Team Spirit
Pairing: Eddie Munson x soccer captain! reader
Summary: Eddie shows how proud he is of you on game day. Tooth-rotting fluff.
Word count: 960
A/N: I have 700 headcanons about Eddie with a soccer prodigy gf (obvi has nothing to do with the fact that I played through my sophomore year of college) but let's be real I will probably only ever document like 3 lollll but here's one of 'em!!
--
You’re grabbing books out of your locker before first period and chatting with your boyfriend, who’s leaning on his side against the locker next to yours. Even with your gaze fixed in front of you, you can feel the intense warmth of his stare, the rapt adoration that glows in those big brown eyes of his.
God bless Mrs. McCarthy for putting you together as chem lab partners at the start of the year. Who knew that the introduction would lead to you both falling head over heels?
You're just about to shut the locker door when a ring-covered hand darts across you and stops it from closing.
“Do you have the other one with you?” Eddie asks, his free hand tugging at the sleeve of your uniform top.
"What, my other jersey?" you ask, confused.
Eddie nods and you tilt your head toward your gym bag.
"Yeah, I always have both on me in case I forget where the hell we’re playing."
“Excellent. Give it here,” Eddie commands, extending his hand.
“Why?”
Eddie ignores the question and immediately starts bouncing between his feet, opening and closing his fist.
“Gimmegimmegimmegimme!”
You roll your eyes at his standard dramatic antics, rummaging through your soccer bag and extracting your away jersey.
“Relax, relax, here!”
“Thanks, baby,” he says happily, uncrumpling it to examine its full length in front of him. Before you can even ask what he's doing, he’s yanked his Metallica t-shirt off, flung it at your face, and is now shrugging your jersey over his bare torso.
He tugs the fabric down, a snug fit that leaves just a hint of exposed skin right above the waistline of his dark jeans. Eddie fixes you with a wide grin.
“Soooo, how do I look?” he asks, twirling one curly lock between his fingers before his intentional doe-eyed expression morphs into an exagerrated growl as he flexes.
You giggle, utterly bemused.
“Did someone wake and bake this morning?”
Eddie abruptly stops his theatrical display, sliding one hand to your hip as the other tucks some stray hair behind your ear.
“No no no!" He’s all dimples as he beams at you. "Girls do this when their boyfriends have big games, right? 'Course I’m gonna do the same for you, gorgeous.”
“Seriously?! You’re adorable,” you reply, bringing your lips against his with a happy hum. You pull back and Eddie’s hands wrap around your waist, not wanting to let you go just yet.
“Who’d have thought, Eddie Munson participating in a conformist high school tradition,” you say, a mischievous grin on your face. “You must really like me.”
Eddie makes a concerned face.
“Oh, have I not made that obvious enough? My most sincere apologies.” You catch just a flash of a wolfish smirk before his mouth is on yours again, needy and claiming. His hands slide up from your waist to frame your face, and when you pull apart, you’re still left with butterflies. The starry look in his eyes tells you he feels the same.
“I do have to be completely straight with you though, princess, while I’m primarily doing this because you’re my favorite person on this planet, I also can’t wait to see the horrified looks on all the teachers' faces when they realize you voluntarily gave me this to wear and I didn’t steal it."
He rubs his hands together gleefully. "Especially Evans, God has she hated me ever since I spoiled everyone's reading of To Kill a Mockingbird by telling them how Bob Ewell bit the bullet."
You shake your head with a smile. “Why am I not surprised?" The bell rings and you give Eddie one last kiss before heading off in opposite directions. You glance over your shoulder, smiling at seeing your lucky number on his back, and smirk as you suddenly hear Eddie’s raised tones:
"Why YES, Mr. Brady, my all-star soccer queen of a girlfriend, Y/F/N Y/L/N, gave me the honor of wearing her jersey today as she mentally readies herself to kick some serious ass."
You get some playful comments from your friends who’ve seen Eddie striding proudly through the halls in your jersey (“First matching jerseys, then matching rings!”), and when chem rolls around, Eddie tells you all about the sweet satisfaction he found when Mrs. Evans did in fact have her mind blown by the fact that you two were dating. But your science teacher Mrs. McCarthy was the opposite of what Eddie had experienced, giving you both an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
The day flies by and as you head to Spanish, you chuckle as you see heads swivel in confusion when you and Eddie walk down the hall together in your matching shirts, the Hellfire Club president’s arm slung over the soccer captain’s shoulder. Suddenly, Eddie stops and flags Fred Benson down from across the hall.
"Benson, Benson! My dude, can you snap a picture of me and my girl here?"
"Uh, sure," Fred replies, fumbling with his camera.
"Perfect!" Eddie claps and turns to you. "C'mere, sweetheart."
Your surprised laugh echoes down the hall as he scoops you up in his arms, bridal style. "Say 'ready for a merciless defeat of the enemy!!'"
"Ready for a merciless- shit!" You break off because you're laughing too hard -- the kind of effect Eddie always has on you. You gaze up at your boyfriend, still giggling, and the hopelessly smitten smile he's giving you has your heartbeat humming on overdrive.
