#michael colin’s boyfriend

[oh-surprise-its-me]

Roy/Jamie prompt: A stampede happens at an away game and Roy and Jamie are torn apart from each other, Jamie getting swallowed up by the crowd while the team manage to hold onto Roy. Everyone is terrified beyond words. The team all huddle away to safety, physically having to keep Roy from running out into the chaos to find Jamie. Once things die down a bit Roy and the team all carefully come out to see the devastation all around them. They don't know what to do or whether they will find Jamie alive or trampled to death. After what feels like hours and Roy feeling full despair, arms wrap around him from behind and hold on for dear life as Jamie, bloodied and bruised but very much alive, sobs into his back. They reunite and are surrounded by the rest of the team.

💞Someone’s on a angst kick💞

People were pouring in everywhere. Roy hadn’t ever seen anything like it. The were running and grabbing players. Roy has grabbed Jamie’s hand and all the Richmond guys were holding on to each other.

He felt Jamie get ripped away. Roy screamed. He went to grab Jamie back but was shoved back into Isaac.

Jamie disappeared.

Roy couldn’t stop screaming. He knows the odds of people swept away by crowds. Colin grabbed him and held on with Isaac. Michael is on the other side of Colin holding him. “Roy you can’t go after him. You’ll get swept away he’ll be okay.”

The cops eventually get it under control, there’s quite a few people on the ground, all are bleeding, most are conscious. As soon as the cops get the crowd back Roy takes off, he hears Isaac and Dani swear, they all start running trying to find Jamie.

They don’t see him sitting up. Fuck.

Roy hears Michael shout for an paramedic. His head whips around but it’s not Jamie, it’s a kid.

Christ Roy might start to hate away games.

He keeps going until his knee clicks, fuck. He stops, he goes on the ground he sits with his head in between his knees. He can’t do this if Jamie is.. no. He can’t think that it’ll be fine. Jamie is strong, he’s resourceful.

Roy feels arms go around him, he knows he’s having a panic attack. Whoever’s hugging him knows it to because they just hold on tighter.

“Roy open your eyes come on.”

He turns faster then he ever has before. Jamie. Oh god.

Jamie alive. Fucking beat to shit and crying but it’s Jamie. He lunges forward and grabs Jamie.

Jamie starts crying for real now, full chest sobs. Roy buries his face into Jamie’s hair. He almost lost this. He can’t ever lose this.

Everyone else slowly makes their way over, they all sit around in a circle, Roy and Jamie in the middle.

Roy can see Colin hugging Michael who looks extremely shaken. Christ the poor man’s second game ever and this shit happens.

Sam eventually stands he walks over to the two of them, “need to get him medical.”

Roy nods. He can’t let go of Jamie what if he disappears. “Jamie we gotta get you checked.”

Jamie lets out is one of the worst sounds Roy has ever heard him make. He pulls back. His face is already starting to blacken where it looks like he caught an elbow to the eye. His nose is broken.

Christ.

Everyone reaches out a hand to help the two of them stand. Jamie takes Roy’s hand back as soon as they are standing. Jamie’s other arm goes around Isaac’s shoulders “ribs are fucked few people kicked me. Couple stepped too.”

Roy sees red for a second before he can help himself. He squeezes Jamie’s hand, “ankle?” Jamie shake his head. “Can’t put any real weight on it.”

Roy kisses the side of Jamie’s head, “it’s okay, it’s fixable. The important thing is you’re fine.”

Jamie nods. “Love you, love you all really.”

There’s a chorus of love you’s back at him, Jamie smiles, he’ll be okay. Roy knows it.

