Billie had failed to appreciate the joy of living with a sports journalist who could drive until she started working at AFC Richmond. The same housemate who was scheduled for a day of working from home except a morning press conference at Richmond following the victory against Watford.

So rather than walking to work as she did most mornings, she was able to play passenger princess in Alfie's car, which she was particularly grateful for, as she had prepared a small gift for each of the boys, which meant she had an extra bag on her shoulder.

"Have you had any more emails from other journalists since the last wave?" Alfie asked, keeping his eyes on the road as they neared AFC Richmond.

"No," Billie shook her head, grateful for the decrease in messages from strangers asking for the inside scoop on her 'relationship' with Jamie Tartt, who she hadn't seen since their conversation at half time during the Watford match, "I think your journalistic presence scared them off."

"Admit it, my replies were better than yours," Alfie smiled proudly.

"Fuck off would've worked just fine," Billie sighed.

"You really are Roy Kent's sister, aren't you?" Alfie laughed.

"I should hope so," Billie huffed as she glanced down at her phone as an email notification appeared on the screen, she opened it to see that it had been sent by Higgins to all departments, acting as a reminder that Dani Rojas, a new striker was expected to return from injury that morning.

"Have you spoken to him?" Alfie asked as he steered the car into the Richmond car park.

"My brother?" Billie remarked as Alfie reversed into one of the few parking spaces available, "I speak to him all the time."

"You know who I'm talking about, Bils," Alfie sighed and as if on cue they watched Jamie climb out of his slick sports car, "I know what a big deal it was for you to tell him all that stuff."

"Yeah, well it wasn't a big deal to him so it doesn't matter," Billie muttered as she watched Jamie head inside the clubhouse.

After the win against Watford, Billie had returned home to her two best friends who had seen the article. She unloaded everything, telling them what she had told Jamie, which surprised them both, she told them about Brad and the baby, and they drank a lot of wine.

"He's just so frustratingly good at football, and he is capable of being a decent person, it's so fucking annoying," Billie huffed as she kept her eyes on the clubhouse doors where Jamie had disappeared some moments before.

"Billie Kent, is this your way of admitting that you care about Jamie Tartt?" Alfie smirked.

"Fuck no," Billie scoffed as she collected her bags from the footwell of the car and climbed out, "Have a great day at work."

Billie made her way into the clubhouse, walking past the press room which was already filling up with journalists, the busiest she had seen since she'd started the job. She made her way into her office, which was just how she had left it, discarding her camera on the desk.

"Billie," Keeley's voice came with a gentle knock on the open door, Billie looked up to see the woman she had been meaning to reach out to ever since the article had been released, she just hadn't known what words to use, "You alright?"

"Mmhmm," Billie hummed as she sat at her desk, "You?"

"I'm good, did Rebecca tell you she's got me in to do PR for the club?" Keeley asked as she sat opposite Billie, "Me and you'll be able to work on work projects together, that'll be amazing."

"Even after the article?" Billie muttered, feeling guilty, even though she hadn't done anything in particular to warrant guilt.

"I know that article didn't mean anything, Bils," Keeley assured her.

"It wasn't the way they made it seem, nothing happened between us, he just offered to drive me to get my stuff from Brad's when Ted cancelled practice and I know I should've just said no," Billie explained, "But I just really didn't want to be on my own."

"I get it," Keeley smiled reassuringly, having no romantic feelings towards Jamie anymore anyway, "And I know you're not the kind of girl they made you out to be."

"I think the worst part of all this was that he let me see the real Jamie, giving me just a glimpse of what he's actually like without all that bravado," Billie smiled with a bittersweet weight on her shoulders, "Then when we spoke on the day the article came out, he was back to the same old Jamie."

(now I'm not saying that you could've done better just remember that I, I've seen that fire alight)

"The thing about Jamie is he'd rather be alone than hurt," Keeley explained, not that it was something she'd ever talked about with him, it was just something she'd noticed over time, "Whereas you'd rather be hurt than alone."

Keeley paused, looking up at the girl with a knowing smile, the girl who had scratched the surface with Jamie quicker than anyone she'd known, "You and Jamie, you're like two halves, Billie."

