#jamie tart fluff

[axelsagewrites]

Jamie Tartt*The Bet

Pairing: Jamie x f!reader

Word count: 5794

Warnings: jamie asking the reader out as a bet, prick jamie in the beginning, mentions of sex but nothing explicit, angst, a lot of fucks but this is Ted Lasso

Materlist here

“mate do you know who I am?” Jamie said, gesturing to himself as he Issac and Collin sat in the back corner of a crowded nightclub, “I’m telling you man I could get any girl in here. Guy too if I really wanted,”

“please bruv,” Issac scoffed, rolling his eyes. They were used to Jamie being a cocky prick on the field but after a few too many beers and Issac getting rejected twice in one night he was bitter and felt the need to prove something, “all you do is get laid. You’ve not had a girlfriend in like ever,” he said making Jamie roll his eyes this time.

“at least I can get laid. Getting a girlfriends easy,” Jamie said.

“nah he’s right mate,” Collin pipped up making Jamie roll his eyes yet again, “getting laid’s the easy bit, you can’t make them stick around,”

“Keeley stuck around,” Jamie tried to argue but this time his teammates just laughed, “what?”

“all yous did was hookup it’s not like yous were proper dating,” Issac said, Collin nodding in agreement, “face it Jamie girls only talk to you for sex,”

Jamie scoffed at the pair but the more he thought about it he was wondering if they were right. Sure, he and Keeley had been together for a few months before they split but every time, they saw each other it always ended in sex. Now he was thinking about it he wasn’t sure if he had taken her on an actual date the whole time, “if I wanted to, I could have a girlfriend,”

“prove it,” Collin said making even Issac raise an eyebrow, “if you can date a girl for a month and get her to be your girlfriend by the end of it, I’ll give you my car,” Issac let out a low whistle as Jamie laughed. Was he seriously considering this? A new car did sound nice though, “but no sex,”

“what?” Jamie said, well almost shouted as he ignored the confused looks from those around, “no sex for a month?”

“what are you some kind of addict?” Issac scoffed at the man, “Collins right. One month, no sex, serious commitment. Then you get his car,”

Jamie shook his head, scoffing as he leant back in his seat. He ignored the probing and teasing of his mates as he considered it for a moment. Sure, he could buy a new car but the feeling of driving Collins car to practise would be pretty sweet, “fine you’re on,” he said suddenly making both boys head snap around.

Collin for a second looked unsure before he added his final stipulation, “but we get to pick the girl,”

Issac and Collin had insisted you don’t find a girlfriend in a club so by the end of practise tomorrow they would assign Jamie his target. When the two came up to him in the locker room after practise Jamie almost regretted the bet when he saw their grin. “we’ve found her,” Issac said.

“the perfect girl,” Collin added, “oh and I’ve decided if I win, I get your car,”

Jamie shrugged as he stood from the bench, “fine deals a deal. Who’s the girl?”

When Issac pulled out his phone for a second Jamie almost felt bad. Almost. He recognised who the insta belonged to instantly. You were Rebecca’s personal assistant, so it was not rare for Jamie to see you floating around Richmond, but he’d never seen your insta before. “no sex yeah?” He said, taking the phone from Issacs hand to look through your pics, “bummer but a deals a deal. Its gonna feel so sweet driving that Lambo,” he grinned as he tossed the phone back to Issac.

“you’ve got a week to ask her out or you instantly fail the challenge,” Issac said, “and as the one not putting his car on the line I’m the captain of this bet,” Jamie rolled his eyes as Issac proceeded to lay down the law, “and if we find out you lied about any after date activities or skipped a date with her then you lose and will owe a fine of £1000,”

Jamie scoffed, gesturing like Issac was a mad man, “whatcha gonna do? Stalk me or some shit?”

“she’s pals with Sam so he’ll tell us,” Collin said before his eyes went wide, “which reminds me no one but us three can know,” he said before glancing around the locker room, “it’s a secret,” he whispered.

Jamie rolled his eyes before pushing past them both, “whatevs boys. Don’t worry I won’t gloat too much when I win,” he grinned as he walked out the locker room leaving everyone, but Issac and Collin confused.

It was as if as soon as the bet started you had disappeared. Jamie was used to seeing you running all over the place but the one time he saw you the first three days was you driving off in your beat-up car. For a second, he thought Rebecca should be paying you better. It didn’t help that each time either of his friends saw him they reminded him the clock was ticking.

On Thursday however when Jamie saw you walk past the gym door, he quickly dropped his weights, running out the room with no thought or care for Roy shouting after him to rerack his weights. You were heading in the directions of the locker room and Jamie saw this as the perfect excuse as he jogged up to your side, “looking for me,” he said making you jump, almost dropping your clipboard.

“Christ Jamie you scared me,” you said, trying to catch your breath and also not make a complete fool out of yourself. “but no, I’m looking for ted. Rebecca needs him to sign something,”

“funny that most girls want my autograph not his,” Jamie said, trying to put on his best charismatic laugh but when you only gave a small chuckle and not a giggle like he was used to him thought he may have to change tactics. “I’ll walk ya. I’ve gotta grab something from my locker anyhow,”

“that’s nice but you don’t have to,” you said, giving him a small smile as you clutched the clipboard close to your chest.

In truth while you were trying to stay professional right now you did have a secret crush on the famous football player. Yes, you knew it was cliche and you knew Jamie flirted with every woman on the planet which is why you were trying to not fall for his adorable smile right now, “ah come on let me keep you company,” Jamie laughed, knocking his shoulder into you, “gets lonely walking these halls,”

You laughed at his dumb attempts at flirting and hated how easily you were falling for it, “ah yes the three-minute walk might be the end of me,”

“good thing you’ve got me to keep ya going love,” he joked.

This banter and small talk were the longest conversation you think you’d ever had with Jamie, and you couldn’t help but notice that while ted was signing the papers, he hadn’t actually grabbed anything from his lockers. “tell you what love,” Jamie said as he held the locker room door open for you, “I’ll even walk you back to where I found you,”

“oh, wow Jamie Tartt, such a gentleman,” you joked.

As you neared the gym again, laughing at one of Jamies dumb flirty jokes you bumped into Sam who said hello with a very concerned look on his face. After he said goodbye to you and you headed back to your office he turned to Jamie with a far more serious look, “what do you think you’re doing?”

“eh nothing?” He said, completely caught off guard by the seriousness in Sams tone.

Sam sighed and stepped in closer to Jamie, “it better be nothing. She is a good girl she doesn’t deserve to have her heart played with,”

“calm down Sam I’ve no done anything,” Jamie said as he tried to get past his teammate, but Sam grabbed his arm to stop him, “seriously man I’m not gonna hurt her,”

“Jamie, I know what you’re like. And that’s fine you can do you. But I won’t let you hurt my friend,” Sam said sternly.

Jamie rolled his eyes as he took Sams hand off his arm, “for your information. I’m a changed man. I plan on being the perfect gentleman from now on, alright?” He said but Sam just narrowed his eyes, “honest man. Getting bored of all this casual pish ya know?” Jamie said as he stuck his hands into his short’s pockets.

It wasn’t fully a lie. Jamie had been getting bored of all the one-night stands and the drama that came along but Sam just narrowed his eyes further before silently heading back to the gym. Jamie rolled his eyes as he followed along and headed to jump on an exercise bike, ignoring how Sam had gone to go whisper to Issac.

A knock on your office door made you look up with a smile, “hey Sam, you alright?” You asked as you shut down your laptop for the day.

“yes of course,” he said as he walked into your office and slumped down onto the chair in front of your desk, “just wanted to see my friend, is that a crime?”

“I’ll allow it,” you laughed as you packed your bag, “you need a lift home?” You asked as you grabbed your car keys.

“I wouldn’t say no,” he grinned as he jumped right back out the chair and you both began your decent to the car park, “but I was wanting to talk to you about something,”

“what’s up?” You said as you locked your office door.

Sam sighed as he followed you through the corridors, “what’s happening with you and Jamie?”

You shrugged, honestly not sure yourself what was happening, “nothing really, we were just talking. Did he say something or?” You asked.

“kind of,” Sam said, his face screwing up for a second, “he said he was a gentleman now, but I worry. I don’t want you getting hurt,”

“I’m a big girl Sam,” you joked, nudging him, and making him laugh, “besides he’s Jamie tart. I doubt he meant it,”

“according to Issac he does,” Sam said which honestly made you more surprised than anything. You spoke to Issac even less than you had Jamie, so it was weird to think of him and Jamie having deep conversations about settling down, “apparently, he wants to settle down or something. I don’t know whether to believe it but why would Issac lie?”

“weird,” you muttered as you and Sam finally reached the car park and he held the door for you to slip out, “besides that doesn’t mean he wants to be with me,”

“don’t put yourself down,” Sam said, nudging you with his elbow as he sent you a reassuring smile, “he’d be lucky to even get one date with you,”

“you have to say that” you said as you rolled your eyes and pulled out your car keys.

As you were unlocking your car the door to the car park opened again and out walked a freshly showered Jamie, his hair still clearly damp. He didn’t have a right to look this attractive you thought but you’d been looking for too long as when Jamie looked up, he caught your stare.

He waved with a wide grin as he headed over to his own car across the lot. You gave a small wave back as you slipped into the driver’s seat. You glanced across through Sams window to see he was still looking at you and you prayed to god he couldn’t see how flustered you were as you tried to start the car. Sam had seen though, and merciless teasing followed you the whole drive back to his house.

Jamie figured he had time, so he spent the next two days flirting with you in the corridors despite Issac and Collin reminding him he only had to Sunday. However, Sunday was matchday and you were always in the owner’s box with Rebecca. While she was your boss you had grown quite close, so you often sat wedged between her and Keeley as you tried to keep up with the team.

“did Jamie just wave to you?” Keeley asked as Jamie ran onto the pitch. Your blush was undisguisable as you tried to shrug it off, “omg babes you fancy him?” She practically squealed as she clutched your arm.

“maybe I don’t know,” you said, hating the way his name was already making you smile. “he’s your ex though so- “

“nah babes go for it. I’ve got Roy now. Oh, we could double date how cute!” The rest of the match was spent with Keeley telling you how perfect it would be, and you figured if his ex-spoke so highly of him then how bad could he be?

The match went smashing with Richmond winning three nil and soon you were in the press room stood next to Rebecca as ted got interviewed and you took notes. You looked up confused when Rebecca nudged you, but she just nodded towards the door. When you looked through the window you saw Jamie lent against the wall by the door and when you looked back to Rebecca she just smirked and nudged you towards the door.

You silently chuckled at the fact she’d obviously listened to yours and Keeley’s conversation as you made your way to talk to Jamie. “hey,” you grinned, shutting the door behind you softly. “you did great out there,”

“was easy with you cheering me on,” he smirked as he started walking down the corridor with you following after him.

“who said I was cheering for you?” You joked.

Jamie held a hand to his heart in mock offence, “love you’re breaking my heart here. Here I was coming to ask if you wanted to go celebrate my glorious victory,”

“cocky much?” You laughed but rolled your eyes at the way he smirked, “fuck off not like that,”

“didn’t say a thing,” Jamie shrugged but the devious smile on his lips said something different. “c’mon whatcha say love?”

You paused for a moment, crossing your arms as you turned to face him, “what did you have in mind?”

“you, me, fancy restaurant,” Jamie said, stepping closer, his finger brushing over your cheek so gently it felt like a feather, “some nice wine. Just some wholesome fun,”

“wholesome fun?” You laughed, trying not to get lost in his eyes. It was unfair this allure he had on you.

Jamie chuckled softly, “course babe,” the pet names sounded so good coming from him and his accent, “haven’t you heard? I’m a gentleman now,” he said, his hand falling from your face making you miss his touch but laugh at the way he placed his hand over his heart, “scouts honour,”

“were you even a scout?” You laughed as he shook his head no with a cheesy grin, “suppose one date wouldn’t kill me,”

“trust me love. You won’t regret it,”

You didn’t want to say you were shocked, but Jamie was right. The night had been perfect. You ate some of the best food in your life, drank some ridiculously expensive wine, and even started to flirt back with Jamie over dinner. He really was pulling out all the stops.

He wore his best suit, with a shirt as well even if he couldn’t bring himself to ditch the trainers. He pulled your chair out for you, ordered dessert to share, he even insisted on walking you home at the end of the night. “guess that’s me,” you said as you stood by your front door.

“guess so,” Jamie smiled as he looked down at you, “told you you wouldn’t regret it,” he said, completely ruining the moment but making you laugh as you unlocked your front door.

“give it time. I might regret it later,” you joked as you opened your door, half wondering if Jamie was going to try invite himself in. You were also wondering whether or not to let him. The night had been good after all, and you weren’t usually so strict on the three-date rule.

“I’ll text ya yeah?” Jamie said since he had only just got your number on the walk home, “better not be a fake one you gave me,” he joked.

“you’ll have to wait and see,” you laughed. Maybe he wasn’t going to try make a move then you thought, “goodnight, Jamie,”

Jamie stepped forward. He’s going to kiss me you thought but instead he leaned in to leave a soft kiss on your cheek, “night love,” he said quietly before stepping back, grinning at the way he had left you speechless, “see ya soon babe,” he said as he began to walk down the street.

You waved after him, unable to speak before you closed the door behind yourself. This really had been the perfect date. Maybe Jamie was a gentleman now. When you went to get changed you felt your phone buzz and you laughed when you saw the text.

-just checking – Jamie

You laughed, texting him back instantly.

-as if I’d give you a fake number lol

Jamie grinned when he saw your reply before tucking his phone into his jacket pocket. However, as Jamie was walking home a thought crossed his mind. Fuck, what if he really did like you? Sure, Jamie knew the bet was probably a morally wrong thing to do but it was for a Lamborghini, Collins prized car. He spent the rest of his walk home telling himself it was alright, even if he did end up liking you what was the harm? He’d date you for a month then give you a clean, mess free break up.

Then another issue started. Jamie had fallen for you head over heels. You’d spent the whole night texting, the next week constantly flirting or hanging out after practise. Within two weeks you had been on three dates and Collin had commented on his dedication to win this car which only made Jamie feel worse.

He’d kissed you on your second date after visiting the movies. He even waited till after the movie was finished to do it. It did not help him not fall for you. If anything, it made it harder to stay away from you. Your third week dating you hung out every day whether it be grabbing lunch or making dinner at his house.

The only drawback was Jamie having to turn down your advances, insisting he wanted to take it slow. But by week four he didn’t even mind not having sex. The casual nights watching telly was enough for him. The way you would cuddle him on the couch or how you would lounge around his house with him, both of you wearing his sweats and hoodies. Seeing you in his hoodie melted his heart.

“three more days and the cars are yours bruv,” Issac had said to him during practise and Jamie realised a terrifying thought. What if you found out?

Jamie shrugged it off, trying to forget about it the whole time but it weighed him down the whole practise. Jamie deliberately hung back in the locker room that night, making sure he could catch Collin alone, “maybe we should call off the bet mate,” he said quietly as the last person exited the room.

“why? Scared she’s gonna dump ya?” He laughed as he patted his shoulder before leaving the locker room and now Jamie was left alone to feel like shit.

That was till a gentle knock snapped him out of his thoughts, “ready to go?” You smiled from the locker room door. Jamie put on his best happy face as he grabbed his bag, wrapping his arm around you as you headed to the car park.

The whole walk Jamie was silently thinking about the shit he had landed himself in. Then again, the bet never said he had to break up with you. Issac had said only him, and Collin were allowed to know. He could just let Collin keep his car and no one would need to know. Yeah, it would be fine. He was sure of it. Everything would be fine. Jamie had no idea how wrong he was and how badly this week was going to end.

Jamie tried to push it out of his head that night, but it was now the only thing he could think about. You were both laying on the couch, you being the big spoon while he rested his head on your chest. “You okay baby?” You asked while stroking his hair. “You’ve been quiet all day,”

Jamie was snapped out of his thoughts glancing over to you with a small smile, “Sorry love. Just one of those days you know?”

Jamie tried his best to act normal for the rest of the night but when it came time for him to say goodnight and head back to his place, he found himself unable to pull away when he hugged you. “You sure you’re good?” You asked, your face pressed into his chest while his head buried into your shoulder.

“Course love,” Jamie said, placing a soft kiss to your shoulder, “Just gonna miss you is all,”

“Jamie,” you laughed, pulling him off you, “You will see me in legit less than twelve hours,” you said smiling as you leaned up to kiss him gently, “I’m not going anywhere,”

“Promise?” He said, his eyes sheepishly looking to the floor.

You laughed as you reached out, taking his pinkie in yours, “Promise,”

For the next two days Jamie was extra cuddly, extra lovey dovey, and extra boyfriendy all round. You weren’t sure what had gotten into him, figuring maybe the one-month mark was a bigger deal to him than you first thought. You ended up getting dragged into one of Rebecca and Keeley’s girl talks and when you told them about it. “Maybe he wants to get serious,” Rebecca said as she snacked on one of Teds biscuits, “He might just be nervous about it all. I wouldn’t worry,”

“Yeah babes,” Keeley said as she gave your arm a squeeze, “Jamie legit adores you he’s probs just nervous cause you’re his first long term girlfriend,”

“You think?” You said, nervously picking at the threads of your jumper.

“Totally,” Keeley said, looking to Rebecca who nodded in agreement, “Maybe he’s just nervous about your one-month anniversary,”

“Is that really a thing?” Rebecca asked, sitting down her biscuits in disbelief at the idea one month was a big deal.

Even you looked to Keeley confused, “Well yeah,” Keeley said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Its sweet when you think about it. You’ve made him all soft,” she teased, poking your sides, and making you laughed. You were finally able to relax, and Keeley had even suggested getting him a gift.

The first gift you came up with that Keeley instantly agreed upon was sex. You really liked Jamie but this whole taking it slow thing was going really really slow. On top of making sure to wear something nice under your clothes on your one-month anniversary of your first date you had also gotten him, well made, a gift.

You didn’t exactly want to spend tons on a one-month gift, especially since Jamie had expensive tastes with his footballer salary, but you’d picked up a cheap football from a sports shop and a sharpie. You covered the ball in notes ranging from inside jokes to cheesy pick-up lines including ‘my favourite footballer’ and writing ‘you scored the best goal on’ then adding the day of your date. You were quite proud of it but just encase you took a box of chocolates as well.

The day had been so busy that you didn’t even get to see Jamie before you were rushed off to deal with a Rebecca crisis. No matter how busy you were you made sure to text Jamie at least once in the morning but when Jamie saw your text, he couldn’t help but smile.

-Happy one month anniversary babe, pick you up after work for a hot date?

Jamie was blissfully unaware of what was to come as he typed out his response before heading to the pitch. Collin had insisted the bet wasn’t over till the end of practice and Issac had let it slide, seeing the regret in his friends’ eyes when he realised, he was going to lose his car. Jamie couldn’t care less about the car though as he thought he was finally free from the bet.

He wanted to run up to your office as soon as practise ended but Issac insisted, he wait with him and Collin in the locker room till everyone else had left. When Danni finally left the room, waving bye to his mates as he left, Collin let out a heavy sigh as he pulled out his keys. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he said, his voice already choked.

“Mate its just a car,” Jamie said, already so fed up and wanting to find you.

“Bruv,” Isaac said, holding a hand to his chest, “a moment of respect,” he said, allowing Collin to whisper a goodbye to his keys as Jamie rolled his eyes, “Okay Collin its time. Jamie won the bet fair and square,” he said as he pried the keys from Collins hands and handing them to Jamie who sighed as he took them.

“I really, really thought she’d have broken up with you by now,” Collin said, shaking his head as he collapsed onto a bench, his head hanging low.

Jamie rolled his eyes at the dramatics of it all as Issac patted his shoulder, “I didn’t think he could go without sex for this long,” Issac added before nodding at Jamie, “Fair play mate but if you do dump her just don’t be a dick about it,”

“And for the love of god do not dent the car,” Collin pipped up as he lifted his head however when he did Jamie noticed all the colour draining from his face, “Eh mate. Bit of a situation,” he muttered, nodding his head towards the door.

Jamie spans around on his heels and his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw you stood there, tears already trickling down your face. Jamies mouth dried up as he searched for the words when the ball and chocolates slipped from your hand and clattered to the floor. “It’s not what- “Jamie tried to say but you were already backing away before turning to run down the corridor. “You fucking idiots,” Jamie yelled at his teammates before taking off down the corridor after you.

You’d think a professional footballer would catch up with you with ease but when Jamie ran into the car park you were already unlocking your car. “Wait,” he yelled, running over, and closing the door with his hand you’d tried to open.

“Why?” You spat, “Do you need me to prove you won?”

“Babe its- “Jamie tried to say, his hands reaching to hold your shoulders.

You slapped them away in an instant, “don’t babe me,” your voice was filled with anger but the tears streaming down your face was what broke Jamies heart, “You fucking used me. For some fucking bet. Is that all this was to you?”

“No of course not,” Jamie said, his hand grabbing his hair as he backed up slightly so at least you weren’t trapped against the car, “it was just some dumb bet but it’s not like I don’t like you. I really fucking like you,”

“Yeah right,” you scoffed turning to get in the car before stopping, “What did you even win?”

Jamie didn’t know if this would make it worse or better, but he knew lying was definitely the wrong choice, “Collins Lambo,” he said, his voice sounding more like a question as he waited to see your reaction.

“You only dated me because of a fucking car?” You yelled, not caring who heard anymore, “You broke my heart because of a car?!”

“I didn’t wanna hurt you-fuck,” Jamie said, his eyes growing wetter with each second as he tried not to throw up from the guilt, “I promise you that I like you. I think I fucking love you and I’ve never felt this way before and- “

You sighed, turning away as you tried to choke back a sob, “Be honest with me Jamie,” you said, refusing to meet his eyes, “If they hadn’t made the bet, would you have ever asked me out?” You waited for his response but when you turned round to see his jaw hanging open, his eyes wide, you knew the answer. “Don’t talk to me. Ever again,” you said as you jumped into your car and quickly sped off.

Jamie had well and truly fucked it. He felt like his body was on fire as he began to slap his own head, muttering a thousand fucks under his breath. Meanwhile you were trying your best not to be blinded by your own tears as you drove home alone to curl up on the couch and wallow.

A few hours passed and you were still on the couch with a massive tub of ice cream and a million texts from Keeley asking for a follow up from your ‘we broke up’ text. You couldn’t even bring yourself to text her back let alone go answer the door when someone rang your doorbell. Then it rang away. “Go away,” you groaned, sinking further into the couch.

Ring. Ring. Ring. The bell echoed through the house till you tore yourself off the couch, ready to go scream at the idiot at your door. But when you pulled it open and saw his big guilty brown eyes staring back at you, you couldn’t say a word. Especially not when you noticed the red puffiness around his eyes and the way they were already watering again.

“Is that my hoodie?” Jamie asked, his voice quiet and broken as he nodded to the oversized hoodie covering your frame. You paused for a moment before nodding silently. Jamie sighed, his eyes growing sadder, if possible, “Can I come in?”

You paused again, not knowing if your vocal cords could even manage the potential screaming match. Jamie shuffled on his feet, his eyes moving to the floor before you finally spoke, “Fine,” you whispered before heading back to sink into the couch.