That's the moment Benson captures, and the developed picture eventually moves from a spot on Eddie's wall to a frame on the bookshelf in your first apartment together. A memory that reminds you both that, no matter what happens, you're always on each other's team.
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At Ease, Gents
Pairing: Alfie Solomons x Annie Murphy (baker!OC)
Summary: Annie finally finds out why everyone in Alfie’s bakery ignores her, and she sets things straight with her boyfriend and his men.
Word count: 1900ish
A/N: This is connected to my HC that Annie ends up knowing even more about Alfie’s men than he does and does things like giving them the day off and Alfie’s like “?!?” or she sends them flowers for births + deaths in the family and all Alfie’s boys would gladly take a bullet for her ok that’s it enjoy!!
—
Annie had only popped by Alfie’s office twice before they started dating: once to get his keys so she could walk Cyril while Edna was on holiday, and once to drop off a heaving “thank you” culinary basket for helping her sort out the bakery’s books after Callum died (“The worst mistake I can make with letters and dyslexia is a spelling error, right, but with numbers, I will doom my entire bloody business.”)
But now, she found herself there much more often, from midday lunch breaks to “surprise” visits brought on after Ollie called her, pleading with her to come by to calm Alfie down (who she would then promptly hear yelling his head off in the background).
And she loved seeing her Alfie, no matter what mood he was in. But she didn’t love how his men were treating her — or rather not treating her. Because no matter who she said hi to or smiled at, wanting to get to know the people Alfie spent most of his time around, it was like she didn’t exist.
And after about two baffling weeks of this, she finally decided to address it with Alfie.
“Do your men not like me?” she blurts out across his desk, and Alfie reluctantly tears his attention away up from the brisket sandwich she just placed in front of him.
“Where’d ya get that idea?”
She sighs, resting her chin in her hands. “I dunno. I mean, I’m friendly, right? But whenever I say hi to any of ‘em, they just ignore me or walk in the complete opposite direction.”
She looks at Alfie expectantly, but he doesn’t seem to share her concern. In fact, he looks pleased.
“Good,” he replies, reaching for his lunch again. Annie narrows her eyes, swatting his hand and pulling his beloved brisket away.
“Oi!”
“What do you mean good? It’s maddening, it’s like I’m invisible! And I don’t understand why-“
But then, the pieces finally click into place in Annie’s head. Virtually nothing went unnoticed by Alfie. And if his men were ignoring her, he knew about it— but he hadn’t addressed it. And there could only be one well-meaning but well-overprotective reason behind it:
“You told them not to talk to me, didn’t you?”
Alfie’s brows furrows as he nods.
“Talk to, look at, breathe the same air as. Yeah. That ‘bout covers it,” he grunts. His ring-clad fingers creep across the desk, and she rolls her eyes and pushes his sandwich back to him. He claps his hands together and normally, she was happy to see him gleefully attack her cuisine, but right now, she was just exasperated.
“Love, c’mon. You talk to everyone I work with! And the lads clearly know I’m off the fucking menu.”
Eyes still closed, savoring his first few bites, Alfie shakes his head.
“Can’t count on it with these cunts.” He finishes chewing and opens his eyes, grabbing Annie’s hand.
“Look, pet, you are a beautiful, brilliant goddess, right, who should have songs dedicated in your blessed name.” His soft tone turns into a growl as he gestures out the window of his office. “But they are a bunch of manky fuckin’ sots, and I don’t want any of ‘em near ya unless I say so.”
Annie sighs. She knew full well that Alfie didn’t know the phrase “half-assed”—whatever he did, he threw himself into it fully. And while she normally appreciated his zeal and tenacity, sometimes, he took things a bit overboard. And banning every single one of his men from acknowledging her presence without prior approval was a prime example.
She walks around the desk and nestles into her usual spot on Alfie’s lap. His strong arms wind around her, and she cups his bearded face with one hand as his stormy blue eyes meet hers.
“1) They can’t possibly all be that terrible. I know I’m shite at maths, yeah, but it’s statistically impossible. And, 2) Alfie, I’m here practically every other day now, and you know how I am, I can’t help chatting.” She pats the side of his head. “Very much like someone else I know. There’s no way I’m never, ever gonna interact with them.”
Alfie chuckles darkly.
“Oh, but there is a way, dove. See, I have found that there are few things on Earth more compelling to men than the threat of getting their balls shot off. Hm?”
“Always with the flair for the dramatic,” she thinks to herself, and decides right then and there to take matters into her own hands.
“Right, I get that you’re being protective. And I appreciate it and you, but you’re also being just a touch mental.” She kisses the top of his head. “But don’t worry, I’ll clear things up.”
“Annie,” he replies, a warning note at the edge of his tone.
“Alfie,” she sing-songs coyly, bringing her lips to his. She can’t help but smirk against him as the kiss works as she intends, feeling Alfie relax underneath her as one of his hands instinctively slides to her jaw. Then, suddenly, he presses her back, hands firmly on her shoulders.
