Work Text:
As far as insane training ideas powered by the mind of Roy Kent went, this was harmless. The evening plans actually sounded really nice, as far as Jamie was concerned.
The team had just had a couple of weeks off after a respectable, if not overly successful, Champions League debut, pre-season training was about to kick off, and they had a couple of new team members on the second team that needed welcoming.
Naturally, Roy, in his new role as their Head Coach, had decided that some team bonding was in order. He had summoned them into the locker room the evening before their first training session, and was in the process of proudly telling them all about their evening plans while they stared at the pile of sleeping bags in front of them.
Will had meticulously piled them up in the locker room, one for each player and each coach, stacked neatly on the grey platform in the middle of their locker room.
The structural integrity of the pile, however, seemed to hinge entirely on Will leaning against the back bottom corner of the pile, closest to the coaches office. And so while they all tried to listen to Roy’s speech about unity and becoming one with the pitch, Jamie found himself staring at Will’s shaking leg, internally hoping that the pile wouldn’t disintegrate before Roy was done talking. He caught Sam’s eye from across the room to see if he was seeing it too, before quickly looking away again lest they both start laughing, and risk prolonging the speech.
Roy, with his back to Will, had no idea about the kitman’s losing battle against gravity that was playing out behind him like a particularly suspenseful thriller.
“-so each of you take a bag and follow me out onto the pitch for the last pizzas you’re having before the season starts off again,” Roy instructed, making a broad waving gesture that had the entire team sprinting into the middle of the room to grab a sleeping bag from the pile before it could crumble, startling Roy with what could only be misinterpreted as enthusiasm for the camping idea from his point of view.
Will breathed a visible sigh of relief, and Jamie clapped a hand on his shoulder, biting back a giggle when he caught Roy’s eye for a moment.
“Good stuff!” Jamie assured Roy, not quite having the heart to tell Roy that the prospect of sleeping on the ground outside wasn’t all that delightful, even if August was the most humane time to do it. Roy just seemed so pleased with himself, and had clearly put a lot of effort into finding them a nice activity.
“Hey, how was Manchester?” Sam asked, falling into step with Jamie easily, each of them clutching one of the sleeping bags as they made their way out onto the pitch.
It felt odd, walking through the tunnel in street clothes, oddly forbidden and kind of thrilling. Judging by the high spirits of his teammates, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Walking out to a setting sun was equally strange, but in a good way. It made Jamie feel giddy, like he was sneaking through his school after hours. Some of the others were running ahead, making not attempt at looking fast or graceful and instead letting their inner children enjoy the last moments of their summer break. A part of Jamie wanted to join him, but the part that wanted to stay by Sam’s side was much stronger.
“Yeah, no, good, really good! Went to see my mum and ate my weight in Simon’s cakes,” Jamie reported proudly, happy to have made the most of his trip.
“I did too. Egyptian food is absolutely delicious!” Sam said happily. They hadn’t had a chance to catch up yet, but Sam had been sending him pictures from the holiday he had taken his family on all week. It had made him come back beaming and relaxed, and judging by the pictures, it must have been the trip of a lifetime. Jamie wouldn’t admit how long he had looked at the lovely picture of Sam beaming his brightest smile while petting a baby kamel, not even under threat of torture.
“Yeah? Fuck, I really want to go someday. I had this whole phase when I was a kid where I was just really into mummies and hieroglyphs. You just landed today right?”
“Touched down in Heathrow around midnight,” Sam lamented. “I know reasonably that this is about as warm as London gets, but it feels cold after 39 degrees.”
“Fuck! Yeah, I bet.”
Looking around, Jamie noticed Sam was the only one of them in long sleeves, everyone else was more or less overheated from the late-August temperatures that didn’t seem to let up even in the evening hours. Jamie himself was in just about the shortest shorts he could get away with.
While chatting, they had caught up with their teammates.
There seemed to be some kind of projector setup in the middle of the pitch, so they had all just naturally migrated in that direction and were starting to put their sleeping bags down. Sam shot him a glance, and they shrugged in unison before putting their own bags down side by side.