Jamie followed, shutting the door behind you both and tentatively walking to your living room. His eyes scanned the room and he almost cried when he saw the ice cream, blankets, and crappy reality show on the tv. He’d made you cry. He’d broke your heart. No matter what happened he knew he could never forgive himself for that.

"I know I had no right coming over here," he started as he sat on the opposite end of the couch trying to give you as much space. You were already curled up on the other end, your eyes glued to the now muted tv as you avoided his gaze, "and believe me I know I don't deserve ya. But I couldn't walk away leaving you thinking I didn't like ya because I did and I still do," he said, his voice dripping with desperation as he searched his pockets.

He began to pull out one post it after the next making you look up at the sound of paper ruffling. They were all pretty crumbled up but Jamie picked them up one by one, "I love how smart you are and how you seem to know everything but don't explain things to me like I'm stupid," he began to read off the post it's chucking them on the couch before grabbing the next, "I love how when you laugh you look at the ground to try hide your face,"

"I love how we can lay on the couch together and not say a word

I love when you hold me and scratch my head

I love when you get sleepy during a movie and crash out on my arm 

I love hearing your snores even if you pretend you don’t

I love holding your hand in public and getting to show you off to my friends"

Jamie continued as he read off at least 40 more post its which you picked up one by one as he grabbed the next. When he went to grab another your hand reached out to stop his and for a moment you allowed yourself to enjoy his touch, "I know it's not as good as the football," Jamie said softly, "but I mean it all. And I hate myself for hurting you,"

"you should never hate yourself," you muttered making a small smile creep on Jamie's lips, "When did it stop being just a bet?" you asked, scared for the answer.

"During our first date," he said making you look at him with a raised eyebrow, "I swear. I was blind for not seeing you before but on that date, it was--you were incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about you all night. I tried to call of the bet, but Issac thought I was just scared to lose," Jamie rambled before pausing for a moment and sighing," I never wanted to hurt you. I promise. You have to believe me," he said as he reached for your hand.

"It's just hard," you said, your voice already choking up again making Jamie almost cry himself, "and I really want to believe you because for fucksake Jamie, I love you too," the words he had longed to hear shot daggers into his heart.

"If you want to never hear from me again, I’ll go," Jamie said, holding your hands tightly and making you finally meet his eyes again, "but if you'll have me ill spend every day making this up to you. I promise. You, this, us. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me,"

You paused for a moment as Jamie's heart pounded in his chest, "One more chance," you whispered making Jamie break out into a grin, but you quickly added, "but if you so much as step a toe out of line,"

"I won't," Jamie cut you off as he gripped your hands tightly, "I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll be the perfect boyfriend, honest," you couldn't help laughing a little at his eagerness. Jamie raised your hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to each of your knuckles, "

[pandorasprongs]

JAMIE TARTT | i'd be better armed if you agreed to take it.

PAIRING: jamie tartt x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 5.0k

SUMMARY: higgins' new assistant happens to be an old friend of the reader's, and their reunion hits jamie with major feelings of jealousy. when the team thinks that the pair of them are going on a date soon, jamie decides enough is enough.

WARNINGS: language

A/N: i actually like this story a lot better especially the dialogue! + jealous!jamie was really fun to write HAHAHA i hope that all of you enjoy this and title is from the song '(you) on my arm' by leith ross :) also i apologize in advance i'm not the best at writing kissing scenes

You loved your job, truly. This was the first time you've had a decent, no, fucking amazing boss that didn't make you want to pull your hair out every time they called you into the office. 

But being Rebecca's assistant also meant that you sometimes had to help Higgins out with... well, whatever the Director of Football Operations does. It was fine in the beginning, just scheduling appointments and keeping track of ticket sales, but once Richmond got promoted, it felt like your work doubled.

It only took two weeks before you begged Rebecca to get Higgins an assistant of his own. Luckily, she obliged and asked Higgins to start interviewing possible candidates for the job. 

You hoped that whatever extra load you got due to Higgins occupying himself with selecting an assistant would be worth it from how much would be lifted off you when he did. So when you got the message from Rebecca to help delegate your duties to the new assistant, you practically ran to the clubhouse that morning.

You were too excited messaging your boss that you'd be there soon that you ended up bumping into someone near the entrance.

"Shit!" You exclaim as you almost lose your balance, but are steadied by the other person who turned out to be Jamie.

"Ay, watch where you're going, yeah?" Jamie warned casually, as he let go of your arms once you recovered.

"Sorry, Jamie." You straighten up and walk in with him. "I'm just really excited. Higgins finally picked an assistant and they're here today."

"Oh yeah, you were fucking drowning in work a few weeks ago." And by drowning, he meant it literally. The football player recalled seeing you walking past the locker room carrying a stack of papers taller than you were. You refused any help from the team, partly because they had to get to training and mainly because you didn't want them to see how the tear stains on some of the pages.

"Yeah," you chuckle at the memory. "But, after a few days of helping the new kid out, I'll finally be free." You stretch your arms up in the air and cheer. You were too busy celebrating to notice how soft Jamie's expression had become. 

He loved seeing you act yourself around him, a big jump from when you used to glare at him around the office. He had denied it for a while, but Jamie started to like you around the time he'd gotten back from Man City. 

You knew him before then, when he was a massive prick who stepped over — even literally at times, — his teammates. But after he returned, you felt bad for the guy for how the rest of the team was treating him, no matter if he deserved it. Ted had told you about what they talked about when Jamie approached him about joining the team again, and a part of you felt like he needed at least some kind of welcoming presence in the building. 

You started greeting him more often when you ran into each other in the halls and sometimes offered him the candies you keep in your desk drawer whenever he passed your desk, just small things. Jamie would usually just end up hanging out with you during his breaks because he didn’t have anyone else to spend it with. The first few times, he would just sit there in silence while you worked, but one “How’s your day going?” from you, and he was more than willing to chat.

Then, of course, he gradually regained the team’s trust and started hanging out with them, but even then, your little interactions with him didn't stop. He'd invite you whenever the team had a get-together and would sometimes drop bags of candies at your desk to "re-stock" your drawer. You just thought it was his way of returning your kindness. But what you didn't realize was that the star football player was starting to fall for you. 

Jamie tried to ignore it, saying to himself that he just felt indebted to you, but then it started to manifest in different ways. How he would try and come up with reasons to approach you the next day, how he'd get distracted whenever you had to visit the pitch during practice, and how your awkward habits became something he looked forward to. It's been a while since he felt like this about anyone and was more anxious about rejection than he's felt about any of his games, so he didn't make any obvious pass at you.

So now, as you asked the receptionist where the Director of Football Operations was, Jamie decided to wait for you to spend as much time with you as possible. 

You notice Jamie staying back and relayed the information to him. "Higgins is introducing them to the team, so I guess I'll be going with you to the locker room." You nudge him with your shoulder as you continue to walk through the building. You've always tried your best to ask casual with Jamie, possibly in an effort to make yourself feel normal around him and not constantly blushing every time he looked at you.

As you approach the room, you hear Higgins explaining what the new assistant would be doing for the players. "So if ever you need help with anything I've listed, you can go to Anthony Perez here, instead."

Anthony Perez. No fucking way. You and Jamie enter the locker room and are instantly greeted by the sight of an old friend.

"Anthony, you fucking bastard!" You scream enthusiastically, causing everyone in the room to turn to you, including Anthony. It takes him a second before registering who you were. The moment he does, he raises his arms and you practically leap into him for a hug.

"Oh my god!" Anthony exclaims, as he lets go of you and puts you down.

"I didn't know you were the new assistant!" You lightly smack his arm.

"I didn't know you even worked here!" He defends himself as the two of you turn to find the entire team's eyes on you, including Jamie's.

"Shit, sorry," You laugh as you make some distance between you and Anthony. "Didn't mean to make our reunion so dramatic."

"I assume you two know each other?" Higgins asks and you both nod.

"Anthony and I went to school together," You quickly explain. "From sixth form to uni. Of course, I haven't heard from him in two years." You jokingly glare, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Sorry, I got busy, okay?" He whispers an apology before you both chuckle again.

"Well, I hope your friendship will make it easier to help him get accustomed to the job." You smile at Higgins before the three of you excuse yourself to let the players get ready for training. 

You're so engrossed in catching up with Anthony that you didn't even notice the look Jamie was giving him. 

"They seem close!" Dani innocently says as he puts his shoes on.

"You don't think something is going on with them, do you?" Colin chimes in.

"Well, she's never even mentioned him before, so I doubt it," Sam argues, but Isaac shakes his head. "Nah bruv, that hug was way too intimate for just friends."

"I've seen her hug Keeley and Rebecca like that, too. That might just be how she greets her friends." Jan offers and the team continues to debate it, but at that point, Jamie has had enough. It was already shit having to watch that interaction, but having your teammates talk about it as you pretend not to care? It could not get any worse.

Jamie pulls out a can of body spray from his locker and slams it closed, before turning to everyone. "Can everyone just stop talking about it and get ready?" 

The room goes quiet, as the football player turns around and starts getting changed. The rest of the team exchange looks, before getting ready themselves. Most of them had a hunch that something was going on between the two of you but didn't have any proof, until now. They just hoped they were wrong about you and Anthony, in an attempt to stop Mt. Jamie from erupting.

——

For most players, if something happened right before training that put them in a sour mood, it would mess up their performance on the pitch. Of course, Jamie wasn't like most players. He might be playing even better during that training period. The coaches didn't even have to give him the signal; he was already in 'prick' mode. 

Maybe it was the appearance of Anthony or the fact that you had never been that excited to see him even though he thought you guys were becoming close, but he was playing aggressively and was much more focused than he needed to be for a practice game. The coaches started to take notice after he viciously tackled one of the second teams. 

"Whistle!" Roy shouts, pausing their game. Ted takes a step forward and shouts, "Hey Jamie! Love the passion, but those are still your teammates. Ya'll have a game next week, so better save that attitude for the real one."

"Okay, coach!" Jamie replies through gritted teeth. He takes a deep breath as they continue to play, trying to calm himself down. Ted was right; there was no point in taking out his anger here. Not when the source of said anger was just inside the building.

Once the morning session was over and they were off for lunch, Jamie headed over to Rebecca's office, expecting to see you waiting at the desk outside like you usually were, but instead, he almost runs into the owner of the football club.

"Jamie!" Rebecca exclaims, backing away from the football player to avoid a collision. "What brings you here?" He only needed to glance at the empty table for her to know what was going on. "Oh, well, if you're looking for her, better head to Mr. Higgins' office. She's helping his new assistant get used to the system." 

This causes the player's jaw to clench. Jamie mutters a quick thanks before heading to the Director of Football Operations' office, where he found you hunched over a chair and directing something on the laptop to Anthony.

You had spent the first hour of the day basically catching up with Anthony about what you've been doing the past few years. Once you ran out of stories though, you were forced to actually start teaching him what to do.

You started with the simple things like how to organize the emails, fixing the schedule, and what information to take note of, so you could ask your bosses' about it. Anthony's a quick learner, so you guys were making good progress. Once he practically mastered the routine, the two of you went to the clubhouse cafe to get some early lunch. Most of the food there was pre-packed and they’d usually just microwave it, but over the years, you've developed a fondness for them. You bring back the food to Higgins' office and continue to work on it till you hear someone clearing their throat.

You perk up when you realize who it came from. "Jamie! Hi, what're you doing here?"

Jamie's eyes bounce between the two of you, before settling on your own. "Well, I checked your desk but you weren't there, and Rebecca said you'd probably be here, so I went over here. And now I'm wondering if you wanted to get lunch?"

You move to say yes, but quickly back out when you remember the wrappers on the desk. "Oh, sorry Jamie, Anthony and I just ate something from the cafe cause we wanted to spend the lunchtime working on some emails. Maybe another time?" You try and hide the disappointment in your voice by giving Jamie a small smile.

Jamie's expression falters, but he quickly bounces back. "Sure, no problem. Bye," The football player waves at you — and just you, — before heading back downstairs. He shouldn't be acting like this. Feeling this dejected someone saying she can't have lunch with him?

You weren't fairing that well, either. Your shoulders slump once he disappears from view, then you turn back to Anthony who seems to be holding back a laugh. "What's with you?"

"Nothing, just amused at how even two years later, you still don't know how to talk to the guys you like."

You scoff at his response and hit his shoulder. "What do you mean? I do not like Jamie." You protest, which only causes Anthony to roll his eyes.

"Oh please, it's like you transformed back to a seventeen-year-old the way you got excited when he asked you to get lunch with him." You shake your head, but he continues. "It's clear as day that you have a crush on him."

“That word makes us sound like we're seventeen again," You retort, before redirecting the topic back to the task at hand.

But you knew he was right. Even back in the early days of working here, you couldn't deny that you found Jamie attractive. Anyone with eyes could see it, but he was dating Keeley and was a massive prick, so nothing ever came about from it.

Then, he started spending more time with you, checking up on you and stopping you in the halls just to chat. You realized that he was actually pretty sweet when he was off the pitch and you started to realize that you wanted to spend time with him, not just out of pity like before. Plus, you don't think he's seen anyone in a while, so there really was no reason for you to deny your feelings any longer.

Except, of course, the fear of getting rejected by him and ruining the steady and comfortable relationship you currently have. Which is a good reason, you think. You shake your head and try and continue your work in peace.

After spending your lunch writing up reports, it only took another hour to finish up both your and Anthony's duties, so the two of you update Higgins on your progress and ask if you could observe practice for a bit. He scans through your work, before happily letting the two of you go. The moment you get to the pitch, your eyes instantly look for Jamie who is doing pretty well, to no one's surprise. You join the coaches where they’re standing.

Anthony was already a big football fan, so he was able to recognize almost all of the players on the pitch. In fact, he was even saying things that you weren't aware of, despite your three years of working for the owner of a football club. He bends down to whisper a joke in your ear, but the amusement never hits because soon after, you hear O'Brien groaning in pain. You both look up to see Jamie already helping the goalkeeper up after kicking the ball right into his stomach. 

"Whistle! Tartt, stop fucking injuring your teammates!" Roy shouts, to which Jamie quickly apologizes. The practice game continues, but not without you leaning to ask Beard something.

"Coach, is Jamie okay? He seemed fine when I was with him earlier," You turn your head, as Beard continues to watch the practice.

"He's been playing like that all day. Something must've pissed him off." You open your mouth to say something, but Beard reads your mind. "No, we did not give him the signal." You nod before turning back to the game.

You meet Jamie's eyes as he runs across the pitch, and you take the opportunity to give him a smile and a thumbs up, hoping it encourages him somehow. He only nods his head in acknowledgment before continuing, but you can tell in the next few plays that he seems to be calming down. After a while, you and Anthony decide to head back to the office after Rebecca asks you to send some emails on her behalf.

Jamie watched the two of you head back to the building and tried to ignore that growing feeling when Anthony leaned down and rested his arm on your shoulders. He tries and shakes himself right before continuing the game, ignoring all the possibilities of why he’d do that.

The real reason was that Anthony had decided to tease you, whispering close, "Somebody likes you," in a sing-songy voice. "And his name is Jamie Tartt doo-doo-do-doo—"

That exact remark makes you jab his side. "Shut the fuck up, Anthony. He does not." Anthony lets it go as the two of you reach your desk and he leaves you to do your work, though you can't help but feel warm inside at the thought of it being true.

—

Once he gets changed after training, Jamie practically ran upstairs to find you. Usually, he'd offer to drive you home and before Anthony, you'd be too tired to be polite and say no. He stopped himself from sending a message to you once he realized that you had already left. Maybe she's with Anthony, but Jamie shakes his head because fuck that. Jamie Tartt does not get hung over a girl. At least, the old him didn't.

New Jamie had been starting to hope that you stayed in the office longer just so he could see you again, even if you would be busy doing work. He sighs as he decides to leave the building when someone jumps in front to scare him. "Boo!"

"Jesus fucking Christ," he exclaims and steps back before seeing you losing your mind over his reaction. "What'd you do that for?"

"I'm sorry," You apologize in between your laughing fits. "I didn't realize how easily startled you were." After a few more seconds, you finally straighten up and lift two plastic bags.

Jamie gives you a confused look, before you explain, "When we went to watch training, Coach Beard said you've been playing like that the whole day which can only mean one thing; you're in a shit mood. And you don't have to tell me why, but,"

You hand him one of the bags and one whiff tells Jamie it's from that Indian restaurant he loves. "I thought some dinner would cheer you up," Jamie gives you a genuine smile, one you got used to seeing but always love when it shows up. “Because there’s nothing rich people love more than free food.” You add, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Plus, I wanted to make up for not having lunch with you, and celebrate the fact that I now actually have the time to do this again." You continue as the two of you walk over to Jamie's car.

You get in the passenger seat as Jamie turns the car on. The two of you have shared dinner there multiple times before, so you practically had a system for it, and Jamie always "pays you back" by giving you a ride home. You open all the dishes and Jamie quickly starts to devour it.

The two of you enjoy the dinner in silence, — except for the occasional "Pass the pita," or something of the sort — till Jamie decides to ask the burning question that’s been on his mind. "So, how did you and Anthony get so close?" It was an innocent question, but one whose answer could either ease Jamie's thoughts or amplify them ten-fold.

You look up at him, mid-bite, and quickly swallow the food, before replying, "Well, you already know we went to school together, but we were actually seated next to each other for a whole semester, so naturally we became close since we saw each other every day."

Jamie starts to clean up the empty containers but signals you to continue. "To be honest, I kinda liked him back then." Oblivious to how tense Jamie just got, you laugh. "But the crush didn't last long honestly, cause I realized that he wasn't really my type." 

Jamie takes the opportunity. "What is your type, then?"

"Oh, hot footballers, naturally." You decide to give a somewhat honest answer, but cloak it in a layer of sarcasm to hopefully throw Jamie off. "Like Richard," You try and convince Jamie with your tone, but you can barely hold in your laughter afterward.

"Oh fuck off," Jamie rolls his eyes, causing you to laugh even harder. "I'm telling him that tomorrow."

"Jamie Tartt, you fucking wouldn't!" You spend the rest of the ride to your flat trying to get him to promise to say nothing, which ends with a pinky promise to secrecy.

—

The next few days are a mix of hanging out with Anthony, eating meals with Jamie, and finishing up work so you can spend the rest of the day chilling at your desk. You almost forgot what it felt like to have free time and actually relax during work breaks.

You arrive at the clubhouse and immediately head to the Coach's office as per Rebecca's instructions to deliver some documents for the season. There, you meet up with Anthony who also had to bring something to Ted.

When you realize the coach hasn't arrived yet, you decide to wait outside the locker room. Anthony turns to you. "Hey, I forgot to tell you yesterday, but Mina's visiting!" Mina was Anthony's girlfriend and also your former classmate, who once again, you haven't seen in two years. You perk up and ask when you’d get the chance to see her.

Anthony pulls out his phone before responding, "I can make a reservation for us somewhere at, 7 pm?" You quickly scan your mental to-do list and once you realize your schedule is free, you nod.

"Yeah, that works! We'll both be done with work, anyway." 

The two of you are busy planning out your meeting with Mina that you don't notice Isaac and Colin eavesdropping as they make their way to the locker room. From the snippet that they heard, it sounded like the two of you were planning a night out, confirming their suspicions that there was something going on between the two of you.

They share this with Sam, who tries to reason with them. "Friends can go out to dinner without it meaning anything!"

But as they continue discussing it, the more it becomes harder to deny. I mean, the two of you were always together and not to mention, your shared history. They try and hide this from Jamie, — partly to save themselves from the football player's wrath during training, — but once the morning session was over, they crowd him and quickly explain the situation.

At this moment, Jamie didn't even protest their assumption of his feelings — he had accepted that he wasn’t the best at hiding it from them, — and simply stayed silent, which was incredibly worrying. They decide to leave him be and walk back to their lockers, trying to figure out a game plan. They thought you and Jamie would be great together and a guy from your past was not going to stand in the way of their teammate finding someone, not if they have anything to do with it.

Soon after, Anthony enters the locker room and calls out to Sam. The pair walk away to talk and Anthony starts, "Do you happen to have an open table at Ola's tonight? I'm planning to take someone special there and I know how great the food is."

"Well," Sam considers saying that they're fully booked — which big chance, they are, — and there's nothing he could do, but his guilt at even the thought of lying takes over. "Sure, don't worry." Anthony smiles and thanked the player before heading out, but not before promising that he'd send him the proper details later.

Sam heads back to his two teammates and explains what happened, to which Isaac suggests booking the whole restaurant for the team, crashing their date, and making sure they have no alone time together. Colin adds that they can possibly put something in Anthony's food to force him to go home earlier, which Sam quickly shuts down. They turn to Jamie to get his input, only to find an empty bench instead.

Said teammate was already making his way to your desk to talk. Maybe it was the adrenaline from practice or the fact that he drank three cups of coffee this morning after Roy's training session, but he wasn't going to let you go on that date without saying something.

Jamie makes it up the stairs and finds you typing away at your computer. You meet his eyes for a second, before warning, "Hold on, I'm just finishing this email."

The football player decidedly ignores that statement and exclaims, "Don't go on that date." That gets you to save the email as a draft and look up from your screen. Jamie walks closer to you and you stand up, and steer him to a remote corner. If this was what you thought it was, you’d rather not have the entire office witness it go down.

"I'm sorry, what?" You try and clarify.

"Look, some of the boys told me that you and Anthony are going out tonight and I," Jamie takes a breath, "I couldn't let you go through with it. At least, without admitting that I like you. I have liked you for a while now. I didn’t realize that someone could be so sweet and funny and attractive. It’s fucking insane actually, which is why if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to spend as much time with you as I can. And I know it’s stupid of me to not have admitted it till it’s too late, but if by chance you feel the same, then please do not go on that date and instead, maybe go on one with me?”

You take a step back. The guy who you've secretly been pining over for how many months at this point is now trying to stop you from going on a "date,” and so the only thing you can do is stare at him. You stay like that for a second before regaining your senses and taking his hand into yours and giving him a small smile. "Jamie…"

If there was any right time to admit your feelings, this would be it. You open your mouth to continue, but hear Anthony call out to you. You peek over the corner and when Anthony spots you, he quickly shouts, "Look who stopped by!" and moves to reveal Mina.

"Oh my god, you're here!" You exclaim, but turn back to Jamie who has stopped in his tracks and is still holding your hand. You quickly excuse yourself, "It's so nice to see you, but could you actually give me a minute?"

The couple gives you a curious look before Jamie peeks his head over the corner and Anthony immediately understands. The two of them go back downstairs, and you assume Anthony uses the time to explain to Mina what’s going on.

You turn back to Jamie, hoping that the moment isn't ruined, and find the football player still looking at you intently. You decide to get on with it. "Jamie, I don't know why the team thought we were going on a date, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The girl you just saw is Anthony's girlfriend, Mina, who we also went to school with." Jamie makes an 'o' with his mouth in realization and you lightly chuckle at his expression.

"She's visiting him for the weekend and we're planning to go out to dinner, the three of us, to catch up. I'm basically going to be a third-wheel all night." At this point, Jamie's expression is a cross of embarrassment and anger, likely directed at his gossiping teammates.

Your mind replays Jamie’s confession earlier. "Jamie, did you mean what you said?" Your voice is practically a whisper, but you just have to be sure. "Like right before we got interrupted?"