[jamiesfootball]

🌹🌹🌹🌹

Here's a snippet from a project I started before season three aired. Not sure if I'll get back to it but I might:

First time Colin met Jamie was as a starter in the U18s during a Wales v England match. Colin played first string the whole season. Football was something that came easy to him. While he wasn't likely to be the next Gareth Bale or Chris Gunter, and he was shorter than most of his teammates by a head, he was scrappier, hungrier, angrier than anyone else he knew - on the field or off. The coaches were always on him to take it easy or he'd tear something, but it was lip service at best. They kept him on because he was a force of nature: block, cross, shoot, it didn't matter. He couldn't be pigeonholed. He was inconspicuous and could slide pass the bigger players before they realized where the ball had gone; he was a threat. So Colin had walked into that match with England full of teenage vigor, thinking he was hot shit. Then at the 57' mark England took an injury, and Jamie Tartt took the stage. In the next thirty-three minutes, he'd also take Colin's self-esteem and a fucking hat trick. Nothing in his young life had prepared him for the look of intensity on the other boy's eyes as he stampeded down the field like the fucking Tasmanian Devil. He blew past Ellis and Bowen like a tap dancer, and when Colin came to tango, he was helplessly tangled in a series of checks maneuvered like a game of chess. He tripped on his feet. Got up quick with rage in his blood only to get nutmegged, the ball slipping cleanly between his unsteady legs, before Tartt took his first breakaway of the evening. The remainder of the match seared into his brain like a bloodbath. A chip shot in injury time sealed the fucking deal, the ball breezing overt the goalie's fingertips to bury into the net. Colin couldn't even blame his short legs for not keeping up. Him and Tartt were the same height. It was a lesson Colin had put other players through but never learned for himself: that you were only as good as your world was wide. The next time they met Jamie was fresh on loan from Man City. Colin called it: the guy didn't remember him at all.

[cgph334]

I actually can’t stop thinking about how much this episode actually reflects the conversation Colin has with Trent in episode 6. Like Colin’s arc of him being gay is absolutely nothing about him coming to terms with it or an internal battle he is having him about the fact he is gay. It’s purely all external, all about what other people will think and feel and say about the fact he is gay. Like firstly the fact we never actually see Colin coming out to the team, the words he is saying aren’t revolutionary (for him or for us as an audience, it’s not like we are finding out the same time as the team) or this big thing the fact he is saying “I’m gay” out loud, for him it’s all about the reaction and response he will get from the team. That’s what’s most important to this moment for him, meaning that why we see on screen. Leading into the fact that Colin says to Trent how he doesn’t want to be a spokesperson or any big apologies, to then the reaction of the team be like “we don’t care” to Ted being like “we don’t not care and we are proud of you” but leaving it at that is exactly what Colin needed. The ache, I know everyone has discussed this but the second Colin combines these two lives aka him being out to the team makes better footballer. Combining these lives ended up being a positive thing for Colin when he feared it would be a negative thing. I simply just really enjoyed this episode.

[illusive-delusions]

also i’m very glad that colin got to kiss his fella!!!! but after being absent from the show since basically the moment he was introduced, there wasn’t really any emotional payoff for me for Michael’s return.

[haven-of-dusk]

I finally figured out who Tommy in this season reminded me of: Michael (from Ted Lasso)

Characters who mostly just exist in the season to be a driving force for their partner's queer arc and do not have much of their own character to offer. If anything, they function more as plot devices than full-blown characters of their own. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, and it's easy to see why they're straightforward to incorporate in fanfics if so desired, but it's also easy to understand why many fans choose to ship their partner with a more prominent, developed or characterized...character, instead.

[mycenaae]

wow it's so weird that the ted lasso fandom took one look at colin's sweet, caring, supportive boyfriend who is clearly chill with not being out as a couple to colin's friends and coworkers, and immediately decided that he's an evil agent of rupert because he [checks notes] travelled to dubai and was kissing colin, his boyfriend. so weird. i wonder why that might be.

