football imagines [requests open]

trent alexander-arnold.

(i guess) i love you

"Can you quit it with the humming? You're killing the vibe."

Wandering through the night, the two strolled through a park. The sky, still, remained young; streets lights switching on, kids rushing to play their final game of football, joggers preparing for their night jogs, families with their kids slowly fading away from the space. It provided the perfect moment for the two to get away from everything. A moving image, a perfect scene even, two close individuals advancing towards a space that everyone else was moving away from.

A perfect moment, a perfect scene clouded by the hums of Y/N, calming yet heard. Drew Barrymore was the song on their mind and soon, on their tongue to be sung. Suddenly, they stopped and turned to Trent, glancing him up and down. They shook their head and scoffed out a laugh. "No. I don't I will."

And they stuck by their words. The humming only grew louder and louder, stronger and more irritating to Trent's ear as they pulled away from him. Running further into the park, their hums ran low and were drowned out by Y/N's voice, stretching far into the space. Their singing—their voice—it was struggling yet carefree and vibrant, with their hands over their head and laughter wandering in the air as they spun in circles, losing count of how many times until they fell to the grass, breathless and in laughter.

"I don't know who sings that song but I know for sure that was ridiculously bad yet entertaining." Trent looked around the two before taking a seat next to them. He wasn't embarrassed to be around them. He was looking around to see how many others had to endure Y/N's embarrassment for them, which would be nothing because they felt none. He smiled at the thought of it all. "I don't know why anyone would want you as a partner. You're just... a tad bit too much."

Laying flat on their back Y/N closed their eyes, sighing as they felt the breeze against their face. "That's a lot of talk for someone that has yet to drop me after forever years." Forever years—Trent and Y/N have been friends for some time. Years that they could remember, years that they couldn't remember (whether it was age or lost thoughts), and they had yet to let go of one another.

"If I did your friend count would go from 100 to 0."

Y/N opened their eyes and sat up, looking at Trent. Shaking their head, they tilted it. "Just admit it: I'm the best you'll ever have."

"That's a very subjective statement," Trent lifted his arms up, laughing when they gave him a small shove. He let out a breath once his laughter fell. "It's true! But there's nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong at all. I really like how we are—like this. Us. It's all good."

"I hear you," Sitting up properly, Y/N pulled their knees up so they could wrap their arms around them. Nodding in thought, they continued, "I never understood why our friends thought there was more to us. There was nothing to us and that's still the case. Like, if I could have anyone—if I could like anyone—why would I choose you? I know too much about you."

Trent and Y/N were simply friends—best friends—and the two have never been anything more. Everyone else always suspected something but there really was nothing. You could observe them and still find nothing. No feelings, no affection, no love confessions, no one pursuing no one. And in any state, when all was normal, when emotions were high, when they were floating high. They were just about neutral lovers. The "relationship" was all friendship.

Trent's mouth fell open. "Wow, okay!" He let out a loud laugh, this time shoving his friend. He honestly questioned if he actually liked Y/N's honesty; why did it have to be so brutal? "We get it. You don't like me like that."

"Don't take it personal. Besides, don't pretend like it's not mutual." Y/N looked up at the fading sky, collecting their thoughts. "I guess I love you but not like that, you know? It's like... I could live without you. But a life without you in it," they shook their head, "that I can't imagine and I don't want to. Does that hurt you less?"

The lack of relationship didn't stop the two from cherishing each other. Trent and Y/N ran deep, far too deep. Everything was love. There was a lot to them, and neither ever wanted to lose out on it all. What two had were years of laughter and jokes and smiles complied into memories—so much of it that it was overflowing. Thriving for so long, they wouldn't bare to let go just like that. Yes, they loved one another, unconditionally as friends could. That didn't make the friendship any more of a relationship.

"Yes, thank you for the clarity," Trent rolled his eyes, patting their knee. "Whoever you're future person is, I don't know if they'll be lucky or cursed to have you. If not me then I wonder who else will tolerate you. You're fun and all but you're not all that."

"Don't worry, Trent. In time, when the time is right, when I'm feeling myself, I'll find someone," Y/N affirmed with a nod, more for themself than for Trent. "I'll prove you wrong. I'm sure of it. I don't know," they shrugged as they shared a glance with Trent, offering a smile. And this time it wasn't wide and irritating, instead wide and welcoming. "maybe you'll be the first person I'll introduce them to."

The two shared a lot with one another. I mean they were friends. They made each other happy, made one another's days better with a simple text. They shared laughter, held one another during moments of devastation, cried tears of joy and dejection together; there was no lack of emotions between them. But there was only so much they could share together with where the friendship stood.

Trent and Y/N could experience them and so much more with someone else.

They both deserved so much more, they knew that. To be fancied for who they were, to be kissed for hours and hours, to be treated well beyond the friendship—to be loved, tirelessly and unconditionally. After all, they were friends and there was a lack of feelings to even think about ever being more. They couldn't give it all to Trent and he couldn't give it all to Y/N. Preferring to not stay stuck and selfish in all that they were was the only way to receive more.

Trent wanted Y/N to be happy with someone else, and he knew that they felt the same for him. That's why they were such good best friends; both knew that they couldn't just remain reserved and stuck to what they had. There were others to explore—relationships to seek and potentially find—and in them could the two find this love that wasn't all friendly and calm, but rather endless and out north of friendship.

His love for them could only go so far. One day, Y/N will be with someone who loves them, so much more, in a way that Trent couldn't and he couldn't wait for when that day came around.

Picking at the grass, he came across a four-leaf clover. Trent plucked it before offering it to his best friend, returning the smile, "Godspeed, Y/N."