Instead of giving you a solid answer, Jamie lets go of your hand and cups your face before connecting your lips. It was a soft and gentle kiss as if the football player was still hesitant, but once you reciprocated it, Jamie's confidence came right back. Fuck, and he had every right to be as cocky as he was. He was an amazing kisser.

You're pressed up against the wall, almost getting lost in it, but you break apart to stop it from escalating further when you feel Jamie's hand travel to your thigh.

"Is that enough of an answer for you?" He asks, resting his forehead against yours as you take hold of his forearms. You simply roll your eyes at how easily Jamie returns to his usual self.

You peak down the corridor and thank the universe that no one passed by during this. The two of you separate and decide to head back downstairs — with Jamie never letting go of your hand, — so you could properly greet Mina.

As you walked, you decide to jokingly question, "Were you really that worried about me going on a date that you had to go all rom-com and tell me not to go?" 

Jamie protests, "Well, it's more of the boys' fault, isn't it? They're the ones who got in my head." He pauses for a second. "And don't act like you never wanted something like that to happen to you."

You jab his side and Jamie pretends to be in pain, before laughing it off and slinging his arm on your shoulders. You wrap your arm around his torso. "Only if it's 'one in a million' Jamie Tartt doing it."

You finally find Anthony and Mina in the locker room, with the former introducing her to the players there as his girlfriend. Jamie enters to find the three culprits, looking guiltily at the couple. Minutes after Jamie left, Sam had gotten a text from Anthony saying that their reservation was for three and explained that you were coming along for a reunion dinner with his girlfriend.

The moment they see the two of you enter the room though, Colin, Isaac, and Sam can't help but share a satisfied look, only to be ruined by the glare Jamie sends their way. You laugh at the exchange and only remove yourself from Jamie to greet Mina. You give her a tight hug, confirming Jan's observation that you did greet most of your friends like that.

You pull Jamie towards you and introduce him to Mina, who shares the same teasing look as Anthony. The couple waves at the team to leave and get lunch together. They invite you to join them which you accept, but not before grabbing and squeezing Jamie's hand as a goodbye. The three of you walk away, discussing nearby cafes and restaurants. You hear some cheering from the locker room and you can't help but laugh at how easily the boys reconcile.

Once there's enough distance between yourself and the room, Anthony leans down. "Guess you finally figured out how to talk to boys."

"Who knew it would be Jamie fucking Tartt that managed to get you out of your shell?" Mina adds and you roll your eyes at the pair. They really were made for each other.

[danistartt]

4 AM- Jamie Tartt

pairings: jamie tartt x reader, roy kent warnings: language? mentions of murder, season 3 spoilers but only lightly about: jamie's first training with roy first jamie fic!! i love him, i hope i did him some justice!!

It’s too-early AM when the doorbell rings. At first once, and then insistently until it switches to banging.

It’s angry and loud and very annoying, urging a frustrated groan from Jamie when the door’s assailant pauses. “The fuck?” he asks the pillow, the arm around your waist tightening.

“Are we going to die? Is that a thing here?” you wonder tiredly, interrupted by a yawn.

The knocking continues, worse than before.

Jamie snaps awake, throwing his legs over the bed before you can process his touch gone.

“Be right back. Might kill someone.” He throws on a shirt and goes downstairs, muttering under his breath the whole way through.

You stare up at your ceiling, craning to hear what goes on downstairs. The door creaks open, the noise finally ceasing. Sleep leadens your eyelids.

The light Jamie turned on sneaks very gently into the darkness of the room, peeks of a conversation breaking the silence. You glance at the clock, catching Jamie pointing out what you’d just noticed.

“It’s fuckin’ four AM,” you grumble, pushing your face into your pillow.

A few seconds tick by. You let a single eye out and catch a different light turn on, much brighter than the ones you have. You frown.

Jamie shuffles back upstairs, rubbing his eyes. He doesn’t head for the bed.

“Jamie?” you start. “Was it a murderer?”

“Worse,” he says. “Roy Kent.”

“What’s Roy Kent doing here at four in the morning?” you ask groggily, watching him pull on clothes in the darkness. You turn on a light.

“Arsehole said he’d train me if I meant it,” he runs a hand over his face. “And I guess I fuckin’ did.”

“Oh,” you mumble. “That’s good.”

“I guess.” He shrugs, brushing his teeth.

“I’m proud of you, Jamie,” you tell him, already half-asleep but trying to keep observing him. “You’re already great and you’ll be even greater,” you babble, honest.

He stares at you silently for a moment, only broken by Roy’s loud call to hurry up. It wakes you up with a start.

“I think you should hurry up,” you advise.

“Already done. I’ll be back soon. I hope.” He plants a kiss on your forehead, turning off your lamp. You give him a lazy peck right below his jaw.

“Good luck, Jamie.” You squeeze his fingers in yours.

Jamie rolls his eyes, hurrying downstairs again. You can hear him saying your name, and Roy curses, shouting an apology up to you.

“Tartt! It’s not a fucking beauty contest!” 

“”S okay!” you yell back drowsily. “Good luck!”

“Thank you!”

Another voice shrieks for you all to shut up. “Sorry, Mrs. Hammond!” you shout, listening to the door shut carefully. “Good luck, Jamie,” you mutter to yourself, letting your eyes shut.

[etherealising]

happy happy 1k yay!! idk if you still write for jaime tartt BUT i love the thought of him being obsessed with someone who works in the building… maybe the team’s pt and he’s always in their office with a “sore” knee or something like that but only so he can hang out and flirt with them 😫

bestie…the scream i scrumpt when i saw you in my inbox requesting my writing i damn near cried!!! but also the jamie tartt brainrot you awoke in me is insane, i went through a whole series rewatch and now i have jamie tartt edits saved 🫣. i struggled a bit to capture jamie’s essence/personality but otherwise i hope you enjoy my love 🫶🏽

this whole time i thought your pfp was bagels only to realize its a bunny 🥲

wanna be yours

pairing(s): jamie tartt x gn!reader

summary: jamie’s “bum” knee is the perfect excuse to spend whatever free time he can with you. it also doesn’t hurt that you’re his favorite person to flirt with.

warning(s): none

wc: 2.9k

Quiet hums filled the treatment room as you maneuvered around the space organizing and restocking low supplies. Your ears perked up at footsteps moving closer to the room. A knock on the open door followed shortly after, “Give me a minute.” 

“Surely I can give you more than a minute.” The sound of a familiar heavy Manchurian accent caused the corner of your lips to tick up, eyes glancing down at your watch to see that your daily visitor was right on time. 

Turning, you looked up to find Jamie leaning in the doorway, arms crossed against his chest, a cheesy smile on his face as he looked at you. “What can I do for you, Jamie?” 

In recent weeks Jamie made it his mission to stop by your office and if he wasn’t spending his free time in your office picking your brain, then he was complaining to you in the treatment room about a mysterious knee issue that magically disappeared after every visit to you but somehow always returned the next day. In the beginning, you thought there was something seriously wrong with him, and you were sure you would lose your job if Richmond lost their star player because you couldn’t figure out what was wrong but as time passed you began to enjoy his little visits.

“It's me knee,” Jamie’s lips turned down into a pout as he walked fully into the room. “It's feelin’ all funny again.” 

You nodded your head trying to tamp down your smile as you gestured for him to take a seat on the treatment table before grabbing a bottle of BioFreeze and rolling the stool over with you to sit. “Have you been doing the stretches I gave you?” 

Jamie reached for your free hand pulling you towards him. Small laughs left you at the rolling sensation before he stopped you in front of him, easily settling his foot between your legs on the stool. “Of course I do love, they make me think of ya.” His finger reached out to boop the tip of your nose, a smug smile washing over his face as your nose scrunched up from the touch.

It felt childish the way the butterflies in your stomach fluttered at Jamie’s silly little antics, but you ignored it knowing just how cheeky the man could be. The room was quiet for a minute as you began massaging the cooling gel into Jamie’s knee, “You know I saw you at practice today-,”

“Trainin’.” Jamie clicked his tongue smiling as you rolled your eyes.

“Anyway, your knee seemed to be fine out on the pitch.” You emphasized the final word smiling at the over-dramatic wink Jamie sent your way.

He gave a slight wince as you added more pressure to his knee, you weren’t sure if he was actually sore or if he was just trying to sell whatever this bit was. “Well yeah babe, I can’t let the lads see me sufferin’.” He moved to lean back resting on his elbows.

You nodded pretending to understand what went on in Jamie’s head. “Maybe but I think it might be time to let Roy and Beard in on this injury,” you paused, glancing up to see the humor drain from Jamie’s face. “Might have to sit out a few games until we get this under control you know? Maybe the whole season if we can’t figure out the underlying cause.” 

The silence caused you to look up your hands continuing their massage as you watched Jamie’s face pale, whatever thoughts going on behind those pretty brown eyes didn’t seem too happy. You felt a bit bad about your joke, but before you could clear the air, the sound of your name being shouted followed by the click of heels moving closer stole your attention.

“Oi sorry, didn’t realize you were busy, wow Jamie you look a bit ill everthin’ alright?” Keeley’s voice rang through the treatment room as she made her entrance, her petite frame eagerly hopping onto empty counter space.

You smiled at her as you finished up the ministrations on Jamie’s knee, “Oh you know he’s just coming to terms that this injury might be career-ending.” You looked up at Jamie waiting to see if he’d break. It took a couple of visits for you to finally clock that there wasn’t anything wrong with Jamie’s knee aside from his muscles needing their usual massage but other than that his visits were just periodic at this point. 

“It breaks my heart to know ya don’t believe me?” Jamie’s voice was incredulous as he spoke, his foot lightly tapped your thigh where it still sat a small smirk playing on his lips.

Keeley was quiet as she watched the exchange between the two of you. A cheeky smile of her own decorated her face. For all the years she’d known Jamie she hadn’t seen him quite as smitten as he was with you. When you first expressed concern about Jamie’s constant visits and the stress you were under trying to diagnose his injury she was worried for the both of you, you for how overwhelmed you seemed, and Jamie for his mysterious knee injury. But then there were the few times she’d been with you when Jamie would pop into your office, at first she thought the two of you were just good friends but as she paid attention to Jamie’s flirtatious words and most times unnecessary touches she realized it was something more on Jamie’s end and slowly began piecing it all together, and what kind of friend would she be to the both of you if she didn’t move this train along.

“Oh! Well sorry to hear about your career Jamie, but I was just poppin’ in to steal our favorite doctor, we’ve got a shopping date!” Keeley bounced on the countertop excitement racing through her. 

Jamie sat up at Keeley’s words, obviously interested in the turn of the conversation, “Awe Granddad takin’ you on a date?” He was the only one to laugh at his joke, your stern look caused his chuckles to quiet down.

Keeley rolled her eyes before finding Jamie’s, “No, it's for the gala. I talked Richmond’s favorite PT into making an appearance this year!” Her smile brightened as she stared directly into Jamie’s eyes though her question was directed at you, “Have you found a plus one yet?” 

You tried not to cringe at Keeley’s words, as excited as you were about finally attending one of Richmond’s annual charity galas Keeley wouldn’t take no for an answer when you explained you were fine attending the event solo. You stood from the stool moving to return the gel back to its place and wash your hands. 

“Why bring a guest when I could potentially arrive solo and leave with a lovely companion.” You turned to face both of them, a small smirk lining your lips as you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively.

Jamie’s disgusted scoff was drowned out by Keeley’s excited squeal; the woman catapulted off the countertop excitement radiating off of her as she jumped up and down and clapped excitedly. “You cheeky little shit I love it! Oh, ohh are we thinking a sleazy footballer or emotionally unavailable millionaire donating for a tax write-off?”

You laughed, Jamie’s disgusted scoff turned into a disgusted look as his eyes bounced between the two of you. “I dunno Dani is kinda top of my list, if that doesn’t work out I guess we’ll go from there.” It was subtle but you watched the way Keeley’s eyes flashed to Jamie before landing back on you giving a thumbs up.

“Rojas?” Jamie’s voice was incredulous as he looked at you, “He’s not even monogamous!” The disbelief on his face was palpable, eyes wide. 

Keeley watched as you made your way over to Jamie patting his thigh before settling back on the stool, his hands fell to the sides of the stool spinning you around before pulling the wheeled chair as close to the table as possible his body bowing forward as his chin came to settle atop your head. Keeley felt physically ill as she tamped down the excitement trying to claw its way out of her body; the urge to squeal grew tenfold as she watched you move your head to rest against his shoulder, eyes staring up at Jamie as the man smiled down at you.

“Who said I was monogamous? It's good to try things at least once.” The movement of you shrugging moved Jamie’s arms that were settled around your shoulders, his smile transforming into a frown.

A scoff let him as one of his hands moved up to flick the tip of your nose “M’ just sayin’ I’d never need another if I had you.” You gave Jamie an exasperated look at his words if the man kept up this flirtatious banter you’d never know how to deal with mediocre men again. 

Keeley covered her excited squeal with a false cough, “Shoot, I’ve uh gotta talk with Rebecca about some marketing things, you’ll be fine if we go shopping later right?” Keeley smiled eager to leave the two of you alone.

It took you a minute to look away from Jamie and find Keeley’s eyes sending her a warm understanding smile, “Of course, oh invite Rebecca yeah?” 

Keeley nodded her head sending you a bright smile before looking at Jamie raising her eyebrows slightly silently trying to tell him to make his move. She refrained from rolling her eyes as the man wiggled his eyebrows back to her, any hope of him doing this on his own slowly dwindling. 

You waved the woman off as she left before turning in Jamie’s arms and giving him a serious look, “So, you wanna tell me what’s going on with you?” Your fingers began unconsciously playing with the hem of his shorts eyes peering into his with concern. “I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me Jamie.”

“Ahh don’t worry your pretty little head.” His hand moved to gently tap two fingers against your forehead, “A little knee pain can’t keep me down, I’m Jamie fuckin’ Tartt.” A smug smile took over his face, a quiet laugh escaped him at the way you rolled your eyes.

You stared at him for a moment longer eyes tracing his face before landing on his smile, the urge to give him a smile of your own crept up on you. “Well, Jamie Tartt is there anything else I can help you with?” 

“Mmm dunno love, kinda just like buggin’ ya.” You laughed as his hand reached for yours, admiring the few rings that decorated your fingers. “Feel like I make ya all nervous, it's a bit adorable.” He smiled widely up at you shamelessly lacing his fingers with yours. 

It felt as though your brain short-circuited for a moment, you weren’t sure when the two of you became all touchy-feely and you hardly minded it, but this felt a bit too intimate as he smiled up at you, the palm of his hand fitted perfectly to yours. 

“If we’re done here I have to go add this little visit to your medical file and maybe stop by the coach's office.” You stood up with a slight huff removing your hand from Jamie’s grip, foot gently pushing the rolling stool into the corner, “Make sure to close the door when you leave please, and try not to let a little knee pain ruin the rest of the great Jamie fuckin’ Tartt’s day.” There was a slight teasing undertone in your words as you gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before taking your leave, needing a bit of space to figure out the thoughts running through your head. 

Jamie sat still atop the treatment table, a small smile lining his lips as he watched you walk away. The tingling sensation your soft hand left behind in his made him feel like a giddy teenager all over again as he stood to take his leave.

You quickly finished updating the last medical file for the evening, checking the time on the phone to make sure you could stop at home for a shower before meeting Keeley and Rebecca for your shopping date. Moving around your office you gathered your few belongings before turning to head home, surprise jolted through you as you looked up to see Jamie standing in the doorway hand poised to knock. 

“Didn’t mean to scare ya, just wanted to see if you wanted to walk to the car park together?” Jamie raised his hands in innocence, he was changed out of his practice gear just as ready to retire for the day as you were.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You gave him a small smile trying to get your slightly erratic breathing under control as you grabbed your keys off the desk. 

It was silent between the two of you as you exited your office, Jamie moving out of your way opting to lean against the wall as he watched you lock everything up. Thinking back to his words it wasn’t that Jamie made you nervous, he made you confused he was a flirtatious man by nature and while you didn’t mind the banter between the two of you and willfully fed into it, you were a bit wary of catching feelings for a man who was so secure in himself. Pair that with his profession and the lifestyle he lived you weren’t sure if this was just all fun and games between friends or something more.

“Can I ask you somethin’?” Jamie bumped his shoulder against yours as the two of you began your journey, not finding any reason to move out of your personal space as you nodded in assent. “Is Rojas really top of your list?” 

You let out a surprised laugh expecting the question to be anything but that, giving yourself a moment to think on the answer as you bid goodbye to the few people the two of you walked past. “I don’t actually have a list Jamie,” you paused, giving him a quiet thank you as he opened the door for you to exit. “But I don’t know, Dani seems like the easiest person to have a fun night with and then continue being my colleague like nothing happened.” 

Jamie hummed at your words, the two of you stopping beside your car and leaning against it. “This may be a bit forward, but I for one think it’d be a true shame to only spend one night with you.” His eyes locked on yours, there was no sign of his signature smirk making an appearance as it usually did after one of his flirty remarks, his eyes were intense almost like he was staring through you, an underlying message hidden in their soft brown depths. The feel of his fingers reaching out to yours tickled in the cool evening air. 

Being speechless sure wasn’t something you were used to, but as you stood in the carpark Jamie directly across from you his words lingering in the air, you weren’t sure there was anything you could say. His words held a heavy insinuation and you didn’t think you were brave enough at the moment to find out their actual meaning. 

Your mouth opened and closed unsure of what to say, your brain not even close to doing its job properly. Jamie smiled as he watched you, fingers dancing across your palm as he took a step forward his free hand raised the forefinger of his knuckle tapped gently against your chin, “Like I said, a bit adorable.” He moved quicker than you could react, his fingers pinching your chin and turning your head slightly before his soft lips caressed the apple of your cheek.

“G’night Doc, I’ll do my stretches tonight and think of ya.” Jamie gave you a cheeky smile and wink before turning and making his way to his car. 

The urge to scream was immediate as you watched him enter his car before getting into your own head falling against the steering wheel as you tried to balance the butterflies in your stomach with the confusion racing through your head. 

Jamie sat in his car waiting for you to safely drive away. The large grin on his face wouldn’t be leaving him anytime soon, his days were always made better by making you smile with just his words. He watched as your car drove off, for a man with all the confidence in the world he wasn’t sure when he’d ever be ready enough to admit his feelings to you without making his words seem as though they were just flirty banter. 

Jamie’s mind thought back to his first meeting with you all those years ago, you were one of the only people who wouldn’t put up with his arrogant attitude and now here he was all these years later hoping one day his cutesy words wouldn’t just be something you’d laugh off but instead believed in the same way you believed he was capable of being a better man.

a/n: y’all i love this man, down horrendous for this himbo.

[kquil]

JAMES POTTER | LIKE LOVERS DO

REQUEST :  hiiiii :) if/when u can, smith like this with james or remus lupin? @bobs-fav-cat

(art is by gyung_studio on instagram)

SUM : you and James Potter are just friends —friends that act like they’re in a loving relationship.  

TAGS. : modern au ; muggle au ; idiots in love ; james loves giving you princess treatment ; and you love returning his affections ; just friends being friends ; hehehe~ ; they’re in denial ; domestic fluff ; selfcare session ; biker james? ; james being a sweetheart ; reader being absolute wifey material! ; james and reader being so in love it’s sickening ; the type of sickening that makes you puke rainbows, glitter and love hearts ; mutual pinning! ; slightly based off a tiktok i saw once ; happy ending where they get together ; so much fluff ; scheming gremlin friends ; lily, dorcas and marlene as cupids for reader ; remus, sirius and peter as cupids for james ; idiots in love

LENGTH : 3.6k

“They should wear a sign,” Peter laughs as he and his close friends eye the pair of oblivious idiots across the room, “one that says ‘we’re actually together no matter how much we deny it’,” 

“You said it,” Sirius raises a hand and the two high-five each other before sniggering between themselves.

Across the hall stood you and James. It was a networking event disguised as a formal company party. And even though you and James weren’t each other’s dates to the event, James wore a matching tie to your chosen dress. The two of you unanimously decided to go with the excuse that you had both gone shopping for an outfit together and unconsciously bought matching things. It was only natural because you two were such good, close friends. 

From a distance, the three watch as you lift your left foot up through the high side-slit of your dress and draw attention to your unbuckled heel with a frown. James’ hazel eyes focuses onto your heel as well and immediately places his flute of champagne on a nearby table to help you, as if it was second nature to him; it is second nature to him— taking care of you. He’s kneeling down and re-buckling your heel for you as your hand tentatively places itself on his broad shoulder for balance. 

Once James is finished, he stands back up with a grin, takes up his flute with one hand and wraps his other around your waist to pull you into his side with a smile. Neither of you flinch at the closeness, in fact, you snuggle further into your best friend’s side and tuck your head under his chin so he can place a kiss onto the crown of your head. 

“Wanna bet on who folds first?” Remus speaks up with a devious smirk, Sirius and Peter eagerly voicing their predictions and placing their bets. 

“Oh Jamie!” you gasp and smile widely as your best friend presents you with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, “They’re beautiful,” he helps the floral arrangement into your arms with a satisfied grin, a fondness in his eyes as he watches you savour the scent of the pretty blossoms.

“My pleasure, my dear,” he regales dramatically as you giggle, “I passed by the florist on my way back from lunch at the pub with the boys and thought you’d like them,”

“I do like them,” you lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, “you’re so thoughtful, thank you for thinking of me, James,”

His warm smile softens further and he kisses your temple lovingly, “of course,” aside from the lingering scent of your shampoo and conditioner, James picks up on something more appetising, “what’s that delicious smell, angel?”

“Oh!” reminded of your earlier activities, you lead him into your kitchen where you proceed to find a vase for the arrangement in your arms, “I was baking—”

“Treacle tart!” James cheers and does a goofy little dance in the middle of your kitchen, his excitement obvious. 

“It’s almost done so you popped in at just the right time,” you giggle softly whilst transferring the arrangement into your chosen vase. With a pleased hum, James presses up behind you and places his large hands on the curve of your hips, his thumbs tenderly stroking up and down until he eventually pushes the hem of your shirt up, caressing your soft skin beneath. 

“Mmmmm… lucky me,” he whispers happily into your shoulder, where he begins trailing kisses up your neck. His words send a shiver up your spine and you resist the escalating urge to turn in his arms and lead his lips to cover and press against your own. 

You’re just friends. Nothing more, nothing less. 

James can’t get over how cute you are. 

Even when you’re doing the most mundane things, he can’t help but find you adorable. Like right now. Even with a bright green clay mask on your face, you are adorable, perched on his lap with your knees on either side of his thighs as you spread the same treen mask over his skin. 

“Stop moving, Jamie!” you chastise gently whilst stifling a giggle. 

“You stop moving,” he counters playfully and emphasises his words by placing his big hands on your hips and squeezing your curves briefly. Your only response is to laugh and do your best to continue applying an even coat onto his face. 

“….there!” you huff and set aside your tool to close the clay mask tub, “all done, no thanks to you!” He tickles your sides in retaliation as you climb off his lap and reach for your phone in order to set a timer. His antics were a brief distraction as you bless him with your tinkling giggles. 

“For how long do we keep this on?” 

“15 minutes,” 

He pulls a face, one that makes him look like a duck as he ponders over his thoughts. He looks so ridiculous, especially with the green mask on his face — it was only naturally for you to burst out laughing, “what should we do until then?”

