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billie_kent: not a lot going on at the moment

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alfiesykes98: I've never looked so good

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The last thing that Billie wanted to see so early in the morning was Jamie Tartt lingering in the hallway with his girlfriend, Keeley Jones. She hadn't spent enough time with Keeley to form an opinion on the woman, but she was pretty sure that the view she had on Jamie was accurate, despite how good he was at football.

"Morning, Billie," Jamie smirked at her as she passed the pair in the hallway.

"Hi," Billie sighed as she continued walking towards her office.

"We still on for that photoshoot later?" Jamie asked, and Billie turned around with a carefree smile as though it were nothing, as though she hadn't spent most of Sunday sitting on the sofa with Madison, Alfie and Phoebe, watching Shrek while she scrolled through various photos for inspiration. She hoped that having a clear vision for the shoot would at least make the experience less painful.

"Sure," Billie smiled with fake enthusiasm before disappearing into her office.

She dumped her bag on the desk, retrieving her laptop and camera, ready for another day of training. Her plan was to get some video content that day, and to get a feel for which players might be ideal for different content ideas, she'd already concluded that Sam Obisanya would be perfect for a day in the life video.

"Hey," Keeley stood in the doorway, "Would I be able to ask your professional media opinion on something?"

"Sure," Billie nodded, watching as the blonde woman closed the door behind her before approaching the desk with her phone in her hand.

"What the fuck do I do about this?" Keeley held up her phone, showing Billie a photo of her and Ted, and while there was nothing objectively salacious about the image, Billie knew that the tabloids would have a field day with something like that, "My friend who works at The Sun said he can hold it for a day."

"Do you know who took it?" Billie asked, knowing that tabloids pay photographers a substantial amount of money for a photo like that.

"One of those paps who wait outside my house probably," Keeley sighed, "Jamie will lose his shit if he sees this, what do you think I should do?"

"Have you shown this to Ted?" Billie replied.

"Not yet," Keeley muttered, "I figured I'd ask you for your opinion first, as a woman who works in the media, and the girlfriend of Bradley Barker."

Billie looked up at Keeley, feeling the same anxious pit looming in her stomach that she always felt when someone mentioned what Bradley liked to get up to in his spare time. She knew that people believed that she was stupid and weak to stay with a man who walked over her so easily, but it wasn't as simple as that for her.

"Sorry, I don't mean-"

"It's okay," Billie assured her with a tentative smile, "We should really find Ted, let him know what's happening."

Billie and Keeley promptly made their way out of the Kent girl's small office in search of Ted. Despite the looming photos that hung over her head, Keeley felt more concerned for Billie than much else. Being around seven years older than the brunette she'd had her fair share of difficult relationships and she knew better than most how hard it could be to face up to the truth. It would be easy for someone to tell Billie she deserved better, but first Billie needed to believe it herself.

"Ted!" Keeley called out as she laid eyes on the man walking towards them, "Have you got a moment?"

"Hey, two cool women, like Thelma and Louise," Ted grinned at them both, "What can I do for you ladies?"

"This was gonna be the front page of The Sun today," Keeley muttered as she held up her phone, displaying the photo of her and Ted, "Manager Shags Star Player's Girlfriend."

"I think a more accurate headline would be, Manager Innocently Feeds Young Woman Whose Relationship Does Not Define Her." Ted attempted to reason with Keeley.

"Ted, this is really bad!" Keeley hissed.

"She's right, it's quite bad," Billie added, "The UK tabloids will latch onto anything, they once papped my brother walking past a Mothercare store and started spreading rumours that he was having a baby."

"That seems dramatic." Ted sighed.

"Exactly, so this photo will be like giving a dog a bone straight from the Sunday roast," Billie told him.

"I do look insanely fit in the picture though," Keeley added.

"You do." Billie nodded.

"Yeah, no, it's a beautiful light." Ted agreed awkwardly.

"My friend who works at the paper said he can hold this story for one day as a favour," Keeley whispered, "When this shit hits, Jamie is going to go mental, there'll be photographers all over us."

"Right, right."

"The next photo of me will not be this perfect," Keeley told them both, "I'll be mid-sneeze face at best."

