#nathan shelley fic

[lassofics]

Do You Trust Me?

Word count: 1.2k

Timeline: Kind of all over the place — seasons 1-2 mostly

Warnings: None

Summary: Nate used to trust Ted. Key words: used to.

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

“Hey, Nate the Great!” Ted greets him with the widest grin in the world, as if he’s just spotted the world’s cutest puppy or something. “You got plans Saturday night?”

Nate looks up, surprised. “Uh… no. No. I, um…” He chuckles nervously. “I never have plans, so…”

“Great!” Ted claps him on the back, causing Nate to snap his gaze up again. “You’ll be my plus-one to the gala.”

“The…” Nate’s eyes go wide. “The gala? Ms. Welton’s gala? The… Annual Benefit for Underprivileged Children?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Ted gives Nate a friendly smile, but sensing his unease, eases up on his tone. “What’s wrong?”

“I… no, no, nothing.”

“Come on, Nate. Talk to me.”

Nate exhales heavily, then just shrugs with a nervous grin. “I’ve never been to a fancy gala event like that.”

Ted just waves a hand dismissively. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

Nate nods, but the concern doesn’t leave his eyes. Ted, always perceptive, picks up on this and smiles gently.

“Hey,” he says, his tone more quiet and understanding now. “Do you trust me?”

Nate looks up at him. He hasn’t known Ted for more than a couple months. But so far, no one has made him feel this good about himself in a long time. So, he just nods.

“Yeah.”

“So you trust that I’m gonna make sure you have a great time?”

Nate’s smile softens, becoming more relaxed. If anyone can make him feel included and at ease, it’s Ted.

_________________

“I read through your notes.” Ted grins and hands the index cards back to Nate. “They’re brilliant. I think it’s exactly what the lads need to hear.”

Under the praise, Nate smiles proudly. “Great! So… you’ll tell them?”

“Oh, no. No, no, no.”

Nate’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “But…”

“You’re going to tell them.”

Nate’s blood runs cold. “What?”

Ted puts a hand on Nate’s shoulder, still giving him that friendly grin. “Come on. I can’t take credit for your ideas! Besides, it’ll be fun.”

“No- Ted, I… I can’t,” Nate replies quickly, feeling his anxiety surge. “Oh, God. I can’t.”

“Nate.” Ted gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Do you trust me?”

Nate wants to say no. He wants to tell Ted that no one will listen to him, that he’s just the water boy, for Christ’s sake. But the way Ted’s looking at him, with so much sincerity, as if he truly does believe in him…

“Yeah,” he murmurs, looking up at him with a still-worried gaze. “I do.”

_________________

It’s over a year later before Ted asks that question again. Ever since Nate became an assistant coach, it’s been a given — Nate trusts Ted, and Ted trusts Nate.

What a fucking joke.

Nate’s standing in the coach’s office, staring at his False Nine play, feeling so angry that he wants to rip the whiteboard apart. “Nate’s False Nine,” Ted had said, as if giving Nate credit for a strategy that could very well fail would make him feel good. As if no one would blame him when the players fuck up.

As if this wasn’t the only fucking thing Ted had bothered to give him credit for these past few months.

Speak of the devil. Ted’s voice suddenly echoes through the hallway. “Nate?”

Nate clenches his fists in his pocket. He doesn’t turn around.

“What is it, Ted?”

You’d have to be an idiot not to notice the tension in the room. And Ted Lasso is a lot of things, but he’s not an idiot.

“Is everything okay?” he asks, his tone softening as he steps into the office, approaching Nate.

Nate grits his teeth, still refusing to turn around. He can feel the tension brewing, threatening to come out with every passing minute. “Yes, Ted, everything is fine,” he spits, though the bitterness is unmistakeable.

Ted lets out a soft sigh. Things have been tense between them for a couple weeks now, and he’s wracked his brain trying to figure out why. But he’s always come up with jack squat.

“What did I do?”

Nate inhales through his nose. Yup, it’s definitely coming. A part of him is dreading this confrontation, but a larger part of him can’t wait to spew out his frustrations. Still, the anxiety in his body doesn’t allow him to say anything — not yet, anyway.