“Stop talking,”

“Wha—?!”

“Not like that, Jamie,” you coo as he pouts dramatically, “we have to stop talking soon or else the mask will crack too much as it dries,” he makes a long noise of realisation at your words and nods obediently, zipping his lips before throwing away the imaginary key. 

No matter what he does, he’s always making you laugh. You’re sure that, even if you’re temporarily banning him from speaking, he would still be able to make you laugh and your clay mask will end up looking like a dried up riverbed. 

You have no complaints, though. 

You weren’t expecting it but you still weren’t too surprised when you see James waiting for you outside — just in time to pick you up after a night out with your close girl friends. He was wearing one of your favourite sweaters of all time, it was soft and big (big enough to make him appear deceivingly smaller than you know his figure is) and is the warmest thing you’ve ever worn. 

“James!” you call out, happy to see him. The build up of fatigue from the whole night melts off your aching limbs like powdered snow under golden sunbeams. Running to him, he greets you with his heart-stopping smiles.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers as soon as he has his arms wrapped around you. 

“Stop it,” you sigh into his shoulder, your face buried into the soft fabric of his sweater, “I look a mess after tonight,” 

He pulls away, enough to meet your eyes and examine your face without having to remove his arms from around you, “If this is you looking a ‘mess’, then I wonder what type of beauty you were earlier tonight,”

His comment makes your heart soar but you don’t let it show on your face, even when he wiggles his eyebrows comically to emphasise his flattering remark. Instead, you narrow your eyes at him before slipping out of his arms and biting your lip at the confused, pitiful whine he lets out. You don’t leave him miserable for long, however, as you’re quickly reaching down to lift up his sweater so that you could pull it over your head and burrow yourself inside. Like the living furnace he is, you’re greeted by such a comforting heat, you forget that you’re both still outside in the wet cold of the night. 

Throwing his head back, James laughs and wraps you up in his arms again, laying his cheek against the top of your head through his sweater. The first time you ever did this, he wasn’t shy about saying how much he loved it. And now, you’ve made it a tradition to do this often during the autumn and winter months. Admittedly, you loved cuddling him like this too; it’s more intimate and you love being surrounded by his warmth. It was a bonus that his scent literally has you in a choke hold under there. You’d happily suffocate on the smell of his cologne, laundry detergent and natural smell. But it also feels as though you’re falling into a trance by some alluringly scented spirit.

“As much as I love holding you like this, dear, I’m still on a mission to get you home safe so…” he looks down at you, hazel eyes turning soft at the adorable sight of you cuddled up to him under his sweater, “can my princess please let me help her into my car and drive her back home safely?”

You didn’t respond, only pouted and whined to express your dislike of pulling away from him as well as the warmth of his soft sweater. James knew instantly what to do. You two were best friends after all; it was a requirement for him to know all your needs telepathically. It was an awkward shuffling of limbs but James managed to slip off his sweater without needing to lift it off your figure and hoists you into his arms before you could start grumbling at the loss of his embrace.

“Not long now — my princess will arrive at her carriage soon~” he sings in a whisper beside your ear, smiling fondly at your soft giggles and adoring the way you wrap your arms around his neck to cuddle him close before needing to pull away so he can carefully sit in his car’s passenger seat. 

“Oh, come on!” Marlene gives an exasperated sigh as you examine the array of snacks laid out before you. In your peripheral, you observe how Lily doesn’t make any moves to stop Marlene from pestering you; instead a small smirk tugs at the corners of her lips, secretly enjoying and wanting to take part in Marlene’s badgering. 

“You come on,” you throw back with a light-hearted glare, “I thought we were going to buy snacks for movie night, not grill me on my friendship with James,”

“Friends, huh?” Dorcas arches a brow as Lily stifles a giggle beside her. All three were eyeing you mischievously as a heat flushes across your cheeks. 

“Stop it you guys,”

“We’ll stop as soon as you stop playing the friendship game with James!” Lily bargains, unable to hold herself back anymore, and you try your hardest not to roll your eyes while your cheeks flood with a familiar warmth. 

“We’re just friends,” it was a painful admission but you’d rather have what you have right now with James than ever risk sabotaging it. 

Marlene examines a strand of her golden hair as Lily leans against her side, “James acts more of a boyfriend to you than just a friend,”

Dorcas speaks up with a hint of impishness, “and I can prove it~”

“How?” you challenge, raising your chin ever so slightly in silent provocation. But Dorcas has no reaction, she just continues to smirk at you. 

“I’m gonna need your phone first,” you hesitate from the devilish sparkle in her eyes but eventually relent, cursing the weakness that was a result of your aching heart. Dorcas types away on your phone for a moment as Marlene and Lily peer over her shoulder and snicker at what they read. She doesn’t allow you to read the message she typed out before hitting send and handing your phone back

It takes a moment for you to get over your shock and look through the message she sent. It was sent straight to James, lovingly named as ‘My Idiot ❤️’ in your contacts, and it read: ‘James, this scary looking guy keeps following me around in the shop and it’s creeping me out! I can’t find the girls either 😰 what do I do?’. Your jaw drops and you can’t find any words to voice whatever it is you’re feeling; a mix of anger, upset, shock and creeping curiosity over what they have planned.  

Not a minute goes by and your phone is getting rapid notifications from James messaging you, he even tries to call you but the girls snatch your phone away before you could answer. They shake their heads at you and you huff, crossing your arms. You would have protested more from the rising anxiety you feel over having to lie to James but you were so curious. In the end, you reluctantly accept their plotting and try to prepare yourself for what’s to come.

For a minute, the message notifications stop from your phone and Lily feels her phone buzz from inside her bag. The three giggle as Lily rushes to take out her phone. From the side lines, you continue observing everything with your heart pounding rapidly in your chest. Lily types back a response and all three look up at you in unison, their eyes swimming with mischief.

“I’m setting a stopwatch to see how long just-friend-Potter gets here,” Marlene snickers and you groan, Dorcas and Lily giggling on either side of her. As much as you love them, they’re such a nuisance sometimes…

You could only guess that Lily sent him her location and now all of you were left patiently waiting for James to appear. 

Not even 15 minutes passes before James comes storming into view, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in all black and without his glasses. Even without his glasses on, when James glances over and catches a glimpse of you, recognition crosses his unfriendly features and he storms over. Within seconds, he’s pulling you into a warm embrace. 

“Oh thank god,” he breathes a sigh of relief and presses his face into your hair, “you’re okay… —are you okay?” you look up as he pulls away and searches for your eyes, squinting to be able to do so without the aid of his glasses. 

“Y-yeah, I’m alright. The umm, the creep disappeared a little while ago,” you muster a small smile of reassurance, still uncomfortable with lying to him, before managing to softly ask your burning question, “why aren’t you wearing your glasses?” habitually, you feel about for the breast pocket of the leather jacket he has on and pull out his circular specs. 

As you carefully clean his lenses on your shirt, he goes to explain, “I wanted to look scary so that creep leaves you alone,” you’re quick to realise that without his glasses he would be forced to squint so that it looks like he’s glaring. It also clicks in your head that he wore all black so he could look even more intimidating. It was unusual for him to wear just black, normally that was Sirius’ thing, but you’re not complaining; James looks really attractive dressed in black, his hair tousled around messily and without his glasses on.

“Thank you, Jamie,” he grins boyishly after you put his glasses back on for him, taking a moment to adjust them until they sit aligned and comfortable. By habit, you comb your fingers through his untamed hair and James, in turn, presses a kiss to your temple. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay, princess,” your heart skips a beat at the nickname — he’s called you that so many times but he’s reserved it especially for you and it makes you feel so special, “do you want me to give you a ride home?” he lifts up the motorbike helmet in his hand, which you immediately recognise. Your curious eyes meet his hazel hues and he smiles bashfully, “I borrowed Sirius’ bike to get here quicker…” he shuffles around his feet, nervous under your gaze —he hate lying to you too, “okay okay… I took his bike without asking but I promise to give it back as soon as I get you home safe!” 

You give a small giggle and wrap your arms around his waist and bury your face into his muscular chest. It’s an embrace that James eagerly returns, petting your hair whilst speaking over your head once he finally spots your three friends. 

“Are you guys okay too?”

“Gee, thanks for the concern, Potter,” Marlene rolls her eyes as Lily and Dorcas crack up, “yeah, we’re good,” 

“Good, good,” James immediately goes back to focus on holding you close and kissing the crown of your head, affectionate and sweet. You could always rely on him to be there for you no matter what and the thought made butterflies explode into a fluttering haze in your stomach. 

Dorcas had proven her point. 

It was clear now that James prioritised you over anyone else. And you didn’t know whether to be flustered and scream for joy or melt into a puddle of goo. 

“She’s not my girlfriend so shut up,” James huffs and groans as he rolls over to lay on his stomach across the length of the sofa whilst Remus, Sirius and Peter sat in a scattered array about the living room. 

“Says the motorbike thief,” Sirius hisses playfully, shooting a superficial glare at his long time best friend/non-blood-related brother. 

“She really does act like your girlfriend more than your friend, Prongs,” Remus chimes up, setting his book aside as Peter offers him several cubes of chocolate. 

“I don’t get why you two don’t just date each other,” it was Peter who speaks up this time and James can’t help but roll his eyes that even Peter was on his ass about this. 

“That’s right! You don’t get it!” they wait for him to continue with a ‘so’ before demanding something but James just presses his burning hot face into a cushion and has a silent tantrum.  

“I’ll prove you wrong!” Sirius claims boldly and when James looks over, his biker friend was rapidly typing away at his phone, “I’ll give it around 20 minutes until she gets here,” 

James raises a brow, “Who?”

“Your not-girlfriend, of course!” 

“What did you say?” Remus asks what they were all wanting the answer to. 

“Oh nothing~ just that Jamesie-kins over here is really upset over something but doesn’t want to tell us why so we don’t know what to do to help him feel better,” Sirius fakes a pout and watery eyes as James gapes at him, horrified. 

“HOW IS THAT GONNA PROVE ANYTHING?!”

“If she gets here in 20 minutes then that means she prioritises your hurt feelings over going to her favourite over-priced restaurant with Pandora,” James’ eyes nearly bulge out. 

“That’s today?!”

Sirius’ devious smirk was answer enough. 

“I say 10 minutes!” Peter bets. 

“15!” Remus adds on.  

Remus wins the bet when you get there 14 minutes after Sirius’ text message was sent. Your arms are piled up high with James’ favorite junk food snacks, ranging from sweet to savoury. Over your shoulders, you wear your fluffiest blanket (James’ favourite) as a cape and rush forward to drape it over him. No time was wasted as you silently move around their shared flat at lightening speed, putting on the TV and switching to his favourite, comfort show, laying out his snacks on the coffee table and putting the kettle on before snuggling down under the blanket with him. It was a tight fit for the two of you on the sofa but neither of you minded; you were both cuddle bugs and enjoyed the closeness. 

“Get out, you three! Leave Jamie and I alone!” you speak for the first time to shoo the three boys away. They happily oblige, Remus smirking as Sirius and Peter cough up their betted amounts and close the living room door behind them. 

For a long moment, you merely stay there, your arms wrapped around James’ shoulders, one hand lovingly petting his hair as your other presses his face into your chest. James wasn’t shy about voicing how this was his most comforting position for cuddles and it made his heart race that you had cancelled your long awaited plans just to console him. 

“What’s wrong Jamie?” you finally ask, voice soft and slow with patience, “Sirius told me you weren’t feeling so well… but you’re not ill? Are you?” he feels you press the back of your hand against his forehead to check his temperature as he finally locks his strong arms around your midsection and pulls you even closer, “No you’re not, thank goodness,” he falls in love with the relief he hears in your voice. He loves falling in love with you over and over again; it’s so easy, “what can I do to help?”

He doesn’t know why he held back for so long. It was all so clear now. The fact that your eyes sparkled around him the way his did when he looked at you was so unbelieved before, he kinda just voluntarily blinded himself. But now, it was like he was seeing colours for the first time. James just can’t believe it took Sirius, of all people, to make him realise it. What a joke… he almost wants to laugh. But he can’t, not when his heart was ready to beat out of his chest for you. 

“Jamie?”

“…a kiss…” it was a whisper but you heard him so clearly. And he knows because he heard your breath hitch. 

“—what?”

“I want a kiss…to feel better,”

Not wanting to raise your hopes, you press a kiss to his forehead and your heart deafens your ears as it beats loudly against your eardrums. 

“A proper kiss,” he raises his head and pulls up to level his lips with yours, his hazel eyes melting your gaze, “like lovers do,”

You’ve waited so long for this moment that you couldn’t even fathom that it was actually happening and your entire world slowed to a standstill. It wasn’t until James had pressed his full lips against yours that you felt your senses come to life with so much intensity that you felt like you wanted to faint. But you wouldn’t dare miss your first kiss for anything. 

Like lovers do, you kissed. Like lovers do, you embraced. Like lovers do, you whispered sweet words, a life long promise, to one another, “I love you,” 

A/N : this started off as a timestamp that i sneakily wrote this request into (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ i didn’t know how to conclude it at first but i just kept writing and writing and now it’s finished haha! i hope you darlings enjoy the read! and i would also like to humbly tag my beloved moot @diputy for reasons she understands on a deep level (⸝⸝⸝• ω •⸝⸝⸝) ♡

TAGLIST : @melinajenkins @aastonishment @until-i-found-you @corp0real @celestcies @lovelydoveval @inlovewithremusjohnlupin @calums-betch @futurecorps3 @hihihi1112 @simpingforthe80s @yrluvjane @chaosofmanyfandoms @storyofaromance @loving-and-dreaming @somewereinthegalaxi @ashreblogsficshere @cassandra-nerezza-black @stray-bi-kids @ttkttt @notasadgirlipromise @desikudisworld @volturissideslut @arilxup88 @fallencrescentmoon @topaz125 @xxrougefangxx @starchaser-lily @probablypossesedbysatan @agent-tempest @ghostgardn @rosalyn-s @seungtelevision

[ao3feed-tedlasso]

Lost in the dark

by 1AceClovers0

"Jamie fucking Tartt, is that because you are a fucking tart or twat?" It's one hell of an introduction and Jamie was not expecting it but when he looked at the woman infront of him he could see the obvious glint of amusement in her eyes. She was trying to make him laugh and funnily enough it had worked. ---------------------------------------- Jamie Tartt is lost in the darkness one evening after being denied a spot in his old team but then comes an enigmatic woman who might just pull him out of the dark. If Jamie believed in any higher power then he might have thought Ria was a gift from God. ---------------------------------------- Maria "Ria" Santiago is lost and visiting her home after spending years abroad is jarring but then she meets no.1 prick Jamie Tartt and thinks for a moment maybe there is something worthwhile about being back home. Afterall she is used to dealing with pricks.

Words: 97, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Football is life

Fandoms: Ted Lasso (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M

Characters: Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent, Keeley Jones, Original Characters, Ted Lasso, Coach Beard (Ted Lasso), Trent Crimm, Sam Obisanya, Colin Hughes, Flo "Sassy" Collins, Dani Rojas (Ted Lasso), Jan Maas, James Tartt Sr., Phoebe (Ted Lasso)

Relationships: Jamie Tartt/Original Female Character(s)

Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Sports, Angst, Fluff and Angst

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/48681373

[softsliders29]

Hey there! Just finished season 2 of Ted Lasso and I am having feelings for Jamie Tartt. Could I request Jamie being a prick to people who misgender his they/them partner?

Don't be a dick (Jamie Tart x nb!reader)

Rating: T

Warning(s): misgendering, fluff, slight angst

A/N: thank you so much for the request. This was honestly very enjoyable to write. I hope I did your prompt justice and that you liked it!

After a successful match for AFC Richmond, it was time for a press meeting. And Jamie, who had scored the winning goal, was up next. You were in the crowd, close to the back to not draw much attention. This was about him after all. But you did want to be there to support him.

You were always supportive of him, being by his side through a lot. And until recently no one knew about the nature of your relationship. But recently some tabloid articles had started circulating. You weren’t a well-known person. Not famous by any means. So there wasn’t a lot out there about you. So you figured it was only a matter of time until people started asking. You almost didn’t want to be in the press room for this very reason, but you stuck it out for Jamie.

The first few questions started rolling in, pretty tame and mostly about his match performance. “How did that play come about?” “What’s next for Richmond?” “What’s next for you?” All the standard questions asked at these kinds of things. And he answered them perfectly, at least you thought he did.

But then someone had a different question.

“What do you have to say about the dating rumors revolving around you and an unnamed guy?” A journalist asked and you could feel yourself deflate.

“First off, they aren’t a guy. Second off, my private life is private.” He shrugged. You kept your head down even more, definitely not wanting to be noticed now.

More hands went up and you could tell he was a little annoyed. But he kept going anyway. He pointed to another reporter.

“So you are seeing someone? Is she another athlete or well-known in other areas?” The reporter asked.

“Again, I’m not going to speak about this. I’m not even sure if they want to be associated with me.” He shrugged. You almost laughed. Of course you’d want to be associated with him. But you loved that he wasn’t speaking for you. You hadn’t really talked about making your relationship public but you wouldn’t be opposed. It was just a lot to be known in the public eye for something like that.

“So you and her aren’t on good terms?” The same reporter asked. Jamie frowned.

“Their pronouns are they/them. Don’t be a dick about it.” Jamie said. You couldn’t see the reporter’s response to it, but it obviously wasn’t good, as Jamie continued talking. “Alright, get this guy out of here.” Jamie said. Soon after, the man was escorted out.

You were shocked but didn’t say anything. You didn’t want anyone to see you.

“Anyone have anything else to say?” Jamie said, testy with the crowd. But the crowd was silent. The next few questions went back to football. You were more than relieved at that.

As the media junket finished up, you made your way over to Jamie and he walked with you out of the media room. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see you there.

“Pretty eventful.” You commented once you were alone.

“I don’t like people being shitty towards you.” He shrugged and you kissed him. He was sweeter than he gave himself credit for, you were sure of that. He was a lot more than he gave himself credit for.

“Well thank you, I appreciate it. And about everything, I don’t care if we go public or if we don’t. I’m fine with either. As long as you're comfortable.” You said.

“I was going to say the same thing. As long as you’re comfortable.” He said.

“Then how about we just don’t do anything about it. Act normal. Who really cares?” You offered. He nodded.

“I like that idea.” He smiled at you, taking your hand in his. You both made your way out of the stadium after saying your proper goodbyes and getting everything you needed.

You didn’t care who saw you as you walked hand in hand. People would think what they wanted. As long as you had Jamie by your side you wouldn’t care.

[siriusmydeer]

you said ideas for james potter fluff? i have one!! what if your on your period and you like bleed on the bed or something like that and he helps you clean up and is like p”periods are normal when your upset?

his favourite person

james potter x fem!reader

summary: james comforts you on your period.

word count: 1.6k

warnings: period cramps, swearing, kissing, mentions of dying/funerals, pet names, insecurity, mentions of migraines, mentions of razors and injury, mentions of hostility

a/n: so i has to modify this in a way i could write it but i hope you like it !!

the searing burn of agony was beginning to broil in the pit of your belly whilst you had shifted your tensed legs to be clutched in front of your abdomen. the hues of orange spilt from the corners of your lilac curtains as a siren that the day had officially begun, meanwhile the school would be swarming with boisterous and inconsiderate students of their classmate's preferences.

you audibly groaned now breaking the peaceful morning silence, suddenly shoving your hand in your viewpoint before the blaring lights could potentially give you a migraine from the fluoresce light; as well as your stomach could barely endure the swirling affliction that only uplifted as you began to awaken from your blissful as well as pain spared snooze of dreams about treacle tarts and winning the house cup.

every time you gulped it felt like razors were being trapped in the cavern of your throat, anytime you shifted your body beneath your blankets it felt like you were walking a tightrope that had snapped and you had fallen into a pit of sharp rocks that were shaped in fury. you had felt every minuscule amount of pain in your muscles that only to continue as you laid atop of your mattress.

you sighed whilst fluttering your eyelids a few times before haphazardly opening the small drawer that was placed beside your bed, glimpsing beneath your fingers at the empty box of tampons that had been used up from yesterday and you foolishly forgot to refill. you groaned yet again, your motivation ceasing from your body to trudge over to the healer's wing for another box.

amid your mind rant over the first inconvenience of the day the door of your dormitory that mildly creaked due to the ageing hinges from decades ago. auburn hair suddenly cascading in your viewpoint and aquamarine irises staring at you once your hand had been removed from your eyes due to her manipulation.

“lily, are you alright?” you inquired with a tinge of sarcasm lingering in your voice, a small teasing crease in your brow as her face remained to hover over your own. she proceeded to press a small kiss to your temple and swiped some of your mangled tuffs away from your searing cheeks.

“how’re you feeling?” she inquired in a murmur, trying to leave the tranquillity scorning through the air due to the peaceful atmosphere that remained through the night to the early hours of the morning.

“like shit.”

“i assumed, not coming to classes?” she inquired again with a sigh, glancing over your nightstand that was piled with transfiguration homework, a burnt-out candle with wax spilt onto the wooden stand that she would have to scrape off later due to your melancholic mood mixed with your fatigue, and a tea that had been finished more than likely a few days ago that you hadn’t put away in the kitchens yet.

“no, ‘m dying. give me a nice eulogy, love.” you ridiculed with a smirk as your hand moved back to your eyes whilst the natural ivory daylight only began filtering through your dormitory and seeped through the curtains.

“i’ll bring you something after lunch.” she finished with a small kiss on your forehead and the doors creaking yet again as a signal she had left and you were alone yet again with another attempt to sleep away the antagonizing churn of torture coiling in your belly.

as she had trudged off to the gryffindor towers she had run into a familiar bespectacled boy that looked like he had walked into the wrong store after losing his parents as a young boy, his irises moving erratically as well while his hands were anxiously gliding through the familiar brunet tuffs he was almost illustrious for.

as he caught sight of the ginger he began to haul the strap of his nap sack over the burly muscles of his shoulder and strode over to her hastily. his eyes remained searching around the ivory corridors for your house colours in case you were mixed amongst the bunch of students.

“you alright, james?”

he covered his mouth to quickly cough into his fist before he spoke, “yeah, yeah, fine. have you seen y/n? she doesn’t normally miss class.” he articulated with a pronounced frown following a creased brow as he spoke moving his hand around animatedly.

lily’s face began to contort into a rather shocked expression at his surprised demeanour. she scratched the nape of her neck a few times before answering his oblivious question, “yeah, just, erm, lady problems. she’s in her dorm if you wanna see her. but she may be hostile.” she warned with a grin before sauntering off to transfiguration to give professor mcgonagall knowledge and reason of your absence.

“lady problems?” he murmured to himself in evident incertitude. if someone had turned the corner they would’ve blatantly assumed the quidditch captain had gone mad talking to himself rather than figuring out what the gryffindor girl had meant.

did she mean—?

without a second blip of thought, the bespectacled boy opted to skip his classes and rather find out what ‘lady problems’ lily had been rambling about. he trudged to where your common room had remained, and removed the charm on the stairs that had kept males away from entering female dormitories.

he knocked rather harshly without a thought of consideration, hearing a groan emit from the other side. his brow corrugated in a simian frown, only more evident in his features as he pushed open the door steadily. he heard the creaking in the hinges— almost like it was a small bell ringing every time someone had emerged from the other side.

his eyes swooped over the crevices of the room, the small pile of clothes that was spewed out on a chair with creasing forming in them, your school bag is thrown at the side of your bed with textbooks and ink pots spilling onto the floor as well as your bed comforter tremendously crumpled and piled over your silhouette as well as your head.

