When Billie left work anticipating a night at home watching Gossip Girl with Madison the last thing she expected was a message from Sam telling her that the whole team was needed in the treatment room in order to reverse a curse. She later found out that in order to reverse the curse everyone was bringing something very dear to them that they could offer to the 'spirits'.

She didn't necessarily believe in the idea of spirits and curses but she was willing to help the team in their hour of need, and the first thing that came to mind was in a place that she hadn't been since she moved to university when she was eighteen.

The place she called her childhood home.

Despite not having been back to the place in almost four years she still had her key on the same key ring as her own keys for the flat she shared with Alfie and Madison, the flat she made her home.

"Hello?" She called out as she entered the flat, the same flat that her parents had lived in since Roy was able to buy them a better one than where they first lived.

"Billie?" She heard the familiar sound of her father's voice, her father who she hadn't seen since her graduation in the summer.

With a heavy sigh Billie made her way into the living room where her dad was sitting on the sofa, wearing pyjamas and watching reruns of Only Fools and Horses, "You alright, Dad?"

"Yeah," He nodded, keeping his eyes on the TV screen, "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to get some of my old stuff for my flat," She explained, toying with the teddy bear keyring she had won on a trip to Brighton with Phoebe.

"I saw what they said about you in The Sun," Her Dad replied, not even giving her the courtesy of eye contact, "Your brother said it's not true."

"It's not, well most of it," Billie sighed, "The bit about breaking up with Brad, that's true."

"I never was keen on you dating a Chelsea player, should've stuck with West Ham," He muttered, which didn't surprise Billie, given that her father had always made his club allegiance known, "That Declan Rice is on good form."

"Dad, I'm not dating anyone at the moment," Billie sighed in defeat.

"What about Jamie Tartt?" Her father asked as though Roy hadn't told him the article was untrue.

"Where's Mum?" She diverted the question, even though her mother would be equally as unimpressed by her presence.

"Out."

"With her man friend?" Billie sighed as she leant against the doorframe, her father looking up at her for the first time, "I know you're seeing other people, you were doing it while I was a kid, and I thought that's what everyone's parents did."

"She's at work."

"And you?" Billie asked, "Have you been working?"

"I have as it goes," He mumbled, "At least one person in this room has a proper job."

"I do have a proper job, Dad, I texted you when I got it," Billie sighed.

"But you wouldn't have got it if it weren't for your brother," It was at that point she realised her father had been day drinking, not that he was violent, he'd never been violent, he just looked like a mess, "What have you got to show for yourself? Your brother's a Premier League footballer and your sister is a qualified doctor, and you're just taking photos of sweaty footballers."

"I'm not doing this," Billie huffed before making her way into her childhood bedroom, a room that remained untouched since the day she moved out.

All she ever wanted as a child was to be seen by her parents. They saw her siblings and their achievements, but she always felt forgotten. Deep down she knew that it wasn't her own fault, the fault lay with her parents for their failure to raise her with love.

She knelt on the floor beside her old bed, pulling out one of the few boxes left under the bed. As she opened the box she saw what she'd been looking for, the thing she needed for the curse reverse. She shoved it in her bag along with some photos before deciding that she had spent more than enough time in South London for one day.

All it took was one quick train from South London back to Richmond and then a brisk walk to Nelson Road before Billie stood amongst the Richmond players beside her brother, Roy in the dimly lit treatment room.

"Gentlemen, I am, by nature, a believer, ghosts, spirit guides, aliens, still, I can't actually tell you what lives beyond our physical world and what doesn't," Ted addressed the whole team as they stood around a metal barrel, well the whole team except Jamie and Rebecca, "What I can tell you is that with the exception of the wit and wisdom of Calvin and Hobbes, not much lasts forever."

As Ted paused the training room door opened and the boys parted as Rebecca walked into the room. Billie was quick to notice a change in the boys' posture as she entered, the way she held a room with such class and attention.

"Hey boss, glad you could join us," Ted smiled.

"Hello, yeah."

"Roy, why don't you get things started for us?" Ted looked to the oldest Kent sibling who seemed hesitant, but knew as captain it was his responsibility to lead by example.