"I'm not sure about that, Keels," Billie sighed, choosing not to believe her words.

"I'm right, I'm always right," Keeley grinned as she stood up from her chair, "You'll see it."

Keeley left Billie in her own thoughts, a girl who was confused and consumed by existing in her own brain. She knew that her preferred method of coping was a bottle of wine and all three Bridget Jones movies, but she was at work, so keeping busy with work had to do.

She made her way to the makeshift photography studio that had been set up in the room between Billie's office and the treatment room where she was set to meet Richmond's newest player, Dani Rojas.

"Dani?" She smiled as she entered the room to see a young man dressed in a fresh AFC Richmond training kit sitting on a stool in front of the blue backdrop.

"Mi amiga," He exclaimed as she entered the room, "A pleasure to meet you."

"You too, Mr Rojas, I'm Billie," She replied as she set up her camera, "Management said you already had your club headshots done when you originally arrived, but they want a few new ones to announce your return to the game."

"Excelente!" He gave her a thumbs up as she took a few initial photos, happy with that as an initial pose.

"What do you make of Richmond, Dani?" She asked as she continued to take photos.

"It's very wet, very dull," He sighed.

"Could you fold your arms for me?" She replied, "You happy to be playing again, though?"

"Indeed," He nodded with an enthusiastic smile, "Football is life."

"If you say so, Rojas," Billie grinned, "I need some serious ones now, please."

"I'll try," He laughed as he placed his hands on his hips, trying his hardest not to smile.

"Okay," Billie muttered as she took several photos in quick succession, watching the uncomfortable grimace on Dani's face, assuming that she'd probably end up opting for the happy ones anyway, "All done, you joining the team for training?"

"Not yet," He gestured to his knee, "They want me to have treatment on it."

"Alright," Billie smiled, "I'll see you on the training pitch later."

"Perfecto!" He called out.

After uploading the photos of Dani and sending them over to the communications team for approval Billie made her way into the locker room, knowing that the boys would all be dressed and waiting for Ted to take them out to the training pitch. Under her arm she carried a box full of CDs.

On her day off that followed the match against Watford, Billie had passed her time choosing songs that she felt suited each of the boys. She had always been the sort of person to make playlists for her friends and people she loved and cared about, so rather than make them each their own playlist (which would've taken her a lifetime) she chose one song per player and put it onto its own CD.

Some players had a song that she thought would match their music taste, some had a song by an artist she thought they might like and a few had a song with lyrics that they needed to hear.

"Morning, Billie!" Sam exclaimed from beside Roy as she entered the locker room, still on a high after his winning goal against Watford.

"Morning, Sam, still buzzing?" Billie smiled as she approached him and her brother.

"Absolutely, and thank you for those beautiful photos from the match," He replied, "My dad loved them."

Billie had selected her favourite photos from Sam's goal to post that evening, none of Jamie's just the pure excitement on Sam's face as he ran towards the crowd, then celebrated with Roy and then the rest of the team. She had captioned it 'Sam Obisanya, he's one of our own!' and the fans loved it.

"This is for you," She handed him the blank CD in its case, for Sam she had chosen 'Crown' by Stormzy, because she knew that despite the way Jamie spoke about him he was destined for greater things than he knew, but with those great things came the responsibility of bearing them humbly.

"Oh, thank you, Billie," He smiled graciously.

She turned to her brother as she pulled his disc from the box, "This is a CD, it's like a record except you don't need a gramophone, you can listen to it in your car or at home, pretty wonderful actually."

"Fuck off," Roy huffed with a smile as he took the CD from his sister, looking down at it to see 'Rocket Man - Elton John' scribbled across it in her handwriting.

She made her way around the rest of the team, giving each of them their own CDs, she'd given Colin 'Hall of Fame' by The Script, Isaac got 'The Isle of Arran' by Loyle Carner and the rest of the team got a variation of different indie and rock artists that Billie wanted to introduce them to.