“darling?” he whispered. his footsteps light on the wood floor as he strode closer. he heard a little ‘mhm’ murmur out underneath the blankets whilst he moved near the four-poster bed.

“‘m guessing lily told you.”

“yeah, lily told me.”

“go away, i’m embarrassed enough as it is.” you began to articulate sternly. your head popping out from under the covers to narrow your eyes into a cerulean pool of blue. his face twisted into shambles of perplexity at your abnormal request of his absence when usually you enjoyed his company regularly.

“why? it’s like— normal.” he questioned with a confused scowl, he continued, a scrambling amount of letters forming in his mind as a way to comfort you as best as he knew. “because, you're a girl. and girls go through all that stuff.” he continued while placing himself on the side of your bed. your brows formed a subtle crease at his regard for your rather agitated and embarrassed state.

you deliberated for a few seconds, opting to pull down the covers of the opposite side of your bed allowing the boy to remove his shoes along with his slacks that hastily fell to the ground and climb next to you as you slowly shifted due to the tensing of your muscles.

“do you want me to grab you anything, m’love.” he murmured into your clothed shoulder, a tender kiss following in its wake. you closed your eyes, your view completely diminishing whilst relishing in the feeling of his mellow torso completely melding into your own like a personal heater that happened to be your cuddler of a boyfriend.

“yeah, but not right now.”

he nodded into your neck, his arms slowly capturing your midriff in a warming clutch. his left palm splaying against your lower abdomen, the balmy touch dissolving into the tense muscles of your belly— pushing you into moderate peace after the comparatively antagonizing morning you had endured.

it was silent for a few minutes, both of you completely cherishing the silence and peace among the both of you. his slight respires fanning over your neck while his hand stayed intact with your lower abdomen. “i don’t want you to be embarrassed when something like this happens. you’re my girl, i don’t want you to hide from me.”

“‘m sorry i just get so— upset and angry, i didn’t want you to think i was annoying or something.” you murmured back demeaningly with a faint sniff, the slight play of guilt on your sensorium building at your sensitive demeans of the week following your mood fluctuations, feeling as if you’ve ignored someone who cares for you. “no need to be sorry,” he began, kissing against the pulse point of your neck, “could never think my favourite person is annoying.”

“‘m not sirius.”

“no offense to sirius, but he’s not m’favourite person.”

“hmm, so s’me?” a smirk began to graze your lips at his dulcet demeanour, most likely because you had been a wretched mess of mood swings like a seesaw going back and forth since the crack of dawn. he nodded bashfully into the confined space of your shoulder. “‘m honoured, jamie.”

he chuckled once before faintly squeezing your upper midriff once more, attempting to completely avoid your lower belly in efforts to soothe you from the writhing pain he had never been accustomed to but he would siphon every single last bit if he could.

“you should be, ‘m the muscular, sexy, hot quidditch captain.” he mused with a grin quirking on his lips at the fact you were beginning to recuperate at his affections.

cocky beautiful bastard.

taglist: @kittykylax @ronbrokemyheart @aspiringsloth20 @amourtentiaa @msmb @five-cups-of-coffee @emmaev @serenitywilderness @artemis1orion @miss-starkov @siriusbarnesslut @inglourious-imagines @i-love-scott-mccall @emmaev @famdomhideout @hufflepogue @kirascottage @luvvninaz @miraclesoflove @black-like-my-soul @slytherclawbitch @90steaology

[neonun-au]

the space between time | xiao dejun

pairing: time traveller!xiaojun x reader genre: angst, mild fluff, time travel au warnings: none word count: 2.6k song: hopeless love by jamie park

for anon ♡ if you’re reading this, please let me know what you think of the story

The winter wind nips at your skin--biting and pricking as you stand still on the pier, eyes cast out to the sea. You tug your sweater tighter around your shivering frame as you watch the waves roll in and wait. Dawn emerges over the horizon, breaking the monotony of blues and grey with brilliant streaks of yellow. Closing your eyes you inhale the salty sea air, breathing the cold into your lungs--a cleanse for the soul. 

Every year, on the same day, you repeat this process. You drive to the same pier in the dark of the morning, a thermos of hot coffee warm in the palms of your hands, and wait in the same spot you’ve always waited. 

In time, as the sun starts to make its way higher in the sky--warding off some of the previous chill in the air--you hear the footsteps as they approach. A steady pace, not rushing but neither taking their time. A smile blooms in the corners of your mouth, only breaking free when the footsteps come to a halt and his warm arms wrap around your waist. 

“Hi,” Dejun sighs against your ear, resting his chin on your shoulder as he holds you firmly against himself.

“Hi,” you lean back against him, revelling in the familiar comfort of his body against yours. 

“Good to see you,” he says, smiling, as you pull your gaze away from the sea and turn to face him. He shines before you, yellow and gold in the morning light. The same eyes, the same smile--the same familiar warmth radiating from within like a star--but still everytime feels like the first. 

“It always is,” you laugh, slipping your hand into his waiting palm. “Ready?” 

He nods, tightening his grip on yours, “let’s go.” 

Hand in hand you walk across the pier and past the fairground. The steel structures that make up the fair rise into the sky like monoliths--casting shadows down on you as you weave through them. Still too early for them to start moving in their constant machinations. The silence from the sleeping giants bathes you in a sense of comfort and solitude. No one save yourself and Dejun inhabit the pier at this time of day, in the chilly haze of this February morning. 

At the end of the boardwalk, past the ferris wheel and spinning strawberries, you lay out a blanket and take a seat--offering up the array of pastries and fruits to the man next to you with a smile. 

“Delicious,” he says, biting into a homemade jam tart--expression serene and content. “As always.” 

You laugh and take a bit of your own pastry. The delicate, flaky layers of butter and flour, sweet and tart jam, vanilla cream--all coming together in a medley of flavours in your mouth. An experience you save for this day each year--both the time spent preparing the pastries, and the time spent eating them. Humming in agreement, you nod. “They are good. I think this year’s batch turned out much better, not as sweet as last year.” 

“It could be all sugar and I would still eat it,” he responds lightly, leaning over the basket of goods to place a soft kiss on your cheek--a kiss sticky with the residue of jam on his lips.

The laughter fades as a bitter wind picks up, rustling the edge of the picnic blanket. Dejun shifts beside you with a sigh, gazing off into the brightening sky. You feel the shift in his mood, subtle but there--you’re not entirely sure if he’s trying to hide it or not. “What’s wrong?” 

“Oh, uh,” he raises a hand to scratch at the back of his neck--ruffling his hair in the process, “nothing.” 

The spell is broken, but you try to shake it off. Try to recapture the magic of the morning as it slips away like sand between your fingers. Over the years, you’ve become so attuned to this day--to the atmosphere, to the tension, to him--that anything that disturbs the carefully constructed peace feels like an unwelcome thorn on the flower of the day. It pricks you and blood wells up beneath the surface, threatening to spill out at any moment. 

Dejun notices the shift as well and reaches out for you, with a smile and a hand. “Come on,” he says, tugging you off the blanket along with him, “let’s take a walk by the water.” 

Brushing aside your worries you follow, abandoning your picnic on the wooden boardwalk to the seagulls that circle overhead. Willingly sacrificing the pastries that took you days to make for the sake of recapturing Dejun--recapturing the magic. Stitching time back together. 

Dejun drapes his coat over your shoulders as you step off the boardwalk and onto the grey, pebble beach. You smile into the warmth, tugging it tighter around you and revelling in the scent of him. Dejun wanders off to the water’s edge, leaning forward to grab a pebble and skip it across the grey, undulating surface. You watch, eyes fixed on his profile as he knits his brows in concentration. Etching his face into your mind, overlapping this image with all the ones previously held so tight in your heart. 

He stumbles forward, arms windmilling in an attempt to regain balance, and you laugh, taking a step towards him across the rocks. You slip your hands into the pockets of his coat, eager to warm them. A square, velvet box greets your right hand. You wrap your hand around it, feeling the velvet as it brushes against your skin. Curiosity overwhelms; the desire to pull out the box, to examine the contents, floods your mind. 

“_____,” Dejun calls out to you from where he stands by the water, waving you over with a beaming smile.

You release the box, reluctantly, and make your way across the pebble beach towards him. He takes your hand in his as you get close, steadying you on the rocks to prevent the water from seeping into your shoes. For a moment he holds you tight in his grasp--arms steady around your shoulders--and looks out over the water. A soft kiss in your hair, mumbled affections against your skin. “I love you,” he sighs--soft and tender--before letting his hands fall and leaning over to pick up another pebble. 

“Ever skipped rocks?” 

You cock an eyebrow at him and let out a small laugh, “yeah, when I was like 6.” 

“Okay, so it’s high time you tried again, right?” He places the flat stone in the palm of your hand and turns you to the side, wrapping an arm around you to bend your own into position. You feel his breath on your neck as he inhales, lifting your arm and bringing it down again in one fell swoop. You flick your wrist under his direction and watch the stone as it soars through the air and descends towards the surface of the water--watching as it sinks immediately. 

“Oops,” Dejun laughs, releasing you from his grasp and leaning over to find another suitable rock. 

“Dejun,” you start, mind returning to the contents of his pocket, “what’s this?” 

He straightens up, eyes widening as you produce the small, blue box from the pocket and hold it in front of him. “Oh,” you watch his expression for any shifting moods, any hidden thoughts, but it betrays only open-faced surprise, “it’s a gift. I was going to…wait until later to give it to you, but,” he reaches for the box, fingertips brushing against yours as he takes it. 

You watch, curious, as he opens the small velvet case and lifts out a necklace. A shining silver necklace glints in the light of winter sun. It dangles in front of you, casting glimmers of light across the grey pebbles below, and you watch as Dejun reaches over to clasp it around your neck. An hourglass hangs from the end of the chain--resplendent in silver and sapphire. 

“Do you like it?” He asks, resting his hands on your shoulders, eyes turned up towards you--sheepish, nervous. 

“It’s beautiful,” you reply, twirling the charm between your fingers--watching as it shines. 

“I hoped so,” his hands fall, coming to rest back at his side, “it’s, uh, something to remember me by.” 

Dejun is already halfway back towards the boardwalk by the time you catch him, grasping onto his arm. “Remember you by?” The pleading tone in your voice doesn’t go unnoticed and he winces at the sound. 

“I was hoping,” he starts, voice breaking as he runs a cold hand over his face, “that we could...that--” Dejun’s words fail and he looks at you--helpless and lost. The warmth in his brown eyes cast over in shadow. 

“What, Dejun? That we could what?” You take his hands in your, attempting to coax the words out of him. 

“We can’t meet anymore,” he finally says, after a tense moment, and you feel the beach fall out from beneath you. His arms around you as your knees give out, as you fall to the earth. “I’m sorry,” he breathes the words into your hair between kisses. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Why?” You manage to choke out the question--the only one that matters--as Dejun leads you to a nearby bench. His face swims before your eyes. Contorted, wrong. 

“We never should have met,” the words come out on a sigh, spoken out towards the expanding sea. 

“But we did.” 

“We did.” 

“So why now?” Anger now, bitterness after all these years. Years of promises spoken and kept, of meetings and meals shared. Memories fanned out in your mind in technicolour--sparking your past to life in a blinding flash of brilliance. Swelling in your heart like the sea in front of you. 

“It was always going to end, _____.” He doesn’t sound entirely convinced. Maybe it’s your mind grasping on to any final string of hope--desperate to turn back time. To restart the day and forget this ever happened. Or maybe he feels the sea inside of him as well, waves crashing against his heart. 

“Why now?” 

“We’re still young, _____. We can still have lives--full lives. You still have time to be happy,” he tilts your face towards him, meeting your eyes with his sincere gaze. Softness swims in the brown depths and you feel his soul reaching out to yours through space and time. The way you’ve always felt it. 

“I am happy,” you respond, leaning forward into him. 

“Today,” he sighs against you, holding you tight to his chest. “But fulfilling is one day out of the year? What sort of future is there for us, when this is all we have?” 

“I don’t care about the future,” fingers tightening in his sweater, soaking in his warmth. “I just want you.” 

“I do care, about you and about your future.” Leaning back he forces you to look at him again, to meet his gaze. Pain and heartbreak laying openly on his face, “and I’m not changing my mind.” His gaze sharpens with determination and the reality sinks into your chest. “So let’s just enjoy what we have left today, please?” 

Your feet ache to run. To stand and to run as far from him as they will take you. Hopefully far enough that he will forget everything he said--that he will take it back. If you let them, your feet could carry you to next year, to your next meeting. You could start over. Tears sting at your eyes as you nod, ignoring your feet and following your heart. 

Your heart that knows that he is right--that he has always been right. 

And even if you didn’t know, you would be a fool to waste these final hours with him. To let him slip through your grasp like smoke. 

“I love you,” he breathes, pressing his soft lips to yours. The taste of skin mixing with the salt of your tears as they slip between you. He raises a thumb to brush them off before tugging you off the bench. You follow behind, holding his hand tight in yours, as he leads you up the boardwalk to gather your picnic before heading towards the fairground.

--

Night descends as you sit atop the ferris wheel, Dejun’s arm draped over your shoulder--casual yet firm. You feel time stop as you sit in silence, basking in the moment as it stretches on. The lights of the fairground blink to life below you, ambient music filtering out through the air from the myriad of speakers dotted around the boardwalk. 

“Why did it have to be like this?” You ask, disturbing the momentary peace. Unable to shake off the gloom that had been swirling over you, clouding your thoughts. 

“I don’t know,” Dejun sighs, intertwining his fingers with yours as they rest on the metal guardrail. “It seems grossly unfair, though.” 

A mirthless laugh escapes you as you nod in agreement, gazing out over the last remnants of the setting sun. The last remnants of your hope and happiness slipping away with it as the sky is engulfed in black. 

--

The sea laps against the beach as you walk along in the dark, hand in hand. Lights from the boardwalk filter out dimly over you, casting long shadows that disappear amongst the grey pebbles beneath your feet. Time is slipping away, following the path of the moon as it meanders in the sky overhead--reminding you of the inevitable end. You hold tight to Dejun’s hand, grateful for the last vestiges of his warmth against your salt-stained skin. 

“Promise you’ll remember me?” He asks, nerves tainting his voice as he speaks. 

Your breath catches in your throat, thick with the fear of the end. “Of course, how could I ever forget?” 

“Thank you,” he halts in place, tugging you into his chest one last time. Lips peppering your face, your head, your hands with tenderness. Committing you to taste, to memory. You follow suit, tracing his features with your finger, until he drifts from your grasp and moves further down the beach. 

“Dejun!” You call after him, desperate. He turns towards you, bathed in moonlight, waiting. “I love you!” 

You see his lips form the words, but the sounds is lost to the wind. He vanishes--swallowed by darkness and time.

--

The boardwalk hasn’t changed in a year. The same weatherbeaten planks make up the pier, the same benches dot the walkway. The ferris wheel still stands as a monolith against the dull, grey sky. Your fingers clasp onto the hourglass dangling from your neck--glinting silver in the weak rays of the sun--as you wander the pier. Searching without any hope for resolution. You had your ending, you’re just prolonging it. 

The day slips through your fingers like sand, formless and weightless. The sun is dipping behind the horizon as you climb onto the ferris wheel. From up top you can see the entire beach--the couples wandering over the rocks, the few children in heavy coats running along the water's edge. It takes a moment to sink in, to connect inside of your mind, but a lone figure strides down the rocks--glinting in the fading sunlight like a star. Panic bubbles up inside of your chest as you frantically look for a way off the ride. The carriage descends slowly to the ground, wasting time, and the operator barely has a chance to unlatch the guardrail before you’ve bolted off the ferris wheel. 

Your feet carry you to the beach, moving without thought, eyes searching frantically around. The last few stragglers take to the stairs back onto the pier--leaving you alone under the purple sky of the evening. 

“Dejun!” Your voice is hoarse, strained with effort and desperation. 

No sound but the wind can be heard, whipping past your ears with a ferocity. The fragile feeling of hope shatters in your chest and you’re left alone with the sea.

© 2020, neonun-au

[tickletastic]

Hopelessly Devoted

Fandom: The Haunting of Bly Manor

Ship: Jamie/Dani

Summary: Jamie comes home to Dani making dinner, domestic fluff and lip-syncing ensues.

“Hey babe,” Jamie didn’t have to raise her voice for her greeting to echo into the kitchen of their small apartment. She took off her boots before rounding the hall into the kitchen, wrapping Dani up from behind. 

“Well hello to you too,” Dani responds, turning her head just enough so that she can meet her wife’s lips with her own. Jamie rocks her, nuzzling her face into the crook of Dani’s neck before letting go. 

“That smells amazing, Poppins. What are you making?” She pulls a chair out from the dining set and sits down, watching Dani with a glint of suppressed fondness.

“Pasta. I even made homemade pesto.” Dani smiles, looking away from the sauce that she is stirring just long enough to watch Jamie’s expression turn to one of bliss. “I’m also making tarts for dessert. Would you mix my filling? It’s in that bowl right there.”

“That sounds delicious, where’d you even learn how to cook like this?” Jamie inquires while she grabs the bowl, genuinely curious as to how Dani comes up with so many new recipes to try out. 

Dani looks around as if to see if anybody else is around to hear them, she lowers her voice to a whisper, though the playful smile on her lips gives her away: “this might be cheating, but Owen sends me recipes once a week.”

Jamie barks out a laugh in response to Dani’s silliness, making sure not to overstir the batter. She couldn’t even try to count the amount of times that Owen had lectured the two of them, and Hannah, on the importance of not over stirring. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, only the low hum of the radio to be heard, before Dani’s eyes lit up with that excited twinkle that Jamie would never get tired of. “Jamie, could you turn up the radio?”

Jamie smiles, chuckling but turning it on nonetheless. Dani hums along softly to the tune, swaying back and forth during the verse. She goes still just before the chorus, and Dani gets worried until she realizes what the build-up was for.

In one swift movement, Dani yanks the ladle from the pot, sending hot pesto all around the room, some even hitting the ceiling. 

“Dani! Why’d you-” Jamie is cut off by Dani’s dramatic use of the ladle as a microphone.

Dani spins around to face her wife before singing loudly into her makeshift mic, “there’s no way to hide since you pushed my love aside!”

Jamie gives her a look that conveys disbelief and amusement all at once, watching as Dani walks closer to her. 

“I’m out of my head, hopelessly devoted to you!” Dani dramatically falls to her knees in front of Dani, enunciating every “you” with a pointed finger in her wife’s direction. By the end of the chorus, Dani has begun to dramatically fake cry, still singing passionately into the ladle as it drips pesto onto the tiled floor. 

The next verse sees Dani pacing the kitchen, looking into her pot of sauce as if to mimic Olivia Newton-John’s reflection in the puddle. By the end of the song, she had gravitated to Jamie’s lap, personally serenading her with the last chorus. 

They smile at each other, Jamie leaning in to touch their foreheads while wrapping her hands around Dani’s waist.

“You’re so silly.” Jamie laughs, shaking her head lightly. 

Dani hums in disagreement. “Maybe you’re just not silly enough.“

Jamie barely gets a warning before Dani is tickling her ribs and nuzzling her face into her neck. She giggles softly, trying to grab Dani’s hand and accidentally knocking the pesto spoon onto the floor. She manages to grab Dani by the waist, lifting her out of her lap. Jamie drops Dani onto the couch, hovering over her with a playful smile on her face.

“Now you’re really in for it, Poppins.”

Dani’s laughter soon fills the apartment before Jamie joins in, and their small apartment is filled with their joy.

Maybe the pesto boils over. Maybe they have to get takeout instead. But the pesto is attempted again the next day, and Dani even manages to control herself when the Bee Gees come on and she would like nothing more than to exclaim to Dani how she is more than a woman.

[1776countrygirl]

Sorting the Guardians into Hogwarts Houses

So to sum up this one shot, Katherine (Mother Goose) decides to read Harry Potter and sorts every last Guardian into their Hogwarts houses with the help from Jaime Bennet.  This was originally posted on Fanfiction.net but I decided I would rather have that be where my full fics go and this blog where my one shots and fluff goes.

Word Count: 1942 

Katherine loved books, always was going on about Ombric's library in Santoff Claussen., until she saw my library that is. Considering it was tree branches all formed into bookshelves with a thick layer of leaves to keep the books safe from the weather that occasionally hit my empire. I had a copy of every book that Ombric had and more, and it expanded every time a new book was published. Katherine began adding books that she found as well, books that peaked her interests more than mine, as well as those that she would write herself.

She had the Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and so many more. In 1997 she found the Harry Potter books…and I had to deal with all of the crying, and there was a lot of crying. She found herself wondering which house she would be sorted into at Hogwarts. She thought herself a Ravenclaw, but she also thought Gryffindor, none of this made sense to me and it was quickly forgotten in the shuffle of recent events.

Unfortunately now that everything was calm again it meant that she had time to yet again pick up reading, she only picked up Harry Potter again because Jaime was getting to the point where he was beginning to love books and of course wanted suggestions about what to read. Katherine squealed in delight and gave him all seven books.

She said that she and Jamie had something that they wanted to say at the next Guardian’s meeting, well at least Katherine was going to say it, she was going to ask North for permission to bring Jamie to the pole.

The Guardians were meeting far more often, every month in fact, and things were rather orderly, since I decided I would preside over the meetings to make sure that everyone got heard. We rotated where we met also, and it was always between the Warren, the Pole, my Empire, or the Tooth Palace. We tried to meet at Sandy's Island and my Father's "lair" but those were not good times for anyone. Phil the yeti catered these events, making all of the food that everyone liked, except he couldn't get the drinks quite right, so I had to take that over from him.

It was January the first of a new year we were meeting at the pole, because despite it being a mess before and around Christmas, North's yetis cleaned it all up nicely. I walked past the elves, they were getting themselves tangled in the Christmas lights again, typical. I was one of the first to arrive, and I headed toward the Kitchen where Phil was busily preparing various tarts and cookies.

"Hello Phil," I said

He yelled at me in the yeti language, "Put your hair back, can't have hair in the food."

"Yes sir," I said with a laugh as the Northeast wind braided my hair back. I speak every language on the planet, ranging from the tiniest bug to the eagles that soar through the sky. It's how I get updates about the weather. and of course my seasonal spirits. The northeast wind was being very helpful today allowing me to get each of the mugs down from the cupboards. I had gave my seasonal each one of the four winds to take charge of, Rowan as the Summer seasonal got the South wind, Ash as Autumn got the West, Willow as Spring got East and Jack of course had the North. I got the odd winds which were much calmer than the pure directional winds, but still had a fury that could be deadly.

