Stay (A TBZJL Fanfic)

EIGHT

"Casey!" Ethan jogged over to me. "Reckon you could replace Vik in the crossing challenge? He apparently pulled a muscle while ice skating."

I shrugged, finishing off the last of my cider. "I would, but I'm not exactly wearing the right clothes.

"Here," He pulled off his hoodie and tossed it at me. "Now you'll be wearing our merch."

I sighed, pulling off my own jacket to put on Ethan's sweatshirt. It was much too big on me, with the sleeves going past my hands. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

"I knew the apple cider would work," He cheered.

I grinned. "No, watching you drink the cider worked."

He chuckled and I followed him onto the pitch, where the guys all looked at me with surprise on their faces.

"So, who's team am I on?" I looked at the ground awkwardly.

"We'll put you on Simon's team, that way it's even," JJ winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"And why would it be even?"

"Ethan told us you're terrible at football," Simon explained. "So putting you with me gives the other teams an advantage."

I narrowed my eyes. Why would Ethan lie? I was pretty good at football, so the fact that he told them I wasn't was weird. Maybe Vik was bad, so replacing him with someone equally as bad would be more ideal.

I just shrugged. "Okay."

They set up cameras and let Harry do an intro to the video, but they messed with him by kicking at him while he spoke. It was pretty funny. I waved awkwardly at the camera when he introduced me and the teams. Tobi was on goal, JJ was on Josh's team, and Harry and Ethan were a team. Vik was sitting on the grass, and occasionally the camera man, Kon, would pan the camera to him.

Since Simon and I were going last, we stood and watched the other teams go. When it was Josh and JJ's turn, Ethan stood next to me and slung his heavy arm around my shoulders as we watched them, probably in an attempt to get me to relax. He knew how bad I was when it came to being in the spotlight. It was intimidating.

"Alright, we're up," Simon nudged me and I nodded as we made our way to our positions. He decided to have me cross to him first, which I was fine with. It would be a nice start.

He signaled for me to aim it high, so I did as he asked and ran up to the ball, kicking it hard enough to get it over to him. He kicked it towards the goal, but Tobi dove and saved it before it could go in.

Simon managed to score two, which was how much the other teams did as well. But it was my turn.

Simon crossed it to me and I kicked at it, sending it flying to the corner of the goal and scoring on the first one.

There were cheers and "ohhs" as Simon ran over to me, picking me up and spinning me around as if he'd known me for years.

I laughed until he set me down, realizing how much fun I was having. It had been a while since I'd played.

I managed to score one more, since Tobi saved the other two. He was a very good goalie.

When the video ended, I awkwardly looked down at my feet. They were all very energetic and were laughing at something JJ said, and I felt out of place.

I relaxed when a hand rested on my shoulder, but when whoever it was spoke, I tensed.

"You did great today. Do you play a lot?" Tobi asked.