[peraltiagos-paper-rings]

i know it's a small thing that literally doesn't matter at all but i often wonder why michael had a ticket under the name wynonna judd in the finale. could be there's no reason and it's literally just a callback to when ted had a ticket for roy under a fake name in s2 because he didn't want "folks messing with him." but if there is an in-universe reason, what would it be??

michael probably isn't a celebrity or any kind of widely well-known person, so he wouldn't need to use a fake name to prevent fans stalking him or something. unless he is famous on some level?? idk tho, i got the impression that he wasn't and that that's partly why colin started dating him, he didn't know about football and wasn't famous so there was no risk of colin being outed as they didn't run in the same social circles y'know? but anyway, colin is out to his team & coaches at this point and surely would've told them by the finale that he's dating michael, so it's not like he'd need to hide that he invited him (in any case even if he wasn't out or hadn't told people about their relationship he still wouldn't need to hide it because there'd be nothing weird/suspicious about getting a ticket for a friend). colin also seemed to know michael would be there as he's looking around the pitch when they're celebrating, clearly looking for michael, so it doesn't seem that michael used a fake name so he could surprise him.

maybe michael didn't want someone (like a friend/family member/coworker) to know he'd be at the match for some reason?? maybe someone in his life disapproves of his and colin's relationship so he didn't want them to find out he was going to be with colin or anywhere near colin, idk. or he didn't want them to know because then they'd start forcing him to come to more matches or watch matches on tv with them (the only ones he's willing to watch or go to are colin's matches). i also wondered if it was something to do with his job...like maybe he's a lawyer who has helped put away dangerous criminals so he doesn't want them to find out where he lives or where he's going. idk i think judging from his house (seen in 3x03) he definitely has a well-paying job so maybe there's people who are jealous of him, ex-clients or former employees who are mad at him, something like that. or it's none of these and it's literally just a funny callback and not that deep. i am still curious about it though.........

[eugeniedanglars]

thinking about the himbos, still not having put together that colin’s “friend who helps him pick up women” who they met at sam’s restaurant is not in fact his friend who helps him pick up women, deciding that they should set colin up with someone as a way of showing their support. (“who here knows any single gay guys?” jamie polls the locker room. everyone raises their hands. sam clarifies, “besides colin.” all but a handful of people put their hands down.) they very proudly present this plan to colin, who tells them that first of all, if he’s ever desperate enough to accept a date with one of richard’s sketchy model friends they should just kill him instead, and second of all he doesn’t think his boyfriend would be very happy about this plan. i need to see this team of hopeless romantics being just as excited to realize that colin’s cool friend michael is actually his boyfriend as they were about sam’s bantr adventures or roy and keeley’s relationship

[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.

[spngirlpolls]

if forced to recast jarpad, who would you pick for the role of sam winchester? alternatively, who would you cast for sam in the HBO version of supernatural?

this is a thought exercise not a comment on anyone’s acting talents okay DO NOT COME FOR ME. check out the jackles/misha recast polls too

[elenthali]

okay so this one might be a reach but something about the pub scene this episode struck me as familiar. the west ham fan (credited as arnold and played by ben mars) enters the pub and greets baz to which mae responds by telling him to get out because the pub is a richmond pub. baz initially defends him but proceeds to join the others in telling him to leave and they all laugh it off.

and then there’s this brief moment where baz turns so the others can’t see his expression and it’s evident that he was joining in to blend in 👀 and all i could think of was everything we’ve seen with colin in episodes 3 and 4

so my (somewhat wildcard) theory is that if colin does come out publicly we will see the positive impacts it has - one of these being baz coming out to jeremy, paul and mae and introducing arnold as his boyfriend without pretenses as we’ll hopefully see colin reintroduce michael to the team as his boyfriend rather than his ‘wingman’

[oh-surprise-its-me]

You guys deserve to know I listened to Not Strong Enough by boygenius on repeat the entire time I wrote this. So you know. Keep that in mind.

-

He just keeps running. He can’t help it. Knows it will throw off his run at 4am with Roy.

Roy.

The point of his current problems.

Jamie’s worked a lot in therapy in the past two years. He knows he has self worth issues. Some days he wishes he can’t look into himself and see what’s wrong.

What’s broken.

What’s been tossed around for years and handled without the care it deserves.

He keeps running.

He’s always run when things get complicated. Sometimes literally sometimes not. He’s not running with a plan. He’s in Colin’s neighborhood though.

