#first take today nfl

[angelnthsnow]

The Party & The After Party

pairing: toto wolff x f!driver!reader

summary: after winning your first formula one race in your first year in the category, you don't think the day can get any better. fortunately, your boss has other plans for the night.

word count: 3.9k

warnings: age gap? it's never mentioned but it's there obvi, boss x employee, use of y/n, cursing.

author's note: i must say my friends have gotten me into formula one, but it's kinda hard paying attention to the cars when this man exists. i wrote this nonstop in the middle of the night, it's shorter than usual but i couldn't get the idea out of my head, so enjoy! i promise i'll post smth nfl related soon lol k bye!!

In your first year as the first female F1 driver, you had done the impossible. Standing on the 1st place of the Monaco Grand Prix podium, adrenaline pumping through your veins, you looked down at everyone who had ever doubted you. Years of resisting attacks, sexist remarks and the constant need to prove yourself, you felt like you could finally breathe. By your side, stood two of the greatest drivers the sport had ever seen, Lewis Hamilton, your teammate, in P2, and Max Verstappen, in P3.

Your eyes wandered through the vast crowd that chanted your name from below, searching for the man who had made it all possible, your boss, Torger Wolff, the first person who took you seriously. Being a woman with hopes of getting into Formula One was exhaustingly hard, but everything started to change when you won the F3 Championship, a few years ago.

Paul, your teammate at the time, had told you that a certain team principal would come to the race that day, and although you kept telling yourself to not get your hopes up, every single attempt to do so went downhill when you saw the Mercedes team principal walking through the paddock like he owned the place.

To you, Mercedes was everything. Besides being one of the most modern teams, you also realized soon enough that Toto was probably the most open-minded out of all the other TPs on the grid. It was sad, of course, having such a little percentage of people who would be happy to see a woman in a position that was so dominated by men, but still, it lit up a flame in your chest, a string of hope you clung onto whenever you felt like giving up your dream.

That day, with him on the bleachers as you drove fearlessly around Spa-Francorchamps, you won the F3 championship, putting you on a watchlist of drivers that could get into F2.

Ever since that day, the austrian had kept an eye on you.

He saw how fiercely you fought to have a place, to have a voice and to be heard in a space ever so dominated by the opposite sex, and it didn't scare him, not one bit, he admired it. When you stood on that podium earlier, he didn't even bother hiding a smile, taking pictures and videos and chanting your name with the rest of the team as Lewis and Max sprayed the ridiculously expensive champagne on your back as you laughed.

That's why today, hours after winning your first ever F1 race on your first year in the category, he still couldn't get off the high he was on. He had finally gotten the confirmation he so desperately needed, not because he didn't believe you could do it, but because he was eager to prove everyone else wrong, to rip the smugness out of every single man who told you you didn't belong there.

At least that's what he had told you earlier through the radio before the lights went out, prove them wrong. He just didn't know you fought to reprimand a sob as you tried to concentrate in the lights that stood just above the Albert 1st Boulevard.

Now, Toto's eyes scanned every single corner of Jimmy'z searching for you, only to find you on the dance floor, pornstar martini in hand as you swayed to the beats of Empire of The Sun's We Are The People.

You had a smile on your face that could lit up a whole room, and he couldn't be prouder. Soon enough, your eyes met his and you chuckled, making a peace sign to point at your eyes and then at his as the line got lost in your eyes blasted through the club's speakers.

Even at distance, you could see him rolling his eyes and chuckling at your playful gesture, but still, he came closer, until the only thing in his field of vision was the visibly drunk version of you.

"You look happy." he leans down and forward to yell in your ear, making himself heard even if though the loud music made it hard to.

You squirm at the proximity, but brush it off by taking another sip of your drink. "I'm on top of the world, Toto. I don't think I've ever been happier." You yell back and he resists the urge to fight back a smile, presenting you with his pearly whites.

As one of the neon lights hit your face, he's forced to take in all of you. The version of you you'd put up whenever he'd tell you he had an important meeting he needed you to attend, or whenever you were needed to put up a show, like today.

You wore a black strapless dress, the one you'd seen a few weeks prior to the Grand Prix at Elie Saab's display window while you were on your daily night walk through Monaco. It was mesmerizing, with a shimmery type of fabric that would definitely make sparks fly if a bright light shined over it. You had thought of buying it, for days, really, but decided against it because party dresses were never a much needed piece of clothing in your wardrobe. Well, that until you told Lewis about the dress, and when you arrived at your apartment a few hours after the race, there it was, on a hanger hanging on the curtain rods.

As much as your looks prevented Toto from thinking about anything else, he couldn't help but notice how huge your pupils were, so big that it felt like your iris' were long gone. That and the fact that your sclera had shifted from white to a more reddish color.

He shifted on his feet, unaware of how to proceed. Were you.. high? Was that even a thing between sportspersons? Deciding on it being a matter that shouldn't be handled in front of the city's most congested place as of today, he mutters a "come with me" in your ear, putting a hand on your lower back as he guided you away from the crowd.

When he finally stops, you find yourself in a more private, smaller room with a few sofas and armchairs. He then proceeds to ask you "You've taken something. What is it?"

You laugh at his sudden concern. The answer was clearly a big red yes written in all caps, but part of you couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed at yourself. You had done it, yes, but now you felt sort of guilty, because the last thing you wanted was to damage his or the team's image. You shake your head, trying to to keep those thoughts away. It was just a party, a party for you, with only selected people being allowed in, it wasn't like you'd wake up to your name on the news.

"Come ooon.. don't be such a party pooper!" You slurred.

Toto was shocked by your reaction, part of him wanted you to celebrate as you wished, after all, you had just fulfilled a dream, but the other part, the responsible boss part craved an explanation, he didn't want you to cause any harm to your already fragile media image.

"Are you serious? You're the star of the entire team today! We have thrown a party just for you and you're getting off on drugs?" He says, lowering his voice on the last word as he crosses his arm.

"It's just a blunt, Toto. I swear I'm fine." Your laugh echoes throughout the small room as you grab his big arms, uncrossing them. "Don't get so serious on me." You look up at him through your lashes.

Toto gives you a stern look before a smirk creeps up on his face. The anger and seriousness fades away in an instant as he realizes the situation wasn't that serious. He sighs and looks at you with a sly, yet curious look. "How many? One, right?"

"Just one, sir." You say mischievously, holding your pinky finger up before kissing it to symbolize a promise.

Toto is taken aback as you kiss your pinky finger in a sarcastic manner, although he doesn't say anything. He looks at you with the same sly look as before. "I see... and have you done this before?"

"Who hasn't, duh?" You furrow your brows, flashing him a backward smile.

'He hasn't, of course. That's Torger Wolff we're talking about' you think to yourself as you look up at him. The soreness of your muscles and the pain of being on your feet for so long getting to you.

Sometimes it was kind of annoying having a conversation with your boss due to the fact that you had to look up the entire time, and countless were the times you found yourself with neck pain after hours of chatting. This conversation would surely be added to that imaginary countless list of yours, because even today, with high heels that could make you look six feet tall, he still looked way too big.

Toto chuckles before getting a playful look on his face. "Oh, really? I highly doubt the star of my F1 team has ever smoked a blunt before, although you do seem very knowledgeable about this." He moves closer to you, looking down at you as he speaks, his voice low and husky. You wondered if his neck ever went through the same problem yours did when you two talked, causing you to chuckle.

"I do?" You lift one eyebrow, narrowing your eyes. "Well, I must say.. the star of your precious F1 Team has done a lot, Mr. Wolff." It comes off more flirtatious than you intended, but you pay no mind to it. You try to take a step back, but end up slipping on the hem of your gown, the high getting to you later than ever.

Toto immediately rushes to you and catches you mid-air, wrapping his arms around your torso.

"Is that so?" Toto says, his voice now raspy and face close to yours.

You exhale deeply, relief from not having made an absolute mess out of yourself filling your body. If you had fallen, your dress would probably be completely torn apart and headlines would have a field trip with it.

He is still holding you, his hands burning on your back.

"Yeah.." You close your eyes, getting away from Toto's embrace as you regain balance and straighten yourself.

Toto steps back as you do so, although he does want to reach out to hold you again. Instead, he settles for engaging on more double entendre conversations with you.

His eyes are full of admiration, your body is more visible in this dress than it has ever been, and he makes a mental note to thank Lewis for the gift. He recalls the moment you two shared a few minutes ago, the way you swayed and jumped with the music like you were the only person in that dance floor would never fail to amaze him.

"You truly do look like a notorious celebrity in this dress, don't you?" He finally says, a hint of shyness in his tone, although the look in his face is stern.

"You could thank your other driver for that." You joke, trying to hide the butterflies that swarmed in your stomach.

"I certainly will." he smiles, his gaze softening as his eyes meet yours. They're still red, but it starts to grow on him.

Looking at you like this, completely wasted, happy and carefree, he couldn't help but remember the afternoon you two had met, when he started to be so sure you'd be by his and Lewis' side on a race weekend one day.

Now, there you were, in front of him, with a trophy standing somewhere back in your apartment. "I'm so proud of you." he finally says, not because he thinks you should hear it, but because it's all he wants to say to you after today's events.

You look away from him shyly. You had heard it before, specially from him, but every single time felt like fireworks in your belly. Him being proud of you was capable of putting you on a whole another level, it was just another signal that you had made it, that you had proved you were capable, even to those who were always so sure you definitely were.

You try to hide a smile as you mutter a simple thank you, because in this state, visibly high and drunk, staring at the man who had made it all possible, it's all you manage to say.

He smiles back at you, and your mind almost short circuits when he steps closer, not stopping even when you can feel his breath close to your face. That's when you realize he's about to hug you, and you just let him.

It's genuine, simple yet abnormally meaningful. His big hands rest crossed on your lower back as he pulls you closer, making your cheeks rest on his suit covered chest. You almost feel like crying, because how could you not? You had it all now, a place in the sport you so desperately craved to have since you were a kid, a win, an amazing teammate and an even more amazing boss, who believed in you through your entire career.

"You've done it." He says quietly as if you're a wild animal that would run away at any abrupt movement or sound. "I can't even imagine how you feel."

On cloud nine, that was the most appropriate answer.

"It's like nothing I've ever felt." you say, arms hugging his chest. "Thank you for always believing in me, you have no idea how much you've done for me." you sniff, clearly on the verge of tears.

"It's nothing compared to what you deserve. You're one of the greats, Y/N. The whole world's gonna know you name." he says, causing the tears you so eagerly fought to keep off to fall rapidly on your cheeks. You sniff, opening your eyes to see that a small wet circle had formed on Toto's shirt.

"Shit, sorry." You laugh awkwardly as you take a step back, desperately trying to dry your tears with your fingers before they ruined your makeup too.

"Hey, it's fine." He steps closer again, bringing his thumb to your face as he continues your job of drying the tears you had shed. Once he's done, his hands linger there for a bit longer than they needed to, stroking your cheeks. You thank the Gods for whatever the hell he was on today. "You do look pretty when you cry, though I must say I prefer the way you look on top of a podium, with champagne drenched hair and a first place trophy in hand."

You roll your eyes, as if it was possible to fall even more in love with him. It had become stupid at this point, really. Clearly the two of you had something special, to say the least, going on, but none of you were courageous enough to come clean about this.

"You aren't a bad view from up there as well." You shoot back, earning a smile in return.

The shameless and obvious flirtation to whoever watched from outside continued for a few minutes, until Toto insisted that you should go back to your party, and although at this point you had decided to give up the celebrations to look at him for the rest of night, there he was, once again with his hand on your lower back, guiding you through the crowd back to where he initially had seen you. Doesn't take long for you to get lost in the music, dancing like there was no tomorrow. Toto had excused himself to greet other team members and sponsors, fulfilling the ultimate boss role even at parties, and stealing glances from you every now and then while talking to someone.

A few drinks later, the club was getting more empty by the minute, the clock almost hitting 4:30 a.m. Your makeup was already lightly smudged, your black Louboutins long gone in the corner you once laughed with your friends. As you thanked the remaining people for coming, Toto showed up again, startling you as he came from behind, putting his right hand in your shoulder.

"Seems like the party has reached an end." he says, making you look up at him. His face was fairly red, and by the way he slurred his words, you could tell he was somewhat drunk. His hair was messier than earlier and the tie that was once a fancy bow was now untied, resting around his neck, a nice combination to his slightly unbuttoned shirt.

"Unfortunately. I hope you had fun, though." you reply, turning your attention to shake some of your guests' hands.

"It's always fun with you around." He says as he smiles to the same people shaking your hands.

You crookedly smile, turning around to walk to your table. As you do so, he follows.

"Do you need a ride? I saw you coming in with Bradley, but he already left," He watches you as you walk through the empty club, employees cleaning the floor of what was once the party of a lifetime. "guess parties aren't really his thing." He chuckles.

"I don't wanna make you take me home now, it's late and you're probably very tired."

"Oh, please, it's Monaco. Not like I'm going to be driving for hours." He replies, earning you a laugh. You and Toto lived pretty close to each other, but you'd drive past his building before getting to yours, so you truly didn't want him to make a huge detour just because of you.

"Fine," you smile, grabbing your sparkly clutch. "just please tell me you came with your 300sl roadster." You say and he chortles, rolling his eyes.

The Mercedes 300SL Roadster owned by Toto was probably one of your favorite cars in his collection. Hell, in anyone's collection. It's such an incredibly classy vehicle you couldn't resist its charm.

"I did." He says, and you let out a slightly loud yes! as he grabs your scarpins, laughing at your reaction. The way the smallest things were capable of making you happy always made him smile. Even after closing a multi-millionaire deal with your team, some things would never fail to make you excited, such as being driven home in a car you've always wanted.

The both of you start to walk towards Jimmy'z's exit in a different sort of haze, like the two of you were in your own little world together, laughing and exchanging inside jokes. The dry warm Monaco summer air hits you as soon as you step out, and soon the vallet comes driving Toto's car, opening the door for you to get in.

As the both of you get in, he starts driving, the sound of the car's engine echoing throughout Princesse Grace Avenue. Duke Dumont's Ocean Drive in the radio as your hair flies due to the speed in which Toto's driving. Now and then, he casually glances at you, smiling at the way you still manage to dance even when sitting on the passenger's seat.

Despite being a race weekend, the city seemed awfully quiet and empty at this time. Soon enough, he takes a turn and you're finally in Larvotto, which meant in a few seconds he'd be pulling up at your home. However, before he had the chance to, you saw the sun rising in distance, its warm light gleaming in the sea water.

"Toto, look!" you point to the horizon, and he slows the car down to follow your gaze. "It's so beautiful.."

"Indeed it is.." he says, and you can tell by his tone he's got a change of plans coming. When you realize, he's parking the car in the shore, exiting the vehicle to open the door for you. "Come on, let me give you a real after party."

You smile, because there was no way the day could get any better. You were sure you'd wake up later convincing yourself this had been a dream. Taking your hand, he pulls you out of the car, and after you close the door, he runs towards the sea, fingers intertwined with yours.

In this moment, you force yourself to forget about all of the implications and concerns that could come at you. In this moment, it was just you and Toto, not a Mercedes driver and the Mercedes' Team Principal. To anyone else who'd catch a glimpse of the scene, the both of you looked like stupid, reckless teenagers in love.

Sitting on the sand, you try to catch your breath, stomach hurting due to you not being able to stop laughing. You lay your head on his broad shoulders, hands holding his arm.

Suddenly, he feels the need to confess, "I'm always so happy when I'm around you" with the german accent getting heavier as it always did when he was drunk.

You smile, "Me too."

A beat, and then, "You're the most amazing woman I've ever known."

It comes lower than he intends to, but he's also never felt so nervous around someone as he does now. You thank the heavens for the fact that he's not looking at you, you look like a kid stupidly in love.

