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Looking for a leading MRB nursing job coaching center in Chennai? Look no further than Target Nursing Academy. Our academy specializes in preparing and coaching aspiring nurses for JIPMER nursing jobs in Chennai. With a dedicated team of experienced professionals, we provide comprehensive training and guidance to help you excel in your nursing career. Join us to enhance your knowledge, develop important skills, and boost your chances of securing a rewarding nursing job in the MRB sector. Enroll at Target Nursing Academy today and take a step towards a successful nursing career.
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Boost Your Career with OET Coaching at Learnford International Academy in Thrissur
Are you a healthcare professional aiming to work or study in an English-speaking environment? The Occupational English Test (OET) is a crucial step towards achieving your goals. In Thrissur, the heart of Kerala, Learnford International Academy stands out as a premier OET coaching centre, helping countless aspirants turn their dreams into reality.The OET is specifically designed for the healthcare sector, assessing the language proficiency of professionals such as doctors, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists. Unlike general English exams, OET focuses on communication in medical and health-related contexts, making it highly relevant for healthcare professionals. Achieving a high score in OET can open doors to better job opportunities and further education in countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Choosing the right OET coaching centre is crucial for success in the exam. Learnford International Academy in Thrissur offers a comprehensive, student-focused approach to OET preparation, ensuring that healthcare professionals are well-equipped to achieve their goals. With expert faculty, personalized coaching, and a proven track record, Learnford International Academy is the best OET coaching centre in Thrissur.
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Hack Hack Hack
Mrs Madigan was a 24 year old primary school teacher. One day she took the class of kids on a daytrip to the pantomime show that was playing in the city. Cinderella. It was showing at one of the big halls in the city centre. And she had to take nearly 30 kids along to the theatre to see it.
They got in a hired coach and headed along. The kids were all cheery. Mrs Madigan liked these bits about her job – which she largely hated otherwise. When the children were all good spirited and she didn’t have to teach maths or projects about the rainforest or World War II or sexual reproduction.
But then she heard a coughing behind her on the bus. A violent cough, going hack hack hack.
The kids had been eating in the background with snacks they’d brought for the journey …
“Mrs Madigan!” she heard one of the girls shriek her name. And she turned. “Robbie’s hurt!”
She undid her seatbelt and got up. The driver was frowning at her in his mirror. And all the kids had gone silent and were watching her, and she marched down the hallway and came to his spot where Robbie was.
His coughing was the only noise inside the coach. Robbie clutched his throat and his eyes spilled with tears.
Mrs Madigan knew that Robbie had a serious nut allergy. She’d been told by his mother, and the school nurse that flagged such things up at the start of the year.
“Did somebody give Robbie nuts!” she asked the schoolchildren. The boy who was sitting next to Robbie had gotten out of his seat and was staring at him, and all of the surrounding kids in their seats were cowering, with bulged eyes. “Did Robbie eat any nuts? I think he might be having an attack!”
Mrs Madigan knew that Robbie had a syringe in his bag which he carried at all times. A pre filled syringe with adrenaline in it, that was to be used if indeed this crazy thing could happen. Only, she never thought that it would ever actually happen and it was happening now and all attention was her.
She knelt next to Robbie. He gasped and jumped and one of his tears splashed on her hand, as she went into his rucksack looking for the needle. “Where is your adrenaline syringe, Robbie! Where is it?” He couldn’t answer because he couldn’t breathe. She found a lunchbox and a bottle of juice and a jumper but there was no syringe. Then she looked in the top pocket. And inside found this very bashed-around cardboard box. Undid that. And pulled out a prickly plastic implement. One of the boys shrieked somewhere in the background.
Madigan had no clue what she was doing but she really had to do something. She tugged up the sleeve on Robbie’s arm and she aimed somewhere on the bicep and she had this syringe in her fingers and she almost forgot to ejaculate a little splash of it before injecting or else the oxygen would cause a blood clot and kill the patient … and she stabbed it into the skinny white-fleshed arm and then plunged down on the plunger.
[It turned out that the kids had been passing sweets around. Chocolate bars. Robbie already knew how to avoid Snickers bars, and things like that. Anything which had nuts in them. But one of the new chocolate items had nut content in the creamy bit: it was just that Robbie hadn’t experienced that one before. And he ate it and his body went into mayhem.
But, Mrs Madigan saved his life. The adrenaline went into his bloodstream and kicked his body back into a saveable state. They took him to a hospital.
Mrs Madigan was quite the heroine that day. It caused great social news throughout the kids, who spread it to their parents and it blushed across the playground and the tale became almost fantastical, that Madigan had saved the life of little Robbie.
Nobody even had to admit who had given the nut-content chocolate bar to Robbie. That was all glossed over and forgotten about.]
#writeblr#creative writing#writers on tumblr#prose#stories#tumblr writers#short fiction#fiction#short story#spilled ink
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NDIS Services in Ballina
As one of the world’s largest personalisation schemes, the NDIS has a profound impact on the lives of people with disability. It is a national scheme built on the principles of choice and control.
A key factor in achieving this is market robustness. This requires multiple, high-quality suppliers for participants to choose from. To know more about NDIS Services Ballina, visit the Dabba Mallangyirren website or call 0403856995.
NDIS participants requiring physiotherapy services are provided with a choice of providers who can best meet their needs. This means they can maintain their informal support arrangements or work with a Local Area Coordination provider to find suitable support.
APA national president Scott Willis has called for an end to inaccurate rhetoric around price gouging by physiotherapists working under the NDIS. He believes the criticism is damaging to the trusted relationships that physiotherapists have built with their NDIS patients and it is not supported by the facts.
Located on Bundjalung Country, Dabba Mallangyirren is a small, private practice that provides expert assessment, diagnosis and treatment in a supportive environment. The highly qualified therapists take time to understand your unique problems and goals. Their holistic approach incorporates manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and active patient participation. Their focus is on getting you back to a healthy lifestyle as soon as possible.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help children and adults with a variety of physical and cognitive communication disorders, including difficulty articulating sounds, stuttering, understanding language and other people, or having trouble with their voice. They also deal with conditions that cause a physical disability or injury, such as cerebral palsy.
The first step to becoming an SLP is earning a bachelor’s degree in a field such as linguistics, English, or psychology. Then, you can pursue a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from an accredited university. You may also need to complete a clinical fellowship year.
SLPs use a variety of tools and techniques to identify the cause of their clients’ communication problems. They may use informal methods like observation or interviewing, and more formal ones like standardized assessments. They also consider their clients’ cultural values and expectations when developing treatment plans. They also collaborate with other healthcare professionals, such as audiologists, doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation psychologists.
Our behaviour support team provides evidence based behavioural supports for participants with their NDIS plan. This includes assessment, planning and monitoring of client outcomes. The specialised team uses a person centred approach and is trauma informed. This allows us to help people with complex needs, particularly those with complex behavioural challenges.
We work with people living across rural and regional NSW to provide positive behaviour support services. We are an NDIS registered provider of the Improved Relationships Framework and a member of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguards Commission. We do not use restrictive practices.
We offer family centred plan management that keeps you in control of how you spend your NDIS funds. This service is available for new and existing participants. You can ask for it at your NDIS planning meeting or during a review. You can also request it in writing, by email or by calling the NDIS helpline. We can then arrange for your plan to be managed by one of our experienced team members.
If you need help finding a job or are looking for more hours at your current workplace, our team can assist with a range of disability employment solutions. We can also provide assistance with job preparation, workplace coaching and training to improve your job performance.
When you use our plan management service, we pay your approved providers directly and manage all the paperwork. This means you have maximum control over how your plan funds are spent. Choosing to use our plan management service doesn’t cost anything extra to your NDIS budget, and it can be added at your planning meeting or review.
Our Ballina team is dedicated to providing you with the highest quality support and services. To find out more, contact us today! To know more about NDIS Services Ballina, visit the Dabba Mallangyirren website or call 0403856995.
#NDIS services#disability Lismore#NDIS services providers#NDIS services Ballina#Disability services provider Ballina#aboriginal Lismore#Disability services provider
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Best MNS NEET Coaching Institute in Lucknow
Among the Indian Armed Forces' nursing branches, the Military Nursing Service (MNS) is renowned. In order to seek a job as a nurse in the MNS, hopeful individuals must take the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) test. There are numerous coaching facilities that offer top NEET MNS coaching in Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh. The greatest MNS NEET coaching centre in Lucknow will be examined in this post, along with some of its standout qualities.
#mns neet coaching institute in lucknow#top MNS NEET coaching institute in Lucknow#best mns neet coaching in lucknow
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For the nurse candidates, our NCLEX RN coaching centre offers well-organized training sessions. Our institution has many certified teaching professionals to empower the learners with quality training. Our institute has achieved successful trace of records for supporting our candidates to get into abroad. Our training center provides company based training classes for all the nurse candidates. The medical professionals interested to get into gulf countries can enroll in our Licensing for Nurses coaching center. We provide best coaching classes and also assist the candidates for best job vacancies.
#Prometricexamfornurses#Qatarprometricexamfornurses#Qatardataflowrequirementsfornurses#Omandataflowfornurses#Kuwaitdataflowfornurses#Dhaexamfornurses#Haadexamfornurse
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MNS Best Coaching centre in Lucknow
The Indian Armed Forces' Military Nursing Service (MNS) is a distinguished nursing branch. In order to serve their country, it provides outstanding job options for aspiring nurses. It's essential to have MNS Best Coaching centre in Lucknow and direction if you want to succeed on the MNS entrance exam and get accepted into the MNS. Numerous prominent coaching facilities that offer top-notch MNS tutoring can be found in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. In this post, we will examine the top MNS coaching programmes in Lucknow and emphasise their distinguishing characteristics.
The top MNS tutoring in Lucknow has highly qualified instructors who have a thorough understanding of the MNS entrance exam and its curriculum. These institutions provide a thorough course curriculum that covers every subject and topic needed to pass the MNS exam. To make sure that students fully comprehend the subjects, the curriculum comprises in-class lectures, study materials, and regular practise sessions.
Read also : Best MNS coaching institutes in Lucknow
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Teaching Faculty Jobs 08 March 2023 Announcement & Interview Notification By Faculty Tick
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Advertisement For Teaching Faculty Positions Under Mission Recruitment For Filling Up Backlog Vacancies Online applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Assistant Professor post Kendriya Vidyalaya NLC Neyveli invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teachers and Various Positions Recruitment Vacancy for the Post of Post Graduate Teachers/ Trained Graduate Teachers/ Coaches / Special Educator/ Student Counsellor / Staff Nurse Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation Applications are invited from the eligible candidates for the Post of Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Assistant Professor post Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Invites Application for the Post of Teaching Faculty for its Campuses at Bangalore, Kochi & Chennai Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Professor / Associate Professor / Assistant Professor/ Faculty Associate post Sri Siddhartha Medical College and Research Centre invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Principal, Teaching Faculty and Recruitment Professor / Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor/ Principal/ Medical Superintendent/ Nursing Superintendent/ Casualty Medical Officer / Resident Medical Officer / Public Relation Officer Lords Universal Junior College of Commerce & Science invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Assistant Teachers and Lab Assistant Recruitment Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Assistant Teachers and Lab Assistant post Sri Chamundeshwari Medical College, Hospital & Research Institute invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teaching Faculty Recruitment Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors post St.Francis College for Women invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Lecturer Recruitment Online applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Lecturer post St.Martin’s Engineering College invites eligible candidates for appearing in Walk in interview for the following Teaching Faculty posts Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor post NMIMS Deemed to be University invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teaching Faculty Recruitment Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh, Telangana... Online applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Teaching Faculty post ACS college of Engineering invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teaching Faculty and Non Teaching Recruitment Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor/ Lab Instructors / Bio Medical Engineers/ Electrical Engineer/ Wardens / Architects / Receptionists/ Public Relation Officer/ Admission Counsellors/Purchase Manager/ Liason officer/ Chief Security Officer/ Building Managers NMAM Institute of Technology (NITTE) invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teaching Faculty Recruitment Applications are invited for faculty positions from eligible candidates at the level of Professor/ Associate Professor /Assistant Professor East Point Group of Institutions invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Director, Dean, Principal, Teaching Faculty and Non Teaching Recruitment Dean/ Director/ Principal/ Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor/Digital Marketing Executive / SEO / Graphics / Graphic Designer/ System Administrators / Desktop Support Engineers / Librarians / Lab Instructors/ Placement Executives / MIS & Data Analytics / Telecalling Executives / Office Assistants / Security Officers. Adhiyamaan College of Engineering (Autonomous) invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Director and Teaching Faculty Recruitment Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Director / Professor/ Associate Professor /Assistant Professor post Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering (Autonomous) invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following Teaching Faculty Recruitment Applications are invited for faculty positions from eligible candidates at the level of Professor/ Associate Professor /Assistant Professor Geetha Shishu Shikshana Sangha Institute of Engineering & Technology for Women invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Teaching Faculty Recruitment Applications are invited for faculty positions from eligible candidates at the level of Professor/ Associate Professor /Assistant Professor Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr.Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology invited Applications from eligible candidates for the following post of Dean and Teaching Faculty... Applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Professors / Associate Professors / Assistant Professors post Pandit Deendayal Energy University invited Applications from eligible candidates for faculty positions at the level of Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor Online applications are invited from excellent academic record and relevant work experience for recruitment to the Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor post
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What’s the difference between Academic IELTS and General Training IELTS?
Did you know there are two types of IELTS tests? The exam is available in two formats: IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. The difference between Academic IELTS and General Training IELTS simply comes down to purpose and, to a lesser extent, format. The format of the IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training tests is similar, but the topic of the Writing and Reading exams differs. Continue reading a discussion of the differences between the IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, a comparison of IELTS General and Academic scores, and an answer to the question "Which is easier: the IELTS General or the IELTS Academic?" Discuss from an institute of the Best IELTS Classes in Jalandhar at Dream ‘n Destination and start your first step to go abroad to your dream destination country.
What is the purpose of Academic IELTS and General Training IELTS?
Academic IELTS
You may have assumed that the Academic IELTS is for (potential) university students applying for admission to universities and Programmes where English is the language of instruction. However, many professionals and job candidates may be required to provide scores for this version of the test.
Medical work is one example. If you wish to work as a medical professional in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, you must take the Academic IELTS. This version of the test is for medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and hospital lab technicians.
In contrast to the general training format, the academic permits test takers to demonstrate some reading and writing abilities that are not always a part of English speakers' common communicative experience. These are to be unique from general-purpose reading and writing abilities.
IELTS General Training
For all other immigration and employment purposes, the general training format is used if you wish to enter Canada, the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and so on. Individuals taking the IELTS to obtain permission to live in Australia near their grandchildren, for example, might find that the General Training IELTS meets their requirements.
However, the test is not just used for immigration purposes. Multinational firms may use General Training IELTS scores to measure their employees' English proficiency. In some situations, test takers can submit their score reports to acquire a job.
Two versions, four skills
The overall format of both versions of the test is the same. Regardless of whatever version you take, your English writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills will be examined independently. In reality, there are no differences between the listening and speaking phases. The IELTS academic or general test will cover the same topics and question types.
The other two sections follow the same format. Both writing versions consist of two writing tasks (learn more: IELTS Writing Topics), and both reading versions consist of 40 questions based on assigned readings. Differences begin to appear, however, like the content and task types, which we move on to now.
If you are planning to do IELTS either an Academic or General test starts with the Best IELTS Classes in Jalandhar at Dream ‘n Destination, the Best IELTS Coaching Centre.
IELTS Academic vs. IELTS General Training Content
University students and professionals must be able to read texts in professional and academic journals, textbooks, and relevant publications and media in English. As a result, the Academic IELTS tests comprehension abilities using texts taken directly from these types of sources. Similarly, this version's writing activities make use of sample themes that would be appropriate in academic and professional settings. English writing abilities will be tested to ensure they are enough for producing college-level essays.
Those enrolled in General Training IELTS, on the other hand, will encounter language similar to that found in advertising, guidebooks, publications, announcements, or what employees would face in employee manuals. The written English of test takers will be assessed through typical assignments such as letter writing and basic essay writing.
Which is simpler: Academic IELTS or General Training IELTS?
Considering two similar English skill examinations, such as the IELTS academic or general test, it's difficult to identify which is easier. After all, various students find different things simpler or more difficult. "Your mileage may vary," as the saying goes in English.
That being said, the answer to the above question is... The General Training IELTS is most likely less difficult than the Academic IELTS. Almost every IELTS student I've spoken to believes it is less difficult. Summarizing a complicated graph or table is simpler than writing a brief letter! If you choose the General Training edition, you may begin with Dream 'n Destination, the Best IELTS Classes in Jalandhar.
The composers of the test appear to agree. According to the IELTS, achieving 30 out of 40 in general training reading is as difficult as getting 23 out of 40 in academic reading. As a result, both 30/40 general training and 23/40 academics are band 6.
However, don't expect IELTS Listening or Speaking to be any simpler in general training. These two sections have the same format and difficulty level regardless of whether you are taking the IELTS academic or general exam.
Does the fact that General Training IELTS is simpler suggest that you should take it over Academic IELTS? Not at all. Finally, these tests are 70% similar, and you won't be able to choose which format you take. So, regardless of the version you take, it's generally best to find out how difficult the IELTS will be for you. As the Best IELTS Coaching Institute, we provide both Academic and general training tests.
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shoot your shot - a one shot
a/n: hiiii this is my first posted fic on my refurbished account soon if you see this and you like it, lemme know!! Request some things, I would love to go back into writing. Enjoy x ..................................................................................................................................................................... harry plays on the football team where you are the medic helping out and things get quite interesting when he invites you to his party
warnings: mature content
word count: 11,1k
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I felt it from the moment I had walked on the field with the others.
Someone was staring at me. Or everyone was. I didn’t look behind me to see if it was true, but I could feel their eyes staring straight at my ass. They asked me to wear athletic clothing for this, so I just chose the first thing in my dresser that I saw, picking out some black yoga pants. The material clung to my butt and I regretted I had put them on the moment I had arrived here. My oversized sweater I chose to wear over it luckily covered my upper half, a decision I did appreciate I made now.
Walking onto the sports centre was nerve-wracking in itself. I liked sports, I liked watching it, but having the possibility of someone else watching you do something was disturbing. I couldn’t find the way I was supposed to go. I didn’t bring my hair tie so I was forced to keep my hair floating around my face and this place was huge. There were several buildings and a squala of fields for specific sports. Indoors, outdoors, you name it. The college was probably sponsored by some wealthy upper class fathers who wanted their sons to be on the radar for new opportunities.
Luckily, I was led right to the canteen which was easily locatable since it had a terrace. A terrace! Lord, I feel like I should’ve worn other clothing for this.
I approached a team player who had blond hair, feeling the nerves floating around in my stomach, “Uhh… Hi.”
