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Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

The incessant buzz from his phone filled the otherwise silent and darkened bedroom. From where he lay flat on his back in the center of his king-sized bed, Jamie Tartt made no move to pick up his buzzing phone where it lay charging on his bedside table, his dark blue eyes staring blankly up at his plain white ceiling. His phone finally fell silent, only to let out a soft ping indicating that whoever had called him at this ungodly hour had seen fit to leave him a voice message. Jamie just exhaled and laid still.

It didn't matter if he answered or not, he would get an unpleasant earful. It wasn't like whoever was calling was trying to have an actual conversation with him, he wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise. These weren't social calls after all.

These were the punches and slaps that left bruises and cuts that no one could see and took forever to heal.

Again, it didn't matter if Jamie answered now or checked later, he would be left battered in a way that would be invisible to the outside world.

Jamie shut his eyes and tried his best to fall into a fitful sleep, he'd have to get up and head in for training in a few hours anyway.

A few hours later when the sun was up and shining bright over Richmond...

" He's fucking doing it again." Roy Kent growled with one of his signature glowers and his fists clenched inside the pockets of his heavy winter coat.

" You mean Jamie being off all by his lonesome again? Yeah I saw." Ted Lasso said with a small sigh of his own where he stood beside Roy with coach Beard flanking him on his other side. Coach Beard stayed silent, his face as unreadable as ever.

All three coaches for AFC Richmond looked out across the lightly frost covered pitch. While most of the Greyhounds were practicing in groups or pairs, off all the way to the side was Jamie Tartt, Number 9. He was pale and serious faced as he did ball control drills, none of his usual exuberance to be found. This whole week everyone from the coaches to the team, to even the janitorial staff had noticed that something was well and truly off with Jamie. The player known as the "Prince of Pricks" who usually had a bounce in his step and loved to banter with his teammates, and surprisingly enough took the time to chat with staff at the club to where he was on a first name basis with many of them, had gone near silent and totally closed off.

He just did what he was told, scored goals but made far fewer passes in training, didn't even question Roy and partake in their usual verbal jousting, just came to training, did the training, and then went straight home.

" It's not normal, hasn't been for days." Coach Beard finally said with his usual succinctness.

" Mayhaps we should ask some of the boys if they know what's going on?" Ted suggested.

" Yeah let's do that." Roy grumbled in agreement, his frown deepening as he eyed Jamie pausing in his drill when Dani scored a beautiful header against O'Brien and celebrated accordingly, those he was playing with crowding around Richmond's resident sunshine in human form gathering around him in an exuberant group hug. Roy could only describe the look that came over Jamie's face as he watched his teammates as one of pure longing before his whole expression closed off and he went back to his lonely ball control drill.

" Let's be subtle about it though, don't wanna risk spooking Jamie." Ted said with a nod to his fellow coaches.

" Right then." Roy said with a sigh before he focused on what the players under his care were up to, though his always kept one eye on Jamie in his solitude.

As the day progressed, the three coaches went about their clandestine questioning of Jamie's teammates.

Ted started with Isaac, Colin, and Jeff. He called them off the pitch for a moment and beckoned them into the tunnel under before quickly getting to the true heart of the agenda. Isaac, Colin, and Jeff all revealed that they had barely heard a word from Jamie all week, that he had declined multiple invites to hang out, even turning down playing Fifa and Isaac's. Ted had thanked them and quickly sent them back out onto the field. Then a few minutes later Ted had called Jan Maas over to ask him what he knew, in his signature dutch fashion, Jan Maas had revealed that he had noticed that Jamie had become wary around all the players of minority decent and actually thought Jamie had somehow become intolerant, but then he looked closer and noticed that Jamie was actually withdrawing from everyone on the team, and had not even told Jan Maas himself to "shut the fuck up" even once this week, so he was sure that Jamie was not being bigoted, but scared of everyone for some odd reason. Ted had thanked Jan Maas for his honesty, while Jan Maas had simply shook his head and hoped Ted would fix whatever was wrong, because they all really missed Jamie even though he was right there with them even now.

Coach Beard made his move later during lunch, noticing how Jamie sat a bit removed from everyone and barely nibbled on the sandwich he got for himself. Beard simply sat with the largest concentration of lads and made subtle inquiries about how their week went. From them Beard learned that somewhere during the start of the week Jamie had slowly faded into the background and basically stopped being himself. He hadn't reverted back to the colossal prick he had been when Ted and Beard had first gotten to Richmond, but he had stopped making extra passes and started bowling through everyone to get more goals. He just wasn't being cocky about it, he had reverted playing wise and withdrawn attitude wise. Richard with Zoreaux translating also mentioned that even when Jamie scored goals, it was like he was doing all he could to fight back tears, very un-Jamie like. Beard had finished his sandwich and made a subtle but hasty retreat to discuss his findings with Ted and Roy.

Now it was Roy's turn towards the end of the day as he shared a subtle nod with Ted and Beard who still remained in the Coach's office and made his way towards the back of the building. After they had called an end to training for the day, Roy had subtly sent Sam Obisanya and Dani Rojas a separate text outside of the team group chat, asking them to stay behind a moment by the doors than led out to the car park so he could speak with them privately. Afterwards he and his fellow coaches had watched as yet again Jamie turned down an invite to a team hang out, this time for Moe Bumbercatch who looked truly crestfallen while Jamie had looked apologetic and guilty before he had made a hasty exit out of the locker room.

The halls of the football club were silent as Roy walked them, a dozen or so thoughts going through his mind about what he was going to ask Sam and Dani, what Ted and Beard had been able to find out, but most of all Jamie Tartt, pale and alone as he had watched his teammates celebrate a practice goal and stayed rooted to his solitary spot far off on the pitch.

Roy turned the last corner and saw Sam and Dani dutifully standing by the back doors with their duffels set on the floor by their feet, quietly conversing with each other.

" Hey guys." Roy grunted as he neared the two players.

" Hola Roy." Dani replied with one of his beatific grins.

" Hey Coach." Sam said with a smile of his own.

Both boys looked to Roy with curiosity as he came to stand before them and spoke.

" Thanks for stayin' back, I gotta talk to you guys about something of a sensitive nature." Roy explained before he took a deep breath and continued.

" What in the ever lovin' fuck is goin' on with Tartt?" He asked bluntly, getting straight to the point.

With that one sentence Roy basically unleashed the floodgates as Sam and Dani rapidly began to spill their own observances of Jamie's uncharacteristic behavior over the last few days.

" He won't let any of us hug him." Dani said looking quietly devastated.

" He won't let any of us touch him in any way, and he gets really, really nervous if I come anywhere near him. So I've been keeping my distance." Sam said looking utterly confused.

" He's not acting like a prick, he doesn't insult any of us, he doesn't really talk to any of us at all anymore." Sam continued sadly.

" Isaac invited him to all our hang outs but Jamie never comes out anymore." Dani said.

" He won't eat with us, even though we always call for him, says he doesn't want to bring down the mood for everyone else and apologizes. He's looked like he was going to cry a whole bunch of times." Sam said gravely, feeling his own phantom pain lance through his chest as his friend pulling away from him and the others. He then remembered another odd detail about Jamie these last few days.

" His phone started going off constantly when the week started and it's still going off. It went off today while were were getting ready to go home and he looked like he was going to vomit after he read the message." Sam explained.

All of this piqued Roy's interest immediately, but especially about Jamie's phone.

" His phone's been going off the walls you say? Have you seen who's been calling him?" Roy asked looking expectantly between Sam and Dani.

" No Roy, lo siento but Jamie doesn't let us see, he keeps it close so nobody sees." Dani explained as he mimed hiding a phone close to his chest while Roy sighed and nodded.

" We've tried talking to him, all of us, even Will but Jamie just clams up and says he's okay, just tired. How can anyone be so tired every minute?" Sam asked incredulously while Dani shook his head beside him.

" He looked really, really sad today when I scored that goal in practice and we all hugged. He wanted to be with us but he didn't come." Dani said looking completely crest-fallen in a way that Dani Rojas should never, ever look.

Roy reached out and gripped both Sam and Dani's shoulders tight as he spoke.

" We are gonna to get answers outta him, we'll help Jamie because that's what we're here for, to look out for one another." The former Richmond Captain said with conviction.

Sam and Dani both smiled and brightened a little, though the worry and questions lingered in their eyes.

Roy pressed them for any other details they could think of about how Jamie had been acting before he finally sent the boys off home and quickly headed back to Ted and Beard where they were waiting in the Coach's office.

Ted and Beard both jerked sharply as Roy came thundering back.

" Just spoke with Sam and Dani, got some more details about what's been goin' on with Jamie." He barked while pacing back and forth with a hundred different thoughts running through his mind.

" I take it what they revealed was mighty upsetting?" Ted asked lightly, outwardly calm but inwardly humming with anticipation and worry for Jamie.

" Someone's been callin' and messagin' Jamie all week and whatever's been said to him has the lad scared enough to completely withdraw from all of us. He won't go near any of his teammates and worse fuckin' still he won't even let Sam come near him for fuck's sake." Roy said with utter disbelief.

Ted deflated while even Beard grew wide eyed at this new revelation before he quickly schooled his features.

" Has he pissed anyone off recently?" Beard asked sagely as he rubbed at his bearded chin.

This had Roy pausing in his pacing and Ted growing thoughtful. Come to think of it, even before this week where he started acting strangely, Jamie Tartt had honestly not riled anyone up. Their last match had been an away game against Fulham and while they had won the game Jamie himself hadn't even had to unleash his Prince of Pricks persona for them to do so, just good strategy and smooth passing from him and the other lads. They had all parted with the opposing team on normal terms, no bad-mouthing or brawls. It had just been a nice, clean game from both sides with the Greyhounds coming out on top.

" No, none that I can think of." Roy grumbled with a shake of his head, also silently marveling at the fact that Jamie actually hadn't run afoul of anyone to date.

" He was his regular self last week, got into that riveting debate the boys all had about which was the superior movie between "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Mean Machine". Even came in to find him helping Will with folding the towels that one morning." Ted added with a small smile at the genuinely sweet interaction between one of Richmond's star strikers and the kit man literally named Kitman.

" Jamie's playing like he used to, just without the prick part. He might not be acting like an asshole but his relationships with everyone's sufferin' anyway" Roy seethed.

Beard nodded and sighed, leaning back in his chair. His eyes happened to go randomly to the opposite wall, where Ted happened to have the PL game schedule hanging. More specifically, his brown eyes went to the logo of the team they would be facing off against next week.

Circle inside of which was a golden ship, a red Tudor rose, and a crest of light blue alternating strips.

Man City

As he gazed at the logo of one of Richmond's greatest rivals and Jamie's former team, Beard heard the echo of awful, heartless taunts directed at Jamie and the whole team, maniacal laughter, a brave punch from a terrified son, more laughter and taunts, himself stepping in and warning an awful excuse for a father to watch the door as he escorted him out.

As he sat there putting the likely pieces of the puzzle together, Beard fell a phantom ache go through his own body as he remembered his near fatal encounter with one James Tartt Sr on an ill-advised night out.

Jamie's father, all-around vicious asshole and devoted Man City fan, who was cruel enough to show up to a semi-final game already drunk off his gourd and in his son's old Man City jersey, in fully displayed support of the team opposing his own child for all the world to see.

" Guys." Beard said firmly to get the attention of his two fellow coaches.

When Ted and Roy both looked to him in silent askance, Beard got up and walked across the room to the schedule board and spoke.

" Look at who we are playing next week." He said gravely as he stepped aside and pointed to the logo with an ominous look on his face.

The moment Roy and Ted saw who Beard was pointing to, everything seemed to click into place.

" Fuuuuuuuuck." Roy said in one long exhale while Ted deflated and pinched the bridge of his nose.

There was a moment of silence before Ted sat up straight and spoke.

" While this makes perfect sense, I think the best thing we should do is know for sure, and that means we have to get Jamie to tell us what he knows and see what he's getting on his phone." The head coach said with determination.

" Yeah, we gotta get it straight from Jamie." Beard said as he crossed his arms.

Roy said nothing, just stood with his jaw clenched and his hands white-knuckled at his sides.

The three coaches for Richmond finally headed home a little while after that, a tentative plan forming between them for how to best confront Jamie Tartt about what's been going on, and who they suspected was behind it. It would have to wait til tomorrow though.

The next morning...

Isaac frowned deeply as he subtly eyed Jamie as the latter was changing into his training kit. His teammate had come in a few minutes ago, looking paler than a sheet with an absolutely dour expression on his face. Even his hair looked haphazardly combed and pushed back with his little black headband. Completely unlike the peacock he was known for being. Jamie had mumbled a quiet "Good Morning Guys" to everyone and then set about changing as he was, not bright eyes or grin. As he took a glance about the room, Isaac could see that while everyone else was going about their getting ready and conversing quietly, many of his teammates were subtly eying Jamie the same way he himself was. Isaac caught Sam's eye and they shared a concerned look, Sam giving a helpless little shrug.

All eyes suddenly turned to Jamie when his phone started pinging in that all too familiar way, indicating someone was once again trying to contact him. Jamie pressed the button to silence his phone, keeping his back firmly to everyone and feeling his face heat up fast in acrid mortification.

" Aren't you gonna get that?" A familiar, growly voice asked from behind him, making Jamie's heart slam to a dead stop inside his chest and then drop all the way to his feet.

Roy.

Jamie let out a shaky breath and jerkily turned around to face his former captain turned coach.

Shaded dark blue eyes me those of black coffee brown. Roy pinned Jamie where he stood with a potently intense gaze, laser focused on Jamie and leaving him with no means of escape.

Jamie licked his suddenly dry lips and then forced himself to speak.

" It's nothin' important Roy, I can check it layta." He said quietly.

" Tartt." Roy growled in warning before he jerked his head behind him to the Coach's office.

" In there?" Jamie floundered softly as he made a half-hearted and unnecessary point towards Ted's office.

Roy slowly nodded, much like he had done when he was confronting Jamie about the time at Rebecca's dad's funeral where he had told Keeley that he still loved her. That were a moot point now since Roy and Keeley had amicable split months ago, but Roy quickly shook himself and focused back on now, to the current confrontation.

Clutching his phone tight in his hand, Jamie forced himself to slowly step forward. He kept his gaze averted and was hyper-aware of Roy's presence as he stepped past the older man who then followed closely behind him. He could feel the whole of the locker room, which had fallen silent, watching him as he went.

After what seemed like forever, Jamie was at the threshold of Ted's office.

" You wanted to see meh Coach?" Jamie asked quietly.

" Mornin' Jamie, come on in." Ted said warmly as he rose from his seat behind his desk, a warm smile on his mustached face. Still sitting across from Ted's desk, Beard gave Jamie a wordless nod of greeting.

Swallowing in an effort to loosen his tightening throat, Jamie stepped over the threshold into Ted's office, Roy following in after him and shutting the door. Roy pointedly stayed standing beside said door, effectively blocking that means of escape while still being able to see Jamie fully.

There was a beat of awkward silence before Ted finally spoke.

" Hey Jamie, you haven't been by to talk like you usually do. Just thought we could check in with you." Ted explained lightly.

" S-Sorry about that Coach, just been a little busy recentleh." Jamie said apologetically.

Roy clenched his jaws together to keep himself from saying the sarcastic retort that bubbled up inside him at Jamie's words. He had to remember not to just bulldoze and demand answers outta the lad.

" Does it have anything to do with whoever's been callin' you so much?" Ted asked carefully.

Ted, Beard, and Roy all watched as for one fleeting moment a look of complete and absolute terror came over Jamie's face before he quickly schooled his features back into a neutral expression.

" It's nothin' Coach, m'fine, really." Jamie mumbled.

" If it's nothing then you wouldn't mind showing us your phone then?" Beard asked lightly, with deceptive calmness.

Jamie instinctively looked down at the phone in his hand and then looked back up at his three expectant coaches, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights and no doubt looking like it too. He was just about to refuse when his phone decided that would be the perfect time to let out a soft chime as another text came in.

" Jamie lad, you aren't in any trouble, everyone's just really fuckin' worried about you." Roy said quietly, feeling uncomfortable as Hell with his effort to be gentle.

" Roy's right Jamie, the whole team's wantin' to know why their friend isn't bein' with them like he should, why he's scared to let anyone near him. If someone's harrassin' you in any way, we need to know because it's our job, and especially my job, to keep all of you boys safe." Ted said gently but firmly.

The three coaches watched as a look of longing and also abject fear came over Jamie's face as his whole body seemed to shudder and then he nodded as he finally brought his phone up and unlocked it. He checked the latest message that had just come in and sighed dejectedly before with a lightly trembling hand, he held out his phone for Ted. Beard got up and Roy stepped closer, the two of them flanking Ted as the head coach took the offered phone. The three of them saw that Jamie had pulled up a message thread, with one sender identified as "Dad" and two other unknown numbers.

It was confirmation enough of what Beard had suspected yesterday.

With a sinking stomach Ted started to read the messages Jamie had received, Roy and Beard doing the same. With each word read, Ted's eyes started to grow wider and wider, Beard's face grew stonier and stonier, and Roy's expression took on one of absolute shock rather than homicidal.

Message after message of horrid taunts and awful abuse, calling Jamie every name under the sun, insulting him as a player and a human being, more words directed at the team, at Ted, at Roy, and Beard, hell even a disparaging message about Will Kitman looking like some retarded little waste of space.

" Jesus Christ Jamie." Roy growled in disbelief as he turned his dark, outraged eyes to a completely blanched Jamie.

Jamie forced himself to meet Roy's dark eyes as he gave a helpless shrug and bit back the urge to just start sobbing right then and there as he spoke.

" My d-dad he... I guess he gave his drinkin' buddies Bug and Denbo my numba without askin' and they all decided to make a game of it. Th-There are voice mails too." Jamie said before he stepped forward and gestured for Ted to give him back his phone.

A pale and shaken Ted handed the phone back to Jamie who then switched the screen to his messages and scrolled through all of the messages left in his in-box until he found the one he got the day before yesterday in the dead of night.

" Th-This one's a real fucking gem from dad." Jamie all but whispered with a humorless, broken smile as he handed Ted back the phone.

With cold trepidation swirling in his gut, Ted hit the little white play button to hear the message James Tartt had left for his only child. There was a beat of silence and then James Tartt's drunken drawl finally filled the air.

" Oi, Jamie you good for nothin' little cunt! Who the fuck you think you are not pickin' up the fucking phone when I call ya. Stupid little coward. Just know that I am watchin' ya, ya sniveling bitch. Bad enough ya got kicked outta Man City, I gotta suffer seein' ya with one of the most pathetic group of fuckin' losers in the entire prem. I am warnin' ya I will come by and roast yer sorry ass out on that fancy fire pit ya got in the back of yer posh little house. You'll be fuckin' charcoal. You are... You are a good for nothing waste of my time and efforts, the only good parts of ya is your feet and you blew it with the best team to go off and play with a bunch of low grade bitches that cock up regularly with that good for nothin' Y-Yank in charge. I will -ah fuckin' shit Bug quit tryin' to turn my goddamn stove on ya drunken bastard-"

The message blissfully cut off at that point, followed by a completely stunned silence. A shaky exhale from Jamie had a flabbergasted Ted, Roy, and Beard all looking up to see Jamie looking totally haunted, having gone somehow even more pale than he was before, and with his eyes glistening but the tears stubbornly held back as he spoke.