"Yeah, that's not good," Billie agreed.

"Guess what the headline will be." Keeley asked them both.

"Gesundheit?"

"Jamie's Tart Breaks Tartt's Heart," Keeley told them.

"Did you just come up with that?" Ted replied, clearly impressed.

"Yeah."

That was pretty good," Billie added, "Everyone would read that."

"Of course they would, the power of rhyming in this goddamn country is something else." Keeley muttered, "Lasso Makes Passo and Creates Team Fiasco."

"Woah, Keeley's got bars," Ted nodded, clearly impressed.

"Yeah, I am cute as a button and I can rhyme my ass off," Keeley replied in agreement, "It's no wonder they want to destroy me."

"I think we got to take this to the big boss upstairs," Billie sighed.

"God?"

"No, Rebecca."

"Same difference." Ted replied.

The unlikely trio swiftly made their way upstairs, led by Ted, who as always stopped to greet every person they passed in the hall.

"Hey boss," He smiled as he knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Ted! And Keeley, and Billie, hello!" Rebecca exclaimed as Higgins stood beside her desk.

"We found that in the hall," Ted smiled, handing a briefcase to Higgins, "We got ourselves a situation here."

"Show her the picture, Keeley," Billie sighed, encouraging the blonde woman to step forward.

"See? The fucking Sun is running it tomorrow," Keeley huffed.

"Honestly, these people, they just have no regard for people's privacy or dignity," Rebecca sighed.

"I'm gonna find the piece of shit that took this and who hired them," Keeley exclaimed.

"No, no, not necessary," Rebecca assured the woman, "I know the owner of the paper, I can get this stopped with a phone call."

"Really?" Keeley gasped, "Oh my God, thank you!"

"See, what did I tell you?" Ted grinned, "This woman right here is strong, confident and powerful, Boss, I'd hate to see you and Michelle Obama arm wrestle, but I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off it either."

"Oh, that's not a compliment I've had before," Rebecca smiled awkwardly.

"You do have perfect action figure-y arms," Keeeleu added in agreement.

"There's another one," Rebecca muttered, "Anyway, glad to help."

☆ ☆ ☆

"What's the plan, Stan?" Billie smiled as she joined Ted, Coach Beard and Nate at the side of the training pitch, camera hanging from her neck.

"We're about to run a trick play using Jamie as a decoy," Ted explained, "Nate's idea."

"You're using Jamie Tartt as a decoy?" Billie raised her eyebrows in intrigue.

"You think it's a bad idea don't you?" Nate panicked, "Lets just scrap it now, stick with what we had before."

"Nate," Billie smirked, "I think its a fucking great idea, humble that prick."

"Spoken like a true Kent." Ted nodded in approval as the players lined up to carry out the trick play, "Billie, you'll want to get that camera fired up, in less than a minute there's going to be some very happy boys at that end of the picture."

"Got it, Coach," She saluted him before jogging down the sideline towards the goal.

"Okay, here we go, Sam lays it for Dickson," Beard muttered, "Okay, nice touch."

"Switch to Bumbercatch," He continued as Billie readied herself alongside the goal, "Jamie decoys through, Sam wide open-"

"There it is!" Ted exclaimed as Sam, Richard and Bumbercatch ran towards where Billie was standing, jumping up and down in jubilation as she snapped multiple pictures of them, capturing them as a team united, well a team united beside from Jamie who watched on with a hard stare.

"Billie, did you see that?" Sam exclaimed as he sped towards her with a beaming smile while she continued to take photos of him before letting go of the camera and allowing it to hang around her neck.

"It was pretty impressive, Sam," Billie grinned as she wrapped the young man in a hug.

Ted blew his whistle as he paced towards the team, "Alright, hey, nice work, okay, gentlemen, here's the other thing we're gonna start focusing on, making quicker transitions from offence to defence, y'all gotta start making your hellos your goodbyes, understand?" The team stared at him with blank faces, "Easiest way to get that done is to do it well, aside from that you gotta be in great shape, so we are all gonna run two laps around this field, anyone who loses to me has to run four more, that goes for you too, Billie, let's go!"

