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betterthanburrow · 1 year ago

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Snow On The Beach - Joe Burrow

Summary: After the past few rough months for the Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback, you decide to plan a one night get-away trip away from the city of Cincinnati is the best way to spend your boyfriend’s 27th birthday… but how good of an idea was it to plan a one night get-away trip to the house by the beach during Ohio’s Snow Season?!

Genre: Fluff and Angst

The past few months have been pretty rough for the Cincinnati Quarterback; on the second day of training camp he sustained a calf injury which caused him to miss out on the rest of training camp and the pre-season games, the calf injury continued to bother him on and off throughout the first six weeks of the season.

By the time Bye Week was over, Joe Burrow thought his run of bad luck was finally over as he started to feel like himself of the football field again… but only just a few weeks later, he would suffer an injury that would cause him to be out for the rest of the football season.

To say Joe Burrow is frustrated would be an understatement; he was furious that his season was over for the second time in his NFL career, he was furious with the NFL for wanting to do an investigation just because he wore a compress brace on the flight to Baltimore, he was furious that the chances of The Bengals making it to the playoffs have lowered because of his injury… but most importantly, he is furious about how the past few months of bad luck incidents have put so much stress on your relationship.

Joe knows how lucky he is to have such a supportive partner that has been by his side since the two of you started dating during your sophomore year at Ohio State University… This isn’t the first time that either of you have felt like the universe is trying to test the two of you to see if your relationship could survive, but it was terrifying to think about how much longer your relationship can survive through these “tests”.

The past few months have been exhausting to live through day by day, at times you felt like the only time you and Joe spent time together was when an argument was happening… It was becoming harder and harder to be the supportive girlfriend when Joe wouldn’t listen to your advice to take things easy, and now both of you are facing the consequences of being terrified to push the boundary wall of your relationship.

The past few weeks since it was announced that Joe was out for the rest of the season and that he would need surgery for his wrist… It has felt like the two of you are walking on eggshells around each other while pretending to act your relationship was fine.

Today is Joe’s birthday and while you wished that the two of you could’ve just had the entire day to yourselves for the first time in so long to be able to take a step in the right direction towards getting your relationship back on the right track… The NFL had other plans as they scheduled The Bengals to have a home football game on Joe’s birthday.

When the NFL’s football schedule for The Bengals was released in May, Joe was excited about the thought of playing a home game on his birthday… but as he sat on the sidelines bench throughout the game, all he could think about was wanted to do was be with you.

Usually after home game at the Paycor Stadium on Sunday afternoons, you would arrive back at Joe’s home before him… so you were grateful that you had some time to get everything ready for Joe’s birthday that you have been planning out for the past few days, before he has the chance to leave the stadiums

Joe has never been someone that wanted to go all out for his birthday. If he came home to a surprise party with a bunch of people in his house after the long day he had at the Stadium, he would not have a fun time at his own birthday party… and the last thing you would want to do was make Joe upset on his birthday.

You still wanted this day to feel more special and different from the past couples of weeks… and after many days of searching through Pintrest and Tiktok to get ideas for what to do on your anti-social man’s birthday, your brain finally came up with an idea.

It had been almost been an hour since you arrived back to Joe’s house, and you were so busy getting everything ready to go that you didn’t realize how fast the time went by… and before you could notice; Joe had parked his car in the driveway and was walking up the front steps with his keys in his left hand, ready to unlock the front door that he knows you had locked.

The sound of the front door opening caught your attention away from the kitchen table and a smile appeared on your face as you watched Joe walked into the house.

“Hey Birthday Boy!” you exclaimed, stopping what you were doing and walking over to Joe to wrap your arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek.

“Hey Pretty Girl.” Joe said, wrapping his left arm around your waist, as his right arm was in the sling. “Did you have a fun at the football game?”

You nodded your head, “It was fun… but I can’t lie, I’m still not used to not seeing you on the field but instead on the sidelines.”

Joe sighed, “Yeah, it’s been about 4 weeks and I’m still not used to sitting on the sidelines for the game either.”

As he pulled you to give you a hug without putting any pressure on his right arm, he looked over your shoulder to see a checklist, a whole bunch of random items on the kitchen table and two suitcases at the bottoms of the staircase.

“It looks like you’ve been busy.” Joe says. You pull away from the hug and walk back over to the kitchen table as Joe followed you. “What have you been planning?”

“I know what you said that you didn’t want to do anything for your birthday… but I still wanted to make today feel special.” you explained as you started to do continue pack the random items into smaller packing bags and checking items off your checklist.

“Everyday is special when I spend the game with you.” Joe cheekily says with a grin.

You playfully roll your eyes before saying, “You know what I mean Joe… Things haven’t gone exactly the way we’ve wanted things to go for the past few months.”

Joe immediately understood what you meant by what you had said. From the injuries to the arguments, all the bad things that you wished could never happened just never seemed to stop… He couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty that it was partly his fault for the recent troubles in your relationship.

“I know and you’re right… I’m sorry.” He says.

You shake your head as you stopped what you were doing to walk up to him, kissing his cheek and then pulling him into a hug. “Please don’t apologize for something that this not your fault, neither of us could’ve expected the things that have happened to you over the past few months.”

The hug didn’t last as long as Joe wished it could’ve. Because of how it has felt like the two of you had been walking around on eggshells, Joe can’t remember the last time the two of you had an intimate moment together that didn’t act an apology for an argument.

“You still haven’t told me what you’ve been planning.” Joe says as he takes a glance at the checklist, seeing a bunch of items that had been checked off the list that he assumes have been packed into the suitcases.

“Remember a few years ago when we rented an airbnb house close by EdgeWater Beach in Cleveland during the Summer with Sam and his ex-girlfriend.” You asked and Joe nodded his head. “I know that it’s probably not very convenient for your schedule, but I rented the same cabin close by the beach for tonight… I figured that maybe we need to get out of this house for just a night and what better excuse to get out of the house than to celebrate your birthday!”

When you don’t get an immediate response from Joe, you turn your head to look at him and you were confused to see a massive grin on his smile.

“What’s with the massive grin on your face?!” you asked. “You’re grinning just like Mr. Grinch.”

“I’m not grinning like Mr. Grinch.” Joe defensively says. “All I was doing was grinning at you.”

“Well you didn’t say anything immediately after I told you… so I was a little bit worried that you didn’t like what I had planned out for tonight.” you say.

Joe walks towards you to stand right behind you, wrapping his left arm around your waist as you leaned your back to his chest. He kissed the top of your head and then leans down to kiss your cheek multiple times causing you to giggle at the over the top affection.

“You’re right when you said it’s probably not very convenient for my schedule… but it’s my birthday so I think that allows me to change my schedule around.” Joe whispers. “Especially if my girlfriend and her amazing top-secret planning skills are the reason why I’m allowing myself to change my schedule.”

You turn around so that you’re face to face with him and you smile when you see that the massive grin is still on his face. “That’s good to hear, I’ll keep that information for the future… It’s good we’re on the same page because we’ll have to be going soon if we want to be on the road and make it to the house to unpack our stuff before going to our dinner reservations.”

“We have dinner reservations too” Joe exclaimed. “We have dinner reservations at what restaurant?!”

“I booked us dinner reservations at The Bourbon Street Barrel Room restaurant that we loved when we were in the town with Sam and his ex-girlfriend.” You answered. “Everytime we’re in Cleveland we always say that we’re going to eat at the restaurant again but then we never do because we already out of time.”

“I remember that restaurant… What time are the dinner reservations at?!” Joe asked.

“8:30” you answered. “Which is in almost 3 hours.”

A confused look appears on Joe’s face. “You do know that it’s about a 3 hour drive from here to Cleveland… and who knows how bad the traffic on the highway is going to be.” Joe stated.

You nod your head and sighed, “Listen I understand that I probably didn’t plan everything out perfectly into the schedule we already had planned out today because of the game… but I really tried my best and I think we can make it to the airbnb house and then to restaurant for our dinner reservations if we rush out the door in about 5 minutes.”

Joe chuckled, “Honestly you’re great at alot of things, but I don’t think time management skill is one of those things… Let me make a phone call real quick.” he says before stepping away from you and pulling his phone out of the pocket of his jeans.

“It better be a quick phone call… we need to leave in 5 minutes!” you exclaimed, before continuing to finish packing the items that you had to check off the list.

Joe had walked away from the kitchen so you could ease-drop on his phone-call conversation with whoever he was calling… You just hoped whatever conversation Joe was having on the phone wouldn’t be too long of a conversation, because the two of you would have to start the drive to Cleveland soon.

It was Joe’s birthday but here he was spoiling you. The plans for the 3 hour drive to the airbnb house in Cleveland got canceled, not because you and Joe realized it was too late to get on the road… but because the phone call Joe had made, was to arrange his private plane to fly the two of you to Cleveland (turning the 3 hour drive into a less than an hour flight).

On any other occasion, you would’ve argued that taking a private plane just to Cleveland was a waste of a flight… but it was his birthday and the last thing you wanted to do was argue with the birthday boy.

As soon as the car ride (that Joe had also planned out to pick you and him up after the private flight) had driven the two of you to the airbnb house by the beach… The happy memories of the last time the two of you were here came back to your minds, entering the house for the first time in many years, noticing that many things had changed not just in the house but in your relationship with Joe.

Even if it was just for tonight, it was nice to pretend that everything has been perfectly fine in your relationship with Joe for the past couple of months as the two of you got ready for the dinner reservations together in the main bedroom… and by getting ready together meaning that you helped Joe put on his nice jeans and button up shirt since his right arm is in a cast, then him keeping you company and watching while you do your make-up and your hair.

There was no reason to rush anymore, like Joe had said before, the way you handle time management isn’t your strongest skill… maybe you were a little lucky that Joe had his private plane on speed dial incase of “emergencies” like tonight.

It’s as if the minutes started to go by faster by the time you and Joe had arrived in Cleveland because before you knew it… The two of you had arrived at The Bourbon Street Barrel Room restaurant for your dinner reservations, and the staff was so excited to be hosting the Cincinnati Bengals’ birthday dinner because everyone in Ohio loves Joe Burrow.

Joe felt like himself as the two of you were in deep conversations with each other while waiting for the food to arrive at the table… Joe had felt so lost since coming to the realization that for the second time in his NFL career, he wouldn’t be able to complete the rest of the football season.

For the first time in what has felt like forever, the two of you were able to be around each other without feeling tension in the air between the two of you… While Joe was slowly starting to come to terms with the fact that his season was over, he realized that he shouldn’t let the things that he can’t control have any effect on his relationship with you.

If anyone else would’ve planned this one night get-away trip on his birthday, he would’ve told them to refund the money spent on the trip… but he knew that you knew that the two of you needed this one night away from your home in Cincinnati and he was grateful that he had a partner in his life who knows what he needs without having to say it.

Thankfully, the restaurant staff was able to seat you and Joe at a table that was secluded by the rest of the restaurant, in your own private area just for Joe to be able to enjoy his birthday dinner with you… and the food was even more delicious than you remembered from the last time the two of you ate at the restaurant.

The two of you had sat in silence while eating your meal and enjoying the music from the restaurant’s speakers… but it wasn’t a silence that was filled in the void by tension and lingering frustration after an argument came to an end, the silence was a peaceful.

And to make the end of dinner even more special, the waiter brought two slices of red velvet cake for you and Joe to enjoy before leaving the restaurant… you thanked God that the waiters didn’t sing the Happy Birthday song to Joe because you knew he would’ve been uncomfortable afterwards.

After the long night at the restaurant, Joe and you were in the back of the cab on the way back to the airbnb house, cuddled up side by side against each other feeling just a little bit tipsy because of the wine and the good food that was settled in your tummies.

The city of Cleveland has never looked so beautiful before as you were staring out the car window looking at all of the Christmas decorations that were scattered around the buildings along the streets.

Joe was more focused on how gorgeous you looked, sitting next to him in the car with his jacket being worn over your shoulders because your long sleeve dress was not enough coverage to keep you warm, rather than the different Christmas decorations you keep pointing out to him through the windows every couple of minutes.

It didn’t take long before the cab parked right in front of the driveway and not even a minute later you and Joe were walking, with your right hand intertwined with his left hand, towards the front patio to the door as the cab was driving away.

Unfortunately Joe had to let go of your hand in order to reach for the keys to the house that were in the pocket of his jeans… As Joe unlocked the door, the light snowfall that had started as the two of you were leaving the restaurant was starting to get heavier.

The EdgeWater Beach was only a few short miles away from the airbnb house but the view of the snow heavily falling onto the sand was a beautiful sight to see that had you memorized.

“You’re staring at the snowfall Pretty Girl?!” Joe asked, reaching his left hand out to grab your hand to pull you inside. You were so distracted by the snow falling, you didn’t realize Joe had finally unlocked the front door.

“I was wondering when the snow was going to start in Ohio.” you exclaimed, following him inside the house. “It feels like it’s been forever since it has snowed.”

“Don’t say that you miss snow… otherwise it’s going to snow until April.” Joe jokingly says, as he struggles taking off his coat, which forces you to help him before taking off your own coat to hang on the coat rack.

“So now I know you didn’t blow out the candle and wished for snow.” you say, referencing to the slice of red velvet cake that was gifted by the restaurant staff.

Joe laughs as he states walking towards the living room to sit on the couch, “No I definitely didn’t wish for snow.”

“So what did you wish for?” you curiously asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

Joe turned his head to glare at you with a smug on his face, “The birthday wish doesn’t come true if I tell you.”

This time, it was your turn to laugh. “I told you what I wished for when it was my birthday a few months ago!” you exclaim. “Just tell me your wish!”

Joe zipped his lips and shoved the invisible key into his pocket. “You’ll know one day… today is not that day.”

You playfully rolled your eyes and huffed, “Well… since you don’t want to tell me your birthday wish, I guess we’ll just move right along to your present.”

“My present?!” Joe asked.

You nodded your head as you stood up from your spot from the couch and run upstairs to the main bedroom to grab the present that you hid inside your suitcase.

It didn’t take you long to come back downstairs with Joe’s present in your hands as you sat in the same spot on the couch and handed the present to Joe.

“I might need some help…” Joe says, slightly lifting his right arm. “Because of this situation.”

“Oh right.” you shyly say. “Sorry I didn’t realize that unwrapping the present might be difficult for you.”

Joe gave you an apologetic smile before he started to unwrap the present with your help… As he tore off more of the wrapping paper, he could slowly start to see that it was some sort of frame. Once all the wrapping paper was torn off the frame and thrown into the living room floor, Joe analyzed the frame.

“It’s the Night Sky Star Map… and if you look at the date on the bottom, it’s the day that you asked me to be your girlfriend.” you shut explain, pointing to the frame. “I’ll be honest with you, I had trouble trying to figure out what to buy you for your birthday… because what do you get for the guy who could buy anything that he wanted whenever he wanted.”

“This is… the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received!” Joe exclaims. “I mean you know how much I love astronomy stuff… It’s good to know I asked you be my girlfriend on such a pretty starry night.”

A smile appears on your face as you let out the deep breathe you had been holding in for the past couple of minutes… He leans forward to give you a peck of the lips before placing the frame next to him on the couch then pulled your body close to him with his left arm.

Joe kissed the top of your head, “Thank you for the gift, and while you are right when you said that I could buy anything that I wanted whenever I wanted… Anything that I would buy for myself would never be as meaningful as getting a gift from you.”

You snuggled close to Joe and his left arm wrapped around your shoulder to bring you closer to him… The two of you sat together in a peaceful silence as Joe’s fingers twirled the end pieces on your hair, you rested your head on his chest listening to his heartbeat and feeling him taking deep breathes under the palm of your hand.

The owners of the airbnb house must love to decorate for the Christmas because the living room was decorated very nicely for the holidays… The decoractions around the living room weren’t overwhelming obnoxious with random decor that people buy just to keep up with whatever Christmas decor items are trending on social media but it was Christmas decor that has been passed down through families for many generations as has been taken care of to make the house feel like home.

It was a cozy setting that made you feel like the two of you were in a Hallmark Holiday movie. You lifted your head just a little bit to get a better view from the window of the snow falling on the beach… Joe looked down and watched how your eyes glistened as you admired the snowfall. While he was never a huge fan of snow, he knew how much you loved this weather.

Maybe it was because of the good food and wine or because of the exhaustion from the long day, but you felt very spontaneous in the moment… An idea had come to your mind as the two of you were watching the snow fall get heavier as the minutes went by.

Quickly, you stood up from your spot on the couch and immediately started walking back over to the coat rack to put on your coat… Joe, who had started to doze off because he felt so relaxed, sat up and was confused.

You walked back over to the living room and he saw you wearing your coat and then noticed that you were holding his coat in your hands… Before Joe could ask you any questions, you tossed his coat to him signaling that you wanted him to put it on.

“What’s going through that pretty little mind of yours?” Joe asked. “You’re not thinking what I think, right?!”

You slowly nod your head and Joe sighed, “It’s too cold to go outside… The snow falling heaver by the minute.”

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on the beach while it’s snowing!” you exclaim. “It’s a beautiful sight that I can’t stand watching from the couch!”

“I wouldn’t call this a once in a lifetime opportunity since it snows in Ohio every year.” Joe says.

“And have you ever seen snow on the beach before tonight?!” you asked, crossing your arms.

Joe sighs again and shakes his head in defeat, the last thing he wanted to go was start an argument with you since today was the first day in a while where the two of you haven’t argued about anything.

“If you really don’t want to go outside then you don’t have too… But I’m going outside even if it’s just for a few minutes to admire the outdoor scenery.” you said, before turning around and walking out the house.

Joe flinched when he heard you slam the front door shut. He took a deep breath to calm his fast-beating heart down before putting on his coat that you tossed to him… While Joe really didn’t want to go outside in the cold weather, he wasn’t an idiot to allow his girlfriend to wonder off during the night.

It doesn’t take long for Joe to follow your footprints in the snow and to find you standing on the beach, admiring the cold atmosphere… He didn’t immediately walk up to you, allowing you to have some space.

It wasn’t the worse argument that you and Joe have had recently in the past few weeks, maybe it wasn’t even an argument at all, but if Joe knows you like he think he does… Joe knows that you were probably more frustrated that the two of you allowed yourselves to set up a situation to argue about that wouldn’t have been avoided if you didn’t walk away.

He watched you pull your phone out of the pocket of your coat to take a couple of pictures and a video of the snow falling onto the sand, kicking the snow around as you walked closer to the ocean.

The cold atmosphere and the sigh of walking the snow fall onto the sand was truly something Joe had never seen before… and maybe you were right about this being a once in a lifetime experience, because who knows the next time the two of you would be on the beach during the Ohio snow season.

After a few minutes of Joe watching you admire the outdoor scenery, he slowly started to walk towards you… The last time he wanted to do was scare you from behind, but before Joe could make his presence known to you.

“I guess you made your decision to join me outside?!” you exclaimed, turning around and giving him a polite smile as you watched him walk closer to you.

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I allowed my girlfriend to wander in the middle of the night?!” Joe asked, wrapping his left arm around your waist.

“A pretty terrible boyfriend if you ask me…” you whisper, allowing yourself to lean back against Joe’s chest as the two of you admired the view ahead.

There was silence between the two of you, but it wasn’t the peaceful silence like in the restaurant when the two of you were enjoying your dinner… It was the kind of silence that the two of you have been familiar with over the past couple of months, the kind of silence that has caused the two of you to walk on eggshells in order to avoid arguments.

Joe took a deep breathe before speaking, “I’m sorry… not just about tonight but about what has been going on between us these past couple of months.”

You stayed silent, but took hold of his left hand and gave it a squeeze, letting him now that you are listening and allowing him to continue to speak.

“I know that you more than anymore knows how hard these past few months have been for me… This football season hasn’t gone the way that I planned and it’s been frustrating to go through.” Joe explains, “I haven’t felt like myself in months, it’s been hard to motivate myself to get out of bed and go to the stadium and to be a leader for the rest of the team... and throughout all of this, you’ve been by my side supporting me. I’m sorry for putting you through all of this mess and thinking so careless at times not realizing how it’s affecting you and our relationship.”

You took a deep breathe as you squeezed his left hand before letting go and turn in around to face Joe. There’s sympathetic smile on his face, his nose was red from the cold air, and his eyes glistened with tears.

