#implied royjamie

[lassofics]

Black Eye

Word count: 980

Timeline: Post Season 3

Warnings: Heavily implied abuse

Summary: After a Man City match, Jamie comes to training with a black eye.

Notes: This fic was created and is being published as a part of #Whumpuary2025 !!

James Tartt Sr. had chosen to drive all the way down to Nelson Road. But not to see his son, of course; his son meant nothing to him. Man City was playing Richmond, and leave it to the old man to never miss one of his favorite team’s matches.

The match had been close, but Richmond had come out on top. The whole team had celebrated that night, going to their usual pub to get drunk and relish in their win.

And by the time Jamie Tartt had gone home for the night, everyone was too wasted to remember his prick father was in town — including Jamie himself.

He’d been hoping the black eye would heal before training on Monday, but no matter how much he’d iced it and rested it, the discoloration was still visible Monday morning. Knowing he didn’t have much of a choice, Jamie had just sighed and made his way to the training grounds.

Just as he’d suspected, the moment he walks into the locker room, his black eye catches the attention of his teammates — specifically Dani, who rushes over to him, looking far more concerned than he should.

“Amigo, what happened to your face?” he asks, staring up at Jamie like he’s a wounded puppy or some shit.

Jamie just waves a hand dismissively. “Fuckin’ bar fight, innit?”

Dani’s eyes widen slightly, and he puts a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “When?”

“Yesterday,” Jamie replies, just a little too quickly. He adds, with a self-assured but falsified smirk, “you should see the other guy.”

Dani lets out a sigh and squeezes Jamie’s shoulder. “What are we always telling you, amigo? Don’t get into these fights.”

Jamie’s mind drifts back to that less-than-pleasant interaction with his father, and he grumbles, “I don’t start them.”

_________________

A few more teammates — Sam, Colin, and Isaac specifically — had asked the same question as Dani. And Jamie had given them the same answer. Other than a worried (and slightly suspicious) glance from Sam, everyone seemed to buy it.

Honestly, Jamie isn’t even thinking about it anymore. He’s just running his drills, joking around with the lads, and distracting himself from whatever pain he’s feeling — in that area or otherwise.

But once training ends and each player is a sweaty, exhausted mess, Roy calls him over.

“Oi, Tartt. Stay back a minute.”

Jamie, breathing heavily, wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead, then jogs up to Roy as the other lads walk off the pitch. “Yeah, Coach?”

Roy just gives him a look, one that makes Jamie’s cocky smile fade. Their eyes meet. Jamie swallows thickly and quickly averts his gaze.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“You don’t have to.”

They stand there face to face for another moment, with Jamie shifting awkwardly on his feet. He could jog off to the locker room with the rest of the lads, but something’s keeping him glued in place.

“He was drunk,” he finally blurts out, as if that’s some kind of excuse. “A-and so was I. I-I mean, I had a lot of fucking drinks to celebrate.”

“I know.”

Their gazes meet again, and it’s hard for Jamie to maintain that eye contact. Roy’s looking at him with such intense protectiveness and an undeniable affection that almost feels tangible. It’s a lot for Jamie to handle, especially right now.

“I didn’t even fucking see him,” Roy grumbles out, briefly lowering his gaze — as if he feels guilty. For what, Jamie has no clue.

“He, uh…” Jamie lowers his gaze, too, suddenly finding the patch of grass by Roy’s feet to be incredibly interesting. “He was chugging down beers in my driveway. Waitin’ for me.”

Roy stares at him in disbelief. In his mind, that means it could’ve been prevented.

“Jamie, I… if I’d have known he was coming, I…”

“It’s fine,” Jamie counters quickly, holding up a hand and forcing a weak smile. “Really. Barely even hurt. I’m tougher than I look, yeah?”

Roy just continues staring at him, his dark eyes practically piercing into Jamie’s skull.

“Is he still in town?”

Jamie bites his lower lip. He hadn’t even thought about that. “I… I don’t know. Haven’t seen him since he gave me this.” He gestures towards his black eye. “And that was right after the match on Saturday. He’s, uh… he’s probably home by now.”

Roy lets out a sharp exhale, then takes a step closer to Jamie, gazing down at him with an intensity that could make a grown man shiver. It almost has that effect on Jamie. Almost.

“The next time we play City, you’re fucking staying at mine,” he says firmly. It’s not an offer; it’s a demand. Jamie knows this.

