football | one shots

Graduation > Niklas Stark

The locker door made a soft clank as Niklas pushed it shut. He took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. What am I going to do? He thought nervously.

At that moment, Mitchell came sauntering into the locker room, lamenting about how blinding the sun was. Only Niklas and a handful of others were there, casually getting ready for training.

As Mitchell walked past, Niklas quickly patted his teammates shoulder. "Hey," he called, "did coach say the imperative training date was on the 15th?" Mitchell narrowed his eyes at Niklas, noticing how anxious he seemed. "Yeah," he nodded, "and why do you look so jumpy?"

Niklas sighed, "Layla's graduation is on the 15th." Mitchell opened his mouth to show a silent oh before rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "How are you going to tackle that?"

"I have no idea," Niklas chuckled; not because he was happy, but rather because he had virtually no clue how to convince coach to let him bail on training.

Just then, coach Pál ambled into the locker room, clapping his hands to call his players out. "Hurry up boys, we haven't got all day," he said. Niklas and Mitchell exchanged glances. "Go!" Mitchell pestered.

Niklas watched as Pál walked away for a while before hastily deciding to run after him. "Coach!" He called, causing the Hungarian man to halt to a stop. "I was wondering," Niklas began, "if I could take the day off on the 15th?" Pál raised his eyebrows in surprise, "15th is a very important day, you know that."

"I know coach, but my girlfriend is graduating and I promised her I would be there," Niklas explained. A small sigh escaped Pál's lips, "you've already been briefed on how vital that session will be, Niklas."

"Yes, coach. But can I at least take the morning off? I'll do a personal session in the afternoon if you'd like," Niklas looked at his coach hopefully. Pál sighed again, eyeing his player as he went through the options in his head.

"Please?" Niklas pleaded. He was desperate; and desperate times call for desperate measures.

~

Layla waved excitedly at Marissa, wasting no time in enveloping her sister into a hug. "You're finally graduating," Marissa squealed as they separated. Layla grinned in reply, "I have been waiting for this day since I first enrolled."

The sisters giggled, with much joy and excitement in their laughter. Marissa looked around, spotting their parents already seated, but not finding what she was looking for.

"Where's Niklas?"

Layla scanned the crowd briefly, not exactly expecting to notice Niklas among the attendees. "He's not here yet," she eventually said, furrowing her eyebrows. Marissa shook her head disapprovingly, "he's awfully late."

Layla shrugged, not being able to think of any excuse for her forever-late boyfriend. "He'll be here," Layla reassured her, smiling. Marissa chuckled in reply as an announcement came through for the graduates to queue by the stage.

"I'll see you later, then," Marissa patted her sisters shoulder before hurrying over to join her parents. Layla studied the crowd one last time, hoping to spot Niklas' familiar face. But he was nowhere to be found. She sighed, before heading over to the stage. He's probably going to be very late, she told herself.

Before she knew it she was almost at the front of the queue. It was almost her turn to graduate. Finally. But as she stood waiting, she found herself constantly glancing at the attendees, hoping to see Niklas' face somewhere among the mass of people. But he remained a no show.

"Layla Fischer," the announcer called for her. Layla immediately forced a smile and walked up the steps. No point moping around for a lost cause, she thought.

As she walked towards the Dean, the steady sound of applause filled the air. But as she neared him, a sudden eruption of cheers drowned out the sound of any clapping. Everybody's heads turned to the source of the chaos.

There at the corner of the audience, came the whole Hertha BSC first team, equipped in training gear and cheering their hearts out. Layla immediately found her boyfriend's beaming face, and he casually waved at her as if this was perfectly ordinary.

Layla's mouth literally hung open as she stood in front of the Dean, speechless. The Dean however, was pleasantly surprised. "I see you like football," he said. His voice snapped her out of her shock. A shy smile formed on her lips, and she simply shrugged.

She scurried down the steps and into Niklas' arms, as the whole team watched on behind them. Shouts of congratulations came from the group and Layla could feel her cheeks flushed as she muttered a few thanks to them.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing your whole team," she whispered, grasping Niklas' arm tightly. He laughed, glancing at coach Pál who flashed him a thumbs up. "It wasn't easy," he laughed, planting a kiss on her temple.

Layla looked up at him, knowing exactly what he was implying. "Do you have to get back to training?" She asked matter-of-factly. He ran a hand through his hair, laughing guiltily.

But Layla didn't complain. At least he was there, and he saw her graduate. They all did. She chuckled, playfully slapping his arm, "go on, you goofball. It's okay."

Niklas smiled. He was confident this was one graduation she would never forget.

"Okay, team - congratulations again, Layla - time to go!"

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Here's another Niklas Stark shot as requested by anonymous on my Tumblr ☺ Hope you guys liked it! Also, if you would like to request for a one shot, please do! Just drop me a message :) Thank you for reading and voting! ♡