“I understand it’s been hard and that breaks my heart.” you whisper, placing a hand on his cheek, wiping the tears with your thumb that were starting to fall. “I’ve wanted to have many conversations with you but I didn’t want to cross the boundary line and pressure you to talk about things you might’ve not wanted to talk about… which is one of the reasons why I planned this one night getaway trip on your birthday, I wanted us to get out of the environment that we had been stuck in for months even just for one night.”

You take a pause, because you didn’t want to overwhelm Joe with all the things you have been waiting to say to him for months… As you looked at the time on your phone, maybe right now wasn’t the time for the two of you to have this important conversation.

“Look, it’s almost midnight… I don’t think we should have this conversation right now.” you say, “Tomorrow we’ll talk about everything… Let’s enjoy the last couple of minutes of your birthday, let’s enjoy our one night getaway trip away from Cincinnati. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate your birthday on the beach while it snows.”

Joe laughs and nods his head, “You’re right… this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

You smile as you’re leaning forward to press your lips onto Joe’s lips and the hand on his cheek is guiding him in the kiss… His left hand grabs your waist to pull you closer to him and your right hand grips his coat.

Only just after a minute, the two of you pull away from each other to catch a breathe. As a shiver went down your spine, he pulls you close to his body and you let out a giggle as you wrapped your arms around his neck and rested your head in his shoulder.

“Happy Birthday Joe.” you whisper. “I love you.”

“Thank you… and I love you too.” he whispers.

The two of you spent the rest of your time on the beach watching the snow fall around while wrapped in his arms, as your bodies swayed side to side watching the clock on your phone countdown to midnight to signal the end of Joe’s birthday.

Soon the two of you would have leave the beach to go back to the house just a few miles away and then leave again to go back to Cincinnati, not knowing when you will have the chance to have another one night getaway trips away from the city… and soon would have cross those boundary lines in your relationship to have the important conversations of where your relationship stands after the rough few months.

But for right now, you’re not worried about the future. You trust that things will work out in their own way, and that one day you’ll be able to look at the past few months as a lesson in your relationship… Right now, you’re taking in the moment of falling more in love with Joe Burrow, just like the falling snow on the beach.

Author’s Note:

there was no way that i was going to miss the chance to publish a fanfiction in honor of Joe Burrow’s birthday.

this fanfiction idea for Joe Burrow’s birthday has been stuck in my “Fanfiction Ideas” List for many months and i’m happy to finally publish the story!

thank you all for the love and support! 🤍

#Joe Burrow #Cincinnati Bengals #NFL #LSU Tigers #CFB #Joe Burrow Fanfiction #Joe Burrow Fanfic #Joe Burrow Fic #Joe Burrow x Reader #Joe Burrow x OC #Joe Burrow x Y/N #Joe Burrow OneShot #Joe Burrow Imagine #NFL Fanfiction

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miracleonice87 · 2 years ago

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from uncle trav to killa dad

part of the kissing kelce universe

a/n: apparently she writes NFL fic now. no one is shocked. the first installment in the kissing kelce miniseries / universe! sharing the first 3,400ish words of the 8,100ish I already have written... "alright nah" 😈 hope y'all enjoy! (also, will make a masterlist for this universe specifically -- until then just use the "kissing kelce" tag)

warnings: swearing, sickness / vomiting, alcohol, mentions of menstrual cycles / unprotected sex / pregnancy / babies, allusions to not keeping a pregnancy / not being ready to have kids, basically don't read if pregnancy / having kids is triggering for you

word count: ~3,400+

___

February 2023

It was only the end of its second month, but 2023 was already one of the best years of Travis’s life.

First off, this was the first calendar year he had ever begun as your husband, not your boyfriend or your fiancé, which still delighted him to no end, hence why he was constantly referring to you as “Mrs. Kelce,” both publicly and, his favorite, privately. Two weeks ago, he’d won his second Super Bowl after competing against his big brother and best friend, Jason – a literal childhood dream come true. And in one week’s time, he’d be hosting Saturday Night Live. Saturday. Night. Live. As in, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night.” As in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. As in who in the fuck was about to let him do that?!

Travis Kelce had the world on a string, you by his side, and he could not ask for more.

Except for you to shake the illness that had been plaguing you for the last several days.

You’d always been an expert napper, but usually for no more than an hour or so; this week you’d been going to bed early, sleeping late, and napping for two or three hours at a time, and Travis was highly concerned. He didn’t like seeing you stub your toe, let alone seeing you struggle with such low energy. He had a growing feeling this was more than just you catching up on your rest after a jam-packed week of team festivities and visitors.

This especially worried him knowing that the two of you needed to leave for New York City first thing tomorrow morning. For a normal event appearance, he’d be moving flights or changing dates, making any adjustments necessary to tend to you and make you as comfortable as possible, but he didn’t exactly have that flexibility with SNL, and he was beginning to panic a bit.

After a Zoom call with his agents and the SNL producers walking Travis through the schedule for his upcoming rehearsal week, he flipped his laptop shut and immediately hustled up the steps to the primary bedroom, where he assumed you must still be sleeping, as he hadn’t heard any movement upstairs during his call – not even that of the dogs, who usually found their way downstairs to him when they heard his voice as he was taking calls.

Your husband couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was off.

Travis made quick work of striding down the long hallway and sneaking into your bedroom, trying not to make the hardwood floor creak beneath his large frame as he sidled up to your side of the bed. Sure enough, he found both Rambo and Chauncey snuggled at your feet, popping their heads up when he entered the room, clearly on guard and ready to defend their sleeping mama should the need arise. He ruffled their fur upon his approach and made a mental note to reward them with treats for that later, then focused his attention back on you.

Usually, you rested serenely on your back or side, with a single pillow beneath your head; today, you obviously couldn’t get comfortable, because you were curled into the fetal position with an arm flung between two pillows messily folded under your head, another pillow shoved between your chest and your knees. Even in your sleep, your brows were drawn together in discomfort. He hated to wake you, but his intuition was nagging at him to ensure that you were okay. As he slowly lowered himself to the edge of the bed and traced your bottom lip tenderly with his thumb, you stirred, blinking bleary eyes.

“Hey, sweetness,” Travis whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead. “How’s my girl doin’?”

With his lips still resting against your skin, his hand cradling the back of your head, you groaned. You weren’t one to complain, but whatever this sickness was that you’d been dealing with was kicking your ass, and he knew it.

“Mm, I’ve been better,” you admitted, grasping his forearm with both hands to keep him close, ever comforted by his presence and touch. “It is flu season — must just be some bug going around.”

Travis hummed contemplatively, then broke away to peer down at you carefully.

“Maybe, but if you’re not feeling better by tomorrow, we’re gettin’ you to a doctor, even if it’s in New York,” he announced, gently palming your stomach which had been uncharacteristically sour all day. The warmth of his touch soothed your whole abdomen like a heating pad. “Capisce?”

“Yes, captain,” you muttered, hiding your face in his sizable bicep as he snickered. “I’m due for my period soon so that’s probably not helping either,” you added, a throwaway comment on any other day…

But not today.

Though you couldn’t see it, Travis’s eyes narrowed at that remark, flickering around the room wildly as his mind began to race.

Nah, he mused silently. Couldn’t be.

But it seemed you arrived at the same possibility on your own, because seconds later, you gasped, exclaimed “oh, my fucking god!” and sat up straight, leaning your arms against his thigh for strength as the room seemed to spin around you, the dogs hopping off the bed, annoyed at the interruption of their own naps.

“Travis, what’s today’s date?”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “It’s the 28th, baby,” he said evenly.

And with that, you flung the covers off and ran for the bathroom once again, dropping to your knees on the marble and leaning over the toilet just in time.

As Travis followed closely after you, he knew. He couldn’t believe that, in all of the Super Bowl hype and hysteria, he had missed it up until now. It was so obvious. Your monthly visitor always arrived on the 20th of the month – when you’d asked once how he remembered to bring home Diet Cokes and chocolate-covered pretzels, items you purposely didn’t keep in the house and only indulged in when you were PMSing, on the correct day, month in and month out, Travis often teased that you were so regular, he could set his watch to you.

He hadn’t purchased those items this month, though. Hadn’t even thought of it due to all of the post-win, postseason pandemonium.

And apparently, neither had you.

He hastily did the math. Today was February 28th, which meant that you were now eight days late. His pulse quickened at the realization, adrenaline coursing through his veins. The Chiefs had won the Super Bowl on February 12th, and unsurprisingly, the two of you had taken every single available opportunity since then to celebrate his big win behind closed doors – even if they were occasionally car or coat closet doors. And though the chances of getting you pregnant during that window were not exceedingly high, it was certainly far from impossible – plus, he thought immediately of the many times he had teased his brother Jason about his “super sperm,” having gotten his wife Kylie pregnant every other year since they’d been married. And it was a well-known fact that the two brothers shared many genetic characteristics, including their size and their athleticism.

Maybe this particular trait was no different.

Though you were busy actively being sick, you were doing the same calculations in your head.

Shit. Shit shit shit. You were always so careful, so meticulous, so diligent about timing your intimacy with Travis, taking extra precautions during those prime times and consistently warning him verbally when you were ovulating, as you never wanted him to feel like you were trying to “trap” him, even though you’d now been married for nearly a year. He gently poked fun at you and playfully rolled his eyes in those instances, assuring you that he, first of all, would never question your intentions regarding your relationship and, second, would be absolutely thrilled if and when that time came for the two of you.

But in other conversations, outside the bedroom and the heat of the moment, the two of you had mutually agreed that since you yourself weren’t 100% ready to start a family just yet, you would wait. You respected Travis endlessly for that, because anyone who knew him knew how desperately he longed to become a father. But if you didn’t want that right now, that was the end of the discussion – Travis was adamant that nothing was happening in that department until you made the call.

But these past couple of weeks… there had been so much emotion, so much energy, and so much alcohol involved that admittedly, neither of the two of you had given timing or protection a second thought. All that each of you wanted was the other, and nothing – not the calendar nor visiting parents nor the prospect of arriving late to the celebratory parade nor being in Travis’s Range Rover when the desire arose – was going to keep you apart physically. You’d thrown caution to the wind as you enjoyed being in your little fantasyland bubble together, and now, reality was sinking in.

As you finally finished coughing and sputtering, Travis broke from holding your hair into a makeshift ponytail in order to pour a small cup of mouthwash and offer it to you. You graciously accepted and swished it around generously before flushing it away. As you leaned back from the bowl, he gathered you into his arms with a quiet but firm “come ‘ere.” You both sat on the tile, backs against the glass wall of the shower beside you, and he rested his cheek atop your head, looping his long arms around your waist.

“Better?” Travis inquired simply.

You groaned, eyes falling closed as the now-familiar weariness enveloped you again.

“Yeah…” he answered himself with a sigh, sensing your utter exhaustion.

The two of you sat in wordless contemplation for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, you broke the deafening silence.

“Trav?” you croaked.

“Yeah?”

“I think I need to take a pregnancy test…”

He tipped his head backward against the glass, guilt wracking his every cell.

“I think so, too,” he echoed.

After a long debate on the bathroom floor about how to go about obtaining the home tests – with Travis arguing “you wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for me, so it should really be on me” against your “I’m way less likely to be recognized in the aisle of the drugstore” – you finally reached a compromise, which was to DoorDash a wide variety of tests straight to your door, avoiding the need for either of you to be seen out in public. Kansas City was a larger city with a small town feel, and most of the time, you loved that about your adopted hometown, but today, the prospect of being recognized sent your anxiety into overdrive. Photos of either of you purchasing pregnancy tests being splashed all over social media two weeks after the Super Bowl was truly the last thing you both needed, especially if it turned out to be all for nothing, a false alarm.

So, instead, you had waited the fifteen long minutes until the bag full of tests arrived at your doorstep, peering through the blinds until the driver was completely out of sight before opening the door and retrieving the delivery. You grabbed a Solo cup from the pantry and quickly climbed the steps back up to your bedroom, where you found Travis sitting in a lounge chair, hands folded together, elbows on knees, chin to chest – obviously deep in thought. He didn’t seem to hear you coming until you purposely rustled the plastic bag. As you held it up weakly, his eyes met yours, and he offered a soft smile which seemed forced.

Travis Kelce forcing a smile. A rarity.

“Secured the bag,” you said quietly, attempting to lighten the mood. “Literally.”

He nodded and slowly stood as you extended a hand, which he grasped in his as you headed into the bathroom together. When you reached the counter, you climbed atop it and shook out the contents of the bag, revealing half a dozen boxes of all shapes, sizes, types, and colors; contained in them were sixteen tests in total. You gazed down at them with pursed lips for a few quiet moments, then Travis cleared his throat, causing you to look up at him.

“Honey, before we do this, I just need to…” he swallowed thickly as his hands found the tops of your thighs, and you could tell that whatever he was about to say was weighing painfully heavy on him. You weren’t used to seeing him so serious, and you reached out a hand to rub his shoulder in support. “Listen… you know I’ve always been excited about the prospect of… well, not just having a baby, but having a baby with you, but… it’s really important to me that you know that we do not have to do this. Not now, not ever. Not if you don’t want to.”

The sincerity in his icy blue eyes was enough to make your heart skip a beat, and you hummed appreciatively, cupping his stubbly cheek in your hand.

“Thank you,” you whispered as he turned your wrist to press a featherlight kiss to the inside of it. “And I can’t tell you how much I love you for that. But… one thing at a time, okay? Let me go take care of this, and we’ll go from there.”

Travis nodded, concern etched on his brow. It wasn’t an expression he commonly wore, and it certainly didn’t suit him.

“Yeah… yeah, alright,” he said, sniffing. “You, um, you want me to stay in here with you, or…”

You shook your head, a small smile at play on your lips.

“No, I’ve been peeing on my own since I was about two, so I’ll do that part myself and report back, captain,” you teased, and Travis offered a shy smirk. You rested your forehead against his. “Okay?”

He nodded, head still pressed to yours.

“Okay,” he said, caressing your jaw before standing up straight to allow you to shimmy down from the counter. He took a few steps toward the door leading into the bedroom, then turned back.

“Hey, one more thing?” he said solemnly. You stared at him expectantly. “No matter what the test says… doesn’t change how bad I fuckin’ love you.”

You stood floored, forcing back tears. “I fuckin’ love you so bad,” you softly concurred.

Then, your normal playful Travis was back at least for a moment as he winked at you, clucked his tongue, and pulled the door closed as he encouraged, “Do your thing, girl.”

You rolled your eyes, then “did your thing” as instructed. You returned to the counter with the plastic cup sufficiently full and opened different tests from four of the boxes that looked the most promising, meticulously following the instructions for each. You turned them all so that the windows were face-down on the counter, washed your hands, then took a deep, shaky breath before opening the door with trembling fingers to find a pacing Travis burning a hole through your bedroom floor. You said his name softly, then tilted your head in the direction of the tests, inviting him back into the bathroom with you while you waited. He met you at the edge of the tub, where he wordlessly pulled you into himself and held you there. You closed your eyes and breathed him in, more grateful than ever that you’d chosen this man as your life partner, and that he had chosen you.

“How long we lookin’ at, sweetness?” Travis asked, resting his chin atop your head, gently swaying the two of you back and forth.

“Longest one takes three minutes,” you answered. “Figured we’d just wait until then and check them all at once.”

You felt him nod and check his Apple watch. He grew quiet again for a few moments, then he heaved a sigh.

“I’m sorry for putting you – us – in this position, baby,” he apologized, immediately breaking your heart. “I should’ve been more responsible and mindful in the moment. I just got caught up in you and I… I just, I’m sorry.”

You stood up straight, holding him at arm’s length, your brow creased ruefully as you realized how badly he was beating himself up over this.

“Trav, honey, don’t,” you pleaded. “You did nothing wrong,” you assured, reaching your hand up to rest against his neck. “We both got us into this situation, and to be honest, I wouldn’t change how we got here. We could have been more careful, yeah, but… all I was focused on was being as close to you as possible. I mean, these past couple of weeks with you have been some of the best of my life. I feel closer to you than ever.”

He studied you diligently, rubbing his hands up and down your sides.

“Yeah?”

You nodded, sliding your hand to the nape of his neck and bringing his lips to your level to kiss him softly.

“Yeah,” you whispered in reply.

He drew in a deep breath and squeezed your waist.

“‘Bout ready to check?” he asked timidly.

You nodded, arms falling back to your sides.

“Do it together?” you requested hopefully.

He nodded, too.

“Just like we do everything else,” he replied with conviction, taking your hand in his and pressing a firm kiss to your knuckles. “Let’s go.”

Hand in hand, you approached the counter, four eyes boring into the upside-down test sticks.

“You take two, I take two?” he suggested. You nodded, biting your lip and grasping the two sticks closest to you as he did the same.

“Ready? One…”

“Two…”

“Three…”

Both of you flipped the cheap plastic tests at once, gaping silently down at the counter.

For the past hour since you’d realized you’d missed a period, anxiety, nerves, and even dread had been coursing through your body at the speed of light.

But as soon as you saw those test results, inexplicably, the fear, the worry, the anxiety, the anticipation… it all melted away. The little blue plus sign and the pink double lines and the blinking “YES +” and the word “Pregnant” all laid out in front of you unmistakably brought an unexpected swell of peace and joy to your soul.

Travis’s hand flew to his mouth as he processed the results himself, and his fingers didn’t leave his lips as his eyes stayed fixed on you in quiet anticipation, refusing to react in the way that came naturally to him until he allowed you to react in your own authentic way.

So, when you looked up at him with your chin quivering, eyes rimmed red, tears threatening to spill over at any moment, his heart flipped inside his chest, then sank into his stomach…

But then you smiled.

“Looks like we’re having a Super Bowl baby,” you told him decidedly, starting to giggle.

His brows shot to the top of his forehead, his hand slowly falling away from his mouth.

“Really? You want to?” he asked softly, and you could tell by his tone that he was still focusing all his energy on suppressing his pure, unadulterated excitement. You nodded. “You’re sure this is what you want?” he confirmed, cocking his head as he surveyed you closely. You nodded again and stepped closer so that your feet were planted between his, leaning your body into him.

“I’m sure, Trav,” you promised as he tenderly combed some of your hair behind your ear. “I honestly wasn’t sure until we flipped the tests over, but… I’m sure. I’m ready for this with you, Travis. It feels right. Let’s have a baby.”

At that, he allowed the floodgates to open. His broad shoulders began to wrack with quiet sobs as his arms folded you against his chest. You cried along with him, sharing in his relief, his elation, his bliss.

“I love you so much,” he choked out between shuddering breaths. “Fuck, I love you so much. You’re everything to me. You always have been, but this… this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Thank you.”

You smiled into his pecs, sniffling. “I love you, too,” you replied, pulling away just far enough so that you could meet his eyes. He wiped away your tears with the pads of his thumbs as you continued. “Thank you for the way you handled this. There’s nobody I’d rather do this with than you.”

Travis beamed and leaned in for a kiss, certain that he’d never received a more meaningful compliment, and certain that he had never been more in love with you.

#travis kelce #kissing kelce #my writing #travis kelce fic #travis kelce fanfiction #travis kelce fanfic #nfl fic #nfl fanfic #nfl fanfiction

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hornyforherbert · 1 year ago

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Fallen For You ✧

WC: 1093

Pairing: Justin X Female Reader (Y/N)

CW: Kissing

A/N: I’m sooo sorry for the long wait! I unfortunately got sick again recently and have been recovering. I also know most of you love friends to lovers so… I hope you enjoy reading this!

Disclaimer! I do NOT own the Los Angeles Chargers or Justin Herbert and I am NOT affiliated with either of them in any way. This is simply fiction! Enjoy reading.

The warm California sun lazily streamed through the window, casting a golden light across the cozy living room of Justin's house. Justin, the handsome Los Angeles Chargers quarterback, was flipping through some different game tapes on his computer, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Hey, Justin,” I called out as I entered the room, a gentle smile playing on my lips. Justin looked up, his eyes lighting up at the sight of me. “Hey, Y/n, what's up?” he replied, setting down his computer aside.

We've been best friends for years, sharing laughter, secrets, and adventures. But lately, i felt that something had shifted between us. Something unspoken lingered in the air, a subtle tension that left my heart racing whenever he smiled at me.

“I just wanted to hang out!” I said, flopping down on the couch beside him. Justin chuckled, his deep voice rumbling through the room like a soothing melody. “Well, you're always welcome here no matter what, you know that.”