The boy who was filling up his water bottle turned around, raising his eyebrows, “Hi there.”
Shit, he was nice. I inhaled, “I was looking for uhh, the football team…” He gave me the same look, “I was asked to help.., or I need to help with their inju-”
“Ahh!” He exclaimed, disregarding his bottle and he turned to fully face me, “You’re the one!”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess I am?”
“My name’s Niall.” He held out his hand, “I’m the star player of the time you’ve been assigned to!”
I shook his hand, smiling a little. “Hi,” We still held hands, “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?”
Still holding my hand, he began shaking it up and down. “I’m glad we finally have someone.”
“You are?”
“Yeh, we desperately need new people to liven things up a little.”
I pried my hands from his grip, which wasn’t that strong. But I was already sweating, I didn’t need more reasons to be nervous. “Alright, that sounds good.”
The pregnant pause that followed made him inhale and pack his bottle in his bag, “You are probably wanted by the football field, which is right there.”
He pointed out somewhere behind me, making me turn my head. I already saw some players dribbling with the ball, so that was easily recognisable. “Go to the coach, he’s the tallest and biggest one. Has a loud voice too, probably won’t miss him.” He grinned, making me smile up at him.
“I’ll meet you there in a second, we’re starting in like two minutes.”
I nodded, “Alright, thanks…”
“Niall.” He answered for me, giving me a wink. “But you can call me anytime.”
I rolled my eyes at his remark, but by the look on his face and the laugh that followed his statement, I knew it was to lighten my mood and assure me.
I walked towards the field with a small smile on my face and with a lot less nerves. The players were now assembling and putting their heads together so I walked towards the dug-out and waited for them. There weren’t a lot of spectators or bystanders standing around the field, since it was a friendly game. I inhaled again. This should be fine. I recognized some of the players. They were all from the same college after all. Why did I sign up for this? I’m such an idiot.
When the team was done with sharing strategy and doing their, what appeared to be a yell, the trainer walked towards me. I was nervous when he approached me, he towered over everyone.
“Hi Mattie,” he said, “You ready?”
I stood there, with my own little bag of supplies in my hand. I nodded. Luckily he spoke to me when I got drafted for this, so I already knew him. What if it was someone else who ended up being the coach? Since our conversation was very brief, you’re a nurse, I’m in need of a carer for the team, the deal was easily made. I didn’t know exactly what to take with me for this, but it was a college football team anyways, so nothing was really high-class. I had put some aspirin, plasters, scissors, antiseptic wipes, bandages and tweezers in my supply bag. That should be enough for a college team right? Surely they wouldn’t crash and fall every single game. He saw me fiddling with the bag, and smiled at me, “Good luck.”
I nodded at him in gratitude and looked around the field. Gosh, couldn’t I talk? I was punching myself in my head. The trainer, whose name I seemed to have forgotten the second after the interview, sat down on his seat.
Right now, all the players on the field were starting to go to their positions, other members of staff, the referee, seconds officials and the trainers and staff of the opposing team, all seemed ready to go. It wasn't hot or cold, but the slight breeze that blew over the field chilled me just slightly, making the tip of my nose go red. My job was already halfway done, which is just waiting for something to happen and providing the supplies they needed. If something did happen, I was the chosen person to help the players and fix their injuries. I didn't expect that these games would be very intense anyways. The players often knew each other since the teams were always against other colleges. Today it was just a practise match to start off the season, so I should be fine.
The minute everyone started and the whistle blew, I wondered where Niall even was. Wasn’t he one of the players? As everyone was running and shouting on the field, I felt like he fit right in. I let my eyes wander. I didn’t know that much about football. I rarely watched the Champions League, I could just about name all the rules. The players, however, were something that did interested me. Especially the ones I already knew.
As I was sitting there, everyone seemed to be in the right place and doing exactly what everyone expected of them. The coach shouted an obnoxious loud praise towards his team, making me jump in my seat. The referee whistled at what suggestiably were the right times. No-one seemed to be getting angry at him. They were getting into it already. It'll probably go fine tonight, and my nerves I had bubbling in my stomach would probably be for nothing. At least, I was hoping for that. I watched the players going for the ball intensely, running after it and passing each other the ball.
Right as the spirits of the team heightened and they almost scored, Niall crept up from behind me. “You didn’t even give me your name.”
I shrieked, startling even the trainer who was deep into the game, “Jesus, Niall. Don’t scare me like that.”
He sat down next to me, “Sorry, babe.”
“My name’s Mattie.” I said, looking at him briefly. He nodded his head, “Like that.”
I smiled, turning my head towards the field. “Aren’t you playing?”
He pointed towards his knee, that was covered by his track pants, “This annoying thing won’t let me.”
“Ahh, that’s too bad.” I grimaced.
“It’s alright,” he shrugged, “get to sit next to you.”
I rolled my eyes again. “You’re not getting any.”
He burst out laughing, “What! How could you resist me?”
I playfully smiled at him. I was glad he was here to ease my nerves, “Dunno,” I glanced at the field, “quite like the others.”
“You already know them?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, “same college.”
Liam was the goalie. He was broad, quick and could move fast so he was the one that suited that job the most. He was also rough, and shouted really loudly which was a benefit when he would have to coach the team from the goal. He scared opponents off easily, grabbing the ball before they could shoot to keep the score at zero. Liam shared a house with Zayn, Louis and Brad, who were also playing tonight. Zayn was a little bit more of an introvert, and I didn’t really speak to him much. He did show he was a good midfielder though. He was quick and could pass the ball to his teammates effortlessly. When he did score though, he wouldn’t hesitate to cheer loudly and scare everyone with his intensity.
Brad was a little bit older than the rest, but he was great nonetheless. He was very broad in the shoulders and had legs every gym boy would be jealous of. He was the ex-boyfriend of my sister’s, who also attended this college a few years ago. But to me, he still felt more like an older brother than someone who had been in my sister’s life for years.
Louis was very serious. He was known for only having one thing on his mind, and that was to score goals. He was quick, could dribble fast and made the stronger players against him look back at him in surprise. Others called him Suarez because he was just that good, and his name was close to Luiz’, which made it easier for his teammates to choose a name. He was actually the only one, alongside Harry, to maybe get upgraded to a higher team. From what I heard of some girls on campus, was that he was a bit snarky. He had some quick-witted comebacks, and he didn’t care if he would hurt your feelings.
The house right next to their one, was filled with other boys from the team. This one was occupied with Josh, Ben and Harry. They had been friends since they were around sixteen, and now had the best bond you could have as college brothers. The three boys were always seen with each other, going out together and even doing groceries together. It wouldn’t surprise me if they also fucked the same girls.
I actually didn’t know them that well, they were just known around campus. That house was classed as the party house and had a reputation of being used to shag a new girl every week. Don’t get me wrong, they were also good at their sport, but the girls they pulled mostly went for their looks rather than for their skills.
It wasn’t a surprise that two of the boys that I knew, Louis and Harry, played as strikers, in the centre forward position. Harry was the only one that I had never actually spoken to before but knew from the parties. He was in the team because he was good, but also because he could easily show off to the ladies that way. He was popular amongst the college, mainly because he offered up his house to all the party-goers that wanted to celebrate a win that he created. No-one complained about that, seeing as he was gifted with the most attractive face on the campus. He could dribble the ball, yes, and he had the skill of a young Neymar when it came to approaching the goal. But with those eyes and smile with dimples, and his full head of curls that were covered in a backwards snap-back most of the time, I couldn’t help but check him out instead of his moves on the field. He was the captain of the team, living up to his name. He was also a leader of the group outside of football, which made all the girls like him even more.
“Ahh,” Niall exhaled, “shame I don’t know you.”
This time, I shoved him, making him laugh. He was already a pain in my arse. “Fuck off.”
The boys were playing for around fifteen minutes now, without something happening that would probably make me do some work. The coach was getting into it, standing up every so often and giving the players some tips. He had really created a team, I felt like. You could feel the bond and fondness between them. When a player fell down, another player helped him up and patted him to ask if he was okay. When it almost went wrong and the opposing team had a shot at the goal, everyone from the team would shout positives to each other. It felt like a real team. This team wasn’t only together while playing, though. I had seen them all at parties together and they also liked to play outside of the games they already had.
I was really into it the first fifteen minutes, but now I was growing kind of bored. Sure, watching boys play was fun, but with no work or particular action, it was kind of boring. Especially since it was a friendly match. The one form of entertainment I got, however, was Niall, who was really into the game.
“Fuck’s sake, Leon! You’re a defender! You should play in the back!” He shouted profanities to his team mates, cheering them on.
When Niall saw that Leon didn’t comply, he nudged another player next to him and said something in his ear with a scowl on his face. It made me grin lightly in my seat, him being so serious. I liked watching them already.
“Come on!” He yelled again, standing up in his seat, “Run Louis! Go after…”
I was looking at Niall with a smile on my face. I also saw how his face turned into a grimace and his hands went to cover his mouth. “Oooh,”
I looked at the field, panicked. Niall nudged me, tapping his hands on my arm. I saw that Louis had fallen to the ground, his arms holding his leg up now, groaning in pain. It was probably his ankle. I didn’t know what to do at first, shocked that something had actually happened. I looked at Niall, who was already looking at me, nudging his head towards the field. “Go!”
I jumped from my seat, wanting to run straight to the victim. I saw the referee signing for me, which made me run onto the field even more desperately. After a couple of seconds of running, I realised I had forgotten my bag. Fuck. Seriously? Groaning to myself in embarrassment, I quickly grabbed my supplies and ran a little quicker to the boy who was lying on the field in pain.
“Hey,” I said as I approached him, a little out of breath from running so quickly.
He didn’t look at me, just kept touching his ankle. It made me frown, it was probably really bad. He was crying out in pain, and some teammates and opponents had gathered around him to see what happened. In the meantime I had wet the sponge in the bag that the coach had brought with him, stretching Louis’ leg. He didn’t really want to, resisting to want to move it.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”
As I was wetting his ankle to cool it down over his shoes, I tried to look if it was bruised or if it had swollen up. None so far that I could see, so that was a good sign. I stretched his leg a bit to keep it moving, but with his socks on, I couldn’t see if there were any wounds or cuts. I tried to sit him upright, but he wasn’t having it. “Calm down,” He hissed, still holding his ankle. He sat upright now, finally looking who was taking care of him. When he saw it was me, he raised his eyebrows.
“What’re ye doing here?”
I looked at him in shock, already not wanting to help him anymore. So much for running hurriedly over to him. I tried to not react to his degrading question, although it was hard. I continued to check out his foot, trying to place it straight down on the field. He placed his other food next to the injured one, and leaned on his knees with his elbows. The trainer gave Louis a bottle with water, which he gladly took. He took a large gulp, sitting there for a while. Was I overreacting or something? He seemed to be in a lot of pain, why was he now so calm and chilling?
I started grabbing my things, giving Louis one last look to see if he was okay. He seemed to be fine, being helped up by another team mate and testing to stand on it.
I couldn’t believe this, he was groaning about his ankle no less than one minute ago! What an idiot. Letting me come all the way over here for nothing. As I was walking away frowned my eyebrows in confusion. If it was going to be like this the whole time, I was gone. Not gonna happen. I was here for a reason and the team mates should take that seriously.
I looked back one last time to Louis who was now laughing with Brad, which resulted in me bumping into someone. His back was hard. He had drawn his head back so he could fill his mouth with water, causing me to also run into the back of this someone’s arms.
“Fuck, sorry.” I exclaimed, “I shouldn’t..”
When he turned his head around and I saw who it was, I immediately shut my mouth and stared at him. I was frozen into my place for a moment, not knowing what to say. He turned around completely, a dimple showing on his face. I blushed. He was even more attractive up close.
“Don’t worry about it, babe.” He didn’t look angry or anything at all, he actually smiled, which made me feel a little bit better. I wanted to keep on walking to let me soak in my distress towards the situation that just occured, when Louis spoke up again from behind us, “So who’s the pretty girl who wears tight ass clothes to her job?”
I heard him laugh quietly at his own remark, and he said it loud enough to let his mates in on it too. Instead of just ignoring him and walking on, I decided to turn around and shout after him,
“Someone who can actually pull it off.”
His team mates ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at my quick remark. I sighed. Harry was still looking at me. I saw his face turn into a frown, silently apologizing to me with his gaze. I shrugged at him. My comeback towards Louis made me feel good again. He’s the idiot.
When I turned around again, and actually began walking, I smiled quietly to myself, forgetting the situation. This was going to be an interesting job.
--
The whistle blew, announcing the end of the game. For a practice match, the game went surprisingly well. There weren't any more instances or fake ankle injuries, what I was glad about. Harry had scored the one and only goal, which made the team go home with a win. Even though the game was for practice, they were pretty happy about it.
"Okay boys! Bundle up," the coach announced as everyone was walking off the field. I was still standing by the dug-out, not really knowing if I had to say goodbye or when the next game was. I saw everyone rounding around the coach, listening in, just like I did.
"Great game, happy about this one. Leon, next time: please bring your shin pads, so you could actually play and I could see what condition you're in. I have made notes and I will be announcing who's playing this Saturday, before the real game." The team looked around at each other, gauging who played good tonight and who didn't.
Apparently they used this match as a mock try-out, so the trainer and coach could see who were in shape and who weren't for the first big game on Saturday.
"Before you all go, I would like to introduce you to our new on scene doctor, who will be helping you if there's anything actually wrong." He glared at Louis when he said that last part, making him scowl.
I took a step forward, looking around the group. I saw that everyone was intensely looking at me, so I spoke up quickly, "Hi everyone, my name's Mattie and just like Patrick said, I'll be helping you guys out during the games."
"You'll help me out outside of the game, too?"
I ignored him, saw that Niall was once again encouraging me and disregarding his team mate who shouted that from the group, nodding his head for me to continue. I smiled a bit, and went on, "I'm studying to be a doctor, and I'm currently doing the bachelors for it, so yeah.."
Patrick, the coach, nodded at me and returned to the group, "For now, keep in shape boys and help each other out. I haven't decided anything yet so miracles can happen!"
The team shuffled away quietly, talking to each other. I tapped Patrick on his shoulder, "Sorry, coach, is there some place where I can put my bag so I don't have to bring it with me every time?"
He nodded, gazing above me to where the boys were walking, "Of course Mattie, just a moment,” He took two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, making me try to cover my ears, “Captain!" he shouted, "Harry come here!"
I turned around and saw that Harry was saying goodbye to his teammates, as he already heard his couch, before jogging over to us. He nodded at me, looking me up and down and placed his arms in his sides as a greeting and turned to Patrick, "What's up coach?"
Patrick cleared his throat and looked at me, "Mattie here would like to put her bag in the dressing room so she won't have to take it with her," he started grabbing his keys from his pocket, "you can show her, yes?"
Harry nodded, taking the keys from him. "No worries coach, I'll help her."
The coach patted Harry in his shoulder, "Thank you, bring the keys to my office tomorrow. And work on your left foot!"
Niall was waving goodbyes at me, so I quickly waved back, “Bye!” and turned towards Harry.
With the team and Niall gone, it was just Harry and I. It was still dark, with only the lights from the field still on. Harry jiggled the keys in front of us, and winked at me, "I'll show ya,"
It wasn't that I was nervous or anything, but I hesitated for two seconds before strolling behind him. He was so cocky, with his kit still on and smirking all the time. I couldn't help but watch him while he was playing. He had a certain glow around him, an aura that just radiated confidence. He could probably pull everything off and he certainly could wrap everyone around his finger.
"So you enjoyed the game, doc?"
I cringed at the nickname, but decided to let it go this time, "I enjoyed watching it yeah,"
Nodding, he faced me, "You liked my goal?"
He said it with a smirk and as if he knew I was watching him the whole time, which was true, but he didn't need to know that.
"Actually, I really liked how Leon could outrun everyone on the field.."
He stopped abruptly and turned around, in the middle of the path. Once he was fully in front of me, he leaned in, “I saw you watching me, you know.”
Because he stopped suddenly and leaned in immediately, I accidently took a step too much, almost bumping into him again. “Maybe I was watching Louis.”
He laughed, showing me his dimple as he looked to the side. “I know you weren’t, that douchebag really doesn’t know how to play it.”
I nodded my head, and rolled my eyes as if he was stating the obvious. “That’s right.”
I began walking again, not really knowing where to, but at least in the same direction we were already going. Harry followed me soon after, jumping into step with me. I already saw the building coming closer, which made me think of something. “Why aren’t you all showering in the dressing room after a game?”
He bumped his shoulder with mine, which made me notice the height difference we had. He was a lot taller than me, my eyes looking straight at his collarbones when I turned to look at him.
I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows in question.
“You would like to see that, huh?” He stated, smiling shyly at me.
I groaned, “Harryy..”
“Already moaning my name, I see.”
This time it was me that bumped my shoulder with him, making him laugh in response. “I was just joking, love.”
When we fell into step once more, he looked ahead and started explaining my question to me, “No we’re not there because it was a practise game and obviously we want to go home fast so we can go to the party later, so we just decided to shower at home.”
I nodded my head, kneading my eyebrows in confusion. There was a party tonight? I haven’t heard anything about that. I quite liked going to parties. Normally my friend Niamh made sure we could get invites so we could go together, but not tonight apparently. It was a Wednesday after all, so maybe she just wanted to stay in tonight. “A party?” I asked Harry.
He nodded, “Yeah it’s like a frat party only, I would have gotten you an invite but I didn’t really know you before this, soo..”
I laughed, grinning to myself. Harry was really nice. At least, nothing like I had pictured him to be in my head. I didn’t like to judge people before I knew them, but with Harry that was kind of inevitable. Also, I couldn’t exactly invite myself now since he said he didn’t know me but I already knew him. I was not going to make a fool of myself, obviously. So I just shrugged.
“Don’t worry about it.”
We had reached the building where the shower rooms were. We walked quite slow, and it was already quite late so it was kind of eerie here. No lights, the doors were all left open and there were no people to be seen.
“So these are our shower rooms,” Harry started as we walked into the building after he unlocked it, “We normally take the first one, so you can just put your stuff in there.”
The dressing room was big and spacious. Everyone had a seat, there was a whiteboard in there and the showers were in a separate room. The closet that stood against the wall next to the showers, held all the equipment. “There,” Harry said, as he took my bag and placed my stuff in, “A special place for you.”
As he placed my stuff in the closet, I could finally see how he’d looked up close. He still had his short sleeved football shirt on, revealing his tattoos on his arms. For a guy that was still in college, he sure had a lot of them. Not that I minded.
“Thank you Harry,” I smiled at him, at which he winked in return when he faced me again. Gosh, I could almost feel myself getting red. I was acting like a schoolgirl, I needed to step up my game. “I’ll remember this place,” I said, as I looked at the showers. I could almost imagine all the naked boys right here.