" In... In some of his other messages d-dad says he'll do stuff to the others too. Said he'd drive nails through all of our knees and rip the mustache clean off your face Ted. Denbo keeps ranting about the entire sanctity of the sport and how we lot are a complete stain to it and Bug wants to bust up yer otha knee, m-make a real proper full gimp of the Great Roy Kent." He said quietly as his pained eyes went to Roy who inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in further disbelief.

" J-Jamie-" Ted began to say, utterly horrified, when Jamie's eyes then went to Beard as he spoke.

" Dad mentioned you too Coach Beard, said somethin' about him still havin' a pipe with yer name on it even though he don't actually know yer name, just mentioned my other coach who made him hit his head on the door at Wembley and then he just run up to him in an alley later that night." He said shakily.

Roy and Ted both turned sharply to see Beard clenching his jaw and averting his gaze, staying silent.

A soft, broken noise had all three of them looking back sharply at Jamie.

" He's hurt me my whole life... don't want him to hurt any of you." Jamie said haltingly with his voice growing weaker and weaker with each word and his eyes taking on a glassy quality.

" Jamie? Hey Jamie are ya alright? What's goin' on?" Ted asked rapidly as he quickly pocketed Jamie's phone and took a tentative step forward. Roy and Beard both frowned, not at all liking the grey pallor that was slowly taking over Jamie's face. A quick glance by Roy out the large glass window that overlooked the locker room informed him that the entire team was gathered on the other side of the glass, riveted to what was happening inside Ted's office. Roy quickly snapped his eyes back to Jamie as the young man spoke.

" He's gonna burn me Ted... 'cause I won't stop lovin' you lot." Jamie whispered before his eyes promptly rolled up into the back if his head and he started to fall backwards like a great felled tree.

" Jamie!" Ted screamed as he lunged forward.

" Oi Jamie!" Roy roared as he himself lunched forward.

" Oh Crap!" Beard cried as he joined his fellow coaches as they all dove for Jamie.

Outside in the locker room there was a collective cry as through the glass window, the Richmond Greyhounds watched in stunned horror as Jamie Tartt lost all consciousness and started to topple over. Everything slowed down, as though they were all moving through thick concrete.

With agonizing slowness, Ted reached out his hands and ran forward, hoping to grab at any part of Jamie he could reach. After what seemed a life age but in reality was just a few seconds, over the roaring in his own ears Ted felt his fingers twisting into the front of Jamie's light grey training track suit top. Ted could vaguely make out Roy's arm going around Jamie's shoulders, while Beard had fully grabbed onto one of Jamie's arms. With all his might Ted pulled Jamie to him as hard and fast as he could, letting go of the front of Jamie's track suit top and blindly wrapping his arms around the falling young man. As Ted brought Jamie to his chest and felt his own knees rapidly buckling under him, everything suddenly sped back up again, no more slow motion, just loud and full chaos as Ted crashed to the floor, Jamie Tartt cradled in his arms, Roy cradling his head and Beard holding fast to his arm, all in an effort to slow down the young man's descent. Once he was sure Ted and Roy had a good hold on Jamie, Beard lowered the young man's arm and pressed his finger tips to his wrist to check his pulse. Slow and thready, but thankfully still there.

Complete and utter chaos ensued after Jamie Tartt toppled over into the arms of his coaches.

Beard had nearly ripped the office door clean off it's hinges as he had thrown it open and screamed for Liam and Derek, the team doctors, while also holding back basically the entire team from flooding into Ted's office in a desperate bid to get to Jamie.

Liam and Derek had come running out of the doctor's office on the other side of the locker room, instantly alarmed at the sight of Jamie Tartt looking like he had basically dropped dead into Ted Lasso and Roy Kent's arms. They had immediately descended on the unconscious young man. Once they were sure that Jamie had just fainted and there were no signs of any injuries, Liam had run back to the office to grab the smelling salts they kept their in case they needed to use the substance while Derek had instructed Roy and Ted to lay Jamie flat on the floor and to loosen his clothes before he himself had grabbed the young striker's legs and elevated them above his heart level to get some of the blood flowing back upwards.

While some of Jamie's color had come back to him, he still hadn't woken up. When Liam had come back with the smelling salts, he thought better of simply using them right then and there and barked out orders for them to all work together to get Jamie up off the floor and into the medical office. They had all come together and lifted up the unconscious young man into their arms, and the moment they had squeezed through the door to Ted's office out into the main locker room the rest of the Richmond team had stepped up to assist in carrying Jamie across the way. Once they had gotten Jamie across, the team had reluctantly fallen back so that the doctors and the coaches could squeeze in through the threshold of the medical office. They had gotten Jamie onto one of the raised exam beds. Roy had held Jamie steady while Liam and Derek had gone about stripping the unconscious young man of his track suit top and his shoes and socks, leaving him in only his under shirt and pants. They had covered him up in one of the dark blue fleece blankets and laid him down on the table.

Now Liam was getting ready to use the smelling salts on Jamie, while Ted, Roy, and Beard all stayed by Jamie's bedside and watched on anxiously. Derek had hurried off upstairs at the behest of Ted to go and inform Rebecca and Higgins of the alarming situation that had just unfolded here.

Liam pulled out an individual packet from the box of smelling salts and split the wrapping to reveal the pink cylindrical shaped respiratory stimulant.

" Alright, this should work." Liam said as he sent an assuring look over his shoulder to Ted, Roy, and Beard who were all waiting with bated breath, eager to see Jamie conscious as soon as possible.

Liam brought the packet to Jamie's nostrils and waiting while Jamie breathed in its harsh, powerful fumes. At first there was no reaction, and then Jamie's slack brow began to frown and he gave a little jerk. Then with a low groan Jamie's eyes were finally fluttering open as slowly returned to the waking world.

" Oh God!" Jamie croaked softly as he jerked sharply away from the offending smell against his nose and instinctively tried to sit up all in one go.

" Woah, woah there Jamie, just lay back now, don't try to get up yet bud." Ted said as he reached out and gently gripped Jamie's shoulders, relieved beyond words when Jamie looked up at him and allowed Ted to push him back onto the raised exam table.

" T-Ted, Coach, R-Roy?... Wha' happened?" Jamie asked in confusion as Roy and Beard came into view.

" You passed out Jamie, you were tellin' us about all the fucked up shit your dad and his idiot mates have been pullin' on you and it jus' got to be too much for you I guess." Roy explained as he reached out and placed his own hand over the center of Jamie's chest, feeling his own anxiety calm a bit as he felt the steady beat beneath his palm.

" Probably a stress response." Beard said lightly as he gave Jamie a nod and crossed his arms over his own chest, sighing as the only outward sign of his relief at seeing the young man awake.

Jamie's cheeks grew red with mortification as it all came flooding back to him, but seeing this Liam immediately stepped in.

" Jamie?" He called to get the dark haired striker's attention. Once Jamie had turned tired dark blue eyes on him, Liam continued.

" You gave us all quite a scare there. How do you feel? Are you dizzy at all?" He asked as he looked closely over Jamie.

" I-I feel okay... mostley... jus' my head's not spinnin' but everythin' feels really heavey." Jamie replied as he blinked slowly.

" That's completely normal, you had all the blood rush out of your head and now everything's slowly normalizing. Just take it easy while I look you over." Liam said just as Derek came trotting back into the room.

" Oh good he's up, did you use the smelling salts then Liam?" Derek asked his fellow doctor who nodded.

" Excuse me guys, take a step back and let me and Liam examine him proper yeah?" He added as he made his way over to Jamie's other side once Ted, Roy, and Beard reluctantly stepped aside.

" Ted?" Called a soft male voice by the door, making all three Richmond coaches turn to see Leslie Higgins beckoning them with a worried looking Rebecca Welton beside him.

" Hey Rebecca, hey Higgins, be right there." Ted said with more quiet amount of his usual cheer before he turned to Roy.

" Hey Roy you stay with Jamie, me and Beard will explain things to the Boss."

" Okay." Roy grunted, though inwardly he was immensely relieved that he'd be sticking by Jamie's side.

Roy nodded to Beard as he and Ted stepped past him before focusing his full attention to Jamie as Liam and Derek carried out their examination.

Roy knew the moment Ted and Beard stepped out to talk to Rebecca and Higgins to explain the totally fucked up situation they were all in now, that a new wave of chaos was bound to crash over them what with the other lads still waiting in the locker room wanting to know just what the fuck was going on. With a low rumble Roy wordlessly stepped away from Jamie's side a moment to get the door to the medical office closed, already hearing the many voices rising up all at once asking Ted and Beard just what the hell happened to Jamie. They were a terrific bunch of young lads, but they would have to wait just a bit longer. Once he had the door shut Roy eagerly stepped back to Jamie's side, watching as Derek quickly shined a pen-light at Jamie's dark blue eye. To Roy's quiet relief Derek nodded in approval, that Jamie's pupils were equal and responsive, and there appeared to be no outward injuries to be found.

" Now Jamie, I need you be honest with me." Liam said with a look that garnered no room for argument.

Jamie glanced over at Roy a moment before he quickly met Liam's pointed gaze and nodded.

" Did you eat or drink at all this morning?" He asked with all seriousness.

Jamie averted his gaze before he let out a small, humorless huff and spoke.

" I slept through my alarm, so I jus' had a half a glass of oat milk. Thought I could grab a protein bar or somethin' when I got here when the coaches asked to see meh." Jamie explained quietly, looking deeply self-conscious.

Roy released a sigh and shook his head, trying his best not to glare. Yelling was his default reaction, but seeing just how fucking fragile Jamie Tartt was at the moment Roy decided instead to focus on getting the still pale and shaky young man some much needed sustenance.

" Oi, what can I get him?" He grunted.

" We got some Lucozade for him here but a piece of fruit or something light to go with it would be great, thanks Roy." Liam said without missing a beat as he went about taking Jamie's blood pressure.

Jamie looked openly upset for a moment at the thought of Roy going anywhere before he schooled his features, and it made something weird happen in the older man's chest at the thought, but he quickly quashed it down as he came up to the exam bed and looked Jamie square in the eye as he spoke.

" Yer litrally somehow runnin' on milk that ain't even milk, so is there anything in particular that you'd like Jamie?" He asked firmly.

Jamie met Roy's gaze and let out a small huff but nodded as he spoke.

" I guess a banana and any kind of muffin will do, I just... I 'aven't realley been 'ungrey these last few days." Jamie confessed softly.

Roy felt murderous rage rise up inside him along with the equally strong urge to wrap Jamie up in his arms and not ever let another awful thing touch him.

" It's alright Jamie, you're safe and what's been goin' on will get handled. You just try not to pass out again and I'll be right back." Roy said before he impulsively reached out and cupped the side of Jamie's neck, giving it a firm, lingering squeeze and feeling Jamie relax a fraction under his palm before the younger man nodded in acceptance.

Then Roy was finally forcing himself away from Jamie with a lingering look and striding out the side door out of the medical room to avoid the locker room and head to the canteen to get the food items Jamie had asked for.

Roy did his best speed walk to the canteen, knowing a break neck run wasn't necessary or wise with his bum knee. When he reached the canteen he greeted Lucinda the head chef with his usual grunt and snatched up a ripe, good sized banana from the basket they kept on the counter before he spoke to Lucinda.

" Hey Lucinda, you got any fresh muffins on ya?" He asked gruffly.

" Sure thing Roy, we've got blueberry, banana-nut, cinnamon roll, and chocolate chip. All gluten free." Lucinda answered dutifully with one of her chipper smiles.

Roy mulled it over a bit before he thought, fuck it with the healthiness, he's got the banana.

" Chocolate chip please." He said, doing his best not to bounce with impatience.

Lucinda snapped to it and got a fresh muffin from the back, putting it in a plastic container and everything, accepting Roy's curt thanks and sending him on his way back to Jamie with a wave.

When Roy came back into the med room he was pleased to see Jamie finally sitting up by himself, sipping from a bottle of Lucozade with Derek and Liam hovering nearby. He was still pale and looked sad and tired, but he was up and Roy was gonna get some much needed food in him.

" Here you are Jamie, eat up." Roy said without much preamble as he stepped up to Jamie and held out the banana and muffin.

With his cheeks turning slightly pink, Jamie put the stopper back on his bottle of Lucozade and set it beside him on the table before he accepted Roy's offerings.

" Thanks Roy." Jamie said, ducking his head shyly.

" Yer welcome." Roy said, before frowning as he watched Jamie hesitate to do anything. There was this pained, haunted looking taking over his face and Roy immediately wanted to know why.

" Jamie what's wrong?" Roy asked as he took a careful step closer.

Jamie let out a shaky breath and did his best to blink back the salt that started stinging his eyes. With a humorless huff and his stomach rolling at the memory, Jamie forced himself to look up and meet Roy's concerned dark gaze as he spoke.

" Roy I..." He began only to trail off.

" Hey, hey Jamie it's okay. You can tell me anythin'." Roy assured as he reached out and gently gripped one of Jamie's shoulders, trying his best to treat Jamie as he would phoebe at the moment. He could see before him a young man who had been terrorized by his own blood relation for days, not a star striker for a professional football team. Taking a deep breath, Jamie nodded and spoke.

" One... One of the messages I got from Bug, he said... that my dad would 'ave no problem givin' 'im my address. He could just hop on a train and come down from Manchester. He said he'd stop by one of these days and either I'd let him in or he'd let himself in and he'd... he'd take a p-piss in my fancy fridge, all over my fancy food. Said I'd have a nice golden dressin' over everythin'. I've... I've been double locking my doors but Bug's a pro at pickin' locks. I just... I just stopped havin' much of an appetite I guess." Jamie haltingly gritted out.

There was soft gasp behind Jamie, and a stuttered curse that followed, Roy vaguely aware that Liam and Derek had both heard and reacted to Jamie's words, but he paid little mind to them. His sole focus was on Jamie. Jamie who had averted his gaze and who's hands lightly shook as they still held the food items Roy had gotten for him.

" None of those fuckers are gettin' to you Jamie. I won't fucking allow it. Ted's not gonna allow it, Hell Rebecca's gonna go fuckin' mental when she learns about this." Roy vowed with all seriousness as he tightened his hold on Jamie's shoulder and reached out with his free hand, taking Jamie's chin and gently pulling the young man's head up so that their gazes met as he continued.

" Right now though, you gotta eat Jamie. You gotta get some strength back because we can't have you collapsin' again. Everything I've brought you is safe, and if you don't like it I'll go back and get you something else, Hell I'll fucking drive around town and get you whatever you'd like, but for now can you please just try a few bites Jamie?" He asked quietly.

" I even got you the chocolate one see?" Roy added with a warm half smile as he nodded his head towards the muffin.

Jamie let out a small huff and smiled crookedly before nodded against Roy's hand.

" I'll try Roy, but I throwed up a few times these last few days because of what Bug said." Jamie confessed sadly.

At Liam and Derek's shared looks of concern, Roy gave them an assuring look before he turned back to Jamie.

" It's okay Jamie, I understand. Just do the best you can, there's no rush and you don't even have to finish it all, you just need to start. That piece of shit Bug don't get to win yeah? He doesn't get one more second of you time and your God given right to eat in peace, you understand me Jamie?" Roy rumbled as he let go of Jamie's chin to cup the side of his neck again

To Roy's relief he watched as quiet determination filled Jamie's dark blue eyes as he sat up straighter and nodded his head.

" Yeah Roy, I understand." Jamie said quietly before he set the container with the muffin down on his lad and started to peel the banana.

" Good man." Roy said with an approving nod and pride in his belly before he reluctantly let go of Jamie.

" Be right back, lemme see what's happenin' out there yeah?" Roy said.

" Yeah." Jaime said quietly before he took a bite of banana.

Roy could see Jamie silently struggle with this first, tiny bite and it was gut-wrenching, but the pride in the young man returned as he watched Jamie swallow and then take another bite and repeat the process stoically. With a curt nod to Liam and Derek to keep an eye on Jamie while he ate, and his skin crawling at this new information about what Jamie had been enduring in silence, Roy stepped away from the young man's side and made his way to the main door to the medical office that led back out into the locker room.

The moment he opened it Roy was surrounded by more than a dozen worried and eager faces of the Richmond Greyhounds while Ted, Beard, Rebecca, and Higgins held them back.

" He's okay you lot, already sitting up and havin' a snack." Roy assured them before they could all talk at once, watching everyone visibly deflate in relief before he turned his dark eyes to Ted and Rebecca.

" You four better get in here, he just revealed somethin' you all need to know." Roy said ominously as he stepped aside for Ted, Rebecca, Beard, and Higgins to step in.

" You'll get to see him soon, sit tight you guys." Ted assured over his shoulder at many crestfallen but still eagerly worried faces before Roy shut the door in his wake.

Once the door was shut, Roy wasted no time telling Ted, Rebecca, Beard, and Higgins about Bug's truly abhorrent threats towards Jamie.

Higgins looked like he was going to be sick right then and there, while Beard bowed his head and breathed in deep through his nostrils. Ted and Rebecca though, the both of their faces turned the same shade of grey. Rebecca's rage was clearly visible on her face, but Ted though, Ted's face was blank in the most terrifying way.

This was not the Led Tasso persona, this was Ted Lasso getting actually angry, and it was fucking terrifying.

Before Roy could even curse, Ted blinked and the blankness left his face. Without saying a word Ted turned and made his way right over to Jamie who had managed to scarf down about half the banana. Jamie looked up and brightened at the sight of Ted and then looked confused as Ted wordlessly took the half-eaten banana from his hand and also moved the muffin container off his lap, setting both items down on the exam table.

The next thing Jamie knew it was like the air was being squeezed completely out of his lungs as he found himself in a crushing embrace. It only took him a moment to realize Ted had taken him into his arms, before his whole body just deflated. Letting out a shaky breath and refusing to let any tears fall, Jamie reached up and fervently reciprocated Ted's hug, even going so far as to lay his head down on his coach's shoulder. They said not a word, just breathed.

From where he stood with Beard, Rebecca, and Higgins, Roy vividly remembered when it had been him holding Jamie, after the disastrous defeat at Wembley and James Tartt's disgusting diatribe at his son. That had been Roy offering some much needed comfort.

Now it was Ted making the offer and having it instantly accepted by the poor lad.

After what felt like hours, Ted and Jamie finally released each other, Ted going so far as to gently smooth some of Jamie's errant hair back under his little plastic headband. A fatherly gesture to a young man who's own father had proven over this past week and well before that just how dreadfully atrocious and unworthy he was.

" I am so glad to see you up and okay Jamie." Ted said, meaning it with every fiber of his being before he grabbed up the banana and the muffin and put them back in Jamie's hands as he continued.

" Sorry 'bout that, you just eat up." He said encouragingly.

Jamie nodded wordlessly and took another bite of his banana to appease his eager and worried coach who was hovering.

Rebecca was next to step forward, Higgin's dutifully beside her, while Roy and Beard wordlessly followed in their wake.

" Hello Jamie." Rebecca greeted quietly with the best smile she could muster.

" Hi Ms. Welton." Jamie replied shyly, letting Ted take the now thankfully empty banana peel from him and sitting up straighter in the presence of the towering and ever elegant owner of AFC Richmond who was dressed in a lovely ice blue long puff sleeve blouse and white pencil skirt.

