#like im not opposed to a more brotherly reading of roy and jamie

[narniangirl1994]

It's interesting how so many of Roy and Keeley's relationship breakthroughs/milestones happen as a direct or indirect result of Jamie. Obviously them meeting in the first place was probably only because she started dating Jamie. But there were also so many other instances.

Keeley trying to make Jamie jealous by bidding on Roy at the charity auction led to the conversation between her and Roy about him not wanting to be used as a pawn and her realizing she needed to be accountable, which was their first significant conversation together before dating and the first real glimpse into what she could have with someone more mature. When Roy messed up his knee chasing Jamie down on the field, it allowed Keeley to comfort Roy at his most vulnerable moment and get that much closer to him.

When Keeley really wanted Roy to get out of his retirement funk and connect with football again, she compared him to Jamie trying to get back into the game. And directly after comparing Roy to Jamie (calling Jamie brave), Roy agreed to try the pundit gig and rediscovered his love of being involved in the game - allowing him to be vulnerable and passionate again for Keeley. When Roy was unknowingly crowding Keeley too much and didn't entirely understand where she was coming from, Jamie's statement about needing to give his fellow players space on the field helped Roy understand Keeley's need for space.

It's also fascinating how Jamie's love confession at the funeral came directly before and closely paralleled Roy's own confession to her about his feelings about death/love for Keeley. Jamie has also led to the individual growth of both Roy and Keeley (arguably Roy more than Keeley) and vice versa. This all makes for a very fascinating dynamic...