I smirked, glancing at the shower himself, “I’m sure you will.”
After making sure everything was locked and closed, we started to walk back to the parking lot. I was sure Harry was also with his car, considering campus was at least a twenty minute walk. Right as we reached our cars and I wanted to say goodbye, he faced me again and leaned on his already open door, “You know what, Mattie?”
I looked up from the inside of my car towards him, giving him a questioning look. “What?”
“You free Saturday?”
He said it so casually that I wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t asking me out on a date was he? I mean, I was attracted to the guy but I barely knew him! And it wasn’t like I wanted to go out with him, really. But I did want to see him. With hesitation evident in my voice, I answered him, “Yeah, why?”
He saw my facial expression and laughed a bit, “To take you up on my offer. We’re having a party again at our house, so if you’d like to come?”
I almost sighed in relief, “Yeah, I’d like that, thank you Harry.”
He shot a quick wink at me as he started to climb in his car, “No worries!” As a last afterthought, right as I wanted to shut my door, I heard him shout, “And bring your friends!”
--
My friend Niamh was present at the game this time, too. We were here a little early, so we could catch up on our week and talk about everything that had happened to us. She was a friend from years ago, almost from when we were kids, so she knew everything about me. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be a doctor and had chosen to go pursue her dancing career. She was really good at it, too. She was asked to dance in videoclips and she often performed on stage with singers or bands. It was her job now, one she always wanted. It made me proud of her, because she actually went for it, and ignored her parent’s complaints about it. She had proved them and their comments about how she was never going to make it, wrong.
We sat in the canteen, which was still fairly quiet. The game would start at two, and it was now one thirty. I had only been to a professional game once, and then I arrived at two on the dot and I didn’t even look if there were many people there. The only time I’d been here was when I met up with the trainer to see if this was the right place for me to take my extra credits. I could choose to work in an elderly home, or at the swimming pool, but I had decided that this would be more fun for me. I didn’t mind watching 22 boys running after a ball for two hours back to back, particularly.
Niamh had ordered a coffee whereas I preferred cold drinks over hot drinks, so I just stuck with some soda. “So how has your week been, Matts?” She said as she took a sip of her drink.
I smiled at her, excited to tell her she would be having something to do tonight, “Actually, I need to invite you to something.”
Her eyebrows perked up, and she placed the drink on the table, “To where?”
I grinned, “Harry Styles asked me if I wanted to come to this party at his house tonight, and said I could bring some friends.”
“No way!” She exclaimed gasping, “Harry Styles from the team?”
I nodded happily back at her, “That’s the one.”
She already started to grab her phone, so she could text our friends, I presumed. “When did he ask you this? I didn’t even know you talked to him!”
After I placed my drink down from taking a sip of it myself, I shrugged casually at her. “Well, I had to help at that game you know,” I said as she nodded at me, “And right after he had to show me where I could put my stuff and started talking about this party he had this Wednesday----”
“Oh yes!” She interrupted me with wide eyes, “So that’s the party Emily talked about! She said she had fucked the captain of the team, and that he was quite good. That’s Harry right?”
I paused, opening my mouth in surprise. “What? Yeah he is the captain.”
“That’s so sick! I have to text Emily about this party tonight then,” She said, grinning excitedly at me and putting her phone down to look at me again. “Anyway, go on, I’m listening.”
I coughed, choosing to ignore this disappointing bit of information, “Yeah so he told me about that party and that he couldn’t invite me then, which is a bit weird if I think about it now, but anyways, he invited me for tonight and said I could bring some friends.” I forced a smile on my face as I finished my story and looked at her.
She copied my smile, “That’s great! Maybe I can finally meet Niall and get to know him better, if you know what I mean,” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed, genuinely excited for her. “I hope you will!”
After I had finished my drink, I announced to Niamh that I had to leave if I wanted to be at the dug-outs on time. She wished me well, and said that she would see me tonight. After I hugged her and said goodbye to her and the bartender who had served us, I walked out of the canteen towards the shower rooms.
I needed to grab my bag if I wanted to be helping players today. Today they had to play against a popular college not far away from where we’re from, so it was kind of exciting to be able to see that. The coach had probably announced who would be playing and who wouldn’t for today, which made the pressure on the players to play well a tad bit higher. I knew that obviously Harry and Louis would be playing, along with our goalie Liam, but the rest of the team was still unsure. For me it would be kind of fun if Niall was still benched, just for entertainment, but he would rather be on the field, I’m sure. Hopefully his knee was doing better.
I had reached the shower rooms and discovered that the door was still open, allowing me to walk right in the building. I knew Harry said it was the first one when we dropped my bag off, so without hesitation I whipped open the door. Right as I did that, I heard commotion and deep yelling from from the inside, causing me to rapidly close the door again. Shit. How the fuck was I supposed to know they were still here, they were just warming up outside!
Bowing my head in embarrassment, I quickly walked out of the building. I would just grab my bag when they were out so I didn’t have to walk in with all of them staring at me. I waited outside, leaning against the wall and just staring ahead at the field they would be playing on. They were taking their sweet time. Probably just discussing the match quickly just before the game started, but to me it felt like ages.
The other team was walking towards the field in a pack, and the referee started to walk towards this building, probably to let our team know the game was about to start. I actually felt nerves bubbling in my stomach, with everything being so serious in comparison to the last game. There were a lot of supporters walking towards the bleachers, too.
I was just staring at the field again when the door opened and everyone on the team started to walk out. First it was the coach and trainer, who nodded in greeting. The coach was needed here too, apparently. I saw that Niall walked in the front with his jacket still on, so that meant he was benched again. When he walked by me, he ruffled my hair. “Hey Matts!”
“Hey!” I shouted after him, “I’m here to help you, you know!”
He turned around and laughed loudly, pointing at his knee, “Not me!’
At that, I didn’t have anything back to say knowing he was benched again, so I just shook my head.
“Is he messing with you?”
I heard Harry’s voice before I saw him, making me look up towards him. He was walking at the back of the team’s row to get out of the building with a smile on his face, standing out from everyone else walking before him.
When he reached me, he stopped and raised his eyebrows, awaiting my answer. “No it’s just Niall,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders indifferently.
“Right,” He smirked, “Well, I figured ‘t was you that tried to come in during our important speech, so I decided to grab your bag for you.”
My heart swelled just a little bit at his kind gesture, having not expected this at all from him. Shit, you should never listen to rumours, huh? He proved once again that he could actually be kind.
“Wow, Harry! Thank you so much. That’s so kind of you to do that!” I grabbed the bag from him and in a split second decided I wanted to hug him. I threw myself in his arms, catching him off guard for a second. My bag that I now carried in my hand whipped him in his back, causing him to groan in my shoulder. Hugging me back, he draped his arms slowly around me, positioning them right above my ass.
When I loosened my arms around him, I nodded my head towards the field, “You should probably go,”
He nodded in confirmation, still standing in close proximity to me. “I do.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder blades, and wished him luck for the game, “Break a leg Harry, or don’t actually.”
He laughed at my comment, showing me his dimples. Before he walked away towards the field, he winked at me, “I’ll try not to.”
When I saw him run on the field and give his teammates one last cheer for good luck, I smirked to myself watching him. It was a good choice to wear my tight yoga pants again, at least.
--
The game was very intense. Not like practise-match intense, but full on competition match intense. Louis luckily hadn’t faked any injuries yet, so that was a good sign. However, I had to run on the field in the first half for Liam, who had taken a good shot right in his eye. He fell to the ground, making me run on the field for him. When I got there, he was already sitting up and not at all groaning in pain like Louis had, making me smile a bit. At least Liam could handle something. I also discovered his injury wasn’t fake, because I could see a bruise forming immediately. I cooled it a little, but told him it would be better if he took some rest. He said that he’d be fine and would just tell me and the coach if he wanted to switch between the other goalkeeper and him. I was still a bit concerned, but he insisted. So I walked back with my supplies and some worries, hoping that it was really just a shot with the ball, and it wouldn’t turn out to be something worse.
The score was 2-1 for our team, with just ten minutes to go when I came back from grabbing some more water. It was so tense, all the players were proper going for it. The bleachers were filled with supporters, all reacting to the match as if their life depended on it. When the opponents came near our goal, they would stand up and shout at our defenders. And when our team was striking and near the opponents goal, they would yell and scream for us to score. I was nervous too. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping that the score would stay the same. I was fiddling with the hem of my shirt to stop myself from standing up and screaming towards the players.
We did have a good few people that came out to support us, yes. But our biggest supporter sat on the bench. He was biting his nails, screaming in frustration and cursing loudly whenever we missed a goal.
“Fuck! Who in their goddamn mind would even pass like that!”, or “Holy shit! That was fucking close!” and my favourite: “Son of a… get that fucking ball in the goal you arseholes!”
Least to say, I was entertained for the match.
Currently we had the ball on our side, passing each other the ball and walking forwards towards the goal. Once we had crossed the midfielders of the opponents, Zayn passed the ball towards Brad who then passed it on to Ben. Ben had a good shot, and could easily get the ball miles away. So when Louis sprinted towards the goal, Ben saw an opportunity to pass the ball onto him. He put the ball in front of him and shot the ball, right into Louis’ feet. I could see that Louis was looking for someone to help him out, because there were two defenders near the goal and he couldn’t pass them himself. Luckily Harry had seen it, and sprinted with him on the other side. He made sure he ran close to the goal but not to close, so he had the space to shoot the ball right in if he got it. He shouted for Louis to pass the ball onto him, and Louis immediately did. The ball was flying over the defenders, in a straight line towards Harry. Harry prepared for it, taking his foot back so he could place it right on it. He jumped, the ball almost near him, and kicked the ball---
Right before he could kick it, a defender sprung onto him making Harry fall right to the ground. “Nooooo!” Niall yelled loudly from beside me, “For fuck’s sake no!”
I heard everyone gasp from the audience, immediately voicing their worries from behind me. I panicked for a second, freezing in my spot. Shit! Harry just fell to the ground. He was laying there, in pain. I heard the coach shout my name, making me snap back to reality. Immediately I grabbed my bag, and ran towards him in a hurry. Shiiit. Why Harry? Others had gathered around him, so I couldn’t see how Harry was doing. Right as I arrived near him, I shouted for them to walk away.
“Everyone! Leave!”
My voice must have sounded really angry or intimidating, because everyone hurried away quickly. This way, I could finally see Harry. He was laying on the ground, on his back. He had his hands on his forehead, making me think there was something wrong with his head. Hopefully he didn’t have a concussion or something. The defender that had pushed him to the ground, was still looking at Harry. He was probably worried about what he’d done, but I didn’t care.
“What are you doing? Leave!”
He started saying that he was sorry, and that he could help, but I wasn’t having it. “I don’t care, leave before I force you.”
He nodded, worry evident on his face. For a second I felt bad, but then I saw that Harry was still laying here, and then those thoughts escaped my mind right away. The defender walked away eventually, leaving me alone with Harry. I looked at him, seeing how he had one hand over his head, feeling for bruising. The moment I sat down next to him, he turned his head towards me. He opened his eyes, and smiled.
“Am I dreaming?”
Relief washed over me immediately. At least he could still make jokes. I began sitting next to his head, wetting my sponge once again and placing it over his head. “You okay, Harry?”
He nodded, his head in front of my knees on the ground. I looked at him from above, so that I could see how his body reacted when I would do certain things to see if he was okay. Right now I had my hands on his forehead with the sponge in between, “I’m fine actually, Mattie. I just wanted you to come save me.”
I rolled my eyes, not believing him. “No you didn’t.”
He laughed, causing his chest to go up and down, “I did,” He smirked, his eyes shining as he looked at me.
I shook my head in disbelief, staring at him smiling at me for a second. But then I remembered I could take revenge. He saw that I was wetting the sponge again, and began to sit up straight. “No you won’t!’
I began splashing him with water in revenge, making him soaking wet. I was laughing my ass off, seeing him so flustered and shocked at what I was doing. “Mattie! Shit, stop!”
I was aware that the rest of the team and the coach were still watching us, so I stopped splashing him, throwing the sponge in the water bag. I took a step towards his soaked body, pressing my lips together and looking him in the eye mischievously. “Next time you’ll play a joke on me like that, I’ll take you to the hospital so you’ll have to sit next to Niall for a month.”
He laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Noted, doc, noted.”
As I walked away smiling and the referee began gathering everyone together again, I heard him shout one more thing after me, “I’ll pay you back tonight Mattie! Watch out!”
I just shot my middle finger in the air, hearing him bark out another laugh in response.
--
The party was in full swing when Niamh, Emily, Joey and I arrived. It was in Harry’s and his roommates’ house, one that I had never been in before, let alone seen how packed it could be. Everyone that was just a little bit known around campus, was there. I recognized some people from my class, and others I knew because they were popular around campus.
When we arrived, the door was unlocked and you could just walk right in. That wasn’t unusual with the parties I went to, if we ever went to house parties. There was a pile of jackets formed, so we just threw ours over it. Joey and Emily claimed they knew some people and went off to speak to them, leaving me and Niamh alone at the party.
“Let’s have a drink,” Niamh said to me over the loud music, “We need to get drunk to process this!”
I nodded in agreement, already taking her arm towards the kitchen. It was already quite busy, but we had come a little late. We didn’t want to be the first ones to arrive, as we didn’t know a lot of people here. All the drinks were placed on a table, leaving us with a lot of choice of what we wanted to drink tonight. I hadn’t realised before this that these college boys actually spend a lot of time planning these things. They had a lot to think about. And to be fair, they had done a good job at it.
We had appropriately dressed ourselves, luckily. Since we didn’t really know what to expect, we just went for black: Niamh wearing a tight dress with spaghetti straps and me wearing a skirt with a t-shirt. It was something you could never go wrong with.
I poured myself some alcohol, waiting for Niamh to do the same. Once we both had our drinks, we leaned against the table and started looking at people. This was our favourite activity to do. You saw some crazy people at parties, so we had a lot to think about.
“Oh wow, there’s already people on the edge of drunkenness.” Niamh laughed, raising her eyebrows at a boy who had run straight towards the loo. “Jesus wept.”
“Shit,” I exclaimed, looking at a girl who had just came in with a gift in her hand, “It’s someone’s birthday? Did we need to bring a gift?”
She just shrugged her shoulders at me. “No fucking clue.” And resumed to look around the room. We had been sipping on our drinks lightly, just enjoying the music that was blasting loudly and how everyone was dancing and talking with each other.
“Look at that girl, she's going for it!” Niamh pointed out at me, looking at a girl that was standing in the middle of the room, dancing her ass off. I followed her gaze, seeing how the girl was dancing to the music, not caring about anyone it seemed like. I wish I could be like her. “She’s really good!”
Right as I wanted to respond to Niamh, I saw that Louis had walked in the door she was close to. I rolled my eyes and turned around, looking at the sink.
“What’re you doing?” Niamh asked me incredulously, looking at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” I answered her, “He just annoys me.”
She came to stand beside me, searching for my eyes. “How? Last time we talked about him you said he was hot!”
I shrugged my shoulders again, “He’s just annoying.”
“Right.” She answered, turning around again and taking a sip of her drink. “If you want to fuck him just tell me. I could be your wing woman.”
I bumped my hips with hers, and turned around to look at the crowd again, “Never.”
She laughed, standing up straight and finishing up her drink. “Okay then, just tell me why another time. I just saw Harry come in and you need to talk with him.”
Immediately I felt my stomach go wild. Shit. My eyes began to search around the room, looking for his head of curls amongst the crowd. I found him talking with a friend of his from his team, who’s name I couldn’t remember. Harry looked extremely attractive tonight. Instead of the usual kit I saw him in, he wore all black. His black vans stood out with the other clothing he wore, black skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Even with such a simple look, he made it seem like he wore a million dollars. As he was talking, his jawline moved with his mouth and it made me just weak in the knees. He was actually so hot, how hadn’t I fully appreciated this man before?
It seemed like he was asking if his friend wanted a drink, because he leaned into him with his ear, nodded and started walking away towards the kitchen. Oh no, why had I been sitting in the kitchen, so obviously out in the open? He strode confidently towards the drinks, when in mid-walk he saw me sitting there. Niamh also recognised him and saw he was walking over here, so she made up an excuse to leave. “Just need the loo for a moment,”
I couldn’t answer her, because Harry interrupted my thoughts. He was also smirking at me as he arrived right in front of me, only leaving a few inches in between us. I crossed my arms, looking up at him challengingly.
“Hey doc,” he greeted, speaking in a raspy voice. He began to smile mischievously, making me wonder what he was going to say, “Or should I say, hero?”
I groaned out loud, hitting him in the chest with one hand, and shaking my head. It made him laugh, making his chest vibrate. I could almost feel the vibrations with how close we were. “Shut up,”
He was still chuckling a bit as if he were still thinking about it. Suddenly he stopped, and looked me right in the eyes. “Really though, that was really hot with how you fought everyone out of your way for me.”
I felt my face go warm and I tried to not to smile too much. “Thank you,” I said, straightening up a bit and raising my chin up at him, “But like hell that I fought everyone away.”
He gasped, nudging me with his arms “Heyy, you did!” he said with a fake offense, frowning his eyebrows, “You were basically performing CPR on me with the way you acted!”
I laughed, making me lean into him a little bit and hide in his shoulder. When I brought myself back in front of him, I raised my eyebrows at him, “You would like me to give you a mouth to mouth performance, wouldn’t you?”
My heart skipped a bit when he got all serious and looked me straight in the eye. “I would,”
Our eye contact was intense, I could feel it in my stomach. He was so close to me, I could feel his breath on my face. I was almost certain that he could feel my heartbeat against his chest. We weren’t even touching completely, but it was beating so hard that I wouldn’t doubt it. I looked at his green eyes, to his plump and pink lips. They were a nice shape, and I felt the urge to just kiss them. I didn’t though, maybe he did this with every other girl he tried to get in his bed.
I was proven right when he took my hand, “Come with me,”
I tried to act confused, furrowing my eyebrows, “Where to?”
He didn’t respond, just tugged on my hand and began leading the way. People weren’t even looking at us, they were dancing or drinking and talking. And even though I liked doing those things at parties, this thing that I thought Harry was planning to do with me, seemed much more fun.
He made his way towards the door to go upstairs, avoiding bumping in with people or getting splashed by someone’s drink. Once we were on the way up he let go of my hand so we could walk better. There were only one or two people upstairs, making out with each other or searching for someone. Two doors were open out of the four, and Harry went into a closed one with me.
He revealed his bedroom to me, which was completely dark apart from the moon that lit up the room a little bit. His room was mostly a dark blue, with a grey colour covering the one wall that wasn’t blue. His bed stood in the middle of the room with two bedside tables next to it. He had a desk and his sports bag that he had used still stood in his room, untouched. He didn’t have a desk, but a dresser was shoved against the wall. Once I did my onceover, I saw Harry standing in front of his bed, looking at me.