“Yeah, okay,” he murmurs, lowering his gaze again.

There’s a brief moment of silence before Roy hesitantly asks, “did you know he was coming?”

Jamie bites his lip again. There’s no point in lying; Roy’s just gonna figure it out anyway. So, he nods.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jamie shrugs, still looking down. “It’s not like it matters.”

“Oi.” Roy suddenly grabs Jamie’s shoulder in a rough but loose grasp. “It fucking matters.”

Taking a breath, Jamie tries to hold back the tears that suddenly threaten to form. Roy’s voice is filled with a conviction that makes his head spin. He fucking cares.

“Thanks,” Jamie mumbles under his breath, finally lifting his head to look back at Roy. What he sees is that the older man’s expression has softened, and he’s now gazing at Jamie with something close to adoration. Jamie’s heart suddenly races.

But he doesn’t have time to dwell on it, because Roy just squeezes his shoulder and gives him a gentle push. “Go home, Tartt.”

Jamie nods, offering Roy a small smile — this one much more genuine — before jogging off the pitch.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

”Hey, Coach! Wait up!”

Roy purposefully did not wait up, but kept striding down the corridor away from the festivities slowly dying down in the dressing room as the players prepared to head on to whatever celebrations they’d got lined up for the afternoon. Part of Roy still thought that half a day off for Christmas was disturbingly generous, but another part of him – one that had spent quite a lot of time in Dr. Sharon’s office these past few months – had to admit that the mini break seemed to bring a welcome energy boost to everyone, including the player who didn’t actually do Christmas.

He’d almost made it to the exit when Jamie caught up with him, throwing his gaffer a reproachful look as he pushed a stray stand of hair out of his eyes. “Jesus, Roy,” he complained. “Who died and made you the Grinch? Wouldn’t have fucking killed you to stand still for two seconds.”

“My sister’s working, and I promised I’d pick Phoebe up by two.” To be fair, it was only gone half twelve and he wasn’t in a rush, but making Jamie run was its own reward.

“Ah, yeah, yeah, okay.” Jamie nodded, falling into step as Roy pushed the door open and headed out into the windy December day.

When he didn’t immediately follow that up with anything else, Roy gave him an annoyed glare that was almost entirely sincere. “Did you fucking want something?” he asked meaningfully.

Jamie’s eyebrows shot up, as if he’d legitimately forgotten about his errand and was content to just enjoy Roy’s company (a notion that, while no longer quite new, still occasionally hit Roy as a football to the face, leaving him feeling all sorts of strange). ”Oh, right,” Jamie said. “Yeah. Mum and Simon’s come down since I can’t go home ‘cause of the game tomorrow, and Simon’s going to be making enough food for, like, half the team, so… ”

“So what?” Roy demanded, not so much because he didn’t get what Jamie was getting at – he wasn’t that thick – but to buy himself a second to process the whole thing. Also, image.

Jamie shrugged, as always undeterred by Roy’s barking. “I dunno. Maybe you bring Phoebe over to my place. Have dinner with us.” He grinned, clearly enjoying whatever faces Roy was making. “Mummy insisted. Said it’d be rude not to invite me best friend.”

“I’m not your best friend.”

“Yeah, I know, mate. You’re not mine either. But as I said, Mum insisted.” He smiled again, just as widely and wickedly, but for a fleeting moment, there was a trace of uncertainty in his grey eyes. “C’mon. You know Mum and Phoebe will get on like a house on fire.”

Roy could imagine it only too well. Between them and Jamie, he had a feeling he’d be outmanoeuvred at every turn.

Oddly enough, the notion wasn’t quite as unappealing as it ought to have been. And it’d probably help take Phoebe’s mind off having to spend yet another Christmas Day without her own mother.

“I’ll ask Phoebe,” he hedged. Partly because it really was the decent thing to do, not dragging her off to somewhere on Christmas Day without her agreeing to it, and partly because it meant he could safely blame her if they ended up going.

“Mint.” Jamie smiled, pleased. “Keeley’s coming, too.”

“What?” Roy’s eyes snapped to his face. “You could have fucking led with that.”

“Nah. Wanted to make sure you said yes for me and not for her, yeah?”

“You’re an idiot,” Roy told him. “And I haven’t said yes yet.”

Jamie made a thoughtful face. “Who’s the more idiotic, the idiot or the one who spends his Christmas with the idiot?” he pondered aloud, and then – completely ignoring Roy’s second point – added, “See you later, Coach. Mum said not to bring anything, but she likes them half-sweet wines from Germany, yeah?”

