"It's fucking weird being here without a press pass," Alfie sighed as he sat in the chair opposite Billie's desk.

"It's weird seeing you in this office," Billie smiled as she removed the SD card from her laptop, having cleared it after the team's last training session, "And it's weird seeing you with a Richmond scarf around your neck."

"Just don't tell my dad," Alfie replied, his father being a devoted Arsenal fan, having raised his children just the same.

"My lips," Billie mimed, zipping her mouth, "Are sealed."

"Billie, are you coming to the locker room?" Colin asked as he stood in the open doorway, his eyes wandering between Billie and her friend who she had never met before.

"Yeah, I'm just avoiding that general area of the club until you're all decent," She replied, referring to the several near misses that had occurred when she'd forgotten to ask if the boys were all dressed.

"Fair play," Colin nodded, focused on Billie's friend who he was yet to be introduced to, "Great outfit by the way."

Colin was referring to the 1990s Richmond tracksuit that Billie had found in a local charity shop, deciding it would be the perfect fit for the match. She'd also donned her classic Richmond coloured Gazelles and braided her hair into two plaits for the sake of convenience.

"Oh, Colin, this is Alfie, Alfie this is Colin," Billie introduced her two friends to each other.

"I know who he is, Bils," Alfie smirked at her before looking back at Colin, "Best left winger Richmond's got."

"Cheers," Colin nodded with a nervous smile, "You staying for the match?"

"Should hope so," Alfie smiled, gesturing to his Richmond scarf, "Billie mentioned drinks after the match."

"Yeah, win or lose, we'll be drinking in the locker room," Colin explained.

"Or tie," Billie reminded him with a reassuring smile.

"Of course," Colin nodded at Billie's correction.

"Well, I'll see you there," Alfie smiled.

"See you there," Colin replied before leaving the two friends on their own.

Billie looked at Alfie with raised eyebrows, "What?" He remarked innocently.

"Do you think for once you could just not flirt with one of my friends?" Billie sighed with a smile.

"When have I ever flirted with your other friends?" Alfie exclaimed in defence.

"How about every time you visited me in Manchester?" Billie remarked as though it were obvious, "Marnie, Tom, Ben, Anna-"

"Point taken," He sighed, checking the time on his phone, "Shouldn't you be getting me to my seat?"

"Yep," Billie nodded, leading him out of her office, spotting Rebecca and Keeley making their way downstairs from her office.

"Billie!" Keeley ran towards the young woman with a smile, wearing a Richmond shirt in support of Roy, "God, you look fit."

"As do you," Billie grinned as Rebecca joined them both, "Love the Richmond look, boss."

"Well I may as well look the part," Rebecca beamed as though the weight of her previous vendetta against Rupert had dissipated, finally content in her role as owner of the club, the club that she loved like it was her own, because it was her own.

"This is Alfie," Billie gestured to her friend who would be joining the two women in the owner's box, "Alfie, this is Rebecca and Keeley."

"Pleasure to meet you both," The young and notoriously charming man shook both of their hands, maintaining eye contact as Billie couldn't help but roll her eyes at her best friend's consistently flirty presence.

"You too," Keeley smiled eagerly as Rebecca remained impressed by the young man's charm, well as a journalist, he had to be just that, charming.

"Can I leave him in your capable hands?" Billie asked, "I've got to get my kit sorted before the match starts."

"We'll take good care of him," Rebecca assured her friend, "This way, Alfie."

"Be good," Billie warned her friend.

"I'm always good," Alfie told her with a smirk, holding his arms out for the two women to hold onto, "Ladies?"

Billie watched with a smile as her three favourite blondes disappeared down the corridor before returning to her office. She hung her camera around her neck before checking her disposable camera which had two photos left, slipping it into her pocket as her phone buzzed.

She looked down at the screen to see a notification from Madison, assuming it to be a message of good luck for the match.

MADDS: Have you seen this? x

Billie clicked on the notification and with the message came an Instagram post, and when she looked at the photo it hurt more than she had imagined it would.

The day was inevitable, the day when she'd see the photo of Brad's new child, the woman wasn't an elephant, she'd have to face the fact that the baby had been conceived while she was still with him. The caption read: Introducing our little girl, Nova Barker.