“These are nice,” Jamie commented, unzipping his sleeping bag to give himself more free real estate to spread out on. He had never been camping in his whole entire life, and he didn’t recognise the brand on the sleeping bag, but it felt quality. They even had the Richmond logo stitched on them.
As the team got comfortable, the centre of the pitch started to resemble a picnic area. The coaches joined them a little while later, setting up their own camp near them, but not fully integrated into the patch of lawn the players had claimed, though Nate ran off again as soon as his bag was on the ground.
“Are we watching a movie?” Dani asked excitedly.
“Damn right we are!” Roy confirmed.
A round of cheers went through the assembled crowd as Will reappeared, this time carrying not just his own sleeping bag, but also three huge reusable bag full of sodas that were already dripping with condensation and snacks.
The excitement didn’t even have a chance to die down when Nate reappeared with a man in a delivery uniform in tow, both of them carrying Franco Manca-branded pizza boxes, stacked so high they could barely see where they were going.
“That is fucking mint, coach!” Jamie called, though his voice was mostly drowned out by cheers.
As boxes were divided, mouths were eagerly stuffed with delicious doughy goodness, and Will set up the movie, the team fell into comfortable chatter. After the intensity of their Champion’s League debut, the extra trainings and the amount of time they had spent travelling together, even two weeks apart had felt long. Jamie was glad he wasn’t the only one who had considered sending out a group message to see if anyone wanted to hang out after he had returned to London.
Drinks were passed around, Jamie offered his can for Sam to clink his own against as speculations about what movie they were going to see started flying left and right. Roy looked pleased with himself, lifting a finger to his mouth when he caught Jamie’s eye.
“You know what it is, don’t you?” Sam asked, amused, having caught the exchange of looks.
“Yeah, I do.” Jamie grinned, pleased with himself. He couldn’t help but laugh when Sam bumped his shoulder against Jamie’s. Sam was too much of a gentleman to try and pry the movie title out of Jamie, and they both listened to the suggestions their teammates were throwing out.
This was just … lovely. They hadn’t been together like this, as a team, as friends with no pressures weighing them down in forever. Even after their last game, they had mostly just been tired and vaguely disappointed that they hadn’t made it higher up into the league, while simultaneously being proud of how well they had done, all things considered. They had all been exhausted, and eager to get home, to have a break, but now that everyone had had that break, it was like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Smiles were brighter, laughs were louder, and Sam looked so happy that it made something in Jamie’s chest pull in that weird way it sometimes did when Sam hugged him tightly.
“We might have had a brainstorm,” Jamie added as the studio logos started to play across the projector screen.
He paid close attention as the first opening shots of waves in the dark started playing, almost too dark to be visible in the fading evening light, to see who would recognise the movie before the title was displayed.
As soon as the dingy came into view, beautifully illuminated by moonlight, Isaac smacked Colin’s arm excitedly.
“That’s Mamma Mia!” He exclaimed, earning himself an equally thrilled “I knew it!” from Dani.
With a wide grin, Jamie shot a glance over at Roy, sticking his tongue out as Roy rolled his eyes, slapping his knee in disbelief.
“Told you!” Jamie mouthed, as Roy reached into his pocket and balled up a £20 bill and tossed it at Jamie, it didn’t fly nearly far enough, and Jamie had to try and not spill his soda as he dove to retrieve it from Declan’s sleeping bag.
Sam snorted next to him as Jamie straightened back up triumphantly, and proudly unfurled the bill before folding it neatly and slipping it into his tiny pocket that didn’t even hold his phone.
“We should all take a nice holiday in Greece together,” Zorro mused dreamily as the beautiful island town came into view.
“Actually, Mamma Mia was filmed in Vis, Croatia,” Jan Maas supplied.
A chorus of “Shh!” put a stop to the chatter, as everyone settled in to listen to the lovely music.
They both smiled when Dani sighed deeply after the second musical number. “She sings like an angel.” Dani mused dreamily. With their bellies full, they settled in, getting comfortable.
“I really enjoy Christine Baranski. She has the most incredible charisma,” Sam whispered to him, and Jamie could only nod.