And before Roy had time to repeat that he hadn’t actually agreed to come, you muppet, Jamie had sauntered over to his own car, looking so happy it made Roy’s heart do weird fucking things.

Oh, well, Roy thought, getting into this own care turning the ignition on. He’d pass by a Sainsbury on the way from to Jamie’s place that ought to be open for another few hours yet. He could pick up a couple of bottles of Rieslings there.

[lunar-years]

IT'S HERE!!! It's a monster, and I'm SO glad to be washing my hands of it, and I very much hope you all enjoy <3 Merry Christmas!!

Pairings: Roy/Jamie/Keeley

Summary:

For as much as Roy looks forward to Sexy Christmas, he dreads regular Christmas twofold.

The plan is to give the team a half-day like Lasso had done, suffer through the staff gift exchange Lasso had established as quickly as possible, win the Boxing Day match, and move the fuck on.

Too bad everyone around him has got other ideas.

[youwillfindilluminating]

paparazzi is such a jamie ----> roy song

[forsakenmissives]

“Would you still love me if I were a worm?”

The question is familiar. Roy narrows his eyes, turns his head slowly to look at Jamie, who’s innocently staring down at his phone, probably scrolling through some dumb social media app Roy will forever claim he doesn’t have. At Roy’s lack of response, Jamie looks up, dropping his phone to his lap and placing his hands on his chest.

“So… no? I’m hurt, babe. It hurts,” he drums his fingers against his shirt, “here.”

Roy studies him for another moment, a moment long enough for Jamie to curl his hands into fists and glance down at where his phone lay, face up, in his lap. “Keeley told you to ask me that, didn’t she?”

Jamie laughs, too bright and too loud for the otherwise quiet room. “What? No. I came up with it myself.” Roy tilts his head, chin lowering the slightest bit, and Jamie’s jaw clicks shut before he sighs. “She thought maybe I’d have more luck.”

“Did she?” Roy looks at Jamie’s phone, and Jamie picks it up, clutching it to his chest.

“So, would you?” Jamie asks, fingers curled tight around the device.

The truth is their relationship probably would have gone a lot smoother if Jamie had been a worm. The truth is — “I’d,” Roy looks away, clears his throat, and the couch squeaks as Jamie leans closer, “miss your voice. But yes. We’d make it work, and I’d love you.”

“I’d miss the sex,” Jamie says, completely serious. Roy blinks. “And other things! Maybe we’d have some psychic connection. You could speak worm.” Roy blinks again. Jamie unlocks his phone, angles it away so Roy can’t see what he’s texting to Keeley, because that’s what he’s doing without a doubt. “Okay. Now ask me.”

“No.”

Jamie whines. “Okay, fine, I guess you don’t want to hear about the awesome Wormie Dreamhouse I’d build you.” That’s right, he doesn’t. “So, I’d ask Phoebe if I could borrow some of her doll furniture, and then I’d get some really tiny pebbles, so you could play wormball — it’s like worm football — and then I’d…”

He really doesn’t care whether Jamie would love him as a worm or an ant or a fucking microscopic tardigrade. But he doesn’t stop Jamie from describing his plans, and when Jamie’s eyes light up at the idea of some alternate universe where everyone is a worm, and he proposes Roy’s, his and Keeley’s burrows all connect, well, Roy lets him talk about that too.

[stillcantspel]

i think. I THINK it was actually ted lasso related

okay. OKAY.

royjamie was hockey-ing/jaywalking (jayskating?) through a random town. i think at one point jamie (who later turned INTO crosby) was left alone

THEN they turn into sidgeno. who, btw, are implied to be worse at hockey once they return?? like when you’re worse at tennis after you play ping pong

anyway how’s your thursday going

just woke up

had dream

was abt two men slapping a puck around while they crossed streets

they were not that good

and then they went back to their hockey practice.

not sure if the dream started this way, but they were sidney crosby & geno malkin

is there a meaning to this? probably not.