Roy stepped forward holding a blanket that Billie had only seen on a few occasions, "I was nine when I got scouted by Sunderland, and I'd never left London before, my granddad drove me all the way there, and it was freezing, and I was terrified."

Some of the boys laughed. Billie didn't.

"I was fucking nine, say something," Roy addressed the room who quickly quietened, "When I got there, he gave me this old blanket, he said it was to keep me warm and to remind me of home and that was the last time I saw him, 'cause he'd passed away by the time I got back for Christmas, so...that is why blankie means so much to me."

"Did you just say 'blankie'?" Isaac grinned.

"No, I said blanket, conversation over, Sam, go," Roy quipped as he tossed the blanket into the empty barrel before stepping back beside his sister.

"This is a picture of the 1994 Nigerian World Cup team," Sam showed the room the framed photo, "I pledged I wouldn't take this down until I made the team myself, and I still intend to do that."

Sam added his frame to the mix.

"This sand is from a beach in St Barts," Richard held up a glass bottle of sand before pouring the contents into the barrel, "This is the first beach where I ever slept with a supermodel."

"Smile because it happened," Colin comforted him.

"Sam and Richard coming at you from both ends of the spectrum there," Ted sighed, "Appreciate that."

Nate sacrificed a pair of aviator sunglasses, Colin let go of the key to his Lamborghini without thought for his route home, Isaac parted ways with the only pen he could write his name with.

Without a word Rebecca tossed a copy of the day's paper into the barrel.

"Is that today's paper?" Ted asked.

"There's something in there about me, as usual, and I'm trying not to care," Rebecca told the room, "Fuck the haters."

"Well said," Billie smiled as the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"This is my cat's collar, she was a faithful companion for twenty years," Higgins told the room, "Gonna miss you Cindy Clawford."

"Billie?" Ted smiled at the girl with reassurance, the only known person in the room who hadn't added anything to the barrel, "You got something for us?"

"Yeah," Billie nodded as she stepped towards the barrel, "This is a photo of me and my brother at one of his Sunderland matches when I was two years old and this is the shirt I wore on the day."

Billie showed the room the tiny shirt with the number six on the back and 'Kent' printed across the back. She also held up the photo taken by a photographer as Roy walked the pitch at the end of the season with his little sister sitting on his shoulders waving at the crowd.

"My big brother was sixteen when I was born, so I didn't see much of him while I was growing up," Billie explained, not daring to look at her brother as she focused her gaze on the barrel, "I didn't care about football, but I loved watching him play. He also secretly wanted a baby brother, which is how the name Billie stuck."

The boys laughed in fondness.

"You try having two sisters and being the only brother," Roy defended himself with a slight grin.

"When it came to his move to the Premier League, it wasn't just Chelsea who offered him a contract, Liverpool and Newcastle wanted him too, but he chose Chelsea, because it was closest to home." Billie explained, worried that she had been dragging on, but when she looked up at the team they were all listening intently.

"Home has always been a strange word to me, and I've never had the simplest relationship with it," Billie sighed, thinking back to the conversation with her father that day, "But it's taken me a long time to realise that it doesn't matter where you are, it's the people you surround yourself with that makes a place a home."

Billie tossed the shirt and the photo into the barrel before stepping back to her place in the circle, welcomed by her brother who wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side with a gentle squeeze.

"Nicely said, Billie," Ted smiled, "Alright, everybody go?"

Everybody nodded in agreement, everybody except one.

"No, I wanna go," The crowd behind Ted parted and Jamie stepped forward. Billie hadn't heard him come in, but from the solemn look on his face he'd heard every word of what she said.

Jamie stepped up to the barrel holding a pair of football boots, "These aren't me first boots or anything, my mum gave 'em me, she was the one who got me into football in the first place."

Billie thought that Jamie's mother sounded like a great woman from the little she knew of her.

"Her and me dad split up when I was just a sexy little baby," Jamie explained, "She's the reason I work so hard, just wanted to make her proud, she doesn't even care if I'm any good, just wants me to be happy, be a good lad."

Billie felt her brother's embrace tighten as Jamie continued to talk, "Once I got good though, me old man started showing up, didn't he? Bragging to his mates every time I scored a goal, calling me soft if I didn't dominate, you know...and I hated that, I actually fucking hated that."