It had been an inspired idea on Roy’s part, Mamma Mia on a balmy summer evening, under the stars, though they probably wouldn’t really see any, what with the light pollution from the city.
They were so far from the Mediterranean Sea, but as the movie progressed and Will offered them cups of white, red or rose wine, the holiday feeling was starting to become truly palpable.
Even one glass of wine was enough to make things extra funny these days, and Jamie found himself beaming at the screen, laughing along with the guys and soaking up the atmosphere.
“This is how I figured out I was bi,” he whispered to Sam when Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper started crawling all over each other in the sand. Sam half choked on his wine, but the smile he gave Jamie was bright still, and it made something in his gut unknot. He hadn’t really said it out loud before, not to the team at least. Jamie had a feeling they at least knew he was some flavour of queer, given the looks he had gotten last season when they had thought Isaac was gay for a hot minute, but to actually tell someone felt really good. It made him giddy for the rest of the movie, light in a way he hadn’t felt in a long while, swaying with his team as Dancing Queen played and chuckling along as the plot unfolded.
By the time the movie was over, it was as dark as it would get. Their bellies were full and spirits were high, though not quite high enough to demand the sequel to be watched right that moment.
“Alright lads, toothbrushes are in the bathroom, get cleaned up,” Roy told them. “Everybody look around you and take all the trash you can see inside with you.”
If Jamie had felt like a schoolboy earlier, it was nothing compared with the feeling of actually following his friends into the darkened building, ghosting through the tunnel and into the corridors to get cleaned up for the night, with half the team making use of the acoustics to break into a hearty and devastatingly off-key rendition of Lay All Your Love On Me. The singing only ebbed once they all got their toothbrushes into their mouths, though Dani and Colin still happily hummed while brushing and soon found a chorus of other participants to do the same, and Jamie found himself joining in too.
Afterwards, he stuck with Sam, half out of habit and half because he wasn’t ready to let go of the familiarity just yet, the looks Sam shot him that made his heart beat fast, so he trailed to a halt when Sam stopped by his cubby.
“Go on ahead, I’ll be right there,” Sam assured him, but Jamie hung back, letting the others giddily stumble down the tunnel ahead of them.
“Shii-…,” Sam cut himself off before the curse could fully leave his mouth.
“You need something?” Jamie offered.
His cubby was probably the best stocked of them all. It was an old remnant of the time when he had just barely been accepted back into the ranks of AFC Richmond, when he had tried, desperately, to be the most useful teammate he could be. And now that people asked him for anything from band aids to deodorant, he just never stopped keeping the cubby fully stocked.
“Ah, no! I just thought I had a sweater is all,” Sam waved him away.
“I’ve got one!” He opened his cubby, pulling out a hoodie, black with neon orange spray-painted patterns, that must have lived there since May. Jamie buried his nose in it to make sure it wasn’t gross, but was met with nothing but the vague scent of faded detergent, so he offered it to Sam.
“What don’t you have in there?” Sam chuckled, accepting the hoodie and pulling it on without hesitation, running his fingers over the arms of it to get it to settle close against him.
A part of Jamie wanted to tell him to keep it forever, because it looked nice on Sam, and another part of him wondered if that was too rom-commy a thing to say. He didn’t have to worry for long though, because Sam slung an arm around his shoulders and steered him back towards the exit, and they made their way back onto the pitch together.
Sam seemed content in his hoodie and Jamie had to admit that the air had cooled down quite a bit during the movie, though still not enough to make him zip up his sleeping bag when they finally found their spots again without stepping on anyone.
“Alright, lads! No cellphones, you either go to sleep, or you whisper with your neighbours like it’s a proper fucking sleepover!” Roy instructed with a severity that really wasn’t warranted, but had Jamie convinced that any cellphone that might be pulled out would find its way into the stand, never to be seen again. “We start training at 6 AM when it’s still cool enough, so best get some shut-eye soon.”