As we chatted and caught up on each other's lives, I couldn't help but steal glances at Justin. His easy charm, his infectious laughter, the way his eyes creased when he smiled—it all made my heart skip a beat.

Suddenly, Justin's phone buzzed, breaking the peaceful silence. He glanced at the screen and his expression softened. “It's my agent,” he said, regretfully while looking a bit hesitant. “I have to take this, I’m so sorry, give me a few minutes.”

As Justin stepped out of the room to take the call, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Alone in the room, I let out a soft sigh, the sound almost a whisper in the quiet space.

Minutes ticked by, and I couldn't shake off the feeling of longing in my chest. I knew I had to tell Justin how I felt, but the fear of losing our friendship held me back like an invisible barrier.

When Justin returned, I gathered up the courage to confess my feelings. “Hey, Justin... I have something to tell you,” I muttered out, my heart threatening to jump out of my chest.

Justin turned to me, his eyes searching mine with a mix of curiosity and concern. “What is it, Y/n?” he asked, his voice gentle like a soothing breeze.

I took a deep breath, the air catching in my throat. “I... I think I've fallen for you, Justin,” I confessed, my voice barely above a whisper. A deafening silence hung between us, filled only by the sound of my own heartbeat.

Justin's eyes widened, a look of surprise flashing across his face. “Y/n...” he began, his voice a mix of emotions. We locked eyes, and in that moment, I felt the weight of my confession, heavy and daunting. I began to regret confessing my feelings, thinking I completely ruined our friendship.

Suddenly, Justin's expression softened, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I think I've fallen for you too, Y/n,” he whispered, his words washing over me like a warm, comforting wave.

A burst of joy erupted within me, and a delighted laugh bubbled from my lips, the sound ringing in the air like a melody of pure happiness. Justin's smile grew wider, his eyes sparkling with newfound warmth.

Without another word, Justin leaned in, his eyes locked on mine, and pressed his lips against mine in a soft, passionate and tender kiss. My heart soared, the sensation electric and sweet, like a promise of new beginnings.

And as we pulled away, a sense of serenity settled between us, the unspoken words now tangible in the air. Justin cupped my face in his hands, his touch gentle and reassuring as usual.

“I've always loved the way you make me feel, Justin,” I confessed, my voice filled with sincerity and affection. Justin's eyes held mine, a silent understanding passing between us.

“And I've always loved the way you sound in the morning,” Justin spoke, his voice a quiet hum of adoration. “We're on the phone and without a warning, I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard.”

The memory of those words wrapped around my heart like a warm embrace, a reminder of the love that had bloomed between us, sweet and tender like the morning sun. Justin's hand found mine, his touch grounding and comforting.

“I like the way we can't keep our focus,” Justin continued, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “I watch you talk, you don't notice... but all I can think is we should be together.”

A surge of affection and gratitude flooded through me, and I leaned into Justin's embrace, feeling the beat of his heart against mine. In that moment, the world faded away, leaving only the two of us, tangled in whispers of love.

Days turned into weeks, and our bond grew stronger with each passing moment. We shared laughter, dreams, and quiet nights under the stars, savoring every precious moment together.

“Every time you smile, I smile,” Justin murmured one evening as we strolled hand in hand along the beach, the sound of crashing waves a soothing backdrop to our conversation.

“And every time you shine, I'll shine for you,” I replied, a soft laugh escaping my lips. The cool breeze tousled our hair, and a sense of contentment settled within me, a feeling of being exactly where I belonged.

Our journey from friends to lovers felt like a natural progression, a seamless transition from shared glances to stolen kisses, from playful banter to whispered confessions of love.

Justin hummed, his voice a soft melody in the twilight. “Don't be afraid to jump then fall... into me.”

The words hung in the air, a silent promise of unwavering devotion and endless love. I squeezed Justin's hand, a smile tugging at my lips, my heart overflowing with gratitude and affection.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold, Justin pulled me close, his arms wrapping around me in a warm, protective embrace. The world felt still, as if holding its breath in anticipation of what was to come.

“Babygirl, I'm never gonna leave you,” Justin whispered, his words a solemn vow. “Say that you wanna be with me too... so I'm gonna stay through it all.”

And in that moment, surrounded by the beauty of the setting sun and the promise of a future filled with love, I looked into Justin's eyes and knew that this was where I belonged—by his side, as his girl, forever and always.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

Please do NOT repost/copy my writing without asking first and getting permission from me. (Reblogs are fine and well appreciated!)

#nfl imagine #justin herbert #nfl #justin herbert fanfic #justin herbert imagine #la chargers #justin herbert x reader #Justin herbert fluff #Fanfiction #nfl fanfic #nfl fanfiction #nfl fic #justin fic #rpf #nfl rpf

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thewritingofspencerrose · 1 year ago

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Mistakes Made

Travis Kelce x OC

I've gone to stay with Jason and the girls. When you've decided you're ready to talk, you know where to find me.

Those words weren't the first thing to trigger Travis to the fact that he had fucked up.

The first was when he had left without a response on Friday, but he had assumed she would reach out and they would fix things.

The second was the night before the game. There was no facetime, no call, nothing to soothe the amount he was missing her.

The third was when he only got a single text from her during the week he was gone, on Sunday just before the game, and it was only five words. Good luck, I love you.

He had realized immediately how badly he had fucked up. But not for a moment did he want to recognize that.

"You are the biggest asshat I have ever had the displeasure of knowing."

"Jason-"

"Who do you think you are showing up at my front door?" It's Kylie this time, still wiping her hands on a towel from the kitchen but her expression is anything but the image of kind housewife that the rest of her is portraying. "After what you did to Dorthy, you have the audacity to show your face?"

"Ky," Is all he can manage to mumble, every ounce of exhaustion clear in his whole body. "I'm here to fix things, not to fight with you or Jason."

"You shouldn't have left yourself with something to apologize for Trav," Jason is the one to offer as advice, letting him into the entry. "Thea showed up to the house sobbing with an overnight bag on Friday and Ky couldn't even get the reason for your fight out of her until yesterday."

"I fucked up, I know that."

"Your girlfriend told you she was pregnant with your child and you walked out of the house without a word. You more than fucked up Travis," Kylie corrects, the end of her scolding being punctuated with soft giggles from another room.

"What are the girls doing up so late?" Travis asks, knowing the sound of his nieces giggles by heart. "I thought they had a bedtime of 8:30?"

"Dorthy and the girls are making your mom's cookie recipe," Kylie answers, moving her body out of his path to the kitchen, the three adults entering to a sight that would bring smiles to anyones face.

But the sight only made Travis want to cry.

Because there was the love of his life, wearing his sweatshirt with his middle niece on her hip, the new tightness of the sweatshirt and little girl's leg accentuating the woman's baby bump.

How far along did she say she was again?

His oldest niece is beside them on a stool, scooping the cookie batter onto the pan of they all dance around to music.

It's so domestic, and it's something that he and she will have in their futures. If he can fix this.

"Wyatt, Elliotte, come with me to get ready for bed and Auntie will put the cookies in the oven. Daddy and I will even let you come back down to have cookies with Auntie and Uncle when they're done," Kylie promises, the little girls being helped down and hugging their aunts legs, doing the same to their uncles' on the way out of the room, chasing each other up the stairs.

"Jas, come on, give the two a minute," Kylie instructs, tugging on my brother-in-law's arms, a soft smile being shot my way as they leave the room.

And now it's just Trav and I, the man who's presence I hadn't noticed until Ky took the kids.

"Hi," Is the only greeting I can manage, tucking the cookies into the oven for the girls before wrapping my arms around myself.

"How did I not notice this before?" He asks in a response, feet carrying him in long strides over to me. His eyes are trained on my stomach the entire time, until his eyes catch mine, "May I?"

"Trav, you've touched everywhere on my body, I don't know why you're asking now," I mumble, but this just seems to insult him.

"We haven't talked in a week Baby, I don't deserve to touch you, prior or not," He whispers, and I can feel the tears coming to my eyes.

"You can," I approve, his hands meeting my stomach, rounding over his sweatshirt to see the true size of the bump.

"How have I not noticed you were growing our little bean in there?" His tears slipping down his face. "I'm so sorry for walking out. I didn't know how to process the information, but that was no excuse to just walk out. I should have celebrated you, I should have celebrated our baby. And instead I walk out for a fucking football game." He scoffs.

I hate that he's crying. Argument or not. He's apologizing and I just hate that he's upset.

Taking the pads of my thumbs, I rub the tears from his eyes, taking his hands from my sides and into my own.

"Actually, she's about the size of an artichoke these days," I correct, chuckling lightly in an attempt to soften the sadness. "And it's ok. I mean, it's not, it really tore me apart thinking you didn't want our baby, but I should have told you sooner. Just with practice and games and -"

"You're not allowed to apologize when I'm the one who did wrong, Baby," He interrupts, a bright smile breaking out on his lips as he pulls me closer to his body by my hips. "So we're having a little girl?"

"I'm convinced your family can't result in boys," Kylie's voice chimes from the doorway, her and Jason standing wrapped in each other's arms. "I mean, this is four for four on kids that is going to be a girl."

"Speaking of," Travis starts, looking between all of us, "Do the girls know?"

"We're having a baby cousin!!" Wy cheers, bursting into the room with Elliott hot on her tail.

"Does this whole family just eaves drop and bust in?" I can't help but question, because this is just wild.

"We do, you should be used to this Kid," Jason confirms, Wyatt and Elliott joining Trav and I in a little hug.

"You girls know about your little cousin?" Trav asks, smiling as he crouches next to the two.

Ellie just nods, but it's her sister who answers.

"Yeah, Daddy said it will make Grammy love you more."

"That's it, I'm calling Mom!"

#original character #the writing of spencer rose #nfl fanfiction #nfl football #travis kelce x oc #travis kelce #jason kelce #long term relationship

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chaneajoyyy · 1 year ago

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JALEN HURTS FANFICTION

recovery, orange peel theory, "let's cancel those plans and stay in instead", "you're so silly!", "don't make this about me", "i" knew i loved you then", “I thought a massage would help you babe.” , your camera roll when your dating jalen jurts- @vanwritesfan-fiction

missed you- @siribaes

jalen hurts as a boyfriend- @godsfavoritebabe

**HIT MY LINE IF YOU KNOW ANY MORE FANFICTION**

#the plug #librarian at your service #let's chat #sip tea #talk fanfiction #talk nfl fanfiction #talk sports fanfiction #talk jalen hurts fanfiction #jalen hurts x black!reader #sports fanfiction #nfl fanfiction #jalen hurts fanfiction

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writersociety · 11 months ago

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Discord Server Idea

Hi,

I thought about making a server on discord for writers. Whether it be original works or fanfic. I just want to know if people would be interested in joining something along those lines.

It could be a place to ask for help, get inspo, find beta readers, editors and more.

I'd love if you'd reblog this, so it gets around tumblr!

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heavyhitterheaux · 28 days ago

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Protector (NSFW)

AN: This is long so be prepared 🫣

Synopsis: You and Joe had been infatuated with each other since you were both fourteen years old. Something happens in your senior year, causing you to have to break up with him and also making you have to hold onto a secret; giving birth to his firstborn child that he never knew existed.

Pairing: Ex-boyfriend!Joe Burrow x Ex-girlfriend!Reader

Do not engage if you are underage

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

The sun visor in your car came down with the swift movement of your hand so you could gaze in the mirror at your appearance. After applying another layer of lip gloss, you straightened out your necklace that contained his initial which was gifted to you from him on your sixteenth birthdays.

First it was meant for him, Joseph.

Now it was also meant for the little one you two made who wasn't quite so little anymore, Julian.

And after more than ten years, you still had it.

The only time it ever left its rightful place was when you had to clean it.

You still remember the conversation that you had when the two of you were just fifteen about the future that you planned to share with one another.

The two of you were laying down in Joe's backyard on one of the many blankets that your grandmother had knitted staring up at the night sky. It was one of your favorite past times between the both of you.

“So, what are we naming our kids when we have them?” Joe asked as he looked down to see you pick up your head from his chest to look at him.

“Hmm, never thought about it until just now.”

“After we're married of course. I'll be playing in the NFL and you'll be an aerospace engineer at NASA.”

“I don't know if I'm smart enough for all that.” You replied and Joe instantly frowned from your response.

“You are smart enough. Stop talking about yourself like that and selling yourself short.”

“Fine, I'm going to be an aerospace engineer at NASA.”

“That's better and I just thought of a name.”

“Tell me. But we need a name for a boy and a name for a girl so whichever one comes first we'll be ready.”

“I like Julian for a boy. His name will start with a J like mine.”

“You don't want him to be named after you?”

“No, I want for him to be able to have his own identity.”

“Good point and I like Julian too. Now for a girl.” You said as you adjusted to make yourself more comfortable.

“Juliet since you like Romeo and Juliet so much and I have no idea why.”

“Um, correction! I like the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio, there's a difference. Because truth be told they were both stupid as hell. How can you love someone after you've known them for like 2 hours?”

“Are you going to leave him for me?” Joe playfully asked and you rolled your eyes.

“Joseph, don't be stupid. It's us until the end of time, you know that and he is way too old for me.”

As you closed the mirror, you turned around to look in the backseat to see your son looking down playing his game and you called his name to get his attention.

“Julian.”

“Yes, mom?”

He looked up at you with those same blue eyes that his father had and you quickly sighed.

“Let’s make this quick so we can get in and out. Did you still want spaghetti for dinner?” You planned on staying the night at your sister's apartment before making the two hour drive to Cincinnati to your new house. You told her that you would cook dinner since she told you she couldn't even boil a pot of water.

Just like it was when she was 14.

“I guess.” He told you as he shrugged.

“What's that look for, bubs?”

When he was quiet, you immediately knew.

“I know you're nervous about us moving and starting at a new school, but you'll be fine. And besides, you have football camp in a few weeks to look forward to, that your aunt was nice enough to sign you up for.” You told him and he sighed but nodded his head nonetheless.

After you had gotten pregnant your senior year in high school, your mom was the first one to find out and within a week, you were in Texas with your grandmother and refusing to have an abortion like both of your parents wanted.

You had been there ever since.

After finishing high school with literally a month left, you went off to go to Texas A&M University on a full scholarship and then onto Harvard online to do your masters. From that time, you stopped talking to your parents and in turn they didn't allow you to talk to your siblings, Sabrina and Ryan.

You were one of the top engineers at your job in Texas and they recently opened a new facility in Cincinnati and asked you if you would be willing to transfer to get it off the ground.

It took you three months to finally make a decision.

The final thought as to why you were willing to do it had everything to do with Julian.

He was getting older and just about every week he was asking about his father.

His father, who was in fact Joe Burrow the quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Who also happened to be his favorite player who he was obsessed with.

He didn't know about Joe and Joe didn't know about him.

But that wasn't by choice.

It all boiled down to your parents as well as his, but mainly his mother.

Your younger sister had begged you to come and see her once she messaged you after she found your account on social media once you told her you were moving back to Ohio. However, you made her promise not to tell your parents. If she uttered a word, you would have no problem cutting her off because protecting yourself as well as your son was your main priority.

“Can we make brownies too?”

“With vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce on top.” You replied as you stuck your pinky finger out for him to wrap his around yours.

–

Robin did a double take as she noticed you in the aisle comparing two brands of pasta and could feel the color drain from her face.

She knew it was you, there was no denying it. You looked the same, but more mature.

She wanted to leave the aisle as soon as possible, but it didn’t quite work out that way since she also needed a box of noodles for dinner.

Hoping you wouldn't take too much notice of her, she made her way over and picked up the brand that she had always bought when you suddenly turned around and she caught your eye.

The expression that flashed across your face was unreadable as you were analyzing her. You were staring at one of the four people that had ripped your future away from underneath you.

The future that you and your boyfriend had planned in high school.

She was the first to speak and you were surprised she was even speaking to you at all. Considering what she had done.

And how much she didn't like you.

“Y/N?”

“Mrs. Burrow.” You flatly said as you threw the box of pasta in your basket.

“I… it's nice to see you.”

“Hmm.” You told her and quickly noticed that you had lost sight of Julian, but more than likely he was somewhere in the candy aisle. But to your surprise you heard his voice from behind you.

“Mom!? Can I get fruit loops!?”

When Robin set her eyes on who she assumed was her grandson, there was absolutely no denying it.

He looked similar to her youngest son except for the fact that he had curly hair which she assumed he got from you. Everything else was Joe up and down.

“You can get the small box.” You replied as you smiled at him go back down the aisle and turned back to Joe's mother.

“Does Joe know you're here?” She said in a soft voice and you were confused on why she even cared.

“What difference would it make if he did?”

“Is he…?” She asked assuming she was talking about Julian and wanted confirmation.

“He's nine and will be ten in December so you do the math and I know you see the resemblance. But for now I'm going to go so I can feed my child. Don't worry, everything is all still going according to your plan. But it's getting kind of hard to keep this a secret, right? I mean paying off your son's girlfriend's parents to keep them and her quiet about the pregnancy so that his future wouldn't get derailed.”

“Who told you that? And I did it for the both of you.”

“Bullshit. You never liked me to begin with and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out and it doesn't matter who told me. You always had it in your mind that I wasn't good enough for him. All I know is that my son is going to know his father one way or another and there is nothing you'll be able to do about it. Good luck begging him for forgiveness. I hope you have a good night.”

Without another word you walked away from her and found Julian in the next aisle holding his box of cereal and browsing the candy aisle just as you suspected.

“We're making brownies, King Julian. So, no candy.” You said as he turned around to look at you.

“But I also need a snack before dinner and who was that lady you were talking to?”

“Stop trying to change the subject and no you don't.”

“Yes I do and I noticed she kept staring at me.”

“She wasn't anyone that you need to worry about because she isn't important and you can get one other thing. Now come on, your Aunt Sabrina is waiting for us.”

“Is she younger or older than you?” Julian asked as he grabbed a Snickers bar.

Just like his father.

“Younger and how old do you think I am?”

“Well I know you're old enough to have wine so you have to at least be 21. How old is she?”

“25.”

“Oh, never mind then.”

–

“I just can't get over how big he is and how much he looks like Joe.” Sabrina told you as the two of you were sitting at the kitchen table and her gaze was on Julian in the living room watching Netflix.

“The older he gets, the more and more he looks like him. Guess who I ran into at the store before coming here?”

“Who?”

“His mother. She saw me first.”

“Oh shit. And what did she say!? I know for a fact she never liked you. Anyone could see that.” Sabrina asked as her eyes went wide.

“First she was like it's good to see you and then asked if he knew I was here and I asked her what difference would it make if he did? And I basically told her to get out my face. And you’re right, she never liked me and I know for a fact that she thought I wasn't good enough for him or dare I say it the right ‘fit’”.

“I still can't believe how everything went down and how they never told him. Like that's their grandson. You two were supposed to be end game.”

“I know and I just… I hope when I gather the courage and strength to tell him that he wants to be in his life. Julian keeps asking about him and all he talks about is how he's his favorite player. I also hope that Julian won't despise me for not telling him.”

Little did you know that Sabrina had signed Julian up on purpose for the football camp. Not only because you told her how he loved to play but because she knew that Joe was hosting it along with Ja’Marr and Tee. She was going to make sure Joe knew sooner rather than later about how his ex-girlfriend fell off the face of the earth with his kid.

This had gone on long enough and wanted to see her big sister get her redemption story.

“From what I've seen, I think Julian will ultimately be relieved. It wasn't your fault to begin with and it's not like you hid it from him on purpose. And our parents were dead fucking wrong with how they treated the entire situation and I'm sorry that happened. I know I'm not responsible, but I also lost my big sister in all of that. And I'll never forgive them for it. It was like you disappeared off the face of the earth. And I never stopped asking about you.”

“I figured that out of everyone that you would. So when you messaged me, I got excited, not going to lie.” You said being completely honest.

“I only talk to them if it's absolutely necessary. The entire dynamic changed when you left. Do you ever think you'll talk to them? Can't blame you if you decide not to.”

“Probably not the best idea to talk to the people who wanted you to abort your kid.”

“Hmm, I guess not and you make a good point. But enough about that, what have you been up to? Do you really work for NASA?”

“Yes, as an aerospace engineer.”

“Like you always wanted. You were always smart as hell and could run circles around all of us. Only thing I know how to do is hair and make up. The parents were very mad when I dropped out and went to cosmetology school.”