"You don't need to say that," you sigh. "you've already told me you're proud of me for today."

"I know. I'm not saying it because I feel the need for it to be said, but because I truly think that." he replies. "Ever since that day in Spa, you've proven to be an extremely fierce, fearless, wonderful driver and an even more amazing woman." You roll your eyes at his compliments. "I mean it, Y/N." He grabs your attention just by saying your name, making it all even more real. "Mercedes is extremely lucky to have you, and so am I." he looks at you, his face closer than ever as yours rest on his shoulder.

"You have me?" You say, looking at him through your lashes.

"I like to think I do. Do I?"

"Utterly." You giggle, your eyes glowing just by looking at him.

His hands go to cup your face, and the last thing you'd expect from him happens. At first, his lips brush over yours lightly, as if he's asking for permission, testing the waters to see if he's allowed to go further. When you don't protest, he deepens the kiss, sweeping you off your feet.

The both of you laugh, and you hide your now completely red face in his chest. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this." you say, feeling his body hairs stand on end.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to do this." he says, and you shed a tear on his partially shirt covered chest. "Are you crying?" He asks, and when he hears you sniff, he takes it as a yes. "Hey, don't cry. Look." he lifts your chin up, making you stare at the scene unfolding in front of your eyes.

The sunrise looked like a piece of art, with pinkish and yellow tones coloring the sky. Toto puts an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer. You could now add having him at your list as well.

#toto wolff #toto wolff x reader #toto wolff x you #toto wolff x y/n #formula one #formula 1 #f1 #lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton x reader #fanfic #alternative universe

[betterthanburrow]

Snow On The Beach - Joe Burrow

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

Genre: Fluff and Angst

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“My present?!” Joe asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Author’s Note:

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

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

thank you all for the love and support! 🤍

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

[jordyn14]

It’s just a little scrape | Joe Burrow

Summary: After a win against the Bills, everything is going good until a drunk fan finds his way into a place he isn’t supposed to be

Pairing: Joe burrow x first person fem reader

Words: 3962

Notes: this is different than the other fics I’ve written, but I hope you enjoy!! <3

A week later was the primetime home game against the Buffalo Bills. During the day, I had a quick photo shoot with a new clothing line here in Cincinnati, but I made sure to clear out my entire schedule for the rest of the day after that. Since it was a home game, which I was so incredibly excited about, Katie, my best friend, was coming to the game. Unlike me, she wasn’t with anyone on the team, but she loved going just as much as me. Like always, we were going to stay in Joes suite where his parents were also going to be. For the whole day, excitement ran through me. Not only did I have 100% confidence in Joe, but I had 100% confidence in the entire team, and today felt like a good day for the whole entire team. When it was finally time for Joe to leave, I sent him out of the door while admiring his all green outfit, which was my all time favorite color.

Currently, I was laying out my outfit onto our bed which consisted of a white sweater dress, a long brown trench coat, and a pair of almost knee high white boots. After I laid my outfit out, I grabbed my cute little clear purse with number 9 and Burrow on it which already held my must haves for game day, and then slipped into the bathroom. In the bathroom, I curled my hair and then put on some gold hoops. Once I was done with that, I put on my makeup and then walked out of the bathroom and to the bed where I got changed. While I changed, I got a text from Katie saying that she was on her way. I texted her back with, "I'm so excited, hurry!😆" The last game was in San Francisco and Katie and I just watched it over her house, plus before that was the bye week and we haven't gone to a game together since the Seattle game. Saying we were excited was an understatement.

We arrived at the stadium 2 hours early so we could settle in before the hundreds of people filed into the stadium. Like most home games, Katie drove me so I could drive back home with Joe when the game was over. Since we weren't in the stands where I could talk to Joe before the game, we both got settled into our seats. "I'm so excited to watch the game. Work has been stressful." Katie said while stuffing her mouth full of the chicken fingers we both got before we came up to the suite. "I know, it’s been way too long since we've watched a game together. How are the extra shifts going by the way?" I asked Katie. "Well," Katie said with a mouth full of food before she held up a finger so she could swallow the food in her mouth.

We both started laughing as she swallowed and then continued. "I'm making more money than I ever have, especially with the promotion, but I feel like I'm always on the go. I'm either at work, at the grocery store, the gym, the coffee shop, or in bed. I feel like you because I never see Jamie." Katie said. "Shit, Katie, why do you still work at the coffee shop? I even quit because I wasn't seeing Joe enough, and I don't have real job." I told Katie. "Yeah, well, you quit and you still don't see him." She said with a little scoff. Leaning towards her more, I said, "well that's because my husbands in the fucking NFL, obviously I'm not going to see him that much." I said. Katie gave me a little shrug of approval and then we laughed a little bit. "All I'm saying, is that you have the opportunities to see Jamie, you just have to take them. So, quit working at the coffee shop, pay the extra 10 dollars to have the store drop your groceries off for you, and see your damn boyfriend. If you need extra money, I'll pick up more photo shoots and give you the money." I said.

Katie sighed a little bit and then looked off into the direction of the field. "You know what, you're right, You should give me money." Katie joked. Elbowing her softly, I took a bite of my chicken and then watched as the boys went into the tunnel to get on their uniforms. "All jokes aside, you're right." Katie said. "Well obviously." I laughed with her.

The Bengals won the game 24-18. Katie and I cheered so much that by the end of the third quarter, we were already starting to get scratchy and sore throats. Although the bengals won the game, they gave us a big scare by letting the game get as close as it did. By the end of the game, my nerves were so high that Katie had to force me to unclench my fists and calm down a little. When it finally did end, we stood up and started to chant. "Who Dey! Who Dey! Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals! Who Dey! Who Dey! Who Dey think gonna beat them bengals! Nobody!" I changed along with the whole stadium, which included Robin and Jimmy who were just as excited. "Let's fucking go!" Katie yelled. "That's how it's done!" I yelled with Katie as we stood up and celebrated the win over the Bills in the primetime game.

Once we settled down and the stadium started to clear out, I hugged a yawning Katie goodbye and then after a little bit, walked with Robin and Jimmy to the tunnel where I would meet up with Joe. Since it was already really late and they had a little drive back to Athens, they decided to just text Joe and congratulate him on the win. The three of us stopped just before the tunnel entrance and we hugged. "I'm so happy that you don't have to go home with another grumpy Joe. There's been too many losses this season." Robin said as we pulled away from our hug. "You and me both. I love him, but he sure can have an attitude." I laughed and then hugged Jimmy. "By the way, Joe wanted to remind you once again not to call him right after the game and give him a play by play of everything. I tried to tell him that you already know, but you know how he can be." I told Jimmy who shook his head with a sigh.

"That boy will be the death of me." Jimmy said with a shake of his head and a little chuckle. "You and me both." Robin said. We said our goodbyes and then I walked into the tunnel entrance by showing them my pass and then headed to the family area where the players could see their families. While I walked over there, I got a text from Joe saying that the press conference took a little longer so he just got into the shower and to just wait for him by the locker room. So, rather than going to the family section where I could just wait for Joe, I went to the locker room entrance and leaned against the wall while waiting to see Joe. I couldn't wait to see a happy Joe after a much needed win and wrap my arms around him.

While I waited, I went on my phone and scrolled through Instagram where new pictures of Joe from the game started to appear. Even seeing Joe through the screen made my cheeks flush a deep shade of red and I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up into a smile. My eyes were so focused on the pictures of him that I didn't even notice the locker room door opened up. "What are you smiling at?" I heard Joe say in front of me. Quickly taking my eyes off of my phone, I slipped the phone into my pocket and walked over to Joe. Both of us had huge smiles on our faces as we walked towards each other. When we met in the middle, I wrapped my arms around Joes back and he wrapped his around my neck, holding me closely. "It may or may not have been a picture of you walking out with Sam to do the coin flip." I said, leaning my head back to look into Joes eyes.

Joe raised an eyebrow and said, "oh yeah?" He then leaned forwards to capture my lips with his. The both of us breathed in the kiss before he pulled away, not wanting anyone to take a picture of our kiss. "Believe it or not, you in a uniform really does something to me." I laughed. Joe just laughed and then looked into my eyes deeply. "Well it's a good thing that we get to go home in a little bit." He said with that pantie dropping smile he loves to give me. Right after he said this, my face flushed red. With a little groan, I placed my forehead on joes chest, trying to hide my obvious flustered state. "If I could, I would slip into the nearest supply closet with you." I said. With a small sigh, Joe straightened more, obviously getting turned on. Before Joe could say anything else that would solidify my decision of going into a closet with him for a little quicky, the locker room door opened again.

Lifting my head from Joes chest, we both looked over to the door and watched Ja'marr and Sam walk out of it in mid conversation. Right when Ja'marr looked at Joe and then me, he ended his sentence and then walked over to Joe, reading his facial expression, and patted him on the back. "Y'know, the locker rooms empty, you might be able to slip in there for a few minutes. What's your record, like 3 minutes?" Ja'marr said, but quickly walked away from Joe before he could hit him in the arm. "Fuck you." Joe joked with a stern look on his face and looked over at Sam who just put his hands up to show that he wasn't going to make any crude remarks or add onto what Ja'marr said. The both of us released our arms from one another, but Joe kept one arm around my waist, pulling me close to his side and we exchanged quick I love you's as we walked.

The four of us walked together to the family section where the boys could get some food and Sam could meet up with Jessica. "Y'know, she blocked me on Instagram in college because she saw that I was following you. She thought I was her competition." I said to Sam while we talked about Jessica and where she was during the game since I couldn't see her and neither could Morgan, Holly, or Tianna. "I know, she told me she was worried that we were getting together behind her back. It took a lot of convincing for her to fully believe that you were loyal to Joe." Sam said. While we talked, I heard some scuffled footsteps behind us and turned my head slightly to look at who was making the noise.

As I turned my head, I saw a man that I've never seen before. He looked to be in his mid 30's and based off of the way he was walking and the way his eyes were slow to move, I knew he was drunk. I took another look at the man, careful not to make it too obvious, and watched as the man held up his phone out to us. By now, the boys knew someone was behind us, but thought nothing of it. "Joe burrow." the man said. Joe, realizing the man was probably a fan, kept on walking. "Joe! Hey wait up! Can I get a picture with you." The man said again, followed by saying Joes name continuously to try and get his attention.

"Who is that?" I asked Joe. "Just keep walking. once we pass security up here they'll deal with him. He's not even supposed to be in here." Joe said and pulled me closer to him, not wanting any of us to pay any attention to him. "Do I have to fuck your wife to get your attention?" The man said with a small and weird chuckle, slurring his words like crazy. "What the hell." Ja'marr said and turned around. Joe clenched his jaw and turned around with Ja'marr. "What the fuck did you just say to me?" Joe asked in an angry tone, stepping closer to the man. "Hey, security!" Sam yelled, wanting security to step in before Joe did something. "There he is! Can I get a picture with you real quick?” The man asked and stepped forwards. Once closer, he began looking me up and down and said, “and maybe take her for a spin afterwards.” A shiver ran down my spine as I scowled at him in disgust.

"Let's go Joe, security is coming." I said and walked in front of Joe to try and stop him from doing something stupid. In times like these, Joe was a hot head. The man was known as 'Joe Cool' on and off the football field until it involved the people he loved. "No, no, say that again to my fucking face." Joe said. "Just back the fuck up man!" Ja'marr said to the man, standing by Joes side. No matter what, Ja’marr was always by Joe’s side, especially when it came to disgusting people like this man. "C’mon, Can I just get a pic real quick?” The man said and held up his phone and got both him and Joe in frame, except I was in it also. The man, not liking that I was in it, slipped the phone into his pocket and then put both of his hands on my shoulders. Since I was facing Joe in an attempt to keep him moving, I could see a few security guards coming up to us that Sam got. All of a sudden, I felt his arms on my shoulders and then he spun me around slightly, pushed me to the side so I wasn't in the way. One second I had both of my feet planted on the ground, and the next I lost my footing because of my big boots and fell to the ground.

Not expecting to fall so abruptly, I let out a faint scream as my knees skidded across the concrete. From above me, multiple shouts and yells echoed through the walls of the tunnel. There was a lot of commotion for about 5 seconds and then I felt 2 firm hands go onto my sides from behind me. Quickly, I was lifted off of the ground and placed back on my feet. I quickly turned around and made eye contact with Joe whose eyes were filled with anger. "I'm fine, I'm fine." I said quickly and then looked to Ja'marr who was going off on the man who touched me and also the security guards who let the man slip past them. Once joe could tell by my expression that I was okay, he turned around and took a step closer to the man who was being put in handcuffs my a police officer who came rushing over after seeing the commotion.

"Don't you ever lay your fucking hands on my wife again!" Joe yelled and then added in, “you hear me!” I looked to the man quickly and then at Sam who walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go over here." He told me and then guided me over to the side and away from everyone else. “Holy shit." I said, flustered from everything that just happened. It all happened so quickly. "Are you okay?" He asked me as we both turned around. Joe and Ja'marr were currently going off and raising their voices at the security guards who let the man get into the tunnel. The man was not wearing a pass and was not a family member of any of the players, so how he was able to get into the tunnel was beyond any of us. "I'm fine, I just fucking scraped the hell out of my knee's though." I let out a little exasperated laugh.

We both looked down at my knees. One was bloody just around the scrape, and the other one had a bigger wound on it which was currently dripping blood down my leg and onto my new boots. "Oh shit, that's not just a scrape." He said while laughing slightly because of the way I addressed the blood on my knees. “Oh no, my boots.” I said with a frown. After a few more minutes, more people gathered around the scene including a few more police officers, Zac Taylor, Jessica who came and found Sam and was currently having him fill her in a few feet away from me, and then Logan Wilson and Morgan who didn't leave yet. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Morgan asked when she got over to me, looking down at my scraped up knees.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I promise, it's just a little scrape." I said. Morgan and Logan stood by my side as we all watched what was going on in front of us. "How did he even get back here?" Joe said loudly. Zac stepped in between Joe and one of the police officers who was currently taking the man to his car outside. Joe and zac started talking. "What even happened? Who was that?" Morgan asked me. Logan stepped closer, wanting to hear what happened also. "A random guy from behind us kept trying to get Joe to take a picture with him. He was obviously drunk and whatever so we just planned on ignoring him until we got closer to the security guard so he could deal with him. When Joe wouldn't listen, the man literally said 'Do I have to fuck your wife to get your attention'." I said.

"That’s disgusting." Morgan said and put a hand over her mouth slightly, a sour look on her face. Logan's face scrunched up in disbelief and disgust and then looked over to the scene while still listening. I explained the rest of what happened to them and then the police asked to clear the area and informed Joe that the man was being taken to jail. As the area began to empty and everything died down, Joe walked over to me, but didn't notice my knees yet because of the chaos that just occurred. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Joe asked me his eyes darting from my right eye and left eye and cupped the sides of my face gently in his hands. His breathing was fast and ragged, obviously shaken up from what just happened too. Bringing my hands up, I grabbed onto Joes wrists that were on either side of my face and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, I promise you. I wouldn’t have even fallen if I wasn’t wearing these big boots. It was a small fall, that it." I said.

I looked deeply into Joes eyes with a small and reassuring smile, and shook my head to show that I was indeed fine. "Are you 100% sure? He shouldn’t have even put his hands on you." Joe said. "My knees along with my ego are a little damaged, but that's it, I promise." I said. Joe couldn't help but let out a small laugh at what I said before realizing that I said my knees. Quickly, Joe glanced down at my knees to see blood dripping down my right leg. "Shit, I didn’t know you were bleeding." He said quickly and then removed his hands from the sides of my face.