The first photo was a picture of the baby's hand clinging to its mother's hand, which was fine. What hurt the most as she stared at the second photo was that it was the mother, her replacement, cradling the baby while Brad sat beside her, painting himself as the doting father.

Billie was grateful that her back was to the door as she blinked away the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. She didn't want him back, she knew that, because he hurt her and he was never accountable.

But the pain she felt from the hurt he had caused her outweighed the loss she felt, even though months had passed since they broke up the hurt was still there. She wasn't convinced that she had healed herself from the pain, she'd just been numbing it and therefore ignoring it. And in the same breath she slipped her phone into her pocket, hoping to ignore it.

Two hands covered her eyes, followed by a whisper against her ear, "Guess who."

"Hi Jamie," She half smiled, turning to face him as the pit of hurt loomed in her stomach.

"You look like Sporty Spice, I like it, she was always me favourite," Jamie let his eyes wander up and down her body, having not registered the hurt in her eyes, "Still think sky blue would look better though."

"This is a mistake," Billie muttered as the hurt festered inside her.

"It's alright, I'm going soon, no one will see us." Jamie assured her, brushing his hand over hers.

"No, Jamie, I mean this." She gestured between the two of them.

"Eh?" Jamie quipped with a frown, "What's made you say that?"

As Billie looked up at Jamie the fear set in, not of him, but of what could happen if she allowed herself to trust him the way she once trusted Brad. She had allowed herself to fall for Brad, the man who promised her the world, and then he had hurt her, destroyed her trust, and she remained reeling while he moved on. But as she looked at Jamie, she wanted to see her chance to move on, and once upon a time she would've done, but that hurt caused by Brad lingered.

"I've been hurt before," Billie whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat, "I don't think I can do that again."

"I'm not going to hurt you, Billie." Jamie insisted, and he meant it, he had no intention of hurting the girl who stood opposite him.

"You can't be sure, you can't make promises that you don't know whether you'll be able to keep," Billie replied, unable to comprehend that even after her relationship with Brad, his behaviour continued to control her actions. The media painted version of Jamie Tartt controlled her thoughts, the man they called a player and a ladies man.

"Billie," Jamie sighed, watching her slip through his fingers, the look in her eyes telling him just that, "We could be good together, I know there's the distance thing but I think we could try."

The tables had turned, Billie who was always so terrified of being alone that she'd let herself get hurt was in fact scared of getting hurt. And Jamie, who moved to a football club over two hundred miles from home alone, having always feared being hurt by the people closest to him, was afraid of being without Billie.

"I'd rather have you as a friend than run the risk of us hurting each other," Billie whispered as she did her best to suppress the tears that wanted so desperately to escape her eyes.

"Sure," Jamie nodded with a straight face, "Friends."

Billie watched as Jamie left her office without another word, Jamie who she cared about, Jamie who had gone to find Billie because he felt safest in her office, knowing that his dad wouldn't find him there and give him one of his 'pep talks'.

He walked away in silence, loneliness looming over him like a dark storm cloud as he walked back to the away team locker room. He was aware that he was supposed to be focusing on the match, when all he could think about was how he had complied and told Billie what she wanted to hear, not what he wanted to say, not what she needed to hear.

Once Billie had composed herself, wiping the tears from her eyes and reassuring herself that her cheeks weren't red or puffy, she made her way into the locker room, safe in the knowledge that the boys would all be ready, given that they had roughly five minutes until they walked out onto the pitch.

She silently took a seat beside Colin who immediately sensed that she seemed off. She was quiet for starters and she hadn't made a joke relating to some niche pop culture reference.

"You alright, Bils?" He asked softly, not wanting to draw attention to the situation.

"I'm fine," She nodded, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Well, if you want to talk about anything," He replied, "You know where I am."

"Thank you," She turned to look at him and he immediately noticed the sparkle had gone from her eyes.

Billie watched her brother walk into the room and sit beside Isaac, his captain's armband in his hand and she knew what was coming next.

"Isaac," Roy muttered, holding the armband out in front of him, "Never stop breaking TVs."

Isaac took the armband, staring at it in disbelief as Billie watched the interaction with pride as Ted entered the room.