He thinks fuck it and runs to his house.

He knocks without thinking.

A light flicks on. Shit he woke them up. The door opens and Colin is standing there. “Jamie? You okay?”

Jamie opens his mouth, he thinks about lying. Michael comes up behind Colin, “hey Jamie? Wanna come in?”

God bless Colin and Michael. They’re incredible.

They are all sitting in the living room, Jamie keeps shaking his legs, “can I ask you guys something?”

Colin and Michael look at each other, “Jamie if it’s about knowing your sexuality-” Jamie laughs. “No mate I’ve known I’m bisexual for years but thanks.”

Colin nods, “okay go for it then.”

Jamie takes a deep breath, he looks at Michael first. Less scary then seeing Colin react to this. “How did you two know you were it for each other. Like that you wanted forever.”

Michael smiles at him. “It was like waves, it hit me one day and then kept hitting me stronger until I was swept up into it.”

Colin blinks away what look like tears, six months married and they are still sappy as hell.

“It wasn’t really a sudden thing. It was like I adjusted everything in my life so that he came first. There wasn’t a question about seeing him in my future plans. He was just there.”

Michael looks a little surprised. He leans over and kisses Colin.

“You wanna explain more Jamie?”

Jamie blushes. “I think I feel forever about Roy but we aren’t even together. Fuck I don’t even know. It’s like I’m an Angel and he’s a God and want to worship him.”

Michael has slowly started smiling more, “Jamie if I may?” Jamie nods, can’t get much worse. “Roy has been worshiping you and in love with you for as long as I’ve known you both.”

“What??” “Michael!”

Colin lightly taps his leg. “What he’s trying to say is that we think you’ll be okay if you tell Roy you want forever.” “I said what I said.”

Jamie nods again, if feels like he’s been nodding to a lot of things recently.

“Thanks I’m sorry I woke you guys up. I’ve uh. I’ve gotta go.”

Colin and Michael hug him before he takes back off running.

-

He makes a detour to the park. It’s empty at this time of night. He sits on a bench. Curls his legs up. He can’t do this. He can’t be this person.

He was never allowed. His dad tried to ruin everything for him.

What if Jamie ruins this.

His phone lights up. Roy’s texting him.

Where are you.

Christ what time is it how long did he run for.

Sorry took off early for run. At the park near my house?

Be there soon stay in place.

Okay.

God. Now he has to see Roy.

-

When Roy shows up he sits on the bench next to Jamie. “Where’s your head at Jamie?”

Jamie shrugs. Tucking his arms over his knees curling himself as close to a ball as he can while sitting up. “It’s here, just loud.”

Roy slides closer, he puts an arm around Jamie’s shoulder and pulls him closer. Jamie didn’t realize how cold out it was until he felt Roy’s body heat.

“Can I say something and you not be mad? Let me finish talking before you say anything?”

Roy nods, “course you can. It’s hard to be mad at you when you look this sad.”

“I’m in love with you. Want forever with you. Ran to Colin and Michael’s house to talk about how they knew. They just did. Roy I don’t know when it started but I just know I can’t stop it. I’m in love with you and it’s fine. It’s fine if you don’t feel the same. I just needed to tell you.”

Roy brushes the tears that fell off of Jamie’s face. “Good thing I feel the same then huh?”

Jamie felt the tears flowing down his face when he was talking but didn’t realize Roy saw them, let alone cared enough to remove them.

“The same? Roy you can’t. That’s crazy.”

Roy laughs. “Jamie I’m crazy, I haven’t done anything about it because I’m your coach. Didn’t want you to feel pressured. But I love you, I want forever with you too.”

Jamie risks a look at his face. He’s smiling. “Seriously?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Jamie nods, and suddenly he’s being kissed by Roy Kent. It’s maybe the softest kiss he’s ever gotten. He melts into it.

He pulls away. “You love me?” Roy touches his cheek, “I love you.”

Jamie leaps off of the bench, he starts spinning around he lets out a shout. “ROY KENT LOVES ME!”