Joe kept his eyes on my knees for a few seconds before turning around a little. "Joe it's fine, I'll just wipe it off." I said and placed my hand gently on his arm, trying to pull him around towards me.  Joe looked at me quickly and said, "if the medical staff is still here then you're getting your knees cleaned up." The face he gave me told me that he wanted me to go along with him and not try to change his mind. Once again, he turned around and called Zac's name before he got too far down the tunnel. "Yeah?" Zac asked in a concerned tone. "Is the medical staff still here? I just want to get her knees cleaned up real quick and make sure she doesn't need stitches or anything." Joe said, taking a step forwards.

"I don't need stitches, it's just a little scrape." I said with a small laugh and walked by his side as Zac started to walk our way. "Well how am I supposed to know? All I see is blood dripping down your leg." Joe said, looking down at my knees again. "Oh man," Zac looked down at my knees, "Yeah, there are a few still in the locker room. Just come with me." He said. We all headed towards the locker room. I was in between Zac and Joe who was still a little fidgety and on edge after what just happened. Even though I was the one that got pushed down and hurt, Joe seems to be affected more by it. The way he keeps looking down at me and flashes those 'I'm sorry' eyes at me makes me want to pull him to the side and make him understand that I'm okay.

We finally got to the locker room and Zac found us someone who had their gear out still. So it went quicker, we just went over to Joes locker where I could sit down and the medic could clean up my knees and throw bandaids on them if needed. Zac said goodbye to the both of us and once again apologized for what happened. As soon as I saw Joes locker, my mouth almost dropped open. There were shoes, clothes, hats, some snacks, and many more random and weird things thrown around Joes locker room. It looked like a tornado came to Cincinnati and only hit Joes locker; plus a few other players lockers. "Do you ever clean? My goodness look at how gross it is." I laughed as I sat myself down on the fold out chair in front of Joes locker. Looking offended, Joe just chuckled and then kicked a few of the shoes that were in the open closer to his locker.

"The hate is really not necessary. Plus, it's not that bad." Joe said with a small shrug. Furrowing my brows, I looked around at Joes locker while the medic who kneeled down in front of me began to grab things out of his kit. Looking back up to Joe, he just started laughing at my reaction. "You really think this isn't "that bad?"" I asked, using air quotations to really emphasize what Joe just said to me about his terrible locker. "Okay, okay, it's pretty bad." We both started to laugh together and then the medic looked up at me, so I gave him my attention. "I'm just going to clean off some of this blood and then the actual wound itself. Once I get to the wound, it might sting a little bit." He said to me. "Alright, go for it." I said with a little laugh while Joe grabbed onto my hand and gave it a little squeeze.

#joe burrow #joeburrow #cincinnati bengals #nfl #joe burrow bengals #joe shiesty #joey b #bengals #joey burrow #joe burr #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow imagine #joe x reader #joe burrow fic #joe burrow fan fic

[miracleonice87]

from uncle trav to killa dad

part of the kissing kelce universe

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

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

word count: ~3,400+

___

February 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But not today. 

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

Nah, he mused silently. Couldn’t be.

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

“Travis, what’s today’s date?”

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

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

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

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

And apparently, neither had you. 

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

Maybe this particular trait was no different.

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

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

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

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

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

“Better?” Travis inquired simply. 

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

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

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

Finally, you broke the deafening silence. 

“Trav?” you croaked. 

“Yeah?”

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

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

“I think so, too,” he echoed. 

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

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

Travis Kelce forcing a smile. A rarity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He nodded, head still pressed to yours. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah?”

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

“Yeah,” you whispered in reply. 

He drew in a deep breath and squeezed your waist. 

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

You nodded, arms falling back to your sides. 

“Do it together?” you requested hopefully. 

He nodded, too. 

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

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

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

“Ready? One…”

“Two…”

“Three…” 

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

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

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

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

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

But then you smiled. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[joeybsversion]

Anything

Joe Burrow x Reader

Joe has a panic attack before a game

It’s finally time. The first home game of the season. Soon the stadium would be filled with disorderly fans, the comforting smell of stadium food, and rowdy players fighting their way to a win. But now, it stood quiet. Fans slowly filter their way through the team shop as a handful of players take the field to warm up.

Your eyes scan the field looking for your boyfriend Joe. As quarterback, he’s never missed a chance to warm up. Weather he’s practicing the motions of throwing the ball, stretching, or just taking a walk down the field, he’s always out there. Your heart rate picks up a little when you can’t find him.

“Maybe he’s taking a new approach this season.” You quietly mumbled to yourself, keeping your eyes on the field.

Although you were trying to be positive, the worst thoughts begin to run through your mind. Did he get hurt? He was fighting through a minor knee injury. Is he sick? Is he even here at the stadium?

As nerves run through you, you decide to head down to the family and friends area outside the locker room. Hopefully you’ll see Joe, or at least a team member who can assure you every things ok.

As you turn the corner, your eyes meet a familiar face.

“Joey!” You rush to him, throwing your arms around his neck. He’s leaned up against the wall, head down. As you press your head to his chest, you can hear his heart racing. “Are you okay?” You pull back, your eyes meeting his. His face is pale, he truly looks helpless and exhausted.

“I….I….I’m.” He chokes out, unable to catch his breath.

“You’re having a panic attack.” You grab both of his hands. “Focus on me. Let’s take some deep breaths.”

His eyes study your face, trying to copy the slow breathes your taking. His hands are shaking in yours.

“What’s got you so worked up, Joey?”

“There’s so many people relying on me to win. This way we play today can really affect the rest of our season. I’m scared of letting everyone down.” His eyes are threatening to spill over like the ocean.

If there’s one thing you knew about Joe, it’s that he was not good about talking about his feelings or emotions. He kept everything deep inside of him under lock and key.

Every aspect of playing in the NFL has gotten to him. “You are doing your best and you’re doing enough. Everyone knows that.” You do your best to assure him. “I know there’s a lot of pressure riding on you today. But I also know if there’s anyone that can pull off a win, it’s you.” You see a slight smile creep across his face. “You just need to believe in yourself and in your team.”

You pull him down close to you so you’re face to face and press your lips to his. “That’s for good luck.” You wink.

Not ready to let go, you hold him close and continue to tell him how proud you are.

He places a kiss on the top of your head. “This right here could heal me of anything.”

#joe burrow #joe burrow fic #joe burrow fluff #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow one shot #joe burrow smut #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow insta au #joe burrow instagram #nfl fluff #nfl imagine #nfl fic #nfl smut

[bad268]

Hi I love your work can you write about justin and a reporter ask a question about you( your relationship is unknown) and he’s loses his temper a lil but Is also trying not to disclose anything.

Private, But Not Secret (Justin Herbert X Reporter! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/NFL

Requested: Clearly (I love him so much)

Warnings: mentions of when Justin broke his leg in college

Pronouns: Third person (They/them)

W.C. 1031

Summary: A reporter takes a question too far, so Justin takes evasive action.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

It all started when they met in college, the University of Oregon. Y/n, a sports journalism major, and Justin, a science major on the football team. A match made in heaven, one would say. Their classes did not overlap a lot, but Y/n was assigned to cover the football team. It was only natural for the two to spark something. 

They began hanging out outside of the games and practices during the summer of their junior year and became official at the end of the football season. The two decided to keep it between themselves because the last thing they needed was people making comments about the quarterback and a journalist being together.

Fast forward a few years, Justin is doing well with the LA Chargers and Y/n has established themself with CBS. Y/n was the lead journalist when it came to the LA Chargers, and they were always reporting on Sundays. Their relationship remained strong, and no one other than their respective families and closest friends knew of the two.

Even though they were on the down low, everyone could see that Justin had a soft spot for Y/n in conferences. No matter the outcome of the game, Justin would smile and give very detailed responses. Heck, he would even banter back and forth with them!

One game in particular, Y/n could not attend. Y/n was visiting family, so they asked one of their newer reporters to fill their space. The game was pretty good for the LA Chargers and Justin with him throwing three touchdowns and running one in himself. Despite being at their parents’ house, Y/n turned on the post-game conference just as Justin came on the stage. All of the journalists were congratulating Justin and asking game-related questions until it got to one reporter. 

“Perla with CBS,” she started, Y/n immediately recognized the voice as their coworker who filled in for them. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my colleague, Y/n, is not here today.”

“No, I noticed,” Justin chuckled. “They’re at every game and every press conference, so it’s nice to see them taking a break.”

“Many people, myself included, have noticed that you two seem to have a stronger bond than just reporter and player,” Perla scoffed. Immediately, Y/n could sense where the question was going, and so could Justin. “Is there anything happening behind the scenes between you two?”

“That has nothing to do with the game, and frankly, it’s none of your business,” Justin answered monotonously.

“I mean, it’s obvious to everyone that Y/n doesn’t have the proper experience to have this job, so it’s clear that they’re doing some ‘behind the scenes’ favors,” Perla continued, completely disregarding Justin’s first answer and obvious distaste for the question.

“First off, don’t ever talk down on someone like Y/n who is higher up than you,” Justin started off, glaring at Perla through the crowd. “Second, if we were in a relationship, how would I have any say in their job? I have no personal connection to CBS, and I just don’t have that power. Lastly, if you’re going to keep talking shit, you can leave, and we’ll make sure that CBS knows how you aren’t actually working within your role. I don’t think your boss would appreciate that his sports reporter is poking her nose around in topics that don’t deal with sports, right?”

“Are you threatening me?” Perla gasped, surrounding reporters were eating it up. Justin was known for being quiet and reserved, so seeing him lash back was a one in a million shot. 

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise,” Justin replied. “Slander against Y/n will not be tolerated, especially when I know that they specifically chose you for this gig because they believed in you.”

After the conference, Justin called Y/n on his way home.

“Thank you for standing up for me, J,” Y/n greeted almost immediately after answering the phone. “People need to learn to stay in their own lane.”

“I’ll always defend you,” Justin laughed. “We do need to talk to your boss about that, though. That was unacceptable.”

“I really thought Perla was just misunderstood,” Y/n replied sadly. “Turns out she’s just out for drama.”

“If people are going to keep asking about it,” Justin started, “how would you feel about us announcing us? We could be private but not secret, and I’ll make sure to add that we’ve been together since junior year.”

“If I get to help choose the pictures and the caption, I think it would be best,” Y/n admitted. “Plus, you kind of already outed us during the conference when you said ‘we’ will make sure that CBS knows.”

“For fucks sake,” Justin chuckled in disbelief. “I tried so hard to keep it hidden.”

“Well, now we don’t need to,” Y/n comforted. “Remember, private but not secret from now on.”

The next game day came faster than either were prepared for. Both shared two pictures to their Instagrams with the caption, “Five years and counting.” One of them was taken during the off-season, and the other was of the two sitting on the couch with Justin’s broken leg and Y/n dressed up as a nurse from junior year. The posts gained a lot of traction, but it was now in the open. Neither wanted to change that.

After the game and another win for the LA Chargers, there was, of course, another conference. This time, Y/n was back in their place.

“Y/n with CBS,” they smiled as Justin looked their way. “First off, congratulations on announcing your relationship. You two look very happy together.”

“Thanks,” Justin laughed at the brief teasing. "We've been through a lot together. Couldn't see myself without them, honestly."