Then there was Jamie, Billie looked down at his CD in her box that sat beside Ted, Nate and Beard's CDs before looking back up at the striker who was the only player still dressed in his own clothes.

"All done," She smiled, keeping her eyes on Jamie, "See you boys on the pitch."

She made her way into the coaches' office, hearing the locker room erupt in hushed 'oohs' as she blatantly snubbed Jamie.

"Lovers' tiff, eh Jamie?" One of the boys called out.

"Watch it." Roy replied sternly.

"Morning, Billie, what's in the box?" Nate smiled as Billie noted Ted's absence.

"Gifts," She smiled, handing Nate his CD which was 'Don't Forget Where You Belong' because she needed an excuse to give at least one person a One Direction song.

"Oh, thank you, Billie, that's lovely," Nate smiled fondly.

"Beard, you're difficult as fuck to choose a song for, so I went with a classic," Billie held out his CD which had LDN by Lily Allen on it.

"Thanks."

"Plan, plan, plan," Ted muttered to himself as he entered the office.

"Word become a sound?" Beard addressed the coach.

"What's that called again?" Ted asked.

"Semantic satiation."

"Billie bought us gifts," Nate told him.

"Oh, that's lovely, it's darn good to see you Billie!" Ted smiled.

"Gift is a strong word," Billie smiled as she handed Ted the CD.

"Oh, who's this Sam Fender fella?" Ted asked as he looked down at the disc.

"He's a singer from Newcastle, they call him the Geordie Springsteen, he sings about a lot of topical issues and has the same sort of saxophonic thing going on, I thought you'd like it." Billie explained.

"Oh, thanks, I'll give that a little listen when I get home," Ted assured her, "Is that new kid from Mexico here yet?"

"He's getting treatment on his knee," Nate replied.

"I just did his new press photos, seems like a nice guy," Billie smiled.

"Okay, good," Ted nodded, "What's his name?"

"Dani Rojas."

"Great name," Ted smiled, "How's Jamie doing?"

Beard and Nate exchanged a look, as Ted and Billie exchanged their own, "What?"

"Says he can't practice today, says he's hurt," Beard sighed, referring to a conversation that must've happened while she was with Dani.

That was all that Ted needed, without a word he headed out into the locker room, beelining for Jamie. Beard and Nate watched through the office window while Billie leant against the open door.

"Jamie," Ted spoke as the players surrounding Jamie dispersed, "I heard you're not gonna be able to run with us today, that true?"

"Yep." Jamie smirked.

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm hurt." Jamie answered, not that anyone in the room believed him.

"Really sorry to hear that," Ted nodded before walking back towards the office.

"Relax, Ted," Jamie scoffed, "It's just practice."

(tell me the truth, tell me, do you still remember feelin' young and strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people?)

Ted came to a stop before pacing back towards Jamie, "Hey, if you can't practice, you can't practice, if you're hurt, you're hurt, it's as simple as that...but it ain't about that, at all."

Jamie glanced around the room, no doubt grateful for the attention.

"You're sitting in here, you're supposed to be the franchise player," Ted told him, "And yet here we are, talking about you missing practice, we're talking about practice, not a game, not the game you go out there and die for, right? Play every weekend like it's your last, right?"

Billie glanced over at her brother who was incredibly wrapped up in the interaction between the striker and the coach, no doubt intrigued by Ted's surprising ability to hold the room.

"No, we're talking about practice, man, you know you're supposed to be out there, you know you're supposed to lead by example, you're just shoving that all aside, so here we're are Jamie, talking about practice, not the game" Ted continued as Jamie simply smirked at him, "With your team, with your teammates."

"The only place we get to play together, we got control over, rest of the time it's us eleven against those eleven, we're talking about practice, man!" Ted exclaimed, "And you can't do it 'cause you're hurt."

Jamie looked dejected, like he'd been put back in his place, like a child whose parents had laid into them for something they didn't even know they'd done.

"It's fine by me," Ted told him as Billie took a seat beside Roy, "Tell you what, do me a favour, set up the cones so the other reserves can do a little passing drill."

"You want me to set up cones?" Jamie remarked as Ted walked back towards the office.