His silence prompts Ted to continue. “Come on, Nate. You’re mad as hell at me. I just wanna know why.”

Nate opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. His throat suddenly feels dry. Ted’s tone is so gentle, so genuine still, but it only furthers Nate’s anger, because Ted only seems to care when Nate’s upset, not when he’s doing fine.

“Hey.” Ted takes another step closer, his voice softening. “Do you trust me?”

And suddenly, it’s like something in Nate snaps. It’s been way too long since Ted asked that question, as if Nate’s trust was just some fucking tangible thing that Ted knew he’d had this whole time. As if, since he’d had it before, he could never lose it.

Nate finally turns around, his eyes flashing with frustration. “No, I don’t fucking trust you, Ted!” he snaps, his tone laced with both anger and a hint of hurt.

Ted’s eyes widen, but he stays silent, so Nate continues. “You fucking abandoned me. You don’t even give me the time of day anymore. You just…”

He laughs bitterly and runs a hand through his hair, his voice starting to shake. He’s crying now, and he doesn’t even care. Ted probably doesn’t, either.

“You act like I’m fucking invisible or some shit. You don’t even notice me practically begging for some scraps of your attention, like a… like a fucking dog.”

He wipes his eyes, trying to ignore that devastated expression on Ted’s face. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

“It feels like you don’t even like me anymore,” Nate confesses, his expression hardening and his tone becoming more hurt than anything else.

He leaves it at that, looking up at Ted, who looks absolutely speechless. It’s clear he didn’t even realize that he was ignoring him, which only makes Nate more angry. Because if he didn’t notice, then he never cared.

After a moment, Ted finally replies, his voice quieter and more emotional than Nate has ever heard it before.

“I’m so sorry, Nate,” he apologizes, looking at him with that same sincerity he always has. The sight makes Nate’s skin crawl. “I should’ve�� done more for you. I’m gonna do more for you, okay? I promise.”

His voice softens even more, and he takes a step closer to Nate, who’s crying even harder now. “You’re so, so important to me…”

“No.” Cutting him off, Nate shakes his head and wipes his eyes. “No, you’re only saying that ‘cause I’m so upset.”

“N-no, Nate…”

“No, you know what?” Nate snaps, digging his fingernails into his palms so much it physically hurts. “You’re full of shit.”

Ted’s expression falters, turning into one of hurt. Don’t look, don’t look. Nate swallows thickly.

“Fuck you, Ted.”

And with that, Nate spins on his heel and quickly walks out of the room, his heart beating a million miles an hour. Did he really just do that? Did he really finally say all the things he’d been wanting to say for all this time? But… oh, god. He can’t get Ted’s face out of his head.

[laiqualaurelote]

Ted Lasso fics masterlist

it’s not about the wins or losses, it’s about the fandom we made along the way - and that, I think, is what I’ll miss the most

meanwhile, a masterlist of all my Ted/Trent fics:

1. The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret (T, 20k)

“Thing is, though, you gotta love the questions themselves. I guess you journalists don’t get the luxury of that, seeing’s how you gotta rush your stories out - y’all just want your answers right off the bat. But I think you gotta live the questions first. Then one day you’ll gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

Trent takes off his glasses. “Ted Lasso, did you just quote Rilke at me?”

Ted shrugs modestly.

“I take it back,” says Trent. “You don’t need media training at all.”

In 48 hours, Trent Crimm lands a scoop, implodes his career and makes some drastic life decisions. And then there's the aftermath. And Ted, of course.

2. they will see us waving from such great heists (T, 21k)

“Well, like the Gambler himself says - you got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away, know when to run. And the latter would be about now, because I think this house is on fire.” 

In which Trent Crimm, Interpol, investigates the theft of Rupert Mannion’s painting by a mysterious thief dubbed The Greyhound. FBI Special Agent Ted Lasso gets in the way. Heist!AU

2a. Trick Plays (T, 6.4k)

Snippets from the Such Great Heists universe, including Crimminal Intent, The Prying Dutchman and We Provide Leverage.

3. constant as a northern star (constantly in the dark) (T, 10.5k)

“I just met Ted Lasso,” Sachiko Crimm says bluntly when her ex-husband picks up.

Trent is silent for a while. “And?” he says finally.

