on?”

Crossing the room and sinking down on the mattress next to Ted, Y/n softly sobbed.

“Is it Jamie?” Ted asked.

Y/n bit her lip.

“Is it us?”

She sniffled.

“Whole enchilada?”

Y/n’s trembled as she inhaled, “I’m scared, Ted.”

“Of what?”

“This,” she gestured around them, “Richmond. This whole thing.”

Ted waited for her to explain further.

“I grew up having to fight for every shred of attention,” Y/n continued, “Doing everything I could to get my parents to…care. And no matter what I did, they never loved me. Not like parents are supposed to love their kids. And when I realized that, I just���shut everyone out. In high school, in college…and it worked. I was safe. I didn’t have to worry about getting hurt.”

“And then I…” Y/n paused, the happy memory washing over her, “I met these two women in a bar and they offered me a job. And suddenly, I’m a part of this sport that I never cared about and there’s this…family I never asked for. And it should have made me happy,” she grasped her stomach, “But it scared me, Ted. It fucking terrified me because you were all so kind and welcoming and you just took me in.”

She stopped to take a breath, “And then Jamie just…” Y/n sniffled, “He just…happened. And that was the scariest part because…”

She couldn’t say the words. Just like 12 hours before, she still couldn’t physically force them out of her body. But somehow, even without speaking, the sentiment got across.

“Hey,” Ted slid an arm around Y/n’s shoulders. His dad mode had been activated.

For the first time in a long time, Y/n allowed herself to be held as she weeped.

“It’s okay,” Ted soothed, rubbing a hand over her arm, “You’re okay.”

After hours of crying underneath her sheets, Y/n thought she had nothing left to give. But the comfort of another person’s presence created a whole new wave. She was letting down from years of self-determination to conquer her pain on her own.

“Y’know,” Ted said after a moment, “Openin’ yourself up’s one of the scariest things in the world. Anyone who says otherwise’s never really done much hurting. But it’s worth it.”

“How do you know that?” Y/n whimpered.

“You don’t,” Ted stated, “No way to know what’ll happen before it happens. But if you don’t take the risk of gettin’ hurt, you’ll never end up with anything worth having. Just how life works.”

“But y’know,” he sighed, “Where we work…it’s kinda the exception. The people there’re some of the best I’ve ever known. They don’t let you down.”

Y/n’s tears were slowing in speed, but not intensity.

“Know how our right reverend Mr. Rojas likes to say that football is life?” Ted earned a slight smile from Y/n, “Same goes for AFC Richmond. These people’re gonna stick by you through thick and thin. Once you’re a part of the family, you’re there. Doesn’t matter if you wanna be. It’s up to you whether you let ‘em in..but they’re gonna love you whether you like it or not. It’s a heck of a lot easier to just let ‘em.”

Throughout the years, Y/n had lacked many relationships, but that of a parent was the one she’d longed for the most. She needed someone to help guide her, to lovingly correct her when she was making the biggest mistakes of her life. In the moment she needed it most, Ted fit the role perfectly.

Without any prompting, Y/n slipped her arms around Ted’s neck and hugged him.

Ted returned and received it, he’d been going through it too. As true as ever, helping someone out of their pit stitched a little piece of him back together as well. He wanted Y/n to succeed in everything she did and he believed without a doubt that she could. But he wanted her to be happy, truly happy, more than anything.

“Thank you,” she whispered over his shoulder.

“No thanks needed,” he smiled, “I got your back.”

Y/n let go of him slowly and hesitantly. It was 10:30, the match was less than two hours away. “You need to go.”

“I do,” Ted replied, patting her shoulder before standing up, “You think you’re gonna stop by for a bit now? Cheer us on?”

Grimacing slightly, Y/n ducked her head towards the floor.

“C’mon now,” Ted clicked his tongue, “I thought we just made progress.”

Y/n chuckled and wiped under her eyes.

“Well, I hope you change your mind.”

Ted left Y/n with plenty to mediate on and strolled back into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He could lead her to victory, but he couldn’t hand her the win.

Y/n stayed on the bed’s edge a long while after Ted left, contemplating all he’d said. She was at what was potentially the most important crossroads of her life. Heeding Ted’s advice held the possibility of more heartache, more loss, more feelings of inadequacy. But didn’t her isolation already offer that in spades? Wasn’t she hurting enough on her own? Tearing herself down at every opportunity? How could anything possibly be worse than that?

But she had felt worse, twelve hours ago. Breaking Jamie’s heart after he’d poured his out to her had crushed her. She’d hurt him so deeply in the name of self preservation. Walking away from him was the most difficult thing she’d ever done. The worst part was that it was totally avoidable. If she’d have told him that she loved him too, they’d have been saved so much pain. Jamie wouldn’t have had to endure her rejection, Y/n wouldn’t have lost the most important person in her life. The blame was entirely hers.

It wasn’t just Jamie. Y/n was so tired of keeping Keeley at arm’s length. She craved her weekly tea with Rebecca. She missed problem solving with Higgins. She wanted to laugh with Ted and talk life with Beard and annoy Roy. She wanted to go to movies with Sam and drink with Dani and have lunches with Colin. She wanted to cheer the boys on at games and celebrate with them after.

She wanted to win and lose with all of them.

She wanted to be a part of their family.

But to do so, she had to heal her first one.

Before she knew what she was doing, Y/n grabbed her phone off her nightstand. She scrolled through her contacts, even though she had memorized the number in hopes that would somehow equal a call. She pressed the name and dialed.

It rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Y/n hadn’t expected them to pick up. It was 4-something AM where they were.

The familiar message played, asking her to leave her name and number.

Finally, the machine beeped.

“Hi…it’s me…” she started, suddenly nervous, “It’s Y/n. I know it’s early there, I don’t even know if you are there but…I needed to do this.”

Y/n drew a quick breath, it was now or never. “You guys really fucked me up. Me and Caylee. I mean, we’re really screwed up because of you. Maybe she’s doing better than me, maybe I’m the only one who’s still not over all of it but…you really messed up. And maybe you know that, maybe you don’t, but it’s the truth. I am…” she paused, “So broken because you two couldn’t love me. No— you know what,” her voice gained strength, “You could have loved me. You didn’t. For whatever reason, you didn’t. I did everything I possibly could to earn your love, and I never got it. And that’s fucked up.”

Her anger hastened her heartbeat, urging Y/n to go on. “And I don’t know how to forgive you for that. I know it’s possible, worse people have done worse things and they’ve somehow found a way to still be a family, but…I want to. If not for you guys, for me,” her chest’s rise and falls had evened out, “Because I’m tired of being broken. I’m tired of pushing everybody away. I’m tired of thinking that there’s something unlovable about me. I’m tired of thinking that being alone is somehow better than having people that care about you, and I’m tired of being scared,” Y/n threw her free arm out at her side and laughed, “I’m so tired of being scared.”

“None of this probably makes any sense to you, but, ” she sighed, “Mom, Dad, I don’t want to keep doing this. Only talking on my birthday, seeing you every couple years, not knowing what’s going on in your lives…I don’t want that. I want to know you. I want to come home for Christmas. I want to share my life with you. And if you can’t do that then…I don’t want anything.”

Her own words shocked her, was she really potentially kicking her parents out of her life?

“Because I’ve built a really amazing life here,” she said, her voice faltered with emotion, “With amazing people and they love me. They really love me and I’m crazy about them. And I want you guys to be a part of it,” she exhaled and felt the tears rock forward in her eyes, “And if you don’t want that, that’s okay. I’ll be alright because I have them.”

Y/n sighed, feeling the weight of a lifetime lift off her chest.

“I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad,” she continued, “And I hope you love me, for once, more than you do anything else.”

Y/n lowered the phone, staring at the call time. 2 minutes and 10 seconds was all it had taken. “Bye.”

The moment she disconnected, the room suddenly came to life. There was color to the walls and texture to the curtains. There was light shining in through the window and the smell of the coffee on its tray filled the room.

Y/n was free.

Lightened by the release of her life’s pain, the decision at hand became so clear. Y/n flipped on the hotel television, switching the channel to Sky Sports. The match was already into its second half and the Greyhounds were up by one goal.

She did the math in her head. The stadium was ten minutes away. She could still make it.

Flying across the room, Y/n dug through her suitcase for any clothes that weren’t pajamas. She emptied the contents onto her bed only to spot a familiar piece of fabric tucked in one of the compartments.

Y/n unfolded it.

Jamie’s jersey. Still packed from Wembley.

She laughed under her breath, the coincidence of it all was too perfect.

Y/n slipped on the oversized shirt, same as the last time. She threw on jeans and sneakers, grabbing her phone and coat before racing out her hotel room.

The elevator would take too long, she decided, so she sped down the stairs from the sixth floor all the way to the lobby. Jamie hadn’t been the only one to benefit from Roy’s training sessions.

Y/n bolted out the front doors of the hotel and ran to the sidewalk, waving her hands wildly to the cabs that drove by. Eventually, one stopped for her.

“Where to, love?”

“Ethiad Stadium,” Y/n answered as she hopped in the backseat, “Quick as you can.”

The cabbie got back in his lane and took her the way of the stadium. Y/n buzzed in the backseat, adrenaline pulsing through her veins at what she was doing.

“Could you put the match on?” She asked, most of them were typically broadcasted on the radio.

The driver flipped the station till he found the correct one. Y/n listened intently from the backseat, hanging on every word.

Halfway to the stadium, the cab hit typical game day traffic. After waiting impatiently a few minutes, the commentators announced there were twenty minutes left on the clock. If nothing changed in the next thirty seconds, Y/n would miss it entirely.

“You know what,” she reached into her coat pocket, picking a few bills from her wallet and throwing them in the front seat, “Keep the change.”

Y/n ignored the confused calls of the driver as she slid out the backseat into traffic. She ran through the lines of cars until she hit sidewalk. With every slap of her foot against the sidewalk, she could feel Ted’s words penetrate her heart even further. This was what she was supposed to feel.

The sight of Ethiad Stadium welcomed her. Guided by signage, she sprinted to the back entrance she’d usually come through with Rebecca and Keeley. Her sneakers practically screeched across the marble floor, slowing down only for the metal detector and security pat-down.

“Y/n Y/l/n,” Y/n recited her name to the liaison holding a guest list, “I’m with AFC Richmond.”

“Ah,” the young man located her, “Welcome to Ethiad Stadium, Miss-“

Y/n was off before he could finish, bolting up the staircase that would lead her to the VIP box.

She pushed past guests dressed far nicer than her and slid through gaps half her size. Somewhere along the way, Arlo White and Chris Park’s voices became clearer. They were being played through the stadium’s sound system.

“Tartt tried to soldier on, but now he’s in some distress and may require attention.”

Y/n’s steps slowed, pausing in the busy hall to listen properly.

“The med team is helping him off the field. It looks like Richmond may be in trouble.”

Never in her life had Y/n run faster.

Arriving at the VIP box, she rushed up to the security guard.

“Ticket please.”

“I don’t have one,” Y/n panted, “I’m with AFC Richmond.”

“Sorry, love,” the burly man shook his head, “Can’t let you in without a ticket.”

“No, no, no, I’m PR,” Y/n insisted, “I need to get in there now.”

The security guard was unmovable, taking a firm stance in the doorway to block her. “I can’t allow you in without a ticket, ma’am.”

With Jamie injured, there was a new recklessness to Y/n’s urgency. She didn’t quite care what she had to do to get in. She jumped in place to see over the guard’s shoulder, spotting the top of Rebecca’s coiffed hair and Keeley’s curls.

“There! There’s my bosses!” Y/n exclaimed, surging forward through the tiny space between the man and the door.

He pulled her back and away from getting any further, “You can’t enter without a ticket. If you don’t leave now-“

“Rebecca!” Y/n shouted, “Keeley! Keeley! Rebecca!”

She was loud enough that both women, plus Higgins, turned around in their seats. The sight of Y/n struggling against the security guard must have frightened them more than she’d intended.

Rebecca rushed through the room, “Let her go! Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“You know this woman?” The guard asked, still holding Y/n back as if she were some crazed fan.

“She works with me,” Keeley scolded, having followed Rebecca, “Get your fucking hands off her.”

The guard released Y/n quickly, eager to avoid any more reprimanding. “I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he addressed her, “Go on in.”

Y/n launched herself into Rebecca’s waiting arms, exhausted but charging off once more with the women.

“We thought you weren’t coming,” Keeley said as they rushed back to their seats.

Ignoring any and all things around her, Y/n ran down the steps of the box and threw herself against the railing. Jamie. Where was Jamie?

Down by the side of the pitch, he was laid out with the physios working on his ankle. Whatever move he’d pulled had cost him something terrible.

“What happened?” Y/n asked, unaware of who she was asking.

“He stopped a goal and landed wrong,” Keeley explained, slipping into the seat beside Y/n’s, “They just brought him off.”

Y/n clutched the railing with a vice-like grip, her eyes never leaving Jamie. She could see he was breathing hard, that his body clenched with every touch the physios made. He’d never been injured on the pitch this bad.

The game, however, couldn’t stop for one player. Ted made the call to play with ten men for the time being while Jamie rested. The Greyhounds held their own, Van Damme in particular blocking nearly every goal. But all Man City needed was one goal to tie things up and take the league title.

“Come on, Jamie,” Y/n mumbled as if she could will him to rally, “Come on.”

When the medics had done everything they could, Ted kneeled down next to Jamie. They appeared to be in deep conversation, Y/n would have killed to be on the other side, encouraging Jamie back onto the pitch. Whatever Ted was saying had to help. The team didn’t stand a chance if it didn’t.

“Get up, get up, get up,” she whispered, “Jamie, please get up.”

In perfect timing, Jamie extended a hand to Ted, who helped get him to his feet. Y/n held her breath as he bore weight on his ankle and exhaled when he didn’t buckle.

“Yes,” she clapped.

Ted went back to Beard and Roy, and Jamie took his time getting back on the pitch. The Man City fans livened up and began booing their former striker.

With her emotions driving her, Y/n turned to the sections around hers. “Oh, fuck off!”

Jamie shared her sentiment, taking the hate as well as the praise. He egged them on further and encouraged the taunts, jutting his tongue out and beating on his chest.

“Come on, Jamie,” Y/n cheered. There was no way for him to see or hear her, but she stayed up and screaming as if she were right beside him.

Jamie made it back to the pitch and the match resumed. Van Damme blocked another goal with spectacular skill and got the ball over to Isaac. Isaac kicked it across the field to Jamie, who controlled it masterfully.

Y/n’s breath hung in her chest as he moved across the field. Before her eyes, he came back to his truest self. This was him at his very best. This was Jamie playing for no one but himself and it was beautiful.

Jamie avoided every single City player that tried to steal the ball away. Making it to the net, he sent the ball flying and the whole stadium froze.

It soared past the goalie, a perfect shot.

The Greyhounds pounced on their teammate, hugging and slapping him on the back. The entire crowd went wild, the Richmond fans lost their minds.

“YES!!” Y/n threw her hands in the air, “JAMIE!!”

Keeley, Rebecca and Higgins jumped to their feet, cheering and screaming. Y/n and Keeley reached for one another and squealed.

Jamie chose the honorable route and didn’t make a big deal over the goal against his former club. When the boys let go of him, the ref blew his whistle and held up the sub board. Roberts was coming on, Jamie was coming off.

It was the most extraordinary way to leave a match, and Jamie was in a bit of pain. He wasn’t going to argue with the decision. But he hadn’t expected the Man City half of the stadium to change their tune. When their boos morphed to cheers, his eyes glistened with lifelong tears.

It had been a long road to get to a point where Jamie could play for himself. He’d spent all his years working to prove his father wrong, using his hatred as motivation to grow his skills. When he’d exhausted that option, he found himself a man without a country. He wasn’t sure what to do.

Then Y/n had shattered his heart.

He’d woken up with very little motivation to play. Their goodbye had added edge to all his fears. Mixed with the possibility of seeing his father, it was a miracle Jamie could move. But he was a fighter till the end, and even if he was a wreck, he would still give 110%. That was his gift.

As he looked up into the stands, despite everything, he wished Y/n was there to celebrate with him.

Little did he know, Y/n was crying tears of pride on the second level. She watched Jamie walk off the field feeling her heart completely tied to his. He’d proved everyone, even himself, wrong.

The game ended soon after that, with Richmond coming out on top. They had earned their spot in the last game of the season and a chance at the Premier League title. Y/n, Rebecca, Keeley and Higgins fell into an group hug.

“Hey, hey,” Y/n pulled out of Keeley’s arms and locked eyes, “You’re my best friend.”

Keeley’s gaze grew teary. She didn’t know what had changed in Y/n since the night before, but she welcomed it and hugged her tighter.