" Jamie, you know you can call me Rebecca." Rebecca said with mock-sterness followed quickly with a warm smile that only grew as Jamie ducked his head and smiled shyly as he nodded his head.

The smiles left them both far too quickly though, as the gravity of the situation reared its ugly head once more.

" Jamie?" Rebecca began, waiting for Jamie to slowly raise his head back up and meet her bright blue eyes.

" I can't even begin to imagine how you must be feeling right now, but I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep you and everyone else safe." She said, meaning it with everything she had before she sighed.

" Jamie, could you please unlock your phone so that Higgins and I can have a look and listen at what we'll be dealing with?" She asked gravely.

Jamie blinked and then nodded mutely, turned to Ted who pulled Jamie's phone from his pocket and handed it to him. He entered in the passcode, it were his mum's birthday, and then pulled up the text chain to the very beginning before holding the phone out to Higgins.

Higgins and Rebecca only read a couple of the messages and then heard only a few of the voice messages James Tartt Sr. and his two lackies had left for Jamie before everything about them both grew steely.

" Do you want to press charges Jamie?" Higgins asked firmly, looking more serious than anyone had ever seen him.

" Charges? You wanna call the police on my dad?" Jamie asked, completely taken aback.

" What you're dad and his friends have been doin' and are still doin' is a crime Jamie. That one friend of your dad said he would urinate on your food and your dad threatened to physically harm you. This cannot and will not stand." Ted said, all trace of his usually sunny positive disposition gone.

" But... But he's my dad-" Jamie began to say when Roy swiftly cut him off.

" He's a piece of shit who don't deserve you, enough is enough." Roy growled.

" Gentlemen, settle down now." Rebecca ordered sternly before she shook her head and sighed.

" Jamie it's up to you whether we get the police involved." She said with a look of assurance.

" I don't wanna cause problems 'ere, it's why I never said nothin'." Jamie said before he hung his head.

" If my dad gets arrested he's not gonna go quietly, he'll scream anythin' and everythin' he can about meh. I mean when he found out I like guys as much as I like girls, he said he'd go straight to The Sun if I didn't giving him cash straight up. I gave him a lot of my first big pay check and he blowed it all on drinks and horse races." Jamie confessed, jerking a bit when he realized what he'd just revealed.

He looked up to see everyone gathered around staring at him in horror, but there was no disgust towards him.

" Jamie, that is extortion. Who you love and who you chose to share that information with is nobody's business but yours." Higgins said with an outraged look.

" It's the way it's always been." Jamie replied with a shrug before he deflated further.

" Ever since I were a teenager and he found out I were good at football and got professional at it he's been wanting money and stuff, wanted to stroll around as big man in Manchester when I were playin' for Man City. Never stopped bein' mad that I left Man City and did that fake TV show and then came back here to Richmond." He said sadly.

There was a beat of silence where no one could really say anything before Ted stepped closer and reached out, gripping Jamie's shoulder and waiting for the young man to look up at him before he spoke.

" Enough is enough Jamie, he's done enough and you've been through enough. He's not gettin' one more cent or one more second of your peace of mind, your time, or your health. Even if you don't want the police involved, I am sure we have other means and methods of makin' sure he and his equally awful buddies can't ever come near us again." Ted said as he shared a look with Rebecca who nodded grimly.

Jamie looked at those circling him protectively, seeing the sincerity and determination in their eyes. It helped ease some of the terror that still clung to him like stubborn roots. Taking in a deep breath, Jamie nodded and made a decision.

" I want to press charges." Jamie said, feeling something inside his finally release.

It seemed to spread through the whole room as the tension broke and determination took it's place.

" We'll take care of everything Jamie. For now you just finish your muffin." Rebecca said with a nod.

Beard had a thoughtful look on his face, as though he were mulling over something but not yet ready to share with the rest of the class.

Jamie returned the nod and then found his dark blue eyes meeting those of dark, almost black belonging to none other than Roy Kent. There was assurance and approval in those dark eyes, a warmth and also relief that had something in Jamie's chest doing a strange sort of flutter. It helped Jamie calm down a little more. Jamie wolfed down the muffin within a matter of seconds, washing it all down with his Lucozade, already feeling better for having something more in his stomach than just oat milk.

Things unfolded more calmly than expected after that. Higgins quietly asked Jamie for the pass-code to his phone so that he could open it when he needed to show the police. Rebecca assured Jamie that she would get on the phone with the club lawyers as soon as she got back to her office to get things ready as fast and as quietly as possible, while Liam and Derek looked over Jamie one more time as he ate his muffin, each bite coming a bit easier now that he had decided to finally take definitive action against his harassers.

" You're comin' home with me." Roy said without any preface, his tone leaving no room for argument.

" Wha?" Jamie asked eloquently before Beard spoke.

" Training's cancelled for the day, we can't have you going back to your place, you'll be staying with Roy for as long as it takes. Simple as that." He said in that casual way of his.

Ted sent Roy a knowing look before he turned to Jamie.

" Now mind you, we hadn't actually discussed it but it looks like Roy here wants you to go stay with him while we deal with your dad and his buddies. It's not safe for you to go to your place because this Bug character made a direct threat to you at your residence and you said that your dad could just give him your address whenever he wants. I'd gladly have you at my place and I am sure Beard and any of your teammates would be more than happy to have ya stay with them too but as you can see, Roy here just basically called dibs and it kinda makes sense since I think his would be the last place anyone would think to look for ya given the rather fraught history you two share." Ted explained as he looked between Jamie and Roy with a small, mustacheod smile.

Jamie turned his gaze back to Roy, who was doing his best not to glower as much.

" You don't mind?" He asked quietly, feeling that weird flip-flop in his chest again.

" Nah lad, I don't." Roy grunted simply as he crossed his arms and finally looked away.

" Okay." Jamie said quickly before he looked away too, the both of them massively uncomfortable.

" C'mon Jamie, let's get you changed and I am sure the boys all want to see you up and okay for themselves." Ted said as he clapped Jamie lightly on the shoulder.

" Just take your time and tell us immediately if you feel dizzy or anything. Okay?" Derek directed.

Jamie nodded and shrugged off the blanket he still had around him. With a deep breath Jamie planted his feet on the floor and slowly pushed himself up. There was a slight rush of blood to his head but Jamie was able to quickly shake it off.

" M'okay." He said quietly before he started making his way towards the door that led to the locker room, Ted and Roy quickly flanking him on either side, Beard and Higgins bringing up the back.

Rebecca strode past all of them quickly to get the door. The moment she stepped through and held it open all motion ceased in the locker room.

Jamie barely got a single step over the threshold before Sam Obisanya was on him.

" Jamie!" He cried with a relieved grin as he hugged his friend hard.

Ted looked like he wanted to step in an get Sam to back off but Jamie just gave him a crooked smile of assurance over his shoulder before he turned back and returned Sam's hug tightly.

" M'sorry Sam." Jamie said against Sam's shoulder.

" No Jamie, no don't be sorry. Coach didn't give us many details, he just said you been keeping your distance because your dad's been threatening you and all of us. You should have said something sooner but I get it man. You were scared and you were trying to protect us." Sam said once he finally drew away, his voice choked up with emotion.

Jamie thought he would lose it himself at any second but he stubbornly reigned his own emotions in and smiled warmly at his friend and teammate. He sent Ted a grateful look for not showing the team any of the vitriol his father and his friends had sent him. Ted nodded in understanding and gestured for Jamie to go ahead and get changed while he, Roy, Ted, Rebecca, and Higgins all ducked away into Ted's office.

They all watched through the window as Dani Rojas led the veritable charge of the Greyhounds all surrounding Jamie and showering him with all the affection he had denied himself from allowing them to give for all the days leading up to this day filled with revelations as to why.

" I'll never forgive myself for sending him back to Man City." Rebecca said quietly as she turned away from the window and looked to the Diamond Dogs.

" I sent him straight back to his abuser." She finished gravely.

" You didn't know about his dad. I didn't do any better Boss, after we got relegated last year I literally saw his dad throw a shoe at his head and push him around, and I got so overwhelmed I just walked away and then sent Beard to give Jamie one of Henry's little toy soldiers and a note commending him for making that extra pass. After that, nothin' till he came to Richmond himself and asked to be taken back." Ted said with a sad sigh.

" He asked me for advice about fathers and I told him I try to love my dad for who he is and forgive him for who he isn't and Jamie ended up getting tickets to the match for that asshole and his friends, and you all saw what went down. If I had known just what kind of father than poor boy has I never would have encouraged him to let that monster anywhere near us." Higgins said as he shook his head.

Beard stayed silent, memories of his own run in with James Tartt coming to the forefront of his mind. He wasn't sure he was ready to share just yet.

" He's damn lucky he hasn't run into me personally yet, and that Beard 'escorted' him out at Wembley after Jamie socked him good because if I ever get my hands on him, I'll show him and his two lap dogs who the real gimps are." Roy growled with clenched fists.

" We all seriously dropped the ball, we can't undue what's been done, but we can make damn sure that Jamie's safety and the safety of our boys is never compromised like this again." Rebecca declared with renewed fire in her bright blue eyes.

" Good on Jamie for punchin' the bastard in the face at least. Let's give this asshole a hit he can't ever get up from ever again." Roy declared with eagerness.

They all turned to Beard when he lightly cleared his throat and did his best not to duck his head as he spoke.

" I think I have a way we can do that so it's not Jamie who has to go through too much shit." He said with a sigh.

" We're all ears buddy." Ted said as he, Roy, Rebecca, and Higgins all settled in to listen to what Beard had to reveal and also form a plan of action.

About half an hour later Jamie, dressed in the black jeans, grey Henley shirt, and bright floral hoodie he had come into practice wearing, looked up from the funny football meme Isaac was showing him on his phone to see Ted finally come out of his office with Rebecca, Roy, Beard, and Higgins behind him.

" Are ya all set Jamie?" Ted asked warmly as he came to stand before Jamie.

" Yeah Coach, I'm good to go." Jamie replied as he got up and picked up his duffel.

" Alrighty then, you'll go home with Roy and get some rest. Me and Beard'll stop by in the evenin' after we get done coordinatin' some things here." Ted explained, feeling many asking eyes on him.

" See you tomorrow then coach?" Jamie asked tentatively.

" Of course Jamie, but only if you feel you're up to it." Ted said with a nod before he reached out and pulled Jamie to him in another impromptu hug. Jamie smiled tiredly and hugged Ted back.

Roy, who had changed out of his coaching attire and back into one of his usual all black outfits watched the display of affection feeling both warmed and also tired as Hell as he put his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. Today had simply not gone how he thought it would go.

Jamie said his goodbyes and see you laters and then Roy was finally whisking him out of the building and into his massive black Mercedes G-Class. Roy had Jamie give the keys to his black Aston Martin to Ted for safe keeping at Nelson Road. It was one less thing to worry about James Tartt and his buddies getting their hands on if they tried to make good on any their threats towards Jamie.

" We'll stop by your place so you can pack some stuff for a few days yeah?" Roy said and they drove out of the Richmond car park.

" Yeah, sounds good Roy." Jamie said quietly as he looked out the window, not wanting Roy to see how close he was to loosing it again.

The rest of the drive to Jamie's was made in relative silence, with a little bit of Roy's grumbling at other drivers on the road being complete fucking idiots mixed in.

Jamie lived in a neighborhood that was upper level for sure, but Roy was a bit surprised to see that it was actually a lot less swanky and posh than his own neighborhood was. The houses ranged from some clearly over the top mansions, to quiet and quaint little family dwellings. Jamie's house as Roy observed it as he pulled up in front of it, fell somewhere in the middle. It was modern with lots of glass and hard edges, but it was medium sized and ideal for a young bachelor like himself.

They climbed out of Roy's car and headed for the main gate, Jamie punching in the security code and stepping in through the little door with Roy following. Jamie fished his keys out of his back pocket and got the custom black iron front door open, gesturing for Roy to step in first. Roy would have snorted and rolled his eyes had the situation not been so serious, instead nodded wordlessly and stepped over the threshold into Jamie's abode.

Roy took in the foyer and living room, a bit surprised by what he saw. He were expecting a garish eye sore of high modernity everywhere, but instead everything were tasteful... but a bit minimalist. There were a few picture frames here and there was a gorgeous and quietly elegant looking woman who Roy could guess was Jamie's mother. There were a few pictures of the Richmond lads, including himself in this one group photo of the team from last year, and one or two frames with photos of Keeley's smiling face but that was it. Everything was neat, almost to the point of looking not lived in. The kitchen was open and towards the back of the first floor and filled with white cabinets and grey walls. Posh looking tear drop lights over the kitchen island that Roy actually found tasteful.

" Lemme just head upstairs to pack, just make yourself at home Roy. You can even make yourself a coffee or tea from the machine if you like, milk and creamer in the fridge yeah?" Jamie said as he shut the door and came to stand beside Roy, gesturing to the modern looking glass and wood staircase that led up to the second floor.

" Sure Jamie, just pack everythin' you think you'll need, there's no rush." Roy said with nod.

With a shared, lingering look Jamie turned and headed up the stairs to the second floor, leaving Roy to himself.

Roy sighed deeply before he shuffled away from the foyer and through the living room into the kitchen because a tea actually sounded great at the moment, after the day they had all had so far. When he reached the kitchen Roy turned his head to look back over his shoulder, a light frown on his face.

Loneliness, quiet and permeating loneliness. That was what Jamie's house felt like. Loneliness beneath and veneer of neat modernity. Feeling his stomach twist in knots for his once great rival turned coaching charge, Roy turned away from the living room and found himself pausing again when his eyes fell on the sleek, charcoal grey refrigerator stationed in the corner.

Jamie's halting words of Bug's repulsive threat crashing through his head, nausea rising up hard and fast in his gut before he stubbornly shoved it down and stepped forward, reaching for one of the door handles on the fridge and pulling it open.

Relief crashed over Roy when he was greeted by the sight of a perfectly normal inside of a fridge, everything again kept surprisingly neat and totally clean. Blessedly devoid of Bug's promised 'golden dressing'.

Suddenly and understandable not in the mood to eat or drink anything, Roy gently shut the fridge door and walked back into the living room where he took a seat on one of the plush light grey leather sofas. His dark eyes immediately went to the end table where Jamie kept two pictures side by side, one of his mum and one of the whole Richmond team in simple yet elegant silver frames.

As he took in the image of Jamie's mum, he could see with a sinking heart that he unfortunately took more after James Tartt, but his eyes were purely hers. There was an inherent kindness to them, a quiet elegance and strength to the lady herself. Roy wondered if James Tartt were the reason she never showed up to any games, and he couldn't fault her for it.

The sound of shuffling feet had Roy getting up and heading over to the stairs. When he caught sight of Jamie descending down the stairs, Roy found himself pausing. The younger man had gone ahead and changed out of what he had been wearing. Gone was the garish floral hoodie, grey Henley, and black jeans combo.

Now Jamie wore a comfy looking dark blue sweater, underneath which was a plain white button up shirt. He had on blue jeans with stylish rips along one of his thighs, and classic red Converse sneakers. He had taken off his little black headband and left his hair combed back and away from his face. From his shoulder hung a large black duffel bag that was way bigger than the usual bag he brought to training. It was an understated turn from his usual eye popping fashion choices.

He looked absolutely stunning.

Roy blinked and quickly shook himself of such a thought as he stepped forward to greet his charge.

" All set?" He asked quietly.

" Yeah, I got everythin' I need." Jamie replied just as quietly, sadness radiating off of him in waves.

" I got that." Roy said as he reached out and took the strap of Jamie's bag from his shoulder. Jamie looked like he wanted to protest but Roy silenced him with an assuring look. Roy went out the door first and Jamie followed after, locking things up securely before they headed back to Roy's waiting G-Class.

" What would you like to have for lunch Jamie? We'll get whatever you want." Roy said quietly once they were back on the road.

Jamie fidgeted with his hands in his lap and mulled over the question for a moment, still having a bit of a hard time with food, but then he had a thought as to what he would like for afternoon sustenance.

" Do you know any good kebab places Roy?" Jamie asked with a quietly hopeful look to his former Captain turned current coach.

From where sat behind the wheel, Roy felt that thing in his chest do the strange little flip-flop it had been throughout this whole peculiar day.

They stop by Roy's favorite kebab place where the owner himself piles on several platters for one of his best customers and give a little extra when Roy mentions he's taking care of a special guest for a few days. Roy and Jamie were well and truly famished and tormented by the delicious smells filling Roy's ridiculously big car by the time they finally reached Roy's townhouse.

Roy drove around one the back driveway through the communal back yard and smoothly turned his giant car into the garage situated in the back of his residence, the door sliding shut once they were inside. Jamie insisted on carrying the two big bags of food since Roy was taking both Jamie's overnight bag and the smaller back he had brought in for training. Jamie dutifully followed after Roy as the older man led the way up the stairs and into the main house, the door to the garage leading straight into Roy's surprisingly rustic and homey looking kitchen.

Jamie quickly made his way over to Roy's black marble kitchen island and set the heavy bags of food down onto it before hurrying back to Roy's side as the older man led him through the kitchen, the living room filled with tons of black leather furniture. They paused a moment to take off their shoes in the foyer before they headed up the grey carpeted stairs to second floor.

" Right down this way." Roy said as he led Jamie all the way down the hallway, pausing to point out the where the bathroom was before continuing. He stopped and reached for the knob of the door right before the last door at the very end.

" That's my room right there." Roy explained as he jerked his head to said door before he opened the door to what Jamie now knew to be the closest guest room. Roy stepped over the threshold into the room and Jamie followed after him.

The room had light blue walls the color of the sky at the first crack of dawn, darker blue curtains on the windows. At the center of the room was a queen-sized bed with a black frame and quilted headboard. Sharply made dark blue sheets and a fluffy dark grey comforter covered the mattress. At the foot of the bed was a storage bench that matched the quilted design of the headboard. Roy set Jamie's bags down on top of it. The carpet was a light grey hue and the furniture such as the wardrobe and dresser were matte black. Overlooking the bed there was a painting of a white horse at full gallop and from the top corner of the frame hung a little necklace with pink and purple plastic charms, no doubt an addition to the decor by the one and only Phoebe, Roy's indomitable young niece. Jamie felt a small, genuine smile come to his face before Roy turned to him.

" I want you close to me, so here you are. You can unpack and put your stuff in there or in the drawers." Roy said as he gestured to the storage bench and the drawers by the far window before he pointed to another door.

" Y-Yeah, thanks Roy." Jamie said quietly with a nod and feeling his cheeks grow hot.

" I'll leave you to freshen up then. I'll be in the kitchen settin' up the food." Roy said with a nod before he stepped past Jamie towards the door.

They were hyper-aware of each other as he passed, a million different things still left unsaid between them.

" Hey Roy?" Jamie called right before Roy was out the door.

" Yeah?" Roy said as he turned to look over his shoulder at Jamie.

" Thank you, you didn't have ta bother with any of this." Jamie said as he made a vague gesture.

" Your welcome and you're no bother at all Jamie, I want you here safe with me." Roy said before he could stop himself.

He watched Jamie's eyes widen for a moment before the young lad quickly schooled his features and nodded. Roy nodded back and then made a hasty exit. The food was getting cold after all and the last thing he wanted was to treat Jamie to soggy kebabs.