I got to work with the drinks, each one of the Guardians liked something different. For Bunnymund, he liked Herbal tea, and once Phil accidently added some chocolate to it, that was a disaster, hence why I took over getting the drinks ready. North liked a good cup of Hot Chocolate, with peppermint flavor, lots of marshmallows and a hint of cinnamon. Tooth drank either water or green tea, she wouldn't drink anything that had sugar in it, when Phil did that she nearly had a heart attack. Nightlight really started liking Pink Lemonade with Strawberries, I think because it reminds him of Katherine when she was younger. Katherine likes a White Mocha with extra whipped cream and caramel flavor. Sandy likes warm milk and honey, as long as he doesn't fall asleep because of it he's fine. My father took a liking to Dark Roast Coffee with a little bit of chocolate and cream. Jack oddly like Iced Sweet Tea with strawberries, and lemon, he said that it reminds him of my smile. I like sun tea with mint leaves, Katherine asked why once and I told her the mint reminded me of Jack's eyes, both the brown and the blue, her response was a very long and drawn out awwwwwww….I really wanted to smite her but I restrained myself.

I heard arguing from the globe room and sighed, "Phil, the drinks are done, I better go settle a dispute"

I stepped out into the chaos of a snowball fight, "Jack Frost, clean up this snow right now," I said stopping a snowball from hitting my face by raising my hand up.

"Aw but we were having fun," said the boy from the rafters.

North was buried in snow and cursing like a, well like a Cossack, and Bunnymund was holding his feet, Katherine's convincing to bring Jamie must have worked cause they were both sitting on top of a snow slide laughing their heads off.

"Clean this up now Jack, otherwise no causing any snow days for a month,"

"Awwww," said Jamie "That's no fun."

Jack laughed, "I can't melt snow that's the other guy's jobs, I just create it."

I raised my hands and the snowflakes obediently all went flying out into the white vast space of the North Pole. "Never start a snowball fight indoors again Jack,” I glared at him, but not as sternly as I could have, “Shall we get started with the meeting?" I said walking over to the table.

The guardians all walked over to the table, and my father stepped out of the shadows, where had he been?

"Alright so for old business, North how was Christmas?"

"It was tight schedule but we managed, minor weather delays caused slightly late deliveries in some areas of the southern hemisphere."

"That's Rowan's zone this time of year, I will have to follow up on that, thank you North. Is there any other old business?" there was silence, "Alright how about New business, Bunny how's Easter looking?"

"On track to be a record year."

"Will you need help this year?"

"Unless there are weather disruptions we should be on track," He said looking at Jack who began whistling

"Excellent, any other new business before we get to announcements?"

"I have something," my father said, standing from his chair, he'd only been a Guardian for less than a year but considering the odds that were against him he was doing an excellent job.

"Yes?"

"It seems that not all of the Fearlings and Dream Pirates were banished back to their dark planet, I have discovered some roaming, too weak to try anything, but they are there."

"Good to know, thank you, Nightlight I want to keep an eye out, but everyone should be ready at a moment's notice to assist in battle."

Everyone nodded, "Alright, is that everything for new business?" Nobody said anything Katherine and Jamie were getting anxious. "Alright now for some announcements from Katherine and Jaime, go ahead you two,"

I sat down and Katherine stood up with Jamie, Jamie had a list in his hand, Katherine pulled all of the Harry Potter Books out from her bag.

"So as you all know I've been reading these books that Katherine let me borrow, well I was thinking and she agreed, what if the Guardians went to Hogwarts? What houses would you guys be in. So we did thinking and made a list so we will go around the table and tell you what we think and why."

I inwardly groaned, why did I agree to this?

"North, you would be in Gryffindor, you are brave, selfless, and chivalrous." Katherine said, handing him a badge with a lion emblazoned in red and gold. He beamed with pride even though I was certain he didn’t understand it.

"Bunny, you would be in Slytherin, you are ambitious, and a strong leader when the time arises." Jamie said handing him a badge with a snake in emerald green and silver.

"Nightlight, you're a Hufflepuff, you are loyal and honest, you are very patient," Katherine handed Nightlight the badge of a badger in yellow and black, before kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Tooth, we had a hard time with you, it was between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and we decided on Hufflepuff, you are dedicated to your fairies, and to the children, you work hard to protect the children's memories, and you have a kind heart." Jamie said handing Tooth the same badge as Nightlight.

"Sandy you are also a Hufflepuff, you embody all of the traits, you are dedicated, you work hard, your fair, and patient, kind and tolerant, and you are loyal to your friends both old and new," Katherine said, giving him again another yellow and black badge.

"Jack, you are a Gryffindor, like Sandy embodies all of Hufflepuff, you also embody all of the traits of a Gryffindor, you are brave, are chivalrous, you have the most courage of anyone I've ever met, and you are very daring." Jamie said handing Jack the Gryffindor badge.

"Even though Ombric lives in the moments between he is a Ravenclaw full of intelligence and wisdom beyond all compare." Katherine said

"Katherine would be in Gryffindor, she's courageous, daring, and brave, she made me sort her because she didn't trust her own judgement," Jamie said handing Katherine her badge.

"Pitch, you would be in Ravenclaw, you are intelligent, and you've accepted who you were and who you are," Katherine said handing my father a badge with an Eagle in Blue and Bronze colors.

"The Man in the Moon would be in Slytherin, he's ambitious, he's resourceful, and is quite clever." Jamie said

"Now Mother Nature, you would be in Ravenclaw, you are intelligent, you are witty and wise, creative and original, you praise the original ideas of your seasonals and are proud of how different they are. You have also accepted your flaws and made them your own," Katherine said handing me the badge with the Eagle. I stared at it for a few moments, I might not understand everything about Harry Potter or these Hogwarts houses but I definitely knew that Katherine and Jaime got everyone spot on.

"Alright that's all we've got for now, I might have something later if I'm allowed back to one of these meetings,"

"Of course, you will be allowed back Jamie, the next meeting will be held in the Warren," I said, "This meeting is dismissed, go enjoy the food and drinks in the kitchen."

I smiled as I stared back down at the badge in my hand, Father walked over to me,

"I was expecting to be put in Slytherin," He said

"And why is that?" I asked a bit surprised he would know about these.

"From what I've gathered that's supposed to be the house for villains,"

"You are not that person anymore, and you never will be again," I said walking with him toward the kitchen to grab food and our drinks.

[axelsagewrites]

Jamie Tartt*Famous

Pairing: Jamie x reader

Word count: 1841

Warnings: mentions of football related hate but nothing graphic, angst/breakup but everything’s happy by the end

Masterlist Here

Dating a famous footballer was not exactly something you’d ever planned on. You were never into football especially when you saw what it could cause. You remember being five years old crawled up crying as your relatives gathered round the television shouting and swearing because their team missed the penalty. Then you got older and found out the even worse things some men did because of a missed kick.

But somehow you ended up dating ‘the’ Jamie Tartt. Though you didn’t even know who he was when you met him. He was just a boy, and you were just a girl both sitting alone in a bar. Jamie had been nursing a pint for an hour when you came in and his jaw about dropped. However, he’d sworn to himself when ted told him last night, he could come back to Richmond he’d fix his act so he didn’t pounce like he usually would.

“Can I get a vodka lemonade please?” He heard you from across the bar and he could practically hear the sweetness in your voice.

The bar however gradually got busier and when Jamie returned from the bathroom, he realised there was only one seat left and it was next to you. “d’you mind if I sit? Just someone stole my seat,” he asked, suddenly realising how nervous he was for no reason.

You turned around and smiled at him before nodding to the seat, “Yeah sure. It’s pretty busy,”

“Tell me about it. Hate crowds sometimes. Make my head feel all fuzzy,” he smiled at the way you giggled not even caring if you were laughing at him. “Watcha want?” He asked after ordering his own drink and you hesitated for a moment, “Cmon, no strings or nothing. Just a drink. Vodka lemonade maybe?”

You laughed lightly and nodded, turning to the lady, “Yeah one of them please,” you turned back to Jamie as she worked on your drinks. “Its nice to meet you…” you said, words trailing off till Jamie finally realised you were asking his name.

“Jamie,” he said, sticking his hand out for what turned into a half awkward half laughy handshake that then turned into you both chatting till last call and Jamie walking you home.

-

Somehow his job hadn’t came up. It was partially because you had made a joke about hating football on your second date but also because Jamie was enjoying the normalcy of it all. Even if it meant when he spotted a paparazzi, he would very suddenly drag you away to a random shop or restaurant, putting up his hoodie to ruin their shot.

However eventually he had to tell you. He hadn’t put his hood up quick enough and their plastered on a magazine was Jamie holding your hand walking through London. “Why didn’t you tell me?” You asked, staring at yourself on the magazine in shock.

“You never asked?” He offered with a sorry smile, “I wanted to love but I just,” he sighed, “I didn’t want you to judge me or that. Cause I really like you,” he reached out to take your hand as you both sat on your couch.

You gave him a small smile, stroking your thumb over his hand, “So is this something that happens all the time? Pap’s following us around? Do people come up to you in the street and stuff?”

“Sometimes,” he shrugged since to Jamie this was just life, but he didn’t know at this point what was normal, “I mean like they’re pretty easy to ignore most the time,”

“Its just weird. I mean I’m on a magazine,” you said, eyes wide as you gestured to the glossy paper, “I never thought I’d end up being just some WAG,”

Jamie scoffed, “Babe you’re way more than a WAG,” he said as he put an arm around your shoulder, “You’re my girl. That is if you’ll still have me?”

“Of course, I will Jamie. It’ll just take me some time to get used to,”

-

However now the press knew you existed the paparazzi weren’t exactly easy to ignore. It was one thing being followed around with Jamie but one of them was waiting outside your work last week asking if you were another fling or if the pregnancy rumours were true. His comments sent you into a complete spiral with Jamie coming over to try comfort you.

 “He was just rude Jamie,” you sniffled into his chest.

“I know baby,” he tried to comfort you as he stroked your back, “It’ll be okay. You get used to it really and they’re not all that bad. Promise,” he said as he kissed the top of your head.

“I just wish,” you sighed, “that you’d told me in the first place,”

“What difference would it have made?” Jamie asked however your lack of response made him worry as he pulled back to look at your face, “Would you have said no? When I asked you to be my girlfriend. Would you have said no if you knew?”

You opened your mouth to speak but you struggled to get the words out. “I don’t know,” you managed to choke out, “I just don’t know if I can deal with this. I’m not good with attention let alone paparazzi following me. I never asked for any of this Jamie,” you began to ramble. “I like you I really do. But it’s a lot, okay?”

Jamie sighed however he almost cried when you pulled yourself out of his arms, “I like you too, but football is my job. It’s my life,”

“And I would never want you to give that up,” you said instantly, reaching for his hand, “Maybe we should just take a break? That way I can I don’t ease into it? Or like I don’t know just wrap my head around it,”

Jamie felt himself freeze in his seat. He nodded slowly before standing up, “Okay if that’s what you need,”

“I’m sorry Jamie. I really am,” you said, standing to follow him as he headed for the doors.

Jamie nodded once more as he reached for the handle, “Its not your fault. I should’ve told ya,”

“Jamie,” you said but he’d already opened the door. “We aren’t over its just…”

“Just a break,” he said, nodding his confirmation before walking out the door but you felt your heart shatter as the door shut.

-

Even though the paparazzi had stopped, and two weeks had gone by you still felt absolutely awful. You hadn’t seen Jamie in real life but suddenly you were seeing him on the news and his name on the back of kid’s jerseys. You began to wonder if it was for the best but every reminder of him stung.

Neither one of you had texted the other. You’d not heard from him at all since you left. Until yesterday when you got an email confirmation from Richmond fc with a ticket reserve confirmation in the buyer’s box under the name Tartt. The game was tomorrow, and you spent the whole day and yesterday debating if you would go. Eventually you decided not to.

-

However today when you woke up the first thing you saw was an article about the match going on today. Richmond was playing some team you’d never heard of but then again you only knew who Richmond were because you lived a 15-minute walk away from the stadium. The game was supposed to start at twelve.  As your eyes fell to the clock that read 10:48 you finally made up your mind.

You’ve never gotten ready so quick in your life and you were practically running out your flat at 11:35 and half sprinting to Richmond. However, you had no idea how to collect the tickets and the ticket man at the counter looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, so you just bought a seat instead.

You were ushered inside alongside hundreds of rowdy football fans decked out in Richmond gear. You did your best to find your seat and thanked the gods when you saw it was at the end of the aisle. It was three rows up from the front and you quickly realised right next to the thing the footballers came out of.

You felt your smile almost split your face when you watched Jamie walk out of the tunnel in his uniform, but he didn’t see you. As they turned to wave to the crowds the whole crowd jumped up so there was no chance, he heard you screaming his name alongside everyone else.

As the game started you actually found yourself enjoying it as you screamed and cheered alongside the football fans as Jamie scored another goal. It was 2-2 thanks to Jamie and you’d never felt prouder. “Cmon Jamie!” You screamed but you weren’t even the loudest as he ran down the pitch with the ball.

He passed to another player. Him to another. Back to Jamie. Now to someone up the field and then, “GOAL!” The crowd began to cheer and a few seconds later the final whistle rung. Everyone began to jump up and down and you quickly joined them as you jumped up clapping as you did so. The team were all smiles, well apart from a really big hairy guy, as they headed for the tunnel. Jamie however wasn’t smiling as he wore a look of concern.

Your eyes however were locked on Jamie. He however was looking up at the buyer’s box waiting to see you. However, it wasn’t until his eyes fell, thinking you were officially over when he saw you. His smile suddenly appeared, beaming brightly as he stopped in his tracks.

“Woo!” You cheered, clapping even harder. You could never quite predict Jamie. No one could. Not even Jamie thought he was going to do what he was about to do.

He ran for the stands, throwing himself up and climbing over the wall. The crowd was going mental, but your cheers stopped but the smile on your face didn’t as he ran up the stairs, ignoring the fans trying to pat him on the back.

“Hey,” he breathed out with a wide grin.

“Hi,” you giggled right back at him as you stepped forward. You could hear his team yelling at him and a ref coming but neither of you cared as his arm wrapped around your back and his head began to dip.

God you’d missed these lips. Your hand went to the back of his neck as the crowd whooped and hollered. Jamie pulled back as a ref rang a sharp whistle in his ear. “Call me yeah?” He said just before the hairy guy from his team pulled him halfway down the stairs.

“Yeah sure,” You laughed as he was forced back down the stairs and out the tunnel, somehow only receiving a yellow card. It may not be how you planned it, but you were certainly never gonna let Jamie go again. Youd already made that mistake once.

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[pandorasprongs]

JAMIE TARTT | and i don't even like you that much. wait, i do. f*ck.

PAIRING: jamie tartt x fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 5.8k

SUMMARY: jamie is actually a board game nerd and starts spending more time with one of the employees of a local shop.

WARNINGS: language

A/N: this idea came to me as someone asked me if i wanted to buy another volume of a board game we had HAHA if you can figure out what game i'm referring to in this story, hmu! alsooo i want to apologize for the length i swear i didn't mean for it to get that long, but still, i hope you all enjoy! title is from the song 'apple cider' by beabadoobee!

It was another slow morning in the store, given that most of your frequent customers were forced to be in school at this time. You ended up continuing one of the readings for your class during your shift. Despite a wave of drowsiness hitting you the moment you opened the book, it was still better having free time to be tired than the afternoon rush when 13-year-old boys came in to get another booster pack of Magic: The Gathering cards.

You were practically setting all these children up for a gambling addiction the way they'd spend 20 pounds trying to get one of those shiny ones in their deck. You never bothered to learn the names really, because that wasn't part of your job description. When it came to those kinds of things, those boys probably knew more than you did.

When it came to board games though, that was your area of expertise. It was partly one of the reasons you applied to work here while you were finishing up your Master's, — and also because of how generous the owner was with your salary, — so you always loved helping people out for their board game nights. You didn't have regulars that would come in often, but here and there, there would be a person you recognize from before asking about another game.

You don't know how much time had passed, but after deciding that your brain could no longer take reading the word cognitive multiple times in a sentence, you end up shutting the book and resting your head on the counter.

Soon after though, you hear the bell at the top of the door ring, causing you to jolt up. You only catch a glimpse of the guy walking towards you before he drops his head, his cap completely blocking his face, and a loose black hoodie covering his frame.

For a second, you get worried that the store was about to get robbed but the man finally stops in front of you and speaks, in a thick Mancunian accent. "Do you have any suggestions for board games? Like for family and stuff,"

You swear you've heard his voice before. Maybe from school? Or a former customer? You decide to shake it off before replying. "Well, this is a board game store, so there's quite a lot to pick from. Do you have any specific theme in mind? How many players?"

"There'll be 3 of us, but I'm not really picky with the game. Not any of those monopoly type shit though, cause I'm sick of never winning."

You chuckle at the revelation and that's what gets the man to look up at you. It definitely wasn't his appearance he was worried about. His chiseled jaw and striking blue eyes almost draw you in, not to mention his hairstyle looks eerily like the one David Beckham had in the 90s, who you had to admit was a crush of yours as a kid. He could even pass as a contestant on one of those dating reality shows.

And then it hits you where you've heard his voice before. This guy was on Lust Conquers All and was immediately voted off. You remember it well because your sister was so pissed at him for joining the show since the football season had just started. Jamie something, but the show never mentioned his last name. You try to hide your realization by turning to the shelf behind you.

"Alright uh, I’d recommend this one." You turn back around and slide it across the counter as Jamie (?) starts looking at the box from all angles.

"Looks cool," is all he says in reply and he looks back at you, presumably for you to explain the game. You tuck a piece of hair behind your ear before going on your usual introduction to the game.

"Basically in the game, there are 4 characters you can choose to be your 'heroes.' Your main objective is to get your opponent's health to 0 using the different cards in your set. All the characters have different decks and skills you can use throughout the game, and some of them even have side kicks." You look back up for a second to see his expression and you can tell that you're still holding his interest.

"So for example in the one I gave you, you can battle Sinbad, Medusa, King Arthur, and Alice, who's fucking amazing, by the way."

"Alice? From fucking Wonderland?" You laugh at his surprise before nodding to affirm it. "She's your favorite then?"

"How'd you know?" You ask sarcastically. "But yeah, she's just really versatile and it's just really fun to shrink and grow every turn just to piss off the other players. I'm practically unbeatable using her." You admit though you're not really sure why.

Most of the time when customers come in here for a game, they don't ask questions and just buy the first one you suggest. That’s probably why you answered Jamie's question so earnestly. Cause he's the first one to ever ask you what you liked about the game.

You quickly run through the rest of the rules and mechanics of the game with Jamie chiming in occasionally. You describe the other editions as well and Jamie is tempted to buy the other one — "How is anyone supposed to beat fucking Dracula?" — before he ultimately decides to take home the one you offered.

"If I end up losing using Alice, you owe me a refund." He states as you ring up the game. You playfully roll your eyes as you scan the barcode on the box.

"Oh yeah, since you're the first customer of the day, you get a 7% discount on your purchase," you quickly inform him when you glance at the post-it note on the register screen reminding you about it in bold letters.

Instead of the usual gratefulness or blip of happiness from hearing that news, Jamie instead asks, "Is that really a thing or are you doing it because you know who I am?"

You look at him to check if he's serious and given his blank look, you assume he is. You don't know how to respond to that, so instead you just slowly shake your head.

"Wait, do you not know who I am?" His question itself comes off as arrogant, but given the genuine surprise in your voice, you're not sure how to feel about the guy after he says it.

You decide to answer him honestly. "I do, but given that you walked in here in clothes that make you look like a stalker who's about to rob the place, I didn't think you'd want me to make a big fuss about it, Jamie."

His shoulders seem to relax at your statement and once he goes quiet, he finally pulls out his wallet. You quickly place the game in a paper bag and hand it over to him.

He whispers a quick thanks and turns to leave, before pausing. He turns back to you, "Look, it's not like I'm dressed this way because I'm embarrassed to be in a store like this—"

"I didn't think you were," you answer blankly with a hint of sarcasm. You decide to mess with the guy a little bit because hey, when's the next time a famous footballer comes into your store again? "Why, is there something I should be embarrassed about?"

Jamie quickly shakes his head. "No, fuck no! I think it's cool, really. You know, being surrounded by all these games and cards and knowing so much about them. Especially someone like you,"

You tilt your head in amusement. "What do you mean someone like me?" Jamie's embarrassment only seems to deepen at that.

"Fuck I didn't mean it like that. Honestly, when I came in here, I was expecting some teenage boy to be at the counter. Wait no— I mean, girls can like all this stuff too! I just didn't expect someone attr—," he stops himself and shakes his head. "Shit, wait,"

You watch Jamie scramble for words and you decide to just put an end to his misery. "Look, look, I was just joking around. I don't give that much of a shit about what you said." The football player visibly relaxes and you hold in a laugh at that reaction. "And you're basically right about the kind of people who work here. Most of my co-workers can't work these hours right now 'cause they're off studying for their A-Levels."

"Yeah, well thank you for this," Jamie lifts the bag slightly and you give him a genuine smile.

"No problem. Hope you enjoy the game! And if you ever feel compelled to dress like a shitty robber again, you can come back and tell me what you think." Your sarcasm no longer throws Jamie off who instead, just playfully rolls his eyes and leaves the store.

You go back to your reading for your behavioral science class, putting your interaction with the football player in the back of your mind.

—

The next time you see Jamie is two weeks later, although this time, he comes in right before closing. Technically, you weren't the only one assigned for this shift, but you decided to let your co-worker go home early since he said he had an English exam the next day and still hadn't studied.

So, you were counting down the minutes to 8 pm when you hear someone come inside. Fucking hell. You force a smile, "Hi, welcome! We'll be closing in a few minutes, but please approach me if you need anything so you can have a speedier process."

"Are you really that desperate to get rid of me?" The person moves away from the shelves and turns out to be Jamie Tartt, you learn his last name is. He's wearing another grey hoodie but seems to have decided to ditch his hat. Good, because you weren't sure how much longer you could stare at the ICON written on it and not judge him. "I wanna know, did you think offering to help the customer would get them out of here quicker?"

"I had to try something," you defend yourself, shrugging. You notice Jamie carrying the bag you used to wrap the board game and slightly frown. "Didn't like the game?"

He follows your eyes and is quick to correct you. "I loved it, actually. First time playing a board game that Simon didn't win during the first round." You aren't sure who Simon is, but you laugh nonetheless. "And you're right, Alice is fucking unbeatable."

"I'm glad you liked it, and Alice," you start, but then glance at the time on your phone. "But, is that the only reason you came here?"

"Well no, I was wondering if you wanted to play. That's why I came so late, in case there would be too many people if I came at the usual time."

"Yeah, there was a fuck ton, actually, as you can tell from the fully stocked store." You say, pretending to look around the room. "But sure, if you want. I don't have anything going on tomorrow anyway," Now you're really glad that you didn't procrastinate that paper due tonight.

Jamie smiles as he starts to unbox the set and you grab one of the chairs behind the counter and push it to the other side for the footballer.

Never did you imagine you would spend a Saturday night with a hot football player playing one of your favorite board games, but here you were. In between one of the rounds, the topic of football is brought up and you admit that you don't know all that much about it despite your family being made up of fanatics.

"Everyone has their team they support. My dad loves Arsenal, my mum loves Chelsea, and my sister bounces between West Ham and Crystal Palace. Though, she fucking hates Rupert Mannion, so maybe this is the end of her West Ham support." You answer as you shuffle Jamie's deck.