[deadroads]

hello dash today i bring u a delightful jamie tartt nsfw headcanon…heavy on the implied royjamie…i’ve seen a decent handful of fic and an assortment of hcs ab jamie being a pain puppy/masochist sub but i am going to be so real with all of u…with all of those daddy issues and that very interesting momma’s boy complex jamie has going on i find it very unlikely that he’s super into pain and degradation.

don’t get me wrong like, i’m sure if the setting is right and he’s with a partner he trusts wholeheartedly (roy……) he could be into a bit of punishment play. like he’s such a fucking brat i’m sure he loves having his ass spanked cherry red. w that being said? baby has the biggest praise kink known to man, i fear. he loves being treated like a fucking princess in bed, being taken care of and just absolutely lavished with affection. he’s also such a people pleaser, when he’s not being an obnoxious brat i just knowww he’s doing anything and everything to please his partner (re: giving roy mad brain LMAO)

[vole-mon-amour]

Phil's "The architecture. Why?" with that smug face aka the architecture being windmills aka some RoyJamie things implied. I see you, Phil. I see you.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Say it IS a Richmond Women's Team spinoff but Roy is their head coach because him coaching Jamie while dating Jamie* felt iffy but neither of them wanted to leave Richmond, so.

[meatmensch]

ouuugggaaahhh i cannot stay silent on the topic any longer i must tell you about my roy kent backstory/family tree headcanons. they are crazy sad btw. ft royjamie

his sister ruth (shout out to teddy-after-all for originating her name being ruth) is 2 years older than him. ruth is just as angry and proud and insane as roy, if not more. just has a bit of a better handle on it all, being a doctor rather than a footballer.

their parents were a mess and were out of the picture when they were really young so they barely remember them. their mom passed away of a drug overdose and their dad is still alive but in prison and he sucks so they aren't in touch.

roy's grandad (they didn't give him a name and i haven't thought of one yet) who we already know passed away when roy was nine was roy's mom's dad. he and his wife zivia raised roy and ruth and after he passed away it was just their nan raising them and she is still alive. she is a superstar and is theee matriarch theee protective angry badass bubbe (oh right. they're all jewish btw). she and her husband had been friends since they were small. they were born in poland and were just little kids during the shoah. (they gave themselves the last name kent to assimilate in britain, chose it bc of clark kent.)

that experience ofc really shaped them and greatly informed how they raised their kids + grandkids. zivia basically always emphasized the importance of anger. "it's your compass, it lets you know when you've been wronged. it's a tool. it's your inheritance. it's your birthright." etc. when roy or ruth would get in trouble for hassling a teacher or punching a kid at school or smth she'd be like "well did they deserve it" and usually they'd be like "yeah and here's why" and she'd be like "ok cool well then i'm not mad ur suspended in fact we're getting ice cream." when their grandad passed away she emphasized this sort of stuff too. "i know you're sad. i know you're angry. i know you're lost. i am too. it's ok. let yourself feel it."

as i said she's still around and living in a great retirement home and roy ruth and phoebe see her often. she takes great pride in the lives of her grandkids (+ great grandkid) and is always asking them about what's going on with them and checking in with them. "perform any amazing surgeries lately, ruth, my little miracle worker?" calls roy after every game, says one of three things.

"you played like shit." "you were fucking poetic out there." "you were alright." when it's the first, he usually laughs, happy to just talk to her after such a shit game, pleased by their little ritual. sometimes he growls or cries. he's never really hurt by her saying it, though, 'cause she's his dear old nan, and she's not being a prick, she's just being herself, and she's blunt. when it's the the second, it means more to him than all of the applause and celebrations with teammates and everything. when it's the third he does get kind of depressed and just changes the subject and they talk about whatever. as he nears the end of his career he hears a lot of the third and it really fucks with him.

roy has never brought anyone home to his nan for her to meet them. he also never came out to her directly. he just started mentioning shit about him being queer one day. they both preferred it that way (not for homophobic reasons on her part). when he's seeing keeley she starts to badger him. "am i ever going to meet her?" "maybe." he's cagey about it. it's a big thing and it kind of freaks him out. they break up before he starts to seriously consider it. once he and jamie have been hanging out all the time for a while, she badgers him again. "from how you talk about him, and what ruth and phoebe say, he's your best friend. you know, i had a best friend once [alluding to her late husband of many years, implying there might be something there between roy and jamie]. even if that's all he ever is to you, i want to meet him. you've never had a best friend. plus, he's a good friend of ruth's and looks after phoebe. he's a part of our family. shouldn't i know my family?" it kind of freaks him out, but he realizes, not much. because she's right. about everything

so the next time he ruth and phoebe go see zivia together they bring jamie. they get along alright. she's charmed by him, a little annoyed by him, respects him, and can really tell how close the two of them are and how well they fit together. she tells him so the next time they talk, when the two of them + roy are chilling at ruth's house. "he's an odd one. i like him well enough. you act like you've known each other longer than either of you have been alive. so, for you? i love him...certainly more than i liked o'sullivan for ruth" "come on nan"