“That's cute, but I would rather talk about that last play though,” Y/n quickly got on topic. “A 69-yard throw to Keenan Allen for the game-winning touchdown. With this win, you helped secure your place at the top of your division and a place in the playoff. Tell me, does your arm hurt with these long throws?”

~~~~~

© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

#justin herbert x reader #justin herbert #justin herbert imagine #justin herbert fanfic #la chargers #los angeles chargers #nfl #national football league #nfl football #nfl imagine #nfl fan fic #bad268 #ship268 #thing268

[87kelce]

—late night devil put your hands on me

summary: being friends with benefits with a famous nfl player has it's bonuses, especially after a win. but when his team loses, his bad mood transpires to when he gets home to you.

warnings: smut (18+ only, no minors), fluff, semi-rough sex, friends with benefits situation, slight use of daddy kink, possessiveness, love confession, falling in love

word count: 2806

notes: title taken from the song teeth by 5 seconds of summer. also this is my first one shot/fic on this account so likes and reblogs are very much appreciated 🫶

You knew you probably should've left his place by now, considering you've stayed two nights in a row—and you're not exclusive with him. He reminds you of that fact every time you come over. Reminds you that it's just sex, just a casual hook up. But neither of you are seeing anyone else, or hooking up with anyone else for that matter. And he never seems to mind coming home and seeing you on his couch, his jersey engulfing you while you sleep.

It's always fine when he comes home after a win. He dumps his bag by the couch and heads off into the bedroom to change, letting you rest on the couch. He's already showered at the stadium before he drove home so he usually just gets into bed and switches on the TV, flicking through the channels until he sees you walk in. He takes his time with you then, kissing you everywhere and being so gentle, so tender. After a win, his time is focused on you, focused on getting you off. And you relish in it, wishing it could be like that all the time.

But it's not. His team lost today and he got ejected from the game. So now he's pissed off. The door slams behind him when he walks in and you startle from your position on the couch, eyes frantic around the room until you see him storm off into the bedroom. The door shuts behind him loudly and you just sink back into the couch, curling up and switching the TV off. You want to go and check on him, but you know better than to interrupt him when he's in a mood. He didn't get a long shower when he got back to the team dressing room, so he decides to hop in the shower now. It's a cool one, the slightly cold water running down his back as he rests his hands on the shower wall. His muscles contract when the water gets a little colder, but he knows he needs it. He's frustrated and tired, just wishing today could be over. He knows it was a tough game, but he was being aggravated by the opposition all game and he just let it all go to his head. He knows better, he always knows better.

After a while he switches the shower off and grabs a towel, wrapping it around his waist before stepping back out into the bedroom.

"Jesus! You scared the shit outta me.."

"Sorry.. just making sure you were alright?"

"I'm not."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No."

"Trav.."

"Leave it."

You just sighed and rolled your eyes, turning to leave the room. You walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a sip, before moving round the island slightly. You could just about see into his bedroom from here and you silently watched him as he was cooling down. He grabbed some shorts before walking to his side of the bed, a place where you couldn't see him. You waited a few seconds before you saw him again, adjusting the waistband of the shorts before he threw a plain white t-shirt on. He hadn't noticed you staring at him yet, but he was now making his way out the room and over to you. You stood back from the island, leaning against the kitchen counter when he went to the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of water.

"Did you even watch the game?"

"I think I dozed off.."

"Well, we lost.. and I lost my temper and got ejected.. so that's why I'm in this mood.. it's not because of you."

"I'm sorry.."

He just shook his head, turning to go back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. You placed the bottle down on the island, before going back to the couch and grabbing your phone. You searched through every social media until you found a clip of the game, of the exact moment Travis lost his temper. The opposition player gave him a gentle shove while blocking him, and Travis shoved back, trying to get him away. But the gentle shove turned into a slightly more aggressive one and Travis ended up knocking the other guy to the ground. Then they were at it, their helmets clashing while their respective teammates tried to pull them away from each other. Two players pulled Travis away but he was still shouting and yelling at the opposition. The clip ended immediately after that, but it automatically restarted afterwards, the moment replaying again on your phone.

You'd seen him angry before but not like this. He usually stopped before he truly lost his temper and so it never got like this. You knew it wasn't just the shove, you knew the other guy had said something to Travis to push him over the edge. But you weren't focused on that anymore, you just watched as Travis stood over the other guy, waiting for him to stand up. And when he did, Travis held his ground, shoving him back slightly with his helmet.

And somehow because of that, your hand had slid its way into your underwear. Replaying the clip over and over again, you managed not to hear Travis come out from the bedroom. Or hear him walk over to you and stand behind you, watching as you squirmed on the couch.

"What're you watchin'?"

You fumbled with your phone, locking it and throwing it on the coffee table before turning round and sitting on the other end of the couch, grabbing a pillow and hiding behind it.

"Uhm.. oh.. uhm, nothing.."

"That's what gets you off?"

"N-no.. maybe..?"

"You like watchin' me be rough?"

You couldn't even mutter a response. His eyes were locked on yours, the anger still slightly evident. You thought he was trying to tease you, but then he kept talking and you realised just where he was going.

"I got ejected from the damn game.. and it's turning you on?"

"Trav.."

"Nuh-uh.. bedroom, now."

"Trav.. I just.. I couldn't help myself.."

"Yeah, no shit.. c'mon, go."

The way he was acting was just getting you even more hot and bothered, meaning you could hardly even walk properly. You know he noticed, you could feel his eyes on you as you stumbled into the bedroom, crawling onto the bed and turning around. He followed you after a few seconds, eyes looking you up and down as you were on his bed, hands gripping the sheets.

"You're so pretty, baby.. be a shame if you got ruined tonight.."

"Please.."

"Please, what, baby?"

You whined, feeling his hands on your ankles, pulling you to the end of the bed, your core directly pressing into his crotch.

"Please, Daddy.."

"'Atta girl.."

He moved one of his hands from your ankle to your waist, sliding it underneath the jersey you wore, his thumb rubbing across your skin. He was being gentle, maybe a little too gentle for the situation and you knew he was going to snap again. You knew he needed a release, somewhere, or rather someone, to let his frustrations out on.

"You know how angry I was? Getting ejected from an important game?"

He moved his other hand from your ankle, a finger hooking itself into the waistband of your underwear, dragging it up and off, tossing it across the room. He bent down slightly, a hand pressing into the mattress beside your face. His pupils were blown wide, eyes looking directly into yours.

"And then you.. you start touchin' yourself to it?"

"It was hot.."

You mumbled out your words, watching him tilt his head above you, almost silently asking you to repeat yourself. But you knew he heard you fine and well, the smirk on his face was evident of that fact.

"Mmhm?"

You nodded, hands reaching out for him and grabbing at his t-shirt, trying to pull him closer to you. But he didn't move a muscle.

"I ain't gonna be sweet with you tonight, baby.. gonna have you sore and limping tomorrow morning."

He was always only ever sweet, always making sure you felt loved and cherished whenever he took you to bed. But this was different, you knew that he only had one thing on his mind and that was to get himself off and get his frustrations out, you being the means to an end for him. Your eyes closed slowly when you felt his lips on your cheek, then your jaw and down onto your neck, mouth sucking at your skin to leave a mark.

"All mine, baby.."

You felt your chest flutter when he whispered those words into your skin, like an invisible mark only you could feel. Before you met Travis, the hookups you had were meaningless—you were young and having fun. But now, even though this is just a relationship full of hookups, somehow it means more to you. Maybe it's the way he's usually gentle with you, taking it slow and kissing languidly against your skin, and all over it. Maybe it's the way he always comes back to you no matter what, despite you both not being exclusive, he never hooks up with anyone else. Or maybe it's the fact that he's just slightly possessive, and without him even realising it, he wants you all to himself, all the time.

"Wanna hear you say it."

"I'm yours, I promise."

He cut you off with a kiss, all rough and needy. Your hands loosened from the bed sheets to wrap around his neck, pulling him in closer.

"Need you.."

"I'm all yours.."

You hadn't even realised that you were absentmindedly grinding yourself against him, and you only noticed when he moved his mouth to kiss your neck and he smirked.

"Easy, baby.. easy.."

All you could do was whine, your hands gripping onto the back of his t-shirt while his went down to the inside of your thighs, spreading out your legs. He propped his elbow on one of your thighs and his hand on the other thigh, keeping you open with just one hand, the fingers on his other hand starting to move through your folds. Slowly, he started to push his fingers inside, two of them seated inside you all the way up to his knuckles. Your mouth fell open and you squeaked out a moan, which got half caught in your throat when Travis slid his fingers out before pushing them back in. His head was hanging over your shoulder, lips softly kissing your neck every so often.

"Need more.."

You whined out your words, right into his ear and you felt him smirk against your skin as he kissed your neck again.

"Mmhm?"

"Please.."

He pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the hem of his t-shirt before taking his other hand away from you, moving his hands to the backs of your knees, still keeping your legs spread open. The way he was doing everything so slowly was absolute torture for you, whining when he pressed up into you, letting you feel him through his shorts. He's giving you what you want, but he's not giving it to you the way you want it. He knows you want him to be rough, to almost punish you for getting off to the fight he had during the game today, but him being slow and making you beg for everything is way more satisfying for him. Watching you come undone beneath him is only further pushing his ego and he's absolutely loving it. He knows that the more he takes his time, the more frustrated you'll get and he's just waiting for you to break and act like a brat.

While one of his hands started to wander up under your shirt, you felt something on your stomach, then his head was tilted slightly, his hot breath on your ear.

"You feel how deep it's gonna go, baby?"

"Mmhm.."

He pulled his hand from underneath your shirt, which was actually just one of his old jerseys you decided to claim one day, to grab at the hem of it, pushing it up your chest, letting it bunch below your neckline. He pulled back from you for a moment, your eyes still closed as he looked you up and down, savouring the way you looked. For a second, he felt his chest flutter, his hand resting on your waist as he looked down at you. Everything seemed to catch up with him at once as he pushed himself inside you, watching your eyes squeeze shut and your back arching off the bed, hands reaching out for him. He's supposed to be angry, to be upset, to be mad at you, but he doesn't care about that anymore.

In a way, he's almost torturing himself, suppressing how he feels about you for so long and only now coming to terms with it. He fucking loves you, but he's too afraid to admit it, not just to himself, but to you as well. He's grinding himself into you, pulling out every so often to the tip, before seating himself fully inside you, his eyes on yours even while they're still closed. He swears he sees you smile for a second and he almost loses it then and there. He moves his hand to your jaw, tilting your head to face him and you open your eyes, your pupils blown wide as you make eye contact with him, his hips still grinding against you. But the moment you look at him, he's gone.

He drops his head to your shoulder, groaning beside your ear, his hips moving back before snapping forward, skin slapping on skin.

"Shit.. fuck, I love you.."

You heard what he said and all you could do was tilt your head to the side, kissing his cheek a few times, before his mouth was on your neck again. He was seated fully inside you, grinding forward and driving himself as deep as he possibly could inside you. He pulled his head up from your shoulder, moving to hover over your face. You both locked eyes for a moment, before he leant down, softly kissing your lips while his hand cupped at your neck.

"Trav.. 'm gonna.."

"S'ok.. let go.."

You hid your face against his shoulder, moaning softly while your legs started to gently tremble around his waist. He kissed your cheek, thumb rubbing against your jaw in an attempt to soothe you as you came down from your high. You breathed out a sigh of relief when it washed over you, eyes squeezing shut as you started to grind against him, riding it out as well as trying to push him to his own release. It wasn't long before he pulled out, spilling himself over your stomach, groaning against you. You both stayed there for a moment, both trying to catch your breath. Travis placed one hand on the bed beside your head, holding himself up as he looked into your eyes.

"You uhm.. you love me?"

"I.. yeah.."

You just smiled, reaching up to cup his face, pulling him in for a kiss. While you kissed him, he adjusted himself back into his shorts, before pulling away to grab a towel from the bathroom. He came back and cleaned you up, and just as he turned to toss the towel into the laundry basket, you climbed back up the bed, waiting for him to get in. He knelt on the edge of the bed, before climbing up and lying down, hand over your stomach while his head rested on your chest. You moved your hand to wrap around his back, hand scratching at the back of his head.

"Was it like a heat of the moment thing or?"

"No.. just, didn't really know how to say it, or rather admit to myself that this was more than just hookups.."

"Well, that was sorta obvious when I started staying the night like two, three nights in a row.."

"Yeah, guess I'm an idiot for not realising.."

"Well, I love you too.. so I guess we're both idiots.."

He just smiled and laughed, the vibrations reverberating against your chest. You felt like such a safe haven for him, like no matter what happened to him during a game, he could always come home to you and instantly switch everything off, let go and be comforted by you. The fight he had today was completely forgotten about now, your hand scratching at the back of his head almost putting him to sleep. Then you leaned down and kissed the top of his head and he smiled once, before drifting off, nuzzling his head against your shirt as he fell asleep in your arms.

#travis kelce #travis kelce fluff #travis kelce smut #travis kelce x reader #travis kelce x y/n #travis kelce x you #travis kelce fic #kansas city chiefs #kc chiefs #nfl fan fic #nfl

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Imagines: Peewee

————————————————————————-

Summary: You take your boyfriend, Joe, to your little brother’s first tackle football game. Your little brother, Tommy, has always been such a huge fan of your NFL boyfriend and both you and Joe loved how much he idolized him.

Warnings: So so fluffy.

Pairing: Joe Burrow x Reader

Imagine universe: None! (Misc.)

A/N: Joe isn't injured and the Bengals have a very late bye week!

————————————————————————-

December 18th, 2023

If you told me a year ago, when I started dating Joe, that we would have to go two months without seeing each other, I wouldn't have even agreed to go on a date with him.

Joe and I had an… age gap. He was 27, with an amazing career and a life built for himself, and I was 20 and still in college.

He was in Cincinnati while I was in Athens attending Ohio University.

We had met through our fathers who were both on the coaching staff at OU. We had a family dinner together, and Joe was the only one of Jimmy’s three boys who was able to make it.

Joe swears up and down still to this day that it was love at first sight when he saw me. He was just out of a relationship and wasn't looking for anything but he says that all changed when he saw me.

Now back to the two months without each other. Obviously, we were long-distance, and it was the mid-football season for him so that meant he was busy all of the time. I had just gotten done with finals for my fall semester, so up until now I had been super busy with university stuff.

Today I would see Joe for the first time since early October, and I couldn't be more excited.

My parents were even super excited because they were the ones on the receiving end of my griping the past couple of months.

My little brother was also super excited. Tommy was 10 years old and playing his first-ever tackle football game today. It was my dad’s travel football team he was playing for. My dad doesn't trust the coaches at his school so Tommy’s not allowed to play there.

Tommy’s only request for his first game was that his favorite NFL player be there.

It was Joe of course, and he promised he would be there.

He didn't disappoint either, just as my dad and Tommy took the field, Joe texted me saying he was a couple of minutes away.

“Are you excited?” - my mom nudged me

“Yeah. I've missed him.” - you smiled

“Oh, we know.” - your mom

I glared at her and rolled my eyes before I pulled out my phone to pass the time.

“Look, there he is!” - my mom

My head snapped up and there he was in all of his glory. Joe was walking over to the bleachers while watching the field.

“Go!” - my mom

I jumped up and ran down the stairs, seeing my mom get her phone out to record in the corner of my eye.

Joe by now had realized I'd seen him and stopped walking to open his arms for me.

When I was within inches of him I jumped into his arms.

His strong arms wrapped around my body and he slowly swayed with me.

“There’s my beautiful girl.” - Joe

“I missed you so much.” - you

“I missed you more. A day didn't go by that I didn't wish I was with you.” - Joe

My legs wrapped around his waist and my arms were around his neck. I knew that Joe wasn't a fan of PDA but this moment was too good, and there were barely any people in the bleachers anyways.