“At least you figured out what you wanted to do and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are still people who are 45 years old and don't know.”

“Good point.” You told her as she got up to get the brownies out of the oven that all three of you had taken part in making earlier.

“Oh and the day of football camp is my orientation so I won't be able to take him. Do you think you'll be able to?” You asked and Sabrina tried not to show the disappointment on her face.

“Yeah, sure.”

“But I should be there by lunch time. So I can see him play for the second half of the day. He's really excited to go.”

“Perfect! And I'm really excited too since I have never seen him play before.”

The wheels immediately started to turn in Sabrina's head and she just hoped and prayed that everything was going to work out exactly how she wanted it to.

The day of football camp, Julian had been bouncing off the walls from the moment he woke up. As promised, Sabrina stayed over the night before so that she wouldn't have a long morning in rush hour traffic trying to get to your house and then eventually the stadium on time.

To her surprise, when she got there and signed Julian in, Joe was nowhere in sight but she was still holding out hope as she looked over at Julian in his black jersey with his rightful last name across the back of it.

She learned last night that he had a jersey in every color, which had been your doing of course.

You had explained to her that every day was a battle on if the day finally arrived that you were going to tell him the truth. I mean what possible harm could it do at this point? When you were younger, you had been terrified of your parents, but not anymore and you were done keeping your son a secret.

When you finally gave birth to him on December 10th which also happened to be your birthday along with Joe's, you were instructed to not even give him the Burrow last name which was a part of the deal that was made between both sets of parents.

A deal that neither you nor Joe was a part of.

And none of them showed an ounce of remorse for what they had done.

About two hours or so into the day, Joe made his way to Paycor stadium since Ja'Marr had asked him and Tee to participate in a football camp with him for kids ages 5 to 17.

Tee had sent a text to let him know where they were and after parking his car and walking into the stadium he made his way over and was immediately greeted by the both of them.

“Joe, we think we found your long lost son.”

Ja'Marr joked with him as he gave him an eye roll in return.

“What in the world are you talking about? It is too early for your nonsense and Tee is no better for going along with you.” Joe told him and Tee held his hands up in defense.

“Now what did I do!?” Tee exclaimed while looking at him.

“An entire list so don't get me started now what kid are you talking about?” Joe asked and he followed Ja'Marr’s gaze to see.

“That one and look at that, he plays quarterback.”

“He is literally you with curly hair and freckles.” Tee added as he would glance at Julian and then glance back at Joe comparing the two.

“What's his name?” Joe curiously asked as he was watching him do drills.

It was almost as if he was looking in a mirror.

“Mm, Julian I think.”

Hearing the name out loud made a wave of emotions come rushing back towards Joe and he was trying to do his best and not be upset about it.

That was the name you two decided that you were going to name your baby boy whenever it happened.

Because Joe had been dead set on marrying you and he didn't want anyone else.

He still thought about you every day and knew that deep down he would probably never get over not knowing what happened to you and what made you suddenly break up with him for no reason.

It didn't make sense then and it still didn't make sense now and no matter how hard he tried to wrap his mind around it, he just couldn't.

He tried to move on multiple times, but he found himself always comparing his girlfriends to you no matter how hard he tried not to.

You meant absolutely everything to him and you were one of the very few people who believed that he would go on to do amazing things in college and eventually the NFL. From day one, your nickname for him was superstar or MVP.

“Wait…..” Joe started to say, but his focus was now solely on Julian.

“What?”

"Me and my ex-girlfriend picked out the name Julian for our son when we were in high school.” He said nonchalantly as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Uh? You didn't get her pregnant did you?”

“No, she definitely would have told me. But it was weird because one day we were planning our future together and the next she was breaking up with me. The entire thing never made sense. I literally haven't seen or heard from her since we were 17. What's his last name?”

“Deveraux.”

At that very moment as soon as the name left Tee’s mouth, Joe thought that he was going to throw up.

Ja'Marr and Tee both looked at him confused.

“Uh? You okay over there?”

“No. That's her last name.” Joe quietly said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I… well maybe it's a coincidence.”

“How!?! That isn't a common last name!”

“And you having a mini meltdown isn’t helping the situation either. We’ll figure it out later when camp is over. For now we need to break them off into groups based on their age and get them ready to play against each other.”

The camp was only supposed to last from 9 am until 3 pm and as promised, you were actually allowed to leave early and looked down at your phone to see that Sabrina sent you the address to where it was held. Once you put it into your GPS since you were still learning your way around Cincinnati, the Paycor stadium popped up on your phone and you did a double take.

No.

Absolutely not.

But you also thought, it was still the off season and training camp wouldn’t start for a few more weeks. The likelihood of you actually running into him was slim to none. So that way you still had time to process and run through what you were going to say to him when you actually saw him.

Because it was bound to happen one way or the other.

All because his mom saw you and will more than likely tell him but fail to mention the child that you two share.

Once you got there, you spotted Sabrina’s car and quickly backed in next to her before making your way to one of the many gates that surrounded it to make your way inside. Once you told them you were here for your son, one of them was nice enough to walk you over to the field where all the parents were gathered. You quickly spotted Sabrina and she waved you over.

“Sabrina….”

“What’s wrong?”

“Why didn’t you mention that the camp was going to be held here and hosted by several Bengals players?”

“Oh, that? Um, I didn’t realize until we got here.”

“You were always bad at lying so I suggest you change your answer.” You told her as you crossed your arms and looked out towards the field and spotted Julian.

“Okay fine. I figured the sooner that Joe knew about Julian, the better. As soon as I saw that they were doing a camp before they started training camp in a few weeks, I immediately signed him up. And this was right after you told me that you were moving back here.” She whispered to you and you let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to see him yet. He probably still hates me for what I did to him.”

“But that wasn’t your fault.”

“Well, he doesn’t know that. Like you didn’t see the look on his face when I broke up with him. He looked so confused and hurt and I couldn’t tell him that I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to. I was doing it because both sets of parents made me. Have you even seen him yet?”

“Yes and he cut off all of his hair and dyed it blonde…. Again.”

“I remember when I dyed it blonde for him our senior year.”

“And got it all over our bathroom. Good times.”

“But, take a deep breath. He probably misses you more than you know.” Sabrina told you as she tried giving you words of encouragement but all you were doing was trying not to have a panic attack.

“He’s probably moved on and honestly when I think about it, it’s probably for the best. Hopefully it’s someone that his parents approve of.”

“Will you stop talking down about yourself? You were his first love and I’m sorry, that doesn’t go away overnight, it just doesn’t. The two of you were attached at the hip and I know for a fact that the two of you can get back to that and raise Julian together. Also, I want to be a bridesmaid when the time comes.”

“SABRINA!”

“What?!?! I’m just being honest. “

“A lot has to occur for that to even happen.”

“How much do you want to bet he has a ring picked out for you? And I see you’re still wearing the necklace he gave you on your 16th birthday with his initial. So, I rest my case.”

Sabrina knew for a fact that he had a ring for you since the day after you left because she had seen it, he immediately cornered her in a hallway at school to see what happened. At that time, she didn’t know, but all she did know was that your room was empty and that she was missing her big sister.

As Joe had finished helping the kids in his group put on the flags to get ready to start the game, he jogged to the sideline and as soon as he looked to his left, his jaw hit the floor and he started hitting Ja’Marr’s arm.

“OW! What is going on?!”

“That’s her and her sister Sabrina. Fuck that’s her, it’s really her.”

Ja’Marr followed his gaze and saw you talking to who he assumed was your sister and his eyes went wide.

“I… wait a minute…. Y/N is black?!”

“Uh yeah why is that important?” Joe asked him as Tee had come to stand next to them.

“It’s not…. I just wasn’t expecting her to look like THAT. I thought you said Athens only had like 2 black people? Damn, she’s pretty, how did you pull that?”

“Seriously?” Joe asked and Ja’Marr held his hands up in defense.

“I should have known the way you were eating that fried chicken you had been around some seasoning before in your life."

“Wait…. THAT’S HER?!” Tee asked and they both nodded.

Tee took a moment to look at Julian, you, and then Joe and simply nodded his head.

“You the baby daddy, alright.”

“Joe, stop trying to hide behind me, YOU’RE TALLER THAN ME. And did you forget you just dyed your hair? Y/N can probably spot you from a mile away.”

“I don’t know what to do! Should I go and talk to her?”

“For one of your nicknames to be Joe Cool, that is definitely the opposite of what is happening right now. Yes! Go and talk to her when we’re done or when the kids eat lunch.”

“What if she doesn’t want to talk to me?” He asked and they both just looked at him.

“Are you a hormone raging teenage boy again? I highly doubt that she wouldn’t want to talk to you.”

Meanwhile, you looked over to where Joe was standing next to Tee and Ja’Marr, and the butterflies in your stomach instantly hit you like a ton of bricks.

“Sabrina, he’s right there.” You told her as you tugged on her arm.

“And I hear wedding bells.”

“Seriously?! Now is not the time.”

“It’s the perfect time actually.”

“What do I say if he comes up to me?”

“Uh? Hi? Have you suddenly lost all of your brain cells? For you to be an aerospace engineer, I wouldn’t actually be able to tell.”

“That’s different!”

“The kids are about to have lunch anyway so just go up to him then. You actually should have worn less clothing to be honest so he can see what he’s been missing.”

“Uh no, for one there are children around and two, I just came from my new job so that’s a definite no.”

“Changing the subject for a minute, but Julian is actually really good.” Sabrina said as he watched him run down the field for a touchdown.

“Well, look at who his dad is.” You replied as you shrugged.

“Did he always want to play quarterback?”

“Mm hmm, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“What do you think his reaction will be when you tell him?”

“I honestly don’t know. I know my baby like the back of my hand, but that I’m not quite sure about.”

“The baby who is almost taller than you by the way.”

“If he’s only nine now, I can’t imagine how tall he’s going to be when he stops growing.”

“How tall is Joe?”

“6’4.”

“Oh, so we have a little ways to go.”

When the first game had come to an end, Julian spotted you and ran straight into your arms.

“Hi bubs, are you having fun?”

“Yes! Thank you Aunt Sabrina for bringing me!”Julian said as he was still holding onto you but turned towards your sister.

“You’re very welcome, sweetheart.”

“Mom, before we leave do you think Joe will sign my jersey for me?”

“I'm sure he will if you ask him.”

Sabrina got a small smile on her face as she saw Joe walking up behind you.

“Julian, look. There he is, go and ask him.”

As soon as she said that, the butterflies that had been in your stomach the first time you saw them were there once more.

As you turned around, you were met with the sight of your ex boyfriend that you hadn't laid eyes on in person in close to ten years.

“Um, hi Mr. Burrow, could you sign my jersey for me?” He shyly asked as he held up the orange Bengals jersey with Joe's number on the back of it. He made sure to wear the black one, bring the orange one, and the white one was hanging up in his room on the wall while the other white one was hanging up in his closet.

“Of course I can. What's your name?” Joe asked Julian as he handed him the jersey along with a marker.

“Julian and I play quarterback just like you do. You're my favorite player and I've watched you ever since you played at LSU.” He proudly told him and Joe had to laugh to himself.

Julian had literally been watching him since he was 4 turning 5 and had been intrigued ever since.

“Really? Wow, that's a long time ago.”

“I want to play in the NFL one day like you and thank you for signing it.” He confessed as Joe handed him back his signed jersey and squatted down to his level.

“You're welcome and if you practice and work really hard, there is no reason why you can't make that happen. And listening to your mom is also going to help.” Joe told him as he glanced up at you and winked.

Okay so maybe he wasn't mad like you thought he was going to be.

Julian eagerly nodded as Sabrina grabbed his hand and started to pull him in the other direction.

“Now come on and let’s get in line for some food. Your mom has something that she needs to take care of.” Sabrina said and you looked at her confused.

“Wait, what?”

She grabbed Julian’s hand and mouthed to you ‘talk to him’. Once they were both out of earshot, you heard his voice.

“It’s really you.” He quietly said and you simply nodded.

“And it’s really you.” You replied as your necklace caught Joe’s eye.

“You still have it…” He said more as a statement then as a question as he reached up to play with the charm.

“I'm wearing it for two people now. Joseph Lee and Julian Oliver. Only time I take it off is to get it cleaned and then it goes right back on.”

Joe nodded his head and looked in the direction of where Julian was standing next to Sabrina, you followed his gaze and sighed.

“Yes.” You quietly said and you immediately got a guilty look on your face.

“I…”

“There is so much that I have to tell you and cannot do it in a span of five minutes. But yes. You keep looking at him so I answered your question for you because I know what you're thinking.”

“He looks just like me. How old is he?”

“He’ll be ten on December 10th.”

“The same day as ours.” Joe replied and you slowly nodded your head.

“I know we don’t have a lot of time right now, but please understand that I didn’t break up with you because I wanted to, I did it because I was told to and being a scared teenager doesn’t leave you with a lot of options. Just wanted you to know that.”

Joe slowly nodded his head and you couldn't quite read the expression on his face.

“After the kids are done, can we go somewhere and talk? Just us?”

“Of course, I’ll see if my sister can take Julian.”

“And he has no idea does he?” He asked, referring to Julian and you shook your head no.

“So, all this time?”

“You can be mad at me because I would be too, but I moved back because I was done hiding him. He deserves better than that. I wanted for him to know you and for you to know him because that is ultimately who ended up being hurt by all this.”

“He seems like a great kid. And I expect nothing less if he came from you.”

“He is and he is exactly how I imagined that he would be. Just about everything he does reminds me of you.”

—

Sabrina took Julian without a second thought to give you and Joe time to talk when you had asked her. The two of you decided on one of Joe’s favorite restaurants in the city and made sure that the two of you got a booth in a corner away from everyone else so the goal was no one would bother him.

You were looking over the drink menu, when you could feel Joe staring at you.

“I see some things haven’t changed. Joey, it's not nice to stare.” You told him as you laughed and felt your cheeks heat up and all he did was smile in response.

“Can’t help it if you’re so pretty. Gorgeous now actually. Always been that way.”

“Smooth talker Joe Burrow definitely hasn’t changed.”

It was quiet for a few seconds as both of you were once again scanning the menu when you blurted it out.

“I took a pregnancy test on April 1st because I felt off and before I could tell you, my mom found it.”

“And then what happened?”

“She talked to my dad and in turn both of them talked to your parents...” Joe immediately cut you off.

“Wait, they knew?” He asked and you gave him a slow nod.

“I was told to break up with you and that I had to move in with my grandmother in Texas while your parents paid mine off not to say anything. I only found out about that part last year.”

Joe stayed quiet so you continued.

“So, the day I broke up with you once again, obviously not my choice, a few days later I was on a plane to Texas. My parents said the only way that I would be allowed back in their house was if I got an abortion and I was not allowed to say anything to anyone about it. Of course by now you can see what my answer had been. I haven’t talked to my parents since and I don’t plan to. Looking back on it, I would have done things a little differently.”

“What would you have done differently?”

“Made sure that I told you because that wasn’t fair. You have been thinking for almost ten years that I didn’t want to be with you anymore and that was the furthest thing from the truth and you missed out on knowing your son. We can do a DNA test too to confirm. The last thing that I want anyone to say is that I’m lying.”

When Joe remained quiet, you reached your hand across the table to take his.

“I’m really sorry and I should have told you sooner and…”

“Stop. Y/N just stop.” He told you as he used the other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“I know you’re mad….”

“I am mad, but pissed off is more like it but it’s not towards you.”

“Oh.”

“You had to go through that all by yourself when I could have been there. My son doesn’t even know who I am. I mean technically he does, but not in the capacity that I want him to.”

You slowly nodded as you allowed him to let all of his feelings about the situation be known.

“My parents knew I had a kid and did everything they could in order to keep me away from him.”

“And I missed out on nine years… almost ten.”

It almost looked as if Joe was about to cry, but did his best to compose himself.

“And you named him Julian Oliver, just like we both wanted.”

“I did, but I was told that I couldn’t give him your last name since they took the money or whatever.”

“And here I was thinking that I would never see you again.”

“The feeling is mutual, except on the tv when I watch you play of course. I knew from the beginning how good you were and that you playing in the NFL was bound to happen.” You said as you smiled at the thought of you two sneaking out and going to the park near both of your houses and laying down in the grass to look up at the night sky.

“You did and told me from day one even if I didn’t believe it myself.”

“I know this is a lot to take in but…”

“Just tell me everything, it’s just better to get everything all out in the open once and for all.”

“I mean that's the majority of what happened. I lived in Texas, graduated, went to Harvard. Got a job at NASA…” You started to say as Joe cut you off.

“Wait…. Back up, you actually did it?”

“Yes, you are looking at one of the top aerospace engineers at NASA. I moved back because they opened up a new facility here in Cincinnati.”

“I'm proud of you. I always knew you would end up working for NASA.”

“Thank you and this is the first time I've seen Sabrina too. Because I told my parents I wouldn't get an abortion, I couldn't talk to my siblings anymore. They didn't come to my graduation. I mean, I moved when there was literally a month of school left. I didn't go to prom because if I didn't go with you, it wasn't happening. My grandmother was my only saving grace. I didn't want to leave her and come up here, but she told me that would probably be the best thing for Julian. When my mom or dad would call to talk to her, they never asked about me. That was when my grandmother told me that she cheated on my dad and got pregnant with me and she felt that their relationship would go back to the way it was before it happened if they just got rid of me in a sense. They don't know that I know that. So my mother literally hates me and I don’t know who my actual dad is.”

Joe looked at you in disbelief and every time he opened his mouth to say something, he immediately closed it.

“I'm sorry you had to find out that way and sorry that it even happened at all.”

Before answering, you shrugged your shoulders and waved him off.

“It is what it is.”

“Y/N, no it isn't. That is some heavy shit you've been carrying around for ten years. Have you talked to anyone about that?”

“No and I don't want to. What good will it do?”

“You know better. Priorities can include Julian, but also includes yourself.”

“I guess, but not now. It's just… it's hard trying to wrap your mind around the fact that just about everyone in your life hates you and you were essentially a mistake.”

“You've always talked down on yourself and I see some things never change.”

“Sabrina said the same thing.”

“So that obviously means that we're telling the truth. You have always been the smartest and prettiest one in the room and it's still true now.”

“Even if I am, I'll probably never see it that way.”

After the two of you spent at least 2 more hours with each other, you exchanged numbers and it would be decided when and how the two of you would tell Julian.

The thought was exciting, but Joe was also dreading it. What if Julian despised him for not being there for him as well as you?

But for now, the day ended with a lot for Joe to think about.

Seeing you for the first time in ten years

Oh and the biggest one with you and him sharing a child that you were essentially bribed and threatened in a way to stay quiet about.

Knowing that his parents knew the entire time made Joe sick to his stomach.

He also had a feeling that both Ja’Marr and Tee would have their phones in their hands waiting for an update on what had happened. Before he could send the message that he had just typed, Tee beat him to it.

Tee- 👀👀👀

Uno- Spill the damn tea and stop leaving us in suspense

Joe- He's mine

Tee- I KNEW IT

Uno- Soooo I need details on why you didn't know about this….

Joe- My parents paid hers off not to tell me and made her move to Texas to live with her grandmother. And apparently she would only be allowed to move back if she got an abortion and of course as we can all see, she didn’t

Tee- YOUR PARENTS KNEW!?

Uno- This is some Tyler Perry movie shit 😫

Joe- They knew and pissed off doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. I missed out on damn near ten years of my son's life. He has no idea who I am

Tee- Technically he does know who you are

Uno- But still that shit is CRAZY. So are the two of you going to tell Julian?

Joe- Yeah, but I'm getting a DNA test first because Y/N won't take no for an answer and I get it. I know he's mine and she does too obviously but that way no one will be able to say anything about it. We have to decide when we're going to tell him. I don't know how he's going to take it.

Uno- Whatever you need from us, we got you

Tee- Ditto

Joe- Appreciate it. First thing I need to do is confront my parents and ask them why they kept this from me

About a week or so passed and Joe had been ignoring the calls from his parents. He would talk to them a few times a week, but ever since he found out they knew about Julian, he really didn't know what to say to them.

However, he did promise to have Sunday dinner with them and he planned on confronting them and getting this out in the open once and for all.

There Joe was sitting at the dinner table with his parents and pushing his food around on his plate. Both Jimmy and Robin noticed and they exchanged a glance with one another before Jimmy asked if he was okay.