He smiled, and began to walk over to me again, making me back into the door once he reached me completely. He stood closer than he did when we were in the kitchen, his pelvis against mine and his chest leaning against my body. “Hey,” He said again, even raspier this time.
I looked up at him, examining his face, “Hey.”
He cleared his throat, and hesitated a bit, “Can I kiss you?”
I hesitated, “One thing.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Tell me you don’t fuck girls every week, otherwise I won’t be able to handle this.”
He took a step back, frowning, “Who told you that?”
Looking up at him, I felt myself growing more nervous, “Just hear that about you.”
He looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. “I promise you Mattie. I didn’t bring you here or invite you just to fuck you. I’d happily talk with you all night. You seem fun.”
I smiled, “And,” he continued, “my roommates are the ones who get laid every party. I do have sex yeah, but I promise you, I haven’t had sex since the first week of this semester.”
With the sincerity in his eyes, I believed him, “Okay, you can kiss me now.”
“Only if you want to.”
I looked into his eyes, “I really do.”
With one nod and another reassuring glance he was in the clear and we were done with being slow. He smacked his lips against mine, moving his arms from against the door to my body. Roaming his hand around my hips to my ass as he hungrily kissed me. I kissed him back, recuperating his movements. He squeezed my ass, making me gasp a little bit, giving him access to use his tongue in the kiss as well. I moved my arms from his shoulders to his neck, pushing him closer to me with my fingertips in his hair. Our tongues were wet and desperate, making the kiss hot and heavy. Once he had enough of just making out, he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me up, turning me around towards the bed.
I fell backwards onto his soft mattress, with Harry on top of me. My legs were around him in an instant, crossing my feet on his back. I still had my sneakers on and all my clothes, but not for long. Harry’s hand went from my ass to the hem of my shirt. I lifted my back for him, pausing in the kiss, to let him take my top off in one swift movement, leaving me in my bra. I didn’t wear my sexiest bra, but he didn’t seem to mind. His mouth went from the sweet spots on my neck towards my cleavage, leaving wet kisses on my body. He was already working on getting my bra off, pushing the straps off my shoulders. I sat upright for him, making him readjust his position to get closer to me. He was struggling with the clasp, so I unclasped my bra for him and threw it on the ground. He didn’t waste any time cupping my breasts, feeling them and leaning in my neck to leave some more spots, but I wasn’t having it. I pushed him away on his chest, making him stand on the ground again. He looked at me in confusion for a moment, until I stood up and pushed him on the bed. I bent my knees so I could reach his t-shirt, and he got the idea. Moving his arms up to let me take his shirt off, he gladly let me do it.
His chest was revealed to me, just like mine was to him. This wasn’t enough, though. I crouched on my knees completely so I was level with his belly button, and began to unbutton his jeans. His bulge was evident in the tight material, so when I moved the zipper down I cupped him over his jeans and pants, making him groan in response.
“Fuck, Mattie.”
I just smiled at him, moving to tug at his jeans. He got the hint and thrust his hips up, so I could take his jeans off. Once they were off, he was just left in his boxers. I moved a little closer to him, so I was level with his bulge, making me look up at him with wide eyes. “Impressive,” I smirked.
He wasn’t having it, and took his boxers off immediately, revealing his dick to me that sprung to his stomach. He must be proper into it, because I had never had a man be this turned on from just kissing. He threw his boxers onto the pile we had already made, and leaned on his arms so he could look at me properly. I took him in my hands, gliding my thumb over his tip. I looked at him for his consent, and he nodded at me eagerly. That was all I needed before I licked him on the tip. He responded loudly, groaning and moaning through the room. I never knew he was so loud in the bedroom.
I licked him from his balls to the tip, and let him slip in my mouth to take all of him. He moved his hand in my hair, not pushing me, but finally having something he could do with his hands.
I started bobbing my head up and down, all the while looking at him how he responded to me. His eyes were closed and his pink lips were voluminous and opened just slightly.
I enjoyed giving blowjobs, especially if it was someone as responsive as Harry. He was groaning and moaning for me, letting me know how much he enjoyed it. “A-ah,” He cried once I hit him in the back of my throat. “Fuck,”
Kissing his tip, feeling his balls and sliding my tongue over his dick was making me wet as well. He still had one hand in my hair, the other going from my arms that were drawn over his upper thighs. My naked boobs rested on his naked legs, and my still clothed butt was stuck in the air.
He slid his hand over my arm and went to my back, leaning over my head that was still bobbing over his cock. Once he could reach the hem of my skirt, he started moving the zipper. At least, trying to.
I stopped sucking him off and let my mouth pop when his dick was out of my mouth, making him moan in annoyance. I quickly took my skirt and panties off and went back on my knees in front of him, when he was the one that stopped me this time. He grabbed my arms and basically threw me on the bed, covering my body immediately. Fuck, he was good.
He started kissing me again, while I searched for his dick and began giving him a handjob. He cupped my breasts and squeezed them. I started leading his dick towards my entrance, giving him a hint of what I wanted. He backed away to look at me with wide eyes, paused for a bit and went to his dresser to get a condom. I watched him as he slid it on, and grabbed his shoulders as he started to position himself in front of me. Before he did, he looked at me once more. I nodded in approval, and he slid himself in me slowly. I could feel him filling me up immediately, making me throw my head back in bliss. “Fuck, Harry..”
“You like my dick, don’t you?” He said as he began thrusting into me.
I could only nod in response, gasping as he looked at me, “Tell me,” he said as he thrusted into me hard once, “Tell me how you feel.”
His trust were getting harder with each second I wasn’t responding, because I could only moan in pleasure, “Fuck Harry,” I moaned, “I feel so good..”
He reacted with his hips. Thrusting into me rapidly, making my breasts go up and down and the bed creak against the wall. “I know, baby, I know.”
“Holy shit, I do.”
He started to kiss my neck, hungrily going for it as my legs crossed at his back once again. I was certain that the guests that were still here could hear us, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to everyone to know that he was fucking me, and not some other girl.
“You’re so good baby, I knew it,”
I started to roam his back with my arms, feeling his muscles move each time he thrusted. His dick was so long and hard that he hit the right spots inside of me each time. I could feel my head getting a little lighter, and my stomach filled with warmth. “I’m gonna cum, Harry, please,”
“Begging for it, see?” He cockily stated once he moved to look at me again, he even had a smirk on his face when he was fucking me. “Knew you would do me good,”
“Mhh, Harry, almost there,”
“Me too, baby, me too.”
He thrusted a couple more times before I could really feel it, my pleasure taking over me completely. I came hard, my legs trembling around him and my head thrown back. My orgasm made me cry out loud, and he was still going at it.
He was coming too, I knew it. His thrust became harder before they slowed down, squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure. He groaned loudly when he came, looking beautiful while he did. His cheeks had gone slightly pink, making his lips stand out even more, and his hair was all dishevelled and damp with sweat. Once I felt that he filled the condom inside of me, he opened up his eyes and slid out of me.
We both smiled at each other and started catching our breaths from out intensive activities, “Fuck, Mattie.” He laughed, pulling out of me completely and leaned on his arms to stand up. Once he cleaned up the condom, throwing it in the bin, he started walking back to the bed. He plopped on it, almost on top of me. “That was good.”
I nodded in response, “Almost as good as Louis’ goals.” I smirked, hoping to get a reaction out of him with bullshit.
He laughed, letting his head fall on the pillow, “Shut up.”
There we lay, both naked over the covers with our chest moving as we breathed, still hearing the thumping music from downstairs where the party was still going in full swing.
“I told you,” He started, looking at me playfully, “I would get you wet later.”
I groaned, but couldn’t help to let a laugh escape. I grabbed my pillow from underneath my head, saw how he was smiling to himself, and smacked him in the head with it.
Payback, my arse.
I felt it from the moment I had walked on the field with the others.
Someone was staring at me. Or everyone was. I didn’t look behind me to see if it was true, but I could feel their eyes staring straight at my ass. They asked me to wear athletic clothing for this, so I just chose the first thing in my dresser that I saw, picking out some black yoga pants. The material clung to my butt and I regretted I had put them on the moment I had arrived here. My oversized sweater I chose to wear over it luckily covered my upper half, a decision I did appreciate I made now.
Walking onto the sports centre was nerve-wracking in itself. I liked sports, I liked watching it, but having the possibility of someone else watching you do something was disturbing. I couldn’t find the way I was supposed to go. I didn’t bring my hair tie so I was forced to keep my hair floating around my face and this place was huge. There were several buildings and a squala of fields for specific sports. Indoors, outdoors, you name it. The college was probably sponsored by some wealthy upper class fathers who wanted their sons to be on the radar for new opportunities.
Luckily, I was led right to the canteen which was easily locatable since it had a terrace. A terrace! Lord, I feel like I should’ve worn other clothing for this.
I approached a team player who had blond hair, feeling the nerves floating around in my stomach, “Uhh… Hi.”
The boy who was filling up his water bottle turned around, raising his eyebrows, “Hi there.”
Shit, he was nice. I inhaled, “I was looking for uhh, the football team…” He gave me the same look, “I was asked to help.., or I need to help with their inju-”
“Ahh!” He exclaimed, disregarding his bottle and he turned to fully face me, “You’re the one!”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess I am?”
“My name’s Niall.” He held out his hand, “I’m the star player of the time you’ve been assigned to!”
I shook his hand, smiling a little. “Hi,” We still held hands, “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?”
Still holding my hand, he began shaking it up and down. “I’m glad we finally have someone.”
“You are?”
“Yeh, we desperately need new people to liven things up a little.”
I pried my hands from his grip, which wasn’t that strong. But I was already sweating, I didn’t need more reasons to be nervous. “Alright, that sounds good.”
The pregnant pause that followed made him inhale and pack his bottle in his bag, “You are probably wanted by the football field, which is right there.”
He pointed out somewhere behind me, making me turn my head. I already saw some players dribbling with the ball, so that was easily recognisable. “Go to the coach, he’s the tallest and biggest one. Has a loud voice too, probably won’t miss him.” He grinned, making me smile up at him.
“I’ll meet you there in a second, we’re starting in like two minutes.”
I nodded, “Alright, thanks…”
“Niall.” He answered for me, giving me a wink. “But you can call me anytime.”
I rolled my eyes at his remark, but by the look on his face and the laugh that followed his statement, I knew it was to lighten my mood and assure me.
I walked towards the field with a small smile on my face and with a lot less nerves. The players were now assembling and putting their heads together so I walked towards the dug-out and waited for them. There weren’t a lot of spectators or bystanders standing around the field, since it was a friendly game. I inhaled again. This should be fine. I recognized some of the players. They were all from the same college after all. Why did I sign up for this? I’m such an idiot.
When the team was done with sharing strategy and doing their, what appeared to be a yell, the trainer walked towards me. I was nervous when he approached me, he towered over everyone.
“Hi Mattie,” he said, “You ready?”
I stood there, with my own little bag of supplies in my hand. I nodded. Luckily he spoke to me when I got drafted for this, so I already knew him. What if it was someone else who ended up being the coach? Since our conversation was very brief, you’re a nurse, I’m in need of a carer for the team, the deal was easily made. I didn’t know exactly what to take with me for this, but it was a college football team anyways, so nothing was really high-class. I had put some aspirin, plasters, scissors, antiseptic wipes, bandages and tweezers in my supply bag. That should be enough for a college team right? Surely they wouldn’t crash and fall every single game. He saw me fiddling with the bag, and smiled at me, “Good luck.”
I nodded at him in gratitude and looked around the field. Gosh, couldn’t I talk? I was punching myself in my head. The trainer, whose name I seemed to have forgotten the second after the interview, sat down on his seat.
Right now, all the players on the field were starting to go to their positions, other members of staff, the referee, seconds officials and the trainers and staff of the opposing team, all seemed ready to go. It wasn't hot or cold, but the slight breeze that blew over the field chilled me just slightly, making the tip of my nose go red. My job was already halfway done, which is just waiting for something to happen and providing the supplies they needed. If something did happen, I was the chosen person to help the players and fix their injuries. I didn't expect that these games would be very intense anyways. The players often knew each other since the teams were always against other colleges. Today it was just a practise match to start off the season, so I should be fine.
The minute everyone started and the whistle blew, I wondered where Niall even was. Wasn’t he one of the players? As everyone was running and shouting on the field, I felt like he fit right in. I let my eyes wander. I didn’t know that much about football. I rarely watched the Champions League, I could just about name all the rules. The players, however, were something that did interested me. Especially the ones I already knew.
As I was sitting there, everyone seemed to be in the right place and doing exactly what everyone expected of them. The coach shouted an obnoxious loud praise towards his team, making me jump in my seat. The referee whistled at what suggestiably were the right times. No-one seemed to be getting angry at him. They were getting into it already. It'll probably go fine tonight, and my nerves I had bubbling in my stomach would probably be for nothing. At least, I was hoping for that. I watched the players going for the ball intensely, running after it and passing each other the ball.
Right as the spirits of the team heightened and they almost scored, Niall crept up from behind me. “You didn’t even give me your name.”
I shrieked, startling even the trainer who was deep into the game, “Jesus, Niall. Don’t scare me like that.”
He sat down next to me, “Sorry, babe.”
“My name’s Mattie.” I said, looking at him briefly. He nodded his head, “Like that.”
I smiled, turning my head towards the field. “Aren’t you playing?”
He pointed towards his knee, that was covered by his track pants, “This annoying thing won’t let me.”
“Ahh, that’s too bad.” I grimaced.
“It’s alright,” he shrugged, “get to sit next to you.”
I rolled my eyes again. “You’re not getting any.”
He burst out laughing, “What! How could you resist me?”
I playfully smiled at him. I was glad he was here to ease my nerves, “Dunno,” I glanced at the field, “quite like the others.”
“You already know them?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, “same college.”
Liam was the goalie. He was broad, quick and could move fast so he was the one that suited that job the most. He was also rough, and shouted really loudly which was a benefit when he would have to coach the team from the goal. He scared opponents off easily, grabbing the ball before they could shoot to keep the score at zero. Liam shared a house with Zayn, Louis and Brad, who were also playing tonight. Zayn was a little bit more of an introvert, and I didn’t really speak to him much. He did show he was a good midfielder though. He was quick and could pass the ball to his teammates effortlessly. When he did score though, he wouldn’t hesitate to cheer loudly and scare everyone with his intensity.
Brad was a little bit older than the rest, but he was great nonetheless. He was very broad in the shoulders and had legs every gym boy would be jealous of. He was the ex-boyfriend of my sister’s, who also attended this college a few years ago. But to me, he still felt more like an older brother than someone who had been in my sister’s life for years.
Louis was very serious. He was known for only having one thing on his mind, and that was to score goals. He was quick, could dribble fast and made the stronger players against him look back at him in surprise. Others called him Suarez because he was just that good, and his name was close to Luiz’, which made it easier for his teammates to choose a name. He was actually the only one, alongside Harry, to maybe get upgraded to a higher team. From what I heard of some girls on campus, was that he was a bit snarky. He had some quick-witted comebacks, and he didn’t care if he would hurt your feelings.
The house right next to their one, was filled with other boys from the team. This one was occupied with Josh, Ben and Harry. They had been friends since they were around sixteen, and now had the best bond you could have as college brothers. The three boys were always seen with each other, going out together and even doing groceries together. It wouldn’t surprise me if they also fucked the same girls.
I actually didn’t know them that well, they were just known around campus. That house was classed as the party house and had a reputation of being used to shag a new girl every week. Don’t get me wrong, they were also good at their sport, but the girls they pulled mostly went for their looks rather than for their skills.
It wasn’t a surprise that two of the boys that I knew, Louis and Harry, played as strikers, in the centre forward position. Harry was the only one that I had never actually spoken to before but knew from the parties. He was in the team because he was good, but also because he could easily show off to the ladies that way. He was popular amongst the college, mainly because he offered up his house to all the party-goers that wanted to celebrate a win that he created. No-one complained about that, seeing as he was gifted with the most attractive face on the campus. He could dribble the ball, yes, and he had the skill of a young Neymar when it came to approaching the goal. But with those eyes and smile with dimples, and his full head of curls that were covered in a backwards snap-back most of the time, I couldn’t help but check him out instead of his moves on the field. He was the captain of the team, living up to his name. He was also a leader of the group outside of football, which made all the girls like him even more.
“Ahh,” Niall exhaled, “shame I don’t know you.”
This time, I shoved him, making him laugh. He was already a pain in my arse. “Fuck off.”
The boys were playing for around fifteen minutes now, without something happening that would probably make me do some work. The coach was getting into it, standing up every so often and giving the players some tips. He had really created a team, I felt like. You could feel the bond and fondness between them. When a player fell down, another player helped him up and patted him to ask if he was okay. When it almost went wrong and the opposing team had a shot at the goal, everyone from the team would shout positives to each other. It felt like a real team. This team wasn’t only together while playing, though. I had seen them all at parties together and they also liked to play outside of the games they already had.
I was really into it the first fifteen minutes, but now I was growing kind of bored. Sure, watching boys play was fun, but with no work or particular action, it was kind of boring. Especially since it was a friendly match. The one form of entertainment I got, however, was Niall, who was really into the game.
“Fuck’s sake, Leon! You’re a defender! You should play in the back!” He shouted profanities to his team mates, cheering them on.
When Niall saw that Leon didn’t comply, he nudged another player next to him and said something in his ear with a scowl on his face. It made me grin lightly in my seat, him being so serious. I liked watching them already.
“Come on!” He yelled again, standing up in his seat, “Run Louis! Go after…”
I was looking at Niall with a smile on my face. I also saw how his face turned into a grimace and his hands went to cover his mouth. “Oooh,”
I looked at the field, panicked. Niall nudged me, tapping his hands on my arm. I saw that Louis had fallen to the ground, his arms holding his leg up now, groaning in pain. It was probably his ankle. I didn’t know what to do at first, shocked that something had actually happened. I looked at Niall, who was already looking at me, nudging his head towards the field. “Go!”
I jumped from my seat, wanting to run straight to the victim. I saw the referee signing for me, which made me run onto the field even more desperately. After a couple of seconds of running, I realised I had forgotten my bag. Fuck. Seriously? Groaning to myself in embarrassment, I quickly grabbed my supplies and ran a little quicker to the boy who was lying on the field in pain.
“Hey,” I said as I approached him, a little out of breath from running so quickly.