"Alright, now fellas, let's focus up, huh?" Ted addressed the room, "So I've been hearing this phrase that y'all got over here that I ain't too crazy about, 'it's the hope that kills you', y'all know that?"

The team nodded, "I disagree, you know?" Ted continued, "I think it's the lack of hope that comes and gets you, see, I believe in hope, I believe in belief," He pointed at the yellow sign that hung above the office door, "Now, where I'm from, we got a saying too, a question, actually, 'Do you believe in miracles?'"

Billie thought about it, and if she was going to believe in one miracle, she hoped it would be that Richmond could avoid relegation.

"Now, I don't need y'all to answer that question for me, but I do want you to answer that question for yourselves, right now, do you believe in miracles?" Ted addressed the room, "And if you do...then I want y'all to circle up with me right now, come on, lets go."

The team clapped and cheered as they approached Ted, but Billie hung back with hesitation, and Colin was quick to notice, "Come on, boyo, you're one of us," He held out his hand as he stood in front of her.

Without hesitation she took his hand with a smile as he pulled her up from the bench, "Never call me boyo again."

"Regretted it straight away." Colin smiled as they approached the rest of the team.

"Get 'em in here," Ted said as the group put their hands into the middle of the circle, "Alright Captain, let 'em know."

Roy nodded at Isaac, who looked at Ted before removing his right arm from the circle, swapping in his left, proudly displaying the captain's armband as the team cheered in approval.

"Alright, Captain, let 'em know," Ted nodded at Isaac.

"Richmond on twelve," Isaac declared as the rest of the team stared at each other in confusion, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine, ten, eleven, twelve!"

"Richmond!" They all chanted before dispersing from the circle, ready to make their way out onto the pitch.

The team had made their way out onto the pitch and kick off was quickly approaching, Billie stood alone on the sideline as Roy, Nate and Beard sat on the bench in the dugout, as they waited for the whistle to blow. Everytime she scanned the pitch her eyes fell to Jamie who was standing on the centre spot with the ball between his feet, ready to take the first kick.

She watched as Jamie winked and blew a kiss at her brother, taunting him for his place on the bench.

"Hey, Jamie!" Ted appeared beside her, waving at the player with enthusiasm, "Good luck!"

Jamie muttered something to himself, Billie couldn't work out what that was exactly, and before she could the whistle had been blown and the match had begun, Jamie passing the ball straight to one of his teammates.

The ball was in play, passed between several Manchester City players like the ball in a pinball machine before it made its way back to Jamie's feet. The Richmond bench watched as Jamie sped down the pitch with the ball at his feet, and despite having a teammate open to his left, he took the chance and kicked the ball at the goal. But a keeper like Zoreaux wasn't going to let him have it easy, saving the goal with ease as the Richmond fans cheered in unison.

Maybe just maybe, belief could save them.

Forty minutes down and neither team had managed to score a goal, they'd both had chances, with a near miss from Dixon and the glimpse of a goal from Obisanya that was disallowed due to Winchester being offside. But as a result of Dixon's near miss, Richmond had a corner, a chance to right some wrongs and get themselves on the scoreboard.

"Corner kick, corner kick," Ted muttered to his fellow coaches as they watched the boys scramble in preparation.

"Go for the Sandman, call Sandman," Nate told him, referring to one of the many set pieces the team had practised in training.

"Sandman!" Ted called out as Billie focused her camera lens, hoping to capture a Richmond goal, "Guys, the Sandman!"

Billie and the coaches watched as Dani took the corner, the ball weaving its way between the feet of various Richmond players, decoy after decoy until Dixon swept in, kicking the ball towards the goal as Hamlin was quick to defend, saving it with his foot.

"Ooh, baby, the Sandman almost rocked 'em to sleep right there," Ted smiled, "Good job, Nate."

"I liked that one," Billie nodded, her eyes yet again finding Jamie on the pitch.

Half time came and the score remained nil-nil, the coaches, the team and Billie reconvened in the locker room. The coaches focused on what wildcard they could pull to score the team at least one goal, while Billie sat on one of the benches, quickly editing a few photos to share as a half time treat for fans watching the match unfold via their phones.

"What do you reckon?" She asked Will as he handed her a water bottle, showing him the two images on her screen, "Sam or Isaac first?"