Sachiko gives it five seconds, and then she bursts out laughing.

“Stop it,” says Trent wearily.

The saga of Trent Crimm and his independent ex-wife

4. all the men and women merely players (T, 50k)

"So let me get this straight. You, an American whose career highlights consisted mainly of appearing on Saturday Night Live, decide in the wake of the apocalypse to lead a touring Shakespeare company across the ruins of England."

"Oh, I know. Heck, I said as much to Rebecca when she suggested it. I said, 'You could fill two Internets with what I don’t know about directing Shakespeare.' And she said, 'Ted, the Internet doesn’t exist any more.'"

Trent Crimm meets Ted Lasso by chance at a Shakespeare play. Five years and the end of the world later, they meet again at another. A Station Eleven post-apocalyptic theatre AU (no knowledge of Station Eleven necessary to read), WIP but updating real soon!

It’s been an honour to write for this fandom, I love you all so very much (on three!)

[jamiesfootball]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

Nate rubbed his hands on his thighs, some of that cool aloofness fading as he stammered, "I'm happy to be back amongst the Greyhounds. Grateful, even. If I'm honest, it's an opportunity I didn't see coming, and I- well, I don't intend to take it for granted. So, if there's anything between you and I that needs hashing out, um…?"

He trailed off uncertainly, his forehead creased in concern. He seemed serious. Which was a shame, because honestly Roy couldn’t fathom what the fuck it was that he could be talking about.

[jamietarttsnorthernattitude]

cw none

Higgins offers advice when Nate returns to the Greyhounds

Day 17 of @augusnippets - forgiveness

Read on ao3

[puppypeter]

just watched a bunch of Cut's Truth or Drink videos and it's making me want to read a ted lasso fic where they do it as a team building exercise (being open and honest and vulnerable all that)

[sleazyjanet]

"i hope nate returns to his old self" what old self? do you want him to be the sweet but unassuming, shy guy, is that what you want? because there's no old self for nate to go back to. he's growing as a person into a better version of himself that's neither past nor present and yet both altogether. traces of the old self mixing with the new and creating something better, someone confident and smart and sweet. someone who will be ready to make amends, likely, while hopefully also staying independent.

so he won't be "coming back", returning to anything. that would suck.

[atlanticsea]

i have to say i'm kind of baffled that nathan's entire s3 arc is apparently just. romance? like obviously this is just my opinion but To Me a lot of what led to him doing everything he did was caused by deep insecurity and a self loathing he overcompensated for by diminishing others, and a lot of that also came down to him feeling insufficient As A Man (he was obviously set up to be very envious of roy, who was everything he wanted to be) so. to see him have a redemption arc entirely based on him starting to date someone is just deeply strange. the idea that his self worth and his masculinity would be validated by a woman is...... uuuh...... like idk man for a show that wants to be "about fathers" and thus to an extent about masculinity, and that obviously is invested in showing different displays of healthy masculinity confident in their identity, it reaaaly feels like they dropped the ball with nate.

[bbymunsonx]

The Last Time (Ted's Version)

Preface

Lacy Watson is a graduate of Wichita State University when she is offered the opportunity of a lifetime, to travel overseas to work with two of the University's coaches. As a way to run from her past, of course, she says yes.

As she becomes closer to the players on the team and develops feelings for one of Richmond's coaches, Lacy may not be able to run from her past anymore. She starts to question her decision to come all the way to England, but her choice may be the reason why everyone begins to heal.

I do not own any of the Ted Lasso characters! Lacy Watson is my own character :)

chapter warnings: none

word count: 715

My palms were coated in sweat as I was sitting outside of the Dean's office. When I checked my email this morning, all I saw was that he wanted to have a meeting with me at noon today. Graduation was in two days and I don't think I would be able to handle getting kicked out of school. I don't even know why I would be getting kicked out. Now I'm just overthinking it.

"Ms. Watson, you may enter," the dean's secretary gave me permission. I took a deep breath and entered the office. There sat the dean of Wichita State University, Professor Reeves. 

"Lacy Watson, please take a seat." Professor Reeves motioned to the seat directly across from his desk. 

"Thank you so much for coming on such short notice," he apologized. 

"No worries. What can I do for you?" I wanted to get right to the point. 