“Nah, nah, I know what you’re playin’ at, love. Tryna get me to forget that fuckin’ look in those gorgeous eyes, the one tellin’ me you’ve got some kinda clever idea brewin’ in that head of yours.”
Annie’s hand flies to her chest, feigning indignation, and now it’s Alfie’s turn to roll his eyes.
“I’m serious, An, don’t ya go stirrin’ up-“
Annie cuts him off with another kiss, then pulls back with a smile.
“Too late,” she brightly. Before Alfie can even blink, she slides off his lap and snatches his cane from the side of his desk in one swift motion, propping it against the doorframe as she strides out — but not before she hears Alfie shout:
“Oh for cryin’ out loud, that’s fuckin’ dirty!”
“You love me!” she calls back over her shoulder, as she walks purposefully down the hall. She knew that if she said she just wanted to talk with him and his workers, he would’ve scoffed and grumbled and refused to leave his office. But now, with the air of mystery about her, she knew he’d chase after her—the not knowing what she was going to do would drive him mad. And that was all she needed.
She walks into the open part of the warehouse and while a few of the men’s eyes flicker up as she enters, they immediately avert their gaze back to what they’re doing. Absolutely ridiculous. Annie waits until she hears the sound of Alfie’s cane against the floor, cursing under his breath, to speak.
“Oi! I need to talk to you lot. That includes you,” she adds in an undertone to Alfie. He scowls as he looks out at the sea of seemingly unaware men, but when he looks back at Annie, giving him her most determined stare, his resolve finally cracks. He runs one hand through his beard and sighs.
“Alright, alright, An. I clearly ain’t fuckin’ stoppin’ ya, so tell us what’s on your mind, love.”
Annie gestures back at the workers.
“Not gonna matter since they’ve taken your word to ignore me as bloody gospel.”
“Fair enough.” Alfie lumbers forward a few steps, his blue eyes turning icy as he scans the room, which has gone as quiet as a church—a silence which Alfie’s booming voice then shatters.
“ARE YOU LOT FUCKIN’ DEAF?!” he thunders, and a handful of workers actually jump. “Fuck knows why, but my Annie wants to talk to you miserable gits, yeah, so best pay some close fuckin’ attention!”
Alfie crosses his arms and glowers, but his voice is as sweet as ever when he turns to Annie.
“Right. Floor’s yours, dove.”
“Thanks, Alf.” She waves out at the crowd of burly men before placing her hand on Alfie’s shoulder. “Hi! So, I know this one has threatened you all with total bloody destruction if you so much as say ‘hello’ to me. But we’ve chatted and the thing is, I don’t want someone getting their balls blown off just because they said hi to me or told me about their kid’s football match that I asked about — not having that on my conscience. I like people, I like talking to people. So we can all-”
She pauses, turning her head to stare pointedly at Alfie, “just relax, yeah? To be clear, the only time you will be in danger of castration from him or from me is if you’re being a prick. So don’t be a prick, and we’ll all get on just fine, with all our body parts intact. Fair enough?”
She turns and looks at Alfie again, who still has his arms crossed, maintaining his posture of bear-like intimidation, but she can tell he’s trying not to smile underneath his beard. He nods, and his men quickly imitate the motion.
“That’s it, then,” Annie says happily. “Cheers, gents.”
She feels Alfie take her hand in his, and the two of them turn and walk out the door.
“Castration by me or you, huh?” Alfie asks, and Annie smiles.
“I figured you’d be more amenable with that addition.”
“Damn fuckin’ straight.” He gives a low chuckle as they walk into his office, and no sooner does it shut does Annie finds herself quickly pushed up against it by Alfie.
Her pulse races as he cups her face in his hands, and she savors the familiar warmth of his palms and the cool touch of rings against her skin. Lets his heady aroma of oak and rum, of sandalwood soap and musk and eucalyptus oil flood her senses.
“You truly are somethin’ else, ya cheeky, captivatin’ creature,” he murmurs, bringing his lips to hers in a deep, claiming kiss that Annie reciprocates, her hands tugging at his vest to bring him against her.
She breaks the kiss and gives him an affectionate bop on his nose, watching the corners of his eyes crinkle as he grins.
“Your somethin’ else.”
“And I’m well bloody thankful for it.”
In the end, the new arrangement suited Annie and Alfie well.
On Annie’s end, she found herself striking up connections and friendships effortlessly as usual, and it also brought her an unanticipated peace of mind in getting to know the men who spent so much time around Alfie — particularly ones like Ollie and Ishmael whose jobs were to have her boyfriend’s back.
And despite Alfie being the one to start the initial no-contact-with-Annie decree, he couldn’t help but melt a little when she’d start going on and on about how precious Ish’s boys were, that she had plans to make babka with Noah’s wife — her big heart was such a big part of why he loved her. And he was pleased that no one dared to get out of line or ever make a move on Annie.
Alfie was also extra pleased that Annie’s ability to make friends so easily had the unintended effect of essentially creating an army of men who viewed her like a sister to protect at all costs. In other words, there was never any shortage volunteers to hang round Annie’s bakery and make sure she stayed safe — which was all Alfie wanted in the first place.
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