“You’re not allowed to leave me for that long again.” - you

“Never again sweetheart. I'll take you with me if I have to.” - Joe

“I love you.” - you

“I love you too…. so much.” - Joe whispered

A few moments of just hugging later, I spoke up.

“Can you walk us up to my mom? I don't want to let go yet.” - you

“Of course.” - Joe chuckled

My grip on him tightened as he easily started walking in his usual loose-hipped strides.

Climbing the stairs wasn't a problem for him either with me in his arms, Joe was taking two steps at a time.

“Hey Joe!” - your mom

“Hey! It's good to see you.” - Joe

“I don't know if you can tell, but she's missed you a lot.” - your mom

“I think I picked up on that.” - Joe chuckled

Joe gently lowered me onto the bleacher and plopped down next to me. We always sat at the top so we could sit against the wall of chain fencing.

I couldn't help but admire how cute he looked right now. Joe was wearing light grey sweatpants with a dark grey sweatshirt and flannel over top of it. The white backward hat was the icing on the cake.

“You're so handsome, Joe.” - you laid your head on his shoulder

“You say that all the time, baby.” - Joe smiled

“Because I mean it.” - you

Joe looked down at me with a large smile and kissed my forehead. One of his arms looped around my waist as he pulled away.

“Well, you're pretty gorgeous yourself.” - Joe

Feeling my cheeks heating up, I hid my face in his neck. Joe would usually try to make me blush more, but he was enjoying the heat of your red cheeks against his cold neck.

My mom handed Joe a blanket to which he gave her a thankful smile before draping it over our legs.

“You warm?” - Joe

“Mhm. You emit a lot of heat.” - you giggled

“Good.” - Joe

“By the way, you're going to have to activate your muscles and carry my bags to your car later. I have a few.” - you

“I’ll start warming them up.” - Joe joked

My mom laughed along with me and I couldn't feel any happier in that moment.

——

I knew Joe would cheer the boys on, but I didn't expect him to be jumping up, yelling, warning the defense when the other team was doing a pass play, and so much more.

This one time specifically, the game was kind of getting slow so I was falling asleep on Joe’s shoulder. My brother’s team got a touchdown and Joe abruptly jumped, waking me up in the process.

“Sorry, my love.” - Joe sat back down and pulled you back into his chest

The scene made me wonder about my future with Joe. Maybe one day we’ll be doing the same thing with our own son.

“I'm so proud of Tommy. He acts so maturely football-wise for his age.” - Joe

His statement sealed my previous thought. There will be a future for us, and maybe I'm right about us cheering on our future son.

——

Come halftime, my dad’s team was up 12-0.

“Joey.” - you nudged your boyfriend, who was deep into a conversation with your mom.

“Mhm?” - Joe

“Can you get me some hot chocolate from the concession stand?” - you

“Of course. I'll be right back. Do you want anything to snack on?” - Joe

“Mm, no I'm okay. Thank you! I love you!” - you

Joe stood up and moved the blanket onto me more before placing a kiss on my cheek.

“I love you too.” - Joe grinned and walked away

A few minutes later, Joe walked back with a drink carrier and a paper bag in his other hand.

“What is all of that?” - you laughed

He handed me and my mom a hot chocolate before setting one down for himself.

“You said you didn't want a snack but I know that means you wanted one.” - Joe handed you the bag

Gosh, he knew me so well. After giving Joe an appreciative smile I opened the bag to find three chocolate chip cookies.

“There was an older lady up there selling baked goods so I thought I'd snag a couple cookies. You can have one if you want to, y/m/n.” - Joe

“Well aren't you sweet.” - your mom took a cookie from you as you handed it to her

My mom happily munched on her cookie and I couldn't help but laugh at my own thoughts.

“What?” - Joe

“You're trying to impress my parents, huh?” - you

“Well, I’m taking you three hours away for a week! I want them to know you're safe staying at my place.” - Joe

That's probably what I'm most looking forward to out of this whole day. After the game is over, I'm going with Joe to Cincinnati where I'll be staying at his house for the week since it's their Bye.

“Joey, they already know that. I wouldn't be going if they didn't. Also, I'm an adult I can do what I want!” - you

“Babe. I know you're an adult. I just don't want them to be wary because I'm an older guy.” - Joe

“Joseph, you're seven years older stop acting like you're forty.” - you

Joe rolled his eyes but I scooted closer to him and threw the blanket over his lap.

“You're allowed to want to impress my parents, but don't feel like you have to. They love you, because I love you.” - you

My heart did pretty much the exact opposite of the rest of my body and warmed deeply when Joe placed a tiny kiss on the tip of my nose. It was a signal that he didn't know what to say back in the moment but appreciated my statement.

——

“Joe!” - Tommy ran out of the gate and up to Joe, who had his arms open for your brother

The team had won, thankfully and now we were all standing and waiting for the kids to get out of their post-game huddle.

I couldn't put into words how I felt when I watched Joe hug Tommy like his own brother. It was so sweet and I'd never felt so in love.

“You’ve got one good man, y/n.” - your mom

“I know.” - you grinned

My eyes drifted from my mom’s smiling face back down to my boyfriend, the love of my life, hyping up my little brother over a couple of his receptions.

That's when I knew Joe was the one.

————————————————————————-

Authors note: the fourth day of Christmassss

Guys who is she… consistently updating like this…

This fic came from my own mind! 🤍

Hope you enjoyed! 🫶

#joe burrow #bengals #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow x reader #joey b #cincinnati bengals #joe burrow fan fic

[0sincerelyella]

Can you write a ANDREI IOSIVAS fic just cuddling with him or something

My Girl - Andrei iosivas

Summary: Andrei is new to the nfl, just fresh out of college and just having his NFL debut recently, his birthday turns out to be his greatest day in his personal life and his career ever.

A/n: YES YES A MILLION TIMES YES

girl everytime i go to write this HE DOES SMTH AMAZING

babe got his FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN WOOOO happy birthday yosh!

y/n, regrettably has not been able to make it to a single bengals game this season. Her long term boyfriend, andre iosivas, was a rookie in the nfl, but y/n herself was finishing up nursing school and she’s just been to busy.

with andreis bitrthday being today, his only wish, which he never voiced to y/n (knowing her busy schedule, he hated being a bother because of his own silly wants), was for y/n to make it to his game.

he met y/n in hawaii while she was on vacation with her family. he worked up the courage to ask the beautiful girl for her number and she thankfully said yes. they did long distance for awhile until both decided to go to princeton. the first time they saw eachother was the most magical moment.

when andrei woke up this morning, y/n had her books and papers spread all across the kitchen table with her head in her hands. she wore her hair in a messy bun, one of andreis hoodies hugging her body as she frustratingly typed on her computer. “how long have you been up beautiful?”

he wraps his arms around her neck as he stands behind her. “four” she said yawning, which wasn’t a total lie.

andrei sighed, kissing her cheek. “i’m sorry love, your gonna ace this exam though” he promised, smiling at his lover. little did he know, y/n took her exam a week ago, getting permission to take it early. “i’m sorry i can’t come to your game today drei” she said, standing up to hug him. “happy birthday though” she whispered, making sure he knew she didn’t forget. he giggled, holding her hips. “thank you sweetheart” he kissed her forehead and spun her around “and don’t worry about the game, you study your butt off and i’ll help you study tomorrow. you’ve got this my sweet girl”

andrei got himself ready and left as y/n held the door open and watched him leave. she said her byes and shut the door. y/n then ran to the kitchen and cleaned up her props, throwing them in the closet. she took off andreis hoodie to reveal the fresh iosivas jersey that was underneath. she quickly got ready with excitement in her eyes. the first game of the season that she can see, sadly, is the sixth one. the bengals have not been doing to hot recently, but y/ns support never waivers

she could not wait to see the smile on andreis face as she drove to the stadium. she practically ran into the stadium to sit down. she sat directly in the front, leaning down and cheering as she watched the game.

when she saw joe scrambling to find a person to throw the ball to, that’s when she saw andrei. she yelled so happily as the ball was thrown down the field and turned into andreis first career touchdown. y/n screamed at the top of her lungs as she jumped up and down. happier than anything.

she watched as her face appeared on the jumbo tron. she also watched as in the excitement, andrei looks towards the jumbo tron and his whole face changes. his neck snaps towards the seats as he searches for her. and once their eyes met he ran as fast as he could. “happy birthday!” she screamed, his smile was the greatest gift even if it wasn’t y/ns birthday.

“You suck!” he giggled, handing her the game ball. “your kidding!” “gotta go love!” andrei ran back to the field and y/n couldn’t be happier.

after the game, y/n waited patiently as andrei sprinted at out the locker room in a record breaking 20 minutes. and as he saw y/n standing with a gift and the game ball in hand he tackled her into the biggest hug she’s ever received. “i love you a thousand times over” he whispered, swaying back and forth. “best birthday ever” he added, kissing her passionately.

after the kiss, y/n handed him the gift. “y/n, you are gift enough” he said, still standing in the middle of the facility not knowing which reporters are watching and recording their every move but andrei didn’t even think twice, his excitement was too overwhelming to care who watched.

y/n shook her head and watched as he ripped apart the packaging and opened a glass incased orange and yellow hibiscus flower. the flower was wilted, and the glass read the date of their meeting. “i got it incased in glass a year after we met when we were still long distance and i was waiting for the right moment to give it to you” she waited six years to give him this gift.

“you waited six years?”

“i wanted it to have value. eventually i had forgotten, and the other day while i was coming up with this plan i had found it, and figured this birthday was a better time than any to gift you this gift” andrei had tears in his eyes

this gift, the flower, was the flower he gave her the day they met. hand picked, and handed straight to her along with a request for her number.

his first career touchdown, his girl finishing her test early and cutting all school work for the next two days just to be with him, and the best gift he could ever receive. it created his dream.

andrei quickly drove the two home, practically running inside with his girl in his arms. “my girl,” he breaths, laying her on the couch and jumping on top of her. he burrows his face into her shoulder and lays there “this is the only thing i’ll be doing for the next two days” he speaks into her neck and just lays there

“my girl” he breaths again, “being married to you will be the greatest thing in the world” y/n holds her birthday boy in her arms. “my beautiful beautiful girl”

#andrei iosivas #andreil #nfl fluff #nfl fic #nfl players #nflying #nfledit #nfl fan fic #nfl imagine #nfl lb #nfl vlog #nfl #nfl football #nfl videos #football #joe burrow #cincinnati bengals #sam hubbard #jamarr chase #even mcpherson

[judes-hoe]

Kylian Mbappé imagine angst/fluff

where you’re very shy to come up to him after a big win or achievement just because you don’t feel like it’s your place to. You always let his family, friends, teammates, and staff hug him before you. Right after Kylian won a big game, the first person he wanted to hug was you. But you were no where to be seen. Once you guys get back home he confronts you about it. At first he feels like you never support him but then you get to explain yourself. And he’s like “no you’re the most important person in the world to me. Everything I achieve is for you”. Thank youuuu ♥️

Also this is based on those American nfl draft vids where the gfs are always taking away the moment from the family. Idk if you’ve seen the vids but they’re v funny 😂

Never going to Kylian after a win or getting an award because you don’t wanna take away the moment from him and his family. But after he won the Barca match to go to the semi finals he was a little mad you didn’t come see him. When you both got home he didn’t talk to you the whole way. “How come you never celebrate with me when I win or have a good achievement!” He said with a loud stern tone. “I-I’m sorry I just don’t wanna take away the moment with you and your family.” You told him shyly. “Oh… bébè your the first person I wanna see and hug after I have a big achievement or win a big match like today..” he said softly coming towards you and giving you a hug and kissing your head. “Everything I win and achieve is for you mon amore.” He said lifting your head to give you a kiss.

Please request🫶🏻 inbox is open always even if it’s just to chat

#judes-hoe😚 #kylian x you #kylian fluff #kylian smut #kylian mbappe blurb #kylian fanfic #kylian mbappe x reader #kylian mbappe fanfic #kylian x reader #kylian imagines #kylian mbappe #kylian mbappé

[octuscle]

I found a box in my mail today

I think the sender got mixed up but there doesn't seem to be a address on it

Bc Strangely there a pair of football cleats

Iv never heard of a football jock living nearby me

How odd, they seem to be my size too, wonder how they feel on,

hmm that smell of new shoes really gets me going

Dude, it's late. Go to bed. You have to get up early tomorrow, the first lecture starts at 08:30 already.

Your dreams are wild. You're chasing a herd of young lads around campus with a whip. Fuck, you wake up in a cold sweat. Outside everything is still pitch black. But a morning wood of the finest. Your apartment is once again a mess. Good that your cleaning lady comes tomorrow. You go into the bathroom. And you freeze your hard-on is huge. But what happened to you? You are old! Very old! You are easily 30 years or even more. And above all you are horny. Very horny! You can't help but jerk off. And shit, you give your cleaning lady really something to do. You take an old towel and wipe away the mess on the mirror and sink to some extent. The last time your cleaning lady was here was a week ago. Hehehe, there are already several dirty towels with encrusted stains on the floor. But hey, you're the coach. You're macho. Real men don't clean up. Or clean. Okay, real men don't actually fuck the quarterback either. Or get fucked by the linebacker. But nobody's perfect.

Today we're taking photos for the new team calendar. Your new football shoes won't be on the June calendar page. Fuck, this is the month you'll be 32 years old. Fucking age. Too old to shine in the NFL anymore. Too young to be a coach, actually. But your team loves you. Not just platonically.

#submission #age progression #football jock #jock tf #muscle tf #muscle transformation #male tf #male transformation

[chrollohearttags]

Hii how are you today?

Could you write Millionaire Reiner that is obsessed with his wife and could she be plus-size?

hiiii my sweetness! I absolutely can (and I’m totally not living vicariously or anything)

themes: black plus size reader, fluff and some freaky stuff mentioned

so I am a firm believer that Reiner made his millions off of playing football. He was a star quarterback in the NFL for years, where he won a plethora of championships before retiring. The last thing he wanted to do was be far too broken down to function so he decided to bow out gracefully after ten seasons, five of which were winning Super Bowl ones. He went on to invest his fortune in several different businesses including farming, auto sales and even the cannabis industry. But his true and most priceless passion was his gorgeous wife of ten years, (y/n) (l/n). A woman who had been by his side since his high school and D1 days back in college. A stunning and equally smart young lady; a pathology major with a minor in physical therapy, whom he first met in his math class after getting your help to pass an exam. He was equally smitten then as he was now. Infatuated with your intelligence and looks, Reiner didn’t stop until you were his and it didn’t take much because you were crushing hard on the shy ball player. Many people would say that the two of you brought the best out of another, including your shells. When you were around, he never stopped smiling and when he was away at games, interviews..he couldn’t wait to get back! Now the two of you spend your days traveling the world, working on the farm and enjoying the perks of married life that you missed out on during his glory days. Picking up and taking trips, being spoiled endlessly and just showered in love and praise by your man. Your walk in closet looks like an entire boutique, your fashion sense is envied and all you have to do is bat those pretty eyelashes and he opens his wallet. He gets so happy to brag on you, tell everyone how amazing you are and that you are his entire world. Reiner is so in love with you, constantly posting you to his Instagram and showing off his girl! Granted, as a bigger woman, people have had their fair share of nasty insults, but none of them compare to the love that you receive for how hot of a couple you are. You’re so spoiled, it makes no sense.

or the even nastier things he does with you! When you’re on vacation, strutting around in your bikini with those thick thighs, tummy (stretch marks and all baby!) he gets so excited. Like big daddy can barely even contain himself (side note: he posts you with the vaguest yet freakiest caption, saying things like ‘my meal’ or ‘my beard warmer’. He definitely whisks you away from all those fancy dinners and hall of fame ceremonies to eat you out in the front seat of his McLaren or Maserati. Plunging those fingers right to the brunt of his championship rings. Laying his forehead against the fat of your tummy and devouring that pussy until you’re shaking. Keeping this man off of you is a full time job in and of itself but you don’t mind it at all because lord is he down bad when it comes to you and the feeling is mutual. Y’all will go rounds until neither of you can stand and the obsession grows more and more each day.

#cherry’s asks 🍒 #aot x black reader #black fem reader #reiner aot #reiner x chubby black reader #black reader #shingeki no kyojin reiner #reiner headcanons #reiner braun #reiner x black fem reader #reiner smut #attack on titan reiner #reiner imagine #reiner braun x black reader #snk reiner #black reader smut #reiner x reader #reiner braun x reader #reiner brainrot #aot reiner #need to fuck on him on an island

[bettyshoweduptotheparty]

Midnights duality (part 2): Meet me at midnight