"So as you know, graduation is in two days. Out of all the students we had in our journalism program, you are the one that showed the most promise."

"Well, thank you. I've worked very hard. Even after..." No. I'm not going to talk about that. "Yes. I've worked very hard."

"I hope you don't mind, but we brought your name into discussion for a unique job opportunity."

"What kind of job?" I inquired. This was totally not the way I was expecting this conversation to go. 

"Do you know Coach Lasso and Coach Beard?" Professor Reeves asked. 

"Um... My ex-boyfriend played football so I used to see them at games. I might've met them a few times. May I asked what they have–"

"A football club in Richmond, England has offered Coach Lasso and Coach Beard a job coaching for their club. The club owner just called back and asked if we have any sports journalists that may be interested in joining their team, as well."

All of a sudden, my mouth had become incredibly dry. They wanted me to travel overseas to work with two middle aged men I've met once?

"What did you tell them?" I asked. 

"I told them that you would be honored. Ms. Watson, I know you've had a rough year. You've dealt with so much and you've still come out on top. I've talked to Coach Lasso and Coach Beard and they both agree that you'd be a wonderful addition." Professor Reeves pushed a piece of paper across the table. My diploma. "So you don't have to worry about not having it. You've earned it." 

"Thank you."

"I'll give you Coach Lasso's phone number. There's already a plane ticket with your name on it and the club owner already paid for apartment in England for you. But if you don't want to go, you don't have to."

I took Coach Lasso's phone number and slipped it into my pocket so I could shake the Dean's hand. "Thank you for everything, Professor." 

***

I laid in my bed and stared up at my ceiling fan for an hour straight, trying to straighten out all the thoughts in my head. This was such a great opportunity, and the Dean was right. So much has happened to me this year. I have nothing left for me here. My hand slipped into my pocket to feel the piece of paper the Dean had given to me earlier with Coach Lasso's phone number. My fingers dialed the numbers that were written on the paper and I took a deep breath in as I hit the green dial button. 

"Hello?" A man's voice answered on the other end. 

"Hi, is this Ted Lasso?" I asked. Duh, of course it is. That man has such a recognizable voice. 

"Why yes it is. How can I help you?" Why was he so charming?

"Hey, Coach Lasso. This is Lacy Watson. Professor Reeves talked to me earlier today about the sports journalism opportunity in Richmond."

"Hiya Lacy! So what's the word? Coach Beard and I are having a slumber party tonight because we are so gosh darn excited about this whole thing. Well, also because our flight leaves at five in the morning. Coach, say hi to Lacy."

"Hi to Lacy," Beard mumbled in the background. I rolled my eyes. 

"Send me the address. I'm on my way." 

[podklb]

Nate-Centric Fic Recs: Part 1 (Gen)

This is my first post in ages, because I have decided I have something of value to contribute! And that is my knowledge of excellent fics about Nathan Shelley. I love pretty much all the characters on Ted Lasso, but Nate is my favorite, I’ve got a bit of a mental collection of great Nate fics, so I thought I’d type it out and share it with the world. 

When I started to write this out, I realized that I have too many recs for a single post, so this one is just for gen fic, and shipfic will be in a separate post.

Nathan Shelley Gen Fic Recs

do you believe in ghosts? by @atlanticsea, ~2.5k. A character study of Nate’s journey through S1 and S2, gorgeously written with a very cool ghost metaphor woven throughout.

talk about me, make it all about you by @ohlafraise, ~1K. Nate and Jamie run into each other in S3. This fic is thoughtful, funny, insightful, and deeply satisfying, all in under 1000 words!

he can’t play it any faster when he plays the blues by @thatsparrow, ~3.5K. Rupert takes Nate out for drinks after work. This has a fantastic Nate POV that lets him be complicated about Ted and Beard and Rupert and beautifully explores all of his layers of feelings on top of feelings throughout the evening.

I Knew I Was Right (I Learned I Was Wrong) by @fandomfrolics, ~6.5K. After Nate leaves West Ham, Rebecca invites him to spend several days on her yacht. Beard tags along. The connections Nate has with both Beard and Rebecca and the way they unpack their past hurts and slowly begin to move to a different place than they started from is fascinating. This story understands all three characters extremely well.