Spirits were still way too high to actually go to sleep though, and so naturally, some of the lads started talking about their experiences camping, or other sleepovers they had had as kids and Jamie listened happily. He hadn’t had much of a chance for sleep-overs as a kid, and he definitely hadn’t been camping before, but the warm summer evening breeze felt lovely and his teammates’ chatter was deeply soothing. Their tales almost made him feel like he was there with them in their memories, camped out on dark forest floors, listening to creaky wood and foxes yowling. Before he knew it, he was drifting off into a gentle snooze, just simmering under the surface of consciousness, his body relaxing into the weirdly comfortable sleeping bag. It had to have some kind of foam at the bottom, it was nice, proper nice.
Someone must have covered him with the open flap of his sleeping bag at some point, because when Jamie woke up again, he was still balmy warm and comfortable, the bag not zipped, but the flap covering him like a blanket.
He glanced into the dark, where only distant lights of the surrounding Richmond area lent the tiniest bit of visibility, and he wondered what had woken him up until a soft clattering noise drew his attention to the sleeping bag next to his, Sam’s. Jamie listened, trying to make sense of it for a moment, before he realised it was the sound of teeth chattering.
“Hey!” He whispered softly into the darkness, because from the silence around them it was clear that they were the only ones awake, if Sam even was awake. “You okay there, 24?”
“Oh yes! Just a little cold, that’s all!” Sam whispered back, his voice a little breathy the way it sometimes sounded in winter when they were all cold out on the pitch.
Jamie had no idea what time it was, but it wasn’t even starting to dawn yet, so Sam had at least three to six more miserable hours ahead of him. That just wouldn’t do.
“Get over here,” Jamie whispered.
There was a momentary pause before Sam asked “Over where?”
“Just come on, get in my bag, we’ll get you warmed up, lad.” Jamie offered, his heart pounding at the mere prospect, but he tried not to let it translate into his voice.
A soft breath, almost a laugh, but not quite, came from Sam’s sleeping bag.
“I’ve just managed to create a tiny little warm area around my knees. I’m not sure I’m willing to give that up,” Sam lamented, but he sounded a bit miserable about it and the idea of Sam being cold and uncomfortable for the rest of the night didn’t sit well with him. It made him bold.
“Alright …,” Jamie climbed out of his own sleeping bag and over towards Sam’s. “Scoot over a bit.”
In the dark, he could barely make out anything, but he felt his way towards the opening of Sam’s bag and Sam scooted as much as he could, allowing Jamie to slide his legs into the sleeping bag alongside him. It was a tight fit, and it took some manoeuvring to get in without kneeing Sam in the face. They tried their very best to keep from giggling as they tried to rearrange themselves comfortably, with Sam fruitlessly trying to shush them both. Even so, Jamie could feel Sam’s chest hitching with barely suppressed laughter when they finally managed to settle face to face.
It was quite warm in the sleeping bag already, and Jamie was about to call it out.
“And you’re cold in here? Oh shit, your toes are icy!” He whispered, just a little too loudly when Sam’s bare toes pressed against Jamie’s own very warm feet.
“Shh!” Sam tried again, the shush subsiding into a chuckle halfway through. It was impossible to settle now, not when they were so close and could feel each other quietly laughing as they tried to get themselves under control. Their kneecaps fought a short war to try and find a position for their legs that would be somewhat comfortable, but really there was nothing to be done in such tight quarters, they had to let their legs tangle up. The cool skin of Sam’s thighs pressed against Jamie’s own overheated skin pleasantly. He was so close to Sam now that he could smell his own faded detergent on the hoodie Jamie had lent him earlier, mixed with the pleasant scent of Sam underneath, warm skin and scented products that had long stopped projecting, but up close against Sam’s skin he could still catch a whiff of them.
After another moment of rearranging themselves, he had his arms wrapped firmly around Sam’s body, scooping him in close against his chest. Jamie could feel the moment Sam relaxed into it, when he let his head sag onto Jamie’s arm to use him as a pillow.
“Hm … this is very cosy,” Sam admitted contently, taking a deep breath and settling into their position.
“Yeah, toasty, innit?” Jamie smiled. He’d be way too hot in no time, but it was well worth it if it meant Sam got warm. After a few more deep breaths, Sam gave him a soft sigh.