Roy starts laughing and stands. “Jesus baby. Come on let’s go back to your place. I’ll cook.”

Jamie spins right into Roy’s arms. “You’ll cook for your.. boyfriend? Partner?”

“Future husband?”

Jamie smacks Roy. “We can’t just skip straight to that.” Roy takes his hand and holds it, there’s starting to be people out but clearly he doesn’t care. “Fuck straight, be my fiancé. We’ve known each other long enough, know everything about each other.”

“You’re going to kill me.”

Roy kisses him again. “I’m trying to worship you.”

Jamie blinks. Maybe this time he’ll be the God and not the Angel. “Let’s go home then fiancé.”

It’s Roy’s turn to whoop. He picks Jamie up with a spin and sets him back down.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[storiesforallfandoms]

favoritism ~ pete davidson

word count: 2171

request?: yes!

@absstark​ “Hi! Ik your requests are closed atm but if u are able to, would you please be able to write me a Pete Davidson x female reader where they are dating and she’s a writer at SNL? Thank you 😊”

description: in which he’s dating one of the writers of his show, so the cast often jokes about her favoritism for him

pairing: pete davidson x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two, three)

It was actually quite ironic how everything started.

Pete was out at a bar with a couple of his SNL friends when he noticed a pretty girl sat by herself. He didn’t want to seem like a weird guy by just staring at her, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

He felt someone nudge him and he looked up to see they were all looking at him. “Sorry, what were you guys saying?”

Colin smirked at him. “Go talk to her/”

“What? No, I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?” Michael asked. “She’s alone over there.”

“For one, we don’t know if she’s actually here alone. She might have a date who’s in the bathroom, or she’s waiting for him to show up. She might even have a boyfriend who’s not here. And two, girls don’t like being approached by strange men in bars. She’ll probably think I’m a fucking creep.”

They were all giving him a similar look before Devon grabbed his shoulders, turned him towards the bar, and gave him a shove. He stumbled slightly, almost bumping into another person along the way. He regained his footing and glanced over at the woman to make sure she hadn’t seen. With the encouragement of his friends, he took a deep breath and made his way across the bar.

“Hey,” he started, very lamely. She looked up and gave him a polite smile. “I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but my buddies kind of peer pressured me to come talk to you and I’m mainly doing this to get them off my back. If you just want to reject me, I’ll happily back off.”

She chuckled and glanced over Pete’s shoulder. “Are they the group very obviously staring at us right now?”

Pete followed her gaze to see his friends watching them like a pack of hawks. They didn’t even have the decency to look away when they were caught. Colin even smiled and waved his fingers at them.

“Yeah, those are my asshole friends,” Pete confirmed.

She smiled and waved at the group before turning back to Pete. “Here, sit with me. Give them something to talk about.”

Pete pulled up a stool next to her. He extended a hand towards her. “I’m Pete.”

“(Y/N). Nice to meet you.”

They talked at the bar for hours. They hardly noticed the other patrons starting to clear out or the blaring music starting to die down as the bar did its last call. Pete didn’t even notice his friends had left until the bartender had come to give them the last warning before closing. Before they parted ways, (Y/N) gave Pete  her number and told him to text her the next day.

“Just so I know you’re actually interested,” she had said before walking away.

And he had. The moment he woke up, he texted her, “Hope texting you this soon doesn’t seem to desperate, but I’m very interested - Pete.”

Near seconds later, he got a response. “I’d be a hypocrite if I called you desperate. I’ve been waiting for you to text me since I woke up.”

They texted back and forth all day. Pete was almost late to work because he was too busy texting to realize the time. When he arrived on set he was radiating with happiness. He hadn’t felt hits way in a long time. He had a really good feeling about this one. A strong feeling he hadn’t had before in any of his relationships. There was no doubts this time around.

His castmates noticed his good mood and asked what was up, but he just responded with a shrug and played it off. The guys who had been out the night before knew exactly where his good mood was coming from, but Pete decided to keep it to himself. He didn’t want to get too ahead of himself and tell everyone about (Y/N) just yet.