Kitman, Backup, Wonderkid by @bisexualshakespeare, ~.5K. This is actually a filk, which means a fannish song! I love this type of fanwork and Ted Lasso fandom has very few, but we are very lucky that the ones we have are by bisexualshakespeare, who is one of the best filk lyricists I've ever encountered. This song is to the tune of Loser Geek Whatever from Be More Chill and it's absolutely perfect. Please PLEASE if you check this out, actually listen to the performance of the song, which is emotional and devastating in the best way. The lyrics are a perfect encapsulation of the headspace Nate would have gotten to by the S2 finale, and S3 so far has made it just age better and better. If you are a Nate fan, this is worth the 6 minutes of your time that it will take to listen to it, I promise.

Self-Care Tips for Lonely, Bitter-Hearted Fools by @boglady, ~5.5K. This is a character study of Nate via a bunch of self-care advice that is extremely unhelpful/frustrating/condescending because it doesn't acknowledge or address his actual needs. Kind of like most of the well-meaning advice he gets in canon! This fic is so smart about Nate and about retelling canon moments from his POV. Very formative to me when I first fell in love with this character and was gobbling up every fic I could find about him.

For a Minute There I Lost Myself by @boasamishipper, ~7.5K. Nate muddles through figuring out who he is as a head coach at West Ham. It takes him some time, but it's a beautiful journey, and the West Ham player OCs are well-developed and delightful! I love that this fic is about Nate continuing his journey on his own, that his growth here comes purely from figuring himself out, and he doesn't need the other Ted Lasso characters to do any of that work for him. He's got this!

Can't Take Them Anywhere by @hacash, ~2K. The history of kit man Nate's very detailed and specific list of what to not do with hotel furniture. One of the tags is "potentially the real Nate Shelley villain origin story" and that captures so much of what I love about the fic. It's hilarious and fun! While at the same time there's a real undercurrent of how deeply messed up and unfair it is for all the players to be so immature and self-centered and for Nate to constantly be the one who has to clean up their messes! A delightful romp, but with weight to it. Perfection.

Leave Elegance to the Tailor by TwelveLeagues, ~3.5K. Nate shops for a suit with Ted, then with Keeley, and then with Rupert. Like everything TwelveLeagues writes, this has incredible nuance and character insight in pretty much every sentence. Seeing the way Nate changes over time is painful, and the end is devastating, but there's also hope because throughout the earlier scenes we've seen so thoroughly who Nate is at his core and that he's so much more than the terrible situation he ends up in.

[rockinhamburger]

You know, I'm starting to think fandom way overblows the extent to which some of Nate's early actions are "red flags". Like, yeah, calling a woman a shrew is rude and a bit questionable, but if I thought my boss were about to fire me when I'm doing a good job and am not even close to being a financial problem, leaving me no choice but to consider it personal, you bet I'd not be sweet and forgiving about it!

Anon, I think you're dead on about Nate's understandable reaction to the reasonable conclusion he drew that he'd been unceremoniously fired. Ted was in on the prank they were pulling on Nate, pretending he had no idea what was happening, so from Nate's POV they're on the same side of confusion. But Nate did come in hot immediately even with him: "Ted, what the fuck's going on?"

Obviously calling Rebecca a shrew isn't nice, but I think this is one of those instances where Nate is being held to a standard other characters wouldn't be if they were in his shoes. I feel like we can cut him some slack when he thought he was being fired. (Also, let's be honest here, people will identify calling a woman a shrew as a red flag, but not even consider the red flag that is publicly pranking a person of colour by making him think he's been fired before revealing it's actually a promotion. That's pretty lousy workplace behaviour from the white people in power. What we consider red flags is dependent on society and culture and individual experience, and I think it's important to keep intersectionality in mind when examining marginalized characters' words and actions.)

Nate thought he was being fired - not just fired, but replaced before he was even informed. That whole prank is a really bad look; the more you think about it, the worse it is. By the way, I highly recommend this fantastic fic which depicts that moment in a way that is powerfully perspective-altering: Like a Crow by TwelveLeagues.