“You smell nice.”
Yeah, so do you! Jamie wanted to say, but fuck it felt too close to flirting, so instead he whispered back. “Yeah, finally got that Paco Rabanne deal closed, they sent me a huge package with all their stuff the other day,” he told Sam proudly. Keeley had worked hard to get him that deal, and the contract was eye-wateringly lucrative.
“Hm, gonna borrow all of it,” Sam mused, sounding a little sleepier now, or maybe he was just finally getting warm, Jamie was content to let him drift off again if he could find some rest. The comfort of another body wrapped around his was going to draw Jamie back into sleep soon, he just knew it, he only hoped Sam was comfortable.
As if to confirm he was warming up though, Sam spoke up again a little bit later.
“I can feel my toes again, thank you.” Dark as it was, the slightest shimmer of moonlight made it down onto the pitch, and when Jamie opened his eyes he could see Sam’s eyes reflecting it, beautifully, a dark blue sheen of light slightly outlining his handsome features in the night.
“Do you want me to go?” Jamie offered, seeing as his job here in Sam’s sleeping bag was technically done.
In response though, Sam’s arms tightened a little around him.
“I actually think I’d quite like it if you didn’t,” Sam left it up to him.
“Huh?” Oh!
Jamie knew that if he pulled way now, that would be that, but fuck he didn’t want to go either. And so he settled in more firmly, slipping his hand up higher on Sam’s back to keep him close, and Sam settled too, looking at him, their noses almost touching as he spoke, the mere whisper of Sam’s breath ghosting over his lips, like the words were a beacon for where to find them.
“This reminds me very much of football camp,” Sam said softly. “Sleeping under the stars with my team, thinking the night will never end.”
“Yeah? Did you share a sleeping bag then too?” Jamie wondered, his heart pounding way too fast for the fact that he was laying down like this, but Sam’s fingers were playing with the fabric at the waist of his shirt and he had become incredibly aware of just how closely intertwined their bodies had ended up.
“No, no that’s all new,” Sam smiled, and Jamie wasn’t sure if they had been this close all along, or if Sam was closer now. It felt like only a couple of inches at most separated their lips, like there was no air to be found between them anymore.
“I did have my first kiss there though! I must have been … maybe 13?” Sam mused. “She was part of the girls team.” Fuck, right, girls, Sam liked girls, of course he did. Well, Jamie did too, but … well, this felt awfully close for two guys to be, if one of them only liked girls. Or perhaps, Jamie just didn’t have any straight guy friends as comfortable with touch as this?
“Jamie? Are you okay?” Sam asked and Jamie realised he had gone quiet for way too long.
“Yeah, yeah, good!” He said, and he was okay, wasn’t he, just a little breathless. It had been fucking years since he’d been this close to another guy, and it made him imagine more.
“I didn’t kiss anyone ’til I was 15.” That was the truth. “Late bloomer, I guess.” That was a lie, but one he wanted Sam to believe.
It made Sam smile all softly at him, like maybe he was imagining Jamie at 15, and it felt fond. It felt like maybe Jamie could be brave.
“You ever … uh … kiss a bloke?” He asked, bracing himself a little. This was beyond stupid, beyond risky, hitting on a teammate at a team event, hitting on one of his best friends in the whole world.
Sam seemed to consider the question, but his touches remained just as solid and gentle. He didn’t shift away, not even a little bit.
“No,” he sounded almost sad about it. “No, I mean, in my head sometimes, but… no.”
The way he said it was so fucking cute and bashful, it made something in Jamie’s chest coil tightly with affection. He forgot sometimes, that Sam was a little younger than him, not much, but just enough to maybe have missed out on some explorations Jamie had had time for. It reminded him that there were still wonders out there that Sam had yet to experience. Wonders that Jamie had missed for a long time.
Even so, it was Sam who dared to make the move before Jamie could.
“It feels like maybe we could kiss now?” Sam suggested, holding Jamie’s gaze in the dark.
Jamie could only nod, his heart skipping a beat.
Yes, fuck yes, he really wanted that! Sam nodded in unison for a moment and suddenly the space between them, tiny as it had been, was no more.