“And you,” Y/n reached over to Rebecca, “You’re just so fucking amazing.”

Rebecca laughed and wrapped an arm around Y/n, lovingly kissing her hair. Her friend was back from wherever she’d disappeared to.

“Oh,” Y/n grabbed hold of Higgins and grinned, “I love working with you so much.”

Higgins embraced her and shouted over the crowd. “Good to have you back.”

As much as she adored them, Y/n’s eyes fell downwards to the pitch. Jamie was celebrating amidst the boys, but they were about to leave.

Keeley followed her gaze, “Go. They’ll take him to the med room.”

Y/n’s face dropped, realizing that she had made a huge faux pas towards Keeley she hadn’t even considered.

Keeley could read the worry before it crossed Y/n’s lips. “Oi, fuck off,” she laughed, “Go get him.”

She didn’t need to hear anything else. Y/n took off running.

She sprinted through the stadium, weaving in and out of the crowd until she hit the authorized personnel area guarded by security.

“I’m with AFC Richmond,” Y/n breathed, exhausted by the effort expended. She reached into her wallet, “I have proof.”

She held up the employee ID and let the guard examine it.

“Go ahead,” the taller one slid to the side.

Y/n rushed through the glass doors. This was one of the only stadiums she hadn’t been to and she didn’t know her way. She peeked through every door until she found the physio room. Neither the medics nor Jamie were back yet.

Jamie hobbled down the hall, assisted by the physios that had aided him on the field. The adrenaline of the game was starting to wear off and he was looking forward to getting off his foot.

They opened the door to the back room to reveal the last person he expected to see.

Y/n spun around and their eyes met, fear suddenly taking hold of her. In her mad dash to the stadium, overcome with emotion, she hadn’t taken into consideration that Jamie may not have wanted to see her.

“Ma’am,” one of the medics spoke up, “You can’t be back here.”

Jamie was dazed, from the thrill of the match and Y/n’s presence. He took clumsy steps toward her, stuck in the magnetic pull they had on one another.

Y/n cautiously moved forward, terrified of what could come next. Jamie had every right to throw her out and never speak to her again. She almost wanted him to, to make her regret ever turning him away. Deserving seemed like too plain a word. She had earned his indifference.

But in the way Jamie’s eyes traced her face, warm and familiar, shocked and relieved, she knew that wasn’t the case.

They fell into each other’s arms without a single word.

“I’m sorry,” Y/n whispered through her tears, “I’m so sorry.”

Jamie buried his face in her neck, unable to do any more than absorb her. She was here. She was here.

Y/n, however, had so much to say. She urgently guided his head up to face her, tears welling in both their eyes. In that moment, telling the truth never seemed simpler.

“I love you.”

Jamie’s mouth curled upwards, searching her face in shock.

“I love you so much,” Y/n confessed, holding his cheeks, “I’m so sorry for what I said.”

She was cut off by Jamie, pressing his lips fervently into hers.

Neither of them could clearly remember the kisses they’d shared during their one night together. They certainly couldn’t count them. But this, this held all the glory and promise of a first kiss. Months of tension and longing they didn’t know they’d felt were poured out, replaced by sweet relief.

With his brain hazy and high, Jamie backed them up towards the physio table. The first step he took on his ankle made him wince, but he didn’t break from their kiss.

“Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,” Y/n pulled away, smiling breathlessly, “Ankle.”

“Don’t care,” he mumbled as he chased after her lips.

Y/n giggled, letting him steal a few more sloppy kisses. She wasn’t in a place to deny him anything.

When Jamie did eventually pull back, he nudged his nose against Y/n’s, breathing her in. “You only back here ‘cause I won it for us?”

“You caught me,” Y/n ran a hand through the back of his hair, “I’d have slipped right back out if you hadn’t.”

Jamie grinned and stroked a hand over her head. Now that he had her as close as he’d craved, he wanted to touch as much as he could. He looked down between them and spotted the familiar blue and red.

“I swear, magic shit happens when you wear this thing,” Jamie rubbed the fabric between his fingers.

Y/n rested her forehead on Jamie’s shoulder, shaking with laughter.

“I’m a fucking genius for buying it,” he beamed, pressing a kiss to Y/n’s hair. “I love you so much.”

Knuckles rapped against the door and someone cleared their throat. At some point, the medics had left and returned.

“Mr. Tartt,” one said, “We do need to check your ankle.”

Y/n removed herself from being pinned between the table and Jamie. Jamie dropped his hands to hold hers, unwilling to lose full contact as he took a seat. The physios had a difficult time working with Jamie’s constant movement, trying to pull Y/n in for kiss after kiss.

All things considered, Jamie got off lucky. A brace was wrapped around his ankle and he was advised to use crutches for the next few days. Jamie heard most of their instructions…well, some. He’d more distractedly spare the medics a glance before looking back to Y/n, who memorized all their warnings.

When they left once more, giving Jamie a minute to rest, he tugged Y/n between his legs and wrapped his arms around her waist. Y/n tucked herself into his chest, holding his head as it dug into the side of hers.

There was so much to say, so much to explain, but neither one could think straight enough for any of it. All they wanted to do was hold each other, reveling in the sweet relief of longing being exchanged for love.

—————————

Back at the hotel, Y/n packed both hers and Jamie’s room while he rested on the Coach. She’d handed his suitcase off to Will before heading to her own car, regretting her decision not to join the team bus considering how the trip was ending.

Jamie got Y/n on the phone the second they pulled out of the hotel. She’d insisted he ride back with the boys, but he was more insistent on not being apart for a second. They spent very little time talking as the phone got passed around, each of the Greyhounds wanting to speak to Y/n after so many weeks with no contact.

Keeley and Rebecca coveted the mobile the longest, badgering her for as many details as Y/n would give them on how her and Jamie had come to be. Y/n revealed precious little information, both because she was still retracing the sequence of events herself and because she didn’t feel like telling the entire team just yet.

Along the way, Kenneth the bus driver and Y/n were weaving between lanes together, switching spots in front on one another. The boys could be heard shouting for Kenneth to drive faster so they could beat her. Y/n smiled and laughed the whole way back to Richmond, lighter than she’d been in years.

They pulled into Nelson Road Stadium late, but full of energy. The Greyhounds poured out of the bus toting champagne bottles, singing and chanting as loud as they could. Man City was their great white whale, and they’d beaten them so spectacularly, they deserved a fucking celebration.

Y/n moved around the physio room while Jamie was in the locker room, setting up a bucket of ice water for his ankle, per the medic’s instructions. She headed down the hall to retrieve him after, running into the boys changed into their dress clothes.

“Looking good,” she complimented.

The stragglers cheered and hung back to hug Y/n, Isaac picking her up and spinning her around. Richard pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Hey,” Colin grew serious and pointed a finger towards her, “You owe us an explanation for where you’ve been.”

“Yeah, not cool,” Isaac agreed, setting her back down.

“I know, I know,” Y/n chuckled, “You’ll get one. But tonight,” she gestured to the door, “Go make a big fat mess of headlines for me to clean up.”

They cheered rowdily before heading out the door, leaving Y/n beaming. She was home.

She slipped into the locker room, Jamie was seated in his assigned spot, fidgeting. She knocked softly on the door.

“Come on, superstar,” she held out a hand.

Jamie smiled coyly, “Where you takin’ me?”

“I’m making sure Richmond has a fighting chance next weekend,” Y/n replies, helping him to his feet, “Can’t afford to lose you before you beat the shit out of West Ham.”

Jamie wrapped an arm around Y/n’s shoulders, much preferring to use her as his brace than the crutches. They took their time getting down the hall and into the physio room.

Y/n went about getting Jamie situated while he typed something into his phone. Once his foot was submerged in the ice, she stood to her full height and asked, “Whatcha doing?”

“Texting me dad,” he answered plainly.

Y/n blinked, “I’m sorry, what?”

Jamie clicked his phone shut and set it aside. They had a lot to catch up on. “When I was down, Coach came and talked to me. Told me that I should forgive me dad,” he quickly held up a hand to Y/n’s worried expression, “Not for him. For me. I’ve been in my head all week ‘cause I felt like I couldn’t be me without hatin’ him. Y’know? But between Coach and mum…I don’t know…I found it again. That thing that made me wanna play in the first place. Not for him, not for anyone…just me.”

Y/n smiled proudly. Jamie’s dad was the permanent thorn in his side. Rather than live with the pain, he was learning to grow around it.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she shook her head. It was also deeply ironic that Y/n had made a similar phone call to her parents hours ago. “Just something to tell you later.”

Jamie stroked a hand over her back, “How ‘bout you tell me what made you change your mind?”

Y/n slotted herself between Jamie’s thighs and wrapped her arms around his neck. The new intimacy stole any intention of ever having less than one hand on each other.

“Ted came by my room this morning,” she started, “We had a talk and I…I just realized that I wanted to be with you more than I wanted to stay scared of you.”

Jamie’s brows raised, “Scared of me?”

Y/n nodded and brushed a hand through his hair, “You and all those big feelings…they scare the shit out of me. But I got a taste of what life’s like without you,” she sighed, “And I can’t do it.”

Jamie’s fingers moved against Y/n’s back, he watched and listened intently.

“I raced through the fucking streets for you,” Y/n smiled, “I fought a security guard.”

Snorting at the mental image, Jamie slipped an arm under Y/n’s legs and lifted her onto his lap. She yelped and tightened her hold around him.

“We’re gonna break this table,” Y/n laughed, “And people are going to make assumptions.”

“Let ‘em,” Jamie smirked, eyes full of adoration, “Say it again.”

“I love you,” she whispered joyfully.

He wanted to hear it a million more times and he wanted to say it an equal amount. He captured her lips once more in a soft kiss, content to stay there as long as the world would let them.

The door to the med room squeaked open, “Oh, fuck.”

Jamie and Y/n broke apart, twisting to see Roy and Keeley stood in the doorway.

“You two were annoying before. You’re gonna be fucking unbearable now,” Roy complained.

“Oh, stop it,” Keeley lightly smacked his hand, “They’ve waited this long.”

“What’re you guys doing?” Jamie asked.

“We thought we’d come and keep you company,” Keeley answered.

Roy kicked the door shut and held up an unopened champagne bottle, “Fucking celebrate!”

Keeley squealed and ran over to hug Y/n and Jamie, the three of them embracing one another. “‘Cause that was fucking amazing, Jamie.”

“Yeah, I was fucking amazing,” Jamie agreed, “You’re right.”

Keeley cackled while Y/n dropped her head to Jamie’s shoulder. “Dear God, I don’t think I can handle this ego.”

“Gotten this far,” Roy grumbled, rolling his eyes at his protege.

“We might need to tag team it,” Y/n suggested, “What do you say, Royo?”

“No,” he pointed between Jamie and Y/n, “You signed up for this, he’s your fucking problem.”

Y/n looked down at Jamie, who was already grinning up at her. He’d been her problem for a long long time.

“I’ll make the best of it,” she said, pecking Jamie’s lips.

Roy popped the champagne and he and Keeley pulled up chairs. He offered his ex the bottle, “You start us off.”

“Mmm, don’t mind if I do,” she took a swig.

“Right,” Jamie turned to Roy, “What the fuck happened, man?”

The four of them laughed as the champagne was passed around.

“Did I look sexy?” Jamie asked, turning to Y/n and handing her the bottle, “Babe?”

“I take it all back,” Y/n joked and took a swig, “I’m not ready for this. We’re back to being friends.”

Jamie laughed and tugged her closer to him.

“Shame you weren’t injured in your fucking head, innit?” Roy grinned.

“Right,” Keeley spoke up, “You gonna tell us how this happened? Spare no details?”

Roy took the bottle from Y/n, “You can spare the details.”

Y/n scoffed, “Oh, there’ll be details spared.”

“She just doesn’t want people to know she stole my virtue,” Jamie cheekily smiled, “I get that right, babe?”

Keeley gasped, Roy grunted.

“I will fucking leave you here to freeze to death,” Y/n threatened, “If you ever tell people that’s what happened.”

The foursome stayed put for a good half hour, their raucous laughter bouncing off the walls. Y/n and Jamie explained an edited version of what happened in London to cause such tension at Georgie and Simon’s house. Keeley, surprisingly, didn’t seem to care that she was watching one of her best friends and her ex-boyfriend tell how they’d fallen in love. She was more thrilled than anyone. Roy was less than enthusiastic, but couldn’t hide his smile as he saw how happy Jamie seemed.

When it was time to leave, Roy helped Jamie in to Y/n’s car. He’d need someone to help him around the house for a day or two and there was no one else he wanted to take care of him. They made the twenty minute drive to Jamie’s house non-eventfully, Jamie pressing a kiss to Y/n’s hand at every red light they hit.

Y/n unloaded their bags first, dropping them in the hall, before coming back to help Jamie out of the car. They managed the driveway and the threshold just fine, and the second Y/n had locked the door behind them, Jamie was on her, crushing their lips and bodies together.

After so many months of falling without notice, neither realized just how much love they had for one another until they could express it fully. Like looking through some all-knowing kaleidoscope, everything leading up to that very moment made crystal clear sense. The jealousy, the adoration, the attachment…it had all been leading to this.

All of Jamie’s hard work, his effort to become his best self had mattered. This was the payoff.

Y/n’s long-standing walls crumbled with each touch, never to be rebuilt. Her fear melted at their feet.

They were free of their pasts, belonging only to their future.

————

Heartfirst Taglist: @lalla-04p @optimisticsandwichgladiator @makingmunson94 @taytaylala12 @storysimp @sokkigarden @lightninginab0ttle @poohkie90 @alipap3 @verra-nerevarine @shineforever19 @spaceagechimera @burnafter-reading @qardasngan @cyberpvnk-enthusiast @sogoodtoheritsvicious @buckybarnex @angelsunflxwer @blueanfield @thewildestwonderland @sablecities @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @strawberryacethingz @mentalistfan @tortilla-maria1 @katdahlali @for-fuck-sake-im-alive @glitterquadricorn @jamieolivia27 @imvibin69 @katlizada @lil-tracys @fanaticalfantasist @heyitz-julia @cactajuice @peachyy-tea @notalxx @rockchickrebel @anxiety-prime-max @loveforaugust @jellycolors @actuallybarb @heletsmelovehim @lovinnscarletknight @imfalling-inlove @leslieiscrying @meg-ro @littlemisssunshine192 @beboldbebravethings @maydayfigment @spencerreidsbookclub @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @lemoonandlestars @im-a-weirdo-for-life @mindless-rock (tags cont. in comments ❤️)

[illiterateaffairs]

DISTRACTIONS X | LET ME BACK IN

pairing: jamie tartt x f!reader (ted lasso)

rating: T

word count: 8,787

summary: jamie’s upset that you’re keeping secrets from him and keeping him a secret. you need to find a way to fix everything.

A/N: Thank you all for your reactions on the last chapter. Even if you’re mad at the reader, I love that you guys care so much about her and Jamie. I hope despite the angst this chapter makes it a bit better...here we goooooo! xo

distractions masterlist | previous chapter  

Something was wrong with Jamie. And you had a feeling it was your fault. 

After you returned from your interview with the publishing house in New York, Jamie started acting differently. He was quiet and distant. When you tried to ask him about it, he brushed you off. At first you thought something had happened, and that he’d eventually tell you what was wrong in his own time. But that was a week ago and he still hadn’t given you any explanation as to what was making him act like this.

You think maybe he’s caught on to your own secrets, such as the job opportunity you still weren’t telling him about. The interview had gone well, so much so, that you were about to have your second. You had talked yourself up to telling him about it before then, but since he was already not talking to you, you didn’t want to make matters worse. Or you were using Jamie’s feelings as a perfect excuse to delay the inevitable. Either way, you weren’t any closer to explaining your behavior than he was explaining his. 

It was eating you up inside. You wanted to ask what was wrong, but you couldn’t bear the answer. You figured he was mad at you for all the secrets surrounding your relationship, and in a perfect world you’d give in and tell him everything. But you seized up every time you thought about doing so. It only made you feel even worse that he was pushing you away, and you were helpless to do anything about it. His behavior hurt you, but you couldn’t help but feel like you deserved it, so you took it. 

It was clear communication was something you both needed to work on.

You also didn’t want to pry too much because you figured AFC Richmond’s upcoming match against Man City was also getting to him. 

In the bits and pieces he’s told you about his dad, you knew he hadn’t seen him since they had it out when they played at Wembley. They were also going to Jamie’s hometown, and the die-hard Man City fans weren’t particularly thrilled when Jamie left the team for his brief reality tv stint. You can’t imagine how all of this is weighing on his chest. You imagine it's pretty hard, and again you just wish he’d come talk to you about it.