"Oh, Isaac," He was quick to reply, "Love them both, the photos I mean, but it's Isaac's captaincy debut, feels quite important."

"Good thinking, William," Billie saluted him.

"Hey, somebody check the Crystal Palace score," Sam exclaimed, as the team knew the alternative to winning the match was a draw in the unlikely event that Crystal Palace beat Norwich six-nil.

"Hey, no, no, no, no, absolutely not, I don't wanna hear about any other game going on any other place," Ted told the room firmly, "Okay? Look. we are not playing for a tie, ain't nobody here gonna kiss their sister."

The team glanced between Roy and Billie, all equally unsure what the phrase meant or where it came from.

"Which is an American phrase that I'm now releasing does not exist here, and that's good, 'cause it's creepy and I hate it myself, I don't know why I said it, especially with a real life sister present," Ted was quick to rectify the situation, "I think it's just the adrenaline, the nerves and all that, but we are playing for a win, win and in, you hear?"

The team nodded in unison.

"I can't hear your nods, do you hear me?" Ted asked.

"Yes. Coach," The team replied in unison.

"Okay, good," Ted nodded, "Roy, you are starting the second half, go ahead and start warming up, let's go."

The second half was in full swing, a solid sixty minutes into the match and still no goals, Roy had been slower than his former self, but he did his best to command his place on the pitch. City had yet another chance at a goal, but before they could take it a penalty was awarded against Richmond.

Hendrick stepped up to the penalty spot, and Zoreaux awaited in goal. But even Zoreaux couldn't save that goal, Manchester City scored and the Dogtrack fell quiet.

Less than ten minutes left of the match and Jamie had the ball, powering down towards the goal with speed, the chance to score another goal, to impress his father, to solidify City's success in the match.

But Roy Kent wasn't going to let that happen, Roy Kent who was slow, who didn't dominate on the pitch the way he once did, chased down a speedy Jamie Tartt, tackling the ball from Jamie's feet, knocking himself and Jamie to the floor in the process.

"Yeah! Attaboy, Roy!" Ted clapped his hands together as the stadium cheered, grateful to their captain for preventing their former number nine from scoring another goal.

But Billie didn't cheer, she watched as her brother remained on the grass while Jamie stood up, her knowledge of football may have been limited, but she knew that wasn't good. Roy rolled onto his back in pain, one leg bent and one leg straight as the team's physio ran out onto the pitch to check on him.

"That's not good," Billie muttered, her hands trembling as she watched Richmond players surround him in his moment of need, Sam crouched at his side.

"Do you think we should send the stretcher on?" Nate asked the question intended for his two fellow coaches.

"No," Billie shook her head, "My brother won't leave on a stretcher, not in 2015, not today either."

The stadium began chanting the chant that had echoed through the Premier League for over a decade, "He's here, he's there, he's every-fucking-where, Roy Kent!" As Roy remained on the ground, his hand in Sam's as the chant continued.

The stadium watched as Sam and Isaac helped him up off of the ground, continuing to chant in support of their loyal and determined captain. Roy handed his captain's armband back to Isaac as the fans continued to chant for him, making their passion known. Billie watched her brother limp towards the edge of the pitch. He turned towards the dugout, nodding at Ted and then his sister.

Just as Roy used to when she was little and he was leaving home to go back to Sunderland after Christmas, she blew him a kiss with her hand and he caught it with his, just as she did when she was a kid, because they were with each other, even though they weren't beside each other.

"You wanna go with him?" Ted asked Billie as she watched Roy walk off the pitch, clapping in appreciation for the fans who continued to chant his name.

Billie looked up at the owner's box to see that Keeley was already passing Rebecca and Alfie so that she could be with Roy, "No, we've got a job to do, and I'd never hear the end of it if I abandoned a match."

"Spoken like a real Kent, huh?" Ted smiled at the young woman.

With just minutes of the match left, phones around the stadium began to ping in unison.

"What the heck is-"

Nate silenced him with an intense shush, "That's the sound of 26,000 people checking their mobiles," He closed his eyes as the fans cheered amongst themselves, "Oh my God, Palace won six-nil."

"But then that means..." Beard muttered.