As she watched Jamie, Billie's heart ached for the young Jamie Tartt who only wanted to make his mother proud despite his father's influence. And it ached even more as she let her eyes linger on the twenty three year old who continued to carry the burden.

"So, I made a vow to be so tough that he could never call me soft again," Jamie told the room, keeping his eyes on the barrel, "I wonder if sometimes I forget about making her proud, I don't think that she would be lately."

As he uttered those last words he looked up at Billie who's eyes were already on him with a fond yet bittersweet smile as he placed the boots into the barrel. He hoped that she knew what he meant, that his mother would've had something to say about the way he treated his team, but a lot to say about the way he'd treated Billie.

"Well, gentlemen," Ted sighed, lighting a match as Jamie stepped back, "What do you say we burn this crap?"

"Maybe we should do this part outside," Beard was quick to suggest.

"That's a good call," Ted nodded, blowing out the match, "Hey would you guys mind grabbing this for me?"

The team made their way outside onto the training pitch, Billie stuck beside Isaac and Colin, unsure of how to approach a conversation with Jamie after they'd both bared their hearts so drastically.

"Hey," She looked up from the fire to see Jamie had slotted into her side of the circle, "You look cold."

"There's a fire right there," Billie gestured to the roaring flames in front of them.

"A little extra warmth never hurt anyone, did it?" Jamie smiled as he held out his coat to her.

"I'm not sure that's factually accurate-"

"Just take it, Billie," Jamie smiled with reassurance in his eyes, "Can't have you freezing to death, can we?"

"Who'd spend their days winding you up otherwise?" She smiled as she let Jamie slip his Richmond coat onto her.

"Hey, fellas," Ted addressed the group from where he stood with Rebecca and Higgins, "I think the only way to know if the curse has been lifted or not, we need to ask the spirits for a sign, Oh spirits, speak to us."

As if on cue came the joyous tune of Dani Rojas singing his name as he ran towards the group who applauded his arrival.

"I brought a bottle of mezcal to throw into the curse fire," Dani exclaimed as he joined the group.

"Hey, hey, hey, Rojas, look," Jamie spoke up, "Whatever ghosts it were that made you trip over, they're gone, I promise, crack that bastard open."

"Jamie's not wrong, ghosts prefer empty bottles that we've all drunk," Roy added in agreement, "Fact."

"Let us celebrate, amigos!" Dani exclaimed, the rest of the team cheering in agreement as he cracked open the bottle, taking a swig before passing it to Jamie who took a gulp and then scrunched his face up in disgust before passing it to Billie.

She took her swig with ease despite the way it tingled her tongue before passing the bottle to Isaac, "Full of surprises, aren't you?" Jamie nudged her with a smile.

"I lived with a Mexican girl at uni, we drank that stuff before every night out," Billie told him.

"I'll have to take notes next time we go out," Jamie smirked.

"Next time?" Billie raised her eyebrows at the striker.

"Well, you'll be wanting to cash in that twenty five grand date, won't you?" He replied.

"For twenty five grand I expect more than a bottle of mezcal and a bonfire," Billie told him, his lingering gaze setting her skin alight more than the fire.

"I'll see what I can do," Jamie smirked before looking over to where Ted stood, "Hey, Coach, you joining the party or what?"

After a brief exchange with Rebecca, Ted and Higgins made their way over to the team, "Alright now, what's this going on?"

"Richmond till we die, We're Richmond till we die," Jamie started to chant as the rest of the team joined in, "We know we are, we're sure we are, we're Richmond till we die!"

"Richmond till we die, We're Richmond till we die," The team continued to sing as Ted swigged from the bottle while Jamie threw an arm around Billie's shoulders on impulse, because it felt natural, it felt right, "We know we are, we're sure we are, we're Richmond till we die!"

After the fire began to die down most of the team dispersed, either heading home or congregating in the locker room. But neither of those places suited what Billie was looking for, instead she found herself sitting on the roof of the kit sheds where all the equipment from training was stored. She wanted to watch the stars, which was easier said than done in a town like Richmond, with cloudy skies, not to mention how close it was to the Heathrow flight path.

"I don't think you're meant to be up there." Billie looked down from the roof of the shed to see Jamie staring back at her as her legs swung where she sat on the edge.