Today you decided to try giving Jamie complete space by not reaching out, with the hopes that maybe he would do so himself. In an effort to not sit around and wait by your phone, you go out to lunch with Keeley and Rebecca to enjoy your day off. 

Turns out it's exactly what you needed. Not only were you dying for a good meal - that Rebecca was paying for - you were in desperate need of girl talk. You were thrilled to catch up with both of them, and were even more excited to hear that Rebecca was investing in Keeley’s PR company so it didn’t have to completely shut down. You were also very intrigued when Rebecca made reference to Roy spending the night with Keeley a few nights ago, and upon questioning from both of you, Keeley played coy as to whether that meant her and the brooding football coach were getting back together. 

Unfortunately, that’s when the topic changed to your own romantic endeavors. Both of your friends inquired about how you and Jamie were doing. At first, you plastered on a polite smile, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to convince them everything was okay if you couldn’t even convince yourself. As soon as your faux-smile flips into a wobbling frown, both women sit up and are at the ready to comfort you. 

“We’re actually not great right now,” you choke out, feeling yourself becoming emotional about everything for the first time. Determined not to cry, you bite your tongue, “Jamie’s been distant lately and I’m pretty sure it's my fault.”

“Oh, babe,” Keeley sighs, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear, “What makes you say that?”

You take a deep breath, “First, that I’ve still been hesitant to tell everyone about us.”

Rebecca frowns from her seat on the other side of you, grasping your hand, “I’m sure he understands why you want to wait.”

“But I don’t even fully understand why,” you sigh, squeezing her hand, “And it's not just that. I’ve been lying to him about something else, too.”

Rebecca and Keeley remain quiet, giving you the space to admit it yourself. After collecting yourself, you begin to explain how you were interviewing for a literary job in New York, thanks to a friend back home. You told them it was going well, and that you had another interview set up in a couple days, and while you were excited to have a job in your dream career field, there was also something holding you back. And you didn’t want Jamie to worry about you moving away, especially if you didn’t know whether or not that was going to happen yet. But you fear he’s caught on to the sneaking around and is upset with you. 

You take a deep breath, after you word vomit every worry you were feeling. You were staring at the table throughout your whole explanation, and when you finally look up at them, they’re exchanging looks with each other.

“What?” you whisper, “Do you think I’m a horrible person?”

They rush to assure you they do not in fact think you’re horrible at all. They completely understand why you’ve been keeping this to yourself, but admit that it probably isn’t making Jamie feel good that you’re keeping something from him, even though he doesn’t know what it is. 

“I know its scary,” Keeley says softly, now holding on to your other hand, “But I don’t think Jamie will react as badly as you think. Yeah, he’d probably hate the idea of you leaving, but he’s also so supportive of you. You know that.”

You nod, “I do know that. I think it's just the last time I told someone I was with that I wanted to go after a new job, he made me feel like shit.”

Keeley scoffs, “Well that guy was an asshole and he’s not Jamie.”

“I know.” You repeat, firmly this time. Hesitantly, you turn your focus to Rebecca, “What about you? Are you upset that I've been considering another job?”

“Please, I’ve been waiting for this day to come since you started,” Rebecca chuckles, “You and I both knew this was just temporary, until you were in a better place to go after what you really wanted. I’m proud that you’re making those steps now.”

You close your eyes, absorbing her kind words. While it was reassuring to hear, it didn’t make any of this easier. 

“Even if it was supposed to be temporary, that didn’t stop me from finding the best people I’ve ever met,” you squeeze both of their hands, “I don’t want to leave any of you just as much as I don’t want to leave Jamie, even if it's what I’ve always wanted.”

Rebecca and Keeley exchange another look, this time with small smiles forming on their faces.

“What if we told you, you could do both?” Keeley asks mysteriously.

You narrow your eyes, “What? Did you suddenly invent teleportation or something?”

“No, better,” she smiles proudly, “I recently took on a new client who’s an up-and-coming author from Wales, who is signed under this major agency here is London. So, because I’m the best person ever, I reached out to his agent and told her all about you and the book you’re working on, and she’s interested in meeting with you.”

“A literary agent, in the U.K., is interested in meeting with me?” you ask, dumbfounded.

Keeley nods aggressively and Rebecca gives you a huge grin.

“So, if they like my work, they could potentially sign me, and I could stay in Richmond?”

“Yup,” Keeley confirms, “And then when you eventually finish your incredible book, I can be your publicist!”

You laugh in disbelief, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll think about it,” Rebecca says, “We know New York was where you wanted to be and maybe that’s still your dream, and we’d 100% support you. But if staying in Richmond is where you want to be now, you can do that too and still pursue writing.”

“Yeah, we love you, and we just want you to be happy,” Keeley assures, “Although, selfishly, I’d want you to stay here but that's just me.”

“No, I second that.” Rebecca quips.

“But totally no pressure,” Keeley tacks on, and after a beat, the three of you burst into a fit of giggles. 

“Thank you, both,” you smile genuinely, “For everything but mostly being so supportive. I appreciate you looking out for me, and I will definitely consider meeting with that agent.”

“Good,” Rebecca cheers, pulling her hand from yours to clap hers together, “Everything will work out, career wise and with Jamie, too. I know it.”

Keeley squeezes your hand again, before returning to finishing her brunch, and your conversation swings back to what Rebecca has had going on. While you still needed to fix things with Jamie, as well as figure out what the hell you wanted to do with your writing, you had a feeling no matter what happened, everything would be okay. 

Contrary to feeling more confident in your situation, it had only gotten worse. Over the last few days, Jamie had gone from distancing himself from you to completely ghosting you. Your attempts at reaching out weren’t completely ignored, but his responses were minimal and you could tell were excuses. At work he’d avoid you, and when you invited him over, he’d say he was either tired from training or doing extra training. Again, you couldn’t pretend it didn’t sting, but you tried to push it all away, hoping after the Manchester game, he’d start feeling differently. 

Meanwhile, you were also grappling with not one, but two job opportunities. The one Kara presented was in your dream city, but the one Keeley offered would keep you here with your new found-family. Both were appealing, but both scared the shit of you. Moving to yet another city was a big deal, but staying in one just for someone else was a mistake you’ve made before. Not that Jamie was at all like Mason. You knew that above all else. But it was still something to consider. Plus, it was anxiety inducing having two of your friends get you these chances that felt a little unearned, especially with how you’ve been handling everything. It was a lot to process, and the one person who usually helps you relax was avoiding you. By no fault but your own. 

Jesus, you were getting no work done today, with all of these other problems taking up space in your brain. Plus you were hiding from Ted’s mom in an effort to keep your secret, because she in fact did not know about everything. 

“Oi!” you jump at the sound of your office door being busted open, a booming voice accompanying it, “You need to fix your boyfriend.”

With your hand over your chest, trying to settle your racing heart, you give Roy Kent an apprehensive look, your eyes flitting to the hallway behind him.

Roy rolls his eyes, “Most of the team has cleared out for the night. No one’s going to hear us.”

Still, he invites himself into the room and pushes the door shut rather aggressively, before plopping himself down in the seat across from yours with his arms crossed.

You calm down a bit, but you still feel nervous with the glare he was giving you. Did his eyebrows get thicker?

“What do you mean?” you ask eventually, wondering if you come off like you don’t know exactly what he’s talking about.

“Tartt,” Roy spits out, “He just spent the last fifteen minutes crying into my arms.”

Your face falls, “He did?”

“Yeah. Said he’s lost his wings.”

“Jesus,” you mutter with a frown. “Did he tell you why he feels like that?”

Roy shakes his head, “He says he doesn’t even know.” You bite your lip, breaking eye contact with him. He tilts his head, “Something tells me you might have an idea.”

You sigh, crossing your own arms before looking at him again, “He’s been acting off the last week or so.” Roy nods. “I think it has something to do with the Man City match coming up.”

Roy grunts, “That doesn’t surprise me.”

You hesitate before adding on, “And I probably have something to do with it, too.”

Roy furrows his brows again, “What did you do?”

You grit your teeth, “I think it's more about what I’m not doing. I’ve had some personal stuff I’ve been sorting through recently that I’ve been keeping to myself. And I can tell he’s been wanting to tell everyone about us even though he says it's fine that we’re not.”

“So?” Roy shrugs, “Just fucking tell everyone.”

“It's not that simple.”

“Why not?” he questions, “Are you embarrassed of him or something?”

“No! Of course not. I do want people to know.”

“Then why not tell people?”

“Because every time I think about telling anyone - the team, my family - I get this horrible feeling in my chest and I feel like I can’t breathe. I don’t know why, but it freaks me out.”

Roy’s silent for a second before letting out a “Huh.” Another moment goes by, “You should talk to Ted about that.”

Inwardly you laugh. Oh, how that was only another part of the problem. A problem you still didn’t understand the root of.

“Either way,” Roy continues, “I think you should at least tell Jamie this. He needs you.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” you say, “He’s barely talked to me the last few days, and when he does it's nothing of substance. I want to help him but I don’t know how to get him to let me.”

Once again Roy doesn’t say anything right away. You instead decide to break the silence this time.

“Maybe Keeley would be able to get through to him,” you suggest softly, “She already kind of knows something’s up and she’s known him longer. Maybe he’ll listen to her.”

Roy looks as apprehensive about the idea as you sound, but you both know it's not a bad one. Eventually he nods and stands up.

“I’ll ask her,” he states. You take that as the end of your conversation before Roy turns back in your direction in the doorway, “You’re going to have to talk to him eventually. Jamie may be stubborn and weird and a fucking idiot sometimes, but you’re important to him. He’ll come around.”

You give him a slight smile, though it's a bit forced, and thank him. He nods once, his lip quirking up a bit in what must be his version of a smile, before he disappears down the hall. 

Maybe if you couldn’t fix Jamie someone else could.

Apparently no one knew how to fix Jamie. 

While you hadn’t heard from him into the next day, Roy and Keeley had informed you she’d try to talk to him when everyone arrived in Man City. You waited in the suite you were sharing with her and Rebecca, anxiously hoping she’d come back and announce he was magically doing better. But, when she quietly entered the hotel room, the look on her face told you everything.

“He’s still upset?” You question already knowing the answer.

Keeley regretfully nods, “And I think I made it worse.”

“How could you have possibly made it worse?” you exclaim. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Keeley cries, her hands shaking, “But there’s team movie night, tonight, right? Maybe some time with the team and a good, old-fashioned rom-com will cheer him up.”

“I don’t know, Keeley,” you sigh. You hesitate for a few seconds, before asking, “Did he say anything about me?”

Keeley looks at the carpeted floor, “Not really. I brought you up - said you were worried about him - and he just looked sad and didn’t say anything.”

“Fuck,” you breath out, collapsing backwards on your bed, “Did I break him?”

“No,” Keeley urges, jumping on to the bed beside you, “Trust me it can’t be just your shit. The boy is unhinged right now.”

You snort despite the situation. 

“Come on,” Keeley nudges you, “Let's get a drink, relax a little, go to the movie night and see if we can’t talk to him after, yeah?”

You sigh again, before reluctantly nodding and letting her pull you up and out of the room. 

Jamie needed to clear his head. Contrary to what he had hoped, a team viewing of You’ve Got Mail was not enough to lift his spirits. In fact, he could hardly get through five minutes of the movie without thinking of you. And thinking of you came with a reminder of how you’d been hiding things from him, and then how he’d cowardly been avoiding you instead of facing the problem head on. Of course those anxieties also doubled when he remembered the game he was playing this weekend. 

He felt guilty for shutting you out. Of course he did. He honestly hadn’t meant for it to get this far, he was just trying to figure out how to bring it all up. But then he started spiraling about returning to his home town and seeing his dad that it all became too much. He wanted nothing more than to talk to you about his worries, but you were apart of the reason he was so anxious. He could sense your own guilt - especially during the movie when he could feel your eyes staring at the back of his head. But he was still afraid of where the conversation would lead, so he once again pushed those feelings away. 

Jamie knew there was one place he could go that would instantly make him feel better. And that was his mother’s house.

As soon as the credits rolled, Ted was calling for a 10PM curfew, but Jamie was on his way out. He expertly navigated the streets of Manchester, hoodie pulled over his head to avoid unwanted attention. About halfway through his commute, he caught onto the fact that you, Roy, and Keeley were trailing him. Despite his avoidance of all three of them, he couldn’t help but feel amused that they were trying to sneakily follow him. 

After leading them through a tunnel, in which the trio lost track of him, he doubled back and snuck up on them. Once again, he was satisfied that he’d managed to startle the three, but then he noticed the worry on your face, and he was reminded of the situation you were all in. He briefly considered ordering them away, until Keeley asked if he was buying drugs, so he figured ridding them of any weird suspicions they may have about him would get them off of his back. 

As he led them unknowingly to his mum’s house, he felt a pain in his stomach knowing you were purposely leaving space between the two of you as you followed behind. He wanted nothing more than to take your hand, but just because you felt bad about hiding things from him, didn’t absolve you of everything. 

When they arrived on his street, a few of the neighborhood kids started yelling obscenities at him. Jamie just shook his head, knowing as well that Roy was definitely amused, before walking them over to his house. 

Simon, his step-dad, greets them warmly and Jamie introduces them to his three confused companions. Then before he knows it, his mum is bounding down the stairs and all of his anxiety begins to melt away as she engulfs him into her arms. 

Pulling away briefly, he turns back to see the curious looks on your faces, “Mummy, I’d like to introduce you to my friends, Y/N, Keeley and this hairy prick’s Roy.”

You smile sweetly in recognition as you all greet Jamie’s mom, but Jamie can tell you’re still caught off guard. 

“It’s lovely to meet you all. I’d give you a hug but I’m not letting go of this one,” Jamie’s mom, Georgie, says cheerfully before Jamie picks her up and spins her around.

The lot of you end up in the living room after that, Jamie collapsing in his mother’s arms on the couch as Simon serves the rest of you with some of his homemade sweet treats. After Jamie tells her about the jerks online making fun of his hair, Georgie suggests that Simon give the rest of you a tour of the house. As they all file out, Jamie looks up at you. You give him a tiny smile; one that somehow conveyed guilt, sorrow, and support. Jamie was both happy you were here and scared as hell about where this night was going to go.

Now left alone with his mum, she finally presses Jamie to confess to what has been bothering him. He begins to explain how ever since he stopped playing football to spite his dad, he’s begun to feel like he’s lost his passion; that his heart wasn’t in it. 

Georgie frowns and holds her son closer. She lets him know that whether or not Jamie was the way he was in spite of his father, he was an amazing human. She also admits to how emotional she was when she saw him play for England. She assured him that even if his dad was in the stands tomorrow, drunk and screaming at him, it didn’t matter. He had nothing to prove to him. Even if he was feeling lost, she was positive he’d find his way eventually. 

Jamie instantly felt comforted by his mum’s words, hugging her tighter. He knew that no matter what happened with his dad, he’d always have her and she’d always be his biggest fan. 

After her speech, they sit in silence for a few moments, with his mum brushing her fingers through his hair.

“Jamie, is something else bothering you other than your dad?” she asks softly. 

Jamie plays with the strings of his sweatshirt, not even sure where to begin when it comes to you. He hadn’t told his mum about you officially, but he certainly hadn’t shied away from mentioning you over phone calls the duration that you’d been here. 

“There’s also a girl,” he says slowly, “That I’ve been seeing the last couple months.”

He can feel his mum smirk into his hairline, “One of the girls that came here with you tonight?” Jamie already knows his mum knows about Keeley, but he still clarifies that it's you. “And you like her?”

Jamie sighs. Like doesn’t even begin to cover it. “I’m mad for her.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I think she’s hiding some things from me,” he admits quietly, “And she’s also been keen on keeping our relationship a secret from most of our friends and I dunno why. I’m afraid she’s ashamed of me.”

“But she treats you well? Makes you happy?”

“Yeah.”

“Then she’s probably just scared, babe,” she tries to soothe his worries, “I doubt she’s keeping things a secret for any reason to hurt you.”

“But why would she be scared?” he questions, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to hurt her. I’ve done and said everything to make sure she knows that. Well, up until I started avoiding her the last few days.”

Georgie shakes her head at that last bit, but ignores it, “It doesn’t matter what you say. If voices in her head are telling her otherwise, they’re still going to be louder than any other voice even if it's unreasonable. This is the girl you told me about right? The one with the asshole boyfriend from America?”

“Ex-boyfriend,” Jamie mutters making his mother chuckle.

“She’s probably still reeling from the way he treated her. Even if you prove that you’re not anything like him, it's still gonna take some time for her to fully trust you. Or anyone. You need to be patient with her, love.”

Jamie sighs. He knows she’s right. He has his own voices in his head working against him half the time, he should be more understanding of whatever is going on in your own head. He gets that you’ve been fucked over before, and you’re definitely putting up walls because of it. He just wishes there was something he could do or say that would erase all of the emotional scars you had. But again, maybe that was something you could work on together. He just needed to actually step up and talk to you. 