"I really appreciate it!" Ted gave him a thumbs up as the rest of the team laughed to themselves.

"Colin," Jamie called out, "go set the cones up."

"I think he asked you, mate," Isaac spoke up for his friend.

"Was I talking to you, big man?" Jamie quipped as Billie looked to her brother who was wondering whether he needed to step in, "Colin, set up the cones."

Colin and Isaac had it under control, "Isaac's right, he asked you, you are a second teamer."

The team laughed to themselves again, and Jamie seemed slighted as they all walked out of the room, all except Roy who was sitting beside his sister.

"Oh, that's gotta sting," Roy smirked, turning to the striker, "Cheers."

Billie watched as her brother left the room, looking over to the office where Nate was still watching the chaos unfold with glee in his eyes, as though he had been waiting for Jamie to be put in his place just as long as Billie had been waiting for a One Direction reunion.

Jamie and Billie were sat just over a metre apart, but as far as Billie was concerned they may as well have been in separate dimensions. She looked over at him to see that he was already looking at her with a pained stare.

Billie didn't have any words for him, so she left, she walked straight back into her office without a word.

"Are you in a mood with me?" She looked up to see Jamie walking into her office.

"Hmm?" She hummed as though she didn't know what he meant.

"Well normally you would've served me about twelve clap backs by now." Jamie remarked as he approached her desk.

"I just concluded that you get off on the attention, so ignoring you makes my life easier and pushes your buttons more than my words do." She smirked, even though it hadn't necessarily been her plan she realised that it was the best way to handle him as she watched Ted lay into him about practice.

"Can you just say something to wind me up?" He huffed, "The whole silence thing is freaking me out."

"You don't like the silence?" Billie raised her eyebrows as she walked around her desk to stand opposite him.

"Nope."

"Listen to that." She handed him the CD that had his name on it before walking out of the room with her camera. The truth was she could've made him a whole playlist of songs that he needed to hear, songs that would tell him what she thought and what the world thought, but the one she gave him was the one that stuck. She just hoped he would hear it the same way she did.

(just for tonight look inside and spark that memory of you, strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people)

Training went better than anyone could have expected, Dani settled in far quicker than the coaches imagined he would, the rest of the team loved him, well, except Jamie. Billie could imagine what it must be like to see someone else in your position, playing the way that your coach had been wanting you to play, and she could see the way it got under Jamie's skin.

Neither of them had spoken since she gave him the CD, she didn't really have anything to say, and she didn't need him for photo opportunities during training because he was out on an 'injury'.

But that didn't stop her from staying out on the training pitch once training was over. She stood on the sideline, leaning against the railings as she watched Jamie collect the cones and footballs, a solitary man doing a solitary task.

"Senora Billie, you join me?" Dani appeared at her side with a football at his feet.

She glanced over at Jamie and then back at Dani, who looked at her like a raven haired golden retriever who she could hardly say no to, even if she'd been attempting to avoid Jamie.

"Sure," she nodded as he kicked the ball up into his hands and threw to her, watching as she quickly caught it.

As they approached Jamie she watched him glance down at the football and then at the goal, kicking the ball and watching as it hit the crossbar, just as he wanted, the way boys in the playground at school used to do to show off. But there was nothing about what Jamie did that felt like showing off, if anything it felt sad.

"Wow!" Dani exclaimed, "That was on purpose, yes?"

"Yeah," Jamie huffed, glancing briefly at Billie and then back at Dani, "Look, mate, you're good, but up here there's a difference between good and great."

Dani took one of the balls from the bag that lay beside the stacked cones, placing it on the floor before he ran and kicked it, clinking the crossbar.

"One-one, your turn, amigo," Dani smiled at Jamie before turning to Billie, "Why don't you join his team? Mexico versus England, it'll be fun!"

"Oh, I'm not sure...I'm not a footballer," Billie rambled.

"Come on, Billie," Jamie smirked, playfully rather than tauntingly, "It'll be fun."

"Fine," She tossed him the ball, watching as he caught it with ease before placing it on the grass and kicking it at the crossbar, once again hitting it with ease.