"Since when have rules mattered to you, Tartt?" She smiled down at him.

"Since you started breaking them, Kent," Jamie smirked, "But you know what they say about that?"

"What do they say?" Billie smiled.

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," He replied, grabbing onto the edge of the shed's window and hauling himself up onto the shed roof with ease.

"I'm not sure that's what they say about breaking rules, Jamie," Billie laughed as he sat beside her.

"Yeah, well I just couldn't think of anything smarter to say as an excuse to get up here," He sighed.

"Did you drain that mezcal bottle or are you just feeling particularly open tonight?" Billie smiled as she looked at the striker.

"Just the power of a wise woman's words," He spoke cryptically as he leant back on his elbows.

"Your Mum?"

"No."

"Keeley?"

"No again."

"You'll have to tell me, Jamie, I really am clueless," Billie smiled, even though she knew.

"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?" He sighed as she nodded in amusement, "It was you."

"I'm honoured," Billie smiled.

"That stuff you said about home not being a place," Jamie muttered, "What did you mean?"

Billie paused, looking down at her hands before looking up at Jamie, who was more than just a glimpse of the man who had unknowingly comforted her in her roughest moments over the past weeks. She trusted him, and she could see that he was changing for the better.

"My parents were content with two kids, I was just a happy accident conceived on the night of their wedding anniversary," Billie sighed as she leant back the way Jamie had, "My sister was off to university before I'd finished primary school, my brother wasn't even in the same city when I was born, but my siblings loved me even more because they weren't there."

Billie paused to look at Jamie, "I spent my entire life in the knowledge that my parents didn't want me, so that flat never felt like home."

"I know the feeling, well in the sense that me Dad don't give a shit until I started playing football, until I got good," Jamie explained, "I used to think it was as simple as calling Manchester home, simply because I grew up there, but I don't think it's that simple."

"It's a good city, I enjoyed it when I studied there," Billie told him.

"Where were you living?"

"Salford Quays, like amongst all the big media stuff," Billie told him.

"That ain't Manchester."

"I'm pretty sure it is, Jamie."

"Not my Manchester, you've not seen the real Manchester, just the gentrified shiny buildings to paper over what came before," Jamie told her with passion in his voice, "You've got to see the real Manchester at least once to get what I mean."

"Is that an invitation?" Billie raised her eyebrows.

"It could be," Jamie smiled to himself.

"It is a great city, it felt like home for a while," Billie sighed, reminded of all the years she'd spent there, "It stopped feeling like home when things started to go wrong with Brad, I think he knew that I was scared of being alone, so he knew I wouldn't leave no matter what he did, but I'm not alone anymore."

"You didn't deserve to be treated the way he treated you," Jamie told her, "I used to see the way he was after matches when we played Chelsea while I was at City, he used to walk around like he owned the place."

"He probably thought that he did," Billie scoffed, "The more I think about it the more I wonder what I saw in him in the first place, I spent my early adult years needing to be wanted, when really I wanted a different type of love that he couldn't give me."

"What sort of love?"

"The kind of love that feels like a Richard Curtis movie," Billie explained with a fond smile, "The whole dancing in the kitchen, kissing in the rain thing, I know it's cliched and stupid, but when you've been with a man like Brad anything feels possible for a little while."

"It's not stupid, Bils," There he went again with the nickname that made her smile when he said it, "I listened to that song you gave me, and it did remind me of when I wasn't afraid of getting things wrong."

Billie's heart skipped a beat, because Jamie was trying, he was trying to be a better man, to be attentive, to accept that he couldn't be truly great on the pitch unless he played like he was one of eleven instead of one in a million. He wanted to be better.

"When the boys told me tonight's plan I was pretty convinced you wouldn't come," Billie sighed, looking up at the sky as she braced herself to look at Jamie, "And the idea of you not being here made me feel something I've not felt for as long as I can remember."

"What?" Jamie replied as he looked over to her to see that she was already looking at him.

"Caring about someone who hasn't been in my life that long," She whispered, referring to the fact that most of her friendships were with people who she had known since childhood, "And some other feelings that terrify me too."

Jamie's eyes lingered on Billie's as his heart beat against his chest, entranced by the fact that she would care about him, despite everything he'd put her through. But she saw him now, the real him, and that didn't scare her so it didn't scare him either.