Even though you and Jamie have been in a rocky place, you are enjoying the tour of his childhood home. There are so many little things throughout the house that give you a glimpse into Jamie’s life, you try to memorize it all. You’re loving everything you learn, that is, until you make it to Jamie’s room and see the poster of Keeley with two footballs covering her breasts. You feel a little weird seeing a picture of your friend and boyfriend's ex in his childhood bedroom, but part of you is equally amused, especially with Keeley’s reaction. And then there’s an old photo of Roy pinned right beside it that completes it all. 

Simon leaves the three of you alone to check on his baked goods in the oven. You eventually excuse yourself to the bathroom in order to gather your thoughts, but also to give Roy and Keeley the chance to talk. You’ve been sensing the tension between them all night, despite their insistence on just being friends.

As soon as you shut yourself in the hall bathroom, you stare at your face in the mirror. You look downright exhausted. And you were. All of the worrying you were doing about Jamie, on top of the shit you were keeping from him, was weighing heavily on you. Seeing him turn into a little kid in the presence of his mom both melted and broke your heart. He was clearly hurting for a million reasons, and it killed you to even be one. It also hurt you when he introduced you to his mom as a friend, but it was your own doing. 

Splashing water on your face, you begin to question everything. Why did you really want to keep your relationship with Jamie a secret? You have half a mind to send an email blast to the entire club right now saying you’re together, but even the half-baked idea makes your stomach hurt. But why? Why couldn’t you just be a normal person and tell the world you had a boyfriend. It wasn’t a big deal.

Except it was. Because it was Jamie. And with all his quirks and occasionally prick-like qualities, you adored him. More than you’ve ever adored anyone. It was the biggest deal in the world and you didn’t want to risk messing it up. 

But you already have. 

That’s it, you decide, staring your reflection down as you dry your face with a hand towel. You were going to tell Jamie everything. About Ted. About your job conundrum. And then once the air was cleared and Jamie - hopefully - still wanted to be with you, you’d hopefully feel better and be able to tell the world. You don't give yourself the chance to change your mind. As soon as you were back in Richmond you would talk. But hopefully you get the chance to at least apologize to him tonight. If he lets you. 

You don’t have to wonder about that long. As you exit the bathroom, you nearly run full force into Jamie, but he gently grabs your arms to steady you.

Your heart doesn’t settle though, as you find yourself alone with Jamie for the first time in what feels like ages. 

“Hi,” you breathe out shakily, studying his eyes for any sign of what he might say to you.

“Hi,” he repeats just as quietly, slowly and reluctantly, removing his arms from around you.

After a few seconds of silence, both of you open your mouths to apologize, but as soon as the words ‘i’m sorry’ leave his lips, you’re frowning.

“Jamie, you have nothing to be sorry for,” you insist, “You’re the one who’s been hurting these last couple weeks, and I have been the one to make it worse.”

Jamie shakes his head, “But I do have a reason. I fucked up. I should have just told you what was bothering me instead of pushing you away. You don’t deserve that.”

“I-”

“You don’t.” he states, leaving no room for argument.

You swallow thickly, “Why did you? Push me away, I mean?”

Jamie shrugs his shoulders, “I think I was afraid if I confronted the issue, that’d you tell me you didn’t want to be with me or something. So I just shoved it all down. But that clearly didn’t help.”

You sigh, “I get that. I still want to be with you, though, just so you know.”

The corner of Jamie’s lips lift, but it's still wobbly, “What has been going on with you then? I know you’re keeping something from me, and I know it has something to do with why you don’t want to tell anyone about us. I want to respect your decision, but it honestly has been killing me not telling anyone.” Jamie’s voice gets small, “Is it me? Are you embarrassed of me? Am I not good enough?”

“No, Jamie,” you step forward and gently place your hands on his face, relieved he doesn’t push you away, “You know that’s not it. I like you so much and I’m proud to be with you.”

“Then why don’t you want anyone to know?”

“You want the honest answer?” He nods. “I don’t know,” you whisper, “It scares me, Jamie. I don’t know why, but the idea of more people knowing makes me even more afraid of losing you somehow. I know that doesn’t make sense, but for whatever reason, keeping to our bubble makes me feel like I can protect us from anything bad happening.”

“Babe?” he quips quietly, “Something did happen. That’s why we’re having this conversation.”

You sigh, defeated, “I know. I told you I’m bad at this.” 

Jamie frowns and wraps you in his arms, “You’re not any worse than me. We just need to talk to each other.”

“Yeah,” you nod into his shoulder, “I promise I have more I want to tell you - and I will actually tell you - but it’d probably be better to do once we’re back home.”

Jamie’s heart swells. He knows you don’t mean anything by the word home, but he can’t help but feel comforted by the phrasing. “That sounds good,” he says softly, pulling back slightly so he can see your face, “Promise me, it's nothing bad. Like, you’re not seeing someone else, and you’re not wanted for murder, right?”

You laugh, despite the weight of the situation, “No, it's none of those things.” 

“Good,” Jamie smiles softly, “And I promise not to ignore you the next time I’m upset.”

“Thank you,” you give him your own watery smile, “Are you going to be okay, tomorrow? At the game, potentially seeing your dad?”

“I don’t know. I hope so,” he answers honestly, “Seeing mum always helps.”

Your smile widens, “Yeah. Your mom is wonderful. I’m really glad you have her.” You brush a few strands of hair out of his face, “I also promise next time we visit it will be under better circumstances, and you won’t have to introduce me as your friend.”

Jamie grins, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

“I’m still okay with waiting as long as you need,” Jamie adds, “I’m scared, too. Also eager to brag about my insanely hot girlfriend everywhere I go. But I can wait. As long as you need.”

You giggle, “Thank you.”

“Alright, let’s get Keeley and Roy, and get out of here.” Jamie states, making a move in the direction of his bedroom. However, you tug him back.

“One more thing,” you whisper, before planting your lips on his for a long awaited kiss. When you eventually part, you both smile, “I missed that.”

“Me too,” Jamie nods before pressing his forehead against yours, “Never going that long without doing that ever again.”

You chuckle and agree, before you both part to collect Roy and Keeley. When you reenter Jamie’s room, you find the pair with their hands interlocked. They react as if they were in the middle of something - which they clearly were - but Keeley stands up and drags you out of the room, leaving the boys behind. You make a mental note to ask her about that later. 

Outside o the house, the four of you say goodbye to Jamie’s mom and step-dad. His mom surprises you and gives you an extra tight hug. You have a feeling she probably already knows a thing or two about your relationship with Jamie. You find yourself unbothered by this though, and hope you find yourself feeling this way about telling your own family soon. 

You watch on and admire Jamie and his mother as they say goodbye. You’re once again so thankful he has a parent like her in his life, and that he’s clearly gotten the best parts of himself from her. He also definitely gained much of his confident arrogance from the way she talks about him, but he wouldn’t be Jamie without it so you can’t complain. 

After one last wave, and a promise to return, the four of you head down the road, making plans to get a drink upon arrival back to the hotel. 

The rest of the night you feel a sense of relief flood you. You and Jamie were okay. More than okay, in fact, you come to realize, when he’s propositioning you to come back to his room with him. A room he wasn’t sharing with a teammate, he’s sure to emphasize. You of course eagerly accept, and spend the night wrapped in Jamie’s arms before falling into a blissful sleep. 

You find yourself thinking about your late night hook-up when you lie awake early the next morning. Things were different between you. They were more intimate, even by your standards. It was like you used your bodies to convey every ounce of how sorry you were, and how much you cared about one another. It was slow. Tender. Loving. 

Before you can linger too much on that thought, Jamie’s eyes are fluttering open as he lays on the pillow next to you. As soon as he blinks the sleepiness out of his eyes, he gives you a warm smile, which you return.

“Good morning,” he whispers, running his fingers through your messy hair.

“Good morning to you, too.”

“I wish I could stay here with you all day, but…”

“You’ve got to get ready for the game.” you finish for him.

He nods regretfully before pushing himself out of bed. Before he can get too far, you reach for his arm.

“Will you be okay out there today?” you ask, once again.

And again, Jamie seems unsure, but he plasters another small smile on his face before leaning down to give you a kiss, “As long as you’re there watching, I’ll be fine.”

You can’t help but smile back, pecking him one last time before shooing him off to get ready.

With another moment alone, you once again feel relieved that you and Jamie are back in a better place. However, you feel that familiar ache in your chest that something is missing; that you still have things to make up for. You know you still have a lot to explain to him, but that could wait until tomorrow. You needed to see Jamie win this game first. 

Richmond’s match against Man City on this day will go down as one of the most stressful football games you’ve ever witnessed. 

Everything started out smoothly. You watched enthusiastically from a box, seated in between Keeley and Rebecca, with Higgins on her other side. Van Damme was blocking every attempt made by the opposing team, and Jamie assisted Colin in making the first goal of the match. As you and your friends cheered, Leslie was hesitant to celebrate in fear of jinxing the team, so he stayed frozen in place.

Unfortunately, things took a turn after that. It was like the whole stadium was against Jamie. From the moment he walked onto the pitch, angry Man City fans were booing and cursing his name. Not only that, it seemed like every player on Manchester’s side was out to get the footballer, knocking him down or stealing the ball every chance they got. 

You watched on nervously, trying not to let it get to you. It was the name of the game. But it didn’t mean you had to like it. 

Half way through the game, the worst of your fears happened. In an effort to prevent Man City from scoring, Jamie leapt to block the ball and hurt his ankle in the process. You watched with bated breath when he wouldn’t get up from his spot hunched behind the goal line. He brushed off Isaac’s attempts to help him, and eventually got up himself. You let out a sigh of relief, until after walking a few feet, Jamie is falling back onto the pitch and the medical team is rushing onto the field.

“Holy shit,” you mutter under your breath.

Keeley takes your hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. “Hey, it's okay. Jamie’s going to be okay.” But you can tell she sounds just as nervous as you feel. 

You don’t know how long you’re waiting to see if Jamie will make it back up, but its torture. Ted is clearly banking on Jamie being able to play again, refusing to substitute anyone for him and having the team play with ten players instead of eleven. For their part, they’re holding down the fort, and Van Damme continues to block every shot. But you don’t care about the game, you just care about Jamie. 

At this point, both Rebecca and Keeley have a hold on each of your hands as you watch the medics look after Jamie. You know the coaches must be getting restless, because Ted goes to talk to Jamie again. You wish nothing more than to be able to rush down onto the pitch and comfort him yourself, but you trust that Ted is giving him the pep talk he needs to hear. 

And it seems as though you were right, because minutes after talking to Ted, Jamie is up and walking back onto the field, to the excitement of the crowd and his teammates. 

You feel a weight lifted off of your shoulders, letting go of your friends’ hands to clap for him yourself. 

“Yeah, let's go Jamie!” 

It was as if the next few moments happen in slow motion. After defending another goal against Man City, Van Damme is sending the ball down the field to an open Jamie, who expertly navigates around several opponents to get towards Richmond’s goal. You watch in awe as Jamie scores the team’s second point, bad ankle and all, all on his own. 

You practically fly out of your seat to cheer for him, screaming and jumping around with Keeley and Rebecca. In the midst of the stadium’s celebration, a whistle blows to finally send in Jamie’s substitution. Looking a bit shell-shocked and relieved, Jamie slowly makes his way off the field, but it's not without a proud send off from the entire crowd - including the Man City fans who were previously cheering against him.

Jamie’s touched face fills the jumbo-screen, and your heart swells with adoration. You know how much this has to mean to him. You also feel overcome with love for your uncle, who let Jamie have his moment before taking him out of the game. 

You had never felt more proud of Jamie, and you were once again overcome with the urge to run to him. 

You sit anxiously through the final moments of the game and rejoice in yet another celebration when the clock finally runs down and Richmond is declared the winner. Even as you embrace both of your friends in all the excitement, your thoughts are still consumed by Jamie.

You needed to see him. 

You can hear your heart pounding in your ears, as you walk with Keeley, Rebecca, and Higgins down to the guest locker room. You try not to appear over-eager, wanting to remain in step with your friends, but you find it hard to resist the temptation to run ahead of them. After what feels like a trillion years, you make it to the locker room, finding the team’s celebration in full force. You break away from your group, as they go to congratulate the coaches. Part of you also desperately wants to talk to Ted, about a lot of things, but particularly how much you appreciate him for being there for Jamie tonight, but you had to see Jamie first. Your eyes scan the room as you walk through, congratulating Colin and Dani as you pass each of them, before you finally notice Jamie, towards the middle of the room. Sam had his arm around him, most likely supporting his teammate with his injury and all. 

Not even really processing that your feet take you there, you find yourself in front of the footballers. Sam sees you first, giving you a blinding smile. You don’t hesitate to return it, but your attention is hard pressed on Jamie, and Sam seems to get the memo. 

“You’re here!” Jamie exclaims, breathless from the excitement, and a bit confused about what you’re doing.

You nod, “Yeah,” you shout over the noise, a bit breathless yourself. “You were…incredible out there.”

Jamie squints at you, though he’s thankful for the compliment, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you bob your head up and down, still running on adrenaline. 

Jamie’s confusion is palpable, but when he goes to say something else, you don’t give him the fucking chance. 

Like a force, you wrap your arms around Jamie’s neck and pull him in for an earth-shattering kiss. You feel Jamie’s surprise, but it's short-lived as he wraps his own arms around your waist. You balance Jamie’s weight as Sam lets him go, only to start cheering for the two of you. This, of course, grabs the attention of the rest of the team, who immediately join in when they see what the two of you are doing. 

You hear shouts of surprise and excitement, and a few people shaking your shoulders, but you couldn’t care less. Your focus was entirely on Jamie, who was giving you the best kiss of your life right now. Unfortunately, breathing was still a thing so you had to pull away. When you do, you can’t look away from Jamie’s eyes, that are once again overcome with emotion. You imagine you look the same.

“Is this really happening?” Jamie eventually gets out, shakily.

All you can do is nod again, with a breathless laugh, “I think so.”

Jamie eagerly kisses you again before engulfing you in the tightest hug. Into his shoulder, you whisper how proud you are of him, and he only squeezes you closer to him, if at all possible.

Over his shoulder, you notice the rest of the club. Roy and Keeley look on at you two happily - or as happy as Roy Kent can look. Higgins for his part looks delighted as well, and Rebecca looks proud as hell. Beard looks like he’s frozen in place from the shock. And Ted…

You hadn’t really thought about how you were doing this in front of Ted.

When you study him, he is exchanging a look with Rebecca, who shrugs her shoulders innocently. Ted looks back at you, a little bit stunned, and a little bit amused. When he makes eye contact, you find yourself opening your mouth as if you could explain from where you were through all the commotion. He just raises his hand, signaling there was no need to say or do anything, and then he gives you a supportive smile.

You are once again flooded with relief. You knew you would eventually have to talk to him about everything, and explain more to Jamie as well. But at this moment, everything felt right in the world for the first time in a long time. 

The team’s victory celebration carries on throughout their bus trip back to Nelson Road and into the locker room as most of them get changed for a night out. Jamie elects to stay behind, wanting to rest his ankle, and also get a bit of alone time with you. 

You help Jamie walk to the treatment room, before telling him you were going to grab something from your car. He, of course, doesn’t let you leave without pulling you in for another kiss. He’d been kissing you any chance he got all night, basking in the freedom he now had to do so as he pleased. You had to admit, you could definitely get used to all the affection.

For your part, though, you didn’t need anything in your car. You just wanted the chance to task Roy and Keeley to find some champagne, so Jamie could still have his own little celebration. But you also wanted to talk to Ted. 

On your way to the coaches office, you pass Beard who is headed to the after party. When he clocks you, he gives you a wide eyed look. 

“You, missy, are my shit list,” he states, crossing his arms.

“What for?” you cross your own arms, “You want Jamie all to yourself or something?”

“No, Jamie’s not my type,” he teases, “I’m hurt that you didn’t tell me.”

You chuckle, “To be fair, I didn’t tell a lot of people.”

“Still, I thought we were closer than that.”

You give him a smile, uncrossing your arms to touch his shoulder. “I promise the next time I secretly date a footballer on the team you coach, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Thank you,” he places his own hand over yours, before pointing a finger at you, “But this better be the first and only time that happens.”

You giggle again. He kisses your head, letting you know that he is very happy for you, before disappearing into the night, as Beard does. 

That leaves you to find Ted alone in his office, packing up his bag. You knock on the doorframe, getting his attention, and immediately receiving a playful grin from him. 

“There she is,” he sing-songs, “Mrs. Jamie Tartt.”