[biaoba]

ooh is it just me or were they implying roykeeley getting back together was a badddd idea...... ROYJAMIE NATION HERE'S HOW WE WIN. WE'RE SOO BACK

[lunar-years]

Is this a safe enough space for me to admit I remain an ardent royjamie s2 finale headbutt hater…

[riversfire]

@scoatneyhall I’m obsessed w your comments in the notes, it’s got me taking a long lunch just to think about these two some more…

In “real life” timeline there’s quite a bit of unseen time between the first hug and the funeral. However, in narrative timeline, the second point follows quickly after the first, creating a stronger association between these two points for the audience. It’s nearly the next we see of Jamie! not counting background and a throwaway line in a group scene. I tell myself it’s for the best (shortest distance between two points and all) but if I ever do think about how much time we didn’t see, it does start to drive me mad!

Ultimately though, at least we have pretty obvious ties that bind. Notably, a big part of Jamie’s speech at the funeral is about his own development into a better person, showing that he’s in quite a good and healthy place despite what could be expected from someone who punched his dad in front of the whole team a few weeks before.

Though Jamie himself says twice that he said what he said to Keeley bc the funeral got him fucked up, the general vibe is not of someone spiraling, out of shame, hurt, sadness etc. It’s someone who’s finally had the sense knocked into them, who knows what he wants and that he deserves it. It’s really not about either Keeley or Roy, it’s explicitly about Jamie’s own relationship with himself, as he says it’s what he has to do not to hate himself.

Blaming it on the emotional turmoil of being around dead people does imply that he hadn’t been planning to do it for long (if you trust Jamie’s excuses for his behavior to the people he cares most about what they think of him). But it’s also true that he wouldn’t have arrived at that moment the way he did without major self-development preceding it, and there’s no doubt that both Keeley and Roy had a hand in him getting to a place where he felt he could understand himself and be proud of himself and really love himself in a thoughtful and healing way and not as a shallow knee-jerk defense mechanism.

He cites Keely as the instigator here, which is forever true, but we can’t ignore that last we saw him he had just stood up to his dad and gotten intimacy and support from Roy in the immediate aftermath of that, and that experience with vulnerability led almost directly into this emotional space.

For Roy, the moment of vulnerability that spurs him on is finding out what Jamie said at the funeral. The aftermath of that is an opportunity for Jamie to demonstrate his growth and for Roy to recognize his own need to adapt his behavior to that growth. To grow together, if you will.

As pointed out in the notes, there was also time between the funeral and when Jamie told Roy, giving Jamie plenty of time to stew over it in a space where Roy was treating him as a friend and all of those interactions were colored by knowing he had gone behind Roy’s back and that Roy would act differently if he knew. It’s a very juicy fan fiction gap tbh, and quite an interesting writing choice to insert that tension into scenes between Keeley and roy and to skip right to resolution of that dramatic irony as far as RoyJamie is concerned.

I can only make sense of it by assuming we’re meant to focus on Roy’s big developmental strides here. The juxtaposition of his reaction to Jamie vs. Nate illustrates that there is much more going on than standard toxic masculinity/jealousy/love for Keeley here. After all, Roy’s thing with Jamie predates his relationship with Keeley, and ultimately post dates it as well.

I think part of Roy’s anger in 12 is that deep down he knows he doesn’t hate Jamie for it. He knows the old him would’ve been livid, but he finds that when Jamie apologizes to him, his emotions do something unexpected, and his only explanation of it is that he forgives Jamie. That makes him uncomfortable. And that discomfort makes him angry. It makes him realize that his reaction has very little to do with his or Jamie’s feelings towards Keeley, and everything to do with his own feelings toward Jamie. His anger has hurt inside it, and fear, and disappointment, and even hope, the same way his humor in the funeral episode came from a place of grief and loss. Over and over we see Roy struggling but ultimately succeeding in naming his emotions when it comes to Keeley and Phoebe. It takes him longer to accept that Jamie (or any man, but especially Jamie) makes him feel emotions besides anger, let alone to acknowledge those feelings aloud… and this is the point where he understands there is no turning back from that with Jamie. The vulnerability of that makes him angry. But he recognizes that isn’t fair to Jamie or to himself. He moves past the anger and starts to change.