Billie watched as his eyes flicked between her eyes and her mouth, his fingers brushing over her knuckles as her hand rested beside his. Without a thought for what would come next she leaned towards him and kissed him with trepidation.

As she kissed him she worried that it might scare him off, that he would run a mile, but he didn't, instead he reciprocated, threading his hands through her hair as he pulled her closer. Her hands found their place on his cheeks and it was as though they were magnetised, like something that had repelled them from each other for all that time had finally united them.

Billie pulled back slightly, letting her forehead rest against his as their breaths became intertwined.

"You still owe me a date, Tartt."

☆ ☆ ☆

Billie Kent didn't make a habit of being an early riser, but there was something different about the imminent day of work that had her waking up at 6AM. Despite the fact she'd got home from the curse reverse at about 2AM after being dropped home by Jamie she was awake to watch the sun rise over Richmond Green that morning.

She still couldn't quite comprehend the fact that she'd kissed Jamie Tartt and he'd kissed her back. It wasn't a blind act of lust, it felt more complicated than that, and she didn't know what to think about it, it had been at least three years since she'd kissed anyone except Brad. How would they approach working together? Would it just be that one kiss and then they'd never speak of it again?

Well, no, because he kissed her goodbye when he dropped her off at her house. She'd run into her flat with a giddy smile as she waved him goodbye before she tiptoed up the stairs, not wanting to wake Madison or Alfie up.

When she'd made it upstairs she saw a note written in Alfie's handwriting which explained that her sister had dropped Phoebe off in the evening as she'd been called in to cover a night shift. So rather than disturbing Phoebe who was sleeping in her bed, Billie simply crashed on her sofa instead, curled up with a weighted blanket.

As though there were anxious butterflies rattling around inside her stomach she'd woken up, whether it be that she had to get Phoebe ready for school before work or that her kiss with Jamie continued to play on her mind, she hadn't decided.

"Auntie Billie."

"Yes kiddo?" Billie glanced over at her niece who stood in the middle of the kitchen, still wearing her Snoopy pyjamas.

"I think you've stirred my hot chocolate enough," Phoebe pointed at the mug in front of Billie, the woman glanced down at the teaspoon, realising in her daydream haze she'd spilt a quarter of the mug's contents on the counter.

"Oh shit, sorry," Billie smiled awkwardly, pulling a pound coin from her pocket before Phoebe could even pull her up on her swearing, "We've got about twenty minutes till we need to leave for breakfast club, so why don't you start getting yourself dressed?"

"Alright, Auntie Billie," The girl smiled before disappearing in Billie's bedroom with her hot chocolate in hand.

Just as she was about to pour herself her own cup of hot chocolate she heard a knock at the door, looking down at her phone to see that it was 6:43AM.

Assuming it would just be the postman she made her way downstairs to her front door, already dressed for a day at work, internally cursing Alfie for whatever next impulse purchase he had made.

She opened her front door to see the last person she'd expected to see on her doorstep so early, Jamie Tartt.

"Jamie?"

"Hi," He smiled awkwardly as though there was something on his mind, "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, you wanna come in?" She asked, fearing the presence of lurking photographers who might have followed him.

"Yeah," Jamie nodded before following her back up the stairs into her flat, neither of them acknowledging that he'd never been inside her home before.

"You want a drink?" Billie asked as she leant against her kitchen table.

"No thanks, I can't stay long," He told her, "I've got a medical at midday."

"A medical, why do you need a medical?" She frowned, knowing that players only had their medical assessment at the beginning of a season or once they'd signed to a new club.

"I'm leaving," Jamie answered, "My loan's been cut short, I'm going back to City."

"You're going back to Manchester?" Billie gulped, not quite believing the words he spoke.

"Yep, clearly one striker is enough for Lasso," Jamie huffed as he tapped his foot against the wooden floor.

"Jamie, I don't think he would do that to you, not after last night," Billie insisted with a reassuring smile, "City must've just wanted you back."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm going back to Manchester today," Jamie explained with a lingering sense of fear, knowing that being back in that city would mean being in close proximity to his dad.

"So why are you here?" Billie muttered.