Dani did the same, hitting the crossbar with ease, "Si, Senor!"

"Fuck's sake." Jamie exclaimed, his competitive nature getting the better of him.

"Billie, it's your turn!" Dani told her.

"Oh, I couldn't, I'll just watch you two," Billie replied.

"I think you'll find it's your ball, Kent," Jamie smirked, kicking a ball to her which she instinctively stopped with her foot.

"When I inevitably trip or fall, don't laugh, okay?" She sighed before taking a few steps back and kicking the ball with as much power as she could, watching as it skimmed the top of the crossbar, "That counts, right?"

"Of course it counts." Jamie answered before Dani could interject.

"Yes, amigos," Dani clapped his hands together before kicking a ball at the crossbar.

"Right, watch this, left post," Jamie huffed, kicking the ball with ease and hitting the left post.

"Wow," Dani exhaled, "That was good."

"I know." Jamie nodded as Dani kicked another ball and hit the crossbar.

Jamie took his next go and kicked the ball, missing the crossbar as he hit the back of the net instead. Dani followed, hitting the crossbar with precision.

"I got lucky!" Dani exclaimed, "Again tomorrow, Jamie Tartt?"

"We'll see," Jamie pouted.

"Football is life!" Dani exclaimed before running back towards the clubhouse, "Na, na, na, na Dani Rojas!"

"Admit it," Billie smiled at Jamie as the wind tangled itself in her hair, "You enjoyed that."

"No," Jamie scoffed, "I just weren't gonna let him win."

"But he did win," Billie smirked, watching as Jamie rolled his eyes with a smile.

"I was being hospitable." Jamie quipped.

"When I was at school the boys would spend the whole lunch break trying to hit the crossbar, and they'd make the girls watch as if it were the most impressive thing we'd seen," Billie told him.

"And did it impress you?" Jamie asked.

"You want to know what impressed me?" Billie smirked as she stepped closer to him.

"I'm listening."

"Two things, boys who weren't embarrassed to admit they listen to One Direction, and boys who could admit when they were wrong," She smiled, pursing her lips with raised eyebrows.

"You think I'm in the wrong?" Jamie frowned.

"You tell me," Billie answered as she shoved her hands into her pockets.

"They're just trying to mess with my head, bringing this new striker in when I'm injured," Jamie sulked.

"You're not injured."

"You a physio now?"

"Touché."

"Anyway, I'm Jamie Tartt, I'm not like everyone else," He remarked, reminding her that the same old Jamie was still there, "Do you think that I could've got from a council estate in North Manchester to the Premier League if I did what everyone else did?"

(now, if happiness is always measured by the life you design, that car on the drive then you should feel better than ever, but you know as well as I, it's all lies)

"No, I don't," Billie answered, "But my brother managed it, you might think he's a prick, but it's because he had to be, he also knows when to switch it off and back on again."

"What are you talking about?" Jamie remarked, even though he knew that Roy Kent had come from humble beginnings, he was a fan when he was a kid, of course he knew.

"We grew up on the shittest council estate in South London, stabbings, muggings, drug raids, you name it, but that didn't stop my brother, if anything it lit a fire inside of him, that fire that's inside you too," Billie explained, "He wasn't there when I was born, he had his place on Sunderland's Under 18s, and he could've easily come home or moved to a more local team like Crystal Palace, but he didn't, because that would've given our parents an extra mouth to feed."

Billie glanced up at Jamie, "He left home at nine years old and he never came back, not really, that whole hard man Roy Kent routine, that's not real, that's not Roy, the same way that this," She gestured up and down to him, "Isn't the real Jamie."

Jamie stared at her in disbelief, not exactly knowing what to say, because he had never realised just how much Roy Kent had sacrificed to do the thing he loved.

"You're a battler Jamie," Billie nudged him with her elbow, "But maybe someday you should stop battling the people that just wanna help you."

author's note: for anyone who's interested jamie's song is fearless by louis tomlinson (it's so him in season one)
also obsessed with giving billie the same music taste as me tehehe

please vote, comment and all that lovely stuff! it means the world x