One quick thing I want to mention because I do feel it's relevant. Nate calls Rebecca a shrew, which is quite literally a Shakespearian insult from The Taming of the Shrew. I think it is worth highlighting that Nate doesn't use some modern sexist insult against Rebecca. I think that's worth noting because yes, calling a woman a shrew is not kind, but I think it says more about Nate's fear and anxiety than it suggests a sexist worldview, or a more sexist worldview than most of the other characters in the show. That moment when Nate lashes out is indicative of his fear and insecurity about losing his job (which we've already seen hints of prior to this). It's also clear that he acts rashly when he feels threatened (something he's been in this workplace quite a bit). But this is also one of the early moments in which we see that Nate's more than the meek kit man; he's got some fight in him. He is not going to just meekly accept that he's been publicly sacked and replaced. He's going to say something. In other words, Nate contains multitudes. He's more than a villain, and he's more than a bunch of red flags.

[chainofclovers]

For Sexy Christmas, I wrote the first (known to me) Nate/Rebecca/Ted story.

Nate/Rebecca/Ted | 14k | Explicit

When a breakup curse hits Richmond, Nathan Shelley and Rebecca Welton find themselves lonely again. Luckily, they both have mobile phones.

[laiqualaurelote]

all the men and women merely players

a Ted Lasso Station Eleven AU

"So let me get this straight. You, an American whose career highlights consisted mainly of appearing on Saturday Night Live, decide in the wake of the apocalypse to lead a touring Shakespeare company across the ruins of England."

"Oh, I know. Heck, I said as much to Rebecca when she suggested it. I said, 'You could fill two Internets with what I don’t know about directing Shakespeare.' And she said, 'Ted, the Internet doesn’t exist any more.'"

Trent Crimm meets Ted Lasso by chance at a Shakespeare play. Five years and the end of the world later, they meet again at another. A Station Eleven post-apocalyptic theatre AU.

[jamiesfootball]

🧍🛏️

^ the person AROSE from bed

Thank you funny person. I cackled at this.

Here is a snippet from the (SOON! SOON I SAY!) chapter 2 of Oh God You're Gonna Get It (You Have Not Been Given Love)

Speaking of moving on.

At the desk that had become Trent's desk sat it's previous owner.

While he'd only been back for a week, he'd made quick work of settling back into his old position. Where the reporter had kept things simple with -- a laptop, a notebook, a couple mugs -- Nate came prepared with all the standard Nate-football stuff: charts and notebooks and graphs that, even with his years of experience, Roy couldn't explain past intuition. He recognized a few binders from before, but a few new ones had joined the ranks. On his work desk, all the same familiar markers, whiteboards, and favored magnets were lined up and waiting, optimized in some secret system you probably had to be a genius to understand.

But the Nate at the desk wasn't the standard Nate. While it was a welcome sight to see him again in the red-and-blue, the uniform fit him better than it ever had before. His shoulders slumped open, his arms relaxed instead of folded in on himself. He may have left his Richmond family behind, but the year away had been good to him, in some way he hadn't been able to achieve at the Dogtrack.

With the chip off his shoulders melted off, Nate resembled nothing of the skittish kitman that used to scurry about the place. Used to jump at every sound, and here he hadn't even noticed Roy coming through the door. All of his attention was focused on whoever he was texting on his phone -- something else that was new.

Roy considered not being a dick. For a second.

Loudly, he asked, "Girlfriend?"

Nate jumped. The pen flipped out of his hand and the phone clattered to the desk. Quickly, he fumbled his phone into his pocket, hiding it away like Roy was his boss here to tell him off for not working.

Roy shook his head. Same old Nate.

[jamietarttsnorthernattitude]

Neve done this before, so I hope this is the right way, but I would love to know about your WIP copenhagen! 💙

Hi!! Done perfectly, friend! From this post.

Copenhagen comes from an idea from the immeasurably talented @jamiesfootball where Jamie comes onto the bus after the night in Amsterdam with a black eye. He jokes that Roy said to say it was an accident and plays it up because he thinks it's funny, but then the team and everyone genuinely thinks Roy hit him (he didn't, or it actually was an accident). So I changed it a bit so they are playing in Copenhagen, and Roy's in a bad mood, so Jamie makes him spend the night in a similar fashion as they did in Amsterdam and gets on the bus with a black eye. Roy is upset because no one believes him, and then more upset when he realises that they actually don't have a reason to believe him, given their history.