"Shit, the season must be fun for you guys," Jamie remarks and you snort, though instantly regretting letting that sound out. The football player looks unfazed, so you decide not to apologize for it and answer his question instead.

"Yeah, I basically end up being their messenger till the finals, which ends up becoming World War 3 if their teams are competing," you hand him his deck back and start the round, but your conversation doesn't end there.

"What team would you support then, if you got into football?" He looks hopefully at you.

"Yours, probably." You confirm as you look through your first hand of cards. "I mean, I'm about to destroy one of their players at this game. It's the least I can do."

"We'll see about that," Jamie replies and you roll your eyes playfully, but you smile.

Working at the store meant you were surrounded by board game fans every day, but not even your regulars would come in here after your shift to play. You couldn't help but feel warm at how Jamie matched your enthusiasm about the game, something, you admit, you didn't expect from the player. You knew nothing would probably come from this harmless happy crush of yours, but if he decided to start coming in often to play, you wouldn't be opposed to it.

Your attention turns back to the game once Jamie picks his next move. He smirks at his decision until his expression suddenly shifts. "Wait, if you're not into football, how'd you know who I was the other day?"

You move your piece before looking directly into Jamie's eyes and respond, "I just really love trashy reality shows." Jamie playfully groans at the reminder and you burst into laughter before you continue the game.

True to form, whichever of the two of you uses Alice is the one to win that round. You finally decide on a tie-breaker with your favorite being banned from usage.

"Christ, if this is how you maneuver in a board game, I wonder how good you are at football." You tease, as you glance at his character being at only 4HP.

"I'm fucking amazing, actually. Ask your family, they'll tell you." Jamie moves a few spaces on the board, hoping to escape your Medusa, but instead, he falls into one of your traps.

You corner him and finally reduce his King Arthur's health. "And there you go, 3-2."

It takes Jamie a second to absorb everything before he slouches. "Fucking hell." You laugh before getting up from your chair and helping him keep all the pieces and cards.

"Better luck next time, Tartt."

Jamie, whose competitive side seems to be shining in this game, doesn't let it end there.

Almost every week, he would come into the store at night asking to play. He was definitely getting better, but after making a deal where the loser has to tell an embarrassing story after the round, you realize you know more about him than he probably does about you.

"God Jamie, how are you alive?" You ask as he shares a story from when he first started the league.

"How was I supposed to know doing multiple headers in one match could lead to a bloody concussion?" He retorts, only making your eyes widen even more.

"I'm pretty sure that's common knowledge to about 80% of the population," you say through your laughter.

It's almost 10 when you finish playing, so you grab your jacket and start heading to the door with Jamie. You lock the store up and notice that Jamie's still hanging around you.

It's dark outside, but it seems like his features were even more enhanced by the moonlight. The light hit his eyes just the right way that it made the blue more evident. You notice just then how his hair is neater today, mainly because of his sports headband. The front strands of his hair had fallen out it though, falling on his face in just the right way that it gave you butterflies. Did all footballers look this attractive?

You realize that you may have been starting a bit too long and as you tuck the keys in your jacket pocket, you decide to ask, "Need anything else?"

Jamie opens his mouth to say something, but instead, he just shakes his head. "Nothing actually, just good night," he waves and starts walking in the opposite direction, but you swear you hear him muttering something under his breath.

—

It had been a week since then and you had to start telling yourself to not be so excited when you hear the bell ring. Every time it did, you'd look expectantly at the door expecting to see Jamie again, asking for another or a new volume or even just game tips. Each time, you'd end up disappointed and would have to fake a smile to the customer approaching you.

This time you hear it ring, and you do your best to not look up. If it was Jamie, you knew that your boss George probably would be sounding an alarm. You only learned the Monday after that he was a major AFC Richmond fan when you mentioned that a football player had visited the store multiple times to play board games.

"Do you think we can get him to sign a picture and put it on the wall? Can you ask?" You quickly have to explain how those interactions were the only times you ever spoke to Jamie and had no actual way of contacting him.

As you close your laptop, — one more paragraph and that essay is done! — you look up to find two guys standing in front of you.

"Hi, do you have any board game recommendations?" the one on the right greeted, his accent quickly revealing him to be Welsh.

You don't have a chance to answer because the left one lightly elbows his friend before whispering (though loud enough for you to hear), "He already told us what to get, bruv."

You may not know who this 'he' is, but the guy pulls out his phone and shows you a picture of a board game, the same one you recommended to Jamie. Wishful thinking gets you to believe that they were friends of his and he liked it so much that he told them about it. And maybe about you, too.

You've never been so happy to be right.

You nod your head and as he kept his phone, you started pulling the same edition from the shelf behind you when you hear a screeching sound that almost made you drop the box.

"Oh my God, Colin Hughes, and Isaac McAdoo!" George exclaims and you wonder where you've heard those names before.

The owner joins you at the counter as you place the board game in front of you. Maybe you weren't pretending to be as peppy as you usually do, because George decides to ask, "How are you so calm? Do you know who these guys are? They're Colin Hughes and Isaac McAdoo!"

"I heard you the first time," you turn to the two guys once again, embarrassed on behalf of your boss.

"They're part of the starting team of AFC Richmond!" And that's when it clicks. On one of your all-nighters, you decided to take a break and search up Jamie Tartt just to see what you could find. You ended up at his club's website and saw the rest of the players as well. You didn't pay them much attention given that you were so focused on player number 9, but you saw enough pictures to recognize them, at least.

"So you guys do know Jamie," you think out loud and the two players turn to each other, before sharing looks of realization.

"Oh, you're the girl!" Colin exclaims and you can't help but feel butterflies in your stomach.

"Yeah, I guess so," you try and act as nonchalantly as possible, so neither of them picks up on anything. You turn back to the game and ask, "Is this the one you wanted?"

"Jamie said there were other versions?" Isaac asks and you nod your head to confirm it, which he smiles at. "We want the Sherlock one."

"Okay," you reach for that one on the shelf as George starts offering them discounts on the game.

When he almost offers to give it to them for free along with another set, you stop him by slamming the box on the counter. Why were you the one trying to keep his business alive? "Here it is, hope you enjoy it!"

You ring up their purchase, still trying to hold your boss back from scaring these footballers away before they can pay. You finally bag the whole thing and hand it to them. "Thank you!" you shout as they exit the store.

"Yeah, see you soon!" George says afterward and you look at him in confusion.

"What the fuck was that, George?" He only sighs, most likely the embarrassment only hitting him at that exact moment.

Once he goes back to doing inventory, you can't help but replay what Colin said. Oh, you're the girl! Why was such a simple phrase like that affecting you so much? For all you know, he might've mentioned you being a sore winner, which wouldn't be the first time you've been called that.

But you still hope he said good things about you and maybe even kept better things he thought to himself.

—

"Okay, time's up. Please pass your papers." You write one last word as you get up to give your exam to the proctor, sighing in relief that the semester is finally over.

You had asked for leave for the past few days and didn't have a shift until tomorrow, so you decide to treat yourself to some coffee and pasta for lunch at the campus cafe.

As you settle down at one of the tables, you get a phone call from George. He was more than happy to let you take the time off, so you wonder what emergency had to happen for him to contact you.

As soon as you pick up, George screams your name into the phone. You pull it away from your ear for a second, and respond, "What? What do you need?"

"Look, I'm sorry to disturb you on your day off, but you said that your test ended at 2:30, so I decided to hold off calling you till then. Anyway, someone came in a few days ago asking if we host board game nights."

"And we do," you answer for him as you chew your sandwich.

"Right, and then he said that he was from AFC Richmond." You flinch after imagining how your boss could've reacted at that revelation. "They wanted to hold it a few days ago," George pauses.

"Why didn't you say yes? You could've been game master."

"Yeah well, I wanted to, but they specifically asked for you to go." You put down your sandwich and straighten up. George continues, "I told them you were on leave, but they said they could wait till you were back at work. I said that your test was this morning and I would ask if you'd be willing to end your leave early."

"Okay, sure." You answer, a little faster than you intended. You couldn't believe that the team — and maybe even Jamie personally, — was willing to postpone their game night just so you would be the one to facilitate it.

The surprise was evident in George's voice. Normally, you would reject his idea the moment he mentioned board game nights, but something about this was different for you. "Oh okay, well, I'll send you the address. I'll be bringing the boards there since you don't have a car and I'll meet you there at 4 pm. It's a restaurant, so maybe you can get something to eat before 'cause shit can get crazy at those things and it's best to load up."

You don't know how a board game night could get crazy, but you decide not to comment on it. He sends you the details through text before you end the call and continues eating your sandwich. The place wasn't too far from campus, so you didn't have to rush to get there. But after 10 minutes, you consumed your sandwich and were out the door with your coffee in hand.

While walking, you decided to familiarize yourself more with the players trying to put names to face before you had to interact with all of them at once. You started to get the hang of it, — even looking at team photos and naming them one by one as a test — as you get to the venue at around half past 3.

You arrive at a restaurant called Ola's, and you remember seeing one of the Richmond players post about it. Your dad wanted to have dinner here once, but they were always fully booked so the four of you gave up trying to get a table there.

Because of that, you expected the place to be swamped with customers, but instead find an almost empty restaurant. You notice one guy standing in the middle of it and approach him.

"Hi," He turns around and you recognize him as Sam Obisanya, meaning he must be the owner. You introduce yourself quickly before asking, "Am I at the right place? I'm here to help host a board game tournament."

Sam's eyes widen as he seems to recognize you. "Oh yes, this is the place. Sorry, I didn't expect you to be so early. We already fixed up the tables, but I can also help in setting up the boards if you like."

"Ah no, it's alright. My boss is the one who’s bringing them. I came from my university, so I don't have any of them on me right now." You quickly explain and Sam nods as he leads you to one of the tables to relax, while he grabs some appetizers from the kitchen.

He makes his way back to the table, though he can't seem to stop looking at you. You subconsciously start fixing your hair, wondering if you should've gone to the bathroom before going in here.

He seems to pick up on this and is quick to reassure you, "Oh, I'm sorry for staring. It's just Jamie has mentioned you so many times, so it's nice to finally put a face to the name."

Your heart skips a beat at the mention of the football player. You grab some of the food he offered as you reply as calmly as you can, "Oh yeah, did he tell you how he is nowhere close to beating my number of wins?"

Sam lets out a short chuckle. "No, but I'm not surprised. He did say you're very good at it." You smile and decide to ask why they decided to do a board game night.

It takes a second before Sam replies, "Oh well, Coach always says to do team-building activities every once in a while, and seeing as Jamie has asked almost everyone on the team to play the game at least once, we thought it would be a good idea. I think Isaac and Colin got their own board too and they started bringing it to the clubhouse."

"Shit, I didn't realize that football players loved board games so much," you remarked as you hear the door to the restaurant open.

Both of you look up to see George, who is trying to carry 12 boxes of board game sets. You rush out of your seat to help him out and so does Sam. The sight of the player almost makes your boss drop all of them from his arms, but you quickly scoop four of them and Same takes another four.

"Sam Obisanya," George exhales, once some of the weight is literally lifted off him.

The player simply says, "Hello," and states that he'll start setting up the four boards on the tables near the back.

You snap your fingers to get George out of the trance and the two of your start setting up on the rest of your tables, dropping the character figurines at the bar table and putting the sign-up sheet next to it. Slowly, the restaurant starts filling up with players with George gradually losing his mind at the number of footballers from his favorite team.

You finally get him to leave, but only by promising to convince the team to take a picture with him when he came back to pick up the boards. You're pretty sure he's already making plans to put it on a canvas and hang it on his bed.

You settle yourself behind the bar table to be in charge of the players setting up, each time expecting it to be Jamie standing in front of you. You try and keep your focus on the task at hand every time you hear the boys greet someone new.

Isaac and Colin are the next to write their names and they give you a look that you can't quite decipher. Soon enough, Jamie finally gets here and you straighten up in your seat. He greets some of the players till his eyes land on you.

He approached the bench and once he looked up, he observed out loud. "You're here,”

"Aw, did you want to get rid of me that badly?" You mimic him before explaining that you finished your leave earlier, "just to see you, of course." — with some truth behind that statement. Jamie laughs — albeit, a little awkwardly, — and takes the clipboard. As he signs up, you decide to take the chance to tease him. "Heard you were talking about me to your teammates."

Jamie's eyes widen and he stops writing to shoot glares at the rest of AFC Richmond, not sure who told you. Jamie turns back to you and you laugh. "Don't worry, Tartt. I'm sure you just told them how I'm an absolute god at the game and you're glad I'm not playing tonight." The football player simply rolls his eyes as he joins his teammates.

Once the whole team is complete along with their kit-man Will, you decide to start the tournament. "Okay, hi everyone! Welcome to your board game night." The crowd cheers and you're startled by their enthusiasm. You quickly explain the rules of the night, — though they seem to already know most of it, — and the order of players. It's a draw lots method, so the players will be randomly given a character and an opponent.

Once everyone gets their characters and settles in, you start making rounds in case anyone had any questions. After a while, you start heading back to the bar when someone taps you on the shoulder. You find Jamie already done with his round.

"How'd you win that quickly?" You don't try to hide the surprise in your voice. "Even I take like 20 minutes minimum to win."

"Oh I didn't," Jamie clarifies, and you widen your eyes. "I just couldn't attack Dani. I mean, look at that face." You turn to their table and find Dani smiling at you — "This is fun!" — and waving using his Dracula figurine.

You laugh at his reasoning. "Alright then, guess you're done for the night." You walk back to the bar and Jamie stops on the opposite side of it.

"You hungry? Sam said there's prepped meals in the back and since none of the games are ending soon…" Jamie offers and you obliged, seeing as this might be the only time you might ever get to eat in this restaurant. He grabs two plates from there and settles down next to you. Surprisingly, he managed to grab one of your favorite dishes. You remember mentioning to him that you had tried it at another restaurant in the past and loved it, but you doubt he even remembers it and dubbed it a coincidence.

You decide to keep the topic off board games and instead let him talk about what he's doing since he last saw you. Turns out they had multiple back-to-back matches, so practice was tight and he didn't have time to visit you. He also said the next time he did, it was one of your teenage co-workers manning the counter.

"Oh, Chuck! Yeah, he's pretty shit at board games." You say blankly while you shove another spoonful of food into your mouth.

"I ended up just buying a card game and leaving." Jamie continues and you laugh.

"Sorry, you went all the way there for just that. I go to class on Wednesdays, so I don't have a shift then." The conversation then shifts to your degree and you explain that you plan on becoming a psychologist.

"There is another upside to getting that degree too," Jamie chimes in, and you tilt your head. "You can fuck with someone's head while playing."

"Okay, psychology isn't mind control." Though, you think about it for a second. "But it is pretty close. You’ll be my first victim.” You make your sound more ghostly in that last sentence and Jamie pretends to act terrified and faint.

There is a short silence between the two of you when you realize that most of the rounds are done. You start organizing the next round and once the games start, the other players start going around and rooting for their teammates.

It leaves the area near the bar much more isolated and Jamie lowers his voice. "About that card game I got, it's pretty fun, too."

"Yeah?" You ask as you bring your plate back to the kitchen.

"Yeah. I'd love to take you out and talk about it," you stop in your tracks before turning back to the footballer who adds, “If you want."

You turn around to see Jamie is much closer to you now. It's only then you realize how much taller he was than you, but despite that, you’re not intimidated, especially with him looking so expectantly at you.

It takes a second before your mouth turns into a smile. "I think I'd like that."

Jamie does this small bounce thing on his heels, before trying to tone it down. You only laugh and kiss him on the cheek before heading to the crowd of players. He follows suit and rests his arm on your shoulders.

Some of his teammates notice and start cheering. You look at them confused before deciding to ask Jamie, "Was this all an elaborate scheme to ask me out?"

He shakes his head, "No, 'course not. Was there a deal made after I lost a game to Jan? Possibly," The both of you laugh as you playfully push his head away. You start to accept that this unfairly attractive football player — whom you'll be going on a date soon — can be as much of a nerd as you.

If this is what George meant when he said game nights could get crazy, well, maybe you should’ve given them a chance earlier.

[danistartt]

Jamie Tartt's Awful Breakfast and Lovely Morning

pairings: jamie tartt x reader, roy kent warnings: reader is not a very good cook, fire?, language a la kent about: a request about reader not being a very good cook and jamie kind of liking it, and a request about touchy jamie <3

“You don’t have to get up with me ev’ry day, babe,” Jamie insists, his honesty doubted when he rests his chin against your shoulder.

“I don’t mind. I miss you when you’re gone.” You shrug, trying your best to keep the motion identifiable but unbothersome for the man gnawing at your skin. You laugh at him, shimmying your shoulders to get him away. “Jamie, what are you doing?”

“Y’smell good,” he hums. 

“It’s the batter,” you say. Jamie disagrees. “Can you get some butter, please?”

Jamie raises a brow and looks over to your hands, busy with the flour. Clumpy yellow bubbles trap more white into sticky goo. “More, love?”

“Yeah.” You wrinkle your nose, scraping gross residue off your index before sticking it back inside the mix. “I don’t think I used it right. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to melt it?”

“What’d the recipe say?” Jamie asks, opening the fridge.

“Soften. But there are different levels of soft, right?” You grimace at your concoction, but take your free hand and wrap it around the stick of butter he hands you. 

He watches you settle into your position, microwave ignored. “What’re you doin’?”

“Softening,” you murmur, concentrating on your mixture.

“Don’t ya think we’ve advanced a little further than that as humanity?”

“You’d think, huh?” Your fingers squeeze a little tighter.

He stares at the jutted bottom lip, the little lines between your brows, and decides you must be right. With only a chunk of your attention, you’re trying to figure out a way to rush heat into the stick of butter through your palm. He bites his lip. “We have mix,” he offers.

Your head swivels toward him, features scandalized. “I’m doing good!” you defend.

“I know,” he says. “You’re doing great, I can see that.”

“I wanted to make them from scratch. With love.”

“You are.”

“They’re easy,” you insist, turning back to your task with a distressed look on your face. You squeeze the butter a little harder, the wet noises of your mixing speeding up. The butter’s wrapped ends crinkle. “It just needs more butter.”

Very suddenly, you drop the bar inside the bowl, holding its greasy wrapper between your middle and index. Jamie winces as it plops in, some of the mix drooling onto the counter.

Nodding happily, you shove both hands inside the too-small bowl and look at him over your shoulder with a grin. “See?” You wince when your nails glide into the cold middle, recovering quickly in a facade of surety.

He nods, eyebrows uneven in light concern, but encourages you anyway, trying not to shudder at the sound before you decide you’re finished and begin pouring it onto a hot pan already smeared with more butter.

It’s both too runny and too thick, creating a wavy circle in the center of your pan. You frown at it, looking at your batter again. “Jamie?”

“Yeah?”

“That doesn’t look very right, does it?”

Jamie loops an arm around your waist and presses a noisy kiss to your cheek. “I like it. Like a flower.”

“A wobbly flower,” you comment, leaning toward it, “that’s not bubbling.”

“I don’t think they’re supposed to bubble, love.”

“Inverse bubbling,” you explain. “Nothing is happening, is it on?”

Jamie turns the knob very gently, satisfied when it rotates easily. “Yeah. Give it a second.”

“It’s not doing the thing!” you exclaim, grabbing the spatula and flipping it too early. Jamie watches as it splatters part of the stove and streaks a thin line across the counter. He breathes in, about to say something, and decides against it.

“It’s bubbling,” you say optimistically, sheepish at its ends.

You’re correct. Thin, popped-bubble circles peek out from the edges of the lump-petals. “Huh,” Jamie says inquisitively, leaning in. “That’s interestin’.”

Your brows knit. “I think that’s good.”

Jamie is inclined to disagree, but he refuses to.

“It’s browning really quickly,” you observe, turning it over. It’s splotchy, but it should be fully cooked. You plop it on a plate, lips pinching and face struggling to stay proud.

“It smells edible. Could even say good,” Jamie comforts.

“It’s the bacon.” You say solemnly, poking at it with your spatula, its sizzling soft and barely beginning.

“No,” he says stubbornly, edged hair poking the curve of your arm. 

You pluck a fork from your cupboard and cut a neat square of pancake, popping it into your mouth. Jamie watches you chew amusedly, raising an eyebrow when you look down at your flapjack forlornly, a defeated realization on your face.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

You swallow solemnly, meeting his eyes. “I forgot the sugar.”

Jamie inhales, the air stuttering in his throat before shifting into a laugh. You look so sad, and he wraps you up in his arms, kissing your temple through soft laughter. You slump into his chest.

“It was not good,” you admit. “It was really gross.”

“I love ya,” he tells you, still chuckling. “You—” he snorts, “You’re great, you know that?”

“This is awful, Jamie,” you moan, making him laugh harder against the crown of your hair. 

“It’s not,” Jamie insists. “We still have the bacon.” He giggles and you watch him, pointy strands of hair prodding his cheekbones.

“Where’s your headband?” you ask, lowering the heat on the stove to turn to the man next to you. You cup a side of his jaw with your hand and pull hair away from his face with a frown.

“Broken.” He mimics your motions, both of his hands flat against your cheeks and squeezing with a careful mischief.

Breakfast failure forgotten, you huff, dropping your fingers to circle around his wrist and pulling him to your bathroom. You lead him inside and push his shoulders to sit him down. He watches as you pull little boxes out of the cabinet, hooking an index inside and pulling out random colors of bands, big and small.

You find a yellow-lined one that seems appropriate and turn to him again. “This should fit even you and your big head,” you murmur affectionately, gently combing his hair back to tug it on. He shuts his eyes when you drag it over his face, pinkies keeping it from brushing against even the highest of his pretty features. You use your index to fix his sliced brow, marriage fixing the band to fit his face. You drop a sweet kiss at his hairline, wiping it away as if it left a mark. “Perfect.”

“Thank you,” he says very quietly, light eyes constellating along your pinched lashes and pursed lips.

“I don’t know what you keep doing to these,” you scold playfully, slipping two others, a glittery blue one and a speckled pink, out of your tray to hand to him.

“Me big head,” he reasons, the left edge of his lips quirking up at your laugh.

“Probably,” you say.

He stares at you for nearly a second before realizing he has no reason to hold back, the heat of his palms grazing your ears when he kisses you.

You hum, delighted, and hook your arms around his waist. “Jamie,” you murmur, nudging his nose with yours.

He laughs against you, pulling away to see your confusion. “You taste like batter.”

You grimace. “Not very good?”

"You always taste good," he rebuts easily, stealing another kiss. He smiles at you when he pulls away, that wonderfully insolent lid to his eyes. You are putty in his hands. He knows this too well.

You twirl a blond strand of his hair around your finger. “Did you use that hair mask I got you?”

“A li’l while ago. Worked great.” He presses his lips against the hard hill of your cheek.

“You’re supposed to use it regularly.”

“Can you do it?”

“Right now? You don’t have enough time, babe.”

“Then when I come home.”

“Sure. We can use those cucumber things I’ve been meaning to try out, too.”

“Can’t wait,” he tells you, crushing you in a sudden hug. You laugh in surprise, going limp in his arms.

“What has gotten into you?” you ask, wriggling in his hold when he presses open-mouthed kisses to the thin skin of your neck.

“I can’t touch ya now?” he teases, a cruel finger digging into your ribs. You squeal, twisting away from him. He only catches your cheek, biting above your jaw with just enough pressure to sting. 