You scoff, “Woah. Woah. Woah. We aren’t betrothed.”

Ted snorts, “I know. I just like teasing you, Kiddo.”

You laugh lightly, before you decide that it's now or never to address the elephant in the room. 

“I’m sorry for not telling you,” you say softly. 

Ted shakes his head, “There’s nothing to apologize for.”

You nod, but you don’t feel any less sorry. 

“Does Jamie know about our little family-affair?” Ted eventually asks.

You shake your head, “No. Was thinking I’d wait to tell him tomorrow, but…”

Ted nods, seemingly knowing exactly what you’re thinking, “You’re scared?”

“Yes,” you breathe out deeply, “But I don’t get it. I can’t tell him about you. I haven’t been able to tell you or Michelle or Dad and Pop about him. I really, really like him and I should be able to tell everyone that. But it terrifies me and I don’t understand why.

“I do,” Ted sticks his hands in his pockets and raises his shoulders, “Because as soon as you say something like that out loud, especially to the people who know and love you most, it makes it real. And that’s what's scary.”

You suck in a huge gulp of air, “Yes. That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. I just didn’t know how to put it into words.”

Ted nods, continuing, “And telling family is twice as hard, because they’re the people who know you better than anyone else. They can call you on your bullshit, but they also know when something is the real deal. Which is probably why you never told us about what was really going on with Mason.”

You narrow your eyes at him, “How do you…”

“Rebecca may have mentioned a couple things in passing,” he admits, “She is not a fan of him to say the least. Rightfully so, it seems.”

“Yeah,” you agree shakily, “Even though Jamie is a lot different than Mason, I think I didn’t want to hear truths I wasn’t ready to accept yet.”

You did everything you could to keep your family and Mason out of the same room - and Mason made it easy - because you weren’t ready to have them all tell you how bad he was for you, even though you knew it deep down. But with Jamie, you just weren't ready to accept how important he was to you.

“It’s all understandable, Kiddo,” Ted states, “And I’m sorry that you went through that alone for a bit.”

You shrug it off, “I was okay. I wasn’t completely alone.”

Ted’s eyebrows raise, “Apparently so.” 

You feel your cheeks get hot, “That’s not exactly what I mean, but yeah, Jamie was certainly nice to have around the last few months.”

Your uncle chuckles, “Well, I’m happy that you found each other. I know you don’t need my approval or anyone else's, but I think you two are really great for each other.” 

Your stomach swirls, comforted by this notion. “Thank you. I think Jamie would be happy to hear that, too.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to let him know once you finally get your act together and introduce him to the family,” you roll your eyes, “Now, get outta here, Kiddo, and give that boy some company.”

You nod, taking a half step out the door before immediately spinning around to capture him in a big hug, “Love you, Uncle Ted.”

Ted sighs quietly, “Love you, too, Kiddo.”

Ted once again shoos you out of his office, and you bid him a goodnight, telling him to give Dottie a hug for you. 

When you rejoin Jamie in the treatment room, you find him typing away on his phone. He pockets it when he notices you come in, and gives you a sweet smile. 

As you join him on the infirmary bed he’s perched on, you press another chaste kiss to his lips. Jamie struggles to think of a time where’s been happier. He had you, and the rest of his people knew. He couldn’t ask for anything else. As you lean against his shoulder, and once again recount how proud you are of the game he played today, he can’t help but stare at you and take in just how special you are to him. He wants to find the words to express this to you, and a certain L word nearly leaves his lips, when he hears the door open to reveal Roy and Keeley. 

Jamie looks up at them curiously, brushing off how flustered he is from his previous thoughts, “What are you two doing here?”

“I invited them,” you speak up, drawing his attention back to you as you give him a smile.

“Yeah, wanted to keep you company,” Keeley adds with a bright smile of her own.

Roy reveals a bottle of champagne from behind his back, “And fucking celebrate.”

Keeley squeals and claps as you squeeze him into a hug. While Jamie would have loved a night just the two of you, he can’t complain when he’s surrounded by a group of people who care about him. He never thought he’d be so lucky. 

As Roy pops open the bottle and starts passing it around, you also can’t help but feel warmed by this moment. As the four of you share the champagne and joke around, you’re in disbelief that you’ve made it here; to be surrounded by genuine friends and a boy who was crazy about you. Not to mention becoming closer to your family again with Beard and Ted around. You still had a lot to sort out regarding your career, but one thought echoed through your brain the rest of that night:

Why would you ever want to leave this place?

A/N: THERE IT IS!! oof i poured my heart into this one and can’t wait to hear what you all think! the secret is out!!! mostly. ted has something to say next as well all know. anyway. TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!💗

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[its-time-to-write]

hi my lovely !!

i’m such a big fan of your jamie work and was wondering if you would consider writing about jamie using bantr ??

like she works at richmond and jamie had like a massive light bulb moment when he realised who he’s chatting to but also that he may be are falling in love

totally get if not on your radar !! x

Here you go!! I haven’t written a fic with Bantr yet, so this was fun!!

not saying you’re in love with me 

Dating apps aren’t really your thing. But to be honest, are they anyone’s thing? Or are they like resumes, where everyone just pretends they’re easy and lies about their qualifications?

It doesn’t matter, because you’re on one anyway. 

Keeley Jones (damn her) had hunted you down and practically begged you to sign up for Bantr. 

“Look, you’re young, sweet, and mad fit. Can’t have a bunch of hot footballers in the app and no ladies!”

You had groaned as you put the chicken for today’s lunch in the oven. It’s not easy being Nelson Road’s on-campus chef. There are diet plans to follow, and a million hungry boys all the time. 

It also means you can’t escape Keeley when you’re in the middle of prepping lunch. As soon as it’s served and cleaned up, you can go home. But for now, you’re at her mercy. 

“Keeley, just because I’m the only twenty-something girl on staff here doesn’t mean that I want to date a footballer. Go bother Samantha. She’s what, thirty and goes on dates every weekend? She’s a perfect candidate.”

Keeley pouts. “I’ll set up your whole profile for you. You don’t even have to tell me if you’re talking to someone, just if you like it, yeah? I’ll help you with meals for a week.”

You point your tongs at her. “You will not even think about touching my food for the rest of eternity,” you warn. 

“So you’ll do it, then?” Keeley asks, giving you the full puppy dog expression. 

You consider for a moment. You’re single at the moment, and have been for a good long while. It wouldn’t hurt to be on Bantr and anyway, it’s not like anyone will know who you are. 

“You’re sure it’s anonymous, then?” you ask. 

Keeley jumps up and claps her hands with a squeal. “Totally! Oh my god, I’m so excited for you. I’ll set it up right now. Give me your phone.”

You point to your bag. “It’s in there. Passcode is-”

“Already know it,” Keeley interrupts. You’re not going to question how or why, you just nod and throw your gloves in the trash. 

“Hairnet looks great on you, Keels,” you say conversationally. 

“Fuck you,” she replies, not looking up from your phone. “And- done! You’re ready to start bantering. Ooh, there are a LOT of men nearby! Wonder how many of them are part of AFC Richmond?”

You shoot her a glare, but she just grins. “Put my phone away,” you tell her. 

She slides it back into your bag. “Just promise me you’ll tell me if you like it. I’ll never ask for anything ever again,” she promises. 

You roll your eyes with a laugh. “Sure thing.”

—

STRIKE09 has sent you a message

You grab your phone as soon as it lights up. Keeley’s going to be fucking thrilled that you’re enjoying Bantr this much, and that you’ve been chatting with someone for a week. 

You open your phone to your chat. 

STRIKE09: finally off work

STRIKE09: how’s ur day

STRIKE09: burn anything?

BAKERGURL22: that was a one time thing!!

BAKERGURL22: work was fine. got off early so I could try a new recipe at home

BAKERGURL22: hbu?

STRIKE09: not bad. lads stole all my lynx so im going to boots to get more

BAKERGURL22: u really know how to romance a girl

STRIKE09: ah shit yea should probably try harder to impress u

You chuckle. Whoever STRIKE09 is, he’s been impressing you from the first day. Always asking questions about you, but never too invasive. Flirty, but not over the top. You’d set your age range in 20s-30s, so you were relatively confident this wasn’t some old creep. 

Your phone buzzes so you look down again.

STRIKE09: what did u make today?

BAKERGURL22: lemon cupcakes. not very healthy but super delicious

BAKERGURL22: I have to cook all this healthy stuff at work and sometimes I want to unwind and bake something with too much sugar ya know?

STRIKE09: bet theyre mint

BAKERGURL22: no they’re lemon

STRIKE09: oi, we got a comedian

BAKERGURL22: look, I had to make plain chicken and a salad with fucking olive oil as a dressing today

BAKERGURL22: it was so gross. I apologized 2 the staff but like, it’s what they all requested

BAKERGURL22: worried im gonna be banned from cooking ever again

Across Richmond, Jamie Tartt nearly drops his phone in Boots. He knows exactly who the girl on the other end of this conversation is. The question is, do you know who he is?

He’d assume no, based on the way you’ve been cagey about work. Not private enough though, because he remembers you making a face earlier that afternoon as you said, “Sorry this lunch is such shit, but I guess you all probably don’t care. I swear I’m a better cook than this.”

Jamie had smiled and kept moving, but he’d been thinking about your scrunched nose all day and the sweet way you said sorry.

What are the odds that he matched with someone who worked in the same building as him?

Apparently pretty high.

Jamie’s not really present the entire time it takes him to check out. He’s grateful that the combination of his hoodie plus the tired teen checking him out means he doesn’t have to talk to anyone. 

He kicks off his shoes and flops onto the couch as soon as he gets home, trying to figure out what to say. Should he say anything? What if he does and you decide you don’t like him?

He shrugs it off and puts his phone away for the night.

—

You frown at your phone for the hundredth time this morning.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Keeley asks from her position at the coffee pot.

“Haven’t heard back from my Bantr match. It’s really strange. We were talking last night and then he just stopped responding. He at least sends me a good morning message, but I haven’t even gotten that.”

Keeley gives you a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, babes. Ghosting is an epidemic. Have you looked at any of your other matches?”

You shake your head and say, “Nah, I wasn’t really interested in them. I really fucking liked this guy. He was sweet, funny, and so good at flirting. I dunno, maybe it’s easier to be like that because it’s all through a screen, but it felt like we had an actual connection.”

“Well, you don’t have to message anyone else if you don’t want to. You can delete the app altogether.”

You say, “Thanks, Keels,” then go back to chopping vegetables. One bright spot of the day is that lunch will be less shitty than yesterday.

You slide the vegetables in the salad just in time. You hear the familiar rumble of AFC Richmond coming in from the field so you plaster a smile on your face and get ready to pass them their lunch.

—

The rest of the afternoon slides by in a haze. You put an earbud in as you wash the dishes, say goodbye to the office staff, then head out the front door to your car. Someone calls your name and you jump. “Jesus, Jamie.” You turn around to see him push himself off the wall by the door. It looks like he’s been waiting there.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly. “You headin’ home?”

You say, “Yeah, I only work for part of the day. What are you doing out here?”

Jamie wraps his hands in the front of his shirt and considers what he’s going to say. He’s been thinking about it all morning, and he’s still not sure what the right approach is.

“Look,” he begins hesitantly, “y’know how Keeley’s promoting Bantr?”

“Yeah,” you say.

“I been chatting up this girl, like, and she- I dunno, I really like her. I was thinking we could meet in person but I don’t know if she’ll… fucking… want to.”

Christ, he’s stumbling over his words like a goddamn fool.

You raise an eyebrow and say, “Okay..? Are you looking for advice?”

You’re beyond confused right now. This is the longest Jamie has ever talked to you, and certainly the most awkward he’s ever been. Usually he takes his food with a wink and a “Thank, love.” Sometimes he’ll even through in a compliment.

Jamie untucks his hands just to shove them in his pockets. Fuck it.

“I know it’s you,” he says bluntly. You open your mouth to say something, but he keeps talking. “Figured it out last night when we were talking. You made lemon cupcakes yesterday, yeah? You hated lunch yesterday and said sorry for it like a million fucking times. My username is fucking stupid, just my position and number.”

He stops, unsure where to go from here. Meanwhile, your brain is whirring a mile a minute. 

“You’re Strike09,” you say slowly. Jamie nods and you slap your forehead. “Oh god, I was flirting with you! Shit, this is so fucking awkward. I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew who you were.”

“No, that’s the thing.” Jamie takes a few steps, closing the distance between you. “Don’t think we would’ve done it if we fuckin’ knew each other. But we did. And we like each other.”

Your head is still in your hand. This is too much. You’re conscious of the fact that you’re still in your hairnet.

You look at him just long enough to ask, “So what’s your point?”

“We should give it a go.”

You snort. “Yeah, right. What’s your actual point?”

Jamie looks at you incredulously as he says, “That is my actual fucking point! I like talking to you! I think you’re fit! I know I’m fit and you like talking to me. I sneaked out of training to talk to you. Told Roy I weren’t feeling well, and he’s gonna send someone to check on me soon so if you have a real reason why we can’t try dating, I want to hear it.”

“I don’t,” you admit. “It’s just a lot to process.”

Jamie nods. “Yeah, alright, yeah, sure. Let me know. Um, I have to get back before someone finds me. I’ll see you around.”

“See ya,” you halfheartedly reply. 

You think about Jamie the entire way home. You head straight to the kitchen and mechanically begin pulling out baking supplies. Cooking is fun, but it’s also your job. Baking is how you unwind. You’re halfway through an orange tart when you realize what you’re making. 

“Damn it!” you cry. Fucking Jamie. You smack down your spatula and grab your phone to text Keeley with a request. She responds almost instantly with Jamie’s phone number. 

He picks up on the second ring. 

“You rejecting me over the phone now?” he quips. 

“How’d you know it was me?” you ask. 

“Keeley,” he replies, and you can’t stop a smile from spreading across your face. 

“Same,” you say. “I wanted to tell you that I thought about it, and I want to go out with you. I don’t know when you’re free, but I’m around after 3pm pretty much every night. God, that sounds super lame.”

Jamie laughs. “So if you sent me your address, I could be at yours in…”

“Fifteen minutes,” you supply. 

“Set a timer, babe,” Jamie says. “Bet I can make it in ten.” 

[heretodestroyou]

jamie tartt x rojas!reader where she’s dani’s twin or younger sister and is scared about tell him she’s dating jamie but ofc he’s just over the moon about it 🥹🥹🫶

felicidades!

pairing; jamie tartt x rojas!fem!reader (romantic), dani rojas x sister!reader (platonic/familial)

w/c; 1.08k

fandom; ted lasso (apple tv)

trigger/content warnings; my half-baked spanish, a little swearing, jamie being a clueless himbo, dani being a ray of sunshine,

stella speaks! this prompt is so adorable, i hope i’ve done it justice!! set somewhere after 2x03

Jamie feels bad.

He knows how close you are with your brother. He knows how much you hate keeping secrets from him. But he’s also grateful.

He’s only been back at Richmond for a couple months, and many of the boys are still wary around him. He doesn’t blame them, but they’re all so fiercely protective of you that his biggest worry what’ll happen to him, to your relationship when the cat is let out of the bag.

Your biggest worry is how Dani will take it. Dani isn’t the stereotypical ‘i’ll-kill-anyone-who-looks-at-her’ big brother, but he does take shielding you from the press very seriously. And dating Jamie Tartt? That’ll put you right in the spotlight.

The both of you are reaching the end of your rope, and it’s getting harder and harder to hide it.

So Jamie does the only thing he can think of. He talks to Ted.

He takes his time changing after training, carefully packing everything in his bag, a flimsy but effective way to stay after everyone has gone. He also keeps an eye on Roy, whom he’s paranoid knows Jamie is hiding something.

But the older player simply strolls past him, ignoring him as usual, and after Jamie strains his ears to make sure he’s gone, he bolts into Ted and Coach Beard’s office.

Ted looks up from his computer with a start, Beard’s attention suddenly also on Jamie. He feels the heat rise in his cheeks, but Ted simply smiles. “What can I do for you today, Jamie?”

Jamie takes a breath, and right before he speaks, he spots Nathan coming back in the locker room. He closes the door gently, turning back to the two men.

“I’m gonna be totally honest, I’ve been dating Y/n for two months now,” he starts, and Ted leans forward.

“But the thing is, nobody else except for Keeley knows. She really wants to tell Dani, and she’s not telling him because I asked her not to, but I can tell she really wants to, but what if the team beats me up? Like what if Dani is still mad at me for being such a twat and he gets the whole team to beat me up? Roy especially, he would like totally punch me in the balls and then Dani would make me break up with Y/n, but I don’t want to break up with her, but I also don’t want to get beat up, y’know?” Jamie rushes, his words tripping over each other.