So, we’ve established that Midnights is the era where Taylor makes it known that there are two versions of her story, and that the prevailing narrative can’t be trusted and she’s letting a second (conflicting) narrative exist alongside it. This brings me back to the sentence that concluded the album announcement and opened the first track: Meet me at midnight.

Sounds so simple, right? But who are we meeting at midnight? It’s not the public Taylor, because we’ve known her for a while. So it must be the private one, the one that wears trainers and a T-shirt and bleeds purple glitter. Let’s meet her.

Where, other than in the mv, do we see this private Taylor? On the big screen during the Eras tour performance of Anti Hero. And what is she doing? Screaming and waving at us before she walks off in a huff. Guess no one was there to meet her…

She is also the one taking notes when performance Taylor is doing the teaching. I find it noteworthy that the public Taylor here is dressed in 1989 outfit and is holding the pointer stick in the same way she used to swing and hold the golf club in the Blank Space performance on the 1989 tour. She is also the one slut-shaming and bullying Taylor about her weight in the bathroom scene, two things we know were very prominent during the 1989 era so this ‘Anti Hero’ villain is her 1989 self, the height of her fame and perfectly crafted public persona. So this private Taylor that we are meeting is taking notes from her 1989 self. Interesting… And even more interesting that we are now getting a vault track on 1989tv called SLUT!. And I have just learned today that we are quite possibly getting a mv for this song… so would this be the place to meet our new Taylor? I think it’s a contender.

I have said in my post about the burning Lover house, that I take from the blue flames that 1989tv will move the narrative of this new Taylor forward quite a bit and as we are nearing the release (5 days to go as I’m writing this) I get that feeling more and more. Yes, I am not blind or deaf, I am very well aware that Taylor is currently doing her very best performance of NFL player’s gf, but I actually think that furthers my duality in public narrative and performance art point from part 1. Because, while I’m sure I don’t need to give you any examples of the excessive articles and media coverage of Taylor’s outings with either MH or TK, I just want to remind you of what other articles and media coverage has emerged in recent months, and this is not a story that would have made the NY Times or Cosmopolitan even a year ago.

Yep, Gaylor has entered the mainstream media. Not something that was on my 2023 bingo card, if I’m honest. Not even during the spring and summer of 2019, during Taylor’s soft launch phase, was her queerness this openly discussed in mainstream media. And not just as a general idea, some of the articles are linking her to very specific women in the past and, as if that wasn’t enough, the women in question have promptly appeared in public, either non-denying a relationship with her (looking at you DA), or showing up at her concert after a supposed years-long feud, adding fuel to the fire. And didn’t Taylor make a spectacle of looking lovingly up at Karlie in the stands at the last LA show, a show that she hyped up enough with 1989 announcement easter eggs that she could be sure everyone was watching. She wants to give this new narrative a platform. Yes, the straight girl pap walks are happening, but so is this. Pick your narrative. Especially the inclusion of Taylor in posts from official LGBTQ charities like Stonewall and Glaad seems significant to me, because they are non-profit organisations that are dedicated exclusively to preserving and telling queer people’s stories and would never risk their reputation or seriousness of their cause by participating in clout chasing or name dropping. And I know that these two things going on simultaneously seem super confusing, but I’m starting to think the confusion is part of the act. This is the tale of the two Taylors and it’s our job to work out which is which. The Stonewall Archive specifically tagged Taylor in their post about an exhibit on media coverage and public perception… they know something we don’t.

The re-emergence of pap walks alone is something I wasn’t expecting. Over the last 7 years we have known Taylor as a private person after her turbulent 1989 era. She was mostly quiet, stayed out of the headlines, no pap walks or public appearances outside of award shows and select performances. After all, reputation Taylor told us that the old Taylor died and the new version didn’t explain anything or show her face in public much. But 2023 Taylor has felt a lot like that old Taylor, right?? The pap walks, the girl squad, the high publicity romances… So, hasn’t Taylor learned her lesson from her 1989 self after all?

I think she has, but she wants the rest of the world to eat their words and see how ridiculous this is. Will this all be part of a Slut! mv? Maybe. Or it could be a way to distract the fanbase from something else that’s going on. One very notable difference in the pap walks now is how confidently herself she is when she’s photographed with her friends or going to the studio. Back in 2014 she would leave the gym looking like she was walking the runway with not a hair out of place, and now she is walking the streets of NYC looking queer as ever. (I swear she googled ‘How to look like a lesbian’ before picking that second outfit…) And I’ve seen how much it confuses the swifties. And I’m here for it 😋 Question though, if she’s going into the studio looking this gay, is the music coming out of these sessions going to be equally💅 ?

Something is brewing and 1989tv is the next thing on the horizon, so let’s look at that.

Midnight and Sunrise

Having been introduced to our new Taylor at the beginning of Midnights, she’s taken us through the main album, then the 3am bonus tracks, to the til dawn edition. With every new midnights edition we have worked our way through the night from midnight, to 3am, to dawn. So, next would be sunrise, right? And there have actually been a few mentions of sunrise and daylight in both the 1989tv marketing and other media coverage. I’ve spoken about the midnights to daylight theory before, as it’s one that many Gaylors have speculated on, but I think there has been quite a bit of movement on this recently.

Firstly, there is the yellow 1989tv vinyl that is conveniently named the ‘Sunrise Boulevard edition’. Not only does it have the word sunrise in it, it is also a direct reference to the Stonewall National Museum & Archive, which is located on this road in Fort Lauderdale, FL. And with the emergence of all the other variations of the 1989tv vinyl, it is easy to spot that they all have a sunlit beach theme (a big change from the OG 1989 city theme!) and with the recent leak of a purple version on the website of a record shop, we now have a full rainbow of 1989tv vinyls. Sunrise and rainbows… I think I have an idea where this may be going. But hang on, there is more.

Remember when I said that the Stonewall National Archive knows something we don’t? A few days ago, they posted this on their Instagram with lyrics from Taylor’s happiness, highlighting and italicising the word sunrise and pointing everybody’s nose in the caption to their address at 1300 E Sunrise Boulevard:

This feels VERY intentional. And I’ve never really looked at the happiness lyrics in that way, having taken the song to be about Scott B and her old label, but when Stonewall is using these exact lines in that context, with a strong suggestion that they have insider knowledge, it seems worth looking at them again.

In the caption, SNMAL say that they ‘celebrate the glorious sunrise of LGBTQ+ history’ with the pride flag and sunshine emoji. So, could it be that the Sunrise Blvd vinyl and accompanying rainbow variations of 1989tv are going to bring some kind of moment in history for LGBTQ people? It certainly sounds like this is about more than just Taylor. Perhaps furthering the theory that there may be a double album on the horizon with the second one being all collaborations. Stonewall also liked a comment on this post that said that something is in the air 🌈

They also included the line about flickers of light from the dress I wore at midnight. Flickers of light, as in glimpses of her queerness? The ones we are seeing now in all those articles are social posts? The mention of a dress immediately throws my mind back to the rainbow dress that Billy Porter ended up wearing at World Pride 2019, but that was almost certainly meant for Taylor. And out of all the photos of Taylor from the VMAs this year, which one did GLAAD choose to post on their Instagram in September? Yep, the one with Billy Porter. Takes me back to 2019… and something else does too, actually: The Cruel Summer live single release.

Cruel Summer was released as a single this June, 4 years after its initial release. And almost made it to No.1. It was certainly on the radio A LOT. The Lover set is also the opening act of the Eras tour, so this summer has certainly had some 2019 throwbacks. And remember how the Lover era started? With ME! Out now! on Lesbian Visibility Day, followed by the sunshine and rainbows parade that was the mv and (as we later learned from the documentary) 'Cats, unicorns and gay pride... things that make me ME.' And now, in October 2023, Taylor released a live version of Cruel Summer and used the very photo from the 2019 shoot as a cover for the single. And not only was that a 2019 photo shoot, it was the last photo she posted on her instagram in June 2019 before she was meant to wear the dress at NYC Pride. I think she captioned it something like 'calm before the storm'. And now that photo has made a comeback. If I were a betting woman...(and I've learned better than to ever make predictions when it comes to Miss Taylor Swift these days) but if I were I'd say it looks like she's taking another run at this. Meet ME at midnight...and then follow me into the daylight. ☀

And one more thing before I conclude this monstrosity of an essay, I found Taylornation's post for the midnights anniversary last week a bit mysterious:

It says 'Tonight we celebrate an album written by the one that could make us stay. After all the sleepless nights and friendship bracelets we've shared, we hope you know you're never really on your own, kid.' Sounds a bit like a pep talk (and a plea at the same time) to me. Why do the fans need reminding of the good times and be asked to stay? Where would they go and why?? And the first picture in the carousel is our girl 'home Taylor' from the Anti Hero mv, looking contemplative, maybe waiting for someone to come and finally let her out of that house. And the photo immediately after it is Taylor as we know her, smiling for photos with her fans at the movie premier. The two Taylors again...but one is in black and white and the other is in screaming colour 😉iykyk.

#taylor swift #gaylor #1989 tv #midnights album #midnights to daylight theory #stonewall and glaad know something we don't

[wildlife4life]

Seven (+) Sentence Sunday

Tagged by super amazing @exhuastedpigeon @cal-daisies-and-briars @hippolotamus @disasterbuckdiaz @glorious-spoon @wikiangela @daffi-990 @tizniz @devirnis @watchyourbuck @hoodie-buck @loserdiaz @spotsandsocks and @diazsdimples. Thank you all so much!

Alright, so I know haven't been as active since dropping the first chapter of NFL Buck. I've just been sort of down because that same day, the Super Bowl Champs had their parade and rally, and just after it ended there was a mass shooting. My younger sister was there with some friends and they got away unharmed, but when she didn't answer my message for a long 30 minutes, I truly thought the worst. I've just been so sad and angry for Kansas City, for the US really and I just couldn't get into the spirit of writing. I'm not getting into the politics of it all today and my sister is coming for a visit soon, so I'm feeling marginally better. KC Strong.

First chapter of NFL Buck has been dropped, but everything else I've posted for this fic can be found here. Here is a snippet from the Eddie Begin's arc of NFL Buck.

Hurricane Harvey was relentless for almost four days, bullying southern Texas with unforgiving wind and an exurbanite amount of rain. Houston fire department and so many others worked day and night to help those who had not evacuated.  It was absolute chaos, and it blew through Eddie’s entire life. The storms had wreaked havoc on the cell towers, which meant service was spotty to none and radios became the main source of communication for rescuers. By some miracle, though, the internet connection at the firehouse held strong. It was slow and glitched out here and there, reminding Eddie too much of his time in Afghanistan. He watched his infant son grow up through a screen, with his very upset wife barely holding on and his parents hovering nearby, souring the video calls even further. Christopher was no longer a whimpering baby in his mother’s lap but looking at his saddened son on a glitching iPad screen with a tense Maddie sitting beside him, was too familiar.  Add in the argument he had with Buck just before, and the threat of danger just outside the firehouse, Eddie was back to being a scared 19-year-old in war riddled country. “Dad, grandma said we’re not going to visit Buck anymore. That he’s too busy. And Maddie tried to call him, but he didn’t answer and…” The eight-year old’s voice trails off, his lips trembling. Eddie bites his inner cheek hard. This was on him. He gave into his mother’s worries and demands about traveling through Texas during the hurricane.  Helena was too stubborn and being his mother, she knew every damn button to push, and Eddie was tired of fighting.  So, he reluctantly agreed to cancel the visit and his mother grinned a little too sharply before stating, “I’m sure Maddie will enjoy having her brother to herself.” Another ploy to take Christopher and Eddie fucking fell for it. Then his mother took it a step further by graciously telling Buck and Maddie herself, that Christopher would no longer be joining them in Dallas and to enjoy their time together for as long as they need it. Eddie knew his mother didn’t approve of his relationship with Buck, more so than his previous one with Shannon. The only reason she kept her mouth shut was the potential back lash of upsetting Christopher. But she already succeeded in having a hand in driving away Shannon and she probably believed she could do the same with Evan.

With this fic, there are a lot of canon events with twists. The usual timeline does not exists. But I hope you all enjoyed!

Tagging (no pressure): @bekkachaos @theotherbuckley @lover-of-mine @buddierights @try-set-me-on-fire @jesuisici33 @jeeyuns @aroeddiediaz @giddyupbuck @rainbow-nerdss @thewolvesof1998 @eddiescowboy @eddiebabygirldiaz @spaceprincessem @athenagranted @evanbegins @elvensorceress @malewifediaz @911onabc @911-on-abc @ladydorian05 @bigfootsmom @thekristen999 @spagheddiediaz @rogerzsteven @honestlydarkprincess @doublecheekeddiaz @buck-coded @prosperdemeter2 @lemonzestywrites @gayedmundodiaz @transboybuckley @nmcggg

#seven sentence sunday #tag game #my wip #911 abc #911 on abc #911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #evan buckley #eddie diaz #christopher diaz #nfl #quarterback buck #firefighter eddie #secret relationship #hurricane harvey #eddie begins au #prayers for kc #kc strong

[spicypepperjack]

Miles and Gwen ATSV Rooftop scene, but with sports commentators

Play-by-play (Jim): Sundown ambience, and we have Gwen and Miles sitting upside down together on a romantic rooftop setting. This should be the opportune time for a love confession!

Gwen: In every other universe, Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man.

Play-by-play (Jim): Gwen appears to signal that there IS something between her and Miles. How will Miles respond?

Miles: *moves his hand closer*

Play-by-play (Jim): Miles appears to take her signal, and he's going for it. This might be it!

Gwen: ... And in every other universe, it doesn't end well.

Miles: *moves his hand back*

*Audience groans*

Play-by-play (Jim): Oh no, that's a rough one, folks. Gwen was up a huge margin and Miles was willing to follow her lead, but she decided to throw her massive advantage.

Game analyst (Bob): Jim, it was a nice try by Miles, but it looks like Gwen still has a bunch of inner demons that are lowering her stats.

Miles: Well... it's the first time for everything, right?

Play-by-play (Jim): Oh my god, but Miles responds using his signature technique, the "Rizzales", in a clutch recovery! Their relationship is still salvageable, Bob!

Game analyst (Bob): Looks like Miles has been training himself with Aaron's teachings after he passed. Lord bless his soul.

Gwen: Hmm... *leans a shoulder onto Miles*

*NFL theme starts playing*

Play-by-play (Jim): And Gwen seems to be impressed by Miles's "Rizzales"! Miles and Gwen can still work! Thoughts, Bob?

Game analyst (Bob): I agree, Jim! If Gwen and Miles continue to work together harmoniously for the rest of the season, they'll inevitably get together way before playoffs. Only things that can hinder this are potentially mind-breaking reveals and game-changing secrets, but with today's performances from the two of them, I predict a very smooth endgame for GhostFlower.

#miles morales #across the spiderverse #gwen stacy #ghostflower #gwiles #miles x gwen #spider gwen #atsv #gwen x miles #spiderman #this is the dumbest thing i've written but idc #miles rizzales #oh Bob you sweet summer child #why did you have to jinx it bob #atsv spoilers

[light-yaers]

Take Care: Chapter Two

Fic Masterpost | AO3 | Chapter List

Warnings: swearing, eventual smut, emotional themes. 

A/N: I couldn’t wait. I wanted to get the ball rolling more before I slowed down, so here’s the second chapter for you all! Mwah

Word count: 7k+

Chapter Two

Well, Chris. That was certainly a disappointing start to the season for Richmond.

Indeed, Arlo. Arsenal were all over them. It seems that new coach Ted Lasso’s tactics aren’t cutting it just yet.

I think that’s probably unsurprising, especially from him being a NFL coach in the States before this. Have Richmond bitten off more than they can chew, do you think, Chris?

I don’t know, Arlo. But without Jamie Tartt the team wouldn’t have clinched even one goal, so I hope Lasso knows to utilise the young striker a lot more.

Very right, Chris.

I’m always right, Arlo.

That’s debatable, Chris. Remember the prediction of 2004?

We don’t talk about the prediction of 2004, Arlo. I told you that in confidence.

Defeat settled around the stadium. As far as first ever football games went, yours had gone to shit. The guys had played to oblivion, but Arsenal had been better. You sat in the box next to Keeley, feeling the commiserations from the home crowd. They would go home in a sulk, for sure, and you didn’t blame them. You were feeling it yourself, even, despite all that you didn’t know about the sport.

You and Keeley left the owner’s box together, heading down the stairs. You went to take a left, heading for the car park, when Keeley stopped you gently. “What, going home already?”

“Is that not a normal thing to do after a game is over?” you asked.

Keeley snorted. “Not today. It’s Sam’s birthday, you wally. I’m driving Jamie home, too. So come on! Don’t be another debbie-downer from the crowd.”

You followed her down another set of stairs, headed for the locker room. As you approached, you could hear Coach Lasso. He blasted an optimistic pep talk to his guys, but if you’d been sitting in that room after a 3-1 loss, you wouldn’t want to hear it personally.