Jamie stared at the door Roy disappeared through for a few moments before he shook himself and went over to his bags. He kept reaching for his phone only to remember that he had given it to Higgins, and it was jarring not to have the constant pinging and buzzing of his father and company's relentless harassment.

He made his way over to the bed and sat down over the side with a sigh. He peeled off his sweater, feeling too hot all over. He folded it lightly and placed it on the foot of the bed before he took another look around. Of all the places he thought he'd find himself in today, Roy Kent's guest room had never once crossed his mind. It was home and warm, a feeling of security and safety he had not felt for days washing over him. It felt like a foreign concept now, being someplace other than his cold and lonely house with only his father's harassment as company.

Jamie knew he should be bawling his eyes out with tears of relief, but all he felt was a weariness all the way to the marrow of his bones. Yet at the same time he was too wired, to anxious still about what could possibly happen with the decision he had made today regarding his father, Bug, and Bug, and what they had been doing to him. A low grumble from his stomach made itself known.

Not wanted to keep Roy waiting, Jamie hurried out of the room and made a b-line for the bathroom Roy had shown him. He washed his hands and splashed some cold water onto his face. He dried up with the little fluffy grey hand towel Roy had hanging from a ring by the door before he made quick work of getting downstairs.

When Jamie walked into the kitchen area he immediately brightened as he saw Roy shuffling about the dining table in the little circular alcove by these lovely arched windows. He had the food all set out on actual serving plates instead of straight out of the container. Roy looked up at Jamie's arrive and brightened a bit himself.

" Hey Jamie, come eat." He said as he gestured to the spread he'd laid out.

" Yeah, yeah sounds great." Jamie said with an eager nod of his own as he made his way over to the table.

There were place settings set up across from each other as they sat down and Roy spoke.

" Be warned, Hassan the owner kind went a bit overboard when I mentioned that I had you with me. Have me a shit ton of extra stuff because he's nice like that and wanted us both well fed." Roy explained as he watched Jamie eye the many dishes with slightly wide eyes.

" Extra? The man's given us the whole fuckin' restaurant." Jamie said bluntly.

Roy barked out a laugh and nodded before he reached out and picked up and chicken and veg skewer and promptly placed it on Jamie's plate. Jamie looked surprised by the gesture before he smiled shyly.

" Thanks." He said quietly before he reciprocated by forking some naan bread over to Roy who gave him an approving nod.

" Wha's tha' white sauce?" Jamie asked curiously as he eyed the little container of white sauce with bits of green in it.

" It's called Tzatziki. They make it with yogurt and put cucumber and herbs in it and what have you. It's pretty good stuff. The red sauce is the spicy one." Roy said as he forked over a couple of beef doner kebabs for himself.

Jamie nodded and got some bread for himself along with some salad. They ate in companionable silence and Roy was glad to that with only a moment's hesitation that was totally understandable, Jamie tucked into his meal with a bit more gusto than he had showed earlier this morning with the banana and muffin he had basically choked down after coming back from that terrifying fainting spell. It quietly pained Roy to see the dark circles Jamie still had under his eyes.

" I let Ted know we got here safe and sound. He and Beard'll stop by in the evening and so will Keeley. Rebecca looped her in on what's been goin' on with you and she wants your dad's fuckin' head." Roy said grimly.

Jamie nodded and smiled fleetingly at the mention of Keeley Jones before he grows somber once more.

" When do I talk to the police?" He asked quietly.

" I am sure Ted and Beard will explain how this is gonna play out. If it were now they'd have showed up here already yeah?" Roy replied, earning a nod from Jamie.

They went back to eating, Roy starting up a conversation about the other happenings in the Premier League, like the Tottenham Hotspurs coming to a draw with Aston Villa a few days ago. Once they were done eating but with plenty left over, Jamie insisted on helping Roy clean up even though it was clear he was rapidly growing dead on his feet.

Once the foot was put away and the plates and cutlery were in the dishwasher, Roy basically herded Jamie back upstairs.

" Go and change into your comfy clothes Jamie, you're going to bed and gettin' some actual fuckin' sleep." Roy said with a stern look when Jamie wanted to protest.

He saw Jamie off into the guest room before he made his way into his own room to change himself. He opted for one of his favorite, well worn grey t-shirts and simple black sweatpants.

Once he was dressed, Roy made his way back out of his room and stood beside the door to the guest room.

" Hey Jamie, you decent?" He called.

" Yeah, come in Roy." Jamie replied.

Roy nodded and pushed open the door to see Jamie finish pulling down the hem of the dark blue v-neck t-shirt he was changing into, light grey Tommy Hilfiger sweat pants finishing out the super casual look. Jamie watched as Roy promptly made his way over to the windows to pull down the blackout shades and pulling the curtains closed for good measure. He did the same for the other windows in the room before making his way over to Jamie.

" I got melatonin if it'll help?" Roy asked quietly.

Jamie blinked and mulled over what Roy was offering before he shook his head.

" I should be okay yeah." He said as he fidgeted with his hands.

" Alright then, off to bed with ya." Roy said as he stepped over to the bed and pulled back the covers, pleased beyond words when he got a huff of laughter from Jamie who humored him without protest and climbed into bed.

Jamie sent Roy a silent, incredulous look when his former captain turned coach went so far as to actually tuck him in snug under the covers. It was absolutely ridiculous, it was absolutely wonderful.

Roy turned to leave, filled with reluctance but wanting Jamie to rest peacefully when the young man himself spoke up.

" Roy?" Jamie called out softly, feeling his face heat up at how plaintiff he sounded in his own ears.

" Yeah Jamie? You need somethin'?" Roy asked as he was instantly back by Jamie's side.

" Umm... could you just... could you stay a while?" Jamie haltingly asked, grateful that the room was dimmed so that Roy couldn't see how flushed his cheeks probably were.

Roy blinked slowly, naturally not expecting such a request from Jamie Tartt of all people. He shook it off quickly though as he nodded curtly, looking to grab of the nearby chairs but feeling stunned yet again as Jamie wordlessly shifted over a bit to the side to give him room to sit directly on the bed. Roy wordlessly sank down over the side of the bed, his hands clasped lightly in his lap. There was a beat of awkward silence before Jamie sighed and spoke.

" Anyone eva try to pull a prank on you when you were with Chelsea?" He asked quietly.

Roy blinked a moment at the question before he nodded.

" Yeah, plenty. I can think of this one time Gary Cahill tried to put blue dye in my shampoo but I caught on and switched it with Eden Hazard's bottle and then just sat back and watched the bedlam that unfolded." Roy said proudly.

To his quiet delight Jamie let out this giggle Roy had never heard from him before. Wanting to hold on to that sound, Roy started regaling Jamie with more stories of some of his more wilder youthful days and the shenanigans he got himself into. When Jamie started to yawn more than giggle and could barely keep his eyes open, Roy finally stopped and leaned in a bit so that he loomed over Jamie.

" Go to sleep now Jamie." He rumbled simply.

He watched a sheen come to Jamie's barely open eyes, only for Jamie to shut his eyes and stubbornly push it all back.

" Thanks for stayin' Roy." He said softly as he slowly gave in to the pull of much needed sleep.

" Well yeah, I fuckin' live here don't I?" Roy snarked lightly, earning one final little giggle from Jamie before with a sigh the younger man finally drifted off.

Roy sat for a few minutes more, just taking in Jamie finally asleep, not passed out from the strain of the terror piled onto him, but having drifted off on his own accord. He looked so tired still and so painfully young. With a last lingering look at the sleeping young man Roy slowly got up from his seat and forced his legs to move, walking out of the guest room and pulling the door shut with a soft click.

The moment he was out the room Roy was pulling his phone out and pulling up a familiar number. He rushed downstairs, every inch of his seething with quiet rage as he brought the phone to his ear and waited for the person he called to answer him.

" Roy? Hey how is he? How is Jamie?" Keeley Jones' melodic voice asked from the other side of the line.

" Hi Keeley." He greeted his ex-girlfriend turned best confidant before he continued. " I got him to go to sleep finally after we had lunch together. I don't know if Rebecca gave you the full details about what Jamie's been goin' through but his piece of shit father and his two douchebag friends have made him scared to even eat a single bite." He gritted out.

" Those fucking assholes." Keeley hissed venomously from the other side of the line.

As he reached his living room and started pacing lightly, Roy growled as he continued.

" He's so scared he won't even let himself cry Keeley. I brought him here to my place so I could keep an eye on him but what the fuck am I actually gonna do? What the fuck can I actually do without makin' things worse?" He asked almost desperately.

" You do what you've been doing Roy. You're taking care of him, keeping him safe and letting him know he's not alone, that he has you and he has all of us. We're gonna handle the rest and make sure James Tartt and his two asshole buddies know just who they fucked with." Keeley promised vehemently before she let out a shaky breath.

" He always protected me from that douchebag, wouldn't ever bring me with him to Manchester whenever he went up there to visit his mum when we were together. I doubt his dad even knows I exist or that I were anythin' more than random arm candy. I saw it, I saw how sad and scared he'd get whenever that bastard called him. It were always to berate him or ask for more money. He's the main reason Jamie always acted like a prick, it's what his dad thinks a great player should be, and you all saw what happens when Jamie don't do what he wants or act the way he wants. Fucking shitbag." Keeley cursed angrily.

" We're gonna bury him Keeley." Roy said with certainty.

" Yes, we fucking will." Keeley vowed with just as much conviction.

A couple of hours later...

Dark blue eyes slowly fluttered open as Jamie came back to awareness and let out a soft groan. He stretched languidly and pushed back the very nice feeling covers of himself as he sat up and scratched as his jaw. With a small yawn he looked about dim room, frowning at the unfamiliar setting before everything that had transpired today came rushing back to him.

With a sad sigh, Jamie hung his head and reached up to rub the all too familiar ache from his eyes. The sound of faint, muffled voices caught Jamie's ear and he perked up. Jamie climbed out of bed, pausing to remake the covers and put the pillows back in order before he quietly shuffled out of the room.

As he made his way down the hallway, Jamie ducked into the bathroom for a moment to freshen up before continuing down the stairs the voices started to sound a bit more familiar. When he came into view of the living room he saw Roy sitting with Ted, Beard, and Keeley.

" Jamie!" Keeley exclaimed as she sprung to her feet, looking lovely in a white power suit with a hot pink top and gold jewelry. She made her way to him as fast as she could safely with the insane heels she had on.

Jamie smiled easily as he caught the diminutive but powerful blond and hugged her tight.

" Hi Keeley." He greeted warmly.

" So glad you're up. Roy was gonna come and get you anyway." Keeley said once she and Jamie drew back from each other and she started leading him towards the center of the living room.

Jamie's eyes went to Roy and then shared a quick nod before Ted and Beard stepped forward.

" Hey Jamie. Sorry if we woke you." Ted said as he too shared a quick hug with Jamie while Beard opted for a handshake.

" It's no problem Ted, I woke up on my own." Jamie assured before he made his way over to Roy's large black sofa. He gestured for everyone else to sit too. Roy was on one side of him and Keeley was on the other, while Ted and Beard sat across from them with the coffee table between them.

There was a moment of charged silence before Jamie finally addressed the big purple elephant in the room.

" Has Rebecca called the police?" He asked with a sigh.

" Yes Jamie, she has." Ted said before he shared a look with Beard and spoke.

" The Richmond authorities are gonna coordinate with those up in Manchester and they're gonna wanna talk to ya about taking out a restrainin' order against your dad and his friends. It's probably gonna take them a while because they're gonna have to speak to the entire team." Ted explained.

" Why the whole team?" Jamie asked confused.

" Because all the boys want restrainin' orders against your dad and his friends too. He didn't just threaten you, he threatened just about everyone on the team includin' Beard and me. At this rate if everythin' gets granted, James Tartt's gonna have a mighty hard time even settin' foot here in Richmond or anywhere else we go to play." Ted answered with a tired smile.

" On top of that his legal woes are only just getting started since I will be filing my own charges against you dad and his friends." Beard said with deceptive lightness.

At Jamie's look of shocked askance, Beard sighed and explain what had happened to him when he had had the misfortune of running into Tartt Sr. after Wembley. Jamie looked absolutely horrified and apologetic, but Beard quelled him with a look as he spoke.

" The threats he made against you and the other players is bad, what he tried to do to me just happens to be a bit worse legally." Beard said with a shrug.

" He woulda fuckin' killed you if that other bloke hadn't showed up Coach! You never said nothin'!" Jamie cried.

" I didn't want to cause problems either Jamie." Beard said with a sigh, Jamie deflating in understanding.

" Keeley here's been brought in to help keep this under wraps as much as possible and make sure we control the narrative. We're tryin' to keep out names and have it be a whole group thing. The police have got your phone and your dad well... he, Bug, and Bug haven't exactly let up on what they've been doin'." Ted said with a sigh.

" Let 'em." Roy growled with a snort.

" Just means they're diggin' the fuckin' hole deeper for themselves."

Thankfully conversation turned to more pleasant topics after that, Jamie asking Ted how Henry was doing and when the sweet kid would next come to visit his dad in Richmond. Ted lit up like a Christmas as he eagerly regaled everyone with Henry's latest escapades like his visit to the Kansas City Zoo where he terrorized a peacock, his perfect score on his math test, and that he's got his signed jersey from Jamie framed in his room and would also like one from Roy now too. Jamie beamed brightly while Roy had a definite blush to his bearded cheeks.

Ted and Beard took their leave a little while after that, again assuring Jamie that he wasn't expected at training tomorrow unless he was really up to it.

Seeing as to how it was still just after sunset, Keeley decided she would abscond with Roy and Jamie, whisking them off to an impromptu dinner at this new Italian place her PR firm was helping spread the word about. There was no use in refusing Keeley Jones, so Roy and Jamie headed upstairs to change into proper clothes for a casual dinner out.

They all piled into Keeley's white BMW M4 and headed off towards the other side of town where the restaurant was located. With Keeley's pull they entered through the back and got a private booth upstairs and enjoyed the best the place had to offer. It was just a perk of having someone as awesome as Keeley Jones in their lives, even if they both happen to be her ex-boyfriends.

Afterward they had thoroughly enjoyed dinner together Keeley dropped them off back at Roy's and bid them a very fond good night. Roy led the way up the fronts steps and back into his town house. They headed upstairs and into their respective rooms to change with a comfortable silence between them. As he changed back into his t-shirt and sweats, Roy's phone went off with a new text. He pulled his shirt on all the way and then picked up his phone. The message was from Rebecca and it read: The police in Manchester have taken James Tartt and the one called Denbo Cullens into custody. Both were found totally drunk at Tartt's place and still trying to text and call Jamie. They will be arraigned in the morning. Unfortunately they did not find the one called Bug Fielding with the other two and are currently still looking. Warrant has been issued. Paperwork has been filed by lawyers. Higgins will have a new phone set up for Jamie by tomorrow morning. Take care of him Roy and goodnight. Let me know if you need anything.

With a wave of relief washing over him, Roy shot off a quick text thanking Rebecca and wishing her a good night as well before he headed out of his bedroom.

" Hey Jamie can I come in?" Roy asked at the door.

" Yeah Roy." Jamie called.

Roy pushed the door open and did his best not to just run over to Jamie.

" Roy what is it? What's happened?" Jamie asked, instantly understanding from the look on Roy's face that something huge must have gone down.

" Just got a text from Rebecca. The police in Manchester have arrested your dad and Bug, but they're still lookin' for Bug. Bastard simply wasn't there at your dad's place when those two got busted." Roy explained.

He was met with stunned silence.

Jamie looked like a deer caught in the headlights, like it was hitting him that his choice to actually bring charges against his father and his horrid friend led to them being arrested for real. For several long moments Jamie stood stark still, not even breathing it seemed before with a purse of his lips and a cut off gasp he gave Roy a curt little nod and then turned away, picking at some imaginary lint on the closest pillowcase as he spoke.

" Well that... that's good then. Two outta three ain't bad and I am sure Bug is knee deep in some bar pullin' an all nighter. They'll find him." He said, his voice wavering by the end.

Roy was having none of it.

" Oi, Jamie." Roy said as he reached out and firmly gripped Jamie by the shoulder, waiting for the young man to still in his movements before gently making him turned around to face him.

Jamie's face had gone pale, his eyes shifty and tellingly over-bright, but yet again the young man refused to let any salt escape him. Roy knew he had to tread carefully, this was uncomfortable territory for him as well and he was no fucking psychologist.

" What Roy?" Jamie asked blankly.

"Yeah big man Roy Kent, what now?" Roy thought to himself before he decided fuck it, he'd do the first instinctive thing that came to mind.

Jamie let out a startled yelp as the next thing he knew he was being yanked forward almost completely off his feet and then colliding with a solid chest with muscular arms wrapping around him. The oxygen was then summarily squeezed from his lungs. Jamie stood limp as he realized that he was once again in the bone-crushingly tight embrace of Roy fucking Kent. Before Jamie could even whisper anything out, Roy spoke right into his ear.

" Just stop Jamie, just fucking stop. I have seen you hold it all in throughout this entire fuckin' day and I won't have it. You been so brave this whole fucking day, this whole fucking week keepin' what that bag of shit sperm donor of yours and his lap dogs have been doin' to ya to yerself tryin' to keep the rest of the fucking team safe, even tryin' to keep me safe. Well I am tellin' you that if you can be brave enough to do all that, you can be fuckin' brave enough to cry. Just cry Jamie, cry as long and as hard as you need to 'cause I am right here. I am right fuckin' here you understand me?" Roy gritted out.

Jamie was silent for what seemed an eon, and then he let out this soft shuddering breath and his hands were reaching up and twisting into the back of Roy's t-shirt in a white knuckled grip as the floodgates finally opened.

With this heart-rending groan that nearly made Roy's ears bleed, Jamie finally let the tears fall in torrents from his eyes as great sobs wracked his entire body.

Roy just tightened his hold and had to shut his own eyes for a moment. This wasn't the Wembley locker room, this was a thousand times worse but Roy didn't let go then, and he weren't gonna let go now as he reached up and cradled the back of Jamie's head.

Roy held fast as Jamie Tartt cried, and cried, and then cried some more even when Roy was sure the lad had nothing left. He cried so much that he couldn't even get a single word out. By the time Jamie had calmed a bit his knees were buckling and Roy's arms had effectively gone numb but the older man didn't give a single shit as he somehow pulled the covers away and got Jamie to collapse onto the side of the guest bed and then pulls his legs up and tipped him over onto his back. Jamie's whole body shuddered as Roy covered him up in the sheets and comforter, his eyes barely open and every inch of him utterly exhausted.

Roy bit back a groan, his bad knee protesting a bit as he knelt down by the side of the bed and reached out, laying a hand on Jamie's clammy brow as he spoke.

" Sleep Jamie. We'll go to training tomorrow if you want, but for now just sleep. You need it still. Your dad and Bug are in jail were they fuckin' belong and Bug's gonna get his ass caught soon, I know it. Just sleep Jamie." Roy said quietly as he tentatively carded his hands through Jamie's dark, soft hair.

He watched as Jamie's eyes fluttered at the contact before they finally shut completely, a final tear slipping free past the seam of his eye. Jamie's breath hitched a few times before finally evening out as he drifted away. With a shaky breath of his own, Roy finally drew his hand away after smoothing Jamie's hair back one final time. He reached for the bedside lamp and turned it off, plunging the guest room into darkness before he got up with a small grunt.