Ted takes it in, leaning back in his chair and nodding. After a few moments of silence, he turns to Coach Beard.

“Coach?” He asks.

“Yeah, Coach?” Beard answers, eyes not leaving the chess game on his phone.

“Do me a favor, Coach.” Ted asks, starting to smile.

“Anything, Coach.”

Ted’s grin widens. “Call the Diamond Dogs together please Coach.”

Beard gives a nod. “You got it Coach.”

Jamie looks between them, not a clue as to what’s happening, when Nathan glides into the room, seating himself on the shelf next to Jamie. Jamie looks at Ted in confusion, but Ted just keeps smiling.

A minute later, Higgins also enters the room and gives Jamie a nod. Simultaneously, the four men start barking, and Jamie’s ready to leave when Ted speaks again.

“Fellas, turns out Beard was right. Jamie is dating mini-Rojas,” Ted says, and for the second time in five minutes, Jamie’s face heats up.

“Problem is,” Ted continues, “he’s not sure how well that’ll go over with the team, and frankly, neither am I. Ideas?”

Jamie raises his hand, and Ted points at him. “Yes, Mr. Tartt?”

“First off, the fuck is happening. Second, the fuck is happening?” Jamie asks, tucking his hands under his shirt.

Higgins grins. “We are the Diamond Dogs, and we are here to help! With your dilemma. Your Rojas Hassle, of you will.”

Jamie shook his head. “Whatever. Do I tell him or not?”

Nathan raises his hand. “Well, what I see the worst-case scenario being is the team ices you out for maybe another couple months. Do you think Y/n will side with you during that?”

Jamie twists his fingers under his shirt. “I mean, I hope so. I would be sad if she didn’t y’know cause— well she…” he trails off, his head filled with his favorite memories of the two of you.

“She inspires me to be a better person, and I think even if we had to break up cause Dani said so, I would still want to be better for her and then if I am better maybe Dani and the team’ll see that and they’ll let us date again?” Jamie looks up, glancing around the room.

Ted slaps his hand on the table. “Well lookee there, I think you’ve solved your own problem! And with limited help from us! I declare the Diamond Digs meeting over!”

Jamie begins to smile, a bit of the weight on his shoulders lifted. His smile faded when every other person in the room begins to bark, and with an eye roll, he leaves.

When he gets out, the cool breeze biting at his face, he sees you, waiting by your car. You’re chatting with your brother, who’s telling some sort of training story. His hands are flailing everywhere, and you’re giggling.

He takes a deep breath, then walks over. When he reaches you, he snakes an arm around your waist. You look up at him, the question in your eyes.

When he nods, that inquiry on your face is replaced with his favorite look: that shine of joy in your eyes, and you turn back to your brother.

Jamie takes a breath to explain, but before he can, Dani hugs him. “¡Felicidades! ¡Bienvenido a la familia, cuñado!”

Jamie looks to you for the translation, and smiles slightly when he notices your face buried in your hands. “Something you want to tell me, love?” He asks.

“He called you his brother-in-law,” you say, your voice heavy with embarrassment and muffled by your hands. Jamie’s grin widens.

“Should we plan the wedding then?” He asks. You groan loudly. Dani suddenly turns serious, and Jamie gulps. Has he overstepped?

“Por favor, do not make me wear those horrible dress shoes,” he says, his hands clasped together in front of him.

This causes you to laugh, and Jamie’a grin reappears.

The reaction Dani had was certainly not the reaction he forsaw, but it was definitely better than the one he expected.

[willalove75]

Rebecca/female reader - accidental stimulation first time. They fall or play fight and get turned on

This is a fun one! Thanks so much for the request!! 💕

Warning: 18+ Minors DNI

*phone dings* Text from Keeley:

"RICHMOND WON! MEET US AT THE CLUB WE'RE GOING OUT!!"

You get ready and head out, Keeley meets you outside of the club and brings you in through the VIP entrance. The music is so loud you can feel the base under your feet and in your chest. The whole team is there, including the coaches, the kitman, Higgins and Rebecca.

"Do you want a drink?!" Keeley shouts over the music.

"Yes please!!" You shout back.

You head to the bar and order a drink. You take a seat and wait, Keeley runs off to Roy and a few others and points over to you and they wave, you wave back and wait for your drink. Out of the corner of your eye you see someone shift and you look over and see Rebecca, and damn she looks good. She gives you a seductive look and you smile back at her.

The two of you have been flirting for a long time now, Keeley and Rebecca are basically best friends so you've never acted on it, but it's been fun secretly flirting every time you see each other.

You get your drink and head over to the group.

"Congratulations guys!" You shout.

"Come on! Dance with me!" Keeley says, grabbing you and pulling you to the tiny dance floor.

You and Keeley dance as you sip on your drink. You look over and see Rebecca sitting on one of the couches, her arms draped over the sides, looking straight at you. You decide to put on a little show for her and you sway your hips to the music as you dance with Keeley.

You finish your drink and grab another one and head back to the dance floor. You look back over and Rebecca is gone, you're a little disappointed but you quickly forget about your disappointment and have fun with your friend.

Two drinks down and you're onto your third, you're starting to feel a good buzz going so you slowly nurse your third drink as you dance and laugh with everyone. Every so often you and Rebecca would catch each others sight, she would give you one of her usual looks, and you sway your hips and slowly drop down.

You and Keeley sit down on the couches and take a rest and hang out with some of the other team members.

"Hold my drink, I have to pee!" You say to Keeley.

"Okay! Want me to come with you?" She asks.

"I'm good!"

You make your way towards the bathroom, waving to some team members and the coaches. You hear Danni call your name and you turn towards him, as you turn around, a very drunk Collin runs into you and you lose your balance. Just when you think you're going to fall flat onto the floor you feel strong arms around you. You look up and see Rebecca standing over you, you feel your heart skip a beat.

She looks down and gives you a sultry smile.

"Careful now." She says looking into your eyes.

You feel like someone flipped a switch on you, you feel pulses shoot down into your core when your hear her voice.

You see her eyes change from concerned to lust as she holds you in her arms. She helps you stand up straight but doesn't take her hands off of you.

"Sorry, uh, thank you." You say shyly.

"Don't get shy on me now." She says with a smirk. She leans in closer to your ear. "I saw you putting on a show for me earlier."

You feel your knees get weak as another pulse shoots down. Rebecca holds you tighter to keep you standing. You feel her breath on your neck and your heartbeat races, she can tell you're flustered and smiles at the satisfaction.

You take a small step back and she looks you up and down.

"Oh no, you've spilled something on your dress." She says, looking back at you.

You look down and see a stain on your leg, Collin must have spilled his drink on you when he bumped into you. You look back up at Rebecca who has a coy smile on her face.

"Come," she says grabbing your hand. "Let me help clean you up."

You go to speak but no words come out, she pulls you into the bathroom and locks the door behind you.

You lean up against the counter as Rebecca turns away to grab paper towels, you can't help but stare at her perfect ass and long legs. You feel another pulse shoot down and a dampness between your legs. She turns around and catches you staring, she raises an eyebrow at you but says nothing and runs the paper towel under the sink. You watch her as she squats down in front of you and slides her hand up your dress to pull it tight so she can dab it with the wet paper towels. Your knees begin to feel weak so you tightly hold onto the counter. You can see down the front of her dress and look up trying to avert your gaze. She looks up at you, noticing you're trying to look away and smiles.

"Don't tell me you're one of those that can flirt all day but when it comes down to it, you shy away?" She says, fixated on the stain.

You look down at her and your eyes meet hers.

"No, I just-" you studder. "I just never thought it would ever-"

Her long fingers caress your thigh and you shudder, completely forgetting what you were saying.

"What was that?" She asks.

You feel your arousal growing rapidly, unable to focus on anything else.

"I don't- nothing." You say, trying to keep your breath from shaking.

"Funny, I thought you were saying something." She says, teasing you.

She slides her hand around the inside of your thigh and slowly drags her nails back across.

You bite your lip and furrow your eyebrows, she does it once more and you let out a small moan.

"Good girl." She says.

You open your eyes and she looks into yours as she stands up, pressing her body against yours. She plays with the hem of your dress, gently pulling at it. All you want her to do is slide her fingers between your legs as your core throbs. She pulls your dress up and slides her finger across the front of your panties, a chill runs up your spine, desperate for her to satisfy you.

She pulls her hand away and holds your chin between her thumb and finger, pulling you close to her, your lips just barely brushing together. She looks into your eyes and pulls away, you let out a small whine as she denies you everything you're craving. She leans into your ear.

"So eager to be pleased I see."

You nod your head. She brings her hand back to the front of your panties and plays with the elastic, you gently rock your hips, she gently slides her finger between your legs and drags it up your slit.

You let out a moan that turns into another whine as she pulls away.

"Please," you say, desperate for her touch.

"What was that?" She asks.

"Please, Ms. Welton, please." You breathlessly beg.

Her eyes go dark and she wraps her hand around your head and pulls her lips into yours, your tongues immediately swirl around each others in a fiery passion. She pulls away and puts her lips to your ear.

"Say it again." She says, more demanding.

"Ms. Welton, please, I need you inside of me." You beg.

She growls with pleasure and pulls your lacey thong down. You spread your legs, leaning back on the counter and she rubs her fingers across your folds. She smiles as she feels you dripping, coating her fingers in your juices before sliding two fingers into you.

You let out a moan and throw your head back. She leans in and places a kiss on your neck, sliding her fingers in and out of you slowly, curling them each time she enters. You grind your hips against her hand and she grabs your hip with her other hand and holds them steady.

"Not yet." She whispers into your ear.

You groan as you lean your head into her, she brings her hand up from your hip and cradles the back of your head, her fingers grabbing onto your hair.

She picks up the pace and thrusts her hand harder, your legs begin to wobble and you grab tightly onto her. You moan louder, grateful that the music on the other side of the door is so loud so no one can hear you. She curls her fingers deep into your spot and you cry out.

"Fuck, you're gonna make me-" She sinks her teeth into your neck and you cry out in pain and pleasure. She gently licks the bite mark and tightens her grip on your head.

"I'm gonna make you what?" She whispers.

"You're gonna make me cum." You whimper.

"Yeah?"

You nod and whine as you clench harder around her fingers, your orgasm building rapidly.

"Cum for me baby." She grows into your ear.

That was all you needed, the sweet release floods through you as you scream out her name. She doesn't stop as you continue to cum onto her fingers, your nails digging into her skin, ecstasy taking over your body. She slows her pace and slides her fingers out of you, still holding onto her as your legs shake.

"Good girl." She says as she kisses your neck.

You rest your head on her shoulder and try to catch your breath.

"Oh my god." You pant.

She stokes your hair and kisses your neck as you gain your composure. You legs steady themselves and you loosen your grip on her. She brings her fingers to her lips and licks them clean and pulls you into a deep kiss. You can taste yourself on her lips as your tongue slides into her mouth. She turns the both of you so her back is to the counter, her lips move to your neck where she places kisses up it and nibbles on your ear.

"Now be a good girl and return the favor." She whispers.

"Yes ma'am." You say.

You pull up her dress and lower yourself to your knees, sliding your hands down her tiny waist, over her round hips and down to her thighs. She leans back on the counter and looks down at you, her eyes glowing. You spread her legs and gently rub her through her soaked panties. She lets out a small moan and you pull her undies down to her ankles. She grabs the back of your head and pulls you into her. Your tongue slides between her folds, licking her up and down. She tightens her grip on your hair and moans loudly.

"Yes, just like that." She says, draping one of her legs over your shoulder.

You drag your tongue up and down her slit, her juices dripping onto your chin. You lick up to her clit and flick your tongue back and fourth across it. Rebecca lets out another moan and you wrap your lips around it and suck. You feel a shock run through her as she cries out, her heel digging into your back. You lick and suck on her lips, you can feel her pussy throbbing every time you make contact with it. You go back and fourth with licking her pussy and sucking on her clit, and she grinds into your face. You grab her ass and pull her onto you more. You dart your tongue in and out of her dripping cunt and latch onto her clit again. She lets out a moan and you feel her legs begin to shake.

"Fuck, yes." She pants. "Make me cum." She pulls harder on your hair and you dig your nails into her.

You lick and suck her harder, bringing her closer and closer to orgasm. You hear her moans go up an octave and feel her throbbing, you know she's close. You wrap your lips around her clit once more and flick your tongue over it as you suck on it and she cries out. Her hips grind into your face as her body shakes above you. She screams out a note you didn't think was possible to hit as you feel her explode in your mouth, her juices covering your face. You hold onto her clit for another second and gently lick up her pussy again, sending shockwaves up her body. Her shaking leg slides off of you as you start to stand, holding onto her hips, keeping her steady. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand and she wraps her arm around you more, her other hand resting on your cheek. Her face rests against yours as she catches her breath.

"Good girl." She pants, stroking the back of your head.

You feel her heartrate return to normal as she holds you close. She turns your face towards hers and gently kisses you. She holds your face and you tighten your grip on her waist, her hand holding your hair at the back of your neck. You slowly part and she gazes into your eyes with satisfaction. She takes a step away and pulls her panties up and fixes her dress and you do the same. She walks up to you and swipes her thumb across your cheek, cleaning what's left of her off of you. She turns to unlock the door.

"Until next time." She says, looking over at you with a smirk.

"When will that be?" You ask, having more eagerness in your voice than expecting.

She pauses for a second and looks at you, a smile crosses her face and she pulls a pen from her bag and grabs a paper towel and scribbles onto it.

She leans into your ear when she hands it to you and whispers

"Whenever you want."

She pulls away and gives you a wink. She turns, unlocks the door and walks out, leaving you standing there with the paper towel in your hands. You look down and see an address and her phone number. You feel excitement in your belly and head back out, putting the piece of paper towel in your purse when you get back to it.

"What is that?" Keeley asks.

"Oh nothing," You say.

"What took you so long? I thought you fell in!"

"Oh," you laugh. "Collin bumped into me so I had to clean myself off a little."

You see Rebecca out of the corner of your eye and you look over, she sees you and gives you a wink as she walks out. The excitement builds again, hoping it won't be too long until you see Rebecca again. 'Maybe' you think to yourself. 'I'll just pay her a visit tonight.'

Keeley grabs you and pulls you back out to the dance floor, for the rest of the night Rebecca is on your mind, and you know that's exactly what she wanted.

[daydreamgoddess14]

Salvation pt.4 - The Finale

Sorry it's taken a little while! Here's the finale 😊

This also answers the prompt from @tegan8314 who wanted Roy & "I never meant to fall in love with you, I just did." 😘 Thank you!