“When has that ever happened?” you challenge, turning your face to finally catch his lips.

“Does right now count?” he asks against your mouth, diving back in to press a harsh kiss to your bottom lip.

“Right now is not an example,” you laugh, quiet. His palm smooths over your cheek. 

“Agree to disagree,” he offers with one last kiss. “‘Cuz I like ya.”

You snort, pushing him away. He doesn’t let you, dragging his hands down to your waist and keeping them there. “I’m honored.”

He shakes hair away from his eyes, giving up when it does little. You raise an index finger to do it for him when the fire alarm shriekingly cuts in. It bumps harmlessly against the rise of his eyebrow, landing very sorrowfully in sorry circles on his temple when you and he flinch.

You turn your face away from him and toward the door. It only takes you a moment to realize what is going on, the smell of burnt bacon sudden and harsh.

“Fuck,” you say, scrambling to the kitchen.

Your breakfast is but a dark chunk of coal when you arrive, plumes of smoke gathering at the ceiling like a flipped waterfall. You turn off the stove and wince at your tragedy while Jamie shuts off the alarm and opens the doors, pulling you away from the worst of the fog after too long of your lingering.

“You’ll inhale smoke,” he warns.

“It's the only edible part of our breakfast,” you say mournfully.

“Not anymore.”

You snort and lean against him, pouting at your little garden still clothed in the residue of pale moonlight. The flowers haven’t even opened their petals yet. “I’m sorry you won’t get bacon for breakfast today. Or flapjacks.”

“S’okay.” Jamie shrugs, genuine pleasantry leaning delight. “I’m distractin’. You got distracted.”

“So did you,” you oppose.

“You’re distractin’ too.” He grins at you, dropping a swift kiss along your forehead.

“I’ll drop you something off today,” you amend.

“You don’t hav’ta do that, love.”

“I want to. I’ll go to that cafe and get you one of those sandwiches you like. And cookies.” Your smile goes gooey. “Maybe a cinnamon roll.”

Jamie raises an amused eyebrow. “Alright, then.”

You inhale deeply, face contorting at the smoky vignette it comes with. “Do you think the smoke went up to our room?”

“Probably. Stay out here for a little after I leave.”

You moan at the stars. “It’s like five AM. It’s cold out here.”

A loud noise erupts from the opposite end of the house; Roy has arrived.

“He’s earlier than usual,” Jamie muses.

“Give him some of the leftover eggs,” you urge. “And apologize.”

Jamie stares at you quizzically. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I told him I’d send breakfast today and because none of it is fit for human consumption, I’m sending something we bought yesterday.”

“You talk about my breakfast with Roy Kent?” Jamie sputters.

You glare at him, rushing inside to collect the container. “I feel as though you’ve missed the point.” The smoke that continues to linger rushes hatefully into your throat. “Not your breakfast. His breakfast.”

“What? Why?” Jamie asks no one, staring at the little case of eggs you shove into his hands.

“Because I thought it would be nice for him to have one.” You give his dazed face his goodbye kiss before opening the door. Roy stands in your doorway, clearly impatient. He gives you a tight smile.

“Hello.��� You smile, some smoke rippling from behind you. 

“Hello,” Roy says, slanting two fingers in greeting. He watches the plumes swirl around you with an upturned bushy eyebrow.

You wave it away. “Sorry, we had a little incident.” 

You shove Jamie out the door. Roy watches him stumble beside him. “No rush.”

Jamie turns to him, nose wrinkling. “Right. The poundin’ of the door really says that.”

Roy rolls his eyes. “You haven’t seen me impatient, Tartt.”

“Will I?” Jamie dares, glancing at you. “By the way—totally unrelated—lovely, lovely y/n’s sent you some breakfast today.”

Roy follows his line of sight and growls. “No,” he answers.

Jamie steps closer to you with a cheeky smile and kisses you goodbye. “Love ya.”

“I love you too. Have fun. Be nice,” you tell him.

“Tell that to Kent!”

“I’m nice,” Roy grunts. “I’m like a fucking golden retriever.”

“I can see that,” you nod supportively. 

Roy juts a thumb toward you.

Jamie shakes his head, lips parted. “I don’t like this.”

“And I don’t fuckin’ care,” Roy buts in. “Let’s go.” He ducks his chin at you respectfully. “Y/n.”

You mimic his motion. “Roy.”

Jamie looks between you two, an index gesturing lazily. "Stop that."

“How about you stop blabberin’ and start runnin’?”

“I’ll see you later, Jamie,” you assure, pulling him in for one last kiss. “I recommend you run, babe.”

“Me too,” Roy barks, a few steps away. “Babe.”

[axelsagewrites]

Jamie Tartt*Please Stay

Pairing: Season 2/3 Jamie x reader

Word count: 1324

Warnings: Jamie being self-conscious, illusions to sex, but mainly just fluff

Masterlist here

Jamie couldn’t believe his luck when you’d agreed to the date. You’d always known him as the prick of the team but since he came back from Manchester with his tail between his legs he’d been trying to do better. He was done with the one-night stands and shitty comments and stealing all the glory for himself. Even Roy had to admit Jamie was better now than he’d ever been.

So, when he saw you yesterday leaving your office, he couldn’t stop himself from shooting his shot. He’d been thinking about it a lot. Where he would take you on a date, what he would wear, what you would wear. The problem was actually asking you. “Oi are you busy the morrow night?” He asked in that accent you’d secretly grown to love.

He was trying to stay confident, but his hands were shoved into his short pockets as you locked your office door, “That depends on who’s asking?” You said turning back around.

Jamie’s face screwed up in confusion for a moment, “I am,” he said, his shyness replaced with confusion.

“Then im free,” you laughed, starting to walk and Jamie followed without question, “What’s up Jamie?”

“Just was thinking is all,” he said, his hands finding his pockets again, this time playing with a loose string to distract himself, “We could do something, if you wanted of course,” he said, already hating how he was beginning to word vomit, “Movie maybe or dinner, you like that place archers place right? Or Chinese or something maybe something else or even no dinner and just hanging out or something,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet to try calm himself.

You stopped walking and Jamie felt his heart sink. Rejection was not exactly his thing after all but when you slowly turned around with a smile on your face, eyebrows scrunched, he thought this was his chance, “You asking me on a date Tartt?” You asked. Jamie opened his mouth to speak but just nodded, scared of what would pour out, “Alright then,” you laughed as you resumed your walk, Jamie quickly moving to follow beside you, “Pick me up at seven yeah?”

Jamie felt his heart flutter, his footsteps grew lighter, as his face cracked into a cheesy grin, “Seven yeah perfect love seven it is,” he said like a kid who’d been given a massive bag of sweeties.

“Great,” you laughed as you entered the parking lot and pulled out your car keys, “i’ll let you pick from one of your many options,” you joked as you climbed into the car, “Just text me the dress code yeah?”

“Yeah, course totally,” Jamie said, desperate for you to pull away so he could celebrate, “See ya tomorrow,”

“Bye Jamie,” you said, a giggle in your voice as you shut the door to your car and started the engine. Jamie waved you off as your car drove off and as soon as it was out of sight, he couldn’t stop himself jumping about the car park like a big dumb idiot, but he didn’t care who saw. He had a date. A real date.

Jamie was up all night picking the perfect restaurant for you to go to. Something new, something fancy, but not too fancy, but not too new. Eventually he managed to make his choice as the clock hit 2 am and he finally got some sleep.

Everyone in the locker room could sense the excitement radiating out of Jamie. However, he was a gentleman now and gentlemen don’t kiss and tell. Well even if he hasn’t kissed you yet. Oh, fuck he might get to kiss you. Jamie didn’t think it could get any better.

Eventually Jamie couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore and soon all the players new of Jamie’s plans tonight. As soon as he told them it was all he could talk about all practises. After practise he spent twice the time he usually would in the shower, making sure he was squeaky clean before rushing how to get changed.

Jamie arrived at your door bang on seven, counting down the seconds on his watch to knock on your door. His jaw about smacked the floor when he saw you. He knew you were fit but right now you were fucking fit alright. Jamie tried to contain his excitement as he led you to the car, but you spoke like you’d known him for a hundred years.

The date went amazingly of course. Jamie was surprised you could put up with him but was grateful each time you laughed at a joke or rested your hand on top of his. He was even more grateful when you said yes to a couple of drinks at his with him promising to get you a taxi that night.

Jamie wanted to be a proper man, a gentleman sort, but when your hand lingered on his thigh, he couldn’t stop himself. He sunk into the kiss like a man possessed and it didn’t take long for you to go from the kitchen to the couch then eventually stumble to bed.

It was a perfect night. When Jamie felt the sun fanning over his face he began to stir, remembering everything that had happened last night. He grinned sleepily as he rolled over, expecting to find you on the other side of the bed. But the sheets were empty. His grin fell and confusion wracked his face as he sat up in the sheets. You were gone.

Jamie wanted to cry. Of course, you thought it was a one-night stand. A one-time thing. You’d went home, taken your clothes with you. Jamie fell back down into the sheets, rubbing the bottom of his palms into his eyes. He felt them water as he tried to console himself.

Of course, he knew he liked you, but Jamie was now realising just how fucking much he liked you. The date had only proved that he’d fallen for you. Now you’d gone, left him in the messy sheets to remind himself at the end of the day this was his life. It was his own fault. The years on one-night stands and sex jokes he’d call across the locker room whenever you walked in. Jamie let his hands fall to his side, staring up at the ceiling in remorse. This is what he gets for being a prick he thought as he shut his glazed eyes.

A few moments later the sound of a door creaking made his eyes shoot open. When Jamie lent up, he was stunned by what he saw. You trying to tip toe into the room with only his shirt on. His head turned to follow your movements as you reached the side of the bed. You grinned when your eyes met his, “Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” you whispered as you slipped back into the sheets.

“I thought you’d left,” Jamie mumbled as you settled into the bed, your head turning to face his.

“I had to pee,” you said, your eyes somehow more beautiful in the morning. However, your face screwed up when you noticed his wet eyes, “Unless you need me to go,”

Jamie quickly rolled over till his arms wrapped around your body, his head resting on your chest and his legs strewn over yours, “Please stay,” he whispered, his face nuzzling into your skin.

You bit back a smile at the man nuzzling into you, holding you tightly. Your hand moved to gently stroke his hair, “Yeah course,” you whispered, kissing the top of his head, “You can’t get rid of me that easily,”

“Good,” Jamie said as he gave you a light squeeze, feeling your heartbeat through your chest. You didn’t say anything, instead continuing to gently stroke his hair and it didn’t take long for gentle snores to fall from his mouth. There was no chance you were leaving now.

[axelsagewrites]

Jamie Tartt*Prick

Pairing: Jamie x f!reader

Word count: 2744

Warnings: swearing, Jamie having daddy issues and insecurities, sad Jamie, drinking, Roy being Roy

Summary: after seeing how upset Jamie gets at Roys treatment of him reader decides to take a stand. set in season one but a timeline where Jamie is still a prick but not quite as prickish as the show

Inspired by a post by @if-i-look-straight-look-again (hope you don’t mind me tagging you)

Masterlist Here

“Hey baby how was your day?” you called out from where you lay on the sofa as you heard Jamie dragging himself in from practise.

all you had to do was look at him to see how it had been. the way he dumped his bag and let his jacket slump from his shoulders onto the floor before he trudged towards the sofa. you held your arms out for him to fall into as he curled up beside you on the couch. “Fucking shit,” he mumbled, his hand moving to grab yours to pull your arm over his tense frame till you were spooning him.

your hand shot to his hair, running slow strokes through his sweaty mane but that was an issue for later. when Jamie got in his own head, he’d often turn to you for comfort, needing to be held without having to ask. “You wanna talk about it?” you asked, kissing his temple.

“Roy was just being so mean,” he grumbled, his eyes closing shut as he settled into place, “And for no reason right. like I get I can be a prick but like I was no being that bad the day. then he was just shouting at me like I was stupid and I was no being stupid like,” Jamie sighed, almost sinking further into the couch.

usually, you and Jamie would tease and rile each other up but you knew now was not the time, “I know baby,” you said, kissing him again as he began to relax. “I know its sucky baby but maybe eventually he’ll tone it down,”

“Doubt it,” Jamie mumbled as he began to trace circles onto your hand resting over his chest. “Just sucks you know. I thought I was gonna train with some great footballer, but it turns out he’s just a has been,” you sighed but you didn’t want to provoke him further so the two of you fell into silence.

you remember the day Jamie found out he was going to Richmond. you had only just started dating then but he wanted to celebrate the news with you. he was weirdly excited about the whole thing which shocked you since he’d always talk about if he went to man city or Chelsea but there he was bouncing around like an excited schoolboy when he got the news.

he ended up inviting you to join him, his mum, and stepdad out to dinner to celebrate. it was the first time you’d met her, and you had to say she was an absolutely wonderful woman and you understood instantly why Jamie loved her. she had insisted it was far too late for you to go home after you’d spent the whole evening playing monopoly with the family. she had insisted you stay the night, and you ended up squished beside Jamie on his childhood bed for the night.

it wasn’t till you were about to fall asleep you noticed the poster on his wall, “Doesn’t Roy Kent play for Richmond?” you asked, disturbing a tipsy Jamie from his almost slumber.

“Yup,” he grinned as he pulled you into his arms even tighter, “Im gonna be playing with the Roy Kent,”

“You gonna get him to sign your poster?” you teased, leaning your nose in to rub against his making him laugh. Jamie had spent the rest of the night telling you about the highlights of Roy’s career before eventually you both fell asleep.

cut to his first day at Richmond he called you to say how the only thing Roy said to him was in the form of a grunt. you’d insisted that it would get better, maybe he was just shy, but here you were now with him curled up on the couch pouting over Roy. you knew better than anyone else Jamie could be a bit of a cocky prick. you loved it about him, most of the time, but you knew why he was the way he was.

you knew he craved the attention and praise he’d desperately tried to get from his father and then suddenly from his old hero. you remember Jamie’s calls after practise where he was absolutely exhausted from going full out when he didn’t have to. he had to move when he transferred to Richmond, and you had been unable to move with him at first. he’d tried to hide his disappointment over the phone, but you knew it was there.

you ended moving down after his first season and threw a housewarming party that he invited the whole team to. the party was swimming with footballers, even Higgins came, but no Roy. Jamie was all smiles and perky the whole night, showing you and the house off to all his friends, but once everyone left you could see the sadness in his eyes. despite that now seeming like so long ago you knew deep down it still bothered him.

“Do you think he’ll ever like me?” Jamie mumbled in the voice you knew meant he was on the verge of sleep.

“It doesn’t matter if he likes you baby,” you murmured, kissing the back of his neck, “it just matters that you like you,”

it was a couple of days later while you were getting ready for the day you noticed Jamie’s phone still sitting on the nightstand. this was especially odd since Jamie never left the house without his phone and practise was supposed to be starting right now. it wasn’t uncommon for Jamie to wake up a bit late so you grabbed his phone, figuring he must’ve forgot it so you would be generous and drop it off for him.

it was as you were about to drive off you got a phone call from a front desk lady at Richmond saying Jamie had asked you to bring it in. you laughed at the predictability of your boyfriend before heading off to the club. you were able to get in no problem and insisted on dropping it off to Jamie yourself to not create more work for the receptionist.

you headed to the pitch, knowing the club like the back of your hand by this point. they were all practising what you thought was dribbling when Jamie suddenly noticed you. he paused mid dribble and waved with a goofy smile before running over to you.

“You’re a life saver princess,” he said as he took the phone off of you to stash in his hoodie he’d left at the side of the pitch.

“You need your girlfriend to teach you how to play Tartt?” a gruff voice barked from behind.

you span around to see the culprit of your boyfriends upset storming over, “Calm down grandad,” Jamie scoffed as he stood back up, “Was just getting meh phone alright?”

Roy stared your boyfriend down as he said a quick goodbye to you, kissing your cheek, before jogging back over to the rest of the boys. you could see Jamie’s new coach walking towards you in the corner of your eye, Ted you think Jamie had said, but your eyes were glued on Roy as you folded you arms as he began to walk away, “What is your problem?”

your words shocked the whole team into stunned silence as they stopped their drills, “Excuse me?” Roy asked, his eyes wide as he turned around.

“Do you need the attitude to play or is it just an added bonus?” you glared right at him, not caring how loud he chose to yell at you.

“Your boyfriend the one with the fucking attitude,”

“At least my boyfriend can still kick a ball,” you spat back making the boys behind Roy gasp and a vein pop in the captain’s neck, “What kind of captain just grunts orders and expects their players to play well?”

“This one fucking does,” Roy said.

At this point the new coach decided to step in, getting between you and Roy, “Well howdy there im Ted,” he said, holding out his hand for you to shake which you did while still glaring at Roy, “Is everything all hunky dory here?” he asked, looking between you both like an actual fight might break out.

“Everything’s perfect,” you smiled, your eyes locked on Roy’s.

“Fucking peachy,” he grunted back, his eyes not leaving yours either leaving Ted in an uncomfortable silence, “I’ve got training to do,” Roy said, eventually backing down from the challenge and stomping back to the team, waving off anyone who tried to speak to him.

you glared after him before turning back to Ted. instantly a smile spread across your face as you reached out your hand to shake his, “Nice to meet you Ted, I’m Jamie’s girlfriend,” you smiled as you introduced yourself and you could see the confusion written in teds face as he tried to figure out what was happening.

he snapped out of it as he shook your hand, a smile spreading to his own face, “Well nice to meet you, I think,” Ted said, and you spoke to him for a minute or so before finally leaving.

you wondered for the rest of the afternoon if you had went to far as you waited for Jamie to get home but when the door slammed shut and a loud, “I’m home,” rang out across the house you knew it had been a good practise, “Babe I gotta tell you that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he praised as he found you in the kitchen and pulled you in for a kiss.

you laughed against your lips before pulling back and turning your attention back to dinner, “Well im glad you had fun,”

“We should have even more fun,” Jamie said as he wrapped his arms around your waist, kissing your shoulder making you giggle as he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Later,” you said, hitting him in on the shoulder with a wooden spoon before turning back to attempt to finish making dinner, “Also I think we should have another team night. invite everyone round,”

“Why?” Jamie said as he settled to hug you from behind as you cooked.

you shrugged as you stirred the pasta, “Be a nice way to welcome Ted to the team I suppose,” you said. it did not take much Jamie much convincing to have a night of casual drinking with his team mates even if that meant inviting the new coach round.

the boys of course were more than thrilled at the idea since apparently the last couple movie nights had ended up in hour long fights over which film to watch. they all began to pour into your house on Thursday evening. Collin and Sam were the first to arrive, Sam even bring you a bottle of wine as a thank you gift, but it wasn’t long till your house was filled with footie obsessed boys who had brought lots of vanilla vodka and beer bottles.

Ted seemed a tad overwhelmed when he arrived, but you made sure to get him settled in, which was made much easier when the other coach, beard you think, arrived. everything was actually going pretty well until the room suddenly got silent.

you glanced up from where you sat on the back of the couch to see Roy Kent standing in your doorway. he walked in slowly, not bothering to say hello as all eyes were on him. “Roy,” you said, slowly getting off the couch as you tried not to step on Issac or Jamie.

he grunted in response before finally adding, “Hey,” he said before looking around, “What’s everyone staring at?”

everyone’s eyes darted away as they tried to pretend to be in conversations, “Kitchens over there if you wanna stick that in some ice,” you said, motioning to the drinks he had brought. Roy nodded before walking off to the kitchen.

before you could walk to follow him, Jamie grabbed your wrist, pulling you down so he could whisper in your ear, “Roy Kents at my party!” he drunkenly grinned in your ear.

“Yes, he is baby,” you whispered back, no where near as buzzed as Jamie, before kissing his cheek and standing back up, “I’ll be two seconds alright?”

you quickly went to join Roy in the kitchen who was opening his beer bottle on your countertop but now did not feel like the time for arguments. he looked up silently as you walked in but as you walked over, he held out the bottle for you which you gladly accepted as he opened one for himself. “Suppose this is when I say sorry for being a dick,” you said before taking a sip out the bottle.

“Are you gonna?”

“Nope,” you said, popping your p with a grin.

Roy laughed, well chuckled slightly, but still, “Good. couldn’t respect you if you did,”

you both fell into a somewhat comfortable silence as you sipped your beers. You decided you couldn’t take it anymore though and decided to break it, “Why are you so hard on Jamie?”

“Your boyfriends a prick,” Roy grunted, and you laughed a little, “Which im guessing you already know,”

“Obviously,” you said before hopping up to sit on the counter, “Just don’t know why it bothers you so much,”

Roy sighed as he downed the rest of his beer, “Because I was the prick,” he said as he began to open another bottle, drinking half of it in one go like a pro, “When I started, I was just as irritating as that shit, if not worse,”

“So, because you sucked you have to take it out on him?” you asked.

“He’s not gonna get anywhere by having everyone kiss his ass,” Roy spat right back leaving you in a far tenser silence than before which was only broken by a regretful sigh from Roy, “He’s good alright. really fucking good. but he needs to fix his fucking attitude,” he said making you raise an eyebrow with a slight laugh, “Alright I get the irony,” Roy said as he sat his beer down.

you hoped off the counter and held your hand out to him, “Truce?” you asked and silently he shook your hand, and you wondered if he had deliberately made his grip extra strong, “Lets just try have a good night. socialising is fun,” you teased as you took another drink making Roy roll his eyes.

almost as if on cue Jamie walked in the room, stumbling slightly, “There you are,” he grinned, quickly moving to your side and wrapping an arm round your shoulder before placing a wet kiss to your cheek, “Whatcha talkin about?” he asked with a drunken grin.

“You,” Roy deadpanned making Jamie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “Your girlfriends…nice,” he finally said before walking out the room, his third beer in his hand. you wondered if drunk Roy would be more fun and contemplated switching his beer for vodka given the chance.

Jamie turned to you, his jaw hanging open as he began to hold you tighter, “Roy Kent likes my girlfriend,”

“Roy Kent likes you too dummy,” you giggled as you turned to try escape Jamie’s grip to no avail.

Jamie gripped your wrist, his eyes going wide, “He said that?”

You didn’t want to lie but you knew how much this moment meant to Jamie, “He said, and I quote, ‘really fucking good’ and that you reminded him of himself,” you said, leaving out the insults so Jamie could have his win.

Jamie jumped up and down on the spot, doing a silent cheer as he grabbed your hands, “No fucking way,” he whispers shouted and you wondered how on earth drunk Jamie was quieter than sober Jamie, “Man that’s so cool,” Jamie gushed as if he was still twelve, “Except im prettier than him, obviously,” he said bringing out that cocky side you secretly adored.

you took his face in your hands, giving him a swift peck on the lips, “Much prettier. now should we get you back to your party?”

Jamie grinned as he pulled back before sticking his hand out dramatically for you to take which you gladly did. he pulled your arm, spinning you around the kitchen making you laugh loudly before finally leading you back into the living room. even if Roy was sitting silently in an armchair watching the team make a full of himself you swore you saw a smile at the edge of his lips. the ice was finally melting.

a/n: writing this feels very ironic for me since i started the show as a roy lover and jamie hater but now im a die hard jamie defender (still love roy just as much tho if not more than when i started)