With a lingering look at a sleeping Jamie, Roy turned away and headed out of the room. If he had to reach up and wipe away something from his own eye, then he was merely following his own advice.

Roy headed downstairs and did a final sweep of his house, making sure all the doors and windows were fully locked before he headed back upstairs. With a lingering look at the door to Jamie's room, Roy ducked into his own bedroom. Feeling rung out himself, Roy ducked into his bathroom to give his teeth a quick brushing before he shut off all the lights, put his phone on the wireless charger, forewent his usual nightly yoga because not even that would help with his raging emotions, and crawled under the covers of his own queen-sized bed. Roy stared up at the plain white ceiling of his bedroom, taking in the pattern of the shadows painted across it a moment before he turned onto his side and settled in, as though even in sleep he wanted to keep vigil over Jamie when there was a literal wall between them. Roy began to drift off with an ache in his heart for Jamie and a simmering rage in his gut for those who callously put him through such Hell.

He's gonna burn me Ted... because I won't stop lovin you lot.

Roy finally fell asleep with Jamie's words and the images of his collapse haunting his dreams.

The next morning...

Roy came back to the waking world with a low growl and his brow already frowning. He rolled onto his back and blinked away the last tendrils of sleep.

" Fuuuuuuuck." Roy hissed as he stretched and felt his bones creak and crack.

With a groan Roy sat up and sighed as he squinted about the room. Bright sunlight was everywhere, there were actual birds chirping, and Roy was still seething internally as the memories of everything that had transpired just the day before came flooding back to the forefront of his mind.

Roy was up and out of bed and then out the door entirely, his sole focus was to get to Jamie and make sure he was alright. Roy paused when he saw that the door to Jamie's room was ajar and when he pushed it open he felt his heart stammer when he saw the bed empty and neatly made. For a moment Roy felt an immense wave of panic as a billion different disastrous and gut-wrenching scenarios played out in his mind of Jamie having left and gone where and done God knows what. Then his ears caught the faint sound of pots and pans downstairs.

Roy was out the room and at the stairs in an instant, although he forced himself to fucking relax and descended down to the first floor at a more sedate pace. He turned and headed down the hallway that separated the living room from the stairs and lower room and quietly peered around the door that led into the kitchen. The sight that greeted Roy had both relief and bewilderment crashing through him.

There at the stove was Jamie Tartt. His dark hair was lightly damp looking and neatly combed back and he was already dressed for the day in black jeans and a white Henley shirt with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Over all of this he had on the white apron with the rainbow maned unicorns all over that Phoebe had insisted on giving Roy as a birthday present a few years back. He had a partially unwrapped stick of butter in his hand and a laser-sharp focus one the pan he had going on the flame. When Roy turned his eyes to what Jamie was cooking he felt his heart slam to another stop.

Crepes... Jamie fucking Tartt was in his kitchen, making fucking crepes and from what Roy could make out, they looked absolutely perfect. Roy gawked as he watched Jamie flick his wrist holding the pan and fucking flip the crepe he was making with perfect ease. Roy watched on, utterly captivated as Jamie, looking miles more rested and better than he had in days gently dumped the crepe from the pan onto the stack he had going with a quiet little smile on his face and the warm morning light surrounding him.

" Fucking gorgeous." Roy thought before he could stop himself.

Roy then blinked and turned away from Jamie, pressing his back against the hallway wall and trying to breathe deep without making a sound and tipping Jamie off to his presence just yet. Once he was sure he'd calmed down as best as he could manage, Roy steeled his nerve and stepped back around and over the threshold into his kitchen.

" Jamie." He called lightly.

Jamie turned sharply and a quiet smile immediately came to his face as he caught sight of Roy.

" Mornin' Roy." He greeted as he set down the stick of butter he had been using to grease the pan in-between crepes and stepped forward to meet Roy half-way.

Roy nodded and then looked over the full scene before him. In addition to the stack of crepes Jamie was currently preparing, the young man had already gone ahead and made a protein scramble of egg-whites and what looked like bits of kebab from their lunch from yesterday along with onions and some bell pepper. There was also a plate of neatly cut fruit and a glance at his dining table told Roy that Jamie had already set a couple of plates for the two of them.

" Wha's all this then? Since when do you know how to cook?" Roy asked warmly.

He watched as Jamie ducked his head, a slightly longing smile coming to his face before he looked back up to meet Roy's dark eyes and spoke.

" Mum taught me how to crack eggs and all the basics yeah, the rest I got from reading cook books and recipes online on off days I guess." He explained as he shuffled from foot to foot.

" I woke up and went to check on you. Damn near had a heart attack when I saw you weren't there." Roy said quietly as he took a half step closer to Jamie, who immediately looked guilty.

" M'sorry Roy, I jus'... I woke up early round 5 and then I couldn't go back to sleep so after I showered and everythin' I thought I'd come down and make you breakfast. It were only right seein' as to how you treated me to lunch yesterday." Jamie explained.

If Roy were a little bit in awe of Jamie Tartt being so thoughtful towards him, he hid it well as he spoke.

" Well then, I'll leave you to finish up. Gonna go freshen up and get ready myself." Roy said with a nod before he turned away and started heading out of the kitchen.

" Hey Roy?" Jamie called just as Roy was about to disappear through the door.

" Yeah?" Roy replied.

" Are crepes okay? I can make something else if you want." Jamie said nervously.

" No need Jamie, crepes are my favorite." Roy said simply with the barest ghost of a smile to his lips before he gave Jamie a final nod and disappeared through the door.

Jamie's eyes lingered in Roy's wake, his own heartbeat loud in his ears before with a pleased smile and this unknown fullness in his chest, Jamie stepped back to the stove to finish off whatever crepe batter he had left.

Roy made his way back upstairs and into his room where he ducked into the en-suite to actually go through his own morning routine, albeit quickly since he didn't want to keep Jamie waiting. About ten minutes later Roy was shuffling back downstairs, dressed in his favorite dark Heather charcoal t-shirt, black jeans, and signature black leather jacket. He returned to the kitchen to find the dining table set and laden with breakfast and Jamie already sitting and waiting, casually looking out the window situated in the dining alcove with a thoughtful but quietly sad look on his face.

Roy didn't need to ask to know why Jamie was sad, what he did need to do was get Jamie's mind off it.

Jamie turned at his approach and instantly brightened.

" Thanks for waitin', now get busy eatin' Jamie." Roy said sternly as he took his seat across from Jamie and went a step further as he picked up the plate of protein scramble and forked a good chunk of it onto Jamie's plate for him.

" Thanks Roy." Jamie said shyly before he reciprocated by placing several folded crepes onto Roy's plate for him.

They eagerly tucked in both because they were on a time crunch and because they were fucking famished, Roy having to use all the will he had in him not to moan at the first bite of one of the crepes Jamie had made. Normally, Jamie would be preening to his heart's content at having impressed the great Roy Kent with his cooking, instead Jamie just smiled quietly to himself and tried not stare at the handsome man across from him.

They ate fast, but enjoyed breakfast and each other's company with Roy giving Jamie assurances that training would be fine, that he were a good man for actually going in today at all, and to just quit it with that isolation bullshit he'd been pulling the last few days and just be with the rest of the boys like he should be. Jamie asked after Phoebe and her mum and whether Rebecca texted anything further regarding his dad and Bug, to which Roy just shook his head. Once they were finished eating, Roy took charge of clearing the dishes and sent Jamie upstairs to get both of their training duffels.

Half an hour later Roy was pulling into the car park at Nelson Road with Jamie sitting quietly beside him in the front passenger seat. Through the windshield Jamie was glad to see his Aston Martin safe an sound where he had parked it yesterday. Once Roy was parked they climbed out and started making their way towards the entrance to the club.

" 'ey Jamie, Roy!" A voice called from behind them.

They turned to see a grinning Isaac McAdoo hurrying towards them after having parked his own car.

Next thing Jamie knew he was letting out a happy laugh as his Captain promptly tackled him in a bear hug, Roy watching on with a fake eye-roll and a chest filled with pride for the lad who succeeded him as captain here at Richmond.

" You doin' alrigh' Jamie?" Isaac asked once he gave Jamie an extra hard squeeze that nearly took Jamie off his feet before finally releasing him.

" Yeah man, m'good. Les head in yeah?" Jamie said with jerk of his head towards the door.

Isaac started animatedly chatting away about the latest update to Fifa 23, Roy immediately tuning that out and keeping an eye on Jamie as they headed towards the locker room. The moment the three of them stepped through the door into the locker room, Ted was materializing seemingly out of thin air with a warm smile.

" Mornin' fellas!" He greeted with his Kansas twang.

" Mornin' Coach." Isaac and Jamie greeted in new perfect synch while Roy just grunted.

" Glad you came in Jamie, I'll leave ya to get ready." Ted said with a nod before he sent Roy a look and headed back into his office.

" See you lads on the pitch." Roy said lightly, Isaac and Jamie both nodding and stepping further into the room to get to their cubbies.

Roy's eyes lingered on Jamie's retreating form for a moment before he turned and headed into the Head Coach's office. The moment the door shut behind him, he, Ted, and Beard who was sitting at his desk all let out this collective sigh.

" How'd Jamie take the news about his dad and Bug?" Ted asked tentatively.

" I told him right after I got the text from Rebecca, he tried to pull that stoic BS he's been doing all these days until I finally told him to quit that shit. Poor lad then fucking cried till he had nothin' left and I put him to bed." Roy grunted.

There was a moment of collective, quiet melancholy before Roy huffed with the barest smile coming to his lips.

" Woke up this mornin' and found him makin' us breakfast." He said with a shake of his head.

" Oh, what'd he make?" Ted asked with genuine interest.

" Egg scramble with the left over kebabs I got us for lunch and actual fuckin' crepes." Roy dutifully replied.

" Delicious?" Beard asked lightly.

" Very much yeah." Roy replied without missing a beat.

The coaches talked over the situation a bit, how Bug Fielding had yet to be apprehended, to James Tartt Sr. and Denbo Cullens being quietly arraigned at court in Manchester and held without bail due to not only the danger they presented to Jamie and by proxy the entire team with their countless threats, but because they both had a hefty slew of other charges and penalties against them.

What Rebecca had not shared with Roy to pass on to Jamie was that James Tartt had used his one phone call to call Jamie's cell phone and go on an absolutely revolting diatribe demanding that Jamie bail him and Bug out or else. Rebecca and Keeley were using everything they had at their disposal to keep things under wraps as much as possible. The paperwork for the collective restraining order against James Tartt and his ilk would hopefully go through by the afternoon. Rebecca would keep them apprised.

Roy stepped away to change into his own blue and red Richmond Coaching suit before he joined Ted and Beard in heading outside to join the Greyhounds out on the pitch.

The difference between yesterday's training and what was happening today was night and day.

The best way to describe Jamie now as he was bantering with the ever exuberant Dani Rojas, was absolutely incandescent. There was an easy grin to his face, the light was back in his blue eyes, and above all else he was with his teammates, not forcing himself into self-imposed exile off to the far end of the pitch. Roy nearly tripped over his own foot at the sight, but quickly schooled his face into one of his usual scowls as he flanked Ted and nodded to Will Kitman as the Kit man hurried past with the little cage full of water bottles for the team.

While the boys hadn't gone and mobbed Jamie the moment they laid eyes on him in the locker room, every single lad was taking their own moment just to greet their teammate and ask after him. Even Jan Maas gave Jamie a quick but heartfelt hug before trotting off to stand beside Bumbercatch and Dixon.

Beard blew his whistle and then called out to the team.

" Alright circle up!"

The lads all dutifully lined up and waited for Ted to start.

Ted started by welcoming Jamie back warmly, earning a shy smile from the lad before he grew serious and with Jamie's permission, apprised the whole team about Jamie's dad and one of his buddies being hauled off to jail while the third remained at large. He assured them that the massive restraining order was bound to be granted in just a few hours and that in the mean time they had better things to focus on.

" I want to assure all of you that our safety is what matters most. It goes above everythin' else. If I have even the smallest inkling that anythin' is amiss, I will ask for an emergency rescheduling of our match against Man City next week, or we simply won't play them at all simple as that." Ted said with unwavering conviction.

" But Coach I-" Jamie spoke up in protest only for Ted to hold up his hand.

" Naw Jamie, football might be our job and somethin' that we all love but all you guys mean a heck of a lot more. What your dad and his friends tried to pull on not just you, but the rest of us is a pure and appalling sabotage attempt. I say we come out on top whether we play Man City or not."

" How so Coach?" Sam asked while the others murmured uncertainly.

" If we do play Man City, I mean to win by an epic margin. If we don't, then we still win because our would be saboteurs will have landed themselves in a huge, heapin' pile of ongoing legal troubles and effectively got themselves banned from Richmond for nothin' at all." Ted replied.

Ted watched with a smile as a collective fire filled the eyes of his players, especially Jamie who looked momentarily shaky at the mention of his horrid father before he stood up straight and his eyes hardened fast.

" Gentlemen, this is not last year's semi-final, Man City is not the same team we went up against, and we are not the same team that they went up against. This is a golden opportunity for us to show how much we have learned, evolved, and improved in the time since. Like Sun Tzu said in The Art of War 'Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.' So let's get to it and make sure Man City doesn't know what's about to strike 'em!" Ted said fiercely with a fist pump.

He was met with the deafening roar of the Richmond Greyhounds, Roy and Beard watching on with approving nods.

They all took off as one over the pitch and finally got to work.

Once everyone was properly warmed up, Ted ran the boys through a couple of drills before grouping everyone off to run through some of the latest plays that he and his fellow coaches had come up with. Roy watched on with silent elation as Jamie gave training everything he had, running where he was supposed to, passing when he needed to and even when he didn't need to, scoring beautifully against O'Brien or Zoreaux depending on which rotation he was on, and just being fucking excellent as he was meant to be. No more bowling through everyone and scoring all the goals like he had been doing out of duress.

James Tartt's horrid influence was being summarily banished with each pass Jamie made.

" Sam, Isaac, Jamie that was fantastic!" Ted yelled with pride evident.

The three lads in question all beamed at the praise for Ted, though Jamie were still a little bit shy about it.

Even Beard had the barest hint of a smile as the boys all got ready to run a new play.

They broke for lunch, where Roy, Ted, and Beard were deeply pleased to see Jamie actually eating, with his teammates, and happily agreeing to a future after-hours team hang-out after their match with Man City. Isaac was ecstatic and for a moment Jamie looked heartbreakingly guilty but a quick look from Ted had the lad reassured that none of his teammates held any grudges for his withdrawing in the previous days. They were all just really glad to have him back. Higgins stopped by to present Jamie with a new phone that had a brand new number and nearly everything copied from his old phone, sans the many texts and messages from his father and his friends, those were all being collected and catalogued by the police with Jamie's previous phone.

Ted was also able to share the good news that the paperwork had gone through and they had been granted a temporary restraining order barring any and all contact from Jamie's father and friends. The full restraining order would come once the police had a chance to take everyone's statements regarding this whole dreadful matter. The rest of the training day passed without incident, and Ted was so pleased that instead of finishing up with light aerobics, he declared an impromptu dodge ball session where even the coaches played. Everyone was left in stitches when Beard took Ted out by chucking a football that hit the Kansas native dead center mass in the chest and Ted decided to do the dramatic Willem Dafoe fall from that movie Platoon, complete with slow motion.

It was a great day back for AFC Richmond.

A few of days later...

Roy grumbled lightly as he opened the door to the townhouse and stepped over the threshold, Jamie following after him, carrying both of their bags at his insistence. They were both tired as fuck and lightly drenched from the rain that was steadfastly pouring outside. The whole day had been dreary to begin with, and not even Sam scoring several beautiful practice headers could really brighten the mood. It was halfway through training when the Heavens finally cracked open completely. The Richmond boys had tried to carry on training for a bit longer but Ted put a halt to everything when both Colin and Richard went down simultaneously in a muddy heap at opposite ends of the pitch.

To make matters worse, as he was helping to usher the team inside, Roy himself slipped on some mud and while he hadn't gone down like Colin and Richard, his bad knee decided to go ahead and pop out of place. Both Dani and Jamie had materialized on either side of him to lend aid but Roy had assured them he'd be fine as with a growl he snapped his knee back into place. He hadn't missed the quietly guilty look on Jamie's face, but he had given it no mind as they had all continued inside out of the rain.

For the rest of the day the team had discussed strategies and fun names for new plays, and Roy had kept ice on his knee at the insistence of both Liam and Derek.

These last few days had been busy ones with not only training, but also mandatory sessions with Dr. Sharon for everyone, and also the police quietly ducking in and taking everyone aside in pairs or trios to get their statements about every single problem that James Tartt and his idiot buddies had caused. Coach Beard disappeared for long spans, most likely because of the assault charges he had asked filed against the terrible Manchester trio. When it was Jamie's turn, Roy and Ted had flanked him on either side and had had to sit through Jamie recounting some truly sickening details about his father's appalling campaign of threats and abuse, all just to throw him off his game. It had all been so fucking hard, so draining, but they all got through.

Now he and Jamie had finally made it home.

Roy toed off his sneakers and left them on the rack by the door, Jamie doing the same as he watched the older man shuffle off into the living room, his limp a bit more pronounced now that he was in the safety of his own home. Jamie set his and Roy's duffel bags down by the stairs and then knelt down to undo the side zipper on his bag to get something out.

Roy had just sprawled himself on the sofa when the shuffle of feet caught his ear. He looked up to see Jamie sinking to the floor next to his bum leg.

" Gimme your leg Roy, this'll help." Jamie said quietly as he held up a tube of pain relieving gel.

With his tongue suddenly feeling to heavy in his mouth to work, Roy nodded and shuffled over before extending his leg to rest his heel on his coffee table behind Jamie and then pulling up the leg of the black and white tracksuit pants he had on, revealing his slightly inflamed knee. He watched on silently, trying to keep his face as neutral as he could as Jamie Tartt tended to him. Jamie squeezed some of the gel onto his hands and rubbed to warm it up before he set to work gently massaging the gel into Roy's irritated knee and then a little ways up his thigh and also down his leg just a little bellow the knee. Jamie was being so gentle and careful in his ministrations that Roy felt his throat actually tighten for a moment.

This was the same young man who had been a relentless and awful prick to him and everyone else just a couple of years back? The same young man who had callously stepped over an injured teammate? It was fucking mind boggling, brain melting, reality questioning and yet there Jamie was trying to lightly massage the pain out of Roy's fucked up knee with a quiet, thoughtful sadness to his handsome face. It was Jamie who finally broke the silence.

" I hope you can forgive me some day Roy." He said quietly without looking up as he finished rubbing the gel into Roy's skin and went so far as to pull Roy's pants leg down for him.

Jamie's words sent a fresh wave of astonishment through Roy, who blinked slowly as he gaped at the young man kneeling before him. Before Jamie could get up or do anything further, he gasped lightly and looked up as Roy sat up and summarily seized him by gripping his shoulder with one hand and cupping the side of his neck with his other, holding firm. For the longest moment Roy just stared, his dark eyes boring holes into Jamie before he finally spoke.