Billie didn't exactly know what she had to do with the exercise, given that she was there in a media capacity, but she took the opportunity nevertheless, discarding her camera and running after Ted and Beard alongside the rest of the team. She was grateful for her choice to wear an outfit similar to what she'd worn at the Crystal Palace match, as she wasn't restricted by jeans.

"You tired, old man?" Bille huffed as she ran along beside her brother in the front half of the pack, her brother's competitive nature that had rubbed off on her over the years coming through.

"Fuck off!" Roy grunted as he kept his eyes on the back of Jamie's head, desparate to prove himself against the childlike prick.

"Must be tough, not having youth on your side," Billie smirked, and as much as Roy would never admit it, he didn't hate it, he didn't hate the jibes from his younger sister because it felt as though it made up for everything he'd missed while she was growing up. Although he was there for the big events like sports days and graduation, he missed the less significant moments, like when she lost her first tooth or the family holidays spent running down the beach in the British seaside town of Margate. Those were the glimpses of his sister that he loved the most, when she was completely herself, and her being at his club felt like an opportunity to make up for lost time.

"You might be sixteen years younger than me but I'm still more athletic," Billie teased, "Did you forget I represented my school in county cross country?"

Roy watched as his sister sped off towards the front of the pack, her words proving just how much he had missed while she was growing up. He had always assumed that the only clubs she did after school were dance and drama, cross country had completely slipped his mind. It also seemed that she must've kept up with training in the three years she spent at university in Manchester, given that she was able to keep up with Premier League footballers.

As they came to the final half of the last lap Coach Beard and Ted had fallen towards the back half of the pack, while the younger players like Isaac and Jamie led from the front.

"Where'd you learn to run like that?" Colin asked through heavy breaths as he ran beside Billie.

"Cross country at school," Billie told him, "From the age of eleven."

"I'm impressed, you've given half of them a run for their money," Colin smiled.

"No one's beating Tartt or McAdoo though," Billie huffed, gesturing towards the two players at the front of the group.

"I've been conserving my energy, you wanna wind them up?" Colin suggested.

"I'll never say no," Billie laughed.

"On my back, quick!" Colin told her, slowing down to allow Billie to grab onto his shoulders, using his hands to haul her onto his slim frame, "Ready?"

"Go for it, captain," Billie nodded as Colin picked up speed, using all his strength to speed straight past the other players towards the front of the group that had used all the energy in the first half of the run, meaning they were getting fatigued and their muscles were starting to ache.

"Coming through!" Colin shouted as the pair sped past the group who had all proceeded to slow down to see what was happening.

"Nicely done, Kent and Hughes!" Ted called out as the pair breezed past Jamie who had slowed down out of utter confusion.

"What the fuck?" Jamie muttered to himself as he sped up, running alongside Colin and Billie as they neared the goalpost.

"You know what they say, Tartt?" Billie smirked at him.

"What do they say, Kent?" Jamie huffed.

"Save a horse, ride a footballer," She saluted before her and Colin came to a halt beside the goalpost.

"Hughes!" Roy's voice echoed across the pitch, "Put my sister down!"

"Right," Colin scrambled to let Billie down from his back, "He won't kill me, will he?"

"No chance," Billie nudged him with her elbow.

"Nicely done, team," Ted smiled as he joined the team, "Great teamwork, Colin, way to support Billie out there like that."

"She ain't even part of the team though, Coach," Jamie spoke up as the group came together, the words stung Billie, not because she valued Jamie's opinion, but because it reminded her of how she'd felt at school, not ever really fitting into one box.

"I think you'll find she is, Jamie," Ted told him, "Just as much as Higgins or Nate, she makes you all look good in those photos she takes, but I suppose she did make you look pretty out of shape in that run just now."

"She did cross country at school, Coach," Colin announced to the group.

"Snap, so did Coach Beard." Ted remarked.

"Tenth grade champion, baby!" Coach Beard exclaimed.

