#soccet

“How’s Jamie?”

You, Keeley and Rebecca have begun a tradition of pamper and girl talk before matches, almost every week. Each of you bring things for self care to a rotation house- this time yours- and spoil yourselves and each other. The three of you, the medical and technical director, the publicity mogul and the club owner, make a very unusual trio of three generations. 

You’re in the middle of putting on a bright blue rubber face mask with your hair up in a mask and dressed in your matching fuzzy robe when Keeley poses the question.

Rebecca busies herself with her nails, pretending to not be interested.

You can’t help a face-splitting smile as you gaze at one of the many pictures of the two of you on the wall of your shared residence with the famous football star player: Jamie Tartt himself. In this particular shot, Jamie is holding you up in front of a sunset, your hair flips down and covers both your faces, but if you look carefully, you can see jamie’s adoring eyes. 

patting the mask back on, you avert your eyes. 

“He’s… fine. Great. He’s great actually.”

Keeley tears the seal off a tube of teeth-whitening solution.

“You two are perfect for each other,” She tells you. “You don’t take any of his shit. That’s really good.”

Rebecca flashes her white shimmer nails. Both you and Keeley ooh and ahhh at them.

“you’ve been good for him,” the oldest in the room tells you. “He’s been very good for you, as well.” 

You smile at your two closest friends. 

“d’you reckon you’d marry him?” Keeley asks suddenly. “like, if he proposed tomorrow, what’d you say?”

You stare past her at the screen.

another one of the defining characteristics of your spa days is the sad movies playing in the background. You and your girls always love having a good crying movie in the background, especially if they have happy endings.

(you remember when you had the day at Keely and Roy’s place. The football coach walked in, took one look at the three of you crying while a screaming mother grieved on the huge flatscreen tv, and turned and walked out). In this particular movie, the boy who is sick is being sung to and he starts crying (unrealistically. he’s in a coma).

“It sounds crazy. I know, but i think i’d say yes,” you tell them. “I don’t know. I’ve never loved as hard as i love Jamie. It’s not going away, it’s only getting so much better.”

You watch Rebecca’s face carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. After her horrible experience with Rupert, how would she take this?

She looks like she’s trying to hide a smile.

“That’s great, babes,” she tells you. “really, really great.” 

“plus,” you add with a grin. “he’s really, really good in bed.”

“That’s a bonus right there,” rebecca exclaims.

The three of you soon brush the tooth whitening solution on and silently shed tears as the mom on screen begs for mercy.

this is the life.

The match today is a great one to see. Jamie flies on the pitch, and every time he scores he looks up at the box and blows you a kiss. You know he likes to fluster you, and this never fails to disappoint.

when there are only five minutes remaining, rebecca and Keeley stand up and grab one of your elbows each. 

“what’s going on?” you follow them, confused into the stands, and to the private elevator. “where are we going?” 

they share a look. Keeley squeals and rebecca squeezes your shoulders, but they don’t answer your question.

“You’ll just have to wait, my darling.”

you give them looks. They know you don’t particularly like waiting. You’re the one who always looks up spoilers for the movies you watch because you just can’t wait.

You descend past the entrance and to the pit. The smell of sweaty man bombards your nostrils but they keep walking. 

“you guys know you’re not allowed on the pitch, right?”

“don’t worry, babe, we’re not going to the pitch.”

“see even though you say that, it really feels like we’re headed straight into the tunnel that leads to the pitch.”

the second you step foot into the opening, the ref’s whistle blows. The three of you stop short as the crowd erupts into screams and the Richmond chant. Rebecca has her phone out. 

“What is going on?” you ask for what feels like the fifteen hundredth time. the whole Richmond team Is getting closer to you guys. Sam and Isaac don’t even say hello, they hoist you onto their shoulders and charge back out onto the field.

“put me down!” you are surrounded by the team - your family. “You two are super sweaty!”

once you reach the center circle they let you down. The whole team - and the other, for that matter, surround you. 

Jamie Tartt, your boyfriend, cuts through the circle, followed by all four coaches. 

he’s holding a microphone and a ring box in his hand.

you bring your hands up to your mouth and look to your sides. Sam and Jan Maas, the two closest to you give you the hugest, shit-eating smiles you’ve ever seen as jamie gets down on one knee, still in his kit, and flips the ring box lid. 

“(y/n), love.” his Mancunian accented voice reverberated throughout the gasping crowd. “I live you more than i’ve loved anyone in my life. I will never stop loving you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” he pauses and you  cover your eyes, sloppily wiping up the tears that have gathered in your eyes. “Do you want to spend the rest of yours with me? will you make me the luckiest man on the planet and marry me?” 

The crowd, the teams, and even the birds flying above seem suspended in this perfect moment. The moment your perfectly imperfect boyfriend becomes your fiancée.

you nod furiously. frantically. 

“yes,” you whisper. “of course i’ll marry you, Jamie.”

he quickly hands off the microphone and charges toward you, taking you into his arms and spinning around amidst the roar of the crowd and the teams gathered around you. You’re crying. you’re both crying. He kisses you in his arms and then takes the ring out of its box and slides it onto your finger.

You press your forehead against his and kiss him again, crying.

This is the moment you will remember forever.

+

When you get a moment of silence, jamie kisses you sweetly. 

“You don’t have to, love.” 

you pull back, startled. 

does he mean he wants to take it back?

“Jamie?”

“I put ya in the spot out there in the pitch. You don’t need to say yes right now. It’s okay.”

You can see the pain this statement causes in his eyes. You shake your head, new tears of happiness blooming for his consideration of you. 

“Jamie, I meant what i said. You are the love of my life, okay?” you hold out your hand. “And we’re getting married.”

He kisses you again, but this time, you can feel the promise of more behind his desperate, post game, adrenaline fueled lips.