"I didn't want to go without saying goodbye, even though I'm no good at goodbyes," Jamie told her with a nervous smile, not really knowing what to say, "But I decided to make an exception for you, I've been making a lot of those when it comes to you."

Billie stared at him with a fond smile before wrapping her arms around him wordlessly, standing on her toes as she rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight.

She wondered to herself where they'd be if they both hadn't been so stubborn, if they'd just got on from the start. But she also realised that was the foundations on which they were built, the good, the bad and everything in between. Billie had seen every side to Jamie and Jamie had done the same, if it had been up to him, he would've stayed.

Richmond was home.

"Who am I gonna annoy at work if you're gone?" Billie whispered as Jamie held onto her.

"I'm sure if you tried you could push Colin's buttons," Jamie muttered into her ear with a smile.

"Shut up," Billie smiled as she pulled away from the hug.

"I should probably get on the road," He sighed, "If you're ever in Manchester," he picked up a pen from the table behind her and took her hand, scribbling some words on her skin, "Come find me."

As she let her eyes linger on Jamie, wondering whether or not something might happen the door opened and she looked to her left to see Phoebe dressed in her school uniform.

"Auntie Billie," Phoebe smiled, "I'm ready."

"Great," Billie sighed, glancing between her niece and Jamie, "Is your school bag ready?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "Why's Jamie Tartt in your flat?"

"That is a really great question which we can discuss on the walk to school," Billie replied, hoping it would give her more time to think up a convincing lie that a child as smart as Phoebe would believe, "Why don't you brush your teeth and then we can set off, okay, kiddo?"

"Alright" Phoebe nodded before disappearing into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"I could drive you both to her school, if you like," Jamie offered and Billie didn't know what to say.

"I thought you had to get back to Manchester," Billie frowned.

"It's on my way."

"You don't even know where she goes to school." Billie folded her arms across her chest.

"Well then I can just make it be on my way," Jamie offered.

"You don't have to do that, Jamie."

"I know." He smiled, because he meant it, because he wanted to spend time with Billie, even if that meant spending time with her niece too.

"I'm ready!" Phoebe exclaimed as ran back into the room, school bag in hand, wearing her coat.

"Right, kiddo," Billie smiled, grabbing her bag from the chair, knowing that she'd head to work from Phoebe's school as she had planned to film some social content with the boys so an early start was ideal, "Jamie's offered to drive us to school, you alright with that?"

"Are you a good driver?" Phoebe asked him as she rested a hand on her hip.

Jamie looked at Billie with a bemused smile, "Billie?"

"He'll get us there in one piece, Pheebs," Billie assured her niece.

"I like you more than Brad already." Phoebe smiled before passing the pair and making her way down the stairs towards Billie's front door.

"Road rage," Billie whispered to Jamie before following Phoebe down the stairs.

After a quick and safe, road rage free drive to Phoebe's school Jamie pulled up in a space that Billie had gestured to. She concluded that him pulling up outside the school gates would only double the hysteria that often happened when Roy did drop offs amongst parents and their children.

"Well," Billie smiled, glancing over at Jamie who was sitting in the driver's seat as Phoebe sat in the middle of the back seat, "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," Jamie nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"Look after yourself in Manchester, alright?" Billie told him as she climbed out of the car, pushing her seat forward and helping Phoebe out of the backseat, "And remember who it is that you want to make proud."

Jamie's heart grew at her words, that she remembered what he had said about wanting to make his mother proud. He'd spent so long trying to make his father proud and he knew what going back to Manchester meant. It was easier to ignore his father's texts than it was to ignore him turning up on his doorstep for a post-match pint while he ridiculed him for every so-called mistake.

"I'll be seeing you, Kent," Jamie saluted her as she stood on the pavement.

"Not if I see you first." Billie grinned before closing the car door and taking Phoebe's hand.

"Is Jamie Tartt your friend now, Auntie Billie?" Phoebe looked up at the young woman with a fond smile.

"If you keep this between us I'll take you for cake and ice cream next time you stay at mine, sounds good?" Billie replied as the two Kent girls walked down the road towards the busy school gate.

"Double chocolate?"

"Always, kiddo."

author's note: we have lift off!!!!
I love writing them so much you have no idea!