"We just need a tie." Billie smiled at the coaches.

"We just need a tie, boys!" Ted shouted at the players on the pitch.

"We just need a tie!" Beard screamed as Nate and Billie watched on in hope.

Three minutes of added time remained, and Richard had the ball, running left before he was fouled and knocked to the floor by Scharfenberg.

"There you go, Richard," Beard exclaimed, "You sell the crap outta that!"

"Either he's really hurt or he attended the same summer stage school as me when he was a kid," Billie muttered to the coaches.

Sam helped Richard up from the floor, the 'injured' player bouncing right back into action as Richmond were given a free kick.

"Oi, Lasso special!" Isaac shouted at his teammates, "Lasso special!"

"They're running it," Billie smiled as the Richmond boys lined up as though they were about to play American football, much to the frustration of the City players.

"I didn't even call it, they're just gonna run it," Ted grinned as Beard covered his mouth in shock.

Sam ran in motion as the rest of the Richmond boys remained in line while Zoreaux yelled numbers and colours. The Greyhounds scrambled towards the City players before fanning out, dispersing across the pitch as Zoreuax kicked the ball straight to Sam.

Billie could feel it, the belief amongst the team, so without hesitation, she hurried down the outside of the pitch with her camera, just as Sam collected the ball, kicking it straight to Dani, who elaborately kicked the ball into the goal, just as Billie captured the moment with her camera, her heart pounding against her chest as the Richmond fans roared in celebration

One all.

Dani and the boys ran towards the fans where Billie was standing as she snapped countless pictures of them, Colin jumping onto the Mexican's back as the boys cheered in euphoric celebration before she ran back down to the dugout to reunite with the coaches and celebrate their late goal.

"We got a tie!" She exclaimed as she ran towards Nate, high fiving the newly appointed assistant coach. Beard joined their celebration, jumping up and down as Ted hugged the players on the bench.

But then Billie pulled away, patting Beard's arm, "Coach!"

Jamie had the ball, and he wasn't going to waste the remaining seconds of extra time, he weaved in and out of the disorientated Richmond players, heading straight for the goal, losing Winchester with great ease as he closed in on the goal. Then came the unthinkable.

Jamie made the extra pass to Hendrick, who buried it in the goal moments before the final whistle.

Richmond's players fell to their knees in devastation as the Manchester City players celebrated the extra three points that had knocked Richmond out of the Premier League. Billie didn't know where to look as the Richmond players fell silent and the coaches hung their heads in sorrow, but she knew where she needed to be.

After hurrying off of the pitch Billie weaved her way back through the clubhouse corridors towards the locker room, pushing through the door to see her brother sat beside Keeley, his leg propped up on a chair with a look of defeat in his eyes as he stared at his sister.

"We lost," She whispered, but the room was silent enough that Roy heard her words.

Without a word Roy held his free hand out to his sister, his other was interlocked with Keeley's. Billie approached her big brother, sitting beside him on the bench as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head the way he did when she was five and she'd fallen over in the park while he was looking after her.

"How's your knee?" Billie whispered.

"I don't want to talk about my knee," Roy muttered, but not out of spite, but because he had already cried enough tears on Keeley's shoulder, "Tell me about the rest of the match."

"Dani did score a beauty of a goal after the boys ran the Lasso Special," Billie smiled, reminded of the bittersweet moment, "The fans went crazy, and then Jamie fucking Tartt."

"He scored?"

"Worse," Billie sighed, looking up at her brother, "He made an extra pass."

"Woah," Roy muttered under his breath, "Wasn't expecting that."

"I'm proud of you, Roy," Billie told her brother, "And I know I'll always be your little sister, but I'm proud of the person you are, and I will continue to be proud of you, regardless of what happens."

Roy squeezed his sister's shoulder, "And I'm so fucking proud of you, kiddo," He told her "And whether I'm here or not next season, I know you'll be okay, because you've made this place your home."

Billie didn't know what to say, because her brother's words meant a lot, but it was okay, because as the three of them sat in silence, the team slowly returned to the locker room.

As she laid eyes on the boys she had grown to think of as brothers, Billie stood up, approaching Sam, Issac, Colin and Bumbercatch one by one, hugging them, but not saying much. No one really knew what to say at that moment, no one knew what to say to make it all feel okay.