“Joe, you okay over there? It's one of your favorite meals and you've barely even touched it.”

“You know what, dad? No, I'm not okay.” He replied as he set his fork down and looked at him.

“Why? Did something happen?” Robin asked and he was doing his best in order not to roll his eyes.

“Something did happen and I don’t like being lied to.”

“Who lied about something?”

“Apparently the two people who have the title of being my parents tried to hide the fact that I have a child who is damn near ten years old. So, no one was going to say anything?”

Joe looked at both his parents in anticipation as the question he asked them lingered in the air.

When both of them were quiet, he spoke up again.

“Oh, so no one has anything to say?”

“Joseph, we did it to protect you as well as your future.” Jimmy finally spoke up as Robin remained quiet.

“Protect me from what exactly? Because that literally makes no fucking sense and you know it.”

“I don't care how old you are, watch your mouth when you talk to us.” Robin said as she crossed her arms and finally looked at him.

“I can't believe you two, but especially you. When Y/N broke up with me which I learned was your doing all along I came and confided in you not knowing what you had actually done. And let me ask, were you ever going to say anything?”

“I….”

“Never mind because whatever excuse you're about to pull out of your ass isn't worth it.”

“JOSEPH LEE BURROW!”

“NO, I GET TO BE PISSED OFF NOT YOU TWO. I GOT TO MISS OUT ON THE FIRST NINE YEARS OF MY SON'S LIFE BECAUSE YOU TWO PAID HER PARENTS NOT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT AND MADE HER DISAPPEAR FROM MY LIFE. I PLANNED ON MARRYING HER AND I WOULD HAVE DONE IT IF SHE HAD GOTTEN PREGNANT OR NOT.” Joe had been seeing red from the moment he stepped into his parents house and did not plan on backing down.

“We get you're upset, but let's calm down so we can talk.”

“You should have talked to me almost ten years ago. For now, I'm done. But answer this, forget about me for a minute. How could you do that to your own grandchild?”

“We never wanted to hurt you.”

“Hmm, funny. Because the people who did end up getting hurt were me, Y/N, and Julian. That's his name in case either of you wanted to know.”

“I saw Y/N with him about a month ago when I went to the grocery store.” Robin quietly said and Joe just shook his head at her.

“And you didn't say anything!?”

“When I saw him…. He is literally you up and down. There's no denying it. I know that us saying sorry is not going to cut it but….”

“You're right, it's not. Nothing you say is going to cut it or make me forgive you two for what you did. Y/N had NO ONE. She went through that by herself. Her parents shipped her off to Texas because she refused to get an abortion. I don't care what I would have had to do, she meant everything to me and I would have done anything to make sure that they were both okay. Now when we finally do tell him, he's going to wonder why I wasn't there.” Joe stated as he pushed his chair away from the table and stood up.

“Joseph…”

“I'm done. I don't want to talk to either of you right now.”

Once Joe was settled in his car, he immediately called you on facetime so that he would have you to keep him company on the long drive home that he had. When he pulled out of his parents driveway, you finally answered.

When Joe's face came into view, you could tell that he was upset and that something had happened.

“Joey? Is everything okay? What's going on?” You asked as you got up to head into your bedroom to be able to talk to him without Julian overhearing.

“I just left my parents house.”

“Okay? What is that look on your face for?”

“I asked them why they lied to me for almost ten years and of course no one had a good answer as to why they did it.” Joe breathed out as he pulled onto the highway.

“Oh and my mom mentioned seeing you about a month ago and failed to tell me anything. They're trying to apologize now but for what? Why even do it at this point? You knew what you were doing from the beginning.”

“I don't want to come in between you and your parents. I know how close you are with them.”

“It doesn't even matter. What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong and in this case they're dead wrong. And they also knew how I felt about you and how important you are to me.”

“Joey… hear me out for a second.”

“I'm listening.”

“Your feelings are completely valid and I'm not downplaying how you feel at all. But instead of focusing on being pissed at them, focus on finally being able to be a part of Julian’s life. He deserves you and you deserve him. I need you to be in the right and the best headspace. Do not come around him with that hanging over your head.”

“I… get it. I'm just… I can't believe that they would do that to me.”

“I know, but good news…”

“What is it?”

“DNA results are back and it's confirmed that you're my baby daddy even though we already knew.” You told him and saw a small smile form on his face.

“Now we just have to decide when we're going to tell him.” Joe told you as he sighed.

“Who knows? It might actually go better than we think it will.” Deep down you were not only trying to convince Joe, but convince yourself.

“But what if it doesn't?”

“Then we'll figure out a plan if it comes down to it. Do you want to wait until after training camp?”

“I was thinking the same thing. And maybe you two can come to the first home game of the season? And then we can go from there.” Joe's heart started to beat faster and he wasn't quite sure if it was nervousness or excitement.

“I like that idea.”

As promised, Joe made sure the two of you had tickets to the first home game of the season and the two of you were going to be directly behind the Bengals bench. Joe wanted you to be in his suite, but you told him that Julian had never been to an NFL game and needed to get the full experience.

Joe had sent you a text earlier saying that he couldn't wait to see the both of you and that the two of you should tell Julian after the game.

There Julian was next to you sitting there in awe and munching on his hot dog as he anxiously waited for the game to start. He dragged you as soon as the gates opened so he wouldn't miss anything. That was when you spotted Joe and a few other players come out the tunnel to come and warm up.

“Julian, look up.” You told him and his eyes immediately went to Joe.

“Mom! He's right there and there's Ja’Marr, Tee, and Andrei.”

“I see and look who's walking over here?” You replied as Joe began walking towards the two of you.

“I don't have anything for him to sign!”

“He signed your jersey already!”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” Julian said as he slumped down in his chair and you couldn't help but to laugh.

“Hey Julian.”

“You remember my name?” He asked as his eyes went wide and Joe nodded his head as Julian stood up to stand against the railing.

“Of course I do. And your mom told me that this is your first NFL game in person.” He said as he turned to look at you and wink, making a smile form on your face.

“It is. I usually just watch it at home with my mom.”

“I hope I'm able to see you a lot more this season.”

“Well, you have to talk to my mom, she's the boss.” Julian said and you stifled a laugh.

“I definitely think that I'm going to be able to convince her.”

Julian smiled at Joe as he went back to eating his hot dog and Joe motioned for you to come closer to him.

“Hmm, I knew you would look good in my jersey, but I didn’t expect you to look this good.”

“I figured that you would like it.”

“That’s putting it lightly. So we still on for later?”

“Yeah, I'm cooking so just come by when you're done here and we can go from there. Since it's going to be after the game, I plan on making you a cheat meal. I already texted you the address.”

“I most definitely have missed your cooking so no complaints here.”

“Well ten years have passed and I've gotten a lot better.”

“That isn't all that's gotten a lot better.” Joe told you as he looked you up and down and you could feel your cheeks heat up.

“Joey, go finish warming up and behave yourself.”

“I am behaving! Just calling it like I see it.”

“I beg to differ.”

Even though the Bengals didn't come away with a win, Julian was still excited nonetheless to be able to go in person. You were now standing in front of the stove while Julian was sitting at the kitchen table and playing on his iPad that you had recently gotten him when the doorbell rang and you knew it was Joe since you could see him on the security camera.

“Bubs, can you go see who's at the door for me?”

“Yes, mom.”

Julian basically sprinted towards the door and when he opened it, his mouth hit the floor.

“Hey Julian, your mom invited me for dinner.”

“I… Uh…” He started to stutter and you suddenly appeared next to him.

“Julian, don't leave our guest waiting outside. Invite him in already.” You said as you smiled at him and he immediately moved to the side so that he could come in.

He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands and quickly gave it to you while also hugging you.

If it was left up to you, you would have stayed in that hug forever.

“Pink roses still your favorite?” He asked and you quickly nodded.

“Yes, still my favorite, but now peonies are high up on my list too.”

“I'll keep that in mind for next time. It smells good in here, what are you making?” He asked as he was now following your lead into the kitchen.

“Tacos. Always a good cheat meal and still one of your favorites?”

“Still one of my favorites.”

Watching both Julian and Joe stuff their faces with tacos was comical. It was the fact that they both fixed their tacos the exact same way and you noticed right away. Being that you were so nervous about how Julian was going to react, you didn't have much of an appetite. When Joe finished, he looked up and made eye contact with you as you then took a deep sigh.

It was now or never so let's get this over with.

“Julian, I have something that I need to tell you.”

“Okay, what is it? Are we still going to the aquarium?”

“Yes, we're still going and it's something else. Something that you have been steadily asking me about for a while.”

“A puppy?!”

“Uh no. Not exactly. Julian, Joe is your dad.” You finally said and he looked confused as he glanced back and forth between the both of you.

“Hold on, I don't get it.”

“It’s taken….” You started to say and he immediately cut you off.

“You knew this the entire time and kept him from me?” Julian asked and you knew that shit had officially hit the fan.

“It wasn't that simple, Julian.” Joe immediately spoke up as he looked at him.

“How is it not? I thought you didn't want me but you've been here the entire time.”

“The difference was that I didn't know about you, it wasn’t the fact that I didn’t want you.”

“Julian, just listen for a minute.” You said but he made a face at you.

“Why should I? What else are you lying to me about?”

“I…”

Without another word, Julian pushed himself away from the table and ran upstairs to his room leaving both you and Joe at the table looking at one another.

“Deep down I knew this was going to happen.�� You quietly said as you started to play with the ends of your braids.

“I'll go and talk to him, it'll be fine.” Joe told you as he grabbed your hand and gave it a small squeeze before standing up and going to talk to Julian.

Joe took the steps two at a time and there was no denying which room was his, seeing as his walls were covered in any and everything Bengals related.

“Julian, can I come in?” Joe asked him as he stood in the hallway in front of his bedroom door.

He nodded as he angrily wiped tears away from his face.

Joe walked in and sat down next to him and sighed.

“I know you're upset, but don't take it out on your mom.”

“But she lied to me.”

“She didn't necessarily lie, she was just trying to protect you. None of this has been easy for her. And I can imagine that it hasn't been easy for you either.” Joe explained to him and Julian quickly nodded letting him know that he agreed.

“She has done an amazing job taking care of you and I'm very thankful to her for it. But now you also have me. If I would have known from the beginning, things would have been a lot different. But we can't do anything about the past. We just have to focus on the future and move forward. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Good now can I get a hug and you go back downstairs and apologize to your mom? I don't think what you said made her feel all that good. And we don't want to hurt her feelings, right? Because you don't like when people hurt your feelings right?”

“No, I don't like it.”

“Now come on so we can get some of the cake your mom made.”

“Okay.” Julian said as he quickly hugged Joe's side and nodded his head.

“I'm glad you're my dad and not Patrick Mahomes. I don't like the Chiefs and I wouldn't be able to fake it either.” Julian added and Joe had to stifle a laugh.

About a month and a half went by and Joe would spend as much time as he could with Julian on his off days seeing as though it was the middle of the season.

It was almost as if no time had passed and Joe quickly fell into the role of being a father. He made sure to call Julian every night before he went to sleep and also used that opportunity to talk to you. Your current thought process was not being sure if rekindling the relationship between the two of you was in the cards. Truth be told, that would definitely be the icing on the cake, but you weren't exactly quite sure what Joe wanted and he didn't mention it to you either. But the most important thing was him having a relationship with Julian.

And for now, you were content with that.

You were currently working from home and it was the early afternoon when your phone started ringing. Glancing down, you saw it was Joe and a wave of butterflies had hit your stomach and quickly answered.

“Yes, Joseph?

“Don't do that. Am I in trouble? You only did that when I was in trouble.” He asked and you laughed as you shook your head.

“Hmm, depends. Have you done something that would warrant you to be in trouble?’

“I don't think so, so let's go with that.”

“Everything okay?” You asked as you plugged in your laptop to prevent it from dying.

“Yeah, it's fine….” Joe started to say and then trailed off and he would always do this if he knew he was about to say or do something that you weren't completely on board with.

“I can still read you like a book. Spit it out.”

“Okay, just…. Keep an open mind with what I'm about to ask.”

“Okay, go ahead. I'm listening.”

“I want Julian to meet my parents.”

It was quiet for a few seconds and even though he couldn't see you, you were shaking your head.

“No.”

“Y/N, just hear me out. Julian has literally only been around you and your grandmother since he was born, right? For the most part?”

“And that wasn't my choice. It was decided for me.”

“He should have the opportunity to know who his grandparents are.”

“The grandparents who wanted NOTHING to do with him? Do I have that right?”

“I know, but they apologized multiple times for what they did. They know how I feel about it. I literally didn't talk to them for almost a month.”

“So, that makes it okay?”

“No, not at all and I told them that. But they are making an effort because they genuinely want to get to know him.”

“They didn't even allow me to give him the Burrow last name and all of a sudden they want to get to know him? Joey, let's be serious for a second. They probably would have NEVER told you that he even existed if it wasn't for me.”

“Y/N, I know this may be difficult for you but we can't change what happened. All we can do is move forward.”

“Your mother fucking HATES me and she always has.”

“No she doesn't! Neither of my parents hate you.”

“He's just getting to know you, give him some time to adjust.”

“Well we wouldn't be going through this if you would have told me.” Joe shot back at you and immediately regretted it once the words left his mouth.

“We wouldn't be going through this if it wasn't for YOUR MOTHER WHO FUCKING HATES ME like I said before!”

“Where did you even get that from?”

“Joseph, don't be dumb. So I'm going to open the door for her also to hate my child that she wanted no connection to from the beginning? No fucking thank you. If I don't talk to my parents what makes you think I want to be around yours when they are just as guilty? And I feel like you're downplaying what they did to me! Did to us! How can you not see that?” You asked as you felt a few tears slip out.

You should have known that it would eventually come down to this. You just didn't think it would be so soon.

As in Joe's parents wanting to be in Julian's life too.

“I'm not trying to make you upset. I just…”

“Too late because you already have. I have work to do, so bye.”

Without another word, you hung up the phone and threw it onto the couch behind you while you were doing your best not to cry even harder.

After you had hung up the phone on him, Joe was at a loss. He frustratedly ran a hand through his hair before sighing and attempting to call you back.

When you didn't answer, he came up with what he thought was the perfect idea to get you to talk to him.

A little over twenty four hours later, your doorbell rang and you checked the camera to see that it was Joe and rolled your eyes.

“Go away, Joseph.”

“Y/N, let me in so we can talk.”

“No.”

“We aren't 17 anymore stop giving me the silent treatment. I know how to bribe you.” He told you as he held up the pizza which you assumed was pepperoni in the camera.

"You're right we're not 17. Which means, I don't give in to your bribes anymore. So there's that.”

"Stop acting like you don't want this pizza and open the door. I also threw in a new telescope for good measure.”

“Wait, you got me a telescope?” You asked as you slowly cracked open the door and peeked your head out.

“You aren't getting it unless you let me in.”

“And what kind of pizza is that?” You asked as you were pointing. You already had a feeling that you knew what it was, but you needed confirmation.

“Your favorite.”

“What's my favorite?”

“What is this? 20 questions? Come on Y/N, let me in already.”

“Then tell me what's in the box!”

“Pepperoni and I got extra ranch on the side now open.the.door.”

“Hmph, fine. But hand over the pizza first.”

“No, not a chance. You're going to take it and slam the door shut. I still know you like the back of my hand.”

You sighed and finally rolled your eyes as you fully opened the door so he could step inside.

Once Joe was fully inside the house, he made his way into the kitchen and set the pizza on the table and went on the hunt to look for plates not knowing if he should take out two or three.

“Where’s Julian?”

“With my sister, so l'm by myself.” You answered as he then took down two plates and brought them over to the table. Opening the box, he slid two pieces on one of them and slid it over to you while also setting the ranch down in front of you.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

The two of you were eating in silence when Joe finally broke it.

“You know that I never liked fighting with you.”

“I know.” You quietly answered as you picked a piece of pepperoni off your second slice of pizza and popped it in your mouth.

“So can we come up with some type of compromise?”

Taking a deep breath, you nodded your head before pushing your plate into the center of the table and giving him your undivided attention.

“I know what they did to us and Julian wasn't fair and I'm not trying to downplay it at all. When I finally did answer the phone and talk to them, I explained how I felt and said that they betrayed my trust which I never thought was going to happen since they're my parents. Your hesitation is valid because mine was too when they had first asked. But the more I think about it, he does need to know who his family is.”

“I get that. It's just…. The main thing in the back of my mind is him getting hurt on the same level that we did.”

“They know that if they did that, that they would never see him again and I made that very clear. Because at first when they asked, I had the same reaction as you did and I said no.”

“Okay, I will do it for Julian and I promise to play nice. When did you want him to meet them?”

“You busy Sunday? All of you can be in my suite at the stadium for the game.”

“I’m not and that sounds like a plan. The last thing I said to your mom when I saw her in Athens was ‘good luck begging your son for forgiveness’ and I also told her something along the lines of her not liking me so this should be interesting.”

“You want me to have security at the stadium on standby?” Joe jokingly asked and you smiled at him while shaking your head.

“No need. Julian is my main priority and that will always be the case. As long as he’s happy and taken care of, I’m more than content with that.”

“That reminds me. It’s going to get cold soon so I wanted to take him shopping for some winter clothes. Has he ever even seen snow before?”

“He’d like that and no he actually hasn’t and I have a feeling that he is not going to like it, but he may surprise me so let’s see.”

“I can do it on my next off day. I’ll pick him up from school so you don’t have to worry about doing it.”

You nodded your head as you were deep in thought and Joe grabbed your hand breaking you out of your trance.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just stop to think sometimes on how our lives might have been different if you had known from the beginning.” You quietly answered as Joe nodded his head.

“I do the same thing. I’m just happy that you finally decided that enough was enough and told me.”

“Honestly, I didn’t know how you were going to take it and I was scared out of my mind. I also thought you still hated me after I broke up with you out of nowhere.”

“I could never hate you, no matter what the circumstances had been. And you didn’t know how I was going to take it? He literally looks like the perfect mix of both of us. I couldn’t deny him even if I wanted to. It’s funny that Ja’Marr and Tee actually noticed first. When they told me his name and I saw you, I started connecting the dots.”

“He’s starting to look like you more and more everyday.”

“I have another question for you and it’s okay if you don’t want to answer it.”

“Go ahead.”

“Would you ever talk to your parents again? Or at least try to find out who your actual dad is?”

“It’s not on the top of my priority list and they knew where I was the entire time. If they really honestly did care about me, none of this would have even happened. Sabrina doesn’t even really talk to them and as for my other siblings, I have no idea. Who knows what lies they told them about me. I honestly think that the only people who care about me are you, Julian, and Sabrina. And I’ve always felt like that.”

“And you know I’ll never stop caring about you.” Joe told you as he kissed the back of your hand before massaging it in small circles.

“I know.” You said with a shy smile.

“But enough about that, it’s finally dark outside and I’ll get the telescope out of my car since you did hold up your end of the deal with letting me in the house and it’s evident that my bribes do still work.”

“Burrow, don’t start.” You said as you pointed to him as he stood up from the kitchen table. He held his hands up in defense before smiling at you.

“Just calling it like I see it.”

–

“Joey! That piece doesn’t go there, it goes over here!”

“That’s not what the picture says!”

“Are you looking at the picture or reading the actual directions?”

“Umm, kinda both.”

“Hand it over to the actual aerospace engineer please.” Joe did as he was told but not before he rolled his eyes and pinched your cheek making you laugh.

“I am so fucking proud of you for making it happen. I always knew that you were going to do it.”

“Thank you, Joey. I can give you credit for telling me to go for it and not sell myself short. Julian was also my motivation. I had to be able to make enough money to take care of both of us.” You told him.

“And now you don't have to worry about doing it all by yourself anymore.”

Once you finished putting the telescope together, the two of you spent some time looking through it until you grabbed one of your fluffy blankets to lay on the deck in your backyard allowing the two of you to lay on it.

It was an usually warm night in October and you figured that you better enjoy it before the winter air kicked in. The two of you were simply gazing up at the night sky which you both did often when you were younger when Joe wrapped his arms around you and you moved to lay your head on his chest.

“I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed this.” He whispered in your ear as you nodded in agreement.

“Me too.”

“I figured that you would have been married by now and forgot all about me.”