He didn’t look at me, just kept touching his ankle. It made me frown, it was probably really bad. He was crying out in pain, and some teammates and opponents had gathered around him to see what happened. In the meantime I had wet the sponge in the bag that the coach had brought with him, stretching Louis’ leg. He didn’t really want to, resisting to want to move it.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”
As I was wetting his ankle to cool it down over his shoes, I tried to look if it was bruised or if it had swollen up. None so far that I could see, so that was a good sign. I stretched his leg a bit to keep it moving, but with his socks on, I couldn’t see if there were any wounds or cuts. I tried to sit him upright, but he wasn’t having it. “Calm down,” He hissed, still holding his ankle. He sat upright now, finally looking who was taking care of him. When he saw it was me, he raised his eyebrows.
“What’re ye doing here?”
I looked at him in shock, already not wanting to help him anymore. So much for running hurriedly over to him. I tried to not react to his degrading question, although it was hard. I continued to check out his foot, trying to place it straight down on the field. He placed his other food next to the injured one, and leaned on his knees with his elbows. The trainer gave Louis a bottle with water, which he gladly took. He took a large gulp, sitting there for a while. Was I overreacting or something? He seemed to be in a lot of pain, why was he now so calm and chilling?
I started grabbing my things, giving Louis one last look to see if he was okay. He seemed to be fine, being helped up by another team mate and testing to stand on it.
I couldn’t believe this, he was groaning about his ankle no less than one minute ago! What an idiot. Letting me come all the way over here for nothing. As I was walking away frowned my eyebrows in confusion. If it was going to be like this the whole time, I was gone. Not gonna happen. I was here for a reason and the team mates should take that seriously.
I looked back one last time to Louis who was now laughing with Brad, which resulted in me bumping into someone. His back was hard. He had drawn his head back so he could fill his mouth with water, causing me to also run into the back of this someone’s arms.
“Fuck, sorry.” I exclaimed, “I shouldn’t..”
When he turned his head around and I saw who it was, I immediately shut my mouth and stared at him. I was frozen into my place for a moment, not knowing what to say. He turned around completely, a dimple showing on his face. I blushed. He was even more attractive up close.
“Don’t worry about it, babe.” He didn’t look angry or anything at all, he actually smiled, which made me feel a little bit better. I wanted to keep on walking to let me soak in my distress towards the situation that just occured, when Louis spoke up again from behind us, “So who’s the pretty girl who wears tight ass clothes to her job?”
I heard him laugh quietly at his own remark, and he said it loud enough to let his mates in on it too. Instead of just ignoring him and walking on, I decided to turn around and shout after him,
“Someone who can actually pull it off.”
His team mates ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at my quick remark. I sighed. Harry was still looking at me. I saw his face turn into a frown, silently apologizing to me with his gaze. I shrugged at him. My comeback towards Louis made me feel good again. He’s the idiot.
When I turned around again, and actually began walking, I smiled quietly to myself, forgetting the situation. This was going to be an interesting job.
--
The whistle blew, announcing the end of the game. For a practice match, the game went surprisingly well. There weren't any more instances or fake ankle injuries, what I was glad about. Harry had scored the one and only goal, which made the team go home with a win. Even though the game was for practice, they were pretty happy about it.
"Okay boys! Bundle up," the coach announced as everyone was walking off the field. I was still standing by the dug-out, not really knowing if I had to say goodbye or when the next game was. I saw everyone rounding around the coach, listening in, just like I did.
"Great game, happy about this one. Leon, next time: please bring your shin pads, so you could actually play and I could see what condition you're in. I have made notes and I will be announcing who's playing this Saturday, before the real game." The team looked around at each other, gauging who played good tonight and who didn't.
Apparently they used this match as a mock try-out, so the trainer and coach could see who were in shape and who weren't for the first big game on Saturday.
"Before you all go, I would like to introduce you to our new on scene doctor, who will be helping you if there's anything actually wrong." He glared at Louis when he said that last part, making him scowl.
I took a step forward, looking around the group. I saw that everyone was intensely looking at me, so I spoke up quickly, "Hi everyone, my name's Mattie and just like Patrick said, I'll be helping you guys out during the games."
"You'll help me out outside of the game, too?"
I ignored him, saw that Niall was once again encouraging me and disregarding his team mate who shouted that from the group, nodding his head for me to continue. I smiled a bit, and went on, "I'm studying to be a doctor, and I'm currently doing the bachelors for it, so yeah.."
Patrick, the coach, nodded at me and returned to the group, "For now, keep in shape boys and help each other out. I haven't decided anything yet so miracles can happen!"
The team shuffled away quietly, talking to each other. I tapped Patrick on his shoulder, "Sorry, coach, is there some place where I can put my bag so I don't have to bring it with me every time?"
He nodded, gazing above me to where the boys were walking, "Of course Mattie, just a moment,” He took two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, making me try to cover my ears, “Captain!" he shouted, "Harry come here!"
I turned around and saw that Harry was saying goodbye to his teammates, as he already heard his couch, before jogging over to us. He nodded at me, looking me up and down and placed his arms in his sides as a greeting and turned to Patrick, "What's up coach?"
Patrick cleared his throat and looked at me, "Mattie here would like to put her bag in the dressing room so she won't have to take it with her," he started grabbing his keys from his pocket, "you can show her, yes?"
Harry nodded, taking the keys from him. "No worries coach, I'll help her."
The coach patted Harry in his shoulder, "Thank you, bring the keys to my office tomorrow. And work on your left foot!"
Niall was waving goodbyes at me, so I quickly waved back, “Bye!” and turned towards Harry.
With the team and Niall gone, it was just Harry and I. It was still dark, with only the lights from the field still on. Harry jiggled the keys in front of us, and winked at me, "I'll show ya,"
It wasn't that I was nervous or anything, but I hesitated for two seconds before strolling behind him. He was so cocky, with his kit still on and smirking all the time. I couldn't help but watch him while he was playing. He had a certain glow around him, an aura that just radiated confidence. He could probably pull everything off and he certainly could wrap everyone around his finger.
"So you enjoyed the game, doc?"
I cringed at the nickname, but decided to let it go this time, "I enjoyed watching it yeah,"
Nodding, he faced me, "You liked my goal?"
He said it with a smirk and as if he knew I was watching him the whole time, which was true, but he didn't need to know that.
"Actually, I really liked how Leon could outrun everyone on the field.."
He stopped abruptly and turned around, in the middle of the path. Once he was fully in front of me, he leaned in, “I saw you watching me, you know.”
Because he stopped suddenly and leaned in immediately, I accidently took a step too much, almost bumping into him again. “Maybe I was watching Louis.”
He laughed, showing me his dimple as he looked to the side. “I know you weren’t, that douchebag really doesn’t know how to play it.”
I nodded my head, and rolled my eyes as if he was stating the obvious. “That’s right.”
I began walking again, not really knowing where to, but at least in the same direction we were already going. Harry followed me soon after, jumping into step with me. I already saw the building coming closer, which made me think of something. “Why aren’t you all showering in the dressing room after a game?”
He bumped his shoulder with mine, which made me notice the height difference we had. He was a lot taller than me, my eyes looking straight at his collarbones when I turned to look at him.
I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows in question.
“You would like to see that, huh?” He stated, smiling shyly at me.
I groaned, “Harryy..”
“Already moaning my name, I see.”
This time it was me that bumped my shoulder with him, making him laugh in response. “I was just joking, love.”
When we fell into step once more, he looked ahead and started explaining my question to me, “No we’re not there because it was a practise game and obviously we want to go home fast so we can go to the party later, so we just decided to shower at home.”
I nodded my head, kneading my eyebrows in confusion. There was a party tonight? I haven’t heard anything about that. I quite liked going to parties. Normally my friend Niamh made sure we could get invites so we could go together, but not tonight apparently. It was a Wednesday after all, so maybe she just wanted to stay in tonight. “A party?” I asked Harry.
He nodded, “Yeah it’s like a frat party only, I would have gotten you an invite but I didn’t really know you before this, soo..”
I laughed, grinning to myself. Harry was really nice. At least, nothing like I had pictured him to be in my head. I didn’t like to judge people before I knew them, but with Harry that was kind of inevitable. Also, I couldn’t exactly invite myself now since he said he didn’t know me but I already knew him. I was not going to make a fool of myself, obviously. So I just shrugged.
“Don’t worry about it.”
We had reached the building where the shower rooms were. We walked quite slow, and it was already quite late so it was kind of eerie here. No lights, the doors were all left open and there were no people to be seen.
“So these are our shower rooms,” Harry started as we walked into the building after he unlocked it, “We normally take the first one, so you can just put your stuff in there.”
The dressing room was big and spacious. Everyone had a seat, there was a whiteboard in there and the showers were in a separate room. The closet that stood against the wall next to the showers, held all the equipment. “There,” Harry said, as he took my bag and placed my stuff in, “A special place for you.”
As he placed my stuff in the closet, I could finally see how he’d looked up close. He still had his short sleeved football shirt on, revealing his tattoos on his arms. For a guy that was still in college, he sure had a lot of them. Not that I minded.
“Thank you Harry,” I smiled at him, at which he winked in return when he faced me again. Gosh, I could almost feel myself getting red. I was acting like a schoolgirl, I needed to step up my game. “I’ll remember this place,” I said, as I looked at the showers. I could almost imagine all the naked boys right here.
I smirked, glancing at the shower himself, “I’m sure you will.”
After making sure everything was locked and closed, we started to walk back to the parking lot. I was sure Harry was also with his car, considering campus was at least a twenty minute walk. Right as we reached our cars and I wanted to say goodbye, he faced me again and leaned on his already open door, “You know what, Mattie?”
I looked up from the inside of my car towards him, giving him a questioning look. “What?”
“You free Saturday?”
He said it so casually that I wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t asking me out on a date was he? I mean, I was attracted to the guy but I barely knew him! And it wasn’t like I wanted to go out with him, really. But I did want to see him. With hesitation evident in my voice, I answered him, “Yeah, why?”
He saw my facial expression and laughed a bit, “To take you up on my offer. We’re having a party again at our house, so if you’d like to come?”
I almost sighed in relief, “Yeah, I’d like that, thank you Harry.”
He shot a quick wink at me as he started to climb in his car, “No worries!” As a last afterthought, right as I wanted to shut my door, I heard him shout, “And bring your friends!”
--
My friend Niamh was present at the game this time, too. We were here a little early, so we could catch up on our week and talk about everything that had happened to us. She was a friend from years ago, almost from when we were kids, so she knew everything about me. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be a doctor and had chosen to go pursue her dancing career. She was really good at it, too. She was asked to dance in videoclips and she often performed on stage with singers or bands. It was her job now, one she always wanted. It made me proud of her, because she actually went for it, and ignored her parent’s complaints about it. She had proved them and their comments about how she was never going to make it, wrong.
We sat in the canteen, which was still fairly quiet. The game would start at two, and it was now one thirty. I had only been to a professional game once, and then I arrived at two on the dot and I didn’t even look if there were many people there. The only time I’d been here was when I met up with the trainer to see if this was the right place for me to take my extra credits. I could choose to work in an elderly home, or at the swimming pool, but I had decided that this would be more fun for me. I didn’t mind watching 22 boys running after a ball for two hours back to back, particularly.
Niamh had ordered a coffee whereas I preferred cold drinks over hot drinks, so I just stuck with some soda. “So how has your week been, Matts?” She said as she took a sip of her drink.
I smiled at her, excited to tell her she would be having something to do tonight, “Actually, I need to invite you to something.”
Her eyebrows perked up, and she placed the drink on the table, “To where?”
I grinned, “Harry Styles asked me if I wanted to come to this party at his house tonight, and said I could bring some friends.”
“No way!” She exclaimed gasping, “Harry Styles from the team?”
I nodded happily back at her, “That’s the one.”
She already started to grab her phone, so she could text our friends, I presumed. “When did he ask you this? I didn’t even know you talked to him!”
After I placed my drink down from taking a sip of it myself, I shrugged casually at her. “Well, I had to help at that game you know,” I said as she nodded at me, “And right after he had to show me where I could put my stuff and started talking about this party he had this Wednesday----”
“Oh yes!” She interrupted me with wide eyes, “So that’s the party Emily talked about! She said she had fucked the captain of the team, and that he was quite good. That’s Harry right?”
I paused, opening my mouth in surprise. “What? Yeah he is the captain.”
“That’s so sick! I have to text Emily about this party tonight then,” She said, grinning excitedly at me and putting her phone down to look at me again. “Anyway, go on, I’m listening.”
I coughed, choosing to ignore this disappointing bit of information, “Yeah so he told me about that party and that he couldn’t invite me then, which is a bit weird if I think about it now, but anyways, he invited me for tonight and said I could bring some friends.” I forced a smile on my face as I finished my story and looked at her.
She copied my smile, “That’s great! Maybe I can finally meet Niall and get to know him better, if you know what I mean,” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed, genuinely excited for her. “I hope you will!”
After I had finished my drink, I announced to Niamh that I had to leave if I wanted to be at the dug-outs on time. She wished me well, and said that she would see me tonight. After I hugged her and said goodbye to her and the bartender who had served us, I walked out of the canteen towards the shower rooms.
I needed to grab my bag if I wanted to be helping players today. Today they had to play against a popular college not far away from where we’re from, so it was kind of exciting to be able to see that. The coach had probably announced who would be playing and who wouldn’t for today, which made the pressure on the players to play well a tad bit higher. I knew that obviously Harry and Louis would be playing, along with our goalie Liam, but the rest of the team was still unsure. For me it would be kind of fun if Niall was still benched, just for entertainment, but he would rather be on the field, I’m sure. Hopefully his knee was doing better.
I had reached the shower rooms and discovered that the door was still open, allowing me to walk right in the building. I knew Harry said it was the first one when we dropped my bag off, so without hesitation I whipped open the door. Right as I did that, I heard commotion and deep yelling from from the inside, causing me to rapidly close the door again. Shit. How the fuck was I supposed to know they were still here, they were just warming up outside!
Bowing my head in embarrassment, I quickly walked out of the building. I would just grab my bag when they were out so I didn’t have to walk in with all of them staring at me. I waited outside, leaning against the wall and just staring ahead at the field they would be playing on. They were taking their sweet time. Probably just discussing the match quickly just before the game started, but to me it felt like ages.
The other team was walking towards the field in a pack, and the referee started to walk towards this building, probably to let our team know the game was about to start. I actually felt nerves bubbling in my stomach, with everything being so serious in comparison to the last game. There were a lot of supporters walking towards the bleachers, too.
I was just staring at the field again when the door opened and everyone on the team started to walk out. First it was the coach and trainer, who nodded in greeting. The coach was needed here too, apparently. I saw that Niall walked in the front with his jacket still on, so that meant he was benched again. When he walked by me, he ruffled my hair. “Hey Matts!”
“Hey!” I shouted after him, “I’m here to help you, you know!”
He turned around and laughed loudly, pointing at his knee, “Not me!’
At that, I didn’t have anything back to say knowing he was benched again, so I just shook my head.
“Is he messing with you?”
I heard Harry’s voice before I saw him, making me look up towards him. He was walking at the back of the team’s row to get out of the building with a smile on his face, standing out from everyone else walking before him.
When he reached me, he stopped and raised his eyebrows, awaiting my answer. “No it’s just Niall,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders indifferently.
“Right,” He smirked, “Well, I figured ‘t was you that tried to come in during our important speech, so I decided to grab your bag for you.”
My heart swelled just a little bit at his kind gesture, having not expected this at all from him. Shit, you should never listen to rumours, huh? He proved once again that he could actually be kind.
“Wow, Harry! Thank you so much. That’s so kind of you to do that!” I grabbed the bag from him and in a split second decided I wanted to hug him. I threw myself in his arms, catching him off guard for a second. My bag that I now carried in my hand whipped him in his back, causing him to groan in my shoulder. Hugging me back, he draped his arms slowly around me, positioning them right above my ass.
When I loosened my arms around him, I nodded my head towards the field, “You should probably go,”
He nodded in confirmation, still standing in close proximity to me. “I do.”
I placed my hand on his shoulder blades, and wished him luck for the game, “Break a leg Harry, or don’t actually.”
He laughed at my comment, showing me his dimples. Before he walked away towards the field, he winked at me, “I’ll try not to.”
When I saw him run on the field and give his teammates one last cheer for good luck, I smirked to myself watching him. It was a good choice to wear my tight yoga pants again, at least.
--
The game was very intense. Not like practise-match intense, but full on competition match intense. Louis luckily hadn’t faked any injuries yet, so that was a good sign. However, I had to run on the field in the first half for Liam, who had taken a good shot right in his eye. He fell to the ground, making me run on the field for him. When I got there, he was already sitting up and not at all groaning in pain like Louis had, making me smile a bit. At least Liam could handle something. I also discovered his injury wasn’t fake, because I could see a bruise forming immediately. I cooled it a little, but told him it would be better if he took some rest. He said that he’d be fine and would just tell me and the coach if he wanted to switch between the other goalkeeper and him. I was still a bit concerned, but he insisted. So I walked back with my supplies and some worries, hoping that it was really just a shot with the ball, and it wouldn’t turn out to be something worse.
The score was 2-1 for our team, with just ten minutes to go when I came back from grabbing some more water. It was so tense, all the players were proper going for it. The bleachers were filled with supporters, all reacting to the match as if their life depended on it. When the opponents came near our goal, they would stand up and shout at our defenders. And when our team was striking and near the opponents goal, they would yell and scream for us to score. I was nervous too. I was on the edge of my seat, hoping that the score would stay the same. I was fiddling with the hem of my shirt to stop myself from standing up and screaming towards the players.
We did have a good few people that came out to support us, yes. But our biggest supporter sat on the bench. He was biting his nails, screaming in frustration and cursing loudly whenever we missed a goal.
“Fuck! Who in their goddamn mind would even pass like that!”, or “Holy shit! That was fucking close!” and my favourite: “Son of a… get that fucking ball in the goal you arseholes!”
Least to say, I was entertained for the match.
Currently we had the ball on our side, passing each other the ball and walking forwards towards the goal. Once we had crossed the midfielders of the opponents, Zayn passed the ball towards Brad who then passed it on to Ben. Ben had a good shot, and could easily get the ball miles away. So when Louis sprinted towards the goal, Ben saw an opportunity to pass the ball onto him. He put the ball in front of him and shot the ball, right into Louis’ feet. I could see that Louis was looking for someone to help him out, because there were two defenders near the goal and he couldn’t pass them himself. Luckily Harry had seen it, and sprinted with him on the other side. He made sure he ran close to the goal but not to close, so he had the space to shoot the ball right in if he got it. He shouted for Louis to pass the ball onto him, and Louis immediately did. The ball was flying over the defenders, in a straight line towards Harry. Harry prepared for it, taking his foot back so he could place it right on it. He jumped, the ball almost near him, and kicked the ball---
Right before he could kick it, a defender sprung onto him making Harry fall right to the ground. “Nooooo!” Niall yelled loudly from beside me, “For fuck’s sake no!”