" There's nothin' to fucking forgive Jamie. I chased you down for fuck's sake. We both did what we were supposed to, we gave it our all for the fucking game. My fucking knee was bound to go no matta what. Just glad it went out gloriously takin' your pansy as out." Roy said as warmth filled his dark eyes.

Jamie let out a slightly, slightly wet sounding huff before he shook his head and pulled his face out of Roy's grip, immediately missing the contact but putting on his best prickish expression as he spoke.

" Fine, whateva' you gotta tell yerself to make it through the day Granddad." He snarked while sending Roy a warm look of his own.

Roy felt relief course through his own veins at Jamie's playful banter, especially that tried and true nickname.

" Thanks for the free physio session, now get upstairs and freshen up. Let me handle dinner yeah?" Roy ordered with mock sterness.

" Yeah." Jamie replied as he finally rose to his feet.

He and Roy shared a lingering look before the younger man turned and headed for the stairs. He picked up both his and Roy's bags and shuffled up the stairs, leaving Roy to his thoughts and his own pounding heart.

What the fuck was happening between them?

Roy quickly shook himself of such thoughts, and hoisted himself off his sofa with a light grunt. Jamie's gel was working wonders as the lad had promised, his knee going comfortably numb. Now came the task of feeding the lad and himself as Roy shuffled off into the kitchen to scope out his fridge to see what ingredients he had available to him.

A few minutes later Roy was shuffling upstairs himself, leaving water to boil on the stove for the pasta he planned on making. Roy quickly made his way to his room, his eyes lingering on the door to Jamie's before he ducked in and went about divesting himself of his work clothes and getting into comfy clothes for the night. When he shuffled back out again dressed in an over-sized black t-shirt and his favorite black fleece sleeping pants, Jamie was stepping out of his room too. He had on a plain white t-shirt that was a bit tight across his chest, black and white tartan sweatpants, and a plain grey hoodie over the whole thing.

They headed downstairs together, Roy telling Jamie to park it on the sofa and put on whatever on the telly while he checked to see if the water he left was ready. Once he had the pasta finally boiling, Roy got started on the other components for dinner. About half an hour later Roy was walking out of the kitchen with two plates piled high with his famous pasta and beef cubes with onion, tomato, and pesto.

He stopped mid-step when he saw what Jamie was watching.

It was the Muppets... The Muppets Treasure Island.

Jamie grew alert at his presence and turned around, looking like a little kid who'd been caught. He had the remote in his hand and moved to probably change the channel when Roy spoke up.

" Oi, keep that on, it's a classic." He said nonchalantly as he resumed his walk and reached Jamie, setting the plates down on the coffee table before he turned and headed back to the kitchen to get some glasses of water and napkins for them.

Jamie watched Roy's retreating form before he blinked and turned back in his seat, most likely needed a second to figure out what to do with himself.

Roy returned with the necessary items and plopped down beside Jamie.

" Thanks Roy." Jamie said quietly as he accepted his glass and napkin.

" No worries." Roy assured before he looked to the screen with interest.

" Glad you found this one, it's one of my favorites. Haven't watched it in ages." He said with unguarded enthusiasm.

" One of my favs too." Jamie said before he grinned.

" Beware runnin' with scissors or any other pointy objects!" He said with a thick accent. Roy found his own face cracking into a bright grin as well.

" It's all good fun until somebody looses an AAAAAAAAH!" They said together in perfect harmony, even the screaming bit as they quoted Billy Bones as he dies in epic and over-dramatic fashion.

Roy and Jamie both fell back against the sofa, laughing fully and unguarded, their shoulders pressed together and everything else just fading to the back ground. No upcoming match with Man City and no ongoing legal issues regarding Tartt Sr. and his lackies. They were just two guys sharing a laugh about the Muppets.

Their laughter slowly petered off into quiet chuckles, the smiles staying on their faces but growing quieter, thoughtful. Jamie's dark blue eyes met Roy's dark, almost black one. They were hyper-aware of each other, that they were pressed together. The air grew charged between them, like a spark finally coming into full being. Just as quickly Jamie sighed and Roy blinked, and the moment was gone and they both cleared their throats lightly and focused on the dinner Roy had made and the totally awesome movie that Jamie rewound back to the start so that Roy could enjoy it fully.

They ate heartily and they laughed at the many hilarious moments, the echoes of that tell-tale spark flaring each time their shoulders brushed against each other.

Once the credits began to role, Jamie insisted on washing up this time, Roy putting up a token protest before they both shuffled off to bed to turn in. They bid each other goodnight and ducked into their respective room quickly to avoid making the weird tension between them worse, all the while feeling that unknown tingle that came with having to part, if only by a couple of door and a wall. Roy brushed his teeth, Jamie washed his face and went through his nightly skin care routine, they each then climbed into bed and turned off the lights. Jamie turned and lay on his right side, while Roy laid on his left, the two of them unknowingly facing each other with the wall obscuring them.

They drifted off to sleep, together and yet not.

A few hours later, just a quarter past one...

Roy's dark eyes were shooting open with a jolt as he was abruptly yanked back into consciousness from a dead sleep by the jarring sound of his doorbell going off. Roy was up and out of bed with the slightest twinge of his knee. When he got out into the hallway the door to Jamie's room fell away to reveal the younger man, his hair ruffled and sticking up a bit and sleeping still clinging to his eyes. They grew more alert though the moment the doorbell rang out again. With a shared look of understanding that this was something serious, Roy led the way downstairs with Jamie right behind him.

It felt like hours and mere seconds at the same time as Roy and Jamie reached the first floor. Roy turned to Jamie and gestured for him to stay on the steps, Jamie looking mutinous for a moment before nodding and staying back while Roy crossed the remaining distance between to his front door. Steeling himself and with a billion possibilities running through his mind, Roy took a moment to punch in the security code on the panel next to the door before he finally undid the locks and pulled it open.

Roy felt his heart slam to a stop in his chest and from where he stood Jamie felt his stomach drop all the way to his toes as they were both greeted by the sight of a tall woman with red hair and an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair on the other side, both of whom had badges hanging from their necks.

" Mr. Roy Kent?" The police woman asked first.

" Yeah, that's me." Roy said with his usual gruffness.

" Pardon us for calling on you so late sir. I am Detective Constable Lydia Wayne and this is my partner Detective Constable David Albright with Richmond Police. Are we to understand that a Mr. Jamie Tartt had been staying with you these last few days?" Constable Wayne asked as her eyes glanced past Roy to where Jamie was standing on the stairs.

" Yeah, he's been here with me. You best come in then." Roy said as he stepped aside.

" Thank you Mr. Kent." Constable Albright said with a nod before he and Constable Wayne stepped over the threshold and into the townhouse, Roy shutting the door after them.

" Wha's going on?" Jamie asked warily as he slowed descended the stairs and came to stand beside Roy.

" Mr. Tartt, why don't we all have a seat yeah? We'll explain everything." Constable Albright said kindly as he gestured towards Roy's living room.

Jamie and Roy both nodded and led the detectives to the sofas. The detectives took the chairs while Roy and Jamie sat beside each other on the sofa. There was a beat of charged silence before Constable Wayne spoke and she pulled out her phone and accessed her notes.

" Mr. Tartt, may I confirm that your address is 167-39 Covington Road, in Fulwell?" She asked.

" Yeah, that's my place." Jamie confirmed, fidgeting with his hands.

" Well Mr. Tartt, there was a rather unfortunate incident that occurred just over an hour ago in your neighborhood. Are you at all acquainted with your neighbor across the street?" Constable Albright asked.

" Yes, Mrs. Newberry, she's this tiny granny who barely comes up to me elbow and always gives me cookies at Christmas, while I make her some of me mum's cheesey garlic knots. Her grandkids love 'em. Why what's happened?" Jamie asked as he sat up and looked deeply worried.

Roy couldn't help but star at Jamie regarding this newest revelation. The player known throughout as the Prince of Pricks actually knew his neighbor and baked for her on holidays? What the actual fuck? Roy couldn't linger though as both Constable Wayne and Constable Albright shared a subtle wince before Constable Wayne replied.

" Earlier this evening Mrs. Newberry was woken up by loud crashing sounds. She went downstairs to investigate, thinking maybe one of her cats knocked over something. When she reached the kitchen she... She discovered an unknown man in her kitchen. He had the door to her fridge open and when she looked closure she discovered that this man was... fully urinating all over the contents of her fridge." The lady constable explain with muted anger in her dark brown eyes.

Roy felt the bottom drop out of his own stomach in horror, watching as all the color literally drained out of Jamie's face within a matter of seconds.

" B-Bug." He breathed shakily. Roy instinctively reached out and gripped one of Jamie's wrists firmly in an effort to ground and reassure the younger man.

" Yes, this deranged individual was later identified as Bug Fielding of Manchester. As I was saying, Mrs. Newberry discovered Mr. Fielding performing this absolutely reprehensible act on her food and property, and could also see that Mr. Fielding was in an extraordinarily intoxicated state. She went ahead and picked up a small cricket bat that belongs to one of her granddaughters. Mrs. Newberry got up behind Mr. Fielding and proceeded to give him several surprisingly strong blows to his head, knocking him fully unconscious before she called police."

Roy felt a savage smirk come to his face at Mrs. Newberry's badassery but a glance at a mortified Jamie instantly had him sobering as Constable Albright spoke.

" Mr. Fielding regained consciousness while emergency medical service personnel were checking him over. Still inebriated he started screaming out for you Mr. Tartt, saying that he was going to carry out all manner of violence against you for being such an "ungrateful son" as he put it, and make sure you ate some of the food he urinated on." The Constable explained before he shook his head.

Roy looked positively murderous, but a shaky exhale from Jamie had him turning to see the younger man's run a shaky hand over his colorless face as he spoke.

" Oh God, Mrs. Newberry she... she just lost her husband four months ago and now I've gone and piled this fuckin' shit on her." He said in abject despair.

" Oi, none of that Jamie. You didn't do jack shit to her. It was all that fucking idiot Bug that did it. Fucker couldn't even get your house number right." Roy growled as he squeezed Jamie's wrist hard and forcing Jamie to look at him before he continued.

" He's a fucking dog who thinks he can drop his piss anywhere he wants. Mrs. Newberry taught him a proper lesson." He added fiercely.

Constables Wayne and Albright were quick to concur before they proceeded to apprise Jamie of what would happen. Bug was currently being held without bail, the two constables had been made aware of the ongoing drama in Manchester and everything Bug was wanted for there on top of his involvement in James Tartt's revolting plan to sabotage his own son. Mrs. Newberry was undoubtedly pressing charges. Jamie could press his own charges since he was the intended target. To put it bluntly, Bug Cullens was fucked, just like James Tartt and Bug Fielding.

Constable Wayne and Constable Albright took their leave shortly after that, leaving Roy to tend to a devastated Jamie.

They sat together on Roy's sofa, neither saying a words before Jamie hunched over in his seat and buried his face into his hands. He wasn't crying, Roy could see no tears or sobs shaking the young man beside him. This was beyond tears, this was the humiliation of a son by his father. Not knowing what to say, Roy slowly reached out and placed his hand on the back of Jamie's neck, giving it a gentle but firm squeeze, just letting Jamie know he was right there and not going anywhere.

Jamie's whole body gave a great shudder, and the next thing Roy knew Jamie were fully in his arms, his face buried into the center of the older man's chest as he clung to Roy with all he had. It were only a couple of seconds before Roy felt his shirt grown wet. Feeling his own throat close up, Roy just wrapped his arms tight around Jamie. He didn't let go for a long time. Afterward Roy managed to get Jamie back upstairs and gently coax him into a restless sleep before retreating to his own room and shooting off several texts to Rebecca, Ted, Beard, Higgins, and Dr. Sharon.

By sun up, Roy and Jamie dragged themselves out of bed and Roy made them simple omelettes and cheese toast. He didn't force Jamie, just let the lad eat as much as he could handle before they both shuffled upstairs and got ready for the day. Jamie was the living embodiment of quiet heartbreak and Roy absolutely hated it, and hated James Tartt and his friends even more for being the root cause of it all. Roy packed Jamie into his G-Class and they headed off for Nelson Road.

" Just so you know Jamie, we are goin' straight up to see Dr. Sharon when we get to the club. Her orders with the full backin' of Ted and Rebecca, and myself." Roy said from behind the wheel.

He was met with silence for a moment before Jamie let out a small, humorless huff and looked to Roy with overbright eyes in the front passenger seat.

" But you don't gotta be there. Rest of the lads need ya yeah?" Jamie said tentatively.

Roy felt that strange flip-flop in his chest. Now the little prick was bein' fuckin' selfless again.

" Trainin's for all day, they'll have me later. I'm gonna be with you right now, every step of the way." Roy said without taking his eyes off the road.

He could feel Jamie's eyes boring into him but Roy refused to budge, not really trusting himself not to get all fucking emotional as well.

" Thanks Roy." Jamie said before finally turning his attention back to the window beside him.

" Don't mention it Jamie." Roy replied.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Jamie spoke again.

" I'm gonna buy Mrs. Newberry a new fridge and have her whole house cleaned for her." He said with promise.

" Ask Dani, his is the one with an actual fucking TV in it." Roy said without missing a beat.

Roy would ever admit only to himself that the little laugh his words got out of Jamie had his own heart soaring like he'd won the whole Premiere League again.

A couple of nights later at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester...

" Do you think we're doing the right thing letting him go out there, after everything?" Beard asked as he crossed his arms and turned away from the window overlooking the guest locker room that had been provided for the AFC Richmond Greyhounds as the visiting team.

" That is a legitimate concern but I got a feelin' Jamie's got his full head in the game. There will be a distinct lack of odious parental interference this time around that's for sure." Ted said cheerfully where he sat at the desk.

" Lad's been completely focused these last days leadin' up. It's like after he got his darlin' neighbor that new fridge and she made him promise to win big just to rub it in those three fuckers faces, it's re-lit the fire in him fully. He's good and I gotta feelin' he wants blood for all the bullshit we all been through." Roy said with an excited look in his own dark eyes from where he was leaning against the wall.

Ted and Roy joined Beard at the window as the looked through the glass window down at the locker room where the Greyhounds were all in the final stages of getting ready for the much anticipated rematch with Man City. They were dressed in their signature AFC Richmond cerulean blue kits with the bold red strip down one side, white shorts, and yellow socks over their shin guards. Jamie tightened the laces on his left boot and stood up straight. Signature little black headband in place and his eyes bright with anticipation, he bounced in his feet a few times and shared a grin with the ever effervescent Dani Rojas. Sam Obisanya clapped him firmly on the shoulder as he walked past while Isaac nodded to him from across the room as he adjusted the Captain's armband over his sleeve.

About five minutes later Ted came down from the coach's office with Roy and Beard flanking him. Everyone gathered up without their coaches even having to say anything, all eyes eagerly trained on Ted.

" Gentleman I'll keep this short and sweet. After much trial and tribulation that wasn't even really the other team's fault, just a trio of their rather overzealous and unscrupulous fans, we are finally here. As I told you before we are comin' out on top regardless of weather we rack up the points or not. When you get out their, savor every moment of it, not because we are fixin' to win, but because we've come back stronger than ever and we were there for each other when it was most needed." Ted said as he gave Jamie a warm look, to which Jamie nodded with a small, shy smile.

" Fellas, bring it in." Ted said as he raised his hand, everyone else following cohesively, their hands all in the middle of the huddle.

" Richmond on three. One... Two... Three!" Ted called.

" RICHMOND!" Came the thunderous roar as the Greyhounds all hyped each other up.

Roy made his way over to Jamie through the crowd. They came to stand an arm's length from each other.

" We'll fucking trounce 'em coach." Jamie said with conviction.

" Yeah, you will. But in my mind you've already won Jamie." Roy said, watching as Jamie had to swallow a bit as the emotion his words caused before the young striker nodded.

" Thanks Roy." Jamie said with a crooked little smile.

Before they could say anything else, an Etihad Stadium staff member was poking their head into the locker room, informing them that it was time to line up for the big walk out onto the pitch. Everyone filed out and headed down the long tunnel with a hallowed silence, and they could hear the crowds roaring behind the closed doors. Much like the last time, Matthew O'Gara came up to Jamie while they were waiting, asking after him and sharing a quick half hug as former teammates but still current friends.

" Won't go easy on ya Tartt!" O'Gara said with a laugh as he stepped over to his team, all lined up and dressed in sky blue.

" Just don't land on your face too much O'Gara." Jamie called back with his own chuckle before he shook his legs out and waited with his team.

Ted, Roy, and Beard were all seated at the sideline. Where Wembley had been red all over, Etihad was Man City blue surrounding the fresh green pitch. However, half the crowd was in Richmond reds and blues, a very good turn out for a much anticipated match. Roy looked up over his shoulder to the Owner's Box where Rebecca was seated with Keeley and Higgins to her right, and a lovely brunette woman with familiar dark blue eyes to her left. This lady had on a Richmond Jersey, on the back of which was the name Tartt and the number 6. She was Roy's special guest and a surprise for Jamie regardless of whether they won or not.

The doors finally opened as the senior referee led both teams onto the pitch, the roar of the crowd deafening as they entered.

Jamie walked with his head held high, and he shoved away the memory of walking out like this only to see his father already drunk in the crowd, rooting for Man City. Now when he looked to the crowd, his dark blue eyes found those of dark black coffee. Everything faded for a moment as Jamie and Roy's eyes met. A billion things passed between them in those few seconds, but Roy could see in Jamie's eyes a silent promise just to him.

I'll win this for us.

The teams reached the center of the pitch, the referee called for a moment of silence, and then called for the captains to come forward for the coin flip while the teams got into their respective formations.

In no time at all the Ref was blowing his whistle to start the match.

Jamie shut away everything else, everything that had happened leading up to this game, every horrendous feeling his father caused him with his cruelty. His sole focus was on the ball and either passing it to which ever teammate had the best shot at the goal or forging ahead and getting the ball to the goal himself.

By the time the whistle blew for half-time, Richmond was up 2-1 against Man City with Jamie Tartt being lauded for feeding Dani Rojas a perfect pass past Man City's tight defense to smash the ball into the net and then not letting up and scoring another goal just a couple of minutes later after taking back possession of the ball as fast as he could manage.

The Richmond Greyhounds burst back into their locker room, roaring and cheering. The energy was high, they were ahead and overjoyed, but then Ted got down to business as he spoke.

" Okay okay listen up y'all!" He called, everyone slowly falling silent as they huddled around him.

" That was absolutely fantastic playing from ya'll! Keep in mind however that it was the first half, we still got 45 minutes where anything can happen. You know who we are playin' against, and they are known for rallyin' in the second half. We have a point ahead of them, a single point. Our objective is to keep scorin' and make it as hard for them to score as we can." Ted said.

" I'll not let anything else through Coach." O'Brien vowed with fresh fire in his eyes.

" Just give meh the signal if you need, I'll have 'em proper riled up." Jamie said with a smirk as Roy nodded in approval.

" We'll break through their defenses and make sure they don't get past ours." Sam said fiercely.

" You sure will fellas, now circle in and let us run some plays by ya." Ted said as he gestured for Roy and Beard to join him and for everyone to huddle in for the next fifteen minutes.

As they headed back out onto the pitch when half-time was up, Jamie felt a tell-tale itch beneath his skin, a molten hot fire slowly rising in his gut. His face took on a blank expression while his eyes quietly seethed. Several of the Man City players noticed and shared looks of quiet unease, while the Richmond lads who noticed felt a giddy anticipation in their guts because it was clear Jamie Tartt was about to unless something on Man City, something big.