☆ ☆ ☆

The locker room was buzzing with energy once training had finished. Billie found a seat at the end of Ted's desk to quickly export the photos from the day's training session, knowing that she'd want a clear memory card for her shoot with Jamie. She was so focused on the task in front of her that she hadn't noticed the way Isaac and Colin were messing around with Nate, or the way that Jamie smirked as he watched on.

"Hey, Billie, how are those photos looking?" Ted asked as he returned to the comfort of his desk, Beard doing the same.

"Pretty good, got some great ones from when Sam scored that goal using Nate's play," She told him, spinning her laptop to show him.

"Oh, that is a beautiful image, looks like a depiction of pure unbridled joy, nice work," Ted smiled, retrieving a small parcel wrapped in brown paper from his desk drawer, "I got the boys a little something, so I thought I'd get something for you too, given that you're a part of our team."

Billie knew that Ted's words were an effort to make up for what Jamie had said during training, and she appreciated the effort, and although Jamie's words didn't sting so much anymore, she was just frustrated that she would have to spend a prolonged amount of time with him that afternoon.

"Thanks, Coach," Billie smiled, tearing away the paper to see a book titled, Alice In Wonderland, a story she had only ever seen as a film when she was younger, "Please don't think of me as ungrateful but did you choose this because I'm a woman?"

"Your gender is just one of many of the other themes and nuances that appear throughout the book that made me choose it, that's all," Ted smiled as Roy knocked on the office door, "Hey."

"I just thought you should know that your boy Nathan is being harassed every single day by Jamie and his little side pricks," Roy told Ted with evident frustration in his voice.

"Right." Ted nodded.

"So you know already?" Roy remarked.

"Yep."

"So, you'll take care of it?" Roy replied, glancing at his sister in the hope that she might back him up.

"No."

"What the fuck?" Roy muttered.

"Roy, I learned two pretty big lessons on the rough and tumble playgrounds of Brookridge Elementary School," Ted began to explain, "One, if little Ronnie Fowch offers you a candy bar, you immediately say no and get the hell out of there, cause theres a good chance that little son of a gun has just pooped inside of a Butterfinger wrapper. No one ever saw him do it, but a couple people ate it," Ted continued to explain as Beard and Billie watched on in intrigue, "Number two, if the teacher tells the bully not to pick on someone, it's just gonna make it worse."

"So, you're not gonna do anything?" Roy sighed.

"No." Ted replied before Roy promptly left the room in a huff.

"Why are you winding him up?" Beard remarked.

"He's the one, Coach," Ted smiled, "If we're gonna make an impact here, the first domino that needs to fall is right inside that man's heart."

"You want me to do a bit of old fashion sibling guilt tripping?" Billie asked, hoping Ted would say yes.

"No, it's alright, but I appreciate you." Ted smiled.

☆ ☆ ☆

"I'm ready for me close up," Jamie's voice echoed down the corridor as Billie sat at her desk, finalising the Instagram post for that evening. She looked up to see Jamie leaning against the doorway dressed in a tracksuit with that annoying cap with 'Icon' printed on it, "What are you doing?"

"Working, I'll just be a couple of minutes," Billie told him as she looked over the ten or so photos she had selected from the day's training session.

"I'm a busy man, Billie," Jamie huffed in frustration.

"So am I, the quicker you let me get this done the sooner I'll be ready," She sighed, "By all means, take a seat if you're tired."

Jamie made his way towards her desk, sitting in the armchair across from her, kicking his feet up on the edge of the desk, "What exactly is it that takes you so long?"

"I edit the photos before I post them so they don't look shit, and it helps the account look cohesive," Billie explained as she finished uploading the final images into Instagram, "The hardest part is choosing a caption."

"Back to work," Jamie replied blankly, "For the caption."

"Thanks," Billie smiled awkwardly, typing the words into her laptop before hitting post, "You'll be pleased to know you're in the second photo on this one."

"Not the first?" Jamie answered, reminding Billie just how intent he was on building a brand.

"I'm afraid you have to do something first photo worthy for that," Billie explained as she grabbed her cameras, "Sam had you over a barrel with that decoy pass earlier."

"I shouldn't be a fucking decoy, I'm Jamie Tartt," He muttered as he followed her out of the office and along the corridor towards the training pitch.