Full Masterlist

Roy Kent Masterlist

Salvation: CH1 | CH2 | CH3

You deal with the aftermath of telling Roy... - smutty smut in this chapter 🔥

~~~~~

The weight that was lifted from you felt even greater than the weight of the payments you spent eighteen months making. The lightness when you’d made the final payment was nothing compared to the lightness you felt that afternoon. When you’d met up with Sammy and Rebecca, they were making plans with Keeley on who to interview and when. You greeted Sam with a smile and a warmth he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen from you. 

“Could we interview Roy towards the end please? He’s just mentioned some… work stuff he could do with sorting out first.” He heard the fib as he stepped out into the corridor next to you. Rebecca looked up at him,

“I thought I said I needed you free for the day?”

“It’s my fault, I wanted the backstory on just about everything in here.” You smiled, gesturing around the hall of fame, “took up a bit too much of his time.”

“Nonsense.” Rebecca said kindly, just as Roy mumbled,

“Never,” quietly enough for you to hear.

“Better get on with it then, Coach. We’ll see you in the media room?”

“Yeah sure, won’t be long.” He’s still watching you as he leaves, watching Sammy silently questioning if you’re ok, and the relief in your responding nod. You know you’ve given him a total information overload, it was no surprise that he just needed a little time to decompress. The interviews went well, snapshots of how Ted Lasso had made an impact on their lives and how they’d carried that forward. How Rebecca was trying to bring community back to football rather than corporate, and how Roy as a former player, was the lynchpin to it all - having seen both sides and having experienced toxic locker rooms they talked a lot about the new family-style approach they’d adopted at Richmond. You hadn’t been expecting the level of pride you felt when you watched his interview late in the afternoon. It seemed you weren’t the only one who’d gone through some significant changes over the last few years. He held the same intensity and drive, but with less anger bubbling under the surface. Once the day had wrapped up and Sammy had thanked Rebecca and Keeley profusely for the unlimited access to the team, you both sat in your car in silence. You felt Sammy’s shoulders shaking and when you looked over the gearstick, he was silently laughing.

“What’s funny?”

“That was such an amazing day!” He laughed with glee, the lifetime Richmond fan inside him taking over completely after a day of holding his composure. You joined him in laughter, the two of you giggling like kids with tears streaming down your faces.

“Thank you for bringing me. I really appreciate it.” You reached over to give him a one-armed hug,

“Come on, let’s go home for dinner.” You guided your car through the streets of Richmond and parked up a few doors down from Sammy and Nia’s house. The house smelled incredible, like your favourite Nia dish, “not my wife making your favourite meal after a busy day at work!” Sammy teased,

“She loves me, what can I say?! You’ll be grateful when you have an on demand babysitter, don’t try and deny it.”

“Get in here you two, dinner’s ready and I want to hear how it went! Did he cry?”

“Not til the way home, he was totally cool, calm and collected all day. I’m very proud.” You giggle, taking plates from Nia and planting a kiss on her cheek. Sammy spent dinner regaling his wife with the whole story of the day of his dreams, while you spent the entire time thinking about Roy. Being able to explain to him, and return his watch, had finally closed the lid on the last three years of heartache and stress. It felt like the unfinished chapter of your life had been completed, ready for you to move onto actually living. 

“You ok sweetheart?” Nia asked, gently once Sammy had stopped talking long enough to eat.

“Yeah, I’m good. I spoke to Roy, explained everything. He took it well, all things considered.”

“You are fully repented.” She smiled, “free.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, feels pretty good though. Feels like I’ve done enough to forgive myself and maybe that’s enough?” You finish up dinner and load the dishwasher despite Nia’s protests before heading home. You're preoccupied with making sure you’ve gathered all the junk from your car - coffee cups, laptop bag, handbag, water bottle, that you nearly trip over the body on your doorstep. “Oh fuck! Roy?”

“Yeah, shit, I didn’t expect a kickin’?” He rubbed at his shin with a wince.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to find you on my doorstep. How did you find my doorstep?”

“You had to fill in a health and safety form at work,”

“Pretty sure those are confidential?”

“Ok, I asked Sammy and he told me.”

“Ok, yeah I can accept that one,” you told him with a shrug. “How long have you been out here?”

“Hour or -” he checked his watch, the one you returned to him, “two. Closer to two.”

“I went to Sammy’s for dinner.”

“Figured as much. I didn’t have your number.”

“Should have taken it off the form,” you smirked,

“I prefer the element of surprise.”

“Coming in?”

“If that’s ok?”

“No, it’s not.” His face fell for a second, “I’m just messing. Course you can.” He followed you, as you turned on lights with your elbow and found a home for all the stuff in your arms. “Beers in the fridge,” you suggested, and he set to work uncapping them. When you get back to the living room, he handed yours over and you clink the necks of the bottle together,

“To forgiveness.” He muttered quietly.

“Is that what this is?”

“Course it is, what else could it be?” 

“I wouldn’t expect you to forgive so easily. You don’t have to.”

“I want to. It’s not about my forgiveness, I reckon you’ve been fuckin’ torturing yourself for long enough.” You paused with the bottle halfway to your mouth. He’d get on well with Nia. 

“Thank you.” You both drink in silence, leaning against the kitchen counter. “You were amazing today, you know?” He doesn’t look up from his bottle. “So different, but so familiar. Like… the best version of yourself, if that makes sense.”

“That’ll be the fuckin’ therapy.” He chuckled,

“Yeah? I should get on that.” The label of your bottle is peeling under the weight of the condensation, “I never meant to fall in love with you, you know?” He does look up at that, his gaze holding yours, “I thought we hadn’t been together that long, I could get away with just walking away and…” you wave your hand as you trail off.

“I never meant to fall in love with you,” He repeats your words, “but I did.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. One of those kinds of love where you spend the rest of your life wondering what could have happened.” He moves to stand in front of you, 

“I only wanted to protect you. Protect your career.”

“I wish you’d given me the same fucking chance.” He cupped your cheek and you lean into it, “how many nights you spent working all those stupid hours and I could have just paid that money like it was fucking nothing. I made more than that in a week when I was at Chelsea.” 

“I wouldn’t have taken your money, Roy.” Neither of you point out that you stole his watch instead.

“You wouldn’t have taken it, I’d have given it to you. I could have saved you from so much shit and pain.” His voice cracks a little at the tears openly streaming down your cheeks. He’s so close you can see the freckles on his cheeks, the fine cut line of his neatly trimmed beard. The soft lines in the corners of his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful.” You tell him.

“That’s my fucking line,” he leans down to you, brushing his thumbs lightly over your cheeks to wipe the tears away, “thief. That’s my watch, my line, my fucking heart… anything else while I’m here?”

“Your heart?”

“You never gave it back to me, you’ve had it the whole time.”

"Fuck me, Roy, that's a line," you sigh. 

"I thought it was pretty good actually," he reasoned. 

"It was very good. Do you plan on making the most of making me swoon?" That's all the permission he needs. He kisses you and you realise that he was also the last person you kissed three long years ago. He was the last person to really touch you, to hear your cries of pleasure, the last person in your bed. It's like he’s oxygen and you can't get enough. Your hands grasp at his top, pulling it off. You reach then for your own, fumbling with the buttons of your blouse. He nips at your jaw and down your neck, "god Roy, I've missed you. F-fuck, I've missed this." He hooks a hand under your thigh, bringing it up over his hip and leans you back into the counter. The heat of your core presses against him and you know you’re already soaked with anticipation.

"Can't believe I let you walk away from me." He grunted, his mouth on your neck, your chest, your lips - anywhere he can. "Fuck, need a condom," he mutters. You shake your head, 

"There hasn't been anyone since you." You confirm, embarrassed that it had been 3 years, he stops in his tracks,

"No one?"

"It wasn't exactly a priority initially, and then I just…" you shrug, "No one would have come close to you, Roy." His eyes are dark, his jaw clenched tight.

"Fuckin' hell," he growls, " Fuckin' hell. " His grip on your hip and thigh tighten, sure to leave bruises. You can feel his hard cock against your inner thigh and roll your hips into him,

"please Roy, fuck me and fill me up," you plead, turning his face with your hand so you can kiss along the neat line of his beard. He needs no further encouragement to unzip his pants and roughly push your underwear to one side. He pushes into you straight to the hilt without warning and despite the fact that your pussy is flooded for him, there's still a brief sharp pain as he stretches you to fit him. Once he's fully seated, he pauses to kiss you, 

"You ok? You sure?" He asks. 

"I'm sure, please don't stop," you beg, "please, Roy I need you to fuck me," the feeling of him inside you, surrounding you, has you babbling as he thrusts into you rhythmically. 

"You've been waiting for this?"

"Been waiting for you," you can already feel your body tightening, the walls of your pussy clenching his cock desperately. After 3 years, you're half surprised you didn't come the second he pushed into you. "Jesus fuck, Roy -" you break off with a sob as you come. He's only a couple of stuttered thrusts behind when he spills into you with a low groan. When he pulls out, your thighs are sticky with your combined release. 

"I love you," he whispers, "and I missed you and I'm not letting you get away this time."

"I love you too." Your eyes well with tears again, "I'm not going anywhere." Your heart could burst, you're so happy and you know you’re never gonna to walk away again. 

 

FIN

[vole-mon-amour]

3x12, Jamie edition, part 3.

You fucking idiots, both of you. "He's fine." I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS, ROY KENT.

Coffee scene <3 Just make out already! Jfc!

Keeley is so sweet & deserves someone new who will take out all the drama of her life and bring only joy and no jealousy. Drop both Roy and Jamie, find yourself some Boss Ass Bitch for your happily ever after.

But hey, at least they're gonna talk! Hopefully. It was due, like, a couple of weeks ago. (Me who actually ships them) DROP THEIR ASSES, KEELEY.

Both? Neither?

LMAOO. She's the exact savage that we need. "Oh, for real? Me? I actually get to choose???" It's like I said, they sat down bickering without considering what KEELEY actually wants. Drag their asses.

TRY-ANGLES. Jamie is so cute, ugh.

The entire episode I'm thinking about Phil's "People might think they're having a wild affair" so I'm more than happy about this outcome. I'm actually ready to accept OT3 or all single, it's all good. Go spend the night together again, just like Amsterdam, but get lost in each other's arms for real this time.

When everybody started barking after Roy asking if he can be a Diamond dog, the door closed, and Jamie got really curious. hehe.

"A care package from Zava"

Heh. Who is that guy constantly next to Jamie? What's his name? They're obviously friends.

Both laughing and crying. Stop it. ;_;

Colin crying, but we know it was emotional for the actors too. The dude in the back is full on wailing.

"Richmond appear to be crying. Interesting strategy." That strategy is called "I love you all very much" ;_____;

Hands off, asshole. Honestly, the rules of football... Barely touching, apparently, doesn't count.

I love watching Jamie play. I love knowing that Phil really loves football and enjoys filming this.

It's the second (or the third?) time this happens this season. When is Ted going to adopt Jamie? ;_; I mean, he already has a stepdad, but he can have two wonderful ones as a treat.

JAMIE STILL HAS THE BOOK AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE READ IT MANY TIMES. Or at least carried around with him everywhere. Weeping.

"And Tartt finally puts it away" I literally started sheering with tears streaming down my cheeks. I feel like only this show can do it.

Henry is me. Henry is all of us Jamie lovers. God, he could've moved to England and have a constant access to Jamie. Jamie would've loved spending time with him.

Not Jamie's leg AGAIN, but that expression <3 Jamie is THE best. And that smile. That tongue. Having thoughts. :')

Jamie giving up the ball, giving it to Dani to score? TEAM PLAYER. My heart is so full of love for Jamie.

Stay mad about it. x)

[toxicroyjamie]

Having rj/rjk jamiegender thoughts and I feel like Roy's reception of Jamie's gender identity would be very much the old man way of saying a lot without saying much ykwim? Like at first Jamie's fairly tame painted nails don't even garner a response from roy, he just laces their fingers together and goes about his day (jamie is glowing).

Then more obvious stuff like makeup would have roy squinting at jamie before going "why do you look fucking gorgeous today?" Inside, Jamie's squealing giggling kicking her feet while outside she covers by scoffing "what do you mean 'today?' I'm gorgeous every day."

Keeley tests the waters one day (with permission) when they're all about to go out and roy asks where jamie is. "She's upstairs, almost done getting ready," keeley says, eyeing roy closely. He squints at her for a few seconds before doing his acknowledgement grunt and mutters something about taking fucking 3 hours to get ready, but also compliments jamie when she bounds down the stairs.

I think the eventual talking about it would consist of royjamie snuggling, in bed for the night and roy quietly asks, "are you my girl?" Jamie anxiously buries his head in Roy's neck but roy keeps gently stroking Jamie's back. A minute of this and jamie says "sometimes," voice muffled. Roy goes "mn. Good. Let me know, yeah?" Trusting jamie to speak up when he needs to.

"Okay," Jamie murmurs, voice thick and curling into Roy's embrace even more.

"Fuckin love you."

"Love you, Roy."

Roy turns his face into Jamie's hair and breathes them in.

This is SO fucking sweet and exactly how I picture this w these three <3

Roy wants to be supportive but doesn't exactly know how to do that and is worried about being presumptuous or offending Jamie (because he was raised in a hypermasculine space and has internalized the idea that he's demeaning Jamie by comparing her to a woman or bringing attention to his femininity) so he kind of tiptoes around it and addresses it in little bits, but Jamie LOVES it and absolutely revels in it every time Roy brings it up in those small subtle ways

And at the same time Jamie (who was brought up in a similar environment to Roy obviously) has this deep-seated fear that Roy will think less of her if she comes out, so he doesn't ask for affirmation or put a name to his identity when talking about it with Roy at first

Whereas Keeley is more informed about the genderqueer community and identities and kind of has a more contemporary perspective on these things than Roy and Jamie do, so she addresses it more directly with Jamie and they talk about it more head-on and have openly Yuri sex

[tarttheart]

PRECIOUS LOVE: CHAPTER 3 - JAMIE TARTT x YOU

summary: in spite of your best efforts, you make a Richmond connection.

word count: 1.1k

warning: language, mention of pregnancy loss

-

chapter 3: showed me how to live again

In a way, telling De Bryune had been so freeing. Why you had not told anyone before was beyond you. A weight lifted off your chest and you felt ready to live again. You were ready to move forward.

You started socialising again, coming out of the shell that had formed in the last few years to rediscover some old friendships and make some new ones. No one knew and no one needed to know. You just needed to remember you had more life to live, even without baby Lemy.

It had probably been close to ten years since you had last seen Emma so it was a much anticipated catch-up. Good food, good company, good vibes. You were solidly on your journey back to becoming yourself when you felt your world change again in a second.

The bell rang at the restaurant signaling another group entering. You paid no attention to the bell, until Emma stood and squealed.

“KEELEY FUCKING JONES!”

“EMMA FUCKING GRANT!”

Your breath caught in your throat. You recognized that name, you knew that face. It had been impossible not to come across Keeley’s face when you had looked up Jamie for research purposes that fateful day. You thought you had figured out how to avoid Jamie Tartt. Afterall, it had been months and you had done a splendid job so far. What you had not expected was having mutual friends with Keeley Jones.

You forced a smile, trying to keep a pleasant demeanor while the panic set in. You felt the restaurant starting to narrow.

“Keeley, meet my friend from university,” Emma said to Keeley, gesturing to you before turning to you and continuing with, “Keeley and I met on set when I did that parttime job as an extra in university. Remember?”

You did remember. In fact, you had egged her on to do it. Ah, what a cruel twist of fate. Had she not done that, you would not be trying to keep yourself together through these pleasantries.

”She has just moved back to London after spending a few years abroad. You guys should totally hang out!”

Ah, fuck. You mentally swore at Emma. Bless her cotton socks for trying to help you make friends but fuck her for choosing Keeley Jones.

You prayed in the moment that this was one of those times everyone said “we should definitely do that” and never do it. Because the last thing you needed was to spend time with the ex-flame of one Jamie Tartt. The further you could be from his orbit the better because you knew if you got too close, he could suck you in again. He would do that, you knew. His gravitational pull was just too strong.

-

Unfortunately for you, Keeley was not the kind of person to not follow through on hanging out. In fact, she had been so keen that you found yourself at yet another dinner the next day with Keeley and Emma. It had not been for a lack of trying on your part to get out of it but the sweethearts made every effort to accommodate your needs, delaying dinner to an ungodly hour and reserving a restaurant near your office.

”You’re very quiet tonight,” Emma observed.

“Yea, sorry, big week at work. I’m exhausted,” you apologised easily, taking another big swig of your wine.

“I don’t bite, babes,” Keeley quipped, “not much anyway.”

Keeley and Emma roared with laughter and you smiled as the two chattered on. You really just had to get through this one dinner with Keeley and you would be able to get on with life.

“Babes, we are going to be best mates, yeh? Next time Em’s in town, she’s going to be fucking livid she fucked off to Oxford.”

You forced a smile and nodded but neither really waited for you to react as they continued on their own trip down memory lane. Some people might have found it exclusive but you knew it was not personal. You just did not have much to offer to the conversation. Afterall, you did not want to be there. So, you took comfort in not having to share more than you wanted to. This was but a blip in the matrix of your life and it would all go back to normal soon.

Except it did not.

Keeley genuinely stuck to her word that she was going to become your best friend, completely dashing your hopes and dreams of a lonely uneventful life in London. You remained steadfast in your position that Jamie probably had the strongest magnetic pull an individual could have but Keeley was a very close second. You knew anyone remotely close to Keeley would be sucked into her orbit and that was not a bad thing. In fact, you had come to enjoy Keeley’s presence. Her energy was both refreshing and energising while being calming and relaxing. She could have been the perfect best friend, if only Keeley had nothing to do with one Jamie Tartt. But maybe, if you were careful and only met with Keeley in certain settings or situations, it could work. Maybe.