I heard everyone gasp from the audience, immediately voicing their worries from behind me. I panicked for a second, freezing in my spot. Shit! Harry just fell to the ground. He was laying there, in pain. I heard the coach shout my name, making me snap back to reality. Immediately I grabbed my bag, and ran towards him in a hurry. Shiiit. Why Harry? Others had gathered around him, so I couldn’t see how Harry was doing. Right as I arrived near him, I shouted for them to walk away.
“Everyone! Leave!”
My voice must have sounded really angry or intimidating, because everyone hurried away quickly. This way, I could finally see Harry. He was laying on the ground, on his back. He had his hands on his forehead, making me think there was something wrong with his head. Hopefully he didn’t have a concussion or something. The defender that had pushed him to the ground, was still looking at Harry. He was probably worried about what he’d done, but I didn’t care.
“What are you doing? Leave!”
He started saying that he was sorry, and that he could help, but I wasn’t having it. “I don’t care, leave before I force you.”
He nodded, worry evident on his face. For a second I felt bad, but then I saw that Harry was still laying here, and then those thoughts escaped my mind right away. The defender walked away eventually, leaving me alone with Harry. I looked at him, seeing how he had one hand over his head, feeling for bruising. The moment I sat down next to him, he turned his head towards me. He opened his eyes, and smiled.
“Am I dreaming?”
Relief washed over me immediately. At least he could still make jokes. I began sitting next to his head, wetting my sponge once again and placing it over his head. “You okay, Harry?”
He nodded, his head in front of my knees on the ground. I looked at him from above, so that I could see how his body reacted when I would do certain things to see if he was okay. Right now I had my hands on his forehead with the sponge in between, “I’m fine actually, Mattie. I just wanted you to come save me.”
I rolled my eyes, not believing him. “No you didn’t.”
He laughed, causing his chest to go up and down, “I did,” He smirked, his eyes shining as he looked at me.
I shook my head in disbelief, staring at him smiling at me for a second. But then I remembered I could take revenge. He saw that I was wetting the sponge again, and began to sit up straight. “No you won’t!’
I began splashing him with water in revenge, making him soaking wet. I was laughing my ass off, seeing him so flustered and shocked at what I was doing. “Mattie! Shit, stop!”
I was aware that the rest of the team and the coach were still watching us, so I stopped splashing him, throwing the sponge in the water bag. I took a step towards his soaked body, pressing my lips together and looking him in the eye mischievously. “Next time you’ll play a joke on me like that, I’ll take you to the hospital so you’ll have to sit next to Niall for a month.”
He laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Noted, doc, noted.”
As I walked away smiling and the referee began gathering everyone together again, I heard him shout one more thing after me, “I’ll pay you back tonight Mattie! Watch out!”
I just shot my middle finger in the air, hearing him bark out another laugh in response.
--
The party was in full swing when Niamh, Emily, Joey and I arrived. It was in Harry’s and his roommates’ house, one that I had never been in before, let alone seen how packed it could be. Everyone that was just a little bit known around campus, was there. I recognized some people from my class, and others I knew because they were popular around campus.
When we arrived, the door was unlocked and you could just walk right in. That wasn’t unusual with the parties I went to, if we ever went to house parties. There was a pile of jackets formed, so we just threw ours over it. Joey and Emily claimed they knew some people and went off to speak to them, leaving me and Niamh alone at the party.
“Let’s have a drink,” Niamh said to me over the loud music, “We need to get drunk to process this!”
I nodded in agreement, already taking her arm towards the kitchen. It was already quite busy, but we had come a little late. We didn’t want to be the first ones to arrive, as we didn’t know a lot of people here. All the drinks were placed on a table, leaving us with a lot of choice of what we wanted to drink tonight. I hadn’t realised before this that these college boys actually spend a lot of time planning these things. They had a lot to think about. And to be fair, they had done a good job at it.
We had appropriately dressed ourselves, luckily. Since we didn’t really know what to expect, we just went for black: Niamh wearing a tight dress with spaghetti straps and me wearing a skirt with a t-shirt. It was something you could never go wrong with.
I poured myself some alcohol, waiting for Niamh to do the same. Once we both had our drinks, we leaned against the table and started looking at people. This was our favourite activity to do. You saw some crazy people at parties, so we had a lot to think about.
“Oh wow, there’s already people on the edge of drunkenness.” Niamh laughed, raising her eyebrows at a boy who had run straight towards the loo. “Jesus wept.”
“Shit,” I exclaimed, looking at a girl who had just came in with a gift in her hand, “It’s someone’s birthday? Did we need to bring a gift?”
She just shrugged her shoulders at me. “No fucking clue.” And resumed to look around the room. We had been sipping on our drinks lightly, just enjoying the music that was blasting loudly and how everyone was dancing and talking with each other.
“Look at that girl, she's going for it!” Niamh pointed out at me, looking at a girl that was standing in the middle of the room, dancing her ass off. I followed her gaze, seeing how the girl was dancing to the music, not caring about anyone it seemed like. I wish I could be like her. “She’s really good!”
Right as I wanted to respond to Niamh, I saw that Louis had walked in the door she was close to. I rolled my eyes and turned around, looking at the sink.
“What’re you doing?” Niamh asked me incredulously, looking at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” I answered her, “He just annoys me.”
She came to stand beside me, searching for my eyes. “How? Last time we talked about him you said he was hot!”
I shrugged my shoulders again, “He’s just annoying.”
“Right.” She answered, turning around again and taking a sip of her drink. “If you want to fuck him just tell me. I could be your wing woman.”
I bumped my hips with hers, and turned around to look at the crowd again, “Never.”
She laughed, standing up straight and finishing up her drink. “Okay then, just tell me why another time. I just saw Harry come in and you need to talk with him.”
Immediately I felt my stomach go wild. Shit. My eyes began to search around the room, looking for his head of curls amongst the crowd. I found him talking with a friend of his from his team, who’s name I couldn’t remember. Harry looked extremely attractive tonight. Instead of the usual kit I saw him in, he wore all black. His black vans stood out with the other clothing he wore, black skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Even with such a simple look, he made it seem like he wore a million dollars. As he was talking, his jawline moved with his mouth and it made me just weak in the knees. He was actually so hot, how hadn’t I fully appreciated this man before?
It seemed like he was asking if his friend wanted a drink, because he leaned into him with his ear, nodded and started walking away towards the kitchen. Oh no, why had I been sitting in the kitchen, so obviously out in the open? He strode confidently towards the drinks, when in mid-walk he saw me sitting there. Niamh also recognised him and saw he was walking over here, so she made up an excuse to leave. “Just need the loo for a moment,”
I couldn’t answer her, because Harry interrupted my thoughts. He was also smirking at me as he arrived right in front of me, only leaving a few inches in between us. I crossed my arms, looking up at him challengingly.
“Hey doc,” he greeted, speaking in a raspy voice. He began to smile mischievously, making me wonder what he was going to say, “Or should I say, hero?”
I groaned out loud, hitting him in the chest with one hand, and shaking my head. It made him laugh, making his chest vibrate. I could almost feel the vibrations with how close we were. “Shut up,”
He was still chuckling a bit as if he were still thinking about it. Suddenly he stopped, and looked me right in the eyes. “Really though, that was really hot with how you fought everyone out of your way for me.”
I felt my face go warm and I tried to not to smile too much. “Thank you,” I said, straightening up a bit and raising my chin up at him, “But like hell that I fought everyone away.”
He gasped, nudging me with his arms “Heyy, you did!” he said with a fake offense, frowning his eyebrows, “You were basically performing CPR on me with the way you acted!”
I laughed, making me lean into him a little bit and hide in his shoulder. When I brought myself back in front of him, I raised my eyebrows at him, “You would like me to give you a mouth to mouth performance, wouldn’t you?”
My heart skipped a bit when he got all serious and looked me straight in the eye. “I would,”
Our eye contact was intense, I could feel it in my stomach. He was so close to me, I could feel his breath on my face. I was almost certain that he could feel my heartbeat against his chest. We weren’t even touching completely, but it was beating so hard that I wouldn’t doubt it. I looked at his green eyes, to his plump and pink lips. They were a nice shape, and I felt the urge to just kiss them. I didn’t though, maybe he did this with every other girl he tried to get in his bed.
I was proven right when he took my hand, “Come with me,”
I tried to act confused, furrowing my eyebrows, “Where to?”
He didn’t respond, just tugged on my hand and began leading the way. People weren’t even looking at us, they were dancing or drinking and talking. And even though I liked doing those things at parties, this thing that I thought Harry was planning to do with me, seemed much more fun.
He made his way towards the door to go upstairs, avoiding bumping in with people or getting splashed by someone’s drink. Once we were on the way up he let go of my hand so we could walk better. There were only one or two people upstairs, making out with each other or searching for someone. Two doors were open out of the four, and Harry went into a closed one with me.
He revealed his bedroom to me, which was completely dark apart from the moon that lit up the room a little bit. His room was mostly a dark blue, with a grey colour covering the one wall that wasn’t blue. His bed stood in the middle of the room with two bedside tables next to it. He had a desk and his sports bag that he had used still stood in his room, untouched. He didn’t have a desk, but a dresser was shoved against the wall. Once I did my onceover, I saw Harry standing in front of his bed, looking at me.
He smiled, and began to walk over to me again, making me back into the door once he reached me completely. He stood closer than he did when we were in the kitchen, his pelvis against mine and his chest leaning against my body. “Hey,” He said again, even raspier this time.
I looked up at him, examining his face, “Hey.”
He cleared his throat, and hesitated a bit, “Can I kiss you?”
I hesitated, “One thing.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Tell me you don’t fuck girls every week, otherwise I won’t be able to handle this.”
He took a step back, frowning, “Who told you that?”
Looking up at him, I felt myself growing more nervous, “Just hear that about you.”
He looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. “I promise you Mattie. I didn’t bring you here or invite you just to fuck you. I’d happily talk with you all night. You seem fun.”
I smiled, “And,” he continued, “my roommates are the ones who get laid every party. I do have sex yeah, but I promise you, I haven’t had sex since the first week of this semester.”
With the sincerity in his eyes, I believed him, “Okay, you can kiss me now.”
“Only if you want to.”
I looked into his eyes, “I really do.”
With one nod and another reassuring glance he was in the clear and we were done with being slow. He smacked his lips against mine, moving his arms from against the door to my body. Roaming his hand around my hips to my ass as he hungrily kissed me. I kissed him back, recuperating his movements. He squeezed my ass, making me gasp a little bit, giving him access to use his tongue in the kiss as well. I moved my arms from his shoulders to his neck, pushing him closer to me with my fingertips in his hair. Our tongues were wet and desperate, making the kiss hot and heavy. Once he had enough of just making out, he grabbed me by my thighs and lifted me up, turning me around towards the bed.
I fell backwards onto his soft mattress, with Harry on top of me. My legs were around him in an instant, crossing my feet on his back. I still had my sneakers on and all my clothes, but not for long. Harry’s hand went from my ass to the hem of my shirt. I lifted my back for him, pausing in the kiss, to let him take my top off in one swift movement, leaving me in my bra. I didn’t wear my sexiest bra, but he didn’t seem to mind. His mouth went from the sweet spots on my neck towards my cleavage, leaving wet kisses on my body. He was already working on getting my bra off, pushing the straps off my shoulders. I sat upright for him, making him readjust his position to get closer to me. He was struggling with the clasp, so I unclasped my bra for him and threw it on the ground. He didn’t waste any time cupping my breasts, feeling them and leaning in my neck to leave some more spots, but I wasn’t having it. I pushed him away on his chest, making him stand on the ground again. He looked at me in confusion for a moment, until I stood up and pushed him on the bed. I bent my knees so I could reach his t-shirt, and he got the idea. Moving his arms up to let me take his shirt off, he gladly let me do it.
His chest was revealed to me, just like mine was to him. This wasn’t enough, though. I crouched on my knees completely so I was level with his belly button, and began to unbutton his jeans. His bulge was evident in the tight material, so when I moved the zipper down I cupped him over his jeans and pants, making him groan in response.
“Fuck, Mattie.”
I just smiled at him, moving to tug at his jeans. He got the hint and thrust his hips up, so I could take his jeans off. Once they were off, he was just left in his boxers. I moved a little closer to him, so I was level with his bulge, making me look up at him with wide eyes. “Impressive,” I smirked.
He wasn’t having it, and took his boxers off immediately, revealing his dick to me that sprung to his stomach. He must be proper into it, because I had never had a man be this turned on from just kissing. He threw his boxers onto the pile we had already made, and leaned on his arms so he could look at me properly. I took him in my hands, gliding my thumb over his tip. I looked at him for his consent, and he nodded at me eagerly. That was all I needed before I licked him on the tip. He responded loudly, groaning and moaning through the room. I never knew he was so loud in the bedroom.
I licked him from his balls to the tip, and let him slip in my mouth to take all of him. He moved his hand in my hair, not pushing me, but finally having something he could do with his hands.
I started bobbing my head up and down, all the while looking at him how he responded to me. His eyes were closed and his pink lips were voluminous and opened just slightly.
I enjoyed giving blowjobs, especially if it was someone as responsive as Harry. He was groaning and moaning for me, letting me know how much he enjoyed it. “A-ah,” He cried once I hit him in the back of my throat. “Fuck,”
Kissing his tip, feeling his balls and sliding my tongue over his dick was making me wet as well. He still had one hand in my hair, the other going from my arms that were drawn over his upper thighs. My naked boobs rested on his naked legs, and my still clothed butt was stuck in the air.
He slid his hand over my arm and went to my back, leaning over my head that was still bobbing over his cock. Once he could reach the hem of my skirt, he started moving the zipper. At least, trying to.
I stopped sucking him off and let my mouth pop when his dick was out of my mouth, making him moan in annoyance. I quickly took my skirt and panties off and went back on my knees in front of him, when he was the one that stopped me this time. He grabbed my arms and basically threw me on the bed, covering my body immediately. Fuck, he was good.
He started kissing me again, while I searched for his dick and began giving him a handjob. He cupped my breasts and squeezed them. I started leading his dick towards my entrance, giving him a hint of what I wanted. He backed away to look at me with wide eyes, paused for a bit and went to his dresser to get a condom. I watched him as he slid it on, and grabbed his shoulders as he started to position himself in front of me. Before he did, he looked at me once more. I nodded in approval, and he slid himself in me slowly. I could feel him filling me up immediately, making me throw my head back in bliss. “Fuck, Harry..”
“You like my dick, don’t you?” He said as he began thrusting into me.
I could only nod in response, gasping as he looked at me, “Tell me,” he said as he thrusted into me hard once, “Tell me how you feel.”
His trust were getting harder with each second I wasn’t responding, because I could only moan in pleasure, “Fuck Harry,” I moaned, “I feel so good..”
He reacted with his hips. Thrusting into me rapidly, making my breasts go up and down and the bed creak against the wall. “I know, baby, I know.”
“Holy shit, I do.”
He started to kiss my neck, hungrily going for it as my legs crossed at his back once again. I was certain that the guests that were still here could hear us, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to everyone to know that he was fucking me, and not some other girl.
“You’re so good baby, I knew it,”
I started to roam his back with my arms, feeling his muscles move each time he thrusted. His dick was so long and hard that he hit the right spots inside of me each time. I could feel my head getting a little lighter, and my stomach filled with warmth. “I’m gonna cum, Harry, please,”
“Begging for it, see?” He cockily stated once he moved to look at me again, he even had a smirk on his face when he was fucking me. “Knew you would do me good,”
“Mhh, Harry, almost there,”
“Me too, baby, me too.”
He thrusted a couple more times before I could really feel it, my pleasure taking over me completely. I came hard, my legs trembling around him and my head thrown back. My orgasm made me cry out loud, and he was still going at it.
He was coming too, I knew it. His thrust became harder before they slowed down, squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure. He groaned loudly when he came, looking beautiful while he did. His cheeks had gone slightly pink, making his lips stand out even more, and his hair was all dishevelled and damp with sweat. Once I felt that he filled the condom inside of me, he opened up his eyes and slid out of me.
We both smiled at each other and started catching our breaths from out intensive activities, “Fuck, Mattie.” He laughed, pulling out of me completely and leaned on his arms to stand up. Once he cleaned up the condom, throwing it in the bin, he started walking back to the bed. He plopped on it, almost on top of me. “That was good.”
I nodded in response, “Almost as good as Louis’ goals.” I smirked, hoping to get a reaction out of him with bullshit.
He laughed, letting his head fall on the pillow, “Shut up.”
There we lay, both naked over the covers with our chest moving as we breathed, still hearing the thumping music from downstairs where the party was still going in full swing.
“I told you,” He started, looking at me playfully, “I would get you wet later.”
I groaned, but couldn’t help to let a laugh escape. I grabbed my pillow from underneath my head, saw how he was smiling to himself, and smacked him in the head with it.
Payback, my arse.
------------------
Thank you for reading!! If you want more, let me know. This was my first real one shot and I’m working on other stuff as well. xxxxxxx
#harry styles fic#harry styles smut#harry styles rec#harry styles angst#footballer!harry#harry styles#fanfiction#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles one shot#harry styles x reader#harry smut#harry styles smut rec#one direction#one direction fan fiction#1d fic#wattpadd#locahaz#smut#football#soccer#fic#hs#hshd#harry#harry styles ff#harry styles romance#harry styles imagine#to read#new fic#wattpad
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I don't always do collaborations but when I do it's an utterly self-indulgent crossover of two Star Wars properties that have absolutely no reason to overlap and a potential audience of about five people. Also I do it with @nyelung.
AO3 Link
And never kick the ball! Rated T
“... Hutts don’t have feet!” The final words of Baroness Deathmark echo through the arena. Having heard the introduction a few dozen times or more in the last year alone, Boba could say it with her if he were in the mood. He’s not.
They’ve changed the arena up for the season. There’s only so many ways that the Nar Shaddaa Huttball arena can be changed but apparently they went all out this time and rearranged a significant portion of the walkways and traps. He can make out something that looks suspiciously like a series of trapdoors surrounding the mag-ball’s centre spot, undoubtedly hiding some nasty surprises. Well, since Fennec managed to draw Djarin in as the team captain he’s not too worried that one of their team will find out what’s beneath those trapdoors the hard way.
Two minutes into the game Boba is scowling inside his helmet - not an unusual occurrence if the Quesh Rotworms were to be asked. He came aboard as a coach last year, when there were children’s teams on Tatooine who could play better so they had seen it a lot.
“It’s nice that for once it’s not our players getting maimed,” Fennec comments. “It was getting hard to find new ones.
Huttball is one of the most brutal semi-legal sports in the galaxy and even though all players are fully armoured - part of the reason why the sport is so popular in the Mandalorian sector - and killing during the game has been forbidden since the Cold War, injuries or even crippledom aren’t uncommon because the players are also armed to the teeth. That’s what the Frogdog wearing the number seven just found out the hard way when Djarin and Aelto perfectly executed a manoeuvre to take the ball from him.