“Hey, Pete!” Lorne called as he spotted Pete making his way to set.

“Hey Lorne,” Pete said. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to introduce you to our new writer. She’s starting today, so try not to scare her away just yet.”

Pete chuckled, but it died off when Lorne stepped aside and gestured to the newbie. “(Y/N)?”

Her eyes widened, too. “Pete?”

“You two know each other?” Lorne asked.

“We met last night,” (Y/N) responded.

Lorne looked between the two of them. “You...met last night?”

“Not like that,” Pete assured him. “We met at a bar and just talked all night. We exchanged numbers, that’s it.”

Lorne had a skeptical look on his face that made Pete’s heart drop to his stomach. He knew how this was about to go: he would have to delete (Y/N)’s number and their messages, and he’d have to forget their would be romance before it even started. It was a HR issue, one that they would definitely not be allowed to explore.

This was the quickest broken heart he had ever gotten.

“You know, technically I should be sending you to HR to discuss this,” Lorne started. Both (Y/N) and Pete winced at the idea. “But that’s a lot of time and paperwork, and all that bullshit. So, I’m going to take both of your vocal promises that whatever this is will not interfere with either of your jobs.”

The two of them happily agreed. Lorne nodded and muttered something about leaving before he witnessed something he shouldn’t. That left (Y/N) and Pete alone, a slightly awkward tension in the air.

“You didn’t mention that you’re working for SNL,” Pete said. He meant it to come out lighthearted, but he winced when he realized how accusatory it actually sounded.

“I...actually didn’t know you were on the show,” she admitted. “You never mentioned it. You just said you were an actor.”

Pete chuckled. “Okay, we were both a little untruthful. Maybe we start over on the introductions.” He held his hand out to her. “Hi, I’m Pete. I’m a main actor on  Saturday Night Live.”

(Y/N) giggled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Pete. I’m (Y/N), and I just got hired to write for Saturday Night Live.”

“Well, congratulations. And good luck on it. I heard the cast are all assholes, except for that Pete guy. So make sure you give all the funniest jokes to him.”

(Y/N) giggled again, looking down at the ground between them shyly.

It was the start to an amazing relationship. Pete could honestly say he hadn’t felt this happy in a very long time. They kept their personal lives separate from their work lives, which seemed to be the big key to making things work. Nothing was ever discussed about the show unless they were on set, and the minute they walked on the lost their relationship was put on the back burner until they left.

But the moments they had outside of work were some of the best moments of his life. He loved being with (Y/N) and spending most of his free time with her. He was trying not to go too fast with their relationship the way he had in past relationships, but it was hard not to be a bit optimistic with how well things were going.

Of course, dating a co-worker came with some teasing from other co-workers; especially when the other co-workers were fellow comedians. The main joke that the cast liked to tell was that Pete was getting favoritism from (Y/N) when it came to being given the best jokes.

It started during the table read for a skit. They were about halfway through when Punkie cut Pete off mid-joke to proclaim, “No fair, he’s getting the best jokes!”

Everyone stopped to look at her in confusion. They couldn’t tell if the look on her face was serious or not, so Pete asked, “Excuse me?”

“Your jokes here are so much better than mine,” Punkie said. “Must be nice sleeping with one of the writers.”

Punkie laughed, but Pete looked horrified by her “joke”.

“(Y/N) didn’t even write this sketch,” Kenan pointed out.

“That’s a very serious accusation, Punkie,” one of the producers commented.

“Come on, guys, it’s just a joke,” Punkie said. “I’m not mad. Just keep reading.”

Once they finished the table read, Pete decided to approach Punkie himself. “Hey, Punkie, listen. I know what you said was a joke, but...can you maybe be mindful of the way you say it? You could get (Y/N) into a lot of trouble if the wrong people heard what you said.”

“Pete, I didn’t mean it. Everyone knows (Y/N) isn’t actually giving you favoritism in the sketches.”