Billie had concluded that for the sake of ease they'd shoot some photos in the stands and on the pitch. She'd seen multiple examples in recent editorial campaigns combining high fashion and football culture.

They reached the training pitch and Billie could tell that Jamie was confused as to why they were taking photos in the place he spent most of his day running around and kicking footballs.

"Are we not using a studio or something?" Jamie asked as he followed her up the steps of the stands, past the rows of seats until she came to a stop.

"No, we're not," She smiled, "Sit down there."

She watched as Jamie took a seat five seats along the row before she made her way down to the row of seats two in front of him, switching on her camera and adjusting her settings.

"What's the point in taking photos in these seats?" Jamie asked, leading Billie to realise that the best option would be to at least explain her vision to Jamie.

"Right," She sighed, climbing over the two rows of plastic chairs before taking a seat beside Jamie, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Jamie watched as she opened her phone, noticing the photobooth pictures of Billie and Phoebe on her home screen before she pulled up her inspiration photos, "I've taken inspiration from some high fashion shoots, if you're wanting to build a brand, people need to see you where they recognise you, but also in a different light, so wearing you own clothes in a footballing environment is actually pretty ideal."

"You want me to do high fashion?" Jamie pouted, confused by Billie's plan.

"I think this style will work, trust me, I have a degree in this shit," Billie assured him before climbing down two rows again, "Do you need music or anything?"

"Sure, why not," Jamie muttered as Billie opened Spotify on her phone and hit play on her liked songs before placing her phone on the floor.

"Ready, Tartt?"

"Blur?" Jamie remarked with a disapproving face.

"What's wrong with Blur?" She sighed, the sound of Girls & Boys by Blur played out of her phone.

"Oasis are better," Jamie quipped.

"You're only saying that because you're from Manchester," Billie replied as she held her camera up to her eye, looking at Jamie through the viewfinder as he leant forward, resting his arms on his knees, gazing off into the distance with a sulky yet moody smoulder, "Hold that."

Jamie did as she said and held the pose as he heard the camera flash click over the sound of Blur, who he remained adamant were inferior to Oasis or anyone else in the britpop era.

"Now look at me," She instructed him, keeping her camera to her eye as she continued to snap photos while Jamie maintained his hard stare with a clenched jaw, "Any chance of a smile?"

"Only 'cause you asked so nicely," He smirked, holding a cocky grin while keeping his gaze on Billie and her camera.

"Now lean back with your arms on the seats next to you," Billie instructed him as he promptly followed her instructions, deciding to embrace his cockiness and brash personality for the sake of the photoshoot, rather than deciding to suppress it, "You can do straight faced again."

Jamie nodded as he leant back into the seats with his original smoulder, manspreading as he stared straight into the lens as Billie continued to snap multiple photos, changing her positioning to get as many shots as possible.

The pair spent about another hour taking photos in various areas of the training ground. Billie had Jamie stand beside the goalpost, lean against a wall with his foot pressed up against it while looking down at the camera. Considering that she hadn't shot portrait style photography in a sports environment before she was pretty content with the outcome.

"Right, I think we've got a good amount of photos," Billie smiled as she let her camera hang around her neck, "I'll edit them tonight and send some over to you as soon as I can."

"Cool, you can just send me your bank details and I'll send you the money," Jamie told her.

"How'd you suppose I do that?" Billie asked, given that it was hardly secure to just send them over Instagram messages.

"You got a pen?" He replied as she pulled a biro from her pocket, handing it to him.

Jamie took a hold of her hand, writing down his phone number, even though he wasn't entirely sure why he had memorised it. Billie noticed how warm his skin was compared to hers as he held onto her hand while he finished writing his phone number.

"Just don't give it to anyone else, last month I had to change my number 'cause some nutter kept calling to tell me that he was in me walls." Jamie told her as he let go of her hand.

"You sure it wasn't my brother?" Billie smirked.

"Does that old man even know how to operate a phone?" Jamie remarked as they began walking back towards the car park.

"Remains to be seen."

author's note: i love writing them (i've been binge writing this book so expect new chapters soon!!!)

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