Sure enough, the moment the whistle blue Jamie was already stealing the ball, nutmegging the Man City bloke that tried to get in his way and then passing to Sam, who shot it to Richard, who then found Dani who put on some dazzling foot work before jettisoning the ball back to Jamie who zoomed right past the Man City defenders and blasted the ball right past the purple clad goal keeper into the top left corner. All who were for Richmond went nuts while those of Man City booed and jeered.

" FUCK YEAH!" Roy roared while Beard nodded and Ted pumped a happy fist in the air.

Jamie was tackled into a group hug, grinning at the love showering him before they all quickly grew serious and the Striker felt the seething anger return full force. The game resumed and Jamie watched as Man City tried to run the ball along one side of the pitch while several men were basically surrounding him as a means of trying to mark him out. Jamie was having none of that as with a smart turn of his ankles he shot off past them all and took off towards the center of the pitch to be ready.

Isaac, Colin, and Arlo Dixon all worked in perfect unison to first steal the ball and then get it back towards the Man City net. Jamie recognized the play and realized that they were setting up another decoy play, making it look like they were headed straight to Sam with the ball but knowing they would veer off at the last moment and get the ball to either him or Dani.

He caught Dani's eye and they understood to be ready. True to the play Arlo veered off from Sam at the very last moment and sent the ball sideways right to a waiting who Dani ran forward a couple of paces before unexpectedly sending the ball right to Jamie on the back foot. Within seconds Jamie was blasting it again, this time sending the ball in mere inches from the goal keeper's extended foot right on the very edge of the right corner in a perfect curve.

Jamie took off in a run and then went to his knees, sliding on the grass and roaring loud and hard before Dani was there kneeling before him and pressing their foreheads together in triumph. Several others soon joined them in a bouncy group hug. The crowd roared in delight.

" HAT TRICK BAYBEEEEY!" Beard cried with a full grin while Ted seized Roy in a tight hug and they did a couple of bounces of their own.

Once they resumed the game, Richmond spent the next minutes doing all they could to stop Man City's desperate rally. One Man City man managed to break through and blast the ball towards the next but O'Brien took a running leap to catch the ball and then laid down top of it for good measure before getting up and sending the ball to a waiting Jan Maas, who then sent it flying across the pitch where team mates were waiting.

Jamie had just caught the ball from Colin's pass and was making his way down the middle of the pitch, zeroing in the the net when he was letting out a grunt as a light blue clad body came up from the side and nearly crashed into him. The more was jarring enough that Jamie was sent tumbling to the grass, his forward momentum sending him rolling as the Richmond crowd roared in outrage.

" REFEREE!" Roy and Ted both bellowed as one while Beard glared mutely.

As Sam ran up and pulled Jamie to his feet, they both turned at the sound of the Ref's whistle and saw the man clad in black holding up a yellow card towards the Man City player who had fouled Jamie before putting the card away and making a sign with his hands while blowing his whistle.

Jamie turned to Sam who grinned. Richmond had just been awarded a penalty!

Everyone hustled to get into position for the indirect free kick, Jamie picking up the ball and coming to stand at the corner while Man City's goal keeper was waiting and psyching himself up by jumping about and raising his arms, a look of determination on his face.

Jamie set the ball down on the grass and looked out at the many players jostling for position. He caught Sam's eye and sent him a small smile, Sam immediately understanding as he braced himself. Taking in a deep breath and letting out it, Jamie let the bedlam around him fade away. There was only him and Sam and what they planned to do once Jamie sent the ball flying. As he drew his foot back, Jamie cast a quick glance to his coaches standing on the other side of the pitch, watching with baited breath.

" Richmond till I die." Jamie whispered before he let his foot flying, sending the ball forward in a beautiful arc, straight towards Sam Obisanya who leapt high into the air past his fellow team mates and Man City rivals, jerking his head sharply and smacking the ball with his forehead. It went flying sideways, and went right past the Man City goal keeper's shoulder straight into the net.

There was a moment of silence and then complete bedlam erupted as Jamie roared and rushed forward to join his overjoyed team in celebration. Jamie was swallowed up in the giant group hug, all of them bouncing and yelling as one. From where they were in the stands, Rebecca, Keeley, Higgins, and Roy's special guest were all going nuts themselves.

When the whistle blew to resume the game, they had just five minutes left. Even in those five minutes Man City tried their hardest, and Richmond met that effort tooth for tooth. Then the final whistle sounded, signaling the end of the match.

Richmond had done it, 5-1! An absolutely poetic feat considering how they had tasted bitter defeat just last year to Man City in the semi finals 0-5.

Complete, happy chaos followed as Jamie was buffeted on all sides by his overjoyed teammates, both those who had been on the pitch with him and those who had been on the bench. Chants of "Come on Richmond" and "We are going up" ringing throughout the entire stadium. Once Moe Bumbercatch let go of him, Jamie then found himself in the arms of none other than Ted Lasso himself, who proceeded to squeeze him to paste and praise him to high Heaven. When Ted finally let go of him and summarily got pulled into a bear hug by Isaac, Jamie turned and found himself face to face with Roy Kent himself.

" Headbutt meh Coach, I'm readey for it!" Jamie said with a wide grin.

" Nah, might actually crack my head this time." Roy quipped before he all but pounced, seizing Jamie in a bone-crushing hug of his own, actually lifting Jamie clean off his feet and earning a throaty laugh from the Striker, who blinked back something from his eyes and just held on to the man who had been one of his true anchors through everything that had gone down leading up to this moment of collective triumph.

Everything became a bit of a blur as the team blearily made their way off the pitch, Jamie being handed the game ball at some point for his relentless performance. He quickly handed the ball off to an overjoyed Will while celebrating full swing with the other lads. Once they were in the locker room it was a full blown party, off-key singing and shouting filling the room and the team actually coaxing Ted to do a new version of his famous victory dance from his American football days. While the bedlam carried on, and he was sure Roy was too swept up in it notice, Jamie quietly ducked away from it all.

He found a boot room in the back that thankfully had an unlocked door. He nearly ripped the thing off it's hinges before stepping into the room. He blindly made his way over to the far wall my the shelves meant for boot and pressed his forehead into it. He let out shaky breath after shaky breath, his hear pounding and his blood roaring in his ears. Jamie didn't know for how long he stood there with his head pressed against the wall, but he startled lightly when he felt a hand gently come to grip his shoulder. With a shaky breath Jamie slowly turned, thinking it were his near constant shadow Roy or maybe one of his teammates. So it threw him completely off when his dark blue eyes met the deep brown eyes of Coach Beard.

There was a knowing look on the older man's face. Every excuse and placation Jamie instinctively came up with to explain his isolation died on his lips as with a shuddering breath, he spoke.

" H-He... He did all this to me, to all of us for them blue boys out there. He got his friends in on it too and they hurt me neighbor who had nothin' to fuckin' do with any of this shit." Jamie breathed before he continued.

" It weren't even Man City's fault. They're just a bunch of lads like we are, playin' the game we love. He... He's my fucking dad Coach. He's my dad and he did all this fucking shit." He finished as he finally let a few tears fall free.

" It's simple Jamie, he's a fucking idiot." Beard said in his signature casual way without missing a beat before he reached out and gripped Jamie by his shoulders, giving the lad a pointed look as he spoke.

" You beat him Jamie, and I don't just mean with this game. You beat him the moment you actually turned up to the cleansing ritual with the boots your mom bought you. You beat him when you made that extra pass. You beat him when you came back to Richmond and started being a better teammate. You beat him plenty of times after you decided to not to be the kind of player he wanted you to be and you'll keep beating him with every good thing you do. Besides, he's in jail now and we just won, so we should go back to celebrating." Beard said in that signature matter of fact way of his.

Jamie blinked slowly as he let Coach Beard's words wash over him. Then with a sigh Jamie deflated and smiled tiredly, understanding the logic in his coach's words of wisdom. With a small sniffle Jamie nodded, reaching up and wiping his face dry as Beard let go of him.

" Yeah, we should. Pulled off a great win didn't weh?" Jamie said with a smile as Beard nodded in agreement.

Together the player and his coach made their way out of the Etihad boot room and headed back into the main locker room. As they neared the room, Jamie immediately brightened at the sound and then the sight of his elated team still in the throws of celebration. Champagne bottles had materialized courtesy of Rebecca and Keeley but for the moment they were all surprisingly refraining from bathing in it just yet. Jamie quickly rejoined his teammates in a celebratory dance with Higgins while Beard simply explained that Jamie had just gotten overwhelmed for a second and needed a moment to himself.

After a few minutes Roy's indomitable roar sounded.

" Oi Tartt!" He yelled, making everyone pause and turn to look at a confused Jamie.

" Got someone here for ya." Roy said simply before he stepped aside to reveal his special guest.

" Oh... my." Jamie whispered eloquently as his eyes fell on none other than Georgie Tartt, with her dark blue eyes swimming in happy tears and proudly wearing a Richmond long sleeve jersey with her son's name and number emblazoned on the back of it.

" Jamie my darlin' babey!" Georgie said before she was rushing forward to get to her child.

" Mum!" Jamie breathed before his legs were carrying him across the room to meet her.

They crashed together hard, Jamie's mum being surprisingly solid for such a petite lady as she proceeded to shower her only son's face in kisses and hold him tight. There weren't a dry eye in the place as everyone watched the tender reunion. It was a far, far cry from the Hellish scene James Tartt caused all of them just over a year ago when he had waltz into the locker room at Wembley stinking of alcohol and spilling nothing but vitriol.

It was clear what Georgie Tartt had brought, and it was nothing but pure love.

When she and Jamie finally drew back from each other but stayed in each others arms, Penelope's eyes immediately traveled about the room to see the many young and smiling faces surrounding them. With a bright grin that let everyone know that Jamie's smile came from her, Georgie called out to the whole room and held out her hand.

" Come here my darlins! I gotta give you lot a proper lovin' too!" Even her voice, with its thick Mancunian accent was melodious as Jamie chuckled wetly and tucked his head into his mum's shoulder.

" Mami Tartt!" Dani yelled jovially before he bounced right on over to Jamie's mum, which of course started a full cascade of young professional world class athletes really wanting some freely given motherly affection and congratulations for a game very well played and won.

While Jamie's mum met and mothered his teammates, Jamie turned to see Roy standing off to the side with a small, warm smile on his face. It didn't take much for Jamie to realize what Roy had done for him. He felt his heart do that flip flop again as he sent the older man a shaky smile and a nod of thanks. Roy returned the nod and then had to hustle forward himself as Georgie demanded his, Ted's, and Beard's presence for some hugs and kisses as well. Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins all watched on with fondness, having already been on the receiving end of Georgie Tartt's affections themselves once Roy had arranged for her to be dropped off at the stadium.

The lady was to be held in only the highest regard.

A little while later they were all showered and changed into their track suits, lightly buzzed from the champagne and ready to head out of the Etihad. The plan was to continue their celebration back at the hotel instead of going out, and since he had actually driven there instead of hitching a ride on the team bus like Ted and Beard had, Roy was in charge of driving Jamie's mum back with them.

As the Greyhounds left the stadium it was to the roaring cheers of Richmond fans gathered all the way along the path to the waiting blue and red coach bus. As they all walked out in a line, Jamie felt his chest tighten when he saw that the numerous reporters and video cameras waiting amidst the crowd, wanting to take shots and interview the winners of the match. He knew they would especially want to speak with him since he did end up with the game ball by the end of things.

" Just walk until you are on that bus Jamie, leave it to us to run interference. You don't have to talk to anyone unless you want to, and only when you are good and ready." Ted said quietly as he walked beside Jamie.

" Thanks coach. I'll stop for some fans though." Jamie said with a grateful look before he watched Ted veer off to speak to some of the reporters, Beard doing the same. A couple of players broke off to speak to the press too, no doubt to distract and also relive the fresh glory. Jamie himself paused to sign some autographs and take some pictures, especially for any younger fans about with Roy materializing beside him and glaring fiercely at any journo that tried to approach him.

Thankfully, from what Jamie could discern over the din, the journalists were all inquiring about the game, and not about the drama behind the scenes. He was going to get Rebecca the best giant bouquet of her favorite flowers. Surely Sam had an inkling as to what they were. He was also going to get Keeley the biggest home chocolate fountain he could find. As for Higgins, Jamie was sure he could find some concert tickets for Parliament Funkadelic or he could scope out some of the best restaurants in Richmond and set up a nice date night for him and the lovely wifey. They had all moved Heaven and Earth to help keep his fatherly debacle under tight wraps for this long, it was the least he could do.

Roy made sure Jamie got on the bus before hurrying off to get Jamie's mum safely tucked into his G-Class and off to the hotel. If by the end of the drive over they both exited the car looking a little misty-eyed, well that was between them.

Once the boys and staff arrived back at their hotel, they all hurried upstairs to change into regular clothes before they headed down to the banquet hall where a nice buffet style dinner had been set up. Everyone was famished at this point, especially those who had been on the pitch for the whole game. After plates were veritably wiped clean, the hotel staff wasted no time in clearing away the tables and setting up the dance floor. They even had an in-house DJ who had some Parliament Funkadelic tracks, much to Higgins' utter joy and also a karaoke machine.

Dancing, drinking, just enjoying the high of victory over one of their biggest rivals and simply being together. They partied, but still managed not to go absolutely bonkers. Things ended on a very sweet note when they enjoyed the karaoke machine. Rebecca once again wowed everyone with her rendition of "We are the Champions" by Queen and this time around Ted joyfully had no panic what so ever, Sam gave them an encore of "Wonderwall", while Dani and Richard gave Whitney Houston's version of " I Will Always Love You" their best shot, and Jamie showcased his own sweet set of pipes when he and his mum did a duet of "You Are the Reason" by Calum Scott that actually left everyone super emotional to finish out the night. If Roy had been left gaping by the fact that the little prick who was now not so much a prick could also sing, no one commented, too busy cheering.

Everyone headed off to bed a little while after that, utterly exhausted but happy. Rebecca and Keeley gladly insisted on Georgie staying with them in their room and after a puppy-eyed look from Jamie she finally acquiesced. She bid Jamie and the Richmond boys good night with plenty of hugs and kisses. Jamie headed for the elevator on his own, enjoying a bit of quiet solitude. He was sharing a room with Dani and Colin but they were still downstairs mingling with the lads who hadn't turned in yet. As he rounded the corner Jamie paused when he saw that Roy was waiting by the elevator already. While Roy had basically been plastered to his side throughout, this was sheer happenstance.

" Hey Roy." Jamie said lightly as he came to stand beside his coach.

" Hi Jamie." Roy replied with his usual gruffness, though his eyes were warm and everything about him were a little more relaxed.

They entered the elevator together once it arrived, a thoughtful silence between them. When they reached the floor the Richmond team had basically booked out in it's entirety, Jamie was going to go down the right hallway and Roy was going to head up the left hallway to the single room he got as a coach. Roy turned to wish Jamie goodnight, but the words never left his throat as he found himself with his arms full of talented young striker as Jamie hugged him with seemingly all the force in his body.

Jamie didn't say a single word, what could he possibly say to Roy that would have ever been enough for what the man had done for him. Roy understood perfectly, he didn't need a ten page speech as he wrapped his arms around Jamie's trim waist and squeezed him tight. They held each other for what seemed like hours before finally forcing themselves to let you.

" Get some sleep Jamie, we gotta be up and on our way home bright and early tomorrow yeah?" Roy said quietly.

" Yeah, should turn in." Jamie said with a nod.

" You were brilliant out there, 'm so fucking proud of ya Jamie but if I say more I'll just sound like an idiot." Roy grumbled.

" Wha' you just said's more than enough, it means everythin' to meh Roy." Jamie replied earnestly.

With a last, lingering look and the air deeply charged between them, Roy and Jamie turned away from each other and forced themselves to part and walk in opposite directions, but even as they did they both caught each other when they looked back over their shoulder. No point in being embarrassed, there was only the deep yearning as they headed away from each other and ducked into their respective rooms.

The next morning was a bit hectic with everyone packing up everything, heading down to breakfast and enjoying Georgie Tartt's company a final time before she had to bid farewell to her son and his big Richmond family and head back home to far Ashton. The boys all packed up, made sure they had everything, and then piled onto bus that would take them back to Nelson Road where everyone had left their cars parked. It was a blessedly uneventful three and a half hour drive with Roy dutifully following the bus the whole way back.

It was unsurprisingly the calm before the storm.

The inevitable happened as just a day after Richmond's triumph against Man City the story of what James Tartt and his two dunderhead friends had done finally broke to the world at large. Everybody and their grandparents were stunned and appalled by the details that came out, from Jamie being constantly harassed and threatened by his own father, to that appalling behavior bleeding over to involve his teammates and coaches, and his sweet old neighbor being caught in the yellow tainted crossfire as well. It was a complete media frenzy with journos trying to mob not only Jamie but the other boys, the coaches, Rebecca, Higgins, and even Will and the team doctors. In a show of solidarity, no one said anything, Keeley giving the media only the official team approved statement regarding the whole sordid debacle.

Now it was a week later with the boys already on the pitch and warming up for morning training.

" He's taking it all with so much grace he may as well be Michelle Kwan on ice." Ted said as he looked out onto the field, his eyes going to the headband clad individual who was shadowing Moe Bumbercatch in this morning's warm up drill.

" Yeah, he did ask Keeley to intervene when those fucking journos tried to get at his mum once the story broke out. Got proper pissed and it was a site to behold." Roy said from where he stood on Ted's left, Beard watching the field on the gaffer's right.

" Anger is your answer to everything though Roy Kent." Beard said lightly.

" Hmph." Roy replied with a grunt, though the other coach weren't wrong.

Roy turned his own dark eyes to the pitch, zeroing in on Jamie who looked perfectly well and enjoying himself. These last couple of days had been both hectic for the both of them and at the same time not so. At first reporters and the like had swarmed Jamie's house but that changed when they found out that Jamie was staying with Roy. True, journos tries to camp out in front of Roy's townhouse but the whole neighborhood had come down on them hard and had the police send them packing, every news channel was bringing up the whole matter constantly, and going out anywhere because a sort of military operation with the team either staying in or employing decoy cars to throw people off, but once Roy and Jamie were safe inside his townhouse, they went about things like normal really, winding down for a busy day of training, Roy or Jamie making dinner or ordering in, finding security in each other's company.

Besides them the one who got the most hounding was Ted himself, and the gaffer was more than happy to keep giving the press the run around whenever he had to go and greet them in the press room about the match they had just won and the upcoming matches they had to prepare for. Instead of the press getting any juicy scoops on what James Tartt and his friends had done, they got pages and pages of Ted Lassoisms and actually wise and heartfelt anecdotes about going through adverse times. Ted was the songbird that sang nothing but praise for all the lads he led, and gave shout-outs to his fellow coaches and staff, even going on and on about Will's excellent jersey folding technique.

Roy had sternly ordered Jamie to stay off any and all social media, especially twitter and instagram but Jamie had no problem facetiming and texting with the team, with Ted and Beard, and even Will. Every reporter and news paper wanted an interview with the player who's dad tried to sabotage him. Roy himself just grumbled about at the inconvenience but he thankfully he hadn't had to unleash too much of his famous temper. Although there had been one particularly aggressive paparazzi pest that had tried to sneak into Nelson Road to get at Jamie, but he had come face to face with Roy Kent instead, in the darkened door leading to the car park.

