“Coach, Zeke and I need to talk to you,” Mikey said, going over to Coach at the end of practice. I glanced over nervously and relaxed when I saw that Tommy wasn’t paying attention to us. He was talking to Trace about something.

                “Yes boys?” Coach asked curiously.

                Mikey sighed and reached in his pocket, pulling out the paper. “We hate to tattle, but this has gone on long enough, and we’re getting really sick of it. I’m pretty sure this constitutes as bullying,” Mikey said, handing Coach the paper.

                Coach took it and read it over. He frowned deeply and looked up, his eyes searching until they came to rest on Davey.

                “Davey!” he called. “Get over here!”

                Davey came over curiously. Coach raised an eyebrow and showed him the paper. Davey’s face paled as he looked at it.

                “David Harrison, you’re off the team,” Coach said flatly. “I’ll be calling your parents tonight to explain why.”

                “What? You can’t kick me off the team for that!” Davey cried furiously.

                “I can, and I am. I told you boys that any bullying would result in being kicked off the team. This is cyber bullying, and it’s unacceptable. And don’t even tell me you haven’t picked on Tommy before, because I’ve seen it. Trace also tells me you’ve picked on Kory. You. Are. Off. The. Team.”

                Davey’s mouth dropped open as he searched Coach’s eyes for any sign of a joke. He clenched his fists tightly, glaring in pure fury.

                “My dad will make you lose your coaching job so fucking fast you fucking fag lover!” he screamed before turning and storming away.

                “Tommy!” Coach called, looking amused.

                Tommy wandered over curiously. “Yes?” he asked.

                Coach clapped a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “Welcome back on the varsity team kid,” he said happily.

                Tommy glanced at me and Mikey and raised an eyebrow. “Okay. What did you two do while I was showering?” he demanded.

                I blushed as Coach showed him the facebook printout. Tommy sighed and shook his head, wrapping an arm around my waist.

                “I can’t decide whether I should be happy to be on the team, or pissed that you two invaded my privacy and printed pictures of my personal messages without my knowledge,” he grumbled.

                But I could see in his eyes that he was beyond happy to be back on the team. He leaned up and kissed me deeply, letting me know he appreciated it.

                “Okay boys! First game is tomorrow!” Coach called.

                “Can I play?” Tommy asked nervously.

                Coach grinned and nodded. “Of course you can play Tommy. You’ve come to all of our practices, plus all of the JV practices. You’ll play,” he said, patting Tommy on the back before walking over to talk to Trace.

                “Let’s go tell mom and dad Tommy,” Mikey said with a grin, motioning Sammy over.

                I drove them all back to their house and we went inside. We went to the living room, where Brady and Sally were watching TV.

                “Guess who’s back on the varsity team thanks to his favorite brother,” Mikey said smugly.

                “Really?” Sally asked in excitement. We nodded and she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Tommy tightly. “Oh Thomas! That’s great!” she cried happily.

                Tommy struggled away from her uncomfortably. “Yea,” he said, scooting over to, and slightly behind, me. I chuckled.

                “Congrats Tomcat,” Brady said with a grin.

                Tommy nodded before pulling me upstairs to his bedroom. He locked his door and shook his head. “My parents,” he grumbled, sitting on his bed.

                I sat next to him and wrapped my arms around him, kissing his neck. “They love you, and so do I,” I whispered.

                “I hate when my mom hugs me. I understand that I’m small, but that doesn’t mean I’m 5 fucking years old,” he whined, pouting.

                “Do you hate it when I hug you?” I asked, tightening my hold on him.

                “Are you my mom?”

                “Last time I checked, I was not.”

                “Then no, I don’t hate it.”

                He rested his head on my shoulder and gave me a small smile. “Thank you Zeke,” he said gratefully.

                I kissed him gently. “Don’t thank me. It’s about time karma came around and kicked Davey’s ass off the team. He was bullying you, and he got what he deserved. I love you Tommy.” I smiled at him happily.

                “First game tomorrow,” he said with a sigh. “Can you believe that summer’s almost over? Don’t we only play two games before school comes back around?”

                I nodded, also frowning. School meant less time with Tommy. But now we’d get to spend time together everyday afterschool for soccer practice. That made me smile a little.

                Tommy and I hung out a little before curling up in his bed together and going to sleep. I was excited for our first game tomorrow, and so was Tommy.

                                                                                                ***

                “Are you almost ready to go?” I asked, watching Tommy in amusement.

