Ruth

Shoulders so heavy, the weight of the world so heavy, yet there Willy is, there to catch him when he falls, there to give him a reason to get back up again, there to tell him to celebrate his accomplishments and goals being met, there to tell him that it'll be okay, there to tell him not to lose sleep over it, there to tell him to be proud in moments of victory, there to tell him to take a break and slow down, there to tell him to lean on him when it gets hard to breathe.

And you know what Mack does to reciprocate it all? Devotes every fiber of his being to Will. When Will gets benched, Mack is right there to pick up the pieces and take him to a basketball game to get his mind off things. He’s feeling down because he messed up a play? Mack will be right there for him to lean on when he comes out of hiding all the way on the other side of the bench. To tell him tenderly, “it was a good try though.” Will is feeling overwhelmed and like he is not enough to play on Mack's line——enter, "he's gonna come back and see that I'm not McDavid." -Will Smith? Mack doesn't even say anything; he just shows him that he is enough by passing to him every chance he gets and giving up his own chances, regardless of how many times Will misses the shot and out of frustration, punishes himself for it by isolating himself from all else with his head hung low. Will gets shade thrown from the media; Mack responds by reminding everyone that he is a fourth overall pick and that he is an elite player you should expect greatness from.

Just some moments and things that were said by either Will or Mack from the Never Offsides pod that I wanted to talk about. Offseason bites are so important, especially when we go through some droughts with no Willmack content other than the occasional picture or video. Enjoy yourself if you indulge.  Will: "You sing it; you like that song too!" Wanting Mack to sing it with him, not wanting to feel like the only one who likes the song because Mack whispered things about liking it too when they were alone.  Will: (desperate to tell them they went back) "Well, we went back and it was good."  Mack: " Yeah ..." watching Will intensely to make sure he doesn't spill the beans for real. If you know, you know. 

Will: "I don't even know; I was gonna be nice but not anymore." But I do know because I look at you every day, and I think you are a dog because I love dogs. I mean, just look at how I am with Rigney. But I ended up saying a parrot because you think I'm a donkey, so it worked out, but I still think you're a dog in the back of my mind. You say, " There 's no not nice," so I just cover up my real feelings, but I don't, because I end up letting what I think slip anyway; I see you as a cute dog.  Will: "SHREK!" Because I wanna hear you giggle in my ear and tell me, "THAT'S UNCALLED FOR!" because you don't wanna be seen as the "bad guy" in the situation, and I'm okay with that. 

Mack: "Imagine I'm on Concord; you're on Lexington, and we're like battling it out." Just because I wanna make you giggle and shy away from me, but also because I imagine things like that when looking into your eyes while you try to correct me and tell me what the historical event actually is. But I won't listen because I still think what I think regardless of what you tell me, just to work your nerves.  Mack: " Do it, cry laughing." Because I know you'll do what I say whenever I ask, so I just wanna see you do it in real-time in front of everybody, so they know that you'll actually do anything I tell you to do. And yes, you'll say no to me first, but you won't say it again because you'll just end up doing what I asked you to do in order to see my smile and hear my laughter in your ear, and I'm gonna take advantage of that in this moment. 

Will: "Pony by Ginuwine." Because I want you to have flashbacks of the moment I danced for you to the song, and I want you to giggle and get shy when I let my answer slip from my lips for the both of us. I want you to sing it when I ask you to, but I know you won't; you'll just try to get me to sing it by humming the intro, and I'll get excited and look at you and be so happy you remember. But that's all you'll end up doing and insist you "don't know the lyrics" because you don't wanna sing it in front of anyone. So I'll get a little pissed off that you didn't sing it with me and give you the stink eye through the camera, but you don't give a fuck because you'd never sing what we were singing together, what I danced to in front of you, or what I introduced you to in private. I end up getting over it eventually because I realized I liked that you protected what we had when I got loose lips sometimes. Plus, I pretend I was "forgetting the lyrics," so we're even. Plus, you told the story about me putting a pizza in the microwave with cardboard on it, so I guess that's what I get for trying to blow up our spot. 

Mack: "What does that mean?" Because what do you mean you played games with someone else other than me in the hot tub at that? So I'll just keep asking, "What does that mean?" to no one in particular because I want you to notice that I don't like when I'm not around, because I miss those moments when you could teach me how to play a game just so we can feel like the kids that we are when we are around each other. I missed that moment, but it's okay because I know you'll make it a goal to teach me when we get another moment of nature alone. P.S. I love when I feel like a kid again when I'm around you. 

Losing all my innocence in the back seat!

Say you love, say you love, say you love me (love me)

Losing all my innocence in the back seat!

I mean, he looked so drunk when he was saying him and Mack finished the book and was rushing to get it out.