Baroness Deathmark on the other hand should avoid dark alleys tonight since the ban on killing did not apply to the way she verbally tore Frogdog Seven apart with her remarks. The handsigns he throws in the direction of the commentator box are basically a promise to hunt her down and kill her slowly and painfully. At least that’s what they mean in Mandalorian space and that’s what has Boba scowling. Why promise the commentator utterly brutal torture when it was Djarin and Aelto who maimed him?
It’s not his problem, Boba reminds himself and concentrates on giving Djarin reports on the Frogdog team’s movements. If Baroness Deathmark earns another deathmark to her name, it’s nothing he has to worry about.
In the end, Boba doesn’t have to feel too bad about the Rotworm’s performance even though they took quite the beating and lost by two points against the Frogdogs. Baroness Deathmark’s final comment is just as cutting as the spikes Tika fell on in the second half. They’re still stitching all the muscles and tendons back together in the med-area but Tika will probably never play again.
Still, just one player permanently out of commission and eight points scored versus ten lost is much better than the Rotworms have managed in decades. Overall Boba is quite content. “Do you think they serve Spotchka here?”
Fennec raises one brow. “Do you mean: Do they serve affordable Spotchka here that’s not actually engine grease? No idea, let’s find out.”
___
The commentator booth is quiet now. Leia takes a second to let her head fall back and to roll the stiffness out of her neck. When she turns her chair around, the event producer Lando Calrissian is standing in the doorway, his headset still on. “Nice work today,” he says, covering the mic with his hand. “You really live up to your name.”
“Let them try it,” Leia scoffs as she picks up her satchel and jacket. “If I had a credit for every huttballer who threatened to kill me I could retire yesterday. And anyway, I didn’t say anything that wasn’t blatantly obvious to every being in the stands.”
“Still, I’d watch your back while you’re on Nar Shaddaa. And listen, my buddy Han is in town this weekend. Why don’t you let me set you up?”
“I’m busy next weekend.”
“Sure you are. Where are you going now? Home to your tooka and the latest episode of Sith Mansions?”
“For your information I’m going to a cantina. To meet someone.”
The fact that she doesn’t yet know who she’s going to meet doesn’t seem important. She might be a farm girl from Anchorhead, but she’s never had any trouble getting someone to pay for her drinks. Maybe she’ll get really lucky and it’ll even be someone who isn’t a spicer, slicer, smuggler or assassin. That would be a nice change of pace.
The Slippery Slope cantina is crowded with fans. Some of the Frogdog and Rotworm players are there for their contract-mandated mingling. As usual the Mandalorian players keep their distinctive helmets on for the personal holos their fans will want and to protect their privacy.
She passes by a knot of fans in Frogdog colors, several different languages conversing in varying tones of outrage. She hears “the Baroness” and smiles to herself as she finds a seat at the bar. She doesn’t need a helmet to keep people from recognizing her face. It’s her voice they know...and sometimes despise.
There’s a man two seats down wearing Mandalorian armor, but it’s not painted with team colors. He’s a fan, maybe. His helmet is resting out of sight beneath the bar while he nurses a glass of Spotchka. Spotchka sounds pretty good, actually.
He glances in her direction, but there’s no shift in body language, no smile. Shame. He’s a good-looking man and probably has a very nice smile. Leia signals the bartender and nods in his direction. “I’ll have whatever he’s having.”
That catches his attention, if briefly. He lifts his glass in a silent salute, one eyebrow slightly raised. Still no offer. Maybe he’s partnered. She lets her eyes drift down over his armor, applying what she’s learned from interviews with the Mandalorian huttball players. It looks like beskar to her.
The bartender delivers her Spotchka and her attention strays from the Mandalorian to any other likely candidates at the bar. Everyone is talking about the match.
“She’s dead,” a heated voice rises behind her, but not addressed to her. “Who does she think she is? That play was bullshit. You know it, I know it. There was nothing he could have done.”
Leia doesn’t have to turn around to know that the person speaking is wearing Frogdog yellow. They can whine about it all they want, but their player had at least two opportunities to pass before the Rotworms took him out.
Some players want all the glory. That’s not her fault.
“She had no right to tear into him like that. No wonder everyone hates her.”
“It’s her fucking job.” The unexpected defense comes from the Mandalorian sitting two seats down. He’s turned his chair to face the yellow-clad group, and there’s an unmistakable challenge in his low tone. “If your player did his, you wouldn’t have lost him two minutes in.”
The man who was speaking turned a startling shade of purple. Almost Rotworm purple. “Who asked you?”
“It’s a public place. If you want to have a private conversation I suggest you go home.” It’s not a suggestion. The Mandalorian makes that clear by standing up.
“You can go to hell! You and that fucking bitch-”
“Did someone say my name?” Suddenly there’s a woman standing between them, and Leia recognizes her instantly. Fennec Shand. Her iconic steely gaze is now fixed on the outraged fan. “You want to go home.”
In spite of the clamor around them there’s a silence and stillness that makes the threat implicit. The fan bares his teeth in a snarl before turning to go. Some of his friends leave with him and the rest drift away.
Fennec’s head tips toward the bartender. “Her drink is on me.” She winks at Leia before walking away. Maybe she’s more recognizable than she thought.
“Well. That was exciting,” she says, more to herself, but the Mandalorian nods as he reclaims his seat.
“You know Fennec?”
“Just by reputation.” She takes a quick sip of her paid-for drink. “That’s definitely the first time a huttball coach has bought me a drink.”
“Your lucky night.” The corner of his mouth curves up just enough to make Leia feel validated. A very nice smile indeed.
“And she’s a legend, obviously. It’s a shame she’s stuck holding up the Rotworms by herself.”
His smile hardens, just a little. “Is it?”
“There’s gotta be a dozen better teams who would be delighted to have her. And the Rotworms might be better than they were a year ago, but their offense is still half-awake at best and I heard her defense coach only got the job because his daddy rules Mandalore.”
“You believe everything you hear?”
“No, but I kind of have to keep my ear to the ground. Like you said, it’s my fucking job.”
“You’re Baroness Deathmark.” He says it with disbelief. “That’s why-” He directs a look of annoyance at the place where Fennec Shand vanished into the crowd.
“My friends call me ‘Leia.’” She leans forward, resting her chin on her hand. “I don’t think I got your name.”
For a moment the Mandalorian hesitates. Then there’s a shift in his posture, a slight relaxing of his shoulders and Leia’s willing to bet that that twitch in his face could become an actual playful smile. “Why don’t you tell me? Since it’s your job to know everything.”
It’s a challenge that makes her sit up. He’s someone connected, then. A promoter or a staff member. That explains how he knows Fennec. “Okay,” she says, intrigued. This could be fun. “Where did you grow up?”
“Kamino. What about you?”
She’s never heard of it. No help there. “Tatooine. My local team was the Anchorhead Womp Rats.”
“Did you play?”
“I’m supposed to be the one asking the questions,” she reminds him. “Did you play?”
“Yes. For the Skullhunters of Mandalore.”
“Fenn Shysa’s team?”
His head tilts to one side. “How do you know Fenn?”
“Everyone knows Fenn. Are you single?”
“You think that will help you figure it out?”
She raises her eyebrows. “Maybe I just want to know.”
“Yes. I’m single. You?”
“Yes.” She pauses to take a sip of Spotchka. “I wanted to play, but Uncle Owen wouldn’t let me. Too violent. I tried telling him that it wasn’t like the old days where entire teams could be massacred in a match, but for some reason he didn’t find that convincing.”
He nods in agreement. “It used to be a rite of passage in Mando culture. Now it’s just sports.”
“You don’t sound too enthusiastic for someone hanging out with Fennec Shand.” For a short moment Leia entertains the question whether he resents the no-killing-part or Huttball itself.
He shrugs. “There’s better sports.”
She hates to admit it, but she’s stumped. He knows the game but doesn’t particularly seem to like it. He can handle himself in a confrontation but it’s not as if the legendary Fennec Shand needs a bodyguard. Is it possible that someone actually hired a Mandalorian to take out Baroness Deathmark? But no, his surprise about her identity had been genuine. “Okay, final question. Why are you here?”
“Don’t quote me on this… nah, forget it.”
Oh, so it’s a story. “Come on. Entertain a lady.”
It’s clear that he’s tempted, calculating loss of face versus the chance to win her over for wherever this flirtation is going. Leia’s got a few suggestions already lined up in her mind. With an inaudible sigh he comes to a decision. “Dad kept nagging me to make connections beyond bounty hunting and Huttball is a lucrative enough business. It could be worse.”
Now there’s a hint. “So your father is…?”
“Some might say he rules Mandalore.” He gives her a quick smirk before finishing off his drink.
It all adds up quickly in her head, his history as a player on Mandalore, his knowledge of the game and his connection to Fennec Shand. She sets her glass down hastily in case she needs to make a very quick exit.
“You asked for my name,” he says, drawing it out with the ruthlessness of a professional Huttball defensive coach. “It’s Boba Fett. And for the record, that’s not how I got the job.”
As he speaks he stands and removes his helmet from the shelf under the bar and Leia recognizes it immediately. For one thing, it has the Rotworm logo painted on the side. She couldn’t say a word now even if she tried, but when Boba Fett turns to face her, it’s with a smile.
“I’m sure you have more opinions on what my team did wrong. Maybe you’d like to tell them to me over dinner.”
“I do,” she manages. “Especially about your team’s inability to follow through.” Feeling a little bit daring, Leia leans in to make her intentions perfectly clear. “What about dinner at my place?”
#boba fett/princess leia#rebelbounty#star wars: the old republic#swtor#star wars fanfiction#the Huttball AU no one saw coming#with good reason#my fic
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maybe soon
Contents: fluff, basketball player! Johnny Featuring: Johnny x reader, other members of NCT sporadically A/N: there could potentially be another part... word count: 2.4k-ish
In which you’re the head athletic trainer of the basketball team that Johnny is the captain of...
"Mark, I know you can wrap it yourself. I've taught you multiple times." You breeze by one of the youngest players of the team who was begging you to wrap his ankle for him.
"You do it so much better though! I don't play as well if I do it myself." He whined as you rolled your eyes at him.
"You'll have to wait your turn then." You direct your attention to Johnny, the captain who has been nursing a sprained knee for the past few weeks. "Have you been icing it on and off like I've told you to?" You ask him but your attention is directed at his leg.
"Yes and I've been keeping it elevated. How can I not when you're in half of my classes nagging me during lectures?" He smirks at you but you don't pay him any attention.
"It looks a lot better now. I'll find you a knee brace and you shouldn't need to wrap it anymore." You smile, content with your treatment as you pin the bandage in place.
"You're a lot less scary when you smile, you know?" He jokes with you as you give him a slight push. Telling him to shut it before finally attending to the needy Mark Lee who is being touted as the next star of your university's basketball team.
You felt a lot of pride in your work with the team. Sure it was all for course credit towards your athletic training degree but something about it made you feel like you were part of the team. They relied on you and you often felt like you were supporting them through your work. You were never great at sports so this was your one way of being part of something that you love so much.
Your dedication had paid off as you had been named the head student trainer after years of running water bottles and hauling medical kits. Working under the advice of your professor, you were trusted to call the shots and unlike some of your classmates, your advising professor rarely questioned you.
"Alright boys, gather around." Johnny called out in his booming voice just as you were finishing up wrapping Mark's ankle. You then proceeded to help your junior trainers with packing up the kits and filling water bottles.
"Johnny is always watching you." One of the younger girls said to you and giggled.
"He's so hot, I wish he would look at me." Another girl pouted and you fought off the urge to roll your eyes in front of them.
You found that a lot of the students who signed up to be part of your team were mainly a) female and b) trying to get close with at least one of the players. It was frustrating on your end because it often meant more work for you as they were often too flustered or distracted to focus on their actual jobs.
"You know that I help to grade you guys, right?" You glare at them as you found yourself doing your kit inventories alone while they were busy giggling about the players.
"You're no fun. You can't possibly say you're not attracted to any of them." A third girl scoffed at you.
"I can honestly say that when you deal with their sweaty feet enough, they lose their allure." You lie as they all become visibly disgusted and finally start doing their jobs assigned by you. You stifle a smile as you look up and meet Johnny's eyes from across the room. The last thing you were going to do was admit to your juniors that you were interested in someone. And the second last thing you were going to do was tell them that the person in mind was none other than campus celebrity, Johnny Suh.
You approved the medical kits as Johnny dismissed the team and they proceeded towards the gym for warmups. You also sent your trainers to follow, reminding them to do their inspections of the gym and not ogling the team.
"Go easy on them." Johnny nudges you.
"That wouldn't be any fun then." You nudge him back.
"See? Much cuter with a smile on your face." He chuckles while running away before you can smack his arm.
There was always so much going on during game nights. The basketball team was the most popular on campus, beating out the soccer team somehow. There were hoards of fangirls in the stands screaming out the names of individual players. Then there was the band and of course, the cheerleaders but to no one's surprise, the players were the centre of attention.
Johnny seemed to thrive in this environment. He would flash a smile every once in a while to the girls in the stands, drawing screams sounding like they were in pain. You could even see some of the cheerleaders try not to lose their composure from the sidelines when they saw him push his hair out of his eyes.
"That kid is lucky he's great at basketball," the coach mumbled before shouting "FOCUS ON THE PLAY SUH!"
You couldn't help but fight back a chuckle as Johnny posted up a 3-pointer before saluting his coach.
---
The game was over and while everyone was returning to their respective homes to rest after the exciting win, you were back in the training room making sure the team started their recoveries well: Attending to bruises, strains and pre-existing injuries as quickly as possible. Johnny often sat back and watched you work. Laughing to himself whenever you made a quick comment towards any of the guys.
"Are you going to ask y/n out anytime soon?" Jaehyun, another popular player on campus, slid next to his captain.
"Nah I'm just going to get rejected. I've tried every year and it's always a no." Johnny smiles fondly at all of the times you've turned him down.
"You seem oddly happy about that." Jaehyun frowns.
"We spend more time together like this. We would have to be separated if we started dating. Conflict of interest or whatever but I still ask every year just to make sure we feel the same way." Johnny explains.
"And you're okay with the rejection…" Jaehyun tries to confirm but Johnny only nods, continuing to watch you work with the team. "There are other girls out there. You know that right?" Jaehyun suggested.
Johnny tried not to seem physically disgusted at the prospect. "I'm aware, Jaehyun. Thanks." He said in his low tone that often scared the other players.
"Alright, I'm just saying." Jaehyun slid away.
When the room quiets down and all of the team has trickled out, you're left with melted bags of ice and cut up pieces of athletic tape surrounding you. But you're not alone as Johnny seats himself across from you on the training table.
"Is it my turn now?" He smiles.
"You need to pay attention better," you sigh with a faint smile, undoing the bandages wrapped around his knee, "one slip and you're doing to hurt your knee again."
Johnny always had knee problems. He tore his ACL during your second year of university and it never fully recovered after surgery. That was probably the toughest year of Johnny's career, facing the fact that he likely wouldn't make his dreams of playing in the NBA come to reality. You tenderly apply ice to his knee as he winces at the cold.
"You worry too much." He says.
"You make me worry." You respond quickly.
"At least you feel something for me." He lowers himself to look up into your concentrated gaze.
"Let's not do this now." You look away and go make an ice bag for him.
"Oh come on, we always do this. I ask you out, you reject me, we bicker back and forth then we both quietly know the feelings are still there." He leans over you at the ice machine.
The best you can do is sigh and roll your eyes, "you're insufferable, Johnny Suh."
"And that's why you love me." He looks for an agreeing smile from you expectantly. You force one to appease him.
---
It was the morning before one of the last midterms of your university career. Nervous energy was all around as that classic air of tension flooded the campus as students wracked their brains with exam material. Your morning cup of relief, a coffee in your hand and Taeyong, one of your best friends and another member of the basketball team, talking your ear off.
"I spent all night making this tiny little cheat card my prof is letting us bring in but Yuta fucking spills water on it this morning, I was ready to kill the guy but-" he stopped talking when he noticed you stop dead in your tracks. He looked back to see you with a mortified look on your face. "Hey, what's up?" He gently touches your shoulder before turning towards your line of sight to see what had stopped you.
What he saw shocked him too. One of the cheerleaders who always made it known that she found Johnny attractive was seated on his lap in the food hall. He seemed disinterested but nonetheless, there she was. You immediately turn to walk the other way even though you were on your way towards your exam.
"Are you okay?" Taeyong struggled to catch up as you quickened your pace to make it in time while taking the long way around.
"It's fine, Taeyong. It's not like we're dating." You huff.
"I know but you guys like each other, don't you?" He asked.
"No," you lied, "I could never like someone like him so he can do whatever he wants."
"Hey." He finally stopped you.
"I don't have the time for this, I have to write my midterm." You slip away as you threw your untouched coffee in the trash. The thought of drinking coffee disgusted you all of a sudden. Your brain associated the beverage with Johnny as he was the one that introduced it to you during your first year of university.
You walked out of your exam and saw Taeyong waiting patiently outside. He had his fair share of fans around campus but he never entertained them as much as some of the other members of the team. He was often depicted as cold and scary so not many people approached him, unaware that he's one of the most kind-hearted people in your life.
"Hey, how did it go?" He asked you meekly.
"Pretty sure I bombed it," you sigh, "what about yours?"
"The twisted thing is that those cheat sheets force you to study so I guess I don't need to kill my roommate." You both laugh.
"Hey what are you guys laughing at?" You hear the voice you were dreading from behind you.
"I'll see you later, Taeyong." You say before quickly finding a new path for your afternoon.
"Is she okay?" Johnny asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"That's not for me to answer." Taeyong shrugs.
You try your best to act normal for practice that evening. You go through your usual motions of getting everyone taped up and ready but everyone seemed to notice your usual lack of spirit and friendly banter with the team. Even your junior trainers talk quietly about whether you broke up with Johnny despite you telling them repetitively that there wasn't anything going on between the two of you. You avoid his eye contact as their coach runs through their plays and generally avoid looking at him in general during the whole practice.
When the training room cleared out, you were left with Johnny again and you tried to rush through wrapping his ice bag onto his knee when he grabs your hand. He bends his neck down again to look into your eyes which were starting to fill up with tears.
"Hey what's going on?"
"Nothing. I'm just stressed about midterms." You turn away from him to wipe your tears.
"I'm sure you did fine," he uses his strength to force you to face him. "You're the smartest person I know."
"A lot of good that does me." You scoff.
"Did I do something?" He asked.
"It's nothing, Johnny. I'm fine." You insist but he's not convinced.
"Are you mad at me or something?" He finally struck a chord with you.
You can only look at him for a moment as you try to tell him why you're upset with him. How do you word this without making things even more complicated than they already are?