                “Dammit. Why don’t I have clothes?” Tommy whined, digging through his closet in search of a shirt. He sighed in annoyance and ran a hand through his hair.

                “Fuck it. Coach will give us jerseys when we get there,” he grumbled, coming over and taking my hand in his. He dragged me downstairs and grabbed us water before tying his cleats on.

                “Sammy! Mikey! Let’s go. If Zeke’s driving your asses there, we need to leave now,” he called impatiently.

                “We’ll head over in time for the game. Good luck Tomcat,” Brady said, ruffling Tommy’s hair.

                “Thomas James, where is your shirt?” Sally asked, shaking her head at him.

                “That, mother, is a wonderful question,” Tommy grumbled as Mikey and Sammy came downstairs with their stuff.

                We drove to the game and got out. We joined the rest of the team, doing our pregame warm-ups before circling around Coach.

                “Okay, because I’m sick of seeing Tommy without a shirt, here are the jerseys,” Coach said, earning a laugh from the team and an eye roll from Tommy.

                “Sorry my brothers like to take my shit,” he whined, glaring at his brothers who smiled at him innocently.

                Coach gave us jerseys and we changed quickly before taking our positions on the field. I was playing left midfield, Tommy playing right midfield, and Kory playing center.

                The ref blew his whistle, starting the game. Kory got the ball and passed it up to me as we advanced up the field. I passed it over to Tommy and instantly regretted it.

                There was a huge midfielder guarding Tommy. Tommy yanked him back and managed to get the ball. He nearly went flying when the midfield shoulder him roughly. He kept his balance, though, and passed to Kory, who shot and scored.

                “Tommy, be careful,” Trace warned as we ran back to our spots.

                “Trace, who is that?” I demanded, glancing at the huge midfielder. Jeez, was he even young enough to be on a high school team?!

                “That’s Liam. He can be dirty, but only on field. Just have Tommy be careful. I don’t want to see him go flying to Japan just because Liam tries to shoulder him off the ball,” Trace said, rolling his eyes and fixing his gloves as the ref blew the whistles.

                Liam got the ball and managed to shoulder his way past Tommy and towards Trace. He shot and Trace easily caught it, passing the ball up the field to me.

                I took off at a sprint, realizing too late that I should’ve switched sides with Tommy. But having no choice right now seeing as Kory was guarded and the defender was rushing at me, I shot over to Tommy.

                He trapped the ball and took off at a sprint up the field, glancing over to see if Kory or one of the forwards was open.

                My eyes widened in horror as Liam charged at Tommy. Tommy was trying to fake out one of the defenders, and didn’t see him coming.

                “Tommy!” me, Phil, and Kory all cried at the same time.

                Liam slammed into Tommy and Tommy flew forward and slammed onto the ground. The crowd gasped as they watched.

                Liam took the ball and began to sprint down the field with it. Tommy pushed himself to his feet, immediately taking off after Liam. I relaxed a little, glad that Tommy was at least okay to keep running.

                He sprinted down the field, arms and legs pumping furiously so that he could catch up. He drove his shoulder into Liam and Liam stumbled off the ball. Tommy took it and dribbled before passing up to me, letting me score.

                “Tommy, do you need to get off the field?” Coach called as we jogged back to our positions. “It’s hot out, and you just did a lot of running.”

                Tommy shook his head, sweat flying off in little beads. For some reason, that turned me on way more than it should. Oh my sweaty, sexy little boyfriend.

                “No Coach. I’m fine,” Tommy panted, determination in his voice.

                The game continued, Tommy sprinting and sneakily playing dirty. He was playing harder than he ever had in order to beat Liam. The sun beat down on all of us, and even I was about ready to beg for a substitute. It was too damn hot out.

                But then the ref blew his whistle, ending the game, our team holding the victory. We shook hands with the other team before running back over to Coach, grinning.

                “Tommy, you played amazingly!” I cried, wrapping my arms around him. He was sweatier than a mother fucker, but I didn’t care.

                “Thanks Zeke,” Tommy mumbled.

                I frowned deeply, releasing him. “Tommy, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, eyeing him carefully.

                He nodded slowly and staggered a little. “Tommy!” I cried, catching him as he started to slump forward.

                “Thomas?” Sally asked in concern, her and Brady making their way over to us. “Zeke, is he okay?”

                Tommy weakly pushed himself out of my grip. “M’ fine,” he slurred weakly, panting. I opened my mouth to say something, but never got to. Instead, Tommy fell to the ground unconscious.