“I know, I’m just saying to work on your delivery. I really don’t want to have to deal with HR.”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll try to be more funny about it next time.”

And that was truly the wrong thing for Pete to say; for him to agree that if it was clearly said as a joke, that it was fine to say that (Y/N) favorited him. Because once he made the distinction that it was okay to do it in a joking matter, it was like the entire cast had decided they wanted to joke about Pete and (Y/N). It wasn’t anything new for the cast, they joked around with each other all the time. They were all friends, and you had to have a sense of humor if you were gonna be on SNL.

But man, after some time, Pete found it so much more annoying than his castmates meant it to be. He was trying so hard to separate his work life from his personal life, like Lorne had wanted, but now it was like his personal life was open season for all of his friends.

And it was definitely something (Y/N) had noticed. The jokes were never made to her face the same way they were to Pete’s, but she heard the whisperings or the aftermath of certain jokes when approaching Pete. She never said anything at first, which made Pete hope that maybe it didn’t bother her as much as it bothered him.

But one night, as they were leaving set, Pete noticed that (Y/N) seemed distracted. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him as they walked through the doors onto the lot.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” he asked.

(Y/N) nibbled on the inside of her cheek before she spoke, “Do your castmates really think I favorite you when writing?”

Pete stopped walking suddenly, causing (Y/N) to stumble a little. He turned to face her and she did the same.

“Baby, of course not. They’re only joking when they say that shit. No one actually believes it,” he assured her.

She shrugged. “I guess, but they say it so much. I’m starting to worry that they actually mean it but don’t want to say it, which could get us both in a lot of trouble if it ever comes back to HR.”

Pete put his hands on her shoulders. “Baby, I promise they do not mean it. If it ever got to HR, they would all swear up and down that they’re joking. They just like to poke fun at me because I had to fall in love with a new writer on set, out of all people. But it’s not serious, I can promise you that.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “You fell in love with me, huh?”

Pete couldn’t help but smile too as his hands ran down her arms to take hers. “I would think that’s pretty obvious by now.”

“You haven’t said the big L word before,” she said. “So, I don’t know, I thought maybe this was all just for fun.”

He chuckled, knowing that she was joking about the last part. They both knew they were in this relationship for the long run. There was nothing “just for fun” about it.

But she was right in saying that he hadn’t said the big three words to her yet. Although he knew deep in his heart that he did love (Y/N), he hadn’t been ready to say the words to her just yet.

That big L word was out there now, though. So, realisitically, he was part way there.

“I love you,” he said.

He didn’t think the smile on (Y/N)’s face could get any wider, but it did. She lit up like Times Square and leaned closer to him.

“I love you, too.”

They closed the gap between them to kiss. It was meant to be a sweet, romantic moment for the two of them, but it was quickly cut off by someone calling, “Get a room you two!”

They pulled apart, chuckling at the reaction, before deciding to go home and do just that.

[tobebbanburg]

I just wanted to imagine a world where Trent writes a completely under-the-radar article for Colin’s hometown newspaper to address the rumours of him being gay without making a big deal about it.

Full article text under the cut:

At 28 years of age, Colin Hughes is something of a late bloomer. After a mediocre start to his career saw Cardiff City relegated to the Championship, the Barry native was transferred to the struggling AFC Richmond, a harsh environment for any young footballer trying to make his mark on the world. But after years of flying under the radar, Hughes is finally making himself known at both national and international levels, and one can’t help but marvel at how far this young man has come.

Hughes’s love for the sport was nurtured from a young age, here in Barry, and despite his recent success it is clear he hasn’t forgotten his roots. The modest yet respectable history of Welsh football is something that Hughes could lecture on at the drop of a hat (and indeed needs to be stopped from lecturing once he gets started), and even his favoured position as a left winger was chosen in homage to Welsh footballing legend Gary Speed, a man who still acts as an inspiration for Hughes today.

“He did wonders for our national team. He was the one who made us all believe that Wales could hold our own against the rest of the world. I don’t think we’d be where we are today without all the work he put in: now that I can, I’m doing my best to continue what he started,” Hughes says.