But yeah, we see only glimpses of this. We see it in the big moments. The hugs, the offer to train, Roy telling Jamie about his granddad. But we don’t see the everyday of it. We don’t see the baby steps of relearning how to treat each other in the tentative time that always follows a big gesture. I do mourn that.

Thinking about the timeline between man city and the funeral - thinking about Jamie after the punch, so vulnerable like that, and Roy, and the intimacy of the first physical gesture from Roy that communicated his genuine care for Jamie, probably paradigm-shifting -

And then how Jamie immediately decided the obvious next step was to confess his love for Roy’s girlfriend… like they were never normal about each other, but somehow his whole thing got even weirder once roy started to respond.

Not to imply that Jamie’s confession wasn’t about Keeley too, I think he genuinely was feeling those feelings for her. But it’s the way that Roy’s hug switched something on in him, and that that something is bound up in romantic love and physical intimacy… yeah.

[lunar-years]

i hope this isn't too weird to join the discussion as a random follower but i've been very stuck on the trend you mentioned where prior to s3, fics often had jamie join established roykeeley after a lot of pining and self-recrimination. and i thought hmm i haven't really seen much of that for keeley joining established royjamie post s3, even though it would make a lot more sense given where they all are at the end of s3!

(cont.) i would love to read (or write) a fic about royjamie being on (but on the downlow due to their careers and the homophobia in football) and somehow keeley finds out about them so she has to keep things secret but is also like, oh god, this is it, this was the missing ingredient and i've MISSED MY CHANCE and angsting about whether she made the right decision in the end. it'd all come good in the end but let keeley feel insecure in fic! she's too self-assured in fanon imo.

YES!! You know funnily enough, despite this scenario being like, THE way I most think the ot3 actually gets together after the finale, I haven't written it and it's not in any of my current wips, either, lol. My friends with benefits fic is sort of going to include a similar dynamic (at least in terms of Keeley being like, fuck I've missed my chance and now they're going to get together without me and its my own fault yada yada). Except it's a slightly different flavor of it because they're fwb and Keeley is still participating as often as she pleases and neither roy nor jamie have yet realized how the dynamic has shifted from fwb into something else/more between them. so it's really just Keeley panicking on her own that they're going to realize at any second how they feel about one another and ditch her altogether.

but anyway, YES i want to read your exact version, and YEAH Keeley definitely is too self-assured in fanon, especially for a character who was basically continually in a self crisis spiral for 75% of season 3, lol.

If I had to pick a single headcanoned way I think they get together after canon events, I think Roy & Jamie apologize to Keeley and she kindly tells them she isn't currently in the place for a relationship with either of them, but she cares about both of them deeply and wants them to all be friends (with an implied 'my thoughts on being together romantically might very well change in the future, I'm just not ready for that now.') Which honestly is the right call for her personal growth and self care, because I think Keeley deserves & needs a hot single girl self-love era.

Only, Keeley hasn't actually realized how close royjamie have gotten as she's been having her various s3 crises, and even though she obviously knows they're not obligated to wait around for her to make a decision, I think there's probably a part of her (that she refuses to acknowledge of course) that is like, 'well they've both simped over me this long, of course that door is always going to be open. I can just return to that decision when I'm ready.'

...Color-her-surprised when Jamie and Roy do not just wait around, they get together. And as they all three continue to hang out as friends, she catches on to the relationship and at first it's like okay this is hot, all good fun. But then she realizes just how close they are, and has a full blown crisis because holy shit this is serious, and how did that happen right when she wasn't looking? They're in love, and she's missed out because she was too busy tasking time for herself, and that just isn't fair, is it, she's the one who helped make both of them better!! SHE put in the work and now they're getting the payoff??

Cue angst and irrational thinking patterns and Keeley loneliness that of course ends with a frank conversation and a threesome that turns into canon throuple. amen.

ironically the fic I've read closest to this concept was written prior to s3, Robocop by wildwren. it was part of a roykeeley breakup series, but basically there's lingering sexual tension between all three of them, then Keeley decides she's ready to sleep with Jamie, only to go over to his and find him and Roy already fucking in the car 🫢 and then she thinks she's missed her chance etc. The series wasn't finished (if there was going to be more to it, idk) but the whole thing was BRILLIANT and like. spot on to the dynamics set up in s3, because wildwren is a wizard.