Needless to say the photographer never came back to give it another try.

The only journo nobody at Richmond was mad at was Trent Crimm, Independent. The well-coifed reporter hadn't showed up to Richmond at all, he had simply called Ted a few days after the news broke to ask after him and the lads in genuine concern for their well-being. Ted had been quick to assure Trent that they were all well and handling the media storm.

James Tartt's full trial with Bug and Bug would take place months from now, and it was revealed that all the shit they pulled on Jamie and Richmond wasn't even the most serious thing they were being charged with. The three of them had been behaving pretty bad, their bullying of Jamie was just the catalyst the law needed, so much so that there was a good chance Beard's charges might not even have to go to trial and a plea deal could be reached.

From what Roy saw of it himself and from what Keeley and Higgins relayed to them, the public at large was riled up in massive support of Jamie and the Greyhounds. Roy himself had been a bit stunned when Keeley sent him a link to a recent Sky Sports segment with George Cartrick and his fellow sports pundits. Roy nearly spit out his tea that morning when he played the video and the first words out of George Cartrick were in full defense of Jamie and praising Roy himself for being so protective over the lad. All of the pundits shared how appalled they were that a father could go this far to sabotage his not only son, but his only child, for his favorite football team.

Man City's gaffer Pep Guardiola himself released a statement, not only fully condemning James Tartt and his friends for what they did and for ever daring calling themselves Man City fans, but actually sincerely apologizing to Jamie and AFC Richmond for the whole cluster fuck. There were dozens of interviews with Man City players, including Matthew O'Gara who sang Jamie's praises and even shared how when they were rooming together as under 18's for Man City, Jamie was the one to take all care of him when he ate some bad sushi and fell gravely ill. Jamie made sure to call his old manager and teammates to personally thank them and assure them there was no hard feeling, that they weren't to blame for his dad just being the worst.

The most jaw dropping thing to happen was Nathan "Not so Great" Shelley, former assistant coach to Richmond and now head coach of Westham United, going on twitter and posting a small paragraph voicing his own outrage at what James Tartt had done and saying no body deserved to be treated like that by their own father, not even Jamie Tartt. Small miracles.

Mrs. Newberry herself was interviewed and she went on and on about what a wonderful lad Jamie was, from baking those delicious cheesey garlic knots for her family during the holidays, buying her a new fridge with a big fancy screen in it and having her whole house cleaned for her after Bug's disgusting actions, to revealing that while her dearly departed husband Frankie was going through his cancer treatments, Jamie had been kind enough to give them a lift to his treatment appointments on his days off.

It had everyone buzzing and plenty of people swooning over Richmond's resident Prince of Pricks actually being a capable of such sweetness.

#SweetHeartTartt had started trending on social media and Jamie found himself on the receiving end of some good-natured teasing from everyone, even Roy calling Jamie "Sweet Tartt" at lunch when they got into a rousing debate about which muppet movie was supreme.

Roy quickly shook himself of his musings and focused on observing the lads under his charge.

" Pick up the pace Isaac!" He yelled when he observed the team captain not going as fast as he should have been in the play he was running with Sam, Dixon, and Bumbercatch.

Despite the chaos caused by James Tartt's cruelty, there on the pitch it was just the team putting their heads down and getting busy with training. Shut out the outside world and work your ass off. The hours passed, progress was made. Soon the sun was setting over Richmond and it was time to head home for the day. Roy and Jamie had carpooled today.

Once Jamie had showered and he and Roy had changed back into their civilian attire, Jamie exchanged goodbyes with his teammates as he waited for Roy to finish up his end of day meeting with Ted and Beard. As he sat picking at the cuff of the sleeve of the light navy blue Henley he was wearing. His stomach was slowly tying itself into knots as he waited. Tonight was the night Jamie was finally gonna bring up the subject of him finally leaving Roy's care and going back to his own house. His sleek, modern bachelor pad where sometimes things got too quiet, the ceilings were too high, and he'd be all alone. Yeah, it would be good for him to finally get out of Roy's hair since he'd troubled the older man enough.

Jamie stood up from the bench once Roy emerged from the Head Coach's office, dressed in a black button up shirt and matching jeans with his duffel bag hanging from his shoulder, Ted and Beard behind him. Roy and Jamie shared goodbyes with Ted and Beard, the former sending them off with one of his chipper anecdotes.

" Stay the Great Wall of Tartt Jamie, see ya when we get back after tomorrows rest day!" Ted said with a wave as Jamie and Roy waved back and rounded the corner to head towards the front of the building.

Midway through the day Roy had gone and moved his massive black car out of the car park and shifted it over to a quiet street a little ways from the club to provide him and Jamie a more clandestine path in order to avoid the near constant media presence camped out to try and get at the Richmond lads now that the day were done. Roy and Jamie didn't even use the front doors, they veered off to the left and used one of the side doors. Thankfully they got out of the building and off towards Roy's ginormous car without getting spotted.

Ten minutes later they were in Roy's car and headed off to Roy's without incident.

A couple of hours later found Roy and Jamie seated at the dining table, Jamie having grilled up some delicious teriyaki salmon and lightly buttered vegetables for them. Even as he ate and enjoyed Jamie's cooking, Roy could tell that something was up with the other man. Jamie was eating but his mind seemed miles away.

" You alright there Jamie?" Roy asked after a sip of wine.

Jamie started a bit and looked up, his eyes a bit wide like he'd been caught out. There was a beat of silence before Jamie's whole body seemed to deflate.

" Roy I... You've been absolutely great these few weeks bu' I... I think I should go back to my place now." Jamie forced himself to say though every particle of his being was screaming at him not to. Not to say the words, not to leave the man sitting across from him.

Roy felt like his whole body was submerged in ice water the moment Jamie's tentative words registered. Within a second his heart shattered into a million tiny pieces. Roy blinked and said nothing for a good long moment before he swallowed against his suddenly tight throat and kept his face carefully neutral as he spoke.

" Well then... if tha's what you want I can't stop you. You're a grown man with your own house. You're still here now though, so finish you dinner." Roy said before he promptly turned back to his own plate and resumed eating, without his previous gusto and everything tasting like ash on his tongue.

" Yeah, okay Roy." Jamie said feeling his throat constrict tightly and his eyes burning with the tell-tale sign of salt.

Jamie turned to his own plate and started eating as well, all of it feeling like lead in his stomach while his heart quietly wept.

He'd ruined it, he'd gone and ruined everything.

They said not a single word to each other for the rest of dinner. Roy did thaw a bit afterward when Jamie quietly asked if he wanted to watch the newest Muppets movie with him, but even as they sat side by side on the sofa and laughed at the appropriate moments, there was a sadness there between them, a deep disappointment that by tomorrow they wouldn't be here together to do this.

They watched the movie together and then headed off to bed, sharing neutral "good nights" and ducking into their respective rooms. It was in the privacy of his room that Jamie allowed the tears he'd been holding back to finally fall as he got out his big duffel bag that he had brought with him all those days ago and started packing up his stuff. In his room Roy sat over the side of his bed and hung his head, a single tear slipping free and dropping onto the knee of the gray sweatpants he was wearing.

" Fuck." He whispered as fresh pain washed over him.

The pair got ready for bed, dragging themselves through their nightly routines, or in Jamie's case not even fucking bothering before he pulled on a pair of plain white boxers because he was feeling unpleasantly hot all over and climbed into bed. Each man, so close and yet so far away fell into a restless sleep shortly after.

Several hours later in the dark, early morning hours...

Roy was abruptly yanked back into consciousness when the sound of a muffled voice caught his ear.

" Fuck!" Roy whispered as he sat up and reoriented himself. As soon as his mind was clear, Roy was up and out of bed.

He stepped out of his room and immediately turned his eyes to the door to Jamie's room, seeing that it was ajar. Roy wasted no time getting downstairs to see what was going on. He strode into the kitchen and then stopped abruptly at the sight that greeted him.

There was Jamie, clad only in a flimsy pair of white boxers, kneeling in front of the open fridge and being silhouetted by it's light as he wiped at the floor where Roy could see he'd spilled some milk. Jamie looked up at the sound of his approach and froze for a moment, a contrite look coming to his face as he slowly stood up and faced Roy.

" R-Roy I... M'sorry I just, I woke up an' I couldn't go back to sleep. I thought I'd just get a glass of milk bu' I spilled some but I put back the rest. I... I'm sorry Roy, I'll go out and get you a new..." Jamie trailed off into silence, so nervous was he that while he was stammering out his explanation of what had happened he hadn't notice Roy silently making his way across the room til the older man was standing mere inches from him.

Roy said nothing, he simply arrested Jamie where he stood with his dark eyes boring into him intensely. For an eon they just stared, and the Roy finally moved as he reached out, looping one arm around Jamie's waist and pulled him flush against him, while his other arm coiled around the younger man's shoulders, effectively holding him in place against his t-shirt clad front. Jamie gasped sharply, his hands instinctively reaching up and splaying over Roy's chest. Mere centimeters separated their faces as Roy finally spoke.

" Don't leave." He all but whispered, the intense look on his face morphing into a look of quiet heartbreak that stole Jamie's breath from him.

" Wha?" Jamie asked eloquently as he gawked at Roy.

" Don't leave me Jamie." Roy replied with his voice shaking in a way Roy Kent's voice should never shake as he continued.

" I know that I am askin' for too fucking much, tha' I have no fucking right but please, please don't leave me Jamie." Roy said before with a shaky breath he leaned in and gently pressed his forehead to Jamie's.

" Roy." Jamie whispered, his eyes fluttering at the contact before he continued.

" Bu' 'm too much trouble." He said softly as his fingers twisted lightly into Roy's shirt.

" Of course you are." Roy said with a small huff and a shaky grin before he pinned Jamie with a look as spoke from his heart.

" You're nothing but trouble, but you've become the trouble I don't ever want to live without. The trouble I'll court willingly the rest of my life. Don't worry, I'll cope." Roy croaked out as his eyes grew overbright.

With a hitched breath of his own, Jamie leaned in and closed the sparse distance between them, smashing his lips to Roy's in a deep, soul searing kiss. Roy's whole body seemed to sigh as with a low grumble of approval he kissed Jamie back with equal fervor.

Without breaking the kiss and making Jamie groan unashamedly against his lips as he started roaming his hands over the smooth expanse of Jamie's back, loving the feel of the powerful muscles rippling and coiling beneath his palms. When they finally broke apart with a gasp, Roy let out a rough chuckle as Jamie set about gnawing at his neck and throat while his hands stroked down his chest and ducked under the baggy black t-shirt he was wearing to finally get at his skin.

Roy took Jamie's lips in another searing kiss before they proceeded to shuffle out of the kitchen, barely getting back up the stairs without tripping before Roy finally led Jamie into his bedroom. They came to stand by the side of Roy's bed when the older man spoke.

" We don't gotta go no further if you don't want to." He said quietly.

" I want to." Jamie said, looking at Roy like he hung the moon and stars just for saying those words.

Roy nodded to Jamie, and then the next moment Jamie was letting out a loud yelp as he was suddenly yanked sideways clean off his feet and bouncing lightly as his back hit the bed. Gasping lightly Jamie looked up to see Roy standing over him with a truly hungry look in his dark eye, even with the whole room dimmed of light. Jamie felt his mouth go dry and all the blood rush South. He licked his suddenly dry lips and the move was not lost to Roy, who smoothly pulled off his shirt and sweatpants. In the pale moonlight through the room, Roy's pale skin seemed to almost glow.

Jamie didn't get much of a chance to admire though as Roy was suddenly on him, kissing the breath from him while his large, warm hands went everywhere they could. A few moments later Jamie's white boxers were soon joining Roy's discarded clothes on the floor, leaving no more barriers between them.

" It tickles." Jamie giggled as he pressed up against Roy's rather fuzzy torso and rubbed his hand over Roy's heart.

" Why were ya... always makin'... such insults about... it then?" Roy asked in-between kisses to Jamie's throat, making the young man writhe beneath him.

" Were Pullin' pig tails." Jamie said with a moan at Roy's ministrations.

" Or chest hair in your case." Jaime said with a laugh that quickly turned into a groan when Roy promptly sank his teeth into Jamie's collar bone.

Jamie craned his head up for another deep kiss, his powerfully built legs wrapping around Roy's waist, the older man growling low as the most intimate parts of them ground together sensuously. Things rapidly devolved after that, Jamie's breathy moans mingling with Roy's deep rumble.

Jamie's sharp cry cracked through the air when Roy finally broke the last barrier between them, joining their bodies in the most intimate connection. They moved together, they kissed, they touched, they felt each other while the whole world faded to the background. Then Roy decided to have some fun and do that special thing with his hips that had Jamie nearly passing out right then and there.

" Holy fuckin' Kent Effect!" Jamie cried dazedly as he reached up and cupped Roy's cheeks and grinned brilliantly.

Roy could only bark out a laugh before he got busy showing Jamie some more of the real "Kent Effect".

Hours later when morning light started to fill Roy's bedroom...

Dark blue eyes slowly fluttered open as sleep gently left them. With a small sigh Jamie came back to awareness. He moved to stretch but frowned when he felt something heavy and alive wrapped around him snug. All at once the memories of just what had gone down the night before came flooding back. With a shaky breath and disbelieving eyes Jamie slowly turned his head and found himself face to face with the still peacefully sleeping visage of Roy Kent.

In sleep the ever scowling football legend actually looked almost angelic. He were doing a fine impression of an octopus as well as he had an arm and a leg through over Jamie, keeping him firmly in place. Jamie felt a flutter in his chest and a good ache all over. He was sure Roy left plenty of love marks all over him, since he could see some of the many marks he himself had left on Roy's skin. Especially this giant hickey right under his jaw. Jamie felt his cheeks heat up at the evidence of his own passion last night, but he stilled completely when he turned his attention back to Roy's face only to find himself staring into a pair of familiar dark eyes that were now wide awake.

For a moment Roy and Jamie simply gazed at one another, an ocean of so many things between them. Then Roy smiled as he shifted closer, Jamie immediately relaxing and smiling back as he slowed turned over onto his side, his hand going to stroke up and down Roy's thigh now wrapped around his hip.

" Good mornin' love." Jamie said softly as he reached up with his other hand to run the backs of his fingers over Roy's stubble covered cheek.

Roy sighed before he leaned in and pressed his forehead to Jamie's, the tips of their noses brushing together as he spoke.

" Mornin' love." He replied with his smile growing shy.

Yeah that were the right word for them as they came together in a deep, languid kiss while the room grew golden with the new morning light.

Epilogue

" Good afternoon everyone, my name is Trent Crimm, independent reporter. I am reporting to you live here at Nelson Road, home of the AFC Richmond Greyhounds. As you all know the Greyhounds just pulled off a spectacular win against Aston Villa this past weekend and are riding high. However, it's not just the game that has had this football club recently making headlines." Trent Crimm said in his very pleasant and posh way as he looked directly into the camera that was live recording inside the Richmond press room, sitting behind the big white table.

Trent went on to briefly summarize all that had gone down with James Tartt and his two cohorts before he finally got to the heart of why he was here at Richmond.

" Thus far the club has stayed very tight lipped regarding the whole matter, but now I have been granted the privilege of asking those directly affected by the appalling behavior of these three deranged men what actually happened, why it happened, and how they are not letting it bring them down. Speaking about this ordeal for the first time, please welcome AFC Richmond Striker Jamie Tartt." Trent said as he stood up and gestured to the side and the camera operator turned the device to follow Jamie as he entered into frame, dressed proudly in his AFC Richmond Training Kit, with his signature headband in place.

The young man glanced back over his shoulder and a warm smile came to his face when he saw the whole team sitting off to the side away from the camera, veiled by the shadows but smiling back at him. Ted gave him a silent thumbs up while Roy sent him a subtle wink. Rebecca, Higgins, Dr. Sharon and Keeley were there behind the team, watching on with pride as Jamie came forward with his fellow Greyhounds backing him all the way.

" Hello Trent." Jamie greeted as he and Trent shook hands with a smile.

" Hello Jamie, thank you for agreeing to sit down with me this afternoon." Trent said with a warm smile before he and Jamie sat down next to each other and the white press table.

" Congratulations on your latest win." Trent began, Jamie smiling easily as he remembered the electrifying match where it had looked like they'd be going into extra time because neither side had let up in guarding their nets and balls kept bouncing off goal post before he had simply given a back foot pass that was caught by Moe Bumbercatch who then blasted it into the top left corner, sealing it for Richmond. Jamie of the past would have been furious and scare at having not taken the shot and made the goal himself, Jamie of now could not be more thrilled at his teammate Moe getting the much deserved laurels.

" Thank you Trent, I wish that were what we all came here to discuss." Jamie said, growing somber and getting to the heart of the matter.

Trent nodded and grew somber himself as he spoke.

" Everyone's read the news, we only know the few details that were released to the public. What made you decide to finally talk about everything that transpired with your father James Tartt and his two friends Bug Feilding and Denbo Cullens?" He asked.

Jamie took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts and spoke.

" When I got the first couple of messages from James Tartt and his mates, I just thought that he were drunk dialin' and all, but when it started to happened almost every hour of every day I started to understand James Tartt weren't just playin' around this time. I stayed quiet and just withdrew from my team and my coaches, everybody that I shoulda leaned on. James Tartt said some really disgustin' things about everybody, some of it so vile and violent I couldn't look anybody in the eye I were that ashamed to be related to him. As you can see I don't even call him me dad anymore. I got betta older male influences around meh and I consider myself only Georgie Tartt's son." Jamie said before needing to pause and swallow back the lump that formed in his throat.

In a nice flat in a quiet part of Ashton in Manchester, Georgie Tartt let out a small sob and smiled with pride at her boy as she watched the live broadcast of his and his teams exclusive interview with Trent Crimm.

From where they sat, many of Jamie's teammates who were minority had pained looks on their faces, Isaac himself looking a little misty eyed despite his infallible stoic expression. Roy felt his heart both swell and bleed for his love, but stayed where he was. They were all here to speak and he'd get to say his piece about the whole fucking thing when it were his turn. Ted's heart was bursting with pride, while Beard allowed himself a small smile.

Taking a deep breath, Jamie continued.

" I thought I could 'andle it alone, like I had been doing my whole life, it only got betta when I realized I weren't alone, that I have a whole buncha people who care about meh enough to wanna help and keep me safe. I suffered a lot in silence, not just with this that happened now, but with a lot that happened before as a kid. Well, now me and the Richmond Greyhounds are speakin' up and sayin' no more of that silence BS. No more."

The End
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Special shoutout to Cuppachar on Tumblr. This story was inspired by bits and pieces of several fic ideas they had on their blog. The principal prompt from which this fic is inspired is this one:

Prompt: For any R/J fic: It's late at night when Roy startles awake to find himself alone in bed. He goes downstairs and finds Jamie cleaning a spill, clad only in the white boxers he had gone to sleep in. Their eyes meet and the air grows charged as Roy makes his way across the room. They come together in a deep kiss and then Roy takes Jamie back upstairs. This could be the first time they make love after the stadium collapse or after Jamie's perforated ulcer.