“How could I forget about you when people were saying your name everywhere I turned? And besides, I kept up with what you were doing. I was very excited when you entered the transfer portal and went to LSU. Being a backup quarterback didn’t fit you very well since I knew how amazing you were. And I honestly thought you would have been married by now.”

“You never let me forget it either. And I wasn’t marrying anyone who would be in your rightful place. Only person that I was ever going to make my wife was you. What I told you when we were seventeen hasn’t changed.”

“Just patiently waiting for you to win MVP and I know that it’s coming. And I know Julian would want nothing more than for all of us to be under one roof.”

“I want this with you. We get to do it right this time and no one can tell us no.”

Nodding your head in agreement, Joe turned your head to face him as he leaned over to kiss you. You eagerly kissed him back as both of your hands were exploring each other’s bodies. As Joe took the bottom of your shirt in his hands, he broke the kiss and searched your eyes for permission before he proceeded. When you nodded your head, your shirt was then peeled off of your body and thrown to the side as he comfortably moved you to the side so that he could hover above you.

At this moment, you were thankful for your fenced in backyard and the fact that your house wasn’t very close to anyone else’s. So the likelihood of the two of you getting caught was slim to none.

The next piece of clothing to come off of your body was your bra as Joe started to place several feather-like kisses all over starting from your neck as he worked his way down. His tongue lightly grazed one of your nipples before taking it fully in his mouth and slowly beginning to suck on it making a quiet moan slip from your mouth. He soon switched sides before you tugged on his shirt telling him to take it off. Once he did, he added it to your pile of clothes to the left of you before moving downward and slipping off your leggings that you were currently wearing with nothing underneath.

He quickly spread your legs and settled himself in between them as his mouth finally made contact with your core.

Joe continued to pleasure you as he heard your soft whimpers and inserted one of his fingers as he started pumping it in and out of you. Your hands quickly made a way into his hair as you tried to pull him as close as possible to you.

“Shiiit.” You quietly said as Joe wasted no time adding another finger while his focus was now solely on your clit.

“Mm, Joey.”

“You gonna cum for me, baby?” Joe asked as his mouth left your clit for a quick second before going right back to it.

Not being able to utter another word because of how much pleasure you were in, you simply nodded your head.

You didn’t know how much time had passed, but before you could tell Joe that you were close, You quickly squirted all over his face, However, he didn’t move a muscle as he tightly held onto your legs and still gave you as much pleasure as possible.

“Baby… mmm… Joey, I can’t….” You told him as you were doing your best to attempt to move away from him so you could somewhat recover from the constant feeling of you hitting your peak over and over again, but he obviously wasn’t letting that happen.

Being as bold as he was, he held eye contact with you the entire time, making you shake your head at him. When he finally came up for air, he placed several kisses all along your thighs before moving back up your body to place a kiss on your lips, which you gladly accepted and gave him several more.

“You are such an ass.” You whispered against his lips and all he did was laugh at you.

“Now, is that how we treat someone who just made you cum not once, but multiple times?”

“Hmm, yes because I know that you aren’t going to do anything else about it, but make me cum more and make me beg for mercy like you just did.”

“Good girl.”

“I see not much has changed.”

“But I see something on you has.” He replied as he began to play with your nipple piercings before leaning down and sucking on them.

“I figured that you would like that.”

“But I know that I’m going to love being inside you more. You ready for me?” He asked as he slipped another finger back into you. He took it back out and eagerly began sucking on it as he peered down at you.

Nodding your head, Joe slipped off his sweatpants along with his boxers and lined himself with your entrance.

“I know that you don’t have a lot of neighbors, but we still need to be quiet. Think you can do that for me, baby girl?”

“Yes.”

“You promise not to make a sound?” Joe asked you as he inserted himself in you at the same time making you gasp.

“Hmm, that wasn’t quiet. Don’t let it happen again.” He whispered in your ear as he began pounding into you.

Your arms had now wrapped around his neck as his head was resting on your shoulder. It was taking everything in you not to make a sound and you knew that as hard as you were biting down on your lip that blood had probably trickled out of it.

A small moan slipped out and Joe immediately stopped his movements and picked his head up to look at you.

“I thought I said not a sound, baby girl? And you were doing so well.” He told you as he pulled all the way out before slamming his hips all the way back in making you gasp.

Joe reached down to sloppily kiss you as he continued to move in and out of you with you trying not to make a sound. Your hands went back around his neck as he movements became sloppier indicating that he was close.

“Joey…. I’m close.”

“Hold it until I tell you to.”

“But…” You quickly protested, but all Joe did was shake his head, indicating that he didn’t want to hear it and that you had better listen to him.

It was taking everything in you to not let go right then and there as he was still going, but when you finally heard his voice, you wasted no time.

“Now you can.” He whispered against your lips as both of you came at the same time. Joe made sure not to finish inside you and his cum was covering the lower half of your stomach before you sat up and caught him off guard with you taking him in your mouth.

“Oh shit, babe.”

He made sure to move your hair out of the way as you continued to pleasure him as you also kept eye contact with him the entire time. The use of your hands also helped when your jaw was quickly becoming tired.

It didn’t take long for you to taste his cum at the back of your throat once he released in your mouth and milked him until the very last drop. Once you were finished, you laid back down on the blanket as Joe laid down next to you before pulling you on top of him and kissing your forehead.

“I’ll give you ten minutes and I think we need to go inside for the second round because I know for a fact that I’m going to have you screaming.” Joe told you as he smirked and leaned over to kiss you.

It was now Sunday and as promised, it was the day that Julian was going to meet his grandparents. You were nervous to say the least, but at this point in time, it is what it is. You and Joe both compromised and you were going to uphold your end of the deal.

Julian actually didn't know that he would be meeting them. All he knew was that he was going to get a chance to sit up in his dad's suite and watch the game.

You and Julian would be wearing matching jerseys, along with jeans and your pandas to top it off.

As you were laying out your clothes to wear later, you got a facetime call from Joe and quickly answered.

“Good morning, Joey.”

“Good morning, my love. You ready for later?” Joe asked as you could see him moving around in his bedroom.

“I should be the one asking you that.” You replied as you sat down on your bed next to your outfit.

“I'm good. About to leave the house in a few. Excited to see you as always. And my baby boy of course.”

“And your baby boy is excited to see you play as always. Wouldn’t stop talking about it from the time that I told him.”

“Where is he? I want to talk to him before I leave.”

“Hold on. Julian! Come here for a second.”

“Coming mom!”

Once he came into your room, he was all smiles as he hugged you before sitting next to you on your bed.

“Someone wants to talk to you.”

“Is it dad!?” He excitedly asked as you handed him your phone.

“See for yourself.”

Once Julian saw his father on the screen staring back at him, his smile got even wider if that was possible.

“Dad!”

“Hey King Julian, I'm excited to see you later.”

“Me too! Me and mom are wearing the white jerseys with our pandas so we can match you!”

“Definitely take a picture once you two get dressed and send it to me. And Julian?”

“Yes?”

“You have to promise me to be on your best behavior today. I know you usually are, but I just needed to remind you. I have some special people coming to the game to meet you.” Joe told him and Julian nodded in agreement.

“I will, I promise.”

“And what's my one other rule?”

“Besides being on my best behavior? Listening and protecting mom.”

“Perfect. I'll see you later, little man.”

“Oh! Can we get ice cream after the game?”

“Yes, as long as mom approves.” Joe answered and Julian immediately turned to you and gave you puppy dog eyes.

“I… how can I say no to a face like that? Of course we can.”

“I want rocky road or no…. Maybe bubble gum…”

“Well there's no rush, you have a few more hours to decide.” Joe replied as you noticed that he was now outside walking to his car.

“Okay Julian, let dad go to work and you need to go downstairs and finish your breakfast.”

“But mom, I want a chili cheese dog.”

“I… Not for breakfast you aren't! I will get you one later, promise.”

“But…”

“Julian, what did your mother say?” Joe asked him as he was now driving.

“To wait until later.”

“So we need to be patient, right?”

“Yes. I'll go finish my food.” Julian said with a slight attitude which Joe quickly caught onto and shut down.

“Lose the attitude this instant or we aren't getting ice cream. Didn't we just have an entire discussion about you listening to your mom?”

He let out a deep sigh before nodding his head in agreement.

“Go ahead and do what she told you to do.”

“Okay.”

Julian handed you back your phone before heading back downstairs and you were once again left with Joe.

“He gets his attitude from you.” You said without hesitation and Joe immediately snorted.

“That is one thing that I can actually agree with. Even though your attitude is just as bad.”

“I… it is not!”

“I will never tell you a lie, babe.”

“I'm ignoring you. But good luck today and as always either way it goes, I'm still proud of you.” You told him and he gave you a small smile in return.

“So if I win, victory kisses and if we lose sympathy kisses?”

Once you had arrived at the stadium with Julian and had gotten settled in Joe's suite, the two of you were there by yourselves for about twenty minutes before his parents made their presence known.

“Hi, Y/N.” Joe's dad was the first to speak and you gave him a small smile. Robin was next to him, but you couldn’t quite read her facial expression.

“Hi, Julian, these are the special and important people that your dad wanted you to meet.” You told him and he turned around in his seat to smile at the both of them.

“This is your grandma and grandpa. Your dad's parents.”

“Wait, dad has parents?”

“Everyone has parents, silly!” You explained to him as both Jim and Robin made themselves comfortable.

Robin finally spoke and pulled you to the side to be able to talk to you.

“Y/N, can we talk?” She asked and you looked to see that Jim was explaining something that was happening in the game to Julian and nodded your head.

“Sure.”

Once the two of you were outside the suite in the hallway, she took a deep breath before saying anything.

“I… first off thank you for agreeing for us to meet and get to know Julian. Because Joe’s original answer was no and I can imagine that yours was the same thing.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I want us to be able to put all of this behind us and move forward. Looking back on what I did, it wasn’t right in the slightest despite me wanting to protect my son. You have always been there for him and I knew that you cared about him. I knew once he knew that you were back in Ohio that it would be the same thing. I don’t think telling you sorry is enough and it will probably never be enough. Joe didn’t even talk to us for like a month and a half when he confronted us about it. Even after all this time, when Joe talks about you he lights up. And he does it even more now that he knows about Julian. I hope that you can forgive us for what we did. I know that it won’t happen overnight and that it will take time, but there is no rush. We want to be a part of Julian’s life and a part of yours.”

Clearly taken aback from what Robin had just confessed to you, all you could do at the moment was nod your head.

“Thank you for telling me that. I always thought you hated me when we were in high school so that was your entire reasoning behind doing what you did. But Joe swears up and down that you don’t.”

“No, I didn’t hate you and I still don’t. All I wanted to do was protect his future and was willing to go to extreme measures to do so. I know we hurt the both of you tremendously. I still think about the night Joe came to me in tears because you had broken up with him because we had told you to.”

“I still remember the look on his face, but he told me that he doesn’t hold it against me and knew for a fact that something wasn’t right about the whole thing. One day we were planning our future with each other and the next, I was breaking up with him.”

“That was definitely a dark time for him and that didn’t help when it spilled over to him going to Ohio State as a backup quarterback.”

“I can imagine.”

“But I just wanted to pull you to the side to talk to you. Now let’s go back in and enjoy the game.” She told you as she leaned in to hug you which you quickly returned.

Once you took your rightful spot next to Julian, he turned to you and asked a question.

“Where are your parents, mom?”

“Not really all that important right now, babe.” You replied and you were actually dreading the day that he found out the entire truth as to why he only had you in his life for so long and no one else.

As the game was quickly underway, the Bengals won the toss, but deferred it to get the ball at the start of the second half. Jim and Robin were both making conversation with Julian and you had to smile at how excited he was to meet them despite your protests. But what you weren't expecting was your actual parents to walk through the door.

“Hi everyone!”

Hearing her voice was like nails on a chalkboard and your flight or fight instincts immediately kicked in. You turned around to see both of your parents staring back at you and wasted no time questioning them.

“Why the hell are either of you here?”

“Now, Y/N is that any way to talk to your parents?” The person who calls himself your father asked.

“You aren’t even my real father, so you can pipe the fuck down.”

“OKAY! WHOA! Y/N, we just reached out to them to see if they wanted to come and watch the game with us since we knew that you were bringing Julian with you.” Jim stepped in to say as he put a hand on your shoulder. Meanwhile, Julian was looking at you confused.

“No. They need to leave immediately.”

“Y/N, why are you so upset? We just wanted to meet our grandson too.” Your mother softly said, making you instantly roll your eyes.

“Neither of you have talked to me since I was seventeen when I first got pregnant with him so what in the world makes you think that you have a right to just show up out of nowhere and talk to him? I don’t even want to have anything to do with either of you and I know for a FACT, my son is not going to be around you either.”

“That was a difficult time for all of us.”

“Difficult for who? You made me break up with my boyfriend at the damn near end of my senior year when I had a MONTH LEFT and move all the way across the country to live with my grandmother. Neither of you came to my graduation or checked up on me to see how I was doing and every time you called to talk to her, she would ask if you wanted to talk to me and the answer was always no. I was literally in the hospital in labor BY MYSELF because grandma was out of town on a business trip. A FUCKING NURSE HELD MY HAND INSTEAD OF IT BEING MY BOYFRIEND OR MY MOTHER. DON’T YOU DARE TALK TO ME ABOUT IT BEING A DIFFICULT TIME FOR YOU.”

“Okay, Y/N, baby girl I get that you’re upset…”

“No, you don’t know ANYTHING and you need to….. Where’s Julian?” You asked no one in particular and everyone looked around the room dumbfounded and confused just as you were.

“He was just sitting right there. I… maybe the bathroom?”

“He never leaves without telling me because he knows better. SHIT.”

Meanwhile, Julian was wandering the hallways of the stadium by himself when all of a sudden he was spotted by Mama Tee who he met when he also met Ja’Marr and Tee after one of the Bengals home games. She spotted him too and immediately went up to him and was looking around for you.

“Julian? What are you doing out here by yourself? Where’s your mom? You look upset?”

“We were in the suite and I met my dad’s parents, but my mom’s parents also came and she got really upset. They started arguing and I wanted to leave. I really want my dad right now.” He told her as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

“I… okay. Well you can’t go to him right this second since he’s playing in the game, but I need to get you back to your mom because she is probably losing her mind. Julian, baby, you can’t walk away and not tell anyone.” She told him as she grabbed his hand and was leading him back towards the suite.

“Dad told me to always protect my mom, but I also know not to interrupt adults when they’re talking so I just left. I don’t want them here and I’ve never seen her like that. I don’t want to be around anyone who has hurt my mom.”

“Okay, how about this? Let’s dial her number so I can tell her that you’re okay and we can go from there.”

Julian nodded his head as she handed him her phone and quickly dialed your number. You answered on the first ring and he could tell that you were upset, not only about your parents, but about him also walking away from you.

“Hello?!”

“Mom!”

“JULIAN OLIVER! Where are you?! You need to get back here NOW.”

“I’m with Mama Tee. She’s walking me back right now.”

“Once you get back here, you are not leaving my sight until you turn eighteen, you understand?” You told him and he nodded although you couldn’t see him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Julian quickly handed Mama Tee her phone back and she could hear your quiet sobs.

“It’s okay, Y/N, he’s fine. Not a scratch on him. He just got upset because you were upset and he wanted to leave. Of course he told me that he wanted his dad, but I told him that he has to be patient and wait until after the game.”

“I never want to argue or deal with confrontation in front of him but all I saw was red when my parents showed up.”

“He also told me that because they made you upset that he doesn’t want to be around them and that they need to leave.”

“Well lucky for him, his wish has been granted because they literally just left. They offered to help look for him, but I said absolutely not.”

“Well, we’re outside the suite now, you can come and get him.” She told you as you quickly hung up the phone before practically running towards the door and opening it to see Julian looking at you with Mama Tee standing behind him.

Julian quickly hugged you and you were squeezing him for dear life.

“Listen to me, do not EVER do that again.” You told him as you grabbed his face for him to look up at you and he nodded.

“I don’t like seeing you upset or seeing you cry. They made you cry.”

“I… well they won’t be a problem anymore, okay? Promise.” You explained as you wiped a few tears that had fallen on Julian’s cheeks and kissed his forehead.

“Okay.”

“Now, get back in there and watch the game with your grandparents. They were worried about you too.”

As Julian went inside the suite to sit back down, you turned back to Mama Tee and smiled.

“I can’t thank you enough for spotting him and bringing him back.”

“Of course, I know he’s a good kid, and his main concern was protecting you but he also told me he knows not to interrupt when adults are talking. He got upset, so he left.”

“Yeah, that sounds like my baby. I swear that I couldn’t have asked for a better first born.”

“You and Joe definitely have one amazing kid.”

It was now close to eleven at night and Joe had tucked Julian in before coming into your bedroom and falling face first onto your bed with you laughing at him.

“Is someone tired?”

“Definitely, but not tired enough not to spend any time with you.” He replied as he moved to lay his head on your chest as you wrapped your arms around him.

“How did your talk with your baby boy go?” You asked because you immediately wasted no time in telling what had happened during the game when you saw him in the tunnel before his presser.

“He knows now that if he becomes upset, he has to tell one of us before simply walking away. He was upset and I get it, because I definitely told him to look out for you which he was doing. It shouldn’t be a problem again. But, my parents were okay?”

“Yes and they apologized about everything and also apologized about my parents because they didn’t even know the full story. They actually gave me hugs and your theory was confirmed.”

“What theory? And I’m sorry that they basically ambushed you. But you know that you have me and Julian to protect you.”

“Your mom told me straight up that she never hated me and yes my two favorite boys.”

“I told you and you didn’t want to believe me.”

“And she wants to not only be a part of Julian’s life but mine too but she knows that this all isn’t going to happen overnight.” You explained to Joe as he began to play with your necklace.

“I’m going to get you a new one.”

“What’s wrong with this one?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, I just figured I could add a few diamonds to it to give it a little upgrade.”

“Fine, not going to argue about that, but I want it in rose gold.”

“Anything you ask for, if I have the ability to get, consider it yours.”

One year later

“Julian, you want to hold her?” Joe asked as he was cuddling your newborn baby girl, Juliet against his chest and he eagerly nodded.

“Go sit down over there and I’ll hand her to you.”

As he sat down in the corner of your hospital room, he was all smiles as he looked at his dad in front of him as he anticipated holding his baby sister for the first time. From the moment you told Julian that he was going to be a big brother, he stepped into his role and took it very seriously.

“You ready? You have to make sure you support her head.”

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Joe gently placed her in Julian’s arms and he was in absolute awe.

“She’s so little. Hi Juliet, I’m your big brother, Julian and I love you so much already.” He told her as she cooed and looked up at him with her brown eyes.

Joe recorded the entire interaction on his phone and when he was finished, placed a kiss on top of your head.

“We really did it.” He whispered in your ear as you looked at him confused.

“Did what, babe?”

“We finally got our happy ending. We’re together, married, and have our Julian and Juliet.”

“And it only took maybe ten years.”

“Doesn’t even matter how long it took, we made it happen. Still can’t believe that everyone in the house has the exact same birthday. Now what are the odds?”

“I know like that is literally insane. Now we have four birthdays to celebrate on December 10th.”

“Now, does my wife want sushi since I know these nine months have driven you up the wall with not being able to have any.:

“Yes, please, oh my gosh. I couldn’t get her out of me fast enough. I forgot how much I actually loved it until I couldn’t have any.” You told him and he laughed as he shook his head at you.

“Mom!”

“Yes, Julian?”

“Can I request a little brother, next?” He asked and your eyes went wide as you looked at Joe.

“Um, let’s just try to focus on being a good big brother to Juliet first and then we can see.” He told him as he adjusted the flower headband that was on Juliet, a gift from her grandparents.

“JOSEPH!”

“I… what?! You know it’s hard for me to tell him no!”

“If that’s the case, I’m going to need a lot more than sushi.”

“That’s fine, how about a Birkin?”