Here is a snippet!

“Did you headbutt him again?” Nate asked tentatively, his voice reaching a pitch Roy hadn’t heard in a while.  “What? No,” Roy said dismissively, not turning to the former kit man.  “Hey, listen, Coach,” Beard said, finally pulling Roy’s attention. “You can’t do that anymore. We get you two bump heads sometimes, but you’re the manager now, so you gotta lay off with the whole hitting Jamie thing.” The vein in Roy's neck threatened to burst. “I didn’t fucking hit him.” “Roy,” Beard said mockingly. “We can see the black eye.” Nate shifted uncomfortably in his seat and Roy did the same, adjusting his bad knee, sore from a night spent biking and walking.  “It. Was. An. Accident,” Roy said slowly. 

[fanficfanattic]

Two whole entries for Whumptober! Perhaps I will be finished before next year starts lol.

Roy should have known better than to shake awake a traumatized, delirious footballer. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20.

Now Nate Shelley is calming an upset, sick Jamie and Beard is calming an upset, worried Ted. And Roy? He’s icing his cheek where Jamie got a lucky hit in. His eyes hadn’t even been open.

Whumptober Day 2: “I’ll call out your name, but you won't call back."

Thermometer | Delirium | "They don't care about you."

[thoughtful-dragon]

Ted Lasso - Jamie&Nate apology fic

Just clearing out some of my short fics that stand alone - this is set during 3x12.

"Hey, Nate?"

Nate turns to look down the corridor and is… not even shocked at this point to see Jamie coming towards him. Since Will, Colin and Isaac had turned up at the Taste of Athens there's been a plethora of strange and wonderful interactions with AFC Richmond. It seems only right, really.

It's just been announced that Nate's coming back to Richmond and Nate had been warmed by the way he'd been received in the dressing room. It was like he'd never left, really. Except, of course, in all the ways it was completely different.

Jamie jogs up next to him even though Nate's come to a complete stop.

"Er, hi, Jamie," Nate says. "Did you need-?"

"How come you ain't being a coach?"

"Oh," Nate's taken aback. "We just thought it'd be easier for the last bit of the season."

Jamie frowns. "Right," he says slowly. "And you're good with that, yeah?"

"Yeah," Nate says. It has been a bit strange, but then he thinks it'll be nice in a way. And he's still not quite sure whether… Well.

Jamie shrugs. "OK," he says. "Seems… Anyway, I actually wanted to apologise." Before Nate can say anything, he goes on, "For how I was with you the first season I were here. I was a prick and-" he stumbles a little over the next bit. "-a bully and I didn't really, like, consider people. I'm sorry and I'm trying to be better now so I wanted to… you know, let you know that."

"I- thank you, Jamie," Nate says. "I… I know that."

Jamie pulls down the brim of his cap. "Cool, cool, man. I just wanted to make sure, like, 'cause… Yeah, we're happy to have you back and all. So, does that mean you won't like be back coaching next season?"

"I… don't really know, yet." Nate says.

"Right," Jamie frowns again. A former Nate would probably be wondering whether he was confused about the colour of the walls or something, but he's trying not to judge people quite as much. "Anyway, glad you're good man. I've got to get to the physios, check me ankle out."

"Oh," Nate says. "How's it looking for the match?"

"Yeah," Jamie says. "They reckon it'll be fine."

"Good," Nate says, because he was trying to rework the match strategy without Jamie and well. It would certainly be challenging at this point in the season, the way Richmond were playing. "Good, be careful with it."

Jamie grins. "Will do, coach."

Nate narrows his eyes at him, but relents. "Saw the Man City match," Nate says. "The goals were impressive."

"Oh," Jamie looks down, a little bashful. "Thanks, thanks, man. Colin scored the first one."

"Yeah," Nate says. "But you made the play."

It's only the truth, so he thinks the way Jamie's head shoots up in surprise is a bit much. He grins and doesn't say anything.

Nate rolls his eyes. "Go and get get your ankle checked."

"Yes, coach," Jamie says, grinning and then ducks into the treatment room.