"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just dumb and thought I was special but I'm just like every other girl out there for you. It's my fault." You try to force a smile but he only looks at you in confusion.
"Other girls? What other girls? Oh did you see me with…" he pokes his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he lets out a breath of frustration. "That bitch…" he mumbles to himself.
"What?" You say.
"You saw that, didn't you?" He read the expression on your face before continuing, "we were just talking about midterms when she suddenly sits on me. I asked what she was doing and she said she saw her ex and needed a cover because she's trying to get across the point that she's not into him anymore."
You continue to look at him, trying to figure out whether he's telling the truth when he continues his explanation.
"Did you see me touching her at all?" You shook your head in response. "I didn't want to push her off, I might have hurt her so I just let her be. Now I'm thinking she only did that because she saw you." He took your cold hands in his. "I only like you, alright? I've always liked you otherwise I wouldn't bug you so much about everything."
"But I keep rejecting and you can have literally any girl you want." You say quietly.
"And where am I? Hanging out with you whenever I can. Waiting for basketball to be over so we can maybe be an actual couple." He laughs.
"Really?" You ask with tear soaked eyes.
"Yeah." He says.
"That's… kind of dumb." You say with a soft laugh,
"Thanks, I love you too." He smiles, running his thumb over the lines of your hand.
#nct imagines#nct imagine#nct fluff#nct scenarios#nct scenario#johnny suh imagine#johnny suh imagines#johnny suh fluff#johnny suh scenario#johnny suh scenarios#kpop fluff
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A Wedding Quilt from a “Below Stairs” Romance
A small white silk hexagon forms the central piece of this patchwork wedding quilt top which was donated to the Collection in 2005. It is printed with the words “SAMUEL MILTON MARRIED TO SARAH SAGE ON JANUARY, 30TH 1868”. Very typical of the printed silk inserts used in greetings cards of the time, it may be from one of their wedding invitations. According to the Accession Register entry, the quilt was bought in the Devon/Cornwall area in 1993.
The quilt top is large and virtually square at 268cm by 261cm. The patches are cut predominantly from multi-coloured silks with some cottons. The concentric rings around the central hexagon consist of flower-like groups joined together.
Having the names of both the bride, groom and a wedding date, it was quite easy to find them in the public records. Sarah Sage, aged 37yrs, married Samuel Milton, 40, on 30th January 1868, at the Parish Church in the small village of Colaton Raleigh, Devon.
The marriage register entry shows that Samuel was the son of John Milton, labourer and Sarah the daughter of Thomas Sage, farmer. Samuel’s occupation is listed as a servant and he is resident in Bovey Tracey. Sarah is listed as a lace maker, resident in Colaton Raleigh.
Looking back into the census returns in 1841 aged 10, Sarah is listed as the eldest of 5 children of Thomas and Mira Sage at Blackberry Farm, Colaton Raleigh.
By 1851, the family had moved to Springles Farm. Her father now the farmer of 10 acres, assisted by his sons, Mark, 16, and Mathew, 14. Sarah, unmarried and aged 20, is listed as a Farmer’s Daughter, and she would have helped her mother on the farm.
By the 1861 census, Sarah appears on the returns for the Divett family at Bystock House, Colaton Raleigh. She is employed there as an under housemaid, with Samuel Milton the coachman – so this is where they presumably met and where their romance began.
The Divett household was large with a total of nine servants including a butler, housekeeper, cook, governess and nurse, plus a gardener living in Bystock Cottage. The Divetts were an important local family. Samuel and Sarah’s employer, Edward Divett (1797-1864) was the Liberal MP for Exeter from 1832-1864. He was a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Devon and the Chairman of the South Australian Banking and Land Company. He had married Ann Ross in 1836 and they had six children.
Edward had inherited Bystock and its large estate on the death of his father in 1819. In 1838, Bystock was described as “one of the prettiest seats in the south-east of Devon” with “a well wooded park and beautiful gardens”. It had beautiful views of the coast from Torbay to Exmouth. 1
Ann Divett died in 1856, and Edward died in 1864, aged 67yrs, at which time Samuel and Sarah would likely have lost their jobs. The marriage register entry indicates that whereas Samuel was living and working as a servant in the Bovey Tracey area, Sarah appeared to have returned to the family home in Colaton Raleigh, turning her hand to lacemaking to provide herself with an income. The village is to the west of Sidmouth, and the well-known lacemaking centre of Honiton is less than ten miles to the north.
We have many pieces of Honiton lace in the Collection. It is characterised by floral motifs (especially roses) with leaves and sprays and…
“...the almost invariable use of ornamental fillings consisting of a network of tiny squares or rectangles. These easily recognised fillings are frequently found in the centres of flowers which remained the favourite motifs for Honiton lace throughout the century. The flowers are generally executed in a simple, rather naïve style...” (Wardle, P137) 2
A Honiton lace cuff, showing the floral motifs and fillings
When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she had insisted on using British made goods for the occasion. She commissioned Honiton lace for her wedding dress and veil and her patronage made the lace very fashionable and in demand. The wedding dress can be seen in the Royal Collection here:
https://www.rct.uk/collection/71975/queen-victorias-wedding-dress
Throughout the 1850s, Honiton lace remained popular for wedding and bonnet veils, borders, berthas, collars, cuffs and lappets. However by the 1860s, the quality and design of the lace had started to deteriorate:
“On the one hand there were a small number of very skilled workers, capable of producing the finest types of lace, and these pieces were expressly for royal orders; on the other were the majority of workers who were content to turn out lace of moderate or poor quality for which there was a steady market…
(Wardle P.149)
Unfortunately, we have no examples of the lace that Sarah made to know how skilled she was.
Continuing Sarah and Samuel’s story after their marriage, in 1871 they are living in John Street, St Sidwell, Exeter and Samuel is once again listed as a servant. Then we find the birth of a son, John Thomas Milton in 1872.
In 1881, now living at Little Clifton Street in Exeter, Samuel is an agricultural labourer and John Thomas aged 9, a scholar. By 1891 in Clifton Street, St Sidwell, Exeter, Samuel is a coach builder’s labourer and John Thomas, 19, is a baker.
Sarah died in 1894 aged 64yrs and Samuel two years later in 1896, aged 68; both deaths were registered in the Exeter district. I have been unable to trace their son, John Thomas.
But once again, a small piece of fabric has unlocked a fascinating real-life story behind an item in the Collection.
Jane H
REFERENCES:-
1. Devon Gardens Trust website https://devongardenstrust.org.uk/gardens/bystock-court Includes a print of Bystock House, which (judging by the costume) may be about the same time that Sarah and Samuel were working there.
2. Victorian Lace – Patricia Wardle, 1992 (2nd Edition)
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THE SECRET LIFE OF BOB
On living in a homeless hostel, a year of paralysis and the Hell's Angel who stole his girlfriend
"Do you want me to tell you the truth?" asks Bob Mortimer. "It’s just that most people want me to lie and talk nonsense to them." Generally, people like to assume that he is a funny little fellow wearing a bra and clutching an oversized frying pan all year round.
More than anyone else who has spent so much time on our television screens in the last ten years, the off-duty Bob Mortimer is an impenetrable character. He has always maintained a lower public profile than his cohort Vic Reeves and, such is the fantastical nature of his on-screen persona, it is almost impossible to consider the life he leads outside it. On the telly, his every move - whether he is lowered from a ceiling impersonating Liberace or mock-scolding his comic partner - is able to reduce an audience to hysterics. There’s something about the every movement of his diminutive frame that is unfathomably amusing . It’s much the same when he’s off duty; his face is boyish and cheeky, his eyes permanently excited and his shouty laugh an almost constant accompaniment to his words.
He’s surprised but willing when he’s asked to tell the truth. And, remarkably, he maintains his affable demeanour as he begins to recount it. For the 30 years before he was famous, he occupied a world characterised by drinking, violence, anarchy, homelessness and incapacitating illness. It was out of those often dark and disturbing experiences that Mortimer grew to become the self effacing, likeable and outstandingly funny 40 year old he is today.
"We got the shit kicked out of us"
A childhood in Middlesbrough
Bob Mortimer’s home was made to breed recklessness: there were four brothers and no father. His Dad died when he was six and his Mum was left to discipline the rabble as best she could. "She tried her best to be strict. My eldest brother was a rocker and the next one down was a mod. Ours was the house that all their mates would come round to because there was no dad."
While his troublesome siblings misbehaved on the streets of Middlesbrough, the young Bob would occupy his entire time with football. "I’d play all day long," he says. "I wanted to be a footballer and I went for the apprenticeship with Middlesbrough FC. I was in their under-15 team. At the end of the season you were dragged into the office to be told if you were going to be taken on and I wasn’t. It was a shock because I was good - one of the best in my town. But you don’t realise what a big world it is and how many other good players there are."
His passion for the club was therefore confined to watching from the terraces. He started in the early Seventies, when hooliganism was approaching its golden age, and developed a strange fascination for the violence that surrounded him. He spray-painted the words "Boro Boot Boys" on the wall of Barclays bank in Middlesbrough town centre, but he became less of an enthusiastic observer after experiencing yobbery close up: "When I was 14 we were at Leeds and suddenly found ourselves surrounded - they knew we were ‘Boro. We got the shit kicked out of us. I was running away when I looked back and saw three of the Leeds fans kicking the shit out of my brother. So I ran back to try and help but this little boy held out a coke bottle at about head height and it smacked me one. I managed to jump in and had quite a good impact at first but after that we were done. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking of. My brother was in hospital for weeks."
"I was a Libertarian Anarchist"
Becoming politically aware in Brighton
Being far more cautious about avoiding trouble, Mortimer went on to follow ‘Boro to 63 league grounds. It’s a statistic he reels off with childish enthusiasm. Remarkably, he continued his devotion even after leaving his home-town. When it came to choosing a university, the young Bob headed as far away from home as he could. "Quadrophenia had just come out and I loved the album," he says. "So I went down for my interview at Sussex University, I went and stood on Brighton beach and thought to myself ‘I’ve got to fucking come here.’ "
It was a whimsical decision that was to have a distinct impression on his character: "I’d just been in Middlesbrough playing football and all of a sudden I was studying stuff about racism which really opened my eyes. Until then I probably was a racist in so far as I just thought everything was fine. In Middlesbrough we had an Asian community but I never thought of them having anything to complain about. But once my eyes were open I developed that youthful passion about certain issues. I was a Libertarian anarchist. We chained ourselves to things and disrupted exams . It’s a load of wank really but it’s worthwhile on a personal level."
The first few months at Sussex were unhappy enough to tempt him to drop out. He remembers with distinct embarrassment the occasion on which he arrived at a law society ball, dressed in his Middlesbrough shirt and Doc Martens, to be confronted by a sea of chuckling Southern-types in tuxedos.
He found solace in the football team, of which he became a member and was coached by current Leicester City manager Martin O’Neil. While his new found politics provided a further focal point he didn’t become entirely serious. Drunk, he rampaged through the streets of Brighton one fateful evening putting in the front windows of two shops. "The police turned up straight away and all I could do was shrug, admit to it and say ‘Sorry, I’m pissed.’ " Threatened with a charge, his university tutor intervened and Mortimer was let off with an enormous fine. He spent years paying it off, but keeping his criminal record clean was essential to the career he was about to embark upon.
"I lived in a homeless hostel"
Hard times in South London
"I saw an advert that said: ‘Take on the government with Southwark Council.’ So I took the job as a lawyer." The newly idealistic Mortimer had taken a masters degree in welfare law and embraced the crusade against homelessness and degradation in one of the country’s most deprived boroughs. Ironically, it was he who ended up without a home. "I had nowhere to stay in London so the Council said that I could stay in their homeless hostel until I found somewhere. I ended up staying there for four years."
He admits he was shambolic in his day-to-day approach to working, but he was relatively successful as a lawyer. " I did a very good job of playing the system," he says with pride. "I could more or less guarantee people that could re-house them, which is what they wanted. They were living in dumps and I could get them out. It really changed their lives."
His successes were largely due to dogged approach to the job. This was an attribute he was to apply to his future career. "Bob is a worrier," says the Fast Show’s Charlie Higson, a long time friend and colleague who has recently directed Mortimer in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). "Whereas Jim [Vic to us] has an unswerving faith in everything they do, Bob studies tapes of their shows and takes extensive notes. He’s learnt a great deal from doing that, though."
Bob’s happy memories of legal success are harshly offset by the hardship he experienced during the same period. " I woke up one morning with rheumatoid arthritis," he says. "I went to lift my head but couldn’t. Then my mouth went. I had to drink through a straw and be dressed and bathed for about nine months." His girlfriend of the time nursed him through the illness in the confines of the hostel. Although there is an obvious downturn in his usually cheery expression, Mortimer recounts his experience with surprising matter-of-factness. Eventually, he found the right combination of pills to relieve the pain and return to work but the problem has forced him to abandon his love of playing football forever. "I just can’t do it, so I don’t think about it," he asserts briskly.
"I was pissed out of my head"
Meeting Vic Reeves
Work as a solicitor was arduous and poorly paid, but Mortimer ploughed on: after moving to a private practice he got 70 per cent of his 1500 clients acquitted. "I enjoyed being a solicitor at the beginning," he says. "But after a while the appeal tails off a bit and I was such a conservative fella that I didn’t think there was anything else I could do. I just though ‘Well, this is it for the next 30 years.‘ "
It took a dramatic course of chance events to redirect him. "I was living in this hostel with my girlfriend. I came home one dinnertime and found this Hell’s Angel shagging her. I was terribly upset. I was standing there in my suit because I’d just come from court, so I looked a right c***. I just told her to get out."
That evening, he was keen to drown his sorrows but had few friends in London. In the end, he looked up a vague acquaintance from Middlesbrough. "I’d never really been in touch with him but I was desperate so I gave him a ring. He said he was going to see his mate do a comedy show and I said, ‘All right, I’ll come.’ " The mate turned out to be Jim Moir who was performing as Vic Reeves for the first time that night at the Goldsmith’s Tavern in London’s New Cross. "It was just Jim and five of his mates in the room upstairs. There wasn’t much to it - everyone got up and did something, it was just arseing about." Bob describes himself as being "painfully shy" and implies that it was only the circumstances that had brought him to the pub that night that encouraged him to get involved in the comedy. Almost every week, word of mouth would cause the size of the audience at the show to double. In the end, it moved downstairs into the pub and Bob became more and more involved.
If his recently-scorned mood had encouraged him to perform on his first night with Vic, how did he overcome his shyness in front of a packed boozer? "I was pissed out of my head," he admits. "I can’t believe I did it. But they were nice people in the audience and they would come up and talk to me afterwards. There must have been something in that that tempted me to carry on. Jim is naturally quite outgoing but I don’t know what the fuck I was doing on the stage. Getting a reaction was quite intoxicating for a man who had always been shy." Vic refutes this, claiming: "I’ve never thought of Bob as particularly shy. But there was something in both our upbringings that discouraged us from ever parading ourselves like peacocks."
Bob still describes these early shows as the funniest things he and his partner have ever produced and, as crowds of 250 people began to fill the venue, television executives began to show an interest. "The show taking off was such a gift," he reflects. "I was so conservative that, even if someone had offered me another job when I was a solicitor, I would have said no. But the one thing no-one can resist is the offer to go on telly. Even when we got the offer to do a series I made sure I still had a job to go back to. In fact, I only took twelve weeks off work." Things were suddenly changing in all aspects of his life. Just before his television debut, he returned from a break in Middlesbrough to find the hostel burned down by the man who lived in the room below: "He didn’t think anyone was in but there was and they had to jump from the top to escape," Bob remembers.
He was re-housed by the council to a flat in a Peckam tower block. He stayed throughout the first two series of Vic Reeves Big Night Out on Channel Four, and when the BBC poached him and Vic (in what must have been a lucrative deal), he still remained in the flat. In fact, he was there for two whole series of The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer, by which time he had become one of the country’s most high profile performers. Why? "It was nothing more than deep-rooted laziness," he confesses. "Eventually I bought a place up the road. But when I was still in the flat I remember Lloyd Grossman wanted to do a Through The Keyhole with me. It would have been funny because it was a real cockroach infested place, but I resisted the temptation."
"There's always one that wants to hit you"
Growing up
Today, Bob Mortimer is slightly drunk. "I tried absinthe for the first time last night and I haven’t really recovered," he reveals. His stocky figure is unusually bedraggled as he makes himself a cup of tea and recounts the proceedings of his night out, during which Vic showed him his large collection of photographs of dog excrement. His experimentation with absinthe was the first drinking he has done in a full six months. In fact, he says, he tries to avoid pubs altogether nowadays: "There’s always one when you’re just having a drink and they say: ‘Who do you think you are?’ And they want to hit you. And we’re not fighting men. I mean, unless we’re out with [Mark] Lamarr. He’s handy - is that the word?"
Mortimer embarks on yet another change of direction in the forthcoming BBC series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). In it, he and Vic make their debuts as straight(ish) actors. "Bob was a bit embarrassed at first," says Reeves. "He had a couple of weeks where he was coached for straight acting, but I don’t think he needed it. He does worry about things, like what show we should do next and what direction we should take. I just let him work it out in his own mind before I talk to him about it." Behind the playful, casual exterior, there appears to be an intensity borne out of the fact that he truly treasures his career.
Last year, he announced an intention to stop working for up to three years in order to spend more time with his family. Since filming Randall & Hopkirk, Bob has immersed himself in a long spell of doing nothing. "I enjoy it because it’s like when you used to nick off school when you were a kid," he enthuses. "And I know, eventually, I’ll be going back to work." He is also occupied with his two young children. "Fatherhood is a massive turning point. But it surprises me how many people say they enjoy it from the off. I mean, my memories of the first two years with both my kids is of not sleeping - passing my girlfriend on the stairs and saying ‘We’ve got to get through this.’ " He now sees fatherhood as providing a sense of purpose in life, as well as being a bit of a laugh. "Lying kids on the bed, putting adult clothes over them and drawing ‘tasches on them is fucking hilarious!" he says. "I remember when our plumber Ken Fowler came round to fix the boiler. My boy was sitting in a highchair wearing a vest and we’d drawn a big tattoo on his arm that said ‘I love Ken Fowler’." Hysterics ensue at the memory of the plumber’s bafflement.
Indeed, Mortimer is happy to get his kicks as a family man nowadays. The fact that he was 30 by the time he embarked upon a life in showbiz meant that he had a more considered approach to the trappings of his success. "Me and Jim are quite susceptible to ‘mad for it’ areas," he says. "But I suspect that, had it all been available to us when we were 18 not 30, it would have blown our minds. I think, being older, you have the perspective so you try and be polite and helpful. You see some young comics acting line c***s, like they’re a big deal. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have been like that myself at 18, but you do feel like telling them how lucky they are." Perhaps more than anyone in his position, Mortimer is well aware of what the alternatives are.
Later
April 2000
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