Liked by lahjay_10, cincinattibengals, sabrinaaa, teehiggins and 2,472,097 others

joeyb_9: Finally got our happy ending. Welcome to the world, Juliet Maeve Burrow. Julian is so excited to be your big brother ❤️

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#joe burrow #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x black reader #joe burrow fluff #joe burrow smut #joey burrow #joey b #nfl imagine #nfl #joe burrow fanfiction #joe burrow fanfic #joe burrow bengals

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joeyfranchise · 5 months ago

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no one’s ever had me (not like you)

joe burrow x reader

description: after a tough week 5 loss in overtime, joe comes home to you angry and confused. you try to make him feel better and comfort him, letting him know you’ll always be there.

warnings: nothing too bad, but still MDNI. (makes me uncomfy.) lots of angry joe, a bit of fluff, semi-spicy kiss. mostly angst.

word count: 1.8k

note. hi hi! this is my first joe fic/blurb so i hope you guys enjoy it. sorry in advance that lowercase is my aesthetic. i used to get yelled at for it in elementary school. i love you guys. who dey!! (title & plot are lyrics from so high school, i love u mother taylor.)

pacing. you were pacing back and forth in front of the television in joe’s living room, watching the seconds tick down to end regulation time in the game. it took everything in you not to turn it off.

you watched as the minutes, seconds, milliseconds in overtime ticked by, hoping and praying your boyfriend and his team could pull out a win.

you felt your heart lurch as mcpherson went for the field goal and the ball wasn’t in the correct place. wide left. you knew it was over. you continued watching, frozen in place, as baltimore did everything they needed to do to score. they made it to field goal range, kicked, and won the game. your heart was hammering against your chest. your breath was coming out in short puffs.

after valiant efforts from joe and the rest of the team, the bengals once again took a loss at the very end of the game, something that kept happening to them this year. you knew joe would come home upset.

watching the post game interview was going to be something you dreaded today. joe took his seat and began talking to the interviewers, answering their repetitive questions and talking about what needed to be done to fix the team, what could use work next week.

you rested your head in your hands and blew out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. “oh, joey…” you whispered, seeing your boyfriend’s clearly upset glare on the screen. you couldn’t wait to see him when he got home, but you were unsure of what his mood would be.

after the interview was done, you turned the television off. ‘i could start some laundry’ you thought, at least that’d keep you busy until joe’s return home.

you made your way to his bedroom, which honestly felt like your room too, and gathered all the clothes that needed to be washed before taking them to the laundry room. you tossed the laundry into the machine and then added in your favorite scent beads and detergent before turning it on and closing the lid.

‘i can tackle dishes next’ you thought, heading for the large kitchen. of course you could’ve loaded them into the dishwasher, but something needed to keep you busy and washing dishes was always strangely cathartic to you.

you popped your earbuds in and started listening to your favorite playlist before tackling the chore. once dishes were complete, you vacuumed, watered a few plants, and made yourself a snack. finally the washer beeped, so you went to switch the clothes over.

as you were switching them, joe arrived home, pulling his sleek black car into the garage before locking it up and heading into the house. listening to your music and keeping yourself busy helped lift your spirits some, which you hoped would aide you when joe finally made it back.

when he didn’t greet you upon entering the house, you knew tonight would be a tough night.

you peeked your head out of the laundry room to check for a clear coast, and it was. tiptoe-ing your way down the hall, you made your way to the kitchen where joe still was, his back facing you.

you cleared your throat softly to get his attention, but he didn’t move. you could see he was scrolling through his phone, you worried he was reading negativity that was being spewed about himself and the team.

“joey?” you called, your voice sounded smaller than you intended.

“what?” he snapped, turning to face you. you flinched at the tone of his voice, taking half a step back. internally he berated himself for scaring you, but his post-game mood was too foul to turn off now.

“i know it’s silly to ask, but are you okay?” you question, looking up at him from across the room.

he ran his hand through his short blonde hair before blowing a snarky chuckle through his nose, scoffing at you.

“am i okay?” he snarked, locking his phone and shoving it in his pocket. “what a great question! you sound like the post-game interviewers!”

the bite in his tone was starting to affect you, but you didn’t want to leave him alone just yet. as much as it hurt, you knew what he needed in this moment was to let this anger out any way possible.

“talk to me about it.” you pleaded, walking toward him and placing a hand on his forearm. he rolled his eyes as a response. “c’mon joey, i know you’re mad but you can—“ you don’t get to finish your sentence before joe groans out in response, a loud “UGH!” before lobbing his water bottle at the wall. you’re shocked it doesn’t bust a hole through.

“what is there to say, hmm? what do you want me to tell you that the world doesn’t already think or know? we aren’t looking like a championship team right now. everything we’re doing is never enough for success, and here i am, 27 years old and being called washed up.” he chides, looking down at you. his voice booms across the room, making you feel only inches tall.

your expression drops, and you turn your gaze toward the wall as tears well up in your eyes. joe takes a small step toward you, his hands flexing at his sides. you can tell he wants to reach out to you, touch you, apologize to you for scaring you.

“i’m sorry.” he says softly, hanging his head. you’ll let him make the first move. he steps toward you again, bringing a hand up to your shoulder, testing the waters. when he sees that you’re still receptive to his touch, despite his atrocious attitude, he moves his hand to the back of your neck before pulling you into him for a hug. you instinctively reach up and wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him into you.

both of you stay like that for a few moments, just holding each other and feeling each other breathe. joe’s face is buried in your neck and your hand is scratching slow soft circles into his hair. you hear him sniffle and you pull away slightly, trying to get a view of his face. he looks up at you with red eyes, tears falling down his cheeks.

“joey, baby,” you comfort him, “it’s going to be okay. you’re going to be okay.” your heart breaks seeing him so upset.

he says nothing, but leads you out of the kitchen and to the living room so you can sit down together. he plops onto the couch and pulls you into his lap, burying his face again.

“i just feel like i’m failing them. i’m doing everything within my power, and it doesn’t seem like enough.” he rasps, muffled into your neck. you say nothing, knowing he needs to get this out. you run your hands down his biceps as a gesture for him to keep going, that you understand.

“the whole world thinks i’m a fluke. they think my play-calling is shit, they think i had one kick-ass college season and that i made it to the nfl and choked. when does it end, you know? we took our team to the superbowl and what happened? we lost. it just feels like i’m stuck in this rut and i can’t get out.”

you sit for a moment, processing what he said. his words hurt you, just as much as you know the thoughts hurt him.

“i hear you joey. i really do. but i have some things i’d like to say, if that’s okay.”

he nods, expectant eyes raking over your face. “i’d love to hear it, baby. please.”

“first of all,” you start, playing up your sass in an attempt to make him laugh, “you aren’t washed up. people who think you are most likely sit on their couches and rot all day long while you’re out here training and conditioning your body for the physicality of your job. i think you’re in your prime.” you pause, squeezing his biceps for emphasis.

“next, you can’t take all the blame. sure, you’re the leader of the team, but it doesn’t all fall on you. it’s very noble of you to do that, but you don’t have to shoulder it. you played your heart out today. you all did. i’m so proud of you.” you move your hands to his face, cupping his cheeks.

“lastly, fuck what the world thinks, joe. you know how good you are. i know how good you are. your parents know, your teammates know. other players in the league know. you’re incredible. you’ve got this, and after all is said and done i will be here. win or lose, i’m here, and i’ve got you.”

his eyes soften as you finish speaking. you don’t get a verbal reply. his hands reach up to cup your face, pulling you into him for a long kiss. his lips are soft against yours and it doesn’t take long before his hands are slipping up the back of your hoodie and rubbing along the exposed skin of your back.

your hands stay on his cheeks, loving the feeling of him being so close to you, his body pressed into yours. “i. love. you. so. much.” you tell him between pecks, feeling him smile into the kiss. one of his hands returns to your face and then tangles into your hair, tilting your head slightly as his tongue drags over your bottom lip.

he slowly slips his tongue into your mouth, gliding it against yours. after a moment, you pull away for air.

“thank you for that,” he smiles, stroking his hands down your arms, “for all of it. i needed that. i love you too. and i’m sorry for scaring you with my temper.”

“it’s okay, mine can be worse.” you jest, poking him in the ribs.

he pulls you down so you’re both laying on the couch before pulling his large cable knit throw blanket over you both. “let’s put it out of our minds, get takeout, and watch a movie.” you suggest, and he smiles in agreement. the two of you get cozy and pick your movie and dinner, remaining snuggled up on the couch as you watch and eat.

“you’re right, you know.” joe finally speaks again, as the movie nears its end.

“i usually am, but enlighten me.” you laugh, slipping your hand under his shirt and resting it on his abdomen.

“you’ve always had me. every turn, every bump in the road. every time i feel like i’ve made the biggest mistake, the biggest failure of my life. you’re there. you talk me through it and you put me in my place. no one’s ever had me like you have. i love you too, by the way.”

a soft smile spreads across your face as you reach up to stroke his hair again. “ditto baby, no one’s ever had me, not like you.”

he leans down and presses another soft, sweet peck to your lips. everything was going to be okay. you always had each other.

tags: @slimshiesty if you wanna be added, or if you have requests pls send me asks or dm’s! 💗

#joe burrow #cincinnati bengals #joe burrow fanfic #joe burrow fic #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow angst #joe burrow fluff #joe burrow smut #joe burrow fanfiction #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow x reader fanfic #nfl fanfic #nfl fanfiction

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why4anne · 3 months ago

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NFL Masterlist

Joe Burrow

Social-Media Au:

Juno - Pop star Y/N L/N cannot behave herself on social media. But who can blame her when her boyfriend looks like that?

#masterlist #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow fanfiction #joe burrow #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow social media au #nfl fanfiction #nfl imagine #nfl social media au #why4anne

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blackynsupremacy · 3 months ago

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idgaf about what’s canon, if you want to romantically write them to be with a black girl, do it!

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betterthanburrow · 1 year ago

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Afterglow - Joe Burrow

Summary: After weeks of purposefully avoiding a conversation that you need to have with Joe regarding your future together, your relationship is put at risk because of your overthinking thoughts… In order to safe your relationship, you’ll just have to learn that the future will be okay.

Genre: Angst (Establish Relationship)

“Tell Me That You're Still Mine. Tell Me That We'll Be Just Fine. Even When I Lose My Mind… Tell Me That It's Not My Fault. Tell Me That I'm All You Want. Even When I Break Your Heart.” Taylor Swift; Afterglow.

As football season has just come to an end, there are people already talking about the upcoming football season that is months away… Just a few weeks ago, your boyfriend Joe Burrow played his last college football game and won the National Championship for LSU which has made every college football fan excited to see what is the next step in his football career.

The people in the media are starting to talk about the upcoming NFL Draft which is still two months away and the rumors have been going around of which NFL team Joe Burrow will be drafted too… And your family and friends have already began to discuss your boyfriend’s career in the NFL before he is even drafted.

Despite all of these conversations happening, you’ve decided to not participate in these conversations… When people would ask you about the rumors that the media has been spreading about which NFL teams have been in contract with Joe, all you do is smile and say that you don’t know anything because it’s true, you don’t know anything because you don’t want to know.

The transition between college football and NFL has been a transition that you had been dreading to experience since the beginning of your relationship with Joe Burrow just a few months after he has transferred from Ohio State to LSU… For the last few weeks since the conversations about Joe Burrow going to the NFL started, you’ve tried as best as you could to not participate in those conversations.

While people assumed that you are being a good girlfriend and not giving answers to the rumors spreading around… Joe knew that was not the reason why you weren’t participating in the conversations with people, because you weren’t participating in the conversations about his future football career with him.

Throughout the past few weeks, Joe would notice how you would tense up when he or anyone around you would bring up the upcoming NFL Draft and the discussions going around of which team Joe Burrow would be drafted too… Anytime he would try to talk about why you get tensed up just by hearing the word “NFL”, you would just shut down the conversation and try to change the subject as fast as you can.

Joe knew that the transition from playing college football to playing in the NFL would be a big transition for him, but he always knew that transition would be a big transition for you as well… He has cared so much about you since the day the two of you met and he wanted you to be comfortable with the transition as much as possible. There was a huge chance that the two of you would be in a long distance relationship for some time as you would in your senior year at LSU while Joe would be starting his career in the NFL.

As Joe sat on the couch in your apartment waiting for you to get back home from work, he was watching ESPN on your TV hearing them discuss about the upcoming NFL Draft… And for some reason, he decided that today would be the day that he would finally have a conversation with you about the reasons why you’ve been avoiding the conversations about the NFL Draft and the future of his football career.

The sound of the apartment door being unlocked pulled Joe out of his thoughts and a smiled appeared on his face as he finally saw you walk into the apartment… He stood up from his spot on the couch and walk over to where you stood, giving you a hug from behind and a kiss on your cheek as you put your purse down onto the kitchen counter.

“Hi Princess.” Joe says after kissing your cheek, making you blush. “How was work?”

“It was good but it was a long day.” you reply, turning around to face him as you wrap your arms around his neck. “The restaurant was busy as always but, thankfully the day went by fast and now I’m home.”

“That’s good to hear.” Joe says with a smile on his face as he leans down to give you a kiss. Before you could kiss him back, he pulls away and the smile reappears on his face which causes a confused expression to form on your face.

“Is everything okay?” you ask, furrowing your eyebrows at your boyfriend. “You’re acting weird.”

“I’m acting weird because I asked you how was work and gave you a kiss?” Joe asks. “I’m just happy to see you now that you’re home from work that’s all.”

“Remember we have dinner plans with my parents tonight since they’re in town.” you say, as you move away from him to walk to the bedroom to change out of your work clothes into more comfortable clothes. “The reservation at the restaurant is at 8pm so we don’t have to rush to be ready just yet.”

Joe was hesitant to follow you to the bedroom, but he decided to walk back into the living room and sit back on the couch to watch the TV… He listened as the hosts at the panel talked about the upcoming draft and the high expectations of all the NFL teams to pick the best players to represent their team and to lead the next generation of football players.

You could hear the TV from your bedroom and cringed every-time you heard your boyfriend’s name. Which NFL team decided to draft him to their team is definitely going to be the luckiest team in the NFL… your boyfriend was something special on the football team; every football fan knew that, every person on every team that he’s played with or played against knew that, and you knew that.

You would never try to let your own insecurities and anxiety stop you from supporting your boyfriend and his dreams… but you couldn’t help but try not to overthink every little conversation that has been going on around Joe and the future of his football career during the past couple of weeks.

Before your overthinking thoughts take over, you finished changing out of your word clothes as fast as you could and tried to ignore the sounds from the TV… When you walked out of your bedroom and back into the living room, Joe was so focused on the things being said on the TV to the point where he hadn’t noticed that you were in the living room.

“Are you ever going to get tired of hearing the same conversations over and over again?” you asked, making your presence known as Joe turned his head from the TV to seeing you standing with your arms crossed over your chest and an annoyed look on your face.

“No… ” Joe answers. “People have high expectations of my future career in the NFL and I need to know what those high expectations are.”

“The NFL draft hasn’t even happened yet…” you say. “How can you know what those high expectations are if you haven’t even been drafted to a team?”

Joe shrugs his shoulders and you roll your eyes as you walk forward to sit next to him on the couch. “It’s not a bad thing to be prepared for what’s coming.” he says.

“I never said it was a bad thing to be prepared.” you defensively reply. “I’m saying this same conversation has been talked about over and over again… You don’t even know what exactly you’re preparing for, last time I checked you haven’t signed any NFL contracts.”

Joe decided to not respond to what you just said and focused his attention back on the TV; he realized that as much as he wanted to have this conversation with you right now, it was just not going to happen as he could tell that you were exhausted from work.

There was silence between the two of you; while Joe was watching the TV as the host panels continued to talk about the NFL Draft, your head was laying in Joe’s lap as you tried to tune out the noise by closing your eyes… It didn’t take long for you to fall into a deep sleep, Joe was used to you taking a nap after work if you had worked the day shift at the restaurant. Since the two of you would be out late tonight, it was best that you take a nap now or else you would be exhausted while out to dinner with your parents.

The night at the restaurant was going wonderful so far. It had been a couple of weeks since you’ve seen your parents since they live in a city in the north of Louisiana, the last time your parents were able to visit in Baton Rouge was a few days before the National Championship football game that your parents attended alongside you and Joe’s parents.

Your parents loved Joe since the first time you had introduced him to them just a few months after the two of you had started dating when the relationship was getting very serious… Just like everyone else living in Louisiana; your parents already knew who Joe Burrow was because of his college football career, but they learned how much he cared for their daughter.

As much as your parents knew how much Joe loves you, they were always very concerned with your relationship as they never wanted you to get distracted by love and not focus on your future career.

Over the past few weeks during phone calls, your parents have tried to get any information out of you regarding Joe’s future and what that would mean for your future together… but you always avoided giving your parents an answer because you couldn’t tell them the truth that you didn’t know the answer and that’s your fault for not having the conversation with Joe.

As your time with Joe and your parents went by at one of Baton Rouge’s fanciest restaurants, there was a bubble of anxiety forming in your chest because you knew at any moment the conversation would shift to the topic that you have been avoiding talking about.

The group was finished eating and we’re just patiently waiting for the bill to arrive and for the table to be cleared of the empty dishes… Once you heard your dad clear his throat, knots formed in your stomach as you knew that your dad clearing his throat was a way to get everyone’s attention because the important topic that he wanted to bring up into a conversation.

“Joe… There’s been a lot of talk about the NFL draft.” your dad says. “Are you excited about the future?”

“Yeah there sure has been a lot of talk recently…” Joe says, glancing over to watch your reaction to where the conversation was going before turning his attention to your dad. “I am excited for the next step in my career.”

“That’s good to hear!” your mom exclaims. “You’re truly something special on the football field! LSU was very lucky to have you leading the team to victory!”

“Thank your Mrs. Y/LN.” Joe says, blushing at the compliment from your mother.

“People have been saying that the Cincinnati Bengals will pick you as the first pick of the first round?” you dad says, taking a quick glance to you before looking back at Joe. “I guess Ohio wants their boy back.”

“Yeah I guess so… I would love to play for Cincinnati, I grew up as a huge fan of the team and I would have the opportunity to give back to Ohio.” Joe says.

“Ohio is pretty far from Louisiana.” your mom says.

“Yeah it is…” you mumble under your breathe, not realizing that Joe heard what you said.

“It is far…” Joe says. “But Ohio is home to me.”

Before either of your parents could respond to Joe, the waiter came to pick up the empty dishes and handed the bill to your dad who had offered to pay for everything tonight… Tension quickly filled the void of silence, you didn’t want to look over to look at Joe because the two of you knew he said something that had your parents concerned for their daughter.

“So I’m assuming that the two of you will be doing long distance for some time if you’re going to be in Ohio.” your mom says after the waiter walks away from the table. “Y/N has a year left at LSU… it’s not smart of her to give up her dreams of becoming a nurse just to be a football players’ housewife.”

The words that came from your mom didn’t shock either of you, she was always a very honest woman who would never lie to not hurt someone’s feelings… you and Joe looked over at each other and for the first time since the two of you started dating, neither of you could understand the expressions on your faces.

“We haven’t had that conversation yet.” you answered, looking away from Joe to look over at your parents.

“And why not?” your dad asked. “The two of you are in a very serious relationship with each other right?”

“This is a very serious relationship.” Joe defensively says. “We will have the conversation about us and our future when we’re ready to talk about it.”

“And when will the two of you be ready for that conversation… Will that be after you get drafted to the Cincinnati Bengals?” your mom asked, looking directly at Joe for him to give her an answer.

“The conversation will happen Mom.” you snapped. “We’re just taking things day by day right now. This just hasn’t been something that been on our mind.”

“Well… This is something that should be on your mind.” your dad states. “Your relationship is going to change the minute he is announced to be drafted to the NFL.”

“Trust me… We know that things will change.” you say. “At least, I know that.” glancing over at Joe to him furrow his eyebrows in confusion of what you meant.

“Don’t wait to long to have that conversation between the two of you.” your mom spoke just as the waiter arrives back at the table with the receipt of the bill.

And just like that, the conversation was over. There were things on Joe’s mind that he wanted to say out-loud but, he knew those things couldn’t be said in front of your parents in a restaurant with strangers around.

There was no point in staying seated at the table in the restaurant any longer, so the four of you got up front your seats and walked towards the front door out to the patio area of the restaurant.

Your parents pulled you and Joe into hugs as this would be the last time you would see your parents until spring break since they would be leaving Baton Rouge early in the morning tomorrow.

“Please talk to Joe about the future.” your mom whispers in your ear. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

You nod your head as she gives a kiss on the cheek before the two of you pulled away from the hug… Quickly, your gave your dad as hug as Joe hugs your mom before the two of you walk away from your parents to find the car in the parking lot.