Sam’s lips were soft on his, warm and sweet with the very last remnants of toothpaste lingering on him, minty sweet and lovely. Jamie felt Sam breathe against his skin, felt his nose press into his cheek tenderly as they found their way around each other, softly fumbling in the dark to get closer. Jamie wasn’t sure if it was the balmy night that reminded him of teenage summers, or if it was Sam, but it felt as close to a first kiss as anything ever had. It made him feel like he was all new, almost shining with affection in the dark of night.
His eyes drifted shut and he let himself get lost in Sam’s soft touches and tender kisses. It was odd, how loved they made him feel, but then again it made a weird sort of sense. Sam was one of his favourite people in the world, and the feeling felt incredibly mutual in that moment. Jamie let his hand stroke up Sam’s back until he could cup his head, gentle finger brushing over the short hairs at the back of Sam’s head as they pressed closer, unhurried.
There was a moment, and Jamie felt it in the way both their breaths hitched, a moment where they might have pushed further, might have tugged at clothes and explored each other’s bodies more intimately, but they let it easse, let it pass, let it settle, at least for now. It wasn’t the time or the place, here amongst the sweet dreams of their teammates, where any accidental noise might ruin it, and where privacy wasn’t a given. He wanted more than that, wanted Sam’s first kiss to stay perfect, a memory to linger on fondly. He didn't want it to turn into a fumble in the darkness, worried about who might hear them. Sam deserved so much better than that.
And so their kisses ebbed, even as their breaths continued to mingle and their bodies stayed intertwined, all warmed up now, but refusing to let go. They shifted in the end, just the slightest bit of adjustment, with Sam’s head coming to rest on Jamie’s chest, and Jamie’s eyes directed up towards the Richmond sky.
Sam’s weight was like a soothing blanket on him, and Jamie found himself drifting off to sleep, though he thought maybe he was still awake when Sam pressed a kiss to his sternum and nuzzled his head against Jamie’s chest.
When Jamie woke up, hours later, it was with a hand over his mouth, and Roy hovering over him, a finger on his own lips to shush Jamie and keep him from making a sound.
Jamie’s eyes were wide as he looked up at his friend, his coach, caught with Sam’s body tangled up in his, innocent as it had ended up being in the end.
“Get back into your own bag, Tartt,” Roy whispered quietly.
He removed his hand from Jamie’s mouth but squeeze Jamie’s shoulder fondly before straightening up to give him space and walking off towards the dugout.
Jamie’s heart was still pounding. Roy didn’t look mad, did he? No, Roy would have just killed him if he was unhappy with him, hauled him out of the sleeping bag to wring his neck for cosying up with his team mate. No, that wasn't what this had been. This was a heads-up, a courtesy wake-up call.
Gently and slowly, Jamie extracted himself out from under Sam, who stirred, but rolled over happily enough to keep dozing after Jamie pillowed his head down onto the built-in cushion for him gently.
As soon as Jamie was back in his own sleeping bag, a megaphone screeched horrendously as it was turned on, and an amplified “Whistle!! WHISTLE!!” startled the entire team into wakefulness.
Jamie did his best to look as startled as everyone else did, scrambling up in shock as Roy instructed them to get up, and get moving.
He caught Sam’s eyes on him, a deep feeling of want and affection churning in his chest when Sam smiled at him.
“Guess that’s it for beauty sleep!” Sam chuckled, and they both put on their running shoes quickly to comply with their gaffer’s wishes.
"Not like you need it!" Jamie grinned, hopping to his feet, and offering Sam a hand up from the ground, their bodies colliding for the briefest moment as Jamie hauled him up and caught him.
As they got moving, Jamie settled into a familiar comfortable jog, matching Sam’s tempo around the pitch automatically as Roy made them run laps for warm-up. Ten rounds around the pitch were nothing, and he knew Roy probably had way worse in store for them, but that was so very fine by him, especially with the way he caught Sam looking at him, bashful as Jamie had ever seen him whenever Jamie happened to look at the same time.
This was going to be good! This was going to be really good, he just knew it!