Keeley turned the corner first, as you whispered behind her not to interrupt. She rolled her eyes at you, entering the locker room and leaving you outside. You let out an annoyed sigh, bobbing on the spot with anxiety, before you finally plucked up the courage to show yourself.

“Hard luck, boys,” Keeley said first, going to sit upon Jamie’s lap.

You emerged in the doorway, arms crossed. To your surprise, the sunken faces of a few players perked up at your arrival. Isaac sat up straighter when he saw you, as did Sam. They both sent you small smiles through their frowns of defeat.

“Well, hey!” Ted said. “Good of you to join us.” He gently squeezed your shoulder, showing you it was okay to come in.

You sent a look of sympathy around the room as you entered, before your gaze fell upon that of a dishevelled Roy Kent. “Sorry about the loss, guys,” you said, not knowing what else to add.

“It’s a shame,” Sam began. “This was your first football match, was it not?”

A collective groan went around the room, only making you feel worse. You raised your hands defensively, widening your eyes. “No, no, don’t feel bad!” you let out, panicking. “Listen, it’s taken me my whole life to watch a football game, alright? And despite the outcome of this one, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Your gaze skimmed Roy’s again, and you pooled all your genuine feelings within that one look. He sighed heavily, but some tension was relieved from his shoulders.

“Well said,” Ted spoke up. “I know this isn’t the outcome we all wanted, but we take it in our stride, and we move on. Besides, we have a cake to eat for Sam’s birthday here!” he exclaimed. Isaac clapped Sam on the back, and a few smiles trickled around the locker room. “So, grab a slice, get some sugar back in your systems, and let’s do better next time.”

You stayed with the guys in celebration, as Coach Beard pumped some tunes into the locker room. Jamie was the only one who stayed visibly pissed off. Keeley jumped off his lap as he grabbed his bag, leaving the room with her on his tail closely.

You watched them leave, but couldn’t stay on them for long. Ted shoved a plate of cake into your hands, taking you by surprise. The guys milled around too, coming up to ask about the match and what you made of it. You hated to admit it, but this was nice. This was the first time you felt properly involved with the team, despite Isaac’s birthday the week before. That hadn’t felt as familiar, but this did. These were people you knew now, in all their boyish glory.

You sat down in the middle of the room, on the central island. You listened to Colin’s jokes, and Richard’s stories from back home in France. Sam opened a few stray presents that had appeared in his cubby over the course of the day. What had you constantly turning your head, however, was Roy Kent.

He sat by his cubby, sorting through his things silently, a plate of cake untouched by his side. You had the urge to go and sit next to him, but you didn’t know the reason for it. There was a huge sense of respect for Roy within the walls of this stadium, but when it came to socialising, Roy usually sat out. You set down your own slice of cake, standing up abruptly in the middle of a story by Bumbercatch. You headed for Roy, and sat down next to him before he could protest. You crossed your legs and leaned back into the cubby next to him, crossing your arms comfortably. Roy stopped sorting his things, just to look at you for a moment, before he continued.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“No,” you said, leaving it vague. “Was just wondering why you had an aversion to your teammates being social, is all.”

Roy rolled his eyes and let out a sound between a groan and a growl. It was like a mid-ground. “I don’t have a fucking– aversion– to social events with the team.”

You shrugged. “Okay.”

Roy froze. “I don’t.”

You shrugged again, more aggressively. “I agreed with you.”

“Yeah, but you’re fucking lying. You think I avoid them.”

“I don’t think you do. You do avoid them.”

“Oh,” he looked at you like he’d just stood in dogshit. “Just– fuck off– with your assumptions, and your–” he waved his hand in front of his face, then in front of yours. “Your fucking face.”

You scoffed. “My face?”

“You always look like you know something about me,” he said. “It creeps me the fuck out.”

You raised your hands defensively. “Sorry,” you said. “I can’t help the way my face looks, unfortunately.”

Roy dropped his gaze to the floor. “You know that’s also not what I fucking meant.”

“Was it?” you said, but by this point you were fully fucking with him. You found it enjoyable, especially since you’d squashed your beef, to play with him more. He nibbled on every joke, every dig, that it was impossible to stop making them.

“I– fucking hell–” Roy looked back at you, and you let out a proper laugh.

“I’m fucking with you, Roy. Jesus, don’t worry,” you said, gently resting your hand upon his thigh without thinking. You only noticed when he stopped to look down at your knuckles; that’s when you realised his bare skin was practically burning a hole through your palm.

You took your hand off him, placing it in your lap quickly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll leave you be,” you said, genuinely, before you stood. “I know it’s shit, by the way. Losing,” you said, with your back turned to him, before you twisted yourself to peer down at him. “But I meant it. I wouldn’t change this being my first football match for the world.”

Roy took in your words, letting out a soft sigh through his nose. He nodded. “Thank you,” he let out softly. You smiled at him, before you finally left him alone.

Days became more routine. You’d walk to work, grab a coffee on the way, say hello to the boys upon your arrival, before settling into your office. When you weren’t working on articles or website updates, you were looking up football facts, or writing your own novel. Your days at the Dogtrack had become something you were fond of, especially now that you weren’t strangers with anyone there anymore.

Sometimes, Sam would pop his head around the door of your office, and you’d have a catch up about books. You’d been recommending reads to one another for a few weeks now, each of you bringing in books from your own personal libraries for the other to read. It was like a mini book-club of sorts. That, and you just enjoyed the company of Sam Obisanya. He was younger than you, but felt wise beyond his years. You think you latched onto one another from how foreign everything felt– he was in a completely new country, while you were in an utterly new industry. Both of you felt like fishes out of water, sometimes.

You’d become closer with Ted, too, for that very same reason. Between you, your combined knowledge of football was practically comical. God forbid anyone asked either of you to explain the off-side rule, or a handball violation. Beard was an enigma of a man, and someone you didn’t mean to avoid, but just ended up doing. But, with more matches being played and lost, team morale was at an all time fucking low. You could sense it every time you entered the locker room after a long day of training, or decided to join the guys after their Saturday match days. You could never do what they did– all that losing would kill you off before you’d even make it to a win. That was why you took it upon yourself to try and cheer them up in the ways that you could.

You didn’t pity them or stroke their egos. You sat with them, and you listened. Sure, you had no fucking clue what they were saying when they mentioned 4-4-2 layouts, or a football kicking manoeuvre, but still you listened. Sometimes, that was all they needed. It seemed to be helping, and you didn’t mind spending more time with the guys when they simply needed it.

That’s what led you to join them after training one Tuesday, but morale was certainly higher than you’d been expecting. You entered the locker room with a smile, giving Colin a high five upon your arrival. Sam and four others were talking enthusiastically in the corner, and you perked your brow.

“What are they talking about, Colin?” you asked, as Colin pulled on one of his trainers.

“The charity ball. They’re talking about their plus ones, I think.”

“A charity ball?” you asked, peering down at him.

“You don’t know about the ball?” Colin asked back, and you shook your head. He stood abruptly then, clapping the boys to attention. “Guys! This one doesn’t know about the charity ball!”

His alert led the guys to erupt in several different conversations. It was far too much for you to take in, so you raised your hands and let out a chuckle. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, one at a fucking time.”

The room dulled to a stable level. Sam took the lead. “The charity ball is Richmond’s event of the season. Celebrities, cameras, lights, a special performance from a musical artist, all for charity.”

“Musical artist?” you said.

“This year it’s Robbie Williams!” Colin exclaimed, prompting the room to go back to roaring.

You looked to your right and hit Roy’s wandering gaze. He winced at the volume in the room, before he inhaled deeply. “Hey!” he yelled suddenly, shutting the guys down. “I can’t hear myself not think. Also, I fucking hate Robbie Williams.”

“Are you going this year, Roy?” Colin asked.

“‘Course, I’m going. There’s booze, isn’t there?” he said, and all of the guys nodded in agreement.

“We’re just talking about our plus ones,” Sam spoke to you again. “Richard just landed himself a Victoria Secret model.”

“Fucking hell,” you let out, suddenly feeling the smallest bit insecure. It was like you forgot the guys were big name footballers, and when you were reminded of that fact it hit you like a suckerpunch, sometimes. “Good on you, Richard.”

Richard nodded, sat on the bench by his cubby. “She has a kind heart. And, she is smoking hot.”

You smiled awkwardly. “Brilliant,” you muttered.

“Are you not coming?” Sam asked, strolling towards you. “You are part of Richmond now, are you not?”

“Well, considering I didn’t know about it until now, I guess Rebecca hasn’t factored me in. When is it?”

“On Friday,” Colin said.

You winced. “Yeah. I’ve definitely been left off this guestlist.”

Almost immediately, the boys started groaning. They slapped their hands on their thighs and stood up with annoyance. They wanted you to come, and it made your heart warm, definitely, but there was probably nothing you could do.

“I think we all have plus ones now, sadly,” Sam said. He placed his hand over his heart. “Otherwise, I would have taken you as my date in a heartbeat.”

“No, no, I would’ve, bruv.” Isaac chimed in. As if on cue, all of the boys went around the room and reassured you that they would have taken you.

You inhaled deeply and smiled so genuinely that you had to tell yourself to stop. They did this to you often, made you feel special, and welcome, and all of the things that you thought you wouldn’t feel on your placement here. They were kind.

You raised your hands again, trying to calm them down. “Guys, guys! Thank you, all of you. I appreciate you all saying you’d bring me, but it’s fine. I’m grateful for the gesture, anyway.” They nodded at you, all smiling their winning grins, before they went back to packing their bags. “Well, I’ll be off then. See you all tomorrow!” you announced.

“Wait a fucking minute,” Roy said, and the room dropped to silence once more. You halted immediately, turning back to meet his eye. “I don’t have a plus one.”

In the corner of your eye, Sam’s eyes widened. Isaac’s jaw dropped open. Colin’s eyes darted between you and Roy like a tennis match.

You held onto the strap of your tote bag tightly, until your knuckles turned white. “Oh.” You tried to say it nonchalantly, but it came out statically, timidly. You hated the sound you just made so bad that it was a miracle you didn’t melt from your own embarrassment.

“So?” Roy asked.

“So…?” you repeated awkwardly.

“Do you want to be my fucking date or what?” he let out. “They’re right. You’re part of this club. You should get to join us.”

You looked around the room for approval, but it was then that you realised, if he’d only asked you in a different setting, you wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes. It was the pressure of all the guys around you that made it all the more worse. You knew Roy meant it as a kind gesture, not as anything more, but it was still easy for your heart to start pulsing harder beneath your ribcage.

You smiled bashfully, trying to play it off as nothing more. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Great,” Roy boomed, picking up his gym bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “I’ll pick you up.” He stepped towards you, headed for the door.

You scoffed. “You don’t have to do that. I can meet you there, or something.”

Roy peered down at you sternly. “I’ll pick you up,” he repeated.

“Okay,” you said timidly, giving in fast.

Roy left without another word, leaving you in the locker room. The guys stood around you with gobsmacked expressions, but one glance at them unlocked them from being statues. They went back to their prior conversations, with an underlying hubbub of gossip about what they’d just witnessed.

You left the stadium with two thoughts littering your mind. One, you had no idea what to fucking wear, and two– Roy fucking Kent had just asked you to be his date to the Richmond charity ball.

On the walk home, you called Keeley.

She picked up fast. “Hey babes, you okay?”

“Hey. Yeah, I’m okay. I do have a favour to ask of you, though,” you said.

“Okay, fire away!”

“I need an outfit for the Richmond charity ball,” you announced.

“I was wondering if you were coming! Leaving it pretty close, though, babe.”

“Yeah, well.” You sighed, knowing that Keeley would take the news the wrong way, but still you persisted. “I wasn’t invited explicitly, but Roy just asked me to come as his plus one.”

Keeley squealed like a crying baby. You held your phone away from your face, wincing in pain, until her shrill screams stopped. “Are you finished?” you asked.

“What the actual fuck!” she exclaimed. “This is just like that trope that everyone loves on Twitter.” She clicked her fingers impatiently, trying to remember. “Enemies to lovers!”

You scoffed immediately. “Please, Keeley, you’re making me feel a bit ill. It’s nothing like that. And besides…” You fiddled with your fingernails. “Roy and I would definitely be enemies to friends to lovers, first,” you added quickly. Keeley squealed again, and you winced once more. “Okay, okay!” you yelled. “Back on track. I need an outfit, and I desperately need your help.”

“Lunch break, tomorrow. I’ll pick you up,” she said, and you couldn’t help but smile. “This one’s on me, too, babes. I know MA students aren’t exactly dripping in gold.”

You sighed, but you couldn’t help the warm pang that raced through your chest. You really had some great people around you. A month into this placement and it had already exceeded your expectations. Even Rebecca had started warming to you, of all people.

“Thanks, Keeley,” you said genuinely. You could practically feel her golden smile radiating through the phone.

You worked non-stop the next morning, too anxious to stop for even a second. Right before lunch, Rebecca made an unexpected visit to your office. You were mid sip of a cup of tea, and almost choked on it when she knocked on your door and popped her head around the frame.

“Oh, sorry, have I caught you at a bad time?” she said, and you forced yourself to swallow.

You shook your head quickly, panicking. “No,” you croaked, then cleared your throat. “No,” you said, normally. “What can I do for you, Rebecca?”

“Well, I assume you read Trent Crimm’s article about Ted in the Independent,” she said, stepping inside and sitting opposite you. She crossed her legs, and for a moment you were mesmerised at how long her legs actually were.

“Yes, yes I did,” you said, looking at her face, finally. “It was a great article, one that showed off Ted’s true colours, I felt.”

Rebecca’s face flattened slightly. “Yes. Brilliant, wasn’t it. Anyway– I was wondering if you could write something about me.”

You froze, overcome by the overexcited beat of your heart. “Oh?” you managed to get out.

“Nothing major,” Rebecca said, waving at you with reassurance. “Just something for the website, nothing for the tabloids, you know. We all know what they write about me, already.” She fiddled with her perfectly done manicure as she spoke, before she cleared her throat and looked back up at you. “I just thought it might be a nice idea, since my name has been in every paper for months now, having something to do with the club instead of my failed marriage, is all.”

You sighed at her warmly, relaxing finally. “I’d love to write something for you, Rebecca,” you said with a smile. “Though, I’m not really an article writer, just as a warning. More fiction, more novels.”

“I thought your player profiles on the website were incredibly well written,” she said plainly.

Your eyes widened, and she mimicked you, but with a smile on her face all the same. “Oh, thank you,” you let out. “I’ll do it, then!” you agreed.

Rebecca smiled. “Fantastic!” She matched your energy. You shared a few peaceful moments together, which you latched onto after her aversion to you in the very beginning, but you were cut off when you looked at the time.

“Oh, fuck,” you muttered, grabbing your bag quicky. “Sorry, Rebecca. I actually have lunch plans for once.”

Rebecca followed you in standing. “Oh? A date?”

You scoffed. “No, no. Keeley is taking me shopping before the charity ball.”

“Oh, fuck!” Rebecca exclaimed abruptly, making you jump. “I didn’t invite you, did I? Oh, fucking hell, I’m so sorry, darling.”

“It’s okay!” you reassured her, as the two of you left your office. “Roy’s taking me as his plus one, so it’s no trouble anyway.”

Rebecca stopped in the hallway. “Roy’s taking you as his plus one?”

You stared at her bluntly, overly annoyed about the reaction that that simple sentence had garnered over the past few days. You fucking wished Roy had asked you in private, for fucks sake.

“Yes,” you said plainly, annoyed.

Rebecca was taken aback by your bluntness. “Oh. Well, how lovely,” she said.

“I desperately need an outfit, and Keeley is my only hope,” you continued, heading up the stairs to the second floor together.

“Oh, well, now that you’ve said it actually, could I join you?” Rebecca asked. You flicked your gaze onto her, noting the soft way her brows were furrowed in question. You weren’t used to her being so adamant to actually hang out with you, but you weren’t about to exclude her.

“Of course!” you said. “I’m meeting Keeley in the car park, I’ll tell her to wait for you.”

Rebecca nodded in thanks, as the two of you parted ways on the final step. You headed towards the car park to the right, while she sped in her heels to the left, all the way down the corridor and up the stairs, to grab her bag from her office.

Your lunch break turned into a lunch day, but Rebecca didn’t seem to give a shit. The three of you went into several different fashion establishments, none of which you’d fucking heard of. Keeley asked you what you wanted, and what ‘vibe’ fit you, but you had no fucking clue. You’d been in the football world for a month, and you’d already had to branch out and act like someone from a much higher tax bracket. It was exhausting.

As you changed in a dressing room for the thousandth time, Keeley and Rebecca poured all of you a glass of complimentary champagne. You struggled with the straps of this latest number– some sci-fi looking dress where you looked more like a Dalek than a princess.