It was another Saturday and Keeley had brought brunch to your place as was routine now. It had become a little bit of a ritual for the two of you to have breakfast together on Saturdays like a little faux therapy session. You had come to look forward to them and you were just so pleased to have found a safe space for you and Keeley to be friends. As long as you met in an environment you could control like your home, you knew Jamie would not be a problem. He could not be a problem.

You were really in need of a ‘session’ today to serve as a distraction from some pretty strong memories. Afterall, this was the day that you found yourself alone in a hospital waiting to have the surgery done many years ago. It had been an extremely challenging affair and the day had changed your life. For so many years now, you had allowed it to define your life, distinctly separating everything into either pre-Lemy and post-surgery. So, every year, it felt apt to pause and think about it. Was it weird that you felt the need to grieve and be sad twice a year? Maybe. Was it unhealthy? Probably. Did you need it? Absolutely.

You stared at your sonogram again, taking a moment to grieve but also thank your past self for being so brave and comforting her for the tough choices she made on her own. You would have probably basked in her sorrows for longer had Keeley not been knocking on the door. You haphazardly shoved the little print in a book on your coffee table before letting Keeley in. You just needed to keep living.

-

< chapter 2 | master list | chapter 4 >

[abubblingcandle]

For word Wednesday:

Profesional, child, genius, and/or tactic

Thank you so much!! Words really help get the juices flowing 💕

Professional and Tactic - from The Richmond Job Ch3

“Well he’s coming over so he better not recognise you,” Keeley hissed, placing a vapid smile back onto her face and resting a hand gently on the small of Roy’s back. “Ah Mr Mannion these are the reporters I told you about. The ones doing the feature on Sam Obisanya,” Cartrick gestured vaguely towards Keeley and Roy. “Be polite, nice to them,” Ted prompted. “But not too nice. You don’t want Mannion to get suspicious or for Crimm to become hostile,” Rebecca argued. “Crimm doesn’t seem the type to get hostile, pleasantness is the way forward,” Ted argued back. “Who is the professional here Theodore?” Rebecca chirped, her voice cheery but noticeably irritated. “Hi, my name is Annie. Pleasure’s all mine,” Keeley declared loudly over the bickering only her and Roy could hear. She turned to look at Roy who was doing a very good impression of a livid wax work with the shade of red that was starting on his neck and the intense glare focused on Trent Crimm. “And this is Conrad. We promise we won’t be getting in your way Mr Crimm. Hopefully we can work together,” Keeley elbowed Roy, staring at him with daggers in her eyes and mentally willing Roy to play along. The elbow stirred Roy awake but from the look in his eyes, Keeley was regretting that decision. “I will not talk to this living piece of excrement, and neither will you!” Roy yelled, prodding his finger into Trent’s chest and pushing past him to head towards Sam. “Nice to meet you,” Keeley laughed awkwardly before jogging after Roy. “Well that went well,” Jamie commented under his breath. “Someone smack Tartt around the head for me,” Roy growled. There was a beat of silence from the HQ as Keeley caught up with Roy. “Ow Beard what the fuck!” Jamie squawked. That brought a little smile to Roy’s face and calmed the steam that was about to come out of his ears. “Well Roy that was certainly an unorthodox tactic but I’m sure we can work with it,” Ted laughed, shrilly and awkwardly. The smile dropped back off Roy’s face, “I was not lying. I will not talk to Trent Crimm and neither will Keeley.”

Child - from A Treatment Room Doors Moment Ch5

Roy hadn’t yet worked out if Jamie was a great babysitter or just the older child you trusted to watch your younger child and hoped for the best. Sitting down for a while, as Jamie and Phoebe bounded around the Pleasure Beach with endless energy, did wonders for his mood and his knee. He was making great progress on his book, had a nice coffee to keep him warm and got to see Phoebe happy. “Look Uncle Roy look! Jamie won me a toy!” Phoebe screeched as she approached at gale force speed. Roy turned slowly and then leveled the bashful Jamie Tartt with a glare. The elephant soft toy was as big as Phoebe and she was having to carry it with her arms around it’s waist and held at her eyeline to avoid it dragging on the floor. “Did he now?” Roy stated, mentally stabbing Tartt in some very private places. Ruth was going to kill him when he rocked up back in London with Phoebe and this thing.

Genius - from Snap Ch8

“Smart ain’t it?” Jamie beamed. Beard actually took the time, for the first time on this trip to look at Jamie. The end of the season had come and Jamie had wound himself back into a tight little elastic band ball, ready to snap at the first display of outward pressure. He had come back from his trip with his mum and stepdad, laden with wine and stories of how great a time they had but still with that tension at his core. Now as they laid on a rock staring out over the ocean as the sun set, Jamie looked free. His smile was genuine, his shoulders loose and his ideas stupid. Just how it should be. “A real modern day genius,” Beard stated, somehow managing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

[lunar-years]

Can I ask about that Keeley kiss conversation/scene between Nate and Roy and what the micro-aggressions were? Or can you point me to where Nick talked about it? I’m so curious now

I dove wayyy back in Nick’s Twitter archive for you, anon, lol. Unfortunately he doesn’t elaborate on it much, but he wrote this in his season 2 recap: “season 2 is jam full of micro aggressions against Nate… from Ted laughing at the prospect of Nate being a ‘big dog,’ to Roy not being bothered that Nate made an inappropriate move on Keeley, to him not receiving a Nespresso machine.” (He may have also said more in interviews around that time but I couldn’t begin to link you)

If you want to read the full thing see below (and get ready to zoom in lmao) ⬇️

Along the way searching for that I also ran into his season 3 Nate recap; that one goes on for three pages so I’m not putting it all here, but I want to draw an eye to this line in particular: “it’s no coincidence that Nate chose a black suit to emulate Roy following his inappropriate pass at Keeley in 211, which is gross for all kinds of reasons, but shows Nate’s toxic and confused mindset at the end of season 2.” !!!! Which is unrelated to this conversation about micro aggression but very related to how Nate sees Roy.

Taken from this page ⬇️

(Also on Nick’s Twitter if you want to read the full thing).

I am absolutely NOT a definitive source on the matter, and there were some really good metas on it during the season that spoke about it much more eloquently than I can. If anyone has links to those posts or consider yourself a Nate scholar please feel free to add your thoughts!!

Just my two cents…compare Roy’s reaction to Jamie telling Keeley he still loves her in s2 (or his reaction to Jamie sleeping with Keeley in season 1 after they’d broken up, or his reaction to Jamie telling Roy he’s not going to stop pursuing Keeley in season 3…) to how he reacts to Nate inappropriately kissing Keeley. Jamie doesn’t do anything on that level of inappropriate or untoward (if still wrong, that’s up to you) and yet Roy is FURIOUS. He’s head butting Jamie on the pitch!! He immediately shifts to violence and yelling!

But to Nate, who’s just made an actual pass at his girlfriend without her consent, he basically…laughs it off? And I guess you can say that the difference is all in the history between Jamie and Keeley and Roy and maybe it is, but that’s definitively not how Nate sees it. To him, Roy is able to quickly dismiss the issue with Nate because…unlike with Jamie, Roy doesn’t see Nate as an actually viable threat to his relationship in any way. He’s not much bothered by the kiss because, well, it’s Nate. Keeley would never go for a guy like Nate. (This is how Nate views Roy’s reaction anyway.) He apologizes expecting a HUGE backlash from Roy and possibly violence, and is all braced for it, and instead Roy just dismisses it as bygones be bygones. Rather than being relieved, Nate finds himself offended.

[gottagobackintime]

god I love that "he sounds like a cool guy" and both their smiles with ted and trent's dad making the same joke it's just......trent's vibes of I want to introduce this man to my parents and everyone I know they'd love him so much I'm so in love with him. it's one of those lines that just has you speedrunning the relationship in your head. "he sounds like a cool guy" "so the caribbean or the maldives for our honeymoon?"

This is so very accurate! He's like "Yup that's the one, I think we'll have a spring wedding." And he never looked back.

I think about that scene a lot, like the whole scene and I can't get over how much it feels like a new beginning for the couple in a rom-com, if you know what I mean.

We've just had the inevitable betrayal of trust which breaks the couple apart, separates them (Trent's article)

The one who was betrayed is hurt but they still clearly care about the other person (Ted goes from being happy when he sees that Trent is texting him to sad. But then he still defends Trent when Keeley calls him a dick)

One of them realises that they miss the other one (Ted stops talking and is clearly upset that Trent isn't there, and confirms that he was worried that Trent had been in an accident)

The person who did the betrayal (Trent) makes a grand gesture (gets himself fired, like, he doesn't just quit, he makes sure that he's fired) and goes to find their love interest to tell them (he stands waiting for Ted outside the club). The love interest is surprised by the grand gesture (see below)

They start to patch things up, finding their way back to each other (Ted initiates the "Trent Crimm. Independent" joke and Trent finishes it, Ted has previously repeatedly joked with Trent in the press room, especially about Trent's "Trent Crimm, The Independent" thing, it's their thing)

They ignite the hope that they'll get back together one day (Ted says that he hopes their paths will cross again soon, Trent agrees and says that he loves Ted their chats, which is a callback to a previous milestone in their relationship)

One of them tries to take things further, for them to get closer again (Trent offers Ted a ride) but the hurt person isn't quite ready yet (Ted declines, but says he appreciates the offer)

One of them isn't ready for the other person to leave yet, so they call them back (Trent stops Ted and makes him turn around by saying his name and then wishing him good luck next season)

One of them then watches as the other person leaves (Trent looks at Ted even after Ted has turned his back to him and has started walking away)

And to put the com in rom-com, one of them does something silly/stupid because of their love for the other character (Trent misses the door handle to his car because he's still looking at Ted and then he realises that he's locked the keys in his car when he got out to look cool while waiting for Ted)

And don't get me started on season three, which is of course the continuation of their rom-com. Them being happy and excited to see each other again after they've spent time apart, Ted showing Trent that he's ready to let him back in properly by allowing him to write the book about the team. Ted "defending" Trent against Roy, Trent running after Ted to excitedly tell him that he believes in his tactic and so on.

So, um, this answer got away from me. Sorry about that. I just have a lot of feelings about this scene...

[jamietarttdoooodooooo]

Back Together Again l Chapter 5 I What the?

Pairing : Jamie Tartt x f!reader

Word count:  1207

Warnings: Language, drinking

Summary: You are Ted Lassos' daughter. You have known Jamie seen ten years olds. One day you come to see your dad but inside you could because you miss Jamie. You join the AFC Richmond team and realize that you have fallen in love with your best friend.

A/N: Hope you like it, trust me it will get better when I get to season three which is coming very soon.

It was finally the day of the gala. You woke up next to Jamie.

“Good morin’ babe” you say to Jamie thinking he was asleep but he was playing with your hair. “Morin’ princess, big day today. Can’t wait to see you in your dress.”

“Well we should probably get up because I have to be at Rebecca’s in an hour.” you tell him. You both get up then you get a text from Rebecca. 

Rebecca

You don’t need to eat breakfast 

I made some, so you can get 

some when you're here.

Thanks Rebecca will have 

 some when we get there.

“Princess I have to go to Isaac’s to get ready” Jamie tells you from the front door. “Ok babe see you there”

You get ready and then quickly go over to Rebecca’s house.

You knocked on the door. “Hi Y/n I have breakfast and your dress. Also I think that dress will look so good on you.” Rebecca tells you.

“Well thank you Rebecca” you walk in and see Keeley and hug her. “Hi Y/n” Keeley tells you. “Come let’s go eat some breakfast” Rebecca says.

All you at breakfast and started to get ready. It was already 12pm and the gala started at 5pm. Rebecca was doing her make-up while Keeley was curling your hair and it took forever doing.

You swatted with Rebecca doing your make-up. “Rebecca, am I in the bidding?” you ask Rebecca. “The only people who are not are you and Jamie” Rebecca says.

That was perfect Jamie was dating you and you were dating Jamie it was the best thing ever. You could have Jamie all to yourself.

“Ok well I am going to put on my dress” Keeley says. Keeley got ready and came out with a beautiful dress on. “That’s a beautiful dress Keeley” you tell her.

“Thanks Y/n” then Rebecca went to put her dress on and it definitely looked like something Rebecca would wear. You also complimented Rebecca’s dress.

You went to put on your dress finally. You walk out of the room and they both gasp. You looked in the mirror thinking it looked bad. It looked beautiful, it was fitted in all the right places and your make-up made it even better and your hair was perfect with your hair down with curls. It looked perfect. The black dress still made your green eyes pop. 

“You look so sexy you're going to get all the boys” Keeley tells you. “Thank you and thank god that I am not in the binning.” You told her.

“It’s so beautiful and so perfect” Rebecca tells her. “Thanks Rebecca for paying for this and picking it out.”

All of you get in the car and head out to the gala to set up. It was already 3 o’clock but you knew you girls could set this thing up in an hour.

“Where should I put the food over here or here?” Keeley asks you. “Over there” you say as you point where you want the food to go. It was already 4:30pm and meant only 30 minutes till the gala. You were trying to fund the poor. 

The boys were already going on the red carpet. The food was set up. Jamie sent you a text that he was there and sometimes we had partners to talk to the press so Jamie was your partner.

“Hi Jamie” you said to him. “Are you ready to do this?” Jamie asks you. “Yeah, I am ready.”

You and Jamie walked down the red carpet together and took pictures together and talked to the press together. The press asks you normal things like how does it feel to be famous and how much money do you make.

Finally you were off the red carpet. “That was a hell of a time” you told Jamie. “Yeah it was, let’s go find our table.”

Your table was in the middle with Jamie, Dani, Isaac, Colin, Roy, and Keeley. “Hi Y/n” Colin says. “Hi Colin, you look nice,” you tell Colin.

You and Jamie sit at the table and Rebecca starts to talk till Rupert shows up. You remember when Rupert tried to higher you but made Rebecca talk to you about it.

Then after Rupert talked the binning was starting and starting off with Roy. Another woman, well an old lady was binning 1 million on him but luckily Keeley stepped in to bind on him for 1.2 million. 

You went to the bar after that. You had three drinks before Jamie got there. “Hello Princess” Jamie said he had four already.

“Hi Babe” you said to him and you didn’t think about what you said. Jamie then pulled you to the boot room not checking if Will was in there you started to kiss and then in went to passionate kisses.

The next thing you heard was the whole team’s ous. You just kept kissing Jamie that turned into a make out and everyone just kept watching including your dad.

Everyone had left when you stopped making out. “Babe,” you say. “Yeah” 

“Did you know everyone from the team was watching us do that” you ask Jamie. “No, I didn’t”

You and Jamie quickly left and went home. The thing is you and Jamie stayed in the car and made out some more.

When you woke up you noticed you were in Jamie’s car and surprisingly you remembered everything and so did Jamir. You both quickly went to the house and got ready for practice then got into the car again and said nothing to each other.

You got there to practice, Jamie ran into the locker room while you walked to the locker room. Everyone looked at you and Jamie had his head down.

“What! Just going to stare or say something?” you yell at them. “Why Jamie Tartt out of all the people like what the-” you cut him off before he could finish his sentence “Because I am so in love with him!” you yell. 

Everyone was still staring at you and stared at you and Jamie throughout the whole practice, well some of the boys talked to Jamie.

“Well they did not take that well” Jamie told you as you got into the car. “And you didn’t either, you yelled at all of them.” Jamie says.

“Sorry just telling the truth sometimes” you told him. “Yeah I know but you could have said it not yelled it ok”

You and Jamie watched Stranger Things and went to bed not excited about tomorrow because it was the last practice before the last game of the season.

[sighonaraa]

"later at night while roy's tucking him in"

First of all that whole thing is so stinking cute that I sqeeeeee'd reading it but now all I can think of is roy tucking jamie in and what the bedtime routine looks like. Is it a fight to get jamie into his pjs and ready for bed? Does roy read him a bedtime story every night? does jamie have a nightlight? Is he a good sleeper or does he make roy sit there and rub his back until he falls asleep? im guessing he has nightmares what with the whole traumatic backstory vibe how do they deal with that?

Sorry for the million questions I just love this fic so much !

anon i am SO glad you asked this because i have simply been vibrating to talk about the Baby Jamie Bedtime of it all.

so. baby jamie has nightmares, yes. the thing about this is that he has learned to keep quiet about them, so roy doesn't realize that jamie's having nightmares until he hears jamie in the middle of one a few weeks after bringing jamie home. and he immediately texts keeley like. What Thee Fuck Do I Do. and keeley is like. man. COMFORT him, perhaps? what'd your mum do when you couldn't sleep as a kid? and roy is like.

i had this blankie my granddad gave me.

and blankie is still in storage, so roy goes to grab it, and he brings it to jamie's room. and he ventures over so tentatively to the side of jamie's bed -- jamie, who's still crying and tossing and turning -- and shakes jamie awake, still so gentle. oi, jamie. jamie, it's me. and jamie jolts awake and he's sobbing and he registers it's roy after a few minutes and immediately throws himself at his big brother for a hug.

roy gets jamie calmed down and tucked back in bed with blankie around his little body. and jamie fumbles out a sleepy, clumsy hand and says, roy? stay please? and roy assumes jamie means he wants roy to sit on the chair until jamie falls asleep, but when he tries to do that jamie makes a little noise and says, royyyyy. please?

which is when roy realizes that jamie wants him to lie in bed with him.

it's uncomfortable and cramped and roy stays there the whole night. in the morning, he and keeley whiteboard the situation and come to the conclusion that jamie could just. sleep in roy's bed. so later, roy plonks jamie on his lap and is like. oi. fuck-muppet. how'd you like to feel very fucking adult and sleep in my big adult bed.

and jamie is like. [poking roy in the face] together?

and roy smiles. together.