"You okay, Coach?" Billie approached Coach Beard with a solemn smile.

"We will be, kid," Beard nodded.

"Is Ted around?" She asked, noticing his absence from the locker room.

"He's doing interviews," Beard glanced at his watch, "He'll be finishing up soon."

"Okay," Billie replied, looking at her brother before returning her focus to Beard, "There's just something I have to do, I won't be long."

As Billie left the locker room all she wanted to do was throttle Jamie Tartt for getting Richmond relegated. Even though everyone knew that teams could work at it and get promoted, that didn't ease the pain in any way, it was still raw, and Jamie's late goal was like rubbing salt into that raw wound.

But when she walked past the treatment room her eyes fell on the man she was searching for and she stopped in her tracks.

She didn't want to throttle him, she wanted to hug him. His father was laying into him, and she couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but he was swearing, getting in Jamie's face and belittling him.

It hurt her to see him in that position, and it made her regret every time she wished for a father who cared more, rather than her father who didn't care enough. As she looked at Jamie and his father, she realised that she was grateful that she had a father who didn't care enough about what she did, rather than a father who cared too much about what his child did, that it hurt them.

"Billie?"

Billie looked to her left with tears in her eyes as Rebecca approached her. Not wanting to draw attention to Jamie's situation, knowing it would make him feel worse, she walked towards the tall blonde woman, meeting her in the middle.

Rebecca wrapped her arms around the young woman, assuming that she was upset by her brother's injury and the team's relegation, "He'll be okay," She whispered to Billie in reassurance.

"I hope so," Billie muttered, fearing how Jamie would cope next season in Manchester with his father breathing down his neck like that all the time.

At the sound of the treatment room door opening, Billie looked over her shoulder to see Jamie's father followed by Jamie leaving the small room.

He was nothing like his father.

Rebecca and Billie swiftly joined Ted and the rest of the team in the locker room, the look on Ted's face when he looked at Billie told her that he'd seen it too, she couldn't explain it, but she knew.

Once Rebecca had taken a seat beside Sam, and Billie had returned to her brother's side, sitting between Roy and Alfie, Ted readied himself to address the room, as though he had been waiting for the final two teammates.

"So look, I..." As Ted stood at the front of the room, Will tentatively offered him a bottle of water, "Oh, I'm good, thank you."

"Hey, y'all played a heck of a game out there," Ted told the team, "We may not have won, but y'all definitely succeeded, I mean, you gave the champs ninety minutes of hell."

"Zoreaux, where you at?" Ted looked to the goalkeeper, "That dude had more saves than a Baptist preacher, give it up for Zoreaux."

The team applauded their goalkeeper, "That's right, what about Roy?" Ted continued, "Roy chased down his grandson, stopped him from getting an easy one."

Roy laughed, genuine bittersweet laughter.

"Now look, this is a sad moment right here, for all of us, there ain't nothing I can say, standing in front of you right now that can take that away, but please do me this favour, will you?" Ted told the team, "Lift your heads up and look around this locker room, look at everybody else in here, and I want you to be grateful that you're going through this sad moment with all these other folks."

"I promise you there is something out there worse than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad" Ted continued, "Ain't nobody in this room alone."

"Sam, do you remember what animal has the shortest memory?" Ted asked.

"A goldfish." Sam nodded with a smile.

"That's right, it's a goldfish," Ted smiled, "Sam, what do you think we should all do once we get done being sad or angry about this situation?"

"I think we should all be goldfish."

"I agree," Ted nodded, "Let's be sad now, let's be sad together, and then we can be a gosh darn goldfish. Onward, forward."

Billie looked around the room at the people who six months ago she didn't know, the people who had become her family. She wasn't alone anymore, she had a family, a family who found her when she needed them most.

author's note: when jamie and billie learn how to communicate how they really feel, the world will be a beautiful place (act two incoming)

ahhh act one is complete! act two is going to be bigger, better and even more fun (billie and jamie in their healing era i promise!)

also, i went to richmond at the weekend and this is the flat that i claimed as billie's home when i started writing this story (that does actually have an ice cream shop under it in real life). kind of crazy to see it irl ahaha!