“How are you getting on in there?” Rebecca yelled from behind the curtain.

“I’m–” You struggled to zip yourself up, feeling like nothing but a sack of tomatoes under some tarp than someone remotely attractive. “I’m… trying. But, this one doesn’t feel like it’s for me!” you yelled back.

“Hmm.” Keeley hummed, standing up and downing her drink. She placed the glass down and headed towards a new rack, full of black jumpsuits. “What’s Roy’s favourite colour?”

“Black!” you and Rebecca yelled simultaneously. “But, we’re not matching or anything,” you added. “He just got me an invite to the ball itself, it’s not a date situation.”

“Isn’t he picking you up?” Rebecca asked.

You shoved your head out of the dressing room, flustered. “That was his idea. It wasn’t up to me.”

“So, maybe he thinks it’s a date, but you don’t,” Rebecca suggested.

You let out a frustrated huff. “God, can we just– not– talk about Roy for once? It’s been constant today, ever since he announced it in the locker room. It’s deeply annoying.”

Keeley grabbed a jumpsuit off the rack, bringing it over to the dressing room. “I don’t know, babe. Seems to me like you’re the one who’s pissed about it all. It’s just a bit fun, ain’t it?”

“Exactly!” you yelled, sticking your hand out to grab the garment from her. “Which is why I hate how much everyone is overreacting about it.”

“Who’s overreacting about it?” Keeley asked.

You stuck your head out of the curtain again, red in the face. “You squealed at me down the phone, Keeley! And Rebecca, you yelled in the hallway! I called my mother last night and she started crying when I told her.”

Rebecca and Keeley winced at you. “Sorry,” Keeley said.

“Apologies,” Rebecca added. “It’s just that, well, I don’t think anyone ever expects Roy to actually be a gentleman.”

You slipped on the jumpsuit that Keeley handed you, and looked at yourself in the mirror afterwards. To your surprise, it was good. It reminded you of the jumpsuit from Fleabag, a bit of cleavage shown off, just to make it sweet.

“I don’t get that,” you started, ruffling up your hair into something semi-presentable. “Roy is a bit of a gentleman. He went to my lecturer and explained that he’d been an arsehole, and ultimately got me the grade I deserved. He drove me home a few weeks ago, too. And, yeah, he gave up his plus one spot for me which was… sort of sweet, I suppose” You twisted yourself in the mirror, happy with the reflection you saw.

You pulled open the curtain and stepped out of the dressing room. “So, yeah, I’d say he is a gentleman.” You turned to Keeley and Rebecca, and both of them were frozen to their spots. You were taken aback by their wide-eyed and open mouthed expressions. “What… is it too much?” you asked, peering down at your body.

“It’s perfect,” Rebecca said, in awe of you.

“I think Roy fancies you,” Keeley said, biting at her fake nails.

You let out a colossal sigh, turning around to look at yourself in the mirror again. You couldn’t be bothered to keep looking, not when you felt great in something you’d tried on, finally. You had Rebecca’s seal of approval, too, which was absolutely good enough for you.

“This is the one,” you said, turning to the retail worker. “I’ll take it.”

By Friday, things had settled down. If it weren’t for your stern glares at the guys when they teased you, then they would have only continued, but you made yourself clear. You didn’t want to be hassled about this, and you definitely knew that Roy wouldn’t want it, either. You suspected he was already regretting his choice to bring you along with him.

Despite your clear annoyance over the past few days, the atmosphere at the Dogtrack was nothing but great. Training had gone well, with Ted and Beard finally making progress with the team. Rebecca had eased up even more, actually inviting you to join her for lunch the day after she helped you pick your ball attire. On Thursday, you played Cluedo with Higgins, and on Friday, you walked in on the coaches during one of their… special meetings.

You were alerted to them from the abrupt barking, but the noises were unmistakably coming from humans instead of dogs. Hearing the noise all the way from your office, you made your way down the corridor to the locker room. You kept close to the wall as you entered, knowing that Ted and Beard were in the manager’s office, but they weren’t alone. Higgins and Nate were with them, too, and it seemed that all of them had contributed towards the various barks.

“Well, gentlemen, it seems all of us have our wits about us this time around,” Ted announced, in his classic southern drawl.

“Ah, ah, ah, wait,” Higgins added. “I know we formed this group for the balance of men having each other’s backs emotionally, but does that stop us from expanding?”

“Expanding?” Nate asked.

“Further afield,” Higgins said. “You know, like gossiping.”

Ted and Beard gasped. “Well, Higgins, that might just stir a pot that doesn’t need stirring. The kind that your mom stands over the stove with for hours, you know? And as soon as she takes a break, and tells you not to touch it, what do you do? You touch it. And whatever custard or queso or sauce she’s making curdles.”

Higgins deflated a little. “I guess you’re right.”

There was a moment of silence, before Ted perked up again. “But, just because of the unhelped curiosity of man, what was it that you wanted to expand upon?”

You leaned against the wall outside, right next to the manager’s door. You knew it was wrong, but you couldn’t stop listening. It was infectious and impossible not to want more. Slowly, you leaned even closer.

Higgins cleared his throat. “There is a rumour circulating these halls…” You held your breath, wondering what tea was about to be spilled. “Roy Kent’s plus one for the charity ball has been filled.”

Ted, Beard and Nate all gasped. All semblance of cool that you had turned red immediately.

Without hesitation, you stomped your boots upon the ground like a spoiled child. “Fucks sake!” you yelled suddenly, before you quickly revealed yourself in the manager’s office doorway. The men inside looked immediately shaken, clutching onto their hearts like they were scared they’d jump out of their chests. You huffed from frustration. “It’s not a big deal!”

“Oh, hey!” Ted exclaimed, taking his hand away from his heart. “God, you gave us one heck of a fright.”

“Are you Roy’s plus one?” Higgins returned to the conversation at hand.

You leaned against the doorway, defeated. “Yes. And at this point, I wish I fucking wasn’t.”

“Hey now,” Ted said gently. “Is this what this rumour is, huh? That you’re Roy’s date to the charity ball?”

You shrugged. “It’s been constant this week. I’m surprised you all didn’t hear about it sooner, to be honest.”

“I did,” Beard chimed in. All eyes in the room fell on him, but he didn’t elaborate.

“Great,” you said plainly, before you turned back to the others. “It’s not like it’s a huge thing, or something so out there that it should be discussed. I feel like everyone’s been, I don’t know, whispering about it over the past few days. Keeley squealed at me. Rebecca yelled in my face. My own mother cried.”

All the men in the room winced in unison.

“Can I be completely honest with you all?” you asked suddenly, and as if on cue all the guys stood up straight. Immediately, they started making barking noises and whimpering like dogs, as if they were a gaggle of drama students. “Jesus fucking Christ,” you muttered in response.

“This is a safe space. Speak your mind as much as you wish,” Ted explained.

“Well,” you started, letting out a stress filled sigh. “First of all, he asked me in front of the entire locker room. From the get-go it’s been made out to be a bigger thing than it needed to be, you know? And after that, everyone started acting like it was huge! Like it was so out there that Roy fucking Kent asked the bloody social placement, of all people, to go with him to the charity ball. Rebecca said that it’s because no one expects Roy to be a gentleman, but I know he is one, so that doesn’t exactly make sense to me.”

“So, what you’re saying is, it makes it seem like it’s a huge deal because it’s you and him, instead of just him?” Nate offered.

You widened your eyes at him, nodding in agreement. “Exactly that. It just… makes me feel a bit shit. Like I wasn’t an option that anyone would expect him to pick. Which is fucking stupid because, God, it’s really not a big deal.”

“It’s been blown out of proportion, you mean?” Higgins asked.

You nodded again. “Massively.”

“And that’s frustrating you because it makes you feel judged?” Ted joined in.

You nodded again. “Yep.”

The room fell silent for a moment. It was almost suffocating, alongside the stares of four pairs of eyes landing on you all at once. You felt like a child, it was true, but you couldn’t deny how much this entire ordeal had got to you. You wished people would leave it, wished they’d stop fucking talking about it like it was some huge revelation.

Beard cleared his throat. “You need to fucking own it.”

You snapped your stare onto him instantly. “Excuse me?”

“Own it!” he exclaimed again. “If this is really bothering you, don’t let people know that you care. Stomping your feet about it and getting flustered will only perpetuate their reactions.”

“Are you really saying that my mother crying to me is my fault?”

Ted took the reins. “Not that.” He shook his head. “That’s all on her.”

“When you show up tonight next to Roy, act like you belong there,” Beard continued, leaning forward in his chair to look at you fully. “Because you do belong. You’re part of this club, and the guys all wanted you at the ball in the first place. Don’t let them rattle you.”

You furrowed your brows at him. “How do you know all this?”

Beard leaned back, propping his legs up on the desk casually. “I was in here when Roy asked you to be his date.”

“Ahaaa, so it is a date,” Higgins said, but was promptly shut down by all sets of eyes glaring at him to oblivion. “Sorry. Gossiping is an addiction that I cannot seem to shake, no matter how hard I try.”

“So, I should own it?” You kept the conversation on track. Beard, Ted and Nate all nodded in agreement. “Okay, yeah. You’re right. Fuck it all, right? I’m part of this team, and I deserve Roy Kent’s plus one the same as anyone else.”

“That’s it!” Ted exclaimed, before turning to the rest of the guys. “Well, that was another successful visitor pass discussion. Diamond Dogs, out!” The four of them all went back to barking like dogs, only made worse by Ted and Nate sticking out their tongues, as if they were lapping up water.

“Okay, I’m leaving,” you said quickly, immediately turning on your heels to get the fuck out of there.

As you walked back to your office, you took their advice on board. Was it really that simple, just to own it? Act like you belonged, act like it was just another normal fucking day at AFC Richmond? You sighed when you reached your door, knocking your knuckles against the wood of the door frame. It was sturdy, same as the rest of the stadium walls and floors, and you would be, too.

You wouldn’t let this ball phase you, wouldn’t freak out about the guys’ reactions, about Keeley and Rebecca’s, and certainly not your fucking mother’s. You’d be hard as nails when you got into Roy Kent’s Jeep, as the two of you pulled up to the venue. You’d smile for the cameras, be comfortable on Roy’s arm as you walked in, and have a brilliant fucking night.

Nothing would go wrong. Nothing.

Roy pulled up outside your door and honked his horn once, twice, three times. He figured that would be enough to get your attention. He fiddled with his tie as he sat behind the wheel, tapping his car's leather interior as he waited for you to open your front door and jump into the passenger seat next to him.

Little did he know, but you’d made the unwise decision to Google the Richmond charity ball while you were getting ready, only to see the prestigious guestlist. It was celebrities galore, millionaires, billionaires, but no MA students who’d been shoved into the club as a last resort. You took back everything you’d said about feeling bad about being Roy’s plus one– you weren’t one of these people, and that was fucking adament by the hoards of paparazzi, and thousands of pounds donated.

Roy honked his horn again, and you flinched on the floor of your bathroom. You leaned against the door, trying and failing to calm down the anxiety that raced within your bones. Roy honked again, and you found yourself groaning. “I can hear you, Roy!” you yelled, knowing that he couldn’t hear you back. “Fucks sake.” You fumbled as you grabbed your phone from beside the sink.

You unlocked it and went to texts, putting in Roy’s name at the top. Your eyes skimmed the last message you sent– the one about your assignment. You still had no idea if he had you blocked, or if other circumstances had kept him away from his phone at that time, but that didn’t stop you from texting him now.

Having a fucking nervy-b. Two minutes.

Roy’s phone pinged suddenly, and he shuffled it out of his inside jacket pocket. It was an unsaved number, but he knew it was you as soon as he opened the message up. Not just from the timings, but from the previous message that he didn’t recall getting at all.

This was for my degree, my first assignment is due on Sunday. It’ll be incomplete without you.

Roy’s eyes widened. “Fuuuuuuck,” he let out coarsely. He reread both messages, over and over again, before he made the decision to kill his engine.

He jumped out of his Jeep, slamming the driver’s side door shut behind him. He hopped onto the pavement and climbed the steps to your front door. He didn’t hesitate knocking with his knuckles, loudly. The banging reverberated throughout your ground floor flat, startling you as you sat in the bathroom. When the banging didn’t stop, you let out another frustrated groan. You had no choice but to let him in, and get over this small mishap that had got you so inside your own head.

You shuffled your way to your front door and clicked the intercom that came with it. “Can I help you?”

“What the fuck is a nervy-b?” Roy replied through the static.

You bonked your head down against your front door, hating yourself for ever writing a message without thinking. “I’m– it’s–” you stuttered, but there was no good way to say it. “Just come in. I’ll be ready soon.” You buzzed him in, and Roy entered through the main door into your building. From there, you unlatched the lock on your front door and kicked it open for him, before retreating to the comfort of your kitchen.

Roy closed the door behind him, breathing in deeply as he took in his surroundings. Your flat was dainty, but oddly comforting. It reminded him of the flat he had when he first joined Chelsea, all those years before. Albeit, yours was certainly cleaner and tidier, but it still left him with a fond feeling. He stepped further inside, catching a glimpse of you in the kitchen to the right.

“Hey,” he let out, crossing the threshold to approach you. “You alright?” he asked.

You leaned against the counter top, shoulders high and tense, with your back turned to him. “I’m good.” You lied.

Roy arched his brow at you. “I’m not quite sure I believe you.”

“It’s fine!” you exclaimed, before you finally turned to him. “Beard said to own it, so that’s exactly what I’m going to fucking do. None of it fucking matters anyway!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roy took a step closer.

“This! I mean, I’m not a celebrity, I know fuck all about football, and had to get Keeley to help me pick out this fucking outfit, but I’m still going to own it.” You wondered, if you kept lying to yourself, would it finally stick? “Right?” you asked Roy.

He raised his hands slowly, gently. “I finally understand the meaning of nervy-b,” he said lowly.

You furrowed your brows at him in gentle pleading, before you dropped your head into your hands. “I fucking hate Google,” you said, your voice muffled through your fingers.

Roy took a moment to regard you, finally understanding what it was that was getting to you. He could understand why. As a professional footballer himself, a showboater, a performer, he hated being in the public eye when he didn’t have to be. He preferred to be left alone, staying far away from PR deals and interviews. He could relate to what you were feeling, despite all the years he’d had to get used to it.

Slowly, he stepped towards you. He brought his hands forward and grabbed your wrists gently, pulling them away from your face. When you peered up at him, it was like a chunk of his lung fell into the depths of his stomach. You were terrified, and Roy had no fucking clue how to make it better.

“If Beard said to own it, then own it,” Roy said gently. “If it makes you feel any better, I fucking hate events like this.”

You sniffed. “You do?”

Roy nodded. “But, it’s a necessary part of the job. By now, though, paparazzi know that I don’t give a fuck about them. They piss me off, so I know how it feels.” His eyes flicked over your face, trying to seek out the right words to say. “About the celebrities, though. Well, I’m a fucking celebrity, aren’t I?”

You scoffed abruptly, taking yourself and Roy by surprise. “Sorry,” you said quickly.

“See? It’s funny when I say it, right? Because we work together, and you thought I was the fcuking caretaker last month.”

“I’m still sorry about that,” you whispered.

“This is what I mean. The word celebrity makes it all the more scary and shit,” Roy continued. “You know all the guys at the club, and they fucking worship you. It’s a bit fucking weird sometimes.”

You laughed properly then, as Roy’s words started to sink into your skull. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” you said, breathing in deeply, and exhaling slowly.

Roy removed his grasp from you and took a step back. “Fucking own it.” He settled on, giving you a once over with his dark eyes.

You let out a shaky breath, expelling as much of your anxiety from your body as you possibly could. You stood up straight, shaking out your limbs. “Okay,” you muttered to yourself, before you headed off towards the bathroom, again.

You worked fast, calmly, to clean yourself up. Roy let himself out and leaned against the hood of his car, the same way you had in the car park a few weeks prior. When you walked out of your flat, shutting the door behind you, you were like a completely different person. No longer were the nerves and anxiety eating you alive. You’d been replaced by someone that knew her worth, someone who stood up tall and proud in her pair of platforms. Someone who, certainly, was going to get cold by the evening, but didn’t factor in a jacket of any kind when picking out this fucking outfit, so she had nothing.

Roy tugged open the passenger side door for you. You muttered a thank you at him, before you both got comfortable in his Jeep. Roy stuck the keys in the ignition, but turned to you before he switched on the engine.

“Ready?” he asked, just double checking.

You nodded. “Let’s fucking get this over with.”

“That’s the fucking spirit.” Roy started the engine, and you were off.

Tag list: @atjamesbbarnes​ @20th-centu-fairy-girl​ @royalestrellas​ @weakmoony-stuff​ @ironmanmagnetfridge​ @lemonpiegurll​ @hellomagicalsouls​ @her-fandom-sanctum

CHAPTER THREE

#roy kent x reader #roy kent x you #ted lasso #ted lasso fanfiction #brett goldstein #lightyaers #fanfiction #ff #x reader #reader insert #long fic #writeblr #ao3 #archive of our own #wattpad #angst and fluff #enemies to friends to lovers