Hughes’s ‘best’, in this instance, has been to fund a new development program throughout Wales, offering summer bootcamp scholarships to children from underprivileged areas. One can’t help but feel that were Speed still with us, he’d be proud of what Hughes is trying to achieve, although perhaps a little bemused at lending his name to an indeterminable breed of dog that Hughes affectionally refers to as ‘Gazza’.

“Me and my boyfriend got him from the shelter last week,” he says, showing a picture of a large but scrawny dog being embraced on both sides by Hughes and his boyfriend, one Michael Chen. “We got him to celebrate Richmond’s second place in the Prem.”

Buying a dog is perhaps an unusually tame way to celebrate for most footballers, but unusual is rather how AFC Richmond operates these days. Whilst most teams would be disappointed with losing out on winning the Premier League by the slimmest of margins, many often claiming that third place is preferable to second, both Hughes and AFC Richmond are treating their status as runners up with dignity, and no small amount of delight.

“I’m not being funny, right, but if you’d told me a year ago that Richmond’d avoid relegation, let alone make it to second place, I’d’ve said you were full of ****,” Hughes says, then apologises after a gentle reminder not to swear. “It’s gutting to miss out on winning the whole thing, of course, but we’re proud of what we’ve done. And besides, it gives us something to aim for next year.”

Hughes succinctly brings us to the elephant in the room: the recent departure of Coach Ted Lasso. Whilst Lasso himself has always maintained the humble adage that Richmond’s recent success wasn’t wholly his doing, the fact remains that the club have never before performed so well over a single season, nor so swiftly reversed their declining fortunes. One can’t help but wonder what a future without Lasso looks like. Hughes, for his part, remains optimistic.

“Coach Lasso made a real difference. Not just in how we play as a team but in how we think, how we work. That kind of change is here to stay,” he says, before adding, “plus we’ve got facetime and all that **** so it’s not like he’s properly gone. I mean I could call him right now if you want?”

But what of Hughes’ future as an international player? After making his debut for Wales a little under a year ago, and with a surprise win against Uruguay under his belt from April, surely his prospects on the world stage are looking encouraging? With Gareth Bale announcing his retirement, is there a possibility for Hughes to follow in the steps of childhood hero Speed and take over as captain of his national team?

“****,” Hughes says, once again forgetting the request to forgo swearing. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I mean that’s the dream, isn’t it, but I know that any of the lads on the team’d do a great job in the role. Any one of us would bring something different to the job, so who’s to say?”

It’s modest, considered statements like these that give weight to Hughes’s earlier words of change: Lasso may have moved on, but his impact on the team is here to stay. I, for one, cannot wait to see where Colin Hughes takes it from here.

[legless-fish-on-rollerskates]

Right so next episode Michael's gonna come back from some work trip where he was off the grid and as soon as his plane lands he's gonna have like two hundred missed calls and texts from Colin because he's been freaking out over the past few weeks but none of them will be coherent because it's Colin so Michael will panic and show up at Nelson Road and then be very obviously losing it but trying to act cool and blend in while he asks around about Colin and he'll pull the "worried friend" card and Colin will be out signing autographs for all the fans who come to watch training so everyone will be in the dressing room except him and he finally shows up and they're all like, "your boyfriend's here and he's freaking out why the fuck did you leave him so many panicked messages and then not give any context" and Michael will nearly die on the spot because he thinks he's just outed Colin by showing up but Colin will be so excited he's home and kiss him in front of everyone and they all whistle and cheer and then Colin apologizes and explains, that's how it's gonna go, right?

[queerinthealps]

Do you think the himbos figured out Michael wasn't his wingman or he had to spell it out

i feel like once he came out to them. i feel he would tell them outright cause he knows they might not get it 😭😭

them: do you have a boyfriend then?

colin: uh yeah

them: who is it??

colin: michael, uh the guy i brought to sam’s restaurant

them: YOUR WINGMAN??