There was silence between the two of you as neither of you knew what to say after the long night at the restaurant… There too much tension in the air surrounding the both of you and there was no chance that things can go back to how things usually are until the conversation happens, but while Joe was willing to have this conversation at anytime you still wanted to hang onto the hope that you could still push this conversation to happen at the last minute.

The silence continued all the way during the drive back to your apartment, not even the radio was on in the car… You wouldn’t even glance over at Joe who was just focusing on driving, you just stared out the window and watched the rain drops fall from the sky.

“Your parents are right.” Joe stated, looking over at you when the car reaches a red light. “We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about right now.” you respond.

Joe rolled his eyes in disbelief, “Are you being serious right now? You know damn well there is something we need to talk about.” he says

“I know there’s something we need to talk about…” you say. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to talk about it right now.”

“Then when are we going to talk about it!” Joe asked as the tone of his voice was getting louder. “Are we going to wait to talk about it until it’s too late?”

“Maybe it’s already too late!” you yelled, finally turning your head to look at him. “You’re so ready to move on into the future… Like you said at the restaurant, Ohio is your home so you might as well leave everything you know and love in Louisiana here.”

“What you are saying?” Joe asked. “It’s not too late-”

“The light is green… Please drive so we can get home before the rain gets worse.” you say, interrupting him.

Instead of responding back to you and finishing what he was going to say, there’s a hurt expression of his face that broke your heart to see before he turned his attention back to the road and started to drive forward.

Joe didn’t allow his mind to overthink all the words that you had just said and what those words could have meant as he turns the volume up on the car radio to try and block out all the thoughts in his head.

The sweet sounds of Fleetwood Mac filled the void of silence in the car, Joe hummed along to the lyrics of The Chain as you continued to stare out the window… What could be viewed as a peaceful moment from strangers on the outside, was really just a moment of being blissfully unaware of the tensions heating up.

The rest of the car ride back to your apartment was silence apart from the low music from car radio, neither you to Joe dared to speak up to continue the conversation anytime the car stopped at a red light.

Once Joe parked the car right in front of the apartment building, you got out of the car not waiting for Joe to be a gentleman and open the passenger door… Quickly, you ran fast across the parking lot to get inside your apartment’s lobby before you could have the chance to get drenched of rain.

It caught Joe off-guard for a second that you didn’t wait for him to be a gentleman and open the car door on your side, but he was right behind you running to get inside the apartment lobby… No words was spoken as the two of you got into the elevator to go up to the second floor. It was a silence short ride to your apartment as tension filled the small space.

Once the two of you were in your apartment, Joe watched from the front entrance as you walked away from to go to the your bedroom… Suddenly, a feeling of anger arose inside of him and he couldn’t handle feeling the tension between the two of you any longer.

“So are we just not going to talk about it at all?” Joe asked, before you could enter the bedroom.

“Talk about what Joe?” you angerly asked, turning around to face him. “Do you want to talk about how you’re so ready to just leave Louisiana to go back to Ohio? Or do you want to talk about the NFL Draft? Or maybe it is a little too late for these conversations!”

“For weeks you never wanted to talk about anything to do with my future… and now all of a sudden you’re mad that we waited so long to have a conversation?” Joe yelled. “I tried to talk to you but you’ve shut down the conversation every single time.“

“You really are making this a bigger deal than it really is.” You explain, crossing your arms over your chest.

“No! I’m not making it a bigger deal than it is… because to me, this is a big deal!” Joe yelled. “The day of the NFL Draft will be the most important day of my life… you never wanted to talk about it or be involved in any conversations that I would have with people, but now you’re mad that we haven’t talk about our future yet?”

“That’s not why I’m mad…” you defensively say.

“Can you tell me the reason that you’re mad?” Joe asked. “I can’t read your mind to be able to understand why you’re mad all of a sudden.”

You rolled your eyes and sighed in frustration before responding to Joe’s question. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Why don’t you want to talk about it?” Joe asked.

“I’m not answering that question right now.” you say.

“Why?” Joe asked, getting more and more frustrated.

“Because it’s hard to talk about!” you yelled back at him. “You and everyone else are just so ready for the future to come and I don’t understand why?”

“I have been waiting for this moment for my entire life!”Joe snapped. “Am I just not supposed to be excited for my future because you don’t want to talk about it?”

“I’m not saying you can’t be excited about your future… But it just seems like you’re excited for a future that doesn’t involve me?!” you explain.

“And why would my future not involve you?” Joe asked, crossing his arms as he waits for your response.

You couldn’t give Joe an answer because the truth is that you didn’t know why Joe’s future wouldn’t involve you… How do you explain to the man that your own insecurities and anxiety are the reasons why the two of you are in this argument with each other right now.

“I’ll be honest with you… When I transferred to LSU, my main focus was just on football and receiving my masters degree. The past two college football seasons were my last chances at raising my college football credits for the NFL to see that I’m worthy of being in the league.” Joe explains in a soft tone as he walks closer to where you are standing. “But then I met you, and instead of changing my priorities for why I transferred to LSU, I just added being the best boyfriend that I could be to you onto the list.”

You look down to the ground as you try to blink away the tears that were forming in your eyes. As Joe stood in front of you, he studied your body language for a second before he continued to speak since you didn’t give him any sort of verbal response.

“If I have given you any reason to assume that I wouldn’t consider you to be apart of my future, then I failed at one of my priorities.” Joe says. You look up to him with a surprised expression on your face and shake your head in disagreement.

“No Joe… That’s far from the truth.” you trembled. “You didn’t fail at anything at all.”

“Then why would you think that I wouldn’t consider you to be apart of my future?” Joe asks again.

Once again you look down to the ground not being able to look Joe in the eyes as you couldn’t give him any reason why… Joe sighed and ran his fingers through his hair out of stress, he couldn’t understand why you couldn’t give him any sort of answer.

“You need to give me an answer before we continue this conversation.” Joe states. “Because the reason we’re not able to talk about the future is because you can’t give me an answer on why it’s hard to talk about.”

“You wouldn’t under-” you tried to explain, keeping your attention to the ground and shaking your head.

“Why wouldn’t I understand?” he asked interrupting you, raising his voice in frustration. “The only thing that I’m not understanding is why you’re mad at me for not having any conversation with you when I tried to talk to you about the future every chance that I got. You were the one to always shut down the conversations!”

“I didn’t want to talk about it then… and I don’t want to talk about it now!” you explain.

“Then when do you want to talk about it?” Joe asked.

Once again, you couldn’t give Joe an answer to his question because you didn’t know the answer to the question… You look up from the ground to give your full attention to Joe, who is standing right in front of you with his arms crossed over his chest.

For as long as you’ve known Joe, you’ve never seen him so angry and frustrated. You’ve seen him get mad after playing a rough game on the football field and upset if a football player from another team trash-talked about him at a press conference because he’s always been respectful to other football players… It broke your heart to know that the reason he is angers and frustrated right now is because of you.

“Do you want to talk about it the day before I leave to go back to Ohio?” Joe asked. “You want to talk about our future when we’re thousands of miles apart?”

“If you’re just so ready to leave to go back to Ohio… then why don’t you just leave right now?” you yell.

Suddenly there is a feeling of guilt in your chest and a visibly hurt expression on Joe’s face is formed. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

“Joe..”

“You’ve said enough.” Joe exclaimed. “Before I say something that I regret, I’m gonna leave and go stay at Ja’marr’s apartment for the night. We can’t continue this conversation anymore.”

Joe was already walking away from you and towards the front door as he spoke… You follow right behind him because you couldn’t let him leave or else you’ll break down into pieces on the floor.

“Wait Joe!” you yelled, with tears forming in your eyes. “Please let me explain!”

“Y/N.” Joe says, in the softest tone of voice that he has used since the two of you had arrived at the apartment. “I love you but it’s best that I go right now-”

“No Joe stop!” you say, reaching out to grab his arm to try and get him to stop. “We can talk about this now! Please don’t leave.”

Joe stopped in his steps right at the front door and sighed as he turned towards you. He sees the tears that are in your eyes and that have fallen down your cheeks and his heart breaks into pieces but as much as he wanted to wrap his arms around you and carry you to the bed room to give you the love and comfort that you need, he knew that he needed to leave because it was clear to him that the two of you aren’t in the right mindset to continue on the conversation.

“Y/N. I need to go.” Joe say, trying to pull his arm away from you to loosen your grip. “I’ll come back when both of us will be in a better mindset and we can have the conversation about our future.”

“Joe, please don’t leave!” you begged as your voice trembled. “I promise you that I’ll explain everything or we can pretend we didn’t have this conversation and go back to how things usually are.”

It hurt Joe’s heart to see the tears in your eyes and to hear the trembling in your voice but he knew that if there was any chance that there could be a future between the two of you… He needed to clear his mind before having this conversation with you again, because he knew things can’t go back to normal.

“Y/N. Please understand that things can’t go back to normal until we have this conversation.” Joe explain. “The conversation is about our future and if we can’t talk about that with both of us in a clear state of mind, then there’s a chance we won’t have a future together.”

Joe leaned forward and gave you a kiss on the forehead as a way to give you reassurance that everything will be okay… You closed your eyes to try and savor the moment as best as you could. When he pulled away and you opened your eyes, he gave you a soft smile and you could see tears forming in his eyes.

“I love you.” Joe says. “We’ll talk about this and I promise that everything will be okay between us.”

You nod your head and let his arm to let him walk away from you and leave your apartment. The second he walked out the front door, you broke down into tears and sat on the floor, crying your heart out in fear of taking the chance of losing a relationship someone you love and crying in frustration with your anxiety.

Joe would never let you know that heard your cries from outside your apartment right after he had closed your front door… It took all of his strength to not rush back into your apartment and to give you all the hugs and kisses that you would need to feel better.

It’s been one week since the argument with Joe and while you wish that things between the two of you were resolved, it just feels like things have gotten worser than you could’ve expected after Joe left.

You hadn’t texted or called Joe since he left your apartment, he’s tried to text and call you but you’ve ignored every message and voicemail that he sent… You didn’t even give him your work schedule for the week so he would know when you would be off-work.

Just hours after Joe left your apartment, you called your mom and sobbed to her on the phone. It broke your mom’s heart into pieces to hear her daughter cry in frustration of letting her anxiety win and not allowed you to open up to Joe about your insecurities.

Your mother gave you advice on how to reach out to Joe and have the conversation with him about your future without the conversation turning into an argument like it did that night… But instead of following your mother’s advice, you’ve just ignored all of the texts and calls from him. Which just made things even worse than they were between the two of you.

Over the past week you’ve barely slept in your own bed, eaten, or taken care of yourself because you’re mourning the lost of a relationship that hasn’t ended… Your only motivation right now is to go to LSU campus for your classes and to go to work at the restaurant.

“Tomorrow you need to talk to Joe. Things are only going to get better if you just talk to him about your fears of how you relationship will change when he leaves Louisiana.” your mother said when she had called you the night before to check on you since she hadn’t heard from you in a couple of days.

Once again you don’t follow your mother’s advice; as you are laying in bed, wrapped up in the sheets and comfortable as you watched re-run episodes of Family Feud on your TV… It was your first off-day from work in a couple of day, and instead of attempting to fix your relationship you just want to rot in bed by yourself.

You couldn’t help but think that the relationship is already over. The moment he left your apartment could have been the last time you ever see him in person… And maybe, that was the best decision for the two of you. Joe would be able to live his dream of playing for the NFL and you would continue your college classes and follow your dreams wherever it took you.

As you feel the exhaustion take over your body because you hadn’t slept properly in days… You heard the sound of front door being unlocked, but thinking that you were just making things up in your head due to how exhausted you are. You just decide to close your eyes and try to fall asleep in the comfort of your bed.

It was just a few minutes later when you heard your bedroom door open just slightly for someone to peek inside… but you made no attempt to open your eyes to see who opened the bedroom door or if it was just your mind making things up like it always does.

45 minutes later:

Your eyes fluttered open and the sweet smell of brownies filled around your apartment… You sat up in a panic as your mind was so confused, it was hard for you to tell if you were still in a dream or if you had put brownies in the oven before you came lay in your bed.

Just then, the bedroom door slowly open and a figure that you weren’t expecting to see was standing right there with a smile on his face… and the smell of brownies in your apartment finally made some sense.

“Oh hey! You’re finally awake!” Joe says.

“What are you doing here?” you asked.

“Your mom called me this morning…” Joe answers. “And she told me some things that I think we need to talk about… If that’s fine with you.”

You nod your head, “So you came to talk and make brownies in my kitchen?”

“You weren’t answering the door, so I used the emergency apartment key… And then I saw you were asleep in your room so instead of just waiting on the couch. I made the only box brownies that I know how to make without starting a fire.” Joe says.

Now things started to make sense in your head, you weren’t imagining someone in your apartment right before you had fallen asleep for a nap.

“I was thinking that we can eat brownies and talk.” Joe said. “Because I think we have waited a little too long for this conversation to happen.”

You didn’t respond, but you nod your head as you got out of your bed and follow into the kitchen where the sweet smell of brownies got stronger… Joe already had two plates of brownies on your kitchen counter, ready to be served and eaten by the two of you.

There was silence as the two of you are sitting on your couch with a plate in brownies in your laps… Despite both of you imagining this scenario in your head multiple times throughout the last week, neither of you knew what to say to start the conversation.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Joe asked, turning his body to face you. It takes you a few seconds to answer but once you look at him and nod your head, he gives you a soft smile before continuing to speak.

“So… the first thing that I want to say is that I’m sorry if I ever pushed you at anytime to have a conversation that you weren’t ready for.” Joe apologized.

“You don’t need to apologize.” you respond, looking down at your lap, feeling the knots twist in your stomach. “I should’ve been honest with you about everything, it’s just hard open up about these kind of things because most of the time I don’t understand it.”

“I understand that things can be hard but… I want you to know that I’m always going to be here for you.” Joe say, placing his hand on your thigh to give you comfort.

“I know that…”

“Do you really know that?” Joe asks, “I don’t want you to just say that you know what I’m saying, I want you to understand what I’m saying.”

When you look up at him, you see the serious look on his face and that he’s not joking around in any way.

“I understand Joe.” you answer. “I’m not lying to you.”

“Okay… I trust you that you understand.” Joe says. “Because this relationship can’t work out when we do long distance if you don’t understand that I’ll always be here for you no matter what.”

The knots in your stomach twist tighter, the thought of being in a long-distance relationship made you want to throw up the brownies you had just ate… The sick look that had appeared on your face doesn’t go unnoticed by Joe, for a few seconds he was concerned.

“That’s what we’re going to do…” you slowly say. “We’re really going to have to do long distance?!”

“It’s either we do long distance… or we break-up.” Joe says. “And as much as I know long distance will be hard to get used too… I would rather do that than to break-up, even if we could decide give our relationship a second chance after graduate.”

It took you a few seconds to get some of your thoughts together on what would be the best way to respond to what Joe had just said…

“I don’t want to break-up either… but you do realize that we’ll be in a long-distance relationship for a year.” you explain. “I don’t graduate until next year in May, do you really think we could do this?”

“I think we can do it.” Joe said. “It’s going to be hard, but we can get through it… a year is going to go by fast and then after you graduate, we can take the next step in our relationship.”

You dropped your head down to look at your lap and pulled the string from your socks to try to distract yourself from not overthinking… At first Joe thought the conversation was over and as he tried to move closer you on the couch, you lifted your head to be face to face as your eyes widen in panic from overthinking.

“What if it’s not worth it?” you asked and before Joe had a quick to ask what you meant, you continued on speaking in a panic. “What if it’s not worth long distance? We’re going to be apart for over a year and what if by the end of us doing long distance we release that our future will never be able to intertwine with each other. Then what, we just give up on a relationship that we could just give up on now?!”

Joe was taken back by surprised of your what you had just said, he wasn’t expecting that you would overthink the future and he thinks back to what the two of you had talked about at the beginning of the conversation.

“You’ll have a crazy schedule with football, I’m going to have a crazy schedule when I become a nurse… I don’t think that we’re going to see each other ever!” you rambled. “I’m not going to give up my dreams to become a football players’ housewife after spending many years studying my live away!”

The repeated words that your mother said at the restaurant stung Joe more than he’ll like to admit… Since the day he met you, he’s been very supportive of your dreams of becoming a nurse even helping you study for tests and letting you help treat his scars and bruises after football games.

“Take a deep breathe…” Joe whispers, moving closer and placing his hand on your back as he rubs his thumb in slow circles. “Remember what I talked about… I’m here for you, talk to me. Don’t overthink.”

When you look up at Joe is when you realize how much closer he is to you than before… It took a few deep breathes for your heart to stop feeling like it’s going to pound of your chest and the knots in your stomach started to untwist.

“First of all, I would never force you to give up your dreams and your career just to become a housewife…” Joe states. “I support your dreams just like you support my dreams. We will figure out everything when we get there, for right now let’s focus on us now.”

“But I can’t focus on us now-”

“Yes you can.” Joe says, interrupting you. “Let’s just focus on each other for now, the future will be okay.”

“The reason I was so scared to have this conversation with you was because of the future… I tried for so long to imagine a future where we wouldn’t have the be separated for so long.” you confess with tears in your eyes. “I was scared that when you leave Louisiana that you’ll never want anything to do with anything from here. I don’t want to be replaced by another woman that you could meet and fall in love with in Ohio.”

“Princess no… Please don’t think that way.” Joe say, pulling you closer to him so that you could wrap your arms around his waist and press your head into his chest as the tears started to fall down your cheeks.

“I can’t… I can’t help it.” you cry. “I can’t help to overthink everything. I was scared to have this conversation with you about our future because I thought that you wouldn’t want me apart of it.”

As Joe continued to rub circles on your back with his thumb, he placed his hand on the back of your head as your cried into his chest… It broke his heart that he never realized any of the signs you could’ve gave him for why you never wanted to have this conversation.

“Please just trust me and trust us.” Joe whispers then pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “I promise that everything is going to be figured out, we just have to talk about all of these things one day at a time.”

You didn’t verbally respond, but you nodded your head and got even closer to Joe… The cried and hiccups started to slow down as you were calming down. You had got very overwhelmed of an anxious feeling too fast for your mind to handle which causes you to get emotional very fast.

As the two of you sat in silence, there was a realization that it is going to be hard for you to start opening up about your anxiety to Joe, but like he told you before… All you had to do was trust him and you understood.

The sun was setting over the wonderful city of Baton Rouge and the beautiful colors of red, orange, yellow, and pink spread across the sky… It was a beautiful sight to see from the rooftop of your apartment.

Your head was laying on his chest, as his arm was wrapped around your shoulder pulling your body as close as he could to him… His head rested on your head and you tried not to overthink about how the two of you wouldn’t get to experience these kind of moments much longer before Joe leaves Louisiana.

“When we are apart… Just know that you can always look at the sun setting and know that I’m watching the same sun set.” Joe whispers, giving you a kiss on the forehead and the giggles the he hears from you makes his heart swell up with glee.

“You’re so cheesy!” you say, lifting your head off his cheek to look at him with a smile on your face. “What rom-com movies have you been watching on Netflix?”

“Only the rom-coms movies that you force me to watch!” Joe says. “I don’t think I have ever watched any rom-com movies before we started dating.”

“Yeah I could definitely tell from a mile away.” you jokingly say. “At least now your taste in movies has grown so much since we’ve watched a majority of the best rom-coms that have ever been released!”

Joe shook his head and laughed, “I wouldn’t say my taste in movies has grown just because of rom-coms.”

You gasped and Joe laughs at your surprised reaction. “Just because you said that… we’re watching a new rom-com movie tonight!” you exclaimed.

Joe groaned with a smile on his face as he pulled you back to lay your head on his chest… There was a moment of peaceful silence as you just enjoyed your time together because it was a known fact that there wouldn’t be too many more of these kind of moments to experience with each other for a long time.

While thinking too far into the future still formed knots in your stomach and made you feel sick, all you had to do was take a few deep breathes and just remembered the words that Joe had promised to you.

You don’tknow what the future will hold, you didn’t want to think about how things will change for better or worse for your relationship… But all that you knew right now is that your future with Joe will be okay.

Author’s Note:

it’s been two weeks since i’ve published any sort of fanfiction, i didn’t mean to make any of my readers wait so long to read something new. it just took me some time to find inspiration to write…

thank you all for the love and support! 🤍

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